The smell of grass pancakes was what caught her nose. It was a wonderful, earthy odour. It had been too long since the last time she'd experienced it.
Twilight opened her eyes. She yawned and stared up at the wooden roof, wondering what time it was. Wait, wooden roof?
Something felt...wrong. A dull throbbing in her head insisted that there was something she wasn't seeing.
"Uhh. What is this..?"
She shook her head, dismissing the thought. The smell of pancakes returned to her, and she smiled wearily.
Things felt right.
She trotted out, down the stairs and into the kitchen, following her nose the entire way.
Someone stood at the oven, flipping the pancakes over in the pan.
"Spike?!" she exclaimed.
The dragon turned around. He looked normal, but...
"Heya Twilight! Sleepin' in today, I see?"
The throbbing returned. "Uh...Spike...there's something...you're supposed to be..."
The little dragon looked at her quizzically. "Supposed to be what? You feelin' okay, Twi?"
The pain only got worse. Every word he spoke made it feel like a nail was being driven further into her skull.
"Aaaah! Stop! Stop!"
The dragon's expression became more worried. "Twilight! Twilight, what's wrong?!"
The pain thumped ever harder. As it hammered her skull, she suddenly remembered what was wrong.
"You're not Spike! Spike isn't here anymore! And neither is the Library!"
A look of shock crossed the dragon's face. "Twi, what're you-"
"Don't try to fool me! I remember!" she yelled.
The dragon's face twisted in dismay. "How could you - you're not supposed to know that. Twi, how could you -you-you-you-youyouyou..."
As it spoke it face rippled and tore, her friend's features replaced by a monstrous mask of bone, with glowing fires in place of eyes. It grinned, a horrid, toothy grin that made her stomach turn. It spoke again, its voice deep and threatening.
"Oh, that's too bad, Twilight. I thought we had such a wonderful relationship.
It took one ungainly step towards her, then another, the rest of its skin ripping off like paper to reveal pure white bone beneath.
She tried to speak, tried to scream, but there was nothing inside her. She could do nothing but watch, and tremble.
Its laugh grew, spiralling higher and higher until it was a cackling cacophony of noise.
Fear screamed at her to flee, but her legs ignored her. It reached her, and raised its hand, bony claws poised to strike.
Paralysed, she stared into the witch-fires in its skull. They burned fiercely, red flame in the left socket and blue flame in the right. In each, she saw one thing. In the red she saw a small purple egg, lying nested in straw. In the blue, she saw a purple dragon, seated on a throne of carven stone.
Before she could think about either of these, the hand descended, the laughter split her ears, and the world went black.
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"...light! Twilight!"
Rarity's concerned voice reached the purple unicorn's ears.
"Twilight! It's alright now! It's alright! You're with friends!"
Twilight sighed in relief as her brain's logic centers kicked in and she realised that she was safe.
"Uhh. Nightmare". She was worn enough already without them being thrown into the equation.
Rarity consoled her friend. "Are you quite sure you're alright, Twilight? I mean, if there's anything I can do to help you with that-"
The purple unicorn rubbed her sore head. "Thanks, but no. Rarity, I know you're concerned about me, but I don't need anything more than a good night's sleep."
She groaned at the dull pain in her skull. There wouldn't be much chance of rest if these horrid dreams kept up.
"Well alright, Twilight. But just..." Rarity mulled over her next sentence for a while.
"Just don't be afraid to ask if you think there is some way I can be of use. I'd hate think you were suffering needlessly.."
Twilight chuckled. "Yes, Rarity. I'll make sure of that."
The pain slowly died down. The dream faded from her mind, and she settled back down to sleep.
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Clawed feet trod coloured tiles as Gravil paced. He was checking that it would work. Somewhat redundant, as he had already done so thousands of times, but his mind would never truly be convinced until it had been done.
He traced out the pattern again in his mind. Circle atop arrow, the sun mounting the mountain. It was a beautiful symbol - simple, but with so much meaning. It meant Olni atop the earth, showing how even the land's mightiest symbol was underneath His rule. It meant the victory of spirit over flesh, that faith would triumph over all.
