Extra: A Hearths Warming Special
A Hearths Warming Special...
In the depths of an ancient tower, hidden beyond vast mountains, there lay a very old mare. She is in the bottom of her tower, in the archives of her home. There she works tirelessly as always. The glow from her magic, and the dim light of the lanterns on shelves her only source of light. The cubbies around seem mostly empty, and the bookshelves here and there lay mostly bare. But stacks of books stand all around, looking like great towers in the darkness. The mare slowly trots through the archives, her eyes dart here and there and yet seem to lack a certain shine to them.
She moves from shelf to shelf and book to book. She checks facts and figures without pause or rest. A pencil is clenched between her teeth, a set of quills and inkwells trapped in a crimson aura of her magic. She has two books to either side, a scroll in front of her, and several sets of paper ready to be written and drawn on. She shifts her eyes between them seamlessly, her magic writing for her before she shifts back to write on the scroll in front of her. Soon the scroll before her flies up into the air and rolls itself. A ribbon floats up and wraps around the scroll then shoots into a random cubby.
Another scroll replaces the first and she begins to write on it. Facts and figures of Equestria and its day to day life. From the simplest of things regarding family lines, to more damning knowledge she has obtained. She records and writes all of it down on the many books and scrolls surrounding her. She does so without pause and without concern for anything else. Her mind works on 'autopilot' with her body going through the motions. Her eyes never blink, her magic never stills as she silently trots around the archives and continues her work. She doesn't tire, she doesn't get hungry, she just works. She is silent and swift, until something gives her pause.
The words 'Hearth Warming' appear on a piece of paper, alongside a drawing of a fillies head.
'She looks familiar,' the ancient alicorn noted to herself. She blinked as the stray thought brought her out from the depths of her mind. She glanced around for a moment and then sent all the parchment and books to either side. They were laid out neatly on tables and counters while she sat back. A frown crossed her face as she looked at the fillies head, she seemed familiar to the old mare for some reason. It was like some distant, forgotten dream tried to remind her of itself after years abandoned. She hummed and tilted her head for a moment, then blinked.
"Lulu?" she murmured. Her mind paused and she stilled. Her eyes slowly started to fall as she looked around. It was the archives beneath her tower, still mostly bare. The archives had seen so little use during her reign as Princess of Dream Valley that she had had them sealed. They were always putting all their information into the upper library, so the actual Archives had been pretty pointless. Her ponies had never worried about secrets, the nation was, as a whole, very open and friendly after all. Still, even she had rarely come down to the Archives, something about the place had always felt... empty, hollow even...
"Why... when did I come down here?" she wondered. She then brought a hoof to her head as she tried to recall when she had. But it hurt, it hurt to think about it, so she shook her head. "Well, I better go find the girls," she decided with a sigh. She trotted out of the archives and up a flight of stairs to her cider-cellar. She paused and noticed the place seemed bigger than usual. "The Tower must have a lot more magic built up," she murmured to herself. The old place did have a habit of adding on or expanding stuff if it had too much magic to store after all. It was like a drain for excess magic more than anything, and it certainly kept the place interesting.
Faust shook her head with a fond smile as she made her way out of the cellar. She journeyed up to the entryway and paused once more. 'New portraits,' she noted to herself. They weren't magic though, which was a little odd. She liked to use Pictomancy on portraits of other ponies. It made the mostly empty tower less lonely having all of the portraits around to talk too after all. Still she shook her head and continued on wards. She journeyed into the tower halls and yawned slightly as she went. She raised a wing to her mouth to fan it and then lowered it as she smacked her lips.
"How long was I down there? I feel like I haven't eaten or slept in years," she muttered to herself. She then paused to raise a wing and sniffed. She grimaced and pulled the wing away with a disgusted snort. "Or even bathed," she muttered with a shudder. She then turned at a hall and saw an open door. At the open door she saw a rock puppy was playing with a rubber ball and frowned. "Crunch," she muttered to herself. She snorted and marched over to the puppy and picked it up with her aura. "Alright buster, back inside," she ordered. The puppy yipped cheerfully and she rolled her eyes.
"Oh no, I'm not falling for your games buster," she stated with a firm nod. She held him up in her magic, then grabbed his ball with one forelimb and carried him into the arboretum. She dropped the rock puppy off in her arboretum and then slowly backed out. "Now you stay here," she ordered with a hoof pointing at him. Crunch panted happily, tail wagging and head tilted to one side. She sighed for a moment then tossed his ball into the room. Crunch lunged at the ball and leaped on top of it. The ball rolled forward and left Crunch on his back with his legs up in the air to hold it.
The Rock puppy growled happily as it started to chew on the, thankfully reinforced, rubber ball. Faust merely narrowed her eyes, raised her hoof to point at them, then pointed back at Crunch as she slipped out of the arboretum. She closed the door afterwards and blew a breath into her bangs. She then started back into the depths of the tower and came to the old bathes. Much like the cider-cellar she absently noted that the place was bigger than usual. Now it seemed like a vast public bath, complete with large heated pools already filled, rather than her own personal baths.
'Not that communal baths don't have their own kind of charm,' she admitted to herself. She silently slipped into one of the pools with a sigh and began to wash herself off. If she thought she stank, then the girls would mockingly wear tiny gas masks or close pins to hide from the smell. She snorted at the mental image of the girls tossing her into a cast-iron tub to scrub her of the filth in such apparel and nickered softly. She then used her magic to bring a bottle of shampoo over and began on her mane. She quickly washed, rinsed, then repeated, and finally started to use a different kind of shampoo on her coat.
