//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Friendship is Scaleless // by Limescale //------------------------------// Princess Luna never claimed to be a prideful mare. Indeed the 1,000 years spent imprisoned on the moon, followed by witnessing the aftermath of the atrocities she committed as Nightmare Moon had done wonders to crush whatever ego she might have harbored. That said, her positions as diarch of Equestria, Guardian of Dreams and, most importantly, the one who raised the moon and wove the stars into a tapestry every night did fan a few remaining embers. She, like her sister, was a being of utmost importance, and on the occasion when somepony acknowledged such, she couldn’t help feeling a bit of the old smugness return to her soul. Tonight was such a night, as she finished lifting the moon into the sky and turned to see the reaction of the one who’d specifically requested a demonstration of her powers. Seath looked completely engrossed in the magnificent scene, analyzing the starry night like an explorer who had happened upon a rare treasure and wished to study the craftsmanship. Even if she wouldn’t personally call it one of her best efforts he still seemed impressed, and knowing his apparent status as a likewise powerful entity the black mare couldn’t help smirking. “You stand amazed, dear Seath.” She said, biting her tongue against the giggles as the giant white dragon stroked his chin and stared with foal like awe. “Tis one thing to be told of those with powers hitherto unknown. Tis quite another to see such powers be handsomely spread out for one’s eyes to feast upon.” The drake replied as he finally lowered his gaze away from the stars, propping his muzzle on a fist to contemplate what he had witnessed. “Were this Lordran there are covenants who would praise thee as a goddess returned for thine abilities, just as there are covenants who would decry thee as a blasphemy against the natural order and demand thine immediate execution.” He ignored Luna’s somewhat offended look as he turned to the other ponies gathered on the balcony at his eye level. “Still, as there exist none of thine caliber in Lordran, I am forced to return to my previous conclusion: these are lands far removed by either time or space. Puzzling indeed as all of thee demonstrate both knowledge and techniques imparted down the ages from mine efforts.” Celestia, the white alicorn princess of the sun, nodded thoughtfully. “Puzzling indeed. You claim to be one who helped craft magic into the art form we regularly use today, but there’s nothing in our history about you.” She replied. Seath was now the one who looked offended, but momentarily his anger faded to disappointment. “If history hath taught me anything, equine, it is that its accuracy can only be reliant as the one charged with maintaining it. Much of that which was chronicled during the Age of Fire is now lost due to the negligence of a lesser god. Can thou say thine record keepers have never similarly erred?” “Absolutely!” Twilight proclaimed indignantly. “The Royal Archives are among the best maintained in Equestria! There isn’t a single moment from any point in history that hasn’t been carefully recorded and logged among their shelves in some fashion!” Seath stared down at the lavender equine, not with anger but intrigue at her upset. “And anyway, who are you to comment on our organization after the mess you made of my library?” She demanded with increasing abrasiveness. “Twilight!” Celestia scolded. Her tone served to dampen the lavender princess’ flames, but only to the point that they smoldered with malice. “I’m sorry but…seriously we’ve spent weeks getting all those books properly ordered and he’s just been tossing them carelessly about all afternoon.” Twilight shamefully looked up at the drake who seemed torn on whether to crush her underneath one of his tentacles, or perhaps apologize for his own fault. He did tend to only value literature so long as it could provide him with new information, and then just throw it aside like rubbish after he’d learned all he could. Indeed, as of late, the meticulous order of the Duke Archives had been possible only due to his channelers’ relentless efforts…or more precisely the slave labor of hollowed undead they corralled to keep everything in its place. Seath, of course, had neither to make of here, meaning he’d actually have to rely on his own merits if he wished to continue amassing knowledge. The thought chilled him deeply to his core. “Regardless, I would not be so quick to critique. There were many times that you turned the same Royal Archives into a warzone of paper when working on one of the projects I assigned to you, back when you studied under me.” Celestia intoned. Seath raised a curious eyeridge. “Thou was the mentor of this mare?” The white dragon asked. Smiling warmly, Celestia nodded. “She was my personal student for many years, until she moved here to Ponyville.” Seath idly stroked his chin in contemplation as he returned to studying the white alicorn. He could sense tremendous power in all three of these equines, great potential that he could definitely make use of, if only he played his cards right. "Perhaps