Chapters The First Writings
I write for many reasons; to preserve my past for future generations, to protect my thoughts for later remembrance, and to make sure that which is right, is never forgotten. But I get ahead of myself in my writings it would seem. Allow me to introduce myself to you, I am a performing Pegasus named Chance the Cheat. I know what you're already thinking with a last name like that, but no, it is not a title that I earned for being a con-pony. Cheat is a family name from my father's side, the great Cheats have quite the history, I've even found a few references to them in magic history books. My father tells me that there was more that even dated back to the time before the great harmony, but it's very hard to get a hold on books that tell of those times. I question it at times, but only in the silence of my home, it's a strange city I dwell in. You see, I was born and raised in Las Pegasus, the city of performance, of lights, and of chance. A city that was perfect for me, a city where it all started.
Some information on this city: it is divided by physical lines and lines that the people draw themselves, and rightfully so. The city is divided into four main parts; the section of the Diamonds, the section of the Hearts (Also known as the Bleeding Hearts) the section of the Clubs, and the section of the Spades. As you can see, they are all based off of the suits of the traditional playing cards, as gambling and playing is part of the life-blood and appeal of this city. The Diamonds own and run most of the major shops, be it gift shops, jewelry stores, or small businesses. The Hearts are mostly the medical ponies and emergency workers, be that a firefighter or a rescue worker. The Clubs (as their name may imply) run the clubs of the city, the dance clubs, party houses, and almost anything to do with a good time. All of these groups control a bit of a large area of buildings and business close to the middle point of the city, anything you might ever want and everything you don't can be found there. That area even houses some of the largest names in performance and gambling around.
Yes, I am very aware that I have skipped the group of the Spades, but this is for a very good reason. Nobody is quite sure what they are, not even I am quite sure even now as I write this. The opinions of them vary greatly, but here is what most of them may think. Some believe them to be a syndicate of large names that may hunt those who hinder their plans, to be buried in the end by the spade. Some believe them to be underground police and investigative ponies, taking cases that light will never be shed on, digging up the dirt the city could not bare to see with their namesake. Others think that they're the founders of the great city, hiding in the shadows and observing their success in silence for reasons unknown, maybe they're hunted or hated, nobody knows for sure. Mystery surrounds them, an enticing veil of shadows, mystery, doubt and illusion. A veil that one should not attempt to pierce lightly, nor with a rusty blade.
Now that I've told you most of the working of the city, let's move onto where my humble cog fits into this machine. I am, much like my father, a born and bred performer of the stage and streets. But unlike my dear father, I prefer the streets for many reasons. I enjoy seeing the pony's faces light up face to face, the thrill of fooling them with a trick of mine, but I enjoy it even more so because of another difference between my father and I, magic. You see, my father is a Unicorn, and my mother a Pegasus, a bit of the reason why they named me Chance. They figured that due to their lines and family past, that it was a fifty-fifty chance that I might take onto either of their lines. My mother's line was mostly Pegasi, and my father's mostly Unicorns. They had little to no Earth-pony blood in them, so that was out of the question. And for reasons that need not be said, I would surely not be an Alicorn.
Speculation surrounds what makes an Alicorn, or at least for me it does, I tend to question what others may not, I suppose that's the nature of a magician. I wonder what might make them, could it be royal blood? Who sired the two sisters of Dawn and Dusk(Celestia and Luna)? What are Prince Blueblood's ties to the royal family, how was he admitted into it? Was it birth or marriage or an agreement of some kind? One could go further into questioning where in the world Princess Mi Amore Cadenza or Cadance came from, we know that she was around for some time and didn't simply 'evolve' into an Alicorn. She was a foal-sitter for the legendary mare of Twilight too. And we have two, now three Princess's and a prince, or well two I guess with the royal wedding. Would there not be contesting for the throne? Or for who bears the title? None that is visible, they all seem to share the title and perhaps the responsibilities as well. Is there a King and Queen behind all of this, where they mentioned in the time before the great harmony? Nobody is sure, but perhaps... perhaps it is better that way.
Back to my family however, more specifically my mother and father. My mother met my father as an assistant for one of his grand shows of magic, she was greater in her assistance than he could have ever imagined and they eventually after a few more shows decided to couple up. They were stunning in their performances, my father performs in many ways, practicing magic never before seen, stunning visuals of making pure light constructs move and tell a grand story, and many more. He was great in his magical ability and his talent to push the boundaries of what we thought was possible for Unicorn magic in general. He and I even craft little pet theories of ours, some joking and some serious, one serious one being the birth patterns of ponies. In general, nobody is quite sure what may dictate your birth race, the cake family had a Pegasus and a Unicorn due to their ancestry. We theory that every pony has magic deep within them, we have cutie marks that show our special talent when we discover it for ourselves, and that could hardly be chalked up to genetics. That is, unless you were to argue that magic is part of our genes, in which case you would be kind of right, within our theory anyways.
We have no way, and by we I mean my family, of testing these out and we're sure others may have thought of this before. Our theory mainly consists of the thought that we all have magic deep within ourselves at all times, and perhaps an excess of this magic or simply family potential, that births a Unicorn. They can harness this primal power deep within themselves and manifest it through techniques and inborn knowledge. But now what can we all do with what may be inside of us? We can perhaps pass it on, and it contributes to our cutie mark, but can we manifest it? This is where the theory breaks off with him, but where mine continues in slight secret. Perhaps through certain means, we can make use of this magic within us. My only concern is if unlike Unicorns, our force may run out, or if Unicorns simply have the innate ability to tap into the primal force of magic around us, and not within us. It's a mystery, perhaps one to never be solved. But, I didn't start my writings to share theory, or not entirely anyways. I did it to make sure the truth would always be known.
Allow me to elaborate, my family, more specifically my mother, carries a legend upon its shoulders. This is the legend of a third sister of the royal family, making Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, the fourth sister to come into the family. The legend of the princess of fate, I like to call her 'Lady Luck' in honor of my performing history. She was the princess of the intangible, the forces of chance and the chains of fate that bind us all together. For reasons rather unknown, she was set apart from her sisters of Dawn and Dusk and never spent quite some time with them from what is written. We all know the great tale of the kingdoms past, of the banishment of Luna for one thousand years. This action could indeed be seen as usurping to some, but to our dear lady, it was an act of betrayal, and she feared that she might be next on the list. She distrusted her sister of Dawn and was terribly sad for her sister of Dusk, but after much sadness she began to see reason. Dawn did what she had to do, but Luna simply wanted more attention, more respect and to be understood. This was a harsh reaction to a simple cry for attention in her eyes. She did not know how long the banishment would last, and feared that with family's bond with the elements of harmony being broken, that she might never come back.
