Burnt Offerings

by Spike the Scribe

Act Three Chapter Three

Sandpoint, 2 of Rova (Presumably 25 of October 1000 SR), Afternoon

"Aw shucks. Y'all didn't have ta come."

"Come now darling, what sort of friends would we be if we didn't check on you after that dreadful explosion?"

The girls and I were crowded around Applejack's bunk, each of us wearing a relieved smile after we found out for ourselves our farmer friend was okay. The place was crammed even if it was placed in the main part of the cathedral, barely a few square hoofs in total, but for the purposes of looking after an injured patient it was enough. Makeshift curtains marked the perimeter of her space as well as provided her with a sense of privacy, not that different from what was typical for hospitals back home.

"While Ah appreciate the concern, Ah'm sure y'all had better things ta do than lose yer time on me."

"Applejack, you should know full well that friends come first, no matter what."

"But Ah'm fine! Y'all are just loosin' yer time chekin' in on me."

"Yeah, right."

I couldn't help but agree with Rainbow's sentiment. While Applejack was okay, as in her life wasn't threatened by anything, there were still obvious signs that she went through a lot. Most prominent was her surprisingly shiny skin, an effect that I assumed was stemming from the fact she was covered in new, freshly regenerated tissue. Aside from that she was still lacking eyebrows and eyelashes, and she was missing her hair in a few places, the rest having to be significantly shortened, leaving her with barely one-third of their original length. At the very least her freckles were where they belong.

"Listen, Applejack. We came here because we wanted to, not because we had to. We're not doing anything against ourselves. We just wanted to see you."

"Ah… Ah know Twi. It's just… Ah'm usually the one visitin' injured kinfolk, not tha other way around, y'know. This' just… odd feelin', alright?"

"But you didn't break anything, did you AJ?"

"Uh… no? Ah dunno, ya have ta ask Fluttershy 'bout that Pinkie. Right now Ah don't think Ah have any broken bones or anythin'. Why are ya askin' that anyways?"

"Shoot! And I was hoping to sign your cast too."

"That's taking this a bit far, don't you think Pinkie Pie?"

Fluttershy was right, that was taking it a bit far. Still something Pinkie would probably say, but too far nonetheless. Come to think of it, since we came to the cathedral Pinkie seemed to act a little bit different than usual. She was still her cheery self, smiling widely and acting all hyper, but there was as if a subtle shift in her demeanor that until now I couldn't pinpoint. Her jokes seemed to become just a tad bit darker, like that one comment about loving the smell fresh beacon (Dash informed me it was a meat dish griffins were particularly fond of) the moment we entered the holy place. It was a bit unsettling, but nothing completely out of the ordinary, so I ignored it for the most part. What I couldn't ignore however was Fluttershy.

The first thing I noticed was that in addition to the clothes she got from Rynshinn yesterday, now stained red with blood of both goblins and the people she helped, she wore something looking kinda like a veil. Blue in color and decorated with a sun motif, I guessed it was given to her by Priest Naffer. It didn't do a good job in hiding her long, pink locks, though it did keep them from getting in her face, but I guess it wasn't meant to in the first place.

What was really noticeable was that the veil had a portion designed to cover ones face, and Fluttershy was taking full advantage of this feature. At first I couldn't for the love of me understand why she was wearing that. I mean I know she's shy and tends to hide behind the cover of her own mane and all, but this? Then it hit me however: the goblin dog spatter. It obviously had an ill effect on Fluttershy, covering her face with rather unpleasant-looking rashes. She was probably just trying to spare others from having to look at her, at least until she heals properly. Hopefully she won't be taking a liking to it though; it'd be a shame not to be able to see her face again…

Okay, I'm beginning to see a pattern here. First embarrassment about sharing a bed with Twilight, and now a casual comment about Fluttershy's beauty? Have I suddenly, oh I don't know, lost interest in Rarity or something? I stole a quick glance at her, just to be sure. Nope; she's still as gorgeous as ever. Then why in Tartarus do I have those thoughts? Ugh… better concentrate on Applejack, at least that's a safe topic. Wait, did she always have such green eyes? Ugh…!

