08 Into the North (II)
My Little Exalt
INTO THE NORTH
by: Lithl
special thanks:
Rhanite
LordofRansei
"Why are you bringing that?" Twilight pointed to the sword packed along with Applejack's tent.
"We haven't exactly had the best a'luck with our encounters here. Ah want to be prepared next time."
"Applejack, dear, we're going to meet somepony named 'The Lover'. Even the Syndics said she wasn't violent," Rarity said.
Pinkie shook her head. "Don't relax too much. Her full title is The Lover Clad in the Raiment of Tears. She's a Deathlord, just like The Dowager." Pinkie looked up to see that she had the full attention of her five friends. "She may not be violent, as the Syndics say, but that doesn't mean she can't be dangerous."
Applejack nodded in agreement. "Besides, we've got two and a half weeks to get there. Who knows what might happen?"
Despite Pinkie's assurances that it was summer, the climate was not warm in the least. The temperatures plummeted each night as the ponies made camp, and the hottest part of the day barely reached the fall temperatures everypony was used to. The northern climate simply did not agree with the ponies who had lived their entire lives in Dream Valley, Equestria. Biting winds encouraged pairing up in the tents to help keep warm, rather than leaving each girl to sleep on her own.
"Twilight, would you please turn out the lamp and go to sleep? I can't sleep with your light on!" Rainbow groused.
"I thought you had gotten an appreciation for reading, Rainbow?"
"Well I'm sorry I didn't bring any Daring Do books with me when you launched the entire town into another dimension!"
"You know, there are some novels in the library. You might like some of them even if they aren't Daring Do."
Rainbow rolled over to face the unicorn and her damnable lamp. With half-lidded eyes she said, "You and Pinkie are the only ones who can read those books. And you can only read half of them."
"You could always learn," Twilight didn't even look up from her book to reply. "I brought Erymanthoi, Erymanthoi, What Do You See? with me just in case I needed to check its reference section."
Rainbow gave a noncommittal grunt. "What are you reading there, anyway?"
"It's called Daric's Laws of Magic. Pinkie said it's the 'worst book ever written', but I've found it very informative!"
"I thought the unicorns couldn't do magic here, like the pegasi can't fly?"
Twilight shook her head slightly, but her eyes didn't move from the page. "We can't do Equestrian magic. You must have noticed even Applejack using some pretty flashy moves since exalting? This is an entirely new form of magic for me to study!" Twilight managed to pull her eyes away from the book between her hooves and look at Rainbow – when she smiled, Rainbow could swear she heard a quiet squee-sound.
"It's strange, though," Twilight continued, "the book talks about somepony named 'Brigid' and how she brought sorcery to this world. It's a little unclear about how it all happened, but it's got something to do with passing through a series of 'stations', and the sorcerers and sorceresses that followed had to do the same thing."
Two weeks after leaving The Spark, rations were running thin. The steppe the girls were travelling through had sufficient vegetation to prevent anypony from starving to death, but cold grass just couldn't compare to an Apple family home-cooked meal. Even if the meal was cooked in a different dimension from 'home', and the food had been preserved for a couple weeks.
As everypony was packing their tents and distributing the weight for the day's travel, Fluttershy lifted her nose to the air. "Does anypony smell that?"
Rainbow Dash only heard Fluttershy's question by virtue of standing nearby when she asked. Rainbow responded by lifting her own nose and taking a good long whiff. "Smells like... sniff sniff... eggs... sniff... and, umm..." Rainbow looked cautiously at her animal-loving friend. Out of the side of her mouth (away from Fluttershy), Rainbow finished her sentence, "pig meat."
Of course, simply speaking out of one side of her mouth was not enough to stop the world champion of 'Shhh' from hearing the comment. "How do you know what cooking pig meat smells like, Rainbow?"
"I was roommates with Gilda, remember? She learned that most ponies would prefer the smell of cooked meat to the sight of eating raw meat, so she always cooked her meals. And she loved having pig for breakfast." Rainbow did a double take. "Wait, how are you so cool about the smell of a dead pig?"
"I take care of all kinds of animals, even bears," Fluttershy said flatly. Her eyes suddenly shot open in shock. "Oh no! I promised Harry I would house sit for him! Where is he going to find a house sitter if we're all here?"
Rainbow draped a foreleg over her muzzle in frustration. "Fluttershy, there is no 'Harry'. You and I made him up to get out of going to Gummy's 'after birthday party' while we set up Pinkie's surprise birthday party, remember?"
Fluttershy cocked her head at Rainbow. "What do you mean we made him up? I give Harry semi-monthly chiropractic therapy."
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy followed the rest of the group in awkward silence as the smell of cooking pork and eggs grew stronger. Within minutes, the ponies crested a hill and stumbled upon human campsite where it seemed breakfast was served.
Rather than tents like those brought by the ponies, these humans were living out of semi-permanent wooden structures covered by a patchwork of various cloths and sheep's wool to keep out the cold. The humans themselves wore thick woolen clothes; woven into the clothes over vital areas were what appeared to be pieces of human bone.
Wait, what? Twilight looked at the humans below a second time. The proportions were certainly right. Unless there was another mammal of similar size and shape to humans wandering around this world, these humans wore the bones of their own species as armor. It's one thing for a predator species to make use of the remains of its prey... but this is practically cannibalism!
