//------------------------------// // Complications // Story: Northern Venture // by Chengar Qordath //------------------------------// I spent the rest of that day and most of the next resting. Strumming gave me a few pills that did a good job of taking away the pain, and later that evening Sigil came by my room and set some runestones around my bed. I didn’t quite grasp how they worked, but when I woke up in the morning I was nowhere near as sore as I would’ve expected for someone who took a lightning bolt to the chest and got slammed into a stone wall. Not that I had much reference for how sore that should make me feel, but my gut said that without the healing runes I would be significantly more miserable. Too bad they didn’t have healing runes for all my other problems. Running into Scarlett again and getting into an all-out fight with her had dug up some things I thought I’d moved past—or at least, it had made me start questioning if I’d really moved past all that stuff as much as I thought. The weird part about it all was how far she’d gone. My main memory of Scarlett’s style of mothering had always been the sort of low-level neglect that had come up during our confrontation. She made sure I had food in my belly and a roof over my head, but ... well, like she’d said, she had more important things to do than be there for me. Solar had been better about that from what little I remembered, but those were all pretty vague memories. Between his Archmagus duties and the Steel Rose case, I’d seen him maybe half a dozen times in the last fifteen years, and the last time was five years ago. I doubt he’d even recognize me if we ran into each other on the street. I’d made peace with the fact that my biological parents just weren’t going to be part of my life. Or at least, I thought I had. But then Scarlett showed up trying to force her way back in, and going to frankly insane lengths to pull it off. She’d very nearly burned her bridges with Argentium, and I had to agree with Strumming that Celestia wouldn’t be happy about this when she found out. I wouldn’t reject Celestia’s offer purely to spite Scarlett ... but it would be hard to completely ignore that as a factor. If nothing else, Celestia would need to give me some sort of assurance that Scarlett wouldn’t try anything again. Which is why none of this made sense. She’d made a few token efforts to bring me back home when I first left, but those had probably been just for the sake of appearances. Now she’d gone all-out, and in an especially stupid way. Why do that after spending most of my childhood treating me like a barely tolerated distraction from more important things? I could speculate all day, but the only way to get answers would be to talk to Scarlett herself, and I definitely wasn’t in any rush to do that. The whole experience had done a very good job of souring my whole visit to Northmarch, and all I really wanted at this point was to go home and try to put the whole experience behind me. I was sure Puzzle would say I should try to push through and keep schmoozing with Argentium, but ... yeah. Not sure I could put the whole thing behind me that smoothly, and when it came to the diplomacy game there was plenty of advantages to letting the whole mess stand out a bit more. Being magnanimous and ignoring the huge breach of hospitality was an option, but letting it completely spoil the visit worked just as well for making a point. Scarlett’s screw-up had put Argentium in my debt, and that was something I’d be a fool not to leverage. Sure, I could stick around and negotiate her into helping me set up my school right now, but maybe the smarter thing would be to hold onto that. An ancient dragon owing me a favor could be used for something far bigger than just getting some funding for a dream project. Not that the money wouldn’t be nice, but it was pretty much the least interesting thing Argentium could do to help me. After another amazing dinner, one of Argentium’s servants let me know that the lady was waiting for me in her armory. For a moment I was almost tempted to leave her waiting for a bit as a power play, but I didn’t want to push my luck. After all, part of why I was leaving was to avoid rubbing Argentium’s snout in the fact that she was in my debt. If I wasn’t careful I’d end up wounding her pride, and that could only end badly for me. I arrived outside her armory as promptly as possible, smiling politely as I stepped inside. “Lady Argentium, always a pleasure.” The first thing I noticed upon entering was that Argentium had shrunk herself down to something almost pony-sized. She was still taller than me, but now it was more like me standing next to Celestia rather than a being whose teeth were about as big as me. It set a very different, much more personal and intimate mood, which was doubtlessly why she’d done that. Granted, there were some practical reasons as well. While there was a titanic arming chamber with huge slabs of silvered steel that looked a lot like dragon-sized armor, a lot of the armory’s contents weren’t really sized for Argentium at her full scale. The multiple shelves of runestones would’ve been far too easy to accidentally knock over if she tried to move around the room, not to mention that sort of delicate runework had to be a lot easier for her when her claws were smaller and she could get a closer look at what she was doing. Argentium gave me another one of those strange fang-less smiles. “Magus Shimmer. I do hope the rest of your stay has been agreeable.” “Your staff continues to be exemplary,” I assured her. I trotted up to her, hiding a wince when one of my bruises decided to voice its disapproval of the movement. Despite my best efforts Argentium must have spotted it, because she frowned and her tail lashed through the air. “My apologies for what happened in my throne room. Scarlett misrepresented her intentions to me.” “I know, I don’t hold you at fault.” Might as well take Puzzle’s advice about magnanimously putting it aside while I was actually talking to Argentium. Brushing it off while still leaving should do a good job conveying that I didn’t blame her, but I was still very unhappy. Argentium let out an annoyed huff, some smoke leaving her nostrils. “Diplomacy has never been my student's strong suit. She prefers direct solutions and straight lines—a trait that rumor has it you share with her, even if you also seem to have picked up a few of Celestia’s skills for finding an indirect approach.” Argentium smiled again. “I can see why you call her your mother; she has left her mark upon you.” “That and she actually did all the things a mother is supposed to do.” I sighed and