• Published 20th Aug 2015
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Pirene's Well: Three Nights in Manehattan - Ether Echoes



A noir tale of anxiety, pain, loss, and hope in Manehattan. Sequel to Through the Well of Pirene.

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The Second Night - Interlude

The Old Warhorse

The boy is crying again. He hasn’t really stopped since we landed. Even in the next room, it’s impossible to tune him out.

I am not unaware of the irony in my actions. Unlike Amelia, I am no innocent thrown into a situation I cannot understand, nor am I a monster of the likes of Discord who acts because that is how he was made. It is, then, with full knowledge that I have become the very creature whom I would have destroyed in my day that I enter the chamber.

“It’s okay, Luster,” Wave Form whispers, nosing at the sobbing pegasus. “We’ll be okay. You’ll see.” Her ear turns at the sound of my hooves and she wheels about, putting herself protectively between us.

Coming up to her, I gaze down at the two of them with some measure of regret. I keep it from my voice – they would not much appreciate it, nor should they. “It’s time you got to work, Wave Form.”

“Work?” Her ears lay back in anger. “What do you want? I’m not doing anything you want me to do! Let us go!”

I ignore her request and go to the jars where they’ve been lined up. My hoof turns red, then white, and the lead seal begins to melt away. It resists far more than lead should, and it glows angrily with ancient magic.

“Are you an alicorn?” she asks, tense. “Or a titan-thingie?”

“Helios is with me. He’s the alicorn, or what’s left of one. Whatever they shoved into the amulet to preserve him after he died.” He’s never far as he whispers into my ear, weeping for all of his lost kin, raging against fate.

Her ears fall. “Is that what they’re for?”

“I suppose.” The first one pops, bubble, and sears open, letting me pull up the rest of it and expose the inside.

The room warms further as the mare forged of fire steps into the room, her blazing eyes fixing on the jars with something akin to hunger. The jar is emptied by the simple expedient of my smashing it into the floor, revealing a set of wings made out of slats of gold or bronze or some metal we’ve entirely forgotten. They glow as if fresh from the forge.

“Wh-what are those for?” Wave Form asks, swallowing her fear with some effort. Jasper whimpers and presses against her side, trying to stifle his tears.

They are my body.

“Your body?” She stares at the mare. “Who… who are you? Are you a robot?”

The mare turns to them while I continue to work. She regards them, unmoving.

I am the first born mortal.

“What do you mean?” Wave Form asks, curious in spite of herself.

Child, you shall never suffer the tyranny of time. Unlike the very mountains, you will endure for ages unless struck down, never eroding, never aging. In this, you are unusual, special – divine.

I crack the next one open with my hooves, revealing a set of plates surrounding a series of crystalline cores.

When my mother bore me, though, there was no spark of immortality. No stars heralded my birth. No mountains trembled. While you consider mortality normal, in the time of my birth I was considered the exception. I was the unknown. I could not keep up with the others, and as I grew I didn’t stop growing, but began to age like any tree or stone or crawling thing. In the blink of my mother’s eye, I went from being her foal to her invalid. Where others had no fear of death save violence or error, I felt myself hurtling towards it.

The next two are the legs, each set preserved separately.

In time, they even grew to fear me. And so they left.

“Even your mother?” Wave Form asked, her throat tight and eyes red.

Especially her. How could she bear to watch me die by inches, to become withered while she remained as hale and hearty and beautiful as the day she bore me?

“She should have… she…” Wave Form sniffs, glancing away from that dispassionate face. The pain in the ancient mare’s voice belied it. “But… you have to have changed. Can’t people become alicorns?”

Yes. But I did not.” She steps to the pile, now augmented with the head and neck, the horn, and parts I can’t possibly identify that must belong on the inside, like mechanical hearts. “My Master came to me then, when I lay at the very brink of death. He was one of the great Gods, though not of my kind. He told me that my mortality, and that of all the others born after me, was the result of my parents’ transgressions, their flawed morality. They’d welcomed decay into the world, he said, and I was their reward.

Wave Form shakes her head. “That… that’s disgusting! Why should that matter? Even if your parents were the most horrible people ever, why should that affect you?”

