//------------------------------// // Chapter Six: The Corruption // Story: Antonovka // by Soufriere //------------------------------// Up the ruined road I went. I had no idea what to expect when I reached the top of the hill. Or rather a mid-grade slope, covered in untamed Forest, its continuous canopy still blocking everything, with only the mossy remnants of weathered and dispersed paving stones to serve as my guide. As Ruby (whose eyes served as a nice extra bit of light) and I ascended, I felt the atmosphere grow more oppressive, as if some physical yet intangible thing had draped itself over whatever lay at the top. Eventually, the trees thinned out and we exited the forest into what I can only describe as the most amazing but dismal place I will ever see: the ruins of the ancient Equestrian capital of Everfree. A swirling grey fog that smelled somewhat like musty clothes blanketed the ground up to just past my knees. Whatever it was, it was certainly enough to ensure that no plant life except corpse weeds would be able to grow. Was it day? Was it night? I’d never be able to tell you; just like every other gap in the canopy I had seen since entering the Forest, this place appeared to be enveloped in a perpetual dusk with no identifiable source of light, a purple sky with an oily patina through which even the moon itself looked blurred. It wasn’t hard to see why ponies abandoned this place after the war. At once we were greeted by a massive expanse of cobblestones, many broken, stretching off in every direction to form what must have been the narrow streets and alleyways of some ancient urban quarter. Of course there were no longer any buildings of any kind on either side; three quarters of a millennium of neglect following the war had reduced just about everything to rubble. Aside from the paths themselves, a broken wall here or there was about the only thing that indicated civilization had ever existed in this place. As Ruby looked around, her headlamp eyes caught a glint of something a few yards away from us. I ran over and, sure enough, there was my family’s soup ladle. I did a small dance of joy before I picked it up. I didn’t exactly have a good place to store it, so I tried my best to thread its handle into my braided tail. “Well, you have finally found what you came for,” Ruby told me. “Can we please leave now?” By her voice, I could tell she was scared. I was too. In a place like that, it was hard not to be. And yet, something inside me didn’t want to leave just yet. Curiosity? Youthful naïveté? A death wish? Who knows. Whatever the reason, I turned to Ruby and said to her, “No.” “What?! Why?” she asked, her voice raising in pitch and volume. “Think about it,” I said. “No pony has set hoof in this place for seven hundred fifty years! It’s worth at least a little look ‘round before we leave.” Ruby stared at me like I was insane. She was probably right. “Do you not see that grey fog everywhere? Or that the sky is blocked by some oily film such that we literally cannot tell night from day? We are in the heart of the Corruption of the Forest! It might already be twisting us! Besides, there is not a thing here but a bunch of ruins. Oh, and the entrance to a castle about a hundred yards that way.” She pointed past me. “Let’s check it out,” I insisted. “It’ll be one hay of a story to tell my kids once I have ‘em.” Ruby wasn’t buying it. “If you live long enough.” Nonetheless, we walked carefully across the broken stone-paved streets, our only companions the ever-thickening fog and the occasional dead weed or tree, its bark long since rotted away so you could never tell what species it used to be. Also that smell of must seemed grow stronger the closer we got to the castle. Eventually, we exited the network of alleys and rubble of houses to come out into a large plaza – you couldn’t really call it a ‘square’ because, as best we could tell, it was circular except with one end shaved off just past the meridian. Unlike the structures surrounding the plaza, the ancient royal castle appeared to be mostly intact, although parts of its outer wall had crumbled, revealing that a triumphal stone bridge leading to the front gate had long since collapsed into a moat which had gone dry centuries ago. Oddly, perhaps ironically, the outer gate leading to that bridge was still mostly intact – a stone archway with its keystone carved in a sun-&-moon logo: an old variant of the royal crest I had seen at the Palace in Canterlot, although its wooden doors had been blown off their hinges or rotted away. Several feet in front of the outer gate, placed at what I assumed to be the exact centre of the truncated circle, sat an enormous fountain made of marble so pure in its whiteness it seemed almost as ethereal and translucent as Ruby. Unlike everything else around, it was mostly intact. A simple circular wall no more than seven hands high with a slightly jutting rim surrounded a long-dried basin. On top of the part of the base