Journey to the center of Equestria

by Rarity Belle

Chapter XXIII

The sun was rising itself up from the horizon once again. The moon traveled down and behind the hills to make place for the warm and pleasant day that laid ahead. Yet somewhere in the castle of Canterlot was one soothsayer still working vividly. A soothsayer who almost hadn’t had any sleep in that particular night.

That soothsayer was nopony else then Twilight Sparkle. In her absence had she gotten a lot more information about the tremors and where they hit the land. Each fact was placed on her map and in her mind, resulting in a terrible conclusion. “It’s random, every place it hits is just, random,” said Twilight to herself while she stood bend over the map.

Her eyes peeked from left to right, top and bottom. She tried to make sense on the matter. While it was true that most of the earthquakes followed the fault lines –a theory she came up a long time before– yet none of them actually followed up one another. The matter was confusing Twilight a whole lot more than she originally had thought.

Not to forget the sphere of magma or the slowly going supernova star that was hidden somewhere deep in the very soils of Equestria itself. All the information became a little too much for the mare. Her body moved over to a chair and dropped itself within it. All of the thoughts that were racing through her couldn’t be stopped. Not until she had gotten any kind of actual confirmation, which also meant she wouldn’t be getting any sleep.

The sun travelled further over the skies and ringed in the morning for all the anthronies in the land. Its light managed to pierce through the windows of Twilight’s room and teased her once again. As much as the unicorn wanted to close her the curtains, she couldn’t. She wasn’t allowing herself to.

“I wasted too much time that I could have been sleeping, doing all of this catching up,” she muttered to herself in an annoyed tone. With one graceful motion had she left the chair again. Most of her bones were snapped back in their respectable places while a sigh came from her nostrils. The time was there to look for the one stallion she always looked forward to meet, her very own brother.

Although that time could things have been a little bit more sketchy as it would be their last meeting. Until she had either returned, or fallen. The thought laid of course heavily on her mind as well. Though she didn’t have the time to think much about it. It loomed though. It loomed to her in the back of her head, hidden in plain sight.

Twilight shook her head a couple of times as she regulated her breath. One of her hands coated itself in the raspberry clue aura before a gentle exchange of magic was given off. A small spark of magic just left her body. Almost as if it was venting itself for something. Afterwards there was actually a gentle sigh of relief that was released by the mare.

Shortly thereafter she prepared herself for the day. Her attire was pretty much the same as when she left, minus the coat around her body. Then she finally left everything as it was. Twilight finally left her room in order to find her older brother. She needed to tell him a couple of things and share the stories of the past few days before they would be separated again.

Separated for a time longer than either of them could remember.

The soothsayer walked with a calm pace through the halls of the castle with her head almost seemingly into the clouds. Thoughts raced up and down as her hands were placed behind her back. She looked like calm itself, but in fact she was the very eye of the storm. Even though her pacing seemed relaxed, everyone who looked her in the eyes could see the sheer amount of stress and responsibility she had.

Even the three students noticed that little fact. Twilight passed Wishful Star, Sky Comet and Dolicho on her way. All three of them saw the stress in her eyes. They only had one thing upon their minds. Yet it was the mare who opened her mouth as she set in the chase. “Miss Sparkle, miss Sparkle wait up, please!” Wishful Star almost yelled out to the soothsayer.

For the first time since she had left her room, had the unicorn returned to earth. She slowed her pacing down and turned herself around to watch over the mare and stallions coming towards her. One of her eyebrows rose itself up in a curious manner as she thought just what they wanted from her.

“Milady Star, master Comet and master Dolicho, how can I be of service for you today?” Twilight then asked them with a polite tone. The three students managed to catch up with her and together they began to wander through the castle.

Star was once again the first to open her mouth against the teacher. Though the words that she spoke were coming out in a rather concerned tone. “Have you, been feeling yourself lately? You have been absent for days and the guards wouldn’t tell any of us where you had gone to.”

