//------------------------------// // Of Fear and Nightmares // Story: Mystery of the Draconics // by Wanderwing //------------------------------// Chapter 6 Of Fears and Nightmares The day had come. I was a bit late but I met my mercenary squad outside the inn. “We thought you weren’t going to show,” Falling Star said, “Brightflare thought you had scammed us.” “I never said that,” Brightflare hissed angrily. I passed each of them their payment and quickly looked over their battle gear. The Shieldstallion was clearly the best prepared. He had a set of the armor the royal guards wear, but it was clearly old and battle scarred. He also lived up to his squads name with a large shield strapped to his left foreleg, he carried no weapons that I could see but then I noticed what was at the end of his right foreleg. It was a pointed horseshoe; this too had definitely seen battle before. Brightflare carried nothing but his saddlebags, and curiously enough, a bag of pebbles. When I asked him why he carried the pebbles he simply said, as though it should be obvious, “I can use them to trigger traps without us needing to step on them first of course.” Lastly my eyes turned to Falling Star. She wore a cloak with wing holes not unlike my own. She had a knife in a sheath at her side with a mouth grip. Tied to her other side there were six identical smaller knives meant for throwing. They all seemed better prepared for this than I am. I stood in my disguise, Feather-folds, pendant and cloak, grateful to have somepony to watch my back. I was still unsure if my trust in them was misplaced. “So are we going to get going or are we just going to stand around all day?” Falling Star shouted, clearly bored with waiting for me. “It’s bad enough that we can’t just fly there so can we just get walking already?” “Calm down girl, the treasure isn’t going anywhere.” Brightflare said. “Ha! That shows how little you know. Treasure hunter rule number one, you have to find it first. Anyone who gets there before you can get it out before you are there.” Falling Star shot back, getting a little confrontational. “How am I supposed to know about your stupid rules? I am here in case of traps; I only care about treasure until I am paid.” Brightflare shouted. “Okay, I am going to give you a few tips, right now. You do not insult my rules, you do not mock me, and you do NOT underestimate me. If you do you might just end up with a knife in your back, do you understand me, weakling?” Star yelled with a glint in her eye. Brightflare’s horn began to glow and it was clear things were about to get out of hand. Thankfully the Shieldstallion spoke up, “Do you two think you could maybe have this fight after we finish this job. As much as I could use your share of the treasure I can’t use magic or fly so we still need you both. Everypony just calm down and back off, got it?” We all kept walking and things got quiet. I started talking to the Shieldstallion to pass the time. “So, Shieldstallion, you definitely look like you’ve been in command before, did you serve in the Equestrian Guard or something?” “Yeah, I don’t like to talk about that much, but I did serve, got up to being a captain too before I got out. Oh, you can call me Stoic by the way, that’s the codename the Shields gave me,” he answered. “Okay, Stoic, that is an interesting name, did you pick it out or was it assigned to you?” I asked, I can take a hint and it seems clear that I should steer clear of his military past. “That’s a bit of a story in itself actually. When you start off in the Shields everypony just calls you recruit or grunt. Your officer can decide you’ve earned a name if something special happens while you are out on assignment. You see the scar that curves down my right foreleg? We were clearing out a cave of some diamond dogs; they had been raiding a nearby town and we were paid by the townsfolk to get rid of them. We thought we had cleared the place out and we had turned to leave, I heard one of my fellow recruits scream from around the corner. I had taken off my shield and it would have taken too long to put it on again so I rushed around the corner to help him as fast as I could,” Stoic paused here to drink from his canteen. I was enthralled, this stallion had seen quite a bit in his life. He may not have wanted to talk at first but his story was spellbinding. “Well what happened next, come on Stoic don’t keep me in suspense.” I said excitedly. “Hold on kid, you need to learn some patience,” Stoic admonished me, “Okay so there I was, rushing around the corner to save a friend and I saw a diamond dog that had a dagger in his paw and was slicing toward this other recruit. I threw myself into the path, shoving him out of the way, the blade dragged up and around my left leg, but I moved fast and hit that diamond