Limits of the Horizon

by Beware The Carpenter

11 - Legacy of Hell

Obtrillion smiled at Twilight under his horn light, “We’re near the sanctuary; there are other entrances but this is the closest, so long as you can teleport through six feet of solid rock.”

Twilight nodded to her son’s request; and began concentrating to gather the energy necessary for a teleport that powerful while taking an estimate of Obtrillion’s mass and body wei – the waterworks vanished, and Twilight was surrounded by the soft glow of mage lamps.

Twilight froze; taking several moments to negate the energy she was gathering for her own spell and then turned slowly to Obtrillion. Less than one in a thousand unicorns had the potential to teleport, most of them didn’t learn until they were adults, and only a fraction of those could teleport through solid objects, let alone carrying someone else with them. Most of the professors at the school for gifted unicorns couldn’t have done what he just did; Obtrillion… didn’t even look winded.

They were standing at the end of a hallway, with doors off to both sides and a staircase creeping behind them. Twilight guessed that whatever this place was, it had more comfortable places to speak, but they were safe now and Twilight couldn’t hold her questions anymore. She wanted to know why Obtrillion looked so young; even if he was conceived the day before Zohan’s death, he should be eighteen, but his size and face suggested he couldn’t be more than sixteen at most. She wanted to know who was trying to hurt her son, forcing him to hide underground; she wanted to know where they were. She wanted -

“Obtrin!” A young zebra mare came cantering down the hallway to meet them, zeroing in towards Obtrillion, but slowed down when she saw Twilight, eyeing her with curious caution.

Obtrillion draped one hoof around the mare’s shoulder and gave her a light kiss on the cheek, “Mom, this is Fidora. Fidora, I’d like you to meet my mother.” He said grinning, “I was right all along, my mother did want me; Celestia tricked her and blocked all memories of me and my father, so she could control her.”

Obtrillion stepped back, and gave the two mares a chance to examine each other. Fidora was a very pretty earth zebra mare who Twilight guessed was about twenty. A long, wavy mane, smelling faintly of cinnamon perfume, fell freely around a highly intelligent face, before cascading over a pair of well muscled shoulders.

Twilight wasn’t sure what to say; she hoped Fidora would be the first to speak but Fidora seemed to be waiting on her, only with less awkward tension. After a moment, Fidora slowly turned, giving Twilight a side-view of herself, but never stopped meeting Twilight’s gaze staring back with dark brown eyes.

Sensing Twilight was uncomfortable, Obtrillion spoke; “Is lunch ready?” Fidora nodded, “Well, there’s a lot to talk about, so let’s talk over lunch.” Obtrillion and Fidora turned, and began walking, closely, down the hall together, giving Twilight no choice but to follow.

Obtrillion was too young to have a marefriend!!!

Was he?

Obtrillion was at least eighteen; that was old enough to date. No; he wasn’t eighteen he was only one hour old… to her. Everything was moving too fast. Where were the adults in this place? What was behind all these doors?

They passed through a set of iron gates, into a spacious, richly furnished lounge room. To the right were four large doors, the last one, rather ornate; across the room were two open hallways and to the left was a set of double doors. In the middle of the room was a low table, stacked with dried fruits, nuts, pastries, jams a pot of steaming tea and three empty cups; surrounded by three large bean-bags.

Twilight followed Obtrillion and Fidora to the table and sat down; Fidora gestured to one of the doors on the right; “I’ve prepared the most honored guest room for you, if it lacks anything, please ask. The bathrooms are behind me, and to the left are the kitchens, feel free to help yourself at any time, and through there” she gestured to the ornate door next to hers, “Is Obtrillion’s and my bedroom.”

Twilight almost choked on the tea she was sipping, and was glad she was already sitting down. “Right now” said Obtrillion, “Your mind is too unstable for me to undo Celestia’s blocks, without ripping your mind to pieces. I’ll restore your memories if it’s the last thing I ever do, but your mind has to be settled first. We’re safe now and have time to talk, were would you like to start?”

Twilight wanted to know everything there was to know about the son and she wanted to know it now. This was a research project that could take her the rest of her life, but she decided to start with the question which was quite literally staring her in the face. “So…” she said looking between Obtrillion and Fidora, “How did you two meet?”

Obtrillion shared an affectionate gaze with Fidora, “Do you want to tell her or should I?”

