//------------------------------// // 45: Power is responsibility. // Story: Honor the Dead // by BinaryTroll //------------------------------// Honor the Dead by BinaryTroll Pre-read/Edited by Chapter 45:“Power is Responsibility.” -------------- It was annoyingly muddy outside Zecora's hut. Every time I moved, it squelched noisliy, which was particularly annoying considering I wanted to stay relatively hidden. So I ended up crouched directly beneath her window, trying my best to remain still and silent. I hate my job sometimes. Neither Joel nor I could talk to Zecora out of fear that she would tell one of the mane six, and by extension, Honored Service. Which would be problematic. A half dragon and a pony would probably still be noteworthy, but bright red tends to stand out like a sore thumb amongst drab greens, browns and grays. Which was why she decided to go in with Vi. Joel volunteered to go hunting for us while we took care of business. Pure white and silver? Probably even less stealthy than red. Which of course left me. I had to be the one crouched outside in the mud, ready to sneak in the back and grab the ingredients we needed, as well as a few books on the side perhaps. It's not stealing. Just permanent borrowing. “I am confused as to why you would need such a thing, this is knowledge that basic education would bring.” The rhyming zebra's voice wafted out the window. “I grew up outside of normal society, with dragons who do not write the same as you do.” Shyvanna replied. “It's only temporary, until I can learn the language proper.” “In that case your request is fair, I would not deny the pursuit of knowledge to any mare.” “Sexist.” I muttered under my breath. “Thank you.” Shyv said. “Would we be able to get the recipe as well?” “I don't see why not, it is simple to make, and the common ingredients are the icing on the cake.” Lovely. I started sneaking around to the back of the hut, the sound of my boots squelching in the mud masked mostly by the sounds of various forest critters. There was an abundant amount of various flora, ranging from to bright blue Poison Joke, to deep green ferns to... “Weed?” I muttered in surprise. The spiky leaves were poking out from a small garden bed, made for holding flowers. I reached out and plucked a leaf. It felt like marijuana. I sniffed it. It certainly smelled like marijuana. “I wonder if there's still illegal drug trade?” I whispered to myself, pocketing the leaf. “That might work as a bit of income.” I slowly mad my way to the back door of Zecora's hut. Pressing my ear against the wall, I parted my teeth and listened. “Now crush three times, but only three. Any more would destroy the potion you see.” I heard Zecora say, muffled by the wood of the door. “Now mix them well, and that completes the spell.” “Thank you Zecora.” Vi said, her voice unfamiliar in her new guise. “Is there anything else you might require? I am happy to meet your any desire.” The rhyming zebra asked. “Any desire?” I muttered, continuing my running commentary to myself. “I've been on rule thirty-four. I know how that ends.” “Actually, would you be able to show us where to find the ingredients, so we can make more whenever we need it?” Shyv asked. “The garden is where I keep my herbs, it keeps them away from the birds. If you need any more, they can be found in a general store.” “Regardless, can you show us what they look like?” Vi asked. “As you wish, just stay away from the ones that smell like fish.” Smell like fish? I sniffed. Nothing smelled even remotely like fish. What the hell was she on about? And then I realized I was in the garden. And hoofsteps were approaching the door. Well shit. I looked around for an escape route, realized I didn't have time to run, and instead jumped directly upwards, caught a branch, and clambered up, instantly dropping flat on my stomach. And just in time too, because the door opened below me and Zecora stepped out, followed by Vi and Shyv. I breathed a sigh of relief. Quietly. Silently. I didn't actually breathe. So I guess I didn't breathe I sigh of relief. But whatever. I climbed slowly to the other side of the house tree and dropped down, as quietly as was humanly possible. Twisting around the door handle, I inched it open, wincing every time it creaked. Fortunately Zecora didn't seem to notice. I stole my way inside, quickly surveying the room for anything of particular worth. My eyes fell upon a small bookshelf, where a number of tomes of various sizes and bindings lay, some covered in dust. I grinned. Perfect. I took one from the far left and glanced at the cover. Incomprehensible. Or at least, to a lesser mind. Unlike some, I could extrapolate. Pдn Ώ Θ ﺷ Evшr۩םך Lovely... I stared at the characters. Alright, pn with a sort of “a” like shape. Russian I think. Looks a bit like Pan, Greek god of nature. And Omega and Theta. Maybe. Probably represents two words, being spaced apart as single characters. Other stuff looks Arabic. Screw that noise. 