Equestria's Thaumaturgist

Chapter 7: Nightmares of Fire

Four alicorns, two pegasi, two earth ponies, and two unicorns stood around an unconscious Will. He was lashed to the stretcher to try and control his thrashing. His face was contorted, seemingly in pain. At first he had been fine, having slipped into sleep just after his gift to Twilight, but when Celestia had gone to wake him to introduce Cadence and Shining Armor; they had found him flailing wildly.

Luna had already attempted to enter and see what kind of nightmare was plaguing him, but the tumult of his mind had – quite painfully – forced her out. Which leads to how they found themselves now. Luna and Celestia combining their power to try and delve through the barrier, with Cadence ready to provide help if necessary. Without a word being spoken, the two cosmic rulers’ horns flared to life, and together they delved into the storm that was Will’s unconscious mind.

What met them was like a massive tornado of shadows and broken images. Celestia began to transfer power to her sister – herself lacking any control of the thought-plane – and Luna shaped the power into what was effectively a massive hollow spear. She thrust it through the wall and the alicorns quickly passed through, before the mental barrier ripped the spell apart. They looked around, finding themselves in an infinite black void. The sisters looked at each other in confusion.

‘Luna, is it supposed to be like this?’ Celestia thought at her sister.

‘No, at least I don’t think it should be.’ Luna answered, doubt slipping into her thought voice.

‘Well, what do we-‘ Celestia cut off as Luna, slack-jawed, turned her head forward. What met their eyes was an arcane seal, but on a scale so massive they would not have been able to see it entirely if it had been physical. Soon after they noticed a huge crack along the seal, what looked to be fire was leaking out of it. They shifted up to the crack for a closer look.

‘Sister, I think this seal is a memory block. It’s quite similar to the ones I’ve seen before.’ Luna thought.

‘A memory block…’ Celestia whispered. She reached toward the crack.

‘Sister, wait!’ Luna’s warning came a moment too later as Celestia’s hoof touched the crack, and suddenly she was on what seemed to be a field. Everything was burning; the earth was cracked and blackened by the flames. The worst part, the detail that made Celestia retch, was the bodies. Thousands upon thousands of corpses, all laid out. Many shapes, most non-human, were blackened and twisted, but others were untouched, most seemed humanoid, but not all. Each one was face up, eyes blank and staring, hands or other appendages clasped over their chests.

Celestia’s attention was turned forward as she heard what seemed to be sobbing. There was a form bent over on its knees in front of one of the untouched corpses. The thing was covered in burns, patches of skin cracked and charred like the ground, firelight shining through. It work tattered clothing that was half ashes, and its hair was similar, at least what little hadn’t been burned off. Celestia drew closer and the thing threw back its head, letting loose a cry that was part anguish, part roar, and part the crack and hiss of fire. The roar however didn’t frighten Celestia, but what she saw did.

For when he threw back his head, she saw the face of Will, with eyes of fire.

For an instant she was in her own body again, before a burst of power erupted from Will’s now still body, engulfing all of them.

They were in the black space again, but this time all of them were there. And where the seal had been, a much smaller version now lay on the ‘ground’, Will bent over in the middle of it, his hands pressed against each other like when a child catches a bug. Wisps of fire and ash flowed from around them, and between his fingers. They could hear him muttering.

‘Not yet. Not ready to face it yet. Can’t face it yet, can’t stop the fire yet.’ And so he went on for a time. None of them did anything but watch, and as the last of the fire and ash flowed between his hands, they were sent back into their bodies.

“I-I think we should go.” Shining Armor said, after they all collected themselves again. Cadence and the girls nodded and followed without a word, stunned by what they had seen for no reason they could discern. They felt as though it were part of something larger and more terrible than they could understand. A glimpse of something massive. Even Pinkie was strangely silent. Soon only Celestia and Luna remained, both looking at the now still Will.

“Sister, I’m sorry. As soon as you touched the break I was forced back. I was only in my body again before we were all sucked in. What… what did you see?” Luna said. Celestia didn’t look at her as she answered.

“I don’t know Luna. But one thing I do know is that I have to talk to him.” Celestia answered, nodding toward Will. Luna was about to say something, but she decided against it, nodded at her sister, and left. Celestia settled down next to the stretcher and began the long wait.

Will was within his own mind. Just floating in the dark place.

“The fissure was bigger than I had thought. I knew I shouldn’t have used that power so recklessly. I damaged the block. It almost got out.” He was speaking to himself, though the way he sounded, one could assume he was talking to another.

“I know I can’t keep It locked away forever… but I’m not ready to face It. Not yet. And I hope that when the time comes that I have to face It, I’ll be ready. And that the Fire won’t spread like the last time.” With that, he fell into a normal dreamless slumber.