//------------------------------// // 33 - The Trials of the Embers // Story: Embers Fall // by CrimsonWave //------------------------------// Despite the gloomy-looking weather, the atmosphere around Duskgem seemed a lot more electric than usual this afternoon. The edginess of Sun Beamer's new face paint (right triangles on his cheeks with vertical lines through them, as requested) was directly contrasted by the silly-looking, cardboard unicorn horn and pegasus wings he was wearing for the official Cult of the Amazing Alicorns Bonfire Day Bash IV he came across. It involves dancing around a random pony's boombox, and screaming at the top of your lungs that you're a pretty prince or princess (and the like). They say its a revolution. You say it reminds you of the silly things you did at recess in grade school. In fact, almost everything here seemed to have that vibe, except with more of an, ahem, mature twist from time to time. Either way, it was all for the art. Every piece of metal, every piece of wood, every false unicorn horn made from paper towel rolls. In just a few days, it was all going to vanish into thin air (or at least be put on display in their creators' hometowns in some way, shape, or form). The Gathering of Embers was about giving everyone a chance to make their mark, to the point that there were even a few random walls and shipping containers here and there with cans of spray paint conveniently lying around. By Wednesday, Sun Beamer had made it a point to check on them to see if there were any interesting messages being left by others. oday was no different. "Hmm; Greetings from New Oreins. Remember up up down up? I will emerge from the fire, Heed the burn." he read. "Let me see you danc- WHOA HOLD ON THERE." One of those messages definitely got his attention: it was painted in blue, with a blotchy looking thing next to it that kind of looked like the Blazicorn if you squinted your eyes hard enough. Sun Beamer's "Not sure if Obscurus or just somebody joking about the alleged folklore" senses were tingling; surely if it were Obscurus, she'd probably try better than that in terms of hyping whatever she was doing. Either way, it posed more questions than it answered. Heading back towards the central plaza, he noticed that there were pockets of attendees who had apparently seen similar things. "Somepony's been spamming message walls to say that something will 'emerge from the fire' tonight." a cow remarked. "If that actually happens, run." she continued sarcastically. "Don't you mean we should get a moooooove on?" an Earth pony replied. "Slice Dice, I'm pretty sure y'know that 'Moo' puns were only funny the first million times." the cow remarked in frustration. "It's just a gigantic stereotype by now." A deer chimed in. "Archaeological unicorns actually surveyed Duskgem a few years ago, and they couldn't find any evidence suggesting that there is a mythical creature buried under the sands. That 'legend' is literally just a campfire story that silly ponies think is authoritative!" The group chuckled just as Sun Beamer decided to join the conversation. "Hey, Deer, whatever your name is; I actually had some suspicions about what those messages are about. But I'm not 100% sure." "Oh? Tell us your secrets, random little pony!" replied the cow, as the deer and pony anticipated his revelations. "Or, well, whatever your name is." "You can call me the Chaotic Kisol, by the way." Sun Beamer noted. "From Las Pegasus." "Lady Lillian, from El Paddock." "Blitzenkrieg, Northern Coltorado." "Anyway, have any of you seen this DJ named Obscurus Noctis?" asked Sun Beamer. "The name sounds familiar; if she was that purple-ish unicorn with a blue skull bandana, I think I was actually at one of her sets on Thursday." noted the cow. "She has a very refreshing sound; it's modern, but it's still has that crisp analog feel that a lot of current electronica lacks in." "I see we got an audiophile in this camp." observed Sun Beamer. Everyone else chuckled again. "Yeah, I work at a bar. Usually we only had country shows, but apparently those techno DJ-types think we have good acoustics." explained Lillian. "The owner likes it cause it attracts a lot of cider-cravin' yungins. But I hate the 'mainstream' stuff everyone listens to; everyone here gets it right." "It's funny, but I think I got interested in electronic music in a very similar manner. Except I run the pew-pew lazorz and the like." added Sun Beamer, with prerequisite leg motions. "Anyway, on the topic of Obscurus. Let's just say I got into some disputes with her and she ended up using me as a test subject for vision-manipulating magic." The group seemed perplexed by the discovery. "I've kind of heard of stuff like that. But can she do it at scale?" asked Blitzenkrieg. "At scale?" wondered Sun Beamer. "As in, can she do it to a lot of 'em at once?" the deer clarified. "I think, but I'm still trying to put the final pieces together." Sun Beamer noted. "Just, err, look out for weird things that don't belong," "Things that don't belong. At the Gathering of Embers. Really now?" questioned Lillian, "You must be new here." "Got that right." confirmed Sun Beamer. "He's not 100% wrong; there are rules." clarified Slice Dice. "But I don't think there was anything in them about vision manipulation spells, though." "Err ... you know what I mean. Like, weirder than usual by your standards." Sun Beamer explained. "Our standards are pretty low here, actually." admitted Blitzenkrieg. "It's all about expressing yourself." "Agreed." Sun Beamer replied. "Anyway, I got some business I need to attend to. If I see y'all later on, that's great, but if I don't..." After collecting their social media and Haybale usernames, and taking some more adorkable selfies with them (he was at 37 so far this week!), Sun Beamer made his way towards the center of the city, where Blast Furnace was overseeing some of the final preparations for the big night. "Hey there, Prince Yellow One of Las Pegashire!" "Oh, I know where you got that from." noted Sun Beamer. "And you probaly where I got these from." "The Cult of Amazing Alicorns, right?" she asked. "Yes." "It's a recent thing, but it feels like it's been there since the start." elaborated Blast Furnace. "Anyway, I guess I can unironically and officially say that things are going to be 'lit' tonight, as the cool stallions say." "That is, if nothing weird happens." warned Sun Beamer. "Oh? Go on..." “Obscurus doing something suspicious. Getting sand in my mouth and mane. And now, weird messages that somepony has been writing everywhere today." continued Sun Beamer. "They said something to the effect of "I'll emerge from fire, heed the burn'. There's a chance it might be related to Euphorius, but I'm not quite sure. "Either way; is it just me, or does it feel like everything at the Gathering is out to get me?” Sun Beamer wondered. “Ha! Actually, I get that a lot from first-timers!" explained Blast Furnace."Nothing anypony has ever posted online about the Gathering has ever summed up what it’s really like to be here for real, so it’s quite a culture shock." But if they do think something’s up, I just tell them that some sort of omnipresence is judging their worthiness." she continued. "It’s the ‘trials of the Embers’, as I like to call it. Your first real test.” “I’m guessing it’s like one of those RPG quests?” asked Sun Beamer. “You got the idea!" announced Blast Furnace. “So what’s our next objective?” “Being on the lookout for any suspicious activity." advised Blast Furnace. "But I think you should talk with Diablo about that; she’s been quite knowledgeable.” “Agreed.” he replied. "Don't forget, Train Spot said that Obscurus, basically, craves attention." “Also, Sun Beamer, while we’re here, you don’t have to constantly bring up that dust storm incident. I caught your drift the first 126 times.”