//------------------------------// // A Risky Choice // Story: The Ties that Bind // by the7Saviors //------------------------------// "I don't like this." Blue Moon gave Corona a side glance before looking back to the sleeping form of Wild Evergreen, saying nothing in response to her sudden declaration. It had been about fifteen minutes or so since Ancient Scroll's fight with the pegasus mare had concluded. The rest of the group sans Yojimbo and Ancient Scroll himself stood just outside the Vardo trying to figure out what to do about Wild Evergreen. Much like Blue Moon did with Flibberty Gibbets, Ancient Scroll had put Wild Evergreen under a Deep Sleep spell, though this one was far more potent than Blue Moon's. Even with the old stallion all but dead to the world, the spell itself still held strong, ensuring the mare wouldn't wake until Ancient Scroll had woken up and dispelled the enchantment... which left Blue Moon with a decision she hadn't yet told anypony else about. "I don't like it either, Corona," Fia replied nervously, "you saw how powerful she was, we all did," she shook her head, "I don't think any of us can detain her -- at least not without Uncle Scroll's help, but what are we supposed to do?" Indeed, though Ancient Scroll had told the three fillies to stay in their rooms, Fia and Corona had worked together to convince Yojimbo and Rouge to let them see what was going on from within the relative safety of the caravan. Unbeknownst to Ancient Scroll, the three fillies had seen most of the battle play out. "If I'm not mistaken," Rouge replied, leaning down to get a closer look at the dark green pegasus, "it appears the old one has already done the work of detaining the vicious mare for us." "I guess that's true. I don't think she'll be breaking out of that spell anytime soon," Corona conceded before shaking her head, "but that doesn't solve the overarching problem. She's obviously part of that group that's trying to foalnap Twilight for who knows why. On top of that, she already knows Twilight is traveling with us, even if she doesn't know which one of us she is." "And without Uncle Scroll, we can't move the Vardo either," Fia added, "I never thought to ask exactly how he performed his modified Come-to-Life spell and we're all still too small to pull the caravan ourselves. Even if we could, there's no harness." "This is indeed a rather dire situation I admit," Rouge concluded as she stood back up and turned to the fillies, "but I trust that Ancient Scroll will have some plan once he's awake and well enough to use his magic again." "But how long is that gonna be?" Fia pressed, "he used a lot of really powerful magic in that fight." "I'm afraid you're asking the wrong feline, little one," Rouge answered with a helpless shake of her head, "I don't even know what I saw out there, let alone the extent of the effects it had on Ancient Scroll." Unnoticed by the others, Blue Moon continued to stare at the unconscious pegasus with an unsure expression. After a moment she closed her eyes and let out a small, quiet sigh before nodding to herself with a determined frown. Well, I guess it worked out like she said it would. Now I just have to hope the actual spell works... As the other two fillies and Rouge continued to discuss what to do about the situation, Blue Moon suddenly spoke up. "Blue Moon... may have a solution to our little problem." The rest of the group turned to Blue Moon in surprise. "What do you mean?" Corona asked curiously, "you have an idea?" Blue Moon nodded and turned to Wild Evergreen. "Blue Moon has been... studying some rather... advanced Mind Magic, and she thinks this is the perfect opportunity to test it out." "Tr... Blue Moon, you can't just go using ponies to test out new spells," Fia replied sternly, "at least not without their consent. That's just... wrong." "May Blue Moon remind you that this nag tried to kill Uncle Scroll and foalnap you, Fia Starshine?" Blue Moon shot back with a raised eyebrow. "I... well, that's..." Fia sputtered before shaking her head and glaring at the smirking filly, "j-just because she's a bad pony doesn't mean you have to be! And besides, an untested Mind Magic spell? Blue Moon, that's really dangerous." "Says the filly who wanted to learn Blood Magic not too long ago," Corona added, causing Fia to wince as a pang of guilt shot through her, "honestly, Fia," the maroon filly continued, "I'd completely agree with you normally, but at this point I don't think we have many other options right now." Fia opened her mouth to argue the matter further, but sighed instead and turned to Blue Moon with an unhappy frown. "Alright fine," she conceded, "what's this spell supposed to do anyway?" "Well, according