Chapters Diverted to a Different Destiny
1 Not as might be expected
1 Not as might be expected
Dee parked her car in the grocery store parking lot. She took her purse then got out and locked the door. But as she started walking toward the store a wave of dizziness washed over her that was strong enough to cause her to stop walking and drop her purse.
She vanished from that world.
******
Dee suddenly found herself standing on a street in a small village. Looking around she saw… Sugar Cube Corner? And some pastel colored little ponies standing about looking at her with fearful expressions.
Bon-Bon saw her arrival and thought, I don't know who... or what that is, but I better go make certain that it's not up to anything bad.
She walked over to Dee. "Excuse me but who are you, what are you, and why are you here?"
******
But The Author had seen the odd human Outsider that had slid between realities because their path had passed through the reality that Everglow was in. She noticed that the travel did not seem to have been of the human woman's own volition. The fabric of the Veil that divided worlds was still weak from that passage so she could see the woman in the place that she had ended up in. She decided to do something that she only extremely rarely did, directly interfere, and quickly wrote:
******
Dee was about to answer the familiar looking pony, whose name escaped her at the moment, when a sudden tear in reality opened under them and they fell through it. The tear closed up immediately after them.
******
Dee appeared with her feet about a half inch above the cobblestones of a street in a town much larger than Ponyville.
Bon-Bon appeared about the same distance from Dee as she had been in Ponyville. Her hooves were about a half inch above some other cobblestones. She landed without incident.
But as Dee had landed from that short drop, one foot landed on a cobblestone that had a wide streak of something slick across it. That foot slipped out from under her and she started to fall backwards.
Bon-Bon appeared about the same distance from Dee as she had been in Ponyville. Her hooves were about a half inch above some other cobblestones. She landed without incident.
An elderly pony in bright purple robes saw their arrival. Both times! But it was the same time? It differed for one of the new arrivals. Under Score stared in wonder. "By the quill! That was a reality reset!" He then started quickly walking over.
Even though others on the street had also been facing Dee's arrival, and were closer to where she appeared, Under was the only one that reacted to what had unhappened. No one else, not even Bon-Bon, remembered the different past.
Dee looked around in wonder and what was becoming fear. Nearly all of the beings that she could see were ponies wearing clothing. But for some of them the clothing was actually medieval looking armor of differing types. Also, some openly carried medieval looking weapons. She frowned worriedly while thinking, I don't like this, I'm somehow somewhere else for the second time. Judging from the armor and weapons, this place at least could be violent. I'm not prepared for that. And although they look like they are the same size and have pastel colors, those ponies look somewhat different from the ponies that I saw in Ponyville.
Bon-Bon had been looking around also. She had quickly realized that ponies on the street were definitely not Equestria ponies. She closed the short distance between herself and Dee and nudged her hand. "I don't suppose that you know where we are, or how we got here, do you?"
Dee looked down at Bon-Bon and shook her head. "I haven't got a clue. In fact I don't even know how I got to your world."
"Excuse me, but would you be willing to come with me to talk to Fore Word, the Mistress of the Library? She resides there in Luminace's Library." Under looked hopefully at Dee as he gestured with one hoof at a magnificent building that looked as much temple as library. "It is a truly rare event when somepony that can reset reality, even in a minor way, comes to Viljatown. I am certain that she would like to talk to you."
Dee blinked. "Uh, sure, I guess so. But I would like to know the name of the stranger who somehow noticed that minor retcon. To be fair I will tell you my name first. It is Deeann Rhiannon Ahearn but please call me Dee."
"Retcon? What a strange term. My name is Under Score, wizard and priest of Princess Luminace. Undoubtedly it is by her grace that I remember the replaced past." Under started walking towards the library.
"Oh, retcon is a term that I picked up from… some books. It is short for 'retroactive continuity' which is just another way to say that the past was changed." Dee walked along with Under, but still gave glances towards the crowds.
Bon-Bon followed them, studying the crowd along the way. "Yeah, wherever she goes I'm going also. Staying close to her might be my only way to get back to Ponyville. I know that I'm not as interesting as Dee because I didn't do a ret-whatsits, but my name is Bon-Bon."
"Did you learn how to do a retcon from the same books?" Under stopped walking after they had entered the temple.
Dee gave a short laugh. "Hardly. They were strictly works of fiction. And I didn't learn how to do a retcon, they just happen. But they have only happened rarely, just a couple of times when I was about to be injured. I thought that I was the only one who could remember both pasts."
Dee then looked around, staring at the stacks with their many rows of books. "What a magnificent library… there must be thousands of books." She sighed. "Since I am almost certainly not in the same universe that I started off in, and definitely not on the same world, there is probably little chance that I can read your writing… or numbers either. It's frankly amazing that I can understand your spoken language."
"From that sigh I take it that you like to read?" Under smiled at her while making a mental note of her Outsider status.
"Like to read? I can almost be sort of compulsive about it." Dee took a few steps towards the nearest shelf of books, peered at them, then walked right up to the books on it that were closest to her. "Wonder of wonders, I can read both the writing and the numbers!" She scanned rapidly over the books in front of her then frowned. "Unless I have interpreted your system wrong, this book," she pointed at it, "has been misshelved."
Under gave a start, walked over, and looked at the book in question. "No, you have interpreted our system correctly. That book is indeed misshelved." He took a few steps away. "Amazing how you figured out our system like that so quickly. Please wait here while I go speak to Fore. I won't be long."
Dee shrugged. "I am good at seeing patterns. Sure, I'll wait here."
Under nodded, hurried into the stacks, and was soon lost to sight behind the many rows of books.
Bon-Bon had been holding back a laugh. "You would have gotten along great with Princess Twilight Sparkle. Everypony knows that she is more than a bit obsessed with books. She would have probably put you to work beside her assistant Spike in making sure that the books in her castle were in the correct order."
