Broken Magic: A Botched Summonby hccpuChaptersThe RitualThe BeginningThe TrendThe DeceitThe IllnessThe RitualThere exists a cave, in the land of Albion, where a ceremony is taking place that will force a meeting between two lands that have no reason to ever meet. In this cave a young, self proclaimed, Magician-Wizard was attempting to summon a familiar capable of changing fate. He and many others foresaw the downfall of magic at the hands of the new king, Uther, and seek a way to prevent this tragedy. He had heard how useful a familiar could be and was going about getting one in his usual unorthodox style. His unique brand of magic, he refers to as Broken Magic, resembles true magic despite the many fractures in its form. It is with this Broken Magic that he meditated in the cave with the red glow of the blood runes as his only light. Blood runes are known for being able to give the most stability per rune. The dim glow, however, was not needed as the ceremony required no light and might even distract the caster from scanning the Astral Planes for a familiar with a natural affinity to them. He was diving deeper into the planes than common practice considered safe until he found a realm that was naturally abundant in magic and had a relatively weak rejection of outsiders considering the distance between his and its location. He focused on it as he rose to his feet and advanced to the true beginning of the summon. With his elbows tucked in to his side and palms facing up he looked forward with eyes shut as he projected his presence, this beacon would be a light hum to those skilled in magic and an invitation to those willing to aide him in his cause. The runes grew brighter as they attempted to support the bridge he had crafted. When a being came to accept the call however each rune glowed with the intensity of a bonfire and crackled as such. The ceremony became rushed at this as the mage quickly tried to maintain access for his familiar's safe passage. But there was not enough time and it was pulled back to its home as a rune shattered taking chunks of the cave it was carved onto with it. He drew his ceremonial dagger to replace the ruin but unfortunately he now was on the weaker side of the force and he was pulled into the gap between planes to the location of his almost familiar's plane. This was a dangerous position to be in and he had to anchors now pulling him in two different directions, his tie with the, now roaming, beacon and the blood runes of the ceremony. If nothing was done they would find a balance with him trapped in the howling halls between planes. He arrived with a stagger in a place as dark as the cave but much more alive for the briefest of moments before he dissolved back into the void towards his ceremonial runes. Upon arrival he swiftly sliced his left hand but before he could repair any runes he was back in the void. An open wound in the gap between realms would allow his to life drain from him were the bridge not still offering its protection. While the runes lived he would get away with extreme fatigue. This time he appeared in a barren wasteland that was much too hot. He would work on a rune then get pulled back to his alternate anchor. A royal court of some sort, a Gem filled cavern with an odd ambient lighting, a snowy mountaintop facing the sea, a forest that reminded him of home, and a calm meadow. He passed through the void many times and had one new rune to show for it. Now back to square one he should have regained stability, yet he was unable to close the bridge. He collapsed to his hands for support while trying to figure out what prevented the retrieval of the beacon. If not for the pool of blood around his hand he might not have figured it out. He only had one real choice left to him and it was not a pleasant one. He used the last of his strength to shatter all of his over-stressed blood runes with ease, which took with them his ties to home and any protection he had from the great nothing that was the Howling Halls between realms. He passed out before arriving at the beacon that collapsed with his conciseness. Many creatures wondered what that unusual hum was and in less than ten seconds a handful would get a good idea. Inside the Changeling hive a being clad in black arrived out of nowhere without warning and left just as quickly. The dragons of the wastelands were next to see the strange creature, followed by all those present at the royal court of the Alicorn sisters, then a cavern of the Diamond dogs, then those of the griffin stronghold of the western shore cliffs, followed by the only true wild life of the forest that shall be EverFree, and finally those at a picnic upon a hill facing castle Canterlot. His final resting place was that of a shore by a calm lake where he lay until sunrise the next day. By the time the source had awoken all concerned parties were aware that it was not an isolated incident and were on high alert searching for it, guided by the small drops of blood. Some for the sake of curiosity, others to ensure their prolonged well being, and others still with thoughts of gaining power from the stranger. Many scouts were sent to the EverFree forest where strange things were expected to gather. All they would find for their effort was another few spots of blood like the one that led them to it. The mage got up and rested under a willow facing a mountain side castle trying to calmly think of the best way to handle this problem. The BeginningWith his back against the willow and safely out of view of any who might pass by, the mage sought council from his trusted adviser. “Utnapanapishtim, why does it feel like a wrestled with an enraged bull?" Utim's voice echoed in the back of his mind slightly distorted by the darkness it came from as always. "I know that you have been warned that the Howling halls are no place for any mortal to be." With a touch of accusation lining his inner thoughts, "You said that only prolonged exposure would result in any noticeable fallout. It was no more than 30 seconds." "Be glad you are incapable of processing time properly there. It was more like a decade, relatively speaking." No longer angry but still upset, "Another decade of supposed life lived without a trace of aging. How am I to ever know my true age anymore?" "Well if you were to ask friends you are still 19 with 3 years of life left. But between you and me you are more like 279." While moving to scratch his head at the extra decade of life he noticed what appeared to be a rune. He examined his palm to find it covered in runes that marked him as the familiar of Oren, and that his hand was off colored and aged surrounding the cut across the center of his hand. With slight concern he asked, "Ignoring the redundancy of getting a boost to my magical abilities... from myself, what happened to my hand?" "I can only imagine it is an infection from the void." Now with true concern he laughed to himself, "Fantastic, I only know of one who can cure it and he happens to live about impossible away from where I currently am." "It is not impossible." Still laughing away, "I am bound here by familiar contract. There are only to ways to void a familiar contract: the death of the familiar or the death of the summoner, I am both." "That contract is not as binding as you think. You cannot void a contract by signing a different newer one." He knew it was the truth but he did not know where Utim was going with this so responded with a joke, "What would you recommend then? Cutting off my hand?" He would be willing to amputate as well but Utim told him it would be unnecessary. "It should be no different from stripping ink off of paper just be sure that the runes find the original owner." The idea of searching the entire planet for a single creature that he has never met was daunting. "I don't have that kind of time! Wait, how much time do I have?" "Seven days at best." Before he would consider giving up, inspiration struck. "I've got it. This just requires even more depressing glimpses into the past and future." The joy with which he would remind himself that he could not fight fate was lost on him. Without waiting for further council he had already projected himself to the future. It was not even an hour into the future when he had learned of several things that could be of use. He told himself that he had bleed in the places he visited making them easy to find and that he was to be subjected to a large scale man-hunt by nearly everything living here. Apparently there were no perks to the ruins and they decided he should be a battle-mage. It was a quick minuet of giving important news as always, this was just a shortcut and he would have learned it all, apparently within the hour, regardless of if he did this or not. The past was uneventful but he got to see that one of the creatures that lived here was a pegasus. Once his mandatory minuet to the past was up he prepared to leave. He audibly said to himself with a smile at his new found hope. "When tracking a creature, one of the simplest ways is to follow the blood trail. The nearest should be over that way on one of the hills." /– –/ Rainbow Dash flew along with Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle at the request of Pinkie Pie. Apple Jack and Rarity were too busy to join them and Fluttershy did not want to risk meeting it. “Pinkie you know we already checked here again, twice. Why would it be any different now." Dash grumbled from being interrupted during a nap. "Because my Pinkie sense told me that somepony is going to move furniture from out there, silly." Pinkie responded with a giggle while bouncing along. "And how does that mean that, that thing