With that finished she leaped out of her bath and shook herself off, much like a dog, before she called a towel over and began to dry off her coat. She then wrapped a towel around her mane, and another around her tail, then sat down and started to preen her wings. It was harder to do on her own, but she could manage. She vaguely recalled that the girls had always tried to help her with her wings, but they just didn't have patience for it. Well... Lulu didn't anyways. Celly tried, and could pass at it, but she was always asking her about the different functions of each feather.
She nickered under her breath as she finished her preening.
Once that was all done she walked out of the baths and made her way over to a flight of stairs. She made her way up into the tower and then hummed. The hallway to Lulu and Celly's room seemed... dimmer, darker than usual. 'What's with that?' she wondered then shrugged her wings. She soon approached the door to their shared room and slipped it open quietly, only to blink. The beds were made with the blankets folded, the shelves looked pristine, the room was utterly spotless... as the caretaker of two crazy fillies, she knew that this wasn't normal.
'Okay... they haven't been in here for a while,' she noted and backed up with a frown. 'Kitchen,' she considered. But she felt an odd sort of pressure on her heart as she did. She made her way to the kitchen quickly, idly unfolding the towels around her mane and tail as she went. She laid them on her back as she entered the kitchen... but it was bare. 'Dining room,' she considered and moved a bit quicker this time. Empty. 'Library,' she thought desperately and galloped through the tower. She soon slid into the library but all was silent and still inside...
"Girls where did you go?" she wondered. But then she winced and brought a hoof to her head... and a memory sounded.
"We need to do this Faust. Discord won't stop himself, and we have the best chance to do it," Celly's voice sounded. But she sounded so much older. Like she was an adult, or at least close to it.
"I understand that, but you're both still so young," she heard herself reply.
"You were younger than us when you battled Tirek, the Smooze, Crunch, Lavan, Arabus," Celly listed and then left hanging. Faust honestly had nothing to respond to that with.
"True, but perhaps we could wait, just a little while more," Lulu offered softly. She sounded older too. More teen aged than she cared to admit. She heard the memory of Celly sigh and saw brief flashes of too older fillies trot past her.
"If we wait we'll just end up staying here forever Lulu," Celly stated resolutely. The visions of the girls appeared by the exit of the library. "Faust... I... you've taught us so much, taken care of us for so long, but we have to do this," Faust idly thought Celly was talking to herself just as much as she was speaking to her. "We have to..." she trailed off. Faust heard herself sigh and then walked to the ghostly images and raised her wings over their backs.
"Just go," she whispered softly. She nuzzled Lulu once, felt a wetness on her neck and looked to Celestia. "Just take care of Lulu Celly, she's your sister and she's still pretty young," she ordered softly. She saw the vision of Celly nod her head, then walked back into the library. "And... and don't worry 'bout me," she said through tears, "I'll be here if you ever want to come back," she had stated without turning to the two. She heard their hoof-falls as the two trotted away. "I'll still be here," she whispered as she slowly began to break down, "alone," she whispered in a half-sob...
Faust blinked her tear-filled eyes and sat down on her haunches.
"They're gone," she whispered. Forgetting the memory made sense, from her experience she always blocked out bad memories. Sad memories too actually. It made it easier to cope with her long life. But right now that was hard to do. After all... she was all alone again. 'Maybe that's why I went down there,' she considered, her bangs shadowing her eyes as she sniffled. 'This place is too big when I'm alone,' she continued to think to herself. 'At least down there it isn't so big,' she thought as she began to cry. 'But it's just as empty,' she thought to herself.
She quickly shook her head and wiped at her tears. She then blinked her eyes and galloped into the tower. She ran up the stairs so she could reach her room. 'Just how long was I down there?' she wondered to herself. 'Just... just trying not to think about it. Cause I know that's all I was doing at first,' she noted to herself. 'It can't have been too long, right? I mean I couldn't just stay down there like that for years... right? I... I mean... I can at least visit the girls now, they might even like a visit!' she thought to herself. She shook her head and slipped into her room with a yelp.
She blinked and then noticed she'd tripped on an old tattered dark-grey cloak.
'Perfect!' she thought. She quickly bounced back to her hooves and then lifted the cloak up and wrapped it around herself with a flourish. She idly pulled an old rope from a drawer and then a horseshoe shaped broach and used them to close the cloak around her neck, hood down. She then trotted into her closet to find a mirror waiting for her. She turned around in the cloak and then raised a hoof to her mane. It was longer than normal, and a lot messier than it'd been back when the girls were around. 'I really let myself go,' she noted to herself.
She shook her head of such thoughts and began to concentrate on her magic. With a flash her mane was cut and returned to her usual only somewhat messy style. 'Maybe I've had this same old look for too long,' she considered. That thought in mind frowned to herself as she stared at it and tried again. This time her mane was long and wavy, but she shook her head. 'Nah, I've never looked goo with really long hair,' she thought to herself. Her mane flashed again and this time was in a bob-cut. 'No, that's more Buttercup's style,' she thought to herself. She then concentrated one last time, and her mane shifted back into her most common style...
"Meh, why ruin a classic look," she decided with a shrug. She then paused and looked at herself with a critical frown. There was no way she could pass for an average mare. 'I'm way too tall and willowy to pass off as a normal pony,' she noted with a frown. She sighed as her horn glowed once more and with a flash she was a tall willowy pony, but thankfully much smaller... 'No, still not normal or unassuming enough,' she thought as she concentrated once more. There was yet another crimson flash and she was changed yet again. Now she was a much shorter pony with a rounded muzzle. 'Perfect!' she decided with a nod of her head.
That done she turned and stopped as something occurred to her.
