Wish

Chapter 4

“Oh I am glad we finally have the opportunity to chat! Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Valiari.” Says the voice.

“Hello. . . My name’s—”

“Aireal, yes I know. I’ve been watching you all this time. I’m happy to see that you have even made a friend during your time here.” A flash of Trixie’s face comes into my mind at the mention of her. A wave of emotions flows through my heart and mind. Stress, worry, sadness, and other emotions that seem foreign to me. I can feel myself delve into a confusion that brings out the frustration and hopelessness in me.

“Who are you!? What do you want from me!? Trixie! Where are you!?” I scream at the top of my lungs through the woods without end. I pace around the ground shouting in different directions in the hopes that Trixie might here me if she’s out there.

“Quiet will you! Those Timber Wolves might hear you and return! And I don’t have much time to speak with you for this spell could wear off at any moment now!” The voice says frantically. I fall to the ground feeling hopeless and with the thought of being driven insane locked in my thoughts. I feel like shouting so loud that I do not care if the wolves come back for me. This must be a nightmare, all of this! I must be laying asleep in Trixie’s wagon waiting to be woken up for our next show. This is a dream; this is a dream; this is a dream. “Aireal please, will you pull yourself together? I can help you find your friend but I need you to listen.” Trying to keep calm I remain silent ready to listen to the voice while looking up to the sky as if that’s where it’s really resonating from. “My magic is limited so I will only be able to communicate with you after certain periods of time. Now, as I have said my name is Valiari and I will guide you through this. Understand?” Without the strength in my voice to respond I nod my head to the sky. “I am somewhere far away from where you are, but I know that we will meet soon. When we do I assure you that everything will make sense to you. But for now I need you to listen and do as I say. If you can do that then I guarantee that you will be reunited with your friend.” I gather myself and stand ready for what ever he wants me to do. If he will guide me to her, then I am prepared to do as he says. “Are you ready?” He asks.

“Yes.”

“Good. Now look around. Do you see a great old maple tree?” Without knowing what a maple tree looks like I simply look around for a tree bigger than all the rest. It doesn’t take long before I spot a tall tree with a trunk nearly five times the size than the others. “Yes, there. From that tree move forward and you shall arrive at a small village. Look for the library. It is built within another large tree but at least three times the size as that one. There will be windows for you to get in, but be silent. If you are seen by the owner of the library she will see you as a threat and obtaining what I need will become an even harder task than intended. Now, once inside I need you to scan the shelves for a book entitled ‘Magic of Imitation’. Obtain it and everything will begin to fall into place. Now go, oh and be careful not to trip on a vine.” The voice ends and I am left with this mission. I decide it’s better not to waste any time and proceed to the tree. I run through the woods straight ahead listening to the leaves and twigs crunch beneath my shoes and loose branches slapping against my arms. My foot gets caught on something causing me to fall flat on my stomach. Looking back I notice that it got caught on one of the many vines that stretch across the forest floor. I sigh out of shame that I had actually tripped on a vine like Valiari warned, but I shake it off and continue forward. After so many trees and worry of being watched by those wolf creatures I finally come to the magnificent sight of little village like Valiari had said across a field of rich green grass. There are some ponies around but they seem to be preoccupied with each other talking and laughing. The buildings look like little cottages and I can even see a big red barn out in the distance. Conveniently I see a perfect resemblance to what Valiari had described. A humongous tree with windows and even a balcony stretching out along one of the thick long branches.

With a feeling of security I jog across the field to the tree hugging the sides to be sure that none of the ponies see me. Sliding my body along the trunk inch by careful inch I find myself under a window that has been left half open. I push it up all the way and peer in from the bottom of the windowsill. I scan the room and see that the walls are lined with what seems like thousands of books. The walls of the inside of the trunk have been modified into shelves. I take a deep breath preparing myself to hurry inside and find the book. I only hope it doesn’t take too long for I worry that I might be found. I grip my hands on the bottom of the windowsill and hoist myself up. I can feel my arms strain as I try to lift my legs over as quietly as possible. The room I’m entering has cupboards all around, a refrigerator in the far left corner, and a stove with stray pots atop it. It must be a kitchen, but it leads into the main room with all the books. Once my feet touch the wood I waste no time to hurry over to the shelves and look for that book, but I freeze dead in my tracks at the sound of knob turning somewhere in the library. I hear the creaking of a door straight to my right and my only instinct is to hide.

