Skystriker: seeking Aspects

Chapters

Preparations and a talk
dream philosophy
final preparations, Move out!
Ages past
Memories of lost time
the ghost of the forest
Why I hate civilization, reason forty-nine thousand

Preparations and a talk

Last one. Now to head back to Zecora’s so she can finish up with the overgrowth potions. I just hope we don’t hit any poison joke patches with it this time. I slipped under a few large low hanging vines before flying past the poison joke field, landing neatly on Zecora’s doorstep.

“Zecora, I got everything you listed.” The young zebra sage opened the door, nodding in appreciation.

“The places they go, you know to.”

I cocked my head. “You know, I’ve known you for almost two years now, and I still don’t know what you’re saying half the time.” I reached the section of shelves in the room and began placing the various plants gathered in their proper places.

“I do not mean to lose your thoughts, for such has made many worse acts.” She stated apologetically as she began stirring at the cauldron.

“Well you’ve got that right. Remember what happened last time?” We both shuddered as we remembered when Zecora had told me to put in the wrong amount of a highly volatile compound of poison joke, tree saps, manticore venom and distilled rays of sunshine, resulting in multicolored splotches that had rendered us both unable to move through the Everfree unnoticed for several weeks, as well as scattering many of our carefully gathered ingredients.

I pulled a large vial out of one of my saddlebags, placing it neatly on a shelf.

“I got you some more manticore venom. What is this particular potion is supposed to do?” I leaned over, looking at the brew in curiosity.

“Potions are not alone brewed, though often they are what is brewed.”

I sighed as I finished putting the things away. “I know, but we were making a batch of overgrowth potions when I left, but that’s not any stage of overgrowth potion in the cauldron right now.”

“This is true, the potion is done. This is a tea to aid your concentration.” She held the large stirring spoon out to me as I approached.

“Just mine? Who’s coming over?” I hopped up, balancing on my tail as I began stirring the mix. I might be far older than Zecora, but I had spent far more of that time searching the forest and northern tundra on an endless quest, while she had spent much of her life cultivating the skills needed as a shaman and sage of her people.

“That is not the only reason you have need for concentration.” Zecora tossed a few herbs into the pot before pulling down a ladle and transferring it into a large gourd jar. I shrugged at the statement.

“I wonder why they think I’ll need it then. Ninety-nine to one they’re right, but I wonder why.”

“I do not know. The forest spirits speak wisdom in vague words.”

I nodded. “I am starting to think that I need to travel the forest. As I stand, my talent has a lot of unrealized potential.” I left out the fact that I had done that before, before I had fully realized my talent, thus being unable to accumulate as many aspects as I could have.

“Perhaps you will, perhaps not. We shall see what the future brings.”

Zecora turned back to the cauldron, carefully cleaning it out so as to prevent any contamination for the next project. I took my leave, detouring to the reflection pool, a large, perfectly still pool of water with a large white stone along the bottom. Zecora used the pool to commune with the forest spirits and for meditation.

I only used it to meditate now, since moonbeams had long ago become nearly impossible to gather, ever since the moon became blighted about thousand years ago. I looked over the white stone that now served no purpose but adding to the calming aura of the place.

I wasn’t sure what meditation let Zecora do, it let me assess all my aspects, of which I had very few, and carefully analyze what I could do with each one. It annoyed me that I had so many just outside my reach. What seemed like dozens of aspects that I needed to see the creature only a little longer to gain. They all drifted just beyond my reach, bumping at the edges of my mind, taunting me with their presence.

I carefully reached out, searching each aspect, tallying their abilities. Manticore: Flight and strength. Zebra: Camouflage when in forests and grasslands. Phoenix: flight, fire resistance, rebirth. Lizards, assorted: wall climbing, camouflage in their standard habitat, Plus chameleon allows for color changing. Timber wolf: regeneration beyond belief, and potent night vision. Stronger, but not by much. Hydra: acidic spit and possibly the ability to grow extra heads, though I’d rather not test that. Pegasus: cloud walking, flight, impact resistance. Unicorn: telekinesis and simple spell casting.

I sighed; it was a small collection of Aspects. It would suffice for now, but I would have to gain more if I ever hoped to understand my talent. The wind whistled through the trees, cutting through my trance as something spoke, a deep, ancient voice that spoke of wisdom and peace.

“Go, Search.” I spun, scanning the forest around me for whom or whatever had spoken. There was nothing to see, the forest spirits are invisible after all, but my instincts were those of a warrior and thief, every sound could be an enemy, or somebody to relieve of a few choice items.

“Who said that?” The wind rushed through the trees, but little else happened. I stood and began walking slowly away from the pool, heading towards my home. I’ll need to add another layer of overgrowth to my home, my healer’s kit, my weapons, and some food. Hope I didn’t forget anything important. I should probably finish my project before I go.

I ducked under the thick thorn hedge that grew all the way around my home, then using the aspect of the phoenix I flew over the ring of snapdew that grew around the inside of the hedge. Landing inside the thorned dome I called home, I began gathering what few things I would need as I traveled the forest and surrounding territory. A healer’s kit, fully stocked with potions and salves that could heal anything short of death, my bow I disassembled and packed into my saddlebags, stashing it carefully next to my arrows. I contemplated brining my sword, but decided against it. It was awkward to carry and use as a quadruped, and compared to my previous skill, it was almost painful to compare to the skill I had had –quite literally- in another lifetime.

