Advent Redemption

Chapters

First Sight
Good Morning
Questions
Fear & Studiousness
Service
Difficulties
Stirrings
Instruction
Prologue

First Sight

"...but I think he'll be okay."

He felt a strange sensation pass over his body, but then it was gone. Gideon woke slowly, body burning as it warmed up. He heard the crackle of a fire directly in front of him, but could barely feel its warmth at first, his nerves still screaming about the cold.

"I believe he may be waking up." It was a male voice, that time. The first one had been female, he thought.

He was lying on his right side, with a thin pad underneath him, over what felt like a hard stone floor. There was a pillow under his head, and something soft and very warm was behind him. A thick, fluffy blanket of some sort lay over his body, up to his chest. More awake, but still feeling miserable, he reached up a hand to pull the blanket up to his neck.

...What? Why does this blanket have...bones?!

His eyes creaked open, and he looked blearily down, at a feathery wing.

His heart beat a little faster, and he felt a rumble from the mass at his back, as a voice came from above him and to his right. "Um...hi." Gravelly, but it sounded like another female voice.

He looked towards the voice, and saw big eyes in a fluffy white face, with a frighteningly large beak below. He blinked. The face seemed to smile at him.

Gideon turned away, across the fire, and saw the other speakers. To the right sat three dog-like bipedal creatures, covered in rough fur, and wearing basic clothing. From the position, he gathered the one in front to be the male voice he'd heard, and thought he might recognize him as the being who found him after--no, I don't want to think about that. To the left, a blue, big-eyed quadruped was sitting. This one had styled--if somewhat tousled--light blue hair, and was wearing a pointy hat, and a cape. She also smiled cutely at him.

He felt his 'fight or flight' instinct try to kick in, but his body was wasted, and his adrenaline spent. They're just strange-looking aliens, right? He felt gravity pull his head back down onto the pillow, and realized it was actually the arm of the creature that was warming him with its body, but he just didn't care.

His eyes fluttered shut and he felt pulled back down into sleep, his last clear sensation that of the wing shifting to cover him more.

Good Morning

Gideon woke again, feeling much improved. Damned thirsty, though. He flexed his fingers and toes, and found only a slight numbness in a couple of fingers--hopefully nothing permanent. Looking around, he found that his rescuers were all asleep. He very slowly eased himself from under his 'blanket', and stood up, feeling more stable than expected. It was chilly in the room.

He examined the winged creature, noting it was a clear mixture of avian and mammal, and was sure it had to be artificial. Who would create such a thing? As he stood over it, it seemed to sense he was no longer there, curled itself up more tightly, and began to gently snore.

He looked around, finding they were on the ground floor of a circular stone building, or perhaps tower. The dim light came from the embers of the fire, as well as three small globes on the walls. There was a wooden door, behind which he could periodically hear a howling wind, and spiral stairs going upwards. The place was obviously ancient, and in some disrepair. He noted some barrels underneath the stairs, and quietly made his way over to them.

On the way, he paused to examine the blue creature--person, blue person, he reminded himself, these are all people. She was asleep on a bedroll, cape pulled around her body, drooling slightly. Her hat was lying off to the side, and its absence revealed a strange, spiral horn emerging from her forehead. She twitched slightly, and murmured, "more applesauce," then smacked her lips. Gideon shook his head, and went to the barrels.

One was filled with water, and he grabbed the ladle hanging from it and drank greedily until his thirst was satisfied. He noticed other barrels had apples, some sort of grain, and what appeared to be gravel--he pondered the apples for a moment, but wasn't hungry yet, and they looked rather withered anyway.

Glancing around again, he noticed a bit of sunlight was showing through a small, high window. Considering the howling storm outside, it was probably later than it seemed. He grabbed a chunk of wood from a small pile next to the barrels, and returned to near the winged person. After setting the wood near the center of the embers, he sat on the floor between Blue and Wings, waiting for someone to wake up.

***

Trixie woke to the crackling sound of the fire starting to rebuild. Strange, I'm usually the first up. It must be Tev, I can hear Alouette snoring. She stretched, and sighed, cursing the thin bedroll, as she did most mornings. Opening her eyes, she saw all three Canids were still out on the floor. Rolling her head upwards, she saw the human, sitting next to her, with his hooves--er, hands--held out towards the fire. He glanced over, and raised an eyebrow before looking back at the fire.

She rubbed her eyes, and then pushed herself into a sitting position, yawning. She looked at the human for a while, then moved to sit closer beside him, feeling him look at her out of the corner of his eye.

She spoke softly, "so... Good morning, then...human."

He seemed surprised at something, but responded, "good morning...miss."

She blushed a little at the term, no longer feeling like such a young filly lately, then cleared her throat. "It's Trixie. Trixie Lulamoon."

"Gideon Wyeth. Nice to meet you, Trixie." He sounded tired.

"How do you feel, Gideon?" She tilted her head, "you were well on your way to being an icicle when Tev brought you in."

Gideon shrugged, "I'm generally okay." He shook his hands a bit, "a few of my fingers feel a bit off, though."

"I could check them over, if you like." She turned to him, and beckoned with a hoof. He looked over, appearing skeptical, "um...alright." He turned to face her, and held his hands out. She cast a quick medical scan spell, and he stiffened.

***

Gideon was surprised when Trixie's horn started to dimly glow, but even more surprised when he felt power wash over him. It felt like when he was using his own powers, but less focused, more like a wave passing over him, and then it shifted to concentrate in his fingers. The glow of her horn faded, and he let out a breath he hadn't noticed he was holding, "what was that?"

Trixie looked at him curiously, "just a bit of magic. Your fingers will be fine as long as we keep you out of the cold for a while. It's just temporary damage."

He stared at her for a moment, then nodded, "thanks."

She nodded back, then glanced at the window, and stood up. "Well, time to start the day."

He watched quietly as she used her 'magic' to levitate more wood onto the fire, and then picked up a large pot and a flat griddle. She took what appeared to be a frozen slab of meat out of a box, and put it on the griddle, then paused, and looked back at him. "The books don't say, do you eat meat?"

"Ehh..." He looked dubiously at the hunk of flesh. "Sometimes, but not right now."

She nodded, and placed the griddle on the embers. "The Canids don't need it, but griffons get sick without at least a little every day."

A gruff voice spoke up, "it is not that we do not need it, but rather, we can make do with what a pony eats for a long time."

Gideon and the--apparently--'pony' girl looked over at the new speaker. It was definitely the person who'd carried him through the snowy waste. Trixie just nodded, and said, "good morning, Tev."

The 'Canid' nodded, and moved closer to the fire, sending glances the human's way. The other two Canids were starting to stir. As they rose, Gideon noticed that only his rescuer had a horn on his forehead. Though it was different from Trixie's he wondered if Tev was also capable of magic.

Trixie continued with breakfast preparations. She filled the pot with water from the barrel, and added a large amount of the grain, then set it on the fire. She took up several apples and a knife, and quickly cut the apples into the pot as well, eating the cores as she went. Finally, she sat back down.

***

Trixie stirred the porridge, and tried not to stare at the human. Gideon still looked tired, and was peering at the fire, thoughtfully.

She flipped Alouette's meat, and heard shifting, as the griffon started to wake to the smell. "Good morning, Alouette. It's almost done."

The griffon rose up a bit, and yawned hugely. She shook herself, glanced at the human, and then at Trixie, looking apologetic. "Um, sorry Trix, but I need to run outside and change stones, first."

Trixie rolled her eyes, and with a long-suffering tone said, "couldn't you have done that yesterday, before the horrible storm rolled in?"

"Didn't need to, then." She grinned back, then waited.

Trixie sighed, and looked at the door, using a bit of magic to open it, while keeping a forcefield in the doorway, to block out the storm. "Hurry up, then, cooking meat is bad enough, but burning meat smells awful."

The griffon trotted out the door, and was gone for about a minute, before coming back and shaking a small snowdrift off of her feathers. "Phew, really going out there."

Trixie closed the door, as Alouette moved over to the barrels, and quickly swallowed a couple of clawfuls of gravel. The griffgirl then wandered back to her place near the fire, snagged the meat off of the griddle, and started eating.

She glared at the manner-less featherhead for a moment, but then moved the griddle off the fire, and started to serve out the porridge. She served the human first, and when he said, "thank you," she felt a little dizzy from the shock of politeness. The Canids were their usual taciturn selves.

They ate in silence. Alouette finished her meat, then the remainder of the porridge, as usual. Gideon finished second, eating with what Trixie thought she recognized as a military precision. When everyone was done, she levitated the dishes away, and then looked at Gideon. "So." She glanced at Tev, to see if he was going to take the ball, but he just wiggled his eyebrows at her. When did I get assigned to play leader?

"Well everyone," she motioned to the human, "this is Gideon Wyeth."

Gideon nodded at them, and spoke up, "I've gathered you're Alouette," he nodded at the griffon, "and thank you for warming me up."

The griffon smiled shyly, saying nothing, which made Trixie raise her eyebrows. So a human is what it takes to make our griffgirl subdued, eh? Well I guess if anything would...

Gideon looked over at the leader of the Canids, "and you're Tev..." Another nod, then he looked expectantly at the other two Canids.

Tev spoke, "they are Sif and Sef. Brothers, and generally even less likely to talk than I." Gideon nodded his acknowledgment, "well Tev. Thanks for the lift here. I thought I was doomed, well...to be an icicle," he smiled at Trixie.

Trixie felt a very slight blush come to her cheeks, ah, for the days when being the center of attention was a daily thing, and simply said, "well, I'm sure you must have questions for us?"

Questions

Trixie watched the human closely, as various emotions played over his face.

Gideon sighed. "Well I guess there's an obvious first one. Where am I?"

Trixie nodded. "In the far north, in ancient Canadia. Though none have truly governed this territory for centuries now, on a map it would currently fall under the claim of the Griffon Kingdoms, because of mineral rights."

He gave her a confused look. "I meant, what planet am I on?"

He doesn't...? "Uh...you are on Terra."

"Thank you." He glanced at Tev. "How did I get here?"

The Canid responded as if it was obvious. "You made untrained use of one of the restricted magics, and the ancient strictures responded."

Another baffled look, "...strictures?"

Tev tilted his head at the human. "You have power within you, yes? I could feel it, as could the pony, when she examined you last night." He gestured at Trixie, then looked perplexed. "Do you not know of the old laws?"

Gideon shook his head. "My training was rather...ad hoc. And I'm beginning to think it was woefully incomplete. Can you tell me more?"

Who trained him, them? Tev looked at her. She thought, you know the lore just as well as I, old lockjaw, but she spoke. "Ah...well, long ago, long before the departure, it was decided that certain spells were far too dangerous to be cast by any but the most trusted and well-trained masters." She glanced upwards, trying to remember how it was said in the books. "So that any untrusted use might be judged, your people laid down responsive spells--into the very fabric of galactic space--which would draw the caster here, to the Halls of Justice."

The human looked thoughtful for a moment, and then his eyes widened. "Wait...my people? You mean humans?"

Trixie looked askance at him. "Well of course, humans." She examined him. "D...do you really not know?"

He just gave her a bemused stare, and raised his hands in a shrug.

"This is Terra." She blinked, remembering. "Or...in ancient times it was simply called...Earth?" His eyes widened, and she nodded. "This is the home of humanity...your people's place of origin."

Gideon looked dazed, and stared at the fire for a moment. "I...my people had ancient myths, of Earth. Supposedly, artifacts that didn't make sense were found on my world, Edumea, decades ago. It was claimed that they proved we came from elsewhere, that we couldn't have started out on Edumea." He laughed humorlessly. "But those ideas were always dismissed as crackpot stories. The artifacts 'mysteriously disappeared' a long time ago, which was considered more proof that they were fake to begin with."

He sighed, and looked back at the pony, an eager look on his face. "So...does that mean there are other humans here?"

"Er...no. Sorry. There have not been for millennia. The books we have here are silent as to why you departed." She paused. "Some believe you gave up on this world."

Alouette finally spoke up, throwing a glare Trixie's way. "Some believe it is a test."

Tev chimed in, "Others think they were chased away. Though I cringe to think of what might cause such a power as ancient humanity was, to flee."

Gideon stared into empty space for a while.

He looks so lost. She noticed that the clothes he wore were rather damaged, with tears and what looked like burns in various places. I'll have to try to patch it up at some point. Can't have him going outside in that, even once the storm dies down.

Trixie had started to think he was done asking questions, when he shook his head. "Anyway, I have to ask, though I fear I already know the answer..." He glanced at their surroundings. "Is there any way for me to get back to where I came from? Are your people still space-capable?"

She shook her head, "No, I'm afraid not. We never were, and the humans took that knowledge and infrastructure with them when they left. There have been the occasional pushes in that direction. I mean, scientifically and industrially we're nowhere near attaining that, but some have proposed that heavy magic could fill in for a lot of our lacks." She looked apologetic. "But any time I've heard of such a proposal, it's gone exactly as far as the rulers of my people, the Princesses. They never explain why, but for all intents and purposes, space travel is forbidden in Equestria, and we're certainly the country who'd be most qualified to try."

Gideon glowered a bit, and muttered, "Perhaps I'll have to have a conversation with these Princesses, some day." She felt her eyes widen, and he glanced at her, and turned a bit red. "Uhh...I think that came out a little more aggressive-sounding than I intended. I just..." He sighed. "Well I guess I can't actually say I want to go home, but...I'm worried about people I left behind."

She smiled, "Perfectly understandable. And perhaps you should talk to the Princesses, maybe you can convince them to change their minds." She pondered this. "Even though they are thousands of years old, I've heard of it happening. They've generally managed not to become too fixed in their beliefs."

He gave her a strange look, and then stared into the fire for a bit. He then glanced at Alouette, and spoke, looking a little nervous. "Ah, forgive me if this is rude, but, after what you just said..." He cleared his throat. "Well, I have to say, to my eyes, at least one of you," he glanced at the griffon again, "looks...artificial. Like a designed, created being...?"

Alouette sat up, looking proud. "Of course." She gestured around the room. "All of us, all the sentient races on Terra now, were uplifted to their current intelligence, and sculpted to their present form..." here, she peered closely at him "...by humans." She settled her ruffled chest feathers, and lay back down.

Gideon stared at her for a while, "How? How could they have such power?"

Tev responded, "The books say only that a combination of metal and mind was used to shape the children of humanity. Your people have no great technology?"

"Well, we were advanced, certainly." The human looked thoughtful. "Especially our weapons. But something like designing a being at the genetic level, for intelligence, or combining two species...even from an existing template, it would have been impossible."

Trixie frowned, "You used a forbidden spell, so your people must have powerful magics, yes?"

He shook his head. "That I know of, I, and recently, a friend, are the only people from my world to have ever used...magic. And..." He looked almost ashamed. "Everything I know, everything I can do, is...at best, neutral. Mostly destructive. Fine control like that, to shape a body-"

Tev interjected, "Not merely a body, but spirit, and soul. You made us entirely what we are."

Gideon stared at him. "I...I can't imagine that kind of precision, or power. I can't even imagine the kind of control Trixie showed while making breakfast."

Drat, he's going to make me blush again. She just smiled.

Alouette sounded reverent, "It was the power of gods, and they were and are rightfully worshiped as such."

Gideon gave her an alarmed look. "Well I want no part of that. I am...just a man. I've failed so many times...so many people. I am no god."

The griffon looked away. Tev looked thoughtful, "Mmm..."

Trixie had a small insight, he is afraid of his power, but said nothing. For a while, the only sound was the crackling of the fire.

***

"Well." The human's interjection made all of the others jump. Tev looked back to him as he was glancing around the fire. "I'm tired of being the inquisitor, for now. There's more I want to know, but perhaps it would be better later, one-on-one." He looked around. "But how about you guys? Anything you want to ask me?"

Tev pondered this, while the pony, her tone somewhat accusatory, asked, "What were you doing before you came here? Why did you cast a restricted spell?"

The human paused, looking a bit traumatized. "I...I was fighting a very powerful enemy. It came out of nowhere, and had power that...rivaled mine at the very least. It injured...probably killed...a very good friend. One of the few I had left. I and another friend, the other human magic user, we fought it, but it was so powerful. We were barely able to hold it off." He rubbed his eyes with a hand. "It was preparing to cast something huge, and...just like other times, I suddenly felt a new ability flow into me. I didn't know what it was, but had no choice but to try to use it." He stared into space for a moment, then his face hardened. "I had no choice. I had to do whatever I could."

The pony looked somewhat mollified.

Tev thought, she probably thinks his hesitation was simply due to reluctance to kill, but I do not think so. There is something else, some other reason it was so horrible.

