Chapters Chapter 1 - Tangled
I was surrounded by deep forest and the stench of bygone ages crumbling beneath the feet of giants. Other than the occasional faded patch of ferns or moss fighting for the right to survive, all that I could see about me was an unending march of wooden towers, crawling up a hill to my left towards the sun and falling away below me to dimmer unknown depths. I did not feel fear, not yet, but confusion registered in abundance.
Why had I come to this place? And, more to the point, how? One moment I was taking notes during an experiment with my master and the next I'm here, apparently lost and alone in this equally lost and lonely forest. The more I tried to sort the order of recent events the more convinced I became that I couldn't actually be here. It felt like I'd been reading one of those fantastic books on the history of Saddle Arabia and accidentally skipped a chapter, picking up the thread with unfamiliar characters and plots playing out across the pages where I expected to find familiar events. Even the air felt strange; if my senses meant anything it was surely mid-summer here, yet without a doubt it was supposed to be autumn. Staring uneasily at the trees around me I scuffed the ground to make sure there was actually dirt there and that this wasn't some sort of lucid dream.
Finding dirt, I sacrificed a little composure. Practicing an old technique for centering oneself when confronted with the unexpected, I closed my eyes and momentarily cleared my mind. I am a unicorn, a student of machines and magic with a passion for blending the two together. Surely I could sort this out. The thought that I might have been overdoing it a little lately occurred, but I dismissed it; everything up until now was as clear in my memory as could be. Admittedly the last experiment had been a rather novel one, but it had concluded without any explosions so... Where in Equestria was I, and how exactly...
A quiet crunching noise interrupted my train of thought. Glancing around I heard it again, a distinct crunch that came from somewhere farther up the hillside. Again, fear was absent; I was a country colt, I grew up on a farm surrounded by deeper darker woods than these! A sense of restraint did take root however; rarely does one encounter anything in the forest that can threaten a grown unicorn, but damned if I was going to be the butt of some kind of teleportation joke. As I quietly climbed up the hill the thought occurred that my master was not the joking type and, while I wouldn't put it past him, Turner lacked the ability to teleport anything anywhere, let alone me to wherever here was.
Reaching the top of ridge I peered down along the hill and eventually spotted someone standing far below near the remains of a massive stump. To my relief, it was a pony and not a Timberwolf. From the distance about all I could make out was that the pony's coat appeared to be dark gray if not black; although he or she was close, it was dim under the trees and difficult to make details out.
Regardless, that didn't fit at all: Turner had a light brown coat, and while gray the master's coat was lighter than my own stone-toned body. With a growing sense of concern I started to accept the reality that was being presented and quickly decided I should reach out to the pony below for help in sorting out exactly where I was and how I'd gotten there.
I trotted down the hill as quickly as I could without falling, calling out to the dark pony politely so as not to startle them in the woods. Up ahead I saw the pony's head come up and turn towards me, and as I came up close I found that I could see through... It ...in several places.
While I am a calm level-headed pony, in my shock and fear and revulsion the only thought that came to mind was 'monster'. In outline the creature was undeniably equestrian, unicornian even, but it was as if parts of it's body had eroded or been eaten away like a corpse. In seemingly random places its limbs were pierced through with holes large enough to slip a scroll through, fearsome brutish fangs hung over it's lower jaw, and a dark crooked ruin of a horn rose from the battered skull. The creature's eyes were a terrifyingly dead dull blue and once locked onto mine I felt as though the world around me had gone dark, as though nothing else existed except those dreadful orbs and me.
As adrenaline surged I tried to analyze and interpret everything in front of me so I could tear it apart with magic, but instead of attacking the nightmare seemed to bend backwards as if leaning away from me while remaining somehow fixed in place, unable to actually move. With half a dozen castings initiated and a horn that was surely smoldering with impatient magic, I hesitated.
The creature had not attacked me, which was just as well for I had no desire to use any of the castings that had come so quickly to mind, nor had it said anything or even really moved which again was probably just as well... It just stood there in all it's fearsome glory, like some kind of grotesque statue frozen in time to frighten all who came upon it.
Unlike a statue, however, it seemed to shake slightly. After a long moment I had the sudden realization that the creature seemed to be utterly terrified rather than about to eat me. That is, assuming it's expression could be read like that of a pony.
Slightly taken aback I cleared my mind of spells and relaxed my stance into a less threatening pose. Whether due to this or the lack of magical threat, or both, the creature did seem to relax slightly although it remained as silent and stationary as before. Unsure what else to do in the growing silence, I asked it what it was.
