The Vacation: Day 3 Part 2
The Vacation Day 3:
Seeking the truth...
--
Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Cadence to her friends and Sister in law, did not gallop into Canterlot Castle. If asked she would inform you that it was merely a brisk trot. She most certainly was not distressed when she learned that she was to look after Equestria. She was merely concerned when news of her aunts sudden and inexplicable disappearance arrived by Courier. And she was most definitely not scared out of her bucking mind at the thought of filling in for her aunts... okay, so the majority of that was actually a lie.
Cadence was utterly terrified.
"What happened?" The crystal princess questioned as she fell in step with the new captain of the guard, her husband's replacement. He was an Earth pony, which she thought just a bit strange, his mane was cropped short and colored blue and silver, while his tail was longer, the color of which seemed natural on him, his hooves were blue, and his coat was enchanted to seem white by the armor he was wearing, his eyes were a crystal blue and shined with wisdom belied by his youth. His armor on the other hand, was the same as what Shining Armor had worn during his own tenure as Guard-Captain.
"Yesterday evening both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna vanished. Princess Celestia had been inquiring as to the whereabouts of all the royal archivists. She was informed that they were all present and accounted for, after which she left and we assume encountered Princess Luna. We found traces of their magic within Celestia's quarters as well as what appear to be traces of a multiple high level charms that completely camouflaged the room from view." The pony informed Cadence without missing a beat, his voice deep and calm, the pink alicorn frowning to herself.
"Not many ponies can still cast Charms like that." Cadence noted to herself and the other pony nodded his head. Charms were somewhat of a dying art, due in no small part to a stigma surrounding them that "Charm-Casters" would mess with other ponies minds. It was true that several ancient Charm-Casters had in fact developed such charms, but it was also a fact that Charm-Casters were also the only ponies able to cast Protective Charms, better known as Wards. Wards, unlike Shining Armor's shield, were a far more subtle protection that was practically invisible to the naked eye.
"I've already had a word with the known ponies with the talent to do so. All of them have iron-clad alibis and little to no motive for abducting the Princesses." The guard pony informed while looking to Cadence from the corner of his eye. "For obvious reasons I've also had the guard keep Princess Celestia and Princess Luna's disappearance a secret, as we do not wish to incite a panic." The stallion continued, Cadence nodding her head in agreement. She could easily understand his reasoning and made a mental note to keep this incident a secret as well.
"I see... was there any kind of residual trace of the magic used then?" Cadence questioned and the pony nodded his head.
"There was and our analysts are looking it over as we speak." The stallion stated and Cadence nodded, although she had to admit she felt a little out of place. Ruling the Crystal Empire was different than ruling Equestria, Equestria was several times larger than the empire after all, and not only that but she also had Shining Armor to help rule the empire. At the moment she would be ruling Equestria all alone...
"Have there been any other incidents?" Cadence questioned with a sigh, the stallion frowning and shaking his head.
"No, the most unusual part is that the sun and moon are also still rising and setting. However our astrologists have noticed that their timing seems to be off." The red stallion replied and a frown crossed Cadence face.
"Okay, then why was I even called here? It seems like you have everything well in hoof." Cadence noted and the guard stallion smiled softly in response.
"Princess Celestia left orders that you were to be brought to Canterlot should ever she be unable to perform her duties or if no other pony was available." He replied and Cadence rolled her eyes.
"I think you're already a better replacement than me." Cadence replied, more because she had never wanted to try and rule a kingdom the size of Equestria. The Crystal Empire was already taxing and she had help with it from Shining Armor, who like this other pony had been Captain of The Guard and knew a bit about running the kingdom.
"Then you underestimate what a princess is." The stallion noted and Cadence shot him a confused look.
"We're rulers of our kingdoms..." She noted and the stallion shook his head.
"Yes, but you are also so much more than that. Although it may seem that that is all you are, you are actually far more than mere rulers," the blue maned stallion stated and turned to look at a stained glass window with Celestia and Luna on it. "You are the heart of the people, it is only by knowing that the princesses are there for them that the citizens of Equestria feel safe and secure. It is when they feel that safety that the people are able to stand as one, in peace and harmony." The red stallion explained, a calm wisdom shining in his eyes that surprised the crystal alicorn.
"Oh um... well thank you, I've never thought of us as that way." Cadence admitted while the red pony silently turned away from her and continued on his way.
"Few ever see what is right in front of them," he noted sagely, the pink princess idly nodding her head before falling back into step at his side. She couldn't help but think that while he wouldn't be an effective Guard in terms of magic or ability, his wisdom would more than make up for it. A sudden thought that he was not so much a Guard himself, so much as a leader for the other guards to look to, made her believe she understood why he was chosen to be the new Guard Captain in the first place.
"I have to admit, I was actually worried about auntie Celestia and Luna finding a replacement for Shining. But you seem to have things handled pretty well." Cadence admitted, yet the guard pony merely nodded his head once and continued on his way. Shifting on her hooves as she followed the guard-captain, the pink princess then smiled nervously. "So umm... what guard division were you part of before becoming captain?" Cadence questioned curiously and a strange smile crossed the guard pony's face.
"I was not a guard before Princess Celestia honored me with my current position." The pony replied honestly, Cadence arching a brow and looking at him in surprise.
"What were you then?" She asked curiously and the guard pony closed his eyes.
"I was actually a simple clerk in the Royal Archives." He replied truthfully and then turned and continued down the hall, Cadence looking at him in surprise. She had honestly had no idea what to expect after he told her he hadn't even been in the guard before becoming captain. She didn't know what she was expecting of him either, but she had to admit that a clerk in the Royal Archives had not been it.
"I know auntie has her quirks, but does she often pick random ponies for such prestigious positions?" Cadence questioned of the guard pony and he merely nodded his head.
"In my time as captain I have found that her highness often knows more than she lets on, and less than she would like to admit. Sometimes she sees greatness in a pony, and it is when she sees that greatness that she wishes it to be brought to light. Although I fear that there have been times that greatness was not as she hoped it would be, and instead turned to something dark." The guard pony explained with a calm tone, Cadence nodding her head in agreement with his assessment of her aunt.
