//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: Rock of Ages // Story: One of these Days // by Wrabbit //------------------------------// ONE OF THESE DAYS Chapter 14: Rock of Ages ~21 Aevum Illuminationis~ Something was definitely wrong. It wasn't anything that could be sensed, but it was definitely felt by Sirius. He sniffed the air as he padded along, trying to find just what it was. As expected, Procyon came up to him and whined as she nuzzled him. “What is it?” “Can thee not feel it?” he asked her. “There is a wrongness in the air tonight; something that could threaten us all.” He continued his hunt, sniffing all the way, still unable to pinpoint the feeling. Procyon walked alongside him for a bit before putting her own nose to work. He looked over at her, but said nothing and smiled before returning to his search. The search continued for some time, but eventually bore fruit. His sensitive nose caught a hint of something familiar. Looking over to his mate, he asked, “Dost thee smell that?” She nodded and said, “T'is faint, but there is something there. I thought it a fevered imagining at first, it was so weak. Celestial blood hath been spilled this night. Dost thou think one of the starbeasts hath been wounded in a melee?” “Let us hope that is the matter,” Sirius replied, tracking down the smell. They continued in silence for a time before coming across the first pool of blood. What was most worrisome was the substance the blood was made of; a dark purplish liquid that sparkled with a light all its own. The two starhounds shared a look, then continued their tracking, this time at a greatly increased pace. As far as they knew, only one creature's blood looked like that. Their fears were confirmed when they came across the huddled form of Twilight, lying in a pool of her own blood; even more telling, she was in her unfettered mortal form. They rushed forward, and sniffed at her still form. Sirius crept forward and nuzzled her with a whine, then licked her face. It took a few seconds, but the mare stirred and opened her eyes. “S- Sirius?” “Aye, Milady, t'is I and Procyon. What hast laid thee so low?” Twilight gave a weak shake of her head and tried to stand. “No time. I must... I must find father. He will... he will know.” Sirius laid down next to her, heedless of the blood. “Lean on us, Milady. We wilt aid thee in thy trek to thy father.” Procyon got on the other side and together, they were able to help her to her hooves. Keeping her propped up between them, the three made their way through the firmament. “My thanks to you both. Of all my children, thou art the most loyal,” Twilight said weakly. The two starhounds actually started glowing under her praise, and suddenly felt ten times stronger. “We art just glad to be of some service, however small... mother.” Twilight kissed them both on their crowns, making them glow even brighter. After a good length of walking, the other stars started to fade until it was just the three of them in a sea of blackness. The mare stopped, causing the two starhounds to come to a halt as well. “I thank thee, but I must go alone from here. Where I must travel, only immortals may tread safely.” They whined and nuzzled her, but she remained firm. “I am sorry, my children, but you may go no further. I shalt return as swiftly as I can, but you may await me here if thou so desires.” Reluctantly, they sat down where they stood and watched her as she spread her great wings and flew off into the dark. When she became too small to see, they laid down next to each other, and nuzzled each other. (\ /) ( . .) *(“)(“) Twilight flew on, flapping her wings, despite there being no air against which they might act. She flew for what felt like an eternity until she felt a comforting presence that she hadn't realized she missed until this moment. “Mother!” “Yes, my daughter, I am here.” It wasn't until this moment that Twilight realized just how accustomed she had become to the ways of the mortals. “This may sound passing odd, but... couldst thou take corporeal form, mother? I find it easier if you...” An all white alicorn formed from motes of lights in front of her, and the two embraced as ponies for the first time. “That does feel rather nice, doesn't it? I can see why you took these forms now, but why do you speak so oddly?” “It doth- excuse me mommy. It is the way the mortals speak at the moment. In the past, they communicated in a much more crude language, but lately, they have become rather poetic, embedding their speech with flourishes. It's rather nice once one gets used to