//------------------------------//
// Watcher of the Woods 
// Story: Paladin's Cross 
// by Sage Quill 
//------------------------------//

The universe as we know it is a joint product of the observer and the observed.

-Pierre Teilhard de Chardin 



Celestia sighed as the Elements left the throne room, unsure if she'd done the right thing. As the great doors shut behind them she felt an annoyingly familiar presence remain.

"You do love your secrets, don't you Tia," Discord whispered into her ear.

She ignored him and made her way back to her throne, stopping only to banish the remains of the lemon meringue pie left on the ground. What did he expect to gain from prodding old wounds besides her ire? "I told them what they needed to know in order to rescue Twilight. Any more would be excessive, not to mention dangerous to the realm." Even as she spoke the words rang hollow in her ears as the lie echoed through the now mostly empty throne room.

Discord chuckled under his breath and landed next to the throne, leaning on it in a relaxed fashion. "If that's what you tell yourself to sleep at night, then by all means, continue your little charade around your subjects, but it's pointless to lie to me," he said with a yawn as he inspected his claws, "You didn't tell them how we betrayed the humans; how we left them to rot on a world being slowly corrupted by the Taint. Tell me, is it easier on your conscience that you didn't have the power to effect that outcome, or harder? I've always wondered."

Celestia battled her emotions for control as a very real trickle of rage leaked through her defenses. "She did what She had to!" she half-shouted, half-growled in denial, "Besides, you have no right to question Her. It was you who suggested abandoning them to their fates."

"I did, and I stand by my advise," Discord replied lazily, "If we had brought the humans with us, the seal would have failed long ago. Humans are a very... ambitious species, and even if I did find them most enjoyable, Epona asked me for sound council. I gave it. Or would you rather the seal end up broken by one of the fallen and see Her sacrifice be in vain?"

"We had no choice..." the princess whispered weakly.

Cocking an eyebrow over a half-lidded skeptical look, Discord began to float away toward the golden doors. "Oh please, we did have a choice. She had a choice, and She made the safer, if more boring one; Her subjects over Her pet project. And now it's all backfired since the Mantle you so valiantly shattered when you turned it on your sister has vanished, and with it the seal's stability. You should have known better. Harmony, by its nature, isn't an aspect one easily controls alone."

"You're going with them," Celestia managed, her voice starting to break as she desperately defended the necessity of past decisions in her own mind, "-As a guide. You know how humans think more than anypony else in Equestria."

The avatar of chaos simply shrugged. "I thought as much. When you had me tag along I knew it would be something like that, though I'm not looking forward to passing the barrier. I am still sort of, you know, bound to this world by your beloved mentor's spell, and so I'll be leaving a large portion of my nature here to maintain balance."

"Which was also your own suggestion if I recall correctly," she rebuffed wryly, forcing her emotions back down, "You'll just have to make do while you're there."

He snorted with amusement and donned a half-cocked grin. "Well, She did want to make this world as close to the prime material plane as possible. I just told her the easiest way to do it. Besides, I love a good challenge!"

"This isn't a game."

His half-cocked grin transformed into the sly smile she remembered from the old trickster god. "Oh, I beg to differ, Tia. Survival is a game, and I suggest we start playing before something forces us to fold..."





"What's that?!" Twilight blurted suddenly, trotting off to the side of the procession of trudging refugees. She scanned the edge of the trail through tall, silver grass. The area of the Grey Flats they found themselves in was old, older than the rest of the plains. Its grass grew taller than the wagons and was slowing their progress considerably  

Behind her, Morenth heaved himself up to the side of the wagon to see for himself, but instead he saw only the same wall of vegetation that had dominated the area for the last couple of days. 

"What's what?" he asked smartly, still a little groggy from his fever.

The lavender mare's face scruntched up in thought. "I... don't know. It was like someone was talking; like the wind blowing through the grass was saying something..."

It may have been her imagination, but Morenth wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. As a unicorn she could be more in tune with nature for all he knew.

"I've heard of druidic magic that allows them to communicate through plants and trees. Not a self proclaimed druid like Doctor Bailin, but a true druid of the elves, though I can't imagine an elf is just traipsing about the Grey Flats communing with whoever passes by," he explained, drawing a confused stare from the mare, "Of course, elves are creatures of whimsy so anything is possible, I guess."