I slipped off the moonlight cloth I wore, looking it over carefully for holes. The old thing was well worn, and while there were no holes, it was in no shape for another long dangerous journey, especially not one involving hunting for aspects. I turned to my loom, slowly and carefully sending the shuttle that held the last of my moonbeams through the flaxen sunshine, making sure not to tear either. I smiled as I looked at how much I had finished. I should be able to start working on this by the end of the day. Tomorrow, I should be able to finish making myself new change of clothes. *I knew most ponies don’t wear them, But I’d rather not go out in the Everfree without this. The moonbeams and sunlight wove together perfectly, forming a shimmering cloth, stronger than adamantine and finer than silk. I wasn’t exactly sure how such fragile fibers made such hard material, but it had saved my hide more times than I could count.*

Three hours later, just as the sun began setting on the horizon, the weave was done. I lifted the fabric off the loom carefully. For now it would be fragile. But now, I was working on a time limit. In twenty four hours, it would be impossible to cut or pierce, so I had to get started. I looked through my various shelves, cupboards, etc. for my scissors and a needle. I began carefully cutting the cloth, almost meditatively to prevent any mistakes. It took far longer to cut it this way than normal methods, but I didn’t have to try again while doing it.

I set the scissors down, then put each piece away, careful not to disturb a single strand. Each piece was ready to be sewn together, but night was drawing near and I needed to be able to focus when I began sewing. So I lay down on the far side of the clearing from my projects and went to sleep.

dream philosophy

I looked around, making a mental sweep of the area. “So, I’m back again am I? I wonder if I’m outside the Vastwood or if I’m outside the gateway nexus.” My question was answered a moment later, as a copy of me appeared, running to approximately where I stood. I looked at the sun. And in five seconds the gate will open. It did, just as I had remembered it would. Before I walked through, followed my dream self I looked back at the red flames and indistinct shapes that appeared at the top of the hill. I smiled grimly. I was right then. I really did have a mob on my tail right then. I stepped through the gateway, watching as my memories played by. Me running through the capitol, looking about in amazement at everything. I chuckled at my own exclamation, which suddenly seemed humorous. “How can these people live so close together? It’s stifling!” Looking back, I realized that they had to live together. These people had long ago grown weak, unable to survive the wilderness I was used to. I shook my head as my memory ran on. In a moment I would run into the castle guard, who would in turn take me to the king, where I would be drafted into service as a member of the talent research team. I glared at the castle, wishing that I could return to my world just long enough to burn the capitol down, scatter the ashes, and hunt down that backstabbing, spineless no good worm of a king and show him what true power was. Right before I killed him. I looked down on my dream world counterpart, watching as he was led to the castle. I followed, not by any direct wish of my own, but because that was what my memories showed.

“I was summoned by the king.” I looked at the guards I was currently conversing with. One wore steel chain armor, plain and unadorned. The other wore plate armor with a white lion emblazoned on the chest plate, the symbol of the king. The plate fellow nodded and gestured for me to follow. I watched as my dream self (or was I the dream?) followed after him. I drifted along, watching, waiting for morning to come. I thought about what Path I would take on my trek through the Everfree. The guards and the other me walked in the door, I drifted through. I wondered what kinds of creatures I would run into on my journey, and what kinds of abilities they would have. I wondered if I would find a creature like the displacers I had seen once, while working on our talent gate. Creatures that could teleport short distances at will, with high agility, speed, and strength. The castle halls seemed narrow and dangerous, as though they wanted nothing more than to banish the outsider. But who is the outsider? The person who lives among the wild things, in harmony with the stones and plants around them, or those who bend the world around them to their wills, who this place was built for? I shrugged. Waxing philosophical wasn’t going to help me wake up faster, though perhaps it was better than reliving my memories.

The throne room doors opened and I looked at the king, and ice cold fury raced through my veins. I could almost feel it replacing my blood. I wondered what that would result in if this wasn’t a dream. I probably wouldn’t be good, regardless as to what else it would result in. It would likely result in a lengthy adrenaline rush followed by death, which would be an unfortunate occurrence. The king spoke, words that I didn’t hear, the guards responded, I spoke, the king droned on. I heard none of it, long since having lost myself in the realm of theoretical talent application and philosophy.

The first rule of Aspect casting stands as follows: through study of any target, I can gain a lesser version of that targets powers and strengths. The second rule then places a limitation on what is wise to use: All aspects drain an amount of energy form the caster according to what kind of aspect they are. The farther from the caster that they are, the more energy they drain. According to this, if I cast another creature, it will drain energy at an easily sustainable rate, given that they share multiple categories with me: living, mobile, self controlled, and self sustained. On the other hand, a stone would drain far more energy than is readily accessible, given that they share no categories with me. Following these two rules, I could gain aspects through any form of study I can imagine, assuming that the creature already does exist.

The droning ended and a scientist came in. He spoke for a bit, using large words, at the time they were likely meant to instill some level of awe at his intellect, but I knew exactly what he was saying, every word was crafted, but they weren’t his words. That much was obvious. I turned back to my internal musing as my dream self listened.

Thus, I could theoretically take an aspect of something I already knew well, but no longer can find, perhaps because of extinction of the species. Assuming I remember it well enough, I would be able to recreate it enough to gain its aspect.

I returned to watching my dreams. I was arguing with the king from the looks of things, which meant that I’d seen through the kings plot at this point and the only thing preventing me from jumping on him and gutting the fat slob was the fact that I was flanked by two guards, who, if whoever was in charge of hiring them possessed even half a brain, would be a brute and either a blinker or a dasher. He yelled back, and eventually I followed the scientist, spitting venom the entire way. I chucked at how apt the simile would have been had I possessed my talent then. My favorite pet had been a small lizard whose primary defense mechanics were camouflage and spitting venom at the offender, resulting in painful acid burns and a paralyzing venom coursing through their body.

