The Element of Laughter
Chapter four: Deal’s struck and Oaths made
The forest was peaceful and quiet as Diana and Watchwing walked below the spreading canopy of the ancient trees. Birds chirping, insects buzzing, and the occasional small creature scampering through the undergrowth were the only sounds that met their ears. Rather than break the quiet, the animals’ noises enhanced it, filling the air with all the beautifully prosaic sounds of life in a wood. The now familiar nature of that noise was calming to Diana, especially after the difficult few days she’d had. As the canopy dappled her mane in complex patterns of light and shadows the sun’s brilliance cradled her, warming body and soul. And she needed that warmth, desperately. Despite appearances, she hadn’t come to terms with the bloodlust she’d displayed two days ago and before she could try the very memory of it had been taken from her. That, naturally, carried its own mental strain, further complicated by the rescue and subsequent confrontation with Captain.
Diana sighed, sending nearby falling leaves spinning away. It had been difficult to live through and now it was difficult to put away. But the here and now demanded her attention so persuasively by virtue of its simple excellence that she felt the past falling away, even as her last missing memories fell into place. A knot of tension she hadn’t known she was carrying melted away and, dull pain in her leg notwithstanding, she felt complete in a way she hadn’t since leaving Watchwing’s cave.
Her introspection had occupied the better part of the morning and by the time she surfaced it was nearing lunchtime. As hunger reared its head they stumbled upon a small clear space near a stream, the perfect spot for a quick lunch. After a quick check of their surroundings for lurking octocumbers, they settled down for a meal.
Refreshed by the meal Diana was feeling far more alert after they had started out once more. It was because of this new alertness that she began to notice something was odd about the forest. While recovering back at Watchwing’s cave she had grown used to being tripped up by roots and scratched by branches. That was simply what one expected in a wood no matter how careful one might be. However, as the two ponies traveled onward she found the ground smooth underhoof and the branches always placed just to the side of where they were walking. Initially Diana though it was merely good fortune, they were certainly due for a run of good luck.
All of a sudden, she spotted a root lowering itself into the ground in front of Watchwing. She nudged him and pointed at the rapidly disappearing root. He seemed relieved that she’d noticed it. “Oh good, I was starting to wonder if my sight was acting up. So you noticed it too?”
“I noticed the going seemed a bit easier but I didn’t realize why. What’s going on?” She had stopped walking and Watchwing stopped as well.
He shook his head. “I don’t know, but the branches have been moving out of our way and, as you saw, the roots avoiding tripping us up. Maybe this is to be expected. We’re going to meet with a ruler of trees, isn’t it to be expected that his subjects should make way for us now that we’re so near?”
“I suppose so, but let’s keep our eyes open.”
“Agreed.” Watchwing said, leading the way forward once more.
As they continued they realized that it was more than merely an easing of their path. The forest was actually guiding them in a certain direction. Any attempts to turn aside were met with a suddenly impassable tangle of branches and roots that had certainly not been there the previous moment.
Diana whinnied in irritation as her path was blocked for a third time. “I don’t know what this tree thinks it’s playing at, but I don’t like being corralled and herded like this. A lack of choice is why I ran away in the first place and if it can’t understand that I’m not sure meeting it is the best idea.”
“I don’t think it understands how we would view this.” The flightless pegasus offered reasonably. “If you’ve never moved, how would you understand the value ambulatory creatures place on freedom of movement?”
She opened her mouth to respond but further discussion was postponed as they entered a clearing and its entire perimeter, including the way they had entered, was sealed by the plant-based obstructions that had kept them from deviating earlier. They paused at the outskirts and examined circle before them. It contained the oddest tree either of them had ever seen. The trunk was bone white and perfectly smooth. It emerged directly from the ground with no sign of roots and rose unchanging to about twice their height, around eight feet. At that point it widened as it rose still further, giving the impression that some giant had placed a huge bowl on top of a long pole.
“How very strange.” Watchwing remarked. “That top part slopes back inward so there’s a depression inside that hemisphere. All my currents get focused into the bottom of the bowl before bouncing back out.” He seemed perplexed. “If it just happened at certain spots it might be an accident but it’s too perfectly formed for that.” His eyes widened as he understood. “This is what we’ve been looking for. That shape isn’t designed to focus air, though it does that too, it’s designed to focus the magic signals it sends and receives through other trees, that’s how it communicates!”
Welcome little brother, Huntress. I am the Tiresian. Partake of my sunlight, drink of my water.
