The Tome of Faust

by DungeonMiner

Chapter 40

Time was growing short.

They were days away from the attack, and every second mattered. Mouse had the new team of ponies rushing back and forth between the shadowgates, running courses between them as he prepared for this next mission. Golden and the others worked quietly, having learned that Mouse will tell them what they need to do eventually.

As the ponies sat down to dinner, now three days away from the predicted assault, their own prediction proved correct.

“We’ve done well,” Mouse said. “Whether we’ve heard the reports or not, we’ve scared the Horn. Sudden assassination attempts, along with my efforts in disrupting their supply lines means they think a ver powerful orginization is after them. Some of them think it’s the Founders themselves.”

“So we talked ourselves up?” Cut asked.

“And the Horn bit,” Mouse said with a nod. “They think we’re a very powerful enemy, that knows far too much than we should.”

Wraith grinned as she passed out some rolls. “Sounds like we’re finally getting the recognition we deserve.”

“But we still need to perform the master stroke. At this time, this cult is wary, but they aren’t coming for us yet. We need to draw them out.”

“To the Darkwood Forest?” Golden asked tentatively.

Mouse nodded. “To the Darkwood Forest. Everything we have done so far is dependent on this mission.”

“You’ve said that about every mission,” Storm said.

“Yes, but even more so this one,” Mouse said. “If you remember, I told you that the Baron will find out about the ‘Tree of Harmony,’ and being leading a force to the Forest to get to it.”

“I do vaguely remember that,” Maple said.

“Well, this mission is to make sure he comes with an army,” Mouse said.

“I thought you said we raised an army to make sure he brought an army,” Storm said, raising an eyebrow.

“I did, and he’ll have to, but if it’s just him, all he needs to do is sneak around under the cover of night,” Mouse said. “So the question then, is what do we need to get him to attack the armies we raised?”

“You know, I do get tired of you asking us questions when you already know the answers,” Wraith said.

“We need to take the one thing he needs,” Mouse said. “We need to take the tome.”

“We tried that, and we all ran away,” Storm said.

“We tried it too early.”

Mouse explained. “He still needed to learn what he needed to do, and now that he knows, we can move forward.”

Cut nodded. “Alright sure, I guess destiny could keep us from stealing something, I suppose.”

Mouse shook his head. “No, we could have taken it,” he said. “It would have just made things incredibly more difficult.”

“Sure,” Cut said, dismissively.

“The point is, this is where we have to really get the book.”

Wraith nodded. “So what’s the plan?”

“It’s a little involved,” Mouse said with a sigh.

“No change there,” Storm said.

“We’re going to infiltrate a meeting of the Mystic Order,” Mouse said. “They’re going to be having a meeting in a cave in the mountains of the Foal Mountains. The Baron will be at that meeting, and will bring the book with him. This is where we’re going to strike.”

“And we’re going to storm the place?” Storm asked.

“Yes, and no. You, Maple, and Cut will assault the cave from the outside. Wraith, Golden, and I will sneak in.”

“And how’s that going to work?” Golden asked. “Last I checked, I’m not a unicorn.”

“No, but we can work around that,” Mouse said.

“We can?” she asked.

“We’ll have to use Ghoul’s workshop,” Mouse said, to which Wraith frowned.

“Who?” Golden asked.

“Don’t worry about it. The point is, we go in, and take the book, while you assault it. You’ll need to cut a swath for us to escape with.”

“Well, it is in the name,” Cut said with a smirk.

“Now,” Mouse said. “If this is going to work, then everypony needs to follow along perfectly…”

The planning session that explained their parts of the plan was as long and drawn out as Golden thought it would be. Her time in the guard left her knowing enough about security meetings, that she knew it would take an unholy amount of time. Still, she sat through it, listened, and did her best to memorize her part of the plan.

After that, Mouse and Wraith both took her to “Ghoul’s Workshop,” where she quickly became familiar with the mass of makeup, prosthesis, and a number of actual, amputated, bleached unicorn horns that made the collection of disguise paraphernalia.

To be honest, the idea of strapping a unicorn’s horn to her head made her a touch queasy, but Wraith insisted that it would make for the best disguise for the infiltration, and Mouse agreed that it would work. Still, the idea did not sit well with her or her stomach as she thought about it that night.

Sighing, Golden walked back to her room, and began removing her armor for the night. Her breastplate and greaves came off easily enough, and she carefully laid them all along one of the wooden shelves that stuck out of the room, before she heard a knock at her door. Confused, on the account that most of the ponies here climbed into the rafters so that they could mysteriously appear above her in dramatic entrances like the drama queens they were, Golden carefully approached her door. “Who is it?”

