//------------------------------// // Act 4 Chapter 6 // Story: Collision Code // by SSJRandomMaster //------------------------------// Act IV: Climactic Collisions Chapter 6: The Root of the Problem ------------------------------------------ Corey sat in silence the whole time, listening to Esper’s tale. A part of him scoffed at the notion that Para Norma could have turned so badly. Maybe she was already manipulating events even back then. Yet, Esper seemed earnest enough about this first meeting. Perhaps he wasn’t remembering it right? Looking back at those times with rose-tinted glasses? “You seem confused,” Esper said, “I understand it is hard to believe somepony so vile could have behaved that way back then. But understand this: Para Norma’s turn to darkness wasn’t instantaneous.” “She seemed innocent enough, for sure,” Corey said, “Based on what you’ve shown me and told me, she seemed pretty unassuming. But monsters can hide in plain sight. I know that now more than ever.” “There has to be a turning point in a creature’s life where they decide to dedicate themselves to evil,” Esper said, “At least, I believe that is the case. Maybe your experience elsewhere has lead you to believe differently, but regardless, Norma’s aspirations at the time were pure, or at least, weren’t founded in evil. “She really wanted to prove herself, that she was as good as anyone else. And yet, for all that she tried, she just couldn’t replicate the other students’ feats. Of course, to my knowledge, none of the other students—in fact, none of the others in the community—seemed to mind. They encouraged her development, even when it seemed she wouldn’t do it. Nonetheless, she wound up feeling inadequate compared to her peers.” Inadequate… Corey thought. The word triggered something within him, How many times have I felt that way since I came of age? “Something on your mind?” Esper asked, noting that Corey was in thought. “Yeah,” Corey said, “I felt that way a lot. It felt like no matter what I did, it wasn’t good enough. No one around me seemed to mind what I was doing, but I felt like I should have been doing more with my free time. Even here, in this new life of mine, it wasn’t enough.” “I see. So how do you feel now?” Esper asked. “I spent the last several days wrestling with it all. The feelings of worthlessness, anger, and fear I’d suffered with for a while. Honestly? I feel free from it all now,” Corey said. “Make no mistake,” Esper’s voice became slightly stern, “If you are not careful, you may find those feelings sneaking up on you without warning, dragging you down slowly until you were back to where you were.” “Is that what got Para Norma to where she wound up?” Corey asked, “Had she made progress?” “In a manner of speaking,” Esper said, “We’ll get to that part soon enough…” ------------------------------------------ As I said, her turn wasn’t instantaneous. Her feelings of inadequacy grew over the years. She grew up with the other students in her group, but the same couldn’t be said of her magical skill. While she did get stronger with age like any other pony, her magic still remained far below the average in the community. And as the years went by, her visits to me began to increase in frequency… ------------------------------------------ Esper’s students came in cycles. Every ten years, he’d have a new batch of young minds, eager to prove themselves and eager to learn the secrets of runic magic. Of course, Esper knew that there were some things about the magic yet to be discovered. Some days, he would leave his students to their devices, and take the building to himself so that he could have some quiet for the day. With six years having gone by, he could afford that time a lot more now. Esper came out of meditation and made his way to his study, located in the same overall building the rest of his school-related stuff was. There was something he’d found through his day of meditation that he couldn’t wait to write down. He set down at a table, using his magic to guide his book to the table as he went. No sooner than when it hit the wooden surface did he finally sit down, lightly smiling as he opened it to a blank page. There wasn’t too much room left in the book at this point; soon he’d have to start another. But, this spell wouldn’t take up a significant part of it all. With the meditation he’d just done, Esper felt confident that this new spell he’d come up with would be very useful. He’d have to test it; a spell like this warranted it. Esper sat in relative silence, entirely focused on his work. Approximation of the runic symbols that came to him, the purpose of the spell, what it did, it all flowed from his mind to his hand as he wrote it down. He was so caught up in his task that he hadn’t even heard when someone stepped into the doorway. “Elder Esper,” The familiar voice, aged with time, called to him again. He looked up, seeing Para Norma standing at the doorway. The past years had been kind to her, at least in appearance. However, the same could not be said for her magic. Esper looked up from his book, not at all surprised by her impromptu visit. “Para Norma,” Esper said, very used to having Norma make these visits due to her troubles, “What do you wish to go over this time?” “Well, I actually have a question,” Norma strode into the room now, “What are you writing down there?” She brushed a swath of gray mane out of her eyes as she looked down at the book. “It’s a spell I recently came up with,” Esper said, “When the spell is cast, it should allow something to be transported into the user’s personal pocket dimension.” “A pocket dimension??” Norma