The it - It's understandable to want to know more about the one who saved you from multiple millennia of servitude.
hellfire45 - You know that and I know that, but Bkale is unfamiliar with Equestrian politics, and he doesn't know that, so it makes sense he would do what he could to protect the others.
1234andynguyen - That is indeed how his father's life ended. Not the ending Blake wanted after all he had done, but there's no changing the past.
A/N - Hey there, everycreature! I have to apologize for last week, as I didn't realize my Author's Note and review responses didn't get saved! Other than that little SNAFU, there's nothing new to report. Copyright notice; I do not own the Vrondi, they are the intellectual property fo Mercedes Lackey.
As I made my way down the winding corridors of the Canterlot palace, which I was thankfully becoming more familiar with, I decided to take my time. Celestia and Luna hadn't been talking as much of late, since Luna had been spending more of her time with me than at the palace, so it was understandable that they might want a little time to make small talk and catch up with one another. With that thought in mind, as well as the thought of not wanting either mare to know I was tailing Celestia just yet, I took my time in making my way to the royal sitting room, where the two were most likely to be.
Once I eventually arrived, it didn't take me long to start hearing mildly raised voices, more of a heated conversation than actual yelling, from the other side of the sturdy door. Oh dear, that's never a good sign… I thought as I approached the door. As I was perhaps too curious for my own good, I decided to step closer, until I could hear the voices on the other side of the door. The last time I had been in this position, it had been a bad time for all involved, and I hoped it wouldn't be a repeat.
The first voice I heard clearly from within the sitting room was that of my Lunar lover. "I know it is not his fault, sister, and I do not blame him in the slightest for his night terrors." Luna sounded more exhausted than anything else. "But safeguarding his dreams has become particularly taxing of late. I believe that dearest Blake's past has once again come back to haunt him, and it requires more and more of my power every night to keep it at bay so he may rest."
Celestia spoke next, her tone more calm and compassionate than Luna's, who was understandably frustrated, as well as obviously more tired than she had let on when she knew I was around. "I know this is a difficult time for you, sister. And I also understand the impulse to protect one that you care deeply for, but you are simply doing too much at once." The alabaster mare sighed loudly enough that I would have been able to hear it even without the enhanced hearing that damnable artifact had forced upon me. "You asked me for advice, and what I have to offer you is this; talk to him. As you have said, he is as yet unaware of how severe his nightmares have become, and so he cannot know the toll that correcting them has been taking on you. So talk to him, and work out a solution together. I know you will both be able to figure out what to do, if you work together."
After that, as it seemed their talks weren't of anything incredibly important or that posed a danger of devolving into an argument, I decided to let the two sisters have their conversation in peace, and left the doorway of the sitting room. I couldn't help but feel guilty about what I had heard, despite Celestia out-and-out confirming that I had no way to know what Luna was doing for me, or how badly it was affecting her. The way she seemed more tired than usual suddenly made sense, and I felt bad that she had gotten into that sort of shape, even if I hadn't known the cause at the time. I hoped she would take Celestia's advice and talk to me. The last thing I wanted was for any of my lovely mares to put themselves in any sort of discomfort for my sake, even if I frequently did the same for them.
After leaving the two Princesses to their discussion, I decided to take a stroll through the halls of the palace, thinking over what I had heard and what I could do about it. I knew Luna was stretching herself thin on my behalf, and I didn't want to see her doing that to herself. I also didn't want her to know that I had eavesdropped on their conversation, however. This left me in a fairly delicate position, and I needed to take some time to think on the matter to make sure I handled it correctly. Of course, if and when Luna decided to tell me for herself what was happening, I would be more than willing to talk with her about it. Hell, I'd be willing to try to convince her to let me have my nightmares, just so she can get a good night's rest.
My thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice inside of my mind. "You know she will not agree to that, Bearer." I wasn't upset with the sentient blade for doing a little eavesdropping herself. Besides the fact it would make me more than a little hypocritical, I had also encouraged her to do just that, actually wanting her to do so in order to give me advice when I needed it. "The two of you are quite stubborn when it comes to those you care for, and she will no more agree to allow you to suffer than you would agree to allow her to suffer if your roles were reversed."
The logic in Falathiel's mind-spoken words was both annoying, and undeniable. "I know, I know…" I replied with an exasperated sigh. "What else would you have us do though? Luna won't relent on helping to keep my dreams safe, and I won't relent on making sure she doesn't overwork herself, and that she gets proper sleep. She practically destroyed her sleep schedule for me once already, and I don't want her to do so again."