“It’s me,” Mouse’s voice called. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah...yeah, come in,” she replied.

Mouse stepped inside, and pulled his hood down, something he rarely did these days. “Are you ready for tomorrow?” he asked.

“Yes, yes, I know my part. I know what you need me to do,” she muttered.

“No, I mean how are you feeling?”

“Really?” she asked, surprised. “When have you ever cared about my feelings? We hate each other.”

“We might,” Mouse said, “but things have changed.”

“I suppose they have, haven’t they?” Golden said with a sigh. “I’m fine, Mouse. You have a plan, and I can follow along without any trouble. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“I’m afraid it’s too late for that,” Mouse said.

“What do you mean?” Golden asked.

“I saw things. I need to worry. It’s important.”

“It is?” Golden asked. “Why?”

Mouse shook his head. “Honestly, I don’t know anymore.”

“I’ll need you to explain that.” Golden said.

“I’m forgetting what I saw,” Mouse said. “Slowly, but surely, I’m forgetting everything.”

“Everything?”

“Everything but the important stuff. The plan, what it means, and so on,” Mouse said. “I also remember a few other things, but it’s fading away.”

“Like what?” Golden asked.

“I know what we’re fighting for,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“I saw the end. I saw what happens when we get there. I saw a world where Equestria flourishes. Where ponies lived in mostly peace. Even though it’s fuzzy in my mind, the brilliance of it still rings through me. Even if I forget everything else, I’ll always remember that.”

Golden cocked her head. “So you remember a feeling, and that’s what’s driving you?”

“At this point? Basically,” Mouse said. “That and the Princess. I owe her, after all.”

“You do?” Golden asked.

“Well, I owe Clover. She...she said I’d save everypony. She said I’d be the one to be the hero, and let me tell you, as somepony that grew up in prison, that was some of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me.”

“We still need to talk about that, by the way,” Golden said. “You should not have grown up in a prison. That shouldn’t have happened.”

“But it did, and it’s not a story worth sharing,” Mouse said. “It just happened, Golden. There’s no need to drag it out, no need to mention it. It happened, It ruined my life, and I just need to move on.”

“That’s not healthy, Mouse,” Golden said.

“When did you care about my health?” he said with a smirk. “I thought we hated each other?”

“Things changed,” Golden replied, before sitting on her bed, and motioning for Mouse to sit beside her. “Besides, I’ve processed a lot since you last told me.”

Mouse sighed. “Fine, you want to hear it again? I’ll tell you. I grew up in the prisons. I lived in a literal hole in the wall for years, being taken care of my this old pony. He was basically my father down there, and he did everything in his power to make sure no one knew about me. It was probably for the better, since he was shanked in the back when I was about 14. I started making my way out on my own around then, and the guards just assumed I was supposed to be there. I grew up, not trusting anyone, stealing to eat, and staring up at a window. It was not a nice childhood.”

“I imagine not,” Golden replied. “I imagine it was very lonely.”

“You know, I never thought so,” he admitted. “I was always more concerned about where I was sleeping, when my next meal was, who I’d have to steal from, those kind of things. I didn’t really get a chance to think about it until I wound up staring at the ceiling, thinking about how nice it was to have the old man taking care of me again. Looking back, I was very lonely, but I didn’t have time to worry about. I guess that’s what made the thieves and assassins here so inviting, because, at least on some level, I have ponies that cared. That’s more than what I got when I wandered Canterlot.”

“I can see that. Still illegal though. I’d lose my job if I didn’t remind you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said with a smirk. “Still, it was the closest thing I had to a family here.”

“And then they were gone?”

“And then they were gone,” Mouse said. “All poisoned by Oracle, though...though I think it had be done, now that I’ve read the tome.”

“Did the tome mention them?”

“Not the part I read. But Oracle might have. He was so certain about it, that I have to assume so. Maybe he was even inspired by the same future that I am.”

“You think it’s because of fate that the others had to die?”

“I wouldn’t put it past Fate. She doesn’t like me.”

“That’s not true,” Golden said.

“It sort of is. She told me I wasn’t her first choice.”

The earth pony looked confused. “You met Fate?”

“Seyella, more accurately. She told me that I would save Equestria told me I was the last one who could. I wasn’t her first choice. Not by a long shot.”

“How many gods have you met?” Golden asked.

“Just the three, and Seyella was a bit of a surprise,” Mouse admitted. “She was just there to get me to get to work doing this. Fed me a line about destiny being what should happen, not what does happen.”