He decided not to press the matter, but instead had his own question formulated. "When you speak of humans, I see a sadness in you. You referred to your people in the past tense, you say you cannot go home, and you seemed excited when you thought there might be others of your kind here. Why is this?" Perhaps he is an exile?

The human stared at him, eyes empty, and Tev began to wonder just how many horrors this being had witnessed. Then, a chuckle, "Boy, you guys really know how to pick 'em." He put his head in his hand for a moment, then looked back to the fire. "As I said, my people lived on a planet called Edumea. We had been there for thousands of years. Now I realize we must have merely been recovering from some sort of post-colonial disaster, but we thought we were alone in the universe. I don't know how we lost so much knowledge."

He stretched his legs out towards the fire. "We'd recently been through a...what I guess in context I would now call a civil war. Two factions of the same people, fighting and killing over ideas. I was on the winning side, but the damage done to the other side was not so great, at least compared to some other wars. We were...I'd like to think we were healing. Perhaps becoming better than we were before--cooperating, moving out into space, hell, I worked side-by-side with ex-enemies."

He speaks as if at a memorial, trying to assure that the deceased was a worthy person. Tev began to feel even more nervous about how this tale would end.

"I'd like to think war with ourselves was a thing of the past." He looked up at the ceiling, but did not see it. "Then, one day, about...well about six months ago, now--we had visitors. Alien visitors. People from another planet. Aurelians, they call themselves. It was so exciting, and terrifying...and then just terrifying." He closed his eyes. "They told us they knew of humans. Had been seeking my people since they took to the stars. But now that they had found them, they were betrayed from within. One of their own sent a message to a different race, the En'Kull."

He suddenly opened his eyes, and stood up, pacing around the room, slowly. "For a while, I blamed the Aurelians. If they'd not been looking for us, we would have been left alone, right?" He clenched his fists, but then relaxed. "...but, having seen the resources of the En'Kull, or the Seekers, as they are also called, I doubt we had much more time either way. My people were foolishly broadcasting into space. Actively seeking other life. We were...optimistic." He sighed. "At least with the Aurelians there, we weren't fighting completely alone."

He stopped, staring at the door to the outside, and crossed his arms. "The...the Seekers. Their fleet arrived shortly after our first contact with the Aurelians. They attacked without hesitation, destroying the Aurelians' ship and our only major space station within the first two hours. They captured my brother there...I still don't know what it was they were looking for, but there was an entire caste of Seekers who were...examining humans. They would take the ones who met their criteria, and kill the rest. As the station went down, I made it to the ground in an escape pod, and continued to fight there."

"I...I suppose I should be proud of my people." He swallowed. "We put up a pretty good fight, in space and on the ground, considering. But the Seeker forces were...overwhelming. Their technology was far in advance of ours." He stared, appearing to be reliving the horror. "They obliterated us. Destroying our military, our defenses. Then showering our world with small asteroids, destroying cities and any ships that tried to escape. And finally, they hit Edumea with a small moon they'd towed in from the outer system. It shattered the planet. Nothing on the surface could have survived."

He glanced back at the people around the fire, and retook his seat on the floor. "Seven hundred million people lived on Edumea. The small ship I found my way to--small enough to evade the asteroids and be missed by the Seeker sweeps--held the only three survivors I know of. Myself, my fiance, and...the pilot...a friend." He wrapped his arms around himself, and fell silent.

Tev found he could not speak. He could not even conceive of death, of murder, on such a scale. It was the griffon who spoke up first. "Why?" She sounded hoarse, and physically pained as she spoke. "Why would...how could anybody do something like that?"

The human furrowed his brow. "I guess the best answer would be that they are an entire race of religious fanatics. As far as I can tell, they are all raised on tales that humans are some sort of usurpers of galactic power. And that our crimes warrant our annihilation." He looked at the griffon. "Fanatical devotion to any belief can be quite dangerous. To the Seekers, murdering innocent humans is not only right, but obligatory. We are vermin."

The room fell silent once again, until the pony spoke. "So...there are but three humans left?"

"No." He sighed. "My fiance died in a crash landing a few weeks later. The friend, Marin...she was left behind when I came here. In a building full of Seekers. She had her own powers, so...I can hope she managed to escape." He hugged his arms around himself. "But it's entirely feasible that I'm the last Edumean human alive. Of course, there may be other colonies out there, that the Seekers haven't found yet."

Tev watched him hunch over, and decided that was enough for now. "You may be alone, human, but we are with you, and we will do what we can to help you. What do you wish to do now?"

The human was silent for a while, and then looked at him. "I...I don't know. I guess I would like to see these books you speak of, if that's okay. I'd like to know more about the history of my people."

He nodded, "The libraries are above. I will show you."

Fear & Studiousness

Alouette was agitated. Close to a rage. She was flying a wide sweep over the valley, checking out the weather and snow buildup. The air was crisp and clean--warmer than yesterday, but still well below freezing. The blizzard was dying down, and at this altitude the air was clear. She tried to enjoy the contrast of warm sunlight and cold air, but her thoughts kept straying back to the source of her ire, trying to understand. She wished some critter would be dumb enough to wander out into winter, so she could have the catharsis of stooping on it and tearing it apart.

As she returned to the ruined tower, she noticed Tev was outside, chopping firewood in the lee of the tower. She dropped down to the ground, and walked up to him.

He paused his activity when he noticed her approach. "Griffon."

She blinked, and, as always, thought, has he ever used my name? "Tev. Do you have a minute?"

"Certainly." He leaned on the axe. "This is about the human." It wasn't a question.

"Well, yeah. I..." she seethed for a moment. "He's so weak. How can he and his people even be related to the creatures talked about in the books? The ancient humans, they knew what they wanted, and they could make the universe give it to them with mere thought. How..." she shook her head, "how could a planet of gods be destroyed?"

Tev just stared at her for a while--long enough that she started to feel uncomfortable--before speaking. "For four years you have been the most devoted of us all. The most...fanatical." She flinched, Gideon's words about fanatics still fresh in her mind. "Yet, for that, you should know best of us all that the books we have are woefully incomplete, and most of them copied and interpreted a dozen times over. Interpreted by other fanatics, assuredly."

She looked down. "But, the truth..."

"I do not think we can know the truth through the books. Not any books the Watch has access to, at least." The canid sighed, and sat down on a stump. "This human is thousands of years apart from the ancients. And we are thousands of years apart from our ancestors. Our bond is weak, and perhaps partially wishful thinking." He paused, then looked into her eyes. "And yet we all know there is a bond. We all feel it. Perhaps he has not noticed it, or does not want to acknowledge it, or...or does not desire it. But the created know their creators." He fell silent, staring at the ground.

Alouette waited a moment, then felt her temper flare. She paced up to the sullen canid, beak flashing near his face. "Well then what are we supposed to do?! The Prophecy of Return comes true, but it gives us some weak, reluctant, hesitant man who feels nothing for us? Do we abandon him? Do we serve him? Do we," she spat the word, "worship that pitiful creature?" Tev simply returned her gaze, until she calmed herself and turned away, saying, "Sorry. I shouldn't be mad at you."

She heard him shift. "I believe it is too early to make a judgment. Whatever he is, it is clear that he has suffered much trauma in the past months. Even the ancients with all their power were still people, could still be hurt. I, for one, will stay with him, for now, and see what time shows us. See if he truly feels nothing for us." He rose up. "Whatever else, we are here for the winter, yes? It costs us nothing to wait and see." He returned to chopping firewood.

So nonchalant, but I know you feel the same things I do, old man. "Perhaps." She got up to leave, but then heard him pause.

"Alouette. If you wish to know if he is worthy of your care, perhaps you should talk to him. He is certainly more personable than the dusty books."

She curtly nodded an acknowledgment, and walked towards the tower. Perhaps I will. Eventually.

***

Trixie made her way up to the third floor of the tower. Gideon was sitting at the reading desk, several tomes open at once, scattered around the area. He heard her hoofbeats, and turned as she approached him. "Hi Trixie."

"Gideon." She nodded, and proffered the plate she was carrying, which had some bread, cheese, and dried berries on it. "I brought you something to eat."

"Oh, uh, you didn't have to do that." His stomach grumbled audibly, and he looked embarrassed. "I could have come down."

She grinned, "Dinner time was over an hour ago. I assumed you were simply too weak to make the trek at this point." She winked at him.

He ducked his head, "Heh, well, thanks. I guess I've gotten a bit distracted." He took the plate, setting it down after moving a couple of books out of the way. He took a handful of berries, and ate them, staring into space. Trixie simply watched him for a while, and eventually his gaze rose to meet hers. "Trixie, with all the shock of finding out where I am, I forgot one big question..."

She nodded, and smiled at him.

"Why are you here?" He gestured around them. "This place is obviously old and mostly deserted. The 'Halls of Justice' were a frozen ruin, yet Tev was there waiting for me. Why?"

She sat down, and licked her lips. "Well, we're the last adherents of an ancient group, The Watch. It was formed as your people departed our world, because the last humans to leave told us that they would return, someday. There are a number of routes through which this could have happened, and for many centuries, they were all guarded and watched."

Gideon digested that for a moment, and then raised his eyebrows, "But we never came back."

She nodded, "Over the years, money found better places to go, beliefs faded. Humans became more like mythical creatures. We still learn about them in school of course, but just in passing, and the creation stories are..." she shrugged "...sometimes left out. The Watch was reduced to volunteers and donations. The main manpower support at this point comes from Tev's people...several of the canid tribes still hold strong to the old beliefs." She got a bit of a shifty-eyed look on her face, "We also have an anonymous donor who I suspect might be a dragon, but I've not had a chance to pry into it, yet."

He blinked, "A dragon?"

"Yes..." she stretched her forelegs out, "giant flying lizard, breathes fire, hoards money and gems?"

A surprised nod, "We had legends of something like that on Edumea. I guess some things are hard to forget."

She smiled at him. "Well, anyway, the canids take care of a few of the more-temperate sites still, though some have been abandoned. The Halls were considered one of the more likely return points, though, so we've always tried to keep it manned." She raised an eyebrow. "It's fortunate, you know: Alouette was the last cold-hardy recruit willing to come up here, and she joined four years ago. I've been worrying about what we'd do when Tev couldn't handle this anymore. In a few more years, we might have had to abandon The Halls during the winter."

His gaze was fixed downward, "Huh. Lucky..."

Trixie blinked, did I just say it was lucky his world was annihilated when it was? Idiot. She tried to think of something else to say, but drew a blank.

He looked up at her, and smiled. "I am glad you all were here. Even if it wasn't the dead of winter, it would have been pretty awful to end up here with nobody around."

She returned his smile, and blushed slightly, thankful he hadn't taken it the wrong way. I'm still an idiot, though. "So, ah, how are your studies going?" She nodded at the pile of books.

"Ehh," he glanced back to them, "no offense, but a lot of these are really...bad." He coughed. "I realize they've probably been copied and recopied, but it seems like the scribes weren't exactly impartial." He looked at her guiltily.

She simply nodded, "Oh I entirely agree! I could barely stand to skim through them when I first joined The Watch, and I've never gone back to them." She looked aside, quickly. "Though, um, I wouldn't mention that to Alouette. She's pretty into them."

"So I've gathered." He looked at her curiously, "If you dislike the books so much, why are you part of The Watch?"

"Oh, well." She smiled, "It's a bit of a story, I don't know..."

"I'd like to hear it." He looked sincere. "Eventually I want to hear from all of you. I figure it's a good way to get to know both my rescuers and this world."

She looked at him for a moment, then nodded, "very well," and took a moment to gather her thoughts. She sighed, "I used to be a traveling entertainer." Her hoof rose, unbidden, and she preened a bit. "I was The Great and Powerful Trixie!" A couple of tiny magical pinwheels fizzled off around her.

Gideon raised an eyebrow, and she blushed.

"Yes, well." She slowly sank to the floor, eyes fixed on a forehoof. "Trixie had a bit of an overblown ego back then, and...well eventually she became a bit of a liar too." A distant look came to her face. "It came back to bite her, in the end. Some unfortunate things occurred, and Trixie, well, she..." She blinked. "I. I escalated things even further. I did things I regret. Thankfully nopony was too badly hurt, but after that, I just felt so lost. I wandered around for a bit, doing odd jobs. I'm unusually diverse in my magical abilities, so it wasn't hard to survive. I didn't really know what I was doing, just...waiting."

Holding up a hand, he said, "Wait, what do you mean you're unusually diverse?"

She looked up, "Oh, well, most unicorns have a limited set of skills related to their special talent and cutie mark." She shifted aside her cape, and gestured at her own mark. "They might have especially fine control, or be able to lift more with their telekinesis, or create, summon, or find a certain item."

He glanced at her mark. "I had wondered about that. So your mark is related to some talent you have...what does yours represent?"

Running her hoof over her mark, she sighed. "Oh, I've never been entirely sure. I used to think the wand was telling of my skill at being an entertainer--I mean where else do you see such silly props used? Nowadays, I'm not sure..."

"Wait," he looked very confused, "you didn't decide on the mark, it was...given to you?"

She smiled, "Yes, sorry, you wouldn't know. A pony's cutie mark magically appears one day, when they discover and embrace their special talent." She reminisced fondly, "Mine showed up when I was entertaining some foalhood friends with some of the tricks I'd learned. As I said, I'm quite diverse: I can never do something as well as a true expert, but I can do a little of almost anything. I had such fun showing off, I sort of naturally fell into performing."

He fell silent, head resting on a hand, looking at her mark. She was just starting to get a little embarrassed when he blinked, and looked up. "Sorry, so you were just wandering...?"

"Oh, yes." She collected her thoughts. "So, six years ago I was actually quite a ways away, in Spurkane. I was on my way home from work one day, when I passed by a small, run-down theater that I had thought was closed. The fresh posters they had up promised great feats of magic, and heroic deeds, so I figured it was a performer, like I had been. I had nothing better to do, so I went in to see them at work." She grinned. "Turned out it was actually a history lesson by a recruitment group for The Watch."

Gideon looked surprised. "Recruitment?"

Nodding, she said, "there are a number of excellent storytellers that go from town to town, using magic to add life to the ancient histories. The one whose show I unknowingly entered, Stilled Lumière, is considered one of the best. Unlike what I learned in school, or later, from the books, the stories he told...they drew me in. I not only felt called to volunteer, I felt...a certain urgency. As if any delay would be a terrible mistake..." She trailed off, looking distant.

He waited a moment, then prompted, "So that was six years ago?"

She looked up and smiled, "Yes. There was about a year of, well, training I guess. Learning the histories, reading the books, visiting some of the return sites. Since then I've taken on Watch terms at several sites, but I've spent the most time here. I like the area, the tower, the ruins, but also...well I guess I felt the same sort of pull to be here as I felt to join up. Like this is where I was meant to Watch." She glanced at Gideon, and chuckled. "Perhaps I've a bit of the prophet in me, and I knew you were to arrive soon."

He returned her smile. "Well, as I said, I'm glad you were here."

She ducked her head, then stood up. "Well, that's my story. I-I'll leave you to your readings. Don't forget to eat, eh?"

Gideon nodded, and she made her way back downstairs.

Service

Gideon awoke late the next morning, having only made it to sleep well into the night. While the books weren't wonderfully accurate, there were still truths to be gleaned from them, or at least hints of the truth.

He rose to find Tev the only occupant of the tower, sitting in his usual spot near the banked fire, carving at a piece of wood with a small knife.

The canid looked to him as he rose. "Human."

He nodded, "Good morning, Tev." Walking over to the supply barrels, he grabbed one of the less-shriveled apples. As he moved to sit down, he gestured at Tev's carving. "Nice bear."

The canid nodded an acknowledgment, "A hobby of mine--a way to pass the time here. As well, a retired Watch member keeps a small shop in Fillydelphia, and occasionally a figure will sell. Any little bit helps the Watch."

Gideon hummed absently, nibbling on the apple. After watching Tev carve a few more tiny slivers from the bear and flick them into the fire, he asked, "So, what do the others do to keep occupied?"

After a pause, Tev answered, "The griffon spends most of her time flying, as she is now. The brothers...they are still young, full of energy. They spend their time sparring, or off wandering around the valley. The pony...when she's not occupying herself with more than her fair share of the busywork, she spends most of her time alone. I believe she meditates, and perhaps practices her magic."

He nodded, and paused. "Is that where she is now?" He glanced upwards.

The canid shook his head, "No, she and my fellows are off gathering water. It is a task she is uniquely suited for, but a full barrel is not a burden one can bear alone."