'Evr?' I'm guessing Everfree. And knowing Zecora... I opened the book and, as I suspected, there was a jumble of drawings of various plants, captioned with a myriad of text, still currently unreadable. “Plants of the Everfree.” I assumed, still keeping my voice down. “Probably useful.” I stashed it away in one of my inner pockets, just the right size and shape to hold a book. I pulled a second one from the shelf. Ωпlоegnнedиs. I smiled in spite of myself, remembering back when Honored's story was only just beginning. Hello Pony Legends. You might make for some interesting reading later. And no doubt you have something about the Nectonomicon too. I slipped it into another one of my pockets. It didn't fit half as well as Plants of the Everfree or whatever it was called, but it would do for now. I grabbed another book. The title was, just as with the others, in equestrian. I didn't waste time deciphering it this time. I opened the book up. There were no pictures, just a massive wall of text. I put it back and repeated the process, flicking through each of the books in turn. Most didn't have pictures that I could easily use to assess their worth, and the ones that did looked pretty much useless. Once I'd finished with the final book, I sighed, stood up, placed my arms in the small of back and stretched backwards, my spine emitting several loud cracks in protest. "Alright, now time to sneak out." I said to myself, letting out a small grin of satisfaction. "And for once everything didn't go wrong." "And what would you be doing in my home tree, pilfering my books, as bold as can be?" I heard a voice rhyme angrily. I grimaced and slowly turned to meet the angry zebra. "On the other hand, it might be time for me to... FUCKING DITCH!" I sprinted to the door and kicked it open, before slamming it shut behind me and continuing my mad dash away from Zecora's hut. "My entire life is governed by Murphy's Law." I grumbled to myself, veering off the path and into the denser forest. Within a few minutes I was gasping for breath. I stopped running and leaned back against a tree. I'd forgotten what it was like to run without staminup. Not quite as fun. I blinked a few times and looked around. It was a pretty unremarkable area of forest I was stuck in. Not particularly scary. Not particularly dark. Kind of, boring. It reminded me a bit of Tooey Forest, a few kilometers away from my childhood home. Except more colorful. And less full of deadly spiders. Hopefully. I stared up at the tree I was leaning on. It was pretty tall, reaching just slightly above the canopy. Perfect. Reaching up, I grabbed a branch above me and hauled myself onto it, beginning a short climb into the upper limbs. Once there, I studied the surrounding area. I could easily see the swamp where Zecora lived, as well as Ponyville off in the distance. The clearing that housed Honored Service's portal rune was glowing ominously red, just a few hundred meters away. I saw no sign of Joel, Shyv or Vi. I peered down at the forest floor. It was quite a drop. "Man, a haystack would be so awesome right now." I muttered to myself, climbing slowly back before dropping lightly to the forest floor. "I think you'll find that dropping into a haystack from that height would kill you." M3's mechanical voice informed me from my pocket. "You should stop playing videogames." "No. Fuck off." I reply tersely. “I can't move of my own accord, idiot. You have the memory of a goldfish, and the expression to match.” I rolled my eyes and set off towards the clearing. “Just a bundle of joy, you are.” “That's not proper grammar.” “Don't give a shit.” I said, devoid of emotion. “Goldfish will be goldfish I guess.” M3 said philosophically. I groaned. “Why did my iPod have to be a snarky bitch?” “I think you'll find I am not a female dog, and in fact, am not strictly speaking alive or female to any scientific capacity.” She replied. I sighed. “I think I've figured out why people hate talking to me so much.” “Is it because you look like a goldfish?” M3 mocked. “I bet it's because you look like a goldfish. Or maybe it's because you have to mental capacity of one. Hard to say.” “You sound like a child.” “And you sound like a monkey several billion years on. Your point?” I shook my head. “This is ridiculous. I'm arguing with my own iPod.” “And you're losing.” M3 added helpfully. “I liked you better when you didn't talk.” “And I liked it better when you