Pausing to think about his actions, but only for a moment, Garlic reflected upon the rash action of releasing whatever was being contained in the holding cells. He shook his head. This wasn’t a dungeon, this was a laboratory, whatever was behind held here was probably experimented upon and then left to die.
“Hello?” Garlic called out, standing at the door.
“Please let me out, I’ve been so alone for so long… I don’t know how long. He left weeks ago,” the voice answered.
“Foggy, I need that key!” Garlic shouted as he looked down at the door. There was a keyhole and he suspected that the key would work.
“He came to me one day, he apologised, he said my mirror broke and he couldn’t send me home… he told me he was leaving… oh it feels so good to hear another voice again. He moved a bunch of stuff into my cell, food and water, he told me to make it last, he said there would be visitors coming… I don’t know how he knew, but he was right… oh it feels so good to talk again and have something answer. I’ve been talking to myself.”
Fogwalker came around the corner with Sunrise just behind her.
“Are you sure this is wise?” Fogwalker questioned.
“He was abandoned in this cell, I’m letting him out,” Garlic replied, his voice stern, the sort of voice that one did not argue with.
Watching, waiting, feeling somewhat tense, Garlic stood ready as Sunrise Surprise inserted the key the door, turned it, and the door slowly opened.
Fogwalker took a step backwards and Sunrise gasped. What was in the cell was not a pony, at least not entirely. It was half of a pony, but where the neck and head should have been, the torso, arms, and head of what almost looked like a goblin existed. Garlic stared. The figure was thin, bony, his steps unsteady and unsure. The upper half wasn’t twisted and distorted like a goblin. The pony half was dappled, white with splashes of brown, red, and gold. He had tall pointed ears coming up off his head. His hair was golden and stuck out in all different directions.
“What are you?” Sunrise asked in a fearful whisper, pressing tightly against Fogwalker as she spoke.
“We call ourselves the forest folk, we are part of the fae, but the horse wizard that captured me, he kept calling me a centaur,” the strange looking creature said. “My name is Chert.”
“I’ve never heard of a centaur and I’ve read a lot of books about fantastical creatures,” Sunrise stated, her eyes blinking owlishly through her glasses. “My name is Sunrise Surprise, it is very nice to meet you.”
Lowering his head, Garlic studied the centaur, never taking his eyes off of it. “My name is Garlic Van der Grease,” he said, introducing himself.
“And I’m Fogwalker Fetlocks,” Fogwalker said in guarded voice.
“Chert is a type of common stone,” Sunrise announced in her droning nasal voice.
“I use it to make arrowheads and tools,” Chert replied, looking around himself as he spoke, his expression still fearful. “The horse wizard appeared in a bright flash of light. There was more light. I found myself here. There were others he took. He studied me. I’ve been here a very long time. He taught me how to read, to write, and wanted to see how smart I was.”
“You poor thing,” Sunrise said, her eyes going wide.
“You said he left?” Fogwalker asked.
“He left. I don’t know how long it was ago. Weeks ago. Maybe longer. He put food in my cell and water and told me to be patient. There was another horse wizard with him. Purple. She was cruel. He tried to be nice, but he had moments where he… he… he changed. He had strange glowing eyes,” Chert replied, looking very confused.
“And he told you we were coming?” Garlic asked, trying to figure out what was going on, his mind slowly coming to bear upon the problem.
“He talked about it all the time. He said there would be visitors soon, it was nearly time, his time here was over, he was making plans to leave. He told me to wait,” Chert answered, looking overwhelmed and afraid.
“I say we take him back to Princess Celestia,” Fogwalker said, her voice becoming confident and self assured. “She might be able to get some answers. Are you willing to come with us?”
“I will follow you anywhere if you will talk to me,” Chert said, his mouth curling into a smile, his fingers flexing and wiggling.
“Stay close with us,” Garlic commanded as he continued to study the strange looking centaur. He didn’t know what the top half was. It was goblin shaped, but didn’t look like a pig, a dog, or anything else. The arms were slender, delicate, and the fingers were long and thin. Chert almost looked like a minotaur, but didn’t have horns.
“You have a cutie mark,” Sunrise Surprise announced as she stared at Chert’s backside, tilting her head so she could see through the lower half of her bifocals.
“A what?” Chert replied, looking confused. He turned around and looked at Sunrise, and then his expression changed as realisation dawned upon him. “Oh, my fate guide,” he stated, his face shifting into an expression unknown to his new companions.
“Fate guide?” Sunrise inquired, now looking studiously interested.
“The forest folk get marks that tell us what we do and what we are good at. Mine is an arrowhead. I make stone tools, bows, and arrows,” Chert explained. “Others make medicine, some study stars to read the seasons, some lead our tribes, each guide is personal.”
“We have marks too… cutie marks,” Sunrise Surprise said, lifting her front hoof and pointing at her backside. “Mine is a question mark key, which is causing us some trouble at the moment,” she explained in a dry nasal lisp. “Garlic and Fogwalker have them too, but their marks are covered by armor.”