Elegant it wasn't, but then what do you say to a living nightmare? The creature didn't seem to understand however, or perhaps it did and had other things on it's mind; the question produced no response. When I started to ask again slightly louder it finally broke off it's rigid stare to glance around wildly, holding a hoof up in an unmistakable plea for silence.
The movement was slightly jerky but revealing; it was only then that I saw the trap. Two of the creature's legs, one fore and one rear, were ensnared in some kind of dark green-brown thorny rope which pulsed slowly in the dim light. Although I had never seen it before was a good student and had read of darker woods than those I knew as a colt. Unless I was very much mistaken, the vines which bound the creature were surely Plunder Vines.
Those were old magic, even the master didn't know much about them although he once mentioned that they and Timberwolves were creations of the same ancient force. Though much more rare than the dreaded wolves, the vines are every bit as fearsome in reputation; as the poor creature here had apparently found out, they were said to ensnare any pony or animal they can in a tangle of vines and trap them there to be slowly consumed by the vine's flowers.
Noting bulging buds on a couple of the vines nearby, I wondered if the creature knew anything of what held it. Then it occurred to me that the process might have already begun. Shivering a little myself I slowly started to back away, glancing back at it's face as if perversely seeking confirmation of my suspicions. What I saw there stopped me cold. Though unwilling or perhaps unable to speak, no words could have spoken louder than the trail of tears that ran down it's dark shallow face. Despite it's fearsome appearance, it's fear evoked my own and I knew I had to free it. I actively repressed thoughts of what would happen afterwards.
Although the creature appeared to have the horn of a unicorn it did not seem to be able to perform castings and spells as I knew them; as I struggled against the vines through my horn and with my hooves it hesitantly tried to help by shifting its weight around, but it seemed unable to reach out through magic to help free itself. This complicated the task; every time I pried off or unraveled one vine, another would tighten and a third would try to take hold on it, forcing me to split my attention between ever more vines as I worked the creature loose. To make matters worse, the more vines I pried off the more animated the vines around us seemed to become.
Fortunately I was up to the challenge; in my colt-hood I had forced myself to learn an exceptional amount of control in my pursuit of mechanical wonders. Funny how the fascinations of youth come back to support us in time. Still, it was not easy prying at one vine or another while holding half a dozen others at bay and trying to keep several more from getting a grip on my own body. In the moment I quite forgot I was working within a leg's reach of a living corpse.
The overwhelming sense of fear and revulsion came flooding back when it finally stepped free and slowly backed away from the vines with me, but before it or anything else could take hold the ground around us seemed to erupt as dozens more vines came up through the layers of ancient leaves, seeking their prey and its accomplice.
Without hesitation, we turned together and ran.
Chapter 2 - Chatter
We fled over several low ridges and across a stream before the place where the vines were was well out of sight, and we kept going until we were both barely able to stumble on. Showing surprisingly good sense the creature nudged me and directed my eyes towards a rocky lump that loomed off to the side of the glade we were attempting to cross; if there were any more of those vines about they surely wouldn't be able to penetrate rock to reach us there. Too tired to resister that the thing had touched me or how strangely hard it had felt I clambered up the side of the oblongish bolder with it and collapsed on top in exhaustion.
After a while my breathing slowed and I started taking note of my surroundings again. First and foremost, there was the creature laying on the rock next to me... Unsure what to do about that just yet I spread my attention to our rock and the woods around us.
Thankfully there was no sign of the vines to be seen, although interestingly the boulder we were on seemed to have once been part of a structure of some sort; the far side from our approach had the remains of a rough wall built up against it and there was enough toppled mason laying about to suggest there had once been a fairly large building here. Even the trees seemed farther back on that side.
As I contemplated the wall and the forest and wondered where in Equestria I was, my strange companion sat up beside me. I turned and for a long moment we considered each other in silence, and again I was struck by its dull blue eyes and eerily eroded form.
On its back what I had at first taken as some kind of half decayed clothing revealed itself to actually be part of the creature, although I had a hard time believing them to be the wings they appeared to be. Surely nothing so thin and wispy could actually be used for flight? Granted, I was a unicorn and not the best judge of wings, but they seemed impossibly frail and eroded for the task. I also noticed a small pouch worn in an unusual manner beneath the creature's chest and wondered at its contents. The face I tried to avoid, therein still lay monsters that I wasn't quite ready to tackle.
Interrupting my scrutiny and forcing the issue, the creature held up a hoof and gestured in a decidedly intelligent manner as if asking for attention. I sat comfortably and put on what I hopped was a patient encouraging expression, and it seemed to study me closely for a moment before cocking its head slightly to the side and saying something that sounded like a question, although in a language I didn't understand. I shook my head and asked in Equestrian if it could understand me, to which I received the same negative gesture I had given.
