//------------------------------// // Revelations // Story: And Hell Followed // by BaeroRemedy //------------------------------// It was about four in the morning and Sunburst hadn’t slept yet, he couldn’t. He had once again buried himself in Twilight’s research notes in the library. The closed mana loop had been in there, so if Twilight knew about it that meant she knew there was a pool too. There had to be a hint of where it was, how to get to it. He knew it wouldn’t be in the notes though, he had been holding out hope but it was all but gone now. No way would she keep something like the location of an independent mana pool in research notes. Even the acknowledgement of a closed loop system had only been hinted at with a single circle. There was that little thought digging in the back of his mind about Twilight knowing. If she knew about the pool and if these things were still smart...well it made guessing what those things were digging for a bit clearer. They couldn’t set hoof in the castle because the crystal created an echo chamber of pure magic that would turn them, so they were going around it. Get to the pool directly, overwhelm it and then get to the survivors inside. Sunburst wasn’t quite sure if they had the numbers to do that yet, but he wasn’t keen on finding out. He also knew he couldn’t tell the others about what those things might be doing. Things were already tense, already stressed enough. If he told them all that they were now in a race against time, then it would only make things worse. He usually wasn’t one for caring about how others felt in situations like these, but their panic would only make his life harder. It was the third or fourth time in the last week he had gone through the notes on the castle. Every page felt familiar, it felt like he could recall all of this information exactly how it was written at this point. He was still missing something, only this time he wasn’t sure if it was right in front of his eyes. “I need more information…” Sunburst resolved with a nod. All of these books hadn’t come from the library, they had come from Twilight’s room. From her personal collection. These couldn’t be all the notes she had. There had to be more. He looked at the sleeping bundle that laid on the mattress next to him. Flurry Heart. A sigh escaped his lips as he thought about the foal...he hadn’t been able to give her a lot of his time lately with the pace that he was working at. Luckily the others had been more than accommodating and took care of her when he couldn’t, but it still weighed on him a bit. Yet another reason to double down on his efforts: Flurry Heart needed her parents. Sunburst had to fix this, if not to save his own life then for Flurry’s sake. The stallion stood and headed off, carefully avoiding the stacks of books he had set up around his corner. At this time of night he was always careful to be quiet. During his first few nights here he had been rather careless and got an earful from Rarity and Bon Bon about keeping it down. So he crept through the halls as quietly as he could. Twilight’s room had been declared off-limits by Spike and the little dragon was the only one who had gone in there since this all started. Spike had his own room but never slept in it, opting to instead spend his nights in Twilight’s. Sunburst stood at the door for a moment, gathering his courage and composure, and then knocked softly. Beyond the portal he heard the grumblings of the reptile and the shuffle of feet across the crystal floor. The door opened to reveal a sleepy and bleary-eyed Spike standing on the other side. “What’s wrong now?” He asked with a yawn, his serpentine tongue extending out of his mouth a little. “We gotta go outside again or something?” Spike rubbed his eyes and stretched, yawning yet again. “No, I need to talk to you.” Sunburst...wasn’t good at talking to others. He was better at reading and theorizing, crafting new ideas and applications for existing ones. Socializing was never his strong suit. “I need to see what other books Twilight has in there.” “Why?” The request seemed to wake Spike up right away, his green eyes now narrowed and looking at the unicorn. “I already gave you all of her notes, what else do you want?” The door closed a little more so that only Spike could fit through it . “I..” Sunburst sighed. “I don’t know.” He brought a hoof up to his face and did his best to stop his frustration from boiling over. “Listen, Spike, there’s a chance we can save Twilight from this I think...but I need your help. She knew something and it’s not in her notes. It’s something she wouldn’t keep out in the open.” He started to ramble but stopped himself when he saw the young dragon just stare at him. “Do you really think you can save her?” The defensive indifference left Spike’s voice and was replaced by a small twang of hope. “Like..actually save her?” His feet shuffled and his scaled hands rubbed together nervously. “I think we have a chance, but I need to know where the mana pool is in the castle.” The door opened a bit more and Spike looked up at the stallion. “If she knew about it, if she knows about it, then it wouldn’t be in her research notes. It’s too important for that.” “Okay…” Spike pushed the door open and stepped inside, allowing the pony to enter. The interior of the room was most likely just as Twilight left it: the bed was made, the curtains closed, Twilight’s desk had an open pot of ink with a quill still in it and a half-finished parchment on top of it, a bookshelf against the wall opposite the bed was missing a few books but was stocked and kept tidy. The only sign that something was off was the basket beside the bed with the bedding