The Road from Utica
Once more, the ponies and Spike stood in Sophoniba’s throne room. Once more Sophoniba herself, the Lady of Utica, sat on her elephant-shaped throne and looked down upon them.
So much was the same and yet how much was different! Last time they had stood here, Zecora had been bound in chains for her supposed crimes, refusing to speak in her own defence. Now she stood by her sister’s side, a soft smile playing upon her face as she regarded Twilight and the others.
Last time they had stood like this the ponies had been famished, their throats dry and parched, most of them gulping greedily out of the iced water that had been provided for them. Now they had been fed and watered generously out of Sophoniba’s hospitality, and they stood before the lady of the town in a neat line, heads up, necks straight and proud.
“Twilight Sparkle,” Sophoniba said, “is it so that thou hath found,
A way forwards, in which thou wilt be bound?
And that you mean henceforward to depart this place,
And to your destination set your face?”
Twilight bowed her head. “It is so, Lady Sophoniba. Thanks to your allowing us the free use of your library, I believe that I know where the Heart of the World may be found, and I know from speaking with one of your subjects, a former adventurer named Hamilcar, that Sunset Shimmer believed the same.”
“Believing a thing does not make it so,
And Sunset Shimmer met much woe,” Zecora said. “So it is said by Hamilcar’s account,
True, that she set forth to the Mount-“
“I beg you sister, peace, say not its name,” Sophoniba implored her. “Twilight, I do not for your own search blame,
And yet I bid you say not whence,
You’ll make your way when you go hence,
Too many have been lost seeking the Heart,
I do not wish my folk here to take part,
In searches more, causing more heartache than a war.”
“I understand,” Twilight said. “I understand you both. I will not speak the name of where we are bound, not here nor anywhere else in Utica now. And I understand you, too, Zecora; it’s true that just because Sunset believed something does not make it true, but I have reason to think it so myself, from my own research. I’m not just following in another pony’s footsteps.”
“Nevertheless I would you would not go,” Sophoniba declared. “I fear that you will meet a fate just so as Sunset Shimmer
To disappear into the sands and to be seen no more,
To be searched for and not found, to become a part of the old lore,
Surrounding the Heart of the World, until at last,
Your fate is no more than a sorrowful tale long past,
And your princess cries bitter tears anon,
As she weeps for her three daughters gone?
You have spoke wisdom to me, I recall,
Let me in turn now counsel you all,
Turn back from this, I do beseech,
Rest here a longer while, till each,
Of your thoughts homewards flies,
And all joy in Utica in your heart dies,
Then homeward bound and no more thoughts of this temptress that shall never found.”
“I thank my lady for her wise counsel,” Twilight said. “I understand it comes from a place of friendship and sincere consideration. And yet… I cannot take it. So long as my friends are resolved to stay and assist me then so too am I resolved to take the road laid out before me, and seek whatever lies at that roads end. I… I cannot do otherwise. My lady speaks from the heart, and I thank you that your heart has in this brief time grown to encompass us, but my own heart calls me on, and will drag with me chains unbreakable if I should try to resist. I cannot do other than I have set out to do. My heart forbids it. Though it break the heart of Princess Celestia I must attempt it, but I dearly hope it will not come to that, and with the help of my friends I’m… my hope is strengthened.” She would have liked to have said that she had no fears at all with her friends by her side, and perhaps that is what she ought to have said; but it would have been a lie, and this did not seem like the time for lies – if, indeed, there was any such thing as a time for lies.
It was a hard road they were bound for, and an uncertain one with an equally uncertain ending. Hamilcar’s story had given them a taste of what they could expect: bandits, a hard land which would give them nothing they had not already brought with them, sandstorms that would sweep them away if they could not find shelter.
Perhaps it was selfish of her to drag everypony – everyone, including Spike – away like this. No, Twilight was increasingly coming to think that there was no perhaps about it, it was selfish.