Then, demonstrating an impressive talent for mimicry, it repeated my question back to me in Equestrian. This was an intelligent monster then! Or was it? What was it? Surely it was a half dead pony, victim of the Plunder vines... And yet, it didn't act half eaten. If anything it acted elated and curious. Mentally struggling I held a hoof up and tapped my chest, saying 'Ren' as clearly as I could given the recent marathon, repeating the gesture and name before gesturing at it in hopes of learning something. Without gesturing back, the creature said something that after several attempts I was able to pronounce as 'Vair'. Having exchanged names we stared at each other thoughtfully.
I know not what was going through its mind, but as for myself I was fascinated. Sure, I was lost in an impossible forest with no idea where I was or how I'd gotten there, but the creature in front of me shouldn't even be alive, much less able to politely ask...
It wasn't finished however; again demonstrating an uncanny ability to remember and mimic, it repeated back the first words I had spoken to it, asking what I was. Amused and thinking it unaware of the meaning of the question, I humored it as I tried to work out how to ask all the questions I had in pantomime. Talking quietly I told the creature that I was a student of magic, and that I was lost in these woods and not actually sure how I had arrived here or even where here actually was. Wanting to keep the conversation going but unsure what else to say, I asked what it was doing in the woods.
To my surprise, the creature replied in flawless equestrian saying 'I arrived here the woods had magic'. A jumbled mess to be sure, but the words were clear and seemingly spoken with intelligence even if the meaning was murky at best... Without anything else to do and unwilling to examine my companion or situation to closely I applied myself completely to the problem of communication. Although I rarely call attention to it I pride myself on being quick and picking up on things other ponies miss, and as I sat there sorting the statement out it eventually came to me that the creature had used only words I myself had spoken aloud. Was it possible that it was learning their meaning through context? It seemed impossible, but then it also seemed to be dead and yet it here it was, demonstrably not dead... Who was to say what it could and couldn't do? And it had seemed to have understood the question; it's reply almost made sense.
Keeping an eye on the creature's horn and playing the hunch for lack of a better idea, I elaborated on my last comment, using new words and unconsciously speaking slower to allow for better emphasis. I told it that I was a unicorn and that I studied with the great Starswirl of Elm, that I was fascinated by machines and passionate about building and blending them with magic, and that I had been working with my friends on a project before this forest had replaced my familiar surroundings of books and scrolls.
As I spoke I caught the faintest flickers of magic darting around it's ruined horn, but as near as I could tell there was no actual casting taking place. Could it be using some kind of passive or 'natural' magic to learn my language? The master had often spoken of such things when discussing the Earth Pony's uncanny ability to grow and nurture, of how they intuitively knew what to do to help somepony even if they didn't actually understand the cause of the problem. Perhaps this creature had similar innate abilities? But then I wasn't even sure that it was a pony, so would I even recognize a spell if it casted one?
After I finished my discourse it seemed to think for a moment before repeating its previous statement, only this time in much clearer if still somewhat broken Equestrian. It said that it had 'come to the woods because seeking great magic master' and that it had 'been gathered by magic day ago'.
Encouraged and thinking the problem through, I recounted everything I had seen and experienced since the forest had appeared in detail, equipping the creature with as many relevant terms as I could. I even thought to add a few lines describing magic and society and ponies so it would be able to apply those to the conversation as well.
From this effort I was able to learn that Vair's home was some kind of outpost that had been built to guard a pass and that he had been sent to find a wise mare to ask for guidance. Or at least that was what I gathered, there seemed to be a lot more going on that we lacked the words to express. I did manage to learn that Vair was a 'Veroa' and that they were fighting against the 'Jotnar', but try as I might I couldn't remember ever coming across those names before.
Vair also told me he had been traveling for nearly half a moon* before being ensnared by the vines, and that he had been fighting them for more than a couple days before I happened by. The conversation was developing into the most remarkable rapport given the situation and language barriers we were smashing through when a long low howl came rolling through the forest behind us.
Timberwolves.
Chapter 3 - Wolves
I had never actually seen a Timberwolf before, but of course I'd read all about them and been warned time and again to be wary in the woods as a young colt. In appearance they were said to be fearsome creatures assembled from broken branches and other pieces of forest rubbish, but of the malicious magic that drove them next to nothing is known. When asked, the master had once said he thought they were the manifestations of a sentient side of magic, suggesting that the roughly assembled bodies were only avatars which allowed this strange form of magic to interact with the physical world. Then again, some books suggested that they were ghosts of evil ponies doomed to haunt the dark forests forever. Whatever the truth, it seemed well outside the reach of reserchers; despite many attempts one had never been captured for study. Not even the famous beastmaster Iron Hide had managed the feat, making it one of the few beasts in his guide that he hadn't been able to conquer.
