Rodin Everblaze/James Mender
I remember.
I remember… everything! From both of my memories!
I still can’t believe I was holding out on me.
Hells, both of me were!
If I didn't find it so funny, I’d be furious! I mean, really, all this time I could have been working together with me. Stupid Guilds and their stupid superstitions... There’s so much to be learned from the joint theories of-
Wait.
This is too much. I can’t be both of me. This is not sustainable; there needs to be a separation between me and I!
Perhaps if I…
…
… Did it work? We think so.
Yet we still have access to the memories of each other. We still feel the every thought of the other, every emotion, every heartbeat…
It’s still not enough; we’re still in danger of losing ourselves to the Us. We can’t be merged this closely for long, it’ll be irreversible soon!
We must loosen the connection!
…
Gods dammit James! I can’t believe you! This is the sort of stunt I pull!
If I hadn't you’d be dead, Ronin. And thanks to one of your little secrets, if you die, we all die. When were you planning on telling us about that, hmmm?
Stow it, James, you've been keeping secrets too.
At least my secrets don’t endanger literally all of humanity!
I have it perfectly under control. And even if it turns out that I don’t, by that point I won’t care anymore. I’ll be dead.
Then what about Sophia! You’d kill her too!
…
I guess I’ll just exercise whatever foresight is necessary to not die around her then.
You are impossible. I can’t believe I risked my sanity and my life to save your sorry ass.
Hey, you risked my sanity too.
Don’t start with me. We still have a long road to recovery, and I can’t sense what’s going on around us. Can you?
… No. Did you see what it was I ended up summoning?
No, I just hope it didn't kill too many before it was subdued.
Oh come on, it’s an herbivore, what could it possibly do?
… See, now you’re being stupid on purpose.
Since when was this news?
…
Whoa. Was that what I think it was?
Yep. Hayley and Devin pulled through for us.
This feels… great!
Don’t let it get to your head. Soon enough they’ll get more sacrifices, and then I can untangle us completely.
Are you sure you want to?
…Do you really want my running commentary on your every action and thought for the rest of our lives?
Well, when you put it that way…
Trust me. It’s going to be a relief to get you out of my head too.
The sooner the better if you ask me. Besides, it will be easier to enjoy my winnings if I don’t have to hear you complain about it.
Seriously? You’re going to hold me to that after I saved your life?
As far as I’m concerned you’re the one who endangered it in the first place, so, yeah. Twelve days. Hop to it!
I’m a little tied up at the moment… Asshole.
I’m a patient man, I can wait.
You’re such a liar, Ronin.
It’s true, I am.
…
It’s starting. They must have found more sacrifices.
So we’ll wake up now? I should know, but my memories of your memories are fading…
Mine too. Don’t worry about it, just focus on keeping your Self intact while I use what they've given me to separate us again. We’ll wake up momentarily.
Got it. Do your thing, I’m ready.
Shut up, I need to concentrate.
Rainbow Dash
I’m following the armored ones from a discrete distance.
They carry nets, and I can see the animals they have inside them. A family of rabbits in one, a deer tangled in another…
Fluttershy would go ballistic if she saw this…
I can’t just let them die… but, these humans are predators, I can’t steal their food either…
The ones with the nets enter the building I was summoned in, and disappear from sight.
I’m… curious. Why are they being taken here? I thought they were going to eat them…
There’s an armored one guarding the door, but he doesn't stop me from poking my head in and watching.
There are beds everywhere, and there are more humans on most of them. One of the armored ones is bleeding heavily from a cut in his shoulder.
I watch as he’s tended to by a mare, wrapping the wound, after applying some kind of salve. She holds his head for a moment, before he relaxes, asleep.
How did she do that? Do they have a pressure point in their head or something?
The frantic noises of the deer recaptures my attention, him and the rabbit family have been hauled over between two beds where a stallion is inspecting them.
The mare joins them, and obscures my view. I can’t see them through the crowd, but I really don’t want to get any closer if they’re about to start killing in here.
Everyone suddenly got really quiet.
The animals even stop making noise.
“Whatcha doing Rainbow Dash?”
“Gahh!” I jump, barely missing the door frame as I take to the air outside. Below me I see Sophia, Who else could it have been? “Don’t sneak up on me like that!”
“Sorry.” She doesn't sound sorry. “What were you lookin at?”
“They brought a bunch of animals in there.”
Immediately she brightens up. “Really! That’s great! That means daddy’s gonna get better soon!”
I fail to see how she came to that conclusion. “How does that make any sense? What are they doing to those rabbits and that deer?”
Her answer feels like a kick to the gut.
“They’re going to sacrifice them, silly.”
I stare at her. They aren't eating them? My mind works furiously, re-evaluating what I've seen in this new light.
So, they’re not some kind of predator, they’re some sort of freaky discordant cult? Oh Celestia, what if these humans and their sacrifices are what brought discord to power all those years ago!
I am suddenly very keenly aware of exactly how many armed humans are within a stone’s throw of me.