I could try gaining its aspect. What could it hurt? I began envisioning the small lizard, standing on one of the support beams in my old home, scales changing color to mimic the wood it was on as the door opened. The little thing returned to normal color as it recognized me, and returned to whatever business it was up to before I had entered. I remembered the time I had seen one spitting venom at a bird that had been trying to get into the nest. I recreated that time in my mind, studying it closely. There was the bird, diving in to peck at the lizard again, to drive it away from the nest, there was the lizard, standing on the nest, staring down the bird. One moment it was motionless, the next it had uncoiled and stood upright, striking out like a snake, mouth open, as a silvery stream flew at the bird. A moment later, the bird fell, crying out in pain before it hit the ground and was silenced, shattering the image.

final preparations, Move out!

I blinked, looking around. I was in my briar patch, so I had either woken up or not realized it or I was dreaming about something else. I looked around, unsure for a moment, until I spotted my dream catcher, a gift of knowledge, as zecora had put it when she taught me how to make them, and why they were used. The dream catcher could not appear in any dream, it was a unique property of the thing that as long as I slept, it would aid in preventing evil from entering my dreams and in so doing, would vanish from every dream, even memories, where it would have appeared.

Having settled that I was not in the realm of dreams, I hopped up as best I could with four legs and began sewing together pieces of the cloth, noticing the drastically increased difficulty. It was far harder than it had been to cut it the night previous. With immense care, I stitched each piece together, finishing around mid-afternoon. I allowed a slight smile to show as I looked over my work, a thin coat of spun moonbeams woven with sunshine, nearly impossible to tear or cut by claw or tooth. I was willing to bet that it’d be difficult for the royal guard to pierce with their fancy golden spears as well, but I wasn’t going to hold still long enough for them to find out, even if they got sent after me.

I spread out a large map of known Equestria, covered in personal notations from my two thousand years, to plot my route. First, I’ll head south to the badlands, keeping to the forest and such as best I can, then back north along the coast there to the northern tundra, past the equestrian border, then I’ll loop past the canyon grave, then back south to the forest, probably pay the castle a visit both ways.

I walked around, picking up the various items I had prepared the day before. As I picked up the healer’s kit, I heard a knock at the door. I padded over to the door, glancing through the carefully woven branches to see who was at the door before opening it, to allow in my zebra visitor.

“Zecora, what brings you here? You don’t often come to these parts of the forest.” I noted with mild surprise.

She looked at me steadily for a moment before responding. “I have come make but one request. I wish your reason for this trek.” Her tone was mild, but firm and authoritative. It also promised a face full of poison joke and other assorted plant compounds that would make the rest of the week go to Tartarus in an instant if she didn’t get a full answer.

I cocked my head in thought. “When I first thought of it, I wished to expand my Aspect range. But now, I do not know which of many things caused it. Perhaps I am restless; maybe I have decided that it will somehow rid me of my memories; and it may be because the forest spirits willed it. What I do know is that it is no longer to find my way home. That is a wish I left behind me long ago, for what is left for me there? There is no reason for me to return, but I left myself behind when I came here, and I must find myself again.”

Zecora nodded and left without another word. I shrugged, letting her go as I finished gathering my things. She had a tendency to do odd things like this, so who was I to do anything? I headed out the door, securing it behind me with an overgrowth potion and a few thornspitter plants.

Something seemed slightly off about the coat I had made, though perhaps it wasn’t the coat so much as the material, which didn’t make sense. Moon weave is soft as silk, but as hard to break as magically enhanced mithril. I grinned as my twin daggers slid neatly into their pockets. I’ve yet to find anything in this world as strong as mithril, excepting this weave, so the daggers are likely overkill.

I slipped between the forest plants without effort, thinking back on my life, which had been much lengthened by inadvertent mastery of the phoenix aspect. I had been reborn no fewer than two hundred times since first taking on the aspect. I thought about my early days in equestria, reliving them as I traveled through my section of the woods, taking a slight detour to where I began my life as a pony.

The forest around was silent. The pecking order had long since been established in this part of the forest, and I was at the top, with a single rule. As long as the other predators did not bother me, they could live. Prey animals simply avoided me on principle, since none of them was going to just come out into the open near the best predator in the forest.

The old castle stood in shambles, as it had for… I couldn’t remember how long now. Only that it had been many years since the day I had slipped out of this castle after being unceremoniously dumped into it by a failed attempt at a talent grower. To be fair, it did give me a talent, it just had some major side effects. I stood inside the entrance, looking down the halls and through broken doors, up stairways and out the windows, remembering how bright it had been before. Before the day that the Everfree was finally allowed to lay claim to the paths and whatever of the castle it could reach.

I looked around the ruins, remembering the day it had been vacated, leaving only empty halls and ghostly walls as the forest began to return, reasserting itself over the ravine and the area around it. I wandered the halls, leaving only footsteps, hearing everything, seeing nearly as much, yet none, as I remembered the day the day the castle had become this shell.

