Chapter Twenty
Tirac, despite what else one could say about the evil centaur, was at the very least good to his allies. An entire wing of Midnight Castle’s dungeon had been converted to a Changeling hive. The creatures had gooed the walls till they shone with green light. The Changelings themselves stuck to the walls and ceilings, apparently chatting away in an odd skittery tongue that Draggle couldn’t understand.
She grunted, testing the gunk that covered her legs and arms, seeing if there would be any sort of give this time. There wasn’t any, but then again she was pretty much buried up to her neck in Changeling goo. To be honest the overall slimy feel and evil lighting of the place did make her feel right at home, but the fact that she was in the enemies clutches did dull that feeling. They had pinned her against a wall and glued her to it, though thankfully she was sitting instead of standing. It wasn’t painful, but she still was unable to move. This didn’t stop her from constantly straining against the goo, attempting to pull herself away, and possibly escape. The chances of that were slim, but she had to try either way.
“I’d stop trying. It’s pointless. I have enough drones here to keep you in line.”
Draggle glared up at Chrysalis, they had taken off the thing around her eyes a while back, as it seemed Changelings were only mildly affected by lightning. It was irritating, but it was also probably best that she save that spell for when she really needed it. And she liked being able to see what the Changelings were doing.
And what they were doing was rather interesting, though Draggle didn’t think it meant anything good. Three of the armored ones were carrying a strange sack with their magic. It was dark black in appearance, and covered with that same green goo. The three of them placed the sack near Draggle, and backed away. She blinked as something moved and kicked within. Draggle tried to draw back from the sack, but only moved her head a few inches.
“What is that?” Draggle snarled.
Chrysalis smiled and placed her hoof around the sack, in an almost loving way. “It’s the only one that survived…It’s the reason I tried to take Canterlot in the first place…or at least one of the reasons. The others died, due to lack of love. But that won’t be an issue here, because I have you.”
“…what?”
“You don’t know a thing about us. Might as well tell you.” Chrysalis wasn’t really looking at Draggle. She was more focused on the sack. “I’m actually as old as that bitch Celestia, perhaps a few hundred years older. You see…when I was a larva our hive was vast and great. We once had allies, creatures who would feed us love, and in return we would protect them. It was a symbiotic thing. But then the long winter came, and our hive was…frozen. For thousands of years our people stayed that way, suspended in time. But we broke free, and we learned our allies had abandoned us. Left us to die. My hive was the only one left. My mother didn’t survive the cold, and in return I waited. Only a queen Changeling can produce another Queen, so I laid five Queen eggs. I planned to take over Equestria, it was the closest place filled with love, and use their love to fuel my daughters…but I failed, and all but this one have shriveled…” Chrysalis sighed and nudged the sack. “You, child, are going to be my daughter’s primary food source, as well as my own. Don’t worry. Draining your love won’t kill you…if she feeds long enough you won’t be able to feel…well anything ever again. That rarely happens though, but she is very young.”
Draggle only understood a bit of that.
“It’s all the fault of the ponies. Once they are destroyed, then my kind will flourish once again.”
Draggle snorted. “You sound like my mother, when she talks about the ponies.”
Chrysalis suddenly jerked her forwards at Draggle, sneering. “I have nothing in common with your mother, child! I do not abandon my own! And if you compare me to that bitch again, I will make sure you suffer even more then you already are going to! I don’t want to hurt you, not really. But compare me to her again, and the process will be even more painful then it already will be. And trust me, it will be painful.” Chrysalis raised her head. “Even revenge on the ponies is now secondary to the next queen’s arrival. I have MY priories straight.” Chrysalis smiled at her egg again. The thing pulsed and quivered. “It won’t be long now. I plan on keeping you here the rest of your miserable little life. Hopefully she won’t drain you completely, and it’ll be a nice…long life.”
Draggle just rolled her eyes, clearly not that impressed. “Work on your delivery.”
Chrysalis snorted and leaned forwards. “As I said, don’t struggle. It will only hurt worse if you do.”
“Wha-“ Draggle didn’t get to finish the sentence as Chrysalis’ horn began to glow. A beam of energy leapt from Chrysalis horn and struck Draggle on the forehead. Draggle shrieked as she felt something pulling inside of her head. She attempted to jerk away, instinctively, but the goo held her in place. There was no where to go as Chrysalis’s magic rooted around inside her, gripping…something and ripping it out violently. To her surprise snippets of memory flashed in her mind. She didn’t want that. Most of them centered around Ponyland and the ponies, and the time she spent with them. Draggle realized that somehow Chrysalis was using these memories to invoke the feelings she wanted from Draggle, and then sucking them out.
