Chapter 27: Hitting A Wall
MAJORLY Edited by: Chrome Masquerade
Proofread by: Asoka, Darkwhip
“Captain! Captain! Please, open up, quick!” A Thestral guard shouted as he knocked on the office door of Captain Glade.
Glade, on the other hoof, was not responding for two very good reasons. One: the magical discharge that she suddenly felt was enormous, one of the largest magical discharges she had felt in her over 1000 years of life, and two: she was too busy looking right at it from her office window.
A distant, but very clearly visible, beam of pure magic was off in the far distance. The Everfree Forest, if the direction AND distance were anything to go by.
Glade eventually shook her head before sporting the type of look on her face she always had when she prepared for battle.
She rose up from her chair as she casually made her way over to the door.
“Captain? Captain, this is very… im... por… tant…” The guard quiet down after the door suddenly opened with a cold-gazed mare just standing on the other side.
“Sergeant, gather a party and meet me outside the fields. We got some magic hunting to do.” She quickly ordered before simply moving past the slightly surprised guard.
“Yes mam.” The stallion gulped before saluting and hastily trotting off to act on his Captain’s orders.
Glade, on the other hoof, was making her way directly to the armory to retrieve her priceless Blood Weapon from its heavily enchanted trunk to take with her on this hunt.
“It was just a matter of time, but finally you have showed yourself once again, and also revealed your actual location, my little magical anomaly. This time, you will NOT slip through my grasp so easily. I WILL catch you, and no Sun Butt or Moon Butt will stop me from doing so.” She thought to herself as her thoughts quickly mimicked her expression by the letter.
Thoughts of what she was going to do floated through her mind. When she caught the individual who had DARED to make a fool of herself the first time around... Her Blood Weapon glowed a deep red in anticipation.
“Blood WILL be spilled today.”
………………………………………………………………………………………
“This has to be Nava! It just has to be. That is a huge amount of magic and Nava is the only Alicorn, besides the princesses, that I know of.” I shouted as the wind raced by my ears at high speeds, hampering my hearing because of it.
I have no possible idea what I will find when I reach the source of that beam. Most ponies would normally just stay the HAY away from a phenomenon such as this, me normally included, but the fear of Nava being in serious danger and the high chances of THIS being very much connected to him crush those fears of the unknown and, rather, replace them with fear about someone I somehow managed to care about a lot in such a short time getting killed - or worse!
“I could be flying into serious danger myself, but right now I just don’t care. I know that this has something to do with Nava, which means that I need to get there as quickly as possible, before Celestia knows what else will happen.” I thought to myself as I was rapidly getting closer and closer to the source. The Everfree below me quickly gave way for a large clearing in the middle of a sea of treetops.
A large complex of ruins showed themselves to be at the center of said clearing. I knew immediately what this place was.
“The Castle of the Two Sisters. But, what would Nava be doing all the way out here IF he really is down there?” I gasped out as I was forced to a sudden stop, to look at the ancient remains of the two royal sisters home with fear and dread.
I have heard a lot of horror stories and old folklore of this place, ranging from ghost hauntings to it being the home of actual demons, or even having a hidden gateway into Tartarus itself. Most of these stories were just that, stories. But it is still true that a lot of hidden secrets, magical and non-magical have been left locked away in there after the castle itself was finally abandoned. At least that was what reliable sources tell.
But besides that, the castle itself was still widely feared and dreaded for ponies and non-ponies alike, which is why after a thousand years it still pretty much looks the same as when it was first abandoned in the first place.
I personally don’t know why, but I HAVE to agree with everypony’s mindset about this place. Despite it being nothing but a forgotten relic of forgotten times it's still looks and feels very imposing, even from up here. And that red solid beam of magic coming out of it was not helping.
I shook my head. ”What the HAY am I even doing? Stop wasting time, Cloud! Every second counts.” I chided myself before pumping my wings once more to zip off towards the castle ruins.
I was mentally contemplating what I was actually going to do, where to enter, where to go from there and whatever else, and even how to prepare myself for whatever awaits me.
Terrible thoughts again ran rampant through my head on what exactly I was going to find, most of them depicting scenarios of me being too late and only finding….
I shook my head again. ”Stop letting your mind get the best of you, Cloud, and just focus.” I told myself mentally as I was practically hovering over the castle complex at this point.
Concentrating on the task at hoof, I rapidly darted my eyes to where the beam was actually coming and finding it to be in some kind of courtyard that looked just as rotten and overgrown as the rest of the structure. The only problem was that, that’s was it. there wasn’t a pony -or more importantly, a Nava- in sight. Just some deep black holes all scattered about the courtyard itself, one of which the violent beam of pure magic was coming.
Speaking of which, both the wind and weather in general around and above the ruins began to quickly worsen. The moonlight slowly began to fade away as what looked like thunder clouds rapidly started to over the night sky, casting everything around me in a dark and imposing shadow. The winds themselves were slowly picking up as well, making it more and more difficult for me to stay airborne the closer I got to the beam. The beam must be causing some sort of vortex similar to a tornado, I figured.
I knew that I couldn’t stay up for very much longer, but at the same time I didn’t know where to land or go to besides into one of those cracks into the ground where the beam seemed to be coming from as well.
I personally didn’t enjoy of jumping into deep, dark and unknown holes in the ground. But if this down there might be the exact place I need to go to find Nava, then it was beyond worth taking the risk.
