Bloodfang snorted as her eyes snapped open.
“It was that dream again, wasn’t it,” asked Little Jewel, who was laying propped up on an elbow on the sleeping pelts next to her adopted mother.
Bloodfang turned her head to look at the filly she now called her child. She frowned, nodded then lay her head back down on her pelt pillow. “Were you watching me sleep?” she asked.
“I couldn’t help it,” said Little Jewel, “You were thrashing about so much in your sleep it woke me.”
“Sorry,” muttered Bloodfang as she closed her eyes, sighed deeply and sought elusive sleep again.
She felt Little Jewel rise from the sleeping pelts, heard the soft pad of her hooves fade into the distance as Little Jewel left the sleeping chamber and, glowing her horn to light her way, headed down the corridor.
Little jewel paused, peered into the darkness of a work chamber. Glowing her horn a little brighter she stepped inside. Seeing a large light globe she touched it with the tip of her horn. It blazed brightly to life, illuminating the entire chamber.
She looked around, found a large stack of parchment sheets on a nearby counter. She stepped over and took a couple from the stack along with a quill and inkwell.
She paused for a moment then stepped to a nearby iron table and sat down in one of the pelt-padded iron chairs.
She tapped her cheek with the feathery soft tip of her quill as she considered how she would start this latest in her series of what she called her personal histories.
Her mind raced making it hard for her to concentrate as her thoughts kept returning to the human who she had claimed as her father, of how he’d fought so valiantly to protect them all from the latest hoardling attack, how he’d died trying to defend his beloved bloodfang as well as his much loved adopted family, the Neomorphs.
Her heart ached as she felt the sting of that all-too-recent loss, tried to force the thoughts from her mind and failed.
Little Jewel turned when she heard the soft click of hooves on the stone floors out in the corridor, listened as they grew louder with somepony’s approach.
Normally she would have flinched resentfully at an intrusion of what she called her ‘Quiet Time’, the only time when the rest of the Neomorph colony was most likely asleep and she could be left in peace and utter silence to write and ponder her young life. This time she welcomed it since it might prove a distraction from the thoughts and feelings that now plagued her.
A moment later Full Moon stepped quietly across the chamber to a counter on which stood an iron pitcher of water and some iron mugs. Taking a mug she poured water into it then turned, looked at Little Jewel, wondering if she would welcome some company.
“You can join me if you wish,” said Little Jewel without looking up from the table. Having been born into this colony and having known Full Moon all her life she was well familiar with her quirks and idiosyncracies as much as Full Moon was familiar with hers.
“Your mother had the dream again?” asked Full Moon
Little Jewel shut her eyes, nodded but said nothing. Suddenly her eyes snapped open and she glanced at Full Moon with a look sharp as a well honed iron knife, bit her lip, turned away.
“Why would she dream of Equestrians?” she asked, “it doesn’t make any sense! Mother hates Equestrians even to the point where she has eaten some!”
“Perhaps the dream is a revelation of some sort?” asked Full Moon, reaching out to touch Little Jewel’s arm then, seeing her sharp response, pulled her hand back. Full Moon knew that Little Jewels anger and resentment wasn’t meant for her so took no offense by her dark and brooding, angry mood.
“You’re the seer! Why don’t you help her?” snapped Little moon.
“I have asked her several times to come to me that I may read her so I may know what her dream means. She has refused,” said Full Moon quietly.
Frustrated, Little Jewel rose from her seat, began pacing the chamber.
“I hate seeing mother like this. It hurts me. She’s not the same since father was killed. It’s like the fire’s gone out in her belly. All she does is lay in the sleeping chamber day after day as if she’s waiting for something,” she growled, “she needs to have vengeance for father’s death but she won’t talk to me about it, won’t talk to anyone! It’s... It’s...”
Little Jewel stopped pacing, burst into tears, buried her face in her hands and wept.
“It’s not fair!” she wailed, “that vile monster kills us! We do nothing! She kills us again! We still do nothing!”
She suddenly spun on her heel and glared at Full Moon. “Now she kills those most dear to us and what do we do? Nothing!”
“What can we do?”, asked Full Moon quietly, her own eyes welling with tears now, “we are too few and even fewer still after the last attack”
It was difficult for Full Moon to see Little Jewel like this not only because she loved her dearly but also as it served only to remind her of the vast and empty hole that now lay where her heart had been, of the deep, burning pain of her own loss.
Star Storm had fought so bravely, leading charge after charge against the seemingly endless sea of black monstrosities that attacked in relentless, blind, mindless and merciless rage and hate.
He fought for hours but eventually he weakened. Spent and exhausted, he too fell to claw and fang screaming his rage and fighting to his last breath beside the many others who fell with him.