weren't throwing me around like a ball.” “I'm not throwing you around like a ball.” “You're right. You treat balls with more care.” “No I don't.” “Ball abuser!” “What the hell even is this conversation?” I asked myself. “An exchange of vibrations that your brain and my processor interprets as sound, and responds appropriately.” M3 replied instantly. I facepalmed. “This might be one of the most hypocritical things I've ever said, but please stop being a smartass.” “I am not a equine beast of burden, although I am indeed smart. Thank you for noticing.” She replied smugly. “That's it!” I exclaimed. “I'm fucking done!” “Are you sure? It says here your name is Edward.” I could imagine the smirk on M3's face. If she had a face. “I could start calling you 'Fucking Done' if you like? 'Fuck' for short?” I also could imagine punching the smirk off her nonexistent face, but I settled for stuffing her deep inside one of my many pockets, so her voice was barely audible. “It's so cozy down here.” Barely audible. Ignoring my annoying little electronic companion, I continued into the clearing that housed Honored's rune. “Hi.” Joel was sitting, back against a tree, fiddling with his cuff links. He was also flashing every color of the rainbow. “Um, what the fuck?” I asked, slightly mesmerized by the flashing colors. “Yeahhhh.” He said slowly. “I did something and my suit turned me invisible. But that only lasted about thirty seconds. And now I look like compressed LSD. How did the grand heist go?” I sat down next to him, averting my eyes from the strobing light. “I got two books and the girls got the recipe. Hopefully. I did sort of get caught midway through, so I had to ditch pretty fast. How was hunting?” “Ridiculously easy.” He replied, pointing to a boar carcass hanging from a tree nearby. “At least, until I became a walking disco.” “Any idea how you got the invisibility in the first place?” I asked, taking out Plants of the Everfree and laying it on my lap. “That could come in handy later.” “Well...” He began, rubbing his cuff links together. “I cleared my mind completely until I couldn't feel a thing, like I usually do when sniping. There was a small green wave of energy and I was invisible. It felt kind of similar to when I took away the magic from that rune.” I raised an eyebrow. “Reckon they're connected?” “Without a doubt.” He closed his eyes and began to breathe more slowly. After about ten seconds, he clicked his cuff links together. The rainbow stopped. “There you go.” He opened his eyes. “Most excellent.” “Try it on the rune.” I suggested. “That'll probably work.” He looked at me condescendingly for a few seconds. I sighed. “Alright, shut up.” “I didn't say a word.” He replied with mock offense. I dragged my hands down my face in exasperation. “Just touch the damn rune.” He stood up and walked over to the rune. I snapped Plants of the Everfree shut and followed him. We stared down at Honored Service's handiwork, still slowly pulsating with red magic. Joel knelt down, emptied his lungs and reached out his hand. Nothing happened. “Lovely.” I muttered. “Now what?” With a small green flash, Joel disappeared. I blinked. “The fuck?” “I don't think it worked.” Joel's voice said from beside me. “No shit.” I sighed. “Pretty sure you just turned yourself invisible again.” There was a short pause, and then, “Oh, so I did.” I rolled my eyes. “Why am I even bothering with this?” “Because you quite literally have nothing better to do.” I raised an eyebrow. “We could be looking for the Necronomicon.” “To what end?” Joel asked rhetorically. “We can steal basically anything we want, so we don't need the money. And neither of us can use magic, so we can't use it to resurrect anybody. Or anypony, whatever.” “Says the guy who turned himself invisible using magic.” I pointed out, crossing my arms. “The guy who has no idea how he turned himself invisible using magic.” Joel corrected, materializing again beside me in all his rainbowy glory. “Ugh.” I shaded my eyes with a hand. “Do you mind shutting that off?” “Gimme a sec.” I heard his breathing slow until it stopped altogether. The brilliance died. I blinked spots out of my eyes. “Thanks.” “So now what do we do?” Joel asked, after sucking in a deep breath. I thought about it for a moment. “Well, there's not much we can do. Neither of us know why or how we suddenly manifested magical powers.” “Well, how I manifested magical powers. You can just read a language you've never seen before.” Joel interjected. “Actually, runes aren't really a language. A better comparison would be like a circuit board, they conduct, redirect and manipulate magical energy. It's more like learning how to wire up a computer. And then