Draggle hissed and, remembering a few things Ribbon told them all about resisting mind control, she attempting to think of unpleasant memories. Her mind lingered on the time in Flutter Valley with her mother and Reeka. Though there were a few good ones in there…the most prominent memory of that time was when Gusty and the other’s tricked her. Her mother’s harsh words bounced in her head, but it was that quiet sentence that Hydia said that hurt the worst.
Out of all the witches in the world, why did I have to get Draggle?
Hydia hadn’t known she heard, but she did. She had been so desperate back then to please her unpleasable mother. It was distressing, and she heard Chrysalis growl slightly. “Damn bitch. Stop it. Think of your ponies. They didn’t abandon you did they? They didn’t leave you. The ponies here aren’t like that, are they? Forgiving, kind little things. Stop fighting it. You are only making worse for yourself.”
Draggle gasped, and she knew Chrysalis was right. The more she thought about the bad things the more her head hurt. It was like there was something inside her skull beating and crushing and hitting and she couldn’t take it anymore. She moaned, unable to scream anymore, and the bad memories started to slid away, replaced by the good ones. She felt her body going numb, and the pain eased as her pointless thrashing, but in her mind and without, stilled. When she opened her eyes again they had begun to glow green. She blinked slowly, and her head leaned back against the wall as she looked up at Chrysalis, barely conscious and exhausted.
Chrysalis sighed in satisfaction. Normally extracting love had to be done delicately, gently, least the pony victim realized that the mild headache they had was more then a mere pain. All they would know was that they had been daydreaming of a happy day with one they loved, but for some reason afterwards they had a mild ache that a few moments of rubbing or painkillers or a spell took away. Feeding on love was naturally painful of the ponies involved, and Chrysalis had been very thankful that Shining Armor had bought the migraine explanation from her when she had been infiltrating the castle. But this creature didn’t need to be fooled. Chrysalis could feed to heart’s content from Draggle. She wondered if perhaps she should have gone easier on her, but Chrysalis would need this love. And now she was definitely not going anywhere. So much love, drained all at once, wouldn’t kill her, but it would leave her tired and helpless. Still, the creature’s will had been impressive for one that everyone, including her mother, said was rather stupid. She had felt a few odd quirks in Draggle’s mind, but she had resisted the feeding. Her will was no match for Chrysalis’, but the Changeling was starting to suspect that Draggle’s mind was stronger then Hydia had led her to believe. It was no problem though. The mind naturally wanted to focus on happy things, and the child’s mind was no different. There was little love to be gleaned from Draggle’s memories of her mother, but there was much when her mind lingered on her ponies. Still, the resistance she had put up made Chrysalis question if her spawn would have trouble feeding from her gift.
Still, it wouldn’t matter. If her daughter had difficulty with her food then Chrysalis could always help her. The Changeling Queen turned to her egg, her horn glowing green once more. Light poured from her horn and Chrysalis channeled some of the love into her daughter’s egg. It was the main duty of the queen to care for her subjects, and feed them when they couldn’t. While adult Changelings could feed by themselves, newborns and eggs could not. That is why they needed the queen. Even a small baby queen could feed the hive, but not a baby worker or drone or soldier.
She felt a Changeling drone’s mind brush against hers. Queen, the bitch is here.
She sighed. What in Tartarus did Hydia want? Chrysalis lifted her head after transferring some love to her unborn child and, with an irritated expression, walked slowly and gracefully to the other end of the room, where Hydia was lurking. The dungeon’s entrance still had its door, and drones and workers hovered nearby, chatting and relaxing. It made Chrysalis smile slightly to see her people so content. There had been a lack of it for far to long.
“What do you want?” Chrysalis didn’t even bother pretending to be polite.
“I want to see my daughter.”
“Last I saw she was heading down the halls. She’s not here.”
“I mean Draggle.”
Chrysalis gapped for a moment at Hydia, the memories she had gleaned from the girl’s mind still fresh and irritating to her, like a rash. She gritted her teeth. “No.”
“I have the right-“
“No you don’t.”
“She’s my child!”
“And you drove her away!” Chrysalis bellowed. “Fool, I can see my victim’s memories. I know everything about you, and I see no reason why I should let you in here. For one that thing is –mine- now. You have no more claim to her then a pony who threw out a bag of groceries as trash! All you will bring to her is thoughts of anger and hate and contempt, and I don’t feed on those!” Chrysalis grinned a bit at Hydia’s sudden shocked expression. “You think she would feel anything else for you?”
