Rainbow Dash was once again pacing back and forth relentlessly, doing her best to remain calm and collected while full of nervous and frustrated energy as she was forced to wait patiently yet again. She seemed to be doing a rather poor job of it if Rarity’s continued painful wincing at every particularly loud hoofstep on the library’s hardwood floor was any indication. “Please, darling,” she begged, her voice barely above that of a groaning whisper as she clutched at her throbbing head, “Could you try to keep it down a bit? It feels as if my head is about split down the middle and you certainly aren’t helping matters any.”
Rainbow Dash turned and glared sharply at the protesting unicorn, opening her mouth to deliver a scathing sarcastic retort, before thinking better of it and simply shaking her head and snorting derisively. Turning sharply, she took off and landed on the top of a bookshelf with a few aggressive flaps of her wings, still scowling fiercely. Pinkie Pie simply watched the two of them with a soft frown. She had hoped that now of all times everypony would stop from arguing but it seemed that the whole situation had simply left tempers too high and patience too thin, and conflict and bickering of some sort was inevitable. The two of them had been had been griping back and forth since they all met up shortly after leaving the hospital. If it wasn’t for Soft Paw constantly breaking them up and maintaining a bit of decency and order after offering to walk them all to the library things would probably be even worse.
Pinkie watched Spike help Rarity onto the room’s lone couch and retrieve a few extra pillows. At least he seemed to be in better spirits, now that Rarity had woken up shortly before they had all left the hospital. Pinkie had hoped that after they had caught up to Rainbow Dash and explained the situation with Fluttershy that she would calm down and be happy, but after going back and getting a look at Fluttershy for herself she only seemed to be more upset, constantly butting heads with Rarity who lacked the strength to do much more than passively bear it.
Pinkie gave a dejected sigh as the downtrodden spirits in the room dragged her down. Soft Paw’s ear gave a soft flick as he heard the sound issue from her lips. Turning his head to look at the mare beside him he nudged her slightly. “Enough with this sadness and sighing,” He said stiffly but not unkindly, “such a happy mare should not wear such a frown, it does not suit you. Smile, your friends will live, and that is more than what could have been.”
Pinkie’s ears briefly flicked backwards to lay against her skull, a small frown tugging at her lips as the unpleasant thought of what might have been flashing across her mind, before quickly disappearing as she focused on the positive. “I know,” she said, a smile on her face again, albeit not nearly as large as her typical maniac grin. “I’m happy about that, I really am. I just wish that they would be too, instead of fighting.”
Soft Paw followed her gaze and watched as the restlessly irate pegasus continued to shoot daggers at the oblivious unicorn resting on the couch. After several seconds of staring at their silent one-sided bickering he turned away, some foreign emotion dangerously close to pity flashing across his eyes. “Yes, Little Pinks, I am sure you do, but I can see their pain. Not everyone is strong enough to be happy like you.”
Pinkie did not answer the strange statement with words, but instead a mixture of bewilderment and befuddlement warring across her face asked the question for her.
Soft Paw snorted amusedly as he caught sight of her expression, looking almost like her face had frozen in the middle of a rather violent sneeze. “They are hurting, Little Pinks, hurting badly. Their sisters and friend are missing, and now one of their own is injured badly, lying in the hospital to perhaps never awaken again. That is a deep pain, one not healed by simple balms and bandages. It is so very easy to simply wallow in their own pain or to get angry and lash out at the world and try to make it hurt like they do. To laugh, and to smile, despite all the pain and the hurt as you do though? That takes true strength, and real will, Little Pinks.” Soft Paw just explained gently as he stared at Pinkie with a rare look of something dangerously close to respect and vague admiration.
Pinkie’s expression changed as Soft Paw spoke, slowly morphing into a real smile again, even if there was still a harsh sadness vaguely visible in her deep blue eyes. Without a further word she reached out did her best to embrace his massive frame. After a few moments she let go again and said, “Thank you, Soft Paw. You really do always know just what to say.” With a small smirk a mischievous glint in her eye, she added, “You really are just a big old softy after all, aren’t you?”
Soft Paw gave a small frown and a sharp snort. “If it were anyone else, I would be rather upset to be called that. It is a horrible pun and I despise it.”
Pinkie just gave a short giggle that ended in a snort at the look of consternation on his face.
At hearing her infectious laughter, his frown disappeared and the corners of his lips slowly eased upwards, and he said, “I suppose it is lucky for you then that I cannot seem to ever remain upset with you for long, Little Pinks.”
Pinkie just laughed even more and stuck her tongue out at him.
Soft Paw only grunted in return, a ghost of a smirk touching the corner of his lips, both amused at her playful antics and happy that he managed to snap her out of her funk, no matter how slightly. He meant what he had said before; such a happy mare had no business being sad and downcast as far as he was concerned. He might not have been exactly sociable or good with others, but he’d be damned if he allowed perhaps the only pony he could call his friend to be pulled down into such sadness if he could help it, especially after how many times she had done the exact same thing for him. He hated how close to tears she looked. Never, ever make a mare cry. The words drifted unbidden across his mind, spoken by a voice full of strength and steel resolve, but tempered with an aged wisdom and gentle kindness. It was one of the many pieces of wisdom he could remember his father used to tell him when he was a colt, before-
Soft Paws train of thought was interrupted before it could finish by the sound of the library door opening and the sound of another set of hooves on hardwood. Everyone in the room turned to look as Applejack entered.
