Chapter 15: Whoosh!
I took the lead, stretching my wings in a strange, but vaguely familiar sky. Now that I had figured it all out, unnerving tension coiled around my gut with frightening tenacity, occasionally lashing out like a snake with petulant misgivings.
I watched those strange-but-familiar stars and knew how far we’ve gone down the rabbit hole.
“Geneva,” I called out.
“Yes, Gre—Owlowiscious?”
I could feel her suppressing the desire to confront me. She was dying to know.
“You must be wondering if I know what’s going on.”
“The Great Owl knows all.”
I sighed.
“Geneva, what you see around us is the Granular Gale Desert.”
“Granular Gale? I’ve never heard of such a desert.” She shrugged. “I wasn’t great at geography but I know the lands surrounding Equestria.” She squinted around as if she could see where she was but scanning the horizon. “If I haven’t heard of it, we must be very far away, indeed.”
“We’re far away,” I continued mirthlessly. “We’re halfway around the globe. But that’s not the only problem. We’re even further than that.”
“Further?”
“Not in space, but in time.”
“Are you saying…?”
“Yes, right now, as I gaze at the stars above, they look familiar. Old and comforting, but not the same as they will be. This, Geneva, is the past; a thousand years in fact.”
Geneva chirped in surprise. “What do you mean, Great Owl?” She took a moment to digest it. “How can we be in the past?”
She reverted back to her usual form of address, but I didn’t correct her, she was probably shocked out of her wits.
“That’s a very good question,” I replied reluctantly. “One I don’t have a direct answer to, only…”
“Only?”
“Only I think this should have been done by the Tree.”
“The Tree of Harmony you mean?”
“Yes.” I veered up to flip around and hover, seeking the opposing horizon with keen vision. The smudge on the dunes had retreated and with my vision I could barely see the outlines of our pursuers. It looked like an inky black stain slowly filtering out and retracting, much like the waves of the ocean sweeping out and receding.
The Sweepers were fanning out and drawing back alternatively, covering each area methodically with dogged determination. It didn’t look like they noticed us on the ground, which triggered a wave of hopeful relief.
If they had noticed us, I doubt we would have survived to tell the tale. We needed assistance. Before, when I deactivated them with Griselda I had the element of surprise and luck; they were hardly a threat being deactivated. We had a minor scare when we tripped some and stumbled across the core.
Now, I needed help.
Magical help.
———————
“Now if I’m right about our current situation and judging from the stars and the geography, then essentially, we’re far west of the nearest griffon city, here. How far? Unknowable, but at least we have a direction.”
We had settled on the ground, ears and faceplates pricked and primed for any sounds of the Sweepers coming any closer. Fortunately, it seemed like they were decreasing in speed or moving away. We were safe here for now.
Griselda nodded in confirmation.
“We’ll go to the city and search for anyone else that got whisked back in the timeline.”
Griselda’s eyes widened in the night, looking very much like two fireflies glowing brightly in the cool reflection of the moon.
“You think the others will be here, Great Owl?”
“Didn’t I ask you to call me Owlowiscious?”
Geneva drew back, briefly unwilling to reply.
“Yes, Owl…owiscious.” Her head drooped down as her ears splayed flat on her head.
“Thank you, Geneva. So about our plans in moving towards…” I trailed off as I noticed her still sending me simpering stares.
“Is there something wrong?” I finally asked.
“I was just replaying all the moments in my mind where I could call you Great Owl, erm… Owlowiscious.”
“Okay…” I collected myself. “So in order for us—” I could feel her regarding me with a pitiable gaze from the edges of my periphery. “Ahem, in order…”
I sighed.
“Oh for feather’s sake, fine!” I snapped. “Call me whatever you like!”
Geneva’s tail perked up, swishing left and right in excitement. “Really? Thank you, Great Owl!”
This griffon…
“We’ll need to start at this border town here, then move towards the capital.”
“Forgive me, Great Owl, but why are we heading to the border town? It’s actually faster to go straight to the city, right?”
“Yes.” I pointed to the border town. “But that border town is special.”
“Why?”
“It’s where I met a special griffon, Griselda.” I waved an amused wing at her confused expression. “No, not the Griselda you know, but rather Queen Griselda, a griffon queen that was alive thousands of years in the past. If I’m correct about my assumption that we’re in the past, then she should still be there in the border town.”
“How can you be sure?”
“I can’t.” I shook my head. “The only thing I know is that the Sweepers are activated, for some reason, and that means we’re either before the event where Griselda and I broke through the ruins and deactivated the central core controlling the Sweepers or we’re in the future and someone or something was able to reactivate them. Either way, we have to check it out.”
