//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: The Collapse // by Lightwavers //------------------------------// Twilight prodded the scraps of metal with her hoof. “Yep. Those are definitely runes.” Runes were basically unicorn magic that every race could do, though if you were a unicorn it would be impractical in the extreme to use them unless you were really opposed to mental magic, and even then they would only really be useful for spells that you wanted to keep using without having to maintain it with your own magic. Twilight could recognize a bunch of them from her classes; as an earth pony, professor Radiance had to use runes to teach his classes. She’d even inadvertently memorized a bunch of sequences and what they did. But the miniaturized and extremely complex sequences of characters carved into the inside of the armor were beyond anything she’d seen. They were set on places that anyone putting it on would be extremely unlikely to find unless they were looking, or the armor was torn apart like this. That didn’t necessarily mean anything, though. Their unusual placement could merely be to keep them from burning whoever wore the armor. And the fact that they were on the inside of the armor could just be for their protection. When in use, runes grow hot, and even the slightest touch could smudge an inscription, making it useless. “So I was right. And they call me a traitor,” Gilda muttered, glowering at the metal. “Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Twilight said, leaning over the armor. It wouldn’t do to have Gilda wrecking the remaining pieces in a rage. Griffons were notorious for getting angry extremely easily, and she wanted to keep these runes intact for as long as possible so she could study them. It might be weeks before everyone was situated and she could get her spells working again. “Don’t worry, you can have it,” Gilda said with a bitter laugh. “I don’t want anything they gave me.” Twilight noticed that she was still standing protectively over the ruined armor. She coughed and stepped away from it. “So…cold weather we’re having, huh?” she said. Rainbow stepped up beside Gilda. “Hey. It’s probably just a misunderstanding. Your family wouldn’t—” “Stop!” Gilda barked. Rainbow Dash blinked and stepped back. “Just...stop. You don’t know my family. You’ve never met them. And even if this wasn’t their fault, someone with a lot of power in my House wants me dead. The only thing I can do is lay low for now.” “So how about that forest, huh? It’s crazy times we live in, guys. Crazy times!” Twilight said, walking forward and putting herself between Gilda and Rainbow Dash. “But you’ll never know unless you talk to them! You can’t just keep something like that to yourself, you’ll explode!” “How about that eternal night thing we’ve going on? Don’t want to keep that to ourselves, do we? No we do not. Let’s all talk about it!” Twilight tried. “Yeah? Well what about you? You lost your magic. You can’t even fly anymore. How can you say I’m keeping stuff to myself when you won’t even mention it!” “It’s—It’s different, alright! This is something you can fix—” “Good idea,” Gilda said with a glare. “Let’s go fix your little magic problem. I needed a vacation anyway.” “What? You too? It’s still suicide to go into the Everfree, you numbskulls!” Twilight said, abandoning her attempts to change the subject. There was a pause while griffon and pegasus glared at each other over Twilight. “Fine,” Rainbow Dash said. “Fine.” Gilda and Rainbow Dash walked away without looking back at each other. “You’re going to get yourselves killed!” They ignored Twilight’s shout. With a sigh, she sat back and turned her attention back to the armor. Maybe she would learn something. She’d never studied runes before, though. She hadn’t thought she’d need them. She wished she could go back to the library. Everyone clustered around the tiny hill that the professors stood on. Amber, Veracity, and Luminescence’s horns lit up with spells Twilight couldn’t detect without her own templates. “We’ve been scrying the nearest port cities,” Amber said, her voice cutting through the low hubbub of the crowd, which went silent at her words. “It’s…worse than we thought. Buildings are either on fire, rubble, or taken over by griffons. The ships are gone. We’ve been discussing our options, and our best bet is to go north. Anyone who still wants to try for a port city can follow Veracity. Those who want to try experimenting with the Everfree can go with Radiance.” What? No, they couldn’t split up! What if the griffons came back and decided to attack? What if something else happened? Twilight opened her mouth to speak up, to protest against the decision, but the professors were already stepping off the hill and everyone else was beginning to argue. “Yes! We’ve got a professor! Shield: check.” Twilight looked around and found Rainbow Dash punching the air next to her. “Rainbow, stop. He’s obviously not going into the Everfree. Professor Amber said he’s just going to experiment,” Twilight explained. “And you actually believe that?” Rainbow Dash jumped into the air and flapped her wings, then thudded back down to earth with a surprised look. A scowl spread across her face. “Uh, yes! A professor would never lead students into that kind of danger, especially without explaining where they were going.” Rainbow Dash just turned her scowl at Twilight and then stomped off. Twilight shook her head helplessly. Rainbow wasn’t thinking rationally. Her lack of magic made her want to do anything that might get it back, but all she was going to do was get herself killed. Can you really blame her? If the Everfree had taken your magic away, wouldn’t you do anything to get it back? Twilight shook the thought away. That wasn’t the point. She would really want to go to the Everfree, of course, but she would consider the risks and determine that it wasn’t worth it. But then again, professor Radiance was going to the Everfree. He could probably make some sort of runic shield that would allow Rainbow Dash to go explore a bit. And as long as Rainbow thought she was doing something, she would probably stay at the edges. Plus, who knows; she might actually find a clue as to where the Everfree’s victims and stolen magic went. Maybe Rainbow’s plan wasn’t that bad, if she was prepared. But the way she’d presented it had been so stupid that Twilight hadn’t even had to think about it for more than a second before she opposed it. But where else could she go? The north was just a stopgap measure. If the Everfree did stop because of the cold, then it would just be a waiting game until the cold and lack of food caused everyone to starve. And that was without the endless night. And Twilight was a magic researcher in training. The Wonderbolts and whoever else was no doubt researching the Everfree would probably welcome extra help. At the very least, she could act as a magic battery. Twilight started walking in the direction Rainbow Dash had gone. Yes, there was an element of danger in everything, but you couldn’t just charge into it. She had to explain that some things needed preparation.