Rainbow Dash was not making the same observations plaguing Twilight's mind. Instead, she began trotting down the hill and calling out to the camp below. "Hey! Good morning! We were wondering, um... do you have any food to share?"
None of the humans understood the words, although they could certainly hear the shouting. When a group of four looked up from their meal, they could not find the source of the voice, only a small blue horse with a rainbow-colored mane, heaving a pack of traveling supplies.
"{Do you see the owner?}"
"{Yes, for I claim ownership now.}"
"{We already have enough horses to move our homes and travel the steppe. What use is another?}"
"{Well, with coloration like that, it must be magic. I'm curious how it will taste, myself.}"
"{Are you sure that's a good idea? What if it is toxic to Man?}"
"{Then either I shall have a once-in-a-lifetime meal, or I shall join the ranks of the Greater Dead. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.}" The speaker grinned and drew his blade. His fellows followed suit. Other humans around the camp turned towards Rainbow at the sound of her shouting, and then continued to watch on with interest as the men nearby flashed weapons at the rainbow horse.
Rainbow Dash was not so dense as to ignore the blades drawn by the humans paying her the most attention. "Whoa, hey! If you wanna keep your food that's fine, I was just asking! I thought you guys might be cool and lend us a hoof, that's all!" Rainbow began backpedaling away from the approaching humans.
From on top of the hill, the rest of the Bearers saw the scene beginning to unfold. Twilight rallied them to action, "Come on, girls! We've got to help Rainbow!"
Each of the ponies quickly unhooked their packs to launch assistance for their friend – Fluttershy almost literally, as she spread her wings and glided down the slope ahead of the others. Twilight and Rarity followed, lifting stones from the hillside and launching them at the men advancing on Rainbow. The humans' surprise at the attack gave Rainbow the time she needed to drop her pack and get some breathing room, but the falling rocks could not keep the men at bay for long.
As other warriors realized there was an actual fight rather than just a single strange wild creature, they too moved to join the fray. Applejack retrieved her sword and flashed a smug 'Ah told ya so' grin at Pinkie Pie. Pinkie's response was merely to shrug and lift her hoof canon before laying down the covering fire that Twilight and Rarity could no longer effectively supply.
By the time Twilight and Rarity joined Rainbow and Fluttershy, nearly two dozen humans were up and bearing arms. Those carrying swords and axes were – for the moment – being held at bay by Pinkie, but Twilight could see archers crawling on top of the yurts in order to get a clear shot.
"Rainbow, there's too many of them, we've got to get out of here!" Twilight was beginning to panic, and her voice betrayed her emotions by cracking.
"Hah! You know what my great-great grampa Gimmi always said? 'Certainty of death? Small chance of success? What are we waiting for?!' And that's what we've got right now, Twilight. So, what are we waiting for?! I'm gonna 'love' and 'tolerate' the buck out of these stupid humans!"
"Major General 'Last Stand' Gimmi? But those were his dying words, Rainbow!" Twilight blinked. "Wait. You're related to General Gimmi?" Twilight rubbed her temple with a hoof. "That explains so much, actually." Twilight shook her head before continuing, "Look, this fight is a bad idea. We've got no idea—and you've run off with Applejack to fight them anyway."
As Applejack passed the unicorns and pegasi in full gallop, Rainbow Dash leapt to join the assault. Applejack saw three arrows flying straight at her, and deftly deflected each one without slowing down. Pinkie stopped the covering fire as the two athletes approached the line of human warriors; she changed her attention to the archers in the back and began an offensive of her own.
Twilight looked on in shock as Applejack's charge actually managed to separate one man's hands from his arms. The blood spray dyed Applejack's orange coat red, while Rainbow Dash flipped over the carnage. The cowpony turned to the rest of the humans as she began to glow with a fierce golden light. She almost appeared to grow in size, her eyes burning with a visible inner fire. The look on her face could haunt the dreams of mares, foals, and stallions alike, and all of this terror was directed at the group of humans before her. "'oo 'ant 'ome?!"
"Yeah! Who wants some?!" Rainbow cried as she landed opposite her friend.
The display of power gave the humans pause, but just for a moment. Soon, Applejack and Rainbow were beset on all sides by bladed weapons various and sundry.
"Come on, Fluttershy, we've got to help them. They're surrounded!"
"I don't know... I'm no good in a fight..." Fluttershy became very interested in the state of her hooves.
Rarity put her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder, but spoke to Twilight, "Come now, what are we supposed to do? Applejack and Rainbow are the two most physically capable among us. Plus, besides Pinkie, none of the rest of us really has anything to fight with. You saw how effective our 'throw rocks' plan was. It bought Rainbow a little breathing room, and that's it!"
"But I—"
"No buts, Twilight. We're just going to have to leave this one to Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie." Rarity dipped her horn to enforce her point.
Just then, the trio heard a resounding scream from within the crush of bodies. Unlike the pained moans which emanated from the humans wounded by Applejack and Rainbow Dash, this scream had a very familiar voice.
Fluttershy's eyes opened wide as her pupils shrunk to pinpricks. "R-rainbow?" She whispered to herself. Twilight looked up to see one of Rainbow's legs outside the circle of humans... but only her leg.
