Chapter 5: Gestalt
-o-o-o-o-o-
The next morning I find myself staring incredulously at a sign.
Canterlot University Summoner's Circle,
College of Summoning Arts
Ponies unknowingly walk past me as I stare, several of them accompanied by Pokémon of all forms, and my incredulity grows. How had I missed this in my initial scouting of the city? How had I not noticed the beacons of projected thought and swirling eddies of potential energy rippling through the Psychic Field from this one location like a wellspring? Why did it take my ping for me to notice that anything was here at all even though I know I'd drifted over this area just yesterday?
Reinforcing my memetic obfuscation, I drift into the campus, my ears and tail drooping as my disbelief continued to grow. Tens. Dozens. Hundreds of Pokémon surround me, from all of which I can sense some sort of bond to the pony that accompanies them. Their thoughts all mix and mingle, the psychic types typically standing out more than the others. Curiously, when I 'listen', they all seem to be in honest to Arceus Nihongo. Thankfully being Psychic made language barriers effectively irrelevant, but I still found it curious, and subtly intermixed my thoughts into a conversation on the mechanics of teleportation between an Alakazam and a Gardevoir to learn it fully before moving on.
I drift through classrooms, labs and even a large amphitheater with a ring of silver set into the center where I witness a group of professors monitor a student summon an Onix into this world. I examine the minds of every Pokémon I come across for the telltale spark of "elsewhere", or "not right" that I would expect from someone brought here by Discord
Nothing stands out, other than the obvious that none of these Pokémon are from Gaia, but something at the back of my mind tells me that none of them are the ones Arceus brought me here to keep an eye out for. Almost all of them have a presence in this world that has been here for much longer than I have, and many of them even have great affection towards the ponies they appear to be bonded to.
I drift towards a pool that can only be described as gargantuan, containing a multitude of Water-Type Pokémon. Magikarp and Garydos, Laprases, Manaphys, Alomomolas, and many more swam over its surface and through the depths, while Staryus and mies, and various crab Pokémon scuttled and shuffled over the bottom. I noticed that some of the rarer Pokémon weren't present, but lost the thought when my gaze drifted over a Skitty peeking over a fence separating the pool from a forested enclosure, and my examination unconsciously drifted towards it.
My face heats up as soon as I realize its focus on the Wailord lazily floating near the edge of the pool. Nope. Nope. SO much Nope. I'll leave you to fantasize about your girlfriend in peace thank you very much. Slamming the gate down on that thought, I draw in my power to collect myself so I can move on, and in my distracted state I don't notice the pony sneaking up on me.
"Gotchya!"
Cream colored hooves close around me, and I squirm in surprise, letting out a shrill squeak.
"See! I told you there was something there!" The orange coated, orange maned unicorn that held me crowed in triumph.
"So you did, Sunburst." The other orange, but brown maned stallion said with wary disapproval as he fixed his gaze on me. Crap, I'd apparently dropped my memetic disguise when I'd been grabbed, not that it had worked on 'Sunburst' apparently. "Now, put whatever it is down and back away slowly. I don't recognize it and we don't know who its Summoner is. It could be dangerous for all we know."
I tilt my head, trying to figure out how I am going to get away from this mess I'd found myself in. I wasn't really prepared to explain why I was snooping, and many of the idle thoughts of the ponies I'd come across today led me to believe I was in an area that should be restricted. I could force my way out, but many of the methods I could use could seriously hurt the pony holding me, or any ponies and summons that were sent to try tracking me down. With 'Sunburst' here they could easily find me even if I put up my obfuscation again, and I don't think Celestia would appreciate me hurting him, even accidentally...
Well, sometimes it's best to keep things simple. I thought as I charge up a teleport, aiming for a spot high in the trees on the other side of the path from where we were. With a static crackle of displacement, I disappear...
And reappear floating directly above the pool instead of where I was aiming...
All activity among the Pokémon below me stops in a rippling wave as they notice me, the crackle of my teleport drawing many of their attention. Thoughts of awe and wonder drift across the collective consciousness and new conversations spark as many of them recognize the Mew in their midst. My stomach drops as I started to panic. Frantically I try thinking of another place to teleport to get away, settling on my bedroom back in the Palace. Concentrating even harder on the teleport this time I once again displace myself...
Only to find myself face first on cold stone, coughing out dust in pitch darkness...
-o-o-o-o-o-
Long minutes passed in the dark as I contemplated what might have gone wrong with both of my teleports. I mentally reviewed all of the steps, from properly folding the Psychic Field around me to form a protective shell, entering it, and then folding the space between where I wanted to go and where I was before slipping through. By my gifted memories, I had done everything right, down to compensating for the wave flux variations to adjust my trajectory for stray thoughts and rogue ideas trying to throw me off course, but somehow, I had still ended up somewhere entirely different from my intended destination both times.
With a sigh I sit up, kicking up more dust. I have no idea where I am, but I don't want to risk teleporting again before figuring out what was going on, so that meant trying to find my way back from wherever I was. Stretching out my senses I feel the shape of the place I am in with sight unseeing. Corridor, slightly cool in temperature, consistent with being deep underground. Long and wide, with grooves and crevasses set into the walls in intricate and consistent patterns. Focusing a bit more, I freeze.
UnOwN Runes... Old ones from the long-faded feelings of their etching. The hieroglyphs described something about ley lines and focusing the resonance and something about a weaving pass-through, but I wasn't really paying attention to them anymore. Stretching and expanding my senses further, I have to hold back a wince. I was practically surrounded by the Gestalt. I could feel the UnOwN all around me.
