The Equine Scrolls: SkyFiM

by FireOfTheNorth

Chapter 56: Dawnstar

That night, we slept in the Palace of Kings. Jarl Stormcloud didn’t quite have his plans ready for the attack on Dawnstar, but he spent the next day ironing things out. We trained with the Stormclouds, getting used to their fighting tactics and how to work with them. At the end of the day, Jarl Stormcloud revealed his plan to me.

His attack would be twofold, and I would play a very special part. The main bulk of his forces would attack Dawnstar from the south, on the very same path the Griffins and I had taken. I would lead a smaller group up the mountains to the east and infiltrate the Dawnstar Sanctuary, which had been abandoned for years. The group I was leading would set up early, and be ready to rain down arrows onto the town once the real battle began. Nopony had any idea what really awaited us in that abandoned monastery, so Stormcloud wasn’t taking any chances.

The next day we set out for Dawnstar, making our way to the secret camp the Stormclouds had constructed near the east edge of The Pale. That night, we slept in the camp in anticipation of the battle to come the following morning.

A party was going on around me, though I seemed distant from it. The guests laughed merrily, though their chuckles seemed a bit hollow, as if they were hiding some cruel pain beneath. I had no idea how I’d gotten to this party, so I made to leave, only to hear the sound of splashing come from beneath me.

Looking down, I could see that the floor was covered in blood, blood that was staining my hooves crimson. I rushed to escape the shallow layer of pony life force, heading for the raised area at the head of the room. As I did so, I ended up bumping into another of the party guests.

“You really should watch where you’re going,” the pony said to me, though her voice was strange and hollow.

I stumbled backwards as I realized the pony I’d run into was Golden Bullion. I’d killed her, yet here she was at a party, her wedding dress rapidly soaking up the blood on the floor. It couldn’t be real! My ancient earth pony sword suddenly plunged forward, running her through. Once more, the unicorn died, falling into the blood with a splash.

“Murderer~” a voice whispered from above.

I looked up, but could see nothing but the ceiling far above me.

“I didn’t mean to!” I yelled, hoping whoever had spoken could hear me.

“But you did~” the voice spoke back to me, “You like killing ponies, don’t you, Sapphire?~”

“No!” I exclaimed, “I don’t!”

“Liar!~” the voice replied.

The ponies around me suddenly came into focus, and I could see they were all ponies I’d killed. The room was filled to bursting with them. How could there be so many!? I hadn’t really killed this many ponies, had I?

Suddenly I was in Hoofgen. I wandered down the halls of the keep, until I ran into an Imperial soldier. Before I could react, he suddenly died in front of me, blood bursting from his chest to add to the layer covering the floors. I ran ahead, getting away from him, only to run into more soldiers, who also instantly died before my eyes.

I galloped faster, emerging from the keep and suddenly appearing in Caprika Redoubt. Around me, goats suddenly burst into flame as I passed. I continued to gallop on, trying to block the images out.

I galloped out of Caprika Redoubt, only to find myself in Dawnstar, where Stormclouds now died the same horrific deaths the Imperials at Hoofgen had.

“Stop!” I cried, “I don’t want to see anymore!”

I galloped even faster, passing through Windrake Cavern and watching Blackwings die around me. Then I was in the Blackwing embassy, where even more of the pegasi died around me. I passed through Splitten’s orphanage next, watching Sage die, before I rapidly passed through the deaths of all the ponies I’d killed for the Dark Brotherhoof.

“Make it stop!” I yelled uselessly.

The blood was getting much deeper now, and it was a struggle to keep moving through the tide of death. I was in the Blackwing embassy again, and the deaths of the many Blackwings only added to the flood around me. Then I was outside Stablehall, then the caves near Anvil, and then Broken Horn Redoubt, the blood of my kills rising around me.

“Stop!” I yelled helplessly as I galloped through Foalkreath, the blood of the many dead ponies there lifting me off my hooves and plunging me under.

I bolted upright in my tent, my bedroll soaked from my sweat. As I fought to calm my breathing, a stallion’s head suddenly poked through the tent flap.

“Rise and shine,” Bereloth said, “It’s time to get moving.”

I finished calming down and tried to clear the images of the dream from my mind. Something was seriously wrong with me, I knew that. But there was no time to dwell on such things now. Our attack on Dawnstar would begin soon. What kind of dreams would I have after this?

Trying to clear such thoughts from my mind, I prepared my gear and hunted down a bit of food. Aurora still played across the early morning sky, and only a small portion of the camp was up and about. I counted a dozen Stormcloud soldiers, not counting Bereloth, that would be following me this morning to the Dawnstar Sanctuary. I hoped I could get my act together and get the job done quickly.

