//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 - The Veil Rises // Story: Where Gods Rest // by Quick Fix //------------------------------// January 6th "Nothing. That's thirty thousand, give or take a few books." Twilight yawned slightly as she gently placed another scroll back in its slot and checked her notes. Her memories of the past week had become something of a blur, steadily working her way through the Equis archives, translating where necessary and recovering as much knowledge as she could while looking for any hint of the alicorn mural or its location. It was a lot easier to operate on her body clock than the rising and setting of the sun in an environment like this, eating and sleeping as needed and occasionally having Spike step in to make sure she didn't end up staying awake for eighteen hours at a time. She didn't want to think just how hard she'd been focusing on this mystery and what she might have done without his support. Twilight knew from plentiful experience that every scroll or book she searched without finding an answer only intensified her desire to find said answer. Spike had kept himself less involved, simply staring out over the city for hours at a time or taking the two of them on walks around the ruins when he felt she needed a break. Though the eerie atmosphere remained, it was far less intimidating when the snowfall beyond the perimeter had ceased and the area looked the same inside and out. Trying to map out how Equis used to look in her mind had been a been a great way for her to unwind when she needed it most. "Twilight, how long since you slept?" Spike asked as he gnawed on a fire ruby, watching her pick out another scroll. "About nine hours, and two since I ate." Twilight replied, pausing to look back at him. "Huh, pretty much spot on." "My mind's feeling fresh right now. Cold winter air does wonders for the senses." "Well we may have to head somewhere warmer soon," Spike commented as he looked through his noticeably emptier bags. "We're pretty much out of food by now." Twilight paused and trotted over, still carrying the scroll in her magic. A quick look through both their bags confirmed they now held far more of her notes from all the old books than anything else. "Good point...Just a few more though, call it a hunch." "Alright," Spike sighed slightly. "Just a dozen or so, I'll keep count." Twilight nodded and opened her scroll, skimming through it. Just a list of tax collections this time, she had to have found at least five hundred of those already. It was quickly returned to it's place and she kept searching. Trade treaty with the Crystal Kingdom, no. Report on new agriculture gathering methods, interesting insight but no. What looked like a crude cartoon about Commander Hurricane drawn by somepony with too much time on their hooves, maybe Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash would have found it amusing if they'd been here. Map of a Crystal Kingdom survey team's route through the hills to the northeast...A lead! "A-ha!" She exclaimed, bringing it over to Spike and showing him the map, quickly pointing out the writing on it. "This is dated from the sixty-ninth year of recovery in the old Equestrian calendar, the same as four seventy four TC! You see the final point is in the old crystal language instead of equestrian as well?" "Mmmhmm," Spike mused as he took what was left of his gem out his mouth and studied it closer, remembering the translations. "Mural site? Well that was convenient." "Would have been more convenient if we'd found it after a hundred scrolls instead of thirty thousand," Twilight countered. "It's something though. You up for going now if it's still light?" "And if the weather is holding. I've walked through more than enough snow to last my lifetime." Twilight nodded and teleported out of the archive to check the weather conditions. Spike had just enough time to pop the fire ruby back in his mouth and finish it before she returned to the same spot. "Princess Celestia's just starting to lower the sun and the weather is all clear." "Well, may as well go now before the cold sets in any further," Spike said as he got up and stretched. "Sooner we do this, the sooner you can put this behind you and the sooner I can move my bed in front of a fireplace again." Twilight chuckled slightly and placed the scroll back before packing up everything they had left over. One way or another they wouldn't be coming back here immediately. The thought sent several sparks of emotion through her. Anticipation, wonder, that niggling sense of fear again. Though she couldn't explain it, it was a concern that she was almost certainly stirring up a potential hornets nest, some ancient secret that had been forgotten for millennia and would end up creating a new threat she would have to face with her friends when uncovered. As interesting as the adventuring days had been, she still wasn't sure if she wanted to return to them again. Not if it meant risking a repeat of Starlight Glimmer... She shook the negative thoughts before they could take hold again and focused on her spellwork, gathering the spell around the two of them before teleporting them out. She'd seen the area they needed to head for from the ruins and the map had given her a set point. As the familiar flash of teleportation wore off she looked round to see they were on the lip of a shallow valley that rose fifty feet either side, the ruins just about visible off to the southwest. This was as close as she could get visually, but the mural site was within a few hundred meters if she'd read it right. Twilight scanned over the valley and her eyes settled on an area to her right where the snowy incline gave way to steeper rock. She pointed it out to Spike