//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: The Maid // by Dinkledash //------------------------------// Four hoof fear Draw us near From the shadow we appear Try to run So much fun You will never see the sun Try to flee But you see You will not escape from we Know your fright Gives us might As you scream into the night Blood is sweet Red is meat Tender from the terror heat Hastamodont chant Clementine marveled as the stick rotated in her magic grasp. A faint golden glow showed in the daylight as she glanced up through the break in the forest canopy from the clearing she had happened upon. It had been two days since she had last seen a glint from pegasus armor or the flash of brightly colored wing, so she believed she might be safe traveling once more in the daylight. Since that strange dream, and the collapse of the emotional dam she had been using to hold back her grief, she began to feel once more. The crushing sense of guilt and regret weighed upon her, and in some ways it was harder now that she allowed herself to feel again. She would find herself stopping in mid-step, breaking down, and crying after a momentary lapse of concentration allowed her to think of Giacolto. Then she would move on, knowing it would happen again, and accepting it. But when she wasn’t wallowing in misery, she allowed herself again to wonder at how much there was to learn in this world. And for her, now, it was a world of magic. It’s like having another hoof. Just think about picking up something with magic, and it happens. She concentrated and the stick began to twirl slowly. Clementine grinned. Much more versatile than a hoof. But how strong am I? What can I lift? A small river rock beckoned, so she allowed the stick to fall to the ground as she concentrated on it. It felt heavier to her somehow, more resistant to her thoughts, but it obeyed and rose to head height. How high can Iift it? Her brow furrowed as she concentrated, then the stone seemed to shoot straight up into the air. Her eyes widened as it shrank into a tiny dot, then vanished. Uh oh. She felt herself lose her magic grip on the object, and started to cringe, looking up at the sky in fear. Slowly that fear gave way to curiosity as the stone failed to reappear, then she heard a whistling sound and cowered, covering her head. There was a loud crash to her left and a tree limb snapped, spraying splinters about forty yards away from her. She stood, weak-kneed and heart pounding. In case I had forgotten, magic can be dangerous. Then she blinked as she looked over the damage; a branch at least six inches thick lay on the ground as a pine shivered and rocked back and forth above it. How high was that? A smile curled up her mouth as she eyed a rather large boulder, one she imagined could only be carried by two strong earth pony stallions sharing the load. Her horn glowed and the stone glowed in response, but it would not budge. She could feel a strong attraction between it and the ground upon which it rested. It was too much for her. Or is it? She thought about the space between the rock and the ground on which it lay, imagined her power in between that space, pushing down on the earth and lifting the stone upon its back. There was a groan and the stone shuddered, then rocked, and then slowly lifted out of the cavity in which it had lain for centuries, as ants, beetles, and less recognizable creatures scurried in the sudden sunlight. She felt pressure on her skull in the area of her horn. It wasn’t exactly painful; it felt more like exertion and strain than injury. Enough for the first try, Clemmie. She visualized the stone slowly returning to its divot, and she felt relief from the pressure as it settled back into the earth. She realized she was sweating and breathing hard after the exertion. Not just a mental exercise! Magic takes its toll on the body as well! She removed the cloak and lay upon it. Just a few minutes rest is all... She had no recollection of dreaming this time, but she awoke to what felt like a gentle touch tickling her ear. Her eyes flew open and she saw the glade bathed in the silvery light of the waning gibbous moon. Then she felt the touch again, and sat up. Before her, sat a furry creature with a pointed pink nose, white face, beady black eyes and a long, naked tail, resembling nothing more than an oversized rat. It gestiliculated at her with stubby claws and chittered in apparent agitation. She smiled, suddenly aware of how lonely she was and thankful for the companionship, no matter how rodential. “Well, hello! Was I sleeping upon your den? I’m sorry, let me get out of your way!” The creature shook its head, then gestured urgently to the north. What? “You understood that?” It nodded, then took off for the south, unmistakably gesturing for her to follow. I must be dreaming again, so what the heck? She grabbed her cloak, threw the saddlebags over her back, cinched them, then trotted behind the animal as it chittered at her. She felt, rather than heard something behind her and looked over her