//------------------------------// // Chapter XLIV: Path // Story: Memoir of Misery // by Silvak //------------------------------// "Hmm... you're slow on your gathering of water. You could be caught in a fight at any moment, so you don't have the option of building up a mass of water for you to use for combat." "But... the nearest water source was that lake over there." "A lake that was a mile away, meaning the water has to travel that distance before you could even use it, leaving you vulnerable in the meantime. You need to stop looking around for sources of water with your eyes and feel it out with your magic. Beneath us, there could be underground reservoirs of water that could be closer to you. Even the very air has water in it, which if you could master pulling it into a solid form, you can use it for a quick defense until you gathered more water from larger sources. Now, close your eyes Sapphire, and use your magic. Feel for the water that is nearby you, and take hold o—" "Gah! What the buck!" Sapphire cried out as she sat straight up, having been awakened by a rush of cold water on her face. "Huh. And here I thought that the water would just bounce off her and hit me in the face. I guess you can wake up the Princess of Water with just a bucket of ice-cold water," muttered a member of the Night Guard who was holding a now empty bucket. Blinking in surprise, Sapphire looked around, spotting that she was surrounded by guards with Luna standing beside her, an eyebrow cocked up as she dryly said, "As I stated, Sapphire is simply fine. While a normal pony would be in danger if an alicorn were to strike them with their hoof, Sapphire herself is an alicorn, and hence it can be compared to a regular pony punching another regular one. Now, the duel is over for the day, so return to your posts or your training." As the guards all gave Luna a salute before dispersing, Sapphire grumbled to herself, "I told you that I wasn't ready for a duel with you," as she climbed onto her hooves before being forced onto her belly while Luna gave her a hard slap to her back. "Nonsense! You did fine for your first duel with me. In fact, when I returned from... my banishment, and had recovered to my original power, I challenged Cadance to a duel. Where you have made an effort to dodge and make a surprise attack, my niece instead simply ran away from me in fear. I actually had to drag her into the training fields as she tried to hold onto any object she could use to slow me down," Luna commented with an amused snort. "So by comparison, you're far more ready for a duel with me than your sole peer." "Yay... that makes me feel so much better," Sapphire replied with a roll of her eyes before taking on a serious expression as she remembered the memory she just recovered. "Though... after you knocked me out... I did actually recall a lesson from Runic." "Oh? Pray tell, what did you happen to remember?" Luna asked in a curious tone as she inched closer to Sapphire. "It was a lesson about me drawing water from other sources than the visible ones. Though I didn't see the end of it since I was woken up while near the end of the lesson, if I'm right about that," Sapphire stated as she rubbed her chin in thought. "Interesting. If that is something that you're truly capable of, then perhaps you should pursue it. Your control over water is impressive, but to be able to bring it out of places that nopony would suspect in the first place would be very effective in surprising any hostiles that desire to confront you. Do you believe that you can follow on with your teacher's lesson?" Luna replied as glanced around the area, keeping an eye out for any other sources of water besides the city and the bay. "Hmm... I can give it a try," Sapphire answered as she closed her eyes to shut off her visual senses as she focused on her magic. At first, she could detect the water present in the bay as well as the water used by the city, but she then began to detect pockets of water deep beneath the ground. Pouring more energy into her horn, Sapphire started to detect the very water molecules in the air, which she then began to grab onto, trying to gather them into a single point. Meanwhile, she was also tugging at one of the underground pockets of water, curious to see if she was capable of bringing out water through the ground itself. Opening up her eyes, Sapphire's pupils widened alongside Luna's as they saw a sphere of water growing in the air before a tendril of water came out of the ground. "It seems that I can actually do that as well," Sapphire said. "Indeed, though that may be something that you want to keep to yourself. It is always best to keep a few trump cards just in case of a hostile situation. You may gain some enemies in the future, thus having some secrets that they can't account for could be very useful in saving yourself if you're ever in danger," Luna pointed out, causing Sapphire to frown as she looked down at the ground. "That's another reason for not wanting to be an alicorn..." Sapphire muttered out. Rolling her eyes, Luna simply lit her horn up and lifted Sapphire into the air, causing her to frail a bit as she said, "Hey, what are you doing?" "I'm taking you back to the town hall for your lessons," Luna declared as she took to the air, dragging Sapphire along for the ride. "What? But I'm supposed to have a day off from all my duties!" "Yes, I did promise you that, but I didn't say it