Chapter 7: Twice
“Oh, look, he’s alive.”
“You think?”
Novell clawed his way back to consciousness slowly, the pit of nothingness vastly preferable to the splashes of memories beginning to spin through his head. A hollow feeling in his stomach coincided with his last thoughts before losing sight, sound, and awareness back on the mountainside. The image of a bold, annoying, funny, messy, orange pegasus stood out in his mind, grinning in fierce joy - a vibrant embodiment of life despite her flaws.
And now she was gone.
“No, I know. He’s obviously still breathing, Scrolls. Now be quiet,” a feminine voice admonished, trembling only slightly.
“You’re the one who started talking, Quills!” the response came in the slightly lower tenor of a colt.
“That’s because I’m the oldest. I get to talk and you get to be silent!”
The pegasus stirred as the voices once again pierced the haze he was living in, enough for him to twitch his weary muscles. His legs burned from the arduous trek, but aside from that, and the faint ache in his chest where the mare had tackled him, his body seemed to be in one piece. In fact, as he thought about it, he didn’t feel a single twinge of pain in his wing, even while laying directly on it. Rolling over groggily as he opened his eyes, Novell opened the damaged appendage and felt more than heard something fall.
Instantly the pain returned, along with a creeping tentacle of shadowy ice wending its way through his thoughts. Shivering in terror, the pegasus stamped down on the stone before he could succumb to the dark whispers and seductive suspicions. A white light seared away the shadows and pain, though his wing still throbbed with the remnants of the psychological intrusion.
Suddenly, he noticed his saddlebags were gone. His eyes flew open wide as he glanced at his bare flanks, searching the wall in front of him to see if they were perhaps leaning against it or hanging up. The thought of losing his mother’s gift was crushing. They were nowhere to be seen.
“Hey, you,” somepony called out from behind him before he could begin to panic. Novell started, having momentarily forgotten that he wasn’t alone. He twirled around with one hoof still on the moonstone and looked up in confusion at two earth ponies standing above him in what looked like bird cages made of ice. Icicles drooped down sinisterly from the cages, their wicked points glistening in the pale, white light above them. Novell looked up for the illumination, but spotted nothing that could be making it in the domed room. More magic. Great.
“Who are you?”
He flicked his eyes back toward the feminine voice, the earth pony looking at him with suspicion in her expression, and not a little fear. She was crouched down with her face near her front hooves and her hindquarters in the air, the innocuous action at odds with her demeanour. Her creamy peach coat was similar to the color of parchment, the image only exemplified by the three white quills adorning her flank. Teal hair styled in a bun and long bangs that almost covered her eyes contrasted well with her coloring. Novell’s eyebrows raised as he noticed her body was lean and not yet fully grown, the epitome of a teenage pony, around which was a stylish saddle the color of her mane. Fluffy cotton garnished the ends of it in a look that bespoke both a sense of fashion and practicality.
“Maybe he can’t talk. Havoc does that to people,” the caramel colored colt put in, roughly the same body height and weight as the other. The darker colored teal of his parted mane and tail were evidence that the two ponies were related. A scarf with two shades of orange decorated the teenage pony’s neck, matching well with his coat. Novell noticed a pile of three scrolls on his flank as the earth pony shuffled around in the suddenly swinging cage, seemingly agitated. “I don’t want to lose my voice again!”
“Oh, if only you would,” the one called Quills replied through gritted teeth, loud enough for Novell to hear. Her angrily slitted eyes moved from the pony back to Novell. “Anyway, answer my question, pegasus. Who are you?”
“Novell,” he replied in turn, tucking the moonstone back under his now pain free wing in a manner that hid the item from the two caged ponies.
Both of the ponies above him twitched in surprise at that, the male falling and slamming his face against the bars while the filly jerked back until her head hit the top of the rather small cage. Novell blinked at them, wondering what was so surprising about a simple name.
The filly recovered first. “Y-you mean, Novell, as in...omigosh, you...he...Scrolls! It’s him! It’s-.”
“- the blank flanked pegasus! The one he’s been searching for!” the colt completed her sentence excitedly, instantly forgetting his pain as he looked down in wonder at the new arrival.
“What? Who’s been looking for me?” Novell asked confusedly just as the siblings began to chatter, only pausing when the other took up the sentence.
Quills pranced in her cage excitedly as a smile appeared on her muzzle. “He’s the one that he’s been needing! I can’t believe that-.”