I do not know. I did not care whether he spoke truth or lies. He offered me an immortal body, one forged of magic and technology fused with divine essence, if I would but serve at his side. I accepted. When I rose with my brethren and followed him into battle to take the Tower and end the age of Gods… I remember the thrill of victory at having overcome those who’d shunned me, of surpassing them. Even when the counterattack shattered it and ended my Master’s ambitions, even when the remaining gods chased him out of the cosmos and sailed in pursuit, even when the demigods cornered me and tore me piece from piece, still I exulted in the memory of that moment.

“I’m sorry,” she murmurs, sinking to the floor.

The nameless mare looks at her. “You needn’t be. You were not responsible. No more than I am for my parents’ actions, whether their sins created me or in their abandoning of me.

Clearing my throat, I grab their attention. Her monologue was going on too long anyway. “Could we get to the part where she’s involved, then?”

Very well.” She pushes the wings and the body towards Wave Form. “You will repair my body.

“What? But I don’t know how!”

Your mark speaks otherwise. The technology used in the civilization that built the Tower relied heavily upon music and harmonics.

Tentatively, Wave Form touch a wing, and her horn lit softly. It hummed up and down the length of the wing, producing a stunningly beautiful ringing that rippled through the air. She snatches her hoof back, shaking her head. “Even if I can, why would I? You’re just another monster.”

“Hardly,” I grunt. “You’re looking at the greatest hope for Equestria since Celestia, kid. She’s going to be the protector we need.”

“Now I know you’re crazy!” She shakes her head vigorously. “We already have great protectors! Rainbow Dash, and Celestia, and Twilight Sparkle, and Luster’s mom, and a whole bunch of others! I mean, even if they weren’t, she was happy over having gotten revenge, and she’s partly responsible for why everything is so messed up now! No offense. Well, some offense.”

True, on both counts. Yet the people who wounded me are gone, and my Master was routed in defeat. All that remains are countless victims.

“Our protectors fail, Wave Form. They fail a lot.” I sigh, shaking my head. “Even Princess Celestia, stars save her. I remember when the Changelings attacked, when I had no choice but to stand and watch as they sealed her up in slime and brought the Elements before us, beaten. I was there when Nightmare Moon sealed her sister in the sun and threatened to douse the whole planet in darkness. When Amelia just about broke the whole damned world, all I could do was watch the peak, helpless.”

“But they saved the day!” she protests. “We always came through!”

“By the skin of our teeth.” I shake my head. “All it takes is one, kid. Just one time where the heroes don’t pull through, and we’re done. You, your friends, your family, all the friends and family they have, everyone on this world and every other world. We’re fragile. Most of the adults left and it’s just us kids minding the store while all the dangers and threats of the nine worlds gather to knock them down.

“Her though?” I nod my head towards her. “She’s just the start. She’s tireless, as powerful as an alicorn with none of their faults, and there’s more where she came from. They need a purpose, and she’ll give it to them. They aren’t titanspawn, they’re the antithesis; the heavenly army that will finally keep us safe. All we need… is for you to put her together.”

In tears, she stares between the two of us, uncertain. Terrified.

The thought had occurred that I may be wrong. It’s possible that Helios’ madness has clouded my judgement. To stand by and watch as my Equestria dies by inches, though, would have been too much. Really, though it doesn’t matter. I’m not trying to justify my actions to avoid punishment, only seek the best way to accomplish my goals, no matter what it costs me, because in the grand scheme of things I matter very little, while the world and the people on it matter a great deal. What matters to me isn’t important, and I have no expectation that I deserve to live in the better world I create.

All I have to do is look at these foals to know that I am damned.

The Princesses think that they’ll be safe with their green star watcher and their Elements of Harmony, but every new vista has only served to change and degrade us. I’ll give them a sword and shield with which to maintain our purity forever more.

* * *

The Reluctant Pilgrim

Darkness gives way to sudden heat and sensation, and I find myself shading my face with a wing. I’m standing, somehow, and it’s only when I look around do I realize that I’m having another green vision. The verdant aurora touching the sky is proof enough, along with the fact that I can breathe without pain.

Light shines through my feathers on a distant peak, bathing the scorched and seared landscape of the city. Where buildings stand, they burn, and the streets are empty but for the searing, sirocco winds emanating from the light.

