Kin and Kind
"It's been some time since we've spoken, Lexarius."
The voice was weak from injury. The strain was heart-breaking to hear. Lexarius could not even see past the intense light of the Silver Sanctum. Within its sacred space, only Her Majesty could tend to the Sixteenth.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"And it will be some time again after this. Our kin in the other world need help. We have decided that you, the pony who spoke the most in their behalf, shall go to that world and offer them a path away from Oceanus's."
"Your Majesty...the Council of Elders has voted for Procul's suggestion to abandon them in Vestibulum until they come upon a fate outside the Herd."
Procul Ocularus's suggestion was rubbish. The Herd had tried to leave them to their own devices, to see how they would develop without interference. It was impossible. Oceanus's mere presence shifted that balance towards the abyss. Before long, this Everlasting Kingdom had sprang up. They had to match Oceanus at least. Offer a path other than his darkness. Continuing to stand aloof, to watch the souls of these ponies wander Vestibulum, was nothing short of evil. The Wolvenaar had already sent missives asking if these wandering souls were under the Herd's protection. Without that protection, they would spend forever drowning in Oceanus's abyss or roaming the Hunting Grounds as eternal prey. Yet the vote went to Procul by a small margin. Lexarius came second, and Gravitas last. Stupid as the suggestion may be, it kept the elders hooves clean. In their eyes anyway.
"Procul's suggestion and the Council's stance on it has been noted."
"Your Majesty, with this you will have overridden a Council vote more times than all our previous rulers combined. Save for the Sixth."
"Ah, you love your counting as always, my friend. Go now. Our kin need you."
"My lord, the various faction leaders you asked to meet have gathered in the dining hall."
Lexarius nodded, and strode on while his new, self-appointed, assistant trotted by his side. He took note of Flame Flash’s use of a title he had not asked her, or anypony for that matter, to use. He looked at her, mouth already open for a brief chiding. He was here as a steward. The King and Queen had asked him to offer these ponies an alternative to their self-destructive path, not to rule over them. He was not their lord. He was here as a guide for those who would accept him.
When Flame Flash met his gaze with wide-eyed awe, Lexarius thought against the chiding. These ponies needed comfort for now. When the pegasus mare and her clan stumbled upon his arrival, they were reduced to terrified shrieking and cowering. It took a while to convince them that they had not stumbled upon a prime servant of their “Deep Father”, and they were not going to torn apart for refusing to follow his Everlasting Kingdom anymore. “My lord” was a peaceful transition. When these ponies grew more accustomed to him, he could make small adjustments. Insisting on his terms now would only make things more difficult. “Thank you, Flame Flash,” he said with a smile.
The poor mare looked ready to fall to her knees if she wasn't so afraid of falling behind or tripping him up with her prostrate form. She settled for a quick bow, her bright red and orange curls bobbing and falling across her green eyes. When they approached the door to the make-shift meeting chamber, she galloped ahead, and opened it.
The first group of ponies that Lexarius encountered did not have much by way of accommodations. They were hiding in a small series of caves, by some foothills in the outskirts of the Everlasting Kingdom. The natural stone chambers were modified with crude wooden structures to separate rooms and provide basic furnishings. Small flickering lamps lit the way, just bright enough to provide some illumination without revealing too much to outside observers. The whole place was damp, with leaky ceilings and puddles of brackish water all around. Lexarius considered himself lucky, however. These were the very ponies he was hoping to meet: ponies who resisted the lure of Oceanus’s power, ponies that proved his point to the Council of Elders. Flame Flash and her kin, pegasi refugees fleeing the depredations of the Everlasting Kingdom, would serve as his starting point as he nurtured a different sort of influence on Oceanus’ children, one that didn't involve feeding them to his wretched abyss.
Already, that influence was spreading. He was quick to branch out once he had gained a foothold in this world. It took only days to find reliable agents to feed him news of the outside world. It filled him with pride to know that Flame Flash and her kin were far from the only ponies rebelling against the Everlasting Kingdom. Several factions were scattered across the land: ponies alienated by the Everlasting Kingdom’s cruel and exacting ways, groups of victims escaping their cruel fates, and those simply outraged by it all. He had gathered representatives of three of the most powerful groups to this place today. Hopefully, he could merge them into a mighty force that would not only secure the future of ponies in this world, but in the next as well.
