Chapter 10: The Vision of Summervale
The race to the gates of Summervale was cut short by a long line of ponies and their belongings queued to be searched by the guards. Ace had won the race to the line, and motioned for Sanctis to join him.
Looking down the line as she made her way to their position in queue, Sanctis saw various carts and salesponies - some even selling their wares, such as foods, while waiting in line - as guards at the gate interviewed and searched everypony that came to the gates. "There's more than I expected... It's still pretty early in the day, isn't it?"
Watching the guards at the gate, and the guards walking the line to make sure nopony became unruly, Ace nodded to her. "Summervale's a large town, and there's only two gates into and out of the city. This South gate is the larger of the two, primarily used for transporting goods into and out of the city. Many of these ponies with wagons likely camped overnight nearby in a caravan, as the gates would be closed at night." Ace turned his gaze from the guards to her as he spoke, "Pedestrians are welcome to use whichever gate they choose, but security here is stricter - though not by much, I'd wager."
Despite the security, the line was still moving pretty fast, considering. "What do you think they are looking for? The searches don't seem to take very long, so it's probably not anything small or easily hidden." Ace nodded again. ‘He sure nods a lot.’
"Probably the usual... Contraband, criminals, malcontents... The presence of a guard detail and a customary search are as much a deterrent as a filter. Furthermore, it gives precedent; in more dire times, they can easily increase the level of security without seeming to change much. Being searched one day is the same as the next to the average, innocent civilian, regardless of how invasive the search is. Meanwhile, a criminal or smuggler can be caught off-guard if they expected to be searched briefly, but are instead searched thoroughly."
The queue steadily made its way forward, Ace politely waving off vendors with a smile as they plied their wares. Before long, a pair of guards waved them to one side of the path. The guardstallion motioned for them to stop about ten paces out. "Place your belongings on the ground in front of you." He motioned to a cloth laid out, like a picnic blanket worn out over many weeks of other ponies doing the same.
Sanctis laid her canteen in one corner of the blanket before stepping away. Ace laid his sword and the saddlebags out in the middle. The guard's gaze fixated on the sword for several long moments, then, "Step away from the bags, please," as his partner stepped forward to perform the search. "What is your business in Summervale today?" the first guard asks.
"I was planning on meeting a friend, meeting with the Matron to receive a reading for the future, and staying at the Cozy Hearth for the night.” At the mention of the inn, the first guard passed a look to the second.
“Yeah, I know the place,” he said as he checked the last of the canteens, smelling the contents passively before closing it back. “Just off of 3rd street. Quiet place, if you can get over all their fillies and foals roughhousing.” He hefted the sword appreciatively, admiring the stylized handle.
Sanctis never really noticed before, but now that she took a closer look she couldn’t fathom how she missed the style – the handle bore the cutie marks of both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!
“Where, might I ask,” the guard started, still studying the sword, “did you find a sword like this?” The other guard looked like he wanted to chime in as well.
“I have a relative in the Canterlot Royal Guard…” Ace said as he shrugged. “His father insisted I bring the sword along on my trip, to ‘keep me safe,’ he said.” Ace looked thoughtful for a moment, before he added, “Come to think of it, it’s proved useful once already. Perhaps his wisdom was greater than I knew.”
The guards shared a look for a moment before the first shrugged and the second said “Well keep it in the scabbard while you’re here. There’s dangers on the roads, but let the guard handle matters within the walls.” He laid the sword next to the saddlebags and stepped away. “Gather your belongings and proceed through the gate in an orderly fashion. Have a nice day.”
Ace took up the saddlebags once again, cinching the sword overtop the bags before looking over his shoulder at Sanctis, nodding his head to the gates. As they made their way into the city proper, Sanctis was once again awed by the beauty of such a city compared to Frost Valley.
In Frost Valley, houses were painted white, brown or somewhere in between – if at all – while here in Summervale it seemed every color of the rainbow was represented by one building or another. In Frost Valley, the roofs were fortified against the snow, but here the roofs were more decorative than utilitarian, seemingly only fortified for light rainfalls.
