Chapter 64: The One Who Knows
Although the day was slowly coming to an end, the celebration of Hearts and Hooves Day continued. Completely oblivious were the revelers to what took place in the Princess of Friendship’s former castle, for if they were in on it, the celebratory mood would’ve immediately dissipated. Past its large doorway, in the foyer, the Elements of Harmony, the members of the School of Friendship, and its students, as well as a lone zebra, stood silent before the old unicorn wizard, after revealing the truth behind the aforementioned holiday. Nobody said a word after his memory visions came to an end. After all, what could they even say to the revelation that, not only was there not just one, but TWO alicorns that predated the two sisters, the tale of the origin of Hearts and Hooves Day was real, and both the first alicorn princess and the Mother of Dragons disappeared in the end? All of this happened because the elder sorcerer desperately tried to bring the ponykind closer, and although his desire was not foolish, his methods were.
But it was Starlight Glimmer that was most touched by what she just saw, especially because the old wizard addressed her personally, reminding her of the conversation they had in the repository from where she stole the object that lead to this revelation. It made her realize something: They were both in the same position, but all things were reversed. She still recalled her old self – self-righteous and sanctimonious, and when her attempt to create her perfect vision of society failed, she chose to lash out at those who foiled her plans, determined to destroy their destiny out of sheer spite even if it meant the destruction of the world, using Star Swirl’s very own time travel spell. He too wanted to create a better world, but not through changing the whole of society as had she wanted, merely letting things progress naturally; he only messed it up when he determined that things were either progressing too slowly or didn’t at all, and was trying to force the progress. The outcomes were completely different though: Whereas the headmare’s past crimes were erased by the spell's very nature, as if the events never even happened and she was able to make up for her past transgressions… he couldn’t. He couldn’t undo the tragedy that led to the demise of Equestria’s first alicorn princess, the same as the fate that befell the last Dragon Lord and his Mother’s Legacy that he tried to protect. She stared at the old unicorn wizard, who seemed to have aged even more over the course of the last few minutes, and she couldn’t help but feel pity for him. But before she could even utter a word…
“So that’s why he doesn’t like Hearts and Hooves Day.”
They all snapped out of the moment. That voice didn’t belong to any of them. Somebody was watching, or at least listening to what had just happened! They looked about but saw nobody, almost as if the voice didn’t come from within the castle. But the headmare quickly determined there was only one place that anyone could’ve heard or seen what just happened in the foyer. Her gaze turned to the main entrance, and using her magic she opened the door. Figures dropped on the ground, past the threshold, as it was clear that they propped their heads against the said door, Starlight’s action taking them completely off guard.
“Applebloom!” the workhorse recognized her younger sibling.
She wasn’t the only one, as the other two Cutie Mark Crusaders never strayed far from one another. “Sweetie Belle! You have the nerve to eavesdrop on things like this!” And soon after, much like the fashionista, the wonderbolt chewed the pegasus out. “Yeah, Scoots, totally not cool!”
The young mares quickly scrambled back on their hooves. “We didn’t see or hear anything, we swear!” the youngest Apple tried to make excuses.
“Then what was that Hearts and Hooves comment?” Applejack frowned. “Who said it?”
Starlight stepped in. “Girls, why did you come back? I thought you went on when it was made clear that THAT holiday wasn’t welcomed by…” She nodded at the elder wizard unicorn.
“Well, it’s not like we wanted to,” Scotaloo answered, “but we needed somepony higher than us to handle our new guest that’s been waiting outside the barrier since yesterday because of your barrier Starlight. He’s saying he wants to speak of Twilight, we just weren’t aware she was back already.”
That’s when everybody realized that there was another presence among the three, he just wasn’t noticed, since he was buried under a pile of young mares, but now he’s pulled himself up to full height. It was a deer. The young stag towered over the Cutie Mark Crusaders, his coat yellow and so bright that it almost seemed like it was golden, he had red eyes, on his head a pair of antlers grew, fashioned in a way that it looked like he was wearing a small crown, and around his neck wore a golden collar with a small barrel at the front. But no matter how others looked at it, there was only one way to describe the young stag – radiant.
“Who’s your new friend, girls?” the head mare asked.
Sweetie Belle gasped. “Starlight, don’t you know who this is?!” The other two crusaders gave her a weird look as she motioned with both hooves to present the deer. “This is the son of King Aspen, the Heart of the Forest! The prince of Thicket! He’s-!”
“Bramble? They sent you?” Twilight interrupted the young mare, who soon after pouted for having her presentation spoiled.
“Yes, Princess Twilight,” the young stag calmly spoke. “Although considering the urgency of the message I would’ve expected to be let in yesterday.”
“Oh, that…” The headmare rolled her eyes to the side, then pulled the blue unicorn over to her. “Our bad on this, kid. You see-”
The unicorn of the trio gasped. “Starlight, weren’t you listening?! This is the son of the king from another kingdom! You can’t talk so casually to… him…” She looked about and everybody, including the prince himself, was staring at her. “Sorry, never mind,” she meekly apologized, flustered.
