//------------------------------// // Day 3.2 - Lapis Lazuli // Story: Curses // by Kim Kimera Kimes //------------------------------// *click* Pulling a tiny key out of the lock of his room, the blue unicorn put it away in his saddlebags. He trotted down the stairs, spotting SilkShine at work. “I see you later, miss Shine,” Lapis Lazuli said to the beige mare working behind the counter. SilkShine lifted her head from the papers to answer; “Have fun, Mr. Lazuli.” She has a nice smile, he thought, as he passed by a red Pegasus. The grey streaks in his orange mane waved in the wind. He could not leave the mountain yet, the wind was still too strong. He turned his head to check his cloak. The piece of clothing sticked to his coat just like the spell he had casted over it should do. He was worried that the spell would come undone during this storm but it seemed to hold as usual. Speaking about spells… Through the sound of the wind, a lot of shouting could be heard from behind the inn. Lapis grinned as he heard it. It seemed his Cursemark spell did its work. This time he had the right pony with the target spell, instead of the one he cursed last night. Meh, he was an accident, a case of wrong place, wrong time. The important thing was he got that chatterbox of a mare. He hated ponies like her, always talking, gossiping about other ponies,…about him. Sneaky behind their backs, making them look bad in the eyes of others, while smiling when facing them. Well, the Cursemark crafted a nice curse for her, now she can’t gossip silently anymore until her voice growed hoarse and you can’t hear her anymore. Which is truthfully told, a relief. In his hometown of Hoovington, they were talking often about him, being a freak of nature, a failure. Embarrassing him because he was different, because he still had something they lost. Even still when he was just a colt, other ponies ridiculed him, growing in number and in strength as he got older. His family eventually shunned him, not wanting a pony like him leading the family business. I should one day get back at them. He awoke from his thoughts. While submersed in them, he had somehow made his way to the town’s centre. Even though there was still a strong wind blowing, the town seemed to slowly come back alive. Well as far as he could imagine it, since he was never here before the storm caused everyone to stay indoors. Yesterday it was far too harsh to go outside, even though some other ponies did. But now the wind had lessened he could enjoy the wind blowing through his mane and across his coat, slightly leaning against the wind to maintain balance. He stood still, closing his eyes, taking a deep breath and enjoying the moment. A little bit of solitude, while the wind caressed him. He wondered what to call the feeling he experienced, powerful, a sense of speed or was it more like adventurous? He couldn’t decide. A whiff of apples entered his nose, instilling a small appetite for fruit in the blue pony. Opening his eyes and following his nose, he tracked down the scent, eventually leading him to a grocery store. In front of it stood two tables with fruits and vegetables. With a small light from his horn Lapis picked up two apples, then turned towards the shop, opened the door and entered it. A quick glance through the shop found him the owner of the shop, handling a payment from a tall white earth pony. As that pony turned he saw a silver star pinned on the jacket the pony was wearing; a sheriff’s star. It reminded Lapis why he had come here. He had made a fake trail that leaded away from this mountain and prayed the investigators wouldn’t think that he would go up the mountain, to a potential dead-end. The storm has held him here for three days, but it also made it very dangerous for anypony else to climb the mountain. “Uhm, sir?” said Golden Greens to the absentminded Lapis. “Oh, sorry!” He replied. After buying the apples, he trotted out back on the street, an half eaten apple in his magical hold. Climbing up the mountain to the higher parts of town, he crossed a small stone bridge over a mountain creek, when he hears laughing. Looking at the source of the laughter, it were two foals, blank flanks and all, playing in the water of the creek. He stopped, and stared at the foals. His heart increased in weight as old memories flooded his mind. It has been about forty years now, was it? Forty years since I started become a pariah, forty long years I have been hiding myself, no, I have been hiding this blank flank of mine. He remembered the times he tried various things to try and find his talent, trying to help his mother, his father, the maids but nothing helped, a mark did not appear. He was the oldest of his class, but slowly he had to witness as everypony he ever knew from childhood friends to foals not a month old, they all grew up one by one and attained a mark, leaving him behind. As he became older, he started to worry increasingly about it. He thought he