He walked along its etched lines, carven into the floor. His scales tingled slightly as he thought of what would come from this. The Rune of Life was perfect. Every inch of it had been carved with the utmost precision, every curve correct, every line straight. His gaze fell upon the other four Runes, laid out in a precise circular pattern. He had been meticulous in his work, and he could not help but feel a pinch of pride in it. Together they would guide the spell, exactly as they were meant do.
All he needed now was Magic.
As he began his fourth lap of the circle, a noise came. The pitter-patter of tiny clawed feet. He snapped out of his reverie as he realised who it was. The past was gone, and the future could wait, but the Prince was the present.
"My Lord! I had not expected you to rise so early. Please forgive me, I have not yet made preparations for your meal".
Spike yawned and scratched his head. "Yeah. I couldn't sleep very well. I kept waking up in the middle of the night..."
Gravil seemed concerned. "Nightmares?"
Spike shook his head. "Not exactly...I never felt scared, but I always felt...uneasy. Like I was being watched."
Gravil waved his arm in dismissal. "I assure you, My Lord - noone, neither mortal nor spirit, could enter this place unknown. The Runes would have sensed any intrusion and acted accordingly".
Spike's stomach growled. "Uh, can I still take that meal offer?"
The wyrm chuckled and began walking towards one of the side-corridors, motioning to Spike to follow him. "My Lord, if you will follow me, you may feast all you wish".
Spike still had reservations about Gravil, but he wasn't about to pass up an offer like that.
"Hey, wait up!" His legs were still too short for him to easily keep up with the wyrm, and he didn't want to be left behind.
Gravil did not stop, instead keeping a constant pace that was just slow enough that Spike could keep up.
They passed through winding corridors and dust-filled rooms, until Gravil eventually stopped before a large golden door.
Spike bumped into the wyrm from behind and fell flat on his backside. "Hey! Warn me when you're gonna stop!"
Gravil did not respond. He placed his hand on the door, and whispered something. Spike had never learned the tongue Gravil was using, but after a few seconds the words changed. They changed from incomprehensible gibberish to something he understood.
He heard:
"Golden Door, Golden Door, guard of Olni's Children four. Golden Door, Golden Door, slip your latch and hold no more.
With that, a grinding sound came from within, and the door swung open.
Spike wasn't sure what had just happened. He was sure Gravil had been speaking a foreign tongue, but he'd understood it perfectly! He remembered what Gravil had said yesterday - about him being "blessed". He'd been able to read the symbols, so did that apply to any language?
Spike's train of thought was brought crashing to a halt in short order. As the doors were thrown open, his eyes were met by the most dazzling sight he had ever seen.
The floor was carpeted with gemstones, not an inch of space visible underneath the clutter. They were organised in a haphazard manner, rubies piled upon emerald piled upon sapphires. Spike's mouth began to water - it looked delicious.
He spoke up "Are these all for-"
Gravil second-guessed his thoughts (admittedly not a particularly difficult task) and responded before he had finished.
"Yes, My Lord. As rightful King these are all yours. Feel free to-"
He was cut off by Spike diving headfirst into a large pile of jewels. He raised his hand to his face, instinctively protecting it from the shower of sapphires that flew in his direction.
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Rainbow Dash grinned. In spite of everything that had happened, she still couldn't feel down when she was flying. The speed, the adrenaline, the wind in her mane - it all made her feel...
There wasn't a proper word for it. "Happy" was close enough, but it wasn't happiness, exactly. It felt...
Right. It felt right. Like she was doing what she was meant to do, and everything else in life was just a distraction.
All these thoughts took place in the back of her mind, while the rest of it focussed on keeping her flight path steady.
She was making another pass over the Everfree Forest. She told herself that she might find some sign of Spike, or his kidnapper. She knew that was vanishingly unlikely, but she wasn't going to admit that. Part of her insisted it was possible. It had happened once, it could happen twice. At the very least, it would be doing something.
She flew on, her wings beating tirelessly, until she found the place where she'd found the two previously. At least, she thought it was the same place...
It was hard to tell with this stupid forest - it just kept on going, for miles and miles, like a massive green smudge on the landscape. It was like it was trying to give people a place to hide...
Just as she flew across the path, something caught her eye. A faint glint, barely noticeable even in the shadow of the forest's eaves.
