The Unicorn and the Blight

Chapter four: A Beacon in the Night

"It is finished. Welcome"  Were the first words I heard as I opened my eyes for the first time as a Grey Warden. I saw Veneer and Austere looking at me as I lay on the cold stone floor. The sun was already in the sky behind them, I wondered how long I had been unconcious.

As I began to get to my hooves I heard Veneer add, "Well it looks like you survived, good. I would've hated to have saved you just to have you die during the joining."

When I finally got to my hooves I was still a little shaky, but I felt that I could manage. Truthfully I didn't feel all that different, sure the lingering pain from the joining was there but I didn't feel any sudden surge of power or confidence. Alll that I could feel was a sudden desire to find a place where I could fill my stomach, but that was hardly out of the ordinary for me.

"How do you feel?" I heard Austere ask me.

"Fine, just a little shaky is all."

"Good, you will have to be ready very soon for the battle that is to come."

Oh yeah, there was that. In the wake of making a decision that would change my life forever the battle against a horde of Darkspawn had slipped my mind.

"Wait," I said. "The battle is today? I thought it was tommorow?

I saw Veneer lift a foreleg and noticed a small metal pendant as he said, "Here is the last part of the joining, we take some of the blood and put it in a pendant. To remind us, of those who didn't make it this far."

The pendant was wrapped in a blue glow as I used my magic to lift it out of Veneer's grasp and place it around my neck. Putting it on I felt a strange sense of belonging as I noticed that Austere and Veneer both wore similar pendants. I had never belonged to any group before, the only pony I had ever really known on a personal basis was Starshine. The thought warmed me as I began to realise that if I survived this ordeal I would have somewhere I belonged.

"Now then," I heard Austere say once the pendant was around my neck. "I would like you to acompany me to a meeting, it is about what I had been discussing with King Sanguine and Absinthian. While you were unconcious he sent a messenger requesting your presence at the meeting, I am unsure of his reasns however."

What reason could the King have to want me to attend a meeting? I didn't think that I had made much of an imperssion during our meeting, so I didn't see why he would want me there. It probobly wouldn't be the wisest choice to ignore a king's summons however so I nodded my head in aceptance.

Austere turned his head and looked at Veneer, "Veneer, I would like you to go find Grenolyn and have her meet us at my tent when we return."

"Go be the messenger colt, got it." He said as he trotted off. His mood swings were quickly becoming more of the norm for me.

Austere waited for Veneer to leave the building before looking back toward me and saying, "Well, let us not keep the King waiting now shall we?"

I followed him as he began to walk toward another of Ostagar's ruined building. The one we were headed toward seemed to be in better condition than the one the joining had taken place in. I assumed Austere had chosen one of the more out of the way ruins so that the Joining would remain a secret, and that the one we were heading toward was where the meeting was going to take place.

The sound of arguing ponies could be heard well before one entered the building, the two voices belonging to Absinthian and the King. I followed Austere inside and saw a table with battle plans laid out on it.

"Absinthian my decision is final, I will stand with the Grey Wardens in the battle." King Sanguine said

Austere and I took our place at the table as the two continued.

"You risk too much Sanguine, the darkspawn horde is too dangerous for you to be playing hero on the front line."

"Alright, if you feel so badly about our chances maybe we should wait for the Orlesian forces to join us after all."

"I must repeat my protest to you about your foolish notion that we need the Orlesians to defend ourselves."

"Our arguments with the Orlesians are in the past, and it is I who is king, not you Absinthian."

"I am glad that your father is not alive to see you ready to hand over Ferelden over to those who enslaved us."

"Then we will just have to make due with the forces we currently have." Sanguine turned to face us and asked, "Austere, are your men ready for battle?"

Austere nodded his head and said, "Yes they are your majesty."

Sanguine turned his attention to me before saying, "Ah, and this is the new recruit I met earlier. I understand that congratulations are in order."