dog right in the eye with this,” he gestured to horseshoe like weapon attached to his leg, “We didn’t have a medic and had to walk back to our base a few miles away before they could patch me up, I got the name because the whole walk back, even though I was dripping blood and carrying my gear I never complained or even said a word.” “Wow, you are as tough as you look after all,” I said jokingly. “I hope you won’t need to do that again, but from what Brightflare told me he knows a bit of healing magic so you won’t have to be stoic for very long.” “Pft, I know more than just a bit of healing magic, I can fix a broken leg in about 20 seconds,” Brightflare said in a haughty tone, “The only reason I’m not a doctor is because I never had the bits for the school.” Stoic and I shared a quick glance. It took all we had to keep from laughing at how easily we had offended him. “I am sorry Brightflare, I meant no offense.” I said hoping to avoid yet another argument. The church was just coming into view up ahead. The outside was made from a gray stone that may once have held a shine but had been faded by year after year of rain and wind. Despite the ivy crawling up the walls all the stained glass was intact and just as stunning as it was the day it was made. I wondered if they had some sort of magic sustaining them, I raised this point to Brightflare and he simply said, “It would be a very simple spell, glass holds energy well.” Each window seemed hoofcrafted and appeared to each be piece of a story. There was a foal lost in the woods in the first. The second had a patch of brambles rising up around the foal. The foal, an earth pony somehow began to glow, and the brambles didn’t cut him but he seemed to control them. The fourth panel showed the foal older and with a cutie mark, brambles and thorns wrapped around a staff. The fifth and final window showed a now adult earth pony talking to a large group of robed and hooded ponies in a forest clearing. He now held the staff pictured on his flank, the thorns on it seemed alive and flowing even in the window. Brightflare gazed up at the windows and said, “If we were looking for druids we have certainly come to the right place.” I just nodded silently and pointed at the front door. It was still unlocked so we walked right into the main chamber. Falling Star got right to work searching the place. She grabbed one of the gold candlesticks of the wall and not finding much else turned to glare at me. “You said there would be TREASURE, not just beaten up old junk!” “We haven’t gotten there yet; we need to head into the catacombs first. Come on, follow me.” I said walking towards the door at the back of the room. The stairs were a tight fit. Stoic almost had to leave his shield behind just to get through. Reaching the bottom of the stairs we arrived in the chamber with the massive door. Brightflare examined the door and the patterns on the floor. “I don’t like the looks of this; we need to perform a ritual to open the door. It looks simple enough but it still won’t be pleasant and I don’t know what else it will do besides opening the door.” Brightflare said, clearly in his element during this kind of work. He pointed to three circles in a triangle around a fourth at the center. “I need you to go stand on the middle circle Wanderwing and face the door. Okay now I need to be in the bottom right corner, Stoic move to the left back circle. Miss Star, move to the front circle, between Wander and the door please. Now comes the unpleasant bit, blood. We each need to bleed within our circles, that’s what the line you translated from the wall meant Wander.” I glanced at Stoic and saw he was already jabbing his unscarred leg with his own weapon a few drops of blood leaked from the wound and the circle he was standing in began to glow. “You better not be wrong about this Flare.” Star said before she cut just above her hoof, her knife was sharp and passed through with little effort. I asked her for one of her throwing knives and it thudded into the ground at my hooves. I grasped it between my teeth and cut my front left leg; I winced slightly and passed the knife back. Brightflare cast a kind of slicing spell, hitting his front right leg. Now all four circles were glowing and the symbol on the door began to shine . “Nopony move! Not a muscle, I need to say the spell before we can leave the circles, you don’t want to know what happens if I don’t,” Brightflare shouted. Falling Star froze; she had been just a moment from stepping onto the floor. “Maybe a little warning before something like that next time?” she spat. Brightflare began a strange chant; it must have been the opening spell for the door. “The three are as one, here until they’ve won. By horn, hoof, and wing, the blood of all we bring. The path is blocked, sealed