Her older sibling turned the attention away from her. “Khm, as Starlight just said, we apologize for the unsavory turn of events, Bramble. We gracefully welcome you.”
The stag turned to her and was about to speak, but then halted himself and squinted at her. “Errr… Rarity, right? There’s something off-putting about you…”
The Elements of Harmony knew too well what he was referring to – the streak of grey that ran across her glamorous purple mane was sticking out like a sore thumb, and they knew full well how the fashionista was touchy about the current situation, so they desperately tried to warn the prince not to mention it, flailing about and shaking their heads, not sure if the message was getting through, as he only gave them a look of confusion.
Luckily for them, the one mare who was silent this entire time intervened on their behalf. “Not to preach to a choir, but as Miss Rarity said, we are most glad for the arrival of the offspring of the Forest’s sire.”
Bramble turned to the zebra, surprisingly with a smile on his face. “I’m glad to see you here, miss Zecora, safe and sound. I assume the forest has run you out of your home?”
“Not per say, it’s its shadow that torments your kind now that was at play.”
Seeing the immediate potential for the rising tension dispelled, Twilight stepped in again. “Bramble, you will have to explain what’s happening over there. King Aspen’s message was not very big on details.”
He inhaled. “Something’s off with the Everfree Forest, Princess Twilight. A few days ago, we noticed a strange dark cloud hovering over a specific area. We went to investigate the location underneath it, but the woodland creatures warned us about changelings hiding in the area so we decided to monitor the situation from a distance. Then a few days passed, and we were roused by a loud lightning crash that hit a forest area. The scouts went to investigate and found the Queen of Changelings and a blue ram hauling a large piece of rock with them, after which the darkness in the area kept growing. And then yesterday evening a fiery explosion burned part of the wood not far from Thicket. We managed to suppress the wildfire but we were unable to investigate the location. Luckily, the forest creatures informed us that the changelings, along with their queen and a large walking statue, carried a strange four-legged creature that also had arms, away, and the darkness in the forest only grew after that. Father became aware that this wasn’t something that the deer could deal with on our own, so he sent me ahead to coordinate with you. And as I left Thicket for Ponyville… I realized that things were far worse than we thought.”
“What do you mean, Bramble?” the princess inquired.
“As I traveled through the Everfree Forest I was suddenly attacked by timber wolfs.”
Other mares looked at one another in confusion. “What’s so strange about that? Timber wolves attack just about anything on sight,” Applejack remarked.
“Not us! Timber wolfs are creatures of nature, natural forces made manifest. And because of our connection to nature, they have never attacked our kind. When I came in sight of them, they suddenly became extremely agitated and they gave chase. I tried to get to Ponyville to take refuge, but there was a barrier surrounding it, so I had little choice other than to outrun them. These beings shouldn’t be like this.”
“Excuse me, young forest prince, but are you saying that something changed timber wolf’s behavior patterns?” Star Swirl wondered.
He nodded. “It would take some incredibly powerful magic to alter the behavior of creatures that were born of nature itself.”
“If that’s the case I can guess what creature we’re talking about.” He turned to Twilight. “But why has it happened only now, I wonder?”
She uttered a single word. “Anger.”
“We found the dang thing in Griffinstone”, Rainbow Dash explained, “but we were too late.”
“Yeah! Tirek used it to nearly burn down the whole tree if Grogar hadn’t dropped him through one of his port-holes… Soooooo, my guess is that’s what the fiery explosion near your home was, Bramble,” Pinkie Pie came to a logical conclusion.
“So, wait, Chrysalis and her cohorts were all at Griffinstone?” Starlight asked.
“Well, not all at once, but by the end they were, yes,” Sunburst confirmed.
“That would explain the strange thing that the Cutie Map revealed just recently…”
“Wait, you mean that something else appeared on the map?” Applejack questioned.
The elder wizard nodded and they all followed into the great hall where the map stood. After a quick scan, the obvious detail became noticeable. The giant tree upon which Griffinstone sat was engulfed in flickering flame.
“If Lord Tirek used this new power, then we were given a warning to the event,” the headmare pointed out.
“Same as what had happened with the Storm King at the Crystal Empire.”
“Then why isn’t it here too?” a low timid voice spoke, everybody realizing it belonged to Ocellus. “We all saw the Storm King. Heck, he was terrorizing Griffinstone nearly all day until Princess Twilight and her friends arrived.”
“Agreed,” Sandbar added. “If, as you said, the map shows when Chrysalis and the rest of her group use their powers… wouldn’t then the cloud and lightning appear over the Griffinstone map as well?”
Starlight rubbed her chin. “Now that you mention it, Sandbar, I think you may be right. Star Swirl, if that’s the case, then our initial theory may have been wrong.”
“So it would seem…” the elder nodded. “Then we will have to look into that as well. You will have to explain everything that happened since you all left.”
Twilight turned to the rest of the Elements. “Girls, you can go home for now. It might take a while before we can plan out our next course of action. And I’m sure you have something to deal with at home.”
“I’ll say,” Rarity was first to respond. “I need to go home and finally get what’s left of my dignity back in order.” She stroked her mane across the grey streak that ran down the middle of it.