Beside me Vair seemed to deflate at the sound, sinking low against the rock as if trying to become a part of it. In hushed tones he told me that a pack of Timberwolves had found him the night before, but that they hadn't risked approaching the vines to get to him. His absence, it seemed, had been noted. The irony of helping him escape the Plunder Vines only to be eaten by Timberwolves was not lost on me. Or that I myself was now on the menu.
A grown unicorn such as myself should have little to fear from a lone Timberwolf, according to my books, but if encountered in packs or caught unaware the danger is very real. As several more howls went up my mind slipped back to the darker spells I had read about and I wondered if the master would approve of their use against wolves... Being magically pure is all fine and dandy, but it wouldn't do me much good if I was dead.
Fortunately Vair interrupted me before I could waste any more time exploring that line of thought and we cast about for somewhere to hide. Nothing suggested itself. Remembering the loose mason and rough wall I had noted before, I ran back to that side of the rock and found what might once have been part of a reinforced corner or maybe the base of a tower built along the wall; taller than any two ponies with straight sides of stacked stone, it was a rough cube of narrowing mason and rock whose top was only reachable along the top of the ruined wall stretching from it to our rock. We could have tried to run for it of course, but if caught with nothing at our backs defense would be all but impossible against a pack. At least here we would only have to watch one direction.
Fear makes for fast hooves and within a few heartbeats I had reached the top of the crumbling tower and was busy lifting loose stones into place to repair damage and add to the remains of a low ring wall around the top. Vair ran down the rock to check the base of the tower for weak spots and direct my efforts, making sure nothing could climb up the sides by filling in holes and hastily adding what we could to strengthen the position. Just as he called up that it looked good, I saw my first timber wolf.
In comparison, Vair was positively cuddly.
The creature was as tall as I am but much broader, it's body clad in what looked like wooden armor rather than the broken twigs and leafs I had been led to expect. Its face was a twisted wreck of sharp amber spikes with hateful glowing embers for eyes, and a greenish fog seemed to flow down through the gaps in its twisted body like a heavy mist fleeing the sun. It's legs were solid and long, the feet a collection of sharp splinters and hooked barbs that tore at the ground as it ran.
The beast lunged into view and was on us almost before we realized it was there. Reacting instinctively I reached out through my horn and bodily grabbed Vair, lifting him straight up into the air just as the monster reached him and slashed out with its claws.
As I lowered Vair onto the remains of the tower beside me the wolf howled in rage and jump straight for my throat with its mouth wide and its claws flashing. I threw up a magical barrier between it and us only to watch in stunned horror as it smashed right through it.
Had we not added to the tower the wolf would have made that first jump and I do not think this story would have ended well, but as it was it only got one clawed paw over the edge and its jaws snapped shut just short of my face before falling back down, unable to get a grip on the worn stone.
Howling in anger it tried again and shattered the remains of my shield along with much of my confidence, but again it was unable to make the jump. Reaching out I tried to grapple with the beast through magic to keep it at bay, only to learn that I could not get a firm grip on it. It was like trying to pick up a greased rock or one of those curious crystals I had spent so much time studying, there was a queer slipperiness to it that made it all but impossible to pin it down.
Vair finally recovered from the shock of the attack and being jerked off his feet, and crying out in his strange language he ran to the edge and sent a blue-green blast of hard magic arcing down at the wolf, only to jump back as it stepped to the side and lunged for him. Part of my mind noted that this was the first time I'd seen Vair perform a spell, and that he seemed somehow harder and sharper than before, but such thoughts were drowned out as the beast got both front legs over the edge this time and didn't fall back down.
Half panicked I cast a powerful push spell that should have send the beast and half the tower soaring back into the trees, but it only just managed to knock it back down to the ground. As it crouched to try the jump again Vair braved the edge and started sending blasts of magic hurdling down towards it as fast as he could, forcing it to dodge back a few paces as I struggled to find a spell that it couldn't shrug off.
Then one of Vair's castings clipped it and sent the beast spinning to the ground, and for a moment it seemed that we might actually win this thing!
Chapter 4 - the Stranger
Focused as we were on the beast below, it was only by chance and desperate luck that I heard a noise behind us over the howls and blast of Vair's castings striking the ground. Turning, to my horror I found two more of the beasts had snuck up behind us and were half way along the wall between the big rock and our tower.
