“The one who springs into action immediately will sooner or later end up diving straight into a trap. The one who wastes his time getting ready for action will sooner or later miss his chance and be caught off-guard. One of the most difficult things is to find a balance between the two.
Always think before you act. Never hesitate to act.”
---
Papyrus was not joking when he said that they wouldn’t need to go far. He rarely joked about anything anyway. Only a couple hours of flight from his tower, Nuage had reached the small mountain that was marked on her map. Circling in the sky, she observed the area.
There was almost no traces of civilization, save for a small town by a lake. That one was pretty far away, in the plains below the mountain. What Nuage was looking for was rather the building standing on a small plateau about halfway to the summit. It was rather simple, made of stone and wood, with a rectangular wall delimiting an inner court. The bulk of the building occupied one side of this perimeter. “A temple ?” she thought “Or a monastery...”.
Scanning around, Nuage found a flat rock where she could land, high above the building. Once in place, she walked to the edge and gave the place a look. She could see two ponies walking around in the courtyard, but could only guess as to how many were inside.
Turning around on her perch, she grabbed an amulet hanging around her neck. Another enchanted item created by Papyrus, this one was relatively simple : a circular frame holding inside a round plate. She rotated the inner discus around its center until the gem embedded in it was facing the other gem lodged in the outer part. The two stones glowed slightly while Nuage placed the amulet on the ground.
A few seconds later, a spark of magic appeared in the air above it, quickly followed by a flash of green as Papyrus teleported in place. The unicorn turned his head around to get his bearings.
“Where are we ?” he asked with a curious look. Nuage simply pointed down at the building and the old unicorn approached the rock’s edge. “Ahh, good. Good.”
“What is this place, master ?”
“High Horn. An old temple or community or something like this. If the stories are right, a small group of unicorns settled here thousands of years ago because they refused to live in Equestria along pegasi and earth ponies. The history of the place is not very important, though,” Papyrus said with a wave of his hoof. “What’s more interesting is that unicorns have been living here for centuries, concentrating on the study of magic. They usually stay away from civilization, but over the centuries, a few very talented mages claimed to come from High Horn and all of them knew spells that baffled Canterlot’s best magicians.
“Now, there is a story about one unicorn named Flint Hoof who was raised here and began making a name for himself. I don’t know all the details, but basically, he used his magic for what were considered evil purposes and the other unicorns from High Horn decided to kill him. A few decades ago, he was finally hunted down and executed, but most of the High Horners died with him in the process.
“They say his power came from a device, a sort of catalyst for his magic that he had created. The unicorns here couldn’t destroy it, so they have been guarding it ever since. And now, we’re going to take it.”
Nuage observed the temple from their vantage point. Her keen eyes spotted a few windows and doors that could be used as an entry points and she could count only four or five ponies in the entire place. Either they were a very small community or most of them were concealed somehow.
She turned back to face Papyrus. “How do you want to proceed ?”
The old unicorn watched the sun going down in the west.
“We wait for the dark and try to slip inside discreetly. If we’re lucky, we can get Flint Hoof’s device without being seen.” He sat down close to the edge, looking down on the temple. “If they figure out what we’re after, they will certainly try to kill us. Be ready.”
“As always.”
---
“A lot of young gryphons go into battle with great enthusiasm, dreaming of conquest, fame and glory. As they grow older, those will often become bitter and cynical. Many will even turn into heartless murderers, becoming cruel and bloodthirsty as they seek to find something that cannot be found.
Do not entertain yourself with these illusions. There is only one thing in battle : death. It is what you will bring and what you will obtain. Expect nothing else.”
---
High Horn was asleep, with only a couple of lights coming out of windows betraying some nightly activity. The moon appeared on the horizon, bathing the mountain in its pale silvery light and giving Nuage a bit of a ghostly appearance due to her white coloration.
The gryphon waited a little bit more, until the moonlight became strong enough for her to see clearly. She stood up and flexed her wings a few times to limber them up.
“There’s enough light to fly, master.”
“All right,” Papyrus answered with a nod. “Let’s go then.”
Nuage jumped in the air and grabbed the old unicorn, hooking her front legs under his arms. Carrying him along, she flew down to the plateau beneath them.
