A Symbol of Hope

Chapters

The Black Mane Forest
The Death of Innocence
A Sprout of Change
The Call of Destiny
(Status Update)

The Black Mane Forest

In a land far away from Equestria stood a barren desert. It was barren to the bone and uninhabited by any form of nature, plant and animal. There were no rocks, no sand dunes, not even any wind. All forms of shelter was absent in these flat lands. Not a single drop of water could be seen for miles, and even the hardiest of Saddle Arabians and zebras had trouble crossing. It was for this that the desert was named The Desert of Death.

However, this is not what makes the desert special. In the center of the desert is a forest of tall dark trees and thick undergrowth. This drew a team of earth pony scientists to the location. Outside measurements suggest that the forest is 250,000 square miles. Weather is present in these woodlands, and a thick wall of clouds surround the top of the forest. However, these clouds have been studied as only an illusion to those outside, and vanish from view once inside. Also, the forest slightly lightens up, however it is still very dark, and the earth ponies that entered found it very hard to see.

This is one of the many reasons they had left. The other being that they had reached their ‘bingo on supplies’, meaning that they only had enough food and water rations to make it back home. All forms of flora tested positive for toxins, including grass, and no clean water supplies could be seen in the immediate vicinity. Besides, they found giant predators in the woodlands, including a giant centipede that was observed feeding on a manticore.

Their studies concluded that the land is, “Uninhabitable by any ponies in any way shape and form. Even when heavily packed with rations, the journey there is too costly and dangerous. Once there, they would be under constant threat of attack by predators, unable to properly see their surroundings, and risk starvation and dehydration. There is no rhyme or reason to set up a civilization or even a campsite.” The woodlands have been dubbed ‘The Black Forest of Death’ and have been mostly forgotten ever since.

However, deeper inside these lands, a cloaked figure trotted across the forest. The hessian cloak was black and absorbed sunlight like a shadow, fluttering gently as its wearer walked. A twig snapped and the creature stopped, bringing a hoof to its hood and pulling back, revealing a pony stallion’s head underneath it. He had a tan coat, brown eyes, and a black mane with a red stripe and white splotches.

However, this pony was different. He inhaled with a specialized nose that had twice the olfactory nerves of a normal pony, picking up every scent of the area around him. He smelled rabbit. Large ears that were a cross between an earth pony’s and a bat pony’s pricked up, ready for the sound to repeat. He heard the crunch of grass. He turned his head to the source of the sound. Giant pupils picked up as much sunlight as they could, without being as overly sensitive as a bat pony’s. He saw the brown coat of a tapeti rabbit, the native rabbit to these lands.

The pony grinned, showing sharp teeth. These teeth, however, were unlike that of a wolf or a lion, which had canines designed for universal purposes. This pony had teeth that were like daggers, sharp and designed purely for cutting through flesh.

Within seconds the rabbit hopped away with the pony hot on its tail. The pony’s jet black hooves poked through his coat. The hooves extended forward a couple extra inches and were sharply angled in a V shape. This caused his hooves to dig into the ground and afforded him extra grip, which offered more speed, acceleration, and control. Above the hooves were longer and thinner legs than an average pony and above those were a thin belly and narrow barrel, making him an extremely light pony. His strong lungs inflated and emptied with air to fuel a large heart that was hungry for oxygen. This pony was designed for galloping fast and galloping far.

Within seconds the rabbit was cornered against a large tree. The pony bared his sharp teeth sharp teeth once again. He was hungry and needed nourishment, but he also needed something else. He lept and bit the rabbit’s throat, severing its windpipe and aorta, cutting its impending scream short to a cough and a gurgle.

The pony then pulled a glass bottle out of a pouch made of hessian that was attached to a cuirass of leather armor. He pulled out the cork and planted the bottle upright into the ground. He then lifted the rabbit carcass by its tail and let the blood flow into the bottle until the very last drop fell into the bottle. He then threw the body into a larger pouch, corked the bottle, and placed it back into the pouch before walking away from the scene.

After a mile’s walk, he walked past glowing symbols that warded off mystikal dangers. The trees disappeared after that, and then he pulled his hood forward as the underbrush did the same. Within seconds he was in a village surrounded by other ponies like him. The each acted like regular ponies, playing, walking, and doing business without a care of what tomorrow might bring. All the houses were made of wood and reached only two stories high.

