“So, my country is freezing and suffocating to death, and the monsters of yore are back in full force. Most armed deer in the land answer to a stag sworn to my demise, and our last hope was sending my only heir led by a witch on a wild goose chase after legends. About which I’ve heard nothing for a week.”
King Ukko of Poatsula was not a happy stag right now. The old warrior glared into his jug of vodka. The rest of the council looked concerned.
“Well, at least there is increased international support for Poatsula,” said Kol and took out a sheaf of papers. “There are two score warriors from the Tatanka Confederation who came to fight for you, my liege. I’ve had them put up their tents next to the Equestrians.”
“Bah!” said Ukko. “Buffalo may be strong, but even forty buffalo won’t do much in a war this size.”
“There’s a regiment of mercenaries from Arimaspia who have asked permission to enter our territory,” Kol continued. “That’s a lot more than forty, and an air force…”
“I’ve been a mercenary, Kol. Those griffons will want money, and we don’t have any!”
“King Leo of Aquastria graciously sends a cohort of mermares and seaponies to assist you,” said Kol. “They are free…”
“The sjohestar would mostly be fighting turso, but they are very susecptible against poison and plague, and that’s the main weapons of the turso,” Ukko said morosely.
“If I tell you my news, Ukko, will you be more careful when using your Sight on it?” said Princess Luna, who had become more and more irritated during the conversation.
“What?” he snarled.
“Your ‘special talent’, as we ponies say, is finding flaws, isn’t it? Well, unless you use that in a constructive fashion, it’s no use for us coming here. I’m sure your friends here, with their experience, can see ways of overcoming the cracks you were so eager to find in the opportunities presented to you.”
Ukko snorted and quaffed his vodka. The Companions were silent. Then Skiold spoke up.
“Hey, when we served in Saddle Arabia, they had cattle soldiers run those big, simple ram-things. To fight the sand dragons. Let the Hestalanders make some from raw timber, and the buffalo can figure out how to use it against nidhoggs.”
The others mumbled and nodded.
“Ukko, since you have been a mercenary, you know it’s a standard offer to serve for plunder,” said Mustikka. “We have done it. You got your torc that way. There has to be some coins in the rebel camp, and nidhogg hides are worth much”
Ukko scowled, but looked doubtful.
“Uhm…” said Galderhorn. “I… I am sure I could talk to some of the sea-spirits… they and the seafolk could control the currents and tides, keep poisoned water away from the southern coasts… and the seas calmer…”
Ukko muttered something.
“See? With your advisors, you can make the most, even of adversity,” said Luna.
“Yeah yeah yeah! What did you have to say, moon-witch?” said Ukko.
“I received a message this morning,” said Luna and unvrolled a scroll. “They have found the Sampo, and have a way to make it work.”
The reindeer cheered. Even Ukko looked happy.
“They… they did it!” he said.
“This calls for a toast!” said Heikko. “Fill our glasses, servants!”
“Yes… but maybe solemn one,” said Luna. “Here we actually need your Sight, king of the reindeer. What’re the flaws with using a doomed artefact like that?”
Ukko fell silent.
“You mean besides the obvious ones, dream-weaver?” he said.
“Yes,” said Luna.
Ukko looked into thin air, and shuddered. His voice sounded thin and old when he spoke.
“If the legends of the Sampo I remember are true… Every wasted wish is danger to my grandson, to his companions, and to us all. The more time passes, the greater the chance of wasting a wish. So hesitation and tawdriness can spoil it all. Haste. They must make haste.”
“What kind of answer is that!” said Kol. “Making haste! What about all the dangers of wishes in stories?! What about framing a wish so it can be maliciously misinterpreted, or accidentally wishing for something foolish, or being overcome by the lust for power?!”
“Well, he did say, ‘besides the obvious ones’,” said Luna.
“I called this meeting, because we will soon have the Sampo, thanks to the generous help of Master Wiglek…” Twilight nodded to the old lich.
