//------------------------------// // I am Human // Story: The Sun and the Clover // by BG9 //------------------------------// Sunset sat by Anon's bed, doing her best to complete her homework. Despite his still rough condition, Rarity insisted he keep doing preparation for the trails of the Way of White. No matter how much she protested she just wouldn't have any of it. She'd go back to her room but she was sick with worry. Something about being near his bed just helped her feel at ease. Her silent study was broken as Coloratura and Trixie entered the room giggling like school girls. Sunset couldn't help but let her temper get the better of her. "What are you two giggling about? Can't you see I'm working here?" she snapped "Sorry, sorry." Trixie said, with obvious insincerity " We're just excited. We're going on a quest." "A quest?" "Right. You can come if you want." "What are you two planning?" "Well we talked to Anon's two new bear friends. And they informed us of some really interesting stuff." Coloratura said "We were talking about what each of our specialities were and they let us know of these lesser known items owned by the greatest bard and illusion magic specialist to ever exist: Songbird Serenade. The first is a flute that is said to strengthen your allies and weaken your enemies." "Don't all bard's musical instruments do that? Isn't that the whole purpose of them?" "Yes but this one is above all the others. Songbird herself made it. It's supposed to be far powerful than magic instrument that had come before or since." "The second one is ever better." Trixie said "It's a page from her legendary Tome of Illusions. Just one look at it will bestow you with expert level knowledge of illusionary magic." "Sounds like items so powerful will be in a dangerous spot." Sunset said "Anon's new friends said they'll help us. Butttttt..." Trixie said "If you wanted to come with us we wouldn't refuse." "I already told you I can't do anything risky right now. The king is watching me closely." "Suit yourself." "Are you sure you should even be doing this?" Sunset asked "I don't mean offense but two low tier mages like yourself might get hurt trying to find something so valuable." "Low tier!?" Trixie yelled Coloratura butted in "We... or rather I figured it may be a bit dangerous. So we're taking some help from the friends you brought back. Vapor Trail and Sky Stinger I think their names were." "Pretty good choices. Just... be safe alright? Anon needs all the friends he can get right now." "How is he anyway? I heard the expedition went a bit rough." "Very. It was a resounding success but Anon pushed himself way too hard. He needs a wheelchair just to move around. Idiot nearly blew out his magic circuits and gave himself a heart attack." "I'm glad he made it all things considered." "I am too. He's something we've desperately needed for a long time now." There was a knock on the door followed by the two bears that ventured back with them from the other world "You both ready to retrieve the items?" Vapor said in a low growling voice Sunset stood up "I want to express my gratitude to you both. Without you there's no way-" "Don't even mention it. It was Nightmare Moon who made us this way. We should really be thanking him for giving us a chance to fight again, even if it was in vain." "Speaking of fighting. Do you two know of anything we might use to defeat Nightmare Moon? Our historical records are lacking to say the least." "Unfortunately not. We were not much of a presence for the battle that took place between Nightmare Moon and Clover. However our leader Angel Wings could tell you more. She witnessed the two fight on more than one occasion was was pretty close to Clover in her later years." "I'll have to pay them a visit then." Sunset said "Where is the place you're going exactly?" Trixie piped up first, not being able to contain her excitement "The Great Southern Layline." Sunset's eyes widened "You cannot be serious." "Of course we are!" "And how exactly are you intending to survive the miasma? You know the same miasma that curses any who inhale it." "I found a solution actually." Coloratura said "There's a pretty simplistic spell that acts almost as an oxygen mask and keeps you from inhaling the mist. It's time limited and I only have the strength to cast it once but it should be enough to get us through unscathed." "You make me sick with worry." Sunset said "Just trust us. I promise we'll make it through in once piece. Not like we're going to be meeting any creatures or mages there." "Alright. I'll trust you. Just please exercise caution." Meanwhile, back at crypt Nightmare Moon sit by a coffin running her fingers down the side of it intently. She sat by it often yet never gave any rhyme or reason as to why. For the first time in a long while Vignette was alone with her. It was time to extract information out of her as best she could. “I’ve never asked until now, but what is your end goal exactly?” Vignette asked, taping her chin Nightmare simply chuckled to herself “It’s simple truly. Simpler than it may sound on the face of it. I wish to rewrite the world.” “Rewrite the world?” “Yes. Do you know how I came to be what I am? Do you even know what it is I am?” “It never crossed my mind. I knew you weren’t human nor mage but, the again, most of those you run with aren’t.” “Indeed. I am the second closest thing this world has to gods. I suppose you could call me a demi god.” “What’s the first?” “The Greater Magic. When Clover preformed her experiment and intertwined my soul with that of the moon, something incredible happened" Nightmare moon stared at her glowing crest, a dark purple crescent moon "I could see the memories of the moon itself. As are all things in this world, the moon is a living being. I saw millennia of struggle. Constant war, struggle and rebirth. It was then I realized there was only one way to end all of this: It was to absorb the Greater Magic and write the world anew.” Valencia looked with wide eyes, eyes conveying that of amazement but also that of hunger. She, like her father, had an insatiable lust for power. And such an idea was the greatest power of all. She wanted more than anything to ask for instructions on how to reach this status. But she knew better than to doubt Nightmare Moon’s intelligence. She was, if