Disclaimer:
Writing this story,
was done only in tribute,
To Alicorn Faust,
I seek no money,
from what belongs to Hasbro,
Please do not sue me.
What Might Have Been
Chapter 11: The Song...
After the haze of hormones (and something slightly more sinister) had faded from Rainbow Blitz's mind, he took a moment to look around himself. The inscrutably faceless trees all around gave no indication of how far he had run or in which direction he should go to return. Now he finally began to feel the loss that came from his damaged feathers as he was unable to simply fly above the trees and get his barrings.
Further adding to his frustration were the circumstances which brought him here in the first place. Blitz had always considered himself a charmer of mares and occasionally stallions but looking back, his recent flirtations with Twilight Sparkle were not sitting well with him.
He liked the purple mare sure, but the way he had come on to her like he did was outright shameful. What in Tartarus was I thinking? “It will never be said I don't know how to please a mare?” I'm lucky she didn't slap me right then and there! A wave of irritation tinged with anxiety came over Blitz as he paced back and forth amongst the snowberry and bracken.
I mean she's cute and all, but she saved my life for pony's sake! What kind of a friend repays that by making her a one night stand? She probably thinks I'm just a sexist pig now.
Sadness opened up within him. Twilight was so determined and full of energy, so kind hearted and optimistic. She was a pony Blitz admired even though he had known her for less than a day. The idea that he had let her down or offended her was a great weight in his shoulders.
I need to make this right, he resolved. I need to find her and apologize, so we can be friends again.
His course of action clear, Blitz stopped his pacing and tried to find any trace of where the violet mage had gone. But the trees all looked the same, and even the sun was no help in finding his way; hung as it was at the peak of the sky and no longer following its usual east to west course. In all directions the forest and its many paths were identical.
“... Fuck.”
Elsewhere in the Everfree Forest the other ponies were slowly realizing their predicament as well. With a snort and a jerk, Applejack awoke form a deep and peaceful slumber. As his senses resolved themselves back on the waking world, confusion grew rapidly in his mind. What in the hay is going on? Why was I just asleep? And where's everypony else?
Taking a quick look around an even more pressing thought came to light. For that matter, where am I?
When Elusive broke out of his own trance-like state, he was far less composed about it. The injuries in his leg and chest had made a constant rhythm of pain as he walked, and this hurtful cadence had somehow lulled him into mindlessly moving forward. Now that he was stopped though, each and every step he had taken was reminding him of its presence.
The alabaster colt was quickly overcome by a throbbing ache he could ignore no longer. He let himself fall on his good side and screwed his eyes shut, quivering in agony and praying for the pain to subside.
To Butterscotch it seemed as though he just blinked and everything was different. He shut his eyes for what was only a moment, and now his friends were all missing and something was defiantly wrong with the forest in which he stood.
The timid pegasus never enjoyed the times he had to enter the forest near his home. But it had happened often enough that he was rather familiar, if not confident in his ability to navigate within it. There were always little clues that his animal friends would use to find their way, and Butterscotch was keen enough to pick up on some of them.
For example, the Everfree River flowed through the heart of the forest and as such the landscape was always at a gentle slope down towards it's banks. The species mix of trees would subtly shift as well. Vine maples and ceder were more prevalent away from the places where the river had once flooded, while fir trees and alder liked the periodic disturbance.
There were perhaps a half dozen other ways the nature loving colt could at least guess his way through the woods, but the strange thing was that none of those signs was showing up. The ground looked perfectly level in all directions, the trees also showed no distinction between one place and another, and even the shadows cast by the sun fell straight down.
The forest shouldn't be like this. It's not like this, He thought to himself. Then a chill ran down Butterscotch's spine as a creepy little though wormed it's way into his head. It's like the forest is hiding something from me. Like it's trying to get me lost.
Though this seemed ridiculous at first, the yellow colt could not get the idea out of his head. The more he looked around the more he began to feel like something foreign was infusing the woods. Something intangible but malevolent.
Something evil.
“Butterscotch? Hey Butterscotch where'd you go?”
…
“Butters?”
Berry Bubble looked around in confusion. One minute he had been talking with his new friend and then next, he was all alone in the Everfree Forest.
