Thanks to Onyxjew for Proofreading.
Twilight woke up when a warm ray of sun ran over her face and warmed it gently. Slowly she stretched and sat up on her haunches. Her eyes wandered to the guest bed opposite to her where the Princess had been sleeping.
But Celestia wasn’t in the bed anymore. She must have gotten up earlier, and so quietly Twilight didn’t hear.
Twilight got up and made her bed neatly before heading to the kitchen. The pleasant smell of freshly made pancakes danced in her nostrils, making her smile widely.
Spike stood by the stove, flipping a pancake high up in the air, and back in the pan.
Celestia sat by the table with a small mountain of pancakes in front of her, sparing no expense on maple syrup.
“Good morning Twilight!” the princess beamed with a smile, “Did you sleep well?”
“I did!” Twilight returned with a giggle. “Err… did you? I know my guest bed isn’t exactly ‘princess’ size—“
“And it was perfect, I assure you,” Celestia interrupted with a wave of her hoof, “soft and warm, that’s what matters to me.”
Twilight felt relieved the princess had been satisfied, and took a seat by the table. She carefully observed as Celestia took small ladylike bites of pancake and wiping her mouth after each bite. She was so elegant, so graceful.
Twilight had been so lucky to have Celestia as her teacher.
Her deep thoughts were broken as Spike put down a plate of fresh pancakes for her. “Thank you Spike, they look really tasty!”
“Mmmh,” the princess added after having another bite, “They most certainly are! You are quite the skilled cook Spike.”
The dragon chuckled and lifted his chin high, “Aah it’s nothing… guess I’m just a natural…” he said with false modesty.
“That you are.” Celestia smiled and reached out her empty plate. “May I have some more?”
After a very enjoyable breakfast, Twilight and Celestia went over three books from the Canterlot archives, hoping it could add a little more detail on the search for Mankind. Two of them, Working Man and Through Man’s Heart were only observations from the alicorns, the first describing their agriculture methods and working parties, like guilds. The other book was quickly discarded when the mares realized it was an in-depth study on courting and mating rituals.
While it was Tales of Silver that had possibly the best interpretation on their history, it didn’t give any concrete descriptions about places and locations. Its stories told of high mountains and deep valleys, but those were all over Equestria.
The only strong clue was Whitetail, former Ashwood Forest. With Twilight’s research and Celestia’s experience, it was clear human shapeshifters had been dwelling in the forest, and relatively close to Ponyville. Although the princess had some hesitation to return to that forest, Twilight’s eagerness and joyful curiosity made it hard for Celestia to say no.
So they decided for a little field trip, Twilight packed down some sandwiches and lemonade, just in case. Spike chose stay, saying he had other important things to do. Like napping for example.
As the unicorn and alicorn stepped outside the library, Twilight tapped her chin with a hoof. “Now… how are we going to travel? Walking could take a while…”
A yellow aura enveloped the unicorn, and she floated in the air up on Celestia’s back. The princess peeked at her student with a small grin. “Hold on tight.” She chuckled.
Wrapping her hooves around Celestia’s neck, Twilight took a deep breath. “Okay… ready!”
The alicorn took off, shooting up in the sky like a bolt of lightning. Twilight’s first reaction was to squeal when the air rushed past her, making a loud swooshing in her ears.
But soon she dared to open her eyes and was amazed by the view. The sight of Equestria, stretching out before her was breathtaking. Before her was the massive Whitetail forest spreading out, and in the distance one could see the endless sea that separated Equestria from Zebrica.
Twilight envied Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Celestia and Princess Luna for having wings, to be able to see something like this. It was just an experience too amazing to describe.
She pressed herself closer to her mentor’s warm neck, hoping the flight would never end.
“…that looks odd…” She muttered when she took notice of an unusually barren spot in the middle of the thick canopies.
As Celestia landed at the edge of Whitetail, she immediately felt a tingle of unease slowly rising in her. Over a thousand years older, and she still was cautions about this old forest.
Twilight jumped down on the ground, and although a little wobbly at first, she started to head into the woods. “I think I saw something princess. Follow me!”
The alicorn trotted after without uttering a word. She was tense, focusing every single sense of her’s to look out after any hidden eyes that might be following them.
Whitetail was at least less discomforting than its old, dead state as Ashwood. Trees stretched high and flourished. The once-dead grass was green and soft with countless of flowers in all varied colors.