will be there. "Still upset at the prospect of wasted nap time. Twilight seemed just as happy as Pinkie Pie, "I planned on triple checking to make sure we didn't miss anything when we double checked anyway." "Ugh, you can't be serious" Rainbow knew full well she was serious but the thought of repeating a task for a third time was just ridiculous. "Anypony with eyes can see it will be different this time." Pinkie said while bouncing backwards to face her two friends. "That’s the spirit Pinkie." Twilight clearly agreed with the trip. "And how can you know that they aren't just taking the tables for routine maintenance." "Hey, your right. It just came to take the table to get it fixed. I should thank it." With that Pinkie hurried on ahead. "What are you-" Twilight stopped when she saw Pinkie run up to the same figure they saw a day ago, clad in the same black robes, standing in front of the remains of the blood. While Twilight was flabbergasted Rainbow Dash tackled it. After all the royal guard were out looking for it to see if they should be concerned. She flipped it over to see it better while holding it down. Its face was flatter than a pony's and it had a short black beard and a black mane tied up like Apple Jack. The hood on its robes was up and the black robes themselves were tattered and held up with a simple piece of rope. It looked young enough and it had an infected gash with writing on its hand but it didn't seem all that dangerous so she simply got off of its chest. "I am afraid the person you are looking for is not home at the moment, may I take a message?" Rainbow Dash backed up a bit "Wha-" "It can talk!" "Can you be sure to tell him thanks for fixing that table." While they were all distracted by Pinkie Pie's comment it got up. "Welcome home!" It appeared to smile at that before walking over to a tree and beckoned for them to follow. It rubbed its strange fore hooves on its throat, ears, and then eyes in a fluid motion. It then placed them on the tree. "The boss has given me permission to answer some questions for you. And before we begin I shall answer the question that you are all thinking: No there are no job openings available at the moment. So who wants to go first?" Rainbow and Twilight were a bit to stunned by the echoy voice tainted with darkness coming from the mouth-less tree to answer promptly and Pinkie would have taken the opportunity to ask first regardless. "What is it like being a tree?" "I am not a tree, just attached to it." "That’s too bad, a friend of mine wants to be one so I thought that maybe she could hear all about it from a tree's perspective." Twilight had recovered and fired away all the questions of relevance should could think of. "Is it dangerous? What is it doing here? What was it doing in the throne room? How was it in six places at once? What kind of creature is it?" "Oren, could be dangerous to those that he considers an enemy and was looking for answers on how to leave. He thinks he might follow the blood. He was not in six places at once and they were all just random places. The human calls himself a magician-wizard." Ignoring the last answer, “Wait does that mean he plans on going back to the throne room?!” “I would imagine so, unless he learns that there is nothing to be gained by going there.” Rainbow Dash asked a question while Twilight seemed to mumble something about a letter to the Princess. "What is wrong with its hand?” “Another side effect from his Broken Magic." Twilight had rejoined the conversation and asked a question that had already been answered. “It can use magic? ...What do you mean it is broken?” “Yes and he is the one who thinks it is broken.” “Why?” She could not see why someone would call their own magic broken. “Ask him.” At which point Twilight and Rainbow started to notice that something was strange. Twilight voiced both of their concerns. "...Why isn't he answering these questions?" "He is currently busy." They noticed that the creature and Pinkie Pie were no where to be seen. "...Doing what?" which was followed by an explosion when they went towards its location they saw the creature called Oren a good distance back from Pinkie where he lay on the ground groaning. They were both long since out of earshot. "It looks like I am needed. The name is Utnapanapishtim, thanks for caring." They both hurried over to Pinkie Pie to see if she was alright when they heard "Sors salutis et virtutis michinunc contraria, est affectus et defectus, semper in angaria" They went over to question it about its actions but where he lay the picnic table now stood. "Hey! He didn't fix the table at all." Rainbow Dash asked, “Pinkie what was that explosion just now.” “It wanted to show me a trick where the scribbles on his hoof glowed. Then he pulled them into the air with his other hoof but when he tried to show them to me they all went BANG. He really needs to work on that trick.” She looked as happy as ever and not worried about what whatever it was trying to do. Rainbow and Twilight decided it was best to get word to the Princess in case it tried something similar in her court. /– –/ He held his arm up to look at how the infection and runes both had spread all over his arm stopping at his elbow. "Well that could have gone better. Still I learned a great deal. How much did that knowledge cost me?" "93 hours remain." After getting up he replied, "Really that cost me three of my days. What a scam." “Thanks for fixing the table.” He could not help but respond out-loud with a look of confusion on his face. “What are you talking about?” /* Fate is against me in health and virtue, driven on and weighted down, always enslaved */ /*+2 classy if you know where I got it from*/ The Trend"I need more information before I can truly make such a claim. The next closest blood sample was kind enough to be in a location of distortion to prevent time saving travel magic. As such we must proceed on foot off towards the heart of the Forest.” “The guards mentioned a forest, you are just assuming they meant the correct one.” Oren had not gone on a hike since gaining magic making for a nostalgic trip. “We would come here eventually and if I am right it will set us ahead of schedule.” While technically said to Utim it was more of just thinking to himself. “This forest is not so different from the one my secret, ritual cavern is located in: lots of magical creatures waiting to attack those they know they can easily overpower; the poor lighting at all times of day; potentially poisonous plants everywhere; horrible rumors attached to said forest. A fella might get home sick.” "You should stop enjoying yourself. This is burning precious time I hope you find something worthwhile for the risky investment, that is this journey." Not used to having to deal with such nonstop complaints, his mood quickly was turning sour, "It is not much farther besides this place practically reeks of an orthodox wizard's familiar." "Too bad that means your unorthodox familiar will be nowhere to be found." "Your overflowing excitement is heartwarming, but that is not what we are here for. I agree my familiar will not have resided in this forest; the creatures here only seem to live for their freedom.” Before Utim could counter, “The answers I seek will be revealed shortly, we have arrived." He did his prophet thing, stepping out of his body into a monochrome version of the, now still world. He watched as his body quickly hiked backwards the way he came as the sun began to travel back to what he would call east at an accelerating pace. He continued to watch time rapidly rewind until he suddenly halted it and was now 7 hours after he first arrived in this plane of existence. He watched as armored guards descended to investigate the blood with their magic which was much easier to spot thanks to the glow that accompanied it for whatever reason. They were carried in by armored pegasus and after they were done the two unicorns shared their findings claiming that 'Princess Celestia was right'. Oren now had two near identical cases of this Princess Celestia knowing where to look for traces of where he spilled blood on landing and therefore had to know something. Time was racing forward and he caught a glimpse of getting attacked by a wolf before he stood in the future 13 hours from when he left. He would have to wait a few minutes before he could try to deal with the wolf that would attack him moments after he returned to his body. There was no sign to indicate that he died there, so he felt there was nothing to fear as time whisked him back to where he belonged. Upon stepping back into his body and regaining the color spectrum the wolf appeared behind him. He turned and raised his right hand to simply levitate it out of his way so he could leave the forest and be on his merry way. The runes on his left arm glowed in protest to this as the wooden wolf pounced and bit into his arm; he quickly realized what he had meant when he said, "the ruins decided he should be a battle-mage." They clearly didn't care about range but he could not use magic on anything other than himself. After freeing himself from the wolf, he healed his arm, made himself invisible, and ran. "I can't wait to screw over past Oren like this." It wasn't truly his fault but knowing what was going to happen and have no way to let himself stop it always made it seem like a cruel prank to his past version. One of the many reasons he tried to stop using that kind of magic. When he finally reached the edge of the forest he began seeking the cottage where the pegasus from the picnic lived. Among other things, he had followed 5 of the 6 present to their homes in hopes of learning why he might