//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Beyond Imagination 
// by Argent 
//------------------------------//


Chapter One

        The soft scratching of metal against metal was fighting a losing battle against silence in a small shop near the edge of Ponyville. In a small back room sat a light brown unicorn with a black mane and compass cutie mark. He was hunched over a table, working intently under the harsh, white glow of electric lamps. The pony was painstakingly adding flowing calligraphy to the metal plate in front of him, putting the finishing touches on his most complex project to date. Reaching the end of a letter, he gently lifted his graver into the air and took a sip of water as he surveyed his work.
        The young apprentice had been staring intensely for hours at the thin metal plate that would soon adorn a press in the basement, painstakingly covering it with the likeness of Equestria and beyond. Every detail from mountains to rivers to forests had been lovingly added exactly to the client’s specifications. This plate would be used to print several hundred maps ordered by a trading guild in Manehatten. The small shop could not do the job as quickly or as cheaply as others, but its owner had brought his reputation for quality, and a number of loyal customers, with him when he had left the city.
        With a deep breath the young unicorn returned his tool to the plate and his water to the table. Keeping the graver perfectly steady with magic, hardly daring to breathe lest he slip, he added the final line. There was a soft, metallic ‘tink’ as a thin strip of metal jumped away from the plate and the unicorn withdrew the graver, sighing deeply. The tired pony returned the tool to its proper place and surveyed his work, checking every inch for defects.
        Finally satisfied, the unicorn carefully undid the clamps holding the plate in place and gingerly carried it into the front of the shop. Behind the counter sat an aged blue unicorn with two books laid out in front of him. The apprentice watched quietly for a few minutes, fascinated to see a master at work. The vast majority of the shop’s business was in printing: mostly books and maps. The owner, however, would sometimes copy books word by word in the manner of the monks of old for special clients. He said he enjoyed it because it reminded him that there were still ponies who could appreciate such things.
        He coughed softly to get the other pony’s attention. “Sir?”
        “Yes, Wanderlust?” The shop’s owner replied without looking up from his work.
        “I’m finished, sir.” Wanderlust replied, nervously giving the plate another look.
        “Excellent!” The older pony exclaimed, carefully moving the books to another part of the counter. “Put it up here so I can see.” He said with a smile. Wanderlust complied and stepped back to let his employer look it over. The blue unicorn set a pair of weathered spectacles on his nose and spent several minutes examining his apprentice’s handiwork.
        “It looks perfect, Wanderlust. Three days ahead of schedule, too. Good job.” The brown unicorn beamed. “I’ll get the boys downstairs to hook it up to the press and everything should be inked by tomorrow.”
        “Anything else for me to do?”
        “I take it that the generator is fixed?” The older unicorn asked with a glance at one of the lights in the ceiling.
        “Yes, sir. You should really get it replaced, though: it’s going to be more tape than anything before long.” Wanderlust replied with a grin.
        “I’ll look into it. Take a long weekend, son, you’ve earned it. I’ll see you next week.”
        “Thank you, sir.” The brown pony said with a smile as he moved towards the door.
        “Enjoy your weekend, Wanderlust.” The blue pony said cheerily as he returned to his work.
        “You too, sir.” The younger pony replied over his shoulder as he left. Trotting through town, Wanderlust was still beaming as he thought of how he would spend his unexpected long weekend. A few minutes to pack and I can just walk out of town. Four whole days to get away from it all. He picked up his pace a little, anxious to get home so he could prepare. With a slight frown he glanced at the drab clouds that filled the sky. Weather could be better, though. I should remember to bring a jacket. A tent would be a good idea, too. That made him groan a little: he liked to have as little weighing him down as possible, especially when he’d be out for a few days.
Worth it for a few days of peace and quiet, though. He thought as he approached his small house. Right at the edge of town, the cottage had a large, fenced yard and nothing beyond it but the hills in which the small town was nestled. Wanderlust shot a quick glance at his parents’ cottage, right next door. Smoke from the chimney, seems like everything’s normal. He worried about them: they weren’t exactly young anymore and they needed him around. I should ask one of the neighbors to check in on them from time to time while I’m gone. With another point added to his mental checklist, he opened his front door and stepped inside, too distracted to give much more than a cursory glance to the familiar interior of his home.
A soft cough from behind him made the unicorn, still in the process of closing his front door, jump into the air. He whirled to see a white unicorn in golden armor sitting at his kitchen table, a pot of tea and a golden helmet resting on the table in front of him. “My apologies if I startled you. Your father was kind enough to let me in.”
“Is there something I can help you with, sir?” Wanderlust asked as he approached the table and the strange unicorn poured him a cup of tea. Even appearing unannounced in his home, the gold armor of the Royal Guard demanded a certain amount of respect. 