The next few seconds were a blur to Twilight. There was some shouting at Applejack to pull Rainbow out of the battle. There was some shouting at Rarity to help Applejack move Rainbow. There was some shouting at Pinkie Pie to make a hole so the duo could escape. Twilight was fairly certain that she was the one doing most of the shouting, but it was difficult to remember looking back; Fluttershy was being pretty loud, too.
"HOW DARE YOU HURT MY FRIENDS?!" Tears were streaming down Fluttershy's face. There is an expression about 'glaring daggers' to describe an angry expression. While the traditional meaning of the expression is a valid description of how Fluttershy looked at the humans through her tears, a better description for this particular situation would be 'glaring javelins'.
For that is exactly what Fluttershy did.
In the air before Fluttershy, a javelin composed of light phased into existence. She grabbed the javelin in one hoof and threw it at the nearest human with all of her might. As the javelin flew through the air, it split into two. The two javelins split into four, then eight, then sixteen, and so on. By the time the phantom javelins connected with the group of humans, there were hundreds of duplicate javelins riddling all of the humans in the way. Half of the fighting humans lay motionless. The javelins vanished into thin air, and blood began to pool from the dozens of holes perforating their bodies.
Those humans who still lived stared in horror at their fallen comrades. They looked up at the pink and yellow horse who had felled half their warriors with a single stroke, dropped their blades, and ran.
Likewise, her four friends that weren't blind with pain stared at Fluttershy in mute disbelief. She sniffed and wiped away her tears with a hoof. When she spoke, it was the calm of somepony in shock who was coping by continuing to do what she did best. "Pinkie, bring me my pack. Quickly, we've got to stop Rainbow's bleeding."
Without a single word, Pinkie did as she was asked. Fluttershy trotted up to the center of the battle site to analyze the damage. One of the humans' swords had bisected Rainbow's left hock, and the blood didn't look like it would be stopping soon. She would bleed out without immediate attention. Rainbow had bit into her tongue due to the pain; while bloody, the wound was superficial. Beyond that, the cyan pegasus had remarkably suffered nothing more than a few scrapes and bruises.
Fluttershy put a hoof on Rainbow's side and concentrated. Her wounds continued to bleed, but Rainbow's cries and whimpers ceased as she relaxed and her eyes dilated.
Pinkie dropped the pack by Fluttershy's side. Without hesitating, she pulled out a length of some sort of smooth rope, and wrapped it around Rainbow's afflicted gaskin. She pulled the knot tight, and the small river of blood slowed to a mere trickle. Fluttershy pulled out a torch and lamp, lighting the former with the latter. Everypony held their breath as Fluttershy moved the blazing torch towards Rainbow's stump and winced as the flame was applied. Rainbow didn't even flinch.
Once the wound was cauterized, Fluttershy handed the brand off to be extinguished, not caring who completed the job. Fluttershy gave Rainbow a once-over on the other injuries, placing a cloth in her mouth to stem the blood from her tongue. Once she was confident it was safe, Fluttershy removed the tourniquet from Rainbow's leg and continued her ministrations.
The other four sat back and leapt to assist whenever and however Fluttershy requested it. Her bag seemed to have a never-ending supply of medical devices... or at least objects which Fluttershy was able to substitute for a medical device.
Fluttershy worked for nearly two hours, and nopony made a single sound except as required to assist in Rainbow's care. Throughout the entire ordeal, Rainbow didn't moan or cry – the only sound she made was a few contented sighs. Finally, Fluttershy stopped and let out a deep sigh. She turned back to her friends, caste mark glowing brightly, with a demure smile on her face.
Pinkie's lower lip trembled, "Is Dashie gonna be okay?"
Fluttershy nodded and said, "Yes. She's going to pull through just fine. She'll be lucid again in about an hour, and back on her legs in a couple days."
Twilight was astounded by the news. "Just a couple days? Fluttershy, that's incredible! Why didn't you ever apply at Ponyville General? Hay, why not Canterlot Medical Center?! Or start your own practice and name your own price?!"
Fluttershy squeaked happily and pointed to her forehead, where the golden disc still glowed. "When I said 'back on her legs', what I meant was 'back on all four of her legs'."
"So, Ah take it we don't need that?" Applejack pointed to the missing portion of Rainbow's leg where it had flown through the air and landed apart from the battle.
Fluttershy shook her head. "Reattaching limbs is very difficult, even with the proper tools. If I did reattach her limb successfully, she still probably wouldn't ever be able to walk properly again." Fluttershy turned to look fondly at her charge, and then scanned the human corpses surrounding her operational theater. "I'm a little scared of what I can do with this power, and I just know I'm going to have nightmares about today for a long, long time. Still, that same power allowed me to save Rainbow's life, and it's going to help her regenerate her leg, as well."
Applejack lifted the half-conscious pegasus and began carrying her up the hill, out of the gore. Pinkie Pie lifted some supplies from the now-abandoned human camp. The others gathered their scattered packs and joined Applejack on the other side of the hill.
An hour later, Rainbow Dash realized there was something cold and wet rubbing on her neck. She turned to see Applejack with a bucket of water and a red rag.
"AJ... What the hay do you think you're doing?"
Applejack dropped the rag in the bucket, where the water was slightly pink. "Ah'm givin' ya a sponge bath."