She looked bedraggled, to say the least. Her coat was dull, shaggy, and matted, and her mane and tail were ruffled, tangled, and knotted, several long strands coming loose from her usual tight ponytail to curl haphazardly from underneath her hat. It was obvious that Big Macintosh had managed to pass word onto her about Fluttershy, for the faint smell of antiseptics still clung to her. A deep frown and worry lines seemed permanently etched into her face, as well as the heavy black bags under her eyes. Her eyes though, her eyes were the worst of it. They were always filled with laughter and satisfaction, warmly welcoming and inviting with a simple gaze and almost glowing with the brilliant green of summer fields and apple leaves. Now though… it was as if they were dead. They were utterly devoid of anything even remotely similar to their normal warm shine, simply cold and lifeless. It was like looking at the eyes of a wax model, or a cadaver. They were cold, and empty. Hollow.
What little noise there was in the library ceased once she walked in the door, and calmly found her way to an empty seat and sat down. “Howdy, everypony,” she said quietly and monotonously, not really even bothering to look around.
Pinkie took one look at Applejack’s sorry state and dead eyes, immediately walked over to her, and pulled her into an embrace as she sat down. At first Applejack made no move to even acknowledge that Pinkie was even there, but Pinkie didn’t let go. After a few moments, Applejack began to slowly and almost unconsciously lean into the one-sided embrace and soon enough her muzzle was buried in Pinkie’s shoulders. Pinkie’s forelegs were wrapped around her neck and she was holding onto the physical contact like it was a life-line. Slowly, and without a word, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and even Spike all got up slowly, walked over to the two ponies and began hugging them as well.
Because of all this, Soft Paw’s reaction went unnoticed. As soon as the country mare open her mouth, all the hairs on the back of his neck and withers raised on end and a knot formed in the pit of his stomach as a thousand dark thoughts and memories streaked across his mind. Almost subconsciously, his senses went on high alert, and he was suddenly acutely aware of his surroundings. He had to force down the hot lump that threatened to rise up his throat as something harsh and primal bubbled up from deep within his chest. There was only one place he had ever heard that accent, and them memories associated with it were far, far from pleasant. He highly doubted that this mare was one of them, especially as she seemed to be one of Pinkie Pie’s good friends, but just that voice alone was enough to completely set him on edge. He needed to be wary. After all, he didn’t live for as long as he had by taking needless and stupid risks. Thankfully, he was able to get himself under control and mask his reaction before anyone else noticed him.
Slowly, the large group hug between the four ponies and dragon broke apart. They were all silent for a moment, before Applejack spoke up first, a faint light in her eyes now, along with a slightly more emotive voice. “Thank you, all a’ ya’ll. I needed that.”
“Dang, AJ. Big Macintosh said you were taking this hard when we stopped and talked to him, but I didn’t know you were that bad. Stop worrying so much, she’ll show up sooner or later. Besides, we’re all here for you, you know that right?” Rainbow Dash said, her usual tough demeanor conspicuously absent as she consoled her best friend.
Applejack just looked around, taking in the sight of her friends surrounding her, each of them offering a soft and comforting expression. Even Rarity, whom she continuously butted heads with and at this very moment had a sister of her own to worry about in addition to her current injuries was there, smiling sweetly and offering silent comfort. “Yeah,” Applejack said, “Yeah, Ah do. Thank ya, all a’ ya’ll. It means a lot ta me, more than ya know.”
Once Applejack finished speaking, Pinkie Pie reached over and pulled the corners of her lips upwards into a smile with her hooves and said, “Smile, now would you? Things could always be worse.” Pinkie sported a smile of her own in demonstration.
“Oh, Pinkie,” Applejack said, as the smile began to stay in place of its own accord, “never change.”
Pinkie just let a soft giggle and said, “Never ever.”
For several moments afterwards, nopony said anything, simply taking comfort in the presence of good friends in these trying times. Slowly though, they each began to separate and return to their respective seats around the library, giving each other some space.
For almost half an hour the library was as silent as one would expect of such a location, each of the ponies content to leave each other to their own devices and all of them somewhat reluctant to break the quiet hush and point out what they were all thinking. After a few minutes, they all ended keeping silent mostly out of simply not wanting to be the first one to talk. Eventually though, Rarity surprised them all by taking the initiative.
“I hate to be the one to point out the elephant in the room,” she began, her voice surprisingly hoarse and raspy, “but what exactly are we going to do now? Because by now, it seems as if we have simply exhausted every option.”
Her words had the same effect that one would expect, as everypony present seemed to visibly slump beneath heavier worries and downcast spirits.
“I… I don’t know, Rarity. I really don’t,” Pinkie said sadly, her face pulled into an uncharacteristic frown.
“Ugh!” Rainbow Dash wordlessly exclaimed exasperatedly. “We’ve look everywhere and done everything by now! We’ve even consulted ‘Madame Pinkie Pie’s’ crystal ball for Celestia’s sake! The only place we haven’t looked is the Everfree Forest and after what happened we’re probably just going to have to wait until Zecora comes back to town to ask her. This whole thing is just so... so… aggravating!” Rainbow Dash ranted loudly pacing back and forth fervently with an irritated scowl, kicking at the dust with her hind hooves.