“- they finally found him! Oh, I wonder if this means we’ll be able to get-.”
“- out of here? Once he finds out Novell’s here, we’ll surely-.”
“Excuse me, can one of you ponies please tell me exactly what’s going on here? And where are we?” This time, the pegasus was the one to interrupt their sentences. They both looked down at him, their faces alight with happiness and the tell tale reflection of tears in their eyes. Novell felt another punch in his gut at the looks, so full of energy and life. He shoved it to the back of his mind in an effort to think rationally, which only slightly worked. There was still a dull ache in his heart, but he wasn’t focused on it due to the steady thread of comfort coming from the moonstone under his right wing.
“We,” the filly began, pointing at herself and her counterpart with one hoof, “are in cages, while you are free to move in the room for some stupid reason. We’re inside the mountain, as I’m sure you’ve guessed.”
“Why does he get to walk around anyway?” the colt responded petulantly before she could continue the explanation.
Quills eyed the other earth pony evilly until he shrunk down in his cage. “As to what’s going on, you’re here! The pony he’s been looking for! If you’re here, that means we might be able to finally get out of here!”
“Who’s this ‘he’ trying to find me?” Novell questioned confusedly. “Who would want to look for a blank flank pegasus?”
“Well, Professor Study Mark, of course!” the colt replied from his cage.
“Be quiet! I’m the one talking here, Scrolls!”
“You’re only five minutes older than me! I should be able to get to talk, too!”
“If you don’t shut your face-.”
“What? Are you going to reach through the cage?” Scrolls said, suddenly bold and sticking out his tongue at his sister.
“I’m going to pound you when I get out of here,” Quills replied frostily, her voice pitched low. The caramel colored pony winced at the tone in her voice, shrinking back down to his former position.
Novell watched the exchange with barely controlled frustration. He didn’t have time for a couple of young ponies to keep bickering - he needed to get out of here and find the Professor and do...something. He frowned as he tried to imagine what he could do to unfreeze the unicorn. Maybe the magic is like the Yeti’s and would go away if I take the Professor off of the mountain. His wing was strong enough and Novell shoved the thoughts of re-injuring it to the back of his mind. Friendship was worth the pain, especially when the alternative was worse - his one living friend being frozen in stasis forever.
“Study Mark is looking for me you said?” the pegasus prompted, idly looking around the small room to find a way to escape. Unfortunately, nothing stood out to him - it was as if the room was completely sealed away from the rest of the universe. The thought of being separated from the sky unsettled him, but he stuck it in the back of his mind with the rest of his worries and troubles. It was getting kind of full back there.
“Yes. We’re his assistants. We heard there was somepony in Hoofington who didn’t have a cutie mark and we told Professor Mark and then he said we should go find you, since you’re the one who had no cutie mark, but then the snow covered the pass so we went up the mountain and-.”
Novell held up a hoof to quiet the pony’s words, his headache growing with each passing second. “Please, breath when you talk.”
“Fine. We. Were. Going. To. Hoof-ing-ton. When.”
“Quit being silly, Quills, you know what he meant!” Scrolls said from the other cage, rolling his eyes at his sister. “I’m sorry about her, Novell. She can be annoying sometimes.” When the filly growled at him, he ignored her and continued, “Anyway, as she was saying, we were travelling to find you when we found the snow was blocking the pass. Professor Mark didn’t want to wait until the spring, so we decided to try and climb over the mountain. We were doing good, too, except-.”
“Except we’re here now, in cages, and Professor Mark is gone,” Quills said sharply, looking away with a tear in her eye. Novell frowned - obviously the two young ponies were more fearful than they let on.
“Gone? Where did he go?”
The two earth ponies looked at each other with a frightened glance then, both speaking simultaneously. “We can’t, well, tell you.”
Their message became clear, then, as Novell figured it out. Something was controlling them, or at least had promised them the same punishment Pensive had been speaking of before- he grimaced, continuing his thought despite the pain. Before he killed Whisper.
“I can tell you everything you need to know,” a soft, familiar voice came from behind Novell, as if summoned by his thoughts. The two ponies in their cages gasped in fright, huddling near the backs of their cages as they recognized the speaker. The pegasus gritted his teeth as he turned around to look at the teal unicorn.