"I believe that Twilight Sparkle was a similar case, a pony in whom she saw the potential for greatness," the guard pony noted aloud, Cadence smiling and humming idly in full agreement with that assessment. She also had a feeling that her Sister-In-Law was destined for great things herself.
"So what kind of great things does auntie expect from you?" Cadence questioned of the earth-pony curiously and he was silent for a moment.
"I do not know," he admitted and Cadence felt a bit cheated, although she put that to the back of her mind and went back to the task at hand.
"So what exactly are my duties while I'm here?" Cadence questioned and the red pony closed his eyes for a moment.
"Nothing much I assure you. For the most part The Guard will ensure that all is well in Equestria, but if you are up to it it would be appreciated if you could simply appear in court, perhaps if you are asked as to their whereabouts say that the Princesses are visiting The Crystal Empire and you are here in there stead." The red pony replied, Cadence humming in understanding before a thought suddenly occurred to her.
"Oh I totally forgot!" she thought while smacking her head with a hoof, the red pony looking to her with concern. "Please forgive me for not asking sooner, but what's your name?" Cadence questioned of the red pony and her smiled kindly with a soft chuckle in his throat.
"I am Orion Prime." He replied with a slight nod and then sighed as they approached the throne room. "Now if you'll pardon me, I wish to assist in the analysis of the magic found on the scene of the Princesses disappearance." Orion noted with a slight bow, then turned and made his way through the castle leaving Cadence to her own devices. The Crystal Princess bit her lip for a moment before entering the throne room, a frown across her face as she worried about her aunts. She knew that they were nigh immortal, but that didn't mean she couldn't hope that they were both safe and sound.
"At least the sun and moon are still turning, I guess that's a good sign." Cadence whispered as she approached the throne distractedly before a thought occurred to her. "I should probably tell Twilight that Auntie Celestia is missing..." she mused before thinking of how her sister-in-law would react to such news... "Err, I'll do that after we have more evidence as to what happened. No use sending her into a frenzy." The Crystal Princess decided with a nervous chuckle and made her way to sit on the throne. Idly, she noted it was a lot less comfortable than the one she had in the Crystal Empire...
--
Ponyville is used to many things, it is used to Pinkie Pie and her random parties, it is used to being right next to The Everfree Forest and it's creatures, its even used to strange things happening on a weekly basis. Sadly, the one thing that Ponyville will likely never be used too, is Twilight Sparkle when she is angry, or when she is frustrated.
"WHY CAN'T I GET THIS!?!" the lavender mare's voice echoed out of her library in a boom worthy of the Royal Canterlot Voice. Within the library Twilight was glaring at a book with one eye twitching dangerously, while Faust relaxed nearby and giggled and continued enchanting books with a simple flame repellent charm. Simple for her at least. It seemed that Twilight was a bit of a slow learner when it came to charms.
"You need to stop trying so hard." Faust singsonged playfully, the lavender unicorn snorting and shooting her a glare.
"How am I supposed to get this, if I stop trying?" Twilight demanded, clearly more than a little annoyed with her lack of success with this brand of magic. Given that magic was supposed to be her special talent, she felt that her annoyance with her complete and utter lack of success was more than justified. Faust on the other hand rolled her eyes and grinned at the lavender unicorn playfully.
"I never said for you to stop trying, I just want you to stop trying so hard. You can't force this kind of magic to work with raw power, you have to... feel it out," Faust tried to explain, although given then flat look on Twilight's face it was more than apparent she had come a little short.
"That makes absolutely no sense," Twilight stated with a frown. Faust let out a groan and rubbed her head, still pulling book after book from the shelves to enchant them. What? Just because Twilight was proving difficult didn't mean she wasn't going to do like she said she would and enchant the books of her library.
"Look Twilight, Charms are not like other types of spells, they don't have any kind of formula you can follow, you have to feel the magic in order for the spell to work." Faust stated with a smile. She idly remembered how Princess Majesty had taught her charms, not to mention how to feel her magic without the use of her horn. Back when it was broken she'd barely been able to use magic, but thanks to that she'd at least managed a few low level levitation spells.
"That's impossible!" Twilight all but shouted at Faust and the significantly older mare brought a hoof over her face and groaned lightly. "How can a spell function properly if you have no formula! All spells have a formula to allow them to function properly, without a proper formula to follow the spell will overload!" The lavender mare shouted at Faust who rolled her eyes and turned to give the unicorn a pointed look.
"Yeah, if you're just pumping enough raw magical power to overload it, you will." Faust agreed wholeheartedly and saw a deep scowl cross the lavender mare's face.
"Then why haven't you told me what to do!? I get that I need to cast the spell, but you haven't set any perimeters for the spell, you haven't explained how it's supposed to form or how I know it's worked, all you've done is told me to cast the spell and 'Feel' the magic. But as I've told you before, that makes no sense!" Twilight growled with air-quotes, Faust shaking her head and looking away even as she brought out more and more books and cast the flame-repellent charm on them.
"Ugh,getting rid of The Smooze wasn't this difficult." Faust muttered to herself before looking back at Twilight with a stern frown. "Look Twilight, Charms are not like other magics. In order to cast a charm you must not only perform the magic but also change it based on your target. If it's a wall the charm must be sturdy, if it's fragile, you have to be gentle, and so on and so on, etc etc. As such you cannot plan the spell in advance because every charm has to be different in order to work," the off-white mare explained while pulling yet another book down and placing the flame repellent charm on it.
"But. But. But." Twilight repeated with wide eyes while staring at Faust strangely. Said off-white mare turned to see the lavender unicorn staring at her with a look of confusion she couldn't really describe. Putting the next book away Faust trotted over to the lavender mare and poked her in the head.
