Chapter 9: The Dream
“... Let us think about it,” said Twilight Sparkle, looking Obsidian in the eyes. She hadn’t before considered the situation from this angle.
The stallion sat down and closed his eyes, the staff landing by his side. “Of course, take all the time you need. I won’t be going anywhere.”
“So, either we release this weirdo or we’re stuck here with him?” said Applejack. “Twilight, do ya think he’s dangerous?”
Twilight considered the question. “I’m not sure… no, scratch that. I had a practice fight with him. And I’ve seen him angry. Definitely dangerous. The question is, is he evil or not. He did teach me a lot while I was here, but…” she glanced sideways at Obsidian, “he’s not exactly the most sane of ponies.”
“Well, it would probably help if he got a mane cut,” said Rarity absent-mindedly.
The others looked at her in silence.
“Wha… what?” she said defensively, looking around. “He wants to convince us to let him out. He could at least make an effort to make a good impression. Besides, you know what they say about feeling how you look. It’s important for your self image.”
“If that’s what’s important for you,” said Obsidian without opening his eyes, “I guess I can humor you.” He then took a long breath and his hair started wriggling around. As the mares watched, Obsidian’s coat groomed itself, dust falling off him until he was all smooth and shiny, his mane untangling and straightening before somehow shortening itself into a military haircut. He opened his eyes and smiled at Rarity. “This is my ‘going to the palace’ look. Is it better now?”
The unicorn turned red. “Oh, certainly. You look much better now. I bet you’d-”
“More trustworthy?” asked Obsidian with a smirk.
At that Rarity fell silent.
Obsidian smiled a bit wider. “That’s shallow. You were right about the self-image thing though. I do feel better already.”
Rarity humphed in indignation and retreated to the back of the group. The others stayed silent, nopony willing to restart the conversation.
It was finally Rainbow Dash who spoke. “Aren’t you going to at least tell me why I failed?”
Obsidian sighed. “Let’s see... “ the runes on his staff briefly glowed purple, matched by the light in his eyes. “Your test was the weak link scenario. A companion you’re supposed to be loyal to isn’t up to the task, and will become a threat to the group. You took her along, hoping to make up for her weakness, and in effect endangered everypony.”
“So, what was I supposed to do?” asked Rainbow Dash, flapping into the air, visibly reinvigorated by the argument. “Leave Fluttershy behind?”
“No,” replied Obsidian. “The strength of the whole team was needed for the task. Any choice resulting in divided loyalty was a trap. What you were supposed to do was help her fight her weakness, give her the strength to pull her own weight instead of trying to carry her.”
Rainbow Dash frowned in confusion. “But, that’s impossible! Her problem was being scared of dragons! How could I solve it in just two days!?”
Obsidian shrugged, then smiled towards Fluttershy. “Well, when your actual friend attempted her test, she saved a companion by calming an angry manticore, using nothing but body language.”
Fluttershy turned a bit red and smiled despite herself.
“What?” asked Rainbow Dash. “But… that’s Fluttershy. That’s normal for her.”
“Exactly,” said Obsidian. “There are countless ways to be strong or fast, but that’s not what the tests are looking for. They were created to find better bearers than my group had been, extraordinary ponies, worthy of the responsibility. It takes something special to pass each of the tests; calm a wild beast, make unrepentant cheats trust your word, dispel the darkness not just by laughing in its face, but by making it laugh with you.”
“Every day the fate of all ponykind might rest on your shoulders. If you can’t do the impossible, you have no business being an Element of Harmony.”
“And now,” he said, standing up, “it seems my presence is distracting you, ladies. I’m going to leave you for now. When you have reached your decision, you can find me in the library room where Twilight last practiced. She knows the way.”
***
“We could make him Pinkie promise not to cause any trouble,” said Pinkie Pie hopefully.
“And what good will that do?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Are you going to get angry at him if he breaks it?”
“He wouldn’t promise anyway,” said Twilight. “He’s convinced there will be trouble from him coming to Equestria.”
“What sort of trouble?” asked Rarity.
“Well,” started Twilight. She tried to wrap her head around all she had heard from Obsidian. “He thinks there is something wrong with our history. That there is some sort of conspiracy and the princesses are to blame. I think he’s just bitter about being forgotten here.”
“Oh, that might be dangerous,” said Fluttershy.
“So, what’s he going to do?” asked Dash. “Dig through some old archives? Go attack Canterlot castle?”
“He seems to think we’ll accompany him to see what he discovers,” said Twilight, “so I don’t think he’ll do anything violent right away. But whatever he does, we need to get out of here anyway. Equestria needs us and we need to get to the bottom of all this.”
