Chapter 2: Voices
The house was oddly quiet as Alern walked down the road, passing the forge as he walked. The day was swiftly darkening as the pegasi prepared a light rain above him, the first droplets striking the ground around his hooves.
As he approached, Alern looked at the outside. The house itself was quite beautiful, with two stories and styled after Cloudsdalian Architecture. Six pillars held up a large roof over the doorway, each pillar made out of pure cloud.
Alern quickly walked up to the massive wooden door, opening it quickly. The door groaned as it opened, revealing a massive entrance hall, two stairs winding around the outer edges and several doors dotting the floors where Alern could see.
Walking into the house, Alern froze. The feeling of somepony watching was evident as soon as he stepped over the threshold, a cold stare seeming to greet him as he looked around.
Oddly enough, the house was quite clean, the only thing wrong being a thick layer of dust around him. Alern sneezed as some of it entered his nose as he kicked it up. He walked around the large house carefully, looking in each of the large doorways. One was a massive dining room, another was the kitchens. He could also see a large study, an old oaken desk placed in the middle of the room.
Walking up the stairs, Alern stopped upon reaching the top, looking around. The feeling was stronger up here, as if somepony was staring intently at him, from somewhere.
Walking up to the first door, Alern opened it. A large conservatory greeted him, massive glass windows revealing the cloud-filled skies. Alern smiled to himself; this would be an excellent place for him to unwind and relax.
Leaving the room, Alern saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye. Quickly whipping his head to the movement, he noticed a massive wooden door at the end of the corridor, a large black symbol burned onto it.
“The Imperial Seal of the Wonderbolts.” Alern said, then shook his head. How did he know that?
Walking up to the door, he grasped the handle. The handle itself was covered in dust, the cold black copper almost freezing his hoof as he grasped it. Alern shivered. Whatever presence was in this house was definitely behind that door.
Alern snorted at his wandering thoughts. Presence? There was no such thing as spirits or ghosts. Still, the feeling that he was being watched evident, sending a shiver through his bones. He had to be sure.
Steeling his nerves, Alern pulled on the handle, the snapping of wood greeting him as he pulled. With a mighty heave, the door swung open, revealing a long hallway, a single door at the end, also marked with the same symbol.
Alern shivered again, this time not from the cold. The feeling was overpowering here, as if somepony was standing next to him, staring directly into his soul.
Alern took a single step into the hall, unfurling his wings as he did so, the caked salve masking the twinge of pain as he did so. He felt more at ease when his wings were open, a feeling he did not fully understand, when he thought about it.
Another step, then another. Alern continued walking down the hallway, step by step, then froze.
Instantly, the hallway turned black, much too dark for anypony to see. The door behind him slammed, and Alern could feel something push him down onto his back, his wings spread to each side of him. The feeling remained on his chest, and then the lights flickered suddenly.
Alern screamed.
Inches away from his face was a green mare, her teal mane tangled and messy, dried blood caked in the strands. Her eyes were a pitch midnight black, staring directly into his own, as if she could see his soul. The mare’s wings, or what remained of them, were dripping red blood onto the floor where they had been sliced off. The stumps were covered with ragged, horrid tears, as if somepony had cut them with a dull knife.
“Welcome to my home.” The specter whispered. Her voice was shrill and wicked, as if somepony was scratching their hooves against a chalkboard.
Alern opened his mouth, and screamed.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
Alern bolted, slamming into the door in his haste. Hurriedly opening it, Alern ran into the entrance hall, trembling furiously.
“That wasn’t a ghost. That couldn’t have been a ghost. You’re just going nuts. Yes. That’s it. It was a hallucination. Hahaha,” Alern giggled, terrified.
Alern remained like that for several minutes, each of them seeming like hours as his terrified body refused to move. While he cowered, Alern was always aware of that horrifying presence watching him, staring directly toward his shivering body.
Finally, Alern calmed himself, taking a deep breath to steady his shivering form.