"Hmm." Not one of them, perhaps. He recalled throwing Seekers around like ragdolls, using enormous stones, even marble columns from ancient ruins as weapons. A headache had lingered between his eyes since he'd awakened on this planet, and he'd wondered if the 'restricted spell' had been a bit much for him to cast. He'd taken it easy, waiting for the ache to fade, and it was, slowly. The few times he'd tried some small exertion of power, he'd get only so far, and a green-skinned cyborg's twisted form would flash into his mind, breaking his concentration. He just needed a little more time.

He glanced back to Tev, "Hey, um, would it be okay if I asked you a couple of questions...about yourself?"

Tev looked surprised, and stared back for a moment, then nodded, and sheathed his small carving knife.

"Okay, well." He cleared his throat. "I guess foremost I'm wondering why you're here. I talked to Trixie last night about this, so I know a little about your group, but...why are you in the Watch? Why did you choose to come here, to the middle of nowhere? ...and I suppose since they don't talk, I should ask you about the brothers as well, if they wouldn't mind you saying."

Raising his eyebrows, the canid began, "It is not that they do not talk, or cannot, but that they are as yet unused to it. I was the same when I was young, before I had spent much time with outsiders in places such as this. Our people make much more use of body language and subtle sound in our communication. You would, in fact, find that most canids are much better writers than they are speakers--we enjoy reading and passing on stories, we have our own bureaucracies, but in-person, speech is not so frequently required."

He nodded, "Okay."

Tev paused for a moment. "As for why they and I are in the Watch, and here, it is...I suppose the best way to put it is that this service is a 'cultural duty' to my people. My people now form the core of the Watch, with the ponies having...perhaps half of our numbers. Many of the canid tribes still hold to the ancient beliefs, to the ideals of your ancestors, and the hope for their return. For some, the belief is simply shallow action, but for others it is still deeply held, on a tribal level or to each individual. Some join the Watch simply due to devotion." He looked thoughtful. "It is also seen as a way to socialize those of our children who show aptitude for spoken language, and a minimum of xenophobia. Even for those who wish to go on to become merchants in the trade cities, or ambassadors, a stint in the Watch is usually a first step. A way to train up one's communicative skills, and grow more used to the company of foreigners--ah, most Watch divisions are kept mixed, as this group is. Both I and the brothers are in the Watch because we showed aptitude, and our families had not offered children up for service for some time."

Gideon looked concerned, "So, you were, what, drafted into this?"

The canid smiled, "Nay, nothing so extreme. I suppose if I had wished dearly to do something else, there would have been little argument from my family. But to serve in the Watch, is, for my tribe at least, an honorable position. While I may not have the fierce devotion of the griffon, I do hold to the old beliefs, and I felt this a worthwhile mission." He raised an eyebrow. "Seemingly my faith was not without grounding in reality."

Gideon looked away uncomfortably, "Mmm. We'll see how worthy I am of any part of your faith in humanity." He rubbed his chin, and was distracted by his stubble, thinking, I could use a shave. He momentarily pondered the logistics of that, but decided facial hair could only help against the cold. He

Tev watched the taciturn human for a moment, before deciding to continue. “As for why we are here, at the Halls, the brothers and I are of the tribe of canids which is most cold-hardy. Only a griffon is less affected by the cold than we. A near-arctic winter assignment such as this is the most logical one for our kind."

Gideon nodded, and remained silent for a while, then glanced up. "Okay, so...when we were talking yesterday, you said some believe that humans left because they were...chased? Is there evidence for that?"

The canid blinked at the change of topic, then gave him a strange look. "Given what you told us, I would think the actions of these 'Seekers' to be some evidence for it."

He shook his head, "No…I don't think the timeline fits. The Aurelians said the Seekers only had history stretching back a few thousand years. Even Edumean history and archeology go back further than that, and from your library I've gathered that we were missing quite a bit." He paused, his face clouding over. "There's other things too…I don't know the full truth. Heck, at this point I'm not sure I know any of the truth. But I'm pretty sure the Seekers couldn't have been a force back then."

"Hmm..." Tev pondered this for a moment before responding, "As for evidence here...some would say it is compelling. I certainly think it is a possibility. It...it is nothing large, but..." he looked down at his own hand, flexing it briefly "...it is obvious that humanity was quite meticulous. Endless attention to detail, but more than that, a..." he closed his eyes, and sighed "...we, the created, all feel within us, a certain...abiding care from our creators. We know were valued, and the tales also tell us so...valued, both as creations, and as individual people." He looked to Gideon, as if seeking an acknowledgment.

He nodded, not wanting to offend. "Alright. I can certainly agree with the attention to detail."

"Mmm, yes." Tev's look intensified. "Then, given this, there are strange lapses, near the end. An example," he gestured vaguely in the direction of the Halls of Justice, "there were once ways of instilling forces within a building, as it was constructed. These forces, connected to each other and the earth by ley lines, could then be used to sustain the very structure of the building. Any sufficiently powerful magic user who knew the way could put a bit of energy in, and the building would be renewed, its strength and resilience restored. Yet...we were not taught the ways of building these immortal structures, and we were not even given the knowledge needed to feed the leylines of existing structures. So, the venerable Halls have crumbled, as have most other ancient and revered places." A distant look came over him. "There are other things, too. Devices which ceased to work, areas which have been corrupted, merely more signs of a...a framework slowly breaking down. The humans once had as perfect a control over this world as I can believe is possible, but now it has started to return to pure wildness. All we would need to fix things is a guidebook, but they...forgot to leave one behind for us? The thought of it being a careless oversight is absurd. This is why some of us believe that the humans were short on time. They did what they could for us, but then had to depart before they could finish our teachings."

Gideon digested all of this for a while. "I suppose I can see another example in what they brought with them. I mean," he nodded at Tev's carving, "I know what a bear is, yet I've never seen a creature even remotely like Trixie, nor...well, half of Alouette...I recognize the avian part as similar to some birds of prey on Edumea. Given time and resources, I would think they'd wish to preserve as many species as possible. But what I don't understand is, why wouldn't your people have been attacked by whatever was chasing humanity?"

Tev smiled, "It is one of many flaws in the theory. We, of course, do not have enough history to know the truth of what happened."

He nodded, "Speaking of that, I know I've only made it through a small fraction of the books up there," the gestured towards the library, "but they seem quite incomplete, inaccurately copied, and, well, fuzzy. Are those the best histories available?"

"Hmm," the canid frowned, "It is a reasonably representative selection of copies from several Watch libraries around the world. But many of those have been copied numerous times since their creation, or their original copying from the source books."

"Source books?"

"Yes. Nearly everything in the Watch libraries is a copy from originals which lie in several archives. Many of them have permanent preservation spells on them--another lost skill...the ones that do not are copied by, ah, more objective scribes than those who copy works in the Watch libraries." He nodded to the ruins again. "A small number of pertinent volumes were in the Halls, but they were claimed by the Griffon Kingdom when the buildings became untenable. There is a major archive in the Crystal Empire to the west, and another is supposedly held by the Changeling Hives, but the largest and nearest is in the ponies' capital city, Canterlot."

"Hmm..." he raised an eyebrow, "what are the chances of me getting into that archive?"

Tev smiled gently, "I do not believe the first human to grace Terra in thousands of years would be denied access to his peoples' histories."

Gideon snorted lightly, "Heh, I hope not..."

"However," the canid continued, "that will be a while in coming."

He looked askance at the canid.

"The blizzard is calming down, and it should be safe for you to go out tomorrow, with the protection of warmer garments the pony is creating for you. However, we are still in the midst of winter, surrounded by mountains, and the nearest town--wherein we could find fast transport to Canterlot--is almost fifty miles away, over some treacherous terrain."

"I see." He looked away.

"We are past the halfway point of the season, but it will not be safe to travel for quite a while. I would say we have at least a month and a half before the pass is reasonably safe."

Gideon chuckled, and rubbed his forehead, looking resigned, "Well, I guess I need to find a hobby too, then..."

Tev merely gave half a shrug of acknowledgment.

"Well," he got up, "I'll be upstairs, trying to glean a little more from what's at hand." He walked over to the stairs, and started up, then paused, "Oh, and...let me know if there's anything I can do around here to help, eh? I don't want to be a burden."

The canid nodded, and returned to his carving, as the human ascended to the library.

* * *

The door opened, Sif holding it wide, while Sef carried an obviously heavy barrel into the tower. Trixie followed behind, horn glowing softly, her magic lessening the weight of the barrel to something manageable. Sef carefully set the barrel down next to the others.

The brothers glanced at each other, then at Trixie.

She sighed, "Yes, fine, I'm done with you. Shoo."

They both bowed, then Sef snagged the bag with their rock-climbing gear from a corner, and they departed, shutting the door behind them.

She shook her head, and sat near the fire, soaking up the warmth. "I may not be a filly anymore, but I don't think I was ever so energetic as those two."

"Hmm." Tev looked skeptical. "You are still a youngling to one such as me, little mare."

Feeling herself blushing slightly, she gave him an innocent look. "Sorry, oh wise elder."

He snorted. "As for the brothers...our tribe of canid is known for being especially energetic into early adulthood…some of the other tribes even call us crazy, and only half-jokingly."

She raised her eyebrows. "Really, now. So even the venerable Tev had his overly energetic time?"

"Yes, yes." He nodded brusquely. "I spent those years in a place southeast of Seaddle. I tended to spend my energy river rafting...quite dangerous at times."

Trixie gave him an amused look. "Wild child."

He just gave a 'hmph' in return.

"So." She decided it was a good time to change the subject. "How is our guest?"

He looked back to her, "He is...curious. About us, and his ancestors." He glanced across the fire, to where Gideon had been sleeping. "Strange...like Alouette I found him rather disappointing at first...but his interest is encouraging. He seems to have quickly accepted that he is stuck on Terra, at least for the time being. Choosing to not remain ignorant of the world is a good sign, I would say."

"Yes." She nodded. "He already seems rather fed up with our books, though."

"Indeed. I told him about the Canterlot archives, and he wishes to go there." He gave her a pointed look. "I assume you would take your leave of us before then?"

"Er…" She was taken aback. "…I…I know I've avoided the area in the past, but…it's been six years now. And it's not like I'd be trying to put on a show. I think I would be fine to accompany you. I mean, I'd like to see where this all goes."

Tev stared at her for a moment, then nodded. "So be it. I told him it will be at least six more weeks before we can consider making the journey. He made a good point, that he will need to find ways to occupy his time. I think this especially important, if he is growing frustrated with the library. You should consider drafting him at times for help, rather than the brothers."

Standing up, she said, "Hmm. Good idea. Especially if he can put his magic to use...I'd like to see what he can do." She made her way towards the stairs, "Well, for now, I'm going to work on his new clothing, so he can go outside a bit tomorrow." She looked thoughtful. "You know, it's really a good thing we have so much extra cold-weather fabric in storage."

"Mmm...encouraging to know centuries of planning can bear some fruit." Tev gave her a sardonic look.

Trixie rolled her eyes at him, and waved a hoof, "Yes, yes, the Watch has planned for all contingencies, was there ever any doubt?" She smiled, and made her way up one flight.

This was a catch-all floor. The sanitary facilities were in a small side room. Most of the rest was dedicated to warm storage of equipment, supplies, and food that couldn't be allowed to freeze. She was mostly done with the preliminary work: sorting the good fabric from the ancient, stiffened stuff that wouldn't do, sewing together multiple layers of different fabrics, and cutting out vague forms. She finished that up in about an hour, then peeked up into the library.

Gideon was sitting on the floor, staring into the distance. He looked vaguely confounded, and didn't seem to notice her.

"Ahh, Gideon?" Her head was barely above floor level.

He blinked, and looked her way, finally spotting her, "Oh, hey Trixie. What's up?"

She took another step up, enough to turn and rest her forelegs on the floor. "Well, if you're not, uh, busy, I've been getting materials together to make you some cold-weather clothing. I'm at the point where I need to get some measurements, then I can finish things up pretty quickly."

The human just stared at her for a few moments, until she steeply raised an eyebrow at him, and he seemed to wake up, shaking his head. "Um, yeah, sure, okay. Sounds good." He got up and followed her downward. "I'd actually wondered what you were doing down here...I could hear you singing off and on."

She almost missed a step. "Wh-what? I was?"

He chuckled, "Yeah...you faded in and out, and I couldn't make out any words or anything."

She reached the floor, and turned to him, blushing, as he came down behind her, "Well, I'm sorry about that. I really never noticed, and nobody's ever said anything. Sorry to distract you."

He looked surprised, and shook his head, "No, it wasn't a real distraction or anything...I wasn't doing anything terribly productive, just trying and failing to, uh, work some magic...the singing was nice."

She felt herself blush even harder, "Ha, um, alright. Well, perhaps there's just something about sewing that causes spontaneous singing."

"Hey," he rubbed the back of his head, "sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I shouldn't have said anything."

Looking up at him, she felt the blush finally start to fade. "No, no, it's okay. Just strange to me that I didn't notice a thing. Anyway..." She shook her head, and grabbed a tape measure with her magic. "...let's see to this. I just need some basic measurements...thankfully I don't have to be painfully accurate. With this thick inner fabric, everything will be pretty amorphous. Just have to make sure there's no gaps to the outside, and that it doesn't chafe..." She started taking the measurements she needed, noting them down with a quill held by her magic, directing him to move this way or that, holding the tape with her hooves.

After a while, Gideon was staring at her left hoof with a bemused look when he asked, "So...how does that work, anyway? Holding stuff with your, uh..."

She glanced up, then followed his gaze, and smiled, "It's called a hoof." She leaned back slightly, dropping the tape, and held it out to him. "Here, feel."

After a moment's hesitation, he took it in his left hand. She felt his fingers run over the firm, fetlock-shrouded outside of her hoof. Then they touched the underside, moving from the tough edge inwards, towards the softer, more-sensitive interior parts. Soft, those hands...much more gentle than even a canid's pads.

"A pony's hooves have some flexibility to them, but it's augmented by a bit of natural magic that we call 'static fields'." She flexed her hoof around his hand, and grasped it, her smile shifting towards a smirk.

He blinked in surprise, then shook his hand slightly, feeling the magical grip on his hand. She concentrated, and shifted pressure points around. He looked up to her, eyebrow raised.

“It’s the same basic effect as telekinesis, but anypony can use it, even those without active magic.” She gently released her grip, letting his hand slip free, and said, "hold it out, flat, like this," while holding her hoof up, underside parallel to their line of sight. When he held his hand up in a similar position, she gently pushed the flat of her hoof against the palm of his hand--the hoof and hand stayed separated by about a millimeter. "The natural state is to repel, slightly. This helps protect the soft parts of our hooves from damage when walking, and keeps them relatively clean. Of course, it's not perfect, so most would wear shoes if living or visiting a place with lots of stone floors and roads…or boots if the weather is particularly bad."

He peered closely at the gap, and pressed a bit harder, noticing that it narrowed. "Huh. That's amazing." He dropped his hand, looking thoughtful. "When you say 'those without active magic', does that mean the other, ah, tribes? I've caught a bit about them in the histories, the pegasi and earth ponies?"

Nodding, she elaborated, "Yes, exactly. Static hoof fields are an innate magic that all ponies have. Pegasi have their own magic that focuses on their wings, weight, and inertia--it's what allows them to fly easily and perform maneuvers that would otherwise be impossible. There's another whole-body component that allows them to interact with clouds, but there's an external component to that which isn't well-understood. Earth ponies hold a certain connection to the natural world, which allows them to accomplish some amazing agricultural feats, and provides them with a sort of general physical boost--they are stronger and have a greater endurance than pegasi or unicorns, greater even than their physical forms would suggest." She glanced up towards her own horn. "Unicorns are slower and physically more fragile than others, but our direct and fine-tuned control of magic makes up for it. ...More than makes up for it, if you ask some."

She retrieved the tape, and continued with her measurements. “Our fields allow us to grip the surface we're walking on if we need to, so we can get about on three hooves if one is needed to carry something. It also allows us balance on two legs, though that's pretty tiring for a number of reasons. That sort of gripping is automatic for us by the time we reach school-age--just a part of learning to walk." She paused. "I suppose the same is true for basic tool use...I would say it gives us abilities roughly equivalent to a griffon or canid. Judging from what I've seen of your hands, most ponies are probably not up to a human level; however, with a lot of practice, we can get very fine control with it. Enough to do high-precision tasks such as, oh, fine embroidery, or lock making. Of course, unicorns with a reasonable amount of telekinetic control are likely to just use that--my own static field abilities are pretty rough...” She shrugged.