There was a silence in my mind, other than my own thoughts as I walked along. I could tell Falathiel was still connected to my psyche, as I could feel her there, like a faint static at the back of my consciousness. Eventually, she spoke again. "It seems to me, Bearer, that the best course of action would be a compromise. I see two options that readily present themselves. The first is that you could convince her to either teach or gift you just enough of her dream magic so that you may police your own dreams, assuming such is even possible. The second, and likely more attractive option, will be to have her place a passive spell upon you, so that she need not actively guard you, and you may both sleep soundly through the night." Both options had their pros and cons, so the question seemed to be which one had the greater opportunity for the best outcome.
There was another silence as I mulled over the two options Falathiel had presented to me. She was definitely right about the second option being the more attractive of the two. I'd even begun to consider revisions to that particular line of thought, such as casting the spell such that it drew from my own reserves rather than Luna's, so she would have her full capacity available to help others with their own nightmares. I did have to admit, at least to myself, that I was surprised at the fact the others who knew of my past, Twilight in particular, didn't seem to be having these issues. Or perhaps they were, and Luna was simply more concerned with my own wellbeing. Or, as a third option, it was possible they simply weren't affected as I was because they hadn't experienced it firsthand like I had.
I got so lost in thought that I hadn't realized I'd actually gotten physically lost, walking through the halls of the palace until, when I finally came back to myself, I had no idea where I was. There didn't seem to be any guards in this particular part of the palace, and in fact, it was only dimly lit. It was eerie, almost seeming as though the guards and servants were afraid to come here, and only did so when necessary. That thought alone sent chills up my spine, and on instinct, I pinged my aurasight to get a better picture of what was around me than normal vision would allow.
What I 'saw' during the brief activation of the spell that had served me so well when my physical sight had been taken from me caused my heart to skip a beat. All around me were small, insubstantial wisps of faintly glowing, magical energy. They moved in slow, swirling patterns as they hovered in place around me, and reminded me of the myths of Will-o'-the-Wisps, or… "Ghosts…" I breathed softly, the thought sending a shiver down my own spine. Almost reflexively, I activated my aurasight again, keeping it on this time so I could keep an eye on the little wisps.
A musical sound entered my mind then, a soft giggle from Falathiel. "Not ghosts, Bearer. These beings are known to my kind. You have nothing to fear from them, as they are quite harmless. And as a point of fact, we used to request their help to detect when someone was lying, as they abhor violence so completely that even the negative emotions associated with lies would cause them to react in a notable fashion. In the wild, they will simply flee the liar, but when persuaded to aid a spellcaster in this manner, their energies would turn from the faint blue that you see around you to a soft red, due to their dislike of the energy created when a being tells a lie." She seemed to sense the question that I wanted to ask next, as she continued, answering it before it could even form as thought-speech in my mind. "These playful little sprites are of the elemental plane of Air, and are known as Vrondi, or 'Children of the Sky'."
The one nearest me flitted a little in the air, and I reached out to touch it. It flitted away briefly before coming closer to me. The insubstantial little ball of air and magic, invisible to the naked eye save for a small distortion in the air as it moved, swirled itself around my arm a moment later. As it did so, I heard a peculiar sound in my mind, as well as with my ears. It almost sounded like a child giggling softly. "Nice."
The single word, apparently declaring me to be nice, seemed to have been whispered both audibly as well as telepathically in a rather child-like voice, and when it was, the other Vrondi began to flitter closer to me, like a pack of curious youngsters. I could practically feel the innocence coming from their insubstantial little bodies as they swirled around me. Then, I heard them starting to giggle playfully as my aurasight watched them begin to swirl and flitter faster, darting around my arms and legs as though they were using my body like a jungle gym to play on. As the admittedly cute little elementals played and made merry around me, I smiled warmly. It felt good to have a little moment of peace like this.
As so often happened, this peace was short-lived, as questions began to flit through my mind just like the little sprites flitting around my body. Foremost among these questions was; Why are so many of these little guys gathered in the Palace? And why this spot in particular?
One piece of reassurance I had was Falathiel's mention of the elementals' aversion to anything violent. That meant that, if there had been anything dangerous here, the peaceful little beings would have scattered, rather than gathering here. It was several moments before I realized that the little puffs of invisible air had ceased moving, and were gathered around me. "Alright?" I heard spoken in chorus, both in my mind, and aloud. The inflection of the child-like voice was that of concern, and I smiled again. It seemed that these things regarded me highly enough to be worried about me.
Looking around, I nodded. "Yes, I'm alright. Just thinking. I'm sorry I worried you." The little air sprites began to flit about again, though less energetically than when they had been playing around me. I got the feeling it was meant as a gesture of relief and comfort. "Can you tell me, or maybe show me, why all of you are gathered here?" I had already deduced that these apparently harmless little entities were the reason this wing if the palace was deserted, as anyone who didn't know what they were, and who didn't know to look for them, would likely assume that this section was haunted. After all, anyone coming to the area would constantly feel like they were being watched, because they were.