“Alright, Alern. Your mind just made up something that it expected to see. That’s all. Ghosts don’t exist. They can’t exist.” Alern closed his eyes, trying to ignore the feeling of being watched as best he could.
Alern shivered as he thought of the icy touch against his chest where the ‘ghost’ had pushed him to the floor. Where she touched him, two bruises were beginning to appear, darkening his chest.
Alern whimpered.
“And these bruises were from something entirely different. Yes, that must be it,” Alern reassured himself, standing up.
Walking back up the stairs, Alern took another deep breath as he noticed he had left the door to the hall opened, the oaken door swinging on its hinges as if it weighed nothing. Gulping heavily, Alern approached the door, placing a hoof onto the doorknob.
With a quick push, he closed the door, a clicking sound greeting him as it shut. Alern released the breath, turning back toward the other rooms.
“I have plenty of space here without going into that hall. And that was only one room down there, anyway,” Alern reassured himself, walking to another door and opening it.
This room was just as massive as the conservatory, towering above him like some enormous beast. The sides were covered in bookshelves, each of them filled almost to the brim with hundreds of books.
“Wow.” Alern said, looking around him. “I wonder how long it took to gather all these.”
Walking into the room, Alern noticed a massive velvet chair pushed to the center of the room, with a small table beside it, candles stacked neatly underneath. Alern smiled. Whoever owned this room last must have enjoyed reading.
Alern sighed, walking over to the bookshelves and gazing at the covers. “Well, I guess this house is mine, and this means the books are mine, as well,” Alern said to himself, reaching over his shoulder and pulling out his black book from the bag.
Placing it carefully on the shelf Alern turned to the other books, taking a small green book labeled “The Wonderbolts and the Royal Guard.”
“This should be interesting,” Alern said to himself, walking back to the chair and sitting down.
Immediately, another flash of movement caught his eye, and Alern whipped his head around. A shadow greeted him from the corner of the room, and in that shadow, two pitch black eyes stared at him coldly.
Alern rubbed his eyes, his mane beginning to stand on end in fright. When he lowered his hooves, Alern saw the eyes were gone, the shadow a mere shadow, cast by the light from the window.
“I’m going nuts,” Alern said to himself, slouching back against the chair. Opening the cover, Alern began reading.
* * *
Alern awoke to the crimson rays of the rising sun as it peeked over the horizon. Groaning, Alern turned over, only to promptly fall out of the chair he had fallen asleep in.
“Alright, I’m up! I’m up!” Alern shouted, standing up. Shaking himself off, Alern made his way to the restroom, where he began freshening up.
“First day of my apprenticeship. Let’s hope it goes well,” Alern said, splashing his face with some cold water. Stretching his wings, the dried salve began cracking, revealing healed skin and bone.
“Zecora was right, that stuff did help pretty well,” Alern said, shaking off the remaining dried salve. Stretching his wings, Alern quickly hurried outside, heading down to the forge, which was already belching out black smoke clouds above it.
Carefully walking in, Alern saw Bright Metal picking up scraps of iron on the forge floor, placing them into the forge where they started to glow red-hot. Noticing Alern, the old pony smirked.
“Good to see ya, kid. Get in here, I could use your help with gathering the iron that I dropped,” Bright Metal’s voice was as sharp as the blades hanging on the wall, making Alern grin sheepishly.
“Yessir.” Walking over quickly, Alern began to pick up some of the shards, watching Bright Metal as he walked over to the forge.
“Not many pegasi enjoy smithing, kid. Was pretty sure you wouldn’t show up,” Bright Metal said, taking out a few of the iron pieces from the forge and hammering them together.
The statement surprised Alern, who quickly asked, “Why don’t Pegasi bother with smithing? I would think, with the Wonderbolts…” Alern was quickly cut off by Bright Metal’s voice.
