Witchers of Nifelheim

(OwO wh-What aw we gowing to dew on da bwed pwincess Twiwiwte UwU)

Rain frowns before pulling one out and lighting it, "God... Harle hates it so much but Its been so fuckin' stressful out here and I dont know how else to coap..." she shakes her head placing her index and her thumb on the bridge of her nose. Rolling down the window slightly she blows out her smoke and sighs.

"Then something good did come out of this," Sand smiles at Twilight "What are their names? How old are they?" There is a genuine curiosity to Sand's tone and an implication that she is for the moment trying to change the subject to something less bleak.

“You has kids Twilight?” Moon asked, her voice filled with surprise. “Congratulations.” Then followed, a genuinely kind smile on her face.
“Mist had a baby too. They’re living in my house for a while. Adorable little pegasus filly.”

Her face lit up, and she looks more energetig now. She speaks, with an entousiasm that's unlike her.

"Here are my children." She says, showing the picture. One is a filly with a purple mane and the other has a blonde mane. Both have blonde coats. She points to the purple maned one, wrapped in a pink blanket. "That is Dusk Tome, and that is Blazing scroll." With the second name, she points to the blonde wrapped in blue. "Tome is a girl and Scroll is a boy. They're almost two months old now, and two of the brightest points in my life. I love them so much..."

When Moon mentioned the child, she looks at her. "Mist had a baby too? Interesting... and congratulations. How is she doing?"

“Oh they are adorable. Seriously, those are two adorable little babies.” Moon said as she leant forward, looking at the photo.

“Mist. Yeah, she’s alright. Had to give up work for a while, which meant she couldn’t pay rent so she moved in with me. She looks after my cat, and I look after her baby sometimes. It’s mutually beneficial. Though I think she might, maybe, ‘like’ me.” She then pulled an old phone from her pocket and tapped the screen a few times before an image popped up on it, which she showed to Twilight.

It was of Mist, smiling, which was odd really, and holding a baby. A tiny little grey pegasus with a shockingly bright pink mane which almost hurt to look at. Two tiny blue eyes looked up at the camera. It was a little ruined by the slightly cracked screen. “She’s called Melody.”

“And my own daughter is graduating from university this year.”

"My girl is back at home. Got a sitter for her while we are out here." She huffs as she leans back, "its trouble at times but I love her." She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, "God... its so dead out here." She looks out the window.

"I ended up with twins myself" Sand pulls out a photo of her own. It's a picture of Sand, Omega, and two children. "Azure is my daughter" she gestures to the one that looks mostly like a wolf. Her coat a desert brown with darker streaks mixed in; a scarlet mess of a mane covers her head and violet eyes that seem to faintly glow. "And Fjoran is my son" The other child appearing mostly earth pony. His coat a dark grey, a bleach white mane seeming to have grown quicker on one side, and two different coloured eyes one being blue and the other green.

The limousine's engines emitted a soft roar and the vehicle began to move, soon rolling onto the highway.
As you look through the windows, you notice an impressive rail road track, built over a high bridge and arcing over the buildings, heading into the depths of the city. A few moments later, you saw a half dozen railcars, standing still in the middle of the tracks, empty and abandoned.


Deveraux quietly watched the city for a few moments, then looked at you:

"The flight to Beusoleil must have been tiring. Please, let me know if there's anything we can do for you. Perhaps, I could arrange for some strong coffee and refreshments, to wait for us at the university?" Deveraux asked, slightly smiling.



Minutes ticked by as the conversation flowed, you briefly lost track of time and the limousine began to slow down and roll into a parking lot, much sooner than expected.

Through the rear window, you could already see it. A towering castle, there was no other word for it. Rising dozens of meters into the air, with seven majestic towers piercing the sky, the University of Magic towered over the city like a monument, impressive both in architectural and artistic design.

The roofs and columns were covered in intricate carvings, each window was made as a mosaic, depicting historical figures or world shaping achievements.