“I had to save them,” a little girl’s voice says, her voice dull. She lays next to the half-burned dragon plush in the ruins of the house. It’s not Wave Form, but some filly I’ve never seen before, her mane limp and red, her coat a spotted grey.

“Save them from what?” I ask, shouting to be heard over the wind.

“The coming darkness. The return.” She looks to me, her eyes sad. “They were all so fragile.”

“You didn’t…” I shake my head. “Does anyone survive?”

“A remnant of a remnant. Those who could be saved. Those whose hearts were pure.”

“How did it start?”

She plays with the polyester toy, brushing ash from it. “Long ago, when there were more mortals, when this place was filled with life. I tried to save them all, but you can’t save everyone, no matter how hard you try.”

The girl pauses, hugging the ruined dragon close.

“Maybe he’s right. Maybe I am my parents’ sin.”

“Gods…” I push through the wind, touching her side. “Hey, kid… look. What’s your name?”

“I don’t remember. He took it away.”

“Well, you’re Fire Wheel now,” I say, not knowing quite where the name came from as I wrap her up in my wings. “You’re just a kid. You shouldn’t be responsible for this, and you sure as heck aren’t responsible for whatever your parents did. If, if… assume this hasn’t happened yet. How could I stop it?”

“I don’t think you can.” Her eyes well up and she tucks herself under my chin. “I wish you were real, but you’re just another shadow.”

The wind picks up, and the light shines brighter still. I feel myself stretching out, as if I were indeed a shadow, and the kid’s eyes turn white.

“Wait! I’ll find you, I’ll…!”

And then I’m gone, surrounded by darkness and numb to the world. Again.

“Marcus…?” Pain. A voice. A face swimming into view. Trace? But then I’m fading for a third time.

“Marcus? Marcus. Ma-a-arcus.”

Groaning faintly, I shift my head. Someone’s leg or arm is under it, supporting me.

“Come on, sleepy. How did I fall in love with such a lazy pegasus?”

My eyes snap open, and it isn’t Trace, Paris, or even a hospital I find myself in. Outside, stars flow by in streams and rivers, while inside it’s all warm cushions, books and shelves of figurines, artfully arranged. I turn my head and find myself looking into the perfect green eyes of the love of my life, her thick dark hair falling across the bed and me as I lay next to her.

Naturally, I kiss her at once. She gives a muffled giggle and then an appreciative little noise as I rub her side, before pulling back slowly.

“Leit,” I whisper. “I didn’t die, did I? Or become an alicorn.” I glance around again. “I don’t think I’ve earned it.”

Glancing down past the open windows I see that we’re on a little vessel as it sails through the astral seas. Another mare sits at the prow, thousands of windows opened for her to watch through as her blond hair blows in the cool, strange breeze.

“Not quite.” She rubs my side. “This is Daphne’s barque. We’re recovering from a bit of a setback of our own.”

My ears lower and I glance her over. Of course, by rights, I should be broken and immobile, so I’m not sure what I’m looking for. “Are you two okay? What about Rainbow Dash? Hong Kong isn’t on fire, is it?”

She laughs and nuzzles at my neck, making my hooves curl up. “We’re all right, and Hong Kong is as inundated today as it was last week, so it certainly hasn’t gotten worse. It’s a long story.” She lays her hoof against my side and looks at me in concern. “You, though…” She shakes her head. “It’s bad, Marcus, but… you’ll be all right. There’s help coming, and you’re tough. I’ve seen you pull through worse.”

“I don’t know about that.” I look down at my hooves and sigh, sinking into the cushions. Against my will, my eyes well up. “I think this is it, Leit. This is the one where I drop the ball, and there’s no one around to pick it up and score for me this time.”

“Marcus…” she murmurs, but thinks better of it, letting me vent as she holds me close.

“I’ve already screwed up so much. I couldn’t find anything on the first night, then on the second I had Wave Form in my hands and let her slip away, along with Rarity’s son. I got stomped on in my one chance to win them back – well, hey, I shouldn’t worry about aging then, huh? That guy was twice my age and he batted me around like a chew toy. Now I’m getting horrific visions of the post-apocalypse.”

