//------------------------------// // Chapter Seven // Story: Myth Chaser and the Secret of Starswirl // by Myth Chaser //------------------------------// Myth was curiously looking around as he walked alongside Jewel through the streets of Manehattan. He would have thought the sidewalks would be nearly empty, but found that there was just as many ponies as there had been in the day. Neon signs were all that lit the streets, advertising various shops, restaurants, and nightclubs. Jewel's horn was surrounded by its faint blue glow as her tracking spell stayed locked on to the artifact she had managed to locate moments before. They had thought about letting Snapshot know they found it and were going to get it now rather than wait for morning, but decided against it, agreeing together that she needed to rest. If all went well, they would be back by the time she woke up anyways. “You okay?” Myth asked, resulting in the unicorn looking to him. “Like, it doesn't strain you to keep that spell going so long, does it?” “Not at all,” Jewel answered. “If anything, it would just be the actual focus I'm putting into using the spell that would tire me out. And the closer we get, the less I need to focus, since my magic doesn't have to reach as far.” “Interesting,” he replied, glancing upward to her horn. “I've always been fascinated with unicorn magic. Would you mind teaching me about it sometime?” “What do you want to know?” Myth shrugged. “I don't know. Just... how it works, I guess.” “That's an easy one,” Jewel said. She figured she may as well explain what she can while they walked. The artifact was still a few blocks away anyways. May as well pass the time with a conversation. “Unicorns are born with magical energy stored within their horn. With practice, a unicorn can control that energy and project it outward and manifest it in various ways. Most of the time, while using a spell, the energy that was projected out wants to return back to the unicorn's horn, where it belongs. That moment when energy is returning to the horn while also being sent out for a spell, is what causes the horn to glow like mine is right now.” Myth glanced up at her horn, looking at it with new understanding, then looked back to her. “So is that why, when you levitate or grab something with your magic, that same glow is surrounding the thing you're carrying? Because you're pushing energy into it while it's also coming back out and returning to your horn?” “Exactly.” “Cool...” Myth said in awe, glad to finally understand more about the subject. The two continued to walk in silence as Myth processed the information. Some ponies seemed to give Jewel a curious look as they passed. “You said the energy wants to return back to your horn 'most of the time', though. What about when it doesn't? What causes that?” “Oh, that's usually one of two things. Either a spell for destruction, or creation. A magic blast, for example, is a destructive spell, and the energy gets spent when it makes the explosion. Creation is the same way. The energy is spent in order to create the object out of thin air.” “It's possible to create objects out of nothing?” Myth asked. “Theoretically, yes,” Jewel answered. “But it's never been done. To do something like that requires a ton of magic as compensation. I read something once about Starswirl gathering together with a group of other wizards about as powerful as him and even with all of their magic combined they found it impossible to create something as simple as a blade of grass.” “Wow. That really is a lot... So I guess it won't be possible to see any unicorns creating an entire building in an instant, huh?” Jewel laughed, then replied. “Yeah, that would be pretty difficult. I'd love to see something like that, though, just to see that it is possible.” She then stopped and looked at a building they had come to. “Here?” Myth looked up to find they were in front of an apartment building with several floors. “The artifact is here?” “Yeah,” she answered. “Top floor.” “What now?” Jewel smiled and walked over to the side of the building, with Myth following behind her into the alleyway between the two buildings. She looked up at a fire escape and grabbed at the ladder with her magic, pulling it down toward them. “This is perfect,” she told him as she began climbing. “There's glass windows above the top floor apartments. We can get in that way.” “How do you know that?” Myth asked, starting to climb after her. “I looked at some top floor apartments here when I was looking for a new place.” The two climbed up the fire escape in silence, trying to keep their hoofsteps as quiet as they could on the metal steps so they wouldn't disturb anyone. Myth let Jewel lead the way, since she was the one that knew exactly where they were going. They did their best not to stay by any window longer than they had to. When they finally reached the top, Jewel stepped up onto the roof, with Myth climbing up beside her. Myth took a quick look around. The rooftop was flat and had a few doorways that would lead inside as well as about a dozen sets of glass panels standing upward from the roof. Some of the roof windows were propped open, letting in the cool night air. “Which one?” he asked quietly. He didn't want to be heard by anyone in the apartments. Jewel's horn glowed once again and she walked, passing a few sets of roof windows before approaching one. Myth