Ages past

~~~~~Approximately one thousand years ago~~~~~

I stood out, finishing the process of gathering sunshine when the moon rose up, covering the sun in a solar eclipse. Something seemed wrong with the moon however. Instead of the normal black disc it should have been during a solar eclipse, it seemed to suck the suns light in to it, as though trying to prevent the sun from shining by sheer force of presence. I ignored it. Whatever the sun and moon were doing would have little effect on me in the long run.

The brilliant flashes of lights and loud explosions likewise brought little reaction from me. A few of the animals ran farther from the castle, which had been built alone, far from the rest of civilization. I wasn’t sure why though. The castle had been there since the skies stopped being pink. I turned away and grabbed up my baskets then headed back home, not waiting to see what menaces the twilight hours would bring, with such easy prey about.

Perhaps ten minutes after the lights began; the forest suddenly began to glow around me, prompting me to turn, as the only things in the Everfree that resulted in glows were quite dangerous predators, usually far roaming dragons or chimeras and the like.

As I turned, I saw perhaps the two most shocking things of my life, simultaneously. The first was a brilliant comet, flying from the earth toward the moon. The second, slightly more pressing thing was a twenty headed hydra staring at me. I did the most sensible things and bolted. I hydra with twenty heads had to have survived nearly two thousand years, based off the average number of heads gained per year for their race.

I ducked under a tree, spinning and tossing off my baskets, landing them outside the door to my house before completing the turn to face the hydra. It stopped, perhaps in shock that I would turn to face it. I took the advantage and shot towards it, using the manticore aspect to let me hit far harder than I could otherwise.

“Why do you not run in terror at the sight of us?” the hydra had a bit of an echo, though considering the number of heads, it was impressively small.

“So you can speak then?” I swerved just past it, kicking off their (it’s? I still don’t know how one addresses hydras) leg to send myself in the opposite direction.

“Yess, though we would prefer that you remain ssilent while we attempt to eat you, puny pony-thing.”

“So you aren’t just going to let me be then?” I ducked under a clumsy attack by an overeager head.

“No. Why would we?” The other heads swung to face me before angling to strike. Two shot out streams of acid, burning away the ground near me as I ducked just in time. Curse my limited aspects!

“Then let’s dance!” I shot towards it, slamming both daggers into its leg before leaping back, twisting as another trail of acid shot past.

“ROARRR YOU’LL PAY FOR THAT ONE!” Three heads shot towards me as another three spat acid, trying to trap me between them. I shot into the sky, flying for only a moment before diving back down to the creatures back, slashing and stabbing as it tried to understand what had just happened. A moment later, another head stabbed towards me, forcing me to change direction quickly. I smiled as it cried out in pain. Hydras might be powerful, their acid unmatched in potency, but they were notoriously uncoordinated. I stabbed it in the back again as I tried to cut my way to its heart.

“What are you doing? You are not like most creatures we have faced. How did you get there? Stop doing that!” another head swept towards me, level with its back while two more came from the opposite direction, just over the other two. I leapt over the first, taking advantage of the failed cooperation between the heads to duck under the other two. Another cut, followed by a leap off the back of the creature as a stream of acid shot towards me.

I shot through the air to strike again, slashing at it once before leaping off again and cutting its uninjured leg. As each head swiveled to face me again and reorient, I reared up and bucked the first leg as hard as I could before leaping aside to avoid the now unsteady hydra.

“Cease this at once! We are the predator, you the prey. You are to remain docile and be eaten when we wish to feed!” I snorted and slashed at its tail.

“You must not have gotten the message. In this forest, I’m the predator, doesn’t matter what you are. You just happened to be dumb enough to continue an assault after I suggested you not do so.” Another slash and the tail fell off completely, sending the creature crashing to the ground as I backed off among the trees.

“We will find you and devour you for the loss of our tail! Then you will feed our regrowth!” I fished out a vial of poison, coating my blades with it carefully as My prey roared in anger.

“You should have understood this cycle by now. The predator catches the prey and kills it, not the other way around. And today, you ventured into my territory, so you are the prey.” I flew above it as the unearthly comet finally vanished in the moon behind me. The hydra looked around, trying to find me for only a moment longer.

“We are the prey! Not some Pony-RAAAAAOOOOWRRRR!” I flipped off the hydra, backing into the forest as my venom did the work, paralyzing it and leeching its vitality as it coursed through its system. A moment later, the last head hit the earth with a thud.

“I am the predator in this forest, though I take only what offends. If you had gone on, you would have lived. Farewell and good rest in the lands of death.” I picked up my bags again and entered my house, flying over the strangle vines that ringed the clearing. *If ever I face an ancient hydra again, it’ll be too soon. That was closer than I’d like to admit. Assuming you ignore being immortal.*

I organized the herbs carefully, making sure not to combine any of the powders while I was at it, not wanting to create any poisons I didn’t want. I had learned my lesson the first time I was too careless when storing my various materials and created something akin to poison ivy, but thousands of times more painful. Ever since then, I’d been very careful to keep everything right where I wanted it.

As I lay down to sleep, I looked up and the moon for a moment as I scanned my surroundings through the thorns. Something was off about it, prompting me to look back after I finished my search. It had a black image imprinted on it, one matching a unicorn, if there was a unicorn made of black spots. *Tomorrow I’ll have to look and see what happened at the castle. Maybe the forest can reclaim the stolen territory.*

Memories of lost time

I stepped lightly through the barrier wishing, not for the first time, that there was some way to thicken the hedge to prevent things from getting in. smaller animals sometimes used my home as an escape path, and from the claw marks around the door, such had been the case that night. I wiped away the claw marks as best I could and started walking toward the castle, wondering how the guards would greet me.