"I have no bucking clue where the girls are now," she realized. She then turned and galloped into the tower. She idly looked around and was somewhat intrigued by how massive the tower seemed to normal sized ponies. Usually it seemed so much smaller to her. Then again normally she was much bigger in comparison. She turned down a hall and entered into her old trophy room and ran to Majesty's enchanted mirror. She panted slightly as she walked to it and then placed her hoof onto the mirror's surface.
"Show me where Celly and Lulu are," she whispered. The mirror's surface shifted and changed to a distant land across the mountains to the north. It was a vast, snow covered land with a large castle in a vast forest just outside of a small unassuming valley. "Oh it's winter, better bundle up," Faust mused as she turned to hurry back to her room. As such she missed the mirror as it focused on a pair of 'fillies'... alicorn fillies... Instead Faust entered into her room and grabbed an old scarf from her closet. She wrapped it around her neck and then hopped into some brass hoof-boots.
With a nod of her head the ancient mare hummed a tune to herself as she grabbed a pair of fuzzy earmuffs and then looked at them with a frown. 'Boring,' she thought as she then grabbed a quill and some ink from a nearby desk. She idly started to draw symbols and runes on the earmuffs before she concentrated on her horn. She closed one eye and stuck her tongue to one side as she focused on a crimson glow at the tip of her horn. The glow then slowly darkened and a tiny red crystal fell from the tip of her horn to the floor beneath her.
The ancient alicorn grabbed the crystal in her magic and affixed it to the earmuffs with a slow bob of her head. She idly painted a few symbols around the crystal, then drew lines along the band of the earmuffs to the individual cups. Once she was finished she pulled them onto her ears and gave a pulse of magic. She then idly bobbed her head as a tune began to play inside of the cups of the muffs. When she was a young pony, exploring and learning spells after her ascension, she had taken to enchanting and runes. In them she'd discovered a way to make music play out of seemingly random objects, as well as dampen it outside of a set area.
The area just so happened to be hear earmuffs, meaning only she would hear the music.
'Much better,' she noted with a smirk and a slow nod of her head to the beat of the music. She then lifted her hood over her head and made her way out of the tower. She continued to nod her head to the beat as she wandered to the top of the tower. Once there she made her way to her telescope and looked through it. She lowered it down so she could look across the land and licked her lips. The beat of music continued to play in her ears as she sought out the castle she'd seen in the mirror. Eventually she spotted it in the distance and grinned to herself.
'North-by north-east, a good few thousand miles away,' she noted to herself, 'A bit too difficult to traverse on hoof or by wing, should probably just Wink there,' she decided with a nod. She then backed up from the telescope and hummed the tune of her music to herself as she approached a hatch at the ceiling of the observatory. She opened the door to the upper exit, only to turn back to the inside of the tower. "I'll be back later, don't wait up," she said aloud to seemingly no one. However the lights within the tower suddenly went out, the doors sealed shut and left only the upper door open.
Faust grinned as she closed the door and then trotted across the upper platform. The wind blew strong so high off of the ground and caused her cloak to billow behind her. She shifted on her hooves for a moment and then opened her wings. She leaped off of the tower and fell into a dive. She smiled as she allowed herself to fall for a time, completely ignoring the ruined land around her, and then pulled up into a rise. She beat her wings a time or two and then focused on her magic. She closed her eyes and her horn began to give off a soft crimson light before she suddenly vanished with a flash...
Faust appeared in the distance... upside down. With a yelp she fell head first into a snowy bank and began to scream as she rolled downhill. A snowball formed around the ancient pony which then rolled straight into a tree. The jolt caused more snow to fall from the tree and impact with the snowball she was already inside of. With a groan Faust stuck her head out of the snowball and brought a hoof to her head with a grimace. 'Note to self, I need to work on my long distance Winking,' she decided internally. She then shook her head, of snow mostly, and looked around.
She found herself in a small village with ponies dressed for winter. The majority of them appeared to be Earth Ponies, with a couple of Pegasi here or there. With a small hum, Faust pulled herself out of the snow and made her way down a path. She silently walked with a slight bob of her head to the beat of her music. She drew an odd few stares as she hummed the song to herself, but didn't pay any of them any mind. Her cloak, thankfully, concealed her wings so no pony thought anything of her. A white unicorn being a little odd was hardly something that merited much attention after all.
She hummed to herself as she approached the castle in the forest. A stone path had been built, and as she walked along it she looked to either side at the forest. 'This place seems familiar,' she remarked internally. She shrugged her withers and continued down the path without giving it any more thought. She noted a few ponies as they went towards the castle in the distance. They wore strange clothes in her opinion. They caused the ancient mare to raise a brow, then roll her eyes. 'Ah fashion, the one kind of 'art' I've never been able to get into,' she noted with a nicker of amusement.
She then paused her thoughts and whistled as she approached the castle. She wasn't into fashion, but on the other hoof she did have an appreciation for architecture. The castle before her was an impressive piece of work if she were honest. Much better than anything she'd seen back in Dream Valley, save the Tower, and was bigger and fancier too. The Tower was probably the only thing that could compare, and even it had a more simplistic design to it. The Tower was built to be part fortress after all. This place was seemingly built with the idea of impressing others in mind.
'Lulu and Celly had a hoof in this, I just know it,' Faust decided. She could see suns and moons everywhere. The two fillies had always had an obsession with the Sun and Moon when they were little. Oh, and the stars as well. She had never really got the obsession with the sun and moon, despite many Dream-Valley ponies all but worshiping the sun, and Twilight had talked to the moon, but she had loved the stars as a filly. She could quite easily recall taking either filly to stargaze with her telescope on their slow days. But there didn't appear to be any stars around this place, or if there were they were far less obvious than the Sun and Moon gimmick.
