//------------------------------// // Yet Ashes Remain // Story: Predatory // by Crazy Laughter //------------------------------// Yet Ashes Remain “Was there really no other way to bring this to a close? I don’t like that they have that much control over you.” Kamos asked, giving a glance at the hand she had been unable to control for a moment.   “Their capabilities are based on their… On the magic that bound them to Fenrir. I think one can influence my mind to a degree, while the other can affect some bodily functions. As long as I keep my wits about me, I can suppress them, if need be.” Kamos gave her a stern look that she answered with her own, letting the zebra search her eyes for any deceit.   “I see… Will the third one cause problems for your sister? What would their magic allow them to do?” Luna stared at the flames roaring up to the sky just a few steps from them. The warmth of the flames felt different on her bare skin than they would have on her fur and she wasn’t sure she liked it. The humans had all worn clothes to cover their forms almost fully and her lack of clothes had been the biggest gap in the fictitious reality they had painted for her. The fact she had been fooled as long as she had was a testament to what the three humans could do when working in tandem, but she had less of an idea as to what they could do on their own.   “It is unlikely the third one survived at all, Kamos. His magic pitted him against the full will and fury of Fenrir for the whole duration of this tragedy and there was nary enough of him left to power the spell to heal my sister…” Luna paused as she remembered what the angry human had done. Soldier might not have had the magical energy to power the spell and survive, but he had wrenched a considerable amount of magical theory and experience directly from her head, along with any magical energy it was affixed to, through a process she no longer understood. This energy could very well have been destroyed with the human’s mangled soul, but there was a small possibility that the human’s will… somehow…   “Damn it…” Luna groaned as she clenched her teeth to stop herself from staggering from the nausea. As much as she wanted to finish the thought, the cold pain Soldier had left behind was intense enough for there to be white spots dancing in her eyes. She tried to tread on a familiar path to regain some of what she’d lost, but not only was there no path, the ground was littered in jagged rocks wherever she turned. There was no easy way to regain what she had lost and the hard way was something she would have to pursue in the future, if at all. She’d done it once, so she should be able to figure it out again once more.   “There is a slight possibility that the third one survived, in some form. I don’t know how it might manifest in my sister.” She had only seen what Soldier could do while inside Fenrir’s and his own mind, so she had no idea how that might change when possessing another body. The other two humans had been all too eager to show exactly what they could do to her, but she now lacked the knowledge and experience about Soul Magick to even make an educated guess as to Soldier’s capabilities.   “I will keep an eye on both of you, then.” Kamos stated, before limping away quietly. Celestia stepped up to the spot Kamos had just vacated and stared at Fenrir’s roaring pyre with an unreadable expression on her face. Celestia had used magic wash off most of the blood on her chest, but her regalia was still missing, destroyed by the cannon that had nearly killed her. Luna noted the patch of blonde hair where the possibly fatal wound had been, before looking away. The hair was the same shade than Soldier’s had been, probably meaning at least some part of the man’s soul had been lost to heal the wound.   “Are the other two humans giving you trouble?” Celestia asked, turning her head away from the flames of the pyre sharply, as if snapping out of a trance. Her horn glowed for a moment and Luna felt a makeshift dress appear around her waist. Soldier had filled her in about some of the human taboos, it seemed.   “Slightly annoying, but nothing I can’t handle. How about you, do you feel anything? A presence at the back of your mind? Kind of like a constant magical backlash in the wrong place.” Luna pinched the fabric of the magical dress between her fingers, trying to determine what it was made of. She knew it was almost pointless to try and make their conversation seem carefree, but she didn’t want to meet Celestia’s eyes just yet. She didn’t want Celestia to see the two humans looking back at her through her eyes and she really dreaded seeing whatever Celestia’s eyes might hold. Anger, or compassion; both would hurt in their own way.   “No, nothing like that. Soldier was still on the other side when I fell back. I saw death’s door as a purely white space and the way back to life Soldier forced me through as a dark chasm he threw me into, by the way.” Luna saw Celestia raise a hoof to her chest and touch the off-colored spot  left behind by Luna’s spell. “He was mangled horribly and barely had the strength to stay upright, but still he was prepared to try and drag me back.”   “Sister, I…” Luna turned to Celestia, not sure if she was going to apologize or explain herself, but her words fell short when their eyes locked. There was compassion, yes, but mostly Celestia’s eyes shone of confusion and surprise, as if she was just coming to terms with something she’d learned.   “I feel so stupid for not seeing it earlier, for not realizing it before all this happened. I was too happy to have you back after so long that I probably didn’t even want to see it. You all but told me, but I decided to think you were an exception.” Celestia lowered her hoof from stroking the off-color tuft of hair and turned to face Luna fully. She was obviously not done and she would explain herself in a moment, so Luna decided to stay quiet, letting her confusion show on her face.   “You told me long ago that Soul Magick tears a part of the soul away to craft the infinite spell. You told me that the soul was not something that mends easily and that if too much it is lost it cannot be regained. I admit to not understanding all that you said, but I know that the magick you used to become Nightmare Moon must have been powerful. I never imagined you might have used Soul Magick on yourself, but now it seems obvious.” Celestia nodded her head toward Luna, prompting her to make the connection herself.   “And then the Elements of Harmony took that part of me away…” Luna stepped closer to Celestia, excited on figuring out the mystery Celestia was laying out. She didn’t have the knowledge on how to actually do Soul Magick anymore, but she did remember the discussions Celestia was referring to, even if she found herself also not understanding what she had said at the time.   “I assumed your overbearing kindness and juvenile demeanour after your return was just you trying to make amends and after effects of being imprisoned for so long. I never imagined you could have lost the capability to be anything but.” Celestia turned her head toward Fenrir’s roaring pyre and pursed her lips ever so slightly, before turning back to Luna again. Luna turned her eyes to the pyre before they eyes met again. She had lived with Celestia for centuries, she knew her tells and this particular thought was not hard to figure out. She decided to beat Celestia to the punch.   “If we had known I was affected, so much of this could have been avoided. Fenrir could actually sense it and told me, but it was already too late then and I didn’t believe him.” She crossed her arms and kicked the ground in frustration. She couldn’t really put any feeling in the act, but standing there doing nothing would have invited melancholy she didn’t want to indulge just yet. “Are we going to tell the Bearers about any of this? I might not know them to the extent you do, but I can imagine that they would most likely offer to help fix me.”   “They would make the offer, I am sure, but we both know that what has happened to you is not so easily fixed. I convinced them to return home with their guards for the night. They are brave little ponies, but this was their first time going against an evil so far past redemption as Fenrir. It will take them time to stop trying to understand him.” Celestia stayed quiet for a moment before her horn lit up with magic and Luna could feel her sister’s magic flow over and through her. It was an invasive and uncomfortable process, but she trusted Celestia enough to force the humans to stay quiet and still through it.  “You have two other souls sharing your body and mind with you and there are no discernible negative side-effects to it. Your body even took the shape of their kind, like they were the dominant personality, instead of you. The two human souls in you are filling a void that should not be there and it worries me that you are accommodating them, rather than fighting their influence.” Luna had to steal a careful glance at her sister when she felt her power stir and start to rival the heat of the flame they were talking in front of.   “I will not allow you to be controlled by these spectres, no matter how much you think you owe them. I will rather sear them from your soul myself, than lose you again because of my inability to act when need be.” Celestia turned her eyes to Luna and the Princess of the Night had to fight the urge to recoil in terror at the full force of her presence. The sun was both a giver of life and warmth, but also a terrifying power that burned all those who came close; the sun’s own avatar was different only in that she had the capacity to suppress and channel that power.   “I can see why Soldier saved her.” Priest whispered to Luna in an amused and shaky whisper.   “I am not going to take the chance of pissing her off, that’s for sure.” Smuggler reassured her with an even more nervous chuckle.   “They understand, sister.” Luna forced out in a voice that sounded only a fraction as nervous as she felt. Celestia kept staring past Luna’s eyes for a moment longer, making sure the rare sight of her displaying her arcane might was burned into Smuggler’s and Priest’s memory. Finally she took a deep breath and the air of power and heat around the avatar of the sun started to fade into the cool night.   “One more thing, Luna, before we return to our duties. Soldier confessed to taking something from you before he… before we parted ways. Can you tell me what it was?” Celestia ruffled her wings and stomped her hooves to help the tension of channeling so much power after so long leave her body as she waited for Luna’s answer. Luna was pretty sure they both knew the answer, but it still had to be said.   “He took away the knowledge I need to successfully cast Soul Magick.” Luna sighed and closed her eyes, a hand finding their way to her head and combing her hair back. She found it funny that she had been human less than an hour and she had already developed a nervous tick. “I suspect he might have taken other things related to similarly complex magic, which is one reason why I have not tried to transform myself back.”   “I suspected as much. I will have to head back to Canterlot, as more than a few unicorns at the University must have felt my magic falter, a few even know what it means. They’ll be frothing at the mouth, if I don’t show up to reassure them.” A tired little smile played on Celestia’s lips as she turned to take to the air. “I’m sure you can see this through without me.”   “That must be the most polite way to tell you to clean up your own mess I have ever heard. Celestia, forever the diplomat, no matter who we stick in her.” Before Luna could stop herself, a very non-princess-like snort escaped her at the horrible joke. It took her more willpower than she would like admit to have her face be a neutral mask as Celestia turned to her one last time.   Having her grinning like an idiot after the conversation they just had wouldn’t have been a very sane thing to do, after all. Luna forced the panicked cheer down as she waved a goodbye to her sister and watched her take off into the sky, a few of the solar guards struggling to keep up with her.   “Do that again and I will find a way to attach you to a slug!” Luna hissed at herself as she tried to fight down the laughter Smuggler was trying to coax out of her. The guards were all looking at her, laughing now would seem more than a little insane, not to say inconsiderate.   “I also suggest you play your games at a later date, Smuggler. Ponies have died here and I hope making fun of the dead is even beneath you.” Priest implored the other man in a grim tone. The threat of retaliation an obvious undertone in his words. They were both spirits, so it would be easier for Priest find a way to hurt Smuggler than Luna.   “Fine! God, you are ruining my life!” Smuggler yelled in a strangely high-pitched voice and Luna heard retreating footsteps in her head, before the sudden sound of a door slamming. There was a moment of silence and Smuggler’s presence didn’t waver in the slightest, staying at the forefront of her mind, waiting for a response. Luna stood in front of Fenrir’s pyre, waiting for Smuggler to say something, tapping her foot on the ground in annoyance.   “You see, the joke was…”   “I know what the joke was!” Luna exclaimed, causing a few of the guards to flick their ears in her direction. She grit her teeth and started stomping towards the dog den. Priest had the presence of mind to force Smuggler’s presence down with him as she joined with the group Kamos had gathered.   “I took the liberty of scouting the den. It is abandoned, as I thought. There are signs the dogs leaving in a hurry, but they still went through the trouble of collapsing the entryways to their treasure rooms. If we are to find any dogs still in the den, they will be there.” Kamos explained, as soon as Luna was close enough to hear. She unbuckled the borrowed cloak and handed it back to the zebra. After a glance at her makeshift dress on her waist, she used a bit of magic to extend the fabric into a short-sleeved top that left her back open for her wings.   “Let’s go.” Luna simply stated and lead the group of disciplined cut-throats and members of the guard to the blocked treasury. Pairs of pegasi split off from the group following her at points where the tunnels split without being prompted to, in complete silence. Some of them rejoined her group before she reached their goal, all whispering things to Kamos and falling back in line.   