Macintosh of Arabia

by Crisis_Vyper

Prophecies

"Milord, the 'Hunter' has arrived in Lehran."

The words of the Eternal lieutenant reaches into the Lord Eternal's ears. The Lord Eternal could only be amazed and be fearfu of the speed in which the 'thing' could reach the lands of Saddle Arabia. No possible living being could traverse to Eastern Saddle Arabia within a day without any magic carpet, but this 'thing' is no normal being.

A product of madness and anger, the being is an unstoppable being that even more heartless than the cruelest of Eternals, and definitely more abominable. More of these things are being made even as he thinks, for this is the secret weapon that would prove instrumental in subduing the rebels and even take over the other nations surrounding Saddle Arabia. Based upon what he had seen the thing did to the Sheikhs that are hiding within the palace during the purge, a legion of them is utterly a terrifying force.

"Very well, we shall move on at once to the Palace of Thorns. We shall ride the carpets within three hours." The Lord Eternal is adamant that he needs to monitor this being, as he does not know what this being is capable of without the presence of the Eternals. But one thing is definitely certain; the hunt is on for the Equestrians and may Ista have mercy upon them.

"Yes Milord." The Eternals said, heeding the commands of the Lord Eternal.

---

"Ah buck not again.....can't I get a normal sleep after that dumb dream last night?"

Once again Vinyl finds herself in the odd place from the day before; a corpse-laden battlefield with weapons sticking out from the ground like trees. However this time is rather different as she can now see that the rain is not present, just a dark cloudless sky filled with ruby-colored stars. Each star are as different from each other as how each pony is different from each other, and each having its own unique glowing hue.

As Vinyl observed the red stars and marveling at its sublime beauty, the stars started to swirl and move in a way that is impossible for the mare to comprehend. Vinyl could only watch in disbelief as the red stars gathered together to form a glittering road of stars above her. The path of stars glowed with a fiery crimson, unrivaled by any flame and its red glow descends upon the dreamscape, staining the land blood-red. Before long the landscape started to change once more, annd the battlefield is no more, and all she could see is a great sea of dune covering the land.

"What the buck?" Suddenly, Vinyl could feel the presence of a particular entity alongside here. She turns around to notice the monochromatic pegasus staring at the red starry path. Lily Petal, the mysterious mare did not even turn to the unicorn mare as she observe the skies above her. Seeing an opportunity, Vinyl was about to ask the mare about the odd formation of stars in this dreamscape, but the pegasus mare preempted her question with an answer.

"The Bloodpath is an omen of change, though for the better or the worse is lost upon me. It seems that a great change is about to happen." The mare known as Lily Petal said as her eyes watches the skies in the dreamscape
solemnly.
"Change? What change?" Vinyl asked, but Lily Petal paid no heed to the unicorn's question.
"The Bloodpath only comes when there is a time of great uncertainty, and a need for a guiding light to shine in the darkest of moments. The journey ahead is fraught with great peril, but it is the flower that blooms in adversity that is the most beautiful. "

Just as Vinyl was about to ask the pegasus another question, Lily Petal fades away like a morning mist leaving her voice to echo through the dreamscape. Vinyl soon realize that it is the weird poem that flashed through her mind the last time she was in this weird place.

Where now are the line of Asar?
Why do thy kinsfolk wander afar?
All because the line is crossed,
Causing Asar's line to be lost.

Amidst the eternal waves of time,
Out of the abyss peer the eyes of a demon.
From a ripple of change shall the storm rise,
Causing madness and the loss of all reason.

The demon soars through the dark skies,
Its shadow turning equines upon equines.
Such was the spread of fear and death,
that salvation is the realm of the deaf.

In loudest din or hush profound,
The Lumenize catches evil's slightest sound.
Let its illuminating sound display its might,
For the dark things cannot stand the light.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring.
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

Just as the mare's voice disappears, the battlefield starts to contort and swirl around, causing Vinyl to run away from the whirlpool of confusion. But as hard as she galloped, she could not escape the gaping maw of the dreamscape collapsing around her. She could feel her body being pulled and twisted apart as she screamed and screamed.

---

Vinyl wakes up to find herself wet in cold sweat. She looked around to see that everyone is still sleeping, except a simple whirling wind lifting up a small strand of sand up to the air. It appears that it is Zephyr's turn to watch for the night. The Equestrian decided to whistle to ask Zephyr about its night, but the wind-being's melodious reply is a little harder to decipher than usual followed by a melodious tune that is akin to a shrug.

Vinyl feels that there is some deep stuff going on with the wind-being but could not truly comprehend the message. Indeed, she could only say so much when it comes to Zephyr's trademark 'Windspeak', as Vinyl decided to call the speech for the past few days. She could only understand the emotions, not the true meaning of the words. In a way, it is both easier and difficult to understand Zephyr. She definitely felt a sense of loneliness from her ethereal companion, a sense that it yearned for something to be a part of its life again but must bear with it and move on.