“Guys? I know you're all hiding. You can come out now!” The pink colt began to scan the surrounding greenery for signs of the others. His bright blue eyes flicked from one possible hiding place to another but each was more ridiculous than the last. Still he could not accept that his friends weren't near by.
“Ok guys, I get the joke. You've all had a laugh now it's time to get back to that whole 'saving the world' thing!” His voice was strained to a reedy thinness as it stretched to span the growing gulf between what Berry wanted and what was actually happening.
Doubt took hold, and with it fear. “Guys? Twilight?” They weren't there.
Berry trotted a few paces and looked around again. The other ponies had to be near by, they wouldn't just leave him. He could still find them if he was fast enough, before they left him for good.
Mindlessly, he trotted further into the woods. Twilight has to be around here somewhere. But what if I'm going the wrong way? The others could just as easily be behind me, and now I'm running away from them!
Berry turned and ran back toward where he had started, but the trees all looked the same, and he couldn't be sure where that was. Coming to a halt once more, the pink colt maniacally searched again for signs of his friends. Cold sweat began to bead on his brow and the jittery rush of panic slowly crept into this thoughts.
Where are they?! They've got to be nearby somewhere. I couldn't be that far away. I just need to find them.
His hooves were carrying him at a dead sprint before he even gave them thought. His breath came in quick, shallow gasps that had nothing to do with running. In an instant he skidded to a halt again trying, needing to see some sign of his friends.
They're not over here! What if they're not this way at all? What if they're back the other way? I could just be missing them! Turning again he sprinted back the way he had come. I still don't see them! Oh, where are they?!
Berry's mind raced through a hundred different ways he could try to find his way back to the group, each more tenuous than the last. All his powers of imagination and ingenuity were unable to aid him. Then one last fleeting hope popped into his head.
Wait! If we got separated they'll have to come looking for me! They must be calling for me! I just need to listen! Taking a deep breath and holding it, the usually peppy colt tried to remain perfectly still, quieting himself until his only sound was the blood rushing through his ears.
The forest was deathly silent. The only sound he heard was the beat of his own heart. Then a muffled whimper, a quiet sob, and finally tears of despair pattering on the ground.
✶✶✶ ☽☀☾ ✶✶✶
For a brief moment, shame and embarrassment swirled within Twilight Sparkle as she though about what she had just done. How could I have been so... so... Ugh! I don't even know! What was I thinking?
...
Wait a minute, just what was I thinking? So we're all just walking along when all of a sudden, for no apparent reason I go into an estrus cycle so strong it overpowers my ability to think or to even feel pain? And then less than five minutes later when I'm completely alone it just as suddenly passes?
Yeah, something's not right here.
Twilight's face twisted with incredulity as she began the first step of what she like to call 'The Method': make observations. She started with herself.
Her wounds were paining her again as they rightly should, though it was nothing she couldn't handle for the time being. The splint on her back leg was looking a little loose though so she tried to sure it up a little with her telekinesis. The instant she called power into her horn however, she could feel it. Magic, thick and prevalent.
To really be accurate though, it might have been better to say she could smell it through her horn. The earth and trees and even the air around her was bathed in thick, syrupy arcane energy. It curled around her horn like vinegar fumes and made her eyes water with its pungency.
Forgetting her bandages for a time the violet mage took a moment to try and figure out what such a wide and diffuse spell was trying to do. A cursory glance around her revealed no obvious signs of any magical working. The abnormal daylight was a bit off-putting, but other than that, the trees all looked the same, the shrubs all looked the same, and the...
Wait a second. The trees really do all look the same. And not just similar, they all look exactly the same. That's not right.
Looking back and forth between two of the trees near her, Twilight was unable to find a single difference between them. This was of course impossible. The chances that two trees growing right next to each other would turn out identical was so small as to be beyond the realm of possibility. The seed of an idea was starting to take root in her mind. She now had a hypothesis.
Clearing off a small patch of dirt before her, the curious mare took a twig off the ground with her magic. The feel of vinegar fumes against her horn was still there, but for the moment she ignored it and turned her attention back to her two subjects. Experiment time.
Starting by looking at one tree and not looking at the twig she held, she quickly sketched five lines in the dirt. One for the trunk and the four biggest branches. Then she turned to the second tree and repeated the process while still not looking at her drawing. When she was done she cast the twig away and finally looked at her work.
