//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 // Story: An Angel and her Soldier // by Midnight Words //------------------------------// Chapter 12 ------------------------------ Blueblood, the young snow-white colt with a dirty blonde mane, was never asleep and as soon as the old Unicorn closed the door, the young colt went over to a small desk, filled with phials with strange colored liquid that even Starswirl might have forgotten what some of them did, but not Blueblood, he knew what he needed and what he needed to make. "Five drops of Gorgon tears." He said and placed a beaker over a small magical flame and carefully dropped Gorgon tears in it. "A piece of Dragon scale." He said and dropped a sharp blue scale into the beaker. "A dash of rainbow hair." He said and threw in a few strands of colorful hair. "Now, what else do I need?" He asked himself and looked around the table. "Agh, what was that song I made up? Oh right, now I remember." "Five drops of Gorgon tears A piece of Dragon scale, Maybe a dash of rainbow hair, I really cannot tell A serpent tail A piece from a feathery dress Maybe some alcohol to help it congress A glowing bit from an Everfree plant I could make it blow and shiver and shake, or maybe I can't Rise the fire make it bubble Time to cause a little trouble Three clippings of Monkey nails Now you've made a door breaking spell" Blueblood picked up the boiling liquid and threw it at the door and it shattered and he stepped out. "Now that the door is broken and that is my cue, time to leave this place, oh and make the door brand new." He said and the door began to reconstruct back into its former wooden glory. He stepped out and went down to the street. "Hmmm, now where do I go?" He went to the old library and decided to find more info on this creature that attacked him. "Mr. Starswirl knows him. That means he's old, maybe older..." He muttered to himself as he pushed open the door to the old dusty library. He heard Starswirl call his attacker Shade, maybe he could find something about him. "Oh, hello Blueblood. What is it today?" A pleasant black mare with a light blue mane smiled at the young colt. "Hello, Mrs. Novella, I was just wondering if you know anything about a historic pony named Shade." Blueblood said and returned her smile. "Shade? No doesn't ring any bells. Why don't you check around in the S section." Novella pushed up her glasses and continued reading a book titled "Fifty shades of rain". Blueblood already read it and he really didn't like it. Blueblood ran to the S section and began scanning books. He didn't notice that he bumped into a young Unicorn filly with a pink mane. Both of them tumbled down as a few books came crashing down on both of them. Blueblood pushed himself up the top of the books and observed the unintentional destruction of an entire section of a library. There was a low moan under the books and Blueblood pushed off most of the books. "Sorry, are you alright?" He spotted a hoof sticking out from a pile of books and he pulled her up. The filly had no Cutie-mark like Blueblood and she was slightly dazed. "Uh, miss are you alright?" He repeated. The filly shook off the daze and stood up. "Ah, don't worry. I'm fine, I wasn't watching where I was going." She said and picked up an old urban myth book. "Is this yours?" She said and offered. This was the book that Shade was holding during the time they bumped into each other. He picked up an old tome of medical spells right under his hoof. "Yeah and I think this is yours." He said and both of them traded their books. "My name is Porom, what's yours?" She asked and both of them decided to go to one of the many unoccupied tables in the library. Both of them sat down, opposite to each other. "Blueblood Crystalheart, most just call me Blue." He said and opened his book. "Nice to meet you, Blue." She said with a pleasant smile. Blueblood skimmed through the book and found something that might help. "Ummm. Do you know something about this?" He said and showed Porom what he found. "Huh? Eldritch? Never heard of it before." She said. "What are trying to find anyway?" Blueblood wasn't sure what to answer. "Urban stories and myths and stuff." He said with a fake cough. "Really?" She said. She didn't believe him but she decided not to ask further. "Yeah. Just something to pass the time and, uhh, stuff." He lied and continued reading. He flipped to the next page and... Wait, he thought. Th-this doesn't make any sense! He hopped off his seat and picked up the book. "Hey, where are you going?" Porom said to the leaving colt. "Just... need somewhere to be... Bye." He said and ran to the librarian. "Mrs. Novella, can I borrow this book?" "Sure, but you know the rules." She said with a smirk. "No damage, no problem." "Right... Well, see ya!" He said and ran off. Porom looked at the retreating white colt. "I wonder..." She said and got up and followed him out. Blueblood ran across the street, searching for any signs of where his friend and master had gone. He felt something tug on him to the right but when he turned