The Immortal's Game

Chapter 2: Contingency plan

        It had been a little under a week since I had arrived in Appleloosa, albeit my arrival was an accident. I had taken up residence in a small inn, and had used a fake name to cover up me being there. The town itself is quiet enough that I think that I had escaped attention. The only drawback was that the racial blend was a bit askew with the general population being earth ponies. There was a small bar on the ground floor of the building, and usually I just went down there to listen in on what was happening. Aside from the news of Celestia’s personal apprentice being administered to a hospital for mental trauma, not much had been happening.

        I sighed in my bed, reflecting on the events on the train. Maybe I overdid it with the illusion? I know I acted quickly but she should have recovered by now. What exactly did she see? Part of my magic was to create base parameters. However, the subject it was used on created the entire event in their heads. I could, for example, make a pony have an illusion of making and then eating a sandwich. However, they would create a sandwich that they designed and eat it the way they chose to. It was so that they could think the events were actually happening. If something were wrong, like if they put lettuce on it but they never ate a sandwich with it but I had assumed they did, the spell could shatter itself. Thats why I let ponies make their own choices in those illusions.

        The only reason that Celestia had not put out a bounty for me yet was because if somepony wanted to know exactly who they were dealing with, they would look for me in records. If they did that they would see that “Dream Walker “ was well over 200 years old. I had changed my name after faking my own death in Zebrica (long story, involving a noble girl, a chef and a plot to invade Canterlot). If they dug further they would find out about my immortality and the like. Some unicorns were good enough with magic to extend their lives twofold, so seeing a 200 year old unicorn would be odd, but not impossible.

        I sighed as I thought about what to do from here. I couldn’t fake my death again, Celestia already knew that trick. About now she would have likely set up other spies in outside countries as to alert her to my presence and she was strong enough in magic catch me after that. I figured that I might as well go down to the bar to see if there were any updates, although I didn’t hope for much since this town was a bit slow on news.

        I walked down the steps to the bar. The barkeep saw me first. “Hello, Dr. Glass. Will you be having hot chocolate again today?” I nodded in response to his question. I had been using the cover name of “Looking Glass” since my arrival. My cover was being a psychiatrist, and I had proven it when I made a pompous earth pony that had used some rather unsavory terms regarding unicorns cry. It really is a wonder what you can tell by forcing your way into somepony’s mind and rooting through their fears.

        The bartender had grown used to me getting hot chocolate, as odd as it was for a grown stallion to be asking for it. The first time I had asked he gave me a look of confusion, asking whether I had a foal with me or not. I had explained that it brought me back to good times, and he accepted that. There is actually a side effect to becoming immortal. Those who become immortal generally have a craving for something they have had in the past that made them feel joy. For me it was hot chocolate, for Celestia it was cake. I never got a chance to learn what Luna’s addiction was to, since I generally avoided her when she had returned and I had come into my seat after she had originally been banished.

        I listened in on the conversations around me, nothing really caught my attention until I heard something that concerned me greatly.

        “Hey, did you hear? There’s that famous group of bounty hunters in town. You know, the golden horns? I hear they’re working for Celestia on something big right now. If it’s anything like the Scarlet Edge incident, I would hate for them to find their target here...”

        “Seriously? I hear they leveled a whole block when they went after him. Man, if they’re here now that can’t be good for us. I just got done with paying off my loan.”

        This was not anything good for me. The golden horns were notorious for their work, and the property damage they caused as well. They were composed of 5 unicorns, each specializing in a different form of combat magic. Their leader, whom they got their name from, Golden Stone was capable of using high level earth based magic. It was speculated if he got angry enough he could probably cause a sizable earthquake. The other members weren't as strong but they could use fire, ice, and wind. The fifth member had never shown what he could do, so it was a good chance that he could be the largest threat to me. He had only ever been seen using hoof to hoof combat, but strangely he was the one with the most headcounts on him.

