//------------------------------// // 9. Familiar Runes // Story: Final Mission // by Sharp Quill //------------------------------// My eyes were glued to those celestia runes. “So what are they doing?” I asked. The unicat rolled his eyes. “You really aren’t from around here, are you?” “Come along,” her partner said, nodding to the building. It was not a request. Not being in a position to refuse, I started walking. Where else could I go anyway? “You still haven’t answered my question.” “You aren’t in a position to ask any,” he pointed out. “Theodosia, go inform the King.” The pegacat launched into the air and flew towards an upper balcony. I still hadn’t gotten used to flying cats. I turned to my remaining captor. “May I ask what your name is? Mine is Sweetie Drops.” He didn’t look at me. “Funny names you ponies have.” We took a few more steps. “No reason we can’t be civilized about it,” he conceded. “My name is Diodoros.” Speaking of funny names… None of the cat names I had heard so far had been even remotely descriptive. “And the name of this city?” “Nocat could be that ignorant,” he muttered under his breath. “Pouncelot, the capital city of Felinia.” I didn’t press my luck; I had enough to chew over for now. Nocat was obviously their equivalent to nopony. That made sense enough. Pounce-e-lot was similar enough to Canterlot, given that cats pounce and ponies canter. Same for Felinia. It was as if our two realms had been created from the same template, differing only by species. Was there another one in which rabbits ruled? How many others? What did it all mean? And what about the monsters? We entered the building and followed a hallway. There were a few other cats about, each staring at me as we went by. They were mostly unicats, but I saw another pegacat and even an… earth cat? Finally we reached their holding cells, all empty. Diodoros magically unlocked and opened the first one to the right. I did not enter. “Please don’t make it any more difficult than it needs to be.” I looked into his eyes. There was little doubt he could and would paralyze and telekinetically force me inside. Even if I could overpower him, where would I go? Worst of all, resisting would not help my cause—or get me my saddlebags back. Sighing, I entered my prison. The throne room was as every bit as magnificent as Princess Celestia’s. The walls were clad in flawless and flawlessly carved marble, lined with powerful columns supporting a vaulted ceiling. The floor, likewise, was marble, polished to perfection. Exquisite stained glass windows let in the sunlight, though unlike back home these did not portray historical events nor anything else recognizable as a picture. The throne itself—only one—was sculptured from a single block of granite, a sun emblem of pure gold inlaid into the back. That seat of power was currently unoccupied. So was the throne room itself, for that matter. “Where is everypony?” I asked. “Where is everycat,” Diodoros reminded me yet again. Everycat, everycat… I really should get with the local dialect. “The royal court is not scheduled to be in session,” Theodosia said, actually answering my question, “so the usual retinue and staff are not present.” I had spent nearly an hour in that cell. I couldn’t really fault them. If the situation had been reversed and one of them had wound up in Equestria, we probably would have done the same. Theodosia did keep me company for a few minutes, engaging in some smalltalk—mostly about my cutie mark. The cats didn’t have them, nor anything equivalent. It had reminded me that that unicorn rabbit didn’t have one either. Was there any significance to that? My minders stopped in the middle of the room, and I quite naturally stopped with them. The seconds ticked away in silence, until a side door opened and a large, golden lion entered. From the crown, it was safe to assume this was King Apollo. The fact that he also had a long horn sticking out of his forehead and a pair of wings was another sign. This must have been the feline equivalent of an alicorn. All that was missing was the really long mane flowing in an unseen breeze—but then again, Twilight and Cadance lacked those as well. The King leisurely walked to his throne, our presence for the moment unacknowledged. Only once he was seated did he look at us—look at me. “You may approach,” he commanded in a deep, methodical voice. Diodoros and Theodosia were by my sides as we all advanced towards the throne. I stopped when they did. The two cats bowed; I did likewise. “Your Majesty, I introduce Sweetie Drops,” Diodoros said. King Apollo gave a subtle nod. “You may rise.” We did as he studied me with curiosity. “You say you traveled here by means of poison