around he didn't find anything but empty streets. He started to think, he noticed that there was nopony around, which was strange during this time of day. He decided to run in a random direction. After a few minutes, he arrived back to the library. "Oh no... I'm in one of those reality-dream spells aren't I?" He decided to go back to the library since it was the only place left to go. The library was deformed to say the least. Books floating around without a care, bookshelves were twisted in odd angles and several tables and chairs were either floating around with the books or completely flat on the floor. Mrs. Novella stared with a hateful glare. "What do you want, kid?" She said in a annoyed tone. Blueblood sighed, he knew that nearly nothing here is real. "Who cares about you." He said and walked right in and ignored the angry librarian. "Alright." He said to himself. "I need to get out of here and fast." A small green book smacked him right in the face. "The book of lies?" He said and opened the first page. "The cover is red." The words on the book turned by itself. "There is no truths in this book." It flipped itself again and landed on a picture of Starswirl. "This pony is dead." "Yeah, I'm not falling for that." He said and tried to close the book but it flew up and opened on a random page. "I'm lying." It read and it flew away. "I hate paradoxes..." Blueblood muttered to himself. ------------------------------ Porom found Blueblood passed out outside the library doors. "HEY!" She yelled. "Come on! You're alive." She quickly tried to force him to wake up but every attempt failed. "Porom? What are you doing, girl?" An old sagely voice called out from inside. "Master Spellbook! Help me quick!" She said. Spellbook slowly went outside the library, his long white mane hung limply down his face. "What is going on here?" He said and crouched down to look at the young colt. "Somepony put a little spell on him. That's so cute, whoever casted the spell really didn't think it through. This young colt will probably break it within the hour or so." "Spell? He's going to break it? I thought that only Unicorns could break spells like this." She said with a curious look on her face. "Is he going be alright?" Spellbook smiled. "Of course, child. We should get him back inside." He said and picked up the colt. "And where is your brother? I thought he was going with you." "That idiot's probably showing off to some girls." Porom said with a low laugh. "Probably out with that Cotton Cloud girl." She said with a huff. "They do make a cute couple." Spellbook said and entered the library, Porom followed closely behind. "'Cute'? What kind of master are you? You're supposed to say that 'That boy needs to focus more' and stuff." She said with a huff. Mrs. Novella gasped at Blueblood. "What happened to him?" She asked. "Dream spell. He'll be fine within the hour." Spell said and turned his attention to Porom. "He's young, he should find love before it leaves forever." "Love. Hah, more like wooing ever filly he sees." Porom said. Spell placed the young colt gently on the table. "Heh, you're probably right." ------------------------------ Palom, Porom's twin brother walked happily across the street. "Hey, Cotton!" He waved to a small white Pegasus filly. Cotton smiled at him. "Hey." She shyly waved back. "How have you been? I've been great! Don't mean to brag but I mastered the Dream spell, hold you're applaus." He said, his ego was overflowing so to speak. "Uh huh, did you try it on somepony?" She asked with a worried glance. He gave a weak smile. "Heh, I tried it a colt that came out of the library earlier. He'll be fine, I made sure to give him a nice dream. Meanwhile... Blueblood was running as his little hooves could carry him. A white pony wearing a doctor's outfit complete with a surgical mask running towards him with a bloody chainsaw and laughing like a mad colt. Back to reality... "Probably in a candy land, munching on cotton candy clouds." Palom said with a confident huff. "You don't it think it was a little rude?" She said softly. Palom deflated a bit. "Well yeah, but I couldn't do it to sis or she'd knock me into next week." He said and grabbed her hoof. "Besides, he's probably living the life in his dream." Meanwhile... Blueblood finally got away from that mad doctor and found himself having swicthed bodies with a dying witch, also he(she?) didn't have any legs except for his front hooves. "Ugh... givahh... bodisaehh..." He tried to speak to the near emotionless witch that was in his body. "Give it back? Why? You said you would lend it to me." "Ugh...ooghh...argh...blaghh..." Blueblood said which translates to. "I didn't give you my body, you crazy hag!" "Hag? I may be over a hundred years old but I am no hag!" She yelled. "Ugh? Agh... Blagh!" Blueblood said in a taunting matter. "What did you say about my mane!" Closer... Closer... Blueblood thought as the witch began to walk forward, intent on ending his life with a knife in hoof. And, just when the witch quickly brought down the knife, Blueblood used the little magic