“Pensive,” Novell said quietly, struggling to control the urge to scream and rage against the pony. “I trusted you. I-.”
“I am aware that you hate me,” Pensive interrupted, his eyes crinkling with sadness. “Most things do when they find out what I really am.”
The pegaus looked down, the moonstone a bright spot in the black fury threatening to overtake his brain. He latched onto the single golden thread, letting it fill his mind until it pushed back the dark clouds. They were still present, grumbling against his willpower, but it gave him room to think. His thoughts spun around furiously, debating back and forth on how to deal with the situation at hoof.
The image of Whisper’s wings being pinned to her sides and her last words as she stared at him in helpless surprise appeared in his head - he recognized it as a last ditch attempt by the darkness to lay claim to his mind. However, the image of a pillar pulling in a frightened young pony rang in response, the chain on the unicorn’s hind leg cold and heavy. Novell grimaced inwardly as he imagined how it would feel to be forever linked to something that would take over at the slightest disobedience. A sense of anticipation grew within him as he went further down the line of thought.
What is it? Novell couldn’t shake the feeling that something was prodding him toward a solution to his problems. He tightened his wing to check the moonstone, but aside from the steady stream of comfort it provided, he felt no hint of an answer within. Even so, a spark of interest grew in him as he thought, not dissimilar to the one he’d felt when he had first laid eyes on the wooden sculpture of flame at the inn.
A tugging sensation came from both his wing and the direction Pensive was standing in, the reverberation in his chest filling his head with possibilities. He looked up at the unicorn, seizing on the feeling and allowing a plan bloom in his head. There was little chance it would work, but it was the best he could come up with at such short notice.
“...I still trust you,” the pegasus continued in a hushed tone, glancing back up into the unicorn’s eyes and boring into them with his stare. “It’s not your fault. I know it isn’t. I saw...I know.”
Isn’t this quaint, a sinister voice said from everywhere at once, dripping with sarcasm. Novell’s eyes widened as he recognized the tones - they had been following him ever since he’d climbed the mountain. Oh, I’ve been with you longer than that, young pegasus. Bring him to me, now.
The last order was directed at Pensive, who fell to his knees from the power of the voice’s command. The two ponies in the cages whimpered and closed their ears with their hooves, too afraid to even look around as the cavern shook. Icicles fell from the bottom of their prisons, striking the ground around Novell. The pegasus didn’t move a muscle, already having predicted the paths the icy blades would take as they fell. He chewed his lip in an effort not to think of his plan, hoping whatever was looking into his thoughts hadn’t seen it.
Pensive stared at him for a moment before lifting a hoof as if inviting the pegasus to dance. He hesitatingly accepted it, noticing the unicorn close his eyes and grit his teeth at the contact. A faint blue light grew from the horn in the teal pony’s forehead, semisolid ethereal loops expanding and slowly covering them.
“I trust you,” Novell repeated as the magic swirled around the two ponies. Pensive looked into his eyes with a distressed expression, so unlike his normally neutral demeanour that the pegasus cringed inwardly in sympathy. After a few more seconds, the magic shut out the world around them until they were standing in a nimbus of blue energy. Novell didn’t know how much effort the task of transporting two ponies required, but he was impressed by the power displayed by the unicorn in front of him. Even in this hopeless situation, his analytical mind filed everything away for future use.
A moment later, the wall of Pensive’s magic dissipated, leaving them once more in the cold heart of the mountain. Novell blinked, looking around at the room, stalactites and stalagmites made of ice and rock all around the edge of the room like some giant beast’s mouth. He shuddered at the mental image and turned around to behold a block of ice with a familiar face within it.
“Professor!” Novell cried, his composure forgotten as he raced toward the pony. He was stopped by Pensive’s magic before he moved far at all, his body straining against the immobilization to get closer to the frozen pony. Professor Search stared back at him sightlessly, his face a mask of indignation and surprise and his mouth open as if to utter an angry protest.
Fantastic expression, isn’t it? a voice said in his mind, sibilant and wheedling while still maintaining an aura of power. I do so love the reaction ponies have when they feel betrayed. It’s so...gratifying.
Novell looked up from the Professor to find out exactly where the voice was coming from.