Two massive statues of unicorns laid unexpectedly on their side, in the middle of the main courtyard. Their beautiful, detailed design, laid halfway sunk inside a massive fountain. They must have been designed to float above the crowd, as part of the fountain.





As you slowly step out of the limousine and began heading towards the main university doors, you briefly cross a main road.

A street artist was drawing intricate paintings right on the sidewalks pavement, using bright colored chalk. Among his paintings of nature and beautiful birds, you suddenly spot something unexpected.


The door.

The artist was drawing the door from your dreams, at this very moment. The painstaking detail he poured into this drawing, left no room for doubt. This is the door from your dreams. You know it too well. The door that just wouldn't open.


The artist kept painstakingly adding more and more detail to it, quietly muttering something under his breath.





Deveraux looked at him and quietly sighed: "Each day, more and more people begin having the dream. Its becoming widespread. You.. know what I mean, don't you?"

He briefly looked at you, his glance becoming grim, worried:

"...this is... quite troubling, to say the least. When two people share the same dream, it is considered a phenomenon. A unique, nay, impossible occurrence.
If we judge the world by these standards, what do you call an occurrence, when thousands of people have the same dream?"


The professor uncomfortably looked away from the street artists drawing: "...I.. try not to think about it."





He sighed, beginning to march towards the university.

Climbing a good few dozen stairs, you finally reach the 15 meter tall double doors of the main entrance. The massive wooden doors looked impossible to move. Perhaps, it was so, without magic. One of the doors was left slightly ajar, allowing free passage inside.




As you step into the main hall, you immediately notice activity.



A massive crystal was floating in the middle of the lobby, glowing with a piercing blue light.
Six unicorns stood around it in a circle, their hands raised and chanting something with concentration.



Deveraux jaw slowly dropped, his expression becoming twisted with disbelief and unhidden horror.
Only a moment ticked by, before he rushed towards the six unicorns, waving his hands in protest:

"Grand Enchanters! For the love of gods, what are you doing?!"




"BE SILENT!" one of the unicorns barked, maintaining eye contact with the crystal:
"Do not disrupt the ritual... it is almost complete!!.."




Deveraux began turning pale, his growing scowl spoke volumes:
"This is your great plan?... when I left you this morning, you told me you met a dead end! The loss of magic had no discernible cause and you had no leads of reversing it! Those were your words, not mine!

Now you plan to take one of the most powerful artifacts on Earth and simply unleash its power?
Do you have any idea how reckless this plan is! The ritual may very well level the whole university, if we're lucky!"




"BE SILENT YOU FOOL!" one of the older unicorns barked. He angrily stepped out of the circle, while the others continued to chant:
"...Emile... you have no idea... what it feels like..." the unicorn gritted his teeth, staring daggers at Deveraux:
"...I am one of the most powerful enchanters, In the history - Of - This - World!
And I cannot so much as conjure a SNOWBALL?!"

The unicorn barked, spreading his hand wide.

A tiny blue spark appeared in the palm of his hand and began shaking.
For a brief moment, it felt like it could materialize into a snowball, before the light suddenly and very abruptly faded.
The unicorn scowled:

"...how could you possible understand? You were never a mage... Deveraux..." the unicorn spat.





Deveraux watched the enchanter in silence, before he slightly turned toward you:
"...come... we should head to the main library... Harlequin should be meeting us there"

In the new light Rain looks exausted she just watches the crystal and shakes her head, "As you can all see... we are on our final straw..." she looks to the enchanters, "Whatever the hell you are doing it better fucking work." She glares, "So help us god if you fail the entire city is doomed and magic will cease to exist..." she takes a deep breath trying to calm her already high strung nerves her voice comed out calm yet threatening, her grey eyes looking dead center at the unicorn, "...and eventually you'll forget what its like to be a mage and all you and your enchanters will only have storys to tell..." she lets out a soft growl before walking past the unicorn bumping shoulders with him as she makes her way to the library.

