Vital Link Series - Expurgate Arcanis

A nurse wheeled me into the gardens, the setting sun reflecting harshly on the metallic parts of the wheelchair, occasionally blinding me. The wind rushed through my pelt, making me shiver, regretting the comfort of my bed moments prior.
That, and the devastating news. I still couldn't believe it- come to terms with it, as if it wasn't real yet. As if closing my eyes and retreating into my mind would efface the horrible truth.

My actions, or inaction, had caused the death of others. And not the deaths of innocent, unknown equines.

My father was laying so very still on the chrome table, half of his body blewn away into oblivion. He had jumped in front of me and the falling debris- the wild magic passed through half of him before being absorbed in my body. Why did he only partially blew up? Why haven't i blown up yet?

Silence had retreated in the back of my mind. Her only wish of spending time with Father, of somehow finding a way for him to see her- It all culminated to this dissatisfying end. Never would he set eyes upon her again- not that he ever really did, but you get the idea. She was devastated- i sent her a few pings, to which she only responded to the first, as if to tell me she was alright but didn't want to talk. I could respect that.

I couldn't come to terms with it yet. How could i face Mother with the news? How in the world did such a thing ever happened in the first place? Was that an attack from the Changelings, a pure happenstance, or something else entirely? I hoped the information wasn't leaked already. Imagine the panic, the Chaos. a band of dignitaries, the last of their capital, the highest authority of the Cervideans and what remained of her court, reduced to deer jam on the still smoking walls?

What would the public think? How could i survive this? I didn't want to face the music. I didn't want to talk it through with the guard, and get pulled in that investigation. Be held under watch- treated like some common thug, all the while facing the judgement of my fellow equines? Held responsible, even?

Nodding my thanks to the now leaving nurse- her sashaying tail barely registering in my mind- i proceeded to wheel myself further into the gardens. I needed to collect my thoughts, to face whatever was about to happen with rationality. I needed to... quell down those emotions I was feeling, as if for the first time. Never had my heart bled with so much... Regret? Grief? It was hard to tell. One thing's for sure, I don't like this hopeless feeling. It's not as if i had reality bending powers- I tried rummaging through my extensive magical knowledge, and there was no way to bring back the dead without some severe consequences elsewhere. If i really wanted to go down that road, I would have to find more flesh to restore his body. To weave an artificial breath of life, animate his organs, and call for his soul to haunt his body back- running the risk of letting any number of abominations and horrors in his body instead of him. He was long dead- he could've already sailed the Styx, beyond any magic's reach.

There was still the option of time travel... But nopony could time travel since Twilight had ascended. Her and her friends had created an organization called the ''Comission'', that would hunt down anything messing with time or cutie mark magic- anything that altered the natural flow of destiny and free will of living creatures.

''Honk?''

I was pulled away from my thoughts, my most nefarious plans, by some manner of duck, looking at me with a puzzled expression. It's beady eyes had heterochromia- one eye a pale shade of ember, with a red dot at it's center, the other a lazy shade of lavender that couldn't decide if it was more red or blue, a perfect imbalance of purples. This eye was milky, and i could see many things in it's reflection...
''Honk!'' Now with more insistence, the duck- no, it was a Goose- inched closer, and gave me a wave with it's palmed talon- which i noticed was razor sharp in the sunlight's glint. It- for it wasn't clearly male or female- had glistening feathers, and a lustrous pelt of minuscule feathers. It looked excessively soft to the touch, yet the oil-like saliva coating the wings looked kind of viscous, repulsing me slightly.
''Honk!'' this time, slightly annoyed, the Goose went for my hind legs and gave me a little peck. Out of surprise more than pain, i let out a little yelp, and the strange Goose took a few steps back, flapping her wings in an imposing manner- her wingspan was impressive, longer than i had expected from her height. that's when i noticed the shimmering of magic around her, and a fraction of a second later, a whiff of sulfur hit my nose, making me snort and feel like sneezing. Sensing something was wrong, i threw myself out of my chair.

My instincts had saved me- a second later, my wheelchair got swallowed by a large gaping mouth, full of sharp teeth, that appeared out of nowhere and vanished just as suddenly. Turning my gaze towards the Goose, which I felt i couldn't underestimate, i started to run scenarios in my mind. I could attune myself to her magic, hopefully take control over it- but it would require time and leave me vulnerable.
I could try and cast offensive Qi, strike her down with my hooves. But i was pretty sure she was way more nimble and agile than i was- Clearly not the best course of action.
with a battlecry, the Goose charged and tried to peck me, her beak shining with a foreign magic. I jumped out of the way, and slapped her with an hoof- a simple attempt to see how her body reacted to damage.

First mistake.

With a snarl, she twisted herself to face me as i brought my hoof down upon her, her form moving swiflty, as if meeting no resistance against the air. She gave a mighty flap of her wings, sending feathers in my face.

Sharp, slicing feathers. She almost took my eye- my whole face felt like it was covered in paper cuts. The saliva coating must've been slightly poisonus, since i felt my head spin, my neck grew weary of supporting my heavy head. I needed to end this quickly.

