I galloped through the forest path beside the river, barely outrunning the swarm of lurkerbees that chased me. I saw a log ahead and jumped over it while kicking out with my right rear hoof to catch one of the monsters in the body, causing its carapace to explode in a messy splatter. That was one, now to deal with, oh I don't know, a hundred more?! I kept running, the buzz of the bees feeling as if it was burrowing straight through my ears and into my brain.
I continued to run, until the forest gave way to desert. I turned around and levitated a few ball bearings out of my saddlebag. I used my mechakinesis, in tandem with a multilevitation spell to launch the small balls into the bees before expanding them, effectively pushing the bees out of their own bodies. It was gruesome, and took out another 15 or so bees, but more kept emerging from the forest. I returned my ball bearings back to my saddlebag after a quick dip through the river to wash off the bee matter. If I could help it, I'd rather not have my tools too dirty. I turned back and kept running into desert, keeping the river on my right side and close by at all times. The river was my last resort, for I'd rather die from drowning than being paralyzed by the bees toxin. It's said that if you prove a worthy chase to the bees, they'll take you to the queen bee. Now, seeming as these bees already are about the size of my body, I swiftly decided I didn't want to meet the queen, and continued galloping.
Not like there was much else I could do, considering the swarm was growing exponentially. I looked over my shoulder and shot a fire spell, incinerating under a third of the swarm. The buzzing slowly started to die down as the bees landed, all staring at me. They probably expected me to stop because they did. Idiots... I kept on running, tired somewhat from the size of that fire spell. So tired was I, that I didn't notice the desert turn to tundra, turn to jungle, then back to the forest from before. I barely managed to stop myself before I fell into the river, which had decided to bend into a corner here. A willow tree stood, and underneath it... was her.
I stepped forward cautiously. "M.. Moon?"
"Violet!" She exclaimed, running forward to hug me. I felt a flood of relief flow over me at seeing her safe, before a sudden flash of light enveloped her and she disappeared, with only her necklace staying behind. I barely had time to let the shock set in before a shadow came over the ground, and I looked up, to see a bee the size of my house bearing down on me, stinger first and hitting me in the si-
"AGH!" I yelled out when I woke up and darted to a sitting position. I was covered in a cold sweat, and looking out the window from my bed I could see that the sun was just barely brushing the horizon, the light of day on the verge of being released into the morning. I took a few shaky breathes and laid myself back down, letting my heart rate return to normal before gingerly stepping out of my sweat-dampened bed. I looked around at my one-room workshop... or I guess you could call it work-shack, with how low-class it was. Metal pieces lay haphazardly around the floor, with flawed blueprints plastered on every square inch of wall. A half-finished invention sat on the shop table. Amongst this organized chaos, a bed and bedside table sat in the corner, looking as if they had been thrown in as more of an afterthought, which they were.
I slowly shuffled over to my small kitchen, and telekinetically threw some herbs into a filter, then into my home brewing system, setting a mug underneath the spout on the end. I grabbed a piece of stale bread out of the cupboard, and knocked it on the table with a sharp *clunk*. I shrugged and used my magic to move my saddlebag onto my back, from which I levitated a small knife which I used to cut the bread into small enough pieces. I saw my cup of tea had been finished and took that and the bread and walked out my front door, looking in front of me to see endless fields of abandoned apple trees.
Ever since the disappearance of the Element Wielders, Ponyville was a much more desolate place. That tends to happen when you take the town scholar, the friend maker, the animal tender, the hero, the seamstress, and the best cowpony, and have them go missing. Quarrels in town were much more frequent, and it seemed to me that with the disappearance of the Elements of Harmony came the disappearance of harmony itself. Not that it really affected me, I didn't keep too many relationships nowadays, not since Moon Star left.
But, I digress. I walked to the closest tree, and grabbed an apple. Normally stealing from Sweet Apple Acres would have most of the town up in arms, but since Applejack left, the rest of the Apple family went into mourning. Without their prime applebucker, they slowly lost control of the trees, and were unable to finish harvest in time. Eventually, Old Granny Smith kicked the bucket, and Big Mac and Apple Bloom moved to Appaloosa to be with what family they had left.