He nodded, "Thanks for explaining."

The pony just smiled, and continued to take the last few measurements. "Not a problem. Anypony who's been out in the world, anywhere there are a lot of people of other species, is used to getting some strange looks because of it."

After thinking for a few moments, he mused, "You know, Tev was right..."

"Hmm?" She glanced up to him.

Shaking his head, he mused, "we were talking earlier...and he was waxing poetic about how much care the...my ancestors put into your creation. That kind of innate magic, the balance of powers between the tribes...it is pretty amazing. I haven't seen any explicit declaration of how long your creation took, just 'many years', but it must have taken centuries of planning and refinement, especially to do it with any semblance of ethical respect for the…the subjects. And from what I understand, ethics would have been foremost in their minds."

"Hmm." She pondered that for a while before answering, "I would agree with that. Everything we know of them says they were a kind and noble race." She looked him in the eyes for a moment. "I think that's part of what Alouette finds so objectionable about you...the story you told of your people. The idea that you could be warlike, fight amongst yourselves, just as we have in the past...it is rather shocking."

She finished her measurements. "Okay, all done. It'll probably take another hour for me to finish these, up, then you can try them on."

Gideon smiled at her. "Thanks a lot, Trixie. I feel kind of bad adding all this work to your day, and, uh, if there's ever anything I can help with, I'd be happy to contribute."

"Yes, Tev said you'd be looking for things to occupy your time...I'm sure I'll find things for you to do, once we can get you out into the cold." Giving him a serious look, she continued, "and don't feel bad, or like a burden or anything. Frankly, most of my time here is pretty boring, it's nice having someone new around...and especially someone talkative." She returned his smile.

* * *

A while later, she had finished piecing together the insulating suit, and called Gideon back down. "Alrighty. I know it doesn't look like much, but the underlayer is magically woven to trap warm air, and the outside can deflect wind quite effectively." She proffered a pile of folded fabrics.

"Ahh, hey, Trixie..." He scratched his head.

"Hmm?"

He looked at her dubiously. "What's the situation for, ah, getting clean around here? It's been a few days, and I could use a bath."

"Ahh...hmm. I hadn't noticed, but I'm sure you know yourself." She thought for a bit. "I'm probably the closest to you in that regard. The canids don't sweat, so they stay pretty clean. I'm actually not sure what Alouette does, but she takes care of herself." She looked up at him. "I'm guessing you've figured out that an actual bath isn't feasible here?"

He nodded.

"Well, I have a spell I use on myself when I feel the need..." She bit her lip before continuing, "you said you're having trouble with your magic, so if you're not up to learning it yet, I could cast it on you, but it might be a little, ehh...rough. It works based on your body's ideal of what it means to be clean. On myself I can adjust by how it feels, on you, I'll just be eyeballing."

He nodded again. "I'm sure it'll be fine, thanks."

"Okay then," she said, as she turned to set the new clothing down, "just take your clothes off. I can give those a quick clean too while we're at it--I'm sure you won't want to wear this heavy stuff all the time in here." When she turned back, Gideon was just standing there, looking a bit flustered, and...blushing? She raised her eyebrows. "What's wrong?"

"Ehh..." He glanced at her, and looked abashed. "Humans...we have a bit of a thing about getting naked in front of others. It's kind of a taboo, except for, ah, special moments."

"Wha...oh." She blinked. "Okay. I guess I can understand that. The Saddle Arabians are pretty uptight about clothes as well." She smiled, unsure. "I...if it's a modesty thing, I assure you I wouldn't be, ah, judging, or anything. I mean, you're the first of your species I've ever seen, I'd have no basis for comparison."

He stared at her for a few moments, his face growing a bit redder, then slowly cooling. "Ah, no, no. It's fine, really. Just a silly hangup. Not just being naked, but getting undressed," he paused to bow slightly, "and in front of a pretty lady, too."

She felt herself color slightly. "Well, if it would help, I could close my eyes for that part," she did so as she said it, "but I will have to look to cast the spell."

"Ah, yeah, I guess that helps." She heard the sound of cloth moving, and waited patiently. "Okay."

Upon opening her eyes, she found him standing with his arms lightly crossed. She fixed her gaze on his torso to keep from questing downward and embarrassing him further, but that hope was dashed when she actually took in what she was seeing, and couldn't suppress a slight gasp. "Your scars..."

He looked briefly surprised, and glanced down at his own chest. "Mmm, yeah, I guess I forget about them." His hand moved--seemingly of its own accord--to rub a particularly large one near the bottom of his ribcage, on the left side. "This is the oldest...from the rebellion. Heh, run through by a random chunk of space debris that had been floating around for who knows how long. Didn't even make it to that fight, or the next two. Typical..." He kept on lightly rubbing the scar, lost in thought.

Trixie shook her head, "I'm sorry. Sorry to bring up bad memories. I've just never seen so many scars. You talked about how much fighting you've seen, but I guess it didn't really register." She looked determined. "Here, just relax, and I'll cast the spell."

He nodded, and waited, as she stared in his general direction. He noted that her eyes had gone a bit unfocused, and he felt a slight tingle along his skin.

"Huh...strange." She paused. "Your aura, have you...?" Her head shook slightly. "Nevermind. Here goes."

The tingling built steadily for a moment, coursing over his body, and he felt his own magical sense stirring wildly as it peaked. The sensation of the spell taking effect was like being nibbled to death by a swarm of tiny flies.

Every pore on his skin was cleansed at once, the spell somehow knowing what to leave and what to obliterate. Dead skin was purged, contaminants were cleansed, and microbes destroyed--though only detrimental ones.

A moment later it was over, and he felt like he'd been through a meat tenderizer. A weak groan was the only noise he found himself able to make.

Trixie focused on him, and noted the bleary look in his eyes. "Um...you okay?" She began to get a little worried when he didn't respond, but finally his eyes moved and he returned her gaze.

"Ehm...ahh...yeah." He gave her a weak smile. "I think so. That was…" his smile took on a gritted look "…intense."

She nodded. "I did warn you. The spell uses your aura's own idea of what clean is, so it doesn't remove things like beneficial bacteria. Without your mind's own guidance, however, it can be a bit aggressive about oils, pores, and dead skin cells." She bit her lip, holding back a smile. "I hope it wasn't too rough."

He chuckled. "No, nowhere near the worst thing I've been through. Thanks. I certainly feel clean now."

"No problem." She levitated his discarded clothes into a small pile to her side, and then transported the new ones to him. "Here, try them on. I'll clean the old ones."

He nodded, and she turned away and spent a bit more power getting his old, strange clothing clean. She noticed a few holes and tears in them, and picked a needle and thread back up. "These have some...battle damage, perhaps? I think I can mend them pretty easily."

"I won't object, since you told me not to." She smiled as she patched and mended. As she worked, she wondered, as she often did, how non-unicorns--even humans--could ever deal with the fumbling, shaky nature of claws, hands, and hooves when doing such delicate work. She was halfway finished when Gideon spoke up.

"They seem pretty good."

She glanced over to find him shifting around in the new gear. "Move around a bit. Walk, so I can see how it clings." He obeyed, walking to and fro a few times, and she noticed a few spots that needed work. "Okay, come here." She pinched and pulled at the fabric a bit, gaging what needed to be done. "Fine, fine...okay, take them off and I can make a few adjustments. I'll have your old clothes mended in a few moments."

She heard him removing the new items, as she continued working on the old. "Since you're looking to help, you can come with Tev and I tomorrow. We're getting pretty low on kindling for the fire, so we've got to look around for some new fallen branches. It's not much, but it will get you out, and we can make sure the new things are warm enough and fit right for real activity."

"Sounds good. I'd also like to see the ruins a bit, some time soon." He set the pile of new clothes on the table beside her.

"Of course." She gestured at his old things, as she finished patching the last hole in his shirt: a particularly nasty-looking cut, which had been quite blood-fringed before she cleaned it. "There's not a whole lot to see, though. The buildings are pretty far gone at this point, and even the floors and foundations are pretty damaged."

He took the shirt when she was done, and slipped it on. "Maybe. I don't know. I have this vague hope that I'll stand in the right place, and the wisdom of my ancestors will come to me, and I'll figure out what all of this means…what I'm supposed to do." He chuckled. "Silly fantasy, I guess."

She smiled at him. "We all wish for a little divine guidance now and then. Some are even lucky enough to get it." Turning to finish adjusting her work, she said, "I'll let you get back to your reading…and I'll call you for dinner this time, if you wish."

"Okay, yeah. Thanks, Trixie"

Difficulties

Gideon huffed into his scarf, and noticed that breathing no longer hurt quite so much. He trudged along beside Tev, both of them walking in the wake of Trixie, who was using her more stable four-legged stance to break up the dense snow that came up to her chin.

While the air was calm now, it was still bitingly cold--somehow even colder than a long-dead asteroid habitat. Each breath brought with it the feel of ice crystals forming in his lungs. Given this, he was quite impressed with the clothing Trixie had made for him, which had thus far kept his body quite comfortable. He slightly shifted the bundle of kindling that was slung over his back as they emerged from a wooded area into a small bowl that the blizzard's winds had somehow conspired to keep mostly clear. A few crumbling bits of stonework wall were the only testament to a structure that had once occupied the clearing.

Trixie paused at the edge, her ears twitching a bit. "Wait. Something's thrown me off, we shouldn't be this far west…" She looked back at Tev.

"Mmm…" The canid raised an eyebrow, and moved up beside her. "Well, we have nearly enough already. If we cut back along the old river bed…" He gestured vaguely to their left, and the two started talking about how recently that region had been swept for wood.

As the two debated the merits of possible return routes, Gideon wandered his way towards one of the ruined walls. Upon his approach, he felt the ground change, and a sweep of his foot revealed what had once been a smooth, intricately-fitted stone floor. He reached the wall, and brushed a bit of snow off of it, noting that a few flakes of mortar came away at even this light touch. So old. This wall has seen more of History than Edumea saw of humanity. He rubbed his fingers together, and noticed that his contact with the wall had left the faintest of tingles running along his fingertips--a minute brush of magical power.

Stretching out his senses, trying to understand what he was feeling, he found that his attention was drawn towards the floor, to the center of the ancient structure. Dropping his bundle of kindling, he walked over, feeling further flickers of power run across him. As he reached the center, the magical teases reaching a definite--yet still very subtle--peak, he bent over and started sweeping snow away from the floor. After a few moments, his efforts began to reveal a strange, layered design carved into a huge single slab of stone that occupied the center of the ancient structure. In places it was curvacious, in others, geometric; as if multiple languages had been mixed, overlapped, and squeezed together. He stared downwards, and squinted, wondering if he was imagining the incredibly slight red glow coming from the depths of the carved lines of the sigil.

"It's an Anchor Seal." Gideon glanced up to find his companions were watching him from the edge of the structure. Trixie continued, "Such seals serve as the focal point for many spells--a place where they are defined, and may be tweaked and manipulated. This was probably one of the main points for the Halls' preservative spells…they say the details of a seal's carvings can tell you all about its purpose, but I've never studied that. Even though the main spells have failed, there are still strong natural ley lines that meet here, and are keeping the Seal alive in a dormant state. The last thing to go will be the Seal's stone itself."

Looking back to the Seal, Gideon asked, "Is it just me, or is it glowing?"

Trixie nodded, staring down at the seal. "It is…reacting to you, somehow." She moved a bit closer. "I've…never seen one act this way. Some of them glow when they are active, but this isn't actually using any real power, it's like it's simply acknowledging your presence. I think it knows what you are."

"Huh." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, interesting, but it feels kinda creepy."

"Gideon…" She hesitated, still staring at the Seal. "…if you wanted--I mean, if you feel recovered enough--perhaps you could try feeding it a bit of power?” Tev furrowed his brow at the pony, but didn’t speak up as she continued, “The greatest mage-scholars have never been able to get the ancient seals to accept power, but…they don't recognize us like this."

Gideon raised an eyebrow, but then recognized something in her expression. He'd seen it before, on Olivia's face, when he'd tried to drag her away from her research--the look of an academic being held back, politely refraining from raising hell to satisfy her curiosity. Smirking, he said, "Well…couldn't hurt to try I guess."

He stepped back slightly, and raised his hand, pulling power to him as he had many times before. He felt the feathery touches of the Seal's magic become slightly less tentative, and in response he gently pushed the power he held towards the Seal.

***

Trixie watched intently as Gideon raised power. She noticed that his technique was somewhat raw and his aura was ragged--probably just signs of his slow recovery. Nevertheless, the ease with which he drew power to himself was impressive. She refocused on the Seal, noting its reaction, that it almost seemed to reach out for what the human had on-hand. Hungry.

As Gideon began to feed power to the Seal, she could feel a slight rush of power over her body, as a magical field began to take shape in the area. The Seal glowed a bit brighter, and the golden wash of power connecting Gideon to it seemed to focus, as if the Seal itself was funneling the power in. Then, the glow of power flared a brilliant red, with edges of ominous black.

"Gideon, I think something's wrong, stop."

"I…have." His tone was strained. "It's like it's pushing back at me."

She stared into the line of power connecting human to Seal, and could indeed see that power was flowing the opposite way, with a flaring contention point in between them. As she saw this, the Seal's harsh, red power seemed to bloom outwards, snaking around Gideon's resistance and whipping around to engulf him. "Gideon!"

He let out a strangled grunt, appearing to be held in a vice, as the red power engulfed him, held back only by his aura, which had turned from golden into the same ominous black as the power previously edging the Seal's.

"Hold on! I'll disrupt it." She stared at the line of power, forming a general neutralization pattern in her mind, but before she could fire it off, the Seal's power flared once more, magically and optically, momentarily blinding the two observers.

"Ahhhhh!" Gideon's cry came from somewhere several meters away…and in the air.

Trixie looked back just in time to see the human disappear over the far wall. Seconds later, she heard a muffled thump, and saw a spray of snow fly into the air.

"Gideon!" She started to run towards where he had been flung, but was unexpectedly held back by Tev.

Before she could object, a loud THUD to her right drew her attention to where one of the larger remaining chunks of wall was in the process of collapsing. The pony and canid both looked around warily, as further sections of wall were seen and heard to fall around them, creating an earthquake in miniature. Finally, the ground was still again.

Trixie glanced at the Seal, and could see the barest ghost of flickering power still clinging to it--whatever Gideon's attempt had triggered, things were now worse off than before.

She quickly made her way past the still-standing wall the human had passed over, and to a body-shaped hole in the deep snow, several meters away. She carefully waded through the snow, until she felt a forehoof gently prod something soft, eliciting a groan.

"Gideon?" She used a quick flash of magic to cast snow away from the area in front of her, revealing a curled up form.

Letting out another groan, Gideon slowly relaxed, ending up lying on his back. "Ow."

Casting a medical scan spell, Trixie looked him over. "Ah…okay, nothing broken, just some bruises. Do you feel okay?"

"Yeah…yeah, I guess so." He slowly sat up. "What…?"

"I'm so sorry!" Her face and tone were full of guilt. "I'd heard of that kind of physical reaction when people have gotten too pushy in trying to probe a Seal, but it seemed so positive towards you, I didn't think…"

He shook his head, "It…it was positive. I don't know what happened." He took Tev's offered paw, and stood up, looking a bit wobbly. He leaned against a tree, staring in the direction of the Seal, and said, "From the very start, I felt it looking at me. When I really started to feed it power, it felt…hungry, at first, but then it was like… It was like it didn't like the taste of the power I was giving it. Then it took a real look at me, and rejected me. It was…well, it felt downright angry." He shivered a bit.

Eyes and ears downcast, Trixie couldn't even look at him, "I'm sorry, I--agh--I should never have suggested it without more safety precautions, I, what if you'd gotten hurt, I don't even-"

"Hey." He stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "No real harm done, okay?" He gave her a questioning smile.

Her ears stayed down, but she nodded, and the group retrieved the loads they'd dropped, and returned to the tower.

***

Gideon stomped his feet, trying to get more blood to circulate. The cold had lessened a little further, but now the occasional biting breeze blew across the valley, and he'd been standing around for far too long.

It had been two days since the incident with the Anchor Seal, and he was again burning through the hours trying to get his magic to work properly. He'd done other things, helped where he could, even wandered through the main part of the ruined Halls, including the place he'd arrived. The sight of the chunks of the Galactic Council Hall that had followed him here had left him feeling more numb than the cold. A couple meters difference and I'd be a greasy smear.

But there was only so much to do, and only so much of the Watch members' time he felt comfortable taking up with questions. And I'll be much more useful around here if I can just get a handle on my power. He focused once more on his target: an apple-sized stone lying on the ground a few meters ahead.