        I got up and decided to head out. If they were here then that meant that they were going to find me eventually, but I wanted to minimize the casualties by drawing them away from the town. If I had to fight them then I wanted it to be on my terms. Why the hell does it always have to be a unicorn? Honestly, Celestia has no taste in pawns.

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        Twilight was laying in her hospital bed in Canterlot. After her fight with Walker on the train, she been stuck in a sort of semi-coma filled with nightmares. She thought about what Walker had said. “Thats what she said? She wants my head on a pike, Twilight. If you dragged my sorry flank back there I would only be executed.”  She thought to herself for a moment. That doesn’t sound like the Celestia I knew. And Walker managed to take me down so easily. The Doctor came in shortly after she had woken up and explained what Walker had done to her. I was incapacitated, but he could have used magic to kill me. He was using lightning type magic and we were on a metal roof, all it would have taken would be one move and I would have died... So why didn’t he kill me?

The images he had put in her head seemed so real to her. For a pony to be able to do that so well made her magic skill look like that of a foal, at least in the refinement in it. Then she thought about what he had said later. “There are four immortals that you have met, Twilight. And there is one other that you have seen, but is trapped in stone”. That would mean Celestia, Luna and Cadence. Then there was the one in stone, which was a mystery to her. That left one other. Could Walker really be immortal? All the ones she had met were alicorns, but he was not. And she had never seen a statue of an Alicorn that was not a representation of Celestia.

        Moments after she had started questioning this, Celestia came into the room. “Hello, Twilight. How are you feeling?”

        Twilight looked up at her, a sad look in her eyes. “Not all that great, princess. Walker beat me and got away. He’s really powerful, but how come I never heard about him formally until recently?”

        Celestia looked out the window in the room, thinking of how to answer her question. “You have another question that is far more pressing, am I correct?”

        Twilight looked down at her sheets for a moment, but to her it felt like hours. “Yes. Is Dream Walker immortal?”

        Celestia gave her a look that unnerved Twilight. “Yes, he is. I gave him that immortality using a rather... Potent spell. I gave him unending life shortly after Luna left, and charged him with her dream watching powers.” She sighed. “You must understand, that it is not something I want to really talk about, but know one thing; This is not something you should delve deeper into.”

        Twilight gained an agitated tone to her voice. “Why didn’t you tell me this before? Don’t you trust me enough? Why wouldn’t you have told me something that important?!”

        Celestia stared at her. I see. So Walker managed to get this deep into her head? He knew what my plans were for Twilight, so was he counting on me sending her? I need to recover this quickly, before this gets too far out of control. “No Twilight, I do trust you. But if I had told you that immortality could be obtained by somepony that was once so normal, would you have pursued him or would you have pressed me for more answers?”

        Twilight looked down once more, silent. “No, I would have stayed and wanted to know more. It’s just... With somepony like that walking around and not be as famous as you, it makes me wonder how he has escaped notice for so long.”

        Celestia spoke with a much more motherly tone than before. “Unlike me, he stays in the shadows. I guess that is another way in which he is like Luna, he prefers the night to the day time. On top of that he can pass for normal since he is still a Unicorn. There is also the fact that he has spent a large amount of his time outside of the court in distant lands.That is how he has escaped notice.”

        Twilight was relieved that she had an answer and confirmation on what Walker had told her. However, she still had some things that made her wonder. She wondered how there could be a spell that granted immortality, that had not been made a well known. A single unicorn hiding from the public’s eye was easy, but a spell that made you live forever? How could that be missed? She decided that now was not the best time to be asking questions like this, so she decided not to ask. She did have one more question for her though. “He said that you would kill him if he were brought here. Is he telling the truth?”

        Celestia reverted to the tone she had used when she had first. “I would. I have my reasons for doing so and they do not concern you, my apprentice.”

        Twilight felt a chill run down her spine from Celestia’s words. The way she had said that felt so different from the way she normally talked. It was like a completely different side of her. This was not the Celestia that Twilight had admired and studied under. Was the the true Celestia? The one that Walker had been made immortal by? No. Twilight could not accept that as a possibility. This must have been the Celestia that is greatly stressed, after all there was a unicorn that betrayed Celestia that knew the secret to immortality running around. That must be it.