"You must have said something deep, but I got no idea what you just said." Vinyl said while shaking her head. It was then that she could feel a 'whirl' within her mind. What is this sensation in her mind, she wondered. She never experienced such an unusual feeling, especially when it is within her head. As suddenly as it came, the sensation is gone from within her mind. She wondered what the weird sensation is all about, but soon gave up on interpreting it and tried to go to sleep. In the end the unicorn mare did not even sleep a single bit throughout the night.

---

Vinyl is definitely rather fazed by the dream that she had the night before, for she is not really talking much at all like she always do. What is the weird place? What does the weird poem has to do with anything? And what is the Lumenize? Is it even a real word? What about the Bloodpath? However there is a greater annoyance than her thoughts; her horn.

Once again her horn is really itching, and she decided to move aside to one of the canyon walls to scratch that horn. The group paused for a while, hoping that it will only take a second for her to do her weird thing, but it becomes a rather long wait as the unicorn scratches her horn on the wall with such sound that the sound is audible to the rest of the group.

"Hey Vinyl, could you cut that out, the sound is really irritating...." Nurse Redheart said annoyingly. Indeed the farmpony is also gritting his teeth at the scratching sound of the unicorn, and could only hope that it stops sometime soon.
"This itch....must relieve....too intense...." Vinyl said, trying her best to slow down her scratching.
"Hurry up, or we'll leave ya behind..." Big Macintosh said half-jokingly.
"Seriously if you guys leave me...."Suddenly Vinyl feels a pulsating ripple within her horn,

After a split second, her ears are picking up echoes of what appears to be sound made solid. As she wonders what on Equestria is going on, she then realize that her horn is now glowing with such radiance that it almost drowns out the sunlight that is shining down on the valley. It is then that the light starts to recede down to a particular shape, but one which the mare could not see.. Everyone is a little dumbfounded, but the little filly decides to walk up to the mare.

"Vinny.....is that an....arrow floating above your head?" Fatimah asked the mare.
"What the?" As hard as Vinyl tries to see the floating arrow, she is unable to look at the shape of the arrow.
"What the heck does it mean?" Nurse Redheart asks the other two adult in the group.
"Ah dunno, Ah am no dictionary..."
"Big Mac, dictionary is a word reference. You want to say an encyclopedia." Nurse Redheart's correction is not heeded by the others, as Amanar finally says something.
"Why arrow?" Amanar's question is as profound as it is simple, for the purpose of this particular magic materialization is a rather odd one. As Vinyl tries to turn around to figure out what on earth is going on, the camel and the two Equestrians are helping her figure it out. It is then that the little filly proposes something.

"Why don't we just walk and see what happens to Vinny's arrow?"
"That's a mighty sound idea..." Big Macintosh reasoned, and soon enough the group starts to move again. Everyone's eyes are now on the arrow that is floating on her head. Vinyl likes attention, but not the kind where people just stare at you like a freak. This went on for a while, and Vinyl was about to say something about their stare when the others shouted at once.
"IT MOVED!!!!!!!"
"Say what?" Vinyl asked.
"That arrow........it is acting like a compass or something." Nurse Redheart said, looking at it.
"But point where?" Amanar asked the group. Vinyl's mind immediately remembered the odd dream that she had, but she decided to not tell everyone about this less they say that she's crazy.

"Ur.....maybe it is supposed to lead us to something." Vinyl tried to say unconvincingly, but it appears that it worked.
"So....Vinyl, you know what this means right, Vinyl?" The nurse's words did not click initially in the mind of the deejay, until she realized what she is implying.
"So.....I am now a damn artifact detector?" Vinyl groans once she voiced out her thoughts. This is not how a mare should go about her life; being a damn artifact detector.
"That's kinda cool Vinny! I wish I was a detector too!" The little filly did not understand then greater scope of this quest, and her enthusiasm is vibrant as the Saddle Arabian sun. Zephyr could only create sounds that sounded like laughter to Vinyl's ear. Vinyl wanted to scold the ethereal being for making fun of her, but she knows that if she was in its situation she would be laughing as well to someone else's misfortunes. She decides to hold her tongue for now. The other soon laughed at the mare, before Amanar decides that enough is enough.

"Lead way." Amanar said to the unicorn. Vinyl grumbled a little before she took the lead and soon everyone else is following her hoovesteps.

---

From among the crevice of the canyon, a mysterious figure wrapped in tattered clothing is now watching the Equestrians walking with the unicorn leading the group to an unspecified location. The figure's face is wrapped with bandages leaving nothing exposed to the elements, and its hood and cloak only serves to disguise the figure's shape. The figure disappears away from sight without the group noticing its presence.

Comments

[Brony of Truth]

Keep up the good work man, really liking this story.

[Not so New Brony]

Curiouser and curiouser...A definite fav

[willhman]

That LOTRs reference... Had to double take on that one. Keep it up!!