“I will,” volunteered Fidora. “Obtrillion was raised in the Shaman orphanage; students of the orphanage are forbidden any contact with the outside world until their twelfth birthday. During their time at the orphanage, they are given some freedom as to which subjects they wish to specialize in, and most only study a fraction of the available materials before they graduate. When Obtrillion was nine years old he had learned every craft the school had to offer, passed every test, and read every book and scroll in the school’s library.”

“How many books were there?”

“Six thousand, four hundred and thirty one.” Smiled Obtrillion,

Twilight swallowed; to read that much that fast… then she remembered what he’d said about the letter; Shining Armor had taught Twilight to read when she was three but, “…You say you taught yourself to read when you were two?”

Obtrillion nodded, “Eight different languages.”

Twilight was at a loss for words and Fidora excitedly resumed her narration, “When Obtrillion told the curator of the orphanage that he had read everything in the library and asked for more books, the curator didn’t believe him so he took a random book off the shelf, showed Obtrillion the cover and asked him what it was about. Obtrillion quoted him the first three pages. The process repeated itself three more times, and the curator took Obtrillion to the head of the Shaman order, Ragarrock.”

Twilight couldn’t help but feel a twinge of nostalgia; nine was how old she’d been when she was adopted as Celestia’s protégé; Fidora continued, “Ragarrock’s last apprentice had just recently died in a training accident and so he was looking for a replacement. After testing Obtrillion and recognizing his unparalleled potential, Ragarrock chose him… you can imagine the political fallout from that decision.”

Died? Training accident? “… I’m not sure I understand.”

Fidora hesitated and Obtrillion explained, “Ragarrock is the wealthiest and most powerful person in Timbucktoo; covertly, he runs this country. To have a family member trained by him would create opportunities that could change the destiny of any of the great houses. Many Great Lords were hoping one of their sons would be chosen; but instead Ragarrock chose an orphan, of unknown heritage who… wasn’t even a zebra. The Lords grumbled for several weeks, until Ragarrock thought of a way to silence them, while growing even more powerful.”

Obtrillion nodded to Fidora, who hesitantly continued, “Ragarrock challenged every noble who thought their son was worthy to be his apprentice to bring them to the temple, where Ragarrock held a great tournament. Any candidate who bested Obtrillion would win his place learning at Ragarrock’s hooves, but the father of any candidate who failed would need to give Ragarrock a gift, of equal value to his tutorship.

Nine nobles were stupid enough to take Ragarrock up on his challenge, each offering huge troves of treasure for their side of the wager. Nine colts who were the best of the best, most of whom were at least twice Obtrillion's age, met him in the shamanic duels. Obtrillion slaughtered them as though they were chaff in every round of magic, history, math, astrology, healing, enchantments, herb-lore, and conflict.”

“Conflict?”

“Gladiator combat; to the death.” said Obtrillion grimly “After I killed six other competitors, the last three surrendered and I ransomed them back to their families.”

“Forced to kill - you were nine years old!”

“Ragarrock knew that I could do it and knew he could make money from it; those were the only things that mattered.”

“You were nine, years, old!”repeated Twilight helplessly.

“...Yea” said Obtrillion flatly, “I know.”

Twilight ground her teeth, to prevent herself from screaming. Children shouldn't be forced to kill, and this was her son! Did Celestia know what kind of life she had committed her son to? Did she care!? Obtrillion should never have been there, he should have been home safe with his mother... and father. After a long moment Twilight raised her head, “How is any of this related to how the two of you met?”

Fidora nodded, “After the tournament Ragarrock allowed Obtrillion to choose one quarter of the plunder for himself and even gave him first pick; I was there and he chose me.”

“...I'm sorry?”

“My uncle presented me as part of my family’s wager for my cousin to compete in the tournament. After ransoming my cousin, Obtrillion chose me as part of his share of the plunder. I was ten years old at the time; and didn't even know I'd been wagered until after the contest.”

"You're... his slave?"

“Yes.”

“No.” gasped Twilight “This is wrong. Obtrillion, you can't keep a slave!”

Obtrillion looked slightly perplexed, “Why not?”

“Slavery is evil.”

“Excuse me?” challenged Fidora rising to her hooves “I don't know what assumptions your working off of, but from the first day I served Obtrillion, he has been nothing but kind to me.”

Twilight stared in shock at this mare’s brazen disregard for her own rights. “But... you share a bedroom; I mean... he uses you as a concubine!?”

“Uses me?” snarled Fidora, “You think he forced his love on me!? I asked him!”

“What?”