“We’re witches…we…we…”
“Oh you blithering idiot! She’s your damn offspring! Even hyena’s care for their cubs, and they know it! But you, you’re so wrapped up in what witches are supposed to be you never bothered to see what you were doing, did you? Well, it’s to late now. I’ve been through her mind, and there is NOTHING for you there. The only things she feels for are the ponies you despite, and you know what, Hydia.” Chrysalis leaned forwards, grinning a bit. “It’s all your fault.”
With that Chrysalis slammed the door with her magic, sneering. One of the drones looked at her.
“How in the world does a Queen banish one of her own hive?” He titled his head, confused.
“That is no queen.” Chrysalis said. She looked at the drone. “Are you happy?”
“We’re very happy. We are full…it’s been so long. We can finally stop worrying about food all the time…”
Chrysalis nodded. “Good, things will be back to normal soon.”
“Can we snack on the prisoner?”
“Give her some time to recharge, and only take a bit. Don’t want to run her to the ground.”
The drone buzzed happily. “Thank you, queen!”
Chrysalis smiled. Life was good.
Once the train had pulled into the station at Canterlot, an entire force of Celestia’s Royal Guard attempted to pile in, determined to rush to the aid of their new allies. The fact that the refugee Ponylander’s attempted to exit out of the cars at the same time caused a mild pileup. Twilight Sparkle winched as the guards tried to avoid the collisions. She and Luna, Luna once again wearing her armor, had gathered with a group of guards to reinforce the Ponylanders. Celestia had gone back to the castle to have the royal unicorn sages look at the ring that was still on her horn. Twilight hoped that they would come up with a solution soon.
“What happened?” Twilight Sparkle landed on the platform and helped a few guards who had crashed on top of Galaxy and Megan. The two guards nodded appreciatively as the ponies managed to separate and arrange themselves.
Megan looked at Twilight and took a deep breath. Twilight noticed that her eyes seemed unnaturally wet, as if the girl was holding back tears. Still, if the human was on the verge of crying she was doing a very good job of holding the tears back. She seemed to have no other sign of tension, not even a shake, and when she spoke her voice was steady.
“We lost the Estate, and we lost…a lot of the others. We lost your friends. I’m so sorry.” Megan closed her eyes. “They corrupted our friends before we could defend ourselves. Draggle…stayed behind and closed the mirror behind us. We can’t get back through.”
“What? Why would she do that?” Luna asked.
“Because Wind Whistler thought the mist could travel through the gate. Someone needed to stay behind to hide the crystals. I would have done it, but she hit me and tossed me through.” Megan flinched at her own words. Twilight could tell she felt guilty for this.
Twilight nodded. “Let’s get you to Ponyville. Bring the mirror. We’ll have to start planning, and I’d like all of us to be there. It’s pretty clear if we have any hope of fighting Tirac and beating him then we will have to figure out a way to purify the others as well.”
“The Heart as well.” Galaxy said. “I think it may be key. It is similar to the legend of the Fisher King.”
“Fisher what?” Gusty asked.
“The Fisher King legend is about a land connected to its king. When the king is good and just the land flourishes and is prosperous. When an evil king takes the throne the land becomes barren and lifeless.”
“You think if we purify the Heart it will cure the others?” Megan asked.
“I…am not certain, but I do have a feeling that it will help.” Galaxy said.
“Well if Galaxy has a feeling…” Gusty chuckled, though her small smile didn’t quite meet her eyes.
Twilight nodded and went to talk to the poor train conductor. While she didn’t like the idea of her home having a portal to Dream Valley at its doorstep, she also wanted the thing close so she could monitor it, and whatever came out. Luna followed her, ordering the guard to enter the train, paying special attention to the black surfaced mirror. She also had a squad of them take out the corrupted Ponylanders, who thankfully were still under Majesty’s spell, and take them to the Canterlot dungeons, where they would be safe until a purifying solution could be found.
“We have to get organized.” Twilight said, a stern determined look on her face. “We need to stop letting Tirac run the show. It’s time we took control.”
Luna nodded. “I’ll go with them, to keep them safe. You go ahead…I feel there are going to be checklists in our future.”
Twilight smiled. “Oh yes…Luna? You couldn’t be corrupted by the Nightmare, could you?”
“No. Not after being infected before.”
“Do you think it could affect me?” Twilight asked.
Luna pondered. “No. Not as easily. You have wielded dark magic before, have you not? Often welding dark magic is the same as being possessed by it.” Luna looked at her. “You have an idea.”
Twilight’s smile just grew wider.