The cloaked one walked over to the center of town, hearing the words of his race’s native language ring through the town. “Guten Tag. Wie war dein Tag?”

“Es war sehr gut, und dir?”

“Oh, wie üblich.”

“Das ist toll zu hören.”

The cloaked pony trotted past these and continued to his destination. The town was completely circular, and at its center was a market. At the market, ponies mingled while buying local goods. At the center of this was a wooden trap door. He pulled a rope to uncover an earth stairway that descended downwards into the darkness. The pony trotted down these stairs, relying on their symmetrical pattern to make it to the bottom. Once at the bottom, he went through a stone corridor that made a sharp U.

At the end of the corridor, the underground lit up with blue fungi to reveal an underground city made of stone. It was barely as busy at the surface, but the talking could still be heard. The sounds of hooves clopping against cobblestone filled the chasm. At its center was a large library that towered above the other buildings like a large temple. The pony walked down the cobblestone road to a large building void of any decorations and knocked on its door. A pony wearing a matching cloak and a blue coat opened the door.

(The conversation that follows and other important dialogue will be translated to Equestrian from this point on)

“Hello, Apprentice Symbol Trace. How was your hunt?” The blue pony asked.

“Successful… Well, for an Alchemist, that is.” The tan one replied.

“Ha, you need to take a couple of tips from the Hunters Guild. Come on in, welcome back to the Hoffnung Alchemist Den.” The blue pony said while stepping aside.

“You always say that, Blue Hold.” Symbol Trace said as he trotted inside. The interior was filled with other ponies in matching cloaks, however Symbol wished to skip such conversations. He headed off to a small room containing four beds. All of them except for one were empty. The one being used was right next to his.

Symbol walked to his bed and opened his trunk. He took of his cuirass, letting his tuft of fur pop out. The tuft was a feature of his race, and was very soft. However, it had became soaked in sweat from all the walking and the chase. He then untied his cloak and let it fall into his trunk. With the cloth receding, his cutie mark was revealed. A crystal vial full of a red potion in front of a blue alchemical symbol of creation. The Symbol of Creation was rare, though how rare he would soon find out.

He pulled the rabbit body out of his pouch and took it to the table. There he skinned it with a blade that he tied to his hoof. The then placed it on a wooden plate and began to eat it raw. He couldn’t afford to cook it, however this bothered him little. He didn’t mind the raw taste, and his stomach was designed to digest the meat. He ate every last piece, including the brain and guts, and scraped the meat off the bones. He then took the bare skeleton and threw it in the trunk. He would use the bones and blood later.

But for now, he was exhausted and wanted nothing more than sleep. He leapt into his bed and pulled his blanket over him. The bed was stiff and the blanket was thin, but he had grown used to such discomforts. As he was about to close his eyes, the pony next to him turned over to face him. “Early to bed again, Symbol? The sun has barely gone underneath the trees.” The red mare asked him.

“You’re the one to speak, Velvet.” He said.

“Yeah… Hey Symbol?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you ever wonder about the outside world outside? You know, the ones the bat ponies and griffons talk so much about?”

“And invite spirits of chaos and demons of the night to our lands? We have enough problems as it is.”

“Yeah… I guess you’re right.” Velvet said as she turned the other way.

“Don’t worry… We have all we need in Schwarz Mane Wald… All us Diomedes could possibly ever need.” Symbol said as he drifted off into the darkness of sleep.

The Death of Innocence

There was fire taller than buildings, screaming resonating in the air, and death as far as the eye could see. And in the middle of it all was him. A cloaked Diomede. He looked Symbol directly in the eye like a statue. Symbol wanted to scream, but they stopped dead in his throat. The mysterious pony slowly began to open his mouth, and then darkness swallowed the world.

Symbol Trace reopened his eyes and found himself inside the same dull room. He looked to his left to see no one there. “Another night terror.” He said as he slowly crawled out of bed. He reopened his trunk and looked at its contents. Inside, along with his cuirass and cloak, were incense, a bag of coal powder, another with silver shavings, custom measuring tools, a chain with a golden rune attached, and a pouch of coins. There was also a sizable chest inside the trunk.

He put on his leather cuirass first. He didn’t need it actually, but these weren’t the safest lands in the world. Besides, he had attached theftproof pouches to the armor and those proved useful many times. He then wrapped his cloak around him and tied the string around his neck. The cloak was purely religious to alchemists.

