Chimes In the Dark

by Faindragon

Chapter 14: The Memories Returns

The chime echoed through the temple, found its way through the hallways and rooms. It reached the throne room, reached the mare sitting upon the throne. Her eyes were closed, a faint glow surrounded her horn. She smiled; her mind had wandered somewhere else. She could feel the rush of power that pumped through her veins; she could feel it surging through her body. Soon her horrible deed would be done; Equestria would once again be in harmony. She laughed; the same cold laugh she had always had. A single tear rolled down her cheek. Soon this nightmare would be over. Only one sacrifice left, the only one who had to go unforced; the only one she couldn’t just kill. She would have to show him all her reasons, had to make him understand. The quill floated by itself this time, her magic didn’t touch it. It made the thirteen line on the paper. The nightmare would soon be over but she couldn’t let Notharam see how much she hated this. No she had to be strong; if she couldn’t be it before Notharam how could she then be strong before her? No, this would not fall together now.

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Notharam stared at the mare. He couldn’t get his thoughts together; how could she be here? And how could she be the maniac? He knew he had recognized that voice before, but this couldn’t be true. His voice trembled.
“No, it can not be you! You died in the cold north! I saw you die!”

The mare gazed on him; her frosty eyes chilled every bone in his body. A cold laugh was heard from her; a laugh that made Notharam’s bone freeze. Her voice was as cold as her laugh had been.
“You are a foal Notharam. You don’t remember a thing about the north do you? Can you remember what my name is? Can you remember anything about me?” The mare didn’t sound angry, more… disappointed.

“I remember a few things; the sound of your voice and your laughter. They always chilled my bones during our time together, during the time in school and during the time in the army. How could I forget you, Four Star?”

Four Star smiled, a gently but still grim smile.
“It seems that the spell I casted over you not too long ago have started to loosen its grip over your mind; releasing your memories. Yes, Notharam. The mare in front of you is Four Star; the unicorn you went together with to school and later ended up with the army together with.”

Notharam looked at the body of Mistrunner, a tear formed in his eye; slowly rolled down his cheek.
“But I don’t understand. Why? All you said is that I betrayed you; but how have I betrayed you? And how should I remember it if you had cast a spell that kept me from my memories?”

Four Star removed her gaze from Notharam; moved it towards Mistrunner instead. She lifted her hoof and gently stroked away Mistrunner’s mane from her face.
“She had been through a lot of pain Notharam, but look how peacefully she looks now. She have found true peace.”

Her hoof had worked its way down, ignored the blood on its way, and was now placed at Mistrunner’s chest. Slowly she pulled her hoof away from Mistrunner’s chest, pulled it upwards; a translucent orb following with the hoof, emerging from the chest the hoof had only just touched. The orb glowed in a light grey color.

Notharam looked at the orb.
“Why didn’t you answer me?” he asked. “And what is that?” he added before he could stop himself.

“This, Notharam, is a soul. In this case Mistrunner’s. The soul is a fascinating thing; the ones who have studied say that it takes the color of your coat. Even thou I believe that it’s the other way around; the coat gets the color of the soul. That can be discussed although it is not a discussion I want to take. As for all your others question will I answer them in due time. You are invited to my throne room. All your questions will be answered.” She smiled towards him as she spoke.

Notharam suddenly felt how the anger boiled up inside him. Before he knew it was he galloping forward as the same time as he screamed out.
“LEAVE HER SOUL ALONE! LET HER FIND PEACE IN THE AFTERLIFE THIS INSTANT!”

He jumped towards Four Star; aiming for tackling her of her hooves. He readied himself for the impact.

It never came. He passed straight through Four Star; it felt as if he had passed through a mist; water drops had gotten stuck in his coat, chilling him. He hit the cold stone floor.

The mare laughed behind him.
“Poor, foalish Notharam; always so fast with taking actions without stopping to think first. As I said before, find me in the throne room; I will let you know everything there.”

And just like that was she gone, disappearing together with the orb without a trace. Notharam was left alone with Mistrunner’s body and the lantern that once again seemed to have survived to be dropped onto the floor. The lantern illuminated the scene with a steady blue light. His eyes went to the corpse of Mistrunner. He could feel the sorrow build up inside him, but something pressed it down.

A memory from only moments ago suppressed his sorrow. A single memory, a memory of Mistrunner standing next to him when he embraced the body of his daughter, embracing the dead Zinky.
“We will have time for the mourning later Notharam, we should focus on surviving for now.”

He slowly stood up again. He shredded a tear; it slowly rolled down his cheek. I will honor my memory of you when I have gotten out of here. I will make Four Star pay for this, mark my words. She will not get away with this! The tear dropped down upon Mistrunners mane. He gently removed the mane from her the slit throat. It had been a clear-cut; it had hit killed her before she would have felt any pain at all. The scream must have been of surprise. For the first time did Notharam feel thank full towards Four Star, at least Mistrunner had an ending without feeling any pain.

“Goodbye Mistrunner; we will see each other another day. Let Silverstar and Zinky know that I loved them, and that I will meet them and Emerald when my time has come. As I will meet you and the others that were chosen because they meant anything to me or I meant something for them.”

