Sins of the Ancients

by Tundara

Chapter Two: Awakening

Sins of the Ancients

Chapter Two: Awakening

"She will wake to find her power diminished,
Weakened, confused, and lost, but not alone."

-From the Prophecy of the Purple Wizard

It was not the sharp rocks jabbing into the middle of Twilight’s back that woke her. Nor was it the soft patter of rain tickling her face as it fell through a hole cut into the thatching of the roof. The sharp rays of early morning slanting sideways through the low cloud and window didn’t wake her either. The low voices speaking in harsh guttural whispers, the clear ring of a steel blade being drawn from a scabbard only a few feet from where she lay or an insistent tugging at her ankle could not rouse her. For all intents Twilight may as well have been in a coma, or dead.

In that deep almost peaceful sleep she could not see the door to her refuge pushed open on its single rusty hinge. A head, large and round with a thick mop of wiry brown hair, poked through the cracked open door the point of a sword trailing behind low enough to disturb the dirt and dust that accumulated around the doors base. A flash of silver, a spray of crimson, and the sword fell moments before the head.

Awareness was beginning to surface. Part of her mind did note she was being picked up and thrown over somepony’s back. A door was kicked in followed by a trail of thick incoherent words. Then she was out in the rain. There was a litany of metallic clinking around her as a handful of bodies began to crash through low scrub brush clinging around a thin wooded glen. After several heartbeats more crashing sounded as additional bodies entered the scrub.

Deep in the dream's clutches Twilight was aware of the noises but couldn’t understand them. Her mind, wrapped in a deep fog, was slow to grasp at the sounds conveyed by her ears. In her mind she was standing in her library, but there was something yelling at her. Looking up the stairs Twilight expected to spot Spike but instead of the baby dragon there was a wall of greasy clouds. Slowly Twilight walked up to the shifting wall.

“Spike?” she asked poking the wall once before stepping into the haze.

The yelling voice seemed to grow but Twilight couldn’t make out what it was saying. Pushing deeper into the cloud Twilight could see a light up ahead. Leaping forward she again called the dragon’s name, a note of hope in her own voice. Then she was in Carousel Boutique and Rarity was jabbing a hoof into Twilight’s chest.

“I think she is waking up,” Rarity said jabbing Twilight again, but the voice wasn’t Rarity’s. To low and deep the voice sounded like it was from a stallion.

“Good, she’s heavier than she looks,” Said a second voice. In the dreamscape Twilight looked over her shoulder to see Big Macintosh standing under the shading arms of Sweet Apple Acre’s orchards.

Twilight pinched her brow together. ‘Why was Carousel Boutique in the middle of the orchard?’ she thought before shrugging and trotting out of the door towards Big Macintosh.

“Mac,” Twilight said, desperation and a hint of anxiety twisting the corners of her mouth, “have you seen Spike? I’ve been looking everywhere for him.”

The large red stallion looked down on Twilight twirling a wheat stalk with his lips. Turning his head he looked up towards distant Canterlot. In the morning light the white colonnades and towers could barely be seen. Beneath the city perched on the mountain’s side danced a shimmering rainbow from the many waterfalls cascading from the royal palace.

“Do you know who ‘Spike’ is?” asked Rarity in her deep stallion voice.

“Worry about it later!” snapped a mare, her frantic voice punctuated by a tree limb snapping.

Twilight looked around the orchard for the mare but saw nopony else besides her, Rarity and Big Macintosh. Opening her mouth to speak Twilight was overcome with a sudden lurching in her stomach followed by gravel protesting beneath whoever was carrying her. Yes, she was being carried. Twilight blinked at the realization and then she was on Big Macintosh’s back as he skidded down a mountain side. ‘But weren’t we just in Sweet Apple Acres?’ Twilight thought to herself.

“In here!” the unseen mare said.

Cool air kissed Twilight’s face as in the dream Big Macintosh ducked beneath the boughs of an ancient willow. Twilight could hear heavy breathing but otherwise everything had become silent.

“Mac,” Twilight moaned trying to move. Something was jabbing into her stomach.

“Keep her quiet,” hissed the mare in barely a whisper.

