Chapters "That should work", a grey-coated pegasus stallion with black mane mumbled to his reflection on a river. Seeker smiled - his destination should be nearby, only a short flight away.
It was a few days ago since he got the letter to see a certain pony in Cloudsdale.
"More than enough time left..... I shouldn‘t let them wait anymore longer “, he thought while redirecting his gaze to the horizon where the skytown was barely visible.
Seeker turned around and walked to the tree where he left his saddlebag and black cloak.
After he put his cloak on and fixated his bag properly Seeker began to spread his wings out of the durable cloth and took a few deep breaths.
"Then let‘s go“, he firmly stated and started his flight with a few powerful thrusts of his wings.
"I got here faster than expected. Good “
Seeker's hooves made a soft 'clop' as he landed inside the town of clouds.
"Now I just need to find the right house “, he continued his thoughts and looked at the townmap in front of him.
Seeker sighed. He was already at the main square, but wasn‘t sure which way to go, everything looked the same to him in this town.
He hated searching for specific houses, especially houses in sky towns.
From behind Seeker a rough voice asked:„You seem a little lost. Can I help you?“.
Seeker turned around and saw that the voice belonged to an brown-coated pegasus stallion with a very grey looking mane. He looked old. Very old.
"Ehhh“, was the only thing Seeker could bring out of his mouth - the sudden question startled him. Since when did this pony stood behind him?
After regaining his composure Seeker cleared his throat and showed the old pony his letter.
"Yes, please. Do you know this address?“.
The old pony just overlooked the adress shortly and replied:“ It should be right.....here“.
He then pointed with his right hoof on the edge of the map and asked:„Anything else you want to know?"
"No I guess not. Thank you for the help“.
"You're welcome“
The old stallion turned around and left the place and Seeker sighed after this weird conversation.
"It's good to see ponies help each other. Luna and Celestia are doing a great job it seems “, Seeker thought.
"But there are still many problems left“, he continued his thought and left the main square with a bitter expression on his face.
"Finally “
Seeker knocked at the door and set up a warm smile. He learned many years ago, that a good smile can help wonders with first impressions - even if it‘s not exatly genuinely.
A middle aged mare with pinke-white mane and lime green coat opened the door. She looked quite beautiful to Seeker.
"Hello?“
"Hello. My arrival was announced?“.
"You are here for my daughter?“
She cut right to the point. He simply nodded as response.
"Then please come in“
He entered the house and followed the mare after she closed the front door.
They were now in a white hallway made of the same clouds as pretty much everything he has seen so far
Seeker simply followed the mare.
"You are Primrose, right?", he asked, despite already knowing the answer by looking at her cutie mark - a rose.
"Yes. And your name? Princess Luna was rather reluctant to give information to me about you."
"Just call me Seeker, I believe we should sit down and clarify a few things first before I see your daughter . I also hope it's okay for you if I keep my mantle on - It's a habit of mine to wear it almost all the time"
Seeker more or less lied. While it really was a habit, he mostly wanted to avoid possible questions about his mark for as long as possible. He disliked the three black circles on his flank for many reasons.
"Fine by me", Primrose mildly replied.
She then took him to a rather plain-looking kitchen and both took seat at the wooden table in the middle of it.
"So. Where to start?", Seeker asked and looked the mare straight in the eyes, still maintaining his smile.
"I don't really know, just tell me a bit about you I guess"
Seekers smile slowly faded and he began:" Well, I am a travelling pony directly in contact with the two Princesses who mostly finance my journeys. My travels sometimes reach far beyond Equestrian boarders. I learned skills in alchemy, reading runes and even hoof to hoof combat. That is pretty much the short version of my life."
"And how exactly are you supposed to help my daughter? Even the Princesses couldn't cure her blindness and they have alicorn magic! I know from how Princess Luna spoke about you, that she has a high opinion of you and your abilities, but I can't see how a fellow Pegasus has a better chance at healing my dear daughter than them", Primrose said.
"I just don't want do see her hopes crushed yet again", she continued.
Primrose was close to tears by now.
"I won't promise that I can restore her eyesight. But believe me - I learned a lot in my years of travelling. From the body structure of ponies, to healing and magic itself. Even if I have wings instead of a horn", Seeker said solemn as response.
Seeker flexed his wings under his cloak as demonstration, then gave her a few moments to let that what he said sink in.
She didn't seem fully convinced, but refrained to ask for more information. He was glad she didn't, since it was really unpleasant for to give to many details about himself.
But there was one thing he needed to clarify.
"So, if you don't want anything else to know about me then let's change to another important subject, okay?"
"And that would be?"
"Where I should stay for the time being."
"Oh, Yes. We have a spare room on the first floor, feel free to use it."
"Thank you, I will appreciate this hospitality."
Seeker stood up and stretched. He looked outside the window, the sun was already setting and was glad that he wasn't forced to search for an sleeping place after dusk.
"How about I introduce myself to my patient?", he asked Primrose.
"Now?"
"Yes of course now. I am curious to see what kind of pony your daughter is."
"Don't you want to see your bedroom first?"
"Not really. If it's fine by you I would like to look around by myself later. Or do you want to show me where what is?"
Primrose thought about his question and then shook her head.
She left her chair with a warm smile and said: "I will take you to her room."
They went out of the kitchen and Seeker followed Primrose to the second floor. They passed a few doors and stopped before the very last one on the floor.
"This is her room", Primrose whispered to him.
She knocked with her right hoof on the door and waited for a response.
"Yes?", a female voice said.
"There is a visitor for you, can we come in?", Primrose asked.
"The door is open", the voice said.
"You should prepare yourself for the sight", Primrose whispered yet again to Seeker.
"What sight?, he asked in low tone.
"Just be prepared"
Primrose opened the door and now saw what she meant. The room was full of snowflakes, they were everwhere. On the floor, on the regals, on the desk - there were even some on the bed. But where was Primroses daughter?
"Wow", was the only thing he could mutter.
He entered the room and suddenly saw something move in the snow. In the middle of the room sat a mare with pure white coat and a similarly white mane - no wonder he couldn't see her at first. Her fur gave her perfect camouflage in the snow.
Seeker stared at her face and had found only one word that could describe her.
"Gorgeous ."
He shook his head. Now wasn't the time for that. He put on a smile again. It felt harder this time.
"Ehm. Hello?", the white mare said in a light voice.
"Good evening Snowdrop "
Author's Note
So. My first FF. The Story itself is mostly planned out, I hope I find the time to bring it to an end.
Snowdrop stood up and shook the snow out of her mane. Next to her were a bunch of glass jars filled to the brim with star shaped snowflakes.
"You are the friend Luna spoke of?“, Snowdrop asked.
"Yes. My name is Seeker and am here by personal request from the Nightprincess herself“, Seeker introduced himself, maintaining a polite but firm tone.
"Oh“, she replied somewhat sadly. Her reaction irritated Seeker somewhat.
"You process snow? Fascinating", Seeker commented, trying to direct the conversation to another topic for the time being.
"It‘s my special talent, so yes“, Snowdrop said with a smile and pointed at the Iceflower that adorned her flank.
Primrose, who was still standing outside the room cleared her throat. Snowdrop twitched by surprise, seemingly having forgotten the presence of her mother.
"Sorry Mom, I know this room is a mess. I kinda overestimated myself today.“
By the the look Primrose made, Seeker guessed that today wasn‘t a exception. It seemed to happen regularly, if her mother considered it necessary to warn him in advance.
"I will leave you both alone now, please clean up your room until dinner is ready. Okay Sweetie?“, she requested from her daughter and then began facing Seeker: "Please lend her a helping hand.“
"Yes, Mom“
"Of course madam“
Primrose left the room and closed the door with one of her wings.
Snowdrop wasted no second after her mother was gone to resume their conversation - she literally sterted bombarding him with questions.
"How was the journey? Was it fun?“
"Ehhh“
"Where else have you been before?“
"Ehhh“
"How old are you?“
"...“
„How long do you know Luna?“
"...“
The questions got more and more unpleasant, but since Seeker couldn‘t even respond to the ones that he was willing to answear. He decided to just let her ramble. Until...
"How does your cutie mark look like? How did you get it?“
This particular question made Seeker flinch. He hated himself for his reaction and prayed that the blind mare wouldn‘t notice it.
She didn‘t.
Snowdrop just continued throwing questions at him.
Overwhelmed by the situation Seeker, he simply sat down at the floor and waited for Snowdrop to finish her onslaught.
"Luna described her bit more shy in the letter .“
The white mare finally realized how little answears she got from her interlocuter. Her milky eyes went wide and she began blushing out of embarrassment.
Seeker nearly bursted into laughter, the look on her face was priceless to him.
"Much better “
"Sorry“, Snowdrop apologized in a meek tone.
"Finished?“, Seeker asked.
She nodded and her blush deepened, which made it even harder for him controling his urge to laugh.
"Good.“, he said with a now genuine smile.
Seeker tossed his bag on the ground and took a deep breath.
"I can understand your curiosity, but I think we should start cleaning up. I can answear a few of your questions in the meantime“, he declared and grabbed one of the empty glass jars next to Snowdrop‘s bed.
Snowdrop herself fetched one with her wing and both began to fill one after another jar.
"To your first question. My journey went pretty uncomplicated. It took me a few days to come here from the edge of Equestria. Autumn is a beautiful season to travel“
Seeker placed his now full jar in the corner of the room and resumed his work with another empty one.
