The Eternal Peak
The Broken Bridge
A waterfall?
Of sand?
This place only seemed to be getting stranger than it already was. Fluttershy had barely emerged from the other end of the long corridor, blinking in the sunlight, when the rushing noise had assaulted her ears. Or maybe caressed them… It was hard to tell with the ever-changing acoustics.
But there were a few easy things to see the moment the Pegasus looked around. The first was that the corridor had ended and the surface she was standing on ended abruptly about 5 metres past the end, petering off gradually, as if something giant had fallen on top of it and snapped the span.
The Basin
In front of her lay a massive chasm. Near flush with the outer wall of the corridor was a line of cliffs, blocking access behind her, while on the other side of the chasm was what appeared to be some kind of a waterfall. But this waterfall didn’t have water. A more accurate description would have been to call it a sandfall.
And that was literal. A seemingly endless supply of flowing sand was falling from the top, cresting the lip of the higher line of cliffs and landing on the floor of the chasm. But even that wasn’t accurate.
It wasn’t really a chasm; it was more of a basin. It was a riverbed, walled up on two sides by the cliffs, the floor a lethargically shifting mix of sand particles. Fluttershy herself was standing on the lip of the corridor, on the verge of falling the short distance into the basin. But there was one problem, how would she get out again?
But the answer was simple, another platform, higher then the one that she was standing on, was situated on a cliff face on the other side of the basin. The cliffs on that side were higher than on her side, and there might have been an unbroken way up to that platform at one time.
At one time…
But now what once might have been a bridge was broken, split into jagged segments. Some portions were still standing freely, staying strong in the face of time and the moving sand. Each of these portions were towering high above the floor of sand, seemingly unreachable. There were three segments in all, and a part of the bridge that had fallen down was peeking out of the ground before the first segment, giving the impression that one could start up the non-existent bridge from there.
The Broken Bridge
But apart from that there seemed to be no way along. The platform was much, much too far away to fly to, and even the closest segment would be a stretch. Even her wings wouldn’t be much help, weakened as they were.
But there was movement in the basin other than that of the sand. Ribbons streaked into the sky, anchored in some places to the desert floor, unable to escape. Could they help her up?
But there was no way of knowing exactly how they would react to her. Would they be angry? Fluttershy didn’t like to make things angry, or annoyed…
But how else would he get up to that platform on the other side? And was that even the right place to go to? There was so much else in this basin…
Actually, there wasn’t.
The basin was like a riverbed, stretching along while being bordered on two sides by some sort of wall, in this case the cliffs. To Fluttershy’s left and right the basin snaked out of sight.
But that wasn’t all…
The remnants of more bridges lay in the distance on both sides, as if there had been multiple passes all intact at one point, but that they had all succumbed at one point or another. These bridges were in various states of disrepair, but none were fully intact.
And was there even much point travelling to them? The closest bridge was at least half a kilometer away to her right, and it would be incredibly difficult fighting against the sand current.
So she would have to try and get over the bridge in front of her…
Fluttershy took a hesitant step forward, edging closer to the lip that signified the end of the corridor entirely, leading only to open air and, a short way below, the sand floor.
She hesitated before taking the crucial step, the step that, without even knowing it, meant she had embarked on the long and grueling journey to the mountain. The edge of the corridor was the first step into the world, away from the sunken pit.
She was on her own now.
WHUMP!
Fluttershy screwed up her eyes, expecting some sort of pain or jarring from the impact. But nothing came. Her wings hadn’t provided enough lift to level her out and her scarf had no symbols, so there had been no way to slow her descent, but surprisingly the sand had cushioned her, welcoming her.
It had seemed almost… happy… As if she was an old friend that it had been reunited with. The flowing motion and sea-like effect enhanced that, almost making the desert seem truly alive, dancing around her in a never-ending celebration.
But what now? She couldn’t just sit there in the sand, letting it flow around her all day.
Fluttershy opened her eyes, letting the sun shine into them and light up her world, if only for a moment. She had landed almost directly underneath the lip of the corridor, slightly to the left as the wind blew her in the air. The segments of the bridge were towing above her now, spearing the sky.