Rainbow narrowed her eyes. "You better not touch my hooves, AJ. You know I don't like ponies touching my hooves."
"Already did 'em while you was zonked out," Applejack said with a smug grin.
Rainbow dropped her head to the ground with a resigned sigh. "Well, if you're so set on giving me the spa treatment, could you scratch my back leg? It's itching like crazy!"
"Sure thing, buddy!" Applejack began to scratching near Rainbow's remaining rear chestnut. "Just tell me where ya want me to move to."
"A bit lower, but on the other leg."
Applejack stopped scratching, instead lifting her hoof to her mouth in concern. "Um..."
"Look, if you don't feel comfortable touching my cannon when you know I don't like ponies touching my hooves, I'll just do it myself." Rainbow's stump rotated forward as she reached back with a foreleg to where the lower half of her leg should be... only to whiff and hit air. "Huh?" Rainbow looked back to see what was wrong.
"AAAA!"
"Rainbow, calm down!"
"AAAA!" Rainbow's rebuttal was swift and to the point.
"You're gonna be fine!"
"AAAA!"
"Stop yer yellin'!"
"AAAA!" It was difficult to counter such a well-reasoned argument, but Applejack was stubborn and willing to try.
"Look, Fluttershy fixed you up proper; she says you'll be right as rain in just a few days!"
"AaAaAaAa!" Applejack had decided to advance the debate to the physical level, and it became difficult for Rainbow to formulate poignant points while being shaken.
Fluttershy decided to voice her own opinion on the matter, running up behind Rainbow in the middle of her monologue. Fluttershy pressed a hoof to the side of Rainbow's head.
"AAaahh..." The debate was settled; Fluttershy had won.
"Great," Applejack groused, "now she's gonna be catatonic for another three hours."
"Catawhat?" Rainbow's voice was the pinnacle of serenity. At the moment, she could give Princess Celestia a run for her bits on 'calm'.
Applejack looked to Fluttershy for answers, "What's goin' on? Last time you did that, she couldn't do no more'n sigh."
Fluttershy blushed. "Last time I was trying to keep her still for surgery. This time I just wanted to keep her calm."
Rainbow Dash stared at her stump with a mix of curiosity and confusion. "Oh look, my leg's gone missing. I do hope somepony finds it and returns it to me. I do so hate losing track of my belongings."
Twilight walked up with a steaming bowl of soup in the telekinetic grasp. "Is everything all right over here?" Rainbow began poking the stump; Applejack nudged her to stop.
"Rainbow freaked out a little bit over the stump thing. Fluttershy had to zonk her again."
Twilight cocked her head at Rainbow, still trying to fiddle with her injury. "She looks a lot more lucid than last time."
Fluttershy nodded. "I didn't push it quite so hard this time. I just... um... wanted her to be a little quieter."
Twilight stared off into the distance, thinking, then nodded and returned her attention to the pegasi and earth pony in front of her. "Lunch is ready. You two go get something to eat. I've already had some, so I'll help Rainbow."
Twilight sat down to feed the loopy pegasus while Fluttershy and Applejack stood to get their own bowls of soup. As they walked, Fluttershy's head drooped.
"Hey, what's wrong, sugarcube?"
"It..." Fluttershy shook her head and started again, "When Rainbow was screaming... I..." Fluttershy squeaked and returned to her long-practiced defense mechanism of hiding behind her mane.
Applejack drew her into a tight hug, and didn't let go. There were no tears, because the tears had already fallen. "There, there," she said as she lightly tapped Fluttershy on the back, "Ah think Ah know what ya mean." Rainbow's scream three hours ago had precipitated Fluttershy's attack on the humans, leaving nearly a dozen lying still in pools of their own blood. It had almost been the marker of Rainbow's own demise, as well. The events were not something anypony would soon forget, but for peaceful little Fluttershy – who had both been the one to kill the humans and been the surgeon operating on Rainbow – the events hit especially hard. Even though Rainbow's scream at her own phantom limb was different from the scream she released upon losing the original, it was still a scream in the same voice; Rainbow's scream would likely shake Fluttershy to her core for a long time to come, regardless of the reasons.
"Come on, sugarcube. Let's get something warm in that belly of yours."
Once Rainbow was fully lucid again, she was able to remain calm and collected about her missing leg. She had some difficulty standing up from the ground, but once she was up she could hobble at a decent pace. The group would not have to camp in one spot for days waiting for Fluttershy's magic to regenerate Rainbow's limb. All the same, Fluttershy insisted that Rainbow not be saddled with much weight; nopony argued the point – Applejack even volunteered to carry all of the weight Rainbow couldn't.
Over the next four days, Fluttershy inspected Rainbow's injury every time they stopped, and shared a tent with Rainbow at night. Every morning, it was obvious that Fluttershy had indeed worked magic into her healing; nopony should be capable of regrowing a limb once lost, and it certainly shouldn't make visible progress over night. On the morning of the fourth day after the 'incident', Rainbow even had something beginning to resemble a hoof, and her hobble was more like a limp. By late afternoon, the ponies spotted their destination.
There was no question whether they had arrived at the right place. In the center of a small, shadowy valley sat a pale miasma of red and purple. As the ponies moved closer, the miasma clarified to a building of red-crystal parapets and fortifications around a turreted central tower. When they approached within a few hundred spans, they could make out translucent ghosts floating around the exterior seeming to seek entrance to the tower.