Dee nodded distractedly as she took the misshelved book and put it in its proper spot a few books to the right. Another robed priest who had just walked up saw this and noted that Dee had handled the book carefully as she moved it.
The priest walked up to Dee. "I can see that you respect books."
Dee gave a wistful smile. "At one time books were my only escape, and my only 'friends'."
The priest looked slightly troubled by that. "I hope that is no longer true. Oh, where are my manners? My name is Foot Note. Have you come here seeking knowledge?"
Dee smiled more fully. "You may call me Dee. One can never have too much knowledge. A wise person once said 'The more that I know, the more that I know I don't know.' But actually I am here because Under Score thinks that Fore Word would want to speak to me.
"And no, it's not true anymore. I do have friends now, although I’m a very long way away from any of them at the moment."
Foot shook her head. "How is it that Under always finds such interesting beings? Your attitude towards knowledge, while common among us priests of Luminace, seems otherwise almost vanishing rare nowadays. Nearly all that visit here, while they might be seeking knowledge, are only looking for it in answer to a very specific question or problem.
"And I feel confident that you would find new friends here."
Bon-Bon yawned, bored with the conversation that she wasn't a part of. She walked a short distance away so as to not look like she was rudely eavesdropping. A book fell off of a shelf right in front of her. She looked down at it, and saw that the title was "Steady Shepherd, The Lonely Chaos Hunter." She picked it up and started reading a bit
Foot noticed that Dee’s gaze had kept going back to the books. “You really want to pick out a book and read, don’t you?”
Dee nodded. “I do, but it would be rude to do that when Under should be back soon.”
Just then, Under came trotting back into view and approached them. “I see that you’ve met Dee, Foot. I am about to take her to meet Fore.”
“Yes, and I think that she would fit wonderfully as a member of the Library.” Foot smiled at Under. “I realize that’s not why you brought her here, but she has the heart of one of us.”
“And I don’t even keep it in a jar beside my bed”, Dee joked. “I do appreciate the sentiment, but I couldn’t help noticing that this is as much a temple as a library, if not more, and I know nothing about your religion, or your god or gods. I have to say that I didn’t have high opinions of at least most of the religions back where I came from.”
“That is a conversation that, at the least, needs to wait until after you talk to Fore.” Under turned back towards the way she had just come from and headed that way. “Follow me please.”
Dee started to follow him and then stopped for a brief moment. “It has been nice to meet you, Foot. I hope to talk to you more sometime.”
“So polite too.” Foot nodded at her. “I enjoyed meeting you too Dee. And I also hope to talk with you some more sometime. Friendship guide you.”
Bon-Bon closed the book after noting the page number she was on, but kept a hold of it. She followed Dee and Under. I’m used to not being noticed a lot, but this is a bit ridiculous. It’s like there’s some sort of focus on this Dee , she mused.
The walk back to Fore's office was spent in silence. Dee glanced at the shelves that they passed. Bon-Bon silently thought over what she had read. They arrived at a nice office with even more books on the shelves around its walls. There was a robed elderly unicorn at a desk, reading a book that floated in the glow of her magic. Under knocked softly with one hoof on the side of the door frame as he and Dee entered the room. “Here’s the human named Dee that I told you about. Should I stay or leave?”
Bon-Bon stopped at the door to watch whatever was going to happen.
“Please stay Under, whatever is discovered will be your concern also since you are one of the leaders of Everglow.” Fore used her magic to set the book on the desk. She then marked the page she was on with a soft cloth ribbon and closed the book. She looked at Dee. “So you actually reset reality, even if it only affected a very short time period. That’s very impressive even though Under did say that it isn’t something that you consciously do. Would you mind if I cast some analyzing spells on you?”
Dee looked thoughtful. “Analyzing spells? I don’t see any harm in that so go ahead. Maybe they will also explain how I ended up here, if not why.”
Bon-Bon shook her head. Dee is too trusting. Just because they say that they are going to be only casting analyzing spells doesn't mean that's the case.
Fore stood up and moved slowly out from behind her desk. She walked over to a chair close to it that had a stool in front of it. She then sat back down and motioned to Dee. “Please, come sit on this stool. My aged bones won’t take kindly to any attempt on my part to stand for as long as casting even the shortest spell that I have in mind will take. Also, it is easier for me to reach your head this way.”
Dee went over and sat on the stool, and then smiled at Foreword. “That sounds far too sensible. I’m ready whenever you are.”
Fore placed her front hooves on the sides of Dee’s head and started chanting in a droning manner. As she chanted she appeared to be looking through Dee, rather than at her.
A dim multicolored glow gradually built up around Dee. It flickered and rippled as its colors moved around her. Dee giggled. “That tickles.”
Under gave a start but kept quiet. He had never before seen an analyzing spell cause that effect.
After some time Fore frowned slightly and changed the chant that she had been uttering. The glow brightened a bit and its movements increased in speed a bit.
“Ooh, now it is starting to feel nice.” Dee looked at Fore. “Hey, why the frown? Nothing’s wrong is it?”
Bon-Bon watched worriedly. I don't know this magic but something doesn't seem right.
Instead of answering, Fore continued chanting for a longer period of time. She then frowned deeper and changed her chant again. The glow got brighter and its movements sped up again.
“Wow, I feel like I’ve drunk a lot of caffeine. But you’re frowning more?” Dee looked at Foreword worriedly.
Fore changed her chant once more after even more time had passed. The glow increased in brightness several orders of magnitude and its movements sped to a dizzying whirl.
“Uh, I’m starting to feel really odd.” Dee closed her eyes as her very form started to seem indistinct because of the bright whirling glow surrounding her.
