//------------------------------// // A Romp Through the Forest // Story: Nothing Ever Truly Fades... // by Archmage Ansrit //------------------------------// After sending princess Celestia a letter explaining her recent ability, which Rarity seemed to share to a lesser extent, Twilight, Spike, Pinkie Pie and Rarity made their way to the marketplace. They had last seen Rainbow Dash fly over there, and it was certain they would find Applejack. Sure enough, they found the former next to the stand of the later. "Cutie Mark Crusader Dog Trainers!" The war cry of three rambunctious fillies made more than one market stand owner flinch in fear of what might happen next. Which was number five, type three in Twilight's 'CMC escapades' list: The Crusaders chase an animal through the market. A dog this time, if they hadn't made it obvious. Sweetie Belle, Rarity's sister, a white unicorn with a light purple and pink mane, Scootaloo, an orange pegasus with a violet mane, and Applebloom, Applejack's sister, a yellow earth pony with a crimson mane. Two of them chased the poor dog, at first glance stuck inside a pale blue box, while Applebloom stood on top of it rodeo-style. "Applebloom!" Applejack tried to scold her sister, but ultimately had to jump out of the way. On a second look, Twilight noticed that the dog was not stuck inside a box... the dog itself was shaped like a box! This qualified as 'strange', which also meant it qualified for panic! No! Bad Twilight! No panicking until Celestia says it's OK to panic! Applejack got a grip on the situation before she could, however. Whistling loudly -and it was loud- she ordered the dog to sit. This had the unfortunate side-effect of making it stop so abruptly that the earth filly was tossed into the air, landing on a shrub and toppling the planter, while Sweetie and Scootaloo tripped over their hooves trying to stop and sent them to the ground. The box-dog (dog-box?) turned around, barking and wagging its tail happily. Its little triangular ears pointed towards the hat-wearing apple farmer, while its short stubby legs did what they could to make it adopt a normal sitting position. "Now, where did yah come from?" The orange farmpony asked, not that she expected an answer, but rather from the sheer oddity of having a brick-shaped animal bark at her. "Ah found it over at th' edge of th' orchard!" Applebloom jumped out of the fallen shrubbery and ran up to her sister. "Dogbox may look strange, but is very nice!" Twilight took a good look at it... the energy swirling around it was pretty much colorless and neutral, unlike (for example) Spike's, which was red, fiery, and hot. "Dogbox." Rainbow Dash deadpanned, raising an eyebrow at the fillies. The aura itself wasn't the interesting thing, though; it bonded and connected with Applebloom and Applejack! Not quite in the same way friends' did with each other, but rather in how owner and pet did! A little deeper than a simple pet's, though. "Yup! We came up with the name ourselves!" Sweetie piped in, proud of their accomplishment. "We're trying to teach it some tricks!" Scootaloo jumped into the air and flapped her wings for a second, making a buzzing noise not unlike a bumblebee's. "Spike, take a note please." Twilight said, paying close attention at the strange (new? Cursed? Mutated?) animal in front of them. Then she saw a huge explosion of gold, white, black and purple coming from the Everfree Forest, felt two presences (which Rarity also picked up) and shortly afterwards there were two echoing roars, which everypony could hear. She turned around, as did everypony else. Then they saw them. ***** Some time before "Yellow Shogs?" Leonard asked, a playful smirk on his face. He was eyeing the six small, pliable monsters with mild amusement. The things resembled an oversized serving of flan without the caramel and with huge eyes, so it was easy to see why. "They are the easiest thing to control I have of the Light element." Russell couldn't help but envy Leonard a little. He had three drop or flame-shaped monsters with red scythes at the end of their arms and a trio of bats! Leonard had always been proficient with monsters, being half-blooded, and on top of it those two types of monsters were easy to control (even if Darkness monsters tended to be a little more bloodthirsty than others when wild). "Ghosts and Bats are not going to win any wars, Russell." Leonard said, somehow managing a shrug. "They just have to get us out of this forest." And hopefully they would serve that purpose well, given that the more powerful options were out... well, more like extremely unreliable. The monsters won't harm anything they don't tell them to, having already captured them and bonded with them, but they were very likely to wander off on their own and attract unwanted attention. Leonard's mother would stay and rest, given that the ruins felt safe - for some reason, animals didn't come close to the castle... maybe it was magic. Still, it had to be some fantastic spell to endure such long time! That was a question for later, for now she had to get comfortable. She was used to living in ancient ruins... but she had an unexplainable desire to see what this new place had been like during the height of its splendor. The lingering sadness, ghosts of past regrets, gave the decayed structure a melancholic feeling - yet quite different from those of the destroyed city she used to call home. What was the story those weathered old walls could tell? Why had it been abandoned? Who had cried inside the room that had once held a throne? Had the place been inhabited by ponies? The pair of stallions made their way out of the front gate, creatures in front, while she hid inside a small chamber off to the side. ***** All the monster knew, thought, or lived for was gone. Gone was the hate, the