The ghosts ignored the ponies as they passed, to their great relief – nopony wanted a repeat experience of the night outside Whitewall. As they drew near the structure itself, many sounds could be heard within.
Pinkie's ears swiveled rapidly, taking in all of the sounds. Finally, she gasped, "They're having a PARTY!"
Applejack arched an eyebrow. "Uh, what kinda party? Didn't you say The Lover was evil or somethin'?"
Pinkie dropped back to her hooves and her face turned a shade darker. "It's, um... an adult party."
Rainbow cocked her head to the side, "Huh? I don't get it."
"Her name is The Lover, dear," Rarity playfully bopped Rainbow on the nose. "You figure it out."
"Uh... oh. OH!" Rainbow's cheeks flushed.
Applejack turned towards the large red-stained oaken door marking the main entrance to the fortress. "So, how're we gonna get inside if'n they're having a great big orgy?" At her companions' silence, Applejack turned to find her friends staring at her in shock. "What? Do Ah got somethin' in my teeth?" The others shook their heads. "Was it somethin' Ah said?" The others nodded. "Are y'all being uncomfortable-like because Ah said 'orgy'?" Several cheeks turned pink. Or they turned pinker, in the case of Rainbow and Pinkie Pie.
Rarity recovered fastest. "I find that the simplest approach can often be most effective – like the dress I made for Twilight's birthday. To get in, we need only knock and ask for an audience."
Rarity walked up to the door and lifted the steel knocker in her telekinetic aura, rapping it smartly several times. Whatever the other Bearers expected the response to be, they did not expect what happened next.
"By the Third Pact bound for eternity at the Convention of Midnight," Rarity's voice echoed with an ethereal quality that permeated the soul and surely penetrated the thick door, "I hereby call upon my right as a Crowned Sun; grant admittance to your domain so that we may parley on matters of concern to two worlds." If her supernaturally harmonious voice weren't a clue, Rarity's solid white glowing eyes and billowing gold-silver aura confirmed beyond all doubt the nature of her sudden exaltation. The disc within a circle emblazoned below her horn might as well have been an afterthought.
Five heartbeats later, the door slowly swung open with nary a whisper. Standing in the entrance was quite honestly the most handsome unicorn stallion Rarity had ever seen. His coat was a pristine – nearly glowing – white; his mane was a silken gold expertly styled. His horn – Oh, Celestia, his horn! – was the longest and most elegant she'd seen on anypony besides the princesses. Beyond his physical perfections, he wore a red velvet and satin tuxedo that was at least twice as good as anything she'd seen before (made by her own hooves or otherwise). The tuxedo concealed his cutie mark, but that will just add to the excitement when I finally strip it—no! He is not some Sugarcube Corner confection to devour at will! He is surely a gentlecolt, and... am I drooling?
Rarity turned to the side to wipe her mouth, suddenly becoming very conscious of the horrid pack strapped to her back. She chanced a look at her friends to gauge their reaction to the stallion; both of the pegasi's wings were standing at full attention. Huh... I could have sworn Rainbow preferred mares. And... is Twilight drooling over somepony that isn't a book? That means I owe Pinkie ten bits!
"So," the stallion's voice was a silken blanket wrapped around Rarity's brain, "my Tear Eater messengers had told me there was an anathema channeling his powers through a small herd of horses. Imagine my surprise when I hear a Deceiver knocking at my door and invoking the Third Pact only to find a group of ponies."
The stallion lifted a hoof and pointed it at Rarity. A flash of black crossed his eyes, but nothing happened. He examined his hoof, and then looked back to Rarity, "So you're not simply horses, then. There is no Deceiver controlling a pony; there is a pony that is a Deceiver. How interesting."
Rarity cleared her throat, "Sir, we were—"
"Madam," the stallion interrupted.
Rarity blanched, "Um, I beg your pardon?"
"You may address me as either 'madam' or 'mistress'."
Rarity turned to look at her friends; Applejack looked as confused as Rarity felt, but Rainbow was looking at Rarity like she was a crazy pony. Rarity returned her gaze to the stallion and coughed politely into her hoof. "Er, perhaps we have gotten off on the wrong hoof. You are a gentlestallion, are you not?" The stallion cocked an eyebrow, and Rarity's heart skipped a beat. Rarity continued, "Permit us to enter, and perhaps we can clear everything up."
"You have already invoked the Third Pact, Deceiver, I cannot stop you." Rarity's eye twitched a bit at the title that the stallion continued to use for her. Still, it seemed to be the closest they would get to an actual invitation to enter. Rarity walked inside, and the moans of pleasure and scent of sex washed over her like a wave. Her ears folded back involuntarily, but she tried to hide her displeasure and she held her judgment; any place home to a stallion such as this had to have redeeming qualities.
Once everypony was inside, the door shut as silently as it opened – without anypony touching it. The stallion began to walk down the hall, and Rarity followed. "Now then, my name is Rarity Belle. My friends and I were told that The Lover resides here, and that she may be able to help us with a certain problem."
"If your problem is estrus, I'm sure you'll find a solution here. We have not had sentient beasts here in many centuries; a little bestiality may be just the thing to spice up the existences of some of the residents." The stallion paused, not noticing Rarity's deep blush when he mentioned such a personal issue so casually. "I am curious why you would wish to solve such a problem with the aid of The Lover, rather than, say, the Stallion-Lord of the Marukan Plains."
