//------------------------------// // Chapter 20: The forest for the trees // Story: Where did you come from? // by Jeweled Pen //------------------------------// Rarity shivered as she walked through the castle's halls. It was cold, though all the lights were on. Their hooves echoed through the empty halls, reminding them that they were the only ones up at this hour. The other three guards were waiting outside the library and slowly the door opened. She let out a little involuntary squeak at the sight before her. Twilight stood in the middle of the room, surrounded on all sides by papers. They dangled from strings, hovered with magic, covered nearly every inch of the walls. “-- but then what would be the purpose? But if not that, then why does his magic work fine, when mine doesn't? Is it because his form is naturally so similar? But if that's the case why doesn't his magic change any more? He's been here a week but his magic is still the same. How was he even able to summon that creature in that dimension?” She pulled over a small stack of papers, flipping through them. “If that was a minor, weak one, what if a powerful one was summoned? Or hundreds of them? Thousands? What kind of damage could they have wrought? If the magic doesn't exist here, why does it exist there? Is this what I'm supposed to stop? But if Claw exists, it must mean the damage was semi-minor. Geographically speaking. The entire world can't have been destroyed. But what if most of it was? But I survived and so did Spike and Sweetie. But if Rarity didn't, what happened? How does the thief play into all this?” She then trotted over towards a small black dome, glaring at it. “Come onnnnn! I've got you focused, work fast! How many weeks? HOW MANY WEEKS?!!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, stomping her hooves. Rarity gulped and slowly walked forward, looking around nervously before tapping Twilight on the back. The alicorn whipped around and glared at her. “WHAT?” the princess roared, before pausing and looking bashful. “S-sorry, Rarity. I-I didn't mean to--” “It's quite alright, darling. Did you sleep well?” “Yes, actually, I slept wonderfully. And I found a hint!” she said before pointing at the letter she'd sent back, still under the black dome of magic. The letters kept being written and removed over and over, different ones each time. Ahead of the shifting letters were the words 'weeks from now'. “You mean...” “Yes! When I can find out how many weeks it is, I can know when we're going to have to deal with this problem!” Twilight said with glee, rubbing her hooves together. “I can get help from the princesses. More importantly, I can prepare. If this threat is really so dangerous, there's no telling what we'll need. But I have an idea where it's coming from. I still need more information, but I can work with this.” She then moved closer and grinned at her friend. “I can do this! I can make sure you and Spike don't die! Nopony has to die! I-I can save you. I can--” The words were cut off as Twilight found herself wrapped in a hug from her friend. “Oh you dear, dear princess. Twilight, you mustn't burn yourself so much over this. We know you're going to figure this out. We know it's going to be okay.” She leaned back. “You wouldn't have sent Claw back if you weren't sure you could handle this. And you can. You will. You're a brilliant pony who can solve any problem, this will be no different.” “But... but I already failed once,” she whispered. “And that was...” “You didn't know then what you know now. This time you know something is coming and you WILL defeat it. I know you will. But please, dear, you must take care of yourself.” She motioned towards the paper. “It says weeks, correct? That means, at the minimum, there is one more week to go. Correct? So you have time. You have plenty of time. You can and will solve this. You just need to calm down and be rational.” She then looked at the alicorn's stomach. “Also, you dreadfully need some sustenance, dear. Have you been eating?” “What, of course I have! I have all my meals delivered.” She pointed towards a desk that was... littered with plates filled with food, mostly soggy. She gave a sheepish smile. “Or... err... I was. I mean... err...” She wavered slightly under the unicorn's glare. “I-I got some sleep...” “That's good. But now you have to eat something and then work on this, okay? No more until you finish eating something. Anything.” “But--” “Eat first, plan after.” “... Can I plan during?” “As long as you're eating, fine.” The alicorn sighed, before looking past Rarity. Her cheeks turned red. “O-oh. Hello. I ummm, don't believe we've met.” She looked around. “Pardon the mess.” Precious stepped forward and bowed politely. “It's no problem, princess. I am Precious, this is Rare Find. We're Rarity's aunt and uncle. It is quite a pleasure to meet you and I am ever so thankful that you're working so hard to fix all of this. It must be quite difficult.” “It is a little, but once you begin to stop thinking of things as going forward and more in... fifth dimensions, sometimes sixths, it's really not so hard. You see by--” “EAT!” Rarity ordered. “Right, right, eating,” Twilight mumbled as she trotted towards the door. “A meal has already been prepared in the dining hall, Princess Twilight,” one of the guards said, bowing his head. “Oh, can it be brought here? I--” “IN THE DINING HALL!” Rarity roared. The princess cringed and started trotting off, grumbling darkly. “You'd think she was my mother too the way she acts... grumble grumble rabble rabble...” The unicorn smiled sheepishly. “I'd best go ensure she does eat. Would you two like to head home? It might be late before I return.” “I would love to say no, but...” Precious gave a soft yawn. “We've been traveling most this morning. I think it would be best if we went and got some