Golden didn’t have a response for that.

“Now I’m sitting here, and I know what I need to do for what I should do, and I know that the end is worth it, but it’s just so...I’m just tired. I’m tired of everything. I just want to be done.”

Golden raised her hoof. It hovered for a moment, before coming down to rest on Mouse’s shoulder. “You’re doing well, Mouse. You can do it.”

“Can I, though? Am I doing well? Am I actually here to save this Equestria that only I’ve seen, or am I just being manipulated to do what the fates want? Does anything I’m doing actually matter? If I left right now, would I doom this future I’ve seen, or is everything I thought Destiny would be true, and it’ll happen regardless?”

He sighed.

“I just don’t know, and I’m too tired to find out.”

They sat in silence for a while, before Golden asked “Does it matter?”

“Hm?”

“Does it matter why you’re doing it?” she asked. “You’re doing the right thing, and that matters more, doesn’t it?
If someone saves me, do I have to worry about why he did it?”

“Maybe,” Mouse muttered.

“Mouse, my father…” she hesitated a moment. “My father was a hard working pony, who stood by the idea that doing the right thing was more important than anything else. He’d tell me that all the time, ‘Even if it’s hard, thankless, and don’t make you a copper piece richer, doing right for right’s sake is the best you can do.’ It took me years to appreciate what he meant by that, you know? He could have stepped up and taken over as representative for our landowner back in Earthonia, he could have held the power to vote, and ruled over his neighbors if he wanted to, but he wasn’t that kind of pony.”

Mouse looked up at her.

“He always, always did what was right. No matter what happened to him. He did all the way until the day he died, then do you know what he told me?”

“What?”

“He told me that the only reason he did it was to give me a good example to live by. Why he did it didn’t matter to me, should it matter to you at all?”

“Maybe, I don’t know…”

“Why you do it doesn’t matter, because it’s what you do that inspires. It doesn’t matter that my father was just being an example for me, the fact that he always did the right thing is what made me want to help ponies to begin with. It doesn’t matter if you’re saving the world because you’re ‘supposed’ to, or for some other reason. The fact is you’re saving the world.”

Mouse only gave her a weak smile. “I suppose that holds more weight to it, doesn’t it?”

Golden smirked. “Just a little bit, yeah.”

“What was it like?” Mouse asked.

“What was what like?”

“Growing up, with actual friends, and an actual home. What was that like?” he asked.

“I mean…” she began, “it was fun, I played games with my friends, I helped out along the farm, it wasn’t the most exciting childhood, certainly. After working on the farm all day in the summer, I’d go into town, and buy some honeyed strawberries. That was the highlight, honestly.”

“Growing up on a farm?” he asked. “You know, that actually sounds really nice.” With that, Mouse stood up. “Thanks, Goldie, this was a good talk. Make sure you’re ready for tomorrow.”

“Sleep well, Mouse,” Golden said.

Mouse had three Horn cloaks, all in a deep, nearly dazzling purple. Where he secured them from, he didn’t say, though Golden was willing to bet that he “found” them on his solo trips that he took a few days back. Still, Golden was happy for them, simply because they meant that they could hide her nervousness.

She marched up the mountain path, following behind Mouse, while Wraith took the rear, leaving her in the middle. She moved carefully, hoping that the horn that Mouse glued to her head wouldn’t move, despite the terrible itch that grew at the point of contact.

The cloudless, moonless night offered no light to see by, and it was only by the small witchlight that Wraith conjured that the ponies could see where they were going. The narrow, rocky path offered very little in the way of safety, and even less in the way of comfort, as the constant turns and steep angles ate at their energy, and left Golden breathing hard.

No one said a word as they climbed. Golden’s training had taught her not to complain about the trek, and she could only assume that the assassins were used to staying quiet. Even so, there was a tension that Golden felt hang around them.

Slowly they made progress up the mountain, until, finally, they came to a torchlit cave mouth. “Halt, who goes there?” came the voice of the watch guard.

“We’re here for the service,” Mouse replied, before his magic reached for his belt, and pulled out his magical bag, and turned it, so that the five pointed star faced the guard.

He gave it a glance, before looking up at the three ponies in front of him. “I don’t recognize you,” he said.

“Brother Garnet brought me in,” Mouse said. “He also said he would not be able to make it tonight, he sends the baron his deepest sympathies.”

The guard gave them another glance. “Brother Garnet you say?”

Mouse nodded.

“Alright, get in, and hurry. The service is about to start.”

Mouse nodded, and the three ponies ducked inside.