“I need to speak with you.” The guard replied, passing the cup of tea as Wanderlust sat down at the table. “It’s about your brother.”
Wanderlust froze, his tea halfway to his lips. He hadn’t been terribly close to his brother in their youth, and things between them had gone downhill from there after they had reached adulthood. The last time they had spoken was the day his brother left for Canterlot to accept an appointment to the royal guard. After a heated exchange, the younger unicorn had stormed away, not even waiting to see his brother off. Since then, Wanderlust’s only reminder that he even had a brother had come in the form of the yearly Hearth’s Warming card his parents received.
“I haven’t spoken to Snow in a very long time.” Wanderlust stated slowly. “Is there something wrong?”
The other unicorn took a deep breath and continued with obvious discomfort. “I’m extremely sorry to tell you this, but your brother passed away last week.” He continued speaking, but Wanderlust didn’t hear a word. He stared blankly past the guard, the last words he had said to his only sibling replaying over and over again in his mind: ‘You selfish bastard’. There was no taking that back now. 
“May I ask how it happened?” Wanderlust said softly. His mind was still far enough away that he didn’t realize he had interrupted the other pony. 
“He was on special assignment from the princesses themselves, I’m afraid I don’t know the details.” The white unicorn paused awkwardly. It was obvious he had never done this before; it couldn’t be a service that was asked of the Guard often. “If it’s any consolation, Snowfall was one of the finest ponies I have ever had the honor of counting among my command.”
“We need to make funeral arrangements.” Wanderlust whispered, mostly to himself. Grief and guilt were fighting a war in his head, making it hard to think clearly. 
“I’m sorry, but Snow was buried in the field. He was given full honors, and the ceremony was presided over by Princess Luna herself. We retrieved his personal effects, though.” The guard said as he set a worn bag on the table. “Your parents wanted you to have them.” He said awkwardly before standing and retrieving his helmet. “I’m afraid I must be going. You have my deepest sympathies, and the thanks of a grateful nation for your brother’s sacrifice.”
Wanderlust saw the guard out, and leaned his face against the cold wood of the door as soon as it was shut. A few tears formed in his eyes as he thought back to the last time they had spoken. He had always meant to apologize, had always meant to make it right. There was no chance of that happening now. 
The unicorn sullenly walked back to his table and collapsed onto one of the cushions. He stared into space for a few minutes before his eyes came to rest on the pack containing his brother’s personal belongings. With a sigh, Wanderlust dragged it across the table and undid the clasp. It was mostly empty: his brother had never by any means been a packrat. 
He set aside a few well-worn books before seeing a glint of gold from the very back. He curiously fished it out, finding that it was a locket on a thin chain. He gingerly pried it open and stared for several long seconds before dropping his head to the table.
Snowfall had come by his name in a rather strange manner. Even as a foal, the pony had had a habit of taking others by surprise, often by accident. At one point, their father had remarked that the young colt made about as much noise as falling snow on a still night; for some reason, it had stuck. As they had grown older, Snow’s favorite pass-time, in addition to probably being the greatest hide-and-seek player in Equestrian history, had been hiding in various unlikely places and frightening his younger brother.
On this particular occasion, Snow had lunged at him from his hiding place inside a pile of leaves. The picture inside the locket had been taken just moments later as the two of them rolled in the golden autumn leaves, laughing. All these years, while Wanderlust had hated his brother for leaving, Snow had kept that picture around his neck. 
When the tears stopped, Wanderlust placed the locket around his own neck and picked up the empty bag. On his way to the closet, a rolled piece of paper fell from the open top. Raising an eyebrow, the unicorn bent to retrieve it. He walked back to the table, opened it and blinked. It was a map. 
The words of the guard captain came back to him. ‘He was on special assignment from the princesses themselves’. He sat back on his haunches and stared at it. A spot deep in the Everfree Forest was marked. That’s where he was going. He stared at the small ‘X’, entranced. That’s where I need to go. The thought popped into his head without prompting, but there was a conviction behind it that he couldn’t quite explain. 
Why should I? He asked himself, still staring at the map. Because you owe him that much. He thought. All this time you never tried to make amends. You held a grudge against him for years. Now that he’s gone, this is as close as you’ll get to an apology.
With that thought stuck in his head, he examined the map more closely. It’s at least a week away. This isn’t something I can do over a weekend. He made his plans as he hurriedly gathered supplies. Most of what he needed was already set aside, but this would be longer than most of his usual jaunts.
An hour after his decision had been made he stepped through his front door, weighed down by food, water, torches, a tent and a dozen other things he might have need of along the way. By nightfall, having made arrangements for a neighbor to look after his parents and having explained his absence to his displeased employer, he left Ponyville without a backward glance, reading the map and a compass by torchlight. 