In a moment of clarity I realized there wasn't time for trying spells that might or might not work, so I attacked what I knew I could harm; the wall itself. Sending out as strong a blast of hard magic as I ever have I topped the wall out from under the beasts and sent them crashing to the ground in a tangle of wood and stone. One was caught and crushed under a large portion of the ruined wall, but the other recovered and ran for the ramp the destroyed wall now made at the side of the tower.
Just then I heard Vair yell out a warning; jumping forward I spun just as first wolf made the jump and slashed out, just missing me but catching Vair solidly in the flank with one of it's horrible thorny paws. Vair's scream of rage was surprisingly quiet as he was swept to the side and off the tower, fighting the wolf all the way down.
Enraged and afraid beyond intelligence I lashed out with every fiber of my being and unleashed a concentrated blast of pure magic that shook the tower to it's foundation and utterly shattered the beast that gripped Vair. The one below halted in its attempt to reach me sensing the new threat and turned to flee, but before it could make more than a few bounds I caught it firmly in my grasp and crushed it into smoldering ruins as well.
The power that flowed through me was incredible, it felt like I could do anything! Where had it come from? And what did it matter? With this much magic flowing through my horn I could create newer better spells and completely wipe out the wolves and the vines and everything else that tried to harm me! I could cleanse this misplaced forest, and who would argue against it? I had been attacked, why shouldn't I defend myself and my friends... friend? ...Vair.
Half mad from the lusty destructive magic I had unleashed, I snapped back to myself remembering what had caused the sudden outburst. Beneath me the tower was shattered and leaning dangerously to one side; on the ground Vair lay in a pile of rocks and Timberwolf remains. A new kind of fear filled me and momentarily washed away all other concerns.
Forgetting that there might be more wolves about and that I wasn't even sure that they and Vair weren't related, I rushed down and carefully dug and lifted him out of the rubble. Part of my mind noted how light he was, but the thought hardly registered as I saw the deep gashes in his side.
Struggling to remember everything my father had taught me I sent a silent thanks to him for seeing to it that I learned a little healing magic as a colt and quickly cast a spell to slow the bleeding. Remembering the stream we had crossed I cast another spell and ran in the direction indicated carrying Vair along with me and ignoring that all the trees we passed were now burnt and blackened on the side facing the crumbling tower.
Fortunately I found the stream quickly and after purifying a portion of water I washed the dirt and grime away from Vair's wounds, folding the gashes close and encouraging the tissue to grow through the subtle ways of healing magic. It wasn't easy and Vair seemed strangely resistant to the casting, but I was as determined as I ever was and kept trying until it worked. Just as I finished and was checking to make sure there weren't other injuries on him or myself, I was interrupted.
"Come with me now, little pony"
The voice startled me so much I almost dropped Vair into the stream as I jerked upright and looked for the source. On the far bank a pony stood, wrapped in rags and hidden inside a deep hood. I gaped at it.
"Now pony, unless you'd prefer to dine with what you woke"
The voice was deep and somehow familiar, it took me a moment to realize it sounded like no one so much as my father. But he was a Earth Pony and this raggedy pony was clearly a unicorn; unless it had a stick in its hood there was definitely a horn under there.
Letting out a disgusted sound, the stranger turned and started walking away. Hesitating but not sure what else to do I crossed the stream and hurried after him with Vair floating along behind me.
When I caught up I started to ask who he was, only to be told to be silent. While I am not a pony who packs around an ego despite my education and heritage, something in the pony's commanding tone prickled. Before I could assert myself however, I remembered the wolves and it occurred to me that it was probably best to delay conversation until we were far away from that place. Grudgingly I made a mental note to not miss a play that obvious again.
And so, for the second time that day I found myself fleeing over hills and through the deep forest towards an unknown destination. Every now and then the stranger stopped as if to listen, and during these breaks I fought for air and checked on Vair. Whatever he was, the healing magic seemed to be working on him now. Briefly I wondered if that was evidence that he was (or used to be) a pony or if the magic was simply universal, but then the stranger was moving again and I had to concentrate on keeping up and not bouncing my limp companion off a tree in the process.
It wasn't long before the adrenaline lagged and I started feeling pretty limp myself; after an hour or so of hurried hobbling I was all but frothing at the mouth trying to keep up. Ahead of me the stranger stopped and turned to glare, but I was almost beyond caring about him or wolves or trees or anything else at that point. Air in, air out, repeat.
It was several minutes before I realized that we had actually stopped and that the stranger was searching the woods behind us rather than glaring at me. Struggling to my hooves again I stumbled up a slight rise towards where he stood and finally saw our destination.