The two sketches were nothing alike.
Twilight frowned at the result. Not because she was disappointed in her drawing ability, but because she finally knew what all the pungent magic in the air was doing. It was creating a labyrinth.
She had read about labyrinths once in a history of magic book some time ago. They were one of the oldest types of spells. Very difficult to defeat and long since outlawed, labyrinths were an enchantment on a place that prevented a pony from getting from one point to another within that place. By twisting perception and appearances, a well constructed labyrinth could turn simple directions like 'two rights and a left to get to Ponyville town hall' into a nightmare of twisted alleys, U-turn roads, blind corners and dead ends.
The easiest way to get through was to wear a blindfold and walk the route by memory. If you couldn't see where you were going, you couldn't be lead astray by the spell. However Twilight was nowhere near familiar enough with the forest to do that and in addition, she still needed to find her friends. Not exactly something she could do blind.
Outright dispelling the enchantment was probably not going work either. She would need at least as much power to undo the spell as the original caster had put into its creation, and Twilight had a sneaking suspension that the caster of this particular spell had divine levels of power at her disposal.
Until she could find a way to negate the labyrinth though, she was stuck. Here in the forest, the purple mare could be no more then twenty or thirty meters from the path or her friends, but due to the magic of the labyrinth she had little hope of ever finding either one. The spell would ensure that even if she started walking in a straight line, she would at best end up right back where she started. At worst, that history of magic book had a few references to ponies getting lost within the spell and never coming back out, even after the labyrinth had been uncast. Not a pleasant thought.
She was stuck, and with the fate of this world hanging on her shoulders, stuck was not a good place to be. Despair began to creep into her heart as her mind worked frantically for a solution to her problem. She was almost at the end of her rope when she though of something that might actually work.
It was something Pinkie had taught her on their very first trip through the Everfree together. When the night seems darkest and you're the most afraid, giggle at the ghostie and it will all be ok. Twilight didn't think she had enough raw power to dispel the labyrinth spell, but maybe she could do one better. Maybe she she could defeat the spell not with magic from her horn, but with magic from her heart.
Maybe she could break the spell outright.
Breaking a spell outright was not something done with conventional unicorn magic though. It meant calling on a deeper power that resided in all ponykind. Something pure and beautiful, like true love. Being the veteran Bearer of Harmony that she was, Twilight had no doubt in the power of such emotions. What she needed to do was properly harness that strength; like through laughter, or a song.
Twilight Sparkle knew the perfect one, it was also a gift from her bubbly pink friend back home, and she sent thanks for it with a silent prayer. She ran the words through her head and hummed to warm up her voice, then she opened her mouth and her heart and let the music guide her.
My name is Twilight Sparkle,
She winced as the extra syllable made a burr in the melody, but she continued on just as strong.
And I am here to say,
I'm gonna make you smile and I will brighten up your day-ah-a-ay.
A light of joy filled her heart as she though of how happy her friends made her, and the miasma of enchantment began to evaporate around her.
It doesn’t matter now
If you are sad or blue
The forest began to clear. Twilight caught a flash of sky blue amongst some nearby trees so she trotted toward it, never letting go of the melody.
'Cause cheering up my friends is just what Twilight's here to do!
Rainbow Blitz noticed the purple mare as soon as he heard the singing. When he met her eyes his face split info a relieved grin, but then he remembered what had happened and he looked away in shame.
'Cause I love to see you smile smile smile.
Yes I do.
It fills my heart with sunshine all the while
Yes it does.
Without any hesitation the joyous singer walked right up to Blitz and wrapped him in an affectionate hug. It didn't matter what had come between them, or whether or not they were wrapped up in destiny together, or that they were from separate worlds. He was her friend right now, and there wasn't any doubt about it.
So close to his face she had to lower her voice to a gentle coo, but the power of her melody rang though the trees all the same, growing more powerful with every bar. She pulled back and ran a hoof along his cheek, letting the magic of her song carry all the meaning she needed. Understanding seeped into Blitz's mind and a smile of his own spread across his face.
'Cause all I really need's a smile smile smile.
From these happy friends of mine.
