Once per Day

"More water, Avatar?" One of the unicorn cultists offered, hovering a jug up to me with her magic. I waved the jug away and continued reading through my list of spells as I sat stooped over my book with a furrowed brow. Using Shield as a base, I was able to estimate how long each spell would last roughly, and after testing with my Light spell I confirmed my metric was more or less on point.

Of course, some, like Light, lasted longer the higher level my overall ability was, but regardless I could now predict how long any given spell would function.

"Did you find me anything to write with?" I asked the cultist, who beamed and hovered a scroll, quill, and ink to me.

"Sure did!"

"Kickass," I declared, unfurling the scroll and attempting to write down my calculations, scooting my lantern closer as I did. My right hand still wasn't a hundred percent, so my writing was a little sloppy. "How're Sneaky and Nettle doing?"

"Uhm," she murmured and went quiet. Looking up from my work, I saw she was looking back at the rest of the camp. We'd holed up in a shallow cave which the cultists had spread some tarps on the floor of before busying themselves making things more comfortable for the three of us.

For instance, Nettle was asleep with Sash being used as a pillow and Sneaky was being carefully fed some grapes while having her hooves filed and mane gently brushed. My personal attendant turned back to me with a smile.

"I think they're doing okay," she said before scrunching her muzzle. "They definitely seem to be enjoying the benefits of your status all of a sudden, considering how grumpy they've been up to now."

"Looks that way," I replied, returning my attention to my writing. I felt a warm, giddy feeling work up through my chest and couldn't help but grin as I scribbled. I might've been banged up, sliced up, on the run, and hiding in a cave, and my magic sure as hell was still a pain in the ass, but there was an energy to sitting here by lamplight and using an old-fashioned ink and quill on a scroll. A wizarding energy that was reinforced by the knowledge this wasn't just for fun, this was genuine warlock work.

"Oh yeah," I chuckled as I set my writing tools aside. "It's all coming together." I blew on the written ink and set the paper aside before reclining on my bed roll. My back was aching, but once I was lying flat I let out a sigh as the pain slowly rolled away.

"How long until we're at your guys' fort?" I asked, removing my glasses.

"Oh, it's not far, just well hidden," she responded, scooting closer as she spoke. "We should get there by a little after midday tomorrow."

"Fantastic," I declared, draping my arm over my eyes. My private corner of the cave was momentarily silent save for the hushed conversations the cultists were having with each other until my assistant cleared her throat.

"Uh, Avatar?" She murmured.

"Yeah?"

"Uhm," she murmured again and hesitated long enough that I put my glasses back on to stare at her. She was looking off toward the cave's entrance before turning back and meeting my eyes. "You are going to help us, uh, change things, right? Make 'em better?" I raised an eyebrow and slipped my glasses back off.

"Sure," I replied, once again covering my eyes with my arm. She took a quiet, shallow breath and sighed.

"Great! I, uh, I'm looking forward to it!"

"Yep."

"Yeah!" Following that last exclamation, silence gripped my corner of the cave for a few moments. "I'll, uh, let you get some sleep, then!"

"Thanks," I huffed. After another moment, I heard the gentle sound of her hooves clicking against the stone and I peered out from under my arm. I could faintly see her blurry shape as she withdrew from my company and returned to the rest of the group before she seemed to wander past them to the cave mouth and sat away from the other blurry shapes. Covering my eyes again, I frowned and took a deep breath which came out in a heavy sigh.

I shielded my eyes from the sun with my bad hand as I scanned the horizon. An arid, blasted wasteland like this would've been miserable back home, but here in Pony World, even a craggy dusty place was something to behold. All the sandy shades of brown and withered yellow patches of grass were in vibrant pastel colors, and the towering spires of raw rock seemed almost deliberately sculpted given how I was pretty sure natural rain erosion wouldn't cause what seemed to be wide slabs of stone resting atop far, far thinner pinnacles of rock.

