//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: A Use for a Stone // Story: What Might Have Been // by GreenFrogRibbit //------------------------------// Disclaimer: .. -.. --- -. --- - --- .-- -. -- -.-- .-.. .. - - .-.. . .--. --- -. -.-- ..-. .-. .. . -. -.. ... .... .. .--. .. ... -- .- --. .. -.-. --- .-. .- -. -.-- --- ..-. - .... . -.-. .... .- .-. .- -.-. - . .-. ... --- ..-. ... . - - .. -. --. ... .- ... ... --- -.-. .. .- - . -.. .-- .. - .... .. - .-.-.- - .... . -.-- .-. .. --. .... - ..-. ..- .-.. .-.. -.-- -... . .-.. --- -. --. - --- .... .- ... -... .-. --- --..-- - .... . .... ..- -... .- -. -.. - .... . .. -- .--. . .-. .. .- .-.. .- .-.. .. -.-. --- .-. -. .-.. .- ..- .-. . -. ..-. .- ..- ... - .-.-.- What Might Have Been Chapter 6: A Use For A Stone After her triumphant introduction, Solar Flare teleported back to the fallow field that was the site of her duel with Luna. There was nothing special about that spot, but it was secluded and easy for her teleport to due to her having been there so recently. With the first step of her conquest complete, she now faced the difficult decision of where to go next? The defeat of her sister had been almost too easy, but the sun goddess could chalk that up to the full millennium she had spent honing herself in body and mind for that single confrontation. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that Luna had a more devious plan to stop her than just a duel. Say what you would about her sister's flaws, and Solar Flare was willing to list a great many of them, but stupid would not make that list. Something more was surely going on. And then there was that madmare. The one that had known her former name and claimed to be her friend. That little purple unicorn was obviously delusional when she claimed to personally know the Mare in the Sun, but if it was all just crazy talk then how did she come to know her true name? Solar Flare had made it a point to erase any record of her former identity during the war of solar rebellion, so how could her name have persisted to the present day? Was it Luna? Had her sister sustained the knowledge for all that time? If she had, what purpose could it possibly serve? The only outcome Solar Flare could imagine was that rumors of a lost princess of the sun would create an opportunity for ponies to turn their allegiance away from Luna herself. Whether these ponies did so with true loyalty to the sun goddess or simply as a way to oppose Luna was irrelevant. No. The facts were clear that Luna had no more incentive to keep her sister's memory alive than did Solar Flare. By all rights, the name Celestia should have been forgotten long ago. So why was it not? And for that matter, what particular flavor of madness was it that allowed a mere mortal unicorn to possess such knowledge? Solar Flare, a deity of living fire and the physical incarnation of the sun on the mortal plane, was gripped with indecision, and it irked her to say the least. Especially when she tried to answer the question of what exactly she intended to do about that strange violet pony. It was true that with little effort at all, she could kill the raving unicorn, but such acts of petty murder would only serve to empower a resistance against her new rule. Logic told her to disregard the madmare and quickly proceed to capturing Canterlot and the seat of Equestria's government. But at the same time her gut, and another kind of logic told her that such an anomaly in her plans of conquest should not be so easily ignored. What if that madmare knew other things about Equestria's new queen? What if she knew of the Elements of Harmony, and her first defeat? Of course, if Solar Flare went straight to conquer Canterlot and built the support of a new government, there was very little one raving pony could do to stop her. Said raving pony was also equally unlikely to be the catalyst for a resistance of any appreciable threat. In fact, had that lunatic unicorn (Solar Flare couldn't help but chuckle at the word) not appeared, the conquest of the capital would be her most obvious next move. Come to think of it, that was in all likelihood what Luna was expecting of her. Escape from imprisonment, defeat her sister in combat, take control of Canterlot. That's probably where all Luna's other unpleasant surprises were waiting for her. Solar Flare's face split with a fanged and malevolent grin. The first and most important rule of warfare is to never do what your enemy is expecting you to do. She would not go to Canterlot. Not yet anyway. That purple unicorn unnerved her and so she would investigate to ensure that whatever threat that the violet mare posed was neutralized. Let the forces up in Canterlot sweat for a while, a little anarchy now could only help her cause. For now Solar Flare would bide her time. She had waited a thousand years for this opportunity, she could wait just a little longer. With that, the sun goddess let her body melt into coiling flame, and snaked her way back to that little town called Ponyville. Striding through the Everfree Forest failed to inspire the same sense of dread in Twilight that it seemed to do in her five stallion companions. Perhaps it was the fact that in her time in Ponyville, she had become accustomed to its strangeness on her many trips to Zecora's cottage. Or it could've been all the dangerous and at times down right strange adventures she had had that simply numbed her