it,” Twilight replied. Shaking her head, she asked, “Where is daddy? I have an important question for him.” The white mare sighed sadly. “I suppose it was too much to hope that you were back to visit your neglected parents. I presume this has something to do with those 'mortal' things Celestia found?” Twilight nuzzled the larger mare again, causing her smile to return. ”I am sorry, mommy, but yes, it does. Something troubling has happened in Equestria, and I need to see if my suspicions are true.” “Does it have anything to do with you almost losing your mortal body?” her mother asked, concern giving her voice a worried tinge. Surprised, Twilight asked, “How did you...” She shook her head. “Never mind. It doesn't matter. Where is daddy?” “I am here, My Dawn.” Twilight turned around to see an alicorn stallion whose appearance was ever changing whenever one looked away from him. One moment he was a newborn foal, the next, a decrepit skeleton, barely able to stand on wobbly legs, and anywhere in between. His actual details like his colors, physique, and even voice were indistinct, as if he couldn't decide on just one form. Twilight looked at him with tears in her eyes. She hesitantly approached him and asked, “I know how much you hate revealing things, especially to those of us who chose to deal with the mortals, daddy, but I have to ask...” “Why do you seek me out to answer questions to which you already know the answer?” has asked with a smile. Twilight bit her lip and looked down. “I was hoping you would tell me that I was wrong; that the power I felt had nothing to do with him.” Her mother put a comforting hoof over her shoulder and hugged her close. “It's okay to say his name, you know. He's not nearly as bad as you think. Even performs a valuable service.” Twilight looked at her like she had just grown a second head. “How can you say that? Discord is nothing but destruction disguised as a joke.” Her father placed a hoof on her head and ruffled her mane affectionately. “Like his sister Entropy, Discord serves a very important purpose in the universe. Without either of them, We could not make way for new things. Besides, sometimes- not very often, I'll admit, but sometimes- something new and wonderful comes of their actions. Won't you reconsider your punishment? Stifling chaos will only make it fight back harder.” Twilight weighed his words carefully, knowing that Time never wasted his breath. “I'll... I'll talk to Celestia and Luna about it. It's not my decision to make alone, and I'm not sure we can forgive him after what he did to Draco and Ursa.” “My Dawn, you don't know what he did to them,” Time replied. Twilight looked up at him with hope in her eyes. “Will you tell me?” Shaking his head, Time answered, “It is not my place to say.” Twilight pushed herself away from her parents. “I better go now. I have much to do if I am to counter what Discord has unleashed.” She kissed them both on the cheeks and turned to leave. “I love you both! I'll make Celestia and Luna come visit more often!” Waving as she flew off, she disappeared into the void. Time put a foreleg over his wife's shoulders and brought her close for comfort. She looked up at him and asked, “Will it really be that long? I know that millennia mean little to us, but after this last separation, this just seems...” “I know, but there is nothing to be done. The wheels have been set in motion, and all we can do is sit back and watch,” Time replied. (\ /) ( . .) *(“)(“) ~2015 Aevum Illuminationis~ Poking carefully through the remains of the small cart, Paladin winced as she came across a pony doll and picked it up. It was made from rags with buttons for eyes and yarn for a mane and tail, but it looked well-cared for, if a little worn. Silver Belle came up and saw the doll. Taking it from her gently, she said, “So no sign, then?” Paladin shook her head sadly. “No, but no blood either. Judging by the possessions scattered about, I would say four to five ponies were here; a family, most likely. I think they were taken alive at least, though I'm not sure if that makes their situation better, or worse.” Silver Belle put the doll in her saddlebag, then laid a hoof on hers, patting it gently. “Better, because it means there's hope for rescue.” Paladin shared a wistful smile with her, but said nothing. Ricochet returned from her patrol and walked up to Paladin. “The tracks stop dinna goo past the wreckage, but I found soomething ye need to see.” She led them both around to the far side of the pile of scrap that was once a wagon. She pointed down at the ground, confusing