*

        The next morning, having broken camp after a scant few hours of sleep, Wanderlust stared at the edge of the forest. The map had led him to a particular trail, far from any section of the forest he had ever worked up the courage to explore. The path wasn’t particularly inviting: narrow, half-lost in dense brush and with roots making footing uncertain it would not be an easy trek. I’ve come this far.
        With a deep breath, he stepped across the threshold of Equestria and into the untamed wilds. It was dark beneath the densely-packed trees. Every sound, from the wind rustling through the leaves to the chirping of the birds put him on edge. Above all, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was not welcome here. It’s just a bunch of trees. Why would they care if you were here? It seemed reasonable, but he still watched the shadows as he moved through the forest and glanced over his shoulder every time there was even the slightest sound.
        That night the unicorn made camp in a clearing and built a massive bonfire that he hoped would be sufficient to keep away anything dangerous. He spent the night staring at the roof of his tent, listening to the swaying of branches and the crackling of the flames. His nerves improved as he spent more time in the forest without incident, but he still hadn’t managed a full night’s sleep by the time he reached his destination.

*

Wanderlust wasn’t sure what he had expected to find, but as he climbed atop a mossy marble slab in the last dying light of day, he couldn’t help but reflect that it hadn’t been this. There was a large clearing slowly being reclaimed by the forest. Dominating most of the space were the ruins of what looked to have been a temple. Now, it was just white stones and lost memories. The walls were gone, the columns were shattered, stones were strewn about haphazardly and the entire ruin was open to the heavens. Still, the place almost hummed with magic: Wanderlust could feel it tingling across his fur as he surveyed the area.
He warily approached the temple proper, slowly picking his way between slabs of white stone, guided by torchlight. Dead gods stood vigil as he navigated the tangle of vines that filled the empty husk; it must have been magnificent all those ages past. For some reason that he couldn’t explain, he felt drawn towards the altar that lay at the center of the cross-shaped structure. 
An almost unnatural silence had descended over the forest. The beating of his heart seemed almost deafening as he approached the center of the temple, sure that he would find what he was looking for, despite having no idea what that might be. He mounted the steps, hardly daring to breathe. When he finally reached the altar, he let out a sigh. It was just a block of stone, empty and unremarkable.
Disappointed, the unicorn descended the steps and started down another branch. After a dozen strides he froze. He could see glowing yellow eyes in the corner of his vision. He dropped his torch in shock as, with a frightened glance, his worst fears were confirmed: somehow, the timberwolves had caught him unaware. He was completely surrounded. 

*

        Violence is not something that comes easily to ponykind. It was seen as a relic of a bygone era, existing only as a painful reminder of barbaric ages lost to the fog of history. For so long this had been the case that Wanderlust had not once in his life seen a hoof raised in anger. Still, self defense is an evolutionary imperative, and such things are bred in too deeply to simply be cast aside at will.
        Wanderlust’s senses sharpened as adrenaline flooded his veins. A twig snapped behind him, breaking the tense silence of the night. Instinct passed down from a time when his earliest ancestors had had to fight off predators saved the unicorn’s life. Reflexively kicking backwards with both legs, he connected with something hard and the sound of splintering wood coupled with a pained yelp told him he’d hit his mark. The pony started to panic as he realized exactly what the stakes were in this game.
        The rest of the pack circled warily and Wanderlust tried in vain to keep his eyes fixed on all of them. The unicorn was sweating in the cold night air, his mind desperately trying to fight through terror to find a way out. He needed something more than his bare hooves to survive this.
        A thought leapt into his mind as his eyes tracked the wolves. Rocks. The floor of the temple was carpeted with white stones: the remains of the structure’s crumbled roof. Wanderlust had never been the sharpest student when it came to magic, but every unicorn could call upon telekinesis. As soon as the idea hit him, he had a half dozen stones spinning through the air around him, forming a tenuous barrier against his attackers.
        It wasn’t much, but it bought him a moment to think. I can try to get out of here, make a break for the woods. They’ll have trouble with all that brush; I might have a chance to run for- One of the wolves lunged. Almost by reflex, Wanderlust brought one of the stones crashing into the side of its head. With a crack and a weak whimper, his assailant fell to the ground. Another one down. The thought drifted through his head, not quite sinking in. A snarl from behind him made the unicorn turn and bring another rock down upon the skull of a third wolf.
        As the creature twitched on the ground in front of him, the thought finally connected. Oh, Celestia. I just killed something. His eyes widened. No, I’ve killed three of them. The realization stunned him for a moment. What am I? He let the rocks slowly sink towards the ground.
Another of the pack took advantage of his lapse and lunged forward. Wanderlust screamed as fangs sank into his thigh. Blinded by terror and rage, he knocked his attacker loose with a savage blow from one of the stones. As the rest closed in for the kill, Wanderlust could feel the blood seeping from his wounds, his strength ebbing with every beat of his heart.
The wounded unicorn was running purely on survival instinct. The fear, the pain, the guilt, all were shoved aside by one thought: more than anything, Wanderlust desperately wanted to live. Adrenaline shot through his veins like lightning as the wolves lunged for the kill. He focused his magic and with a strength that only the threat of imminent death could bring, he reached out to the still-burning torch he had let fall to the ground.
The flames leapt like an enraged beast, enveloping the unicorn. Inside the inferno, Wanderlust felt something more akin to a fireside nap than the killing heat outside as the flames caressed his coat. He kept it up for as long as he could, revelling in the feeling of power that flowed through him as the flames danced at his command. Inevitably, though, his strength finally gave out, leaving the unicorn standing in the middle of the temple, gasping.
        For ten paces in every direction there was nothing but ash, and the cracked paving stones that covered the ground were burnt black. Wanderlust’s chest ached with every breath, his fur was matted with sweat and blood and he could feel himself growing weaker by the second. Still, he was alive. The unicorn struggled to shrug his pack off his shoulders so he could retrieve his jacket, forcing his aching muscles to make the effort. He was barely able to tear off a strip of cloth and bind his wound before he collapsed to the ground and everything went black.