inside tousled. “Just...don’t mess anything up, please. Twilight likes things to be where they’re supposed to.” Sunburst nodded and entered the room, his eyes immediately scanning the surroundings. Of course, the first thing he did was make a beeline to the bookshelf. He was looking for something Twilight had written herself, probably unmarked. The amount of first edition books that filled the the alicorn’s personal collection made Sunburst jealous. Three of them were Star Swirl the Bearded’s treatises on magic and mechanics of mana, volumes which made Sunburst’s jaw almost drop. There were also books on just about every subject in magic from defensive spells, offensive, transmutation, and teleportation. The only book that truly stood out amongst the valuable collection was the original Friendship Journal, the one written by the Elements themselves. “Do you know if she had a personal journal of some sort? A diary?” These books were all fascinating, but he knew they weren’t what he was looking for. Twilight wouldn’t write notes in those books, they were far too rare and important. He needed something more personal. “I...don’t know if she would like anyone reading that.” Spike moved to stand in front of Twilight’s desk. His eyes fell to the floor. “She’ll be mad if I let anyone read her diary.” Sunburst had to hold back a sigh. He understood how some ponies wanted to maintain boundaries from life before, but there was simply no time for that. “Spike.” Sunburst approached the dragon and rested a hoof on his shoulder. “If I find what I’m looking for, I can fix this. We can get Twilight back, she can tell us how this started and we can fix everything.” He was confident they could get Twilight back, but the rest of those were hollow promises. All of those were possible, but the probability of all of those happening were...slim. “I..” Spike closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I guess…” He ran back over to Twilight’s bed and reached his arm under the mattress to retrieve a key. The dragon came back over to the desk and unlocked a drawer, inside was a small diary with Twilight’s name stenciled on the front. “It’s all in shorthand, though...Twilight’s own brand. She created it.” “Can you read it?” Spike nodded and took the journal in his claws. “Help me, then. Help me save Twilight.” ---- Cheerilee yawned and stretched out, the sleep leaving her body as she started to wake up. The warm soft body pressed against her chest brought a smile to her face. Her hooves wrapped around the smaller body and she pulled it closer, nuzzling it gently. A small groan and yawn came from the filly she was cuddling. “Cheerilee...lemme go…” Scootaloo groaned quietly as she wiggled in the mare’s grasp. Despite the protests, the pegasus didn’t actually try to get away. Cheerilee relented and let the filly go and finally opened her eyes. “You two are adorable.” Elytra was laying on the floor with a pillow and blanket she had retrieved from her room last night. “I could never go hungry again around you.” That made Cheerilee’s cheeks heat up a little and helped wake her up as well. “I’m not adorable…” Scootaloo grumbled as she sat up and ruffled her little wings. The rejection made both of the adults giggle. The filly plucked a feather and spat it out with an annoyed look on her face. “Breakfast time?” Elytra asked as she stood, stretching out herself. The shell on her back parted and her glossy transparent wings spread out and buzzed. “I don’t think the floor was good for my back…” “Breakfast sounds good.” The question of whether or not Elytra had any sort of spine to injure crossed Cheerilee’s mind but she opted not to voice it as she got out of bed. She jogged in place for a moment to get her legs working and shake the stiffness from her knees. “Yeah, I don’t think I need any actual food.” Elytra spoke as she lifted Scootaloo up from the bed and placed the pegasus on the reclaimed scooter. “I’ll still join to get something to drink, though.” “I missed this.” Scootaloo grinned and started to beat her wings slowly and scooted along at a walking pace. “Wish I could go faster…” The grin dropped as the bruise on her back started to throb. “Just take your time, dear.” Cheerilee went in front of the group and opened the door. Scootaloo was the first to leave and Elytra followed close behind. The teacher brought up the rear as she watched the two in front of her: the filly would start to waver and swerve some and the changeling used her horn to help when needed. It was sweet. “Scoots?” Applebloom and Applejack came from their shared room, both of them with dark bags under their eyes. It was the filly that spotted her fellow Crusader and called out to her. “Where didja get your scooter from?” “Elytra-” Scootaloo stopped in front of her friend with a huge grin on her face. “-she found it outside and put it back together!” Scootaloo did a small spin on her scooter and laughed. “I can actually get around again!” “You’ve been outside?” Applejack spoke, her voice low and flat. “Um…” Elytra shut down and withdrew into her metaphorical shell. “Y-yeah.” That familiar nervous thrum came from the changeling’s wings. “I went out for stuff for the group at first...I-it’s actually how I got that cider from the other day.” “How long?” The question was simple, but the tone behind it wasn’t comforting. “Applej-” Cheerilee started to speak but the farmpony held a single hoof up to her. “Ah’m not talkin’ to you. Ah’m talkin’ to the changeling.” Applejack stepped forward and puffed out her chest, pushing it against Elytra’s chitin. “How long?” The changeling was usually just a hair or so taller than Applejack, but now it seemed like