meant to be underwater, which had several empty depressions where precious stones likely once existed, stood statues of three ponies, one representing each race, proving the Moon Cult wasn’t lying about how this city used to be a land of racial harmony. Based on the history lesson they’d given me, I wondered why such a symbol had not been destroyed even before the war. All three ponies held an upper tier on which stood a grand Alicorn. I had never seen her before; it wasn’t Celestia or, as I’d learn, Luna. Instead, this mare had a straight mane and tail, bangs cut level above her eyes, which were inlaid with jade – the only colour in the entire fountain, its presence legitimately surprising amongst the devastation – and a cutie mark that from what I could tell was a quill pen inside an inkwell. On the side of the fountain facing the ruined city stood a rectangular plaque set into the marble. A short message was inscribed on it, but it was in those ancient runes, so we had no idea what it said. Although I wanted to explore the castle, something about that fountain intrigued me. It was undoubtedly the source of the nasty smell permeating the plaza. I peered over the lip into the basin expecting to see nothing but more marble. Instead, the entire bottom of the basin was filled with an iridescent blackish purple goo the likes of which I’d never seen before or since. What do you do if you’re a young mare way outside of your comfort zone, and you come across an indescribable substance… and you’re an idiot who ignores your new friend’s warnings to please stay away from it? Answer: You find a petrified stick nearby and you poke it with that stick. I’m not sure what I expected to happen, but the goo suddenly coming to life and rising out of the basin like a cauldron bubbling over was definitely not it. I took several steps back in shock as Ruby ran to the nearest pile of rubble and hid. The dark mass grew until it was several times the size of the fountain. At the same time it also lost its tangibility, becoming more like a thick smoke, its colour yet unchanged. I think it was the point when a pair of sickly green glowing eyes not unlike those of a Timberwolf’s appeared near the top of the thing that I realized I might have made a big mistake. When, shortly thereafter, it extended a bulbous arm toward me at high velocity, breaking the paving stones on the spot I had just jumped away from, I knew I had made a big mistake. At that point, I should have run away. But I was young and too stupid for my own good… and also annoyed because that thing’s attack had made me drop my lantern, which shattered, allowing the fireflies to escape. So instead I screamed at the thing. “What the hay?!” I yelled. Actually being spoken to evidently shocked the smoke blob thing. It slowly morphed into the shape of a Timberwolf, then a Wendigo, then an Ursa Minor, before settling on some sort of draconic form that allowed it to speak. “What art thou doing in my domain?” demanded the raspy, deep, but clearly feminine voice. “Hey, I just came here to pick up something I lost. I ain’t got no beef with ya, so now that I got what I came for, I’ll just be on my way,” I said, turning to leave. Another attack. I felt it coming and tried to dodge, but failed. The force of the hit sent me flying into the wall Ruby was hiding behind. “Annie! Are you okay?” Ruby screamed as I lay on my side. Once my head stopped spinning and I was able to stand, I responded. “Yep. Doin’ jus’ peachy. Nothin’ broken.” “I am so glad!” said Ruby as she came out from behind her hiding place to attempt to hug me, again forgetting what she was. Much to both our surprise, her embrace connected. Ruby felt… oddly warm for a ghost. A soothing, comforting presence. We looked at each other, absolutely confused. Ruby’s lips quivered as she went through the motions of crying, although I’m reasonably certain no tears came out of her, just as I felt no breath or heartbeat from her despite the closeness. “Ya just touched me,” I said, still in shock. Ruby nodded, her lips contorting into a smile. “I cannot remember how long it has been since I have been able to feel another pony’s warmth.” “But… how? Ya weren’t able to touch anything before. Why here? Why now?” I asked. “I do not know,” Ruby replied. “Perhaps it has to do with the powerful magic about these ruins.” “Ya mean like that dark thing that’s gearin’ up to attack me again?” Looking towards the abomination, Ruby nodded. “You should probably move, Annie.” She helped me to my feet, allowing me to hop out of the way just as an infernal dark fist whipped through the stale air like a battering ram, smashing the little stone wall into dust. I was fine, if barely, but Ruby hadn’t been able to dodge in time. I tried to get to her, only to dodge another blow – that creature formed a second arm from its amorphous self and tried to do a sweeping attack to trip me. I jumped, clearing it by maybe an inch as its arm connected with the ruins of