"Huh? What's that?" she thought to herself. Her curiosity got the better of her. She descended, taking care not to smack into any of the trees' outstretched limbs.
There it was. A ray of light glanced off of something lying by the forest road, making it glint again.
She landed gingerly beside it. She spent several minutes just looking at it. Staying still wasn't exactly her forte, but something about it demanded observation.
It was a staff, carven from incredibly dark wood, adorned at its head with a hissing serpent's head. Someone had obviously lavished great time and effort on the head. Every fang and scale had been painstakingly detailed, lending the whole thing an eerie realism.
Rainbow stared at it, drinking in every detail. She shivered slightly - it looked too real. She got the distinct feeling that it wanted to bite her.
She shook her head, trying to dislodge the fear. There was no way Rainbow Dash, hero of Equestria, was gonna be spooked by a carving. Still, she realised that the object lying in front of her could be important. She picked the thing up in her mouth and took off.
Everything went well for a time. Holding her mouth closed constantly wasn't easy, but she could manage it. That was, until...
A sharp hiss. Rainbow could hear it clearly, even over the sound of the air whipping past her.
The hiss came again, and the staff came to life. The wood twisted with a flexibility it should not have possessed, and arched its "neck" around, so that it coud see her more closely.
She was face to face with the carven serpent, its blank eyes boring into her, its fangs bared to follow.
She yelled in shock, necessarily opening her mouth in the process. The staff fell down, its malevolent hiss still audible long after it had fallen beneath the cover of the forest canopy.
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Gravil tried to disguise his surprise, and failed miserably. He had expected the Prince to be hungry (after all, the boy had probably never had a proper meal in his life), but he'd never seen such...voracious consumption.
Spike gorged himself until his gullet was full and his stomach bloated. He lay down on his back, lying on a patch of (now-visible) floor, and sighed with contentment.
"My Lord? Are you quite alright?" the wyrm said worriedly.
The purple dragon belched. "Well, I'm not hungry anymore".
Gravil grinned. Well, he was certainly his father's son.
A memory came back to Spike. "I haven't seen this many gems since that one time I ran away!"
Gravil blinked in surprise. "Oh? May I ask you what you are referring to, My Lord?"
Spike sat up, eager to have someone listen to him. He regaled the wyrm with the story of his flight from Ponyville, and encounter with a Green Dragon within the Everfree Forest.
Gravil's eyes widened in shock. He pictured in his mind the Green Dragon looming over a terrified child, and his body trembled with rage. Thrice-cursed Na-Shri!
Spike, oblivious to Gravil's body language, finished his story. "And then Twilight rescued me and we went home. Pretty cool story, don't ya think?"
Something else occured to him. "Wait a minute...if there are still dragons in Equestria, why am I so special?"
Gravil roared. The anger and outrage bubbled up within him untuil he coud contain it no more.
"There is only one living dragon in the land!."
Spike recoiled involuntarily, shielding his face as he'd learned to do during the wyrm's outbursts.
Gravil panted, regaining control of himself. He felt shamed when he saw the Prince's cowering form. It was his duty to protect the King, not terrify him!
"I must apologise, My Lord. I...you...allow me to explain."
He stood up straight and began to speak.
"What you met in the forest was not a dragon."
Spike looked confused. "Huh? It wasn't? But it was big, and scaly, and breathed fire..."
Gravil almost exploded with anger. "It was not. There is more to being a dragon than scale and flesh and flame! A dragon would never kill a child, certainly not for such selfish motives. A dragon would never place so much importance on wealth, would never fly in the face of Olni's Will so blatantly..!
He realised that he was beginning to get worked up again, and forcibly restrained himself. Blind rage, however justified, would only hurt the Prince. He decided upon another course of action.
He turned to Spike. "Come, My Lord. We must return to the Tomb. We must finish our history lesson if I am to properly explain the situation". He exited the room, the little dragon following at his heels.
*****************************************************************************************
Gravil didn't even wait for Spike to seat himself, launching off into the story immediately.
"Now, My Lord, we stopped at Mabin's death, did we not?"
Spike thought back for a minute before remembering. "Yeah, I think that was it."
