Chapter Four: Regteppuk

Hatred ran through Tobianno's veins as he galloped towards the Crystal Arch, hooves pounding and tearing at the emerald green grass beneath him. Everything about the Celestial Valley seemed to be poison to him now: The beautiful clear sky, the grass, the flowers, the simple peacefulness that seemed to surround it. It was all so wrong; it shouldn't be this way but he had forgotten. That was the curse, the problem. And Atalanta and Numinor had simply stopped caring.

"Where are you going?" Pausing, the gelding slowly and glanced over at Rednal, who was now trotting quite contentedly next to him. The black-and-white unicorn rarely ever had important business to attend to. Why Atalanta had chosen him to help aid the Princess during her time of need was something that only Atalanta knew. Maybe. There was another reason, one that Tobianno was beginning to believe was the truth. But he didn't want to think about that, not right now.

"I'm going down to Balinor. Something… bad is happening. And I need to stop it, before it gets beyond any hope of control." That was the truth. Stopping at the start of the Arch, he pranced, tossing his mane and flicking his tail. It was the truth and yet he still didn't want to do this. The anger that had pursued him and enraged him so earlier had already faded to a slightly burning numbing ness. If he left the Valley, chances were that he would never get to return. "I… I have to leave Rednal. I really do."

The Crimson stallion stared at the other, confusion etched all over his face. And yet, and still… he understood. There was something going on here, something that he wasn't privy to. But Tobianno needed his help, needed his encouragement, and the stallion would be damned if he wasn't going to give it to him. Nudging the other gently, the red one offered a small smile. "Then go. Nothing's holding you here, except for yourself. Don't let your fears stop you from doing what needs to be done. You can be brave. You are brave."

Relief almost visibly washed over the gelding as he nodded, bowing down and letting the tip of his horn touch the ground in front of Rednal's hooves. "I won't forget this. I won't. I won't let myself. And I'll return this favor… some day." With those words as parting, he whirled around and reared, ebony hooves reaching for the sky. Landing with a dull 'thud' he took off, clattering down the Crystal Arch and to the world below.

Rednal could only watch with wonder as the gelding galloped off. Something deep was going on here, indeed, and he had a feeling that before it was all said and done he himself would be returning to the world below. Something new was threatening the fate of Balinor and he would be damned if he just say on the sidelines and watched the others fight the fight themselves.

~(~*~)~

"Is the spell complete?" Jumping up from her seat upon the 'throne' in the room, the copper-haired girl ran over to the emerald woman, a cruel, almost demanding expression on her face. "You said that you would get rid of the older one. Have you completed the spell to do that?"

The woman nodded, pain flickering across her face. For a moment, a star-shaped scar that marred her forehead seemed to glow, a burning sensation seeming to pulsate from it. "Yes M'lady. I have completed the spell. All the needs to happen is for her to touch the stone, and then she will be dead. And it will work only on her, so you don't need to worry about anyone else being harmed." It wasn't like she actually would be worried, but the woman wanted that fact known so that she wouldn't be blamed for that later on. It wasn't really like there was a worse punishment that could be inflicted upon her, though.

The girl nodded. "Good. I wouldn't want for Chase to be hurt, though I doubt any spell of yours could do any permanent harm on him." Anger crossed the woman's face at that. At this time, yes, maybe it was true, but when her full powers came back the stallion had better watch himself. He was the cause of all of her problems and she'd rather go to hell than let the mighty unicorn go free, unharmed. "Don't worry Ge. I won't forget you when he comes back."

"You plan to give me to the other Princess, Arianna." A thought crossed her mind. "What about the other girl, Seda? The Real? What do you intend to do with her?" The 'princess' scowled.

"What can I do with her? I can't kill her and Iciliana is with her. I can only pray that whatever she does doesn't interfere with my plans. Besides…" The girl paused and looked thoughtful. "If she really starts to get in the way I can always threaten to kill Fi. That'll stop her." A chill ran down the woman's spine at these words.

Xwuk sas oey jpeb luakt pwu tagf A ckex iks jpigp luakt pwaj hekjpug?