have appeared in front of them. He didn't learn much that was helpful. One of the unicorns knew the princess and the pegasus he seeked treated the injured even though they were of a different kind. The rest of his investigating in the past was likely wasted effort. The future revealed guards examining what he now knew to be, where the incident with the pink one had taken place. He stopped healing his arm and dropped the invisibility outside her fence. /– –/ Fluttershy was inside her home preparing lunch when for some strange reason she felt compelled to look towards her front yard. She let out a shriek when she saw the creature from yesterday practically glowing. She hid behind her hair but could still see it through closed eyes and she just couldn't look away. It eventually faded away from her vision and after allowing herself to calm down she remembered that it was bleeding. She grabbed her first aide kit and cautiously peeked out of a window to see if it was still there, it was. She left her home and meekly approached it from behind. Before she had a chance to speak up, "YOU!" It turned to the noise to see Rainbow Dash pointing her hoof at him from the sky. It looked around and then place the non-bleeding limb on its chest. "Yes, you. What was with attacking Pinkie Pie?" She landed and was crouched ready to tackle it again if need be. Upon hearing this, Fluttershy hurried over to Rainbow Dash's side. It began walking over to a nearby tree. Her enthusiasm momentarily gone, "Ugh, not this again." Rainbow was not in the mood to argue with a tree again. It removed its hands from the tree and turned around with a good deal of blood on the right side of its face and neck. "Glad to hear you still remember me, my colorful flying friend." Once retaking an offensive stance, she brought up the topic again. "You have some nerve showing up here after attacking Pinkie." "Neither he nor I attacked this 'Pinkie' and I seem to recall, boss, being the one knocked to the ground. I was informed that she appeared to not even consider what happened to be a threat against her well-being. Which it wasn't." She refused to let it off the hook that easily. "That still doesn't explain what you are doing here." To this the tree grabbed Oren's bleeding arm and lifted it up with no complaints from the creature aside from reaching to release the bleeding arm with the one infected and covered in scribbles. She could not help but be slightly worried at what she saw. It was not that long ago when she last saw Oren. "Did his infection get worse?" "Very observant of you. Speaking of, how far away were you when you noticed him." She didn't entirely get the point of the question and would have to ask Fluttershy for an explanation later. "I was already heading this way to get Fluttershy." "Ah, just more bad luck on Oren's part then." The comment was taken as an insult. "How is meeting me bad luck?" "He still remains untreated and continues to bleed out while you argue with me over a simple misunderstanding." This got Fluttershy's attention and she went to clean and bandage the wound while mumbling apologies that fell on deaf ears. There was silence between the two until the treatment was finished. "Well it has been a pleasure, but the hour is almost up and he can't be late. Shall I tell the Princess you and your friends said hello?" She immediately responded "No,” not wanting to be affiliated with the annoying plant. “Suit yourself.” She asked not sure what the strange pair might try to pull, “What are you going to do when you see the Princess?" But the tree did not respond and where Oren was, a bush was firmly planted. Fluttershy just looked at the shrubbery confused at what had transpired during her first interaction with the new guest in Equestria, "Rainbow, what just happened." "It did it again!” She let out a sigh, “Whatever forget that thing, Twilight wanted me to get you so that all of us could hear the Princess's response." With that the two headed off towards town and the library. /– –/ Oren just finished giving his report to the lake, so that he might eavesdrop in on it using the power of the prophet. "Now that all loose ends here are taken care of, what say we go and visit this 'benevolent ruler' Princess Celestia to see what her information network has gathered on me. Maybe she will consider not sending someone to investigate whenever you talk to someone upon meeting us in person.” The Deceit"You put too much faith in their ruler." Upset by the growing trend of pessimism from his aide, "Not only is she loved by the masses she practices magic. With magic of her own there is less need for the completely rational fear of an unknown Magician-wizard approaching a top tier political figure." "The same paranoid figure who is always watching your every move." Persistence to face off with the voice of logic, "If she is not comfortable in her own castle there is no chance of a discussion ever." "You can't just pop in on royalty uninvited." "Of course, we will be invited in from the front gate." The idea of just popping in on royalty would be a good way to ensure attack on sight orders. "What will stop them from attacking you on sight?" Utim seemed to be out of sync or something, "Why you and your silver tongue." Now in front of the castle gates with a 'borrowed' potted bonsai tree the Utim discretely got the attention of the guards on patrol. "Salutations! O Noble guardians of the aristocracy. I am Utnapanapishtim, ambassador of Titania, queen of fairies. I apologize for getting lost on my way to the meeting with the royal court. I hear many of your brothers and sisters in arms were sent to guide me here, but I have finally found my way and the courtesy was most thoughtful." The two guards were unsure of what the proper procedure for such an occurrence was in this situation. "Should I wait here for the captain of the guard to escort me to the Princess or is there a waiting room inside." They took the hint and one went to report to Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard. In no time at all Shining stood before the talking tree and creature his sister had mentioned. "Greetings captain, I am sure the Princess mentioned that we were coming to discuss a sensitive situation so we took the extra effort to come here undetected. If we are too early we can always go on a stroll through the town: see the sights, try local cuisine, partake in small-talk with some of the locals, you know the usual ways one would, 'kill' time." Doing his best to ignore the threat, it was true that Princess Celestia would want to question their guest if possible. Shining decided to keep the facade given to him, "Right this way ambassador." After navigating deep into the castle they reached the throne room. "One moment while I make the necessary introductions." "Feel free to drop the act whenever you want." After a few moments of explaining to the Princess the doors to the throne room were encased in a gold aura and opened for the tree and mage. When the doors closed behind them Utim gave Oren the signal and he began to glow. "Before we begin, 'ambassador' Utnapanapishtim, I will ask that you do not attempt to threaten me with such a weak display of magic." "You insult me dear Princess, all he does is silently shout for all to observe him so that you don't get any ideas about killing us behind closed doors. This ultra-visibility spell makes it so that there is no way to not be seen. All those in the castle can see us and those close enough will be very inclined to observe us. In return, should we try anything your entire castle guard will know immediately. Unless of course you object to this peaceful discussion being so public." "...No it is fine, shall we move on to the business at hand. Why did you come here?" "You see I have been tracking a strange series of blood stains I believe come from a creature from far away, when it came to my attention that I was not the first to be investigating. Since you clearly know more about it than I do maybe you can inform me of what I am missing." "Are you aware that the creature you travel with is tainted with evil?" "Are you aware that won't be the case in 92 hours?" "And why is that?" “Surely you noticed his left arm, it is kind of hard to miss.” “Yes, what of the markings?” "Oren was sight-seeing when he noticed which way the country was headed and wanted to use his little remaining life to better it. Those markings allow him to see if a creature is willing to cooperate. For example there was that time in the field where he was looking to see if a friendly pink pony was willing to help him overthrow the reigning monarchy.” Princess Celestia was deep in thought so Shining Armor stepped in, "Do you really think you could come here before the Princess and get away with such treasonous talk." "I am but a humble tree who has bathed in the light of our ruler's sun for almost a century. As for him it would only be treason if he was a citizen." The tree seemed to be throwing its ally in front of a cart. Shining felt compelled to clarify, "Then you have come to turn him in?" "So the Princess can banish him from his exile or is that reserved for family only. No, petrification is a much better way to go, then you can use him as a common lawn ornament. If you want, I can save you the trouble and do it myself." Ignoring the knowledge the tree somehow acquired he was outraged at the rudeness of the potted speaker, “How can you speak of such tragedies of the past like they are nothing in front of the Princess.” “It really is quite simple. That lavender unicorn I spoke to earlier seemed like such lovely thing. It is a shame that because of her Princess's persistent