When ponies are vikings, friendship involves blood, death and honour.
What if My Little Pony took place in a world where laughing at your fears wasn't enough to make them go away? Where friendship that isn't sealed in blood won't get you through the winter? Where your only shot at paradise is death in glorious combat?
And what if, in such a world, it doesn't take an evening to depose Nightmare moon? If night lasts not hours, but weeks, months, years. If a noble quest to save the land turns into an obsessive hunt for vengeance as the cold and the beasts slowly bring down everybody you ever cared about, if every time you take a step forward, another heart that loved you stops beating?
Gather round, sons and daughters of Heimdall. I am about to tell you "What if?"
It was late, but Twilight Sparkle couldn't sleep. She felt uneasy being here at night, with only the moon and the stars for company. She had always been at peace with the world and all things in it, but since she had found the stone, she couldn't relax under the bare night sky.
She passed the torch over the runes once more, reading the text along the twisting horse's body for what felt like the thousandth time.
It told the story of a battle between two great beings, one who represented the day, and one who represented the night. Whether they were gods, giants, men or some other manner of creature altogether, the story did not tell, but it called them by Sky-Queen and Night-Mare, and it referred to them as sisters. It told how the two ruled peacefully for aeons, until the Night-Mare grew resentful that their subjects preferred the day and struck out at her sister, forcing the Sky-Queen to imprison her in the heavens.
Twilight read it all, again and again. She already knew it by heart, but every time she went over it, it felt like she came just a tiny bit closer to rooting out that strange feeling of uneasiness, to finding the missing piece of the puzzle she knew was there.
It was just a feeling, but it tore at her like Fenris at his chains. She could almost hear the threads of fate tensing and twisting; something was about to happen, and it had something to do with this runestone.
She sighed deeply, rubbing her eyes. She should have been preparing for midsummer's eve, but the sensation of dread had settled deep within her, and she couldn't help but poke at it.
She read it again one last time before reluctantly turning away. As she did, something flickered in the back of her head, half memory, half luminous idea, and she threw herself back at the stone, searching frantically for what she thought she'd seen.
She found it by the head of one of the horses that framed the runes; a simple glyph, five points arranged in a circle around a sixth, lines drawn between all of them. She recognized it, and she thought she knew from where.
Twilight slammed the hut's door so violently that Spike flew out of his bedding, flailing about in a panic. She didn't even notice, instead going straight for the pile of books on one of the higher shelves.
Spike blinked. He silently reminded himself that the world wasn't ending and that he'd simply been woken up at an inopportune time, but he couldn't quite get himself to believe it. He looked around, just to make sure he could, and was relieved to find that he wasn't being crushed under the rubble of the collapsing universe at all. He stretched, rolled over and was about to go back to sleep when he saw Twilight digging through her books.
"Twilight? Did you stay awake all night again?"
"Yes, Spike, and I think I've finally figured it out."
The drake sauntered over, blinking the sleepiness out of his eyes. He rose on his hind legs, as was his habit, and peered over Twilight's shoulder.
"What is it?" he asked.
Twilight pointed to an illustration in the book. It showed a set of six gems, five set around the outer edges of a circle, with the sixth set in the middle.
"These are the Elements of Harmony. They were used to imprison the Night-Mare, the one the runestone talks about, in the moon. There was a symbol representing them on it, and... oh my."
"What? What's the matter?"
"… she'll be set free on the midsummer of the thousandth year of her imprisonment."
Spike squirmed.
"Twilight, how old did you say that runestone was, again?"
Twilight glared at the book as if daring it to upset her further.
"About a thousand years, give or take."
"Do you think..?"
"I'm afraid so. Queen Celestia must be informed at once."
She didn't slam the drawers when she fetched her writing utensils, but Spike would have preferred if she did. At least then he would have had an excuse to be startled at her intensity.
She wrote with speed and force, turning her otherwise beautiful handwriting into a mess of crooked curves and blotching, sealed the parchment hastily and held it out towards her familiar.
"Spike, if you would."
Spike concentrated for a second, and when he felt the fire that burned within him settle down, becoming almost cold, he breathed it out, letting it consume the parchment. The smoke drifted out the open door, heedless of the winds.
Twilight sat down on the floor, keeping Spike pinned under her oppressive gaze, waiting for the reply. After what seemed like an eternity, Spike finally felt his belly going cold and his throat tickle, and he opened his mouth to let the icy fire out. It swirled and twisted, taking the shape of a roll of parchment bearing the royal seal. Twilight snatched it out of the air as soon as it materialized.
As she read, her face contorted into a grimace of disbelief.
"She... she says I should leave that old runestone well enough alone and come help with the festivities. She... she blew me off, Spike. Just like that. She even says I 'need to make some friends'."
"What are you gonna do, Twilight?"
"I guess I have to do what she says. She taught me everything I know. Her powers are so much greater than mine, I... I guess if she thinks nothing is wrong, then nothing's wrong."
Twilight was still wearing that dazed, disbelieving look. This wasn't like Celestia. Even when her worries had been small and insignificant, Celestia had been patient and understanding, and now, when it felt like the fate of the world was at stake, she hadn't even bothered to assuage her student, just told her to knock it off.
"Let's get some sleep, Spike. We leave first thing in the morning."
'First thing in the morning' didn't even begin to describe how early it was. The sun hadn't begun its climb over the horizon. Even the songbirds weren't crazy enough to get up yet. Twilight, however, was.
She was standing in the middle of the hut, clutching her wand. She went through her mental checklist, making sure everything was there. Knife, clothes, coins, snacks, wand...
She tightened her grip on the wand, making absolutely sure it was in her hands. Yep, wand.
Wand, writing utensils, charms for the maypole...
Her eyes drifted towards a small chest in a corner, and then back towards Queen Celestia's letter. She sighed, went over to the chest and opened it.
It contained only two things; a suit of chainmail, and a ceremonial helm decorated with ram's horns and the six-pointed star that was Twilight's coat of arms. They were both gifts from Queen Celestia, and Twilight had thought them very odd gifts at the time. Now she was glad she had them, even though it was with a certain sense of shame she put them in the saddlebags. Queen Celestia didn't think anything was going to happen. Packing armour seemed like a breach of trust. Still, it made Twilight feel a little better to have them along, so along they came. So did the book. Prophecy or no prophecy, she would definitely be wanting to read more of it.
She checked the bags one more time, carefully put her wand down in one of them and went over to Spike's cot.
"Spiiiike, Spiiike, it's time to wake up, Spike," she cooed, nudging him gently.
"Wha-, whu-, Twilight?"
"It's time to go, Spike."
"Just five more min-"
"No!"
Spike looked at Twilight with apprehension, not quite believing the way she'd said that. When she saw how he looked at her, Twilight hung her head.
"I'm sorry, Spike. I didn't mean to be short with you, but I'm awfully worked up about all this Night-Mare business, and I'd really like to get going as soon as possible. Please."
Spike was about to protest, but when he saw the look in Twilight's eyes, he rolled out of bed without a word and walked out the door. When she came out after him, she was carrying a saddle.
"No way! Come on, Twilight, you can't be serious!"
"I am serious, Spike. It is imperative that we get to Ponyville as soon as possible. You're gonna have to fly me there."
"Ugh, fine. As long as I don't have to..." Spike trailed off when he spotted the well-filled saddlebags through the open door. "I'm gonna have to carry your luggage too, aren't I?"
"Oh, Spike. You're a big and strong dragon. Surely a little luggage isn't too much for you to handle?"
Spike turned his head and snorted.
"Of course not!"
Twilight smiled.
They touched down in a lush grove just outside of Ponyville. Spike was breathing heavily, little tendrils of smoke escaping through his nose with every breath. Twilight slid off him gracefully. As she touched the ground, she felt her entire body relax. Flying was certainly a fast way to travel, but those last few miles had been a little wobbly. Still, she gave Spike a reassuring pat.
"Well done! I think we made record time, there."
Spike smiled weakly.
"Now, Spike, this is a rural village. They live a simple life here. Wandering into town with a dragon is going to be enough to put them on edge, so try to stay calm, okay? And, please, no talking unless I say so."
"Not. A. Problem," Spike wheezed.
Twilight patted him again and set off towards the village.
"Come on, Spike! Let's go!"
When Twilight stepped through the town gates, the whole village was completely silent. It had clearly been very lively up until just recently, but now everything had stopped. Everybody seemed completely transfixed by the new arrival and, perhaps more poignantly, her pet. Twilight scanned the crowd.
"Aren't you people supposed to be preparing for Midsummer's Eve?"
The crowd exchanged glances, and there was some muttered consent.
"Well, what are you standing around here for? You don't have all day! Get going! Shoo!"
Like panickjed birds, the entire crowd dispersed at once. Almost the entire crowd, at any rate. One member of it remained, staring intently at Twilight. It was an odd creature. She was around Twilight's age, with poofy pink hair that stood out of her head like there was a sheep growing out of it. All the cloth on her body was a garish pink, a colour Twilight Sparkle couldn't rightly recall even being possible to manufacture, and it was decorated by polished blue and yellow stones.
With a speed that took Twilight Sparkle aback, she walked up to the Völva and leaned into her until their noses were practically touching, sporting a massive frown and stroking her chin contemplatively.
"Uh, can I-"
"IIIIIIIIIIIIIIH!"
Twilight threw herself backwards at the pink stranger's cry, losing her balance and hitting the ground. She just barely managed to spot the mysterious creature disappear around the corner of a nearby house before she was gone.
She sat there on the ground, eyes wide, mouth gaping. Spike offered no support – he was, in fact, making the exact same face.
"What... what the fuck just happened?"
Spike shook his head slowly.
Twilight got to her feet, still in a daze, and shook her own head rather more briskly.
"Just some, some crazy woman. Yeah, okay. Okay. We have a job to do. Come on, Spike. We gotta go check on the preparations for the feast. The House of Apple make their living over this way."
Twilight knew the House of Apple was a wealthy family, but she was taken aback at how positively huge their homestead was. She could see it long before she got clear of the trees, and hear the hustle and bustle earlier still.
As soon as she got clear of the trees, however, the noise ground to a halt, just like when she entered the town. Twilight was used to being stared at, but it was barely going on midday, and she was already beginning to grow weary of that reaction.
She stepped through the palisade gates, and took a breath to repeat her routine from the town square, but choked on it entirely when someone – a very loud someone – seized her hand, shook it violently and bellowed:
"Howdy, partner!"
"H-h-h-h-h-hi! I'm, I'm," Twilight tore her hand from the friendly stranger's grasp, and gave her an enormous smile, hoping it would make up for the insult. "I'm Twilight Sparkle! I've been sent her by-"
"Queen Celestia! Ta make sure everything's prim and proper according to the rites and rituals and whatnot. We were expectin' ya as early as last week, but better late than never, am ah right?"
Twilight smiled again, and this time, it was almost genuine. As overbearing as this new acquaintance was, it was a welcome break from being stared and screamed at.
"That's right! And you are..?"
"Ah'm Applejack! Heiress to this here fine homestead. And this," Applejack gestured towards the assembled masses. "Is House Apple. Don't be shy now, everybody! They don't bite."
Applejack gave Spike a quick look-over then leaned in over Twilight.
"Ye don't, do ye?" she whispered.
Twilight giggled.
"No, we're entirely harmless."
Seeing that Applejack had apparently not been devoured whole by the newcomer, the rest of the Apples were edging closer. They were still staring, but their fear was giving way to curiosity.
“Now, this here's my big brother, Big Macintosh, that's mah baby sister, Apple Bloom, that's Granny Smith,” she said, pointing in turn to a hulking mountain of a man, a ridiculously cute pile of red hair and freckles, and what looked like Odin's grandmother. “And this here's the extended family, Apple Fritter, Apple Bumpkin, Red Gala, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious...”
Twilight zoned out entirely as Applejack continued to list every farmer who had so much as gotten close to an apple tree since trees were invented.
“Aaaand ah do believe that's everyone. Everyone, this here's Twilight Sparkle. She's here to make sure the celebrations are a pleasure to man and god both, so everybody give her a warm welcome, ye hear?”
A muddled bunch of indistinct, mostly-sincere greetings rolled out of the crowd, drowning Twilight in a wave of generic pleasantries. Applejack gave her a hearty pat on the back.
“See, they like ya already! Ah'm sure you'll be having a grand ol' time here in Ponyville. Now, what can I do ya for?”
“I understand you're supplying the food for the feast..?”
“We sure are! We picked out our finest, fattest pigs for tonight! You wanna see 'em?”
“I suppose I should.”
“Great! If ye'll just follow me, then.”
Applejack grabbed Twilight and darted off towards one of the many buildings scattered over the homestead grounds. She had to break into a light run to keep up with her. When she got through the door, she was greeted by an odour that immediately confirmed that this was indeed the pigsty.
“Here they are!” Applejack gestured triumphantly towards a pen holding ten preposterously muscular pigs. Twilight's eyes widened, and a pleased smirk took up residence on Applejack's face.
“That's a whole lot of pig, Applejack.”
“Well, there's gonna be a whole lotta' feastin, and nothin' but the best comes outta Sweet Apple Acres.”
Twilight turned towards the confident rancher and got a good look at her for the first time, standing there with the dim light in a pigsty reflected in her light hair, arms crossed, chest puffed out. She was tall for a girl, tanned and dirty from so much time in the field. Her clothes, too, were worn and filthy, no doubt for the same reason. Her hands were rough and callused, but unlike her brother, she didn't look like much of a workhorse. Then again, farmers often didn't. Indeed, when her new acquaintance had grabbed hold of her, Twilight had felt that ridiculous, deceptive strength that comes with a lifetime of hard work.
“Why are you looking at me like that for, sugar?”
“Oh, no reason. You just... remind me of someone.”
It was true. Applejack did remind Twilight of someone. Twilight had spent a lot of time practising the arts of magic – seid, spa and galdr. Sometimes, she would spin the threads of fate to suit her will, but more often she would just feel them, follow their criss-cross pattern as they separated and intertwined, and, sometimes, she would happen upon the threads of the gods, and she would glimpse the divine.
Applejack reminded her of one of those instances. The music the thread of her fate made is it crossed Twilight's own reminded her very much of one she had heard before. Perhaps one of the gods had sired her line many ages ago – but which one? Perhaps she was a descendant of Idun. Certainly, the radiant hair and the ages-old tradition of tending to the apple orchard were telling similarities. Then again, it could just as well have been Sif, with her love of agriculture, or, perhaps likeliest of all, Frey or Freya. Goodness knew those two had their share of descendants.