Mid-way through her rant though, Soft Paw perked up from the corner he sat in. With a frown he spoke up, causing everyone to jump, most of them having forgotten he was there and Applejack not having even seen him in the first place. “Zecora?” he inquired rhetorically. “If it is with Zecora that you hope to find the small fillies than, regrettably, it seems that I must be the bearer of bad news. I visited her at her home just yesterday, not long before I found Little Shy and Lady Rarity. There were no children there.”
His words seemed to have an almost palpable impact on everyone in the room. They all seemed to slump even further, as what seemed like their last great hope was snuffed out right in front of them. Lead weights seemed to settle in the stomachs of each of them, and even Pinkie seemed to her edge of perpetual optimism. Soft Paw mentally kicked himself for his lack of tact.
“Are… are you sure?” Pinkie Pie asked him, her eyes wide and pleading with traces of tears.
Soft Paw grimaced. He really did hate being the bearer of such bad news, but it was something they deserved to know. “I am afraid so.”
They all turned away from him, not wanting to look at him or each other, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie both suddenly finding great morose interest in their own hooves. Rarity just reclined further onto the couch on which she lay, and closed her eyes. Applejack just cast her gaze about, not really looking at anything and just trying her best to not really think about just what the strange stallion’s words meant.
As she looked around though, she caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye. It was something she had seen many times before, quite often in fact, so much so that most of the time she didn’t even notice it anymore, her eyes just skipping over it and registering it as nothing more than just, ‘part of the background’. Now though, her gaze seemed to linger for reasons she couldn’t quite explain. It was a simple wooden statute, a hoof-carved unicorn bust that sat centered upon the large table that dominated the center of the room. She’d seen it more times than she could count, almost every time she’d been to the library, but now there was something about, something strange. She tried to figure out just what was so strange about it but only came up blank, the answer eluding her. The answer hung there, just out of reach, lingering on the edge of her thoughts. Just what was it? What was it that the strange wooden statue made her think of? It was almost as if it was taunting her, as it sat there innocuously and oblivious. What was it about that ordinary carved unicorn bust?
All of a sudden, it came to her in an instant. She bolted to her hooves with a loud and terrific gasp, startling nearly everyone as she realized just what it was the wooden unicorn bust reminded her of.
“Ah think Ah’ve got it!” she exclaimed, startling everyone even further with her volume as she felt a new ember of hope flare to life within her. “What if we’ve all been goin’ about this the wrong way the whole time?” she asked, frantically looking from one face to another. For the most part they had all gotten over the initial startle, and now all looked on with expressions that begged her to go on with her train of thought, her excited tone and sudden exclamation having spread the ember of hope to them as well.
“We’ve all been so wrapped up in lookin’ fer our sisters, we just about completely forgot about something else, something that might be just as important,” she said, pausing to look around and make sure she had everyone’s attention. She did. Pointing a hoof at the hoof-carved wooden unicorn bust in the middle of the table, she loudly announced her revelation, “They ain’t the only ones that disappeared that night!”
Rarity was the first one the catch her meaning, and gasped loudly and exclaimed, “Twilight!” She immediately clutched her head between her hooves, her splitting headache instantly remembered.
“Exactly!” Applejack responded, a grin now splitting her face, not quite noticing how her excess volume caused the pained unicorn to clutch her head a little tighter. “The way Ah figure it, maybe they got something to do with one another. An’ if that’s the case then Ah bet if we find out what happened ta Twilight then we find out what happened ta our sister’s too!”
Rainbow Dash practically tackled Applejack to the ground as she leaped over and wrapped her in a quick, tight hug and exclaimed, “AJ, you’re a genius!” Rarity would have been right behind her if not for her head and side.
“I must say, darling, I’m actually somewhat surprised none of us thought of it sooner,” Rarity said.
“So when was the last time any of us saw her?” Pinkie Pie asked, choosing that moment to chime in, her typical optimism restored. The library grew quiet again as everyone began to think back.
“I must say, I don’t think I’ve seen her since the last time she was at my boutique, and that was about… five days ago now,” Rarity announced, pausing briefly as she mentally calculated the days.
“I remember seeing her around town the day after that while I was hanging out with Pinkie,” Dash contributed.
Pinkie Pie just shook her head. “I haven’t seen her since then either.”
“Well don’t ya’ll look at me, Ah ain’t seen her since she stopped and bought some apples at the market last week.”
Slowly, everypony turned towards the one that probably knew best what had happened, since he lived with her. Spike held a claw to his chin as he thought back. “I don’t know,” he said tentatively. “She was downstairs in the basement studying something all day that day. She went down there that morning and I didn’t really see her again.”
Everyone nodded in understanding. They all knew how Twilight could get when she was studying something. Unfortunately, that didn’t really bring them any closer to figuring out what had happened to the studious unicorn and by extension their sisters. Silence reigned once again as everyone fell into thought, doing their best to piece together the puzzle with what little clues they had been given.
Suddenly, Spike gasped loudly and jumped to his feet, a look of remembrance flashing across his eyes. “I completely forgot!” he exclaimed, gaining everyone’s attention. “Late that night, Twilight woke me up in the middle of the night to send something to the princess before she went outside. She looked really upset about something. I thought it was a little weird, but she’s done weirder things when she gets like that so I just sort of let it go and went back to sleep.”