[[[CURIOSITY]]]
I buckle as the projection hits me. The conceptualization of an idea condensed into a single word/thought as though spoken by a million individuals across a thousand different languages. Normal minds would not be able to understand it at all. Not even most psychics would comprehend it as more than a fleeting idea.
I barely held on to my mind as the concept's full force hit me like an ice cream headache the size of Canada. Collapsing to the floor again, I cry out in pain and quickly erect as many barriers between my mind and the Gestalt as I can, cursing my gifted memories for the first time since waking up in Equestria. They'd taught me how to safely open my mind, but in doing so and without the natural experience to understand my own limits, I had opened myself too much.
[APOLOGY] I received, much more muffled but still sending a lance of pain through my skull. In turn I weakly project out feelings of acceptance and assurance.
More time passes as I regain control of myself. I felt several UnOwN drones drift closer, their spindly forms floating along the eddies and currents in the Psychic Field. Eventually, still panting heavily, I am able to open my barriers a little further to more closely examine my host. Curiously, these UnOwN, unlike the Summons I had encountered earlier, were entirely of Gaia, and had been for a very, very long time if the impressions I was getting were accurate.
[QUERY] the Gestalt tried again. It wanted to know what I was doing here, and how I had reached this place. Twisting my thoughts around, I try to frame my answer in a manner that they would hopefully understand. From Arceus' boon, I knew that dealing with UnOwN was finicky at best and potentially disastrous at worst.
Their entire consciousness was based on them gathering in one giant gestalt. A single UnOwN by itself was less intelligent than an amoeba, but to make up for it their consciousness was vast, transcending distances and the fabric of reality alike. Not infinite, but a single UnOwN's passive sensory range could easily extend over the entire Canterhorn, while my own only extended about a couple city blocks when I was paying attention to them. Their real strength kicked in when they gathered in large numbers, expanding their ability to process information with each UnOwN added to the whole.
They didn't really understand how more cognizant, individualistic beings thought, and sapience could only be loosely applied to them, even in a very large gestalt. That did not, however, mean that they did not have their own goals and directives. It just made them more dangerous if you found yourself working at cross purposes to them, or caught in their web if they tried helping you but they misinterpreted your requests.
Finally, I settle on what I hope would be a format the Gestalt could understand.
[REPLY: PATRON; DIRECTIVE; UNCERTANTY]
[ANSWER: DISPLACEMENT; ERROR; DESIRE]
I couldn't fully conceptualize the thoughts down to a single word the same way the UnOwN could, but I tried my best, containing in them a projection of the ideas of my conversation with Arceus and what I was doing on this world, as well as my botched teleportation and that I just wanted to leave before anything unfortunate happened. Information swirled through the Psychic field around me as the Gestalt communicated and processed my reply. None of it made any sense to me, like watching raw binary scroll across a computer screen, only in unfiltered thought form.
My headache was coming back just thinking about it. I didn't even try to comprehend it.
Finally, the UnOwN settled down and returned their focus to me.
[REQUEST]
[OFFER]
I drew up short. The stronghold I found myself in was damaged. Badly. It was supposed to function as a hub for all of the UnOwN on Gaia, but something had gone wrong several thousand years ago, and now they were barely keeping its most basic functions from failing. They didn't remember what went wrong, their own records in the Gestalt mind patchy and incomplete thanks to its fracturing when the hub failed and data corruption over time. They also lacked the knowledge on how to fully repair things for the same reasons.
They were requesting I help them get the place back up and running. Requesting. Not demanding. It also wasn't particularly urgent to this Gestalt Fragment, though other Fragments might not agree. In return, they were offering to allow me to use the connection network through the UnOwN dimension once it was back up and running as an alternative to teleportation, as well as leading me back to the surface in the meantime regardless of my answer.
I briefly thought about it. It wasn't really much of a choice. If the network was as extensive as the conceptualization implied, then it would be too useful not to use, and having a guide out of this place would be much simpler and safer than trying to stumble my way out.
[ANSWER: ACCEPTANCE]
[REQUEST: EXIT]
The Gestalt Fragment's binary swirled around me in a way I could only think of as satisfaction, before a couple of the drones around me broke off.
[FOLLOW]
Not a command. A suggestion, but a very strongly insisted one.
I follow the drones through the darkness, psychic sight unseeing letting me make out the shape of the corridor so I wouldn't bump into anything. Occasionally I see a slight glow of light set into the stonework. Crystals glowing with power and elemental energy through the entire color spectrum, presumably for some use throughout the function of the ruin, but now defunct. The further we go, the larger and more common they become until I no longer needed to rely on my psychic senses alone to see where I am going.
And then we cross a threshold, and the sensations I was getting from the crystals slam into me like a freight train going Mach-10.
-o-o-o-o-o-
I come to with an "O" hovering over me. Its single eye blinking once before floating upward.
[FOLLOW] the Fragment suggested/insisted again, but I am still too busy just getting my breathing under control.
Power. Unfettered, unfiltered psychic power flows through me like never before, radiating from the pink crystals that practically surround me.
It was amazing.
It was terrifying.
It could be addicting if I wasn't careful.
Steadily reining myself in, I send out a PING. It takes no time at all to charge, more powerful by an order of magnitude than the one I'd released just a day before, but instead of expanding outward to blanket the entire world, and maybe even reflect off of the Moon above, it reflects and refracts off of the crystals that surround me, bouncing in and around and behind and giving me an almost perfect mental map of the entire ruin complex behind me, down to the detailed scrollwork etched around the runes inscribed along the wall, and barely, just barely, receiving a distant, muted echo of the foundation of Canterlot above. The details of the ping fade quickly as I make no effort to commit them to memory, too much information all at once to process, and one realization fills me with awe...
I was in the heart of the Canterhorn.