Silver Belle, but making Paladin bite her lower lip. “What is it?” the chambermaid asked. “Dragon tracks,” the archer said simply. Silver Belle gasped and covered her mouth with a hoof. Paladin turned away, saying, “Pull everypony in. If there's a dragon still in the area, we don't want to get picked off alone. We'll continue from her as before.” “What about the ponies taken from here?” Silver Belle asked. Paladin whirled back, tears in her eyes. “What else can we do? We don't know where they were taken, their numbers, the number of enemies, or anything else. We're decent trackers, but we're not so good that we can follow a creature that's taken to the air.” Her expression softened and she walked back to hug her. “I don't mean to be cruel, love, but without some clue that we could follow immediately apparent, we would waste a lot of time trying to rescue a few ponies and end up costing even more ponies their lives by delaying to search for a clue. The best we can do is to hope that we stumble across something as we go. Believe me, it pains me even more to make this decision, than it does for you to hear me make it, but it needs to be done.” Silver Belle sobbed into the sandy guard's mane and nodded. (\ /) ( . .) *(“)(“) Looking down at the map, Silver Script hummed quietly to herself and nodded. She looked to the sky again, holding up a sextant and measured the angle of the sun. Nodding with satisfaction, she took a bit of charcoal in her hoof and carefully placed a dot on the map. Awesomeshine looked over her shoulder and tilted her head as she tried to make sense of the numbers the earth pony had scribbled on the edge of the map. “Oh, is that where we are?” she asked, pointing to the newest mark added to the parchment. “Actually, that's where we were last week,” she answered. Pointing to the other dots, she added, “That's where we were three weeks ago, and that's from a five weeks ago. I take it you notice the pattern?” Tilting her head to the side, the unicorn looked at the dots before it hit her. “We're going in a big circle around Equus!” Silver Script nodded as she rolled up the map. “Correct. It seems the princesses wanted the Elements within easy reach, but not too close together. This begs the question, 'why?'. Surely they would want something so powerful close at hoof, so why spread them out like this, rather than under their personal guard?” “Are they dangerous if they're too close together?” she ventured. “Doubtful,” the scholar said with a shake of her head. “Harmony would only be dangerous to beings of chaos and strife. Besides, we've been walking around with three of them for sometime now, but the most they've done is allow us to find the rest, much to my disappointment.” “Maybe their power is too easy to spot when all five are together?” Awesomeshine suggested. “Perhaps. That may even be a consideration in their decision, but from what I've learned by studying them, I doubt it's the sole or even deciding factor. No, there is some other reason behind all this; I just have yet to work it out.” Silver Script put the map back in her saddlebag and took a pull from her canteen. Awesomeshine walked beside her as they rejoined the rest of the group as they got back to their hooves after their noon rest break. It had taken a few days, but after having to take an entire day to recover from overexertion, the healer had convinced Paladin that they needed to allow for the less physically able among them to grow accustomed to life on the run. “So, how much further to the next one? You said you were getting used to using them, right? Any ideas on how much further?”she asked, piquing the interest of the rest of the assembled ponies. “We should reach it either today, or the next,” Silver Script replied simply. “Then let's get moving,” Paladin said, obviously excited. “The sooner we get them to the princesses, the sooner we can get things back to normal... or at least, as normal as possible considering the circumstances,” she amended. The group was somewhat cheered by this prospect, happily continuing their trek, but a cloud of doubt and sadness over what they had lost hung over them, casting a shadow over their moods. Even the ever cheerful Kitten Caboodle was a bit subdued. All of them were wondering if they could ever regain anything resembling their old lives. They were also wondering how they were going to find the Element the dragons had stolen, but that was a problem that they had no conception of how to tackle. By late afternoon, they were nearing the last hidden vault containing an Element of Harmony. The