XVIII. Trix of the Light
“!ylf nac ti ynop lleT”
Bonbon was aware that she was dreaming. Also falling, in slow-motion … upwards.
The gloomy cliff grew larger above her, haloed by black skies threatening to break and shower her in cold rain. Hazy figures danced and flickered with frenetic movements in the mouth of the cave, shouting and droning words she could barely hear much less comprehend. Their long shadow legs seemed to reach out of the cave's mouth to catch her as she fell back towards them.
Time came to a halt for the briefest of moments as their cold hands made contact with her skin, their eyes gleaming down at her like pools of black.
“Tell pony it can fly!”
The last word boomed across the sky as lightning flashed and time lurched forward with a screech and a scream.
Bonbon fell, thrown off the cliff without wings or hope of swooping salvation. Her limbs flailed wildly in the air as her scream trailed her all the way down. Her flank hit the water, breaking the surface with a smack that rang in the night. A mere second later every nerve in her left side took over screaming for her as water flooded her lungs.
With one side paralyzed, Bonbon fought desperately to move her remaining two limbs as the faint flickering light of the surface grew farther and farther away. The darkness at the bottom of the lake closed in around her, opening up to swallow her like a great sea monster even as she struggled to pull herself free. She felt hands grab her tail and limbs, clammy fingers crawling around her back and shoulders as they pulled her down.
She could only stare at the disappearing light, mouth gaping for air that would never reach her. The hands kept pulling her down for what seemed like hours of slow, inescapable descent. The surface had long since vanished beyond sight, leaving her drowning in total darkness, yet still she sank ever deeper.
Bonbon slowly resigned herself to her fate, endlessly slipping deeper into dark despair. Maybe in a thousand years, she thought, some archaeologist would pull her mummified remains from the bottom of the lake, mouth still gaping for air that could no longer offer any hope of revival, like a fish on land frozen in that final, gasping moment.
A pair of arms wrapped around her body with a possessiveness she had not expected from the things in the dark, and she felt her movement once again straining against the hands pulling her down. Ever so slowly their grips slipped off her body and legs. She could feel their rage behind her as she began to rise up through the darkness once more.
“We have thee,” a voice whispered softly in her ear, and Bonbon could feel another's body close to hers, its heart beating along with hers.
“Humble?” she thought.
“Shh,” the princess hushed, and the darkness that wrapped around them like a blanket was neither cold nor empty but left her feeling safe, at home in its embrace. “Thou art safe. We won't let anything happen to thee.”
The water, the pain, the grasping hands and the loneliness floated away and left only her and Humble. Bonbon could feel the tension in the girl's chest, and when she looked up to find her eyes, she knew that something was wrong. “Humble?”
“Shh,” the princess insisted, pressing her face close to Bonbon's, her small nose pressing against Bonbon's muzzle as she closed her eyes. “They won't take thee,” she whispered. There was a promise in her voice, and a farewell, as the princess kissed her.
Murky tendrils encroached on them, slowly breaking apart their sanctuary and their kiss. Bonbon tried to hold on to Humble, but already felt the girl slipping from her hooves. “No!” She tightened her grip, but whatever was pulling her away was far too strong.
Humble's eyes never left Bonbon's, looking into hers as she slowly slipped away. “Let go,” she urged. “We're sending thee where they won't find thee again.”
Bonbon grabbed Humble's arm tightly.
“Let go,” Humble whispered, pleading.
Bonbon's hooves slipped on the girl's soft skin. There was a moment when the tip of Humble's fingers and Bonbon's hoof were the only contact between them, meeting mid-way between their eyes. Then momentum caught up, and Bonbon felt herself thrown back as the darkness closed in around her like a protective shell that shot through the water like a bullet.
Gradually she slowed down. Bonbon slumped back in her dark cocoon, letting the waves outside gently roll her back and forth. The sickness from the boat returned wave by wave, hour by hour, but the thought of Humble and the others was all that could fill her mind.
Helpless to do anything, she curled up and closed her eyes to the dark. Maybe they had escaped and would come find her. Comforted by that thought, Bonbon waited …
* * *
She returned to awareness at the feeling of stones poking her in the ribs and water lapping at her hooves. She lifted her head and looked around the barren stretch of beach where the sea had washed her ashore. Snow and ice covered the sand and rocks beyond the reach of the water, and not far away she could make out the outlines of trees and houses. In the background, the mountains rose towards the sky like rows of broken teeth.
