Rise and Fall of Dark Rise: The Origin of the Headless Horse

Dark swam through the darkness. The cold eyes of his friends and mentors followed him wherever he went. He could feel their disapproval, their disappointment. “This is your fault.” It was Everstar’s soft voice. Darks head turned to find her. Ledger sat next to her nodding in silent agreement. “You let Ledger and I die.” They had never accused him of anything like this before.

“No,” whispered Dark, “I didn’t mean to…” His eyes welled up. There was nothing he could have done. He didn’t even know what he had done to kill that wolf. It had just… happened. He had never hurt anything before in his life, let alone studied spells with such goals. And Everstar… he could no more stop an avalanche than he could move a mountain. He wished more than anything that he had been able to save them.

“I’m sorry,” he said, turning from their hateful eyes in an attempt to find some solace in the void.

As he drifted through the darkness Sunblaze appeared before him, stopping him from continuing. “I warned the King you would fail the unicorns,” he said. The stallion was taller than Dark remembered; his mentor loomed over him.

Dark lowered his head in shame. “I’m sorry,” he said again. He had no explanation for his failure.

“Your words will not forgo the destruction your actions have brought on our tribe,” said his mentor.

“Please… I’m so sorry,” Dark pleaded. He had no other words. He had failed at everything he was tasked with. His legs buckled and he sank to the ground, tears beginning to stream down the sides of his face. “Please, forgive me!”

“We will not.” The words were a chorus. The sound of so many voices made him look up. Next to Sunblaze stood the king, and behind them was the rest of the council. Ledger and Everstar, Darks family, his friends… Scanning the faces it seemed like everypony he had ever met stood around him staring in disappointment.

He scrambled to his feet wiping the tears from his face. “You have doomed us all,” said the king stepping forward.

Dark opened his mouth to apologize and plead for their forgiveness again but before he could bring the words forth the world around him twisted. Those gathered screamed in fear or perhaps pain and were suddenly gone. Behind where they had stood was a single pony. Dark squinted at the stallion in disbelief.

It was him. The pony’s head turned. It was him, only his eyes were burning green. Dark was enveloped with a feeling of dread. The stallion turned and began to approach leveling his glowing eyes on Dark Rise, a vicious grin creeping across his lips.

He sat up with a start. Fear was replaced with pain and he groaned audibly and slumped backwards into the bed. How long had he been asleep, he wondered as he looked around the foreign room. Save for a water basin on the adjacent wall, it was bare of all touches of home; just an empty night stand and a low burning oil lamp. His eyes went over the window. It was dark outside.

Instantly Dark was engulfed in a panic and he was up like a shot. Pain flared through his body causing him to yelp and he stumbled out of the bed sprawling onto the floor, the blanket tangled around him. He needed to raise the sun. He cussed under his breath and kicked and pulled at the blanket trying to get his hooves underneath him.

The commotion apparently attracted somepony’s attention as the door behind him opened. “What are you doing out of bed?” came a mare’s voice.

Dark struggled against the blanket. “I need to raise the sun,” he said grabbing at the cloth with his teeth and tugging.

“No you don’t! It’s the middle of the night.” Dark turned his head slowly, his mouth full of blanket. Behind him, standing in the doorway, was a tan earth pony, her brown and white mane was askew, as if she had just gotten out of bed; she likely had. “You’re only going to hurt yourself worse like this; you shouldn’t even be trying to get up yet.” She genuinely seemed concerned and came to his side, leaning down to help him untangle the blankets.

Dark stared for a moment, forgetting what he had been trying to do. She was beautiful; good lines, long legs and gorgeous crystal blue eyes. Her cutie mark depicted a heart with the right half wrapped in bandages. “Er,” he said, suddenly ashamed of his thoughts; she was an earth pony, after all. The blanket was tugged from his mouth as the mare unraveled him. “Who are you?”

She untangled the last of the blanket and set it aside revealing a bandage that wrapped around his rib cage. “My name’s Kind Heart. Most ponies call me Kind though. Now hold still while I check this…” she said as she examined the bandage checking to make certain it had not loosened or begun to show red. When she seemed satisfied she helped him up. “You need to be more careful. That bruising around your ribs suggests they could be broken and you could re-open a number of cuts.”

He took her hoof and stood, albeit gingerly. “I’d believe it,” he said with a slight wince. Suddenly a thought hit him and his panic returned. “Where is Everstar?!”

“She’s sleeping in the next room,” Kindle Heart said much more quietly than Darks sudden outburst. “It would be best if you didn’t wake her.”