shoulder. Green eyes, slitted, glowed in the darkness. Dozens, perhaps hundreds. A high pitched, guttural chanting in some bestial language fell upon her ears. It seemed to come from all around, and her she felt the cold stab of fear in her heart. Her eyes widened as a surge of adrenaline coursed through her veins. I don’t want to die! The waning moon did not aid as before, yet she realized as she swung her head back to see where she was going that she could see with much greater clarity than before. She felt the channeling of a small amount of magic from her mind, and she realized she was holding the irises of her eyes as open as they could be. She could feel what she knew from her readings on anatomy were the rods her retina growing as the cones shrank, and the blue-tinged darkness suddenly sharpened into high contrast white, black, and shades of gray. The Nightvision Spell! When did I learn this? I must be dreaming! She looked over her shoulder once more. Pursuing her was a horde of tiny, hairy bipeds with oversized heads and broad mouths. When they opened their mouths to chant, she could see long, needle-like teeth, and they brandished small spears with tips that appeared to be of bone. She redoubled her pace, running past the forest critter that had awoken her. Without thinking, she grabbed it with her magic and lifted it to her back, then broke into a desperate gallop up what she hoped was a deer path. The mob following her whooped and stopped their chanting, as they too broke into a run that was surprisingly fast, given their short limbs. The forest animal grabbed her mane and held on as she dodged trees and ducked branches in her mad career. It chittered urgently and pulled at her as she charged up a rise towards what looked like a clearing. She broke out of the trees and stopped herself, gasping. She was atop a cliff, a broad river below her, and no way down. No way up or down river. Only back into the forest. She turned and stared at the eyes that she could now see clearly. The bipeds slowed and started to stalk towards her, chanting again. She backed up to the cliff and felt dirt crumbling under her hooves. She looked to the sky for the moon; it was behind a cloud. A small spear arced from the crowd, falling just short of her, sticking in the ground. A dozen spears followed, and three of them struck her, pinpricks in her flesh that stung and drew trickles of blood. Do you feel pain in a dream? Mindless terror filled threatening to overwhelm her as a hundred tiny arms drew back. Then she heard her own voice in her head. C’est fini, oui! Enough! She looked down at a scene that seemed to be playing out in slow motion. The heroine and her brave opossum companion turned to face the horde of hastamodonts, the spear teeth of the forest. There was no escape, and the end was coming. What would become of them? These are creatures of the night. The heroine creates a bright light with her horn, after dropping her own night vision spell, of course. She found herself back in her own body, the course of her actions already underway as forest verge darkened and glowing eyes became visible once more. Then she squinted and lowered her horn, putting all of her magical power into it. Twenty miles to the north, Private Swoopfeather was bored out of his skull, surveying the blackness below him for any glint of light that might give away the position of the fugitive they were pursuing, when dawn suddenly broke to the south. He nearly fell out of the sky in surprise, made a mental note of the location of the glare, then beat his wings towards the north and his commander. The hastamodonts were wailing, cringing and covering their eyes, cowering back from the brilliant blaze that had erupted before them. The ground was strewn with discarded spears and fallen bipeds who could not see well enough to even flee, the utter light that flooded the landscape burning even through their closed eyelids. The opossum buried his face in her mane. Clementine knew that her position must have been given away, but she didn’t have any subtler options. Still, her miniature tormentors appeared to be incapacitated, so she was able to put her mind to the second part of the problem; getting down the cliff to the river, then crossing it. Well, the cat is out of the bag, so I may as well be quick about it. She lowered her horn, glowing with magical potential, and aimed it at the edge of the cliff, pointed down at roughly a thirty degree angle. She unleashed her power and struck the cliffside, blowing out dirt and rock and gouging a path into the cliff face in chunks, as her magic recharged and was discharged repeatedly. She stopped her progress occasionally to check on the little monsters, who had drawn themselves up into a miserable huddle. When she had dug a track down to the level of the river, she cleared enough headroom for herself by blasting at a more shallow angle, and finally reached down to the debris below her and lifted large stones, not as large as the one that had taxed her, but still substantial, and