The workhorse rolled her eyes. “Right… Anyway, Ah have to check up on how Sweet Apple Acres is doin’.”
“I have to go check on Angel and the rest of the critters,” Fluttershy said.
“And after what I’ve just gone through,” the wonderbolt yawned, “I’m gonna drop out and snooze for a week.”
“Considering the track record we seem to have lately, that’s not likely gonna happen,” Pinkie Pie commented. “But still, I think Gummy could use a bath, it’s been a while. And I could go for some baked sweets. And I need to check up on home if Mom and Dad already received the announcement from Maud about Mudbriar’s proposal. And...”
“Okay, point taken.” Starlight intervened before more could be said. “You all clearly had a rough time. Off you go, and have some well-deserved rest.”
Twilight turned to the deer visitor. “Bramble, you’re our guest. You should go and rest too considering what you had to go through since yesterday.”
“Hold on!” he protested. “My father sent me here and I want to see and hear the whole thing.”
“I’ll give a full explanation later, but right now, we have some work to do, and it’ll take both me, Starlight, and Star Swirl a lot of concentration to figure out our next move.”
“Fine… But don’t think about trying to hide or sugarcoat things.”
“Stop.” The mares halted as they were about to leave, deterred by the voice of the elder unicorn. “While we’re on the subject of that, we need to address the situation before we got disrupted.” He paused, letting the seriousness sink in. “You’ve all just witnessed what I have been carrying with me for more than one thousand years. You’re the first ones that bore witness to what never should’ve come to light… This is a burden I should’ve taken with me to the grave. But now that you all know the truth. So tell me earnestly, what will you do with that knowledge?”
Everybody present looked at one another, but it was the alicorn that spoke first. “We’re not going to tell anyone anything, Star Swirl.”
“Wait, we’re not?” the Element of Honesty raised an eyebrow, but the other mare already went ahead of her.
“We chose not to tell anything to Princess Celestia. That being said, however, this is entirely on you.”
“And what am I to do?” the old wizard wondered. “Reveal everything to her?”
“Of course! Honesty is the best policy!” Applejack predictable spoke.
“I wish that were true…” He shook his head. “Miss Applejack, what exactly is to be gained from this? Neither Celestia nor Luna ever wondered where they came from, they simply accepted things for what they were. I only revealed their father, King Titan, because he is relevant to the threat we face now. And to be honest, I’m not sure how I’m going to explain that part to them. It’s… It’s something that’s difficult for me to talk about. But things that predate him? What would be gained from revealing to her that Equestria nearly fell, the first alicorn princess and the progenitor of all dragonkind’s disappearance, all because of my youthful impatience? All it would do would afflict them with burdens they never had to deal with before. And considering what lies out there in the forest, only stone's throw away, THAT is the last thing we want.”
There was unease with what the elder just said. He was right about the sinister darkness that has been a thorn in their side the whole time, the main threat they had to deal with. And if past experiences held water, and dark force was able to manipulate their inner turmoil, then perhaps it was best for them to keep quiet about this. And yet even so…
“So, you’re just going to keep quiet about it?” the Element of Honesty refused to relent. “You’re just going hold on to that burden of guilt? That’s not healthy in any way.”
“It’s a burden I’ve been carrying with me for a very long time, Miss Applejack. I think I can hold it a while longer,” Star Swirl deflected an attempt of persuasion.
“Sooner or later you’re gonna have to spill the beans, Star Swirl.” The workhorse glared at him.
“Maybe,” Starlight intervened, “but not today. You’ve heard your princess, off you go for some well-deserved rest, all of you.” She turned to the students. “That goes for all of you as well.”
There was a groan of disappointment from all of them. “Yona’s adventure went as fast as it came,” the yak moaned.
“I’m sorry, Yona,” the headmare tried to console her. “We’ll do the trip again next time.”
“That’s assuming there will be a next time,” the yellow dragon remarked.
“Now, Smolder, no need for the gloom and doom,” Trixie halted her. “Come, everycreature. Sunburst and I will show you to your rooms so they can work in peace.”
With everybody moving off Twilight turned her attention to the Prince of Thicket again. “Bramble, I’ll show you a room in the caste where you can stay.”
“NO, I’LL DO IT!”
Everybody stopped from the yell. The origin of it was the bright-furred, curly-maned young mare, who also seemed to have realized that her voice went a bit too loud for a moment, as she was holding her mouth shut, before making a corrective cough.
“I mean, no need for you to make yourself get worked up about this, Twilight, you’ll need all that energy for the brainstorming. I’ll show him to his room.”
The princess stared at the unicorn for a bit before speaking. “Oooookay… If you wish.”
A smile appeared on her face and she trot over to the young stag. “Prince Bramble, allow me to show you to your quarters.”
“Erm… Sure. Please, lead the way,” he spoke after being briefly quiet.
The horned Cutie Mark Crusader walked off with a noticeable hopping motion and a big smile on her face, while the prince of the forest followed. Everybody else just stared as they left.
“Applebloom, what’s with Sweetie Belle?” the elder sibling asked. “She’s actin’ weird.”