Bonbon rose on her shaky hooves, trying to get a better sense of where she was. There were no lights or signs of life among the houses she could see, but it was still her best hope of finding help. She shivered and decided to keep warm by moving, trotting as quickly as she could manage towards the nearest houses.
She recognized the village before she made it past the first broken fencepost. This was where they had stopped before taking ship across the sea, where Rainbow Dash had enraged the local griffons and forced them to flee town. Bonbon hoped tempers had cooled since then.
Not a face or light met her in the windows of the village as she wandered through the streets. Not a sound but the wind in the trees and the crunch of her hooves in the snow. She called out, but the loneliness of her voice in this forsaken place frightened her almost as much as the silence. She shivered and continued silently through the village.
She passed by the inn where they had first met the griffons, but the tables inside were empty and the windows dark. She tried the door, but it did not open for her. Leaving the empty inn, Bonbon continued down the street, eyes and ears open for any signs of life, when she thought she saw a light coming from the west.
Bonbon cautiously followed, approaching the docks where the masts of ships poked above the rooftops of nearby houses. She followed the walls of the houses closely, sneaking through gardens and peeking around corners, but the streets and homes remained empty wherever she looked.
She poked her head around the last corner and gazed along the docks where ships lay like giants washed up by the waves, waiting for someone to push them back out. Bonbon's eyes wandered from ship to ship, lingering on the shadows as if they might take form and become someone—anyone, pony or griffon. But nothing stirred on the docks, and whatever light she thought she had seen was gone if it had ever been anything more than her imagination in the first place.
Puzzled, she stepped out from behind the house and walked down the last stretch of road until she reached the piers and ships. The sea was oddly still, and the only sound was the low, rhythmic clapping of ropes against the wooden masts in the wind. Bonbon turned her head to both sides, gazing along the docks and shore, but saw nothing.
She turned back towards the village when a voice whispered in her ear, “You should not have come back.” Bonbon spun around and fell back on her haunches as a large griffon shoved her. Others swiftly gathered behind him. She could not tell where he or every other griffon had come from. They closed in around her as she scrambled backwards, holding up torches that cast long shadows among them.
Bonbon managed to get back on her hooves as she backed away, looking for any way to escape.
“You're not getting away this time,” the big griffon screeched and tried to grab her. She jumped back and spun around, trying to throw them off as she slipped around a griffon and galloped down the street the way she came. She didn't look behind her, but she could hear them follow right on her heels.
Trying to find some way she could throw them off or lose them, she turned a corner. The sound of griffons behind her faded until it was just the sound of the wind and her hooves against the street. She slowed down and looked around, trying to steady her heart. The town was silent once more, but she did not trust the silence. She had to get out of there as quickly as possible before its mood shifted once more.
She hurried down another street, trotting at a fast pace while she scanned her surroundings for signs of griffons or angry shadows. She had not gone more than a few blocks before she heard the sound of wings and running. Looking over her shoulder, she turned to run again.
“There she is!” A griffon hovering above the houses shouted and pointed a claw. All around, Bonbon heard the griffons moving towards her and saw their torches flicker in the night among the houses. Her heart was stuck in her throat as she tried to outrun them, feeling the lick of their torches on her heels and the wind of their wings on her back.
“Over here!” she heard a voice and instinctively skidded around a corner as she followed its direction, knowing not why, except that she had no better option than to trust it.
“This way!” Again she turned, feeling the mob slowly fall behind her as she ran as fast as her legs would carry her through the streets, following the voice. Once or twice she thought she saw a shadow flitting down a street in front of her, but it was gone before she could focus or catch up with it, and she was never sure she had seen it at all.
“Keep running, don't stop,” she heard as she scrambled to get her hind legs with her over a low fence and left the streets and the houses behind her. Fighting her way through the snow, she did not stop, not even as the village began to fade behind her and the snow grew deeper in front of her.
She was alone once more, trudging through snow reaching midway up her flanks. Around her nothing but snow and lonely mountains. Exhausted, she slowed down and finally came to a stop, staring out over the white wastes.
