//------------------------------// // In Which the Main Villains of the Story Finally Act Like It // Story: Hogwarts: Sunset's Legacy // by witegrlninja //------------------------------// Word gradually got out, and before long Natty, Poppy and I were hailed as heroes. The next time I went to Hogsmeade - since Natty had been rather unjustly grounded for the rest of the school year for seeking out Harlow, and Poppy stayed with her - I was approached by various villagers, each thanking me and them by extension for finally taking care of Rookwood's right hand man. A few of them had even suspected Officer Singer might've been covering up his many crimes, but as she had been so careful as to not leave any evidence behind, nothing could've been said or done. None were more grateful, of course, than Mr. Philbert, Mr. and Mrs. Rabe, Mr. Dibble (who asked me to inform Poppy that he'd be eloping with Rosie that very night) and the widowed Mrs. Bickle and little Archie. The next week was the beginning of the Easter holidays; while we had no classes for either that week nor the next, the professors saw to it that we had more than enough homework to keep us busy. It still wasn't anything I couldn't handle, as I managed to finish the last of my essays on Thursday, leaving me plenty of time to pursue my own interests. Besides working on my own magic I studied the holiday of Easter, as it was one of the few Earth holidays that Equestria didn't have an analogue of. This led me down a proverbial rabbit hole of religious teachings - the Bible, Wizarding-friendly Bibles, heavily-edited Wizarding-friendly Bibles deemed satanic by Muggles, then the rest of the Abrahamic religions, then comparing those with Eastern religions... my head was spinning by the time I finished the Tao Te Ching. Muggles were weird. I guess ponies in particular didn't really have a need for religion, not when the country was ruled by an immortal Alicorn of immense power, and once ruled by two of them... that was basically like being directly ruled over by a god. Though that did beg the question of what came before Celestia... but it wasn't like I could ask her that now. Besides having no classes, most of the other students returning home for the holiday reminded me of how peaceful things were back during the Christmas break... when everything seemed so much simpler. While Sebastian seemed more and more like his old self as the days passed, he woke up seriously depressed on Friday: April 19th was his and Anne's birthday. He didn't want to leave the bed until I eventually levitated one side of it into the air and let gravity take care of the rest of the work around lunchtime, nor did he want to go to Hogsmeade to celebrate or pick out gifts for himself. Instead he spent over two hours writing Anne a letter. I gave him his privacy as he wrote, scratched out a line and rewrote, erased his mistakes and wrote again. By the time he'd finally finished and sealed it closed he looked as though he were on the verge of tears. I held his hand as we walked to the owlery, and he watched with a mournful sigh as one of them carried off his letter into the horizon. "I can only hope she'll read it," he mumbled as we left. "Something tells me she'll just set it on fire as soon as it arrives." "Of course she'll read it," I tried to reassure him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's from you." He tried to smile. ~ The next day brought me a surprise. An owl dropped a small parcel into my lap during breakfast. Opening it in the privacy of my Room, I found it contained a map of the Clagmar Coast with an X scratched into the mountains to the north. There was also a letter attached. Sunset, I found one of Ranrok's drills in a mine along the shore. I intend to destroy it. I'm tired of trying to reason with him. You are welcome to join me, but if I don't see you there, I will reach out when I return. I have something to give you. Lodgok "Something to give me, huh?" I muttered to myself. Why didn't you just send it to me in this package? Suddenly an uneasy feeling began to bloom within me. "What was that?" asked Sebastian, raising his head from his Transfiguration textbook. At first I considered doctoring my answer, remembering the last time I'd mentioned Lodgok to him. But surely we were past that now. I shook my head and turned towards him. "It's from Lodgok," I replied, the parchment hanging loosely in my grasp. He bristled, like I'd expected, but remained silent for a few moments as though trying his best to remain diplomatic. "...I see. What does he say?" "He's found a mine to the southeast where Ranrok must be testing his drilling machine, and he says he's going to destroy it." I frowned as the uneasy feeling grew in intensity. "I have a feeling he's about