//------------------------------// // Act II, Chapter XIII // Story: Scarred Serpentine // by Metanoia //------------------------------// “How much longer do we have to wait? I know she’s a princess and all, but can’t they make the airship go a little bit faster for royalty?” Feather and River stood just outside the base cable car station. There were a few folks that came in and out of the structure, some with luggage, some with their souvenirs in their hooves, some without anything at all.  He had found out from the hotel staff that hitching a ride in the Bocoltán cable car system was a leisure for visitors and even locals alike, and he could see why. Whenever Feather looked up to the peak at the loftier station, he truly got the sense of how massive these mountain ranges truly were. “Stop being such a baby. Look at the view, why can’t you appreciate this lovely day?” Feather gestured all around them. He wasn’t lying: the sun was up and radiant but not too bright that it would hurt one’s eyes. River Moon snickered. “Sure, I’m the baby when you were the one who was all so romantic whenever you described Princess Twilight to me.” Her face reflected a smug mockery. Feather shot a hoof to his chest, blushing. He had indeed described the bookworm to her in great detail, albeit he was definitely not “romantic;” he was a mere friend of hers, that’s all! “I- That’s a totally unreasonable statement to make and that’s not true!” River slapped a hoof on his withers, pulling him closer and staring him at the eye. “How can you be such a moron sometimes?” “Wha- How am I the moron here? What you said wasn’t true...” “It’s as true as grass being green, Feather. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure the wedding gift is nice for the two of you.” “Wedding? Feather, you’re getting married?!” His stomach twisted. Feather could recognize that voice from a mile away. I was about to ask how you could make this situation any worse than it is! Why do they always come at the worst possible time?! “I’m not getting married!” He turned rapidly from River Moon, flaring his wings out of instinct (and adrenaline). “That was just a joke, nothing to see here. Just don’t listen to whatever she says.” Feather pointed a rather angry hoof at River, glaring, as if she were the accused and he was the victim in court. Feather allowed himself to smile as River stumbled on her words, blurting, “He’s the one who believes Equus is flat! Why should I believe anything that comes out of that pretty but stupid mouth of yours?” “You’re the one who believes that cats are aliens!” “Well, you’re the one that said the pyramids on the sun-” “Guys! Can we please calm down?” The two turned to face Twilight Sparkle. She looked just like how Feather had always remembered her: a purple mane with pink accents, a violet coat, a horn and a pair of wings. Ah, yes, and she still had that familiar tone that could de-escalate a heated exchange of words so effortlessly. She carried that saddle bag of hers she always had, wings flared out from their spar of words. “Sorry, Twilight.” River pouted a bit, Feather feeling that she could finally show some decency. “Yeah, sorry, Princess Twilight, even if Feather is wrong and has always been wrong and Equus is not donut shaped and-” “Anyway!” Feather stomped his hoof on the ground, ignoring River’s entire existence, “how’s the flight?” An awkward chuckle escaped his lips. She flashed him a simple smile. “Oh, the flight’s fine. What’s more interesting is down here on the ground, though, or should I rather say up here. To see a city this high up in the sky and all the Andalusian style architecture—I really should remind myself to visit South Equestria more often.” “Even though it’s more like west of Equestria, but whatever,” River snickered. “It is fascinating, isn’t it? Speaking of being so high up, how’s your breathing? Are you feeling lightheaded?” She shook her head. “Well, I was, but I got used to it quite quickly. Some of the others on board hadn’t a great time, though.” Twilight grimaced at what was presumably a nasty memory. “That’s good to hear- that you got used to it, by the way. A shame Rainbow couldn’t come over.” Twilight nodded. “Rainbow said she really wanted to come, but she’s going back to Wonderbolt training in the meantime. She said she wanted to try to wrestle hoof River Moon.” Waving a hoof to dismiss the sentiment, River made a deflating noise with her lips. “She better have a core as strong as mine and these babies.” River slapped a hoof on her other foreleg, flexing her muscle. She should really stop trying to slap herself like that, especially in public... He remembered something. “Oh! I haven’t even introduced you to River Moon yet!” Feather waved a hoof at her, the blue mare standing proud and dignified. Let’s hope she actually acts like it... “River, this is Twilight, and Twilight, this is River.” “I’ve heard a lot about