The River Rose

by Stosyl

XVII. The Double Harvest

The night was cold and gusty. The first fallen leaves of the season were carried away in the dancing currents of the autumn breeze. White Bird stepped out into a clearing to meet Spade and Galeheart, who had all but finished the preparations for the Double Harvest Ritual.

“Awful fine o’ you to show up,” Spade sneered. “Ain’t as if my leg’s been actin’ up.” He dragged his gimp leg forward and tapped it with his hoof.

“There were mistakes that needed cleaning up,” said White Bird offhandedly. “Is everything prepared as I advised?”

Spade huffed.

“Yeah,” he said. “We found the River Rose an hour after moonrise. Should be forty minutes ago. Elements are all set up, like ya said.”

The Elements of Harmony were arranged into a hexagonal pattern inscribed by a six-pointed star. In the center of the ritual altar sat a bowl filled to the brim with the red-orange pedals of a single River Rose. The bowl was ringed by a circle of manticore teeth, on whose roots the drying blood still glistened in the moonlight.

White Bird produced six vials and began placing them one by one beside each of the Elements of Harmony.

“These,” he told his companions, “are called Experientias. Excuse me for not trusting you to gather these yourselves, but only my Order has the necessary magic.”

“What are they?” said Galeheart, carelessly removing one from where White Bird had deliberately positioned it. White Bird snatched it from his hooves and replaced it among the relics.

“Experientias are concentrated feelings extracted from a pony’s mind,” he explained. “Spade is not a Master of Harmony, so he cannot assume all the states of the Elements by himself. The River Rose is nature’s purest expression of Growth Magic, the original Element of Harmony. This flower responds to the Elements, and vice versa. But Spade cannot experience all six states of Harmony at once, so the Experientias do that for him.

“Each of these six vials contains a state of Harmony, removed from a trained unicorn while he was meditating upon pure Honesty, Loyalty, and the rest. With them nearby interacting with the River Rose, the Elements can be tricked into working for us. It’s a neat way to cheat the system, but it does require the rare Double Harvest to work.”

White Bird concluded by setting the last Experientia in place and, turning to Spade, he caught sight of something moving in the bushes.

You’re late, Emerald, he thought to himself.

“I hope the lieutenant here has taught you to enter the Umbra,” he said to Spade.

“Yeah, yeah,” Spade replied. “I’ve been there and back a dozen times now. Blame that damn training for my leg havin’ a fit!”

“Well don’t worry about your magic. Your channels will be healed the moment the ceremony begins. After that I’ll help you finish breaking the seal of time magic around your body. This will require some effort, but your leg will be as good as new.”

“Then you can have yer Elements,” said Spade. “What use I got for a mare’s jewels, anyhow?”

“Well spoken,” White Bird smiled. “Now please, if you’re ready to start, step within the circle and eat the contents of that bowl.”

“Eat it?” Spade grimaced.

“Unless you consume the River Rose your body will not be able to act as a channel for the Elements of Harmony.”

Spade hesitated but entered the circle and chewed the flower quickly. It had the sweetest flavor of any flower he had ever tasted, and by the last swallow he began to relish it with a gluttonous pleasure, and he greatly desired more. But as the flower’s magic entered his blood, he felt freed of all gluttony and avarice, shed of grief and fear, completely liberated from all the terrible thoughts which gripped him day by day. He felt he understood the truth, that the pursuit of pleasure can be just as treacherous as the fear of pain, and he felt his vices leave him.

The jewels of the Elements began to glow with the magic of the Full Moon. Their radiance was tremendous: like six bright suns they infused the night with luminosity. The light completely consumed Stowaway Spade and coursed through him. Six streams of magic flowed from the vials into their sibling Elements, then on into Spade. For the briefest of moments a set of phantom wings and a ghastly horn adorned the body of the impostor, this would-be alicorn, while the silver Moon decorated him with her glory.

White Bird stood aside, using half his attention to observe all that happened in the bushes around them, and half to guide Spade’s ceremony to completion. Everything went precisely as planned, and he played his part well.

As the ritual ended, the blinding light of the Elemental magic began to fade, and all was once again in darkness but for the glowing moon.

Spade felt his leg and saw that he could move it without trouble. He laughed with glee and cried one ‘hoorah!’ after another as he tore off his splint.

He threw spells left and right to test the strength of his magic. To his delight he was as powerful as ever, and there was a certain ease to it that he attributed to the River Rose. He turned to see that White Bird had already vanished, and the Elements with him.

Galeheart trotted up to Spade in the wake of his celebration.

“We had a deal, Spade,” said the lieutenant boldly.

“So we did, boy, so we did,” Spade replied, too elated to be made cross by Galeheart’s forwardness. He produced a small journal from his saddlebag and tossed it to the lieutenant.

“There,” he said. “That’s what I promised ya. Now git.”

