Lost Fate

by Fluxxdog

Chapter 11: Life, Uninterrupted

Chapter 11: Life, Uninterrupted

Two weeks later.

It seems like such a short time, but things had gotten into a new routine and seemed even normal.

Ink Nose was the Librarian for Twilight’s Library. Now, when she sent Spike for a book, it didn’t take half a week to find it.

Ivy got Sledge hired on at the Apple Family farm. Good thing too, because Applejack had her hands full planning Apple Bloom’s cute-ceañera. They didn’t realize it until she got out of bed and there, on her flank, was a Zap apple in a potion bottle.

Slipwind was happy with his mail route. He learned it quickly and people took a shine to him fast. He even managed to turn the heads of a few mares.

Cantrip was nowhere to be found. He had left almost as quickly as he arrived. Twilight did hear word of some new theories based on his work at the pond, but she was more concerned about him being an “old work buddy”. She had five other ponies to question, but now wasn’t the time.

Almost all the ponies in Ponyville seemed to be adapted to a new spring quite well.

Almost.

---

Lookout hadn’t had a shake in three days. Thanks to the medicine Zecora brewed, they were able to keep the shakes from being too bad. About a week ago, she didn’t want to take the medicine. She wanted to see how far she could go before taking the medicine. She was able to ride out the shakes.

Now, she might be in the clear. The doctor had agreed to release her with some medicine, but into another’s custody by order of Princess Twilight Sparkle. Since she was a member of the weather team, there was one pony Twilight had handpicked for this.

“Let’s go, Lookout. Up and at ‘em.” Rainbow Dash was to be her guardian. If Lookout had a relapse, Dash would be the quickest to do what was needed.

Lookout’s wing shook.

She looked at it. “Three days. Not a single shake and the day I go to leave… I’m sick of being sick.”

Rainbow Dash looked at her with a smile. “That’s sounds like an attitude that’ll get you better. Come on.”

Her regimen was simple. She was to follow Dash’s instructions, whether that was being told to eat, sleep, work, or read a book. That last seemed odd, but Dash was a Daring Do fan. She had brought her a couple while she was in the hospital.

Matter-of-fact, a number of ponies came to visit her. Apple Bloom visiting was a bit of a surprise, but she seemed genuinely concerned. Of course, her big sister was with her with a look that could kill. Dash visited also. After all, she was a member of her work crew, it’s only right for a boss to be concerned. Twilight checked in to make sure everything was going well. She met her first zebra, Zecora. Aside from her penchant for rhymes, she seemed very pleasant.

What surprised her the second most was the Crew (as she affectionately called them) visiting. Ivy brought her a lovely flower, and whispered to it. It bloomed amazingly. Sledge came by to talk. It was nice until her shakes started to take hold. After they got her to calm down, he came back. Ink Nose came by to ask if she wanted anything to read, and if so, she’d get it for her. Slipwind would stop by when he delivered to the hospital each day. She asked if he’d get in trouble taking breaks like that. Turns out, as long he gets his deliveries done in a reasonable time, the boss didn’t care.

The biggest surprise was Cantrip. He visited the first night she was in the hospital. He was wearing a dark cloak and hood, much as they had when they broke into the wing. She remembered his eyes from before, crystal blue. However, this time, they were a midnight blue as if Luna herself created them. His visit was brief and almost seemed like a whisper of a dream. He said one thing.

“I’m going to find out what went wrong.”

---

Cantrip was in the middle of Manesnare Forest. There were rumors of an ancient oracle who could point anypony in the right direction. Whoever named the place picked the right one. If it weren’t for the light enchantment on his cloak, every hair in his body would have been ripped off.

Suddenly, he came to what looked like a path. It was wide enough for 7 ponies to walk side by side with a little breathing room. He followed it from a pond that had a stream running through it to a cave. It was large. Cantrip felt a twinge of fear and pushed it back. He needed answers.

As he crossed the threshold, he heard a voice. Deep and thunderous, he could feel it in his chest. “After forty-five thousand, two hundred thirty-nine sunrises, I have another visitor.” A quick bit of math told Cantrip that was over 120 years. “Yes, almost 124 years, in fact.”

“You can read my thoughts?”

“No, I am not rude. Ah, but perhaps I am, as are you. Let us make introductions.” The voice started come towards him. Cantrip ran out of the cave to make room. A wise choice well made as the dragon came out and reared up. He looked as tall as Twilight's castle. The dragon looked down at him, and a voice that threatened to rip him apart said, “I am Unslaadein. I knew you were thinking of how long it has been from the look on your face. And you are?”

Cantrip removed the hood from his face. “I am Cantrip. I came here seeking advice and I willing to pay what I can for it.”

