ONE OF THESE DAYS
Chapter 2: You Are My Sunshine
~13 Aevum Illuminationis~
Twilight gracefully alighted down onto the rocky outcropping and looked around. “This doth appear to be the place. All landmarks are in agreement.” The mountain top on which she stood overlooked a vast plain that could only be called “badlands”. Arid and devoid of plant life, save the occasional lichen or oversized mushroom, the land rarely saw any rain despite the thick cloud cover that let only the barest hint of sun through, and any rain that did fall never stayed long enough to do more than dampen the ground for a moment or so. Despite that, there was still plenty of light, the vast majority of which emanated from the ever present lava flows that formed a tracery of light that crisscrossed the land like rivers of deadly hot liquid. The smoke which made up the clouds came not just from the many volcanoes that dotted the land, but also the many caves where hundreds, if not thousands of dragons slept away their shedding cycle. The particular cave she stood before had no such smoke, and had obviously been worked by magic to resemble a stylized sun, with carved rays emanating from the perfectly circular entrance.
A strong flapping sound drew her attention skyward, and Twilight saw the familiar form of Nyx finally catching up to her. The exhausted sphinx landed next to her and wheezed out a few breaths. “That was... dirty pool... cheater,” she gasped out.
Twilight graced her with a playful smile. “T'is no fault of mine thou doth not avail thyself of the wonders of the world outside of thy library... or thy downy bed.”
Hiding a blush, Nyx steadied her breathing with a few deep draws. “Are you ready?”
“Art thou sure this is the place?” Twilight asked. “Surely, the domicile of a being as pure of heart as thou intimates wouldst not be found in such an abominable land.”
Nyx grinned at her companion. “Tell me, Twi, what better place for a force for good to live than in the place where trouble is most likely to rear its ugly head?” She placed a paw on her shoulder, but quickly removed it when she realized what she was doing. She padded ahead, hoping to hide her returning blush. “C'mon. You really worry too much. You need to take a chill pill before you give yourself an aneurysm.”
As she trotted to catch up, the alicorn asked, “Prithee, what is this 'chill pill' of which thou speakest? Be it some manner of potion to prevent maladies of the mind?”
Nyx chuckled as they walked through the massive cave entrance lined with Everburning Torches, and carved bas-reliefs depicting a series of beings never seen in Equestria performing acts of greatness decorating the walls. “It means to relax, silly filly. I swear, you're more high-strung than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.”
Twilight returned with a chuckle of her own. “Zounds, but thou hast the oddest manner of speaking that I hath e'er found!”
Looking back at her companion, she gave a casual shrug. “Comes from being omnitemporal. When one can perceive every single point of one's existence simultaneously, one tends to pick up the odd speech pattern without even noticing.”
“Verily, we say that be a load of codswallop. No t'other being exists so, not e'en mine own sire,” Twilight replied with a playful nudge against the sphinx's side.
“Not that Time has ever admitted to it, anyway,” Nyx said with a wink.
Further discussion was halted by the sudden appearance of a small, golden dragon from one of the many side passages. With a snarl, he growled, “Who dares- oh! Lady Nyx!” Immediately, his demeanor changed to a much friendlier one, and his hackles disappeared. “I'm fear that Her Grace hath left, and may not return for some time.”
“Sal's gone? Where to?” she asked in genuine surprise.
“She departed for the firmament weeks ago. She gave no date for her return, and from her mannerisms, it appeared she may ne'er return.” He gestured to the alcoves, formerly filled with various objects of art or weapons and armor now lay empty. “Her Grace ordered the trove she hath guarded to be divvied amongst us to protect like the meanest loot. Verily, many amongst us pine for her return and fully intend to return her trophies on that day. For now, only I remain to steward her home 'till her return.”
Nyx nodded sadly. “Thank you, Aurith. We'll see if we can catch up to her in the firmament.” with a nod, she turned from the dragon and walked out at a fast clip. As she and Twilight left the cave, they took to the wing, heading straight up. They cleared the black clouds in silence, emerging into the blue sky, both breathing easier. Still they flew on, the light blue slowly giving way to a deeper hue until they left the atmosphere behind completely and were surrounded by a sea of stars.