“Are you sure, there’s no other way out?” asked Applejack. “This place doesn’t look locked.”
“It is,” answered Twilight, shaking her head. “I tried to get out and I couldn’t. I don’t even know how this barrier works. And even if we get out, there is…” she straightened suddenly, her eyes widening. “That’s right! Even if the way is open, there is raw chaos outside. We won’t get home without his help!”
“So, what you’re saying,” said Rarity,”is that we’ll still be trapped here and he won’t?”
Twilight’s shoulders slumped. “I’m afraid so. We can’t just let Obsidian out and hope we can handle him if he’s up to no good. We’ll have to actually trust him. And that’s after he told us we have no reason to.”
“I say we let him out,” said Pinkie Pie suddenly.
“Why’s that?” asked Rarity. Four pairs of eyes stared at Pinkie.
“Well…” said Pinkie Pie, “Ever since I got here, my Pinkie sense has been acting weird. But all this ‘chaos’ thingy is… like me.”
She looked in silence at the four confused stares.
“I mean,” she continued, “They say I’m random, but I’m really not? like everything has been happening just in time? Even I can’t do that. What I mean is…” she groaned in frustration and fidgeted her hooves.
“There is a method to all this madness?” said Twilight helpfully.
“Yes!” shouted Pinkie, pointing a hoof at her. “There is something here that wants to happen and we’re a part of it. So even if that Obsidian guy is weird and creepy, we will get back home. I’m sure I’d feel it if it weren’t so!”
“That’s… not very helpful, sugarcube,” deadpanned Applejack.
“That might be the best thing we’ve got,” answered Twilight. “We need to find out what’s going on. Our friends need us. Princess Celestia needs us. And if Pinkie Pie has a hunch that it will work out, we’ll have to take that chance.”
“Have I ever been wrong before?” asked Pinkie Pie.
There was a very long, awkward silence.
***
“We have reached a decision,” said Twilight as she entered the library room. She noticed with some disappointment that it had returned to its original, ruined appearance.
Is there some sort of inertia here, or is it just Obsidian’s influence? she thought.
Obsidian rose from the floor. “What have you decided?” he asked in a low, level voice.
Twilight swallowed loudly. “We will undo the binding spell and set you free. In return you will help us get back to Equestria.”
Slowly, the stallion smiled. “You don’t seem comfortable with the decision. I wish I could make it easier for you. Alas, I’m not as good at being trustworthy as your friend Applejack. This just goes to prove how important the Void Passage tests were. Very well, let’s get this over with.”
He walked down the stairs towards the ground floor, Twilight following close after him. The other girls were standing in a circle at the base of the stairs, watching the stallion intently as he descended.
“Ok, then,” started Applejack. “What is it that you need me to do?”
Obsidian closed his eyes briefly in concentration, then pointed to a piece of open ground some distance away from the stairs. “I need you to stand there. When I give you the sign, you just need to focus your mind. Think of how it felt when you used Honesty. Just focus on that feeling and I will do the rest.”
“As for the rest of you,” he continued, I need you to stand in the corners, by the towers. The main staircase might become unstable when the spell unravels.”
Applejack looked up at the endless tangle of wood. “You sure it’ll be safe for the two of us to stand here?”
“No,” answered Obsidian. “Which is what we have Verba for.”
His staff started glowing and with a jingling sound, the symbols scattered in the air, creating a slowly rotating dome around the two ponies.
“Okay,” said Obsidian, bracing himself. “Start focusing, Honesty!”
Applejack braced herself and closed her eyes. Obsidian inhaled and then started glowing, the blue aura starting in his eyes, then spreading in runic patterns across his coat, before erupting into a blazing halo around his body. He opened his mouth and strands of energy flowed through the air towards Applejack. When they reached the mare, she too started glowing, but soon the aura started turning pale, almost white, before shifting rapidly to orange.
Through all this Obsidian didn’t say a word. Twilight, who had been standing together with her friends, conjured a bubble of force around them. Just in time, as the magical display of Obsidian and Applejack was starting to whip up a swirling wind, the white dust sweeping through the ground floor, carrying pieces of debris.
Above, the wooden structures creaked ominously. A piece of a wooden staircase fell down, shattering harmlessly against the barrier Verba was creating. In the middle of it all, two orange auras were still growing in intensity.
“Now!” roared Obsidian over the wind, “Let the way be opened!”
