Exploring the Lost Cities

by Nekiyha

Heartspire Pt 3

“Why aren’t there any lights?” Spike asked suddenly, as the group left the empty public building and made for one of the residences, “There isn’t even any of the globes or anything.”

“Each household was likely supposed to light their own residences. That would be why they’re all walled off like they are. They probably enchanted a ‘sky’ to look like whatever they wanted it to. The central plazas were probably a communal effort, same with the library if nopony lived there.”

Spike nodded, then yawned, “Sorry. Long day.”

“Long month. It’s the traveling, it’s tiring.”

“I suppose so.”

“Our circadian rhythms are probably all messed up too. Because of the sudden switch to being nocturnal, and the fact we haven’t seen natural light in over a day.”

“So, we’ll explore here, then camp in the courtyard for the night?”

“Sounds good to me. Oh, look. The door is shut. Any bets on if it’ll fall of the hinges the second one of us touches the door?”

Twilight brought a hoof to the tip of her muzzle, Marjoram and Spike quickly copying the action. Kafir stared at them for a moment, before recognition sparked in his eyes.

“Oh for Faust’s sake! You’re really going to let that child’s game-”

“Don’t be a sore loser,” Marjoram smirked, “C’mon. You were last. Go open the door.”

Kafir grasped the metal handle gently with his teeth, and pulled. The door opened with an ominus creak and several pieces of the door fell off, but the door was intact. Kafir breathed a sigh or relief. He gestured grandiosely for the others to enter.

Marjoram stepped through the doorway first, bringing his globe of light with him. He entered a spacious entryway, with the remains of a bench, and other furniture scattered around. It was plain, but still elegant.

Marjoram was grateful to see no more doorways, noting that there weren’t even doorframes: simply spaces that would allow two average sized ponies clearance to walk side by side through them.

“Want to split up?”

“That sounds like a plan featured in some sort of b-rated horror movie.”

Spike rolled his eyes, “Fine. Down the hallway together, then?”

*_*_*_*_*_*_*

The group had made their way through the majority of the main house, and had found little more than rotting furniture. Spike was intrigued with the stone that had been used in the construction, while Marjoram took pictures of the stonework. After several hours of exploration, wherein they had found a ceramic plate, Marjoram had to call a halt. As much as he wanted to keep going the damp, humid air was making it difficult to exercise and breathe.

Kafir was a little unsure of himself as Marjoram slumped down onto the floor, breathing hard. Marjoram used his magic to retie his mane out his his face. Kafir paced at the edge of the light, full of jittery energy and had no outlet for his nerves.

Marjoram smiled weakly, his breathing sounding more horrible as the minutes stretched on. He looked to Twilight, clearly trying to keep himself calm, “Tea?”

Twilight’s face blanched, “I-I didn’t think to pack any. Sweet Celestia, I’ll go get some-”

“Calm,” Marjoram interrupted, “You panicking doesn’t...help.

Twilight stared at Marjoram, “How are you so calm?!-”

“Twilight...take Spike to...wagon. Bring tea. I’ll drink...then head to wagon-”

“I’ll carry you,” Kafir said, cutting Marjoram off, “No point taking unnecessary trips.”

Marjoram stared up at his older brother, clearly struggling to breathe. There was a pause, then a nod, “Okay...let’s go. Twilight...help me.”

Twilight gently lifted Marjoram off the ground, as the ball of light they were relying on flickered. Twilight cast a spell at the ball, and it remained firm. Satisfied the light would remain steady, she helped Marjoram get settled across Kafir’s back, after making Kafir take of a large portion of his armour. Twilight carried Kafir’s armour, and it was Kafir’s job to get Marjoram back to the camp in one piece.

Getting Marjoram back to came was more difficult than Twilight had assumed it would be. While Kafir was strong, Marjoram was tall with lanky limbs. This made it hard to keep Marjoram balanced correctly, which was only compounded by the fact that Marjoram continued to cough.

Once they made it back to camp, Twilight set about lighting a fire while Spike fetched some tea, water, and the pot. While the librarian and her assistant were busy. Kafir went about trying to get Marjoram off his back and onto a bedroll.

It took a lot of maneuvering, some sweat, and some choked laughter from Marjoram, but Marjoram was laid out on his bedroll, sipping quietly on a steaming mug of his tea.

Spike had dragged Twilight to the edge of the circle of light, pointing out the different types of stone in the blocks that made up the walls. Marjoram was watching them, a small smile gracing his features.

“Is it always like this?” Kafir asked suddenly, gesturing vaguely to Marjoram himself.

“My illness?” Marjoram clarified. After he received a nod, he continued, “Not always. Sometimes it’s like I’m drowning in cobwebs. It’s like they gum up in my lungs, and air can’t even get past them. Usually it’s just a persistent ache in my chest, and feeling like somepony is draining my energy over time,” Marjoram took a sip of his tea again, and Kafir waited unsure if Marjoram was done his explanation.

“I’m not hungry most of the time. That’s why I don’t eat much at meals, it’s a struggle to even choke down a few mouthfuls at a time. I get night sweats sometimes, though not often anymore…” Marjoram trailed off, his mouth pursed in thought, “Fevers, too. I’ve had respiratory failure a couple of times. I don’t recommend that; it’s not as fun as the medical dramas imply. The bacteria usually just chill out in my lungs, but sometimes the lesions break open. If the lesions hemorrhage, it can be really nasty.”

Kafir didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t expected Marjoram to be so frank with him.

Marjoram chuckled (at least that was what Kafir figured, Marjoram could have just been clearing his throat), “I’ve been to too many doctors to not be able to say what’s wrong with me concisely.”