Then again, I hated camping and never traveled much, so what do I know?

I whistled at the sight and continued to take in the view. "Sure is something."

"You think, so?" Sash asked as he stood beside me on the precipice overlooking the badlands. He grumbled after a moment. "Just looks like a bunch of rocks and hot weather to me." I took a step back from the ledge and turned to him.

"Well, we'd better hurry up to your headquarters and get out of the sun then, huh?" I offered, looking toward the group waiting for me back on the rough path we were taking down into the valley below. Sash trotted along beside me as we returned.

"Excellent idea, Avatar! Oh, it's been weeks since we've been home!" He chuckled.

"Weeks?" Sneaky said once the whole group was moving as she and Nettle were beside me again. She looked over the whole troop with a frown. "What were you all doing for weeks?"

"We were waiting on some information from Canterlot," Sash explained. "Somewooly the High Priest made contact with a few years ago who believed he had found a lead on the Avatar's location a little over a month ago." I choked and stumbled, drawing gasps from the cult and then a squawk from Sneaky as they nearly trampled her to come to my aid.
"Avatar, are you alright?" Sash cried. I waved them back as I steadied myself.

"I'm fine!" I huffed, glancing up at Sneaky and Nettle before looking down at Sash. "You said he found a lead a month ago?

"On you, yes!" He chirped with a smile. His head tilted as I fixed him with an incredulous leer. After a moment, I looked up at Sneaky, who was scowling my way until she must've realized the issue as well. She blinked and her eyes went wide, darting between Sash and me.

"Well, uh," I cleared my throat. "Great that you're all so, uh, attentive!" I whirled around and continued the trek to the valley.

"Oh, thank you, Avatar!" Sash replied as the cult followed my lead. "We aim to please." I cast an anxious look back at Sneaky who was creeping along after us with just as nervous an expression.

Our journey took us off the beaten path that cut through the badlands and deep among the crags and jagged canyons of the area. If there were any secret signs or special markings used to navigate, they were well hidden, and I rapidly found myself at the very back of the column with Sneaky and Nettle as the cult led us on.

As we passed into a tight canyon, Nettle sniffed at the air and quietly pointed to hard-to-make-out figures leering down at us from the rocks above us. They vanished just as quickly as we noticed them, but as we marched, I occasionally glanced upward and spotted them each time.

After thirty or so minutes, the canyon spilled out into an even lower valley, hemmed in on all sides by rock, with a natural waterfall filling a shimmering lake that flowed into a dark cave at one end of the valley. Directly across the lake from where we entered was a comparatively small stone plateau on which was built a high sandstone wall. I could see from where we marched that it encircled a courtyard and several caves cut into the larger rock face. A plank bridge extended over the lake to the construction, which must've been the fort.

"Ah, home at last!" Sash happily bleated. He trotted up to the bridge and began waving the group onward. "Quickly, everywooly! Quickly!" The cult gleefully began scrambling across the bridge, but Sneaky, Nettle, and I lagged behind. Sneaky fluttered up beside my head and nervously peeked over my shoulder at the line ahead of us.

"So, how long ago did you say Discord summoned you?" She quietly asked.

"Literally the day before we met," I replied just as quietly, waving at Sash with a smile when he looked back at us, seemingly to make sure we were following.

"How long ago was that?" Nettle pried once the sheep was no longer paying attention.

"Way less than a month ago," Sneaky squeaked, gnawing her hoof as we drew near to the fort. Nettle hummed and nudged me.

"So, you maybe not the Avatar they want?"

"Maybe," I muttered.

"They not seem to know that, though," he declared, causing Sneaky and I to share a look and then glance at him.

"True!" We declared in tandem. We all turned forward as we passed through the front gate and into the courtyard where twenty or so creatures of all sorts were gathered and now directing their attention toward us.