Applejack’s eyes opened, the orange fire blazing within outshining the magic roiling around her. Instantly, visions made of her aura started spreading around the tower, missing pieces of masonry replaced with orange light until for a moment the whole structure stood as it had ages before. Twilight noticed thick lines of magical writings, as tall as a pony, running on different levels around the walls of the tower. One by one the letters flared up and disappeared, starting from the top and descending floor by floor until there was only one ring of symbols left, right above the ponies’ heads. Those lit up all at once, giving the mares just enough time to fall to the ground and cover their eyes.
There was a loud crunch as parts of the structure collapsed. Twilight opened her eyes to see dust swirling around her protective dome. Then a sudden gust of wind blew the dust away, revealing Obsidian and Applejack still standing in the middle of the floor.
Obsidian looked around. The building was still standing, but the walls were even more cracked than before and some pieces of masonry were floating in the air around the outer walls.
The stallion grinned. “It.. worked. It worked! I’m free!” he roared at the top of his lungs.
Applejack recoiled from him, taking a defensive stance. “Don’t come any closer!”
Obsidian paused, giving her a confused look. “What’s wrong? Am I being too dramatic?”
The rest of the girls ran up to Applejack, standing at her sides. “Your teeth,” said the farmpony, glaring at Obsidian.
The stallion rolled his eyes. “They’ve always been like this. Back in my time, earth ponies were omnivores. You have unicorn teeth. And while I’m sure Twilight would eagerly sit and listen to a lecture about slow merging of species, both you and I have places to be. Let’s see about sending you back to your bodies.”
Applejack reluctantly relaxed. Obsidian walked purposefully towards the outer gate.
“Aren’t you going with us?” asked Twilight.
“It’s not that simple,” said Obsidian. “You have bodies waiting for you. With a proper spell to give you a push, your connections to them will pull you all the way in, like a stretched rubber. But I have to actually cross all the way through. I also have to set some new spells here, so the place doesn’t dissolve completely in my absence. I intend to leave Verba here, guarding the Amaranthine.”
His staff waved in the air, drawing a ring of intersecting lines around the six mares.
“Once I have done all that,” continued Obsidian, “and taken care of some technical problems such as making sure I don’t age to dust on arrival, I will seek you out. Try to stay out of trouble until then.”
There was a soft whoosh and the mares disappeared, only a sensation of something having left in a hurry palpable in the spot where they had stood. Obsidian looked out through the gate.
“It’s not like you have a choice anyway.”
***
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“She’s waking up too. They all are!”
The voice was strange, and muffled. Twilight tried to turn, to hear better, but found the task surprisingly hard. Even her eyes were hard to open. She felt warm, wet and numb. When she finally managed to force her eyes open, her vision was too blurry to see anything. Meanwhile, the dark shapes around her kept talking in excited voices, in medical terms she didn’t understand.
“... keep them like this till you’re done with the procedure. I’ll go notify the queen.”
Twilight drifted off to sleep.
***
Twilight awoke on the floor of a wooden cottage. She looked around, her mind recognizing Zecora’s hut. The windows were dark, the only light coming from the fire in the middle, a lone figure looking over the contents of the cauldron.
“Please do hurry,” said the figure “we don’t have much time.”
It was not Zecora, Twilight realised. The voice was of a mare, but whenever Twilight tried to take a closer look, her mind failed to register any details. She couldn’t make up her mind on whether she could see a horn or wings, she couldn’t see the cutie mark or how the mane was styled. The coat felt white, but she couldn’t see even that with any clarity.
The mare turned to look at her.
“You’re going to be trapped, Twilight Sparkle. The betrayal has already been planned. Push that support under the shelf and give me the book,” she said, pointing her hoof at one of the shelves covered with herbal concoctions. Her voice was just as difficult to place as her appearance. Was it a desperate plea of a panicked filly, or angry nagging of a crone?
Twilight looked at her, then at the shelves. “I’m still dreaming, aren’t I?” she said.
“Yes you are, now hurry,” said the mare impatiently. Twilight felt a sudden compulsion to push the support. To her surprise, the shelf did not collapse. Instead, a piece of the wall that had up to that point seemed solid, opened, revealing a small, hidden compartment. There was a book inside, an old, crumbling tome in a black cover decorated with a swirling pattern of stars.
“Is this what you wanted? asked Twilight, but as she lifted the book in her telekinetic grip, it was yanked towards the cauldron, opening mid way through.
“A book of a fabled wizard,” said the mare “or was it all a fable? Let us read the recipe for disaster. Take one naive unicorn with a bright soul. Drop her into raw chaos, add delusions to taste.”