Nothing but empty.
* * *
Bonbon had no idea how long she had been trudging through the snow, where she was, or even what direction she was going. Above her the clouds revealed as little of her whereabouts or destination as the white crests and hills around her. Without the sun or stars, or some landmark to guide her way, she was well and truly lost. Nevertheless she kept on going.
She almost did not see the figure coming towards her in the distance. For a time her mind simply filed it away as her own reflection in the ice and snow, but after a few minutes it became clear to her that somepony—or something—was walking towards her.
Unsure whether to run, hide, or approach them for help, she continued walking uncertainly, her eyes following the approaching apparition as it took shape. When it got closer, black and white stripes became clear against the surrounding snow. Bonbon stopped entirely and stared.
The zebra turned her head and looked at Bonbon as she passed her. “Beware what follows, beware,” she warned in her young, foreign voice but did not slow down. “For in this game thou art the hare, whose hunter, sharp and debonair, lurks and schemes and plays unfair, beware.” She turned her head back around and continued walking past Bonbon through the densely falling snow.
Bonbon stared at the back of the zebra, then quickly scrambled back on her hooves to follow. “What do you mean?” she asked, trying to shake off the cold in her bones. Memories were coming back as she walked. “I know about Humble. That's what you were warning us about, wasn't it? Before we set sail for the griffon lands, you warned us that something was following us. That was her, wasn't it?”
The zebra raised her head and uttered a strange, ululating drone deep in her throat which echoed over the empty plains of snow and ice.
“I don't understand,” Bonbon said, trying to keep up. She was feeling frustration grow with each step and each cryptic warning.
To her surprise, the zebra stopped and turned, looking at directly into her eyes. “What nightmare, with might and flair, doth scare the bright hare?” She laid the carved head of her walking stick on Bonbon's shoulder and intoned once more her warning, “What follows is not a swallow, beware.”
Bonbon looked at the staff, carved with the images of an eagle holding a tiny hare in its claws like a cage. She looked back up at the zebra, trying to process the warning. As she was trying to find her words, the wind picked up around her, and the zebra grew taller and darker. Bonbon took a step back and fell on her haunches, staring up at the frightful figure before her.
The visage of Princess Luna filled the dream. “Your dreams are growing more dark and labyrinthine with each passing night,” she said, frowning. “Soon, even I may not be able to reach you in your deepest sleep. Should that happen, I may have no choice but to bring you back.”
“Princess, I …” Bonbon tried to speak, but Luna cut her off.
“You must go. Tarry not, for time is short,” she said and raised the zebra's wooden staff, bringing it down upon the icy ground with a crack that echoed in the vast emptiness between distant mountains. Bonbon scrambled to her legs as the ground shook and began to crack apart.
“Princess!” she cried out as the ice beneath her hooves fell apart, leaving her scrambling on a tiny piece of ice in a stormy ocean. She lost her footing and fell, sliding into the darkness of the waves.
Once more water surrounded her on all sides, pulling her down into the cold and the dark … until she woke.
* * *
“I can't wait to be out of here.”
Rainbow Dash was already piling their stuff haphazardly on top of the giant turtle before Bonbon had even recovered her breath from waking up. The nightmare—and the feeling of drowning—had seemed all too real, and it seemed she had not been the only one haunted in her sleep.
“Are you alright?” Bonbon asked as she helped Lyra gather their things before Rainbow Dash threw them all together in one big pile. The sun had barely begun to rise, but none of them felt like staying in this place any longer, much less going back to sleep.
Lyra just nodded a little and put away her lyre. “I'll just be glad once we're moving again. I don't know what's going to happen, but I don't like to sit still thinking about it.”
“It'll all work out somehow,” Bonbon assured her, hoping she would end up believing it herself.
“Alright, time to go. Giddy up!” Rainbow Dash called, waving them all aboard the turtle.
They all settled down among their saddlebags and hoarded food for the journey as Snapcase began to move, trundling down the ancient path leading to the ruins and off towards the horizon. Off in the distance, the fields were flickering in the early sunlight. The phantom fires still baffled and worried Bonbon, so she turned around to watch the lands they left behind instead.
