Chapter 53: Darkest Door
Iris Vale had plenty of contact with ponies on the edge of sanity. In some ways, this was expected of members of the Lightless Star. Even those with years of experience, who dealt only in the path of Wisdom, would eventually be exposed to secrets that strained the mind to see.
She got into the carriage with Lilac Empathy, expecting many of the same signs. Those whose eyes saw beyond the Gate, those who knew the Guardian of the Gate, had their perceptions altered in predictable ways.
Her daughter did not stumble as she walked, expecting a gravity that did not conform. Her eyes didn't lose focus, showing signs that she did not recognize the common objects in her world. The last and most painful sign was magical decay—once that began, it meant a painful death for the pony involved, despite all intervention.
Lilac settled into her seat on the far corner of the carriage, legs folded under her. Iris lit up her horn as she came in, brilliantly bright—but not with any spell. She just watched the filly's pupils contract. No sign of bodily decay.
"Your father wishes to remain with the ship for the next several hours, and evaluate what happened there," she said. "An unfortunate burden for the carriage-drivers, but I suppose this is why we pay them." She tapped on the wall, the one that led directly to the front. "We're ready. Take us home, please."
"I don't know what he'll find," Lilac lied. She wasn't very good at it—her eyes fixed directly on her own hooves, tail twitching nervously back and forth.
Iris concentrated, and this time cast a real spell—the pressure of silence, one that extended only to the carriage’s walls. Even the filly would recognize it immediately, as the sound of the road and jostling carriage supports faded away. "Let’s start with what we both know. Your exposure to the Void began when you tried to... scry, into the world you came from. Right?"
Lilac sat up. "When I succeeded at scrying into the world I came from. Kinda. Seeing the people there was hard, like they were out of focus. I mostly saw places I remember from living there."
Succeeded. She spoke with such confidence that Iris didn't doubt her, even without any kind of truth finding spell in operation. There was no reason to lie about that, when she spoke so openly about her mistakes. "Even that much would be an... incredible accomplishment," she began. "Don't take this as an endorsement. Your behavior endangered all of Willowbrook, not just your own life. Not even the Watcher has pierced the veil of Unreality that protects this world from the greater darkness beyond.
"We have spent a very long time searching for our gods. We hoped for your instructions to aid your return, rather than scrambling through the dark, constructing new magic on our own. You would not have to work so hard at your magic if we knew how to grant you a proper Alicorn's body. But that power is unknown by all, even the Watcher."
That was probably too much to give a little filly, even one with incredible magical potential. But instead of seeming overwhelmed or bored by what she heard, the child only looked thoughtful. This fit into her worldview, somehow. There was greater depth to that expression than Iris had ever seen from her.
Something happened on the Magna Vale, she thought. "I need you to tell me the truth," she began. "Did you try your scrying spell again on the ship? Did you speak to the Gate?"
"No!" Her reaction was instant and indignant. She wasn't avoiding looking at Iris when she spoke, either. That might just mean she got better at lying. Be cautious.
"I needed a low place, the spell I designed wouldn't work just anywhere. And Keen Focus didn't give me the free time to do anything I wanted. When I talked to her about magical study, she just laughed in my face. 'You're an earth pony, Lady Lilac. Your capacity does not include even rudimentary spellcasting. Your only role in this family is to conceive a unicorn child for a worthy heir, and prevent a lapse in House Vale. Aspire to nothing more.'"
Her impression was uncanny, enough that it made Iris chuckle. Yes, she could imagine the tutor speaking exactly those words. That went a long way of explaining Lilac's reaction to her.
If she thought only a low place would enable such magic, Iris would say nothing to disabuse her of the notion. Silence might not help much, even asking would probably inspire investigation. Her daughter would be a magical prodigy of rare skill, if she wasn't inheriting the knowledge of ancient gods.
"So what did happen? Is my husband going to find ritual magic all over your bedroom? I know you, Lilac—you wouldn't sit in your bedroom and stare wanly out the window. What trouble did you get into?"
That did it—the filly's ears folded back, and her face lit up. She lifted her tail, curling it around herself. She took over a full minute to say anything, with Iris staring at her without blinking.
"It was nothing magic," she finally said. "I didn't have any books, and most of what I want to do needs more work on the theoretical side. Also there aren't any trees, and it's hard to gather power when I'm up in the sky instead of a forest. So I... I... found a way to open the vent, and sneak down into the crew deck."
Whatever Vale was expecting, it wasn't that. She sat back, unable to keep up the stern appearance. Curiosity won over. "You went below, into the... engines? Why?"
"I wanted to learn about the airship," she said in a rush. "Anything to get away from Keen Focus, and her constant performances. Just lecturing me all day every day about how worthless earth ponies are, but how maybe I can make something of myself if I can manage to seduce a valuable enough stallion."