a nearby house, slicing the ancient stone like a hot knife through butter. I looked back at the thing to find its expression contorted into one of pain, holding its first battering-ram arm towards itself as if it had just been burned. This made absolutely no sense to me until I looked towards the small crater of destruction where I expected to find the somehow even deader body of my new dead friend. Instead, Ruby stood in the exact same spot she had been in before, completely unharmed, surrounded by a sphere of dim golden light that extended out from the core of her body a yard in each direction. It emitted a quiet hum as it pulsed around her. As I ran up to check on her, I saw her eyes were no longer bright golden lamps; instead, I could see her irises: a dark red with undertones of orange to balance out her mane, which swayed slightly thanks to some sort of otherworldly breeze separate from the nastier wind whipping through the ruins. “Well, that explains your name,” I said. “Yes,” Ruby said with a nod. “Most ponies assumed my eyes were gold to match my mane, but that is false. They are also deeper than the magenta common in so many ponies.” “I like it.” “The orange of your own irises is lovely as well. But once again I believe we have more pressing issues at hand,” Ruby warned. Right. That thing. It hissed as it gathered its appendages back to itself, retreating almost into a giant dark demonic ball. “You…” it said. Maybe I should say she since, as I said, its voice was obviously female, and I’ll explain why in a bit, but today’s ponies might tell me I shouldn’t assume gender on a barely corporeal mass of smoky goo. I stepped forward. “Yeah, what?” I asked with as much authority as I could, which was not a whole heck of a lot compared to my mama, but at least I tried. The thing hissed menacingly. I think it may have mumbled something about trespassers, but I couldn’t really hear it. “C’mon!” I said. “Ya ain’t got nothin’ ta say? You’re a quiet demonic pile o’ goo, ain’t ya? Want us to leave? Then you’re gonna have to make us!” Ruby tapped me on the shoulder. “Annie, please do not antagonize it!” I ignored her. “Bring it, ya big fat blob!” I yelled with a smirk. Well, that did it. The whatever-it-was hissed louder than ever and lunged itself straight at us, although I noticed out of the corner of my eye she kept herself attached to the fountain, and stopped less than a yard short. I could feel the curdling heat of its rotten breath, or whatever exuded from it, on my face. Ruby and I looked at each other in confusion. “Why has it stopped its attack?” she reasonably asked. “Dunno,” I replied. Then, I made what was probably the second biggest mistake of my life as I said, “May as well have a little fun with it.” Ruby facehoofed. “That is a terrible idea.” I stuck my tongue out at the abomination, wiggled my rear end at it, and made silly noises with my mouth. “What’s the matter?” I taunted. “Ya on a rope like a leashed-up puppy dog? Can’t go past some line in the stone? Are you really what’s been scarin’ the Moon Cultists down there for centuries? The evil heart of the Everfree Forest? The Corruption?! What a joke! You ain’t nothin’! You ain’t—” During my rant, I absentmindedly walked away from Ruby. As soon as I did, the thing grabbed me with her full essence, lifting me up high into the air as she squeezed me like an anaconda chokes the life out of a capybara. I could feel my lungs and heart being constricted as I struggled to breathe or even move. “I am Corruption!!” she screamed not unlike a banshee. “I am this Forest! I am Pain! I am Loss! I am Sorrow! I am Hate! I am Nightmare!!” As she said that last word, she slammed me with as much force as she possibly could into a remnant portion of the outer castle wall. I think my impact might have dented it, I hit so hard. After that, I fell to the stone pavement of the plaza and promptly blacked out for I don’t know how long. Once I came to, and my head stopped spinning, I wiggled each of my legs in turn. Miraculously, none of them were broken. So, I attempted to stand, and promptly fell back into a heap and coughed up blood. Well then, my legs were fine but my ribs and at least one internal organ obviously were not. I still needed to stand; just had to take it a bit slower than I would have liked. After about a minute or two, I was back on my hooves and slowly regaining my sense of balance. Or maybe it was just adrenaline kicking in, who knows. I turned around to face the ancient fountain – wasn’t about to be taken by surprise again – and saw that The Corruption, as she seemed to prefer to call herself, had suddenly decided to ignore me. Several feet away stood Ruby, staring down our foe, her stance aggressive, and she was angry. “How dare you hurt my friend!” Ruby screamed as she slowly approached The Corruption, the golden light emanating from her being glowing brighter with each step. I’m pretty sure she didn’t notice at first, but she was forcing The Corruption