would start right after the sparring match. I will schedule your day off on a day that would be most convenient for you," Luna explained as she kept her attention in front of her. "But that's not fair!" "Life is never fair, young Sapphire. Though I believe that you should have learned that lesson a long time ago," Luna countered as she continued on with her flight. "Come on, let me know more about myself!" "As I said before the last forty times, no." "Sapphire, I really think that this approach is unlikely to work." "Well, it worked for Pinkie Pie in one of Twilight's letters to me," Sapphire countered, glaring at Veritas who was currently in the form of a snake that was curled up on top of a cushion that Sapphire knew was never in her memory hall. "That doesn't instill much confidence in me. In fact, that only makes me question the validity of this strategy even more," Luna replied with a roll of her eyes. "Oh ye of little faith. Pinkie may seem a bit crazy at times... well, more than a bit, but her methods have proven to work," Sapphire responded before turning her attention back to Veritas. "Please tell me more about my memories!" "Oh for the love of the moons, will you just shut up!" Veritas cried out as she tried to bury her head in her cushion. "There's that phrase again, 'the moons'. Do you happen to know the meaning of that phrase?" Luna asked, causing Veritas to pull her head out of the cushion to glare at Luna before a smirk made its way onto her lips. "Why yes, it is a reference to the moons on your flanks, but more specifically, it me—" Veritas started to explain before darting forward as Luna jumped onto the chair in an attempt to grab the mind construct with her hooves. "How dare you insult us, you mental projection of uncouth annoyance!" Luna cried out as she turned around, her horn alight with her magic as she was ready to sling some spells at Veritas. "What do you expect me to say after hearing my host asking me the same question over and over?" Veritas shot back as she slithered between Sapphire's hooves, who grimaced in disgust at the action before stepping to the side. "Hey, be a good host and shield your tenant with your body!" "Like Tartarus I would if you're not going to be of any help to me unless you do it on your own whim," Sapphire stated as she backed away from Veritas, who looked at a rather irate Luna that was ready to blast him into oblivion. "Besides, if you're a tenant, then I say it's about time you pay your rent!" Rolling her serpentine eyes, Veritas stated, "Alright alright, I'll give you a hint, but you won't be getting anything else from me for a week, and that Luna here doesn't attack me during that duration, even if I verbally antagonize her." As Sapphire glanced at Luna, hoping that she would comply, Luna snorted as she glared at Veritas for a moment longer before her aura around her horn went out. "If you actually have proven to be of aid to us, I will uphold my end of this bargain. But only if you actually tell us something of use to us." Smirking at Luna, Veritas did a mocking bow towards Luna as she said, "I promise, dear 'ruler' of the dream realm, that I will be of aid to the both of you. Depending on what you ask, that is," before glancing at Sapphire. "Or more specifically, depending on what Sapphire asks of me." Frowning at how elusive Veritas was trying to be, Sapphire took in a deep breath as she thought about what she would need to recover her memories and the way to word it. "Okay, I'm tired of this rather slow pace of regaining my memories. I know that your disapproval of any attempts to brute force the recovery of my memories, but I also think that you know of some way that I can recover them faster. So, Veritas, what is the best, and fastest, way for me to recover my memories in rather large amounts instead of the pieces I get each night?" Pressing her lips together, Veritas stared at Sapphire as she answered, "Are you sure you want to ask that? Cause I do have an answer to that, but you're not going to like it. And it's not because I'm trying to weasel my way out of this!" as she pointed her tail at Luna, who simply scowled at the mental construct. "Yes, I do want to ask about that. I need to know my past, and I rather not take years to do that if there’s actually a faster way to do this," Sapphire stated as she stood up as high as she could in a show of how determined she was about this. Sighing, Veritas replied, "Oh very well. Here's your answer: you can actually recover a large portion of your memories if you confront your nightmares. Each of those infernos represents a harrowing time in your past, in more ways than one if I might add. So, if you want to recover the entirety of your memories, you have to overcome them, but I must warn you. Luna will not be able to truly aid you in this challenge, but the training that your teachers gave you would be crucial to you overcoming them. Otherwise... you might be lost to the nightmares of your past," Veritas declared, which prompted Luna and Sapphire to look upon each other. Gulping at the thought of facing that monster again, Sapphire said, "Okay... at least that’s something... but do the other two infernos have monsters in them as well?" Receiving a gesture from Veritas of her zipping her mouth shut, Sapphire sighed again as she looked at Luna, adding, "I guess we have to have more sparring matches if I'm going to overcome those... nightmares... oh joy."