And yet they had agreed to it anyway. Even now, after hearing what Hamilcar had had to say, none of them had questioned her decision to go on, none of them had asked her to turn back or told her that they wished to do so.
Maybe they didn’t ask because they knew she would not, and perhaps too they didn’t say that they wanted to turn back because they would not abandon her. But nevertheless, they had agreed one and all to come with her, and she would not patronise them any more than she already had by acting as though their agreement was conditional or liable to change at any moment.
They were her friends. They were her most dear and beloved friends and they had agreed to come with her and share these perils with her. They deserved better than to have her doubt their fidelity, or their courage.
They had agreed to come, and she was resolved to go, and if their hearts changed then they could tell Twilight so themselves, she would not presume it upon their behalf.
It selfish of her, very selfish, not only to drag her friends into Qartaggia but, as Sophoniba said, to risk the heart of Princess Celestia who had already suffered so much.
It was selfish, and yet she was resolved.
Because… because she loved him, and she could not abandon him, or Krysta. Had it been Rainbow or Rarity or any of the others in that position she would have done just the same.
She was resolved.
And yet she could not deny a touch of nervousness about her at what lay ahead.
She could not say for sure that they would make it there, still less return.
“I hope good fortune you will not need,” Zecora said, “you are courageous indeed.
I’m sorry that I cannot go along, but from my family I have been gone-“
“Too long,” Twilight confirmed. “It’s fine, Zecora. We’ll miss you, and everypony in Ponyville will miss you too when they find that you’re not coming back, but this is your home, this is your family. Nopony can deny that this is where you’re meant to be, and after everything that you’ve already risked for us… I’m just glad you’re happy.”
“In that, Twilight Sparkle, we are alike indeed,” Sophoniba said, “now let me help you in your need,
Since I cannot discourage you from this, I’ll have to help you, it would bring me bliss,
To see you safe returned to Utica, your journey done, to rest awhile before you start for home.
You brought my sister back, so great a gift that any offered recompense would seem like thrift.
Nevertheless, be it observed by all who are here gathered in this hall,
That Twilight Sparkle and her friends are friends of Utica our town,
And friends of mine, your lady, little in renown.
You shall have all that you desire by way of supplies,
And to you Twilight, I offer up a prize,
Small, but which I hope you may appreciate,
Being as I hear you are, a scholar celebrate,
Therefore I say that once you stand before me,
Your journey done, and quest complete,
And all things accomplished when next we meet,
You may select from my library,
Any book you wish to savour,
Little enough to do you favour.”
Twilight felt a smile blossom upon her face. “Thank you, Lady Sophoniba, I… I think I have an idea already.”
Sophoniba chuckled. “We’ll look for your return, with tales to tell; ‘till then, good fortune all, and fare thee well!”
Sophoniba was as good as her word, outfitting the ponies with everything they could have wished for for this new stage of their expedition: water, casks of lemon juice to stave off scurvy, bread, dried fruits and nuts, fresh fruits and vegetables for the first stage of their journey, hard biscuits that would survive a long time spent on the road – or over the dunes in this case. There was more than the ponies could carry in their saddlebags, although they had each been given new saddlebags courtesy of the zebras of Utica, and as a result they had a large wagon bestowed on them, piled high with all the goods that they could not bear themselves.
Twilight was a little ambiguous about having the wagon, remembering what Hamilcar had said about Sunset’s large and cumbersome carts, but it could not denied that they could not carry all the supplies, and it was also pretty undeniable that they would need to carry a lot with them given how barren Qartaggia was said to be. It wasn’t as though they could rely on foraging, or buying fresh produce from farms they passed upon the way; at least not for long.
All of that being the case, they needed the wagon, at least at first. Twilight just hoped it didn’t slow them down too much.
