//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 - Lost Time 
// Story: The Life and Adventures of a Trickster 
// by Argentum Fabulam 
//------------------------------//

Twilight awoke to a tugging at her side, "Come on Twilight, today's the big day!"

"Mmm wha..." Twilight mumbled groggily as she looked out the window to see that it was still night, "Spike its-"

"Don't tell me you forgot," Spike sighed as Twilight gave the baby dragon a confused look, "Twilight, is the summer sun celebration."

Twilight's eyes went wide as her breathing increased,"Oh no, don't tell me I over slept!"

"You think your number one assistant would let you down?" He chuckled triumphantly.

With her panic attack over, Twilight quickly began to get ready for the big day ahead.

~~~~~~~~~

A very tired Twilight trotted into her dim room, she took of her new crown and plopped onto her bed. After a few moments she rolled over onto her side and faced her side table. After remembering what she had read the night before, she levitated out the journal flipped open to the page she was at, and began to delve within the story once more to answer the question that boggled her the previous night.

*************

A cold feeling washed over me as my mind slowly came back to its senses. My hearing was fuzzy at best, body numb, and as I attempted to open my eyes, my vision was flooded with a flurry of colours and haze. 

After what felt like hours in my numb state, my senses began to come back to me. It felt like I was lying on a bed, and I could hear somepony moving around. I twitched my ears and attempted to follow the sound.

"Oh, you are waking up, aren't you?" A sweet feminine voice said. I moved my head slightly in the direction of the voice and attempted to open my eyes once more.

However, this time instead of just a hazy mix of colours, I saw a figure, it seemed to be of a gray blue stallion with a fading black mane. Then it spoke to me in a somewhat gravelly male voice, "Rise and shine Flare Frost, Rise and shine..." His eyes were a pale blue-green that just stared at me, and seemed to pierce my very soul, "Not to imply that you have been, sleeping on the job, but, lets just say your hour has come..." he simply continued to stare at me, every now and again flashing images of fire, broken stone, a crown shattered on a throne room floor, and the conjurer amidst his army of atronachs, but he was always there as semi transparent apparition. " The right pony in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world..." He finally appeared right in front of me, in a gray shade this time. "So wake up Flare Frost, wake up and smell the ashes." as he said that final line he floated back and slowly disappeared as the room came into view.

The room I was in was quite bland, there was a few cabinets filled with various herbs and liquids in bottles, but asides from that it was simple room in a wood cabin. It was the mare looking at me from beside a table just left of the bed, she had a vibrant sapphire blue coat with a glistening violet mane and her dawn magenta eyes were almost irresistible. 

She continued to stare at me for a few moments before she called out, "Doctor Bezon, he is awake."

"OH eXceLlent!" an exotic male voice called from the other room. I heard various clangs and crashs before a very odd pony stepped into the room. He was black and white striped (or was it white and black striped?) like nothing I had seen before. His mane was the same way, although the stripes were very random compared to his body, and his green eyes seemed to be very small and jitter around within whites that seemed much to large. "NoW, lEts seE the RocOvEry."

The "doctor" then started to rub his hooves all over my chest, forelegs, sides, and my face. In a very random order.

"iT sEEmS tHaT He hAS aNd WIlL mAKE a fUlL RecOVerY!" 'Doctor' Bezon said, giving a mad giggle every now and then. He then bounced out of the room in a very clumsy fashion nearly smashing into one of the cabinets. 

"Sorry about doctor Bezon, he's just a bit mad. Brilliant, but mad." The sapphire mare said with her voice that was as smooth and sweet as honey. "So what's your name?" 

After a few moments of staring slack jawed, I came to my wits and spoke, "Oh me," I said hoarsely, "I'm Flare Frost, from Havel. And... Where am I exactly?"

"Havel... Hmm, well your in the little town of Vasne," she said with a touch of worry, "Umm, I should probably tell you that..."

"Havel fell?" 

"Yes," she said, her voice full of remorse, " And... You have been unconscious for a week now."

I went slack jawed again, "Did... Did Amethyst survive?" 'stupid me, how would she know?'

"From what we have heard, pretty much everyone survived hone, but... They are all slaves now."   

I just lied there dumbfounded, then after a few moments I rolled out of the bed and stumbled towards the door. After doing possibly the best impression of doctor Bezon anyone had ever done, I made it outside. The mare who's name I had not gotten yet was calling after me urging me to take it easy and rest. 

She had caught up to me I asked her with a fiery rage even brighter than my mane, "Which way?!" 

As she made her way outside she began to shiver, I then noticed that it was lightly snowing... In the middle of summer? Had I actually been out for longer than a week?

"You can't be thinking of going there, Its a 4 day trip north, and this crazy weather has been getting worse each day!" I noticed something odd about her, on one side she had a wing, but there wasn't one on the other side.

"You're a pegasus?" I asked, somewhat stupidly I might add.

"I-I," she stuttered, "I was... How are you not cold anyways, its freezing!"

"What? Oh, well I did study a bit of cryomancy," I elaborated, "and what's your name anyways?"

"Come back in and I'll explain everything you want to know." She said as she stepped back inside. Obediently I began to stumble back, but before I entered I took a look at the town. It seemed lifeless, abandoned house all over, ponies packing caravans in order to flee south to warmer places (most likely hoping to gain access to the crystal kingdom), and the skeletons of what used to be a busy marketplace and thriving farms. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dusk Dash, once the lead combat medic of the Grand Pegasi Army, star flyer, and caring mother. The once pegasus whom had found me floating on a stake in the river and saved me. Now she was Fallen Dusk, all because of a jealous apprentice who knew he would never be able to surpass such a good mare. He had cut off her left wing in a scouting mission to retrieve a fallen soldier. 

"So you'll never get to see your family again..." I asked.

"Yes..." she said quietly.

"... And they think you are dead..."

"mhmm," she answered with an annoyed tone.

I sat there for a moment, "Seems like were in a similar boat."

"Except you have a chance to get it all back I don't," she said looking away, it made me feel bad for comparing us. She was right, my situation was infinitely better than hers. 

"I'm sorry," I said as sincerely as I could and then stood up (noticeably less wobbly this time), "I wish I could help, but, have to go save my home."

"How are you going to do it? You think you can do it alone?" Fallen Dusk asked me, with a very firm tone that was almost authoritative.

"I've got to try," I stated as I shrugged.

"Well I'm coming with you." 

I looked back a the one winged pegasus, I found myself dumbfounded that she was willing to help with barely any information about me or anything I was going to do for that matter.

"And don't think I can't help, I still can use a bow," I chuckled at the thought of her trying to use a bow with out magic.

After a few moments of thought, I realized I really didn't have any say in the matter (damn stubborn pegasi) and welcomed her to my nonexistent group of rag tag heroes. 