pursuit, obstructing Oren's endeavors that her life will be put in danger, despite her dear brother's duty.” Shining Armor could take no more and restrained the creature in his telekinesis. The tree had but one last parting remark, “Ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system.” “Negotiations have failed Oren.” A quick snide remark to Utim, “Thank you for your most helpful insight,” while with his inhale the aura wavered and dissipated off of him on exhale, instead holding only the tiny tree. Shining Armor's attempts to re-include Oren continued to fail. “There is a statue by the Labyrinth that would be best for your departure.” But before that, while pointing at Princess Celestia, “Nimis exaltatus rex sedet in vertice, caveat ruinam.” Then where he once stood was the statue of Discord. “Shining Armor, I do not hold you accountable but you have allowed the tree, Utnapanapishim, to play upon your emotions and into whatever it was planning.” A hung head, sigh, and apologies were her reply. “It is alright but we need to find out why they wanted to be seen being attacked first.” Thoughts on Oren's adamant refusal to speak up on his own behalf lingered. /– –/ Invisibly stepping down from the statue's platform Oren began the trek to a safer location. “Care to inform me as to what you were discussing when they decided to turn hostile.” “They were not to thrilled with the idea of you opposing Uther's wish to eliminate all that is magical nor of you getting help from any of the residents here. But the final straw was when I asked them to at least let you search for a way home without hindrance.” Disappointment hanging off of him, “I see, you were right then. There can be no such thing as a benevolent monarch, magical or otherwise. A loved dictator, Julius Cesar all over again.” /* far too high up sits the king at the summit, let him fear ruin */ The Illness/* Look who is not dead yet. Sorry about the delay which has no valid excuse whatsoever. */ Oren was now out of the immediate vicinity of the castle and back at the lake, "Well now that we are known enemies of the state, I suppose we should get as far away from here as possible." A quick recheck on the blood sigils showed that the one that would have been next was moving closer and the southern rune had been destroyed. Luckily, relatively all things considered, the one far to the east was left undisturbed. With one last remark from Oren, "Let's hope for better results in the land of the rising sun," they departed the country leaving a boulder in their sted. Oren took a quick survey of his surroundings to find he was outside a fortress, one can only assume was on the other side of the large wall decked out with wooden spikes, with little plant life in the immediate vicinity and the sound of waves crashing in the background. After waiting a few moments to see if any creature witnessed his arrival, Oren made his way to a more subtle location and began his mystic scouting. Oren, physically speaking, was fortunate enough to be tackled shortly after leaving his body to scout, by a young female Griffin. Now pinned to the ground by a creature higher in the food chain Utim began stalling, "I should hope this doesn't mark the beginning of a trend." Gilda looked down at the most recent intruder, "I see you have returned like that Princess Celestia thought you would." "My how fast word travels here. That was not more than a couple of minutes ago I should wager, most impressive." Talking to this creature would clearly wear on her nerves and the others wanted to see it, unharmed if possible. "Hmph, an hour ago actually." "Ah, news of the first encounter. Still, considering the distance that is no small feat." 'Utim it appears this area is home to a pride, or is it flock, of Griffins.' 'Old news, try and keep up. Word of our actions in the castle have yet to arrive only that of the first encounter, act accordingly.' "Well the owner is home. It was a pleasure chatting with you; we should do this again sometime." "What?" It was doing almost exactly the same as the message from Canterlot said it did in Ponyville. Oren regaining control of his senses noticed the similar position he found himself in. "At least this time a predator is the one attacking me. I never heard of a leaf eating creature initiating a confrontation unprovoked." Well that was new, "Huh, I thought you were supposed to talk through trees." Oren chuckled slightly and with a smile explained, "Oh that, I would never speak to a creature like them for the life of me." Gilda's opinion of the creature went up enough to allow it to get up. "Tell me about it, those ponies sure are a bunch of dweebs." 'Utim do you suppose that is just the Griffin way of saying pure?' 'Oh most definitely.' Oren and the Griffin were not nearly as conflicting as he was with the ponies. Things were looking up. "As you said but I know there is no need for such concern among Griffins." Gilda was glad this thing new the proper order of things. "You got that right." Time to find out the extent of the Princess's lies. "I suppose you must also have heard some version of what I did to the pink pony." Gilda understood where he was coming from granted it was a tad drastic. She might have done something similar if there were not so many treaties between the Griffins and ponies. "Yah, surprised you lasted that long before having to try and shut her up." Of course they would accuse me of such a thing. “I had already made myself deaf temporarily." Gilda might be able to see Rainbow Dash again if she could learn how he could do such a thing. "Really? That sounds like a pretty cool way to deal with them lame brains." Time for the moment of truth. "I was simply testing to see if they would be able to help. Allow me to demonstrate." Oren reached for his arm to begin removing the runes but stopped quickly with a grimace. Instead he wiped his hand over his throat looked around at the plant-less surroundings and shrugged. He then returned his hand to the runes. Shortly, they were all aglow again, then began the part he was dreading. As swiftly as possible he began removing the runes from his arm and with them came his skin and a good deal of the muscle underneath. Needless to say it was extremely painful and he was cursing and swearing muted the entire time. Once he finished his skeletal arm hung limp and he proceeded to vomit on the ground. The salty air from the ocean against his exposed nerves caused further pain. Wanting to get this over with quickly he thrust the glowing orb of runes towards Gilda who flinched slightly only for it to bounce off of her and knock Oren back and onto the ground runes on him once more. The slight burn from the re-etching told him most of his torso, left leg, and some of his neck were claimed now. 'Congratulations, you now have 52 hours remaining.' 'Not in the mood' While the runes seemed to seal the pain, which he was very thankful for, his arm was now useless and would likely have to be amputated when he had a chance. Considering how much worse it was from the first time another attempt would likely compromise something vital in his chest killing him. 'The runes didn't out right reject Griffins like it did for ponies, this was a step in the right direction.' 'If you will excuse my mood I might have been a tad more excited, if it weren't for the fact that the next try will cause me to keel over, probably immediately.' Gilda was utterly shocked at what she just saw. "Where in Tartarus did that come from?" New plan, hope to find someone here that can cure me. "That was the test I gave the Pink one. A test that it seems I can no longer give. I don't suppose there is any chance of a good magical healer I can see being nearby?" "All the good docs are back in Equestria, they can't be bothered to come help any of their neighbors." Memories of going to see Rainbow Dash to see if she might hook her up with a Doc for her younger sister came back. 'Great, I don't suppose I can just kill myself now and save some time?' 'No, I want that body healthy when I get it.' 'I figured as much. Suppose I would want the previous owner of my future home to leave it in good condition as well.' Oren now had to really rely on the one local he knew who wasn't being blinded by lies. "I don't suppose you could aide me in receiving medical attention somehow." Gilda could see it clearly was in need of help if only mentally. "Well... I used to have a friend back in Ponyville, Rainbow Dash who has some connections higher up." 'I highly doubt that there is another rainbow colored pony in that hamlet. Your odds of getting the body seem to have gone up in smoke.' Oren was surprised that a Griffin would associate with a potential meal especially to the degree of friendship. "Could I trouble you to give it a shot anyway?" "Unlike you, I would have to fly there and that might take awhile." Hardly a problem for one skilled in breaking the system, “Leave that to me.” Oren disappeared to be replaced by the boulder from before then Gilda disappeared and found herself under a tree by a lake in Ponyville then the tree vanished and Oren appeared beside her. "Glad to see I can still abuse a loop-hole like the good old days." He went to drink some water from the lake, but never made it as he proceeded to cough violently a good deal of blood in the coughs. 'I am 19 during a time of peace, this is ridiculous.' "I hope you have luck in getting a doctor. I'm just gonna-" Oren then passed out in a heap on the ground. "If you truly do wish to help, I suggest you leave out the description on just who it is that needs treatment. Oren isn't exactly popular around here." With that the creature was silent leaving Gilda to wonder just what she should do now.