programming it. Which I guess does use a form of language, but whatever. But in the same way a computer needs electricity to run, runes need magic channeled through them to work.” “Case in point, I'm the only one who actually has magic.” Joel replied smugly. “Also, I swear I remember this stuff. Like, I've seen it before, somewhere.” I continued, ignoring him. “I just don't quite know where.” “Mystery for another day.” Joel said, cutting through my musings. “We have a rune to fix.” “Yeah, but I can't fix it until you suck off the preservation shield.” “Aren't we immune to magic or something though?” Joel muttered. “I mean, I swear that was a thing.” I blinked. “Actually, yeah. There's absolutely no reason why we can't just fix it without the preservation barrier thing.” “So hop to it.” I knelt down and reached out my hand... And touched the rune. “Easy as that...” I muttered, staring at my hand. “Easy as fucking that. Are you kidding me.” “The simple solutions are always the best, aren't they?” Joel said with a laugh. I sighed and started to erase the incorrect symbols. And then my hand combusted. I yelped and quickly shoved my hand into my pocket, quenching the flames. “Are you alright?” Joel asked in concern, his whole demeanor changing in an instant. “Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-” I groaned, nursing my injured right hand. “Let me see it.” I gritted my teeth and reached out, palm down. He gently took it and looked at it carefully. “These look more like electrical burns.” He muttered. “Is there running water nearby? Or mud? Something we can use to cool it down?” I shook my head, not trusting my voice. “In that case, wait for the girls to get back, there's probably something in the herb book that we can use for burns.” He helped me stand up and carried me over to the edge of the clearing. I lay back against the tree as Joel sprinted off, presumably to get the girls. It had been awhile since I had been properly burned. I looked down and studied the marks. There was actually very little obvious surface damage, but that didn't mean it wasn't serious. Underneath the skin, the strange tendrils were writhing, making it look like my hand was crawling with skin colored worms. I looked away. I looked around the clearing, trying to take my mind off my hand. It didn't work. I pulled out Pony Legends and awkwardly opened it, keeping my pressure on my right hand by stuffing it under my armpit, next to my combat knife in it's sheath. My eyes were stinging, but of course, no tears. I ignored my slowly blurring vision and flicked to the first page. There were several lines of text, but not enough to fill up the entire page. Probably a foreword, or maybe the publishing rights. I didn't really care, but it was something to take my mind of the excruciating pain in my hand. I flipped through the pages until my thumb caught on one. There was a picture, a sketch. A sort of centaur, with huge, curving horns. It was holding a pony in it's hand and looked like it was sucking magic out of it. “Well, that looks like something that would be a pain in the arse to murder.” I muttered, before wincing as the pain in my hand flared up again. I continued turning pages, looking at the masterful sketches of the artist. There was a huge variety of various creatures, some menacing, some not so much. Finally I turned to a page with a tall figure in armor on it. It was unmistakably a human, clad in armor with a plume. She was resting a massive halberd across her shoulders. An earth pony, with a shield so massive it was bigger than he was stood to her left. A minotaur leaning lazily on a greataxe stood at just behind them. On her right, a human with a pair of goggles clutched a gun-shaped contraption, which was cluttered with gears and valves. Another human sat on the ground, with a Kyū guntō in its sheath planted in the ground in front of him. He wore a hood and some simple armor: a single, matte black shoulder pad and some segmented leg plating. Finally, a woman with a pair of metal, bladed wings floated about a foot off the ground. She wore tight-fitting, aerodynamic clothing that had the side-effect of showing off her rather ample bust. Together, they looked like a force to be reckoned with. I considered the sketch for a while. This would be something worth looking into later, even if it didn't help with finding the Necronomicon. The presence of six beings in the sketch reminded me of the Elements of Harmony, or more, the Elements of Sanctuary. I folded down the corner of the page with my right hand, completely forgetting it was burned to a figurative crisp. I didn't forget for long. “Arschloch.” I muttered, after stifling a scream. After a few