The division was clear enough at first glance: unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. Each faction had apparently claimed a portion of the meeting room, and guarded that space jealously. To the far end of the room, a trio of pegasi already had their spears out, two of the three anyway. To Lexarius’s left, the three unicorns had erected a force field around themselves.
The earth ponies were the oddest sight. It looked like only two of them had arrived and had dragged along a crudely carved stone statue of a third earth pony. Lexarius noted that the unicorns and pegasi looked more worried at the sight of these earth ponies than they were of each other.
That changed when Lexarius entered the scene, however. All three factions stopped and stared at him as soon as he made it past the door.
“What is this?” one of the pegasi, a dark blue-maned stallion with a white coat, asked. “Did Pansy actually succeed with the unicorn horn transplants? Didn't she give up on that project?”
The stallion appeared to be the pegasus leader from the way he stood ahead of his comrades. He wore barding that Lexarius associated with the soldiers of the Everlasting Kingdom, but the insignias were missing as was the tabard and anything that actually carried the mark of his former allegiance. The loss of physical objects was not the only thing that leaving the Everlasting Kingdom resulted in. A trio of scars crisscrossed his face, one running down a lost left eye. A portion of his neck was hairless from an old burn. His white mane was cropped almost to nothing while his tail hairs were not even long enough to cover the fleshy part.
“The unicorn-implant project was abandoned, Cross Guard,” the pegasus stallion to the right of their leader said. “Look, not even the slightest bit of scarring. There’s no way Pansy could have done such a perfect transplant. Not without us knowing.” He was a grizzled soldier by the look of him, only slightly younger-looking that his leader. His mane was shaved down to nothing, his face covered with old scars, and the few signs of his gray coat that peeked out of his barding looked just was worn.
The remaining pegsus who had not spoken was a mare. She was…less damaged than her companions. And a great deal younger. Fire had not harmed her light blue coat, while her indigo mane and tail had not been shorn in the name of whatever passed for discipline in the Everlasting Kingdom’s army. The wholeness ended there. Her wings were utterly ruined, broken in several places, and useless even reaching for things let alone flying.
The lead unicorn, a yellow-coated mare with a flowing mane in the colors of a sunset spoke. “Pansy’s brutish methods could never come near this!” She looked at Lexarius with awe and terror. “This is a prime servant of the Deep Father! We’ve been tricked or we are faced with a fellow rebel.”
The statue of an earth pony did not speak. Lexarius didn’t need him to. This was Rock Maven, the leader of the earth pony clan fragments that escaped the Everlasting Kingdom. It was understandable why the other ponies in the room were just as scared of him as they were of the otherworldly pony that had just walked in. His two companions didn't look particularly worried for their lives, so confident they were that he could protect them and smash any attackers into puddles of gore. He could very well too with that huge stone slab of a shield slung on his back and the weapon attached to his left side, which was longer than he was and likely weighed more than all the ponies in the room combined. There were no eye-slits in the massive helm that covered Rock Maven’s head and face. Lexarius assumed that the pony had the power to see through solid rock. It did have several small holes along the neck. At the very least, the pony inside still breathed air.
The other two earth ponies did not enjoy the same sort of reputation or presence. Lexarius’s new agents found the fragmented earth pony clans working under Rock Maven the most difficult to obtain information from. Years of oppression left these escaped slaves highly insular and deeply suspicious. Lexarius chose to limit the divination spells to simple ones for now; partly because stronger spells would be detected and met with deep suspicion and partly because he would much rather that these ponies speak out on their own. The stallion to Rock Maven’s left was Magma Dart. A fitting name for a pony whose coat resembled coarse, partly burned stone and whose long wild mane looked like molten rock spilling out of a crevice. The mare to his right was Field Blossom, a light verdant green pony whose mane and tail were reminiscent of long, yellow flower petals. Both ponies apprentices from different clans.