He forced himself to ignore the cold, and concentrated on what Kelehm had taught him. The feel of summoning power to his hand, envisioning casting that power out, enveloping the stone, lifting it with an invisible hand. As before, he could feel the power take shape, could almost feel the texture of the stone's surface. And then, as before, as he tried to push his mind through the last step, to enact his will upon the world, images formed in his mind.

Of a monster with the face of his brother, contorted by arrogance.

Of that face, shifting to show fear, as a spell of unthinkable power gripped it.

Of an already tortured body being broken further, and finally destroyed.

It was enough to make him falter, to distract him, but it shouldn't have been enough to stop him, yet--he grit his teeth, as he felt the failure, as if a hole appeared in that imaginary hand. He released the power before it could backlash into him.

Damn it.

"Gideon? Are you alright?"

He looked towards the mare's voice, which seemed oddly close, but finally saw Trixie standing a hundred meters away, just over the lip of the small bowl in which he'd been practicing. Some sort of voice-throwing spell? Interesting. He waved to her, and she took that as leave to approach.

As she trotted closer, she called out, "Sorry if I'm interrupting, but I was passing by and I felt quite a bit of power surge over here…"

"Yeah, I-I'm fine."

She drew near, and examined him closely. "You look half frozen! How long have you been out here?" Before he could answer, she shook her head, "Nevermind. Here."

Her horn began to softly glow, and Gideon felt a slight tingling pass over his body. The air around him began to grow noticeably warmer--the brown, frozen grass on the wind-blasted ground thawing slightly.

He exhaled quickly, and sucked in a warm breath, already feeling better. "Wow, thanks. I guess I was getting a bit crunchy."

She chuckled softly, "So...may I ask what you were throwing around so much power for?"

So much? I was just... He gestured at the rock. "Just trying to get things working again, to toss that stone around. I...I don't understand what's up with me.” He crossed his arms. “I feel fine, physically and mentally. It doesn't hurt to draw power anymore. I'm a little...distracted, but I've used complicated, multi-target techniques before, while firing weapons, being shot, beaten up, and hell, practically blown up." He shook he head in frustration, then sat on a nearby log, head in his hand. "It's...it's like there's something missing. Some core of my control that's failing."

Trixie looked at him with some sympathy. "I think I know how you're feeling, or something similar at least."

He looked over to her.

She sighed, and then sat down beside him. "That...incident I mentioned before, when I escalated a bad situation... I was focused on trying to regain my reputation, but also...well, I guess on revenge." She turned her head away, looking to the woods. "I found what I thought was my solution in an ancient artifact, the Alicorn Amulet. Found it in a dusty old antique shop in Trottingham."

Closing her eyes, she sounded almost wistful, "It gave me...incredible powers. Maybe even brought me within kicking distance of the Princesses themselves. I had my revenge, showed that whole town what real power was...it was such a rush." She slowly opened her eyes, and looked at him, then downward. "But...I didn't know the downside to that particular artifact. Hadn't done enough research. It brought out terrible parts of me, exaggerated flaws and quirks I barely knew I had." Chuckling bitterly, she added, "Near the end, I had an almost pathological mistrust of wheels. I can't even speculate where that came from."

Gideon just raised an eyebrow, making her blush slightly.

"They managed to trick me into taking it off, and the madness faded pretty quickly, thank goodness. I was in a bit of shock, I guess. At what I'd done, at the thoughts that had run through my head...at the fact that the town was willing to forgive. I missed the power, of course, but," she shook her head, "it wasn't worth losing control of my self. I just wanted to get out of there, and leave it all behind, start over...I was in such a hurry to get away, I didn't notice it until later…"

She looked back at Gideon, "While I was able to use magic in a very rough way, and even set off a little fireworks display for the town to try to make amends, I quickly learned that all my fine control was just--well, gone. I'm not sure of the technical explanation, but it was like I'd become dependent on that amulet as a part of my, oh...magical process. I couldn't even pick up a spoon properly." She leaned back slightly, gazing into her memories, and wrapped her forelegs around herself.

He hesitated a moment, before gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry…for someone who uses her magic so much, that must have been...terrifying."

"Mmm…" She nodded absently, then returned to the present, "Yes. Part of me wanted to gallop back to Ponyville, to beg for the amulet back. Thankfully, my prideful streak did me some good that time. I couldn't bear to beg, so I just went back to the basics. Practiced like I was back in magic kindergarten. It took me a couple weeks to get basic control back, but once I did, it was like everything just…fell back into place." She looked at him and smiled, "I know it isn't exactly the same, since there isn't an artifact involved, but-"

"Well, actually…"

She paused, ears perking towards him.

"There was an artifact involved. It didn't have as great an effect as what you describe, but it made everything seem a little easier, and had some other effects…"

"Hmm," she looked surprised, "we didn't find anything with you--what happened to it?"

He closed his eyes, "It…left me. After I got sucked into the void, on my way here. I felt its presence leave me, before I emerged into the cold." He opened his eyes and looked at her, "It sounds strange to say it, but it definitely felt like it chose to leave. It even burned its way through the belt pouch I'd had made for it."

"How interesting." Trixie stared at him for a moment, deep in thought, then nodded, "How about you try again? Just do what you were doing before, and I'll watch. Maybe I can see if your problems are more than circumstantially similar to what I experienced."

He nodded, and stood up, focusing again on the stubborn rock. Going through the steps Kelehm had taught him. The memories were weaker this time, the distraction even less, and yet, again, he felt his control slip away.

He gave up yet again, tossing away the power he'd gathered, and looked over to Trixie, to find a shocked and disturbed unicorn staring at his hands. "Uh…what is it?"

"Y...you didn't focus your aura down at all! It was like…like you were trying to redirect the flow of a river using a hammer!" She looked him in the eye, "this is how you've been using magic?"

He rubbed the back of his head, bemused. "Well...yeah. I mean, my teacher, Kelehm, his powers were...limited. And most of that was recent." He frowned, and and looked askance at Trixie. "He said that his power and stamina had vastly increased when he was around humans."

She tilted her head, "Well…that's true. We all felt it as soon as you arrived. Everything is a little easier for me. Tev doesn't have much magic, but he says the same thing. Even Alouette, whose magic is innate and half instinctual, has mentioned that she finds takeoff and landing just a bit easier, as if her flight magic is being bolstered when she's near you." She looked away, "It is mentioned in a few of the books. Supposedly it is a result of the bond between creator and creation, though I wonder what that could mean in the case of your...Aurelian teacher."

He looked away, uncomfortable.

Trixie cleared her throat, "Well, no matter. If you were taught by someone with limited talent, and I'm guessing he was taught by another such...well it would explain your lack of focus. But I don't understand how you've managed not to burn yourself up, casting spells like the restricted one that brought you here."

"Burn myself up?" His looked back to her, eyebrows raised.

"Yes!" She looked disturbed, "There's no way you could focus a major spell with that kind of...well, rudimentary control. Channeling that much power so roughly should just burn your mind out."

He pondered that for a moment, "Well, all I was trying to do was lift, there...telekinesis, you called it. It felt different when I would use another technique. I could try something else, though everything is failing right now."

She gave him a measuring look, then nodded, and watched him closely.

"I'll try to form a stationary shield." Focusing again, he recalled how it felt to form a shield, and tried to make it happen. He could almost get it, almost feel the power begin to coalesce, but then it faltered as had everything before, and he tossed the power away. He glanced at Trixie to see her looking even more shocked. "Well?"

She glanced up at him, utterly bewildered. "I...I don't understand. It was still very ragged, and rough around the edges, but at its core it was orders of magnitude more coherent than before. I don't understand how you can be utterly unfocused at one time, and so much more at another." She paused for a moment, thinking, then looked at him sharply, frowning, "The same person could not have taught you both techniques!"

"Well, no," he shook his head, "Kelehm only taught me basic telekinesis. Everything else-"

Eyes widening, she interrupted, "Wait, just how many techniques could you use?"

He thought for a moment, "Well, I could augment my jumps, but that felt almost the same as telekinesis... I could place stationary shields that would block physical attacks, or hold a spherical shell around myself that somehow blocked outside attacks while letting my own through. And I could fire off...well, it seemed like pure energy. Bolts and beams of it. The effect on targets was...like a burn, but it cut through their entire body." He paused, "That was before I found the artifact."

Trixie looked a bit shocked, as she asked, "Yes, the artifact. Tell me about that."

"Well, it was on the Aurelian homeworld, in a hidden chamber that…" he looked a tad embarrassed "…well, seemed like it was built as a shrine to my people. There was a statue there, of a human form. When I entered, something took me, and seemed to look me over…actually, it felt a lot like when the Anchor Seal was examining me. Then the chamber opened, and inside was a small stone pyramid. As soon as I picked it up, it was easier to draw power, and I felt something similar to how I usually learned new techniques, and was able to...to warp time I guess."

"Warp time?" She looked skeptical, "As in time travel?"

He shook his head, "No, nothing that drastic, but I could throw myself across a room in a moment, to attack an enemy. Eventually I got good enough at it that I could put myself in a little bubble of slowed-down time. It took a lot out of me, but it's the only reason I'm alive, and not the hundreds of Seekers I've fought."

The pony hesitated at the number, then shook her head and tried to get back on track, "Okay, so all of these abilities, you said after basic telekinesis you learned them all the same way?"

Gideon looked at her for a moment, then nodded, "Well, my ego wants to say I made it up, and," he coughed, "and also doesn't want you to think I'm crazy..."

She smirked at him, "If your world truly had no magic, I'm sure I've seen and heard of many more strange things than you can throw at me. In fact, I remember you saying something about this that first day...something about abilities 'flowing into you'?"

He smiled at her, then glanced around, and sat back down. "Well... It always happened after a stressful event." His face took on a pained look. "Most often after I watched someone close to me die. Something about...I don't know, the despair, the desperation, the desire to protect myself and others, it was like it triggered something that helped me."

Frowning, Trixie prompted, "something?"

"It..." he closed his eyes "...it was power. Flowing around and through me. I don't know where it came from, but it was visible in the real world, too. Enorym saw it happen, once--was able to confirm what I saw. A white and golden light that wouldn't harm me, but would toss away anybody nearby. There was so much of it, the overflow would lift me off the ground, slightly. It was comforting, and exhilarating at the same time. Then...it would teach me." He opened his eyes, and looked at her, "It was like having someone show you how to do something by reaching around and taking your hands." He continued, flexing his hands unconsciously, "It would show me...how it felt to shape my power into a new configuration." He looked away. "Then it would fade, but all I had to do was remember that feeling, and focus my own power into the right shape, and I would have a new ability. It always took a bit of practice to get it perfect, but even the first use was always...quite effective." He looked pained again, and swallowed.

Trixie was silent for a moment, pondering what he'd said. "The way you handle magic, and the way you talk about it: about how it feels...it reminds me of what I've heard of the few unicorns that have been raised without any magic lessons. They still usually learn to use their powers, but it is much rougher and more intuitive than schooled magic use. So it makes sense to me that, with no formal training, your teacher and you would have a more intuitive grasp of magic."

He glanced up at her. "So...how do you experience magic?"

"Well," she gathered her thoughts, "the first thing a young unicorn learns is to see auras, and control her own…her own innate power field. That's really what I was talking about when I said you looked unfocused, or ragged--your aura is what you use to weave power into the form you desire, and when you spoke of feeling like your hands were being guided to show you new magic, that must have been…something…effectively teaching you intuitive aural control." She walked over, and retook her seat next to Gideon. "Once some degree of aural focus is achieved, a pony is able to use telekinesis, which is basically just using your aura to move physical things; though, once you learn to summon power from the world around you, you can add that in order to lift heavier objects. Finally, with focus and power-summoning down, you learn to use your aura to weave the power into the pattern for the spell you want. Of course most ponies will have some difficulty with most spells, until they find the ones that fit their special talent. After enough practice, it becomes second nature...I guess sort of intuitive, because you don't really notice what you're doing to your aura, but it's all there."

"Huh..." He looked chagrined, "I guess I really did have a rudimentary education in this."

She smiled at him, "Not really surprising. From what you said, it seems like Terra might be the only world left where real, skilled magic is used." Her face sobered, "As for the other thing, your…'phantom teacher'. It's entirely conjecture, but your description of the physical effects--the shining light, the floating--it does remind me of one thing. I've heard descriptions of a set of ancient artifacts, the Elements of Harmony, being used. While the visuals are somewhat different, the overall effect is similar, and might give a hint of the source of your power and instruction."

She hesitated. "But to talk about it, you'll have to understand a little of how magic works." She stood up. "I'm getting a little tired of holding this warmth spell. Perhaps we could continue this in the library?"

"Oh!" He quickly got up. "I didn't realize, sorry."

"No, it's fine." She waved a hoof, smiling. "I only just started to feel it. I could hold it for hours more, I just wouldn't be very energetic by the end."

He returned her smile, and they departed.

***

Tev was alone in the tower when the pony and human entered. He was sitting near the fire, working a piece of wood. He hadn't yet determined what it would be, but this particular piece seemed to be leaning towards an avian shape. The door opened, and the pair walked in, both looking thoughtful.

The pony glanced around and saw Tev, then nodded to the human, "Go ahead, I'll just make us some tea."

The human nodded, waved at Tev, and ascended the stairs.

Taking a teapot, the pony threw in a portion of various herbs. She moved the pot of water that was kept warm near fire to be closer, then sat, and glanced at Tev.

He just raised his eyebrows.

She rubbed her forehead with a hoof, then sighed. "He...he doesn't know anything, Tev. The basics of magic, rudimentary aura control, nothing. His training is almost nonexistent. And yet..." she trailed off.

Tev waited a while, until he noticed the water was getting close to a boil. "...yet?"

She started, and looked up at him, then relaxed a bit. "Yet he can draw so much power...and I think he may have some sort of access to the Flux."

He blinked, and processed that. "No real training, and access to that kind of power...he is truly a dangerous individual."

The pony just nodded, and then saw that the water was boiling. She filled the teapot, then refilled the pot from a water barrel, and put it back in its original spot. Two mugs and the teapot began to levitate, as she moved towards the stairs.

"Trixie."

She looked towards him, seeming surprised.

He hesitated, before saying, "Perhaps he can be helped to be less dangerous."

She stared at him for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully, and began to ascend.

Tev sighed, and looked back to his carving. He turned it over in his hand, and decided it wanted to be a bluebird, in flight.

Author's Note

Well, that's two weeks in a row. Can I keep it up? :rainbowdetermined2:

Stirrings

Trixie made her way up to the library, pondering Tev's words, wondering how the human would react to various things. She found Gideon had set out some cushions, and was idly sitting on one, staring at another, his hand stretched out towards it. He stopped as she entered, and her ears flicked as she felt another surge of power ground itself.

She sat, and carefully poured two cups of fragrant water, absentmindedly passing one to Gideon. He seemed content to sit and sip tea with her, while she gathered her thoughts.

"You know," she eventually began, "the power you so casually toss away each time you try that..." she glanced up at him "...well, barring my time under artifact influence, I've only ever felt that much power so casually tossed around while watching a duel between two adept-level casters."

He blinked at her, and began, '"But..." then looked thoughtful, and she noticed a very slight tint rise to his cheeks. "Am I really that...inefficient?"

"Mmm...you understand that this makes you, well...a bit frightening." She tried to gauge his reaction to this statement, picking up surprise, then a bit of regret. "Not that I blame you! You've done incredible things with the training you have, but..."

"But it could have gone wrong at any time, couldn't it." It wasn't a question, and his face took on a haunted look. "I felt it a few times, you know...exhausted, burnt-out...random headaches...I did everything right, everything Kelehm taught me, but he and his teachers had never dealt with this kind of power."

"Indeed. Even here, young ones with significant aptitude are often tutored one-on-one with a skilled teacher. The Princesses themselves have been known to mentor the exceptionally powerful, as they are certainly knowledgable in dealing with significant gifts."

"...As I am, it could still go wrong for me at any time, couldn't it?"

"The thought had occurred to me." She let the idea sink in a moment longer, then fixed him with a sober look. "Regarding that, I'd like to make a proposal..."

He simply raised his eyebrows.

"Well, we've got plenty of time here, and it seems I might have a little experience with what you're going through as far as control issues...so I can try to help you work through this, and also to generally improve your control of your magic. I think Tev can help out here and there as well." She tilted her head at him. "All I'd ask is that, from here on out, you stop your own, ah...experimentation. At least for a while."

He looked at her for a moment, then nodded. "I think I can handle that restriction. Heck, I don't seem to be making progress on my own. I just..." He gave her a worried look.