“Someone should be around any minute to pick these beauties up. Do ye wanna take a look at the rest of the preparations we got going on?”
“Uh, yeah, I guess I have the time.”
As it turned out, Twilight was being a bit overconfident. Applejack wanted to show her not only the piles of vegetables, the furiously busy kitchens, the massive stocks of apples, apple cider, apple vinegar, apple sauce, and various other apple derivatives, the mead and the dried meats, but also the chicken coop, the farmlands and the apple orchards (which she spent a good half-hour bragging about). When Twilight Sparkle finally tried to excuse herself, Applejack jumped at her with offers of food. Having not dined since early that morning, she could only accept.
She had to work her way through a vast array of bread, dried meats and a hundred kinds of apple products before the stout farmers finally believed her hunger was sated. It was with a heavy belly and accompanying slow mind that she eventually left Sweet Apple Acres.
Twilight looked at the next item on her list, and she groaned desperately when she saw that it, too, involved food. Game, specifically. Twilight found herself wondering how many would actually attend the celebration. What amount of people would it take to consume that much food?
And what amount of people would it take to procure that much food? Twilight kept checking the list to make sure the numbers were right. It called for a deer or two, which was fine, but then it called for over fifty fowls of varying species, and the hunting team was apparently not larger than a few men. Why had they even made these specific demands, apparently before the hunting party had even gone out? As far as Twilight could tell, they hadn't even left until earlier that morning. How much faith could you put into their luck?
The answer was, apparently, a lot. And justified at that, because outside the slaughter-house hung a great mass of birds. Every request was accounted for, and then some. But they were all unplucked, just dangling gently in the wind, almost as if performing some poor rendering of a slow dance. On top of it, no-one seemed to be around to take care of them.
No-one, except for a wiry, young girl in hunter's garb taking a nap on the slanting roof of the slaughterhouse. Twilight looked to her list, and then to the sleeping girl's shoulder-length, multi-coloured hair and made the educated guess that she'd found the responsible party.
“Rainbow Dash?” she called gently. No answer other than soft snoring. “Rainbow Dash!”
The girl snorted, blurted something entirely incomprehensible, and promptly rolled off the roof. It could have been a bad fall, but Rainbow Dash grabbed the roof, straightened herself out and managed to land on her feet. She even stayed on them for a brief moment before her awkward position got the better of her and she fell on her ass.
She sat there for a while, looking dejected.
“Almost had it that time. Ow.”
The Völva cocked her head at an angle, folded her arms and gave Rainbow Dash an incredulous look.
“That time?”
“Uh, yeah! As opposed to, you know, every other time, when I totally nailed it.”
Twilight Sparkle was not impressed.
“So you fall of roofs in your sleep a lot, then?”
Rainbow Dash crunched up a little. She looked like she was in pain.
“You have no idea.”
Twilight groaned and stroked her forehead.
“Look, you're Rainbow Dash, right?”
At that, the rainbow-haired girl rocketed to her feet, put her hands at her hips, puffed out her chest and pointed her nose to the sky.
“The one and only!” She took her face out of the heavens, and turned it to the stranger instead. “Why you looking for me, though? I mean, I know I'm great and everything, but you've clearly been travelling. Did you come all this way just to see me?”
Twilight didn't think Rainbow Dash really believed that, but there was nevertheless a glimmer of hope in those big, rosy eyes of hers.
“Well, in a manner of speaking. My name is Twilight Sparkle, I'm here to check on the preparations for the midsummer's feast. I understand you're in charge of the hunting team?”
Rainbow Dash puffed herself up even further.
“I sure am!”
“Well then, could you please tell why all these birds still aren't prepared?”
Twilight waved towards the lines of hanging fowl.
“Oh, that. Don't worry, I got it covered. I'll get right on it. I've been out all day, so I just took a nap before I got 'round to it, that's all.”
“You're going to take care of this? By yourself? Before the feast?”
“Hey! I can skin one of these bad boys in ten. Seconds. Flat.”
“Really?”
“Yeah!” Dash exclaimed, grabbing a goose of particularly intimidating size from the rack, and and axe to go with it. “Just watch!”
There were a few decisive whacks from the axe and a multitude of wet cracking noises, and no more than ten seconds later, Dash was standing there with all the most relevant goose parts in her hands and a stupid grin on her face. Twilight just gaped.
“How, how did, I saw... That was impressive.”
“Don't I know it!”
Rainbow struck another pose, and as she did, her hair fell into her face. She blew at it, trying to part the bangs, but failed miserably.
“Isn't that annoying?”
Dash brought up her hands to fix it, but stopped and snorted indignantly when she realized they were flecked with fresh blood.
“Well, yeah.”
“Then why do you keep it so short?”
The huntress crossed her arms and pouted.
“What's it to you, huh? Maybe I like it this way? Did that thought cross your mind?”
“Uh, yeah, I thought that might be it, but you're a huntress, so I figured you'd be really annoyed by...
“Well, I'm not! So there.”
She blew at the bangs again.
“Riiiiiight. I'm just going to leave now.”
“Oh, sure. Come back any time.”
Rainbow Dash waved cheerily and got back to her work, cutting up and cleaning bird after bird. Twilight returned the gesture half-heartedly, continuing along the path towards the town centre.
The maypole was almost finished. A lone woman was leaning over it, taking out various lengths and colours of ribbon, folding them over, turning them around, constantly muttering to herself.
She seemed very much out of place in a rural village. Her hair was a pale purple and done up to perfection, curling gracefully in a way that defied gravity. Her skin was just short of sickly pale, and her features were fine and delicate. Every piece of her clothing was tastefully cut and boldly coloured. Twilight thought she looked more like exotic pottery than a person, insofar as there was a certain beauty to her, but she looked like she'd shatter into a thousand pieces if someone gave her a mean look.
“Excuse me-” Twilight began.
“One moment, please. I'm trying to straighten this out.”
“Is something wrong?”
The fair girl sighed and straightened up. She put her head in her hand and gave the pole a wistful look.
“I just can't get it right. It just feels like something’s missing.”
“I think I may be able to help.”
The girl turned, and as she got a good eyeful of Twilight Sparkle, her elegant frown turned into a much more inelegant smile.
“You're the Völva!”
“Indeed! My name is Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said, returning the smile.
“It is such a pleasure to meet you! I'm Rarity. I can't tell you how glad I am to see you! I've been waiting for your decorations for days! I tried to finish the stupid thing without, but it's just not the same, is it?”
“No, it's not. Come on, I've got them in my saddlebags.”
Twilight went to fetch the decorations, but when she reached the saddlebags, she noticed Rarity wasn't following. She turned her head to see what was keeping her.
Her new friend appeared to be engaged in a staring contest with her familiar. They were both entirely transfixed; Spike with voracious interest and Rarity with a crippling fear.
“Spike!”
The dragon jerked his head violently in the direction of the shout.
“Spike! Don't bother the nice lady!” she continued, turning towards Rarity. “Don't let him scare you. He's not dangerous, just a little preoccupied with... shiny things.”
She gave Spike a wry look.
“Ah, uhm, well,” Rarity stuttered. “I suppose I can't deny that I am a rare gem.”
She held her hand in front of her face and laughed coquettishly at her own joke. Twilight Sparkle, not quite as easily amused, instead drew her attention towards the saddlebags.
“Come on, Rarity! I've got all sorts of things in here! Charms, flowers, paints, ribbons in colours you never dreamed of...”
Rarity approached the bags wearing in expression of great enthusiasm, but as soon as she peered into the bag, she recoiled in horror.
“What's the matter, Rarity?”
“Your... your helmet! And that armour!” Rarity cried, leaning back over the bag, face contracted into a grimace of pure horror. “What have you done to the poor things? They're all warped and tarnished and, and, and, is that a dent!? This simply will not do, Twilight Sparkle!”
And like a pleasant summer breeze, Rarity was gone, leaving only a sudden chill. It took Twilight just over two seconds to realize what had happened. She could only barely hear the jingling of the links in her chainmail as the pretty girl turned the corner, carrying the Völva's armour.
“Uhm, Twilight? Aren't you going to..?” Spike suggested.
“YES! Yes I am!” Twilight responded, and broke into a run.
She caught up with Rarity just as she turned into what appeared to be an exceptionally neat smithy. The thief picked a small hammer out from the neat line-up hung along one wall. She set the chainmail aside, and placed the helmet on a worktable. She inspected the helmet close, and fingered the lining a bit, apparently seeing if it would come loose.
Twilight's guts froze when she realized what Rarity was trying to do, and she panicked.
“Wait! Stop! You can't! That's-”
“Your ceremonial battlewear, wrought from the horns of a sacrificial ram and steel cooled in its blood. You can't let anyone deface it with mundane tools.” Rarity opened a drawer in the workbench, and pulled out a a few choice items – a wooden charm, a dry sprig of ash and a small bowl. “Unless you pay your proper respects.”
She got up from her seat, and walked out the front of the door, Twilight Sparkle in tow. She called towards the house by the smithy.
“Sweetie Belle! Oh, Sweetie Belle! Bring me one of the chickens, please!”
“Of course!” a child's voice responded from somewhere on the other side of the house.
Soon enough, a young girl who could have been a miniature version of rarity if not for the light streaks in her hair came around the corner. She was cradling a small but feisty chicken.
“Sweetie Belle, this is Twilight Sparkle. I'm fixing her helmet for her.”
Sweetie Belle looked at Twilight, then at the chicken.
“Is she the Völva?”
“She is.”
“Oh,” she said. “You'll be needing this, then.”
Sweetie Belle handed the chicken over to Rarity, who put the little bowl on the ground and fetched an elegant little blade from her belt. She was whispering something to the chicken, and Twilight Sparkle couldn't help but listen in.
She was taken aback when she realized it was a prayer to Freya. Rarity was asking her to bless the sacrifice with her knowledge of magic, to make the blood pure and powerful.
Then she slit the animal's throat. She held it still as it squirmed and thrashed about, making sure the blood drained into the bowl. She didn't let go until it had stopped moving entirely, but when it did, she grabbed it by the legs and handed it back to her sister.
“Be a dear and take care of this, would you? We simply couldn't let it go to waste.”
Sweetie Belle grasped the chicken with some apprehension. She'd always been a bit of a sensitive soul, and the sight of blood wasn't quite to her liking, but she didn't want to disappoint her sister.
“All right, Rarity.”
With that, she went back into the house.
Rarity rose, and looked around. There was an old ash growing on the grounds, and she went up to it and snapped one of the low-hanging twigs. She took the old branch that had been in the drawer and threw it out.
“Only the best is good enough for the gods, right?” she said, smiling at Twilight.
She then took the bowl and the branch and went back into the smithy. There, she lit a candle, for the sun was beginning to set and this was delicate work.
She handed the charm – a small amulet of wood with runes etched into it – to Twilight, along with the bowl and the branch.
“You should probably do this part.”
Twilight was absolutely fascinated. Everyone else in the village – indeed, most everyone she had ever met – treated her as a curiosity, as a hazard or as just another person. But this one seemed to actually understand. This one seemed to remain close to the gods. It was a breath of fresh air to meet someone who understood what it meant to have friends in the inner circle.
She accepted the gift graciously, putting the amulet around her neck, and dipping the ash in the blood.
She sprinkled the helmet with blood, saying her own prayers to Freya. Rarity held out her hands and her hammer, and she sprinkled them, too. When she was satisfied, she set the bowl down, put the amulet around rarity's neck, and sat down to watch her work.
It didn't take her long to work out the dents and scratches. Most of them weren't too bad; they weren't actual battle-scars, after all, just accidents and mistreatment. She shined the whole thing to perfection. It looked even better than it had fresh from the forge.
Rarity gingerly replaced the lining, and handed the helmet back to its owner.
“That's marvellous, Rarity! It looks better than it ever did, and it feels better than it ever did. What do I owe you?”
“Oh, think nothing of it, dear. You're here to help all of us, aren't you? I'm just returning the favour, that's all.”
“But you must at least let me repay you for- oh, heavens. I have to go!”
Twilight Sparkle tried to grab her hauberk as she sprinted out of the forge, but Rarity put her hand on top of Twilight's.
“Leave it here. I'll give it a bit of a touch-up. You can come pick it up tomorrow, after the feast.”
“Okaythankyougottago.”
Twilight's heart sank as she watched the sun slowly disappear beyond the horizon. It would be night soon, and she still had one task left.
“Twilight! Slow down!”
Spike was panting heavily, weaving uneasily from side to side as he sprinted up the dirt road in the failing light.
“No time!”
Twilight wasn't much better off herself, but she had one last thing to see to before the feast. She just hoped everything was in order, otherwise there would be serious repercussions.
She stopped briefly to catch her breath. She knew it was probably a bad idea to stop, but neither she nor Spike could keep going at this rate. She stood there, panting like a dog in heat, when she heard the sound of strings and a heavenly song.
“Sun warped south,
moon's companion,
the right hand
around the heaven's rim;
sun knew not
what temples she had,
moon knew not
what power she possessed,
stars knew not
what places they had.
Then went reigns all,
to their ruling seats...”
The words were a little different, as they always were, but Twilight knew this story well enough. With that voice, she really hoped it was someone practising for the feast, but it seemed like an odd choice for such a festive occasion.
She walked around the bend, still huffing and puffing, and was greeted by a strange sight. A pink-haired girl in a woollen cloak was playing a large harp on which at least a dozen wild birds sat perched. A small rabbit was grazing peacefully at her feet. They didn't seem the least bit disturbed by her presence, and she barely seemed to take note of them at all. She was playing with her eyes closed, hands flowing like a brook, voice clear as a winter night.
Twilight approached her carefully. The birds remained still. The rabbit gave her a disinterested glance, then went back grazing.
“Excuse me?”
The girl flew off her seat, banging the harp with her feet as she went down. There was a frightful noise, and the birds scattered. Twilight rushed forward to keep the instrument from falling over.
“I'm sorry, did I frighten you?”
“It'sreallynotmuchofaI'msorry,” the harpist squealed before her voice dropped in volume until it was a barely audible whisper.
“Okaaay. I'm Twilight Sparkle. And you are?”
The other girl pulled the hood of her cloak over her face and curled up on the ground.
“I'm Fluttershy.”
“I didn't quite catch that?”