… And they wanted me to help them. And I refused. I eye the door-guard warily. How long before they decide I’m a good sacrifice too? Horsefeathers. I’m the Element of Loyalty, I’d make the best sacrifice to past-Discord!
“I-I gotta go. See you around Sophia.”
I fly off before she can so much as answer.
Gaining a little altitude, I circle the human’s death-camp as I try to figure out a piece of the puzzle that eludes me.
This place is so familiar… But I can’t put my hoof on it. Those walls, the ones nearly as tall as I am, that keep ponies from wandering into the ravine, I know I’ve never seen them before… but those two towers… They’re so familiar for some reason.
Deciding to investigate, I land on the tower closest to their bridge and examine it. The floor is made of stone. A few marks of discoloration show where furniture must have rested a long time ago.
There’s a lot of dust, but it’s been recently disturbed. It looks like there might have been more floors to the tower, but they must have fallen, or been demolished. The walls that remain have that ‘broken’ look to their tops.
I hop up on the wall and spread my wings to help balance.
I can see the Forest of Watchful Shade easily from here.
I frown. No. That’s definitely the Everfree. The similarities are too uncanny, there’s no other forest like this. It must just have had a different name in the past.
My eyes drift across the landscape.
So if this is the Everfree… what does that tell me about where I am?
My eyes drift across the ceiling-less building below me. I’m surprised to see a live timber wolf tied up in a corner, with a number of armored ones watching over it.
How have I not seen or heard of this before now?
From there my eyes make a short jump to the object taking up the center of the building, a stone sphere with five little arms fanning out from it. It reminds me of…
No way…
In somewhat of a daze I glide down from the top of the tower, circling the object that used to hold the Elements of Harmony.
Who cares about the timberwolf? I just realized where I am.
Which means…
I trot out the front gate, hardly noticing the guards that give me funny looks.
I approach the edge of the ravine, peering over the edge. Through some light mist, I can see the remnants of the old rope bridge that my friends had used to cross, now broken and twisted on the sharp rocks at the bottom.
At the bottom. Which means I can’t be in the past!
I look up, seeing the road that we used to get here. Even with the trees and bushes growing in the middle of it, I recognize the path. My memory tells me every twist and turn, so I take to the air and immediately begin following those memories from the sky.
This is going to work!
I’m going to go home!
I can’t believe I ever thought this was the past!
Twilight is so going to go crazy when she hears about this.
Ronin Everblaze
I open my eyes.
The ceiling of the Healer’s building greets my gaze, accompanied by the telling aroma of disinfectant.
It’s sad that I recognize this place by the shape of its roof.
I feel jittery, and pull myself into a sitting position. To my left James’s apprentices stand, relief on their faces.
“It worked! He’s awake!”
I fight the urge to jump out of bed and run around the castle a few times. “More than awake, I feel like I could go toe to toe with an ogre. I think you used too much! How long was I out?” I begin unraveling the bandages that cover… most of me. Underneath is healthy pink skin, no sign of any injury.
Yeah, they definitely went overboard with it.
“It’s been nearly a full week.” I hear Captain Weather’s voice call out from the doorway. He sounds tired, which is rare for him. Something must be wrong.
I hop out of bed, take two steps, and pause. Where is my staff?
“Hey, somebody fetch me my staff.” The younger apprentice scurries off somewhere. Good. It is best if I have it with me at all times.
“You know, you ought to get rid of that thing. It makes you look like an old man, leaning on a walking stick.”
Ah. James is awake too.
“I see you managed to survive your little trick.” I look at him, warning him with my eyes to keep his mouth shut about what he knows.
He waves dismissively at me. “There was never any doubt. I am master rank, after all.”
“What you did was still highly dangerous.”
“What exactly did you do, master? It felt like you had bound your spirit to his,” the older apprentice asks.
“It’s not something you’re ready to understand yet, let alone attempt, Hayley. Don’t worry about it.”
The other apprentice returns with my staff, which I inspect for any damage. Thankfully, it seems to have survived the summoning mishap with merely some superficial damage.
Speaking of my summoning…
“So what was it that I summoned?”
The Captain fields this one, “It was some kind of winged horse; she identified herself as a ‘Pegasus’, and spoke a language nobody could understand, save for your daughter. She’s likely with the creature now.”
“Well then. I’d like to meet her.”
Weathers looks like he has other things he wants me to do, but agrees, and we begin searching for Sophia and the sentient horse.
Samuel Weathers
We didn't find Rainbow.
Nobody knew where she was. Eventually one of the guards reported her flying into the Forest, and nobody had spotted her since.
Sophia didn't want to talk about her much. I suspect they had some sort of falling out.
Ronin looked disappointed, but followed my lead, and started down the incredibly long list of magical needs we had accumulated over his week in the hospital.
Right now I stand in his tower, listening as he tells me what he can of the magical plants and animals Sophia had identified coming in from the forest patrols.