After an even longer period, Fore changed from saying a chant into saying what seemed more like a prayer in its pacing although she was still saying it in the same droning voice. After she did this nothing at all could be seen inside the whirling glow as it brightened even more and sped up yet again.
Bon-Bon paced in place. I hope that Dee is okay.
A couple of hours later Fore stopped abruptly with a gasp of surprise and dropped her hooves to her sides. An instance after she did so the glow erupted into a blinding flash
When the dazzle from the flash faded from the ponies' eyes they no longer saw a very mature human sitting on the stool but a pony just barely past the cusp between being a teenager and being a young adult. She had a gold colored unicorn horn. Her coat was a iridescent dark forest green color that seemed to shimmer in the room's light but was clearly not that of a Gem Pony. Her mane and tail had bright yellow and medium blue locks. On her flanks a Brand of Destiny was displayed that was an open book with a stream of stars of different colors forming the top part of a question mark above the book. The clothing that she had worn as a human was gone.
Bon-Bon looked over the new unicorn in surprise. I wonder if Dee is still in that body? The body has the lines of the other unicorns that I've seen so far in my short time here. She isn't very similar to Lyra. … And now I want to go home even more. I miss Lyra so much already.
Dee opened her now bright green eyes. "What a trip and I don't even do drugs." She then noticed that her forward view had a pony's muzzle in it, and that muzzle was her's! Shocked by this she abruptly stood up on her four hooves and some sparks of several different colors sputtered from her horn. She then froze in position. She raised first one front hoof to look at it and put it back down. Then she did the same with the other. She rolled her eyes up to look towards her forehead as much as possible in order to look at her horn. Finally she craned her head around as far as possible and looked over her new body. She looked at Fore with a calm expression. “Well this is new and unexpected.” She then fainted.
Diverted to a Different Destiny
She woke up suddenly, and sat up in bed. A sheet that had been put over her slid down halfway. Self conscious about her lack of clothes, she managed to use her mouth to take the sheet and drape it to cover herself back up. Only then did she look around.
She was in a small, rectangular room that had the bed she was on, a small table with a pitcher sitting in a basin with some towels beside the basin on it, a chest, and two doors, one in the wall at the end of the room furthest from the bed and the other one across from the head of the bed.
The door at the far end opened, and Bon-Bon stuck her head in. "You're awake, good. I was worried until they told me not to be. How are you Dee? Are you up for a talk with Fore and Under? Because if you are, then I'm supposed to lead you back to Fore's office."
There was a long moment of silence then Bon-Bon raised her voice a little and knocked a hoof against the door frame. "Hay, snap out of it! I asked you some questions."
She startled, then nodded uncertainly. "Uhh, other than being really confused and scared, I think that I am okay. I can try going back there, but I don't know how good I'll be at walking on four legs instead of two? Also, I don't think that dragging this sheet with me would be the best idea, but I would really rather not go around naked."
"Yeah, about that, they said that I should even get some clothes on." Bon-Bon walked into the room, over to the other door, and opened it, revealing a closet. "They said there were some robes in here for us to wear for now." She took two plain, undyed robes out and put one on the bed. "It would be great if you could help me get one on, and then I'll help you."
They got the robes on each other, one using her hooves, the other her mouth. "I don't like having to do things that way." she said curling her top lip.
"Well, since you're a unicorn now, maybe you have horn magic that you can learn in order to handle stuff." Bon-Bon walked to the door out of the room. "And as far as walking, just try to not think about it too much?"
Bon-Bon led the way to the office."Odd thing, after you passed out, it was almost like they suddenly realized that I was there."
She had found getting out of the bed and standing easy. And so was walking as long as she really didn't think about it. In fact, it was only a little bit more difficult even when her thoughts drifted back to it. The only answer Bon-Bon got was a distracted, "Huh, yeah odd.
"…You know, it's not easy to not think about walking after you're told not to think about it. Sort of like if I told you not to think about a green bear."
"Why would I think about a green bear? Oh, wait… I see your point. Well, maybe think about all of the books around you?" Bon-Bon found herself thinking about a green bear the rest of the short distance.
When they entered the office, Fore was sitting behind her desk while Under was sitting in the chair near it. Fore spoke up first, “I’m glad you were feeling well enough to come back to my office. There are things we need to discuss. And the first isn’t the one that is visibly obvious.”
Under nodded. “You told me your full name when we first met. Would you say it again?”
“I don’t see the point, but sure. My name is Dawn Star. Wait, what?!” She felt that saying that name had let something finish anchoring firmly and deeply into her being.
Fore sighed. “Please don’t panic. Now try saying what your name was.”
Dawn did look ready to panic, but did as Fore said. “My name was Deeann Rhiannon Ahearn, and I asked to be called Dee.” After being able to say that, she relaxed a little bit.
“Just as I suspected.” Fore looked at Under. “My using magic native to here on a being who wasn’t, and who was already somewhat unusual, was used as a plot device to change her physically completely, and some mentally. It also explains why I kept getting mixed information from the arcane spells. It took me directly asking Princess Luminace for insight as to what was happening for me to get any straight answer at all.”
Under took a deep breath. “You mean the Author took a direct hand again? There are no words!"
Bon-Bon spoke up. "Whoa, wait a minute. Who are those ponies you mentioned? What do you mean 'plot device'?”
Under laughed. “They’re gods, and only one was ever a pony, Princess Luminace. The Author is, and has always been human in form.”
Fore nodded solemnly. “Yes, and The Author likes a good story. She usually doesn’t take direct action, but it isn’t completely unknown. There are a few old stories, and one recent one, about her doing so. But even then, for her to do two direct actions on the same being so close together in time? Very unusual.
“As far as my using the term ‘plot device’, the Author treats everything as if it is a story. So when apparent circumstances created a combination of events that it was even remotely conceivable could cause such a change from Dee to Dawn, she took the opportunity to cause them to do it.”