He barely noticed it. In the circle gathered in a big ice cave, Vigg had placed himself firmly at Wiglek’s side, while the others were a bit stand-off-ish. Jarnsaxa sat next to Twilight, far more than stand-off-ish. She had suggested to Twilight, privately, that they incapacitate Wiglek as soon as possible to render him harmless again. Twilight found it hard not to agree with her, at least just a bit, even if her ruthlessness chilled her as much as the physical presence of the Skoll. She did her best to translate back and forth for her.
“When we… or rather, Prince Vigg, gets it, we must have determine how to use it. The prophecy just says that if Prince Vigg gets the Sampo, he can use the second wish to save Poatsula. We’d better know what Vigg should wish for before he controls the artifact. As Ukko said in the letter, wishes will be dangerous, so it’s better to get it right as soon as possible.”
“Nodeer controls the Sampo, sorceress,” said Wiglek. “Worst case, Sampo controls you. It will tease your brain to make you say things that would be a wish, but will bring misery. Everything you say with words or write with runes that can be taken as a wish, will! Wish for heat in a snowstorm and it will either set you on fire or deprive a family of their goahti fire. Wish for silver and it will either land on your head or be taken from a powerful chieftain who now has cause to feud on you. I know a former owner who wished for her enemies’ deaths… and died multiple times, in the way Fate had decreed her enemies would. Utmost care is needed to handle the Sampo! It seeks your doom… for a jest.”
“Right,” said Twilight. “That's bad. Okay. All right. Important safety tip. Thanks, Wiglek.”
“Wait,” said Spike, who was supposed to take notes, “if they lost their deaths, does it mean they became immortal like you?”
“There isn’t just one possible death for each mortal, dragonling,” said Wiglek. “And she didn’t wish for all possible ways her enemies could have done, could she?”
“We should have brought a lawyer!” said Spike.
“Huh?” said Wiglek, Kvalhissir and Jarnsaxa, the latter a little later than the others due to Twilight’s hasty translation.
Before Twilight could break out an explanation of modern law practice, Vigg interrupted her.
“A scholar learned in laws and customs and how to form agreements,” he said. “They are famous for their skill at word-play. Master Wiglek, again, so the only thing the Sampo can do is bring things to you that somedeer else has?”
“Yes,” said Wiglek.”Though as my son showed, ‘has’ is a relative concept here.”
“Our problem is that we need to get rid of things!” said Vigg. “The cold and snow! The winter monsters! The war! We - I can’t just wish for them to go away.”
“You could go somewhere far from Poatsula and wish for them to come there,” said Spike.
“That would mean that place got overrun with all those troubles,” said Saga.
“We could put you in a boat far out at sea,” said Spike. “Everything lands in the water?”
“That still leaves Vigg at the center of a lot of… lethal things!” said Twilight.
“That might be… necessary,” said Vigg. “But how would I wish the war to a place?” said Vigg. “If I say that, I could of course specify the armed rebels, but given how the political situation is, it might end up kidnapping half the country!”
Kvalhissir coughed.
“What if we concentrate on the winter monsters?” he said. “Vigg travels to some unpopulated desert. He wishes for them there. They perish in the heat. We are given relief to deal with war and famine.”
“We don’t have much time to transport anydeer far away,” said Twilight. “Things grow worse by the way. And I don’t know if even Celestia and Luna have a way to transport somedeer by magic to the most unpopulated part of Saddle Arabia or something. Not to mention, again, Vigg in the middle of a thousand angry monsters sounds like a bad idea..”
“I said, that might be necessary,” said Vigg. “I’m not afraid of a sacrifice!”
“But I am,” said Twilight. “I’m responsible for you, to your mother. And Grandfather. And the country. You’re the heir.”
“Vigg, I don’t doubt you’re brave,” said Vidar. “But I’d rather not you die like your father, being too brave.”
Saga swallowed.
“Uh, Mistress Twilight… I might have an idea,” she said. “I actually thought of it tonight. A lot. I don’t know if it is a good idea, or…”
“Shoot,” said Twilight.
Saga drew a wavy line on the ice floor.
“Here’s the western coast running north from Sarvvik,” she said.
She drew a shorter line at one end of the first, at 90 degrees.