A strange pony they’ve never seen before comes walking out of the most dangerous forest in the land without even a hint of worry on his face and requests to be allowed in. The best I’ll get is an escort around the city, worst is a jail sentence. I’ll likely be turned away though.

I reached the long wooden bridge that spanned the moat-like ravine around the castle. Looking across I noticed two things wrong. The first, being several large holes in the castle structure, the second being a distinct lack of guards at the end of the bridge. I started moving just a bit faster, wondering what kind of creature could have been powerful enough to make such large holes in enchanted masonry and removed the guards.

As I reached the guard post, I looked around, carefully checking for any indicators of what type of creature I was dealing with here. There was absolutely no sign of a fight or the standard markings of a recent kill being dragged away to some lair or cave to be eaten. It almost seemed as though the guards had been eaten by the mist that filled the ravine for much of each day.

The farther I traveled on the island, the more uneasy I became. The castle of the ruling class-and thus the capitol of equestria-should be more alive than a ghost town. Even this I could accept if there was some sign as to where they went, but stone did not take tracks, and there had been no recent ones at the far side of the bridge. Everything I found indicated the entire castle-town had been emptied of inhabitants by air. That was impossible however, as much of the population had not been Pegasi, and thus were unable to fly out of the city.

A stone clattered to the ground. I turned, looking at it before following its trajectory back to where it had fallen from. A gaping hole in the side of the castle dropped another rock as some unseen force dislocated it from its position. I quickened my step, encouraged by the prospect of answers to the questions raised by the vanishing populace.

About halfway to the castle I began wondering what I was doing and why. I’ve no reason to help these ponies, so why do I seek to know where they went? Because it might have been some new creature whose aspect I can use? And what of the comet last night, what caused it? Does that have something to do with this? I groaned internally, shaking away my thoughts.

“I’ll never know if I don’t look.” I checked my daggers to make sure they were in place before using the Aspect of the chameleon to hide better against the white stone walls, then began my ascent of the walls, using the improved climbing abilities given by the lizard aspect and the flight given by the phoenix aspect to speed the climb, while staying near the walls to keep my camouflage simpler.

As I reached the hole in the wall, I because aware of a quiet sobbing sound. Not the type of sound one expects from a supposed victorious predator, but it meant something was alive in there. Or something, I added, expecting to see a dragon or some such large flying predator. I peeked over the edge of the hole and pulled my head back quickly to process what I had seen without being seen.

There was a large hole in the roof, and the biggest pony I had seen sat… or maybe lay, I wasn’t sure, on the floor, sobbing quietly. I slipped into the room, darting behind a pillar to hide better in the room before checking again. The pony had both horns and wings, marking a princess. Given the white color, I’d say That Princess Celestia was lying on the floor, seemingly withdrawn from the world around her. I didn’t know much about the princes, but I knew that as a princess, she couldn’t be this detached from the world often. I stepped out from behind the pillar, padding over to the alicorn.

“What happened here?” I had no desire to speak for longer than necessary. She looked up, looking around for a moment before her eyes focused on me. She blinked away tears, looking very different from the imperious leader she’d been on many battlefields, for a moment, she was just another pony.

“I… I banished her.” Her voice was defeated, as though she had been victorious by Pyrrhic victory, picking the lesser of two evils.

“Banished who? To where? Where is everybody?” With any luck she’d stay focused long enough to answer before receding into her grief.

“L-Luna… I banished… But she wasn’t…” I frowned, wishing that I hadn’t asked. At this rate, I’d miss the rest of the day. But would that be so bad? You’ve finally got a chance to see the other side of sombra’s destruction, of discords petrifaction, why shouldn’t you stay for a while? I almost growled; my internal thoughts had a point, even if I didn’t know where they came from.

“Slow down Celestia. What happened first?” I pulled a manticore fur blanket from my saddlebag and spread it over her, hoping to provide enough comfort to stabilize her mind. Her eyes were roaming over everything, but there was no sign of recognition in her eyes, as though she were blind.

“Luna… she, broke… turned dark… evil… wouldn’t…” She shuddered, and I placed one hoof on her shoulder, smoothing out the blanket with the other.

“Shhh… don’t worry, it’s in the past, we can only try and fix it now. I’ll be back soon. You try and rest.” She laid her head back on the ground and closed her eyes; she was asleep as soon as her head hit the ground.

I flew out of the hole, traveling faster than I ever had before as I burned mana to enhance my flight capabilities. I hit the ground running, knocking loose the thornspitters from my door and going in. I started up a fire in the middle of my clearing, then hung a pot over it, gathering two hoof full’s of oats and a few apple peels in anticipation of when the water in the pot began boiling.

I soon had a strong broth boiling with a few extra ingredients, mostly herbs to calm the mind, but I had added a few grains of powdered Lignum vitae, an herb I had created which healed injuries and restored energy at a rate so high that it was unsafe in even small quantities. With any luck the potent combination would bring her out of the current shock and reduce chances of long term PTSD. I picked up the pot, carefully transferred the broth to a covered bowl, and flew back.

I landed outside the hole, peeking in to make sure Celestia wasn’t looking my way before entered the room, not wanting to reveal my talents before I wanted to. After making certain that she was still asleep I entered, clearing a space and starting a small fire on the floor nearby, placing the pot nearby to keep it warm while I waited for her to wake.

While I was waiting, I wondered what Luna could have done for Celestia to have banished her. Assuming that however Celestia did it, Luna was likely at least part of the comet that crash-landed on the moon, indicating that’s where she had been banished to. As I pondered this question a low moan interrupted my thoughts as Celestia began to rise.

