//------------------------------// // The Far Side of the World // Story: Legends of Equestria: Fire and Faith // by The Blue EM2 //------------------------------// The room fell silent once Starswirl had finished speaking, as it became apparent that a grand and epic task lay before them. Sunburst, having sat there in amazed silence for quite a while, decided to speak up to break the silence. "Where do we find the Pillars?" "And more importantly, shouldn't we be getting some rest?" Starlight asked. "All this caffeine is bad for you, after all. And we've been going at this for hours!" "This is all very important information," Starswirl replied. "Without it, our world will fall apart and be broken apart by the Evil One." "And we have no idea who he even is," Starlight pointed out. "I'm off to bed. See you." Sunburst sat up in his chair. "You know, maybe I should get some sleep too. I'll turn in upstairs. There's a spare bedroom if you need it, Starswirl." Starswirl nodded. "It is perhaps wisest that I take my rest as well. The facts will still be here tomorrow, and a few hours rest will enable me to see them in a clearer light upon this day, or tomorrow's day and dawn. May I use this room?" "There's no need to ask!" Sunburst replied. "You may make use of it as you see fit." Starswirl nodded, and went to this room. He removed his hat, undid his cloak, and placed it onto a hanger on a door. He then climbed onto the bed and fell asleep on it, continuing that odd custom that ponies had of sleeping atop a set of bedsheets rather than in and among them. And so he drifted off into dreamland, which he could establish by context and not by the comic sans text at the bottom of his vision. The next morning, he awoke, and got himself ready. After having manipulated the shower with his magic, and finely and neatly trimmed and cleaned his voluminous beard and moustache, he made his way out of the door and levitated the hat and cloak into position upon him, securing the latter with the purple bound along the front of the garment. And down the stairs he went, and at the bottom he then turned to the left, and saw Sunburst already at work on the paper. He was taking notes. "Good morning, Sunburst," he said, the other pony suddenly looking up at him. "I see you are already hard at work. I admire that spirit in a pony. Early to rise, early to commence work. Very good." "I was just trying to figure out where you'd find Mistmane or any of the other Pillars," Sunburst replied, as he went on with his writing. "According to these documents, Mistmane lived in quite a mountainous place. For it is written, 'and lo, her name... was Mistmane'. Yes, they really did write the ellipsis in there. 'And she was the most beautiful unicorn in all the land and a very promising young sorceress'." "Can we skip on a bit?" Starswirl asked. "I already know her past." "'She was as talented as she was beau-' yeah, we can skip that bit. 'While she was gone, she was delighted to find out that her best friend, Sable Spirit, was crowned empress. She couldn't wait to return home once she finished her studies. But once she arrived, she was devastated by what she saw, for the Empress had turned her home village, in the mountains and snows of the world, into a ruin of broken homes and broken ponies. Sable Spirit took everything that was beautiful away from anypony else! And Mistmane was sure there had to be some explanation.'." "Stop there!" Starswirl said. "I don't think we need to know any more. But what of these coordinates you found?" "I think I have a probable location to find Mistmane," Sunburst replied, rolling out a map of the world. He pointed to China, and brought out his calculations. "The most likely location, based on the story and evidence I have collected about this situation, would suggest these coordinates. 30°44'14.5"N 89°27'32.3"E." He drew on a map, and marked the point with an X to make his point. "That's somewhere in Tibet," Starswirl noted. "Or Xizang, to use the Chinese name." "Indeed," Sunburst pointed out. "The villages there are in the mountains, and fit the bill very well. Besides, it's near the site where they unearthed that unicorn remains recently." "The unicorn remains," Starswirl corrected. "Alas, I must go!" He charged his horn, and white light began to fill the room. Suddenly, a grey prescence floated in, and suddenly flooded into Starswirl's horn, causing him to suddenly vanish! Starlight entered just afterwards. "Oh. Where's Starswirl? I could have sworn I heard him a moment ago." "I think he might be in danger," Sunburst replied. "I need to run a trace on the energy in that mystery entity, and how it got here." Starswirl was rather confused when he found himself zapped in front of a large white building with red lining, timbers, roofing tiles, and strange drawings and symbols on the side. "Maybe this is how they build buildings here," he said, and opened the door to the building. A cheerful tavern greeted him, with music and a bar. He went in, and straight to the bartender. "Hello sir! How can I help you?" said the bartender, a pony. All the creatures in the bar were ponies. "Is this China?" Starswirl asked. "I'm afraid not," the bartender replied. "You're in Alaska, on the very edge of civilisation. Our coordinates, if you're interested, are 64°45'27.8"N 147°21'27.3"W." "How did I land so badly off course?" Starswirl asked in confusion. He tried again, but something was blocking his teleportation spells. "May I stay here a while?" "We have favourable rates for all grades of customers!" the bartender replied. "How long were you planning to stay?" "At least a week," Starswirl said. "I have some research to do, and samples to collect. This wilderness allows for boundless knowledge expansion and growth." "And a chance to stop the Evil One," he thought to himself. "I sincerely hope that, wherever you are Mistmane, you are safe and well."