Alchemy was an important part of Diomedic culture. While practiced by few, every settlement in Schwarz Mane Wald had one guild. This was necessary to keep spirits out that would destroy the buildings and kill everypony inhabiting them. They also had other perks as well.

Symbol then picked up the chest and balanced it on his back. Thanks to his measuring tools, the contents inside the chest had been almost exactly symmetrical. He then put his measuring tools in one of his pouches carefully. He then turned around to the door and left the room. He crossed room after room until coming to a table.

Symbol placed the chest on the table and sat next to it. He waited till another alchemist came by and placed a plate with a chunk of meat in front of him. “What is it today?” Symbol asked the server.

“Beats me.” The server said while pouring him a small cup of water that was also made of wood. The water was slightly cloudy as Symbol looked into it. All water in Hoffnung is mostly from a nearby creek. The water had been ran through a hessian filter, and then through a cotton filter. The problem was that these filters are six months expired and the town has yet to purchase another.

Symbol thought about this before sighing. He then looked up to see that the server had left by now and was serving other alchemists their free breakfasts. By Diomedic National Law, any Guild that requires their members live at their buildings for any extended periods of time must serve them a morning meal. However, since it only mentions the morning, lunch and dinner is not required. So, whatever it was, Symbol placed his hoof on the chunk of meat and enjoyed whatever it was. After the mystery meat, he drank his water which tasted of algae, picked up his chest, and left the Den.

Outside, in the undercity, ponies were waking up and bustling about to get to their jobs. Symbol ignored the commoners as he made his way to the staircase. He trotted slowly and carefully up the long ascent as to not drop the chest on his back before he could see the light peaking through the cracks in the trapdoor. He then slowly lifted the trapdoor and pushed it out of the way. The light bursted free and flooded his eyesight. He looked down while covering his face with his foreleg. Once his eyes adjusted, he looked into the morning sky.

As the sun slowly rose above the trees, griffons in brown leather jackets were moving clouds to their planned areas while bat ponies in black jackets of the same design were landing and finishing their nocturnal days with a morning dinner and drink. Griffons and bat ponies were important immigrants that have pledged to keep these forests secret to both Schwarz Mane Wald and their respective homelands. Only griffons born in The Griffon Empire were brought to Schwarz Mane Wald. The same was true for the bat ponies, as they needed to be born in The Crevice to be allowed into Schwarz Mane Wald. Their governments told nopony where it was, named, or even that the Diomedes lived in it until they agreed to immigrate. Weather workers were fed by the Diomedic Monarchy and given housing, but were not paid or granted citizenship until they had worked a certain amount of years, which at this point was twenty five years. Also, once they agreed to live in Schwarz Mane Wald, they were stuck and not allowed to leave. Attempting to leave is punishable by death, both here and back home. Once they worked their due, they may keep their current job or may seek another living until retirement.

Symbol trotted over to a stand that had a aged and warped wood with a torn cloth providing a bit of shade. Symbol put his chest on the counter and opened it to reveal rows of vials full of potions, each properly labeled. He then stepped inside and proudly read a brass plate that had a license engraved on it. It read:

Hoffnung Stand License

Symbol's Alchemical Potions and Remedies

Property of Symbol Trace

Illegal and unlicensed use of a stand is punishable by law

Symbol thought that regulating stands in the Hoffnung market was just slightly odd, but being punished with time in jail, which wasn’t stated on the license, was just plain absurd. He knew that the Court Representative of the town was the son of a highly successful merchant, but trying to control who does and doesn’t make business in the Hoffnung market made life a lot harder, especially since how judgemental he was. Symbol Trace is the first alchemist in the town to own a stand in the market, the reason being that Gilded Quill, the Court Representative of Hoffnung, viewed alchemists as wasteful pests that, due to the spirits of the forest, were forced upon the Diomedes. Symbol had to do Gilded quite a few favors, give him free potions, bribe him, and then still had to beg him to give him the paper that granted him permission to afford the license. Symbol had been barrel deep in debt by then, but being the only potion seller in the market quickly got him back on his hooves.