The RitualThere exists a cave, in the land of Albion, where a ceremony is taking place that will force a meeting between two lands that have no reason to ever meet. In this cave a young, self proclaimed, Magician-Wizard was attempting to summon a familiar capable of changing fate. He and many others foresaw the downfall of magic at the hands of the new king, Uther, and seek a way to prevent this tragedy. He had heard how useful a familiar could be and was going about getting one in his usual unorthodox style. His unique brand of magic, he refers to as Broken Magic, resembles true magic despite the many fractures in its form. It is with this Broken Magic that he meditated in the cave with the red glow of the blood runes as his only light. Blood runes are known for being able to give the most stability per rune. The dim glow, however, was not needed as the ceremony required no light and might even distract the caster from scanning the Astral Planes for a familiar with a natural affinity to them. He was diving deeper into the planes than common practice considered safe until he found a realm that was naturally abundant in magic and had a relatively weak rejection of outsiders considering the distance between his and its location. He focused on it as he rose to his feet and advanced to the true beginning of the summon. With his elbows tucked in to his side and palms facing up he looked forward with eyes shut as he projected his presence, this beacon would be a light hum to those skilled in magic and an invitation to those willing to aide him in his cause. The runes grew brighter as they attempted to support the bridge he had crafted. When a being came to accept the call however each rune glowed with the intensity of a bonfire and crackled as such. The ceremony became rushed at this as the mage quickly tried to maintain access for his familiar's safe passage. But there was not enough time and it was pulled back to its home as a rune shattered taking chunks of the cave it was carved onto with it. He drew his ceremonial dagger to replace the ruin but unfortunately he now was on the weaker side of the force and he was pulled into the gap between planes to the location of his almost familiar's plane. This was a dangerous position to be in and he had to anchors now pulling him in two different directions, his tie with the, now roaming, beacon and the blood runes of the ceremony. If nothing was done they would find a balance with him trapped in the howling halls between planes. He arrived with a stagger in a place as dark as the cave but much more alive for the briefest of moments before he dissolved back into the void towards his ceremonial runes. Upon arrival he swiftly sliced his left hand but before he could repair any runes he was back in the void. An open wound in the gap between realms would allow his to life drain from him were the bridge not still offering its protection. While the runes lived he would get away with extreme fatigue. This time he appeared in a barren wasteland that was much too hot. He would work on a rune then get pulled back to his alternate anchor. A royal court of some sort, a Gem filled cavern with an odd ambient lighting, a snowy mountaintop facing the sea, a forest that reminded him of home, and a calm meadow. He passed through the void many times and had one new rune to show for it. Now back to square one he should have regained stability, yet he was unable to close the bridge. He collapsed to his hands for support while trying to figure out what prevented the retrieval of the beacon. If not for the pool of blood around his hand he might not have figured it out. He only had one real choice left to him and it was not a pleasant one. He used the last of his strength to shatter all of his over-stressed blood runes with ease, which took with them his ties to home and any protection he had from the great nothing that was the Howling Halls between realms. He passed out before arriving at the beacon that collapsed with his conciseness. Many creatures wondered what that unusual hum was and in less than ten seconds a handful would get a good idea. Inside the Changeling hive a being clad in black arrived out of nowhere without warning and left just as quickly. The dragons of the wastelands were next to see the strange creature, followed by all those present at the royal court of the Alicorn sisters, then a cavern of the Diamond dogs, then those of the griffin stronghold of the western shore cliffs, followed by the only true wild life of the forest that shall be EverFree, and finally those at a picnic upon a hill facing castle Canterlot. His final resting place was that of a shore by a calm lake where he lay until sunrise the next day. By the time the source had awoken all concerned parties were aware that it was not an isolated incident and were on high alert searching for it, guided by the small drops of blood. Some for the sake of curiosity, others to ensure their prolonged well being, and others still with thoughts of gaining power from the stranger. Many scouts were sent to the EverFree forest where strange things were expected to gather. All they would find for their effort was another few spots of blood like the one that led them to it. The mage got up and rested under a willow facing a mountain side castle trying to calmly think of the best way to handle this problem.
The BeginningWith his back against the willow and safely out of view of any who might pass by, the mage sought council from his trusted adviser. “Utnapanapishtim, why does it feel like a wrestled with an enraged bull?" Utim's voice echoed in the back of his mind slightly distorted by the darkness it came from as always. "I know that you have been warned that the Howling halls are no place for any mortal to be." With a touch of accusation lining his inner thoughts, "You said that only prolonged exposure would result in any noticeable fallout. It was no more than 30 seconds." "Be glad you are incapable of processing time properly there. It was more like a decade, relatively speaking." No longer angry but still upset, "Another decade of supposed life lived without a trace of aging. How am I to ever know my true age anymore?" "Well if you were to ask friends you are still 19 with 3 years of life left. But between you and me you are more like 279." While moving to scratch his head at the extra decade of life he noticed what appeared to be a rune. He examined his palm to find it covered in runes that marked him as the familiar of Oren, and that his hand was off colored and aged surrounding the cut across the center of his hand. With slight concern he asked, "Ignoring the redundancy of getting a boost to my magical abilities... from myself, what happened to my hand?" "I can only imagine it is an infection from the void." Now with true concern he laughed to himself, "Fantastic, I only know of one who can cure it and he happens to live about impossible away from where I currently am." "It is not impossible." Still laughing away, "I am bound here by familiar contract. There are only to ways to void a familiar contract: the death of the familiar or the death of the summoner, I am both." "That contract is not as binding as you think. You cannot void a contract by signing a different newer one." He knew it was the truth but he did not know where Utim was going with this so responded with a joke, "What would you recommend then? Cutting off my hand?" He would be willing to amputate as well but Utim told him it would be unnecessary. "It should be no different from stripping ink off of paper just be sure that the runes find the original owner." The idea of searching the entire planet for a single creature that he has never met was daunting. "I don't have that kind of time! Wait, how much time do I have?" "Seven days at best." Before he would consider giving up, inspiration struck. "I've got it. This just requires even more depressing glimpses into the past and future." The joy with which he would remind himself that he could not fight fate was lost on him. Without waiting for further council he had already projected himself to the future. It was not even an hour into the future when he had learned of several things that could be of use. He told himself that he had bleed in the places he visited making them easy to find and that he was to be subjected to a large scale man-hunt by nearly everything living here. Apparently there were no perks to the ruins and they decided he should be a battle-mage. It was a quick minuet of giving important news as always, this was just a shortcut and he would have learned it all, apparently within the hour, regardless of if he did this or not. The past was uneventful but he got to see that one of the creatures that lived here was a pegasus. Once his mandatory minuet to the past was up he prepared to leave. He audibly said to himself with a smile at his new found hope. "When tracking a creature, one of the simplest ways is to follow the blood trail. The nearest should be over that way on one of the hills." /– –/ Rainbow Dash flew along with Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle at the request of Pinkie Pie. Apple Jack and Rarity were too busy to join them and Fluttershy did not want to risk meeting it. “Pinkie you know we already checked here again, twice. Why would it be any different now." Dash grumbled from being interrupted during a nap. "Because my Pinkie sense told me that somepony is going to move furniture from out there, silly." Pinkie responded with a giggle while bouncing along. "And how does that mean that, that thing will be there. "Still upset at the prospect of wasted