"Hmm?"

"Well, I hope I won't be putting you into any risk in this."

"Oh, well. Nothing excessive." She smirked, then looked wistful. "Trixie is quite talented at dealing with all sorts of offensive magic--you can't imagine some of the hecklers she's dealt with over the years..."

He smiled gently.

"Er..." She blinked. "Besides, there are wards scattered around the Halls that are still quite strong, made to handle any sort of threat. We can practice the dangerous stuff near those."

"Well, alright then."

"Excellent.” She tapped her forehooves together. “We can begin tomorrow, when we're both rested...as for now…I said before that the second step in basic magical training is learning to summon power. What I didn't mention was anything about the source of that power." She hesitated before asking, "Did your teacher ever speak of that?"

"Uh, very little. He just said that 'the power flows from within the living'. It was a religious thing for him, and I never pushed my questions too far."

She nodded, "Well, in a way he was correct, for all living things resonate to some degree with an external power. This power flows through a plane that underlies all of existence, known to us and Humanity as the Flux."

"So, we draw on this 'Flux' to perform magic?"

"No," she said, briskly shaking her head, "the Flux is raw power--untamed and scorchingly hot. For a normal, mortal magic user to tap into it directly is basically impossible." Her look grew distant for a moment. "It's said that some ancient schools of combat magic taught a form of, ah, 'sacrificial casting', which could obliterate entire armies while burning the caster to a cinder. But if something like that has ever truly been used, the results are not recorded in any public history."

"Wait, so is that the danger you've talked about? That I might...accidentally tap directly into Flux power?"

"It is one worry, yes."

"Mhmm…I'd like to avoid the cinder thing, if possible," he said with a hint of a smirk. "So if we don't tap into the Flux, then where does the power come from?"

"Well, as I said, life itself seems to resonate with the Flux on some level--that's the best term we have for it, at least. It's like...like how the strings of one instrument will begin to vibrate sympathetically if many others play a pure note." She gave him a questioning look.

"So...we're the single instrument, and the Flux is the orchestra?"

"Precisely! In this way, life indirectly generates a softer, gentler power, that we can safely draw out and manipulate. Some life," she gestured towards Gideon, "seems to naturally resonate more, while some," here, she gestured to herself, "was designed to."

He leaned back on his hands. "When you say 'draw out', what do you mean?"

“Hmm...I suppose it makes sense that you haven’t seen it before.” She pondered for a moment, then her horn began to glow softly. “I can show you like this.”

Slowly, golden motes of light began to appear, drifting throughout the room at random, in unseen currents, making the air itself seem to glow. There were larger, bright clusters centered in various spots on Trixie's body, especially throughout her horn, and a place deep within her chest, and Gideon looked down to see similar spots around his hands and solar plexus.

“…How?”

“Just tiny, short-lived light spells, made to seek out the larger sources of power in the room. The true view through one's Sight is much more detailed and farther-reaching.”

He held up a hand, and wiggled his fingers. “Why is it clustered?”

“Hmmmm…” She raised an eyebrow. “In ponies, the horn, wings, and hooves are designed to aid us in directing power, so you’d naturally find more power there when there’s active use occurring. It’s also a bit of a psychological effect, though. My horn is where I focus my concentration when I use telekinesis or cast spells, so I naturally direct some of my energy to that area, even though any part of my body would technically do fine for storing power. Your main focus of control has always been your hands, so it’s natural that you would focus on them for casting, and that power would be stored there.”

“How much power can be stored?”

“Well, just as every life resonates to a degree, every life also has a certain capacity to store magical power; however, just because a lifeform has filled its own reservoir doesn't mean it stops generating power--the power bleeds out into the world." She gestured to the drifting motes.

Gideon brooded for a moment. "I seem to recall old myths about this sort of thing. You mentioned 'ley lines', something like that?"

Trixie nodded, and her horn dimmed as she stopped casting new light spells. "Quite. Left to its own devices, this ambient power would flow and pool at random, and then eventually disperse. Here on Terra, the paths where magic flows were directed and fixed long ago, and except for some areas where damage has been done, the magical ley lines are well known and coordinated...like old, deep river beds.”

The motes were slowly fading, leaving the library lit by its usual complement of better-made light globes. “Once you’ve tapped into your own Sight, you’ll see there’s a whole grid of lines running throughout the ruins, and even a small one running right under this tower. Skilled magicians can draw from these sources. While every use of magic requires concentration, and at least a little of your own internal power, by tapping ambient power you can do orders of magnitude more."

Looking away, he mused, "So...what does this have to do with the...Elements of Harmony? And my little 'lessons'? My mysterious teacher?"

"Yes, well," she nodded, looking intense, "it is said that even the immortals--the Princesses, Discord, perhaps a few others--that even they can only briefly touch Flux power, before they'd be consumed by it. However, there are certain devices--the Elements currently the most well-known of them--which are said to access Flux power directly."

“Wait, how is that possible? Why don't these devices burn up just like a person?"

"Well, metal can be made much stronger than a living creature. A magical machine has no mind to be overwhelmed, exhausted, and destroyed, no flesh to burn from the overflow of power. Of course given enough power, metal will melt and gems will shatter, but they can take a lot of punishment before that."

"But for the most powerful devices, such as the Elements, it's not just that they access the Flux. It is said that they somehow exist partially within the Flux: that their physical forms are simply, oh…fungible anchors. That their mechanics, the part of them which knows how to do what they are designed to do, are actually non-corporeal patterns, stored within woven Flux power. In that way, such devices are made to be more…like a new part of the world itself, rather than just devices, or artifacts. Their physical forms change as needed."

He pondered that for a while, then tilted his head. "The way you put that, it reminds me of what you said about the 'strictures' that brought me here. That they were made a part of space itself."

"Mmm…" her ears twitched a bit at that, and her tone held surprise "…yes, that's probably true. The old texts are vague about how it was done, but when I think about it, it's pretty likely that the strictures are just that. There are probably anchors somewhere, maybe just well-hidden seals, but existing in the Flux would explain how they have the power to pull someone here from another planet.

"But this is what brought them to mind--the idea that you could store active information in a sort of self-perpetuating pattern within the Flux...." she gave him a look "...because if your...your lessons bear some physical resemblance to when the Elements are used, perhaps it points to the source of the power being the same. And perhaps your 'teacher' is some sort of information embedded in the Flux. It could explain how it came to find you."

"Heh." He though about it for a moment, before saying, "I'm not sure how I should feel about that. Having contact with something you say would burn people away…"

"Well, I don't know." She gave him a long, appraising look as she continued, "Your ability to draw power is impressive, even if you've lost control at the moment. In particular, the restricted spell which brought you here…it would require power which approaches that of the immortals. Perhaps then, you can access the Flux as they do, briefly, without damaging yourself." She bit her lip. "Still, I'm not sure I'd recommend it…you are not an immortal, and I've heard of them coming back from injuries that would kill a mortal many times over."

He chuckled nervously, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, maybe I won't have to do it anymore. Here on Earth, cut off from the greater galaxy." He sobered. "While I can't help but feel like I've failed the people I left behind...it looks like, unless your Princesses know of a way off this planet, I'm pretty much out of the whole death-and-destruction game, which means no more mysterious lessons."

Trixie hesitated, then simply smiled and nodded.

*****

Gideon sat in the clearing Trixie had pointed out. "Okay?"

She responded, "Well, you said you've used magic while in combat before, in stressful, mad situations…and you've consumed a fair portion of the library in just a few short days, so you obviously aren't lacking in focus. But have you ever meditated before?"

"Unless you count dozing off in the middle of History class while staying perfectly upright, not so much."

"Mmm…" she gave him a smirk. "Well, truth be told, that sort of state can be related. A lecturer's speech can turn into white noise, and the mind drifts into a state of focus…though without training, that focus could be on the lesson at hand, or something else entirely."

He nodded, "Okay. So, presumably trained meditation allows you to choose what you focus on."

"Quite," she said, smiling. "Being able to see auras and power flows in particular requires a certain twist to one's mind. Once you're familiar with it, it's easy to do, but at first, the quiet focus of certain meditative forms can give you the right push."

"There's that word again." He crossed his arms. "'Auras'. What exactly are you talking about there? I mean, we had supposed mystics in Edumean history, and they'd talk about seeing things, they'd use that word for them, but it was all disproved when people bothered to study it scientifically."

"Hmm..." she huffed thoughtfully "...it's entirely possible that people could see auras without training, and also that their lack of training would make the ability spotty. Seems strange that practice and effort wouldn't improve it, though."

Shaking her head, she looked back at him. "As for what they are, at least for our purposes, they are simply a way of processing and interpreting the world around us, like every other sense. Whatever it is in life that lets it affect magical power is not one-way. I'm sure you've 'felt' the power around you at times?" She quirked an eyebrow.

"Well, sure. I've never seen anything other than the physical effects, though. Well, except maybe the glow when I was being taught..."

"Yes, without the right frame of mind, it's all very vague. The meditations will help put you in a more receptive state, to see more subtle flows, and pick up on how your efforts are influencing the power around you." She looked thoughtful. "It's also helpful for working on spells themselves: for seeing the weaves, improving one's form, and combining spells. But that's all for much later. For now…"

*****

Gideon groaned, and slumped sideways to the library floor, rubbing his eyes.

Trixie huffed softly, and waited for him to rise. After a minute passed with the human still imitating a slug, she reached over and nudged him. "Come on, you almost had it that time."

His eyes cracked open, and glanced at her. "That's what you've said every time."

"Yes, yes, and every time you get a little bit closer to your Center." She continued, looking perplexed, "I don't really understand why the basic Sight came so easily, but you can't do this after three days of trying. It's almost like something is interfering."

"I blame the Space Madness."

The pony snorted and shook her head. "Now you're just being silly." She waved a hoof. "Come on, I want you to get this before I lower the shield. These ruins could be very disorienting to uncentered Sight."

"Just...give me a minute."

Trixie managed not to roll her eyes, and just said, "Very well."

She stood, stretching a little, and then wandered over to one of the room's small, shuttered windows. She opened it up and peered out through the thick glazing, her forequarters resting on the sill. The world outside was almost glaringly bright, even through the aggressively tinted glass; the mid-afternoon sunlight reflecting off of snow-covered forest and grounds. She blinked as her eyes adjusted, and she noticed a hint of dark shadows on the western horizon.

"Hey, Trixie?"

"Hmm?" She glanced back to see him now lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling.

He was silent for a moment, then looked over to her. "I've been thinking...when you explained the origin of magic, it was fine for what it was, but didn't that all just push the questions to a new frontier?"

She raised an eyebrow, seeing where he was headed, but just said, "Go on...?"

"Well, the power we can safely use comes from resonance with the Flux, but...where does the Flux come from?"

Smiling, she nodded. "It's a good question. Unfortunately, I've no good answer to give you."

"Huh?"

"It's been studied by many of the best magic researchers over the centuries, but nobody's come up with...well, I suppose you could say with a trusted answer. The nature of the Flux means that it can only be studied very carefully, and mostly indirectly." She looked rueful. "It's not something I've read into a lot, and not really because of disinterest, but because most of the results of that sort of work are restricted. Many of the greatest researchers were bound to secrecy by the Princesses when their work delved into dangerous areas."

She shrugged as she continued, “The only thing I recall is that the most prominent of the researchers that looked into the Flux was 'Benny the Singed'. His methods were controversial, and his public writings on it are...rather scattered. By the end, he had to give up his research…said it was burning him up to even look indirectly into that realm. Thus, his title, I suppose."

"Heh. Did he actually discover anything?"

"Hmm, very little from what I've read, though he developed several novel techniques along the way. And of course the most detailed results came near the end, when many believe he was going a bit mad from the exposure. He…well, his claim was that the Flux itself was merely an echo. A sort of remnant of the even more profound energies that existed in the first moments after the beginning of the universe." She looked at him dubiously.

"Huh." He shifted, and then sat up, staring at the floor for a moment, then looked up with a grin. "My people had a few theories about the origins of the universe…but I can't say that ever came up."

"I'm sure." She said, returning the smile. "Like I said, many doubt those notes, but they're really all we have. Well, all the public has, at least. The Princesses could know all the secrets of the universe, I suppose."

"Well, from what you've said about them, it doesn't seem like they'd hide something like that. I mean, how could it be dangerous?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Maybe once you know why it's dangerous, it's too late."

He opened his mouth to respond, then shut it, and looked baffled.

Trixie just chuckled, then glanced back out through the window before dropping to her hooves and closing the shutters. "Come now, you're looking recovered. Let's give this a few more tries before we call it quits for today. It looks like there's another storm coming."

*****

Thock, thock-thump.

Bored.

Thock, thock-thump.

So bored.

Thock, thock-thump.

Bored out of her craw.

Thock, thock-thump.

Bored, bored, bored, bored-

Thock...clackclackclack.

Alouette sighed, as the mis-aimed stone rattled to the floor, and decided the ennui had so taken hold of her that she could not muster the energy to go retrieve it...yet. Instead, she let her foreleg slump beside her, and stared up at the ceiling from her sprawled position on her back. The main door to the outside shook as another gust of wind howled outside, and she felt her feathers ruffle of their own accord, as if fending off the blizzard. She surreptitiously took a glance at Tev, who was putting fine details on yet-another-carving.

She considered asking again about the safety of the brothers, who had gone outside over an hour ago, but decided to hold back another round of pestering questions for a while--she'd bothered him enough earlier, not that he'd shown any sign of annoyance. If she were being honest, she'd even admit that the stone-bouncing had been, in some small way, an attempt to bother the placid canid. Fledgelike, perhaps, but after a day and a half stuck indoors she was feeling like a fledgling: ready to get the heck out of the nest.

She was also rather irritated that the brothers were able to go outside when she could not. It wasn't that the cold bothered her any more than they, but she wanted to fly, and she was wise enough to know that a stray gust right now could easily turn a takeoff or landing into a serious crash. So, she was staying inside. Waiting. Bored.

Her eyes were wandering back to her wayward stone, when she heard the creak of the stairs, as Gideon descended. She listlessly waved at him, and he returned the gesture, and nodded to Tev as he sat near the fire. Her ear tufts perked towards him, hoping for something of interest to come from the human. Finally, tail twitching impatiently, she queried, "So...how's it going?"

He looked up at her, surprised, then cleared his throat. "Ahh, okay, I guess." He stifled a yawn before continuing, "I never would have guessed how tiring meditation can be, but focusing for so long leaves me exhausted...well, at least mentally. Kinda wish I could go outside for a bit."

She snorted, and rolled her eyes. "You're telling me..."

He gave her a quick smirk, then shrugged, "But, I guess I'm improving, magic-wise. Trixie says I'm well-centered now, and she'll start teaching me thought-forms soon..."

Alouette tried very hard not to let her eyes glaze over, as he started rattling off a string of magical gibberish. It didn't help a whit that some of the terms were the same as those she'd learned during advanced wing-magic training, terms like Focus, Center, and Form, but the rest made it clear that the fields were only weakly related, if at all.

He must have noticed something in her demeanor, though, because he stopped, and smiled, "Sorry if I'm rambling..."

"No, no," she quickly waved the thought away, "I mean, I don't understand most of what you're saying, but it's fine. After almost two days stuck in here, I'll take any conversation I can get." Her nares suddenly turned a bright red, and she glanced over at Tev. "Not that you aren't a fine conversationalist!"

The canid merely raised an eyebrow, continuing to inspect his work.

Gideon chuckled, then nodded. "Still, I shouldn't rattle off like a textbook. I guess I'm just trying to make sure I remember some of this stuff...I was never one for theory."

"Don't sell yourself short, Gideon," Trixie called out as she descended the stairs, "You're picking the basics up well enough, now that we're past that block."

The pony made her way close to the fire, her magic putting a few more logs on it as she approached. She looked significantly at the door, then to the brothers' usual haunt, before returning to Alouette. "How long...?"

"Eh...at least an hour. They promised to stop at the cellar on the way back."

"Mmm." Trixie shivered. "Well, I'll make some tea or something..."

As the pony puttered about, Alouette yawned. With the fire growing warmer, she fell into bored contemplation, quietly observing her familiar Watchmates and their confusing-yet-amiable guest through slitted eyes. She was halfway to dozing off when Tev sniffed in a satisfied manner--enough of a change to draw everyone's attention.

The canid held up his latest carving: a lifelike depiction of a griffon in a relaxed-yet-heroic pose.

Alouette choked on her own breath, and shot Tev an arch look.

He smiled gently. "How could I resist with a model right before me?"