Galeheart tore open the journal and studied its contents like a jeweler authenticating a diamond. When he was quite satisfied he offered his hoof to Spade, who shook it in good spirits. It was then that Galeheart collapsed.

From the eastern edge of the clearing there came a wave like a pulsation. The blast of pressure washed over the lieutenant, draining the life from his body so that he fell limp to the ground. From above a great boulder came crashing down on him, crushing his hind legs.

Spade watched the attackers emerge from the bushes and rush toward him. Emerald and Celestia led the charge, and behind them Mercury and Gumdrop preceded Plum Cake and Opalwater. All of them ran quickly to surround Spade, who was caught too much by surprise to make a move against them.

Spade knew he could not fight Emerald and the Princess if they were together. Seeing Galeheart on the ground, in a state like death, drained him of the peaceful feeling that the River Rose had granted him.

“You’re not getting away this time, Spade,” said Emerald.

“If I wanna escape, I’ll take y’all out first,” said Spade, all too aware of his own bluff.

“Don’t be rash, Stowaway Spade,” said Celestia. “Come with us quietly. We would rather not have to harm you.”

At that Spade flew into a rage. Without thinking he charged at Emerald, protecting himself with a barrier spell, which Emerald’s draining magic broke through easily. Spade went reeling backward, bruised and tired but too angry to give up the fight. No one interfered, including White Bird, who sat unnoticed in the briers and watched with the attention of a predator.

In his wrath Spade was reckless, his magic scattered and weak. Emerald effortlessly defended against him, uninjured. Spade rushed defenseless at his enemy, and Emerald sent a bolt of cold lightning into his belly. Spade collapsed from the wound to his abdomen, and slid face-first through the wet grass into Emerald’s hooves.

“Princess,” said Emerald, “you must know a spell to contain the magic of prisoners. Care to do the honors?”

Without responding Celestia cast a spell on the dark-coated Earth stallion, then stepped back to give Emerald room.

“I am only afraid that it will not contain alchemy,” said the Princess.

No sooner had she said this than Stowaway Spade vanished in a familiar flash, leaving a bare spot in the grass where he had been.

“Where’d he go!” cried Opalwater.

“He’s escaped into the Umbra,” said Celestia.

“Damn it!” Emerald yelled. He screamed with frustration, shouting until his throat hurt. With all the force that he could muster he kicked the unconscious lieutenant, and stomped him until he felt the bones give way beneath his strength. Mercury had to pull him away for fear he would kill the helpless prisoner.

“Emerald, calm down,” said the Princess.

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” Emerald barked. He was beginning to cry. “If I follow him into the Umbra, I’m lost. But if I don’t find him, we might never understand what happened here tonight. Luna will be as good as dead for two thousand years. So don’t tell me to be calm!”

The tears kept coming. He fell to his knees, sunk his head into the earth and tried to clear his mind. He wished he could escape from it all; he wished he could run away where no one could blame him for his failure.

A brilliant white dove flashed across his mind’s eye, whispering encouragement. In the bushes White Bird was tense. “Come on, Emerald,” fell from his lips more than once, and he sweated anxiously.

Slowly everything became clear to Emerald. The sky seemed illuminated by the Sun itself. He looked around himself in a daze. A stimulating calm came over him. Energy poured through him, so strong, like the pulsating of magic flowing into his heart. He felt as he did whenever he used time magic to heal himself. He felt invigorated. He felt at peace.

He stood up.

“I’m going to follow Spade into the Umbra,” said Emerald, brushing himself off.

“Are you insane?” said Mercury. “You’ll end up in the Nethers!”

“Not if I have no intention of hurting him.”

Mercury and the Princess stared at him blankly.

“I only want to rescue Luna,” he went on. “After Spade tells me how, I’ll leave him be.”

“What about your revenge?” said Celestia, astonished at Emerald’s sudden magnanimity.

“River Rose is dead,” he replied, his head downcast. “The best I can do is to stop this petty feud where it stands. No one else has to die on my account. I forgive him.”

With these words a second wave of peacefulness absorbed him. He could not help smiling.

“He can’t have gotten far,” he said, removing his cloak and saddlebag. “See you on the other side.”

Emerald disappeared inside a flash of light and found himself in the Umbra. Even this place, a world of shadows, held no darkness for him, who saw it as a well-lit plain for the first time, though it had been pure darkness on every visit in the past. Now there was grass at tall as his knees and a pure, golden light that seemed to shine forth from everything, leaving not one inch in shade.

Emerald found Stowaway Spade doubled over beside a large rock, desperately pressing his wound shut. When he saw Emerald approaching, he began to crawl away in a panic.

“How did you follow me?” he shouted.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Spade,” said Emerald, his voice full of pure tranquility.

“Like hell you ain’t! You came here to finish me!”