There's a cruel truth to that. Common ponies can be driven by love, instead of worrying about the consequences of their choices. But not us. Hearing that was not what this filly needed right now. If you get old enough that we start worrying about inheritance and succession, we did better than I could ever dream.
"So you hid with the crew?" she asked. "And they hid you, because you were my daughter. Didn't report you to Keen Focus, since she's a Canterlot type. All my crews are hired out of Willowbrook, they can see their own."
"I mean, kinda! I didn't exactly tell them who I was. I pretended to be part of the crew, and the unicorn kid who found me wasn't exactly digging for holes in my story." Then she stopped, looking away. "I shouldn't say who he was. He was doing his job. Had nothing to do with Keen Focus or any of that stuff."
Iris remained silent, watching her. That silence invited further speech from the little pony. "The captain said something I've never heard before. What is 'Starmad'?"
She could've refused to answer—but if she did, the filly would just find her own some other way. Probably distorted, out-of-focus half-truths, that might lead her down still darker roads.
"Magic suffuses all of Equus, a sea of great power. It is shaped by those creatures who dwell within it. The false gods, tyrants, and traitors—for all their evil, they are creatures of Order. They impose regularity on this sea, exerting a protective influence on all creatures. The further from Equestria you travel, and the higher you fly, the more vulnerable spellcasters become."
"Spellcasters," Lilac repeated. "You mean unicorns, though. I don't have any organ to sense or manipulate thaumic fields. So it shouldn't affect me, right?"
Iris reached across the carriage, taking one of her hooves. Their conversation had taken so long that she could already see familiar fields in the window. They were almost back to Vale Manor. "Lilac, I cannot even speculate. You looked into the face of an Unmade, and you're still able to speak with me. I thought you had escaped completely unscathed, except—Keen Focus."
The filly remained silent for a long time, staring back at her hooves. The nervous energy and barely suppressed eagerness were gone, replaced with shame. "She was yelling at me, this morning. Threatening all the things that Lord Vale would do to me as soon as we landed. Then I... felt something."
Her eyes snapped to the side, staring directly at an empty place on the wall. Except it obviously wasn't empty to her. "I can feel the place I saw into. She was right next to me, and I sorta just—shared what I saw."
Iris's horn glowed again, and with no simple illumination this time. It was a sensing spell so powerful that the filly would feel it itching on her skin. There was no subtle way to probe for something like this. She scoured her pattern at the most basic level, searching for damage.
She found none—no enfeebling rot. She found no decay in the filly's mind, either. Her sanity wasn't unraveling, but there was a thread. A connection trailed away from her in the exact direction she was looking, yet somehow down at the same time.
Iris turned in that direction, following it with all the expertness of her craft. It was a powerful thread, the kind that usually bound parent to child, or lovers.
Her concentration soon faltered, as the thread curved along axes that made no sense, through space filled with unknowable colors. The thread seemed to fracture to a thousand colors and shades, and looking directly at any of them burned right through her.
Lilac Empathy is bound to the void. She wouldn't be the only one to be able to see it—if any of Equestria's skilled unicorns saw her in this state, they would sense this connection. They would fear, perhaps rightly, what she could do with it.
"This wasn't here before," she whispered. Maybe she shouldn't have said it out loud, but once the words were out, there was very little she could do. "It happened when you cast your scrying spell, didn't it?"
She nodded. "It took something from me, the Unmade creature. It stole my name." She rested one hoof up against her head, shivering. "It should be there, I know it should. But it's missing."
Iris's breath caught in her throat. Her heart felt as though it slowed in her chest, struggling to beat. The Unmade hadn't erased this infant god, she knew that already. But it had taken a piece of her—enough that it could eventually take the rest, if they let it.
Her mind filled with everything she knew about sorcerers and their craft. There was so little to go off—that knowledge itself could be corrupting in a weak will. Iris was not weak, but she felt it a little now.
She dropped to one knee in front of the child, resting one hoof on her shoulder. She forced her to meet her eyes, using a few gentle prods from her magic. "Listen very closely, Lilac Empathy. I would never share this with you if I had another choice."
She waited for the filly's nod to continue. "You have a sympathetic connection to the void. It ripped out a piece of you, and took it back. If it was a piece of your hoof, we could chop it off. But it took something much harder to sever, a name."
Lilac started shaking, eyes welling up with tears. "W-what happens to me?"
"If we don't find a way to cut it?" She didn't look away, no matter how much the words hurt, no matter how much she wanted to. "You lose your mind, and your body starts to fail. At the end, the demon who marked you returns, and takes whatever's left."
The child melted under her touch. She cried, springing forward to embrace Iris. Little god or not, she was still a quivering child in need of comfort. This was heavier than most adult ponies knew how to handle, let alone children.