In the valley below a small stream meandered out of the hills and cut a serpentine path through overgrowth that all but buried the ruins of an ancient city. Through the haze of exhaustion and the actual haze of evening mist I saw the remains of sharp hooked towers clawing at the sky and walls thick as buildings standing tall against the march of the forest. The skeletons of houses and other structures lay beyond the walls, cloyingly hidden in the mist as if shy to be seen. With its massive walls pierced and many of the soaring towers toppled, the city reeked of defiance and broken strength.
"Arvakr" muttered the stranger, and that is how I found the City of Embers.
Chapter 5 - Muffled
As I followed the stranger down the hillside I couldn't help but be awed by the scale of the ruins below. The wall around the city was taller than any building I had ever seen before and appeared to be made of seamless rippling black stone rather than familiar brick or cobble. As we approached one of several gashes that pierced it through I saw that the structure had crumbled rather than collapsed and wondered at the force that could have rendered such an attack. Or so nearly resisted it. The more I looked at the holes in the wall the more they reminded me uncomfortably of the holes that pierced Vair.
"In you go pony, we are followed."
Not needing much encouragement I carefully picked my way through the rubble and into the gap, keeping Vair aloft with me. On the other side the ruins spread out across the valley floor, overgrown and in shambles but magnificent in the fading light. The destruction had seemed to be nearly complete from the ridge, but down on the ground I saw that among the stone skeletons there were a few buildings in the shadows of the wall that had survived.
The builders of the city seemed to have favored strength rather than form; like the walls around them and the towers above the remaining structures were dark, disdainful, and imposing. Here and there I spotted a little flourish though, little hints of elegance etched in the weathered stone as if the skill of the builders was a wild thing, difficult to suppress or fully erase.
Somewhat to my surprise our guide didn't lead us to one of the intact buildings but rather to a crumbling pile of stone and wood that might once have been a guard house near the base of a crooked tower. As I watched he waded into the ruin and bodily pushed a stone slab aside, revealing a wooden hatch that at one time might have led to a cellar. Impressed by the camouflage in spite of its simplicity, I carefully lifted Vair through the doorway and entered at the strangers silent direction. It was pitch black inside and as the door shut behind us I felt the dull pangs of fear returning yet again.
"Quiet now, hidden in this place we are but there is much yet to fear."
Standing in the dark listening to the scuttle of the stranger moving around and muttering occasionally, it wasn't hard to imagine myself to be in a den of wolves rather than anywhere safe. After a maddening interval in which I was unable to move for fear of bumping into something and very much wishing I could see what was going on around me, I started to cast a light spell only to give a muffled yelp as I felt something wrap around my horn and smother the spell.
"No magic, pony."
Partially stunned by the feeling of something suppressing my magic I had no choice but to stand at the mercy of the stranger in the dark and hope Vair hadn't fallen on anything hard when the spell holding him had been cut off.
After an eternity there came a sharp sound and I saw a flicker of light ahead of me. Another strike and a small flame burst to life, filling the room with glorious orange light. Ahead of me was a large open room seemingly carved out of living rock, the walls rounded and hidden behind shelves of dried plants and jars and books and bones. The center of the room was dominated by a open fireplace with several small cauldrons around the edges, and all about lay bits and pieces of woodsy trash as if some storm had blown half the forest through the room recently.
As soon as my sight was restored I tried to inspect whatever it was that was smothering my magic but after several minutes of intense experimentation had to accept that looking at one's own horn is a dizzying impossibility. Mindful of the warning against using magic and finding myself suddenly unable to perform any anyway, I did my best to ignore the strange feeling and resist the urge to shake like a mad foal.
Vair lay on the floor before me and inspecting his wounds offered a much needed distraction. The gashes in his side seemed to be nearly healed over already and somehow he had landed on a thick mat rather than the hard floor, but he was still unconscious from the blast of magic I had unleashed. Thinking back on it made me feel slightly ill; I had read about how powerful destructive magic was while studying with my master but nothing could have prepared me for experiencing it.
Dark magic, the master had once explained, does not exist in any spell itself but rather in the act of using it to cause harm, of using it destructively. Magic can be used to create and to destroy, and while creating takes time, practice, and skill, destruction is easy and instantaneous. Any pony who uses magic to destructive ends will always be tempted to use it again to hasten events in their lives... In other words, performing dark magic was like cheating; you may have solved the immediate problem, but because you didn't take the time to understand it you are oblivious to the consequences of your actions and you have to cheat again and again to hide that fact. It's a slippery slope, one that many unicorns have fallen down to their doom.