“We’re as confused as you, Applejack,” she answered. “We were on the edge of Ponyville by the giant barrier that Starlight put up, and when she it dropped we came across Bramble who was already waiting on the other side to get in. And then she started to act like that.”
“Yeah, she’s been acting all quiet, then putting herself in our way when we led him here to meet Twilight,” Scotaloo said. “Honestly, if we knew any better, I’d think she was head over hooves for him.”
“Yeah, but then we remembered this is Sweetie Belle we’re talking about, she’s never shown any interest in romance except in books,” the earth pony followed up and they laughed it up.
“I don’t think that’s a laughing matter, girls,” Rarity finally spoke out, grabbing their attention. “I saw her when she passed just now: That glint in her eyes, the skip in her movement, the over-eagerness in her actions. I don’t think she’s just head over hooves for him… she’s over the moon!”
“Wait, you mean to tell us she’s really into him?!” the two young mares reacted with shock, to which the fashionista nodded.
“Awww, well isn’t that sweet,” Starlight commented.
“No, it’s not, Starlight Glimmer, it’s deadly serious business,” she retorted.
“Rarity, what’s your problem with your little sister being in love?” Fluttershy wondered. “It’s not because of what the deer did last time, is it?”
“I know we’ve had bad experiences with what the deer did last time to Ponyville and Canterlot, but that’s not my primary concern.”
“What is it then?” the workhorse wondered.
“It’s the fact that he’s royalty,” Rarity answered.
“Ooooooooooh… You’re still not over that one, huh?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been more humiliated in my life by a self-centered, pompous jerk like him!” the Element of Generosity fumed.
“I don’t think it’s fair to compare Bramble to Blue Blood, Rarity,” Twilight pointed out.
“I’m not. But my sweet and innocent little sister still needs to be taught a thing or two about the perception of others, ESPECIALLY boys, so she doesn’t end up making the same mistake I did that one time.” She trotted through the main doorway. “Better not risk and go straight to it.”
“Right now?” Starlight asked. “Don’t you have a more pressing engagement to deal with? You know: Like that “unsightly thing” that’s attached to your mane right now?”
Rarity halted, freezing in place so fast that her mane swung past her sight, reaffirming the state of her condition she was desperate to fix. “On second thought… Maybe Sweetie Belle can survive on her own for a little bit. In which case, toddles!” And she dashed out the front door.
“Wow, that quickly averted an awkward situation,” Trixie commented. “Nice one, Starlight.”
“Thanks. But I think that’s your cue to leave as well.” She looked at everybody still present. “For all of you.”
The Elements left one after another, followed by the School’s staff and the students, with the shaman behind them. However…
“Wait, Zecora,” Twilight stopped her. “Before you leave, I would ask that you leave your prisoner with us.”
She knew what she was referring to. She reached into her saddlebags and pulled out a large jar in which a living blob, now noticeably grey in color rather than black, sat.
Star Swirl levitated it to his and headmare’s side. “Wait… did it change color again?”
“I’ll explain that too,” the princess said before turning her head back to the zebra. “Thanks for all your help again, Zecora. We’ll talk again in the morning.”
She was about to speak when it became apparent that there was still a pair of young mares present. “We’ll go and get Sweetie Belle out of here before she does something wrong,” Applebloom said, followed up by Scotaloo. “Yeah, like embarrassing herself in front of a foreign royal.”
They left, leaving the zebra all alone, but even she didn’t stay long. “I hope for once we’ll have a night that is alright, to which all I can say is – good night.”
And with that, she left the three magic users alone.
The two unicorns listened to the alicorn’s tale of events that transpired, a conversation that went on into the night when everybody else in town already fell asleep. After turbulent few days, things seemed to have finally quieted down, the perpetual darkness that loomed over the Everfree Forest being the only exclusion. And from beneath that looming dark, a shadow slithered out of the cover of the woods. Even if it wasn’t nighttime it wouldn’t have difficulty advancing, but it desired the current situation, it required it. The weaselly shape flew over to the former castle of the Princess of Friendship, easily passing through the tiny cracks in the physical matter, and breaking into the structure’s interior. And there it beheld her – its target, its host, sleeping. It slithered to her side and began to whisper sinister and malicious words, and as it did, it slowly entered its host’s resting consciousness.
Sun slowly began to set over the savannah lands, yet there was a sense of revelry around the round hut on top of the hill overlooking the village. Inside, the three female zebras, an older one, a middle one, and a young little filly were sitting down, eating appetizing dishes. Eventually, the bare filly looked at an empty spot by the sitting area; somebody else was supposed to sit with them as well.
“Mada, when is fada going to come?” she asked.
“Do not worry, Zecora.” Her mother smiled. “He will join us soon. He wouldn’t want to miss his little girl’s special day. Oh, and while we’re at it…” The eldest mare stepped away and quickly returned with a small wrapped-up bundle, and placed it near her youngest’s side. “This is for you.”
The youngest member of the family eagerly reached out for it and opened it, revealing a large golden ring.
“Mada, is that the same circle you and Sanaa are wearing?” she inquired.