Lexarius’s agents had better luck with the other factions. The unicorns sent here may not match the strangeness or raw might of Rock Maven, but they proved interesting in their own way. The seeming leader from her outspokenness, Dawn Warmth, was a decoy. The two unicorns behind her belonged to the former unicorn king’s retinue, absorbed into Princess Platinum’s bodyguards when her father conveniently died of an illness. The stallion to her left was Bell Strike, Great Shield of the Kingdom. The mare to her right was Blade Gleam, the King’s Mirror. The two held important positions among the unicorns tired of Platinum and Clover’s depravity.
Bell Strike was still clad in the armor of his former office: ornate plates of old gold that showed little of his cream-colored coat. The curving plates were carefully engraved with stylized horns as well as suns and moons: the heraldry of the now-defunct Unicorn Kingdom. He was a vestige of a realm that had been absorbed by the Everlasting Kingdom and it was clear how proud he still was of it. The pointed helm did nothing to hide the piercing blue eyes and the grim set lips. His salt-and-pepper beard reached his chest, tucked away into the breast plate. His flowing mane was the same color and just as carefully arranged in long braids. His weapon, while not as enormous as Rock Maven's was still an impressive sight. A long, golden shaft tipped with a massive bell-shaped head was strapped to his back. Powerful enchantments coursed through the weapon. Reports from his agents already told Lexarius that the Great Shield of the Kingdom combined powerful, heavy hits with well-timed spell-casting in battle.
Blade Gleam showed next to nothing besides her barding. Indeed, only her slight build and previous reports indicated that she was indeed a mare. She was clad from snout to tail in polished steel plates, burnished to a mirror-like finish. Her perfectly smooth face mask showed only Lexarius when she faced him. Although, a few strands of a silvery white mane flowed out of the mask's sides, like trickles of melted metal. Enchantments were clearly in place to let her see. A long weapon of equally mirror-like finish was strapped to her side. Together, she and Bell Strike appeared as Dawn Warmth's bodyguards, though they were actually her superiors.
The pegasi were more open. Cross Guard really was the highest-ranked among them. The stallion accompanying him was Guard Break, his second: a typical loyal follower. The mare, however, was a mystery. She was Wind Glance. Her name was the only thing that Lexarius’s agents had dug up.
“I am standing before you, ponies,” Lexarius boomed. The few chairs and the table shook a bit. “Feel free to ask me who and what I am to my face.”
The effect was telling. The intimidation likely didn’t endear him to any of them. But the other effect proved more useful. They stopped looking as if they were about to tear each other apart. All focus, and weapons, now centered on Lexarius. He hoped that, once they had all calmed down, the lesson would sink in.
“Then, who are you?” Cross Guard asked. “What are you, how were you able to contact all of us, and why?”
“My name is Lexarius. I am…” Lexarius paused. What word in this tongue would suffice? How odd that the next thing he said could very well affect all those who would come after him. He didn’t have that much time to think. The more he showed he was thinking of his answers, the more suspicious these ponies would be. “I am an alicorn, a pony of the Eternal Herd, a steward in service to its King and Queen, and an enemy of Oceanus or, as you ponies know him better, your ‘Deep Father’.”
Most of Lexarius’s introduction flew past them. The last part, however, struck a chord. From seeing him as the common suspicious creature, they’ve finally come upon something more important to share. Good.
“How can we trust you?” Cross Guard asked.
“That’s a lofty goal, young one,” Lexarius said. “I’m a stranger. Not just to all of you in this room, but to this very world you live in. I advise you to try something easier and more vital such as trusting the others around you.”
They glanced at each other out of reflex. Glares flew from all sides and the suspicion spread out again. Lexarius shook his head. This was going to take some work. “Please, settle down. Might I remind you that we are all guests in this home? Put away your weapons and take some seats.”
“You haven’t answered the rest of my questions, Lexarius,” Cross Guard said.
