I sat upon a grassy hill overlooking the bustling town of ponyville. Ponies trotting to and from buildings and simply living their lives. The blue sky overhead with pegasus flying about, a few clouds dotting the sky. Small critters ran about in nearby fields or trees.
Beside me, nose deep in a book about elemental magic, was my closest friend since arriving in Equestria, Twilight Sparkle; her dragon companion spike passed out a few feet away. Me and her had a love for knowledge and were total nerds. Once I told her I had come from a world with a completely different way of using magic, She wouldn't stop bugging me for details. Luckily for her, I loved talking about it and teaching it equally as such. I'd been in Equestria nearly four years now, so we had covered quite a bit.
"Hey Riley, I have a question," she asked, laying the book in the grass with her magic.
"go for it," I said, fixing my gaze upon the purple unicorn.
"in this book, it keeps saying something about being 'Unbound,' but it doesn't have a chapter or page actually discussing the topic. Is there something im missing, or is there another book?" She asked.
I chuckled briefly, "No, you are not missing anything. That book focuses on the actual magic of the elements. Not the steps leading up to it. That particular topic requires a very unique book called the 'Unbound Arcanum.' Sadly, that book is not stored in Romulus's hard drive, and they were in very short supply back home since only around 1,000 copies were made."
"Oh," she responded, slight sadness in her voice. "that seems like an apparent oversight if something is referenced in a multitude of books but is only covered in one book with a limited supply seems inefficient."
"that's where you'd be both right and wrong," I responded, "the topic of the term 'unbound' is short and doesn't need its own book for it. Even its section in the unbound arcanum is only a few pages. But the arcanum is more than just a book for that topic. It's a magically infused binding that collects knowledge from the world and creates its own pages to hold that knowledge. Between the covers of that book is an infinite library on all topics from magic, to cooking, to mining, to the properties of a grassy null!" Twilight was practically foaming at the mouth as I described this unlimited pool of knowledge.
"On top of that, as people made discoveries, the book would automacily write the following pages to store that knowledge. That's the reason why so few copies exist, because the magical prowess and strength to make such a book is impossibly hard to achieve. Most if not all the copies were made by Merlin, the greatest, first, and most powerful mage in our history, our Starswirl the bearded, if you will. And have been maintained and passed down through the generations." I finished, and Twilight was astounded, entranced at my words. But quickly shook her head to regain focus.
"Okay, back on topic, what is 'unbound.' what does it mean?" she asked.
I smiled. This was one of my favorite subjects, brief as it was. "To be bound is like being chained to the ground and being able to float. You can only do so much before the chain restricts you. To become unbound is severing the chain and letting your soul flow beyond the confines of your body and mind. You can see and understand so much more unbound than you ever could bound. The process of becoming unbound is as simple as it is tricky. You must either pass an elemental trial of one of the four main elements and have one of the said elementals bind you. Gives you a deeper understanding of said element and gives you a much larger energy pool of said element. Or you can have someone who is already unbound do it for you by entering your mind and severing your chain. My dad unbound me when I was seventeen. About 20 years earlier than I was supposed to be unbound, but I was a fucking prodigy." I explained. I stopped Twilight right before she was about to ask a slew of questions. "there's more."
"When You are unbound, your soul unlocks its hidden potential, a hidden magical ability that you couldn't have ever known without being unbound. It could be as simple as passive self-levitation or as powerful as naturally understanding ancient elemental." I finished now, allowing Twilight to ask questions.
"What was your magical ability?" She asked, which caught me off guard since that's not what I expected to be her first question.
"Well," I started, somewhat hesitant. "Mine was one of a kind and had never been seen before but was incredibly unique in the eyes of other mages. They called it soul searching." I looked down to the town of ponyville once more. "What do you see when you look at all the ponies down there?"
"I see the happy ponies of ponyville going about their day," she responded.
"Well, on top of that. I see hundreds of multicolored flames. Each being unique to the pony is belongs to. I cant not see it as I can't just stop seeing with my eyes. But I can choose whether my vision can focus on it or not, like having it sit in the background until I decide to focus on it or not."
"Wow," Twilight said, Amazed at the natural ability.
"It's now limited to ponies, either. It's in animals, trees, hell, even in the grass we sit upon. Although minute and missable, it's still there. Anything that is alive, I can see as a form of energy that matches a soul." I added.
"what does my soul look like?" she asked, gazing at me with that twinkle in her eyes. I focused my vision, the rest of the world becoming blurry as Twilight's flame became more prominent than her physical body.
It was a large purple exterior flame with a smaller interior pink flame with a speck of white at its core. Tiny sparks resembling stars flew off the flame like ashes. The flame gave off an energy as all soul flames did. Feeling intelligent, powerful, and passionate. With a hunger for knowledge similar to my own. I focused back on the normal world and relayed the description to Twilight. Who seemed satisfied with my findings.