followed after her. The entire ceiling of the room was made of the large window roof. The two hid themselves the best they could as they peeked in through the glass. The lights that hung from the beams above were off but the dim light of the moon and stars lit the room enough for them to see inside. They knew immediately that they were at the right place. Once they looked inside, they both saw the artifact. It lay on top of an unorganized pile of papers on a desk. He saw a set of steps worked into one of the sloped walls from one of the roof window's glass panels and leading down to the floor. “I'm heading in,” Myth whispered, standing up. “No,” Jewel said, pulling him back down to her. “I'll just use my magic to pull the artifact up to us.” “We need the journal too,” Myth mentioned. “And we can't see the book anywhere in there from up here. Without Starswirl's journal, we're right back where we started.” Jewel looked at him silently and sighed. “You're right. Just... be careful.” He smiled and nodded. “I'll be fine.” Myth got up again and went around the roof window to the glass panel that had the built-in set of stairs right below it. Jewel came over with him. He was glad to find that the panel didn't seem to have any kind of lock to keep it shut. Opening it slowly, he propped it up and waited a moment, gathering his nerve. He then gave Jewel a reassuring smile before he began to climb down into the room. He made his way down the steps as quietly as he could. He didn't want to make any noise, even something as quiet as a creak of a floorboard. Once at the bottom, he made his way to the desk against the opposite wall and grabbed the artifact, holding it up for Jewel. She grabbed it in her magic and pulled it up toward her, slipping it into the pocket of her bag before looking back down to Myth. Myth had made his way to the door and pressed his ear against it to try and figure out if anyone was in the next room. There was. He could hear a couple voices having a conversation. “They won't be of any trouble to us anymore,” a familiar voice said. Myth recognized it as the zebra mare's voice. “How are you so sure?” an unrecognizable voice asked her. A female voice. At this point Myth had no idea if it was a pony, zebra, or gryphon. They seemed to have everyone working together. “They already stole the lock away from you once before. Who's to say they won't do it again?” “We made it very clear what would happen if they were to cross us again, ma'am,” the zebra said. “We even left the pegasus with a broken wing to make sure they got the point.” “I suppose I'll just have to take your word for it,” the voice replied. “You did manage to get the lock back with relative ease. And I must applaud you on the museum heist. The police have no leads, from what I have heard. Well done, Askari.” “Thank you, ma'am,” the zebra replied. Myth smiled at this. He finally had a name to match the face. Her name was Askari! “What's next?” “Next, we need to figure out the location this lock is meant to gain us entrance to,” the voice answered. “And how do we do that?” Askari asked. “Isn't it supposed to be a huge secret?” “Of course it is, but Starswirl must have mentioned it in this journal.” Myth heard the sound of a book being set down on a table, followed by its pages being turned. His heart sank. The journal was out there with them... “I want you to search every page. Read every single word. Do not hesitate to come inform me, once you've found it.” “Yes, ma'am. Right away.” Myth heard hoofsteps walking away, followed by another door being shut. Then he heard other hoofsteps coming toward him. He jerked back and quickly made his way up the steps and out the window with the quietest hoofsteps he could manage, hurriedly telling Jewel to put the artifact back quickly. The zebra would for sure notice if it was missing. Jewel did as she was asked and pulled the artifact back out of her bag, her magic lowering it back into the room and setting it back on the pile of papers on the desk where they'd found it, then quickly and quietly closed the roof window like they'd found it, just in time to see the door in the room open and the zebra, Askari, enter. “What's going on?” Jewel asked Myth without taking her eyes off the zebra. “She was talking to someone in the other room,” Myth replied. “Apparently that lock and the journal are all we need. Whoever she was talking to said that Starswirl must have written the location somewhere in his journal, and she wants Askari to read every page.” “Askari?” “That's her,” he said, pointing through the window at the zebra. Askari set Starswirl's journal on the desk beside the artifact. There were bags under her eyes and she let out a yawn, exhausted from her day. She took a glance at the bed over at the far wall as if thinking about sleep. She shook her head and took a seat at the desk instead, opening the journal to the very first page to start her reading. “So if we can just get the lock and the journal-” Myth started. “We'll be set to go,” Jewel finished, with a smile. Myth nodded and peered back down at the zebra in her room. “We just need to wait... She looks so tired, she's bound to fall asleep soon.” The two stayed at the window, peering into the room and watching the zebra intently. They kept as silent as they could manage, watching and waiting for the zebra to fall asleep. She leaned her head on one hoof as she