“When I was fourteen I realized that I was in love with Obtrillion. When I finally confessed to him how I felt do you know what he said? Of course you don't; you weren’t there! He said he had felt the same way about me for some time, but hadn't said anything because he knew if he asked me I couldn't refuse him, and didn’t want either of us to feel like he was forcing me. That is what kind of a colt your son is; and if you were half as smart as he is you would have realized that, instead of staying away from him his entire life, then showing up out of the desert and thinking you can judge him for something you obviously don't understand!”

“Enough Fi” Commanded Obtrillion. It was not a request, it was not a suggestion, it was an order; but it came without the vehemence that Twilight had always imagined to haunt the voice of every slave master.

Fidora stopped; she did not cringe in terror like she was expecting to be hit, but she obeyed, instantly; “I'm... sorry. Forgive me.”

Twilight apologized too, insincerely, and tried to maintain a calm exterior, but on the inside felt like her world was falling apart. She wondered how she hadn’t realized Fidora was a slave until now and found the answer was disconcertingly obvious, she looked happy. Twilight saw in Fidora, the same spark that she had only seen in mares she knew were truly in love; but if Obtrillion loved her, how could he keep her enslaved? “Don’t you want to be free?”

“Let’s find out” smiled Obtrillion, “Fidora, in honor of the will of my mother, I offer you release from my service and a hundred thousand rupees with which to start your new life.”

Fidora smirked defiantly, “I'm not going.”

“It could be dangerous.”

“I'll take my chances”

“You may have to do things, ‘decent’ ponies wouldn't ordinarily do.”

“At the end of the day, will you love me?”

“Always.”

“Then I will never leave your side.”

Obtrillion slowly leaned over to kiss her, Fidora moved forward and met him more than half-way; sharing an intimate kiss, completely oblivious to Twilight who was just a few steps away. Eventually Obtrillion pulled away, a satisfied grin drawn on his face as he turned back to Twilight; "Happy?"

Twilight wasn’t happy. Her son had grown up without her, or a father. He’d been tortured as a foal, forced to kill at age nine, had intimate relations from the time he was thirteen, and was too messed up to see slavery was wrong. Twilight didn’t try to push the issue; this was the first conversation she’d ever had with her son, and… daughter-in-law; and didn’t want it to turn into an argument. She just needed to think of something less contrivesa - “You don’t have any foals do you!?”

“No yet.” Said Fidora quickly; “One day we will.”

Twilight bit her tongue before she blurted out anything else without thinking. She tried to relax, and come up with another question that wouldn’t make her seem like an idiot, and succeeded in neither. “If you’re trained as shaman, doesn’t that mean you should be speaking in rhyme?”

Obtrillion shook his head, “To speak in rhyme is not always required, nor is it something so greatly desired. It is used in the temple for tests, trials and ceremony, but in their daily lives a shaman is free.”

Fidora thought for a moment and then added, “Scarcely a shaman would make rhyming their norm, and so to this standard, we must conform. For two mares and a stallion to rhyme in contention, would do them no good but attract unwanted attention.”

Twilight cocking her ears towards Fidora, “Were you trained as a shaman too?”

Fidora shook her head, “Of course not; it’s forbidden for mares to study the shamanic arts.”

Obtrillion nodded, “Although she lived in the temple with me, she wasn’t allowed to study there but…” he gave an encouraging nod to Fidora, “She was always present whenever Ragarrock was teaching me.”

Twilight nodded, “…And I assume you were within ear shot whenever Ragarrock was instructing Obtrillion?”

“Well of course I was;” Said Fidora, “I had to be in case Obtrillion needed me for something. I couldn’t help picking up a few things when I was listening, but I wasn’t allowed to practice them, or look at the illustrations in any of the sacred texts, and besides most of the time Obtrillion and Ragarrock were moving too fast for me to have kept up with them, even if I was trying.”

Obtrillion put a hoof on Fidora’s, “It’s alright Fi, give yourself credit where credit is due.”

Fidora added, “…Well, I wouldn’t have learned much if it was just the lessons with Ragarrock; but when we were alone in our quarters, Obtrillion would always read aloud from the texts, not for my benefit mind you, he insisted that it helped him remember it better; and he also said that one of the best ways for him to remember something was to explain it to someone else.”

Twilight almost smiled, “So he trained you?”

“No.” Insisted Fidora, “I just… helped him study.”

“But let’s suppose you’d been born a colt and -”

“Fidora as a colt?” said Obtrillion, sticking his tongue out, “That doesn’t sound like a fun idea.”

