So You Escaped From Limbo

by Maran


The Not So Dark Ages

“What did I tell you about this place?” Pinkie Pie nudged Somnambula. “Pretty great, huh?”

Somnambula slid into one of the booths at the Tasty Treat. “It smells divine, and the decorations are so warm and cheerful. But I do not understand why you wanted us to wear these hats and coats in here.”

“It's because I wanted to meet you without drawing too much attention.” A third mare spoke up, walking toward their booth. She was dressed in a floppy hat, glasses, and a dark violet cloak.

“Good to see you, AK!” said Pinkie with a meaningful wink. Daring Do didn't want to let Somnambula in on her secret identity. Pinkie couldn't say whether Daring didn't trust Somnambula, or she simply didn't want her pen name to be too open of a secret. Either way, Pinkie would respect her new friend's wishes, a thought she kept in mind as she introduced the Pillar of Hope.

“This is Somnambula. Somnambula, AK Yearling.” Pinkie waved at each pony.

The explorer hopped onto the cushioned seat next to Somnambula. “Not to sound cliché, but are you really Somnambula?”

The other pegasus grinned and lifted up her gray fedora, revealing her golden crescent headpiece. “I am,” she said simply.

Daring's eyes glittered and her cheeks rounded as she grinned wide. “This is so incredible!” Hesitantly, she stretched her front hoof toward Somnambula's foreleg and touched it before pulling away. “I can't believe you're really real!” She turned to face the earth mare. “Pinkie Pie, when I heard that you and your friends were trying to bring back Somnambula from Limbo, I couldn't believe it. I've heard some unbelievable stories from Daring Do, but this takes the cake!”

“Tell me about it! But there's even more to the story,” said Pinkie. “Did you know that the six Pillars of Light had a friend named Stygian? He's the one who made them into a team in the first place.”

“Stygian means dark, but the name doesn't ring a bell.” Daring rubbed her chin.

“Pinkie Pie!” trilled Saffron Masala, heading for their booth. “It is so nice to see you again!”

“You too, Saffron! Gosh, I didn't think you'd recognize me in this trench coat and fedora! I'd love to introduce you to my new friends, but we're keeping it on the DL, you know?” she asked in a voice that carried over the chatter of the other patrons. Some of them twisted their ears in her direction.

“Uh, Pinkie, you do know what the DL means, don't you?” Daring tugged her hat lower.

“Well, obviously!” The party pony waved her foreleg. “It means the down low, which means we're incognito!”

Saffron guffawed, probably thinking Pinkie was just being silly. “Well, here are your menus, ladies. The soup of the day is spicy lentil. I'll give you a moment to decide what to order.” She floated the menus to the table, along with three glasses of water, and then trotted toward another booth.

Somnambula held up the menu in front of her. “Uh, I think I am going to need somepony to read this for me. I cannot read modern letters.”

“Get the fish curry if you're feeling adventurous.” Pinkie leaned toward Somnambula and held her hoof to the appropriate spot on the menu. “It's delish!”

“They serve fish here?” Somnambula's ears twitched. “I always thought of it as griffon food.”

“Yeah, but there are plenty of griffon tourists that visit Canterlot, and they need to eat too, you know!”

“Pinkie, let's get down to business. I need to hear more of your story so I can finish my new book.” Daring withdrew a notepad and pen from under her cloak. “So far I have Daring and her new friend Pinkamena taking Somnambula's blindfold to Pone Henge, and that's it. I need to know how it ends.”

“Uh, Daring didn't go with Pinkamena to Pone Henge.” Pinkie lowered an eyebrow. “Don't you – I mean, didn't she tell you?” She closed one eye at the adventurer.

Daring frowned. “Well, yes, but I take creative license when writing Daring's adventures. I change details to protect the innocent and tell a more compelling story.”

“Oh, I see.” Pinkie took a deep breath. “When I got back to Pone Henge, we set all the thingies on the stones and opened the portal to Limbo, and zap!” She clapped her hooves together. “The Pillars came back! But you can't bring only the Pillars back without bringing back the Pony of Shadows, which I thought was King Sombra when I first saw him,” - here she curved her forelock into a horn shape to illustrate - “but false alarm, he was just a lookalike. So it turns out Twilight and Starlight's combined magic was stronger than the Pony of Shadows, which makes sense, because they're two of the strongest magic users I know except for the other princesses and my sister Maud, but they weren't there, so the Pony of Shadows left to gather power from the dark places in Equestria, because that's how he gets his power, only he couldn't do that in a hurry because Equestria isn't as dark as it used to be. Huh, guess that's why they call it the Dark Ages.” Pinkie shrugged.