“Whatcha thinking about?” Rainbow settled down next to her, listlessly chewing on some grass. Like the rest of their food, it seemed to do little to provide her with energy in her new form. Without love to feed upon, it seemed Rainbow was destined to slowly waste away.
“The dream I had,” she said, gazing at the distant horizon beyond which lay the sea, and beyond that, her home. “Do you remember the zebra we met?”
“Yeah, uh …” Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow as she tried to remember the zebra's name. No doubt it felt as long ago and far away to her as it did to Bonbon. “Maku or something, right?”
Bonbon nodded. “She appeared to me in my dream. I think she was trying to warn me about something.”
“Yeah? 'bout what?”
Bonbon hesitated, thinking back on the dream and the zebra's cryptic verses. “She said something was following us, I think. Do you think she means Humble? I hope Luna's involvement hasn't scared her away. She was in my dream too,” she said, thinking of Humble and wondering where she was now.
“I think it was just stupid old ghosts messing with us,” Rainbow said and lay back on the gently rocking shell. She looked tired, if that was even the right word. Exhausted. “We already know about Humble. Why would she need to warn us again?”
“I don't know,” Bonbon muttered and resumed staring at the horizon in silence as no one said anything more. About an hour or two passed by without a break in the silence. Bonbon watched the sea of grass move around them while Rainbow Dash was snoring in the sun, all four legs in the air and wings spread out across the turtle's back.
Bonbon was just about to curl up and take a nap herself when she thought she saw something move far behind them. She struggled to sit up and shield her eyes against the sun as she tried to catch sight of what she thought she had seen. A few minutes went by without anything, then she thought she saw it again, a movement in the tall grass but too far away to make out.
“What is it?” Lyra said, coming up behind her for a look.
“I'm not certain. I think I saw something moving in the grass, but it could just be an animal or something.”
Lyra squinted. “I don't see anything.”
“It was only for a second. Maybe it'll come back.”
Lyra nodded and lay down. “Whatever it is, if it tries anything, Snapcase will gobble it up,” she said and yawned. “I'm going to follow Rainbow's example.”
“Yeah,” Bonbon muttered. She kept watching the horizon, fighting to keep her eyes from closing. Finally, when nothing more seemed to be moving, she lay down with a sigh and gave herself over to the sleep.
* * *
“Beware what follows …”
The zebra's voice still echoed distantly in her ears as she woke later in the day. She couldn't remember dreaming this time, but something about the warning still bothered her. She put it out of mind for the time being, as she got up and walked to the front of their ride to gaze out over the lands ahead of them.
The sun was still high in the sky, shining down on fields of green grass swaying in the breeze and scattered groups of trees. It was an almost perfectly idyllic scene, and reminded her of home, of the fields and forests around Ponyville. If not for Luna's warning and the ghostly flames they had seen from afar, she might actually have stopped worrying. Instead, it made her pause and listen.
“The rest of you get the feeling like something is wrong about this picture?” Rainbow Dash asked as she circled the turtle, looking out over the picturesque scenes around them. “Like, um … I can't put my hoof on it.”
“There are no birds,” Lyra said. “We haven't seen or heard a single animal all day, unless you count whatever Bonbon saw this morning.”
“Huh.” Rainbow Dash paused to listen. “She's right.”
An involuntary shiver crept down Bonbon's spine. Suddenly, the idyllic picture made her feel strangely apprehensive. Instead of calm and inviting, it just seemed eerie. As if the shadow of death clung to the hills and trees. “And here I thought maybe Luna was just pulling our tails,” she said, trying to lighten to mood.
“Yeah, I don't think we're that lucky,” Rainbow Dash said and went back to sleep.
* * *
Days went by without a change.
The lack of nourishment had left Rainbow sick with weakness, and she spent nearly every minute sleeping and groaning, though at least part of it had to be excruciating boredom. The endless sunlit fields were like a changeling glamor, a veil hiding the truth: a dead land wasted away by some ancient malignancy.
Everything was silent and dead as far as the eyes could see in all directions. No animals, not even an insect in sight. Once, Lyra had gotten off their ride to taste the grass, only to spit it out. It tasted like ash, she insisted. Bonbon had not been tempted to confirm it, but she had no reason to doubt Lyra.
Occasionally they would see the strange fires blazing in the distance. There was no smoke, no heat or sound from the flames. It passed over the land like ghosts, leaving no trace but a memory of grass once verdant and fresh.