"So, what did Ah miss? Where're y'all stayin'? An' when am Ah gonna be let out 'a here?"

"Why, is the food around here bad?" Rainbow teased, a smug grin on her face. Her joking remark however immediately brought the attention of Pinkie Pie, who gasped loudly and gave AJ a concerned look.

"Oh, you poor, poor thing! Here you are, stuck in a hospital/church/thingy, and none of us brought you anything yummy to eat. Don't worry, I'll try to sneak in some cupcakes next time we come visit."

"Pinkie Pie, Applejack is being released today, remember?" Twilight deadpanned.

"Oh, I know that silly. I'm talking about next time we're here to visit Applejack."

"But there isn't going to be a next time." At that Pinkie gasped, again, this time more dramatically, and pointed an accusing claw finger at Twi.

"Some friend you are, Miss Sparkle. Abandoning your friends in their hour of need, leaving them alone on the mercy of wicked doctors that are plotting to eradicate the populace by slowly poisoning us through their inferior foodstuffs. Shame on you!"

"…the pink one is unstable, right?" Trixie asked nopony in particular. Still, I felt inclined to answer, even if only to poke some fun out of her.

"That's tame in comparison to some things she does." I was barely able to hold in my snicker as I watched Trixie eye Pinkie warily and take a cautious step back. In the meantime Twilight had about enough of our party pony's antics.

"Oh, for Pete's sake… Pinkie! We won't be coming here next time to see Applejack because she's not going to be here anymore! She's going to be released today! Today!"

"I know that. I'm talking about next time."

"There won't be any next time!"

Finally taking pity on my lifelong companion I decided to help her out. Clearing my throat, I dared to poke her. "Um… Twilight?"

"What!?" …did she seriously just shout in my face? I have half the mind to just back out and let her suffer a mental breakdown.

"I think Pinkie's talking about next time somepony ends up here." Eh, I'm a goody four shoes, aren't I?

"…oh." You know what? I'm actually okay with being an overly good guy, if just so I can see Twilight like this more often. That completely embarrassed expression on her face is just priceless.

"Well, at least Ah know that now." AJ managed to squeeze in, taking advantage of the momentary pause in 'conversation'. "So… where are y'all staying? And can y'all keep it down a notch this time? Ah don' think mah neighbors appreciate listenin' to y'all yellin' yer lungs out."

The girls exchanged a few glances, in Twilight's case a sheepish one, and launched into a recount of the latter part of yesterday's events. However, as I was already familiar with all this, and most definitely didn't fancy sitting through all this again, I decided it wouldn't be terribly rude if I just slipped away.

Finding my way to the other side of the curtains I looked around the cathedral, wondering what to do. Much has changed inside the impressive stone structure since yesterday. With the pews removed to accommodate the injured, the church building looked more like a field hospital than anything. A number of cots lie scattered around the holy place, though most were by now vacant, the men and women they once served having been already healed. The few that still remained were either in no state to walk, some of them moaning slightly, filling the ambience with their voices, or like Applejack were waiting to be released. All in all, it really seemed like a makeshift hospital right about now.

Having nothing better to do at the moment I decided to explore the cathedral a bit. Walking deeper into the stone structure, I glanced around, trying to take in as much as I could. The dim, colored light shining through the stained glass windows cast the church into semi-darkness, the overcast weather blocking what little light the sun could provide. Only a number of lit candles did illuminate the darkness, along with several enchanted pieces of wood, glowing their white, artificial glow near the cots to ease the work of the priests busy tending to the wounded. Unlike the first time I was here, the cathedral's interior seemed to be more foreboding than inviting, the long, spindly shadows and colored illumination making for an unsettling blend. The few moans I could hear from the wounded only added to that feeling.