While Rarity may have flushed with embarrassment at the casual treatment of estrus, her flush deepened with rage at the mention of the Stallion-Lord. "I would ask that you do not mention that boor around us, good gentlestallion." Rarity took a few deep breaths to calm herself as the stallion gazed at her lazily. His gaze did not help her cool the fire under her skin, although it did replace the source with a different emotion. "I have given you my name; may I ask yours, so that I may know who to thank for directing us to The Lover?"
The stallion gave a wicked smirk, "Directing you to The Lover? Whoever said I would do that?"
Rarity sputtered for a bit, "But... the Third Pact...!"
The stallion turned to face her fully. "Miss Rarity Belle... I am The Lover."
Pinkie Pie spoke up, "But The Lover is a meany meany-pants human ghost! And you're a talking kumquat!"
"I'm a what?" The stallion asked flatly.
"A talking kumquat! Did I say it too softly? I've been hanging around Fluttershy a lot recently. Talking kumquat, Talking Kumquat, TALKING KUMQUAT!" Pinkie Pie bounced happily. "I mean, some ponies might mistake you for an orange, since you're not the size of a kumquat. But trust me; I know the difference between a kumquat and an orange."
"But Pinkie," Fluttershy whispered, "kumquats grow on shrubs, not on trees."
Twilight had been humming a song to herself, but her enjoyment caused her to sing a few of the bars aloud, "look at me: still talking when there's science to do..."
"Y'all are plum crazy," said Applejack, "that there's the finest piece a'stallion Ah ever did lay eyes on."
"Yeah, heh," Rainbow looked off to the side and rubbed the back of her head, "one hot stallion, all right! Heh."
The Lover pinched the bridge of his nose. "Let me just tell you that what I'm about to say has never left my lips in over three thousand years: this is too weird." The Lover shimmered, and in moments the stallion (or talking kumquat) was replaced by an elegant human woman. She wore thigh-high black leather boots with two-inch stiletto heels and a short red skirt with black trim which attached to a matching 'breast' plate that left little to the imagination. Deep blue – almost black – lace gloves stretched from her fingertips to her elbows and two golden bands were spaced along each arm to accent the gloves. The red and gold hat which rest on her head had a black veil hiding her hair, but not her face.
The Lover continued walking deeper into the fortress, leading the ponies past groups of humans furiously copulating (both living and dead – together as often as not). Those who were not actively feeding carnal desires were participating in other decadent acts: everything from gorging themselves on food while already sporting distended bellies, to imbibing obviously psychedelic substances.
Pinkie whispered to Rarity, "I never thought I'd say this ever, but I don't think this is my kind of party."
"As a representative of the citizens of Ponyville, I thank Celestia that's the case, dear," Rarity whispered back.
The group left the core of the orgy and began advancing on the central tower. Before reaching its base, however, The Lover's impromptu tour led the ponies past a group of ghosts who were each disfigured in some horrible fashion – dismemberment, for the most part. Despite their handicap, each of the ghosts was fumbling around in an attempt at personal release, and failing.
"Oh, my," was all Rarity could manage.
The Lover noticed her reaction and turned back. "Do you like my collection, Miss Rarity Belle?" The Lover smiled wickedly and ran a finger down Rarity's neck, sending a shiver down her spine, "You're welcome to help them if you like. After all, you're my guests." The way The Lover had stressed the word 'guests' made it difficult to determine exactly what she meant. Were the ponies prisoners? Would they be forced into the orgy taking place in the fortress? Was The Lover being legitimately welcoming? Was this merely a formality due Rarity for invoking the Third Pact? "Look there, Miss Rarity Belle," The Lover leaned into Rarity's ear to point out one of the ghosts. The frustrating thing was that her voice still felt as pleasurable as the stallion's had. "That's one of the celibate monks who called this place home before I arrived. Their purity protected the other people living here from a plague. Then I showed up, and I took the purity of every last one. The plague wiped out ninety percent of the people living here by the next morning.
"Now look at him. He's had no arms for seven centuries, and he's been mad with the desire for release for just as long. But he can't give it to himself. Won't you help him, Miss Rarity Belle?" The Lover's voice had turned sickly sweet, but her words horrified Rarity. The Syndics may have been correct that The Lover wasn't violent, but she was a far cry from a pillar of Harmony.
The Lover saw that the plight of the monk would not tempt the ponies – whether they were not that sort of virtuous hero or they simply couldn't get turned on by the human form didn't matter. She backed off and continued leading the ponies to the tower.
The interior of the tower was empty at its base, save for a spiral staircase hugging the interior wall leading to the top. Every cycle around the stair brought a closed door, with no indication of other beings behind it. At the top, The Lover opened the final door to reveal the entire floor taken up by a single bedchamber. The room was densely decorated with many warm colors; tapestries, throw pillows, couches, several ornate rugs, and an expansive poster bed in the center. Among the more normal accoutrements of the bedroom and hanging from the walls were the tools for more... exotic... forms of the same pastimes going on in the rest of the fortress.
