Chapter 7

The Defiler

“Auntie Nimph! Antie Nimph!”

The sleeping mare was awoken by the sudden excited squeals from the filly that sat beside her, poking her side as she spoke aloud.

“Auntie Nimph wake up! Todays the day!”

“Wh… What?” Inquired Nimph still half asleep.

“Come on,” pouted the filly. “Don’t tell me you forgot! You said you would help me earn my cutie mark member?”

Nimph nodded sweetly in her sleep in agreement before drifting off. The door to Nimph’s house opened and a stallion stepped inside. He was ocean blue with silver eyes and a short yellow mane and tail. He frowned at his daughter in disapproval at her rude intrusion on his sister in law.

“Rose Petal!” he called over to her. “You can’t just come into someponies house like that!”

“But dad, she promised!” said Rose, her ears lowing in disappointment.

“It doesn’t matter what she promised!” said Rose’s father seriously. “From the looks of things she might be too tired today. Come on Rose, let her rest.”

Before Rose left her aunts side a gentle hoof rustled her blue mane. Looking up in delight she saw Nimph smiling down at her with one eye open.

“I’m sorry about the intrusion Nimph," the stallion apologized. "We’ll let you go back to sleep. Come on Rose.”

“Oh, sleep smeep,” said Nimph stretching herself awake. “I did promise Rose after all.”

“You mean you will help me after all?” asked Rose perking up at once.

“Of course,” said Nimph rubbing her eyes. “Would I ever go back on my word?”

Rose was over the moon with delight as she bounced up and down, grinning from ear to ear! Her father frowned at his daughter for her behavior, but Nimph simply beamed at the filly and held up a hoof at her brother in law.

“No, no, think nothing of it Lightning,” she said waving him off. “You head along now,”

“Well, alright,” said Lightning. “Rose you behave for aunt Nimph.”

“I will dad!” Rose said happily still bouncing around the house in delight.

“What are you waiting for?” asked Nimph to Lightning who had just stopped before placing his outstretched hoof on the door. “We’ll be fine. I’m perfectly capable of doing this type of thing.”

“I know,” said Lightning grinning at her. “You might want to check your face before you carry on though. You seemed to have gotten too attached to your work.”

Nimph quickly felt her face and found that a piece of paper was stuck on her cheek. She pealed it off and glanced at the notes she had taken last night. She placed her unfinished work neatly on her desk and went to her kitchen to make herself some tea. Rose bounced happily next to her and waited patiently as she and her aunt drank their beverages. Once the two had finished, Nimph took her niece outside to begin their quest. Nimph like many ponies thought that a cutie mark appears on its own accord, but she could understand why the fillies and colts were eager to get their marks and played along with Rose’s attempts to earn hers.

“What did you have in mind for helping me?” asked Rose trotting alongside her aunt.

“I thought I would let you decide what we would be doing,” said Nimph thoughtfully. “After all, it is your cutie mark that we are trying to discover.”

“How did you do to get yours? I bet it was something cool!” said Rose looking up admiringly at her aunts cutie mark.

A single red puzzle piece was shown on her left flank. Nimph felt her face turn pink but she couldn’t help but to smile at Rose’s comment.

“It wasn’t anything too spectacular.” She said simply. “I was just good at solving puzzles when I was your age.”

“If you were so good at puzzles then why did you take a job as an assistant?”

Nimph thought for a moment. Rose was mature for age. Asking these types of questions was to be expected from ponies older than her, but to hear her ask them… She truly was something else. Nimph saw the curious look her niece was giving her and smiled warmly at her.

“Sometimes we all need our side hobbies,” she said rustling the filly’s mane again. “Now, enough about me. Come on, what should we do about you?”

“I hear that help is needed to paint the new towns shops. Maybe we can start there!” said Rose happily.

“You are quite an artsy one,” replied Nimph.

“Yeah, and maybe my cutie mark will be a paint brush or a pallet!”

The two started off with just that. Nimph was requested to paint the higher floors while Rose was stationed at the front door. Together the working teams followed their instructions and began to bring color to the bland structure. When they were done, the lower floor was yellow while the upper part was copper. Rose was busy adding finishing touches to the front door while a Pegasus watched in nervous silence as the filly stood back to admire here completed work.

“Well, it’s… uh… unique that’s for sure,” he said scratching his head.

“No need to thank me,” said Rose proudly. “Just here to help!”

“What in the name of Equestria is this!” said a frantic voice from behind.

Nimph hurried over to the scene and stood close to Rose as the earth pony observed the front door. What Rose saw as art, he saw the polar opposite of his design. The door was painted a light tan color, but instead of leaving it as only that. Rose had taken things a step farther by adding black markings on it that stretched in an ark. The top of the door had flowery patterns on the corners.

“No, no, no!” said the pony dramatically. “This is wrong! This is all wrong!”

