I stumbled into the central cavern, my humble abode, and slumped against the nearest wall. The adrenaline had long worn off, but my heart was still pounding as I tried to calm myself down from that little encounter. I’m not going to lie, how I, the disagreeable and crass Katherine, ended up actually not getting my ass smote by magic death blaster, let alone successfully managing an agreement between us was beyond me. Bunch of damn miracles, that was.
Yeah, sure, I acted all brave and tough back there, but I was nervous as hell, if the way I babbled nonstop was any indicator. Still, things will be a little safer now that Luna had said the ponies would leave me alone. I mean sure, I might have stolen from her and the town citizens, somewhat threatened them, showed I can use mind control, mentioned I had ties with creatures that hated pony guts and are kinda parasitic sometimes, sorta-kinda attacked some guards, insulted a few ponies, never really got the agreement in writing so they could go back on their word at anytime and ohGodIreallyscrewedthisup… What the hell was I thinking?
I sighed. That didn’t matter now, except as a slight reassurance that I might not get myself in quite as bad a pile of shit later on. Especially with the princesses that can exhibit enough force to lift the sun and moon (which, if my high school physics lessons and common sense served, would be more than enough force to crush my head like a grape).
I took some deep breaths. Now that I was safe-ish in my little hideout, it was thinky-time again. I had gotten what I was after, plus a few extra things. Now was a perfect time to get a little studying and practice in. Focusing, and probably looking like an idiot trying to use psychic powers with the way I had my fingers to my temples and my face scrunched up in concentration, I imagined an arm. My arm, reaching up from the floor, and I just barely managed to call up the shadows in the room to rise in kind. Slowly, carefully, I twisted the shadows until they finally turned a lone lantern on.
I relaxed, letting the shadows return to their natural state, and scooted closer to the lantern’s soft glow. Not too terribly bad for a first attempt at practicing this shadow-manipulation. Maybe one day, I might actually be able to use this power to do something more useful, eventually. It’d be really cool if I could pull off that maneuvering stunt Nocturne had pulled before.
Now that I had a reading light, I plunged my hand into my shadow and dug around until my fingers brushed against the coverless shadow ponies book. I yanked it out, and skimmed through the index.
I turned to the entry that seemed more pressing at the time: defense measures. I picked a paragraph and started skimming:
Long ago, the shadow ponies were a scourge upon the land… Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard this all before. I thought, skimming through the page. Blah blah attack yak yak yak shadow magic yada yada yada spell created bleh blah blur… Wait… Go back to that last part. I skimmed around for the part in question, and began to read, seriously this time:
In response to the attacking shadow ponies, which fled after every attack to places unknown, the greatest spellsmiths of the towns gathered together in a single, unnamed town that had either the fortune or misfortune of capturing one of their attackers. Utilizing this opportunity, the spellsmiths crafted a threefold spell, one that would ensure the continued safety of Equestria.
Utilizing this spell, one would be able to discover the whereabouts of the shadow ponies, release a pony from the bonds of the darkness, and capture the parasitic darkness.
I reeled back. Further down the book spelled out in intricate detail how to perform the spell, including magic circles and arrays that made little sense to me. Both Nocturne and I began to grow very, very worried. A pony only needed this one spell. One single spell and nothing could stop someone from finding me and stripping me of this magic, and maybe killing off Nocturne for good. God help us if this wasn’t the only edition.
I took a deep breath. Calm. I needed to calm down. I can’t figure anything out if I can’t stay calm and rational. Peering down at the book, I noticed a page seemed to be slightly unaligned with the other pages. Curious, I flipped to the page in question. To my surprise, a page fell from the book and fluttered to the ground.
I glanced at the pages in the book. 75…76… they’re still in numerical order. I thought, stealing a glance at the page on the floor. …Meaning that’s an extra page. Or maybe another little message. God, what kind of news could this thing be? Please be good news.
Carefully, I picked up the musty old piece of paper and flipped it over. A large squiggly shape seemed outlined in the center, with a few red Xs inside with little notes beside them. The remainder was divided into several other shapes, and names were scrawled all about the page, often next to small drawings. It took me a moment to realize I was staring at a crude map.
I could feel Nocturne’s excitement growing. Do you think this might lead us to the other Shadowborn? He asked hopefully, his urgency growing. We have to go see! We must check to see what others remain!