Granted they were walking down the main road leading to the largest of two gates leading to town, but there were so many vendors and shops, and countless ponies perusing their wares. Shops selling everything from souvenirs to fresh veggies, restaurants specializing in local delicacies – even some that promised fresh ingredients all year round!
But the most beautiful thing, the most amazing thing, was the gigantic green crystal in the middle of the city. It glowed faintly as it floated, slowly bobbing up and down in its cement-looking brackets that didn’t seem to actually touch the crystal itself. The crystal had to be at least ten stories tall, though only a quarter that at its widest point.
Underneath the crystal was something akin to a temple or perhaps a place of worship in a crater. With the crystal floating just a few stories above the structure, Sanctis wasn’t sure how anypony could stand to go inside for fear of being crushed by the very thing they worshipped. Or perhaps that only strengthened one’s faith?
Noticing her staring, Ace followed her gaze. “It has gone by many names in the past, but now most ponies know it as the Summer Crystal. It floats under its own power – the scaffolding around it was added later, for the safety of the city around it – and it puts off a pleasant, constant warmth. It’s warm to the touch, safe to be around and radiates a sort of ‘energy’ that encourages strong life and crop growth.” He motioned to the various buildings around them, pointing out how each had a garden, either in front or hanging off of the second or third floors. “Nearly everypony here grows something – from flowers to foods.”
“I know you’re been here before, but you sure seem to know a lot about the crystal,” Sanctis asked as she saw his expression lighten as he watched the crystal’s movements.
Ace nodded. It seemed he was always nodding. “That’s not even the half of it! I’ve studied the magical properties of the Summer Crystal many times in the past, and every time I think I’ve learned all there was to know about it, the Matron surprises me with another tale that completely blows it all away.”
“The Matron? Who is that?” Sanctis asked. “Somepony who watches the crystal?”
“In a sense, yes. Though, she’s not quite a pony. I’ve never seen her in her own form, but you may think of her as a spirit. She possesses a new pony every generation, and watches over the crystal from this side. In exchange, she tells small fortunes and the like, and supervises all manner of things that benefit from the crystal’s presence.”
“Hold on,” Sanctis stopped dead in her tracks, incredulous. “You said she possesses ponies? And what do you mean ‘from this side?’” What was it about Ace that he knew a Draconequus, and a pony-possessing spirit, and carried a sword with the marks of the Princesses, and he acted like it was no big deal?
Ace nodded. Again. Like that explained everything. ‘Yes, that’s correct. A pony-possessing spirit is very normal on the planet I hail from.’ “It’s a mutual arrangement. A young pony is offered by a family that is either devout or destitute or both, and they are raised for the purpose of being the Matron’s host. When the old host dies – usually comfortably of old age – the Matron possesses the new one. There’s a ceremony, of course – though I’ve asked the Matron about the rituals and she says they are just for show; a pampering pageant for the young pony to enjoy and make the transition less stressful.”
“Less stressful, because it’s the pony’s last moments in their own body?” Sanctis couldn’t imagine death by possession… would anypony even realize her very spirit was different?
…Given the fact the only pony she was on friendly terms with was a stranger she met, like, two days ago… probably not.
“Not quite. The host resides in the body still. The Matron really only takes over for ceremonies, visitations and the like. 80% of the time, the host is merely treated like a VIP, residing in the structure below the crystal, waited on by a staff of ponies that see their every need fulfilled. Their parents are even welcome to visit at any time. It’s not unusual for the host’s family to move into the temple itself to be near their child.”
Ace started looking around at the side streets, but kept on talking. “Still, the host does change after the possession… it’s hard to remain a child when you have thousands of years of memories and lessons and wisdoms floating within hoof’s reach inside your very mind.”
Sanctis tried to imagine having the memories of somepony else inside her mind… even a normal pony like – well, Ace doesn’t seem like a normal pony – but even a normal pony. She could definitely see how it could change you. And to have that pony talk to you inside your head, having conversations all the time nopony else could hear…
Ace looked around for a moment, before walking to the next street ahead and took the left, motioning for her to follow. They made their way down the side road before turning down an alley. “It should be around here… ah, there it is!”
