Ch 0: Fragments from a Lost Journal
I finally made it to Scorpen's kingdom at the edge of Tartarus again and I have to say I didn't miss it. Not that I was away for a long time, but even if I was away from it for a century, I don't think I'd ever miss this dismal place. Everything is as barren and dead of life as always. Somehow it's still an improvement from what that tyrant Discord has done to Equestria.
Speaking of him, Scorpen says he has a plan to do away with the beast. He gave me this peculiar seed of some sort. I'm not familiar with any foliage that grows from such a dark seed but then again, Scorpen says it was forged from Tireks magic. He says that planting it will produce weapons of some sort but only after several bouts of purification. I assume he means for me to use light magic because he specifically stated that the ponies under Discords influence will not do.
It was all very ambiguous.
I suppose I'll find out along the way, or at least, he assured me that I'll probably figure it out along the way.
I just hope that my experiments aren't tampered with while I'm on this wild goose chase of an endeavor. Even if I'm not doing this specifically for them, I certainly hope that my race will be bowing at my feet after this is all finished.
Several months have passed and yet here I am, still with only a half purified seedling. Scorpen certainly didn't mention how long this deed was going to take to accomplish.
Nor did he mention how far I would have to travel. Currently, I'm somewhere very deep inside the Heysead Swamps, closer to Horseshoe Bay than Rambling Rocky Ridge. That's as specific as I can get as the start are shrouded by the heavy foliage.
Between where I currently sit, in front of the dim campfire, and my progress back in the Crystal Empire, there was nothing noteworthy to report but things are finally starting to turn up. The temperature of the seedling has risen dramatically. It almost feels as if it will burn a hole in my robes. In my worry, I've wrapped the thing in several thick pouches before continuing to follow where it leads. I discovered three pony like creatures in the river where the water moves fast and that was when I had to take to levitating the evil plant fetus so that it would not burn me.
I surely hope that this is a sign that this convoluted purification ritual is nearing it's end. If these three are the remaining elements Scorpen speaks of, then maybe I can soon return home to my lovely experiments.
The three have all taken the offer of the seedling and it is now completely purified. It seems to have granted the see pony/lake kelpie halfbloods the ability to sing, through some sort of gem or something of that nature. I hadn't had time to completely process the events. The three had begun to act strangely before they disappeared into the darker parts of the water.
It has been three days and I still have not seen them again. My guess is that they've returned to the sea to show their kin what they have "accomplished."
I am still confused about the nature of this plant. Truthfully, after seeing what its done, I'm rather frightened, possibly more frightened of it than I am of Discord at the moment.
As a precaution, I have decided to plant the seed a bit away from my home in the Everfree.
Just in case.
Sometimes, Sonata hated the fact that her house was so close to her work. It was definitely convenient for obvious reasons but that also meant that it gave her horrible, slave driving managers the excuse to keep her until ridiculous hours. She was always stuck with closing the store after the old twin men left, straightening and cleaning the merchandise that had been thrown askew during opening hours. More often than not, an unnecessary pile of stuff was just thrown at random places of the store. Lately whenever she encountered one such pile, she always made sure to exasperatedly curse Flim and Flam’s way of needlessly showing every passing customer whatever product they wanted to force on the unfortunate sap.
Today was no exception and the girl hadn’t been able to leave the shop until the moon was at it’s highest point. If the biting midnight winds hadn’t been nipping at her skin, she might have listened to the tempting voice in the back of her head telling her to pass out on the side walk. As it were, fall was almost over and early winter was doing well with making it’s presence felt. A light peppering of snow was already starting to coat most of the streets and rooftops. That alone would probably give anyone hypothermia if they decided to sleep out in the open. Not to mention Sonata wasn’t properly equipped for prolonged outdoor stay. The blue, and getting bluer, girl only had on her late spring/early fall threadbare jacket from before she entered Canterlot high. Sonata hadn’t had the chance or the extra cash to spend on other clothes. Everything she had was thrown in with Adagio and Aria’s share of dollars to pay for their new monetary obligations.
Knowing this didn’t stop Sonata’s teeth from clattering nosily as she drudged down the conceit. She hugged herself tighter and quietly encouraged herself. It wouldn’t be long now, the building was already in sight. Just a few steps more and she could snuggled under the covers of the cheap queen sized bed that the sisters found in a thrift shop. The warm queen sized bed that the sisters found in the thrift shop, she reminded herself. That was the important part.
Disappearing into her thoughts, she found it easier to ignore her physical discomfort as well as the rest of the physical world as a whole. Aria and Adagio had always hated it when she did that. It made talking to the airhead harder than it already was and considering recent events, they realized that an extra layer of danger was now added to the mix. Adagio was sure to remind Sonata of this every time the youngest ex-siren left the apartment by herself and after a month of being desensitized by the same warning, Aria took it upon herself to add a story of a careless person being abducted or beaten in a dark alley just to keep the message fresh.