She just snorted, unsure whether to be pleased or disgruntled, as he rose and placed the carving in a niche reserved for his work.

Trixie had returned to working something with a mortar and pestle, and Tev to his seat, when a loud knocking shook the outside door. The pony barely had time to get a windbreak spell up before the door crashed open, admitting two harshly panting, snow-caked forms, one of whom immediately slammed the door shut behind them. The two then stood by, looking a little dazed.

With a flash of magic, Trixie blew the bulk of the snow off of the pair, who nodded their thanks to her.

"It is..." began Sif.

"...ruff out there." finished Sef.

Their pronouncement complete, Sif walked over to drop a large sack in the provisions area, before joining his brother near--practically in--the fire.

Alouette blinked rapidly at the end of the impromptu show, and congratulated herself on her decision to stay inside, no matter how badly she itched to get out and move.

The brothers began to thaw, and she had begun to resign herself to more boredom, when Gideon spoke up.

"I've been wondering..." He glanced around the fire, then his gaze came to rest on her. "From your reactions to it, it seems like the weather is being unusually...harsh?"

She gave him a surprised look, then thought about it. "Well, this is only my second winter here..." She looked to Tev.

The canid nodded. "It is, perhaps, extreme. Though, not overwhelmingly so.

Gideon just looked pensive. "I'm just thinking. It seemed like my arrival here made a storm even worse, and I'm wondering if it could still be causing issues." He looked back towards Trixie.

The pony huffed, and furtively glanced to Tev. The glance made Alouette stir. She rolled onto her side and looked between them, her tail lashing. "Hey you two, is something up?"

Trixie sighed, and put down what she'd been working on. "We didn't want to say anything until we knew more, and I really don't think it relates to the weather. It's nothing overt, and nothing to do with your arrival, Gideon." She looked at him. "The burst of overflow power from that did exacerbate an existing storm, but that was handled by the same spells that generated it. The power was gone by the next day."

She hesitated, and Tev spoke up. "The curious thing is some of the other wards around the ruins. The ancient protective ones, as well as newer ones the Watch has set. They are not exactly active..." He looked to the pony.

Her ears flattened, and she scratched at her head. "They're not active, but they're using small amounts of power. If I had to describe it, based on the specific wards that are showing the symptom, it's almost as if they want to activate, but they don't really know what to do with whatever it is they're reacting to."

Gideon looked worried as he asked, "Could they be reacting to my presence?"

Trixie smiled, and shook her head. "They know humans. Even the Watch wards are built with old patterns that recognize you just fine. The ones around the tower adjusted to your presence even faster than they did any of ours when we first came here." She bit her lip. "No, it's something else, something very subtle."

Alouette ground her beak a bit before she spoke up, "I'm not so sure that it couldn't be having an effect on the weather, either. I mean, I'm no weather-worker, but I still know that even small things can make big differences, especially if this 'subtle effect' is spread over a wide area."

The pony stared at her for moment, then nodded. "Yes...so far we don't seem to have found the full extent of it." She looked pensive, and then her ears pinned back. "I should have said something earlier. It was my decision not to...I didn't want to make a fuss over nothing, but maybe it's more significant than I thought."

"Ehh..." She ruffled her feathers, feeling embarrassed. "It's not a big deal, really. It's not like I can do anything about the weather, even knowing this."

"Perhaps not, but..." Trixie nodded decisively. "We should all be forewarned of possible threats, or anomalies, and this certainly qualifies. I'll let you all know if anything changes from here on."

Alouette smiled at the assurance, and Trixie went back to her work. As the griffon curled up again at the fire, she noticed the human was giving her an appraising look, but she ignored him. Instead, she contemplated the idea that this bad weather might have an unnatural origin--and that if that was the case, it could very well mean more storms were just over the horizon.

*****

"Gideon..."

He stirred, yet...he did not.

"Please, Gideon..."

He felt as if he were waking up from a deep sleep; yet, somehow, he knew he was still asleep. Dreaming? Yes, a dream, but of cold, and fog, and-

"Where are you, Gideon?"

That voice. It was familiar, yet a little distorted.

"Say my name, Gideon."

A name? Her name?

"Yes...name me. It will help me find you."

Could it really be...Marin?

"Yes. That's it... That helps."

Author's Note

Well, that took longer than desired. Thanks to Cinnamon Swirl the Breaded for prereading the first version of this, which kinda sucked. Rewriting and leavening took a lot of time, but I feel like this is much better, and it also means I've got a fair bit of the next two chapters written already. I also spent far too long on a weird digression that I ended up tossing. So maybe the next update won't be so long coming...? *cross fingers*

Thanks also to Jersey Lightning for a final glance before posting.

Instruction

"I promised to let you all know...more wards are going twitchy. Still nothing overt, but...whatever it is, it's still increasing."

***

Trixie smiled to herself as Gideon went through the Laminar Forms, and she idly followed along beside him. He was picking things up quickly, now that he'd found his aura and consciously connected to his control paradigms. "Good, but you're fumbling the circumcranial rotations."

"I'm not the only one," he said, with a hint of a teasing tone.

She blinked, focusing on her own aura pattern, and clamped down on her embarrassment. Dear Luna, I've allowed myself to get so sloppy. Outwardly she merely nodded, and remarked, "Indeed," while she tightened up her own recitation. She was starting to feel like she was reliving her days in magic school--trading constructive criticisms with a classmate.

A faint smile crossed the human's face as he drew to the end of the Forms. While his edges still went a little ragged when he made fast changes, he was vastly more confined, and had already regained basic use of telekinesis.

"Good," she said gently, "but your end state is lazy. You need to work on your control until it becomes second nature, until your resting state is a sharp edge, with no instabilities. A fuzzy rest state can leave you open to interference."

His aura wobbled a little, then sharpened. Its internal state was turbulent, but not chaotic--showing a surprising degree of internal flow and weave.

"That's better. I think we can end for now…"

"Trixie?" His focus did not fade.

"Mmm?"

He hesitated before continuing, "How…er…physically correct, are auras?"

She scrunched her nose before responding, "I'm...not sure what you mean."

"Well…I mean how does the power's influence correspond to the aural form? We focus in a certain way to lift objects, or push and pull on them, but so far all the telekinesis has been done in the Laminar Forms, with amorphous edges. The Platonic Forms produce angles and sharp edges, the Fractured Forms, points…what do those do if they touch something physical?"

She nodded. "Well, to a degree you get the results I'm sure you're thinking of." Not that I'm entirely comfortable with that line of thought; but, then, he is a soldier...

He caught her hesitation, and held up his hands, "If you don't want to go into it, that's fine."

She shook her head. "No, it's fine, and a good question." She glanced around, then pointed to a recently fallen tree limb several yards away. "Here, try it. Use a Platonic to try to cut that log in half."

He focused on the limb, and she watched as a section of his aura formed itself into a thin, sharp-edged polygon, which then swiped at his hapless wooden victim. With a sharp crack, a two inch cut appeared in its middle, the wood splintering away from the phantom blade. Gideon started, looking surprised, and his aura receded to a neutral--and well-confined--resting state.

"I don't get it," he commented, looking over to her, "it felt like I had enough power behind that swing to carve right through."

"Mhmm, and if you put the same amount of power into tossing it about with telekinesis, you could probably reduce it to sawdust. The difference is, oh...a sort of leverage." She raised an eyebrow. "What exactly are you doing, in a physical sense, when you use telekinesis to lift and throw an object?"

"Er..." he thought for a moment. "Countering gravity...then changing the object's momentum."

"Certainly. Your people surely knew that gravity is the weakest force by far, yes?" As she saw a bit of understanding form, he nodded, and she continued, "And so it is the easiest to counter. And while it can take a significant input of power to accelerate a large mass or reach a high speed, once you do, its inertia works for you, causing damage when it strikes." She paused. "Once you start drawing additional power, you can even temporarily modify an object's inertial and gravitational mass--something that pegasi and griffons do instinctually."

He raised an eyebrow at that. "Okay, so...trying to cut or pierce something is a lot different."

"Quite." She waved a hoof vaguely. "While your aura feels substantial while you work with it, it's just a perceptive tool. It has no mass, like a physical sword or," she gestured to the half-chopped limb, "an axe would. And you're striving against the electromagnetic bonds that hold its atoms and molecules together--an altogether more daunting force than gravity."

"So then, does all magic work on mass, inertia, and gravity?"

"Hmm, no, not all. There are spells to generate lightning, tame light and create illusions, and even cause chemical reactions and transmute matter. But all the most common spells are indeed as you say. Even spells to generate heat or cold are based on changing the random kinetic energy of the atoms in question."

Gideon stared at the cut he had created, his aura simmering quietly. "What about the opposite?"

"The opposite of...?"

Looking down at his hand, he replied, "Everything I've ever accomplished has been destructive. All this power...and all I can do is break stuff."

As he stared into space, she tried to read his expression, and found a mixture of exhaustion and disgust. "That's not true," she said firmly. He looked askance at her, but she pushed onward, "You've said you could use shield spells. Nothing destructive about that." She nodded, "and those same forces you use to toss things around as weapons can be used to build and repair. To protect. The circumstances matter."

He stared at her, and then nodded in return. "Okay. You said repair. That's my question, then." He gestured to the log. "Magic can break stuff, but can it reverse that?"

She gave him her best arch look, and threw in a head toss for good measure, then with a casual glance at the log, drew up a fairly large amount of power, and spoke, "Just as we can tear apart electromagnetic bonds, we can create them anew...shifting pieces and particles back into place." The cut in the log began to swiftly draw together, the splinters and sawdust around it to fill in, and even the capillaries, rings, and ragged bark to regenerate. "The key is to know that which you are fixing, inside and out. To bring it back to the state you desire, such that the universe itself does not know the difference." As the glow of her power faded, no sign remained of Gideon's attack.

He slowly let out a breath. "So...can even complex life be healed? People? How can you--or anybody--have that much control?"

"It's not...not just about control. You are right that nobody can focus and process enough to actually recreate a molecular structure, or a cellular matrix." She paused, trying to remember how her teachers had put it. "Especially when it comes to living--or once living--matter, you have to know it on a deep level." She brushed a hoof against the ground as she admitted, "I'm actually not the best at healing, because I've never bothered to study detailed anatomy of any species...but even without that, you have to remember that any form of life has its own resonance with the Flux...and that similarity is something you can tap into."

He ventured, "That reminds me of what you said about that cleansing spell...that my aura knows what's foreign and not."

"Well, yes. I've even heard that for the best of healers, the more complex the lifeform, the easier it is for them to heal it. The more complex a creature is, the more it knows its own body, on an...I guess an instinctual, or even spiritual level. To a degree, the healer is merely allowing their aura to join with their patient's, and providing it with the power and focus it needs to heal itself."

He looked at her for a moment, then mused, "Maybe I can learn to be a healer, then. Seems a bit more appropriate to this world...more so than a soldier."

She smiled. "This world has its share of strife; however, I'm sure if you make such an intention known once we get to Equestria, you'll find plenty of willing teachers. And until then, don't worry that you're practicing old skills that may be destructive. We're just trying to get you back in control, and the more control and understanding you have of your own power, the better you'll be at using it in anyway, including to help others."

***

Cupping the frigid air in her wings, Alouette glided homewards through crystal-clear skies, her eyes mere slits--nearly shut against the late-morning sunlight. She'd just finished up yet another uneventful patrol...well, it was eventful for that little rodent-thing she'd stooped on, but otherwise? Meh. Tasty, though.

She pondered again why she was still holding to these patrols. Oh, they were supposed to be a guard against any wandering threats, but she knew her Watch history. In all the years--decades, centuries--groups had winterovered here, none had been significantly accosted. The decay of the ancient routes here had made it incredibly unlikely that any sapient would venture this way even in the summer, much less now, and the wildlife tended to avoid the ruins because of the random scattering of wards that still worked. Of course, there was the strange behavior of the wards that Trixie and Tev had noticed, but if it was truly having an effect on the weather, it sure hadn't shown for the past few days.

As she came within sight of the fallen city, where once grand towers and archways had stood, she glanced down to see a perfect example of the area's protection. A pack of ice weasels was scrabbling through the sparse woodland below, several hundred yards from any visible ruin, their eerily glowing eyes clearly visible even in daylight. They were traveling almost perfectly tangential to what she would call the actual perimeter of the ruins--whether it was some magical sense, a well-worn path, or just hard-earned experience, they knew where to avoid.

Looking away from the weasels, she began to descend a bit as she passed over the central parts of the Halls. They'd stopped keeping a regular watch after learning of the fate of Gideon's people, but old habits die hard. Like the patrols. At least they give me something to do while I stretch my wings. I'm productive! As she cleared the wooded area below, she picked up speed and began idly following the terrain.

Thus, she was coasting up and down over a series of hillocks when she noticed it: a cloud of snow puffing up from the detention zone where the human had appeared. As she locked her gaze in that direction, another giant plume was cast into the air. ...That ain't right. With a jink and a powerful thrust, she regained some altitude and moved for an indirect approach.

Her mind ran through the possibilities for what could make such a large disturbance. No ursas this far north, likewise for most dragons. Enough small fliers could do it if they worked together, but why...? She began to get worried when she couldn't see anything through the artificial blizzard, but then it cleared momentarily and she saw it. Or rather, him: Gideon was at the center of the cloud, looking away from her approach vector. As she stared, he waved an arm, his hand glowing softly, and another plume rose up and away from him.

She cut in towards him, again descending. "HEY!"

He turned, surprised, and waved to her.

"I see you've got your magic back," she said as she landed, "but what's up with the snow abuse?"

He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, I'm looking for something. I'm pretty sure I had it on me when I came through, but..." He shrugged, while gesturing around. "I've found a few pieces of the council chamber, but even those have been buried by all the snow."

"Hmm." She tilted her head at him. "What is it, and how big?"

"Well, it's a weapon," he started, once more looking around the area.

She felt her ear tufts go up of their own accord.

"It's about twice as large in area as my hand, maybe two inches thick, weighs a little over a kilo..."

She interjected, "Do you really think you need it?"

"Oh-" he looked surprised, then thoughtful. "No, I doubt it. There's only a few shots left anyway, and I'm not even sure it would still work, after sitting in the snow and cold for this long. I've just been having some dreams lately that made me think of it, and well..."

Taking in his uncertain look, she just raised an eyebrow.

He sighed. "As far as I know, this may be the last piece of Edumean technology in existence, except maybe for some long-range satellites, if the Seekers didn't blast those out of spite."

"Uh...oh." She grimaced slightly. "I guess that does make it pretty important." She looked around, then ventured, "But, you do realize you aren't really accomplishing much, right? Those plumes were mostly vertical, so the snow's just falling right back."

"Yeah," he said, looking chagrined. "My control isn't really good enough to do better, yet. I could ask Trixie for help, but I feel like I'm taking up too much of her time as it is."

Alouette snorted. "Trixie's not the only one with power around here, you know." When he blinked in surprise, she just shooed at him with a foreclaw. "Stand back."

She turned to where he'd been casting, facing across the widest part of the small depression that was bordered by stone pillars, and shook out her wings, finding them still reasonably limber after her flight. "I'm no weather worker, but this isn't a job that calls for much finesse..."

As she spoke, she turned most of her attention inwards. It was the same power she drew on for flight, but used in a more focused and purposeful manner. She found her inner stillness, and then focused her power, first into her wings, then beyond--stretching it out to act as additional surface area while deliberately neglecting to devote any power towards mass-cancellation. At the edge of her vision she could see the weak, silvery glow her wings were now emitting, and she drew in breath, and then flicked her wings forward, finding the magic to be stable and strong.

Digging claws and paws into the snow, she arched her back to angle her wings forward, and gave a single powerful stroke. As she pushed the air forwards, she laced binding magic into it--gently dampening out turbulence, encouraging coherence and flow. Another sweep of her wings, and already she could feel patterns forming in the breeze around her. Continuing to push at the air, she saw the snow begin to wiggle, then shift, and then crumble into the air, flying in weak spirals as it was swept into the nearly horizontal twin cyclones she was generating.

With only a few moments of work, she began to see the outlines of shapes that didn't belong. Random chunks of stone, arches, what looked like a piece of stairway. Those must be more pieces of his council chamber... She slowed her strokes, letting the spells fade, allowing the winds she'd made to break up and fade away. The view swiftly cleared up, to show a substantially cleared channel through the field, along with a large new mountain of snow collected on the hill in the distance.

Relaxing, she folded her wings and allowed the last of her magic to settle, and then realized she was breathing rather heavily. Ugh...I'm really out of practice. She glanced at Gideon to see him looking contemplatively at her wings. "Um...good enough?"