It wasn’t a small building, but pressed between two other houses was a plain brown building made entirely from bare logs with a sign above the door of a burning fireplace; the Cozy Hearth. Judging by the sounds coming from within, it was certainly occupied. Ace pushed open the doors and made his way inside, Sanctis following shortly behind him.
A bar sat against the far wall, lined with various spirits on the uppermost shelves, and more casual beverages on any of the shelves Sanctis could reach. The counter was unadorned, but practically shined under a coat of wax as somepony was buffing the counter during the downtime.
“Welcome to the Cozy Hearth,” the hostess, a mare with a soft blue coat and a light purple mane, called as the backdoor burst open and a veritable herd of young fillies and foals leapt into the room; a young filly with a muddied mane screeching as she chased a colt with a suspiciously muddied hoof with various others laughing as they chased behind her.
“I said SETTLE DOWN,” an older stallion called as he came in from the backdoor as well. “Ya’ll are disturbing the customers!” The fillies and colts ran a lap around the room – muddying the floor – then a lap around the stallion who spun around to try and catch the leader of the pack before they all bolted back outside.
Ace simply laughed as he watched the children play, careful not to step in any of the mud they brought in. The mare at the counter gave a huff and directed a pointed look at the stallion, who managed to smile sheepishly before pursuing the herd into the backyard.
“Are those all Timberheart’s grandchildren?” Ace asked with a smile on his muzzle. “He always said ‘a house’s not a home until there’s a filly or a colt,’ and he always wanted the Hearth to feel like a home. I’d say he’s done it!” he finished as he looked around the inn, at the various pictures on the walls.
“Great grandchildren…” the hostess said, exasperated, but still smiling in spite of herself. She looked Ace over from hoof to horn. “How’d you know my Grandpa, anyhow? You look a mite too young to have known him first-hoof…”
Ace, a smile still on his face, pointed to one of the pictures on the wall. It featured a pair of stallions, their hoofs around the other’s shoulders, standing in front of an unfinished log building. “My, uh… grandfather helped him build this place! Gave him half the idea and all the encouragement, the way I hear it. How’s he holding up?” His smile finally faded as he asked that last question, likely already knowing the answer.
Sanctis studied the picture a bit more, and it seemed the hostess was doing the same. The pony on the right looked exactly like Ace… except for the horn, which was pointed in the picture but busted in the flesh. Even for being a relation two generations past, the likeness was… uncanny.
“He passed on, some few years back,” the hostess said. It was plain her grandstallion meant a lot to her. “Mentioned your grandpa a time or two… a ‘something something Fenrir’ if’n I ‘member right. Real friendly sort, got the place off the ground then skedaddled. Said he’d be back someday to see how it all went. I hear he stopped in once in my mother’s time, but I never thought his grandcolt would come here in my time.”
“That’s right,” Ace said, nodding happily. “I’m named for my grandfather; Ace Deus Fenrir,” he said, dipping into a formal bow, which seemed to take the hostess by surprise as much as anything. “I came into town on other business and couldn’t stand to stay the night anyplace else!”
Sanctis wasn’t sure she bought it. It was one thing to be named after your sire or grandsire, but to be named for your grandsire and look exactly like them, several decades down the line? Even their smiles were the same.
“Right, right, that was it!” The hostess said, all smiles. “As a filly, the name always struck me as odd. It’s just such an… irregular name, if you don’t mind me saying so. My name’s Glass Heart, and I run the inn these days.”
Sanctis realized, perhaps for the first time, that it was an irregular name. Her mother had raised her with both the common Equestrian and Al Bhed language since she was a filly, so it never dawned on her how strange Ace’s name must seem to other ponies.
But wait… if he has an Al Bhed name… were his ancestors Al Bhed? Sanctis considered asking him about it right now, but couldn’t seem to get it out. ‘Oh my gosh, you’re an Al Bhed?!’ didn’t seem like an appropriate thing to blurt out in the current situation.
Besides, he’s a Unicorn and doesn’t have the cursed-eye of an Al Bhed Unicorn. Whatever relation of his that was Al Bhed was probably centuries old.