Follow the cold shiver streaming down your spine, it hissed. Novel froze, a shock of cold running from the base of his skull to the tip of his tail. He turned with widened eyes and heavy breathing, spying the source. His eyes alighted on an icy formation, his skin feeling as if it was staring into the brittle bareness of deep winter. Only the warmth from the crystal under his wing kept him from sharing the Professor’s fate it seemed to him. Stairs the same color as the icy walls around him lead up to a raised platform, upon which a throne made completely of clear crystal resided. Cracks threaded their way through the chair, lending it the thought that the slightest touch could turn it into rubble.
A single mote of white light gently bobbed in the middle, right above the seat, vapory contrails radiating out from it and misting away as it moved. The will o’ the wisp, the young pegasus thought, remembering what he had seen in the woods. It’s been with me that long?
Laughter, slow and seductive, came from the direction of the ball of light. You’re getting warmer, it whispered ironically as another wave of chilling air swept over him. While he didn’t feel the cold, his wings frosted over from the temperature and seemed to almost sap the strength from them. He ruffled them uncomfortably, the muscles in the appendages weak and sluggish. The motion jarred the stone under his right wing, the warmth from it melting the ice.
Despite the action possibly giving up his one advantage in the situation, Novell fiercely thought of other things. Thankfully, it wasn’t too hard, considering his mind had been filling with more and more questions as time within the mountain plodded slowly onward.
“What are you?” the pegasus gave voice to his most pressing question.
Oh, there are quite a few names for me, and a few descriptions as well. Suffice it to say, I’m a being willing to make a deal - one which a pony such as yourself will no doubt find immensely fascinating, the voice began.
“You killed my friend and imprisoned another. Why should I give you anything?” Novell countered, inwardly hoping he wasn’t making a mistake. He gritted his teeth against the unwanted thought of Whisper’s passing, but continued on regardless. Mourning could come later, when he had freed his friends.
Again, laughter rang in the back of his mind like the tolling of bells, their rings chaotic and tuneless. Because I have the power to make the one thing above all in your mind happen!
A flutter of nervous excitement ran through his breast at those words, making it hard to breath for a few seconds. He resisted the urge to look toward his bare flank, focusing instead on the image of Whisper disappearing into the mist. The thought of his friend gave him the ability to fight against the temptation, even as it pierced another hole through his heart.
She was only going to break it later, young Novell, the wisp said in his mind, brightening at the thought. The opportunity to travel with her one source of entertainment and then laugh at you in spite of your efforts was simply too much for her to resist. A mare after my own heart.
“No,” he muttered as he thought of her insulting him above the skies of Hoofington so long ago. “She was my friend.”
Was she? Tsk, tsk, tsk, so naive. I don’t recall one moment where she did anything but laugh and make fun of you, ‘blank flank’. In fact, I never saw a hint of friendship in her mind, unlike your rather pathetic reasoning that she followed you because she was having fun with you around. Though, I suppose you were right, in a way. She did so enjoy laughing at your face.
The pegasus winced at the accusation, his will faltering in the face of the wisp’s words. Dark clouds kept at bay began to circulate through his head once more. Before they could get a hold on him, Novell stomped his hoof against the icy floor and snorted. The voice couldn’t be right. Could it?
“Tell me your deal or let me go back to my cage,” he responded with a frown on his face, suddenly afraid that the whole situation was hopeless.
Such harsh words for your only real friend.
“You’re not my friend.”
But I’ve only told you the truth, never leading you astray. Have I not always been right? Have my words of advice not been revealed as truth along your journey? I’ve even helped you remember your mother’s lullaby when you were lonely. Don’t you remember?
The hum of Feather Light’s voice resounded through his mind and a peace washed through the pegasus’ chest. Novell closed his eyes and joined the lullaby with his own voice as he forgot everything but his mother’s tune. Her love, her heady smell, the constant reminder of her in the saddlebags he kept on his flank filling his mind. It was-.
I’ve kept them with me to remind myself of my dreams. I hope they can help you chase your own, now, the memory of her words broke through the tune. His dreams, his hope to find out what he was meant to do. A sense of purpose came over the pegasus, Novell’s ears twitching as he noticed a slight difference in both sets of his mother’s voice. The melody faded as he examined it in his mind, a cold, implacable intent behind the notes at odds with how he remembered the lullaby - the real one. And then the spell broke.
The pegasus ruffled his wings again and glared at the ball of white bobbing innocently over the throne. Get out of my head, Novell growled inwardly. He felt a small feeling of surprise from the voice in his head, followed by a chilling amusement.