Suddenly the forest cleared into a small idyllic glen with one single tree in the middle.
This can’t be…
A single, big black tree with gray leaves standing in a glen.
Celestia gaped. It was bigger than she’d remember it, but it was absolutely the same Ashwood tree she and Luna had been at when they saw the raven and Hector.
But it had been a little more than 1600 years; no tree could stand for that long…
“What kind of tree is that?” Twilight said while slowly approaching it, “I’ve never seen anything like it…”
The princess could even from afar feel the magic emanating from the tree, a distinct alicorn spell in origin. Only to make sure she was correct, Celestia focused her magic and picked up a rock the size of an apple and hurled it at the tree. The stone didn’t hit the tree directly, rather a layer of white magic that rippled of the impact and then vanished in a matter of seconds.
“A warding spell.” Celestia said to herself.
“But… why does a tree have a ward?” Twilight cocked a brow.
Celestia didn’t hear her student at the moment, as her mind was occupied on finding a counter spell to the ward. Hoping whoever had protected the tree hadn’t been more powerful than her; she closed her eyes and focused on the ethereal padlock around the tree. Celestia started to fidget with the lock, feeling some resistance when she tried to turn the mechanism. She bit her lower lip and giving even more pressure on the mechanism. Slowly, it fell into place and unlocked.
Celestia opened her eyes and saw how the thin layer of magic washed away. The gray leaves, dead since ages ago fell down from the branches, turning into fine dust when they hit the ground.
“That was amazing Princess!” Twilight cheered next to her.
“Please Twilight, there is no need for flattering,” Celestia turned to her student with a sly smile. “I am certain you could have done it just as easily.”
The unicorn smiled widely at her mentor’s praise, holding her head high as she trotted up closer to the tree. She reached out a hoof and gave the tree with a puzzled expression. Over the millennia, the trees consistency had gotten so crisp a large chunk fell off like the crumble of a pie when Twilight touched it.
Suddenly her eyes shot wide open and gasped. “Princess! Come look at this!”
Taking place beside Twilight, Celestia peered at the hole in the dead tree. Her eyes widened too at the sight.
Embedded in dead wood was a small, sharp stone object. It resembled the tip of a pickaxe.
Celestia used her hooves to chip away more wood, revealing the pick belonged to a very nasty-looking hammer. The two ponies started to rip, tear and kick away more wood as they dug out the long haft of the hammer, going deeper into the tree.
They stiffened when they reached an odd clump near the end of the hammer, a clump with five appendages that held the hammer in a tight grip.
It was a hand.
With their combined magic, Celestia and Twilight ripped the tree apart without mercy. Soon the hand’s arm became visible, followed by a chest, legs, another arm and head.
Panting, the mares looked amazed at the stone statue of a tall creature standing on the hind legs, frozen in a pose holding a large box tightly against his chest, and his hammer held low.
“Is... is that a Man?” Twilight whispered.
Celestia nodded. Not that she’d ever seen one, but this was what she had imagined them looking like.
“Why is there a statue of a Man… inside a tree… that had a ward around it?” Twilight rubbed her temple with a hoof.
“Because someone wanted to hide it… and protect it.” Celestia walked up to the statue. She looked at his eternal expression of a mouth slightly open and eyes wide in surprise.
“Twilight,” she finally said, “I wish to try something, come here.”
The unicorn nodded and took position beside Celestia. She motioned Twilight to stand up and put her horn against the statue. She did, and Celestia did the same.
They both felt a weak beating inside the statue.
Night watch…
The young man yawned and tried to rub the sleepiness from his eyes. He’d been standing by the gate since dusk, until the moon’s height.
“When am I to be relieved?” he groaned. I just want to get back to my warm bed…
A movement in the darkness ahead sent a sudden burst of renewed energy through him. His right hand instantly went down on his war hammer in the belt, and his left grabbed a nearby torch.
“Halt!” He shouted, “Who goes there?!”
No response.
“Who goes there?!” he barked, trying to sound more harsh. “Identify yourself!”
A weak, almost inaudible whine came from the figure. It seemed to be walking on all fours. He guessed a stray dog, probably from a nearby—
“F-friend…”
The young man felt his jaw drop as he saw the transformation from a hound to a robed man, hobbling towards the settlement.