nap time. Twilight seemed just as happy as Pinkie Pie, "I planned on triple checking to make sure we didn't miss anything when we double checked anyway." "Ugh, you can't be serious" Rainbow knew full well she was serious but the thought of repeating a task for a third time was just ridiculous. "Anypony with eyes can see it will be different this time." Pinkie said while bouncing backwards to face her two friends. "That’s the spirit Pinkie." Twilight clearly agreed with the trip. "And how can you know that they aren't just taking the tables for routine maintenance." "Hey, your right. It just came to take the table to get it fixed. I should thank it." With that Pinkie hurried on ahead. "What are you-" Twilight stopped when she saw Pinkie run up to the same figure they saw a day ago, clad in the same black robes, standing in front of the remains of the blood. While Twilight was flabbergasted Rainbow Dash tackled it. After all the royal guard were out looking for it to see if they should be concerned. She flipped it over to see it better while holding it down. Its face was flatter than a pony's and it had a short black beard and a black mane tied up like Apple Jack. The hood on its robes was up and the black robes themselves were tattered and held up with a simple piece of rope. It looked young enough and it had an infected gash with writing on its hand but it didn't seem all that dangerous so she simply got off of its chest. "I am afraid the person you are looking for is not home at the moment, may I take a message?" Rainbow Dash backed up a bit "Wha-" "It can talk!" "Can you be sure to tell him thanks for fixing that table." While they were all distracted by Pinkie Pie's comment it got up. "Welcome home!" It appeared to smile at that before walking over to a tree and beckoned for them to follow. It rubbed its strange fore hooves on its throat, ears, and then eyes in a fluid motion. It then placed them on the tree. "The boss has given me permission to answer some questions for you. And before we begin I shall answer the question that you are all thinking: No there are no job openings available at the moment. So who wants to go first?" Rainbow and Twilight were a bit to stunned by the echoy voice tainted with darkness coming from the mouth-less tree to answer promptly and Pinkie would have taken the opportunity to ask first regardless. "What is it like being a tree?" "I am not a tree, just attached to it." "That’s too bad, a friend of mine wants to be one so I thought that maybe she could hear all about it from a tree's perspective." Twilight had recovered and fired away all the questions of relevance should could think of. "Is it dangerous? What is it doing here? What was it doing in the throne room? How was it in six places at once? What kind of creature is it?" "Oren, could be dangerous to those that he considers an enemy and was looking for answers on how to leave. He thinks he might follow the blood. He was not in six places at once and they were all just random places. The human calls himself a magician-wizard." Ignoring the last answer, “Wait does that mean he plans on going back to the throne room?!” “I would imagine so, unless he learns that there is nothing to be gained by going there.” Rainbow Dash asked a question while Twilight seemed to mumble something about a letter to the Princess. "What is wrong with its hand?” “Another side effect from his Broken Magic." Twilight had rejoined the conversation and asked a question that had already been answered. “It can use magic? ...What do you mean it is broken?” “Yes and he is the one who thinks it is broken.” “Why?” She could not see why someone would call their own magic broken. “Ask him.” At which point Twilight and Rainbow started to notice that something was strange. Twilight voiced both of their concerns. "...Why isn't he answering these questions?" "He is currently busy." They noticed that the creature and Pinkie Pie were no where to be seen. "...Doing what?" which was followed by an explosion when they went towards its location they saw the creature called Oren a good distance back from Pinkie where he lay on the ground groaning. They were both long since out of earshot. "It looks like I am needed. The name is Utnapanapishtim, thanks for caring." They both hurried over to Pinkie Pie to see if she was alright when they heard "Sors salutis et virtutis michinunc contraria, est affectus et defectus, semper in angaria" They went over to question it about its actions but where he lay the picnic table now stood. "Hey! He didn't fix the table at all." Rainbow Dash asked, “Pinkie what was that explosion just now.” “It wanted to show me a trick where the scribbles on his hoof glowed. Then he pulled them into the air with his other hoof but when he tried to show them to me they all went BANG. He really needs to work on that trick.” She looked as happy as ever and not worried about what whatever it was trying to do. Rainbow and Twilight decided it was best to get word to the Princess in case it tried something similar in her court. /– –/ He held his arm up to look at how the infection and runes both had spread all over his arm stopping at his elbow. "Well that could have gone better. Still I learned a great deal. How much did that knowledge cost me?" "93 hours remain." After getting up he replied, "Really that cost me three of my days. What a scam." “Thanks for fixing the table.” He could not help but respond out-loud with a look of confusion on his face. “What are you talking about?” /* Fate is against me in health and virtue, driven on and weighted down, always enslaved */ /*+2 classy if you know where I got it from*/
The Trend"I need more information before I can truly make such a claim. The next closest blood sample was kind enough to be in a location of distortion to prevent time saving travel magic. As such we must proceed on foot off towards the heart of the Forest.” “The guards mentioned a forest, you are just assuming they meant the correct one.” Oren had not gone on a hike since gaining magic making for a nostalgic trip. “We would come here eventually and if I am right it will set us ahead of schedule.” While technically said to Utim it was more of just thinking to himself. “This forest is not so different from the one my secret, ritual cavern is located in: lots of magical creatures waiting to attack those they know they can easily overpower; the poor lighting at all times of day; potentially poisonous plants everywhere; horrible rumors attached to said forest. A fella might get home sick.” "You should stop enjoying yourself. This is burning precious time I hope you find something worthwhile for the risky investment, that is this journey." Not used to having to deal with such nonstop complaints, his mood quickly was turning sour, "It is not much farther besides this place practically reeks of an orthodox wizard's familiar." "Too bad that means your unorthodox familiar will be nowhere to be found." "Your overflowing excitement is heartwarming, but that is not what we are here for. I agree my familiar will not have resided in this forest; the creatures here only seem to live for their freedom.” Before Utim could counter, “The answers I seek will be revealed shortly, we have arrived." He did his prophet thing, stepping out of his body into a monochrome version of the, now still world. He watched as his body quickly hiked backwards the way he came as the sun began to travel back to what he would call east at an accelerating pace. He continued to watch time rapidly rewind until he suddenly halted it and was now 7 hours after he first arrived in this plane of existence. He watched as armored guards descended to investigate the blood with their magic which was much easier to spot thanks to the glow that accompanied it for whatever reason. They were carried in by armored pegasus and after they were done the two unicorns shared their findings claiming that 'Princess Celestia was right'. Oren now had two near identical cases of this Princess Celestia knowing where to look for traces of where he spilled blood on landing and therefore had to know something. Time was racing forward and he caught a glimpse of getting attacked by a wolf before he stood in the future 13 hours from when he left. He would have to wait a few minutes before he could try to deal with the wolf that would attack him moments after he returned to his body. There was no sign to indicate that he died there, so he felt there was nothing to fear as time whisked him back to where he belonged. Upon stepping back into his body and regaining the color spectrum the wolf appeared behind him. He turned and raised his right hand to simply levitate it out of his way so he could leave the forest and be on his merry way. The runes on his left arm glowed in protest to this as the wooden wolf pounced and bit into his arm; he quickly realized what he had meant when he said, "the ruins decided he should be a battle-mage." They clearly didn't care about range but he could not use magic on anything other than himself. After freeing himself from the wolf, he healed his arm, made himself invisible, and ran. "I can't wait to screw over past Oren like this." It wasn't truly his fault but knowing what was going to happen and have no way to let himself stop it always made it seem like a cruel prank to his past version. One of the many reasons he tried to stop using that kind of magic. When he finally reached the edge of the forest he began seeking the cottage where the pegasus from the picnic lived. Among other things, he had followed 5 of the 6 present to their homes in hopes of learning why he might have appeared in front of them. He didn't learn