She didn’t have the patience to be cautious when they reached the blocked entryway, so she simply blasted the rocks blocking her way into the room beyond with enough force to crack the opposing wall. She expected to hear the sound of dogs whimpering in pain in the aftermath, but she only heard the clatter of rocks as she stepped over the leftover rubble and into the empty room.   “Seems we are too late.” She noted as she scanned the room. There had been the telltale signs of a great number of beings leaving their home in a hurry in the tunnels that led to this room. The errant piece of cloth, a dropped food item, discarded weapons, or helmets knocked off near a protruding rock formation, things like that. Despite all that, the dogs had not left a single gem or jewel behind, there was not a single thing of value discarded on the floor, despite the fact that their treasury should have been brimming from the dragon’s horde.   “I find it hard to believe we left them enough time to move all of their treasure. Look for a false wall, or a disturbed patch of rock. The dogs can mold the earth with their magic.” Kamos ordered, as he stepped through the doorway behind her. Luna ground her heels into the smooth stone under her and surged a bit of her magic into it, checking for exactly the kind of trick Kamos had mentioned.   “There is no secret stash here, Kamos. They moved each bit of treasure away from here by dropping it into the tunnel below.” Luna pointed a finger at the ground and a blast of magic made the ground crack and fall into the tunnel below. She jumped into the hole with a flap of her wings and kept herself afloat above the jagged rubble. She saw the rails on the ground and the wall of rubble closing the tunnel on both ends and made her deduction. “They are long gone. Keeping their gems safe was the one thing the dogs were experts at, even before Fenrir.”   “All other rooms and tunnels are either empty, or collapsed entirely.” Kamos declared, all the pegasi who had split off earlier standing behind him.   “Did you find the workshop, where they crafted the dragon bone?” Luna asked as she landed in front of them. One of the cloaked pegasi straightened his posture and Luna gestured him to speak.   “I found the room where they smelted their metal. There was an adjacent room that had cracked stone tabletops and vats of water with fragments of what looked like bone floating atop.” The enchanted monotone of one of Kamos’ operatives answered her. The dogs were clever to use water to dampen the dragon bones effect, but Luna still had to wonder how they were able to safely transport the rest out of the den.   “Lead me there.” Luna waved toward the door and the pegasus sped off without another word, Luna easily keeping pace with the added advantage of her long stride and how much easier it was to turn on two legs, rather than four. She just had to keep her higher centre of balance in mind and she could maneuver quite well in the cramped tunnels. Being in a human body was an alien experience, but it was nowhere near as inconvenient as she had originally thought.   The pegasus ducked into a doorway at the end of a tunnel a few levels below the surface and then nodded toward a uneven doorway at one corner of the room. Luna saw the cooling smelters in the room and the exhaust holes on the roof of the high room and spied pieces of tempered metal on the heaps of raw ore and half-finished pieces of armour and weapons. Either the place had been tossed in the search for something, or the dog in charge of it didn’t care much for organisation.   The vats of water did indeed contain parts of dragon bone, but there were only fragments and pieces left in the makeshift workshop. Luna made sure to magically scoop up the fragments of bone from either the water and around the workshop into a magically maintained orb of water. Any energy introduced to the bone at any angle would be amplified and expelled at the opposite side of the bone, so to have the fragments float in water was the safest course of action. Just to be doubly sure Luna cast an stasis spell on the orb of water and kept it floating near her on their walk out of the den.   The dogs were gone, Fenrir was dead and reduced to little more than ash by this time, the bearers of the elements were having nightmares about the ordeal at this hour and all she had to look forward to was the funerals of the guards that had died during this fiasco.   “Oh joy.” Luna mumbled, prompted to do so by the human memories still trying to influence her, as well as her overall mood. Yes, then there were the humans to worry about as well. They would undoubtedly try and make her life even more difficult, all for petty revenge Luna couldn’t blame them for pursuing.    “Before I go interrogate the dog who shot your sister; what should we do with Fenrir’s remains?” Kamos asked as they excited the abandoned den. Luna combed her hair with a hand, a nervous habit she was starting to take notice of, and pondered the question. Both the dismantling of the magic that had kept Fenrir young and powerful, along with the funeral pyre should have gotten rid of almost all of the magic in his remains. Despite all that, the Diamond Dogs that he had taken charge of had a near-fanatical respect toward the beast, so leaving the remains as is might have not been a good idea. Fanatical ideas were not something that should be entertained, Luna had learned, both personally and through history. “Have every bit of charcoal and ash from the pyre gathered and brought to Canterlot for further decontamination.” Luna carefully stated. Take the remains away for now and think of a way to dispose of it completely at a later date. Luna had to cringe at the knee-jerk reaction her mind had to that thought, as asking Celestia to send the remains to the moon would be in poor taste.   “As you wish, Princess.” Kamos answered and motioned for the pegasi gathered around him to act on the orders given. The pegasi disappeared into the night without another word or action, knowing their parts in the task set onto them through the unusual training they had gone through.   “I am sure the rest of what needs to be done is well within your power, Kamos.” Luna wearily agreed as she levitated the orb of water holding the dragon bone to the spot of upturned earth to her right, where the carcass of the reptile had been buried and allowed the water to splash onto the gravel. With a quiet nod from the zebra, Luna spread her wings and launched into the sky, the human consciousnesses in her commenting on the sensation of flying.   Oh, right. She would have to cast an illusion spell on herself to mask her alien form when returning to Canterlot. She was not in the mood for the Canterlot guard to question her identity, not after all that had transpired. The outward appearance of her alicorn form and the slightly accented presence of her power should be enough to make it to her tower.   “Could you shut up for a minute?! I have to improvise an illusion spell to hide my human body, while flying in mentioned alien body!” Luna yelled against the wind blowing past her ears. She was unable to turn her ears back to cut back on the wind blowing into her ear canals, so the flight back to Canterlot was far more noisy than she remembered.   “If you got it, flaunt it.” Smuggler cut in, before Luna could force him back to the back of her head.   “We will stay quiet, as it is in all our best interests, is it not?” Priest diplomatically suggested, in response to Smuggler’s juvenile attempt at humor.   “Fine, I’ll just go back to digging through all this stuff Luna’s got repressed back here. I don’t think perversion is a strong enough word for some of this stuff!” Luna was worried for a fraction of second, before Smuggler let out a smug laugh and retreated. He was bluffing… he had to be… hopefully. At least he stayed quiet enough for Luna to successfully get back to her chambers. “Fuck this day and the horse it rode in on!” Luna grumbled as she fell into her soft bed and willed the curtains closed. As soon as she let out the rather human expression, she knew Smuggler would make a comment, so she fought back the fatigue in her alien body and the mental exhaustion she was suffering, just so the annoying man would not have the pleasure of jolting her awake from a restful sleep.   “Well, the fact you’re expecting it takes half the fun out of it, you know. I refuse to give you the satisfaction, Luna!” Smuggler stated with a dramatic flourish, but his presence still stayed at the forefront of Luna’s mind. He stayed quiet for a long moment, long enough for Luna’s eyes to fall closed and sleep to try and take her.   “Still, the horse the day rode in on would be Celestia, so… how’s the law on incest in Equestria again?” Smuggler said with a smirk wide enough for Luna to physically feel. She screamed into her pillow, for a whole minute, screaming obscenities in every language she knew as Smuggler cackled in glee. Priest was kind enough to make it near to impossible to not fall asleep after that point. She went to bed angry and frustrated and in an alien body, but at least Fenrir’s sad fate had been played out.   With that the tale of Fenrir’s misguided attempt at revenge was brought to its inevitable end and Kamos’ guard made quick work of masking the signs of battle and caving in the abandoned Diamond Dog den. By the time the sun rose over the canopy of the Everfree forest, there was nothing but the few solar guards guarding the burial site of the slain dragon and a clear patch of scorched earth around what used to be the dragon’s lair.