“Hold on, I’m opening the gate!” he quickly hurried down the stone stairs and to the gate. At night, the heavy wooden gate was reinforced by an ebony log so it would be next to impossible to break.
Lifting it was a pain, especially on your own. He cursed Raymond for slipping away from guard duty, to sleep with some salacious—
The log slammed down onto the cobblestone, and in the moment the gates opened, the druid collapsed into the young man’s arms.
“Druid!” he said with worry. “Druid! What is the matter?!”
It was then he noticed the blood and the scorch marks across the druid’s gray robes.
“Doctor! I need a doctor now!” he hollered as loudly he could. “Wake up for King’s sake!”
Out of the nearby house came out some familiar kinsmen, Sean the farmer and his wife Angelica.
“Delvin?” Sean said with slurred annoyance, “what is the meaning of—“
“It’s an injured druid!” Delvin spat back, “Get Brian NOW!!!”
Sean blinked, looking at the unmoving form in Delvin’s arms before sprinting up the street. His wife seemed distressed, placing her hands over her mouth before heading back inside her home.
Delvin looked down at the druid, peering on a man in his later sixties, his face deep with wrinkles.
“Fear not friend.” He assured the elder, “Brian is a most capable doctor. You will be back to health in no time.”
“N-no…” the druid coughed, his spittle was mixed with blood. “Kna-knap…s..ssa…”
“… Knapsack?” Delvin whispered.
“Yes… at… gate…”
Delvin glanced to the side, and indeed there stood a tattered leather knapsack. “You want me to get it for you?”
“No… take it to… Ebonreach…”
Delvin felt his eyes widen. Ebonreach. The home of the druids…
“…take… it to… Ebonreach…” the druid gargled again, his voice getting raspier by the second. “…it must get to…Eb..on..”
“Druid?”
The old man sighed as his eyes rolled back into his skull and his body went limp like a deboned fish.
“…damn…”
Too late, Brian arrived at the scene. He instantly saw the druid had perished, and he cursed for not arriving sooner. Carefully rolled the body on stomach and examined the injuries.
“Frost and fire burns, deep lacerations…” the bearded man huffed, “magic and steel did this.”
“Damn the alicorns!” Sean spat on the ground, “Damn them to the oblivion!”
Delvin turned to the gatehouse and looked at the big knapsack. What was so important to die for, I wonder? He walked and picked up the knapsack and opened it. Inside was a sturdy chest the size of an infant, made in ebony wood and shining metal, clearly druid-make.
“Oi, what’s that you got there?” Brian raised his bushy brow with suspicion.
“His backpack… it’s a chest.” Delvin answered. “He wished for it to be delivered to Ebonreach…
…and I will deliver it.”
“Have you lost your mind?!” Sean blurted, “It is in the middle of the night and pitch-black. Unless you are to fumble around in darkness you must use a torch… anyone will be able to see you from miles away!”
“This man,”-Delvin pointed on the dead druid-“just died trying to deliver something of great importance. I shall honor his courage and his memory by completing his task.”
Sean and Brian sighed. They knew the young man was too stubborn and far too proud to be stopped even by the risk of certain death. Apparently every one of his house were born with that stubbornness.
“I’ll go prepare Prince. Move swiftly and return as soon as you can,” Sean sighed. “And for King’s sake, you better come back with him or I will haunt you for eternity!”
Delvin set off north-westward on Prince, Brian’s prized moose. The young bull was a prime example of a flawless male, with long and strong legs, a muscular body and with antlers every hunter would dream of having over the fireplace.
But Prince was a domesticated animal, he plowed the fields and pulled carts. One would only eat farm animals in desperate times.
Although, these were fairly desperate times…
Prince suddenly started to toss his large head around, the ears flapping around as if he was trying to locate a sound. Delvin halted the moose and scouted the surroundings. The field was so open it was impossible for anything to hide behind. It could have come from a small cluster of trees to the east many yards away...
A sudden arch of bright light sizzled past his ear and struck the ground with a crack. Moments later a shadow flew overhead, causing Prince to rear in horror. Delvin wasn’t prepared for the sudden action and was tossed off the moose, landing on the chest he had in the knapsack.
His vision blurred and he felt numb. He prayed to Auriel he hadn’t severed his spine.