Once everypony was ready, we set out from the camp, following the path Jarl Stormcloud had showed me. If all went well, we’d have control of the Sanctuary before dawn, when the full attack was scheduled to begin. During our march, Steadfast trotted up beside me.

“You’re not looking so good,” he commented, “Rough night?”

“Yeah,” I admitted, “Nightmares again.”

“Me too,” he said.

“Really?” I asked in surprise.

“It’s the strangest thing,” he told me, “It seems like near everypony, including all those Stormclouds, had a rough night. And they had some stories about Dawnstar.”

“What kind of stories?”

“Stuff about the place being cursed. Apparently some of the townsponies moved to Windhorn to get away from a string of nightmares that started recently. The stubborn stayed, but they were having nightmares too, apparently.”

“Well, I doubt mine are part of this curse,” I said, “Just a guilty conscience.”

“Listen here,” Steadfast said, “I know you’ve done some terrible things, I was there for some of them, but you can’t just keep beating yourself up over this. You’ve got to move on. I mean, it’s not like you deliberately murdered anypony, right?”

I tried not to flinch back at Steadfast’s words. He hadn’t meant any harm, because he hadn’t known I was to blame for Golden Bullion’s death. But, what he’d said had still stung.

“We’ll continue this conversation later,” he said, “It looks like we’re here.”

Steadfast was right. Standing before us was the massive stone structure that had once been the Dawnstar Sanctuary. Sanctuary to what, I wasn’t quite sure, but it was very old, built like the old monasteries had been, more as a fortress than a quiet lodge.

“All right,” I said to the troops behind me, “The plan’s simple. We need to clear out whatever may inhabit this Sanctuary in order to get vantage points for our archers. We’ll move quickly, but carefully. Everypony ready?”

Once all the soldiers had given the affirmative, I pushed the heavy gates open, Calcion’s Cleaver drawn and ready. Within was a small hall that led to a smaller door. Magic shimmered over the surface in complex patterns.

“Mystic,” I asked, “Can you tell what spells are over that door?”

“It’s just a magical lock to keep the Sanctuary sealed,” she said after examining it a moment, “Shouldn’t take too long to diffuse.”

Mystic set to work on the door, casting all sorts of spells across its surface until it finally returned to plain wood. Leading the way, I pushed the door open and entered the Sanctuary Proper. A snarling pony with a raised spear stood just inside. I quickly swung Calcion’s Cleaver around at it before I stopped suddenly.

The pony didn’t move, but rather stayed completely frozen in place. She appeared to be alive still, and she wasn’t decaying at all, yet no breath came from her nostrils and no heart beat in her breast. Turning around, I came face to face with a Griffin in ornate armor similar to my own. She too had her weapon raised, a cruelly curved sword made from the same metal as her armor.

Stepping back gave me a better perspective. The Griffin and the pony were both in the middle of a fight, prepared to strike each other, yet they made no moves whatsoever. Looking around, I could see that the entire hall was filled with similar scenes. Ponies wearing archaic robes clashed with Griffins in ancient armor, or they would be if they had been moving.

“What’s going on here?” Bereloth asked with puzzlement.

“Remarkable,” Mystic whispered, examining the statuesque warriors, “It appears that time itself has frozen around them.”

“But how?” I asked, “Didn’t Star-Swirl say that it was impossible to stop or alter the flow of time permanently?”

“He did,” Mystic said, “Which means no mortal could have done this.”

I was frightened by the implications. If no mortal could stop time, then who had done this, and what kind of powerful being were we dealing with?

Cautiously, we passed deeper into the Sanctuary, meeting no resistance from the frozen fighters. The archers we’d brought along set up near some of the windows that overlooked Dawnstar as we delved deeper in, searching for any foes that could be tucked away.

There was nothing to find but more of the frozen warriors as we passed through the fortress, eventually reaching the inner sanctum. Strange carvings climbed the walls, some of them glowing gently. Here it seemed time had managed to touch. The skeletons of two ponies and one Griffin littered the room, but just outside there was a Griffin caught in time retreating from the place. It seemed this room, and this room alone was free of the time freeze effect.

“I’m going to continue searching,” Bereloth said as I picked up a journal from the dead Griffin, “This place gives me the creeps.”

Mephalda, Mystic, and Steadfast stayed with me as I paged through the book. Flipping to some of the later entries, I read aloud for their benefit.