“I'm – is that a DRAGON?”
Spike had finally lumbered his way around the bend in the road. He was still wheezing and puffing, only hairs from giving up on walking altogether and just rolling down the hill.
“Yes, but he's perfectly harmless. There's no need to worry.”
The pink-haired girl was gaping.
“Is he yours?”
“He is.”
Spike raised his head, spotting the two girls. He grunted, strained his head into an alert position and took on a poorly faked casual stride.
“I-I thought dragons were b-bigger.”
“They get bigger. He's young, still. A baby dragon, if you will.”
Twilight spoke her last sentence loud, turning towards spike as she did. She flashed him a tremendous grin, and he shot her back a look that might have been menacing if he wasn't such a pushover.
The shy girl surprised Twilight by taking a step forward, apparently intending to meet Spike halfway.
“A-a-a-are you sure he's c-c-completely harmless?”
“He is if he knows what's good for him.”
Spike shot her another eyeful of murder. It was adorable.
As the girl approached Spike, she raised a hand in front of herself. Even from her distant point of view, Twilight could tell that it was trembling badly. Fluttershy was looking the other way and muttering under her breath.
“N-nice dragon, nice dragon, you're a n-nice dragon, you're a nice dragon...”
When she finally touched Spike's face, she gave a little yelp and leapt backwards. She peered through her fingers, then at her fingers, and finding them to be mostly undevoured, she approached again and deliberately put her hand back on Spike. She began stroking his muzzle so gently that Spike at first doubted he was even being touched. As she continued to stroke his scaly hide, she got increasingly confident, and her careful ghost-touch turned into a hearty massage as she trailed his sides and rubbed deep into his sore muscles. As she did, a look of pure bliss spread across her face, and her anxiety fell away like so many bad dreams in the morning light.
“You are a good dragon! Yesyouare! Yesyouare!”
Spike himself had long since abandoned any pretence of not being completely pooped, and was slumped on the ground wearing an expression of obscene joy. It annoyed Twilight something fierce. She much preferred to keep Spike slightly irate at all times, partly because that it made it easier to use his pride to push him around, but mostly because it was just that much funnier. She sighed deeply.
“Can you just tell me your name, please?”
“Oh, I'm Fluttershy. What about this little guy? What's his name?”
“His name is Spike. Look, I really need to get going, so could you please tell me-”
“Can he talk? I heard dragons can talk.”
Twilight made a sound much as if she was being strangled. Under normal circumstances, Spike would have recognized this as a cue that she was getting properly ticked off, and scampered off to do his routine of calming her down, but he was clearly out of his gourd.
“Yes, he can talk, but I REALLY-”
“He can?” Fluttershy shone up like a tiny, pink sun. “Say something for me, Spike?”
Spike gurgled some sort of almost-words. They might have been “I don't wanna leave.” Fluttershy squealed with delight.
“Fluttershy!”
The animal lover gave up a loud yelp and curled into a foetal position, raising both hands above her head. When she peered through them, Twilight almost choked. There was real fear in Fluttershy's face. She reminded Twilight very much of a badly frightened animal – or a badly beaten child.
“I'm sorry, Fluttershy. I didn't mean to scare you, but I'm in a hurry, and it's really important that I get everything done on time. You're in charge of the music for tonight, aren't you?”
Fluttershy sniffled, and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.
“Yes.”
“Then where are the rest of the musicians?”
“Oh, they already left for the feast. I just stayed behind to practice for a-” Fluttershy made an abrupt pause and looked to the east and the last rays of sunshine. “Oh my. We are in a hurry. I have to get my harp to the feast before it begins!”
Twilight walked over to where Spike had plopped onto the ground and gave him a decisive kick.
“Spike! We need you in the land of the living. You have a job to do.”
“Jorb?” Spike spluttered.
“Yes, Spike. We need to get Fluttershy's harp to the festival grounds, and quickly.”
Spike sprung to attention. The weight of the day's activities – and the recent run – was still laying heavily on him, but he didn't seem to notice. He was smiling, insofar as a dragon can smile, and he was dancing about on the spot, almost, but not quite, tripping over himself.
“All right! You can always count on me, Twilight!”
“Excellent! Fluttershy, do you have a cart?”
“Uhm, I think so. Why do you ask?”
“We'll need it to transport the harp, of course. Spike will pull.”
“Uh, uhm, are you sure? It's very heavy, you know.”
At the mention of the word 'heavy', Spike flexed his wings, craned his neck and puffed himself up impressively.
“Well, then it's a good thing that I am very strong.”
“I'll just go get it then.”
Twilight and Spike exchanged glances. A casual observer might have interpreted those glances as meaning Let's do this. The actual sentiment being conveyed was probably a lot closer to Let's not screw this up.
When Fluttershy returned, she was dragging a shallow two-wheeled cart. They gingerly placed the harp into it, and harnessed spike in front of it.
They started down the road at a snail's pace, Twilight and Fluttershy both staying within arm's reach of the harp at all times and Spike with his nose nearly dragging across the ground as he scanned it for bumps. With every foot he moved, Spike's confidence grew and his speed increased ever so slowly
The assembled village could hear the cart coming long before they saw it barrelling down the hill. There was shrill, cackling laughter, accompanied by the rhythmic thumps of a great beast running hard and the sound of wood moaning like a haunted whorehouse. When it finally did appear, it was pulled by a drake and driven by a stranger waving around the wand of a Völva like a whip, urging the beast on. Somewhere in the back, Fluttershy was pinning herself and the harp to the cart.
Spike turned sideways towards the crowd, grinding to a halt that buried the wheels halfway into the ground.
“WOOOO! GO SPIKE! WOOO! WOOO!” Twilight beamed at the assembled crowd, but found only dropped jaws and disapproving glares. “Woo?”
“WOO! You're finally here!”
The voice came from just behind her ear, and in a sheer panic, Twilight Sparkle swung around and struck at it. What she saw was a giant pink cloud that bobbed right out of her reach one moment, and covered her entire field of view the very next. She could feel the hot air on her face as the pink stranger from earlier spoke.
“Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!”
She was staring straight into Twilight's eyes, her entire face a smile so radiant it outshone the setting sun. She emanated pure joy, entirely untainted by cynicism or decorum. Standing so close to her was like taking a bath in an icy mountain creek; delightfully refreshing in a way that made you want to stab yourself in the face.
“You're Twilight Sparkle, I know because I was talking to somepony and they told me your name was Twilight Sparkle, and I had to talk to them because I didn't talk to you myself because when I met you I went like 'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIH!' and I ran off to make sure...”
“Pinkie.”
“... but then you were gone, and I looked all over because I got you this absolutely super-duper...”
“Pinkie?”
“... but I didn't understand, I mean, how would you fight with a shovel anyway, then I remembered this one time...”
“Pinkie!”
“... yes, Twilight?”
“Please stop slobbering all over my face.”
Pinkie snorted and began to giggle, but to Twilight Sparkle's great relief, she also leaned back. She had been clinging to the side of the cart, but now she hoisted herself onto the floor. When she struck wood, her entire body jiggled. Clearly, she wasn't in the habit of eating in moderation. Or fastening things.
“You’re a silly-willy, that’s what you are. Here!”
Pinkie shoved a small ball of yarn into Twilight's face. She took it in her hands, and looked closely. She could see the individual threads, but not a one was frayed or torn. It appeared to be a soft pink, but the orange of the torches was clearly reflected by it's glossy surface.
“Pinkie, is this..?”
“The finest silk! Brought to you from halfway across the world by none other than yours truly, Pinkamena Diane Pie!”
“And you're just giving it to me?”
“Yup! I heard you like weaving, and I thought 'Hey! I got something that's for weaving!'”
“Uh, it's not really that kind of... although I do... Pinkie, I can't...”
Pinkie batted her eyelashes and cocked her head to the side.
“Can't what, Twilight?”
“... I can't thank you enough.”
Like a hyperactive cobra, Pinkie struck. She wrapped herself around Twilight in a hug so forceful it knocked the air clean out of the poor Völva.
“Oooh, I'm so glad you like it! We're gonna be such good pals!”
Twilight gasped and shook, trying to breathe again, but the pink one's grip was strong. For a few panicked moments, she thought she felt her bones creaking, about to snap.Then Pinkie let go and instead grabbed her arm.
“Come on! The party's starting!”
Twilight Sparkle didn't have a lot of control over the next hour of her life. The maypole must have gone up at some point, because they danced around it, and there had to have been eating and drinking, because there were very telling spots all over her clothes that smelled of grease and mead. She distinctly remembered Fluttershy turning down a piece of meat, which Twilight thought odd, because it was the best meat ever. With Pinkie, it all just sort of blurred together into an event that was definitely not very coherent, but most definitely the greatest party Twilight had ever been to.
When Pinkie finally left her alone for a few moments, she was sitting at a table with a mug in her hand, staring at some manner of pork dish. There was an indiscriminate buzzing of spirited conversation and unprompted singing, and Twilight could feel the alcohol fog just starting to cloud her senses.
A chill wind snuck through her clothes, and she shivered. She found herself wondering where Queen Celestia had gone to. She should have arrived before nightfall.
The wind picked up, and Twilight pulled her cloak tighter around herself. The torches flickered. The singing and the talking died down, becoming nothing but annoyed muttering.
Then the torches died. Twilight thought there would be anger, but no-one raised their voice. They just pulled their cloaks tighter, huddled closer together. Twilight blinked, trying to see what she could, but she was blind in this darkness.
“Are you truly so afraid of the night?”
Their eyes shot upwards. They could see the shape of the maypole, rising up against the stars, and on top of it, the shape of a horse. Because that was all there was, a shape. A silhouette of blackness far deeper than the night sky behind it. Its mane flowed gently behind it, as if caressed by the wind. It looked not like hair, but rather like a portion of the night sky, a window into some alien heaven full of strange stars. It's eyes, the only part of its body not the deepest of blacks, could have been stars themselves, but their light burned cold.
“Once, you lived by the light of the moon and the grace of the stars. Have you forgotten so soon, little humans, what it is to live in a world where you are not the masters?”
“I haven't forgotten!”
Twilight recognized that voice. Rainbow Dash.
The shadow laughed. It sounded like stone grinding metal in a deep cave.
It moved. Nobody saw it, but now it stood in front of Rainbow Dash, piercing eyes of starlight staring directly into the huntress's.
“You think you know what it means to have no freedom, little human? To be a at the beck and call of a higher power? You do not. But believe me, I am going to teach you.”
Rainbow Dash swung at the creature, but there was nothing to hit. It was on the other side of the festival grounds before she had even started to move.
“The sun has set for the last time, little humans. Your precious witch-queen is gone. I suggest you try to enjoy this night. After all, it will last forever.”
It laughed again, that disturbing echoing sound. It stopped abruptly when Twilight Sparkle slammed her tankard against the table and screamed at the apparition.
“You're not getting away with this! I won't let you!”
It was transfixed, unblinking eyes fixed on Twilight. Then she started laughing again.
“You won't let me? Child, do you even know who I am?”
“You're the Night-Mare.”
The creature's eyes widened.
“So you do know who I am. It warms my heart to be remembered, little human, but I suggest you deflate that ego of yours. By the next moonrise, my most loyal subjects will be here. I wouldn't want to start my reign on a sour note, so I will let that remark slip, but my friends are quite fond of me, and they are somewhat... rigid in their affection. I'm sure if they heard such boisterous slander, they might well see fit to have you disciplined.”
Twilight Sparkle thought she saw a twinkle in those eyes; a bit of good humour.
“I will see you again soon, my pretties. I bid you all a good night.”
With that she disappeared, fading into the blackness as if she had never been there to begin with.
Without a word, Twilight Sparkle raced through the darkness to where she knew Spike waited.
“Spike! Light.”
Spike took a deep breath and exhaled ever so slowly. Tiny, flickering flames escaped from his mouth, bringing back a little light to the world.. Twilight dug through the saddlebags and fetched the book. She leaned against Spike and opened it on her knees, flipping through the pages furiously.
Everything went dark as Spike ran out of breath. He inhaled again, and Twilight resumed her frenzied reading. The flame went out a second time, and when it lit back up, a lithe, rainbow-haired girl was standing at the edge of the light.
“So, you know who that was, huh?”
“Yes!” Twilight replied without taking her eyes out of the book. “That was the Night-Mare, an ancient creature of evil. A thousand years ago, she was imprisoned in the moon through the use of the Elements of Harmony, six artefacts which...”
“Yeah, you sure do know an awful lot about that Night-mare character. A little too much, maybe.”
Twilight felt Spike tensing behind her, and when she looked up, she saw Rainbow dash casually brandishing a hunting knife.
“I think there's something you're not telling me, Twilight Sparkle. I think you're a-”
“RAINBOW DASH! You put that knife down right this instant!”
From outside the ring of light, Applejack appeared. She wore an expression matching her tone, and as soon as Dash saw it, her tough guy attitude melted away like a snowball on a hearthstone. The knife was back in her belt before Spike ran out of breath again.
“I wasn't gonna do anything! Honest!”
“You're such a brute, Rainbow Dash. You should really learn to use some finesse from time to time.” Rarity interjected, stepping into the ring. “But Twilight, darling, she's right. You do know and awful lot about all this... commotion. Would you kindly share your knowledge?”
“Yeah! Tell us!”
Twilight very nearly died on the spot, since Pinkie's voice was, like every other time she'd heard it, much too loud and much too close. She turned, only to find Pinkie lying straight across Spike, head hovering inches from Twilight's ear.
Twilight looked into the assembled faces. They were grim, collected. Even Pinkie had an unnerving intensity to her smile. Twilight sighed.
“In the forest, near the hut were I live, there's a runestone. When I found it, it was covered in moss and dirt. It must have been there for a long time. I think that I can now, with some certainty, say that it's been there for exactly one thousand years. It tells the story of two gods. Sisters. The stone calls them by Sky-Queen and Night-Mare. I don't know those kennings. There are a lot of astronomical symbols on the stone, so I thought that maybe they referred to Day and Night or Sun and Moon, but it just doesn't add up. Either way, it says that the younger sister, the Night-Mare, grew resentful that the people favoured her sister, and she tried to bring about eternal night, so the Sky-Queen wove powerful seid using the 'Elements of Harmony', and imprisoned Night-Mare in the sky. But Night-Mare was crafty, and when Sky-Queen wove the threads of fate to imprison her, she grabbed hold of one of the strands, so that the weave would be flawed. The stone warned that it would take Night-Mare a thousand years to unravel the strands so far that she could call for help from the stars, that they may aid her escape.”