“This where is the northern coast starts, all cliffs, if I remember it right.”
She drew a long straight line from the other end of the short line, parallel to the coast.
“These are the steep cliffs inland from the coast. The land is mostly forest, again if I remember it right. Lot of it has been cut down though, I think.”
In the middle of the literal coastline, she drew a small circle.
“Here’s the rebel camp, which is actually quite well defended and have lots of soldiers.”
At the opposite of the short line, she drew a larger circle.
“This is Sarvvik, which if I have understood you guys is now fortified by Equestrian magics and technology and surrounded by traps and mines and spells and barbed wire and guarded by like two and a half armies,” Saga said.
“I think I see what you mean…” said Twilight. “...but I do think this is probably a bad idea...!”
“What?” said Spike.
“Princess Luna has said the right thing would be to drive all the winter monsters to the heavily defended wall where we have a great advantage fighting them - wounding and scaring off anyone not killed,” said Saga.
“And you mean Vigg just should go to the wall and get them there - do like Sampo when he wished for all the snow in Poatsula…” said Twilight, frowning
“Wish for all the winter monsters!” said Spike.
“No, that wouldn’t be a good idea,” said Saga.
“Ah,” said Twilight and relaxed.
Saga swallowed and shut her eyes for a moment.
“I’m saying Vigg - you - should travel to the furthermost North and wish for all the winter monsters there,” she said, opened her eyes and pointed to the shorter line. “Then, they likely would have to travel down here, between the ocean and the cliffs, towards Sarvvik.”
“Along the way, many would perish,” said Kvalhissir. “So many in one spot is already unnatural… like what happened to the nidhogg around my… my former home.”
“When they come to the rebel camp… worst case is the rebels try to fight them off,” said Saga. “That will decimate the monsters, and well, the rebels…”
“No!” said Twilight, “absolutely not.”
“Best case, however, is that they retreat back to Sarvvik and take a stand there with everydeer else,” said Saga. “We’ll warn them clear in advance so they can retreat. And after that it might blow off the whole war - I doubt anyone would want to fight once they have defended the capital together.”
“I bet the rebels wouldn’t be happy raiding Equestria for food and riches once they have fought next to ponies either,” said Vidar and smiled.
“This is still such a… violent solution!” said Twilight.
“And how do you think we should handle the monsters without violence, Lady Twilight?” said Vidar. “Every year, we kill them and they kill us. Because of evil fates, this is bigger than ever, but there has always been a war against winter. I pray it will never happen like this again.”
“At least the Skoll will not fight against us this time, right?” said Vigg and looked to Jarnsaxa.
Twilight translated, and the Skoll frowned.
“I can’t promise anything… but while might not fight with you, I’m sure we won’t fight against you.”
Kvalhissir coughed again.
“I’m not an elder,” he said. “Moose are not of winter. We never have been. But to save the country, we might fight alongside the little ones.”
“So…” said Saga and looked at Twilight Sparkle. “It’s… it means a war. But it’s a way to stop the winter monsters destroying the country, and make all the sapients in Poatsula fight together instead of against each other.”
“We’ll just have to deal with the cold and snow,” said Vigg.
“No,” said Wiglek. “I will not help you with this! I cannot believe you are suggesting this… harebrained scheme! As a war it would be seen as glorious, but surely Äitsi’s curse will find a way to wreck this!”
“Well,” said Tuva, “Äitsi was the god of strife, right? I think he’d love to see the biggest battle ever in Poatsula.”
“And from what I’ve heard of Discord, he’d not pull the same stunt twice, so I doubt you’d actually get crushed by a bunch of zombies falling on your head like with that ‘all the snow in Tarandroland’ thing,” said Spike. “I mean, he’s not actively using Sampo, but he did put the curse on it, and the curse sounds like… like a genie with his personality, or something.”
“But… you… Sampo - I mean, Vigg…” Wiglek. “You would still take such a risk…”
Vigg smiled nervously.
“Well… the world’s greatest sorceress has said that she needs me alive because she doesn’t want to make my grandpa angry, or something,” he said. “You’ve fought her, you should know how good she is.”