"Now to your second one. I have seen most of the whole world to be honest“
"And to how old I am...“, spoke Seeker hesitantly and came up with an idea.
"Can you guess?“, he asked Snowdrop.
The white mare stopped in her motion and faced in his direction. After a few moments she stood up and asked:“Can I touch your face?“.
"Interesting .“
"I see no problem with that. To be honest, it is a good way for you to familiarize yourself with my presence.“
She stretched out her right front leg and waited for Seeker to come to her.
Seeker moved next to Snowdrop and guided her hoof to his muzzle. Her touch was cold from the snow, but not unpleasant.
Snowdrop explored his head with a serious expression on her face. Seeker grow more and more impressed by her gentle touch.
She stopped at his forehead for a few seconds and removed her hoof.
"You are undoubtedly older than me. Maybe 23?
"Way off “
"A little bit older, but I‘m still in my twenties“, he replied amused.
"... at least my body is "
"Oh“
"That are all the questions I will answear today.“
"Ok“
They resumed cleaning up again. Seeker noticed that the sun finally has slipped over the horizon. It was night. He paused and watched the moon rise.
"I think we are done“, Seeker spoke and checked the whole room again, it was indeed cleaned up now.
"Thanks for your help“
"It was a pleasure“
It really was. While a bit awkward, he had fun talking to her. More than he wanted to admit.
"I wonder why she didn't asked about the main reason I am even here. She mentioned it not once ", Seeker thought and his eyes wandered to the mare.
She was leaning out the window, her blind eyes fixated on the night sky. Her hair was elegantly blowing in the wind.
"She really is a beauty, isn't she? Someday, that mare will make some lucky stallion very happy ."
His thoughts were disrupted by sudden knocking on the door.
"Dinner's ready", said Primrose's muffled voice.
Seeker grabbed his bag and waited in the hallway for Snowdrop to close the window. There were only two other doors on the first floor. His curiosity began growing.
"One of them must be my room I guess ", he thought and becided to open the one on the right side.
The grey stallion looked inside. The room was full of neatly stacked jars, all filled with the same kind of processed snowflakes they filled prior.
"She did this all by herself? ?"
"The guest room is on the other side", Snowdrop said after leaving her room and walked past him, heading for the stairs.
Seeker closed the door and followed her downstairs.
Dinner went fast and Seeker was astounded that neither Primrose nor Snowdrop tried starting a conversation. After finishing he said to Snowdrop:" I will go to sleep now. You should also get enough rest for tomorrow."
He turned to Primrose:" And thank you for the warm meal. It was delicious."
"Good night", he said without turning around.
"Good night", replied Snowdrop and Primrose in unison.
Since Primrose insisted doing the dishes herself, he left the kitchen and went upstairs.
Seeker entered his room and locked the door. His room was only litten by the moonlight, but it was enough for him to see the furniture and hung his belongings on one of the hooks that were fixed on the wall.
"What a weird day", he muttered to himself and sat on his bed. His gaze went through the whole room, until it landed on a candle that stood on the nightstand next to him.
He wanted more light.
Seeker pointed his hoof to the wick and closed his eyes. His wings stretched out to full length.
"Ignite"
Seeker opened his eyes and saw the lit candle.
"Now let's prepare for tomorrow", he said with a wry smile.
Luna opened her eyes and canceled her dream spell.
"They met", she whispered and looked up to her moon.
"I just hope that wasn't a mistake"
The Princess sighed and resumed her nightly duty.
Snowdrop shivered when she returned to her bedroom. The previously opened window had cooled down the whole room noticeable.
Winter was coming slowly and soon snowflakes would decorate equestria in white.
The white mare threw herself onto her bed and wondered if she would be able to see it this year with her own eyes.
She hoped to see it this year.
She prayed to see it.
She wanted to see it.
And now she waited for it.
"Now dreams come to me", she giggled and wrapped herself in the warm bedcover.
After letting out a yawn, she hugged her soft pillow and began slowly drift off to sleep.
Snowdrop stood in a giant field full of sunflowers, the wind letting them slowly dance in the sunlight. Snowdrop knew this dream and she also she what would happen next. She smiled.
The sun went finally down and the moon took it's place in the sky. It was night.
"Luna?", Snowdrop shouted to the moon.
The moon didn't respond to her call, instead she got a surprising hug from the side.
"Yes, Snowdrop?", whispered the dark blue alicorn, ending the short embrace.
Snowdrop was happy to meet her beloved friend in this dream. Over the last five years the Princess occasionally visited them and let her experience the things she missed due to her blindness.
"I heard he arrived?", Princess Luna asked and tilted her head.
"Seeker got here before sundown, but how did you know?"
"I have my sources. Also a little dream walking doesn't hurt. He was seen by some ponies on his arrival and I figured out the rest by myself.", Luna answeared with a wink.
"And? What do you think of him?", she asked eagerly.
Snowdrop's ears felt back, unable to answear the question without giving too much information away.
"What do you think of him?", Luna said with a smirk on her face.
The white fur of Snowdrop turned as red as tomatoes and replied:" He's... very nice. I can understand, why you regarded him in such high opinion the first time you mentionend him."
"Yes, though tracking him down can be very... frustrating.",Luna sighed and shook her head, amused by the obvious reaction of her friend.
Puzzled Snowdrop asked:" But why didn't you just visit one of his dreams? You should be able to reach out to him with your magic."
Luna shook her head again and said:" That would be very convenient, however I fail every time to locate one of his dreams. He never told me the reason, when I asked him."
Snowdrop laid down between the sunflowers, motioning Luna to do the same. Minutes passed as the two friends just enjoyed the others presence.
Snowdrop closed her eyes.
She calmly spoke:" You told me so much about Seeker in the last few months, about his travels and about the creatures he helped. But I began wondering, why didn't you told me earlier about him?
"Because sometimes things are complicated", Luna replied in a determined tone. "Especially with him."
Snowdrop was bewildered, she only heard good things from him until now.
"Why?", she asked and opened her eyes again.
Luna sighed and stood up, her motion made the sunflowers moving again.
"He is reliable, honorable and skilled at helping others, but he always distances himself and closes his heart afterwards. But like I said. Sometimes things are complicated and we have no right at questioning his decisions ultimately.", the Princess said.
"But why are you telling me this then?", Snowdrop asked and proceeded to stand up too.
Luna pondered and turned around, her eyes looked sad.
"I just wanted you to know. By looking at your behavior, I am certain you will get hurt if you are not prepared."
She looked over her shoulder and right in Snowdops eyes:" And I don't want that. Good night."
Before Snowdrop could say anything, Luna started her flight and the dream began collapsing.
Snowdrop fell out of her bed, feeling the warmth of the morning sun on her fur.
Maybe she would be able to see it outside of her dreams soon.
"Morning already?", Seeker yawned and rubbed his eyes. He blew the candle out and stretched his limbs hard enough to hear his joints crack.
In front of him lay mortar and pestle. Other more or less alchemic tools were scattered around the floor, reminding him of a certain resemblance towards the previous day. Next to his utensils were various bowls filled with many-colored powders and liquids.
"Good. After adding a rasped Unicorn horn, my salve can rest in the sunlight." , he thought and placed his nearly finished salve on the sun lit windowsill.
After staying awake the whole night Seeker was tired, but satisfied with his progress.
"Finding a way to restore her eyesight is not the real problem, you know that.", a distorted female voice out of Seeker's bag mocked his work.
Seeker inhaled sharply and replied:"Really? Now? Out of all times?"
The voice started laughing. Seeker grabbed and opened his bag. In it was a glowing red crystal beside a purple egg.
"Hey", the crystal said and started glowing even brighter.
"Oh yes. The egg. Completely forgot you little fella.", Seeker said mildly to it, completely igoring the speaking crystal next to the egg.
The talking item glowed annoyed and said:"Mrph. That dumb egg is fine, focus intead on your little angel."
"I can only start helping Snowdrop when I have finished this. You know that", he said and pointed his hoof to the resting bowl.
"And I was talking about me, but sweet answer.", snickered the red crystal.
"Don't bug me.", Seeker grumbled back.
"Oh? It seems you are quite touchy today."
"By the burning flames of Tartaros, why did Starswirl gave it such a personality ?", Seeker thought and decided to ignore the crystal again. Hoping it would stop talking to him, he started to put away his tools and ingredients.
It did - for roughly a minute.
"Look, I just want to help you, but don't overstrain yourself and do something stupid like using your ho- .", it started again and was interrupted when Seeker opened his bag and threw a few tools over it. When he hearing the muffled noises of the crystal, Seeker couldn't resist smiling.
"Much better.", he said to himself and stuffed the rest of his belongings in his bag.
Concluding that the magical crystal wouldn't bother him anymore, he still wondered why it suddenly felt the need to communicate with him? It was years since it last made an attempt from it's side.
"Years, huh?", the grey pegasus whispered and looked at his now silent bag. With crunching teeth he began shaking his head.
"Focus, you can worry about that later"
His thoughts came to a halt when he heard sudden knocking on the door.
It was Primrose, who seemed in quite a hurry.
"Good, you are already awake", she began breathlessly.
Seeker remained silent and allowed the mare to cath her breath again.
"I am going to work now. Is everything clear?"
Ne nodded and smiled to conceal his tired tiredness.
"Yes. In fact I just finished my alchemic salve. It's the foundation to determine the rest of her healing process."
Primrose seemed happy about his progress and her lips began curling slightly.
"I should be back before sundown."