to do something extremely stupid." "You think he's in trouble?" The feeling pulsed as if to confirm what I knew in the back of my mind. An elderly goblin like him wouldn't stand a chance against the other Loyalists if he was caught. And he'd been nothing but nice to me since we'd met, even if he'd first regarded me with suspicion, as I did him. And if he was actually dumb enough to keep whatever he had for me on his person while trying to infiltrate that mine... "Definitely," I nodded. "He's pretty old, and not very strong... and I'd rather not lose my spy if I can help it." Sebastian stared down at his book, then closed his eyes and clapped it shut with a sigh. "I'll come with you." "You sure?" I tilted my head as he stood up. "I thought you hated the guy." "I..." He paused for a moment. "It's true I'm not terribly fond of goblinkind, but... Lodgok's been helping you, so he can't be all that bad." I blinked in surprise, mildly relieved that he'd finally seen reason. Not all goblins were bad people... just those that stood in the way of getting my ancient magic. "Besides," he added with a snort, "I've sat around long enough. I wasn't there when you and the girls took down Harlow and Singer... I'm starting to feel a bit useless." "You're not useless," I countered. "Not even close." "I know," he said hesitantly. "But I need to prove it... to myself, if anything." A hum of contentment blew past my lips, and I nodded. "Then let's go." ~ After teleporting to Marunweem, Sebastian led the way as he studied the map, eventually finding the mine carved into a mountain after the better part of an hour on our brooms. Strangely, the camp surrounding the entrance seemed abandoned. My eyes carefully swept across the tents and machining equipment for movement, but found none. I wasn't sure whether I liked this or not. "No sign of Lodgok... or anyone here," I grumbled. "He must be inside already," Sebastian jabbed a thumb towards the entrance. My heart began to sink, but I ignored it as we walked inside. After a few hundred feet the tunnel we'd entered expanded dramatically into a large cavern, crammed full of various bits of machinery. They'd all been charmed to operate on their own, a mechanical melody reverberating off the stone as smelters were fed ingots of metal, then poured the hot, heavy liquid into molds. More machines stamped holes and rivets into the finished pieces, which were fed by conveyor belt through smaller caves deeper into the mountain. "Look at the size of this place...!" he breathed in bewildered amazement. "He could be anywhere in here," I whined, groaning. "This is gonna take forever." "...Perhaps not," he hummed, nudging my shoulder. Following his gaze I spotted what appeared to be a sort of railcart depot a few hundred feet away. It reminded me much of the cart Fig and I had used in Gringotts; though the cart itself was much less ornate than that one had been, it at least had wider seats for accommodating more riders. Of course, it was also being guarded by ten or so goblins. "Think you're ready for a fight?" I asked. Sebastian placed his wand behind his ear for a moment while taking the time to crack his knuckles, then nodded once as he took it back up and cast Disillusionment on himself. I smiled at his white outlines before doing the same, and followed him as we crept closer. A pipe from a boiler jutted out from the ground tantalizingly. With a quick blast of magic I broke it open, hot steam billowing outwards and shrouding the area in thick fog. The goblins jumped in surprise, half of them watching their surroundings warily while the other half stumbled towards the broken pipe, perhaps to see if it could be fixed quickly. I heard Sebastian chuckle darkly as he dashed forward and vanished into the mist, soon followed by shrieks of pain and confusion. Occasionally the steam would catch a gust of wind and blow away, just enough for me to catch the sight of one goblin suddenly losing an arm due to a Diffindo, then his legs being severed at the knees. The next time I saw that goblin was via silhouette, as his wand unleased a Confringo point-blank at its head and blew it to pieces. Soon more explosions followed. Seconds later I heard the creaking of metal, and the steam finally dissipated. All of the goblins had been dispatched, the floor slick with their blood. Now visible, Sebastian stood casually beside the now-repaired pipe, wiping off a bit of red from his wand with the sleeve of his cloak. "There's the Sebastian I know," I grinned as my own Disillusionment Charm lapsed. He laughed once, shooting me that confident smirk I loved to see on him. "I never left." My chest fluttered as I resisted the urge to kiss him, instead moving closer to examine the control panel for the railcarts. He wandered