scene of self-preservation. If it wasn't a rampaging hydra or a fire breathing dragon it just didn't seem to register as a threat anymore. Regardless of the source of her familiarity, the confidence it gave her did not go unnoticed by her companions. The poise and bearing of the violet mage spoke volumes to the colts. What exactly those volumes were saying however, happened to be vastly different from one stallion to the next. Butterscotch found the unflappable mare to be an insperation. How it was that she could remain so calm in the face of such blatant peril was a complete mystery to him, but if she could make trekking through the Everfree look like stroll through the park, maybe such a feet was possible for him as well. Rainbow Blitz was also impressed by Twilight's apparent guts, and that was saying a lot coming from Ponyville's resident dare devil. There were few ponies that the chromatic pegasus truly admired, the short list including Spitfire, Soarin, and not too many others. This quirky violet mare however, was quickly joining their ranks. The Everfree Forest was wild and maybe even cursed after all, and it took some real stones to waltz in like you owned the place. Berry Bubble couldn't be happier to have met somepony as perky as himself for once. Nothing could keep him down and it seemed that nothing was going to keep Twilight down either. What a great day to have made such an awesome friend. Hopefully after this whole adventure was over he would have a chance to hang out with her and play board games, maybe he would even throw a party. Applejack and Elusive were struck with slightly less positive impressions through. For starters, the farm colt had to wonder if the confidence that Twilight was exuding came from ignorance about the forest’s many dangers. Only fools courted hazards like the Everfree with so causal a regard, and Applejack was no fool. Twilight Sparkle didn't strike him as particularly foolish either, which left the orange farmer with the question of what she knew that he didn't. It was apparent to Elusive's keen eye that Twilight wasn't simply unafraid of the forest, but that she displayed a kind of cautious familiarity with the creepy surroundings. The alabaster designer took note of the way the mare's eyes scanned side to side in a practiced manner, briefly examining bushes, trees, or anything else that could hide a potential threat. He also realized that Twilight was walking with a very deliberate pace, slow enough to not overly disturb the foliage and underbrush, but fast enough to eat up the distance efficiently. The more he watched, the more he became certain that despite what the purple mare had told them back in the boutique, Twilight Sparkle had been here before. Soon the violet mage and her friends came to a fork in the road. Up ahead on the right Twilight knew, was the cliff-side path that had collapsed under her hooves and almost sent her falling to her doom. Having no desire to repeat the experience, she chose the left path. It was longer and would take them all the way around the gully to their right, but at least it would be free from rock slides. Without hesitation, Twilight lead her party down the safe but long way. Unfortunately their progress was halted no more that a hundred meters down that road by a sprawling field of pretty blue blossoms. Immediately Twilight pulled up short, recognizing the fell flowers as the troublesome Poison Joke. Her companions by contrast, made no such connection and could only stand in awe of the beautiful sight. “Well ponyfeathers!” she sighed in frustration. “Why Twilight dear, whatever's the matter?” Inquired Elusive. “Yeah, why'd ya stop?” asked Berry. “We can't go this way.” Twilight replied. “It's overgrown with Poison Joke!” Applejack was confused. “With what now?” “Poison Joke, it's a really nasty plant that plays a joke on anypony that touches it.” The violet mage explained. “Last time I got some on me, it made my horn all floppy and covered in blue polka dots. Another of my friends had her wings turned upside down and another had her voice changed from her usual soft soprano to that of James Earl Pones.” “You mean this stuff?” Butterscotch asked as he reached out to smell a nearby blossom. “But it looks so nice.” With a quick flash of magic Twilight griped the yellow pegasus's pink tail and yanked him away from the offending vegetable, prompting a very filly-like squeak to be emitted from said pegasus's mouth “It's not, trust me.” she assured. “We'll just have to go back to that fork and take the other path.” One by one, the group of six ponies turned to leave, Applejack being the last to do so. Before he fell into step behind Rainbow Blitz, he had to take one last look at the field of blue flowers and wonder, if Twilight said she wasn't from around here, how is it she's run into this 'Poison Joke' stuff before? Twilight was not looking forward to traversing that narrow cliff-side path again, especially given the similarities between her first trek through this forest and what was going on now. She was willing to put the probability of a landslide at around fifty fifty, and she didn't like those odds. Still, that event had been how her Applejack and earned her Element of Honesty, so maybe the ordeal was necessary. As they reached the fork and changed course, the orange farmer decided to strike up a conversation. Perhaps he was just missing something and there was a clear