She slowed her pace as she approached the castle and saw a grey pony with a white beard in a hat with...
'Are those bells?' she wondered to herself, she then lifted a cup from her ear and heard a jangling from the stallion, 'yeah, those are bells,' she noted with a roll of her eyes. Leave it to Celly and Lulu to have some weird bell wearing pony around. She shook her head and walked forward, only to slow when she saw two ponies with the stallion. One was an off pink color with a pink mane and tail, she had a sun shaped cutie-mark with purple eyes. The second had a short powder blue mane and tail, with a blue coat and a splotch of black on her rump with a crescent moon. What gave her pause was she recognized the two... save that they were alicorns.
'Celly... Lulu...' she thought with wide eyes. The two were taller now, taller than the stallion in bells. Celly dressed in a gold torq and shoes with a crown on her head. Lulu had an obsidian chest plate with a crescent, crystal shoes and tiara on her head. 'How,' she wondered to herself. Celly, she looked so much older, more willowy almost like Faust herself. But Lulu still had a relatively smaller build and rounded muzzle. 'I... how long was I down there just working?' she wondered as she backed up. She brought a hoof to her mane and a grimace crossed her face.
'How long was I working for? How long has it been for them? Alicorns age differently, I think, but I do know the memory problems start pretty early... has it already hit for them? Do they even know me anymore? Would they recognize me at a glance? Would they want too? It might've been so long for them now that they don't care. I could just be a distant memory to them...' her mind raced with questions and worries. She fell back and brought both hooves to her head as it started to hurt. She took slow steady breaths to calm her frazzled nerves and then yelped when she felt someone place their hoof on her wither.
She turned quickly and saw the stallion from before. She blinked as he said something and then reached into her hood to move one of the cups from the earmuffs from her ears. "Um, sorry, but what did you say?" she questioned. The stallion arched a brow, sighed and then looked at her curiously.
"Once again," he muttered under his breath, "Excuse me miss, but are you alright?" a stallion questioned. She blinked in response and then glanced to see Celly and Lulu staring at her as well.
"I... I'm fine, just a headache," she replied sheepishly.
"I see," the stallion replied, he then hummed and looked at her head. "You have... something magical on your head," he remarked and Faust blinked. 'He can see that? Huh... must be like Swirlock,' she decided. Swirllock the Grey had been one of her own teachers after her ascension. He had been a combat mage of unparalleled skill and cunning. She'd learned a large number of combat based spells from the stallion at the request of Queen Majesty. Not that the Queen needed her student to do much fighting by that point, more that it had been to prepare her for the future.
"Yeah, I enchanted my earmuffs," she admitted. The stallion looked intrigued.
"Really? Might I see?" he requested. Faust frowned for a moment then pulled back her hood and offered her earmuffs to the stallion. She idly noticed that Lulu had squinted her eyes and was staring at her intently, like she recognized her but couldn't figure out why she did. Celly on the other hoof was looking at the stallion with a wry smile as he turned the cups of her earmuffs and placed it against his ears curiously. 'Huh, I... I guess they don't remember me,' Faust reasoned with a sigh. She then watched the odd stallion as he hummed and then offered her her earmuffs back.
"A most remarkable bit of spell work and enchantment madam," the stallion admitted, "I've never seen a pony use a Spectra-Crystal as a power source before," he added. Faust chuckled lightly and slipped the earmuffs back on, one cup turned from her ear so she could still listen to the stallion.
"It's just something I picked up from a toy maker once," she admitted. Although to be honest working on Marionette hadn't been solely where the idea came from. It had also been used on a few other contraptions the toy maker had tinkered with. Then again, that crazy old stallion had had a love for tinkering.
"Really?" the stallion questioned and she nodded, "Huh... might I know the name? I don't think I've ever met a Unicorn who used Spectra Crystals to power toys before," the stallion noted. Faust snorted slightly and then grinned.
"He was an Earth Pony," she stated bluntly. The stallion blinked and then coughed into his hoof with a blush.
"Ah... yes... that would explain it," he remarked. Faust nickered softly and glanced at the girls once more. "So what brings you to the Royal Sister's castle?" the stallion questioned. Faust blinked and then raised a brow. 'Royal sisters? Since when are the girls royals? Last I checked they still caused chaos wherever they went... especially when breakfast is involved' she noted to herself. Faust then considered her answer for a moment. She didn't want to just barge into the girls lives randomly. They clearly had a life now that didn't really involve her anymore... and well... maybe it was better that way.
No need for their old nag of a nanny to come bother them after all.
"Just passing through," she replied softly, "Thought I'd check the place out," she added.
"I see," the stallion remarked. Lulu then tilted her head to the side.
"Prithee ma'am, but hast we met before?" she questioned. Faust blinked and then snorted at the way the girl spoke. 'Oh my stars that is just so adorable!' she thought with a nicker to herself.
"M-Maybe," she replied mysteriously, a grin across her face. Lulu frowned and shot a look at the mare while the stallion cleared his throat.
"Yes... in any case ma'am, I am Starswirl the Bearded, a pleasure to meet you," the stallion stated with a bow of his head. Faust nodded with an eye closed and a slight smirk. "These two are the royal sisters, co-rulers of Equestria," he offered with a hoof raised and motioned to Celly and Lulu. "This is her majesty Princess Celestia," he said and Celly nodded her head, "and her sister Princess Luna," he noted and the blue alicorn sniffed and glared at the ancient mare.