over as well. "I think this cart'll lead us deeper into the mine," he suggested. "And if I had to guess, the drill is probably in the deepest part," I nodded. Thankfully the control panel had numbers and pictograms representing the various stops rather than Gobbledegook - I pushed the button that most likely denoted the bottommost floor of the mine. Grinding and clicking noises echoed from the rails just behind me as they shifted to change the cart's direction. Once they stopped we piled onto the cart's front seat where the controls were, and pulled the lever to activate it. I had to admit, I felt much safer traveling this way when Sebastian was holding on to my waist from behind. The cart didn't have the suspension mechanisms the one in Gringotts had, the lurching and bouncing from the track nearly making me lose my balance and fall off several times. It zipped and zoomed down the rails as we descended into what soon came to resemble an entire underground city. We passed by tens of massive buildings formed from stone and metal, carved into the cavern's sides or suspended in the air by a maze of gangways. The electrical lights twinkled like stars in the darkness, and steam rose lazily in pillars, making the air hot and humid but dustless. Sometimes there would be an open window between all the maintenance pipes and wires, and we could see goblins going about their business. Most were working tirelessly at their stations, hammering together metal parts or supervising enchanted machines as they produced parts. Some were traveling on steam-operated elevators to other floors of the mine, holding crates or sacks of supplies. Many of them tittered excitedly about their progress, gleefully boasting about what they would do to whatever wizard they next met, how they would crush society under their boots and become the new dominant magical species. Their words angered Sebastian, and soon he couldn't help himself from firing Bombardas at everything that moved. His aim proved to be quite accurate, as his spells effortlessly sailed through windows and blew up workstations, factories and goblins alike. While I did my best to join him in the drive-by destruction when I could, I could only scoff at them in the back of my mind... the trip to the bottom of the mine was souring my stomach like I couldn't believe. Ooogh... but this must be taking the heat away from Lodgok, if he's really down here. When the railcart finally came to a halt amidst rough-hewn rock and discarded pickaxes, I weakly slid out of his lap and hunched over on the ground, taking as many slow, deep breaths as I could. I was honestly surprised I'd made it to the bottom intact... it would've been embarrassing as hell if I'd actually thrown up in front of him. "You alright?" he asked in concern. "Yea... just... give me a minute," I nodded queasily. After a few minutes of recovering I finally stood up, and we continued through the mine. Surprisingly there were no goblins to be found down here, but there was plenty of evidence that we were quickly approaching our destination: beside another vacant railcart depot was an elevator wide enough to fit the entire Astronomy tower from Hogwarts inside, and then some... tank treads chewed into the ground from the elevator down the path, where the cuts and gouges in the walls morphed from being clearly caused by pickaxes and explosives to a telltale rough, spiral-shaped digging motion. A few minutes later, the air suddenly filled with a distant roar. Sebastian and I quickened our pace and followed the noise as it gradually rose into a wild din. Just as it seemed to quiet back down, the path opened up into another large clearing ten or so feet below us, where a huge crowd of goblins were gathered together. Their attention was solely focused on the the prototype drilling machine that sat on a ledge at the top of an earthen ramp... and Ranrok, who was standing right beside it. The goblin leader was clearly giving a speech to his followers. "Another drill is complete... the Wizarding World will crumble!" he cried triumphantly over the wild cheers of his audience. So this wasn't a prototype, after all... he was full-swing into mass production. A dark smile spread across my face. "Looks like Lodgok hasn't made it down here yet," swallowed Sebastian. "Another drill... does Ranrok think he'll dig underneath the entire country in search of that repository?!" "Oh, he thinks," I smirked, ancient magic pouring from my eyes. "With any luck, I can end this whole rebellion of his in the next ten seconds." When the crowd cheered again I reached deep inside and lashed out with my magic, three separate lightning bolts firing from the tip of my wand and striking the crowds. One bolt was plenty enough to kill them, but three of them