“I would have if you didn't interrupt,” Lexarius replied. “Finding and contacting all of you proved difficult given your understandable fears. Difficult, but not impossible. I have my spells and I have earned enough trust to gain the aid of some of your fellows in this world. Make no mistake, if I can do it, so can the Everlasting Kingdom. That leads me to the next point. In tracking those rebelling against the Everlasting Kingdom, I’ve already discovered that all of you are in the brink of annihilation. You are struggling to grow. Your agents are being dogged left and right. Your attacks are doing little in denting the Everlasting Kingdom’s grip on this land and your forces are growing weaker each day.”
Magma Dart slammed his front hooves against the table, causing the wood to creak and splinter. “The clans will never bend before the Everlasting Kingdom again!” he snarled.
“And they won’t,” Lexarius said, “because the Everlasting Kingdom has no intention of bending you ever again. The clans will perish, Magma Dart. To the last foal.”
Magma Dart shook his head and grinned. “They will try and fail. We have gained the power to fight back even against their best! We’re not the same earth ponies they dragged into their mines and fields in chains!”
“You mean the horrible powers you’ve dug up in Princess Platinum’s mines, earth pony?” Dawn Warmth said. “The same power that you used to open that fissure in Boltspire City?”
Magma Dart raised his chin. “The Everlasting Kingdom lost a great many troops that day. Including Bone Chimes, one of their highest-ranked overseers.”
“And over a hundred innocent ponies went with them!” Dawn Warmth snapped. “Did you think that a cloud of poisonous underground gasses would only pick your enemies?”
“They were mostly unicorns,” Magma Dart said. “Hardly the stuff of innocence.”
“Magma Dart,” Rock Maven said. Dawn Warmth was about to make an angry reply, but the sheer surprise of finally hearing something from underneath all that stone armor left her silent. Rock Maven spoke in a rumbling baritone, gentle and powerful. The stone that closed around his head did nothing to muffle it. “Boltspire was a horrible mistake. Irredeemable even if we killed Bone Chimes and a hundred more like him because of it.” He turned towards Dawn Warmth. “I gave the order that the attack be stopped. I assure you, that I have dealt with the perpetrator.”
All eyes went to the massive, curving, stone…thing that hung from Rock Maven’s side. It looked like a gigantic, oddly-shaped club. The thing alone could make the stone floor rumble slightly with each step and Rock Maven had more than the thing alone. Closer inspection showed that it vaguely resembled a very large fang, with the point modified to serve as the weapon's hilt. Lexarius had seen the dragons that roamed this world and this thing would not be out of place in the mouth of the largest among them. Provided if the rest of the dragon was stone as well. There was no doubt, not from anyone, as to what “dealt with” meant.
Rock Maven’s gaze went to Lexarius. “I will admit it. We are losing. Our gifts are powerful, but we cannot survive at this rate.”
The two earth ponies next to Rock Maven stared at him in horror. That was natural, however. Their mighty leader, the pony they were so confident in, just admitted that their group was in dire straits.
What intrigued Lexarius was the reaction from somepony else. Wind Glance finally shifted out of her silent melancholy to look at Rock Maven. For a very brief moment, her eyes were liquid with concern. She seemed aware of this show of emotion and glanced to her companions worriedly. They hadn’t noticed and she went back to keeping a careful eye on every pony in the room.
Rock Maven’s admission, however, served more than just to terrify his own allies. It started a necessary chain of admissions from the others. If the proud Rock Maven can say such a thing, they may be more willing to open up.
“It's true," Blade Gleam said. “We are also struggling. The Everlasting Kingdom’s resources are too vast. The Companions are too strong.”
Cross Guard leaned back on his chair and crossed his forelegs in front of him. “Bah!” he snapped. His voice lowered. “We knew that our chances of defeating the Everlasting Kingdom were slim to none. We’re not invaders. We broke out from within. We knew the strength arrayed before us before we even raised our arms in rebellion. You’re not bringing us any grand revelation, Lexarius.”
‘It is as I said, Gravitas, Procul. Harmony. They are no different from us.”
“No, I’m not,” Lexarius said. “You are brave, Cross Guard. Indeed,” his gaze swept over them, “all of you are. But clearly not brave enough. You are all wise enough to know what must be done, but too afraid to try it.”
