//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6 
// Story: Magic and Memory 
// by Summer Knight 
//------------------------------//

I stirred in my sleep and half-opened one eye. I still felt exhausted, not to mention starving. On top of that, the skin on my wings was oddly stiff and hot. At first I wasn't sure what had awoken me, then my ears pricked at the sound of hoofsteps and several different voices just outside the building.
"...former home of Sunny Starscout, the young earth pony whose courage and kindness brought magic back to Equestria—hold the camera still—and returned the pegasi to the skies!" The speaker sounded like an older male. His voice and enthusiasm reminded me a bit of Otis. "Sunny?"
I squeaked in alarm and dropped from my perch. I spread my wings to glide down and had to bite back a scream. Whatever was wrong with my skin, it hurt.
"Oh!" This voice was much higher and clearer, probably belonging to a mare about my own age. "Well, Mister Silver—"
"Skye, please."
"Right. Skye. Like I said before, it wasn't all me..."
"Grogar!" I hissed in the ram's ear. "Grogar, wake up!"
"Mm?" The ram shifted in his sleep and blew out a heavy breath. 
"Grogar!" I shook him gently. "There's someone else here. They're talking about magic!"
Grogar blinked sleepily, then his eyes snapped open. He raised his head to listen to the voices outside. 
"...humble, too!" This was the older male again. "But tell us a bit about this place. This is where it all happened, right?"
Grogar looked at me pointedly, and I quietly translated for him. 
"This is... was... my home," the young mare—Sunny—answered. "My dad spent his life collecting all kinds of old stuff." There was a sharp grinding, followed by a splintering of wood as whoever was outside forced the door open. "Whoops. Well, not like it can get any more broken, right?" Sunny added with forced cheer.
"Uh, yeah." This was a new voice, a young male. "Sorry about that."
"Quiet, Toots," the older one snapped. "Just hold the camera steady and keep quiet." He cleared his throat. "And, what kind of 'stuff' are we talking about here?"
"Take a look around," Sunny said. 
Grogar and I shot alarmed looks at each other. They were in the next room. If they started looking around the building, they'd find us for sure. 
"Hide," I whispered. Grogar nodded. I shot back up to the ceiling to cling to my beam, while he tried to fit his bulk behind a large cabinet. 
"My dad was all about Old Equestria," Sunny continued. "You know, friendship and magic and all that. He collected any artifacts that he could get his hooves on. Stories, too."
Stories! I wished Grogar could see the smug look I shot him. Take that, Mister Stories-Are-Unreliable.
"Everypony thought he was crazy," Sunny continued. Her voice was drawing closer. "But he was sure that it was real. That Equestria used to have magic, and someday we'd have magic again. And he was right! I just wish—" Her voice broke, and she cleared her throat. "I just wish he could have seen it." A sharp sniffle came from the other room.
"You heard it here, folks," the male voice said, "Sunny's father Argyle Starshine knew the truth before any of us! We'll be back with the whole story right after these messages." There were a few moments of silence, then, "You can put the camera down now."
"Come on, Sunny." This was new voice, another young male. "Let's take a break."
"Yeah. Thanks." Sunny's voice was so quiet that even my ears could barely catch it.
Every muscle in my body tensed as the door to this room—still mostly intact—swung open and two strange creatures walked in. They looked almost like batponies, except they had no wings. Plus, their coats and manes were so brightly colored that I found them hard to look at. 
The larger of the two shut the door behind them, then placed a hoof on the other's shoulder. "Hey, you okay?" This was the younger male who'd spoken a moment ago.
"Yeah." This one was clearly Sunny. "I'm okay, it's just—" she drew a shuddering breath, "—it's a lot. All good things, though!"
The stallion chuckled. "You can say that again. Say, are we sure this place is safe to be in?"
I clung even tighter to the beam as he started looking around the room. 
"It's been weeks, Hitch," Sunny answered. "Anything that's going to collapse has collapsed."
"I just hope we don't shake anything AAH!" 
Oh, guano. He was pointing straight at me.
"Get behind me, Sunny!" He planted himself between us and stared up at me. "Who are you? Why is a pegasus hiding out here?"
What's a pegasus? My mind raced. I could easily fly away through the broken roof, but I couldn't leave without Grogar. What should I do?
"What's going on in there?" The older stallion asked. The door swung open to admit two more ponies: one with feathery, griffon-like wings and a gray mane, then another wingless pony with a light greenish-blue coat carrying some large, boxy contraption. 
"Stay back," the one who'd spotted me replied, "we've got a trespasser. Hey you, come down from there!"
Not knowing what else to do, I spread my stiff, aching wings and glided to the floor. As I came closer, the four ponies recoiled. 
"That's no pegasus!" the older stallion shouted. "What is that?!"
"Um... hi. My name is Waxing Gibbous. I'm a batpony." I gave a wave and a smile.
"It's got fangs!" the blue one shouted.
"Look at its eyes!" the old stallion added. 
Suddenly, an orange light pulsed out from Grogar's hiding place and washed over the room, including the four newcomers. Their panicked chatter cut off immediately.
"Enough!" Grogar said as he emerged. "We are travelers. We believed this building was uninhabited, so we stopped here to rest. That is all."
Suddenly, I was totally forgotten as they all focused on Grogar. 
"Yeah, well... well it's not uninhabited!" the one in front stammered. 	
"Then we apologize," Grogar replied. "We'll be on our way."
"Come on, Hitch," Sunny butted in, "they didn't mean any harm."
"We don't even know who—or what—they are," Hitch retorted. 
"Well, that one's a batpony named Waxing Gibbous, apparently." Sunny looked at me, then back to Grogar.
"Come, Gibbous." Instead of answering her unspoken question, Grogar turned away from the group. Then he froze. I was pretty sure that only I could hear his sharp inhale, and even I couldn't tell what had caught his attention until an orange glow surrounded an old, cracked bell and raised it into the air. 
"Where did you get this?" he whispered.
"That?" Sunny squinted at it. "I dunno, my dad picked it up somewhere. Anyway, I'm Sunny Starscout. Who are yo—?!"
Her voice was blown away by a sudden burst of energy as Grogar took hold of the bell. The pressure I'd felt the first time I met Grogar returned, amplified a hundredfold. Bright orange and deep crimson magic flowed out of the bell and into Grogar's horns. Was it my imagination, or was he getting a little taller?
"Who am I?" Grogar growled. I flinched—it was Grogar's voice, but there was something much darker behind it. Something old and powerful and very, very angry. 
"I am many things to many creatures," Grogar said. "The demon sorcerer. The Tyrant of Tambelon. The Father of Monsters."
He roared, and the ground trembled. 
"I am Grogar!"