you through the letter Feather sent me. Is it really true that you beat a minotaur at hoof wrestling?” She tilted her head. River happily nodded. “Twice, Princess Twilight. He may have huge muscles but he has the bone structure of a chicken compared to my ‘girly legs.’” Her expression turned sardonic at the end of her reply. Twilight put a hoof on her mouth as she giggled. “I see. No need to call me ‘Princess Twilight,’ by the way. Twilight is just fine. I don’t need any more ponies sucking up to me and following me around as if I’m some sort of movie star.” River squawked, “But of course they’d suck up to you, I mean, you’re an alicorn princess and all. I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen one, if ever.” Feather was glad that the two were well-intentioned with one another; their talk and flow going well. It was quite interesting to see his friends who have never met before talk to each other for the first time. It was like watching a crossover of two comic book franchises one swore would never happen. He didn’t have the time to think about that, though, when Twilight came to face him, her expression turned serious. “Feather, I wanted to ask you something because you hadn’t specified it in your letter.” She cleared her throat. “Has she... have you talked to her yet?” Feather wanted to say yes—and he almost did reply as such—but he let his face show a bit of disappointment as he shook his head. “Not since we left the retreat. I haven’t had many dreams these past few days; I don’t know why. Is it... because of her or is it because of me?” Twilight gave him a sad smile. “We don’t have to point hooves here, Feather. It doesn’t have to be anypony’s fault. I’m assuming she doesn’t even know I’m here, right?” “Why don’t we take this conversation back to the hotel, guys? Standing around like this doesn’t seem to be appropriate.” Feather had almost forgotten that they were indeed standing around by the side of the road. He even noticed a few ponies here and there taking peeks at them, particularly at Twilight, seemingly trying to hide the fact that they were staring. “That sounds like a good idea. C’mon, let’s go back to the hotel.” Hailing a cab, the three left that spot under the sun to go back to Viajeros de oro. It was a bit costly, but Feather booked a private tree house they could use so as to not disrupt their imminent discussions. This treehouse was loftier than the other ones, being obscured slightly by the trees. The upside was that it truly was private; no other soul outside this little structure could hear or see what went on inside. Twilight was drinking out of an exquisite glass filled with Lulada, a suggestion from River Moon when she had asked what she should drink. She occasionally let out a curious puck of her lips from the bitter but somehow sweet taste. Feather checked around him one last time. He noted how this particular treehouse hadn’t any windows, the one opening that allowed guests to come in covered by a veil, flapping softly in the wind. They truly were alone now, removed from the world. “Feather, I know you said you would put as much as you can in the letter you sent me, but could you please elaborate the story so far for us again? I really am intrigued by all of this.” He took a sip from a glass of water, setting it down before he started. “Of course I will. It’s not particularly easy to cram a story about interdimensionals and ancient curses in a letter, but here we are anyway.” River and Twilight leaned in to listen as he began, “Here’s what happened in our end: “River and I came to the Ohteotl retreat so we can, y’know, have our experiences and hallucinations and stuff. I’m sure you’ve read about this before, right, Twi?” She nodded. “Yes, I’ve read about it before. Ohteotl is a powerful entheogen that can create magical hallucinatory effects.” “Yes, and we took the brew on the first night. River said she had the usual Ohteotl experience: beasts, flashing images, stuff like that. I was having the usual experience, too, but then I saw... her.” Twilight observed him carefully. “Did she say anything to you then?” He instantly shook his head. “Nope. I barely even remembered it happening right after. It was like a dream and I just forgot, y’know?” The purple alicorn scratched her chin. “Carry on.” “We continued to take in the Ohteotl every night, and I started to actually have conversations with her as time went one. They were short, but conversations nonetheless.” “Hm.” Twilight asked, “What did you two talk about?” Feather thought about it for a moment. What would be the one thing to remember about our conversations? “Dreams. She talked about dreams, and she had a strong conviction with them, too. Once, she said something about people forgetting the things they experience in their dreams, the lives in them. She looked most especially sad at that moment.” Twilight put a hoof up. “Is it because that’s the