“Wonderbolts? Those gits? They are interested in one thing. Power. They use Wingblades, sure, but they refuse to teach anypony that they deem ‘unworthy’ of their skills. They even attack anypony foolish enough to watch them training!”
Alern continued picking up the metal scraps, placing them beside the forge in a large pile as he worked. “Isn’t that a bit harsh?” Alern asked.
“The Wonderbolts don’t understand the meaning of ‘too harsh,’ kid. They are above Equestrian law, and they know it.”
“But aren’t they just a stunt team?”
Bright Metal laughed deeply as he pounded another bit of metal onto the growing mound of iron. “Kid, the Wonderbolts are to a stunt team what I would be to a librarian. They are the elite of the Royal Guard, chosen from the best flyers of Equestria, and trained to defend the crown and country when the times require it. When a dragon attacked Ponyville, they attacked. Unluckily for them, they forgot that wingblades don’t work very well against dragons. I imagine they were… punished quite harshly.”
“But that shouldn’t give them the right…”
“Do you really think they care if they have the right or not? The Wonderbolts care for only two things. Themselves and Power.” As he spoke, Bright Metal hammered furiously at the metal, sending sparks flying around him.
Alern was silent for a moment, picking up the last few scraps before watching the old smith hammer away at the metal.
“Kid, what do you know about Wingblades?” Bright Metal said the sentence quickly, as if it was something he would forget in an instant.
“Not much. Why do you ask?” Alern replied, watching the sparks fly after each hammer blow.
“I used to make them, you know. Was one of the finest smiths in Equestria, before they decided I knew too much. They publicly humiliated me, made it so I could never work in the Wingblade business again. After that, other smiths started disappearin’. One by one, they stopped making or selling Wingblades, until I was the only one left that knew how to make them.”
“Are you saying the Wonderbolts killed the smiths?” Alern asked, his eyes widening at the implication.
“I don’t know, kid. The only thing I know is that Wingblades are now only made in Cloudsdale, by the personal smith of the Wonderbolts, Metal Wing.”
Alern shivered. The name sounded… dark somehow. A darkened outline of a Pegasus greeted his mind at the thought of the name. He did know him, even if it was only a quick greeting. Could he be related to his missing memories?
“Here, kid, grab that hammer in the corner,” Bright Metal said, keeping his eyes on the white-hot metal. Snapping out of his trance and walking over to the corner, Alern picked up a massive hammer, heaving it over his shoulder with a grunt.
His horn beginning to glow, Bright Metal pointed it at Alern, a thin aura of magic building up around him. After he finished the spell, Bright Metal nodded. “Hit the metal as hard as you can, right in the middle. Don’t worry about the sparks; my spell will make sure nothing happens to you.”
Alern nodded, raising the hammer in his hooves. The heavy metal hammer striking down with a massive ringing sound as it flattened the metal by a half inch.
“Again.”
Alern lifted the massive hammer once again, bringing it down with a resounding noise. As the hammer hit, sparks flew around the room, blocked from the two ponies by Bright Metal’s magic.
“Again.”
The hammer blows continued, the metal becoming flatter and flatter as Alern struck it, the metal itself quickly forming a long, flat edge. As the white hot metal tapered off to become a dull red, Bright Metal thrust it back into the forge.
“Not bad for your first time, kid,” Bright Metal said with a smirk.
“That… hammer… is… HEAVY!” Alern wheezed, dropping the massive hammer beside the anvil. Outside, the bright sunlight and little shade indicated the heat of midday, amplifying the overbearing heat of the forge itself.
“Now do you see why Pegasi avoid smithing?” Bright Metal smirked again, pumping the bellows with a hoof.
Alern slouched against the anvil, catching his breath. “I thought you said that Wingblades were only made in Cloudsdale now? I thought Cloudsdale is the Pegasi city?”
“I said pegasi avoid smithing, not that they don’t do smithing at all, kid. You really need to listen. Metal Wing is a pegasi, and an extremely good Wingblade smith. Not as good as I used to be, but hey, that’s what you get for driving me out of Canterlot!” Bright Metal spat.