But how would she get out of this place? She would have to explore, as frightening as that prospect was. Even the constant reassurance of the dancing sand couldn’t completely eliminate the traces of fear in the cloaked mare’s heart.
But these ribbons had helped her before, maybe they would again. She would just have to-
What was that?! Movement?! A glowing light from the corner of her eye, disappearing as soon as she looked at it?!
A small formation of rocks lay to her left, rising only barely above the landscape, only a modicum of alteration in this mostly flat place. Actually, there seemed to be a lot of rock formations, but they would come later, this one had glowed, and she knew that she had seen something move, if only slightly. Unfortunately, her sensitive ears would be of no use here as the roaring of the distant falls enveloped and carried away the telltale traces and noises that accompanied small animals and other life.
So the only option now was to go and investigate…
The rocks only lay a short distance away, but the sand would make that more difficult, but even as she started moving the sand seemed to understand and shift itself to suit her needs, flowing from behind her and pushing her along on its crest.
And in no time at all she was in front of the rocks.
They were not much to speak of, but even so they were there. And there was something moving behind them. Fluttershy started to move around, hoping to get a glimpse of what it could be, anything at all…
She gasped. The horrible thing in front of her glaring at her, overbearing in every sense of the word, horrible to look at. Fluttershy edges her eyes open slightly in an attem-
Nothing. There was nothing there. It had only been a trick of the light. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. In front of her stood another of the glowing orbs, nestled in the rocks, floating gently, never touching the ground. There were no cloths in sight this time, but instinctively Fluttershy knew that this was the same thing that had given her the wonderful scarf of flight.
She moved closer, and closer, and closer…
So close now, almost within touching distance…
A sense of calm overtaking her, slowing her thoughts and quieting her fears…
No surprises, only a gift…
CHIIIIIIRP!
What?!
In an instant, Fluttershy leaped forward, accidentally brushing the orb. She almost seemed to sink into it momentarily before it ‘burst’, the glyphs contained within spiraling out, the familiar golden lines flowing into her already existing scarf, weaving in and out.
What was happening?
And then the golden lines were gone, leaving nothing. Taking a glance behind her Fluttershy noticed that she didn’t have to try so hard to find her scarf.
It had grown.
Somehow, the glyphs had actually known that there was something there and had made her scarf longer, even going so far as to give the symbols, placing them on the fabric, giving her access to the limb that she had once lost.
It truly was a beautiful sight; a trailing piece of fabric that she could say was hers. A sense of accomplishment washed through her. She was glad that she had bumped into the orb. She almost hadn’t too, if that noise hadn’t shot thro-
Wait, what?
She almost hadn’t too, if that noise hadn’t…
Hadn’t too, if that noise…
If that noise…
NOISE?!
What about the noise?! In her excitement, Fluttershy had forgotten about the noise, the loud chirping that had filled the air, permeating everything. It had sounded eerily similar to that of the White Cloak, only slightly different, a more youthful, bouncy noise, as if the thing that made it was very young.
The timid Pegasus cautiously raised her head above the top of the rock formation, trying to see something…
Ribbons? Check.
Bridge segments? Check.
Sandfall? Check.
Giant swarm of cloths moving through the air? Che- wait, what?
An incredible ‘flock’ of cloth fragments was flying along, a dense swarm. It moved towards one of the gaps of the bride span, and started joining together. Were they helping?
Fluttershy let out a gasp, a sharp noise that cut through the air. It sounded vastly different for some reason… But that was nothing, these cloth fragments were joining together, helping her, making something…
They were building a bridge.
What had once been a loose assortment had become one, turning into a giant floating ribbon, one end joined to one of the ends of the bridge segments, the other joined to the piece of the fallen bridge that stuck from the ground.
The cloths were giving her a way across.
More ribbons were sticking from the ground, swaying invitingly to her, begging her to let them free. She wanted to get to the higher platform, and they wanted her help, so who was she to deny them that.
But how had that first cloud gotten free?