The yard had several shacks, lean-tos, and tents thrown up all around, with unlit communal firepits dotting the spaces between them. The rockface was not only full of cave entrances but I could now see ladders, ropes, and pullies decorating the surface, as well as dozens of eyes peeking out at us from the caves.

One of the yard denizens, a moose like Orgnar, stepped forward from the crowd and scowled at us all as Sash trotted forward.

"Our mission was more of a success than we could have imagined!" He cried to the entire congregation before whirling around and thrusting his hoof at me. "Behold, brothers and sisters! The Avatar of Chaos! Just as the High Priest described!" The crowd studied me as the group who led us here parted to give them a fuller view of me. I shared a momentary look with Nettle and Sneaky before clearing my throat.

"Greetings," I said in my best wizard voice, taking a slight bow and then stepping forward. "I-"

"Where are Orgnar and the other warriors?" The moose demanded, causing me to stumble. A few of the larger cultists in the yard stepped forward to either side of the moose, and Sash frowned and glared over his shoulder at the guy.

"The Elements of Harmony were hot on the Avatar's hooves, and we came to blows with them," he explained, causing the moose to narrow his eyes. "We were forced to withdraw while Orgnar and the others kept them at bay."

"You left behind Orgnar behind?!" One of the large cultists, a cat person, yelled.

"He one of the strongest in the group!" A diamond dog screamed, throwing his paws in the air.

"You lousy sheep," the moose grumbled, huffed a gout of steam from his nose.

"How's the Avatar going to conquer Equestria without him?" A yellow unicorn with a scar hissed.

"Wait until Yendrek hears this!" Someone further back laughed.

The entire fort, including the group that had led us here, fell into a mass argument all at once. Lots of hooves and claws were jabbed my way and insults aplenty were sent flying. Some dashed forward and seemed to come to Sash's defense, but just as many went to the moose's side. Despite the difference in size, Sash actually stomped up and yelled up at the moose who'd been staring him down, which only seemed to enflame the anger felt on both sides.

As Sneaky, Nettle, and I stood back watching the scene unfold, the shouting increased and suddenly someone cried out as a sword was drawn, followed by other weapons on both sides.

Then, it all stopped.

I recoiled at the sudden silence and my head swiveled as I looked over the group. All eyes were toward something at the far end of the courtyard and slowly, the entire group parted ways. After just a moment, the cult had split in two, giving way to a tall robbed figure who strode forward, slowly turning its head left and right before looking at me.

A tense quiet held the courtyard before Sash scurried into view. "High Priest! This is the Avatar you spoke of, isn't he?" The High Priest looked down at the sheep before back at me and then stepped up to me.

He was tall, meeting me at eye level despite having a slight hunch in his posture, and his white robes completely obscured his frame. Despite them, however, I could see the shape of his legs, which were crooked like Nettle's or a satyr's. There was also a bushy white tail that swept out behind him, adding to my confusion about what the hell he was.

His face gave no answers, as it was hidden under a hood and behind an elongated bronze featureless mask, through which only his pale glowing blue eyes were visible. Said eyes were locked firmly with mine and I felt a tingling chill fill the air the longer we stared.

"Interesting," he finally said in an even, thick, almost German-sounding voice. "I am Pseudo. Avatar, let your friends and us two speak privately." One of his sleeves slowly raised and a single grey-skinned claw swept back the way he'd come. He took a single step away from me, offering me passage, but his eyes remained locked on me and unblinking.

I shivered with every breath before breaking our stare-off and looked at Sneaky and Nettle, who seemed just as uncomfortable as I felt. Nettle adjusted his grip on his suitcase with a quiet sigh, while Sneaky swallowed and hid behind me. Turning back to Pseudo, I found he had remained completely still.

"Sure," I finally gasped.

Pseudo had escorted us to a private chamber in the caves, all of which were illuminated by a mix of lamps and glowing yellow crystals. How much of the cave system was natural and how much was carved out manually I wasn't sure, but the chamber we were sitting in definitely seemed deliberately designed. Most caves didn't come out square with perfectly square doorways separating them from the rest of the system, after all.