The unicorn herself allowed a gentle chuckle to be released as she shook her head lightly. “I have been traveling actually. A series of urgent matters have come to my attention, I’m afraid. Though I’m also afraid I will be leaving soon enough once again. Hopefully for the last time.” All three of the students looked at one another with a confused gaze before the zebra stepped up his pace.

“If I may be so rude, what kind of travel have you been undertaken?” Dolicho asked in a polite tone that was just filled with nothing else but curiosity. Something which Twilight could respect yet in the moment also found a little bit annoying.

"Travels that are perhaps best left untold for ears that have nothing to do with them, master Dolicho. And before you start, Sky, yes I’m still feeling fine. It’s just, I have to do this with a couple of others. Don’t you worry about me and listen well to your substitute teacher. Might learn a thing or two from him or her,” returned Twilight to them before she made her excuses to them. Then she was just gone. Gone like the wind out of their views, to look once again for her brother.

Sky Comet looked over to the other two before he shook his head from side to side. “She’s getting stranger by the day, none of you noticed that?” he then spoke up. While it was true that the other two had to agree with him, they never openly said that.

“Come on,” the mare said as she gained a smile. “We still have work to do ourselves.”

“Our project?” Dolicho then added into the mix as a strange grin formed itself on his lips.

“Our project.”