I tip toe back into the kitchen and hysterically bounce my eyes around the room looking for a place to conceal myself. The only option I have is to try and fit myself into one of the wide cabinets along the floor. I pry open the cabinet doors and see a perfect open space for me to fit, so I climb in and squeeze my legs inside with the other pans around with me. Quietly I close the doors with my heart racing and my head beginning to sweat. I can hear the little pitter patter of steps beyond the walls of the cabinet. I’m envisioning what happens next. The owner opens the these cabinet doors and grabs me by the collar ready to present me with what ever punishment she may have in store for me. The steps draw closer along with the slight mumbling of a young voice and stop near my doors. Before I can even squeeze in another negative thought the doors flare open and the face of a small purple dragon with round green dorsal spines that run down from the top of its head all the way down to its short tail. I feel the need to gasp for air out of fright, but I clasp my hand over my mouth just in time. Just as I’m about to believe that it’s all over I realize that the little dragon can barely hold his eyelids up.

“Uhh now where is that little pan. . . Hmm little pan little pan.” He says while reaching inside nearly touching my chest. He must be extremely tired and is too oblivious to notice me. Coming to the sense that I actually have a chance to save myself I see the little pan near my leg and grab it. I hold it out to him and after feeling around the air with his little claw he finally takes hold of the handle. “Oh here it is. (Yawns) Thanks buddy.” Confused and still in shock I watch him close the doors and start messing around with the stove and refrigerator. I can smell something cook and feel the heat from the stove. The smell of food reminds me that I haven’t eaten anything in quite some time, but my stomach is too full of butterflies to even notice. After a while my heart calms down a bit until I finally hear steps again but this time fading out. The sound of a door closing means it’s my cue to come out of hiding and look for that book.

I crawl out of the cabinet and hurry back to the shelves upon shelves of books. I run my index finger across the spines of so many books row after row and I have not yet seen the book, but I still have plenty more to go through. Behind me my ears catch a familiar sound, the hooting of an owl. I turn and see a gorgeous brown owl perched on a different windowsill before turning and taking off. It felt kind of calming to see an owl, but now I need to continue searching the shelves. After more wasted minutes watching my finger tremble as I feel that I’m running low on time, and that the owner can walk in through the front door any second, I finally stumble upon it. “Magic of Imitation” the spine reads. Eagerly I pull the book from the shelf and stare at it with a sigh of relief. “What the-? Who are you? And what do you think you’re doing with my book!?” A female voice shouts from behind me after the loud thrusting open of a door. Twisting myself around I see a purple pony with a furious expression. Her mane is violet with red and pink highlights running through a small section of hair, and her horn is glowing with a wavy magenta aura. Fluttering near her is a brown owl; the same one I saw fly away from the window. “Don’t move a muscle!” She orders while cautiously moving closer. I glance over to the kitchen and see that the window is still open and could provide as an escape, but I don’t think I’ll be able to make it. The pony becomes suspicious from my stare back to the window and fires a beam of red light into my chest. Immediately I begin to feel drowsy and everything around me is fading to darkness. I can no longer feel my legs or my arms. My body drops to the ground feeling lifeless, and the book falls from my hand. My ears start to deafen as the purple pony looms over me staring me down angrily as she eventually becomes nothing but black.

Progressively I can feel blood flow through my limbs once again. But now everything has gotten colder, the floor has turned to a solid metal. Sound begins to stream back through my ears but only hearing slight whispers. Opening my eyes to my blurry surroundings it gradually takes shape. Around me are bars of silver metal and a roof of metal over my head. Beyond these bars is a wide white room with glossy white tiles on the floor and long vertical windows that let in beams of sunlight. I groan trying to lift myself up, the cage is so small that all I can do is sit up; there is barely any space at all for me to move around. In front of the cage stands the purple pony from before, but beside her is a tall majestic white horse with a long horn and beautiful wings. Her mane is like a flowing rainbow, and she adorns a golden crown, necklace, and shoes all embedded with jewels. She inspects me curiously while the purple pony stares at me with the same face before I blacked out. “Hmm . . . Well Twilight I am unsure of what kind of creature this is . . . quite peculiar.” Says the white unicorn. “Where did you say you found it?”

