Begin Chapter 2: Uncertainty and Criticism
* * *
The feeling of disorientation and waste when waking up is never a pleasant experience. What’s even less pleasant is waking up bound, gagged and unable to move. That’s how the scholarly hopeful found herself when she woke up. Her hands and feet were tied up extremely well so that she couldn’t feel any sort of leeway in the knots. In addition to the dried blood on her temples from that blow to the head earlier, she also noticed her breathing felt heavy, surmising that her captors took the precaution of draining all magick from her, leaving her with the feeling of fatigue. That meant escape for now was impossible, so she decided to bide her time.
Looking around with blurry vision that slowly started to clear, the first thing she saw were two of the brigands rummaging through her courier pack and eating her provisions. While the duo went on to draw lots on who kept what as they eyed the spoils of their scheme, she noticed they were using her robes as a place mat to sit on the dusty and ancient floor.
‘I suffered countless a prick and cut and many more a sleepless eve tailoring and retailoring those robes. Even more aggravating were the harvesting of silk threads every full moon and the painstaking intrication of weaving the bilayered fabric that fairs twice as valuable as a pound of mythri in trade. The glyph itself, the tome I borrowed from the institute’s records, my leestone and the gift I received from the captain aside, nothing in this room possibly could hope to surpass it in value and these lack-wits use it to shield their rear ends from the dirty floor!?’ she angrily ranted to herself in thought.
One of the brigands, inspecting her copy of ‘The Tales of the Hero-King’, noticed she was awake. “Oi, Clifton! Our captive’s come to!” he called out.
She looked to the dim and murky direction the man was yelling out to and saw Clifton, Bryce and another one of the sellswords whose name she didn’t know, all on a make-shift scaffold. It stood against the wall where she recognized the glyph should be. Though there were sounds coming from the dim platform, she couldn’t tell what of, on account of the feeling of discombobulation still about her from that blow to the head earlier. Clifton and Bryce muttered something to the other guy then came down from it, the latter starring at her smugly all the while.
“Well, well, well. Did the lady have pleasant dreams? It must been nice restin’ yer head while the lowborn knaves break their backs and waste sweat, blood and breath doin’ hard work for ya, eh, princess? Especially when ya let that beast make a meal of my blade back there!” Bryce shouted into her ear as Clifton let loose the gag. Still feeling heavy and indisposed, she took a few moments to catch her breath before letting out a response.
“I am no aristocrat’s heir if that is the meaning of your words.” He didn’t seem to listen to the response from the magus, given he was still sore about the incident, but she continued with her retort anyway. “Only an inane son of a fool would assume that of someone who took time and effort to tailor their own attire, or any self-respecting human being for that matter!”
Still upset over the fact those other two men were getting wrinkles and further dirtying her robes with crumbs from her snacks, she decided to play a little mind game and let loose her silver tongue.
“Oh, and by the way. Those robes of mine your cohorts have in their possession over there? It’s fashioned from Fluttershy silk, harvested from a species of butterfly larvae near edge of extinction. Not even a pound’s worth of mythril can match the value of a single spool and your dimwit companions go about using it as a rug, you ignoramus of a foot-pad!” she haughtily countered.
Those last words felt like a hard and well-placed slap upon the knave’s cheek. Like anyone else with the skill, it was the little detail and effort one puts into each syllable of the words of the sentence, in response to the mood of the situation that was key, all done to amplify the impact of the statement. And it was her current choice of tone that left Bryce bewildered, aggravated and less satisfied with himself, all the more since it was he who suggested to using those robes that way in the first place. He looked to the duo sitting a ways off from the entrance, walked over to them and summarily yanked the impromptu carpet from underneath. They started to complain that he had done so without warning, but he didn’t mind at all. He cleaned the dust off the garment, looking at it with glints of gil in his eyes, then folded them neatly into his pack for safe keeping, which somewhat relieved their owner. She could always get them later when attempting escape, but that wasn’t what she was thinking of at the moment. So full of herself of the sleight of tongue she had accomplished, the captive magus went on with the witty criticisms which she would have normally decided against if she had been a little less impetuous and more level-headed.
“Oh, and if you’ve plans on maintaining its flawless hue, do remember to launder it using Moondew. I trust you’ve the whereabouts of the Moonbloom and the methods of handling said flora, assuming you’ve probably neither the gil to afford purchase nor the brains to synthesize your own stores. Then again, mayhap the robes would fetch a pretty gil on market. If so, it would be in your best interest to invest your earnings on a higher intellect, instead of a sultry damsel in some brothel!”
