Vantor drug himself out of bed, eating vegetarian yet again and preparing for the day. The pillowcase turned sash binded back over the diaries and he wore it again. The lantern was also plopped on his belt.
He didn't turn it off when he came into Poll city that was lit orange. Now, he'd get to wander the dark when he left here to go elsewhere.
Or he could maybe try to find some lamp oil, that's why he found himself with his head in a pantry closet, under the kitchen and the bathroom sink of this single small home. He eventually just went from place to place like a roomba, searching for some.
That's when his mind turned to what he had read last night. All three of them definitely got along well, but surelly they had their disagreements. They all three were elected to power knowing they live basically forever.
Which meant they had forever to fix everything and make things perfect. It didn't add up to Vantor, Comet Streak wouldn't have had a real reason to try and take the seat of power for herself then. He'd have to read about that in her diary maybe.
Turns out, the alicorns all had the purest intents and most compassionate and empathic hearts of anypony in their kingdom. Novae Canvas had filibustered all the mayors into playing nice by force. Locking them for days in a magic shield, and then he wings sprouted. Vast Nebula rallied them all to defend against a griffon invasion, putting herself at risk by exhausting hwr magic just to do it. Comet Streak had broken the walls between differeny ponykinds, showing it was silly to not have unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasu all speak with each other and benefit from working together.
Three great rulers and it all went wrong. That's a question that would itch Vantor's mind.
But not now. It's a silly place to put lamp oil in the shower like a bottle of shampoo. He filled up the lantern as much he could before he tied it onto his hips again.
The basic map he recovered from the crossroads fit the kitchen table nicely while he started to plan out his next moves.
Poll City is a total bust, he's not going to be able to fight past an army of ponies, even if they are slow. He could see himself getting torn apart pretty quickly.
Novae's Chaff was Southeast, sounded like farmland, but across was Fetlock Midway which sounded kinda promising. If it's name indicated it was a travel hub or something, he might find some tall towers in the area that were once security posts. That's a stretch of logic still, but it was all he had to go on.
Thunk
That wasn't something he'd want to hear, especially since he was the only one out here who had complete control of his facilities. What followed was the horrifying sound of the wood door being split apart and splintered. Smoldering white and gold flitted from the blown open door, the couch used to barricade was flung down the hall.
"Guess Comet Streak is getting stronger," he spoke as a unicorn rushed into the home, staring at him with fearful eyes.
Shield and sword in hand, Vantor advanced quick. The unicorn's horn crackled and a beam if magic collided on his shield. The force impeded his forward movement and made him widen his stance or be knocked over. Thankfully, Nebula's gift was enchanted quite well and he still managed to advance and put the unicorn down.
Countless other face stared at him from outside. Vantor was pinned down, Comet Streak had him right where she wished. Vany's mind raced with anxiety first, the deadly situation apparent before a single second had passed. Then his legs shot him down the hall of the home and he leapt through a window, closed curtain, glass, and wood structuring. He landed atop a pegasus, snapping her bow in the process.
"Go, we...we'll try to stop her," a whisper escaped out the pegasus' mouth.
He'd never believe he would hear any other pony down here besides Vast Nebula. Vantor heeded her words without delay, he legs pounded and as the pegasus took the first step forward to try and catch him, she took another back.
That spell was breaking, but that didn't mean the ponies would just let Comet Streak off the hook. Vantor ran through Poll City before heading Southeast. Maybe. Before he had even exited the heavily populated city, he came to a lush grassy field.
One look behind him and he could see the group of ponies far behind, but they had stopped chasing after him. Comet Streak had stopped forcing them to.
His eyes fell back out to the field in front of him, tall grasses covered with tulips. A sea of green with sparkling red, yellows, whites, pinks, and oranges.
There were a lot of citrines waving in a wind that shouldn't exist.
In the center, a single tall aspen tree took root, waving with no leaves. Vantor could hear it creaking even while he walked to it, reading off an engraving on the tree.
May you always be the wind upon our faces and the hope in the grasses.
At the base of the tree, his eyes fell to a singular book, thin, but it had a mark similar to Nebula's. A black splotch dotted with many orange and yellow stars. If he had to guess, this could have been Novae Canvas' diary. That would mean Vast Nebula set all this up to be some sort of grave, which would explain why Comet Streak would not give chase. Maybe she felt guilty over killing him or she couldn't bear to face this marker even through the eyes of a controlled pony. This little place was definitely peaceful.
A suiting marker for a pony who always strived for peace, no matter the means. Vantor felt Novae defined peace much differently than he woukd, though. Novae likely had higher standards and criteria.
Vantor continued through the field, taking the diary with him, knowing of one good use for it even if it didn't contain any information. He felt Novae would understand. On the other side of the field, he saw a crowd of ponies gathered, horns lit, weapons readied, and bows taut. None of them loosed an arrow or charged him down. So he found himself at the end of the road already. Ponies had formed a circle around the field, ready for the moment he would attempt to cross.