Sanctis shook her head, as if to rid it of such silly thoughts.
Ace was paying the hostess a few bits over the counter – presumably the ‘friends and family’ discount – when she passed a look to her over the counter as she stood numbly in the entryway.
“And who is this shy little filly?” Glass Heart said in that patronizing voice adults use around other children. “Is she yours, perhaps?”
“My name’s Sanctis,” she started before realizing the rest of the question. “We, uh, met on the road.” Ace nodded it was true. Sanctis wondered if he ever stopped nodding.
“She’ll be staying here, too. We came to seek the Matron for advice. She, uh, still open during the day?”
“Well, she isn’t open during the night, that’s for certain!” Glass Heart started with a smile. “Even powerful ponies need their shut-eye like the rest of us,” she finished as she handed over a key to their room.
“So then today would be a good time?” Ace asked, asking Glass Heart but looking at Sanctis. What, he thinks I’m gonna say no? I want to see this Matron too.
“No time like the present!” Glass Heart said with an affected smile.
“Excellent, we’ll wash up and head over there before night falls. Could you, uh…”
“We’ll send up a couple of washbasins right away. Enjoy your stay!”
Still all smiles, Ace made his way up the stairs to the side of the bar, motioning for Sanctis to follow. As opposed to, what? Getting apple juice at the bar?
Ace checked the number on the key, made his way to their room and unlocked the door. He pushed his way inside and threw off the saddlebag with a contented sigh, resting the ribbon-scabbarded sword against the bags and practically collapsed onto the bed.
His whole body seemed to jerk when he landed. Guess the beds are harder than they look.
Sanctis looked around the room, but there wasn’t much to see. A landscape painting of some farm hung on the far wall between two medium-sized beds that probably could fit two ponies each, a dresser to store things with a vanity mirror on top and… a window. That faced a building. Cozy.
She made her way to her own bed, followed Ace’s lead and jumped into it.
After almost a year without so much as a proper pillow, it was like falling into a cloud of warmth and being hugged from all sides as everything else faded away, as if all the hurts and sores of living an ‘outdoor lifestyle’ were just a bad dream.
She must have fallen asleep for a few minutes, because the next thing she knew there was a knock on the door, and Ace let in a group of foals carrying their washbasins.
Two of them were the mud-hoofed colt and the mud-maned filly from earlier, though they had recently had baths of their own. If Sanctis didn’t miss her guess, the barroom below would probably be cleaned as well.
Ace thanked the foals once they had set the lightly-steaming basins down and closed the door behind them. He made his way to the larger of the two, threw his winter coat onto the bed, then soaked a rag in the soapy water.
“Sanctis? Sanctis, it’s time to- oh, you’re up,” he said as he started by washing his hooves. Was that a scar on his left forehoof? “I think I already know the answer, but do you need help washing yourself?”
Sanctis rose out of bed with a derisive snort as she made her way to the smaller basin, throwing off her coat as well. “I can wash myself just fine, thank you.”
Ace watched himself in the vanity as he washed himself – taking special care around his broken horn – and Sanctis wondered if he would take his glasses off. Being too short to see herself in the mirror, she watched Ace instead.
As he washed his back, she confirmed it was indeed a scar on his left forehoof. Just above the knee. “What happened there?” she asked, pointing to it with a soapy hoof of her own.
It looked like a perfectly straight line all around his hoof, with imperfections stemming from it. Barbed wire? And above it, it looked like… it was! It was Al Bhed rune lettering. She could only make it ‘ouhtan’ or ‘yonder’ from where she was, but it was definitely Al Bhed.
Ace looked over the hoof, then turned it around at the shoulder for her to see the full scar. “I had some trouble with an experiment recently, and ended up having to carve that to mitigate an even worse result…” his features seem to drop for a moment, before he snapped back to his all-smiley self. “It even worked for a time. It says- “
“’No magic yonder’. I can read it fine,” she said, much to Ace’s surprise, if the look in his eyes was genuine. “What I don’t understand is how. What kind of experiment would you need to do that would leave… that?”
