//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: The Archetypist // by Cold in Gardez //------------------------------// Trixie didn’t stay gone, of course. I wasn’t that lucky. It turned out she’d just gone to the kitchen to get more apples, as well as to steal a bit of my precious caramel for dipping. She had nothing more to say about her dreams after that, and she certainly wasn’t spilling any of her trade secrets. I gave up trying to interrogate her and went to do something far more productive with my time: read. I had the latest journals on dream research, on oneiromancy, on that great waste of time psychology. I surveyed the pile of them on my desk, despaired, and flopped on my bed. “Celestia, give me strength,” I mumbled. There was one book on the pile that had nothing to do with dreams, though. It wasn’t even supposed to be out of the library: The Celestial Messengers, still impaled with that bolt from Discord’s crossbow. After some effort I managed to twist it free. As soon as I set the bolt aside it dissolved into mist. I peered at the book, hoping the damage would dissolve as well. It didn’t. “Poor thing,” I said. Some damaged books could be repaired – being shot by a crossbow, however, was about as fatal to a book as it was to a pony. This tome would have to be replaced. I tried to be unsentimental when it came to damaged books, but some maudlin mood overcame me, and I flipped it open. I might not be able to save this book, but I could give it one last read before consigning it to destruction. I’m not sure what I was expecting. The cover was in Old Equus, and I expected the text to be as well, but it was in regular Standard Equish. A little old-fashioned, perhaps, but perfectly legible; written by somepony who lived within the past two-hundred years or so. My translation skills weren’t going to be tested. Half history, half fable, the book told the story of a short-lived religious order (‘cult’ was probably more accurate, though the author avoided that term) dedicated to Celestia the Solar Goddess in the centuries prior to the Unification. It told in a dry, matter-of-fact tone of events that couldn’t have happened and ponies who must not have existed. It was fiction masquerading as history, and after a few chapters I gave up trying to reconcile what it told me with what I knew of actual events. I wondered if Discord had somehow created it as part of an elaborate (and by his standards, extremely subtle) prank. But some things were beyond even Discord. There were never any cults to Celestia. Cults only formed around false authority figures; a real goddess had no need for them. By the time I got halfway through the book, the crossbow’s ruin had rendered much of each page illegible, and I set it aside. One benefit of reading dry historical novels: sleep was fast in coming. * * * It is the summer of my ninth year, and my parents have given me over to the custody of the High Ones. The plains about Marethon burn with the heat of the high season. Seared grass waves in endless fields, punctuated here and there by dusty cedar-lined roads leading to the capital. We are at odds with the pagan pegasus clans again, and for months they have withheld the rain. The mountains to the west lie hidden beneath a blanket of clouds so dark they are nearly black, swollen to bursting with a season’s worth of water. And there it will remain until we pay the pegasi’s ransom, or they begin to starve and abandon this foolish quarrel. But I do not mind the heat or the cloudless skies or the dying plains, for those are worldly concerns and I have been chosen to serve something unworldly, a vision of beautiful perfection sent from the heavens themselves to grace our filthy bodies and purify them. To burn away all that is evil. My parents have given me over to the custody of the High Ones, and I will go with them to learn the ways and joys of Celestia. We have a long walk, the seven of us. The shining marble tower of the mountain temple is a bright smudge on the horizon; on clear winter days we can make out the balustrades and pennants that outline its balconies from Marethon, but on this day the air is too thick and hazy. Sweat runs into my eyes, and I look down at my hooves. There is Dandelion, walking beside me. His light coat is stained dun by the dusty road. Only in the trails of his sweat does its true green color show through. He smiles at me, hikes his pack higher on his withers, and trots to the head of the line. After me he is the most excited of us to make this journey. Behind me trudges Tangerine. She pants for breath. Spittle drips from her lips into the dust. She comes from the richest family in Marethon and is not made for exertion such as this. She will not last. I know the others less well. Fillies and colts my age, chosen by their families for this great honor. There is quiet Elegy, and nervous Rhizome, and bold Woodwind, and Asterisk, his family’s seventh son. We all walk in the Servant’s shadow, the soles of our hooves burning, our lips cracking, our eyes watering. But through it all I smile, for with each step my destiny draws closer. I can see the tower now in the distance. Tall, elegant, proud as a unicorn’s horn. Marble outbuildings surround