Chapter 20: The Young Minds
Troubles Arc
As Noach approached Orni within the little Knollwing’s mind, he noticed a few things. As Loress did, she had a distinct mindscape; it was a forest rather than a city. It shouldn’t have surprised him, but her tranquility could be felt in the air around him.
This was the first time in a decade he’d met anypony with the presence of mind to meet him as a “corporeal” being he could actually engage in such a way. It was as if they were meeting outside of her mind.
“Orni… very impressive. Only high-level unicorns can usually meet me as you are now. You must be able to fall asleep pretty fast, given the lucidity of your mind.”
The filly, even littler than Orni already was, smiled and answered in a more childlike voice, “I don’t know a thing about this, sir. This is definitely a first for me.”
He decided not to bother telling her much about the others’ minds… their business, not hers. Again, noting Orni had her wings, Noach sighed.
“How old were you when you lost your wings?” he didn’t want to ask, but he needed some clarity to proceed.
Orni fluffed her wings of white, looking sadly at them, “I wasn’t quite 8-years-old when the slavers blew me out of the sky. I’m not sure why I’m a filly right now… Usually, even in my own mind, I envision myself as I am.”
Noach chuckled, “I’m not sure why ponies appear as their younger selves in the mindscape. Maybe it’s something about the innocence of childhood… Still, we’ll be able to look at your life from outside your perspective.”
“How will I be able to see my own life on the outside, when it all goes on in my head?”
Noach enjoyed this; a lucid mind was rare indeed, “You can visualize yourself in the third person, right? It works like that. Even though you saw something through your eyes, you can still picture it from the outside.”
She cocked her head, “Okay…”
He nodded to a path, “You’ll see what I mean in a few moments.”
The two of them walked a distance and came upon a large party of Knollwings. The Pegasi were traveling along a country road, laughing and paddling along. At the head of the company, Noach saw two regal-looking Knollwings. Each of them had a foal clinging to their back. Behind them, trotted a little green filly with wings of white.
Orni pointed, “Up front, those are my parents. My father’s a knight… Sir Wytt Valkea. And my mother… Lady Phoebe Valkea.”
Noach tried not to gawk; Orni’s mother was beautiful… Maybe not quite as beautiful as Loress, but as close as any pony he’d seen. Her wings were also white. The two little fillies riding on their parents shared this characteristic.
Orni continued, “I have two little sisters… Decima and Neas. Three fillies in a row… all with wings of white. Mother was the envy of many.”
Noach watched with Orni for a while. He learned Orni came from the northeastern part of the continent. She was barely old enough to remember the city she was born in. Her father and mother were selected to lead a group west to start a new colony… and to search out Knollwing magic.
Her father had the magic and her mother had a touch of it. And they knew Orni had it but hadn’t awakened it. It was indeed rare to see Knollwing magic in the current days. It was feared by the Knollwing leaders their race would die out or lose themselves in mixing with normal Pegasi.
Sir Valkea didn’t care much… if their race was dying, it was dying. They were still Pegasi. But they did need a new home. It wasn’t just magic dying out in their part of the continent. The region had seen dry cycles increase, forcing them to seek out new lands.
As the group went along, they camped where they could, traded with what they had, and did anything they could do to eke out a living on the road. It was the only life Orni knew, and while there weren’t many other foals, she had her ponies, her family, and a few friends. She was happy.
Of course, Noach saw the slavers attack them around Renata. The Knollwings made every attempt to save Orni but had to flee when she appeared lost.
The Orni watching the projections of her own memories, nuzzled into Noach, “I sometimes dream about this…”
He patted her head, looking on. It was certainly painful to watch the slavers escape with a few Knollwings, all young ones, while leaving Orni to die, crippled on the ground. Deciding Orni didn’t need to relive all this more than she had to, he took her forward.
The two of them saw a happy little filly, wing-stubs fully healed, romping around with the other foals in Renata. They saw Orni’s other siblings born, one after another. The foals adored their big sister. They saw Wilka join the community, offering Orni a friendship she couldn’t now imagine being without. And of course, they saw Essenta arrive with four other mares in tow. They experienced the joy and exhilaration of their duels at the fighting grounds… and the bittersweet departure.