"Do not talk down to me, pegasus" The grand enchanter muttered through gritted teeth. The last word he said, almost came off as an insult:


"The strongest minds of this generation have been bashing their heads over the walls, trying to fix this horror. But the result was the same.

There are no laws of physics or chemistry, that could explain the sudden loss of magic. We do not possess the knowledge or the tools to identify the root of the problem!"


He angrily looked at the crystal: "...this artifact was gradually powered by thousands of mages, throughout the known history. The magical power accumulated inside it, is beyond measure.
Perhaps... if we release it, it will flow back into us, restoring our might!

This! This is our last resort! Nay, our ONLY option!"


The grand enchanter scowled: "...if this ritual fails... everything fails... magic will truly be gone"
Something in his voice began to sound frenzied, unhealthy.
He fixated the crystal with a near mad stare, before briefly glancing in your direction:

"Do not disturb us again" he said, before returning to chant.




Deveraux began subtly directing you towards the stairs, in the far end of the lobby:
"...their minds are giving away... they cannot cope with this reality. Come... we shouldn't disturb them..."

Rain stops mid step. Her ears perk she glares at Deveraux she bites her lip holding her tongue for a moment, "Fuck you too, narcissistic asshole." She shakes her head, "Fucking unicorns..." she says loud enough for him to hear before dissapearing into the library.

"Okay lets uuhh... haha... lets calm down everyone" Deveraux, released a sheepish smile, continuing to subtly direct or half push everyone up the stairs, in the direction of the library:

"...h-how about those refreshments and coffee I mentioned? I'll get someone to bring them, j-just wait here" he mumbled with an uneasy smile and wandered off, as soon as you were through the library doors.


The library itself was smaller than you imagined. Although on second glance, you notice a sign post, saying it was only a small backup, of a much larger one several flights above.

A dozen rows of tightly packed bookshelves stood in the room, in a bizarre configuration that looked like a maze.


You can't see too far inside, but almost as soon as you entered, you noticed a young batpony, sitting with a laptop by the entrance.



It was Amy Moore, the programmer student you briefly met in Adelheid, during the events of the Digital Waltz.
In some ways, Amy looked the same, a cheery expression, half smile, a piercing look in her eye, fixated on her laptops monitor. In other ways, she was more focused, more driven.


She wore a purple and black military uniform, with an armored vest. The crest of the 'Nyx Defense Force' was sewed onto her shoulders.


When you entered, she jumped in her seat slightly, then calmed down and smiled to you:

"Oh, thank god its you guys. I've been going crazy in here" she grinned: "Good to see some old faces, and new ones as well"
She waved to Rain:

"Hey Boss. Harlequin is still out, should be back any minute.


I've just been going over some files, regarding the phenomenon. Here, you should take a look as well." she turned the laptop towards you.

Rain is sitting in a chair next to amy with her head in her hands. Releasing a long sigh, "I could use some herbal tea right about now..." she takes a deep breath, dragging her hand down her face and setting it on the table. She taps her fingers against the wood and clears her throat.

Inside the room Sand spoke up "Nothing good will come from what they're doing. I know it's not the number one priority but we should think about stopping them." She glances back in the direction of the unicorns. "Pandora's box might be about to open in the next room"

"Pandoras box might be our only option at this point..." she sighs looking at sand, "look... just dont fuck with anything just yet... once Harle gets here and we are all safe to speak about the issue at hand we can devise some plans. As much as I want to go out there and fucking STRANGLE that enchanter..." she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, "We cant... Im sorry, Im trying to work on my anger issues. I've been told I need to try to be a bit more enthusiastic and be a ray of sunshine in some rainclouds... Thats what my therapist says anyway."

“Last time I had a therapist I threw them out a second floor window.” Moon muttered under her breath as she looked around curiously. She didn’t leave her home area much, so a change of scenery was nice, despite the current circumstances.
“Nothing good ever comes from large glowing crystals. I speak from experience.” She then added , looking back at the others. “If an angry demon alicorn pops out of it and starts impaling people then don’t say I didn’t warn you. Though that’s not likely to happen twice....”