Doubts and fears ran through my mind as I tried to convince myself I was still me, that I wasn't somehow tainted and destined to become Sombra's second coming. I certainly wasn't the first unicorn to end a Timberwolf, but I had actually felt it's body being crushed and being torn apart through my own horn... At that moment I wanted nothing more in the world than to talk to my master, to seek his wisdom and advice. And to lay down and sleep until I was back home where I belonged.
The stranger had apparently finished whatever he was doing by the fire and came over. "That one will be awake in the morning" he said, gesturing at Vair on the ground between us. "I see to our defense. Keep the fire burning, and..." he reached up and tapped my horn, "...no magic."
And with that he gathered up several sticks and what might have been a scroll or a roll of rags, and left the grotto occupied only by the fearsome unconscious creature I had come to think of as a friend and the fearsome conscious creature that had enough questions to fill a library.
Chapter 6 - History
After several moments of silence I began examining my surroundings. Every muscle in my body ached from the day's excursions, but my mind was far to cluttered for sleep just yet and I dreaded whatever dreams might come.
Walking around the room examining the shelves lining the walls, I found several dried plants I recognized by smell and many more that I did not. There were also a lot of jars and containers scattered about that held various liquids and powders that I wasn't about to poke at, but at least one of them was familiar and after examining it as best I could without magic, I helped myself. Truly one must wonder how an Earth Pony or Pegasus can manage without magic, simply grasping a cup is difficult enough let alone dipping it into a water barrel.
The shelves also held a number of scrolls and a precious few books, and after circling the room a few times my curiosity got the better of me. Disappointingly, all but one of them were written in a language I didn't know, and the one that I could read was only interesting given its company and not it's subject; it was a history of Equestria, 'proudly printed in Fillydelphia' according to the cover. Being overly familiar with the subject I put it back in its place amused that someone in little Filly' had set up a printing press, but after spending a few minutes checking and rechecking Vair and wandering around trying not to look at my horn I took it back out and settled down to read near the fire.
The story was comfortingly familiar. Starting with the various tribes of the old world and the great blizzard that destroyed everything they had built together, it told of how the survivors had fled across the frozen sea seeking the Alicorns for guidance and help. Finding the land of the Alicorns as empty and barren as their own, the wanderers had been left to their own devices to struggle for survival and to recreate some semblance of their lost society.
While most of them had been builders and farmers before the blizzard, a certain few had been powerful or wealthy ponies in the old world and wished to establish a society centered around themselves; they felt that they alone had the necessary experience to rule and direct others. Those who were to be ruled in such a system saw no need to share resources with those who did not contribute anything in return, however; an Earth Pony does not need a Pegasus to tell him how to grow carrots, so why should he have to share his crop if it means he himself has to go hungry? At the same time, the Unicorns among the group felt that despite the peril it was preposterous to establish anything without first scouting the land for surviving Alicorns and failing that, for the best possible location to build a city. The Pegasus of course questioned the need to be grounded at all and wished to establish a city above the frozen wastes where they would be warm and safe from anything below.
After a few failed attempts at working out their differences and following the failure of the first crop in the new land, the three races fractured with the emergence of strong leaders in each and thus the seeds of the various pre-equestrian empires were sowed. With some small ember of pride I read again how the young Starswirl and his companions had eventually reunited the three races and founded the unified kingdom of Equestria, convincing all to live once again in harmony under the guidance of Royal Sisters, the last living Alicorns who had been found in the ruins of the royal castle of Canterlot.
With fading consciousness I read of the younger sisters famed manticore friend and the older's tact when dealing with the various rulers they were to oversee, of reluctant Zebras and fearsome Griffins and so on. This was all recent history, my father himself was only a generation removed from an all Earth Pony colony on the edge of Whitetail woods; his marriage to a Pegasus is still something of a scandal on the more traditional side of the family.
Reaching the end of the chapter I hazily added to it in my mind, filling in Starswirl's backstory where the book had skipped over parts and expanding the chapter to include all his most recent deeds and adventures and those few in which I had participated. As I finally drifted off my final thought was that it was strange how thick the remaining chapters of the book were...
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."
Chapter 8 - Mimisbrunnr
Silence hung thick in the air as I tried to compose a response that wouldn't get me killed. I had no idea who Skinfaxi was and I couldn't remember ever coming across anything referring the 'Veroa' or 'Changlings' in my studies, but Amore...
Amore was the founder of the Crystal Empire, daughter of the first ponies to discover Equestria. If I remembered right her father had led a small mixed group into the frozen wastes when the three tribes separated, taking shelter in the ruins of a lost city when the blizzard returned. He died and the group would have been lost except while looking for shelter Amore had discovered a unique artifact in the ruins... Right up until Sombra cursed the kingdom in his banishment that relic, the Crystal Heart, had held back the fury of the frozen north protecting the city and its ponies.