*

        “Who exactly are you?” The words cut through the darkness as Wanderlust slowly drifted back towards consciousness. The voice was feminine and obviously belonged to a pony. There was something hauntingly familiar about it, but he couldn’t be sure why. 
        After a few seconds that seemed to drag on for ages, the unicorn was able to pry his eyelids apart. There was a distant corner of his mind that was frightened by exactly how much effort it took. He was on his back, staring at a clear blue sky; he couldn’t see whoever had spoken. Wanderlust rolled onto his side and his eyes shot open in shock. Standing several feet away was a tall, midnight blue mare with a translucent mane that rippled in a non existent wind. She didn’t look pleased to see him. 
        The unicorn tried to speak, but all he could manage was a quiet croak. It felt like his mouth was filled with sand. He groped for his pack, managed to retrieve a bottle of water and drained it in one long pull as the princess watched him sternly. “Princess Luna.” The unicorn finally sputtered.
        “Who exactly are you?” She repeated.
        “My name is Wanderlust, your majesty.” He replied, bowing.
        “You are not one of the candidates.” Luna snapped. “What are you doing here?”
        By this point, Wanderlust had completely lost track of what was going on. “I found a map.” He explained weakly, shrinking under the monarch’s fierce gaze. 
        “You found a map.” She repeated slowly before raising a hoof to her face. “I do not have time to deal with this.” Luna muttered.
        “It was among my brother’s personal effects.” Wanderlust continued, his face red. This was a horrible idea. What was I thinking? The princess’ ears perked up when she heard him, though. She dropped her hoof and scrutinized the unicorn closely. “He was a member of the Royal Guard, he was ki-”
        Luna cut him off. “Yes, I see the resemblance. You and Snowfall have the same eyes. My apologies that I could not deliver the news myself, but there were other duties that required my attention.”
        “I understand, your Majesty.” Wanderlust replied, puzzled at the sudden change in her demeanor and astonished that she knew his brother’s name off the top of her head.
        “So you came all this way alone?”
        “Yes, your Majesty.”
        “On your own initiative?”
        “Yes.”
        “Why?”
        “I knew my brother had given his life for something he thought was important. We weren’t on the best of terms, mostly thanks to me. I felt I owed it to him to see it through.”
        Luna eyed him critically for several long moments, obviously weighing options. “Perhaps you would be willing to go a ways further?”

*

        “I apologize for your life being placed in danger; the others were warned before they consented to undertake the risk. ” Wanderlust was lying in the grass by the clearing’s edge trying to sharpen a stone while Luna spoke earnestly. “It had not occurred to me that somepony could stumble into the middle of this.”
        “It isn’t your fault. It’s not like you knew the wolves would be here.” Wanderlust replied, not looking up from his work.
        “I did, actually, because I placed an enchantment on the ruins that attracts them. There is another that informs me if anypony arrives here.”
        That made Wanderlust look up. “What? Why would you ever want ponies to walk into a trap like that?”
        “To test them.”
        “Test them? Test them for what?”
        The princess sighed. “There is a threat facing Equestria. An ancient, foreign, unfathomably powerful threat. My sister and I have tried to resist, but our hooves are tied; we cannot move against it directly. We need somepony else to act in our place, to remove the sword that hangs above Equestria.”
        “And for that you’re putting lives in danger?” Wanderlust asked, horrified by the thought.
        “We need to be sure that whatever pony is assigned to this task is worthy of it. There is too much at stake for it to be otherwise. They are all volunteers, and they are warned of the risks.”
        “So, I’ve passed the test?”
        “The first of several. If you choose to continue, there will be more challenges on the road ahead. I will not stop you from walking away if you are not willing to take the risk. There is no shame in wanting to preserve one’s life.”
        Wanderlust glanced at the charred ground behind him. No, no shame in wanting to live. The methods, on the other hoof... “I’ve come too far to turn back now.”
        “This is only the first tiny step.” Luna said quietly. More firmly, she continued. “Before you agree, you deserve the same warning the others received. You have seen for yourself that the tests will not be simple. Things will only grow more difficult from here: the journey will be perilous, and much longer than you can comprehend. You would not be the first to fail to return, and even if you do, the things that are forced upon you will change you: you will not return as the same pony you are now. Furthermore, you will be walking into these dangers blind: there are many things I cannot discuss until you have completed the tests, and even then there are secrets I cannot reveal. Understanding the risks, do you still wish to continue?”
        “Yes, I do.” Wanderlust stated before returning to his work. He critically examined the stone, pronounced it sufficient and used a strip of cloth torn from his jacket to tie it to the end of a stout, straight branch. He held the spear up in front of him. It isn’t much, but it’s the best I can do for now. “What’s our next move?”
        “Our next stop is about two weeks’ walk in this direction.” The princess replied, moving into the forest. “Your leg should be healed by the time we arrive.” Wanderlust scrambled to his hooves and trotted after her. 

