Dawn broke over the horizon, illuminating the grey sea and cliffs in pale, shaded light. The clouds from yesterday had moved on to the west and were now barely visible. Shadows thrown by the boulders moved from her face to the edge of the fire as the morning rays crept on, finally making her crack open her eyes. Birds chirped their morning greetings and small grey grasshoppers jumped to and fro on blades of grass as the dew on the field began to dry.
Yawning, she rose from the ground and stretched out her aching muscles. A few groans escaped he lips as loud pops could be heard from both her knees and back. After straightening up and letting the wooziness fade from her vision she took in the morning around her. Her gaze happen upon the extinguished fire, thank Celestia it hadn’t been that cold.
Letting the annoyance from the fire show on her face, Twilight moved her bags from their rock onto her back. She looped and tightened the straps firmly down into their familiar moorings, even though she knew the sores would hurt in an hour or two.
Moving becomes a difficult thing after a while, especially when the straps dig in just a little too much. Walking a long way can do that to a pony, to anypony in fact. The dust and dirt wear on the soul as the road lengthens more and more. Many just give into the hopelessness that accompanies such a journey.
After the bags were situated on her back she took her hooves and spread the dead coals from the fire all over the little clearing, mixing it into the grey dirt so she would not leave a trace of her stay. Worming her way out of the shelter she had called home for the last few days, she began making her way back to the edge of the cliff. Nearing the precipice she passed some dying gray scrub brush clinging to life on the salty rocks. They all looked so helpless, she noted… like so many other things.
When she reached the apex of her climb her stare rose to the sky above the grey seas. The sun made its path across the sky as she stood there looking for hours, willing herself to not give up on hope just yet.
She doesn't know it yet, but there is Hope in that sky, just the right kind as well.
. . . . . .
Her eyes searched the clouds for anything, anything at all. The gray waters churned beneath her, sending its salty spray into her face. Blinking away the droplets she suddenly saw a glint in a cloud to the northeast. Just one pulse of light; as if somepony had a signal mirror up there, calling for help. Rubbing her eyes with a dusty hoof, she peered again in the general area from where the glint of light had come from.
As she watched, a small shadow crested a cloud wall. Riding it like a wave the stone slab revealed itself from its encompassing white shrouds. When it had fully exposed itself Twilight could see that it’s only about as wide as the rug in her old bedroom. Heart racing she readied herself quickly before the platform can disappear back into the white nothingness. She prepared to jump.
Her horn began to glow, creating a bubble of grey energy that took shape and surrounded her. Bolts of electricity arced from the surface of her magic to her coat, sending waves of charge all throughout her body.
Crackling with power, Twilight stared from inside her shield to the balcony high above. She smiled a little, allowing a single tear to roll from her dirty, scratched cheek. In a flash of white light, she jumped.
On the cliffs overlooking the grey sea, backed by grey, rocky plains, a single tear hit the earth.
. . . . . .
Jumping’s a funny thing, never really got used to it myself I guess, but when somepony would want to jump they needed two things in particular. A lot of talent, and somewhere to go. Trick was that whoever was jumping needed to have their destination within sight. Many a great mages met their untimely demise from such foolish mistakes. Heavens, even Starswirl the Bearded transported himself into a nearby star accidentally.
So without that connection, all kinds of danger can arise.
She landed hard on her two front legs and hit her head as she tumbled onto the rocky walkway. She did close to a full summersault before coming to rough halt against a stone banister. Good sized chunks of loose rock wobbled back and forth on the edge of the banister ready to fall back on her dazed form. Diffused realization of the danger hit her and she readied her magic to protect herself as best she could from the impact. But just as she wove a rebound spell in front of her face a ripple of soft wind lovingly caressed her mane toppled the rocks into the oblivion beyond.
Letting out the breath she had been holding, Twilight let go of the rebound spell and got to her hooves to take a look at her surroundings. What she saw was not very comforting.
. . . . . .
The island in the clouds was a good size, just about as big as Ponyville’s main market. Buildings, or what were once buildings, encircled something that resembled a well. The well was placed where the old town hall would have been if it was indeed Ponyville proper. From the well emanated an eerie, colorless glow, immediately making her very uneasy and unwilling to approach any closer as she made her way to the nearest ruin.
She walked over to one of the nearest buildings, giving the well-thing a sideways glace and a wide berth. She quickly reached what she supposed was a doorway. Two large, square stones marked the entrance of the long forgotten building. From what she could tell, the rest of it had burnt down and decayed to a few of larger beams and ash. Peering at the rubble strewn about her curiosity got the better of her. She quickly levitated a book from her saddlebags and opened the rough brown cover and began flipping rapidly through old, yellowed pages. She stopped on one and took a long look and then moved her scrutiny to the rubble again. She soon spotted what she was looking for. A large metal object rose out of the debris, telling her exactly what she wanted to know.
“It’s an armory!” Twilight croaked out. Hearing the sound her voice made startled her, it sounded like a basilisk spine dragging against stone. She immediately shut her mouth, afraid to hear the awful sound that came from her throat again. She hadn't spoken a word in so long, not since the event, she didn’t realize how out of practice her vocal chords were. Her throat was dry as well, making the speech nearly impossible. Longingly she looked back at the well. She needed water.
. . . . . .
She contemplated the thought of going over to see if there might be any inside, but after standing in place for a few moments she instead levitated her book in front of her face and continued on to the next building. Soon she had circumvented the entire ring of ruined buildings while steering clear of the well and stood once again at the armory’s doorstep. Six, six buildings total, all of them different sizes and shapes, she mused silently to herself. On her tour she had correctly identified five of the six mysterious, ruined buildings around the well.
First there was a smithy next to the armory, both had large anvils resting in the center, then there was a bakery, a shrine to a god or deity she had no knowledge of, an alchemists, and then there was the large building she couldn’t identify. With a sigh, she sat in a bed of dark gray grass and moved her saddlebags in front of her. Levitating out an apple, her last one, she bit into the flesh, letting the tasteless juice wash over her parched throat.
She read more on the alchemists shop as she finished eating the apple, learning a great deal about which herbs and magics could combine into powerful healing salves. It was a wonder how Zecora had been able to do so much without magic of her own.
After the apple core was picked clean and discarded Twilight rolled out her sleeping pad on the hard cobblestone in front of the armory doorway. Jumping always took a lot out of her each time she did it, and when food was so scarce like it was now she couldn’t afford to do it very often. Laying down on her hard bed she slowly closed her eyes, making sure to never let her gaze drop from the well. Sunlight waned as dusk approached, leaving the island bathed in a glorious sunset.