//------------------------------// // Chapter 40: The Myth // Story: Dissonance: A Hidden World // by Braininthejar //------------------------------// A flock of falcons soared over the mountains. They weren’t the sight one would expect there, and not just for the fact that falcons do not fly in flocks; the birds were of varied sizes and plumage, some burdened with tiny bags or gemstone necklaces. One of them was wearing a tiara, and another a hat.   Before them, a huge mountain rose into the sky, a regular triangle of grey rock covered with snow. The birds lowered their flight, circling over the base of the mountain before coming down next to a small stream. “There it is!” called Rainbow Dash, swooping down on a circle of bags left on a flat rock next to the stream. As she touched down, her spell broke, turning a blue falcon back into a rainbow pony. Obsidian landed next to her, the stick in his claws becoming a staff and flying to his side. He sniffed at the bags. “So far everything is going according to plan.” Around him, other birds touched down, each changing into a pony as soon as she touched down. “Did you see that, girls!?” shouted Scootaloo to her friends, “This was totally awesome,” she added less loudly. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom gathered around her with wide grins. Aurora opened the nearest backpack, and put her head inside. “There are some winter clothes. And some hay.” “Also, seeds,” said Obsidian. “Don’t eat those. We’ll need them.” Applejack dug through another set of bags, took out a scarf, and a vest, and having dressed herself, put the bags over the ones she was already wearing. “So, it’s all the way up from here?” she asked. “That’s awfully high,” said Rainbow Dash. “I still think we should just fly up, at least those who can do so without magic. We could handle whatever is there.” “Do you remember what happened to Aurora’s group when they split up?” said Obsidian. Both Aurora and Rainbow glared at him, but the statement seemed to end the discussion. As the others loaded their bags onto their backs, Rarity found three matching hats and scarves. She put those on the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who were already trying to put on their vests. “There,” she said once she was satisfied with the result. “All nice and warm. Now, whatever happens, stay close to me. Okay?” “Okay,” said Sweetie Belle with a nod.  The three fillies formed a small group behind Rarity, as everypony started walking up the slope. “Wait,” said Twilight. “I can do it better.” She put the new set of bags off her, lit up her Element, and focused. Purple light flowed from the gem above her forehead to her horn, and then onto the bags. With a soft jingling sound, the bags started shrinking, quickly reduced to no larger than a purse. Twilight picked them up with telekinesis, and put them in her own bag. Everypony looked at her. “Well, once you learn your magic, a lot of things can be simplified,” said Obsidian. “Could you do the same for others? Not everypony is equally proficient, and I don’t want this kind of spell to fail halfway through the climb.” *** It took them several hours to reach the edge of the snow. It would have been much longer if not for Rainbow Dash, who, instructed by Obsidian and Aurora, came up with a supernaturally catchy marching song. Pinkie Pie pronked ahead of Obsidian, standing atop a slightly snowy rock, and looking down over the mountains. “Come here, girls! The view is great!” she called.  One after another her friends joined her at the rock, looking down with varied degrees of interest. “It took us most of the day to climb this high,” sighed Twilight Sparkle. “Do you think we will make it to the top before sunset? I really wouldn’t like to struggle with the mountain weather at night.” “I told you we should have flown,” complained Rainbow Dash. “There were no traps, and we’d be there by now.” “If there had been any, you’d be too busy mourning to mouth off,” replied Obsidian with a scowl. “Now, it is true, that we are somewhat behind schedule. But the entrance to the sanctuary is not at the very top. So it’s not as far as it seems.” “It has been worn away by time,” said Twilight Sparkle, “but there’s clearly a trail going up.” She looked down towards the part of the trail they had already crossed. “Oh yes,” said Obsidian. “How do you think ponies would get up there?” “Flying?” asked Rainbow Dash.  Obsidian looked at her. “That was an option, yes. But in ancient times, the climb itself was considered a test. There were weather spells in place that discouraged ‘cheating’ around it.” “So, not only were ponies tested in the Void Passage, but they needed to climb the mountain just to get there?” asked Twilight. Obsidian swung his staff towards the snowy slope, and started climbing. “Keep close to me from now on,” he said. “No, Twilight. Those who approached the tests were physically tested elsewhere. The climb was an earlier idea, back from the times when the sanctuary was a purely religious site. The priests would prove their perseverance by braving the trail, and their attunement to the power of Gaia by ‘listening to her call’, finding their way through the blizzard atop the mountain by using the magic of the sanctuary to guide them.” “Even earth ponies?” asked Applejack.  “Aren’t you the most in tune with the stone beneath your hooves?” asked Obsidian. “Those are some steep job requirements,”  said Rarity, in between checking if the fillies were safely behind her. “The position was very prestigious, back in the day,” said Obsidian. “Besides, that is a matter of perspective. For somepony born in my times, you all have been living sheltered lives.” *** Pinkie’s tail twitching was the only warning they got of the avalanche. One moment everypony was climbing slowly up one of the steeper parts of the trail. Then the snow all around them started to slowly shift downwards.  Obsidian brought his staff down. His magic exploded with heat, blowing the snow and ice from underneath their hooves before they could start sliding down. Even as everypony tried to recover their footing, the whole slope above slid towards them with a low rumble.  “BEHIND ME!” roared Obsidian over the noise. He planted his staff in the rock, and the weapon became a pillar of blue light, the oncoming snow parting before it as if cut by an invisible wedge of force.  Rainbow Dash was the first to recover. The aura around Obsidian turned purple, as the magic of Loyalty joined his own. The snow kept coming, piling higher and higher, moving white walls sliding by on both sides of the Elements. Fluttershy screamed, her power expanding into a small bubble keeping her friends safe from the sides. Applejack stomped her hooves, and a wedge of solid stone shot out of the ground in front of the group. The pressure instantly decreased, the natural barrier redirecting the sliding mass away from Obsidian.  “Everypony okay?” asked Applejack as the rest of the snow slid by them. She was answered by nine confirmations.  Obsidian stood still, waiting for the slope to stabilise. When he was satisfied, he pulled the staff out of the rock, and turned towards Rainbow. “See? I’ve seen natural avalanches, and that was too much too quickly. If we had been spread out, assuming each of you would protect herself, how long do you think it would take us to find everypony?” “So, the sanctuary is guarded,” said Twilight. “Is our last retreat point still attuned?” “Yes,” replied Obsidian. “It’s far away from here, so I would ask you for help, but we have a way of getting us all out of here if need be. Now, please do the snowshoes spell for everypony. We still have some way to go.” Five minutes later they got to a small ledge. beyond it there was another section of the slope, barely visible in swirling snow. It was as if the blizzard formed a wall at this point.  “So, this is what you’ve told us about?” asked Aurora, flapping her wings and getting closer.  “Yes,” said Obsidian. “Somepony has reactivated the old spells. That means the illusions probably work too. This wouldn’t be so obvious from the air. You could actually miss the whole thing if you didn’t know what to look for.” “So, what do we do?” asked Applejack. “We go in of course.” said Rainbow Dash. “We stick together, and Obsidian looks for any other traps, right?” “More or less,” said Obsidian, “though I would like Applejack to be our guide.”  Applejack was surprised. “Huh? What for?” “I want to see how sensitive you are. The last days have given you some new understanding of magic. Let’s see if it is enough to find your way,” said Obsidian. “Miss Fluttershy, if you could create a moving barrier to shield us from the blizzard? I want to see if you can make any progress with weather magic, and this way I will be completely free to detect any other threats.” “I’ll try,” said Fluttershy meekly. Taking a deep breath, she expanded her shield again, then exhaled slowly, the barrier spreading wider, while getting thinner and thinner, before popping like a soap bubble. Fluttershy looked dejected. “I’m sorry… I’ll try again.” Twilight was about to say something, but Obsidian silenced her with a gesture. Fluttershy breathed in again, bringing another pink bubble of force into existence. Everypony watched as the sphere expanded slowly, once again getting more and more translucent. Rainbow Dash landed right next to Fluttershy. There was a glint of red on Loyalty, then, briefly, in Rainbow’s eyes. “You can do it, Fluttershy,” she whispered. The sphere disappeared again, but this time there was no popping sound. Instead, there was a swirl of air around Fluttershy, one that, when she took a couple cautious steps forward,  formed an empty bubble inside the blizzard. Obsidian smiled. “Everypony’s learning, I see. Okay then, lead on, miss Applejack.” Applejack walked past Fluttershy to the head of the group. She backtracked, looked up towards the mountain top, and then walked into the blizzard again. “I