was enough power to instantly vaporize entire holes in their bodies. I watched with anticipatory satisfaction as one of the bolts of lightning arced towards Ranrok himself... ...But it seemed that its power had waned too much. Ranrok easily slapped it away with a red-glowing hand, glaring angrily as he retreated into the shadows. With a growl I leapt down into the pit to chase after him, but stopped in my tracks as something slowly approached, making the ground shake with every footfall. A mountain troll lumbered out from the tunnel Ranrok had come from, armored in thick metal plates that glowed with tainted ancient magic. I stared it down, grinning slightly as I saw Sebastian disappear out of the corner of my eye. He reappeared above the creature not even half a second later, tearing apart the ground beneath its feet with a Deprimo. The troll stumbled as the earth gave way, and my own magic quickly reformed the broken bits into spikes that shot upwards and stabbed it where the plates didn't cover. It howled in pain as it tried to regain its balance and push itself up off the spikes, but Sebastian simply landed on its shoulders to drive them in further, then teleported to a nearby ledge and cast Depulso at its upper back. The force of the spell drove the spikes into its body so deeply the tips could be seen beneath its skin, almost poking out. He teleported back to my side as the troll roared and flailed its limbs in agony, sharing my proud smile. At nearly the same time we cast Bombarda to finish it off, though mine was augmented by ancient magic and traveled faster. It hit the troll first, shattering the stone spikes, shrapnel slicing into its skin even as its stab wounds were blown wide open. Sebastian's spell passed by a moment later, missing the troll but striking one of the support beams holding up the cracked ceiling above the drilling machine. I took notice of the serendipitous strike and glanced over to him, and as though we'd read each other's minds we cast a few more spells to tear apart the remaining supports. As soon as the last one splintered in half the ceiling collapsed, burying the drill under tons of rubble. Even as we shared a short, celebratory laugh, Ranrok stalked back out of his cave towards us. He glared at his drill, now rendered useless, then focused his glowing eyes on me. "You..." he seethed slowly, gesturing to the pile. "That... is unfortunate." "Oops," I snarked, holding a hand in front of my mouth in mock surprise. "Did I do that?" He snorted, anger limiting his speech to be slow and brooding. "No matter... we will build another." "Not after I'm done with you, you won't. I think you have something that belongs to me," I glowered as I raised my wand. Ranrok raised his fists towards me, his entire body alight with tainted ancient magic. It saturated the air and pressed down imperceptibly on my body... I could suddenly hear whispers not unlike those I'd heard when absorbing the magic myself. But these whispers... they were nothing like what I was used to. They screamed and shrieked and roared in my ears, crying out for blood and death and destruction. I shivered unconsciously as I felt their anger, their pain, their sorrow and despair, the emotions thick like fog hanging over my head. The sense of impending doom began to cloud my thoughts, and my blood turned to ice in my veins, in my heart. For a brief moment, I feared that I wasn't quite strong enough to fight Ranrok and win. Sebastian suddenly hissed my name, the back of his hand fluttering against my arm. My eyes slid over to him, followed his gaze... and I cursed. Victor Rookwood himself was sauntering casually out from another tunnel, his wand aimed directly at Lodgok as he forced him forward. Even worse, the elderly goblin seemed to be clutching something to his chest, as precious as treasure. "I found this one lurking outside," he explained, smiling coldly. Ranrok blinked in surprise; I felt his power wane, yet his expression remained stony. "Lodgok... Come to make amends, little brother?" Brother...?! I could barely contain my gasp - suddenly, all that Lodgok had ever told me made perfect sense... way too much sense. "I... c-came to stop this!" Lodgok stammered, trying to keep a brave face. "And what is this you've brought me?" asked Ranrok, pointing towards the bundle Lodgok held. He approached him slowly as the other goblin stepped back, but eventually handed it over with a reluctant sigh, his eyes locked onto mine as if to apologize. Now I could see that the bundle... was actually a book. I cursed under my breath again as Ranrok opened it and began flipping through its pages. Gradually his face grew dark and furious, the impending doom in my mind returning as his entire body trembled with red, crackling rage. "It