"Nutty demon alicorn or not... who knows... mabye that nutty demon alicorn will kill us all and we wont have TO PUT UP WITH THIS SHIT!" she slams her fists into the table before putting her head down, her storm blue hair sprawling along the table, "where the HELL is that tea!"

Moon didn’t bother trying to calm her, she was terrible at calming and comforting anyway. Her words ended up coming out wrong and usually ended with someone unconscious under a table.

“Nah, knowing our luck someone will bring us back from the dead. Necromancy is still a thing, and it is not a nice way to come back. Believe me, it feels like everything is burning and the chanting isn’t helping, neither is lying naked on a freezing altar for that matter.”

Once the fight broke out, Twilight's face began to go dour again. Having seem similiar outbursts over the last month, she chose to ignore the fury. Instead, she butted into the conversation over another thing.

"Don't worry about necromancy if this fails, since magic will be gone. Necromancy is just another school of spellcasting, so it can't be applied again. Let's take a deep breath, before we end up the same as the deeply grieving unicorns back there."

She claps her hands twice. "Now what part of our research should we tell first, Amy?"

Sand takes a seat on the ground and pulls out her journal. She begins to draw in her book. It's fairly easy to see the art that is forming, she does little to hide the page from view. The drawing is clearly a depiction of what just played out in the previous room.

"Can you tell us about the dreams first?" She raises the question "Did you guys learn anything about that door or why we are all having the same dream?"

Amy nodded, turning the laptop towards everyone:

"The collective dream began appearing as soon as the magic began to fade, so its our hypothesis that the two are linked.
Some people have very vivid dreams, while others never see them at all. The effects on each person are different.

We've interviewed over 256 thousand people, asking them to describe their dream in great detail. We were looking for similarities or discrepancies.
Attention to detail varied, but everyone described the main themes:

'Running down a circular staircase. Unseen creatures chasing them. Coming up against a locked door and wanting to open it, for unknown reasons, before its too late'.



All the interviews were largely the same, except one"

Amy pressed a button on the laptop and a video recording began to play. A small room with a single unicorn sitting on the floor at the center. Every inch of the walls was covered with pinned pieces of paper, each one depicting the door.
They were all drawn in black ink, over a yellowing parchment, with varying detail. But they all showed the door.


Looking at it from afar, it was a room filled with hundreds of 'doors', with a man sitting and staring at them, in the middle.
His eyes were empty, unseeing. He was muttering something under his breath, in the Tesian language. Repeating the same thing, over and over.

Someone placed Soren subtitles at the bottom of the scream:


"On The Edge of The Forest
And Under The Tree
The Greatest Tree of Them All

There Is A Hole
Oh Yes Oh Yes
Some Stairs That Lead Below

Must Run Really Fast
And Don't Look Back
Our Time is Nearby Gone

To Reach The Door
And Seize What's Inside
We Really Don't Have Long"


Someone off screen quietly asked on Tesian: "....what is inside the door?..... Headmaster, what's inside the door?"

The unicorn turned towards the camera, his empty stare caught focus for a fleeting moment:


"Hope"




The video stopped.

Amy sighed: "That was the Headmaster of this university.
His mind severely deteriorated over the past few days. Its not uncommon. The cases of mental breakdowns have increased 40%, ever since magic began to fade. These occurrences are likely linked as well.


Anyways, he was the first to give some kind of description of the landscape above the door. And he was the first to mention what's inside.
This isn't much, but it led us to believe that if someone ever had a more detailed dream, perhaps we could identify the exact location of this door"



Amy looked at you then sheepishly smiled: "...assuming the door actually exists outside our imagination. It may be the key to everything"










She took a few moments to set the laptop on the table and recollect her thoughts. After some time she grimly looked at you again:


"About the disappearance of magic. Harlequin believes its man made" Amy suddenly said.