“You might not want to do that, you still need rest. Drink this though, it should help.” I pulled the pot over to her, making sure that it wasn’t too hot before I handed it over. A faint yellow glow surrounded it as Celestia levitated it to her mouth, drinking deeply before placing back on the ground. If I allowed for some imagination, I could almost see the effects of the brew on the injured princess.

“We thank thee for thine aid.” I cocked my head slightly at Celestia, before deciding it was better not to wonder why the language had not changed in the past thousand years. I thought it better for both of us that I wait until after she had finished before continuing our conversation.

After several minutes, the pot sat empty next to the fire, and Celestia and I sat facing each other, looking into the flames. She pulled the blanked tighter about her against the chill of night that seeped in from the Everfree. I ignored it, as I had every night before.

“Last night, you banished Luna when she became possessed by some evil force, locking her away in the moon for some amount of time currently unknown to me. Care to fill in the details?” She looked away for a moment, then suddenly looked back at me, as if studying me. A moment later she removed the blanket from her shoulders and levitated it to me. I pushed it away.

“You’ll need it more than I. Night in the Everfree is punishing for those not used to it.” She wrapped it around herself again.

“We hopped thou wouldst say that, though we wonder if Thou art simply deferring to us because we are rulers of equestria.” I snorted at that.

“If ever I defer to a ruler, it’ll be as an undead minion of some necromantic lord.” Celestia looked at me curiously at my response, but did not press me on the matter.

“We were attacked by our sister when she raised the moon and refused to lower it again. As she did this, she became… something. A nightmare, as it were, and attacked us in an attempt to… We are not sure what she desired to accomplish in truth, as she never said.” She shivered as a wind swept the cold night air through the hall. I frowned, thinking.

“I am going to tell you a story that’s been kept in my family for a long time. When I finish, I wish you to tell me your side of the story.” Celestia tipped her head to one side before shivering as the next gust of wind whistled through the air.

“Once, several generations ago, a unicorn came to our home, traveling north, trying to find a place for himself. He had been using magic fueled by rage and anger, and so had been chased from place to place, from city to city. Here though, nobody had done so. He asked if we would provide him with a place to spend the night before he continued on. This wish was granted, and he was given a nights rest.

“The next day, he and the inhabitants of the house left it, traveling northward for the tundra, leaving behind the Everfree for the time being. Two months later, they stood above a city hidden away in a valley of ice. The two stallions that stood at the top of the ridge each had their own ideas of how to go about their entry into the city. The first thought that the best way would be to join with their society until such a time came as they needed to become otherwise. The second chose to try and become an aid for the ruler of the city. Shortly thereafter however, the ruler fell ill as a side effect of an experiment gone wrong, and had to go to equestria for treatment, leaving the friends in charge. Three months passed as they awaited their ruler’s return, with winter swiftly approaching, they choose to send all the citizens who could be spared into the mines to gather what more crystals they could to sell and support their city against the winter. Two weeks later, an army appeared on the horizon, proclaiming it to be from equestria and coming to take the city back for its rightful ruler.

With all but the young, the elderly, and their caretakers in the mines, the friends faced a choice. Surrender, and give up the charge they had been given, or fight for their ruler. Eventually, the unicorn sent his earth pony friend to go find their ruler and discover what had happened to her, while he tried to defend their city. As the earth pony crested the hill, he looked back to see his friend had once more turned to his fear fueled magic, blending it with the innate magic of the city, to protect it against the invading host. As he watched however, the city was consumed by a damaged experiment, locking it away in stasis. That city has not yet returned, but we have yet to give up our charge to find the ruler of that crystal city.” I paused, seeing recognition of Celestia’s face.

“As you likely have guessed, that unicorn was the one called Sombra. Now, tell me. What did he do that earned him that position as a fugitive, and then enemy of equestria because he obeyed his ruler?” I looked at her as the alicorn shifted uncomfortably beneath my gaze, unable to meet my eyes. After a long moment, she looked up at me.

“Sombra used long forbidden magic to enhance his magic. That alone we could turn a blind eye to, but when we found him in the royal archives, looking through certain volumes that were locked away from the public for good reason…” She broke off and looked away for a moment, then continued.

“As for the second, when Cadence awoke from her coma, perhaps we did not listen as well as we should have. We only knew that she said that the Empire was at the time under the control of Sombra.” I hissed a loud feral noise that made her jump in fear and more importantly, made the cockatrice behind her retreat. After a moment, Celestia realized I had not been looking at her and followed my gaze to the creature.

Less than two seconds later the ceiling was sporting a new hole and Celestia was falling back down from the roof. I chuckled slightly.

“

Congratulations, if the roof hadn’t been in the way I think you might have been able to see how your sister was adapting to her new home.” Celestia frowned, not understanding. I groaned and slapped one hoof to my face and briefly wondered if it was too soon to be joking about that.

“Oh come on! Do you even have a sense of humor?” A few seconds later Celestia smiled, even managing a quiet chuckle.

“We have never had anypony speak to us to easily before. It is an enjoyable experience.” I rolled my eyes at her.

“Well, glad we settled that. Now you need more rest, and remember, you cannot rule well if you fall into the past. Look forward, and fix what you have done wrong. That is the best you can do.” I grabbed the pot and walked out the door, leaving the now solitary ruler of Equestria to her own thoughts. With any luck, she’d think this was a dream and forget me within the week. I only hoped she took my counsel with her no matter where she went.

"But why do I care? They're not the forest. What changed?"

the ghost of the forest