cannot be...!" he growled before clapping it shut, holding it close against his own body as he whirled around. "All this time... you knew! You knew where it was!" Tainted ancient magic swirled around his arm as he flung it towards his brother, and Lodgok gasped in pain as he was sent tumbling across the room. "Lodgok!" I shouted out in concern, relieved to see him raise a hand as he struggled to his feet. "I will never understand you, Lodgok... so gullible," Ranrok scowled. "That witch did not consider you an equal! She, like all wizardkind, sought only to use you." "Y-You're wrong, Ranrok-" "The young ones are especially deceitful," he continued over his brother, gesturing towards Sebastian and I. "They are taught to hide their disgust for us as they exploit us!" Whoa, not true! I shrank back with a blink. ...Goblins don't even exist in Equestria! "Astonishing that our ancestors ever trusted each other," Rookwood mused, keeping his distance behind Ranrok. "All this time... looking everywhere for the final repository... searching in vain for Bragbor's last journal...!" the goblin snarled dangerously through his teeth. "Wasted my time chasing a child... and my little brother knew where it was all along. But now," he grinned as he held up the book, "I don't need you... I don't need any of you!" he roared as he stared pointedly at Rookwood, who recoiled in shock and stared at Ranrok in disbelief. So much for their alliance. I chuckled once under my breath at the sudden, inevitable betrayal. "And you," he bellowed as he glared at Lodgok, his entire body rippling with tainted magic, "You are a traitor to our kind!" In a flash of light he fired a pulse of red light at the poor goblin, striking him directly in the chest and sending him streaking into a wall. There was so much force behind the impact that cracks crazed outwards along the walls of the cavern, and the ground began to quake ominously. Lodgok's body fell limply from its crater, unmoving. "Avada Kedavra!" Rookwood cried, green lightning shooting from his wand towards the crazed goblin. Ranrok easily dodged it, firing back with magic of his own even as boulders and entire buildings began raining down from above. The mine was beginning to collapse with everyone still inside. "We need to get out of here!" yelled Sebastian, grabbing my hand in preparation to teleport. I growled to myself as I watched the two villains fight and wander further away... as much as I wanted to watch this play out, perhaps even deigning to help Rookwood kill the treacherous goblin... he was right. There was no point in reclaiming my prize now if I wound up buried alive beneath an entire mountain. But I couldn't just leave Lodgok behind to die... not after all he'd done for me. "Wait! Accio!" I shouted, my magic gripping Lodgok's clothing and pulling him towards me, threading through the falling boulders like string through a needle's eye. Once he was by my side I morphed the spell into Wingardium Leviosa so I could carry him without much trouble, even as we teleported out of the mine in an instant. Some goblins that had been near the surface were fleeing in terror. Luckily they ignored us as I gently set Lodgok on the ground, pulling out a couple vials of Wiggenweld potion while Sebastian set to splinting his injuries with Ferula. The elderly goblin moaned in pain as he struggled to keep the potion down, everything from the waist down not moving as he tried to roll onto his side. I shook my head and growled in frustration as reality began to set in - thanks to his lapse in judgment, if Ranrok survived his fight with Rookwood and escaped that mine, he now knew where the final repository was and could proceed there with however many of his drilling machines immediately! He could very well beat me to the rest of the ancient magic... my ancient magic! It was mine, damn it! MINE! NOT HIS! "You idiot," I sighed through my teeth, my anger barely restrained. "What did you think you were doing, coming here alone?! Why did you even have that book on you?!" "I... was bringing it to you..." Lodgok whimpered. It wasn't a good enough answer for me... this senile little fool had just ruined everything! My chance at taking all this magic for myself, my second chance at power beyond my wildest dreams! I'd been so lucky to even have this second chance, who knew when the next would appear, if ever?! What if I'd lost my opportunity, and I'd never have this chance again?! But wait... Maybe, by some stroke of luck, Lodgok had read the journal beforehand and could tell me where it was. There was still a chance I could get there first! "Where is it?" I demanded as I grabbed at his lapels. "Where is the final repository?! I need to know! I can't let him beat me there!" But I got no answer... the