“Right…” He rubbed his foreleg in embarrassment, and his mind when to Ledger, laying a ring of red in the cold snow. Darks eyes squeezed closed.

“Now, it’s time you got back in bed. I’d like to get back to mine as well, before the sun rises…”

“It won’t rise without me,” he muttered under his breath, pushing away the thoughts of his friend as he opened his eyes looking to the mare.

She smirked at his words making him feel indignant. “Your friend said you would want to be working the instant you woke up,” she said, before he could make a retaliatory statement. “She wrote your council to alert them of what happened. They sent a letter in return for you. Would you like to see it?”

He tried to think of a way to preserve some of his dignity as the mare helped him into bed. Words failed him and he simply nodded as he lay back against the pillow. “Please.”

“I’ll grab it in just a moment,” she said as she picked up the blanket and tossed it over the top of him tucking the edges beneath the mattress. It was strange to see something like that done without magic. It didn’t seem to give the mare trouble, but if he were to try it he was sure he wouldn’t have such ease with the task. She leveled a stern look on him. “Stay put.” The mare turned, then, and walked out leaving the door open and Dark to stare after her.

He looked around the room again noticing the details for the first time. The ceiling was low with heavy beams to support it, the walls looked to be plaster of some sort, and the floor was simply heavily packed earth. The hall outside didn’t look that much different. It was a simple house for a simple pony.

He began wondering if all their structures were like this; short walls built over dirt with a ceiling. Something simple, made only to keep you warm and dry. He began to see why this was such an important venture and why the king and his council had invested so much time and effort into his studies and his abilities. The proud tribe of the unicorns should not be simple servants raising and lowering the celestials for this base tribe of ponies. They needed to be brought out from under their current agreements.

The mare returned a few moments later with a scroll between her teeth. She set it on the bed before him. “Here it is,” she said, before retrieving the oil lamp and placing it on the nightstand. “Now, I expect you asleep once you’ve finished reading it.”

Dark all but ignored her as she left the room and pulled the door closed behind her. He unrolled the scroll and read the looping text:

Dark Rise,

We have been made aware of your situation, and are relieved to know of your and Everstar’s safety. Take the time needed to recover and, in the meantime, Aethon will resume caring for the celestials until you determine you are well enough to handle the task again. Please take the doctor’s input into consideration before you make your decision. We’ve made arrangements and new supplies are on the way.

Sincerely,

King Suvrain

Next to the name, stamped in purple ink, was the king’s sigil. He reread the letter. They must not have been able to salvage anything from the avalanche wreckage, not that the earth ponies would know what to look for. The thought put a chill through him and he shuddered as he set the letter next to the lamp. He and Everstar were truly lucky that they had been found. As he lay there lost in his thoughts about the coming days he drifted off not realizing just how tired he actually was.

-

Dark’s morning had started out slow. The doctor was the first to hear that Dark had woken in the night and had plenty of questions for him. To Dark’s surprise the doctor had turned out to be the earth pony Chancellor. He was allowing the two unicorns to stay in his home to make it easier to monitor their care, and Dark spent the first couple hours being poked and prodded. Eventually the doctor was satisfied and allowed Dark to leave his room and visit Everstar.

Now he sat next to her bed. She had ended up in much worse shape than he had with both her left legs broken. She wouldn’t be leaving the bed any time soon. “I’m glad you’re awake,” she said. “The doctor was beginning to worry that if you didn’t wake soon you might not wake at all.”

He stared into the bowl that sat next to him on Ever’s nightstand. Kind, the doctor’s daughter as it turned out, had made a thick barley porridge for breakfast. It was delicious and he put another spoonful into his mouth as he looked Everstar over. Her left legs were placed in heavy casts and she had the same type of bandages wrapped around her chest like he had. She also had one wrapping around her forehead. He couldn’t help but feel like her injuries were his fault regardless of what he was told.

They weren’t certain what had caused the avalanche, but Dark had little doubt that the spells he had used had something to do with it. Thinking back he couldn’t remember what exactly he had done. Recreating the spells might not be possible. He shuddered. He didn’t really want to think about that. Magic wasn’t meant for killing.

Ever was watching him as he ate. “Are you alright?” she asked.

“Yes, just…” He couldn’t get his mind off of Ledgers body. They had not been able to find it after the avalanche. The chancellor had said that by this point it was likely some scavenger had claimed it and had called off the search the day before Dark had woken up. He shook his head. “It’s nothing.”