joke.” It was said as a plain statement of fact, devoid of judgement. Don’t blow it, Sweetie Drops. “Yes, Your Majesty. I did not know I would come here. I only wish to return home.” “And this is your true appearance, unaltered in any way by the joke?” “So far as I know, the joke did nothing to me besides transporting me here.” I still had had no opportunity to look in a mirror. “I come from a realm of ponies, from the land of Equestria.” “Intriguing.” He laid down on his throne. “However you got here, you are the first visitor from a different realm that I know of.” I had no proof of my story, of course. “I know my story sounds incredible, but I may have an explanation for why the poison joke did what it did, but… uh…” The monarch silently waited for me to continue. “Something was done to me. When I informed my princess of it…” I glanced over to first Diodoros then Theodoria. “Well, it turned out to be, shall we say, a very sensitive subject. Something having to do with ancient runes, like those in your skies, and the ones who use them.” Apollo nodded thoughtfully. “I well understand your ruler’s position, but I am way past keeping secrets here.” As proof, he had not ordered my guards to leave. “Your skies are free of runes, are they not?” I could only nod my head. Perhaps I’d get some answers now? The king wearily sighed. “Then your princess has acted with greater wisdom than I had done.” With suddenly tired eyes, he looked at the unicat. “Diodoros, please explain our current situation to our guest.” I turned to the calico, awaiting my answer. That I had been referred to as a “guest” had not escaped my notice. I’d rather not be returned to that cell. “The runes appeared several years ago. They’re slowly but surely draining the magic from our world.” Which might explain why I hadn’t been able to break those ropes, or my odd lack of stamina. “If it only affected our ability to use magic, we might have been able to deal with that. Unfortunately, magic is also what powers our Sun.” Everything was clicking into place. So that’s why the undergrowth was dying in the forest: their Sun was dimming. “H-how much magic will be drained before they’re removed?” As if I needed to ask. Diodoros did not answer. He didn’t need to. “Yeah, I thought so.” “We’re trying to fight it using the forbidden magics,” he told me without enthusiasm, “but so far we have little to show for it.” I was beginning to comprehend the “hard choices” Celestia had mentioned. This was a death sentence. As much as I wish I had a solution for them, I didn’t. “But enough about our problems,” Apollo said. “What is your story? I shall do whatever is in my power to help, little as that may be.” I started to feel some glimmer of hope. If they actually knew something about these… forbidden magics… I took a deep breath. “The short version, Your Majesty, is that those runes were used to cast a spell on me, a spell that is unraveling my very existence. Each day I wake up to discover that I had disappeared ever earlier. It won’t be long before I had never existed. I’m looking for a way to reverse it… and I’m getting desperate enough to try crazy things, like walking through poison joke.” The monarch did not seem surprised, but then neither had Celestia been caught off-guard by my situation. “Has this happened to any of your subjects here?” I asked. Perhaps Apollo would be willing to volunteer information that Celestia would not. It sounded like he had nothing left to lose. “That I know of, no.” He then briefly smiled. “But then, I wouldn’t, would I?” No, I suppose you wouldn’t. It was the nature of the spell, after all. “But I am aware that spell exists.” He stood up and leaped to the floor. “And knowing what I know about it, I can confidently predict you will be returned home before the next reset.” He walked to that side door as I processed what he’d just said. “Follow me,” he commanded. Before the next reset? I wasn’t sure what he was implying. “You know how to send me home?” He paused to look back at me. “Me?” He barked a laugh. “No. But the ones who did this to you will have no choice but to send you home. The reset must happen in your own realm, where the spell was originally cast, that much I do know.” He resumed walking, this time quickly. “We may not have much time.” I had to trot to keep up. “I need to have my saddlebags back before my ride home arrives.” “We’re heading in their direction now,” he assured me. “You never did explain the poison joke connection. I’m beginning to wonder just who was the true victim of their joke.” We were traveling through a little-used corridor, purely utilitarian in nature and lacking any ornamental pretenses. “You could be right,” I observed. “I was