Seeker was glad to hear that. With everything prepared to restore Snowdrops eyelight today he hoped his work here was finished when her mother would return.
The greenish yellow mare left with a short goodbye and Seeker was alone again. He thought at least, until the red crystal emerged out of the bag right after he closed his door. Seemingly angry, it's radiating light colored the whole room in deep red. Finally freed from it's temporary prison, it levitated towards the grey pegasus.
"I guess you can still do that, huh?", Seeker stated plainly.
"NEVER .", it started in pure rage. "NEVER DO THAT AGAIN", the crystal finished.
Seeker tilted his head. Red light reflected in his eyes, his gaze was now directet at the gem. "Should I shut it up?"
The stallion dismissed this thought, he might need the help of the crytal later on. Concluding to take the most rational of choices he mumbled:" Yeah. Sorry, but please keep it down a notch. No need to freak out."
The glowing slowly decreased until it was only a little shimmer again. Seeker could still feel a little bit of anger burning inside the gem, while he watched it floating to the windowsill where the salve rested. The crystal placed itself next to it and said: "It's ready"
"Perfect", Seeker stated. He felt a headache coming and blamed it solely on his crystalline companion.
Author's Note
So, new chapter - took longer than I wanted, but time to write was a little issue.
Snowdrop opened her eyes. The familiar darkness greeted her like ever other morning and she greeted it back with a tired yawn. She rollen to the edge of her bed and hopped in out of it. Feeling another yawn incoming, she denied herself the second one.
Didn't she woke up because she heard some noises?
The white mare shook her head, hoping to perk herself fully up. Snowdrop trotted towards the window in her room and placed her hoof on the glass and began feeling the warmth of the morning sun on her fur.
"I suppose mom left already if the sun is this high up." , Snowdrop concluded and removed her hoof from the windowpane.
Her train of thought drifted towards the other pony currently sharing the same roof with her. "But is he still sleeping?", she said and opted in the dircetion of her door.
"Only one way to find out" , she decided and opened the door.
Driven by her curiosity, her path went directly to the guest room. Simply staning before the door, she was unsure what exactly to do now. It sounded much easier in her head, now she had doubts.
Should she just knock with her hoof?
"But what if he's still sleeping?"
Snowdrop was about to leave again and rethink her whole approach to him again. However she suddenly heard a loud voice in Seeker's room and stopped in her motion. "So he's up?" , Snowdrop's curiosity got the better of her and she knocked on the wooden door.
No response from inside the room. Only Silence.
She hesitantly knocked again and pressed her left ear against the obstacle. Did she imagined the noises? Should she just try opening it?
"Coming!", Seeker finally answered and Snowdrop heard something clatter. She heard a klick, followed by mildly squeaking that indicated that the door was now open.
"Already awake? Good morning Snowdrop", Seeker greeted her in a friendly tone. "Please come in, your timing is good."
"Good morning. I hope you slept well", Snowdrop said cheerfully before she entered his room.
~
Moments prior Seeker had hastily thrown over his mantle and simultaneously disposed the crystal in one the coat pockets. Everything was set. Almost at least - Snowdrop just needed to play along now.
"I borrowed some cushions and a blanket from downstairs. Please lay down", he stated and guided her to the makeshift 'bed' he made for convenience. Seeker felt her shaking a bit, her motion was rigid.
"Scared?", Seeker asked out of necessary concern.
"Maybe a little, but more excited than scared", the now sitting mare said somewhat bravely and tried to relax, while Seeker grabbed the salve.
"Well, I guess we can start. Just say something when you feel uncomfortable, also...". He took a deep breath. "... we can chat a little if it eases your mind." Seeker already felt regreting his suggestion, yet he could't find a better solution to distract Snowdrop from her anxiety.
The white mare nodded hastily, the motion caused her fluffy hair to wip up and down. It was obvious she was eager to start, despite her bashfulness.
Silently hoping to avoid certain scenarios, Seeker focusing on the now laying Snowdrop and sat down next to her head.
"Now please close your eyes."
Seeker dipped his hoof in the silver tincture and began spreading it gently on her eyelids. The sudden contact made her twitch a little.
"What is this? It feels weird."
"Just a harmless salve I learned making from Zebras", Seeker explained with a smirk, it seemed like a great start.
"Zebras?"
"Never heard of them? A few live in a hidden area of the Everfree Forest, but there are a lot more beyond the Equestrian boarders. They look pretty much like Earth Ponies, except for the fact that their coat has black white stripes."
He dipped his hoof again in the salve and continued spreading it over Snowdrop's eyes. She no longer showed any form of uneasiness.
"Traveling seems funny", Snowdrop giggled happily at the idea of visiting foreign countries.
Seeker finished applying the salve and looked at Snowdrop's silver shimmering eyes. "It's... challenging sometimes, but the world we live in has much to offer".
"So what does this salve exactly do?"
"It depends on the ingredients. Right now it helps me to determine a solution for your blindness as well as strengthening the magic that lies in you", Seeker said while fetching his crystalline 'friend' out of his coat pocket. The red crystal hissed just quietly enough at him, so Snowdrop wouldn't hear it. Seeker guessed it was still angry at him from his disrespectful behaviour earlier.
Seeker placed the crystal on Snowdrop's forehead and grabbed Snowdrop's head. The mare held her breath at the contact for a short moment.
"And now...", he whispered.
"Connect"
The red crystal began floating over Snowdrops face, while slowly rotating in a clockwise direction - emitting strong light again. Seeker removed his left hoof from Snowdrops head and touched the spinning jewel. The contact caused the gem to emit even stronger light until it engulfed both ponies in a orb of pure red.
The spell was completed.
Snowdrop passed out.
Seeker's mind linked with Snowdrop's now unconscious body. As he slowly pushed away the conflicting sensation his spell gave him, he wasted no time starting to look through her physical and mental conditions.
"The eyes are looking undamaged"
He concentrated more. After checking nerve strands and the whole function of the brain he was able to narrow down the source of Snowdrop's blindness to the only logical conclusion he could muster. With a frustrated growl he broke the magical connection to Snowdrop. The gem started floating down to the unconscious mare again and was snatched by Seeker it mid air.
"It has to be a inherited birth defect. That explains, why even Alicorn magic wasn't able to heal her eyes. Healing her eye is impossible, if there isn't something to heal to begin with."
Seeker had hoped to find something the ponies before him had overlooked, but straight up healing was out of question now. With the easy way on solving Snowdrops dilemma out of the way, he began considering his left options... or rather his only real option left. "I guess, I'll have to be a little bit more creative," He joked loudly, so the crystal could hear him.
"What do you need?", the red stone grumbled.
Seeker smiled. It was still a fake one. He know the decision he was about to make, would result in a very unpleasant situation for him later.
"Comb through the information you have about the Crystal Heart, especially the spell used for it's creation."
The crystal was shortly mute. After hearing the request it yelled:"Have you gotten completely insane now? Replicating a spell of this caliber in your current state is far beyond stupidity."
The smile Seeker had put on deepened. "Ortus... . Just. Do. It.", he emphasized every word in a clearly annoyed tone. "I want to be done here, before Snowdrop wakes up - so be ready when I get back," the stallion commanded in a more direct tone. He placed the gem on the floor and left hastily the room .
In the hallway Seeker immediately aimed toward the storage chamber, where he saw the processed snowflakes on the day before. He entered it and was greeted again by the absurd amount of filled jars.
"I hope she won't complain, if I take one without permission."
As he randomly looked over the jars, his eyes fell upon a rather irregular snowflake,. It had an uneven form with nine holes in differend sizes, but he couldn't stop staring at it. Seeker found it somehow beautiful.
"My, my. You look like an odd one", he stated amused, while grabbing the jar with one of his grey wings.
Deeming it fit for the plan he had in mind, he removed the cap with his mouth and his free wing took the snowflake with a swift movement out of the jar. Seeker placed the glass back, before he went through the door and closed it behind him.
With the snowflake resting save in his right coat pocket Seeker returned to his room. Snowdrop was still lying motionless on her pillows, Ortus right next to her.
Seeker know the crystal had already the needed information. He looked at the crystal with determination in his eyes.
"And you are really sure about that? You only know her for one day now and she mostly asked you questions you didn't even wanted to answer", Ortus tried again to reason with him.
Seeker laughed at this statement.
"Luna most likely told her some stories about me. I believe in her perception I am some sort of hero, hilarious isn't it? But heartwarming. I can see why Luna is so deeply attached to her. However now... "
The grey stallion placed the snowflake on the ground and closed his eyes. He slowly let every emotion he had in his mind go - there was no need to feel something anymore. He concentrated. Not on Luna. Not on Snowdrop. Not on anypony. Seeker only focused solely on himself.
"... I think it's time I get a bit more serious."
Seekers cutie mark started glowing from under his mantle and his wings slowly began losing feathers, which turned to dust as they fell to the ground.
At the same time something elongated on his forehead began to emerge. The growing rush of power nearly overwhelmed Seeker and he felt his own exhaustion even more.
More feathers fell out, the thing on his head grew larger and larger.
Seeker opened his eyes. His wings were now fully gone from under his mantle and he shot a short gaze at his silver grey horn.
With his transformation in a unicorn completed, the stallion mumbled under his breath: "It seems like, I'm taking my boastful words back. I'll need a horn after all, dear Primrose."
"We can start?", Seeker asked the stone floating once more over Snowdrop's unconscious body.
A flash of light emphasised it's reluctant readiness. "I hope you know what you are doing."