Ace looked pensive for a time, then, “A dangerous one. That backfired; but it also saved my life… You can really read Al Bhed? How much do you understand?”
Sanctis stifled a laugh. “Suna dryh oui, bnupypmo. E fyc nyecat fedr ed!” More than you, probably. I was raised with it!
Ace smiled – really smiled this time. That big goofy grin from the pastry shop when he thought he was being sly, giving her cupcakes for free. “Oui sekrd pa cinbnecat. E fyc nyecat fedr ed, duu. Maynhat ed pavuna Common Equestrian, ajah.” You might be surprised. I was raised with it, too. Learned it before Common Equestrian, even.
Sanctis couldn’t believe her ears – and when Ace took off his glasses, she couldn’t believe her eyes. He had the cursed-eye of the Al Bhed. His left eye was red, with the pupil a spiral crafted of 90° angles, his right a slightly lighter shade of blue without glasses but still for all intents and purposes a normal eye.
Sanctis wanted to scream. Almost did scream, but Ace put a soapy hoof under her muzzle to keep her from opening her mouth, and shook his head lightly.
“You were really raised Al Bhed?” Sanctis couldn’t help but squeal. “Since you were a colt?”
Ace nodded. It didn’t even bother her this time. “Of course! I’m half Al Bhed, you know, on my mother’s side,” he said with a wink of the cursed-eye. “And my father was… a poor role-model.”
“Is that why you nod all the time? It’s an Al Bhed thing?” Sanctis’ mom had taught her Al Bhed language, but an entire pony culture was more than just its’ language. There could be a million-million nuances she didn’t understand.
“No, that’s uh, something one of my fillies started. She’d think I was ignoring her when I was really just considering what she said, so I’d nod when she finished speaking so she would know I heard her. Now, wash your mane and let’s get ready to go see the Matron.”
“What? My mane doesn’t need washed!” Wait, did he say he had fillies?
Ace gave her that ‘are you sure about that?’ look, then reached behind her head and pulled a twig out of her mane, examined it, then raised an eyebrow at her – his foolish grin plastered on all the while.
“Heh… Uh, missed a spot?” Sanctis said, smiling weakly. “How many fillies do you have?” she asked as he stepped away from his own washbasin.
“Oh, I’ve had enough to know when some filly doesn’t want to wash her mane,” Ace said as he stepped behind her, cupped his hooves and then dumped soapy water over her head.
“Hey! That’s cold!” Sanctis complained as he started to scrub her mane. The feeling was… not as unpleasant as she thought it’d be.
“Well if you would have washed properly in the first place, it wouldn’t have been an issue. My water was perfectly warm when I washed my own mane.”
Rather than make a weak excuse for herself, Sanctis decided to just accept the kind gesture. It actually felt kind of nice, having somepony else help her. Even for such a mundane task as washing her mane.
Was he massaging her scalp? By the Fates, it felt amazing.
Then it stopped. She wanted to say something, hoping he could keep washing her mane, but he was already toweling off. Having missed her chance, she rinsed herself off, then started toweling down as well.
“Sooo… This Matron,” Sanctis started, “she sounds like she’s pretty important. Won’t we have to wait a long time to see her? Like, make a reservation or something?”
“Probably won’t have to wait at all, honestly,” Ace said as he grabbed the sword and cinched it back on.
“Wait, seriously?” Sanctis said, incredulous, her head poking out of the towel as she dried her mane. “Isn’t she, like, the most important pony in town? Next, I suppose you’ll say you know her personally, and you go way back.”
“No, well – not exactly. We’ve met a time or two, but… look, the fact is, the Matron is the most important pony in the city – true. But, she has so many servants at her command, even though she is in charge of everything, she summarily does… nothing. All day,” he said with a look back to her, her straightening her mane and him putting his glasses back on. “I wasn’t joking when I said the host was pampered and cared for.”
Ace opened the door and made to leave. Then why are we in such a hurry to leave?
Glass Heart waved them off with a smile from behind the bar, her other hoof serving drinks to the fillies and colts. Ace and Sanctis smiled, waving back as they left.