asked, her gaze flicking between Esper and the pages, “A spell like that…” “It takes a certain amount of precision in order to get a desired effect,” Esper explained, “A precision I haven’t even begun to test. I only just came up with the spell today. There are many adjustments to be made, many, many things about this spell that could go wrong.” “It’s untested, then?” Norma asked, “That’s perfect.” Esper looked at Norma, almost convinced she’d have suddenly sprouted a pair of wings, or a horn, when he did look at her. “Pardon?” “If this spell has just been written, perhaps I could help you test it?” Norma asked. “I don’t know if it’d be that simple,” Esper said, shaking his head, “I mean, considering your performance against the others…” “I know!” Norma snapped. Esper blinked. Norma breathed in and out a few times, and calmly spoke up, “I know… I know how behind I am. I only need to look at what their spells do and what mine do. I’ve worked and worked, but I’m still far behind them. But… with a spell like this, if I can learn it before anyone else, then maybe… just maybe… I can have a leg up on the others.” Esper felt himself frown, against his own wishes. This was still the same student who he had talked to seven years ago, but something didn’t seem quite right. “A spell this volatile, though…?” “It may involve searing a hole between dimensions, so that whatever can be stored in there,” Norma said, “But with my level of power, wouldn’t any damage be minimized if it backfires?” Esper closed his eyes. This seemed sound on a base level, but with a spell like this, an untested spell at that, he had no idea if that principle held true. For all he knew, Norma’s lack of power wouldn’t even allow the spell to function. This was a highly complex spell he had devised, and he hadn’t even had time to write the whole thing down before she showed up. “It may hold that way,” Esper admitted, “But I am not sure of any other risks. I appreciate the offer to help, Para Norma, but I just do not know. I haven’t even committed the whole thing to the pages of the book.” “Please consider it, at least,” Norma said, “Helping you out with this spell may well make me improve in general, even if I can’t get it down…” “That is true as well,” Esper sighed, rubbing at his mane, “I suppose I will consider it. Was there anything else you wanted to see me about?” Norma paused for a few moments, looking away. Then, she scowled. “I forgot. Got so excited over the new spell…” Esper rubbed at his mane again, a little bit of frustration seeping into his features. Underneath that, though, was a growing feeling of worry. “I guess I’ll just take my leave. I’ll come back if I remember what I came here for. Thank you for your time,” Para Norma bowed slightly before she made her exit. Esper watched her go, and only after she vanished from his line of sight did he call his quill into his runic grasp once again. He shook his head lightly, even as his quill continued to write. He was able to pick up his work from where he left off and finished the remaining steps of the spell’s draft. Fixes would probably need to be made, but Esper found he couldn’t relax enough to let himself start testing the new spell. The feeling of worry hadn’t totally abated. Norma’s behavior had struck a chord within him. Something about how she’d acted regarding the spell just seemed… off. He couldn’t name what it was, but he hoped he could steer her back on track before it could consume her entirely. Figuring making a note of it would help him to clear his head for now, Esper flipped through the pages of his book and began to write his notes—by hand, this time. He dated the entry, and began to write. She came to me again, her quest to learn… While it was refreshing in the beginning, it has now begun to worry me… ------------------------------------------ “So that entry…” Corey began, reliving the distant memory of first seeing that entry, “That was about her after all. It really was your book we found there in that castle, then.” “You mentioned it before,” Esper said, looking hopeful for just a moment, “Tell me, do you still have it?” Corey’s face fell. “Unfortunately, I don’t. It was taken from the library when we were attacked. No doubt, Norma has it.” Esper sighed, shaking his head. “Then Para Norma once again has that old book. You mentioned a few pages were missing when you found the book?” “That’s right,” Corey said, “Twilight said a few pages were missing.” “When I saw the book last, it was in the same condition,” Esper said, “Norma may still have those pages, the pages that changed the world in all the wrong ways.” There was a short pause, Esper’s eyes closing. His jaw clenched slightly and his hands, now closed firmly into fists, began to shake atop his knees. “Why did it all go wrong like it did!?” Esper said, “Why couldn’t I have spotted the seed before it grew??” The gears in Corey’s head began to turn. The story about Esper first discovering this new pocket dimension spell… the regret that he was displaying now… the fact Norma was the first other pony to even know about it and desperately wanted to help him test it... it all started to come together. Esper recovered his composure, noting that Corey was now deep in thought. “I see you’re starting to figure this out,” said Esper, “Yes, I did consider her suggestion, and ultimately decided to allow her to test the spell. That, of course led to her borrowing the book from me regularly. As you can imagine, at first, she didn’t have much in the way of results…” ------------------------------------------ Another couple of years passed, and Para Norma did not