//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 (Slipping into trouble.) // Story: Three to Five // by TwilightsmyMare //------------------------------// The morning found us all partially buried from the blowing snow, the temperature had dropped sharply as well but despite that for the moment we were quite comfortable. each sleeping group had been joined by a few of our new packmates sharing their warmth with us and vice-versa I suppose. Before long we broke our fast sharing with our new friends whatever they found palatable at least and then bundled up ready to head out again. Some of the pack stayed with us while the rest departed to roam their territory and hunt. We bid them farewell, we knew where we were going thanks to the girls unnerving sense of direction. Well one direction in particular so we had no need of guides but they insisted and it couldn't hurt. We made good time our packmates loping ahead then waiting for us to catch up, the slowest member of our group was definitely me. Without the wolves, ponies or Thestrals quadruped stability I stumbled over plenty of rocks hidden in the snow, holes, ruts and slippery patches but they didn't give me a hard time about it, other than Dash but that’s just her. The pack knew these lands well and led us well clear of any hazards across the tundra, even though the terrain was quite flat we couldn't see anything that might look like our destination even when the sky was clear which was rare enough. The further we traveled the colder it got, that evening we broke out the rest of the cold weather gear making sure everyone was properly protected. Tired as I was I still sparred with the Thestrals not only in hand to hoof but with weapons as well, training weapons of course, I wouldn't risk a stray strike with my sword, skilled as they were it was a dangerous weapon. I did marginally better at those having done some practice on my own for my own safety as well as others. The wolves watched curiously Fluttershy having explained to them that there was nothing to be worried about. The rest of the pack rejoined us as night fell the ones that had accompanied us leaving to hunt or just to partake of the rest of the packs successful hunt. Those who joined us must have been joined by other members of the pack as there were even more of them including seven pups, they certainly made the evening entertaining curiously sniffing everyone and everything climbing fearlessly over their packmates including us which was fine, most of us were more than willing to cuddle and play with a pup or two. By the time we were ready to turn in exhaustion was setting in, two of the pups apparently decided Twilight and I were quite comfortable snuggling down with us, two little she wolves... Made my heart ache for my own two girls, so far away... Too far. Twilight I knew felt the same and it was clearly evident by the cuddling and attention she lavished on them enduring their playful nips without complaint. We got them settled down between us sharing a kiss before we drifted off. Sleeping in a frozen tundra with a pack of wild wolves surrounding us...? Nowhere safer. I found myself suddenly alone on the tundra naked and confused, the wind howled around me as I cast my gaze about desperately searching for Twilight or anyone?! I clutched myself for warmth suddenly realizing I couldn't actually feel the cold... A dream? "Luna...?" For just a moment I thought I heard her but something else overrode it, a humming... Not unlike a florescent light but a thousand times louder and more intense, a strange red glow broke through the storm descending on me..." "No!" Twilights cry woke me, she clutched me and I her still careful of the two little fur balls between us. What...? What was...? That strange hum... And the red glow... Thousands of human-like silhouettes just staring... What? I hadn’t seen anything like that, it strengthened my suspicion that this was somehow connected to Atlantis and only through Twilight and I's connection did I experience it. "What, what was that?" She whispered. "I'm not sure love, but we must be getting close." We could hear disturbances and low voices across the camp in the dark, it seems all the girls had been affected. We gently stroked the pups helping us calm down, the pack seemed unaffected as did the Thestrals though I imagined they had ways to shield themselves in the Dreaming... "You've been studying Dream magic with Luna haven't you?" "A bit, things have been so busy though... Oh!" She gasped catching onto my drift, her horn glowed its aura enveloping her, I and others around the campsite. "That should keep us protected, but like any spell it can be broken with enough effort..." "Of course, I'm not sure it was an attack though..." "Maybe... It's like it was trying to... Connect, converse with us?" "Strange, if that’s the case maybe we shouldn't keep them out?" She thought about it a moment in the darkness. "Whatever it is, whoever it's trying to reach... we can't communicate, I tried... Until we can meet, figure something out... We had better play it safe." Sounds like a good idea." We kissed softly settling back down and drifting restlessly back off to sleep. The morning, at least I thought it was morning found nothing but snow and howling wind, I gathered up the two sleepy little