"And whom might you be?" the lunar alicorn questioned. Faust blinked and then hummed internally.
"Inkwell," she replied after a moment of thought, "just call me Inkwell," she stated. Starswirl nodded, though he had a funny look on his face as he did. 'Luna' frowned as she looked at the ancient alicorn, as if something was wrong. 'Sorry Lulu, but you girls have better things to do than worry 'bout an old nag like me,' Faust thought to herself. "So what has you three out and about?" she asked them with her head tilted slightly. She idly raised her hood over her head while Celly replied.
"We are heading for the village outside the Everfree," she replied. Faust blinked and looked in the direction she came from with a frown.
"Why?" she questioned. Celestia arched a brow and looked at Faust strangely.
"It's Hearths Warming Eve of course. We're going to visit the orphan foals and tell them stories," the alicorn replied. Luna snorted and muttered under her breath which caused Faust to glance at her for a moment. She then turned back to Celestia with a raised brow. She knew what a Hearth was, and Hearths warming made sense, but what was 'Hearths Warming Eve' supposed to be?
"Hearths what now?" she questioned.
"A holiday," Starswirl elaborated, "It's known to everypony as Hearths Warming Eve. On this day we give gifts, visit family and friends, and celebrate togetherness between the three tribes. We celebrate it in honor of the original joining of the three tribes by our trusted founders. The Princesses like to visit the orphans so that they don't feel left out," the stallion explained. Faust made an oh with her mouth and slowly nodded her head. Given that the girls were orphans too, that made a lot of sense. She then backed up a pace as Luna got up close to her with narrowed eyes.
"How is it that thou do not know of Hearths Warming?" Luna questioned, "Tis a most respected holiday cross all of Equestria," she stated. Faust merely nickered once more at the odd way the pony spoke. She found it to be adorable that Lulu had taken up such a flowery way of speaking since becoming a Princess. 'Actually makes sense given how she used to talk,' she noted to herself.
"Sorry, I'm from..." she paused and considered her answer, "very very far away," she settled on with a nervous titter. Luna frowned while Starswirl hummed.
"The Crystal Empire maybe?" he questioned. However he dismissed the idea at the blank look from the white mare. "Perhaps a different settlement then... are you from the south?" Starswirl questioned and Faust nodded. The bearded stallion hummed and stroked his beard then looked at her strangely. "I say, would you happen to be from Trotsfield then?" he questioned. A look crossed both Celestia and Luna's faces at the mention of the name. Both ponies looking to one another with confused.
"That sounds so familiar," the both breathed aloud. Faust however just grinned in response.
"Yeah, I'm from Trotsfield," she replied. Not really, but it was kind of close to where she lived, well, when compared to the other settlements anyways.
"Ah, that explains a lot then," the stallion noted. Faust frowned in response, idly wondering if she'd just been insulted. However the stallion idly glanced at the sky and turned to Luna and Celestia. "Princesses, I believe we've delayed enough, if we're to reach the orphanage before sunset we should leave now," the old stallion suggested. Celestia immediately nodded her head while Luna frowned.
"What's wrong with sunset?" she muttered under her breath. Faust looked at the younger sister in concern and then back to Starswirl as he bowed his head in her direction.
"Forgive us miss Inkwell, but we must be off," he stated and hurried off. Celestia inclined her head in Faust's direction as well and then followed Starswirl. Luna paused and stared at Faust strangely, then bit her lip and hurried after her sister and the bell wearing pony. She watched the trio hurry towards the village and her face fell. She sighed and turned back to the castle, a small nicker crossing her lips as she looked at the castle.
"Not bad girls, you've really made a name for yourselves," she murmured. She then blinked as a pegasus in armor fell to the ground. He breathed heavily as he got up, a few burns visible on his body. 'What the hay?' she wondered. The pegasus rushed to one of the guards on the castle grounds and grabbed him manically.
"Where are the princesses!? War-Helm is attacking again!" the stallion declared loudly. The guard looked at him in alarm.
"Where?!" he demanded.
"Shady Hollow, or what's left of it!" the burned guard replied. Faust frowned to herself, 'War-Helm' didn't sound like somepony friendly and given those burns...
"Is this War-Helm dangerous?" she questioned. The guards blinked and turned to her.
"Who are you?" the first questioned.
"A mare the princesses briefly spoke too," the second replied stiffly. Faust rolled her eyes.
"Look, who or what is this War-Helm thing?" she questioned bluntly.
"A pony made out of fire," the first guard replied shakily, his eye twitched and he began to shake. "Years ago the Princesses fought him and he did... something... it allowed him to come back from death! But now he's a flaming beast! No body, just fire and armor and death!" the stallion exclaimed frantically. His comrade grabbed him by the withers while Faust frowned deeply. 'Hearths Warming is a really important holiday to these ponies... well, might as well give the girls a little gift of my own, besides I haven't stretched out my legs in a long time,' the ancient mare decided.
"Shady Hollow, where might that be exactly?" she questioned. The second guard merely scoffed and looked at her strangely.
"Ma'am if you're sightseeing I can assure you a monster like War-Helm is not a place you want to go," the pony stated. Before he could blink though Faust sighed and her horn flashed crimson. A sleep spell suddenly surged outwards and all the guards in the immediate area fell asleep. With that done Faust looked up, her eyes began to glow crimson and she spotted the Pegasus' trail. 'Just follow that and I should find this War-Helm thing,' she decided. She then raised then beat her wings and shot up high into the air. She then stopped high up, took a quick breath, and shot in the direction of Shadow-Hollow.
Thankfully, it didn't take much to see the place from the air, especially since it was in a forest... and on fire...