"Uh, are you alright?" She questioned and Twilight rapidly shook her head and got into the older mare's face.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CANT PLAN CHARMS IN ADVANCE?" The lavender unicorn demanded loudly, Faust bringing her hooves to her ears and falling back onto her plot. Rubbing her ears for a few moments the off-white alicorn in disguise then shook her head and cleaned her ears with the edge of her hooves.
"Whoa, now that was a good one, not quite as good as the charm Luna uses to use the "Royal Canterlot Voice" but still impressive." Faust noted with a slight smile, only for Twilight to get in her face again, now nose to nose with the significantly older mare.
"How in Celestia's name is it impossible to plan a charm in advance!" the little lavender unicorn demanded with a ferocity that greatly surprised the off-white mare. "Sure, I know of more than a few spells that take time to cast, or ones that are extremely difficult, but I've never had to do more than study them!" The purple unicorn continued with a ferocity belied by her typically gentle and bookish nature. "How can you expect me to believe that charms can't be planned out?" the little pony demanded of the off-white mare angrily. Faust rolled her eyes and pushed her back with a hoof.
"With that attitude you'll never master Charms. You need to pay attention, forget what you know about magic, and listen to me for once," Faust stated simply and brought yet another book over, only for Twilight to snap a hoof down and pin it to the table with a growl. "Or you can act like a spoiled child who isn't getting her way," Faust grumbled with a shake of her head while Twilight suddenly snorted and glared at the older mare.
"Stop that! I need you to actually try to teach me what I have to do to get this right!" Twilight ordered and a stern look crossed Faust's face.
"Look, I've been trying to teach you, the problem is that you refuse to learn what I have to teach!" Faust told the younger mare, poking her in the chest in an attempt to get her point across.
"But you aren't making any sense!" Twilight repeated for what Faust honestly felt like the hundredth time by this point. She knew that was just a gross exaggeration, but at this point she really didn't care.
"How in the world did you teach this pony Celestia? She's as stubborn as a mule!" Faust muttered under her breath, she then took a deep breath and exhaled, an old trick she had learned from Heart-Throb when it came to dealing with stubborn situations, or ponies. "Alright Twilight, clearly I can't just tell you what to do," Faust began before giving her a look, "even though I was telling you exactly what to do..." She muttered grumpily and then took another deep breath and exhaled, she had a feeling that she was going to be using that method to relax for the majority of this "Lesson".
"So I'll just have to be a little less than orthodox with this lesson." Faust finally finished before grinning at Twilight.
"Why do I get the feeling I really don't like that look?" The lavender mare questioned warily and Faust snickered to herself before causing the books around them to suddenly rise up and lift them. "What in Equestria are you doing?!" Twilight demanded as she was picked up by an unnaturally large book that seemed to pop out of nowhere.
"Teaching you." Faust replied with a smile and Twilight shot the older mare a look.
"And how does floating into my ceiling- Wait, how have we not hit the ceiling yet?" Twilight questioned. Faust rolled her eyes.
"Because we haven't." Faust noted playfully and the lavender unicorn shot her an annoyed glare.
"I know that, but why haven't we hit the roof? My ceiling isn't half this high up!" Twilight exclaimed and the off-white mare brought a hoof to her head and groaned.
"I told you I'm going to be unorthodox with my teaching from now on..." Faust replied and Twilight gave the older mare a flat look.
"You mean there was a point when your teaching was actually orthodox?" Twilight snarked in response and the red maned mare frowned deeply.
"I'll have you know that my teaching method is perfectly normal, you are just being really difficult." Faust stated with a snort and Twilight growled.
"Me difficult?!" The little lavender unicorn demanded and pointed a hoof at the off-white mare. "You're the mare who won't explain what you want me to do!" She shouted and Faust groaned in her throat and brought a hoof to her head. She was starting to wonder just why Twilight was having such a difficult time with Charms, her special talent was with magic for ponies sake!
"Twilight listen and listen well, not everything has to have an definite answer, not everything is able to be controlled in this world. There are just some things that you need to let go of if you really want to understand anything at all." Faust stated sagely and yet Twilight frowned deeply and gave the older mare a look.
"That's not true, Pegasi control the weather, Earth-Ponies control plants and the seasons, The Princesses control The Sun and Moon, and Unicorns control Magic." The little lavender mare stated resolutely with a simple nod of her head as if that was that and Faust brought a hoof to her face.
"Oh Pony Feathers," the off-white mare murmured under her breath. Twilight gave her a stern look for her language. "This is going to take longer than I thought," Faust muttered quietly and then looked up and smirked as they came to a sudden stop, Twilight yelping as she was thrown up only to land in a sprawled out position back on top of the large book.
"What just happened?" Twilight questioned and then looked up, her jaw dropping as they appeared to have somehow traveled into the depths of Space. "H-h-how are we breathing?" the lavender unicorn demanded. Faust raised a brow for a moment before smirking.
"That's easy. We're currently in a Perception Charm, not actually in space." Faust replied honestly. Twilight slowly looked over the side of her enormous book before glancing back at the older mare.
"S-so this is all just an illusion?" She questioned softly, the off-white mare brought a hoof to her face and let a groan slip passed her lips.
"No," Faust stated and then took a deep breath before giving Twilight an even look. "A Perception Charm is an advanced magical spell that literally creates a world within the mind of the Target. The world you are in is just as real as it appears, to you at least, but to any pony not within the charm you would just be behaving strangely. A basic illusion is very similar, but without any of the added physical sensations." Faust explained and then watched Twilight shakily rise back to her hooves and look down warily.
"Wait... if that's the case then why haven't I died of asphyxiation?" Twilight questioned and Faust shot her a look as if to ask her if she was being serious. "What? I'm in a charm specifically designed to make be believe I'm here right?" The little lavender unicorn questioned and Faust slowly nodded her head. "Then how am I breathing?" Twilight questioned pointedly. Faust shot her a flat look.
"I made it to create a world similar to space but with limitations, thus you are still able to breathe because I wanted you to be able to breathe. It wouldn't be much of a lesson if you died within the first couple of minutes of speaking to me you know." Faust explained to the lavender unicorn. Twilight raised a brow and glanced over the side of the book again.
