"Are you sure this person can be trusted Bonbon?" he asked as he got dressed "Not that I don't trust your judgement or anything, but given the nature of my magic crest..."
"Yes. She's very isolated. Very cagey. But there also is the caveat: she demands a toll, something of equal value for the reading she does. Which is exactly why you'll be fine. There are mages who would trade their entire life's work for even two seconds in your crest memories. If you allow her to access them not only will you be able to learn Clover's past, but she'll pretty much be indebted to you for life."
"And she'll keep the bargain?"
"You don't have to worry, Anon. I have the utmost confidence in her."
Anon pulls the robe over his body
"You ready to go?"
"As soon as Lyra gets back."
Bonbon rolls her eyes
"She went to get some pony stuff."
"Pony stuff?"
"Yes. Lyra is... a bit of a dork. Ever heard of a show called My Large Equine?"
"I can't say I have."
"It's a dumb kids show Lyra likes."
Anon giggles
"She has quite a personality."
"Oh you don't even know the half of if."
Lyra walks down the hall with a large, yellow horse plushie in her arms and a fish stick in her mouth
"Sup! Mind if I put my Flutter Butter in your room?"
"Flutter Butter?"
Lyra taps the plushie
"Mhm! The best Equine on the show!"
"Lyra, just put the pony toy in their room so we can get going. We have important work to do." Bonbon said, annoyed
"It's not just a TOY, it's a COLLECTIBLE!"
"Whatever, just put it in the room."
Lyra does so and they all start walking to the dining area
"So what's this thing we're doing today?" Lyra asked
"We're seeing the Lady of the Water."
"I thought it was the Lady of Dreams." Anon said
"She's called by many names. The two most common are the Lady of Dreams and the Lady of the Water."
Lyra's eyes light up
"Exciting! It's been ages since I've seen her."
Anon walks up, gets a tray full of food and sits back down
"You guys aren't getting breakfast?"
Lyra smiles, pulling the half eaten fish stick from her mouth
"I already had my breakfast."
Bonbon blushes a bit
"I'm trying to watch my figure, if you must know."
"Suit yourself"
Anon digs into his food and they make their way into town. The sun was now half way up on the horizon but the temperature outside was still quite chilly. As they both walked down the long stone path towards town, Bonnie notices Anon's shivering.
"You seem a bit chilly."
"J-just a bit." Anon said through chattering teeth
"Here. Allow me to help."
Bonbon pulls a medium sized redwood staff with a smooth green gem, placing it against his chest. The gem glowed slightly and all of a sudden he felt as if he had just gotten out of a sauna.
"That's much better. Thank you"
"Just tell me if you get too hot. I can dial the temperature up or down accordingly"
He liked this side of Bonbon. It was very motherly and warm. She spoke to him as a mother would to her child. They make their way to the outer limits of the school, just beyond the wall.
"Lyra, if you would."
"On it"
Lyra places the tip of one of her wands into the ground, tapping it twice, and in the blink of an eye they were in another part of town. A large stone fountain filled with mossy green water sat at the middle of the four large, seemingly empty buildings. Not only that, but the buildings completely surrounded the fountain, making it impossible for anyone to walk in or out without climbing them.
"Now for the real fun." Bonbon said, pulling out a staff with a smooth red gem
With a large puff of smoke, they were now the size of ants, standing on the rim. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Next to the water spout was a house floating above the water. It was quite a nice house too, reminding him of a doll house his sister owned. Lyra pulls out her wand again, freezing the water in such a way to make a path to the house. Lyra goes first while Bonbon trails behind Anon, leaving him in the middle of the two. One they reach the house the ice breaks up behind them, destroying the path.
The inside was just impressive. It was like an antique shop for the weird and unusual. There were books of all shapes and sizes, heads in jars, a bird with the head of a dog, there was even a town on a shelf full of tiny blue people. Bonbon calls out.
"Miss Jubilee! I have a customer. One with a very, very valuable form of payment."