Seeker pulled the snowflake out of his jacket pocket. His horn flared to life, engulfing Snowdrop, Ortus and the snowflake in a white aura. Information about the crystal heart filled his mind.
"The conditions are met, the knowledge is delivered, the vessel is prepared, the magical supplements are provided..."
Quick bursts of lightning flashed between the two objects and the white mare, as the salve on Snowdrops eyes began to ingest the emitted energy. Seeker added more of his magic to the spell and after waiting a few moments, Seeker directed the snowflake to Snowdrop's body.
"The vessel will be combined with the already imprinted link inside the salve"
The salve seperated from Snowdrops eyes and floated towards the snowflake, which began absorbing the magicfiled unguent. Seeker then removed both Ortus and Snowdrop from the spell and the connection only remained between him and the snowflake. He added durability and stability to the enchantments of the snowflake.
"The strengthened vessel is now ready to hold an enchantment."
As the snowflake shimmered weakly. Seeker cut his magic and a few drops of sweat gathered on his forehead. He wasn't finished yet. One last thing remained for him to do.
"So what spell do you want to put in there? I highly doubt any of the things Starswirl recorded inside me has the ability to create eyesight", Ortus preached audible and earned a strange look from Seeker.
"Is that so? Good thing I never intended using one of your spells in the first place."
He told the truth. The enchantment he was about to engrave inside the snowflake wasn't by far a normal spell and Seeker doubted the red stone had even the slightest knowledge about this branch of magic. Deep in thoughts Seeker fetched his bag and pulled out a golden locket, attached by a silvery string. It was round with a tree crown decorating the rear.
Hearing Ortus say something about 'cryptic as always', Seeker hung the medallion around Snowdrops neck and levitated the snowflake inside it.
Giving a friendly look to the motionless Snowdrop, Seeker inhaled and exhaled. His horn accumulated dark energy and the white in his blue eyes turned jet-black. He shot the collected negative energy directily inside the locket.
With a click the locket closed, hiding the snowflake inside it.
Dizziness came over Seeker, as the last 'spell' took it's tribute. Ignoring the feeling he levitated Snowdrop up in the air.
The stallion grabbed his bag and put over his neck, while Ortus floated inside one of his pockets. Seeker checked one final time if everything he needed was packed, before he left his room.
A chill run Seeker down his spine and his steps became dizzy. He almost knocked down a vase, while carrying Snowdrop to her room.
"Congratulations. The clock is ticking!", Ortus hissed from the pocket.
Inside her room he gently lowered Snowdrop down to her bed. The white mare twitched and Seeker took it as a sign of her soon awakening. Reaching into his bag, he placed an envelope with the royal seal on her nightstand.
"I'm... sorry for not beeing able to provide a proper conversation."
Seeker closed the door, as he left Snowdrop alone in her room.
"But Luna was a fool if she told you more than necessary."
The grey stallion stumbled through the corridor and he nearly knocked down the same vase again. A noise from downstairs made him flinch.
"Primrose is back?", he wondered.
Seeker looked outside and saw the sun nearing the edge of the horizon.
"Damn it!"
He originally wanted to leave before Primrose's return. Seeker considered teleporting, but dismissed the thought almost immediately. His vision already began blurring, so it would most likely drain the last bit of strength left in his body if he teleported a far distance. He decided to hide his horn by pulling the hood of his mantle over it and went down the stairs as silently as he could.
Seeker could see Primrose unpacking something in the kitchen. "She has not seen me yet." Seeing the opportunity he sneaked towards the front door and opened it quietly.
"Ahem "
The sound came from Primrose, who suddenly stood in the hallway. Seeker sighed and shifted his head so one of his still darkened eyes could met hers. Even with his clouded sight Seeker was able to see the confused look she gave to him - she was clearly displeased from his attemt to leave without saying a single word.
He said with a smile: "Your daughter will wake up soon, you should go to look after her."
"You are finished?", Primrose asked in a direct tone and she shifted to a more confronting attitude.
The smile Seeker gave changed to a big grin. His dizziness and exhaustion fed greatly on his patience, yet he tried to remain calm.
The lime green mare frowned. She opened her mouth to say something, but Seeker interrupted her as he declared: "There isn't a single reason left for my presence here. I played my role here. Farewell Primrose."
Seeker went through the door, while ignoring the calls Primrose shot after him. He hated what he just did, yet it was necessary. Everypony in the skytown would get in danger if he stayed longer.
His hooves sank in the clouds making his steps heavy, he was barely able to keep him on the surface with the bit of strengh he still had. After covering a considerable distance Seeker saw Luna's moon rising to the sky. He turned left into an empty alley and stopped.
The moment his movement came to a halt gravity started for him and Seeker immediately fell through the clouds.
Primrose was shocked as the stallion left her home. She hadn't expected such an abrupt turn of events and thought about following him.
She already had set a hoof outside, but stopped in track. Shaking her head she retuned inside her house.
"So he was able to heal Snowdrop? In this amount of time?"
Hope began spaking inside Primrose and she shifted her thoughts to her daughter. She promptly went upstairs.
When she arrived at the room of her daugher she came to a halt and the little hope she had was shattered as she heard sobbing through the door.
Primrose's body stiffed a little and she opened the door. Her daughter was standing at the window with tears flowed from her eyes, making a little puddle on the floor.
The ground was approaching in rapid speed. Seeker was barely able to keep himself awake during his fall, he shifted the direction towards a small forest.
"Reinforce!", he shouted. His voice echoed through the empty night.
Moments before he would have hit the ground Seeker gave up his horn and curled up around his bag. Shielding the egg inside from most of the impact. He crashed on a glade, whirling up dust an leaves. "Hah. One of my better landings", Seeker quipped and tried getting up to his hooves again, which immediately gave in.
He had officially reached his limit. If he neglected his symptoms any longer, it would only end up with more pain for him.
Ortus insulted him with a short "Idiot" and floated once again out of his pocket, illuminating the area around with it's light.
"I warned you about your horn! And what did you do? USING IT ANYWAY! ", it thundered to Seeker, who was barely awake at this point. "Now be honest, since when made you the decision to use it?"
The edges of Seeker's vision darkened. He spoke: "Since I got this at the boarder of course". With shaking hooves he fetched Luna's letter out of his bag.
"You know you are effectively destroying your own body right now? Our contract can only mitigate some of the recoil your own magic is giving you. Havn't you learned from your failure back in the crystal empire?"
Seeker was clearly feeling the mentioned effects. It wasn't something new to him, but he wasn't in a position to complain. Not anymore. He declared softly: "My purpose is and will always be to help others, no matter how much... ."
He couldn't finish his sentence. The exhaustion finally triumphed and Seeker fell asleep, still holding the letter in his hooves. A light breeze blew across the clearing and a few autumn leaves fell to the ground, some covering the sleeping stallion.
"Liar", Ortus sighed.
"Why am I in my bed?"
Snowdrops head was spinning as she woke up. Her hoof wandered to the presumed source of the feeling. She opened her eyes and the familiar darkness was still omnipresent. Nearly slipping as her hooves touched the floor, Snowdrops jumped out of the bed.
"Seeker?", she called out to the stallion. Getting no response Snowdrop realized she was alone in her room.
The white mare shook her head, the motion finally drawing her attention to the medallion dangling from her neck.
"A necklace?"
Touching the engraving she triggered the opening mechanism and the medaillion sprung open with a sharp click. Snowdrop winced when she heard the the noise and reflexively closed her eyes.
The air felt like the tempterature had dropped a few degrees after she opened them again.
Shaking her head again Snowdrop couldn't belive what she was seeing. Not the familiar endless black world. While only faint she made out the outlinings of her surroundings. Walking to the window the emotions overwhelmed her to the point of breaking down in tears.
The door behind her opened and Snowdrop heard her mother entering her room.
Whispering just loud enough for Primrose to hear, Snowdrop said:" The moon Luna showed me in my dreams wasn't so beautiful."
Snowdrop turned around and stormed towards her mother, which wrapped her front hooves around her daughter and pulled her in a tight hug.
Snowdrop wasn't blind anymore. The fact let Primrose herself shed tears as she embraced her daughter.
"Where is Seeker? I want to thank him.", Snowdrop suddenly asked her mother with a big grin as she looked around the room.
The moment Snowdrop mentioned his name Primrose squeezed her daughter a bit harder until the previously blind mare made a little squeal of protest. After ending the hug she sighed morosely:" He left."
Snowdrop blinked her eyes in confusion. "Why?"
Her mother stayed silent, she obviously wasn't what exactly to say. He simply left without a real explanation after all.
"Why?", Snowdrop repeated her question calmy. Her mind drifted towards the stallion. She wanted to know more about him ever since the the first time she heard about him. She recalled the things Luna told her.
Stories about a selfless stallion who aids ponies the princesses couldn't possible reach, stories about him intervening in wars and ending them and stories about the things he learned and brought back to Equestria.
Snowdrop also recalled the one sentence about him that perplexed her in her dream.
"He always distances himself and closes his heart afterwards" , she repeated the words inwardly. At first they didn't added up with the picture she had of the pegasus and she wondered why a pony like him would want to avoid bonding with others. She had hoped for a lasting friendship with him even if he would have failed to help her.
Now he was gone and all the questions she had came back to her mind.
"Why?", she repeated one final time.
"I think he is expected somewhere else, he seemed in a hurry", Primrose said with a modest smile. Pointing at the medaillon she continued:" What a beautiful necklace. Can I see it?"