As you wish, young Novell, the wisp replied, departing from its throne and circling once around his head. He stared straight ahead, ignoring the mote of white centimeters away. More amusement rippled from it, followed by words as it returned to the throne. My deal is as such: In return for giving you the knowledge of your purpose in this world, I want you to find a way out of this prison for me.
“You expect me to believe you know what I’m supposed to do when I don’t?” Novell asked, quelling the temptation to give in. He wasn’t exactly sure the wisp wasn’t telling the truth about knowing his special talent, but he wasn’t entirely convinced it did, either. Involuntarily, he gave a quick glance around the room to see if he could find any escape, but he resolutely closed his eyes and turned back to the bob of white in front of him.
Why, of course. That pony, Study Mark. He knew quite a bit about your...what did he call them? Ah, yes. Cutie marks, the voice said sarcastically. I gave him a similar deal to your own for information on you, young pegasus. He gave me the knowledge you so sorely seek, and I gave him knowledge in return. I am admittedly quite interested in exactly how you would react if you knew. But before I indulge in my curiosity, you must find a way for me to escape. Is such a simple request so much to ask?
“You’re powerful. Why can’t you get out yourself?” the pegasus replied heatedly, looking at the icy prison around him again. He clamped down on the curiosity, cursing his natural inclination to examine and extrapolate. Instead, he focused his thoughts inward - he didn’t know exactly why the entity was cajoling him into finding an exit when he wasn’t exactly sure where in the mountain he was.
Oh, I can, but not fully. Your ‘friend’ behind you is evidence of that. Why don’t you ask him about how he knows so much about you when you’ve only just met.
Novell glanced backwards at Pensive, who looked down to avoid his gaze. Things clicked into place, then, as he put all the information he knew about the unicorn came together. The way he seemed to be able to appear and disappear at will, the fact that he had no cutie mark, the way he was able to slip into pony’s minds, and finally, his words that Novell would hate him when he found out what he was. Suddenly, the chain and icy pillar made sense, a new loathing forming in his mind toward the wisp as he realized the implications of his realization. Pensive Coalescence...thought realized.
I see you understand, then. But I can also see you need time to think this over. I will grant you that, the wisp continued, still amused. Put him back with the others.
Novell felt the pressure on his mind he hadn’t known was there go away as the unicorn came up beside him, the wisp no longer focusing his mind on the pegasus’. Gasping and breathing hard from the effort of the mental exchange, the white pony looked into Pensive’s eyes, seeing himself reflected there. He spoke before the unicorn could transport them away, magic already forming at the base of the horn.
“You’re a thought. His thought!”
Pensive nodded, careful to keep his expression blank though they both knew he was in pain behind the mask. “Yes, as my name suggests. Though I wish you had figured it out sooner.”
“Me, too,” Novell grinned at the unicorn with a cheer he didn’t really feel, his expression eliciting a faint surprise in his friend’s face. “I really should have thought of the synonyms. Pretty clever, in hindsight. ”
Pausing slightly in his magical teleportation, the unicorn furrowed his brows and frowned. “Thank you.”
They descended into silence after that, the pegasus looking wistfully at the Professor still locked in the ice. I’ll be back for you, Novell promised the explorer as the nimbus of ethereal energy once more surrounded them. A few moments later, they were back in the room with the two caged ponies, both of whom looked at him curiously through their bars.
Ignoring them for the moment, Novell spoke to the unicorn before he could disappear, his voice pitched low. “You can help us get out of here. You’re a pony, just like me, whatever your origins.”
“I am the creation of my originator, bound to him as a slave to a master. I can no more rail against him than if I were still part of the collection of thoughts,” the unicorn replied, as if by rote, his horn already glowing to transport himself elsewhere.
“I can’t accept that, and I know you can’t either,” the pegasus replied, making a decision that could have catastrophic effects if he was wrong about this. He opened his wing to let the moonstone fall into his waiting hoof and held it in front of him, his one lifeline in the den of insanity threatening to take hold of him. “I trust you.”
The unicorn looked even more distressed than ever now, staring at the crystal in the pegasus’ hand with dismay. “Keep it hidden. He does not know of it and it is the only way you can resist him!”
“And why doesn’t he know about it, if you’re part of him, Pensive?” Novell pressed, moving closer to the other pony. “You’re separate, now. This is evidence, right here, that you’re your own pony. That you’re my friend. You can be more than a thought!”