spring had returned to their steps, and they were eager to tackle this newest challenge, but what they found waiting for them took all the wind from their sails. The entrance appeared to be a simple doorway ringed with carvings of skulls to ward off the curious built into a cliff side. However, that wasn't what gave them all pause. It was the very large, dark purple dragon lying on her stomach in front of the entrance. She was easily thirty hooves long, if not longer, and looked very familiar to the gathered ponies. It was Paladin though, who finally pieced it together for the rest of them. “Brimfrost,” she whispered. “What?” Ricochet gasped. “How? She was a wee bampot last we saw compared to tha'! How did she get soo blasted big?” Silver Belle could not take her fearful eyes from the wyrm as she asked, “Are you sure it's her, and not some other dragon that looks like her?” Paladin nodded. “Yeah. I recognize the scars I put on her wings. One of them hasn't even properly healed up yet. Not sure how she did it, but somehow, she's grown to more than twice her original size since we last saw her those few weeks ago.” “The question then becomes,” Knightengale interjected, “can we still take her if it comes down to a fight?” “What is that she's playing with?” Awesomeshine asked, squinting at the distant form of the serpent. Silver Script slipped on her monocle. “It's a filly,” she said in a carefully controlled tone (\ /) ( . .) *(“)(“) Brimfrost smiled as she let the tiny baby pegasus cavort amongst her talons. “Perhapsss I ssshould keep you for myssself. You are quite entertaining, little one, and it'sss unlikely your parentsss will return, yesss...” The filly hugged one of the talons, not even able to put her stubby forelegs halfway around the weapon. Bringing her head down, the dragoness flicked her tongue out and caressed the tiny cheek, causing the filly to giggle. A movement at the forest line caught her attention, and one eye swiveled to see that unicorn guard into whom she kept running walking out in the open. “Finally decccided to ssstop talking about me and confront me directly, have you? Not going to bring out your little friendsss?” The mare looked surprised at this, and the dragoness pressed on. “Oh, yesss. I heard you all plotting out there, and it might have even worked... had you encountered me before my mistresss bessstowed her gift upon me.” Paladin paused, but resumed her calm walk into danger, even though the plan (bad as it was) was uncovered before it could even be attempted. “What are you doing with that filly?” Brimfrost circled an arm around the filly in question, blocking Paladin from her sight. “Her parentsss and I are exchanging favorsss, if you mussst know. I agreed to watch her for them, while they fetch for me a little trinket from thisss nasssty little vault, yesss. Asss you've no doubt noticcced, the entranccce isss far too sssmall for sssomeone of even my sssvelte proportionsss. Though,” she added with mock thoughtfulness, “depending on how capable they are, I may just end up keeping her for myssself, yesss. I've always wanted a pet for myssself.” “You're the one who attacked that wagon,” Paladin said through clenched teeth. With a smile, Brimfrost replied, “Oh, ssso you found that, did you? Negotiationsss were a little... rocky at firssst, but we eventually sssettled on a mutually beneficccial agreement, yesss.” “Let them go,” she said, advancing menacingly, which amused Brimfrost greatly. “Are you offering to go in their placcce? I would much rather have experienccced tal- er, hoovesss, sssince you would have a greater chanccce of sssuccesss without me having to go find more... volunteers.” Brimfrost picked up the filly who giggled again and stepped back from the entrance before settling down again. “By all meansss, help yourssself; though you may want the help of your friendsss in there.” Paladin stared at her smug grin for a moment before turning to the forest and gave a huge wave. Six ponies hesitantly came out of the woods and slowly made their way over. The guard met them halfway and explained the situation to them. “We have to help them. They didn't have anything to do with this. They were just caught up in something that was beyond them.,” Awesomeshine said with a grim look. “O' carse we'll help them,” Ricochet said. “But do we really want to help her?” She jerked her head towards the dragon, leaving no room for doubt about whom she was talking. Silver Script touched her saddlebag and said, “I don't think we have much choice. We cannot let innocent ponies get hurt while