Now hold on just one second. I’m not going to head out on some presumably cross-country trip just on some hunch. Not yet, at least. I’m tired, and the sisters will undoubtedly be watching like hawks for the slightest sign of trouble. We’ll need to stock up for a trip like this, too, as well as get our bearings in relation to this map… I thought, trying to shut out his frenzied emotions.
Nocturne seemed to settle down just a little, disappointed, but I could sense he understood. In the back of my mind, I could still feel his sense of urgency. Almost like he was tapping his foot impatiently in my head. I couldn’t blame him. This was his species we were dealing with, here.
I set the book and the map off to the side, and opted to dig around in my shadow again for that weird stone from earlier. I felt my fingers wrap around the smooth shape, and dragged it out of the darkness.
I turned the soapstone over in my hand and eyed it carefully. When I had touched this thing, someone or something had spoken to me. In my head, like telepathy or something. Maybe the stone had some sort of magic message tied to it or something. But looking at it now, it didn’t seem all that strange. I brushed my fingers across the cool surface, hoping I would hear this “Solaire” person’s message again. But nothing happened. It seemed to be nothing more than a rock now.
I huffed in frustration, hitting the back of my head against the wall. What use was this thing if I couldn’t get it to do anything? I almost threw it across the room in disgust, but thought better of it.
I shifted a bit. “Hey Nocturne, you heard that Solaire guy’s message too, right? That whole thing about ‘calling upon me’ and ‘protect yada yada yada’?” I looked up at the ceiling. “You know about any of this stuff? Or any ideas on what this ‘calling’ junk is about?”
Yes and no. Nocturne replied. We did hear the message. But we have no knowledge of this object or what it is for.
I rolled my eyes. Of course he doesn’t know anything about it. He was trapped in a glass orb for years; what was I expecting?
“Hey, maybe it’s like a cell phone!” I quipped sarcastically, pulling the stone up to my ear in mockery, “Hi, Solaire? It’s your old pal Abyss, here! I could really use your help, please! I’ve got some magic troubles!”
I could feel Nocturne doing some weird internal eye-rolling thing. Being me, I took the joke further. Hey, I was frustrated; I needed some way to relieve the tension. “Or maybe, I have to call him forth like in a demon summoning ritual!” I said, waving my hands about.
Exaggeratedly, I drew a circle on the cave floor, and wrote this “Solaire” guy’s name in the middle just for kicks and scribbled in a few squiggles here and there. Nocturne was double-facepalming in my head. Taking my little pretend ritual even further, I set the stone down in the center of the circle and touched it with two fingers.
At this point, Nocturne spoke up, genuinely nervous. Okay, stop, that’s enough. If you’re not careful you might actually summon something.
I scoffed. “Come on, Nocturne, It’s just a bit of silliness. What could possibly happen?” I chided. Oh, if only I knew how badly I was about to eat those words. Wriggling the fingers of my free hand spookily and grinning manically, I called out, “Oh, Solaire, I call ye forth from the depths! I need to do some things with magic, but totally stink at it!”
My face fell as a golden light began to emanate from the circle. I stumbled back and pressed myself against the wall, watching as a yellow figure rose like a ghost from the grave and extended his arms skyward in a V formation. “Praise the Sun!” said the figure, which appeared almost like a knight. A human knight, not one of those pony-guard knights. My jaw dropped. “And.... I’m in a cave.” It looked about, it’s head tilted. “Huh. Didn’t put a mark here....”
Carefully, I reached over and picked up the soapstone, watching the figure’s movements closely. “Do you mean this thing?” I asked.
It looked down at me. “Ah,” it pointed at the soapstone. “I do mean that yes.” It looked around again, taking notice of the bed. “This your cave?”
Okay. I had half a mind at this moment that somehow, demon summoning wasn’t total bull in this world and somehow, Nocturne had known this. I really need to ask his opinion more often. That, anyways, would make what stood before me right now an actual demon, or a ghost or something. Damn, I had no idea how to deal with this.
