Realm of the Lost

by Orsuros

Chapter 25: The Village

Ocellus looked around as the monsters and mutating hippogriffs closed in.

“Hey, what happened to our kobold friend?”

Smolder scratched at her chin. “He said he needed to go back home when we decided to go get those crystals. Ugh. Those crystals are why we’re in this whole mess.”

A voice suddenly spoke in their ears. “Ocellus, Smolder! This is Mirage Chaser. I have a spell that should drive out these monsters and protect the village. Ocellus, I need you to find the seed you planted and destroy it. Smolder, you need to come with me and Gallus to help with the spell. I’ll create a distraction in a moment, so be ready to move.”

The illusion of an army of nirik surrounded the village. The fiery figures charged toward the enemy. Gallus swooped in, and Mirage Chaser followed a moment later.

“Get rid of the seed, and Storm Surge will lose a lot of his power. Do your best!”

Mirage Chaser cast a few more illusions and pulled Gallus and Smolder away. Ocellus was alone, but often changelings worked best when alone. She transformed into a short hippogriff and made her way to where the seed was planted. She slipped past almost everyone, but a single corrupted hippogriff stood guard near the seed.

“I don’t remember you,” he said. “You’re not one of us.”

He was about to call out, but Ocellus charged forward and knocked him over. She tried to aim another swipe at him, but he stepped back and clawed at her.

Ocellus felt Harmony’s magic growing fainter within her, but it flashed and created a crackling shield that blocked the attack and knocked out the hippogriff. Ocellus quickly ran to the seed. The thorny roots grew and twisted deep into the ground. She tried to think of a way to remove it easily, but nothing came to mind. Before the last of Harmony’s magic could fade, she focused it at the seed. A small rainbow shot from Ocellus’s horn as her disguise disappeared. The light hit the roots. They started to glow brighter and brighter before turning to dust.

Storm Surge appeared with a loud pop and glanced at the crater where the seed had been. He glared at Ocellus.

“You destroyed my chaos seed? I thought we had a deal. I suppose I’ll need to win with what I’ve already brought here. Give up and save yourself some pain.”

Storm Surge waved his claws and ice spikes began to form in the air around him.

“No! My friends aren’t giving up, so I’m not either.”

“Very well.”

Storm Surge motioned forward with a claw and the ice spikes shot forward. Ocellus jumped to the side to dodge the first. Another was coming straight for her, but a tingle went through her entire body as a burst of magic filled the entire village. The bubble of magic dissolved the ice. Ocellus looked to her side and saw the same bubble pushing back the forces of chaos.

The bubble covered the village then solidified into a barrier. The monsters and hippogriffs attacked the barrier, but it held strong. Storm Surge shrieked in anger and flapped in the air above the barrier.

“Your friends seem to have figured out a way to keep us out, for now. Wait. I’m sensing something.”

Ocellus looked at the center of the village as a flash of light lit up the area. Starlight, Sandbar, Yona, and Silverstream were back, and a swarm of floating crystals surrounded them. A voice came from the crystals.

“You have done well to use Harmony’s magic to protect this place. Allow me to amplify your magic with my own and drive these puppets of chaos away.”

The floating crystal drones spread out. An incredibly complex series of magic circles and runes appeared as the drones used their magic. A soothing hum filled the air as the new magic resonated with Mirage Chaser’s spell. Beams of light shot out of the barrier. Storm Surge’s troops vanished as the beams hit them. With all the monsters gone, the same lights all focused on Storm Surge.

“Rrr! You know I’ll get around a banishment spell sooner or later, no matter how powerful!”

Storm Surge vanished.

The crystal drones circled around them and spoke. “There. Now the village should be protected, but I must withdraw my probes and recharge them soon.”

Ocellus walked back to the center of the village where her friends and Mirage Chaser were waiting.

Mirage Chaser looked up at the probes. “Thank you, Hedron. Perhaps we misjudged you after seeing the changes you made to the bat ponies that live with you. I’m sure we could make an agreement that could help both our groups. For now, we need to repair our village and rest.”

“Of course. Use this crystal to contact me when you’re ready.”

A small crystal dropped from one of the probes into Mirage Chaser’s hooves. The probes flew off. Mirage Chaser started giving orders for the villagers to work on fixing the damage done in the attack. After getting things moving, she turned back to Ocellus.

“I promised you a potion, so come along. I’ll need you there while I make it. The rest of you should come to my place. The villagers still have mixed feelings about all of you.”

“This mess is sort of our fault,” Smolder said. “I hope they realize we’re sorry.” Her tail drooped until Ocellus gave her a reassuring pat on the side.

“Storm Surge is tricky,” Sandbar added. “I trusted him, too.”

Starlight looked them over. “Yes, I hope you’ve all learned a valuable lesson about why it’s important to build trust over time. Anyway, we have less than three days, but we need to rest.”

They all crowded into Mirage Chaser’s cave. Her workshop took up one level, but she had quite a large bedroom up some stairs. Everyone was quickly relaxing on what pads, blankets, or cushions Mirage Chaser could find. After that, Mirage Chaser brought Ocellus down to the workshop as she worked on the potion. Starlight and Smolder accompanied her to provide some extra support.