Steeling myself, I immediately dove down into one of the cracks closest to the beam. And not a moment too soon, as unnatural lightning began to flash outside, hitting one of the rotten spires around the courtyard and causing the ancient structure to collapse instantly from the blast.
I yelped when that happened, right before basically walking into the opening and founding myself in pitch darkness for a second, before popping into a huge underground chamber.
The red light of the beam was, once again, the only source of light that existed after the darkening of the night sky earlier, as I reopened my wings to gently slow down my fall into a soft decent.
The entire hall was filled with static energy that made the fur on my back -and my neck. And my legs- stand on an end as I closed in on the ground below. Loud cracking was echoing all through the dark, invisible walls of whatever underground hall I was in, accompanied by an incessant noise similar to what you hear when high speed winds rush past your ears, pretty much when you fly really fast.
Though the real shocker only came when I realized what the source of that magical beam actually was when I landed, doing a somersault in the air -to cut my speed further- before landing safely on all fours..
“Na- NAVA!” I shouted as I saw him encased in that red glow.
He was on his hind legs, his right hoof stretched out and resting on something that glowed so bright that I couldn’t even begin to guess what it might be. Red electricity was arching and shooting out all over his body. But the scariest and most shocking thing was his expression, his face contorted into a silent scream, both his eyes and mouth emitting this bright shine as something almost ghostly looking was seeping out from them and directly into whatever his right hoof was resting on. He looked pale, as if the very color was slowly being drained from him. And lastly his horn, the very source where this… this beam was shooting out from in blinding flickers and dangerous-looking discharges of red colored thunder, not to mention the huge cracks his once proud horn now sported, too.
I was shocked and scared beyond belief, unable to do or even say anything.
“I…I… I’m too late. .I’m too late.” Whispered to myself, stunned.
“No… I am not too late. Whatever this magic or force is that seems to be literally draining Nava of his life, I will not just stand here while there might be still some chance of cutting him off from whatever is holding him there.” I thought to myself with sudden newfound strength as my shocked expression quickly morphed into determination. All the fear, doubt and worry I just head completely vanished in an instant at the sight of one of my friends on the verge of death.
“What the? Who… who are you?” Somepony’s voice suddenly asked from my side which almost caused me to jump.
Quickly recovering from my initial surprise, I forced my gaze away my friend to seek the source of whoever that voice belonged to, only to find a pair of glowing blue eyes surrounded by darkness.
I don’t know what it was, but some deep primal instinct immediately took over as I found myself charging towards whoever those eyes belonged to. No feeling fear or doubt at all, but rather anger and a deep sense of “fight and survive”.
“No, wait! I… I’m not a-”The creature tried to say in panic as it slowly began to back off from my charge.
It didn’t matter, as I soon found myself colliding with this creature before tumbling down onto the ground together with me on top of it.
The thing was still dazed but that didn’t stop me from glaring down at it while pinning it down. “What are you? What have you done to Nava and how do I stop it? Answer me before I lose all sense of DECENCY!” I demanded rapid-fire, as I was fairly positive that every second counted.
I didn’t get an answer as first, as the black, insectoid pony-hybrid thing just stared up at me with complete fear. My patience was wearing thin rapidly.
“Well? ANSWER ME!!” I shouted as the constant flickering coming from behind was illuminated both of us in a red hue.
She immediately flinched before looking back up at me with quivering fangs. “I- I have done absolutely nothing, I swear! I have no connection to whatever is happening to Nava over there, nor do I have the knowledge of how to stop it.” It explained in a high pitched tone.
I was momentarily both curious and highly suspicious of the fact that this… mare? Knew Nava by name. But before I could question it further or even give it just a little bit more thought the being under me continued on.
“Please… I am not a threat at all, despite my looks, I swear!” She pleaded which hastily forced me to finally pick a decision on what to actually do.
“Oh, BUCK THIS.” I cursed as I unhooked and threw my saddlebags away to the side before removing myself from the bug thing under me and turning myself around to face the problem.
Outside I would look to be full of determination and seem in control of the situation. But in reality, deep inside I was actually panicking something fierce. I had absolutely no idea what to do or how to do it, but that still didn’t stop me from just randomly picking the only -AND very first- thing that came to mind.
Tackling.
Extending my wings fully, I crouched for what was in no doubt the most important and strongest charge I would ever do in my entire life. I began building energy for, an essentially, hot takeoff, but straightforward. Electricity began to build around my wings.
“No holding back now.” I said, before I pumped my wings, sending myself rocketing towards the first ever stallion (outside my dad) that I came to truly care about, .
“I don’t know what you are, who you are, OR WHAT THE BUCK YOU WANT FROM HIM. BUT YOU ARE NOT TAKING HIM AWAY FROM ME AS LONG AS I DRAW BREATH!” I shouted as the magic coming off from Nava was hitting me, scorching me and trying to force me back.
But I was having none of that. I ignored the pain, the smell of burning hair and the heat that quickly enveloped my whole body as I forced both of my wings and my legs to push forward.
There was no turning back now. I was almost there.
A few other words came to mind. ”HARMONY, GIVE ME STRENGTH!”