I turned and walked back to my workshop, before realizing I really wasn't in the mood for working right now. I still walked inside and grabbed my cloak, levitating that on underneath the saddlebag that I never left home without. I looked into the mirror to see my sky blue eyes staring back at me, surrounded by my navy blue features. My hair fell just above my right eye, streaks of a regal purple inlaid into my mane. My tail was long, though I kept it braided to prevent it from getting caught in anything.
I looked at the calendar and sighed, realizing that it was Moon Star's birthday tomorrow. I grabbed a few bits from my homemade magic safe (that one was hard to make) that was only able to open when it was touched by my colour of magical aura. Since nopony else in Ponyville had a dark blue aura, this was decently secure, at least for the time being. I placed them into a pouch that levitated from my saddlebag and returned it to its former position. I looked behind me and saw the cloak and matching black saddlebag, and magically did up the straps and clasps.
I walked outside and followed a semi-worn trail, from my misuse only, weaving a cut path through the trees and underlying brush. Not many ponies know where it is that I live, and even less have a desire to come see me. I grabbed another plump apple and used a multi-levitation spell to slice it apart with my knife and eat it as I walked into town. I fell into my thoughts for the long, uneventful walk into Central Ponyville.
It had been a couple of weeks short of 2 years since the Element Wielders had gone missing. I had arrived and built my "home" out here on the outskirts of the late Sweet Apple Acres about 8 months ago. The mystery was unsolved, and the general population had sadly accepted that they weren't returning. There was mourning, and the general population would have worn black, but without their prized seamstress anypony without something black made by Rarity would have felt disrespectful.
On the Anniversary of their disappearance, Celestia held an official memorial in their honour, in Ponyville. The population of Ponyville was around 2,000 at that time. Over 50,000 ponies were present on that day, not including the buffalo tribes, a small zebra family, and a few donkeys. Both Princesses ruled it a national holiday, and that day was named Harmony Day.
That night the gathered mourners stayed and drank hard cider to drown their sorrows at the loss. The townspeople stood and told stories of the deeds and lessons of the late wielders and everypony that was gathered sang in sorrow.
I don't have a reliable source for the information but according to the rumor mill, a relative of the Generosity wielder, sang a song about smiling, which most of the Ponyville locals knew and sang along to. The outcome of this was the greatest festival ever seen in Equestrian history.
See, after that, apparently two other fillies ran up in front of everypony gathered and they gave an emotional speech about friendship and how even though they're gone, ponies should celebrate their life rather than mourn their death. It was decided thereafter that for the rest of the week, each day should be dedicated to the celebration of one element wielder, in respect for the heroics and sacrifices of the mares that weren't there.
Harmony Day had been decreed the start of what was to be known as the Festival of Harmony. The first day was in sad but loving memory of the Elements as a whole, a day to be sorrowful. The second day somewhat carried that mood with the honouring of Applejack, and everypony certainly got their fill of the hard cider. I doubt the hard working earth pony herself would have approved, but with all the drunken secrets being spilled, you can't say anypony was being disrespectful to Honesty. Farmers taught the foreign races how to applebuck, there was horseshoe throwing, square dancing, and a bit of horsing around if you catch my drift.
The second day was delayed due to the dehydrated masses of ponies. When the hangovers were cured, whoever had this organized decided that a walk in the Whitetail Woods was a good way to celebrate Kindness. The packs were filled, and off everpony went. At this time the total attendance was about 70,000 and rising by the hour. Citizens were flooding in to pay homage to the saviors of their homes, and Ponyville was quickly filling up. A Pegasus team had moved clouds into neat little rows inside the school-house for the VIP's and royalty, while other teams placed endless rows of cloud beds in the expansive fields surrounding the town.
Despite all this going on in Ponyville, the march through the forest continued to a large field that bordered a river. The field was then filled by ponies eating their packed lunch, foals going swimming, traditional picnic things. A large bonfire was held and stories about Fluttershy were recalled. A known lullaby of hers echoed across the surrounding landscape as it was sung by the group of 60,000 that chose to remain at the clearing.