Food and water and new saddlebags were not the only things that they had received from Sophoniba’s largesse: Ace was clad in a new suit of zebra armour. It was of plain metal, not gilded like the armour of the guard of Canterlot, and it had fewer segmented sections and more larger plates of metal covering her neck and back, and it didn’t fit around the wings naturally but Ace had to leave some of the flank armour off to expose them, and unfortunately there was no crest to the helmet. Nevertheless, Ace pronounced herself well satisfied with it, and it suited her to be back in armour after some time without ever since they fled Cirta.
Once more, they were leaving a town behind and plunging into a wasteland. However, the circumstances could not be more different this time, and nor could what they were taking with them.
Sophoniba and Zecora had already said their goodbyes, and so felt no need to turn up at the gates of Utica to see the ponies depart. Rarity’s new friend Hannibal was another matter, however, he arrived dressed in a cloak of canary yellow, with a bright sash of stretched across his chest and his fancy hat with the feather in it set jauntily upon his head.
As he approached the group, he bowed his head. “Rarity,” he said, “you have no cause to give me aid, a stranger after all the things I said; I taunted you with idle boasts, and you could have dismissed me as a braggart most disgusting. But you did not, to me you opened up your heart, and with your generosity you gave my dreams back to me. I will be forever in your debt, and grateful that to Utica you were sent. I have nothing to give to aid you in your journey, so to you I simply say… come back,” he said, breaking rhyme as he leaned forward to plant a kiss on Rarity’s cheek. “Come back, I beg of you.”
Rarity’s mouth hung open for a moment, a slight blush colouring her fair white cheeks. “Thank you, Hannibal. I shall come back; not only now, but later, to see how you have grown into your business.” She smiled. “In fact I shall make a bargain with you: by the time I open my boutique in Canterlot, I expect you to have at least two shops of your own, what do you say?”
“I say… I say I shall not disappoint,” Hannibal vowed, “not she who did the seeds of my success anoint.”
“Then we have an agreement,” Rarity said. “And now I simply must come back, if only to see how high you soar. Until then, I want you to go forward in all your beliefs, and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine.”
Hannibal bowed. “Good luck attend you, and bring you safe back here,” he said, “when you come this way again, your stories my father would love to hear.”
“We’ll try and bring some back with us,” Applejack promised. She was already in harness on the wagon, and as she spoke she began to heave upon the laden cart, pulling with all of her incredible strength, moving the vehicle designed for taller zebras down the road and out of the gates of Utica, with the rest of the ponies following all around it. Spike road in the wagon, but all the ponies walked, clustering around Applejack with the cart as they set off, away from Utica and on to the next stage of their journey.
The gates of Utica were closed behind them, and Twilight heard a horn blow from the walls, the harsh and brazen sound echoing off the clouds that hovered lazily above them, and though she knew not what the trumpet sound meant she could almost imagine it was the city bearing farewell to them.
She looked back, at the walls of the city that had been salvation and succour to them all.
Goodbye, Zecora; until we meet again.
"Rarity," Applejack said, as she pulled the wagon down the road – for they yet had a road to follow for this part of their journey, "Ah do declare, that boy is sweet on you."
"Applejack, darling," Rarity said, in a tone of harmless condescension, "you simply don't understand how we of the fashion world interact, it was nothing, nothing at all." She paused. "Wasn't it?"
"Yeah," Spike agreed enthusiastically. "It's just how… you fashion types act friendly to one another."
Applejack snorted. "Nothing my right forehoof. He's sweet on you. Sweeter than a pot of peach tea."
"Really?" Rarity asked. "That's… well, that is a little unfortunate."
"You don't like him?" Twilight asked.
"He's a very sweet young zebra, don't get me wrong," Rarity said quickly. "I will never say a word against his character, and I won't have a word said against him by anypony else, either."
"Nopony was going to say anything against him, Rarity, I don't think," Fluttershy pointed out. "He seemed a very nice zebra."