”What do you suppose made her leave like that?” Twilight finally asked through their telepathic bond.
Nyx shook her head. ”Dunno. Must have been important to make final arrangements like that, though.”
Twilight looked at her with a quirky smile. ”'Tis answers belike those that give me cause to doubt thy claims of omnitemporalism, my friend.”
“I try not to use it to my advantage too much, Twi. Can you think of anything worse than knowing exactly what's going to happen all the time? Now, that's a curse. Besides, with the mutability of the time stream, it's not always accurate,” she replied.
Their transition to the firmament was so smooth, that at first, they didn't even notice the change. Looking around at the gray mists, they found the two most loyal amongst the starbeasts already nipping at their massive heels like tiny pups. Twilight looked down at them fondly with a smile and bent down low enough for them to lick her great muzzle. “Sirius, Procyon! It warms my heart to see thee again. Pray, hast thee seen a great golden dragon with feathered wings of late?”
Sirius nodded and stopped licking long enough to say, “Aye, Milady. We hath seen such a creature. She passed into and through the firmament, fast as a thought. Verily, we caught but the barest of glances of her ere she was gone, the swirling mist the only thing to mark her passing.”
Nyx put a paw to her chin in worried thought. “I don't like this. Sal skedaddles like her tail's on fire just when we need to talk to her about dragon artifacts? She's the only one in the world either of us would consider a peer in this field; the only one who even comes close to us. Something's rotten in the state of Denmark.”
“Verily. I pray that whate'er befalls us, we can persevere,” Twilight replied nervously.
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( . .)
*(“)(“)
~2015 Aevum Illuminationis~
Stepping down from the stagecoach, Awesomeshine took a deep breath of the fresh country air of Foalton, then adjusted her saddlebags so they rested evenly. “Ah, good to be away from the terrible smells of the city,” she said to herself. A robin alighted on her back and chirped at her. “Why, thank you. It's good to be back. I just wish I could convince mom and dad to move out here. It's so peaceful.”
As if to make a liar of her, she passed by a poster warning ponies to stay clear of the streets at night, and to not go off wandering into the woods. She sighed as she read the warning, put up no doubt by the town crier, seeing as it bore the royal seal of the twin alicorns. “Oh, dear. Another caravan raided? At least no pony was hurt this time. Why have the dragons started doing this, I wonder?” She shook her head in dismay as she walked on. Everypony on the street waved to her and called her by name, welcoming her back from her trip, and with a cheerful wave, the unicorn greeted them back.
So busy was she greeting her fellow townsponies, that she failed to notice an armored unicorn in royal livery walking backwards out of the smithy, dragging an overfull bag stuffed with rolled up papers, and walked right into him, sending them both sprawling. Awesomeshine fell on to her rump, and rubbed her head. “Oh, my! Excuse me, sir.”
“You clumsy idiot. I told you to watch where you're going,” an authoritative voice from further in the shop called out. A sandy-colored, female unicorn in golden armor stepped out, glaring at the young stallion. She glanced over at Awesomeshine and gave her an apologetic smile. “My apologies, Miss Awesomeshine. Young Mister Far Cry here is still learning the ropes, as it were.” She gave a gentle kick to the stallion's side, inciting him to rise.
Awesomeshine sketched a slight bow to the other unicorn. “Good afternoon, Dame Paladin. What brings you to our humble village today?” She gave her a sly smile and asked, “You wouldn't happen to be here to fetch more of Goodwife Brick Oven's famous honey cakes for the princess, would you?”
Paladin brushed aside a stray lock of her snow-white mane with a hoof. “Among other reasons. I take it you've heard about the most recent attack on the caravan?”
“Distressing news has a way of traveling fast,” Awesomeshine replied. “Any word on why it happened this time?”
With a snort of disgust, Paladin said, “Just the same old excuse of, quote, 'spirited hijinks by youthful hatchlings testing their boundaries,' unquote. I'd doubt they'd take it half as well if the horseshoe were on the other hoof.” She looked around at the villagers going about their normal routines, and her gaze fell upon a group of foals playing tag. Her demeanor took on a grimness that worried Awesomeshine. “It's only a matter of time before somepony is seriously hurt or killed and a line is crossed from which there is no return.”