Something pressed itself over Twilight’s face. She almost let out a scream as the willow began to move its long curtain like branches sweeping towards Twilight and wrapping around her. Big Macintosh and Rarity had both vanished leaving Twilight with only the willow. The tree’s trunk started to groan and move as well, turning and twisting until a haggard face stared down on the beleaguered Twilight. She wanted to scream but the willow’s branches had twisted them around her mouth clamping it shut. She wanted to run but her legs felt like lead.

Then her eyes shot open as the dreamscape shattered.

Sitting around Twilight were four creatures. Her first thought was that they were Diamond Dogs, but their posture’s were too straight and their skin a creamy pink rather than grey fur. At least she assumed they didn’t have fur. All she could see were their hands, not as large as a diamond dogs and the fingers were longer than Spike’s without the dragon’s claws, and faces poking out from the hoods of white coats trimmed in a royal blue looking away from her towards the entrance of the short dank cave they were all in. Except for a large one a little ways away near the entrance of the cave. Twilight didn’t spare a moment to examine the cave she was in with the four creatures instead focusing her eyes on the one at the entrance. In the early morning light he was the easiest to examine. Unlike the other three it wasn’t wearing a coat or any clothes save for what looked like rough brown trousers and a large bag or sack hanging down its back. Twilight had seen a few stallions wear pants to functions, but even then it was extremely rare.

The creature wasn’t looking at her. All Twilight could see was a short mane of black hair cut off at the base of a short broad neck. From the way the hair sat the head seemed blockier than the round head of a diamond dog.

But even more than the pants, bare chest covered in a dark mat of course black hair, or the odd head Twilight’s eyes were drawn to what was in the creature’s hands. Twilight had seen weapons hanging on the walls of the palace in Canterlot. They were relics of the ancient past when ponies didn’t get along with other ponies or the neighboring kingdoms. Ceremonial in nature at best, like the time Twilight had watched Princess Celestia knight a pair of new guards, they were not made for battle but to look beautiful. That was not the purpose of the thing in the creature’s hands. A hefty axe it was all function over style, the broad head attached to a short wooden shaft with a counterbalancing hammer opposite the blade. From the blade’s tip something wet and red dripped.

Twilight opened her mouth to scream.

It was then she noticed that the one closest to her had a hand clamped over her mouth. Feeling her move the creature looked towards her and sighed with relief.

“She’s awake,” it said in a masculine voice that was barely above a whisper. Twilight recognised it as the voice of the Big Macintosh from the dream, not the slow careful tone of the Big Macintosh she remembered from Ponyville.

Twilight brushed at the hand over her mouth but the creature was far stronger than he looked. He put a finger up to his lips and gave a shushing noise. Twilight had seen Spike perform the same action countless times. Gulping down a lump in her throat Twilight complied. Not because the face seemed friendly with its straw coloured hair, long wide nose, again not like a Diamond Dog, and fretful pinch in the corners of green eyes, but rather because after making the ‘shush’ motion his other hand had retrieved a long thin sword.

Like the axe the sword was all function. A long gleaming blade of steel with a simple cross-guard angled towards the cave entrance. In the half-light Twilight saw little nicks and chips etched onto the cross-guard while the blade itself was pristine.

She half-laid half-sat there leaning against the cave wall, the hand over her mouth while the creature turned back to watch the entrance. The minutes ticked past. Somewhere outside a bird started to sing. One of the other creatures slipped out of the cave. It was smaller than the others with long reddish coloured hair that shimmered in the light for a moment before it disappeared. Twilight counted +two hundred beats of her thumping heart before the creature slipped back into the cave.

“They’re gone, heading north from the looks of it. We may be able to slip down to the lake and head south. With luck we’ll be able to put miles between us before they turn back and pick up our trail.”

Female, that was defiantly a mare’s voice. It sounded strange coming from the gangly creature.

“What about heading back down to the village?” asked the male with his hand over Twilight’s mouth.

The large one at the cave entrance shook its hair before saying, “The village would be forced to turn us over if we were caught there.”

‘Male as well,’ Twilight thought to herself.

The fourth creature slowly stood its hands flashing in a series of intricate and complex signs. The two males waited until the signs stopped before looking expectantly to the female.

“Yes, we could slip around the village before joining up with the road. It’d certainly be faster than going along the lake and through the scrub. But I think they’ll be expecting us to try the roads. I know I’d have placed lookouts on the road just in case.”

