The Lost Spark

by SkyFlare

Chapter 8

“Ready yourselves. The journey ahead of you will be long and dangerous.” Misty stated as she threw a hoof over Spark’s back. “Come on, we need to get to town as quickly as we can. Cons have a tendency to search vessels once they make land fall, so they won’t be far off.”

“What do you mean we need to? Aren’t you going to stay with your ship?” Star Swirl asked as he and Spark followed Misty off of her ship.

“Hell no. I’m going with you two. There’s no way I’m missing out on an adventure like this. ‘Sides, Specter can take the helm for a while. He could use the practice, right Specs?”

“With all due respect Captain, screw off.” Specter groaned as he oversaw the moving of crates to the frozen shore. “Please, take her. I’d love the peace.”

“Well, we could use a guide and you did help us get this far. You said it was going to be dangerous though, are you sure that you want to risk yourself further?”

“Me being alive is putting myself at risk.” Misty’s cheer went away in an instant, replaced with a dire tone. “It’s because of that very reason that I want to go with you. I have been training to fight these bastards most of my life, now I have a chance to make a difference, even if it is a small one. A single pony can change the course of history, and I feel like you, Spark, are that type of pony.”

Spark had mostly been thinking about what it would be like to see the love of his life again. If she was alive, which all the evidence pointed to, he would save her. He had only barely caught the tail end of their conversation, “If you say so. I just want to bring Sonnet home.”

“I do say so, so there.” Misty replied in her normal, happy tone.

“Lead the way.” Star Swirl told the thestral. “You know more about this world than I or my companion may ever know, so it is best that we follow.”

“Of course I’ll lead. I’m a born leader, and I’m great at it. As well as a few other things.” Misty laughed. “We might want to swing by and get something warm. It’ll be cold near the Empire.”

With that, Misty led the two ponies away from the docks and into the small coastal town. The snow was just beginning to fall, but the ground had already accumulated enough so that Spark’s hooves were freezing. He could tell that Star Swirl was suffering the same as he was. Misty tried flying for a little while, but even she had to land as the freezing temperatures were too much for her wings to take.

Very few ponies were outside in the snow as the trio trotted through the town. It was pretty clear as to why that was the case though, as the snow picked up and it became increasingly difficult to see where they were going. Just as the temperature was becoming unbearable, they slid inside of a building and were greeted by a young pegasus mare behind a counter.

“How may I… Mist Chaser.” the mare asked as her smiled fading into a blank expression. “What are you doing here? Last time you showed up, you were drunk and it cost me nearly four hundred bits to clean up your mess.”

“That was forever ago.” Misty said, adding an intentional slur to her speech.

“Less than a month.” the mare replied straight faced.

“I’m kidding.” Misty said with a devilish smile. “Listen, I need to get some snow gear. These two need to get to the Crystal Empire ASAP.”

“Not in this weather. The storm is only going to get worse before it gets better. We still have the place for you to stay for the night. The storm should be over by the morning.”

Spark anxiously scraped his right forehoof against the wooden floor. Waiting another day to save Sonnet was something that he didn’t want to think about. Despite his hope in her life having been revitalized, waiting any longer would simply prolong whatever suffering she was being forced to endure. He glanced at Misty, who frowned back at him.

“Sorry mate, but we can’t really manage that. Is there any way to safely go out there? We’re kinda crunched for time.” Misty said to the mare.

“What in Tartarus could be so blasted important that you would risk a blizzard for?” the mare almost shouted.

“They found one.” Misty answered quietly, trying to hide the information from prying ears.

“An earth pony?” the mare’s eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open. “Where’d you find it?”

“It came with these two.” Misty gestured to Spark and Star Swirl. “The younger one is the missing one’s coltfriend and I promised to help him find her.”

“I’m sorry.” the mare stated, not looking at Spark, but at Misty.

“There’s nothing to apologize for Front.” Misty said quietly. “We’ll be waiting for you to come up with something. If anypony can, it’s you.”

Misty turned to Spark and Star Swirl, who had both remained silent up until that point, and she signaled for them to follow her as she went through a door behind the counter. Once through, they made their way down a narrow and dimly lit set of stairs. The bottom of the stairs led them to a small room that had shelves of dried food and other various supplies. Misty pushed one of the shelves to the side and revealed a hidden room behind it.