“The princess?” Applejack repeated, “What could have been so important she need to send it to Princess Celestia in the middle of the night?”
“That’s just it though,” Spike said, shaking his head. “She didn’t send it to Princess Celestia. She sent it to Princess Luna.”
Slowly, everypony turned to face one another, the same thought going through their heads. There was definitely something strange going on.
Applejack was the first to rise to her hooves and voice what was on all their minds. “Ah think we should go and have a look at whatever it is in the basement.” This was met with a chorus of affirmatives as the four ponies and dragon all stood up and followed her downstairs.
The subterranean laboratory was by most standards an absolute mess. Overstuffed filing cabinets lined the walls and various bundles of research notes and journals were stacked so tightly and so high that in some places they managed to touch the ceiling. Tables all around the room were full to overflowing with glass test tubes and beakers, many of which held strange and unknown liquids of various hues and scents, that all combined together to give the space strange and acrid scent of pine, pastries and faint hints of Sulphur. Various magical machines of unknown purpose and a myriad of other strange devices took up most of the space that was left, leaving only narrow walkways between everything to get around. Despite the chaotic nature of room, Spike assured everyone that it was all Okay, and that this was how it always looked. Not a thing was out of place. Everything was perfectly normal.
Too normal. If Twilight had really spent the entire night down here working on who knows what, only dash off in the middle of the night, then there should be some sort of sign of recent activity. Instead there was nothing, everything was just as it always was. Something was off here.
The next hour or so was spent searching the entire laboratory from top to bottom for anything unusual, or any signs of just what it was that Twilight had been working on the night she had disappeared. Other than Pinkie managing to find that Twilight was on the verge of inventing a formula for a soda that would never lose its fizz, there wasn’t much to find. They were all slowly shuffling towards the stairs and back up to the library proper when Soft Paw caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye. It was a small scrap of paper, crumpled and ripped around the edges, most likely torn from a larger piece of paper, stuck beneath a small gap where the wall’s molding met the floor beneath the stairs. Reaching over, he picked it up and turned it over.
Immediately, he dropped it as if it had burned him, backing up with a loud gasp, gritting his teeth and fighting the instinct to drop into an aggressive stance. His expression hardened sharply and he glared at the piece of paper as if it might rise up and attack him.
His reaction had gained the attention of the others and they all turned to him in surprise at his outburst. Pinkie especially looked at him with confusion — she had never seen him react that way before, about anything. He was always so stoic, calm and collected. For him to act this way… she didn’t want to think about what that meant.
Everyone else looked at how apprehensively Pinkie looked at Soft Paw, and how he in turn glared at the scrap of paper on the floor as if it had personally offended him. At first, none of them moved, as they weren’t entirely certain how to handle the situation. None of them knew the strange and intimidating stallion other than Pinkie Pie, and with her acting as she was they weren’t sure what to make of it. After a moment though, Spike slowly started forth, and picked the paper up off the ground and looked at it.
On it was a simple image. A pyramid with its top cut of and replaced with an eye, sitting in front of and blocking most of a large sun.
“I don’t get it,” Spike said out loud. “What does it mean?”
Soft Paw however was silent as he finally began to piece everything together. Suddenly it all made sense. Horrible, dreadful, perfect sense.
“Tell me,” he practically growled, baring his teeth in a habit he had picked up from spending far more time with wolves than with ponies. “Your friend, this ‘Twilight Sparkle’, she is a unicorn, yes? One with a purple coat and a starburst mark on her flank?” he asked, not turning to look at anyone in particular and instead simply asking them all.
Even Pinkie shivered a bit at the dangerous harshness in his voice as he spoke. This wasn’t like him at all. He was gruff, sure, but there was also a kindness to him. How he was acting now... Pinkie was starting to see why so many ponies found him so intimidating. “U-um, yeah, she is,” Pinkie managed to answer, just barely managing to control the slight tremble in her voice.
“Then I believe I may know where she has gone,” he said, his voice cold and dangerous. “On the night in question I saw a pony of just such a description running through the Everfree Forest. There is an old and ruined castle on the road she walked.”
The mares in the room exchanged questioning glances, the same thought going through their heads. There was only one old and ruined castle they knew of in the middle of the Everfree Forest. The Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters? Why would Twilight go there?
Soft Paw paid them no mind, climbed the stairs, and began heading towards the front door. He was halfway there when the girls managed to catch up and Pinkie asked, “Soft Paw, where are you going?”
“To find her,” he answered succinctly, not bothering to stop or even look at her, his voice still low and dangerous.
“We’re coming too!” Pinkie blurted out. Soft Paw paused. Pinkie continued, “She’s our friend, Soft Paw, and you’re my friend too.”
There was a beat of silence before Soft Paw made it to the front door and spoke, still without looking at them. “Come if you want. But you might not like what you see.”
Pinkie reached out and placed a hoof on his shoulder as he opened the door. “Just what’s going on, Soft Paw?” At that, Soft Paw finally turned to look at her.
She recoiled as if she had been slapped.