“The earth pony clans dared to rise up against the Everlasting Kingdom with nothing more than mining picks and our innate abilities!” Magma Dart shouted. “How dare you call us cowards!”
Lexarius shifted in his chair. Flame Flash and her family had done their best to provide him with a comfortable seat, even going so far as to make modifications on the biggest one they could get. He was grateful for their efforts, but it still proved difficult to stay comfortable. When he spoke, he addressed the group, not just Magma Dart’s outraged outburst. “The reason why all three of your factions are failing is plain enough. No grand revelations here either, Commander Cross Guard, and I bring to light what you have mentioned earlier. You are all splinter groups from the Everlasting Kingdom. As a result, you have attempted to beat them by their own means. You cannot match them atrocity for atrocity. You cannot delve any deeper into the dark side of your own origins than they can. You cannot hope to be more violent, more hateful, more ruthless, and more depraved than they. If you had that potential in you, you would have never left.”
Even Magma Dart looked subdued at this. Lexarius let himself smile a little as he continued.
“I offer you an option you ponies have nearly buried in your past, so desperate you were in achieving a future with Oceanus. It is not some alien thing from my world, just something all the horrors you have seen have nearly blinded you to.”
“What do you mean, Lexarius?” Dawn Warmth asked. “Did another like the Deep Father come upon this world without us knowing?”
“No, nothing so spectacular, but far more potent. I speak of harmony, young ones,” Lexarius rapped the table sharply with a hoof. “Must I put it so plainly before you understand? Your time in the Everlasting Kingdom has filled this room with old enemies. Look again and see allies.”
They looked at each other, eyes wide as his words sank in. Once more, it was Magma Dart who spoke first. “I’ll be dead before I work with these oppressors!” he snarled. “As soon as we side with them, they’ll seize the first opportunity to make us do their work!”
“We never took part in Platinum’s or Pansy’s slave trade, earth pony!” Dawn Warmth snapped. “Not that I’d be any less dead before I work with a mass murderer who hides behind fighting for freedom!”
“As I expected from both sides,” Cross Guard muttered. “No discipline! The pegasi need allies, not infants!”
“Commander,” Wind Glance said softly. The two other pegasi looked at her.
“Are we in this bad a shape?” Cross Guard asked her.
“I joined this cause prepared to lose,” Wind Glance said, “but planning to win. The alicorn is right. If we are crushed without even trying to ally with the rebel unicorns and earth ponies, it would be as if we had died of thirst next to a pool of water.”
“Aye, and that pool of water could be full of poison,” Guard Break said. “The trust issue remains.”
“Does it?” Lexarius asked. “You pegasi are the soldierly type. I know you have scouts out there, maintaining a close watch on the unicorns and earth ponies the best you can. You’ve seen them struggle, which I doubt you lifted a wing to help with. You know their plight is the same as yours. Generosity, young ones. Acting with caution is good, but we have to extend ourselves at some point. The Herd has extended itself through me. Meet me halfway and we will all succeed.”
Dawn Warmth shook her head. “I’m not--!”
“I agree.”
Once more, all eyes were on Rock Maven.
“You can’t be serious, master!” Magma Dart said aghast. “Work with these oppressors?”
“I swore to help all those oppressed by the Everlasting Kingdom, Magma Dart.” Rock Maven leaned forward. He was the only pony who wasn’t sitting. Lexarius doubted that a chair made of steel would be able to support this pony. “Time to correct that. The united earth pony clans extend an offer for an alliance.”
‘Same compassion under all the bluster and caution.’
Wind Glance nearly smiled and then looked to Cross Guard. “This is insane,” the pegasus commander said. “We’re going to work together with these ponies on the say-so of a pony who outright admitted that he doesn’t even belong in this world?”
“Certainly, Lexarius’s nature is intriguing.” Bell Strike looked like he was ready to drop the act. “I would ally with an enemy of the Deep Father, if I could be sure. But I do not know him well enough.” He looked to the other ponies. “I do know, however, the rest of you. We’ve done enough scrying, employed enough spies, and made enough theories. It shames me that we have to be chastised by a stranger to act.”