Day Three brought the awakening of the outdoors ponies who promptly returned to town and found another 50,000 new attendants to the festival. By this point the local businesses had set up concession stands by the residential fields, and were loving the boom in business. With the collective 110,000 ponies there, a plan was made and then followed. It went like this:
Day Four was a preparation and celebration day. Gifts were to be swapped in celebration of Generosity and outfits were to be prepared for the next day. Everypony present with work from Rarity herself wore it, while those who didn't wore their nicest attire. The total number of attendees at this point was 130,000
Day Five was the celebration of Laughter, and Pinkie. Of course there was a party, why ask? DJ-Pon3 performed with a few other artists and as the night progressed the party turned into more of a rave. Heavy bass music carried long into the night, leaving everypony with not nearly enough sleep for the next day.
Day Six was a team competition. This was in memory of Rainbow Dash, and was named the 10 Second Decathalon. It was a series of events between earth ponies and pegasi, and it ended in group of tired athletes and everypony waiting anxiously for the next day.
Day Seven brought the Element of Magic and with that came two things. The first thing came in the form of Celestia raising the sun from Ponyville that morning. The second came with the first ever Twilight Sparkle Memorial Tournament. This was a non-lethal dueling tournament between unicorns, meant to display harmless gags and magical pranks and to entertain the audience with displays of both general and talent magic. It was won by some random unicorn that I never caught the name of. After the proceedings of the week previous, Ponyville had slowly returned to its normal population level, rather than the abundance of Equestrian Citizens that had come to pay their respect.
I looked up and saw that I had emerged from my remembrance of what happened almost a year prior, finding myself at the end of yet another empty street of Ponyville. Looking forward I could see into the perimeter of the square and paused, looking for where I wanted to go.
After watching an earth pony mare run past rather hurriedly, and trip in plain view, I allowed myself to smile. I made my away across the road and looked up at the store I was about to walk into, before pushing the door open. The entry bell clanged over my head and I heard a mare yell "just a minute!". I took to browsing the shelves of endless chocolate that sprawled through the store with displays of sweets placed perfectly in between like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Many varieties of chocolates and candies were available, though after coming here so often I kind of had the general layout of the store memorized.
I heard hoofclops and looked up to see a light coloured mare, earth pony, with a purple and pink mane and tail.
"Hey Bon Bon." I greeted her with a nod of my head. Me and this particular pony have known each other for a decent amount of time. In fact, her store was the first one I went into when I moved here. It's a long story, but it involves a crazy pegasus in a chicken costume and a filly with nine times her weight in bits.
"Hey Violet!" She returned happily. "How are you?"
Her joviality was hard not to mimic. "I'm good, thank you for asking. And how are you?"
"Business could be better," She joked while gesturing to the unpopulated storefront. "But I'm not one to complain."
I smiled. "No, you really aren't. How's Lyra doing?" A few months ago Lyra and I had played a prank on Bon Bon with some bad chocolate. What happened was that Lyra had gone and tried to make a bunch of chocolate to do some of Bon Bons job for her so they could quit early and go on a date. Bon had told her that it wasn't good chocolate and that they couldn't sell it. Long story short, we replaced everything in her house with chocolate. Toothpaste even!
Bon Bon let an affectionate smile cross her face. Oh, did I mention that Lyra and Bon Bon are kind of... together?
"Why don't you ask me?" Lyra giggled as she came down the stairs. Bon Bon rushed to give the unicorn a hug and I smiled at her before her teal features were masked by her marefriend. The two separated and turned back to me.
I let out a small laugh. "Well then, how are you doing Lyra?"
She smiled back at me. "I'm still waking up, ask me in a couple of minutes."
"Fair enough." I replied.
Bon Bon cut to the chase though. "So, Violet, what can we do for you?"
My mood immediately sobered as I recalled why I came here in the first place. "Well... tomorrow is going to be Moon's birthday..." As soon as her name came out of my mouth, the two mares in front of me put on sympathetic looks and I looked down, before looking back at them. "I want to get her what I got her the last two years."
Bon Bon nodded wordlessly and walked into the back of the shop. Lyra walked over to me and gave me a hug, so I stood there and let her. When she pulled away I offered my thanks, and we were again silent. I can still remember Moon, I told her that I could never forget about her. She didn't believe me, she thought I was just saying it to be nice but I wasn't. I was being completely serious. I can hear her in my dreams, see her, feel her and touch her and it's like she was never gone.