A voice echoed throughout the clearing, bringing with it in full force the sense of an alien presence, a consciousness that was unquestionably there, even if it couldn’t be sensed directly. The ponies exchanged a look and Diana smiled slightly. “Well looks like you were right. We have made it. Now let’s see if this we can’t get enough answers to make this trip worthwhile.” Assuming the offer of sunlight and water was strictly pro forma, as they already had sunlight and there was no water present, they trotted forward and settled themselves on the grass under the bowl-like overhang, Diana being mindful of her injured leg.
The Tiresian’s greeting had piqued Watchwing’s curiosity so he ended up asking the first question. “Tiresian, why call me little brother or her huntress? What is the meaning behind these names?”
Tiresian: the sightless one who sees all things. A naming that fits both you and me. A Huntress seeks and finds and slays. War, your hound, heralds your coming, rivers of blood follow in your train.
As the words echoed in the enclosed space Diana paled to a light pink. She had come for knowledge of Discord and received confirmation of her bloodlust’s importance to her nature. Assuming what it says is true, she thought. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “How can you know this?”
All the wood knows the Huntress at her passing. A dance of predator and prey woven into what is, was, and will be.
The Tiresian sounded genuinely confused, as if it realized she was disturbed by its words but couldn’t conceive of why that might be. Watchwing, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to Diana’s discomfort at the direction the conversation was taking. His ears flicked back and forth, his tail swayed to and fro, and his wings jittered visibly in their perpetual minute vibration. When he spoke it was quick, eager even. “What can you tell us about her prey, about Discord?” He leaned forward. “Do you know how to kill him?”
The Twisted Tree cannot be uprooted.
Dismayed, Watchwing sat back. In the meantime, Diana had regained her composure, mostly be promising herself that she would consider the matter later. When it came to Discord she reasoned that, even if the Tiresian didn’t know how to kill him outright, it still might have useful information. “What can you tell us about him?” she asked.
I will tell you three truths in exchange for one favor.
“What favor might that be?” As if in answer to Diana’s query the base of the Tiresian’s trunk split open slightly and small spherical object rolled forth and came to a halt at Diana’s feet.
Carry my seed hence that I may observe the world beyond the wood.
She turned to Watchwing and quirked an eyebrow. “What do you think? It seems a bit risky but I’m hesitant to pass it up.”
“The Tiresian has not acted hostile; I made a deal with him in my early days of dwelling in the wood, why should you not do the same?” Watchwing shrugged. “Besides, I doubt we could find this information for any price anywhere else.”
Diana nodded and returned her attention to the Tiresian. “I accept your deal.”
A second time I ask, is our deal struck?
The alicorn nodded firmly. “Our deal is struck.”
For thrice and done, will you bind yourself by this pact?
“For thrice and done, I bind myself by this pact.”
Thrice asked, thrice agreed. Take the seed and receive your truths.
Diana reached down and lifted the seed with her uninjured front hoof. As soon as she touched it, the seed began to glow with an internal light. It burst into shining motes of light which pressed into and then through Diana’s hoof. The sensation was odd but not unpleasant. A vibrating tingle ran up her limb and spread across the rest of her body, causing her to start trembling. Slowly, the vibration began to fade and with it the trembling ceased.
Watchwing had watched the process with concern. “Are you okay Diana? Does, anything feel odd?”
She smiled. “I’m fine, nothing feels any different but I’ve held up my end of this deal. Now let’s see what it’s bought us. Well, Tiresian? What truths will you share?”
The Twisted Tree grew in far off soil, familiar to your kind and mine.
Only through the birthright of all monsters could it ascend through dominion of Chaos.
Mortal might and magic alone will fail, but the laurel might crown an equal of opposite birthright and dominion.
Diana and Watchwing were running over the hints in their minds, paying special attention so as to fix them in their memory. Meanwhile the Tiresian was still speaking.
The agreement is fulfilled. My seed shall preserve the memories of you and your companion when you travel through the ring of mindless mist once more. Now I must sleep, fashioning words is difficult for one such as I.
As the voice fell silent the air in the clearing changed, the presence that had saturated it was gone, leaving a clear feeling of emptiness in its place. Diana blinked at the Tiresian’s sudden departure. “I suppose as a tree it doesn’t have a strong conception of manners but leaving that fast is just plain rude.”
Watchwing shrugged. “The deal was fulfilled and since it didn’t want anything else from you, you wouldn’t have been able to extract anything more from it anyway. More importantly, what do you make of its hints?”
“Well that third hint suggests that there is some way to beat Discord, but other than that I don’t have a clue. Did you get anything else?”
The pegasus dropped his head in thought. “Something about the first hint is tickling the corners of my mind but…I got nothing.”