That was not the Soft Paw she knew. Gone was his stoic and comforting demeanor, gone were the brilliant viridian eyes full of wisdom, experience and kindness. All that remained was a harsh, simmering rage, and a primal and all-consuming terror. Those eyes were wild, untamed and powerful. All at once, Pinkie Pie was only all too aware of just how large Soft Paw was, the way his great muscles bulged and strained against his skin and all the countless scars that adorned almost every inch of his flesh. For one brief, terrible moment, there wasn’t a pony standing in front of her anymore. There was only a denizen of the dreaded Everfree Forest, a wild, savage, feral beast. For the first time since she met him all those years ago Pinkie Pie felt something about Soft Paw she swore she never would: fear.
“Agnaim neir, Kaein Pinks,” He growled from between clenched teeth, hot, angry, terrified tears just barely visible in his eyes.
“Never again.”
*~-/^\-~*
The late evening sun painted the scene before Morning Star in a plethora of stunning reds and oranges, giving it a sense of surreal beauty, like something out of an artist’s imagination as they applied their brushes and paints to a blank canvas. The crumbling masonry and encroaching vegetation was like something out of an old fairy tale, or an ancient legend. He supposed that it wasn’t really that far from the truth. There actually were quite a few old tales about the Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. After taking a few more moments to soak in the strangely beautiful sight before him, he crossed the bridge to enter the castle to begin his investigation.
When Celestia was briefing him about the situation involving Twilight and the strange happenings, she had mentioned that the whole thing had gone down at the old castle. Even if she had cautioned him against going there because of the danger, he felt he had to anyways. There was something about the place, something that was calling to him. Besides, he want to find out as much as he could, so he could better help Twilight.
Morning Star snorted loudly, half from the copious amounts of dust around the ancient abandoned structure and half from amusement. It was still kind of weird to try and reconcile the image of the small, inquisitive little filly from Celestia’s School for Magically Gifted Unicorns all those years ago with the mare he had been sent to look out for. She’s really grown up since then, he thought to himself, looking around as it suddenly dawned on him that he was standing in the same building that the same little filly from his memories had stared down and fought an ancient evil night goddess — and won. Morning just gave a soft chuckle at the thought.
Following whatever instinct it was that was drawing him to this place, he simply followed his hooves as they took him across the rickety bridge. As he was walking across the ruined courtyard to enter the castle proper though, he felt something familiar, a sudden pull from somewhere deep inside his core, and shiver that ran along his cutie mark. Stopping in place and looking around his immediate area, he noticed that he was standing next to an old stone sundial, one that was conspicuously unblemished despite the ages. All of the rampant growth and overwhelming vegetation stopped at least a full foot away in all directions, leaving the ancient timepiece within a small circular island of stone amidst a viridian sea. Its appearance did nothing to belie any sort of hidden nature, and it seemed innocuous enough, a simple piece of solid, pure white marble with twelve numbers, each connected to the center with a thick gold line.
Cautiously, he inched closer, until he stood within the small island of cleared stone. Just from standing that close he could feel it, the sheer power of magics and rites from eons long past, radiating out and washing over him like gentle breaking waves, and he could hear the whispers of times long ago, echoing across the ages. It was calming, intoxicating and invigorating, and it filled him with a deep and strange yearning for something unknown, lost in the twilights of history and years long gone.
Slowly, tentatively, he reached out with a trembling hoof, and laid it upon the enigmatic stone edifice. His eyes flew wide.
He knew.
The knowledge crashed down upon him like an eldritch tide, knocking his hooves out from under him. Unknowable images flashed across his eyes, incomprehensible voices filled his ears and lost and ancient words danced across his tongue. He knew it all, past, present and future. Past and future came alive before his eyes, and he saw everything that was, and that would be. The voices rose to an impossible crescendo and spoke of everything that is with such a fervent beauty that it would have driven a deaf pony to weep. Morning Star knew exactly what this stone Sundial was, and what it had been.
For the briefest of moments, Morning Star gazed across infinity, and beheld only divinity itself.
And then, just as quickly as it had come, the knowledge was gone.
It all left him in a flash, all of it, making him weep at the sudden emptiness. A large crack resounded through the air, and with an unseen rush of power a large crack ran down the face of the sundial, and a large circular piece of the stone fell away, bearing the number eleven on its face. The small piece of ancient marble fell onto Morning Star’s chest and disappeared there amidst his pure white coat, sinking into his flesh.
Rising to his hooves, Morning Star groaned slightly, rubbing his hoof against his head to try and alleviate a sudden headache. He noticed there were tears on his face, but he wasn’t sure why. Wiping them away, he quickly looked around. He seemed to have slipped next to some sort of old stone sundial. Must have hit his head.
Continuing on into the castle itself, he began to search for whatever it was he was looking for, even if for some reason he couldn’t feel a subconscious tugging at his hooves anymore. He still had to find out just what had happened, so he could help Twilight.
`\*/`
Thankfully, finding something of interest hadn’t been all that difficult. There were plenty of signs of recent disturbance all over the place if one knew what to look for. There were a good many locations where the dust wasn’t nearly as thick as usual, and there were recently burnt down torches in the sconces down several hallways.
At first he seemed to be chasing his own tail as he walked down all the hallways that showed signs of activity. He constantly seemed to be going in circles, passing through intersections that he was positive he’d already by before, and not really finding much of anything.