much that was helpful. One of the unicorns knew the princess and the pegasus he seeked treated the injured even though they were of a different kind. The rest of his investigating in the past was likely wasted effort. The future revealed guards examining what he now knew to be, where the incident with the pink one had taken place. He stopped healing his arm and dropped the invisibility outside her fence. /– –/ Fluttershy was inside her home preparing lunch when for some strange reason she felt compelled to look towards her front yard. She let out a shriek when she saw the creature from yesterday practically glowing. She hid behind her hair but could still see it through closed eyes and she just couldn't look away. It eventually faded away from her vision and after allowing herself to calm down she remembered that it was bleeding. She grabbed her first aide kit and cautiously peeked out of a window to see if it was still there, it was. She left her home and meekly approached it from behind. Before she had a chance to speak up, "YOU!" It turned to the noise to see Rainbow Dash pointing her hoof at him from the sky. It looked around and then place the non-bleeding limb on its chest. "Yes, you. What was with attacking Pinkie Pie?" She landed and was crouched ready to tackle it again if need be. Upon hearing this, Fluttershy hurried over to Rainbow Dash's side. It began walking over to a nearby tree. Her enthusiasm momentarily gone, "Ugh, not this again." Rainbow was not in the mood to argue with a tree again. It removed its hands from the tree and turned around with a good deal of blood on the right side of its face and neck. "Glad to hear you still remember me, my colorful flying friend." Once retaking an offensive stance, she brought up the topic again. "You have some nerve showing up here after attacking Pinkie." "Neither he nor I attacked this 'Pinkie' and I seem to recall, boss, being the one knocked to the ground. I was informed that she appeared to not even consider what happened to be a threat against her well-being. Which it wasn't." She refused to let it off the hook that easily. "That still doesn't explain what you are doing here." To this the tree grabbed Oren's bleeding arm and lifted it up with no complaints from the creature aside from reaching to release the bleeding arm with the one infected and covered in scribbles. She could not help but be slightly worried at what she saw. It was not that long ago when she last saw Oren. "Did his infection get worse?" "Very observant of you. Speaking of, how far away were you when you noticed him." She didn't entirely get the point of the question and would have to ask Fluttershy for an explanation later. "I was already heading this way to get Fluttershy." "Ah, just more bad luck on Oren's part then." The comment was taken as an insult. "How is meeting me bad luck?" "He still remains untreated and continues to bleed out while you argue with me over a simple misunderstanding." This got Fluttershy's attention and she went to clean and bandage the wound while mumbling apologies that fell on deaf ears. There was silence between the two until the treatment was finished. "Well it has been a pleasure, but the hour is almost up and he can't be late. Shall I tell the Princess you and your friends said hello?" She immediately responded "No,” not wanting to be affiliated with the annoying plant. “Suit yourself.” She asked not sure what the strange pair might try to pull, “What are you going to do when you see the Princess?" But the tree did not respond and where Oren was, a bush was firmly planted. Fluttershy just looked at the shrubbery confused at what had transpired during her first interaction with the new guest in Equestria, "Rainbow, what just happened." "It did it again!” She let out a sigh, “Whatever forget that thing, Twilight wanted me to get you so that all of us could hear the Princess's response." With that the two headed off towards town and the library. /– –/ Oren just finished giving his report to the lake, so that he might eavesdrop in on it using the power of the prophet. "Now that all loose ends here are taken care of, what say we go and visit this 'benevolent ruler' Princess Celestia to see what her information network has gathered on me. Maybe she will consider not sending someone to investigate whenever you talk to someone upon meeting us in person.”
The Deceit"You put too much faith in their ruler." Upset by the growing trend of pessimism from his aide, "Not only is she loved by the masses she practices magic. With magic of her own there is less need for the completely rational fear of an unknown Magician-wizard approaching a top tier political figure." "The same paranoid figure who is always watching your every move." Persistence to face off with the voice of logic, "If she is not comfortable in her own castle there is no chance of a discussion ever." "You can't just pop in on royalty uninvited." "Of course, we will be invited in from the front gate." The idea of just popping in on royalty would be a good way to ensure attack on sight orders. "What will stop them from attacking you on sight?" Utim seemed to be out of sync or something, "Why you and your silver tongue." Now in front of the castle gates with a 'borrowed' potted bonsai tree the Utim discretely got the attention of the guards on patrol. "Salutations! O Noble guardians of the aristocracy. I am Utnapanapishtim, ambassador of Titania, queen of fairies. I apologize for getting lost on my way to the meeting with the royal court. I hear many of your brothers and sisters in arms were sent to guide me here, but I have finally found my way and the courtesy was most thoughtful." The two guards were unsure of what the proper procedure for such an occurrence was in this situation. "Should I wait here for the captain of the guard to escort me to the Princess or is there a waiting room inside." They took the hint and one went to report to Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard. In no time at all Shining stood before the talking tree and creature his sister had mentioned. "Greetings captain, I am sure the Princess mentioned that we were coming to discuss a sensitive situation so we took the extra effort to come here undetected. If we are too early we can always go on a stroll through the town: see the sights, try local cuisine, partake in small-talk with some of the locals, you know the usual ways one would, 'kill' time." Doing his best to ignore the threat, it was true that Princess Celestia would want to question their guest if possible. Shining decided to keep the facade given to him, "Right this way ambassador." After navigating deep into the castle they reached the throne room. "One moment while I make the necessary introductions." "Feel free to drop the act whenever you want." After a few moments of explaining to the Princess the doors to the throne room were encased in a gold aura and opened for the tree and mage. When the doors closed behind them Utim gave Oren the signal and he began to glow. "Before we begin, 'ambassador' Utnapanapishtim, I will ask that you do not attempt to threaten me with such a weak display of magic." "You insult me dear Princess, all he does is silently shout for all to observe him so that you don't get any ideas about killing us behind closed doors. This ultra-visibility spell makes it so that there is no way to not be seen. All those in the castle can see us and those close enough will be very inclined to observe us. In return, should we try anything your entire castle guard will know immediately. Unless of course you object to this peaceful discussion being so public." "...No it is fine, shall we move on to the business at hand. Why did you come here?" "You see I have been tracking a strange series of blood stains I believe come from a creature from far away, when it came to my attention that I was not the first to be investigating. Since you clearly know more about it than I do maybe you can inform me of what I am missing." "Are you aware that the creature you travel with is tainted with evil?" "Are you aware that won't be the case in 92 hours?" "And why is that?" “Surely you noticed his left arm, it is kind of hard to miss.” “Yes, what of the markings?” "Oren was sight-seeing when he noticed which way the country was headed and wanted to use his little remaining life to better it. Those markings allow him to see if a creature is willing to cooperate. For example there was that time in the field where he was looking to see if a friendly pink pony was willing to help him overthrow the reigning monarchy.” Princess Celestia was deep in thought so Shining Armor stepped in, "Do you really think you could come here before the Princess and get away with such treasonous talk." "I am but a humble tree who has bathed in the light of our ruler's sun for almost a century. As for him it would only be treason if he was a citizen." The tree seemed to be throwing its ally in front of a cart. Shining felt compelled to clarify, "Then you have come to turn him in?" "So the Princess can banish him from his exile or is that reserved for family only. No, petrification is a much better way to go, then you can use him as a common lawn ornament. If you want, I can save you the trouble and do it myself." Ignoring the knowledge the tree somehow acquired he was outraged at the rudeness of the potted speaker, “How can you speak of such tragedies of the past like they are nothing in front of the Princess.” “It really is quite simple. That lavender unicorn I spoke to earlier seemed like such lovely thing. It is a shame that because of her Princess's persistent pursuit, obstructing Oren's endeavors that her