Snowdrop looked down to the mentioned necklace and noticed that it somehow had closed itself again. With her wings she pulled it over her head and gave it to Primrose.
The moment the medaillion left her touch the world turned black againand she instantly grabbing with her hoof after it again. It took a few moments for Snowdrops eyesight to return to her. Shocked she stared in the eyes of her mother and redirected her attention down to the medaillion between their hooves.
A grey unicorn colt approached a cliff over the ocean. Seeing the pony he was looking for sitting near the edge he quickened his walk up to the cliff.
"You know why I am here", he declared in a respectful tone to the other pony and bowed, letting his wavy brown mane touch the grass on the ground.
The other pony - A male unicorn with unkempt black mane and a coat so stained from dirt that the original color wasn't visible anymore snorted:" And you know the answer."
The grey colt rose up again, showing no visible sign of hesitation firmly said:" I do indeed, but I will ask you again: Teach me how to use magic."
"Eighty-one with today.", the unkempt stallion mumbled.
"What?"
With a big sigh the older pony rose up and stirred up a small cloud of dust. Refraining from turning around to face the colt he said:" Forget it. Let's get it over with."
After hearing this words the young pony promptly sprinted towards the older stallion, who was still not turning around to make eye contact with him. As he was only a few feet away his advance came an abrupt halt, when an force started holding him in place. The colt immediately began fighting with all his might against the invisible shackles, he knew it'd be over if he failed to free himself quickly.
Without wasting more time he tried utilizing what little magic he was able to manifest. His horn flared to life and a greyish aura surrounded it a spreading over his whole body. Once again yanking hard against the unseen force, he somehow managed to lessen the restrainments placed upon him strong enough to move again.
Continuing his path the azure eyes of the colt were focussed on the unmoving unicorn in front of him, while trying to anticipate the next obstacle he'd have to overcome.
Slowly but surely distance towards his goal began shrinking and the colt grinned at his progress. "Today might be the day I can reach him." , he thought, as he stretched out his hoof to touch the stallion.
His hoof only grasped air. The stallion had vanished into thin air.
"Still too slow little one", the older pony commented sternly behind him.
Feeling the remaining weight on his body disappearing the young pony spinned around and was finally face to face with the other unicorn. Two dark blue eyes tiredly looked directly in his azure ones.
"Quite stubborn, aren't you?", he said to the colt with an hint of a smile on his lips.
"So I failed the test again?", the colt asked and tried hiding his frustration behind a stoic fassade.
"Failed? This 'test' you are reffering to was merely a way to see how determined you are."
After hearing this words the colt's heart stopped for a second and he began stuttering:" S-So the whole promise about teaching me magic if I'd manage to touch you was just a farce?"
The colt couldn't belive what he just heard. Why would he do such a ridiculous test?
"I must admit I'd have waited until your hundredth attempt to finally tell you the truth, but you really managed to impress me today.", the dirty unicorn explained. "It was quite entertaining to watch you struggling over the last months."
Shocked by the sudden revelation the colt opened his mouth to say something. After waiting a few moment he decided to closed it again and instead bursted into hearty laughter.
Sighing the older unicorn continued:" I already told you the first time you came to me, you could easily find a pony better suited for teaching you how to use your horn. I highly doubt I am able to teach you more than the basic forms of magic. You are talented as far as I can tell, why don't you look for somepony better than me?"
The laughter stopped and the only noise within earshot was comming from waves hitting the bottom of the cliff. The colt simply pointed at his blank flank and said:" I have made up my mind the moment I saw you protecting the town against the big storm last year. You are the pony who can help me find my talent. I am certain of that. "
Shaking his head, the stallion walked away and scoffed:" So you are still insting? Good! I give you time until tomorrow morning to say goodbye to your family and friends or to reconsider that decision. I'll be waiting at the usual place, if you are too late I am leaving without you."
"That won't be necessary." said the colt without batting an eye and earned a questioning look from the stallion.
"I am the only unicorn living in the orphanage, thus I obviously don't have any parents or even friends that I could say goodbye to. Nopony will be missing me, we can leave immediately.", he continued.
The look the older unicorn gave him shifted to a more sympathetic one.
"Follow me.", he mumbled and walked down to leave the cliff at a moderate pace.
With a small grin on his face the foal followed the older pony. Their path was leading towards a conifer forest near the town the colt was coming from. After passing the first few trees of the trail they took the sight was already narrowing down and bekame more shady.
"Why are you so dirty?", the colt asked casually. His hooves crushed a few dry twigs on the ground as he followed behind the steady pace of the older unicorn.
Slightly annoyed the stallion replied:"This is your first question? No 'Where are we going?' or 'When do we start with training?' You are wondering about the dirt."
"It bothered me since the first day I met you.... Master.", the grey colt said, hesitantly adding the last word.
The stallion stopped in his tracks.
"Please don't call me that.", the stallion requested. His tone of voice was hard and almost devoid of emotions. The sudden shift of the older unicorns mood perplexed the colt. "Come on, we are almost there.", the older pony declared and continued walking again.
They arrived at a small lake. Reeds grew near the edge of the shore and surrounded the whole lake like a ring fence.
"Wow.", the colt said seemingly impressed by the view.
The stallion waded into the lake and uttered: "You wait here. I'll just wash my coat."
He dove into the water without waiting for a response and left the mildly puzzled colt behind. "Did he planned that or is he doing this because I asked?", he pondered quietly.
With a splash the bathing pony surfaced again. While rubbing his fur he asked the colt:" Still no doubts about leaving?"
The colt chuckled. "Isn't the first time I left the orphanage, this time I hopefully won't have to come back.", he said and tried to catch a glimpse of the bathing ponies cutie mark. It turned out to be a futile effort, since he was barely able to make out the color of his color that came out under the dirt - a greyish tint, not unlike his own coat.
Out of pure curiosity he waited until the older unicorn turned his back on him. He took a faint step forward.
"Don't try anything funny boy.", the bathing pony scolded immediately.
Caught in the act the young colt huffed: "How do you always do that? This is unfair! After all this time I know next to nothing about you. Are you still refusing to tell me your name?"
Taking another dive underwater the now relatively clean stallion said: "I don't bother with such trivial matters anymore, I discarded my name decades ago. Just call me anything."
With gaping mouth the colt was thinking what to do with this information.
"Master...?", he started.
"Anything BUT that.", the nameless unicorn commanded and continued with a shaking head: "We can deal with that later."
The stallion had apparently finished bathing and was swimming towards the shore again. Water was dripping from his wet fur as he asked: "Since we are currently at the topic, what is your name again?"
"You can't remember? I told you it's - "
It took a long time for Seeker to collect enough strengh to stand up. A burning sensation shot through his body as he opted to make a step forward.
"As expected the pain is getting worse. I am getting weaker... again. ", he thought and placed his hoof on his forehead, where most the agony was residing.
It was nearly noon. He was trying since daybreak to get a hold of his situation and simply deal with it. Growing more and more impatient he forced another step. His head felt like it was going to split in two, yet he took another one. The world immediately started spinning, he fell to his knees and began panting heavily as even more pain emerged.
"And? Regretting it now?", Ortus asked with a calm, almost reassuring voice from Seeker's coat pocket.
Seeker grimaced and attempted to stand up again. "Everything going as planned.", he deadpanned, managing to find his balance once again. "How much did I use?"
"Approximately more than ten years worth of magic. Maybe eleven."
"And how much was taken from the forest while I was out?", Seeker mumbled and looked around. Dead wood was piling up everywhere, the lively flora from the foreday was replaced with nothing but waves of decay. "I have managed to destroy the whole ecosystem in only a few hours, at least I didn't kill somepony again."
"Barely enough to keep you anchored... for now at least. Your little 'improvisation' in Cloudsdale has shortened your deadline considerably. Now you only have a few months left to spare - You have to pay a visit to the Tree in the near future."
Seeker's eye twitched. "Yes. I can feel me nearing the brink, I even had to remove my wings to remain in control." He stood up again - this time the world wasn't spinning. "Good. I should have overcome the worst parts."
Beginning with a few steps he managed to slowly walk a short distance. Disregarding the pain that came with each single movement he stopped at a large tree for a break and leaned against it. Sweat was dripping from his body and his heart was racing.
"Then that means we will also visit Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in their castle?", Ortus asked and moved a bit in his pocket.
"I have to make my report and need to deliver this little fella to Celestia. No mayor changes of the plan, I only sped up my return.", the gray stallion said and patted his bag softly.
"Don't overdo it. If the sisters find out what you did after the Pillars vanished it will break their hearts."
Shaking his head Seeker assured the red crystal:" Even if they would know, it's hundreds of years too late for them to interfere. I trust that they can control their emotions. They are strong.... so much more than I am." Feeling recovered enough to start moving again, he pushed himself away from the tree.
"Also I need to discuss some things with Luna regarding Snowdrop and the letter she sent me."
Dear Seeker,
p.s If you accept and succed give her the other letter inside the envelope.
"Luna made a friend?"
The pegasus holding the letter smiled and flipped to the backside, as expected everything necessary written on it. Luna was prepared as always.
"Snowdrop..... Blind since birth..... " he mumbled and began already narrowing down the possibilities he had. "Cloudsdale? It's been decades since I was there the last time."
Finishing the letter he pondered for a moment. "That sounds interesting."
Seeker put the letters he received in his pocket and pulled a small piece of paper and a feather with some ink from his saddlebag and wrote a few words on it. He place the paper in his hoof and channeled magic.