The gryphon only used her wings to glide, making as little noise as possible. Papyrus, on his end, tucked his legs under his body and held as still as possible. They headed for a window, right under the roof and on the least exposed side of the temple. Papyrus used his magic to open it silently while they hovered in place and a few seconds later, the two were inside. Nuage quickly grabbed a few rolls of cloth in one of her belt’s pockets and wrapped them around her gauntlets to keep her talons from ringing on the stone floor with each step. Her lion paws were naturally silent, at least.
“Do you know where to go now ?” she asked, keeping her voice to a whisper.
“Not exactly, I’ll use a detection spell.” His horn lit up with a dim green glow and for a few seconds, Papyrus turned and tilted his head in different directions. “I can sense at least a dozen magical wards in one place, that must be it. We need to go down.”
Nuage nodded and snuck her head outside of the door. It led in an ordinary corridor and after she made sure that nopony was in sight, she headed in a random direction. The unicorn followed, cushions of green magic glowing under his hooves and keeping him silent, too.
The hallway was only lit by the glow of Papyrus’ magic, but Nuage was pretty sure that she wasn’t missing much in the way of architecture. Plain stones-on-stones construction, decorated only by dust and moss in some places. The High Horners were either totally indifferent to their home’s appearance or the part where the two intruders were currently sneaking was almost abandoned. Nuage finally found a stair leading down and, following Papyrus’ instructions, went to the lowest level.
The two kept going in more dark stone corridors until they stopped in front of a wall.
“I can detect lots of magic on the other side,” he whispered to her. “There must be a door somewhere. Come on.”
Keeping close to the theoretical location of the device, they crept in the hallways until the found a large double door. Papyrus used his magic to push on the heavy wooden panels and they opened with a loud groan coming from the rusty hinges.
“Let’s hope nopony heard that,” he said before sneaking inside. Nuage gave a quick look on each side and followed him.
The room looked like a small library, with almost as many books and scrolls as in Papyrus’ study, but neatly stacked on shelves instead of piled up all over the place. A few strange objects were also stored in corners. There were enough arcane items in here to keep the old unicorn busy for months, but he ignored them all, walking to the furthest wall instead.
“It’s somewhere behind...” He muttered a little more to himself as he examined the bookcases. Finally he stopped in front of a particular volume and pulled it with his magic.
The bookshelf rotated with a groan, revealing a hidden entry in the next room.
“A fake bookcase... Is that really the best they could come up with ?” He shook his head. “And here I thought they were extraordinary mages...” Papyrus took a cautious look at the passage and after his examination, stepped inside.
Strange patterns appeared in gold on the walls and a yellow bubble of magic appeared around him.
“Ha...” He touched it with a hoof, only to find that the surface was very solid. A blast of magic from his horn fizzled as soon as it touched it. “Alright, now that is impressive. Try to break it from outside, Nuage.”
She nodded and approached the shield bubble. Reaching a talon to it, she found the magic field to be as hard as rock. She took her flail and twirled the mass in the air to gain momentum, then smashed it on the shield. The heavy head bounced back and almost made her lose her grip.
“Okay, that won’t work,” Papyrus said. He calmly observed the intricate markings glowing around him. “I should be able to break out of this, but it will take some time. Now, unless the ponies in this place are complete morons, they should be here very soon. Hide and try to take them by surprise.”
“Understood.” Nuage jumped in the air and with a few quick flaps of her wings, took place on top of a bookcase in a dark corner of the room.
She counted about thirty seconds before the sound of hooves came from the hallway. Two unicorn stallions ran inside the room, passing below and not noticing her, as she had hoped. The faint light made their appearances difficult to really see, but one seemed mostly white or maybe yellow, while the other was either black or a dark blue.
They both slowed down and walked near the still trapped Papyrus. The old mage raised an eyebrow as he saw them.
“Is that all ?” he asked. “I would have expected more than two ponies... Should I feel insulted ?”
The two exchanged a glance before focusing back on him. The clear one spoke up. “Who are you and how did you find this place ?”
Papyrus sighed. “Is this really the time for introductions ?”
“Answer the question !”
“Or what ? You won’t let me go ? Somehow I doubt that’s really in your plans...”
The darker pony walked closer to him. “Nopony should know what is hidden here. Tell us how you learned of it and your death will be quick.”
Papyrus stared at the two for a moment. “So that’s how it is... I’m afraid I will choose the option where you die and I don’t.”
“Stop fooling around, you are powerless here !”