Taking the now white-hot bar out of the forge, Bright Metal put it back down onto the anvil, narrowly missing Alern’s mane.
“Get up, kid, we have a sword to finish!” Bright Metal said. Alern sighed, and picked back up the hammer. It was going to be a long day. Almost in response, his head began to throb.
* * *
Alern groaned. His front hooves hurt like crazy after all that hammering. When Bright Metal had said they were done for the day, he had been all too happy to take the six coins he offered and leave.
He was now walking toward the market, the sounds of haggling ponies vibrating through the air as he got close. His headache was now a full-blown pounding against his skull which got worse as he got closer to the loud market square.
Alern finally got to several food dealers, buying basic supplies and food to fill his fridge at home. Also on his ‘list’ was a massive foot long submarine sandwich made of seven types of flowers and six types of cheese. Alern finished it within moments, filling his empty stomach.
Walking past several more stalls, Alern rubbed his throbbing head as the sounds got worse. Walking up to a large grey vendor pony standing by a bag stall, Alern looked at the multitude of different colors, noting that the sign above the stall said all colors were only two bits.
“Do you have any in purple?” Alern asked, looking through them again.
“I do have one, but it’s the last one, so it’ll cost ya,” The vendor replied, smirking.
Alern’s eyes narrowed. “How much?”
“Ten bits,” The vendor smirked, holding up a deep purple bag.
“I’ll give you two,” Alern snapped back, placing two coins on the vendor’s table.
“Nine then.”
“Three, or I’m gone.”
“Five.”
Alern felt his headache pounding behind his brow. “Your normal bags are two. I said three was my final offer.” Alern’s tone was serious now. He was done playing around.
The vendor weighed the options in his mind for a second, then smirked.
“Alright, kid. Four bits. I’m not going a single coin lower.”
Alern felt anger welling behind his eyes, a deep blinding red rage. Part of his mind screamed for him to stop, but the other side, supported by the pain throbbing within Alern’s mind, screamed louder.
Alern grabbed the vendor, slamming his head against his stall. “Listen, you foal. I am not about to haggle any longer on a price that is clearly gouging. Either you sell the bag to me, right this blasted instant for one bit above the normal price, so help me Celestia I will knock you out for the rest of the day.”
Something about Alern’s blood red eyes twisted in rage made the marketpony stutter for a second, finally finding his voice.
“J-j-just take it! As a gift! I’m sorry!” The vendor was terrified, the fear in his voice evident. Around them, ponies were watching with mixed feelings, some afraid themselves, and others stunned by the violence.
Alern released the vendor, taking the fallen purple bag from his hooves. “A pleasure doing business with you,” Alern sneered, placing the three coins on the vendor stand.
Turning around, Alern saw the crowd that had gathered around, murmuring to each other as Alern eyed each of them in turn. With a glare, they quickly stepped aside, murmuring all the while as he walked away.
Alern could feel his anger rising again. Inside his mind, he could hear a voice echoing around his ears, “Why are they judging you? They have no right! I mean, the vendor was being a git, after all…”
Finally, he snapped. Unable to take the murmurs against the throbbing in his head, he turned back to the crowd and screamed, “WON’T YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP!”
Alern’s sudden outburst echoed across the market, causing the ponies to become deathly quiet. He quivered, his head throbbing even worse than before from his shout. Breaking into a run, he squeezed his eyes shut, knocking over ponies in his way as he bolted.
“Alern!”
A familiar voice shouted his name as he ran by, his eyes still tightly squeezed shut as he ran, ponies quickly stepping aside as he barreled past. Finally, Alern felt a large rock in his path, and his hoof caught it, sending him toppling muzzle over tail, directly into a large puddle left over from the night before.
“Alern!”