Shaking myself out of my stupor I pressed on, still feeling a chill creep up my spine. Trying to distract myself from my suddenly fearful thoughts I concentrated on the stained windows. Most of them depicted rather mundane things and actions, such as tending to the fields or boats on the sea, making the cathedral seem less of a sacral building and more like a peculiar-looking meeting hall. Between those however there were several others, those with a clearly sacral undertone. People praying, a beam of light shining upon them; priests tending to the wounded while white-clad beings looked upon them from above; a radiant knight battling a nightmarish monstrosity; those were just a few of the more religious illuminations I found. And then there were the big ones.

When the girls and I came visit Applejack, we once again were greeted by the sight of two large, stained glass windows with that loosely clad woman and that cloud- and wave-made duo. Both looked as impressive as I remembered them to, the craftsmanship easily rivaling that of the royal glassmaker back in Canterlot. But it was only after that second visit that I noticed both windows had small portions under those figures dedicated to a small line of text. I quickly figured those were names of the figures the artistic windows depicted, gods if I wasn't mistaken, and after a quick check I was assured of that indeed being the case. The single woman was called Shelyn, with the words "the Eternal Rose" added, a title I guess. The duo in turn was called Gozreh, and I mean the duo. They both wore the same name. Or there was something else at play here, I don't know. The best I could tell was that they were titled as the Wind and the Waves, which at least made sense of why they were depicted how they were. Those two however weren't the only ones.

As I went deeper inside the cathedral building I came across another set of two large stained glass windows. Actually curious how the locals saw their equivalents to the princesses I wasted no time in studying them. The first one depicted a large man wearing a set of gold plated armor (or actual golden armor, I'm not sure), with an armful of scrolls in his grasp and a number of keys hanging at his belt. He had a nicely trimmed dark beard and was pointing at something, as if explaining something to somepony. The text underneath him identified the man as Abadar, the Master of the First Vault, whatever that meant. The second one… well, that's where things got weird.

Up until now every god or whatever the individuals in those windows are were for the most part human. I mean sure, that Gozreh-duo was basically made out of water and clouds, but you could still see that they were human. The one depicted in these colorful plates of glass too was decisively human, at least in body type. With two arms and two legs and clad in clothes in earthy colors he reminded me of that one guy from the forest, Einael Solaris or whatever his true name was. In fact, with the figure crouching as if preparing for an ambush and with a cocked bow the familiarity was really strong. However there was one thing that prevented me from really calling the figure human, and it was its head. For you see, it was something quite unexpected and creepy at the same time.

The figure had a stag's head.

Yeah, I know how that sounds. Ridiculous, right? I mean come on, it's like imagining Twilight in her humanoid form with a pony's head on her shoulders. Unfortunately, that was precisely how this thing looked like. A human-thingy with the head of a proud deer, glaring into the distance with its dark eyes and with its mouth half open, as if preparing to let out a shout. It… just creeped me out, you know? I barely even noticed it's name written underneath it, Old Deadeye Erastil. I just wanted to be as far away from that creepy thing as possible.

Hurrying along and trying to distract my mind from the mental image of that thing I barely paid attention where I was going. All I knew for sure was that I was walking deeper still into the cathedral. Therefore it was to no surprise that I almost walked straight into a pillar. Having my face almost planted in its side I finally took stock of where I was going, and happened upon something I wasn't expecting to see. And yes, it was in the form of yet another pair of large stained glass windows.

The moment I laid my eyes on the decorative illumination I was instantly reminded of a certain pair of royal siblings. With dark blues, purples and specks of white on one side, and reds, pastel blues and yellows on the other, this pair just screamed Celestia and Luna at me. I was even half expecting to see them here, depicted in all their alicorn glory, but instead I was greeted by two beings completely alien to Equestria. And it was at that moment that I decided Rainbow Dash should not be allowed this deep inside the cathedral. I'm pretty sure she'd otherwise throw a fit at what I saw.