Awesomeshine laid a hoof on the guard's shoulder. “That's why we trust in you and your fellow guards as well as the army to keep us safe. I know you won't fail us. We believe in you.”
Paladin smiled at her. “If I didn't already have my eye on a mare, I'd snatch you up in a heartbeat, Awesomeshine.”
Before she could reply, they were interrupted by the herald who had finally gathered up all the spilled scrolls from the ground. “Ma'am? We still have the rest of the town to post with these notices. And then we still have to-”
Paladin waved him off with a careless hoof. “Yes, yes, I know. I guess we'll have to cut our visit short. Sorry, but duty calls.”
Awesomeshine smiled brightly and waved as they walked off. “Don't forget those honey cakes,” she called out gaily. Humming a little tune to herself, she continued her trip back to her masters. She walked into the apothecary, and was immediately assaulted by the smells of dozens of herbs, and ointments, and other various accoutrements of her chosen profession.
She had barely shrugged off her saddlebags, when a pair of hooves slid around her neck, and a breathy voice purred into her ear, “Mmm... welcome home, dear.”
Awesomeshine turned around, but was unable to escape the grip of the mare invading her personal space. “Mrs. Rose Hips, please! You're married!”
The earth pony mare kissed the tip of her horn and giggled like a filly half her age as she pulled away. “Only just, Sweetie. Besides, it's not like he's going to object. By the way, it's Mistress Rose Hips.”
“Mrs- Mistress Rose Hips, you're my mother's age!”
The elder mare cradled Awesomeshine's head to her chest and cooed at her. “If you wanted to pretend to be my daughter, all you had to do was ask, Sweetie. I'd be happy to fulfill any fantasy you wish.”
The sound of a door opening drew their attention to further in the house, where Rose Hips' husband, the inappropriately named Healthy Glow walked in, and began going through Awesomeshine's abandoned saddlebags. He set several jars on the floor and calmly said, “Welcome back. I see you were able to find the required hundred hooves of flight line and elbow grease. Were they out of- never mind. I see the chipmunk cheeks.”
More than a little disturbed that he hadn't even seemed to notice that his wife was all but molesting her, Awesomeshine asked, “Er, is everything alright, Mist- er, Master Healthy Glow?”
The gray unicorn looked her in the eyes and nodded. “Yes, everything looks to be in order here. Was there a question?” She shook her head, so he added, “Good. When you're through there, Put everything you've brought in its proper place, and check on our patient. She should be waking up soon,” he added as he returned to the basement to check on whatever potion his wife had on the burner.
Awesomeshine looked up at Rose Hips as best she could, waiting to see what she would do. She could feel her relax her grip, though it didn't totally release. “I swear, that stallion could suck the fun out of anything, even an affair a princess.”
“Ummm...”
Rose Hips looked down and smiled at her captive. “I know you're not a princess, Sweetie. It's just hyperbole.” She sighed and released the younger mare and rubbed the top of her head playfully. “Go on, and finish your work. We can play another time.”
The unicorn took a few steps, then turned back to look at her alchemy teacher. “Mistress?” The elder mare looked at her, and she said, “If you weren't married, I might take you up on your offer.”
Rose Hips smiled at her gently. “Thank you, Sweetie. You know I only flirt with you because you're safe, don't you? I know that you'd never take me up on my suggestions.” Awesomeshine nodded, and the earth pony walked up to her and smacked her on the rump as she headed towards the basement. “Cheeky thing.”
Awesomeshine quickly put the new jars of ingredients away on the shelves, then without stopping to take a break, she made her way towards the largest room in the house-cum-apothecary/hospital. Technically speaking, no hospitalers claimed residence, but it served that purpose for the small thorpe of eleven hundred or so ponies of all types. She peeked into the room filled with beds first to see if their patient had awoken to find the small, bandaged pegasus filly staring at the ceiling. Stepping into the room, she said, “Knock, knock. How are you feeling?” Placing the frog of her hoof against the side of the small filly's hoof for a few seconds, she counted the beat of her pulse.
