Grandiur

by Takarashi282

Chapter III - The Sorceress

Hour after hour they traveled through the wilderness. The lush trees and undergrowth faded into a dark color, sprawling in weird shapes and direction. The air filled with muck, the smell of rotting wood flooding into their nostrils. Through it, the trees looked ghoulish, the whole atmosphere unsettling. Complete silence surrounded them, the only thing breaking it was the muffled clopping on the ground. The air cooled as they progressed, a gentle chilly breeze hitting them. Every other set of paces the ground squished, unbalancing the trio, sending them scrambling for footing. The thick air wore them down, making them stop to rest more often.

Only during the brief breaks, they broke the silence. Crimson rambled on about his swordplay practices, how he defeated many-a-'foe', and how he was nearly defeated himself. "The guy was relentless," he would say, "Every sword collision, sparks would fly." It was definitely an exaggeration, but Grandiur and Radi played along, as if giving invested interest to his fables. Radi would eventually tell stories of how often she would escape her home to explore, but never to here. She was a resident of a town called 'Ponyville', and had to evacuate because of the invasion. Whenever Grandiur would ask for more detail, she would just say she was uncomfortable elaborating detail. He respected her decision, but as the curious colt he was, the questions pestered him.

As they continued on, the stories got deeper and deeper. Crimson explained that his father died protecting him from the creatures of the night, his mother dying of grief soon after. At the age of ten, he travelled to the newly founded camp, being one of the first residents. He choked up a little at the subject of his parents, but survived telling the story without shedding a tear. Radi explained that her mother died at childbirth, her father taking care of her until the invasion, trying to protect everypony from the raid. "I don't know if he's alive or not," she explained, "He probably is, though." She almost touched on the subject on her relationship with Teal, but stopped herself before she could.

Grandiur felt sorry for the both of them. They both had came from a tragic past, and he wished he could relate. But amnesia veiled his mind, the past 48 hours being his only memories.

Their next stop was atop a cliff, looking down into more of the forest. Grandiur's depth perception flattened as he looked down on the trees. That would be a dreadful drop, he thought. The trees seemed more lively and welcoming than the dead, twisted marsh trees behind him. "Crimson, have you ever been down here before?" Grandiur asked.

Crimson hesitated, then slowly nodded. "I only scraped the borders," he answered, "I haven't been farther than that."

"Well, I can see why," Grandiur gestured to the environment of the marshy wood behind them.

"It was meant to look like this; to deter wanderers."

"So, we're trespassing. What ground here makes the forest important?"

"Ruins," Radi pitched in, "The very ruins that the Elements of Harmony were hidden in when the six retrieved them."

"By retrieved, they're not here?"

"Yes, but the place is still sacred ground."

"The start of their adventures," Crimson added.

"They've made a big difference, have they?" Grandiur asked.

"For sure! They've saved Equestria multiple times. Without them, we'd be all enslaved, living in the darkness."

"And here we are, trying to make a difference ourselves."

"Yes," Radi said, "We are going to make one hell of a difference."

---

The remaining daylight didn't last as long as the trio originally thought. As they catered through the wood, night took the sky, blue fading to purple in the east. It grew increasingly hard to see as the light faded, the muck thickening as twilight came among them. Once they reached a tall jagged rock, they could see only a few yards in front of them. Grandiur clumsily tripped on a smaller stone, almost ramming head first into the towering stone.

They studied the set of rocks, fifteen smaller ones surrounding the one at the origin. "Now this," Crimson said, "is a sun dial."

"Great!" Radi exclaimed, "So the clearance shouldn't be much further ahead?"

"No, it shouldn't."

Unexpectedly, the leaves of the brush and trees ruffled violently. Grandiur jumped back. "Don't tell me it's them again!"

"Well, we're not going to wait around and see," Radi proposed, "Go!"

They galloped northward, the living darkness on their six. The darkness jumped between trees and stormed through bushes, relentlessly chasing them. "Crimson, tell me you brought weapons?" Grandiur asked.

"No, I didn't think we needed them," Crimson replied, chuckling nervously.

"What kind of swordscolt doesn't bring his sword with him?"

"Just keep moving!"