The thought of the cold and desolate moon being her sister's home forever, made her terrified for her. Nopony deserved that fate for wanting to be loved, to be known, acknowledged or appreciated. She used her mastery over the chains that bind us all, and arranged an amazingly elaborate scheme to change the course of the very stars in the heavens above, to aide in her sister's escape. She knew that with her combination of the position of the stars and the powers of them both combined, they could break her imprisonment. What she did not know however, was how long until her plans would come to fruition. Now, one could argue that she was in a domain not of her own, powers at play that she could not aptly challenge. One could also argue that there could be a force/ Alicorn that may govern each element ephemeral or not. We have one of night, day, and now love, it wouldn't be too long of a shot to say there were many more. However, I have no way of knowing this for any amount of sureness so I'll go on with what I do know.
When the day finally came that her final stitch in her intricate web had been sown, she sat back and watched it all unfold with time. She watched, from where none are sure, as the final moments occurred, ready to see their family come together once more, to meet up with the sisters who must have forgotten her after all this time. As we all know today, the return of Luna never truly came, instead there was a beast by the name of Nightmare Moon to plunge the world into eternal darkness once more. Our dear lady surely knew that things would not be smooth sailing, oh yes, her sister would be mad, but she would be there to resolve these problems, as a family once more. But no, the night had changed her dear sister, it had taken control of her. She was no longer the sister she had known, and she was the one to release this... this horror unto the world.
As we all are very well aware, Nightmare Moon was taken down by the new bearers of the Elements, led by the Mare of Twilight, the apprentice of Dawn. And so with that, it was that Mare of Twilight that connected Dawn and Dusk once more. This was big news indeed, the elements connected once more, and the return of a royal family member. This news did indeed reach our dear Lady Luck. And joy filled her heart, but still a grim sorrow and shame overtook her. Yes, the problem that she brought upon the world had been remedied, but she was still the one to have caused it in the first place, and not be accident at all. Yes, she had no knowledge that this would happen, but ignorance is a poor excuse for nearly dooming the world to an eternal night. Her sister was forgiven, but she would not be so lucky. If her sister had not truly forgotten her as she had thought, what if she knew that she was indeed the one to release her? What if her ignorance to her actions was a sign of forgiveness, of understanding? What if she was already readying her punishment for when she confessed? Her sister suffered banishment for an outburst, what would she suffer for her transgressions?
As the tale goes, she thought it better in her fear and panic to stay hidden, to suffer a self-banishment from the royal family and all that she knew and loved. One day, she might come back and confess, ready to accept her fate, but as we all know, she has yet to do anything of the sort. She stays in hiding to this day, but where exactly she hides, nobody knows in the slightest. Even I still have few ideas to where she may be, it would be foolish to hide in Canterlot or many major cities close to her home. Surely almost anywhere and Alicorn would be noticed and make large news everywhere, "a fourth sister found" would be everywhere within the hour, to Celestia within the minute.
There is another part of the story that is rather physical, one that I have the honor to hold daily. There is a necklace that is passed down from generation to generation in my mothers side, and she passed it down to me. Ever since I was young I was enthralled with the story, believing it to be truer than water being wet so to say. My other siblings paid little heed to it as much as I, my little sister Roulette did care for it and believed in it, but my elder brother Blackjack did not, or simply didn't show any visible care for it. I suppose I forgot to mention them in the beginning, so I suppose now is as good as time as any to mention them with justice. My little sister is a Pegasus like me, named Roulette and she learned under my mother in the art of performance. My elder brother Blackjack is a Unicorn who learns under my father in the art of magic and some performance as well, but mostly magic it seems. I however, learn from both of them where I can, never quite perfectly fitting into their niches.
The necklace was given to me for never really having one of them to learn everything from and my pure dedication to this legend. The necklace is said to be a single crystalline tear of the Lady herself, it's wiring strands of her chain-like hair, and the chain that holds it all to be woven from her hair and the chains she weaves as well. Now I understand that only so much of this could be true when viewed by someone, and that so much of it could be lies or distorted truths. But I choose to believe in it more than anything around me, and I hope to prove it the truth. The necklace doesn't seem to be incredibly magical (though I have no way of measuring it either way for certain) but it does have two odd characteristics, that being that it is seemingly always warmer than my wings, neck, or hooves. The other characteristic being that when shined directly with light, it spews a brilliant array of spectra, many more shades that the color of the tear, that being a deep blue. But the spectra could be just due to it's odd shape and crystalline nature or something of the like, I'm no expert in gems or crystals to say the very least.
My father's family had a tradition of their own, that being to teach the sons their trade of illusions and such. Blackjack has been learning rather well, I help him practice here and there and he aids me in a favor or two. My sister has been learning quite nicely as well, while they both practice on mother or father, I take to the streets to gauge the reactions. I enjoy working up close with the people, earning my money by the honest ways of chance and my trade, it keeps me calm. Sometimes I think that I question things too much, that some things are truly left unquestioned and unanswered. The pressure of this city and my work on the Lady is enough to sometimes drive a pony to madness. It drove me to seclusion in that town at one point, holed up in my study room with books scattered about, notes torn from books. Performing and my walks to my usual coffee shop usually calmed me back then, they were my only saving grace in those times. I suppose I've talked enough about these things. It's time to move on to more seemingly more recent events. Time goes by in a blur since it all began that fateful day.
Shadows of The City of Lights
Shadows of The City of Lights
I had holed myself up in my study for one too many days that night, getting little rest and little food. I was high-strung that night, anxious and paranoid as I delved further into my thoughts, thinking I was constantly being watched with each turning of a page. Sense eventually found me and with the sun setting, I decided to get something to eat and drink from my favorite shop not too many blocks down. I put on my street clothes, that being a warm collared coat and a gifted hat, and went outside in the chilly evening air. It was fall at this time, going towards the holiday of Nightmare Night (which should go far smoother than last years for dear Ponyville) though it was still a fine ways away. I decided to walk to the shop today, even outside of my study I was becoming lost in thought and I wouldn't want to cause a scene or fly into someone. I also wanted to stay with the nighttime crowd to avoid many watching eyes that I believed to be upon me that night. The things that I found, the questions I was asking and the items I was pursuing were sure to have grabbed someones attention at one point or another. I tried to shy these thoughts away as I neared the shop, its lights on and a few patrons scattered about the insides of it.
