• Published 7th Oct 2012
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Dusk's Dangerous Game - Airstream

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Black Pawn, White Pawn

Sweetie Belle knelt on the cold stone floor of her cell, her eyes closed and her breathing deep and even. Her final instructions from Lively Song had been to skip the morning and evening meals, and to drink plenty of water. At sunset, she had retreated to her tiny room, and began to clear her mind in preparation for the ritual itself. It was easier than she remembered. Whatever the crystal did, it definitely worked. Her thoughts seemed clearer, her reactions quicker. Her already sharp mind was now positively brilliant, and she was able to perceive things she never had before.

The past three days had treated her well. She had entered classes with Azure, the Changeling who was running the course on illusory magic. She had learned some fascinating things about Changelings, as well. They were supposedly unable to create forms of their own, though Azure had heard of one Changeling, an assistant to Twilight Sparkle, who had succeeded in this endeavor. Another was that, in their natural form, Changelings could not speak, at least not in the ways ponies did. They snarled and growled, but that was all they could do. In lieu of spoken language, they hummed. Each Changeling’s holes were uniquely placed, lending them their own personal “voice”, and they identified each other by these as well. By vibrating and drawing air through these holes, they were able to communicate far more effectively over long distances than ponies could, and were able to perceive even the slightest changes in weather or sounds. Azure herself had proven to be both warm and patient, answering the many questions Sweetie Belle had to ask.

She had been praised on her skill in illusion magic, and learned quite a few things from Azure, including how to hold herself in order to mimic others more effectively, from the calm plodding of Earth ponies to the almost hopping gait of Pegasi to the delicate hoof placement prevalent in unicorns. She learned how to disguise herself as a male, how to masquerade as a noble or farmer or soldier, and even how to read the body language of others. Azure had admired her quick study, and had praised Sweetie Belle as something of a prodigy.

Of course, Sweetie Belle had spent time in other stations as well, though none so long as the Illusion course. She had tried her hoof at self-defense, but found that she lacked the necessary fighter instincts to excel. Still, a few useful skills had been acquired. She learned about codes and ciphers, how to use them and how to recognize key phrases and symbols indicating shelter or secret paths, as well as ones that noted different dangers, such as checkpoints or patrol routes.

To these practices she had devoted her time, and the three days had flown by despite what she had thought would be the case. And so, on the third day, she sequestered herself as she was asked to, and had spent much of the day in meditation. She had been given a mantra to repeat, and did so, over and over in her head. As time went by, she slipped into a sort of trance, lost in her own thoughts, repeating the same phrase to herself.

Blood and bone, wood and sand, time of knowledge close at hand .My mind my own, and set me free. Open my eyes, and let me see. Blood and bone…

Lost in dedication to the phrase, she was not aware of her door opening and a gentle hoof being laid on her shoulder until she was shaken gently. Opening her eyes, she looked up to see Night Light standing over her, a smile on his face.

“Are you ready?” he asked, his voice calm and composed. “Sun went down an hour ago.”

Sweetie Belle took a deep breath in. “I think so.” she replied. Her voice was nowhere near as composed.

Night Light noticed this immediately. “Are you alright?”

If there was ever a time to voice her doubts, it would be now. “I’m just not sure what to expect, is all.”

The Pegasus helped her to her hooves. “It’s very simple. A small cut, and a bit of your blood goes into a hollow in the crystal. Yours is already magically charged, so the spell will take hold fairly quickly. Until it takes hold, just repeat that mantra.”

“How will I know if it takes hold?” Sweetie Belle inquired.

Night Light chuckled. “You’ll know, trust me. The experience is a bit different for everypony, but we have not had a serious injury. Worst that’s ever happened was some fool of a pony fell over and cracked their head.”

Sweetie Belle felt a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “And who would that have been?”

They both began to walk towards the door together, Sweetie Belle’s circulation returning slowly.

“Well, that would have been yours truly.” Night Light said. This drew a laugh from the unicorn. Night Light joined in. “There we are!” he said. “Keep your chin up, mare. I promise on my honor that you will be just fine.”

They stepped into the hall, following the walkway along its length towards the double doors that housed the crystal itself. Sweetie Belle was quite suddenly and acutely aware of a hundred pairs of eyes on her. Turning her head slightly, she took in the unabashed stares of each pony on the floor below. They wore a variety of expressions, ranging from encouragement and concern on the more experienced operatives to awe and jealousy on the recruits deemed unfit for the procedure.

“It’s an uncommon thing, seeing a new recruit through here. We have more luck in Manehatten or Cloudsdale.” Night Light murmured. “But this was the first of the crystal centers Twilight Sparkle ordered built. Hold your head high, it’s a tradition.”