Prince let out a bawl, followed by the sound of the moose’s clattering hooves. His mount had abandoned him.
Delvin found his strength despite the nearly blinding pain in his back, and got up. Grabbing his war hammer in one hand, he tried to make out where his pursuers were at.
High up in the sky, he could see not one, but two alicorns, their bodies outlined by the stars light.
One larger folded his wings and made a dramatic turn, now heading straight at him.
What would I do now, he thought. He was no mage, so against magic he was entirely defenseless. The alicorn’s horn started to glow in a crimson light, a clear indication time was running out.
He looked at his hammer. He could throw it… but what if he missed? Then he would be completely at their mercy. His thoughts wandered at the torch on the ground.
Risking it, Delvin dived as another bolt of magic went past him again. He was landing uncomfortably on his stomach, his knapsack adding more weight to his fall. With a curse on his lips he grabbed the torch, got up on his legs and hurled the torch blindly.
Miraculously it hit the stallion square in the face. It groaned in pain and lost altitude, crashing with terrible force into the ground twenty yards away. A feminine voice cried out, and when Delvin expected the other alicorn to retaliate, she flew over him and landed next her brother-in-arms.
Seizing his chance, Delvin sprinted towards the forest in hope to lose the mare if she came after him.
Well inside he just ran forward, not looking back even once. His heart was pounding like the hammer on the anvil, his mind was racing. He had never in his life been so scared, and never so confused. Why was he being chased? What had he done to them? What had his people done to them?
He screamed loudly in surprise and fear when something suddenly yanked him back violently the knapsack made a loud ripping sound. Had the alicorn caught up with him, and now demanded retribution for her fallen brother?
Turning around with hammer held high, he felt a massive burden disappear when he saw his knapsack had only been caught in a branch. He muttered as he picked up the chest, trying to get a good grip. Not wanting to sheathe his hammer, he shifted it and held the chest in one arm like a mother would hold her child.
Continuing with a hasty pace, he ran with all of his strength through the forest. When it finally ended, he was greeted by the sight of the Amber River. “Thank Auriel!” he panted. From here he could walk upstream and find the old bridge leading towards Green Ridge, and from there he could get to Ebonreach.
He folded over to catch his breath. He’d done it. A small chuckle escaped his lips.
“Please forgive me.”
Taken by surprise by the voice, he looked up. There the alicorn mare hovered over the river. Her horn was glowing with a golden light, illuminating her face. She was crying.
Before Delving could react, his limbs grew cold and refused to move. The chill rolled all over him, and the fear spread as he lost all tactility below his head.
“Please… forgive me.” The alicorn said once more, her gray eyes screaming of genuine regret.
Then everything went black.
Is this what being dead is like?
No forefathers to stand beside. Was this the oblivion? A black void with no sound or no light?
No, there is some sound… voices. The voices of children. They sound scared.
But they vanished soon. Everything was quiet again.
It was quiet so long.
Then that voice came back.
He remembered that voice.
And there is one more. I do not recognize that one.
Suddenly there were cracks of light coming before him. It blinded him, and he wanted to raise his hands in front of his eyes, but they still refused to move.
The light grew stronger, and the voices became clearer and clearer to him.
“…keep going Twilight!”
“Keep going Twilight!” Celestia grunted. “Almost done!”
The unicorn wheezed and pressed another burst of magic through her horn. She had never before attempted to reverse a petrification spell, and it was taking a heavy toll on her, even Celestia was struggling.
“Almost…” she huffed.
The statue started to creak and shift.
“Done!” Celestia shot backwards, throwing her wing over Twilight and pulled her back too.
Twilight felt as if she’d been through a marathon, her chest heaving up and down. Celestia did the same, feeling exhausted like never before.
Before them, the statue started to gain some color. Its skin turned to a pinkish-red hue and his clothing slowly got their dark, worn colors back. When the last signs of petrification were gone, its limp body toppled over face first into the grass.
The mares looked at the still form of the man with worry.
“Is… is he—“
She was interrupted when he took an extreme gasp of air. He coughed and twitched in a sign his limbs were working even after such a long time as stone.
Twilight wanted to help the man up, but Celestia halted her with a wing. “Wait.” She said solemnly.
The man took another deep breath and forced himself up on all four. He looked up with fluttering eyes, apparently being blinded by the light.