Fidora giggled, kissing Obtrillion on the cheek; “I wouldn’t want to be a shaman if it cost me my privileges with Obtrillion; but if let’s say the temple began accepting female students again… I think I could probably best most stallions my age that grew up in the temple.”

Twilight nodded, “So; these lessons with Ragarrock, what were they like?”

Obtrillion shook, he looked like he was about to shout, but then just collapsed back onto his bean bag, “Please don’t ask me about that.”

“…Was it really that bad?”

Obtrillion just nodded, breathing heavily, not willing to make eye contact; “Ragarrock was fascinated at how brilliant I was, and wanted to study me, particularly how far he was able to push me. When he wasn’t taking samples of me for one purpose or another, he was drilling me endlessly on every subject you could think of, changing the rules of each challenge repeatedly to see if he could confuse me. Whenever I got a question or spell wrong or missed a rhyme, I got a painful shock as punishment, which grew worse as the trial proceeded. Some of the challenges lasted for about five or six hours, most of them went on indefinitely until I passed out from pain and exhaustion.”

A tear trickled down Twilight's cheek, “…Did it ever stop?”

“Unfortunately, yes. After I became intimate with Fidora, Ragarrock decided it was time she took a more active part in our lessons, and began giving her the punishment instead of me. Medical classes turned into Ragarrock finding a new way to hurt Fidora each lesson, and then telling me to fix her.” Obtrillion’s breathing and speaking were becoming more rapid, “He’d poison her and then tell me to diagnose it and make the antidote, break her bones and tell me to set them. Sometimes he’d give her several injuries, and I’d need to determine which needed immediate attention and which could wait a few minutes; other times he would hurt-her-in-a-way-that-would-cover-one-symptom-with-another.-Once-he-blasted-one-of-Fidora’s-legs-clean-off-and-then-told-me-to-re-attach-it-without-letting-me-use-any-pain-killers-and-if-I-ever-disobeyed-him-he-threatened-to-sell-her-to-a-brothel-or-”

“Please stop!”

Obtrillion went quiet, but that didn’t stop his last sentences ringing through her mind, growing louder with each echo. How could Celestia have let this happen? “You were six years old when I finished the Manehatten Project. You hadn’t been discovered by Ragarrock yet and the orphanage owners didn’t want you. If Celestia had told me you were there I would have come for you.”

“Children left at the temple belong to The Order, they’re not given out for adoption; but the orphanage was just like any other place in the world, anything is possible for enough money.”

“Whatever it was, I would have paid it.”

Obtrillion slowly shook his head, “It would have been expensive. The only time I saw a colt ‘adopted’ from the orphanage he cost more than five times the standard price for a slave-colt his age.”

“If I’d needed to spend my life’s savings, sell everything I owned, and spend the rest of my life repaying debt, I would have come for you.”

Obtrillion stared down at the floor; “Too late.”

Chapter Twelve >>> Waterworks

Author's Note:

Any thoughts about Fidora? I like her, but she's going to be a difficult character to do well.

Comments

[the other sans]

Twilight froze; took several moments to
Fidora was very pretty earth zebra
You may have to do things, ‘descent’ ponies wouldn't ordinarily do

1. She took several moment to.
2. Fidora was a very pretty earth zebra.
3. Decent.

Wow... wait, if the mind block only happened a few years ago, why is it that she can't remember much, or rather anything about her son before the wipe? She would have remembered who she had a child with, she would remember who she was married to! Unless the memory block was not the only thing used... there could have been a memory wipe. Things only look like it goes downhill from here until it reaches Equestria's core

[winterdragon]

rupees? is the Zaharra on the edge of the Gerudo or something? (that would be an interesting plot twist)

[LunarSacrament]

And I think I'm done here. I honestly do not like these two characters. Both of them are far to "edgy". In fact this whole story kind of is at this point. While that can be loads of fun, this isn't. It also has hit a lot of my personal "No" buttons. These two, they just are not likable, Shining and Spike going along with all of this, when at the very least Spike would have stood by Twilight before anyone else, and most importantly for this chapter, Slavery being painted as an okay thing, Twilight is right, this is not okay, we know this is not okay. In fact none of that is okay. Her reactions are justified not ignorant as I'm sure they are intended to come across as.

So I'm out, but I hope others find this story enjoyable, it just isn't for me.

[Tali_The_Lamia]

I'm senseing some OP bullshit.