In any case, as far as caves go, if the whole place was like this room they had a pretty swell setup, though Pseudo's chamber was an outlier as it didn't actually have a door. It was way cooler in the caves than outside for one, and the fluffy sofa Sneaky, Nettle, and I were sitting on hinted that they'd hauled furniture into the place. Pseudo sat in one of the three dark chairs across a solid block of stone between us seemingly used as a table.

He hadn't really said or asked much since we entered the room, only if he could take a look at the books Discord left me. If he doubted my status as the Avatar, he made no sign of it, and just read through each of the seven books in silence. Finally, he hummed quietly and closed the last of the set.

"Interesting," he stacked the books on the table, tapped them, and looked up at me. "Have you read all of these?" I took a shallowed breath as I leaned forward to grab them with a shrug.

"Well, things have been kind of hectic, so I really only focused on the spells in them, so," I glanced down at the books as I set them in my lap before shrugging at him again. "Not entirely?"

"I encourage you to do so, Avatar," he said, nodding his head. "Very interesting what the Spirit deigned to grant you."

"Uh, will do," I replied. His eyes darted to Sneaky and he held out a hand at her.

"And what is your relationship with the Avatar?" He asked. She wilted and swallowed.

"I-I, uh-"

"I enslaved her with my magic," I said with a wave of my hand and an eye roll. "She has her uses, just ignore her." I heard Sneaky quietly sigh in relief as Pseudo's eyes were back on me and he nodded again.

"Ah, I see. Very prudent, Avatar," he said with a quiet laugh before turning to Nettle. "And you?"

"We escape captor by ponies together," Nettle replied before I could say anything. He had his suitcase firmly tucked under his arm and had kept his eyes locked on the priest since he first appeared.

"Interesting," Pseudo hummed before pointing at the suitcase. "May I see what you have in there?" I turned to Nettle who narrowed his eyes and clutched the case with both paws.

"I'll give it right back, I promise you," Pseudo offered. As I looked between the two, that tingling, icy feeling returned. I heard Nettle murmur before he carefully set the case on the table. Pseudo pulled it toward himself and spun it before opening it. Nettle and I shared a look, but before I knew it, he'd already closed it and slid it back to Nettle. "Thank you." Nettle and I shared a look again before he reached over and grabbed it. As Nettle clutched the box, he paused and pressed his nose to it. After a moment he withdrew and gave Pseudo a sideways leer. I turned to Sneaky whose eyes were wide and locked on the priest.

"It's always a delight to see chaos at work," the priest declared. "Such disparate parts, brought together by happenstance, and yet without their unity our Avatar might never have been delivered to us."

"Huh?" I huffed. He held his hands out in response.

"We are the Children of Change, and I am our prophet," he began. "I am gifted with eyes that can see the cords of fate, even as chaos plucks at them." He reclined in his seat with his hands folded.

"In my old age, I have learned to discern meaning from the madness, by which I have led this gathering for some years now. I can see the touch of chaos upon all of you, and I discern that had you three not met," his eyes drifted over us. "Our quest for the Avatar would have failed." I tensed up and glanced at Sneaky and Nettle.

"Well, uh, here I am!" I finally said, at which Pseudo laughed and rose from his seat.

"Yes, and I've gotten a look at you three now," he declared, clapping his hands a few times. The faint sound of hooves clicking against stone came in response. "I am certain you are weary from your journey and trials. For even the chosen may be afflicted, yes?" He bowed and swept his arm toward the door.

"I shall speak to the Children, and assure them of your authenticity," as he spoke Sash came trotting in with a smile. "Go now and rest. Tomorrow, or perhaps the next day, we shall convene and discuss the work we must do together Avatar." I looked from Sash to Pseudo.