“It was in my home digging around through my books. He had this one in his hand.” The purple pony hands over the book to her as she carries it with her magic causing it to bear a golden glow of light around it.

“Magic of Imitation . . . why would it need this?”

“I’m not sure, but it’s a little odd.”

“Tell me, why did you believe it was there to cause mischief?”

“Because I could feel a strong magic emanate from it. I couldn’t quite tell what it was so I went on the defensive.”

“I see, and you are right. I am sensing a magic about it that feels foreign to me. Perhaps we should be cautious. Guards!” In the blink of an eye two white stallions in golden armor and a blue Mohawk upon their helmets trot over and salute the white unicorn. Their armor is decorated with a blue star on their chests and only covers portions of their body making their faces, their under belly, and large portions of their legs visible. “Would you two take this book somewhere secure and look after it carefully?”

“Yes you’re majesty.” One of the armored stallions grasps the book in his teeth and trots away.

“Now, Twilight, does the creature speak?”

“Not that I’m aware of, but I may have blasted it with the sleep spell before it got the chance to.”

“Well then, why don’t we find out?” Suddenly I feel a disliking to these two. The purple one for attacking me with a spell and continuing to give me this dirty look on her face, and the white unicorn just for her being “her majesty” to her. What ever they may attempt to get me to speak won’t work, because I will sit here silently just to mock them. “Hello? What are you?” The white unicorn asks, but I just stare at her with an empty expression on my face.

“Can you understand us?”

“Do you have a name?”

"Maybe it can’t speak.”

“Perhaps, but it bears clothing. So it must be of some intelligence. I believe it is just refusing to speak to us.”

“Hmm . . . I know! Maybe Fluttershy can help. If it is just an animal then Fluttershy would be the one to speak with him.”

“Very well, bring her to the castle, as a matter of fact why don’t you bring the rest of your friends? I’m sure they would want to see this as well.”

“Yes you’re majesty.” The purple pony gives me one last dirty glance before trotting out of the room leaving the white unicorn to continue staring at me.

“What ever you are I will find out one way or another. If you really are a danger consider yourself dealt with.” The white unicorn leaves the room slamming the tall golden door behind her. Well here I am now trapped in this miniature prison that I can barely fit into. I have failed Valiari’s task, and who knows what is in store for me next? Perhaps they’ll torture me if they don’t get a word out of me. They are already suspicious of me as it is, so I don’t see why torture isn’t a probable thing for them to resort to. Or maybe I’ll just spend to rest of my days locked in this cage never to see another friendly face for as long as I live. Never to again see the outside and the beauty it withholds. The windows in the room aren’t even facing towards me to get a glimpse of the outside. I won’t see the Moon or the stars ever again. The only glimmering lights I’ll see is the reflection of it off these silver bars. I begin to wonder why they believed I bear some sort of magical aura. There is nothing magical about me whatsoever . . . except. What if? I reach into the pocket of my jacket and feel around. I feel a sense of relief mixed with amazement once my hand makes contact with the familiar texture of the little sack Trixie had given me. I pull out the small bag and loosen the tie around the opening to see all the stones still inside glowing like any star in their assortment of colors. Staring at them brings back that unknown feeling making me forget for a moment about my troubles. At least I still have these to not only admire, but to remember Trixie.

“Well it looks like everything didn’t go according to plan, but I think we may have another chance . . . Say what do you have there? May I see?” Valiari asks. The stones are so relaxing the sudden appearance of his voice didn’t even cause my body to jolt not one inch. I reach inside and carefully pull out one of the stones holding it in the center of my palm. The stone feels warm while glowing a lovely lavender light. “My, that sure is something. Never after all the years I’ve spent here have I ever seen something so magnificent . . . and you have more of them? Just where did you get so many of those?”

“Trixie gave them to me.”