sleep. Thank you for allowing us to...” She looked around at all the papers, stopping to gaze at a few of them longer. “Peek into the mind of the princess. I must say it is quite fascinating, this research. Time magic, summoning, so many different types. I'd love to pick her mind sometime, when the fate of your life and others isn't on the line.” Rarity nodded. “If you'd like, I'm sure that can be arranged. Though, I should mention that she's... a bit intense at times. So it might be a tad difficult to keep up. But her research is second to none.” She started trotting down the hall towards the dining hall. Once she arrived, she let out a sigh. For all the things Twilight was, a clean eater was not one of them. Her face was covered in barbecue sauce and the remains of a few burgers littered the table. A nice stack of them still lay ahead and she showed no sign of slowing down as she devoured them whole, managing to get sauce on her cheeks and horn. The guards stood at attention, watching with stoic indifference. She walked over and whispered to them. “Does... she always eat like this?” “This is nothing,” Flash whispered back. “You should see Princess Celestia eat. I've seen her devour a hay ham whole. Gravy and all.” Rarity blanched slightly. “W-well... I suppose... err...” She quickly looked away, trying not to imagine the princesses at a hearth's warming eve dinner. She kept her gaze away from her friend, trying not to focus on the sound of her scarfing down the defenseless burgers, the loud smacks of her mouth opening and closing around them, sending the loud squishy sound of the sauce through the air. It made her shiver slightly. But soon enough the sound stopped and the princess leaned back, her hooves wrapped around her stomach. “Ahhhh, that hit the spot. Thanks Rarity, I really needed that. I didn't realize just how hungry I was.” The unicorn nodded before looking towards the disaster zone. She paled slightly at the sight of the sauce coating the fancy table. How did she manage to get sauce all the way on the OTHER end of the table? That was at least ten feet away! She certainly did not envy the guards who were moving in to clean the mess up. She moved up besides her friend. “There. Now, sleep, food, how about--” She paused and sniffed the air. “Darling. When is the last time you had a bath?” “Err... well... a bath I haven't... errr...” “Or a shower?” “Well...” The alicorn had the good grace to keep her gaze lowered. “I did take a quick one to get the slime off the other day, most of it. But I've been really busy and--” “Darling, there is always time to take proper care of yourself,” the mare said with a shake of her head. “Up, up! It's time you got yourself cleaned up properly, then you can get back to work. Understand?” The princess gave a soft sigh and nod, before getting up and trotting off. She grumbled darkly again, but Rarity paid it no heed. Instead she looked over the guards. “Which one of you is in charge?” Instantly three white hooves pointed at the pegasus with the yellow coat. “Traitors,” he grumbled. Rarity sighed. “Okay, I do appreciate what you're doing, but you truly must be more forceful with her. If she's not going to eat and shower, you need to take away her toys until she listens.” He shuffled nervously, eyes lowered. “Well... err... she's the princess and all...” The unicorn shook her head. She could hardly believe he was even a guard, he was acting more like an apologetic colt. “That's no excuse. Twilight is far too driven and forgets about everything in the world around her far too often. If you can't get her to do what she needs to do to take care of herself, come get one of her friends. Even Discord would work, he may annoy her but at least he would ensure she ate something.” He nodded slowly. “Sorry...” She sighed as she watched the fidgety stallion. “It's fine, everypony makes mistakes. Taking care of the princess is just a big responsibility. Maybe I should send Spike back and--” “NO!” he said firmly, standing up straight and saluting. “I can do this, I will not fail again!” She stared for a moment before nodding. “Very well. If you're sure.” She trotted out of the room then, leaving them to finish cleaning the mess while she made her way back to the library. She moved over the dome and sighed. So much of it was still illegible and she couldn't begin to imagine what the magic was Twilight was using to fix it. She couldn't imagine why it was so difficult for the princess, were Claw's stomach juices really that damaging? What would Spike's have done? But it all seemed to have to do with Val, in some way. If they could find out how to stop whatever came with him, then-- She blinked a few times. There was no way. Twilight would have figured that out. The princess was brilliant. A true genius. But she was also super focused on finding out about Claw and Val, studying them specifically. Could she have really missed something so important? She did have a tendency too miss the forest for the trees, after all. The door opened behind her and she glanced back, smiling at the considerably cleaner princess. “Twilight, darling? Do you mind if I ask you something?” “I cleaned behind my ears!” the alicorn said defensively. “That is... quite nice. But not what I meant.” She motioned towards the note. “You've been studying Val's magic and how it interacts with ours, correct?” “Oh, yes, it's all quite fascinating. Even the monster from that other realm was quite an interesting find, though I've found it doesn't survive very well here. There's too much... well, good magic in the air, I suppose it could be said.” “W-what?” “The remains of the monster we defeated in the other dimension. Once it's exposed to the air here it begins to crumble and fall apart at an alarming rate. I believe it might be something to do with the castle or possibly the rest of Equestria. It's