the pony towered over her. “E-ever since y-you realized what I w-was.” Elytra’s eyes were wide and filled with fear, the thrum of her wings getting louder and louder. “I-I just wanted you to trust me. I th-thought that...that if I could prove that I could help…” “A week.” Applejack hissed. “And Ah don’t see no scratches on you. So those monsters ain’t been botherin’ you either.” Cheerilee stepped forward but Applejack extended a hoof and pushed her away, her eyes never leaving the shapeshifter’s. “Gonna guess y’all can use your magic out there? Bet that comes in mighty handy.” “I-it does-” A hoof swept Elytra’s legs out from under her then slammed into her chest. Applejack was a pony of pure rage and anger as she continued to kick the now prone changeling. Cheerilee acted and leapt onto Applejack’s back. She wrapped her front legs around the other mare’s neck and tried to drag her away. The farmpony bucked Cheerilee away and stomped back over to Elytra. “Ah risked my life yesterday.” She growled out. “My brother gave his!” The growl turned into a massive roar full of hurt. “You coulda prevented this! Big Mac didn’t have to die!” The commotion had roused the other occupants of the castle, everypony but Rarity, Sunburst and Spike coming to see what was going on. “Next time we gotta go outside...it’s on you. Ain’t no one riskin’ their life for your sorry hide.” Applejack sneered and turned around, stomping her way towards the stairs. “Next death ain’t nopony but you, cockroach.” “Elytra…” Cheerilee went to her friend’s side. Most of the cracks on the changeling’s chitin from saving Scootaloo had been fixed but now there were more, with an added dent right on her chest. “Are you okay…?” “Fine…” Elytra muttered as she shrugged Cheerilee off. “I’ll...I’ll be in my room if you need me.” She limped off to her room and shut the door behind her, leaving everypony looking at Cheerilee. ---- “Should we go check that out?” Spike asked as he put the journal down and looked at the door. “That sounded bad.” Sunburst placed the blank book he had been filling with notes down and looked at Spike. They had been at this for hours now. Earlier in the morning he had retrieved Flurry Heart and the alicorn foal was sleeping like a log on Twilight’s bed. A few times she had woken up and Sunburst would have to take care of her but other than that their routine had become like clockwork: Spike would read a passage, Sunburst would take down any relevant information and they would move onto the next. They had started all the way back when the castle first appeared and had been working their way forward slowly. “Interpersonal problems.” He commented. “Common, expected.” He didn’t mean to sound cold, but he was being honest. “They’ll get over whatever it is. They want to survive and they know fighting will only hurt that goal. They’ll be fine.” He motioned towards the journal. “Can we continue?” “Yeah, sure.” Spike turned back towards the desk and picked up Twilight’s coded journal again. “Alright..uh..” The dragon skimmed over the page until he found where they had left off. “Six Thirteen, One thousand and five.” Last year in the summer, the last entry was months before this one. “The map is connected. After Starlight used it I had to figure out what made it work. Massive source of magic below. Will investigate later.” Spike looked up. “The cutie map?” “It sounds like.” Sunburst stood and placed his own notes down. His usual habit of staring into the middle distance while thinking kicked in. His brain went over all of the relevant information and he stroked his beard. The cutie map was in the room that Twilight called the Hall of Harmony, which was in the dead center of the castle. It was certainly possible that there was a direct connection from the mana pool to the map table. It would explain the map’s magic qualities if it was linked directly to a massive source of unfiltered magical energy. “Can we wait until after breakfast to continue?” Spike asked as his stomach audibly growled. “Please?” Sunburst could only roll his eyes and nod. He knew pushing Twilight’s assistant wasn’t going to go well if the dragon was hungry, so it was better to get this over with. Both creatures left the room. Spike ran ahead of the stallion to meet up with Scootaloo and Applebloom and probably talk about whatever drama just happened. Sunburst stopped and fixed his glasses with a hoof and let out a long and tired sigh. “Sunburst, darling?” His attention was drawn towards another door, this one with Rarity poking her head out of it. “Um..I do hate to bother you, but can you come in?” Another delay, most likely another problem. “What is it?” He approached the door, which was opened up the rest of the way by the unicorn for him. He stepped in to see Sweetie Belle on the bed and coated in sweat. “How is she doing? Any updates?” The health of the filly was one of his smaller concerns. He hoped she survived of course, but she had proven that the castle worked and that’s what he had needed. “Well she has been asleep since she...changed back.” Rarity sat on the floor next to the bed and kept her brilliant blue eyes fixed on the filly. “She has been having fits on and off and she has been talking in her sleep.” Sunburst raised an eyebrow and motioned for her to continue. “Hungry, dig, purge, kill.” Rarity’s look worried as she sighed deeply. “Those are the ones I could understand. What do you think?” “Well…” Sunburst sat down and he looked at the restless unicorn on the bed. “I assume those are the more primal thoughts she had outside. They are probably still in her subconscious and pushing their way into her dreams.” Sunburst thought about the words for