The little Vrondi began to flit about more excitedly, as though they were only too happy to be doing something productive. Then, before I had a chance to say more, they were off. The little, invisible clumps of magic and air moved quickly down the hall, disappearing beneath a door on my right only about ten meters or so away from where I stood. With my curiosity once again piqued, I followed the elementals and approached the door with caution. I wasn't afraid, per se, as Falathiel reassured me that these cute little beings wouldn't do me harm, or even lead me into harm, but I still had a mind to be careful. That thought caused me to open the door slowly, carefully, and peer inside.
On the other side of the door, the room seemed to be completely normal to my regular sight. Just a simple, if poorly maintained, guest room, and one that was seemingly meant for high-ranking dignitaries, if the decor of the dusty interior was anything to go by. However, to aurasight, the room veritably lit up from within. I had never seen magic like this before, and couldn't even guess at its purpose.
"I have no more idea what to make of this magic than you do, my Bearer. Pony magic, while similar to that of the Ancient Ones of the humans, as well as my own people, is still different in many key regards. I believe that, if you wish to know more, Twilight Sparkle would be a good place to start your inquiry." I had hoped for more insight from the sentient blade, though I couldn't hold it against her either. After all, I worked with pony magics on a daily basis, and even I could feel the differences in what I was being taught from what my own body was trying to tell me.
Still, that thought needed to be shelved for the time being, as I had more pressing matters to consider in the present moment. Namely, what the magic that saturated this room was, and why it was in this particular room in the first place. "Do any of you know what this magic is?" I asked aloud to the Vrondi. I could hear them in my mind when they spoke, but I had no idea if the reverse would be true if I were to try to speak mentally with them as I did with Falathiel.
The little balls of magic that I guessed made up the cores of the Vrondis' beings became more animated at my question. "Don't know." They said, rather unhelpfully. "Feels happy."
I puzzled over that for a moment, then sent a thought to Falathiel. "These little mites don't say a lot, do they?"
I got a mental giggle in reply to that thought. "They do not. And that is a part of their charm. If you wish more conclusive answers, then you might want to seek out a skilled caster. As I said before; Twilight Sparkle Would be a good candidate, as would either of the Royal sisters."
Any of those three sources seemed a logical place to start, and so I shrugged as I turned to leave the room. "I'm going to find someone to help figure out what's going on with this room. Can you lot stay out of mischief until I get back?" I didn't plan to wait long for an answer from the energetic little air sprites.
As I left the room, I heard them all asking about 'mischief', inflecting the word in a way that made me question if they even knew what it meant. I doubted they did. Deciding not to dwell on that for too long, I made my way back to our rooms, hoping Twilight could help us. A small sigh of relief escaped me when I saw the purple bookworm laying on the bed we would share, reading a book.
When she heard me come in, Twilight, who seemed to be the only one in the room at the moment, looked up and smiled at me. "Hey there. How did things go? Did you find out what Prin- Err… Luna wanted to talk with Princess Celestia about?"
The reminder of that gem of an overheard conversation had me suppressing a rueful chuckle as I sat on the bed next to her. "You could say that. But I'll tell you about that later. I found something interesting while I was walking the halls, thinking about that same conversation." Twilight's ears perked up, and I could tell I had her undivided attention. "There's a room, further down this same wing, that seems to be enchanted somehow. It doesn't feel malevolent, as far as I can tell, but I'm not sure what it is." I could tell that had piqued my studious marefriend's curiosity quite nicely.
The mention of an 'enchantment' had my cute little nerd of a marefriend hopping down off the bed with an excited grin on her lovely face. "Don't just stand there! Show me which room it is! I want to see what's going on." The odd combination of amusement and affection I felt from her enthusiasm made me grin, and I nodded as I turned to lead the way toward the room located in what I had mentally dubbed as the 'Vrondi wing' of the castle.
Fortunately, and a little bafflingly, the section of the castle in question wasn't terribly far from where the room we were staying in was located. My guess was that Celestia had yet to be informed of the potential issue of the hallway being 'haunted'. I further surmised that the staff either hadn't felt it important enough to bother their rulers with the news that a certain section of the castle gave one creepy vibes, or were reluctant to do so for fear of reprimand. I for one thought the latter was the most likely scenario, though I had very much been known to be wrong in the past.
It wasn't long before we entered the dimly lit section of the castle, and I noticed Twilight glancing around every so often with a concerned expression. Thanks to my previous encounter with the little air sprites, I was able to notice the telltale wisps of disturbed air, like a swirling thermal current or a puff of helium in a very small, localized spot, and so I knew there were at least a few who had come to investigate us. "Just couldn't resist, eh?" My sudden breaking of the eerie silence caused Twilight to yelp in fright and jump so high I was momentarily afraid I'd have to scrape her off the ceiling. "Heh, sorry about that, Twi." I said as I watched the mare pull out a paper sack from nowhere and start breathing into it to calm herself.