If this was a demon, it seemed nice enough. At least it didn’t demand my soul right away. Maybe there was some way of talking my way out of this potential mess. “Yeah,” I replied, still not taking my eyes of it, “Technically, it’s a mine. It’s not much, but at least it’s dry, and the tunnels are dark and twisted enough that any ponies would be hard-pressed to find their way down here.” I looked at the ground. “Though it won’t matter much if there’s another copy of this tracking spell I found somewhere they can use to find me.” I glanced back at the figure. “I don’t believe I caught your name…?”
“Oh!” It rubbed the side of its head. “Apologies, I just got out of a hospital.” Holding out a ghostly hand, he spoke. “I am Solaire.”
I glanced at his outstretched hand, mentally weighing in what information I had. “Right. Call me Abyss.” Deciding that this was, in fact, probably not a demon, I stood up, reached out, and shook his hand in kind, surprised to find it actually felt solid.
“Nice to meet you.” He nodded. “It’s been about... A thousand years since I saw a human... That wasn’t in a costume... Or formerly a pony... Or an alternate me.”
“A thousand years?” I blinked, retracting my hand. Okay, maybe he was a demon, but there was one question a bit more pressing among the several hundred that statement alone had brought up. “There are more humans in this place? Why the hell haven’t I come across any?”
“Well,” He placed a hand on his chest. “I am from an alternate timeline, or world. Whichever this is.” Solaire made a small hum. “I don’t know, but the point is that the reason you haven’t met any, is because they exist in other planes. Not this one.”
“Like… alternate realities and junk?” I asked in surprise, pinching my chin between my thumb and finger. “Damn. That doesn’t leave me the option of just going home if I want to very plausible.” I glanced sideways at Solaire, the gears turning in my head. “But you were able to come here… Which means it’s not impossible...”
“Precisely.” Solaire turned to regard his staff. “I’m in the process of trying to make a way back to my world, but through fine tuning and the staff I think I can change the channel.” He tapped the side of his head. “Of course I need a few... Ingredients.”
Okay, that did it. I’d heard enough. I was still very much on edge, and that comment and the way he was very creepily vague about what he needed set off all the alarms in my head. I backed the hell away from him as fast as I could, pointing straight at him. “Okay, I don’t know what the hell you’re getting at, but if you want my soul, it’s not for sale, damn it!”
Nocturne tried calming me. Wait, Abyss. This apparition may be able to grant us the immunity we desire. The counterspell you mentioned.
“I don’t care if this guy can make a counterspell, MY SOUL IS MINE, NOCTURNE.” I snapped. I probably looked like a raving lunatic with the way I was behaving.
It didn't seem to faze Solaire much, though. “Soul?” Solaire shook his head. “No. Nonononono. I hate dabbling with souls. Tirek was bad enough.” He shuddered a little. “I do not need a soul. I don’t need any souls. I just need random things from across the multiverse, and I’m hoping you have one of the things I need.”
I relaxed a bit, mentally slapping myself for overreacting like that. I climbed down off of the fridge that I had ended up scaling in my panic. “Okay, then. Like a sidequest or something in videogames. So whaddya need from me?” I asked. If this guy could help me out in any way, I might be able to negotiate a trade of sorts, if his price was reasonable.
“Ahem...” He cleared his throat. “I need: The shard of a magic pan, a part of the lost tooth of Discord, the hair of a planeswalker’s servant, the chest hair from the muscle wizard, a drop of the Heir of Breath’s blood, and shadow essence.” Solaire paused and counted them off. “Yep. That’s everything.”
I blinked. “Muscle… Wizard…?” I shook my head, “Know what? Never mind. I’m guessing you need me for the shadow essence stuff. Fine. You got it.” I stared directly at Solaire where I assumed his eyes were. Kinda hard to tell with a helmet on his face. “But I’ll need some help in return.”
“Of course!” He sounded excited. “What is it you need, and I shall try to provide.” He did a small flourish and bow. “As best I can.”
Hm. A bow. How gentlemanly. “Well, if you managed to get here, you used either some form of magic in the most general sense of the word, as in a way of manipulating miscellaneous aspects of reality or just generally screwing with the laws of physics. Or you used a form of technology, though I doubt that’s the case given your getup. Therefore, you have some understanding and ability to use magic, correct?”
Solaire nodded. “Yes I know of magic. I didn’t learn nothing from Starswirl’s rants.”
“Can you at least place enchantments to block or negate a certain spell?” I asked.
“Yes.” He nodded yet again. “I’ve done it before.”