to retreat back into the fountain. It tried to lash out at her, but stopped the instant it made contact with her aura and shrank back further. “Worthless light!” hissed The Corruption, although even then I could tell she was lying. Ruby was not even close to finished. “You also worked your vile magic on Sunny Town. They may not have been good ponies, but they did not deserve… that. Especially Mitta! She was almost free of the curse, but you had to ruin it with your witchery! She could have been my friend! Do you know how long I have had to wait for a pony that would accept me for what I am?? DO YOU?!” The Corruption merely hissed defensively. Her amorphous head split down the middle in order to keep one of its eyes on Ruby; the other turned to look at me. Seeing that I was up, it shifted its bulk to ready another attack. Before it could, Ruby positioned herself between it and me, aura glowing ever stronger. “I do not think so!” Ruby snipped. “For centuries I have wandered the periphery around my grave, trying to protect innocent ponies from what you wrought. Every time, I failed. Not tonight. You shall not take this one!” she gestured toward me. The Corruption clearly did not take the hint. It shifted itself and made one last lunge at me around Ruby’s increasingly bright aura. “I said STAY BACK!!” Ruby bellowed, as her aura became augmented by a second burst of light emitting from her eyes and doubled in both size and intensity, enough to envelop the entire fountain. The Corruption, caught off guard, looked around for a place to flee but, failing that, appeared to shrink back into the basin from which it came, a painful hiss quietly fading. Threat seemingly over, Ruby’s aura quickly dissipated and she collapsed in a pathetic heap on the stones. Although I couldn’t exactly run, I still tried to get to her as fast as I could. “Ruby! Are you okay?” I asked as I made it to her body. I tried to pick her up, but my hooves went right through her. A lump formed in my throat. Was she dead? I wondered. Okay, that was a really stupid question. Of course she was dead; she’d been dead the entire time and I knew it. But I was terrified that she was dead-dead, as in about to not be even a ghost anymore. You can imagine my relief when, after some minutes, she moved her head and opened her eyes. They were not golden headlamps like normal (well, normal for her), but merely her original deep red irises. She turned to look at me, and smiled. “I believe I am fine. That took a lot out of me,” she said with more than a bit of fatigue in her voice. “Still,” I said, “looks like ya got it.” “I cannot be sure what exactly happened,” replied Ruby as she stood up, “but hopefully you are correct.” “Ohhh, far from it!” hissed The Corruption as menacingly as she could, noticeably less raspy this time. We turned around to face the fountain. The unknown Alicorn at its apex glowed with an ominous red aura. “Is that statue moving?” Ruby asked no one in particular. I sighed with all the irritation of a child at a big family supper. “Oh for horseapple’s sake,” I said. “You’re still here?” “Indeed,” The Corruption confirmed from inside the Alicorn statue, whose mouth did not move when she spoke. “Who would have expected the jade of this one’s eyes to be imbued with spells to prevent theft? Still, an enchantment is an enchantment, and absorbing its magic has restored my power and given me more awareness!” “Can’t you just leave us alone?” I asked, exasperated and more than a little exhausted. “We seriously didn’t wanna cause any trouble. Just let us go an’ you can keep on corruptin’ the Forest or whatever it is ya do.” The statue shook its head. “I cannot let you do that. Any pony who disturbs my slumber must be punished!” “Wait,” I said. “You’re tellin’ me that for seven hundred fifty years, you’ve jus’ been passively corruptin’ the entire land?” The statue tilted her head. “An unusual way of phrasing it, but correct,” she concluded. Ruby looked at me, clearly worried. “Does that mean we have awoken something truly horrible?” “Also correct,” The Corruption confirmed. “Well… brand me,” I muttered. The statue unfurled its massive Alicorn wings and attempted to alight from its pedestal …and almost immediately crashed to the ground, leaving a small crater where it landed. Ruby was still cowering, but I had to chuckle at that one. After all, when death is very literally staring you in the face, you have to find some humour where you can. “Okay,” The Corruption said, pretending not to be rattled, “Evidently my magic is not yet powerful enough to lift this body.” The statue shook its head and worked its legs, creating movable joints where none had existed. “No matter. I can still do this!!” The Corruption fired a blast of dark magic from its long horn. It missed us by several feet, but the area it hit was covered in an iridescent black goo that pulsated with electricity and smelled like something had died in a waste bin on a humid summer’s day. I grimaced and backed away to avoid vomiting. After about a minute or so, the aftermath slowly dissipated, or absorbed into the ground, one of the two. I had only moved a few steps when The Corruption fired again, this time directly at me. I saw the attack out of the corner of my eye and just barely managed to avoid being hit. My hop landed me next to the remains of the rock wall of a long-gone ancient dwelling. The follow-through by my tail landed an audible ‘clink!’ against the stones. Right, I still had mama’s ladle tucked inside the braid. More attacks from the corrupted statue, more dodging. At one point, its magic just barely touched the edge of one of my legs. The pain center of my brain went ballistic at just a tiny fraction of that attack: simultaneously prickly yet indescribably cold, a feeling of endless anger and sadness coursing through my nervous system, permeating my essence to the very core. Not a feeling any pony or thing should ever have; I could only imagine what the full blast would be like. Several feet away from me, Ruby stood stock still. She was watching me fighting The Corruption hiding inside that statue intensely. I’ll admit I sort of hated that she was essentially being ignored by this thing trying to kill me, but then Ruby couldn’t exactly help being dead or having weird light powers that caused The Corruption to make a concerted effort to avoid her. After a few more minutes of dodging attacks, a catch in my lungs and a little twinge in my shoulder told me I was close to reaching my limit as The Corruption continued to rush me and fire evil out her metamorphic horn. “Annie! Please come here!” Ruby called out to me urgently. Like I hadn’t been trying to get to her the entire time. So I did my best to hop, skip, and jump over to her in that spot a few yards away from the ancient fountain with absolutely no cover. Eventually I made it. As we had both expected, The Corruption stopped attacking as soon as I got within a yard of Ruby. I could hear its angry growling emanating from the form of the statue yet obviously detached from it. “So what d’ya need, Ruby?” I asked her. “I’m glad for the respite, but we… or I… can’t fight this thing forever.” Ruby nodded. “That is why I called you here. Do you remember me informing you my cutie mark is a reflection of my ability to find things?” It had been a pretty crazy night. I think she’d said that at some point? Regardless, I nodded. “I have been watching the fight so that I could see if The Corruption might possess a weak point.” Then she smiled as her aura began to glow again. “I have found it.” My face perked up at that news. “Well, what’re we waitin’ for? Let’s get it!” She shook her head. “Attacking its weak point will not be easy unless we act very deliberately.” “Ya mean a plan.” “Yes,” Ruby replied with a nod. “Let me tell you what I believe may work.” She leaned over to me and whispered into my ear. I won’t tell you the start of what she said, but I will say my eyes went wide and my jaw dropped from the sheer simplicity and stupidity of it. “You can’t be serious.” “I am,” she said. “It appears that after I forced The Corruption’s essence into the Alicorn statue, it was left with only a single outlet for magical attack: the horn. That horn is hollow due to its being a spigot for the fountain. When it left its pedestal, the other end of the water pipe, in its back left hoof, broke and was quickly sealed off by its movements against you.” “Ya mean it stepped on its own pipe and bent it closed.” Ruby nodded. “Yes. I believe that a coordinated attack by the both of us, using your weapon, will defeat it.” I pondered for a moment. What Ruby proposed was without a doubt the craziest and most suicidal plan I’ve ever heard, and that includes my Pa’s decision to accept banishment and find a new homestead. I guess being dead allows you to think outside the box. “Are you ready yet?” I asked her. “No,” Ruby said as she shook her head. “I used up much of my energy forcing The Corruption into that statue. Recovery will take more time.” “Well, that stinks.” As we conversed, The Corruption fired a volley of evil at us, which bounced harmlessly off of Ruby’s golden aura. The statue walked slowly towards us. If it had been capable of facial expression, I think it would have looked irritated. Instead, it wore the neutral countenance of the ancient Alicorn. “You two are becoming boring,” she said. “I could wait until you exhaust your energy and then kill you, but now that I have been awakened, I see there is an entire world to corrupt just like this Forest. Perhaps… I can start with those voices I hear below us. A nice snack.” Our eyes went wide at that. “You stay away from the Moon Cultists!” I growled. “They don’t mean no one no harm!” “Oh?” asked The Corruption with a chuckle. “That got a reaction out of you. Will you two try and stop me? You shall die trying.” “Better than having to sit back and watch more innocent ponies killed by this damned Forest!” I