"Huh?" He started. "Oh, yeah! Thanks a lot. I think if it's here, I can find it now."

She gestured for him to proceed, and walked alongside as he searched through the debris field.

"So, uh..." he ventured.

"Hmm?"

"That was...impressive. Trixie has said wing magic is instinctual, but that looked very controlled and complicated, so I was wondering: can all gryphons use their magic like that?"

"Hmph." She snorted softly. "I guess I can't blame a unicorn for not knowing much about wings, but there's a lot more to it than just instinct. An untrained chick, or, like, a pegasus raised by some other tribe...they might learn to fly, uh...poorly. Or at least glide. But it takes a fair bit of knowledge and guided practice to get good at it."

"Alright." He stopped, and raised his hand, levitating a pony-sized chunk of stone to look beneath it. Finding nothing, he set it aside, and moved on. "So then, did your parents teach you to fly?"

"Uhh, sort of?" Her sharp eyes noticed a glimmer to one side, but she tilted her head, and could see that it was just a fragment of ice.

"What does..." he trailed off, then walked to the side and brushed off something dark-colored, which was half-buried under a fragment of some sort of statue.

"Is that it?" She drew a little closer.

"No, no..." He roughly pushed the statue aside, and raised a wicked-looking device. It was lumpy and black, with some green highlights, and two sickly green blades jutting out of the front. "This is a Seeker weapon. Pretty messed up, too." He turned it over, and she could see where the casing had obviously been ripped open by the fallen debris. She also noticed a dark splash of frozen fluid--alien blood?--near where he was holding the weapon. He reached over with his other hand, and pushed a switch on the side, popping out a small, weakly glowing green box. "Guess I won't leave this lying around..."

She perked her ear tufts, but he said nothing more about it as he pocketed the small component. He then dropped the weapon back to the ground, and stepped away, his face cold. Using his power, he raised the chunk of statuary and dropped it right atop the weapon, which sizzled, and let out a strange acrid smoke. "Good riddance."

They walked away, still looking for Gideon's weapon.

Alouette stayed silent for a while, but eventually she couldn't resist asking, "You really hate them, don't you?"

He looked at her like he'd forgotten she was there, then just said, "I don't know how much they've been used, but...yeah, I suppose I do."

She stammered, "I-I mean, it's understandable. I guess it just didn't really sink in until now. It's hard for me to imagine the kind of death and destruction you've seen..."

His blank look slowly changed to a smirk, and he asked, "Is everything on this planet always so peaceful and prosperous?"

"Well, no...and all Terrans have war in their pasts, between themselves and each other." She sighed. "My people might be one of the worst in that regard...but the past few thousand years have been pretty idyllic, I guess. There are always bandits and outcasts of course, but since the Discordian era, the ponies have been a big stabilizing influence across the world, with their princesses in charge. It's hard to argue with an immortal's knowledge and experience, not to mention their power."

"I imagine so." He fell back to examining their surroundings, seeming less distracted. Eventually, he ventured, "So...what were you saying before? How can you 'sort of' be taught to fly by your parents?"

"Ah, it's just that the aerie I grew up in was pretty communal. Once a chick reaches fledgling age, they're all housed and taught in the same big nest, instructed by the adults who are best qualified to do so, and choose to."

"Huh." He scratched his head. "Sounds strange, to me. I can't imagine my parents not being around during those years."

"No, well, I mean, they were around, and in fact my bloodsire taught us the ancient histories. I'll always have a special bond with my biological parents, but I just have a lot more griffons who I look at in a...parental way?" She snorted in frustration. "I've tried explaining this to a lot of other people, but I guess it's hard to really understand. Even a lot of other griffons think our aerie is a bit nutty."

He chuckled, "Well, I guess if you feel like it was a good upbringing now, looking back on it...then it doesn't really matter what other people think."

She replied with a grin and a nod.

They wandered a bit more, and then he coughed. "You know, you never really answered my original question...could any griffon do what you did to clear this field?"

"Er..." she looked away uncomfortably. "Well, I've had some, uh...special training."

"Oh? What kind of-"

"Hey, what's that?" She interjected, pointing to where she could barely make out a difference in texture in the shadows below a large fragment of an archway.

He followed her gesture, then went over to the arch, summoning a small light to his hand. "Heh, there it is. Nice catch."

He bent over and scooped up a surprisingly small object that looked less gnarly than the earlier weapon--more like a tool, less like something that would eat you. It was obviously designed to fit a human hand, with a black ribbed handle, a white casing of some material she didn't recognize, and a few black details and orange highlights. "I present the H.A.Z.E. blaster: the latest in human violence projection," he said skeptically.

He turned it over in his hand, then looked surprised, and touched a small crack in the casing. "Not undamaged...maybe in the fight."

Alouette looked at it curiously. "Broken, then?"

"Ehh...maybe, maybe not. I wouldn't fire it...it was a prototype to begin with, so who knows, especially after all this time in the cold? Wouldn't want it to explode in my hand."

She warily eyed the device as he stored it away.

"Thanks for your help, Alouette. I don't think I'd ever have found it without you."

They began to move towards the tower as she replied, "Eh, no problem. All in a day's work."

He chuckled. "Yeah, well...I'll buy you a drink, eh?" He paused, then scratched his head. "Uh...when we get to a place that has drinks. And I have money."

She just looked askance at him, with a weak grin.

"... This may take a while."

***

Gideon stretched, and glanced up at the starry sky, waiting for Trixie to finish examining the nearby wards. They'd come here early in the long night, to finish a series of exercises in drawing power. It didn't look like much, but according to a map in the library, this clearing had been the site of a holding cell for magically active criminals. As such, Trixie felt it was probably the best place for Gideon to venture into using his power.

As he waited, he found himself crossing his arms with a frown, now intently staring at the heavens. When the pony stirred, and finally looked his way, he glanced at her, then flatly stated, "You know, there's something wrong with your sky."

She blinked, ears going crooked. "Whaaa?"

He laughed, and shook his head. "I don't know." He sighed, and looked up again, growing serious. "Every time I look at it for a while, it just throws me off... It's not the position of the stars--I expect that to be foreign. It's not the look of them individually, either...I guess it's something about how they move, or how they're arranged in general...I just can't put my finger on it."

Trixie blinked at the unfamiliar idiom, then shook her head. "Mmm...well, just don't say it like that to Princess Luna. She might get offended."

Confused, he looked at her, but her attention was elsewhere as she said, "Anyway, the wards are all fine, so let's get started before it gets any colder, hmm?"

After a moment's hesitation, he nodded, and focused. He summoned power to himself, but slowly, trying still to examine his own actions, and proceed with thoughtful deliberateness. After two days of drawing power, from a mere sip to a raging torrent, he felt infinitely more confident in his actions. Whereas the raw feeling of drawing power remained the same, now he could see the effects his actions had--the slight dimming of the area, the rippling as power flowed and equalized, filling in the deficit he'd left.

It reminded him of his brother's criticisms of his flying, of his constant delineation between 'merely flying' and 'understanding the ship'. He'd laughed at the idea, always called Ethan a budding mystic--now it appeared the universe had a dark sense of humor. Slowly, he could feel himself beginning to understand the magic that he'd before merely been using.

He focused on the target they'd chosen earlier, a car-sized fragment of stone archway on the edge of the clearing. It would have been exhausting to lift for long using only his own power. So now, rather than toss away the power he'd gathered as he had in the rest of the day's exercises, he mixed it with a limb of his aura, using foreign power to do the hardest part. With conscious control of his aura, the act of lifting the heavy stone was almost effortless. Although not nearly as needle-fine as Trixie's, his once-rough and jerky control of his high-powered telekinesis was much improved, and he juggled the mammoth stone through the air with ease.

As he finished showing off, he let the stone draw to a stop, and glanced over to Trixie.

"Not bad, but I can see you've stopped drawing power...we should work on continuous replenishment later."

He blinked at her. "You can do that?"

"Certainly." She frowned slightly. "A lot of what you're doing now seems awkward because it's new, and because you're purposely concentrating on the minutiae. Eventually it should all become natural, and doing more things at once will be easier. There are also exercises for that..." She gave him a sharper look. "But anyway, we're here for a reason. If you think you've got the power, go on and give that stone what-for."

Arching an eyebrow at her, he returned his attention to the target. He tried to summon up the old 'lessons', remembering how it felt to use his magic as a weapon, and fed the bulk of his remaining power into the resulting aural form. Returning to old habit, he raised a hand to act as a focus, drawing it back as the power crested in his cupped palm. Examining it closely with his newly awakened Sight, he could see a twisted mass of spells: gravitic redirectors, inertial mass modifiers, linear impulse vectors, all in balanced, directed conflict.

He flung the resulting bundle of power at the target stone, narrowing his eyes against the shock of air the passing spells raised. The stone--caught between the fixative force of his lingering telekinesis and the warping energetics of the new spells--shattered and exploded, sending chunks and fragments spraying out in a wide cone to the fore. Gideon grimaced at the overkill, and then winced as a large number of purplish flares of power flickered to life at the edge of the clearing.

As the debris finished raining down, he glanced over to see Trixie staring at the aftermath, her ears pinned back and mouth slightly twisted. After a moment she noticed him looking, and cleared her throat, "Ah, hmm, yes, I...I think that went well?" she offered, with just a hint of a squeak to her voice.

"Uh, sure..." He glanced back at the arc of stone remnants, and noticed a shard embedded in the side one of the sparse trees that had managed to grow through the ancient floor. "Um. Maybe I overdid it? Were those flares a reaction from the cell wards?"

"Yes, I think so," she said, her voice more firm. "It was actually quite interesting, I think it was a shield..." She walked off to where the flares had appeared, and Gideon trailed along behind her. "Yes, see?" She gestured to the ground. "None of the stone got beyond a certain line, the wards contained it all. I've never seen a shield spell quite like that, though..."

"Huh. Superficially it looked similar to what I could make."

She gave him a thoughtful stare, then glanced around, and floated over a fist-size chunk of rock. "Here, let's both pay a bit more attention..." She flung the rock at eye-height towards the debris-delineated ward line, and the shield flared to life again, stopping the rock short.

Even to his untrained--but now well-attuned—Sight, the work was interesting. Strong inertial modifiers and kinetic sinks were layered over other fields he didn't recognize, all in a hexagonal plane that couldn't be larger than five centimeters across, and all of it repeated in a honeycomb grid that spread a good half-meter around the impact site. At the bounds between the individual pieces he could see hair-fine lines of power--some of them feeding the shield, others acting as outputs, bleeding kinetic energy away, and, oddly, still others that seemed to be serving no active purpose.

As Trixie stopped forcing the rock against the shield, letting it drop, Gideon commented, "Well, on a fine level it's certainly fascinating, but I can't really tell if it's anything like what I know how to cast..."

Trixie was still staring at the spot, and muttered, "Yes...fascinating. That's a good word for it."

He looked askance at her before asking, "Is it really that different from shield spells you know?"

"Hmm?" She looked blankly at him, then shook her head, and looked puzzled. "Well, yes and no. The fields themselves are basically the same, though there were a couple of things it was shielding against that I didn't recognize at all...but the real difference is in the structure."

"You mean the grid?"

"Yes..." She absently sat down as she continued, "It's vastly more complex than a standard shield they'd teach you in school, but I think I can see the benefit. A standard shield is, oh, monolithic I guess? Strong and simple, but if somebody manages to overwhelm it at any one point, the whole thing will just start to shatter."

"Hmm," he nodded, following, "but here just one of the pieces would break."

"Exactly!" She nodded vigorously. "And because you're not putting all your power into one big spell, the backlash from a failure would be much less of a shock. While something could get through the hole, with the right regenerative backing patterns, you could close it up pretty quickly." She rubbed her chin with a hoof, then raised an eyebrow. "And you say it looks like what you can do?"

"Well, superficially. I could try casting a shield again."

"Er...no, no. Especially not here." She said hurriedly, looking around. "I'm not sure how the wards would react to something like that being cast from inside..." Her nose scrunched up slightly. "Could be nasty. But even apart from that. I mean, it's been a long day, and you're just starting to get control back."

She hesitated for an instant, before reaching up with a hoof and touching his arm. "Give it a little more time. You did well today...let's head back."

***

It was a twisted, infinite space. A mishmash of Edumean modernism, fluid Aurelian architecture, and stately galactic council pillars and arches--even a hint here and there of ancient Terran style. He did not know how long he wandered, looking for a difference, looking for some point of reference, but there was nothing there. Finally, he leaned against the base of a statue--a graceful human form--and waited.

He'd wake up eventually...right?

Left to his own devices, he pondered the memories, the losses, the hopes and wishes and dreams he'd had in the past year.

The dream of peace, as the Edumean civil war ended. His joy when Olivia accepted his proposal.

The mixture of awe and wonder and apprehension when an alien ship arrived.

The shivering nights on the journey to Aurelia, wishing he--they--would all wake up from this terrible nightmare.

The pain of Olivia driving everyone away--blaming the Aurelians, the military, Marin, even himself, anyone and everything, mourning for her lost family, for her home. Her drive for vengeance as they suicidally engaged their enemy. The look in her eyes as she died, already sealed in a watery tomb.

The feeling of power rushing through his body. As if he'd taken Olivia's thirst for revenge onto himself. Barely controlled fire and rage, tearing through an endless stream of En Kull, their thralls, and Aurelian loyalists alike. The rush of being a hero.

He thought of Marin.

"Yes."

A meeting at the point of a gun. Stronger than Olivia? Or perhaps just colder. A respect for power. And a desire for it.

"Your power was magnificent."

But, he'd begun to hope, something more. Love could grow anywhere, in all sorts of situations, and from the strangest of seeds...couldn't it? He wanted it to be so. The last survivors of a species should at least try, right?

"I wanted to stand by your side...god, and goddess."

Slowly, she resolved in front of him, still in the flowing Aurelian dress, just as he remembered her during their brief time of peace. She smiled.

"Hello, Gideon."

Marin. He was frozen, examining her form, as she walked closer.

"It's taken me quite a while to find you."

It was just a dream, right? She reached out, her hand caressing his face.

"No, Gideon...we're connected, you and I."

Could she really talk to him, over dozens, even hundreds of lightyears?

"Yes, with the help of some new friends."

Friends? Did things go better than he'd imagined, back there?

"Powerful friends."

Power, again.

"I've learned...so much."

As she said that, her voice evincing just the barest hint of hesitation, there was a sort of flicker. A momentary skip. It was as if her skin lost all of its color. Her face now devoid of warmth and emotion, it instead took on, for an instant, a cold, calculating glare. Predatory.

The surprise of it was enough to break the dream apart-

He woke with a full-body twitch, eyes gazing into the darkness at the edges of the tower, barely lit by the banked embers of the fire. There was a shift nearby, and Alouette began to gently snore. A dream? Already fading. Huh, I've had plenty of nightmares, but... He shifted, then rolled over, looking into the glowing firepit. It was...Marin. Yeah. I guess it makes sense I would be worried about her. He sighed, and closed his eyes. The dream interpreted, sleep returned easily. If there were more dreams, he did not remember them.

Author's Note

Thanks to Archonix for prereading.

Prologue

Tev sat at the appointed spot, looking in the appointed direction. His watch was about half over, but it felt like he'd already been there twice as long as usual, due to the storm. The wind battered at his rough cloak, and the Canid held it tighter, its wind-cutting abilities vastly enhancing the cold resistance of his thick fur.

We're going to have to take over the pony's watch until this blows over. She'd never make it through this.

He sighed at the thought of additional hours out here, wishing yet again that they'd manage to find even one more recruit. It had already been four years since the last, the young griffon, and Tev was getting too old for this.

When do we just give it up? This could be the beginning of the end of the Watchers. The end of a great legacy.

He was still mulling over these dark thoughts, when the ground trembled slightly. His attention focused at the correct point, as the beacon stones to his sides began to glow, subtly. His breath quickened, and he no longer noticed the cold. He stood up, as, at the center of the circle of beacon stones, a bright vertical line of crackling, purple, magical energy grew. Out of this energy, he saw a small, dark figure fall, screaming, into the snow below. It was followed by several large objects, some of which barely missed the fallen figure.

Heart racing, Tev jogged his way towards the center of the Anchor Point, and came upon the fallen one, just as it collapsed into the snow a few meters from its landing spot. It looked weakly up at him, and, even knowing what to expect, Tev was shocked to see the face and form described and shown in the ancient texts.

He leaned down, and said the first thing to come to mind, as he gathered up the freezing form to carry it to safety.

"Come with me, human. There is much to be done."