Twilight visited Rainbow Dash every day through Luna's amulet, but her love did not seem to transfer through the spell along with her image, so Rainbow had been unable to sustain herself that way. Twilight promised she and Luna would look at a way to make the connection stronger so her love could travel the distance, but it had been days without any word of progress.
Perhaps it was the land around them, or the fact that she had not heard from Humble since that night at the ruins, but Bonbon's hopes were dwindling fast. Something was wrong. She could feel it in her heart, yet there was nothing she could do. She could not turn around, or she would risk Luna's anger and a quick return trip back to her body in Equestria, which would leave both Lyra and Humble out here on their own.
Lyra sat down next to her. There was a shimmer in the air as Twilight appeared, interrupting whatever Lyra had been about to say. The princess looked almost as haggard as the rest of them, even though she wasn't really there or had to endure anything worse than a ceremony or two.
Lyra scuttled off into the background. Bonbon gave her a brief, sad glance then stood up and did her best to bow to the princess. “Princess?” She glanced at Rainbow's frail appearance, barely more than a ghost now. “Any progress on the spell?”
Twilight followed her eyes with a heavy heart. “A little. Cadance might …” she said but immediately looked crestfallen and trailed off. “Who am I kidding. I've come to tell her that I'm bringing her home, her pride and quest be damned. I can't let her continue. She'll die if she doesn't feed soon.”
Bonbon nodded, understanding though she didn't like it any more than Twilight did. Looking at Rainbow, however, there didn't seem to be much that could be done.
“I just don't know how to tell her,” Twilight said and scuffed the shell of the giant turtle with an ethereal hoof. “I know how much finding Lightning Dust means to her.”
“There's no easy way, Princess.” Bonbon took a step towards Twilight and looked up at her. “Just say it plain and simple, then put down your hoof.”
“Funny, that's what Applejack told me,” Twilight muttered, then took a long breath. “Okay.” She turned around and walked up to Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow? Are you awake?”
Rainbow raised her head and blinked for a few seconds, then seemed to lighten up slightly at the sight of Twilight. “Twi! Have you figured out the spell?”
Twilight knelt down and did her best to meet Rainbow's hopeful eyes. “No. And I …” She reached out, even though she couldn't actually touch her. “I won't be able to.”
“What do you mean?” Rainbow pulled herself up a little. “You're Twilight Sparkle, most … most awesome magician ever! You're the Element of Magic.”
“Rainbow, I'm sorry. I can't help you, and you can't go on any longer. I have to take you back home, or you'll die out here and I'll never see you again.”
“No,” Rainbow begged, crawling up to Twilight. “That won't happen! I swear …” She looked around as if trying in desperation to find some kind of solution. “What … about Cadance? She's the Princess of Love. She can figure out how to do it.”
“I talked to her, and she …” Twilight trailed off.
“Yes?” Rainbow said, urging her to go on.
“She was going to look if she could find something, but I haven't heard anything in days. I'm sorry, but we can't keep waiting. We've already waited too long.”
“Please, Twilight!” Rainbow tried to take her hoof, which failed, but Rainbow didn't seem to register this. “I believe in you, Twilight. I know you can do it, just … just give me one more day. I bet Cadance will call any minute, and you'll figure it out.”
Bonbon gave Twilight a look, trying to tell her to put her hoof down, but Twilight didn't notice. She looked down, fighting with two sides of herself warring over what to do.
“One day,” Rainbow begged her again. “One day.”
Twilight looked up at her for a long time, then seemed to relent. “One day,” she said firmly.
“Yes!” Rainbow tried to hug Twilight, apparently already forgetting that she wasn't really there, and fell on her face instead.
Twilight moved back a little and sighed. “I hope I'm doing the right thing.”
“Hey!” Lyra's shout interrupted Bonbon just as she was weighing whether to say something. “I think I see something up ahead,” she called again and waved for them to come over.
Bonbon and Twilight both left Rainbow, who was curling up into a sleeping position again, and joined Lyra at the front. Lyra pointed towards an outcropping of rocks not far ahead, where a small figure was visible against the glare of the sun and phantom flames.
“What the hay is that,” Bonbon muttered and squinted at the sight. “And what's it doing?”