Twilight's eyes lit up with an unquenchable thirst in their depths "What's an elf?! You said they have a potential for magic so they must be at least partially equient. Are they like the dwarves you mentioned or more like the tefflas? What do their diets consist of, and if they have a culture what are its traditions and histories?"

Morenth let out a gravelly sigh and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "One question at a time, Twilight. We have plenty of time to - hey, wait!" he called as the lavender mare slipped between the tall grass and vanished into its depths.

The paladin was up in an instant later, clumsily grabbing his sword as he made his way to the wagons edge. He was only dressed in linens and a pair of slacks but judged there was no time to don what little protective gear he had left. 

When he braced his hand on the edge of the wagon's tail gate one of the men grabbed his sleeve and looked at him with worried eyes. "My lord paladin, you're in no state to go after her. It's too dangerous to leave the trail while injured. Allow me to summon the guard from the lead wagon to take up the search," he said hurriedly, many of the other passengers nodding in agreement.

Morenth ripped his sleeve out of the man's grasp, unbalancing him as he fought off vertigo. "I'll not leave this to others! She is my charge, and I will not wait for her to get lost or worse," the paladin snarled, dropping over the edge and landing unsteadily among the broken stocks of tall grass. After regaining his feet, he looked around for any sign of Riegar. The burly smith was annoying, but he was a force of nature with an axe in hand.

Unfortunately, there was neither height nor hair of the smith.

Not wasting any more time, Morenth hobbled to the wall of silver grass he'd watched Twilight enter, and using Dawnbringer as a crutch, parted the shafts before anyone else could protest.





At first it was hard going, moving through an almost solid wall of vegetation, but after a couple of minutes the grass became so tall it began to part. Their bows overhung narrow paths like silver archways and allowed small rays of sunlight to break through the canopy, creating enough light to see by.

Twilight heard the voice again, this time to her left. She turned and found no one there, only more diverging pathways through the grass forest. The voice didn't say anything she could understand, but it was clear that whatever it was, the voice was calling her.

"Hello?" she called out, waiting for a response.

The voice came again. This time it was much closer and caused a shiver to crawl up her spine. Why did she come here? It was clear to her now that if she had stopped and thought about it, she would have never just run off after some disembodied voice, not after all she'd seen of Soulis and its dangers.

A shock of green caught her eye between a pair of archways. She snapped around to look, but it was already gone, vanished into the maze of vegetation.

"M-Morenth...?" Twilight called hesitantly, the sound barely making past her mouth, "Riegar, is that you...?"

Something brushed her shoulder and she let out a small scream as she jumped away, turning frantically to find what had touched her. There was nothing but more grass. Then the voice came again, this time very close. The sound was like someone laughing in a whisper, if that someone was right behind her.

"...W-Wynn?"

"This way..."

This time, Twilight could tell the direction of the voice's origin. She began trotting through the archway it came from only to find more divergent paths.

"This way, child of magic..." the voice whispered from somewhere ahead of her, "This way, child of Epona..."

Forcing her legs to stop shaking, Twilight continued through the maze. Whenever she found herself directionless the voice would whisper in her ears and lead the way. She knew following the voice was unwise, but when she tried to go down a different path she would end up going through the archways the voice had come from regardless.

After what felt like hours Twilight stopped, finding herself looking at an archway unlike the others. The tall, silver grass of the Grey Flats twisted into delicate designs of different creatures along its surface, many of which she couldn't recognize. Mist gathered around the arch, moving listlessly across the ground and around her hooves.

Drawing in a baited breath, Twilight took her first step through the entryway. As she moved through the gathered mist she cast wary glances around her for any movement in the fog but saw nothing. Abruptly, the mist parted, revealing a silver table and two high back chairs, both made of formed grass. in the far chair a human child sat waiting for her, but there was something off about him. His hair was a bright green, woven into various braids above a set of even greener, almond shaped eyes;  a color Twilight had never seen on any of the humans she'd met. His ears were also an anomaly she'd never encountered. They were elongated, sweeping back over his braids and pointed at the ends.