“Did she now? Hm, I must’ve fallen asleep during that bit. Well, if I were you I would keep those safe. I can feel an intense magic within just by looking at it.” I drop the stone back into the bag and tie the bag up. After sliding it back into my pocket I lay my hand upon it to keep it safe. “Now, on to what I was saying. Oh yes, we still may have another chance. Thankfully that pony was generous enough to bring the book with her, because now we get another shot at this. The room it’s being contained in is only a few halls down from your room and isn’t locked, but it’s being watched over by those two royal guards.”

“But I’m trapped there’s no way I can escape this cage.” I say pessimistically.

“That’s what you think. Luckily I know how to set you free. Now I must inform you performing spells through here to manipulate what’s around you is difficult and restricting. There’s only so much I can do and so many times I can do it. So don’t expect me to do everything for you. Most of the time you will need to find your way out of trouble on your own, but seeing as how there really is no way for you to escape allow me to get you out of there.” Suddenly the roof begins to smear. It appears as though it is being wiped away along with the silver bars. The entire cage is wiped away without leaving a single trace of it ever being there smeared out of existence. I step down from the tall platform that my cage had rested on and look back to convince my brain that it is indeed gone. “There we go! I can tell by that look on your face that you didn’t expect that now did you? See I told you I could get you out. Now let’s get moving.”

“Wait.”

“What? What is it?”

“Can you at least tell me why you need this book? O-Or what it’s for? . . . I feel I should know.”

“It’s. . . There’s something I’ve been longing to do . . . to put my heart at ease. And this book is the key that contains the spell I need. Please Aireal I will explain everything to you when we have the time. But right now I can feel that we’re short on time and we have to—” Valiari stops in mid-sentence. I wait confusedly for him to finish his sentence, but something starts happening to light around the room. It dims until fading out to complete darkness in a matter of seconds. I can no longer see anything, and for this I stand motionless expecting some sort of light to return. “Aireal! Where are you?! Can you hear me?!”

“Y-Yes.” I whisper.

“Why can’t I see you? What has happened over there?” Without an answer I reach into my pocket and pull out one of the glowing stones from the bag. Holding it out in front of me the lavender light from it cuts through the dark illuminating a good portion of the room. I can feel the light’s warmth along my cheeks and the palm of my hand. “Ah that’s much better. Now do not panic; everything will be just fine . . . It would seem that the sun has set quite early, and the Moon isn’t rising. I fear that something may have happened to the princess. She is the one who is has the duty of raising and setting the sun, and for something like this to happen cannot be good. Why don’t you go and investigate? We can go after the book as soon as we find out what has happened. I do believe that the princess went to her master bedroom after she left, so that is where I shall guide you. You will need to be quiet and sneak around the halls. Remember to conceal that light when somepony is nearby. . . Are you alright? You’re trembling . . . look just keep calm. I’ll be with you the whole time.”

I take a deep breath in to calm my heart and mentally prepare myself. I walk over to the big gold door as the designs on it become clearer with the light reflecting off of it to reveal all the swirly designs. Quietly and carefully I turn the knob and gently push the door open as the hinges screech and echo down the halls causing me to halt. Afraid that someone will hear me I know that I need to push it open further so that I can squeeze through. Quickly I push it open just a little bit more. The screeching of the hinges isn’t as severe this time. I leave the room nearly crouched down so that I can stay alert and move quietly. “Now just turn right and then straight down.” Following his instructions the place seems to be pretty clear so far. There is not a single sound flowing through these halls at all only the faint tapping of my shoes against the tiles. “You’re doing fine, now keep going until you get to the end of the hall go left and . . . Wait, do you hear that?” I stop and listen, and the sounds of hoof steps are faint off in the distance. Then another set shows and is getting louder the longer my ears capture it. “Somepony is coming your way! Quick hide that light!” Frantically I cup the stone in my hands and hold it against my chest. Crouching my body to try and hide the light the trotting comes clearer, and down the hall a white light passes by to the next hall on the right. “. . . Alright you’re safe, you can take the light out now. That pony was headed straight to the princess’s room. Follow where that light went.” I hurry down the hall and turn right where the light had disappeared. All the trotting sounds have halted and are replaced with soft voices. “You’re almost there. Just down here and make a left. The princess’s room will be on the right side.” I jog down the rest of the hall and hug the wall to the right sliding my body across to an open doorway where the voices have become more audible.