build a rough stair, pressing them deeply into the earth. The opossum chittered angrily at the dazed hastamodonts, who groaned and tittered back in piping voices. It appeared that there had been a conversation going on while she was working. She turned and looked at the mass, some of whom were standing and blinking, trying to regain their vision. “Can they understand you, my little friend?” The opossum nodded, then turned and shook a clawed fist at them. “In that case, please tell them that if they follow me—” she paused, considering the threats she could make, thought of the pebble she hand launched, then continued “—I will throw them all the way to the moon.” Beady, comprehending eyes stared steadily, then the opossum turned, chittered angrily once again, this time gesticulating towards the sky with his claw. The bipeds shrank back and turned, walking back into the forest, all except for one. He seemed a bit larger than the rest. He waited for the others to melt back into the verge, then took his spear in both small hands and snapped it over his knee, tossing it to the ground in front of her. Then he bowed from the waist, turned, and vanished with his fellows. “I wonder what that was about—” she paused awkwardly. “Well, I can’t keep calling you little friend. I assume you have a name.” The opossum nodded and chittered, “Rikikikikiki.” “Rikiki?” The creature shrugged. That’s close enough. “Thank you, Rikiki. You saved my life. But why? How did you know I was in danger?” Rikiki solemnly pointed to the sky. No, the moon. “So it was not a dream. Not really. And you serve Pr— ah, Nightmare Moon?” Rikiki nodded, and her mouth went dry. “My life has gotten rather complicated recently. Well, would you like to accompany me?” He nodded. She glanced at the woodline and saw no slitted eyes glaring at her, but who knows what dangers were behind her. And what of what lies before me? She glanced back at her small companion and smiled. “At least I won’t be alone.” Private Swoopfeather flew as fast as he could until he almost headbutted into his section-leader, Corporal Cirrus Frost, as she burst out of a cloud in front of him. They put on the air brakes, leaning back and spreading their wings wide, and managed to avoid disaster. “What in Tartarus was that!? Did you locate it?” Cirrus was not normally an excitable pony, but her eyes were wide with astonishment. “It must have lit up the sky clear to Canterlot!” He did some quick math in his head. “South by south-west, about thirty miles, on the banks of the Delamare River, I think. It seemed to be coming from the forest. I figured I should come and report it before I investigated.” She nodded. “Definitely. Did you hear anything? Like a big explosion?” She raised an eyebrow. He shook his head. “I was pretty far away, but no, nothing except some birds who were upset about being woken up early. What should we do?” “The captain said we were to report and observe and only interfere if it looked like the subject was in danger” She frowned for a moment. “We go together to report. If something happens to one of us on the way, the other must be able to get the information to the Princess. I have the feeling she will want to investigate this personally.” “But what if the filly is in danger? I could go back and—” Cirrus cut him off. “If she’s in danger from the thing that made that light, there’s nothing you or I or a whole wing of pegasi could do about it. And if she’s the thing that made the light, she’s not in danger. Got it?” He sighed. “Yes, corporal.” Cirrus swung back north and he followed. She smiled as she looked over her wing. “If we run into another section on the way, we can pass the information along to them, then come back and investigate, OK?” He smiled back. “That would be great!” They put their heads down as they flew into a cloudbank. Clementine looked down at the mighty Delamare; a quarter mile of deep, slow moving water separated her from the other side. She cast the nightvision spell and marveled as the far bank emerged into view, and beyond that, a few miles of flat grassland, until the tall pines of the Everfree rose up abruptly. “Well, Rikiki, it looks like I won’t be able to look around for a ferry. I’m pretty sure somepony noticed my little light show.” The opossum chittered in agreement. “Being able to fly would be rather convenient right now, but I’ve never seen a unicorn fly or even heard one talking about it. But I can lift a rock that’s pretty heavy.” She concentrated and her horn glowed golden once more. She lifted a flat rock from the shore and laid it down in front of her. “If I had time, I might be able to build a ford here, but I doubt I have time for any more engineering projects.” Rikiki made motions with his arms and hands. “Swim? I have no idea how. I’ve never even tried.” He made a rowing motion. “And I don’t think I have time to build a boat or even a raft.” The opossum shrugged. “Yes, this is a poser, isn’t it?” She grew quiet, frowning and looking around, then stopped frowning as she looked at the rock