*

        “What in Celestia’s name is that?” The two ponies stood at the edge of a vast canyon. The far side was shrouded in mist and the unicorn couldn’t help but think that he could’ve dropped the entirety of Canterlot into that canyon and lost it in the clutter. Still, he barely paid it any heed. Wanderlust’s eyes were locked on the tower that stood on the cliff edge just a few hundred feet away.
        It wasn’t that it was particularly large: it was taller than anything in Ponyville, but that wasn’t saying much. It wasn’t even the strange architecture that held his interest: a tower made of silver metal may not have been a particularly common sight, but it certainly wasn’t alien. What kept his eyes glued to the structure was the fact that it seemed to flicker in and out of existence.
        The unicorn finally dragged his eyes away from the sight and turned to look at the princess, hoping for an answer. She just stared impassively back at him. The princess had not been very forthcoming about details concerning the tests. 
        “You must find a way to the far side.” She finally said after a long minute of tense silence.
        “And I’m guessing that I’m going to have to go in there to find it?” He asked, nodding his head towards the strange tower. He hadn’t really expected an answer, and Luna didn’t disappoint. All he received in reply was a blank stare, as if he should have known better. She warned me that I’d be kept in the dark. With a sigh, the unicorn slowly started walking towards the structure. It was the obvious place to start looking.
Wanderlust couldn’t be sure why, but he was filled with dread as he approached. By chance, when he finally reached the structure’s base it flickered back out of sight. The unicorn slowly reached out a hoof and even though he expected it, he still had to fight panic as he felt cold metal stop his hoof seemingly in mid-air. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. I’ve always wanted to see something different. I’m not sure how it could get much more different than this. There was a small corner of his mind that couldn’t help but think that things would be getting much, much worse.
When he opened his eyes, the tower was visible again and he started slowly working his way around its perimeter, stopping whenever it blinked out of sight. He had to travel most of the way around the outside to find something that looked like a door. Wanderlust stood and stared for several long minutes at the alcove in the rounded wall of the tower, trying to work up the courage to go inside. Finally, after watching the door blink back to reality, he took a step forward and gave it a firm shove.
To the unicorn’s mild surprise, it actually swung inwards. Well, now I don’t have an excuse. He stepped through just as the structure flickered away again. The impression that the entrance was simply floating in the air in front of him made his head spin. The interior was dark, the only illumination coming from the open door behind him. Without warning, the door swung shut soundlessly and left the unicorn alone in the dark.
Just as he started to sink into terror, the lights came to life and blinded him. Blinking through the glare, he could see that he was in a large, round room that seemed to take up the entirety of the tower. The walls and floor were all uniform, polished metal and it was empty save a cylinder running from floor to ceiling in the exact center. The ceiling seemed unnecessarily high; one could have stacked a dozen ponies before reaching it, and Wanderlust couldn’t find the source of the sterile, white light filling the room.
Abruptly, he was shaken from his thoughts by a soft chime as a door opened in the central cylinder. After a quick look around, Wanderlust decided that there was nowhere else to go and reluctantly stepped inside. Without waiting for a command, the wall slid closed, leaving nothing, not even a seam, behind to indicate that there was any exit from the spotless white interior.
For a few seconds Wanderlust thought he had walked into a trap. Then, with another soft chime, the wall slid open again and the frightened unicorn nearly tripped over himself in his rush to leave. He stopped, dumbstruck, immediately upon stepping outside. There had been no sensation of movement inside the small chamber, nothing to indicate that it had done anything but sit at ground level before freeing him, and yet the room was different. The ceiling was half as tall as it had been in the first room and it seemed narrower than where he had entered the tower.
        Beds, large enough that his entire family could have fit on one, sat along the outer wall at regular intervals separated by doors and lockers. The same configuration seemed to be repeated for as far around the curve of the room as he could see. Slowly, he walked forward, opened one of the doors and cautiously poked his head inside. The lights blinked on automatically, revealing a small room devoted to sanitary facilities. He pulled his head out again and stood in the living quarters for several minutes, trying to wrap his head around things.
        With a deep breath the unicorn resumed his search, finding a spiraling staircase on the other side of the central cylinder. Following it upwards, he reached a large, open room at what must have been the top of the structure. Wanderlust could see straight through the outer walls as if they weren’t there, an effect he hadn’t seen from the ground. The height of this vantage point offered an incredible view: the vast expanse of the Everfree Forest behind and the unbelievably large canyon ahead.
        The sole adornment to the room was a podium standing near the wall on the canyon-facing side of the tower. The unicorn’s hoofsteps echoed off the walls as he approached it. By the time he had crossed the room, he was surprised the sound of his heart beating wasn’t rebounding back at him, too. The podium itself didn’t help, either: it was covered in an array of buttons and dials, none of them labeled.