A woman walks out from behind a door next to the front desk. She had red hair pulled up in a top bun and walked with a cane, even though he could tell she had no need for it. She dressed as if she were part of the Victorian era, wearing a long black dress extending to her ankles.
"Greetings Bonbon." she said in a thick southern accent "And Lyra too. It's been quite some time."
"Anon, this is Cherry Jubilee." Bonbon said "Otherwise known as the Lady on the Water."
"Greetings, Miss Jubilee."
"Greetings. I presume you want answers to that dream you had last night? The one with the gate and the snakes? You want me to read your crest memories too, don't you?"
"You knew that?"
"Well of course I did! I'm a fortune teller."
"She sells herself short." Bonbon said "What you're seeing right now is the only person in the entire world who is able to communicate directly with the Greater Magic without losing her sanity."
"Are you serious? That's possible?"
"Well I can't do it for very long. I assume you're aware of the system I use?"
"System?"
"Yes. In order to do what I do without losing my mind, I exchange with the Greater Magic. That's why my payment policy is to pay only what you're willing to lose."
"What a minute. So does that mean I'll lose my crest memories?"
"No. I don't need to access the Greater Magic in order to tap into your crest memories. And I'd advise against using them as payment anyway. They're too valuable for anything I have to offer you. For crest memories all I'll need is some mana. We'll discuss what your dreams mean after we go through some of the memories."
"Only some?"
"Yes. You see you have to walk a fine line with crest memories. If you explore them for too long, the crest memories will become your own memories. You'll lose yourself."
Just like what Wallflower said. Lyra steps forward.
"I'll go ahead and do it. You can use my mana."
"As you wish."
Lyra and Cherry shake hands. Just like that, the deal was done.
"Come, sit down down." she said "Let's see a bit of Clover's life shall we?"
Anon followers her to the adjacent room and sits in a chair. Cherry places both hands on his shoulders and his crest begins to glow brilliantly. Once again you feel as if lightning had struck him in the spine and he awoke in small room. Celestia Shimmer sat at the far end of the room, slouched against a wall, her body unscorched while the woman who he knew as Nightmare Moon was looking at a beaker full of green liquid. This was before the pact with the sun.
He, or Clover rather, looks down at a book. It was written in what appeared to be runes he'd never seen before, yet he was able to understand every character. It was speaking about life energy and how it's power was theoretically possible to harness.
"Cele. Cele wake up!"
Celestia snorted and jolted awake
"Uh wha?"
"I swear you are the laziest person I have ever met, Celestia." the blue haired woman said
"Shut up Luna!"
Luna chuckled, going back to her work
"This doesn't seem like a viable alternative at all!" Clover said, frustrated "The cost for the magic is just too high. There has to be a way to mitigate the damage."
"Clover... " Celestia sighed "Maybe we really should just let this happen. The Greater Magic is reclaiming what it's lost. It's a natural process. Perhaps humans should give up magic. It's not the end of the world."
"I can't possibly let that happen. With magic anything is possible. We have made mortals lives so much easier because of it. Remember the pyramids? Stonehenge? Magic is invaluable to the modern world."
"Of course I do. But mortals will get by without it. It's not like they haven't before." Luna chimed in, not lifting her eyes from the beaker "Face it. We can't challenge such a fundamental force of nature. We may as well try to put out the sun with water or slow down the speed of light with breaks. It cannot be done."
"Just because they can, doesn't mean they have too. And with magic anything is possible. There must be a way, there has to be. I will find a way to save the magic in this world. I will."
"We should really know by now that there's no talking you out of a goal you've set your eyes on." Celestia chuckled
"Wait a minute..." Clover paused "Eyes! Celestia you're a genius!"
The scene fades to black and another one takes it's place. This one was far less jovial. Anon's body felt smaller now, like was a child. It was dark and the moon was out. He stood in the middle of a corn field. There were at least twelve people tied to crosses while knights with torches stood in front of them.