“Yeah, she can protect Vigg with a forcefield while he uses the Sampo!” said Saga.
“And teleport us to safety once we have the monsters where we want them!” said Vigg. “Right, Lady Twilight?”
“Yes… yes I supposed I could,” said Twilight. She didn’t look pleased.
“No… no… still no…” said Wiglek, shooking his head maniacally. “No… no… no…”
“Wiglek, she defeated Äitsi himself once, she can handle a curse of his!” said Vigg. “Wiglek!”
“Nonononono…” he murmured.
“Master Wiglek! Wiglek! Father!” Vigg shouted.
The lich looked up, suddenly lucid.
“You can come with me,” Vigg said. “You can protect me as well. I’m sure two of the greatest mages in history can keep me alive and unharmed for one minute!”
“Yes… well… very well…” said Wiglek.
“You can make up for… for the other time,” said Vigg.
“I can never make up for that,” said Wiglek solemnly. “But anydeer can try… to make their best.”
“I still don’t like this,” said Twilight, “ but I’ll further the suggestion to the royals in Sarvvik. They get to decide. Come, Spike, we need to send a letter.”
“Wait!” said Spike.
“What now?” said Twilight. She leaned closer to Spike and whispered: “Please tell me you have a less crazy idea!”
“No, no… but all this talk, it is about the second wish!” said Spike. “If Saga’s predictions are right, the second wish is the one who does it. Then he must wish for something else, anything, before he makes that wish so it isn’t the first!”
“Well, that is a smaller matter,” said Twilight. “Surely he can wish for something trivial.”
“Yeah, I could just use the wish to steal something in a petty way,” said Vidar.
“Wiglek said we should be careful,” said Spike. “And apparently we should trust him, so I think we’d better consider it.”
“Let’s deal with it later, Spike,” said Twilight. “Let’s get this letter away. They need to start working right away to do what Saga proposes.”
“Sure!” Spike sighed.
“Well, it’s now or never,” said Saga with cheer that sounded just a little bit forced.
Vigg sighed and swallowed. “I guess so.”
They were all gathered in Sampo’s tomb. Saga had been a bit disappointed in the lack of ceremony needed to take the Sampo.
“But you would do well to gather and give him your support,” Wiglek had said. “It was no pleasant work, doing that alone, and my son only did it with my meager help.”
Hence they were all there. They had eaten a small dinner first, except Wiglek. He had, however, insisting on having a bowl of food and a jug of liquor with him during the dinner.
“A full bowl and a full jug always brightened my mood,” he said. No one argued, although Spike did consider it a bit of a waste.
Now they had gathered around the dais where the hero of old laid. Vigg were standing next to it, with Saga on his left side and Wiglek on his right. Twilight had her Sight-spell up and was overwhelmed. Spike was supposed to take notes but was really too nervous. Kvalhissir was obviously considering where to run in case of doom.
Wiglek was very controlled, his strange wheezing voice as clear and clipped as possible for the voice of a walking corpse who only breathes out of habit.
“Now… do as I told you,” he said. “Just Look at it. Look at it until you are overwhelmed and there is nothing else in the world. Let it fill your vision, let it fill your thoughts. No, open your eyes. Open them.”
“This is like being at the dentist… open wide…” Vigg said with a nervous giggle.
“Don’t talk!” said Wiglek. “Only Look. You’ll need smalltalk… later. Look! Look at it! Can you See how far it stretches? How the spiral reaches the sea and the sky and the Summerlands? See! See the borders stretches beyond the edges of your vision, how it stretches behind you, how you cannot See it all, how it connects the whole world! The spiral has no beginning and no end, it moves, circles, just out of beat with your heart, almost in tune with the cosmos, stands behind the tree and watches you, the thief of the universe who you almost cannot see! It’s in the goahti-roof when you sleeps and under the surface of the lake, it is in the shadow of the mountain and just behind the snowdrift. It’s the Sampo, burrowing through the world, hiding, reaching, stealing, taking what’s yours, mine, the gods’, everydeers’! Can you See it? Don’t answer, just shut your eyes tight, make your mind see it, and then breathe in!