Ever reached out and patted him on the shoulder. “You did what you could, Dark,” she reassured him. “There’s nothing more anypony could ask for.”

He dropped the spoon back into the bowl, only a little of the breakfast having been eaten. “I need some air,” he said, pushing himself up.

“Don’t wander too far...”

Dark left his friend’s room. It was hard to explain to her what he was feeling. He had frozen when he saw that thing and he’d begun to panic. Ledger had saved him. Now, burned in his mind’s eye was that wolf, standing over Ledger, blood dripping from his jaws, and the snap of bone echoing through Darks head. He couldn’t help feeling that Ledger’s death was his fault. If only I hadn’t lost my wits… Then what? Would he have been able to kill the wolf before the wolf killed Ledger? The fact was he doubted it.

He pushed the front door open and stepped onto the porch. The air outside was crisp and low-rolling clouds filled the sky. Here and there a break gave Dark a glimpse of his sun. He chided himself inwardly; it wasn’t his, after all, was it? It did feel odd, though, not having had a hoof in raising it. While tiring, he had grown used to the weight of its burden. He breathed a sigh wondering who had taken part in the ceremony today and brought his gaze back to the world around him.

The snow around the path in the yard had been cleared and piled on either side leaving a clear walkway to the small road out front. He glanced up and down it taking note of the direction other ponies were going and decided to follow them, his eyes scanning the buildings as he went. To his surprise, though he had originally thought it to be small, the Chancellor’s home appeared to be one of the larger buildings in the area, three stories tall with a high multi-peaked wooden shingled roof. Its slope seemed to keep it free of snow.

Most of the other buildings were much simpler with only a single level and patches of thatch peeking from beneath the snow. Almost every dwelling here was crafted from the same dull plaster with wooden beams adding variation and decoration. Only a few seemed to be made with stone or actual planks.

He wandered down the street glancing between houses and watching ponies go about their daily business. It seemed as if he was going unnoticed, his horn only drawing the occasional glance as he meandered down the street. It was not long before something caught his eye. It was something he had never seen the likes of before.

He changed course and headed in its direction. It looked to be taller than the chancellor’s home, which to this point, was the tallest building Dark had seen in the town. He turned a corner and saw the building in its entirety. It was tall, and it dominated a small square. Aside from the tower, it was a single story building styled much like the other buildings in town. However, this was one of the few buildings with a shingled roof. The tower jutting out of it was another four stories taller and resting behind it was a massive fan rotating slowly. “What could that be for?” he wondered aloud, looking up at the contraption.

Lining the square with this building were more single story structures all made of wood paneling, but they stood on two foot stilts. None of the structures had windows. These were odd differences from the rest of the buildings he had seen.

There were fewer ponies here than had been on the other streets. Those here seemed to move with a purpose. A couple pulled sacks from one of the surrounding buildings and loaded them onto a wagon while another counted the goods that were loaded. Warehouses, then, thought Dark as he approached the larger building, his neck craning to look at the fan.

He glanced around and saw a path leading behind the building. Curiosity got the best of him and he followed it. He wanted to see the fan in its entirety. Behind the building looked to be the village green, a massive park. Maybe this thing was just a piece of art, something to view while you were at the park. The building itself was much more manicured on this side, with snow covered bushes and dressed window shutters. The fan blades looked to be a lattice of wood covered in cloth. It seemed overly elaborate for a piece of art.

He stood in the snow for a while watching the blades rotate around pondering their purpose. Behind him he could hear the sounds of the town. Turning he could see the town’s market. It was likely where the majority of the ponies he had been following were going. The path he was on seemed to circle around the park. Other paths lead from it to the center where a statue stood proudly.

Dark followed the path and eventually joined the growing crowd at the market. Food and wares sat on display in the chilled morning air as ponies called out their daily specials trying to attract customers. The smell of fresh baked bread wafted through the air and Dark’s mouth began to water. His nose drew him to the stall and he watched some ponies produce an earth pony bit and offer it to the stall owner in exchange for a steaming bun. He waited his turn and hoped that the stall keeper would accept his gems.

To his surprise the mare was more than willing and even offered him ten of the small bits as change. He accepted graciously and turned, levitated the bun alongside him taking a bite and savoring the taste of the warm, honeyed bread; it was like nothing he had tasted back home. It was hard to put into words how it tasted. Sweet and soft and warm… Breads he had eaten in Aethon could be described the same way, but they could not compare.