snipped. “Ruby! I don’t care if you’re ready or not; we’re doin’ this now!” She nodded. “I understand.” With that, Ruby closed her eyes and concentrated. Her aura grew in intensity, causing The Corruption to take a step back. Then suddenly, Ruby charged straight toward the statue, glowing as brightly as she possibly could. The Corruption, caught off guard, screamed as Ruby threw herself against its tall forelegs, causing the white marble of the statue to reflect a slight gold hue. It shuddered as Ruby’s inner light affected it. “DO IT!!” Ruby screamed. At that, I broke into a gallop towards them, trying as best I could to ignore my injuries. Once I reached Ruby, I leapt over her and aimed myself at the statue’s head. In midair, I pulled mama’s ladle out from its place of safety in the braid of my tail and, once I was close enough, grabbed the statue’s head to give myself some leverage. That done, I shoved the ladle handle-first into the hole in the middle of the statue’s horn, using my hoof as a hammer to pound it in as far as I could force it. It didn’t take long for The Corruption to shake me off and fling me several feet away… into the remains of the fountain, actually. It hurt, a lot. Ruby ran… or maybe floated, I couldn’t really tell… over to me. “Annie, are you okay?! Please be okay!” she cried. I grunted as my body twitched. “I ain’t hurt too bad. Just my pride,” I lied. “I am so glad!” said Ruby as she attempted to hug me but instead passed through me like the ghost she was. She hung her head in shame. The Corruption approached us. With my mama’s ladle shoved into the statue’s horn, she looked absolutely ridiculous. I laughed. Ruby looked up to see the spectacle and attempted mirth, but could barely grin. “You two… That was a very foolish thing you did. Now prepare to feel the wrath of… Huh?” The statue began to tremble uncontrollably, much to its occupant’s shock. Ruby was right; because The Corruption’s magic attacks had some physicality to them, shoving that ladle into her only outlet caused it to clog, and now it was overloading. “No…” The Corruption whispered. Then louder, “This cannot be! Even the greatest magicians of the age failed to stop me! How could I be defeated by two Earth-ponies?!” “Never underestimate the resourcefulness of a pony that ain’t got magic!” I said, a smarmy smile on my face. “Also do not discount the lengths a pony will go to to protect a friend!” Ruby said, tired sadness tingeing her voice. At this point, The Corruption decided to deny its fate. “I WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED! I HAVE CONTROLLED THIS FOREST FOR CENTURIES AND I— uh…” She was unable to complete her monologue because just then, the dark magic had built up inside the statue to the point it could no longer be contained. It exploded into thousands of tiny marble shards, several of which slashed my skin pretty badly, although it would have been worse if I hadn’t hit the deck and covered my eyes. When I got out of my defensive crouch, I saw a smouldering blast crater where the statue had been. To my surprise, I did not see The Corruption herself. “Simply by being near me, it retreated into the statue,” Ruby said, her voice having a sudden ethereal resonance to it. “I reasoned that if I made direct contact, The Corruption would be forced to merge further with the statue, meaning your destroying one destroyed both.” “I can’t believe that worked,” I said. “But… you’re lookin’ pretty bad.” Ruby cocked her head. “You look worse,” she replied with a smile. My breathing quickened as I realized my new friend was fading away. She gave me a sad smile as she silently approached the blast crater and stood in its very centre. Once she did, the entire vicinity became bathed in a white glow. Ruby’s mane and tail blew upwards in some kind of magical vertical wind I couldn’t feel. Then, two shafts of light – one from her and the other from the remnants of The Corruption – shot up into the sky, piercing the oily film, causing it to, at least for a while, crinkle and shatter like badly made glass, revealing the morning sky. “Never thought I’d be so happy to see daylight again,” I said to Ruby. She looked up, beaming (literally), and upon turning back to me, agreed. “It has been so unbelievably long,” she said. Just then, her face suddenly contorted to a look of shock as her eyes resumed their traditional headlamp style, and twin golden beams shot out directly at me, coiling around each other like a pair of snakes in love… or a double helix, whichever simile you prefer. It only took a split-second for them to hit me. As I was enveloped in the warm gold blast, I wish I could say I was calm and ready, but that would be a lie. I was terrified. The golden light grew in intensity until it turned white, so much so I couldn’t see anything. I shut my eyes to keep from going blind. I thought I might have heard Ruby say “I’m sorry”, but I couldn’t confirm it. A whoosh of magical wind, and then my entire world went black.