“So, that thing? That was the Night-Mare?” Rainbow said.
“You mean the horse with a mane of stars that wanted to bring about eternal night? Couldn't possibly be, darling.” Rarity replied. A quirky smile broached her lips. Rainbow Dash just stuck her tongue at at her.
“So, uh, whatta we do now?” Applejack asked.
“I have to find the Elements of Harmony.” Twilight stood up. “And I think I know where to start looking. Spike, let's go. If you'd all just move along...”
“Whoa, nelly. You ain't going nowhere all by your lonesome. Ah'm coming witcha.”
“Me too!” Rainbow Dash puffed up her chest. “I'll show that monster a thing or two about 'higher power'!”
“I'm coming with you as well. You're all a very spirited lot, but I wouldn't trust you to take care of yourselves out there in the wilderness,” Rarity chipped in.
“Hey! I hang out in the wilderness by myself all the time!” Dash huffed.
“Yes, and look what's become of you.” That mean little smile played across her lips again.
“I can't let that big ol' meanie-mac-weanie-pants pick on my friends and get away with out! I'll smack 'er good! Besides, it's not a proper adventure without Pinkie Pie!”
Twilight shuddered at the tone of Pinkie's voice when she suggested violence. She noticed the other three exchanged nervous glances.
“It would really be best if it was just...”
Spike gave Twilight a brisk shove. She looked at her compatriots again and realized what he was trying to say. Those eyes weren't going to take no for an answer.
“Ugh, fine. We'll all go. But we need to get some rest before we-”
“Uhm, excuse me.”
A quiet voice from outside the circle of light.
“I- I'd like to come, too. That is, if, uh, if you don't mind.”
Fluttershy was faintly visible, light reaching only the edges of her features as she hovered around the edge of the circle. Applejack gave her an incredulous look.
“Now, hold your horses, sugar. It's gonna be a mite dangerous out there. It ain't no place for a girl like you.”
Fluttershy didn't respond. Instead she just looked into Rarity's eyes, her lower lip quivering. Rarity, in turn, met Twilight's eyes.
“She's coming with us.”
“Fine. Whatever. Everyone can come. The whole bloody village can come for all I care. But right now, we need some sleep. Well meet here again tomorrow. Bring supplies and warm clothes. And weapons. The creature mentioned subjects. I'd hate to run into those unarmed.”
The little group vanished into the night, and Twilight Sparkle began digging through her saddlebags for something to sleep on.
“And where are you planning on spending the night, dear?”
Twilight turned. Rarity, apparently, hadn't left.
“Right here.”
“You can't spend your last night before a strenuous journey sleeping on the ground. I insist that you join me in my home.”
Twilight just wanted to sleep. The idea of doing it right here, right now had seemed very alluring, but a proper bed was just that much more inviting.
“Lead the way.”
Twilight and Rarity had just watched the moon set when they spotted Applejack's torch bobbing along the trail from Sweet Apple Acres. As the circles of light from their collected torches merged together, they raised their hands in greeting.
When Twilight saw Applejack coming into view, the colour of the flames painting her light countenance red, she was again overcome by the sense of divinity. She carried a shield on her back, and the hilt of a sword swung at her side as she took the final few steps into her friends' company. Rarity was the first to speak.
“I'm glad you could make it, Applejack. I didn't think Big Macintosh would let you go in a million years. He did let you go, didn't he?”
“Oh course he did! Took a little convincing, is all. He wants to protect his little sister, but let me tall ya, he looked mighty relieved when ah told him ah'm going, and that's final. Didn't look quite so relieved when he saw I was bringin' this, though.” Applejack smiled and patted the sword.
“I can imagine. That's your father's sword, isn't it?”
“And his pa' before him! Bloomberg's made outta sturdy stuff, I tell you. He's got a lotta fight left in him.”
Twilight blinked.
“Bloomberg?”
“Eeyup! Forged by my own pa's uncle, hilt made out of applewood, wrapped in leather made from the first cow ta be born on Sweet Apple Acres. It's seen more use than what can rightly be called justified, but it's scarcely even lost it's edge o'er the years. Don't let nobody tell you the Apple family don't produce quality goods.”
Applejack had struck a pose, familial pride burning in her eyes. Twilight could feel another lecture on the value of apple farming and the amazing service the Apple family provided for the community coming on. Fortunately, the sight of another torch distracted her. This time, it was Rainbow Dash.
She looked far less alert than usual, lumbering forward with only the semblance of intent. When she finally reached the circle, she sat down on the ground and rested her head on Spike. She held an unstrung longbow clutched towards her chest.
“Bit early for ya, Rainbow Dash?” Applejack mused.
“I don't get the who-, who-, who-” Rainbow's mouth opened into a gigantic yawn. “the whole getting up thing, what with the not sleeping and all.”
“Silly! You can't have fun while sleeping!”
Pinkie had managed to sneak up on them again. Despite carrying a torch. And wearing chainmail. Not just chainmail, either. She also wore a full helmet, carried one shield on her back and another in her hand, and had two bearded axes hanging from her belt, one on either side, and carried a gargantuan pack of supplies at that. Judging from the shapes protruding from the sides and the sloshing sounds the pack made, it contained at least two small barrels.
“Uh, hello Pinkie.” Twilight replied. “Aren't you a little... over-prepared, though? We're not expecting to see that much fighting. I told you to bring weapons just in case.”
“Oh, there will definitely be fighting, Twilight Sparkle. You trust your aunt Pinkie on that one.”
Not even a trace of jest. Twilight swallowed hard.
“Okaaaay. So, are we ready to go? Rainbow Dash?”
“Juscha minit.”
“Let her be, dear. We're still waiting for Fluttershy.”
Twilight bit her lip. Fluttershy. She really didn't want her along. Pinkie was right. There would be fighting. At the very least, the Night-Mare wouldn't go quietly. And the last person you would want to see in combat was Fluttershy. Rarity clearly believed she had something to contribute, but Twilight wasn't so sure.
They waited for over an hour before they heard swift steps coming down one of the paths. There was no light, only the sound of packing bobbing up and down, feet hitting dirt and laboured breathing. Then a shriek and a heavy thud. Things spilling out over the dirt.
Rarity was there at once, helping Fluttershy back on her feet. Her pack had opened, spilling food and herbs all over the ground. Twilight went over to help, but stopped, fascinated by the sight.
Fluttershy had a large shield slung across her back, it's paint worn and its ironwork rusting. At her side was a broad-bladed spear, the kind meant not just for thrusting, but also to cut and cleave the enemy. Most interestingly, her garb was completely changed from the previous night. She was wearing a pelt of some kind. It was a single, very large piece of hide, and she wore it tucked into her belt from several angles, turning the whole thing from a throw rug into a sort of primitive dress. It was dark, with thick, luscious hair. Twilight couldn't quite place it, but supposed it might be musk ox or the winter coat of some other large game. Applejack seemed to have taken notice as well.
“Fluttershy? Ah thought you didn't wear clothes made from animals?”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. It seemed like an odd thing to not do, but Fluttershy began waffling immediately.
“Oh, this? This is, uhm, it's, a, uhm...” her eyes darted to and from, landing for a bit on Rarity, then back to Applejack. “This is, uhm, and old family heirloom. Yes. I, I don't like wearing it, but, um, it's getting awfully cold, and I didn't have anything warmer.”
Twilight shook her head and bent down to help Fluttershy get her things together. She couldn't be bothered with these people and their neuroses any more. She just wanted to get moving.
They eventually joined the rest of the group in the circle of light. Rainbow Dash was on her feet again, but not looking much better. Fluttershy was thumbing the haft of the spear. She looked terribly out of place – and terribly uncomfortable – with a weapon in her hands.
“So, are we ready now?” Twilight asked.
Rarity turned to Fluttershy.
“Fluttershy. Are you absolutely sure you want to come with us?”
Fluttershy nodded.
“If we don't get the sun back, all my little friends will, they'll...”
She started to sniffle, and Rarity put her hand across her shoulder, rubbing it gently.
“I understand. But are you absolutely, one hundred percent double-sure you want to bring that?”
She nodded towards the spear in Fluttershy's hands.
Fluttershy breathed deliberately, in and out.
“Yes.”
“As long as you're sure, dear.”
Rarity turned back to Twilight.
“Tell them where we're going.”
Twilight looked at the assembled women. It suddenly struck her how ridiculous it was that these people fully well expected to take on a god and win. It also struck her that, ridiculous or not, it was the right thing to do. After all, gods bled too, and only the brave may live forever.
“We're going into the Everfree Forest.”
Silence descended. The only sounds were the blazing of the torches and Fluttershy's gear rattling as she shook in terror.
Then Rainbow Dash stepped out of the circle and onto the road out of Ponyville.
“Move it, you guys! We gotta be out of here by next moonrise, or we're all horsemeat.”
Applejack shrugged and followed suit. Pinkie bounced giddily at her side, seemingly unburdened by the heavy load she carried. Twilight and Spike went after them. Last was Fluttershy and Rarity, the former trying desperately not to cry while the latter did her best to comfort her.
As they walked, the midnight cold seeped further and further into their bones, and Twilight Sparkle recalled the previous night, when she had felt so ill at ease with the darkness, the first night of her life to ever truly frighten her.
She had a feeling she wasn't going to like this one much, either.
Twilight stared into the fire. Every time it finished a cycle of its erratic dance and the flames fell, she cringed. Under the cover of the ancient trees, that fire was the only source of light, and every suggestion that it was about to go out made her stomach twist.
On the other side of the fire, Fluttershy, too, was twitching and wincing at every downward turn of the flames. The lines in her face were clearly visible, great chasms in an otherwise beautiful landscape.
Twilight didn't want to look at that. She didn't want to look at anything, so she closed her eyes and listened. The crackling fire. Fluttershy's periodic whimpers. A rhythmic clack-clack-clack of wood against wood and then, Rarity shrieking.
Twilight's eyes shot open, and she looked over to where the other four were practising. Pinkie and Rarity stood across from one another with a stick each, the latter stroking a bruised upper arm theatrically. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were standing off to the side, observing.
"Pinkie Pie, that was uncalled for," Rarity whimpered through pouting lips.
"Let's see you try that one when some thug's coming at you with an axe," Dash quipped.
Rarity laughed. It was beautiful, musical.
Practised to perfection, Twilight thought.
"You'd be surprised at what you can do to a man with nothing but a sullen look. Not you, of course. It takes charisma."
Applejack sighed empathetically.
"We get it, Rarity. Yer a whore. But what if it ain't no man what's trying to do ya in? Or jus' one who figgers it ain't worth paying? What then?"
Rarity's face seized up at the mention of the word 'whore'. She ground her teeth, pumped her fists and raised the stick above her head. Applejack threw up her arms, but the blow she anticipated didn't come. Rarity pointed the stick at Pinkie.
"Again."
There was another clack as the sticks connected just in front of Rarity's face and another shriek when Pinkie's swung around and struck her across the calf.
"Oh, now you're just being mean."
"Uh-uh." Pinkie shook her head decisively. "You are just being slow. Quit being such a working stiff! When you fight, you gotta relax! It's not like anyone's trying to kill you or anything."
Rarity let the stick down, closed her eyes and breathed. Twilight could feel the tension falling from her. When she opened her eyes again, the anger was gone. There was just a look of serene apathy.
"I'm ready."
This time, the crack when the two sticks met was deafening, and again, Rarity shrieked. Leaves rattled as her stick disappeared into the underbrush.
"Too relaxed!"
"This time, you really are just making fun of me, aren't you?"
Pinkie giggled.
"Yup!"
Applejack gave Rarity a friendly pat on the shoulder.
"You've been a real hoot, princess, but you gotta scoot over now. It's ma turn."
Rarity snorted.
"Fine. If any of you need me, I'll be over by the fire, spending time with the people who aren't hooligans."
The other three laughed heartily as Rarity left them. Twilight saw the frown on her face. She wondered if they laughed at her often. Rarity was certainly the odd woman out in a town like Ponyville. As she sat down next to Fluttershy, Twilight turned to her.
"Rarity, where do you come from? You don't look like you're from Ponyville."
"But I am, dear. Born and bred."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's a compliment, if anything. Ponyvillians are all decent people, of a little..." Rarity turned back to the sparring, which had apparently degenerated into a wrestling match between Applejack and Rainbow Dash, enthusiastically cheered on by Pinkie Pie. "Rough around the edges."
"Then, if you don't mind me asking, how come you're so... uh, you know..."
"Civilized? My parents spent a lot of time around the Sun Court, dear. That sort of thing rubs off."
"So you're a noble, then?"
"I suppose."
"You suppose?"
Rarity's smile was forced.
"I suppose I can still technically lay claim to such a title, yes, but I am not entirely welcome in the Sun Court. I made some life choices that were considered rather inappropriate."
Twilight thought about the first time they'd met. A noble's daughter in a smithy. She could see how that wouldn't go over well.
"I think I understand."
Rarity just poked at the ground, tracing shapes with her fingers. Twilight squirmed, trying to find a change of topic.
"What about you, Fluttershy? How was your-"
"Twilight."
Twilight looked at Rarity through the fire. She shook her head slowly from side to side. Twilight glanced at Fluttershy, and found her to be quivering, clearly on the verge of tears.
Again.
She groaned loudly and hid her head between her arms.
"What about Pinkie Pie? She's so goddamn happy, I bet her story is all sunshine and butterflies. Why don't you just tell me about Pinkie Pie."
There was a long silence which Twilight pretended wasn't awkward. She'd never pretended so hard. She almost began crying herself, but then Fluttershy spoke up.
"I think her parents were farmers. Their land was, uhm, not very good. Pinkie says they spent most of their time moving rocks, trying to make the fields tillable. She came to Ponyville when she was still an, uhm, 'itty-bitty twinkie-pinkie' to live with her relatives. She was always telling stories and having fun, and everybody liked her. She really liked the hero stories, so, uhm, when she was 14, she snuck on board a Viking ship. When she came back, she, uh, she was..." Fluttershy trailed off, looking back and forth, turning her hands nervously. "... different."
Twilight again looked towards the sparring grounds. Pinkie had managed to get solid neck hold on both Applejack and Rainbow Dash, the former under her arm and the latter between her legs, and was now taking turns giving them noogies with her free hand.