Once they were back on the street, Sanctis couldn’t help but ask, “So why the, uh, glasses?” Maybe it was because she was raised learning Al Bhed, without ever actually meeting an Al Bhed personally, but Ace’s eye was the coolest thing she had seen in months… maybe years.
Well, a giant levitating green crystal full of life energy came kinda close.
“Do you know what they call the red eye of a magically gifted Al Bhed Unicorn?”
Oh, right. “The ‘cursed-eye’… Why do they call it that? Is it really bad luck?”
Ace looked hurt. Almost physically hurt; but he recovered just as fast. “I didn’t always think so, but I think the curse is that ponies look at you differently. Some think it’s interesting,” he said as he ruffled her mane with a hoof affectionately, “but most think it’s an ill omen, or weird, or scary, or any number of unfortunate things.”
“Why does it feel like you’re never telling me the full story?” Sanctis said, shaking her mane back into place. “Adults never think foals can handle hard truths, but you saw how… how I was living. Do you really think you have to hide everything from me? Because I’m a filly?”
Ace looked at her for a long moment as they headed toward the crystal in the center of town. “Not because you’re a filly, no,” he said before looking away. He was quiet for another long moment, then, “My daughter died because of her heritage. Killed, and worse, by ponies she called friend the day before when they found out.”
Wow. Okay. Yeah, maybe not a story to tell little fillies. Sanctis was contemplative for a time, then, “Thank you.”
Ace looked at her askance. “For telling you about my daughter’s horrific end?”
“For taking care of me, for telling me the hard truth, for making me laugh sometimes, for trusting me with one of your probably myriad secrets, for… for being a friend, really. Thank you.”
Then Ace smiled. Small at first, then his big dopey smile that somehow suited him perfectly. The kind of smile you just can’t help but smile back at, and she did.
It didn’t take long to reach the crystal in the middle of town. Sanctis stared up at the massive jewel. Looking through it, everything was tinted green. It was almost like looking into another world.
A world full of green clouds, emerald trees, jade skies, and so much pure beauty, untouched by pony kind. A world full of nature and natural wonder.
Wait, did she just see something move?
“Sanctis? The guards have allowed us to pass,” Ace called, waving a hoof motioning for her to join him. One of the guards took his sword and placed it in a small building, presumably to claim later.
Sanctis spared another glance at the crystal, where she thought she saw something moving, then ran to meet Ace at the top of the stairs leading down to the temple.
The temple itself was large, but looked smaller bathed in the green light of the massive crystal floating above it under its own power. There were stairs leading down to the Temple at each cardinal direction. Each flight of stairs was comprised of maybe eighty steps.
As they neared the Temple, Sanctis noticed the green light wasn’t only coming from the crystal itself, but also many smaller crystals that sat in sconces upon the walls, bathing the whole building in a green glow, possibly through night and day, all year round.
After the long staircase down to the Temple, there was a smaller flight leading up to its plateau. As they neared that staircase, a servant greeted them with a formal bow. Ace mimicked the bow, so Sanctis followed suit as well.
“How may the Matron serve you today, Sir? Madam?” the polite servant inquired.
“We’ve come to have our fortunes read,” Ace replied as he rose out of the bow. “And perhaps hear a story or two,” he said with a meaningful glance to Sanctis. “It’s her first time in Summervale, after all.”
Sanctis though the servant would turn them away for disturbing the most important entity in town, but she merely smiled. “The Matron will be most pleased. Should you require anything during your stay, please relay your request to the nearest servant. Crystal light your path,” she said before bowing and backing into an alcove below the stairs.
Ace made his way up the stairs, and Sanctis followed. “If anypony can come and go as they please, why isn’t the Matron swamped with ponies bothering her all the time?”
“The ponies that live here view visiting the Matron as a religious affair. It’s normally reserved for events like birthdays, inquiries on large trade deals, breaking up familial conflicts that get out of hoof… But really, the Matron doesn’t view herself with any religious significance. Last I spoke with her, she said she wished more folks would visit her. She’s rather… well, you’ll see for yourself soon enough.”