think we start thataway,” she said. They started walking, with Applejack and Obsidian at the front, Fluttershy at the center, and Rainbow Dash and Aurora at the sides. Rarity kept the Cutie Mark Crusaders behind Fluttershy, while Pinkie and Twilight served as the rear guard. They walked slowly, making sure to stay within the bubble, with Applejack doing frequent stops, focusing with her eyes closed. “I hope, I’m doing it right,” she said after the third stop. “I’m not sure if I’m really feeling anything, or just hoping I do,” she admitted. “Remember the traps Arrogance used inside Canterlot Mountain?” asked Obsidian. “Remember the feeling of magic all around you being lost, and then coming back? focus on that feeling.” “But there are Elements of Harmony right behind my back,” protested Applejack. “They don’t saturate the very rock beneath your feet though,” said Obsidian. “Don’t try to smell it with your nose. Feel it with your hooves. You’re an earth pony.” He paused, looking down at his own hooves. “I must say though, it is somewhat weaker than I remember.” He looked around. “Keep doing your part. I’ll focus on mine for now.” They started walking again. Minutes passed, and slowly Applejack relaxed. There was now a sense of purpose in her step, as she confidently picked a direction. Obsidian remained silent, his face focused. Suddenly he gestured for everypony to stop, before sending his staff flying into swirling snow. “A yeti,” he explained when it returned. “What was it doing here?” asked Twilight suspiciously.  “Natural fauna perhaps?” said Obsidian. “The spell that triggered the avalanche must have ignored it, or else it would’ve been swept along. How are we doing, miss Applejack?” “I… I think we’re almost there,” said Applejack over her shoulder. And indeed, half a minute later, the front of Fluttershy’s barrier uncovered a huge, icebound gate. “Let me see,” said Obsidian, walking forward. He carefully examined the door.  “Sealed,” he finally said. “Not enough to make boring through walls more inviting, but just enough to keep amateurs away. Anypony trying to sit here and chip at the ice would only get tired in the middle of a blizzard. This also explains why the power seemed weaker than I remembered. Somepony has tied some extra defence spells to the leylines.” “So, you can open it?” asked Twilight. “The sun is setting, and I don’t feel like spending the night here.” Obsidian snorted derisively. “Just give me a minute.”  He focused his power, blue runes glowing under his skin, and then along his staff. He pointed the weapon at the gate, tapping the tip against the ice. Sparks flew where it touched, the ice lighting up briefly. “Doesn’t look too complex,” said Obsidian. The runes on his staff turned purple, and then red. The Ice gave a bright, silver sheen in return. “Predictably, warded against fire,” said Obsidian. He tapped on the base of the staff, and the tip stabbed into the ice. small crystals started growing along it.  “Should we help?” asked Twilight with concern. “Don’t insult me,” growled Obsidian. He approached the staff from the side and tapped it again. What should have been a tap of horseshoe against hard wood, echoed like a tuning fork instead. The staff vibrated visibly. Then so did the gate. Obsidian pulled out the staff and then bucked the gate, retreating just before the ice barrier crumbled down, a sheet of fine ice pieces. With a creak, the gate opened inwards, just enough to let a pony through. “There, done,” said Obsidian. “Told you it wasn’t very complex.” *** The cave was enormous. Twilight had kind of expected that. The outer gate was big enough for an adult dragon. As Obsidian conjured a ball of light to illuminate their path, the ponies absorbed their surroundings - first the architecture of the arch, then what seemed to be an underground plaza surrounded by what looked like buildings sculpted in the cave walls themselves, separated by huge clumps of jagged green crystal.  “Don’t let your guard down,” said Obsidian. “I don’t feel anypony alive here, but there could be more traps.” Scootaloo shook her wings as she looked around. “It’s warm on this side of the door,” she said in surprise. “Of course it is,” said Obsidian. “Ponies spent thousands of years changing this cave, ever since they discovered the crystal deposits were thinner on this side, and they could dig to the heart of the mountain through here. Of course, the second splice ritual wiped out all the spells in place, but things like heating were easy to repair. There even used to be a garden here, using the mountain’s magic to grow crops without sunlight. If we’re to stay here for longer, I hope we can recover that.” “So, what now?” asked Rainbow, spreading her wings and looking askance at Obsidian. “Don’t spread out yet,” said Obsidian. “Traps are something you have no experience with. This is no adventure book.” He turned around, and pointed his staff at the nearest door, one leading back into the wall around the