Cosmology

by EroPony1000

Wormhole Part 1

Beneath the Rainbow Tail, atop which sat the monastic city of Aesir-Bilröst, was a cavernous well sealed tightly by an embossed ring of muscular flesh.

When the first explorer managed to squeeze their way through the seal they were left dangling over an abyss. It took much coordinated effort to retrieve them, and the internal temperature was so high that they nearly fainted from exhaustion before they could be rescued.

In order to properly explore the place, architects from Aesir Bilröst and engineers from the Mark came together to develop a great machine that was then assembled around the seal.

Supported by sturdy pillars and arches, the device looked like an industrial coliseum. Reaching inward like the arms of a praying mantis from seven places on the great henge were pneumatic arms that were carefully lowered as far into the entrance as possible.

When the machine was activated, each arm retracted in unison, slowly pulling open the entryway and creating a sustained opening.

An artificial ring was forged and installed to wedge the entrance open indefinitely from within, after which the bulky contraption that had pried open the well was disassembled.

Starswirl had overseen all of this from the workers’ camp, and made preparations for an expedition immediately after. Leading the expedition team was his apprentice, Celeste; named after the sun-mother herself.

Equipped with cables and harnesses, as well as enchanted crowns that projected light, the spelunkers rappelled down the soft walls of the well, delving into the heated abyss.

The well was vast, and even the beam of their headlamps could barely pick out the delver directly opposite them. Then they saw a light down below. Little more than a faint glow at first, it grew quickly as they went, as if it was moving towards them.

Before long it was all around them, the walls of the well fading away into blinding white. The light washed over the explorers and Celeste felt her stomach lurch.

Before they knew it, they were standing in a stone amphitheater, the walls of the tunnel having vanished into a hazy mist behind them. No longer did they feel the pull that had dragged them down before, and neither were they arrayed in a circle around the tunnel, merely fanned out like soldiers on the move.

Behind them, their cables had gone slack and disappeared into the fog.

All around the stone structure was a sky of crisp, empty blue. Before them was a semi-circle of pillars, between which were colorful sigils that seemed to be floating in the air.

One Celeste recognized as the crescent moon of Sol Celestia’s younger sister. The others were unfamiliar: a six-pointed star and a crystalline heart.

The other explorers advanced behind her as she approached the sigils. With a tap Celeste disabled the glow of her lamp and the others did the same, for it was bright here in spite of the apparent lack of stars in the cold blue empyrean.

Celeste stopped, sparing a thought for the team waiting back up on the surface. She instructed one of her team members to return, if possible, and report what they found to the best of their ability.

The pony—whose name was Sunset—gingerly stepped into the mist, tugging on her cord as she went until it finally pulled taught. Another couple of tugs transmitted the request to be pulled up.

Celeste had already moved on, having made up her mind to try and interact with one of the sigils. She chose the star, not really knowing why, and bravely pressed on, as Sunset had, through the mist beyond.

It surrounded her, and a few things happened rather quickly after that. She reactivated her crown as the light began to fade, and at the same time felt her stomach lurch again. For a brief moment she caught a glimpse of tunnel walls, then fell backward into the light and tumbled out through the mist into the amphitheater.

Her remaining team members rushed to check on her, but she waved them away.

It seemed that somehow there was another tunnel through the mist behind the sigil, only if they wanted to traverse this one they would have to climb up, not down.

Not long after Sunset, the rest of the expedition returned.

Adding to Sunset’s report, Celeste told Starswirl about the new tunnel and gave her thoughts on how to proceed.

She asserted that they establish a base-camp within the amphitheater, which itself she deemed worthy of study, and Starswirl agreed on both accounts.

Together this time, their team laden with supplies, Starswirl and Celeste descended into the well.

Starswirl was impressed with the mysterious realm, which held none of the tunnel’s heat. When he beheld the three sigils a memory returned to him, and when he asked which sigil Celeste had tried he was not surprised to find that she had chosen the star.

Once the tents were pitched and the supplies unpacked, Celeste began preparations for the ascent while Starswirl’s followers meticulously catalogued everything in their colorful manuscripts, to be stored later in the annals of Aesir-Bilröst.

Coming from below this time, they would have some difficulty prying open the seal. For that purpose, a smaller ring was forged that could hold the exit open wide enough for a single individual to pass through at a time.

For the installation of the new ring a device was needed to wedge open the seal long enough. A number of ideas were considered before the decision was made to use an inflatable wedge that could be easily removed.

They would use the inflatable ring to expand the opening wide enough to allow somepony to climb through it carrying the metal ring. Then, they would install it from above, simultaneously dislodging the temporary one.

The remaining issue was that of ascending the shaft. Cleats were considered, but ultimately the solution came from Sunset. It seemed so painfully obvious they were surprised it didn’t come up first.

They needed a pegasus.

Author's Note:

Here is the first part of an odd story about exploration and space colonies. I have a mind to add more chapters as I feel like, over-time creating a bizarre history of civilization in this world of divine horse-planets.

Comments

[accidentallyoffensive]

Ohh! We're doing multiple chapters this time, colour me intreaged.

[EroPony1000]

11609506
I appreciate the interest!

I hope to be able to incorporate a few world-building stories here, and once I’ve created enough of an identity for the setting I hope to add smaller, more personal stories.