Daring held up her foreleg toward Pinkie while scribbling frantically with the pen in her mouth.

Somnambula put her hoof on the earth pony's shoulder. “Pinkie, maybe you should slow down a little, to give Madam Yearling a chance to write everything down, yes?”

The archaeologist took the pen in her hoof so she could speak clearly. “Thank you, Somnambula. And please call me AK. Being called Madam Yearling makes me feel old. Anyway, Pinkie, the 'Dark Ages'” - she made hoof quotes - “is an imprecise label for a period spanning many centuries starting with the collapse of the Roan Empire and ending with Unification, and applies to only a few geographic areas. And in any case, it predates Somnambula's time. Right, Somnambula?” Then she beamed as she dropped out of lecture mode. “I love being able to say that.” She held her hooves to her cheeks. “I haven't been this starstruck since I was a little filly!”

Somnambula returned her smile. “It is good that I can still make ponies happy. But the land was darker even in my day, literally and figuratively. Electric lights had not been invented. And more importantly, it had been only a generation since the pony tribes overcame their hostility enough to join together. Some villages had begun to integrate, but not all of them. When Stygian first came to my town, he told me how impressed he was that ponies from the three major tribes lived side by side, supporting each other. He realized that when ponies are faced with adversity, they do not care about their differences, but instead use their talents to help one another. He learned about how I had shared what I had with my neighbors, and how I had rescued Prince Hisan.”

She fell silent and bowed her head. “Stygian asked me to join him in protecting ponies all across the realm. He had the idea to form a team of ponies representing each tribe from every corner of the land. Our unique strengths would complement each other, enabling us to fight against sirens, dragons, and changelings. The sphinx was gone and my town no longer needed my help, but other towns did. Yet I did not want to leave Hisan. He was my best friend. I hoped that one day we would be more than friends.” Her eyes watered, and she raised her head and blinked back tears. “But he told me that I should go with Stygian. Not because he didn't want me to stay with him, but because he thought that I could save lives if I went to other towns. He is one of the most selfless ponies I've ever known.”

Pinkie placed her hoof on Somnambula's shoulder. For once, she didn't have a quip to lighten the mood. All she could do was silently offer support.

Daring set down her pen. “Pinkie Pie told me how you and the other Pillars banished yourselves to Limbo so you could take the Pony of Shadows with you, Somnambula,” she said, her voice low and husky. “Prince Hisan never forgot you. He renamed your town after you, and built a statue in your likeness. And Prince Hisan never married or sired children. His nephew inherited the throne. I think Hisan always hoped that you would return from Limbo.”

The other pegasus gave her a tearful smile. “He was right. But I was too late for him.”

“Somnambula, it's hard to know what to say.” Daring's ears drooped. “I'm very sorry about what happened with you and the prince. But I do think you should go back to your town soon. It's still wonderful, you know – or so Daring Do tells me. She keeps going back there again and again. The population is still diverse, the architecture is awe inspiring, and it has such rich history. It's a town worth saving, believe me.”

“Abso-tutely-lutely,” Pinkie chimed in. “And they still have a ton of glopaz!” She tugged out a shining green fragment from her mane.

Somnambula gazed at the tiny stone and wiped away her tears. “Glopaz was Hisan's special gift to me. It eases the sting a little to know that the ponies treasure it.”

“They do more than just treasure it, they built a whole ritual around leaving offerings at your statue!” said Pinkie. “At least until Caballeron destroyed it. But I'm sure they'll restore it soon.”

“I think you are right, AK.” Somnambula's smile grew more wistful than heartbroken. “It will be good to return to my town and see how my ponies have gotten along.”

“And your ponies will be over the moon to see you, Somnambula. You're still more popular with them than any of the royals.” Daring glanced down at her notes. “I still want to know what happened with the Pony of Shadows after you guys let him out of Limbo, though. Did he just wear himself out? That would be anti-climactic.”

Pinkie shook her head. “Nah, he didn't wear himself out. He found a dark place called the Well of Shades, only it looked more like an underground temple that could've been haunted, I mean I know ghost aren't real but I kind of want them to be . . .”

“Pinkie,” Somnambula interrupted with a gentle smile, “maybe you should tell AK how we decided to use the Elements first.”

“Oh! Oh, oh, oh! I can't believe I forgot! Prepare to have your mind blown!” The earth mare spread her forelegs.

Daring pricked her ears in Pinkie's direction.