Under looked at Fore in surprise. “You say that The Author did two direct actions on Dawn?”
Fore looked at Dawn with an ambiguous expression. “Yes, it’s true. The first one was that she caused you to be brought here from Equestria. We have had visitors from that world who came here without changing to fit in here before, and I recognized the lines of your unwitting companion, Bon-Bon, as such. Which means, actually, that she had you appear in Everglow in such a way that you would be brought to my attention, and I would cast analyzing spells on you.
“To be under the direct view of The Author means that you will be the subject of a good story. Tragedies can be good stories. But so can tales of high adventure.”
Under chuckled. "Along with comedies, and also romances. There are so many different ways that a good story can go that we can't even hazard the wildest guess as to why you caught her attention."
Dawn groaned."Just great, I'm the plaything of a god."
Fore shook her head. "No, it shouldn’t be quite that bad. The Author will probably just let events proceed from this point in general. Normally she doesn't make direct demands for specific actions, but that also means that she very probably won’t intervene directly on your behalf. But she's not above a nudge if she feels one is really needed.”
Bon-Bon looked from Fore to Under to Dawn and then back to Fore . “So, uh, since Dee… Dawn’s body has changed, and her name has changed, what else has changed in her?”
Fore looked thoughtful. “I would think that enough has changed so that she fits in Everglow, and specifically fits as a unicorn. I’m not going to even guess as to why she was transformed into a unicorn though. Especially since humans exist here.
"Such physical changes are not common. But when they do occur, it is due to things like magic meant to do just that, unexpressed heritages, gaining a new spirit tribe, or maybe, in a few very rare cases, even a long term intense desire to be the new form. So this change was even more rare than ‘normal’.”
Dawn fervently hoped that the dark color of her coat hid the blush that she felt warming her cheeks.
Fore gave Dawn a curious look. “Hmm, Dawn, if you were wanting to say that something affected all those that were in a room, what one word would you use to refer to those it affected?”
“Why, I would say everypony …Huh. Let me see… nopony, anypony, somepony…” Dawn shook her head, distressed even more. “I know other words for those uses, but those are the ones that come naturally to me now?”
Under placed a calming hoof on Dawn’s shoulder. “There are probably other changes also. But think about this, have any of your memories changed at all?”
Dawn closed her eyes and took slow, even breaths for a few moments. She visibly calmed down as she did so. Then she gave Under a thankful look. “No, they don’t seem to have. Thank you for that suggestion. I guess that as long as my memories haven’t changed, I’m still me.”
Under gave a nod back. “Just think about that fact anytime that you notice a change in yourself that you hadn’t before. It might also help to think of the changes as all having happened at the same time, instead of thinking of newly realized ones as new changes.”
“There will be some changes that you like. For example,” Fore’s horn glowed, as did a book on her desk as it lifted, opened, some pages turned, closed, and was set back down. “you can do that now.”
Bon-Bon tilted her head quizzically. “I know that unicorns where I come from can do that, but they have to learn how. That’s not true here?”
“No, we can do that bit of magic without learning how.” Fore’s horn lit up with a glow that was dimly visible in the already lighted office. “Just like we can make a source of light without needing to learn how.”
Dawn rolled her eyes up to stare at her horn. “I can?” She frowned in concentration, and some sparks spat from her horn.
Fore chuckled. “You’re trying too hard. For light just will it, for moving something just imagine reaching out and doing it. Other spells will not come as easy, you will need to learn them.”
Dawn looked around. “What can I practice moving? I don’t want to disarrange how you have things in here.”
Fore smiled and indicated a small stone paperweight on her desk. “That is a common type of stone, worn smooth by a river. It isn’t heavy enough to damage much if dropped, and won’t be damaged itself.”
As she looked at the stone, Dawn imagined reaching out with a hand she no longer had and picking it up. A glow with the same colors as the stars in the question mark part of her Brand of Destiny appeared around both her horn and the stone as the latter lifted into the air.
Bon–Bon cheered Dawn on. “You did it! Too bad I don’t have a horn for such a useful trick.”
Under gave a soft laugh. “Not only unicorns possess magic.” He muttered something too softly to be heard, and a book slid out of a shelf, flipped through some pages, and was then returned to where it started.
Bon-Bon’s eyes got big. “Can I also learn magic? I heard some talk that Applejack and some others in Ponyville had been doing so, but I put that down to wild rumors.”
“You would need to find what sort of magic calls to you. Though that is true for all that want to cast spells, even the unicorns.” Under glanced at where Dawn was moving the stone around in loops in the air while she smiled broadly, and then looked back at Bon-Bon’s hopeful expression. “There are several different ways that may be used to access your magic. Some gain their spells from gods, or very powerful beings, or nature itself. There are those who combine certain things together in specific ways to achieve the desired effects. Still others need to learn spells from written sources. And then the spells just come to some.”
Bon-Bon nodded at Dawn. "Well you at least already have a Cutie Mark. Now you just need to figure out your special talent."
Fore held up a hoof. "That's not what those are here. That is Dawn's Brand of Destiny. They are given by The Author, and are tied to a pony's destiny."
Dawn bent her head around to look at where her Brand of Destiny was. "The Author again? ...Well, what does mine mean?"
Under answered in a solemn tone, "That's something that you will need to discover on your own."
“In any case, you will both need some training.” Fore looked to Under. “Do you think that the Seekers would teach them ? I know that the local chapter of the Seekers has recovered greatly, especially since Fast Shadow joined it as a combat instructor.”
Under nodded. “I feel that I can convince them to let them join. Especially since it would be better for Dawn to seek out adventure than to tempt a nudge from The Author.
"I will attempt to help both of you determine what sort of magic suits you best myself. But first, let’s go get you more proper clothes than borrowed initiate robes.”