shook my head. “I don't suppose you know why Scarlett did all this?” “Why she wanted to meet you, or why she went so far?” “Both. It’s...” I shrugged helplessly. “You were there, you heard how it all played out. She was too busy being Archmagus to do much mothering, and she pretty much gave me up for adoption once Celestia entered the picture. She didn’t do anything for two years while I was in Freeport. I mean, she said something about how taking me back to Canterlot was for my own good and I was embarrassing her, but ... I dunno. Feels like there has to be something more behind all this.” Argentium frowned and nodded. “Yes. I was less than pleased to hear that she was somewhat lacking as a mother, though I suppose I should have anticipated as much. She has the sort of single-minded determination that can drive a mare to achieve great things, but often at the cost of any other concerns. At the time, it seemed like admirable dedication to her studies, and later her duties as a protector of the realm. Now...” “Yeah.” I guess I did understand that on some level: Scarlett really was doing important work. But at the same time, there needed to be a balance. It reminded me of a story Celestia had once told me about the early days after she’d lost Luna, when she’d tried out a spell that was supposed to let her go without sleep in order to make up for her sister’s absence. The end result had been a very pointed lesson about how even immortal alicorns with powers far beyond those of normal ponies could work themselves to exhaustion and end up neglecting their true duties. Argentium sank down onto her haunches, her eyes fixed on me. “A mistake once made has been made forever, and no magic exists that can see it undone. All we can do is struggle to correct our errors and repair the damage they caused. Even that much can often be difficult, especially when we cannot truly grasp the scope of our actions.” “I know.” I sighed and ran a hoof through my mane. “I’ve got a few mistakes I’d like to undo myself.” Mostly related to the whole Cadenza thing. It’s never fun to look back at something that happened years ago and realize you were completely out of line and acted like a complete jerk just because you were jealous. Sure, at the time I’d been convinced she was nothing but a nag who’d come out of nowhere and stolen what was rightfully mine, but... I’d thought about apologizing, but there really wasn’t a good way to do that. Going there in person certainly wasn’t an option, and I rather doubt sending her a ‘Sorry I set you on fire’ card would be enough to make it right. Not like I would’ve instantly forgiven Scarlett or Solar if they’d showed up at my tower and apologized for all the years of being absentee parents. There are a lot of times when ‘I’m sorry’ isn’t even close to good enough. Argentium seemed to be following my line of thought. “And so it is with your mother: she knows she has erred, and erred greatly, and she wishes to do what she can to correct her past mistakes. But her pride makes it difficult for her, and I think she knows far too little about how to be a mother. Small surprise she still tries to treat you like a child when she never saw you grow into an adult.” I grunted and nodded. “That ... does explain a bit. She’s still thinking of me as a kid ‘cause that’s the only version of me she’s ever really known.” I had grown up a fair bit under Celestia’s tutelage, even if I’d still had a long way left to go when I ran away from Canterlot. A couple years in Freeport had done a lot to help round me out. Shockingly, taking on adult responsibilities like managing a budget and training an apprentice had been a big step on the path to getting a more mature perspective. If I’d been half as much of a pain to Celestia as Kukri could be when she got sassy ... it was enough to make me suspect that at least part of why Celestia wanted me to teach at her school and bring Kukri along was so she could chuckle at the karmic retribution whenever I had to put up with troublesome students. But Celestia wasn’t the mother I needed to worry about right now. “So that was Scarlett’s attempt to try and patch things up? Well, we can call that a massive failure. Actually, it made things worse. Before I’d pretty much put it behind me. Now ... I think even if she came up and gave a really good heartfelt apology, I wouldn’t want to hear it.” Argentium grimaced and nodded. “I feared that might be the case, and though I wish it were otherwise I cannot blame you. Whatever your mother’s intention, her execution was profoundly flawed, and all she accomplished was to drive you further away. If you were a closer match to her I might have been forced to halt your fight before one of you killed the other.” She closed her eyes. “I brought the two of you together in the hopes of a reconciliation; instead, all I did was widen the rift.” “Not your fault, that was all Scarlett,” I assured her. “She was my student,” Argentium countered. “There are some who would say that her flaws are either a result of my instruction, or things that I should have corrected long ago.” “As someone who was recently the student of an incredibly wise immortal, you’re wrong if you think that.” I kept going before Argentium had time to get offended. “Celestia spent a lot of time trying to teach me lessons that I didn’t appreciate until later. Not saying she was perfect, but I could’ve been a better student, and now I’m old enough to take responsibility for that.” I gave that a moment to sink in, then pointed out. “And if I’m old enough to take responsibility for my own screw-ups, she sure as hay is.” “Well said ,” Argentium agreed. “Still, given the hypothetical scenario where I could revise past actions, I would be sure to lecture young Scarlett at length on family responsibilities.” I certainly wasn’t going to argue the point any further. If I ever got the chance I would’ve gone back to my past self and bopped her on the head a few times when she wasn’t paying attention to some of Celestia’s lessons that I’d been sure were boring and pointless. I let out a frustrated sigh, pacing back and forth along the shelves of runestones. “I was fine with us just ignoring each other. Sure, it wasn’t the sort of mother-daughter relationship anyone wanted, but at least we were used to it. I’d ... maybe not exactly made peace with it, but I’d accepted that’s how it was. I moved on, and Celestia filled the big mom-shaped void in my life. Scarlett barely making a token effort at being a parent for the last decade. Why change it now?” “A question only she can answer for you,” Argentium answered. Something about her tone made me a bit suspicious. “Does