Pensive winced away, but the pegasus continued and placed the stone in his friend’s hoof. He had to do this, whatever the consequences.
Friendship sets free the shackles of fear.
Calm assailed them both as their minds linked once more, the dark clouds in their thoughtspace drawing away to reveal the full moon overhead. The pillar of ice emerged from the still, white water below them, the small pony looking up at him with curiosity and fear warring in his eyes. The pegasus returned the glance, offering a key the color of crystal to the slave, his magnificent wings ruffling against the cold.
The unicorn’s fear brightened, the pillar behind him giving off a ghastly glow. Novell didn’t blink, still holding out the key to their freedom. In a faint part of his mind, the pegasus thought he heard a voice telling him not to do this. He couldn’t tell if it was the voice from the moonstone or the wisp’s foul whispering, but he ignored it either way. This was the correct path to take - the only one that mattered.
Slowly, hesitantly, the tiny unicorn reached for the key, the glowing increasing the closer he came. The waters around them grew turbulent as Novell released possession of the key, dark clouds threatening to overshadow the glow of the moon above them. A second later, the shackle holding the hind leg of the pony opened and blurred into mist, disappearing into thin air. With a sudden crash of splintering ice, the pillar fell into the waters around them and the clouds once more were banished from the heavens.
Novell’s heart pounded as something shifted in his world, as if the universe slotted itself into focus. And then the feeling passed, the unicorn in front of him no longer small, no longer weak and helpless. Pensive stared at him in wonder, still holding the key as it transformed into a swirling eddy of magic, twisting through the air between them before moving with purpose toward the unicorn’s flank. The dust adhered to the coat there, forming a pattern of glittering dust as the glow of the moon enveloped them both. A soft, pale light flashed and then they were both back in the real world.
“Pensive,” the pegasus said as reality reasserted itself, pointing with one hoof at his friend’s flank. Novell’s eyes were wide open as he stared at what had appeared there, surprise and triumph echoing through his mind at the sight. The unicorn’s eyes were glazed, but he twisted around to stare where the pegasus was pointing. After a moment of looking at it, the teal pony’s eyes flew open with realization.
The image of a cloud obscuring half of a crescent moon had appeared, as if it had always been there. A cutie mark.
“I knew it!” Novell crowed, a smile gracing his dazed face. “Well, I didn’t know, but I knew something was going to happen. You got your cutie mark, Pensive! You’re...you’re not just a thought anymore!”
“I-, I-,” Pensive stammered, tears appearing in his eyes and running freely down his perplexed face. “What is happening? Am I...not well?”
“Those are tears,” Novell looked down at his hooves, his mood tempered by recent events. On one hoof, he was extraordinarily happy for his friend, while on the other, his own flank remained suspiciously bare. He mentally kicked himself for worrying about it when there were still things to be done, but continued on regardless. “That’s something, right?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never...been free. I will have to...think...,” he replied softly, rubbing his eyes with fascination as he stared at the tears in his hoof and blinked, “...by myself...? It’s so...clear and...quiet.”
With a start, the pegasus realized his own mind was still clear from the wisp’s control. He could think clearly, perhaps more clearly than the moonstone itself had provided. A small grin appeared on his face as he glanced toward his friend’s flank, thanking whichever goddess was listening for giving him this small gift.
“Hate to interrupt, but could you get us out of here now that you’re one of the good guys? Or do you not have a plan?” a frustrated female voice cut into his thoughts.
“Just a second and, well, no,” Novell admitted, looking back to the two earth ponies staring strangely at them from their cages. “I’m kind of winging it as I go along.”
“Ah aha,” Pensive laughed in a monotone, his muzzle still absent of a grin, though his eyes showed the faintest hints of mirth. “That was a joke, was it not?”
Despite himself, Novell let his grin grow wider and ruffled his wings in embarrassment, inwardly glad his friend was displaying more emotion - it boded well for the future. “Unintentional, but yeah. It was a joke. Any suggestions on what to do next?”
“Getting us out of here wouldn’t be such a bad start,” Quills repeated sarcastically from her cage, her voice huffy. “Maybe I’ll even tell you what he is if-.”
“Tell him?” Scrolls exclaimed, looking at his sister as if she were nuts. “He would turn us inside out just for the fun of it if we told hi-.”