“…Not again,” added Sky quickly afterwards.

~~~~

In the meantime had Twilight taken a shortcut down to the courtyard of the castle. With the fact known to her that Shining Armor wasn’t in his office, there was only one other possible place where he would be. She knew her brother too well to look anywhere else as her ears caught the huffs and puffs on the fields.

Almost like a foal did she allow herself to slide down the railing of the last stairs before hitting ground level. With one quick jump had she landed almost perfectly back on her hooves and she continued on her path like nothing happened. There was a silly smile formed by her lips when she left the stone structure of the castle and wandered into the light of day from the courtyard.

There she saw it all happening, the intense training that was given off by nopony else then her brother. The students were in for a massive grind but that was his way training. He would drive them to near physical and mental exhaustion before remolding them into actual guards. The times of war were perhaps over, yet they would still be trained as if they were in their high days. It was better to be overly prepared than under, in the eyes of the guards.

“Shining!” Twilight yelled up to him. The armored stallion almost immediately turned himself around. In his eyes he caught the mulberry unicorn anthrony that was his own little sister. A smile that went from almost ear to ear came to his face. All of his students were waved off for the moment so that he could focus himself upon her.

“Twily!” he spoke to her, knowing were alone. The mare ran further up to him before she gave him a big and tight hug. A hug that was actually returned by him before he ruffled through her hair. “Oh Twily, words can’t express how happy I am to see you safe. I assume you got done what needed to be done?”

Despite being pushed against his chest could the unicorn mare still give a nod to confirm the words. “Yeah, it, it wasn’t something that seemed to be easy, but both me and Applejack managed to do it. Hey, you mind just walking around a little bit?”

“Hmhmhm, no problem sis,” he replied before gently breaking the hug.

A short period of time later could the two of them be found wandering through the city of Canterlot itself. The sheer amount of amazing looking buildings was enough to mesmerize them, yet it were the words of Twilight that caught him even more by surprise. She told pretty much the whole story between her, Applejack and Rarity.

Only once she was done did Shining have the words to reply against it. “I have heard of her, both before she became a pirate and after. She’s a tough nut to crack and utterly unpredictable. Yet you managed to get her to join your quest?”

“Not me, Applejack managed to do it that time,” the soothsayer corrected him. She then smiled faintly. Of course she hadn’t mentioned the little fact that she was held as a hostage or that the two had come to a terrible truce. Certain bits were indeed just best left unknown for the stallion. Which was actually the way Twilight liked it.

“Goodness great, that’s something indeed. Heh, well, at least everything came down the way it was supposed to be, right?” Shining then asked with a chuckle of his own. To which Twilight could only nod in response.

They continued to walk through the ancient capital city as they saw marvelous building after building. Sometimes they even forgot just how beautiful the world literally next doors could have been due to the castle’s nature. Yet they both had fallen silent as they knew what would be coming next. It was something that neither of them actually wanted to admit, but time wasn’t truly all too kind to them in that case.

Silence took over for a bit of time as they both just wandered around the streets of the city, both sunken deeply in thought about things and events to come. Yet one matter, still kept on struggling inside of the unicorn’s very mind.

"Hey Shining, can I ask you something?” Twilight asked out of the blue. The question was something that broke her brother out of his own thoughts. He blinked a couple of times with his eyes before they were focused on her.

“You can ask me anything you need,” he replied to her in almost a monotone voice. A voice that caused the shivers to go down her spine yet she knew he didn’t mean it that way.

“The caverns of Equestria run deep right? The deepest systems must have an entrance somewhere, right?” Twilight asked him with a set of curious looking eyes. Shining looked back into those violet rims. He felt the need to answer those very questions. The only problem actually happened to be that not even he knew just where the entrances laid.

Despite her brother being a captain of the guards themselves, he wasn’t that much of a geological wonder. Not many of the soldiers could claim were though. So the questions made him groan a little bit as he dug through his mind.

To add even more pressure to the events had Twilight spoken words that would only make the matter more difficult for him. “I know that there are beings down there, or have been there, in the deepest and darkest parts of Equestria. Beings unspoken off outside of legends, so there must a way in or out. The question is where?”

“Heh, that’s indeed the question, where?” Shining Armor replied to her as he rubbed his forehead. As much as he wanted to actually give his sister an answer, he couldn’t. He didn’t know where the entrance of such a place could have been, or where it possibly could have been placed. “There’s a reason why the creatures of legends want to be unfound Twilight, that’s why they don’t make it obvious to outsiders. Don’t meddle yourself in things you have no knowledge from.”

The answer that she got wasn’t something the unicorn liked, in fact she hated it. “Well excuse me mister, but I have been meddling in that kind of business ever since I became a soothsayer,” she returned in a raised voice. One that almost spoke of anger as it was followed up with a growl that almost seemed to have come out of her soul.

“Let’s not fight, not today please,” begged Shining then. It was the last thing they needed and he wrapped an arm over his sister’s shoulders. The mare was brought closer to him and eventually she took refuge against his chest.

“Fine,” she whispered up softly. “But, you have any idea as of where?” The question had returned once again, much to Shining’s despise. He didn’t wanted his sister to go to such places as it meant he couldn’t protect her. Then again, with the company that she had with her. The unicorn seemed to be in good hands. Not to mention the fact that she could adapt herself quickly to the situation if it was needed.

The mind of Shining Armor continued to pound itself even further with the questioning of where the entrances of the caverns could be found. Yet in his mind there was nothing that could possibly have even guided his sister into the right direction. All, but one lead.

“Well,” he started as Twilight’s eyes looked up to him with the hope clearly visible within them.

The stallion gathered all of his courage together as he couldn’t even believe the words that he would say to her. A deep exhale was released by him as he pulled the mare a little bit closer against him. He then began to stroke over the shoulder of the mare as he said his thoughts. “I think I may know somepony who actually knows where to find the entrances of the places you are looking for. But the only problem is that she’s a long way away from here.”