in rock. Open the seal, and secrets reveal.” He repeated this five times and the glow of his horn brightened each time. A crack appeared in the center of the door, as it swung away from us into the dark room beyond. Brightflare said, “Okay we should all be able to move now.” He tentatively moved a hoof outside the circle and walked forward. “So Brightflare, quick question, what exactly would have happened if we had moved off the circles during the spell?” I asked in a hushed tone. “The magic would have gone haywire, without the circles to contain it using ponies as ingredients in spells is incredibly dangerous and unstable,” Brightflare said, “It likely would have killed us all.” “And you didn’t think to share this information with us before we started the spell? In the future I think we would all appreciate a warning. Now then feel like putting that healing magic you were bragging about to work?” Stoic said. “Sure,” Brightflare said walking over to each of us and touching each of the edges of our wounds, making quick stitching motions with his horn, “This should patch the cuts up. Sorry about the spell, I forget not all of you are as familiar with magic as I am.” “Apology accepted,” I said. I inspected the cut on my leg and found not even a scratch. There was barely a red mark. My coat having blood droplets on it was the only clue I had been cut at all. I wiped the blood away on the edge of my cloak. I guess he really was a healer after all. “Okay, now then let’s get on with it; there is treasure to be found!” Falling Star said, lighting a torch. “Wait what is that?” We looked through the doorway and found only reflections staring back at us. “There is no way it’s a dead end…it just can’t be,” I said, “No, this has to be another test.” It was then I realized something. I had my pendant on but in the mirror my eyes still showed their natural state, and my wings were torn. Looking at the others reflections I saw that none of them were perfectly reflected either. Stoic’s reflection’s coat seemed tear streaked, and at least partly bloodstained. Falling Star’s reflection was wearing a strange dress; it looked like a torn wedding gown. Brightflare’s was the strangest of all; his reflection’s horn would glow for a moment, and then sputter out, and then he would stomp the ground in frustration. “What could any of this mean?” Stoic said, “Why would we see ourselves differently? What kind of spell is this?” Then a clue appeared, words flashed through my mind, “Mirror of Fears” I saw this image clear as day in my mind. I must have spoken them aloud as well because at that moment the others looked over to me, seeming confused. “That’s what this is,” I said, “It’s a mirror that shows our fears, and the worst moments of our pasts. I don’t know what yours mean but I know mine, it is one of my nightmares.” Stoic suddenly seemed quite shaken. “W-What do we need to do to get past it?” he asked. Falling Star shifted uncomfortably from hoof to hoof, looking very much like she would like to fly off and get as far from here as she possibly could. “I suppose we could try breaking it. Do you still have that bag of rocks Flare?” He passed me one and I held it tightly, I flung it as hard as I could at the mirror and waited for the crack, but no noise occurred. The rock had vanished. Brightflare gasped and said, “Could it be that simple? Are we just supposed to walk through it? Is the mere sight of our fears supposed to drive us out of here with our tails between our legs? I think not,” He said, but I noticed a slight quiver in his voice and he didn’t move towards the mirror. Despite my fears, I decided I would walk through. “If I pass through unharmed I will throw the stone back through. Since we didn’t hear it land its possible it blocks sound. If I do not signal within three hours you should leave, I know you wouldn’t get paid then but I am not ordering any of you to come after me. It is possible this is simply a trap or there could be nothing on the other side at all,” I spoke quickly, as if my voice might break at any moment. No going back now, I thought to myself, let’s see what’s in store for me. I ran at the mirror not trusting myself enough to walk slowly. The feeling of passing through mirrored glass is a strange one, like walking through a wet curtain of some strange fabric. This feeling ended after a second and I looked around. Shocked I found myself within my own nightmare. No, it is another test I thought, I must need to beat it to get though. I looked back, hoping, praying the mirror would still be there. I saw only an empty street. I looked around and then realized I remembered this nightmare. It started simply; I would walk into this town. I kept walking and the houses became scorched and burned as I moved through. Then I would hear the