Megan gazed out at the passing landscape. She had found a relatively quiet space, and was staring outside. Her fingers drummed restlessly on her knee, her head supported by her other hand. She watches the trees go by, occasionally broken by the sight of ponies either walking around down a nearby road, or flying in the sky playing with the clouds. Or at least they looked like they were playing. Her pegasi couldn’t play with clouds like that…she wondered if Wind Whistler would have liked to play with clouds that way…
She sniffed and wiped the corner of her eye, sighing. She started as something nudged her arm. Megan looked down to see Galaxy standing next to her.
“It’s alright, Megan. I know this must be hard for you.”
“I…don’t know why…it’s not like our friends haven’t been in trouble before. I just…what Draggle did…I know we aren’t close but…”
“What is it?”
“It was like she thought I was more important then her. It just bothers me.” Megan sighed.
“Megan, you’re a very special young one.” Galaxy said.
“Thanks, but I’m not more important then anyone else. Sometimes I feel that the others depend on me to much and…I failed them.” Megan wiped her eyes again. “I don’t want to let them down, but if I go to far…”
“Megan, you know as well as I do that you’re never alone. I and the others will always be there for you. You know if you ever feel overwhelmed we will help you, right?”
“I know…but…thank you, Galaxy.” Megan leaned down and gave Galaxy a big hug around the neck. She finally allowed the tears to flow as she cuddled Galaxy gently. “Thank you so much.”
“Anytime Megan, anytime.” Galaxy nuzzled her gently.
“Hey! Why don’t you give us a hoof up here!”
Paradise looked up from where she had been checking on the baby Sea Ponies. She blinked at the two hovering pegasi above her. “Help with what?”
“With the weather of course! About half our weather team have been training for the Equestria games, and we could use a helping hoof.”
Paradise blinked at the grey pegasus in front of her. The voice had been deep, and fairly manly. “…are you…a male pegasus?” She asked.
“Ummm, yeah, of course!” Thunderlane blinked. “What else would I be.”
“It’s just that…I’ve never seen a pegasus stallion before. Hey Heart Throb! Come over here!”
Heart Throb trotted over and looked up at Thunderlane. “What’s wrong?”
“He’s a male pegasus!”
“Oh! Really? I thought that Armor fellow was a stallion as well, wasn’t he?”
“Why yes he was.” Paradise nodded. “I didn’t think of it at the time, we were a bit busy…”
“Ummm, ladies…what are you talking about?” Thunderlane asked with a puzzled frown.
“Oh, my apologies sir!” Heart Throb gave the first stallion pegasus she saw a rather flirty smile. “It’s just that most of our stallions are earth ponies. Unicorn and pegasi stallions are very very rare.”
“Oh…well we have plenty of stallions of all three varieties here in Ponyville. But enough about that. I still could use your help up here!”
“Hmmm, how exactly do we help?” Paradise asked, frowning.
“Just come on up here and clear a few clouds above the square. It’ll be quick and easy!”
“Clear…clouds?” Heart Throb stopped attempting to flirt in favor of being mildly puzzled.
“Yeah, just push em over the Everfree, it’s no big deal!” Thunderlane smiled and waved a hoof towards the square.
Heart Throb looked at Paradise, then up at Thunderlane. “How do you do it?”
Thunderland blinked. “Push em. You know. With your hooves.”
Paradise blinked, then looked at Heart Throb again. “It is a very magical land, after all. Perhaps the clouds are different here?”
Heart Throb shrugged. “I suppose it won’t hurt to try.”
Paradise sighed. “I’m not so sure…”
“Oh come on, a little bit of physical activity never hurt.” Heart Throb smiled as she lifted into the air, following Thunderlane. Paradise grumbled to herself, and followed. She didn’t like physical work in the best of times, and this was not the best of times. Still, they did owe the ponies here a favor or two, and it would seem ungreatful if she didn’t try to help in some way.
Soon the two were hovering over the square, watching Thunderlane buck a few clouds out of the sky with ease. Heart Throb looked at Paradise, shrugged, and dove for a cloud. Paradise not willing to try this until she saw Heart Throb give it a shot, watched as her friend attempted to put her hooves out and shove the cloud.
Paradise winched as Heart Throb’s hooves flew through the cloud as if it wasn’t there. Heart Throb fell through the cloud, soaking wet and clearly irritated, and managed to just avoid hitting the top of a roof.
“Hahahaha! Look at the freaks! They can’t even move a little cloud!” Heart Throb blinked and looked down to see a small pink filly wearing a little crown pointing up at her with a hoof and laughing at another, grey, filly. Heart Throb blinked.
“…I don’t think I’ve ever been taunted by a baby before.” She commented. Apparently the filly heard her.