Her mother nodded. “Let me put it on you.” She grabbed the golden ring and slipped it over her head, as she was so small that it nearly slipped past her neck.
“Mada, why do you were these?”
“It’s to show a place in our tribe, little one. The more of them a mare wears, the more important her place in the tribe is.”
“Will I have as many as you one day?” She excitedly asked.
“Nah. You’ll be lucky to even have half of mine, kid,” the older sister taunted her, as she wore three rings, making the younger sibling glare at her.
“Sanaa, don’t tease your sister. She still has a long way to go. Now then…” The mare stood up and went to pick up a small pitcher and a thin horsehair brush. “Follow me outside, Zecora, so you can leave your mark.”
She was confused by what she said, yet chose to follow.
As her sibling tried to follow, her parent quickly stopped her. “Not you, Sanaa. You’ll clean up after us.”
“What?! Why?!” she quickly protested.
“That’s for ridiculing your sister on her special day,” her mother answered, as she closed the door curtain, leaving her firstborn to pout.
Mother led her filly around their round home to the very back. As she did, the offspring looked at the wall, noticing strange scribbles on it, they looked like figures painted in black and white, dozens of them. She stopped, just as her mother did. There was a point where the scribbles ended, the last ones being of what seemed to be four equine beings, but beyond that was only a blank wall.
The mare placed the small pitcher and the brush on the ground. “Alright, Zecora. See that last picture?” She pointed at the very image that the filly last saw. “Dip the brush into the paint.”
The filly did so, gripping the object with her teeth and dipping it into the picture, drawing out a tint of bright yellow color on its tip. Suddenly, her mother scooped her up and raised her to the drawing, since she couldn’t reach it herself.
“Now, draw a single line on that little figure.”
She spotted it and noticed that two of the three bigger figures had a few yellow lines around what seemed to be a neck. She reached out with her mouth and dragged a line with the brush. She pulled back, rather proud of herself, and she stared at her work. As she did, it began to dawn on her what she was looking at: Four zebra figures, one tall and with green markings on its face, while the other three, from biggest to smallest, had gold things around their necks.
“Mada, is that us?” she asked.
The mare chuckled. “You noticed, did you? Yes, Zecora, this is your whole family.”
The filly’s head turned to the rest of the scribblings. “What about others?”
“Our predecessors, Zecora,” she answered.
“Our what?”
“Those who came before us,” her mother elaborated. “There were many who lived in this hut, and each drawing tells a story of that family. Stories that go back for generations.”
The child marveled. All those pictures she saw from the entrance to the back, there were so many who once lived in their home before them.
“Mada, what was the first story?”
She gave her a curious look, she was not expecting to hear that from her, not that she objected to it. “Come,” she ordered, and they both walked back to the front entrance.
They stopped at the threshold. Above it, Zecora noticed that above the curtain there was a cover, it seemed to be blending with the doorway. Her mother reached up and pulled it away. What the filly saw left her… confused: The picture depicted three figures, but only one of them was a zebra, the second looked too skinny and grey with horns, while the third was large and blue. There were splashes of vibrant colors of yellow, green, and blue all around, while in the very center of the picture, a single orange dot sat.
“Mada, why is this picture covered up?” the filly inquired.
“Because this picture represents the cornerstone upon which our tribe was made, Zecora. It is being covered up so that the sun doesn’t bleach out the colors.”
“What does the story tell, mada?”
“That is a story from a past, now long since forgotten, told to us by those who came before,” the mare began. “Once upon a time, a star fell from the sky and landed in the heart of Farasi desert, and those who saw it came to investigate. In the heart of our land, they saw the star as it wept, it wept so hard that its tears threatened to wash away everything within its reach. When they discovered that, the leaders of zebras, the abadas, and kelpies, came together to try and quell it, but in the end, even they couldn’t stop it. So, they begged the spirits of the world itself to help them, and they answered – lightning, wind, and water, they answered the leader’s call, and with their help, they buried the weeping star away from the waking world. And to make sure it remained so, the young king of zebras made a sacrifice - to leave behind his family and home, to watch over it. And over time, other zebras would join him, willing to share his burden, bearing the marks that would make us distinct from the rest of our kind.” She looked down at her filly and then tapped the side of her flank with her hoof over the symbol of a head of a female lion. “We wear these as a symbol of where we came from so that those outside of our tribe know who we’re descended from. And of the burden that your father carries.”
“Fada’s burden?” Zecora tilted her head.
KRAKOOOOM!
The little filly jumped from fright. She looked to the sky and she saw the storm clouds all around, perplexed, as she didn’t see any a moment earlier. But it didn’t matter to her soon after when she suddenly saw a tall figure walking up the hill.
“Fada!” the filly quickly recognized her father and ran to his side, only to slow down a few hooves away from him, noticing something was wrong.
The thunder roared above, and it began to rain heavily, while the elder zebra stood still, his eyes closed. He suddenly opened them, revealing a bright glow.
“Fada?” Zecora tried to get his attention.