As I entered the shop, I was promptly greeted by a good friend of mine, one of the workers and owners of the fine shop whom went by the name of Berry Blend, or Berry for short. She was a pleasant mare, definitely not born in a city like this, she was born from an area far south of here, and her accent showed this clearly. She smiled as I came in that night and I tipped my hat to her as I asked for the usual thing that I got when I came by. I took a booth near the side of the shop like I do most nights, in the day time I usually took a seat up by the front and had some conversation with the workers. Berry could always tell if something was wrong with me, she said that she knew my most of my family and me since I came to be. She always cared about how we were all doing, had talks with my mother and father and was a close part of our family all in all. We even took to calling her Aunty Berry at one point as kids, we still do today.
She came back with the food and drink and since things were a bit slow this evening, decided to catch up with me. She asked the usual questions of how the family was doing, how my studies have been going and how my parents have been. Things were overall well last I checked, things being business as usual for my mother and father and my siblings learning quicker than ever. Things were also rather well for Berry as well, besides having to break up a hassle or two and somepony with a running tab, things were doing quite well for her and her shop. During all of this conversation and looking back on the events of that day, I failed to notice a dark pony all in black come in through the door. He ordered a simple brew and took a booth not to far from Berry and I, and just sat there reading some papers. I of course thought nothing of it at the time, but I could feel a cold and watchful gaze upon the back of my neck. Things eventually got to me as I remembered a pony like him somewhat trailing me, I tried to hide my nervousness but Berry picked up on it.
She asked what was eating at me and I tried to lie to her as best as I could "I guess this lack of sleep is just getting to me Berry. Too much work, not enough hours in the day, you know?" She nodded and smiled "I know all to much about that deary. And that's Aunty Berry to you Chancy." I laughed and calmed considerably at her use of an old nickname she gave me when I was very young "Alright Aunty Berry, I gotta head off. It was wonderful talking with you. You take it easy alright?" She continued her honey sweet smile and told me as I went off to get plenty of rest and take things easy myself. Things would hardly be easy from then on out for me, and I would receive little rest from then on out.
As I left the coffee shop that fateful night I decided to take a more unconventional route to my home. Through random walks and strolls through town I've mapped out certain areas of interest and quick paths home and to my favorite shops. I would have to use one tonight for fear of pursuit. From a quick glance behind me on my way out of the shop I had noticed the stallion all in black wrapping things up, heading out not too soon after me. More glances as I walked towards the beginning of the route and I observed him always in my sight, just within view. He was tailing me. I would need to take a more complicated route to throw him off. I dodged between a building and began my string of routes. I didn't fly at first to make sure that he was following, I could hear his quick footsteps in the distance. Unicorn or Earthpony then I thought to myself, best to throw him off with some quick, low flying .
I went into a sprint and kicked myself up off the ground and sped forward faster than I've ever flew before, making quick low turns and knocking over a few trash cans in my haste. I wouldn't fly high above the buildings for reason of him knowing exactly where I am and possibly calling more ponies to aid him. Adrenaline surging through my veins I continued to go forward with reckless speed and panic, flying for my life. I could hear him not far behind me, "Just how fast is this pony?! " I thought to myself. I maintained speed and made many sharp turns, left, right, right, left, left, straight, right, left, and so on. I slowed down upon noticing the lack of steps behind me, and only hearing the sound of the wind around me and my wings. By this point my hat was long behind me, my purple mane flowing through the wind and my glasses wet from the moisture in the air. It was starting to rain, and by the sounds of it, it was going to be a storm. Thunder rolled in the distance and flashes of light lit up the night sky further away.
I stopped to catch my breath in large pants, the lack of rest and only one meal today was not enough to on that fast for long for me. I walked quickly back on route with still not a sound behind me I began to calm. It began to rain very quickly, cool droplets plastering my long hair to the back of my neck and over my glasses. I brushed the hair aside and behind my ears, and walked onwards. Sounds of thunder and lightning neared the city and seemed to close in around me. I began to wonder if I had lost my hunter, if he had given up or simply wanted to see me run in fear, like a mouse in a maze laid out before him. I slowed to a walk to maintain my energy, keeping my eyes always on the shadows around me, lit up only by the strikes of light in the sky. I took one of my final turns in my large string of paths and was met with a wall of a tall building. A wave of confusion hit me all at once, this couldn't be I followed my route exactly didn't I? . A wall of thoughts and panic assailed me all at once, suffice to say, I had made a wrong turn or two. A terrible mistake, one that would surely cost me my life.
While trying to wonder where I had gone wrong in my paths, I made a fatal mistake. I let my guard down. There was surely some noise to be made with his entry behind me as I stared like a fool at the wall in front of me, but I only heard the clapping of his hooves when it was too late. I turned around to face this sight, it was the very same stallion from the shop, I had trapped myself, and he has sprung in for the reward. The cat at the end of the maze. I flapped my wings out and readied to fly above him but he cut me off with a harsh voice, "I really wouldn't do that if I was you buddy. I really wouldn't." I stopped cold, frozen with fear. The voice certainly didn't sound familiar, but it held no good intentions. In my panic in fear, I tried to reason with him, telling him that he could have my money. I certainly couldn't identify him and told him he could have just about anything that he wanted enough to have chased me thus far.
This only seemed to humor him instead of interest him. He said that if he wanted something from me, he would have taken it already, and that it wouldn't matter if I could identify him or not. I'd be dead soon anyways. He tipped his hat to me in mock curtsey and revealed a horn, he was a Unicorn. He must have used magic or know-how to catch up to me. Two more ponies stepped out from behind him, both Earthponies from the look of things. He had brought friends, and even more to come. The icy rain was coming down fiercely now and the strikes of lightning and roar of thunder becoming ever more frequent. It was a fairly wide space between the three buildings, you could likely fit quite a large cart in between them, and a few of them at that. I readied to dive in at them to defend myself, extending my wings and getting low to the ground for a jump , when suddenly more arrived. He brought three flyers along with him, that must have been how he could predict my movements. At this point I was very glad that I still kept low in my flying, but dreading the fight to come. One Unicorn, three Pegasi, two Earthponies, one me.