it, noble in their own low way, for they support the greatness that burns within. We cross a small wood footbridge over a bone-dry stream. It is a landmark – only ten leagues remain until we reach the tower. As if aware of our presence, the mirror-lanterns along the tower’s observation level swing toward us. Our path is lit by the light of a dozen suns. Around me, the other colts and fillies try to shield their eyes. I smile and lift my head higher, drinking in the light. I woke from the dream in a fever. Sweat soaked through the sheets and blankets, turning them clammy and chilly. I tossed them off with a huff and stumbled out of bed toward the bathroom. The castle’s dim night lights were brighter than usual, strong enough to cast shadows in my wake. I filled the enormous sink with cool water and dunked my face in it. It soothed the sting in my eyes and brought clarity to my thoughts. I lifted my head. Water streamed down my muzzle and dripped off my horn into the basin. When I looked up, a haggard face and irritated eyes stared back. “What have you done to us, Discord?” I asked my reflection. She had no answers. In time, I stumbled back to my bed and found a kind of fitful sleep. There were no more dreams. * * * Things were looking better right around breakfast. I don’t know if Starlight somehow intuited my rough night, but there was an extra-huge stack of pancakes with whipped cream and chocolate chips waiting for me in the kitchen beside a steaming mug of Zebrican coffee. Something about sleep deprivation always made me hungry, and I tore into them with gusto. My eyes weren’t even hurting. The castle seemed too bright, though. If I didn’t get some shades, going outside would be painful. “Morning,” Starlight said behind me. She snuck up and took the seat next to me, cradling a cup of coffee in her hooves. “How are you?” I swallowed a mouthful of pancake and washed it down with coffee, exactly the way my parents taught me not to. “Worried. Whatever Discord did is getting worse, I think.” “Worse is one word for it.” I glanced at her. “What’s that mean?” “Nothing. Sorry, just thinking out loud.” “Thinking what?” I pressed. “Starlight, you know you don’t need to hold back with me.” “I know. I’m sorry.” She drummed her hooves on the table, almost like she was nervous. “Look, something happened. I don’t want you to panic.” A cold sweat broke out under my coat. My heart beat faster. “What happened? Is everypony alright?” “Oh! Oh, of course. Nopony’s hurt.” She smiled, which did nothing to set me at ease. “Just, you know, I didn’t want to startle you. Or, she didn’t. She’s fine, by the way, and—” “She, who?” I couldn’t but snap. It wasn’t like Starlight to ramble. I stood. “What happened?” “Okay, see, you’re getting a bit worked up. And you don’t have to! Because everything is fine and—” A new voice intruded, and Trixie entered the stage. She snatched the plate of pancakes out from under me and slid them across the table over opposite Starlight, where she took a seat. “Who’s getting worked up? Is Twilight panicking again?” “I’m not panicking!” Except I was, a bit. But now I had witnesses so I had to calm down. “I just want Starlight to explain what happened.” “Well, uh.” Starlight glanced between me and Trixie. “I mean… you see?” I blinked at her. “See what?” “See…” She trailed off and made a sort of gesture with her muzzle toward Trixie, who was tearing through her—my pancakes like she hadn’t had a decent meal in days. “You know. That.” “That what?” I asked again. The rough night and weird dreams and disordered morning and my damn stolen pancakes were starting to seriously get on my nerves and I was about to raise my voice against my best friend in a way that would probably lead to hurt feelings when I finally saw it. Trixie was eating the pancakes straight off the plate, bite by bite. The way a pegasus or earth pony might, which made sense because her horn was gone. I stared at her forehead, too stunned to speak. Obviously there was a trick of the light, or it was hidden by her bangs, but the longer I stood there staring and Starlight sat there watching me, biting her lip, the more clear it became that there was nothing there to see. Literally. “It’s… it’s a trick,” I said. “You’re doing another trick, like last night.” “Hm?” Trixie looked up from her plate. A dollop of whipped cream decorated the tip of her muzzle, and she went cross-eyed at it. Her tongue flicked out and it was gone. “What’s a trick?” “Your horn.” You know that feeling when you say something that you know is stupid, but you just can’t help it? I hate that feeling. “It’s gone.” “Oh, yeah.” She tilted her head up, as though that would somehow make something attached to her forehead easier to see, then shrugged. “It’s fine. Didn’t need it.” “But…” I trailed off and realized I was out of breath. Somewhere in there I’d forgotten how to breathe. An invisible snake was wrapped around my chest, crushing me. My heart complained and tried to punch itself out of my ribs in protest. Little blobs of color danced around the edges of the room. “Hey, breathe.” It was Starlight. She’d made it to my side and wrapped a leg around my shoulders, which was both comforting and kept me from falling over like I really