As with the earlier sets of stained glass windows, these two also were dedicated to a duo of what could only be called supernatural beings. The one on the left, with all the warm colors in its color scheme depicted a tall, copper-skinned woman clad in garbs similar to the ones Priest Naffer wore. With red, pastel blue, gold and even a speck of pink she was really easy on the eyes, and the warm smile she was depicted with seemed extremely inviting, reminding me strongly of Princess Celestia. She wasn't however all smiles and pleasantries it seemed, for there was a number of things that made her look both radiant and dangerous at the same time. Her hair, if you could even call it that, was a long tongue of fire, circling her whole body like a protective layer. In one hand she held what I could only describe as a miniature sun, shining even in this dim lighting, and in the other she had a long, curved blade, also made from fire. Her most striking feature however was a giant pair of white-feathered wings sprouting from her back, a testament to her ability to soar in the sky like an eagle. The small line of text beneath her identified this figure as Sarenrae, the Dawnflower, enforcing the image of an analogue to Princess Celestia.

The window on the right was starkly different. With a much colder spectrum of colors, it would be easy for it to be less pleasing, especially when it was such a stark contrast to the one with Sarenrae. It wasn't however. In fact, it was probably even more inviting than the one with the Dawnflower. It depicted a woman, a naked, pointy-eared woman with a whispery mane of black hair. I could even see specks of white in her hair, as if stars were trapped in them. The woman, despite being naked as I pointed out before, was by no means indecent. She was surrounded by a whispery swirl of silvery light, running the length of her body and leaving only glimpses of her skin to see. As in the case of Sarenrae, she too had a pair of large wings (see the pattern here?), though hers were completely different from the ones worn by the sun-themed deity. She had gigantic butterfly wings, easily taking up most of the stained glass window she was on, with a deep blue coloration that strongly reminded me of the night sky, and in extension the old depictions of Princess Luna. Looking down at her name: Desna, the Song of the Spheres, I could only marvel at the uncanny similarities between those two. The only thing she lacked was a moon for the image to be complete.

I'm not sure how long I stayed there, staring at the two familiar yet alien images. I know my mind went back to the times before we were torn from Equestria, barely forty eight hours feeling like a lifetime already. I remembered seeing Princess Celestia rise the sun on many occasions and the old stories Twilight regaled me when I was younger of how Princess Luna did the same with the moon, no doubt second-hoof accounts from the only live witness of those events. I recalled all the times I actually got to speak with the Princess myself, how she always was like a second mother to me, always willing to listen and provide me with her millennium worth's of wisdom. And it was then that it finally hit me: we were stuck here, stranded like castaways on a foreign shore, with no way to come back home within our grasp; that we were the only Equestrians here, strangers in a strange land, where even the sun and moon were different and governed by foreign powers.

All because of it.

"Say what you want about the bipeds, but they most definitely know how to make impressive artwork." I was brought back from my musings by a voice I didn't quite expect. Looking to my left I was greeted by the site of the last mare I'd see striking up a conversation with me.

Trixie stood not five hoofs from me, her arms crossed as if in boredom, and she studied the window depicting the Song of the Spheres. I couldn't quite read her expression, she was adept at wearing whatever mask she needed at the moment, but I could say that she was genuinely interested in the stained glass. She hardly even spared me a glance, as if I was of no consequence, a part of the background, but I was quite sure she directed her earlier words at me. And as much as it pains me to admit it, I was actually thankful for the distraction. Celestia knows how irritated I became the moment I thought about the white freak that brought us here.

"Agreed." I finally managed a response, looking back at the windows. "That's some impressive craftsmanship right here."

From the corner of my eye I could see Trixie nod slightly. Huh, would you look at that… she's actually agreeing with me on something. As nice a change of pace this was however I still needed to address the elephant in the room.

"Any reason why you're here? I mean besides admiring the art?" I could feel the glare she sent me on the side of my head but ignored it.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie goes wherever she wants, and she does not need to explain herself to such lowlifes as you." And it was actually pleasant a few moment ago. Oh well. "Besides, this is a public building; there are no rules preventing Trixie from wandering about if she so pleases."

"Yeah, yeah, forget I even asked." I muttered, shaking my head at her response. "It's not like I expected a straight answer anyway."