One interesting thing that he did find however, was in an old storage room. In a corner was an abandoned bedroll, no more than a few days old, and a strange book. It was rather small, with a completely black cover without any sort of title, only a weird image of a pyramid and a sun on the front. The whole thing was written in some weird language that Morning Star couldn’t read and didn’t recognize. Regardless, he grabbed it and tossed it into his saddle-bag. He might be able to go to the library and translate it later, it could have valuable information.
Continuing on, he eventually came upon what he was looking for.
It was a small dark tunnel, one that was actually rather difficult to find being half-hidden behind a large pile of rubble as it was. There was practically no dust at all just before its entrance, and he could see a tiny scrap of dark cloth caught on a jutting piece of sharp stone just within the tunnel. Something in his gut told him that whatever he was looking for, it had to be down there.
Carefully, he began to make his way down the pitch dark tunnel, sticking close to the wall so as not to get lost and tossing the small scrap of cloth from the wall in his bags along with the strange book from earlier.
As he made his way, he began to feel… off. It was like the further he got, the denser the air became and the more his gut churned. Something deep down was telling him to turn around that very instant and run away, far away, and never come back. It slowly began to get colder as well, which wasn’t entirely surprise considering his subterranean location, but it didn’t seem right for just being underground. He swore that if it wasn’t so dark he would have been able to see his own breath misting in the air before him. The hairs on the back of his neck began the stand up, and a shiver ran down his spine. There was a strange smell in the air, and the darkness almost seemed to be getting thicker, as if it were a living thing and was intent on smothering him. There was something wrong here, he could feel it, and it put him on edge. Regardless, he continued on.
It wasn’t much longer before he came to the end of the hallway and turned the corner into a small chamber. Stepping inside, he looked around.
It wasn’t very large for a castle as big as the one he was in, but it was still somewhat spacious. The chamber was illuminated in a soft blue light, by what he wasn’t quite sure as the light didn’t seem to come from any one direction, but instead from everywhere at once. The room was completely bare, save for a large ornate golden and silver spear embedded in the stone floor in the center of the room, with several cracks in the ground radiating outwards from its point of impact. There was something strange about the spear though, something that drew him to it.
Unconsciously, Morning Star walked further into the chamber, approaching the spear at its center. As he got closer, the air got heavier and heavier, even more so than in the tunnel that led here. Just as he had predicted, Morning Star could see his breath fogging the air in front of himself. The shivering down his spine grew worse than ever, and his stomach was twisting in to so many knots it felt like it was trying to crawl its way up and out of his throat. Before he even realized he had begun moving, he was standing in front of the spear, only a hooves-breadth away, shifting nervously from hoof to hoof, a tingle playing across his cutie mark. There was something odd about this ornate spear, here in a strange stone chamber beneath an ancient abandoned castle. Something about it called out to him, drawing him ever closer. Gulping nervously, he reached out with a hoof and slowly laid it upon the ceremonial spear.
He immediately leapt backwards as if burned, scraping his hoof roughly against the ground as if to rid of some toxic substance and fighting back the gorge that rose in his throat. He knew there was something wrong with that spear, he just knew it! He didn’t know what happened here, and honestly he really didn’t want to, but one thing he did know: that spear was pure Evil.
He felt as if he was suddenly coated in filth, as if some horrible, repulsive sludge had etched itself into his flesh and sunk deep into his bones. He wanted to run home as fast as his hooves would take him and throw himself into his shower and scrub himself raw, even though he knew he still wouldn’t feel clean. He felt dirty, defiled and violated. Losing the battle with his stomach, he ran to the corner and proceeded to lose his lunch all over the floor.
After waiting for a few minutes to stop tremble and for his stomach to settle, Morning wiped his mouth free of bile, and turn to face the spear. His cutie mark still tingled and burned as he thought about what to do with it.
It was dangerous, there was no doubt about that. Nothing with the sheer amount of Evil that spear exuded could ever be used for anything even remotely benevolent. This was definitely something Celestia should know about. In fact, he should probably just bring it to her himself. He definitely couldn’t leave it around here. All the signs pointed towards there being other ponies around here recently, and if someone else were to find this then there’s no telling what could happen. Deciding that personally delivering it to the safekeeping of Celestia was the best course of action, he set about doing just that.
It became immediately apparent that it was easier said than done. Thankfully, since he had already touched it once his Knowing didn’t activate again, or else he probably would have been too busy huddled in the corner voiding the contents of his stomach to wrestle with the thing. The cracks running along the floor weren’t just for show, the thing was really embedded pretty deep into the stone. For several minutes Morning Star sat there tugging on the end, or bucking it with his hooves or pulling on it with his teeth. It was stuck fast, but not impossibly so. It took almost half an hour and at least one chipped tooth, but he finally managed to loosen it up to the point of freedom. Wrapping his fore hooves around the spear’s shaft, he braced his back legs against the floor, and with one last mighty heave, tore the spear free of the stone.
He immediately wished he hadn’t.
As soon as the spear was free of its stone encasement, Morning Star could feel a burst of incredibly powerful eldritch magics rushing outwards in every direction, tearing intangibly through the walls of the chamber to rush across Equestria and spread its ill portent as it saw fit. Morning was hit point blank and launched into the far wall with bone rattling force, but not before being knocked completely unconscious by the sheer magical overload, still tightly clasping the spear in his hooves.