The attack went perfectly, but how could we have known what would befall us? We long suspected that the nightmares plaguing Dawnstar were the work of Maremina, Weaver of Dreams, but we never considered that the Sanctuary that stood atop the nearby cliffs had been dedicated to her all along. Our brethren attacked bravely, pushing the cultists back while we blazed a path to the inner sanctum, hoping to destroy the source of Maremina’s power once and for all. That was when it all went wrong. The treacherous Draconequus put an enchanted sleep on all outside of the sanctum, freezing them in place. Gifnaz and I slew the cultists within the sanctum itself, but when he tried to flee, he was caught in the Draconequus’s dark spell. Now I’m the only one left. What am I going to do?

“The nightmares! Maremina! Of course!” Mystic exclaimed.

“Bereloth needs to see this,” I said, and called for him to come.

Suddenly, the grooves in the walls began to glow more brightly, especially around the outline of a dark Draconequus holding up a pony skull.

“You foolish mortals never should have come here~” a voice came from the wall, the same voice that had been haunting my nightmares, “Now you will befall the same fate as those who sought to thwart me before~”

A magical glow suddenly spread out from the inner sanctum. Bereloth froze in place as the wave of magic hit him, leaving him with an expression of shock on his face. Elsewhere throughout the tower the same thing was no doubt befalling the other Stormclouds. We were trapped, and completely cut off.

“What do we do now?” Steadfast said worriedly, “I don’t know about you, but I don’t plan to stay here and waste away like our Griffin friend.”

“But we can’t leave,” Mephalda pointed out, “Or else we’ll be frozen as well.”

“Maybe there’s some way to break the spell,” I said hopefully, flipping through the Griffin’s journal.

This is it. I’m going to die here, aren’t I? I know there’s a way out of this, but it’s beyond my reach. It’s consumed my thoughts, but I can’t understand it! All I can think of is that same chant that taunts me in my dreams, that threatens to drive me mad!

The rest of the journal was filled with the chant written over and over in increasingly urgent clawwriting. At last, the pages were covered with the words, written over and around each other as the Griffin grew mad.

Maremina had succeeded at her task of breaking the Griffin’s will, but she wouldn’t be so successful with us. The riddle was deceptive, yet I thought I knew the solution. At least I hoped I did. The only problem was that it would hurt, a lot.

“I have . . . something to tell you,” I announced to my friends, taking a deep breath.

“In Seclusion . . . before we left . . . I was the one who killed Golden Bullion,” I admitted.

“What?” they all exclaimed simultaneously.

“I . . . didn’t know what I was doing,” I said, “I saw her at her wedding reception . . . and she was so cold about the death of others . . . talking about the massacre at Foalkreath in terms of profits and . . . I just snapped.”

“Can you ever forgive me?” I pleaded, tears leaking out now that I’d finished my confession.

“Of course we can,” Steadfast said, moving over to comfort me, albeit awkwardly, “There’s nothing too terrible that you can’t tell us. We know you didn’t mean it. It’s not something you’d usually do.”

“Really?” I asked, hopefully.

Mystic and Mephalda also confirmed that they agreed with Steadfast, and moved in to comfort me as well.

“You guys are the best,” I said, laughing.

“Why did you kill her, though?” Mystic asked.

“I don’t know,” I said, “I didn’t even know I had until I’d already run her through with Calcion’s Cleaver. I wasn’t myself that night.”

“You haven’t been yourself much lately,” Mephalda said, “And I think I know why.”

“You do?” I asked.

“That sword,” she said, pointing accusingly at Calcion’s Cleaver, “You forget why it was forged. The ancient earth pony smiths forged it to convey Calcion’s hate as he destroyed his home, and that hate and lust for blood is still within it. Mareidia warned you that it would corrupt you.”

“I thought I’d be strong enough to resist,” I said, wiping away my tears, “But I guess this just proves I wasn’t. Take it, I don’t think I can hold onto it safely any longer.”

“I’ll take this for now,” Mephalda said, pulling Calcion’s Cleaver away from me, “But you know it must be gone forever, and only you can get rid of it.”

“I know,” I said solemnly.

“That was sure brave of you to do,” Steadfast said, “Admitting that to us. I could tell it was hard for you to do.”

“I had to do it sometime,” I said, “Secrets don’t make friends, and I figured this was the best time to do it.”

“Why now?” Mystic asked.

“Time has stopped for all around, and yet they stay alive~” Maremina’s voice echoed around the sanctum.

“Yet you are trapped with me forever, cursed to have survived~” the chant continued.