~~~~~~~~~

Dusk had "given" me a choice of armour I could wear for the journey to Havel. Most of it was bulky and not suited for me, due to me being smaller (Damn you youth!) so I took a light leather barding that was more suited for enduring the cold that protection. 

Due to my cryomancy training making me more resilient to the cold, it seemed completely pointless. But its not like I had a choice in the matter.   After I had gotten it on I saw doctor Bezon packing a bag full of herbs and a few other supplies. 

I trotted over and asked "Where are you going?"

"HoME mY PaTieNt, HomE." he said in a less maniacal way, " It HaS gOt FAr tO cOlD fOR Me, BuT I Do hOPE wE wIlL meEt aGAin soMe TiME." he finished after shaking my hoof vigorously. 

As he started to trot away I gave my thanks. He simply nodded his head and smiled. Then I sat there, Dusk was putting her armour on and I had absolutely nothing to do. So I sat there and drew a few things in the snow, but moments later however I heard someone shout, "Vergen has fallen! Please anypony, help!" 

I turned around to see a fully armoured Knight rushing towards the small town before collapsing a few meters away from me. I quickly trotted over to him, I could see tufts of a deep blue mane poking out of the front of his helmet which was a royal purple with white details that swirled along the edges of it. His horn was dark grey that reminded me of metals used for making armour and weapons. My eyes met with his green eyes that were filled with terror.

"What happen?" I asked in a curious voice, my eyes moving to the deep scratches in his tough metal armour, "Cause you look like you've been through the deepest pit in Tartarus." 

"A Litch king..." he stated while breathing heavily," He just showed up out of nowhere and we were over whelmed...." 

'This can't be a coincidence,' I thought to myself. A brief moment after pondering it I asked, "Where there any atronachs by chance?"

"No... I do... Actually yes... They broke down the walls..." he said losing strength by every passing moment. I had to move him, only problem was, he was heavy. Like extremely heavy, not going to be able to lift even with magic heavy. So, naturally I dragged him all the way to Fallen Dusk's house.

I assumed by the look on her face when I dragged him in she wasn't very impressed. So It's a good thing I really didn't care at the moment. After explaining how a knight could be very useful to our cause, she used her remaining wing to grab a bottle filled with a strange blue liquid and made him drink it. 

I watched as a cut on his muzzle closed itself, I was quite frankly shocked. "See I told you doctor Bezon was brilliant." Dusk said, chuckling at the stupid expression on my face.

"He made that?!"

"Yes, and I think we should let our guest sleep." Dusk said trotting outside.

"We need to get his help," I said following her, "He said that he was from Vergen, any idea where that is?"

"Not exactly, but it is closer to here. However its almost due east, near the mountains, where Havel is northwest." She explained pointing her hoof to show the directions.

As I looked East, I saw a few mountains, quite large, but were shadowed by a huge mountain far south of them. It seemed to touch the sky, cutting any low flying clouds mercilessly. It stuck out like a sore hoof really. 

"What about that mountain?" I asked pointing at the colossal piece of land jetting towards the skys.  

After Dusk had seen what I was pointing at she gave me a confused look, "That is the horn of the world. I heard there was once a altar near the top where ponies would go to worship Mother Faust."

I nodded in understanding. "Dusk?"

"Yes Flare?"

"Depending on how things go after the knight wakes up, there is going to be a change in plans."


**************

Twilight slipped her velvet bookmark within the journal as she looked out the window of her room. The moon was at the peak of its journey through the skies. 

As Twilight placed the journal within her nightstand, she pondered, 'Why haven't I heard of these kingdoms and their cultures before? Surely they must have survived, right?' 

Putting the thoughts to rest she decided that her questions would be answered within the journal as she rested her head against her soft pillows and drifted into slumber.