“The horse wizard never questioned me about my fate guide,” Chert said in a low voice, looking troubled and sad. His face might have been different than his companions, but certain expressions were universal.
“We need to keep moving,” Garlic commanded. “We can talk later. Are you capable of walking?” he asked.
“I’ve been locked in a small cell… I’ve been wanting to walk,” Chert replied as he stretched his legs out. “I can help you… I know my way around this strange place.”
“Good,” Fogwalker remarked as she stared at Chert.
In the distance, a bell rang, which caused the centaur to become strangely blank. He began to move, his body jerky and uncoordinated, moving almost like a poorly controlled puppet.
“We must go,” Chert said in a strange voice. “The Master beckons,” he added, his voice a strange sounding monotone.
The companions moved after him, Sunrise Surprise in particular looking fearful and concerned. Garlic cast a final glance at Chert’s cell, looking at the crates of food being left behind. Fogwalker gave Garlic a hard shove to get him moving, not liking that one of their group was currently ensorceled by strange magic.
Chert moved along unsteadily, stumbling up the stairs, down a hallway, through an alcove, and finally, the companions arrived in a large library that was strangely emptied of books. The shelves were all emptied, there was nothing left in the library but a large globe and a sheet of paper left upon a broad wooden table. Chert stood near the table, unmoving, his eyes oddly blank.
“Sunrise, this note has your name on it,” Garlic said, looking down at the paper, his brow furrowed under his helmet. He gently prodded Chert, who did not reply.
Lifting the note in her magic, Sunrise unfolded it and then looked at it through the bottom half of her bifocals. She cleared her throat, sniffled nervously, and began to read.
“My beloved Sunrise Surprise, I hope that you will find it in your heart to forgive me one day for what I have done. I have tried to keep the madness away, to restore myself, to find some sort of sanity in during the war that rages within my mind,” Sunrise read, a lump forming in her throat which made her sound squeaky.
“Keep going,” Fogwalker said gently, brushing up against Sunrise and placing a wing over the unicorn’s back. Sunrise was trembling fearfully, and Fogwalker felt deep concern for her friend.
“I had to keep you safe, even from me. You are all I had left… of her…”
Garlic’s heart sank as Sunrise Surprise’s voice faltered and faded out. He closed his eyes, feeling a pain he had never known. There were no words, no means to express what he was feeling, and he couldn’t imagine what Sunrise must be feeling at this moment.
“...of her. You are all I had left of her,” Sunrise continued, struggling to keep reading. “Your mother loved you a great deal, but due to a number of complications, she left you here with me. Not long after, the rift happened. Celestia believed that the rift was because of our forbidden love… because of you. Eventually, things spiraled out of control. I took a great evil upon myself to restore the balance. You were sent away with the Virtues, still a foal. I do not know what they have told you, but I loved you then, I love you still, and I have left your legacy within these walls,” Sunrise said, her voice hitching and tears streaming down her cheeks. She fell silent, took off her glasses, and rubbed her eyes.
Fogwalker gently rubbed Sunrise with her wing, her own teary eyes visible through the opening in her helmet. She looked over at Garlic, wishing she could go to him for comfort, and for a moment, she was certain that Garlic would hold her and not send her away or turn from her.
Sliding her glasses back on, Sunrise coughed and then focused once more upon the paper. “I never meant for things to end this way. I thought I could find myself, I believed that I could fix what was wrong. I truly believed that good always found a way. Instead, the shadow has grown. I cannot stop what I am becoming. Dark times are ahead. I am still trying to fix things and I have gone away. I have left Chert to be your faithful companion, as your father, I would trust your life to him. All you must do is look him in the eye, touch him, and tell him “I am the key.” He is a good creature, mindful, obedient, kind, dutiful, he will watch over you and protect you. Beyond this library is the storm orb. Insert the key and claim your legacy. I love you, and your mother loved you so very much… your father, Sombra,” Sunrise read, finishing the note.
Still sniffling, still weeping, her emotions raw, still holding the sheet of paper, Sunrise Surprise turned to look at Chert. She looked up at him, wondering what Sombra had done, overwhelmed by everything she had learned. Perhaps Chert had answers. She raised her hoof, wobbling on three legs, touched Chert on his foreleg, looked the centaur in the eye, and took a deep breath.
“I am the key,” she said in a wheezing exhale.
Blinking, Chert looked around. He rubbed his eyes with his hands, ran his fingers through his hair, and then looked at Sunrise Surprise. “Did you say something?”
Baffled, Sunrise realised there was no answers to be had from Chert. At least not yet. Maybe not ever. She trembled when she felt one of Chert’s strange hands touch her neck and try to comfort her.
“Funny, I feel like I have known you all of my life,” Chert said, looking down at the unicorn. “We’ve only just met though. I feel strange,” he announced, his long golden haired tail swishing.
“This is strange sorcery, I don’t like it,” Garlic said, shaking his head.