"Mom! Dad!" Clover screamed
Two people tied to crosses looked over at him, no doubt Clover's parents. Her mother was beautiful, a tall woman with long red hair and piercing blue eyes. Her dad was quite a muscular man with a thick blonde beard. Both of them looked as if they had been tortured. A man went down the line with a torch in his hand.
"You are hereby sentenced to death by his highness King Author Pendragon for the practice of Witchcraft." the man said "What say ye in your defense?"
"We are guilty." Clovers mom said "But I beg thee under god. Please spare my child. She is completely innocent of this corrupt art."
The man nods
"Thine request shall be honored."
The man went down the line, asking each prisoner the same question and usually receiving silence.
"Very well. All twelve people present here today have been found guilty of witch craft. As such you will now be sentenced to death"
A second knight steps forward and walks in front of the first man in the row, kneeling down and lighting the base of the cross with his torch. Slowly the man begins to burn alive. His screams were agonizing. The knight moves down the row, lighting each cross one by one until finally he reaches Clover's father
"I have your word as a man of god that my daughter will be kept safe?" he asked
He nods
"By the honor of Author himself I assure you of it"
Clover's dad lets out one last sigh
"Alright." he said calmly "I accept my fate."
"NO!" Clover screams, running towards her father
She grabs his leg and Anon's body felt like it was being poked by a thousand pins and needles. Her dad's body began to grow a complex system of green glowing veins that began to force their way into Clover's own body. He could tell exactly what was happening: Clover was taking her father's magic crest.
It happened in an instant. Clover put her hands into the dirt and the entire ground erupted, sending the knights flying.
"GET HER! SHE'S A WITCH!" one of the knights yelled
Clover ripped out both of her parents crosses from the ground, carrying them in each hand with a super human strength and began to run like the wind. The scene faded to black once more. The next thing he knew he was by a river. Both of clovers lay there, motionless in the now red water. Her mother's body was covered in a dozen arrows while her father, seemingly uninjured floated there, clearly dead. The memory ended with a loud, blood curdling scream.
Anon came back with a jolt. He was back in the house again. Both Bonbon and Lyra look frightened.
"Anon? Are you alright?"
"Yeah. Why-"
He brushed his face and realized tears were streaming down his cheeks. Lyra folded her arms.
"You were crying a lot. And just before you came too you let out the most horrendous scream I've ever heard. Those must have been some pretty dark memories."
Anon explains to them what he saw while Bonbon furiously writes it all down.
"That's nuts. I can't believe mortals killed her parents. It's amazing she didn't seek vengeance after that."
The room fell to silence for a while.
"I want to see more." Anon said
"I can't I'm afraid. You know what will happen if I keep going. However I still can interpret your dream."
Cherry pulls up a chair beside him
"The symbolism of you dream is... puzzling to say the least. It could be quite good or quite bad."
Cherry flicks her want and a large leather books flies into her hand. She opens it, reading through the text.
"The sun represents femininity and the moon masculinity. When they come together, they symbolize a perfect being. The lion is meant to represent the soul. Essentially what the door is saying is that either you or someone else will absorb a perfect being, becoming one yourself."
"A perfect being?"
Cherry flips through the pages of the book
"Yes. There are numerous references throughout the world of the mural you described." she explained "In ancient times, mages were obsessed with becoming god like beings. We had three wars due to this very desire only to find that it was not possible. You'd have to essentially absorb the Greater Magic itself and assimilate with it, a feat not possible for any human."
"So what does the rest of the dream mean?"
"This is where it becomes troubling. The second half of your dream, the part with the snakes is essentially a punishment. The snakes, representing evil, attack you in pitch darkness. I hope, for your sake, you never try to achieve such an insane ideal as becoming one with the Greater Magic. For it will cost a price beyond your imagining."
"I would never even imagine such a thing."
"I'm glad. Hopefully time doesn't change you."
Cherry stands up
"Feel free to look around the shop for anything that catches your eye. If not, I have no further business with you."