“I haven't the foggiest,” Lyra said.
Bonbon sat down and stared at the little growing spot dancing around in the light and flames like some kind of zebra shaman trying to summon the spirits of ancient flame and fire. As they got closer, the figure became clearer and her voice carried across the plains.
“Neigh! None will lead but Trixie, for she alone is worthy to lead! Trixie rules all! Trixie shines the way, and all shall follow, for where she goes is where all must go! So do not lead the way but follow. Trixie the Great and Powerful shall lead you! Do not question Trixie! She rules all!”
“You've got to be kidding,” Bonbon said, staring at the insane unicorn prancing and dancing among the flames like a demented commander of ghostly hosts. “How did she even get here?”
Twilight squinted. “I'm not sure. She escaped shortly after she was caught in Manehatten. That's the last I heard of her, but at the time she seemed to have regained her own mind if not her memory of what happened.”
“Then she's clearly lost it again,” Lyra said.
“It would seem so,” Twilight said. “I'm sorry I can't illuminate this mystery for you. I honestly believed she was back to normal and wandering Equestria with her show.”
“This actually seems pretty normal for Trixie, if you ask me,” Bonbon said dryly.
Trixie spun around at their approach and was about to spout something at them when she realized they were not at eye height. She paused and craned her neck to gaze up at the giant dragon turtle. She quickly recovered and held up a commanding hoof. “Halt! Halt before Trixie the Great and Powerful! Trixie doth command you to halt!”
Snapcase continued leisurely on, pretending not even to be aware of Trixie's existence.
Trixie fumed and her horn lit up. A large glimmering hoof formed in the air in front of the turtle. “None ignores Trixie!” she said, and the hoof gave the bemused turtle a boop on the nose. “Trixie said: Halt!”
Snapcase's eyes went crossed, and the giant turtle nearly tipped over as its momentum was arrested suddenly.
“What the!” Rainbow Dash cried out as the sudden stop launched her off the back of the turtle, landing her in the grass at the hooves of Trixie.
Trixie looked down at the changeling before here and, seemingly unsurprised, held out a hoof as if expecting it to be kissed.
Everypony else were staring.
“Did she just stop a giant dragon turtle in its tracks by booping it on the nose?” Lyra leaned over and whispered to Bonbon.
“That, or I'm still dreaming,” Bonbon replied. “Please let me be dreaming.”
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was pulling her face out of the dirt and blinking awake at the outstretched hoof before her. She followed the leg all the way to Trixie's imperious, expectant eyes. “Nope. Nuh uh,” she said and batted the hoof away as she pulled herself up on unsteady hooves. “I'm not even going to acknowledge that.”
Trixie huffed. “Excuse me?”
Rainbow glared up at the turtle. “Why's it stopped?” She looked at Twilight. “Why are we stopped?” She flew up and poked the turtle between the eyes. “Very funny, turtle, but the joke's gotten older than Granny Smith. Stop messing with me and move it.”
“Rainbow …” Bonbon tried to get her attention.
Trixie rolled her eyes and pointed up at Lyra and Bonbon. “You two, get down from Trixie's ride and build her a harness and saddle. Trixie the Great and Powerful must travel in style, and this gift of a turtle shall suffice.”
“What the hay is she rambling about?” Bonbon whispered to Lyra.
“I think … she wants a harness and saddle for Snapcase so she can ride it,” Lyra whispered back.
“Be careful,” Twilight warned. “I sense something is not right with her. She may be possessed by powerful spirits. I must return to Canterlot to continue looking for a way to help Rainbow Dash. I'm afraid there's nothing else I can do right now.” She glanced one last time towards Trixie, then vanished in a glimmer of moonlight.
“Joy,” Bonbon muttered.
“Do not make Trixie repeat herself,” Trixie shouted at them.
Lyra looked at Bonbon. “What now?”
“Our ride isn't going anywhere, it seems,” she said. “We have no idea how long this wasted land goes on. We need him to carry all our stuff or we might all starve a week from now. And I'm not eager to anger whatever spirits possess this madmare. I guess we have no choice but to do as she says, for now.”
“Great,” Lyra said, watching Rainbow Dash curl up and sulk on top of the turtle's great head. She fell almost instantly back to sleep. “No help from her either.”