that mean you don’t know, or that you do know but won’t share?” Argentium’s answer proved that Celestia wasn’t the only immortal who was frustratingly good at dodging questions. “The effect is rather the same either way, now isn’t it?” Maybe that was her way of trying to get me to engage with Scarlett again? I’ll admit, it was pretty good bait. However, I wasn’t that curious to know why Scarlett was acting so weird. “Alright. Fine. So something’s going on with her, and you either can’t or won’t tell me. Fine.” I shook my head. “You know what, that’s enough talking about Scarlett for now. Is there anything else I can do for you, Lady Argentium?” Argentium chuckled softly. “Actually, this is about what I can do for you.” She took a moment to look over several of the shelves, then started down one of them, her eyes carefully considering each of the stones before she moved on. “You are a very talented spellcaster, and I can see both your own potential and lessons Celestia imparted upon you, but there is room for improvement.” I grimaced and rubbed my chest where the lightning bolt had hit. “Yeah, hard not to notice the gap between me and Scarlett. I could chalk some of that up to her being a lot more ready for a fight than I was, but...” “By her very nature, she’s been doing magus work since before you were born,” Argentium pointed out. “A difference in experience that showed all too keenly in your fight. There are times when you hesitate before you cast your spells.” That was news to me, though now that I thought about it I did recall Scarlett criticizing me for being slow during the fight. At the time I’d assumed it was just more of her trash talk, but if Argentium agreed... “I don’t think I’m hesitating. I mean, it’s not like I sit there thinking what spell to cast for half a minute or anything.” “Indeed not, and against any lesser foe it doubtless would not matter. However...” She flicked my forehead with a claw. “Half a second. In battle, a moment lost to thought can be the difference between life and death.” That made sense, but... “So what you’re saying is that I shouldn’t think in battle? That seems like it would end very badly.” I frowned as one of my old lessons at Celestia’s school popped to mind. “Isn’t magic supposed to be so much better than any other weapon because it moves at the speed of thought?” Argentium chuckled and shook her head. “Ah, I see a few of the old myths persist. Surely you know by now that for some individuals the speed of thought can be ponderously slow indeed. Even for brilliant minds, every spell needs to triangulate between here, here, and here.” She poked my forehead, my heart, and the tip of my horn in turn. “You must think about the spell, decide on the right action to take and then execute it. Using a horn to cast magic is every bit a physical act as brandishing a weapon, in practice.” I thought about it for a second, then nodded. Nothing she was saying was all that shocking, I just hadn’t quite connected the dots in that way before. Spellcasting was complicated enough that it could take ages if you worried about every little detail, and a whole lot of my early lessons had been all about learning to go through all those little steps and details without bogging my mind down worrying about them. Argentium must have seen the gears turning in my head, because she nodded approvingly. “You begin to understand. The moment you spend considering your next spell or the best defense is what makes up the majority of the gap between you and your mother. She never stops to think, and yet she knows what to do in battle.” She brought a claw up to scratch the underside of her chin. “If I might guess, most of the time when you go on the offensive you use that combination of fire and ice?” “It’s one of my favorites,” I agreed. “And with good reason, for your experience with it shows.” Argentium smiled. “Had Scarlett not prepared a considerable number of high-strength runes specifically to counter fire, you might have been able to press the attack far more effectively. When using those elements you are far closer to matching her speed than when you have to step outside that. Much the same as a master archer who uses his favorite bow rather than another one; his skill is considerable regardless of the weapon, but the easy familiarity of it makes everything flow more smoothly.” “Right.” I mulled it over for a bit. “I have been working on diversifying with things like light and darkness manipulation, kinetic force, and a few unique spells like Blightfire, but I just can’t use those as fast as my mainstay spells. So how do I get faster with those?” Argentium pulled a Celestia and answered my question with one of her own. “Tell me, why do soldiers practice hundreds, perhaps thousands of hours with their weapons? Going through the same motions and exercises through countless repetitions?” “Muscle memory,” I answered at once. “After thousands of repetitions the movements become second nature, to the point where you do them without even thinking about them.” “Exactly,” Argentium responded. “Instinct is the key to battle. It’s what a good soldier has drilled into them, and it’s what let Scarlett defeat you: the ability to plan, strategize, strike, and defend without conscious thought.” So muscle magic, except with combat magic? “Okay, so I need to ... learn to do combat magic by instinct? How does that happen?” Argentium chuckled. “It’s not an easy skill to master, but that’s what I’m going to help you with.” She plucked out one of the runestones from her collection. “This is what I gave to Scarlett to help her master the skill. I expect it will serve you just as well.” I took the runestone, holding it in a hoof as I looked it over. Pretty much all I knew about runes were a few things I’d picked up by osmosis, and a bit of studying I did back when I thought knowing more about runes might make Scarlett notice I existed. That was enough to tell me that this was by far the most advanced runestone I’d ever seen. Figures, considering Argentium had made it. “So how exactly would I use it?” “It is a meditation aid,” she explained. “Using this runestone will help you to achieve the mental state you need in quieter circumstances, which is the first step to learning to fight that way in battle. It will still be a long and difficult path to hone your mental reflexes to be on par with your mother or another archmagus, but at least now you have the tools to do so.” “So lots of practice,” I summarized. Argentium grinned. “You didn’t think developing a skill only the greatest combat mages ever master would be easy, did you?” When she put it like that... “Yeah, there aren’t