we have a chance to prevent it, especially children.” The others noted where her hoof lay and nodded. They walked over to Brimfrost, who had not taken her eyes off of them, nor lost her grin, but was flipping the filly across her fingers like a coin. The filly seemed to be enjoying this, and was laughing as she went from one finger to the next. Paladin stepped in front of the group and said, “You promise you'll let them go if we get this thing for you? Swear on your hoard?” Brimfrost rolled her eyes and sighed. “Fine. I ssswear on my hoard that they may go free onccce you have delivered to me the artifact I ssseek. Now do run along; no telling what sssort of trouble they've gotten into all alone. I ssso dissslike working with amateursss, yesss.” Reluctantly, the ponies filed past her, all but Silver Script giving her a glare. She locked gazes with the mare, and her eyes narrowed, briefly glowing as she cast a spell. The contact was broken by a wall as the pony rounded a corner. The corridor itself wasn't all the big, barely large enough to allow Ricochet to walk without ducking; she definitely would not be firing her bow in there. They walked the passage in silence, except for the clopping of their hooves on the stone floor. It twisted and turned many times, so much so that a few times, they wondered if they had wandered into some sort of never-ending labyrinth with no branches. Along the way, they found evidence of sprung traps; blades half extended from narrow slits in the walls or floor, recent damage from splashes of what could only be acid, according to Silver Script's trained nose, scorch marks from activated spells, and more had to be navigated around. “It looks like whoever came before us was either very lucky, or knew what they were doing,” Kitten observed. “Some of those blades had blood on them, but not a lot, and I haven't seen any on the floor.” A scream of pain from further down the corridor prompted all the ponies to throw caution to the wind and dash ahead. “Soonds like their luck just ran oot,” Ricochet said as they ran. Nopony admonished her for her lack of tact, but they all came to a halt in a pile when Silver Script tripped over something as they rounded another corner to find an earth pony stallion on the ground while a pegasus mare and young earth pony colt stood over him, crying and urging him to hold on. A thin javelin lay on the ground next to him, its tip coated in a green substance as well as a bit of blood. All three of them looked cut up and burned, but judging from the swelling on the stallion's foreleg, it looked like he was in the worst shape. Awesomeshine struggled to the top of the pile and leapt over to the distressed ponies, already casting a basic diagnostic spell. “Hold on, I'm a trained healer! Let me see him!” the unicorn gently, but firmly shoved the mare aside to get a good look at the wound and sucked in air between her teeth. “This is bad. I'm not sure I have enough antidote to help him pull through. This basilisk poison may be old, but it's still potent.” The healer pulled out a bottle and eyed the pinkish liquid in the clear bottle carefully, mentally calculating how much she would need. With a shrug, she pulled out the cork and emptied the entire contents into the prone stallion's mouth. She massaged his throat to help him swallow, and the petrification process that had begun to stiffen his limbs reversed. Awesomeshine sighed in relief and visibly relaxed. “Okay, it looks like we were in time. He'll be sore and stiff for a while, but he'll live. Was anypony else seriously hurt?” The mare and colt hugged the stallion and cried. “Thank you, Miss. You must be an angel sent from Celestia and Luna. If there's anything we can do for you, just ask, and it's yours,” the mare said around her tears. Silver Script was the last up from the pony pile, but didn't join the others checking on the wounded family. Instead, she bent down to examine the floor and what she had tripped over, causing the pileup in the first place. Looking at the object carefully, she nodded and slipped it into her saddlebag, fiddling with it in the bag while the others became acquainted with the newcomers. “It was awful,” the new mare was sobbing to the others. “That beast swooped down on us from the sky and demanded we go with it to fetch something for it. It has... It has our baby!” she shouted at them. Paladin stepped forward and patted her on the shoulder. “Easy there, Ma'am. We're here to help. We won't let her do anything to harm any of you, especially your foals.” I want you three to stay here and