When she finally calmed herself down, Twilight looked around, still clearly frightened. "Wh-who were you talking to?" She asked, gulping as her body trembled slightly.
Wanting to ease her worry, I walked slowly up to the mulberry mare and placed a gentle hand on her head, petting that silky mane in a soothing gesture. As expected, the act worked almost immediately, and my bookish marefriend visibly relaxed. "There are little air sprites in this section of the castle, Twi. Sorry I didn't mention them. In all the excitement, I sort of forgot." I petted her again, then took a step back. "According to Fal, they're called 'Vrondi', and they're totally harmless. Maybe Aerith knows something about them that she can tell you."
After giving me a momentary glare of disapproval, Twilight sighed and looked off to my left, her eyes unfocusing in that familiar way that told me she was in conference with the succubus currently inhabiting her mind. It took several moments for her lovely, purple eyes to refocus, and when they did, Twilight looked up at me with a smile. "Aerith knows a little about these creatures." She stated, then began to look around for them. "I'd love to take a little time and study one of them."
I couldn't help but chuckle at that, which earned me a quizzical look. Before I could reply, a new voice cut in, one that was vaguely familiar to me. "Study?" The Vrondi asked, startling Twilight enough that she yelped and jumped up into the air once more. "What is 'Study'?" It seemed that my bookish marefriend was hearing their voice as well, as she began to look around in confusion.
"I-I um…" She stuttered, seeming not to know exactly what to say in this scenario. "Well, it means that I want to have a look at you. I want to learn more about you and write it down so others can learn too." Curious, I kicked my aurasight on, causing Twi to look at me as she felt the telltale disturbance in her horn.
Seeing the lone little Vrondi flitting about Twilight, acting like it was trying to get a good look at her from all angles, I smirked. "Looks to me like this one is already doing a little studying of their own." I said as I relinquished my aurasight.
As though it had caught my meaning, the Vrondi paused in midair, and I only knew that because I knew what to look for without my aurasight. I could just barely make out that the little wisp of disturbed air that was their physical presence had stopped moving. "I study?" It asked, flitting off so quickly I couldn't track it. "Do you study?" I got the feeling it was somewhere around me now, though I didn't bother trying to find the little sprite. I knew it wouldn't cause me any harm.
I let out another soft chuckle at the curious little critter's question. "Well, not nearly as much as Twilight here, but yes, I study too. You learn a lot from study, like how you lot found out I was 'nice'."
Twilight stepped up to me, looking around the hallway, though I couldn't tell if she was looking for our 'guest', or if she were looking for the room we came to investigate. Almost as though she could read my thoughts, the lovely, mulberry mare spoke. "So um… where's this room at? As much as I'd like to stay here and learn about these 'Vrondi', I think we should go and see what's going on with the enchanted room you told me about. If it's dangerous, I'd rather find out about it sooner, so we can alert the Princesses."
I shrugged lightly at her comment. "From what I understand, if it were dangerous, the Vrondi wouldn't go anywhere near it, yet they seem to flock there. So I don't think it's dangerous." As I spoke, I began to walk again, leading Twilight toward our destination. "I get your point though. Heck, for all I know, it might be that the magic in the room is perfectly harmless when dormant, but might explode when triggered."
My lovely little bookworm shook her head. "Fortunately, magic doesn't work quite like that." She replied, somewhat to my relief. "It's much more straightforward than that in most cases. But, we can discuss that more later." It was at this moment that the two, or rather, the three of us, reached the door to the room in question.
There was a faint disturbance in the air around me, just a barely perceptible breeze as the Vrondi following us swirled around me, then flitted through some crevice in the door. Once it was inside, I reached out and took the door knob in hand, then opened the door to the room beyond. There was a soft gasp from my left as Twilight took in the room, her horn sparking to life seemingly of its own accord.
Before a word could be spoken, Twilight trotted forward and into the room, igniting her horn more fully to cast what I could only guess to be some sort of analyzing spell. Her sparkling, amethyst eyes opened in wonder as she looked around, and a smile began to spread across that pretty face. "Blake, this is amazing!" She cried out, all but hopping for joy. "I've only read about layered spells like this before!"
Seeing that she clearly deemed the magic within the room to be safe, I entered as well, and felt multiple puffs of air as the Vrondi within flitted about. "So, I take it you know what the magic here is supposed to do?" I asked, still completely clueless.
With a huge grin, the librarian turned to me. "This room, this magic, it takes the thoughts of an occupant, and turns them into a limited reality." She rushed up to me, eyes sparkling with elation. "Blake, all you have to do is think about something, and this room can make it seem real. You can show us anything you want from your old world, like that 'motorcycle' you said you used to ride, or one of those 'airplanes'!" It took a moment for the implication to sink in, especially with Twilight squeeing excitedly, but when it did, I began to grin as well. This room was a magical holodeck.