"W-what... what do we... do I—"
But if the filly wanted sensitivity, she shouldn't have peered beyond the Outer Gates. "I don't know," she whispered. "But I'll find a way." She held her against her chest for what felt like ages, until the carriage stopped rolling.
She couldn't hear the driver's voice, but she guessed he would have announced their location. He would probably be quite confused by her silence.
She remained still for a few seconds more. Then she let go. "For now, no more scrying spells. Never try to look past the Outer Gates again. And whatever you did to Keen Focus, don't do that either. No matter how tempting, no matter how much it calls to you, you can't look. The more you look, the more of you gets pulled across."
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After hearing what has happened to Lilac, I have to wonder what could happen to Copper, considering that they shared a rather intimate moment. He could very well go mad or something equally as bad.
Severing a name. That sounds too tall a task for the cult. There might be a point where they have to swallow their pride and carefully ask Equestria for help. Can't say a demon possessing a pony of such power is good for anyone on the planet.
Celestia would know. Though guessing by the Alicorn castle, she would know about the problems about a nation full of them and why they fell. Especially if she caused it.
If she already conceived a child with Copper... beyond an heir, would it be a god/goddess in its own right?
Can we be sure Keen Focus wasn't stolen by the void? Last thing we need is a possessed, mutant flesh monster appearing in the hospital.
I guess it's too much to ask if Lilac can do the reverse and steal the demon along with its entire realm. Become the void herself.
Lilac may have to shed whatever humanity or memories she had from her past life. Derek Ashsen must be erased.
Severing Lilac's connection to the void will be difficult but knowing that this is necessary makes Firefly's plans slightly easier. It's now practically guaranteed there is no way back. I wonder when Lilac will talk about what happened between her and Copper but she'll probably only tell Firefly unless she has no other choice.
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Or a body for the demon... Hey, at least that would be easier to deal with once it was born.
No matter what happens, this was bad news for Lilac.
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Doubt the people of Willowbrook would want their own version of the Jersey Devil. Hopefully the Lightless Star would agree as well.
She left that note behind for copper right? Hope no one else finds it
This really made space exploration incredibly difficult for them.
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Adorable next gen demon oc.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2020/10/15/2467449.png
Still waiting for that "changelings" tag to enter the picture. They often portrayed as capable of mind-magic. It could help with severing connection to an old name
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Only if what Vale sales is 100% accurate, we may not be getting all the picture on the situation... we still don't know how humans connect to the old gods, are they old gods _we_ know about in mythos? Are we the old gods? (or descendants?) there's not enough information and I am pretty sure the Lightless Star doesn't have much of the information.
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Given the way the old alicorn sky-castle seemed to light up on Firefly's entry (from memory), i'll assume we ARE the old gods. Similarly, look at humans' massive magic pools, and Firefly finding suspiciously fitting items for herself in another ruin. My guess is they're reincarnations.
As far as the child being affected... It won't have a brain so far, hopefully corrupting words wouldn't influence it in that case?
But yeah, it's looking increasingly likely that Lilac's gonna have to abandon her human side to get rid of the void... But I have a feeling she isn't gonna be willing to do that. It's gonna be tough... And considering any unicorn who scans her will see the thread leading to the void? Yeah, the moment Canterlot sends investigators, she's rumbled
...Firefly's gonna end up fighting her once she's gone full Nightmare Moon, isn't she?
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I'm worried about more immediate threats, like Lilac's Father.
Again, I feel like these cultists are dabbling in things they only partially understand, and know just enough to be dangerous. We know that Celestia is already searching for the spellcaster, so she obviously knows something is up. It wouldn't surprise me if Lilac were to simply reveal herself to Celestia, and explain everything, that Celestia would do her best to fix the issue. We know that probably won't happen immediately, at least, because the cultists have convinced Lilac that Celestia is evil, or at the very least doesn't have their best interests at heart. Then again, maybe Celestia and Luna really are evil, and everything we know about them is a lie.
All magic comes with a price.
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true, but with how Iris described what happened to Lilac, it sounds like anyone that comes into contact with her could possibly end up in danger.
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The fact that Twilight, Rainbow, and Rarity behaved precisely as they do in canon indicates that if Celestia is actually evil, she's doing a really bad job of it.
That was a good story. goodluck with the next chapter.
"What, Lilac? Nah, we're cool. Filly's been through enough. Shame about some of the other chucklenuts down here."
—Yog-Sothoth, translated from four-dimensional ripples
In any case... yeah, this bodes ill indeed. Cutting away Lilac's human name may require severing her from her life before Equestria. It's an impossible choice: Sacrifice all that she was and abandon the quest that's driven her for so long, or inevitably succumb to the call of oblivion?
At least she has her mom and her best friend by her side again.
And then they discover the stuff left in the vents...