~~~~~Present day~~~~~

I kicked a column over, tossing an overgrowth potion on it to encourage the destruction of the thing a bit more swiftly. Memories were all well and good, but this castle should not have lasted as long as it did. As vines began growing over the column, I wondered what had happened to Luna, and if Celestia had found a way to bring her back yet. She’d had nearly one thousand years to discover a way, so there had to be something she’d found.

I left the ruins and began my trek south toward the badlands, wandering through the forest, leaving nothing behind, and making no sound. I was the forest, and yet separate from it, for such is my path.

Manticores flew overhead, phoenixes chirruped, and smaller animals squeaked and chattered, unaware of me as I passed. The trees swayed in the wind as it whistled through them, tearing off a few leaves and bringing with it the scent of trees and dirt and fur, in the distance, Timberwolves howled as they hunted. In short, everything was just as it should be in the forest.

A dragon emerged from its cave and roared, disturbing the perfection of the forest. I looked towards the mouth of the cave, where the dragon still stood, looking over its territory in satisfaction. A grim smile touched my lips. Dragons do not belong in the Everfree. I’ll go pay him a visit why don’t I?

The cave wasn’t far, and I found it easily. The stupid thing hadn’t even cleaned up after itself, leaving bones scattered across the stones. On the edges of the stones, I could see patches of green that marked where a few bones had landed touching the ground and decomposed. I’ll have to clean that up when I’m done.

I rapped loudly on the stones of the cave then climbed to the top of the mouth of the cave. From under me, I heard a loud roar that shook the earth. Soon, the dragon trundled out of the cave, still roaring in anger. I shook my head, clicking my tongue silently at its behavior.

“Who dares knock at the door of Grumbletongue?”

“That’s your name is it? Grumbletongue?” I laughed, waiting for his reaction, starting my Dragon aspect as I spoke. He spun, roaring again, looking through the trees for me.

“You’re not one for thinking are you? I asked as he opened his mouth wide and bathed the entire area in flames. He looked towards my voice and shot more fire.

“You will pay for that offense! I will catch you, and then I will eat you! And you will be alive the whole way!” I snorted, rolling easily out of the way of the flames before diving toward him and stabbing out with one dagger. It stabbed through, but there was some definite resistance before it did so, forcing me to back away before cutting as deeply as I would have liked.

Fire came scorching down around the leg I had just hit, bathing half the dragon in flame. Scales are fire-proof and very strong. I added that to the aspect, letting it form as I saw the dragon flailing about in an attempt to flush me out of the forest. A tree crashed to the ground in front of me and I leapt over it, slamming my daggers into the dragons’ tail as I passed. Very strong and appears to be at least partially immune to poisons. I slipped behind another tree and pulled out a vial of ‘liquid death’ a venom I had used only once, not counting testing it, which inflicted death on the target within seconds. This should be about right for a dragon. The tail came back toward me and I leapt onto it, racing up the tail to the body along the spine before stabbing my blade into it right between the wings, straight into where I assumed the spine was. I didn’t want him getting back up.

I flew clear, landing behind the convulsing dragon, watching to see the results. Extreme resistance to poisons of any kind, it is not immune to them however. As the dragon began growing more still, I slipped forward and thrust my other dagger into his back. He stopped moving, and shortly began to decompose. I walked past the dead dragon, letting the dirt take the creature. I wasn’t sure how, but the dirt could tell when something dead was touching it, and it would compost dead things extremely rapidly. The Cave was now covered in dirt, and the bones would likely be composted as well soon.

After that relatively uneventful afternoon, I decided to test my new aspect. Drawing solely on the draconic aspect, I first tested the strength of the draconic aspect, noting it to be about twice that of the manticore aspect. It greatly improved my skins’ toughness, making me more resistant to blunt trauma. Now I can be perfectly honest when I claim to have thick skin. I laughed a little at my own joke before realizing that the tree in front of me was now slightly scorched. I frowned before realizing that I must have just breathed fire unconsciously. I tried to remember what I had just done, but as best I could recall I just exhaled. So that was what I did, envisioning flames blasting out of my mouth and scorching the tree. That didn’t work, but I kept at it.

By the end of the day, the tree was looking considerably worse for wear, but I could breathe fire at will using the aspect. I bedded down for the night in the scorched tree, reasoning that very little was going to come exploring where the dragon’s lair had been, even if the dragon had been silent for a few hours.

I awoke to the sound of timber wolves howling nearby. I shot up, looking about for any sign of danger before realizing where they were coming from. I looked down and hissed at the wolves.

“Get out of here.” They couldn’t understand me, but the hissing seemed to make them more wary, but they didn’t leave. Of course, predators wouldn’t, even if they were being more careful now.

“Alright, but it’s your fault if you die now, I gave you fair warning.” With that I opened my mouth and covered the pack in fire before gliding to the ground and cutting through three more wolves with my daggers. They all fell to the ground around me, and I quickly burnt them to ash.

“Rest well Spirits, may you join the forest in peace.” I looked up at the sky. It was about two hours until dawn, close enough to start off. I pulled the timber wolf aspect and continued my travels through the forest. What few monsters found me left me alone, save for one Elemental, who after a lengthy discussion decided that I was not an enemy of the forest and continued on his way. I stored the aspect. Earth elemental: Impossibly strong, hard to injure in any way, able to travel through dirt and stone without trace, can move stone and earth according to its wishes.

In equestrian territory now, I moved at high speed, moving as fast as possible to the badlands, wanting to avoid contact with ponykind for as long as possible. The less time I spend among ponies, the sooner I’ll be gathering aspects again. I passed into a town and back out. As night came I soared into the sky as night came on, landing on a cloud as I channeled the most basic Pegasus aspect: cloud walking. I slept, knowing there would be no predators in the sky at night, much less this far within the borders of Equestria.

Still, after nearly a thousand years, the question still gnawed at me: Why did I, the ghost of the forest, who stood at the top of the predatory line, care about the pony rulers' well being?