Adrenaline pumping through their veins, they were determined to outrun the creatures, meandering through obstacles. The creatures had almost caught up, one missing jumping on Grandiur's back by a hare, slowing the others down. He glanced behind him as the shadows trampled over their comrade. He switched his gaze forward again, the darkness appearing in his peripheral vision. They scaled the trees, looking for an opening to strike. Grandiur cursed, breath heavy. He galloped faster, pushing his body to the limit, heart pumping frantically.
Before he knew it, he was on the ground. He shot his vision around. He was no longer in the wood. He had landed in a grass field, his chin digging into the ground. He gathered himself to his hooves, scrambling away from the wooded area behind. The darkness was swarming toward the trio, only to suddenly smoosh against ripples in the air. Grandiur studied the shield, visible only when the creatures came in contact, bright ripples rebounding them yards away from the mystery material.

"Is everypony alright?" Radi panted.

"Yeah," Grandiur and Crimson confirmed simultaneously.

"Just wait until the adrenaline wears off," Crimson stated, "We'll be out as hard as a rock."

"Well, before we pass out," Grandiur gestured to the cottage meters ahead, "Let's have the owner know we're here."

The cottage was fair, two stories, as suggested by an upper row of windows, all lit, some dimmer than others. A thick, steep straw roof laid atop the crests of the triangular structure above the second story. A rectangular portion was extruded from the wall behind, a door and stairs lying on the bottom, a larger circular window near the triangular point of the roof. The stairs were decorated with banisters fanning out to either side with the stairs, beams twisted and straight in a respective pattern. To the left side of the extrusion and in front of the house was a garden strip, erotic species of flowers growing from it.

The trio continued to the cottage, bumping Grandiur along. Why build a house in the middle of a murky wood? Grandiur thought, complying to his friends' message. As the cottage loomed up upon them, Grandiur's mind went blank. What should I say? He sorted through different greetings in his head as they mounted the stairs. The stairs were more narrow at the top; only two of them could fit without squeezing on the top step uncomfortably. They pushed Grandiur ahead of them. "You're the guy who can activate the statues," Radi explained before Grandiur could even open his mouth, "She'll probably recognize out of all of us."

Since Grandiur couldn't counter the argument, he knocked on the door, the solid clunk assuring him the door wasn't delicate. It opened away from him a few seconds later, revealing a mare with a light blue coat. The unicorn's mane was an orange with one or two red orange stripes flowing down a semi-straight mane. She managed a small smile. "Hello. Who might you be?" She asked, sounding surprised at their presence.

Grandiur took a glance back at his friends. They ushered him on with their hooves, giving 'encouraging' half smiles. "My name is Grandiur," he introduced, "and these are my two friends, Crimson and Radi. We were sent on a quest by Princess Rainbow Dash to activate the shield. We heard that you had the locations?"

She nodded, "Yes, I do have them. Come inside." She stepped aside to allow the trio to enter the household. "I received a letter concerning your arrival just this morning. With the Essence's creatures running amok, I knew that someone would have to activate them. It seems like you're the right pony to do that, Grandiur."

Grandiur insisted that he shut the door behind them. "So, about the statues, can they be activated by anyone?"

The mare shook her head, "No. Only a select few people can do that. People of your birthplace."

Grandiur was immediately interested. "Explain?"

"Six years ago, I created the statues to represent the six. Each can be activated by one with the key. This key was bestowed by me to your people, for they were faithful guards on the border. If the Essence broke out, they would immediately venture out to activate the statues. That way, the new shield would be deployed. But when that fateful day came, the creatures would be too strong for them.

"A month ago, the shield deactivated, allowing the living darkness to spread among their land. They were stronger than ever before, eliminating the armies that stood against them. At this time, most of the residents fled from the place as the darkness claimed it. Some died, most survived. But the ones who held the keys were vanquished, except for one. This one key was missing until recently."

They had settled in her study while she was explaining. Candles stood on the desk around a piece of parchment, quill and ink set beside it. There were a set of seats inside, all of which were taken by the trio.

Grandiur stared at the hardwood floor, taking in the information. At this news, he was glad he had amnesia. He would be exponentially more traumatized by this news. The other unicorn searched drawers in her desk, and pulled out a map of Equestria.