could find his mark in magic, even though he was not great at it. He studied a wide variety of magic, to no avail. The only thing it helped him with, was to become an expert at cutiemarks. Many times in his life it had been pointed out by himself and others, how ludicrously ironic that is, for a blank flank to be an expert on cutiemarks. But he got them now, didn’t he? He found out how to produce Cursemarks, crafting a curse that hinders a ponies talent that their cutiemark represents. Although it is not so clear to those who have yet to attain a mark, it still gives them an interesting curse that will trouble them for the rest of their life. Lapis suddenly thought of something. Would a Cursemark disappear on a ponies death and the real cutiemark appear if that pony was cursed ever since being a blank flank? He pondered the idea, but let it go soon afterwards. It would be of no use for him to study it, he was older then any of the ponies he cursed, he would die long before they would, given a ponies normal lifespan. Yet, to life with a Cursemark for the rest of ones life. Would they regret wanting a cutiemark in the first place, since now it only gives them trouble? As he thought of it, he watched the two foals splashing around cheerfully. Flying high above the blue unicorn was a certain red Pegasus, wildly waving to a group of ponies just within viewing distance. Swiftly they cantered to the spot Lofty Dreams was pointing too. The sheriff had brought his two earth pony deputies, Silverspeed and Headway to assist him, given the threat Lapis Lazuli poses to the town. Jumping over the creek, Silverspeed decided to corner the blue unicorn from the other side of the bridge. In remembrance of his melancholic past, Lapis glazely looked at the playing ponies. A sudden crunching sound woke him from his memories. Dull he turned his head to the source of the sound, spotting the town’s sheriff and a brown pony eyeing him angrily. Fear spiked in his mind; have I been found out? A heavy hoofstep alerted him to the other side of the bridge, a silver colored pony stared at him fiercely. A gust of wind stroked his mane, but it did not caress but threaten as a red pegasus descended menacing in front of him. Lapis shivered. He was found out. Not by the national investigators who were chasing him, but by the locals, before he even left the town! This was absolutely bad, he needed to escape, he needed to get away! He lit his horn and turned around, jumping on the stone railing. The pegasus burst forth attempting to capture Lapis. The only thing he caught was remnants of magic, as Lapis reappeared past the two foals playing in the creek. He accelerated into gallop quickly, using the small lead that he had, as the pegasus yelled; “Come back here, Lapis!” Swiftly he barrelled through the town, bumping into its inhabitants as he tried to get away from the four ponies following him. Their clops were getting louder. For a moment Lapis searched the sky. A quick glance found what he was looking for. Lapis lit his horn and barely sidestepped the red pegasus as he landed hard on the spot he just stood on. The Pegasus turned around as Lapis released his magic on him, sending him flying into a nearby house. Lapis didn’t look back to see if the pegasus stood up again, he quickly dashed forward with full speed as he saw the sheriff and the two other ponies appear. He spotted a higher level of rock he could use to get away. Straining his mind, he found himself standing upon it in a flash. Confident in his distance, he allowed himself to take a good look at his pursuers. Straight after him was the sheriff and his brown pony assistant running towards him a level lower. But where was the silver colored pony? His ears twitched as he heard a separate set of hoofbeats coming his way. Turning his head to the source, he spotted the silver pony being very near him. He hastily send out a bolt of magic before running away again. Going by the sound, the magic didn’t hinder the earth pony in the slightest and the other two were not far behind. Suddenly a cold feeling grabbed his gut. Right in front of him was the mine. There were storage houses left and right, but there wasn’t any room to escape nor hide. All there was left to do was to head into the mine and try to lose them there. Lighting his horn, Lapis Lazuli lifted the yellow tape covering the mouth of the cavern and plunged into the darkness of the mine. He lit his horn creating the smallest light possible for him to see in without making it easy for the sheriff to find him. From behind him at the mouth of the cavern he heard ponies shout to turn on the power in the mine. He smiled when he heard that. Yet as he was running through the cavern, he heard a second set of hoofbeats echoing through it. Somepony was following him. He continued on, his ears fixed on the sound behind him, his eyes concentrating on the path and rail tracks barely visible in the glow from his horn. Leaving the