-???, Skelly-
Being a little older than last time, I was no longer in that strange place with the device that made odd noises.
I was sitting at a stump and watching as the stallion set a block of wood down, he then split it in twain with a single swing of the axe without damaging the stump.
He looked up at me afterwards and smiled. The pony planted the thing I now recognized as the silver axe in the ground off to the side of the stump and trotted away from it to a storage area.
He came back and presented to me an axe… a small one that could work for someone of my size.
Why didn’t I remember using this axe?
My vision glances around as if I were looking for the pony that would wield it, I saw a countryside of snow and a home made entirely of sturdy wood. In the distance were the other homes, we lived closer to the woods.
The dark grey coated pony with sharp green eyes and bright blonde mane waited patiently. The symbol on his flank was an axe embedded in some wood, it was what he was good at.
There was no other pony here at the moment, the stallion approached me and shook his head while smiling. He took up my right hoof with his left and slid the handle of the small axe into it with his right.
I curled my hoof around the tool and looked at it closely, his axe was an actual weapon… the very same one I still held and wielded to this day. At least I can remember why it was so important to me, I got it from this stallion.
What happened to the tool I held now though? By now the handle has rotted away and the small metal blade is but a lump of what it once was and is a part of the land once more.
Am I remembering what happened to me?
The stallion cleared his throat, gaining my past self’s complete attention. He placed a bit of wood on the stump and then split in half. He then place another bit of wood, but closer to me on my side of the stump.
I looked at the wood and he came over to me and showed me how to wield the tool, he moved away when his silent instruction was proving itself well enough.
I pulled back the axe and swung it like I was shown, I split the wood and got the axe stuck in the stump.
I looked to him with a smile and he simply frowned, he pulled the axe from the stump and put it off to the side.
I stopped smiling and tilted my head questioningly, had I missed something? What had I done wrong?
He came over to me and grabbed my braid of silvery hair and tugged it gently so my eyes were looking at the damage I had dealt to the stump. I had split the top of the stump slightly, he on the other hoof had never cut the stump with his axe even once.
I frowned at him and gave my… father… a look of understanding.
The lesson learned here was that I needed to control my swings, I recall that wasting energy pulling the axe out of the stump every swing was a problem. My father was a smarter wood working pony than any other pony of the soil around.
Bowing my head in shame and wilting my ears, I sniffled a bit. I felt his gentle hoof guide my chin upwards. Looking me in the eyes, he wiped away the tears and then walked off.
He came back with two bits of wood and then placed the tool back in my hoof, I questioned him with my look of confusion.
He sat the wood on the left side of the stump and then one on the right, he pointed a hoof to his eye and the wood on the right as he took up position for a swing. He then pointed to me and then other piece of wood.
I can remember the smile on my face here, a small failure shouldn’t stop me from learning.
He lifted up his axe and then brought it down, neatly splitting the wood in two. He turned to glance at me expectantly.
I took up position opposite of him. My axe, being the tool that it was, was good enough to do what his weapon for war could... I inhaled and steadied my nerves.
I raised the tool above my head in my right hoof and brought it down with precision on the wood before me.
The world turned white and I blinked.
-Ponyville, Fortitude-
“Skelly, are you being alright?” I was worried about new friend, she shook her head and looked about. We hadn’t gone far from the hospital before she started to look lost.
“Something has been a little off about her… other than the fact that she doesn’t technically have much of a life!” My brother Flamberge was less wary of Skelly and more curious now. “Hopefully that condition of hers isn’t contagious!”
My brother and I stopped at the top of hill and waited for her to come back to her senses. She shook her head and looked to me before nodding, she poked at her head with her left hoof and smiled somewhat.
What Skelly did next was interesting, she looked at the axe she held as if in a new light.
The axe was far more important than my shield had been to me, my shield was made to take a beating and to eventually be destroyed. That axe seemed far closer and more important to her somehow, as if the weapon were a priceless treasure.
“Oh my goodness… how can she honestly say she’s alright when she looks so drab? Also a little laziness never hurt every now and then, and I don’t think it’s contagious at all! Honestly now.” We turned to a white furred unicorn with royal purple hair, her crystal blue eyes looked at us with a slight amount of contempt. “I’m sorry for interrupting your conversation gentle stallions, but this mare could use a splash of color to go with her lovely silver hair and white coat.”
Skelly tilted her head at the unicorn curiously, she was more than likely staring at her horn. Skelly then looked to the sky and stared at the pegasus ponies flying about and then to the ground to see earth pony’s getting along with ponies of other races.
“Don’t mind her inability to talk, she’s mute and we’re her friends!” Flamberge was drawing the unicorn’s concerned look away from our curious and slightly confused friend. “Her name is Skeletal Noria, but we call her Skelly! This is her first time coming to Ponyville and we’re showing her around!”
“Sounds foreign, I want to… no… I must make her an article of clothing! I’m thinking maybe some boots, but they wouldn’t do well when it comes to holding that… axe. If she’s anything like Applejack, then I’m quite sure she wouldn’t know how to appreciate a good dress… even if I have a few that would look nice on her.” The pony looked the axe up and down with curiosity as Skelly rested it across her back. “Where are my manners, I’m Rarity. I’m quite sure that Pinkie already has a party in the works, I swear that young mare doesn’t know how to slow down at all since she came to Ponyville! Well… I might as well give you something as a present for your first visit to Ponyville Ms. Noria. I insist on it even, now come along!”
With that Rarity went behind Skelly and started pushing our confused friend towards the nearby home.