any shortcuts to power.” I considered that for a moment, then revised my statement. “Well, there are, but those usually aren’t worth considering since they’re all insanely dangerous.” Argentium snorted and nodded. “The risks aside, they make a poor path to take. Power unearned is power poorly wielded. The most powerful blade in the world is barely better than a sharpened hunk of beaten iron if the one wielding it can do nothing but flail about at random and pray for a lucky strike.” “That’s what Celestia always said,” I agreed. “Spells are nothing without the magus who casts them. Not to mention that power always has a price.” “Always, even—or perhaps especially—if it’s being offered for free.” She gave me another one of her fang-less smiles. “It seems that you paid more attention to Celestia’s lessons than she believed.” She held up a talon to forestall my objection. “Not that she ever said you were a poor student, merely that you could be stubborn at times and had a touch of the arrogance common to brilliant young minds.” I was tempted to argue the point, but... “Yeah, a little bit.” “Ah, one of the joys of reaching maturity: the ability to see the follies of our youth clearly.” Argentium chuckled softly. “We all had them, even if mine or Celestia’s lie in the distant past and forgotten by all but ourselves. Such mistakes are but another step along the pathway to achieving our full potential, and without the youthful arrogance to believe we can achieve things our elders never dared, old ideas would remain unchallenged. Certainly you seem to have done well for yourself.” I grimaced and shook my head. “I thought I was pretty close to the top of the game, but Scarlett did a pretty good job of showing me I still have a long way to go.” “Losing can be a humbling experience,” Argentium agreed. “Though considering the difference in age and experience I would say you performed well. From what I saw you have the potential to match or even exceed her. It is simply a matter of honing your skills to the same sharp edge that she has.” “Yeah, I know. Just...” “You thought you were much closer to her level than you were,” Argentium concluded with a knowing smile. “As I said, a humbling experience. To your credit, you are quick to examine yourself and find where there is room for improvement. The runestone you hold now should help, and there are other options.” “Always,” I agreed. “Just a matter of figuring out which ones to follow. Any advice on where I should start?” Argentium shrugged. “Celestia knows more regarding the specifics of unicorn magic, but I am hardly a novice. If you wish to learn more of runecraft, you can find no finer teacher in all the world. However, I doubt you want to spend a few years of your life under my tutelage.” I tried to think of the politest way to word my refusal. “Thank you for the offer, but I have duties in Freeport and Equestria that I can’t really afford to leave unattended for years.” “I thought as much,” Argentium answered with a knowing smile. “Like your mother, you have a keen sense of duty. Fortunately, I do keep a few copies of my books available for those who cannot spare the years to learn from me directly. Books far more advanced than the ones I made available to the public.” “Yeah, I read the latest one a long time ago.” Every century or so Argentium put out an updated version of her book that served as the definitive beginner’s guide to runecraft. Naturally Scarlett had her book, and when I’d wanted to start my abortive study into runes that had been an obvious starting point. I’d been planning to re-read it on the trip over, but hadn’t quite gotten around to it. Argentium nodded. “Well then, you should have a solid foundation to build on for the rest of my material. I would imagine one of Celestia’s students should be able to pick everything up reasonably quickly. Books might be a poor substitute for personal instruction, but you can take them back to Freeport to study in your spare time. All I ask is that you retain them for your own personal use. I would be most displeased if they wound up in another’s hands or on an auction block.” “No problem.” I’d already assumed as much: if she wanted the books out in the public, she would’ve gotten them published like she did with her beginner’s guide. “Thanks for all the help, Lady Argentium.” “You are most welcome.” She started towards the exit. “I shall have the books gathered and delivered to you prior to your departure. Have you decided when that will be?” I thought about it for a second. “I’d have to talk it over with everyone, but probably in the morning unless something comes up.” “Then I will make sure you have the books by tonight,” she concluded. “Is there anything else that I can do to help with the journey, or the remainder of your time as my guest?” “If there is, I’ll let you know.” I smiled and bowed. “Thank you again for your hospitality, Lady Argentium. It has been a great honor to be your guest, despite certain actions by third parties which I know you in no way endorsed.” “Indeed.” Argentium’s gaze settled onto me. “You have my thanks for your understanding. I will not forget this, nor will I fail to settle any debt that remains between us.” Evidently content with having the last word, Argentium stepped out. I took a moment to secure the runestone within my robes, then headed back to the guest quarters. Just as planned, we left the next morning. Morale wasn’t exactly great. Argentium’s hospitality might have been amazing, but the fight was still hanging over our heads, along with the fact that we were leaving pretty much empty-hooved other than a couple books and a runestone. A pretty poor showing for the month of travel it had taken us to get to her, especially when we had another month to get back to Freeport. I’d tried to use the meditation rune on the first night out, but I hadn’t really gotten anywhere with it. Probably because trying to meditate on the road in cold and unfamiliar surroundings was a long way from ideal circumstances. At least the books were a lot easier to handle. We were in the middle of our first day in the open tundra after leaving the mountains when Puzzle decided to finally touch on the subject we’d all been avoiding. “So, you seem to be in good enough spirits despite everything that happened.” I grimaced and didn’t even make a token effort to pretend I wasn’t feeling a bit grumpy. “Yeah, I’m just peachy.” Puzzle regarded me with a raised eyebrow. “That bad?” Kukri cleared her throat. “Maybe we should talk about it later, Puzzle?” Strumming nodded along. “Yeah, you know how they say you should never poke a grumpy bear? Well, bears can’t set you on