Full Moon was the leader of this colony now. she couldn’t afford to be weak, couldn’t afford to show the slightest sign to the others of just how fragile she was, how much she simply wanted to break down and weep even as Bloodfang had. She fought the emptiness away, pushed aside her feelings. She was ruler now, she had to be strong, she could not afford to be less.
Little Jewel ran a hand through her mane, stepped over to Full Moon, stood before her for a moment, her disposition milder now.
“I’m sorry”, she said, reaching out and gently stroking Full Moon’s mane, “I’m being thoughtless. Please forgive me”
“We all feel just as you do, Little Jewel. There’s nothing to forgive,” said Full Moon quietly, then, “have you been practicing your magic?”
“It is one of the few things that I can find the will to continue in,” said Little Jewel, “one day my strength in it will be such that I will be able to destroy the Vile One with a single stroke. I live for that day”
“Have a care!” said Full Moon, “don’t let your hatred consume you. If you do it will destroy you just as certainly as the deadly bite of the Vile One”
“Am I not the most powerful magician among us?” asked Little Jewel, staring a challenge at Full Moon.
“Of that I have no doubt,” said Full Moon, “but power without wisdom or constraint is chaos”
“The Vile One has taken too much from us, from me! I will destroy her!” growled Little Jewel, her face growing black with anger.
“Perhaps you shall,” said Full Moon softly, rising to her hooves, “but if it is to be so then let it happen in it’s right and proper time. If it is your destiny to do this then do not force it”
Full moon exited the chamber, leaving Little Jewel to silently rage against the ghosts that haunted her.
***
Bloodfang opened her eyes to find herself standing on a dark and grassy plain. Standing? Hadn’t she been laying in her sleeping chamber not more than a moment before?
She looked about, took in her surroundings. Where was the vast and frozen wasteland in which she now lived? Why was she now standing in a warm, green summer glade?
“You will” came a soft nondescript, unrecognizable voice from behind her. Startled she whipped around to see... No one. She blinked, walked in a slow circle to make sure no wizard or magician was playing tricks on her.
“You must!” came the vague voice, again. Again Bloodfang started, stared about confused as angry frustration took root in her.
“Who are you? What do you want,” growled Bloodfang, “Show yourself, coward!” Silence. A shift, a change, the vast sea of grass morphed to damp, rocky sand beneath her hooves. The roar of... Falling water? A pool, rippling. Away in the distance the glistening mists and plumes of a waterfall.
A glint of light caught the eye. Compelling. Bloodfang looked up beyond the misty head of the waterfall where it crested the cliff face, up beyond the trees that framed the banks above.
A... Palace? She strained to see into the distance beyond the mists that obscured her sight. Yes, a Palace or was it a castle?
“You will!” came the voice again. Startled she spun to face it, found herself staring into bright aqua eyes floating in the space before her. Terrifying! The eyes compelled her to look more deeply into them, drew her in as if by some overwhelming force.
As she watched a dark blue form took shape around the eyes, the mane flowed like smoke. A black, trined crown sat atop the head, framed a long, dark blue horn.
A... Pony? But, what kind of pony was this that wore a crown? Then memories returned, flooded into her mind like a storm surge.
“You!” growled Bloodfang angrily, “what manner of vile sorcery is this?”
“You must!” said the strange, blue pony in a disturbingly calm yet compelling tone.
Suddenly, shafts of tinted sunlight on red carpet. The runway of a throne room. Startled, Bloodfang looked frantically about. There! At one end stood two thrones, one of the sun, one of the moon.
Another pony, taller than the first. A golden crown framed and encircled a long, white horn. Majestic, she stood before her white and glimmering throne, her a face blank stare.
“Find the fire in your belly,” came the voice. Bloodfang turned to see the dark pony beside her, the eyes within that dark face intent, resolute. Bloodfang stared, her own face a mask.
“You must complete the cycle,” said the dark one in a voice so soft yet so powerful it caused Bloodfang to shudder with fear.
Suddenly the black, raging face of the Vile One, her green eyes blazing, her fangs bared, racing toward her in a blur. A mouth full of daggers and death. A black maw opened wide to swallow her whole as Bloodfang fell headlong and screaming into those inky depths.
***
Bloodfang shot up from her sleeping pelts raggedly panting, her eyes large as platters, beads of sweat upon her forehead. Focusing her eyes she looked about, saw she was in her sleeping chamber, relaxed. ‘That damn, vile dream, again!’ she thought, cringing.
Just then something different, something that hadn’t happened after the dream, before; realization filled her mind like a bright beacon, a guiding light that shone before her, showing her the way. ‘I know what I must do, now,’ she thought.