I nodded in return. Good. This was good. I dug around in my pockets, which I had hardly used since I got here. The whole shadow-storage thing was a lot more useful, after all. Can’t stuff a book in your pants pockets.
Finally, I felt my fingers brush the edge of that stupid little metal keyring that had been caught on the insides of my pocket for about a year now. It was annoying, but I’d never had the heart to remove it before, since it was caught on several of the strings at the bottom that tied the pocked to the sides of my jeans. Removing it would have meant ruining the pocket.
Now, though, I didn’t care, so I ripped the ring out with a swift yank, ripping out a bit of fabric in the process. I held it out to Solaire. “I think this’ll work. If you can enchant this to counter a spell in a book I have, I’ll try and come up with that essence you need.” I scurried over and picked up the coverless book, turning it to the right page. I handed him the keyring and the book, pointing to the spell in question.
“Hmm.” He grabbed the book and keyring, grunting a little as he took off his helmet and set it down. “There. I can see better now.” He turned to the page. “Okay... What’s the spell do?”
“Well, if I read it correctly, it’s a spell targeted towards a certain symbiotic species.” I waved a hand, gesturing at my appearance. “I didn’t always look like this. This shadow-powers stuff isn’t mine alone. The spell has three purposes: track, remove from the host, then contain. I kinda made a promise to a friend that I wouldn’t let that happen.”
Nocturne stirred at these words. You… think of us as a friend..? he asked, almost in disbelief.
Well, yeah. What else would you be? I asked mentally. Nocturne didn’t have an answer for that.
“Ah....” He set the keyring on the ground and looked at the book. “A bit tricky, and I say a bit cause this looks like a madman wrote it, but I can still make a counterspell.” Reaching behind him, he pulled out a small black crystal and set in next to the keyring. “Since I need to figure out the spell before I dare start making the counter, I can answer any questions you may have.”
“Hm. Well, for starters, You are human, right? How’s the thousand-year thing work?” I paused, pondering. “And how did the whole ‘you coming here’ thing work? You mentioned a marker...”
He looked at me and gave a smile past his filthy blond hair. “Human, and yet... Not.” He winced. “That’s another question though. The ‘thousand year thing’ is because I was turned to stone by the princesses.” Solaire shook his head. “As for coming here, it’s the soapstone.” He looked back to the book. “It acts like the chalk from Beetlejuice, the one that made the door.” He looked at me again. “You’ve seen that movie right?”
“Yeah, I’ve seen it. Strange, but funny.” I replied. “So it’s a gateway. How’s it work? And while I’m still asking questions, you mentioned wanting to ‘change the channel,’ which I assume is a metaphor for interplanar travel, so where is it you hope to go. And, this is the last one, anything I should look out for?”
“The gateway... I’m not sure how it works.” He shrugged. “I think it has something to do with timelines, but that was in the game....” Muttering to himself he turned the book sideways. “When I said changing the channel I did mean interplanar travel, and as to where I want to go.” He looked at me. “Not sure, but I do know that I want to find out why I was brought here....” Solaire frowned and sighed deeply. “As for things to look out for... If you see a thing like I am now, but dark blue. Run, or kill it as fast as you can.”
Well, that was ominous. “I, uh… I think I’m gonna go get that shadow essence thing up. I think I’ve got some plastic bags in the fridge; you could try taking it with you that way.”
“Thanks.” He smiled. “Also, little tip. Don’t worry too much ‘bout the blue phantoms. They’re very rare, and only appear if you commit a sin. Like murder.”
I pondered that for a moment. “Does being a general asshole count as a sin?” I asked.
“No.” He replied. “Otherwise I’d be hunted like mad.”
“M’kay.” I turned and walked over to the fridge, calling to Nocturne inside my head.
Hey, Nocturne. I’m assuming you hear all of that, so do you think you can manage this shadow essence thing? I don’t think I’m adept enough at this manipulation thing on my own. I thought to him, opening up the fridge and pulling out a plastic ziploc bag with only a few leftover cookie crumbs inside. I opened it up and dumped out the crumbs, wondering how the hell ponies managed to use these things without fingers.
We believe that this is well within our power, however… Noctune shifted uncomfortably. You’ll need to forfeit control for a bit…
Fine with me, I thought, surprising him. I trust you to not do anything we’ll both regret. You’ve shown how well you can control yourself and act civil back at the castle. Even when attacking people.