wanted to. “It’s fine. It’s fine.” “Fine? Fine!” It came out as a squeak. “How can you say it’s fine? She’s…” Deformed. Mutilated. My throat choked on the words. I gagged. “Trixie is fine,” Trixie said. “Honestly, sometimes you’re more dramatic than I am, Sparkle. And I’m an actor.” “How can you say that?” To Starlight: “How can she say that?” “Because it’s true.” Trixie snapped up the last bite of pancake and gave the plate a lick for good measure. “It was a crutch. Without it I can be dazzling. Amazing! Unicorns can have their silly magic, but I am a magician!” I set my hooves on the table and rested my head on them. The cool crystal helped calm me down. I took a deep breath. “That’s what you dreamed of, wasn’t it?” “Hm?” Trixie tilted her head. “There you go again with your dream talk. Maybe I did. Why does it matter?” “Why does it matter?” I probably shouted that a little louder than necessary. “Why does it matter? Trixie, your horn is gone!” “And nothing of value was lost.” She stood and took her plate over to the sink, an uncharacteristic act of responsibility that I would’ve appreciated more if she hadn’t stolen them from me in the first place. But my stomach was so cramped I couldn’t imagine eating anything. I felt sick. I turned to Starlight, who was watching me intently with a little frown and wide, worried eyes. “How can you just sit there? She’s your marefriend!” “Yeah.” Starlight glanced between us. “But it’s not bothering her. If it were, I’d be upset, but… Well, it’s not.” Right. Starlight was too close to Trixie to see how terrible this was. She couldn’t detach herself from the problem like I could. I took a few more deep breaths. “Okay. Okay. That’s fine. No, I mean, it’s not fine, but we’ll figure it out later. This is clearly Discord’s doing.” “Clearly. So… what now?” Starlight said. “We find him and we get him to fix Trixie.” “I’m right here, you know,” Trixie said. “I never left. And I don’t need fixing, thank you.” “Uh huh.” Obviously she hadn’t come to grips with the loss of her horn yet. Probably still in the denial phase of grief. Not that I could blame her – if I’d woken up without a horn I’d probably just start screaming. “Okay. Fluttershy usually knows how to find him. I’ll go get her. Can you stay with Trixie?” “Trixie actually has plans for today that don’t revolve around whatever crisis you’re experiencing,” Trixie said. “So, thank you for the breakfast. Starlight, I’ll see you later. Assuming you can untangle yourself from that.” She gave Starlight a loaded grin, then trotted out with a bounce in her step. I waited until she was out of range of my voice. “When did that happen?” Starlight shrugged. “Overnight, sometime. It was gone when we woke up.” Her cavalier tone snagged on something ugly in my heart. I let it speak its mind. “So it was there when you were sleeping with her?” “As far as I know.” She responded evenly, but the look she gave me said I’d overstepped. “What do you want to do?” Put everything back the way it was, of course. Not just this damn dream fiasco with Discord, but everything. Trixie gone. My tree back, while we’re at it. My friends all the way they were. I let out a slow breath and hunted for the words I needed right now. “This is becoming a crisis. I’m going to find Fluttershy, track down Discord, and get him to undo everything.” “Everything? What else is there?” “I…” I needed more coffee. Celestia. Why couldn’t we just fight changelings again? “I don’t know. But lots of ponies seem to be having odd dreams, and if dreams are what made Trixie’s horn vanish we should be very worried. What have you been dreaming of?” “Uh…” Starlight glanced to the side. “Nothing special.” “Come on, Starlight. You know you can trust me with anything. We’re friends.” “Sorry.” She cleared her throat. “I dreamed of my old town. But things were actually going well for us. The experiment was a success. Ponies were coming from all over to join. And I was finding new ways to… to make things better. To erase the differences that keep ponies apart.” Well, that didn’t sound so bad. At least she wasn’t dreaming about losing her horn. I’d crack if something like that happened to her. Even the thought of it turned my stomach. “What about you?” she asked. “Um.” The glare shining in the windows seemed brighter all of a sudden. One drawback of living in a crystal castle: everything was reflective. I blinked away the dazzling light. “Nothing special. Just books.” “Books.” She stared at me until I looked away, then huffed quietly. “Fine. Since Trixie is off doing her own thing, what would you like me to do?” Come with me. The words almost escape before I could clamp down on my tongue. I wrestled with my throat for a moment before finally speaking. “Check the town. Find out if anything else crazy is happening. I’ll find Fluttershy, then come back and get you before confronting Discord. We might even need Luna or Celestia’s help for that.” “And what if he doesn’t want to be found?” “Fluttershy has her ways. We’ll drag him out of whatever hole he’s hiding in. Then we’ll set all of this right.” It sounded so easy when I said it like that. But if hope was the thing with feathers, I guess it made sense for me to be the most hopeful of us all.