The chambers that had held Twilight Sparkle from certain death were unlike the rest Applejack had so far encountered. Rather than a tall stronghold rising high above the landscape, it had been built into the Mountain of the Sages out of sight. It was also largely incorporated into the daily running of the Temple that had recently been destroyed, with halls dedicated to books, chambers for sleeping and eating, among other things.
Applejack wasn’t sure why it had been so accessible compared to the rest, which made the fact Ulysses had captured Twilight all the more strange.
Goldwing led Applejack through the various corridors and halls, each maintained a white marble colour as they descended further into the mountain itself. That was until the first chamber. The first real chamber used to keep Twilight alive and recover was a purple colour, and held nothing to jog her memory, no memory machine to give the memories still missing back or even the bed. Instead, it was a ring of electrical devices powered by crystals. It still hummed with power in its low power state, and the middle of the floor was open so the machine could point into the chamber below, the one with the bed and where Twilight had rested.
This resting chamber was like the rest, save for the colour. But the bed seemed larger than Applejack expected.
“Discord had clear instructions for Twilight. The machine had to do more than just keep her alive, and heal her wounds. It had to show her what Princess Celestia had intended for her to learn all along.” Goldwing stated.
“That’s a tall order.” was Applejack’s simple reply. Goldwing nodded.
“Indeed, but we tried anyway. From across Irvest, memories friends made were recorded on the gems and brought here, then put into Twilight’s head for her to see and learn.”
Down further they went, to the room that should help jog Twilight’s memory, the room a faithful recreation of Canterlot, complete with library and photos of those she knew. Until Applejack saw her memories, she would have no idea if it had worked first. But there were scorch marks around the room, which were very much out of place. Goldwing said nothing however, and lead Applejack to the chamber where Twilight’s memories were stored.
Without prompting, Applejack approached the machine and touched the button to watch. Memories from her birth to arriving to Irvest played out, as did the letter she spoke to Spike as a comfort before returning to Equestria. Applejack held her breath as she watched the battle.
Twilight stared as Fluttershy’s body hit the floor, making her the second to fall to Ulysses. She wanted to break down, to cry. Two of her friends were dead, and she was just as angry at Sunshine Blaze as she was Ulysses. Sunshine Blaze had asked them to go to their deaths, as if their lives were worthless in this game of cat and mouse between the two brothers. There was still Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack to depend upon however.
“Rainbow! We need to distract him, we can’t stop him like this, not without the Elements!” she shouted.
“One distraction, coming up!” Rainbow Dash replied, flying as fast as she could to try and draw Ulysses away from the rest.
“Applejack, Rarity, get to Pinkie and Fluttershy, and run, me and Rainbow will follow you soon.”
The two nodded, but whatever Twilight had planned next, she never got to do. One of Ulysses’ newly malformed limbs grabbed her, squeezing tight. He pulled her up to his face.
“I deny you a proper funeral, all of you! Their bodies and your own shall decay here where I may gloat to your bones forevermore!”
With that, Ulysses snapped her horn, the pain was blinding, but more importantly, as he threw her toward a crumbled wall, she knew there was no way to prevent her death. Twilight watched as Rainbow Dash tried to save her, surrounded by the black aura of Ulysses’ magic. Then the pain from her body as it broke in parts with the impact. Twilight’s vision tunneled, as her final sight was that of the cutie mark upon her flank.
Out of the memory for the moment, Applejack tried not to be sick. She had seen how Twilight had looked in Rarity’s memory of events a few minutes later, but to see it from Twilight’s own eyes, and the sense of peace, it felt wrong to her.
“There is more you must see, Applejack. Hurry.” Goldwing encouraged.
Applejack nodded and steadied herself, pressing the button once more for the next sequence.
Twilight awoke. She only recalled her name, which was somewhat satisfying to her, for some reason. Around her machines buzzed and one in particular was beeping in a constant three second pattern. She didn’t know what it meant, but it didn’t matter. There were two doors, one was locked and the other open. Focusing on the hunger in her body, she headed to the open door, where she found the recreation of Canterlot, though in her state, she just thought it looked like a nice room, and beyond, she found the memory machine.
As it had for the others, it strapped her in and replayed the memories. Once Twilight stepped free, she no longer felt hungry. A glance at her flank confirmed it was where it was supposed to be now, and in the dark screen, she could see her horn was still purple, but very much metallic.
“Okay, so, Ulysses killed me, somehow I’m still alive,” her horn glowed, and she lifted a stone up off the ground. Dropping this magic, she focused on the machine, surrounding it in a lilac glow. She balked at something and stepped away from the machine as fast as she could, “Discord helped make this? But how? I-I don’t understand, Discord’s evil! And yet.”
Her voice trailed off. Discord was evil yes, but so was Ulysses. Two evil beings that could be fighting, and Discord being how he was, likely wanted something really good to finish Ulysses off.
There was some hoofsteps behind her. Glancing back, Twilight saw a stallion approaching.
“Oh um, I don’t know who you are, but I could do with something to eat.” she asked, the stallion wore monk robes.
He said nothing as he got closer. Twilight saw an odd mark on his robes.
“No food for those who will die so Ulysses can be free and turn the world to paradise!” the robes were thrown back, and Twilight dodged out of the way of several magic attacks, as the feed cut out.
Applejack blinked, her face blank as she stared at Goldwing. Goldwing sighed and turned her back on Applejack. When an explanation didn’t seem to be coming, Goldwing hummed as she prepared to speak.
“Thirty years into Discord’s plan, when the Pillars of Harmony truly contained Ulysses and rendered him unable to act on the world without great cost to his magic, a few Irvestians formed a group. They believed if they killed you six, then us sages, they hoped Ulysses on being freed would spare them and give them the lands they desired. We tried to catch them, to contain them. But it wasn’t until two years ago that we finally contained them all. But then they revealed to us a truth. Ulysses had already broken free regardless, and taken Pinkie Pie. In offering, they had got in here without our knowledge and stole away Twilight Sparkle.”
Goldwing sagged, and now her posture reflected her age.
“I am sorry. We have done nothing but failed the world.”
Applejack put a hoof gently on Goldwing’s side.
“Hey now, ya didn’t and couldn’t have known. At least there’s still me. Ah’m not sure what use Ah’ll be, but now Ah’ve seen all my friend’s memories. Ah’m not sure how those will help, but Ah’ll have to ask Discord when Ah next see him.”
Discord was watching. He smiled as Applejack comforted Goldwing. His next part of the plan would come into effect. With Applejack sent off, she could get Ulysses to break the barrier properly, this would weaken him enough for the strike that would end him.
As he grinned, black tendrils leaked from the barrier in the direction of the strongholds. Discord jumped when yells of fright came from each stronghold.
“Strongholds, report in, what’s wrong?” he asked.
Silence. Then a shriek of rage.
Discord’s stomach dropped.