fire with their brain.” “On second thought, maybe he should bother her,” Kukri mumbled under her breath, pulling her cloak tighter. “If she sets him on fire, it would give the rest of us a chance to warm up.” Strumming sighed and shook her head. “Tempting, but that really wasn’t what I had in mind when I said I wanted to have a hot boyfriend.” Puzzle sighed and did his best to ignore their byplay. “It’s been days since we left the cave, and it’s a long road.” He frowned at me. “This one hopes the Shimmer-mare isn’t planning on brooding the entire way to Coldharbor.” “I’m not brooding,” I grunted. “I’m thinking.” “A really quiet, sullen, withdrawn, and grumpy kind of thinking,” Strumming pointed out. “We should come up with a special name for that sort of thinking. Call it something like .. brooding.” Puzzle didn’t chuckle, but I did see the corner of his mouth twitch up a bit. He didn’t let any mirth slip into his tone, though. “Are you planning on letting one defeat affect you so?” Ugh. I really wasn’t in the mood for a lecture right now. Maybe I was brooding a bit, but so what? I was allowed to brood. Not like I was neglecting any of my duties or anything. I was just ... dealing with stuff my own way. I rolled my eyes and turned away from him. “Oh shut up.” Puzzle answered me with a flat look. “Or what?” he demanded. “You’ll run away? Fight this one? Those are your solutions to most problems: punch it in the face, or run away and avoid it. As well as that worked for you in Canterlot...” Kukri frowned at him and pointedly stepped closer to me. “Or maybe we could just leave her alone for a bit? If she wants some time alone to think about things, this one doesn’t see why we shouldn’t just let her have it.” I grunted and nodded. “What she said.” Puzzle sighed and threw up his hooves. “Oh sure, let’s just put it off. Again, and again and again, like how the Shimmer-mare treats most of her problems. Because procrastination is how work gets done.” What the hay was he talking about? “Are you trying to be as big of a jerk as possible just to piss me off?” “Puzzle!” Kukri snapped. “Nightmare’s teats, what's wrong with giving this a little time?! Her mother just attacked her and tried to petrify her!” “Yeah, the kid’s being smarter than you right now,” Strumming agreed. “You know how I’m the one who usually annoys Bacon and gets on her case to make her deal with stuff she’d rather not think about? Notice how I’m not doing that right now. S’probably a sign of something. Plus, you’re stealing my thing—don’t steal my thing.” Puzzle sighed and waved their remarks away. “Yes, the fight happened. And the very fact that it did happen revealed several significant problems.” “What sort of problems?” I asked. Puzzle cleared his throat and launched in the lecture I’d been hoping to avoid. “You let your emotions suck you into a fight you didn’t need to even have. Tell this one: did you get tricked into a fight, or is the truth that you wanted to show the old mare who’s boss and get some payback for a bad childhood?” I scoffed and shook my head. “What a load of horseapples. You were there, you saw how it played out. I was defending myself.” “Is that so?” He frowned skeptically. “One word to Argentium and the fight wouldn’t even have happened. So why did you fight?” Why was he making such a big deal over this? “I didn’t even think of asking her for help until things got desperate. After all, she seemed fine with letting it play out.” Puzzle nodded to himself. “Because you were angry with your mom, and you wanted to fight her. You weren’t trying to avoid the fight, you were trying to win it.” I groaned and rolled my eyes even harder. “Yeah, I wanted to win. What’s your point?” Puzzle took a seat and crossed his forelegs over his chest, scowling at me. “There’s nothing wrong with being angry at your mother for a bad childhood, but you crossed the line into letting that anger control you. Your temper is one of your greatest weaknesses, and one that your enemies will exploit.” “My temper?” I shot back, clenching my teeth. “The hay are you even talking about? I don’t have a temper!” “Then why are you yelling?” Puzzle snapped. “You’re not using your inside voice.” Was he really serious with this horseapples? “First, we’re outside. Second, I’m yelling because you’re pissing me off! And before you say anything, I’m pissed off because you’re being a completely unreasonable jerk, not because I have anger issues.” “And what happens next time your mom shows up?” Puzzle demanded. “Or your dad? Or White Pony preserve us, Princess Cadenza?!” I sighed and handled the questions one at a time. “Scarlett wouldn’t dare go against Argentium and Celestia again, she’d lose her title for sure. Solar hadn’t even been in Equestria for over two years before I left and is probably still going after Steel Rose—the only way I’ll probably ever see him is if he thinks I have a lead to help crack that case. If Cadenza shows up...” I grimaced and trailed off uncertainly. That was a difficult question. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if Cadenza just randomly showed up one day, but whatever it was, it certainly wouldn’t be me flying off the handle in a jealous rage. I try not to make the same mistake twice. Puzzle closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Very well then. Perhaps we should talk about what happened back at the cave?” I followed his lead, taking a moment to center myself. “Alright. Fine. If you have something to say, say it.” Puzzle nodded. “Very well. You’re upset that you were defeated. This one can understand that. Losing a fight is never easy. Especially when you’ve worked years to improve yourself, and be the best you can be. Not helped when the Archmagus was so... needlessly provocative.” “And your point is?” I scoffed. “Yes, I’m unhappy about losing. Obviously. Nothing for it but to keep honing my skills. Argentium even gave me a few pointers.” “And what else?” he asked. “What do you mean what else?” I shot right back. Puzzle sighed and spoke as if I were being exceptionally slow-witted. “What do you plan on doing once we get back to Freeport?” “I’m going to study hard and close the gap,” I answered simply. “She’s better than me now, but that just gives me a new goal to work towards.” “And your school?” Puzzle countered. “Wasn’t one of your goals to win Argentium’s support?” “Yeah.” I sighed and ran a hoof through my mane. “I think I got it on some level, but I’m not sure how hard I want to push her. I have a feeling she wouldn’t be impressed if I just straight-up asked for the cash to make the school happen. I think she’d give me a painting worth twenty million ducats