Razzle Dazzle and the helmeted knight appeared in a clearing just outside the Wizard's Keep. Razzle quickly got up and looked up at was for all intents and purposes her home. The building was covered almost entirely by the black thorny vines. She looked around and found the same was true for almost the entire city.
"How could one being possibly do this much damage?" She asked herself in horror. Her eyes widened slightly and she turned to the other pony. "We have to go back! We have to help Master!"
Horseshoes took off the helmet that had hidden her identity for a while now and trotted over to ehr friend. "He used that wink spell so that...monster couldn't get us. He knew that if he couldn't take it down, you certainly couldn't."
"I could've done something!" Razzle retaliated, too much having happened for her to deal with her friend's minor deception.
"That thing ate magic! You saw it! Weapons can't hurt, can't even hit it! What could you have done that would have been so meaningful!?"
Razzle shook, head low. "I-I don't know but...Horseshoes, he's my mentor, my Master and I just...I was useless..." Tears fell from her eyes.
Horseshoes sighed and hugged her friend gently. "Alright, so we'll have to assume that, judging by the state of the Keep, we're the only ponies left who can actually fight. So, we need a plan..." She winced. "I'm not too good at plans...got any ideas, Razz?"
Razzle nodded. "I think Master's private quarters might have a book or two to help us at least think of something we can."
"Alright, that's a start. But that's back in the Keep, what if we run into the enemy?"
She shook her head. "I'm pretty sure there was a time delay on the wink, so some time has passed since the attack, so I have a feeling the monster isn't in there anymore and has moved on. Of course, he could still be in there but we'll have to deal with it if it comes to that."
"Ok, we grab a magic book or two, then what?"
"Then we find an appropriate spell and banish that monster from this city, like what they do when a dragon attacks."
Horseshoes nodded. "Seems fair enough. But if I remember right, even if you have the proper spell in front of you, you still need the monster within sight, so we need to figure out where he'll be next."
"That's simple: we simply find the place that isn't covered in those strange black plants."
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The Union Senate was a building at the centre of the city, it was where all the most important decisions such as the passing of laws were brought to attention, discussed and eventually passed or discarded. All six members of the Union Senate were frozen much like everyone else in the city. The Harvester gazed dispassionately at its work, and set to work to complete the Harvest. As it neared the wall of one of rooms of the senate building, cracks formed, but not on the wall, over the air in front of the wall. It raised its scythe high.
"What the hay is it doin'?" Horseshoes asked as they came into the room, having followed the strange being.
Razzle flipped through of the many books she was carrying with her levitation spell. "If I have to hazard a rough guess...I believe it's trying to open a portal, a doorway to another place, possibly another dimension entirely."
"Um whuh?"
"Basically, it's opening a magical door to either go someplace or let something out or put something in."
"Whatever its doing, I'll bet it's not good if it has anything to do with paralysing everyone!" She got up and charged, The Harvester swinging its scythe but Horseshoes caught it between her hooves, smirking. "You really think I'm dumb enough to just attack ya head on?" She pulled the weapon out of its grip and threw the scythe to the ground. The Harvester hissed ferally and reached for the scythe, but Horseshoes grabbed it and ducked out of its reach. "Hey Razz, hurry and do something!"
As Horseshoes stuggled against the Harvester., Razzle Dazzle walked toward the cracks in...reality. She looked at a page in ehr book and her horn started to glow as she read carefully. "Ok, I think first we should make sure we stop whatever it is he's trying to open here..." She closed her eyes and pressed her horn close to the space where the cracks were.
She saw a horrible mass of buzzing flying insects, swarming together as they formed a larger mass, a giant locust with a wide open, fanged maw. It roared in displeasure and the insects started to fly towards her...
She panted heavily as she collapsed to ground, the cracks in reality disappearing as if they were never there. She looked up at Horseshoes and the Harvester, the later having frozen and stopped fighting. The two ponies gazed at the creature, wary of its next move.
"You have earned our attention." The Harvester spoke.
The two ponies blinked in surprise and then Horseshoes glared. "Who the hay are you!? And what were you trying to do here!?"
"I am The Harvester. Today is The Harvest. The Devourer has spent a good deal of time cultivating the seeds of this civilisation, waiting until the right time for the seeds to bloom and ripen."
"Huh?" Horseshoes replied in confusion.
"Your culture exists because Lokust The Devourer made it so. Every few centuries, The Devourer devours a civilisation, but leaves just enough surviving vestiges to grow anew, for The Devourer to return and devour the delicacy of a new, flourishing culture at the height of its growth. Nothing is more delectable, or satisfying, than growing your own delicious meal with your own hands."
"We're food to you!?"
"That is all you can ever be. The Devourer is above you, above all living creatures. Your only purpose to exist is to satisfy the Devourer, a gourmet of highest calibre and sensitive palette. However, you are the first to have EVER halted the Harvest, no matter how brief. As such, you are the first to have proven a curiosity, and thus to be given explanation on your purpose and fate."
"We are not just things for you to eat!" Horseshoes retorted.
"Whether you accept your position is of no consequence. Just as you eat the plants, the Devourer eats your kind and your culture and even your life experiences. A delicacy without compare. You may have halted The Harvest, but not ended it entirely. It shall continue unabated, regardless of your actions today. All you have done is give The Devourer cause to look forward to this meal even more, and serve as an ever greater delicacy."
With that, the Harvester was gone with a swirl of air, the black weeds thinning out and vanishing, leaving behind trace except for the Harvester's scythe, somehow looking much less intimidating and...weaker than it had before.
Razzle sighed softly. "That...was too much..."
She fainted, Horseshoes quickly panicking.
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"So how is Razzle Dazzle recovering?" Green Acre asked Horseshoes.
"Recovering. That spell she used to close the...portal took a lot out of her..." She said with a sigh.
"You both did a brave thing. Not many would have done what you two did under the circumstances." His face turned stern. "However, don't think this means you'l just eb accepted into the knights because of this."
"I wasn't even thinking about that.." Horsesheos blinked and grew angry. "Wait, what do you mean!? I fought that...THING head on to help Razz!"
"I know, and I believe you, but you saying so and me believing you are not proof. Everyone else was paralysed and weren't around to see you two fight the Harvester. Besides, becoming a knight takes more than just a simple 'heroic deed'."
"Yeah, yeah I know but still, we saved the city and we aren't getting acknowledged for it..." She slumped onto the ground, sighing in annoyance.
Green Acre smirked. "Hey now, get up, you still ahve some training to do 'hero'...unless of course you don't wanna prove your worth our time..."
She immediately jumped up and saluted. "Sir! I'm ready! I'll prove I am knight material!"
He chucked lightly. "That's what I like to hear."
They both trotted off to the training grounds to spar again.
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Hocus Pocus gazed down at Razzle Dazze, who had fallen asleep in her hospital bed. The closing of a portal was no small feat and left her with a painful headache and so exhausted she couldn't even stand.
He smiled. She was a novice sure, and it took a lot out of her, and she was motivated mostly by desperation; but, she managed to perform a spell even he had some difficulty with. With enough training, she could possibly rise high in the ranks of the wizarding community, perhaps even take his place.
But he was getting ahead of himself. That would take several years before she was even at that level, and she was still quite young anyway. But still...a stallion can dream.
He pulled the blanket over her and placed a hoof on her head. "Sleep well. We have a lot ahead of us. Rest up, Dazzle, you earned it."
He trotted out the room, leaving his young protégé to rest.