Sonata had grown desensitized by that too and, as she exited the last dark alley, she ignored the scratchy voiced man who tried to get her attention.
“Hey girl, got a smoke on ya?” He asked, his cloudy blood shot eyes followed Sonata’s oblivious form until she was a foot in front of him. His expression turned sour as he reached a hand out to grasp at the fabric of Sonata’s hoodie. “Hey bitch, don’t ignore me!” He growled.
Sonata was finally yanked out of her head to face an intimidating and unnaturally enraged man. “O-oh. Hi.” She squeaked, trying to sound friendly. “Sorry. I-I didn’t hear you. W-what was that?”
The man pushed Sonata back against the wall he was just leaning against and shoved her towards it. “Like hell you didn’t hear me!” He shouted. “You disrespectful cunt. I ought to teach you some manners.”
Sonata gasped, more from shock than the pain of being crashed into a wall of bricks. In the back of her mind, she thought about screaming or calling for help but her mind was busy trying to process what exactly was happening. There was a district smell of alcohol and a vague pressure on her shoulders. The scowling face turned into a sinister smirk as the face came closer.
Sonata clenched her eyes shut, pushing herself deeper into the bricks behind her.
She didn’t feel anything else after that. She focused on the bricks and their chill against her back. They were damp. They felt hard. That was how bricks were suppose to feel. The access cement was digging into her backside and it kind of hurt. Actually her whole back hurt, like it was rammed onto something. Well, She guessed that made sense then. Adagio and Aria would be proud of her for making sense out of something. Maybe later she could tell them. No, they would be asleep wouldn’t they? Tomorrow then, she would tell them.
“SONATA!”
Strange. That voice almost sounded like Adagio's. Sonata opened her eyes. It was Adagio. Aria stood behind her with a can of pepper spray. Sonata noted her sisters’ pajamas and lack of sweaters. The man was nowhere in sight.
“Aria? Adagio? What happened?” She asked a bit dazed.
Adagio sighed, though not in the exasperated way that Sonata was familiar with. The orange headed girl didn’t seem to notice it or the weird little smile that turned her mouth up a bit. Sonata tilted her head as she studied the new expression. Aria didn’t let her as she shoved into her line of sight.
“Do you have idea what we just saved your blue butt from?” She growled. She was so close that Sonata could smell the mint of their shared tube of tooth paste. “There are thousands upon thousands of painful and horrible things that could have happened to you and if Adagio and/or I hadn’t been awake, you could…” She cut herself off, swallowing before relaunching into her tirade. “And you don’t even know do you? You’re too much of a fucking space cadet to realize exactly how stupid you are! We specifically told you over and over not to float off into lala wonderland in the middle of the worst fucking streets in the whole entire city and what do you do? THE THING WE SAID NOT TO!” She screamed. Aria’s face had grown bright red despite the frigid temperatures and you could practically feel the muscles tensed under the cheap cotton of her sea foam green PJs. She didn’t seem to notice the other two’s stunned silence as she attempted to take some calming breaths. “Sonata you are the single stupidest creature any world has ever created. i use to think that if it wasn’t for Adagio or me, you would have died. So thanks for giving me proof you fucking idiot. Thanks for that….Idiot.” She said in a more Aria like fashion. Her face was wrinkled in a thick layer of annoyance and rage.
Sonata had seen the face and posture often enough. Right now, it was her cue to turn her face away and become as aloof as possible. She needed to act like she didn’t care. It would tick Aria off just a little bit more and that always use to give her a little bit of joy somehow. She wasn’t really smart enough to come up with good comebacks but she was always good at making Aria angry. It was her version of insults.
Instead, Sonata had to look away. She really didn’t feel like it right now. She felt too, for lack of a better work, icky for it right now.
Adagio eyed Aria and Sonata for a bit, not sure if she should be noticing something. She looked on for a moment before before electing to brush it off, at least for the time being. “Alright Aria. That’s enough. I think Sonata gets it. Can we go back inside now?"
Aria continued to glare towards Sonata’s direction.
The orange haired leader groaned. “It’s literally three steps away. If you want to rant some more holding it in for three steps will not kill you. It’s freezing out here. We have no jackets and I’d rather not be sick for my first day off in three weeks."
With a roll of her eyes, Aria stomped towards the entrance.
Adagio watched her go before turning to Sonata. “Let’s go.” She prompted.
Sonata nodded and trudged past Adagio.
Adagio felt a strange twinge in her chest. Maybe she really was getting sick.
Author's Note
I tried to art.
Comments are really appreciated. Thanks for reading.