"Different sounds about right."
"Why do they do that?" Fluttershy whispered.
Twilight ran a hand through her purple bangs and shrugged.
"They're the kind of people who like to lock horns and fight it out."
"Why can't everyone just be nice to each other?" Fluttershy said, rubbing a spot just below her ribs. Her face smoothed out, fear giving way to dispassionate distaste. She looked like she'd eaten a spoonful of dung.
Twilight combed through the rest of her hair in an almost ritualistic fashion, never letting it fall back onto her chest, catching the ends with one hand as she let go with the other.
"You know Rainbow Dash, don't you? Do you think she'd be happy if she never got to beat anyone?"
Fluttershy stretched out, laying herself out on the icy grass, her tiny harpist's hands covering most of her face.
"No," she whimpered through half-closed hands. "But I don't understand why not."
Twilight sighed. This conversation reminded her of the one time Queen Celestia had made the mistake of putting her in charge of some of the younger seers in the service of the Sun Court. She had tried to explain the metaphysical implications of blood sacrifice. There had been much screaming and crying.
"People are different, Fluttershy. You couldn't get Rainbow Dash to calm down and play nice any more than you could put a collar on a reindeer and call it a dog."
Again, Rarity's crystal laughter.
"Did you hear that, Rainbow Dash? Twilight says you can't play nice!"
"Hey, it's not my fault if you can't keep up with my skills!" Rainbow replied, almost screaming the last syllable as she strained against Pinkie's vice-grip. Her hold diminished for a split second, and Rainbow pushed hard, only to find herself redirected into the ground, face first, and locked in a new iron grip.
"I could keep up with you aaaaall night, Dashie!" Pinkie purred.
"On the other hand, if you wanna call it quits right now, that's fine, too," Dash muttered through a facefull of dirt.
"Okey-dokey!"
Pinkie bounced off and landed in a perfect curtsey, excess flesh jiggling violently as she touched down.
"Well, that was fun! And, as an added bonus, you should all be sliiiiightly less likely to die horribly."
"Don't be gettin' all melodramatic on me now, sugar," Applejack said, crawling off the ground. She stretched her limbs, brushed dirt of her clothes. "Ah ain't gonna die anytime soon."
"Really? You could have fooled me, with they way you were fighting," Pinkie said. All smiles, as ever.
Applejack's eyes narrowed, leaving only a thin stripe of green.
"What're you implyin', Pinkie Pie?," she said, striding forward. There was a strange pressure to her, something like the feel of the air just before a thunderstorm. "You sayin' ah can't take ya?"
Twilight slowed down her strokes, each pass now letting her hair fall back to rest. Fluttershy whimpered. Rarity rolled her eyes. Pinkie didn't move a muscle.
"Of course you can't, silly!" she leaned into Applejack's face until their noses were touching. "You've barely even held a sword before! The very idea that you could best me right off the bat is just be positively, absolutively, mind-bogglingly bonkers!"
Applejack's jaw sawed from side to side, playing a grisly tune as her teeth ground against each other.
"That may be, but you watch it, sister," she jabbed her finger into the soft spot below Pinkie's collarbone. If Pinkie, noticed, she didn't care. "Because one a' these days, I'll catch right up to ya."
"I can't wait!"
Applejack sighed and pulled away from Pinkie. The sense of pressure faded.
"Ye're one kooky customer, ye know that?"
"That's what they tell me."
Applejack shook her head, ponytail swinging from side to side. A smile crept onto her face, so subtle you'd almost miss it.
"Ah gotta tell ye, I sure am glad to have you round, 'cause when them baddies show up, whatever you do, it'll throw em off their guard right quick."
Pinkie giggled, a series of girly laughs punctuated by inelegant snorts.
"Aww, A.J., I love you too."
She enveloped Applejack, a hug in which the farmer nearly disappeared behind a mountain of girl and hair. Rainbow laughed, but Twilight didn't see the funny part. She'd followed the strands of fate all the way to the end, stood at the entrance to Hel and felt Garm's hot breath on her face, but Pinkie's hug was as close to death as she'd ever been.
Rainbow Dash sat down beside Twilight. The sweat glistened on her face and her chest heaved, still winding down from the exercise.
"Hey, Twilight?" she said.
"Yes?"
"How far do you think it is?"
Twilight sighed and flicked her hair back over her shoulder.
"I don't know. The Sky-Queen had the elements of harmony, and she kept them in the hall she shared with her sister. I can't find anything that tells us what she did with them after she imprisoned the Night-Mare, but I do know that that hall was located deep in the heart of the Everfree forest. I also know that it was abandoned a thousand years ago. I can't even be sure if there's anything left of it, but it's all we got."
"The heart of the Everfree?" Rarity said. "That sounds like it could be very far, indeed. How big is the Everfree, Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow shrugged.
"Nobody knows. We never go so far in that we can't be back by nightfall, but I've climbed into the trees, and you can't see the end. Nothing even gets in the way, it's just trees all the way to the horizon. Now that you mention it, I've never even heard of anyone who's seen the other side."
"Oh, my. That sounds really, really big," Fluttershy whispered. Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement.
"That's for sure. Hey, Applejack" Rainbow said, turning towards the blonde. "You've got family all over the place. Any of them ever been on the other side?"
Applejack shook her head.
"Ah reckon they ain't. All our farms are on this side of the forest, an if pa or any of his pals ever ever did go there, ah'm positive I'da heard th' stories."
Their collective eyes turned to Pinkie. She just held her hands out, palms up.
Don't look at me, I ain't got shit.
Twilight sighed and poked at the fire with a piece of wood.
"It doesn't matter, anyway. They could be at the other end of the world, and we'd still need to get them."
"You're absolutely right, dear," Rarity said. "The length of the journey doesn't matter, but I can't help but feel that the, ah, direction might be of some relevance."
"I know. I've been trying to search the weave, but every thread I grasp just twists and loops and intertwines with itself, then disappears where it shouldn't, only to reappear somewhere entirely different. I can't make sense of it. This place is messed up."
"I know what you mean, dear," Rarity said, her voice smooth as honey. She was trying to comfort Twilight, and Twilight knew it. That was something every Völva did; look beyond the words, study the intent. It was one of the many reasons she didn't get along with people; she was tired of hearing waiting requests under generic pleasantries and muffled cries of 'Don't eat me!' under every token of respect. Even when she spoke to people who were genuinely concerned with her well-being, she couldn't help but be disgusted by the mask they put on when stepping into the role of 'caring friend.' Rarity, however, didn't seem to be wearing a mask, and just for that, Twilight decided to reward her with a smile.
"What are they, anyway? The Elements, I mean." Rainbow Dash leaned against her arm propped against the ground. She yawned, revealing a few missing teeth.
"I don't know." There was desperation in Twilight's voice now. She had spent her entire life guarding against the frightening void of ignorance, and here it was, grabbing a firm, toothy grip on her buttocks. "Powerful magical artefacts. They're obviously very old, and I don't think the Sky-Queen or the Night-Mare made them. The only reference I found that talks about what they actually are is a brief mention of what they're made of. Not that it helps. They were 'forged over the flames of brilliant minds,' 'bound together with ties of blood' and that sort of thing."
"Sounds like dwarven work , if you ask me. They were the ones who forged a fetter out of fish-breath and mountain-roots, after all," Rarity said.
"That's what I thought, but it's a little more complicated. You see, there are six Elements, and at least five of them have names, each representing a virtue one ought to possess. They are the elements of Honour, Cunning, Hospitality, Loyalty and Mercy. I don't know what the means, exactly, but-"
"Mercy?" Rainbow sputtered. "What the hell kind of virtue is mercy?"
Like a slingstone, Rarity's stare smashed into Rainbow Dash. She leapt back, mouth hanging open as if she really had been hit.
"It is not noble to be cruel towards one's enemies, Rainbow Dash. It is a despicable thing to do, to hurt a person simply because you can. Take from a man everything he owes you. If that includes his life, so be it. But do not take out your anger through petty acts of viciousness. That is the behaviours of a thug, and I really thought you were better than that."
"Of course I... I didn't mean... shut up!" Rainbow replied, turning away from Rarity's glare. Her hair caught the light of the fire, turning the rainbow into seven shades of red.
"As I was saying," Twilight cut back in. "I don't know what that means, but it doesn't matter. We need them."
"Ah know that sugar, but how're we gonna find 'em if we don't even know where ta look?"
Twilight felt the desperation in Applejack's voice, and it only compounded her own worries. She slumped together, head between her legs.
"I don't know!I thought I'd be able to glean something from the weave, but I can't make heads or tails of it in this place. I don't think anyone could."
"What about the enchantress?"
The scene froze. For a moment, Twilight was afraid time had actually stopped, but the crackling fire continued its nuanced dance. All heads turned towards Rarity. Pinkie was the first to speak up. Way up.
"You can't be serious!" she screamed, grabbing Rarity by the collar. "She eats people, Rarity! Eats. Them. Right. UP!"
Rarity grabbed her hands, pushing them away from her throat gently, but firmly.
"She's also the only person I know of who lives in the Everfree Forest. If anyone can tell us where to find the hall, it's her."
This time, all eyes turned to Twilight. Apparently, they expected her to weigh in on the exchange.
The forest, Twilight decided, was hell. A twisted, tangled mess of the kind of trees made not by gods, but by giants and monsters, piss drunk and in a really bad mood. What didn't have thorns had attitude. Every bush was a mess of clingy branches, every root a trap.
Her cloak caught on something again, and she tugged it free. Twilight swore loudly as the cloth ripped, leaving another tear in the increasingly tattered garment.
Further ahead, Rainbow Dash waited for them to catch up. She was fidgeting, foot stamping, fingers twisting, head repeatedly thrown back in an imploring gesture.
Come on already.
Twilight envied her. Whenever they caught up, she'd dart forward through the underbrush, moving like a weasel. Even with the heavy winter cloak trailing behind her, she didn't so much as graze the thorns or the branches. She'd vanish, and she'd wait far, far ahead. Much too far ahead for Twilight to see her in the darkness, but never so far that Rainbow couldn't see her.
Rainbow Dash seemed comfortable, then, during those moments when she moved like a ghost through the forest. It was only when she stood still that she looked worried, and she cringed and whined every time one of the others got caught on something, or stepped on a dry branch, or cursed the entire godsforsaken forest at the top of their lungs.
She cringed and whined a lot.
Twilight finally caught up with her, resting against the same tree Dash leaned on. Dash opened her mouth, undoubtedly to offer some helpful advice on the topic of stealth, but Twilight shot her a glare that suggested she kindly shut the fuck up. Twilight doubted she could actually see the expression, but Rainbow Dash still shut her mouth and turned to look for the others.
Pinkie stumbled out of the woodworks just behind Twilight. Twilight couldn't see anyone else, but Dash was looking further down the impromptu path, towards the faint sound of trudging feet. The more time they spent in the forest, the more Twilight came to realize how terrifyingly fine-tuned the girl's senses were. She could see farther in the faint moonlight that trickled through the canopy than Twilight could in broad daylight. Even the tiniest sound caused her to jump, and stare, and listen. A few times, Twilight had even seen her stick her nose into the air and sniff it contemplatively before choosing a direction.
Pinkie, too, amazed her. Her magic appearance act at the outset hadn't been a fluke. She carried half a pantry on her back, and she moved very much like it, but her lumbering strides didn't make a peep, and her pack always seemed to swing just out of reach of every low-hanging branch and jagged bush. She was never far behind Twilight, who was never far behind Rainbow Dash – in so far as was humanly possible, anyway.
Pinkie put her pack down next to Twilight and sat down on the ground. The grass, like everything else, was covered with frost, and it crackled and crunched under her weight. She breathed heavily, but slowly. It sounded nothing like Twilight's adrenaline-fueled gasps and wheezes. Apparently, she noticed.
"Gee, Twi, you really need to take a break. Here, sit down," she said, patting the ground next to her. Twilight slid down the tree drunk, using her cloak for a seat.
"Here."
Pinkie handed her a water skin. Desperate to soothe her parched throat, she didn't stop to notice the odd smell until she had already gulped down several mouthfuls of honey wine. She gagged, spilling half a mouthful.
"Mead, Pinkie Pie? Really?"
Pinkie cocked her head to the side, incredulous.
"Well, duh! What did you expect it to be?"
Twilight puzzled over that for a moment, and then she remembered. She was used to clean mountain springs, sparkling streams of cold water that you could just stick your head into and drink from as much as you wanted. She had, however, seen the river that ran through Ponyville. You don't drink something like that straight from the source, not unless you were in a big hurry to depart the realm of men.
Twilight studied the forest. The massive trees, the thorny underbrush, the sharp rocks and the cruel frost. No, this wasn't the realm of men. A chilling realization struck her, then. They had stepped across a boundary few humans had crossed before, into a world that was frightening and cruel. Filled, if the stories were to be believed, with strange beasts and stranger people. They were blazing new trails through a forest no man in memory had ever seen the other end of. She knew where they were going.
Jotunheim.
She lifted the water skin to her lips willingly this time, and she drank. The mead was sweet but strong, as it ought to be. Wildly inappropriate as rations for a lengthy journey, but still right.
For a moment, she contemplated getting blind stinking drunk, but that seemed like a spectacularly bad idea. She reluctantly lowered the skin and gave it back to Pinkie.
"Thanks," she whispered.
Pinkie Pie smiled. For once, it wasn't a clown's grin. She took the skin and offered it to a newly arrived and very flustered Fluttershy, who politely declined. Rarity declined as well but Applejack, bringing up the rear guard, snatched the skin out of her hand as soon as she stepped into reach and drank deeply.
"That there's some good stuff you got, Pinkie Pie," she said in her thick southland accent. "But y'all know what's real good?"
Twilight cocked an eyebrow at her. In the darkness, no-one noticed.
"Let me guess. Apple mead?"
Applejack paused halfway through a sip.
"S'what ah was gonna say, sugar. How'd ya figger?"
Twilight gave her another snarky look, this one clearly visible even in the poor light, as it involved twisting her entire head sideways and sticking her jaw out at an odd angle. Her eyes remained half-closed and she spoke in a tone so utterly serious that she almost seemed to have entered a genuine trance.
"I, the Great Sage Twilight Sparkle, have used my amazing gifts of divination and augury to deduce that you, Applejack, scion of the great House Apple, heiress to the proud homestead of Sweet Apple Acres, who not two days past spent sunrise to noon lecturing me on the many wondrous properties of apples, are, in fact, somewhat fond of apples."