pups in my jacket as we emerged slowly and carefully making our way to the middle of camp to hopefully meet up with everyone else. Fortunately, the others seemed to have had the same idea as we ran into several Thestrals with Fluttershy and Dash headed our way. "Good you’re up, we're getting everyone together to figure out what to do." "A... And warm up... It's so cold." Fluttershy shivered. "Good idea." Twilight smiled sidling up to her the two of them leaning together sharing warmth as they walked. The camp wasn't that big though in the whiteout conditions the walk seemed much longer but still we came to a group of ponies, Thestrals and even a few wolves together sheltered in a natural wind break. With a little relief from the wind I could see better finding several dens dug into the snow and the happy yipping and barks of the pups and wolves within. I wasn't the only one to hear as the two little she-devils napping in my coat awoke struggling and scratching. "Ok, ok..." I chuckled fishing them out and putting them down at a dens entrance. "You two be good." I gave each of them a pet as they scampered off yipping excitedly as I returned to the gathering. "...can we even proceed in this?" I arrived in time to hear Twilight ask Cords everyone else huddled together but listening intently. "Normally not a chance, with no way to see let alone navigate and not knowing our destination we would be doomed to wander aimlessly circling or freezing to death." He let that sink in a moment before continuing. "However, we don't need to know where we're going for the Bearers can lead us unerringly there without fail, the cold we can steel ourselves against. But if we are to do this we must be extremely careful, with little to no visibility and no aerial reconnaissance we'll have little warning of peril. Tied together in two's and tethered to the next two, 'If' we do this, I wouldn't force any in my command, our mission is urgent but..." "But nothing! A little... Even a lot of snow isn't going to stop us! The sooner we get there the sooner we get back home right?" Dash boldly stated looking around. "We're with you." Many of the Thestrals whispered but all nodded. "Well I guess a lil snow never kept me from workin." "When it's all chilly whilly like this you just gotta cuddle up more!" "Well... I guess..." "Not to worry Fluttershy dear, we're in good hooves." "Ok then." Twilight and I nodded. We quickly got ready, the wolves watched our preparations curiously they having every intention of hunkering down and waiting out the storm expressing concern when Fluttershy told them of our intention to go forth into it. She reassured them we'd be fine though she looked a bit unconvinced herself. Twi and Dash were in the lead followed by Cords and one of his squad then Applejack and Pinkie, two more Thestrals than Fluttershy and Rarity followed by the rest of the squad and holding up the rear was me and Malone. I wasn't insulted by it, Malone was quick and skilled but not that strong. I had no doubt I wasn't the strongest member of our group but I had my advantages. We moved out as one, a long lumbering beast covered and well insulated. Quite a bit slower than normal but at least we were moving and safely. I could see the two Thestrals in front of us and about half of the ones before them, other than that it was nothing but an ocean of billowing white. Eyes open or closed it didn't matter much though I kept them open trying to see anything I could. I glanced over at the small mare beside me, she was wrapped from head to hoof with only her silver eyes showing. If they cold bothered her she hid it well determinedly pressing on. "They trained you for situations like this?" "Like this? No, nothing this extreme but we have done cold weather training, it was tough but nothing like this..." She shivered pulling her muzzle cover up further. I chuckled putting an arm over her to share what warmth I could, the cold was intense but what I was really worried about was what we couldn't see... I couldn't quite tell but I think she smiled shuffling a bit closer. "Thank you." She looked out at the white giving her head a little shake. "I hope we don't run into any cracks or crevice’s..." "Well at least you have your wings." I chuckled. "Wrapped up like this they won't do me much good." She sighed moving them slightly under her heavy coat. "True, I think we'll be fine though. Nothing but solid ground so far." She perked up a bit. "That’s true." Somewhere on our endless plod night fell though one could hardly tell, slightly darker I guess. The storm hadn’t lessened so sleeping arrangements were much more... Cozy. A big group, blankets, ponies and Thestrals close together and draped over one another to maximize warmth. Cords still insisted on sentries though still tethered securely, a few missteps in the blizzard and you could be lost for good. He wasn't taking any chances and I was grateful for that. Each of the girls had reported feeling an increase in the strength of the pull, hopefully that meant we were getting close. Tonight, though we were surprisingly warm, our food might be cold but we still had plenty, all in all things could be much worse... Grey... That’s what we woke up to this morning, the cold remained but think grey fog surrounding us blinding us just as