gate. “Let’s start with this one to set up base, and then explore further.” As it turned out, the doorway lead to a flight of stairs, rather steep for a pony. At the top, there was a rectangular room with two more exits, filled with dusty remains of what must have once been furniture. At the wall facing outside, there was something that looked like a window, but on closer inspection turned out to be a large rectangular mirror. Obsidian looked around the chamber, examining the side doors. “This guard room is beside the gate,” he said, “The mirror…” he tapped the glass, and nodded with satisfaction when it responded with a flash of magic. ”Serves as a window. It allows one to look outside through the rock, and see despite the blizzard. Very convenient. There is a toilet on this side… but I have no idea if the plumbing still works. More importantly…” he continued, turning left, “... this room has winches for the sanctuary’s non-magical protection, the metal bars that could block the hinges of the gate. If they were never used, that means the last time the sanctuary fell, it was either by surprise, or more likely through deception.” “Perhaps it was simply abandoned?” asked Rarity. She was looking around the place, taking in the slightly crumbled carvings on the walls.  “A strategic point like this?” Obsidian looked around. “It would never be abandoned lightly. Especially abandoned and left mostly intact. It would make a great place for a last stand though.” He headed towards the stairs down. “This room is safe. You can leave some of your things here. We’ll search through the rest.” It didn’t take them long to find the first skull. It was just a couple steps into the cave, by one of the crystal growths, a white dome almost crumbled to dust by the press of ages. Obsidian pointed towards it with his staff. “See? It’s been too long for me to sense any lingering memories, but the crystal is uneven here. It must have got chipped long ago, likely from being used as cover. There was a battle here, though it must have been millennia ago. Watch your step.” Now that they knew what to look for, it was much easier to see the signs of past destruction. Here and there the buildings were damaged, the murals depicting regal alicorns had missing chunks, some walls cracked, as if the very walls of the cave had shifted slightly at some point. There were also remains; sometimes a whole skull, sometimes a rusted mess that used to be a piece of equipment, more often just an outline where a body had stained the stone floor.  The ponies walked slowly through the center of the cave, looking cautiously around as the light of the Elements uncovered new details. “You kids should stay in the guard room,” said Aurora to the fillies. “It’s safe there.” “You never said that to Charcoal,” complained Scootaloo.  Aurora’s face grew serious, and the next sentence never left Scootaloo’s throat. “She knew how to stay out of trouble before I met her,” said Aurora. “Now, go.” “Who’s Charcoal?” asked Sweetie Belle.  “Mr. Obsidian said we shouldn’t split up,” said Apple Bloom. The rest of the group stopped and listened to the conversation. Aurora looked at them, seeking help. “He also said it was safe there,” she said. “With how… freaky he is, I’m sure he’d feel it if there were any ghosts there.” “Ghosts?” asked Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo loudly. “Aurora ground her teeth. “I just said…” “I can stay with you if you want,” said Fluttershy. “You really shouldn’t be exploring the ruins with us.” “I’ll stay,” said Aurora. “It’s annoying, but at least the Elements shouldn’t split up. There might be some trouble that require you all. I can deal with some babysitting.” “Babysitting?” asked Apple Bloom with exasperation, but then she saw Applejack nod silently in approval, and she fell silent. Slowly, both Rarity and Rainbow Dash nodded their heads in confirmation. “It won’t be long, squirt,” said Rainbow Dash. Lowering their heads, the Cutie Mark Crusaders walked back toward the stairs, Aurora following them with a sigh. The Elements went the other way, following Obsidian.  The aura is stronger towards the center,” he warned, “Easier to hide magical traps there.” “If the place was conquered before,” asked Rarity, “who set that spell at the door?” “Somepony doesn’t like guests,” said Pinkie Pie, looking around with suspicion. “Or, it was sealed from the outside,” said Rainbow Dash.  “You think?” asked Applejack. “It would have been easier to at least start from the inside,” said Obsidian. “But the magic-conductive crystals make this place tricky to teleport out of even on the best of days. So, unless we find a skeleton of a wizard guarding the heart of the sanctuary-” he stopped, and tapped his staff on the floor. There were lines of faint green light visible on the stone, spreading like a net.  “Another barrier,” said Obsidian. “And this time, it is a trap.” “What does it do?” asked Twilight. She looked down into the lines. Obsidian followed one line to the side, careful not to get too close. “It could be many things. Worst case scenario it either collapses the ceiling, or sends a signal that will get enemies onto our heads. It doesn’t seem to be sending any signal that could alert anypony by going silent. I will be able to tell you more once I see how far this web extends.” “Is this the kind of magic from your times?” asked Twilight Sparkle.  “No, I don’t think it is,” replied Obsidian. “It’s very good by your standards, but there is a certain lack of subtlety in it. I think it was only pulled thanks to the magic of the sanctuary. It may have been here for centuries, but I don’t think it’s the Shattered’s doing.”  “That’s weird,” said Pinkie. “Who else would like this place closed off?” “There must be something precious down there,” said Dash, “or dangerous.” “Dash,” started Twilight, “much as I’d like to say this is not a Daring Do book, I must say you have a point here. If somepony didn’t want anypony to come here, they could have just collapsed the place, couldn’t they?"  “With great effort, they could,” admitted Obsidian. “But beyond the historical records, the greatest value of this place is the power flowing through it, and that’s an entirely different matter. It might have been easier to just hide the place and let it be forgotten. With what happened to magic over the millennia, there can’t be many unicorns left who could open the front gate.” “Aaand, there.” he said a moment later, tapping his staff on the floor again. The green lines lit up. but this time they quickly paled, and then unravelled, like a badly knit sweater. Obsidian smiled smugly. “You just need to know where to cut the flow.” “And what did it do?” asked Pinkie. “Attacked the mind,” replied Obsidian. “It wouldn’t have killed you, not at once, but it might have left you too stupid to continue.” “Or too stupid to avoid something else,” supplied Dash. “I guess we’ll have to move very slowly now,” said Twilight. “Yes,” said Obsidian “And going around it doesn’t  have to be any safer.” “Can’t we just cast the spell here?” asked Applejack. “You keep telling how magical this place is. Perhaps we don’t need to go all the way in.” “That’s… a good point,” said Obsidian. “It would take longer to cast, but it would be doable. We won’t push in needlessly then. We’ll just clear enough traps to let us work in peace without fear of stepping in any. And perhaps we’ll free enough power to get some other things working, like the lights.” *** “We won’t push needlessly!?” shouted Rainbow Dash half an hour later.  She flew past a block of green crystal, wobbling on its five remaining legs, and cut into another one with her wing. She was thrown away as the two magical powers collided, but somehow managed to turn a corkscrew into a diving save, pushing Obsidian away before the construct could stomp him flat.  “Break it from one side!” shouted Obsidian. “Then get together when it can’t turn!” “It’s charging up again!” shouted Pinkie, putting on a pair of oversized sunglasses.  Twilight and Fluttershy conjured a pair of barriers, with Applejack and Rarity hiding behind them. Obsidian extended his staff, which started glowing, forming a swirl of energy in front of itself. Pinkie Pie simply opened a beach umbrella, a moment before the golem flashed brightly, sending out a wave of deadly green light. When the glare faded, Rainbow Dash found herself unharmed. Obsidian was swaying slightly, but his staff was now blazing fierce green light. When he sent it forward, it struck the golem in a powerful detonation - the thing had moved, way faster than it seemed, deflecting the blow before it could reach its torso, but losing a section of another leg in the process. “Almost there!” shouted Pinkie Pie, charging in and swinging an enormous book over her head. The hardcover tome hit the monster, but only caused its legs to split, leaving it flat on the floor.  “Dash!” shouted Rarity. She sent a stream of purple magic that enveloped Rainbow, reinforcing her summoned energy armor. The pegasus flew low, cutting along the edge of the tome. There was a loud crunch and sizzle, and two crystal legs fell off, sliding away on the floor.  Applejack charged in, wreathed in the orange aura of Honesty. She turned at the last moment, turning the momentum of her body into a powerful buck, aiming just below the exposed joints of the missing limbs. The impact lifted the whole golem off the ground, sending it past Obsidian, and into a building wall, which collapsed. “Now, girls!” shouted Twilight, teleporting to the middle of her friends, and charging up. By the time she was done, all others had joined her, pooling their energy together. A bolt of rainbow light shot across the room. For a moment, the construct rose from the rubble, its last legs flailing helplessly as it was lifted into the air. Then the magic dispersed, and the crystal shell went crashing down, the magic that made it move unravelled by the Elements. “What was that?” asked