Complete silence descended upon the group for all of two seconds before Pinkie burst out into a violent laughing fit, dotted with her characteristic snorts and giggles. Applejack tried to look offended, but there was was an unmistakable smile hovering at the edge of her expression. Twilight smiled at her. The others giggled. Twilight made a note in passing of Rarity's laughter. It wasn't quite so crystal-clear this time around, which made it all the more genuine.
Rainbow Dash stretched her shoulders, losing some of the tension she'd been building up ever since they broke camp. Twilight saw the serious, fidgety hunter break away a little to give the fun-loving braggart some room to breathe.
"She sure got your number," she said. Applejack responded with a snort, but let the smile creep a little further onto her face.
"T'ain't no secret that ah like apples, but I'll have y'all know that there's some darn good reasons ta-"
"Applejack, no," Twilight whimpered, covering her face in her hands.
Applejack opened and closed her mouth, waving her extended index finger around, desperately searching for a point to make. She failed, and instead opted to seat herself on the ground with a mighty harrumph.
"Fine, but ah'm takin' a break, and ah'm gonna finish Granny Smith's apple bread. Y'all can't have any."
She laid her back out on the ground, and took out the last few pieces of apple bread. It had been going on unedibly stale the night before, and Twilight figured that by now it would have a texture somewhat akin to granite. When Applejack bit into it, it sounded like she was chewing gravel.
"This'sh what y'all get fer not bein' nicer ta me," she mouthed around the stone crumbs, the excess dough turning her accent into a parody of itself.
"Yes, yes, we're all terribly sorry we get to spend another few minutes without hearing of the magnificence of the common apple," quipped Twilight.
She sighed, slumping against the tree at her back.
"How much further, Rainbow?"
Rainbow shifted uncomfortably.
"Not a lot. I mean, sometimes, when the wind is right, I can smell it."
"Smell what?"
"I have no idea. All I know is there are smells that come outta the enchantress's that don't smell like anything else."
Twilight drew air through her nose, hoping to catch a whiff of those unique scents, but all she felt was wood and ice. Rainbow shook her head.
"Naw, the wind is wrong. Can't smell a thing right now, but I'm pretty sure we should starting seeing the markings soon."
"Markings?" Twilight asked. "What markings?"
Rainbow looked at her. She was scared.
"She marks her territory. She puts up these... things. Wooden faces, kinda like the god statues we have at home, but... well, if those are her gods, I don't wanna see what she considers a monster, y'know?"
Twilight thought of a pendant that hung from the wall of her hut. A pewter wolf with eyes of polished stone, sun propped between massive jaws. A symbol of Fenrir Sun-Eater, World's End, Odin's Bane, worn as a charm, as another might wear the hammer of Thor's protection. The Queen herself had hung it around Twilight's neck, still flecked with the blood of the outlaw that had owned it.
Monsters indeed.
"There is much strength in beasts," mused Twilight, "and in a place such as this, gods hold little power. It belongs to monsters and giants. It is only appropriate to seek their aid."
The silence that followed was all too familiar. She could hear the Queen's chiding voice in the back of her head, and the faint sting of the cane across her back along with it.
Speaking truth to the wind, again, Twilight? Dangerous. I thought I'd taught you better.
"You would entreat with horrors and madmen?" Rarity was visibly upset, which didn't become her at all.
No going back now, thought Twilight.
"Of course. What else do you expect we will find in these woods? Are we not seeking the aid of one right now"
Rarity crossed her arms and huffed in a manner so undignified, only a someone of supreme dignity could have pulled it off.
"Girls?" whimpered Fluttershy. "Can we not talk about monsters right now?"
She was huddled against a tree, eyes darting around, trying to keep track of the entire forest at once.
A few meters out, Applejack's voice.
"Much as I'd like ta' oblige ye, it seem like we ain't got much of a choice. Look."
Applejack pointed. They all looked.
Deeper in the forest, there was a silhouette of a face. Almost as tall as a man, with sharp, wicked features and teeth like a shark. The faint moonlight shone through it's open maws, giving them the colour of steel. Feathers and strings hung from it haphazardly.
Twilight rose, and walked towards the effigy.
"Is this one of her markings, Rainbow Dash?"
"Yeah. Uh, are you sure you want to go that close to it?"
"Yes."
Twilight touched it. It was carved from wood, but not any wood she knew. Even in the icy night, it smelled of spices and incense like she had never known. It had travelled far, from places stranger still than the Everfree Forest. Places where perhaps there are no gods; only monsters.
"What's it mean, ye think?" said Applejack.
"Well, judging from those teeth, I'd wager it's some variation on 'sod off'," ventured Rarity.
Twilight thought again of the pewter amulet. To the man who had worn it, it had not represented the end of things, as it did to her. It had been a symbol of strength of will, and the struggle for freedom.
"Don't judge it too quickly. It is from very far away, where things are very different. It could be a warning, a challenge, perhaps even a guardian. Whatever it means, I think we'll have to ignore it. At least we're on the right track. Dash, if you'd be so kind."
Rainbow dash drew a long sigh and slipped back into her gear like water into a bowl.
"Try to keep up this time," she said before disappearing into the forest.
Twilight picked her things off the ground, trying to avoid Rarity's stare. They were about to seek the counsel of a witch. She couldn't let herself be burdened with decency or, worse, common sense.
The totems appeared again and again. Each one was different, and yet they were the same. Pointed teeth, predatory eyes, only vaguely in the shape of men. Every step, they became more frequent, until everywhere the party looked, there were grinning, wooden faces. The scent of earthy incense hung on the wind, rich and heavy.
Fluttershy had been clinging onto Rarity for the better part of the last mile.
"I don't like it here," she whimpered.
"I have to say, I'm not exactly thrilled myself," said Rarity.
The darkness in this part of the woods was compact, and it seemed like every sad beam of starlight fell upon carven teeth.
"Hay! Watch where ye put those feet a' yers, missy!" cried Applejack.
"Oh my goodness, I didn't realize..." Fluttershy started.
Pinkie shushed them violently.
"Do you hear that?"
There was a quiet shuffling, a hint of movement in the underbrush. Rainbow Dash peered into the darkness.
"They're moving."
They were. The masks were no longer still, but inching forward. Dozens of them, moving in complete silence.
"What vile sorcery is this?" hissed Rarity.
"It is not vile, my prim little friend,
it is but a means to a necessary end."
The voice came from everywhere. From dozens of throats, from dozens of directions.
"An end, you will find, should you stay on this course,
will be not another's but indubitably yours."
The Ponyville party huddled together, trying to stay as far away as possible from the advancing masks. Except for Pinkie Pie.
Pinkie Pie was laughing.
"Pinkie Pie?" Rarity snarled. "What is wrong with you?"
"Oh, but don't you see how funny this is?" Pinkie giggled. "She's trying to frighten me. Me! The Great Pinkie Pie! With a few handfuls of warriors! The very idea is just so preposterous it makes me want to... PFFFFFTHAHAHAHAHAA!"
The voice rumbled through the forest, the anger of one long uncontested booming from a multitude of voices.
"Do not take me lightly, you of laughing Pink,
cease your prattle, take heed, and think.
You may be mighty, mayhap this is true,
but these men, in life, failed to pay their due.
Do not think that you, with such an airy head,
could defeat an army consisting of the dead."
Pinkie slung herself forward in a strange, twirling motion, and there was a loud crack as a mask snapped in half, followed by the wetter sound made by the thing behind it as the axe blade passed through. Twilight screamed.
"Pinkie! No!"
The night exploded into a shimmering green mist, whirling, whipping, forming itself into ephemeral beasts snapping at the air. The enchantress stood at the storm's eye, cloaked in furs and hides of creatures that had never set food in northern lands. Her face was hidden, but her eyes glowed like ghostfires, and they were narrowed with rage. Her voice quivered, and a foreign accent seeped deep into her speech, making it difficult to make out anything but the anger with which she spoke.
"It was said, sworn by ancient pact,
with words not vague, but most exact.
'By Right of Rule, we do decree,
these thing we swear you shall not see;
nor hide nor hair, nor totem cleft,
this we decree, under pain of death.'"
Twilight, always the optimist, threw herself prostrate at the Enchantress's feet, begging her to spare their lives.
"Please! We did not wish to offend! We came seeking your counsel!"
The enchantress stared.
"You break oaths like rock breaks a wave,
then grovel at my feet, driven by fear of the grave?
Begone, bedraggled Weaver of Fate,
iconoclasts shall feel the full force of my hate."
"Hey!" said Rainbow Dash. "We have no idea what this oath is!"
"Yeah!" agreed Pinkie. "Besides, you started it!"
"You bring about this endless night,
you forsake my every will and right,
you act upon my charms as violator,
and yet you dare to call me instigator?"
"Twilight?" Applejack ventured. "I ain't quite following what she's sayin', but... did she jus' accuse us of bringing about eternal night?"
"You seek to claim that for this travesty,
your kin in seid and gald hold no responsibility?
I know well that power of this scale and magnitude,
rests solely with your Queen and her sycophantic brood."
Twilight crawled to her knees, head still hung in deference.
"The Queen is gone. She's probably dead. It was the Night-Mare who brought this upon us."
The Enchantress' luminescent eyes widened, and she spat a string of foreign curses indecipherable in their exoticism but unmistakable in their viciousness.
"You mean to tell she slipped her bonds,
that the night again to her call responds?"
"Yes," replied Twilight. Thoughts of the beast and what it had done to her mentor had invaded her mind, and she couldn't keep the quiver of tears out of her voice.
The enchantress seemed unsure. Her rage was still potent, but losing direction. She looked down at the Völva, watched the green reflections dance across her cloak.
"You come to seek my aid and ken,
but fail to speak with what, and when.
Speak the truth, no lie nor jest,
What do you seek upon this foolish quest?"
"We want to dethrone the Night-Mare and bring back the day. To do that, we need the Elements of Harmony. We... we hoped you might know something."
The anger fell off the enchantress like snow off a branch on the first day of spring. The green mist settled, and the masks receded, slowly, into the forest, where they once again became motionless. She heaved an impassioned sigh.
"I know well that in youth, the mind goes wild,
but your views, and your sense, are like those of a child.
Knowing naught, you seek to overthrow divinity,
actions which convey cleverness is nowhere in your vicinity."
"Hey!" shouted Rainbow. "Are you suggesting that I can't take on that overblown windbag? Because I'll deflate her good, any day of the week!"
"Yeah!" agreed Pinkie. "We'll overthrow her, all right! Overthrow her so far she'll go under, and then she won't know what's coming to her, because she'll be upside-down!"
The Enchantress shook her head.
"This is the flaw in all of your kind,
you act with your heart instead of your mind.
Overfed on stories of honour and blood,
you are eager to die, for to you, dying is good.
So you get your heads all worked up,
you tell stories, of spirits drain your cup,
then march out, eyes blazing, limbs stiff,
obedient as dogs, you step right of the cliff."
Twilight didn't bother looking behind her before putting up a warning hand.
"Don't even think about it."
Pinkie huffed and put the axe back in her belt.
"My friends here are very proud, but they know as well as I do," Twilight said, pausing to throw said friends a caustic glance. "That we don't stand a chance. That's why we need the elements. Please, you have to help us."
The enchantress remained unimpressed.
"Please," begged Applejack. "Ah've seen frost like this before, and that din't last from moonrise to moonrise. Crops're dead already, and there's only so much stored up. People are gonna start dyin' before long."
The enchantress turned away from them, staring off into the night.
"Her revenge shall not be as petty as simple death,
she seeks to rule as Queen, and her subjects must draw breath.
Her image on your people's hearts she would carve,
if I know her well enough, she will not allow them to starve."
"Now what in the hay is that supposed to mean?"
"Perhaps with more insightful questions you should grapple,
that way to learn much more, vaunted Jack of Clan Apple."
Applejack's face contorted as she tried to worm her mind through the twists and turns the Enchantress forced it through. At long length, a reply slogged out of her mouth.
"Are you... callin' me stupid?"
"It would be far from me to be so crass,
but you seem to try so hard to emulate the ass.
Yet I tire ever of this idle talk,
come, dear Norsemen, let us walk."
The Enchantress strode into the woods. Twilight scrambled to her feet and hurried after her. The others followed far less enthusiastically.
She lead them to a great tree, every branch of it hanging thick with charms and potions. She rapped the trunk three times with her knuckles and mumbled something, and when she grabbed a small protrusion, it gave way and opened a door, as if it had always been there.
"Though I am to your quest adverse,
it is better to in warmth and light converse.
Though a demon has made dark the skyward dome,
I still rule here; I bid you welcome to my home."
Twilight was wild with excitement. Everything in the hut was new. She breathed deep the scents, and studied every ornament. This place had power. Every fetish oozed with strength drawn from distant lands and alien gods.
The Enchantress watched her, a tentative smile reaching her luminescent eyes.
"I see you are intrigued by what I have on show,
which is good, for knowledge is key to the before, the here and now.
But be not careless with all my this and that,
you must remember what happened to the cat."
Twilight froze in her tracks.
"Curiosity killed it?"
The Enchantress laughed.
"Indeed, for you see, my friends are not so fond of your sect,
but you will not be harmed, lest you fail to pay respect.
Ah! But to speak of respect, while myself being so rude,
it is a wonder your opinion of me is not more skewed.
Of your names and callings, I have learned a plethora,
but not yet told of mine; I am called Zecora."
With those words, she pulled back her hood, and the Ponyvillians jaws fell agape, for she looked like nothing they had ever seen before. She seemed human enough, but her skin was as dark as the night and her hair stood straight up from her head in a narrow band of alternating pitch black and snow white, but the rest of her head was bald. She wore many golden rings, much like those the native folk wore on their arms, around her neck and large golden disks hung from her ears. She was very slender, and her features where very sharp and clean, but she had a big smile on her face that caused great big dimples to appear in the side of her cheeks, and although her appearance seemed otherwise almost demonic, she did not look the least bit intimidating.
"That is how my face, too, did contort,
when first I saw those of your sort.
So stout of frame and pale of skin,
hard to see a human being dwelt within."
"Our sort?" said Applejack. "You implyin' there's an entire sort of ye?"
"But of course, Applejack," said Rarity, having regained her royal manner. "Have you never met the people from the south? They're all quite dark of skin, and the further south they live, the darker they are. I suppose or new friend here must come from very far south indeed."