He said nothing. His mouth opened, and green liquid began to pour out, falling on the ground. Shocked, the little zebra retreated, after which the ground began to shake. Water spouts began to erupt all around her, and eventually, the entire landscape was washed away, and she found herself stranded in the middle of an ocean, with nobody else but her senior.
“Fada, what’s wrong?!” she pleaded.
No response was given. Instead, the water beneath enveloped him and it began raising him upwards, forming a pillar that began to expand, sprouting tentacles, all the while taking a distinct serpent-like shape. Finally, its glowing azure eyes opened, as did its massive jaw, the shadow of the High Shaman still noticeable in its head.
Zecora was paralyzed by fear, unable to move or even utter a word, which gave the giant water serpent all the time it needed to reach out and clench her in one of its tentacles. Its head then lowered and clapped shut on its prey. In response, the filly desperately tried to grasp for air but realized she wasn’t lacking it. Even so, she felt her consciousness drifting off, images flashing before her eyes – downpour over the village, a metropolis on the water, a jungle settlement overlooked by an icy mountain, a city of spires covered in gold, a teal equine from another land, a foreign-looking ship, a vast endless sea, and at the end of it, a land of-
Out of nowhere, a blue beam of magic was shot, cutting through the sea serpent’s muzzle, severing it from the rest of the body and freeing the zebra from its grip, letting her fall into the water beneath. She grasped for air as if she’s just woken up from a nightmare, only for her fears to settle in again when she looked upon the towering monstrosity. Much to her surprise though, she noticed that the creature was just as confused as to what had just happened. Then, a noticeable beat of wings garnered both of their attention. Looking skywards, they saw a tall mare with a horn and wings, her coat dark blue, and her mane just as much, yet wavy and filled with small white spots that resembled stars, and the look on her face… pure rage and disgust.
“CAUGHT YOU RED-HANDED AT LAST, PARASITE OF DREAMS!” Princess Luna loudly declared.
The filly saw as the monster’s eyes expanded for a moment, before instantly leaping away and into the water beneath it, trying to get away. It was scared of her; the monster was scared of the former Princess of the Night. The said mare quickly pursued the watery being, shooting bolts of magic at her, but the beast was mobile under the water, enough to evade her attacks. She then shot a beam past it, seemingly missing, only to hit the pathway on which the serpent was, making all the water disappear and ultimately beaching it on the solid dusty ground. The monster panicked, desperately trying to get away in an environment for which it wasn’t suitable, only to be drastically slowed down. The princess shot bolts of magic at it again and this time hit her mark, making holes into the watery aberration. Its head then detached from the rest of the body, dropping to the ground, and tried to crawl away, but at this point, the mare was already by its side and stomped on it, halting it in place.
“YOU’RE NOT GETTING AWAY!” she yelled.
Luna’s horn began to glow until it expanded, creating a bubble that expelled the nightmare forces in its radius, and the water serpent began to dissipate.
“STOP HIDING IN THE SHADOW OF OTHERS’ NIGHTMARES AND REVEAL THE REAL YOU!”
As the severed head of the monster began to vanish, a single dark sliver slipped out from its tip and left it behind. The tall alicorn finally saw the nightmare’s architect, not just its echo, as the sliver of darkness took on its usual form - a small, slender, weaselly-like shape, with a pair of spikes for ears, and a couple of small slit green eyes. The two stared at each other, the mare feeling confident that she’s finally put an end to it. But then, much to her shock, its eye bent in a way that it almost seemed to have smiled.
“You are too late, child of the Night,” it whispered. “With her revelation, your hope will die.”
That voice… she could’ve sworn she’s heard it before somewhere but couldn’t tell why. She should’ve acted immediately, but a moment of distraction was enough, as the dark wisp bore into the background of reality and slipped through, disappearing, and as it did, it left behind the residue of its essence. The dark smoke it emanated began to twist and grow, and the mare quickly acted before it got any further. She directed her horn at it and unleashed her magic, obliterating it completely, and the whole world was consumed by the light. Once more, the savannah grasslands opened up, nearing the sunset, and the native sat on the ground nearby, still trying to process.
The alicorn princess walked to her side. “Zecora, I apologies for an untimely arrival.”
The zebra, now no longer a filly, got back on her feet. “Princess of the Night, do not fret. The nightmare has passed and-”
“Zecora, I’m sorry to interrupt you but this is important,” the alicorn interrupted her. “That shadow just now, it wasn’t here at random. It invaded your mind for a reason. What you just witnessed, that THING that it transformed into, it was something tied to an event in your past, right?” A question to which the zebra, seemingly reluctantly, nodded. “Tell me, what exactly was it trying to get from you?”
The shaman paused, thinking for a moment. “I’m not sure what its goal was, though I agree, it was probably for a bad cause. All I recall was a path, a trail, from sandy dunes to the one, where on a ship you set sail. I don’t know why it wanted to give me a heart attack, unless…” she suddenly paused, as if a realization came over her, “unless… it wanted to backtrack…”
“Backtrack to whatever YOU saw at some point?” the princess asked.
She didn’t answer, but it became apparent that wasn’t necessary. “Princess, if what you say is true, then there is something I must ask you to do. Return me to the waking world, posthaste, so that the invader can be traced.”