“I’m not a baby!” She shrieked. Paradise landed next to Heart Throb, who was so startled by this taunting she could only stare at the filly with her mouth hanging open.
“Oh?” Paradise smiled at the filly, eyes narrowed. “Then why are you acting like one?”
Diamond Tiara snorted and turned her snout up into the air. She and Silver Spoon trotted off. Heart Throb watched them go, slight tears creeping into the corners of her eyes. Paradise slide closer and nuzzled her.
“Don’t listen. We aren’t the same kind of pony.” Paradise said.
“I know.” Heart Throb looked up at Thunderlane, who was staring at them with wide, almost scared eyes. “Let’s go back.” Heart Throb turned and flew back towards the lake. Paradise sighed and followed.
It was nightfall by the time Twilight Sparkle was ready.
Somepony, or rather somedragon, had built up a large fire near the lake which provided enough light to see by. Judging from the smug expression the pink version of Spike was responsible for this. Twilight’s Spike, on the other hand, had been busy setting up a tripod for her.
“Ya know, we really should come up with nicknames or something, since we got the same name after all.” The Spike from Ponyland said, rubbing his chin.
“You have any ideas?” Twilight’s Spike.
“Actually I do. I thought of it when we were having that fire contest. Is your flame always green?”
“Always.”
“Well, mine’s always a kinda orange-red, so how about while we’re both here, they can call me Red, and you can be Green?”
“You’re flame’s mostly orange though. Why go with Red?”
“Would you want to be Orange?”
“…okay, point there.” Spike, er, Green, shrugged. “Why not?”
“Okay, now that you’ve settled that, Spike.” The two dragons stared at Twilight Sparkle, and she pointed at ‘Green’. “You ready?”
“Ready.” Green smiled and moved to the side of the tripod. Twilight Sparkle floated a huge placard onto the tripod.
“Alright, everypony! I am ready to present my plan!” Twilight Sparkle pulled out a pointer and rapped it to get everypony’s attention. The Ponylanders, her remaining friends, and a few curious onlookers peered at her presentation. She couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride. She worked hard on it.
“In order to take back the initiative from Tirac, we must first go through this point by point. We have several issues here. First we have the issue of getting back to Dream Valley at all. We could wait for the Tirac to restore the mirror, or attack using what I have labeled the ‘Princess method”, where he attacked us with one of the Princess Ponies. However, that would give him the initiative, which I am not willing to give him. So we should work on finding a way there in order to launch a surprise attack. Issue Two is the issue of corruption, how to resist it when it occurs. And three, the issue of purifying the Heart, which should be the ultimate goal of our strike against Tirac.” As Twilight spoke she gestured with the pointer at the small headings on the placard, written for all to see. “Point one: before we can even think of taking our friends back, we must first deal with the fact that any force we put against his will be corrupted. It won’t do us any good if we get there, and all of us become his slaves. Therefore, resisting the corruption should be our first priority.”
Gusty sighed and rubbed her head. “This is a lot of work to say something fairly simple.” She grumbled.
“It pays to be organized.” Twilight said.
Applejack smiled and adjudged her hat. “Ah know she can come off as overly detailed, but it comes in handy. Just bear with us.”
Gusty folded her hooves. “I’m sitting here, aren’t I?”
Twilight Sparkle cleared her throat. “Luna gave me an idea. I can use dark energy. I learned a dark magic spell a while ago. My theory is that I can use this spell on our troops, to inoculate them against corruption. Since dark magic has been compared to infection before, this method will buy us some time.”
“What if you’re wrong?” Gusty snorted. “What if it’s the wrong kind of dark magic?”
“Unfortunately without a sample of Nightmare energy, I won’t be able to tell.” Twilight said.
“Great, we’re screwed before we start.” Gusty huffed.
“She might have a point though. The entire crux of Tirac’s plan hinged on him absorbing the Rainbow of Light and Celestia’s power in order to build up resistance to it. Why can’t we do the same thing?” Megan pointed out.
“Yeah, but how about the Heart?” Gusty asked.
“I was getting to that. Without the Rainbow or the Elements, and the fact that Tirac has already inoculated himself from pure light attacks, I believe that we must turn to some other school of magic for the solution to purifying the Heart.”
“…how do you purify something if you don’t have light magic?” Rosedust asked.
“You use a more neutral source. There are several, after all. Only Nightmare and demonology are purely dark sources, just as only healing and Sun magic are purely good.” Twilight said. “at least that is how it works here.”
“It works that way in Dream Valley as well. Half the time the intent of the magic is more important then the sources.” Paradise said thoughtfully. “I’m not an expert, but I’ve read enough to get the general idea of magic and how it works.”