Again, more appropriate choice of words would have been better. Telling him he passed off a valuable silk garment for a carpet was bad enough, but salting the metaphoric wound that was his inadequate monetary circumstance and his seeming unintelligence earned her a heavy and powerful boot to the midsection, knocking the wind clean out of her lungs and her mind into unconsciousness once again.
* * *
The streets were bustling with commotion. Talks of excitement and glee prevalent throughout as the mayor, Ivory Scrolls, had just received an official announcement from Canterlot that the Summer Sun Celebration would be held in the humble rural town this year. Being granted this privilege once again when it hadn’t even been that long since that fateful night they last held the festival, the citizens of Ponyville felt very honored, because it usually took a decade before a town, village or city was put back on the list of venues for the festival.
Fluttershy could only hear the sounds of her hoof-steps in a gallop; however, as she made her way to the train station. Everything was a blur when she rushed by and the chatter seemed like echoes off in the distance drowning in thoughts of her own incompetency. She was so worried and preoccupied over being late she even forgot she had wings! At least she remembered the reason why the gang was meeting up at the station. Twilight had received a letter from Princess Celestia earlier in the week that she would be coming for a visit today by train which would be arriving around eleven in the morning, and requested for her most prized pupil including the rest of the bearers of Elements of Harmony to meet her there. It was quite strange though, seeing as the Princess could always take a chariot, teleport into the library, or, a less likely possibility, fly there herself instead. Then again, who was she to question the royal’s sensibilities? She must have had a good reason in spite of the strangeness of her choice.
But yet, even more strange was the fact that when she arrived, the staff hadn’t made any preparations to receive the Princess nor were there crowds of ponies clambering to get a view of her. No security, no paparazzi, no chariot escort for after she arrives, not even one single welcome banner. She quickly spotted her friends who were equally perturbed by the turn of events or rather seeming lack of event at the train station. Rarity was the first to notice, come up to and greet her.
“Fluttershy, dear, you’re looking well,” she said in relief. “Thank Luna for your speedy recovery. We were all beginning to think that you had come down with something much more severe and that you’d need to be admitted hastily into intensive care! In the off chance Princess Celestia couldn’t make it to our little appointment, we were going to come check on you right away.”
The seamstress called for the rest of the group to come over who all voiced out similar concerns over their friend’s condition.
“Fluttershy, darling, why were you sweating and breathing so heavily when you first arrived? And… is that a brush in your mane?” Rarity inquired worriedly. Rainbow Dash came over, inspected their meek friend and came to the conclusion, “Hmmm….. Looks like you came here in a gallop….. And that’s the first thing you do after you get better?” She had puzzled look over Fluttershy’s choice of action.
“Sort of, but it’s okay, girls. I’m fine now, see?” the mare quietly responded, flexing both her wings in a display of health. Though after another moment of thought, she resisted the urge to face-hoof and avoid further embarrassment, realizing she had forgotten something so obvious and inherent to all pegasi. Instead, she withdrew her wings and shrunk in shame as another thought of incompetency found a snug and cozy place in the shelf of her mind. The girls, ever caring and concerned for their friend, took notice of her reaction with Twilight making the first inquiry.
“Is something wrong, Fluttershy?”
“I forgot I had wings,” she responded in a volume so low, a pin dropping to the ground could have been louder.
“Come again there, sugarcube?” said Applejack.
“I kinda forgot I had wings,” This time, it was definitely softer than a pin drop.
“A little louder please, we can barely hear you.” Twilight replied.
“I kinda forgot I had wings, so I galloped from home,” Now the volume of her voice reached a whole new level of quiet.
“Fluttershy, dear, will you please speak up? If it weren’t for this crowd and all the noise coming from the town, we could probably hear the marching of those ants over your voice!” Rarity pointed out with slight annoyance as she gestured to an army of ants pillaging a nearby trash can.
She took a few moments to pluck up the courage to form a response and speak up “I.. I was so worried I was late, I came here in a hurry...... So I kinda forgot I had wings, and decided to gallop all the way here,” she finally explained at an audible volume, her face flushed yet hidden behind her pink mane. After a few seconds of taking in what the mare had just said, Rainbow keeled over in hilarity, with Twilight and Applejack just chuckling while Rarity, in addition to the two, face-hoofed for their demure friend.
“Ahahaha! You forgot you had wings again? Oh man! I… haha.. I …hahahaha!” the cyan mare couldn’t finish her sentence over her laughter.