Though the words came to a rest, the music Twilight had started seemed to carry on unimpeded, and for the next verse Blitz lifted his own sandy tenor to the tune.
We love to see you grin.
We love to see you beam.
The corners of your mouth turned up has always been our dream.
Gently, the new harmony began to pull the two singing ponies through the woods and they gladly followed, trusting the magic of their song to guide them.
But if you're kind of worried
A flash of pale yellow in the underbrush ahead.
And your face has made a frown,
Butterscotch's eyes lit up when he saw them.
We'll work real hard and do our best to turn that sad frown upside down!
The timid pegasus leapt at Rainbow Blitz and caught him in a tight embrace, then turned to Twilight with tears of joy in his eyes. Elation lit his features and the song spilled out of him.
'Cause I love to see you grin grin grin!
Yes we do!
Bust it out from ear to ear let it begin!
Again the melody began to pull them along, this time more urgently.
And you fill us with good cheer!
Now the melody slowed and became more somber. It did not give any ground to the now rapidly evaporating malfeasance, but it now asked for compassion over elation.
Its true some days are dark and lonely,
There was a sliver of white fur peaking through he grass nearby.
And maybe you feel sad,
Elusive looked around as the song took him up and saw his friends coming to rescue him. As they neared, the pain of his wounds receded, and the strength to carry on returned to him.
But your friends will be there to show you that it isn't that bad!
Butterscotch and Blitz helped the unicorn to his hooves and watched in awe as the song spilling from their lips forced away the tangled confusion lurking amongst the trees.
There's one thing that makes me happy,
Twilight sang.
And makes my whole life worthwhile,
Butterscotch responded. Then Blitz took over
And that's when I talk to my friends and get them to...
Smiiiiiiiiiiile!
Elusive's own clarion baritone burst forth fort his chest. His outburst surprised him but it just felt so good to join his voice with his friends that he couldn't stop.
We really are so happy,
Your smile fills us with glee
We give a smile we get a smile
And that's so special me!
With four voices raised in song against it, Solar Flare's enchantment was rapidly eroding. The trees began to look the way they should, birdsong sprang forth from the distance, and the trackless paths of the forest slid back into focus.
'Cause we love to see you beam beam beam
Yes we do
Tell us what more can we say to make you see
That we do.
Again the song tugged the gathering group of ponies along, leading them through the wilds of the Everfree more surely than even Zecora could. Then up ahead Twilight spotted a worn stetson and a blond mane poking around a tree.
It makes us happy when you beam beam beam
Yes it always makes our day-ay!
The farm colt whipped his head around when he heard the singing, and a huge grin split his face as he saw the other four ponies approach.
Come on everypony, smile smile smile!
Fill our hearts up with sunshine sunshine!
The strong thumping cadence reverberated up through Applejack's hooves and filled him with energy. As soon as all his friends were around him he gayly joined the chorus.
All we really need's a smile smile smile
From these happy friends of mine!
They were off again, trotting through the woods at the song's behest, coming quickly to a conclusion. The last tatters of the labyrinth enchantment were driven before them like dust in the wind and in their wake, a spot of pink.
Berry Bubble was sitting facing away from them and even from a distance Twilight could tell something was wrong. His usually bright pink coat had lost much of its luster and his mane and tail hung straight and limp. The singing mare could just make out his shoulders heaving with sobs.
Then the music began to reach him and he turned. Hope and disbelief mixed in equal measure on his tear streaked face, as the five ponies he most wanted to see came marching and chanting up to him.
Come on everypony smile smile smile!
Fill our hearts up with sunshine sunshine!
All we really need's a smile smile smile!
From these happy friends of mine!
Twilight stepped forward and lifted Berry's chin with a hoof. As they locked eyes, Berry could see the joy shining out of her. It filled and warmed his soul as she sang just for him.
Yes the perfect gift for me,
Is a smile as wide as a mile,
To make me happy as can be.
Berry leaned into the caress of her hoof. A small but quickly growing smile spreading across his features as new tears, this time of happiness, rolled down his cheeks. He hadn't been abandoned. He had friends. He would always have friends who he could smile and laugh with, and there were no better friends in the world to have than the ones right in front of him.
Smile, smile, smile, smile, smiiiiiiiiiiiiile!
Come on and smile!
Come on and smile!