Alern opened his eyes, thankful that the cold water seemed to stop his throbbing headache, at least for the moment. Looking up, Alern saw the form of Twilight staring at him, concerned.
“Are you alright?”
Alern’s eyes narrowed. “I’m… fine.”
Twilight sighed. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up. Where do you live?”
Alern rubbed his head as the pain started to come back. “Old house, near the forge.”
“That’s much too far. You’ll have a cold by the time you get there. Come on, let’s get you to the library.”
Alern felt an odd feeling around him as he was lifted up out of the puddle along with his food, which was now soaking wet. Twilight’s horn was glowing with a bright violet light, which was also surrounding his body, floating him a few feet off the ground.
Alern snapped his eyes shut as his headache returned to full force. This time, however, it felt more of a sharp pain, and a strange voice echoed in his ears. “Sorry, kiddo, but things are about to get a hell of a lot worse.”
Alern felt the pain grow stronger around the crystal in his head, a sharp pain that felt as if something was slicing into his brain. Unable to tolerate the pain any longer, Alern shouted out, squirming in Twilight’s magic.
“We’re almost to the library, Alern. Hold on,” Twilight said, lifting him toward the massive tree.
* * *
The first thing Alern realized as he opened his eyes was the fact that a pair of bright green serpentine eyes were staring at him.
“GAHHHH!” Alern said, sitting straight up. The dragon, for that was who the eyes belonged to, looked at him, unamused. “Twilight! He’s awake!” The purple and green dragon walked over to the door, opening it up.
A few moments later, Twilight walked into the room, carrying a bowl of water and a rag with her magic. “Alern? Are you alright? When we got to the library, you were burning up!”
Alern sighed, leaping out of the bed and landing on his hooves easily. “I’m fine. It was just a headache. And those blasted foals didn’t help it, either.”
Twilight looked at Alern, confused. “You smashed a pony’s head into the table of his stall, Alern. I heard the stories. There was no call for that.”
“He was trying to scam me,” Alern retorted, glaring.
“Scam or not, you didn’t need to go berserk like that! What if he was hurt or something?”
“I wouldn’t have gone that far.”
“How do you know?”
Alern grunted in response, glaring at Twilight, who walked over and placed her lips against his forehead. Alern immediately backed up, tripping over the corner of the bed in his haste.
“W-what was that for?” Alern stammered, unsure if he was angry or not.
“The best way to feel a fever is by using your lips. They are the part of your body most sensitive to heat. And I think you still have a fever, your forehead is still really hot.”
Alern blushed bright crimson, sitting down on the bed. “I… I’m fine. Really. I think I’d better be leaving.”
Alern suddenly felt magic fling him back onto the bed, covering him up with a blanket.
“No, you’re not. I asked Nurse Redheart, and she says you might be really sick. Now you need rest, and you are not leaving this room until I say you are!”
Alern crossed his hooves, mumbling something under his breath.
Twilight smirked, and nodded, walking out of the room. Alern saw the small dragon was still looking at him from the side of the bed.
“And who are you?”
“I’m Spike, Twilight’s number one assistant!” The dragon said proudly.
“Alright, number one assistant. Can you do your… assisting somewhere else please?”
Spike looked at Alern for a second, glaring. “Fine.”
Watching Spike leave the room, Alern sighed, slinking back in the pillow. Was he really out of control in the market? Why had he acted like that?
“Gahhh…” Alern said, turning over in the bed. As he did, he heard a sharp clack as the gem on his forehead hit the headboard. As it did, a flash of pain shot through his head for a split second.
“Buck buck buck buck.” Alern cursed, holding his head and cringing. Tears welling in his eyes, Alern rubbed the gemstone, and noticed an odd warmth coming from the center of the gem.
“Strange…” Alern said, touching the gem again. The gem gave off another flash of pain for a moment, then stopped as Alern continued running his hoof along the outline.
Just then, the door opened, and Alern’s hoof snapped to his side instinctively as Twilight entered the room.