"Uhh... so if I fell off of this book?" She questioned and Faust frowned in thought.
"You know I've never actually tested something like that without a Perception Filter before, I can only imagine that one of two things would happen. The resulting shock of hitting the ground would snap you out of the charm, or it would cause your brain to put the fall on "Loop" indefinitely in your mind and you wouldn't even feel the ground when you finally hit it." Faust admitted and then grinned. "Want to test it?" She asked the lavender mare excitedly, only for Twilight to quickly shake her head with her left eye twitching madly.
"Spoil sport." Faust muttered with a pout and then smirked as, to Twilight's eyes, a second version of her seemed to step out of her side. Twilight gaped in shock as the second one sat down next to her. The other Faust had no wings and was for the most part a normal unicorn, though strangely she wasn't as tall and slender as her original self, and had a short and messy mane and tail, her left hoof was covered in bandages, a green ribbon was tied into a bow at the base of her tail, and her horn was broken with only a few pointy splinters left of it.
"Well you can't exactly blame her, testing out a theory that could potentially leave her falling into an abyss forever doesn't exactly sound like too much fun if you ask me," the Unicorn stated. The original Faust nodded her head in agreement.
"Too true Faust two, what do you think three?" Faust questioned with a grin and a third Faust walked out of her other side, Twilight's eyes bolted open as this one was far different than the last. This one could only be a true alicorn, her coat was somehow a polished and pristine true white, her eyes sparkled and shined with wisdom, a heavenly light seemed to shine behind and bathe her in a gentle glow, she even wore Regalia, which included a laurel crown, torq, wing-guards with a few gilded feathers, four hoof-shoes, and a fur lined cloak of dark purple satin.
"Personally, I think you're scaring the poor dear," the alicorn replied with a slim smile on her face. Faust one and Faust two both looked to her afterwards. Twilight looked at the alicorn Faust with barely restrained awe, whether the reason from the off-white mare's "imagination" or the fact she had made a "fake" alicorn version of herself, Faust wasn't really certain. Technically that wasn't a fake either, it was just her old princess garb from her hundred year stint.
"How are you doing this?!" Twilight asked as she looked from one Faust to the next and all three giggled.
"It's part of the Perception Charm. It causes your perception of reality to be altered, though it's not quite like Discord as it isn't a literal change. Rather, all of this is an alteration of what you see, hear, feel, taste, and smell into what I desire them to be. Thus this Charm actually alters whatever your senses should be into whatever is within the world the charm creates. A secondary charm, known as a Perception Filter, can also be added into this for an even greater immersion," the original Faust started to explain with a grin on her face.
"The 'Filter' removes any inconsistencies with the reality that the charm has created for you. For instance if you were to approach a wall and walk into it, unless there was a wall in the charm's world you wouldn't even feel it. Another way to add immersion is a basic "Time Charm" which can be used to speed up or slow down your perception of the passage of time, thus making a relatively short hall seem longer by slowing time or shorter by speeding it up," Unicorn Faust continued explaining while idly looking at her bandaged hoof.
"So it's just a really advanced illusion?" Twilight asked the older mare flatly. The unicorn Faust twitched for a moment and narrowed her eyes.
"Not exactly, it's extremely similar, yes, but Illusions have to be maintained by the caster, Charms are 'placed' and stay so long as they aren't released. This is why they are typically used as Enchantments," the unicorn replied. She then moved some of her bandages to take a peek under and visibly grimaced.
"Oh, I forgot I used to have such a bad case of Thrush," she noted under her breath and her counterparts winced as they remembered that as well. Alicorn Faust was the first to recover, clearing her throat and schooling her features into a calm and serene visage that seemed oddly similar to the one Celestia had mastered.
"In short, My Little Pony, even though you see, hear, and can actually feel and smell us, we're not really here, the charms we cast are simply making you react as though we were actually here." Princess Faust explained, although Twilight inwardly thought that "Queen" seemed somehow more appropriate for the royal looking mare. 'Okay, does she kind of have some kind of God-Complex or something? Although I will admit that that alicorn is extremely well crafted,' Twilight admitted to herself as there was a literal glow about the clearly royal alicorn mare who lay before her, even if she wasn't real.
--
Daring Do had finished looking through the maps in the library, well, she had honestly only looked through a scant few of them. The sheer number of maps would be staggering if she tried to read them all, and instead had settled on a map which would lead to the ancient city of the Hippocampi and a map leading to "Dream Castle" an ancient place where pony society had begun. Daring, with her destination set, had then wandered through the tower in search of the exit, but had quickly realized that that was going to be very difficult.
"Why did it have to be a magic tower?" Daring questioned with a frown as she continued to wander through the tower's halls. The main problem was that Dream Castle was somewhere in the lower levels of the tower, or buried beneath it. None of the legends clearly stated which though. Discovering the existence of Dream Castle, in all the myths and legends within the tower's books, had been a stroke of sheer luck. It was highly unlikely any pony had been within the ancient castle in quite some time given it's rather obscure location.
"I mean really, who builds a massive tower over an ancient castle?" Daring had to question with a shake of her head. She could understand building a castle over top a tower, making it a part of the castle, but she had never heard of ponies actually building a tower on top of a castle. Rolling her eyes and blowing into her bangs, the explorer smiled to herself as she continued down into the tower. All and all, she was more happy to be looking through the real world than she was about finding the castle.
She didn't mind being from a story, she thought that was actually kind of cool as she was essentially immortal so long as ponies remembered her, and she did like the idea of exploring a new world she was unfamiliar with. A quick look through a few history books had confirmed her suspicion that several events in her world had never occurred in this one. That meant that although she could find several similarities, the two worlds were distinct and different in their own ways. She was really quite eager to get to explore those differences.
