The world was aglow with unnatural colors, and underneath Beat’s hooves, an endless checkerboard of white and red stretched out as far as the eye could see. After a second, a glowing white hare rushed down a verdant field that seemed to cut its way through the checkerboard, carving a path for her until it led to the ruins of an ancient castle. The animal turned to look at her, and from the cast of its pink eyes, somehow the hare seemed vaguely like her pet rabbit Oxford, and yet at the same time, not him. Nonetheless, from the glance, the message that was sent was undeniable: follow.
Doing as bid, Beat took another step, but as she did, the ground gave way, the white and red tiles on the ground shattering as if they were made of spun glass. Down, down she fell into an endless inky darkness, with no company but that of the broken tiles and strange noises that she couldn’t even hope to identify. After some time, it felt that she hadn’t so much having fallen into a perpetual darkness as into an endless sea of black water, because around her the world felt less and less like air and more like the watery reaches of a pool or lake.
Eventually, a dim light began to shine from below and she swam towards it; the fact that she had yet to take a breath or even needed one not somehow occurring to her. But as the dim light grew ever so slightly brighter, she then saw something that would have removed whatever breath she had in a gasp of shock: below, in the dim gray watery illumination, she could see faces of ponies screaming for help. Pegasus, unicorn, earth pony, thestral and others, all tried desperately to seek her aid and yet a gulf existed between the herself and them – she tried swimming to them, and in turn they tried to stretch out to her, but to no avail on both sides; the expanse between them seemed to be precise and forever out of grasp.
But the horror did not abate. As she thrashed harder, doing her utmost to try to save even one of the lost souls below, she noticed that the number of the anguished grew in multitude: not only could she see the faces of strangers, but she could now see the faces of loved ones, such as her parents, her siblings, Bramble, Rocket and more. Eventually even non-ponies tried to reach out to her, and while she practically sprained her forelegs doing her utmost to save them, she could not.
She heard an ominous chuckle behind her and before she could react, she felt herself pulled away from the desperate crowd. A moment later, she faced a new being, appearing as nothing more than a massive, smoky pillar of green, thicker than the tallest tree and far more ominous, despite the friendly-appearing rainbow sparkles that twinkled in the green like newborn stars. At its apex, two sulfurous lights looked at her, eyes filled with madness and hatred. She heard the deep titters of the creature and with it, an unusual scent filled the air: dead, earthen and sickly sweet. Regardless, the message was clear: It had her in its grasp and it would make the innocents below suffer.
It is wrong from beginning to end. Beat swore she heard those words, but before she could do anything else, a light, brighter than the sun and yet as warm as candlelight, enveloped her.
When the light went away, she found herself at the start of a lengthy hallway as it coalesced into her view. The passageway was lined with endless shelves, upon which were countless books, ancient tomes that looked as though they had not been read or even opened in ages; even still they looked vital somehow, as if they had performed a task and now sat in a place of honor. Beautifully ensconced lights hung above, stained glass chandeliers that were emblazoned with the image of hares.
With nowhere else to go, she went down the passageway, giving the books no mind. Eventually she reached its end, after which the hallway opened into a great rotunda. At the far end, facing a gorgeously ornate window, was a pedestal, upon which lay a book, its cover ornate and filigreed with gold leaf; the tome was shut and revealed nothing about its contents. Yet even more striking was the fact that the book was protected by a pair of individuals that Beat could not believe stood there: an alicorn and a human, both wearing armor and bearing swords, stood in procession as if their sole purpose was to be protectors of the book.
At first, Beat thought the pair to be Faust and the Megan, for what other pair as such existed? Yet as she thought about it, the alicorn was clearly not the Queen of All, and though the description of the Megan was scant, from what she could remember, this individual had not the description, either. She then thought about the only other alicorn-human pairing that was known: the recently “retired” Princess Celestia and her daughter, the alicorn Sunset Shimmer, who often spent time in a human form. Yet as Beat recollected the two, it didn’t fit that, either.
The alicorn, with a queenly air about her, had a long, flowing mane of magenta, which contrasted with her apricot-colored coat and green eyes. Her armor was red and had a beautiful white surcoat with no adornment. Brandishing the sword briefly in her magical grasp, she held the sword out before her.