life will be put in danger, despite her dear brother's duty.” Shining Armor could take no more and restrained the creature in his telekinesis. The tree had but one last parting remark, “Ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system.” “Negotiations have failed Oren.” A quick snide remark to Utim, “Thank you for your most helpful insight,” while with his inhale the aura wavered and dissipated off of him on exhale, instead holding only the tiny tree. Shining Armor's attempts to re-include Oren continued to fail. “There is a statue by the Labyrinth that would be best for your departure.” But before that, while pointing at Princess Celestia, “Nimis exaltatus rex sedet in vertice, caveat ruinam.” Then where he once stood was the statue of Discord. “Shining Armor, I do not hold you accountable but you have allowed the tree, Utnapanapishim, to play upon your emotions and into whatever it was planning.” A hung head, sigh, and apologies were her reply. “It is alright but we need to find out why they wanted to be seen being attacked first.” Thoughts on Oren's adamant refusal to speak up on his own behalf lingered. /– –/ Invisibly stepping down from the statue's platform Oren began the trek to a safer location. “Care to inform me as to what you were discussing when they decided to turn hostile.” “They were not to thrilled with the idea of you opposing Uther's wish to eliminate all that is magical nor of you getting help from any of the residents here. But the final straw was when I asked them to at least let you search for a way home without hindrance.” Disappointment hanging off of him, “I see, you were right then. There can be no such thing as a benevolent monarch, magical or otherwise. A loved dictator, Julius Cesar all over again.” /* far too high up sits the king at the summit, let him fear ruin */
The Illness/* Look who is not dead yet. Sorry about the delay which has no valid excuse whatsoever. */ Oren was now out of the immediate vicinity of the castle and back at the lake, "Well now that we are known enemies of the state, I suppose we should get as far away from here as possible." A quick recheck on the blood sigils showed that the one that would have been next was moving closer and the southern rune had been destroyed. Luckily, relatively all things considered, the one far to the east was left undisturbed. With one last remark from Oren, "Let's hope for better results in the land of the rising sun," they departed the country leaving a boulder in their sted. Oren took a quick survey of his surroundings to find he was outside a fortress, one can only assume was on the other side of the large wall decked out with wooden spikes, with little plant life in the immediate vicinity and the sound of waves crashing in the background. After waiting a few moments to see if any creature witnessed his arrival, Oren made his way to a more subtle location and began his mystic scouting. Oren, physically speaking, was fortunate enough to be tackled shortly after leaving his body to scout, by a young female Griffin. Now pinned to the ground by a creature higher in the food chain Utim began stalling, "I should hope this doesn't mark the beginning of a trend." Gilda looked down at the most recent intruder, "I see you have returned like that Princess Celestia thought you would." "My how fast word travels here. That was not more than a couple of minutes ago I should wager, most impressive." Talking to this creature would clearly wear on her nerves and the others wanted to see it, unharmed if possible. "Hmph, an hour ago actually." "Ah, news of the first encounter. Still, considering the distance that is no small feat." 'Utim it appears this area is home to a pride, or is it flock, of Griffins.' 'Old news, try and keep up. Word of our actions in the castle have yet to arrive only that of the first encounter, act accordingly.' "Well the owner is home. It was a pleasure chatting with you; we should do this again sometime." "What?" It was doing almost exactly the same as the message from Canterlot said it did in Ponyville. Oren regaining control of his senses noticed the similar position he found himself in. "At least this time a predator is the one attacking me. I never heard of a leaf eating creature initiating a confrontation unprovoked." Well that was new, "Huh, I thought you were supposed to talk through trees." Oren chuckled slightly and with a smile explained, "Oh that, I would never speak to a creature like them for the life of me." Gilda's opinion of the creature went up enough to allow it to get up. "Tell me about it, those ponies sure are a bunch of dweebs." 'Utim do you suppose that is just the Griffin way of saying pure?' 'Oh most definitely.' Oren and the Griffin were not nearly as conflicting as he was with the ponies. Things were looking up. "As you said but I know there is no need for such concern among Griffins." Gilda was glad this thing new the proper order of things. "You got that right." Time to find out the extent of the Princess's lies. "I suppose you must also have heard some version of what I did to the pink pony." Gilda understood where he was coming from granted it was a tad drastic. She might have done something similar if there were not so many treaties between the Griffins and ponies. "Yah, surprised you lasted that long before having to try and shut her up." Of course they would accuse me of such a thing. “I had already made myself deaf temporarily." Gilda might be able to see Rainbow Dash again if she could learn how he could do such a thing. "Really? That sounds like a pretty cool way to deal with them lame brains." Time for the moment of truth. "I was simply testing to see if they would be able to help. Allow me to demonstrate." Oren reached for his arm to begin removing the runes but stopped quickly with a grimace. Instead he wiped his hand over his throat looked around at the plant-less surroundings and shrugged. He then returned his hand to the runes. Shortly, they were all aglow again, then began the part he was dreading. As swiftly as possible he began removing the runes from his arm and with them came his skin and a good deal of the muscle underneath. Needless to say it was extremely painful and he was cursing and swearing muted the entire time. Once he finished his skeletal arm hung limp and he proceeded to vomit on the ground. The salty air from the ocean against his exposed nerves caused further pain. Wanting to get this over with quickly he thrust the glowing orb of runes towards Gilda who flinched slightly only for it to bounce off of her and knock Oren back and onto the ground runes on him once more. The slight burn from the re-etching told him most of his torso, left leg, and some of his neck were claimed now. 'Congratulations, you now have 52 hours remaining.' 'Not in the mood' While the runes seemed to seal the pain, which he was very thankful for, his arm was now useless and would likely have to be amputated when he had a chance. Considering how much worse it was from the first time another attempt would likely compromise something vital in his chest killing him. 'The runes didn't out right reject Griffins like it did for ponies, this was a step in the right direction.' 'If you will excuse my mood I might have been a tad more excited, if it weren't for the fact that the next try will cause me to keel over, probably immediately.' Gilda was utterly shocked at what she just saw. "Where in Tartarus did that come from?" New plan, hope to find someone here that can cure me. "That was the test I gave the Pink one. A test that it seems I can no longer give. I don't suppose there is any chance of a good magical healer I can see being nearby?" "All the good docs are back in Equestria, they can't be bothered to come help any of their neighbors." Memories of going to see Rainbow Dash to see if she might hook her up with a Doc for her younger sister came back. 'Great, I don't suppose I can just kill myself now and save some time?' 'No, I want that body healthy when I get it.' 'I figured as much. Suppose I would want the previous owner of my future home to leave it in good condition as well.' Oren now had to really rely on the one local he knew who wasn't being blinded by lies. "I don't suppose you could aide me in receiving medical attention somehow." Gilda could see it clearly was in need of help if only mentally. "Well... I used to have a friend back in Ponyville, Rainbow Dash who has some connections higher up." 'I highly doubt that there is another rainbow colored pony in that hamlet. Your odds of getting the body seem to have gone up in smoke.' Oren was surprised that a Griffin would associate with a potential meal especially to the degree of friendship. "Could I trouble you to give it a shot anyway?" "Unlike you, I would have to fly there and that might take awhile." Hardly a problem for one skilled in breaking the system, “Leave that to me.” Oren disappeared to be replaced by the boulder from before then Gilda disappeared and found herself under a tree by a lake in Ponyville then the tree vanished and Oren appeared beside her. "Glad to see I can still abuse a loop-hole like the good old days." He went to drink some water from the lake, but never made it as he proceeded to cough violently a good deal of blood in the coughs. 'I am 19 during a time of peace, this is ridiculous.' "I hope you have luck in getting a doctor. I'm just gonna-" Oren then passed out in a heap on the ground. "If you truly do wish to help, I suggest you leave out the description on just who it is that needs treatment. Oren isn't exactly popular around here." With that the creature was silent leaving Gilda to wonder just what she should do now.