Did Skelly exist before or after the tale of hearths warming? If before, then she is not used to being around other pony species. If she had been paying attention and wasn’t so distracted with her thoughts earlier, she would have noticed all the winged and horned ponies we’ve met.
She does not seem like one who has a heart full of hate or disparages other ponies for their differences, for I know she is being good pony at heart.
“Hey Fortitude, why do you suppose the Mists of Travel On brought us here of all places?” Turning from looking over the town to Flamberge with a curiosity filling my own head, I thought about his question.
The Mists of Travel On only take you where you are most needed, that was no lie and the main truth of its legend that we wished to pursue in full.
We were currently right were we needed to be, I at least tried to think of why we were brought to Ponyville first and came up with a quick answer.
“We are most needed here and are exactly where we should be brother. If not for us to resupply and prepare for our future endeavors at the behest of ‘Travel On’ taking us where we are needed most, then Skelly needs to see how the world has changed for the better or the worst.” We entered the building and saw Skelly standing on a platform looking nervous as the unicorn ran around looking for stuff in the organized mess. This Rarity obviously had a system as a weaver. “We are being in a nice, quiet and friendly place where Skelly can relax for the first time in a long, long time.”
She’s kind of had a bad history with unicorns now that I think of it, one had been troubling Soar Way for many years with Draugr and she had been a constant hero for so long without rest. Not that a skeleton needed to sleep and being completely restless helps when fighting Draugr with constant vigilance.
“Don’t be so nervous darling, a small scarf in a cherry red would do wonders for your appearance.” At Ms. Rarity’s words, Skelly frowned quite profusely.
“I am thinking that she is not liking that idea and red is not her color.” Not after many years of having glowing red eyes, I too would dislike that color after being stuck with it for that long.
“Not red? Then…. medium blue perhaps? That works fairly well with her lovely silver mane! If you need something to hold that axe with darling, I can certainly make you something really quick to go along with the scarf.” With that Rarity trotted off and Skelly gave me a pleading look.
I’m am rather surprised that this Rarity is nonplussed about the axe, maybe she thinks Skelly is a lumber pony? It would make sense, with Skelly’s cutie mark I would think that she works or lives around a mill. I would not disabuse the unicorn of that notion unless asked directly about it.
“Do not be fearing, she is not trying to be harmful.” I patted friend on back, I would think about the possible Aegisjalmr in her cutie mark later as now was a time for relaxing. “Unicorns here are actually safe to be around.”
Skelly is giving me a weak smile, I am calming her nerves excellently!
-Skelly-
He is nice, but Fortitude was not very convincing.
I was still quite nervous and wary that this was a dream, but I was beginning to temper my emotions fairly well and this would be a nice dream if it weren’t real. I knew the reality of what I was looking at, I haven’t slept or rested in a long time.
I’ve barely had reason to feel anything emotionally in a long time, but now I feel at least happy to be done with that Draugr making monster after so long of fighting him in a stalemate.
The world was so very different from how I remember, it seemed brighter though for all the togetherness I can feel around here. It was… harmonious… in how the ponies here from various races worked and lived together. Back before I became what I am now, we ponies used to keep to our tribes unless we needed to trade for goods.
Things had changed drastically and I feel calmer than I have ever had, I had made this all possible and the undead don’t roam the world like a plague. Like the calming weight of the wood in my right hoof, I felt as if an endless burden had been lifted from my back.
Wait… I could actually feel something physically?
I tightened my right hoof around the wood of the axe, I could feel the smoothness of the well carved wood. Sensations I had long since thought dead or were simply just forgotten or ignored, they were all coming back to me now.
How long had I gone without feeling anything? For how long have I been so numb to feeling alive? What have I forgotten and what will I remember next?
How long had I been stuck in that war with the Draugr and their horrid master? The world had continued turning while we had fought endlessly and it will continue to do so for as long as I could protect it with whatever I had left to give. That will never change as long as my spirit continues to wander the soil of the living!
I felt something slip around my neck and I blinked to look down at small patch of blue cloth.
“There you go darling and might I say it looks wonderful on you!” This Rarity smiled at me and gave me a hug, warmth blossomed in my chest and I felt a single powerful thudding pulse within it.
Was that my heart?
“I’m agreeing with her, scarf is looking quite nice on Skelly.” With Fortitude saying nice things about me too, I couldn’t help but enjoy the sensations of heat rushing to my cheeks.
Even with that one heartbeat the blood in my body still seemed too eerily still… what was I now? I no longer had a duty or a place to guard.
I also really didn’t know how to react to this attention either, so here I sit dumfounded.
“She is liking it!” Stated Fortitude with a great amount of certainty.
“Are you sure? She doesn’t look like she’s reacting to it at all.” Queried the unicorn named Rarity, she was curiously observing me.
“Give her time, she has been through some very bad times and is receiving good news recently.” That was an understatement my yak friend, considering that the Draugr Maker was dragged to Hel by a real Valkyrie! Something like that would bolster anyone’s belief in the gods.
I raised my left hoof and started to run it over this small… scarf… wrapped around my neck, it was nice looking and soft. I sighed and closed my eyes, I hugged the scarf to my chest and felt that momentous sensation of living once again.
I didn’t know what I was going to do now, but I owed both Fortitude and Flamberge a great debt that I might never be able to repay. If I were to die of old age right this instant, I would mostly be at peace.
Smiling, I nodded to Rarity.
“See… Skelly is just taking her time. What do we owe you?” Fortitude, through thick or thin, I will stick by you to any end!
“Nothing, it is a gift.” Rarity, life is the greatest gift ever given.