Rainbow Dash. “That thing would have given a grown dragon trouble.” “That’s how we made war golems in my time,” said Obsidian. “This one was actually built about the same time as the Void Passage. It guarded the sanctuary. But if it survived until today…” “It must have been dormant on the day of the sanctuary fell,” finished Twilight, walking curiously towards the remains. “And then somepony found a way to re-power it.” “We’re learning more and more here,” said Obsidian. “Anything else you can see here that could give us more clues?” Twilight looked around. Her eyes slid from the ruined golem, over the other buildings, the niche containing an ancient vegetable garden they found and examined some minutes before, before finally stopping at the end of the cave - a huge and elaborate mural surrounding the inner door to the sanctuary proper.  “It’s not really connected to the problem at hoof, but… I’ve seen some murals as we walked, and there are four alicorns depicted here. You mentioned Gaia, the Mother Earth. These two are obviously Celestia and Luna, the Sun and the Moon. And the last one?” Obsidian sighed. “If you insist. This is Indigo, Father Sky. He was the god of the spirit world, the one who gave ponies the gift of magic, but he didn’t receive as much worship.” “Was?” asked Twilight. “That’s a strange name,” said Pinkie. “I mean for a god. I have friends who are named after colors.” Rainbow Dash snickered. “Well,” said Obsidian, walking closer to the gate. “Some priests of my time claimed to have felt Gaia directly. It was very rare, but she was still there, more than just the force of life animating her creations. But Father Sky had been very distant to begin with. And since being the god of the spirit world made him a god of death as well… few ponies were eager to seek his type of religious experience in the first place. Also,” he said turning to Pinkie, “as far as I know, it was the other way round. First the god, then the color. It is the true color of the sky that you can briefly see at dusk, when the blue that Celestia brings makes way for the starry black of her sister.” Everypony sat on their haunches, listening. Twilight closed her eyes, and after a brief moment of focus, she made a small notebook appear. “So, the scenes depicted on this wall are some sort of a creation myth?” she asked. “It looks amazing. Much better preserved than the rest.” Obsidian nodded. “Yes, a creation myth, and a rather typical one, the one difference being that this one is true. You won’t know this alphabet, but I’m sure you can see where this is going just by following the pictures.” Twilight stood up, and conjured some more light. “Sooo…” she looked up at the wall. “Mother Earth and Father Sky emerge from the primal chaos. That would be Dissonance, yes?” “More or less,” said Obsidian, nodding. He then sighed. “And you really want to do this?” “And then… they dance?” asked Twilight. “Perhaps… I guess there was not much else to do. Unless of course they decided to create something to keep them busy.” “I told you before, Twilight,” said Obsidian, “Gods are more like forces of nature than creatures. They very rarely do anything.” “But why is that, if they have so much power?” asked Applejack. “Exactly because of the power,” said Obsidian. “Just look at yourself here. You are where you are, doing what you're doing, because of the events you experienced in the last two weeks, aren’t you? As a response to your new experience, you now have new goals. You’ve changed a lot. But for gods… it is the other way round. It is their nature and their power that form their surroundings. It is their expectations that change their experience. Take Celestia for example, the ever-blazing Sun tasked with bringing the day to the world, forever running down her path, only straying on her way when she hears her mother’s voice. In her millennia of running through Dissonance, do you think she ever encountered anything that wasn’t a road ahead?” “But something must have happened, or there’s no story,” said Pinkie Pie. “That… crystal over there?” said Rarity, pointing up. “Yes,” said Obsidian. “The random impossibility that was bound to occur sooner or later. A spot where order met chaos, and things could exist as more than just figments of divine minds. The place where Gaia found a piece of crystal, the first stable object that existed, and fascinated, she explored the new possibility, creating the world around it.” “So the next pictures depict Gaia creating the world,” said Twilight. “Creating seas and mountains… plants… and this is Gaia and Indigo creating the Sun and the Moon-” “Sending the two newborn goddesses around the world, to give it rhythm,” said Obsidian. “Now the seas and the clouds would move on their own, the day would turn into night. It was like a beautiful clockwork toy. But Gaia wanted more.” “She created animals, and then ponies,” said Twilight. “She did,” confirmed Obsidian. “But this is where the toy grew too complex. It was fascinating to observe, but the creatures born of order and chaos were not like gods. They were tiny and weak, unsuited for containing a god’s power. And Gaia realised she could not make them truly alive. They remained as she created them, moving only on command, nothing more than toys marring her creation with their fundamental flaw.” “So what did she do?