Full Moon Ritual: Anticipatory Anxiety

The ritual was at midnight. Headmaster Jade Caster knew roughly where Golden Sage’s ritual was to take place. Summer Solo wouldn’t consider himself gifted with magic, but his father, oldest sister, and brother are. Rituals take a lot of preparation. If he gets there early enough, he can stop it before they even begin. 

With the aid of his magic, Summer Solo fastens his sword strap across his flank and sheathes his favorite sword. He grabs his cloak and ties it around his neck, letting it drape across his back and hiding his sword beneath it. The function of a cloak for swordplay was the one thing he intentionally kept to himself when teaching Brave Storm how to handle a weapon. 

As he roamed through the outskirts of the village, he thought of her completing the ritual that Golden Sage charmed her and the other ponies into. He thought of her twisting and writhing as her form changed, warping her into a monster in constant agony. He thought of her rushing into Ponyville and terrorizing the citizens. It was technique and technique alone, Brave Storm insisted, that split that log. How horribly strong would she be made if Wild Magic corrupted her? If it came down to it, could he do what had to be done against her? Against any of the other ponies there? 

Summer Solo’s knees shook in fear. He closed his eyes, feeling a hot tear run down his cheek. It turned bitterly cold in the late-night air. He deeply inhaled and focused on the way the freezing air bit at his nostrils. He held his breath and forced his heart to calm. He exhaled slowly, dispelling his fears. It didn’t matter if he had no vocation saying such, he was raised to be a warrior and he must act like it.

It was the light of a distant fire that lit the trees around it that made Summer Solo know he was traveling in the right direction. From a distance, he could see a great bonfire with a few ponies sitting around it. A great kettle sat on the fire and he could barely see a faint glow coming from it. He watches as two mares, a unicorn and an earth pony-unicorn hybrid tend to the preparations. One of them had to be Golden Sage. Feeling his own fire rise in his chest, he holds his head high and begins marching into the camp.

Just as the aroma of the fire and brew hit his nostrils, he saw a shadow begin to shift in his peripheral vision. He quickly steps to face the potential threat, dropping into a defensive stance. 

“Oh, it’s you. Uh… Summer Solo, right?” said the shadow, which turned out to be a tall gray unicorn. 

“Pas D’arms?” Summer Solo sighed with relief. “You have no idea how glad I am that I’m not alone in this.”

“Paz is fine.” 

“Right. What are you doing lurking in the shadows? How long have you been out here?”

“Not too long. Maybe thirty or so minutes? Hard to keep track of how much time has passed when there’s no sun.”

“That long? I figured you the type to already be in there causing a fuss.” Summer Solo remarked, remembering how the other ponies training with Pas D’arms talked about his tendency to rush into situations.

“I like fighting monsters. There’s fun and glory in it. These are ponies.” Paz explains as he looks to the gathered ponies who were jovially laughing with one another, shakes his head, and looks back to Summer Solo with concern in his eyes. “I can’t rush in there and start fighting them.”

“I’m not there to hurt anypony either. I’m here to stop them from doing someth-”

“Then why did you bring a weapon with you?” Paz interrupts, his stare becoming accusatory. While Summer Solo knew that Pas kept his voice down so that they wouldn’t be discovered, something about the cool delivery shook him. 

“H-how did you-?” Summer Solo starts to ask, using the opportunity to check his sword as an excuse to break eye contact with the other stallion. It was hidden, even a well-trained eye would have difficulty knowing Summer Solo was carrying a weapon in the dark. “I didn’t bring it to use against anypony. It’s just in case I wasn’t here in time and they’ve already been turned into monsters.”

“I’ve fought alongside a couple of them- against Moon Widow.” Paz tells him, turning to watch the group around the bonfire again. “That unicorn is Frostbite. He… could have done better. But he contributed a lot in the end. Also, she left a bit ago to help some bat pony, but that earth pony who split the log is here.”

“Of course she is.” Summer Solo sighed out his annoyance. He felt mad at her. And then he felt upset at himself. Shouldn’t he have felt worried? 

“Right? I won’t lie, she’s the main reason why I stopped. I don’t want to be on the receiving end of those kicks.”

“It’s not about her strength, she was just quick on her hooves and lucky.” Summer Solo grumbled out, hearing the mare’s voice in his head. Brave Storm was approached by a few ponies about her feat and she always cheerfully told everypony that anypony could have done it in her situation. It was all technique, yada yada.

“Strength or technique, doesn’t matter. If Brave Storm was able to crack open that wood, she could cave in my chest.” Paz retorted. 

“She wouldn’t do that.”

“Not on purpose, sure. But she was pretty brutal with Moon Widow.”

“Didn’t you tell me that she spent the majority of the fight playing with spiders?”

“Dude, aren’t you supposed to be her friend or something?”

“I-”

“You’ve done nothing but talk her down since I started talking to you.”

“She is my friend.” Summer Solo stated defensively.

“You sure don’t sound like hers.” Paz cooly finished. 

Those words struck Summer Solo worse than any blow from a training weapon or hoof ever did. He heard every backhooved compliment his father gave him that slowly broke down his confidence over the years. He remembered how his opinions would always be shoved aside or talked over by his older family members who claimed they knew better. He stared at his hooves as he realized he was doing the same thing to Brave Storm since they saw that flyer.

“I think the best thing we can do is be here in case something goes wrong.” Paz cuts into Summer Solo’s thoughts.

“Them completing the ritual is something going wrong, Pas D’arms.” Summer Solo insisted. “We can’t let them go through with this. We don’t know what it’s going to do them.”

“Look, you’re your own stallion. If you decide that you’re going to stroll in there and cause problems, I can’t stop you.” Paz starts and shifts himself between Summer Solo and the other ponies. Briefly, Summer Solo saw the desperation in the unicorn’s eyes. “But I beg that you take a moment to think this over. Reconsider what you’re going to do. We don’t know what this ritual is going to do- sure. But we also don’t know how many ponies might get hurt from you trying to stop it.”

“Fine.” Summer Solo sighs. “I’ll think about it.”