With one final jump -with all of the force I could pull out of myself at once-, I pushed myself as hard as I physically could directly towards Nava’s magic-encased form. With almost no real resistance, compared to what there was previously, which in all honesty surprised me for just a millisecond, I slammed straight into Nava with my left shoulder, forcing him away from whatever was having a grip on him and sending the two of us tumbling to the rough ground beneath us. I wrapped both of my forelegs and wings around his form as we continued to roll together along the rocky surface before eventually coming to a slow and painful stop with the both of us on our sides.
I simply laid there with my eyes closed, huffing and breathing heavily through both my mouth and nose while trying my best to ignore the pain all over me. Not to mention and smell of my own burned fur and feathers.
“At… at least… Nava is safe... I hope.” I thought, nearly blacking out.
I eventually heard a set of hooves rushing over to us as the magical discharge within the hall started to die down. Same with the light, as the cave around us quickly dissolved into darkness without the magical light provided earlier.
“Are… are you two ok? By ok I mean alive.” The voice of the weird pony bug hybrid asked, her worry very evident in her tone.
I coughed before slowly opening my eyes.” I…. guess. What about the magic? Is… is it gone?” I asked hoarsely, in between breaths.
I saw the hybrid thing nod its head, her glowing blue eyes helping to keep her features visible. I cringed as the pain of my burned patches of skin were preventing me from even moving much as it was. Thankfully, I was still holding on to Nava, so that was good. After what I saw and what happened to him in general I was NOT letting him go. Somepony might as well have to kill me just to make me let go at the moment. I am DEAD SERIOUS.
“Wait! I can cast a light spell so you can see.” She announced out of the blue, before my vision suddenly got flooded with a yellowish glare, which forced me to close my eyes and wince in pain.
“Oops! Sorry. Forgot how bright that spell can be at first.” She apologized.
“No, no. It’s ok. Just… a warning next time, alright?” I replied as I slowly re-opened my eyes.
True to what I thought, her horn gave a faint yellowish glow, which did help to expel the darkness around us somewhat, including her form, which I knew could much better see than I.
“She really does look like a cross between a bug and a pony. More specifically, a Beetle, now that I think about it.” I thought before shaking my head to get my mind and attention back to the pony that actually needed it right then.
Looking down, I saw Nava’s form pressed tightly against mine, which was good. What wasn’t so good, but in fact was downright worrying was just how much paler he looked. in fact, almost white, in a sense. His mane and coat where a complete mess, his horn was nothing but a spider web of cracks and fissures, the feathers on his wings were bent in a really unnatural way and his face… oh dear Celestia, his face. Sure he was unconscious and -thank Celestia- still breathing, though very weakly. But his entire body just looked as if he suddenly got 200 years older. He had bags and wrinkles hanging right under his eyes with them having an almost bloodshot tint to them. He had even more wrinkles behind his mouth and upper muzzle and the pale coloration on his face was pretty much identical to the rest of his body.
Overall, he looked almost dead, I daresay.
“Nava? Nava, are you ok? Nava… please say something!” I pleaded into his ears as tears began to build up in my eyes.
I shook him a bit in hopes of stirring up some kind of a response from him. Anything that could tell me that he was still there, but all I got was nothing. Not even a moan or a cough. I was slowly starting to get desperate.
“Wait! I think I may be able to help somewhat.” The bug pony said, which made me look up at her.
She continued. “Well… I am not really sure what exactly happened back there, but… the one thing I am positive about right now is that Nava here has been basically drained of all of his magic… or possibly even lost it completely by the looks of it. The point is that I can try to give him some of mine to hopefully…” She tried to explain right before I stopped her as I tightened my grip on Nava and glared up at her.
“NO way. NO WAY IN TARTARUS will I LET you do something to him with that horn and magic of yours. NO. WAY.” I retorted angrily as she flinched back.
“Can’t you see WHAT MAGIC HAS already done to HIM?” I continued on as tears began to flow down my eyes as I looked at Nava’s pale and broken form.
I was feeling guilty. Guilty for not being fast enough, for not having listened to my gut feeling sooner and for having wasted too much precious time just to get here. If I could have been faster, I might have done more, I might have minimized the damage that had been done to him so far and maybe, maybe he wouldn’t be in such as state that he was.
Weak, broken, teetering on the brink of life and death, by the looks of it. All of his previous color and shine gone. It hurt me to see him like this.
“I am sorry… I am so, so sorry for not having been there for you sooner… I know this isn’t my fault, but… I am just so, so sorry Nava. Please… please stay with me… please stay with us.” I cried before burying my muzzle deep into his neck as the tears flew freely from me.
I could hear his heartbeat as well, like this, but -just as his breathing- it was extremely weak and almost not noticeable, just proving to me even more how seriously dire the situation was for the moment, just how dire it was for him.
He might very well be just moments away from shutting down with me being forced to just hold him close and wait for it. This realization and feeling of helplessness was just crushing my heart and soul even more. I didn’t want to lose him. But at the same time, what the hay am I supposed to do?
All I could do was cry. Cry and pray to whatever deity out there for some sort of miracle for my friend over here. Other questions were running around my mind as well, like why was he here, what was that... thing?, And also why was it draining Nava of magic, life, or whatever else? But all of these questions quickly disappeared at the fear of possibly losing him, even after I tackled him away from that… from whatever that was. Again, giving me the idea and feeling that I was too late, that I was too slow.