One day we all have to wake up and stop chasing fairy tales though.
Bon Bon returned to the main floor area of the store, somehow balancing two boxes on top of her head and dodging around Lyra as the unicorn made her way back upstairs. She carried these over to the counter and slid them onto the surface, taking the traditional spot behind the counter and I, in front.
"Not to be offensive..." I slowly let out. "But don't you think it would be smarter if Lyra was the go to mare for grabbing things from the back?"
"What do you mean?" Bon Bon asked me with an eyebrow raised quizzically.
"Well, I mean, not to be rude, but... She has magic. Wouldn't it be easier if she grabbed things instead of you having to balance them?" I explained.
"Remember last time she was with the chocolate vats?"
I sweatdropped. "Erm... no?"
She smiled at me and pushed the boxes across the counter, dropping the subject. "Take this one on us, Violet. It's the least we could do."
I shook my head and smiled back, levitating the necessary amount of bits out of my coin purse and placing them on the counter. "You know I don't like to take things for free."
"Yea... but it lets me feel better for offering." She said with a wink. At this I laughed lightly. I always enjoyed coming into the shop, especially since it was usually pretty empty, and I was already good friends with Lyra and Bon Bon, and they treated me like somepony worth their time. Because of this, however, there was no way I could take a freebie from them. It would be like... stealing from the orphanage you live at. So many levels of wrong. To prevent that, I pay. Easy as that.
"Well then thank you for your incredibly generous offer." I say, with a small smile so she knows I'm not being sarcastic. "but I'm afraid I must be going now. It is getting rather late."
"It's not even breakfast time." Lyra deadpanned as she walked back into the store.
"Exactly," I reply, "I still have to go get groceries for my breakfast."
"Why don't you eat with us?" Lyra asked.
"Erm... I have to grab some things for something I'm working on, as well. I'm anxious to get going on it." I said as I stowed the chocolates into my saddlebag after wrapping them in a clean towel to prevent jarring (I may or may not live by "Be Prepared" like its my religion). I did like these ponies, but as far as social interaction goes, my time is better spent on my work. Nobody ever got a paycheck from a party, unless they hosted it and charged an admission fee. I was most definitely not the party planning type.
"You sure you can't spare a half hour for some time with friends?" Bon asked, with a hint of a puppy face. They were really pushing this, weren't they?
2 hours later I emerged from the chocolate shop into the street. I squinted for a few seconds in the significantly brighter sunlight until I got used to it, then turned and began ambling down the road, thinking again about the disappearance of the Elements. I had a few theories, none of which were probable. For some reason the matter refused to drop from my mind, and in no time I found myself in front of the scarred remains of Ponyville's old Library.
From where I was standing, it essentially looked like the top half of the tree was ripped right off. The bottom half was bare of any sort of bark, and the jagged shell of the trunk spiked towards the sky, leaving the inside open to the elements. Nopony had stepped inside after Celestia had ordered it, upon her leaving the house shortly after the incident. I made up my mind right then and there that I was going to break that rule, come nightfall. With that in mind, I walked on.
It didn't take me long to do what I needed to do in town, though despite my delay I still had to wait for the blacksmith to wake up. It was pushing noon and I was still sitting outside of the shop. Normally, any sane pony would have left by now. But I am not sane, and I can be very patient. So, I sat down in the nearest shade, and settled in for who knows how long.
Some time later (I have no idea when, I tend to zone out when I'm waiting) the forgemaster opened up his door with a yawn.
"Finally." I said flatly.
He blinked. "Huh. How long you been waiting there, son?"
"Too long." I said, raising myself off the ground and shaking out my legs.
"I've got your order all ready to go."
"Thanks, here's the-" I stopped myself with my bit purse levitating in front of me. "Wait, what order?"
"Come inside, I think you'll be pleased with how I did. I mean, it's not quite to your oddly specific design, as I added a few improvements, but it still works as it should."
"..." My silence impacted the conversation so hard the ellipses were practically audible.
The old earth pony was not dissuaded however, and proceeded to usher me through the door into the stifling heat of his home and work. See, I'm not the only pony who finds it easier to work where I live!
"I know I say this every time, but you really should have put your forge outside."