“…what…” he gasped, “what did you do…?”
“We freed you.” Twilight answered.
The man turned his gaze towards them, squinting and blinking. When his eyes had adjusted, they went wide, his eyebrows went up and his mouth fell.
“AAH!” he screamed, “Stand back!”
Twilight and Celestia frowned at the man’s sudden attack of panic. He must have been in a state of disorientation, completely confused of what had happened to him.
“I swear…” he spat and reached for his hammer, “you will not take me without a fight! I will… I will send you to the forefathers…”
On wobbly legs he stood, taking stance. “…the chest… where… where… what have you done to it!?”
“I…it’s right there…” Twilight pointed to the black wooden box on the ground.
He swayed around and scooped up his belonging. He looked around, seeming more confused.
“…river where is the river?” he said on the verge on rage, “Where is the river…where…?
He turned to them again, “Where is the river? What have you done to me?”
Celestia took one step forward. “Please, we wish no harm—“
“WHAT DID YOU DO?!”
Twilight flinched, but Celestia stood unfazed.
“You have been petrified for a long time. Me and my student here, Twilight Sparkle, have lifted the spell.” Celestia said calmly.
“P-petri…” the man muttered and shook his head, “…it was not you… it was the gray eyes…the river, where is the river?”
Celestia took one more step. “There are no rivers here. Do you know where you are?”
“N…no…” the man glared suspiciously at her, “Stay back! I do not wish to harm you… but if you leave me no choice…”
“I wish you no harm,” Celestia lowered herself, a sign of inferiority, “I wish to help you.”
The man seemed to relax a little. “…why? No! You are trying to trick me! But I won’t fall for your honeyed lies!”
“I do not lie,” she pleaded, “I swear, I wish to help!”
He squinted. “…if you do, tell me where I am.”
“This is called Whitetail Forest,” She explained, “but in older times it was called Ashwood Forest.”
The man shook his head and his face started to pale. He tried to speak, but instead he gagged and threw up a sickly yellow substance on the ground. The sight made Twilight and Celestia wince in disgust.
“…what…what do you… mean?” he spat out bile from his mouth, “what do you mean… ‘in older times’?”
His hammer and chest slipped out of his grip, and he fell backwards. This time Celestia was quick to catch him with telekinesis. Gently she brought him closer and set him down by her hooves.
“He’s still alive, “she said with a weak smile, “but he needs medical attention.”
“Where?” Twilight carefully walked up to her mentor and the man, “I’m not so sure any hospital wouldn’t be quick on agreeing on helping him, not when he’s coming with that!” the unicorn pointed at the war hammer in the grass.
There was truth in her student’s words. It wasn’t certain anypony would agree helping an unknown creature, particularly when this was a creature with tendencies for violence. Even if agreeing, Celestia started to think about his situation. If you woke up in an unknown bed, with strangers surrounding you in a crowded hospital, panic could make you do just about anything to get out. And if security would arrive to subdue him, things could only end with somepony seriously hurt.
So what to do?
“Climb on Twilight, we’re going back to Ponyville for help. I’ll wait in the Library for you.” She said after a quick decision.
“Ponyville? Why not Canterlot?”
“Ponyville is closer, and should by now be accustomed to helping odd visitors,” The princess replied. Again she lifted Twilight up on her back, and magically held up the man and his mysterious chest.
As Celestia took off, she still could not really grasp that after millennia, she had finally seen the evidence of Mankind’s existence.
A real, living and breathing Man.
The princess had dropped Twilight off near the hospital, but the lavender unicorn hesitated. Pony doctors helped ponies, not Men. Did they even have any similarities in biology, or would they hit a dead end?
Twilight looked a little uncertain at another clinic nearby. Better safe than sorry…
“-and then he passed out.” Twilight finished her brief explanation while running to the library. Two individuals followed her, Nurse Sweetheart and Mane Goodall, the veterinarian.
“And what did you say he was again?” Goodall panted.
“A Man.”
“Nnvrr hrrrd ff wn,” Nurse Sweetheart mumbled, her mouth holding a medical bag.
“He’s new here… sort of,” Twilight huffed. Technically he had been there before anypony. “Just… don’t freak out because of his appearance. And keep this to yourself until further notice. Please.”
The nurse and veterinary nodded. “Not to worry dear, we are professionals.”