thou could impart me with the knowledge I thus seek? And negate mine need to….browse thine student’s literature?” Celestia nodded again, though her expression now carried a bit more caution. “Only if you do the same for a few questions we have. First off, Twilight tells me you were severely wounded and near death when you first turned up on her lawn.” Seath nodded slowly, feeling a itchy ping from the scabbed over remains of what had once been his tail. “There art many that covet what I possess. Some envy my knowledge, some wisheth for my skills…some demand my life.” He replied darkly. “T’was a soul of the latter that hunted me down to the Archives, and severely wounded me in battle.” All three of the princesses look disturbed. “Why would anyone wish harm upon you?” Luna asked. Seath grimly pushed his glasses back up on his muzzle and sighed. “A great chaos hath consumed Lordran. For many years, a curse known as the ‘Darksign’ hath afflicted the masses that dwell within the lands. Those branded by it are continually reborn after death, until at last their mind shatters and they become mere shells of who they were, without purpose, and without hope. ‘Hollows’ as they are called, forced to walk the land, to fight, to die, and then rise again to repeat their torment till the end of time.” Seath explained somberly. “Such desperate times hath led to desperate measures. Even in Anor Londo one is constantly at risk of being attacked by such monstrosities.” “How terrible.” Celestia gasped. “Inevitably one with a mind for either grim death, or great gain, finally found their way into my sanctum, and would have triumphed over me had not others intervened.” The dragon concluded. “Others that you claim to have no knowledge of.” Luna commented. “Indeed. The means of how I came to be among thine lands is to me as it is to all of thee: an enigma only fate can bear to answer.” Celestia hmmmed as she carefully chose her next query. “Twilight also said she healed you with estus, a substance that had to be outlawed for centuries due to its lethal properties. I can still recall the reports of ponies dying in unimaginable agony after ingesting it, yet somehow it’s had the exact opposite effect on you.” The faintest glimmer of arrogant mirth crossed Seath’s face. “Thine efforts for creating the Bottled Fire are admirable, but incomplete, and also misapplied. Alchemy was but a crude first step in its inception, the true potential requires the flames of the Kiln itself to be recognized. More so, it is a gift not intended for mere living mortals. Only true undead can benefit from its effects.” At the mention of the word ‘undead’ Celestia took a step back. For a moment Twilight could swear she saw a streak of shocked recognition run across her teacher’s face, but just as quickly Celestia resumed her calm, analytical expression. “And you are such a true undead I presume?” She asked. Seath nodded with a definite raise of his muzzle. His crystalline wings fluttered with pride. “I am…or I was. The attack on my life…it claimed much of what I held dear.” The dragon’s head slumped again, his body sagging as depression made a grand return. Twilight noted he’d been having these sort of wild mood swings for most of the day. “Well, if I may ask a question then…if estus isn’t meant to be made from alchemy, how IS it meant to be made?” She intoned. Seath glanced down at the lavender alicorn, who now gazed at him not with fury but with the same scientific want for knowledge that he recognized all too well. Silently the white dragon knew he could easily indulge that curiosity, but to do so he would have to make a request that was not likely to be well received. Course, with that said…these equines wished to know more of what he had made possible, and no dragon could resist a chance to show off for a crowd. “I could demonstrate for thee, as thou was gracious enough to do so in turn. However, I will require something of the highest importance: a soul.” Twilight cocked her ears forward. “A soul?” Seath nodded. “The fire that exists in us all. That enables one to transcend the disparity between life and death. That which the cursed covet as their only means to hold onto what once made them more than hollow.” Twilight puzzled Seath’s flowery speech, her ears drooping and her features falling as she finally deduced their meaning. “You mean…you need somepony’s life essence? A sacrifice basically?” She queried. Seath nodded and braved the looks of disgust that greeted him from every direction. He figured that was how they’d react, but then again, they had been the ones to ask. He was only imparting the truth. “With all due respects, noble Seath, I don’t think we can accommodate you on that.” Luna said. Celestia nodded, but Twilight held back. She was thinking hard about something, something that evidently made her uneasy, but might just allow her to have her curiosity sated. “Mmmm…hold on. Will any soul do or does it have to specifically be a pony’s?” She asked. Seath shook his head. “For the simple act of kindling the fire, only a simple soul is required.” Taking a deep breath, Twilight fought back her disgust. “Then let me go and speak with Fluttershy. We might