Why I hate civilization, reason forty-nine thousand

I dropped to the ground and continued on my way, checking my map to make certain I was still on course. Unfortunately, I hadn’t been to this section of Equestria, and the map was not designed for those who did not travel by train or similar methods. With this in mind, I traveled south, making for roughly where I though a town should be, If I were on the correct course.

It was warm here in the south, and I found myself missing the comforting darkness of the Everfree already. It was, I decided, far more like the frozen north than ponies knew: flat, nearly featureless, almost as lifeless. All it was missing was the cold, though if it was traded for oppressive heat, it would be good enough.

“Hey! Hey you! What are you doing running through here like that? Come to think of it, who are you? I could have sworn I know everypony in a day’s journey.” I kept walking, ignoring the voice behind me.

“What are you doing? It’s not nice to ignore people you know! You should really answer me.” I looked back at the young adult pony that was walking towards me. She was a yellow on blue Pegasus. I looked back ahead and continued walking. After a little bit she caught up with me and slowed down, matching her pace with mine.

“You never answered my question. Where are you going and what are you going to do once you get there?” I stopped, realizing that she would know where the town was, which meant I could re-orient there if I got her to show me the way.

“I’m trying to get to the nearest town so I can make sure I’m going the right direction.” She perked up at this, and instantly began running off in some random direction.

“Town’s this way! Come on!” I frowned at her forced enthusiasm but followed anyway, hoping that the town we were heading to was on the map.

“Where are you headed?”

“The badlands.” She froze, looking at me for a moment before turning back and continuing on, moving a bit faster than before.

The town was a small affair, houses, church, school. It was surrounded by apple orchards on all sides. I looked at my travelling companion, who seemed to be becoming much more confident now that we were in sight of the town.

“What’s the name of this town anyway?” I had to chuckle at the way she jumped. It almost rivaled Celestia’s jump into the roof back in Castle Everfree.

“That wasn’t funny! You shouldn’t laugh when you scare ponies.” I shrugged.

“It was a memory of the last time somebody jumped like that that I was laughing at. So what was the town name?”

“It’s called Appleloosa, technically I should be letting Brayburn apple do his tourism spiel, but the name can’t hurt. One note of warning, if he starts regaling you of the wonders of Appleloosa, ask somebody to bring you a meal or you’ll miss your next one.” I nodded in thanks and pulled out my map, checking to see which direction I needed to head next. I felt something pulling me along, urging me to move faster, which I did, as I had discovered that I had gone a bit too far west and needed to head through the town anyway to get to the badlands.

“Come on! If we get there quickly we might be able to get some of Miss Starr’s Apple pie and fritters while they’re warm!” I rolled my eyes but allowed myself to be pulled along, checking my saddlebags to make sure I had some… bits? I think that’s what they used as money now anyway… I did have a few, but likely not enough to stay here long.

“That’s Miss Starr’s place, come on, she’s the best cook this side of the Everfree!” I shrugged, not pointing out that there weren’t many cooks at all this side of the Everfree.

“Miss Starr! Miss Starr? There you are. Can we have some apple pie and fritters please?” The Pegasus called to an older earth pony that had just come through what looked to be the kitchen door.

“Certainly Cloudrunner Oh! Who’s your friend?” Cloud stopped, looking back at me as if only just realizing she hadn’t asked my name. I shrugged.

“I’ve gone by many names in the past. Not that it matters just now, I’m just passing through you see. I’ll be going now, since I’d rather not cause any problems for you.” I turned and began walking away with a quick step, avoiding a few ponies who seemed to be having too much fun and not enough care where they were putting their hooves. Once back on the main path through town I started off towards the badlands again. Behind me, I heard galloping hooves, which were quite distinct from the stomping of the dancers. I kept going, having no reason to look back.

“You there, hold still! You’re under arrest!” I ducked then sprung into the air as a lasso whipped over me and tightened just under my now airborne hooves.

“Why exactly am I under arrest, might I ask?” I kept walking, now moving backwards as I looked at the sheriff and his posse. None of them looked very friendly, but they all looked like they’d just swallowed a mouthful of hot rocks to fast, especially the sheriff.

“You’re under arrest under declaration number fifty three: All strange ponies south of the Everfree Are to be detained until proof that they are not changelings is found.” I sighed and rolled my eyes in annoyance.

“I assume you mean princess Celestia?” They nodded, I groaned again. That fool of a horse. She’s been alive for thousands of years and doesn’t know that this is a bad Idea? I don’t even live with ponies and know that’s a bad plan.

“Well I’ll give you two pieces of proof now, and be on my way, sound good?” Tentative nods and a few growls, but they seemed to be fine with the idea.

“Number one: I Know Celestia, she knows me, and probably would be quite happy with you if you carted me the whole way back to Canterlot to meet her, assuming she didn’t faint in shock. Number two: If I were a changeling I’d have knocked out cloud and taken her place on my way through the town. That good enough or are you going to keep trying to capture me?”

“No, that is not good enough. The first we can’t check, the second is a claim that you, the suspect, are making and we’d have to be fools to listen to you.” They all threw ropes and lassos in my direction, some coming close, others not. I shook my head in annoyance and cut through the ropes as I walked out, flicking my daggers out like snakes tongues, never letting them remaining visible for long.

“Hey! You get back here or I’ll--”

“Let him go Crabapple, we’ll just have to report it and keep a close watch.” I was already outside the town, sticking my course to the badlands. With some luck and a bit of time, I’d have some new aspects.

Why, after all this, and more like it, do I still look in on the princess to make certain she's alright? Why do I care?