The room was set up with about ten low quality beds pressed up against the two walls to either side. On the far wall, there was a weapon rack and a small tunnel that le out of the area. Misty was clearly familiar with the location as she trotted up to one of the beds and pulled out a small box. She stared at it in silence for a few minutes before opening it.

“These are for you.” she finally said as she gave Spark and Star Swirl each an amulet. “This one,” she gestured toward Star Swirl’s, “will restore your natural magic and hide its presence from the Cons.”

“Wait, restore?” Spark asked, surprised by the new information. “I thought that it was just a way that they could track you?”

“I didn’t want you to worry any more than you already were. But it seems that our friend here saw through my hiding.” Star Swirl responded.

“It happens to all unicorns. They never lose all of their magic, but it is reduced to levels that make levitating a stick challenging. To be honest, I’m surprise that you are still as strong as you are.” Misty then turned to Spark. “Your amulet will hide you from the eyes of Cons indefinitely. They won’t be able to sense you, or even see you for that matter. We still have the problem with traitors though, so I would still recommend keeping a low profile.”

“Why do you have these in the first place?” Spark asked.

“Did Hoofwind mention his family to you?” Misty asked after a moment of hesitation.

“Yes. He had a wife and a daughter that were killed by the Constellar Ponies, didn’t he?” Star Swirl confirmed.

“Aye. Well, his daughter was a mare named Venus. She and I were very close, and one day, while we were hiding from the Cons, a kind unicorn created that amulet to hide her using his magic. He stayed with us for a short while before the Cons caught us and he died saving our lives. That is where the amulets came from.”

Misty’s eyes were getting watery as she told the short excerpt from what was clearly a much longer story. However, due to how it clearly hurt her to talk about it, neither of the stallions was going to press with further questions. The questions that they had were possibly better left unanswered.

Misty wiped her eyes and put on a smile. “Front should be down here soon, and with any luck, she should have a plan. How about you two lay down for a few minutes? The journey ahead is going to be long and even under the best circumstances, it will be dangerous.”

“I’ll be fine. I want to be ready for when anything happens.” Spark stated as he started pacing.

As he impatiently waited for any information from Front, he silently thought about what Misty had told them. She and Venus were close. She was like him in that way, but he could only hope that it wouldn’t go as far for him as it did for her. He couldn’t imagine losing Sonnet like that.

“…ible idea.” a voice said as it came close enough for Spark to hear.

“No, it’s bloody brilliant.” a stallion said in response. “They would never suspect a thing.”

“It’s too risky.” Spark could now recognize the first voice as Front’s. “We can’t take that chance. If they go that way, there is no turning back.”

“Front,” Misty started as she glided over to where the two ponies now were. “If your brother is talking about where I think he is, he may have a point.”

“Misty, you, more than anypony, should know that it is too dangerous. You cannot tell me that you don’t remember what happened there.” Front recoiled back at hearing Misty’s response.

“There’s no better option. I’d rather not if I had any choice, but Spark needs to find the mare.” Misty stated.

“Do either of you bucks know how to use a blade?” the stallion asked.

“I am trained with most kinds of swords.” Star Swirl stated. “In fact, I taught the Royal Guard back home a good bit of what they know.”

“Royal Guard?” the stallion asked.

“There aren’t an abundance of them, but they protect the alicorn princesses.” Star Swirl explained.

Misty was now looking at the old stallion. “What’s an alicorn?”

Spark had just assumed that Equus had alicorns somewhere. Despite the fact that there were only two known alicorns in Equestria, it was still a kind of pony. It almost felt like a given that there would be at least one alicorn in Equus. At that point though, Spark just had to assume that she was in hiding.

“Alicorns are a rare type of pony where we are from. They are part unicorn, part pegasus, and part earth pony.”

“That doesn’t sound possible. How can there be a pony like that?” The stallion interjected.

“I could ask you the same question about your Constellar Ponies. However, I suppose that they came from the sun and the moon in order to better protect our world.” Star Swirl said passively.

“So you’re from another world. That explains the earth pony.” the stallion responded. “Sis, are you sure that we can trust them?”