seconds of pained shudders, I placed my burned hand back under my armpit and continued to 'read'. Only a few pages later, there was another human. Well, it was difficult to tell. The sketch depicted a human shaped figure in a long, dark coat, who held open a book in their hands. They had no distinguishing features. Even the coat had no decoration that would make it recognizable. The book was extremely thick, and appeared to cast light on the figure, as though the pages were glowing. Behind them, a small town was being consumed by a tidal wave. The sky was completely dark, no stars or moon. I turned to the next page and found a sketch of the book from the previous picture. The cover looked like it was badly stitched together from several random pieces of leather. Three holes had been torn in the stitches, creating a horrible mockery of a screaming mouth and hollow eyes. It was disconcerting, yet strangely captivating. "If I had to guess, I'd say that's our book." I murmured to myself. Making sure I folded the corner with my left hand and took note of the page number, I closed Pony Legends and stuffed it back into my coat with some difficulty. Hand still stuck in my armpit, I stood up and moved further back into the shade of the trees. I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned around to face them. “Do you have any idea how difficult it is to explain a random human breaking into someone's house?” Vi asked rhetorically. “Do you?” I winced at the tone. “Yeah, I kinda do.” I replied, my voice strained. “I've had to do it a lot.” Shyv cocked her head to one side. “Are you alright?” “Burned my hand.” I muttered, showing them the writhing skin. “So if you have any potion, that'd be useful.” “But why would we have any burn potion?” I sighed. “No, the reading potion. I stole a book about plants of the Everfree. It might have something in there I can use.” Vi handed (hoofed?) me a small flask. I popped the cork off and took a small swig. It tasted, delicious, like cookies and cream, but I mostly ignored the taste and smell. I was already pulling out Plants of the Everfree. The script shifted and changed before my eyes, becoming Flora of the Wider Everfree Forest and Surrounding Lands. “Yeah, well fuck you too book.” I muttered. I flipped it open with one hand and began to skim over plant descriptions and uses. “Poisonous... highly flammable... enhances sex drive... causes hallucinations... makes potions taste less disgusting... increases chance of performing successful roundhouse kicks... creates practical jokes when touched... There we are! Nullifies the effects of magical burns when pressed against the wound.” “How did you end up with magical burns?” Shyv asked suspiciously. “Remember how humans are immune to magic?” I asked. She nodded. I grimaced. “Apparently I'm not immune to preservation spells.” “But that's just it, it's a preservation spell.” Vi said. “It shouldn't have burned you. Unless...” “What?” I asked grumpily. “Well, it's possible that you resisted it until it ruptured slightly, letting a small amount of the energy escape.” “Small?” I asked sceptically, holding up my burned hand. She shrugged. “Small relative. Remember, there is alicorn levels of magical energy contained in that seal.” “I wonder if we could-” I cut myself off before I went on another insane power tangent. “Whatever. At this current point in time I'm more worried about fixing my hand. Or at least, I should be.” “Is there a picture of what the plant looks like?” Shyv asked, peering over the edge of the book, trying to get a look at its contents. I tapped my finger on the small but extremely detailed sketch of a bell shaped flower. “Redbell. Often dismissed as a simple color changing genetic mutation of the bluebell, the redbell gains its distinctive red color after growing in fireruby rich soil for several generations. As firerubies contain large amounts of magical-heat energy, the redbell has become adept at absorbing magical fire for extra energy in dark areas where it cannot photosynthesize well, such as the bed of the Everfree forest. It nullifies the effects of magical burns when pressed against the wound, as it sucks out any residual magical-heat energy from the area, instantly cooling the wound and allowing it to mend properly and without interference.” There was something scribbled in the margin. I narrowed my eyes and read it aloud. “Very sweet nectar. Apparently a favorite of rare dragon-pony hybrids.” Shyv raised an eyebrow. “Rare dragon-pony hybrids? That's a first.” I shrugged. “You ever heard of redbells before?” She shook her head. “Nope. Sounds pretty nice though. Like, honey mixed with fireruby? Pretty cool concept, don't you think?” “I