Twilight nodded and started to tap a list on her…list. “I have written several different schools of magic. Animism would be a good choice, it deals with the natural world…” she tapped the list, going down the line.
Distance, the only Crystal Pony there, frowned at the list. “...wait…Runecasting…”
Twilight turned to him. “Yes? It’s a lost art. Nopony these days knows how to Runecast.”
“It just…reminds me…Princess Luna I know you probably wouldn’t think of it, but…”
“Absolutely not!” Luna snarled, and Twilight stared at her.
“Princess?”
“There’s a-“ Distance started, but Luna interrupted him.
“After what happened with Clover I will NOT awaken that thing!”
Gusty stood up and bristled at Luna. “What do you know?”
Luna took a deep breath, and Gusty snarled. “You gonna make the same mistake you did with Draggle? Cause I might not have known you for long, but the last time you made that face you were talking about Draggle.”
Luna sighed. “…very well. I had a feeling this would come up the moment I smelled her.” She turned to Twilight. “What do they say happened to Clover the Clever?”
Twlight thought. “She grew to be a very old mare, and she was supposedly yours and Celestia’s tutor. The books were never clear of her ultimate fate, only that she died facing a great evil.”
“We didn’t want the truth of it to mar her good name. She was one of the first ponies to find Dream Valley, originally. While she made us great friends over there, she was becoming old and mentally feeble. She was fascinated by the creatures in Dream Valley, but she was especially interested in the witches of Gloom.” The Ponylanders shifted a bit and Paradise started to frown, as if Luna’s story reminded her of something. “A few months after we allied with your ancestor, Majesty, Clover vanished. We found her body in the lair of a lich.” Twilight gasped in horror, and several Ponylanders snorted and stamped.
“What’s a lich?” Applejack asked, looking at Twilight.
“A-” Twilight swallowed. “A lich is a Necromancer that has stored his soul into an object of power, so when he dies he can come back as an undead being. They are very powerful, and since Necromancy is one of the darker magics, usually very evil.”
“It was more then that. We would have destroyed the lich, but it kept insisting ti was innocent. It said Clover was his friend, that she was helping him cure his daughters. When we paused to ask who his daughters were, he said they were the heads of the Gloom Clan.” Luna sighed. “We believed that this thing had tricked Clover into helping his clan with their evil. Mind you the Gloom clan was far darker, and more numerous, in the past. Still, when we used the elements on the lich instead of destroying him it merely turned him to stone, as it had done with Discord. Celestia suspected there was more to the story, so we took the statue back with us.”
“That’s…horrible but…what does that have to do with Runecasting?” Twilight asked.
“The lich claimed that he was using Runes to purify the ‘great evil’ as he called it. We didn’t believe him.” Luna said.
“…but it’s possible.” Paradise said “If he is who I think you are talking about.”
“What do you mean?” Luna asked.
“You’re not the only one with memory.” Paradise said. “I looked into the Gloom clan’s history after Draggle started to live with us. While there is only a few snippets, there are references to a former Runecaster, then Necromancer, named Swarja Rath of Gloom. Swarja basically means ‘Chief’. He’d technically be Draggle’s ancestor. It did mention something about him facing the Sun and Moon in combat and being cast into stone for all eternity, for the crime of betrayal to his clan.”
“Betrayal?” Luna frowned.
“The snippet also mentioned the great war between Gloom and the Beasts of the North. That the Clan had to turn to darker and darker magics to fight the Beasts, and that the voices gave them this power.” Paradise said. “Princess, if Rath is with you, if you could revive him…”
“We don’t’ have the elements, we couldn’t put him back again!” Luna said.
“But what if he was being truthful? We won’t find another Runecaster in Equestria, and if he really wanted to help ponies before, he might again.” Twilight said.
“There is no promise his methods would work.” Rosedust said, thoughtfully.
“Is there anyone with a better idea?” Megan asked.
“Other then asked Zecora…” Twilight said.
“Ah…kinda already been ta her hut and back.” Applejack said. “She’s awful pissed at the moment, and either way she said she didn’t know anything that would purify Nightmare.”
“Princess, I know it’s a risk, but if this lich knows anything that could help…” Twilight pleaded at Luna with her eyes.
Luna sighed. “I don’t like it, but…perhaps you are right. At the very least, we can ask.” She stood. “I’ll get my sister and the statue. You work on inoculating the others.”
Twilight Sparkle nodded and turned to the gathered ponies. “Who is first?”