She nodded and obliged, her horn glowing bright and enveloping everything in a blinding light.
The shaman snapped awake, quickly jumping out of her bed, and reached for the saddlebag, rummaging through it and pulling out a small jar of pitch-black substance. She didn’t even bother trying to create a protective barrier, there was no time. She took a quick sip, forcing the disgusting broth down, and at this point, it felt so familiar she didn’t even get the nauseating feeling. Darkness filled up her sight and all her senses went numb.
Through the dark forest her sight traveled, with the speed with which a living creature couldn’t, through growth and rocks, nothing deterred, all the way to a familiar opening she saw once before, but not before she saw a giant hulking one-eyed goat-like beast that rested near the entrance. Things went dark, and after a while, light emerged, caused by a green glow from the lake under a giant dreaded tree. And there she beheld them all: The Pillar of Hatred laying on top of her eggs, gently caressing them, all the while the Pillars of Fear and Anger stared at one another, the stone one standing completely still, while the one with flaming hair seemed to be struggling to keep his face straight. Only the Father of Monsters calmly sat by the bank of the large pool.
“Everyone!” the zebra’s distorted voice yelled to get their attention.
The centaur flinched from surprise and started to rage.
“Ha! You blinked!” the Storm King said, curving up a smile.
“No fair! I got distracted!” Tirek complained.
“Both of you, shut up,” Grogar stepped between them as he passed them, Chrysalis following him not far behind.
“Well, Doubt?” she inquired. “Have you found what we need?”
“Yes,” the distorted voice confirmed, “but we must act quickly!”
“Why the sudden urgency?”
“Recklessness. The Child of the Night intercepted me during the extraction.”
“Wait, you mean Princess Luna saw you?” the centaur wondered.
“Which means they’ll be on us before you know it!” the satyr added.
“Does it matter?” the grizzled ram interjected. “As long as we know where to go next it doesn’t matter. Brief us, Doubt.”
The weaselly shape flew over to the tree, and as it did, the Manifestations of Hatred and Fear emerged, but Anger seemed strangely absent. Doubt touched their forms with the tip of its tail, and after that they dipped their hands into the green pool and raised it together, creating a small platform made of green substance that morphed into a landmass that roughly resembled an equine’s head with a mohawk.
“What is this place?” Tirek tilted his head. “I don’t remember seeing this land on any of the maps before.”
“This is our destination, Devourer,” it elaborated. “Within the heart of this land, the final fragment lies in waiting.”
“Oh, so we already know its exact location then? Good, that saves us the time combing it,” the Queen of Changelings sighed in relief. “But that still brings up the question, who do we need to bring along so it can be carried out?”
“Nobody, Broodmother,” Doubt answered, to which she gave a confused look. “This one has already been liberated. It has been waiting for a long time. All we need to do is provide the extraction.”
“Oh? That’s all?” The obsidian construct raised one of his eyebrows. “Well, I got to say, this will be a real walk in the park then.”
“It will be anything BUT that, Scourgelord,” its voice suddenly turned serious. “It’s true, our goal seems easy enough to snatch, however, standing between us are three great kingdoms of the land. Kingdoms that have been isolated from the outside world for a long time, and will not tolerate any outsiders walking in. And if even one of the kingdoms will be assaulted, the other two will react in response. Launching an assault on this land will require nothing short of an army.”
“An army?” Chrysalis smugly pointed to the swarm of changelings that were skittering about her new hive.
“Let me rephrase that,” weaselly shape corrected itself. “We will require nothing short of ARMIES. Your minions will not be enough in this case, Broodmother. Especially since you will have to leave a handful of them behind to protect the hive and the tree.”
She lowered her head in disappointment.
“In other words, our task right now is to gather a considerable force in order to face off against the natives that will stand in our path, if I follow?” Grogar finished, to which Doubt nodded. “Well, I and the Queen of Changelings need not worry on that matter.” His gaze then turned to the other two Pillars. “Thought I can’t say the same for you both. But surely, considering who both of you were in the past, you should be able to call upon your… servants… vassals… slaves? Whatever you call them.”
The talking statue rubbed his chin. “Now that you mention it, I could go and look into getting back into contact with my employees…” He eagerly rubbed his hands together. “Oooooh, this is gonna be great! We’re gonna have a big “come back together party”!”
The centaur lord rolled his eyes. “Well that’s all nice and dandy for you, Rocky, but I don’t have that luxury. As far as I know, I’m exiled from my own homeland, so trying to get anyone from there to join me is not gonna happen. I can’t get an army of my own.”
“THEN YOU WILL MAKE ONE!”
Everybody’s heads turned from that roaring voice.
Doubt chuckled. “Anger is right, Devourer. You are going to make an army of your own.”
“Oh, I see. And I supposed YOU know where to get one?” he sarcastically mused.
The weaselly vapor slipped under his nose, answering with a smug tone in its voice. “As a matter of fact, I do. There are many creatures in this world, that, by their very nature, are extremely susceptible to their own inner turmoil. Creatures that ponies themselves have already made contact with…” Its voice then became stern. “And we therefor have no qualm about inflicting harm upon them. Devourer, you will go south, to the Peaks of Peril, and you will take Anger with you. There… you will acquire your army.”