When the mirth had settled down to a conversationable level, Rairty spoke, “Well, at least you remembered to brush your mane on the way. I would rather hide myself at home all day than be seen with bed-mane out in public!” She cringed at the mere thought of it.
“That’s our Fluttershy, alright! Looks like ta me that there all-cure Zecora brewed up really done the trick. Ah swear, that zebra gots more know-how in medicine than all those doctors in Ponyville General combined,” said the apple farmer.
“That wasn’t an ‘Allcure’, Applejack, because no such thing exists. And it wasn’t even that serious to begin with, just a simple case of hay fever. All of you were just overreacting,” Twilight added a matter-of-factly.
“Hey, it’s not our fault we’re not all eggheads like you, Twi,” she pointed out, derping both her eyes and brows to emphasize the ‘egghead’ comment.
Celestia’s most prized student held a upset scowl to the statement that Rainbow Dash had made as the others’ laughter settled into chuckles with that bout of friendly teasing except for one pink mare. Oddly enough, Pinkie Pie, usually the jovial and exuberant pony of the group, the one all for playful banter and friendly bickering, had remained silent throughout the entire exchange, watching them with an ever observant eye while wearing a smile. She was now staring at an even odder pegasus who approached them from behind, catching them unawares. She had an off white coat, a yellow poofy mane and tail, purple eyes and sported three yellow balloons with radiating rays for a cutie mark. She almost seemed an exact double for the party pony if it weren’t for her wings and the slightly different brand on her flank. It was very peculiar sight indeed to see the two of them beside each other. When she began her introduction, an awkward silence descended upon the group of friends as they alternated glances and dumbfound looks between the party pony and her apparent pegasus twin.
“Greetings, bearers of the Elements of Harmony. My name is Sunny Surprise. I am currently serving as her highness, Princess Celestia’s attendant for this visit to Ponyville. She had to come at an earlier time than expected, so I’ll be accompanying you all to her current location,” she said in a well rehearsed yet very patrician tone and graceful demeanor albeit in Pinkie Pie’s voice. Rainbow Dash was the first to break the awkward moment with an observation.
“A pony who almost looks and sounds like Pinkie but is a pegasus and acts all fru-fru and fancy like all those uptight hooves from Canterlot. One party pony's barely enough to deal with, but a second Pinkie with a snooty streak? Give me a break!” the cyan mare deadpanned which made Twilight cringe with embarrassment. She was just about to scold Rainbow for it when Rarity cut her off.
“Rainbow! Mind your manners in front of new company!” to which pegasus responded with a sheepish grin.
“Ahem. Please pardon her attitude, she tends to judge books by their cover, especially those hailing from high society but with all formalities aside, would you kindly guide us to her majesty, Princess Celestia, now? Oh, and thank you for the escort,” Rarity continued in an apologetic tone for the would-be-wonderbolt.
“Think nothing of it. Now if you will, please follow me to the Princess,” Sunny Surprise replied with a sly smirk.
* * *
When the scholarly hopeful came to a few hours later, she woke up to the same sight of debris and rubble from centuries of decay layered with dust and dirt. She felt sore all over, bruises aching in their tenderness as she noticed she was laid against a wall close to the scaffolding she saw earlier. The room was brighter than before, assuming the brigands had set up a few more torches to get a better look at the room in a fruitless attempt to find anything of worth to loot. After a couple of hours of futile searching, they had all decided to double their effort on whatever they were doing with the glyph and leave as soon as possible. Again, sounds could be heard from above and it made her worry that she couldn’t identify what exactly they were doing to the mural. Concluding that it was probably the effects of that blow to her head earlier that impaired her hearing, she pondered on living a life in partial deafness. That’s when Bryce, the one assigned to watch over the captive, came down from the platform with a resonant and foreboding stomp.
“Looks like yer up and about again, eh, poppet? Have ya anymore witty comebacks?” the tall and gruff man said condescendingly as he held their former client by the collar of her garb.
“…..” she remained silent while looking away disdainfully, not one for tolerance of physical pain as evidenced by that earlier scuffle.
“Not talking, eh? I’m sure you’ll love this, then, considerin' it’ll leave ya anything but speechless, poppet!”
Bryce brought her over to the front of the scaffold and then lifted her up by the arm which caused her to wince. But what she saw on top of the scaffold caused her more distress than the thought of tolerating any sort of physical pain she could imagine. Ever since they took her captive, the brigands had been working on the glyph with intent of removing it from the chamber wall. She was mortified by this choice of action as she struggled, in spite of the pain, to break free from Bryce’s iron clamp grasp. They were ruining her last chance to claim admission into the institute, her chance at leaving her mark in history and her only hope of making her mother proud.