"To Luna"
The piece of paper vanished and with it Seeker's smile. "But if everything's falling apart... -" Seeker stretched out his wings and immediately started flying. "- I just have to kill myself a little bit faster."
Luna had finished her daily attempt on sending her contact letter. Usually the letter would return in a matter of seconds, but it was already a few minutes since she inflamed it. "So he's inside the boarder?" She snorted, getting more and more impatient.
"Good, that nopony is watching." Luna thought. She and her sister had to be an example in front of everypony else, there wasn't much room for error so she relished the little moments of informality whenever she could.
The nightblue alicorn saw that the sun was slowly beginning to rise, indicating the begin of Celestia's shift and the end of hers. Growing more tired she drew the curtains with magic and went to her bed.
Luna felt something landing on her muzzle. Illuminating her horn she saw the thing - a small piece of paper.
'I will see what I can do'
Instantly forgetting about her tiredness she sprinted towards her desk. "I need to inform Snowdrop and Primrose.", she murmured and began writing.
Author's Note
The story is meant to be a bit confusing btw.
"Is something wrong?", Primrose asked, clearly concerned about the weird behaviour her daughter just displayed. "You seem stressed."
"It's... nothing.", Snowdrop said and let go of the medallion once more and her vision faded again. "So that's how it is. My sight is liked to the necklace... somehow."
Her mother let out a sigh. "You know you can always come to me with your problems. Is really everything alright Snowdrop?"
"Should I tell her? No... not now. Not until I know more about it. I will just... ." , Snowdrop agonized over telling her mother about the true nature of the necklace.
"I was thinking about... him.", she tried to find an excuse for her previous reaction and shook her head, making a few strands of her mane fall on her face. "I expected something different, this whole outcome feels weird... and incomplete."
Primrose tenderly stroked her daughters face, wiping back the hairstrands and planted a small kiss on her forehead. "Everything's fine dear, I doubt there is any need to worry. Why don't you ask the Princesses the next time they visit?"
Feeling the touch of her mother Snowdrop mumbled with a smile:" Thanks mom. Can you put the necklace around me again?"
"Of course."
Her mother pulled the enchanted jewelry back over her daughters head and unknowingly reactivated the spell. An electrifying sensation filled Snowdrops body. With a shiver, she shook her head to drive away that feeling.
"You electrified me.", the white mare complained jokingly with a grin on her face.
Snowdrops stomach grumbled. "I know I was forgetting something else."
"You havn't eaten yet? I told you skipping meals isn't good for your health.", Primrose scolded.
"To be fair I was asleep most of the day. What's for lunch?"
"I think you should see for yourself when it's ready. I'll call for you, okay?"
"Ok. Mom."
"What in the name of the princesses did he do?" , Snowdrop still racked her brain over the previous matter, after her mother left the room. Her eyes fell on the letter on her nightstand. "Weird. I am sure I placed the last one I got to the others."
She took the letter and went to her desk, as she opened her drawer full of letters she noticed the one she was holding was closed.
"Oh!", she said surprised and broke the seal.
" Dear Snowdrop, ... "
With a sneeze Seeker entered the dusty cave and discarded his bag near the entrance. He could sense already sense the faint presence of the entity he was looking for from the inside, welcoming him his arrival.
He knew the cave itself wasn't very long. The magical energy around him increasing quickly as he was nearing the end of the cave.
Or rather the thing blocking the path to the end.
Seeker was standing before the Tree of Harmony. It's crystalline branches shimmered like diamonds and filled the surrounding air with a strong, almost divine gleam.
It's presence touched his own and Seeker immediately lowered his mental barriers to open his mind, granting admission for a spiritual connection with the old tree.
"What a sad sight.", it 'greeted' him with a soft voice. He instantly recoznized it immediately and cringed.
"Celestia again? I hate it when it uses her voice." Seeker prevented this thoughts from escaping his mind. The last thing he wanted right now was provoking his interlocutor, after quickly setting up a smile he decided to reply with a calm, almost mockingly: "Maybe?"
"Well, Luna wouldn't have been much better either..."
"You... are early. Did something happen?"
The question amused him. Yes it was true, his return was moved forward, because of his latest actions.
"I just overestimated the toll on my last spell a bit. My magical reserves are almost drained."
A ghostly tentacle emerged from the magical tree and stopped inches before Seeker's head. "So weak... your life is dwindling."
Seeker took a deep breath. "Not fast enough. I don't know how much longer I will remain in control of my 'talent', so please help me out.", Seeker said.
"I... see."
More tentacles appeared and began to surround him, forming a cage of pure light. The powerful magic of the tree began entering Seeker's body and warmth filled his chest.
He began relaxing, slipping willingly into pure white nothingness.
The serene atmosphere didn't hold very long. Blurred facets appeared inside Seeker's mindscape, taking the loose form of bodiless shades.
The shadows he saw shifted, gaining more and more sharpness. He could almost spot the silhouettes he was expecting to see.
The first shadow managed to take form.
Standing right before Seeker was a unicorn stallion with a coat as grey as ashes. His long pitch black mane fell adorned his head. Dark blue eyes met Seeker's.
It was as if Seeker was looking in an old mirror. He faced an echo of the past - HIS past, with the only difference between them being Seeker's current lack of a horn and the fact, that his past self wan't wearing a coat.
With noiseless step the echo began walking straight towards Seeker, who simply waited to let is pass right through him as they made contact. He knew he couldn't interact with anything that would happen in this memory. He turned around to follow his old self.
The rest of the shadows were slowly taking form. One after another gaining shapes of various ponies, each single one of them having wings and a horn.
Alicorns, coming into existence from the shadows one by one, eying Seeker's echo which stopped right in the middle of them. Seeker already knew what would happen next... dreading it... hating seeing one of his greatest sins yet again exposed, but he didn't had the right to look away from them. He had sworn to take responsibility, so he forced himself to look at his version of the past, which had ignited his horn in a white aura to catch the attention of everypony.
"I have known most of you for several decades,- ", the echo spoke loudly and paused for a moment "- Seen you grow and watched you living in this beautiful world. But you see, there is a problem...."
"Magic... no, rather life itself is disappearing from this land."
A confused murmur went through the crowd. They obviously didn't understood what was going on.
"Well, I guess disappearing is the wrong word.", the grey stallion corrected himself and looked at the alicorns with tired eyes.
None said anything. The echo shook his head.
"So you still have not noticed? Never seen what is going on while you mindlessly honed your magic? If you did you'd know what I mean. Your existence is disrupting the natural flow of magic, draining the earth, stopping the wind, even the sun and the moon in it's track." He paused again and exhaled as if to ready himself for something. "-, but now you have left me with not other choice....." After pausing one final time he continued callous: "... than to bring an end to your existence. For the sake of this world, I will kill you all."
His words had a sudden effect on the ponies surrounding him. Each Alicorn stood still for a moment, fear clearly written in their faces. Then all hell broke loose.
Several attempted to teleport, others tried to fly away, while some decided to run away from the echo. None tried to attack.
But it was too late. Their fate was sealed the moment he made that decicion.
Seeker watched his other self stomping on the ground so hard, that cracks appeared in the earth. Thin colorless threads crawled out from under his hoof and chased after the fleeing ponies, disrupting the teleportation spells upon touch and kept them tethered to the ground.
He remembered this magic all too well. It was a spell designed solely for preventing an escape by locking the very existence into one place for as long as he desired. However, it didn't seal all magic.
Realizing their situation the alicorns fired beams of magic from their horns. The echo took the hits without batting an eyelash. Convinced in his superior strength Seeker's past self smiled and closed his eyes. The white aura of his horn disappeared. The echo took a few breaths and opened his eyes again.
Darkness erupted from his horn and engulfed everything around him. Blinded by the darkness Seeker could hear the cries of the Alicorns. Dying cries, full of pain and misery.
Seeker couldn't take the guilt he felt it any longer. Tears began to run down his cheeks as he relived again the day he slaughtered an entire civilization with his own hoofs.
Every stallion. Every Mare. Not even sparing the lives of the colts and every fillies. Every single one of them.
At that time he believed what he did was for the right cause, but he realized too late how much of a hypocrite he really was.
"Funny isn't it?", Seeker murmured and dried his wet eyes in the fur of his left arm.
He stained his hoofes by convincing himself into playing the 'selfless hero'
Yet, the blood he spilled was all for naught. They wern't the cause for the regression of magic.
He was.
"It's...", the colt stammered frowning. The word he wanted to say stuck in his throat. "It's..."
The older pony stepped out of the water, deliberately keeping his flank hidden again. He grinned and a red aura appeared around his horn as he cast a spell, instantly drying his now clean coat.
"My name is..!"
The young pony couldn't force himself to say his own name, no matter how hard he tried. The word stuck in his throat.
No... he couldn't even THINK his name. There clearly was something wrong here, his now official mentor watched him wrestling with the words, smiling almost as to mock the colt. "Come on. Don't be shy. Just tell me again - I promise I won't forget it this time..."
The colt opened his mouth to speak up, however he failed to bring his name out. "What is going on here!?" He started panicking. How could he have forgotten his own name?
"... unlike you just did."
This sentence hit hard. Harder than the colt could describe. But it also gave away why he couldn't remember. The colt looked at his mentor. "You did this!", he cried out with a mix of fear and amazement.
The accused stallion merely raised a foreleg and pointed his hoof upwards, mumbing something inaudible. An orb of light, not much bigger than an eyeball appeared in his hoof, hovering barely above it.