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Isn’t it obvious?” asked Obsidian. “Obsessed with her creations, she gave them life in the only way she knew how. She gave each of them a spark of her power, spreading herself thin until she disappeared. She became all mortal life, inhabiting all living creatures, and leaving them when they died, only to come back and be born once more. Of course, Indigo was devastated. But rather than change from the experience like a mortal would, he merely adjusted. He gave the favourite creatures of his mate a gift of magic, a connection to the spirit world that would empower them to fulfill their desires, while giving him something to remember her by. As his daughters continued on their endless run around the world, Father Sky retreated from the world to continue his dance alone.” He turned away from the mural and back to Twilight. “Now, I know you could sit here taking notes until you grow old, but we’ve been disarming warding spells since sunset. I think we should end it for tonight.” “But what about the rest of the wall?” asked Twilight. She walked forward, casting her light at the lower sections of the mural. “This storyyyy sssseeeemmmmssss ttttoooo…” Obsidian spun on the spot, his eyes widening. “No! Don’t!” He lunged towards her before the others could react. They watched as he slowed down reaching her, flowing in the air, his staff swinging in front of him just as slowly, Twilight’s expression shifting into surprise, then pain, as the piece of magical wood swept her off her hooves and launched her back. She flew away, suddenly gaining speed as she fell further from Obsidian, the staff sending her tumbling among the girls. There was a sound like a bubble popping, and Obsidian’s body shifted. The Elements stared in horror as his flesh flowed like wax, stretching and shrinking, muscles growing and atrophying, coat flowing from dark brown to grey to milky white and back again, mane and tail growing, falling out and growing anew. Then everything ended. Obsidian stood still, the last ripples of his form restoring it to his usual appearance. He slowly turned, angry dots of blue glowing in his eyes. “Where were you going?” he growled. Twilight rose from the floor, wincing in pain. “What was... that?” “A trap spell,” said Obsidian. “This is exactly what I meant. You approached a door we haven’t checked yet, because you were too tired to pay attention, and what left you had was too absorbed with a new story to care.” He turned around, and the staff returned to him, pointing at the mural again. “The rest is mostly stories of the notable kings and priests. I won’t be bothered to read it to you.” “But… what was that?” asked Rainbow Dash. “It looked creepy.” Obsidian glared at her. “Somepony got a bright idea to modify a preservation spell and turn it into a trap. A relatively simple spell, but backed with a lot of power. It must have drained a lot of magic from Nevercrest. You were lucky somepony got sloppy, and the effect leaked outwards.”  “So, the reason the mural is so well preserved…” asked Twilight. “It was aging at roughly one fourth the rate everything else was. And rather than just protect it from the flow of time, the spell accumulated the rest, ready to explode at anypony careless enough to walk into it.” He looked back at the door. “Now, this at least gives us some new information. Whatever the reason for all this, the sanctum hasn’t been opened since roughly the time Arrogance and Envy came to power as princesses.” “How do you know that?” asked Applejack. Obsidian walked up to her slowly, until he was nose to nose, looking down at her.  “Because I’ve just taken seven centuries to the face. Now, girls, since you’ve already had your bedtime story, I think it’s high time for you all to go get some sleep.” *** Twilight was too tired to remember what happened after. She slept like a stone, with no dreams to remember.  She was woken up by Scootaloo calling frantically, “Everypony! Wake up!” She jerked awake, tangling in her sleeping bag. Around her her friends were doing likewise, including Pinkie Pie, who, as Twilight vaguely remembered, was supposed to keep the last watch; she was armored and not in her bag, but otherwise confused and tangled in her own legs. “What’s going on?” asked Aurora and Dash, rising into mirrored combat stances.  “Where’s Obsidian?” asked Applejack. “He’s back downstairs, I think,” said Scootaloo, “checking the wards or something.” “But that’s not important” piped in Sweetie Belle. She reared, pointing her hoof at the magical mirror on the wall. “Something’s wrong with the sun!” exclaimed Apple Bloom.