He sat on a rickety stool behind the counter and waited as other merchants and salesponies did the same. He was between a mare who sold wildflowers that only grew outside of settled areas and a stallion who sold decorated wooden statuettes. The florist gave the area a nice aromatic smell. Nearby he heard an accordion begin playing folk music. Tune Struck was a well known accordion player in Hoffnung. He started as a young colt, and his music was rather skippable, but now that he is a full grown stallion, he has mastered the instrument and plays it every day, making life in the market much more enjoyable. He spent the rest of the day selling goods to anypony who didn’t simply turn their head away and trot off. Despite being a licensed stand owner, not many ponies wanted to have anything to do with an alchemist, and a reminder as to why would soon ring out.

The town clock had read as half an hour past noon, and this would be burnt into Symbol’s memory. The town square bell rang out, calling everypony to its court. Symbol followed the forming herd to the nearby location to be shocked. Four ponies had been at the announcement platform. Gilded Quill, his secretary, a pony draped completely in black robes, although everypony knew it was the local butcher,, and a Diomede wearing an alchemist’s black cloak. However, his cloak was covered in red symbols that related to death, making him none other than a necromancer.

Necromancers are alchemists that, in order to gain knowledge, resort to a banned practice in Schwarz Mane Wald and the Alchemist’s Guild, communication with the dead. While it seems harmless enough, talking with the dead destroys a ponies sanity at an increasingly fast rate. This then leads the alchemist to mutilate themselves, kill other ponies, use carcasses to fuel their alchemy, and eventually begin reanimating the dead to commit more atrocities.

Gilded Quill was talking now, but Symbol trace didn’t hear him. Even though he was well within hearing range, something was else drowning out the noise while still being completely silent. The necromancer was looking directly at Symbol Trace. The necromancer’s face was mutilated with chunks being ripped off and symbols carved onto it. He looked like a carcass that had been partially devoured by scavengers. But underneath all of this, he could still make out that face. A smile of cracked and bloody teeth that was so big it seemed to outgrow his face. Eyes bloodshot and dilated, constantly shaking with insanity and likely illusions.

The necromancer was forced downwards onto the block. The butcher raised his ax high, the robes falling down to reveal his relatively strong legs that held the ax even though he lacked any indents on his hooves. He aimed directly for the neck of the foul scum, and struck it down with all his might. The head popped off with a large spurt of crimson blood and rolled to the very edge of platform. All would have ended there, but the decapitated necromancer was still smiling wickedly with motionless eyes, and he was still looking at Symbol Trace as the world melted into nothingness.

Symbol stared at the head for an hour. Then the necromancer began crying blood right before shooting directly at Symbol. He screamed louder than he ever had as everything faded to black.

A Sprout of Change

Symbol Trace lurched upwards, screaming his lungs until they were completely emptied. He was back in his bed in the room. He looked to his left to see three empty beds. He sat there and let himself regain his bearings. “Had it really been two years ago? It still feels like yesterday.” He said as he slowly crawled out of bed, nearly falling down as fought to keep his balance. Ever since he saw a necromancer for the first time, his nights haven’t given him the same energy as they used to. Velvet told him about how he’d toss and turn almost every night, and he could feel it in his legs.

He stumbled over to his trunk and pushed it open. Inside was his chest of potions, his cloak, his cuirass, and his rune necklace. The rest of the spaces were filled with emptiness. Symbol sighed as he began his morning routine of dressing up for the day. The leather straps of his cuirass almost fell apart as he secured the wearing armor to his chest and barrel. He then threw the hessian cloak over his shoulders. The cloth had began to unravel and holes had formed. He tied the small rope around his neck and looked at the necklace once again. It had a golden pendant with the Symbol of Creation engraved and painted with a sky blue paint that had forever stained the soft metal, like the one on his cutie mark.