Naturally, there was no recollection of the night of the raid. Orni couldn’t remember much of anything before waking up in a feather bed in the cottage outside Silas.
There wasn’t really anything else to see. Noach kneaded Orni’s shoulder.
“Thank you for letting me into your mind. I will say this: there isn’t a whole lot I can tell you… Like the princess, you have things pretty well figured out. Just be there for your friends.”
Orni looked over nervously, “What now?”
Noach turned to her, not looking much happier, “You already know… We need to look at Wilka’s mind.”
It took a while to make the long walk from the clear side of the shared mindscape to the monsoonal side that was Wilka’s mind. There was no clear landscape to be seen on the way there… just a violent, noisy void… with weather of its own.
Orni stood in confusion and fear, “This is Wilka’s mind?”
Noach braced himself against the literal wind from the storm. That’s what it was- a storm... complete with thunder, lightning, and a shitload of driving rain. They could feel the fear and mistrust emanating from further in.
“No, Orni… we’re still at the very outer limits of the space between the two of you. I’m afraid I’ve seen this many times: Wilka’s made a decision to close off her mind to me. Do you see that light up ahead?”
Orni peered into the confusion; there was a patch of light, glowing dimly, “I see it.”
“That is Wilka’s essence. I cannot move any closer. But you might be able to. I want you to go and see if you can make an opening for me.”
She looked oddly at him, “How?”
“She trusts you… more than you can imagine. You’ll be able to convince her.”
Orni… didn’t like the way that sounded. But she began to walk; within a few seconds, she halted. Noach could see her concentrating, her eyes shut. She was listening to something.
Orni took up an expression he had trouble placing. It wasn’t angry or even disappointed, but showed a grudging understanding and resignation.
The Knollwing nodded, Okay, Wilka.
She turned to Noach, “I won’t.”
“What?”
“I won’t pry her mind open for you to see,” Orni stated plainly.
It came clear to Noach, “You already know everything there is to know about Wilka, don’t you?”
“And she knows most everything about me, Noach. And she doesn’t want you or anypony else in there.”
Noach could feel the tempest around him shift, Wilka was trying to push them out. The fear and revulsion he felt blowing around was chilling. But Orni appeared to be completely at peace with it, once Wilka had “spoken” to her.
He looked thoughtful, “It’s no wonder I felt such a connection between the two of you… you know each other that well.”
She looked back to him, “Yes, Noach… I think it’s best you pull us out.”
Noach fell out of the shared mindscape of the two young mares. He physically fell on his back. He’d been working harder to maintain his presence than he thought once he and Orni went to Wilka’s side. A little woozy, Ama helped him to his hooves and into a chair.
Dechaa offered Noach a mug of water; he looked exhausted. The company noted he’d been gone for just under a minute to them. It had been some trip for Noach, though. Noach took the water, gulping gratefully.
Once he’d had his fill, “Orni. Well done.”
Orni nodded back, looking a little beat herself.
Noach looked to Wilka, looking sad, miserable, scared, and… ashamed.
Deciding not to approach or touch her, he said, “Don’t worry, Wilka… It’s alright.”
Whether it was or wasn’t, the pink Pegasus rolled onto her side and curled up on her bed. It was concerning to the company, but a look at Orni told them to not concern themselves with it. The old healer realized Wilka would be useless for what he was about to do. In fact, he would only need one of the girls: he had to choose one of them… and Wilka would’ve been his last choice anyway.
Noach addressed the girls, “Well… After spending a little time in your minds, I must say you’re fortunate to be alive, some of the things you’ve been through. But you’ve made it here, together and that says a lot. I know what I think we’ll need to reach Zyra. I’d like to wait… but I think it’s best to go in now. We need to strike when the iron is hot, so the saying goes… while everything is still fresh in my mind. As you may have guessed, what seems like a moment out here can span days when I entered your minds.”