"Thank you your majesty." I said as I nodded my head sheepishly.

"I am glad to see somepony join the Grey Wardens. You should be proud to be a part of their order."

I was opening my mouth to reply as Absinthian said, "You fascination with glory and legends will be your undoing Sanguine. We have to deal with reality, we don't have time to humor your fantasies."

"I don't see what the problem is, the plan is fairly simple." sanguine said as he waved a foreleg over the table. "The Grey Wardens and i will draw the Darkspawn into charging our lines, and then we use the tower to signal you to lead the flanking charge."

"Yes, you must light the tower of Ishal in the ruins once the Darkspawn have fully commited themselves, I have men stationed at the tower to light the beacon. It shouldn't be dangerous but it is vital."

"Then we shouldn't take any chances." Sanguine said as he looked to Austere, "Would you be able to spare some of your Grey Wardens to ensure that the beacon is lit."

"Of course I can your majesty, the Grey Wardens will not fail you." Austere looked at me for a moment before adding, "I even have a few in mind already that could do so."

Perfect, I already knew what he meant by that and I didn't enjoy the idea, but I suppose it would probobly be safer than fighting on the front lines.

Absinthain turned toward Sanguine and said, "You rely on these Grey Wardens too much, I don't think that is wise."

"I have had enough of your conspiracy theories." Sanguine said with frustration in his voice. "Grey Wardens battle the Blight, and they have not failed yet."

"I'm not even sure that this truly is a Blight your majesty, there haven't been any dragons sighted in the wilds and history says that the Arch-Demon always takes the form of a dragon."

"I can assure you that this is truly a blight. I have seen for myself that the Arch-Demon is coming." Austere interjected.

"Oh, and I suppose all we have to go off of is your dreams? Excuse me if I'm skeptical." Absinthian shakes his head angrily. "Enough, this plan will sufice. The Grey Wardens will light the beacon."

"Thank you Absinthian." Sanguine said gratefully, "I cannot wait for that moment, the Grey Wardens will fight beside the King of Ferelden to stem the tide of the Blight."

"Yes Sanguine, a glorious moment for us all. Now if you will excuse me." Absinthian said as he began to move away from the table.

The meeting ended soon after that and Austere and I made our way back to his tent. Outside of it I saw Veneer standing beside a Diamond Dog. It surprised me ebcause I hadn't even considered that there would be Diamond Dogs here, I knew that Grey Wardens took members from any race but...

Veneer waved a foreleg at us as we aproached, "Ah, I see you two are still in one piece. I take it the meeting went well then?" Veneer's sense of humor was very endearing at times.

"Yes, it did." Austere replied.

"Greeting Commander." I heard the Diamond Dog standing next to Veneer say in a feminine voice. She had a light brown coat and wore leather armor, strapped to her back I could see a pair of longswords.

"It is good to see you Grenolyn, I am glad that you were able to make it." Austere said to her.

"Yes, I only wish that we had more time for the rest of the Wardens to arrive. I fear that our numbers will be too few to beat the Darkspawn." She didn't sound like some of the surface Diamond Dogs I had met in my travels, his way of speaking seemed more... refined.

"Although," She continued while looking at me "I am glad to see that we have a new recruit at the very least. From what Veneer has told me he met you while you were fighting Darkspawn in the Deep Roads."

"Yes we did." I said, "but I wouldn't have called it fighting so much as trying desperately to stay alive."

Grenolyn let out a chuckle at that, "Yes, I could see how you might have felt that way. Regardless of what you might think, anyone who has the courage to brave the Deep Roads is worthy of respect."

That surprised me. I had never thought of myself as anyone worthy of respect. I mean me, the Unicorn who was always jumping at shadows and had spent a month sulking when my mentor left. Although, I was a Grey Warden now, and I had "braved" the Deep Roads before, maybe I really was becoming somepony who was worthy of respect.