The contents of the cauldron started glowing. As Twilight approached it, trying to read the contents of the book, she noticed that the potion was actually a swirling, starry void.
“Let the illusions shape the thought,” continued the mare “let the thought shape the flesh. What will be the result?”
Suddenly the contents of the cauldron exploded, filling the cottage with acrid smoke. The mare grabbed Twilight and yanked her around with surprising strength, making her turn around to face a large mirror that hadn’t been there before.
Twilight stared in surprise. She could see herself in the mirror, slightly taller than she remembered, but that was not the important thing. There were now wings on her sides. She turned to look and found her body matching the reflection.
“Don’t be stupid, Twilight Sparkle!” shouted the mare. She punched the frame and the mirror flipped around. It was now showing Twilight from behind, her mane parted to reveal an open door in the back of her head.
“This is the reward for blind loyalty! A gift that is poison! A power that isn’t yours to use! The siege of your mind has already started, and you will be your own wooden horse, for your enemies to hide in!”
Twilight turned around, rising on her hind legs, trying to feel the back of her head. Then she fell back to her hooves. “Stop doing this! You’re the one attacking me now!”
“You can’t fight the truth, Twilight,” said the mare, stepping back. The cottage seemed to grow and darken, the wooden interior turning into a dungeon chamber.
“Truth?” asked Twilight through gritted teeth. “This is no truth. This is a dream, you said it yourself. And if this is my dream…”
In a flash, Twilight was back to her unicorn self. A candle lit up on the wall, then another, darkness slipping away as more and more was revealed.
“...I make the rules here.”
The mare started stepping back, keeping to the shadows as more and more lights appeared. Twilight still couldn’t see any details of her, but she could swear she saw her smile.
“Your dream, your rules. You’re learning fast. Just remember this dream when the time comes, Twilight. Your life will depend on it.”
***
Twilight tumbled to the ground with a gasp, clear green liquid spilling onto the rubbery floor. She felt stings of pain as thin, organic tubes tore themselves out of her body. As she coughed violently, trying to get the green fluid out of her system, somepony put a small vial in front of her muzzle.
“Drink this. It will help you recover,” said a male voice in a terse whisper.
At this point Twilight started noticing her surroundings. She was in a small cave dimly illuminated by strange crystal growths in the walls. Almost all of the walls and the floor was overgrown by some resin-like substance, culminating in a bunch of pods along the wall, pods that were just now being cut open. There were also two dead changelings at the other wall.
The one offering her the vial was a slate grey unicorn stallion dressed in some sort of fancy black coat that covered most of his body. He wielded a small knife with his telekinesis, ripping the pod membranes open one by one. Within seconds, all five of Twilight’s friends tumbled onto the floor beside her, the stallion setting the knife aside and reaching to a bandolier under his coat to produce a vial for each.
Twilight tried to get up, but felt her limbs failing her. Abandoning her efforts for a moment, she somehow managed to grab the vial. The contents tasted strongly of herbs and when she drank, it filled her body with sudden warmth that seemed to banish the pain and sharpen her senses.
“What’s going on here?” said a screechy voice.
Another changeling had entered the chamber. He froze as he saw the mares freed from their pods and the two bodies on the floor.
Without as much as a word, the unicorn turned his head, his small knife flying across the chamber, hitting the insectoid pony in the neck, right under the chin. The creature hit the wall and then collapsed on the ground, twitching.
“All of you, drink up,” hissed the unicorn. “We don’t have much time. We need to get out of here fast.”
They all did, one after another, as soon as they were over their respective coughing fits. Twilight managed to get up; she was all sticky and still felt weak, but the potion was doing wonders. Once she was past the problem of getting up, she found a moment to look at the corpses and be properly shocked.
“Who are you?” she asked.
The stallion turned to look at her. Twilight noticed that he was a good deal older than her and rather strongly built.
“Agent Pierce, Her Celestial Majesty’s Secret Service,” he said.
A picture of Obsidian with his mane cut.
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I like how you use Pinkie Pie here; giving her a role beyond forced comedy, actually using her extrasensory perceptions to help the characters, and the reader, understand what's happening.
What I'm most curious about now, though, is what's going to happen to Rainbow now that she failed her test?
9597279
Both her and Rarity are already linked to their Elements, so the failure won't prevent them from using their powers... but they'll have to continue on knowing that by Obsidian's standards they don't make the cut. That's a burden when there's a lot at stake.
Just so you're aware, the image in the Post-Chapter Author's Note is no longer showing.
9953916
Thank you, fixed.
For some reasons, the links keep dying with annoying regularity.
9953978
No problem.