I bury my face in my hooves. “I can’t do it, Leit. I can’t be responsible for them dying. Send someone else.”

Leit Motif says nothing at first, she just pulls my head to her and runs her hoof through my mane and along my neck. Pressed into her side and breathing in her warm scent, I find myself relaxing in spite of myself.

“You know I don’t really do the supportive girlfriend thing very well,” she says with a slight smile. “Why don’t you start?”

“Could have fooled me,” I mumble into her side and sigh. “Yeah… you can’t send someone else because no one else can make it. I’m not alone, either. I’ve got Rarity, Talon, Trace Prints, a small army…”

She noses at my ear. “You’re still putting yourself down, Marcus.”

“I’m not an alicorn or a demigod.”

“You don’t need to be. You’ve always known that.” She laughs. “Marcus, you’ve already done so much in your life. You’ve never once looked back before and said ‘Gosh, nothing I’ve ever done has been meaningful because I’m hella mortal.’”

“That was awful. I don’t sound like that and you used hella weird.”

“But you’re smiling.” She giggles. “Come on, big boy.”

Rolling my eyes, I sit up, hooves under me on one side while I lean on her with the other. “You’re right, much as I hate to admit it. You’re plenty mortal, and you saved the world once yourself. Maybe I will get old and die, but that’s no reason to lie down and accept it.”

“Maybe one day you’ll stop blaming yourself for that.” She rubs her hoof in circles around one of my more recent scars, this one from a piece of shrapnel received in Los Pegasus.

“Maybe.”

She turns my head up towards her. “Marcus… listen to me. Yes, you’ve fallen behind in the past, but you never stopped trying. You’ve never stopped making your dumb jokes or grinning your stupid grin or doing everything you possibly can to help the people around you. Maybe you didn’t succeed in getting Amelia to turn around on your own, but, you know what? You helped me realize that I could, that I had it in me to try and stop her. You helped Daphne and me get there in the first place. Even in Los Pegasus, you helped them warn the city so they could evacuate, and you helped Rainbow Dash reach that mare before she could destroy it.” She kisses my cheek and holds me close. “You do make a difference.”

“I mean… yeah, I know you’re right. But if I were better, if I could just…”

“If wishes were wings, we’d both of us be alicorns.” She laughs softly. “I know it isn’t a pride thing, Marcus. I know you want to help others. And you do, and you are. Tell me, if you want to make a difference and stop your vision from happening, do you think this is going to help?”

“No.” I shake my head slowly. “No. It’s hard, though, Leit. It’s hard to… believe in myself. A lot of those jokes are just to cover up how… how lost I feel. Redbud is right. I don’t really know how to sacrifice for what I believe in, even me.”

“Yeah. He is.” She purses her lips, sober. “What are you going to do?”

“Honestly?” I roll both sets of shoulders, listening to the imaginary pops. “Even as I am, I’d still fight. Maybe I’d find some other way to go about it, but giving up… No. It was kind of nice to think about retiring, but I don’t think I can.”

“Good boy.” She smiles. “And believing in yourself?”

“Don’t hold your breath.” I grin. “Tell you what. You start remembering that you’re a big shot magic hero and I’ll see if I can’t try myself.”

She buries her face in my side and laughs. “Fine. Fine. You win.”

I look out of the cabin again as we quiet down, just soaking in the sights and the presence of the person I love. “I wish this moment could go on forever.”

“Well.” Leit Motif tilts her head thoughtfully. “I don’t know about forever, but…”

Her horn glows with a soft green light. She describes a circle with it, a seconds and minutes hand appearing in the center. The seconds hand slows, until each beat stretches to a minute or more. Outside, the stars have stilled in their courses, and Leit Motif leans in and nuzzles at my side.

“Nice trick,” I chuckle and wrap my wing about her, using the other to pull our blankets up around us. “I love you, Leit. I can never say it enough.”

“I know.” She kisses me, and I kiss her back.

Our moment didn’t last forever, but it didn’t have to be to be perfect.

* * * * * * *

Author's Note:

Look at that, a two-fer!

I decided to do it like this instead of extending them over two, to keep with the pattern. Getting Marcus' dream in before the Third Night was also, I think, fairly important, because his final chapter is going to be pretty darned climactic.

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