"Listen carefully boy, since I will only tell you the following once: To cast magic you require the following things: A connection to the primal energies, willpower to cast the desired spell, a sense of self for the emotions to fuel the necessary magic and lastly the most important: The knowledge to shape it into the desired form. Magic is more than just a few tricks, once you know how to use it correctly."
As he spoke the orb began to stretch out - covering parts of the stallions body, forming something almost similar to a white mantle. "Names have power, more than other ponies realize. I deprived you of yours, because it is the main basis for our sense of self."
"But how... WHEN did you do it?For what purpose? Will I have live without a name to call me myself? An unnamed pony like you?", the colt asked in confusion and earned an amused expression.
"Now regretting it?", the older pony asked and made the orb disappeared with a rotating motion of his hoof.
The colt didn't hesitate at replying with a stubborn: "NO! NEVER!"
"Merely making shure you'll accept everything I am going to do from now on without any huge questions, but I'm glad you are taking it so well. Many would fall into despair from losing a part of themselves, it would have been a real shame if you were to chicken out after all the time you invested chasing me.", the stallion stated and checked his cloak with a frown. "Maybe another color?", he seemingly asked himself in thoughts and ignited his horn.
His cloak changed colors, shifting from white to yellow. "No". Then from yellow to red. "No". Then to green, then to a bunch of other colors until he settled on a pitch-black not unlike like his mane with a short: "This will do."
"How...? ", the colt wanted to ask again, but was shut up again as his teacher said to him: "Don't fear. I will give your name back to you soon enough, there are merely a few suspicions I want to confirm. How about you think about giving me one until then?"
And with that said, the stallion looked in the sky looking directly in the sun and scowled. "Oh my... so late already? It should be dawn already... I really need to hurry now or the ponies will start noticing that something is up."
The stallions ignited his horn yet again. "How about a little change of scenery?" Not giving the colt time for a reply he started casting the spell.
With a sound like shattering glass they teleported away.
Taking quick gasps the colt was able to control the unpleasant stimulation his stomach gave him. He clutched the region with his left arm, but of course it didn't went away.
They had reappeared on a giant meadow, but the colt felt like puking when they poped into existence on a field full of grass, a few sunflowers and.... white stones?
There really were a lot of overgrown whiteish stones here and there. Their existence felt out of place as they contrasted the seemingly untouched field.
A hoof touched his back and the feeling ebbed away as instantly as the touch ended. He saw his 'master' walking away from him, his gaze hefted on a big pile of white rubble. "No, not big - GIGANTIC", noted the colt as he caught up with the older stallion.
"It's less decayed, that I thought.", the stallion said more to himself, than to the young pony - still staring at the mountain of stones.
"Where are we?", the colt asked and looked around. This whole place seemed like no-man's-land as far as he could tell. Nopony was here in a long time.
"A place that no normal pony can find. Infact you are the first one to see it, since it's destruction."
"So you are implying you are no normal pony then? What did happen to this place and more important why do you know this all?"
The colt saw the face of his master harden. He looked distressed, seemingly ringing with himself to give a sufficient answer. They reached the hill of stones and the older pony stopped, taking a deep breath.
"I am without a doubt not somepony who you could call 'normal'.", was the answer he gave, his eyes still not leaving the pile of whitish rumble.
"Oh is this actually going somewhere this time? I need to get more out of him, before he changes his mind again." , the colt decided and... couldn't move again?
The familiar feeling of beeing glued to the ground indeed was present - not a single muscle wanted to respond to his will. It was as if the other pony was able to read his thoughts. "What kind of magic is this anyway?"
Questions over questions piled up again.
"Not so hasty boy. I'm not done explaining yet. You wanted to know more, right? You'll get to learn much more today than you can handle at your age."
With a short flicker of his horn the stallion teleported to the top of the hill of stones, throning far above his pupil he directed his horn to the sun.
Magical energy began crackling around the stallion, it was as if he stood under electricity. One white spark shot into his horn, quickly followed by a few others, charging his horn with more and more power.
The young pony watched in awe as waves of magical energy washed over him. His hair stood on end, making him look almost like a scared cat, as he started to felt colder second by second. He shivered internally.
One final strike of lightning connected and with it several events were set in motion.
The air was vibrating.
Strong wind started howling around the field, blowing the stallions long black mane wildly around. Then, as if pulled by an allpowerful magnet, the sun began slowly descended downwards. As it was nearing the horizon, it's counterpart the moon rose up to take it's rightful place in the sky instead, bestowing it's pale shine to the world.
"But this shouldn't be possible!", shouted the colt, yet his voice was drowned by the wind. He fell onto his knees, feeling dazed... almost feeble as he watched turning day into night.
Not once in his life did him came the thought, that one single unicorn was able to control the celestial bodies. In the orphanage other ponies began to avoid him, after he tried a simple levitation spell once. At first he didn't understood why they reacted that way. He never tried to harm anypony, but now? Now, he felt what the others probably felt when they watched him using magic - Fear! Fear from somepony more powerful.
Despite the warning he had revieved, the colt now started having concerns about the whole ordeal. Concerns about him beeing not able to keep up... and the power he would gain, if were able to.
"NO! I would never give into..."
His thoughts were disrupted, when he noticed the look the towering pony gave him from above. Blue eyes, devoid of any kind of feelings met his yet again. The stallion stepped forwards and started sliding downwards, stopping right in front of his 'pupil'.
"You also should know -", the nameless pony stated, narrowing his eyes. " - it would be really easy for me to kill you."
The stallion inched slowly closer, his horn still flickering with a little magic. The colt gulped and tensed as he saw the older ponies hoof moving.
'Zap'
Falling onto his butt, the young pony realized his body was freed from the shackles again.
"So. I think that's enough for today, right Star Swirl?"
There was strong knocking on the door and Star Swirl dropped his writing feather out of his telekinetic grip. It fell on the floor, spilling a bit of ink on the wooden planks.
"Star Swirl. OI! Star Swirl! OPEN UP! We have problems", Rockhoof's rough voice yelled to him from outside his private study.
The knocking continued, getting more violent with each intervall.
Star Swirl the Bearded glanced at the door. He saw it bending, but still holding perfectly up against the brute force that Rockhoof used to hammer at the barrier between them. Star Swirl knew, if the whole room wasn't enchanted to be Rockhoof-proof, then the mentioned Rockhoof would have easily crushed the door and/or the wall... again.
Starswirl who hated disruptions while working sighed. He wanted to document about the spell he almost finished experimenting on, already considering it one of his greatest breakthroughs he would ever have. His attention shifted to the little transparent crystal he currently clutched in his hoof.
"The sentient library. An object capable of storing spells, knowledge and most important: magic." , he smiled, ignoring Rockhoofs yells.
"Let's see if it works."
He placed the crystal on his desk, next to his personal spell book. His magic pulled out a curved dagger from under his mantle. The old pony mentally prepared for a few seconds, scratching his grey white beard.
"From one to another, another to one. A mark of one's destiny singled out alone, fulfilled."
His words were chosen with one purpose in mind. His Master had taught him the power of words in this world. The power of names in particular.
"If you learn the name you can describe something, if you can describe something you can understand it and once you can understand it you will be able to control it.", were the last piece of advice he got from him, right before he left. Leaving the natural balance of Equestria in his hoofs... until he passed that responsibility to the two Alicorn sisters, still leaving him and the other pillars with other important tasks.
With this thought in mind he cut into his wrist. It burned more than he expected, but at least the cut was deep enough. Blood immediately started flowing out of the wound onto the stone. A few drops fell on his book, but Star Swirl didn't care about any stains on it. Like almost every of his belongings this book was enchanted against any kind of deterioration. Nothing, not even time itself couldn't destroy his book. Nothing, except four certain ponies.
The bloodsoaked crystal was shining in a bright red, drinking the blood he provided. It started floating and Star Swirl used that time to patch his wound.
He wasn't even hearing the noise Rockhoof was making anymore, his focus was completely on his spell. It had to succeed, he had spent years gathering the information needed, but time wasn't on his side.
The pony he gave a name many, many years ago would reach his goal faster than he his. He couldn't let that happen.
Starswirl watched in horror as the stone fell to the ground, regaining his clear state.
"A complete and utter failure, yet again." , the bearded pony sighed and threw the gem at the door, unlocking it. Rockhoof fell in his room with a paniced look in the eyes. Strongly panting he yelled:" We have problem!"
"HEY! Just because I don't feel pain, it doesn't mean you can throw me, have some respect towards your masterpiece!" , it 'yelled' at him with it's high female 'voice'.
"SILENCE!" , hissed back mentall. He had to deal with Rockhoof now, his frustration towards the spell would have to come later. He would finish the spell of ascension at all costs.
Still panting, Rockhoof could only mutter: "Stygian."
Author's Note
Today this story reached it's 1st year on Fimfiction.
Yay?
I am dissapointed in the infrequent updates, since I would have other stories to tell, but can't bring myself to write something different, when I already have a pretty long project unfinished.
I'm also debating to change the rating from M to T, since the blood and death seems pretty harmless compared to other stories. Your thoughts?
Over a week had passed since Snowdrop gained her sight and the stallion responsible for it left so abruptly. Nopony has seen nor heard anything from the whereabouts of a gray pegasus named 'Seeker'. Life went on as if he never had visited in the first place.