Sweetie Belle did as she was told. With all eyes on her, she rolled her shoulders back, lifting her hooves high and looking straight forward. She knew the kind of picture she presented, confident and bold. At last, after what had seemed like an interminably long journey, they arrived at the doors. Night Light came to attention by the doors.

“I’m not cleared to go in. That’s you.” he said. “Good luck, not that you’ll need it.”

Sweetie Belle nodded her thanks, and pushed the doors open, striding through and leaving the watchful eyes of the crowd behind.


The doors closed behind her with a gentle noise, and Sweetie took the room in. The crystal’s room was much the same as the rest of the catacombs, grey stone and mortar with red brick in places. That was where similarities ended, however. The center of the room was dominated by a large crystal, perfectly clear with only the slightest hints of white near its center. It was supported by a cage of some dull grey metal that Sweetie Belle knew was not something she had seen before. Lines of runes and channeling formulae crossed over one another, covering the entire floor fifteen feet in every direction from the stone itself, save for one clear circle, the perfect size for a pony to stand in, very close to the crystal itself.

And the crystal, oh the crystal! Rarity would have fainted at the sight of such a large and brilliant gem. Each facet gleamed with the unyielding beauty of the diamond, yet somehow, some pony had cunningly carved a small bowl into the crystal itself. This did not mar its beauty in the slightest. In fact, it provided it with a strange sort of character, a unique enhancement to itself that, while taking some of the stone away, gave it something even greater. The whiteness in its center seemed to flicker and move along with the light, and the air in the room was so saturated with magic that Sweetie would not have been in the least surprised to find that it was.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” came a voice from behind her. Sweetie Belle looked over her shoulder to see Lively Song, who had been watching her carefully. “I need to give you a few last minute pointers, if that’s alright by you.”

Sweetie Belle nodded.

“Good.” Lively continued. “I’d have given them anyway, but it’s good to see you’re open to new information. Now, we have a medical team on standby in case of something going wrong. We don’t anticipate that, but it never hurts to be prepared. Your transport leaves in six hours, and you may not feel up to it, but we need to get you out of the city before sunrise. I’ll tell you why afterwards. Final thing, many unicorns, myself included, experience a bit of a…vision. It’s always different, and usually fairly vivid. So, if you do see something, don’t panic. You’ll be fine.”

Sweetie Belle processed the information. “How long will this take?”

“No more than a minute, and for unicorns like you and I, a great deal less. Now, are you ready?”

She took a deep breath in. “Yes, I am.” and before she could stop herself, she trotted into the circle, hearing Lively Song retreat behind her. A small knife had been left in the ring for her, its newly sharpened edge gleaming in the light of the crystal. Laying it against her skin, she calmed herself. She was suddenly hyperaware of everything, from the muffled voices outside to the stone underneath her hooves. Steeling herself, she placed the length of iron on edge, and applying slight pressure, drew it across her foreleg.

The knife’s keen edge ensured that she hardly felt a thing, just a slight stinging sensation as the metal came away red. The line along her skin was dark for only a moment before red appeared, first in beads and then beginning to flow in earnest. Sweetie Belle stuck her hoof over the hollow in the crystal, watching as blood ran down her hoof, pooling in the small basin. Once a goodly amount had been spilt, she withdrew her hoof carefully, hugging it close to her chest as she began to repeat the mantra.

“Blood and bone, wood and sand, time of knowledge close at hand. My mind my own, and set me free, open my eyes, and let me see.”

She repeated it exactly once before several things happened, all in quick succession. The first was the cut along her leg closing with remarkable speed, as the skin writhed and melted back into itself, leaving her whole and unharmed once more. The second was the crystal flashing brightly, so brightly that she had to avert her eyes. The blood that had been collected was vaporized, a small cloud hovering around the edges of Sweetie Belle’s circle. And as it closed in, the crystal began to ring with a high, keening tone, enough to set her teeth on edge. Louder and louder the sound grew, as the cloud moved in, and Sweetie felt her vision dimming and flickering, though she found herself unable to fall to her knees.

The light from the crystal resolved itself into something, a shape that she struggled to make out. Through the pain in her head and the rapidly spinning cloud, she was able to make out the shape of a small pony, walking towards her through the light. The crystal dimmed just enough to see who it was.

Sweetie Belle was looking at herself as a filly. Confused, she continued her mantra, hoping to somehow speed up the process.

“You know that won’t do any good.” the filly said. “You have one last choice to make, one final task.”