in the witch's body and used it to change back. The knife quickly ended the witch's life without the time to scream in pain. Back to reality... "Still... I would have volunteered if you'd ask me." Cotton said as both of them walked through the street. Palom sighed. "I could never do that to a friend." He said and kicked a small pebble. "And, sometimes I really just want to sleep in, and maybe you could help with that." Cotton said with a playful grin. "I bet whoever that colt is, he is having a great time." "Yeah, shame I can't place the spell on myself." He said. "I would love being in my own dream and remembering everything." Back to Blueblood... He was now running from paintings with a very silent filly and an older grey stallion with a white mane. "Keep running, Ib, Blue!" The older stallion said. "I'm running as fast as I can! Gary!" Blueblood yelled as two more paintings jumped out from the wall. Back to Palom... "Anyway, where are we going?" Cotton asked as she fluttered slighty above. Palom stopped and rubbed his chin. "Well, I want to be a master Unicorn mage and I so happen to find a magic competition nearby and I need an assistant..." "And you want me to be your assistant?" She said silently. "I can't...perform in front of crowds... You know that." Palom took her hoof. "It's going to be fine. You'll be wearing a mask anyway." He said with a smile. Both of them made their way to the park and quickly sat down on the bench. Palom's horn began to glow a soft green. Cotton Cloud shifted uncomfortably. "Umm... Why can't Porom help instead?" Palom scoffed. "Her? Have you even met her before?" "Your sister seems nice enough..." "Not to me." Palom said, irritated. A few sparks coming off his horn. "She thinks she's better than me and she always so 'Perfect' and that bugs me! She thinks I don't take magic seriously but we both know that magic is my life!" Palom had a small pout on his face. Cotton gently placed her hoof on his shoulder. "And you want to prove to her that your just as good by winning the magic competition?" "No, I want to be better." Cotton sighed. "Fine. I'll do it, but only for you." She said with a smile. Palom smiled back. "Thanks." ------------------------------ "...So the engineers here fixed up my wing, and here we are." Headshot said and scoped out his rifle. "And where is this 'Pain' girl?" Roland said as he sat down on a very small stone chair. Headshot placed his rifle on the table and removed the Element of Loyalty that was around his neck. "There are six Elements of Harmony, these things are the most powerful artifacts in the history of the world, she's doing research on them and trying to find where they are. She calms down when she's busy." "Elements of Harmony? Don't you need six bearers for them to be used?" Angel said. A few of the Assassin guards stared at them with a confused look. "They don't know about the Vault?" One of the guards whispered among the others. Headshot heard this and rose from his seat. "The three of you, if you're so knowledgeable then why don't you tell it." Headshot said with a scowl on his face. The three of them grumbled and stepped forward. The first spoke up. "A few centuries ago, a few Unicorn mages in Canterlot tampered with forbidden magic, they attempted to summon a powerful demon to take over Equistria and the world." The second one stepped forward. "They sacrificed hundreds of innocent lives and used this power to summon Anarchy." Headshot cringed at the mention of that name. "But Anarchy was to powerful and killed them slowly. He easily beat Celestia and Luna and left the latter for dead." The third slowly took the center. "Celestia pleaded to spare her sister's life and in return Anarchy will get celestia as his slave for life. The current Elements tried to take him down but Anarchy took the one moment of weakness and almost killed the Element of Kindness. Discord was binded and can only see that his only friend died right before his eyes." "Anarchy killed the rest but Princess Twilight, she never recovered." A voice said from behind them. Roland and Angel turned around and met face to face with the Unicorn Summoner. "Anarchy was careful and hid the Elements in Vaults, nearly indestructible safes that will only open when a potential Element has the Vault key." Headshot raised his hoof like he a school colt in class. "Does that means not just anypony could take the keys and open one of the Vaults?" "Yes, and all the Vaults are hidden in very hard to find spots." Pain said with a straight face. "Even if we find possible Element bearers we still won't be able to find the Vaults." "Maybe, but we won't know until we try. Maybe if we find one of the Princesses, like Princess Twilight." Headshot said. Pain shook her head. "Might as well try and find the Vaults, that would be much easier. We never found out where she hid herself." "Maybe, YOU never found out, but the assassins always have a tab on political powers." Headshot snapped his head to three guard. "One of you go the Archives and find the last location Princess Twilight was, and the