before she’d give me just five million in straight cash. And just selling the painting for money after she gives it to me would offend her.” “Immensely,” Puzzle agreed. “So yeah, I think she’s going to support it, but not with money.” I frowned to myself. “More like she’d be willing to endorse the school, and send me students and maybe even a few teachers.” “Which still leaves the money issue unresolved,” Puzzle concluded. “Her endorsement might sway some who were on the fence, but this one doubts the Council would shift its position merely on her say-so. However, that doesn’t mean all is lost; presuming you do not accept the White Pony’s offer, this one has been looking into a few options for assembling the needed funds without doing anything distasteful.” “Alright, I’m listening.” I hadn’t completely ruled out taking the position at the School for Gifted Unicorns, but the run-in with Scarlett probably had prejudiced me against taking it. At least until Celestia did something to make the offer more appealing, which she almost certainly would. I briefly regretted not bringing the book that would let me instantly communicate with her, but the whole reason I’d left it back in Freeport was so I wouldn’t feel pressured to give her an answer as soon as I wrapped up the meeting with Argentium. Still, it would’ve been handy to be able to write to her when Scarlett showed up so Mom could instantly smack her down. In any case, if I was taking the time to think over my options, I might as well hear what they were. “So what crazy money-making schemes did you have in—” The rest of the words died in my throat as a long, mournful howl drifted in off the wind. A dozen more joined it in a distant, eerie chorus. Sigil stopped in his tracks, holding up a hoof to signal the rest of us. “Wargs. Sounds like a big pack, too.” Kukri let out a nervous little murmur and shifted closer to me. “Wargs? What’re wargs? Are they dangerous?” “They’re kinda like big nasty wolves crossed with big nasty bears,” Strumming explained. “That sounds dangerous.” Kukri scooted close enough that she was practically pressed up against my side. “They can be,” Sigil agreed. “Though usually they stay deep in the wilderness hunting larger prey. It’s rare for them to come this close to civilization. Most of the wild animals know that hunting ponies or caribou is too dangerous to be worth the trouble.” Puzzle nodded along. “Exactly. The Shimmer-mare should be able to easily handle a pack of wargs, especially when we know they’re coming and we’re on open ground.” My eyes flicked over the wide open tundra, with barely a speck of cover to be found. “Yeah, shouldn’t be a problem. Especially since most wild animals have a built-in fear of fire. With any luck I’ll be able to scare them off without even needing to hurt any of them.” “Right.” Kukri let out a slow breath and untensed. “Right. Over open ground like this, they should be easy to spot a long time before they get close to us, right?” “Yup.” Strumming stepped up to cover her other side. “So no need to worry, Facon. Sounds like if they try anything we’ll be just —” That’s when another sound cut through the cold winter air, and this one wasn’t anything close to a wolf’s howl. It sounded a lot more ... raw and angry. Like the high-pitched shriek of something that was so full of hate it was just spilling out its mouth. The sound was just wrong. It’s hard to explain it more precisely, but it just ... didn’t sound like something a natural creature could make. Strumming winced at the scream. “I really need to learn not to jinx things.” Sigil frowned, and I could swear I saw a flicker of fear in his eyes. “I do not know that creature.” “It certainly wasn’t a warg,” Puzzle agreed. “Heartstrings-mare, go up and see what we’re dealing with and where they’re coming from.” Kukri started shaking again and scooted back up against my side. I would’ve given her a quick hug to reassure her, but considering the circumstances I needed to be ready for battle at a moment’s notice. My apprentice managed to sort it out on her own, taking a deep breath and biting her lower lip before putting on a brave face. Strumming headed up into the sky, pulling on her snow goggles to get a good look. “Oh ... oh damn. I don’t know what that is, but I don’t like it.” “What does it look like?” I called up to her. “Ugly!” She answered. Before I could bug her for details, she elaborated. “Kinda like if a wolf, a bear, a scorpion, and a giant lizard had sex and the baby came out really mutated.” Kukir perfectly summarized my thoughts on that description. “Um ... what? How can something like that even exist?!” I would’ve followed up with a few questions of my own, but then I got a good look at Sigil’s face. He was standing there with his jaw hanging halfway open as he slowly sank down onto his haunches. That wasn’t the reaction you got from some baffled and confused, it was... “What do you know?” “They’re supposed to all be dead,” Sigil gasped out. “Lady Argentium killed the last one of them over a hundred years ago.” It took a second to connect the dots. “Oh buck me sideways, it’s a Blightspawn?!” Puzzle grimaced and scanned his surroundings. Suddenly that wide open tundra wasn’t nearly so advantageous. “Nowhere to hide. Is there any chance we can run from it?” Sigil shook his head. “Lady Argenium said once they had the scent of their prey, they would chase it for days or even weeks until they ran it down. Not to mention they’re supposed to be faster than us anyway.” Strumming called up from above. “There’s no kinda cover anywhere close, and they’re coming at you guys full tilt!” “Looks like we’ve got no choice but to fight it out.” My eyes flicked to my apprentice. “One of you get Kukri up somewhere safe!” “This one can fly, you know.” Kukri popped her wings out from under her cloak and shot up into the air. “Kick their flanks, Shimmer-mare!” I grimaced as I watched the two of them head up, briefly wishing I was an alicorn for far more immediately practical reasons than I usually did. Wings would make the wargs and Blightspawn a lot less of an issue. Well, if not for the fact that we had Sigil to deal with as well. Though with three effective fliers we probably could’ve carried him... No sense lamenting what we couldn’t have. “Strumming, stay up top to keep an eye on the field. Puzzle, Sigil, watch my flanks. Sigil, if you know anything useful about how to kill a Blightspawn, now would be a great time to share it.” Sigil grimaced and shook his head. “From what Lady Argentium said, the corruption process turns each one of them into a unique horror. They can be killed, though. She personally undertook the hunt