Unslaadein laughed heartily. The trees seemed to shake at it. “Many have come seeking my counsel in the past. You are the first to offer payment up front!”

“Well, I guess I’m the first respectful pony to come to you.”

“Yes, the first pony and the first creature. But come, your life is not like mine. It is short. What do you want help with?”

Cantrip recounted how he got set up with the job, what he did up until Ponyville, what happened in those days, and his search for the oracle.

“I see. You want to know who set this up.”

“No, I want to know what we stole.”

The dragon blinked in surprise. “If you want to undo what you did, you’ll want to know who had you do this to begin with.”

“Yes, but I need to know what we stole. Did the scroll have two triangles or three?”

“You ask just a small question. Why?”

“I take it the answer to your question will serve as payment then. An answer for an answer is fair.”

The dragon looked generally flummoxed. He had dealt with others before, but this one had trapped him. He laughed again. Much louder this time. “In the many years I’ve lived, not one has trapped me in such a humble agreement! Fine, answer my question and I’ll answer yours.”

“If I know what it actually was that I stole, I can use my own spells to track it. However, I keep thinking it had two triangles, and then my mind corrects itself and says it was three. So I need to know what it is that I’m looking for.”

“The answer is both.” Cantrip looked confused, but he had his answer. Unslaadein decided to illuminate his musing. “The scroll is a part of a whole. Truth be told, it’s not a scroll, but a page. Things have caused it to change, but I’m not sure what.”

“Thank you. I’ll be on my way.”

The dragon had collected payment so many times in the form of snacks. This time, he had been caught off guard. This felt like such a wonderful treat, one he rarely got to enjoy.

He decided to let the pony live after all. Just like the last one.

Comments

[Sunlight Blaze]

We flash ahead two weeks and we find that every one of the new ponies has settled into their new lifestyle in Ponyville (with Sledge being hired on for the Apples; now he has a job!) and that...Apple Bloom has her Cutie mark!?.....What's a Zap apple? (looks it up) ...a Rainbow-colored apple with a lightning bolt-shaped stem...interesting....
Wait...Why did Cantrip leave?

Okay, Lookout is out of the hospital (Zecora was able to make some pure medicine for her) and is under the care of Rainbow Dash until she is completely cured (how they're going to measure that is beyond me)

And Lookout gets several visitors, surprisingly (wait...Perhaps you could be a little more specific as to where Lookout is staying; is she at Rainbow Dash's house? 'Cause that's a cloud house, and non-Pegasi ponies can't walk on clouds.
Then again, they could just have someone cast a "walk on clouds" spell like Twilight did int he episode "Sonic Rainboom." Plot Hole filled!)

She even gets a one-time visit from Cantrip, who....

“I’m going to find out what went wrong.”

........what is it that went wrong? And what's up with his eyes?

So we flash to Cantrip walking through the Manesnare Forest.... Huh...thought for sure this would have been the Everfree Forest; a new location that DOESN'T follow the cliched Everfree... (Writing category: +1)

Anyway, so Cantrip is looking for a rumored Ancient Oracle who lives deep within this forest, and comes upon a cave (because we have to have the Oracle live in a dark, creepy, secluded location, right?)

“After forty-five thousand, two hundred thirty-nine sunrises, I have another visitor.” A quick bit of math told Cantrip that was over 120 years. “Yes, almost 124 years, in fact.”

So we are introduced to the oracle, who is.....*the oracle walks out of the cave*
(Likes dragons)

So Cantrip explains to the dragon his little escapade in the library as well as the events to follow. And his offer in exchange for answers is actually pretty fair. His actual question, however...

"Did the scroll have two triangles or three?”

...........

“You ask just a small question. Why?”

My thoughts exactly........

“If I know what it actually was that I stole, I can use my own spells to track it. However, I keep thinking it had two triangles, and then my mind corrects itself and says it was three. So I need to know what it is that I’m looking for.”

...I guess that works...

So the dragon gives an explanation that the scroll they stole was actually one piece of a larger whole, and that some events that even he can't foresee have caused it to change.

Okay, let's see what other questions Cantrip has. *he leaves* .........................why? Why ask just that one question? This dragon seems to be pretty much all-knowing and Omnipotent. He even seems to know who it was that put you up to this, Cantrip! Wouldn't that information be useful as well? All you can do right now is to scry for the scroll and locate it; what's going to happen when you DO find it? It's in the hooves of, for all we know, a sociopathic tyrant who's probably using it to gain more power to take over Equestria! What chance do you think you stand against THAT kind of enemy with literally NO preparation!?
I'm sorry, but can somepony just hit him with the idiot stick!?