        After a few moments’ consideration, he gritted his teeth, reached out and touched one at random. Nothing happened. He touched another, and again, nothing happened. Tense as a spring, he pressed another and immediately jumped as he was surrounded by translucent images that floated in midair. Many seemed eerily familiar, and it took him a moment to realize why: they were frighteningly similar to the yearly Hearth’s Warming Eve plays. So similar in fact that the minor differences between the two were jarringly discordant.
        It took a moment for his mind to catch up to that observation. When it finally did, he started shaking: these were recordings of the actual events. A time before Equestria, a time before the princesses, a time that had faded into legend and he was watching it, in color, floating in the air in front of him. He recognized the characters from legend, he recognized the places. Oh, Celestia. It looks exactly the same. He turned and saw more recordings. He watched as a massive procession of ponies crossed a bridge over the canyon below. He watched as the first stones of what would become Canterlot were laid. He saw the arrival of the princesses. There was even one that could have been Luna’s banishment: the two princesses facing off in a massive ballroom, tossing magic back and forth like foals with snowballs.
        The entire history of ponykind was laid out before him in this room, recorded and kept for who knew how long. Somepony had collected all this, but why? That was the question he kept coming back to: What possible reason could there be for all this? For that matter, who could have the capability to do all this? He felt a chill run down his spine as some dark corner of his mind supplied the answer to the former question without his prompting. To what end? That thought ricocheted around his head in response as Wanderlust looked frantically over his shoulder, suddenly unable to shake the feeling of unseen, watching eyes.
        He reached out an unsteady hoof and pressed the button again, causing the images to vanish. Again alone, he took a few deep breaths and started experimenting again. Most of the buttons did nothing, but he found one that made the walls opaque and another that turned off the lights in the room. Finally he found the correct button and so quickly that he actually blinked and missed it, there was a bridge spanning the canyon.
He stood and stared at it for a moment. The bridge seemed to be made of cut stone, the kind of construction that could weather eons. In fact, it looked like it had always been there. The fact that he knew it hadn’t existed as recently as a few seconds before made that illusion of permanence almost terrifying.
He was still shaking as he descended the tower, but by the time he reached the princess he had mostly regained his composure. “Princess,” The unicorn asked, his voice cracking slightly, “did you know what I would find in there?”
“Yes.” The mare replied simply. 
“Somepony was watching us, princess. Why would they do that?” It took a moment for his mind to catch up to the more important question. “Who would do that? Who even could? Princess, those recordings must have been thousands of years old but it was almost like being there. If you knew what I’d find, you must know who’s behind all this.”
“I only have suspicions.”
“Suspicions?”
“I cannot say anything more.”
“Do you know what this reminds me of? Scientists observing an experiment; watching and recording results. I have a right to know if there’s somepony meddling in my life. Why can’t you tell me?” Wanderlust asked, the panic starting to creep back into his mind. He could almost feel the unseen eyes upon him. 
“Because I have been ordered not to.” Luna said quietly.
That brought Wanderlust up short. “Ordered? Who could order you to do anything?”
“That is something else I am unable to discuss.” There was a brief silence as Wanderlust tried to figure out how to reply. Before he could stop his head spinning long enough to come up with something coherent, Luna spoke again. “We should be off. There is still much ground to cover.”
Wanderlust stared for a few seconds as she started across the bridge before trotting after her, struggling to keep pace with the princess’s longer stride. “Princess, I’m in over my head here. I have no idea what I’m stepping into.” He was trying to stay as calm and reasonable as possible while still talking over the sound of their hooves striking the stone. “I know you warned me, but isn’t there anything more you can tell me? Anything at all?” She didn’t respond.
By this time Wanderlust had caught up to her and was struggling to keep pace so he could look her in the eye. “Don’t I deserve to know why I’m going to all this trouble?” Still no response. “I’ve broken our society’s highest law, princess.” She stopped dead in her tracks and the unicorn nearly tripped matching her movement as he continued speaking. “I don’t know how many lives I took that night, but I’m not sure I can ever live it down.” He took a deep breath. “Almost everything can be forgiven, but not murder.”
There were a few long seconds where the only sound was the wind whistling through the canyon. “There is a clear difference between self defence and murder, Wanderlust.” The princess replied softly without meeting his gaze.
“By whose reckoning?” This had been eating at him for a week, and he couldn’t keep quiet anymore. “Please, princess. At least tell me why I’m doing this. Tell me it’s all worth it.”
“It is worth the hardship. I am unable to say more than that.” Wanderlust stared into her eyes, desperate for answers. All he saw was pity. With a sigh, the unicorn hung his head and slowly started across the bridge, the princess of the night keeping pace beside.