“Hello? HELLOOOO! Is anypony down there?” I suddenly heard someone call from above us.
I recognized that voice instantly as I removed my muzzle from Nava’s neck. “Ap-applejack? Is… IS that YOU?” I shouted back as I looked up above me.
I could clearly see the holes and cracks in the far distant ceiling above us, but beyond that nothing else aside from the moonlight shining through them.
There was a pause for a few seconds before I heard AJ’s voice again. “Yeah it’s me. Are ya really down there? If so, how the hay did ya git there in the first place?” AJ asked as her voice echoed through the walls of this underground hall.
I was thrilled to hear her, to say the least. “AJ, please! Can you help us? I have Nava down here, and he is in really serious condition. Can you perhaps get somepony or whatever that could help us?” I shouted, my own voice echoing through the darkness.
There was another pause before AJ replied from above. “Well, I brought a really long rope with me. Two, to be exact, since I had a feeling that I would find you or him in some form o’ trouble. I can tie them up here and throw the other end down to y’all to git ya out from there.” AJ answered, which immediately filled me with some form of hope. Every bit of hope counted at this point.
“That’s great! Sure. Do that, but please hurry. As I said, Nava is in critical condition here, which means every second counts.” I called back.
“Well, ok, I will see what I can do. Just sit tight; this won’t take long.” She called back down before there was a moment of silence once more.
My gaze automatically went back to the one in need as I wiped some of my tears away. “Just hold on, Nava. I won’t let you die, I swear.” I whispered to him in hopes that he might be able to hear me.
“Shimmer…” I heard the bug mare say, which had the immediate effect of me looking up at her confused at the one sudden word she uttered.
“What?” I casually questioned.
She looked back at me with sad eyes, her ears splayed back just like a pony’s. “That is my name. Its Shimmer.” She repeated, which still made me even more confused than before.
Though before I could even say anything she continued. “I know that this might be… a very inappropriate moment to ask this but…”She rubbed her forehooves awkwardly before continuing. ”But… what is your name?” She finished which really didn’t help much with the confusion.
I was somewhat reluctant to reply, but decided to do so anyway just to see where this would go. “It’s… it’s Cloud Chaser. sibling -younger sister- to Flitter.” I answered, which gave me a sad smile for it.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you then, Cloud Chaser. It’s just… the reason why I told you my name and why I asked for yours in return is so that I can talk to you much easier by calling you by your name.” She explained which makes sense.
I simply nods which prompted her to go one. “I know that you are extremely scared for your friend’s wellbeing… and, to be honest, I am too. Which is why I just need you to hear me out on this first before saying anything.” She began before continuing on as I kept silent. ”I know that you have already voiced your disapproval for it, but… please, I promise that NO harm will come to him for it. I just have this idea of perhaps giving him some of my magic to feed his. I can tell that his magic is practically completely gone because I can sense it. As a Changeling -or at least a Changeling from my Hive- I can. So please, let me just pour some of my magic into him. It might help or at least buy us some additional time to get real help later on.” She explained with a pleading look, which in turn made the gears in my head turn a bit, regarding what she suggested.
To be honest, I was still very much reluctant to have Nava anywhere near -or in contact with- magic after having just witnessed what was happening to him and the condition he was in right then because of it. But at the same time, I don’t really know much about magic to begin with. Being a Pegasus does do that, but .then again Nava is a magic-based being so Magic in general could also be the key or at least one of the key to help him which in turn might actually be worth the risk, especially since there is nothing else to help him with at the moment.
I sighed. “Alright, but I swear to Celestia, IF you do even more damage to him I... will… BREAK YOU. Your hear me?” I answered to her with a serious glare.
She quickly nodded and gulped at my tone before I SO reluctantly let go of Nava’s form, laid him gently down onto the cold floor before stepping off to the side, to let Shimmer to her magic thing.
She quickly powered up her horn, which gave off a yellowish glow. Very soon a stream of mana started to slowly travel towards Nava’s prone body, encasing it into a faint yellow glow. I watched with great hope and anticipation as some of the color on his mane and coat returned, though only slightly. Eventually Shimmer cut the magic stream off with a loud huff as she collapsed onto her flank, panting and huffing a bit as the glow on her horn slowly faded away.
“Sorry… I didn’t really have a lot of magic in me to begin with.” She huffed.
“That’s fine, at least it seems to have helped somewhat. Even some of the cracks on his horn disappeared, though most of them are still there.” I commented as I looked at the somewhat-less-pale form of Nava with a hopeful feeling in my heart.
“He is going to make it, though. I still just hope that he will be… well, still himself in the end when all of this is done.” I thought to myself before dismissing these ideas.
“Hey, Shimmer?” I called out before looking at the still tired-looking... Changeling, I think she called herself.
“Ye-yeah?” She replied, lifting her head to look at me.
“Sorry, for… well, tackling and accusing you back there. And… also thank you for being right all along and somewhat helping Nava just then with your idea.” I thanked her with a kind but tired smile, which she returned.
“I know that it must be pretty obvious, but…” I began as I retook my position back on Nava’s side, lying down before gently stroking his mane. ”…But, he means a lot to me. Me and my sister as well.” I admitted to her. I didn’t know particularly why I was telling all this to the completely random stranger of -until now- unknown species, but… It did have the positive effect of easing my mind and emotions somewhat, so I guess that’s justifying enough.