screaming, the houses burning and the townsfolk with it. Then suddenly it all froze, and all the ponies that were not trapped would put the fire out. All those touched by the fire would be dead but there would be survivors. The survivors would turn to me and call me a monster, and blame me for this disaster. Then they all turn fierce, almost beastlike, and they would rush at me. I could never stop myself, I always fought them. I killed so many, so many just trying to defend their homes, and avenge their families. Then they would overwhelm me, and I would be tied up and brought to this terrible room, I knew it was in the palace, where I would be horribly tortured, and my wings would be torn and bloodied. It always ended the same way, the princess would come, and she would look down at me and say, “So monster, you have been beaten and broken, and now you will die.” I scream that I am not a monster but then I remember the battle, I had killed so many, and I begin to weep. I beg for death and she gives it. Then I would wake up. This nightmare had always been the same. I knew I had to change its outcome. I didn’t know how but I knew I needed to. Then the idea hit me. I always died in the dream, but maybe I could change it. I had to resist the urge to fight those who attacked me. I could be proven innocent, and maybe just maybe I could save a few lives. I didn’t will myself to begin moving but I began to move anyway. I found that if I struggled my hardest I could resist the will that pulled at the dream. I saw the flames begin and spread. I tried to flap my wings to go help fight the flames but I found it too great a task. I managed to move to one of the engulfed houses and break open one of the doors. I found just inside the door, not a pony in need of help but an angry pony, one of those who would form the mob. I screamed and ran but again couldn’t control myself. I watched in horror as my mouth opened and I nearly began to breathe the flames. I heard a pair of voices in my mind; one was the voice of Quickwit, recognized from my living his memories. The other was a gravelly, bellowing voice. The gravelly voice spoke in harsh tones, “Do it, kill him, save yourself. Be the monster they all fear, make them fear you more, control them.” Quickwit spoke hastily but kindly, “Wander I know you can hear me. We’ve never met but I’ve always been here for you, I know you can beat this, you aren’t a monster. Just because that is what they see doesn’t mean that’s all you can be. What you are and who you are are completely different things. Don’t do this.” “Give in, they all hate you, no one wants you, not the princess in the castle, not the mare in the library, not even the innkeeper. If they hate you, why not give them a reason? The world despises you, why not return the favor? Burn, kill, destroy, or control any who would oppose you. You and the other Draconics could rule them all. Even the selfish princesses could not stop a full army of draconics. Trust me, I know what’s best for you,” the dark voice said. My mind struggled, I was so very torn. The hatred was so very strong, so strong. Maybe I did deserve better, maybe they should all pay. We were stronger why should we not rule? Then I remembered the face of the foal I had fought. A bully he may have been but not more than a petty foal. I thought of Twilight’s kindness despite not having known me. I thought of how accepting Warmhearth had been. I couldn’t give in. I couldn't betray the. I felt it now, my link back to myself, I screamed, “NO! Just because we are stronger doesn’t mean we should control others. We should all live as equals. They may see us as monsters but I will never let them make me into one. I will not kill those who fear me; I will not burn the innocent. I would rather die myself than kill an innocent pony. The beast may exist but he will not win. IT WILL NEVER CONTROL ME!” I thought the dream would end then but it didn’t. The mob still came. Only this time they were not angry. I was not tied up; I had been a rescuer not a destroyer. I was brought to a chamber of the palace again but this time I was not tortured. I was greeted by the princess and she thanked me for all I had done. As soon as she finished thanking me the world began to blur and fade. The colors ran together and edges blended. Everything went gray. Then I was back. I had passed through the mirror. I looked back at my reflection and saw only myself. I looked around quickly and found the rock. I thought it would be best to warn them of what they may face. I wrote a quick message on a piece of parchment from my bags and wrapped it around the rock. “The mirror will force you to face your fears. Be careful!” I threw the bundled rock back through and hoped it hadn’t hit anyone. I curled up to rest and began to wait for the others.