to the Ma... the book Blue Moon read regarding the spell," Blue Moon explained, "Blue Moon can apparently project herself directly into a pony's sub... subcons... sub... consciousness, and kind of... tweak things," she gave Corona a pointed look, "things like memories." Corona's eyes widened in disbelief as she caught on to what the light blue filly was implying. After a second she rapidly shook her head and frowned at Blue Moon. "No, Blue Moon. I know what you're thinking and I appreciate it -- really I do -- but that's... it's too dangerous," the maroon filly replied, a small hint of uncertainty making it's way into her voice, "telling you about what I saw is one thing, but to actually see it for yourself..." She shivered involuntarily and looked away before continuing in a quieter voice. "I don't want you to go through that, Trixie," she turned back to Blue Moon with a weak, but grateful smile, "thanks, but... I think I'll try to deal with that on my own." "But... if this works, you wouldn't have to be afraid anymore," Blue Moon argued, "you could cast Fire Magic again," she turned to Fia with a pleading look, "and you wouldn't have to worry about--" "I'm sorry, Trixie, but I agree with Sunset on this one," Fia interjected with a firm frown, "your issues are just as bad as both of ours, and all you'd be doing is adding on to them. Neither I nor Sunset want you to have to deal with all of that on top of your own problems." The light blue filly stared at the two of them in dismay before falling to her haunches and turning her disappointed -- almost hurt -- gaze to the ground. "That... that was the biggest reason I decided to go through with all of this..." she muttered quietly, "I finally had a chance to do something useful to help you and you both just..." She trailed off and continued to stare at the ground. After a moment, Fia and Corona gave each other worried glances before turning back to Blue Moon. "Trixie?" Fia asked tentatively, "are you--" "I'm fine," Blue Moon snapped before rising to her hooves and turning to face Wild Evergreen, "I can use this Mind Walking spell to go in and remove Wild Evergreen's memories of meeting all of us. I can also find out more about that group that's going after Twilight." "T... Blue Moon, I don't know if this is a good idea," Fia replied after a moment, "you don't know what she's been through or how the spell will affect--" "I know the spell inside and out," Blue Moon replied curtly, not taking her eyes off the pegasus, "I..." she paused and exhaled slowly before continuing in a calmer tone, "Blue Moon studied the spell very thoroughly. She knows what she's doing." "But what if something goes wrong? What if you... I don't know, get trapped in her mind or something?" Fia pushed, "Uncle Scroll isn't here to fix things if they go south, and even if you know what you're doing, something bad could still happen." "The spell has a fail-safe," Blue Moon replied, "if something bad happens to the projection, Blue Moon will simply be kicked back to her own body." "Do you even have enough mana to maintain the spell?" Fia asked, furrowing her brow, "how much does it take anyway?" "Blue Moon's mana is suf... sifis... sufficient for the task," the light blue filly replied confidently, "you don't have to worry about that." "I don't know..." Corona replied, looking unsure now that she knew just what kind of spell Blue Moon meant to cast, "I'm starting to think this is a bad idea after all, but I did vouch for you, so... just be careful, okay?" Blue Moon nodded in response and looked up at Rouge who had made her way over to the light blue filly. "I have my own misgivings about this decision, little one," Rouge commented, eyeing Blue Moon with a worried expression, "the mind can be -- and often is -- a terrible place. I know little of Mind Magic, but what I do know, is that the mind is not something to take lightly." She leaned down to look Blue Moon in the eye -- an expression of motherly concern on her face. "If you must do this, tread lightly and try not to lose yourself in pursuit of your goals, little one." Blue Moon held Rouge's gaze for a moment longer before nodding once and turning to her friends... her sisters. "Blue Moon is going to do this, and prove to you both that there's nothing to worry about," she looked back to the pegasus mare and spoke in a much quieter voice, "I can handle this... I know I can." Ignoring any further protests, Blue Moon trotted up to Wild Evergreen's sleeping form and breathed deeply before lowering her horn to the mare's forehead. She told me I could handle it, and I won't let her down. Not her, and not my sisters. Her horn blazed to life and the world around her fell away.