“Remember,” the alicorn said.
At the opposite end, the humanness raised her own sword in her hands. Her skin was fair, with soft brown eyes and a long brown mane that reminded Beat of fertile soil. She wore a brilliant white armor, and her surcoat was of red, also with no adornment. She held the sword briefly above her in her head as a sort of salute before bringing it to a rest, bladepoint down on the ground.
“Remember,” the humanness said.
Suddenly the book opened, and a beautiful aura of light poured forth, out of the strong came forth sweetness. The window behind the book shattered as if nothing, and in the distance was the castle from earlier, now restored to its original form, shining and bright, beautiful and keeping watch upon the hill.
Words, unclear and inexplicable, yet verbiage nonetheless, echoed and reverberated in her mind in one voice, then two voices then a multitude. And though she wasn’t sure how she knew, something within her told her it was the voice of Blazing Lance and her ancestors and ancestresses uttering something of vital importance to her.
The dream faded off, with F#, G, F#, G, A, C, D, A, flowing into nothingness.
Beat sat up with a start. The dream that had seemed so vivid, so real, began quickly vanishing into the corners of her mind. All she could recall was the face of Blazing Lance, his image the same as the picture she’d seen in her history books, whispering something to her, though she knew not what it was.
I guess I’ve thought about him a lot lately, she realized. She remembered from the history books that when his first wife, Magus Jade Lily had vanished, he had been briefly accused of both infidelity and even possibly murdering the unicorn mare. Had it not been for Starswirl speaking up on his behalf as well as Lady Frostburn thanking him for saving her daughter Latch Hook (who became Lance’s second wife and the mother of his line), history would have likely remembered him as a cad or worse. He had obviously been through some hard times and persevered despite them; though her struggles weren’t as life and death as his had been, certainly she could overcome those as well, couldn’t she?
As she headed out of the room, she noticed the first thing that was at her door was Oxford. He was sitting upright, carrying a carrot in his paws and without any ceremony, he placed it on his head and moved towards her hoof, as if offering her his most precious treasure.
“Oh, Oxford,” she said, completely touched by his gesture. “You don’t have to do that, but I appreciate it.” Picking him up in her magical grasp, she nuzzled him briefly as he returned the caress.
Placing him on her back, she said, “Let’s go see what’s for breakfast this morning, shall we?”
As she descended the stairs, she could hear both of her parents sitting at the table, chatting; the fact that her father hadn’t gone to open the store as usual was a sign that he certainly intended to follow through with his plans, futile or no. Beat mentally began to plan a rejoinder to let him know she was going to give up that dream and focus on the reality she had now, when she heard a third voice, once she was unfamiliar with. And as she entered the kitchen, she noticed they were speaking with a stallion she’d never seen before: a tan unicorn with a teal mane and expressive brown eyes. He looked strong, but at the same time also carried a saddlepack full of books and had a professorial attitude about him.
As she came into the kitchen, Marketplace smiled. “Oh, honey, you’re up! This is Mr….” She paused. “I’m so sorry, I quite forgot your name again! I don’t know where my mind is some days, for Celestia’s sake.”
The stallion drank from a coffee cup and smiled. “That’s quite alright. I’m Prof. Hitchhike and I’m from the Historical Department at Royal Canterlot University. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Beat.” He offered a hoof in friendship.
She bumped it and sat down at the table, just as her mother got up to get her breakfast. “A pleasure to meet you, Professor. What brings you to Radourmeire’s Rest?”
“Well, the official explanation would be long and boring, I assure you. The short story is that I’m here to study the petroglyphs over in Mareington Gulch. I was told that you were the best pony who could provide protection, especially since….” He winced. “Well, I’m sure you’ve heard about everything that went down in Canterlot.”
“We don’t get much news around these parts,” Well stated. “Would you care to fill us in?”
Several minutes went by as Hitchhike went over the events of the previous week. The look on the faces of Well Stocked and Marketplace went from interest to amazement to horror and finally shock, and even though she’d heard the ongoings the night before from her friend, even Beat had a hard time processing the news.
“I can’t believe it. Princess Celestia…gone? That monster, Chrysalis – dead? And humans are real?” Marketplace lost her footing from shock and was only caught by the quick reaction of Beat safely teleporting her mother into a chair.