The child's arm made a fluid, sweeping motion to the seat across from him, causing the extremely long trails of his emerald colored robe to flourish through the air. "Come, treat with me for a moment," he said with a smile.

Twilight didn't move, causing the child's smile to change into a confused frown. "Before I sit, wouldn't some introductions be in order?" she asked nervously, hoping she wasn't getting on his bad side. He looked harmless enough, but the atmosphere was decidedly creepy. "I'm Twilight Sparkle. Who are you?"

The child's frown was once more a smile as he rested his hands back into his lap. "Oh my, it's so rare to have a guest with manners. Normally they just demand to know who I am without giving their names first. It's quite rude you know." With that he hopped down from his seat and give Twilight a deep bow. "Greetings Twilight Sparkle, child of Epona. I am the Alu'thiade, and I have brought you here to better understand what your presence means. But first, please sit with me."

A dozen questions came to the forefront of her mind as Twilight moved to the chair the Alu'thaide presented, but stopped before it when she realized how uncomfortable the chair would be for a pony. He seemed to notice her discomfort.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry about the furnishings. How about a quick change to something more appealing to your species comforts?" he asked rhetorically, waving his hand at the table and chairs. The change was immediate as the chairs became more like pillows of grass laying on the ground, and the table lowered to an appropriate level to match the new seating arrangement. "There, that's much better. Now, would you like some refreshment? The Sivas Alura are not very accommodating to most creatures' needs so I imagine it's been quite rough."

"The 'Sivas Alura'?" Twilight asked, starting to forget her anxiety.

"Hmm, that's right. The humans call it something else these days, don't they?"

"The humans? So you're not a human then?"

Alu'thiade began to giggle, taking his seat at the far side of the table and motioned for Twilight to do the same. By the time she took her own seat his giggling had subsided. He sat with his legs crossed in a way that looked very uncomfortable to her, but he didn't seem to notice. "Oh no, I'm not a human. Usually, my ears prove that assumption false to most. But enough about me. I'm much more interested in you, and why you're here."

Twilight taped her chin with a hoof. "Well, I heard a voice in the wind, and I couldn't help but follow it. I'm guessing that was you?"

The strange child donned a rueful smile. "Yes, it was, but what I want to know is why you're here... in Soulis."

He waved his hand again and two tea cups that seem to be made out of leaves appeared in front of him. After passing the second cup to Twilight, Alu'thiade took a sip from his own cup and looked at her expectantly. The air around him was starting to put her on edge.

"And why would you want to know that?" she asked, taking a sip from her own cup to find that it was filled with a sweet, honey flavored tea and was quite delicious.

"My name was given to me by the elves. Did you know that?" he asked, changing the subject abruptly. He didn't wait for her to answer. "Its meaning doesn't translate into the common tongue easily, but the closest it comes to is 'he who watches the comings and goings of all', and as it implies, I am very interested in the first of Epona's children to be seen in millennia. And of course, the meaning that holds for the rest of Soulis as I am sure it is vast."

"There wasn't any reason," Twilight confessed, fiddling with the cup between her hooves, "It was all an accident. And what do you mean 'Epona's children'?"

Alu'thiade frowned for a moment and appeared deep in thought. "You mean you don't know? This is a most interesting development. Tell me, who is the matron of your kind if not Epona?"

"Well, Celestia and Luna are our rulers, but you didn't answer my question. Who is Epona?"

He didn't seem to hear her question as he took another thoughtful sip from his cup. "The sisters hold the mantles now? That is... most troubling to hear. And with the seven on the move..." The child who was clearly not a child trailed off, setting down his cup as he looked over at the wall of grass forming the room. "Hmm, it appears the guardian has arrived."

Moments later, the wall of grass was cut apart as Morenth staggered through looking pale and winded from the exertion. He spotted Twilight and sighed in relief until his eyes found Alu'thiade. The paladin jerked his sword up, pointing it at him as he drew in ragged breathes. "I don't know what you are pretender, but you are no elf!"

Alu'thiade grinned wide at Morenth's accusation, rising from his sitting position to offer a bow. "Very good young guardian, the spiritual awareness of the paladins hasn't degraded in the slightest." He bent down to the table and took his cup, taking another sip of the brew as another seat formed next to Twilight's. "Tea?"