Twilight grunted to herself unable to follow the conversation. What were these four creatures hiding from? Where had they taken her? Why had they taken her? What were they? A dozen other questions popped into Twilight’s mind. She again brushed at the hand over her mouth. The male seemed to not have realised he was still gagging her.
With a sheepish “sorry” he removed his hand to Twilight’s surprise and delight. That at least seemed to indicate these four weren’t hostile to her. At least Twilight hoped they weren’t.

“Why have you pony-napped me?” Twilight asked in a harsh whisper. She was surprised to hear how rough her own voice sounded, like it was being dragged over rocks. Her throat felt just as rough. She reached a hoof up to her throat and that was when she noticed it. A sensation unlike any she had ever experienced. Her throat was smooth and soft under probing fingers. Fingers! She had fingers!

Twilight’s eyes flashed wider than the sun a scream catching in her throat as her insides twisted into a knot. The four creatures pinched their brows together giving her an odd look as Twilight’s hands flew up to her face. Yes, those were hands she realised the knot growing tighter and what they felt was not the short muzzle that should have been but rather something smooth with a bump between her eyes. Her hands darted down to her body coming into contact with a rough fabric before feeling farther down to her legs. She looked down and saw her feet covered in dark brown boots. Boots! She wanted to scream so badly but she couldn’t as her breaths came sharp and fast.

Then she had a sudden terrible thought. Reaching up she ran her fingers over her forehead and into her hair. Almost immediately her fingers caught in a tangle of knots and snarls going no farther the top of her head. It was more than enough to confirm her worst suspicion. Her horn was gone. In Twilight’s chest her heart felt ready to burst, her innards re-arranging themselves into a squirming mass. No horn meant she had no magic. Twilight felt extremely exposed as fear screamed through every fiber of her being. She’d only had her magic stripped once. The mad-god of chaos Discord’s game hadn’t frightened her as much.

She was one of them Twilight realised, one of those odd creatures standing in front of her. Her mind reeled at the shock. ‘How in Celestia’s name was this possible?’ Twilight asked herself.

“Are you alright, Honey?” the female asked. “And what do you mean by ‘pony-napped’?”

“Mirror, I need a mirror,” Twilight managed to croak her breathing still erratic. Spots were starting to form at the corners of her vision. To herself she added, ‘you’re hyperventilating Twilight. Get a grip girl, get a grip.’
Sharing a concerned look again the male that had been covering Twilight’s mouth said, “Don’t have any mirrors. But don’t worry none; the arrow missed your face.”

‘Arrow?’ Twilight repeated the word in her head. ‘What in Celestia’s name is going on?’

“You’re starting to scare me, Jasmine,” the female said genuine concern in her voice.

“We can’t stay here any longer. Every second we delay its more likely that they’ll realise their error and double back,” the straw haired male near her said standing up while in an eerily hypnotizing move sheathed the blade in his hand. “Eric, help Jasmine up. Sun, start scouting. Kodiak you and I will cover the rear.”

The creature that had signed slipped past the straw haired male. Judging from the name and build Twilight assumed it was a male as well though she couldn’t be certain. She had very little point of reference. He had lanky dark hair that seemed to hang into his hazel eyes. A long white mark was traced along his brow with another on his nose and a third the left cheek. Scar tissue Twilight suspected. Of the three males he was the shortest being half a hoof shorter than Straw Hair and just noticeably slighter in build. His clothes were well worn but looked like at one time they’d have been rather fine coloured simple earth tones.

He held out one of his hands to her while bracing himself on the cave wall with the other. Twilight looked at it for a moment like it could be poisonous. Slowly she reached up to the hand. In a swift motion he pulled Twilight to her feet. Smiling he began to let her hand go but Twilight clamped down hard refusing to let go. She was standing on two feet, just two feet.

How was she supposed to walk? Diamond Dogs had a loping sort of gait that didn’t seem to fit this odd body. Twilight looked over to watch the others leave the cave. They didn’t seem to have any issues. The huge one, Kodiak, stooped a little to exit the cave but then stood straight swinging his head to survey the area. Then he was off his head held high, axe resting on a shoulder. Stumbling only the first couple steps Twilight was shocked to find that she seemed to know how to walk.