Heavily outnumbered and with the fight surely starting on the Unicorns command, he decided to gloat. He said things like how it was such a shame that I got in their way, that I had potential and that I was now but a bug to be crushed beneath him. He laughed and in the background thunder struck, the two Earthponies were the first to jump, they charged at him and dove in. I ducked beneath one and gave a solid kick to the ribs to the other while they were in mid-air, launching them against the far wall with a thud. I turned around to face the other and brought my wings in front of me to block just in time to stop a vicious headbutt. I ignored the pain in my wings and spread out my wings quickly and ducked my head beneath their chin and using a boost from my wings I launched them against the near wall. They landed with a thud and I presumed them unconscious for the moment, or at least injured and out of the fight. Two down, four more to go.
The ponies I suppose noticed that I could somewhat hold my own against a few of them, and they decided to go all out upon me. The Unicorn fired magic and launched objects in my direction, preferring to keep his distance from me. The three in the air dove down on my, ready to launch me or crush me beneath them. Either I had the greatest luck in the world, or something or someone helped me right then and there. A single bolt of arching lightning struck a that very moment, and struck one of the flying ponies right between the wings, the bolt arched over to the one on it's right and then slightly to the one on their right. The one that got hit the worst hit the ground with a thud and skidded a little, likely to be dead or near enough to it. The other two broke off mid dive and hit the wall and ground, both struggling to get up but obviously alive enough. It was just me and him. Things were more or less even.
The man looked in awe at those fallen around him, and howled with rage. He fired a massive bolt of magic at me as I charged towards him and it blasted me all the way back to the far wall. I bounced away from the impact, folding my wings behind me so that my spine might not be shattered but sacrificing flight. I hit the ground with a dull thud, landing on my now broken wings, I struggled against the white hot agony to lift myself off the ground. The man hurled all manner of things at me, trash cans, metal lids and even a knife that stuck into my side to the hilt. I had flipped myself over right when he had thrown these things at me and weakly avoided all but the knife and lid that left a gash in my side from a glancing blow. I was standing after he ran out of things to throw. I was bleeding and battered, but I was standing. And I was alive. There was quite the distance between us now, but he walked forward menacingly. In a last ditch effort to survive, I walked as fast as I could and tore the knife from my side, and threw it at his eye.
I hit my mark, but not with enough force and accuracy, it stuck into his left eye but did not kill him. I'm slightly glad of this, but only so much. I'm not a killer, but he likely doesn't deserve to live either. The pony was obviously in pain and shock at the loss of his eye and my brash action. He however, did not remove the blade. In his rage and agony, he fired another shock of magic at me, but this one did not blast me back. I doubt he would have the concentration for such a thing with an injury like that. No, the blast hit me, hard. It felt as if somepony bucked me in the head. Needless to say, I was reeling from that, and I feel to the ground in disorientation. He walked forward to finish the job hands on, and this is where he made a mistake it would seem. You see, I didn't die that fateful night, no. My story would stop there and never be continued, and it is much continued even today. I'm sure that he was spouting something and maybe brandishing something, but I can't say for sure. My glasses were shattered and far away from me in the fight.
He walked towards me, and in my final moments of consciousness and blurred vision, a flash of light danced across the sky. From this light, I saw a figure of pure shadow on the side of the wall. I imagine they were grinning. They jumped out of the shadows and pounced on the Unicorn, stomping on him and kicking him against the wall. Just as quickly as he came, he seemingly melted into the shadows. This process repeated up until I was at the edge of my line it seemed, blood being washed away by rain and hearing and vision distorted. The final thing I saw was the shadow figure lording over the Unicorn on the ground, basking in his victory after his toying with him. The final thing I heard was a slight wheezing voice say "So, what is it you plan to do with me?" quite weakly. I never did find out what became of the coffee Unicorn. I never asked. I never cared. I was alive, and I had someone to thank when I came to. And as it seems, someone to help. But for now only a cold blanket of darkness to hold me as I fell into unconsciousness. A rest well deserved.
The Tale of The Bleeding Hearts
The Tale of The Bleeding Hearts
I owe my life, and my writings to that pony that saved my life that day, as well as a few favors and promises. Thanks to him, the truth of the past shall never die to those whom have the wit and want. But once more, I get ahead of myself. Haste drives me to write, and there is much more to write if others are to connect these complicated strings that we have sown. I awoke the next morning quite sluggishly, my vision coming into focus I saw three figures, a nurse, a nursemaid and a shadow in the back, reading a book, or to be exact, a journal. Included in these writings and this story of mine, is all of my thoughts, my notes, my drawings. Essentially, my life work, or at least a fourth of it. I leave this here where I have for many reasons. There are people after it, be it to exploit it or destroy it. If all goes south, and your heart is in the right place, I pray that you use these notes for good. Otherwise, if we fail and you may not, all the effort in the world will have gone to waste. You bear a burden with these words, one I'm afraid you can not step out of lightly. The knowledge of a second journal is unknown, even to my closest friends and companions.
I carry a version forever incomplete so that perhaps if these tales are forever gone, there will only be an ending to be known. But you will know the beginning, and you can hopefully connect through all of the segments. There are plenty of clues, you simply need to open your eyes. I took on these writings full aware of what may happen if they fell into the wrong hands, let us hope that I did not make a grave mistake. Back to the story at hand, upon waking up I felt an absence of two objects, my journal that I carry around with me, and the necklace around my neck. At this I lost all sense and in a fury of pain and sorrow, I cried out madly that my work was gone, the artifact lost, my life all for not. They came up to me with what I knew to be a sedative to calm me. I fell into darkness once more at this point, and awoke much calmer, and far more sensible.
The second time I came to, my vision came to be rather quickly, though still quite bad due to the lack of glasses. Over me was a worried Nurse, a nursemaid grasping another syringe betwixt her teeth. In the back was the same shadow as before, reading and silent. I cleared my throat and rubbed my eyes to clear my vision, this aided me little but at the least I wasn't seeing in doubles. I told them calmly that I wouldn't be needing a second one of those, but my voice still came out rather raw. The nursemaid put the syringe on a tray and sighed with relief, the nurse calmed considerably. In the corner of my eye, I still saw the looming shadow, reading my notes as I would later find. I paid him little heed at first. The nurse commented that I had suffered quite the beating and was lucky to be alive. Lucky didn't begin to explain what happened back that night. It seems that I had rested well into the afternoon and it the light was still shining strong.