The girls looked back to him, just listening… this was out of their league, so it was all they could do.
He continued, to himself mostly, “If waiting was a better choice, I’d maybe take the princess in, given the history shared… But she’s still impaired and I won’t wait until she is otherwise.”
Without malice, he looked to Essenta. She looked rather ashamed of herself and the rest could tell she felt that way. Noach was ambivalent on the matter; it was immaterial to him.
Noach leaned back in his chair, “Don’t fret, Princess. There’s a better choice, anyway. I’d ask for a volunteer, as I’m sure at least some of you would be more than willing to go in there with me, but I need to choose. One of you is best for this undertaking. It won’t be pretty in there… fair warning.”
The girls sat with much nervousness. Putting Essenta and Wilka aside, that left Dechaa, Ama, Loress, and Orni. One of them would jump into the void with the old stallion.
Noach sighed and turned to the Mazan, “Ama… I need you.”
She gawped, “Me, Noach?”
“Yes. Recall meeting Essenta and her two companions from the Dale. It was an unfortunate circumstance that brought the four of you together but look at the friendships you’ve cultivated. Zyra chose to accept you as a friend, even after she was put into a brief episode upon seeing your actions against the stallions around the Forbidden Forest.”
Ama looked down at the floor; she didn’t like thinking about that morning. It was horrible enough for her on top of being a bad time for Essenta and the Dale mares. And her companions knew as much as was needed to know about it and felt sympathy. Her friends put their hooves to the Mazan. Ama looked at their reassuring eyes and felt strengthened.
Noach could see her confidence rising but said it anyway, “That was an awful thing to have to do, but surviving isn’t always easy. Zyra trusts you… and she loves you as her friend. I’ve seen enough of Zyra’s mind to know this: there’s nopony else she’d rather have on her flank when things get bad.”
Nopony else took this as an insult; Ama was right on top of any of their lists of ponies with whom they’d trust their backs. Ama teared up at the realization and couldn’t help but smile. She was touched anypony would think of her in such a way. Maybe someday she’d realize everypony felt that way.
Ama stood, “Very well, Noach. How do we begin?”
Ama and Noach sat in the room with Wilka. They’d relaxed themselves, had a little something to eat, and were ready. The other girls were advised to remain outside. It would only be a few minutes to them… Ama and Noach might be gone for a couple days.
Noach patted Ama’s hoof, “Thanks for being willing to do this, Ama… I don’t think anypony else would be able to help me. Perhaps not even the princess, even if she was clear-headed, would be able to handle this.”
Ama nodded grimly, shutting her eyes, “I know she suffers… and yet I cannot imagine the horrors in the mind of Zyra.”
A few tears squeezed out of her closed eyes, “It hurt… it hurt so very much, seeing what my actions did to her. It… was more than I could bear to watch. When she was in the throws of it that night… I had to walk away.”
Noach kneaded her hoof, “I see you don’t blame yourself, but it still hurts you, I know. Try to be strong for Zyra. As I said, she’d trust you with her very life and even her wellbeing. You’ve proven yourself to stand above and beyond what she’d ever hope to expect from a friend. In her heart… she does not feel that way about all of you.”
This did yet didn’t surprise Ama. It was a Hell of a thing to trust your very self to another pony. She’d honor that trust and do whatever she could to help Noach… to help Zyra.
Noach advised she sit comfortably and put a hoof to Zyra, taking her other.
“Ama… are you ready?”
Ama closed her eyes, surprised at how relaxed she now felt, “I am.”
Noach put his free hoof to Zyra’s temple and the two found themselves pulled into the void that led to Zyra’s mind.
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I didn't think you would gift us another release today. Thank you again for the hard work and this here chapter!
But I guess one Baumkuchen and cake is enough right? Well, just have more tea, coffee, beer, Grog, mead or rum.
Good decision to give Zyra a chapter of her own.
8863198
I meant to release yesterday. Didn't happen.
This is going to be hard for him, too, isn’t it. Reminding him of his past.
9410551
It comes up.