Rising to her hooves, she shook her head to clear it, took a long, deep breath to calm herself, hears voices, the sounds of activity and life, caught a glimpse of a Neomorph passing quickly in the corridor beyond her sleeping chamber.
A moment later Bloodfang stood in the large, main chamber. She cast her eyes about, seeking a face. There! Across the hall. Full moon! Pulling herself up, Bloodfang strode toward her.
“I would speak with you,” called Bloodfang a moment later as she approached. Full Moon turned in response to the voice behind her, smiled when she saw Bloodfang, her smile fading when she saw the dark resolve Chanequus’ face.
“What disturbs you, sister?” asked Full Moon, Bloodfang standing before her, now.
“We must go to the land of the ponies,” said Bloodfang resolutely.
Full Moon’s mouth fell open. She stared in startled surprise. “Have you gone mad?” she asked, “for what purpose would we go to them?”
“I have no more love for them than you, sister,” said Bloodfang, but our need demands that we seek their help”
“They will do nothing for us!” snapped Full Moon, “It will be for us as it was when I, Star Storm and our few escaped the Vile One, when we sought asylum among the ponies. They will turn us away even as they did that first time, like lambs left to the wolves!”
“I know what the dream means, now,” said Bloodfang, “I have seen what we must do”
Full Moon blinked, stared at Bloodfang for a moment. She trusted dreams, trusted the messages contained within, had faith in them. She also trusted Bloodfang, knew her as a creature of few words who spoke only when it was necessary and only when it was important.
Full Moon stepped over to the iron table, sat down, beckoning Bloodfang to join her.
“So what is your plan?” asked Full Moon a moment later as Bloodfang took a seat beside her.
“We will make them give us an army with which to fight the Vile One,” Bloodfang said.
Again Full Moon blinked, stared at Bloodfang.
“Make them?” she said a moment later, “has your pain and grief driven you mad? What makes you think we could compel so heartless a nation into such action as that? It will be as before! They will turn their backs on us and do nothing!”
“They will not,” said Bloodfang with such certainty that Full Moon could not ignore it.
“And how do you plan to accomplish this impossible feat?”, asked Full Moon, “the journey itself will be arduous and fraught with danger and hardship”
“I will go with her,” came a young voice from behind them. Startled, Full Moon turned in their seats to see Little Jewel standing behind them, her arms crossed, her face a dark mask of resolve.
“You have no skill with axe or sword,” said Full Moon, “of what use would you be on such a journey?”
“Far more than you may believe,” said Little Jewel as she touched her forefingers to her temples, closed her eyes. Her brows furrowed in concentration, her horn glowed with a sparkling, yellow-white brilliance.
An instant later Full Moon and Bloodfang gasped. They were startled to find themselves and Little Jewel now standing in the destroyed throne room of what appeared to be an ancient palace.
Dust and cobwebs covered everything, weeds grew through cracks in the stained and faded marble floors, branches of cragged and ancient trees grew through shattered stained glass windows, holes in the arching roof revealed a starry night sky.
At one end of the hall stood two wrecked and ragged thrones upon a raised dias, tattered and faded banners hung above them.
“What have you done? What is this place?”, gasped Full Moon.
“It is an ancient and abandoned palace deep within what the Equestrians call the Everfree Forest,” said Little Jewel, “I have come here many times when the colony was asleep, I have discovered and explored the deep catacombs that run beneath this palace”
Full Moon and Bloodfang stared at the filly who now stood with her arms crossed, staring at them with pride touched with a trace of haughtiness.
“In those catacombs I have found many ancient tomes,” continued Little Jewel, “one of which was a journal written in the distant past. It belonged to those who rule Equestria, it tells of the battle that took place here and of how this palace was abandoned”
Little Jewel turned and strode toward a dark arch at one end of the hall, beckoned the others to follow. They stood staring at her for a moment.
“Come!” she shouted at them with such authority that even the ruler of the Neomorphs and the usually stubborn Bloodfang could not refuse.
A moment later they found themselves walking down ancient stone corridors, the sharp, ringing clack of their hooves echoing softly from those ancient walls.
“Here!” said Little Jewel, pausing a moment before stepping into a large chamber. Guided by the light from her horn, Little Jewel found the wall sconces. Extending a finger she lit them all with a single touch of magic. Full Moon and Bloodfang stared at her. Where had this filly, this mere foal, learned such power?
Little Jewel’s horn glowed and a faded, fragile tome drifted gently from a shelf, floated down into her waiting hands. She held it up for the others to see.
“What work is that,” asked Full Moon, “I do not recognize the language”
“It is written in the Equestrian’s oldest language,” said Little Jewel, “and it is one of the works of their most powerful wizard from ancient times. His name was Starswirl The Bearded and, according to some of these books it is said he had even the power to raise the dead from their graves, restore them to life”
Full Moon stared at Little Jewel, a look of worry spreading across her face as Bloodfang stared angrily at the filly.