The nurse asked a few questions like how I felt and what exactly happened to me. To be honest, I felt horrible and was noticing the fade of the medication they must have had me under. But I didn't say this, I simply said that I was alive, and that was the most important thing. I began to thank the mare and her staff for doing such a fine job on me and saving my life, but she quickly cut me off and directed me to the corner. To the shadow of a stallion. It was he who saved my life that night as you may know, and it was he who held my possessions at that time. I mustered the clearest and loudest voice I could and hollered to the back of the room "So, I have you to thank do I? I'm truly grateful, and I'd like to have a word with you if you would be so kind." The shadow remained still. I nudged the nurse and asked her if it wouldn't be too imposing of me if I could ask for something to eat and some privacy. It felt like I hadn't eaten for days, and that wouldn't be too far off if I said so. She nodded with understanding and headed off to get some slight paper work and food. In the meantime, I had someone to thank.
After the nurse had left the nursemaid had followed as well. It was now only him and I. Leaving a cheat and a shadow in their wake. I squinted to get a better look at him, but my vision was too poor. He was fairly gray, but lightly so. His mane a mass of pure shadows it seemed. He wore a coat and a hat, likely what he had donned last night, perhaps he had stayed here with me. But from all of these characteristics of him, I noticed something I could never mistake. My journal. Yes, he held the very journal that these notes and tales reside in. The cover bound with strange symbols and words, bound in a well woven casing, sealed by a buckle and strap. Loose pages torn from various texts poked out from the sides and main pages of the journal. But, you would already know this as you read this, so allow me to continue.
Upon noticing that it was my all familiar journal he was reading, I came to a few calm realizations. One: That if he wanted only my notes and such that he could have left me for dead that night. Two: He likely held an interest in something that he believed to be inside of it for such an act of intrusion. And three: I owed him my life, I could share with him a fragment of what I knew if he was so inclined. I cleared my throat and said dryly, "So, how much do you know?" He stood and sighed, walking over to me and placing the journal by my side. He told me that he didn't know a whole lot, quite a few of my notes where incomprehensible or simply gibberish. I tend to write like that after long nights, an unfortunate habit. He continued on and said that what he did know, is that whatever was in here, was enough to tick off some ponies in pretty high places. To say the very least, I had noticed firsthand this, but I calmly nodded. They obviously weren't common thugs, they were rather coordinated and precise. I'm sure that if it wasn't for the Pegasi being taken down quickly, things wouldn't have gone as well as they did. 'Well' being quite subjective here. Things could have gone far worse. I could be dead.
He noticed that I had spoke of an artifact in my crazed awakening, and also that I freaked him out with all of that. He pulled out the necklace from his coat pocket and asked if this was what I was screaming about. There it was, undamaged and pristine. I tried to keep my excitement in check, but I could do little to hide the beginnings of a child-like smile escaping the edges of my mouth. My eyes glowed with hope and happiness, I reached out for it rather painfully and asked him if he would be so kind. He surprised me and came close to me, asked me to lean forward and helped me put it on. It was quite the pleasant surprise to say the least. It was quite clear at this point that he meant me no harm, and wanted to make that abundantly clear. He had succeeded. I told him rather outright that since I owed him my life, answering any questions he may have would be the least I could do to begin repaying him. And he had quite the few questions to ask.
His first question was short and to the point, he simply asked if I knew who it was who attacked me, or who they all were. I responded as he expected, I did not. To this day of writing, I still do not know their names, only what they are a part of, and even that is enveloped in many an enigma. The next question surprised me, he wondered if I knew who he was, and promptly told me his tale. You see, he knew his name, this was very certain. His name was Ultor, or at least that is what he could remember. He suffers from a powerful amnesia, not simply a knock to the head and you forget a nights happenings. He forgot his life, his family, or if he even had one. But he had a name to go by, given or not. He is very aware of the condition that plagues him, but this helps him very little. Flashes of memories fleet by him quicker than he can grasp them at the time. He suspects that he once had a family, what happened to them or what caused them him to forget, he never knew.
Things had been like this for Ultor since he was a child, always wandering, looking for scraps of his past self. He had grown into a rough stallion, and as expected lived a poor life. Nobody took him in, and the streets were his only home, living by what he could. From what little he could tell me, I unfortunately had little to tell him about himself. People went missing here and there and it didn't always make the news in this city, or at least not for too long. The Clubs are security and business ponies all in all, not search and rescue. His tale is sad, but there is little I found I could help him with. However, maybe at the end of this rainbow there would be answers for him as well as I. He would be fed, hunted, but fed. He claims that he worries little with food and is accustomed to travel, but he would like to hear how this tale ends nonetheless. If answers await him at the end of our chapter, then that is simply a bonus.
I agreed with this completely, and told him he could join me wherever this may take me. A corpse can return little favors, save to the earth around them. I made a dark chuckle at this, and quickly regretted it, my sides still felt raw and the medication was truly on its last legs of usefulness. I coughed up a tad bit of blood, and asked him if he could try to retrieve that kind nurse. He nodded and headed out the door, only to find the nurse right there, apparently listening in on us. I didn't blame her, I understand the burning fire of curiosity as well as anyone. It is what got me where I am after all. She stumbled over her words, scrambling clumsily over excuses. Ultor seemed to find humor in this, and smiled in reassurance and beckoned her in. I smiled pleasantly as well. Well, as pleasantly as a wounded Pegasus with blood trailing their mouth could anyways.
I calmly interrupted her in a string of her thoughts and explanations to ask her simply, how much did you hear. She went rather defensive at this and started to say that she hadn't heard much and that it was all in no harm. I kindly cut her off once more and told her that I asked because I intended to fill her in on what she had not heard. I trusted her, perhaps rather blindly, but still. If she wanted me dead I was laid out before her and her peers that night, nobody would blame a simple accident. It happens to us all, even the greatest. And, perhaps she would have something to add to it all. Needless to say, she was rather surprised by my words, it was certainly not what she was expecting. She asked if I was sure, to which I simply said that if she was willing to take the risk of it all, then yes. But first, introductions were in order.