Dawn Warmth shrank when Blade Gleam also leaned forward. “Agreed. The unicorns are willing to take up your offer, Rock Maven. Terms must be discussed first before we commit, but we will cooperate with a proper meeting.”
“Hmph,” Cross Guard said. “Very well, if the unicorns and the earth ponies are going to gather for a talk, it’s only prudent that the pegasi get involved.”
‘Same pride and prudence.’
“A good enough start,” Lexarius said. He looked towards Flame Flash, who had never left his side. “You said dinner was ready?” he asked.
“It is, my lord,” Flame Flash said. “It is poor fare for so many, I’m afraid.”
Lexarius smiled. “Nonsense. Food offered freely to strangers will always prove the best of meals. We have a momentous alliance in the making here, Flame Flash, a celebration is in order!”
Flame Flash all but scampered off at that. A few minutes later, she and the rest of her family brought in a modest pot full of still bubbling vegetable stew, clearly light on the vegetables. Lexarius took a long inhale in that direction: thyme, basil, rosemary, a touch of oregano in there too. Flame Flash had a small herb garden somewhere in this hideout. While few main ingredients could be spared, she had readily given up her herbs to provide a decent meal. A few loaves of several days-old bread and several jugs of water from the rain barrels rounded up the meal.
Nopony complained, or even looked mildly disappointed. Given their situations, this sort frugality must be standard fare. When Flame Flash placed Lexarius’s share in front of him, she couldn’t even meet his gaze. He placed a hoof around her shoulder and smiled again. “Thank you,” he said. He looked to the rest of his hosts. “It is not right that I suddenly bring in so many guests without providing.
From his extra-dimensional space, Lexarius pulled out what appeared to be a large, silver horn. The wide end was decorated with interlocking, golden ivy leaves. The mouthpiece was also gold and studded with small, glittering diamonds. Among the things he had taken with him for his travels was a Horn of Cornucopia, to provide him with both food and memories of a place he might not see in a while. He looked at the set table and gently blew into the device.
First, the stew was not to be overshadowed. The Herd’s magic encircled the pot and the bowls, invigorating the ingredients and adding more body. After the horn was done, it was a bubbling garden of aromatic delights that awaited the ponies around him. The stew was thick and heavy with flavor, laden with large chunks of potatoes and carrots and mixed in with greens so fresh; it almost appeared as if they were still growing. With the body to back it up, the aroma sent all mouths watering, including Flame Flash and her family’s. The rainwater turned from a brackish hue to the deep red of fine wine before their very eyes. But the horn wasn’t done there. From its mouth floated golden grass and grain from Elys, bunches of grapes from the vineyards of Bytos and a variety of flowers grown from the gardens of Empyrea itself. All accompanied by a heavenly fragrance from a home Lexarius already missed.
Every pony at the table stood dumbfounded. Rock Maven removed his helm, the floor cracking where he let it drop, and turned his gaze from the food to Lexarius. There was a pony underneath all that rock after all. A rugged stallion with a dark gray coat and a short curly mane of bronze. Reports indicated that he should be at his prime, but that worn face belonged to a pony well past that. “This is not the same magic that I have encountered from the unicorns,” he said softly.
“Perhaps not,” Lexarius said. “Tonight, the Herd shall provide. I would like all of you to set aside your concerns until the end of the meal. Have a taste, not just of the food, but the possible beginning of fellowship.”
While they all looked hungry, nopony made a move. Lexarius had expected that as well. Before he could move, however, Flash Fire leaned in and picked several grapes from the center of the tables, popping them delicately into her mouth. The others watched her intently. When she showed no ill effects, they reluctantly began to eat.
The first few minutes of the meal were completely wordless. The air was filled with brief grunts of surprise, the clinks of utensils, and the slurp of tongues taking in the thick stew. The reluctance and the sense of caution did not last long against the assault of flavors, especially not after so much time making do with stretched out rations and meals taken from enemy supply wagons. Lexarius hoped that the meal reminded them of plenty, just as it reminded them of fellowship. There was much to endure in this fight against the Everlasting Kingdom, but may this meal remind them of a good future as their goal.