Gravil continued. "Yes. When Renka heard of her mother's death, she did not believe. She did not want to believe that the one person in the world who genuinely cared for her had gone, and without so much as a chance to say goodbye!"
"Her brother tried to reason with her, but she would not believe him either. She proclaimed "You are not my brother! You cannot be!" There had been some confusion, she thought. She had never actually laid eyes on her brothers, you see, and managed to convince herself that he had confused her with someone else".
Gravil shook his head in pity. "A mad thought, but the mind is more willing to cling to impossible thoughts than accept suffering. It is truly as the proverb says "A falling wyvern will grasp the air itself"."
Realising he was getting slightly off-topic, Gravil returned to the story.
"In any case, Renka was distressed by the news. No matter how many times she tried to convince herself that it wasn't true, that there had been a mistake, the words always rang false in her own ears."
"She pushed them aside, and returned to her chamber. She tried to sleep, but..."
The wyrm paused, contemplating how best to phrase the next part.
"She was haunted. Her dreams were stalked by horrific images. She saw in her mind the moon, its white surface turned red as blood. She marveled at the sight, but before she could think on it she was whisked away. Under the crimson light she was taken to her birthplace, the cave in the Wilds. What she saw there..."
He shuddered, but continued. "What she saw there is not certain. All we can know for sure is that she awoke in the midst of night, screaming and roaring. She babbled incoherently about blood and fire, and stormed outside in a blind fear."
Spike's eyes widened. "Where did she-?"
Gravil sighed. "Please give me a minute, My Lord. Recalling years worth of history can put something of a strain on one's mind..."
Spike nodded, and waited eagerly. He didn't have to wait long.
The wyrm went on. "She fled, away from Anbel. Renka was not an experienced flyer, but she took off on the wing anyway. Of course, her rushed exit had not gone unnoticed, and her brother tried to bring her back. He had spent most of his life hunting, unlike her, and he caught up with her easily".
Spike piped up again. "So he caught her?"
Gravil nodded. "Yes. But that was not the end of it. He flew alongside her, trying to reason with her, but she would not listen. Eventually he realised that she had gone utterly mad with fear. He didn't like the idea, but he knew she would need to be subdued more forcefully."
"He circled around Renka, who only continued to shout, not realising what he was planning. He pounced, slamming into her from above. She shrieked at the sudden loss of balance, and plummeted. He prepared to drive her to the ground, where she might be subdued until her madness had spent itself, but..."
He took a deep breath before continuing. "He could not have foreseen what happened next. Renka screamed, and her fear awoke something, something that had been implanted deep inside her before she had even been born. Her body began to glow with a harsh red light, and before Otobon could react, he had been engulfed by it."
Spike's eyes widened. "What happened then? What happened then?"
Gravil went on, willing to oblige.
"As the light swept over him, it stole the life from his very body, whisking his soul away within the space of a single breath. Without the spark of life, his body returned to that from which he had been made."
Gravil closed his eyes, bringing the image he wanted vividly into focus. "In a heartbeat, he had been turned to unliving rock. His wings petrified, and he fell to the ground below, where he broke into pieces."
Spike couldn't help but shiver at the image. Just the thought of...breaking like that...
"Did he d-die?"
Gravil shivered before replying. "I can only hope so, My Lord. Otherwise..."
Gravil decided to continue the story, ignoring the question entirely.
"Yes, My Lord, I feel the same way. Still, that is not where the story ends. Renka had vanquished her pursuer. She did not know what she had done, and she did not spend time thinking about it, for she was still being driven by that same need, that same desire to return to where she had been born. She flew, and her wings carried her for most of the way. She flew until the sun had risen, and kept going until it set again the next day."
"At long last, she reached the cave. The sun had just begun to set again, and it bathed the place in an eerie orange glow. Exhausted, but unwilling to stop, Renka stormed into the cave. Whatever she had expected to see, she was not prepared for what she did see".
Gravil took another deep breath. Spike held his breath in expectation.
"The cave was completely, utterly dark. Not a mote of light penetrated it, and when she stepped over the threshold, the fading rays of the sun were snuffed out utterly. Fear pierced her heart, but she still trod on, driven forward almost against her own will. In the dark, she felt a presence, like eyes keeping track of her as she advanced. She forced her way through, trying to ignore the horrid feeling of despair that permeated the place."
