//------------------------------// // Act I Part II // Story: De_Termination// // by WindigogoGadget //------------------------------// He was able to get what felt like three hours worth of restful sleep before the pain started kicking in. Coughing sharply and loudly, the pain would scamper off before shooting back in with a vengeance, his chest feeling like it was being shredded in two with bullets. He stood up to try and search for medicine, his mind running over time in his memory before he kneeled, the pain stopping him from going any further as he stumbled his way back onto the mattress. Heart attack, he was having a heart attack. So much for sleeping today. Twilight Sparkle stood up in her library, staring up from her book at the sigils and glyphs she'd poured on the wood floor, made of coarse salt. She would probably be stuck cleaning it up later since Spike was out with the Apples, (plus it'd be rude to leave work out waiting when someone goes on an outing!) Plus... Now that she looked at the massive scrawling of lines on the floor, it was better off with her dealing with it rather than dropping the workload off to her Number One Assistant. The spell mentioned in the book wasn't anywhere near strong enough or structured enough to even do its intended purpose, though the glyphs, which were likely ancient ponish words, were a constant step despite her trying to eliminate it. So about an hour of intense work over some curiosity, she'd adapted whatever magical spell that was in the book she had read last night, the one with the entry on Volpe, to something that a unicorn could cast. "Seriously, with that little structure in the spell, you're more likely to just shoot a beam of magic into the air." She thought to herself, sneezing a little and almost ruining one of the glyphs. Treading carefully she made her way to the center, where she could start casting the darn thing. A spell that would supposedly cause the Volpe to return. Normally, she wouldn't be so reckless, but it was an old book with a supposedly old and legitimate spell she'd adapted to work! (She wasn't the element of magic for nothing!) And there was a high likelihood that said species didn't exist! So, throwing foresight out the window she was in the clear. Besides, what was it going to do? Materialize an entire colony, pack, or however a group would be called of them in her library? Doubtful, it didn't ask for an open field. Maybe it just sent a message out? Like an "All Clear", no more Windigo threat to deal with. The curiosity in her chest burned even higher, along with the rising chances of something going wrong. Nothing was stopping her from backing out and clearing away the salt, but shoving aside her fears she straightened her back, took a deep breath, and focused magic at the tip of her horn, sparking faintly in violet hues. She had spent way too much time working to back out now. He had a desire to reach out for a glass of water. The downside was, he didn't remember if that was something he should do after one. The pain was still there, just not as bad, a dull ache deep within. The worst of it seemed over, for now, so he fumbled around as he picked up his phone and turned off the alarm. He doubted he could go back to sleep. He was getting really thirsty though, and his head felt fuzzy. Magic sprouted from a brightly glowing ball as luminous tendrils of light and Harmony flowed all around her, focusing on the glyphs she had created from simple, coarse, sea salt. She couldn't help but let a tiny smile creep up her face, that worked! Well. Only one part of the spell worked, she still needed to push a little bit more. The lines and arrays around her glowed with magical energy, bobbing and weaving to connect and interlock as her focus increased... Deciding it was best to get it over with, Aiden Pearce had made a careful dash to a water bottle and quickly took a sip, not waiting for his heart attack to get a second wind while he had to chance to choke. He was dizzy afterward but he'd suffered worse, he could get this done even in his older age. Or so he believed. For a moment, he thought he felt a knot tie around something deep inside him. Far beneath skin, flesh, or bone. Like something was grabbing onto his soul. He chalked it up to a side-effect of the heart attack as he groaned. (Or during.) Physical focuses of magic were usually unheard of in modern times, only really in powerful artifacts such as the Crystal heart, or the Alicorn Amulet that had caused Ponyville a fair amount of grief for a day. Being used in a spell was even less so, not since the early days of unicorn magic and even less so outside of tracking spells. Especially not when the lines of salt dust had melded to create perfect strings of faintly glowing violet energy, all interlocked in a cascade of circles, lines, and glyphs. "Woah... Okay. Now just for the next few steps." She had a list on hoof, so now it was supposed to find a target... Treatment. He had to find some medicine for this. Nitroglycerin? Did he have any in pills? No. But he did have some in cold storage. Sometimes you can't have all the ingredients for a standardized IED, at least the ones he used as grenades. So when he needed a better bang or was out of his usual chemicals he had a small amount of the liquid in a locked icebox. Just a few bottles. But then it started hurting again, sharp pains in his ribs as he gasped for air, feeling his chest burning and feeling like it was splitting apart he clenched his teeth and crawled. A reckless idea, but it was probably dumb enough to work if he didn't overthink it. The sigils and symbols glowed brighter, the spell that it was supposed to represent was some sort of tracking spell, designed to lock onto the magic? Energy? Of a species, it was a little complicated to get working, a fair amount of it was simplified and streamlined. It glowed, brighter yet brighter, the light cutting deeper into what few shadows remained in her library until it suddenly focused up into the sky- ceiling, of her home. Twilight's eyes widened. 'I should've done this in a field! She didn't want to stop the spell casting right now so she focused on concentrating her magic, a tiny part of her quietly hoping it didn't burn holes in her roof, lest every other room upstairs come crashing down- THIS WAS A BAD IDEA! 'It's okay, just focus- We can do this!' The light thinned to tiny streams flowing up through her home, sighing relief. Grab it. Unlock it. Fumble. Failing to open the lock, he slumped down in agony as he clawed at his chest loosely, it wasn't burning anymore, but instead was a mix of cold and hot, or as he'd aptly call it- Hellfire. if he could speak. His tongue was dry and his mouth felt like chalk as he coughed and choked, struggling as his vision flashed. White, Void, Chaos, a colorful forest, the shadows of night, white, void, chaos... Determined as he was, the exhaustion had already caught up with him. The violet streams of light bent and flowed, her eyes were wide again, not in fear, but amazement, she wasn't in control of this part of the spell, it was automated. What was this? What did it mean? Was this the energy of the surviving Volpe? What was she supposed to do? Think- Think, this is probably being fueled by the magic in the circle, so I have some time. Maybe I'm supposed to tug on one? Like pulling on a rope three times. She looked around, there were many, but one caught her attention. Another line forming, the process looked like it was drawing out magic from thin air and growing, but something was going wrong with it, getting caught in knots and sparking magic out of it, looking like frayed rope. What if that creature is in danger? What's wrong with that line? Her hoof reached out subconsciously and she tugged firmly, the line's knots seemed to suddenly smooth out and finish connecting with the circle before the others suddenly vanished. The circle glowed brightly before dispelling in a gentle careening wave of magic, flowing over the ground and far out of Ponyville in every direction. Nothing came... Did she do something wrong? Was that it? What happened? So many questions... Well, at least two were answered. She didn't have to clean up, the components were used up entirely and vanished with the magical wave, and her home wasn't in shambles from a collapsed roof. But that line... That line showed her flashes, of a room with glowing plates on walls, explosions, heartache, all through the perspective of somepony else's eyes. Too. Many. Questions. Not. Enough. Answers. And nothing to ease her worry.