let the rest of us move on to get the... what is it she's after?” “A stone orb, Miss; about this wide.” She held her hooves up, almost a hoof apart. Paladin bit back an angry retort. “I was afraid if that. Well, stay here while we fetch it. Then, we'll work on getting you and your whole family somewhere safe, okay?” The distraught pegasus nodded, and the seven adventurers moved on, further down the passage. They had walked carefully for over twenty minutes, fully expecting for another trap to be sprung. However, nothing of the kind happened, only ratcheting up their anxiety. They were surprised when they came to a dead end without encountering a single trap. The dead end was around a bend, and contained a single pedestal holding up the now familiar orb, this one bearing a carving of an eight-sided gem. Silver Script and Kitten both examined it without touching it. After a thorough inspection, they nodded to each other, and Silver Script took it in hoof and gave it to Paladin. “This should be your decision. It is your mission, after all.” With a nod, Paladin accepted the rock, and they started their trek back. They picked up the ponies along the way and carefully made their way to the entrance. Brimfrost grinned widely as they exited the vault, stone in hoof. Paladin levitated it up to her and placed it in the dragoness's paw. “There you go. Now for your end of the bargain,” she said with a glare. Brimfrost's smile became even wider, if that was even possible, and she lowered her paw with the filly to the ground. “I am a dragon of my word, if nothing elssse,” she said. The filly looked around dazedly and hugged the Brimfrost's talon before flitting over to her mother, whom greeted her with smiles and tears. Looking at the mare, or rather, the filly in the mare's arms pointedly, she added, “Now why don't you run along. I have other thingsss to dissscusss with thessse... helpful maresss.” Heeding discretion, the family of four stumbled into the forest as quickly as the stumbling stallion could manage. When they disappeared, Brimfrost looked down at the gathered mares. “Now, then. I believe you have sssomething I want. Sssomethingsss, rather. Give me the three other ssstonesss, and I'll let you go free. Defy me, and I'll kill you all, ssstarting with...” Her voice hung on that last word, and her talon waved around as if she was making a tough decision. “...you,” she said, pointing at Awesomeshine. The ponies bristled, and Paladin shouted, “Think again, scaly. If you think we're just going to give you these stones, you got another thing coming.” “Tha's right. We can take ye,” Ricochet added, her chest puffing out. Silver Script pulled out the bag she had been using to hold the Elements separate from all her other belongings and held it in her hoof. “Do you swear on your hoard and your eggs to let us go unharmed?” The other ponies gasped and stared at her in shock, except for Awesomeshine, who said, “No! Don't do it, Sil! We can't let her have them!” Silver Script locked eyes with the dragoness once more and said evenly, “Swear it, or they go back in my bag of holding and I slit it open, emptying the contents into the Astral plane, forever losing them.” “It'sss ssso nice to deal with reasssonable beingsss, yesss,” Brimfrost said. Raising a paw, she said, “I ssswear on my hoard and my eggsss that I will allow no harm to befall any of you.” “For as long as any of us live,” Silver Script added. Brimfrost arched an eyebrow and thought for a moment. “How long can a pony live? Agreed, but only you ssseven, no one elssse.” Silver Script threw the bag, and the dragon tore it open, examining the three stones. With a smile, she nodded to them. “A pleasssure doing busssinesss with you all.” Spreading her great wings, she took to the air, leaving five mares to glare at one, and the last smiling at her. “So what did you do, Sil?” Awesomeshine asked, confusing the rest. “What do you mean?" Knightengale asked. Reaching into her other saddlebag, she pulled out the first Element of Harmony they had found to their gasps of surprise. “Do you really think I would just give up the Elements after all that work? I used some magical clay that I had created that can imitate other magical effects, and plastered it around a stone I found in the vault. With the right runes, it can imitate almost anything, to a point. I think they'll have a nasty surprise when they try to do anything with them.” Paladin patted her on the back, almost causing her to drop the Element. “I'm sorry I ever doubted you. You are really something else, Sage Silver Script.”