Antecedence Arc
“You’re first, cripple,” Cassia aimed her horn at Orni.
Delia was fuming but unable to see, “DAMN IT!”
Essenta could see and cried out, “No! Please!”
Cassia paid them no mind and set Orni to sleep.
It didn’t surprise Cassia that a Knollwing Pegasus might have the presence of mind to conjure up a corporeal mindscape, but she’d still never seen the phenomenon in one. And she’d met some Knollwings, having lived through years of pony-trafficking.
But she’d realized pretty quickly Orni wasn’t normal as far as Knollwings went. All the poor Knollwing fillies she’d seen sold at the end of a chain had the characteristic wings of gray but lacked all the other traits of their legendary magic.
Orni, though, stood before her as a child, wings white as snow. Around them was a lovely meadow, in full bloom.
Cassia looked down at herself and admired her own body; she was young and beautiful once more. Then she looked at Orni again.
“My, my, my… look at those wings…” Cassia had seen many things in her life, but she’d never seen a true Knollwing… not that a true Knollwing had to have wings of white; it simply measured up to the vision of one.
For as frightened as Orni had been prior to the invasion, she was currently calmer and more relaxed; it was her realm, after all, “Cassia… that was a little more abrupt than I remember.”
Cassia hadn’t expected Orni to say such a thing but knew where it came from; she’d just referenced it a moment before knocking Orni out, “I don’t have the luxury of time as Noach did; no lulling you into some brief trance. Though the passage of time is of little concern in here.”
Orni cocked her head, looking sorry, “So… this is it, then.”
“It is,” Cassia sighed. “In a few seconds—in the waking world—I’ll be out of your head and on my way to another’s… And when you wake later, I’ll be… Yes, this is it.”
But the old mare felt good. In Orni’s mind she was free of her recent hurts and the burden of age… She was able to step back and see it all… her life… and she felt at more at peace with it than she had in years… other than the hatred burning in her heart and mind she’d refined over the last two days.
Orni picked up on some of this, “Yes… It is blissful. But I cannot help but feel sad in this form.”
Cassia again considered her own youthful body, “It does bring up some very painful things.”
“Yes… You know Noach?”
Cassia nodded, “I know him… We masters of ‘head-magic’ aren’t a large circle… Though he wasn’t that skilled—at all—in the area, I also knew Tatius Argon… before he disappeared, and his home was destroyed. Tell me… is Zyra of the Argon family?”
Orni recalled what Zyra and Ama had told them; she hated to say it but there was little point in hiding it, “Tatius Argon was her paternal uncle… Nestor was her father.”
The old mare’s eyes widened slightly at this, her eyebrows rising, “I see… They were rather lackluster mages, the both of them… If Tatius had his brother’s morals, though… he might’ve been worth something…”
Orni watched the psychic meander through the vegetation.
“Can the other girls manifest a mindscape such as this? Can Zyra? Not that you might know…” Cassia couldn’t help but stare at everything; it was unusually vibrant, and she’d never seen such a place outside of the mind of an unusually powerful unicorn.
Orni was capable of texture.
Orni shrugged, “I think Noach said Loress can… and I know Zyra can.
Taking in all the information she felt in and around them, Cassia mused, “Yes… There’s something more behind that statement, isn’t there? Your mage…”
Cassia didn’t know everything, Orni comprehended. It was unlikely she knew the truth about Oswald… or a lot of things regarding Zyra.
“You’re not getting it from me…” Orni stated crossly, feeling some fear; Cassia still had the power in the situation.
Cassia smirked at the young one’s anger, “Maybe so. But I’ll find out soon enough, whether you wish it or not.”
“What do you want?” Orni was tired of kicking the can.
Cassia looked about, thinking aloud, “I can understand a mage having the brain for it, but that needy Terran? Wonders never cease.”
Orni didn’t ask again; she knew Cassia had heard. Her eyes followed the gorgeous mare as she paddled through a patch of wildflowers, enjoying the scent.
“You truly have a wonderous mind, Orni Valkea—Orni the White… Orni an Geal… Is this your home?”