"And risk my baby being rained on? Not happening, kid." He liked to remind everypony just how much older he was. He really wasn't that old, I just think the years treated him poorly.
"I came up with a useful product recently."
"Oh?" He inquired.
"I think something like it exists already. Basically what it is, is a covering, usually held up by some sort of support, and weatherproofed. I think it's quite similar to a roof. Oh, and the great thing is? It can be built outside. Right over where your forge should be."
He just looked at me with that look that seniors give to the young ones who disrespect them. Mainly, he looked annoyed. I just gestured forwards, and he walked into his storeroom, with me following.
"So, smartass, do you want your usual too?" I guess I deserved that.
"If you don't mind." I said while looking over the walls and floors. I mostly saw shoes lying around and hanging from hooks. Here and there I found other items, like a the externals of a clock, or a few nails or spikes. My concentration was broken by the owners voice.
"Here it is!" He said, holding up what looked like... I don't really know. It looked like a big, metal stick.
"...What is it?"
"You said you wanted a spear."
Wait, what?
Why would I need a spear? Why would I even want a spear? I actually am pretty against owning one, but metal isn't exactly a fixed object for me, so I figured I'd just brick it like the rest of my stash. Although, he does think I ordered it...
"No, I meant what is the metal you used?" Good save, Violet.
He grinned. "I went right ahead and made this with my own blend. Everything you need to know about it is written down here." He passed me a slip of paper. I magicked it into my bag, then magically picked up the 'spear'. I suppose I should describe it, although anypony close to me has probably already seen it. It did not have a handle, because magic. It did look pretty badass, though. The metal was sharpened to a tip at each end, with the metal getting thicker towards the middle. It was roughly my height, were I to act like a drunk and try walking on two legs. The metal itself looked to be blackish with red swirling through it. It looked... kind of evil, to be honest.
"Right. So what do I owe you?"
"Nothing. You paid for it when you dropped off the order, remember?"
"No. Did I pay for the extra steel yet?"
"What do you mean?"
"Did I already give you the bits to make my purchase of the raw steel bars?"
"No, before that."
"I asked how much I owed you?"
He grit his teeth. It really shouldn't be fun annoying people, but me and him have a thing going, so it's alright. Basically, he puts up with me and I'm his number one customer.
"Nothing, see you next week, bye." He ushered me out the door and slammed it behind me. I was about to turn around and walk inside before I saw the spear impale itself into the ground. I looked back at the shop and he threw a bag at me that I caught with magic. I knew if I looked inside I would see my steel so I compressed the spear into a ball and placed it into my saddlebag, soon followed by the raw materials. With everything I needed and some cool new metal to work with, I walked my way home.
I again found myself standing in front of the library. It was approximately 2 hours past sunset, and the majority of ponies were in bed, if not only in their homes. I erred on the side of caution by starting with a muffling spell on my hooves before I walked slowly up to the entrance and slipped inside. I don't know why I was surprised to see the inside of the library in the same state as the outside, but that could just be because I've never stepped hoof in this building before. Either way, I cast a weak illumination spell and an orb of glowing magic manifested at the tip of my horn in an attempt to reveal what hid in the shadows.
The inside of the tree was barren, mostly. Charred remains of bookcases lay scattered on the floor like tombstones for the lost knowledge within the tomes, scrolls, and books that were destroyed. The bottom of a set of stairs could be seen leading up only a few steps before being cut off like the rest of the tree. Boards from the hardwood floor were torn up in places, revealing the basement level beneath. But the most interesting thing was a circle on the floor in the middle of the library, with various magical runes painted in it. This part was miraculously damage-free, and due to that it immediately caught my attention. I walked closer to it, my hooves stopping just outside the circle as I levitated a quill, ink-pot, and a square of parchment from my saddlebag, and proceeded to copy the design as I examined what few of the runes I knew.
See, back before I moved to Ponyville, I didn't really go to school. No, instead I took it upon myself to learn what I wanted, what I needed, what was necessary and interesting to me. So of course, the first subject I forayed into was my magic. I learned a lot about the structure and intricacies of magic, poring through both biographies of famous powerful unicorns, and through the dusty tomes of old. During this time I learned about a whole manner of spells, runes, rituals, and even theoretical magic. I wasn't the worlds leading expert, but according to Equestria Daily's census on average unicorn magic knowledge, I found myself in the top ten percent. A few ponies above me include Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, ponies like that.