Bon-Bon shuffled her hooves. “I don’t have many bits on me, if they’re even any good here.”
Dawn set the stone down, and shook her head. "The world that I came from used paper money as a medium of exchange, or, more often, credit cards, which I'm not going to even start to try to explain."
Fore sighed. “The Temple of Luminace will pay for your clothing. Go now, I am tired and must rest.”
As they made their way through the library, Dawn looked around. She sighed as they went out the front doors. “I have the distinct feeling that it will probably be some time before I get a chance to read for just my own enjoyment.”
“But that will just make it all the sweeter when you do.” Under briefly chuckled. “I speak from experience."
Under mused out loud as he led them down the street to a tailor’s shop. “I knew another pony with the name of Dawn, Dawn Event. He was a cleric of all the gods, so I don’t know which one he went to after his last adventure. I wonder what he would think about you sharing his first name?”
He knocked on the side of the door frame with a hoof as they entered the shop. “Bright! Bright Weave! Come on out, I’ve brought you two customers, and the temple is paying.”
“Bah! You say that last like it’s a good thing. You clerics usually hold on to a copper tighter than the sea does her secrets.” A pony dressed in well made, colorful garb walked out from the back of the shop with a scowl on his face.
Dawn looked Bright over. His clothes fit very well, and they show that he keeps in shape. And he doesn’t look that old. But I really don't care for that attitude.
Instead of being angry, Under just laughed. “You old sea horse, you know that you’ll tack another quarter of the price on if we’re paying for it.”
Bright stopped scowling and laughed also. “And you know that you’ll talk me down to ten percent below the street price. How have you been, Under? You don’t come by that often anymore.”
“I’ve been well, but busier than normal, and you know how busy that is.” Under knocked hooves with Bright. “Now, why don’t you show these two that you aren’t the dour pony that you greeted us as?”
“For new customers? Gladly.” He walked over to them and greeted Bon-Bon first. “You’re not a mare from a tribe I recognise, but welcome to my shop. I think that you’ll want something that you can move well in, maybe fight in?”
Bon-Bon knocked hooves with him. “You’re right, that would suit me best. My name's Bon-Bon."
He then walked over to Dawn, lifted one of her hooves, and kissed the back of it. “Any you, young beauty, seem like the spell using type. So I know just what to garb you in.”
Dawn felt her cheeks flaming, and she was certain that her blush was visible. “Uh, t.thank you, mister Weave. And yes, I will be using spells, but I don’t know what type yet. O.oh, and my name's Dawn Star."
Bright blinked and looked towards Under. "First she puts me in my place with a polite 'mister Weave', and then she says that? I am sure that there's a tale behind how she doesn't know what magic she has. And I expect to hear it over some beer later."
Under frowned slightly. "It's not my tale to tell. I consider it Dawn's private business."
Bright sighed. "Of course it is, the best tales are always 'private business'. Ah well, let's get you both properly clothed."
After they both had their new clothes on, and farewells had been exchanged with Bright, Bon-Bon, and Dawn followed Under out of the shop and down the street. Some distance, and four turns later, they saw a four story building that showed signs of recent repairs, with gardens in its lawn, some of which were overgrown, while others were being tended to by ponies. Under led them through a thick door and down a narrow corridor.
“I’m going to introduce you both to out best combat trainer. She can seem a bit rough, but you’ll be able to fight and defend yourself by the time that she says that you are ready to begin accepting Seeker tasks. I recommend that you stay in the practice yard and train with her first, Bon-Bon, while I help Dawn find her magic.”
He led them through a door and out into an enclosed courtyard. There were ponies practicing in different areas at different types of combat. Some bore close-in weapons, some used bows, a few employed magic, and still others preferred weaponless hoof-to-hoof combat. He headed over to an earth-bound pony using a lance against a pegasus with a spiked mace. “Fast, I have some new recruits that need training. Quit playing with Sudden Gale, and do some work.”
Fast and Sudden stopped their practice, and Fast walked over. “I see that one is from the same place that Maud came from, so it’s clear why they might need training. I take it that there is a story behind the unicorn, but I don’t need to know it.” She nodded to them. “My name is Fast Shadow, and I will be making you learn… and hurt. But the more that you learn the less that I’ll have to hurt you.”
Bon-Bon knocked hooves with Fast. “I’m Bon-Bon, and Under said that I’m to train with you first.”
Dawn nodded. “My name is Dawn Star, and I need to find and learn my magic before training with you.”
Fast raised an eyebrow, and then looked at Under. “I know that I said that I don’t need to know Dawn’s story, but…”
Under gave a short laugh. “As I told Bright Weave, it’s her story to tell or not. Maybe you can get her to share it later. For now, I’m going to take her down to the magic users area. Don’t leave Bon-Bon in too many pieces.”
He then led Dawn back inside.
Diverted to a Different Destiny
3 Hard knocks and a Spell Spot
Fast gave Bon-Bon a look over. “Move around for me a little.”
Bon-Bon did so, walking, running, and even jumping when told to do so by Fast, while thinking, I don’t have any of my weapons with me, even if they would work here. I’ll have to fall back on my hoof-to-hoof training until I learn one of the weapons available here.
“Hmm, if Under thinks that you don’t know how to fight, he is wrong.” Fast pointed to a rack of weapons that included different types of bows for more distance, lances for just a little distance, spears for versatility, and diverse types of weapons that were meant for close or very close in-fighting. “Do you know how to use any of those?”
Bon-Bon looked them over and then shook her head. “No, but I am willing to learn. Hoof-to-hoof can be at a disadvantage against some enemies.”
Fast smiled as she removed a necklace, a belt, some anklets, and a set of four boots. “It is good that you know that. And there are also those foes that it is better to not touch at all with any part of your body, protected or not.