“This one looks like all it does is glow in the dark,” he says, setting down an orange flower and resting his glowing gaze upon the dead chicken-lizard hybrid.
“This one has a great deal of nature magic infused in it, but focused heavily in the eyes… Either it has amazing vision, or it can do magical things by looking at stuff.”
I frown. That sounds dangerous. The fact that it had died from an arrow to the back of its head makes me feel that the hunter got very lucky he had the drop on it, rather than vice-versa.
“Is it edible?”
“It might be. I’m not sure how magically infused flesh of this kind would treat the stomach. It might be harmless, it might turn you into one of them. There’s nothing for it but experimentation!”
“No. We don’t need more casualties.” That, and the thing has had a whole week to rot in this tower, It might just kill you anyway if you eat it.
“Spoilsport. What’s next?”
I drop a bag at his feet with a loud *Clang!* and open it to reveal that it is filled with axes.
“Have you heard we’re going to war? I’m going to need these enchanted. Preferably with fire, as our opponents are made entirely out of magic and wood. We have one tied up in the gatehouse for you to examine, by the way.”
Ronin stares at me, and then grins. I know that grin. I’m not going to like this, am I?
Sophia Everblaze
“Remarkable.” Daddy says.
We’re in the gatehouse with the mean old wolf thing. Daddy’s looking at the wolf with his magic-eyes, and circling it.
I was really happy to see daddy awake again, but Sam has him working now, so I didn't get to hug him for very long.
Now though, daddy says he’s going to teach me something! I can’t wait, it’s been a long time since I got to learn anything new…
“It’s a construct. Not one of those monstrosities where you bind a spirit to an object, but pure nature magic, given directive.”
Sam looks confused. “What does that mean for us?”
Daddy laughs. “It means we’re in for it now! If I’m right, these things sustain themselves by taking in the ambient magic of the forest itself, but they were created. Created by something, or someone. Making these costs them as little as enchanting an axe costs me, so if it’s to be war…”
“The winner will be whoever can step up production the most,” Sam finishes for him.
“That, and each death on our side is an irrevocable loss to us, whereas each of theirs will be a mere setback of resources. In short, this sucks. But hey, if the point is to step up production, I have the solution right here.” Daddy looks at me.
Why is he looking at me?
Sam sighs. “Alright, if you have this handled, I need to check up on the new recruits.”
Daddy looks at Sam, bewildered. “New recruits?”
“Yes. We went recruiting while you were out. We’ll have another four squads if Bill does a good job with them.”
“Well that should increase our odds.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Sam says, heading out the front gate, accompanied by most of the guards.
I tug on daddy’s robe. “So when am I going to learn the new thing?”
“Right now, darling.” He cracks his knuckles and fetches the bag of axes in from a guard and motions me to follow him to an empty corner of the gatehouse.
“Alright. Watch, listen and learn,” he says, removing an axe from the bag. “When enchanting the first thing you have to do is select a rune, in this case, Fire. For this particular weapon we place the rune on the axe head, one on each side.” As he speaks, his fingers draw the runes, glimmering red energy marking where his fingers touched the metal.
I nod, that’s exactly what I had tried earlier.
“Now, the trick is to fill the runes up with magic, but to hold back the tiniest bit; just enough to keep the spell from completing prematurely. Then you take that tiny bit of magic, and you bind it to the blade of the weapon.” He pinches the blade of the axe between two fingers and slides them along its length, leaving behind his glowing red aura.
When he is done, the red glow flares, and then vanishes, revealing what appears to be a normal axe. “When the axe strikes something, the magic on the blade will draw from the magic in the runes and burn the target with fire.”
“How do we know if it worked?” I ask.
Daddy grins. I know that grin. He’s about to do something fun!
I follow him eagerly as he stands up and approaches one of the guards by the wolf. “Would you like to do the honors or should I?”
The guard’s eyes flicker towards the gate that Sam had left through. “No thank you, sir.”
“Fair enough.” With no more warning than that, daddy swings the axe in an overhead arc, sinking it deep into the wooden hide of the wolf. The glowing red runes appear on the axe again, briefly, before the entire wolf bursts into flames.
I take an involuntary step backwards, as do the guards. The heat can be felt from several feet away.
When the flames die out, there is nothing left of the wolf, or its restraints, other than a pile of black char.
Daddy is looking at the axe critically with his glowing red eyes. “I’d say it has about three of those in it, before it starts noticeably fading in power.”
One of the guards is eyeing the axe nervously. “Y-Yes sir.”
Daddy looks mischievously at the guard who answered him. “Saaay, now that you aren't guarding anything, be a dear and fetch me a bunch of arrows, would you? A few hundred should do for starters.”
I giggle, “Are you going to teach me to do arrows too, daddy?”
He holds up a placating hand. “First let me see you do an axe correctly. Then we’ll talk.”
I can feel my smile being replaced with a look of fierce determination to prove myself. Returning to the pile of axes, I glare at one as I haul it over to the enchanting corner.
Alright, axe, lets see if you can handle Round Two!