powerless elevator for what it is, Lapis ran straight past it, going into one of the older halls of the mine and part of the original cavern. Galloping through the corridor, the tiny light from his horn showed barely the way. Large rocks left and right of the path make it feel cramped, on one occasions it tore part of his cloak off, revealing his blank flank for all to see. Lapis regretted that it happened, but he was more afraid of the pony behind him. Trying out an idea, he started climbing the rocks attempting to find an hiding spot. With his muscles starting to burn from exertion he climbed up and jumped down, running further until he needed to climb again. As he still heard the pursuing pony he grew afraid he wouldn’t be able to hide and escape, certainly not with the small light guiding the both of them. Turning his head, he searched for any sign of his pursuer in the darkness. Nothing moved in it, only the sound of hooves on the rocky floor were any indication of where the pursuing pony was. Trying to create some distance, Lapis’ hooves hit the ground furiously trying to get away, until there was no more. His heart halted in fear as he turned his head forward, looking down on the ground. Except that there was no longer anything under his hooves but the pitch-black darkness. His stomach felt like a block of ice as he accelerated, his mind was numb with fear. Wind brushed his coat, as he fell down into the dark abyss. Life flashed before him, his foalhood, being wasted by his rich parents training him to carry on his father’s legacy, his adolescence: when his father became rejective of him because he had no cutiemark. Years flashed by spending in the library, researching the mark. A painful memory came by, him fighting his soon to be ex-girlfriend for ridiculing his lack of a mark. It was a moment that still left him with a pang of guilt. Another reason to fear SilkShine’s warmth. More memories came by. The old library, where he got permission to study the more occult tomes, and where he found a hidden gem among them. The first time he used the curse on a pony, and its result. THAWMP! CRACK! Darkness, darkness everywhere when Lapis opened his eyes again. His mind was fuzzy, he didn’t know if he had been out cold or- PAIN! A red hot blazing pain erupted it from his right foreleg, his senses blared that something had gone very wrong. Though they also told him he was still alive and had survived the drop. Clenching his teeth, he lit his horn with light again, but the small light flickered out as the next wave of pain broke Lapis’ concentration. He tried again, stronger, it was not that he had to worry about his pursuers for the moment, he had other problems. The light remained lit at the tip of his horn, flickering as the pain came and went. As Lapis gazed at his leg, the sight of it was stomach churning. Blood flowed into a puddle around his leg, springing forth from a wound where white bone had broken through the skin. Looking at the wound, he somehow felt inspired, his mind cleared, the pain seemed to ebb away. He started channelling magic in his horn, aiming for the wound. The white bone stirred, slowly retreating back into the flesh where it belonged, an odd sense of a click was felt, the bone merging with its other halve, becoming whole again. The wound followed there after but less precise. As Lapis looked on all there remained was a slight bulge of flesh and an ugly scar. He felt odd. He lifted his formerly broken leg, testing it out. The pain had mostly subsided, all there remained was a pulsating feeling. Lapis didn’t know he could do this, it just felt like he had always done it. A warm feeling engulfed him, a strange sensation in this cold cavern. A flash lit the cavern, just a few meters away from him, stood an unicorn, looking at him fiercely. Fear returned in his mind. Another flash occurred right beside him. He twisted his head, looking at the next pony appearing. But there wasn’t any there. But still shining, though dimming fast, was a mark consisting of a red cross overlaid with two bones, one broken, one whole. His severely overdue cutiemark. (this needs to be dramatized) His mind was blank, so many thoughts shot through his head they eliminated each other. So he cried, years had been spent trying to find his mark, thousands of books had been consulted to no avail. Yet here it was, his personal holy grail. Ponies forget at times how significant this is. But Lapis knew. He adored his mark, the bright red of the cross, the pure white of the bones, he could help ponies with this! A sudden realization struck. “I…could…have…helped?” he muttered. The unicorn who had been watching the strange scene unfold, approached the muttering stallion. He took out a ring and shoved it over Lapis’ horn, the light emitting from it fading away. “You are under arrest,” he said to Lapis. Lapis turned his head towards the unicorn, his eyes streaming with tears. “I-I-I was supposed…to help ponies?”