be able to work something out.” While Celestia and Luna frowned in confusion, the lavender alicorn ran back into her castle, to where her friends were all waiting in a cozy study on the other side of the hallway. “Oh hey Twilight, how’s it going out there? How’d Mr. Snow White take Luna’s raising of the moon?” Rainbow Dash asked. “With exceptional fascination, so much so he wants to return the favor, but he needs something…um…special.” Twilight swallowed hard and turned to the butterscotch pegasus. “Fluttershy, you said that Snuggly, the crow who’s been living with you, is in his last days?” Fluttershy nodded sadly. “I know I shouldn’t feel bad. He’s had a good life and raised many babies with his wife, but he’s gotten so old and sick now I…I wish he didn’t have to suffer.” Twilight hesitantly nodded. “Would you….um…be willing to help him….uh…rest? I mean…ummm…permanently?” Fluttershy looked horrified, as did Twilight for having voiced such a terrible question. “I…what are you talking about, Twilight?” Fluttershy demanded. With another deep breath, the alicorn quickly tried to recover. “Seath needs a soul, to show us how his sorcery works. Since obviously none of us are going to be able to help with that I thought maybe we could use one from a being who’s…not long for this world anyway?” She cringed as more stares of horror and disbelief were leveled at her from all of her friends. “You’re right, that’s a terrible idea. I apologize profusely for mentioning it.” She turned around to go tell Seath she wouldn’t be able to help…but a hoof held her still. “Wait…can Seath promise Snuggly a quick and painless end?” Fluttershy asked. Twilight seemed reluctant but nodded. “I’ll make sure he does!” She replied. Though Fluttershy grimly hung her head she rose and bade for her friend to follow. “Okay, then I’ll go get him from my cottage. Just as long as he doesn’t have to suffer anymore.” She said. *** An hour or so later Seath and the ponies were all gathered around the freshly replenished and lit bonfire in Twilight’s backyard. Standing before the great dragon, Fluttershy set down a carrying basket and gently lifted a withered and very sickly looking crow from it. “Snuggly’s been a long-time friend of mine. He’s returned every year to make a nest by my cottage and raise his family with my help. If you could please see to it that he passes away peacefully, I’d be very appreciative.” She said. Seath cupped his hands and accepted the bird with the same careful manner. He seemed both perturbed, and yet pleased at what kind of offering had been presented for his use. “I request a simple soul, and thou bringeth me a servant of Velka herself. Truly pony, does thou realize the honor thou bestows with this act?” He asked. All around the fire there were looks of bewilderment. “Uh…no, not really. Who, pray, is Velka?” Twilight asked, her puzzlement increasing at how Seath took comfort from her ignorance. “The Goddess of Sin is Velka. Black of hair and rogue of faith, the witch’s charge is the definition of how one soul may wrong another, and what punishments to mete out. Through her, and those who work as her pardoners, shalt one find absolution for the evils they have wrought, or damnation for the weight of the sins they shoulder.” Seath lightly ran a finger across Snuggly’s head, causing the bird to caw weakly. “Crows art the embodiment of her will. It is they who leadeth the sinful to their judgment, and they who watcheth over the pure of heart. A sensible act it is, that she would send one to safeguard a soul as kind and innocent as thine.” Fluttershy blinked then blushed under Seath’s contemplative gaze. “I don’t know about that. I treat all animals like my friends. He’s just one who wished to return the favor by coming back to visit me every year.” She explained. The white dragon snorted at such humbleness. “As t'was the command of his goddess no doubt. See to it I shalt that he serves her as well in death as he did in life!” Seath blew into his hand, forming with his breath a long crystal, shaped in the likeness of some manner of a sword, with what appeared to be a coiled blade. This he placed over Snuggly’s chest, using it to focus some manner of magical energy from his fingertips into the bird’s body. Snuggly feebly arched his back as he was enveloped in a warm white aura, then, with a tiny and relieved caw, his eyes closed in permanent slumber. The aura surged from his feathers back into the coiled sword, compacting within the transparent blade into a mass of pure, blazing energy. With a somber nod, Seath handed Snuggly’s lifeless body back to Fluttershy. She bravely accepted it and laid it back in her basket, intending to give her friend a proper burial once she returned home. “Whoah, so that’s what a soul looks like?” Rainbow Dash queried. Seath obligingly held the crystal out for all the ponies to get a look at. “It’s like a ball of fire. White fire!