Turning her bandaged, little head towards the unicorn, she croaked out, “Head still hurts, Miss.”
With a careworn smile, Awesomeshine stroked her cheek softly and leaned in close. “Let's see what we can do about that, hmm?” A soft, golden glow surrounded her horn, and the filly immediately felt better, giving her a wan smile. “Better, little one?” With a confirming nod, she asked, “Do you feel up to talking about what happened, yet?”
Tears formed in the filly's eyes and she shook her head. Awesomeshine sympathized, but needed to find out exactly what happened. “We can help you better if you'll tell us, Windwalker. As it is, we can't even begin to look for your family.” Getting no response, she sat on the edge of the bed next to her and rested a hoof on hers. “You were found among the broken branches of a tree on the ground, so obviously, you were flying.” Still no reply. “You were near a trail rather close to our border with Draconia. Were you chased by dragons?” Silence filled the room except for a sniffle from Windwalker.
She was about to get up to let the filly rest when a tiny voice said, “Griffons.”
Looking down at her, Awesomeshine said, “Excuse me?”
Windwalker looked up at her tears in her eyes. “Griffons chased us. Mommy hid me in a tree, and her and daddy let them chase them away, so they wouldn't find me. I tried to climb up to a higher branch to see what happened to them, but I slipped and fell out of the tree.” Now that she was talking, it was like a dam had burst, releasing both words and tears. It wasn't long before the sniffles turned to outright bawling, and the filly leaned forward to hug the unicorn around the waist. “I want my mommy and daddy!”
Awesomeshine gently rubbed her head and hummed a lullaby until the poor thing cried herself to sleep.
(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)
Healthy Glow was waiting to greet Awesomeshine as she quietly left the sleeping filly to rest. “What's her condition?”
Awesomeshine smiled grimly. “She seems to be healing physically just fine. She had fairly minor injuries when she was brought in, especially considering what happened to her. I'm guessing you were listening outside the door, Master?”
“Yes. I've already sent Rose to fetch the sheriff so we can tell him what she said,” he whispered. He chewed on his lower lip for a moment before saying, “It sounds as if things are getting worse, doesn't it?”
“I have every confidence that everything will turn out fine, Master,” Awesomeshine said with a smile.
Healthy Glow quirked an eyebrow at her questioningly. “And what leads you to that incredible conclusion, if I may ask?”
Awesomeshine's smile grew into a full grin. “Simple. All intelligent beings want to be treated with respect, and know that the best way to do that is to treat others with respect. There's always going to be the odd creature out that wants to rebel or take more than what's due them, but society is self-correcting. Creatures like that run afoul of the Golden Rule, and either see the error of their ways, or are punished by their peers.”
“I wish I was as confident as you are in that,” he replied with a shake of his head.
(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)
Awesomeshine walked up to the smithy and waited at the doorway for the ringing sounds of work to cease before knocking on the frame of the open doorway. The burly earth pony at the anvil paused, hammer still in the air before he could bring it down one the ingot of red-hot steel held in his tongs, and looked her way. Setting the hammer aside, he stuck the raw ingot back into the glowing forge to keep it hot. “Awesomeshine! To what do we owe the pleasure?”
The mare walked in to the shop, and greeted him with a hug, causing the gruff stallion to blush. “Good morning, Hot Iron. My master needs a few things. A bag of nails, a new spoon, and a special cauldron.”
“How special?
She looked at him sheepishly and said, “Orichalcum?”
Hot Iron emptied out his lungs, breath puffing out his cheeks. “That's a tall order, even assuming I can get orichalcum in the first place. I would need to get the forge hot; I'm talking forever more hot, here. Is he sure that he can't make do with just mythril?”
“He was quite adamant about the orichalcum; or rather, she was adamant. This is for Mistress Rose, actually,” Awesomeshine corrected herself. “They were going to have me commission one when I'm next in Spellgrade, but wanted to see if you could do it first. They're even going to supply the orichalcum.” Her horn glowed, and a large bar of pinkish-silver metal about half as long as her foreleg levitated out of it.
Hot Iron whistled appreciatively as he took the bar from her magical field. “That's the purest ingot I've ever seen.”