As The Lover waltzed into the room, a stocky man with short brown hair wearing nothing but white canvas pants sat up from the bed. "Mistress, you have returned to me! Oh, this is a glorious evening. Command me, my mistress!"
The Lover reclined in one of the couches near the bed. "Good evening, Derrik. You may begin the evening by cleaning my shoes."
"Yes, mistress!" Derrik knelt before The Lover; rather than pulling out a rag or other tool for footwear maintenance, the man began to slowly lick the bottoms of The Lover's boots.
The Lover ignored the man salivating over her feet and looked to Rarity. "In order to invoke the Third Pact, you must have legitimate business with me. Out with it, then."
Rarity drew herself up to her full height and inhaled deeply. "As you might have guessed, we are not native to this land, madam." The Lover waved her to continue, "We were pulled here by an accidental interaction of a spell native to our land, and a spell being used by one who is perhaps an acquaintance of yours: The Dowager."
The Lover made a slight grimace, "I know the hag, but I rarely interact with her in any meaningful way."
"Yes, well. The only previously known route from to our home is via Cecelyne; I am told that while possible for exalted, this is not a journey to be taken by mortals. Unfortunately, we were transported here along with our entire town – while the few of us might be able to return home, it would not be home without the ponies living there.
"To further complicate the issue, we have reason to believe that the Well of Udr was sent to our home during the course of the transfer. The only way we know to get everypony home safely requires combining the Well's power here with a spell that only works there. If the Well is there, I think you may begin to understand the problem."
The Lover was quiet for a moment. Then, "So, you need an artifact to help you transport a few hundred mortals to another dimension?"
"I never said anything about another—"
The Lover raised her hand to interrupt Rarity. "The Well connects to alternate dimensions. You've swapped places with the Well. You're nothing like what exists elsewhere in Creation, and you're not Fair Folk. It's not hard to piece together." The Lover ran her fingers through Derrik's hair. "Still, whoever sent you to me was smart – and I don't like people I don't know about being that knowledgeable about me. I'll give you the information you need, if you consecrate our agreement on the price beforehand."
Rarity arched her brow, "Why would I do that?"
"Because," said The Lover, "the price that I want is in the same place as the artifact I intend to direct you to. What's to stop you from grabbing the artifact and returning to your own dimension, leaving me out in the cold?"
Applejack bristled with anger. "Hey! We're better ponies than that!"
"Applejack, it's okay," Rarity tried to calm the cowpony. "The Lover has no reason to trust us beyond our word."
"My word's as good as an Apple family apple pie after a hard day's work on the farm!" she growled.
"And my word can now be a magically binding contract which neither party is capable of breaking without grave consequences."
"... oh."
Rarity turned back to the Deathlord. Darrik had continued 'cleaning' The Lover's boots, but he'd begun climbing her leg. Beyond fondling his hair, The Lover barely registered his presence, so Rarity tried to ignore the display. "I accept your terms, but I must hear your price first."
"I request three things:
"I want the name of the one who sent you to me. They know more about me than they ought. Only one of my peers even has an inkling that there's more to my actions than decadence, and he barely scratches the surface with his suspicions. You've spoken with someone who knew I might have the answer you seek, and I want to know who they are.
"I also want two corpses. No, I don't want you to go back to the site of your fight with the Tear Eaters and bring me their bodies. I want two specific corpses. I know their location, but I'm unable to access them myself. The corpses are both in the same place as the artifact, hence my terms."
Rarity considered the price for a moment. "Who are these... corpses?"
"I can't tell you that. They're historical figures, so you may be able to find their last resting on your own if I tell you their names before consecrating the agreement."
"Fine then. What do you intend to do with the name we give you?"
"That would depend on whether the individual is a threat to me. If he's a threat, I will eliminate him. If he's not, I'll simply send a message to convince him to stop talking about me to others." The Lover paused. "Oh, and even if we don't make our little deal, I will eventually learn who you spoke to. Tracking the route of rainbow-colored talking ponies will not be difficult. Telling me is simply a convenience."
"And why do you want these two specific corpses?"
"I know the ghosts they belong to. Possession of their corpses would give me a measure of power over their ghosts."
Rarity looked to Twilight and Pinkie; the former would likely be able to figure out the consequences of the actions The Lover was requesting, and the latter had far more knowledge of this world than anypony else. Without even speaking, both nodded ascent. Rarity turned back to The Lover and said, "Very well. We accept your price."
Rarity held out a hoof, and The Lover gently clasped a hand around it (Derrik had reached the top of The Lover's thigh-high boots, and was showing no indication that he would stop soon). Her caste mark flashed, and a ring of golden light expanded from it, flying through everyone in the room and dissipating near the walls. "So it is bound, so shall it be," the unicorn and the Deathlord spoke in unison.
"The two corpses belong to men named Larquen Quen and Meherrin. They were Solar exalts in life, living at the time the Dragon-Blooded decided to usurp them. They fled the massacres with ten other Solars, intending to wait out the storm, as it were. The leader of the group was a man named Kal Bax, the greatest manse builder the world had ever seen, and likely ever will.
"Kal Bax designed a manse for the group of twelve to live in; he designed the manse to hide itself from the world. And he succeeded. But the demons Bax bound to the manse after building it proved a dangerous barrier for leaving, and the group slowly went stir-crazy – or perhaps simply crazy. There were a few murders, a suicide or two, and a 'disappearance' until finally all of them were dead. They wanted to escape death at the hands of the Dragon-Blooded, but they found it at the hands of their brothers. Quite poetic, really.