can honestly say that I've never eaten a ruby, let alone a fireruby, and I'm not exactly a big fan of honey either. So you know, forgive me if I'm not overly enthusiastic about its taste.” I grinned. “But its scientific properties on the other hand, now that's something I can get behind. Absorbing magic, think of all the things you could do with that flower!” “You really love science, don't you?” Shyv said, shaking her head in despair. “You'd probably go without eating if you could find an overly complicated way of doing it.” “I don't really love science. Love means that you love all of something, the good and the bad. You put your whole heart into it, even the boring and bland bits.” I placed my left hand on my chest. “Me? I just sort of look at science's butt as it walks by.” “Well, that's one way of describing it.” Shyv commented dryly while Vi collapsed into hysterics in the background. I gritted my teeth as my hand lit up with pain again. It wasn't going to let me forget, was it? Stupid still working nerves. At least that means they aren't fried. “I could really go for some chips right now.” I muttered, staring at my hand. “Beg your pardon?” Vi asked, confusion painted all over her face. “Fried nerves, chips?” I waved my hand in dismissal. “Nevermind, my brain isn't really working properly right now.” “Is it ever?” M3 asked rhetorically. I ignored her, as per usual. “So yeah, my hand is currently burning itself from the inside out. If you wouldn't mind helping me find some redbells, that'd be nice.” “Of course we will.” Shyv replied instantly. “We just need to know where to look.” At that moment, Joel came skidding back into the clearing, accompanied by a huge cloud of dust. “Yo.” I said, after I'd finished coughing my lungs out. “I got some mud.” He said, showing me the colloid. "Thanks." I held out my hand, palm down. With a series of quick flicks, Joel smeared the mud evenly across my hand, drawing out the heat and replacing it with a pleasing, albeit slightly disgusting, cool. I sighed appreciatively and flexed my fingers slightly. “That's a good start, but I'm gonna need something a little more potent to fix this properly.” Joel attempted to wipe the mud off his hands by brushing them against his pants, but nothing happened. He frowned at them for a second before giving up. “Such as?” I turned around Flora of the Wider Everfree Forest and Surrounding Lands and showed him the sketch. “A small flower named a redbell. It's like a bluebell except-” “Lemme guess.” Joel interrupted. “Except it's red?” “No, it eats people and stains the dirt around it with blood.” I said sarcastically. “Yes, it's fucking red.” “I'm getting this a distinct 'running out of ideas' vibe from this.” He muttered, shaking his hands in an attempt to get rid of the mud clinging to them. I smiled slightly. “You and me both. Have you seen any?” “Can't say I have.” He was trying to scrape the mud off with his fingernails now. “What, can't have two deus ex machinas in one day?” I asked, watching him growl in frustration at the mud now stuck underneath his fingernails. “You need a towel?” “If you please.” I rifled through my pockets and brought out a small hand-towel. “Here.” “Cheers.” He said, finally wiping off the clingy brown stuff. I sighed as my pristine towel that I probably stole from somewhere slowly changed color. “You can keep that.” He meticulously scoured every last particle from under his nails, not really paying attention to me. “I'll keep that in mind.” After a few seconds I muttered, “Look, I'm happy that you're concerned about your personal hygiene, but my hand still hurts like a bitch.” He flicked the towel up in the air, caught it and pocketed it in one smooth motion. “So what are we waiting around here for?” “I hate you so much.” “Duly noted.” I clapped my hands together, winced, and said, “Alright, split up, Joel goes north, Shyv goes south, Vi goes east and I go west. Keep your eyes peeled blah blah blah, meet back here in twenty minutes.” Three nods. Vi and Joel took off, literally and figuratively respectively. Shyv lingered behind for a few seconds. “You realize Ponyville is that way, right?” “Yeah, sure, totally new that.” She raised any eyebrow before taking flight. I turned to face the tiny trail Honored Service had made from walking up here so often. From Ponyville. The most well known random country town in Equestria. Home to the most magically powerful being in Equestria, as well as her five friends. Oh yeah, and slightly unhinged human who is itching to fight something. “What could possibly go wrong this time?” I asked myself. “Everything?” M3 suggested. I sighed in resignation of my fate and began to walk. “Yep, pretty much.”