The Symbol of Creation was an eight sided star that meant that the four main elements, fire, water, air, and earth, were in perfect harmony and to ready to shape into solid materials such as flesh, life, plant, and metal. It was said that this is how the Creator had made Schwarz Mane Wald. He thought back to his early lessons on how the Creator first made the forest.

~~~~~~

The Creator walked through lands long and far. He saw many plants and animals. He saw cultures flourish and civilizations grow. But he could see far beyond our perception. He saw the lands for what they truly are. He could speak with them and hear them answer.

But then, he came upon a land of no water, no dirt, no plants, no animals, and no ponies. He saw the spirit of the land. The land weeped and cried. “Why do you cry?” Asked the Creator.

“Because I am lonely and have no one to share my land with.” She said. He began to ponder her situation. And then it came to pass that the Creator came to pity the spirit and her barren lands. He then thought of a way to fix her problem. Then it came to pass that a solution came to his mind

“Spirit, all living beings may only reap what they sow. This is the rule of life and existence. I have a key to your pain, but the price is heavy. I may forge you the necessary to force life to your lands. But you must pay the price.” He said to the Spirit.

“I promise that I will pay any price, no matter the cost!” The Spirit shouted, eager to be given the prize of life.

“Then you must promise eternal allegiance to me and any that come to me. To forever bear your fruit towards life and not death. In turn, anypony that comes for your fruit must pledge their allegiance to you.” The Creator said, offering the Spirit of the barren lands a hoof. “Do you accept these terms?”

“I do, and I will give you undying allegiance till the sun dies and time ends.” The Spirit said. She reached up and touched the Creator’s hoof, bowing her head to him. The Creator then pulled her up on all four of her legs.

“Very well then.” The Creator said as he brought a hoof upwards.

~~~~~~

Symbol Trace shook his head, returning back to reality. He placed the rune necklace back in his trunk and closed it. He left the bedroom and entered the dining room. He sat at a table and waited until a server came to him, placing down a much smaller chunk of meat. “Cutting back again? This is the second time this month.” He said as the server filled his cup with water.

“Quit the bitching and just eat!” The server angrily as he trotted off. Symbol sighed once again and looked into the cup. Like the meat, the water had also changed. The water was murkier than that fateful day. While there were plans to replace the filters, those plans were cancelled once money started to to become scarcer and scarcer. Nowadays, the water had become so dirty that ponies had began to boil their water before drinking it. Symbol brought his hoof down on the chunk of meat and began to eat it. When he was finished, he was still hungry.

He drank his water and left the dining room, entering the main room. In there was a brown diomede with a gray mane. His cloak, however, was made of cotton and had silver symbols sown into it. “Good morning, Mentor Dust Hoof.” Symbol said.

Dust looked up and turned his head to Symbol. “Oh, good morning to you to, Apprentice Symbol Trace.” He said as he walked to him. “Are you ready for today’s lesson?”

“Yes sir.” Symbol Trace said in a nod. Dust Hoof and Symbol Trace walked into an empty room. There were no curtains or decorations, just blue alchemical torches that dimly lit the room. The advantage to the torches is that they produced no carbon dioxide and stayed lit for long periods of time.

“Symbol Trace, you have been studying familiars for weeks now. Can you tell me what you’ve learned?” Dust asked, opening a large hessian bag.

“Once we are born into the world of the living, a spirit is born in the spirit dimension. This is a familiar, and always is parallel with you in the spirit dimension. Where you go, it goes. When you die, it dies and joins your soul in the afterlife.” Symbol said as Dust poured coal dust onto the floor.

“Correct, today you will now begin to summon your familiar with an exchange symbol.” Dust said. Symbol’s mouth dropped open.

“But I don’t even know what basic symbol represents me!” Symbol said in a small panic.

“Calm down now,” Dust said, “it’s not really as cryptic as you think. I’ve seen you work long and hard on your skills at alchemy since you were a little foal. With alchemy in general being your talent, I think I know exactly what your alchemical symbol is.” Dust pointed at Symbol’s cutie mark, but more specifically the Symbol of Creation that was behind the vial.

“But, nopony in history has ever had the Symbol of Creation as a representing symbol since the Creator himself!” Symbol said, not calming down one bit since his last outburst.

“Don’t worry, we have all the time in the world.” Dust said as he sat in the corner. “Besides, there’s a first for everything.”

Symbol sighed and looked at the coal dust. Instantly the mathematical process of alchemy shot into his head. First was defining the worth of the material being used. The product of Rarity times Purity is then multiplied by the power of Use equals Worth. (RxP)U=W in a more simple form. Coal dust was moderate in rarity, high in purity, and moderate in use, making it’s worth standard. Symbol then began making an exchange symbol. The next equation, which decided the worth of the symbol, was the product of Fineness times Difficulty is then multiplied by the Material equals Worth. (FxD)M=W for short.