“Fair enough,” Kafir ventured. He stared at the smooth, stone tiles for a moment, “What about Carnation? Did she?-”

“Suffer? Yes she did. More than my worst days by a long shot, especially near the end.”

Kafir’s ears flew backward and down, “I’m sorry.”

Marjoram’s golden eyes met Kafir’s brown ones, “I know. It doesn’t change the fact you abandoned us. We were what, barely turned seven? You were fourteen? Fifteen?”

Kafir nodded slowly, “I-I told myself I’d send bits to you two. That putting myself out there in the mercenary trade early would be good. It just never got around to happening, not even when I was in populated areas like Ponyville.”

“I figured that out for myself,” Marjoram returned dryly. There was an awkward pause, and Marjoram sighed, “She wasn’t lucid for the last few weeks, y’know. She kept asking for you, and mother and father. It was so weird, they had died when we were so young, and they were all she could think about.”

“Did...did she ask for you at all?”

“She didn’t have to. I was always there, even when she was still herself. I don’t think I left that room for almost two months.”

“The Princess let you?”

“She didn’t just let me. She tried to get me out all the time, with different tactics each time. When she tried, I’d just get so worked up I’d make myself worse, or wake Carnation up. Usually it was both. Shores tried too, for hours and hours. She’d try to get me to go into the hallway.”

“You were there when Carnation died, then?”

Marjoram nodded, squeezing his eyes shut, “Of course I was. I was there when her lungs finally gave out and the doctors couldn’t resuscitate her no matter what they did. I don’t...remember much after that. I’m told I went catatonic for a few months after that. It took everything at Celestia’s disposal to make sure I didn’t waste away into nothing of my own accord.”

Kafir was struck dumb, staring down at his younger brother and not knowing what to say.

Marjoram offered a wry smile, “I’ve come to realize it was better for her, in the end. She’d long since died, it was just her body following her soul. I just wish I’d known that at the time, I would have coped better.”

Kafir sat down, “Did she get the chance to join the guard?”

“No. Celestia made her an honorary guard posthumously though. A couple more months, and she’d have been able to apply for a junior position. Nothing combat intensive, but going through the basics and history-”

“I know about the junior positions. I tried to apply there before I left.”

“Took one look at you and decide the Cutie Mark was clearly for mercenary work only?”

“Pretty much. Didn’t even take the time to contemplate anything else.”

“Figures. You have no idea how many ponies take one look at me and decide I specialize in something related to timekeeping or clocks. Then they take a closer look, see the runes and backtrack wildly. Always annoying.”

Kafir snorted, “Yeah, that could be a pain.”

“It’s ridiculous sometimes. At least yours is relatively straightforward. Whether you get paid or not, you’re basically a certified warrior.”

“There’s no tests for sword wielding.”

“Yet so many for certain jobs involving magic. How stupid is that? One idiot with a sword can cause almost as much chaos as the average unicorn,” Marjoram’s voice was unusually hard.

Kafir looked almost taken aback, “I guess it would depend on-”

“The spells an individual unicorn possesses,” Twilight interrupted smoothly, “It really does depend. Some unicorns can cause much more destruction than somepony with a sword.”

Marjoram rolled his eyes, “If you or I did something wrong, then we would likely cause a lot of harm. However, the average unicorn is usually restricted to their special talent. Most ponies can’t teleport like you can, or spin the cantrips like I do. Most ponies have only a hoofful of spells they can draw upon-”

“And what about Shining Armour? He can cast a wide array of spells-”

“And very few of them at their full power. He excels at shielding spells, and some offensive spells. The other ones don’t really count since they do almost nothing.”

Twilight looked faintly insulted, before nodding slowly. Spike took advantage of the momentary lapse of conversation.

“Can we please not have this argument again?”

“They’ve argued about this before?”

“We argue about a lot.”

“We do not!”

“We did when you were younger. Almost every other day, I swear.”

“That’s why you two figured out the rules.”

“What are the rules?!” Kafir looked hopelessly lost.

“Rule one: mess with my lab and you’ll be the next pony I autopsy,” Marjoram replied automatically.

“Rule two: no double-dipping,” Twilight stated.

“Rule three: ruin a book and face our wrath.”

“How many rules are there?” Kafir asked tentatively.

“Over one-hundred,” Spike replied.

“Wow.”

“They’re both really peculiar,” Spike said dryly, “And they’re not very good with other ponies.”

Twilight looked offended, Marjoram nodded in agreement.

“I’m getting better!”

Spike rolled his eyes, “With your friends! You’re still not very good with anypony else yet.”

Twilight looked hurt, but nodded slowly, “I guess so.”

Marjoram sighed, “Small steps, Twilight. You’ll get better the more you try.”

“What about you?” Twilight demanded, “You’ve been actively not trying!”

“That’s been my entire point this whole time. I’m not like you, Twilight. I’ve never had the best interactions with others, and I’ve accepted that.”

“Really? You were still trying when I left.”

“Yes, well the realization that my own brother wanted nothing to do with me was a buck to the face,” Marjoram snarled.

Kafir started, wincing, “That’s not-”

“It’s what it felt like!” Marjoram stood, knocking his cup over, “It’s what everypony said all the time, not always to our faces but it was always there!”

Kafir’s head sank down to the floor, his ears drooping. Marjoram whipped away, stalking away from Kafir. Spike noticed, but he didn’t think Kafir did.

Tears were trailing down Marjoram’s face.

Author's Note:

Sorry this took a long time, but I am now employed and am just busy with life in general. Sorry this isn't as long as the others, but I just wanted to crank something out.

So yeah, please review! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this.

Comments

[Samellan]

Hopefully, they will be able to come to some kind of peace before they return to Ponyville.

[Lucid Dreamer]

Please continue this, it's so good!!