Mirage Chaser heated up her cauldron and began to stir in the first ingredients. “This would be much easier to undo on a pony or other creature with just the mushrooms attached. Your magical bond is much stronger and deeper, but I think I can break it. Actually, Starlight, I think you can help. You’ll need to attune the frequency of this to Ocellus’s frequency.”

Starlight took the crystal from the kirin. It was the crystal they had found on the shores of the sea. Ocellus nibbled on her hoof nervously and cuddled up against Smolder. She looked into Smolder’s eyes. Smolder nodded.

“Actually, we need to confess something,” Ocellus said. “We did take a deal with Storm Surge to plant the seeds he gave us. We’ll need to destroy those. Here they are.”

Smolder took them out of her bag and placed them on a shelf.

“Honesty fixes mistakes,” Starlight said. “But I’ll deal with those later. I need to focus on this. Magical frequencies aren’t the easiest thing to calibrate.”

Ocellus was so tired, and Smolder was so warm. She dozed off while snuggling with her friend. A light tap on her shoulder woke her. Ocellus blinked as Smolder smiled at her.

“Ocellus, they’re done.”

“Yes, it’s time for you to drink this.” Mirage Chaser set the potion down in front of Ocellus. It shimmered like oil, and flashes of purple magic lit up the glass cup. “Oh, and here’s a bucket, in case there are any unfortunate side effects.”

“Like what?” Smolder asked.

Ocellus didn’t care, though. She picked up the potion and drank it. It tasted like mushrooms at first, then various bitter herbs. The taste after that kept morphing but became less and less describable. The magic of the potion felt like lightning that burned through Ocellus. Her stomach tightened and felt like fire until she started to throw up.

Orange claws held the bucket up to her face. Smolder’s other firm hand stroked Ocellus’s back as she threw up a few mouthfuls of green goop. It looked much like the royal jelly that had caused the problem, except it looked polluted and spent. It no longer glowed with power. Ocellus spit out the last of it then collapsed as a terrible headache came over her.

Darkness blurred Ocellus's vision. It seemed for just a moment, but when she opened her eyes, all her friends were sleeping. Starlight and Mirage Chaser were talking quietly. Starlight came over as soon as she noticed Ocellus stirring.

"How are you feeling? We were all worried about you, but Mirage Chaser said that the potion worked. Smolder hasn't left your side since you passed out."

Ocellus turned her head. The sleeping dragon was curled protectively around her, and Ocellus could feel the wonderful glow of her friend's love.

"I feel tired and weak, but with all of you around, I should be strong again soon."

Mirage Chaser brought over a bowl of lentil and vegetable soup. It smelled fresh. She handed it to Ocellus.

"Eat this. It should give you your strength back. I made it less spicy than normal, so I hope it isn't too bland."

Ocellus ate a spoonful. It was spicy enough to make her entire body feel warm, but the other flavors were so good that she didn't slow down to let her mouth cool. While she ate, Starlight looked her over.

"You look fine, but how are you doing? Everyone has had a rough time here, especially Sandbar and Silverstream."

"I'm fine. It's not much worse than how things were at the hive when Chrysalis was in charge. We changelings don't like our past, but it did help make us strong."

"While you were out, we got some important news and talked about what to do next. Let me start with the news. Glissanda came with a note from Grandeur. He wants us to pay our debts and promises us further help if we finish his mission. Saffron also showed up again with a surprising note from Scriptus. The dragon wants to meet Smolder. I think it's something personal because I've never seen Smolder blush like that. She wouldn't let the rest of us read the note. But I wanted to ask you one thing before we decide what to do. You mentioned a village of ponies under Queen Cordys's control. I think we could save them and get an item that could help us get back, but we'd have to be ready to fight."

Ocellus thought it over. Yona, Smolder, and Gallus were always ready to fight if needed. She was, too, even if she didn't like it. But it would be hard on Sandbar and Silverstream. Ocellus wanted to free the village, but it didn't feel like the right time.

"I want to save them, but I think we all need a break from fighting."

"In this place, I'm not sure we'll get that."

Mirage Chaser shook her head. "You've broken the stalemate between the great powers of this place, so there isn't going to be peace until the evil rulers are stopped or a new status quo evolves. My village tried to avoid that by hiding, but we didn't hide well enough. Everyone seems to know where we are."

Ocellus yawned and her eyelids began to get heavy. Starlight tucked a blanket around her.

“You can rest Ocellus. I think I’ve decided. You, Smolder, and Sandbar will go see Scriptus. The rest of us will go take care of our debts to Grandeur.”

Author's Note:

Click here for stat sheets and other information.

Ocellus did well at first, but she needed the extra boost from Harmony's magic to help her overcome her challenges. She is also free of the bond to Queen Cordys, so she won't have to resist the queen's orders anymore.

Everyone gets a chance to rest and level up between this chapter and the next before they set off on their next adventures.

Comments

[Yoshifan30]

Well im glad that Ocellus is free from Queen Cordys control Now they had to stop her somehow and free the other ponies and its sweet that smolder help ocellus out And I'm sure this is not the last time we see storm surge and Hopefully pay off the debt to Grandeur with a little help from Mirage and Hedron I wonder how they gonna do this And get back to equestria I guess we'll find out next time

[Yoshifan30]

By the way I like to point out that some of the chapters that you keep mixing up with smolder and ember I just want to point that out

[Orsuros]

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I get their names mixed up when writing them down, but I usually try to catch that in editing. Thanks for pointing it out!