“Calm down, you don’t need to tell me anything,” the pegasus assuaged their worries with a dismissive hoof. “I just need to get the Professor out of that ice and he can tell me what I need to know. Before that, though-.”
“The Professor is still here?” Quills and Scrolls screeched at once, dread plain on their faces.
“Sorry, I meant my Professor. Professor Renaldo Eduardo Search,” Novell supplied absently as he tried to come up with a plan. Honestly, he figured they would be able to get out with Pensive’s help and avoid fighting anything. The idea of trying to go up against that wisp in the throne room was enough to make him despair. So they needed a distraction.
“You brought that...that...poor excuse for a pony here?” Quills asked in a tone that broke the pegasus from his planning. Novell looked up at her, confused.
“What?”
“Nothing,” the filly said, sticking up her nose and managing to look snooty despite her current location. Novell rolled his eyes, looking over to the male twin, hoping he would be more helpful.
“You don’t have to tell me anything specific,” the pegasus said slowly, scratching at the ice floor with a hoof, “But I do need to know if it’s possible to beat...whatever he is.”
“Anything is possible, I suppose,” the colt replied, raising a hoof to his chin. “But a Drac-.”
“Don’t say it!” his sister hissed from her hanging cell.
“But he,” Scrolls emphasized the word, glaring at his sister, “is an incredibly powerful...thing. Unless you have an object of great power, I would suggest getting us out of here quietly.”
“Helpful,” Novell replied, turning to his friend. “Pensive, you know what he is. Do we have a chance at fighting him?”
The unicorn managed to look embarrassed, looking down at the floor. “I’m afraid most of my knowledge of my creator was lost when you severed my link with him. I am...only able to tell you that he was imprisoned here by...something long, long ago. Everything else is...fuzzy.”
“By Princess Celestia?”
Pensive looked up and shook his mane negatively. “No...it wasn’t an alicorn...”
Suddenly, Quills spoke, her voice monotoned and her eyes vacant. “Long before the Princess of the Night’s banishment, two entities of chaos ruled the world. One, by the name of Discord, was the incarnation of playful chaos, a Draconaquis who had chosen to enjoy his pony playthings in Equestria-.”
“-While the other, Havoc, was the incarnation of the darker side - a brother from the far reaches of the world, who cared little for any race,” Scrolls intoned in the same manner, staring into nothingness. “Lording over others was his passion, placing deer against zebra, pony against camel, and buffalo against moose in an effort to amuse himself. War shrouded the lands outside Equestria and Havoc reveled in the chaos that resulted.”
“Yet even as the foundations of the empire created by the two crumbled into warring tribes intent on destroying one another, Discord sought a way to extend his rule - a way to continue his ‘fun’ - and came up with one solution. Tricking his counterpart into an icy tomb was simple for a master manipulator, and thus was Havoc trapped within this mountain to seethe for eternity,” Quills finished, falling to the floor of her cage, breathing hard while her brother mirrored her.
“What...was that?” Novell asked, surprised and perturbed at the effort the simple pronunciations had seemed to cause the twins.
Suddenly, Quills twitched and cried out in pain, the cage around her brightening with an evil light. Scroll’s voice issued from the other, where the same thing was happening. They screamed together as their prisons grew to a blinding radiance, Novell having to shield his eyes with a hoof.
“Pensive! Get them out of there! Now!” the pegasus yelled, gritting his teeth against the light. As the unicorn disappeared in his unique way, Novell stood there, helpless to relieve the twins from their pain.
A second later, the light winked out as the prisons shrunk to the size of a small snowball, falling to the ground with a muted thunk against the ice. Still blinded, the pegasus tried to blink away the afterimages, a headache forming in between his eyes. The pain increased steadily, until all he could see was white. He felt himself drop to the floor, his hooves automatically pressing against his skull in an effort to keep it from splitting in half.
A horrible thought occurred to him, then, as a sinister chuckle drifted through his mind. He’d given the moonstone to Pensive, where it had dissolved into his friend’s flank as a cutie mark. And now his friend was nowhere near him.
A distraction? Havoc’s voice whispered, amusement crackling through their mental link. Trying to outwit a god, are we? I admire that in a pony, but the time for thinking has passed - it’s time for you to do what I’ve asked for you. Whether you like it or not...
A blue miasma surrounded the pegasus, pulling him into a senseless dimension of swirling snow and fragmented thoughts.