tiredly read, her eyes scanning back and forth as she read every word. Then she'd turn a page, and read everything. Askari would occasionally yawn and glance over to her bed against the far wall, so very tempted to lay down and just rest for a few minutes. She knew if she did, though, she'd just fall asleep and get yelled at by who she was talking to earlier. Myth and Jewel watched for a couple hours. They felt uncomfortable sitting and laying on the rooftop, and bored out of their minds. They had never imagined that sitting around waiting would be even more boring than what they'd imagined. The two even began to feel colder and colder as the chilly night air made them shiver. The next thing he knew, Myth was being shaken awake. “Myth. Myth, wake up,” Jewel called to him in a hushed tone. He didn't remember falling asleep, but as he woke up, he sat up and rubbed at his eyes. “Huh? What happened?” he asked sleepily, looking around and finding that it was still late at night. “You fell asleep for a little while,” Jewel said. “Sorry,” Myth apologized. “Guess I was more tired than I thought.” “That's okay,” Jewel replied. “We've got a problem though.” She pointed through the window and Myth looked to see that the zebra was at the desk, her head resting down on Starswirl's journal. The zebra's eyes were closed and she was breathing lightly. It looked as if she'd barely managed to read halfway through the book before falling asleep. “Crap. That is a problem.” Jewel nodded. She then reached into her bag and pulled out the artifact to show him. “I already got the lock, but that journal's going to be tough to get with her laying on it.” Myth reached to the closed window and opened it back up, propping it open. “Alright,” he said. “You lift her head with your magic, and I'll grab the journal.” Before Jewel could attempt to say anything in return, Myth made his way down the steps into the room. He crouched low on the floor and began quietly crawling his way towards the sleeping zebra mare. Once he was beside her, he looked up at Jewel to make sure she was ready. Her horn began to glow, and the same glow surrounded Askari's sleeping head. Myth watched as the zebra began to slowly, and carefully, lift up away from the journal. His heart was racing with the fear that she would wake up at any moment to catch them both and alert anyone within earshot. When her head was far enough away from the journal, he held a hoof up to Jewel to stop. She stopped, watching as the stallion reached his hoof underneath Askari. Myth paced himself, taking his time as his hoof gently slid the journal away from the zebra. Upon retrieving it from underneath her, he gently closed the journal, the noise of the pages unnerving him. He carried the journal and began making his way toward the steps, ready to head back up. That's when everything came crashing down. “Hey, Askari, I was told-” a stallion's voice started as the door opened, bumping Myth in his side and catching him off guard. “Hey!” the stallion shouted. It was the unicorn that was usually with Askari and the gryphon. Askari sat up in the chair, looking around for a moment upon being woken up so abruptly. Myth was frozen in fear as the two stared at him, with Jewel watching from above. “Uhh... Hey,” he said, as casually as he could muster. “What's up?” The unicorn stallion yanked the journal out of Myth's hooves and the zebra jumped at him, pinning Myth to the ground. Myth decided against trying to fight back. It would just make things worse for him. He subtly looked up at Jewel. They hadn't seen her yet. He wanted to tell her to run, but if he did they would know for sure she was there. He wanted her to leave without him. Once they found out the lock was missing, they wouldn't dare hurt or kill him. Not until they knew where it was, at least. Jewel seemed to read his mind. She quietly closed the window back how it was, making sure the zebra and unicorn didn't see or hear anything where she was, and Myth saw her back away with a worried look on her face, hoping he was going to be okay. Askari had one hoof on Myth's back, holding him to the ground, her other hoof wrapped around one of his own and giving it a bit of a painful pull backwards toward her. “How did you find us?” Myth grunted at the pain when she pulled his hoof. “Hey! Easy. That hurts, you know!” She pulled on his hoof and pushed him to the ground even harder as she repeated the question with a growl. “How did you find us?” “Wouldn't you like to know,” Myth said smugly. He looked back to see that the unicorn was searching around the room, as if looking to see if he was the only one here. “I told you what would happen if you were to interfere again,” the zebra said, reminding him of her threat to make him and the others join their parents in death. “Star Gaze.” Myth winced a bit, preparing for something to happen to him. Nothing. He looked back to Askari on his back. “Star Gaze,” she repeated, looking back at the unicorn behind them. Star Gaze must have been his name. Star Gaze looked over to the zebra with a surprised look. “The lock's not here.” “What?” Askari looked back down to Myth. She tugged his hoof back further. “Where's the lock?” she asked angrily. Myth chuckled in response and smirked. “Guess you can't kill me now. Not if you want Starswirl's lock back.” The zebra gave a mad growl, tempted to see how easily she could rip the stallion's