I sank back, experiencing that odd feeling of not being in control of yourself. Nocturne took a deep breath, and focused his energy. Like a drop of water falling upside down, the shadows flowed upward. The ‘drop’ at the end began growing darker and darker, until finally it matched even the deepest of voids in shade. This liquid void strained harder against Nocturne’s mental commands, and made short, jerky movements as it flowed into the plastic bag, as though fighting like a stubborn mule. Finally, every drop was forced into the bag, and in the blink of an eye, I was myself again.
I sloshed the stuff in the bag, poking it for good measure. It didn’t lash out at me or melt through the bag, so I assumed it was relatively safe. Wouldn’t want to accidentally kill the guy by giving him something unsafe. I zipped up the bag and trudged over to see how Solaire was holding up.
He chanted something under his breath as he held his hand over the keyring, a small strand of darkness and light fused together and embedded themselves in the keyring. He pulled his hand away and grinned. “There. One counterspell, with bonus effect. Free of charge.”
I snatched up the keyring, and flicked it. It hummed and glowed with ethereal light. Satisfied, I clutched it my hand and smiled at him. “Thanks a lot, Solaire.” I remembered the plastic bag in my hand, and held it out to him. “And, uh, here’s your shadow essence stuff. I can give you some cookies for the road, if you want.” I offered awkwardly. I mean, geez, he was giving me something extra. Generally one should give something extra in return, right? Who doesn’t like sweets?
He smiled and pocketed the bag, shaking his head. “Thank you, and I’m fine without cookies.” He leaned down to grab his helmet, placing it back on his head. “Oh, bonus gift.” He gestured to the ring. “One time blast of humanity, turn a pesky unicorn or annoying pegasus into a confused human.”
“Sounds good for self-defense, though I’m kinda honor-bound to not touch the ponies. If I want to keep my bones intact, at least. Does it work on other creatures as well?”
“Anything sentient, so don’t use it on a cockatrice.” He turned away. “Trust me don’t use it on a cockatrice.”
Struggling with it a bit, I managed to clip the keyring around my moon amulet. The glass and metal clinked against each other softly. “I’ll take your word for it.” I looked back at him with a smile, taking him turning away as his cue that he was about to leave. “Well, I guess it was nice meeting you.”
“Same.” He turned back and held out his hand again. “A pleasure working with you, Abyss.”
I shook his hand in turn, nodding in affirmation. “I guess it was nice talking with someone not in my head or walking on four legs for a change.”
“Of course.” His body began to fade out, his presence disappearing. “Keep the soapstone, and use it to write your name in times of need. All nearby may see and come to aid you.”
“Hm. Might just do that if I find myself in a pickle.” I nodded, glancing at the stone. “Might be useful having allies not in my head.”
He nodded one last time, and vanished from sight. And with that, I was left standing, rubbing at the keyring. I felt just a bit safer now that I had this. It wouldn’t solve all of my problems, but I would at least not have to worry about the light spell.
Well, no, actually. I realized. This only means we’ll have, at the very least, a one-time immunity to the spell before they figure out it doesn’t work. Then, if I learned anything from that week-long study session, they’ll be able to adapt the spell to make it work. If they don’t use another one or new one right off the bat.
“He was a nice fellow, wasn’t he, Nocturne?” I said at last.
He was helpful, at least. Nocturne said. Though we must admit, we are rather concerned about the prospect of the ponies utilizing another spell. Retrospectively, it would have been better to ask for a magic-absorption enchantment of some kind, but little can be done about that now. We have been formulating ideas on how we might be able to adapt this gift to better defend us both.
I grinned, and strutted over to my bed, flicking my hand towards the lantern light. The shadows responded, shutting the light off and enveloping the cavern in total darkness. “Good, good,” I yawned, “That means you’re honing your contingency planning skills. Thinking ahead. We may need that later.” I collapsed into the covers, exhausted from my rather interesting day.
Good night... friend. Nocturne said, just before I fell into a deep, peaceful slumber.
**********
Celestia had been understandably drowsy when her sister had burst into her room in the middle of the night. Now, however, she was wide awake as she contemplated what Luna was telling her.