again. Her horn glowed and the rock rose a few inches, then she gingerly placed a hoof on it. She could feel it wobbling under her, so she tried to stabilize it by breaking her power up into four parts. I can do that? The rocking stopped as four power loci formed at the corners of the rock. Wow! She stepped onto it and it took her weight. Ho ho! Look at me! But now what? She cast around for another stone large enough to stand on and carefully created another power locus under it. Then she pulled it to her and split the single lifting point into four while carefully maintaining the four she already had. Then she stepped. I can do this! The second rock took her weight, shaking slightly as she transferred. Then she moved the first rock past her into position over the water. “Here we go, Rikiki!” She stepped, and the stone supported her. Move, step, move, step, move, step, and she was twenty feet away from shore. Only about five hundred more steps to go. Concentrate, Clemmie! Swoopfeather and Cirrus were about halfway back to the manor when they saw a flight of pegasi led by a large, white figure. “Your highness!” they both cried out. “What happened? Was anypony hurt?” Celestia hovered in mid-air, concern written into her features as the six pegasi of the First Flight flew a mid-altitude security pattern. Cirrus Frost bit her lip. “I decided to come find you before we investigated, ma’am. Private Swoopfeather saw the event from about twenty miles away and marked the location, but I felt we needed to travel together to ensure that information got to you.” “Corporal Frost, right?” The non-com nodded. “A conservative call, but a good one. Blast, but I need more voces!” She grimaced. “Alright Swoopfeather, tell me everything you saw.” “Yes ma’am! A sudden golden light, bright as a sunrise, about an hour ago, about twenty miles dead south of designated sector seventy-three. On the banks of the near side of the Delamare, ma’am. No sound of an explosion or anything like that, but I was fairly far away.” He scratched his head with a hoof, thinking for more details. “It was steady for about a minute, then it faded, but by that time I was flying north.” “Sergeant Frost, I’m borrowing Corporal Swoopfeather. I need you to find the Grass Tramplers and the Star Benders and mark that location on a map for them; they’re going to be on the Stablesboro Road. After you update them, come find us.” “Yes ma’am!” She turned east and dove, picking up speed. “Corporal Swoopfeather, lead on!” “Yes ma’am!” He was grinning from ear to ear as he winged over and flew straight towards the spot, the moon illuminating the scene in silvery light as Celestia and her guards followed. She was about halfway across when a salmon leapt up out of the water, landing on the stone she was about to step on, startling her. “Oh!” For a moment, she lost her focus, and the rock sank into the dark depths. She looked down at the remaining flagstone she stood on, the cold, black water everywhere around her. “Well, this is a fine kettle of fish, isn’t it, Rikiki?” The opossum was silent, clinging to her mane and shivering. “Hey, we’ll be OK, I’ll think of something.” She dimly spied a small tree growing out of the side of the bank. “Maybe I can pull that out of the ground and use that instead, hmm? I just need to be careful not to slide off.” Her horn glowed and the tree bent, but it stubbornly resisted being pulled, its roots running deep under the river. “Oh come on!” She poured more magic in, but to no avail. The tree remained fixed in place. But for some reason, it seemed a little larger. What? Oh! She pulled again and noticed that slowly but surely, her floating platform was moving closer to the shore. “See? Told you!” Rikiki chittered skeptically, but they managed to make their way to the other side with no further mishap. Celestia and her escort spiraled down to the ground where Swoopfeather led them. She looked around at the verge of the forest and frowned, unease filling her. “We are close to Everfree here, so beware.” “Your highness!” One of the guards came running up to her, holding a tiny spear. “Dozens of these, all over!” “Hastamodonts! But there are no bodies? Is there any blood?” “It’s too dark, ma’am!” She shook her head. “I am behind my time. Give me a moment.” Celestia concentrated, and the moon set in the west as the first pink tones of dawn shone in the east. “I need this place searched thoroughly!” The guards began to scour the scene of the battle, picking up the bone-tipped sticks. One cried out and ran to her, holding a spear out to her. The tip was red. Celestia sighed. “So, she was attacked by those little brutes, they injured her, and she drove them back with a light spell. But where did she go?” Two of the guards had flown up to pull security, and one of them dove down to her. “Over here, your highness!” Celestia followed him to the cliff edge and looked down, astonished at the path that had been blasted down to the river’s edge. “Right! Everypony get up and down the riverside; she may be in a cave