'Huh, that's pretty obvious. So not a 'Chess-Master' villain then. Good, I hate those,' the mare noted to herself as she lowered down into the burning village. She then exhaled a quick breath into her bangs and focused on her magic once more. She could feel the magic in the fires around her, so she cast a simple spell. 'Spectra-Dissolution charm,' she thought as a wave pulsed outwards. The spell did exactly what it sounded like, dissolved spectra. This was very useful for disabling random magic as Spectra was a part of all magic. Internal Spectra was fine, but external, well, it was best not to let it get hit with such a charm.
The fires around the small settlement all went out while Faust marched forward. She noticed as ponies galloped from the center of town and whistled to herself. She idly reached a hoof up and tapped the side of her earmuffs through her hood. Instantly a different song began to play for her. She felt the beat of the song pulse through her body and smiled to herself as she approached the center of town silently. She idly watched as a pony made of iron and copper armor appeared, it's mane and tail made of fire with an omega shaped Symbol on it's flank.
Faust fearlessly trotted passed the fleeing ponies and approached the flaming stallion. It's burning red eyes locked onto her as she approached and a gout of flame extended from the end of it's metal muzzle. The ancient alicorn idly continued to bob her head to the beat of her music as she saw the pony open it's flaming wings and rear back to whinny in a deep burning tone. 'Last time I heard someone with a 'burning' tone was Lavan,' she noted to herself with a nicker. This guy was nothing compared to Lavan however, she could tell that much with a glance.
"Alright bub," she began fearlessly. The ponies of Shady Hollow had already vanished, moving to hide while she and War-Helm faced off against one another, "let me give you a bit of advice, if you keep going on like you are right now..." Faust began. War-Helm merely snorted a gout of fire and glared at her heatedly. He pawed at the ground and crouched down, making ready to charge at the mare. Faust ignored him and raised a hand to her earmuffs, her left eye closing while her right began to glow bright red, "Then you're in for a bad time," she stated firmly. However War-Helm whinnied and charged at her at full tilt.
His hooves beat against the ground and tore chunks of dirt free as he approached the mare. She merely arched a brow and moved to the side as War-Helm came at her. The stallion brought his forehooves down hard and turned into a skid to face the ancient mare. She nickered softly as she grinned towards War-Helm mockingly. The flaming warhorse snarled and his flaming mane roared upwards as he let out a gout of flame. Faust herself just shook her head, still idly bobbing her head to the beat of her music. She didn't even care as War-Helm slowly circled around her...
"Meh, they never listen," Faust murmured with a shrug. War-Helm lunged at her with another loud whinny, his eyes blazing in fury. Faust merely dodged to the side, avoiding him once more while he skidded into his turn and lunged at her again. This time the ancient alicorn nickered as she conjured a wall of spectra that the warhorse impacted with head on. She then grinned as she conjured a floor of solidified spectra under War-Helm and bounced him up into the air. War-Helm merely roared in fury as it began to spin into a ball of fire that fell towards the ground, and Faust, below.
Faust whistled lightly, and then formed a pillar of red-spectra. The hardened pillar slammed into War-Helm from the side and sent him flying. She then conjured a second that slammed him to the side before she conjured dozens of pillars that started to bounce the spinning flaming warhorse around. She still bobbed her head up and down as War-Helm bounced from pillar to pillar. The flaming warhorse suddenly snarled and unfurled his flaming wings, destroying her pillars and causing him to fall into the ground with an explosion of dust and dirt.
Faust merely smirked as she saw War-Helm's glowing form glaring at her.
"Imm'a go ahead and guess that you somehow got your power from my girls. Cause the magic you give off feels a lot like theirs," Faust mused aloud. War-Helm snarled and lunged at her once more, then ducked into a spinning wheel of fire. Faust merely winked out of the way and appeared where War-Helm had started. The flaming warhorse came out of his spin and glared at her furiously as she nickered at him. "So that means when they fight you, you just go and absorb more power from them, am I right?" she questioned. War-Helm didn't answer, instead he let out a gout of fire from his helm and charged at her, only to swing a flaming wing at her.
She dodged to the side. War-Helm turned to her with wide furious eyes while she yawned in boredom. War-Helm snorted a gout of fire and lunged at her once more, horn pointed straight at her. Faust merely unclasped her cloak and tossed at him as she dodged to the side. War-Helm skidded forward and into a heap as he tried to toss the cloak off. However he then gave up and his flames roared outwards, burning the cloak from his horn as he turned to the, for now, tiny white alicorn. She merely smirked as she lifted a hoof up, her horn glowing brightly.
War-Helm grunted as a magic hoof made from spectra formed under him and lifted him up into the air. Faust then raised her other hoof over the first and a second magical hoof formed above a surprised War-Helm. She then slammed both hooves together and War-Helm was all but flattened with a crack. Faust whistled to herself as she brushed off her hooves, the magic hooves in the air doing the same before the dissipated into a fine crimson mist. War-Helm's broken and battered body fell to the ground, only for flames to roar to life and super-heat the metal.
It bent and twisted outwards until it was fully repaired and the flaming warhorse stood once more. He panted as he stood there, his flames had dimmed but with a shake of his head returned to full burst. His eyes blazed with actual fire as he glared at the ivory mare and lunged at her once more. She rolled her eyes and then smirked as crimson tiles formed under War-Helm's hooves. The warhorse blinked as the tiles started to turn into a spiral as they raised him over Faust and he turned to her, only to slam into a wall she formed at the end. Faust waved her hoof, the tiles and wall vanishing and War-Helm fell to the ground with a bang.
