//------------------------------// // Chapter Eighteen // Story: Clipped Wings // by Desrium //------------------------------// Chapter Eighteen But every once in a while, one can discover what hid in plain sight. "Okay... Rego," Falcon Wing said to the stranger. "What are you doing here? And how do you know about the Shadow Bane?" he asked. Word of what he did in Baltimare could not have reached such a far flung region, could it? Rego sped away from Falcon Wing, heading deeper into the house. "Come, come!" Regolit said in an excited whisper. Falcon Wing followed, hopping off of the snow mound and into the room where he fell into step with the white pony. They seemed nice enough. Didn't try anything funny... yet. Falcon Wing kept his guard up but tried not to assume the worst of the stranger. It was dark and cold inside, and this particular room was bare. Very little furniture or details to take note of. Four walls, a ceiling and a floor. Regolit opened the door to a stairway heading deeper into the pony's hideaway. A dim yellow light reflecting off of the white walls reminded Falcon Wing of the cellar. The fact that this level of the house was technically buried underneath several feet of snow did not go without its recognition. "Nice place," Falcon Wing said flatly. "You haven't seen anything yet!" Rego replied and he started walking down the stairs. "I'm sure of it..." Falcon Wing responded. From his experience, ponies living so far away from others tend to be resourceful and cunning. And also loaded with a past one would be wise to avoid talking about. But that was only Klaxon and Steiner, maybe Rego would be an exception! When he got down to the bottom of the stairs, Falcon could see the white pony lived up to his word. It appeared to be a living room with bookshelves that were used to display everything other than books. Jewelery and fine crystals that looked untouched by the Great War were lined up in order of quality and size, the largest and most beautiful to the left of a row with everything of receding value going to the right. The single ceiling light was not spectacularly illuminating; in fact the cellar's table lamp was brighter than it, but the soft light made the trinkets glimmer. In addition to the shelves which braced against every wall, there was a circular rug at the center of room. Despite being dirty and dusty, Falcon Wing could make out the image of a snowflake. Resting at the center was a brown table with a few books on it and a large sea-green couch near it. The red pegasus was impressed, not only did Rego manage to evade the Magimus, he was evidently doing it for a long time. Long enough to get his own personal scavenger nest. One book in particular caught Falcon's eye. "Obscure Unicorn History: Starswirl and the Magus Magnus... reproduction edition," he thought out loud. "Yes! Good story!" Regolit said, nodding his head so quickly it was a wonder how his shades did not fly off his face. "Hey... Rego... you've..." Falcon began, trying his best to formulate the best way to go about asking about the arcane "ruler" of the Crystal Empire. "You've seen...the glowing pony, right?" Rego frowned. "Yes. Every pony who comes here have been sent back by him. Every pony that is lucky. I was with the Northern Traders, but got separated from them when we were attacked by him. There are other ponies like me, ponies who got lost in the city and are now hiding from the Forever Glow. I do not think we can live much longer like this." Abruptly, a broad smile was born from that frown. "But you are here to help, yes? Hero of Baltimare? Shadow Bro! I mean, Bane!" "Not... exactly" Falcon Wing said with a frown of his own. "How... do you know about me again?" he asked. Regolit pointed to a radio tucked away on one shelf. It had gem beads lining the sleek black metal casing and crystals for buttons. "I listen to the DJ Pon3! It helps me stay connected with the world outside!" "... Of course" Falcon responded. Apparently the voice of the Wasteland did reach such far flung regions. "But as to why I'm here... my friends and I were looking for the original works of Starswirl the Bearded and his student, Auburn when the... Forever Glow... got a bit angry at us." "And you still live!?" Regolit said, brimming with reverence that made Falcon Wing feel somewhat uncomfortable. "Only because one of my friends was able to disrupt whatever magic was being used on me. He's that powerful of a unicorn, I'll tell you that much," Falcon Wing answered. "The Forever Glow calls himself the Maxim Magimus... sounds a lot like Magus Magnus to me. Would it be alright if I took that book with me? It might shed some light on what this... thing really is." Rego hummed thoughtfully then asked "You intend to lend us aid?" Falcon Wing had asked himself the same question. A hero isn't the pony who acts in order to get praised. A hero is the pony who does what should be done because it is the right thing to do. He couldn't count on himself to be brave all the time. He was just a colt in a world that concealed many terrors, after all. But that did not mean he was useless and small. He folded underneath the Magimus but that did not mean he had failed. Not yet. To truly fail would be to stop trying all together. "... Yes. You said it yourself, you and the others like you can't live in hiding forever. The Magimus has to be stopped, but I can't do anything if I don't know how," said Falcon Wing with rising assurance. Regolit was practically jittering. "Yes! Take it! Take it and kick ass!" said the white pony, dancing in place. "Shadow Bane Falcon Wing kicking Forever Glowing ass!" Falcon Wing walked up to the table, took the book and stuffed it into his coat. It was the best he had since his saddlebags were still in the wagon-mobile. "I'm sorry to have to cut this a bit short," he said to Rego. "But I've got to go find my friends, and together we'll free you from Maxim. I promise!" "Glowing Bane!" Rego proclaimed, then started to chant. "Bane! Bane! Bane! Bane! Ass! Kick!" Falcon Wing hurried back to the stairs and just as he was about to dart out of Rego's place, something occurred to him. He wasn't wearing his cloak... "DJ Pon3 didn't describe me over the air... how'd you figure I was the Shad --" he started to question, only to have Regolit rear up and do some tribal-looking dance, hopping from one hoof to the next, swinging his forelegs. "Bane! Bane! Bane!" "... Right," Falcon Wing said, then proceeded on his way. He pulled down his Pipeye and hopped out the window, spreading his black wings and taking to the air. He made it a point to put a marker on the half-buried house so that he could find it later.