"It seems like such a beautiful gift," she gave me a warm smile, But it was quickly replaced with concern as a frown grew across my face.
"not entirely," I said in a hoarse tone. "I can also see when those souls ignite. I see and feel when colts and fillies are born, and when those flames die..." I trailed off on the last part. Twilight was starting to understand, but I decided to continue, "when a creature is born, it's a good thing! Don't get me wrong. It sends a wave of positive energy as new life is being made, like a musical note or song. But that isn't the part that bugs me. When something or someone dies, it gives a final... how do I put it? Echo, of the soul in its final moments that's louder and more prominent, impossible to ignore. Depending on how that being dies determines the echo. It can be peacefully in their sleep. It's like a low musical hum that's peaceful and quiet, and then it fades. But if their death is violent, like when I stepped in during your brother's wedding up in canterlot and killed some of those changelings. It's LOUD, it's VIOLENT, they scream in agony, and I feel it! No matter how many times I hear it. It never gets easier to see." I finished. I hated that part of my 'gift.' but there was nothing I could change about it. But I hated it nonetheless.
Twilight was shocked. She had never known what I saw constantly happening in the world. I curled my knees up and wrapped my arms around them, resting my chin on my knees. "you could imagine how I felt seeing my family go so violently back home." I choked, my eyes watering.
I felt something lay against me as Twilight curled up next to me. Trying to comfort me. "do you want to talk about it?" She asked, trying to be supportive.
I thought about the horrors of the war back home, and the mass death I witnessed from the cataclysm bombs. "No, I do not, not yet," I responded, letting a tear trickle down my face.
There was silence for a moment before Twilight continued, leaning into me. "then I'll be here whenever you're ready, as a good friend should."
I jerked up, breathing hard, as I found myself back in the equestrian wasteland. I looked around to see Velvet and company sleeping around the remains of a campfire. We were in a cave somewhere, near the entrance, so the smoke didn't build up inside. My chest swarmed with sudden pain at my hurried movement, which forced me to fall back onto the back with a thud, which caused more pain. Causing me to groan in pain. "fuck" I mumbled.
I laid there looking up at the top of the cave. Hell It wasn't even much of a cave once I looked at it. Barely went deep at all. I thought about the rainbow dash 'vision' and this last dream I had of a memory with Twilight. I rubbed my eyes, getting the eye booger shit out of them. "Why does this shit need to flare up now of all times?" I whispered. I looked down at my chest, nicely bandaged and wrapped in a blanket. At least they cared about me in some regard. I saw my armor hastily strapped to my duffle bag on a rock near Velvet, still dented and fucked up. It wasn't covered in blood anymore. She must've cleaned it. I guess, at the very least, she cared.
A thought popped into my head. I focused on the flames in each of the three ponies. Their souls, just because I was curious about something. I was shocked that Velvet's flame was eerily similar to Fluttershy's, just color differences to match Velvet's coat and hair. Calamity's was similar to that of Rainbow dash, more of a bronzish gold mixed with yellow.
Littlepip's caught me off guard, as it was a large pure white flame. I gave off an essence of pure willpower, hope, curiosity, and selflessness. That last one scared me. Id never felt or seen something like that before.
"Now I NEED to keep an eye on you guys," I whispered, forcing myself to my feet. I walked over to my bag slowly to avoid aggravating my chest. I dug around as quietly as possible until I found both my wristpad and a stimpack. I put on my wristpad and ran the self-diagnosis. My broken ribs had been set back in place and mended with magic, the bruised ones still bruised. My dislocated shoulder was fixed, but the muscles were still sprained. There was a crack in my lower spine from hitting the rock wall. I didn't know it was that bad. Thankfully that had been mended as well. I injected the stimpack's contents into my chest, the injector making a low hiss. I looked to the rest of the ponies to see if I had awakened them. Only to get a loud snore from Calamity. The bruised ribs alerts began to lessen in severity. As the pressure in my chest dissipated along with the pain in my arm. I found a shirt in my bag and put it on. I walked just beyond the cave entrance just to see where we were.
The cave sat just beyond a large canyon. One we were most likely going to be traveling through. Im was confused on why we didn't just keep following the train tracks since they led back to new appaloosa. Plus, we probably should've caught up with the caboose since it was full of... FUCK. I got on my wristpad and immediately shot a message to Romulus.
"Romulus, shit hit the fan on the train tracks. Right now, there is a caboose of a train filled with over 50 rescued slaves with minimal protection and supplies. I need you to get a team down those tracks and pick them up. They won't last long."
I waited a few minutes for a response. Romulus was fast to reply since he didn't need sleep.
"Understood. Im getting a team ready to go in 20. What about you though?"
"im going to be a little late, but don't wait for me, keep to the caravan's schedule. I will ask you, however, to leave my normal set of armor with the usual stuff. This scout armor got all fucked up in a few ways."