Orni—a little taken aback to hear her name in her native-tongue—considered their surroundings, “You should know the answer; there’s not much you can’t see in here.”
“I don’t try to see everything, child, as you well realize… Answer me.”
“I don’t remember much about my true home; I was too young,” Orni said. “This was my favorite place my kinfolk and I traveled through… and we saw many places.”
Cassia sniffed a hyssop stalk, “You can even conjure the smell… Heavenly… Not more than a few ponies in a hundred can pull that off. If your mage is able to do so, I’d be twice delighted. Perhaps I will be; I’m a little more adept at working with such things than Noach—even in a good mind, he struggled with the details…”
Orni continued to watch.
“My own home resembled this,” Cassia stood forlornly, turning back to Orni.
And Orni still waited for her question to be answered.
But Cassia hadn’t forgotten, “What I want…”
Orni felt a chill; she couldn’t help but back away, sensing venom in the air.
Cassia knew Orni wasn’t as composed as she was posturing; she’d seen it and knew it to begin with, “I want to know what kind of mares fell out of the sky and set my twilight years ablaze!”
Orni felt her heart constrict—as well as the rest of her body—as Cassia pulled them to another place. The little mare saw a city from ground-level, its streets aflame, its ponies panicking.
Orni jumped as a blistered burn-victim went screaming by, shouting without thinking, “What is this?!”
But she deduced what it was; it was what her friends had left behind… Nuinhof.
“You may be a naïve little filly, but I see you’re not stupid. This is indeed Nuinhof—not that it’s that hard to reason it.”
Orni could smell it… Turning around, she let out a cry of terror; a little foal was writhing in a puddle of smoldering oil and mud. Orni realized the little one was screaming… but making no sound; the foal’s airway was already cooked.
The young mare screamed bloody-murder and tried to run the other way, only to encounter similar atrocity. The smell of burning hair and flesh came stronger in her nostrils.
Orni freaked, seeing her third direction of choice was no better than anything else had been.
Cassia looked on somewhat stoically; she’d just been there, “That’s enough of that.”
In a flash, they were back in the meadow. Orni fell to her face, gasping and sobbing.
“Yes, Orni,” standing behind the tearful Knollwing, Cassia sneered. “I already know Delia’s rotten… I just want to see what the rest of you are made of. I see you’re not quite as ‘together’ as you tried showing me… but still, that was quite a thing to see… and you are young.”
Orni’s breath caught; she slowly turned to Cassia, “…What did you say?”
Cassia knew Orni wasn’t wondering about her comment on the Knollwing’s condition, “What you just saw is just a glimpse of the disaster that whore set upon my city yesterday.”
Orni felt a burning in her lower trunk; her very guts revolted at what Cassia had said, “Don’t you dare say that about Delia…!”
Cassia looked incredulous, “Do you know what you’re saying, kid?”
“Delia’s not rotten!” Orni burst. “If it wasn’t for her, most of us would be dead!”
“What do you know, child?” Cassia leered. “You weren’t there.”
“I know enough!” Orni was tearing up. “I know that filly was still alive! I know Dechaa dragged them all back there again! And I know the townsponies were ready to kill them all! Delia didn’t let that happen!”
“You know nothing, you little twat…!” Cassia was so angry her eyes were watering. “You know what she did?!”
Orni’s stomach twisted; she gulped, “I know that-”
“You know nothing!” Cassia roared, spittle flying at Orni’s face. “She murdered more ponies than you can imagine! The body-count is at 217 and rising…They told you nothing! Do you want to know what happened?”
In her heart Orni didn’t; she had been trying to push the thoughts from her mind for more than a day, “…”
Cassia looked down to the smaller mare, “She used their magic… Dechaa’s and Zyra’s…”
Orni backed up, “No… that’s not possible.”
The young one had never heard of such a thing.
“Oh, it’s possible…”
The words came without Orni wishing them, “How…?”
Cassia shook her head, “I don’t know, certainly… I didn’t ask her, and I didn’t ‘look’.”
Orni gulped.
