A Hole In The Plan

by Zumpony

Prologue: Lights Out My Little Ponies

Sweat slid down my scaled skin as my hooves beat against the ground at a near impossible rate. I sprinted through the forest, dodging trees, leaping over bushes, and ducking under branches. I'm so focused on finding my freedom I nearly forget to breathe, as I gasp in air before sliding under a somewhat fallen tree. I hold my breath against the desperation as my body screams for air, and I listen. It's…. Quiet. I let go and resume my struggle to retain oxygen once more.

A twig snapped in the distance and I was airborne, holding my saddleback's in place with my magic.

"Where are you, you pesky pony," I uttered under my breath as I released a spell, to dispel any feeble attempts at a disguise around me.

Disguise and deceit are the two things I can still call my own. My magic is the one thing that damned 'princess Twilight Sparkle' can't take from me. I peer around me and see, nothing? I close my eyes and focus my infrared senses in every direction.

"Nothing," I question aloud looking down at the worthless rodents squirming about the forest floor?

With a deep sigh I drop to the floor, scraping aside fallen leaves and brush to form a makeshift 'bed'. Nothing like I used to have, but something none the less and with this, this should change everything! I reached my magic into my bag and grasped the metal talisman. I pulled it out and positioned it in front of me.

It was a long since oxidized copper snake coiled in a Möbius strip about itself with its mouth and fangs outstretched far from its tail. The talisman of Ouroboros. One of Mage Meadowbrook's eight enchanted items, is said to bring forth the truest desires of its beholder and refute anything that acts against the bearer's wishes. With this I finally have something to stand up to those elements of harmony, that pesky new princess, all of her pathetic friends, and reclaim my hive!

The lack of security around such a relic was quite baffling. I perk my ears up once more to ensure I'm alone before reaching into my other saddle bag and removing a purr bound book and placing it next to the relic. The book is sealed along all sides in copious amounts of fur.

Ugh I hate this part.

"Who's a good kitty," I ask? As I reach out a hoof to pet the book. "You, you are a good kitty. Will you let me read your pages?"

With a vibrant "purrt" from the book, it opens. Pur bound books are all but a lost art, hardly seen anymore and good thing too, their hair gets everywhere and when they get into a 'mood' and can never get them to open up. Thankfully this book had been so lost to time the finicky feline inhabitant is generous for even the smallest attention. I begin to pour over the pages and locate the instructions for the activation spell.

The book has a crudely drawn enclosed spiral on it as some sort of indicator to the talisman. The text indicates that the talisman will change shape once bound to it's bearer and requires a "fragment of its host" to be placed in its mouth. Eugh. The book at least indicates it can be anything including hair or fur. As long as it comes from you I suppose. Thankfully I have molted recently and have some fragments of my old carapace. I hold the talisman, my former skin, and the book in front of me in my magic.

"With this I give unto you my being, a tether for which we are bound. Reckoned be in every unforeknown, unseeing. Not whence shall one be found. To only what one desires. Faited till acquired," I recite.

As the spell is cast I feel myself float into the air meer inches from the ground. My former carapace begins to crumble into a fine glittering dust that stretches into a spiral and sinks down and down into the mouth of the talisman. As soon as the dust touches upon its lips the eyes open and glow a bright white. As the carapace is consumed the eyes fade from their white to a deep green matching that of my magic. The snake closes it's mouth for only a moment before hissing at me. I hiss back at it, relic or not a queen shall not be spoken to in such a way. It lunges towards me, fangs bared as if to bite, nearly missing my face, spiraling about my body pulling me further into the air. I can feel its power is great power. I whisper to it to bring forth my greatest desire. I feel everything swell within me and burst. With a green and white glittering explosion of light. I am gently placed back onto the ground and as the light fades so does the talisman.

"WHAT ?! " I scream out and swing my hooves towards where it was in the air moments ago?!?! "Come back here you, you worthless snake! Bring me what I was promised!!"

My rage boils within me until I can't take it anymore and let forth a balefire into the sky. I quickly turn my attention to the book to see what went wrong, what I possibly could have done wrong! I reach for the book and it hisses at me, I hiss back instinctively and it binds itself back in fur. Oh Celestia of course you are in one of your moods now that I need you! I kick dirt at the book and slump down looking at the ground.

I snap a twig off a nearby tree and begin scribbling in the dirt. Cursing to myself, cursing that book for making me speak of Celestia, cursing Celestia, cursing that damned snake, the spell, the fool of a mage who came up with such nonsense, and Celestia again for good measure.

I'm almost too wrapped up in my own cursing. I don't hear soft hoofsteps behind me. I spin myself around to meet the next fool I'll curse as I feel a presence creep behind me and 'WHACK' a log splinters over my head. The last thing I see as my vision fades into the pain are three of what I assume to be the six sets of hooves that followed me here.

Author's Note:

Hi this is the first fic I am publishing and I'd love to hear thoughts! Even if you just wanna say "this is awesome" That would be pretty cool. Or head cannons :3 general interaction is awesome X3

Comments

[Silent Wing]

Interresting start so far. keeping track for now, curious how this will continue.

[Twilight_the_spy]

After casting a spell binding her very being to an ancient magical artifact, the now defunct queen Chrysalis is at the beacon call of a foal named Fern.

The saying is "<thing1> is at the beck and call of <thing2>." A beacon call would be something completely different.