“… And then, the guard’s shadow returned to him as promised, and the remaining guards were unable to find a trace of Abyss. The guard, thankfully, was unharmed, and seemed only a little dazed, but it seems that Abyss has taken some of the resources within the archives,” Luna finished.
Celestia calmly levitated her teacup down to its saucer, and set them both on the side table beside her. She was comfortably seated on her queen-sized bed, with her sister lying beside her. “It is good to hear everypony is alright. May I ask what was stolen?” Celestia asked.
“The entirety of the pages of two books, it seems, a soapstone that may or may not have been imbued with supernatural properties, as well as the amulet we suspect may have come from that.” Luna replied, “The covers were left behind, however, so we were able to discover she stole the only detailed book of information we had available about Shadow Ponies we found, as well as something about interdimensional travel. I am uncertain as to what this implies.”
“Hm,” mused Celestia, pouring a cup of tea, which she offered to Luna, “There are much more powerful and useful artifacts in the castle that she could have stolen. In the past, nopony unlocked the secrets of the soapstone, and the amulet is little more than a night-light on its own. It seems to me her main target was information, and perhaps the rest a mere afterthought. Perhaps she is attempting to keep something hidden…”
Luna accepted the tea, and sipped from the cup before replying. “Mayhap this implies a connection to the Shadowborn and this unspecified travesty that befell their kind that our ponies may have played a part in?”
Celestia took another sip of her tea, staring into the distance. “I cannot help but feel responsible for this travesty she mentioned. I do not know what transpired beyond that my ponies were being attacked and my own attempts to resolve the issue. What occurred was completely beyond my knowledge. Had I known whatever occurred to incur their wrath beforehand, I would have attempted to resolve the crisis. From what you have described from the interview with the guard, it must have been something dreadful indeed to have brought forth such wrath. If the offer is genuine, I appreciate her efforts to prevent further conflict between the Shadowborn and my little ponies.”
Luna looked uneasy for a moment, as though trying to find a way to gently break bad news. “There is… one other thing…” she began carefully. “One of the guards that saw her mentioned a similar amulet to the one that was stolen, one with an inscription of the moon…”
Celestia’s eyes shot wide open. “That is… rather disturbing news.” She remarked, her tone troubled. “Did she..?”
“She did not appear to have any understanding of their powers. She seemed more content to flee than use them, despite how they could have assisted her.” Luna replied. Celestia seemed content. This was something else to be grateful for.
Luna looked down at the floor, deeply troubled. “I should have done something more. I fear I may have failed in my duty to protect Equestria, that we may be blindsided to an attack by a false treaty. The fact that we did not get this treaty in writing makes it all the more dubious.”
“Nonsense, Luna. You did the best anypony could have done, given the circumstances. In fact, you may have just left us a way, should Abyss end up a threat to the safety and stability of Equestria, to resolve what crisis may come.”
“You see, sister…” Celestia regarded Luna with a twinkle in her eye and a sly smile. “Treaties tend to have loopholes, whether intentional or not.”
Luna looked surprised at this, and then put a hoof to her chin. “Does this not make the situation more dire? Surely by this logic, she could feasibly, for example, destroy entire cities so long as no ponies were harmed in the process. Or raise an army by utilizing this ability to gain control over others she exhibited.” She asked with growing concern, her face growing serious.
“Yes, that is true. But that does not mean our hoofs are tied should she choose to do such things. If I recall correctly, she stated ‘you and your ponies.’ This leaves quite a number of other options. Not all inhabitants of Equestria are ponies, after all.”
Luna’s eyes grew wide. “Surely you don’t mean to ask… Discord of all creatures?”
“Perhaps, perhaps not. Though it would certainly be rather easy for him, given his ability to sense magic outside of the norm. I don’t know if he is reformed enough to ask directly, despite his closeness with Fluttershy.” Celestia mused. “He has often tended to take an interest in the unusual, or that which does not conform to our society. It is in his nature, after all.”
Luna paused, trying to understand what her sister was grasping at. Then, finally, it clicked, and a small smile crept across her face. “I do believe we should report this incident to Twilight Sparkle, and her friends as well. Certainly, as the former bearers of the elements of harmony, they might appreciate being informed on this matter. And should someone just happen to read the letter and gain interest in the matter of Abyss…”
Celestia chuckled. “You catch on well, sister.”