and he nodded, bounding ahead to go check while she flew after him. After a week of keeping herself restrained inside the archive, letting all that tension out with a quick rush through the crisp air like this was nothing short of exhilarating. After a minute she saw Spike dig his claws in and skid to a halt, flaring her wings out in response and coming in to land just behind him. "I think, this is it." Spike said, sniffing slightly as he eyed up the rock face in front of him. Twilight only needed to look for a moment to know he was right. A thirty square foot area of the rock had been perfectly smoothed and inscribed with a trio of figures. Seeing them up close and assuming they were the ones who had made the mural that was still in pristine condition after thousands of years, they were unmistakably alicorns. Two stallions and a mare, standing together in what looked like casual conversation. There was also a string of symbols underneath the image, language she'd never seen before...Yet it felt familiar. "Wow..." She said softly, moving to take a step forward for a closer look. Only to be stopped as Spike thrust a hand out in front of her chest. "Something's wrong about this. There's magic imbued in the rock, probably keeping it looking so good. Most of the scents, they're unlike anything I've ever smelt before, but there's definitely the smell of ammonia in there." "Is that bad?" Twilight was pretty sure she already knew the answer and her concern was completed as Spike turned to her with a grim look. "It's one of the stand out things from when Princess Celestia was teaching me what the scents of magic mean...It's the smell of dark magic." Twilight took a step back without thinking. Having used dark magic on more than one occasion, she knew just how dangerous it was to wield. Knowingly or not, if an alicorn used such power openly... "Are you sure?" "Positive. There's more, but if you want to have a go at translating those symbols I'd do it now. This is big." Spike's words did little to reassure Twilight in any way. She nodded and focused on the symbols all the same, trying to figure out what felt so familiar about it and why. It was almost as if she'd instinctively known what these symbols meant, what letters they were supposed to be, like they'd been imprinted into her mind at birth and always lingered there despite never being seen again. As the seconds passed things began to click, several letters making sense. While most of the inscription was still incomprehensible with what was available there was one complete word. Vaire. Much as she wanted to use her magic to translate the rest, she didn't want to touch the mural in any way at this point. "Okay," She said, taking a steadying breath to brace herself for whatever was coming next. "Define big. Possible threat to Equestria big or world ending big?" "World ending," Spike replied slowly, trying to judge how best to say what he knew. "That same scent of dark magic and this unknown, this alicorn magic. I've felt it before. I never figured it out at the time because they were so subtle behind the rest of the magic but now I know what they're like for sure, I know it was them. Those two scents together, I've picked them up in a few other ponies before." "Who?" Twilight asked quickly, ears folding back as she waited. Spike sighed slightly before looking at her regretfully, clearing not looking forward to saying this at all. In that moment her blood froze as she made the connection between the small number and the magic. "Celestia, Luna, Cadance...And you." Three days later... Twilight's mind was blank. Though for the first time in days, it was thanks to her relaxation methods rather than numb shock. Pretty much everything she had done since finding the mural in the hills had been on autopilot, barely able to summon up enough focus to teleport herself and Spike back home. She'd done her best to catch up on what she'd missed during her week long expedition, though all of note that had happened was Applejack and Fluttershy being called on a friendship mission to the Crystal Empire. But even that had barely registered in her mind at the time. She'd taken a lot of shocks in her time, but learning that not only had there actually been an alicorn race once but that they might have been casually wielding the most dangerous magic known to ponykind had knocked her for a loop. The idea that such power had been unknowingly, perhaps casually, used by her and ponies she looked up to so fondly had been an extra blow that had taken all her relaxation methods to come down from. At least they had worked and today she was using them simply to finish unwinding, rather than try and keep from losing it again. Twilight opened an eye and smiled to herself at the sight of six melon sized orbs of water held in her magic in front of her, all perfectly spherical. This was her favourite method right now, keeping her magic engaged to the point where she couldn't focus on her worries and the setup she had was perfect for it, gathering some water from the underground pool she levitated herself above and them firing them off like pinballs against the gems throughout the cave without spilling a drop or leaving any behind on the gems. Such rapid, precision magic was soothing, helped by the rush of the waterfall at her back and dozens of colours reflecting through the air around her. A small part of her was thankful the ponies that had found this cave years ago had decided its value in beauty was worth more than its value in gems. "Twilight?" Spike's voice called through from the entrance, echoing around her. Talking while relaxing like this would be nice too. "In here." She replied, sending her water orbs oscillating in front of her before shooting off