Cassia paced around Orni, “Oh, child… they didn’t tell you because they didn’t think you could handle it…”
Orni shut her eyes; she wanted this to be over, but she had little power.
“One of the two weak links in the chain…” Cassia grinned viciously. “Such a young one… They don’t trust you.”
Orni felt a switch go off in her head… What?
Cassia gloated, “Oh, how it must feel-”
“Fuck you!” Orni blurted.
Cassia jumped a little; she hadn’t felt any kind of premonition regarding Orni’s manner.
“Fuck you!” Orni repeated; she lowered her own gaze. “I know what you’re up to… It’s you that doesn’t understand!”
Cassia frowned.
Orni scowled, “You miserable, old nag…! Is that what all this is about?! It’s not Delia’s or our fault this war has befallen all of you! Don’t blame us for the sickness in your country! And I know I’m weak…! I know I’m a child! There’s nothing I can do about what happened and they were good enough to spare me from it! They know me and I know them! And that's more than can be said about you!”
“…”
A sob made its way past Orni’s throat, “I… know you’re not lying… at least about the death and destruction… And I’m sorry! I can’t imagine how much you’re hurting…! I truly can’t…”
Cassia knew she couldn’t win, “…”
“Still… I… Try as you might, you won’t tear us apart!” Orni shouted. “They’ll be able to see past this…”
Cassia considered the little Knollwing. She’d never seen such resolve in a child; it could be felt.
Cassia took a few seconds; she relented, “Perhaps there’s more to you than I thought…”
Orni was breathing hard, she’d worked herself up so, “Yes… perhaps there is.”
The older mare glared and Orni could feel her eyes examining her, “You’ve had a real hit-and-miss sort of life, haven’t you…?”
Orni winced under the mental probing; it felt as if her mind was being tugged at.
“But for what it’s worth you’ve had a rather good one…” Cassia turned and paddled away. “It’s a wonder your heart is as clean as it is… I won’t apologize for what I’ve said or done but… I’m… glad you made a friend in Wilka. I’m curious to learn more.”
Orni felt Cassia “let go” of her mind; she exhaled in relief.
Cassia chuckled, “And to think I was going to go after the princess first… I have nothing else I want to say to you…”
The psychic felt they were done… but the Knollwing’s mind wasn’t such a simple place; she couldn’t predict much, as she’d learned.
Orni gulped again, “There’s one thing.”
“What?” Cassia turned back and saw Orni staring at the ground.
“Leave Wilka alone.”
Cassia's response was immediate, “I can’t do that.”
“I’m begging you…”
Cassia saw Orni looking defeated, all her assurance gone. Orni was begging.
“I won’t harm her.”
Orni hung her head miserably.
Cassia knew how petty this was… but she didn’t care… and she wouldn’t give up, “You’ll wake up a bit later, Orni.”
With that, Cassia left Orni’s mindscape.
“Shit…!” Delia wriggled and saw from her newest angle in the bubble that Orni had clocked out.
Essenta saw it from a more familiar standpoint, being upright, “Orni…!”
Cassia didn’t let Orni’s head hit the ground, but the fall wasn’t exactly gentle; she spoke to nopony in particular, “My, what a mind your Orni has… She’s not as weak as I’d been led to believe…”
Essenta cried, “What did you do?!”
Cassia thought for a couple seconds; she wasn’t about to admit Orni had a will of iron and had resisted her so.
“Orni’s fine,” Cassia said, her back to them. “Don’t worry.”
Delia was feeling an awful lot of blood rush to her head, “…!”
The elderly mare turned to the entrapped mares, a nasty smile turning up the corners of her sad, wizened face, “Yes… Be good girls and stay there…”
Essenta fretted; Delia scowled.
“Oh, don’t worry… I’m not hurting a one of them…” Cassia said.
Slowly tottering over to Dechaa, Cassia looked down at her, “To think this uneasy apothecary had such obscene power… not that I blame her for what happened. You killed all those ponies, Delia; it just happened to be with her magic.”
Cassia turned to Delia; Delia’s expression dripped hatred.
“Now…” Cassia returned to the healer. “Let’s see what Dechaa’s mind holds.”