"Oh, he is, Fluttershy, very darling," Rarity agreed. "But it could never work between us, I mean… he's only just established himself in his home in Utica, is he going to leave all that behind and move to Ponyville to be with me? Does he expect me to abandon my career, my friends and all my aspirations just to be with him? No, no it could never work, there is too much distance between us."
"Does that really matter, if you're in love?" Twilight asked.
Rarity was silent for a moment. She smiled slightly. "If I could love a stallion, who would love me enough to throw away their whole life on my behalf I should be very well pleased," she declared. "But such a stallion could hardly be sensible and you know that I could never love anypony who was out of their wits."
Applejack chuckled at that. Rarity went on, "As I say, Hannibal is a very sweet young zebra, but not worldly or experienced enough for my tastes." She sighed wistfully. "My ideal stallion would be-"
"A jerk," Rainbow said.
"I didn't know that at the time," Rarity replied defensively. "At the time I went to the gala hoping – expecting, mind you – to find a delightfully charming stallion. Charm, yes, that is the thing. My ideal stallion, as I say, would be… a little older than myself, and with the added experience that comes with age; worldly, as I say; well-spoke; righteous, but charming. A gentlecolt."
"You don't want much, do you?" Rainbow asked.
"I'm worth it, darling," Rarity replied. "I want no less than I deserve."
"I think that sounds very nice, Rarity," Fluttershy said.
Spike didn't seem to think so, judging by the pout on his face, but the other ponies either didn't notice or pretended not to. Twilight was one of those who pretended not to. She was not blind to Spike's feelings towards Rarity – or the feelings that he thought he had towards Rarity – but did nothing about it, both because it was not her place and because she hoped that Spike's feelings would disappear on their own without the need for an argument between them. Perhaps that was cowardly of her, but she could understand why he held a boyish infatuation towards Rarity: she was not only beautiful but generous, intelligent, admirable in many respects, she had a lovely voice and she doted upon Spike what was more. But she doted on him like a little brother, and even before Rarity had spoken just now it was clear that Rarity did not see Spike as a possible romantic partner. He was too young for her, and he… well, it was a boyish infatuation, at least Twilight believed it was, something that would go away by itself as Spike grew older and wiser and more mature.
At least she hoped it would. If not… she didn't want to hurt Spike, but she might have to if it ever seemed that he believed his fancies and feelings could move into the realm of something more real.
Rarity did not love him; Twilight hoped it didn't hurt him when he worked that out.
"Thank you, Fluttershy," Rarity said. "I consider my expectations to be not unreasonable."
"I'd quite like to meet somepony gallant," Fluttershy said tremulously. "Somepony… somepony to sweep me off my hooves, if you know what I mean." She sounded almost ashamed to admit it, even amongst friends.
"Really?" Ace asked. "I never would have guessed."
"What would you have expected?" Fluttershy asked mildly.
Ace was silent for a moment. "That's a good point, I don't know really. I suppose I'm surprised because I… well, I'm kind of the same way. Not sweep me off my hooves, maybe, but… I don't know, I could for the knight in shining armour type." A wistful look crossed her face, and a sigh escaped her.
"Me next! Me next!" Pinkie cried.
"Are we just doing this now?" Rainbow asked.
Nopony answered Rainbow, but Twilight smiled as she said, "Go ahead, Pinkie."
"My picture perfect special somepony would have to know how to laugh," Pinkie declared as she bounced up and down alongside the wagon. "In fact knowing how to have fun is an absolute must! And it's not just having fun, either, they need to know how to give fun, too. I mean, you can have fun by laughing at other people but you're not giving fun, you know. My special somepony would have a heart full of joy, and want to share it with the whole of Equestria!"
Applejack chuckled. "Yup, Ah can imagine that. Speakin' for myself, my special somepony would be somepony hard workin', determined, with a strong back and the will to use it; someone reliable, always ready to lend a hoof or throw themselves into a crisis. Somepony that Ah could depend upon-"
"So basically, you want to marry yourself?" Rainbow said.