During their conversation with the Tiresian the sun had dropped below the canopy and the lengthening shadows obscured the clearing. Though Diana only noticed this change when she looked over at Watchwing to gauge his expression and found that she could not see his face.
“Let’s set this aside for now. We’ll think more clearly in the morning and I’d like some dinner before it gets too dark for me to see.” She winced, realizing that her previous sentence might have hurt Watchwing’s feelings, but pressed on, hoping to speed by the awkward comment. “Do you think we could have a fire? I’d dearly love a hot meal.”
“Burning wood next to a sentient tree seems like a pretty horrible idea.” As if in agreement the trees around the clearing began to sway menacingly, despite the still air.
With a nervous smile Diana nodded. “No fire it is then.”
They had a simple dinner, greens with the occasional wild root to add flavor and texture. Their conversation consisted of minor things, details of the lives they’d left behind, amusing anecdotes, the comfortable conversation of friends at ease, much like the dinners Diana used to know back on the farm. And if they studiously avoided mentioning Discord or Captain or the truths they’d received, well that’s understandable. They’d had their fill of weighty talk for the time being.
That night was the first time they were in a clearing wide enough to permit star-gazing, though Diana knew better than to mention it to Watchwing. Nonetheless, she made sure the place she rested her head had a clear view of the sky above. Long after the conversation had faded and Watchwing’s deep breathing indicated he had fallen asleep Diana remained awake, gazing up at the stars above and feeling very far from home.
***
The next morning Diana awoke with a plan. It wasn’t a complicated plan. In fact, it was exceedingly similar to the plan that she had had before making the trip to see the Tiresian. What she planned to do was to wander Discord’s kingdom and ask anypony that she met, or anyone for that matter, if they knew anything about the three truths she had been given. At the very least she would accomplish her original goal of seeing the world and at best she might run into somepony with useful knowledge.
Consolidating her plan into its present form occupied her thoughts through the breakfast Watchwing had been kind enough to prepare before she woke. When they had finished eating and their bags were packed, Diana turned to Watchwing to say goodbye.
“Well, I guess this is it. You’ll go back to your home and I’ll start the wandering I originally escaped to pursue.”
“Diana-“
“Oh that’s right!” she gasped. “You won’t be able to make it through the mist alone.”
“Diana-”
“I’m so sorry I didn’t realize you’d have to go so far out of your way and I-“
“DIANA!” Watchwing shouted, silencing the babbling pink pony. “What makes you think I’m going back to my cave?”
She blinked, confused by his question. “That’s your home, isn’t it?”
“It’s where I lived but a cave in the woods is hardly a home worth returning to. I intended to wander with you, if you don’t object.”
Her eyes narrowed and the suspicions she held at the beginning of their journey came roaring back. Why help me? He’s known me for all of a week and he’s going to abandon everything to travel with me. That doesn’t make any sense.
“I do object. It’s not going to be safe. From what Captain threatened it seems likely that the homunculi will be looking for me and she’s already demonstrated her willingness to kill you if you get in her way.”
Obstinately, Watchwing shook his head. “I don’t care if it’s dangerous, I want to come.”
“Why? For that matter why did you bring me here? I find it hard to believe you’re accompanying me out of the goodness of your heart. Nopony is that generous.” Diana stomped her uninjured foreleg. “Unless you can tell me the real reason you’ve helped me and wish to continue to do so at great personal risk, I don’t dare let you come with me.”
Watchwing smiled a dangerous smile, one at odds with his normally placid visage. “You want to know why? It’s simple. I want to see Discord toppled. I could say that I desire his downfall for the good of ponies everywhere, or because I don’t want my family to live under his yoke but that would be a lie and lies are his tools, not mine. I don’t give a flying feather about the ponies who abandoned me or the plight of those suffering under his rule. I just want vengeance. The only way I can hurt him as he hurt me is to take his kingdom away from him and that’s what I intend to do.” He growled as he spoke, deep and low in the back of his throat.
Diana winced at the pure venom in Watchwing’s words. However, something about his rant didn’t fit right. After a moment’s thought she realized what it was. “That doesn’t have anything to do with me. You helped me before you knew I opposed Discord and, come to think of it, destabilizing Discord would probably be easier if you weren’t travelling with a wanted pony.”
“Nothing to do with you? Ha!” He snorted derisively. “Think it through. From the aeries of the griffons to the caves of the dragons to the tunnels of the canids to the towns of the ponies, Discord dealt with all of them the same way. He left a garrison of soldiers to remind every race of their master but, other than that and his occasional mad exploit, he allowed them to live unhindered, so long as he was unopposed. There’s only one race that he hunted nearly to extinction, one race that he contains in a single village to which he doesn’t permit entrance or egress save for his homunculi.”