The old unicorn didn’t answer. He simply turned around to observe the runes glowing on the walls around him.
Nuage jumped from her hiding spot while unsheathing her knife. Only a second later, the blade was embedded in the base of the clear-colored unicorn’s neck. She didn’t wait for him to fall to the ground and immediately bounced back in the air, starting to twirl her flail in the air.
The dark unicorn managed to spin around quickly and fired a wild beam of magic in her direction.Unfortunately for him, Nuage had activated her magical gauntlet and his attack bounced harmlessly on the shield spell. At the same time, the head of her flail met his own head with a sickening crunch. She landed with one of her hind paws on his neck, using her claws to slice his throat open.
The two unicorns twitched a few times, then lied still definitively. Nuage pulled her knife free and wiped it clean on one of the dead unicorn’s fur before sliding it back in its sheath.
In his prison, Papyrus didn’t even turn around. “Thank you, Nuage.”
The gryphon looked at the corpses and sighed. The clear-colored one looked rather young. She wondered what his cutie mark was supposed to represent. A spinning top... Using her talons, she closed their eyes for the last time.
“Reposez en paix.”
In his bubble, Papyrus was gathering magic around his horn. His spell reached out to the surface of the shield, making it flicker and pulse slowly. It still held, though.
“Ivory ?” A feminine voice came from outside the room.
Nuage slunk into another dark corner and waited.
“Shade ? Ivory ? Are- Are you ok ? What’s going on ?”
From her hiding spot, Nuage saw a young mare’s head peek around the door. A small white sphere was shining at the tip of her horn, providing some light in the room.
“This isn’t funny. Answer me !” she called as she walked slowly inside.
The mare turned around a bookcase and froze. Her eyes widened and she screamed.
Turning to run away, she froze and screamed again as she came face to face with Nuage.
The gryphon was ready to block her attack, but the unicorn in front of her simply staggered back. Her hooves stumbled on one of her dead friend’s body and she fell on top of him. She screamed again at the sight of his blood now staining her white fur.
Papyrus grumbled in his bubble. “Would you keep it down ? I need to concentrate here.”
Nuage walked to the mare and clamped a talon on her muzzle.
“That’s better,” Papyrus said. A few seconds later, his last spell managed to dissipate the magic trap around him. “Finally. They really didn’t want anypony to get out of that thing...”
The mare whimpered and looked at Nuage with teary eyes. She was strangely similar to the gryphon, her fur completely white. Only her pale blue mane was more colorful than Nuage’s feathers. Even her eyes were a very light shade of blue... Nuage gave a quick glance at her rump : her cutie mark was a round shield with a crescent moon and a star decorating it.
“No screaming,” Nuage said, taking her talon away from the mare’s muzzle.
“Are- You- I... Who are you ?”
The gryphon tilted her head to the side, not expecting that particular question. “Nuage.”
“What ?”
“I am Nuage.”
“No, I meant... Ugh. What are you going to do to me ?”
“That depends on you,” she answered.
The mare blinked a few times. “You’re here for the Fortior, aren’t you ?”
Papyrus stepped next to Nuage. “What do you know about it ?”
She frowned. “Nothing. And even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you. All I know is that it’s too dangerous to be used. Nopony must ever get his hooves on that cursed thing.”
“Humph. We’ll see about that,” Papyrus said while going back to the open passage.
The mare almost went after him, but Nuage grabbed her mane and glared at her until she slumped down.
“There are a lot of protections in there,” the old mage said. “It will take time to remove them all... Should I expect more unicorns to pop in here or can I work in peace now ?”
Nuage shook the mare a little when she didn’t answer.
“No, nopony else...”
“What, there were only three of you living here ? That’s hard to believe. Maybe you should check, Nuage.”
“No,” the mare said urgently. “The only ones left are foals. Please, don’t hurt them.”
Papyrus observed her for a moment and shrugged. “I guess I’ll be fine on my own, then. Nuage, make sure that mare won’t bother me.”
“Yes, master.”
“No ! Wait !” The mare struggled as Nuage grabbed her in her arms and lifted her in the air. “Don’t take the Fortior ! You can’t...”
Her protests died as she was taken far away from the room. Nuage flew through the first window she spotted, gliding in the night sky with the mare screaming in fear and flailing her limbs. Nuage held strong with all of her four legs, keeping the unicorn firmly under her.