"Hey, uh, you can call me Victor," I said. The priest hummed with a nod.

"As you will," he rolled his hand at Sash. "Please." Nettle, Sneaky, and I shared a look before rising from our seats and following Sash out of the room. Just before I rounded the corner into the hall, I glanced back at Pseudo to find he was standing straight up and staring back. Again, a chill struck me right until I broke the line of sight.

"Seems to have gone well!" Sash chirped as he led us through the caves. He began asking questions and saying all sorts of praise, but the three of us said nothing in response. Eventually, he delivered us to a room with four beds and an actual door much like most of the other chambers we'd seen. "I'll have the rest of your luggage delivered soon! Make yourselves comfortable!"

The sheep pulled the door shut as he withdrew and we sat down on a pair of beds, Nettle across from Sneaky and myself. We sat in silence, listening to the click of Sash's hooves as he slipped away before we spoke.

"He steal something from my case," Nettle growled. "Not sure what, but smell was different."

"He did it while you two weren't looking," Sneaky explained with a quaver. "I barely saw his claws cause of how fast he did it, though."

"This may have been a mistake," I declared. Sneaky gasped.

"No!" She exclaimed with her hoof over her mouth before punching my shoulder.

The sun had fallen below the rim of stone that surrounded the valley, casting the entire fort into a heavy shadow and the courtyard was now lit by poles holding up the same sort of crystal that lit up the caves. On a wooden balcony that extended from one of the higher cave mouths, Pseudo scanned the valley below before continuing to read the letters he had before him on the balcony rail. The entire structure rattled suddenly and he turned back to see a hulking, bearded moose stepping out onto the balcony with him.

"Good evening, Yendrek," Pseudo said, returning his attention to the letters. "Did you enjoy your hunt?"

"Didn't find nothing," Yendrek huffed, shaking his head with a snort before quietly chuckling. "Had to split one of the boys' skulls when he got uppity, though. So that was a barrel of laughs."

"All of which explains the lack of fanfare for your return," the priest mused. Yendrek lumbered forward and sat beside the priest before huffing.

"I heard the sheep found our Avatar," he said before scowling down at the courtyard. "As well as a chance to stab Orgnar in the back." Pseudo gently shook his head.

"One of those sentences is true. This fellow isn't the Avatar," he said, still reading the letters. "Not the Avatar, anyway. Just another being, summoned and imbued with power."

"Whoever he is, he abandoned my cousin to the Equestrians," Yendrek said, spitting over the side of the balcony. "Can I kill him?"

"Quite easily, I believe," Pseudo replied and waved a hand. "But I ask that you not. He may still be of use." The moose grumbled but nodded, before raising an eyebrow at the priest's letters.

"What are those?"

"This is the intelligence my associate in Canterlot had gathered for me, which the dog in the summon's company had for some reason," Pseudo explained, leafing through and scanning the stack again. "My contact managed to discern the Avatar's location from Celestia's nephew, who is apparently a very nosy lad, and very talkative when drunk."

"Nosy?"

"According to my contact, when he was a colt he pressed her, asking about a faint scar along her side," Pseudo turned toward Yendrek as he spoke. "The side the Avatar cleaved her wing from." The moose raised his eyebrows before adopting a smirk.

"And she told him?"

"She showed him," Pseudo declared, turning back to the letters and drawing one from the middle of the stack out. "I believe her time bereft of her sister made her dote on the lad, him being one of her few remaining family members, after all." He scanned the letter he'd drawn for a moment before nodding.

"Ah-hah, speaking of, should our false Avatar fail to meet expectations, we do have an opening to collect the genuine article."

"And that is?" Yendrek pressed, at which Pseudo presented the letter with his finger over one line in particular.

"Her adopted family will be having a wedding soon," he explained as the moose read the line and slowly grinned. "And my contact has learned of certain third parties who will turn that event into quite the fiasco. A perfect opportunity for us to invade, I believe."