        Celestia turned around and faced the door. “Anyhow, Twilight, I must be returning to the throne room now. Oh, and don’t worry about Walker. I sent a group out to find him. You should just rest for now and recover. You should know something though.” Twilight shifted her position so that she could hear the princess better. “Dream Walker was going easy on you. You fought him when he was calm, and not angered. Remember this, if you ever fight him again.

        Celestia walked out of the room. Twilight let her words sink in. Going... Easy? Twilight felt a wave of fatigue wash over her. I should sleep. I won't be any help if I’m feeling sick and can’t do anything. With that Twilight laid her head down, and fell asleep.

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        Walker looked around the corner, observing the 5 unicorns that were speaking with the mayor of the town. He couldn’t hear them, but from the expression of the mayor, he guessed that they were not wanted here. Well, thats one thing in my favor. He identified the 5 one by one. Golden Stone was in the middle of the five. Flame Burst, the fire user was to his immediate left. To the left of him was the wind user, Clear Scythe. To the right were the mystery pony known simply as Black. At the far end was the Ice user Cold Front. The talking continued for about another minute. Then black seemed to raise his head and looked directly at me. Crap! He must have seen me! He’s a combat specialist, not a reconnaissance! I facehooved for a my idiocy. Damn, no one knows what he does. It was foolish of me to think I could have known otherwise.

He turned towards his companions, pointing in my direction. Better run. But where to? I reviewed the map of Equestria I had studied so diligently in my head. To the north is Everfree, but that’s too far. To the east and west are woods, but that’s too close and I’m fighting a fire user. So that leaves the south and Macintosh hills. I headed on my way, thankfully the direction I was already going. I just need to get far enough away and then I-. My thoughts were interrupted by a hard blast of wind nearly hit me. Damn, he’s got range. Wind users had two advantages: Speed and range. If I was going to get anywhere quickly, he would have to go first.

I glanced over my shoulder, seeing Clear Scythe leading the group in the run. He’s rash. Lets try a little nightmare fuel, shall we? I focused my magic and it met its mark. I gave him the idea of being attacked by a swarm of bees. Eh, not my best work but it will do for now. He turned off to the side, screaming and likely having a rather bad hallucination One down, four to go. After about 5 minutes of hard running, then I reached a small group of abandoned buildings. This will do nicely. I looked around, seeing if there was anything I could use. One of the buildings had tape across the front.

I smiled to myself. Lets see who is smarter: me, or four unicorns working together. I used a light blast of magic and severed the tape while blowing it inwards. I continued to the side of the building across of it. The four unicorns stopped, thankfully they had fallen behind me and stopped to look around. They seemed to be frantic and rather pissed off about them losing me. Golden Stones gave commands.

“Flame, Cold. You check around the area. Black, go and check the surrounding buildings. I’m going to go and check out the building with the broken tape. Remember, there are five thousand bits riding on this guy. Double that if we don’t kill him.”

Really? Five thousand bits for me dead? Man, Celestia must really want my head on her mantle. I smiled as the four of them split up. Seeing as how their leader had now left and paired fire and ice together, I saw a chance for a little mayhem. I used my magic on them both, making them think that the other had just insulted them.

“What the hell did you just call me?” Started off Flame Burst, who obviously had a bit of a temper.

“Oh, you’re one to talk.” Responded Cold Front, with agitation heavy in his voice. “Nopony gets to call me that, ever!” He took several steps back and then used his magic to create a small blizzard and sent its fore towards his companion. Flame countered with a wall of fire, deflecting the blizzard into a nearby building, taking it down.