I calmly asked her what her name was, and to come closer with the pills and water if she would be so kind. While she explained I took a few pain pills, less that I should have likely. Not much point in addling my wits right now. I had a story to tell, and a tale to hear. She explained that her name was Vita, and that she was one of the head nurses here. She explained what little she had heard and I filled her in on the rest of the tale and continued on with where I left off with Ultor. I then, with a slight bit of humor, asked if there was any pony had any questions. It turns out, Ultor did. He said that he understood the story, and why ponies or anything might be after me with that kind of info and that many questions being asked. What he didn't understand is where the necklace fits into this. It seems I left out the specifics of this. It was said from my mother that at the loss of her sister and being cut from the family, she cried a pool of tears. Through magic, the tears all coalesced into one single crystal tear. A gift from her sorrows.
It's not the happiest thing to wear around your neck, but I wear it with pride all the same. It's beautiful and its strange warmth comforts me on long nights. Even now, it calms and eases my pain, but I suppose that is paired with the pain medicine as well. There seemed to be little questions for now that they supposed I could answer for them, and it was my turn for questions. I asked miss Vita, with only a semi serious tone if she may have something that could help us. To my surprise, she did. Quite a lot as a matter of fact. It seems that she had a fine sum of ideas, some universities of old lore, a department or two, but when I shied them off, she had only one final suggestion. A travel to the town of Ponyville, and a meeting with Celestia's student, Twilight Sparkle. I knew of her all too well.
Most of us have indeed heard of the tale of the elements, if not then most certainly of the return of Luna. And, as you know this was led by Twilight Sparkle, the element of magic. Their honor and loyalty and such to the royal family is quite commendable, they brought back in a way two sisters. I wondered just how well she would respond to my proposition. I surely couldn't just go up to her and simply say "Oh hail bearer of Magic! Thou art called upon once more for a quest for another princess." She might call me crazy. Then again, I don't talk like that, nor have I ever. But I hope you get my point, just walking up to her with a book and some notes might not be enough. But then again, it just might. It did with the tale of Nightmare Moon. I suppose I'll have to 'wing it'. Most unfortunately, minus the wings.
We all discussed options, and thought it was the best idea. There was three things though. Travel to Ponyville in my current state. My current state in general. And one final catch that was rather unexpected. Vita wanted to come with us. Now don't get me wrong, I was thankful that they took me in and that she pointed me in this direction, but I simply had to ask why. She explained simply that it had been quite some time since she last went to that town and that it would be fun to hear the end of this tale. She had some friends over there and was quite familiar with some faces, but not so much the buildings. She also jested that one could only take so much of this city, as I knew maybe more than anyone. She kindly noted that my friend Ultor hardly seemed the nursing type, and might not have the know-how in medicine she did. But there was something else, her tale had only begun.
You see, she did not come about me by mere coincidence. She asked, no, demanded that when she heard a Cheat was in need of care, she be put in lead of the team. She had the skills, she had the talent, and the right people knew her story and dared not say no to her. At one point in her life she grew deathly ill, her family was quite poor and hassled by the thugs for money. She was at the mercy of the city for her required treatment. And believe me when I tell you that this is not the city known for mercy or goodwill. But, it seems there was still plenty to be had. My mother apparently took it upon herself to convince my father to set aside enough money to help her. Not only did they treat her, but they lifted their family out of the mud. My mother and father were raising Blackjack and I at the time, so she knew the pain of watching your child suffer. Ever since that day, our families have been rather close, helping each other out when and where we can.
As it seems, that day inspired Vita to learn the medical trade, to be able to help out others in their time of need. And not only was this a time for helping one in need, but a repayment for an old favor. But this is not where her repayment would end it would seem. I had no intentions in stopping her from helping me and fulfilling her own goals, my only concern was how she would get me there in my current condition. She thought for a few moments on this, and came up with an inspired plan. Her name was in good standing, so she could say that I needed transferring to the far side of the Heart's hospitals, close by the train tracks. Still a walk, but close. She would use the excuse of saying that my bones weren't setting right and she couldn't see why, and the other place did in fact have newer equipment. She could walk me to the train station for a transfer to Ponyville for their advancements in magic healing or something of the like.
The plan might take some time to come to fruition, but that would be alright. We were safe here and they would be crazy and stupid to make an attempt on our lives now. I was alive, we had a plan, and I had friends to help and to be helped by. I was soon informed that my parents had gone to an out of city show as a large group, something that had been rehearsing. My father noted that I preferred the streets to the stage, and he was correct in assuming I couldn't be bothered for this with all of my works. I had a lot on my plate, and would soon be traveling the streets quite the sum. In my own element once more. It would be pleasant. But for now I was condemned to this bed, with little complaints for the time being. Before any plans where to get under way though, I would have Ultor retrieve some items for me, and take care of some things.
You could guess that by now, my house would be raided for information or any sign of me. Perhaps they knew where I was and could guess my movements, what little they could do about them for the time being though made me smile. I would need Ultor to check my home for certain items of importance. I jotted down sketches of what he would need, along with descriptions. That page likely dwells within this journal though, make sense of the items as you will. They were mainly necessities and a few good reads. Ultor would stop by a shop first, recommended especially by me. I told him to ask for Aunty Berry, she'd know who sent him then. She'd know why he was there, besides the food of course. I highly suggest that if you come across it in your travels, stop by. You won't regret it. After the shop he would go to my home to look for the items on his list, and anything else of importance. He didn't seem to mind my asking of such things from him, he seemed to need the air. He would return with a list half completed, and quite the tale to be told. But for now, I would be getting my lest days of remotely restful sleep. I enjoyed them for the time they lasted. You begin to truly miss it after some time...
The Writings on The Walls
My earlier comment on rest was only so much true. I got sleep during the nights, yes. But it always felt like the entire city was monitoring my every move. I slept, but hardly soundly. But back to the matter of Ultor. He was to leave the hospital as close to nighttime at he could. If something was after him, he'd at least be in his apparent element. He arrived with little suspicion of being followed and entered the shop. He was greeted by a mare with a warm smile upon her face. He didn't return the smile, but casually asked if he could speak to 'Aunty Berry'. Her face lit up like like the stars in the night sky. She was apparently worried about me, I never could truly sneak something by her, but she let me have my 'victories'. She sat Ultor up on a stool near the counter, she had some questions to be asked, and some stories of her own to tell that night.