“Alern, I have to ask you something,” Twilight asked, walking over to the bedside.
Alern blushed. “W-what?”
“What is that crystal stuck in your forehead?”
Alern’s face went from crimson red one moment, to deathly pale the next.
“You saw the crystal?”
Twilight gazed at Alern for a second, a concerned look entering her eyes. “It was… glowing. When I put you in bed, it was glowing with the brightest red light I had ever seen. Then, a few moments before you woke up it stopped. Spike was looking at it before you opened your eyes.”
Alern looked at Twilight for a second, his eyes narrowing. “The crystal is my business.”
“Alern, it might be dangerous! I don’t even know what that is! When I tried to examine it with magic, it put up a warding spell! While you were unconscious!”
Alern crossed his hooves again, glaring at Twilight. “I told you, it’s my business. You don’t need to worry about it.”
“Alern…”
Alern released a breath as he felt his anger growing. “Listen, Twilight, I appreciate the concern, but you just met me, and now you’re asking me about something private?”
Twilight took a step back guiltily. “I didn’t… I thought…”
“Just… leave. Let me be alone for a bit. Then I’ll decide whether to tell you or not.”
Twilight hung her head for a moment, and then walked out the door. As soon as the door closed, Alern’s ears flattened against his head.
“Stupid stupid stupid!” Alern shouted at himself, banging the back of his head against the headboard. “Now you’re snapping at your friends now? What the buck is wrong with you?”
Alern banged the back of his head a few more times for good measure, the familiar pain dulling his mind for a moment.
“Stupid…” Alern said to himself, looking up at the ceiling. The ceiling itself was covered in stars, patterns among them easily visible. Sighing, Alern closed his eyes, trying to collect his wits.
“You know, kiddo, anger isn’t that bad of an emotion. It means you’re alive.”
The unfamiliar, gravelly voice caused his eyes to snap open, his body sitting up as he looked around the room.
“Hello?” Alern asked.
The door opened a crack, and Twilight’s voice spoke out. “Is there something wrong?”
“No… nothing.” Alern said, rubbing the sore spot on the back of his head. As Twilight closed the door, Alern shook his head fiercely.
“Alright. Now I am pretty sure I am going insane. First the ‘ghost’ and now this? I’m completely nuts!”
Alern giggled to himself uneasily, looking out the window. The moon was slowly beginning its journey across the sky, shining its silver light onto Ponyville.
“I guess I was out for a little while, eh?” Alern asked himself.
Suddenly, Alern noticed a flicker of movement in the town square, just far enough that he couldn’t see who the outline belonged to. The figure, however, was definitely a pony.
“What…”
Another figure suddenly walked across the square, the pony’s darkened profile made more prominent in the moonlight.
“Alright, what the…” Alern got out of bed, walking over to the window just in time to see another two figures run across the town square, all heading down the road Alern had traveled when he first came into town.
“Twilight?”
Twilight immediately walked into the room, and noticed Alern by the window. “Why aren’t you in be-“
“Shhhh.” Alern hissed, pointing out the window. “Is nighttime a popular time for walks?”
Pointing out to the town square, Twilight walked over and noticed more ponies walking down the road.
“No, it’s not.” Twilight replied. Walking back over to the door, Twilight turned to Alern. “I’m going to go see what’s going on. You stay here.”
“Oh no you don’t,” Alern retorted, walking over to the doorway with her.
“Yes, I am going. Alone. You’re sick, and-“
“I am going with you down the stairs, or I’ll jump out the window. I’m a Pegasus, remember.”
Twilight’s eyes narrowed, and she sighed furiously. “FINE. Let’s go.”
The two ponies walked down the stairs to the front door, where Alern noticed a large owl reading on a perch above the desk.
“Owlycious, something’s going on. Keep an eye on Spike.”
“Whoo,” The owl responded, nodding.
Alern and Twilight walked out of the house, quickly heading toward the mass of ponies gathering in the town square. Several of them were holding torches and candles, the golden light illuminating their faces.
