Seeking Secrets

by Shumiry

Chapter 10

Something nagged at her mind. In her corner, something buzzed insistently at the shield she had erected around her consciousness. Her body. Telling her to come back and do something no doubt. There had been a slight lull in the signals, but she would not be fooled.
The buzzing persisted.
After a while, she began to wonder. Is the curse just triggering nonstop? That didn't make any sense. Celestia tried to rally her resolve, but when she went to lower her shield she hesitated. The pain! She shuddered. It had taken her so long to make this haven through the agony, was she willing to risk the full brunt of the suffering again if she was wrong?
Whatever it was continued buzzing at her shield, sending irritated flicks of power. Still she hesitated. It could all be a trick. No, she wouldn't fall for it! But before she could bring the barrier back to full strength, one of the flicks came through.
She saw an image of her little ponies, cowering behind her beloved little sister. Luna's horn had been broken nearly at the base, leaving her virtually defenseless against the golem towering over her. Was it taunting her now? Another flick came through.
This time she saw the golem through different eyes. She could see the waves of power, her power, funneling into it. Its body was suffused with the black-green glow that signified the Necroequicon's will. But in the center of that, there was a glowing patch of sky blue energy. Two souls? she wondered. Another flick, and she saw an image of the man who had taken the book.
Though he looked identical to the golem, somehow, he didn't. With the image came a voice,
“We can save them.” She didn't want to believe it. She knew it was all a trick. Some diabolical scheme to get her out of her shell to subject her to some new horror. Yet... Her resolve shifted. If there was even a chance, even the slimmest hope that this was real, that there might be a way to rescue them, she had to try. With a pulse of her will, the ward fell.
The man stood before her, his soul faint and ethereal, barely opaque enough to be visible. He had lost a great deal of himself.
“We don't have much time, so listen carefully.”
The Necrogolem advanced on the huddle of ponies. Luna stared at it defiantly, ready to fight with everything she had, to try to buy them some time to escape. If she could at least get the Element Bearers out safely, she could pass into oblivion feeling at least somewhat accomplished. A thick ward sprang up in the doorway, effectively obliterating her hopes. They'd have to make it all the way across the room, through the blasted wall. There simply was no way.
“One last charge, my little ponies. We may die here today, but we won't go down without a fight!” she said, hoping to inspire some courage in the young mares. They may have been adults, but, in her eyes, they were still only children. It was too cruel that they should fall here today, having lived only a fraction of their lives. How quickly things can change, she mused bitterly.
The golem raised its blade-arm, preparing to charge. The ponies hunched down, ready to spring into action. For a second, they sat, staring each other down, poised for the fight.
The blade on the golem's arm shorted out.
With a panicked look in its eyes, it gazed down at its own chest, seemingly struggling with some internal conflict. So surprised was Luna, that even her finely tuned warrior's instincts failed to kick in. The golem took a step back, then another. It fell to its knees, its body convulsing and shaking. With a gasp, it locked rigid.
In a burst of sky blue fire, two souls erupted from its chest, the body falling face down on the floor. The Necroequicon's soul looked monstrous.
On its shoulders were two unicorn skulls, worn like pauldrons. Around its neck was a string of unicorn horns. It was naked to the waist, where a skirt of tails hung, the fleshy bases of each stitched to the next. From its back flowed a cape of cutie marks. The marks from both thighs had been collected and stitched together, making the symbols visible from the back and front. Each pair of marks was crudely stitched to the surrounding ones, and the marks themselves had been sloppily harvested, giving the whole thing an even more gruesome, haphazard appearance.
It looked like the very avatar of death and suffering.
The other soul stood in stark contrast. It wore nothing but a pair of loose pants, cinched at the waist and at the ankle of each leg. The cloth, if it could be called that, seemed to have been made of a starry night sky, and which stars were visible shifted as the angle of view changed. From its back jutted two pairs of wings. The top pair was a glossy black, like finely groomed raven wings. The other was an ivory white, like the wings of a dove, and both sported beautifully, perfectly arranged feathers.
In the center of its back was an ouroboros, but twisted so that, rather than eating its own tail in a circle, the serpent formed the symbol for infinity. Behind the snake, was a gorgeous tree which seemed to be alternately leafing, then shedding, in an endless cycle of life and rebirth.
Each of the ponies had tears in their eyes as they gazed upon Secret Seeker's interpretation of his soul. He raised his arms, holding his palms up to the sky, and spoke in a calm voice,
“Come to me.”
The ceiling was smashed in as a beam of sunlight blasted through, arcing, though they couldn't see it, across the horizon. It slammed into Secret Seeker, and he glowed with a brilliant radiance. With the combined power of the sun, and the sun princess, his ultimate technique would be almost possible. He pointed at the space between them, and turned his head to the ponies, tears leaking from his eyes.
“Goodbye my friends...” he whispered, “we're not all evil.” Before the Necroequicon could move away, a pitch black sphere appeared, engulfing the two souls. Immediately there was a loud pop, as Celestia reappeared where she had been captured. She was laying on the floor, looking weary, the bone knife still embedded in her ribs. The other ponies gasped when they saw her.