"I am curious, how well do you know Dawn Star?" she suddenly asked.
Bon-Bon looked a little perplexed at what seemed like a random question. "Not at all, really. She had just appeared standing in the street, and I had walked over to ask her some questions, when we were both dropped into the street here."
Fast disguised her disappointment. She wouldn't be able to use the thought of one being attacked in order to motivate the other more. "Let’s spar for a little while so that I can try to get an idea of which weapons might suit you.”
They backed off from each other a short distance. They both stood there for a while. “Waiting for your opponent to make the first move?” Fast took some rapid steps and quickly jabbed at her with her lance. “That can be a mistake.”
Bon-Bon leaned to one side just enough for the lance to miss entirely, then struck it sharply downward with one hoof. As Fast recovered from that Bon-Bon did a spin on her front hooves, kicked Fast in the chest with her rear hooves, and ended up off to the side facing her. “Less talk, more fight.”
Fast oofed from the impact, but quickly recovered. She smiled broadly and put all of the items that she had removed before back on. "Oh, this is going to be fun."
Bon-Bon then took the offensive with a quick series of hoof thrusts and spin kicks. But this time they didn't have as much effect. Fast’s movements were faster, so many missed. Also, the few that did manage to hit had their effect muted upon impact.
Fast then used a twirl of the body of her lance to trip her, and then used its point to just barely draw blood from a vital area. “You’re dead. As you said, hoof-to-hoof can be at a disadvantage.” She then moved the point so that Bon-Bon could get up. “Let’s go again.”
Fast moved quickly to the side and kicked Bon-Bon in the back of one of her supporting legs the next time that she tried a spin kick. That made her go into an uncontrollable tumble into a heap on the ground.
Bon-Bon got back up quickly, showing many small abrasions from that, and blocked the follow-up lance attack. She then tried a leaping attack, only for Fast to duck and strike her, causing her to go into a sideways spin. She got up slightly slower and backed off slightly since she needed to catch her breath.
Fast then lunged at Bon-Bon with her lance again. Bon-Bon swerved just enough for the lance to barely pass by her side, and then trapped it with her arm and pulled. As she did so though, Fast closed with her, but let the lance go without any resistance, which threw her off balance. Fast then knocked Bon-Bon down with suddenly spiked boots, leaving punctures across her barrel.
“You’re dead. Again.” Fast backed off, and the lance floated up and snapped back into its attack position.
Bon-Bon frowned as she got up, but ignored her wounds while thinking, I won’t lose my temper. She has trained a long time at this sort of thing. And I have to admit, I’m out of practice. I’m also not in as good a shape as I should be. My undercover life in Ponyville has been too sedate. She took a ready stance and then feinted an attack, hoping to catch Fast off guard.
Fast ignored the feint, and blocked the real attack that followed. She then kicked Bon-Bon, making her dodge and then back up. She then tripped Bon-Bon again with a quick lance sweep. After Bon-Bon hit the ground, Fast took a stride and put one spiked hoof against Bon-Bon’s throat. “Third time I’ve ‘killed’ you. And I haven’t even been using any of the enchantments in my lance,”
Bon-Bon got back up. She ached from several bruises, and the punctures from Fast’s spiked shoes stung a lot. “I can see that I need to learn a lot.”
Fast headed towards the racks. “You still won’t take as much training as some others have. Let’s go pick that weapon for you. I can tell that hoof-to-hoof isn't your preferred way to fight.”
Bon-Bon narrowed her eyes. “From the change in your speed and how my kicks affected you, those items that you put back on helped you.”
Fast nodded as she was looking over the weapons. “Yes, they are enchanted to give me various advantages in combat. Anypony that was an adventurer would be foolish not to take advantage of any magical aids and protection that they can get. Some of mine I bought, some were gifts, and others were loot. You’ll need to gather your own such items.”
She then decided on two items. One was a single heavy leather glove with metal claws folded so that their outside curves rested on the back of the glove. The other was a short sword length double edged blade that was wavy. She hoofed them over to Bon-Bon. “These already hold a small enchantment each. Any more such magic is up to you to get.”
Bon-Bon looked at the glove. “That isn’t made for ponies, how am I supposed to use it?”
Fast sighed. “Right, not from this plane. Just start to slip a hoof into it. I would recommend your off hoof.”
Bon-Bon did so, and watched as the glove adapted itself to fit her hoof. “Okay, now how does it work?”
“Flex your hoof downward.”, Fast instructed.
When she did so, the claws arced out and clicked into a position suitable for slashing. “Wicked, I like it.”
Fast smiled grimly. “I thought that you would. Now the blade you’ll have to hold in your mouth, and ”
Bon-Bon interrupted by promptly picking it up with her other hoof. Then she looked at Fast. “Why my mouth?”
Fast sighed again. “Okay, I guess that I should have expected something like that. Anyway, you need to practice with those. There are some training dummies over there for you to get the basic feel of the weapons before we spar again. I expect you to know how to use them by tomorrow morning. Be here at sunrise. Breakfast will be after two hours of sparring.” She then turned as if to see who else needed some lessons.
Bon-Bon walked over to one of the dummies that could rotate on its axis. It had a shield on one side of its front, and a padded flail hanging off of an arm on the other. She started getting used to her new weapons.
She hit the dummy with her sword, causing it to spin. She ducked under the flail as it came around, and hit that side with her clawed glove. It rotated back the other way, causing her to need to dodge the shield.
She kept this up for awhile, until her hooves slipped once when she went to claw the flail bearing side. She recovered from the slip, dodged the shield as the dummy kept spinning in the same direction, only to be whacked by the flail and knocked flat. Dazed, she had the image of a pegasus in flight with a gold circle encompassed by her wings fill her mind. The image spoke to her. ~☀️You have stood against monsters. I ask that you help those of Everglow who stand against the beings of chaos that are enemies of all ponykind.☀️~ After the image faded away, she shook the remaining daze off and crawled out of range of the flail. She then rose painfully to her hooves.