“What in Father’s good earth are you fools doing to the glyph!?” said the outraged maiden.
“We’re carving it out from the wall, that’s what, to bid it off to the highest gil in the black market. You think we’ve not the brains for this sort being sellswords, but I know for a fact that the mural itself’ll fetch a higher price than word of its discovery,” Clifton said smugly as we worked on the excavation.
“You lack-wits!! You deface sacred writing and make it vulnerable to further deterioration! Your faith and respect for the ancients and Gods be blinded, spirits possessed by want for sordid coin!!” she chastised the brigands, disgusted at their audacity.
“Ha! Gods? Spirits? Sacred? Ain’t no such thing exists!” Clifton responded with an arrogant and seemingly all-knowing tone. “Sorry to burst your bubble, lassy but only one idea forever rings true in these godforsaken times, and that’s Value!”
“….” the captive went silent, still angry over the turn of events as well, she didn't want to grace his ignorant retort with an answer.
“And besides, I don’t see much of it on yerself either,” he continued raving. “So, have ya any clue, my little lassy, what you be as good as to us now?” the leader of the sellswords rhetorically questioned.
The magus gasped in dread as she frightfully anticipated his next words.
“Dead weight,” he deadpanned as a signal.
Bryce followed suit, taking his remaining sword and cleanly impaling their former client, the end of the blade bloodily sticking out from her back. The knave withdrew his bloody sword from her body then threw her off to one side of the dusty chamber with a satisfied grin on his face.
“No hard feelings, poppet! Ya got what ya deserved! Oh, and thanks for the robes!” Bryce hollered feeling satisfied as he climbed back onto the platform.
The sellswords were nearing the end of their excavation, and only one final strike to the crack they made around the glyph was needed to dislodge it completely. As the tip of the pick sunk into the ancient wall, an ominous spark surged across the glyph’s face, followed by black sphere that burst forth and billowed out from it. The brigands didn’t even notice what they had done as they were pulled into the void, crushed under the sheer weight and gravity of the energy they had unleashed. The chamber trembled as the void continued to expand swallowing everything it touched, slowly approaching the dying mage. She could only watch as the abysmal darkness went on unimpeded in its advance. Her limbs and senses failed her as her vision slowly blurred and faded to black, a sign of her impending and inevitable death. Tears of sorrow fell down onto the bloody ground as the red river of life drained out from her body. This was the end for her. Yet, she had so much to do, so much to accomplish. She would cry out in anguish and despair if she could, but in such dismal and hopeless circumstances there was nothing she could do at all.
There was only black silence.
* * *
Her eyes opened to nothing, a black and infinite expanse that felt inhospitable yet welcoming at the same time. She felt herself at peace, almost fading into the darkness while feeling cold yet blissful and carefree. ‘Is this it? Is this Father’s Keeping? This is eternal paradise? Why is it so desolate? Isn’t it supposed to be filled with light?’ After asking herself these questions for what felt like an eternity, she stopped caring because she didn’t want to leave anymore.
Then, something stirred off in the distance. It looked like somehow in the darkness, the fabric of reality became twisted and arced. Then from the center of current came a tiny dot, a single spec of light that started to twinkle faintly in the seemingly infinite void. A very strange sound came from its direction in sharp contrast to silence of the inky darkness she currently found herself in. She decided to ignore the indecipherable noise that came upon her metaphysical ears, but something about this calling felt familiar, felt warm, and felt so consoling. Just as these thoughts came to mind, the darkness bit down hard with frosty, unseen teeth that dug deep into the fiber of her very being. She would scream if she could, but only the feeling of insignificance came to mind, upon realizing with great awe and despair what had bitterly seized her soul. It was Death itself.
She struggled with all her might. Every fiber of her being was crying out for her to break free and escape. Never in her life had she ever experienced such hopelessness, as if everything she had done was a vain and fruitless attempt to flee. She felt her fear fading as she almost gave in. But even when she lost faith in Hope, Hope would not give up so easily on her. The tiny white dot off in the distance grew in size exponentially to the magnitude of a small star and from it burst forth rays of radiant pure light which cut her unseen bonds that stretched from the maw of the abysmal darkness. It reached out with a ray bending toward and around her, seeming to defying the natural law as it did. She was allowed to have Hope again. She held on tight, clinging to the blinding beams of hope as she let out a metaphoric waterfall of tears filled with raw emotion. She could not contain her fears and feelings that returned to her as she realized that she, a mere mortal, had stepped into Death’s domain past the point of no return, then had been graciously saved from the darkness by banishing rays of Hope.