“I can’t harm you in here. I’ve come after you because I want you to tell me how you broke my seal. All I want is to help my friend. You have my word on that.”

“The word of a liar!” Spade hissed. He was breathing sporadically and wincing in pain. “You’re both liars!”

“Both?” Emerald blinked.

“You and White Bird,” said Spade. “He said you couldn’t follow me here. He also said not to attack you if you did.”

“Spade, no!” Emerald shrieked.

He was too late. In an instant Spade had cast a cold lightning spell at Emerald and was pulled into the floor of the Umbra as if it were quicksand, followed by the spell itself. Emerald stood in the spectral meadow, devastated but unharmed.

He wiped a tear from his eye and took a deep breath in.

“You’re not getting away that easily,” he said. Without a moment’s pause he began to sink into the soil, through the grass and into darkness.

The Nethers were cold and wet, cavelike and unearthly. The only light came from a set of phosphorescent structures like stalagmites. He found Spade in the fetal position, cowering and glancing round as if the dim light of the cave could not reach eyes so clouded with hate. He had a look on his face that seemed to know it was facing death. At last Spade noticed Emerald before him and looked as if he might begin to sob.

“Son of a dam,” he muttered, his voice barely strong enough to whisper.

“Do you know where you are, Spade?” said Emerald.

No answer.

“You’re in the Nethers. It’s where you go if you try to hurt someone in the Umbra. It’s also where I would have ended up if I wanted to hurt you. It’s the perfect prison. There’s only one way out: you have to let me rescue you. Otherwise no one will come. Only the victim can pull his attacker from the Nethers.”

Spade was silent for a long time, but kept gasping for breath like a child who had cried too long.

“I forgive you, Spade.”

“You forgive me?” Spade croaked.

“I forgive you for River Rose, and I forgive you for Luna. All I can do is pray that you’ll forgive me for all I’ve done to you—and that you’ll help me to unseal Luna, so that I won’t have to live these thousand years without her.”

Spade cast his eyes to the floor of the cave, breathing with great difficulty.

“You deserve it,” he said weakly. “You deserve to suffer.”

“I know.”

Emerald bent his horn toward Spade and absorbed his wound in the light of time magic. In a matter of seconds the wound was healed to the last hair on Spade’s side, and his breathing steadied.

“But she doesn’t,” said Emerald, smiling at Spade as he offered him his hoof. Without raising his head or saying a word, Spade took Emerald’s hoof and lifted himself up.

Emerald pulled Spade out of the Nethers and into the Umbra, then from there back into the clearing where the Princess, Mercury, and the privates from the five-hundred first were waiting anxiously.

“Emerald!” said Celestia when he appeared with Spade at his side. “What happened?”

“Later,” said Emerald. “Do you have the Elements?”

The Princess shook her head.

“We searched for them around the entire perimeter, but we couldn’t find them. It’s as if they vanished.”

“That’s strange,” Emerald mused. Then, turning to Spade: “We’re returning to the palace now. Would you mind if we contained you temporarily?”

Spade kept his head low and said nothing. Emerald nodded to the Princess, who cast a containment spell around Spade so he could make no attempt to escape.

Among the thorny brier White Bird was laughing to himself and clapping his hooves together quietly. “Great work, Emerald,” he kept saying. “Really fine work.” And after relishing his victory for a moment, he made off with the Elements toward Canterlot, eager to arrive before the Princess and her party.

The group walked the two-hour journey back to the castle. The entire time Spade uttered not a sound, and when they entered the palace dungeon, he allowed himself to be placed quietly in a cell. He was given food and an hour’s rest, but still was unwilling to speak when spoken to.

“We cannot waste any more time, Emerald,” said Celestia when their first attempt at interviewing him produced no results. “I can keep the Moon from setting, but I cannot keep it Full.”

“Be patient, Princess,” said Emerald. “Twilight Sparkle has been preparing the Blue Swamp Lily potion since we set him in the dungeon. Even a clinical mute will talk through a truthfulness potion. It should be ready soon.”

“How soon?” Celestia cried. “I do not want to wait another month to see my sister alive!”

“It should take another hour to be ready. Twilight is still new at it, so she may be producing it more slowly than I—”

“Then help her to finish it sooner,” said the Princess.

“Agree to wait patiently and watch over Spade,” said Emerald, “and I will see to the potion.”

Reluctantly the Princess agreed to stay in the dungeon while Emerald and Twilight prepared the Blue Swamp Lily. When the potion was ready they carried it in to Spade in an ordinary goblet and made him drink it.

Spade drained the potion quickly. Emerald waited for the signs that the potion had entered his blood, and began the interview. Spade told him everything, from beginning to end, in one fluid narrative.

Comments

[Nightning]

I hope there'll be a big showdown between Emerald and White Bird... That would be fun, !

[Fireeaters]

Moar! Luna is best pony!