A divine wind swept through the Everfree with the climax of their song. It started with the circle of friends and rushed outward with the force of a hurricane. It was a gale that barely rustled the petals of flowers, but it tore through the malevolent enchantment on the woods and scattered it into nothingness. The forest was cleansed.
Berry wrapped Twilight in a crushing embrace, laughing and crying at the same time. His mane poofed up and his bright color returned.
“Thank you Twilight. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!” he repeated over and over.
The violet mare hugged him back. When she finally had a chance to speak, she pulled back enough to look the pink colt in the eye. “I'm your friend Berry. There's no need to thank me. It's what friends do for each other.”
The once again bubbly colt pulled her in for another tight hug. “I already knew that part silly,” he whispered in her ear. “Thank you for being my friend.”
An instant latter the other four stallions were on them. Filled with laughter and good natured roughhousing, the next several minutes were spent basking in the merry afterglow of their song and its magic.
✶✶✶ ☽☀☾ ✶✶✶
His research was not going well. He had the best magical education bits could buy (better in fact), he had the run-down on all of Princess Luna's own personal research into the subject, he even had the entirety of the Grand Arcanum at his very hooftips, and still his research was not going well. Dusk Shine ground his teeth in frustration and reviewed his progress in searching for what the prophesy had deemed The Magic Key. Quietly to himself but with steady growing volume he mouthed his findings aloud.
“The lost Crystal empire was said to have been protected by a magical artifact called the Crystal Heart. Any tasliman of such power would certainly count as The Magic, but there is nothing indicating it could unlock anything, open anything, or reveal anything. It's not a Key.
“Deep in the bowels of the earth, the mighty beast Cerberus guardes the black iron key to the gates of Tartarus. Definitely a Key, definitely not Magic.
“The unhallowed bells of Grogar are said to be able to open any gate, even those of the mythical city of Tambelon. Yes to both “Magic” and “Key” but suffering from the unfortunate problem of not being real.
“The Rainbow of light, broken.
“The Alicorn Amulet, lost.
“The Outworlder Meh-hegon, a myth.
“And the Elements of Harmony?”
Dusk let his head thump to the surface of his desk, and a growl of half anger and half misery rumbled from his chest. As far as the Elements were concerned, Dusk had learned far more than almost any other pony before him, but that only served to show just how much he didn't know.
“There are six elements in total, five are supposed to be material and one transcendent. How the virtues of Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, and Laughter, are supposed to qualify as “material” is unknown. The sixth element is completely unknown. The elements can be bonded to two, three, or six beings, but not one, four, or five. The reason for this is unknown, as is how exactly Luna was able to use them all by herself or how the elements bond to a pony in the first place.
“What the elements are capable of is unknown.
“What it takes to wield the elements at all is also unknown.
“And the last known location of this so called 'most powerful magic known to ponydom'?”
Dusk gave a truly pitiful whine. The irony was perfect after all. “Not unknown, but hidden somewhere deep within the one of most dangerous, trackless, and downright creepy forests on the continent. Lovely!”
The defeated colt looked around him at the patient shelves of books and scrolls, then up to the skylights high above. Daylight bright and strong streamed in through the slanted windows in the ceiling, and motes of dust drifted lazily through the radiance above his head. He stared at the gentle light for few seconds, something about it didn't feel right, the innocent ambiance just didn't feel quite so innocent anymore.
Getting up and having a much needed stretch, a chorus of creeks and pops rippled down the young colts spine as blood began to flow properly through him once again. Oh man! How long have I been at it? He wondered. It felt like he had been hunched over his books for a whole day, but the angle of the light told him it was high noon. Oh.
Time was pressing, he had spent as much time in Canterlot as he could and now he needed to move on. Gathering up his papers and quills, Dusk Shine made his way back up to the front desk. Unwavering as always, Master Archivist Dusty Stacks was still at his post, sifting through a small stack of well ordered documents. He took his eyes away from his work only to give the purple mage the briefest of nods, before continuing his task.
“I was tempted, Mr. Shine, to remind you to keep you voice down while in my library. However, as you are its only patron at the moment, I didn't bother,” the stoic stallion said without looking up from his work. Dusk blushed at the gentle rebuke and was about to offer an apology but Stacks beat him to it.