"These are the locations of the six statues. One, the one you've already activated, is in Camp Ricordo. The beam is pointing west, so your next destination is in the desert."

"What are we looking for?" Grandiur asked.

"There is an aqueduct you should follow. This will take you to the village in the desert. But all the five statues go in clockwise order. Which means after the desert, you'd go to Cloudsdale, and so on. Once you have activated the five border statues, you have to go to the ruins of Ponyville to deploy the shield; the final statue lies there."

Grandiur nodded. "Thank you, Ms. ...?"

"Ink Drop," she said, "Just 'Inky' would do. And, you're welcome."

Grandiur studied the map over and over. The distance between the points of interest was staggering. After moving through the desert, they would have to walk to the other side of the continent to reach their next destination. Well, he thought, Nobody said this quest was going to be easy.

"Take the map," Inky offered, rolling the parchment up with her magic. Grandiur grabbed it with his mouth and put it in his saddle bag. "Thanks again," he said.

"You're welcome," Inky responded.

"Oh! Inky, I was wondering if you could teach me the basics of magic?"

She smiled and nodded. "It would be my pleasure. Come outside." She opened the door for Grandiur.

---

The cool evening breeze met the both of them as they stepped outside. The clean air was a blessing to Grandiur. Suffocating in the muck of the forest was not his favorite thing. After speaking to his friends before she closed the door, Inky caught up to him a couple yards away from the cottage.

"The first thing you need to know is that the key to magic is visualization," she stated, "Even though it sounds easy, the process needs all your focus. Forcing your mind to focus on one thing is tough, and channeling that focus into a form of magic takes effort. Before we start on our first lesson, you must know not to physically exert yourself. This is the mind's job, not the body's job. Just focus on that one thing you want to do, and your mind will do the rest.

"For our first lesson of the day, even though you have already cast magic, we're toning things down a little. We're going to light our horns. It takes a lot of exertion of mind to do it the first time, but once you practice, you'll be able to do this without breaking a sweat. To start, close your eyes." Grandiur did as she said, waiting for the next instruction.

"Now, visualize your horn lighting, just enough to light the area around you."

Grandiur visualized it, noticing no effort was involved.

"You've got to really focus on it. If you're just picturing it happening, it won't happen. Focus."

He poured his mind into focusing on getting his visualization to reality. He noticed a sudden effort, an effort that strained his brain. His legs locked and he breathed hard. Pouring every bit of his concentration into the act, he noticed his eyelids started to light. In excitement, he lost focus, and the light went out almost immediately.

"Don't lose focus; still pour your focus into it. If you let it go, that will happen again."

Once again, he strained his mind to achieve his goal. In same condition, he managed to light it again, this time, keeping focus on it. In his mind's eye, he was lighting the horn. In reality, this happened as well.

"Good. Now, open your eyes, and still keep focus on the light."

He slowly opened to eyes to find that indeed light was emitting from his horn. He could see a meter in front of him under this created light. He cheered to himself in his mind over this accomplishment.

"Great! You're doing -"

The light left his horn and shot out, ricocheting off of trees and her house, zooming back and knocking Grandiur off his hooves.

She grimaced. " - Well."

---

"Alright," Inky said, "Let's move on to picking up objects. Visualize it and put in all of your focus."

Grandiur spotted a rock he could levitate. He went through the same routine; close eyes, visualize, focus. After the first second, he realized that this was more difficult to do than light a horn. He poured all of his focus into lifting the rock, clenching his teeth at the exertion it took. His head pounded as he finally lifted the rock.

"Awesome!! Look at the results!"

He opened his eyes to see that the rock was hovering a couple feet off the ground. He laughed and grunted as the exertion weighed down his mind. Now to put it down gently, he thought.

Clunk!

The rock fell heavy on the ground, kicking up dirt, sound pounding on his eardrums. He looked toward his tutor, realizing she was the recipient of all the flying material. Scowling, she cleared herself off. Grandiur laughed nervously. She was not pleased at all.