* * *
Building a saddle for a dragon turtle was no quick task. Making such a saddle to the exacting demands of a megalomaniac unicorn thinking herself the princess of an ancient empire, with no materials available except grass and some wood … Bonbon would not have thought it possible until Lyra reminded her how the impossible was the very thing magic was for.
They worked long into the night, Lyra showing her how to use her new magic to shape and weave the grasses into ropes and fabrics for the saddle. It was about the only thing the ghost grass seemed fit for, since none of them were inclined to eat it. Lyra's hands proved even more adept at this sort of magic than her horn, and as darkness fell, they made good progress despite growing weariness.
They saw little sign of Trixie or Rainbow Dash. Trixie occasionally showed up just when they thought they could take a break, only to bark orders and wander off again, talking to ghosts neither of them could see.
Rainbow Dash had slipped off to somewhere quiet no doubt, being little help in either case, being both starved and yet to make any great advances with her magic. Frankly, Bonbon thought, she would likely have been more of a hindrance than a help in this.
Sometime during the night, Bonbon found herself nodding off, staring into the dark while her magic kept weaving as if it had a mind of its own. She thought she saw shadows moving in the darkness behind them, but chalked it up to her eyes being tired.
She woke up, having no idea how long she'd been sitting there, asleep, when someone sat down next to her and picked up her work in a soft glow. She rubbed her tired eyes and turned her head. “Humble?”
“Shh,” the girl hushed. “Sleep. We will finish thy work for thee.”
“Where have you been?” Bonbon looked at her in the darkness. Luna's amulet was glowing faintly around her neck. She must have found it herself.
“Thinking,” she said as her fingers worked, much faster and with far more skill than Bonbon's or even Lyra's weaving.
Bonbon looked at Lyra sleeping beside her, then leaned over and gave Humble a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you,” she said. “For all you're helping.”
Humble paused briefly in her work to look down at her hands. “Thou art welcome,” she said in the smallest voice.
“Do you know what's up with Trixie?” Bonbon looked around and saw Trixie off in the distance, the light from her magic illuminating her face as she shouted at invisible ghosts in the dark.
Humble followed her gaze. “She has become a vessel for the ghosts of this land. Something must have left a hollow space inside her, and they all moved in to fill it.” She stopped working for a moment. “She has become the land and its curse. She has become their need and hunger embodied. Beware of her, for they give her great power, perhaps greater even than our own.”
Bonbon stared at Trixie doing her mad dance for a time. She barely even noticed as she lay down, her head in Humble's lap, and fell asleep, content at the feeling of love surrounding her, suffusing her.
* * *
She woke up in the morning as the sun warmed her face to find Humble gone but the saddle complete and strapped on the back of the giant turtle. It was, without a doubt, the most regal and luxurious saddle ever made from grass and wood. Trixie was already inspecting it, trying her best to find something, any small detail to complain about.
Bonbon sat up and stretched her limbs, looking around for Lyra and Rainbow Dash. The latter was already up and, much to Bonbon's surprise, scouting the horizon far above them. How she had found the energy to fly around, Bonbon couldn't imagine. Just the night before she had barely had enough energy to stand on her hooves for more than a few minutes at a time.
Lyra was more subdued, rummaging through her saddlebags for breakfast.
“Good morning, Lyra,” Bonbon said.
Lyra muttered something that half sounded like “Good morning” but didn't look at Bonbon as she handed her some grass and crackers.
Bonbon ignored the somewhat cold reaction and sat down to chew her less than exciting breakfast. “Looks like Trixie is satisfied,” she said between bites.
“Mhm,” Lyra hummed.
Bonbon decided to leave her to her silence. Just one of those mornings. Maybe the weather would change to gray and Lyra's mood would improve.
They set out again around noon, Lyra and Bonbon trudging along on the ground as Trixie rode a most displeased dragon turtle. Rainbow Dash was flying along with them high above, showing no sign of exhaustion. Bonbon puzzled at her sudden recovery as they walked, but she had little desire to attempt flying up there herself to ask about it.
* * *
It was three days of sullen silence and endless trudging through deceptively green fields when the great mountain appeared at last on the horizon, seemingly growing out of the clouds themselves.
Everyone stopped to take in the sight.