"It's a brand new world and I wanna see it all!" The Khaki coated mare declared with a grin as she continued to trot through the tower. She honestly didn't care if she found Dream Castle or the exit first, either way she found something new and exciting. Daring had learned that she wasn't happy unless she was out exploring and discovering new things, or raiding ancient tombs for treasure. She already knew that Dream Castle would have no treasure of any worth to her, not that she could take it with her anyways. After all, she wasn't exactly 'real'.
"It's better than wandering around aimlessly at least," Daring noted with a frown. She continued down the halls of the tower, idly noted that they had been shifting and changing as she went. She realized this when she'd passed a mark she'd left three times in the past hour alone. So she was either being moved around the tower at random, or she was hopelessly lost, either one. Regardless of whether or not she was trotting in circles, Daring approached a staircase that led down into the tower and grinned.
"Finally!" She declared and reared back on her hind legs with a grin. "Maybe now I can finally find something interesting!" The khaki mare exclaimed and galloped to then made her way down the stairs. The khaki mare soon came out into a cider cellar, she felt a moment of annoyance before she brought a hoof to her face. "Really... I mean who needs this much cider anyways?" The khaki mare all but demanded then sighed and trotted through the room to look for an exit. Yet she found none, which included the door she had originally trotted through.
"Oh you have gotta be bucking kidding me!" The khaki mare exclaimed. She glared heatedly at the wall where the doorway had originally been. Her eye twitched before she bit back a scream and took a deep breath to calm herself down. She hated it when ancient places pulled that kind of stuff. "What is it with me and crazy ancient places with doors that randomly vanish?" Daring growled out in question. She didn't wait for or expect an answer and turned away from the door-less wall instead. As she trotted by she noticed that one Cider Keg looked different than the others and rubbed her chin with a hoof.
"I wonder," she murmured quietly and approached the keg. She bit into the spout on the keg and turned it, a grin lit up her face as she heard a quiet click. Daring chuckled in her throat and pulled the keg-face open and backed up to see a hidden staircase behind it. "Okay, hidden door behind a cider keg, I'll admit it, that's a new one." Daring noted to herself. Then made her way down the staircase with a smirk, though wondered what Celestia and Luna were doing.
"Probably got lost in this crazy place looking for The Golden Door." Daring reasoned to herself. It was a fair assessment considering she'd gotten lost as well. Of course she meant no offense to the two princesses, but she had been treasure hunting and tomb raiding since she was practically a filly. Err, actually, she wasn't sure when she first started to explore tombs and ruins. She assumed it was a part of being a character out of a story book that she wasn't sure when she started. It was most likely that her full back-story just hadn't been fully explored, so her "Past" didn't really exist.
"Meh, eventually some pony will write me one." Daring decided with a shrug of her shoulders. She then came out of the staircase into a room with a suit of iron and brass armor. As soon as she caught sight of the armor her eyes widened and she rushed to the helmet. "Whoa! I've never seen armor made like this before!" she gushed while noticing the comb on the top of the helmet had no plume. Instead it merely had a brass base for holding a plume. "Huh... I guess the mane of the pony wearing it is supposed to come out of the top." She mused while brushing away the chains holding the helmet and pulling it free of it's stand.
"Definitely not from Graze or Roam, although it does resemble their style, it also doesn't look like a Griffon design," Daring noted to herself. She then glanced at the rest of the armor then returned her attention to the helm in her hooves. "Iron and Brass, I think Ram's use those metals in most of their armor, so maybe they made it. It would also explain the design since they took inspiration from ancient Graze and Roam," Daring considered quietly. She idly continued to glance over the strange helm and noted a few small spikes leading to the long blade shaped false-horn on it's head.
"It's clearly a combat helm, but designed for a Pegasus to wear and appear like an Alicorn," Daring mumbled under her breath. She then clicked her tongue and turned it to face her. "Okay, so it's designed to look like an Alicorn so it clearly belonged to a person of authority. Its designed to protect almost the entire body, and has a number of blades built into it, so it's clearly meant for actual combat rather than being ceremonial," The Khaki colored mare noted. She then flipped the helmet in her hooves to look inside of it, silently searching for a mark to tell her who made it.
"Huh... I think this is a royal emblem," She mumbled quietly when she spotted a seal that resembled a Sun encircled by a crescent moon. "Given the shape and their cutie-marks, I'd say it's probably from Luna and Celestia's reign... so, Guard Armor?" Daring considered and silently her head. She felt that was the most likely situation given what she had looked over thus far. "And given it's appearance is like that of an Alicorn. I'd say it belonged to the Guard Captain of whatever era it's from." The khaki colored mare guessed with a nod of her head. She then put the helmet down and looked around the room for a moment longer.
"Hmm, but why is a suit of armor in a place like this?" She wondered to herself as she trotted around the room. As she did, a pair of draconic red eyes opened within the shadows of the now freed helm. The watched Daring silently as she trotted around. The helm's eyes narrowed for only a moment before they suddenly closed. A low rumbling chuckle echoed within it's depths as she turned away from it and approached a cracked wall. The mare didn't notice the sound, instead she found a large crevice in the wall and grinned. Beyond the crack was what could only be an ancient tunnel.
"Ha, there's no way the tower can control that." She stated with a grin and stood on her hind-legs. She then slowly slipped into the crevice and made her way down into it. As she left behind the helmet came to life once more, a mass of flames rising out of the empty comb-base. The flames flared dangerously as the helmet tried to move the rest of it's body. Unfortunately the chains and seals held strong against his will and kept them trapped. The helmet let out a strangled roar of frustration for a moment before it used it's flames and pushed itself closer to the rest of it's body.
Unfortunately it shot over it and rammed into a wall before falling down with a clatter. Clearly, this would be far harder than it had originally anticipated.
--
Faust found that with Twilight properly distracted, she could much more easily complete the task of enchanting the books in her library. All and all Faust had used roughly a dozen different charms on the little mare, all of which she had weaved together into a fictional world. Within that fictional world were three separate versions of herself who would take the time to teach Twilight about Charms, or at least show her the basics. She hoped that after she learned the basics, that the little lavender unicorn would be able to figure the rest out on her own. Actually, that probably wasn't very likely.