A slight movement in the distance, a shape, something trailing behind it. Was it alive?
CHIIIRP! Chirp chirp… CHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRP
Well, it was loud. And it was heading close to her.
Near silent, Fluttershy ducked beneath the rocks, hoping that it hadn’t heard her. Near silent…
But she let out another gasp, this one slightly louder than the first but, like the first, it had that odd quality to it, sounding almost like the chirping of the creature…
But it had heard, and that was all that mattered…
Fluttershy’s eyes were fixed steadily on the top of the rocks. If the creature was coming to get her then it would have to go over them first. Where could she hide? Nowhere.
She could only hope, and huddle down, minimizing her form…
…
Hoofsteps on the sand, but these sounded a little odd, not quite like hooves…
Now they were on the rocks. Fluttershy started quivering. It was scary.
…
Silence…
And then a small red head appeared. It was only there for a moment, looking around. It completely missed the small bundle that was the curled up Pegasus, instead popping beneath the top of the rocks again.
It was gone, the creature had missed her. At heart, Fluttershy was still a timid pony, and the prospect of meeting a completely alien sentient creature frightened her. But it was gone.
She sighed.
Big mistake.
That quality that her voice had taken made the sigh turn into a sharp whistling, cutting through the air with ease.
The hoofsteps approached, the head appeared. The creature took another look at the hollow in the rocks where Fluttershy lay. It had already been there before, so it must have only overlooked her the first time because it was rushing.
Not this time. This time it spotted her.
Chiiiiirrrr- Whump!
A tremendous impact threw Fluttershy head over heels, flying away from the rocks and landing in the sand nearby. It had attacked her! Well, she would show it that Fluttershy was not the kind of mare to be messed with…
Fluttershy looked up, anger blazing in her eyes, ready to defend herself against the thing that had attacked her so sudden-
What was it doing?
The thing seemed to be jumping around her, making the small chirping noises that it had earlier. At one point it actually fell over, face planting perfectly in the soft sand. But that didn’t deter it as it opted instead to roll around in the sand near her.
But it wasn’t attacking her, it was playing… It was just happy to see her?
What was it?
It looked a lot like the White Cloak that she had seen earlier, but it was a lot shorter, being only a little taller than herself. It too was wearing a cloak, but this one was a dusty red, like hers, and had a stubby scarf, only a bit longer than hers, trailing along behind it as it rolled in the sand. Its cloak was shorter than the White Cloak’s, and she could see two sharp, needle like legs, only points at the end, perfectly suited to travelling in the sand. And the cloak itself differed from the White Cloak’s yet again, having only a slight pattern along the rim, the same as hers.
And its face was a pure black, golden patterns running along it, as if it was an inverse of the White Cloak’s features…
And then without warning it jumped up and leaped at her again.
Fluttershy tensed, waiting for the immanent attack…
Glomp!
It was hugging her? The arms of the thing, hidden beneath the cloak, were wrapped around her, and it was making small cat-like noises, a purring with bell-like qualities in it.
What was going on?!
The creature disengaged from its impromptu hugging fest and stood back, almost begging her to do something. It’s face was strange, but even though it only showed two little golden eyes and a line above them, she could see the curious, almost pleading look on it.
But even so, it had frightened the cloaked pony, and that only made her freeze up, too worried to even move. The creature seemed to pick up on this, sitting down on the sand, unmoving, its scarf trailing behind it on the breeze
Fluttershy was watching it, it was watching her watch it, she was watching it watch her watch it…
“H-h-hello…?”
Or at least, that’s what she tried to say. What came out instead sounded more like ‘Cheep, cheep cheep…’
But the creature seemed satisfied, and it stood up and turned away, hopping along the sand and leaving Fluttershy to puzzle over the development with her vocal chords by herself. It was as if her voice had just vanished, being replaced by the same bird-like noise that the creature had. Was there something wrong with her? Was it just this place?