Wow, last time I underestimate an ice user. Flame took the existing wall he had created and sent it towards his opponent it hit him dead on, but it looked as if Cold had shielded himself just in time. He was sent sprawling into a building, smashing down one of the walls. I used my magic at a range to check if he was still conscious, he was out like a light. With him down and Flame still fuming over what he had possibly heard, I used my magic and knocked him out as well. Two down, two to-. The ground beneath my started to shake. And I’ve been found. Perfect. I jumped off to the side as a pillar of earth shot out of the ground, damaging the side of the building I was using for cover.

A voice came from behind me. “So, you’re the infamous dream walker. I see that you’re good enough to take down two of my subordinates. And on top of that you manipulated Flame into doing your dirty work. I’m not going to be quite so-.” I sent a bolt of electricity towards him, incapacitating him and knocking him unconscious.

I swear, every time someone boasts about how good they are I can just walk away or take them down, what kind of idiot would wait for a speech to be finished? I sighed. And then there was one. I tried to remember where Black had been sent off to. He’s going to be in one of these buildings, and it wouldn’t do me any good to let him be. He could still follow me if hes still awake. I continued onwards to one of the nearest buildings. I checked the entrance, and saw that the dust had hoof marks in it, but only one set heading in. So this is the building he’s in.

I headed into the decrepit ruin of what may have once been a business. These “frontier” buildings usually became abandoned, and with Appleloosa nearby it was a good chance that they would have been run out of business. I followed the tracks upstairs, getting ready for the fight to come. Where the hell is he?  Despite his name, his coat was bone white. Some parents have a strange sense of humor, or possibly it was just a fake name that he had come to be known by. In fact, even his mane was white but possessed a single black stripe on it.

The room I was in was almost pitch black, good for me because of my darker coat. I turned quickly as I heard a sound to my right, I charged up my magic and fired a bolt. I could tell it didn’t connect with anything made of flesh, but before I could question what made the sound I was sent rocketing up into the ceiling by what felt like being bucked in the chest. I came back down with a solid thump. Okay, thats at least one rib broken... I stood back up clutching my chest from the pain. I had a little experience in healing magic so I used it to patch myself up quickly. I felt another hit, this time from the side that sent me sprawling. Where the hell is he? I used my magic to light up the room, and I caught sight of Black.

He was standing on the other side of the room from me, his magic aura a sickening color that made me feel nauseous just looking at it. A unicorns magic aura and its effect on ponies are generally a reflection of their personality, so something that could make me feel like this just by looking at it did not bode well. He gave a sickening smile. “What, wondering how I could get you like that from over here?” He tilted his head a bit to the side. “Here, I’ll show you.” The shadows on the ground in front of me sent an iron pillar heading towards me.

I quickly sidestepped and it continued on its path through the shadows on the wall next to me. He can move things through shadows? How the hell could you even... The pillar from before was launched again this time from the wall to my left. I jumped up and it narrowly missed me. I needed a way to take him down quickly.Alright, so how could I do this... I thought about how he was using darkness to his advantage. Theres no record of how he fights, because he can only fight in darkness. Darkness is magic.... Thats it! I began to pour a lot more energy into my horn than U really should have been, and created a bright flash of light. I had closed my eyes as to not blind myself, but Black was a little less fortunate. He raised his hoof to block the burst and I charged.

He gave another smile. “Got you.” Before I could even get halfway to him, a massive cage came down and captured me. He walked over to me, when he did I got a better look at him, his eyes seemed to lack any kind of true color to them, making them somewhat pale. “You would be surprised how many times ponies try and use that same trick on me. Heres the thing, I can’t see like most normal ponies can. I use the shadows to see for me, thats how I spotted you when you were spying on us. Funny how that works, being spotted buy the one blind guy.” He walked around the cage. “All I have are what the shadows show me and my thoughts. Now I’ll have ten thousand bits all to myself since you took down those idiots I work with.”

I grimaced. Damn, never saw that coming. I realized something that became evident, he wanted all of the reward for himself. I smiled with this newfound information in my arsenal. “Hey, did Celestia tell you why she wanted me?”