She eeped slightly as volunteers nearly trampled each other in their attempt to get to her. Twilight smiled slightly. Some things were universal, it seemed. Ponies would do so much to help a friend…
“Firefly, I have a very bad feeling about this.”
Firefly, the best flyer in Dream Valley, looked back at her best friend. Sure when she was younger Medley’s constant warnings of danger had annoyed Firefly when she was a filly, but she had learned as she got older that Medley’s warnings shouldn’t be taken lightly. Firefly nodded and looked down, slowly around the Estate. “I don’t see anyone. No ponies, no humans, not even a Bushwooly…”
“We can’t have been gone that long, can we?” Medley asked.
Firefly sighed and shook her head. A bit taller and thinner then the other ponies, Firefly was a born athlete and adventurer. While Whizzer was faster, and Lofty could fly higher, and North Star better at long distances, Firefly incorporated most of these traits, as well as besting them all in sheer maneuverability.
“I’m gonna go down and get a better look. Stay up here and cover me, okay?” Firefly smiled at her friend. “And I know it’s dangerous, you don’t have to say it.”
Medley smiled back. “I’ll be here for when you get into trouble.”
Firefly nodded and soared down. That’s why Medley was the best wingpony a mare could have. She had Firefly’s back, and let her know when she was going to far. Firefly knew now that it was always good to have someone who was aware of danger watch your back.
Firefly landed and approached the door, pushing it open with her hoof. She snorted at the sight of broken furniture and cracked walls, as if there had been a fight here. She pushed aside a few broken bits of furniture and knick knacks with a small snort. Firefly sniffed, but all she could smell was the faint scent of other ponies and perhaps a bit of witch.
“Hello?” She called out. “Anyone there?” Firefly twitched her ear, listening for a response.
“Hello-is-that-you-Firefly-help!”
Firefly tensed and raced into the kitchen, where Whizzer’s voice had come from. Fearing that something had happened to the young pegasus, Firefly lowered her ears as she kicked through the door to the kitchen. “Whizzer! Where are you?!”
“Here!”
Firefly turned to see Whizzer trapped under a collapsed bit of shelf, her wings twitching. Whizzer’s eyes were closed and covered with something white. Maybe she had gotten something in her eyes? “Can-you-help-me-a-bit?”
Firefly rushed over. Was it just her imagination, or was Whizzer’s coat a bit darker then normal? It could just be the shadows cast from the shelf, but something seemed off to Firefly. She wasn’t’ sure what it was, but she almost felt afraid of Whizzer. But she had known Whizzer all her life. Why should she be afraid of Whizzer? Firefly shook off the silly feeling and lifted the shelf with her nose, nudging it off Whizzer. Firefly looked down at Whizzer and gasped.
“Whizzer! Your symbol!” She stammered. Whizzer’s little hat symbols had changed. Instead of just being normal hats with propellers each tiny hat had a pair of narrowed, cruel eyes and fangs around their brims. Firefly backed up, shocked, and now she could see that Whizzer’s coat had indeed darkened. Whizzer opened he eyes, and Firefly gasped at the glowing yellow tinge.
“Firefly! Watch out!”
“Medley!” It must have been a trap! It could only have been a trap! Whatever had happened to Whizzer it was clear that she was the enemy. Mind control or whatever, it didn’t matter at the moment. What mattered was getting back to Medley, and get out of there. She could deal with helping Whizzer out of whatever was wrong with her when she found allies.
All of this passed through Firefly’s head as she turned, kicked the lunging Whizzer in the chest. As Whizzer slammed back into the broken shelves Firefly darted forwards towards the back door. She reared and kicked the door with her front hooves, just as Whizzer was getting up and scrambling for her. Firefly leapt out off the doorway and kicked the door closed again. She winced as she heard Whizzer hitting the door, but knew she couldn’t pause. She spring into the air, angling her wings to catch a small breeze. She had a knack for finding them. She twisted her wings and aimed herself towards the front of the Estate, where she had left Medley. She could see her hovering over the Estate, cornered by two other ponies. After a second she hissed, realizing that the dark blue and red pony was in fact Wind Whistler. The other was a strange looking creature that resembled a pony, but was unlike any pony that Firefly had ever seen. Still, that wasn’t important. Firefly flapped, getting some height. As soon as she was over Wind Whistler she dove. Wind Whistler looked up and spun in midair, striking with both pairs of hooves at Firefly, attempting to smack her in the face. Firefly folded her wings and twisted in midair, grabbing Wind Whistler’s left wing and continuing to twist. Firefly winched at Wind Whistler’s grunt of pain. Clearly Wind Whistler hadn’t expected Firefly to come down so hard. Firefly let of the wing at the third rotation, sending Wind Whistler spinning towards the trees. Firefly spread her wings and righted herself. She turned towards Medley only to come face to face with the stranger.
