The Cloud in the Wind

by Bud Grazer

3. A god or a demon

Twenty-one years earlier...

The young white gryphoness shook in fear in front of the creature. In the cave that her family had chose as their home, her brother laid on the floor, a large gash on his side still leaking blood. He had stopped breathing a minute ago.

Her mother was leaned against the opposite wall, her head facing in the wrong direction after her neck had snapped when she was sent crashing into the rock.

Only her father still stood between the red dragon and her. It may have been young for dragon standards, but it was still five times bigger than the teenage gryphoness.

The beast roared and blew a great flame at the same time, making her scream in fear. Her father jumped over her, spreading his wings in an attempt to protect her from the heat.

She didn’t even know why it had attacked her family. Maybe it simply wanted to take their cave for itself. If it had only asked, they might even have left...

Her father stood up. His sword was lying on the ground a few meters away and he had only his claws to defend himself and his daughter. The dragon roared again and stomped closer.

“Monstre sans cervelle,” her father muttered. He jumped to grab his sword and headed straight for the dragon, letting his anger out in a roar. “Sois maudit !”

The dragon tried to hit him with a claw, but her father dodged by swooping around its arm. He flew near its head, avoiding the clasping jaws narrowly.

His sword went deep into the dragon’s right eye, making it thrash and roar furiously. Her father avoided the jaws and the claws.

Its tail struck him in the chest, sending him crashing on the ground with a thud. She gasped and started to run towards him.

She screamed as the dragon blew a mighty jet of fire on her father.

When the flames died down, only a smoking, charred body remained. Her vision blurred as her eyes filled with tears.

The rumbling breath of the dragon made her look back up. It was snarling, one of its eyes closed and leaking blood. It opened its maw, showing rows of giant teeth ready to cut her to ribbons.

She screamed and ran, trying to reach the exit by passing between its legs. She had to stop when it blocked the way by lowering its tail. She turned around and tried to put as much distance as she could between them, but quickly reached the end of the cave.

The dragon stepped closer and swiped at her with a claw.

In a way that he had not anticipated, her father had just saved her life : with only one good eye, the dragon misjudged the distance and its claw only opened a large gash rather than cutting her in half. She screamed again from the pain.

Disappointed, the dragon breathed in, intending to finish her with fire instead of claws.

Its breath caught in its throat as lightning suddenly coursed all over its body. The beast turned around and she saw him between its legs : a unicorn pony was standing at the cave’s entrance, his horn glowing with a bright green haze.

The dragon roared again like a feral animal and blew a huge stream of fire at him. When it subsided, the unicorn was still standing inside a magical shield bubble, completely unfazed.

The dragon struck it with a claw, but the unicorn teleported a few meters back, letting it hammer the ground. He fired a bright jet of magic in its face, making the dragon recoil a little. It swung again with a claw and he teleported away once more, sending another blast of magic in the downtime.

The two kept that little dance up for a minute until the dragon lost its patience. It opened its maw again to roar so loud that the cave’s walls shook. The unicorn took the opportunity to send a spell straight into its throat, though.

When the dragon tried to breathe fire again, its face scrunched up in confusion as nothing went out of its mouth.

It growled in pain and clutched its chest. The unicorn simply walked away, putting some distance between them.

Smoke started to escape through the dragon’s throat and nostrils. Soon, it was followed by bright blue flames. It thrashed and wailed in pain as the fire burned it from inside and eventually collapsed and stopped moving, black smoke rising from holes appearing in its carcass as the beast consumed itself from within.

The unicorn walked in the cave. She finally had a chance to take a good look at him : brown with a green mane peppered by a few gray locks. He was also carrying a pair of worn saddlebags.

“Gryphons ? Humph... I was expecting a dragon hoard.”

His eyes locked on hers and she jumped back a little as the dragon-slaying unicorn approached. He looked down at the cut on her chest and levitated a roll of bandage.

She simply blinked as he cleaned and covered her wound.

“That should do. Sorry I didn’t get here earlier, kid.”

“Que... Qui êtes-vous ?”

The unicorn stared at her. “I don’t speak French.”

“Quoi ?”

He sighed. “I knew I should have learned before coming here... Well, good luck to you, kid.” He turned around and walked away.