Beat nodded. “Rocket got back from Canterlot yesterday and she told me the same thing,” she added.
“It’s all true, unfortunately: Princess Celestia was forced to abdicate in order to protect her nephew Prince Divine Right from a group of nobles who were wielding the law against her. Fortunately, they hadn’t counted on the Princess activating an old law from the Ancien Régime and as a result, Luna not only became the ruler, she declared herself as queen for extra protection. From what I understand, the nobility is in an absolute tizzy right now, with the loyalists actively trying to discover if they have any other potential rebellious types amongst them and everyone is tripping hoof over teakettle to stay on Queen Luna’s good side.”
Somewhat recovered now, Marketplace got back up to her hooves to check on breakfast before it burnt. “Oh, my, that is incredibly frightening. I hope all is okay within Canterlot!”
“I wish I could say that it was,” Hitchhike told them, “but most of it the Crown is keeping a lid on for obvious reasons. Not just that, but also the fact that by coincidence, the Navy managed to do the impossible and finally captured Queen Chrysalis and Queen Luna executed her for her crimes against ponies.” Hitch then paused as he added, “But even that’s more than what it seems, I’m afraid.”
“How could anything be difficult about dealing with that monster?” Well asked, a rare bout of anger flashing on his face. Beat remembered that while they hadn’t been directly impacted by changeling incursions, many of her father’s clients had been on the bad side of changelings, one of which had even been killed by them in a place called Nightshade, where they got their almond orders from.
“Well, apparently it was discovered by the Guild that while the changeling queen had been responsible for innumerable crimes against ponies, it may very well be that the reason why Chrysalis became what she was to ponies was the fault of ponydom.” Seeing the disbelieving looks on their faces, Hitchhike then went on to detail the discovery of The Rose with the Broken Neck, and how King Sombra had detailed what he had done to a human long ago, turning her into a vicious non-human hellbent on destroying ponykind for what it did to her.
“I have an advance copy of the book for peer review in my bag here,” Hitchhike commented, “though I have to admit, it’s disturbing information and going to be very shocking when it’s finally made available for public consumption. Definitely not something I’d let the foals read, you know.”
“And what about the humans?” Well asked Hitchhike. “Are we in danger from them, especially if we did something to one of their kind?”
“I’m afraid I don’t have that kind of information, but given the publicity tour that Princess Sunset did regarding her endorsement of humans, I gather that the humans are likely forgiving of the whole incident. From those I know who spent more time with them, I was told that the myths about them are really just that – myths, and that they’re closer to us than we think. Or at least like the old pony tales of the Megan.”
“I guess,” Beat shrugged as she sat at the table and her mother put some haycakes in front of her. “So, what brings you to come see us, Professor?”
“Please, just call me Hitch,” he replied with a smile. “And actually, I’m specifically here to see you, Miss Beat.”
“Me?”
He nodded. “With everything that’s going on in Canterlot right now, the helping hooves that I’d originally hired for this mission have been counterhired by the Crown as militia until they can figure everything out with the military situation – apparently the conspiracy was very deep and even affected some parts of the military. And since I’ve been told repeatedly it’s not safe to head to Mareington Gulch alone, it was suggested that I hire somepony local, as they likely know the place better than anypony else. I arrived last night and had a chance to speak to Sheriff Stonehoof, and she immediately recommended you. Said you’re the local troubleshooter, since your town doesn’t have a Guild office, and while I don’t have any idea of what the lay of the land is out there, the recommendation was enough to have me come and see if you were available.”
“I wasn’t aware that there was anything out there worth looking at in Mareington Gulch. There’s the remains of the old Western Keep, but it was destroyed during the Moonfall War and really isn’t anything more than a collection of rocks that used to be castle-shaped at one time,” Beat noted.
“Well, it would take too long to explain the full particulars, but the Royal Canterlot Museum believes that the old ruins may have an old altar of the Church of the Unicorns that might provide some extra information regarding the claims that Chrysalis stated. Granted, while Sombra himself gave explicit detail – perhaps too much, to be fair – it never hurts to obtain additional information when it comes to his point of view. Who knows? We might even uncover some new information regarding the Megan herself.”