“Hey!” Dash smiled at Firefly, yellow eyes gleaming. “You are pretty good! I’m glad everypony hasn’t been exaggerating!”
“Dash, look out!” Whizzer called out as Medley dove towards Dash and tried to smack her from behind. Dash dove down, hoping that Medley would collage with Firefly, but Firefly stilled her wings, dropping so that Medley missed her. Medley spread her wings and let the breeze lift her upwards into the air and Firefly did the same, angling her wings till she ended up next to Medley as the two began to flap away from the Estate. Firefly looked behind her, smiling a bit. There was no way they could catch them!
“Whizzer’s fast, but she can’t use the air as we can.” Firefly said. “She and the others have always been power fliers.”
“True, but we should still be careful, who knows what that other can do.” Medley said.
“Oh come on, there’s only one of her and.”
“Firefly, look!”
Firefly looked and blinked. The strange pony creature was motoring towards them, seeming to defy the air currents and the thermals. Even though the other ponies could power their way through the air, that didn’t mean they weren’t subject to the laws of the sky. You flew against the wind and you moved slower…except this pony was flying as if she had her own personal wind current following her.
“Firefly, a stormcloud!” Medley said, tossing her head.
“Alright! Stick with me, Medley, we are going in!”
The two of them caught a thermal and soared upwards, diving into the cloud. Firefly’s ears trembled as she watched the cloud, darting and dodging the lighting that danced from cloud to cloud She was confidant that she and Medley could navigate the storm, they had done it before…
All of a sudden the storm began to change. The clouds churned, the lighting danced and the thunder rolled in haphazard patterns. Medley squeaked and almost ran into Firefly, who was desperately flapping and angling her wings in an attempt to get control.
“It shouldn’t be doing this! What’s going on?” Medley screamed. “It’s like it’s forming a tornado!”
“Ponyfeathers! You were right. That stranger is doing this! Dive down! Hurry!”
Medley nodded and dove, letting her weight carry her towards the ground and keeping her wings folded. Firefly followed, eyes narrowed as raindrops landed on her face. She snarled as she broke through the clouds and noticed a dark blue blur circling the cloud and forming it into a small tornado. She blinked. That was new. Firefly turned her head and reared as Wind Whistler attempted the same maneuver that Firefly had used on Wind Whistler. Firefly pulled her wing to her body, fell to the side, then jerked her wing back open and kicked Wind Whistler on her side.
Medley eeped. “Firefly! Be careful!” Firefly looked at Medley. She was looking at Wind Whistler in concern, despite the fact that Wind Whistler was attacking them, it was clear from Medley’s expression she was having trouble attacking their friend. As if she could sense this as well, Wind Whistler suddenly flapped towards Medley and grabbed her by the wing, spiraling and aiming for the ground. Firefly gritted her teeth and attempted to dive towards them, but she felt something tug on her tail. She turned her head and glared at the alien pony that Whizzer had called Dash. Firefly attempted to kick the strange alien in the face, but Dash pulled back as Whizzer soared up from below and attempted to kick Firefly, but she managed to dart away, right into a sudden small raincloud.
Before should could fully comprehend the sudden appearance of a cloud where no cloud should honestly be, the thing suddenly crackled with lightning and hit her in the wing. Whinnying in pain Firefly jerked in midair. She tumbled down a few meters. She attempted to work her now injured wing, but Whizzer dove and grabbed Firefly’s uninjured wing. Kicking and struggling Firefly attempted to wiggle out of Whizzer’s grasp, but Whizzer held on. Firefly felt something land on her back and grab her neck. She looked at Dash, snorting.
“Next time we’ll have a fair fight! I promise!” Dash grinned. Firefly blinked.
“What are you talking about?” Firefly asked as they finally half landed, half crashed to the ground. She grunted in pain, but wasn’t quite done fighting. She still attempted to struggle away. She twisted her ear as she heard Medley crying at Wind Whistler.
“Snap out of it! Please! Remember we used to babysit you and the others and-“
“Oh be silent. I recall. Your memories made you weak, but they do not effect me.” Wind Whistler stared down at Medley coldly, and Firefly felt and odd chill as she spoke. She’d never heard Wind Whistler use a tone like that before.
“Just relax. It won’t take that long.” Dash looked up and grinned. Firefly looked in the same direction as dark mist started to slide towards them.
Firefly screamed as the mist entered her ear.
It took a bit longer then usual with her, but in the end both she and Medley followed Dash and the others very very willingly.