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” said Nimph observing the door for herself. “I think it gives the place a little more character.”

“But the original design wasn’t meant for such things!” said the pony in a panic. “I was given specific orders to leave the door in a single color and do nothing else to it!”

“Oh, well, what’s the harm in a little creativity here an there?” Nimph pointed out.

She couldn’t see what the problem was and neither could the filly beside her.

“Did I do something wrong?” asked Rose.

“So, it was you who did this!” said the angered pony accusingly.

“No Rose, you didn’t do anything wrong,” said Nimph reassuringly to the worried little filly.

“Excuse me, madam, but did you not see what she has done?!” inquired the stallion in outrage.

“Yes, and if you ask me, I think its fine the way it is,” said Nimph standing up straight and glaring back at the stallion before her. “It’s just a door! And if you don’t like it, you can take it down latter!”

“I will do just that then!” said the stallion still glaring at the two of them.

Nimph led Rose away from the scene before the enraged stallion could criticize anypony else. As the two left Nimph heard the stallion mutter something rude under his breath. Hoping to brush aside the sticky situation Nimph put a gentle hoof on Rose’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry,” said Nimph. “You did nothing wrong. How about we try to find something else to do. There’s got to be somepony around who needs help.”

The two walked around town in search for opportunities to help out. Rose saw ponies playing games of chess and volunteered to become one of the challengers. She didn’t do so well however. It took her opponent 15 turns to win. After her defeat in chess she moved on to something she thought she might be good at… Building. Unfortunately, her team looked like they knew what they were doing while she simply handed them the tools they needed from the sidelines. Rose’s next idea was having her aunt show her how to solve puzzles. This turned out to be nothing short of complicated. Rose was so confused by the end of the lecture that she was more interested by drawing doodles on her note pad than build the broken sphere she was handed. By the end of their mission, Rose was with out a cutie mark, but she was satisfied none-the-less for having done something for the day. Nimph dropped Rose off at her house and made to leave fast so she could continue to get in a bit more work on solving her teacher’s unfinished work before she too called it a day. On her way home she saw that the building they were helping out with at the beginning of the day had been completed. To her delight she saw that the door her niece had completed was still there. It was nice to know that the one buying the small complex liked the door enough to keep it. Back at her house, Nimph set her teacher’s notes beside a blank piece of paper and got to work on deciphering it.

"Come on Nimph you can solve this!" she told herself as frustration started to kick in after the sixth attempt on solving her teacher's work.

She read the scroll over again and like before she was at a loss on what to add next to the script. She went over what she had just read. Putting piece to piece together, trying to see if there was something in her teacher’s writing that could provide her with a clue. She felt like the answer was dangling above her head just waiting to be snatched. She refused to let the scroll beat her! If she could solve the scroll then maybe she could use it to prove to the guild that she was Star Swirl’s apprentice and it would be enough for them to hand over the rest of his creations both complete and incomplete. A nock at the door made her loose focus and forget what she was about to write down next. Nimph opened her front door a fraction to see a hooded unicorn waiting to be allowed inside.

“Who are you? What do you want?” she asked raising an eyebrow at the sudden visitor.

“Sorry for disturbing you Ms. Nimph,” said a rough voice as the cloaked stranger lowered his hood.

“Romulus!” Nimph exclaimed. “What are you…”

“I would prefer to discuss this inside,” said Romulus.

Nimph let him in and offered him tea, but he held up a hoof in refusal. He looked like he was in a hurry to get what ever he wanted to say out of the way.

“I would like it if we get straight down to business,” he said seriously. “You said that you are Star Swirl’s apprentice are you not?”

“Yes, I am, but why…”

But before she could finish, Romulus cut her off.“And from what I have gathered on you, solving puzzles comes naturally to you.”

It was statement, not a question. Nimph nodded slowly at the now relaxed unicorn. He nodded to himself and looked to her desk where the scroll was.

“What brings you here?” asked Nimph trying to divert Romulus’s attention away from her studies. “I thought you and your guild have told me that I couldn’t have my teacher’s creations or have you all had a change of heart.”

“Change of heart? Ha!” Romulus roared coldly. “Those fools aren’t keen to change their minds so easily once a decision is made! However, I think there is a way for you to have what you desire. That is, if you are willing to help me out first.”

“And why would I do that?” asked Nimph frowning.

“Because if we succeed, the guild will have no choice but to give you Star Swirl’s work.”

Nimph’s eyes widened at the possibilities. What it could mean to have her teacher’s experiments in her possession. She saw herself mastering the spells her mentor had created. The power to have that amount of knowledge would be useful to her. She had always been just as hungry for knowledge as she was with solving puzzles.

“Ms. Nimph,” came Romulus’s voice snapping her out of her day dreaming. “Do we have a deal?”

“Wha… What do you need me to do?” Nimph asked.