“She?” Twilight repeated to him with a confused tone and gaze. “Who do you mean, Shining?” Yet when the mare looked up to her brother’s eyes, she could see the faint red blush that was going across his cheeks. That alone was perhaps more than enough for the soothsayer to know exactly who he meant. She wouldn’t take the glory of saying though. She wanted to hear it coming right out of his own mouth.

Shining Armor couldn’t help himself but to release an awkward chuckle as he said the conformation to Twilight’s train of thoughts. “Mi Amore Cadenza, soothsayer Cadence might be knowing exactly where you need to be looking.”

There wasn’t even a shimmer of surprise on Twilight’s face as she knew exactly who Cadence happened to be. For she was the one anthrony on which her brother always had an eye on also happened to be her foalsitter and eventually moved to the icy regions of the Frozen North for some reason. The three of them never had been able to say their goodbyes to each other and never actually found or made contact again. Something that was about to change pretty soon.

“Great, so I can sniff her out again. At least it’s going to be a warm return, before you ask, yes. I shall send her your regards and question of visiting,” said Twilight said to her brother. The snuggles against his chest became a bit more intense.

The stallion chuckled up softly before he shook his head calmly from side to side. “You know me too well, now don’t you, Twily?”

“After all these years? Would be a crime if I didn’t and you know that little fact.”

Shining released another chuckle before he finally let his sister go from his hold. “Hey, I know this is going to be our last goodbye for a long time to come, but can you do me one more favor?”

The words confused Twilight a little bit as she didn’t have a clue what he could have actually meant with it. There were so many favors in the world that he could be asking from her at that point. Yet it would become one she really wasn’t looking forward too. One that needed to be done though, not for her nor her brother’s sake though. But for two of the most important anthronies in her life.

“Visit mom and dad before you go, they might be worrying themselves to death right now,” said Shining with a concerned tone. He meant his words well for sure but Twilight wasn’t certain if she could keep them. The relation between her and her parents wasn’t truly something too stable to say the least.

“I, I’m not going to make promises on that one, Shining, but I shall try my best,” replied Twilight before she began to get worried. Ever since they began talking again, she hadn’t really been paying attention to the road that they wandered. A little something that paid itself back almost tenfold. For the way they had been wandering was the one that was leading right down to the house of her parents.

Shining Armor was sneaky in that regard. He could just do such things and get away with them as if they hadn’t happened. Not that Twilight could blame for it though. Her parents were still oblivious to the fact that she would be making the journey ahead. A gulp was released by the mare as she then nodded calmly. “I see where this is going, well, might as well just knock right now. Can’t outrun my own demons forever.”

“I still can’t understand why you can’t find it so well with mom and dad anymore,” her brother returned with a genuine curiosity to his voice. Even though it was a terrible touchy subject, he wanted to know how the ropes were laid out.

Twilight allowed a deep sigh to be released from her nostrils as she came to a standstill. Her brother then followed suit and looked over her. “It’s, it’s just, well, you became the captain of the guards like that, I’m just a teacher when you think about it. A powerful one at that, but I don’t have much of a title to speak of. I think, that’s why they are almost disappointed in me for whatever reason. I might just be crazy here, but that’s what I feel every single time I look either of them in the eyes.”

The words were a hard thing for Shining to hear, let alone understand as a whole. Yet he did get the direction that she came from. The guards and the army were things that were always praised highly throughout Equestria and their family was no exception of it. “You aren’t disappointing them in any way, Twily, you just haven’t found your comfort zone yet when it comes to soothsaying.”

“Don’t you say that to me!” the mare suddenly snarled up to him. A step or two closer to him were made by her. The fires within her eyes were clearly visible as the stallion almost wanted to back her off. With both his hands raised and the magic swirling around his horn, he was ready for anything that she could be throwing at him.

“Don’t you ever say that I haven’t found my comfort zone! If I hadn’t, why would they have given me this quest then?! I don’t think they want me to go out of my comfort zone, just to find my actual one, Shining!” continued Twilight to snarl up to her brother. Only to turn herself around shortly afterwards and a soft sob was given off.

He had done it. He had managed to make his own sister cry there and then. At one end he could just smash his head against a wall whereas the other wanted to help her. Luckily were the urges to help her bigger than the ones to bash his brains out. The magic around his horn discharged itself and his hand was placed upon her shoulder.

With a deep sigh that left through his nostrils he spoke the words that were on his mind. “Okay, maybe I was wrong saying that and, I feel sorry for that Twilight. It’s just, I can’t place myself in your shoes as, well, how do I say this..?”

“We’re completely different, like the day and night?” the unicorn mare mumbled. The tears were wiped away from her cheeks. Her voice was weak and trembling a bit, though she never turned herself around. Shining Armor could only give a nod towards the answer he got from her. He wanted to speak more words on the matter yet his thoughts left him in the dark when it came down to it.

“We,” he then started softly, “we are indeed day and night. We differ so much, yet have so much in common as well. Basically, what I’m trying to say is, stay safe out there, Twily.”

Finally was the high word out of his mouth and the stallion thought he could finally be breathing normally again. The only little problem was that Twilight didn’t took the matter all too lightly to herself. In her eyes she still was the disappointment of the family. Yet she did turn herself around to give her brother one last and massive hug.

Shining Armor almost instantly returned the hug to his younger sister and held her perhaps even closer to himself instead of the other way around. One last sniffle was being released by the mare before her eyes were closed upon themselves.

“Alright, I’ll go and pay them a visit,” she then almost whispered up to him. Whether he would have liked it or not, Shining Armor had actually managed to get his sister crazy enough to fight against perhaps the greatest demons that she had. The demons that were their own parents.