Sweetie’s chant faltered, about to die out. Her younger self held up a warning hoof. “Don’t stop doing that. If you stop now, things will be much harder. Just listen to what I have to say. I’m the part of you that Celestia has a hold on. Yes, I know it seems strange, but I need you to hear me out. Right now, your mind is working much, much faster than it is used to. About one hundred times faster. I’m acting as a limiter, holding you back from burning yourself out. The crystal is going to burn me out unless you step out of the ring and break the connection. You have to do it soon, before the crystal takes hold completely. That’s one of your choices. You can save me, and yourself.

Or you could go the other route, and actively help the crystal in what it’s trying to do. It’s more dangerous, but you’d be free of me.”

Sweetie Belle wondered why the apparition would be helping her to remove it.

“Because I’m trying to help you make an informed choice. I can’t force you to choose me, and you’ve come this far, so all I can do is hope. But if you get rid of me, then there really is no turning back. If Celestia wins, and there is a very good chance that she will, you know that you will not be spared. But if you hide me, at least until the proper moment, and manage to succeed, you will be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams in Celestia’s paradise. You could have everything you ever wanted in her new world and then some.”

Sweetie Belle realized that it all boiled down to the same choice once more. For the third time, she was being asked to choose between her old life, and possible redemption in Celestia’s eyes, or making her own path and finding her own truth.

With that perspective gained, she made her choice.

“You’re making a mistake.” the filly said. “It’s not too late for you to redeem yourself, still.”

Sweetie Belle cleared her mind completely, like she had been told to do. The filly was suddenly fuzzy and indistinct, and her voice was muffled.

“Please, listen to me! You have to-“

The filly stopped, her voice cut off entirely. Sweetie Belle watched as she began to disappear, small pieces of her floating away like embers on some unfelt breeze. Slowly at first, but more and more quickly, the filly began to fade away. The last thing that Sweetie Belle saw before the filly disappeared entirely was the silhouette of majestic wings, stretching out behind her.

Blood and bone, wood and sand, time of knowledge close at hand. My mind my own, and set me free. Open my eyes, and let me see.

It seemed like the crystal was getting larger and larger, filling her vision. She stared at the white in its center, which moved from side to side as if it was alive. She felt a buzzing around the edges of her thoughts, a sort of mental vibration. As she watched, the bloody cloud around her began to spiral lazily into the stone itself, congealing into a single impossibly red point in its center. The buzzing moved further into her head, and she felt a lance of pain shoot through her skull, starting at her horn.

Blood and bone, wood and sand, time of knowledge close at hand. My mind my own, and set me free. Open my eyes, and let me see.

She couldn’t think for the buzzing and pain, and all she wanted was for it to stop, but she knew that she would be alright, that it was all in her head. She focused on the red dot, and as she did, she felt the buzzing intensify. It felt like her skull was about to burst, and she was almost weeping from the pain.

Blood and bone, wood and sand, time of knowledge close at hand. My mind my own, and set me free. Open my eyes, and let me see.

At last, it came to a head. Her horn spat with light involuntarily, not her usual magic but a bloody red, and all of a sudden, everything in her head was entirely too quiet. It was as if all thought, all feeling had been totally erased, leaving her alone in the vast dark spaces that she used to fill, a lonely being in an infinite wasteland. And yet, it was not a bad feeling. She was free, truly free. Free of bias, free of influence of any sort. A perfect blank slate, the sort she had been only once, when she was first born. She had been given a second chance, a new start, and for that she was grateful.

She came back to herself, allowing her memories and experiences to come rushing back all at once. She still had her own opinions, of course. She still loved her family, for example. She feared Celestia, and though she felt some residual loyalty to her, she instinctively knew that she was no longer under her influence. She was herself, but at last she was able to see the entire world as it truly was.

Aware of the stone and the room once more, she lifted one hoof to her face as she looked around. It came away wet with tears, tears of joy. Her knees were weak and shaky, and she felt as if she was going to collapse at any moment, but at the same time, she couldn’t stop laughing and crying.

There was the sound of gentle hoofsteps behind her, and Sweetie Belle turned to see Lively Song, an understanding expression on her face, gesture to Sweetie’s leg so that she could inspect it. Sweetie Belle complied, and after she was satisfied that it was healed, Lively spoke.

“I’ve never seen that reaction before. Whatever happened to you, you are better for it, isn’t that right?”

Sweetie Belle could only nod.

“Come, there are others waiting for you. Welcome to your new life, Sweetie Belle.” she said, walking towards the door. Sweetie Belle followed suit, and as they were pushed open, revealing the sea of wondering ponies below, she felt as if she was truly walking into a completely new life. She was liberated, free. And as her fellow ponies applauded for her, she couldn't help but smile again.

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