in every direction, ricocheting around the cavern. "You weren't in bed and I got worried, so I thought you'd gone somewhere quiet to think and..." Spike's concern gave out as he entered the cavern, leaning against the wall to watch her display. "And for once I had nothing to worry about." "Sorry, I just wanted to get a few thoughts together." Twilight replied as she opened her other eye and looked back at him, pinging one of the water orbs off his shoulder. Despite it not even making his scales damp, Spike glanced down at the spot and brushed it off with a chuckle. "I'm glad to see you feeling better at least." "Imagine how it feels for me then," After a few more seconds she brought the orbs back in front of her and studied them. "Four percent total loss, not bad all things considered." She said to herself as her magic faded, the water dropping back into the pool below with several rapid splashes as her wings opened to keep herself in a hover. "Liberating," Spike suggested after a moments thought before getting back on all fours as he moved to the edge of the pool. "So, now that you've got a clear head and enough of a solved mystery to behave normally, what do you plan on doing about this alicorn enigma?" "Well, so far we only know that there were several we've never heard of at least nine thousand years ago up in the Crystal Empire," Twilight recapped as she came down to land in front of him. "But there being more, that this 'Vaire' I deciphered is the name of one of them...It's just a hunch, but I've never been so sure of a hunch in my life. The only way we can learn more now is by seeing if another alicorn knows anything. Spike, what time is it?" "With how long it took me to get down here...About the crack of dawn." Spike said, watching as Twilight mentally ran through the general schedules of her fellow princesses in her mind. "Princess Celestia will have raised the sun in a few minutes. We can talk to her about what we found out over breakfast." Twilight started before biting her lip to stifle a yawn. "And maybe catch a few extra winks of sleep?" Spike added with a grin, one that was slightly returned. "That actually sounds pretty good. The sooner we go, the sooner we can relax properly." With her mind still buzzing from the rush of her magical meditation, it was no trouble for Twilight to teleport the two of them to Canterlot castle. The hallways were virtually deserted at this time of day and any guards that were present knew the princess and the dragon well enough to let them by. A quick check with the guards on duty confirmed that Celestia was raising the sun in the castle's highest tower, nicknamed the solar point for both the vantage it provided and the fact the princess typically retired there for her most private deliberations. By the time the two of them had made their way up the tower the sun had risen entirely. Neither of them had ever actually been up here and were surprised to see the top of the tower was devoid of walls, only a dozen support pillars around the edge holding the roof up. The roof was covered with rows of inscriptions that Twilight suspected were in the same language as the ones she'd seen on the mural, though none of it made sense in the few seconds she had to view them. Princess Celestia herself was standing on the far side of the area, staring out at the blanket of fog that kept most of Canterlot and the lands beyond from view. Even the fully raised sun struggled to pierce through the veil. "Princess Celestia?" Twilight said once she was off the stairs. Whatever Celestia may have been thinking before, the look on her face as she turned to face them showed that she had put it aside. "Twilight! Spike!" She exclaimed happily, walking over and hugging Twilight in greeting, one the smaller alicorn returned in kind, before offering Spike a hoofshake that he took. "What brings you both by so early?" "We wanted your advice on something." Twilight replied, not wanting to waste time on such a matter. "A few weeks ago I received a book that compelled me to do some studies out at the Equis Ruins. Those studies brought me to a mural that depicted what I can only believe to be alicorns, carved thousands of years before Equestria was even founded." Although her appearance didn't change, the atmosphere around Celestia shifted instantly. It was almost a surprise that a sudden rumble of thunder didn't manifest outside to match. "While..." Twilight continued, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable about where this was going. "While I wanted to investigate further, Spike stopped me when he picked up a trace of dark magic on it, as though it had occurred naturally in the magic used. The most I could do was decipher the word 'Vaire' and-" "Twilight," Celestia suddenly leaned in and grabbed her former pupil's shoulders, her voice stern and tinged with desperation. "Where did you find this? Where exactly?" "About a mile northeast of the ruins, rocky valley, the mural about thirty feet tall," Spike explained. Celestia simply nodded to him and teleported herself out. "Was, that bad?" "I have no idea..." Twilight hesitated, not knowing how she should have reacted, or even if she should have done that at all. After about a minute the princess teleported back into the chamber, eyes clenched shut and body tensed. "I should have known it was too much to hope..." She said to herself before steadying and looking at her two visitors. "I am, sorry you both had to see that. I had wished to see our past sins would remain lost forever, but now...Now we have much to do and more to discuss." "Your sins?" Twilight asked warily as Celestia stepped past her, watching as she stopped and looked back sadly. "The sins of myself, and those of the alicorn race."