//------------------------------//
// Chapter Twenty-Four 
// Story: A Journey Unthought Of 
// by Hustlin Tom 
//------------------------------//

The trek to the mounds took longer than we anticipated, but we found ourselves in the darker regions of the Everfree Forest soon enough.  The place Rainbow Dash had been referring to was known on geographical charts as the “Tumulus of the Kings”, while the local ponies called the place by a different name: “Spectre Howe”.  It actually didn’t look all that different from any other set of hills you could find just about anywhere: geologically speaking it was pretty commonplace.  There was one thing that was fundamentally different: the silence.  Dead, utter silence.  

As Rainbow and I came near the site, that is what we noticed.  No birds chirping, no rustling of the wind, not even twigs seemed to make sound as they snapped beneath us and the spongy soil.  “I guess everyone was right about one thing,” I commented. 

“What’s that?” Rainbow Dash asked as she looked up to me.  

“This place is eerie.  No noise whatsoever.  I’m almost inclined to think it’s either out of respect, or fear.”  

A little shiver traveled the length of Rainbow’s spine and her wings shook a little.  “It’s scaring me just talking about it.”  

“A little fear in life is alright.  It can keep you alive sometimes.”  

Then, things changed.  Something shifted; something primeval.  I could feel this buzzing in the back of my head that just screamed something absolutely important had just occurred.  “Do you feel it?”  I said.  “Something’s different.”  

Rainbow Dash looked at me with one eye cocked.  “Um, no.  Just us standing here, looking at some old hills.”  

“No.  These aren’t just hills.  They are so much more.  They were meant to be places of life, but now only hold the memories of the dead.”  I stopped myself.  “How do I know that?”  

Rainbow stood by me with resolution in her eyes.  “I’ll do whatever you’re going to do.  What’s the plan?”  

“I’ll let you know when I know.”  I knew I was waiting for something, just not what.  Seconds, then minutes slipped away.  We were both getting very impatient, Rainbow for me to do something, and me for..whatever the hell it was we were waiting for!  

There!  It was there!  A light floating amongst the mounds.  It was fluorescent green, shimmering and moving slowly.  I’m not the sort to believe in ghosts or spirits, but I know a Will-o-the-Wisp when I see one!  “Now!”  I ran after it, and Rainbow Dash was behind me with no trepidation in her step.  The Ether seemed to notice us somehow, and it flew away, outpacing us both.  “I don’t know why, but we need to see where that flame goes, at any cost!” 

“Right!”  Rainbow bolted into the sky, leaving a technicolor afterimage behind her.  The Wisp bolted to the right past a large rocky spire; I tore after it.  I might have lost it if it were not for Rainbow Dash above.  

The Wisp slowed, and then finally stopped at what seemed to be the largest mound in the whole of the labyrinth of graves.  As I came within twenty feet of it, it began to grow.  I slowed to a halt, and Rainbow looked on from above.  “What in the name of Celestia?”  The ether had coalesced into the floating form of a woman.  A human woman.  With its arms raised, it looked at me, not with eyes of hate as I had expected for a spirit, but with a kindly smile.  

“Who are you?”  No reply was offered.  She began to float backward, arms still raised.  Her form floated near to one side of the large barrow, and pointed.