Black turned away and started to walk towards a chair in the room that had escaped my notice earlier. “No, not that it matters. Ten thousand bits and no questions asked, that's how I like it.”

“Huh, and here you could be richer threefold that.” I said with a bit of a mocking tone.

He gave me a quizzical look. “What exactly do you mean?”

I just rolled my eyes, playing my part with the finesse of someone that had lied his way out of more situations than anypony else in all history. “The reason she sent ponies like you after me is because I know something she really doesn’t wat known: how to get into the treasury’s vault and get out undetected. If you were to let me out I could tell you, and it would even be easier for you with your particular set of skills.”

He rubbed his chin with his hoof for a minute, contemplating what I had just offered him. He was smart enough to play me like a fool in our fight, but now was a time for a battle of wits. “Alright, tell me how an I’ll let you out of there.”

I had to hide my grin that would have otherwise ruined this event for me. From the fact I took out two of their members with my manipulative magic, I had assumed Celesti never told them what I was fully capable of. To Celestia, these unicorns were likely expendable. Celestia still had uses for Twilight, so she had warned her. “Alright, deal. It’s almost impossible to explain and you need a bit of foreknowledge, so it would be faster if you let me in your head and I transfered my knowledge to you.” Come on, take the bait like a fool would.

“Fine, go on ahead. Just know that my head is a dangerous place. I wouldn’t hang around in there for too long.” I used my magic and started  to root around in his head. When you’re inside the mind of something, its memories play around you like a film. I surveyed what he had been thinking about, and saw the memories of his group being hired by Celestia. I observed them from where I was, as to see how much they knew.

“I would like to hire your group to hunt down and capture A certain unicorn that has caused a bit of grief for me. My reasons for his capture are my own, and I would rather not talk about them.” To the left of Black was Golden, he spoke next.

“Yeah yeah, it’s not everyday that you get a request from the ruler of Equestria. The last time you called us up was to hunt down a serial killer, so what is it this time and how much is the reward.”

Celestia kept her calm demeanor, acting as if she made this sort of request every day. “His name is Dream Walker, a unicorn with a dark purple coat, blue eyes and a black mane. He also has terrible taste in hats.” Okay, that hurt a little bit. “If you capture him dead, the reward is five thousand bits. However if you bring him back alive the reward is double, I would hate for there to be any bloodshed with him. Just know that he is quite dangerous and extremely intelligent. He managed to oust myself and the entire court guard.”

Golden gave a quick laugh. “Five thousand for him dead? My kind of job. Now do know where we can find this guy?”

“Knowing him, he is likely hiding out in one of the southern towns. I would check there first. Oh, and don’t screw up.”  She walked away and the memory continued onwards.

Alright, thats everything I needed to know. I focused my magic and catapulted myself out of Blacks mind, but forced him asleep at the same time. I came back into my own body and used my magic to blast away the cage I was in, Black lie asleep on the floor drooling. I took a few extra minutes to erase his memory of what had happened, and that took alot out of me.

I left the building and started to head back towards town, I figured that I might as well get some sleep before leaving tomorrow. I walked into the bar, and was promptly greeted by the bar tender. “Hello Dr. Glass, How was your walk?”

I gave him a week smile. “Good, got a bit of exercise and taught a few upstarts who knew better a lesson. Now if you excuse me I’m going to sleep. I’m leaving to continue on my journey tomorrow.”

“Good to know, oh almost forgot to mention. You had a visitor while you were gone. Some blue earth pony with a slicked back mane. You know him?”

My eyes shot open, worry filled my mind. “Is he still here? Did he say anything? Did he happen to have saddlebags and a large book?” I knew there was only one pony in all of equestria who fit that description.

“Yeah, he said he was a client of your’s and he went up to your room. He just said to tell you that he was here, and that he brought the final payment. Anyway, you want-.” I never heard what else he said as I bolted up to my room. Theres no way he got here that fast. There’s just no way. I opened up the door to my room, and saw him sitting there with the book in front of him open.

“Hello Walker, ready to die?”