“Maremina knows how to break a mortal’s will in two~”

“I’ll give you hope and yet, you’ll be clueless on what to do~”

"My depraved mind knows no bounds, of that you shall see~”

“Only when true words are spoken will you finally be set free~”

As the last line finished, the entire Sanctuary shook. The lights glowing on the walls suddenly drained away, the magic fading. The Griffin charging through the door suddenly unfroze, and crashed into Bereloth, sending them both tumbling down a set of stairs.

“The spell,” Steadfast said, “You broke it! All you had to do was tell the truth!”

“It seemed so simple, and so unlike a Draconequus” I said, “I doubted it would work, but I had to try.”

“That’s probably what Maremina was counting on,” Mephalda said.

“What just happened?” Bereloth asked, stumbling into the room, “And what is that?”

I looked down at my chest, where Bereloth was pointing. An orange glow was beginning to spill from my armor. Searching for the source, I fished out the Element of Harmony I’d been wearing. The dull diamond was dull no longer. A bright orange light was glowing from within, and growing brighter by the second. Suddenly it flashed brilliantly, and I lost sight of everything.

Everypony around me seemed frozen in place and tinted by a bright orange light. The walls of the Dawnstar Sanctuary no longer seemed to exist, and neither did the floor. It was orange everywhere, as far as I could see.

‘Honesty’ a voice suddenly spoke from everywhere at once, colored by an accent I couldn’t recognize.

‘Honesty, Integrity, and Trust are all important in a friendship, as well as in everyday life. The bond formed by trust when ponies are honest with each other cannot be broken easily, except by a breach in honesty. Likewise, once a pony’s trust is lost, it is extremely difficult to get it back. However, like all the great virtues, honesty can become corrupted. Witness now, the story of Voldehorse.'

Everything slid away, much as it had when Discord had shown me the far north. Soon I was looking out over a Horizon of a different time, a time when dragons had been plentiful, and worshiped by the earth ponies.

‘Voldehorse learned the virtue of Honesty early in life,’ the voice narrated as I watched the ancient earth ponies go about their lives, ‘His honesty would serve him well in the coming years, as he traveled the land and joined with five other ponies, their group becoming the fastest of friends. The dragons, pleased with the harmony of the Six Companions, bestowed upon them the most powerful artifacts of all time: the Elements of Harmony.’

I watched as the dragons, among them Paarthurnax, presented the six earth ponies with a set of large gems. As the Six Companions took the Elements, they transformed into fantastic masks, which they wore proudly.

‘The Six Companions proclaimed themselves to be Dragon Priests, special emissaries to and from the dragons. The fantastical power they wielded was used to the benefit of all, ushering in a new era of prosperity for Horizon.’

‘But, the power they wielded was so great, the Dragon Priests began to abuse it. Voldehorse, widely known for his honesty, began to deceive the ponies of Horizon. Nopony questioned him, for they didn’t dare think the Bearer of Honesty would lie to them. As Voldehorse’s lies grew more elaborate, his power grew as well.’

I watched as Voldehorse, now appearing much as I had seen him, but alive, commanded the construction of Volsteed. Ponies flocked from all over Horizon to help in the task, not all of them willingly.

‘Consumed by power, Voldehorse founded the Disciples of Impartial Justice, an order devoted to rooting out all dishonesty, except within their own ranks. Even the slightest falsehood would be punished by death, and Voldehorse led vast purges of Horizon, killing more ponies than could be counted. Eventually, the ponies rose up against him and sealed him within Volsteed.’

‘Honesty, like all virtues, must be used wisely, and guarded carefully, lest it become corrupt and causes the very pain and suffering it is meant to prevent,’ the voice concluded.

My history lesson on Voldehorse ended, and the images of the past faded away, replaced by the bright flash of orange as I was returned to reality.

I was once again in the Dawnstar Sanctuary, surrounded by my friends.

“What was that flash?” Bereloth asked, rubbing his eyes.

“I just activated this Element of Harmony,” I said, looking down at the gem that was no longer glowing, but still retained its brilliant color, “Honesty.”

“Element of Harmony?” Bereloth asked.

“Long story,” I explained.

“Well,” Steadfast said, “That’s one down, five to go.”

Before I could respond with a retort that we still had to find the other five before they could be activated, my attention was drawn to the noise coming from below. It sounded like a great battle was going on, and I realized it was. All the Maremina cultists, and all the Griffins devoted to wiping them out were awake again. I’d managed to reignite a centuries old battle.