Fast had turned to watch her from a distance. She tried not to laugh as shook her head and thought, She has the right spirit, but I don't know if she will be ready to spar by tomorrow morning. Ah well, any pain that you survive can be a good teacher. She walked over to one of the clerics, a Sun Pony unicorn, who was standing out of the way against a wall. "Noon Oasis, when that one," she pointed at Bon-Bon, "is done for the day, would you please heal her? She won't learn much tomorrow if she aches all night."
Noon nodded. "Of course Fast. We can't have our new recruits crawling to the practice yard.
Under led Dawn through a hallway and to a stairway that went down. "It's normal practice at all Seekers' headquarters that all spellcasters stay, learn, and practice at first, underground where any magic flares would be grounded. You won't be practicing out in the courtyard until I am satisfied that it is safe for others for you to do so."
At the bottom, he led her down a hall, took a right turn, went down that hall aways, and then stopped by a red door. He opened it, showing a bedroom. “This will be your room anytime that you are here.” He closed the door and continued down the hall, then took a left turn. He opened a green door that was a short ways down that hall. "This is the library.” There were shelves of books, a couple of tables, and some chairs in it.
She looked in the room with longing. “It wouldn’t make any sense for me to read anything before I know what magic calls to me.” She closed the door herself.
“You are right, and you have good self control.” He led down the hall to a second set of stairs going further down. “The room to find and start practicing your magic is down these.”
Before they could start down those stairs, an earth-bound stallion wearing chainmail armor came around a near corner. “Excuse me, but I am looking for… Under? Under Score?”
Under stopped in surprise. “Dawn Event? But I received news that you had been killed! And you’re young again. Younger than Fast even.”
“I did, but the Author wasn’t through with my part in the story, so I am back. I remember things from before more clearly as I run into places or ponies that are connected to them. And seeing you just allowed multiple chains of memories to become clearer. Praise the gods for this meeting.” He knocked hooves with Under. “You mentioned that Fast is here and is young again too? The Author writes complicated plotlines at times.”
She looked at the other Dawn. He was physically older than her, but not by a lot, but somehow gave the impression of a long life already lived. “Are you going to introduce us, Under?”
Under blinked. “Ah, yeah, sorry. Dawn Event, this is Dawn Star. Dawn Star, this is Dawn Event.”
Dawn Event gave her an interested look. “Another Dawn, but a mare. Hmm, there’s something…” He looked her over more closely. "You have been touched by the Author, and remain under her gaze, just as surely as Fast, Under, and myself. But I would say not to the same purpose."
She shook her head. “Excuse me for saying so, but I am getting a little tired of hearing about the Author. My entire life has already been changed by her, and in an incredibly short time.”
Dawn Event shook his head. “Being tired of hearing about her won’t change anything.”
Under stepped between them. “We still need to go to the sub basement practice room, Dawn Star. You need to find your magic.”
Dawn Event held out a hoof. “Two things before you go. The first is that the gods say that she isn’t supposed to become a cleric. The second is the question that I didn’t complete, which way is it to the library?”
Under pointed back the way that he and Dawn Star had come from. “Just up the hall, it’s the third door on the left, the green one.”
Dawn Event nodded and headed that way. At the same time Under and Dawn Star started down the stairs.
Once they reached the bottom, Under led her to a door that was painted a poisonous looking yellow. He opened the door and went into the room. The walls, ceiling, and floor of the room had several runes and glyphs carved into them, with silver inside of the carvings. Although one area of the floor was smooth and blank. There was a large unlit fireplace with logs lying in it, some dummies made of different materials standing around, a table, and two chairs in the room.
Dawn walked in and looked around. "I don't know how to read the symbols used for magic yet, but I take it that the markings have a purpose, such as protecting against damage from spells, and keeping any effects contained inside of this room?"
Under sat in one of the chairs. "That is exactly what they are for. Now, come sit across from me."
Dawn sat, and then raised a hoof. "Before we start, that other Dawn, I remember that you mentioned before that he is a cleric of all the gods? Both good and evil?"
Under nodded. "Yes, but I don't know how that works. It is between him and the gods.
"But let us proceed, thanks to Dawn Event we can skip checking for cleric affinity."
He muttered some words, and a compartment opened in the bottom of the chair that he was sitting in. Some objects floated out one or two at a time and landed gently on the table. They settled into indentations that they had been made for them. One was a cylinder made of some type of dull metal that was about a half inch in diameter and a foot long. Another was a sphere that was about three inches in diameter made of milky quartz crystal. There were two hollow cubes made of stone, one was granite, while the other was sandstone. A vial with an orange liquid in it was placed so that its stopper was up. A small, white ceramic cup landed on the table, and Under put some water into it from the small watershin that accompanied it. There was a piece of twig with a small nut still attached to it. The final item was a small geared mechanism.
Dawn looked at the items curiously. "If it's normal to know what type of magic calls to you, why do you have these items?"
Under gestured at the table. "Young foals don't start off knowing what their calling in magic is. The Society tests them for free. Each item is enchanted to respond to the like magic in the one being tested. But training for them is left up to their family."
She nodded. "That makes sense. I'm curious, if you were checking for cleric, how would you do it?"
He gave a short laugh. "Some time ago, Dawn Event made a holy symbol that is of all of the gods. I find its appearance… odd. But it works. It glows if the foal that takes hold of it is to be a cleric. However, it does not indicate which god they will follow.
You holding it as a test could actually be a bad idea, since Dawn Event told us that the gods themselves said that you aren’t supposed to be a cleric. It would be showing doubt in their word."