elderly goblin's eyes were glazed over, barely conscious. Even a Rennervate wouldn't help him at this point. I let him go and moved away before I lost my temper completely, magic seeping out of my eyes as my fingers curled around an imaginary throat. I snarled and roared in anger, flicking my wand back and forth as I blew up whatever it pointed at. The noise and explosions did little to calm me. "GodDAMNIT!" I lifted my head and screamed to the heavens. "S-Sunset..." Sebastian's voice timidly spoke up, cutting through my anger. Even so I whipped around with a growl, my face only falling when I saw his. He seemed genuinely unnerved by my rage, but tried his best to push past it as he stood up from Lodgok's side. I took a few deep breaths before answering him; even so, my voice snapped. "...What?!" "I'm... sorry this happened," he flinched. In an instant I regretted my actions, the anger within me dying out like a snuffed candle. "Shit... sorry, Seb, I didn't mean to-" "No, I... perfectly understand the feeling. You don't need to apologize to me." He held up a hand in reassurance as he drew close, gently draping his arms around me to banish the last of the fury within my heart. "We do need to get your goblin friend some medical attention, however, if he's going to survive... I'm afraid I've done all I can." "Ugh..." Part of me wanted to leave him where he lay and let fate take its course. It would serve him right for being so stupid. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. ...But I couldn't just do that. The other part of me nagged too loudly... I had to save him. He'd done so much; betrayed his own brother, his own kin to do what was ultimately right, trusted me when he had no reason to. It was because of him that everything had been set in motion, after all... it was because of him I even had this chance at power, as distant as it was fast becoming. I sighed in resignation. Besides... it was on the way back to my own path, anyway. The path I was now forced to take. ~ "Fig! Fig!" I shouted as Sebastian and I barreled through the Magic Theory classroom's office doors, carrying Lodgok in our magic. Professor Fig immediately rose from his seat behind his desk. "What the-?" "He needs help!" panted Sebastian. "Lodgok needs help!" "Lodgok...?" Fig's eyes widened in realization before shaking away his stupor. "R-Right. This way, quickly!" Running as fast as he could he led us to the hospital wing, which was thankfully empty of patients. "Nurse Blainey!" "P-Professor?" the nurse replied as she poked her head out of her office, her eyes widening as we plopped Lodgok onto one of the vacant beds. "O-Oh!" "I know this may seem like an unorthodox request, but this poor goblin is in dire need of aid!" Fig hastily explained. "Please, Miss Blainey, isn't there something you can do?!" Nurse Blainey stared at Lodgok for a few moments before shaking her head with a groan. "Damn it Fig, I'm a nurse, not a goblinologist!" she spat as she tied a fresh apron around her uniform, then rapidly began Accioing a dizzying array of bottles and medical instruments from a number of cabinets, neatly arranging them on a metal tray. "Out! Out! Everyone out!" We obeyed and quickly left the room as curtains of white sheets began surrounding Lodgok's bed. While we waited I explained to Fig everything that had happened, from receiving the goblin's package to the unfortunate revelation that Ranrok now knew where the final repository was. "Godric's heart," my mentor gasped. "So Ranrok and Lodgok were brothers..." "And he was bringing the journal to me," I groaned, my anger now at a constant simmer. This was why I had always relied on myself in the past... other ponies just weren't that smart. The old adage "if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself" had become my own personal mantra long ago. Not everyone could be as brilliant as me, after all... or Sebastian. The hospital wing's doors creaked open after about an hour, Nurse Blainey pushing her way through with an exhausted sigh. I grimaced at the sight of her apron, splattered with a good amount of blood and other liquids I couldn't quite recognize. "Well? How is he?" asked Fig. Blainey slowly dragged her eyes over to him. "Broken spine, ruptured internal iliac vein, fractured and bruised ribs... but he'll survive. It's a damn good thing goblins are tougher than wizards," she sighed again. "Wouldn't have made it otherwise. Doubt he'll ever be able to walk again, though." Fig and Sebastian shared some sympathetic murmurs while I stared at the floor. As soon as Blainey disappeared back into her office to clean up, I stood up from my seat and turned towards my mentor. "I need to start that fourth trial," I glowered. "Right now... and I'm not taking no for an answer."