hoof off his body. “Should I get the rope?” Star Gaze asked, looking to the zebra for his orders. Askari kept a firm hold on Myth for a moment, staying silent. “I have a better idea,” she answered. She then let go of Myth's hoof and backed off of him. Myth got up, rubbing at his shoulder and looking to the zebra curiously. She then shoved him toward the desk and made him sit in the chair. She grabbed Starswirl's journal back from the unicorn and put it on the desk in front of Myth. “I'm not sitting in here all day reading it myself. You do it.” “Why would I do your work for-” “Read it,” Askari repeated firmly. “After that, then we'll send a note to your friends to come trade you back for the lock.” “Why should I?” Myth asked. “Your choice, Askari said. “Either read the journal, tell us what we want to know, and we'll send them a note so they will come save you, or I could have Star Gaze here pay them a little visit himself...” Myth stared the zebra in her evil, purple eyes for a moment before he sighed and turned to face the book. “Fine,” he gave in. “What am I looking for?” he asked, flipping the book open to the first page. “Don't play dumb,” Askari told him, then flipped the pages back to where she'd left off earlier, not wanting him to waste time looking through what she already read. “You know very well what to look for.” “Well duh,” he said as disrespectfully as he could, looking at the zebra. “What am I looking for exactly? Coordinate numbers? The name of a location? A map with a big red X that marks the spot? Do you know anything about what to keep an eye out for?” Askari just forcefully turned his head to look down at the book. “Anything related to any location.” Myth sighed in boredom as he read through Starswirl's journal. Askari was out of the room, having left Star Gaze to keep him under watch. She figured a unicorn would have no trouble keeping him under control. Star was even sitting on the bed, a few feet away from him. He could just throw Myth against the wall in an instant if he had to. He wouldn't make it to Star quick enough before he'd be blasted back. Myth knew that, and made no attempt to escape. Night had already passed. The room was filled with sunlight by now, showing Myth that he had been here all night. He wondered what Jewel had done after she left. Would she wait for Snapshot to be released by the doctors and come here together? Would she go to the police? The door opened behind Myth with a slight creak, alerting him. Myth turned to look back. Askari had been the one to open the door. “This is him, ma'am,” she said before stepping aside. Taking her place in the doorway was a unicorn mare. Her coat was a dark gray, like charcoal. She had a curly purple mane and tail, matching the same purple as her eyes. Great, more purple eyes. Myth was quickly starting to get sick of seeing the color purple from all these baddies. “Him?” the mare asked the zebra without taking her eyes off of Myth, speaking as if she didn't believe it. “He hardly looks capable of sneaking in here in the middle of the night.” Myth recognized her voice from the night before. She was the mare that the zebra had been talking to. He recognized the voice, but felt offended by what she'd said. What about him made him look like he wasn't capable? “He's a tricky one,” Askari pointed out. “He's the stallion I told you about from that journal page. That adventurer's son.” “Ah, yes... Myth Chaser, I believe,” the unicorn mare said. She seemed to notice the journal was laid on the desk in front of him, wide open, and she turned to glare at the zebra. “And why is he reading the journal?” “I'm having him read it to find the location Starswirl's lock is meant for,” Askari answered. The mare stared at her for a moment before grabbing the journal in her magic and slamming it closed, making Myth jump in surprise since he hadn't been watching it. The unicorn then levitated the book back to Askari. “You do realize that he might already know the location, right? And he could be stalling for time while he waits for his friends to come rescue him so he can lead them there without us.” “I... I didn't-” Askari started. “You,” the unicorn mare interrupted, turning her attention back to Myth. “What do you know?” Myth kept his mouth shut for a moment, taken by surprise to have the attention back on him so suddenly. “Uh... Well, I'd know more if I could keep reading that journal.” The mare's horn glowed a faint purple color. She pulled out a knife, held by the handle in her magic, and brought the tip to Myth's throat threateningly. He hadn't noticed it until then, but the mare had had the knife set in a sheathe that was strapped around her hind leg. She looked at him with an angry gaze in her purple eyes. “What do you know?” she asked again, more firmly. Myth gulped a bit as he felt the tip of the steel blade poke at his throat. “I just know about Starswirl's lock,” he admitted. “It requires some certain spell to even activate it, and it's for some secret location that Starswirl and Luna would always sneak off to.” “I don't think I believe that,” she told him, nudging the knife against his throat with a bit more pressure. “I swear,” he said fearfully, his heart racing faster than it had ever been before. “I don't know the combination. I don't know the location. I just know that the lock needs a spell to gain entrance to some hidden location the Princess