The warhorse slowly got back up onto his hooves while she clicked her tongue.
"I'll guess the girls kind of stay away from you, if they don't you get stronger and burn more ponies after all," she continued. War-Helm roared as he lunged forward and swung at her with his wings again. She ducked under him and then slid below him. He looked down while she idly rested a hoof under her chin as she looked up at him. "And if you do fight them, you're basically guaranteed to win or at least tire them out, am I right?" she questioned. War-Helm reared back and stomped down with his hooves to crush the mare, however Faust winked away. The flaming warhorse's eyes darted all around in search of the mare, but he didn't...
"But with that in mind," her voice came from behind and War-Helm turned quickly, only for his hooves to be swept out from under him by an ivory wing. An auburn tail was then wrapped around his neck and he was flicked to the side. He spotted Faust as she looked down at him with a smirk. "Since I'm not my girls, I can use my magic on you all I want," she stated and then bucked him in the face. The flaming warhorse grunted as it was punted into the distance. A wall of solid red spectra forming for him to crash into while Faust languidly approached him.
"Which is good, seeing as my girls are busy spending this 'Hearths Warming' thing with some orphan foals and I'm not about to let you ruin that for them or the foals," she continued. War-Helm snorted a gout of flame, the voices in his head demanded that he shut the mare up! Celestia and Luna were annoying, but at least they weren't always talking! They just preached endlessly about the lives of ponies and how he should feel bad and... actually they were more annoying. At least this Alicorn was beating him senseless as she rambled, he could respect a mare with that kind of power at the least... but still, she needed to die!
He lunged forward with a whinny and Faust silently rolled her eyes. She formed a spell on her horn and swung her head at an angle. An arc of crimson magic extended from her horn towards the flaming warhorse. He leaped to the side, only for a beam of magic she had conjured shortly after to slam into him head on. She nickered quietly to herself while War-Helm snarled and roared in outrage. He lunged at her again. However the ancient alicorn's horn began to glow once more. She grasped at War-Helms hooves with her magic and lifted him up into the air with them, much to his surprise. He hung upside down helplessly while Faust looked tired.
"Cause I don't really want to intrude on my girls lives. They don't need me, and no pony wants their dam looking over there shoulder forever, and I'm just an old nanny to 'em, or a teacher, or maybe just a caretaker," she noted as she then slammed War-Helm into the ground, the iron-armor bending inwards from the sheer force she applied. "But still, while I might not bother my girls anymore, an old mare like me can at least keep an eye out for 'em. And with a pony like you around, I figure I should step in just one last time. My Hearths Warming gift to them, is not having to worry 'bout you anymore!" she stated as she lifted the stallion up.
"Cause compared to the things I used to fight, you're a joke. Your a flaming stallion, big whoop. I fought gods of darkness, monstrous world eaters, creatures made out of molten rock, demons of storm and shadow, a rock dog that petrified whatever it touched, and I did all that without magic!" she declared with a grin. "With magic I trained with some of histories most powerful battle-mages, I've fought necromancers, and taken on the armies of the bucking undead," she stated with a sigh then glared at War-Helm, "compared to all that, you're just annoying to me at the very best," she noted with a smirk and a slow shake of her head.
With that said, she sent War-Helm flying upwards, crimson pillars of spectra formed at his side and he was slammed from side to side, into the ground and then into a roof. He was moved by the mare's magic and into the walls, ground, and roof at an unrelenting pace. She then flicked her head upwards and tossed him high into the sky. War-Helm flailed for a moment and then his flames surged to life and fixed his armor. He then focused his fire and rocketed towards Faust furiously. The ancient mare smirked as he approached and formed a wall of spectra between them. War-Helm turned out of the way of the wall and then widened his eyes.
Faust had already formed dozens of pillars and walls out of her magic and forced the flaming warhorse to dodge and weave all around them. The mare herself idly bobbed her head up and down as she watched, and then smirked as her little plan ended... and War-Helm slammed head first into the ground. "You might want to pay more attention to which direction your going!" she crowed with a nicker. War-Helm roared out furiously as he shot out of the ground and then lunged at her once more. He swung his horn-blade down at the mare but she merely ducked under him and he glared down at her.
Faust gave a cheeky wave and then focused her magic to her horn. She then fired beam of crimson magic slammed into War-Helm and sent him flying up into the air. She quickly flipped back onto her feet and then swung her head upwards, crimson energy surged from her horn to form magical chains that gripped War-Helm tightly. She then swung her head to the opposite side and the chains pulled War-Helm with them and slammed him into the ground. Faust then began to reel the chains inwards while War-Helm struggled against them futilely. Faust idly started to mark on the ground with her hooves, making runes and seals that started to glow.
She then sucked in a breath as she pulled War-Helm onto them. A moment later the flaming warhorse screamed in pain as they did their work. The ground began to glow with magic and lightning arched into and out of his armor. Soon his body began to steam and his flames slowly began to die. His burning red eyes managed to lock onto Faust hatefully one last time before they too vanished. With them gone Faust stepped back as he fell silent and still. His armor slumped down lifelessly and Faust exhaled a sigh into her bangs. With that finished Faust idly whistled to herself as she started to disassemble War-Helm into bits and pieces.
She then looked at her magical chains and concentrated on them with one eye closed. Runes and seals formed along the chains and they wrapped tightly around War-Helm's bits and pieces. Faust then lifted the pieces into the air and blinked. She saw stunned ponies staring at her from the buildings all around. She grinned cheekily in their direction and raised a hoof to her head. "Sorry about any damages everyone, just felt like cleaning this up for my girls," she stated. She then turned and started to trot off, only to tap her chin and turn back to them with a grin.