Well looked at the professor. “We’re, ah, descended from the lord that used to run that castle, and from our family history, I don’t think there was any information about King Sombra or the Megan or even Queen Faust, though I could be wrong. If you’d like, we’d be happy to let you look at our family records afterwards.”
Hitch nodded. “That would be most appreciated, Mr. Stocked. In any case, normally there would be better planning and a full expedition to take care of this, but given the urgency of the situation, the museum contacted our university for assistance, and since I have a passing fancy in old ponytales and legends, I volunteered.” He then looked at Beat. “So, interested?”
“We should be able to take care of things while you’re gone, sweetie,” Well assured his daughter, “and besides, you’re always saying that you need more adventure in your life, so why not go? Who knows? You might even find a room full of treasure!”
“Or maybe even a new haycake recipe from centuries ago!” Marketplace added.
Beat rolled her eyes. A foalsitting job, essentially; there was nothing really out there except a collection of old rocks and such. She’d been there before and hadn’t really seen anything of interest. However, if she was going to give up on her dreams of being a Guild mage, this was likely going to be the best chance she had for something in her preferred line of work. Moreover, given that there was nothing out there, it was an easy way to make cash.
“I think I can do that. How long would it take? It takes about a day to get there and a day to get back.”
“Taking that into account, maybe a day or so of looking on-site. If we don’t find it by the end of the day, we can leave without problems. If we do find it, we might be tied up for an extra day or two. Will that be a problem?”
Beat looked at her parents, who nodded their approval. “Worst comes to, I can send a message back to my parents – I learned the flamefax spell just in case – and I think they should be able to manage for a couple of days without me.”
“Plus, Paintpot can give me a hoof,” Well reminded her.
“Lastly, my pay is ₿500 per day, plus expenses. Will that be an issue?”
“Well, given that the original ponies I hired were going to be ₿1500 a day each as well as expenses, I think I can easily match that. In fact, since you’ve been so helpful, I insist you accept ₿1000 per day. I won’t accept anything less.”
Beat tried to hide the shock from her face; if all went well, she could easily clear ₿5000 for an easy job and that would be enough for her to make more than a few changes around the place. Plus, chances were, she wasn’t going to see that kind of money anytime soon otherwise.
“Okay,” she said, offering her hoof to bump in agreement, “you got yourself a bodyguard, Hitch.”
It was a breezy spring afternoon as the two made their way through the box canyon known as Mareington Gulch; though it wasn’t hot by any means, the gust was a welcome cooling effect for both as they had worked long and hard to make it as far as they did. They had made good time and now, a third of the way through the canyon and into its first major bend, the two sat down for a hearty lunch of cheese-and-bluegrass sandwiches.
“So tell me about Radourmeire’s Rest,” Hitch asked. “I’ve heard some of the old legends about it, like how it’s named after a strange creature that one of Queen Faust’s knights came across.”
“Did you see the statue in the center of the town? Supposedly that’s Radourmeire, and our family legend has it that Blazing Lance came across him and tried to save him but wasn’t able to. In return, when he made it back to the village, as the local lord, he buried the creature in a place of honor in the village cemetery and named it ‘Radourmeire’s Rest’, after the creature. The modern-day town sprung up to the west of the cemetery, while the old village eventually was destroyed during the Moonfall War. There’s also a couple other historical markers in the area that commemorate it: at the old crossroads to the east of both towns, there’s a plaque detailing where Lance found him, and at the site of the old village, there’s another plaque commemorating it as ‘Radourmeire’s Refuge’, which is what the town renamed itself until it was destroyed.”
“That’s a shame,” Hitch told her. “I wonder where the creature came from? Like you said, there’s no record anywhere of upright mice.”
“He might have come from another dimension; that tends to be a problem here.” Beat then went on to discuss the major issue of Radourmeire’s Rest and its location atop a leyline intersection and all the problems it brought, from blatterbeasts to burnbrite ants and even a singing parade of donuts that marched down the main road of Radourmeire’s Rest before vanishing from wherever it came.
“Okay….” Hitch said. “If I didn’t know any better, it sounds like your town is trying to outdo Ponyville for Equestria’s weirdest city.”