As they two got closer, Alern could hear several voices from the crowd. One of them, an especially loud voice with a southern accent, boomed over the crowd.
“Ah’right, everypony. We need ta’ split up and start searchin’. Cherilee, you an’ Big Mac should search near th’ schoolhouse. See if they might be there. Mr. Rich, you-”
“Applejack!” Twilight shouted, running up to the crowd. The orange pony that had been talking stopped, looking at Twilight.
“Twilight! What are you doin’ out this late?”
“I was about to ask the same question! What’s going on?”
Alern calmly walked over to the edge of the crowd, watching the conversation quietly.
“Sugarcube, Applebloom’s missin’. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Diamond Tiara are as well. They all went to sleep, telling some tale of some voice as they nodded off. But when we went ta’ check on ‘em, they were gone!”
Alern’s ears perked up when the term ‘voice’ was mentioned. “Voice? Did they mention what the voice was saying?”
Applejack looked over at Alern, eyeing him suspiciously.
“And who in tarnation are you?”
“A friend. Just answer the question, if you please.” Alern said, glaring right back.
“Diamond Tiara was mentioning that it was some sort of deep voice, saying to come to it. I thought it was just her imagination,” A voice from the crowd said, belonging to a brown earth stallion dressed in a very expensive looking nightgown, whom Applejack had addressed as Mr. Rich.
“Did they mention anything else? Such as where it was telling them to come?” Alern asked, walking past Applejack.
“No, they didn’t mention anything like that,” Mr. Rich said.
Alern closed his eyes. The voice he had heard, and the voice the other ponies had heard. If they were connected, he had to find out.
“Alright. I think I know what’s going on. But you all have to trust me,” Alern said, eyeing the crowd.
“Trust the one who smashed Brown Kicker’s face into his own stall?” A voice said from the crowd. Many ponies murmured in agreement, and Applejack sighed.
“I appreciate th’ help, but Ah think you’d be best off leaving th’ searchin’ t’ us, alright?” Applejack asked, smiling slightly. Alern gritted his teeth, and stared at Twilight.
“He might know something that can help! Why don’t any of you trust him?” Twilight shouted to the crowd.
“He’s nothing but a troublemaker!” The voice from the crowd spoke up again, leading many ponies to agree. Alern’s ears flattened in the back of his head.
“Sugarcube, do ya know this pony?” Applejack looked over at Twilight.
“He’s… a new friend,” Twilight said quickly.
“Can ya bring him home? The crowd’s getting all riled up, and at this rate, we won’t be savin’ nopony.”
Twilight sighed, and walked over to Alern. “Alern, come on. Let’s leave.” Glaring at Twilight but grudgingly following her, Alern and Twilight walked away from the crowd. As they got farther away, Alern’s eyes narrowed in anger.
“Fine. They don’t believe me? I’ll save those ponies alone, if I have to.” Alern turned and walked down the road toward the entrance to the Everfree Forest.
Twilight ran up beside Alern. “Alern. Alern! Alright, it’s time for some answers. What exactly do you know about this voice. Your questions sounded very specific to me.”
Alern glared at Twilight, continuing to walk down the street. “I… heard the voices as well. That’s what the headache was about, I think. And I have a feeling I know where they are.”
Twilight’s eyes widened. “You heard the voice? And what do you mean you know where they are?”
“I heard a voice,” Alern replied, the two ponies walking past Fluttershy’s cottage. “I honestly have no idea if it’s the same voice or not. But I’m going to find out.”
Twilight looked at the darkened branches of the Everfree Forest, stopping suddenly as Alern walked toward the entrance.
“You mean to tell me they’re in the Everfree Forest?”
Alern whipped around, gritting his teeth. “Twilight, you don’t have to come with me. This is something I will do myself, to show all those blasted foals that I can help, regardless of what they think. It’s a matter of my own principles now.”