She snorted. “It would more be me doubting him. But I do tend to question things. I am not used to living in a world where a deity, or deities, take any active part in things. I hope that they understand that. But since I don’t know anything about them …except that one has decided that I am an interesting character in one of her stories, I wouldn’t want to try to choose one to be a cleric of anyway.”
“You’d have to ask Dawn Event about that. I don’t even guess at what the gods think about us.” He indicated the table again. "We should start with the tests. Most of the objects you'll just need to grab with your magic. The cup is different when we get to it. But there is no specific order to do this in."
Dawn looked closer at the items one at a time but without using her magic. There was one… The sphere seemed to stand out to her, but she couldn't say why. She decided to follow that feeling and picked it up with her magic.
The sphere started glowing brighter than the glow of her magic, but with the same colors as it had. It started spinning, and moved itself out of her magic to float up and over. It stopped above her head, glowing brightly and spinning, for several minutes. It then returned to its place on the table, slowed its spin to a stop, and gradually quit glowing as it returned to its original appearance.
Under blinked. "I… don't think that you need to try the other items."
She looked at him. “Is that a normal reaction?”
He shrugged. “I haven’t seen one like that. But the crystal sphere is old, a reaction like that could have happened some time before.”
Dawn looked at the rest of the items on the table. "Maybe I should still try them all, just to be as complete as possible?"
“It couldn’t hurt anything for you to do that if you want. But I think that there is only one that maybe would have any response at all.” Under waved a hoof towards the table in general.
She went through them each in turn leaving only the rod, but got no responses at all.
“It seems that you were right in saying that I might as well not try the rest of the items.” She then picked up the rod which also remained inert. She hesitated a while, feeling as if at one time something would have happened, but that had been changed, and then set it back down.
Under looked pensive. “I sort of expected that after the way that the sphere reacted. Your magic will just, um, come to you.”
Dawn gave him an incredulous look as he was putting the items back away. "Just come to me? That doesn't tell me anything."
Under looked at her after he closed the compartment. "You won't have to call on any sort of powerful otherworldly being for your spells, or mix ingredients, or build mechanisms, or try to bend an element to your will, or ask for a boon from nature itself, or read a spellbook. In fact, reading a spellbook would do you no good. Although you will be able to use scrolls and to write them once you learn the appropriate alphabet. The type of spells available to you will depend on your bloodline, although I am not going to guess on how that will work for you since you weren't even a pony before today. Now, what I know about sorcerers is from reading about and talking to them, but I think that I know just the pony to help you."
He reached into a pocket and brought out several small stone disks, each one a different color. He put all but the orange one back. He brought it close to his mouth and spoke, "Tabitha, please come to the testing and practice room. There's a new sorcerer who needs to learn how to be one."
The disk hummed and then a voice came from it. "I'm on my way."
Dawn watched as Under put that disk back away. “I take it that was somepony who is an expert on being a sorcerer, or at least a very experienced sorcerer?”
He gave a short laugh. “Hardly, she’s only been a sorcerer for a few years. But I think that, since she will still remember her first steps into being one, she might be the best pony available to help you.”
Dawn’s ears turned towards the door at the sound of a single pair of hooves coming towards the room. When the door opened she saw a pony satyr who had light-blue furred pony ears, a blond horse's tail, and two hooves, but was otherwise human.
Tabitha did a double take. "Under, when you said that you had somepony who needed to learn how to be a sorcerer, I was expecting a foal! Not a grown mare."
"There's a reason for that." He indicated Dawn. "Tabitha, this is Dawn Star. Dawn, this is Tabitha. I think she can help you. I think that you should tell her why you don't know anything about being a sorcerer."
Dawn fidgeted and blushed. "Um, well... I'm not originally from this world. And I've only been a pony since earlier today. I was a human from a world where there supposedly wasn't any magic."
Tabitha blinked. "Huh. Well I started off looking like a human. But I had a pony ancestor that I didn't know about. As you can see," she swished her tail and flicked one ear while she tapped the floor once with one hoof, "that ancestry has been expressed now."
Dawn tilted her head. "I didn't have any pony ancestors. My change was plot deviced in by the Author. Apparently I'm to be an interesting character."
Tabitha gave a short laugh. "Well, we still both know what it feels like to have a change in us happen that was completely unexpected. Now, let's talk about being a sorcerer. What spells we have come from our bloodline. From what you have said, your bloodline will depend on what the Author wants you to have."
Dawn scowled slightly. "As I said to Under, I'm not used to deities taking any sort of active role in things. So I'm a little upset at having all of this happen to me. But apparently that won't change anything."
Tabitha huffed gently, but smiled at the new pony. "So you're my student, huh? Nice to meet you." She offered a hand.
Dawn accepted the hand as best she could, placing a hoof in it. "Nice to meet you as well." She glanced off and back. "Forgive me if this offends, but it's actually nice talking to someone with hands and fingers."
Tabitha grinned. "Yeah, they make some things so much easier. But there are some advantages to being an earth pony here. Like being stronger and tougher. They're horses, little horses." She shrugged. "And I'm half a horse." She tapped a hoof on the ground. "Now, let's talk about sorcery!"
Dawn nodded, moving to a chair, and made herself comfortable. "I'm listening."
Tabitha hopped onto one across from Dawn. "You're in luck. Sorcery is mostly about learning yourself. That magic's already in you, bubbling and waiting for a chance. Now that you're in a world where its influence is easy to see, we need to learn how to bring it out."
Dawn rubbed her forehead. "That's ... kind of unsettling."
Author's Note
Yay! I finally finished this chapter. Albeit with the help of David Silver. He wrote the last 7 paragraphs.
He has also said that he will help me with the story going foward
But the next chapter could be as long coming as this one has. I have lost all inspiration on writing this story.
I won't say that I am abandoning it, though.