“Hey, Cloud! I got the ropes tied up and ready ta go. Head’s up! I’m gonna throw them down now.” AJ’s voice suddenly echoed from above, which made both me and Shimmer look up.
Two sets of thick ropes were suddenly thrown down from the largest opening above us with its ends quickly landing on the rough, cold stone surfaces just a few meters away from us.
Both shimmer and I wasted no time as the two of us carefully lifted Nava’s unconscious form up onto our backs and carried him to where the two rope ends where lying idly on the floor. It took a bit of effort -and awkward hoof and wing work- to properly tie him securely.
I quickly went back to both grab my saddlebag and Nava’s Hat somewhere nearby before hastily making it back. With a tug of the combined rope and a shout towards AJ on the surface, Nava, -accompanied by the two of us- slowly made our way back up to the outside world above us.
“Whoo-ee! He’s actually a pretty hefty fella, ain’t he? Wouldn’t know it just by lookin’ at him.” I heard AJ complain from above as we reached the halfway point. Shimmer and I were keeping a very keen eye on him and even assisting AJ with hoisting him back up.
It didn’t really take that long for all 3 of us to finally be graced with the illuminating rays of the full moon above as we pushed and pulled Nava up the last few Centimeters out of the hole and gently laid him onto the moss covered cobblestone that made up the majority of the old courtyard.
I in general was just glad to be back up on the surface, even more so knowing that getting actual help for Nava is going to be much, MUCH easier from this point on.
“I just hope even THAT won’t be too late.” I thought as I laid myself back down next to his still broken form.
“Dad-gum! What in tarnation happened to the fella?” AJ asked as she came up after having recollected her ropes.
“I don’t know… but I would love to.” I answered while keeping my gaze on Nava.
To be honest, I was vastly more interested in getting some help for him than actually trying to find out what the HAY happened that lead to him getting the life sapped out of him in the first place. But then again, I would have all the time I needed to find these answers anyway. AFTER we got Nava to a much safer place than we were in.
So, in that regard, getting him back to Ponyville as quickly as possible was -right then- of the utmost priority.
With that in mind, I did my best to somehow lift his surprisingly heavy frame up onto my back. AJ was quick enough to help and even insisted that she carry Nava instead, for obvious reasons. But I declined, feeling that I should do it because of some strange feeling I had in my chest.
“Are ya sure ya want to do it, Cloud? Yer already haulin’ around those Saddle-bags with ya. Y’could at least give those t’me so you can carry the feller much easier.” AJ suggested, to which I just shook my head.
“Just because I am a Pegasus doesn’t mean I can’t carry heavy loads like you Earth Ponies can.” I told her back, a phrase that somehow shocked her a bit.
“Wow jeez, that is NOT what Ah meant back there. Where did that comment even come from?” AJ asked, which caused my ears to droop after realizing what my response accidentally brought up.
“I… I don’t know. Just slipped out, I guess. Might be from all the stress that I have been going through lately. I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just a bit miffed already, that’s all.” I said in an apologetic tone.
I felt a hoof rest onto my shoulder afterwards, knowing full well that it is AJ’s but raised my gaze anyway to look at her. By the expression in her eyes, I knew that she could tell that it was something more, but she didn’t explain. “Hey it’s ok, Ah can understand whatcha been goin’ through lately. Had ta almost go through the same thing when me and Big Mac were still foals.” She reassured with a smile, which I returned after a few seconds.
“Um… I am also still here… you know?” Shimmer’s meek tone suddenly entered our ears, which caused the both of us to look over our shoulders to her.
“Almost forgot about her.”
I already pretty much knew what she was… kind of, and also the fact that she was non-hostile despite her appearance. AJ, of course, did not, as her eyes went wide before quickly turning herself around, but unlike me didn’t charge or attack her outright, which was good. Celestia knows what she would or could do to Shimmer, thanks to her Earth Pony strength compared to mine.
Though, how she missed her was kind of strange to me. Sure, Shimmer is mostly all black, which blends perfectly against the shadows and darkness of the night, but beyond that she does have these very telling glowing blue eyes of hers which should automatically be a dead giveaway that she was there. Not to mention her bright yellow back and tail.
“Uh… Cloud? Who and what the HAY is THAT?” AJ asked while pointing a hoof at Shimmers direction.
“Oh, she’s… well… I think she called herself a Changeling. But don’t worry, she is not hostile or dangerous at all. In fact, she even helped out a bit earlier, as well.” I reassured AJ.
AJ simply scratched her head afterwards while still giving Shimmer a curious look. “Well, if y’ say so. This IS the Everfree after all. Some seriously weird stuff has come out of these accursed woods beforehoof, so no foul.” She commented, which made Shimmer seem a little butthurt, for some reason.
She looked almost ready to say something when her ears suddenly perked up and her eyes widened. A look that immediately told me that something was wrong.
I was about to ask her what was wrong, when her gaze swiftly shifted to her right, to a large shadow-encased area on the courtyard. There, the light of the full moon just couldn’t reach, thanks to still-intact high walls and spires towering over that particular site.
My unspoken question was soon answered when a set of glowing orange eyes suddenly appeared within the darkness, which caused me, Shimmer and even AJ to halt as its predatory look and silted pupils had an immediate effect on all three of us.