“I find no traces of illusion magic here, Lexarius,” Blade Gleam said. “It takes powerful magic and a sacrificial earth pony to produce such nourishing plenty.”
The earth ponies next to Rock Maven stopped and stared.
“Through the Everlasting Kingdom’s methods perhaps,” Lexarius said. “As you can see, there are ways that exist aside from your old allegiances. I assure you, no dead earth ponies were involved in your meal.” He paused. ‘Well, that may not be quite accurate. Some of your dead that haven’t gone to Oceanus have already been welcomed to the Herd. Perhaps, earth ponies tended to those grapes.’
“I would be interested in studying this form of magic,” Blade Gleam said. She continued to eat after that.
“And so you shall,” Lexarius said. He turned his attention towards the pegasi. One pegasus in particular. Wind Glance wasn’t quite enjoying her meal the same way the others were. She took a nibble from a few choice bits, but her plate was forlornly empty compared to the heaps next to her companions.
“What’s the matter, pegasus?” Magma Dart asked. He was smiling, but it was no smile of contentment or mirth. “Plenty enough for all. Surely, even you haven’t had such a feast in a while?”
“Thank you for your concern,” Wind Glance said. “But I am simply not hungry.”
The smile disappeared. “Open your mouth wide.”
The other stopped as well. “Magma Dart, stop this rudeness. You are shaming yourself before a fellow guest and your host,” Rock Maven said.
Magma Dart shook his head. “Shame or not, I can smell her breath from here. I have a good idea of what you are, pegasus, open your mouth wide if you have nothing to hide!”
Flame Flash looked worriedly at Lexarius, but he did not choose to interfere. He had a good estimation of the reasons behind this exchange, but Wind Glance’s reaction was more important than any quick diffusion of the problem.
Wind Glance opened her mouth wide for every pony to see. The unicorns frowned, partly because of the actual sight and partly because it was highly impolite in unicorn society to show the inside of one’s mouth so brazenly.
Wind Glance’s mouth was lined with razor-sharp canines, more at home in the jaws of a wolf than a pony’s. These were not molars filed to points. Even Lexarius frowned a bit. These couldn’t be natural. That meant one other possible thing.
“I knew it!” Magma Dart crowed. “Graywing Elite!” He looked to Lexarius. “You want us to work with these beasts?”
Rock Maven tapped the table with a hoof. The gentle gesture was enough to elicit a fearful expression on Magma Dart’s face. It was to Wind Glance that Lexarius looked to, however.
“Interesting,” Lexarius said. “I take it that the teeth are not the only reasons why you are unable to enjoy a meal fit for ponies?”
Wind Glance hesitated. She mouthed something to herself that was too soft for anypony to hear unaided. Lexarius read the word from her lips: honesty. “All initiates to the Graywing Elite go under the knives of Pansy and her doctors. Our teeth and innards are modified to better reflect the Graywing Elite credo: the weak sow, the strong take.”
Magma Dart sneered. “In short, your generals transformed you into beasts that devour both the farmer and his crops. How many of my kin did you stuff in your cooking pot, Graywing Elite?”
“Likely as many as the pegasi whose wings you’ve ripped off, earth pony,” Cross Guard said. “I hear that the rebel earth pony clans are fond of designing pegasus pinion cloaks. Yours must be in for cleaning today as you’re not wearing it. Or perhaps it’s gotten too big to fit through doors?”
“Each pegasus I’ve killed was a vicious slaver that deserved it,” Magma Dart said. “Their breaths stank of pony blood just like hers does.”
‘And they even bicker like us.’
Rock Maven looked ready to make good on his threat and Cross Guard looked ready to assist on the matter. ‘Well, they’re finding some common ground,’ Lexarius thought. Wind Glance raised a hoof, however, to stop them both.
“I was Graywing Elite,” she said. “I did eat ponies we captured on raids. I followed the commands of Commander Hurricane and Pansy without question.”
“You see, she admits it!”
‘The same small concerns and occasional narrow-mindedness. I wish I could pluck you two from your precious offices and sit you down for this meal.’
