//------------------------------// // 8 - I've // Story: Just Roll With It: Kayla-verse // by sunnypack //------------------------------// Chapter 8: I've Under the cool shade of a tree, Star Swirl relaxed while the foals finally got to sleep. Several times he had come close to snapping at the young ones, but he quickly gained control when he saw their pouty looks and their guilty expressions. Instead, he sighed and gave them a rough pat on the head. Despite acting all grumpy, he found their company strangely comforting as he dozed fitfully. Sleeping in a dream landscape was a risky proposition. Sometimes there were dangers here that could catch the unsuspecting mage in their sleep. Star Swirl was no fool though, he had carefully maintained a web of spells to alert him of anything out of the ordinary. Often he'd be startled awake by a flight of a wayward bird or the rustle of leaves as a steady wind blew here. Luckily they were caught in a pleasant memory, not a dream, though Star Swirl wondered where this field came from. Not being the focus, Star Swirl could only wait for Tempora to find the node and bring them all back together. Luna could do it of course, but she wouldn't know where to start. The filly was sleeping with her hooves tucked in under her, perhaps unaware that her dreams were within a dream within somepony's mind… –––––– King Leo lead the procession rallying all of the soldiers, guards, and any tiger that was capable with weapons. I had mentioned to Kayla that the sentries had been put to sleep and a few tigers broke off to help them. I was a little doubtful that the tigers—despite their war-like appearance—were really tough fighters. The assembled guards and soldiers were scattered haphazardly and they looked like a loosely-held mob. I swallowed back my trepidation as Leo lead Kayla and I through the mass of soldiers. The ‘army’ didn’t look like they were debriefed on the situation with many looking tired and ragged, like they had just gotten out of bed. Leo nodded to a pale yellow tunic servant off to the side. The tiger skittered away and moments later a bugle sounded. The mass of tigers tightened fractionally and Leo swept a cool gaze among his people. As they gathered I had a keen sense that time was running out, but I could only express this sentiment by shifting my feet a couple of times and glancing once or twice towards the gate. Kayla gripped my arm, forcing me to stop. “Hello my fellow citizens of the Tiger Nation. While I am deeply sorry for disturbing you while you sleep, there is a matter of urgency I must address.” He paused for effect. “The Hippos have decided to attack!” Gasps and ripples of uncertainty coursed through the assembled crowd. The King raised his paws, signalling quiet. With a ripple, they fell silent. “Luckily,” he continued. “We do have a plan. Battle will be the last resort. We are a proud nation, but we are small, and any help is appreciated.” He gestured to me. “The Nanu’wan will go forth to deter the Hippos from attacking. His reputation by lore alone should be enough to send them running, and if not, at least a shiver of unease through their ranks.” The mood of the crowd got lighter and they seemed oblivious to my nervous disposition. I was sure my heart was about to explode out of my chest. I hope I survive this, I thought to myself. Then my lips tightened. I will survive this. –––––– The encampment containing the Hippos was still as sparsely manned and relaxed as I saw before. It seems like they hadn’t sent any scouts ahead to continually check on the enemy. What were they doing? Did they even know the principles of warfare? It seemed a little ridiculous on their part, they were just lying around or polishing their weapons. I looked back at the gate I had popped out from. Despite walking to the camp they weren’t doing anything as I approached. That is until a large grey monstrosity exited the tent and I nearly crashed into him. As he spoke I recognised his gravelly voice immediately. “Well, well, what do we have here,” the commander growled, flexing his muscles. I straightened my back and stood tall. I must not show weakness. “I’m here to tell you that the Tiger Nation knows you're coming. I'm here to discourage you from attacking.” The hippo sneered his gaze sizing me up. “I’ve heard of your kind, how the Tigers revere you, while you little runts play god. I've never seen your kind speak before.” I saw his massive forelimb grip his war hammer. It slammed to the ground with a very loud BANG. I couldn't help it, I flinched. “I don't know how your kind fights, but I find myself dying to find out,” he growled. Without a moment's warning he charged at me and I had to snap quickly to teleport out of the way. I looked around me and soldiers were gathering arms and quickly surrounding me from all sides. “I don't want to hurt you!” I yelled. They paused briefly, but then continued to advance. I heard a cruel chuckle from my left. Gart'nir appeared out of his own tent. He pulled free a wicked looking knife. “Too bad,” he drawled, waving the knife slowly in front of him. “Because we intend to do a lot more than just hurt you.” He darted forward with his blade, lightning fast. I tried dodging… I just wasn’t fast enough. ––––– I awoke in a familiar patch of forest. There was a sharp pain in my side. I looked over to see Kayla standing there with a wary look on her face, she held her spear out, the weapon shaking slightly in her grip. “Ugh,” I groaned out loud. “Kayla, what happened?” If the tigress’ eyes bulged out any further I would think that her eyes would pop out and roll about on the ground. Well now, that’s just unhygienic. “W-What are you?!” she cried out, clearly shocked. “And how do you know my name?!” I gaped at her. What the heck was happening here? ––––– Star Swirl cast another spell and felt the matrix leech out before he could do anything with it. “Darn,” he muttered to himself. Discord waddled up, curious.   “What’s wrong?” he asked quietly. Star Swirl glanced back at the two foals playing a little hoof-game together. Luna missed and accidentally bopped Celestia on the nose. The cross-eyed expression Celestia made caused Luna to collapse in a fit of giggles. Seeing that they were distracted, Star Swirl turned back to Discord. In a lowered voice he said, “I’m not sure. Something is inhibiting my spells. We’re supposed to be in a ‘safe zone’ within the mind, but there’s something not quite right here. I think it has something to do with whatever is attacking Maximilian.” He started pacing his head bowed deep in thought. “Queen Tempora and Harmony are gone to different places. Tempora must be somewhere close to the focus, but Harmony could be anywhere. He’ll be naturally attracted to key points in his father’s conscious. They’re very close to each other, so I heard.” Discord nodded. “Harmony sometimes gets angry at his dad, but he always seems quick to forgive him.” Star Swirl nodded, his gaze distant. “Yes. His father is his only blood relation left. He would love to hold on to that as long as he could.” ––––– Tempora touched the core, determined to extract as much information out of it as possible. There were other nodes, but they were scattered among the mindscape. Star Swirl was trapped in the logical section of Max's mind. Tempora herself resided in the emotional section. Harmony was trapped in the memories section of the mind. She delved a little deeper. Ah, the recurring memories section. She was just there before they met up. Tempora must have been sent forward whilst Harmony must have been shuffled back. Frowning, she tapped a hoof to her chin, deep in thought. Why had he been pushed back and I was pushed forward? Tempora touched the core again, feeling a little of Max's essence. For a moment she just stood there, basking in his emotions, relishing in the closeness that one could only experience while in the confines of mind-to-mind contact. Briefly, she was tempted to stay there, to perhaps stand there and just be close with Max. Reluctantly she pulled back. There was something eating at the fabric of Max's mind. It was starting in the memories… Her eyes widened. She realised belatedly that Harmony was there. Get out! she thought feverishly. Get out, Harmony! –––––– I stared at Kayla, uncomprehending. “What do you mean you don’t remember?” I asked, moving to get up. Kayla levelled the spear so the point was at my head. I stopped and slowly moved back to the ground. “Remember what?” Kayla shot back. She was getting edgier, her voice shaking. “Okay, okay!” I yelled, raising my hands slowly in a calming gesture. I feel like I’ve been doing that a lot since I got here. Yeesh, people around here need to calm down. “I have some questions,” Kayla muttered, with narrowed eyes. Her gaze was filled with reflections of suspicion and uncertainty. She held the spear loosely, as if not sure whether to point it towards me or not. “You’re a—” “Nanu’wan, yes.” Her guard returned almost instantly. “So you know what you are.” Cautiously, she reached into her backpack and flung a small circular object onto the ground. “Put it on,” she ordered, her tip touched the collar with a metallic ‘clink’. “No,” I responded. My voice hardened. “You’re here to look for a Spirit Familiar aren’t you? Last time you tricked me with the collar, this time you won’t.” Kayla’s spear returned to my face. I used a finger to slowly move it out of my way. “How did you know that?” She waved the spear menacingly. Frustrated I finally snapped my finger, yanking the spear out of her grip and dumping it on the ground behind me. Luckily she wasn’t gripping it tighter or she might’ve wanted to take another stab at me. “Okay,” I growled, finally getting to my feet. “Now that we’ve put the dangerous weapon away, can we talk?” The tigress stepped away from me. She crouched, hugging her knees. “I want to know everything. Who are you? What are you? What is going on?” For the first time in a while, I smiled. “Do you really want to know?” –––––– Star Swirl kept an eye on the spell matrices monitoring the environment. Particles were flying around, interacting and affecting the system. He frowned. His model were getting out of date. Who knew what would happen in this dream landscape though? Celestia and Luna were starting to get bored. “Starry,” Celestia said, coming up to the side of the grey unicorn. At first, Star Swirl ignored her. “Starry,” she repeated, tugging on his mane. “Star— what?!” Round eyes bored into his. Tartarus eyes, he thought darkly. Tartarus eyes that pierce your very soul. They went rounder and wider. Definitely Tartarus-spawned. There’s no other logical explanation. Luna joined in. “Starry,” she squeaked, pulling on his mane too. Star Swirl could no longer ignore the two fillies. “What?” he grunted. “What do you want?” “Can we call you Starry?” Star Swirl bit down on his cloak and mightily resisted the urge to scream. ––––– Tempora tried many times to reach Harmony through the core. It was no use, every time she tried to send a pulse into the core it sank into the depths. All she could get was a vague recollection of where everypony was. Muttering under her breath she tried spell after spell. It was no use. The core was rock-solid. “Harmony,” she croaked. “Get out of there…” ––––– The little info-dump session I had with Kayla was bumpy, to say the least. The tigress kept jumping up and pacing, then crouching down, depressed, then she was yelling or being moody or just generally being bi-polar. I didn’t know what her deal was. I reconsidered the statement. Yes, she was a little anxious, but understandably so. She was scared, probably more so than I was. If I was stuck in a time loop as one of the ‘background’ characters, wouldn’t I be upset. Someone comes up to me knowing things I haven’t told them, acting familiar… I felt a foreboding chill creep up my spine. No, I would not be calm. Even though I laid it all out, it didn’t make it any better. What the heck was going on here?