“You are going into the Everfree Forest? And you expect me to think you can handle yourself? You are ten years younger than me!”
Alern glared at her. “I don’t give a buck how old either of us are. Whether you’re coming or not, I’m going in. I woke up two days ago in the middle of this forest, and I have a feeling that whatever is going on, the ponies will be in here as well.”
Alern disappeared into the forest, following the path through the deep emerald leaves as he walked. After a few moments, Alern could hear Twilight enter the forest, pushing branches aside with her magic.
“Alright, I’m coming. But you had better be right about this, Alern.”
The forest was deathly quiet as they entered. Not a cricket, nor a bird made any form of sound. Alern looked around him carefully. Somepony had been through the forest, and quite recently, if the birds were silent.
“Twilight, what do you know about this forest?” Alern asked as they continued down the path, passing the trail leading to Zecora’s home.
“All I know is that it is said to have been created by magic, and some of the most powerful creatures in the world make their home here,” Twilight replied, wearily eying her surroundings.
“Anything else?”
“I do know of a castle in the depths of the forest, the ruins of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Other than that, I don’t know much.”
Alern sighed. “Fine. Come on, we’re getting close to where I woke up.”
“So you mentioned you woke up in the forest. When? And How?”
Alern glared at Twilight, responding to the question quickly. “If I knew that, I’d have been rid of this blasted crystal and back wherever I was originally from.”
Twilight shook her head. “You mean you lied to me when you said you were from Canterlot?”
“Yep. I have no memories from before I woke up in the forest.” Alern wondered to himself why he was answering all these questions. Then again, if he died in this forest perhaps it was best somepony knew the truth, or what truth he did have.
“How cute. Attempting to save a pony from a great evil voice. Very poetic.”
Alern ignored the taunting voice in his head, instead continuing deeper into the forest. Soon, he came to the clearing, the moonlight shining its silver rays onto the grass around it.
“This is where I woke up,” Alern said, looking around. There was no sign of anything wrong that Alern could see, so he took a step forward.
Immediately a flash of pain shot into his head, causing him to take a step back instinctively.
“Alern? Are you alright?” Twilight asked, running up.
“Yeah, I’m fine. But I know we’re close, now.”
Alern stepped back toward the clearing, the pain flashing again, but this time he ignored it, taking another step.
The pain continued flashing, hitting Alern’s mind like a bullet. Alern could hear Twilight stepping into the clearing behind him, sniffing the air.
“Alern… this scent isn’t natural. Do you smell it?”
Alern stopped, ignoring another flash of pain from his skull, sniffing the air. It had a sickly sweet scent to it, almost similar to burned sugar.
“Yes, I smell it.”
“It’s feral magic,” the voice in Alern’s head said snidely.
“Feral Magic?”
Alern heard Twilight jump at the term. “I never thought of that. Do you think it could be? Feral Magic is supposed to be stronger than unicorn magic, and only used by the stronger beasts in the forest. I think we should leave.” Twilight’s tone was quickly filling with fear as she stepped back.
Alern felt the pain in his skull start to subside, and he looked at the slight hill in the center of the clearing. “No. Something is trying to stop me from getting to the top of that hill. And I plan on finding out what.”
Alern took another step, then froze. The ground where he put his hoof shimmered for a split second, looking like a ripple in a clear pond.
“What…”
The single word was all Alern could say before he felt an immense tugging on his gut as he was thrust forward, directly into a mass of liquid magic. Alern felt strange as he stepped through, his body appearing on the other side, giving him a strange feeling of stepping through water, without getting wet.
“Ugh.” Alern said, looking around. He was definitely not in the clearing anymore, but instead at the steps of a large grey castle, a large insignia with two alicorns above the once-grand entrance. The stone steps were shattered and broken, only a few retaining their shape in this ruin.
“Alright, Twilight, where are w-“
Alern whipped around. Twilight was gone, leaving him alone in the forest.