With a sinking feeling Diana realized what Watchwing was getting at but there was no stopping him now.
“The alicorns!” He shouted, confirming her fears. “Yours is the only species he’s beaten down in that fashion. And the only reason I can think of for him to treat you so differently is that he’s afraid of you! I don’t know how or why but I’ll bet my life, I am betting my life, that only an alicorn can defeat Discord!” The pegasus was breathing hard as he finished his speech. Despite that he appeared triumphant, as if by stating such a thing he could make it so.
She sighed, cocked one wing back, and wing-slapped him across the face. He flinched, but his wild expression began to fade. He started to protest the rough treatment, only to be interrupted by Diana. “Are you ready to listen to me? Good. First of all, everything you just said is based on your assumption that you can follow the thought processes of the god of chaos. That’s a rather slender thread on which to hang your life. Secondly, speaking as an alicorn, there is nothing I can think of that would give us any appreciable advantage in combating Discord. Yes we have the abilities of all the pony races. But everypony knows that our skill with any individual ability is less than that of the least member of the race whose birthright it is. Finally, there’s no way I can take you with me on a quest to defeat Discord if you lose control like that at the mere thought of him.”
“What about your tendency to-“Watchwing started to snap before he cut himself off. Even in his anger he knew better than to complete that sentence. Unfortunately, Diana could complete it on her own.
“What about my tendency to lose control, is that what you were going to say?” She shouldn’t have let it get to her but it was the third time in four days that that particular emotional wound had been prodded. And so, tears gathered at the corners of her brilliant blue eyes. She choked them back; weakness was not something she could afford at the moment. “That was unworthy of you Watchwing. It was cruel.”
“Cruel or not it needed to be said.” Watchwing’s control had returned and he spoke with the calm implacable truthfulness that was so often the hallmark of his speech. “My tendency to lose control might put us in jeopardy but the same is possible of your own bloodlust, or hadn’t you thought of that?”
“I hadn’t” Diana admitted, her own control returned as well. “This changes nothing though. Just because I lose my temper rather dramatically is no reason to bring along somepony else with a similar problem.”
“Perhaps, but it might be valuable to have another pony around to act as a touchstone. You could tell me when I’m losing control and I could tell you. That way neither of us should get into too much trouble.”
Diana eyed him carefully. “You really are dead set on coming with me, aren’t you?”
“What else should I do, sit in my care and wait patiently for a second opportunity to come crashing into my life?” Watchwing straightened up and stared straight at her, his empty eye sockets a not-so-subtle reminder that he had already lost a great deal to Discord’s malice. “No. Even if you refuse my company I intend to leave these woods behind for good. It’s time to stop hiding and start fighting back, however and wherever I can.”
After hearing that, there was really only one course of action for Diana to take. “If…If you swear…swear your strongest oath to listen when I tell you that you’re losing control, then I think we can travel together.”
“Will you swear the same oath, to listen to me when you’re getting out of control?” Watchwing asked.
“I will.”
He nodded. “Then I will swear by the only oath a pegasus would ever use.” Watchwing stood up and flared his favorite appendages. “By the wind in my wings and the blue sky above me, I swear to follow your will when my own is compromised.” The azure wings descended to their normal levels and he turned to Diana. “Your turn.” He said
Not to be outdone Diana stood up, flared her wings, and lit her horn with the vibrant pink glow of her magic. She had never been told the oath of an alicorn but she knew what to say. “By my magic within, my strength below, and my flight above I swear to follow your will when my own is compromised.”
The silence that followed was curiously calm, as if the world around the two ponies had been holding its breath and could now let that breath go. Something had been decided here, something momentous. Even if neither knew exactly what that might be, they could still appreciate its significance. The travelers, rebels now, stood still, deliberately allowing the silence to last for a moment more.
When the moment had passed Diana shouldered her saddlebags. “Come. We have miles to go before we sleep and it’s past time we left this place.” Without waiting for an answer she raised her voice slightly. “Tiresian, a path to the nearest edge of the woods, if you please.” In response, an opening in the otherwise impassable ring of trees appeared to their left and they set off on the next leg of their journey.
***
The gentle scratching of quill against parchment as it wrote out Diana’s last few sentences was the only sound in Twilight’s basement room. It formed a silence that served as a counterpoint to the silence in the story. Instead of the silence that comes when all the words have been said, it was a silence that carried the weight of all the words that were yet to be spoken.