“Did Ah mention that there’s some weird stuff in here?” AJ joked nervously.
I felt almost vulnerable as these hungry looking eyes sized me up from a distance. A glare swiftly went through them when they seemed to land at the Alicorn resting on my back before softening again. A mare-like chuckle quickly echoed from the shadows before the eyes suddenly moved forward, slowly revealing a form emerging from its embrace.
“Well, well, well. What do you have here?” The figure taunted as it slowly revealed itself -or, more precisely, herself- to be a gray coated mare, clad in typical night guard armor with tufted ears, razor-sharp fangs and bat like wings on her back.
Immediately I knew exactly what she was as, memories of that whole Cloudsdale incident came back to me. I already knew for a fact that this mare, this… Thestral, I think they prefer to call themselves, was not here for us, but for Nava.
I instinctively took a few steps backwards as she fully revealed herself within the moonlight.
She smirked as she saw the shocked and -at least on my part- scared looks we were all sporting. (Aside from Nava, who didn’t have much of an expression at all, at the moment.) Those eyes of hers seemed to bore directly into our very souls, studying us, sizing us up for any flaws, and those occasion licking she gave her fangs was not helping my own nervousness at the moment.
She chuckled again as her gaze eventually landed sourly on me, something I obviously didn’t like. “I wonder, what are three mares doing all the way out here in the middle of the night? I always thought that you gullible ponies avoided these woods like the plague, yet I come out here finding not one, but three outside of their homes. Even more curiously, in an area that is naturally infested with creatures who have no problem hunting down beings like ponies for prey. Very curious indeed.” She wondered aloud with almost creepy levels of enthusiasm that sent shivers down my back and into my tail.
I know so because my tail does has the tendency to move back and forth whenever I get nervous.
AJ was the first one to recover as she gave the newcomer in front of us a hard glare. “Ah can basically ask ya the same thing. Who the hay are ya, anyway?” AJ asked, which -thankfully- meant that her gaze left me and went over to AJ instead.
“Well, for starters, a predator among predators is actually much more fun than being with prey. And second it does not matter who I am, because I have no quarrel with either you, the Pegasus or the rough Changeling over there.” The Thestral mare explained while giving Shimmer a curious stare before continuing on. “I am here for the ALICORN resting on the Pegasus over there.” She announced with her glare moving back to me.
I again took some tentative steps back, almost tripping and falling backwards into one of the cracks leading back into the underground chamber beneath us as I did so. I looked over my shoulder at the still pale and broken form of Nava resting motionless on my back, with his shallow breathing being the only indication that he was still alive. My gaze suddenly hardened as all of my fears melted away. I felt determined and even angry at the idea that right after having just found him and literally saving his life that I was now commanded to just hoof him over to some Thestral who wanted to do Celestia knows what to him.
He just barely managed to escape death by having both magic and life literally sucked out of him by who knows what just a few minutes ago. And now he was going to get imprisoned for something he never did on purpose?
No, this did not sit well with me, not after everything I had to go through just to find him - and nearly got cooked alive by doing so.
“Buck that!!“
If this mare wanted to take him away, she had to pry him from my cold, dead hooves. And to my own surprise I was NOT JOKING at all with that statement.
I was perfectly ready to fight her, if I must.
“If you want Nava, then you have to go through me first.” I boasted as he lowered my stance to charging position. AJ too looked ready for a fight as well, while Shimmer seemed to be somewhat unsure on what she wanted to do herself, though she did seem to understand the numerical advantage we had over her, so she at least stuck with us when she could have easily flown off.
So I guess I really did misjudge her earlier and whatever connection she evidently has with Nava somehow was actually true. Too bad her magic was very limited, because having a magic user as well wouldn’t be too bad in a situation such as this. She seemed to be a guard, after all, so combat-wise she would be most likely no doubt be above us on every level.
“Just hope that I don’t have to add broken bones to the list with scorched skin and fur to my hospital bills, because if so Flitter is definitely going to kill me for this for sure.”
The Thestral in front of us simply chuckled as from behind her more and more pairs of eyes suddenly appeared from within the shadows.
“I was hoping you’d say that.” she said, grinning.
My bravado did take a big hit when suddenly more and more Thestrals -also clad in night guard armor- slowly emerged into the open, gathering right behind the mare still smirking at us.
“I respect your bravery, Pegasus, but I think you are overstating your confidence and sense of judgement.” She said as a few more revealed themselves from behind walls and fallen towers around the courtyard while she continued. ”You see, you don’t HAVE a choice in this matter at all. WE are going to take that Alicorn of yours with us whether you want to or not. Simple as that.” She added.
One of them -a stallion, judging by his build and muzzle- was even carrying a crimson colored lance, or spear, or whatever you call that thing, making his way towards the mare facing us and hoofing the weapon to her.
“Your Blood Weapon, Captain Glade. I would imagine you want this for some extra leverage.” The unknown stallion announced before Glade took the weapon with one of her hooves, flourishing by twirling it around a bit before resting its long grip onto her shoulder. All of that while not breaking eye contact with us.
“You see, I am NOT going to leave without mister magic mayhem over there. Especially after having ALMOST evaded my detection the previous time. A failure that does NOT sit well with me.” She explained with her smirk and tone slowly darkening with every single word. I was almost shivering from the coldness of it.