"Understood sir. I'll leave behind one of the jeeps and a few specters to ensure the gear isn't tampered with. Is there anything else?"
I looked back into the cave, seeing my new companions. Low on food, water, and medicine. They had done so much for me, but after all this, I was just going to join back with the caravan and give them a discount the next time we came around. That didn't sit well with me for some reason. I had barely known these ponies, yet I had become attached somehow. More so to the designated medic of the group, Velvet.
"Leave enough food and water for three grown ponies and a full medic saddle. Make sure it's a high-grade one too, not the shitty ones. Also, leave Calamity's order as well. I'm traveling with him as of late."
"hmm? Has the lonely soul of Riley Serpitus Damascus finally made some friends? :)"
"shut up, Romulus. Im repaying these ponies for the care they've shown me the last few days, alright?"
"im just having some fun, sir. I'll have everything ready for you. I must get back to tending the caravan now."
"Alright, Romulus, don't blow a circuit."
I heard my stomach growl like a starved tiger. I felt my mouth dry as sandpaper. I totally overlooked my basic human needs for living. I returned to my bag, pulled out my two canteens, and gulped half of one. Conserving the little water I had. I looked at what I had for food. It was primarily canned stuff from before the war. I took a can of beans and placed them in the still warm ashes of the fire. Warm beans tasted better than cold beans.
As I opened the can of beans and began to eat. I noticed Littlepip kept tossing and turning like she couldn't get comfortable. I plucked out a single bean and threw it at her, Landing on the back of her ear, which twitched at the sudden impact as her head jerked up and looked around franticly. Only to stop on me with a smile on my face. She opened her mouth to try and speak, But I stopped her by putting a finger over my mouth and pointing a thumb at both Calamity and Velvet, who were still asleep. She got the message and closed her mouth. But still glared at me.
"If you're having a hard time sleeping, don't try and force it. It just makes it worse." I whispered, scooping another spoonful of beans into my mouth.
"What did you even hit me with?" she whispered. Scratching the back of her ear, which had taken the hit.
"a bean," I responded, shoveling another spoonful of beans into my gob.
"Why did you hit me in the ear with a bean? I was trying to sleep!" she yelled in a whisper.
"'emphasis on 'trying,'" I responded, swallowing. "there is a difference between actually sleeping and trying to force yourself to sleep, which doesn't work."
She let out a low sigh. "did you need something at least? I know Velvet had to work really hard to make sure your ribcage was okay."
"I want you to do something better with your time than trying to force yourself to sleep when your brain clearly doesn't want to," I said, still munching.
She seemed so confused. She tried to find words but just sat with her mouth hanging open.
"Look," I smirked, "I know you're the stable dweller that popped up near ponyville. And the medic is the other one. It's not hard to see, not to mention you both have pipbugs even though she doesn't want hers." I leaned forward, my face getting serious. "I know why she left the stable, but not you. You said on the train that you boringly left to save Velvet, but then you did some rather interesting things once you saw how fucked it is out here. So, I ask you, what do YOU want? What do you want your actions to accomplish in the wasteland? What does your heart want?"
She was surprised on top of confused now. I had utterly blind-sided her with that question, or rather questions. She didn't know how to respond from the looks of her expression. Then her eyes suddenly narrowed like she had picked up on something.
"Why do you want to know something that personal?"
"I need to know how much I can trust you. What you must understand about this world we live in now is that ponies who do good deeds like you do have a plan. A list of things they need done that can turn them into something bigger and nastier. Redeye started out the same and now look at him. I want to know, RIGHT NOW, if you have a secret plan. Because ponies of a naturally good nature are rare. That's why I keep trading with new appaloosa rather than cut ties with it since it deals with slavers and redeye. It's because ditsy doo lives there." I responded.
"Wait, Redeye was like me? And if the only reason why you trade with new appaloosa is ditsy doo, then why hasn't she joined your caravan yet? it seems right up her ally." Pip asked immediately
"Well, not exactly," I pondered for a second, "redeye did do good deeds but only to get on many ponies' good sides. Gained a lot of trust with people, including myself. Got people to owe them favors and all. Then turned and backstabbed them, myself included. I lost a lot of good ponies that day. Some of them are still alive in the slave pits in Fillydelphia. Gained his massive empire in the name of some fucking ascension or bullcrap. I don't really keep tabs on his goal. Just his people who leave that accursed place and hunt them down." I finished, anger rising in my voice.
"as for disty doo, she has her own reasons," I said, voice softening. "There isn't a time I haven't come to new appaloosa without giving her the same offer to join up with us and do a lot more good all over Equestria than where she's at. She always respectfully declines, saying she's built up relations with everypony in town and that leaving would mean a, how did she put it, betrayal of the town and would do more harm to the town overall, which I understand. She is the go-to pony for literally everything, and her packing up and leaving would hurt the town A LOT. But I got an offer that she can't refuse this time." I finished with a smile.