"Now then, I have something I would like to ask of all of you." Austere said. "The coming battle depends on the beacon at the Tower of Ishal being lit, and I would like the three of you to ensure that it gets done."

"And where will you be Commander?" I heard Grenolyn ask.

"I will be at the King's side during the battle, we will be relying on you three to light the signal for the flanking charge."

"I understand." I heard Grenolyn say, I thought I heard a bit of sadness in her voice as she said that, but it was probobly nothing.

"I will be with the king preparing the army, I would like you three to be at the beacon when the battle begins. Remember, only light the beacon once the Darkspawn have fully commited themselves. Not a moment sooner."

I felt myself nod in understanding along with Grenolyn and Veneer.

We had a little time before night fell and we all decided we should use that time to prepare. Grenolyn told me that some of the Circle was here and they would probobly be willing to sell me some supplies. At first I had been somewhat afraid, I had lived my life hiding from the Circle and their Templar fuards my entire life after all. Grenolyn reasured me however that as a grey Warden I would have nothing to fear.

I decided I would go see them later, I had had a long trip and the Joinin ghad taken alot out of me. I felt that I needed some time to rest. Veneer and Grenolyn both understood and Veneer told me that Austere would probobly be fine with me using his tent for awhile.

The probobly didn't really comfort me but I guessed Austere would be with the king for most of the day so I gussed it didn't matter. After the two of them had left to go about their own business I made my way inside the tent and found it almost nearly bare. It wasn't as large as the king's tent and it had little more than the sleeping mat on the ground. I did however see that Austere had a standing mirror so I took a moment to look at myself.

It was very obvious that I had spent a long time traveling recently from my appearance. My light blue coat and black mane were both covered in the grime from my travels. I took a moment to look at my bandaged side and say that it was healing up well, it would leave a scar to be sure but that would be covered up when my coat grew back in. It was then I noticed it, my Cutie Mark had changed.

Before it had been a blue sword, charged with lightning, but now it had turned grey. Not only that, but extending from the hilt now was a pair of White wings that were nearly identical to the ones on the symbol of the Grey Wardens. That was when I fully realised how much of a change becoming a Grey Warden really was. A cutie mark is an expession of who you are, and a cutie mark changing weant that what you were had been changed as well.

the cain part of me wasn't too upset. It didn't look all that bad and in a way the new color and wings made it look noble. At the same time however I felt a fear of losing who I was. I imagined for a moment Starshine returning and not even recognising who I was.

The thought filled me with sorrow but I quickly realised that it was a foalish one. Just because I was a Grey Warden didn't mean I had to change completely, I was still Blue Streak. I would be who I made myself to be.

I turned away from the mirror, my eyelids were heavy and I didn't want to dwell on the thought any further. I simply wanted to lie down and find peace in sleep.

I was disapointed.

In my dreams I was haunted by the sight of thousands of marching Darkspawn, seeing them I felt dismayed. Against so many we had no hope of stopping them, even with all of the ponies defending Ostagar and all the preperations it seemed hopeless.

I heard a far off roar, one I had heard before. I remembered it from my joining, after I had fallen unconcious. It was the same Dragon I had seen, the Dragon I now knew to be the Arch-Demon. It circled above the horde of Dark-Spawn, spuring them forward and driving them to slaughter everything in their path.

Eventually however the scene began to fade, and was replaced witha  dreamless sleep.

"Well now, you really weren'y kidding when you said you were tired were you?" I heard Veneer's voice say, waking me from my sleep.

i could see the sun flooding into the tent from behind him as he held it open with his foreleg. It was much lower in the sky and I could see that it was late evening.

"Yeah, you're telling me." I said as I rubbed my eyes with a foreleg. "Thanks for waking me though, I still have some supplies I want to get from the circle."

"Yeah, I was just checking in on you. I already finished what I needed to and I saw Grenolyn already head to the tower earlier." His face broke into a wide grin, "Make sure you're not late okay? I wouldn't want to take all the glory of lighting a pile of sticks on fire."