manner in which she communicates with you? Through dreams?” He remembered that he mentioned in his letter how she made contact with him through his journeys asleep. Feather actually felt a tad guilty at the moment. “I think so. She said she liked showing me things through my dreaming. It’s how she tells me things when she doesn’t know how to say it herself.” Twilight tapped her chin, turning to River Moon. “And you said you saw her before in your Ohteotl experiences, right? He mentioned how you went to the retreat before.” River nodded. “That’s correct. She talked to me about feeling trapped. What’s interesting is that whenever she talks to Feather, I don’t see her, but when she talks to me, Feather can’t see her. She can’t talk to us at the same time.” “That’s what I told you about in the letter, Twi,” Feather interjected, “We had a theory that she was somehow stuck in some other realm or dimension we can’t access all the time, only either through Ohteotl or our dreams. That’s how we came to that conclusion: she can’t talk to us concurrently.” Twilight’s eyes lit in recognition. “Actually, some scientists think that Telepathine is not only found in entheogens like Ohteotl but in the pony body as well.” Feather was confused at the direction she was headed. “Hold on, why don't you expand that for us?” Twilight made that face she always had whenever she was about to elaborate something. “Okay. In Ohteotl there is a magical substance called Telepathine. Telepathine is named as such because it somehow connects thoughts and consciousnesses together, like a bridge that can’t be accessed at every occasion. Telepathine, theoretically speaking, can be found in the pony body as well, especially in the pineal gland and the lungs. I think that in your case, whenever you dream, it’s the same substance being released that’s found in Ohteotl.” This was a wave of new information to him. “So you’re saying that this Telepathine is somehow produced by our bodies?” Twilight shrugged. “It’s only a theory in the scientific world, but it looks like that’s what’s happening here. Although Telepathine would be more powerful through Ohteotl as opposed to its natural production in the body.” “That’s why she seems more grounded in Ohteotl experiences as opposed to dreams,” Feather realized. “I felt that I could see her more clearly during my experiences as opposed to my dreams. We certainly talked more then.” “And then there’s the fact that she may have been sacrificed in a ceremony and is now stuck between the afterlives,” River said cooly, sipping from her very own glass of Lulada. Twilight seemed perplexed by that statement. “Hold on, she was what now?” River glanced at Feather. “You didn’t tell her?” “Tell me what?” Twilight looked at Feather in concern, the two staring at him now. Picking up the glass of water once again, Feather took a sip from it and sighed. “I didn’t want to tell you through the letter. But remember how I said we did some digging and found some info?” Twilight nodded. “Well, I guess there’s no better time to explain this. “When we went to the library, we stumbled upon many revelations. Firstly, we discovered that she is actually some sort of myth, and the myth goes like this: she was a girl who lived in a city named Tlekokalli deep in the Amarezon rainforest, and they believed that they had to sacrifice ponies in order to raise the sun and keep the universe from dying out.” Twilight spat her drink. “What?!” “I had the same reaction. Anyways, what apparently happened was that she was chosen to be the next sacrifice, but she was unwilling. She was sacrificed either way, and what would normally happen was the sacrificed soul would move on to the afterlife. But I think that... because of her unwillingness, she somehow got cursed into being stuck between the afterlives; she is neither dead or alive, she’s trapped. “Tlekokalli has been lost for some time. There were ponies trying to find it, but they were unsuccessful in their endeavors. And now, here we are, trying to find her and bring her back.” When he looked back at Twilight, her bottom jaw was practically dislocated from her skull. They allowed her a moment of recollection before she spoke up. “I... wow, I was not expecting that.” Her expression suddenly turned remorseful. “And she was sacrificed against her will?” Feather and River gravely nodded. Twilight was quiet for some time, blanking out to empty space. “Did it say how we can break the curse?” “It only said to ‘come to her heart.’ Vague, I know,” River answered from beside her. “She said that if we were to find her, then we would have to find her home, to go to the Amarezon.” She pondered for a moment. “I don’t want to sound nihilistic, but isn’t this city lost?” Twilight continued, “If ponies from back then haven’t been able to find it, then how can we find it?” Feather and River glanced at each other. He started, “We found out that there was this one expedition to find this city under a Conquistador named Corsair. They travelled from the east, supposedly trying to find Tlekokalli. Are you following?” Twilight answered yes. “One of the stallions explained in a log how they met some locals, and they talked about the lost city itself from the words of their ancestors. They weren’t able to get to it because it seemed that one of them had an accident, so they were trying to leave as soon as they could.” Twilight leaned on the back of her seat, letting out a breath. “Wow... so they were close to finding it but had to come back because they had an accident?” “That’s what I think, but it could also be for a multitude of reasons. Celestia, even their Conquistador and another one of them went missing during the expedition. Maybe they saw something, too. Who knows?” “And by the way, we know where they roughly were during their voyage,” River said, prodding at Feather and his bag that was by his side. “Oh, yes! I haven’t told you about that yet, too, Twi. During our digging, we found out where they approximately voyaged to.” He picked an object from his bag and laid it out on the table. It was a map, correct side facing Twilight. “Their ship stopped around... there.” Feather pointed to a spot on the Amarezon river’s many winding passages. She scrutinized the spot which he pointed to. “Gee, that looks really deep in the Amarezon rainforest.” He removed his hoof and pointed to another spot on the map, a tiny, insignificant looking dot that read “La Orilla.” “That’s the closest city to it.” Feather looked up from it and looked at the two, eyeing them knowingly. “You see where I’m going with this?” Twilight gave him wide eyes as River smirked. “An adventure of a lifetime. Finding the lost city of Tlekokalli and saving a damsel in distress. Is this even reality anymore or is my drink just funny?” She picked up her glass and observed the liquid with an amused glare. “So, Twi, I know this’ll be hard to ask, and I already technically have but... are you going to help us? In finding her?” Feather’s simple smile faltered slightly as Twilight stared at them as if they were a bunch of conspiracy theories in a bar, drunk out of their minds talking about alien stargates and ufos. Twilight began, “Feather, I don’t want to say that you’re crazy, but... I genuinely don’t know if we’re going to find this city. I do believe you and that she’s stuck somewhere else, but...” She sighed. “It’s going to be difficult, to say the least. We have no idea what we’re getting into here.” He felt the pressure in his hoof as he pressed it down the table. “Twilight, I know this sounds completely insane, but you know River and I are going to do this regardless of whether or not you’ll join us. “I... whenever I talk to her, I see something in her that I can’t explain. She wants to go out, she wants to leave. She won’t admit that to me or River, and probably never will, but that’s the truth. “You know I can’t not do this, Twi. I’m just asking whether you’ll be there with us, regardless if we’ll actually get to meet Jade.” “Her name is Jade?” Twilight’s voice was surprised, her face awash with both guilt and fascination. Feather remembered that he hadn’t even put her name in the letter he sent her. “Crystal Jade.” Feather turned to look at River, saying it so simply. “It’s Crystal Jade.” Twilight put a hoof on her mouth and let out a breath, her eyes giving him the look of sincere contemplation. The silence between them felt oddly comforting as Feather gazed at Twilight, asking once more, “Will you join us in meeting Jade?” She took longer than he expected to answer, and he swore he could hear the chirp of the birds outside as time passed by. Feather simply placed his hooves by his person as he allowed her to think. Twilight removed her hoof from her muzzle. “It’ll be an adventure, that’s for sure. When do we leave?” The other two ponies looked at each other in that moment of elation, River giving a cute “Yes!” and Feather simply smiling. He had done it, they had done it. Princess Twilight Sparkle would offer her assistance now. “I’d have to look at the airship schedule for that. I think we’ll actually take a river boat through a leg of our journey there.” River’s eyes lit at his mentioning of the phrase “river boat.” “Wait, do you think they’ll let me swim in the Amarezon river?” She let out a gasp, like a filly hearing the chime of an ice cream cart. “I can even swim with the river dolphins!” As Twilight giggled at her odd but intriguing enthusiasm, Feather wondered how Jade would feel about all of this. They were getting closer and closer, even if they were technically further away. They had a spot where they could search, the help of an alicorn princess. They had a mare with the wits and humor, and they had himself. He was the most willing, the one who brought them all together. Would she have felt more hope seeing this?