"Eventually, she bumped into something hard. She cursed, having thought that she'd hit the cave wall. She muttered that she'd give anything for some light. As if on demand, a small flame licked into life beside her.
Gravil trembled in anger, knowing what was about to come.
"Renka shrieked, and turned to face the light. The small flame was burning, casting out the shadows in its small puddle of influence. However, it was not the light that she noticed, but its holder.It burned in the palm of a being that never should have existed. The Cri-Es grinned at her, baring its teeth".
"She, naturally, was horrified, but the beast began working its insidious power almost immediately. It welcomed her, and thanked her for answering its call. She was confused - who was this, and what did he want with her? More importantly, where was her mother? Where was Mabin? The spirit laughed, and told her what she wished to know. He was but an interested observer, who wished her no harm. It was his next piece of news that mattered more to her, however. Mabin was gone".
Spike piped up. "Ooh, she can't have liked that."
Gravil ignored the young dragon's comment in favour of continuing the story.
"Renka's blood froze. It couldn't be true. Mabin couldn't be dead. Who or what could be strong enough to slay her? She called the spirit a liar, and demanded he take her to her mother. The Cri-Es chuckled, its tone mocking her even as its words tried to soothe her. He would take her to Mabin, but it warned that she might not like what she saw."
"The flame in its palm grew brighter, illuminating the entire cave. As the shadows were cast away, a terrible sight was revealed. In the dark Renka thought that she had bumped into the wall, but she had not. Standing before her was her mother's form, turned to stone, a horrific grimace etched onto her features."
Spike could only imagine the distressed dragon's reaction, and it scared him.
Gravil felt wearied, but he knew he had to finish this part of the story.
"Understandably, Renka was filled with horror. She recognised her mother immediately - everything about it matched. The scales, the horns - even the patches where her mother's scales had fallen out from overwork. But the look on her face! It was this which horrified the dragon-daughter the most. Her mother had clearly been in a lot of pain when she died - she did not look the least bit at peace."
"She turned to the demon and said "What have you done to my mother?"
Spike couldn't contain himself any longer. "What happened? Who did that to Mabin? Was it the demon?"
Gravil sighed. "Please, My Lord, I will answer all of your questions in time. If you will just have patience..."
Spike nodded.
Gravil gathered his thoughts and went on. "Right, I suppose I ought to hurry things on. The demon told Renka that he was innocent, that he had done nothing to Mabin whatsoever. With wordplay most insidious he began to tell his tale. He proclaimed that Mabin and He were friends, of a sort. He told Renka of the accident that had occurred before her birth, of how she as an egg had been stolen away from Mabin's clutch. He told her also that he had aided Mabin in her hour of need, how he had returned Renka's egg to her mother. "
The wyrm snorted derisively.
"He of course neglected to mention of the bargain he had manipulated her into agreeing to. Treacherous ba..."
He caught himself before the last word.
"Ah, but we must not allow ourselves to be distracted. The point is, the demon spoke to her. It tried to convince her that it cared about her, and in a way that is correct. It did care about her, but not as a person, not as a living, feeling Child of Olni! It wanted to use her, and you shall soon see why. "
"It claimed that it had become worried about Mabin after she had failed to contact it at some pre-arranged time, and had investigated the cave out of care for her. It claimed to have found her already here, arguing with a dragon wearing a circlet.
Renka was stunned - a circlet is the sign of a Prince, you see."
"It claimed to have stood in hiding, and watched the two argue about something he did not understand. He claimed that the argument had become more heated, and that the two came to blows. Mabin was more than his match, but when she attacked there was a flash of light. When it receded, Mabin had become stone, and the Prince had fled."
Spike piped up again. "Is that what really happened?"
Gravil snorted again. "Of course not! Nothing but lies and balderdash, meant to trick Renka into believing it. However, what is important is that Renka did believe it. She also believed it when it said that it had sent a call to her in the night, that she had heard in her dreams - these had been the nightmares. She questioned why the call had to be sent so indirectly, but it countered, saying that she had arrived nonetheless."