Normally the picture of health, the alicorn now looked to be sickly thin. Her skin seemed to be stretched over her skeleton, her muscles conspicuously atrophied. She reached over with her mouth, and pulled the offending object from her side, dropping it to the floor. No blood stained its blade, and the wound sealed shut as soon as it was withdrawn.
The black sphere had instantly started shrinking, and was now only the size of a large closet. In a few more moments, it would be gone. Celestia rose shakily to her hooves, and was entangled in a pair of midnight blue forelegs. Tears flowed into her mane as Luna pressed her face against her big sister's neck.
“I was so scared,” she sobbed, “when I saw him destroy that piece of the golem's soul. I thought I might lose you!” Tears slid down Celestia's cheeks at the heartfelt admission. The expression of her sister's love, coupled with the knowledge that her faithful ponies were alive and well was too much for her, and she slid back to the floor, Luna lowering with her.
Soon all the ponies had gathered round in a massive group hug, crying and laughing, and, in the case of Pinkie Pie, yammering incessantly about how many parties they would need to have to celebrate all their good fortune.
“It was so scary and it looked like everything was going wrong but then he showed up and fought the bad version but then he got exploded...” She went on for a while, alternating between gesticulating to emphasize her points, and administering bone-crushing hugs.
“But then everything turned out okay!” She stopped then, her cornflower blue eyes welling up with tears as she turned to the tiny black sphere, now no larger than a chicken egg.
They all turned their heads to watch as the orb vanished with a tiny pop.
Pinkie sniffed,
“Almost everything...” she said quietly, as the tears began to drip. In silence they mourned the loss of the human they hadn't even had time to know. They had caught a glimpse, a tiny flash of his love for their world, of all the joy he wanted to bring and experience, and now he was gone.
Fluttershy had buried her face in Rarity's mane, both struggling to stifle their sobs. Applejack's hat was in her hoof, held in respect and admiration over her heart, a salute to his noble sacrifice. Luna and Celestia both closed their eyes, offering silent thanks, though they both knew he would never hear it, his soul having been obliterated by the crushing power of the singularity he'd created.
Pinkie and Twilight Sparkle had both sat on their haunches, silent tears flowing, hurt evident in their eyes. But Rainbow Dash's pain was the worst. He hadn't just saved her, he had literally given her her life back. Her eyes were red as she fought the sorrow coursing through her. He had saved her life twice, and she hadn't even gotten to thank him.
-----One Week Later-----
Celestia stood at the podium, a huge cloth draped over something behind her. She looked much better now, her goddess' metabolism allowing her to put the weight she had lost during her imprisonment back on in short order. And with more than a little enjoyment, she thought, remembering the veritable dragon's horde of delicacies she had consumed to do it. She pushed the thought away before her mouth started watering.
Luna stood beside her, a solemn look on her face, appropriately setting the tone for the rest of the congregation. Everywhere, ponies mimicked her visage, though most were unsure of the reason for the melancholy. The Bearers of the Elements of Harmony were also on stage, flanking the two princesses. Twilight, Fluttershy and Rarity beside Celestia, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie beside Luna.
Resplendent though they were in the gorgeous gowns Rarity had designed for them, each outfit made of a rich black silk, except Applejack's hat, which had needed to be made of stiffer material, their faces were not those of mirth. Celestia cleared her throat, and the gathering's chatter trailed into silence.
“Today, we honor the sacrifice of Secret Seeker. A being not of our world, who came here to find peace, and love. What he found instead was an ancient, and powerful evil. An evil so great, even my sister and I were powerless to stop it.” At this, many in the assemblage gasped, unable to believe such a thing could exist.
“When it seemed all hope had been lost, and that the demon would cover all the world in suffering, he came to me.” A week's practice had served her well, and she was able to keep the tears from her eyes. Keep her voice steady as she recalled their conversation.
“'Help me,' he said. 'I will trap the demon in my spell, and we will both go to oblivion.' 'Why?' I had asked, 'Why would you be willing to make that sacrifice for a world you barely know?' He told me.
'Mine is a world of slow decay,'” the words echoed in Celestia's mind, as she heard him say them yet again, “'There is no magic. Love and friendship are hard to find, harder still to maintain. Your world is beautiful. You are not flawless. You have your faults and vices, but you are diligent. You pour yourselves into whatever task lays before you. To me, that is perfection.
You strive, despite your inadequacies, to get as close to perfect as you can. And that mentality is the norm, not the exception. That is why. In my two weeks here, I have known more joy than I experienced in one hundred twenty years in my own dimension. That is something I'm willing to die defending.'”
There wasn't a dry eye in the field. Even Celestia, with all her practice, still felt the cool wetness slip down her face. She paused a moment to let the words sink in, and to collect her thoughts.
“And so, we dedicate this memorial to Secret Seeker. Let it serve as a reminder of the precious joy we have in this world, that beings from another would come here, and fight to the death, to protect it.” At her nod, a trio of earth ponies picked up the lines attached to the cloth and pulled. When it fell away, the gathering gave a collective gasp.