“So those things are called Sweepers?”
Surprise crept into my expression as I glanced upwards. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mention it before, did I?” I cleared my throat. “Yes, those magical constructs are Sweepers. Originally they were made by a mad griffon that dabbled in some sort of magical-mechanical golems. Eventually, he got them to build themselves. They track anything that has life and extinguishes them. If they can’t find any lifeforms nearby, they’ll try and replicate themselves. Rinse and repeat.”
“Wouldn’t that make them a huge threat?”
The question held merit, but I answered whilst shaking my head. “The Sweepers have finite resources. You can’t replicate without materials. Fortunately for us the Sweepers don’t have many materials available in the desert. Usually, after sweeping an area, they harvest metal and scrap and other pieces in order to replicate themselves. There—”
Flashes of clicking and whirring filled the soundscape. The taste of metal filled the air, saturating my mouth with the memories of those horrifying creations.
“—there should be something about the Sweeper’s design.” I shrugged off the fragmented memories and concentrated on the task at hand. Geneva had been on the verge of alarm, but I calmed her down with a quelling gaze.
“I’m fine, don’t worry. Yes, ahem, in any case, the Sweepers aren’t very intelligent, but they are powerful and vicious. The only good thing about the Sweepers is that they can’t fly. It was useful before when I went with Griselda in the past and it helped us now, so it doesn’t look like much has changed, thankfully.”
Upon seeing my expression, Geneva appeared slightly shaken. “So that means they’re not that bad? Can’t we leave them alone, Great Owl?”
I sighed. “I wish that would be the case, but you can’t live with these things roaming around. They need to be stopped. Even without replicating, they’re still able to expand slowly and destroy the land underneath their tracks. Plants can’t grow and they’d essentially slowly eradicate all forms of life, turning the whole land into a desert.”
My eyes hardened with resolve.
“We have to stop them.”
Geneva’s continued silence took me back to the present and drove a stake of guilt into my heart.
Demons aren’t meant to be shared.
Time dragged with me trying to shift words together to articulate what I meant. It started slow, like a confession and then turned into an apologetic babble. “But you don’t have to accompany me. This isn’t your time, or something that you have to take part in. You shouldn’t come with me. Instead, you can focus on getting home. Sorry, I got carried away and dragged you this far. When you get to the griffon capital, try and find the others and the Oasis. It contains a Tree there, maybe with Twilight’s help you might be able to get back to the future.”
Geneva smiled. “The future cannot exist while the past is threatened.”
I stared at her. “It will be dangerous.”
Geneva’s smile faltered. “I know.”
“Are you doing this because of me?”
Geneva chuckled. “No.”
“Then why?” I genuinely felt puzzled. “There’s no sense of responsibility here.”
“It’s related to the reason why I joined the Whos.”
“Why did you join?”
“Do you know the central tenants of the Whos?”
I shook my head. “I only know that I founded an organisation in the ancient times, but my memory is a bit fuzzy there.”
“The Whos were founded to follow the Great Owl and his Prophet. To uphold the Wing and protect the Way.”
“The Wing and the Way?”
Geneva pointed to her wings with one of her claw tips. “The Wing represents freedom, the Way represents the flight we take.” She smiled. “The Great Owl, you, once said: ‘All those who fly have freedom. All those with a will shall find the way.’”
I cocked my head. “Why would I say that?”
Geneva blinked at me. “Well surely you know the meaning if you said it yourself?”
I shook my head helplessly. “I don’t remember ever saying that!”
Geneva stared at me for a few moments, but then shrugged and continued. “Anyway, Great Owl, what you are saying to the Whos is that all those with wings are unrestricted and free. We should do anything we want whenever we want!”
I reared my head. Did I say anything like that? A past me might have said so…
“Freedom!” Geneva turned an avid gaze to the stars. “In the truest sense among the Whos where we can be what we want whenever we want. Not having a fixed location, not depending on any bird but ourselves and liberating ourselves in the truest sense!”
Geneva peered at me with avid intensity. “Great Owl, when I joined the Whos, it changed my life. I… had a rough time before, but now, I have purpose, I have a direction, I have… you.”
No, she didn’t have me. I was the one that abandoned my followers. I don’t even remember them. I left so much. I don’t deserve them. I don’t deserve any of this. I need to make it right.
“Listen—”
“No!” Geneva interrupted. “Listen to me, Great Owl! Whether you intended to or not, you have been there for me. I want to be there for you. I have that choice, I have that freedom.”
She hesitated, then sighed wistfully. “I love being a part of the Whos, we are a family that isn’t beholden to anything or anyone.” She coughed and glanced at me. “Except perhaps the Prophet and the Great Owl, but we know that the founder wouldn’t tie us down.”