Something that you should know about me: I've made mistakes, and I have gotten into trouble for them before. As a street performer, you have luxuries that the stage does not, however, you have a lot of risks too. For example, with a stage if someone rushes you in anger of a jest or by fooling them, you'll have help. On the streets... not so much. It's one of the main reasons I don't try to con people out of their bits, besides keeping my name pure. I've had scuffles, fights, and times where I have had to admittedly run to Berry for help. She doesn't hold the magical powers of a unicorn, nor the flight and agility of a Pegasus. As an Earthpony, she has her inborn strength of her ancestors, and she could throw down with the best of them, has too. No pony breaks a rule in her shop twice, they learn from the start that she's sweeter than an apple pie, and kind and gentle when she wants to be. But if you mess with her family, or get on her bad side one way or the other, your back will be on the floor in seven seconds flat. That's just the way she is, and I wouldn't change a thing.
With all that being said, one of the first things out of her mouth when he ordered his meal, was asking what Chancy had gotten into this time. He laughed at this nickname a little bit, but was cut off by a stare that silenced him quickly. He nervously cleared her throat and told her all that I asked him to. He was to simply tell her that I had gotten into another scuffle from calling out an old card shark that night. The lie was believable considering my past and both of us being rather clueless of who all exactly did this at the time. As we prepare to set off from where we are, the very reason that I write mind you, we still are not sure. We certainly have our ideas, but none quite so confident to put onto paper right now. Berry seemed to believe us at the time, but she likely, and understandably at that time, harbored her own doubts at the time.
Ultor said that he enjoyed the food and brew thoroughly. What he was served was a specialty of her and slightly mine, though I mainly tasted it each go around. It was a mix of coffee beans and cocoa beans blended together, brewed from a pot and mixed with a menagerie of different ingredients. These varied from berries, to vanilla beans, to cream and a few things more that elude me at the time. The food was a fry up of multiple bits of fruits served with a bit of her home made pie, on the house. I had of course given him money to pay for all of this, a single token of thanks of the many to come. They shared conversation and stories while there of the past, friends and such. Ultor couldn't share much, simply said that he was in an accident that separated him from his family to what he could remember and that not much eventful had happened since then.
They shared memories and events of recent and the past right up until the night sky was alight with stars and the light of the moon shone proud. It's not every night you can see many stars in a place like this, most are blocked out by the light of the city. But tonight, the beauty of the heavens above shone true. Ultor paid his bill and politely excused himself. He said that while it was pleasant talking with her, he had a few things to take care of before it truly got late. She nodded and waved him goodbye, but right before he got from his stool to the door, she called out after him. She had a few things to give him and I before he set off. She tossed him a bag of things, saying that they were a few gifts and something that she forgot to give me since I left in such a hurry. She also said there was a bit of something in there for the both of us to share. He thanked her and trotted out the door into the cool night air.
His walk was free of troubles or pursuers, nothing but a quiet trot to my home. He soon arrived under the clear night sky to his destination. As he reached for his key that I had given him earlier, he noticed the door was ever so slightly open. Upon entering the first room as quietly as he could, our worst suspicions were soon confirmed. Quite a sum of the furniture lay broken or battered across the room, gifts shattered or ruined against the ground. Ultor slightly cringed at the sight of this, and maneuvered forwards amongst the broken glass. My study perhaps got the worst of it, pinned up notes torn and books burned or thrashed beyond recovery. Oddly, it seemed only some books who suffered the signs of flames, not the room around it at all. Most everything on the list was missing, save for simple items like clothes, pens and a hidden stash of money that I kept for an emergency. Before he left though, he would spy two interesting sights that neither of us could believe.
One such sight was something written all over one of his final rooms to check. On the ceiling, floors, walls and over some items, were threats written in bleeding black paint. We assumed it was paint though, not knowing for sure what else it could be. It had little scent to it. One of the main messages read: 'By the spade you dug up the forgotten. By the shadows we shall follow. By the flames you shall be purged. By the spade, your ashes shall be buried.' All around this message were threats and warnings, all paired with a seemingly still bleeding spade symbol. There was a single card stuck into the middle of the largest spade. On the back of it was an intricate design of symbols and signs. On the face of the card was a bleeding skull with a dagger stuck through its eye, and a spade behind it. To say the least at this point, we had a general idea of who was after us. He took the card to return to me, and headed on his way outside with a feeling of being watched.
Before he could fully make his way outside, he saw something that caught his eye. From an open window with flowing curtains, there was a book, simply leaning against the windowsill. The insignia on the front caught his eye, it looked slightly like something like the drawings in my journal and notes. He decided to grab it, and quietly exit the house from the front, and closed the door behind him. He casually walked back towards the hospital that night under the blanket of stars, taking in the pleasant sight and the cool night air. He stayed vigilant through his enjoyment of the night, and with this he noticed two ponies far behind him. One of them seemed to have pointed at him and increased in their speed. Ultor quickly ducked into an alleyway and performed quite the feat. He was gone without a trace by the time they glanced by the alley.
That night, Ultor shared with us one of his interesting talents. It would seem that through gifts of the divine or otherwise, that he had abilities of shadows, or something akin to this. This sounds insane and quite odd, and I admit I've never seen something quite this strange in my early street days, but it's apparently true. That night I was awake, gazing at the wonderful night sky and writing in this very journal, when I heard a rather disturbing sound behind me. It wasn't loud, but there was a dead silence in the room, so it was audible enough to hear. It's nearly impossible to describe, but I would put it best by saying that it sounded not unlike a puff of slight smoke combined with the slight sound of grating crystals. I turned around to face the cause of this strange noise and saw Ultor almost collapse to the floor.
Ultor stood there, wisps of shadowy smoke rising from him, seeming very drained. It seems that in addition to having the usual capabilities of a normal unicorn, that being levitating objects and such, that he could meld or make use of shadows. He had not a soul to teach him these powers or how to make apt use of them, so it was quite hard for him to explain how he did these things. One thing was for certain though, it took quite a lot out of him most of the time. He originally learned the action that he performed that night when he was young in an attempt to evade a group of thugs. He uses this skill to escape along the paths of shadows to somewhere safe, where is not always too certain. The more he concentrates, the closer her may get to his goal, but also the more it will take out of him. To say the least, it is hardly for recreational use. He doubted that they knew where he might have gone to, but even if they did, they were safe for now.