and Starswirl would go to all the time.” “Anything else?” Myth shook his head in answer. He was scared to move much more than that for fear that she might plunge the knife straight through his throat if she thought he might try to make a move against her. The unicorn mare gazed in his eyes for a moment, searching for the truth. She was already sure that he knew they were the reason his parents were dead, since Askari had informed her of it before. If he was hiding anything else from her, he was doing a very good job at hiding it. His eyes were looking down at the blade, hoping to have it away from him soon. The mare smiled. “Good.” The knife was pulled back away from him, and the unicorn gave a little smile as she slid the blade back into its sheath on her leg. “You're free to go, then.” Everyone looked to her in surprise. Askari stared at her from behind, Star Gaze gasped from his seat on the bed, and Myth's jaw was wide open. “Ma'am, are you sure that's-” “Of course I'm sure,” the unicorn answered casually, interrupting Askari before she could finish. She kept her eyes on Myth as she spoke. “He doesn't know anything. And if we ever see him again, around anything even remotely related to what we're doing... This knife will be the least of his worries.” The unicorn mare stepped aside in the doorway, giving him space to pass by so he could leave. Myth cautiously stood up, looking to Askari and Star Gaze to see what they would do. They just kept their mouths shut, looking to the unicorn mare like she was crazy. He then went to the doorway and felt a hoof on his chest, stopping him. He looked to the unicorn mare, seeing that it was her hoof stopping him. “And of course,” the mare said, “I ask that Askari come with you to retrieve the lock that rightfully belongs to us.” Myth looked to Askari and sighed, defeated. He nodded. “Of course.” Snapshot was finally released from the hospital, the doctors satisfied that her wing would heal nicely in a few weeks' time. She and Jewel were walking out the front entrance together. Jewel had waited until they were leaving to begin explaining what had happened, when she was cut off by the sight of Myth approaching them. “Hey guys,” he greeted them, expressionless. Walking at his side was the zebra mare, Askari. “Uhh, Myth,” Jewel said, glancing next to him at the zebra. “Don't worry,” Myth said. “She's not going to hurt us. She's just here for the artifact.” “We're just... giving them the lock?” Jewel asked. “My boss held a knife to his throat,” Askari explained. “He told us everything he knew, and she did not wish to kill him. He does not know enough for the murder to be worthwhile.” “That's... odd,” Snapshot said. “I thought you were the boss.” Askari shook her head and stepped forward, holding her hoof out. “Just give me the lock and I will be on my way.” Jewel took a step back, glancing to Myth, wondering what to do. They were three against one right now. They could take her on and get away for sure. “Just do it,” Myth said sullenly. “I give up. They win.” Jewel frowned at this. “But-” “Lock,” Askari said firmly. Jewel sighed. “Fine.” She reached into her bag, pulling out the artifact. She levitated the disc-shaped golden-colored stone artifact over. The black needle still pointing up at the same symbol it had always been. “Take it.” Askari took the artifact and looked it over for a moment, then smiled. “Thank you.” She turned and began to walk away. She stopped and looked back to them. “Remember what the boss said,” she added, before walking down the sidewalk, heading back to her boss. “So that's it?” Snapshot asked. “We're just giving up?” Myth ignored what his sister asked and just looked behind him, making sure the zebra was long gone before he looked back to Jewel. “I'm glad you gave them a fake.” Her eyes widened in surprise. “You knew it was fake?” she asked. “I was going to tell you later.” Myth chuckled. “The real artifact has a red needle. The one you gave her had a black one. How'd you make a copy that accurate?” Jewel smiled. “I'm a jeweler. I work with stones and do engravings all the time. I managed to chisel my own gold-colored stone to the right shape and engraved the symbols in. I didn't have anything red for the needle though... You don't think they'll notice the change to black, do you?” “Well, it fooled Askari. But her boss is a unicorn, and I'm betting she'll be able to tell pretty quick that it doesn't have Starswirl's magic print.” “What's going on?” Snapshot asked, more confused than she had been earlier. She'd missed a lot while she was asleep. “I'll explain everything later,” Myth said. “For now, we need to get out of Manehattan. Quick. Before Askari's boss figures out the lock she's got is a fake.” “What about the journal?” Jewel asked. Myth smirked. “We don't need it anymore. I saw the coordinates for where we need to go. Starswirl is a genius with his codes, but I saw right through it. I doubt they will.” “We still need it for the combination to the lock, though,” Jewel reminded him. He laughed lightly. “The journal doesn't have the combination. The lock does.” “What?” “I'll explain later,” he said again. “Right now, we need to catch the morning train to Canterlot. It should be leaving soon.” He took off without another word. Jewel followed right behind. Snapshot stood in place for a moment, feeling more confused than she'd ever felt before in her life.