Chapter 7 - Embers

I awoke from a nebulous dream about broken horns to find a nightmare with a ruined one leaning over me. Panicking I tried to shield myself only to go slightly cross eyed as the spell was suppressed and sent bouncing back and forth in my head. By the time I recovered and found my hooves memory had caught up with reality, along with the protest of everything from the horn down.

With Vair lending a helping hoof I managed to straighten out stiff limbs and clear my mind of the dread of the previous day. Vair at least seemed to be fully awake and recovered, although there were three slight scars on his flank where the wounds had been. I tried to cast a healing spell on myself to help loosen up only to be reminded once again that I somehow couldn't. The book, I noted, had been returned to the shelf while I was asleep.

As I worked to get my circulation going Vair awkwardly thanked me for carrying him and performing magic on his wounds, a task made difficult by us having to stop and hunt for the right words a couple times. It truly was remarkable how quickly he could learn when we weren't being attacked by anything. He also told me that the stranger was named Mimisbrunnr and that she was the Queen of his people, the 'Veroa'.

Something about that bothered me although it took me a moment or two to figure out what it was. Thinking back to the night before I had to clarify that Mimisbrunnr, or 'Mim' as I shortened the name in my head, was a Queen and not a King; as I recalled the stranger had seemed very much to be male. Vair gave me a curious look but before he could explain the hatch door was thrown open and Mim dropped into the room in the same heavy cloak he had been wearing the night before.

Glaring at me from the depths of his hood he dropped a bundle of rags by the entrance and said something in his language which caused Vair to look away as if embarrassed. Throwing back the hood with a quick toss of his head, he smiled wickedly and my mind came to a full stop.

Glowering at me from across the room was... me.

My horn, my eyes, my face, my mane... I sat down slowly and stared open mouthed, unable to process what my eyes were seeing. He laughed at me, or I laughed at me; I wasn't sure. A blue-green wave emerged from his horn as I struggled to form thoughts and slowly drifted back down across his body... And as I watched, the spell consumed me: my horn became dark, crooked and broken; my mane went from its rich brown to a terrible combination of green and yellow; the cloak rotted and fell to the ground in crumbling pieces; my body darkened and shriveled with holes appearing and piercing it through as it grew taller and sharper and crueler. My eyes seemed to expand and die as I watched, first going pure white and blind then taking on a deep radiant blue tone all the while locked onto my own and full of hate as I watched in horror.

The spell reached the tip of its tail and with a flick I was gone, leaving behind a vision of terror so powerful it could curdle magic. I didn't catch the look of concern that crossed its face as the spell ended, having passed out somewhat before then.

~~~~~~

Opening my eyes and finding myself on the floor where I'd fallen asleep the night before I thanked my lucky stars that it'd all been some kind of lucid nightmare. Before I could even finish the thought, however, I found a pair of eroded black-gray hooves in front of my face and felt my gaze being drawn upwards. Such things awaited me there.

The world slipped and I started to pass out again only to receive a sharp kick in the stomach which forced my attention to local matters long enough for my brain to catch up and start working. It, whatever it was, had to be related to Vair. There could be no doubt. The two were twins almost, except this one was much, much bigger and far more terrifying.

Muttering something that sounded disgusted the creature turned away and gathered up the bundle of rags again, depositing them beside the fireplace and casting some kind of spell that resulted in an instant blazing fire filling the pit. I followed it's every move without getting up, half afraid to draw attention to myself but also fascinated in a morbid sort of way. I quickly noted that it limped ever so slightly on the front right leg, and that unlike Vair this one seemed very capable of manipulating magic like a unicorn. I also discovered a sore region on the side of my head which nicely complemented bruise forming from the kick I'd received. Somehow I didn't feel as embarrassed as I should have for passing out.

After a few minutes I noticed Vair sitting off to the side staring at the floor looking for all the world like a child who'd been told they'd done something wrong. Comparing the two through the haze that had entered my mind I noted how much sharper the features of the larger one were, how much harder and colder it or 'she' was in comparison.

Overwhelmed and seeing the one familiar face in the room turned down I hesitantly got up and quietly walked over to sit beside Vair facing the fire. Mim glanced angrily at us and went back to working on something in the pit.

Vair looked up, "I am sorry Ren. I should have said something. Mimisbrunnr thinks... Do you truly not know who we are?"

I confessed to ignorance, only half able to pay attention. Staring into the flames I found that I was afraid to look at my own tail for fear that it had turned gray.

"We are Veroian...?"  I shrugged; he might as well have said he was a bug for all that meant to me. Vair seemed to hesitate as if he wanted to say much but didn't quite know how.

Mim's glare found me through the flames and in a cruel clipped tone she said "You are in the midst of Changelings, pony. In the City of Embers, in the ashes of my people. If you are a child of Amore or an agent of Skinfaxi you will not leave this place."