Zecora nodded sagely and began to peel off the many layers of strange hides she wore and stack them all up in a neat pile.
"You speak true, oh high-held head,
I hail far from this stony, icy bed."
She kept peeling away layers until she was wearing nothing but a brightly coloured cloth, secured here and there with knotted ropes, but very loosely fitted overall. It looked too breezy for even a mild summer's day, but it did not bother Zecora, for there was a great fire roaring in the middle of the hut, and the cold somehow failed entirely to penetrate the walls. She gestured towards the floor.
"I have not seats or table for so many more,
I hope you will not mind, and join me on the floor.
Though this heat will soon cause undue stress,
I beg you, shed your furs, undress."
The heat in the hut really was stifling, and the enchantress's advice was sound. Twilight, being still quite curious about Zecora and her customs, decided to follow her host's example, and stripped down to just her tunic, which she didn't bother to fasten at all. Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie all saw the wisdom of her decision, and joined her. Rarity laid off her heavy cloak, but flat-out refused to get so undressed, calling it "improper." This of course caused Dash and Applejack to pounce, mocking her for her foppishness. Fluttershy, too, remained clothed, but no-one saw much good in teasing her about it.
Zecora prepared a stew in a great cauldron above the fire, adding meats and spices both well known and altogether new to all the others. She was not an excellent cook, and the meal had a strange, tangy after-taste, but it was filling and very well-received after so many nights in the cold.
Twilight and Zecora got to talking, and they went on talking, occasionally joined by the others, for a long time. At first, Twilight tried to talk about the Night Mare and their desire to defeat her, but Zecora would have none of it. So instead, they spoke of Zecora's homeland and her travels, and Twilight shared tales of hers, short and unimpressive as they were. They spoke of this at long length, until all the others were fast asleep in the nook of a room that Zecora had prepared for them. Then they spoke of deeper secrets, of the magic of the far north and the far south, magic of ice and snow and fate and of the deep jungles and of the animals and the sacred herbs. Zecora spoke of the gods of her homeland and of those she had encountered in her travels, of tricky Spider and mighty Lion, Legba of the crossroads and Ogun the metalworker. Twilight listened very intently, and when it was her turn to tell, Zecora listened, too, even though she had heard the stories before.
They spoke long into the night, but the next morning, Zecora still refused to tell them any more of the Night Mare. This day flowed past like the previous, and many others after it did as well. Twilight spent her every moment conversing with Zecora, and never once did she spend the night with the others, opting instead to sleep on simple cot prepared for her by Zecora so that they could speak uninterrupted.
The others grew bored quickly, and started up their games of play-fighting again. They still poked much fun at Rarity, and she went off in a huff more than once, but she came back every time, and every time she did, the insults grew less vicious in tone, until they were chiding her no more harshly than they were each other. One day, when she managed to land a particularly satisfying blow to the top of Rainbow's head, they even cheered for her.
Fluttershy naturally did not partake in these activities, preferring to avert her eyes and tend to Spike instead. It was the first time either of them had seemed particularly content since the Midsummer's Eve; the cold and the fear had done a number on both of them.
Thus time passed, and they grew ever more impatient. Rainbow Dash, in particular, was quite vocal in her discontent.
"Come on, Twilight!" she whispered. "We can't stay here all year! Every day we stay is another day the people of Ponyville starve."
"I know! What I don't know is where to go, Rainbow Dash. But she does. We can't just walk blindly into the night. We'd only be marching to our doom."
"At least we'd be marching somewhere! This boredom is killing me."
Twilight sighed deeply.
"I know that, too, but I think she's coming around. I just need a bit more time."
And that was that, until one early morning when Dash rose, full of anger, unable to take it any more. She stomped off into into main room to demand they continue their travels, but lost herself entirely when she found Twilight.
She was standing naked by one of the huge windows – marvellous things that could not be seen from the outside – and stared off into the night with a grim countenance. Dash soon saw why; huge white flakes danced on the other side, and the moon was already reflecting off the whitening treetops.
It was snowing.
"We're leaving," said Twilight. She couldn't have missed Dash, not with the furious clatter she had made getting out of bed, but she paid her no mind.
From her bed in the shadows, Zecora spoke. She sounded like a woman defeated.
"Further in and farther still,
across glade and grove and hill,
lies a stone-hewn hall of yore
greater than all halls later or before.
This is where the Night Mare dwelt
and the Sun-queen first her darkness felt.
That is where the Elements lie, beneath the ages buried,
though I wish your journey towards death was not so hurried."
"We move towards death because there is nowhere else to go, Zecora."
"Of this I am but too aware,
and I do wish you luck in your terrible affair.
I know well that all life must end, but it is a dark and terrible moon,
under which such young lives must be thrown away so very soon."
"You got that right," said Twilight. Her voice rose as she addressed the one who lurked in the doorway, but she did not turn around. "Rainbow Dash, wake the others. We have to leave right now, before the snow covers the paths.”
Dash made a brief grunt of acknowledgement. As she turned to make her way back to the sleeping quarters, she stole a glance into the darkness where Zecora has spoken from. It seemed that Twilight's cot had been packed away already or – Rainbow Dash thought this more likely – had not been set out at all.
"Do we really have to go?"
They all looked at Fluttershy with astonishment. It wasn't so much that she spoke up for once as it was that she had tried to influence their decision, however passive that attempt was.
"Yes we do, Fluttershy," Twilight said, exasperated. "It's why we came here in the first place. If you don't want to come, I can ask Zecora if you can-"
"No, it's, uh, it's fine. I'll go."
Twilight fought down the impulse to urge her to please stay, but she knew what would happen if she did. Rarity would chew her out, Fluttershy would be even more flustered, everybody would get in a tissy and they'd all be at each other's throats again. It simply wasn't worth it.
Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash was of a far less pragmatic bend.
"Look, Fluttershy, you can't just come along on this journey and then question it every step of the way. If you don't want to come, just say so, but make up your damn mind!"
Fluttershy shrunk away, and Rarity stepped forward to defend her. Before she could start her inevitable tirade, Twilight stepped in.
"Stop! I've had enough of your quarrels. You can't stand around arguing, because we're running out of time!"
Rainbow Dash snorted.
"Didn't seem to stop you from spending some enjoying yourself."
Twilight spoke through clenched teeth, with a voice she must have borrowed from the winds outside, because all who heard it felt a terrible chill in their bones.
"Let's just leave, already."
She pushed open the door, and although the cold yet failed to pass through whatever barrier the enchantress maintained, she longed to be back by the fire sharing stories with Zecora before she even stepped through.
Twilight took point, but refused all attempts at communication. The winds were mild, but the snowfall was steady and the woods as thick as ever. It was not long before the enchantress's hut was lost from view. For a long time, they kept passing by her totems, but with each step they grew more scarce until there were no more. Still Twilight walked on, occasionally looking about for some secret sign or waypoint. In the beginning, she moved with great speed and efficiency, but as time passed and the snow thickened, she became increasingly slow and erratic, sometimes doubling back and moving in circles.
After one particularly chaotic spell, which involved several concentric circles and a lot of digging in the snow, she sat down, hid her face in her arms and cried out in frustration. Applejack attempted contact.
"What, uh, seems to be the problem, sugar?"
"I can't find the signs," muttered Twilight. "They're covered in snow. I lost the trail hours ago."
Rainbow moaned audibly.
"Dammit, Twilight. If you're going to get all huffy and not talk to us, you could at least make sure you know what you're doing. I never would've lost that trail."
"I know that, Rainbow Dash," Twilight snarled. "You would also never have gotten the directions in the first place."
"Doesn't matter much now that we're lost."
"I know. But if you're such an expert tracker, why don't you find me the road, hmm? Find me the road through the forest, Rainbow Dash, and I'll eat every word I've said."
Rainbow's packs clattered when they hit the ground, but the girl herself hardly made a sound when she darted off into the falling snow.
Faced with no better options, they made improvised camp where they stood, and when Dash did not return, they set up a fire and slept there.
They awoke to find the huntress standing over them.
"Just a bit up, maybe two, three days travel at your pace there's like an alley through the woods. Maybe three wagons wide and crazy long. Looks like someone sliced the forest with a giant knife. Is that your road, Twilight?"
Twilight didn't look her in the eyes, but the managed to squeak out an answer.
"I think so. Thank you, Rainbow Dash."
"Don't mention it. But, uh, could you please mention what we're going to do after we get there?"
Twilight rose slowly. She spoke to her feet.
"We follow the road towards the heart of the forest. We can't move on it, though, because the Night Mare has many servants, and they'll be travelling on that way. Not too far ahead, there's a pass we'll have to go through, and beyond that, we will have to cross the river and the mountains, and, and..." Twilight paused, unsure of herself. "And it's a really long way."
"Ain't it always," said Applejack, already hoisting her pack onto her back. She checked and double-checked that Bloomberg's scabbard was sitting right, and she drew and sheathed to sword many times before she was satisfied that it would neither get snagged when she pulled it, nor fall out at an inopportune moment.
Rarity sat a little ways out, brushing her hair.
“I don't mean to sound crass, Twilight, darling, but could you be a little more specific?” she said.
Twilight's gaze wandered into the forest, and her mind wandered much farther still. She thought of what Zecora had said while they were preparing to leave, recalling all the waypoints.
“Months.”
“Oh dear.”
“Well then, you better get your snorky little bum moving then!” said Pinkie. Twilight could've sworn she'd been asleep just a second ago. “We're already burning moonlight! Come on, chop chop, there's no time like go time!”
So they set out.
By the third day, they'd gotten within viewing distance of the road, or so Rainbow Dash claimed. None of the others could verify that claim, but they'd learned to trust her eyes. While they were setting up camp for the night, Rainbow Dash came upon the fresh footprints of a hind, and before the fire had burned down, she had felled the beast and brought it back to the camp where she proceeded to butcher it.
They watched the dance of her knife, drooling like hungry dogs, and when Dash offered them some choice bits of raw meat, they ate like dogs as well.
It took Twilight much longer than she cared to admit to notice that Fluttershy wasn't there at all. In fact, as soon as Rainbow had dragged her kill into view, Fluttershy had absconded to the very edge of circle of light, closed her eyes and put her hands over her ears in an attempt to block out the sensations. Even Rarity seemed to have been to entranced by the concept of fresh meat to notice her.
Perhaps Twilight would have liked to think that she acted out of altruism when she wiped the blood from her mouth and went to sit with the timid girl, but the truth is that she was simply a creature of curiosity.
“Hey,” she said, gently tapping Fluttershy's arm. “What's the matter?”
Fluttershy didn't remove her hands from her ears, but heard anyway.
“Oooh, I just can't bear it. She killed the poor thing, and now she's, she's... I can't think about it, please don't make me think about it.”
“Uhm, I don't mean to seem judgemental or anything, but why do you care so much about animals, anyway?”
“How can you not care about animals?” snapped Fluttershy.
Twilight was taken aback by the sudden accusatory tone of her voice. She recoiled, eyes darting to and from as if looking for an escape route.
“Because...” She hesitated. “They're animals?”
“I just don't understand. Why do innocent creatures have to die just because we're hungry?”
Twilight remembered a conversation she'd had with the Queen, when she was still very young. She had asked about the purpose of death, not, as many do, out of righteous indignation, but out of childlike curiosity. The Queen had spoken blasphemy then, as she often did when she told the truth. Blasphemy had its places, but the Queen had also said many clever things, and tonight Twilight felt that tonight, cleverness was in her best interest.
“It is simply how fate works. To weave a tapestry as intricate as the world we live in, threads must be cut.”
Fluttershy nodded, drying tears from her eyes. Then she got a curious look in her eye, and she turned to Twilight.
“Then why do the gods live forever?”
“The gods ch...” Twilight caught herself just before she finished that treacherous sentence. It played out only in her head, unheard by the judgemental ears of her friends. The gods cheat. “The gods are the strongest threads of all, the ones that keep the rest of the tapestry in line. If those threads were to be cut, the whole thing would come undone.”
Fluttershy nodded solemnly, apparently convinced by Twilight's platitudes.
“I just don't understand how someone could do that. I could never hurt one of my babies.”
“Your babies?”
“Didn't you see them when you came to my house? All the birds and the bunnies and the-”
Fluttershy broke down again, sobbing uncontrollably into her hands.
“Oh, my poor, poor babies.”
Twilight made the astute judgement that the time for reason was over. She put her arm around Fluttershy.
“Don't worry, I'm sure they'll be fine.”
Fluttrshy's voice was a whisper, only just barely audible over the wind.
“They're already dead.”
Twilight bit back agreement. She knew very well that the cold would've already killed the creatures in Fluttershy's yard, and if it didn't, the villagers would have come looking for food.
“You don't know that.”
“I do know! My babies are dead, and it's all the Night Mare's fault.”
They sat there for a while, feeling quite foolish, if perhaps a little better than before. Although Twilight once again wished Fluttershy had just decided to stay home.
The hind was small, and it barely lasted them until the following morning, but the meal left the group in a much better mood. Except for Fluttershy, of course, but her specific discontent melded into her generally miserable state and no-one took any particular notice.
They moved parallel to the road for days until the landscape began to twist and heave. The bumpy forest floor turned into full-on hills that in turn became the foot of a flat and overgrown mountain. The path carved into a pass between the mountain and one of its brothers, and if they kept going as they had, to the side of it, they would be forced up the mountain, which seemed to curve in the opposite direction of the path. They stopped beneath an outcropping to shield themselves from the wind and discuss their next move.
“We have to move onto the road,” said Twilight Sparkle. “We can't afford to lose our way.”
“I dunno, Twilight. Didn't you say the Night Mare sends her servants along this path?” said Dash.
“Well, yes, but we haven't seen any, right? Besides, there's no telling where we'd even end up. We might have to walk around the entire mountain! We don't have time for that.”
“We ain't got time to be dead, neither,” said Applejack.
“I would prefer not being dead,” Fluttershy added.
At this, Pinkie Pie blew a terrific raspberry.
“Oh, pish-posh. What's the worst that could happen? Death in glorious combat? Puh-lease, the way I see it, that's an improvement. Besides, weren't you guys super worried about your families and stuff?”
“Pinkie may be a bit... crude, but she does have a point,” interjected Rarity. “We simply cannot allow this to drag on any further than it absolutely must. We all knew we'd have to face danger on this journey, did we not?”