"If you truly must know than Trixie decided that she had enough of the company she was with. She can take only so much accusations before she grows tired of them, especially if the accusations have nothing to do with what actually happened." So… she tells me anyway. She must really love the sound of her own voice. Aside from that however I knew exactly what she was referring to. It's not like Rainbow was subtle about it.

"Well, truth be told you did fire a freezing spell at Rainbow Dash. It's hardly a surprise she's taken it personally."

"And Trixie explained it time and again that she did not assault the featherbrain." She replied hotly, I guess irritated by the fact she had to explain it again. She was doing just that the whole way from the Rusty Dragon to the cathedral, it could get on the nerves of anypony. "The Great and Powerful Trixie was practicing spells found in the book left by her admirer, not actively assaulting the rainbow maned one. And if that idiot knew the meaning of decorum she would've knocked first. That way Trixie would have enough time to cancel the spell or at least direct it somewhere else. If anything, it's her own stupidity that is to blame for the whole situation, not Trixie."

"Yeah, sure…" I replied halfheartedly, my mind somewhere else entirely. The moment Trixie mentioned the 'book from an admirer' I was momentarily reminded of our nighttime visitor. I could somewhat understand why he (at least I'm fairly certain it's a he) 'paid a visit' to Twilight, but why in the wide, wide world did he drop by Trixie too? It only took a single glance at the showpony's waist to notice an almost identical book to the one Twilight has firmly secured to her belt, her cutie mark proudly displayed on the front cover. As if that wasn't enough though Trixie had been gifted with one more thing, a fact she was determined to flaunt to the best of her ability in front of Twi. Just to the side of the book Trixie had secured a star tipped wand, an exact replica of the one on her cutie mark, and apparently she was able to use it to cast her own spells instead of having to figure out how to maneuver her hands and fingers to achieve the same results. In her opinion it was probably a show of superiority or something, but if you ask me, it was a crutch.

"Hello, Equestria to lizardbrain!" I was brought back to reality by a hoof hand waving just in front of my face. Startled, I stumbled back, sending a glare at Trixie as I went.

"What?" I barked out, annoyed. I was half expecting to see a smirk on her lips, but instead I was greeted by a serious, and rather intimidating if I do say so myself scowl.

"Trixie can't believe she has to talk with such an airhead… oh, how low hath she fallen." I'm seriously beginning to get annoyed here. If she's not going to tell me what's this all about within the next five seconds I swear I'll… "No matter; there are things Trixie needs to know, and as loath as she is to do so, she has no other choice but to ask you to tell her the answers that she seeks."

"…huh?" Seriously, that's all I managed to come up with. What could she possibly want from me? Well, I was about to find out, might as well go with the flow for now.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie does not expect a lizard such as you to comprehend the intricacies of applied magic, yet she could not help but notice you utilized magic-like effects far sooner than Sparkle or any of her other minions. As loath as she is to do so, Trixie has to admit that you have also managed to forestall her in this endeavor. Therefore Trixie has no other choice but to ask how you managed to complete a feat like that? You were not a magic-using species before, you should not have any magical abilities of your own, yet it was you who first showed any real aptitude towards the arcane, and without the need to refer to any outside sources of mystical knowledge. How is that possible?"

I should've known she'd ask me about that. If Twilight was interested in how I managed to use magic, then so would Trixie. Problem is, that was a million bit question I would like to know the answer to myself. It still boggled my mind that for some nondescript reason I could work magic, and it was even more confusing when I couldn't replicate the magic Twilight had in that book of hers. Right now however none of this was really important. I had myself a golden opportunity to bring her to heel. After all, I 'had the answers she was looking for'.

"And what makes you think I'm about to tell you that, hmm…?" I replied, trying to mask my triumphant smirk at the site of her surprised expression. "You insult me and my friends, you criticize us, and as if that wasn't enough you constantly whine like a spoiled brat. A pony like that really isn't somepony I would want to share such mind-blowing secrets with. So, either you start to behave, or the best you'll get out of me is that my sheer awesomeness lets me bend the fabric of the universe." Yeah, you tell her me! Maybe I'll even manage to make her start to behave a little less r… why do I feel a chill run down my spine? Oh, yeah, Trixie's glaring daggers at me and is storming up to me.