After what seemed like an eternity of crying, the bright arms began to pull her back towards the star that shone in the distance. It brought her closer to its outer boundary, piecing her with other parts of her life force it rescued from oblivion brought together by other bright arms of light. Now, she felt whole again, so full of energy and vigor. But something still felt odd, as if something was still missing. Some part of her so important, vital, and essential that without it she would become dull, void and grey once more, putting herself at the mercy of Death again and forevermore, drifting in its infinite and absolute grasp as a broken spirit. It was her physical body. A deathly look had formed on her non-existant face, realizing what she had been missing all this time. How did this happen? Who did this to her? Was she really dead? But fortunately for her, this Hope was not false in leading her back to life. She saw the star swell up then open to reveal something definite and tangible. It was her own soulless vessel that floated from out of it.
She went over to meet it in a reminiscent embrace as if greeting an old friend. Her soul started to fade into it, as she felt unconsciousness grip her. Its familiar blackness that seem to ebb her into the home of her physical mind had welcomed her to where she rightfully belonged.
* * *
“Think nothing of it. Now if you will, please follow me to the Princess,” Sunny Surprise replied with a sly smirk.
They all left the train station and headed for the town hall. It was pretty much a straight forward route when all of a sudden, the pegasus veered off to Sugar Cube Corner, wanting to drop by for a meal first. Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes at the act of inconsideration for making the Princess wait, but tried not to mind, hoping the pegasus wouldn’t delay them any longer than neccessary. After all, she decided it was about time they all had lunch as well, as their tummies rumbled in hungry affirmation.
Unfortunately for her, Sunny Surprise had something else in mind. After the little lunch break, the pegasus went on gallivanting all over and about Ponyville, exploring every nook and cranny under ‘orders’ to survey the area for any insignificantly impossible and incredible threat to Princess Celestia’s visit to the humble, rural town. They went to the Ponyville schoolhouse, inspecting it for ‘contraband’, then over to Sweet Apple Acres’, checking for poison in the cider which rubbed the Apples, especially Granny Smith, the wrong way and earned the ‘guest’ a hind hoof off premises from the proud and angry grand-matron. Strangely though, Pinkie dove in to take the hit for their guide, shocking the ponies present. Granny Smith apologized to the party pony and the group for her outburst but was still firm in her disdain opinion of their rude escort.
Leaving the farm, they then came upon Books and Branches, searching the treebary for any subversive literature, in spite of the librarian and her assistant’s insistence that no such content existed in the collection. Sunny Surprise ignored this and continued her ‘investigation’, deshelving and placing all the books on the floor, much to Twilight’s and to a greater extent, Spike’s displeasure and exasperation. After that, the pegasus stopped by Quills and Sofas to buy a very expensive and ornate quill and a very plush and comfy sofa as well. Then lastly, they went back again to Sugar Cube Corner for a very late dinner. Not even the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ tree house was spared. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle would be upset if they found out some upper-class pony had been snooping through their stuff. Not that there was anything of interest.
They had been taken on a wild goose chase which lasted well into the night. If not counting stars, the only remaining witnesses to their plight were Princess Luna’s moon, hanging in the night sky, and the occasional homeward-bound passerby who worked some sort of late shift in town. Poor ponies. It was now a late eleven thirty in the evening and if it weren’t for the love and tolerance everypony in Equestria held for each other, the fact she was a royal attendant, or that Princess Celestia wanted to see them, they would have handed her over to the authorities long ago for fraud. Everyone was visibly worn out and exasperated as Rarity started complaining about this not being good for her coat or something.
They had just about enough of their escort, while she began to make her way back to town hall, seeming unfazed by the half-day tour around town. All except Pinkie Pie, who was again being unusually level-headed about this which, unusually, her frustrated friends failed to notice. Another thing that escaped the group’s attention was a flash of light that came from the southeastern sky, in the direction of the Everfree Forest. It disappeared as mysteriously as it came, extremely brief to the point nopony noticed it at all. Nopony except for a certain pink mare, who made a glance in its direction as quickly as the flash faded.
They entered the building hesitantly following Sunny Surprise in, still wary of any tricks up their guide’s proverbial sleeves. Suddenly the doors slammed shut behind them and the lights went out.
* * *
End Chapter 2: Uncertainty and Criticism