"Oh and if anyone asks 'bout this, just ask 'em to wish the princesses a happy Hearths Warming from a friend!" she exclaimed cheerfully. The stunned ponies just stared at her as she left with a nicker. She trotted out of Shady Valley at a brisk pace, still bobbing her head to the beat of her song. She paused when she felt the armor in her magic shift. She glanced at War-Helm's armor as she felt the flaming warhorse's spirit roar at her. However given his present situation he was quite impotent. So she merely rolled her eyes and cocked her head to the side."Yeah yeah I've heard all the threats and curses before," she stated with a shake of her head.
"I swear, you'll really fit in well with the rest of the guys back home," she noted with a smirk. She then vanished in a crimson flash of magic back home to the tower... she really hoped that the girls appreciated her little gift to them.
TBC...
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Nice.
sansicorn!
Faust is Sans confirmed, play Megalovania.
6768007
6767968
I hope you both know, I literally just got into Undertale... and listened to Megalovania while I wrote that fight. Seriously, Faust did too, the 'Beat' she had playing in her earmuffs it was Megalovania.
Faust is such a badass.
6768034
Welcome to the fanbase, then. Hope you have a good time with the Sansdom. (what are you talking about I'm totally not one of them)
6768387 Normally Faust isn't this dangerous, she's shown to be somewhat neurotic and even a tad moody, but she's never gone looking for a fight. She tends to avoid it whenever possible, as seen in the story thus far she's gone out of her way to avoid being put into a straight fight with anything, even the undead, to the point of letting herself and others be put into danger she could otherwise avoid. Part of this is because she believes that if she did fight something, the ponies close by would be terrified of her. Twilight and the others have never seen Faust fight, neither have the princesses, they have heard she can fight, but haven't seen her systematically destroy her opponents without much effort like she did to War-Helm, who was supposed to be extremely dangerous to most ponies. While to Faust he was literally a nuisance and nothing more.
6768447 I know that is one of the reasons why she so badass she knows when and when not to fight and even when facing enemies that pose a very small threat to her she just makes it look cool.
6768387 Tsunderplane want's her shtick back, (But its not like she cares!)
6768567 Unfortunately, sometimes she doesn't get a choice...
New chaaaaapteeeeeeer...
I loved it.
6769708 Glad to hear you liked it!
Man, this story is starting to consist of more specials and extras than actual updates.
thanks for the update !!
6771531
How would you do it?
6771531 This is mostly cause I'm a bit lazy, when holidays roll by I feel a need to write for them. I also feel like I should flesh out the bits that are 'mentioned' by Faust every now and then or they just seem like random tidbits. This was based off of the story Faust told Rarity and Fluttershy about the 'Black Pony Knight' or at least how he vanished.
I like how she invented headphones for herself. I thought this was a great chapter.
6779634 Well she is the alicorn of Creativity, so making new things is what she does best. Plus music does fall within the realm of her powers. But mostly I just thought it would be something she might do. If she has to wear earmuffs that make it hard to hear, then making them do something interesting as well would make sense to her.
* War-Helm felt his sins crawling up his back
6831004 War Helm's in for a bad time isn't he?
6945688
The Purple Pony Pox
7013052 Thank you kind sir or madam, your kind words are most sincerely appreciated.
When is the next update?
7013052 Same here, there hasn't been a story like this on here. This story is my #1 favorite here
More??
7152276 Patience please, more will come.
I must admit, I do love it when a villain is completely overwhelmed to a comedic level by a hero.
7160776 I do too, but not when it happens too often. But with War-Helm literally representing the 'black alicorn with a flaming mane' trope I also unleashed a little pent frustration on him. Sure he's a bit more creative than the others, but hey, everyone needs to let loose every now and then... Plus I wanted to show how tough Faust can be when she really sets her mind to it, and how her powers can work in a fight.
7160795 As a black alicorn with a non-flaming mane, I take no offence to that remark. XD Seriously, this was a lot of fun. But now I want to see the opposite, Faust with her back against the wall and seemingly overwhelmed.
7160844 Yeah... funny story but I was already planning for something like that. Part of the reason for this 'special / extra' was to show just how strong she is in a fight for a comparison. So yeah, I do make a lot of 'extras' for this story, but a lot of them are lore or things that will give insight to future plot points. At least I think that's what I'm doing, sometimes it's hard to tell.
7160868
Seriously, you're fantastic. Keep up the good work.
This is the true secret of a good writer, make a really good story by having only some idea of what you're doing.
7160881 Aw, thanks! I get so many nice comments and honestly I wish I could do something nice for all of you. I'd get the chapters out faster but... well, between work and my occasional bouts of pure laziness that just can't happen as quickly as I'd like it too.
Oh, but small tidbit you might like, despite War-Helm being something of a black alicorn OC stand-in for Faust to beat on in this story, when I first got into the MLP fandom I created War-Helm as my main OC, his name is actually derived from a translation of my own no less, he was originally just living armor with the 'flames' of his mane as manifested bits of his soul and magic escaping his armored shell with a literal crystal heart in his chest.
But as I got more into the fandom I created Breakdown as my OC instead a living 'puppet' pony with a soul shard giving him his personality and the ability to move, I feel more connected to him than I did War-Helm for some reason, and as for War-Helm he became more of a character in his own right. At first he was just a literal 'god of war' but over time he kept evolving and changing until he became a 'source of hatred, destruction, and violence' instead as that just felt better for a story.
Dang it it's 4:30 AM and I'm only on the first chapter.
Absolutely loved this story so far, please update soon!
This is pretty hilarious