“Are you ladies ready to order?” asked Saffron, striding up to their table.

“I'd like the fish curry, please,” replied Somnambula.

“I'll have the saag paneer,” chirped Pinkie.

“Soup of the day. Please.” Daring sounded almost curt.

As Saffron levitated the menus away, the disguised adventurer picked up her pen in her hoof. “So what's the mind-blowing twist?”

Pinkie leaned forward. “The Elements of Harmony came from the Pillars of Light!”

“Really?” Daring's eyes widened as she looked to Somnambula. “Is this true?”

Somnambula nodded. “Before we opened the portal to Limbo, we infused a crystal seed with our magic and planted it in the Everfree Forest. It grew into a beautiful tree that produced six magical fruits.”

Pinkie giggled. “We should just call them the Magical Fruits from now on. Let's make it a thing.” She nudged Somnambula, who chuckled in return.

“So that means all the scholars were wrong!” exclaimed Daring. “They thought that the Elements arose as a side effect of Unification, since the pony tribes started using their magic together as one society.”

“Actually, they were right, from a certain point of view.” Somnambula beamed. “They simply didn't have all of the puzzle pieces. We Pillars would not have banded together if Unification hadn't happened. But Star Swirl could explain it better than I can. Even Stygian probably understands it better.”

“You keep mentioning Stygian, but I don't think I've ever heard of him before.” Daring rubbed her chin. “Was he with you in Limbo?”

Somnambula and Pinkie looked at each other before staring at Daring.

“AK, Stygian is the Pony of Shadows,” said Somnambula.

Was,” corrected Pinkie. “Sorry, I should've mentioned that earlier. My thoughts are so disorganized sometimes.” She tapped the side of her head, creating a clattering sound effect. “I have to keep a whole room full of files on everypony I know, or else I might forget something important about them.”

Daring grabbed her notepad and held it vertically in front of her, squinting at her notes before letting the pad drop on the table.

“Okay. What?”

And so Pinkie and Somnambula told her the full story, in fits, starts, backtracks, tangents, corrections, and footnotes.

After the ponies shared everything they could remember, Daring said, “I think I understand as much as I can, although now I really want to talk with the other Pillars, if we can arrange it.”

“I'm sure we can work something out.” Pinkie grinned broadly.

“I still have some questions that I hope you can answer, Pinkie.” Daring adjusted her glasses. “You were in Somnambula – the town – when Dr. Caballeron was causing trouble, right?”

“Of course!”

“Since you were there, and since you're an earth pony with, um, unusual skills, maybe you could tell me how you think Caballeron and his goons captured Rainbow Dash so quickly.” Daring rubbed a spot under her cloak where Pinkie knew that her wings were.

The party pony shrugged. “I don't know. I didn't actually see her get captured, I just heard her call for help! Why don't you ask her?”

“She said she didn't know!” Daring threw her forelegs up in the air. “She said she felt petrified somehow, even though she's faced more dangerous threats before.”

“Well, I wouldn't worry too much about it.” Pinkie waved her foreleg in front of her chest. “It's Caballeron. Don't question it.”

“But – But that's not an answer! My fans will never accept that!” She planted her hooves on the table and leaned toward Pinkie. “Some of them are hyper-critical, and they seem to be getting worse all the time.”

“Oh, yeah, Rainbow told me about that.” Pinkie lowered her eyebrows. “She told me about that a lot.”

“I am not a magic scholar,” Somnambula spoke up, “but the sphinx used magic that inhibited flight. Is it possible that this Caballeron used the same type of magic?”

Daring rapped her pencil against the paper. “Stranger things have happened, but how? And even if he did use the same kind of magic the sphinx used, that still doesn't explain how he was able to tie Rainbow to the pillar at the end of the slime pit and climb to the top of the pyramid before Pinkie and I got to the slime pit. And he only had a few seconds head start on us!”

“If you ask me, there's only one way to solve this!” Pinkie winked at Daring before continuing, “You need to ask Daring to track down Caballeron and confront him and ask him how he did all those things! And then Daring can tell you the answers, AK,” she added with another wink.

“Pinkie, why do you keep winking?” asked Somnambula.

“Winking?” Pinkie forced a laugh. “I'm not winking, I just have something in my eye! Gee, I hope the food gets here soon. I can't wait to dig into that saag paneer!” She took a big gulp of water to stop herself from saying anything else suspicious.

Somnambula blinked at Pinkie for a moment before gazing at Daring.

“You are Daring Do, aren't you.”