She wondered what was happening for a moment, before she realized her savior was leaving before she even learned his name.

“Attendez !” She tried to stand, but shook and fell on the ground. He didn’t stop. “Dîtes moi au moins votre nom !”

The mysterious unicorn didn’t even turn around, simply yelling “Sorry, I don’t understand you.” The last she saw of him was the picture of scrolls on his flank.

---

The next day, she sat before the three graves she had placed her family in. She said her last goodbye silently and put everything she could carry in a bag. All of her legacy, small enough to fit in a small sack slung on her back... But most of it was in her heart, in the ways of the Serme that her parents had taught her and her brother.

She didn’t understand it really before. She thought that a Serme was supposed to be meek and docile, only existing for his master and therefore unable to make a decision by himself.

Her father sometimes joked about this, saying how she was like a cloud, only going where the wind was taking her. Without it, she would just float in place and cry, he said. But now, she knew of a wind she could follow.

She would be his cloud.

---

“You should advise your master when you think he is doing wrong, but never forget who is the master and who is the Serme. These roles can never be exchanged.”

---

Nuage stepped to the door of Papyrus’s study and knocked.

“Come in.”

Inside, the old unicorn was observing a strange contraption. At first glance, it could have passed for an overly ornate bridle, but the various silver parts and gems were clearly not intended for decoration, all of the wires converging to a central piece meant to wrap around the wearer’s horn.

“This is the Fortior,” Papyrus said. “Flint Hoof’s ultimate creation. And a fascinating piece of arcane design. I’ve never seen anything quite like this, it would undoubtedly take me decades to truly understand the functioning of that device.”

He lifted it in the air in front of him. “Fortunately, I don’t need to understand its inner workings to use it.”

Nuage looked at the artifact with curiosity.

“What do you need this for, master ?”

“The Fortior is only a tool to reach my next objective. The reason I settled in this forest in the first place is because it is close to another mage’s lair. A unicorn called Stone Mane built himself a real fortress in a nearby mountain. He died long ago, but all of his work is still inside. The magical defenses he set up made sure that nopony could steal them, even after his passing. I’ve been looking for a way to get inside for years...

“But now,” he levitated the Fortior on his head. “I should have more than enough magic to penetrate inside his inner sanctum.”

Nuage watched him as he tied the straps. “What are we looking for this time ?”

“Stone Mane’s grimoire. If I am right, it contains the spell that I need.”

“Master ?” He looked at her with a curious expression. “What is your goal ? Why are you gathering all these items ?”

“Power. My goal is power, Nuage. It has always been, I thought you would have understood that by now.”

“I understand, but you are already one of the greatest unicorns in Equestria. You have power already.”

Papyrus snorted. “What I have is insignificant ! I don’t want the power to cast a few impressive spells. I want real power. Absolute power !”

Nuage recoiled a little.

“When I am done, I will be the most powerful being in this world. More powerful than any unicorn. More powerful than a princess. I will become a god, Nuage !”

“A... A god ?”

“Yes. I still need more time to reach that objective, which is why I need Stone Mane’s spells. All the texts I read about him say that he had found a way to cheat death. I will do so, too. Once I’ll be immortal, I will have all the time to collect enough power and finish my ascension.”

“But... Why would you want to be a god ?”

Papyrus frowned at her. “You can’t understand, Nuage, you have no ambition. Unlike you, I am not content with having a master telling me what I can or can’t do. Absolute power means absolute freedom.”

“I... don’t know,” Nuage said with a worried look. “It sounds... dangerous. Do you really trust yourself to act like a god ? What about other ponies ? You can’t do anything you want to them...”

“Not yet I can’t, but soon... Soon, they will become insignificant.” Papyrus gave her a disturbing smile. “Don’t worry, Nuage. When I won’t need your assistance anymore, I’ll find a way to reward you for your loyalty.” He chuckled a bit. “You will have the favors of a god, how many can claim that ?”

Nuage watched silently as he turned around and buried himself in more books and scrolls, his horn sometimes lighting up as he cast various spells for purposes only he could know. She watched in the distance, whispering to herself.

“Un dieu ou un démon.”

Comments

[Alondro]

Ok, this pony is utterly insane.

He needs to be killed at once.

*readies his Godslayer*