not more so, as crafty as she was. Nightmare Moon lifted herself from her seat. “It’s time we were on our way. The Great Moon is coming. And we must make preparations.” “What are we going to do?” “We’re going to the Great Southern Layline.” “The Great Southern Layline? But isn’t it under a hex?” “Yes. We’re going to break this hex just you and I. Being that we are already hexed, we are the perfect people for the job.” Valencia was filled with a primal rage. It took everything she had not to charge at her. It was the one thing that made her lose all sense of rationality: the fact that she had been hexed at birth. Nightmare chuckled. "Excuse me, excuse me." Nightmare said with a smirk "I didn't mean to press a nerve." "Don't look down on me! I won't allow it! Not even by a self proclaimed demi-god!" Nightmare's demeanor changed instantly and a serious expression replaced her smile. "You think I look down on you?" "Why wouldn't you? Everyone does." "Valencia you and I are the same. I hold nothing but pity for you." "I don't need your pity, Nightmare Moon." Nightmare Moon walked to the entrance of the crypt. "Please." she whispered "Call me Luna." Trixie and co traveled via stagecoach to the destination. Even as fast it went, it would be two hours to arrive at least. The two bears did their best to sandwich themselves in the center of the car. "So what happened to this place exactly?" Trixie asked "Nobody knows for sure." Coloratura said "It used to be a place where the Order of the Southern Mages gathered for ceremonies in the Magic Ancient Age. Then one day, during the Silver Age the layline began spewing a toxic mist the hexed anyone who breathed it in. Gave them horrible deformations and made their magic circuits wither. With the spell I cast we have at most three and a half hours inside the mist before the magic wears off. We'll be given a thirty minute warning at which no matter what we have to head back." "Sounds easy enough. Nothing the Great and Powerful Trixie can't handle!" Coloratura looked towards Vapor and Skystinger "You both said you knew Clover right? How did you survive this long? What was Clover like?" "Clover was a wonderful woman. She was headstrong, hot tempered and intensely stubborn but had a heart of gold." Vapor said "To answer why we lived so long is a bit more complicated. Nightmare Moon preformed numerous experiments to try to create vampires and werewolves that could shift too and from their forms. We were what she called "failed experiments". Due to the vampire material she used in our creation, we are somewhat everlasting." "What do you think of Anon? Did Clover make the right choice?" "I always trust Clover's judgement in things. She always had a nack for seeing the most uncanny ways out of a situation, solutions the average person would never even think to look at. Whatever her reasoning, I can be sure it was correct." After a while of travel the cart stopped just short of the Layline on a ridge overlooking a deep pit. It was covered in a thick green mist and the entire area surrounding it looked dead. The dirt was white and cracked, the trees withered and bones of various animals and even humans were littered about. The crew got out of the cart. "Alright. Let me explain the plan." Coloratura said. "The artifacts we are looking for are said to lie somewhere towards the center inside of a cave. Since the spell I'm going to cast is going to take a lot out of me, I'm going to need to depend on you to locate it Trixie. All you need to do is make your mana attractive." Trixie snorted "Should I have it dress up in a sexy dress?" "Very funny. I mean make it attract to other mana. You'll be able to sense large sources of power this way. If that fails, we'll simply need to look for it the old fashioned way. Any questions?" The group stayed silent "Good. Then I'll begin." Nightmare Moon sat on the edge of the trench looking into the mist. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Valencia asked "How do you know it will have no effect on us?" "Simple." she said "I will not let it. Stay close to me and no harm shall befall you. Do you trust me?" "Of course." "Then I shall take the lead." Nightmare jumped straight into the mist as Valencia looked down. The mist seemed to be pushed away from her body just by her presence. Vignette followed suit, standing right beside her. "What is the preparation we need to do here?" "We must lift the hex. In order to be able to access the Greater Magic, we must be able to access each Layline and use their power simultaneously." "How would you do that? Your body would be ripped apart from the sheer force of the raw mana! I get you're far from human but even someone such as yourself couldn't possibly handle that much raw power." "Oh I won't be taking the power into me. Do you know what the Laylines are? what they truly are I mean." "Magic stored in the ground with the formation of mana crystals right?" "No. They are keys to the Greater Magic. Or rather they are the greater magic seeping into our domain." "That doesn't make any sense. The Greater Magic is always trying to reclaim the mana it has lost. It's why mages constantly lose it if we don't exchange it with one another." "There is much even you have left to learn about this world it seems." Vignette again became angered. She was no different than anyone else. Everyone always looked at her as lesser. The girl born beneath the Wicked Tree, the girl who's birth killed her own mother, the girl shunned for her very existence! She clenched her fists tightly, doing what she could to quell her rage. Nightmare Moon walked through the mist, heading towards the center point. As she did so Valencia noticed her black robe slip, exposing her arm. Her skin was pitch black, as though it belonged to a corpse. She looked back and pulled her sleeve up. "What's the matter?" Valencia said, her voice shaking "Covering your shame? Is there something even the great and mighty demi-god Nightmare Moon is ashamed of!?" She turned and faced her, pulling her sleeves back to expose her rotting black skin. "We are the same you and I. Shunned for events out of our control. Hated for circumstances beyond your understanding." She walked over to Valencia and hugged her "What are you doing? Get off!" "You are no Wicked Child, I am no demi-god. We are human."