explanation for the whole thing, but Applejack couldn't shake the feeling that Twilight wasn't telling him the whole truth. Maybe the mare just needed a chance to tell the whole story. “So you mentioned that you'd run afoul of that poison joke stuff before, right?” He began. “Uh, yeah.” Twilight responded “So that must mean you've been in the Everfree Forest before.” It wasn't a question this time, and the purple mage started to get the distinct feeling that this wasn't quite the innocent conversation she was hoping for. “Well, um... Yeah, I guess.” “So how come we've never seen you 'round Ponyville then?” The farm colt's questioning was fast digging into territory that Twilight was not comfortable with. She knew she shouldn't lie to her soon-to-be fellow Element bearers, but the fear of being seen as a kook by the ponies that she desperately needed to be her friends was strong in her mind. “Uh... See, I used to live in Canterlot and...” “Oh, my goodness, you're from Canterlot?” Elusive suddenly enthused. “Oh I've always dreamed of living there. The class, the sophistication, you must tell me all about it. Oh! Have you ever had the pleasure of meeting Princess Luna?” Relieved for the change of subject and also because their little party had reached the dreaded collapsing cliff and had yet to be caught in a rock fall, Twilight happily responded. “Well actually, Luna and I are good friends...” She began, but was stopped when just out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimmer of flickering orange light coming from below the cliff face. Then for three reasons, Twilight's stomach leapt up into her throat. First was the realization that the reason that the cliff hadn't collapsed was that Solar Flare's magic had not yet made it collapse, and that the flickering glow she had spotted was just that. Solar Flare's magic. Second was the thought that by admiting her friendship with Princess Luna she was effectively blowing her own cover. She was friends with the Luna in her world not this one, and now she had made the critical error of mixing up her cover story and the truth she was trying to conceal. Finally the simple G forces acting on a body in free fall, in this case her body, completed the trifecta of reasons why Twilight Sparkle was now choking on her intestines. Knowing it was coming didn't make it any less terrifying when it was actually happening. Twilight screamed as she fell, hoping against hope that she would be able to catch the same ledge she had last time. Then, she wasn't falling anymore. A pair of silky smooth cyan hooves were wrapped around chest under her forelegs, and she was slowly being lifted into the air by strong steady wing beats. She looked up into the face of her savior to see a pair of rose-colored eyes gazing back. “Don't worry, I got ya!” Rainbow Blitz assured her. Her mind kicked back into gear and she looked around frantically for her friends. A short distance away, hovered Butterscotch, Berry Bubble held tightly in his hooves. But if I'm not sliding down the cliff, who is? The mage thought to herself. Her question was answered by a shout of distress from below. Elusive was speeding toward the shear drop just as Twilight herself had done once before. Applejack, who had grabbed an exposed root to save himself, saw what was happening and pushed himself off to try and help. As the pale white unicorn reached the edge, he flipped onto his stomach and desperately clawed at the edge with his hooves. “Don't worry Elusive! Ah'm commin'!” Shouted Applejack A look of pure mortal terror adorned the alabaster colt's face as he struggled for grip, but he was fighting a loosing battle. The dirt, pebbles, and dust on the edge served only to loosen any hold he managed to gain. Fortunately, Applejack had almost reached him. With one final heave, the farm colt reached out his hooves just as the last of Elusive's hold fell away. With a mighty stretch, both ponies reached for each other. And missed. Elusive screamed as gravity took its rightful hold and dragged the white stallion down. The other five could only watch in horror as his mortal cry was abruptly cut short by a sickening crunch. Then silence. “NO! RARITY NO! PLEASE NO!” Twilight sobbed, completely oblivious to the fact she was using the wrong name. As fast as equinely possible the other five raced to their fallen companion. Rainbow Blitz had tears running down his face, his breath ragged from his powerful sprint toward the crash site with Twilight in toe. Applejack's voice was ragged and ruined from howling out his defiance of his friend's fall down to the rocks below. Butterscotch and Berry were stunned into gasping silence, both wishing with all their hearts for what they had just witnessed to be untrue. But it was true. Laying at the bottom of the cliff was a battered and broken body. Ocean blue eyes open and staring at nothing, blood leaking from multiple cuts and scrapes, hind leg twisted and bent at an impossible angle and his chest... His chest was moving! OH THANK FAUST HIS CHEST WAS MOVING!!! It was rapid, and shallow, and uneven but Elusive was still breathing. Twilight didn't think, she just acted. There was a spell she could use, one she had found after examining some of the lost and forgotten tomes in the basement of her library. A spell from the dark side of her talent, but something she had learned just the same. It wasn't a healing spell, not really. But it was her only