Twilight didn’t mind, of course. As a bookworm and librarian she was well familiar with silence in all its multitudinous forms. She was more than willing to allow Diana some time to gather her thoughts, even as she took a few moments to gather her own.
Eventually, Diana shook herself free from her reverie. “I think I’ll stop here for today. It’s getting late after all and if I talk any more Pinkie might end up wondering what made her throat so sore.”
“Alright, I’ll have my hooves full transcribing what I’ve got so far anyway.” Twilight had already put away the special quill and begun organizing her notes from the day. “I assume Pinkie will be back in a moment?”
“Silly Twilight, I didn’t go anywhere. Or I guess I did but in my sleep. Does it still count as going somewhere if it’s just a dream? Hmm, I wonder if I could get dream exercise that way, then I could eat sweets all day and run all night and it would be perfect!”
Between the suddenly upbeat tone and the free association style of speech Twilight knew immediately that Diana had gone and Pinkie had returned. “I’m glad you’re up Pinkie. How was the nap?”
“Splendiferous! There was a sea of sprinkles and I got to swim in it. Then these cupcake sharks came to eat me but I ate them instead and then I went surfing on a wave of maple syrup and it was awesome!” Her accompanying hoof motions overbalanced Pinkie and she fell off the couch. Fortunately, her landing was cushioned by her poufy mane and she popped right back up to her feet.
Though, as per usual, Twilight tuned out most of Pinkie Pie’s absurdly enthusiastic rant, a part of her was relieved to see her friend unchanged by the time the body had spent under Diana’s control. With the script of Diana’s story safely hidden, Twilight escorted Pinkie Pie up the stairs into the library proper.
At the sight of Spike quietly reading in a corner Twilight’s heart skipped a beat. He should have still been out on his errands and, while there was nothing inherently suspicious about spending time with Pinkie in the basement, Spike would notice the pattern if it happened too often.
Of course, panicking would make him suspicious immediately so Twilight did her best to hide her alarm and focused on getting Pinkie to leave as quickly as possible. Pinkie must have still been a bit groggy from her nap because Twilight was able to extract a promise to visit again soon and get her out of the library in record time. That accomplished she turned her attention to Spike.
“I’m impressed you finished all your errands so quickly, Spike. You did get them all done right?”
He shot her a hurt look over the top of his comic. “Twilight, I’ve lived with you since I was born, I know when you’re just giving me errands to get me out of the house. I did the ones that need doing and came back here to read.”
Twilight blinked in surprise. “You know? How long have you known?”
He chuckled. “I’ve known ever since you sent me out to make a list of everypony with a left-hoofed library card. Actually, Rarity was kind enough to explain that one and I figured the rest out on my own. You really don’t need to do that Twilight; I’ll respect your privacy.”
A surge of affection for her little brother washed over her and she scooped him up in a big hug. He protested but she just giggled and held on tighter. “Thanks Spike. You really are my number one assistant.”
Spike sighed. “Yes. Yes I am. Now please put me down.”
“Oh. Right, sorry.” Twilight said, dropping him.
The little dragon landed on his feet and reached into his body pocket. “Before I forget, a letter came from the princess while you were down there. Here it is.” He pulled out the usual scroll with a royal seal and handed it to her. Twilight opened it with magic and began to read.
My most Faithful Student,
Let my preface this letter by saying that there is no immediate catastrophe or other urgent cause for alarm. I say this only because I know you tend to worry too much and I’d like to preempt that if I can.
Twilight smiled ruefully at that, remembering the first time the princess had sent a casual letter and she had ended up in a three day long worry induced coma over absolutely nothing. Still Twilight felt that she was improving. She hadn’t started worrying at the mere mention of the letter after all. Resolving to do her best to alter her mentor’s view of her, she shook her head and continued reading.
That said I have detected an anomaly with the Elements of Harmony. As you know the Elements are supposed to be inert without the presence of their wielders. However, they all activated earlier today and remain in an awakened state while I write this letter. The Element of Laughter is behaving particularly puzzlingly. It seems to have acted as the keystone for the awakening spell instead of the Element of Magic as should be the case. Is there anything odd occurring with you and your friends that you think could cause this kind of effect? I request that you investigate this matter, paying particular attention to your friend Pinkie Pie, and send me a full report just in case. Meanwhile, I will observe the Elements from here.
Perhaps I am taking a leaf out of your book and worrying too much. But the Element of Laughter holds a special significance for both of the Royal Pony Sisters and I would very much like to get to the bottom of this, even if it proves to be nothing.
Your Mentor
Princess Celestia.