"The manse they built is called the Invisible Fortress. It is not truly invisible, but it is camouflaged and you cannot follow the Leylines to find it. The Fortress is almost fifteen hundred miles due east of here, but that is a poor route. Travel east approximately one thousand miles to the Silver River, cross it and continue south to the Blackwater River and the town of Wangler's Knob. The Invisible Fortress is three hundred miles northeast of Wangler's Knob, through lake, forest, mountain, and plain. You should be able to find it easily enough once you're that close – something about the place attracts the exalted.
"The artifact you're looking for will likely be in the Retreat, underground. It should appear as a round glass held vertical by two orichalcum horses – ironic, don't you think? I don't know exactly where Larquen or Meherrin are entombed, nor do I know the exact location of the artifact, but they'll all be within the fortress."
By the time The Lover had finished speaking Derrik was decidedly not licking her boots any more. The woman hadn't missed a beat. Rarity nodded thanks. "I suppose I can grant you a part of your payment now, then: We were directed to you by the Syndics of Whitewall."
"Cool, are we done, now?" Rainbow asked.
Twilight narrowed her eyes at the Deathlord. "If Kal Bax was such a brilliant builder and made this Invisible Fortress, how do you know so much about it?"
The Lover smirked. "One of the Solars was one Ozandus Pal. He sent letters to his Lunar mate speaking of many things in the Fortress. Care to take a guess where his mate lives now, little thing?"
Rarity's ears perked up. "You wouldn't happen to have any of those letters left, would you? They could be extraordinarily helpful in learning about the manse, and finding the corpses you need."
"A few of them remain preserved. It is late in the evening, and I assume your little city-god friends left you with plenty of warnings about my own fortress. Since you're going to stay anyway, take the bedroom on the third floor. Its last occupant recently passed into Oblivion. I'll have a meal sent up with the letters, and you can leave at sunrise."
"That's it?" Pinkie asked. "You're just letting us go?"
The Lover smiled, "Well, if I can convince any of you to stay longer, I certainly wouldn't complain. I haven't had any new exalts join my party in years, and certainly never a Solar... yet."
The ponies filed out of the room and the door closed behind them. Once they were out of earshot, The Lover grabbed Derrik by his hair and violently pulled him out from between her legs. "Send a message to Melkin Fool in Red. Tell her to suspend her activities with the Circus Moribund and wait for the pony Solars to arrive in the Knob. Then, she is to track the Solars unseen and send regular reports of their progress."
Derrik's demeanor shifted from that of a lovesick puppy to a faithful servant. He bowed, "Yes, my mistress."
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This is why you never let yourself get surrounded. Free surprise attacks are not fun, not fun at all.
Also: adding [sex] tag to this story, because orgy.
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As I have "View Mature" disabled, I suppose that means this story is now off my watch list. Bummer.
Ouch the Invisible Fortress run?
errrrr yeah, i kinda hope rainbow dash exalts before they get there. That is a particularly unfair place with tricks and very very lethal traps. Was famous for group wipes in first edition.
An invisible fortress run - for solars? That's a cakewalk. The invisible fortress is meant to be challenging to dragonblooded - not solars. Of course, that depends on how you scale the difficulties of the investigation and other checks from 1st Ed. to 2nd. Ed (or 3rd Ed if you're willing to wait to see if the rumors are true)
Also, a solar healer who doesn't have Instant Treatment Methodology? I shaggy doggy
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She needed the extra Charm for Wholeness-Restoring Meditation.
700 hundred years of humping even after death...wow. Slaneesh would shed a tear of joy about it.
¿Why would Equestria have the same pseudosciences as our world?:
Chiropractors believe that Innate Intelligence flows down from God in Heaven, enters the skull and flows down the spinal column, and gives life to the body. By manipulating the spinal column, they can cure diseases like cancer.
This practice on backs makes them very good at relocating dislocated vertebræ. One can think about them as half-priced physical therapists, but only capable of relocating dislocated vertebræ. Unfortunately, people with backpain and cancer go to chiropractors for backpain, but the chiropractors convince them that they can cure cancer. The cancerpatients die because backcracking does not cure cancer. I have a related anecdote:
I worked with Steward. Steward just happened to be a gay homosexual, which is much better than the self-loathing homoserxuals know as gay-hating preachers and antigay politicians —— ¡one knows that the more antigay a preacher or politician is, the more likely that he will be caught with a rent-bo!
1 day, Steward threw out his back. I explained that I could probably relocate his vertebræ, but that their is about a 1% chance of making things worse. He agreed to the cracking:
¡Crack! ¡Scream!
Everyone came running. Steward was stretching and twisting. Our coworkers asked what happened. Steward explained that I just made a kinky gay man straight. Our coworkers were confused. Steward explained:
He threw outs his back and was all kinky and in pain. I relocated his back, thus straightening him.
Everyone laughed. ¡Steward is a-time-and-a-half!
Lack of impulse control is her greatest weakness of Rainbow. She is lucky that she did not get herself and all of her friends killed.
I do not trust the Lover, but the orgy sounds fun. I really should avoid it for mine own safety, but it is tempting.