They crested the plateau and the first thing Sanctis noticed was the servants. Two along every edge of the plateau, equidistant, but far enough from the center so as not to be eavesdropping on every conversation. Standing at attention in a servant’s uniform. If the emblems on their chest was anything to go by, they were pretty high up on the pecking order.
In the center, the second thing she noticed was a large pile of pillows, arranged into various mounds for comfort. Resting amidst one pile was the Matron.
A young filly.
Her coat was a dark green, her mane and tail a light jade, her eyes a deep emerald. Those emerald eyes locked onto Ace immediately.
First, she rose up with a look of surprise, then smiled with excitement, then her features dropped as she saw his shattered horn. The emotions played across her face quickly, but they didn’t seem… genuine. Like they were emotions not quite her own.
As they approached, she said, very quietly, “Welcome to the T-Temple of the C-Crystal… How may I- “
“Ace! It’s such a pleasure to see you!” The Matrons voice, and her very demeanor changed immediately. She leapt from the pillows and wrapped her hooves about him in a firm hug. Ace hugged her back with one hoof, chuckling fondly.
“Well, most of you…” she finished as she backed off of him just far enough to look meaningfully at his face. “What happened to your beautiful horn?” She casually brushed his mane aside to assess the damage, grimacing at what she found.
Sanctis hadn’t noticed before, but there was a fracture from the tip of his breaking horn down to his skull… and what looked like dried blood around the base of the horn. Had he reopened the wound when he collapsed onto the bed earlier?
But we’ve bathed since then… So that means the wound was still fresh. Just how recent was that injury?
“Oh, you know how it is… failed a ritual, got in a fight with a wall, lost, wandered around for a while… even ran into our good friend Cassie.”
The filly- the Matron, sauntered back to her pillow-pile and laid back at her leisure. Ace wouldn’t have seen her face as she walked, but Sanctis did – and it played host to a series of negative emotions as Ace spoke: Fear, mixed with sadness; shock, mixed with worry; desperation, mixed with all the above.
“Yes, I knew about Cassie coming here… and I suppose I have her to thank for the visit, such as it is. All the others though… grave portents, indeed.” Fighting a wall and losing is a grave portent? “I suppose you’re the reason Cassie is here?”
“Yeah, that was sort of my doing…” Wait, Ace, what… SUMMONED a Draconequus? “After Discord was… relieved of his duties in Equestria, Cassie moved in. She prevented me from flying to Ponyville by balloon; thus, the road trip.”
“And did Cassie put that… thing, inside of you, too?” Thing? What thing?
Ace sighed, then smiled guiltily. “No, that one was kind of… my own fault. An experiment gone awry, followed by a poor miscalculation that both endangered, then saved my life.”
The Matron sighed loudly, splaying her hooves out. The posture was rather… revealing, but she didn’t seem to care. “You know I can’t help you, right? Not just because of Cassie, but because it’s beyond my power. What’s inside of you… even our magic is useless against it. And even if I could…”
“I’d die, I know. Was kind of hoping you could remove it later, but… No, no it was too much to hope that even your magic was foreign enough for this.”
Would everypony start talking some sense?!
The matron spun around then rolled over to her stomach to face them, then propped her head on her front hooves, her hind-hooves kicking playfully. “I think Sanctis feels left out of all the big pony talk.” How did she know my name?
“Sorry, we got caught up in our conversation. Sanctis, meet the Matron. She guards this side of the Crystal from anypony with ill intentions. She’s a Seer, a Spirit, and- “
“And if this host were 20 years older, I’d be a Lover,” she said with a hooded gaze towards Ace.
Not liking the path the conversation was taking, “What do you mean ‘this side’? Who guards the other ‘side’?”
“The Elves,” they said in unison.
Riiiight.
Hundred-foot-tall free-floating crystal, magic mind-reader future-seer spirit that possesses ponies, talks of Draconequus and Princesses-knows-what else, and I draw the line at Elves? Either I’m insane, or everypony around me is.
I mean, statistically…
“It’s an unusual world you stepped into when you met Ace, I know. Just remember while he might seem like the center of everything weird and phenomenal, he’s not. A bit of a magnet for it, perhaps, but certainly not the center.”