And then she became aware that she was alone, in the desert, without the companion that she had so recently been giving. If companion was the right word…
She quickly darted to her hooves, desperately searching for the friend, the creature that was so nice and enthusias-
It was standing there? The creature, no, her new companion was standing there, waiting for her to follow. It chirped once, then ran over the sand floor, heading towards the base of the sandfalls, towards the ribbons, jumping every few steps and tripping over its own cloak on occasion.
Fluttershy followed, having no alternative. And she did not want to be left alone in the desert. Besides, her companion only seemed to want to play at the moment.
It soon became apparent that it was much better than her at moving through the sand, its long legs spearing into the soft surface with ease. But even though it had the opportunity to move ahead without her it would stop every couple of seconds, turn around to check if she was still following, and then move on again, chirping softly to guide her, its scarf rippling on the wind as it ran.
And then they were at the ribbons.
There were about ten of the, spread out in the vicinity of the bridge segments. Her companion set off towards one of them almost immediately, leading the way. The ribbon didn’t move, only swaying on the breeze. But it was too high to reach, and she didn’t want to waste her scarf power at the moment, not knowing what would come lat-
CHIIRP
Her companion had let out a massive noise, almost having actual force behind it. The call didn’t do anything to her, but the ribbon…
The ribbon had the same reaction as if she had of touched it, seemingly evaporating into the air. But this one was different. Instead of transforming into a cloud of cloths, it opened something at its base.
A strange looking machine, torn apart with age, had the ribbon sewn to it somehow, and as it evaporated the machine moved, a grille opening, releasing a torrent of cloths into the air. They flew into the air…
…And completed another portion of the bridge, leaving two more parts to fill.
Her companion looked at her, she looked at her companion…
CHIIIRP
The next ten minutes or so were filled with the two of them calling out to all of the ribbons, while at the same time enjoying each other’s company, falling over the hems of the other’s cloak and getting slightly tangled in their scarves. She started to get the sense that it was a male. The body movements and size just gave her that impression.
But then all too soon the bridge was completed, and it was time to move on. Fluttershy looked at her companion sadly, thinking that it was time for the two of them to depart, him staying here and her moving on…
But he had other ideas. It seemed her companion was exactly that, a Companion. Another journeyer on the quest to the mountain. As Fluttershy walked towards the base of the newly formed bridge, the ribbons forming the once missing spans, her companion zoomed by, actually surfing the currents of sand, not a care in the world, trailing chirps in his wake.
He waited for her at the base of the bridge and, even though he had no visible mouth, she knew that he was smiling at her.
They both stepped onto the ribbon and it lit up, symbols appearing on its surface as it propelled the both of them along. The already existing section proved no hazard as they both flew over them, the ribbons refilling the symbols on their scarves.
And then they were at the platform, high above the sand floor, the other side of the basin fading into mist. Grilles in the floor let sand from the sandfall flow through the edge of the platform that connected to the cliff. But there was no way through, no door…
There was, however, a statue of a White Cloak, and there were stone markers lining the edge of the platform on either side, straight rows in a slight zigzag formation, parallel to each other.
An unspoken agreement passed between the two travelers. Fluttershy ran to the left hand row, her Companion to the right. As they passed they lit up, until all of the markers were glowing gently.
As before, the lights led towards the statue.
As before, they formed a circle.
But this time there was something different, a Companion. A friend. Even in this new place, where her old friends were unable to reach her, she had found someone willing to care and be cared for.
To show Kindness kindness…
The two journeyers stepped closer and gave each other one last hug, unsure if they would see each other again or if they would be swept away. Her Companion didn’t even seem to mind reaching down that little bit to hug her pony form. He was willing to put in that little extra bit of effort…
They both walked to the white circle and, as one, sat down side by side, their bodies not touching, their scarves dancing together in the wind, forming a beautiful ballet in the air, even as the white started to overtake Fluttershy’s sight, a dull whooshing noise…
She only hoped that her Companion would be there after the white went away, as they both entered the light, together, for better or for worse…
Please leave a comment, I'd like to know how you all think I'm going with this...
Please? It'd make Fluttershy happy...
Also, I have other stories, go check 'em out...