"The major difference between Charms, Wards, and Enchantments when compared to the other schools of magic is simple," the off-white alicorn mare began to say. A clearly amused smile played at her lips as she rested in the main room of the library. "They are the only kind of magic that can have multiple spells interwoven together for greater effect, as well as the only school of magic where there is no strict formula for the spells." The in-disguise alicorn noted with a nod of her head. She then glanced to a nearby clock and sighed. It had been about an hour and she had yet to see hide nor tail of any pony.
It was with a bit of luck that no pony had come by, Twilight was within a Perception Filter herself, so no pony but she could see or hear her. But if she tried to explain just where Twilight was, it would likely lead to a great many questions that the off-white mare really didn't want to get into. Charm-Casters were, in this day and age unfortunately, exceedingly rare in Equestria. While a charm-caster of her skill, well, she was actually the only one. Then again, she was also Ten-Thousand years old and had been learning and mastering charms for quite some time now.
"Although it'd be nice to have some pony else to compare notes with," Faust noted as she picked up a book and looked at it. "I've already read it," she grumbled and then looked around the library a frown across her face. "You know, it really bites to have read every book ever written," She grumbled under her breath with a sigh. She then stopped for a moment and tapped her chin with a thoughtful expression. "I wonder if they have any of those "Cinema" things playing in town?" She idly questioned, more than a little interested in the new form of entertainment.
Sadly it seemed that the universe had other plans for her, as a pony approached the library. She had a bag slung over one shoulder and hummed to herself before knocking on the door. The knock of course drew Faust's attention, but the mare desperately hoped that... the knock returned and Faust sighed. "Yeah yeah, I'm coming," Faust grumbled irritably. She sighed while she got up to her hooves and stretched out for a moment. Properly limber, the off-white mare trotted to the door and opened it, only to blink when she saw a cyan rainbow maned pegasus.
"Wha... who the hay are you?" The pegasus questioned with a tilt of her head. She had a saddle bag slung over her shoulder with a Wonderbolt Trainee outfit partly visible. Faust stared at her for a very long while, the resemblance to her old friend Firefly was rather, uncanny, to say the very least. And not just the slight physical resemblance, Firefly's mane had always been far more unruly, it was her mannerisms and body language that resembled firefly as well. "Uh, hello, any pony home?" the cyan mare questioned as she waved a hoof in front of her face. Faust blinked then took a step back, a frown on her face as she watched the other mare.
"I'm Faust." The off-white mare finally replied. The cyan pegasus merely hummed and looked her over for a moment.
"Yeah," she muttered and zipped forward to pull one of Faust's wings open. "Huh, you've got a horn and wings, what's up with you? Are you a Horned Pegasus or something?" the cyan mare questioned of the off-white mare. Faust stared at the sporty pegasus for a moment. She really had to wonder if she was always so, direct with every pony she met.
"Sort of, I'm actually a Winged Unicorn." Faust replied. The Cyan Mare hummed lightly and flew around the off-white mare for a moment before she stopped in front of her once more.
"Really?" The cyan mare questioned while moving close to her. Faust silently nodded her head, though wondered why she was so close. Rainbow Dash sighed at the news and shook her head sadly. "Man, that's really too bad, I mean it must be such a drag to have such nice wings and not be able to really use 'em." The cyan mare noted aloud. Faust had to bite back an angry insult, she tried to remind herself that she was in disguise and not to blow her cover. Honestly though, that was a lot harder than it sounded.
"Anyways, judging by your mane, I take it that you're Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty, Weather Captain of Ponyville, Wonderbolt Trainee, and winner of the most recent Best Young Fliers competition." Faust mused aloud. She then brought a hoof to her face when she realized that, yet again, she'd said way too much about the mare she'd only just met. Strangely Rainbow didn't seem the least bit unnerved by her knowledge, instead she smirked with pride.
"Ha! Yeah that's me alright, nice to know that my awesomeness is so recognizable." The cyan mare boasted with a smirk. Faust merely rolled her eyes in response. Somehow she felt she should be less surprised that the mare was a little full of herself. In all honesty, Firefly hadn't been much better back in the day.
"Yeah, totally," The off-white mare replied. She then turned back into the library and trotted over to the Library's desk, while Rainbow followed behind her. "So what did you need?" Faust questioned of the cyan mare and Rainbow glanced around with a frown.
"Uh yeah, is Twilight around? I kind of had a question for her," The speedster replied nervously. Faust shook her head with a smile when she saw this. She also remembered that Twilight was more than a little indisposed at the moment. She quickly thought up an explanation for Twilight's absence, and decided another half-truth would most likely be for the best at this point. Besides, hopefully if any pony else asked her the same explanation would work.
"No, she's studying a new brand of magic. I'm looking after the library until she finishes." The off-white alicorn in disguise replied. At the same time that she idly brought a book over and laid it down at her side. Rainbow grimaced at the bad news and rubbed the back of her mane. She then took another glance around the library nervously, before she sat down in front of Faust.
"Umm, well then do you know when she'll get back?" the cyan mare questioned worriedly. Faust hummed in her throat for a moment as she tapped her chin with a hoof, then smirked at the tom-coltish mare.
"Given how long it's taken thus far. Not to mention how thick she is with Charms, I'd say she'll be studying for quite a while longer," Faust replied. She then watched as Rainbow continued to look around nervously. Clearly the rainbow mare was looking for something, and it wasn't too hard to figure out what it likely was.
"Uh okay, so, umm..." Rainbow started to say. She beat around the bush and fidgeted nervously in front of the off-white mare. Faust idly wondered if Rainbow was only this nervous because she wasn't used to ponies knowing that she liked to read Daring Do. Or if it was because she wasn't used to new ponies finding out like this. Either way, Faust felt that the poor Pegasus had suffered more than enough and raised a book up with her magic.