~~~~

After a little while was Twilight sitting in the house of her parents. With both her mother and father present, the initial meeting wasn’t something that she could truly reflect back upon. Everything almost happened in an actual instant. She remembered that her mother greeted her happily before she was being dragged in, her father on the other end hadn’t even moved an inch from his chair.

It was that little fact that was nerve wrecking for her. The fact that her father hadn’t moved an inch since she arrived. That was the whole origin of her thinking that she wasn’t appreciated that much by her own family. That was the very origin of where her demons came from.

Yet it was the stallion who then looked his daughter deep in the eyes and couldn’t help but to smile. “Twilight, Twilight, Twilight,” he started to her. The smile remained standing where it was. “How long has it been since you have last been here, my daughter?”

“A-About two, two and a half, y-years?” Twilight hesitantly returned to him. She allowed a gulp to leave her throat. She was terrified for some reason, terrified for her own father. Though the saving grace was her mother who came in with three mugs of steaming tea. Each of them got a mug before the mare herself then settled in next to Twilight.

Once again was there an arm that went over her shoulders and Twilight was pulled in just a little bit closer. It felt comfortable for her to say the least. Yet her heart still managed to travel faster and faster. None of them wanted to speak a word as they were afraid it would be the wrong ones, at least that was the explanation that Twilight gave herself.

Though the silence didn’t stay that way for long. It was her father who opened his mouth about the matter that laid ahead. “Two and a half years, and here comes Shining barging in, telling us you’re leaving on some sort of grand adventure. That what you have been cooking up?” His tone was calm and normal but Twilight took it up as threatening.

There wasn’t any escape either. She just had to confess her journey to her parents. The thing that she had planned needed to be told to the both of them. Not a single instance had to be left out of the equation for them though. Where Shining only got bits and pieces, her parents needed to get to know everything.

Which was exactly what she told them. Words of her quest were told in every possible way as her parents remained silent. They just listened to the tales that their daughter had to tell them. Neither of them wanted to even interrupt her as the stories were that beautiful. How time can change one unicorn so much in such a short period of time, was perhaps the highlight of it all.