out of a sense of duty to wipe Blackfyre’s works off the face of Northmarch and because she could face them with far less risk, not because she was the only one capable of defeating them.” “So we’re improvising. Fine.” I took a deep breath. “I’ll handle the big guy, you just keep me from getting ripped apart by wargs and help out if I’m in trouble.” They both nodded, and none of us said anything more as the monsters came within view. The wargs themselves were about like Strumming described, them: extremely large and bulky wolves with long, shaggy coats and slightly shorter, bear-like snouts. The Blightspawn... Strumming’s description of it hadn’t been too far off. It was quadruped with wolf-like limbs but instead of the usual wolf-like snout it just had a huge gaping maw. There weren’t any visible eyes, and the top of its face was covered with plates of carapace. More plates covered its spine and vitals, while the rest of its body had almost reptilian scales. Its tail was unusually long and ended with a thick black stinger. I couldn’t tell if it had a poisoned sting, but even if it didn’t the barb on the end of its tail would punch an extremely unhealthy hole in whoever it hit. “Hope we can make this quick.” If I could kill the thing before it got into melee range, my life would be a lot easier. I threw a lance of fire at the spawn, only for it to roll off the creature’s thick carapace. “Figures.” Ice darts were similarly ineffective, and after my initial attack the creature shifted from a straightforward charge to zig-zagging across the field as it closed in on us, making my next few spells land wildly off target. “It’s smart for a monster.” Sigil nodded gravely. “Lady Argentium did say that some of them have a malign sort of cunning.” He pulled several runes out of his pouch, handling them carefully enough that I was pretty sure they’d do bad things whatever he used them against. “Then we’ll just have to be smarter.” Puzzle pulled out one of the fire gems I’d made for him, hefting it a few times before lobbing it towards the approaching wargs. It landed a bit short of them, but that just meant there was a wall of fire between us and them. Which might well have been what Puzzle wanted in the first place. If that was his plan, it didn’t work. The Blightspawn charging straight through the flames without a moment’s hesitation wasn’t a huge surprise, but the wargs all following suit was. So much for wild animals being scared of fire. Sigil scowled and said what we were all thinking. “That isn’t normal. It must be the spawn’s influence, it’s driving them berserk.” Puzzle and Strumming lashed out, hitting the wargs with another fire gem and several throwing darts. Backing up Sigil’s theory, the beasts barely even slowed down despite the wounds they suffered. That seemed to convince the caribou to shift tactics, and instead of using attack runes he threw down several barriers to split them up and cut off angles of attack. He also tried for his old barrier shield around the Blightspawn, bottling it up. I was about to ask what the point of closing the creature up was when Sigil revealed that this was a particularly nasty twist on his usual shield. The runes slowly began to roll tighter and tighter around the spawn, tightening up the shield until it would crush the creature. Or at least, that was what he intended. The Blightspawn slammed its clawed forepaws into the shield, pressing against it. For a second its carapace lit up, angry orange runes flashing into existence for an instant before fading away as the creature pushed through the barrier, erupting from the other side with a triumphant roar. Well ... these things had certainly earned their reputation. I threw another volley of razor ice shards at the creature while it’s momentum was gone from breaking the shield, but even with a direct hit all I managed was a few small surface scratches. “That carapace is tough.” “Then hit it harder!” Puzzle shouted before throwing a pair of thunderflash stones at the wargs. The bright flash and deafening roar normally would’ve sent the wargs away with their tail between their legs, but instead they just rushed forward blindly. Sigil scowled. “That confirms it. The wargs are either under the beast’s control or so terrified of it they won’t dare break ranks.” “Then fighting the wargs is pointless,” Puzzle concluded. “This won’t end until we take down the Blightspawn.” He pulled a pair of long curved daggers from beneath his cloak. “Gotta at least keep ‘em off us so they don’t jump your back and hamstring you,” Strumming pointed out, throwing a few darts that thudded into one warg’s back. One of them must have hit something in the spine, because the warg went down like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Sigil threw a rune at the spawn, but its carapace flashed again and instead of doing anything the stone just bounced off its carapace, completely inert. Sigil snarled and shook his head. “It must have some defense against runic magic.” I decided to try something a bit less subtle than fire and ice, and lashed out with a blast of blunt kinetic force. The attack knocked the spawn sprawling, but it rolled with the attack and wound up back on its feet with almost liquid agility. Then it planted its feet and pounced forward, its tail lashing out over its head and coming straight for me. I teleported a few feet to the side a second before it would have skewered me. Normally I would’ve moved a lot further away to buy myself more room to operate, but that would mean leaving Puzzle and Sigil completely exposed. If defense and evasion weren’t viable options, I’d just have to win with offense. “Let’s see how you like this!” I pulled in enough light to make an especially intense beam, then threw it right at the creature’s head. The attack cut a deep gouge into the carapace over it’s skull, but there wasn’t any blood and the spawn whirled about and roared, seemingly none the worse for the wear. Puzzle shot into the air, using a quick bit of telekinesis to grab some of Strumming’s throwing darts and send them into a warg that had been closing in on my flank. “Still not hard enough!” “I wouldn’t recommend trying blightfire!” Sigil chimed in. “It’s hard to say exactly what effect it might have on a Blightspawn.” I was pretty sure the fact that the creature and the spell both had blight in their name was just a coincidence of naming, but if the closest thing we had to an expert on Blightspawn thought it was a bad idea I wasn’t going to argue. At least, not until things were a lot more desperate. “It’ll take all day to get through that thing’s carapace. I need to get a solid hit on its