Symbol kept this formula in mind as he continued to make complicated exchange symbols again and again. Minutes passed, then hours, but it felt like days to Symbol. He was getting frustrated. Every form of exchange symbol seemed to fail. He was getting desperate. Eventually he came to one last exchange symbol. Symbol Trace carefully touched the exchange symbol’s borders with his hooves. He connected his soul with the symbol. Slowly the symbol began to glow sky blue, the Symbol of Creation glowing the brightest. The symbol slowly collapsed on itself and formed a small pile. The pile then began growing until it slowly faded into a small mound of dirt.

Symbol raised an eyebrow at the dirt until something odd happened. A small golden sparkle appeared from the very tip of it. It then began to grow, until it was a golden sapling. Blue leaves sprouted from its branches as it grew even bigger. The sapling grew into a full sized tree with a huge bushel of leaves at its top. From these leaves sprouted red flowers. Some of those flowers puffed up and became white fruit. From between the leaves, long green vines lowered to the ground and stretched out lazily. This all happened in around half a minute.

Symbol blinked, it was there. He blinked again, and it was still there. Then rage built up in his chest. It climbed up his throat and exited his mouth. “WHAT!?” He shouted out in rage. “My familiar is a damned tree!”

He looked towards Dust Hoof, but he was staring in shock. “Sweet Silver… Do you know what this is?” He said as he walked to it slowly and touched it. Symbol blinked at him confused, but then the story came to mind.

~~~~~~

The Creator spat a seed into his hoof, burying into the sand. Then it came to pass that this seed sprouted into a sapling, then into a tree in a short amount of time. This tree grew red flowers that allured insects and birds to these lands. It grew fruit that spreaded seeds among the land and attracted other animals. It lowered vines into the ground that spreaded a far amount of water to the ground.

Within days the barren lands became a luscious forest with many plants, flowers, and animals. And these lands could support many creatures. Then came ponies that had sworn themselves to the Creator and the land. They made a promise sworn in stone.

And all of this was possible because of the Creator’s gift.

~~~~~~

Symbol’s eyes widened as realization struck him. “But… How can it… How is a Tree of Life my familiar?” He said as he turned towards Dust.

“I don’t know, but one hasn’t been seen since the first era. We have to notify the philosophers about this immediately.” Dust said as he trotted out the room. “There is much to be done!”

The Call of Destiny

Symbol Trace sat there for minutes. To him it felt like entire days, maybe even a week. The tree stood there, glowing like a beacon. The light faded then intensified to a beat, like a large shining heart. It’s mere presence made Symbol feel warm and comfortable, though ridded of his fatigue from this morning. His stomach growled, and as an instant reaction a white fruit fell from the tree and rolled to his hooves. Symbol picked up the fruit and looked at it. It retained the pulsing glow, and filled the air with a sweet aroma. Is this how all edible fruits are, he thought as he gave it a sniff. It smelled… sweet, was the best word he could describe it. His mouth flooded with saliva. He opened his mouth and took a bit. The juices filled his mouth and overflowed through the corners of his mouth. The flesh was smoother than the youngest veal. The powerful flavor overtook his mouth with a strong wave, forcing him to swallow the bite of fruit. As it went down his throat, he felt his body filling with a rejuvenating power he’s never felt before. Symbol Trace closed his eyes and went into a trance. All he could feel was the flavor in his mouth and his soul filling back up. By the time he reopened his eyes, his hooves were empty and covered in juices and his stomach was full.

Symbol blinked then looked back at the tree. He just had the first fruit of his entire life, and it was perfect. He stood up and approached the tree. He slowly touched it, expecting it to be cold and hard like the other trees. It was soft and warm like a living animal. How can this even exist, Symbol thought. A tree simply overflowing with the essence of life. He backed up when it suddenly began to shrivel. It went back into the dirt, then the dirt went back into the ground. The exchange symbol had disappeared beneath it, having expired in its worth. Symbol sighed and trotted out of the room with his head hung low. As he was walking outside, he heard a voice behind him. “Hey, is... something wrong?” The familiar voice said. Symbol turned around to see a red Diomede mare with a long, luscious purple mane. Her eyes were the color of sapphires and her mane the texture of silk. And she was Symbol’s childhood friend.

“Oh, hello there Velvet Rednote.” Symbol said as he turned around towards her. “Nothing is wrong, I just…. have a lot on my mind.”

Velvet blinked. “And what might that be?” She asked.