Her view gave me misgivings. Is this what the Whos were really about?
“Surely… that can’t be a central tenet of the Whos. They seem so… organised.”
Geneva blushed so hard I could even see it under the moonlight. “Um… it might not be…”
“Might not be what?”
“Be a central tenet, I mean…” Griselda’s wings rustled restlessly on her back. “I, well, uhm… it’s an interpretation of mine…”
I chuckled.
“A-Anyway!” Geneva cleared her throat. “That passage was an inspiration for me to join. The Whos were the best change of my life. I want to follow you wherever you go, even if it means danger.”
I slowly stretched out with a wing, hopping towards Geneva. “I’m glad that the Whos were a positive experience in your life.” With my wing, I brushed it against hers and said in a low tone. “But you should remember that it should be just an inspiration and nothing more. You don’t need to follow anything I said or have said.”
“Well, you would say that.” Geneva smiled at me, but when I didn’t smile back, her own wilted. She met my eyes with determination etched deep in her irises bringing forth a presence so powerful that I couldn’t tear away. “I want to follow you and learn from you.”
“All the more reason you shouldn’t follow me.” I shook my head. “There’s nothing to learn.”
“Of course there is! You’re an owl.”
“That’s a stereotype, and stop diverting the subject! I have to ask you again. Why are you coming? It can’t be because of me, I won’t approve of it.”
Geneva stared at the stars. “This is more important than any one griffon.”
“But you don’t have to be the one to do it.”
“You don’t either!” She glared at me, for once openly angry at me. I noticed she had dropped my title in the process. “Why are you doing it?”
“I…” I preened my feathers to hide my expression. “It’s… a little embarrassing.”
“What is it?”
“I feel like this is all my fault.”
“Why?”
“I ran away from my responsibilities here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, well, I guess you already know this, but I am immortal. I’ve lived a long time.”
Geneva thought I was the Great Owl so I thought it wouldn’t surprise her, that’s why her reaction shocked me.
“W-What?”
“Oh… I thought you knew.”
“I-I thought you were the reincarnation of the Great Owl or something.”
“How is that any more plausible?!”
“It’s more plausible than immortality!”
“The pony princesses are immortal!”
Geneva blinked. “Oh right, they are, but still!”
I blew out an exasperated breath. “This is my responsibility. I have to stop running away.”
“You ran away? Ran away from what?”
I took a deep breath. Well, maybe she’d understand why I had to do this if she knew. I told her about the whole story behind the Bites, Queen Griselda and the claw I had in it.
When I finished, she had a shocked look on her face.
“But… that’s not your fault…”
I shrugged and hunched my shoulders, fluffing my feathers instinctively.
“It is. I’m responsible for shaping her and guiding her. I shouldn’t have used my knowledge to push her into power without tempering it properly.”
“But—”
“But nothing. I flew away instead of doing something about it. I watched as she eradicated the Bites and worked her population to the ground. Griffons were never the same. I thought I was doing good, but I was misguided. After that… I started drifting, but now I’m back here.” I smiled wryly. “I guess even immortals like me can’t run away from the Tree in its quest for balance. I have to balance my past mistakes.”
I felt the shiver of guilt crawl from the abyss to wrap its sordid arms around my heart.
I felt cold, paralysed.
What was I doing? How was this going to change anything? Was the Tree of Harmony asking me to change the past and fix my mistakes, or was it telling me I should have never left? What was it showing me? The future or my past?
“I-I’m doing this because…” I couldn’t even finish that sentence.
Was I doing this because I had to fix my mistake or because it was right? One is selfish, the other selfless, one of the reasons should be right, the other wrong…
“Why not both?”
I realised too late that Geneva heard me speaking my thoughts out loud.
“If you want to do it, then you should do it,” Geneva murmured, wrapping her wings around me and clinging to me with a bear hug. Unprepared, I was squashed against her furry chest.
“Umph! Is that a quote from me?” I asked drily.
“No, it’s a quote from me.” Geneva chuckled, sending vibrations through her chest. “Whatever you choose, I’ll follow.”
“You don’t even know me, why do you want to follow me?”
“Because I want to, that’s all. You’re good. I refuse to believe that you had any bad intentions.”
I was quiet for a few moments, just listening to her breathe as I calmed myself down.
Then with an emotionally-laden sigh, I pulled back and saw her smiling down at me.
Who was the elder one here?
“Thank you, Geneva.”
She pulled back her wings in embarrassment. “I’m glad I could be of service… Owlowiscious.”
I stared at her in surprise, but before I could say anything she launched herself eastward. I followed with a wry smile.