Comet Streak grows stronger by the hour.
“Well...I guess this is where I stop, huh? I come out there and you blast me apart. I stay here and I starve,” Vantor sighed out, undoing the sash of diaries and adding Novae’s to it. He rebound all three and slung it over his shoulder again, “so, any chance that uh, you’ll bring me something to eat? No?” There wasn’t any indication that she had heard him, no movement of the currently peaceful enemies. No voice to reach back.
”Comet Streak, you have broken our peace.”
There was a voice that boomed over Vantor’s head from the empty space above. He was certain he had heard it though and not imagined the masculine tone that spoke with such silent fury.
The ponies surrounding him suddenly no more as they vanished to dust in an orange magic glow. Vantor was free to continue traveling at the aid of a disembodied voice. A chill ran over his skin, the first explanation was a ghost and the second was even worse. If something was watching him, then that meant he could also be vaporized or worse in the blink of an eye.
Without missing a beat, Vantor pulled he legs forward and sprinted in fear out of the peaceful clearing. He kept on going all the way to Fetlock Midway, only slowing to a walk when he hit the darkness again, the lantern lit his way a second time as he kept his eyes to the ground and the shield raised in case he would get ambushed.
He often dreamed of going on a grand adventure, saving the day, being the hero, and recieving all that praise. It was a fun little daydream to have when you zoned out of work and the faux feeling of fulfillment was great, but still second to the real thing. Vantor’s feelings had definitely changed about it. The real adventures are overrated, going out to swim in the lake was adventure enough. Vany still held the determination to see this through, not everybody gets a shot at being some kind of hero so he wouldn’t waste it. Yet he did understand why heroes of stories were in such short supply, nobody would ever want to do this crap a second time, certainly not him.
Vantor eventually made it to Fetlock Midway, the small city adorned by the orange glow as others were. That's what the sign said. Signs, travel, navigation; all important on an adventure. The only map he had was left behind in Poll City and he wasn't ever gonna go back there. Fetlock was odd, it was composed of differing architecture instead of being uniform like other places he had been to down here. It was like cultures moshed together, modest farmhouses, modern brickwork, even adobe style homes stood jumbled about.
As he headed in, Vantor couldn't help but take stock of the countless stalls. Food, fabrics, art, metalworks, and more were strewn over the wood surfaces of each stall. Fetlock must had been some sort of hub.
That said, there weren't any tall buildings at all. Vantor started to consider just looking for Comet Streak himself and fighting her head on. The whole mind controlling thing was enough to crub that though.
As he trudged through the city, he was hoping more and more for some way out to the surface. With no map, that goal seemed impossible.
Until he had walked himself to the otherside of Fetlock and saw the next sign, something the map didn't declare.
Filly and Colt Mountain Pass Ahead 8km
A mountain! That's it! He could find a way out there if he could climb high enough. As if something read his thoughts, orange lights sprouted along the cobblestone path out eastward of the city. They popped into existenxe one by one, guiding the way there and Vany switched the oil lantern off. This way he could save on that resource for actually climbing the mountains. The second treat of having the way lit for him meant he could confirm there were no threats ahead of him.
So he marched, smiling this time, to the mountains. He'd sleep when he got there, even if it meant on rocks. Comet Streak must have been perilously close to breaking free, amassing an army to trap him at Novae's grave that quickly also meant that fighting these ponies off could quickly become a problem.
The first pony he ever fought was wobbly and its attack incredibly sloppy. If Comet Streak could focus her efforts, then she could fight as good and likely better than him with her mind-controlled minions. Vantor had a silver lining though; these ponies would resist her influence as best they could and once he did get out they wouldn’t be able to give chase.
It was a long walk there to the mountain. Eight kilometers was not a laughing amount.
“My feet are gonna kill me,” he mumbled out, well aware of the pain in his body from just traveling the day before, he’d just had it tuned out from that encounter at Novae’s grave.
“Then what’s in you...”
”I write this as I’ve begun to suspect Comet S of tra al. S ‘s t then I. Peace s n the s ce of conflict. Peace is the absence of fighting, of wars, of those left behind and forgotten. We have peace now. us s n .
n n s u u u u n s . sun us .
Vantor cracked open Novae’s small thin diary and if the first words were anything to go by, that indicated Comet Streak’s reasoning for attacking him first. Yet while he was reading, letters fell off the page and color came onto the text.
“Magic,” was the only word he managed out. He had no idea what this meant, but he closed the diary again, thinking on the letters that remained and trying to decipher the missing words before the whole diary went blank.
He would try to figure it out as he went, something to keep his mind off the pain in his feet.