Slowly, the faint blue light in the chamber faded to an eerie gold, and a rift seemed to split the very space between the room’s roof and floor where the spear had sat. Through the tear in space stepped a strange creature the like of which Equestria had never before borne witness to. It was strange and unknowable, unseen and unheard, as intangible as sunlight and shadows, and as substantial as time. Finding itself for the first time upon a mortal realm, it cast its gaze about, its golden and silver eyes falling on the pony before it.
‘PERFECT’
*~-/^\-~*
Pinkie Pie was uneasy, and she wasn’t the only one. Just by looking around, she could tell that Applejack, Rarity, Spike and even Rainbow Dash were rather unsettled. Looking around at the trees on all sides and the ancient stone structure just ahead, she felt a small shiver go down her spine. The setting sun cast everything in an eerie twilight, throwing an ominous bloody red glow on just about everything in sight and making the already rather intimidating surroundings and company into something worthy of fear.
Looking towards where Soft Paw walked just ahead of the rest of the group she felt a lump form in her throat. She would have been lying to herself if she said it wasn’t because of fear, but she managed to take some small comfort in the fact that it wasn’t strictly so, as she could definitely feel concern for her friend’s unusual behavior in equal amounts. Looking at the wolf beside him though, Pinkie felt another tremor run down her spine, and she didn’t even bother looking for any other emotions in her reaction this time.
Huge, was the first word that came to mind, and terrifying the second. It was hulking mass of lupine muscle, covered in lustrous fur black as night that seemed to drink in the light from all around it and great big fangs that seemed eager to sink into flesh and hung past its own jaws when its mouth was shut. Despite that fact that it was utterly massive, towering over even her and standing perhaps eye to eye with Big Macintosh himself, it moved with an uncanny grace, almost entirely silent on paws half the size of her head. It was a horrifying creature, causing her to shiver just from being too close to it, but its eyes though, its eyes were the worst of it. Just a fleeting moment of contact between her gaze and those burning red orbs, full of hate and rage and hunger, was enough to make her legs weak and her knees tremble with fear, even from all the way across the rickety old rope bridge that spanned the chasm just before the Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.
Pinkie knew she wasn’t alone in her thoughts on the great beast. As soon as they had lost sight of Ponyville from within the boughs of the Everfree Forest Soft Paw had called them all to a halt and let out a piercing whistle, loud enough that it echoed amongst the trees and made her lay her ears flat against her skull. In its wake, the whole forest seemed to have gone silent, and not even the birds called from the trees. All was quiet for several moments before the sound of something crashing loudly through the underbrush reached them, and before any of them realized what was going on the great wolf burst through the trees, startling Rainbow Dash enough to take to the skies. Soft Paw and the hulking mass of predatory muscle exchanged a quick sniff and brief nuzzle, as if the great beast were no more than a lap dog, and he introduced it as Hünd, a Dire Wolf, and said that it would be going with them. Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and even Spike immediately began to protest most vehemently, on the ground that it was just too down right terrifying, and they didn’t want to be anywhere near it.
Soft Paw promptly and rather bluntly responded that if they were that scared, then everything else in the forest must be pissing itself by now, and if they wanted they could just stay behind and get eaten, or end up in the hospital as well.
Needless to say, there wasn’t much arguing or discussion after that, even if Rainbow Dash did want to punch him in the mouth. One look at the mass of feral muscles and teeth that bowed its head to him as he scratched behind its ears made her think better of it.
Thankfully Soft Paw’s words proved true, and by the time the sun began to set they had reached the castle unmolested by anything that dwelt within the Everfree. They all crossed the small rope bridge and began to mill about the ruined courtyard, and Pinkie finally worked up the nerve to approach Soft Paw.
“Soft Paw?” she queried tentatively, flinching slightly at the dangerous and emotionless look in his eyes as he turned to face her.
Soft Paw looked at Pinkie Pie, and saw the way she trembled in his and Hünd’s presence, the fear in her eyes and the lack of laughter in her voice. For a brief moment, he felt something like a twinge of regret. Closing his eyes and breathing deeply, he tried to rein in his turbulent emotions and frayed nerves, if only enough to not cast quite so frightening an image and scare the pony that called him friend so badly.
After a moment, he spoke. “I am sorry, Little Pinks,” he said, the faintest edge gone from his eyes. “Come, let us look for your friend. And pray we do not find her.”
Pinkie wasn’t certain what to make of his words or his attitude, but she followed him nonetheless as he strode deeper into the crumbling ruins, the rest of the girls and Spike following as well.
The late evening light cast long shadows through the good many holes in the walls and collapsed ceilings, throwing everything into contrasting areas of light and dark, and giving the castle an even more foreboding feel than it already had, causing most of the group to stick tightly together as if something were going to jump out at them from the shadows, with the exception of Soft Paw and Hünd. As they all looked around the dusty and dilapidated hallways for anything unusual, squinting in the uneven and fluctuating lighting, Rainbow Dash chose that moment to speak up. “So… what exactly are we looking for anyways?” she asked, looking around aimlessly, before looking towards where Soft Paw stood next to a small pile of stones.
Soft Paw himself was hunched over the small pile of stones, examining it closely where something seemed to have caught his eye. Carefully, he reached down and picked it up, holding it up to the light of the setting sun. It was a small bit of hair, a bit long, possibly from a mare’s mane or tail, and dark blue or deep purple in color. Taking it over to Pinkie Pie and her friends, he showed it to them and asked, “Do any of you recognize this?”