or looking for a boat or something. I can’t imagine that she knows how to teleport or she wouldn’t have had to fight off the nastly little Hastamodonts.” “MA’AM!” Celestia looked up at the freshly promoted Corporal Swoopfeather. “OVER THERE!” He waved his hoof to the south-west. She flew up and looked. There was movement, a figure in a dark cloak, but with flashes of white showing underneath, galloping full-out across the grasslands towards the Everfree Forest. “HOW? EVERYPONY, ACROSS NOW!” Celestia herself vanished in a flash of light, to reappear in the air a hundred yards closer to the forest. She repeated these short range teleports every second, speeding across the distance three times faster than her escorts could manage with their wings. “NO! CLEMENTINE! DON’T!” It was useless, she was too far away, even with the Canterlot Voice. The cloaked pony vanished into the gloom of the forest. She floated there, despairing, looking in disbelief at the spot where the filly who was like a child to her dearest friend, the mysterious Prench noblemare, the newly awakened mage of considerable puissance, had entered the deadliest place in all of Equestria. No pony who went there came out both alive and sane. I can’t send them, and I can’t go myself. Tears filled the monarch’s eyes. What will I tell Ruby? Her guards caught up with her. “Your highness, we can pursue!” Lieutenant Spurstorm spread his wings as he hovered. “No! Standing Order One applies. Nopony goes into Everfree. Nopony. Am I understood?” “Ma’am, she’s not that deep in, surely we can—” “AM I UNDERSTOOD!?” The officer bowed his head under the assault of the Canterlot Voice. “I appreciate your valor, lieutenant, but I’m not throwing my guards’ lives away on a suicide mission.” And I can’t enter Everfree for at least another five hundred something years, or Very Bad Things will happen. She looked at the dark sentinel trees, and could feel the glares of the vengeful and jealous dryads that lived within their boles. “May Harmony protect and watch over her.” Clementine slowed down to a walk. There was no trotting in this overgrown, trackless wood. She resumed her night vision spell, which helped dispel the green gloom somewhat. “Are they following us?” Rikiki chittered in the negative. “Oh, good. Well then, here I am, I guess.” She looked about at the distorted, malformed, almost tortured looking trees. “Wow. Great plan, Clemmie. Now what?” Rikiki jumped down from her back and scampered in front of her. He waved his arms and made a series of chirps and squeaks, then pointed south. “Alright then.” She turned and walked in that direction as the opossum resumed his place on her back. She could feel eyes on her as she made her slow progress. This continued for several minutes, then her stomach grumbled at her. “Do you think we could take a lunch break?” The creature made a gurgling sound that she took as an enthusiastic affirmative, so she stopped, folded her cloak up, removed her saddlebags, and sat. A golden glow filled the gloom as she opened the bags and removed a scone and a canteen of water, first breaking a small piece of the honeyed wheat cake off for Rikiki and floating it over to him. He took it in both little paws and set about devouring it, as Clementine joined in, tearing a piece off the remainder and taking a large bite out of it. She sighed. “Nothing like a nice picnic in the Everfree Forest, is there, Rikiki?” He chittered and held out his paws for more. She heard a rumbling and saw a shadow moving in the gloom. It was large, and quick. Something jumped out from the bushes and in the next moment there was a great beast before her, twice as tall and wide as a pony and three times as long, with a wild mane, great wings and the tail of a scorpion. Manticore! Rikiki squeaked and jumped up into her mane as the creature roared in her face. She didn’t even think as she shoved the remainder of scone into the open maw. The manticore shut his mouth, blinked in astonishment, and started chewing. It only took a second to consume the sweet thing, but when he want to roar again, two more scones appeared floating before him. He backed up, licked his lips, and opened his mouth. “I am happy to share, but you must be nice, understand?” The monster made a gesture towards his mouth with a paw as big as her head. “Very well. Now, behave.” One scone was floated between the dagger-like teeth, and then the other, and the manticore chewed, making what sounded like rather satisfied noises as he did so. He swallowed, then licked crumbs from his lips and paws. Then he yawned, and looking at Clementine, laid his head down on his paws and seemed to go immediately to sleep. She quietly collected her belongings, slipped on the cloak, and tiptoed away to the south, Rikiki silently clinging to her mane. When she figured she was far enough away, she breathed a sigh of relief. “I can’t believe how big he was! The drawings in the book give you no idea!” Several hours later, Celestia gently held Lady Rubymane as she rocked and cried her eyes out.