“Maybe,” said Applejack. “But I ain't too fond of no unnecessary risks. The people back home depend on us, y'know. Ain't no sense in getting ourselves killed if it can be helped.”
“We know nothing of these mountains, or the woods around them,” said Twilight. “They could loop around beautifully and we'd be back on track before the next moon, or they could stretch on until the world's end. We don't know. The only choice we have is to trust Zecora, and that means following the path.”
They gave a murmured chorus of agreement, although no-one seemed at all pleased. The issue of planning now taken care of, they decided to make camp and set out onto the path after next they slept to avoid camping on the road if at all possible.
When they woke, they packed together the camp quickly and in silence. Before they left the camp, they each donned their mail shirts. The armour was heavy, uncomfortable and noisy, qualities which prompted protestations from both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Rarity, who had made a great fuzz over making sure the links were unbroken and the padding properly fitted, reprimanded them both quite sternly, and the grew quiet.
Having so prepared themselves, they approached the road with trepidation, as if the ground itself were an enemy. The trail was very wide and cut through the trees in an irregular pattern. It often veered aside to avoid boulders and hills but just as often there were bends and nooks that seemed to fill no purpose. Perhaps the road swayed in deference to obstacles gone for many ages, or perhaps it had been overgrown and reconnected many times. Either way, it gave the impression of being very old.
As the mountains rose up, the path fell down into a valley between them, forming a gash between them in exactly the same way that it split apart the woods.
The cliff walls grew very high and very smooth. Only in a few places were there outcroppings where plants once grew, all but the hardiest now smothered by the snow. The snow muffled their steps, but other sound echoed loudly across, so they spoke only in whispers so as to avoid drawing attention.
The valley started out as wide as the road that led to it and as tall as two men, but it soon grew very narrow and very deep. Soon, it was barely wide enough to allow them to walk abreast and the cliff walls were taller than any hall they had ever seen. When the moon was not directly above, it became dark as well and they had only the distant stars to rely on for light. They ended up following the left wall of the canyon, so as to have common direction. They walked for hours, the passageway growing slowly more narrow until finally Rainbow Dash spotted something.
Further ahead, the passage widened considerably, forming a basin of sorts with trees and vegetation. The moonlight could reach into the wider area, and even the less keen-eyed of the group could see the walls closing in again on the far side of the basin. Still, some freedom of movement would be a welcome change from the cramped passageway they were currently trekking through.
Twilight was just about to say something to that effect when a hideous sound shook the canyon. It was deep and rumbling, like a giant saw at the bottom of a well, but it was coloured with hate and fury, as only the voice of a living thing can be.
They all froze. Fluttershy collapsed onto the ground.
“What in tarnation was that?” Applejack whispered.
“No doubt a beast of some sort,” said Rarity while helping Fluttershy back on her feet. “A rather large one, I would suspect.”
“You guys stay here,” said Rainbow Dash, stringing her bow. “I'm just gonna go have a closer lo- oh shit.”
She'd seen it first, but now they all did. Just a few feet away from the opening a huge body trudged through the snow. The creature was like a lynx, but many times the size; it was almost as big as a bear. Its fur was short and pale except for a great mass of darker hair that surrounded its head. In place of a cat's tail, there was a massive chitinous limb, like the leg of an insect, but it had many, many segments and ended in a wicked barb. The tail was raised high above its head, twitching with anticipation. Its face was contorted into a snarl, and it was making odd grunt noises, and throwing it's head about haphazardly. A thin but constant stream of drool hung out of its mouth. It shivered horribly, the thing fur unable to protect it from the cold.
It twitched and turned its glowing eyes down the canyon. It gave another roar and leapt into the opening.
Spike shrugged off the saddlebags and rose, dragonfire burning hot in his belly. Fluttershy whispered something and gestured at him, but he took no notice. The flame spewed forward over the heads of the women, melting the snow and scorching the rock. The beast disappeared behind a wall of light and heat.
When the fire fell away, images of it still floated in their vision, and they could hardly see at all even in the moonlight. So they waited. Another angry roar shook them, and they saw the points of light that was the creature's eyes, closer now.
Spike hissed, slowly stepping ahead of the humans, eyes focused on the only reference point he had – the creature's eyes. He hoped by all his gods and ancestors that the cat was as blinded as they were, or things would soon end badly.
Applejack saw what he was doing, and didn't approve.
“Whoa nelly! You hold it right there, Spikey-boy. I ain't letting you face that thing by yerself.” she said, stepping forward.
“I really think you shouldn't,” muttered Fluttershy.
“Now, dear” interjected Rarity as she took to Applejack's side, brandishing her own shield. She held her warhammer much too tightly and sweat ran over her knuckles, but her voice was calm. “I couldn't possibly let you face such a ghastly thing on your own.”
“Please, you have to listen,” Fluttershy tried.
“Enough chit-chat!” bellowed Pinkie, banging axe against shield. “Have at!”
They lunged forward, and the beast struck out at them from the darkness.
“STOP!”
Fluttershy's voice carried a weight previously unheard, and her voice might as well have been a well-placed strike, for it took the air out the attackers just as surely. Even the beast recoiled.
“Please, you mustn't fight it,” said Fluttershy in the ensuing silence. “He's sick.”
Rainbow Dash cried in frustration.
“Look, Fluttershy, I've had it up to here with your cowardly ways. If you think you're going to stop me from defending myself from an animal just because it's sick, you're weaker than I thought!”
“No, you don't understand! Look at him! Look at his face! Don't you see it?”
They looked, for their eyes were again slowly becoming accustomed to the moonlight. There was great anger there, yes, but it seemed equally scared and confused. It even looked a little comical with its jaw hanging open and drool pouring into the snow.
Twilight's eyes widened, and her whole body trembled.
“Freya's locks. The water-terror” she whispered hoarsely. The others gave her a queer look, but Fluttershy nodded.
“Yes. You can't fight it, because if you get just a single teeny-weeny itsy-bitsy scratch on you, you could end up like this poor creature; scared, angry and in so much pain. Then your body will just give up. First the limbs and the face and then... and then...” Fluttershy choked. “And then the lungs.”
“Can't you do anything about it?” asked Rainbow Dash, eyeing the great cat suspiciously.
Fluttershy stepped ahead of Applejack and her shield, watching the great cat skulk in the shadows.
“Just one thing,” she said. She had a lump in her throat the size of a war barge. “Can I borrow your knife, Rainbow Dash?”
“What do you want my knife for?”
“Please.”
Rainbow shrugged and unholstered the great knife she kept at her belt. It was very large, with a broad, strong blade and the type of sharply angular tip that earned the type the monicker “broken-back”. It was a gorgeous weapon, but Fluttershy didn't so much as look at it. Rarity, however, stared at it with hateful intensity. Although no-one much noticed that, either.
The timid little girl stepped forward, free hand gloveless and stretched out in front of her. She called out to the creature, much the same way she had when first she met Spike.
“Good boy, nice and easy, be a good boy,” she crooned. The creature stared and twitched, jumping back.
“Oh no, don't be scared. I know it hurts, I know it does, but you're such a good boy, if you just calm down, mama Fluttershy's gonna make it all better.”
It growled half-heartedly, but stopped its retreat.
“Yes, good boy, just a little closer, a little bit closer, don't be scared.”
She was within striking distance of the beast now, and the party cringed, but the beast did not lash out. Not even when Fluttershy touched its mane did it react. She stroked its wet fur with bare hands, allowing herself to cherish the short-grained texture and icy cold of it. There was life there, under the frozen surface. Great muscles trembling in a futile attempt to reduce the cold, a barrel of a chest heaving to and fro like the bellows of a forge. Fluttershy couldn't help but smile at how ridiculous it was for such a mighty creature to be fretting fearfully under her touch. And yet, her smile was tinged by sorrow.
“You're a good kitty, yes you are. You're just a little sick, that's all. Don't you worry, mama Fluttershy is gonna make it all better.”
She scratched it behind the ears and kissed it on the head. Her arms reached around its gargantuan neck, and she held it close, breathing in the strange, wet smell of it. She remained so for ages, holding everything back. Then the beast nuzzled her hair contently, and the mask crumbled. She bawled like a child at her mother's funeral, kissing and hugging the creature furiously.
“I'm so sorry,” she whispered between sobbing breaths, stroking the luxurious fur that encircled the creature's head. Her hands travelled to its neck, scratching it gently. She felt the pulse of life there, just beneath the skin.
Life that had to end.
“I'm so sorry,” she whispered into its ears and kissed it for the last time. “I'm so sorry.”
Her cut was deep and precise. Steam rose into the air as warm blood spilled into the chilly night. The creature threashed about furiously, but even in its dying throes it could not bring itself to harm Fluttershy, who still held its head in her arms, weeping loudly and begging it for forgiveness.
None of the others dared to move a muscle until the thing had stopped, which was long before Fluttershy stopped crying. Twilight stared in amazement.
“But.... but how can... nobody makes a cut that clean on the first try.”
“She's had plenty of practice,” said Rarity through gritted teeth.
“But I thought she loved animals? She got sick just thinking about hurting them!”
“She does, dear. She loves those animals like she would her own children. But sometimes children get sick, and sometimes they'll never get better. She tries, of course. Every time, she tries. And every time she fails, she knows that she must show mercy. Every time, she breaks down in tears.”
“She gets like this every time?”
“Every single time. She's stronger than she looks, Twilight.”
With that, Rarity went to comfort Fluttershy. They sat for a long time together before the beast's remains before Fluttershy's loud bawling receded into quiet sobs and at last stopped entirely.
They made camp in the canyon, just before the opening. Although they could probably have had some use of it, no-one dared touch the carcass of the great beast. In fact, even though they still had some dried meats left in their packs, that night they feasted on crumbling bread and nuts.
Rainbow Dash woke early. In her own bed, she would drowse for hours, but out in the wilderness she rose with the birds.
No birds this morning, though. No morning, either. Just moonlight and silence. The cold filled her. It passed through blankets and clothes, biting into her bones. Every time she woke like this, she was afraid. The numbness was akin to death, and every movement was sluggish. She couldn’t help but be afraid that this time, her body would simply refuse to move. Slowly, she moved in circles, doing a strange little dance under the covers. Warm blood welled from the secret places near her heart into her frozen limbs, bringing back life to every pointless flap of skin. Rainbow squealed in delight as every movement became more fluid and the fear of death abated. She sat up and arched her back, relishing in her mobility.
Unwilling to sit still for fear the cold would catch her again, she went out into the basin to explore. On the surface, it looked much like the outside forest, but Rainbow Dash knew better than to trust the surface. She kicked around in the snow, poking at the frozen roots and dead leaves to figure out what manner of things had lived here before the eternal night fell. She had just gotten out her big knife to collect a few specimens of edible varieties when she heard decisive steps behind her.
“Oh hi, Rarity,” she said without turning. “Didn’t expect you up so soon.”
“Where did you get it?” Rarity’s voice was hard as stone and filled with a disgust the likes of which Dash had only heard once before, many years ago when Rarity was given the final ultimatum by her clan.
“Got what? What’s the matter, Rares?” she said, turning to look her old friend in the eye. Only there didn’t seem to be much friendship between them at the moment.
“The seax, you incorrigible curr. Did you steal it off someone more deserving, or did you trick some poor, gullible gentleman into believing it was for your master?”
“Hey! I don’t know what your problem is, Rares, but this thing is mine, okay?” Dash said, waving the knife around. “I paid for it myself, with money you gave me for helping me prepare that feast, remember?”
Rarity was shaking with anger, and her voice was slow and intense. Half a lifetime among the Canterlot nobles and a rigid adherence to civility was all that prevented her from flying into a shrieking fit. Instead, she focused all the bile inside her into words. She spoke from the heart, but every syllable and synonym was designed to hurt, to batter Rainbow Dash in the only arena where Rarity felt comfortable fighting.
“You have no right,” she hissed. “That is the weapon of a free woman. You have no right.”
When she finally realized the source of Rarity’s indignation, Dash felt as if a trapdoor upon which she stood had sprung open, and she was falling into darkness. Her heart felt empty. But instead of being crushed at the bottom, flames rose from below, the heat of her own deepest indignation and hatred propelling her upwards. Instead of gently side-stepping Rarity’s fury, she met her concentrated flame head-on with her own unruly inferno of emotions.
She stepped forward, fixing her eyes and Rarity’s together.
“But I am a free woman. You don’t get to tell me what rights I have any more!”
Rarity stared back as unwavering as always.
“You are a freed woman, Rainbow Dash. Don’t you dare think a prize of gold could just erase all the obligations you have towards society. Towards me.”
Rainbow struck her. A full-palmed blow across the face that hit so hard, Rarity fell to the ground, head swimming. Through the haze, she saw Rainbow with tears at the edge of her eyes, voice cracking up..
“I don’t have any obligations towards you! That was the whole point.”
Rarity got up, wobbling unsteadily on flimsy legs. Despite obvious nausea, she retained her regal posture and an even more fiercely focused disgust. She frowned at Dash, the grimace causing pain in her rapidly swelling cheek.
“You don’t understand. There are still rules. You can grow your hair long, surround yourself with the trinkets of independence and call yourself a free woman all you like. Until you start acting as one should, all you are is a thrall with an an attitude problem.”
She spat on the snow, splattering it red. The slap had split her cheek against her teeth and her mouth was slowly filling up with the tell-tale iron flavour.
“Had I known you were going to be this disrespectful, I would never have allowed you to buy your freedom.”
Rainbow Dash sniffled, holding the tears back.
“If I’d known you were going to be such a bitch, I would’ve told Twilight what you keep in your saddlebag before we even set out.”
Rarity’s gaze turned from anger to fear.
“You wouldn’t.”
“I didn’t think I would, but you know, I never thought you’d talk to me like this, either.”
Rarity ground her teeth.
“You’re like a child. An unruly, ungrateful child!” she screamed with a wild gesture. “You know what, then? Fine. Be that way. When you’re ready to be a grown-up, throw away that blade and come talk to me. Until you do learn some manners, I would appreciate it if you could refrain from debasing my life with your presence.”
Still fuming, she returned to the camp to find the others engaged in the morning’s chores. She tried to help, but her violent temper caused her to fail the simplest of tasks, and she was quickly relieved of her duties and left to stew in a corner.
Rainbow Dash waited another hour to go back. She didn’t want anyone to see her crying.