Lexarius looked to Dawn Warmth and the other two. “You unicorns can tell what sort of spell I’m casting if you study closely, can’t you?”
All three nodded reluctantly. Lexarius cast his spell. For their sakes he took his time and made each part of the process as obvious as possible. Even a foal from the Herd would have guessed it.
“Divination,” Dawn Warmth said. “Revealing. You wish to show us something, Lexarius?”
Lexarius nodded and finished the spell. “See what I see before you judge each other,” he said. The spell washed over all of them gently, opening their eyes to an awful reality that gripped the very Herd in conflict over their fate. Small black tendrils clung to them, as if festering plants had taken root in their flesh. Spoons dropped on the table as they examined themselves.
“What is this?” Magma Dart shouted. “You’ve cursed us, alicorn!”
“I’m no necromancer, young one,” Lexarius said. “But I know enough so that you would not survive if I cursed you." He pointed at the taint on all of them. All of you are marked by the Everlasting Kingdom; pegasus or earth pony, Graywing Elite or slave. You all share your Deep Father’s stink and those things clinging to you will drag you all down to him regardless of what you put in your cooking pot.”
Magma Dart sat down, mollified by Lexarius’s words and unwilling to test Rock Maven’s patience any further. Lexarius’s lecture took its payment on the meal, turning it from a pleasant surprise to a dour event. A pity, but they had to learn somehow.
The rest of the meal went on with silence, and it was a more willing group of ponies that left the hideout to inform their respective factions. No promises were given, but Lexarius could practically hear the wheels of this alliance turning.
He had one more spell for this occasion: a subtle scrying spell. It was a under-hoofed and unplanned, but he had to admit that interest go the better of him. He closed his eyes and looked through the spell he attached to Wind Glance. As he had expected, she had apparently separated from her group. She galloped from one cover to another with all the caution of a spy caught in the middle of an enemy army. One would think she was trying to steal into the heart of the Everlasting Kingdom.
While Wind Glance may lack pegasus flight, she made up for it with grace. He lithe form and slender legs belied a strong sense of stability. She moved through rough ground without tripping or even slowing down, leaped past small obstacles as if she were taking temporary flight, and made sharp turns with ease. Injured and soft-spoken she may be, but she weathered fatigue with soldierly experience, barely even sweating or panting after all that exertion.
After a while, she made it to her destination. No guarded treasure to take or important figure to slay here. In the middle of an empty field was the armored figure of Rock Maven himself. His companions were not around. It was likely that he had made them go ahead.
“Maven,” Wind Glance called out softly. He answered by removing the stone helm and letting it fall to the ground. That was a suspiciously familiar form of address there. Certainly not how the representative of one faction should use on another.
“I’m sorry about Magma Dart,” Rock Maven said. “I wish I didn’t have to bring him, but he has a growing influence among us. He’s becoming more and more aware that I cannot get rid of him without splintering the clans.”
“I don’t mind,” Wind Glance said. She moved just a little bit closer. A stranger would not even close half that distance after seeing the great stone club. Even a friend would not be so eager. “It’s becoming harder and harder to find ways to see you, Maven. The clans are becoming more and more hostile and guarded towards pegasi.”
“My kin listen so eagerly when I teach them what I know of our gifts,” Rock Maven said. “But when I talk about discerning an oppressor from an innocent, they smile and nod while my words go into one ear and out the other. I’m starting to think that I’m not fit to lead them. Lexarius may be the one to accomplish what I’ve been failing daily.”
“You led them out of those mines,” Wind Glance said. “You’re no failure, Maven. You rose when the clans needed you. Whatever Lexarius may accomplish, it will be because you laid out the groundwork for him.” She closed the last few inches of distance and nuzzled his chin. “But I do look forward to the time when neither of us has to worry about leading or following.”
“Yes,” Rock Maven said. He raised a foreleg and put it around her. “That would be my greatest triumph.”
Lexarius dismissed the spell. He was rude and intrusive enough. To see more would be a stain upon him.
‘Like us to the last detail, your majesties. I will not fail.’