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “Wait, so does that mean I literally have a fire in my soul? The Cakes weren’t just speaking figuratively when they told me that?” Seath rolled his eyes. “Nay, pony, there is fire in all of us. Fire and life are synonymous. One feeds the other, and the other in turn maketh all other facets of the world possible.” As Pinkie Pie blinked then bounced happily about from this revelation, Seath drove the crystal into the center of the bonfire. He closed his hand around the top then shut his eyes as if meditating as he thought back to his method for creating a certain special addition to the cells of his prison tower to ensure prisoners couldn't simply warp out of them. Slowly Snuggly’s soul flowed from its container and seemingly merged with the flames, feeding them with an apparent energy that made them blaze with twice their intensity. "Annnd, now what's he doing?" Spike queried as he watched the spectacle of the fire blooming, then undergoing a strange metamorphosis. Pinkie paused in her bounces and turned with a sense of recognition on her face as she saw what was happening. "Ooooh! I think it's a mechanic of his game...though..." Pinkie scratched her head. "Uhhh...I think they dummied this one out for the final version. It's not one I recognize." The fire ceased its usual dance of crackling jitters and popping jumps, instead it began to flow around the crystal coiled sword with slow, twisting movements, like a sheet of heat and light swirling around a central column of air. The flames took on an almost hypnotic quality, their forms now dancing as if with purpose, rather than chaos. “These flames are now those of the Kiln. From them much can be made, including the pure form of estus. Behold!” Seath grabbed for the emerald flask that had been set off to one side and held it before the fire. Like liquid from a spring, the flames flowed into the vessel, filling it with their energy. Satisfied, Seath set the brightly glowing flask down for the ponies to admire, and admire it they did! “That’s…beautiful!” Rarity exclaimed. “Looks kinda like cider…the purest, strongest cider you could ever make.” Applejack followed. Hesitantly, Twilight placed a hoof against the flask. “It’s not even warm…yet I can see the flames inside it….” “They remain mere masses of heat and light no longer. T'is with the essence of life itself that they now burn, provided by the imbued soul.” Seath explained. “Thou wilt find it safe to handle, if thou wishes to study it further.” The lavender alicorn grinned like a foal on Hearth’s Warming Morning. “Oh you bet I wanna study this! I want to study everything you can do! This is magic unlike any I’ve heard of before! We have to know more about this, right, Celestia?” The white alicorn did not immediately respond. Indeed when Twilight glanced up she noticed her mentor looked rather troubled. She scraped a hoof across her forehead, eyes tightly closed as if trying to dig for some distant memory. As Luna likewise noticed her sister’s unusual reaction, the sun princess took a deep breath and straightened herself up. “It would be beneficial to share our knowledge with one who possesses such power over the foundations of life itself…however, I must pose one more question to you first, Seath.” The alicorn turned to the dragon. “Do you intend to remain here among us? Or do you wish to return to Lordran? We will happily assist you in the latter.” Seath had to think on that. All of his equipment, his books, his resources, his army of channelers and his sanctuary were back in the Duke Archives, and without them he was severely underpowered. At the same time, however, all of those that wished him harm were also back in Anor Londo, as were the bitter memories of all his failures and the ever-looming threat of his own demise. Here he may have had little to work with, but the ponies were at least of no threat, they knew nothing of his crimes or his dark past, and the opportunity to start anew was intoxicating indeed. Besides he’d been able to leave Verdite behind without a second thought so how hard could it be to try and forget about Lordran? “If I may, fair princesses, I wish to plead for asylum in thine dominion. T’would be safer for me to remain here, and if thine asking price is the exchange of mine skills, I can accommodate.” He said with some reservations. There was a lot he’d rather not share in order to keep an ace up his sleeve, but he could still show them the basics of sorcery. Who knows, he might enlighten their rather plebeian minds a bit in the process. “He could stay with me if you want. He seemed quite at home in the castle.” Twilight spoke up with a hint of smugness. “He still needs to clean up the mess he made of my books anyway.” Seath snorted in annoyance but held his tongue. However irritatingly pedantic the lavender pony might prove to be, she was also starting to grow on him with that ever-present desire to learn. It reminded him of how he used to be, back before everything fell apart. “Let us step back inside and discuss this over some tea first, Twilight. Late as it may be, we have more that we wish to ask of Seath, not to mention I have still to demonstrate my own control over the sun.” Celestia replied, drawing the white dragon’s attention back to her. “No doubt thou dost.” He quietly replied, narrowing his unseen gaze at Celestia's unnerved glance in his direction as everyone headed back into Twilight’s castle.