“What you are best at." Romulus said with a smirk. "Solving puzzles.”

Romulus’s horn glowed red and a scroll he had kept hidden in his cloak floated in front of them. He unrolled the scroll and together they read the instructions that have been written down.

First make a symbol of The Calling, take a dragon egg like no other, then place the egg in the center and draw The Mark of the Defiler on it. Once everything is complete, light candles around the egg and bring forth the fire.

Nimph finished reading a second before Romulus did and sat there in thought.

“Well?” said Romulus excitedly. “What do you think?”

“It’s… I, well… I think we are dealing with a summoning spell,” said Nimph thoughtfully. “The words speak for themselves. The Calling is something I learned from my studies. It is something you use whenever you are preforming this type of magic. As for Mark of the Defiler, I don’t know what that could be, but it all sounds pretty dark for a summoning spell.”

“Yes, it does,” said Romulus more to himself than to the mare in front of him. “I think I know where to find each mark, but how are we going to find a dragon egg?”

“Wait,” said Nimph abruptly. “You aren’t actually going to cast the spell?”

“Nimph,” began Romulus, his eager attitude showing in the dimly lit house. “As unicorns with knowledge about this type of magic, it is our duty to discover them. And in doing so, every now and then we have test them out.”

“But, but we can’t just do that! What if something goes wrong!?”

“Those cowards at the guild said the same thing,” growled Romulus. “If you want Star Swirl's magic so bad, do you have a better idea on how to obtain it? Once we cast the spell, we will quickly destroy it before things get out of control! If we pull it off, the guild will grant you what you desire!”

“Do you really think so?” asked Nimph still unsure.

“My dear," said Romulus holding a hoof out for her to take. "I know so.”

So it was decided; the two shook and made to gather the things they needed in order for the spell to work. Romulus galloped off to get what he believed would have the symbols they needed to mimic while Nimph went out in search for a good location to preform the spell. In the end, she found a spot on the top of a hill. What she didn’t count on was Romulus returning to her with all the necessary items needed.

“Where did you get that!?” she gasped pointing at the dragon egg.

“Why does it matter where I found it?” Romulus said impatiently. “Now, where do we place the egg again? Ah, that’s right, in the center. What are you waiting for? Let’s get to work!”

Together they drew the symbol of The Calling, lit the candles and placed them in the center where the egg would go. Romulus got to work engraving The Mark of the Defiler on the egg with a knife. Once he was finished he placed the egg in the circle of candles with the mark facing him.

“Now what?” asked Nimph.

“Now, we begin,” said Romulus, and before Nimph could ask how they would do that, he started to speak in a tongue she couldn’t understand.

Around them the once quiet night began to awaken with the sounds of strong winds. The candles flickered dangerously. A cold chill crept down Nimph’s spine that had nothing to do with the intense winds. With one last loud word being said, the wind died out and the egg lay motionless on the grass field. Nimph looked at the egg, expecting something to happen, but it just lied there. Romulus smirked at her with amusement.

“You see Ms. Nimph!” he said showing his yellow teeth. “Most of the time, dark magic like this turn out to be duds.”

“What did you just say!?” Nimph yelled at him clearly enraged.

“You heard me,” said Romulus still grinning with satisfaction. “Dark magic while at times can be I must admit, intimidating can often be proven as fake. Spells like these are created to scar away those who are serious about studying dark magic.”

“I know, and we just succeeded in casting one!” Nimph shouted still shocked at what she had just helped mad Unicorn with. “Why didn’t you tell me it was dark magic!?”

“Would you have helped me if I did?” Romulus argued. “That’s why I had to hide that information from you. I already made the mistake of telling the guild that it was dark magic. They were scared of the possibilities of it being the real thing. Ha! Cowards! The whole lot of them! No spine at all!”

“Fine! you had your fun!” Nimph said still angry. “Now lets get rid of the sign before… Hey, are you listening?!”

Romulus didn’t answer. He was rooted to the spot and his eyes were fixated on the dragon egg that began to give off steam. Nimph and the terrified blue unicorn watched as the dragon egg began to twitch and The Mark of the Defiler began to burn bright red. Before they could react, the egg rose into the sky. The once gold and white shell began to turn solid black. Steam pored out of it, as the shell covering the un-hatched dragon inside, began to melt away. The black liquid now circled around the thing inside. Romulus began to back away as the blackened circle began to give off red light from inside. The jet-black circle hovered in mid air for some time before without warning, a loud deafening roar burst out! The mighty beast from inside grew to it’s full potential before it spread out its vast wings and broke through its enclosure! The two unicorns watched in fright as the massive dragon, black as the night itself soared above them! Its piercing red eyes found them and with an earthshattering roar, it landed on the hill and glared down at them.

Author's Notes:

At first I thought the introduction of Nimph would be in one chapter, but then I thought, why not let readers get to know her a little.