“Nothing, just private matters.” Symbol said as he looked down.

Velvet shook her head. “It doesn’t sound like nothing, but I won’t invade your privacy. Just, please, be alright.” She said.

Symbol nodded. “I’ll make sure of that.” He said before continuing his way outside the Den. He looked at the clock on the library. It ticked away at 5:30 in the afternoon. Symbol shook his head in disbelief. ‘Did I really spend that much time in the Den?’ He thought to himself. He didn’t even feel it either. The white fruit made it feel like it was still noon.

He shook his head and trotted out towards the library. He stopped just before the door to read the sign. “Die Krone des Kaisers Bibliothek.” It said. It translated to The Kaiser’s Crown Library, named after the pony who paid for the library to be built. In fact, the entire town is his doing. He made it help bring a halt to the overpopulation issue that had been plaguing Schwarz Mane Wald for years now. He also commissioned a large library to be built in the under city to attract the curious, logical, and scholars. It worked, but within a year the town had been completely populated, and the overpopulation issue came back with it. It hadn’t stopped the overpopulation, just stalled it for a year. It was a hopeless situation. Food, space, and coin was running scarce in these lands, and no attempt to stop it has worked for long. It was inevitable. The limits of life these lands can support will bring chaos to the Diomedic Empire. It was a completely hopeless struggles.

And Symbol Trace was standing there with such thoughts in his head. Finally he shook his head as he came back into the world of the living. He opened the door and trotted inside. Inside where more glowing fungi in the walls and ceiling, illuminating the room well. There were bookshelves that towered like dragons. Inside the shelves were books upon books, each stored a bit of knowledge and history. ‘Rezepte für Gerste’ ‘Die Schlacht von Crystal River’ ‘Die Tyrannei des Kaisers Ebony Heart’. Symbol read the titles as he walked down the row of lowest books. This late in the day, the books were unorganized as ponies placed the books back in alphabetical order. ‘Die Kunst der Alchemie Trank Brewing’. There it was. Symbol pulled out the book and balanced it on his back. He then walked to an empty table to sit down at. The chair creaked loudly beneath his flank as if it was going to fall apart. The furniture here was as old as the building itself. He opened the book and skipped the pages he’d already read. He reached the page he recently finished and flipped to the next.

Symbol immediately saw a picture that engulfed the entire page with a detailed and colored drawing of a rose. Most pictures so far have not been an entire page in size and none had been colored. The rose had petals that were a dark crimson, almost black in color on the outside, however in the inside were a bright scarlet that seemed to glow with brightness. The stem was a deep forest green with black thorns. Symbol began to read its description. “The Blood Rose earns its name not for the color of its petals, but instead for why it’s so important. The petals can be picked from this rare plant, mashed, and distilled to make a bright red fluid. This bright red fluid can then mixed with other specific potions to make a thick, crimson liquid. This potion acts as a purifier that will clean the body of all poisons, toxins, and disease. It can also act as a blood substitute, replacing missing blood in a matter of seconds even if more blood is lost than the potion is given. This potion MUST be injected into the victim for it’s basic purpose. However, it has a much more powerful purpose. If used for exchange symbols, the symbol will get a high material value. The Blood Rose is already rare, never being found within a hundred miles of each other, are dangerous to find since they seem to refuse to grow in populated areas, and only come in small bushes of four to five. The potion extends this as it is hard to make. The potion they create is sterile and never coagulates, giving them an even more higher score in purity. Lastly, being a life saving essence, the potion is extremely useful. With a high rarity, purity, and usefulness, this potion gives what is probably the highest worth in material, higher than that of Konig blood. The recipe is as follows…”

Symbol read on and on, history and all, until the book had nothing more to say. He burnt the recipe into his mind. It was like a treasure for alchemists. The item with the most worth in the known world. He imagined all the things he could do with it, yet the value still surpassed his imagination. It was mind blowing. Such great power in a couple of petals. He read it again and again, a large smile engraved on his face. No matter how many times he read it, it still seemed just as amazing. All the things he would do for a hoof full of petals.

Then a hoof tapped him on the back. He looked back to see the librarian looking at him. “While I enjoy your enthusiasm in reading, I’m afraid the library closes at eight o’clock PM.” She said.

“Eight o’clock!? Has it really been that long!?” Symbol said in surprise.

“Yes.” She said. “You can just leave the book there, I’ll put it back.”