Perhaps it was muscle-memory or the ability was naturally part of the strange bodies psyche. Twilight wished she had access to her library so she could research polymorph spells and their effects. Exiting the cave she half tripped on a stone, arms spinning through the air for a moment as she fell forward before she was caught by the silent Eric. He raised an eyebrow then glanced down at her feet as if saying, ‘You should be careful’. Letting Twilight go he gave her a stern smile, patted his sword, pointed to his ears and then to the woods around them.

Brow pinched Twilight said, “I’m not sure I follow.”

“He’s saying to be careful, these woods are dangerous and have ears,” Sun whispered jumping over beside Twilight. Then she added slightly louder to the leader who was just leaving the cave, “Still no sign of them. I’m going to grab Ko’ and see about laying some traps.”

This was the first chance Twilight had to really appraise what she assumed was the sole woman in the group. As she had noted Sun was shorter than the males, much shorter in fact. While the males seemed to range from Eric at close to six hooves high to the huge Kodiak which if Twilight had to guess was closer to seven hooves Sun looked barely over five hooves in height. She just seemed small and tiny with a tight fitting vest covered in pockets, blue and white striped pants and boots that came to her knees. On her left hip was a sword similar to Straw Hair’s and several knives or daggers seemed present on various locations. Like the others a pack was slung over her shoulders.

Her face was different as well from the males. It was rounder and happier somehow. Both Straw Hair and Eric looked a bit weathered their faces almost leathery. Sun’s face was an almost exuberant bright pink that reminded Twilight somehow of a cherry. The mental image wasn’t hurt by the red hair. From the middle of that pink face shone a pair of large blue eyes.

“That’s not what I said to do,” Straw Hair said glancing over at Twilight his voice snapping her attention back to the conversation.

“Come on, me and Ko’ can move through this forest like smoke. A few snares, some false trails, maybe catch a scout or two and then we’ll catch up.”

Straw Hair shook his head a frown on his face. Sun sighed and looked straight at Twilight. Her eyes grew even larger and she put her hands together in a motion Spike used sometimes when he was begging. Hanging onto Eric’s hand Twilight sensed something significant in that look but she couldn’t tell what. Her strange body may have some understanding of how to move itself but she was finding it difficult to read the creature’s expressions. Her unspoken concern was validated a moment later.

“What do you think Jasmine, you’re the leader.”

It was a statement more than a question. Twilight couldn’t read their faces but the tone of voice was another matter. ‘They think I am their leader, this Jasmine? What do I do? What will they do when, if, I tell them I am not her?’

“Um,” Twilight said licking her lips. “I think we should, uh, stick to the original plan?”

Twilight was sure Sun would protest but she just frowned, blew a strand of red hair from her eyes and slinked off into the woods. Straw Hair was watching Twilight out of the corner of his eye tugging at a short tuft of hair on his chin Twilight hadn’t noticed in the cave. The hair crept up his jaw and around his mouth in a sort of short bush. She stared at the facial hair for a moment before turning to Eric.

“Uh, Eric, would you mind helping me. I’m still not feeling so good,” as if punctuating her words Twilight stumbled a half step.

Ever silent he assisted her as Twilight gingerly followed the fast moving Sun. Watching her feet Twilight tried to think about how Spike walked. One foot forward, a slight roll of the hips as weight and balanced shifted. Yes, this body really did seem to know how to move itself Twilight concluded definitively. She started to wonder what else such an odd shaped body was capable of doing. Twilight focused on her hands, her left held in Eric’s firm grip, the other moving of its own accord to brush aside branches or brush. Twice she stumbled, that marvelous right hand shooting out to instead grab a branch or tree trunk to stabilise her. It was fascinating and strange though not as terrifying now she had some time to think.

Twilight decided to take full stock of the situation. She was with four tall Diamond Dog-like creatures. She was one herself, or was in the body of one at least. She was in a dry wooded area walking down the side of a hill. She was hot. She was very hot in fact.

Twilight blinked looking up at the sky. The early morning clouds that had been drizzling were gone, replaced by an endless blue sheen. And there slowly raising towards the middle of that sky was the sun. Twilight almost looked directly at the massive orb of brilliant light. It was the sharp stinging in her eyes that made her drop her gaze to her more immediate surroundings.