Applejack glared up at her. "Okay, how about you, Miss Smarty-flank? What kind of mare or stallion are you lookin' for?"
Rainbow hesitated. Her cheeks flushed. "I, uh, well… I don't know. Somepony awesome, I guess."
"You haven't thought this through, have you?" Rarity asked.
"No," Rainbow said firmly. "Because I'm normal."
Rarity rolled her eyes. "And of course, we already know who Twilight's special somepony is," she said, with a slightly sly smile playing upon her face.
Now it was Twilight's turn to blush. "I… that is that we, I mean…" she sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I… I… Lightning and I, we-"
"It starts with an L, darling," Rarity encouraged.
"I know," Twilight replied. "I just… it feels strange to say it when he isn't here, when he can't… say it back, you know? And besides, that's not why I… I mean I'd do the same if any of you were lost like Lightning is, you girls know that, right? This isn't just about how I feel about Lightning, it's about what I owe to him and to Krysta. You understand that, don't you?"
"Does it matter, Sugarcube?" Applejack asked.
"Probably not," Twilight admitted. "It's just that… I don't know, it feels like it might, or maybe that it should, or maybe… maybe I'm just overthinking this."
"It has been known to happen," Applejack murmured.
Ace snorted. "You've come across that too, have you?"
"You have no idea," Rainbow said.
"Come on girls, is this really necessary?" Twilight asked, but her protest was feeble and half-hearted, and to be honest when the girls and Spike started telling Ace the story about how she had almost completely lost it one time because she didn't have a friendship problem to report on for Princess Celestia, Twilight was glad when the attention of all her friends turned to the account. It… well, it got them away from talking about Lightning, which was a good thing because Rainbow didn't like Lightning very much and Twilight wasn't eager to debate that with her again right now. Yes, he had his flaws, and yes some of those flaws were substantial, but… but he had his virtues too, and in Twilight's mind the virtues outweighed the flaws, not least because so many of the flaws were situational and could have been improved with time in a place like Equestria.
He was, to paraphrase Rarity, worth the effort, in spite of his flaws, just as Rarity herself would have been worth the effort, or Rainbow Dash. Twilight owed him this, just as she would have owed her friends in a similar situation.
Just as all her friends felt that they owed her, because Twilight was under no illusion that they were here for Lightning's sake.
Still, none of that mattered now. They were all here, and they were all resolved, if only because Twilight was resolved. She would not ask them if they still wished to go on, she had not; they had agreed to come with her, though the road ahead was hard and uncertain, and if she continually stopped to ask them if they were sure that they still wanted to come, were they absolutely sure, then she would begin to patronise them.
And besides, she was glad of their company upon a path from which she could not turn away. She was resolved to this, to see it through to whatever end, to do whatever it took.
Whatever it took. Well, within limits. It seemed as though everypony else had focussed upon the dangers foretold for them in Hamilcar's account: bandits, an arid waste were shelter was scarce and food was nonexistant, violent sandstorms that threatened to sweep them away. Twilight had not been deaf to any of that, but she was as concerned with what Queen Dido's account had spoken of: the way that her impressive entourage had diminished the closer she got to the Heart of the World, not even through death and desertion as Sunset's party had but out of choice. She thought of the way that, in the end, even her closest companions had had to stay behind, and let her make the final ascent alone.
Nopony had talked about that. Twilight didn't believe that anypony wanted to talk about that, least of all herself, and yet… and yet it stalked her in her thoughts like a lion upon these desert plains.
She didn't want to lose any friends in this quest; nopony was more conscious of the risks that she had asked them to take than she was, but at the same time… she was glad they were here, so much more glad than she could probably ever express. They were not just her friends, they were the best part of her, she wouldn't have done anything without them. And yet it seemed she might have to leave them behind.
When that moment came, Twilight wasn't sure if it would be harder for her to do or for them to accept.