“Mhm.”
Feeling a little better at heart, the moment of truth would be once they saw him with their own eyes.
The three ponies entered the library and were greeted by a very saddened Princess Celestia sitting by Twilight’s spare bed, with the man in it. Sweetheart and Goodall were about to bow before their ruler, but the alicorn shook her head.
“Please there is no time for that!” she said dryly, “I fear his condition is getting worse!”
The two ponies understood the situation and rushed to the bed. Their first reaction was to gasp and murmur. He was much paler than before, being almost ivory in color and glazed in sweat.
Sweetheart put one unsure hoof on his forehead, and frowned. “He’s burning up! I will need some wet towels!”
“He looks dehydrated,” Goodall added her opinion, “bring lots of cold water for him to drink.”
Twilight darted out on the kitchen and brought what had been requested, towels, a bucket of water and lastly a pitcher with ice-cold water and a glass.
When she came back, the medical ponies had removed the man’s brown, quilted vest of unknown material and tossed it on the floor. He had a white tunic underneath, which the nurse had ripped open in order to listen to his heart.
The veterinarian whistled at the sight of a rather well-trained abdomen. “Emaciated he surely isn’t,” she said with a chuckle. “Still, you should let him eat plenty of fibers and proteins when he’s able—“
The man groaned and began to stir, causing both medical ponies to freeze in whatever they were doing.
“…where… where am I?”
The veterinarian’s jaw dropped. “…He can talk?”
But Nurse Sweetheart didn’t seem surprised at all. She smiled at him and gently placed a soaked towel over his forehead. “It’s alright dear, you are among friends,” she cooed.
“Here,” she took a filled glass and dropped a small pill in it, making the water sizzle and bubble, “this will make you feel better.”
The man blinked suspiciously at the pink pony.
“I promise you it will help against the fever,” she insisted.
Reluctantly, he took the glass with an unsteady hand. With one more glance at the nurse he swept it down the hatch. He uttered a ‘bleeh’ and scrunched his nose at the taste of medicine.
“I know it is bitter dear, but it will help you to cool down a little,” Sweetheart patted his arm. “Just rest for a day or two, eat and drink plenty of water you’ll be back in tip-top-shape.”
The man expressed a series of mixed emotions, confusion, suspicion and fear, but suddenly cracked a weak smile. “Thank you milady… I… you have shown such kindness, yet I do not know your name.”
“Oh don’t worry dear,” she laughed hearty, “it’s my job. And my name is Nurse Sweetheart!”
“I am Delvin of House Rivendare,” he placed a hand upon his chest.
Delvin had fallen asleep after Nurse Sweetheart and Mane Goodall left, and started to stir in the middle of night. Celestia, having refused to take Twilight’s bed, slept next to the man on the floor on a rug. Although she hadn’t been able to sleep really, only sitting and kept an eye on him.
“How are you feeling?” she whispered, trying not to wake up her student.
Delvin froze when hearing her voice.
“…better.”
He sat up and looked at the princess. “I remember you. I remember your voice… in the dream.”
“Dream?”
“Everything was dark… but I could hear voices. I heard yours and one more…” he said while rubbing his face, “I saw those gray eyes… she was sad… said she was sorry…”
Celestia blinked. “Who? Was it an alicorn?”
He nodded. “She came after me… and her brother-in-arms… I didn’t… I didn’t want to fight them…”
“Why?” he said after a short silence, “why did you attack our homes? What did we do to you?”
“I wish I knew,” Celestia sighed, “but I had yet to be born when it happened.”
“How long… has it been then?”
There was no easy way of saying it. No way of making it less painful.
“1600 years.”
He choked, “… but… but I had a task… I have to deliver the chest to Ebonreach…”
“I am terrible sorry, but this Ebonreach doesn’t exist anymore… your—“ Celestia bit her lip and shut her eyes when she felt a tear coming, “your people are…”
“Gone?”
“Yes,” Celestia sniffed, “my mother said Mankind was banished back to your home world.”
“…I see… there is none else left then?”
When Celestia didn’t answer, Delvin choked again and laid down back in the bed. Seeing him in pain like this made a clump form in her stomach. He wasn’t evil, and even if he might have hurt someone in the past, he admitted on regretted it.
He was no monster.
But in his eyes, she was one.