“I know things are emotional and difficult, but we need to find answers. We’re close now, I can feel it. We should check out what this storm orb is,” Fogwalker said in a gentle but urgent voice, looking at her companions. She watched as Sunrise Surprise carefully folded the note and placed it within her saddlebag. “There will be time to sort this all out later, when we are at home and we are safe.”
“I agree, we need to find out what is going on… this is a lot to take in. Princess, are you okay?” Garlic asked, looking down at Sunrise.
“What did you call me?” Sunrise asked, backing away from Garlic.
“Oh fleas! We’re not qualified to guard her,” Fogwalker swore, shaking her head as she spoke. “Garlic, we’re dealing with a royal!”
“Princess Celestia trusted us to look after her. She had to have known. Calm down Foggy,” Garlic said in a solid and reassuring voice.
“What’s going on?” Chert asked, looking befuddled.
“I don’t know,” Sunrise said, sounding panicked.
“We stick with what we know,” Garlic said in a commanding voice. “We follow our mission. Nothing has changed. We’re still guarding the same unicorn… except for maybe now she is our friend. Let’s end this, find this orb, and maybe we can turn off the storm, restore Canterlot, and a nice group of pegasi will see the storm is gone. We might get lucky and get a ride home or something.”
“You’re right Garlic. As always, your thinking is sound,” Fogwalker agreed, taking a deep breath of relief. She turned and stared at the only other door out of the library.
The storm orb was a large glass orb mounted upon a giant brass stand. It was filled with lightning and swirling black clouds. The room was filled with a strange magical energy that made the sinuses burn and the eyes water. But the orb, for all of splendor, was not the central focus in the room.
The walls were covered in hundreds of paper notes. Sunrise moved around the room, looking at the notes. Some were love letters, sweet words written to a lost love, others were notes that said “I’m sorry” over and over hundreds of times. Some of those notes were written to her, she could see her name written upon them, some where written in beautiful clear script, others were the manic almost unreadable scribblings of a madpony.
“This is very disturbing,” Garlic announced, looking around at the evidence of madness all around him. “Nature is being corrupted here. Something is wrong. We need to do as Sombra instructed and deactivate this orb.”
Lifting her key in her magic, Sunrise Surprise stared at the small bit of precious metal and then her eyes glanced at the keyhole in the brass stand under the massive glass orb. “So if I stick this in there, the storm over Canterlot will end?”
Nodding, Fogwalker gave Sunrise a nudge. “I think so.”
“There is a book here,” Chert said, pointing to a thick book on a wooden table near where he was standing.
“Grab it, maybe Sombra left it,” Garlic said, feeling somewhat spooked. Something in this room offended his earth pony sense. The feeling was growing stronger the longer he stood in here. His head was beginning to ache.
Fearful, full of dread, Sunrise Surprise walked towards the keyhole, the key held out in front of her in her magic. She could feel the madness in this room. It made her horn ache, a strange feeling she had never felt before. Her legs felt stiff and she had some trouble moving them as she drew closer. She felt her friends draw near, she felt a comforting wing across her back. She looked up at the storm orb and licked her dry lips, her orange tongue to dry to do anything to help.
Whimpering with a fear she did not understand, Sunrise Surprise pushed the key into the keyhole. There was a whirring sound, a low mechanical sounding whine, followed by a deep thrum. The orb flashed with strange energy.
“Sunrise Surprise,” a voice called out, a deep resonant voice that seemed to come out of the very stone walls. “Do not be afraid. I love you, and I will always love you, just as I will always love her,” the voice promised. The voice was mournful, sad, there was a funeralistic tone to the voice. “For all of my faults, let it be known that your father loves you!”
The orb radiated a flash of light and a powerful wave of energy surged out, striking the companions. There were screams, panicked cries, a fearful grunt, and then quite suddenly, the companions were gone.
Garlic found himself falling several feet and then landing in the grass, his companions landing all around him. He felt sick, nauseous, his ears rang, and he was dazzled by the sudden appearance of the sun. He lifted his head, trying to gain his bearings. He looked up, saw the Canterhorn before him, and he craned his head back to get a look at Canterlot, built high upon a shelf near Canterhorn Peak. The storm shield was gone, the city was visible, and Garlic felt an overwhelming feeling of relief.
And then, Canterlot exploded. A massive explosion blossomed high overhead, a pillar of fire stretching up into the sky, the sound was almost deafening. Smoke billowed from the mountain. A wash of hot air reached the companions. Garlic realised that Canterlot was lost, gone forever, swallowed up in fire.He struggled to his hooves and then he turned to look at his companions, hoping to find some reassurance from them.
His eyes fell upon Sunrise Surprise and he immediately saw right away that something was wrong. The chubby unicorn was sprawled in the grass, her glasses were a few feet away, and much to Garlic’s shock and surprise, Sunrise Surprise had wings.
Sunrise Surprise was no longer a unicorn, but something else entirely.