Not that I'm bragging or anything.
Yet despite my self-taught magical knowledge, I still found myself puzzled by a few of the runes that were professionally marked in the circle. I saw a few that I recognized, like the one for Focus, as well as the one for Amplification. I saw one that resembled the Home rune as well. The rest were a mystery, and there were six altogether. Focus and Amplification were common signs to be used in any ritual spell, due to their nature. Ritual spells take preparation, so no unicorn wants to screw up and have to start over because they got distracted by a bug, or they missed out on a little sleep the night before and were lacking just a little bit more energy. Home was a bit trickier, as it was usually used with long-range teleportation spells, though I didn't spot any other ones common to teleportation so I quickly dismissed it as being another unknown.
I marked down the position of the runes within the circle as well as copying their exact shape so I could reference them in a library the next time I was anywhere but Ponyville. That done, I slipped my notes back into my saddlebag, and continued to look around. I wandered the place for about an hour before anything interesting happened.
I was just about to leave when I heard hoofclops. Hoofclops means ponies. Ponies at this hour means either others settling their curiosity, or the Royal Night Guard. I quickly extinguished my illumination spell and noticed the telltale glow of magic from out the front doors. 2 origin points for the lights, I'm dealing with at least 2 other magic wielders. I heard flapping, and if I wasn't busy trying to think of what to do, I would have face-hooved. Pegasi too?
I thrust a tendril of magic into the door, locating and engaging the lock, and melting it shut. That would only stop the unicorns for a minute or two, less if they had an earth pony and weren't worried about discretion. Either way, I would have a pegasi flying over the open roof soon enough, and that would completely render my door locking moot. I galloped across the open floor to the stairway leading downstairs, throwing myself into the entrance before preparing what I needed. I used my mechakinetic magic to manipulate the doorknob and hinges into solid metal, which I quickly reformed into nails. I quickly pulled out the block of steel I bought earlier and spread it into a thin sheet, which I placed over the outside of the door. I then punched the nails through the door into the wall.
My hopes was that they would never think to check behind a mirror mounted on a unmoving piece of wall. I could hear the door rattle at the front, then a couple of hard knocks, before a loud slam followed. Guess they did have an earth pony... I continued to wait in the pitch darkness as the intruders wandered about the library, their voices all but muffled to me through the door. After about 5 minutes of patience, it seemed they found whatever it was that they were looking for, because the muttering stopped and I heard the hoofclops fade away.
It was only well after they had gone did I allow myself to relax again, releasing a breath I hadn't been aware I was holding. I returned the door to its normal state of being a door, and then didn't even go out it, instead heading down into the basement and recasting my illumination spell.
I noticed the ground was absolutely caked with ashes, so I solidified some magic underneath the dust layer, lifted it up, and compacted it all inside the spell. I threw the dustball into the corner, and looked around again. There were a few things on the floor: bits of broken glass, what looked like the remains of scientific equipment, and something that appeared to be a storage cabinet that had barfed its contents all over the ground. I rummaged through the bits and pieces on the floor and didn't find much, save for a pretty cool looking gold necklace that I grabbed, along with a fancy looking canteen. I pored over the tables and saw nothing of interest. I was about to give up on my search of the subterranean level of the tree when a glint caught my eye.
Turns out, the late Twilight Sparkle had a magic safe too. I didn't even know the colour of her magical aura, so there's no way I could crack it, so I just left it, took what I had found, and walked back to the stairs. Before I got to too far I turned, and after levitating the ash-ball to the center of the room, I expanded it back where it was. There used to be times when I cursed my lack of magical manipulation prowess. Now though? I'm damn good at it. Practice really does make perfect.
I released my illumination spell before opening the door back to the main area of the library. I noticed that the ritual markings that were on the floor had been painted over, and that was only noted because I despise the smell of wet paint. I looked at the door to see that the closing and locking mechanism were completely useless, and that the hinges had been bent beyond repair. So I went ahead and magically repaired it, because hey, I'm a nice pony sometimes. I closed the door behind me, and kept to the shadows until I found myself safe in my home.