Rarity gently levitated the bit of hair out of Soft Paw’s hooves, and held it close to get a good look at it. Nodding her head, she somewhat excitedly announced, “Yes, that is most definitely from Twilight’s tail.”
The other’s all began to perk up, excited to know that Twilight had most definitely been here and that they were on the right trail, but Soft Paw simply began to scowl even more deeply. Turning around, he called out for Hünd, who was by his side in an instant, startling everypony else. “Hünd,” he said commandingly, pointing a hoof down the hallway in which they were headed and staring into the beast’s eyes, “search.” The Dire Wolf did as was commanded of it, and put its nose to the ground and began leading the way deeper into the castle.
The entire group was silent yet again as they followed the beast and Soft Paw through the twisting labyrinthine network of stone hallways, none of them wanting to call attention to themselves and draw his sudden intense focus. They were walking for a good while, and by the time Hünd lifted its head from the stones at their hooves they had arrived in a familiar chamber, and the sun was visibly kissing the horizon through the many broken stained glass windows and missing roof.
In the center of the room stood a massive stone edifice, an altar of decaying marble with five emptied radial arms that each once bore the inactive stone forms of the Elements of Harmony. Without a word, they all spread out and began to search the room for anything strange or unusual. It was long though, before Soft Paw found exactly what he was looking for and exactly what he didn’t want to find laying amidst the moss and vines at the base of the altar in the center of the chamber. He picked it up and held it to the dying rays of the sun, where they glinted off its metallic golden surface. His face twisted into a grimace of rage, and with a wordless howl of anger he threw into the far corner of the room, where it bounced off the wall and landed at the hooves of Pinkie Pie. As she picked it up and saw the image of a pyramid and a sun on its face, everyone else were all staring wide-eyed at the no doubt dangerous pony in their midst, and wondering if he was suddenly unstable. Pinkie only looked on with concern, and was about to open her mouth to ask what was the matter, when all of a sudden everything seemed to go wrong.
Three things seemed to happen all at once.
The first, was a strange sensation shooting thorough her entire body, leaving it feeling strangely tingly, and reminding her of when she would use her Pinkie Sense, and she could see out of the corner of her eyes Rarity’s horn lighting involuntarily and Rainbow Dash’s wings spreading at the same moment.
The second, was Soft Paw instantly collapsing to his knees, as his howl of anger turned to one of agony.
The third, was perhaps the most frightening, as some sort of terrible monster loosened a screech that send shivers of fear down her spine and the ground seemed to shake.
As everyone else stood stupefied, Soft Paw wasted no time, managing to barely rise to his trembling hooves, his face contorted in pain and started shambling towards the exit, yelling, “Run!”
Soft Paw’s shout and trembling visage seemed to snap everyone to their senses, as they all immediately began running for the castle’s exit with all due haste, Spike riding atop Applejack and Rainbow Dash supporting Rarity because of her limited mobility due to her cracked rib. They managed to make it out of the castle in much less time than it took them get so far inside, and by the time they had crossed the bridge and were heading back towards Ponyville the moon was only just barely peeking above the horizon though.
They didn’t make it far though, before a massive monstrosity burst from the brush, knocking full grown trees flying as if they were mere matchsticks as it strode on all eight scaly legs to block their path, its two enormous whip-like tails lashing at the air above it. It towered over them all, standing twice and half again their height, each of its many legs ending in several long, serrated claws that kneaded the loam beneath its feet, and covered from head to tails in a thick crest of spiny, scaly armor plates. It gazed malevolently at them with its six beady red eyes and gave a massive roar, loud enough cause the small stone on the dirt path they walk to shake and jump from the ground as it resonated in their bones. They all stopped dead as it began lumbering towards them, snapping at them with its great teeth and swiping at them with its tusks and forward raking horns.
Soft Paw didn’t hesitate. He charged right through the group of paralyzed mares and tackled right where the beast’s front legs met the rest of its body, even as Hünd leapt over them and began to attack and claw at the gargantuan reptile’s eyes. The girls and Spike all stood in awe as the pony they were pretty sure was at least slightly mentally disturbed and the huge lupine beast they had just spent the last couple of hours being terrified of began fighting a monster that would have surely decimated an entire platoon of Royal Guards right in front of them — and actually managed to hold it back.
Soft Paw didn’t really appreciate their gawking though, and as he bucked the monster in the side of the head and managed to chip a tusk, he shouted, “RUN!”
They didn’t need to be told twice, and promptly began to run as fast as their hooves would take them, throwing up dust in their wake.
The great bellowing of the massive beast and wolfven howls followed them all the way home, and Pinkie tried not to think about the way Soft Paw’s eyes seemed to glow golden with focus, and how she could have sworn she saw something writhing just beneath his skin.
*~-/^\-~*
As the pulse of strange, eldritch magics spread its way across Equestria, Something took notice.
Far and away, beyond the space between shadows, It stirred. It heard the Call, and It knew there was not much time left.
It turned Its faceless gaze to three young fillies, deep within the cool embrace of Its own Shadows. It clutched them tightly, and whispered darkly into their dreams.
‘…SoOn…’