---

"Okay, now to send the energy off your horn," Inky said, "Like so." She first lighted her horn, then removed the light from it, forming an orb. The next moment, she discarded the energy, disappearing completely. "Your turn."

Close eyes, visualize, focus. These steps were hardwired to his brain. He lit his horn with a little less effort this time, but separating the energy from it to the air was harder than expected. He knew he did this unintentionally before, but intentionally seemed to be harder. He visualized the energy leaving his horn, and going in front of him. After a couple repetitions of this visualization and more invested focus, he finally achieved his goal. Except the orb of light energy was too close to his face. He expelled the energy, blinking. Through his temporary blindness, he looked toward Inky. She gave an approving nod.

"Of course, there's a vast variety of magic you can cast, but now that you know the basics, you can go from there," Inky smiled, "Keep practicing though. Practice makes permanent."

"Right," Grandiur acknowledged, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Inky responded, raising one of her front legs, hoof facing towards him. Grandiur didn't know what this meant, but copied her movement. She bumped her hoof against his.

---

Crimson hung his hoof over the edge of the bed, swinging it back and forth. It had been an hour and a half since Inky and Grandiur went to do basic magic. Does it really take this long? he thought. He wasn't known for his patience. When he was a little colt, he was as impatient as the Cutie Mark Crusaders were when they were awaiting their cutie mark. He recalled all the mischief he'd created when he was that age. Back then, he called it fun. Right now, however, he facehoofs every time he thinks about it. Was I really that stupid? he'd think, laughing at himself. Well, at least I've learned a tad bit more respect since then.

He had fond memories of his childhood. He remembered when he finally got his cutie mark at age nine. Even though it was late, he'd finally found his talent, and that was all that mattered to him. He looked back at his flank, seeing the sword with the red blade. The red never represented bloodshed, it represented the flame of determination in his heart. If there was a goal in sight, he would accomplish it, even if it was the smallest one. With every friend he made, he always had one pertinent goal. Stay loyal to them. It was a goal he happily followed. He could never seek happiness in disloyalty.

As he reflected upon his childhood, he skipped thinking about the death of his parents. I will not think about that, he assured himself, I can't linger on it any longer. He sorted through his memory banks, smiling at all the good memories. But as he reflected and reflected, getting closer to present, he remembered what Teal had said to him once. "Crimson, you're the most determined pony I've ever met. Just stop trying to pursue negating goals." Crimson had been an emotional wreck at the time. He couldn't pursue one goal he wanted very much. Only after Teal had said that, he realized that he never wanted that goal. Teal, he thought, You're a good friend, but why have you turned into such an idiot?

Grandiur entered the room, the exhausted colt flopping onto the bed closest to the door. "So, how was your magic introduction?" Crimson asked, flipping himself towards him.

"Exhausting," he replied, "This is the most I've worked myself."

"... and you trekked a long distance."

"No, I was doing fine before. The magic really strains your brain."

"Hm. Well, I can't say I know what it feels like to cast magic, so I'll take your word for it."

After a brief silence, Grandiur asked, "Where's Radi?"

"Doing female stuff, I guess," Crimson answered.

"Yeah, probably."

Another silence fell between them. They could not hold up a conversation more than three seconds. Radi entered in the room moments after. "Wow," she said, "I figured you'd guys would be talking more."

"Well, with a guy who doesn't remember anything of his past," Grandiur pointed to himself, "there's nothing to really talk about,"

"I guess."

"Well," Crimson yawned, "It's that time of the night again."

"Indeed it is," Grandiur said, rolling into his bedsheets, "I'm going to get some shut-eye."

Radi tucked herself in the bed, "Well, goodnight then," she bid Grandiur, giving her a small "Goodnight," in return. She blew out the light next to her.

Crimson shifted in his bed. "Radi?" he called softly.

"Hm?"

"Sorry about the way I treated you back at camp. I was -"

"You're still worrying about that?"

"Well, I guess."

"I accept your apology, Crimson, but it was a small mistake. You shouldn't linger on these small things. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Radi." Crimson blew out his candle, readjusting himself to be on his side, subconsciousness taking over minutes after he closed his eyes.

Author's Note:

Thank you, Traci Wayment, for allowing me to use your OC.