effectively as the blizzard had. Very little light permeated but we got ready to push on regardless, still tethered together we started out and thankfully the day lightened as we traveled steadily until something loomed out of the fog! Shocked and surprised Malone and I jumped slightly as it looked like a huge beast about to set upon us until we took a step closer and snow covered branches and boughs came better into view. A great old and massive tree, we both laughed a little at our own nervousness feeling silly. I turned back to the path getting two steps before running into the Thestral before me. "Sorry!" I put my hand on his back partially to steady myself so I didn't trip over him and partially as an apology... He didn't even notice, he and those before him were all staring up at the back half of the tree. My gaze naturally followed theirs to a disturbing sight that my mind couldn't quite grasp at first... The back of the tree was dead but not just dead, desiccated like it hadn’t been touched by water in a hundred years. I reached out despite Malones panicked hiss, the bark felt normal at first but then crumbled into tiny chunks. The tree beneath wasn't any better breaking away as I applied minor pressure which I immediately backed off of, Malone frantically pulling me back. "Careful! Who knows what could have done such a thing!?" "You’re right, sorry. Just a moment..." I was sure there was plenty of discussion going on up ahead so I took the opportunity to sit, clear my mind and try to reach out to the tree like Granny Smith had taught me. It was in pain but not in the way I would have thought half its body being dead, more a distraction as it continued to grow and survive on the other side away from... What? I didn't know. I heard them calling for me up front and untied myself giving Malone a reassuring pat on the back as I headed up. The girls, Cords and his lieutenant were circled in deep conversation as I joined them. "... this place is wrong! Even in the Everfree forest there’s still life, here there’s... Nothing!" Fluttershy squeaked clearly on the edge of panic. I knelt beside her pulling her into my embrace giving her a tight hug. "We'll be ok Shy." I whispered letting her bury her head in my chest, as I comforted her I again reached out to find living things nearby but nothing, other than our group and the tree just on the edge of my senses. Well it was winter, I expanded my reach as far as I could about a hundred feet. Behind us past the tree I could feel life, a hare bounding nearby avoiding this area, hardy winter plants and even minute seeds awaiting the warmth of spring, insects too cocooned and waiting... But past an unseen barrier of some sort there was nothing other than us, like it had all been expunged in an instant. I pulled myself back glad to escape that feeling of complete emptiness. "We can't venture into this, just look around!" Cords gestured angrily. "We have to backtrack and go around." "We can't." Twilight shook her head. "The pull leads this way and we're close, so close..." "It's in here?" "Yes... Yes, it is." I stood up, far in the distance I could just see the tip of a tower, strangely here the wind, fog and even the cold seemed muted. Everyone turned to look, Cords gestured and two of the Thestrals untethered shedding their heavy coats launching themselves into the air. I wanted to warn them not to go too far though it wasn't my place to do so but I needn’t have worried, they were clearly as freaked out by this place as I was as they traveled only high to get a good look before circling a few times then coming back down quickly donning their coats again. "It's a castle...?" The first started. "No, a city..." The other contradicted. "It was huge and completely enclosed, clearly a fortress of some kind." "Maybe, but there were hundreds, thousands of chimneys! Certainly, a city as well..." "Either way, and this...?" Cords interrupted gesturing around us. "Hard to tell but it looked like it spreads out in a radius around the citadel." "City... Tough to judge just how far but in all directions though it looks like the oceans at its back, we could... Get closer if you need us to...?" "No. We stick together, get hitched back up." From my shoulders up the pervasive fog had mostly cleared but below it still clung to the ground thick as ever, my bipedal height was finally useful! Or it would be if there was anything to see other than the tower in the distance, but the girls didn't need me to guide them so we continued on as we were. Hours passed and we were getting closer bit by bit but still there was nothing around, no trees, other buildings even hills or dips in the land! At our current pace, it looked likely we'd make the city... Castle, whatever. Before nightfall though I wasn't sure that was all that great, a giant dead city in the middle of the night? Great... My wandering mind was drawn back into reality hearing Malones hooves scrabble beside me the tether between us pulling taunt, felling she’d just slipped I leaned over to help her up when my feet slipped out from under me as well as I was yanked to the side and into open air. My cry of surprise was drowned out by her scream both cut short as the tethers holding us did their job one of them parting with a sharp crack leaving her only attached