"What it said next is an example of its insidious power, and why it is so dangerous. It latches onto your fears, your desires, convinces you that you and it want the same thing. This was why, when the demon told Renka that Galdor's son had killed her mother, she believed him. She hated the Prince. Of course, the Prince was innocent (of that crime at least), but Renka could imagine him being responsible. In her mind, her mother was good and the Prince was evil - thus, him killing her made a twisted kind of sense. Unfortunately for us, that is enough for the demon."
"The demon spent the night talking to her, worming its way deeper into her trust with every word. At dawn, the demon asked her one final question - what would she do for revenge? Having spent the whole night stoking the flames of anger inside her, the demon knew what her answer would be. "Anything". It was with a grin that it extended its offer."
The wyrm paused suddenly, and turned to face Spike directly (as opposed to his previous pose, which had made him look as if he was speaking to the ceiling).
"Did I explain to you how a Cri-Es bargain works, My Lord?"
Spike thought back. "Not really. I mean, I get that they're supposed to be bad, and all, but..."
Gravil took another deep breath and prepared to explain.
"Very well. A Cri-Es bargain is simple at heart. It gives you something, and in exchange you give it your word."
That felt odd to Spike. "A promise? That's it?"
Gravil shook his head. "I'm afraid it is not quite as problem-free as it sounds, My Lord. Not a promise, but your word. Break a promise, and there may be reprecussions. Break your word, and there will be reprecussions. In effect, you are giving the demon the right to demand something of you. The offer presented to Renka was simple. The prize: the power to take revenge. The price: That she turn her back on Olni, and never again bear witness to the light of the sun."
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A knock on the door startled the purple unicorn. Twilight had been buried so deeply in the ancient tome the Princess had given her that the unexpected noise made her rear backwards. This, in turn, upset the chair she'd been sitting on, causing it to fall over. Thankfully Carousel's floors were well padded.
The knock came again, more urgently this time. Twilight instinctively thought about asking Spike to do it, before her logic centers kicked back in again and she remembered that that was impossible. Her heart sank a little. She had been burying herself in research, trying to distract herself from her feelings about what had happened. Thus it was only now that she was beginning to truly appreciate just how much she leaned on the little dragon for support.
The knock came a third time, the door shaking noticeably with the force of impact.
"Alright, already! I'm coming!" Twilight yelled out.
She opened the door, revealing Rainbow Dash standing there with a worried look on her face.
"Twilight. We need to talk."
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Twilight blinked again, just to make sure she wasn't imagining this.
"So, let me get this straight. You were flying over the Everfree Forest..."
Rainbow nodded.
"And you found a staff that looked like a snake..."
Rainbow nodded a second time.
"Which you tried to bring back to Ponyville..."
Another nod.
"But it came to life and almost bit you."
Rainbow Dash nodded one more time. "Yeah, that about covers it".
Twilight mulled over the words. A staff coming to life? Come-to-Life spells were hardly impossible, but they were normally used for locomotion. She'd never heard of them being applied like that, nor was she sure if they could. At the least, it would require an awful lot of spells, each one tailored to a different movement...
Rainbow interrupted her train of thought. "Yeah, well, I'm not sure how important it is, but I just felt like I needed to tell someone. After all, I'm pretty sure I found it in the same clearing that I found that creep last time."
These words confirmed what Twilight had been thinking. She'd been trying to convince herself it was just coincedence, but now that looked too unlikely. The staff Rainbow had found was almost certainly the same one Gra-Vil had attacked her with that night.
Eventually, Twilight spoke again.
"Well, thanks anyway Rainbow. We don't know that it'll be useful, but we can't afford to ignore any possible evidence."
Rainbow nodded.
"Okay. Well, now that you know, I've got somewhere to be. So...bye!"
With that, she turned away and took off.
Twilight shook her head. They didn't always understand each other, but she was still glad to have Rainbow Dash as a friend. Her mind turned to the news the pegasus had brought. She sighed, as tiredness started to catch up with her. The bed looked so inviting...
She shook her head. There wasn't time. She had one last letter to write. Sleep could come later.
She unrolled a scroll, drew a quill, and dipped it into the inkpot.
Dear Princess Celestia...