The Matron pushed off her hooves, falling back into her pillows before wriggling her way to a sitting position, her hind-hooves pointed to the sides for balance – still very revealing – before saying, “Now, let’s talk futures.
“Sanctis, your future is simple. Danger abounds at every turn; stay with Ace, and your very life will be in peril. Alternatively, you could stay with the Heart family at the Cozy Hearth and live the rest of your days in relative, boring peace. They’ll treat you like one of their own fillies, giving you chores, room and board, some meager earnings for your work at the inn, and die happily an old mare without ever really accomplishing much.”
“Now hold on Sylvan, I never said I- “ Ace tried to interrupt, but the Matron just bulled over him with her words.
“Ace will protect you, you can be certain of that, but even if you go with him, he won’t always be there for you. You’ll have to learn to protect yourself, too. You’ll grow into a strong filly, even learning magic from some of the best tutors in the world. Your life will be hard, but you’ll be stronger – even happier – for it.”
“Sylvan, I can’t just- “
“Ace, your future is far muddier.” The Matron threw her hooves into the air, exasperated. “You know how these things work; I can’t read your future the same way I read everypony else’s. All I can really make out is that you’re going to need help. A lot of it. With your horn, with your magic, with that… experiment writhing inside you, with your sisters, with their castle, with your that mare back in Ponyville… with your journey, with, with… with everything!”
She focused a hard glare at Ace. “Everything is coming to a head, and because of your blasted meddling, I can’t see all the important events as clearly as I would like. You’re like a massive blind spot moving through my visions, obscuring them, keeping me from the truths that could save hundreds- maybe thousands of lives. You need help. Fail, and you’ll die. They all will.”
“What should I do?” Whatever protest Ace had been working towards faded as he grasped the dire circumstances.
The Matron collapsed bodily, then rolled over on her pillows and threw a little temper tantrum, flailing her hooves and slinging pillows about in her outburst.
“I don’t know. But I know who you need to see first. Fang is on a mountain, northeast of here. You know the one. He’s been troubled since your little…” she blindly circled a hoof in the air at him, “’fiasco’ near Frost Valley. Seek him out. I don’t know if he can help you with your problem, but I know without him, many ponies die.”
Sanctis’ gaze flitted between the two ponies around her.
In front of her, there was a pony possessed by a spirit that was Princess-knows how old, almost-blithely commenting that many ponies would die, only distressed because she couldn’t tell how many or how they died.
On her left was the pony upon which all those lives rested, ostensibly, with Princess-knows-what inside of him, after performing Princess-knows-what ritual and then consorting with a literal embodiment of chaos and then talking of her like she was a close friend who came to tea unannounced.
A pony who, ostensibly, would protect her from all manor of bad things, while somehow enriching her life and giving it purpose if she followed him, for Princess-knows how long, leading to a life fraught with dangers and perils that would make her stronger. A pony who would somehow guarantee her tutelage in magic with some of the greatest tutors in Equestria. Her, Sanctis, a blank-flank who could barely pick up berries left on a stump with her magic.
Then, looking at herself, here was a pony who was becoming accustomed to all this weirdness that gravitated around Ace, and who was totally going to follow Ace because duh she didn’t want to be some no-pony living with a bunch of other foals her age happily playing in the mud behind the Cozy Hearth and live a peaceful life ending in dying of old age.
Maybe I’m just crazy enough to fit in with these crazies.
“Will he still be there when I arrive?” was the only question Ace had about this. Because of course it was.
“He’s waited this long. You raised him to be very patient, you know.”
And they’re related. Because of course they were.
“I’ll head out first thing tomorrow morning, taking the East gate towards the mountains.” Ace bowed gratefully, Sanctis doing the same, then he turned to leave.
“One last thing, before you go… Keep an eye on her. You know how easily young fillies can find trouble.” The reminder seemed to sting Ace deep to his core, but he concluded his bow and went back the same way they’d come.
After reclaiming his sword, Ace and Sanctis made their way back to the inn in silence. Words didn’t seem to have much meaning when you knew countless lives depended on you.