His eyes drifted to those around him as he walked away from the stall. If his horn had been nothing unusual before, the floating bun produced the stares he had been expecting. He smiled slightly to himself as he chewed. These ponies had likely never seen magic for themselves, and if they had it was likely very little. The thought was strange and exhilarating.

He suddenly felt the need to show off his talents but he resisted the urge and continued on his way ignoring the stares while munching on the oven warm bun. He followed a path from the market back into the park. It was mostly still covered in snow with little ponies building a snowpony and others building forts in preparation for a snow ball fight.

He approached the center of the green where the statue stood; there were seating areas all around it. Only one of the benches was in use; a couple was watching the young fillies and colts in the snow. The walking was beginning to cause his ribs to ache so he decided to rest, taking a seat on one of the benches. He continued to savor his bun while looking the statue over. It depicted an earth pony mare standing proud atop a small rock formation staring confidently into the distance.

“That’s Chancellor Honeycut.” It was Kind’s voice. Dark looked over. He hadn’t noticed her join him. She really was a beautiful mare, and now that she hadn’t been woken in the middle of the night it was obvious. “She was the first elected ruler of the Earth ponies.”

He had known that the earth pony tribe collectively chose their leader, but the thought still seemed strange. The king was the son of the ruler before him, and he spent his entire life training to take up the role of ruler when she had passed on. But in the earth pony tribe they had elected a doctor to rule for them. He felt it an odd choice and wondered why.

“Actually she founded Canterville, here,” she continued through Darks silence. “It has served as the home of the Chancellor ever since.”

“You aren’t from here, then?” he asked her, curiously.

“No. My family comes from Colton. We moved here about seven years ago, when my father was first elected,” she told him stepping up to the low bench. “It’s been long enough that this is home for me, now.”

Dark nodded once then looked back to the statue of the long dead Chancellor. He had always lived in Aethon. After the first day of their journey here he had surpassed the farthest distance he had ever been from home. He couldn’t imagine leaving there to live somewhere else.

“You know, you shouldn’t wander off without telling somepony where you’re going,” she said as he sat in silent contemplation and nudged him causing him to grimace and cringe away from her with a glare. “If something went wrong with those we wouldn’t be able to help. Not to mention Ever’s quite worried about you.”

He chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment. “I’ve had a bit on my mind. Ledger…” he trailed off shaking his head.

“Sometimes there is nothing we can do-“

“But I could have done something,” he said, slamming a hoof onto the cold bench. He clenched his eyes closed. He didn’t mean to sound so angry. His voice softened then and he opened his eyes again. “It could have been me that died. I froze and Ledger saved me. It should have been me.” He looked at the ground too ashamed to meet Kind’s eyes. He had been thinking about his friend all morning. The news that his friend’s body had not been recovered had hit him hard and the images of the events that had happened before the avalanche continued to plague his minds eye.

“Now, now,” came Kind’s voice, softly. “I didn’t know him, but I’m sure Ledger would not change his decision. He managed to save you and you were able to save Everstar. If we were able to ask him I think he would be proud.”

Dark sighed and returned his gaze to the statue. He needed to change the subject. He was not in the mood to be patronized. Behind it he could see that large building. “Say, Kind Heart,” he said perking a little, “What is that building over there?” He raised a hoof pointing that it.

“That’s the windmill,” she said as if he should know that.

“Wind… mill?” he said, giving her a strange look.

She stared at him a moment. “You don’t know what a windmill is?” She looked a little incredulous as he shook his head. “How do you get your flour then? Don’t tell me you grind it by hoof…”

“Magic,” he said matter-of-factly.

It was her turn to look at him strangely.

“It’s a simple spell,” he assured her. “It takes next to no time at all.”

She shook her head. “Sounds like a waste of good wheat,” she said under her breath. “You see, the proper way to grind flours is in a mill. See those sails turning? That’s using the wind to turn grindstones inside the house. All we have to do is load grain, or corn, or even flowers, beneath the stones and then the windmill does the rest of the work.”

Dark stared at the windmill watching its “sails,” as Kind had called them. They caught the wind and made the wind move stones. This wasn’t magic he was familiar with. “I don’t understand,” he said flatly looking back to her. “I didn’t think earth ponies were able to do magic.”

Kind laughed softly. “It’s not magic. It’s… hard to explain,” she said pausing for a moment in thought before she pushed herself up from the bench. “You know what? Come with me. Maybe I can show you.”

He looked back toward the building, its sails rotating lazily in the cold afternoon breeze. His curiosity plagued him. He wanted to know how this worked, and while Kind had denied the use of magic he doubted that could be the case. As he stood Kind turned and started down the path toward the windmill.