make much progress. She would get a portal going, but it was too small to fit much of anything through. She spent more and more time huddled alone with the spell, alone with the book. I began to grow worried for her. I even contemplated pulling her from the project at one point due to the stress it was obviously putting her through. That all changed one day when she came to me… Her magical power had suddenly improved! You can’t imagine how proud I felt to see that after nine years, she had finally began to show serious signs of improvement. And as her mentor, I felt the need to nurture her new growth… ------------------------------------------ This was a sight Esper never thought he’d see, but as he had Norma run through the spell one more time, he couldn’t help but be surprised. After nine long years of study and two years with the spell, she suddenly seemed to be getting better. Norma waved her hands slightly and extended them in front of her. Runes swirled on the floor at her feet, and a wormhole opened up into an empty void. She then dropped a small, sizable chunk of wood into the hole and closed it. A few moments later, she did it again, this time the portal appearing above her head. The block of wood fell out, landing perfectly in her extended hand. Norma smirked, clearly proud of herself for her endeavors. “Incredible…” Esper said, “You’ve managed to not only make the spell work, but it seems that your working at it has finally yielded some noticeable, positive results.” “Finally,” Norma sighed, “I’m finally getting somewhere…” The relief in her tone was palpable, and Esper couldn’t blame her. For so long she’d labored without success. Her power had finally grown to the point she could pull off a spell effectively, and it showed most effectively with her demonstrations from today. “Now…” Esper said, “Now that you have found a way to draw the power of the magic around us all, shall we begin your next lessons? You have a lot of catching up to do…” Norma’s smirk vanished for a few moments, but soon reappeared, stronger than ever. It was that statement that validated her hard work. “I would love to, Elder Esper,” Norma said, “So where do we begin…?” ------------------------------------------ I should have realized it sooner than when I did. I hadn’t known at the time, but one of our community’s members had gone missing. And, over the course of the next few months, more and more vanished without a trace. The community grew worried, and I did too. Quite a few of those that had gone missing were my former students… and some of my current ones… At the time, we had attributed the disappearances to an external force; we had hardly had a mind to suspect one of our own. Our community was so tightly knit that we could not have imagined one of us would turn against the rest… With things quickly escalating, I made the decision to teach self-defense spells, in hopes that we could learn to protect ourselves from the threat… ------------------------------------------ Esper surveyed his students of the past nine years. Sure enough, a couple were missing. An earth pony who had just begun to test his own spells, and a pegasus who was discovering how to manipulate air pressure with runic magic, both lost to whatever was causing the disappearances. A few of the students were anxious, among this group Para Norma. Others looked grim. “I suppose you know why I called this emergency meeting?” asked Esper to his students. There was a collective nod among the group, “As you know, there’s something out there taking members of our community. More and more are turning up missing…” “One of them was my father!” shouted one of the students, stepping forward, his grim look changing to silent fury, “What could be out there, Elder Esper?” “Unfortunately, I can not say,” said Esper, “There are many things out there that could do such a thing. It could be that whatever first caused the disappearances has found our village and is making their moves in the night…” “That’s awful…” said another, shaking her head in disbelief. “But there is still hope,” Esper continued, “I admit… there are a few things I haven’t yet taught you. For a long time I simply kept them written down, committed to my memory and the pages of my book…” No one noticed how nervous Para Norma seemed to get at that line. “There are a few self-defense spells I have created through my travels prior to attaining enlightenment. I never once thought I’d have to teach them to my own students, but with what might be out there waiting for each of us, I feel it’s necessary we learn them as soon as possible.” “Will these work?” asked a third pony. “Of course they will,” Esper said, “I will make sure you learn them.” Esper looked over the group, a pang of regret seizing him. He had held out on those spells for too long. Two of his students—his family—had been ensnared. So help him, he would stop it from happening again, either through these upcoming training sessions or by his own hand. There could be no room for error. “If we all understand, shall we proceed?” Esper asked. A collective nod overtook the group. “Perfect,” said Esper, “Then, let me retrieve my book of spells. Once I have that, we can begin…” ------------------------------------------ Offensive magic typically takes up more magic than the magic I usually taught, and Para Norma once again showed signs of difficulty, but not for long. Even after that, I didn’t make the connection, and I should have. The disappearances continued and continued. Before long, a very noticeable chunk of our community had vanished. We realized too late… that Para Norma was responsible.