Bonbon glanced at Lyra, who was staring as if she had never truly expected to see these jagged mountains of her tales and dreams.
Rainbow Dash slowly descended and settled next to them. “Whoa,” she said. “That's big. I thought the Canterlot mountain was tall.”
Bonbon looked at her. There was no sign of any weariness in her eyes, and while she was still unhealthily thin, Bonbon could have sworn she looked less thin than she had for days. “Say, Rainbow Dash,” she said, “You seem full of energy today.”
“Uhuh,” Rainbow said, at first not really hearing.
“Want to tell me how come? Last night you could barely stand, and Twilight was almost ready to take you back home by force, yet now …”
“Huh?” Rainbow finally realized she was being spoken to. “Oh, uh, yeah, funny that, huh?” She put on a deflecting grin. “I guess I must have just, you know, adjusted to the food or something.”
“Uh huh,” Bonbon said.
“Yeah. All those changelings back there seemed to do fine, and they were starving half the time too. So I figure, you know, changelings probably become used to eating regular food after a while. They must, right?”
Bonbon squinted at her. She almost felt like being back in Ponyville, listening to Lyra's lies and annoyingly plausible excuses. Always they seemed real reasonable explanations, if you didn't look at them too closely. “I guess you're right,” she grudgingly conceded.
“Sure sure,” Rainbow said, once again not really listening.
“What are you all just standing around for?” Trixie yelled from atop her mount, standing in her regal saddle. “Get moving. That mountain ain't getting any closer on its own!”
Snapcase scowled and started moving, slowly picking up speed. They all followed, trudging through the grass with a little more speed, having at last their target in sight.
The last step of their journey was before them.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- TheCrystalRing · 1.1k words · 34 2 · 1.1k views
- ObsidianPony · 5.1k words · 24 8 · 1.4k views
- Yukito · 2.2k words · 73 5 · 1.7k views
- bluemoon1996 · 3.4k words · 28 5 · 1.4k views
- geldon · 36k words · 40 6 · 4.5k views
- adcoon · 90k words · 76 4 · 1.9k views
- Shiningblade-pony · 9.5k words · 111 1 · 2.5k views
- Jeweled Pen · 33k words · 72 1 · 1.7k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.175 seconds
Total duration
1,057 users online
1,691,861 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
[insert obligatory comment celebrating the persistence of your vital functions]
Oooh, an update! What a lovely surprise!
That recap of past events was great. I had forgotten more than I thought, but thanks to the recap, it was as if there was no break at all.
I thought I had lost this story forever! Good thign it got featured with this update or i would never have found it again!
Thanks everypony
8050122
It was written at the last minute, really, thanks to a suggestion by my prereader. Turns out, writing a summary was a tiny bit harder than I expected too. Even I struggled to remember everything in the right order, even after having re-read it
Glad to hear the summary did its job
It lives!
Oh wow. And with a summary even I read in the comments? That's a good call. I don't have time right at this moment, but I am glad to see this updated.
*sigh*
The dream sequence at the beginning of this chapter didn't help me being confused!
I'm glad this story is up and running again, and I feel that familiar sense of unease as I recall all the things that are still going wrong, and all the things that inevitably will.
This fic is alive! Aliiiiiiive!! *vuvuzela resounds throughout the air*
The tracking list pays off again! Good to see you back
Glad it's back, missed this one.
I remember when I finished reading this (almost three bloody years ago) it was one of my favourite stories at the time, I'm glad you've find the time and motivation to get the wheels rolling once again.
Trixie the moon mare!
8050171
It's funny, I had been reading it on an old phone I read while drying off in the shower, and I had just completed the penultimate chapter of my download when I saw online that this had to return to active status.
Amazing timing. I had grown accustomed to the thought that it ended with the death of hiatus, but the synopsis and the continuation felt as if it never even stopped.
"Cancelled" is like the saddest thing you can see on this site, especially when the story's been sitting in your read later for years and you were gonna start once it's finished.
8628962
Mhm. I don't begrudge it, but this was one of my absolute favorite fics--the kind you stop reading for a long time so you can refresh your memory, then take in all the new stuff without having to handle the waiting.
I'm really sad to see it cancelled, but not every good story gets to finish.
Will you ever uncancel this?