Carefully carved of beautiful white marble, the statue stood fifteen feet tall. Its arms were held in front as if offering up the world, while its face, etched with his gentle smile, tilted up to the sky. The pants had been made of thin sheets of onyx, with hundreds of indentations into which tiny pearls had been set, causing them to glimmer in the light like a gorgeous starry night. Luna had overseen the placement of the pearls personally, making it an accurate portrayal of one of her favorite segments of the cosmos.
On its back were the two pairs of wings, one carved of pure, black jet, the other painstakingly shaped from real moonstone, by Princess Celestia herself. In the center of its back, was a replica of the infinity-ouroboros before the tree, magically enchanted to grow tiny leaves of shaped emeralds, which would then shift into amber gemstones and fall to the base of the tree before vanishing, starting the whole sequence over again. Lastly, though none present would see it until later, the statue had been enchanted to glow very softly with a sky blue aura.
Several of the ponies present were struck motionless, staring slack-jawed at the sculpture. Some were crying at the beauty of it, wide smiles on their faces even as tears rolled down their cheeks. Some were shocked by the sight of it, this strange, hairless monkey that had, apparently, saved them all.
Lyra had her right foreleg hooked in a death grip around BonBon's neck, forcing her to look at it, saying “I told you so!” over and over, while the poor yellow mare's eyes rolled in her head.
The Bearers and the Princesses had all turned to face the statue. They'd been crying so much lately, hopefully these would be the last tears they shed for a while. Silently, they each thanked him in their own ways.
Celestia and Luna especially, knowing that much of the danger of the Necroequicon had been destroyed. Without the power to seek out and poison the minds of Equestria's inhabitants, it was just a book of dangerous magic, no longer an artifact of apocalyptic risk. Still, after the party tonight, they would need to go retrieve it. For now, it was safe, nestled deep within the moon castle of the Everfree Forest.
The party that night was one Ponyville would talk about for years. Pinkie Pie had gone absolutely overboard for the combination Welcome Back From the Dead Dashie / Thank You for Saving the World Secret Seeker Party. She'd wanted to include a few other titles, but, as Rarity had tactfully pointed out, it already took two banners to hold the words, and what good were all her decorations if nopony would get to see them for the banners all over the place?
Cakes, pies, tarts, muffins, and six different kinds of cider were absolutely everywhere. Pinkie tried to greet everypony as they arrived, but the party was on for barely an hour before Sugarcube Corner was packed to the rafters, and the festivities began spilling into the streets. Ponies arrived from as far as Hoofington, many claiming to have been personally invited by Pinkie Pie. But whenever she was asked about it, she'd manage to change the topic, or some distraction would arise, and she'd slip away without answering.
The Princesses made appearances as well, Celestia arriving just after sundown, departing when Luna arrived just before sunrise. Still the party persisted, some ponies leaving to go to work, while others arrived from the night shift, ready to get down. In the middle of the afternoon, when Celestia had a break in her royal obligations, she and Luna, both drowsy from not sleeping since they'd arisen the previous day for the unveiling, made their way to the moon castle.
It felt good to fly beside each other, the warm air rushing past their wings. When they were far enough away from prying eyes they began playfully swooping and diving, performing various acrobatic feats, laughing like they had back in the good old days. This delayed their arrival somewhat, but it was well worth it.
“Besides,” Luna said, when Celestia mentioned the extra time the trip was taking, “it's waited this long. Even if we're a few minutes late, it'll still be there.” When they arrived, Luna looked down at the forest below.
“It's gone!” she exclaimed. Indeed she appeared to be right. A conspicuous clearing in the trees was all that remained of the crumbling fortress, as if the decay of the masonry had been agitated into action by recent events, advancing several millenia in just a few short days. The two princesses cautiously descended, probing with magic for any field that might be hiding the castle, finding nothing but empty space.
When they landed in the clearing, they nodded to each other, and fanned out, searching for some clue as to what had happened. After a few minutes, Luna called out to her sister, who appeared by her side. She lowered her horn to the ground, and a dark blue glow illuminated a square patch of turf. With a groan, the slab of ground opened like a trap door flap, revealing an elegant staircase. Horns glowing, the princesses descended into the earth.
Soon they found themselves in Luna's old laboratory. It was clear somepony, or someone, had been here recently. There was no dust to be found, and several books had been carefully laid out on the table. Glancing at the titles, Luna muttered,
“It's like a crash course in basic magic...” They searched high and low, every book on every shelf, inside every trunk, but to no avail. The Necroequicon was gone. In silent dread, they prepared to leave, but a breeze streamed down the staircase, causing the cover of the empty journal on the table to flip open. It wasn't empty anymore.
Hidden here. The only words on the page, and indeed in the entire book. After examining it for a while, Celestia touched her horn to it, performing a simple revealing spell. The plain brown journal morphed into the black-green splendor of the Necroequicon. Relief flooded through them. She checked the book with a few other spells, but it appeared to be devoid of any life force. Disheartened, she slid it into her saddlebag. It had been a foal's hope, but still...
They'd have to research it closer, to find out what had happened to the old palace, but they had the book, and it could be safely locked away in the archives. With a slow gait, and one last, forlorn glance at the empty laboratory, the two princesses departed.