“Okay.” Symbol said, putting the book down to stand back up. He trotted out of the library and into the late under city. Since it was an underground city, there was no change in light, the foals had been put to bed and the adults either going home or going to pubs. He agreed on the latter and left to go to his favorite pub. Well, it was more of just a bar. He trotted into the opened building and looked around inside. Just a couple of diomedes sitting around and drinking. Symbol sat on a wooden stool right in front of the bar. A gray diomede mare came to him as if on cue.

“Hello there, Symbol Trace. How may I serve Hoffnung’s greatest potion brewer?” The mare said.

“Stein Server, I told you that I’m just a normal potion brewer.” Symbol said.

“If so, then that makes all the other alchemists here terrible at it.” Server said. “Now, before we continue to argue about how great you are, what can I help you with?” She asked.

“I’ll have a poor pony’s beer.” Symbol said. Real beer made from barley was expensive, especially in towns that didn’t farm the grain, distant from others that did, and were so close to the edge of the forest. While every other plant was inedible, barley was, for some unknown reason, edible. Some believe that when the forests turned poison, they were a gift to the diomedes to help them sustain large civilizations. It was native to these toxic lands, after all, and the rest of the world still had yet to taste its glory as it refused to grow in other countries, or so the griffins and bat ponies say.

Stein Server came back with a steel stein and placed it in front of Symbol. He looked into the metal mug. Inside was a watery liquid of watery barley beer. Symbol had never had pure barley beer, and he was sure that nopony else here had any either. The other choices were schnapps and jagermeister, but Symbol needed to walk back home and he wanted to enjoy the flavor of his beer before needing to stop drinking. He put the right number of coins on the table and let Server scoop them up. She then left to serve the other ponies. She was a nice mare from the capital city, Steinherz. She was one of the first ponies to leave the capital and settle in Hoffnung when it first finished construction. She had came with her husband, who later died of disease, but not before becoming impregnated with her first child. Her son would become the first natural born pony in Hoffnung. Dust Hoof said Symbol Trace would have taken that spotlight, however he was found as a foal deep in the forest a month after the construction of Hoffnung. It was a really odd circumstance that even Symbol didn’t know everything about.

Symbol thought about this as he drank his watery beers, just a couple of steins and he was done. He had emptied his money pouch and was borderline drunk. He stood up shakily, his long, thin legs making it harder for him stand up straight in such a situation as compared to other races of ponies. He thanked Stein Server and stumbled out of the bar. He managed to make it back to the den without falling over. Inside, almost everypony had gone to sleep, and Symbol was planning on joining them. He struggled to his room and crawled into his respective bed. Everypony else was already asleep. Symbol stared at the stone ceiling shortly before closing his eyes. The fruit had worn off by now and he felt exhausted.

Within seconds, Symbol Trace reopened his eyes. The stone ceiling was now hessian. He looked at his left to see more, then to his right to see the same thing. He looked at the ground to see a blanket he was laying on sprawled against the ground. He was in a tent. He stood up and stretched before walking out the tent. Outside was forest, and lots of it. there was a campfire still on fire with a blaze exchange symbol keeping it well fueled. Next to it was a large wooden stake with an active ward exchange symbol to keep away mystical dangers from him. He looked up to see a dark sky filled with stars and a bright full moon. Symbol thought about how he heard that a princess from a far away land moved the moon and its night sky full of stars. How was that possible, he thought.

Memories then came back to his head. He had left Hoffnung for Steinherz, stopping at towns he came across if needed. He was about to come to another town within a day’s worth travel. Once he reached the capital city, he was to go to the Council of High Philosophers at once. Dust Hoof had to stay and run the Alchemist’s Guild. None of the others wanted to brave the forest. Symbol was alone and completely responsible in his quest. He shook his head at such thoughts and looked up at the moon again. Its bright beauty, looking over him like a guardian spirit.

“Had it already been three weeks?” Symbol asked out loud into the nothingness. He sighed then walked back into his tent, laying on the blanket. For once, he truly felt alone, in a place he’d never been to before. And he wondered what would happen once, if, he made it to the capital. He sighed once again, closing his eyes. He decided that he would cross that road once he came to it. There was much to happen, and Symbol felt like destiny’s pawn. But then, aren’t we all, Symbol thought as he drifted off to sleep.