“Well, we’re nowhere near as big as Ponyville, but yeah, I guess you could say that,” she laughed.
“Still, though, I’m rather surprised that the Guild hasn’t taken note of that. I have a friend in the Guild, and if I remember correctly, back when she was archmagus, Princess Twilight ordered any town within a hundred miles of a leyline intersection should have a Guild branch office, if not a full office outright. I have to wonder if this is tied to the recently exposed corruption within all branches of the government, somehow.”
“No idea. Obviously Princess Twilight is loyal to the crown, but I really don’t know anything about the current archmagus, other than that Raspberry Beryl is a descendant of Sombra.”
“Oh, don’t let that worry you; I met her once before when she came to the University for a consultation on magic research that the historical department was doing,” Hitch told her. “We talked briefly and from what I gather, she’s not only very much unlike her ancestor, but Princess Twilight trusts her enough to have made her the Friendship Court Mage, as well as her successor for Guild archmagus.”
“I see,” Beat said, though she didn’t say anything further. This stallion knew nothing about her issues with the Guild and how it had become the bane of her life, and now that she was putting that out of her mind, she was bound and determined to keep it that way.
The day went on and the pair managed to make it as far as the halfway point through the canyon; apparently there had been a couple of landslides that blocked easier paths and as such made travel that much more difficult. At one point, they had to climb over a previously safe portion of the canyon which now was home to stone scorpions; while they were mostly harmless, occasionally they accidentally stung ponies and caused them to be petrified for about a week until the magical venom wore off. As neither of the two wanted to deal with that kind of headache, they swung well to the east to avoid the nest, which added an extra couple of hours to the journey and as a result, by the time they’d reached the watery oasis at the center of the canyon, the sun had dipped over the horizon and the stars had begun to come out.
Finally, as the two set up camp, Hitch insisted on making dinner for the two; in fairness, Beat went about and did everything else, allowing her range of spells to be able to set up the tents, a couple of safety wards and the campfire, so that by the time Hitch had begun working on the mushroom and fennelgrass stew he was making, he was incredibly impressed by the effort he had seen.
“Okay, I’ll admit it: I’ve been on some expeditions before and I’ve never seen anypony who is as organized with spellcraft or even camping as you are, Beat,” he told her. “I have a hard time believing you’re just a troubleshooter. Have you considered applying to the Guild Academy or another magic school?”
Beat debated telling him, but she couldn’t really think of any other way to explain her situation without being rude, so she admitted her issues with them and her repeated attempts, and how she’d always been labelled “good but not good enough” to make even any of the lesser magical schools, much less the Guild Academy. The fact that she’d run herself through the wringer so many times, only for it to amount to nothing in the end.
“In fact, I got my final rejection letter last night,” she said, her voice holding a touch of melancholy. “I had just about given up my dream this morning and have to accept that I’m not going to be anything more than a troubleshooter. Maybe I’m just grasping for too much, I dunno.”
“It’s better to shoot for the stars and land on Cloudsdale than to stay on the ground and forever wish otherwise,” Hitch told her.
“Maybe. I’ll just have to learn to make the best of it, I guess. We can’t all be Starswirl the Bearded, you know.”
“Well, if it’s any consolation, I think that y—” He immediately stared into the distance. “What in Celestia’s name is that?” he asked, pointing and nearly dropping his stew.
In the distance, a bunch of boulders suddenly stood up on spindly legs. Eyestalks popped out of the top and a second later, so did arms bearing giant pincers. They scuttled in the direction of the campsite, but then immediately moved away from it and towards the opposite direction.
“Oh, don’t worry about those,” Beat told him. “Those are rock crabs. They’re generally harmless, and they help keep the stone scorpions in check. Once in a while, you get an oversized alpha crab that wants to pick a fight with anything that moves, but if you know what you’re doing you can hit its weak spot for massive damage.”
“All this knowledge and experience? With all your talent, I’m beginning to think that not only is the Guild making a mistake not wanting you, but that the Army and the Guard – heck, maybe even the Agency – would love to have you amongst their ranks. You’re clearly an asset and from what I get from my friends working in government, Queen Luna is always looking for talented ponies, now more than ever. She could use somepony like you.”