“Ninety-nine point nine, nine percent pure,” the mare replied. “Notice the Mage Council stamp. It took me a long time to find a pony selling one that size. Paid a pretty bit for that, too, but Mistress says that she'll be able to imbue even stronger effects in her potions and such with a cauldron made of that.”
Looking back at the forge, the stallion shouted, “Kit! Come over here a second!” When there was no response, she shouted even louder, “Kitten Kaboodle! Get your flank over here!”
A small, pink pegasus mare stopped working the bellows on the forge, and flipped up the goggles she was wearing as she walked over. “What is it, Boss- whoa! Is that orichalcum?”
“What do you think, Kit? Can we get the forge hot enough to work this into a cauldron?” he asked her.
The small pegasus took the bar from him, and almost dropped it, surprised at the weight. “Wow, a Mage Council stamp and everything! This is worth a fortune! I bet I could create a vorpal sword from this!”
Hot Iron gently bopped her upside the head. “Easy, there. It's not ours. And answer the blasted question. Can we do it?”
Returning the ingot, she started scratching out calculations in the dirt floor with a hoof and muttering to herself. After a few minutes, she looked up at her boss and said, “I- that is, we'll have to make a special engine to run the bellows, build a windmill to run the engine, hire a couple of strong pegasi to work the mill, and get our hooves an about two tons of coal, but we can do it. But I'm telling you now, that this shop is going to be hot. That is, of course, unless you happen to be friends with a dragon. You aren't, are you?”
He shook his head. “Nope. How about you, Awesomeshine”
“Afraid not,” she answered. “The closest would be my father, who is a silversmith, though he has, on occasion, worked with mythril.”
“Not even close,” Hot Iron replied sadly. “Mythril's melting point is just over a third of orichalcum's. I doubt he had to do anything special to his shop in order to work it.” He passed the bar back to Awesomeshine, who put it back in her saddlebag. “I'm afraid we'll have to pass on this one. I would have to charge Healthy a small fortune just to cover the cost of building all the things needed to make that bar malleable enough to work, and then there's the working itself. No, he'd be better off just having it made in Spellgrade after all.” He scuffed at the ground in disgust. “A shame, too. I could really do with the bits.”
Kitten Kaboodle, who up to now, was scratching new calculations in the dirt said, “Hold on, Boss. We may have a way to do this without having to go through all that after all, but it'll be a one-time deal.”
“What's your idea, Kit?” Hot Iron asked, looking down at her scratchings in confusion.
She looked up at him, excitement gleaming in her eyes. “If we can find a unicorn who's good with fire magic, we can do this, but we'll have to build a special forge, and we can keep the cost down on that if we use the right materials. It'll last long enough to cast the pot, but I doubt it will be any good after that.”
The earth pony stallion looked doubtful. “I dunno, Kit. I don't know any bricklayers willing to make things so cheaply that it'll last only long enough to work once. Too much pride in their job, you know?
“That's the thing. If we explain to them that this is just a test, a... a proof of concept, if you will, I'm sure that we can have our own forge rebuilt with this design- payed for by the money earned from this job- increasing our efficiency by...” The pegasus' eyes rolled up in her head as she did some quick mental math. “... at least twenty-two percent for steel and iron, and even better for other metals. More importantly, we'll be able to handle an order like this should it ever crop up again.”
Hot Iron rubbed his stubbly chin for a moment. “Hmm... Tell you what, Awesomeshine. Tell Healthy I'll think it over a bit, and give him an answer in the next day or two, okay?”
The unicorn smiled widely and nodded. “Thank you, sir! They'll be so pleased to hear the good news!” Hot Iron was so surprised at her exuberance, that he couldn't find it in himself to remind her that he hadn't taken the job yet.
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*(“)(“)
Awesomeshine set the bowl aside on the nightstand next to the bed and dabbed at Windwalker's lips with a napkin. “With the description of the griffons you gave him, I'm sure the sheriff and the Frontier Guard will be able to find them and your parents.”
Windwalker didn't seem to share her confidence, opting to turn her attention to the open window next to her bed. With a sigh, the mare laid a hoof against her cheek, stroking it gently. “It'll be okay, little one. You'll see.”