At first Twilight wondered if they were in the Everfree Forest, but decided she couldn’t be in the Everfree. They were moving down the western slope of the hill, the ground broken rock and loose dirt. Through gaps in the trees, a type of pine if she wasn’t mistaken, she could see in the valley bellow an azure lake smooth like glass and beyond it short stubby mountains covered in a patch-work forest of tawny browns and unhealthy greens. Everything was so dry despite the short rain of the morning. Like no Pegasus had pushed a rain-cloud through in weeks or months. The morning rain hadn’t even pooled in puddles before being lost into the thirsty ground. The Everfree wasn’t monitored by the Weather Teams but never seemed at a loss for rain. From Ponyville it was clear the Everfree was healthy, hardy, and dangerous.

But even more than the valley it was the heat that made Twilight realise she was nowhere near her home or the Everfree Forest. She hadn’t felt such sweltering weather since Appleloosa or Dodge. It was debatable which town was hotter. The air was wretched despite the shade like she was walking through a giant oven. Twilight shuddered to think of being out in the open. Worse her body was becoming sticky and slick under the heavy clothes she was wearing particularly down her back where her own pack rested.

So, she was in some other body and a very long way from Ponyville and perhaps even Equestria. Twilight contemplated who or what could have done this to her. Her first thought was Discord. It was certainly within his power if he had escaped his stone prison. This wasn’t her body she knew or if it was something powerful had transformed her. Twilight dismissed the idea of Discord after several minutes. This was not the mad-god’s style. If he had been involved so would candy clouds, or the ground would be soap, or something bizarre. In fact everything seemed so plain and boring that Discord could not have been involved.

If not Discord then she had little idea.

Twilight was finding it harder to think as her body grew hotter and more distressed. The hot air was like having her face too close to an open oven.

“Stop, please stop, I need to rest,” Twilight gasped releasing Eric’s hand for the first time. Her breathing was short and her legs were aching. But it was that terrible heat was sapping her energy that was the worst. “And I need to know what’s going on,” she added slumping against a tree.

Deeper in the shade she was surrounded by thankfully cool air.

The straw haired male came forward a frown creasing his brow and lips. Twilight was struck by how expressive these creature’s features were. Pinched brow, lips tugged down that meant concern and anger or disappointment. They seemed to have that expression a lot.

“What’s going on? Why have you stopped Jasmine?”

Twilight considered for a long moment what to say. Did she dare tell them the truth or try to pretend to be this ‘Jasmine’? It didn’t take more than a second to realise Twilight could not hope to fool the creatures. Twilight had no idea how Jasmine acted or what knowledge she possessed. Twilight was almost alone, lost, confused, hot, far too hot, sticky with sweat, and if she wanted to have any hope of endearing some good will in these creatures, none of whom had shown her any ill intent but rather the opposite trying to protect her, she needed to tell the truth and fast. An absence of truth through silence was as good as a lie.

“I’m not Jasmine,” Twilight said quietly but with conviction. “I have no idea who or what you are, or where we are for that matter.”

Straw Hair considered her for a long moment. Twilight noted with a pang of anxiety his left hand rested on the pommel oh his slender sword. Eric stood waiting a few steps away arms crossed a blank look carved onto his face. Sun was fidgeting the end of her boot digging out small stone from the ground. The large one was nowhere to be seen. Twilight presumed he was still somewhere in the woods behind them.

Working his jaw Straw Hair asked, “Who are you then?”

“Me?” Twilight blinked twice, “My name is Twilight Sparkle.”

Sun stifled a little giggle. “It’s a rather odd name,” she said when both Twilight and Straw Hair gave her dark looks.

Trying his best to ignore the comment Straw Hair asked, “And what have you done with Jasmine?”

This was an easy question. Twilight had been turning it over in her mind the last half-hour. Two possibilities vied for dominance.

“Well, either we’ve switched or somehow I’m possessing her. I’ve read about some spells that can do either or both through various methods. Clover the Clever is said to have been able to see through the eyes of animals by putting her mind into their bodies. But from what I read she didn’t have direct control only some limited influence. If somehow I am possessing Jasmine then whatever happened would need to be a variation of Clover’s Animal Sight spell. Well, maybe. But I don’t think it is possession. I don’t feel like there is anypony else in my head, or her head, ugh, I am going to need to think over how to refer to this body. Then there is...” Twilight’s voice trailed off as she saw what she took to be perplexed looks on the three creatures.