Before the Front could respond, Misty spoke up. “Yes. You can trust them. What reason would they have to lie? He’s an earth pony; he couldn’t work with the buckers even if he wanted to.”

“You shouldn’t get so personally involved in this.” the stallion replied. “I understand how you see similarities, a second chance, but it won’t bring Venus back. Nothing will.”

“Shut your damn mouth.” Misty said, throwing a hoof into the stallion’s face. The stallion stood there, taking the punch without flinching. “You don’t understand anything, you bastard.”

“You’re out of line, Wild. That was too far.” Front added. “I think that you should go upstairs and get them all something warm for their journey.”

Wild grunted before stomping up the stairs. As the ponies awaited his return, a silent conversation commenced between Misty and Front. Spark was starting to get a better feeling for just how close Misty was to Venus. If anypony said something like that to him about either Violet or Sonnet, he would have the same reaction as she did.

“You know he didn’t mean it that way, right? He was just speaking before he thought about it, just like he always does.” Front said as she draped a wing over Misty’s back.

“He should know better by now.” Misty replied, clearly upset.

“He should. But you know him, he’s a slow learner.”

As Front spoke, Wild came back into view, carrying a bundle of scarves and coats as well as twelve boots. He silently distributed them amongst the three ponies. They quietly put on their winter weather gear as Wild left the room again, probably in an attempt to avoid getting punched a second time, as when he gave the stuff to Misty, she growled at him like a feral dog.

“Good luck everypony. Remember, if it gets too bad out there, take shelter and don’t get yourselves killed. Hypothermia isn’t fun, trust me.” Front said with a sheepish smile as she approached the tunnel near the weapon rack.

“We’ll be fine. I promise.” Misty replied.

She then led Spark and Star Swirl into the tunnel, leaving behind Front and Wild after getting a spear for herself and a sword for Star Swirl. Spark declined a weapon claiming that he didn’t know how to use it, meaning that it would simply get in the way.

Spark was able to notice several signs that the tunnel they were taking wasn’t as sparsely used as one would believe. The most concerning piece of evidence was the blood that was stained onto the right wall in multiple spots. It was easy enough to believe that a pony had been injured and was leaning on the wall for support, staining it with his or her blood. Regardless, it wasn’t something that he wanted to dwell on. The mere thought of death caused him to worry about Sonnet even more. He just wanted to feel secure that she was safe, to stop doubting in the evidence that had been presented.

“Just a moment.” Misty said, stopping by a marking in the wall. “This is where it happened.”

“Where Venus…” Star Swirl started, but he became silent before finishing the thought.

“Where she died, yes. The Cons caught up with us outside the Crystal Empire, we were able to get away, but they hit her with a spell just as we got out of their range.” Misty stated.

“But wouldn’t the blood be on the other side?” Spark asked.

“I carried her to the shop from here. I wasn’t going to just leave her behind.” Misty explained.

“I understand.” Star Swirl said quietly. “Thank you for helping us, I know it hurts.”

“Saving Spark and his marefriend is the best way to get back at the Cons. Besides, I heard rumors that they are getting weaker. The earth ponies may be their only vulnerability, but some ponies have been saying that the Cons were also getting their strength from them.”

“If that is true, and we can get Spark and Sonnet out of their reach, they may very well become weak enough to kill.” Star Swirl stated. “But the longer I think about it, the more a secondary solution comes to mind. Does this world have the Everfree Forest?”

“Yes, but it is too far out of the way for us to go to. Why?” Misty replied.

“Isn’t that around where Discord was supposed to be staying back when he was alive?” Spark interjected.

“He is still alive, but only by technicality, and yes, it is. Little did he know, deep within the forest is a tree that contained the most powerful artifacts in our world.” Star Swirl explained. “Perhaps, if you are able to find ponies who can use them, if they are even on this world, you could banish the Constellar Ponies off of Equus.”

“As incredible as that sounds, the Everfree is too dangerous for anypony to enter. It was bad before the Cons, but it seems like their presence pissed it off.”

“Perhaps once Spark and Sonnet are home then, I shall remain here and help you acquire the Elements of Harmony.”

“You would stay behind?” Misty asked.

“I have done everything that I can for my own world. The rest is up to my students, the princesses.” Star Swirl said quietly, not even attempting to hide his satisfaction with the fact.