My eyes lit up- my pelt and eyes taking on dark colors, my irises surrounded by a burnt orange, surrounded by a vivid teal color, and my coat almost charcoal grey. This seemed to take the Goose by surprise, who took a step back and fell into a defensive position, guarding her neck and face with her wings.

It wouldn't matter much against what I planned to do. With a grunt, i summoned the weird, chaotic magic inside of me, and focused upon the Goose. I wanted her to blow up, implode, get covered in knives, get disembowled- anything, really. And with a large whirr, my forehead shone briefly, before a nova erupted around me. The Goose went flying- she was flapping her wings in an attempt to get some wind under her wings- and i chose that moment to strike.

With a mightly leap, and a flip, i brought down the back of my hind leg directly on her head, a resounding crack sending shivers down my spine and a twinge of pain on my hoof. Just how sturdy was that Goose?
We both fell to the ground, and with the adrenaline slowly fading, i took conscience of how much my chest hurt. The wound must be bleeding profusely. My vision kept going in and out of focus...

The Goose stood on her talons, as if nothing had happened, and walked to me slowly. Her eyes were full of fright, yet she bravely tip toed to me, her feet plit platting against the slightly charred ground around us.

The surge i had underwent had barely affected her, yet the gardens around us had been burned by aetherfire, the invisible flames accompanying high level magical spells, the kinds of which Twilight Sparkle left in her wake with almost every tingle of her horn.

The Goose tilted her head on one side, then the other, before slowly bringing her beak upon my breast. With a little green light, i could feel my insides stitching themselves back together.
Was she... Healing me?

She let out a soft honk upon noticing my mended flesh, and proceeded to inspect my hind leg, no doubt slightly broken by the mighty kick she shrugged off. A little green glow later, and i felt like i could stand... Odd. The weird tension in my body was gone, too. I felt... Relaxed. At ease, even.

She ruffled her feathers and came up to my face. The mismatched eyes starred into mine for what felt like an eternity... Until a voice echoed in my head.
''Can you... Understand me?''

Shook, i nodded. I was too flabergasted to talk- this Goose showed up of nowhere, and had nearly killed me in a matter of seconds, and now we were exchanging words within my mindscape. Was she another product of the Lab, an experiment gone wrong?

She shook her head from side to side. ''I don't know where I am, actually. I'm not from this... Lab, as you put it. Why did you smell like my brethren? Why is the scent gone?''

The conversation was too confusing to me. I barely understood her voice- it was as if she was talking from underwater, or behind a large , thick panel of glass. It echoed softly and the words were hard to distinguish from the echoes.
I had no answer to what she was asking. I literally didn't understand anything she was talking about- it felt weird to think that i was holding a conversation with one of Equestria's non-sapient species.

''Non... Sapient? What do you mean?'' Shit, i needed to restrain my thoughts. This was kinda invasive, actually. She was crouching, a manic gleam in her eyes burrowing itself into my soul. It was almost painful to handle her stare- but i did, to let her know i wouldn't be intimidated.

''Look, i don't know what you're talking about. What brethren are you going on about?'' My question seemed to calm her down slightly. She didn't break the stare, her unblinking eyes steadily making me cringe more and more- but rose from her crouching position, her wings still half-unfurled in an aggressive manner. The feathers looked like they were taking metallic properties- the wind smelled of sulfur, the feathers were almost glowing with a silver light, and her talons dug into the ground.

''My brethren... Brothers, Sisters, my Flock! They were left behind? Only I crossed over?'' She was looking a little bit more calm, less aggressive, but the calm hid something underneath. She was... Scared.

''Hey, calm down. Let's take our time and figure it out, okay? To my knowledge, you are the only Goose that i know of who can connect to other minds. I've never heard of another one like you.'' I tried a peaceful, honest approach. I had a feeling lying to her- She was obviously female, at this point. I could see the shape of her lady parts between her short legs, and the shape of her head was clearly round and soft, unlike a male's slightly bulkier frame and squared facial features.

''I was bored, so bored. I wished for wind under my wings. The light brought me here...'' Giving a few flaps, she found out she could hover about three inches from the ground. ''The smell of the Ink... I won't miss it.'' She craned her neck form side to side, still studying my expression of pure confusion. ''Tell me, why were you smelling like the Foul magics of my kind? Aren't ponies supposed to smell like honey and watered down magic, like you are now?''

I tried to proactively process the information in my brain. Silence being sleeping, or weeping still, i couldn't rely on her to make connections with the dots we were just given. ''Hold on a second... What do you mean, Foul magics?'' I sat down, and rolled a large trunk for her to perch on. She obliged.

''I mean, the magics of my people. From beyond, over the veil. Let me show you an exemple.'' With a flick of her wing, and a curious sound from her beak, a circle of green flames surrounded us. The air was filled with the scent of sulfur.
Suddenly... I took conscience of the fact that the Garden, while wrecked around us, wasn't filing with guards and there was a distinct lack of Princesses asking questions.

This was unnerving.

With a honk, the flames consumed us both, and I let out a startled whiny.