She had started to ramble Twilight realised warmth creeping up onto her cheeks in a sharp blush.

“But, anyways, I need to use my library and know what spell was cast on us to figure out what’s going on.”

Twilight felt her voice catch in her throat. Her library, the memory of its warm woody and sulphur smells brought a tear to her eye. She wondered when or if she’d see it or her number one assistant again. Or her friends. The last thing she could recall of Ponyville was sitting at the outdoor cafe with Rarity. It had been their weekly get-together to share gossip and a pot of tea. Rarity had been talking about her sister’s antics. Something about the young filly and her two friends almost delaying a project for a Manehatten client. Twilight was brought out of her revere by Sun giving a short laugh.

“Well, I believe her,” Sun said jumping to her feet. “Now, can we please get moving? Sitting around yapping isn’t going to put distance between us and those assassins.”

“Assassins?!” Twilight gasped remembering the mention of that an arrow had missed her. ‘Who are these ponies?’ Twilight mused to herself slowly getting to her feet. Outwardly she asked, “Why should I go anywhere with you? For all know you did this to me!”

“Us? How? And why?” Sun chirped tossing back a lock of long red hair.

Twilight had to admit the logic in that last question. Why indeed would they want to do this?

“You are currently in the body of our Wizard. And the last time she was she was when... ooo right before the ‘sins showed up and you, I mean, she, collapsed!” Sun turned to Straw Hair an almost manic glee in her eyes. “They did this to Jasmine, didn’t they? Well, that just ain’t fighting fair. Okay, I can understand wanting to take Jas’ out first. But mind-body-soul-switchering with some innocent person? Oh, no, that is just not playing fair. Not fair at all. I’m going hunting.”
If not for the difference in appearance Twilight would almost have sworn Sun was Pinkie Pie from the happy jumble of words.

Sun turned to walk up the hill but was stopped by Eric. His hands flashed a quick series of signs. Twilight wondered what he was saying. She had already come to the conclusion that he couldn’t talk.

Then something clicked in her brain. She was in the body of a wizard Sun had said. Twilight scrunched up her eyes trying to feel her magic as she always had. There was, something, not exactly a twinge but a feeling in the back of her awareness. She attempted to direct the twinge imaging her horn glowing. Just a small simple teleportation spell, Twilight was an expert at the spell able to teleport in quick succession and over a fair range. She opened one eye and saw she hadn’t moved. ‘Of course, it’d be too simple if magic worked the same from species to species,’ she groused to herself.

“Fine, fine,” Sun snapped bringing Twilight’s attention away from her failed spell. “You win Eric, I won’t go getting myself killed for petty revenge,” she said adding under her breath just loud enough for Twilight to hear, “though I doubt they’d catch me.”

“Good, splitting up now is foolish,” Straw Hair said shifting his pack. “And we can’t sit here as much as I’d like to figure out who you are Miss Sparkle. Once we get across the lake perhaps we can take some time to talk, figure out what’s happened and decide what to do long term. For now, everyone, march!”

Twilight gulped at the hard edge to the command. She had the distinct feeling that if she refused he’d just carry her. Sun slipped off ahead shooting Twilight a look that she assumed was anger. Eric offered his assistance again but Twilight shook her head. If she was going to be trapped in this body for long, and every indication was it’d be a while before she could find a way to reverse whatever it was that had happened, she needed to learn to move on her own. With a nod the silent Eric moved ahead half a dozen paces keeping sight on the swift moving Sun. Straw Hair walked a little behind and to Twilight’s side. Somewhere far behind them was the large Kodiak.

“I still don’t know your name,” Twilight pointed out as she and Straw Hair quickened their paces.

Straw Hair grunted looking over his shoulder. “Appleton, Vernon Appleton.”

“Vernon Appleton,” Twilight rolled the name around in her mouth feeling a warm sensation of familiarity. She knew it was impossible for there to be any connection to the Apple Family of Ponyville but the mere mention of the fruit in his name sent a tingle of comfort shooting up her back. It was enough to make her dare to ask, “And what are you?”