Was Mim a holdout, a loyalist of Sombra? As a colt I had heard plenty of stories about Sombra's banishment and the fractured bands of loyalists scattered throughout the North that planed in secret for his return... Then again, none of the stories had ever said anything about a 'Skinfaxi' or the 'Veroa' and both names were strange enough to have stuck in my mind. The name 'Changeling' was likewise unfamiliar although it wasn't hard to guess where that one came from.
My thoughts slowly spiraled back to the question. I was born to a Pegasus and an Earth pony; I was a fusion, not a 'pure blood' Unicorn, so there was no way I could be related to Amore. Unless of course one of my ancestors had been a fusion, or was related to her family in some way... A lot could have happened in the 500-whatever years since the empire was founded, and technically we were all decedents of the original group to enter Equestria so who could know if I was or wasn't related to Amore?
Mim scoffed as if reading my confused thoughts and lifted a clay pot out of the fireplace, setting it down between us; "We will soon know all there is to know, pony. This is Briddlestain, it will tell the truth of you and your meaning here."
So saying she lifted out a glob of thick green-blue paste and flung it at me faster than I could follow. It was cold and soaked through my coat with distressing rapidity. Curiously, as soon as it hit me I felt myself relaxing as if under a soothing rejuvenation spell. Part of my mind recognized that I was being lulled, but I was powerless to resist and not entirely willing to do so in any case. Absently, I wondered if the ointment was any good for bruises as the room began fade around me.
Colors slowly flashed through my vision and I drifted, unconcerned about the world or the creatures in who's company I found myself. Memories of my parents came to mind, of our tidy little farm on the outskirts of town and of my friends and teachers and my dear Master. Again I saw the broken clock tower and felt it calling to me, felt the elation of finding my cutie mark and the confusion that came with it. Again I met my first teacher, my first friend, and discovered the beauty of blending magic with machinery to create something that was more than the sum of it's parts. Through the drifting mists I saw the crystal cave again and watched as we toiled away to uncover it's secrets.
As more recent memories drifted through my mind I slowly became aware of a voice in my head asking questions I couldn't quite hear and getting answers I didn't quite understand. The harder I tried to listen to it the quieter it became until I finally gave up and just let the murmur wash over me. After a blurry eternity I felt something give and suddenly I found myself inside the mind of Mimisbrunnr.
She was ancient. Shadows older than Equestria drifted through her memory in the shape of armies and Alicorns, castles and creatures for which I did not have a name... I saw her create things beautiful and terrible, watched them rise up before her only to crumble with age and fade as others grew to take their place... Visions of war filled my head, of war and treachery and rage. Before I could fully grasp what was happening my perception shifted again and all of my senses grew dark and cold, and in the darkness I felt something watching, indifferently waiting, gauging my strength and studying the distance between us.
I felt insignificant in it's gaze, like a leaf caught in the wind of a passing charger plunging headlong into battle. But I was not insignificant, I would not be ignored! Anger washed over me as if from a external source and I fought the descending darkness, lashing out against the watcher as if it embodied all the evils of the world. A searing flash of flame exploded in the night and all remaining senses of self were lost a red-orange haze.
~~~~~~
For the third time in a day I felt the floor calling to me; clearly that was where I was meant to be. My journey towards it's dubious comforts was interrupted as a dark leg appeared and wrapped around my chest, holding me upright. As the room wavered and surged I fixated on the holes piercing the leg, fascinated by the view of the floor through them and wondering if the insides were soft or hard, guessing at whether they formed as a Veroa grew or if they were the result of some horrible spell or disease...
It took a few minutes for the lingering effects of the Briddlestain to wear off allowing me to sit up on my own again. Once certain that I wasn't about to fall over Vair left and returned with a odd tasting but very welcome drink. Min sat silently in reflection, glaring a nothing in particular.
Something about her seemed different although I couldn't quite figure out what it was. Somehow she seemed less hard, less sharp and imposing. In a way she seemed a bit more like Vair now, strange and alien to be sure, but no longer terrifying and intimidating. Glancing at my fanged companion I found reason to question my standards.
Mim looked up; "You are not what you seem." It wasn't an offer of friendship but neither was it a death sentence; I hesitantly considered that progress. "You know not how you came to be in this place but I have seen the path you walk. It is strange to me though I know the land it treads." Mim studied me for a long moment; "You were sent to us with purpose, pony. Do you know it?"
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