She lost altitude quickly, following the mountain’s slope for a few minutes until she found a clearing to land in. From here, the mare would need at least an hour to climb back up... Nuage approached the ground and let her go, making her land in a heap.
The mare stood back up on shaky legs while Nuage landed in front of her, watching the gryphoness with a mix of fear and hate. She simply stared back.
“Well... What are you waiting for ?” the unicorn finally asked. “This is where you eat me, isn’t it ?”
Nuage blinked a few times. “I don’t eat ponies,” she said.
“So, you’re just going to kill me, then ? Whatever, I’m not going down without a fight.” She angled her head forward and lit up her horn.
“I’m sorry about your friends.”
“Wha- ?” the magic fizzled out on her horn. She shook her head and lit it up again, tears appearing in her eyes. “No, you’re not. Those... Those ponies were all the family I had and you killed them, just so you could steal the Fortior ! You’re not sorry, you’re just a monster. A murderer.”
“I’m a Serme.”
For the second time, the unexpected answer made the mare lose her focus. “A what ? Is that even a word ?”
“I have sworn to protect my master’s life with my own.” Nuage looked sadly at the mare. “Your friends would have killed him. I had no choice.”
She scowled and yelled. “There’s always a choice ! You kill ponies simply because your master tells you to ? Is this your excuse for being an assassin ?”
“I made an oath to serve my master and I must respect my word. Whatever he asks, I will do or die trying. That is all.”
“This is ridiculous. Who’s forcing you ?”
“My honor is.”
“This-” The mare yelled even louder. “This is stupid. This makes no sense ! You’re obliged to obey your master because you said you would ? And you would die to keep your word ? Just how crazy are you ?”
Nuage observed the seething unicorn for a few seconds.
“Ne craignez pas la mort, car celle-ci est inévitable. Craignez l’échec, car celui-ci est votre entière responsabilité.”
“What ? What are you blabbing now ?”
“It is one of the teachings of the way of the Serme : do not fear death, for it is inevitable. Fear failure, for it is your entire responsibility.”
The mare remained puzzled, staring at Nuage for a while. The gryphon sighed.
“I see you don’t understand the honor of my way,” she said softly. “Then know only this : I will never break my oath.”
The unicorn glared and gritted her teeth. “Do you even realize how dangerous the Fortior is ? No unicorn should ever use it.”
Nuage didn’t answer, letting the faint night breeze fill the silence.
“Your master is crazy !” the mare said. “He will only turn into a bigger monster with that kind of power. If you care about him as much as you say, you should stop him before things get worse.”
“I serve him. He will decide what to do.”
“You-” She gritted her teeth and choked on a sob. “I- I am the only one left to stop him then, since you killed Ivory and Cool Shade. It is my duty to get the Fortior back.”
“I understand,” Nuage said. “Understand that if you try to kill my master, I will kill you.”
The mare swallowed the lump in her throat and fixed her teary eyes on Nuage. “I will have to kill you first, then.”
Nuage nodded. “What is your name ?”
The mare raised an eyebrow, but answered nonetheless. “Swift Snow.”
“Swift Snow... For both our sakes, let us hope that we will never meet again.”
Nuage turned her back to her and spread her wings. “Bon vol.” She jumped in the air and with a few powerful beats of her wings, left Swift Snow behind her.
Maybe it would have been safer to kill that mare, but if there were foals in High Horn, somepony would have to take care of them. Hopefully, she would never find Papyrus again...
Nuage took only a few more minutes to get back to the room where the Fortior was kept.
“Don’t come in,” Papyrus said when she called him. “I’m almost done here.”
Nuage sat down and waited. A few minutes later, he came out with something wrapped in cloth on his back.
“I have the device,” he said as he left the hidden chamber. “I’ll teleport back to my tower now. Meet me there tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, master.”
Papyrus levitated the amulet he was wearing around his neck in front of him. Its design was very similar to the one Nuage had used earlier, another focus to help long distance teleportation. In a flash of green light, the unicorn disappeared, leaving the golden amulet to fall back on the ground. She grabbed it and made her way out.
Nuage jumped out of the first window she could find and gave the temple a last look. With a sigh, she flapped her wings and took flight in the direction of her home.
She only whispered a few words for the dead as she left.
“Malheur aux vaincus.”