to me. "Nonono... Pull me up, pull me up!" "Relax, just a moment and they'll pull us up..." The initial shock wore off as soon as it came on, I felt fairly secure the tether around my chest attached to the two Thestrals above was holding steady though the one between she and I creaked alarmingly and her struggles weren't helping any. "Just shed your coat and use your wings." "I can't, I can't! It's cinched too tight! Don't let me fall!" Who would have thought a creature so used to soaring through the sky would be so scared of falling...? Actually, I guess that made a lot of sense. I reached down to steady and calm her managing to grab both her fore hooves just as her anchor snapped. "Nooo!" Her facemask had been ripped aside eyes squeezed shut tears streaming out the look of terror on her face was heartrending. "I've got you, calm down, calm... Malone!" Her eyes flew open staring at me. "I'm not going to let you die." She nodded slightly stopping her struggles, the two Thestrals above had managed to keep themselves from slipping and us from plummeting any further, word must have passed up the line as I could feel us being slowly pulled up. "I'm slipping... Please... Rick!" Hooves, especially ice coated ones are not easy to hold onto, I couldn't adjust my grip without losing her nor could I hold on indefinitely. My mind raced trying to think of something... A second too late as is so often the case, her hooves slipped away from me... If I'd been born with these powers maybe I could have reacted faster... Time seemed to slow as she slipped into the mist her wide silver eyes pleading with me as she was swallowed up, I was already moving blade unsheathe and flicked behind me to sever my tether embedding in the stone, I left it there falling after her. Snap decisions again... Throwing the good after the bad some might say but I had a plan of sorts. It all depended on how deep this chasm was, fifty feet? We were both going to be very hurt but we might survive, a hundred? Still not even nearly deep enough but we'd both die... It had to be deeper, much deeper... The echoes from our struggle above and Malones scream seemed to indicate it was but if I was wrong... I tried to streamline myself like I'd seen in the movies to fall faster but it's not that easy especially all bundled up. I let pieces fall away while trying to catch up, the fog was still very think down here I could see little more than the occasional flash of wall, jagged stone fractured all over. Her screams still echoed, it felt like we had been falling for ages though it really had only been seconds, I knew it only took so long to reach terminal velocity then it was just a matter of time even if this crevasse reached the planets core we wouldn't have much time, I had to reach her... Suddenly there was a cry of pain below, a split second later I briefly glimpsed a jagged and broken outcropping stained with a bit of blood. I hoped she was alright but if nothing else that impact slowed her slightly... There! Flailing hooves barely visible in the mist, the broken end of her tether flipping back and forth just out of reach. I stretched out trying to snatch it, missed and again, third times the charm... weather that adage was true or not I managed to snag it gripping it tightly pulling her to me with a sigh of relief. There was no time to lose, I had no idea how far we'd fallen but the grounds approach was inevitable. Gathering every bit of strength, I had I teleported us, straight up as far as I could. While I had made headway in my magical strength teleporting that far was well beyond me, nothing more than a very temporary respite... However, I knew someone who could... Now... The moment we materialized from my teleport I felt a familiar magic enveloping us sweeping us away, when I opened my eyes we were surrounded everyone looking down with concern. Malones eyes fluttered open looking around confused before focusing on me. "You... You didn't let me fall..." "Well you fell, but I couldn't let you land." "Thank you!" She sobbed throwing herself against me crying out in pain as she did. I looked her over then scanned her to verify what I thought, a nasty gash on her right back leg and two fractured bones. I gently straightened them trying to heal her but I was quite spent until I felt her magic flowing into me bolstering my own. Ah, deus ex wifeu... You. She bonked me gently on the head before laying against my back watching my knit-up Malones bones her gasp closing as well leaving little more than a small scar. Trying to give me a heart attack? You’re lucky I could sense you from that far, what if...?! I have complete faith in you love. I smiled caressing her face and kissed her softly. A... Shudder, for lack of a better word came from the city making the ground tremble slightly and it was returned by the articles of power on six mares. Reminiscent of what happened back in Canterlot, each of the Elements glowed pulsing together and suddenly the wind picked up scattering the fog reveling a dead and blasted land, deep cracks and crevices in the ground everything else flattened and destroyed for miles around... And in the center of it all it stood, a huge city, fortress, castle... Whatever you choose to call it no description or name could truly do it justice save one... Atlantis...