"The evidence she found, seems to support this.
If so, we have to ask ourselves, who would benefit from this situation the most"




She sighed: "A week ago, the Union Council dispatched Harlequin and a small team of Nyx Specialists, to investigate allegations of discrimination, against the non unicorn community in Tesia"
She grimly said: "...you... understand where I'm going with this"



"Who wants some refreshments?" you heard Deveraux cheery voice, before he appeared with a cart full of small cake slices, fruits and several pots of hot tea or coffee.
He began unpacking a series of cups and preparing them on the table nearby.





"...Professor Deveraux, I'm obligated to ask you" Amy began: "Are non unicorns being treated unfairly in Tesia?"

Deveraux caught the expression of a pickled cucumber and slowly looked at Amy:
"...Miss Moore, I've had this conversation with Harlequin yesterday, I would prefer not to repeat it"

"The grand enchanters were spewing venom at you, as soon as you walked through the door" Amy grimaced: "Why are you defending them?"


Deveraux visibly resisted an urge to roll his eyes: "Miss Moore, everyone is a little on edge, its only natural.
I assure you, myself and other non unicorns, are not treated as second rate citizens in Tesia. It is a country led by magic, yes, but I assure you, the unicorns do not possess any 'elite' status here, compared to the rest of us." he sighed and moved towards the coffee and tea pots, preparing to pour.

"Do you really believe that professor?" Sand picks up one of the cakes "if that's not the air of someone with a superiority complex then I don't know what is. I don't blame them for becoming as they are. Even the most of calm of managers at a job can lose it if the building is set on fire, and the grand enchanters just had that exact thing happen to them."

she takes a bite from the cake, a slight mess of crumbs falling to the ground

Amy nodded as well: "The Union has received several anonymous complaints, alleging that earth ponies are being discriminated in Tesia"


Deveraux sighed: "Several complaints... but not many? Four of five complaints?
I assure you, the population of Tesia is over 400 million people, almost half of which are non unicorns. If we were really being discriminated, I would expect everyone screaming about it from rooftops, the Union International Police offices would be flooded with thousands of complaints.

But, that's not the case, from what you've told me"




Amy squinted slightly: "The Union was only formed 6 years ago. Before then, Tesian borders were closed to outsiders. The Tesian mages jealously guarded their secrets, preventing foreign students from studying in their Grand University of Magic and preventing tourists from visiting.

It was an isolated country, weary of outsiders.

Now that the Union was formed and Tesia was forced to open its borders, its hard to imagine that old habits died, so quickly.
If something was wrong in your country, would you ask for outsiders help?"



Deveraux sighed: "Miss Moore... I happen to support the opening of Tesian borders. Its true that the grand enchanter scoffs at the idea, of a young unicorn student from the other side of the globe, strolling into the Grand University and learning its secrets, but I think its a good idea.

Young minds bring new perspectives, and if they're grades are high enough, they should have every right to study here, because their achievements will benefit all of man kind, in the end"



Amy squinted again: "...forgive me Professor, but I have to ask again.
If there was a problem in your country, would you ask for outsider help? Or solve it internally"


Deveraux didn't answer and simply began pouring tea.

Kaylee Brown wrote:

   

WITCHERS OF NIFELHEIM

You skipped three stairs at a time and tripped, almost landing face first into the crumbling, mold ridden stone pavement. You pick yourself up, trying to catch your rapidly increasing breath and look back.

They heard it.

The small screeches and shrieks loudly echoing behind you, became even more frantic.


Fighting through the pain of a sprained foot, you push forward, running down the circular staircase, that led deeper and deeper into the ground.



Your head was spinning, a rapid surge of adrenaline and the heavy pounding of your heart, loudly echoed inside your head like a hammer. You can't seem to slow down your breathing, the air here was too stale and heavy, making you feel like you're suffocating on your own lungs.