Vigg wailed and fell to the floor. The reindeer - except the walking dead one - gasped. So did Twilight.
“Such - such… power! And malice… petty, petty malice…” she said.
“Vigg!”
His relatives and his girlfriend rushed to him.
“Vigg! Breathe!” said Vidar and tried to help him up. Saga was holding him.
He was muttering under his breath.
“youcanhaveitalloucanhaveitallnownoeffortnopaymentnopriceallnorestraintcansavetheworldglobalpeaceanendtofamineperfectingtomorrowperfectingyesterday…”
“Stop it! Don’t listen to the voices, and more importantly, don’t repeat them!” Wiglek said and shook Vigg. “Stop it! Breathe instead! Breathe!”
He did, raggedly, slowly.
“Remember what I’ve told you! The Sampo will fulfill anything you say with words or write with runes! If you don’t spell it out, it cannot take it as a wish and twist it!”
“The voices…” Vigg said. “They…”
“Try to sing, or hum, or keep moving,” Wiglek said. “That dampens them.”
Vigg stood up and shook his head.
“Phew…”
“Are you better?” said Saga.
“Remember, if you are, don’t answer in the form of a wish or request!” said Twilight.
Everyone looked at her.
“Well, the expert just told us…” she murmured.
She sighed. She had sort of expected yet dreaded that the reindeer king would have taken to Saga’s plan, but Princess Luna had been scarily positive as well. Celestia had apparently been reluctantly positive. She had only Luna’s word for it, and felt a bit ashamed that she hoped Luna had been bending the truth, that her mentor would have disliked the idea of mass nidhogg slaughter. The preparations were full underway. Jarnsaxa had already sent word to her fellow Skoll. Kvalhissir would leave after he knew Sampo was ready, flying down to the downlands. They had remained where they were because the path to the north coast was long, and they were closer to it here than in Sarvvik.
Vigg was humming.
“I think I… I think I can almost handle it,” he said. He laughed. “They’re bit… stupid.”
“Who?” said Saga.
“The voices,” said Vigg. “I mean, I don’t want riches, I have what silver I want. And I’m not sure I want to be king, despite being a prince, so I don’t think I want power either…”
“They begin with common vices and carry on with more specific ones,” said Wiglek. “Don’t relax.”
“Phew… don’t relax… ever…” Vigg said, then hummed.
“Let’s leave the tomb to Sampo,” said Vidar. “Let’s step outside.”
“We need to talk about the first wish!” Spike muttered.
“Wiglek…” said Vigg. “...had you… the darkness inside you… the Nightmare… when you first found the Sampo?”
“Yes,” said Wiglek.
“Whoa… which of them was worst?” said Vigg, a bit groggily, and then hummed.
“What do you mean?” said the lich.
“Tempting… tugging at you… both of them, right?”
“Yes and no,” said Wiglek and scowled. “They are not exactly the same, though the.. tugging is there. But I bore them both at once, so I couldn’t really tell anyway. Two burdens is heavier than one, but it is hard to say which is worst.”
Vigg stopped and looked at Wiglek, forcing himself to watch the blackness and the three shimmering points of light. Was one of them bigger?
“You’re a great stag, Master Wiglek, do you know that?” said Vigg.
“Thanks, young one, but you shouldn’t talk too much,” said Wiglek, distressed. “And besides, they call me the Wicked with reason. Maybe I was not that great.”
“I’ve… I almost said want without saying not want!” said Vigg. “Ha! In your face, curse!” He giggled. “But I didn’t!”
He put a hoof on Wiglek’s shoulder.
“You… I’m sorry for you and how you’ve been treated, Master Wiglek, and if I could I would relieve you of at least some of that… darkness thing.”
Wiglek saw the danger coming and started to form his mouth into a “no”, but he didn’t get to finish it as a long thin stream of said darkness streamed out of it and into Vigg’s mouth.
Wiglek tried to scream but couldn’t. Vigg tried to scream but couldn’t. Their companions screamed enough for both of them.