I peer around the wall to see who is there. The light I saw before is emanating from the dark blue horn of another tall pony, but not quite the same size as the princess. In fact she just may be a princess as well with a small black crown, necklace, and shoes. Her coat is an indigo color and her eyes are just solid blue. But the most attracting feature of this mare is her dark flowing mane and tail. It is composed of random twinkles of white light that remind me of the stars in the night sky. My eyes are dazed by the magnificence of her appearance. Unlike the other princess, whom I felt disliking and annoyance for, she brings me feelings of security, serenity, and delight. But she is not alone; with her are six other ponies. “Princess Luna, what happened here?! Where is Princess Celestia?” The purple pony from before asks nervously.

“I do not know, but I have a feeling that this is just the beginning of something greater.” Says the princess.

“What could be worse than Princess Celestia going missing!?” Asks a winged pony with a rainbow mane and sky blue coat.

“How ‘bout all of Equestria bein’ put inta jeopardy?” Says an orange pony with a wild blonde mane and brown hat.

“Oh . . . right.”

“Ooohhh this is bad, bad, bad, bad, bad! This is almost as bad as the time when I almost forgot to take out my cupcakes out of the oven at the right time!” Shouts a pink coated pony with a crazy curly pink mane of a darker color.

“Pinkie Pie, jus’ how in tarnation is that almost as bad as this?” The orange pony asks in frustration.

“It was a life or death situation!”

“Girls please, let us stay focused. Princess Celestia has disappeared and there is no time for arguing.” Says a white pony with a curled royal purple mane and heavy mascara on her eye lashes.

“She’s right girls. We need to keep it together and do whatever we can to find out what happened to Princess Celestia. Princess Luna what is it you need us to do?” Asks the purple pony whom I believe Princess Celestia said her name was ‘Twilight’.

“For now I must go and raise the Moon so the other ponies do not begin to panic. Afterwards I shall meet up with you all again and we will discuss our next move. But I am certain of this: You all will need to bear the Elements of Harmony if we are to have a chance against whatever has taken my sister.”

“Right. Your majesty let me go with you; I don’t want this to happen to you too.” Says Twilight.

“Very well, then let us go.”

“Rainbow Dash take Fluttershy to the room where that one creature I told you about is. Make sure it’s still there and see if you can get it to speak, alright Fluttershy? Do you think you can do it?”

“I’ll try my best.” Says a winged butterscotch yellow pony with a long pink mane that nearly covers one of her innocent eyes. Her voice is so soft and gentle she almost doesn’t fit in with the rest of the group who are much louder by comparison.

“If it’s not there, then I think we know what might be responsible for this. Otherwise the rest of you should stay here and be on the lookout incase the culprit behind this is still around or at least any clues leading to some kind of answer.” They all agree and Twilight instructs the rainbow-maned pony on where to go to get to the room I was previously in. Twilight and the lunar princess trot away down a different hall away from me.

“Okay Fluttershy, let’s go see this thing.”

“Good luck you two.” Says the orange pony. I soon realize that those two will be coming my way. I can feel myself beginning to panic without any options as to what to do. I can’t just run past the doorway they’ll see me, and I can’t go back because they’ll find me there anyway.

“Aireal they’re headed right for you. You need to get out of there! I do have a small amount of magic left for now but not enough for anything substantial! The Moon is rising right now so the darkness will soon be subsided giving you no way of hiding. What to do; what to do . . . I got it! Slam the door in their faces and I’ll use this magic to lock it!” I’m shaking and sweat is trickling down the back of my neck, but I force a surge of energy to jolt myself up and grip the two halves of the open door.

“What the—?” Says the rainbow pony fluttering in the air.

“What in tha hay is that?” Says the orange pony. Without any further thought I slam the doors shut and a neon blue glow surrounds the two halves. I can hear tumblers lock into place as the ponies shout inaudibly from behind the door.

“There. That should keep them out of the way!” Valiari says confidently; until a loud banging erupts from behind the door. I back away slowly as the banging continues. I can hear metal bending and wall cracking. The hinges are coming loose, and the doors are denting. My heart sinks and my eyes watch in horror as the door slowly comes apart. “Well, maybe not for long.”