The screeches behind you grew even louder. Blood chilling, bizarre shadows began to play on the walls behind you, cast by the dimly lit torch lights that hung on the walls.




Your heart begins to curl up and hurt, at the thought of what will happen if they reach you.

Little things that will crawl under your skin and bite at your insides.
You frantically look at your shaking hands, dripping with sweat and obscured by the torchlight shadows.

Perhaps they already reached you. Already under your skin and crawling deeper and deeper, you can't even feel it. You begin screaming and frantically clawing at your own hands, trying to get out something that might not even be there.
The shrieks behind you grew even louder.





You let out a long piercing scream and rush down the stairs even faster, further and futher into the darkness.

You have to make it in time. You have to.




Reaching the last flight of stairs, you almost fall onto the stone floor below.
It was dark, a pale green light shining from somewhere within, did little to illuminate the stone cave.

Trying to slow down your breath, you frantically look for your target.


The door.
A massive three meter tall structure, decorated with intricate carvings and built into the middle of the wall, right in front of you.
Bizarre looking statues of two flipped pyramids, were floating on each side of the door, glowing a pale green and slowly spinning on the axis.



No time. You rush forward and slam your self at the door.


NO! IT WON'T OPEN! THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!



Your heart drops and cold sweat starts dripping over your eyes, as you slowly look back.

They're here.



As the shadows slowly rose and crept up behind you, you let out a piercing shriek and start clawing with both hands at the door, injuring yourself in the process.
You hear the soft clatter of claws on the floor, they're rushing towards you. Their desire to devour you was palpable.

Your shriek grew louder and louder as you banged, clawed and slammed at the door, that just wouldn't open.

As the shadows fell upon you, beginning to bite at your flesh, your shriek grew so loud, you almost went deaf.








You wake up.

Sitting upright in your bed, you almost knocked over your night lamp.
You must have screamed out in real life as well, your vocal cords feel coarse and pained.

Resting your head in your arms, you slowly wipe the sweat off your forehead and fall on your back.



It was a dream.
Just a nightmare.


 

// Rogue can speak Equestrian fluently as his native tongue, and Verrian roughly as a second language from his school days

Rogue takes a moment to adjust to his surroundings, for a second or two unsure where he is, before it comes back to him. Cold stone walls painted in simple frescoes using basic colours, with a trickle of pale light streaming in through the wooden grating over the small skylight window.

Kaylee Brown wrote:Every night, the dream is the same.


The mad dash down the crumbling staircase, leading you somewhere deep underground. The unseen creatures that chase you.
And the door at the end.

The door that just wouldn't open.



You saw this dream every night, for the past month or so. Making you wake up at bizarre hours,
with your heart racing and trouble falling asleep again.

Medication and sleeping pills didn't help. Neither did magic.
A good nights rest seems to eludes you. You don't remember when you last slept well.




The door at the end was becoming annoying.
You have no idea what's inside, how to get through it, or even why you want to enter so badly.
In your dream, you only know, that you must reach it and enter.





You release a deep sight and look at the clock.
Its 3 in the morning.




Judging from past nights, with your heart pounding so hard,
you know you won't be able to fall asleep for a while now.

For someone so reliant on magic to agument his weak physical abilities, the loss of it had been... a culture shock. However, until a solution to the problem presented itself, there was nothing Rogue could do about it. He felt powerless to control his fate, and he didn't like it.

He was sure the dream had something to do with it though, and in order to understand what it might mean, he had travelled to visit some reclusive monks secluded high in the snowy mountains of Equestria. They had been unable to identify its meaning, but had taught him useful meditation techniques to help him keep them under somewhat control and aid sleep, but only a little, and as the days went by and the dreams became more intense, the techniques proved less and less effective.

A knock on the door brought him back from his introspection, and he signalled for them to enter. A brother of the monks order, wearing simple robes, came in and nodded his head, to which Rogue replied in turn. The brother presented him with his mobile phone, and them excused himself.