He slowly trotted away from the corpse of Mistrunner, leaving behind a corpse but carrying with him a memory.
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The snow was deep; too deep to walk in fast. He and Thunder flew over the landscape together with the rest of the squads pegasi. In the snow behind them was the other of the squad trotting in the snow; or fighting forwards was more like it. All expect one of the unicorns who was floating in the air; her tail making a track in the snow behind her.
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Notharam stopped in mid step. What was that? It felt as if that had happened a long time ago. But when, And why had he seen it now? What was happening? He stood still in place for a minute. Nothing happened so he started to trot again. Where was that throne room Four Star had told him he should go to?
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They came upon a huge building. It was made entirely of stone; it looked like an ordinary temple expect for three things. It had a flat top and not the dome that an ordinary temple had. Also the ordinary temple didn’t have a staircase leading up to the top, they had the entrance at the base of the north wall. And lastly it was bigger. A lot bigger… They had slowly walked forward to it when Four Star had started to talk; she had been assigned for the leader at this mission.
“This is what Celestia wanted us to find; the enemy is waiting inside.”
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Again? What was happening? What was this place? He had once again stopped mid step, but this time in the middle of a room. He got recoiled as he realized what room he was in.
The room with the two alicorn statues; it was just the same as the first time he had been here. At that time had he awoken after being brought here together with Emerald, Mistrunner and Zinky; the floor hadn’t fall down and the neither had the ceiling. The floor was back, the same was true with the ceiling and the pillars. What was happening here? Confused he kept going; entered one of the hallways he hadn’t been through before. It was as if his hooves knew where to go, knew the way.
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The squad trotted through the snowy top together; each of them ready to defend themselves against the enemies that could be anywhere. They stopped before a huge wooden door that stood before them. Golden fittings were wrapped around it. In the middle of the door was two alicorns made of gold fitted; standing beside each other. One had the moon above her and the
other had the sun. The door slowly opened; revealing a hallway going inside.
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The… memory faded away, leaving Notharam once again wondering what it was that just had happened. He found himself in front of a wooden door; a wooden door with golden fittings. He realized that it had been the same door as the one in his memory, the two alicorns was fitted in the middle with gold; one with the moon over her and the other with the sun. Notharam realized that this door could give him freedom; this door could let him out. He raised his hoof against the door; putted it between the fittings of the two alicorns. The door was unlocked; he would easily be able to just open it and leave this place. But something stopped him. Not the thoughts of revenge, not the thoughts of that he might not even survive the trip home. No the thing that kept him here was a simple thing; curiosity. How had he betrayed Four Star? What had made her go through all this? And what was it she believed she would get out of this? No, he had to keep going. He started to trot again, leaving the door behind him.
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They stood in the center of a room, two alicorns statues on either side. They all looked confused, even Four Stars seemed to have lost her normal cold. The alicorns loomed over them; the torches the squad had with them threw shadows all over the wall. The unicorn, Notharam couldn’t remember her name, was floating again; avoiding the dust on the floor.
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Notharam kept walking. What was with this place? What were those memories that kept coming? He had clearly been here before, but for what reason? What more of importance had he forgotten? He kept trotting. What would this place reveal next?
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A statue of Celestia raising the sun was in front of him. The others had kept going around it, stood staring at something on the other side. But this statue… it had caught his eye. He could hear Four Star call out from the other side of the statue.
“This book… Its cover is made out of pony hide. Who would do such a thing?”
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A book with a cover made of pony hide? Was that the same book that Emerald had translated from? He kept trotting.
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He still stood at the statue, staring into the depths of it. He heard a voice whispering to him.
“Im sorry, Notharam, but there is no other way. You are all bricks in this game, but you are the most important one. Everything will work out fine, for you and Equestria. You will understand everything when it is all over.”
He could hear the others talk as he jerked his eyes from the statue; jerked away his eyes from the gaze that now was within the statue. Another set of eyes had locked his, a pair of magenta eyes.
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Those eyes, hadn’t he seen them today? What was it with his memory, he couldn’t remember anything at all… and what did it mean with that they were all bricks in a game? The hallway he was in was unknown for him; he just kept trotting, allowed his legs to take him to his destination.

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He stood on the other side of the statue, together with the rest of the squad. They were all looking at the book now; Four Star was reading aloud from it, she was at the very end of the text.
“But it is said, that on the longest day on the thousandth year the stars will aid in her escape and bring nighttime eternal. Let us hope that Celestia will be ready to defend Equestria once more when Luna, or Nightmare Moon as she was known as during the war, returns from her imprisonment.” They was silent before somepony, Notharam couldn’t recognize the voice, asked.
“What does this all mean?”
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It wasn’t long left; he could feel it in his entire being. He was close to the throne room. The memories, he had been here before. But no enemy had been seen, not as he could remember at least.
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They were trotting away from the building; returning home. He could hear Four Star speak for herself, caught a few of the words.
“The harmony… Celestia and sister… the stars… The longest day is the summer sun celebration… and if I only had the information… it must be close… and Celestia have…”
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Notharam shook his head. The memories, what was it with them? Were they of importance? And what did they mean? He knew the answer would be found if he puzzled them together, but he just couldn’t figure out what end to start with. He rounded a corner.

And found himself outside a twin wooden door. The doors had a golden fitting of two crowns; one on each door. One of the crowns had the sun as a symbol, the other had the moon. He gently lifted his hoof, pressed it against the door. It opened without a sound. Four Stars cold voice called out from the room, the throne room.
“Come inside Notharam. All your questions will be answered; all my reasons will be told. Come inside and all will be revealed.”

And the clock chimed.