Dark found his mind wandering as he followed her. The sway of Kind’s walk was distracting. If only she were a unicorn... he thought to himself as he watched her ahead of him and his shame returned. How could his mind wander to such a place now? Ledger’s grave was still empty and he was to blame.

“Now, everything depends on the sails catching the wind to rotate,” she said as they approached the building, snapping Dark back to reality. “Keep that in mind when we go inside.”

Dark nodded and looked up at the massive cloth-covered blades. They really didn’t look like much. How they could be so important was beyond him.

When they came around to the front of the building Kind knocked on the large double doors. After a moment a yellow pony opened them and greeted Kind with a smile. Dark caught his eye and he gave him, or maybe it was his horn, an odd look. “Morning, Heron,” she said cheerfully. “How’s your son’s ankle doing?”

“Oh, much better,” said the pony looking back to Kind with a smile, “thanks to you and your pops. He’s been out playing in the fresh snow he’s felt so much better.”

“I’m very happy to hear that,” she said. “Be sure to bring him in if it should start to swell again. We can’t have the little colt stuck in bed.”

Heron chuckled. “Will do, Kind, will do.”

“Heron, this is Dark Rise,” she said gesturing to Dark. He bowed his head slightly in greeting. “He is the Unicorn Ambassador. I was curious, if you aren’t too busy today, could we get a tour of the mill?”

“Of course! Come in, come in,” he said graciously, stepping back so that they could enter.

Inside was mostly one large room; the three wings were all open and in each sat a large circular vat with a small column rising to the ceiling and a small staircase led up to the next level. Ponies were at each vat, some filling sacks from the side of them, some emptying bags into the top. Everything was being done manually it seemed.

“Might as well start right here with the stones,” said Heron as he lead them to one of the vats. Dark and Kind followed and Dark saw that there was a stone inside the vat and it was slowly rotating. “We work three stones here, as you can see.” He gestured between the three stations. ”Makes it easier if we have multiple orders of different meal to make.

“This one here is grinding flour. We fill the hopper,” he lifted a hoof tapping a metal cone above the stone, “with wheat and it dispenses it down into the stone below. It’s a bit more complex than that, but I’ll spare you the details. What goes in is this-“ he mounted the step ladder that made reaching the hopper easy and scooped out whole grains of wheat kernels, “and when the stones are done with it we have this.” He stepped down and slid a bucket under a spout before pulling it open.

Out from it poured extremely fine flour. He had helped his mother bake when he was a young colt, but he could not remember seeing flour as fine as this. He looked at the rotating stone again. None of the process could be seen. Kernel went in from the top, and flour came out from the bottom.

“And you say this isn’t magic?” he said looking at Kind.

Heron guffawed and Kind shook her head with a smile.

“How do the sails play a part, then?” he asked still confused as to what was actually happening.

“Ahh, the sails make this all happen,” said Heron with a grin, Kind nodding next to him. “Come with me.”

Dark followed him up the stairs with Kind next to him. “Fascinating, isn’t it?” she whispered to him, but he ignored her. His attention was on Heron and what his explanation could possibly be.

“This is the upright shaft,” he said as the got to the platform above and pointed a hoof toward a rotating beam hanging down from the tower. Connected to the bottom of it was a large toothed disc. It looked a lot like Herons cutie mark. “That is connected to the wind shaft. The wind shaft is rotated by the sails, which in turn rotates the upright shaft. See these three gears all connecting to the spur wheel?” Dark nodded as Heron pointed out the discs. “Each of these is what is powering the rotation of the stones below.”

Dark looked between the gears for a moment, and then stared up the shaft listening to the faint creak of wood. It was all quite mind boggling. Logically the idea made sense. Wind spun the sails, which in turn worked its way down to rotate the stones. No magic.

Of course, magic might have made things easier. You could use a spell to rotate the sails, but the earth ponies had found a way that really needed next to no real focus from any individual. “This is… very impressive,” he said finally. “Who came up with this idea?”

Heron smiled. “I like to think my great grandpappy had a hoof in it, but no one knows for sure. Earth ponies have been using water and wind powered mills or hundreds of years. Can only improve on what we have.”

Dark looked around the room again. If earth ponies could come up with such things he wondered if they could really have a need for some of the simpler things the council had thought to use as trade goods. “I think we should head back, Kind Heart,” he said. “I think my ribs are starting to hurt again.”