At the end, she was just frowning. “So I say this again. Give me the stud or I will gut all three of you without any problems. And don’t even try to run.” She threatened before gesturing behind her.” These boys you see around you are ALL pure blood Thestrali, native to my homeland. None of those half-breeds you ponies mostly see living in your lands. They also won’t hesitate in killing all of you if you make it too difficult.” She explained.
I really wasn’t feeling as confident as I was just a few moments ago. Not only did we find ourselves surrounded, outnumbered and outmatched dramatically, but it seemed that our very lives were on the line, too.
“This is really serious. not only are these bat-winged flanktards hovering above us, but I can also see a few of them watching us from the walls surrounding the courtyard as well. We’re not just outnumbered, but trapped too.” I thought to myself bitterly after realizing that any real method of escape was pretty much not viable at this point.
AJ was still holding her own scowl while Shimmer, on the other hoof just looked downright terrified at the situation we somehow found ourselves in. I did not blame her. Deep down I was feeling just as scared as she, not just for myself but for my friend on my back as well.
“Well? I am waiting.” The mare known as Captain Glade announced, her tone impatient.
AJ, for the first time, stepped up and was about to say something, when one of the guards next to Glade, a mare, suddenly pulled out a black colored bow from under a wing and pointed it directly at AJ with the arrow long drawn on it.
AJ eyes went wide, and so did mine, at the speed with which the mare beside Glade drew her bow. Not only that, but this mare was seriously just a mane strand away from shooting and possibly killing not just a regular pony but a bearer of the Elements of Harmony! AJ in particular looked shocked as she stood there frozen on mid step.
“One wrong step, Earth Pony, and you WILL become one with earth before the sun rises.” The mare with the bow boasted.
AJ managed to quickly recover from her shocked state after that and resumed her glare as she bravely -and also safely- stood her ground. “WHAT the actual HAY is the problem with alla ya? Ain’t any of ya part of the guard? How can either of the princesses even approve THIS?” AJ demanded angrily, most likely not even caring for her own safety at this point.
I would be demanding such answers from them too if it wasn’t for the fact that each of these tuft-eared bastards was armed and armored. Not to mention their quite visible long fangs and the predatory looks they all had in their eyes. I was seriously feeling like prey cornered by a pack of hungry wolves, ready to pounce on me and my companions for the slightest reason.
“This seriously brings me back to that one night me and sis would’ve got ourselves eaten by Timberwolves, if it wasn’t for him. The very stallion who I am still carrying on my back.”
I looked back at him again, watching his pale and unconscious form slowly rise and fall. Just the sight of him being like this re-ignited my determination. He needed help, and fast. And all of this standing around and doing nothing was just going to lead to the worst. Even more evidently so, as I could have sworn that some of the color that returned to him thanks to Shimmer’s efforts were slowly disappearing.
That just forced me to make a decision right then and there, before it would be too late.
Mentally steeling myself and gathering all the courage and will that I could muster I began to slowly move forwards with Nava still securely on my back. The Thestrals all around us carefully watched me as I stopped at AJ’s side.
I tapped her onto the shoulder to get her attention. “AJ, just leave it, we are obviously in no position to do much of anything at this point and you know that.” I told her, which in turned caused her to turn her head to look at me.
“But this is just…” She tried to argue before I interrupted her by gesturing a hoof to my back and giving her a stern look.
“We have no other choice AJ, I mean look at him. Either we move now or he might die. We HAVE to make a choice now, before it’s too late.” I lectured her, which was mostly likely also picked up by the Captain in front of us as she once again held a smirk on her face.
“Yes, she is right. You three better make the smart choice. Namely accepting your position and just hoofing over that Alicorn to us.” She announced which made me growl quietly to myself.
AJ seemed conflicted at first, but after another good look at Nava’s serious-looking state she eventually agreed, giving a sigh before stepping off to let me do the talking.
I did so without hesitation. Every second counted as long as Nava wasn’t anywhere close to safety. I gently laid him down in front of me, not just to give my back a bit of a break but to also fully show these sharp toothed bastards the state he was in. My only hope now would be to let him take him in exchange for first helping him, or at least bringing him somewhere where he can be helped before doing whatever they wanted with him.
Glade’s eyebrow rose as her gaze fell on the pale and broken form of Nava before her. “Listen, I know that I am in no position to demand or ask for anything, but…” I began while ignoring the tears forming at the corners of my eyes. ”…But please at least HELP HIM. I mean, just look at him.” I gestured with a hoof before continuing. ”He is drained, both of his magic and possibly life force as well. He is on the brink of death and very well may die if he doesn’t receive any help soon. You can have him, but please…. please, in the name of everything that is good on this world, please… just please help him first before you arrest him. He doesn’t deserve to die, nopony should. Whatever magical chaos he may have created was pure accident, he never had any control of his powers and was just seeking help from others this entire time. He is not a bad pony, he is just lost, scared and confused. So please… at the very least just please save him.” I pleaded wholeheartedly as the tears at this point where now just flowing freely.
I was just at a complete loss at this point and I was ready to put my last shard of hope and trust into these Thestrals, who just recently threatened to kill us if we didn’t play their game.
“If risking my own life means having a chance of saving someone I care about, then…I guess it’s just a sacrifice I need to take. At the very least it means that I don’t have to worry about my sister killing me afterwards, so that is one plus to this, I guess.”