*

Daylight was dying several days later as the pair trudged through snow. Wanderlust’s spirits had been low since the bridge and the dreary weather wasn’t helping. The clear skies that had followed them through the forest had given way to unbroken gray clouds as they trudged through foothills, drawing ever closer to the looming mountains beyond.        With the clouds had come colder weather and eventually, snow.
For now, the chill was nothing more than a minor discomfort but if the trend continued it would quickly become cause for concern. “Princess, how much farther are we going?”
“Our destination is only a few days away.” She responded tiredly. The rough terrain made for slow, exhausting progress. Wanderlust felt like he had to keep the conversation going lest he fall asleep mid-stride.
“Is this the path that the original migration to Equestria followed?” He asked, remembering the recordings he’d seen.
“Close. The ancestral home of the pony tribes is somewhere in the mountains ahead of us. I forget exactly where.”
“Why is the weather still like this? I thought that the wendigos left ages ago.”
“That is just a myth.” Wanderlust’s ears perked up. Something informative for once? “The standard weather patterns in this region were damaged by-” She stopped mid-sentence and went completely rigid, as if she had been hit with an electrical shock.
“Are you alright?” Wanderlust asked, suddenly confused.
The princess sucked in a deep breath through clenched teeth before responding. “Yes. Just give me a moment.” She composed herself quickly and looked at the sky, obviously contemplating something intensely.
“What was that?”
“Nothing that concerns you.” Luna responded coldly. After a few more seconds she sighed. “We should stop for the night. Start setting up camp.”