However there had been a strange rumor going around about a destroyed part of the forset nearby Cloudsdale. While the damaged area wasn't very big, the investigation team consisting of neighbored Unicorns and Earth ponies wasn't sure what exactly caused the warped landscape, but agreed to one conclusion: It clearly wasn't a natural phenomenon and needed more investigation.
"This seems like a pretty tense situation. From what I heard from my husband, the Earth ponies are quite upset about the forest, it happened near their town after all... . I wonder if they will contact the princesses regarding the damage. What do you think Primrose?", the local tailor, a young looking teal blue pegasus mare with indigo to white striped long mane asked Snowdrop's mother which stood right next to her, while Snowdrop herself stood on the podest in front of them - wearing a cute iceblue silk dress crested with many hoofstiched snowflakes on the edges, visibly uncomfortable being on the dispaly before another pony.
"No Slim Needle, I heavily doubt that anypony would want to make a great fuss about that as long as it doesn't happen again. Autumn will end soon, so the earth ponies are in a hurry to finish their harvest in time. Also there are many more problems that need the princesses attention first... . Which reminds me. Have you heard about the dragon crisis in the east? New reports say the conflict seems almost completely resolved since the new Dragon Lord took over. Only a few months ago things were still looking so grim. I mean there were daily casualties on every side, but now the worst I hear is maybe some gossip about a looming shadow over the celestial sea."
Slim Needle nodded. While making a few more minor changes on the dress she stated: "Oh yes, I already heard it had ended from another customer. Indeed great development, at least we will always have the good news to outweigh the bad ones."
"I wouldn't call 'ending a conflict that was unnececary in the first place' good news, but yes. It's good it's over."
"Let's hope it stays that way."
The tailor then took a big step back to inspect her work from afar. "Hmmm, it's finished, so what do you think Snowdrop? I think it suits your colors perfectly, but maybe you want to add something? Don't worry, just ask. I'll gladly abide your wishes if I can.", she proposed to Snowdrop as she gestured the dressed mare to look at her reflection in one of the several mirrors surrounding the podest.
"And?", the friendly tailor asked her with a small glint in her eyes, readily holding one of her iconic needles with her mouth. Adding something would be as easy as baking pie for her.
Snowdrop just stared in the mirror, showing no clear reaction to neither the spoken words nor the mentioned dress. Her eyes were locked on her relection.
Slim Needle frowned a little. Primrose was an old acquaintance of hers, from way before Snowdrop was even born. She always held much respect towards the single parent and her blind child. So now that they had such a wonderful reason to celebrate, she wanted the dress for the ocasion to be perfect, no matter how much time it'd take.
Primrose said nothing, merely watching from the side. It was her daughter's dress, not hers so she opted not interfere if there was a problem. She trusted Snowdrop more than enough to let her make the decisions herself.
"No... . No! I like it, it's perfect! I was taken aback on how great your dress looked. I wish I could sew at least half as good like you.", she told Slim Needle with her light voice.
Despite having offered the changes the tailor looked very glad, that there wasn't any issue. Snowdrop seemed happy with her current dress.
"I would love to have you an apprentice like you Snowdrop. Sewing is a fulfilling job, but I think future has other plans for us in all in mind.", she said smiling, making direct eye contact with her. "Yes, the dress just fits perfect to your eyes."
Snowdrop returned the smile as warm as she could. "Thank you very much Miss Needle. I really love it."
Swift Needle puffed her cheeks, huffing jokingly: "I thought we were over this 'Miss Needle' part, just call me by name my dear." she 'scolded' Snowdrop, then turned her head to Snowdrops mother.
"I bet she will get the attention of a lot of stallions on the winter ball - maybe even find there her certain somepony? What do you think Rosy?", Swift Needle declared nonchalantly, giving Primrose a knowing wink.
"Ehm.", Snowdrop shyly tried to say something as she reddened out of embarrassment. This topic never was a priority to her, a teasing question like this was easiliy setting her in overthinking mode.
Primrose on the other side wasn't looking very amused by that statement, but still managed to smile politely. "Thanks Swift Needle, you broke her for the next hour or so."
"Who knows?", she said, fetching her purse and shot a quick look outside on of the windows. Dusk was approaching each day faster, the light outside was already dimming. "I think we are finished here. Also it's getting late. We already took up way too much of your time, so we should go now. May I settle the final portion of the payment we agreed on, dear friend?"
Swift Needle was quite aware of the time, but would have loved to catch up more with Primrose. Especially the exact circumstances of Snowdrop's sudden cure were a burning curiosity not only for her, but for almost everypony who remotely knew Primrose and Snowdrop. Primrose only mentioned only a 'visitor' who went almost as fast as he arrived, but as the good friend Swift Needle wanted to be, she refrained to ask more as she saw Primrose's unwillingness to discuss the topic further. It was almost as if she was angry at the stallion.
"Of course! I'm sure you two are buisy yourselves preparing for the ball. And regarding the rest of my fee, let's consider it paid. It's my gift for you two.", Slim Needle declared with a big smile to the mares, pricking her needle into her favourite pincushion next to her worktable - indicating the official end of her work. "However if somepony asks, please tell them about me. Making a dress for such an occasion is a great honor, I'm not designing a dress for a royal festival everyday after all."
Primrose nodded with a smile, putting away her purse, while Snowdrop stammered a wholeheartedly "Thank you, Swift Needle."
"See? Not that hard, my dear."
"Great. Now that this is cleared out of the way. Snowdrop! I guess you want out of the dress?", the tailor asked, chuckling a bit about her silly little rhyme and hoofed her a bag she prepared before the session with one of her wings. "You surely want to undress without help again? Do you also want to pack it alone?" Usually Swift Needle would insist on helping customers, but Snowdrop was so eager to do all the normal things all by herself, that it was hard to say no to her.
As expected Snowdrop happily replied with a "Yes" and placed the bag next to her and began to carefully shed the dress. Swift Needle took that moment to realize that Primrose was standing somewhat absent next to one her work desks, rolling one of her balls of fur with one of her hoofs - a grey colored one to be precice.
The tailor was perplexed. What was so interesting about that particular piece of wool?
"Something on your mind?", she whispered quiet enough, that even Snowdrops well trained ears wouldn't have a chance picking up anything over the rustling of fabric.
Primrose sighed and shook her head and repilied in an equally whispering tone: "You know I should feel happy about for my daughter - which I truly am from the deepest parts of my heart, yet I feel like this whole idea was a giant mistake. I can not shake off the odd feeling this visitor gave me when he left.", Primrose muttered to Swift Needle as she watched her daughter undress. Snowdrop's medaillion fell back on her breast when she pulled the dress over her head, Primrose pointed the piece of crested metal.
"Maybe I'm just imaginating things, but just looking at this thing makes my hair stand on end."
Swift Needle wasn't sure what to think about this, to her it looked like a normal piece of jewelry.
A few days ago Star Swirl and his teacher had entered a small unicorn town to gather a few utensils for his first magical asignment - or something like that, claimed the older stallion. They already found a place to stay for the next few days in the local tavern. At first it seemed money would become an issue, but it quickly turned out that his master had no problem of getting his hooves onto it. One simple flick with his horn and a sack full of golden bits appeared out of thin air, much to the surprise of the female receptionist who gaped with open mouth at the sudden burst of money.
"What were you doing everyday on that cliff?", asked the young pony his older companion as they were sitting accros from each other in the magic section of the nearby library.
"Thinking.", was the short answer he got from the stallion, as he turned a page on an old looking book - not averting his gaze from the written words. A small pile of other, equally ancient books were neatly stacked to a pyramid next to them on the long desk they occupied.
Star Swirl hadn't expected a real answer at his first attempt. He still couldn't pick a fitting name for his teacher, he needed to gather more information about this unicorn's past. 'Names have power ', were the words he remembered most about the conversation they had, they just felt so important to him. Still curious about the hidden history, he simply had to play along until the older stallion slipped any information. He had to reveal something eventually. "Thinking about what?"
"Stuff", replied his teacher with a small grin on his face and flipped another page. Dust whirled up from between the paper. Keeping his calm Star Swirl put on a smile of his own and asked:" What stuff exactly? It had to be really important if you just sat there for a whole year. What exactly did you do in between the time I visited you?"
This conclusion clearly amused the stallion. Star Swirl thought he saw a glassy shimmer in his eyes. "Who said I was there for a only mere year?"
The young Unicorn's mouth gaped open. The stallion had appeared one day, solved the huge problem the village had and stayed since then at the edge of the cliff, not moving a single inch - but now he was claiming to have been there even longer.
"Is this a trick?"
His master closed the book with a loud 'clap' and was beginning to shake his head. His horn flickered shortly and a small bubble began to surround them, only visible if you concentrated hard enough. A sound barrier shielded their voices from unwanted listeners.
"No it's not a trick Star Swirl. As you already know, I am currently maintaining the balance between day and night..... well every day and night for a long, long time now. That and... other things. The years simply melted away as I isolated myself inside my own head to clear a lot of things out. You could even say that I didn't really exist during that particular frame of time. That incident last year wasn't really what woke me up. It was, because of my own decision to find the solutions to the big questions I asked myself all that time. I think you will be the key to at least one of the answers I am seeking."
Star Swirl gulped. The grey stallion had indeed given him again a lot of juicy information. He had all what he needed.
"I think I have already found one for you.", he declared with overwhelming confidence.
Seeker smiled as the current memory shattered again. Just reliving the good times with his fromer pupil was enough to lift his spirit from the darkest scars that were engraved in his soul, as he was forced to suffer them anew every time he renewed his contract.