They moved through the fertile and farmable lands that lay around Utica, buying fresh food – saving their longer-lasting supplies for when they needed them, and fresh food had become impossible to come by – from the farmers round about. Sometimes Applejack pulled the wagon, other times Twilight simply levitated it, other times Rainbow or Ace took their turn, although it must have rankled with them both that neither of them moved the cart quite so easily as Applejack.
Eventually the time came when they had to turn off the road, and make their way into Qartaggia proper, the wasteland in the midst of which the Heart of the World was said to lie. It was as Hamilcar and Dido had described: nothing grew, nothing lived, the lone and level sands stretched far away on either side.
And yet, as they crossed the plains and traversed the dunes, there was signs that someone had lived here at one point; Hamilcar had described ruins in which Sunset's group had taken shelter from the sandstorm, and Twilight's friends saw sign of similar ruins here and there, freestanding walls or the last remains of an ancient road, a column rising up out of the sand. Who had built them nopony could say, after all Queen Dido had described this area as being barren and lifeless even in her day, when the First Empire was at its sight. What had predated that, then? Twilight didn't know, and although as a scholar she felt the mystery tugging at her curiosity, she could not honestly say that she would have come this way without a pressing need to drive her on, nor could she pretend that she would come this way again without that need.
Despite the barrenness of their surrounds, despite the heat of the sun beating down upon them, despite everything the spirits of the ponies remained high. They were well supplied, and more importantly they had one another to keep themselves supplied in the most precious commodity of all: good company. Pinkie sang – well, everypony sang at some point, but Pinkie sang more than most – while Applejack told stories about the Great Seedling and other such farm tales; Ace told the story about the island of guano she had been ordered to police off the coast of Manehatten, and it was every bit as disgusting a story as it sounded; Rainbow talked about the Wonderbolts, and Rarity about fashion week in Manehatten, both talked about their own ambitions, all the things they meant to do and how they meant to do them, their dreams and how step by step they would make them come true; Fluttershy told stories about her animal friends, who were revealed to be a complex community with a rich life going on right under the noses of everypony else, and none of them knew but Fluttershy.
And in such good humour they traversed the desert of Qartaggia.
And Raven watched them.
“We should fall upon them now,” Ardeth Bey growled from where he stood beside her, observing the progress of Twilight and her cheerful friends. “They are unwary, and would be taken by surprise.”
“Do not mistake the appearance of careless for the reality of it,” Raven replied. “They have but one guard with them but she is very talented.” A part of her thought that Ace had deserved the captaincy more than Shining Armor, but of course there was more to being Captain of the Guard than mere skill in a fight; Ace had no taste for politics, and she was not the sort pony to win the easy favour of Princess Celestia. Besides, she probably wouldn’t have been happy elevated to high rank.
“If they are aware of us, why do they do nothing?” Ardeth Bey demanded.
“Because we are not yet threatening,” Raven said. “Two figures, watching; we may be threatening, or we may not; as we are we do not merit a response.” Or perhaps they really had not been noticed; Ace was good, but she wasn’t omniscient, after all.
Ardeth Bey snorted. “In either case,” he growled. “They do not have the numbers to stand against us.”
“No,” Raven agreed. “And yet I ask for a chance to resolve this without the need for violence.”
Ardeth Bey looked at her.
“Have I not proven my word?” Raven demanded. “Have I not spoken true? Do you doubt me yet?”
“How can I trust one whom I do not know?” asked Ardeth Bey. “What do you wish to do?”
“I hope to persuade them to leave, before you have to make them,” Raven replied. She hoped to persuade them to go before they were caught in a battle which, for all her good intentions, there was inevitably the risk that somepony would get hurt.
“This Twilight Sparkle will listen to you?”
Raven snorted. “Twilight Sparkle? No. But there is one amongst her company who can be persuaded to betray her. A weak link. Somepony who is already reluctant to participate in this quest, and dubious of the reasoning behind it. Somepony who will deliver them into our hooves.”
And in so doing, save them all.