There was a moment of silence afterwards, with the only sound being my quiet crying.
I eventually heard a sigh coming from the Captain, if the voice was anything to go by. I looked back up and saw stoic expression on her features. She eventually gave her blood red weapon to the previous stallion next to her before telling the mare beside her to lower her bow.
I watched her carefully and fearfully as she casually made her way over to me. I was fighting to urge to just jump up in front of her to stand in between her and Navam knowing full well that such an action would not end well for me, especially with the Captain close by.
She thankfully stopped right In front of Nava’s unconscious form as she started to observe him. I simply stood there silently, not that I was able to do or even say anything about my current situation anyway.
“Well, i was right about blood being spilled. Just not in the way i thought. What happened to him?” She suddenly asked, her tone perfectly matching her expression.
“I… I don’t know. I just found him… being drained by… something.” I answered her quietly as I cleaned some of the tears away from my eyes.
She continued to analyze Nava, even going so far as to kneel down to have a much closer look at his obvious changes, especially the state of his horn and wings.
“These are traces of highly concentrated and unrefined blood magic. I can tell that, so far.” Glade commented while rubbing her chin.
“W-What magic?!” I asked, naturally feeling a bit confused at her sudden statement. That and the chaotic emotions I had been going through lately were hampering my ability to understand stuff quickly, somewhat. I needed to remember that I am still a mare, and a mare’s actions and thoughts just… tend to be naturally be more dictated by their emotions than a stallion’s.
“I have no idea what I am thinking about right now.”
The Captain in front of me mostly ignored my confusion as she simply took on a more serious look before selecting two random Thestrals from behind her, (or she could have been perfectly aware of which they were, I don’t know.) and ordering them over.
A stallion and a mare came trotting up without any hesitation before stopping at attention right behind her.
“You two will carry him when we are making our way back to Canterlot and rush him over to the barracks’ medical wing.” She ordered.
The two Thestral guard simply nodded before acting on the task they were ordered to do. Gently picking Nava’s body up onto their back before trotting back towards the others.
I just watched them as Glades attention quickly went back to me. “Your friend has been drained by a form of Magic that shouldn’t even exist in Equestria anymore, let alone be known. All thanks to your princess, I might add.” Glade explained, which forced me to look at her.
“Wait, wait… you said something about a magic that shouldn’t even exist in Equestria anymore? Then… where -more importantly, why- does it still exist, then?” I asked.
She simply sighed before turning around. “It mostly only exists in my homeland, which makes the question of why it is here even more intriguing. But then again, it could also have been a forgotten artifact from the older days, just left here. Anyway, we have to move if your friend’s life is truly precious to you.” She announced as she trotted off.
I was about to ask her even more questions when she beat me to the punch. “You two over there.” She began while again pointing her hoof at two “random” guards. ”You will escort these Ponies and the… Changeling back to town, on the edge of the forest. Make sure that they follow you.” she commanded.
The two guards (stallions, I think) just nodded without any question as their Captain and every other Thestral on the ground opened their wings, indicating that they were going to fly off.
“Oh, and by the way…” Glade began as she looked at us. “If you tell this to anyone, or in your case anyPONY, or even worse a government official... There WILL be consequences. You all might not realize it, but the three of you will be shadowed for a while. So don’t even think about trying. I’d like to keep hush-hush about this. Makes my job easier, you see.” Glade threatened before she and the majority of her guard took off into the night sky.
“No… WAIT!!” I shouted as I still had so many questions and worried thoughts that plagued me about all of this. I was obviously ignored as the large group quickly disappeared into the darkness of the night, with two of them carrying Nava on their backs.
The entire courtyard immediately went silent as all that was left were the three of us and the two guards that stayed behind.
“Well… that was somethin’, I guess. Seriously, what in tarnation?” AJ commented from behind.
“I think I’ve heard of Blood Magic before, but… personally never seen it. Well, until today, I guess.” Shimmer finally said something after having stayed quiet this entire time.
I just stood there, looking up at the last sight I had of him with mixed thoughts and feelings jumbling around in me.
“Ok you three, let’s go. Just follow us and we can escort you back to the town without any... hiccups that these woods can provide.” One of the guards suggested -and didn’t really wait for any confirmation- as they just started to lead the way.
There was a moment of hesitation from the three of us before we decided to go along with it, mostly because there really wasn’t anything else to do or stay here for.
We followed the two guards out of the castle ruins to eventually find ourselves back in the clearing that surrounded it. AJ suddenly had a look of realization etched on her features as she trotted next to me. A look that immediately made me worried.
“AJ, what… what is it?” I asked carefully as we moved on.
AJ simply looked at me, her eyes wide as dinner plates while still somehow managing to move along with us. ”Wait… since when was Nava an ALICORN?!” she questioned with shock, which in turn just made me raise an eyebrow at her.
“Seriously? You are JUST getting to that NOW?” I thought in disbelief.
Then again, it had been a very chaotic and hectic day for all of us.
“I just hope that Nava will still make it and hopefully, HOPEFULLY still be the same awkward little dweeb I came to love.”
“Since always.” I replied after shaking my thoughts off.
“Well, why- how-?” Applejack stuttered in shock.
“It’s a long story.” I told her.
“It’s a long walk.” She countered.
“Fair enough. Well, it all started...