With that h left the tent behind and headed towards the tower. As I stretched I heard final preperations being made outside, and as I lifted the tent's flap I saw many ponies putting up last minute fortifcations.

I saw the working of Magic behind some of the nearby tents and I assumed that was where the Circle was. I exited the tent and made my way there, as I got closer the unicorns performing the magic came into view, as well as their Templar guards.

"Halt, none may interupt the Unicorns, their minds are in the Fade." One of the armor clad ponies said to me. The red sword on his armor marking him as a templar.

The Fade. Something that every Unicorn knew of. It was the place of dreams, and the land where Demons and Spirits resided. It was the unicorn's connection to the Fade that gave them their magic and it was also whee they wer emost vulnerable. Unicorns are the only ones who are able to travel with their minds into the fade, but while they were there they were vulnerable to the Demons that resided there. The Demons sought to use the Mage as a bridge to this world, and in doing so they take control of the Unicorn's body and turn them into an abomination.

A fate that every Unicorn fears.

"I wanted to buy some supplies though." I told the Templar.

"If you want to buy supplies go talk to the Tranquil. He's over there." He said as he pointed a foreleg to where a pony stood.

Tranquil. That was one of the things that detered me from being taken into the circle. The Templars have a way of seperating unicorns from the fade, taking away their magic. When they do so however they also break the mage's mind, rendering them husks f their former selves. The Tranquil are the ones who enchant weapons and armor and often serve as vendors for magic supplies.

I made my way over to the Tranquil, I clearly saw the mark of tranquility, a blazing sun centered around his horn.

"Ah, hello. Is there something you need of me?" He said, his voice completely devoid of any emotion sending shivers down my spine.

"Yes," I replied. "I was hoping to buy some supplies for the upcoming battle. I would like two lyrium potions and a horn Ring that utilises electricity if you have one."

"I have the potions that you require, however I do not have a horn ring that utilises electricity."

"Alright then, I'll just take the two potions,"

"Very well, that will be fifty silvers for what you require." He said as he placed the two potions onto his table.

I lifted the coins out of my pouch with magic. It felt liberating to use my magic so openly, within sight of the Templars even! Although my elation was somewhat dimmed by the fact that I barely had one soverign left after my purchase.

"Thank you," He said as I floated the coins over to him and picked up the two potions. "I hope you are satisfied with them."

I was glad when I left the Tranquil behind. The sight of him had unnerved me that a unicorn could be turned into that emotionless husk. I didn't see how the Templars saw that as a better choice than death.

Leaving behind the Command area I made my way across the bridge leading to the tower of Ishal. Ponies were preparing several balista along it, ready to fire them when the Darkspawn attacked. Below I could see the ponies putting the final touches on the defenses where the King's forces would face the Darkspawn.

I nodded to the guards Absinthian had said would be at the tower as I passed them. There were quite a few ponies there I noted. It seemed like a waste to me, I mean this was supposed to behind the battle lines and while it was a vital job I didn't see how it warented taking all of these ponies away from the battle.

What did I know about the art of battle. The ones who had decided these ponies whould be here were far more experienced than myself and who was I to question them.

I made my way to the top floor of the tower and saw Grenolyn and Veneer were already there.

"Ah, I see you made it." Veneer said as he noticed my arrival. "None of the guards wanted to stay up herw with us so I guess we'll just have to decide between the three of us who'll be the one to light the beacon."

"Is it really important who lights it?" I asked.

"Of course it is, the one who does can say 'I was the one who sat back in the safe tower and lit the beacon as everypony else fought against the Darkspawn.'"

"Stop it you two." Grenolyn said, "We don't have long before the battle begins and we need to be ready to light the beacon when the time comes."

I nodded and made my way over to the window and looked out onto the battlefield below, the sun in it's final descent as it fell below the horizon. The battle ast Ostagar was about to begin.