“Thanks, Hitch,” she insisted. “I appreciate that, but I don’t think it’ll ever happen. Like I said, the Guild’s final letter of rejection is just that, and I don’t think I’m cut out for the Army. Never thought about the Agency, but maybe I should think about the Guard. My older brother, Sturdy Steel, is an ensign with the Friendship Guard.”
“That’s interesting. You should have him put in a good word for you.”
“That sounds a little too much like nepotism, and I don’t want to abuse whatever advantages he has working for Princess Twilight’s guard. Besides, if I’m going to get anywhere in life, I need to do it on my own four hooves, just like my ancestors did. If Blazing Lance overcame his issues, so can I.”
“Well, I hope you don’t mind if I make an inquiry or two. From the time we’ve spent together, I think you deserve much better. When I get back, I’ll talk to my fillyfriend about it. She’s got a connection to both the Guild and Princess Twilight’s office, so she might be able to pull some strings for you.”
“Thanks, Hitch. I do appreciate that.”
The two chatted on more about several things and as the hours wound into night, Beat decided to while away the remaining hours and broke out her guitar, opting to play “Blazing’s Blues”. It was then that she caught Hitch’s attention again, but in an entirely different way.
“That song you’re playing,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard it before. It doesn’t sound like a pony musical progression.”
“I…uh…never thought about it. I just know that the song has been passed down in my family for generations. Heck, even my sister, Dancefloor, who is a professional musician, never commented on that; she just said that it wasn’t something that she could make a hit song out of.”
“Well, given what we’re researching, I have to wonder whether it might not be a pony song, but a human song. The text of The Rose with the Broken Neck implies that Chrysalis was originally a noble woman – that’s the female of their species, from what I’m told – and nobles of the time tended to spend their free time making music and other such pursuits. It might very well be that you hold the key to solving an ancient puzzle!”
After agreeing to write down the notation that she knew of the song, the two talked for a bit more and planned the next day out before deciding it was time to call it a night. “I’ll take the first watch,” Beat offered. “While the ward should keep us safe, it never hurts for one of us to be awake in case there’s an emergency, like some wayward pegasus from Megan’s Shoreline flying where she shouldn’t be.”
“Fair enough. Wake me up at midnight and I’ll take the rest.”
“Sure thing,” she chuckled as he retired to his tent. As he did, she watched the moon cross the sky and thought about his words and how they unintentionally made her feel like she could fly to Cloudsdale and at the same time, feel like she was in the bowels of Tartarus. If he was right, she had skills the average pony didn’t have, the kind that was usually found in either the military or even Church knights? The words felt almost as if something was forcing her to remain behind, alone and forgotten, in the Unknown West, where she lived up to its name. She thought about the news that the government had been corrupted, but she just as quickly dismissed it; if there was a conspiracy to keep her out of where she could help, they would have likely done the same with Sturdy Steel.
No, far easier and more realistic to believe that she just wasn’t good enough, because that was probably the truth.
Either way, she had to make sure that her spells were ready for tomorrow. While she didn’t expect to run into otherworldly monsters or extradimensional problems, out here she didn’t want to get caught off-guard by something a bit more mundane, like a bugbear or a cactoyote.
Still…she couldn’t help but think about what Hitch had told her. And she had gotten the short end of the stick for so long, it seemed like destiny was forever meant to deny Beat her due. Her parents had named her after the ancient Equestrian words for traveler, but what travel was to be done if she couldn’t actually journey?
The moon gave no answers. Maybe if she was lucky, Queen Luna would visit her in her dreams and give an answer instead, but maybe she was too busy to do so already.
It would be par for the course.
On a rocky cliff above, a pair of eyes watched the events below with great interest.
Things were happening and soon all would give way to great clarity. Things would be seen in psychedelic reality, dripping in technicolor for the world to see.
It had been denied enough, and there was no longer anything to stop it.
A tendril of loam-scented smoke drifted into the air, turning into a butterfly with fangs. The being watched as the mad creature attacked a nearby unsuspecting lizard, shredding it to a bloody pulp before turning back into smoke and nothingness.
It had heard once about a creature named Discord, and how it too had seen reality with great clarity and understanding.
The being chuckled. If this world feared Discord’s clarity…how would it react to its own?
Soon.