I galloped down toward the main hall as fast as I could, passing over the bodies of dead cultists, and sadly a few Stormclouds as well. By the time I reached the Sanctuary Proper, the battle was nearly over. All the cultists lied dead, and the Griffins were closing in on the remaining Stormclouds.

“Stop!” I shouted, getting the Griffins’ attention.

I galloped down until I was between the Stormclouds and the Griffin’s leader, a one-eyed Griffin in elaborate armor.

“A unicorn?” he asked quizzically, “Where did you, and these other ponies come from?”

“This is going to sound crazy,” I said, “But you were frozen in time.”

The Griffin’s eyes narrowed and he strode closer to me, his sword out in his talons.

“No, it’s the truth,” I said, pulling out the Griffin’s journal I’d found and giving it to him, “Maremina cast a spell on all of you, and you’ve been frozen here for centuries.”

“Until now,” Steadfast added.

“Very well, I believe you,” the Griffin said, tucking the journal away, “Now, why have you come to this temple to Maremina?”

“I’m Bereloth,” the tan-coated earth pony introduced himself, “Ice Wolf in the Stormclouds.”

“Stormclouds?” the Griffin asked.

“Horizon freedom fighters,” he explained.

“Aha,” the Griffin said, “I hope you don’t intend to use this Sanctuary for your own purposes. My brethren and I have our own plans for this place, once the dark magic of Maremina is removed.”

“Of course,” I cut in, “I’m sure Jarl Stormcloud would be happy to surrender this fortress to you.”

“Are you crazy?” Bereloth turned to me, “He’ll never allow this.”

“I have a plan,” I told him, before turning back to the Griffins, “Of course, he will require something in return.”

“You think you have the rights to issue demands?” the Griffin scoffed.

“If you don’t want war, then yes,” I told him, “Jarl Stormcloud has an entire army ready to attack Dawnstar. Once he’s finished there, I’m sure he could spare the troops to take this fortress from you.”

The Griffin sized me up for a minute, apparently trying to see if I was serious. I stared him down until he decided that I was, and gave in.

“Very well,” he said, “What are the terms of this arrangement?”

“You may have complete control of the Dawnstar Sanctuary,” I said, choosing my words carefully, “If you swear never to attack the Stormclouds, or ponies under their protection, and help them to take Dawnstar.”

The Griffin pondered my terms for a moment before reaching out his claw to shake my hoof.

“We will accept your offer,” he said, loud enough for everyone to hear.

It was poetic justice, really. With Griffins, the Empire had taken Dawnstar from the Stormclouds, and now the Stormclouds were taking it back the same way. The battle didn’t last long. Once the Imperials saw what they were up against, many surrendered to the ancient warriors. Jarl Stormcloud kept to his word, and sent the prisoners back to Windhorn instead of executing them.

He also seemed very impressed by my negotiating skills that had netted us this victory. Jarl Deala the Aged was not as impressed. She wasn’t completely cold to me, now that she was on the throne again, but she didn’t look forward to a fortress of Griffins being perched above her city. Of course, she would follow whatever commands Stormcloud gave, and he’d commanded her to be civil to the new residents of the Dawnstar Sanctuary.

I stood on a bluff to the east of Dawnstar, looking out over the freezing waters of the northern sea. The ice here was breaking apart as a fierce squall moved in from the north, sending the frigid waves crashing against the shore.

Mephalda passed me Calcion’s Cleaver. I’d spent a lot of time with this sword, but now it was time to say goodbye. It was hard, but I knew I had to. If not, more ponies would die by my blade than necessary, some of them quite possibly innocent. My other weapons would do for when killing really was necessary. The Cleaver was the weapon of a butcher, something I was determined to keep from becoming.

I threw the blade as hard as I could, sending it arcing out over the ocean. With a splash, it sank beneath the waves, never to be seen again. It felt as if a great weight had been lifted off my shoulders, and I felt much better than I had for a long time.

We stood there by the coast for a while, watching as the pegasi pulled in a storm to cover Horizon in even more snow. To the east, I thought I saw somepony, but it was so far off I disregarded it. I could ignore it no more, however, when the pitch black earth pony came within view.

“Shadowmere?” I asked, meeting him halfway, “What brings you here?”

“I was looking for you,” he said in his usual lifeless voice, “I believe I may have found some way to find the Elements of Harmony. Their locations are recorded in Talhooves’s Book of Secrets, but I could not get it.”

“Where’s it at?” I asked, surprised that the legendary assassin couldn’t find it.

“The Imperial City,” he replied.