"I'm going to take a wild guess here and say you had this reserved," the off-white alicorn in disguise noted with a smile as she held up the newest Daring Do book with her magic that had a sticky note with Rainbow's name on top of it's cover. The cyan mare blushed upon seeing the book, but quickly grabbed it with her forelimbs and held it close to her chest.
"Oh uh, heh heh, yeah." Rainbow admitted sheepishly. Faust silently rolled her eyes and leaned forward with a smirk.
"So anyways, you're a WonderBolt Trainee right?" The off-white mare questioned. Rainbow Dash grinned quite proudly and nodded her head.
"Yep, but I'm totally going to be a full fledged WonderBolt before you know it," the cyan mare declared with a raised hoof. Faust mentally rolled her eyes. As much as she wanted the cyan mare to attain her dream of being a WonderBolt some day, she thought that maybe her ego could do with being taken down a few pegs. That thought caused a thought to shoot through Faust's mind and a grin suddenly split her face as she looked to the mare.
"So I suppose you know all kinds of great tricks then." Faust questioned with a barely suppressed grin. At the off-white mare's question, Rainbow Dash nodded her head proudly.
"Of course!" the cyan mare replied with a wave of her hoof and mentally took stock of the moves she knew. "I have my signature move The Sonic Rainboom, then there's The Buccaneer Blaze, the-" Rainbow started to list off only for Faust to quickly interrupt her. Not that she wasn't interested in the many moves Dash knew, but she wanted to see if a certain old move was still as difficult as she remembered.
"But have you ever done a Double Inside-out Loop?" Faust questioned in a mock innocent tone. Rainbow blinked for a moment at her question, then looked at her with a confused stare.
"A what?" The cyan speedster questioned while scratching at her head and Faust smirked.
"A Double Inside-out Loop. You do a slow aileron roll then two loops." the off-white alicorn in disguise started to explain. She then watched Rainbow roll her eyes before she added. "While your body is tucked inside of the loops" Faust finished and watched as the cyan speedster's interest was clearly piqued. She watched the pegasus hum and rub her chin thoughtfully. A frown of concentration crossed her features before she sat down and considered the trick.
"Eh, a spin and a few loops doesn't seem like much," Rainbow finally decided with a wave of her hoof. Faust's eyes narrowed dangerously at the rainbow mare's dismissive tone. As much as the mare reminded her of Firefly, that attitude needed a severe adjustment in her opinion. Firefly was a bit brash and blunt, but this mare had her beat when it came to that cocky arrogant attitude of hers.
"So basically you can't do it," Faust stated with a flat look. The rainbow pegasus' eyes narrowed and she jumped up into the off-white mare's face.
"No! I could do it in my sleep!" Rainbow stated with her wings flared outward. The off-white mare idly pushed her back with a smirk across her lips.
"Prove it." she challenged. Rainbow Dash growled and poked her in the chest with a hoof.
"Why should I?" she demanded of the off-white mare. Which only caused Faust's smirk to grow wider.
"Because if you don't, I'll call you a chicken." The off-white mare replied honestly and Rainbow snorted.
"Oh yeah! Well then I'll show you!" the cyan-mare growled out, and shot off out of the library. Faust quietly following after her, with an amused grin stretched across her face. Although the Double Inside-Out Loop sounded simple in theory, Faust knew from personal experience that the trick was far more difficult to pull off than some of Rainbow's other moves. Why? Because the only way to successfully manage it, not to mention the reason why Firefly had had so much trouble with it, was actually because you had to slow down...
--
In ages past, in the time before Equestria, during the reign of Princess Faust, there was a Unicorn of dark and terrible power. At the height of his power, he was able to resurrect the dead as his slaves, he was able to conjure the most malevolent of curses, and devour the souls of his victims. His name was Mortis The Black, and he was perhaps the single most evil being to ever trot upon the world, for it was he who had ultimately created The Necronomicon, a book which held dark evils far greater than even he could ever imagined.
He was a Necromancer, a term that was now mere myth as no pony was willing to tread the black magic needed to study such arts. Mortis however, was a master of death, he knew how to cheat it, he knew how to stop it, he knew how to change it, he knew how to incite it. And yet in the end, he had been taken into the hands of death, dragged unwillingly into the very depths that he had delivered so many others to himself. But alas, for it was only by truly understanding death, by knowing it, and ultimately by allowing it to take him, that he was also able to surpass it.
For Mortis The Black, did not truly die that day so very long ago.
However, he was not alive either. Mortis ascended his physical and magical limitations and became an Alicorn. He became a creature of true deathlessness, neither living nor dead, free of sickness, free of age, free of the worries of the living. But he had to pay a price for his knowledge of Death, even the powers that made him Deathless were not so cruel as to actually reward him for the atrocities he had committed. No, and his punishment befitted his crimes, for although he was no longer stalked by death, or chased by time, his body was not so lucky...
For a short time he was fine, mere months really. He had power, he was without death, and without equal in terms of magic with only Princess Faust able to stand against him. But he had been a very arrogant Pony, often believing that he would win a fight if forced to challenge her. It was only when he was content with his life, was he forced to endure his personal curse. His body rotted, his efforts to stop it were in vain, and he was forced to know that he would never be accepted by any pony, for he was truly an Alicorn, and every Alicorn had their station, every Alicorn had a power they commanded.
Faust was the Alicorn of Creativity and Invention, Imagination was her playground, and she could even incite creativity into ponies, and not even meant to do so.
But Mortis, he was a sorry creature, for he was the Alicorn of Death and decay, rot was all he could incite in ponies, he could not bring any glory or greatness, only end it.
Mortis The Black tried desperately to stop the decay of his own body, but by the end of Faust's reign he was naught but a skeleton with rotten black feathered wings. Mortis wandered aimlessly afterwards, not alive, but not truly dead either. A sad and pitiful excuse for a creature that would know neither peace nor joy ever again. It was a lonely, horrible excuse for an existence for any creature. And yet in time, Mortis grew complacent to his torment, and eventually learned not to care that he was a creature of rot and decay.