The vision suddenly became blurry, the sound went silent, and then everything went completely black.
Zecora regained consciousness, and when she did, she quickly jumped on her hooves and ran out of her room. What she just saw, she couldn’t hold for herself. They had to be warned. She galloped through the castle, finally bursting into the great hall.
“Twilight Sparkle, we have a problem at hand!” the shaman warned. “I know of the plot the Turmoil’s servants have and for which land!”
The three horned equines slowly turned their heads at her. “I think we have a pretty good idea ourselves, Zecora,” Starlight commented, before turning her gaze back.
The zebra was confused. She approached them to see what they were looking at, and the answer became perfectly clear. There was something different about the Cutie Map: It had shrunk… Or rather, the scale of the map shrunk. All of the Equestria could now be seen, as well as its neighboring lands. And to the southwest of it, beyond the area of a raging storm, there was an equine-shaped landmass… and in the middle of it there was a dark rain cloud looming over the desert area.
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With direct mention of the Deer comic arc, is all of the comics(barring Season 10 obviously) canon to this fic?
The cover art is funny rarity looks so done with this shit 😆 🤣
11633833
No. Only the majority of good ones, since the comics have quite a few bad ones that make no sense or have already been contradicted by the show. (case and point Siege of Crystal Empire)
Deer arc may have been bad, but I like the worldbuilding of it, and it wasn't anywhere as character-damaging as The Good, the Bad, and the Ponies.
11634443
Is the Kelpie comic and Accord arc retconned too?
11636566
The latter, yes.
The Kelpie though it's arguable on account that she's the baseline for how ALL the kelpies look and isn't just writers thinking at random.
11640540
But is that actual event of that Kelpie mind controlling Ponyville retconned?
Since it was bad enough Spike was mind controlled by Sombra once, but him being mind controlled in that Kelpie one added more issues for him.
11645477
Everybody, except for the pets was mind-controlled, so it's not a Spike thing.
The story is bad because the kelpie's first instinct was to mind-control everybody to break the dam and flood the whole town, instead of asking ponies for help.
11646016
Still a really a dark mark for him on both cases
Also the pets thing is another "The main heroes are out" situation but Spike suffers since it was a chance for him(since he wasn't saving the days much as the Mane 6) to shine too but he is "taken out" along with the main heroes.
To Where And Back did this same issue
No Cozy Glow then. Interesting. I guess she'll just have to sit in a state of frozen petrified agony then.
This conflict had better reach levels of Redwall awesomeness or I will be very disappointed!
Ah yeah! Gruber and the boys are getting back together!
No idea why, but this just seems appropriate for some reason.
Is it the Kirin? No! Not best dragon horsies!
11647214
Is this whole Spike's relation with pets coming from Just for Sidekicks?
That's the story where Spike is so obsessed and greedy with getting gems for his cake that he actively neglected the pets he was paid for, and then the whole episode has him getting karma for being an a-hole.
After that Spike never has moments with pets other than Owlowiscious, and even he's always there just to wag his finger at Spike whenever he screws up.
So I really don't see Spike having any sort of plot plausibility just because that one episode exists since he doesn't really have a connection with pets anyway.
11649833
Forever is a very long time, and I can tell you this comic isn't gonna go on (FOREVER!>
despite the current length, if you get my drift.
Redwall?
I'm honestly surprised nobody else pointed out.
11650566
Really? Damn. It's not like I've got a whole lot else going on.
By Brian Jaques. Awesome series if you like good guys wiping out bad guy stories.
I watched the Autumn Blaze song a while back on a whim, so I've been thinking about them for awhile.
I'm not terribly surprised most people missed them.
They are a incredibly obscure piece of lore. It just so happens that is the kind of lore I like best.
rarity trying to love vicariously through sweetie's 1st relationship can nonly end badly for everycreature involved
I understand that ponies have already encountered a nation of deer before? I am not aware of all the events of the official comics, so I did not quite understand the content of the events mentioned.
Is it logical to bury those who cry? (ignore my stupid crying star joke)
11677843
The deer were introduced in "Root of the Problem" 2-parter, issues 27 and 28.
The story isn't very well regarded on account of being poorly written, which is sad because it was done by Catie Cook and Andy Price, who spearheaded the G4 comic series, and this was the 2nd bad story arc in a row (the first being "The Good, the Bad, and the Ponies"), and I think their writing only got downhill from there.
To me, one of the biggest problems was the false advertising on the cover, because it was directly putting Zecora in the center, which gave the impression that she was FINALLY going to get her own story, and then she's only present for the 1st 4 pages and then disappears completely, only to appear for 1 page at the end of the 2nd issue. She would not get her own (and only) issue until Friends Forever 21, and the less said about "Season 10" the better.
Now, for all the bad writing, the worldbuilding of the deer was not the problem. And for all the storytelling problems, at least this arc didn't butcher the main characters the same way the previous arc did, so I'm willing to cut them some slack.
I think that joke made over my head.