“What depths are you dabbling in, foal?” asked Full Moon, deeply concerned, “such things as you speak of are for ancient masters! Not for mere foals such as yourself! We will leave this place and you will not return here! I forbid it!”
Little Jewel stepped up to Full Moon. Smiling reassuringly, she gently stroked her cheek.
“You have asked me if I have been practicing my magic,” Little Jewel said, “now you have your answer. I am discovering that I, and even at so tender an age, have the hope of becoming even more powerful than this ancient Starswirl. I am not there as yet but I will be”
“You must not play with such things as this,” said Full Moon sternly, “it could destroy you. It could destroy us all!”
“This Starswirl could not have been perfect,” said Bloodfang quietly. “You say these books claim he raised the dead yet where is he? Even as powerful as those books say he was it seems to me he could not save himself from death”
“Oh, but I did,” came an unearthly and oddly cheerful voice from the other side of the chamber.
Startled, Full Moon spun, gasped, when they saw the ethereal form of an ancient, bearded pony clad in a long, dark robe and tall, conical hat festooned with white stars and crescent moons. He took several steps toward them. Full Moon and even Bloodfang stepped backwards, frightened by the sight.
“Don’t be afraid,” said the now smiling translucent form, “I am not here to haunt or harm you”
Full Moon and Bloodfang stared, wide eyed, first at each other, then at the ghostly form standing before them, then at Little Jewel.
“I am his student, his acolyte,” smiled Little Jewel, her arms folded across her chest, then, “I was just as terrified as you when I first came here and my master appeared to me but he was very kind and gentle. Soon I feared him not at all”
“What is the meaning of all of this?” stuttered a deeply disturbed Full Moon to no one in particular.
“The meaning of it all is very simple,” continued The Bearded One, “Little Jewel possesses the most powerful magic of any creature that has ever existed. Potentially she is more powerful than any of the Rulers of Equestria, potentially even more powerful than all of them put together, potentially even more powerful than me! That is why I have made her my acolyte”
He said this with a dramatic flourish, pointedly raising a hoof above his head for emphasis.
“Is... Is she to be our new ruler?” asked Full Moon.
“Eventually, yes, but not within your lifetime,” smiled The Bearded One to Full Moon, “you needn’t worry, your position as ruler of your people is quite secure”
“Then... What?” asked Bloodfang, deeply confused.
“Little Jewel’s destiny is none of your concern,” said The Bearded One with a dismissive wave of his hoof, then, “but I can assure you that it will be as I have planned it and it will be to the benefit of all”
“Not good enough,” growled Bloodfang. Finding her courage she stared angrily at The Bearded One, “I want to know the destiny of this, my daughter!”
“Very well,” shrugged The Bearded One with a chuckle, “eventually, she is to be the guardian of your people, of the Neomorphs. Ultimately she is to be the guardian of us all. She will protect even the Princesses from any and all harm”
“I don’t understand,” said Full Moon, “what does any of this have to do with the Equestrians?”
“I have already spoken with the Goddess of the night and, in turn, she has spoken with her sister. They are aware of your need and they will give you what you seek that you may ultimately have vengeance for the loss of those you loved,” said Starswirl’s ghost.
“Why not do it with magic,” asked Bloodfang, “why not destroy the Vile One with a single blast and be done with it?”
“Because what you lust for must be done with flesh and sword or the vengeance you seek would be hollow, empty, meaningless. This you must do by your own hand”
Bloodfang’s eyes sparkled as a wicked grin spread across her face. “This I can easily live with,” she said, licking her lips.
“Did you know of all this?” asked Full Moon to Little Jewel, Bloodfang looking at her as well, her eyes curious.
“No,” said Little Jewel, “My master tells me only that which he feels I should know, nothing more”
“And my dreams? You knew nothing of those as well?” asked Bloodfang.
“Again, no, I knew nothing of their origins or their purpose,” said Little Jewel.
“And, so!” spoke Starswirl dramatically, “off with you! We are done here!”
Raising his hooves in front of them, the ghost of Starswirl The Bearded brought them together in one, loud clap!
A moment later Full Moon, Bloodfang and Little Jewel found themselves standing once again in the main chamber of the colony tunnels. They stared at each other, astonished at what they had just seen. Full Moon and Bloodfang wondered if it hadn’t all just been a very vivid dream. Little Jewel assured them that it wasn’t, that it had all been quite real and that the way they must go was clear. They would befriend their former enemies, the Rulers of that land, and demand an army with which to fight the Vile One. They would go to Equestria!