Though the location of where she needed to be going was something that worried them both greatly. Yet the more Twilight told them about her journey, the more she felt relieved. For they never judged anything, instead they accepted it. To her it felt like they actually accepted her once again.

~~~~

Hours had gone by before the mulberry unicorn was wandering through Canterlot again. The sun had made room for the moon. She went over the conversations she and her parents had. For two and a half years had she been evading them for whatever reason. A reason that wasn’t even there in first place when it came down to the core.

Something for which Twilight was actually a lot more thankful than anything else in the moment. As she was wandering through the city had her mind collected everything that she needed to know and be doing. Resulting in her coming to the conclusion that she finally had an actual heading to go to.

She had a heading without even having told any other member of the company. They knew exactly where they had to be going as soon as possible. Though the location was perhaps something they never would have guessed. For it were the freezing tops of the Frozen North itself. To others was it simply known as: the fridge of the world.

Truth had to be told, not even Twilight was actually looking forward to going up there. But she was forced to do so if she wanted to see Cadence once more. It had been years since the two of them had even laid the foundations of contact with one another. Their deeds were sadly the things that prevented them from talking more often and as time passed, contact vanished.

“How tough is it going to be to find her in the snow and ice of those plains?” the mare questioned to herself as she was wandering into the direction of a luxurious hotel. Thoughts raced and pounded her mind as she came closer and closer to her destination. It was a great question though. One that was a bit more important than anything else in the moment.

“Last time I spoke her, she said something about the Ever Freezing Canyon, but that’s almost near the foot of the Chilly Mountains. No way she could have stayed there for so long. No, my best guess would be the Icy Plains themselves. Miles of stretching and barren wasteland,” the unicorn mumbled to herself. She pictured the scenes already in her head.

Twilight was so sunken in her thoughts and mumbling to herself that she almost waltzed right against the glass door of the hotel. With the lights of the reception entering her eyes like rays of sunlight was the mare brought back to earth. Just mere inches was her nose away from the glass as she pushed the door open before she entered the hotel.

In her eyes she got to see a marvelous looking hallway that eventually led her to a grand auditorium where the restaurant was and a band played classical tunes for the few remaining guests. The unicorn gently walked over towards the restaurant and gave her eyes the time to see whether or not she saw anypony that she might be knowing.

Twilight always hated it if she came across familiar faces on grounds that were shared like restaurants. It was something that she just found uncomfortable and unpleasant. One could have said that Twilight was the type of anthrony who best worked on her own and one would be right on the matter.

Her eyes didn’t saw anyone that she knew, which also gave her a great worry. For that very hotel was actually the rendezvous point for all the other company members to get together. “Oh don’t tell me they actually started a witch hunt, right?” Twilight muttered to herself before she quickly hurried back to the reception.

“Can I help you miss?” the clerk behind it asked her with a small smile. Twilight could tell that the smile was fake and just set up to comfort her as she stood panting before the desk.

“Four anthronies should have checked in under the same name, Sparkle. You know if they did and if so, where they are now?” Twilight said to the clerk who immediately got to work.

Seconds went by as the frustration of the soothsayer became only greater. Until finally she had gotten the answer out of the clerk. They were all present and sitting in the lounge behind the bar. One of the few places that the unicorn hadn’t inspected yet. Twilight thanked the clerk for the work before she rushed over to the place like a lightning bolt.

One turn to the right and one to the left later she finally stood in the door opening of the private lounge. Within her eyes she caught a sight that perhaps wasn’t something that would happen for years to come. For all across the room they sat, four anthronies sharing drinks together.

Or at least three of them. For Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were all sitting on one side of the place. Whereas a masked figure had assumed a rather lady like pose upon one of the chairs and was levitating a glass in a blue aura.

A massive sigh of relief was released by Twilight as a weight fell off of her shoulders. What followed was that Applejack finally noticed her and gestured her to come in further. “We’ve been waiting on ya.”

Comments

[Misty Spell]

Even though her pacing seemed relaxed, everyone who looked her in the eyes could see the sheer amount of stress and responsibility she had.

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Despite her brother being a captain of the guards themselves, he wasn’t that much of a geological wonder.

This confuses me. The 'despite' in that sentence implies that being captain of the guards means he should be a geological wonder. Yet geology doesn't have anything to do with guarding a castle.

The mare was brought closer to him and eventually she took refuge against his chest.

“It’s, it’s just, well, you became the captain of the guards like that, I’m just a teacher when you think about it. A powerful one at that, but I don’t have much of a title to speak of. I think, that’s why they are almost disappointed in me for whatever reason. I might just be crazy here, but that’s what I feel every single time I look either of them in the eyes.”

Yeah, you're only the most powerful soothesayer in Canterlot

That what you have been cooking up?” His tone was calm and normal but Twilight took it up as threatening.

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