“From the sounds of things, I take it your research is not going well.”
“Err, no. I wouldn't say it is,” replied the colt. “Do you happen to know what time it is Mr. Stacks?”
Without even looking away from his papers the aged librarian answered. “It is exactly 10:32pm.” The fact that bright daylight was still spilling in through the windows didn't seem to disturb him at all, Dusk noticed.
A prickle of anxiety lent urgency to the purple colt. “I really have been here too long,” he said to himself. “Thank you, Mr. Stacks, for all your help. I've got to get going so-”
“Where are you going, Mr. Shine?” Now the master archivist did look up and locked the purple unicorn in his gaze.
A moment of strained silence passed between the two ponies, or at least it was strained for Dusk Shine. Dusty Stacks showed all the strain of a sheer stone cliff. Of course, as Princess Luna's chosen champion the purple colt knew that telling anypony of his whereabouts could be risky, and though he did trust the ageless librarian, the fewer ponies who could track him down the better.
“Uh... Well you see, Mr. Stacks I have some sensitive business to take care of for the Princess and-”
“Dusk Shine,” The old master put an abrupt end to the violet colt's half hearted equivocation. “Princess Luna has ordered the entire castle evacuated due to a credible threat of attack from an enraged deity of fire. You and I are most certainly the only ponies that remain. I, because I refused to leave my post as librarian and you, who currently hold a legitimate Writ of Agency in the name of Princess Luna herself.
“You have spent the entire day thoroughly searching the most expansive collection of arcane knowledge in existence during a time when the very sun itself refuses to set. You clearly have not yet found what you are searching for but due to time constrains you must now leave with your goal unfulfilled.
“Whatever you are doing is obviously of great importance and time is currently not your ally. I don't want to know your errand, but I will ask you one more time; where are you going?”
The purple unicorn had to pick his jaw up off the floor after that complete dissection of his situation. In addition, the withering gaze of the master archivist was now pinning him to the spot, hungry for an answer.
“Uh... Ponyville. I'm going to Ponyville.”
Dusty Stacks accepted this answer with a muffled “Hmm,” and Dusk Shine could almost hear the gears truing in his head. “Wait here for a moment please, Mr. Shine,” said the archivist before he turned and disappeared into the front office.
A moment later Stacks returned with a small stack of papers and a small cloth pouch. After briefly sorting through the papers, the old master slid two forms across the counter to the young student.
“Sign here and here,” he indicated while passing Dusk a quill. The forms were rather involved and as yet mostly blank.
“What am I sign..ing...” Dusk's argument died in his throat when he was met with the unforgiving eyes of Dusty Stacks. He signed the forms, which were quickly whisked away by the master archivist and replaced by the pouch.
“What is this?”
“It is a key, Mr. Shine.”
“A key to what?”
“The Golden Oaks Library, Ponyville public, branch office 7B which, under normal circumstances, is operated via volunteer labor coordinated through the office of the mayor. However, as these are not normal circumstances, the facility has been closed indefinitely.” Stacks gave the young colt a stern glare. “I do not like it when libraries are closed indefinitely.
“You, Mr. Shine, have now been deputized as interim manager of that facility. I will fill out all the required paperwork personally. Once you arrive on-site you will find all the necessary supplies as well as a primer on the usual day to day operations in the lock box under the front desk.
“The facility includes on-site lodging for library personnel which I expect you to keep in top working order. If you need to leave for any extended period of time, I expect you to return the facility to the state in which you found it, and to keep this key with you until such time as you can return it to me in person. Is this all understood Mr. Shine?”
The purple colt didn't know what to say. So many of the little problems he would've had to face had now been instantly resolved by the master archivist. Where he was going to stay, how he was going to continue his research, what his cover story should be. Yet without even knowing his mission, Dusty Stacks had just done more to advance his cause than he could have possibly imagined. The amount of trust it showed that the old master had for Dusk was deeply moving. It seemed as though, one way or another, all Equestria really was depending on him.
“I... Yes, I understand. Thank you, Mr. Stacks,” he said, then for the second time in all of history, Dusk saw Dusty Stacks smile. An instant later it was gone, and the old master briskly got back to his work.
“Good. And Dusk Shine,” he added without looking up, “Have a pleasant trip.”