*

Wanderlust bolted upright in the middle of the night. The fabric of his tent was snapping in the wind. For a few brief seconds he wondered if he’d imagined it. Then he heard it again, over the wind: a cry, unmistakably that of a pony, echoed through the hills. The unicorn flew from his sleeping bag and blindly groped for his pack. “Princess!” He called through the tent; it was much too small for the taller pony to fit in, so she had made do sleeping in the open. He was rewarded with a quiet rustling sound.
“What is it, Wanderlust?” She replied groggily.
“Somepony out there is in trouble.” He barked as he finally found one of his torches.
“And what do you suggest we do?” Luna asked.
        “We need to help them.” Wanderlust said as he bounded frantically from the tent and into a blinding snowstorm. He couldn’t see anything past the tip of his nose besides the last dying embers of their fire.
        “You cannot even see and you are going to try to assist a complete stranger?” Another cry broke the night as the torch finally caught, illuminating their small camp. Luna was staring at him sternly from the far side of the fire.
        “We can’t just leave them!” He objected, trying to place where the sounds were coming from.
        “This is not the time to throw your life away in some pointless attempt at atonement, Wanderlust.” The unicorn glared at her. “There is too much at stake.”
        Another shout reached his ears, and he thought he finally had the direction. Ignoring Luna, he grabbed his spear and with his torch held high, galloped away over the hills. He lost track of distance as he traversed the featureless night, navigating by sound alone and trusting his reflexes to save him from the perilous terrain.
        Just as he was beginning to fear that the strange acoustics of the foothills had led him in the wrong direction, he crested a hill into a blaze of firelight. Below him was a massive bonfire, and arrayed around it was carnage. Overturned wagons and shredded tents were tossed about like the playthings of a bored foal. There were a dozen ponies lying in the snow, unmoving. At the far end, beyond the fire, Wanderlust could just barely make out a blue earth pony hiding behind a pile of debris. For some reason he didn’t immediately register what the other pony was hiding from.
        His eyes locked onto it just as it moved. The body of a lion, the wings of a bat, the tail of a scorpion: manticore. It was prowling slowly towards its prey, carefully picking its way through the debris. Wanderlust gulped; the beast had to be at least twice his height and probably outweighed him by even more. All he had to use against it was a laughably flimsy spear. Still, his eyes flicked to the other pony, still cowering behind an overturned wagon. I can’t just leave him there to die. With that decision made, Wanderlust charged down the hill, a war cry issuing from his throat the likes of which he hadn’t thought he was capable of producing.
        The noise had its desired effect: the manticore turned to face the new threat, forgetting its previous prey. That was the point where Wanderlust stopped short. He had its full, undivided attention. Oh, Celestia. Now what? In all the excitement, it had never occurred to him to plan any further. He was still frozen as the manticore started stalking towards him, its body pressed low to the ground and its tail twitching in anticipation.
        Animals are afraid of fire, right? It was a rather shaky plan, but it was all he had time for. He swung the torch in an arc in front of the advancing manticore, and was grateful beyond words to see its advance slow. He still didn’t have an endgame, though. The creature started its advance again, and Wanderlust stopped it with another thrust of the torch.
        Wanderlust tried to come up with a way out as he warily watched the manticore and it warily examined the flame in front of it. Maybe if I can hit it in the ey- Halfway through that thought the manticore batted aside the torch and lunged forward. The unicorn rolled to the side and felt the beast’s claws part the air inches from his head. He rolled back to his hooves about the same time the manticore rounded again.
        The two faced each other for a few seconds and Wanderlust started to sweat as the manticore pawed the ground. Gritting his teeth, the pony waited for the creature to charge, and it didn’t disappoint. With a roar that froze the unicorn’s blood, his assailant sprang forward. A heartbeat later, the pony threw his spear. The magically-guided projectile flew almost as the unicorn had planned, hitting a glancing blow to the creature’s right eye. As it roared in rage and pain, Wanderlust sprinted out of the way, trying to get to cover among the debris.
        Seconds later, he could hear snarling and heavy footfalls on his heels; it was closing. As he dove around a corner, the manticore came close enough to strike him. The claws didn’t connect, but its paw struck the unicorn’s back, sending him sprawling. He rolled onto his back and tried to get onto his hooves, but the manticore was already on top of him. He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath as he saw the stinger descend, tensing for a blow that never came.
        After a few seconds, he cautiously eased his eyes open. The manticore was gone. Wanderlust rose to his hooves and looked around. The area around him was empty save the bonfire: the wagons and bodies were gone and the snow was perfectly smooth except for the impressions of his own hoofsteps. Turning, he could see Luna and the strange blue pony standing together on the far side of the fire. He slowly approached them, still trying to come to grips with the fact that he wasn’t about to die.
        “What exactly was that?” He asked when he was finally close enough.
        “An illusion. The final test.” Luna said simply.
        “I couldn’t kill it. Does that mean I failed?” To come all this way, just to turn around and go back. That thought suddenly terrified him.
        “I would not expect you to kill something as dangerous as a manticore with only a sharpened stick, Wanderlust.” She seemed almost sympathetic suddenly. Is it because I’ve passed the tests, or because something worse is coming? “I can provide the tools. I just needed to know that you will not be afraid to make use of them.”
        “Who is he?” The unicorn asked with a nod towards the silent blue earth pony.
        “My name is Allegro.” The newcomer said in response. He had a deep, sonorous voice. Wanderlust couldn’t help but imagine him singing in one of Canterlot’s choirs. “I failed the tests, but the princess believed that I could still be of service.”
        “He is to serve as your conscience, for lack of a better term. The things you may be forced to do will not be easy, they will not be pleasant, and they are not things you should grow to enjoy. Strong ponies have succumbed in the past, myself included. It took a thousand years of solitude to cleanse me of my sins. ” Her eyes lost focus momentarily as she remembered. “You cannot afford to follow that path: the stakes are too high and we have far too little time.”
        “It’s going to be that bad?” Wanderlust asked, suddenly more uneasy than ever.
        “Yes.” At least she isn’t sugar-coating it.
        “Can you finally tell me what all this is about?”
        “Yes. I would prefer to do more, but our deadline is uncertain, and time is the one thing we do not possess. First, however, there is something I need to show you.” Luna took a step closer to the unicorn and stared into his eyes as Allegro moved to his side and rested a hoof on his shoulder to steady him.  “This will come as a shock, no matter what we do to assist. Try to remember to stay calm and take deep breaths. Just remember that you are not in any danger.”
        “What exactly are you going to do?” Wanderlust asked with a catch in his voice as the princess’ eyes started to glow.
        Her voice had an airy, ethereal quality when she replied. “I am going to pull the wool away from your eyes.” The instant she stopped speaking, she erupted into an inferno of blinding light. Flames brighter than the sun enveloped the princess and the frightened unicorn, giving off no heat but burning his eyes. They teared up and he desperately tried to look away but he couldn’t tear his gaze from the princess’ eyes.
        The light seemed to bore into his skull, burning its way deeper and deeper. Just when he thought that there was no way he could take any more, the pain ceased instantly, as if somepony had thrown a switch. An instant later, the flames receded from Wanderlust and coalesced around the princess before bursting towards the sky and driving away the clouds.
        Wanderlust blinked several times, clearing the spots from his eyes. He didn’t feel any different. His eyes strayed to the towering mountains behind Luna, then were drawn higher, and higher, and higher still as his jaw went slack. Then as the reality of what he was seeing struck him fully, his eyes rolled and the world went black.