rage, the thirst for vengeance. It had been replaced by piercing cyan eyes which held fury far, far beyond that which had given it life. They flooded it and absolutely overwhelmed it, folding its will unto itself with ease. "WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY, MISTER!?" The voice belonging to the eyes said, having blown out the fires long ago in its- her tirade... yes, the voice was something it had to call 'female'. The voice demanded a response, but it could not give one. All it could do was stare back blankly and apologetically for its transgression. It hadn't even actually hurt the rabbit! It had hopped away! "You won't hurt my friends, understood!?" The voice, belonging to a creature far greater, far more powerful, and far more imposing than it, demanded a much simpler answer. The Wraith nodded, submitting itself to the will of its new master. Then two roars made their way to their ears. ***** Slightly less time before "These things are alive! Really alive!" Leonard yelled, blood trickling from a wound on his foreleg, as he saw his summoned book hoist a strange, wolf-like creature made out of wood high into the air with a blue tendril before absorbing it and closing, capturing it. The rest of the wolves paused, one of their own had just disappeared before their eyes, and the strange new creatures that followed the ponies were making things much more difficult. Their claws and fangs slid off of the blade-armed ones without much harm - some, but not enough. Even if they felled a bat, or those spectres, or the slimy creatures, they dispersed into mist! And the ponies kept firing beams of golden light and orbs of blackness, or calling down thunder! Russell lifted a forehoof, which had a small stick tied to it, and hastily drew a rune consisting of three strokes, a downwards one, a diagonal one, and an horizontal one that crossed the first one in the middle. His horn shimmered with magic and directed it to himself, the golden glow enveloping him and diminishing the bruises he had gotten when a wolf had slammed him against the side of a cliff. The wolves knew this was prey not worth the effort, having lost five of their own already. They retreated. Only for a different creature of the forest to take their place. ***** Leonard's mother heard the roars, and felt the presences. She knew what they meant- it could only be Russell and her son. She had let her son fend for himself for a great part of his life, and he had suffered plenty already. He even came to hate and despise others for a time, just like a true monster... Not now. She did not know if it was due to the new mana, her talk with Russell's boy, or just the sudden change in scenery, but she was out of the castle and running towards the source. She felt energy she didn't know... she didn't remember she had had. She could pay dearly for not resting properly, but it was evident she didn't have merely the appearance she did in ages past; she had recovered some vigor as well, even if her body still demanded rest. She had yet to test her 'new' wings, but she didn't have to fly, just take one mighty leap and glide over the huge gap in the earth separating the castle from the path Leonard had taken. ***** Leonard screamed in pain as the scorpion tail of a manticore, having felled his last bat, pierced his side and broke one of his wings. Russell's last monster threw itself at the tail, but sadly wasn't as effective as they would have liked. A bright golden beam was more effective, quickly followed by Russell drawing the healing rune twice in quick succession and pointing it towards Leonard. It thankfully neutralized the poison, but it simply didn't have enough power to heal him, leaving a bleeding hole on his torso, broken ribs and a crumpled wing... Russell wasn't faring much better, having a hind leg completely broken, twice, and large claw marks across his chest. Down on the ground, his own robe stained red, Russell decided to gamble the last of his energy in what could very well be a bust. Leonard made a similar choice. There are a few old poems, written in an ancient tongue that few still know, that dated back to the era of Leonard's mother. Within the depths of the canyon, the towering fires announce the domain of the Gold dragon god. Cutting through the winds, with a gaze that could freeze your soul, the Black dragon god soars. Neither one was very artistic, or even good, but it was an old language from an age full of parables and the like. They had deducted that it meant Earth, Fire and Light for the first, and Wind, Water and Dark for the second; the words themselves indicated the specific rune. With almost-automatic strokes that came from practice, and a swiftness that came from adrenaline, both of them completed their spells. Feeling the rush of energy of a successful spell, they closed their eyes and pointed their horns at the beast. Two great lights, one gold, the other purple, shot high into the air past the canopy of the forest, where they each took the shape of a long, serpentine dragon. They roared and dove back down, slamming into the manticore and sending it flying against the rocks, causing more to dislodge and land on it, injuring further to the point it prefered to retreat. Both dragons rose to the skies again, intertwined, and faded away. At the same time, two heads came to rest at the ground, and the eyes in them closed, demanding sleep. Having roared well above the treeline, the dragons could be heard further than within the oppressive darkness of the forest, and heard they were. A certain lavender unicorn even saw the liberation of energy that came from such a potent spell casted by two great, if tired and injured, wizards. This had not been part of the plan, but it would be fine as long as they were found... who wouldn't, after such a display?