Beside her Vernon didn’t slow his pace as he was silent for several moments. At last he said, “I am Jasmine’s Guardian.”

Blinking Twilight shook her head. He must have misunderstood the question. ‘But why shouldn’t he have thought it meant anything other than what he did?’ Twilight mused. She pondered over what a Guardian was for a moment. From the name Twilight surmised some sort of protector or guard like those that surrounded and followed Celestia.

“So, you guard Jasmine?”

“Yes.”

“What from?”

“Everything.”

“Well, that must be hard. How can you protect anypony from everything? There has to be lots of things that you can’t stop or prevent. It’s not like you can prevent Jasmine from getting sick right? Or from whatever happened to make us switch.” Twilight shook her head again and sighed. “Besides, that’s not what I meant.”

“I’ve noticed twice now you said ‘anypony’. Where you’re from you’re not human, are you?” Vernon said ducking beneath a pair of bare branches. He looked over to see the surprised look covering Twilight’s face. “I may not be a wizard, but I am not a fool Miss Sparkle. You’re not picked to be a Guardian if you are.”

Twilight smiled a genuine happy smile for the first time that day. She had a name for these creatures now, ‘Human’.

“You picked that out from two words?”

“That and you are walking like a toddler.” He chuckled. Seeing her hurt look he added, “Unsure and a little unstable. At first I thought you were just not feeling well. We are being pressed and hounded so I wasn’t going to ask. Besides, Jasmine wouldn’t have said anything even if she had both legs broken. But now...” he shrugged.

This new information made Twilight wonder just who Jasmine was. So far she knew Jasmine was a wizard, had a body guard, traveled with a bunch of humans, and didn’t like to show pain or distress. Twilight prayed to Celestia that Jasmine was safe and fine in Twilight’s body in Ponyville. Hopefully one of them could figure out what happened and get them both to their own homes. If she had access to her library or better yet the Royal Archives in Canterlot Twilight was certain she could figure out what had caused this and reverse it. Perhaps not quickly, but eventually.

“So... you’re humans?” Twilight asked. At least she also knew what these creatures were. The name was vaguely familiar. Had she read about them in a book once? No, that wasn’t it. For several minutes Twilight wracked her memory for where she had heard the name before. Then it came to her. Lyra Heartstrings had mentioned them in passing. Her smile grew wider as she remembered the strange unicorn, the way she sat, and how she seemed to use different words sometimes. Like ‘anybody’ instead of ‘anypony’ or ‘fist-bump’ instead of ‘hoof-bump’. “I have an acquaintance that would probably do just about anything to meet you. Or be me right now for that matter.”

Vernon just shrugged. He certainly wasn’t chatty Twilight huffed.

They walked in silence for the next hour making their way towards the lake. It was no longer a shimmering blue mirror in the distance. A western wind had picked up blowing the sultry noon air through their hair. Through the trees Twilight heard the gentle lap of small waves against pebbles. She stepped out of the wood’s shade onto a pebble strewn beach mixed with thick coarse sand. Twilight wanted to race into the lake and just lay in it basking in the cool refreshing water. She gave it a longing look for a moment before she started to follow Eric south along the beach. In either direction the lake seemed to stretch forever creating a long valley nestled between short mountains.

Vernon was still near to her left but she couldn’t see Sun anywhere.

“What is it you ponies do?”

Twilight looked over to Vernon when he didn’t answer right away. He seemed lost in thought looking up the long hill they had spent the morning descending. Actually, from the valley floor it looked more like a stubby mountain than a hill. The broken woods and rock loomed high overhead.

“We are adventurers, and yes I know that is rather uninformative statement. It means we look for trouble, usually in the form of dungeons, crypts, abandoned castles, dealing with pests to big or dangerous for villages, or if we are very lucky one of the Ancient’s vaults. So far we have found no dungeons, crypts or Ancient vaults. There was one abandoned castle that was mostly empty except for some rats. Oh, and a lioness that had been taking livestock. As far as ‘adventuring’ goes, we’ve been rather successful actually.”

“So, an empty abandoned castle and dealing with a lioness and you consider that successful?” Twilight arched an eyebrow. “How long have you been at this?”

“This is our second summer.”