other two should tell all post to keep a look out for Princess Twilight and report to me directly if they find anything, remember they can change back to look like a Unicorn or Pegasus or even an Earth pony." The three of them bowed and went away. Roland and Angel felt uncomfortable when Headshot took charge. They always saw him as a laid back type. "Centauries of surviving and hiding, and now... a chance to fight back." Headshot muttered and looked at his Element and weapon on the table. "Finally..." Roland stood up. "I had enough of sitting around. I've done enough of that in Sanctuary." "Roland, calm down. Going in there, guns blazing will only make things worse." Angel tried to reason with the soldier. "Maybe not," Pain said, this caused both the humans to look up at her. "we don't a large enough archive and we also need a few old scrolls and tomes in Canterlot Castle." Headshot looked at her. "We don't have the stallion power to storm the bloody castle." "Yes, but Anarchy doesn't stay in the castle and if we move quickly we could get in and get out before anypony notices." Pain suggested. "That's crazy... Let's do it!" Headshot rose with a flap of his mechanical wings but he was quickly pulled down by Pain's magic. "No that would be too risky and we know your brother is in control of the castle." "All the more reason to go." Headshot said with determination. "No." Pain firmly said. They held a short staring contest but ultimately Pain won. "Fine..." Headshot grumbled. "Roland and Angel," he turned his to the two Vault hunters. "you two will go in later tonight." Roland and Angel nodded and stood up. "I think I would like to take a nap." Roland yawned. "Ok, I'll take you to the rooms." Headshot said. "I'll go to the library, something to take my mind off Firecracker." She said with a sad expression on her face. Pain silently went up to Angel. "Um, I could take you there." She said timidly. When she's not talking about something serious, she was a very quiet mare. The two groups went on their way. Angel looked around the dusty room, lights from candles flickered uncomtrolably. Pain went over to a small transfiguration circle and studied the notes. Angel looked around to find something to read. She found an old book, it was a dull brown hard covered book, she blew off the excess dust and opened the book. The book had several legends and lores about the Vault, the Elements and even some stories about Anarchy. She bit back her tongue as she read the book about the Vault. She began to read aloud. "... Two warriors from lands long passed will find and unlock the keys that opens the gate, one of valor and loyalty, the other kind and knowledgeable, both are wingless and hornless but possess powers that rival gods, one of blue markings and the other of dead friends. A master of combat and a scholar of all, the soldier and the siren..." She flipped the page and saw a strange symbol, it was not the symbol of the Vault but it seemed so familiar. She clenched her head in pain, the seething headache was unbearable, her tattoos began to glow a bright blue as she formed a sphere that surrounded her. Pain yelled out and rushed to her side, only to be pushed back by an unseeable force. "Sirens are very special, Jack." "But will it keep my little girl safe?" "When you open the second Vault, she will have everything she could ever want." "KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF HER!" "My offer stands, when she opens the Vault, she will be whatever she wants to be." "I don't care what you do to me but if you hurt my daughter... I will never stop hunting you..." "Yes, I wouldn't dream of it. It will be painful for her but after that, she could choose not to feel or remember the pain, Jack." "...What do I have to do?" "Get someone to open the first Vault. Wait about twenty years, the Vault key is still recharging." "There are only six sirens that can exist in this Universe at a given time, the other three of them will come to Pandora." "Then why can't you use them instead?" "Your daughter is special, she is the strongest siren out of the six." "What do you want me to do for twenty years?" "Rise to power, become the CEO of Hyperion, kill the competition." "K-kill?" "You secretly want to kill your grandmother, don't you?" "But I would never do it! She's family, even if she's a bitch!" "Fine, but one day... Just remember, Jack, don't hold on to her too tightly, when the time to let go is near, set the caged bird free." The sphere shattered and Angel fell to the floor, unconscious but breathing. Pain went to her side and checked her vitals. Headshot came running into the room, Roland closely behind. "What the hell happened?!?" Roland asked and went to Angel's side. "I-I don't know, she was reading a book and weird stuff began to happen." Pain stammered on. "Calm down." Headshot said to Pain. "Tell us what happened." "Later." Roland said. "Get her to the infirmary, then we'll talk." Roland said and picked up Angel. The trio left the room. The book glowed a faint light, as if it was waiting for another one to read it.