He did change his name though, from Mortis, to simply Mort. Mort, The Grim Galloper, The Pale Pony, and many other such names, he had been called all of them, and many names he would much rather forget. But for the moment, he was simply Mort. And he was very disturbed. He stood on a desolate mountaintop, his long black cloak wafting in the breeze, his pearly white scythe shaped horn glowing an ominous obsidian black. The Pale Pony looked on, twin plumes of sickly green glowing within the depths of his hood.
He stood alone on the mountainside, more than aware that something was wrong, a dark cloud hung in the distance, and began to spread. "SOMETHING... IS NOT RIGHT." He whispered quietly, his mind telling him that in the distance was The Grand Archives, Faust's Tower, her home and once the single greatest seat of power in all the world. "I SHOULD SEEK OUT CELESTIA OR LUNA, THEY KNOW FAUST BEST." The ancient alicorn of death whispered before a memory prickled at his mind and wrenched a bout of guilt from his soul.
Celestia... he knew her quite well, they were not friends by any means. She hated him, she hated what he stood for, and she hated what he had been in his early life. A Powerful Necromancer with no qualms about torturing the living merely for a sick little game he no longer understood himself. He understood her anger, he agreed with it, but seven hundred years ago, he had still done something to Celestia that he now regretted.
Celestia had been lonely without Luna, the two were Alicorns of Balance, and so one without the other would clearly feel no small amount of distress. And much as Faust had mastered her Creativity and Imagination, and Mortis had mastered Death, Celestia and Luna had mastered Balance and Harmony. It was because of this that they were able to move the sun and moon, Discord had knocked the celestial objects out of orbit, causing them to spin randomly, until Luna and Celestia had taken charge of them after defeating the mad Draconequus.
It was for that reason that Celestia was lonely, and why she was unable to fight alone, it was only when together were the sisters of any real threat to creatures of power. Queen Chrysalis hadn't known this, she had merely been lucky that Luna wasn't with Celestia when she'd attacked. Regardless, seven hundred years ago she had come to him and asked him to save and even extend the life of a dying pony. He had still been a bitter lonely stallion at the time, and had only done so at the price that she could never be a part of that ponies life.
It was only a century or two later that he had discovered the truth of who that pony had been, and that knowledge had tormented him ever since.
"NO... I'VE CAUSED HER ENOUGH PAIN..." Mort decided before looking into the distance and considered his options. "CADENCE..." He whispered with a nod of his head. Cadence was once a Pegasus who had mastered love, and as of yet the only pony who had not once been a unicorn among the alicorn's ranks. She was Alicorn of Love and Live, his polar opposite, just as Luna had Celestia, now he had Cadence to balance his powers of death. Eventually he was certain another Alicorn would come to balance Faust, though it was hopefully not soon coming.
"SHE SHOULD BE ABLE TO HELP, IF NOTHING ELSE PERHAPS I CAN CONVINCE HER TO TAKE ME TO DISCORD, THIS WREAKS OF HIS HANDIWORK." The ancient pony of death noted to himself and turned on his hoof and vanished into a swirl of black magic...
--
TBC...
Stats
Page generated in 0.058 seconds
Total duration
768 users online
734,698 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
This story is absolutely awesome! I love it! Give me a holler if you need a proofreader or an editor!
The way you write Mort reminds me of Death from the Discworld series by Terry Pratchet
"Mort, Mort, Mort, Mort, Mort, Mort-"
"WHAT PINKIE?"
"Wanna cupcake?"
"..."
Alfred reference in 3...2...1...
"Then you underestimate what a princess is." The stallion noted and Cadence shot him a confused look.
Good chapter! Although Discord overall seemed very out of place in this story just randomly appearing and then not really getting another expose.... a bit like Season 3 really.
Also I have a question, is Twilight at any point going to catch up with her end of season 3 self or remain a unicorn? No problem either way but it would be neat to see that Twilight is truly mastering magic and becomes "what she is destined to be"
Nice Transformer reference!
Great story. Love the Transformers and Discworld reference.
Well thats just Prime.
I got one!
Just a small question... shouldn't it be Orion Pax?
Heh, poor stupid Mort...
Oh. Twilight when alicornified opposes faust
If Faust is the "Alicorn of Creativity and Invention", and Twilight comes to be her opposing counterpart; would that make Twilight the "Alicorn of Logic and Structure"?
5215048 No Twilight would be Friendship, Harmony, and Magic cause she is the princess of friendship
Eh nice story and i like it but the mistakes characters make seem a bit meh to me. If there is a polite note stating "Do not open" in the same tower which holds the NECRONOMICON why would you not obey it? Then again if characters did not make mistakes nothing would ever happen...
I know it is a minor thing but now its ripples are seen in the story and i cant really take the drama seriously.
3522511 He was Orion Pax when he was still an archivist, Optimus Prime when he realized his greatness, Orion Prime looks like he's still in the middle, looks like an appropriate name to me.
This reference is subtle, yet ten kinds of awesome.
Oh, i get it
This whole "earth ponies have no strong fighting capabilities" thing really doesn't mesh well with the whole 'wrought iron armor' thing. It's pretty well established canon that earth ponies tend to be stronger than the other tribes, and this fic makes it clear that wrought iron armor (which couldn't be easily affected by magic) requires a strong body to use. As such, earth ponies in heavy armor seems like the logical choice for an anti-magic division, especially since this chapter established that there is also a stigma about charm users (meaning development of warded armor with similar efficacy seems unlikely).
It makes me wonder how in the world ponies would have stopped using wrought iron for earth pony guards. Oh well.
I have a feeling twilight is Faust's opposite, so when she ascends she will be the one to 'balance Faust'
I recently realized something:
Charms are art, Spells are math.
Faust is an artist, Twilight is a mathematician
This dude learned from his mistakes and still surfers from it immensely, and actually regretting his actions too. Really chill lad i respect it.
10529351
I hope they can help him, or at least accept a truce.
Damn, no individual should suffer after they genuinely repent.
I love dialog between Faust and Twilight