feasible that it's from the love sent by the crystal heart in the Crystal Empire, too.” Rarity nodded, wishing she had some semblance of an idea of what her friend was talking about. Instead, she had confusion. “Well, I was curious. Have you gone to examine where Val had come from?” There was a momentary pause, before Twilight slowly spoke up. “What?” “Where he arrived in our dimension? Where ever the portal is.” She looked back at the princess. The alicorn's mouth was almost to the floor. “Examine... where he... came...” She let out an ear piercing shriek. “OF COURSE! Why didn't I think of this? It's all so obvious!” “Errr, d-dear?” “Where he came from! It all makes such perfect sense now, I'm an idiot!” Twilight yelled as she galloped around, gathering pieces of paper. “We'll go right now. I'll bring Val to show me where it is, Claw can come as well, maybe it'll trigger some memories. Maybe he's been there. Oh oh! We'll bring the guards, of course. Maybe even--” She was stopped by a hoof to the chest. “Twilight, dear. I appreciate your enthusiasm, but as you said before, it'll be weeks before we have anything to worry about. Well, at least a week. I think everything will be fine if you wait just a teeny, tiny bit until morning. Okay darling?” Twilight blinked, before giving a nod. “R-right. I guess I can at least prepare. I should probably let Cheerilee know too,” she mumbled, her hoof rubbing her chin. “But this opens so many possibilities...” “I'm sure it does,” Rarity said with a smile. “I'd best head home and get some sleep as well, if we have such a big day tomorrow. Tah tah.” She started walking off, though the alicorn didn't even seem to notice, already completely focused on the task at hoof. ------ “Err... of course. I'll bring him over first thing in the morning,” Cheerilee said with a nervous smile as she stared at the princess in her doorway. The alicorn gave a quick nod and was already off before she closed the door. She shook her head. Didn't the princess know anything about proper visiting hours? It was past midnight for Celestia's sake. The princess had actually wanted her to wake up Val! She turned around and paused as the door to Val's room opened. So much for having him sleep. The little pony stood in the frame, Nipper on his head. “Cheerilee? What's going on? Who was that?” The teacher let out an exasperated sigh. “It was just Twilight, she wants us to come by tomorrow. Go back to bed.” “Oh, okay,” he said, but didn't make a move. “Come by for what?” Cheerilee trotted over and gave him a pat on the head. “She wants us to go to the forest tomorrow so I can show her where I found you. That's all.” And suddenly she was getting hugged. “No no no no! Please don't send me back, I'll be good, I'll be good I promise! No more fire! No more cults! No demons! Please please please!” She stared down in shock, even Nipper was making big, round, sad eyes at her. The fact he looked quite horrifying didn't help, though. “Val, we are not sending you back. Ever.” She took a deep breath. “Val, with all the stories you've told me it's obvious you've come from a horrible, horrible home. Frankly, the ponies who... raised you, were they from this world they'd be in prison, for years. Likely forever if they couldn't be... fixed. I am not, and will not, send you back there. And they will NOT take you from us. I don't care if they have a hundred thousand... whatever those things are. You are not going anywhere. I promise.” She slowly wrapped a hoof around him and smiled. “None of us will let them take you.” He nodded, rubbing his head against her chest and trying not to cry. “I-I don't wanna go back, mommy. I-it's not... it's not good there. I-I know some things here are the same, but not all the things. I-I don't wanna go back and fight and kill and get beaten a-and locked up and--” Her mind was still reeling from the M-word she was sure she heard and what she quickly locked up in a little box, tossed into the ocean, before burying the key in another, combination locked box and built a tree on top of said box. Then the other words broke through and she cut him off. “Val, what was that? Start from the beginning? What don't you want to do again?” “G-go back and fight and kill and get beaten and--” “Kill? When have you killed? You've not...” She paused and took a deep breath. No, he was still just a child. There was no way he could have... just no. He blinked and looked up. “We had many enemy houses.” No no no no. “When they were defeated, mother would make us all execute them.” Oh please no, anything but that, not... no. “All of her children. We'd take a family blade and--” He was cut off by her hug and she tried not to cry. “You poor... poor... abused... child,” she whispered, hugging him even tighter. “I swear if I ever meet this mare I am going to buck her up side the head so hard it'll spin and I just... no,” she whispered again. “You'll never have to... you'll never kill again. You're never, ever going home.” She felt like her heart was going to explode. He was just a child. He shouldn't even know what killing WAS, let alone ever done it. She didn't want to believe it, she wanted to think it was just his imagination, that he didn't really know what killing was. She really, really wished she believed that. He looked up, confusion on his features. “Ummm... am... am I in trouble?” “No,” she whispered softly, still hugging him. “Are you mad at me?” “No,” she whispered again, her hooves tight around him. “... Can I sleep in your room tonight?” “... Yes,” she said grudgingly. To be honest, after hearing that from him, she would have let him have ice cream, cake and stayed up all night watching television. Him not wanting to be alone for the night was getting off light. She made a mental note to call the therapist tomorrow. She was getting him the help he needed immediately.