Ultor backed himself against the near wall for a second to catch his breath, in which he informed me of the additions to his story. He then delivered the bag bag to me, saying it had what I had asked for, and a few things for him and I from Berry. He chucked slightly and at the end of his explanation muttered 'Chancy' under his breath, but loud enough for me to hear. I paid him little heed as I was currently going through the bag already, and laid out the contents of the bag on the bed. The contents surprised me, there wasn't much that was from the list, but it's these 'gifts' that were given to us. Inside was a note and letter from Berry herself, which also bore the signing of my mother and a strange symbol as well. I saved this for later, as there was much more to see.
Along with the letter, there was a book that he found by the window. This book, its contents elude me. It bores the same symbol under the signature of my mother and aunt. He found the stash of bits undisturbed, he found my additional clothing, but only so much of it. A spare coat, and some formal wear was all that there was to be had. My old city coat was tattered and torn, but still useable. Needless to say however, it would not be the wisest thing to wear in Ponyville, it would attract unneeded attention. I set the clothing aside for the time being, noting to get that old coat patched up when we arrived at our destination. Not just for the sake of clothing, but for memories. It was my fathers old coat at one point. Call me sentimental, but it'd be comforting to have a piece of home in my travels. I rarely performed a show without it.
In the bag was also two decks of cards, both inside the hat that I lost that night. The hat was an old style fedora with a crimson and silver lace around it with a tucked in card. The card was something me and my father made, it was a joker face card,another old nickname I had when we lived outside of Las Pegasus was 'Wild Card'. I haven't heard that in years, but I keep the name alive. one of them being an old one that I had forgotten, and one that she and my mother had worked on at one point. Inside the forgotten deck a slight slip of paper caught my eye. There was one in both of the decks, the forgotten deck read 'The performance was wonderful, but you left in such a hurry that you forgot your cards. Take better care of your things in the future alright dear?' I chucked softly, remembering the occasion that I had to go to, only to be missing my lucky deck. The other note in the other deck confused me, and is left in this journal. Despite her origins, she still had beautiful writings, but what was in the note, I could have never guessed.
In her familiar writing style, I read the note by the lamp light next to me, 'It's a bit early for this to be any holiday present, or a birthday present, but I know what's going on. I'll want you to have a piece of us with you when you head off. Your mother went through the same when she was young, her family hunts for more scraps of that story every generation. She got quite a lot of what you know today, dragged me along with her once too. But we've broke off from our normal hunting, our itch having settled the same way we have. She had you, lil' Roulette and Jacky, and we figured it was time to pass things on to the youths. Things had gotten dangerous for us by the time we quit and we didn't want to get any of you hurt, and Cheaty didn't want to see either of us hurt as well. He always discouraged us, he was a bit of a voice of reason like that. Your father won't like to hear what you've gotten yourself into, so we'll keep it hush hush for you sweets. Remember, if you need anything, you can always come to us. Keep yourself fed now alright? And try to stay safe. With much love, Aunty Berry'
I stared at that note for quite some time, pleasant surprise clearly on my face. I guess nothing could get by that old fox, still sly as ever. I'm glad they could understand, and I hoped that I could contribute as much as my mother, maybe even solve this age old mystery. Things would be tough for me, their heat had cooled down, mine was only just warming up, and it would get hotter still. It was still nice that I didn't have to leave without a goodbye to them, at least they'd be able to stitch my movements together if they wanted to. It slightly unsettled me as well that they knew exactly what I was doing, but perhaps not where I would be going. I questioned if the Spades that might be after me would have this much luck. But, I guessed just as much that there were signs that both sides could see, and that they had years on me with tracking and quieting their footsteps. Mine were likely loud and thunderous with each baby step forward. This would have to change, and quickly.
I didn't look at quite everything that night, I held my gaze on that strange book, that ancient symbol.. The inside of the book seemed to be like a journal, the only things showing this were strange symbols that resembled ancient calenders. But even with this, the dates were out of order and patternless. In addition to all of this, it seemed to be written in another language or code. Ultor described that the book seemed deliberately placed from outside of the window, but that was just a guess. Someone had left this for me, someone knew that I would go back, that I would survive. That night, I lost much sleep simply staring at the pages of the book, waiting to derive some meaning from this gibberish before me. None came, and still none has. Besides the books and clothes, there was the materials needed for notes, though not much. I conserved these and wrote in tiny scribbles, comprehensible likely only by me. That night I fell asleep in the book, and dreamed of darkness. Only a silent and watching void kept me company that night.
Come morning, I was greeted by the two caring pairs of eyes. Ultor and Vita were rather worried about me that night, and woke me up early to check on me. That morning we all went through the contents of the bag, and we found a care package from Aunty Berry. Inside were powdered bits of her various brews and a recipe or two on some of my favorite dishes. A note taped to one of said recipes said 'Just because you're on the go, doesn't mean you have to settle for anything short of the best' . A smile shone across my face, and I shared with them some of the brew, it would be a good day. My legs weren't broken, just rather sore, so that day I decided to get around and stretch. Nothing too serious, just a simple walk around the room and the facility. Normally most Unicorn healers, the few that there truly are due to the strain it places on them, are placed for high priority tasks. Emergency healing, V.I.P jobs, or risky surgeries and bone setting. Very kindly, and very sneakily, Vita grabbed one of her personnel for my wings and my woulds. She didn't want to strain her friend and worker, so I will only recover at an advanced rate. Perhaps a few days. Until then, walking is the best I can manage.
We discussed the legs of the plan to Ponyville, in one day we would transfer and pick up some medications to speed up my recovery further. They've made quite the advancements, but they are quite costly and some don't trust them. Anything that can prepare me further for the hardships to come, was quite welcome at this time. I walked quite a lot, be it simple pacing or a walk inside the building. It was quite nice and the doctors were very friendly to me. Then, later that day, we all sat down and organized our thoughts over the brew and some food that I cooked up for them. Earlier Ultor had gone to a bit of a market, no liking the taste of hospital food, and picked up a few things. I aided Aunty Berry in the kitchen at quite a few points in my youth, so I new a few tricks, but never before had I been presented with the recipe before. It turned out all right, not as good as hers, they still thought it was still nice. That night, I stirred in my sleep, my head filled with a swirl of thoughts shooting to and fro. I lost much sleep over these currents of thoughts and most unfortunately, this would become a frequent occurrence. Tomorrow we set off for the transfer, then a final ride to Ponyville. Things were beginning to warm up, and I was certainly feeling the heat.