Help!

"Listen here, midget! Trixie doesn't have the patience to play your stupid little games." She's still storming up to me, forcing me to back away. At least, she was forcing me back until my back ended up against a pillar. "Either you tell Trixie what she wants to know, or she'll force it out of you." And now she kneels to get on my eye level, pinning me to the pillar with her hands.

I'm a goner, aren't I?

"H…hey, l-let's be reasonable about this, okay?" I managed to stutter out, looking around wildly in search of a way out. "I-I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement, he-he…" That laugh died in my throat the second I noticed the amused glint in her eyes, making me feel even less sure of myself.

"Did you know that Trixie's spellbook contained a shrinking spell, specifically designed to reduce impertinent little dragons that refuse to cooperate? Unfortunately, Trixie didn't have the opportunity to test it. Would you like to be her test subject?" Deer sweet merciful Celestia, please let this only be a bluff.

"Can I get back to you on that? I think I heard somepony call me. I think it was Twilight… umgh!" That went about as I expected it to. The moment I started shouting Trixie covered my mouth with her hoof hand and that's as far as I got. And of course it served only to irritate her further. Leaning over to me, she glared me in the eyes and whispered with poorly concealed venom:

"I'll give you one more chance, lizard. Now: talk!" She's mad, there's no denying it. And to think I was afraid of Pinkie… There's no telling how she'll react when she learns that I'm as much in the dark as she is. Well, here goes nothing.

"I…"

"Aren't you two lovebirds with those girls from yesterday?" A strangely familiar male voice asked from behind Trixie's back. The sudden interruption, as well as the odd question in itself led to a rather easy to predict reaction on our side.

"Huh/mmuf?" Eloquence for the win. Either way Trixie turned her head a bit to see who was behind her, allowing me to see who it was myself. I quickly recognized the guy as the same one from yesterday, just moments before I passed out. Belor was it? Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's his name and… wait, what did he just say?

I wasn't the only one who realized what Belor's question implied. Trixie for all her faults wasn't stupid, and she quickly connected all the dots. Which, coincidently, led to her freeing me from her pin and jumping to her feet, facing away from me with an undignified huff, and… wait, was that a blush? Nah, it must what little light falls through the stained glass. Besides, it's not important. What really matters is that I'm free from her clutches, and I plan on it staying that way.

"Oh, don't mind me, you just point me in the direction the rest of your merry band is and I'll leave you to your… uh… fun." Seeing Trixie's reaction the local law enforcer seemed to draw the wrong conclusion, not to mention look awkwardly to the side, but that's okay. In fact, it gave me an opening.

"Nah, don't sweat it. The mood's gone either way so… yeah." I should really consider applying to an acting school. I mean the way I played along seemed to even confuse Trixie there for a moment, and Belor seemed none the wiser, so yeah. Bridleway, here I come!

"Sorry 'bout that. Didn't mean to…" I waved off his apology before he could finish.

"I already said: don't sweat it." Flashing him an assuring smile I quickly made my move. "So you're looking for the girls? I can take you to them." The feeling of being watched is back again. Bet Trixie finally caught up and was glaring a hole in the side of my head.

"I'd be much obliged." Belor nodded and stepped to the side, allowing me to lead the way. Before I did that however I glanced at Trixie, intent of flashing her a 'I win' smile, only to meet her glare that seemed to convey a simple message.

"This isn't over yet. And I'll get you back for this."

Yeah… my future is nothing but sunshine and rainbows from here on out, isn't it?

Comments

[DX-1118 C]

IT LIIIIIIIIIIIIVES!

[Trevor12300]

MAN SPIKE COULD TAKE TRIXIE DOWN IN ONE HIT

[King of the Mad]

I am still thinking about what happened with spikes hands at the beginning of the goblin invasion. Also good job with the writing, but there are some words you do consistently have trouble spelling.

[DDDDDDDDD23]

Spike is magic while trixie uses magic.