a minute and ‘hmm’d’. “It also gives us a bit more insight into what they’re thinking and doing, but we won’t know more until she wakes up.” He had no other thoughts at the moment. Speaking to Sweetie Belle would be far more illuminating than trying to dissect her dreams while she was asleep. “Let me know when she does, okay?” “Yes, of course.” Rarity gave a small smile. “Thank you, Sunburst. I truly appreciate all you’ve done here.” He only nodded and stood up. It was a nice sentiment, but appreciation would get them nowhere at the moment. “If it’s not too much trouble-” He started, remembering something important. “-Flurry is asleep in Twilight’s room. I’m going to go get some food, can you keep an eye on her?” He hated pawning off his charge on other ponies, but it had to be done more often than not these days. “Of course, darling. It’s the least I can do.” Rarity waved him away. “Now go eat, I will go get her in a minute.” That was a weight off of his mind, one that would let him think a bit clearer. With another nod and a smile of his own, he left the seamstress and her sister to their own devices. As he walked, for the first time in what felt like a year, he had no thoughts. No theories floated through his mind, no memories and no worries bothered him. He stared at the architecture of the palace and admired some of the decoration choices. It was nice to just forget for a moment. Even hearing the distant sounds of ponies eating their breakfast didn’t pull him out of it. It wasn’t until he was about to turn into the dining room from the main hall that his mind started working again. His eyes had drifted to the entrance to the Hall of Harmony and his hooves soon followed. He pushed the doors open and walked over to the map in the middle of the room. The large crystalline table was surrounded by six massive chairs and one smaller chair, each one decorated with the cutie mark of an Element of Harmony save for the smaller one. A map of Equestria rose from the table, a magic projection no doubt. He had seen it only once before, but it looked the same then as it did now. It was giant and solid. He walked around it a few more times. Twilight had said she would investigate the map and it wasn’t like the Princess of Friendship to not follow-through on a promise like that. So what had she discovered? He looked downward and found several marks on the crystal floor below him, they almost looked like massive scratches. His eyes followed them right to Twilight’s throne and the chairs belonging to Spike and Rainbow Dash and then to the map itself. Almost like it had been dragged. It had been dragged. “I need help…” He murmured before running off to the dining hall. When he barged in, every eye fell on him. Everypony but Elytra and Rarity was sitting down to eat, which was good. The more ponies he had access to, the better. “I need your help. All of you.” “What for?” Applejack was the first to ask. She sounded different, angrier, like she was ready to snap at a moment’s notice. “If you need somepony to go outside, go talk to the bug. We ain’t doin’ it.” “I don’t care about whatever is out there right now.” Sunburst huffed and rolled his eyes. “Listen, I know where the pool is beneath the castle but we need to move the map first.” The stallion turned and moved to the door. “So come on, all of you!” Nopony moved, which only made his temper flare. “Now!” He had no time for their problems or attitudes, so he made sure to sound as authoritative as possible. The ponies all rose slowly, some more grumbly about it than others. He marched out of the dining hall and into the map room and waited. One by one they all filed in and took up positions around the table. “We need to move Twilight, Spike, and Rainbow’s chairs first then we can get to the table.” The amber stallion took up position at Spike’s chair, Applejack, Cheerilee and Bon Bon joining him. “On three. One. Two. Three.” With a grunt of effort, they all planted their rear hooves on the ground and pushed the hefty crystal chair. It took several minutes to scoot the thing even a few feet but it would have to do. The group rotated out for the next two chairs. Pinkie, Meriwether, even Applebloom, Rumble and Diamond Tiara helped. Not having eaten all of their breakfast mixed with sleep having been hard to come by for several ponies in the room made the work long and hard. It took almost half an hour to push all three chairs far enough away, which only left the hard part. The entire group took up spots on the opposite side of the table now, all in front of the other four chairs.Twilight, with how strong her magic was, had been able to move this all by herself. Granted she had to drag it and couldn’t lift it. Sunburst could only hope that nine ponies and a dragon matched the strength of one alicorn. “On three!” He shouted, sweat already making his mane stick to his face and dirty his glasses. “One! Two! Three!” All ten creatures gave it everything they could, putting every last drop of their strength into the act of moving the enormous crystalline table. Slowly it started to move, only fractions of an inch at a time. The look of effort and exhaustion on the faces of the other survivors was apparent and extreme, but they needed more. It wasn’t long before a hole started to appear beneath where the table sat. It took almost an hour with small breaks to rest in between bouts of pushing to get the opening beneath the table big enough for one of the adults to fit in. The sunlight streaming in through the windows around the room lit up the darkness below just enough to let everypony see a long spiraling crystal staircase descend into the depths of the castle. “F-finally…”