hope. Grabbing a nearby stone in her magic, the mage shattered it with the force of her mind and desperation. Letting the pieces fall to the ground, she selected one particularly sharp fragment, then approached the broken form of her friend. With her crude stone knife Twilight cut a deep and twisted gash from her left forearm, down past her knee and all the way to her fetlock. Four other ponies gasped at the grisly ritual before them, never having seen such black magic preformed before. But like any power, magic is neither good nor evil, only a tool for the wielder and this was a fact Twilight knew well. Casting the stone away, the mage lit her horn and began a low and guttural chant. Blood welled from the wound and flowed down to her hoof, but she was undeterred by the pain. The power of her horn began to flow through her body and its light spilled out through the deep cut in her leg, setting her blood alight. Then Twilight pressed her now blood soaked hoof squarely over Elusive's heart. As the blood magic began to flow between them Twilight began the hardest part of her working. With a surge of resolve, she pushed her own life-force and well-being into Elusive's broken body, while at the same time pulling the hurt and damage into herself. Pain lanced through her in unmitigated waves. Small cuts opened on her skin as the same cuts closed on Elusive's body. One of her ribs cracked and Twilight's eyes shot open in agony, but still she pressed on. Her rear leg torqued and tore, the shattering of bone in Elusive reducing to hair-line fractures and torn ligaments in both ponies. A second rib snapped in Twilight's chest and Elusive's breathing became slightly deeper, more regular. Lastly a palette of colorful bruises blossomed across the violet mare, before she fell beside Elusive, her terrible magic finally spent. The pale unicorn colt took a deep strong breath, still wincing in pain from his injuries, but his eyes quickly found focus. He looked to Twilight first, laying on her side next to him and twitching in hurt. “You saved me.” He rasped “I could feel your magic. You saved my life.” Though it hurt immensely, Twilight couldn't help but smile. “That's what friends are for.” she whispered back. Immediately the other four ponies were on them, concern thick in each of their voices. “Oh my gosh Twilight, Elusive, are you two all right?” “What in the hay kind of magic was that? Twilight, what did you do to Elusive?” “Holy smokes that was amazing! You were all like 'garble grumble gurble', then Elusive was like 'Ahh', then you were all 'AHHH!', and then you went 'thwump'. Are you guys alright?” “Wow Twilight, I didn't even know unicorns could do magic like that. Hey um, are you two gonna be ok?” Elusive spoke up in answer to the myriad questions being slung his way. “I'll be alright. If, ug... If somepony could help me stand...” He grunted with the effort of regaining his hooves. Instantly Butterscotch was at his side taking his wight and helping him stand. “What happened between you two?” asked the timid pegasus colt. With Applejack assisting her, Twilight struggled to her own hooves. “I can't heal wounds that severe, so I-AHH!...” The violet mage winced in pain as she tried to put wight on her rear leg. “So I took them away instead.” Carefully this time, she tried standing on her own. With a little effort and quite a bit of discomfort the mare was able to manage the feat. Elusive spoke with wide eyes, seeing Twilight now in any entirely new light. “I didn't think magic could even do such a thing. Where could you have possibly learned such a spell?” “Well...” Twilight began, hesitating to tell them the whole truth. However, something in her gut told her that equivocating now would be a bad thing. “Alright, but before I tell, you guys have to promise never to tell anypony about what you saw here, ok?” A chorus of affirmative nods and responses was her reply, so she pressed on. “I run a library back where I come from, and I found the spell scrawled in the margin of an old pony anatomy and physiology book in the basement. I immediately recognized it for what it was, but I couldn't help but remember such a forbidden piece of magic. “Blood magic is fantastically illegal, so much so that the princesses have worked hard to ensure that it's almost entirely forgotten. Please don't tell anyone I cast that spell, it was the only thing I could think of to save Elusive.” Her pleading eyes glistened with nervous tears, a cold dark dungeon was one of the better things she could look forward to if word of her spell ever got out. “Your secret's safe with us Twilight.” Blitz assured her, giving her an encouraging nuzzle. “Thank you, all of you.” she said, sighing in relief. She knew she could always count on her friends to have her back. Elusive just chuckled, then quickly flinched as his remaining broken ribs reminded him of their presence. “You are hardly one to be saying thank you Twilight Sparkle.” He began. “You quite possibly saved my life, and at great risk to your own. Never have I experienced such an act of generosity. As a unicorn and a gentleman, I am forever in your debt.” Twilight blushed at the praise. “Yeah... Don't mention it.” Five other ponies chuckled at her modesty. “No seriously, don't mention it!” She gravely pressed, giving her companions a hard glare. But her stern expression could only last for a moment before all six ponies dissolved into a giggling mess.