~(~*~)~

The two girls stood in the stable, the bronze-haired one leaning against one of the stall doors, the sky-haired one leaning against the mare with the same colored coat. An awkward silence was held firm between the two by a few simple facts: Neither really knew each other or knew what to say, and the sky-haired one's grasp of 'English' wasn't the best. Stroking the mare's neck, she whispered a few words into her ear, causing the mare to stamp her hoof and shake her mane.

"Lady Seda-"

"Just call me Seda."

"-Why did you come here, from the Forgotten Fields?" There was something oddly familiar about the name of that place, something that Arianna couldn't quite place. "I've heard of it before…"

"Everyone's heard of it and everyone's been there but no one can remember and no one's actually seen it." The words came from the mare who cocked her head and eyed Ari, who simply stared at her in return, confusion evident in her eyes. "We were forgotten, a long long time ago. Hence the name." There was a bitter edge to her otherwise blunt tone, hinting that something else was going on, something that Ari couldn't even begin to comprehend. "But terrible things are starting to happen and we can no longer afford the luxury of ignorance. Action needs to be taken."

Ari's brown eyes moved from the blanket-clad mare over to the girl, Seda, the princess. "Might I ask what you have to say on this subject?" The girl frowned, staring intently at Iciliana's neck. She began to chew on her lower lip, a nervous habit that even Ari could recognize.

"… I'm not that… fluent with English," she finally said after a moment. "Phrases, I've memorized, but I normally have Icy speak for me. It's… easier that way." Pauses filled the gaps between her words, pauses that became drawn out and almost agonizing as Ari waited to hear the end of the forced speech. "The Sunchaser is in danger." Another pause, this one seeming to last an eternity after the previous statement. "We are here to… help him."

"How could Chase be in danger? He is the lord of the animals… he isn't even here!" Seda shrugged. The task of explaining was on that was far to great for her impaired speech to handle. Instead, she looked at the mare, waiting for her guidance.

Iciliana snorted, shaking her sky mane again. "There is much that you do not know about the world Arianna, and it is not due to ignorance on your part. Secrets have been kept hidden from this world, the Outer world, for a long time simply because they feared us. They wished to keep us hidden far away from the rest of the world, where our power would fade and their power would grow. Except it hasn't happened that way and now they are beginning to fear the consequences." She had begun to pace during her speech, hooves clattering on the hardwood floor of the stable. Seda drew away from her, leaning against a stall door to a gelding named "Beecher". It was story time and Seda was interested in hearing just how everything played out. Even she didn't know the entire history and she was playing an integral part in it all now.

"The world had been created a long long time ago by two forces. Good and Evil, Light and Dark, they needed each other to exist and over time to began to develop to distinct personalities: The Old Mare of the Mountain and Kraken, the Spider. Each was playing off of man's own perception of good and evil for there was always man, ever sine time began. Without man the world would not be what it is today." Here the mare paused, allowing for her words to sink it. "Take that as you will.

"Two bands of unicorns were born, the Firsts and the Seconds. There were three kingdoms to be ruled: Heaven, Hell, and Earth. Heaven became known as the Celestial Valley, Hell the Forgotten Fields, and Earth split itself into many worlds and kingdoms of its own, Balinor being only one of them. Humans, of course, took control over Earth, as was there right. And it was left to the unicorns to decide who would go to Heaven and who would go to Hell.

"An agreement was made. For one year a time would the herds live, one ruling the Fields and one ruling the Valley. At the end of the year's time they would switch, Firsts moving down to the field, Seconds moving back up to the valley. And in order to make sure that this agreement would never be forgotten, one unicorn of each herd stayed with the other, a constant living reminder." Here she lapsed into silence, her words echoing around the room.

A pregnant pause followed her statement, neither girl wanting to be the first to break the silence. But it was, in the end, Arianna who spoke up first. In the distance the sound of a dog barking could be heard and she perked up. "That's Lincoln," she said excitedly. "This means that Finn and Chase must be home!"