Suddenly Twilight felt like she was in the foal’s end of a swimming pool. Her own first ‘adventure’ had involved banishing the madness of a demigoddess to prevent eternal night from engulfing the land. There had been Manticores, Hydras, Dragons, a mad god of Chaos, and nearly a dozen other sundry ‘adventures’ since then. It wasn’t like she went looking for excitement and danger, it just had an unfortunate habit of landing in her hooves. She wondered what these humans would do if an Ursa Minor came stomping through the woods. They had seemed so assured and in control, now they looked so inexperienced and naive.

“Stop, you hear that?”

Vernon stood stock still beside Twilight a hand on her shoulder.

“Can you use Jasmine’s magic?” he asked in a harsh whisper eyes glaring up the slope they had been traveling along.

Twilight shook her head.

“Get behind that log and stay down.”

Doing as she had been told, and feeling silly for it given the realisation that she had more experience with danger, Twilight wondered what Vernon had heard. She turned her head trying to listen only to discover that her hearing wasn’t as good with a human ear. Turning her head left and right seemed to help a little but it still wasn’t as useful as swiveling pony ears. For a couple moments all she heard was the lap of the small waves on the lake. Then filtering down through the trees came the distinct sounds of deep bass laughter.

“Ko’s laughing?” Sun asked on Twilight’s right a sharp tinge of concern putting an edge to the small human’s voice. “Ko’s laughing! Oh, Goddess, Ko’s Laughing!”

Sun was off in a flash of red hair leaping up the slope. Twilight blinked at the graceful way she seemed to flow up the hill like a humming bird bending and twisting past trees and under low branches. How she could move so fast in spite of the afternoon heat amazed Twilight. The vanishing form of Sun didn’t even falter when Vernon called for her to stop. Sun was gone, chasing down the sound of her friends laughter.

Flanked by Vernon and Eric, Twilight waited for any sign of the other two humans. A minute passed followed by another. From somewhere above there was a crack like thunder followed by a low rumble interspersed with more bangs and splintering crashes that grew. Twilight knew that noise. She had become too familiar with it over the years.

“That’s a landslide!” Twilight shouted grabbing Vernon and Eric’s arms.

They didn’t need any further prompting. Spinning Vernon pushed Twilight into a run. Side by side the three of them ran at an angle away from the terrible rumbling. The rocks and debris broke through the veil of trees like a bull through glass sweeping towards them as they twisted along the beach. Boulders as large as wagons smashed into each other turning trees into splinters and those splinters in turn becoming deadly missiles. Turning her head Twilight tried to sprint faster.

If only she was in her normal pony body. Twilight didn’t foal herself, she was primarily a librarian and scholar, but she did lead a somewhat active life, still she was not as fit as her friend’s Applejack and Rainbow Dash. On four legs she may have outrun the onrushing tide of stone, dirt, and wood. With two Twilight realised she was doomed to get swept away. A stone clipped her shoulder knocking away her already precarious balance. Tumbling into the mixed sand and gravel Twilight covered her face with her arms.

‘This is it then, this is how I die,’ she thought in the instant before the avalanche reached her.

Twilight was surprised when a moment later she was still alive. Uncovering her face she found herself in a spreading cloud of chocking dust. Coughing Twilight slowly stood peering at a rock larger than the front door of her library resting only a few hooves away from where she had tumbled. A wave of relief washed over her next almost buckling her knees.

“I am starting to hate mountains!” Twilight growled, kicking loose sand at the offending rocking.

Then she looked around sudden panic twisting her guts as Twilight realised she was all alone on the beach.

“Eric? Vernon? Where are you?”

Twilight turned in a circle looking for the two humans as the dust cloud settled. A sharp pain exploded through Twilight’s back and out her stomach moments before she could repeat her question. She blinked looking down her front. Such an odd sensation looking down your body like that. And why was there a piece of angular barbed metal jutting from the front of her clothes? And why was it so red?

“Oh... oh my... that’s bad,” Twilight said falling over onto her side. She didn’t even register hitting the ground before being swallowed by black for the second time that day.

Comments

[Necrovore]

It could have been worse...it could have been her knee.

[Tundara]

301762

But... wouldn't she then need to take up guard duty? I can't see Twilight as a guard...

[Beyond the Horizon]

Spinning Vernon pushed Twilight into a run.

Methinks you missed a comma between Spinning and Vernon.