told by a shaman that I was off limits to monsters because of what was done to me. It’s why I tried the poison joke. Supposedly, if it wasn’t allowed to play a joke on me, then it’d play one on its masters. I was hoping I’d learn something useful as a result.” I sighed. “Like I said, I’m getting desperate.” “I’d say it worked out for you.” He made a left turn at a junction. “And I’m glad to have learned of it, in case they ever used that spell here in the future.” “But won’t you forget all this after the next reset tonight?” “The reset only affects your own realm,” he said, as he led us into a stairwell, heading down. “Your existence shall not be unraveled from this realm.” His sudden laughter resonated up and down the stairwell. “Truly did the poison joke put one on their masters. Even if they got you home in time, just being here outside your realm, where the thread of your existence cannot be unraveled, will create problems for them.” We passed another floor on the way down. “Nothing they can’t handle, unfortunately.” So Zecora was right after all—or half-right, maybe? Off-limits I may have been, but they had still found a loophole through which they could prank me too. They didn’t change a single thing about me, giving those plants plausible deniability. Or maybe I was just overthinking it, seeing something that wasn’t there. We exited the stairwell on the bottom floor and continued navigating the corridors until we arrived at our destination. The spacious room had various tables spread about, and on one of them were the contents of all my saddlebags, haphazardly arranged. The saddlebags themselves were on a nearby table. The anti-monster kit was on yet a third table, the contents also dispersed about. “Diodoros, why don’t you help repack everything. I’ll be back in a moment.” The king teleported away. There was no rhyme or reason to how everything had been laid out. I needed to pack everything myself if I was to know where to find anything, but I didn’t want to outright reject their assistance either. Thank Celestia nothing seemed to be missing. “I suppose you can start with my makeshift anti-monster kit over there.” It didn’t take him long to reassemble that kit. He came over and started packing a saddlebag with whatever was closest to him. I let him. Time truly was of the essence; after all, I didn’t know when my ride would arrive or what form it would take. For all I knew, I’d be teleported without warning. I could always reorganize their contents once I got home. He picked up my vacation photo and paused to look at it. “This is you, and another pony?” “My very best friend in the whole world,” I replied. Who now believes I’ve abandoned her. “We were on vacation in Fillydelphia.” “Huh. Fillydelphia.” He carefully inserted it into the saddlebag. “Not Kittydelphia.” He next picked up and examined a bit. “The face of your ruler?” I kept on packing a saddlebag as I tersely answered, “Yep, Princess Celestia.” Picking up on the hint, he said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude, it’s just that…” He began moving the other coins into the saddlebag. “I wish we could have met under better circumstances.” “No need to apologize,” I said, sighing. “I understand. We just don’t have that luxury now.” The repacking continued in silence. We were just about finished when Apollo returned in a flash of light. He held two items in his magical grasp. One was a crystal with runes inscribed upon it, the other was some sort of long, thin cylinder with a handle designed for paws. I approached, curious. There were runes inscribed on the cylinder. Familiar runes. “Ah,” he said, nodding his head. “You know what this is.” My eyes shifted to the monarch. “We call it a time stunner. But why bring one to show me?” “This time hunter, as we call it, is the cure for your condition—in theory. We’ve never had a chance to put it to the test.” “You mean by giving me a zap?” I sadly shook my head, my hope fading. “That won’t work. I’ve already been zapped once by accident. It triggered an immediate reset.” The rune-inscribed crystal drifted over to me. “But you didn’t have this in your possession.” I plucked it out the air with a hoof. “In theory,” I droned. “It’s the best I can offer.” “Maybe you did put it to the test, and it failed.” “I cannot deny that possibility.” I studied the crystal as I mulled it over. I had no clue if it would actually work. I had nopony I could ask, certainly nopony who would give me an answer. Yet the hard reality was that I wasn’t likely to find another cure. I returned my saddlebags to their rightful place on my back. They had never felt so good. I then held the crystal against my neck and closed my eyes. “Do it. Zap me.”