underside!” Easier said than done, since the creature was deceptively agile and had the brains to know to keep its armor facing me and its vitals protected. Strumming threw a dart at one of the thing’s paws, only for it to shift position so that the weapon bounced off its carapace. She let out a frustrated groan. “We have to pin that thing down so Bacon can finish it off!” Sigil nodded sharply. “I have one last set of barrier stones ready. They won’t hold it for very long but even slowing it down for a few seconds might be enough to give her an opening.” “I’ll make it work!” I shot a beam of arctic cold at the ground, turning the half-frozen tundra dirt into a sheet of slick ice. To my irritation if not my surprise, the abomination that had spent its entire life in the frozen north dug in its claws and managed just fine. The spawn planted its hind legs and I teleported away before it could pounce. A second too late, I realized I wasn’t the target as it leapt at Puzzle’s back. I quickly threw a kinetic shield in between the two of them, but it was barely enough to slow the creature down. Fortunately, I bought enough time for Puzzle to jump clear, and for Strumming to dive down and slam her shoulder into the spawn’s side. It didn’t seem to cause much damage, but it did knock the spawn in the opposite direction from her boyfriend. As it went down the creature swiped at her, catching her wing and ripping out a ton of feathers. Strumming fell out of the air with a startled yelp, and the spawn closed in on her, its tail waving menacingly over its head. The unnatural abomination was fast, but like I’d said to Argentium earlier few things are faster than thought. Before the tail could snap down to impale Strumming I teleported her away, and as an added bonus I replaced the mare with a huge block of solid ice. The Blightspawn let out a frustrated roar, thrashing its tail back and forth to try and either free itself or just shatter the ice entirely. Puzzle and Kukri weren’t about to give it the chance, their throats bulging as they both spat globs of thick adhesive plasm at the Spawn’s paws. The loose tundra dirt didn’t give them anything to adhere him to, but just gumming his paws up would slow the monster down a bit. Between that and the chunk of ice it was dragging along on its tail Sigil had plenty of time to throw down his barrier runes, which slowed it down even more. However, the angry orange-red runes were already starting to light up along its carapace. “It’s not gonna stay still for long!” Strumming called out, clutching her wounded wing. “Whatever you’re gonna do, do it fast!” There wasn’t enough time to come up with a clever plan, so I just did the first thing I could think of: I charged up another one of my intense beams of cutting light, ignoring how the blightspawn shifted its bulk to put as much of its carapace as possible between itself and me. When I fired off the light beam it shot clear over the monster ... but not past the ice mirror I’d conjured up behind it. The beam of light bounced right off the mirror, cutting into the beast’s vulnerable underbelly. The creature’s defiant roar trailed off into a pained whimper, and a second later one of the most unbelievably foul smells I’d ever experienced assaulted my nostrils. The remaining wargs froze for several seconds, their heads all whipping around to stare at their fallen leader. By the time my laser was done I’d all but sliced it in half, and Blightspawn had long since stopped twitching. Perhaps a bit of overkill, but the thing had been nasty enough that I wasn’t inclined to take any chances on not finishing it off. The wargs stared at their fallen master, then slowly started to slink away. For a moment I was tempted to throw a few fireballs after them for encouragement, but... “Whew.” I slumped down a bit as the adrenaline started to wear off, and I realized just how much heavy-duty magic I’d just slung. Especially when I still hadn’t completely bounced back from the fight with Scarlett. Puzzle rushed over to Strumming’s side, looking her over. “Heartstrings-mare, are you hurt?” “I’ve had worse.” She opened and closed her wing a few times, frowning at how many of her feathers were missing. “Looks like I’m gonna be a groundpounder for a bit, but at least he didn’t hit bone.” She trotted over to the Blightspawn, gagging as she poked at it. “So, Sigil, didn’t you say that all these things were dead? I mean, sure, this one is dead, but that’s a lot more recent than the whole ‘They’ve been dead for a hundred years’ line we heard earlier.” “Evidently one eluded milady Argentium,” Sigil answered, frowning at the beast. “She must be told of this at once, but it will be faster to send a message from Coldharbor than to turn around at this point. Besides which, we’ll need to warn the city as well.” “But it’s just the one monster, right?” Kukri asked. “And it’s dead now.” “Perhaps,” Sigil answered. “But if one of them was alive for over a hundred years without us knowing about it...” “Exactly.” Strumming fully extended her wing and winced. “Yup. Grounded. But yeah, when I checked in with the local EIS station they did say there’d been more monster attacks than usual. Big and ugly over here is probably to blame for that, but it’s hard to say if just one of them would be enough to really push the statistics. If he has friends...” She grimaced, then turned to face me. “Oh, and thanks for saving my bacon, Bacon.” “Yes,” Puzzle shot an unreadable look Strumming’s way. “We can discuss your reckless actions during the fight at a later date.” Strumming frowned at him. “Considering I was saving your bacon...” She shook her head, then turned to me. “Anyway, nice moves. The ice block teleport and ice mirror were new ones.” I shrugged. “Yeah, new for me too, but under the circumstances I kinda had to improvise.” I hadn’t even really thought about those variations on my spells, I’d just ... done them because I needed to. Without really thinking about it. Almost like it was instinct. I pulled out the rune Argentium gave me, looking it over. It didn’t seem like it was doing anything special, but from what she said it was just a bit of mental aid to focus my mind. Maybe it was doing its job when I was in the middle of a fight rather than quiet meditation? Regardless, I wasn’t eager to test that theory by risking life and limb. “I was already eager to be out of here before the ancient murder beast showed up. Now...” I wanted to say that just made me all the more eager to leave, but I couldn’t. After all, if there really were more Blightspawn waking up or coming out of hiding, the people of Northmarch would need all the help they could get.