//------------------------------// // Chapter 31: Attempts Were Made // Story: Turmoil Rising // by JFT //------------------------------// The nightmare illusion fell off, and the cold temperature in the frozen underground finally got at the mares who stripped down to avoid the heat within it. At the moment’s notice, Pinkie Pie wrapped her puffy mane around herself to form a ball made of pink wool, having Rarity jump, joining her inside, while Rainbow Dash instinctively grabbed on to Zecora, who was standing nearby, and in a state of convenience, she did the same as she was taking it worse than anybody else. Twilight on the other hand immediately stumbled backward and fell over. SPLASH! “EEEEEEEK!” Twilight shrieked. “Twi, you okay?” Applejack asked as she was the only one who was still wearing the winter gear. The alicorn flailed about in panic, as she’s just fallen in the water and will likely freeze… until she realized the wet feeling wasn’t cold at all. She finally looked down on herself and discovered that this wasn’t even water. It was a strange green glowing substance. She couldn’t have noticed it when they came from the direction of the house, and they seemed to have conveniently crossed a bridge over it while they were inside the veil so they avoided it originally. “Ah think it’s best if we take shelter in someplace warm,” the country pony suggested. A growl followed, coming from the ball of pink puff. “And someplace where we can have something to eat! I’m starving, Applejack!” “I agree with Pinkie,” the fashionista added. “I could use some nourishment…” A loud snore came up, everybody looked in the direction of the shaman and the wonderbolt, noticing the latter clinging on to the former, asleep. “And perhaps a warmer place, so somepony can sleep with grace,” Zecora said, as she dragged the sleeping pegasus with her in the direction of the house. “Hey, if it’s got a functioning kitchen at least, there ain’t nothin’ Ah can’t fix up,” Applejack said, following them. Without saying so much as a word, the pink earth pony dragged herself and the white unicorn after her, followed by the former lieutenant and the alicorn princess. They all got to the point where they entered the nightmare veil and have left all of their things, picking them up one after another as they made their way towards the big house. Tempest, however, heard hoof steps going in the opposite direction, noticing the Princess of Friendship dragging her equipment back where they were moments ago. “Twilight, what are you doing?” “Never mind me,” she answered, “I’m just going to check on something. You go with everypony back to the house and make yourselves comfortable, I’ll be back soon.” The broken unicorn frowned, but after a while, she chose to go with it and followed the rest of the mares towards the house. Twilight in the meantime made her way to the strange green oozing river that ran through the field. It came out from one end, near the previously mentioned house as it went uphill, and disappeared further down, on the other end of the frozen walls as it went downhill. Something about it rubbed her the wrong way, as memory began to jog, realizing she’s seen it before: once it was a few moments ago, under the bridge of the Monoceria castle, and the second one… She remembered the dark place under the Everfree Forest; a Queen Chrysalis reborn, a haunting twisted tree, beneath, a pool of green bubbling substance… and a Hatred made manifest. Was this the substance from which it came? What was it? She needed to get to the bottom of this. The Queen of Changelings lay on the chaise, stretched out, her eyes closed, her ears listening to the quiet sound of paper being flipped through. Nothing else but complete silence was present in the room… when all of a sudden it was all disturbed by a loud thud. For hours, Grogar had stood before a giant wall of runed paper, flipping through the books from the library in search of any possible clues what the correct combination was to unlock the hidden text left by the first queen of the Crystal Empire. But alas there was nothing that seemed to stand out, and in his frustration, he finally dropped the last book to the ground with a loud thud. The Changeling Queen awoke from her sleepless state and sauntered over to him. “Let me guess: it was a bust?” “Useless,” the grizzled ram fumed. “I checked all the pages from the books, tried any possible combinations, and yet still nothing worked.” She chuckled. “It seems Princess Amore was simply too cunning for you.” “No,” he deflected, “it should be possible. This code should be easy to break. I’m familiar with the design so I should be able to make it out.” “How exactly do you know what these runes are? You never told me.” “That doesn’t matter, Queen of Changelings,” he deflected her question. “This is the only obstacle in our success now, and we cannot allow it to get the better of us.” “You mean, get the better of you, Grogar. One would think that, with the amount of boasting you’ve been making about this, a child would be able to succeed,” she made a snide remark. The old sheep sorcerer did not appreciate that, but then a thought came into his mind, something he had not considered. “Hmmm… perhaps I’ve been overthinking the whole thing.” He trailed his hoof across the runed paper. “Maybe the combination isn’t as complicated as it seems. Queen of Changelings, how old would you assume the first princess was when she created her artifact?” “Beats me,” she shrugged, “I was around before the empire first came into existence, so it’s likely she wasn’t ancient like Celestia and Luna.” “Exactly. We’re not looking for some complicated wordplay. We’re looking for something simple and naïve… something a child could come up with. Let’s see then…” The grizzled ram began pressing various pages. Each time he touched one, it lit up in bright light, yet after pressing a few more, the light faded away. He grumbled and pressed a few more, and the outcome repeated itself. Chrysalis stood by and watched in confusion, unsure what exactly he going for; she herself couldn’t make heads or tails of what the runes he was pressing meant. PUNG! A sudden ringing sound erupted after several attempts were made, and the final page was touched. The levitating pages all began to glow, quickly flew together in a stack, and then exploded all over the room. They began to spin around, slowly catching up with one another, assembling into a single form. “It… it worked?” the Broodmother looked in surprise. “What did you do? What was the code?” The old ram gave her a look and smiled. “Love Conquers All.” Chrysalis wasn’t sure if he was genuinely smiling from success, or was he just grinning to suppress the cringe from having to say those words. The pages finally fully assembled and eventually stopped glowing, their movement grinding to a halt as they stopped back in front of the old ram. The huge piece of paper that formed was covered in runes, ones that the Queen of Changelings still couldn’t decipher, yet one thing did stand out was a large drawing, depicting statues, a set of four equine faces, each holding a pair of iron poles joined into a bridle at the statue’s mouths, and they extended towards a strange giant iron lid on the ground that they seemed to be keeping it shut. “Aaaaah, there it is… the hidden scripture of the founding of the Crystal Empire,” Grogar mused. “Hidden?” she tilted her head. “Why would the founding be hidden in the first place?” “Well, we’re about to find out. Let’s see then…” The grizzled ram’s gaze flew across the runes printed on the giant piece of paper. “After the three tribes established Equestria, the remaining survivors continued to pour from their homelands in the north that have been devastated by the effects of windigos. And so, on the border of the two lands, a small settlement was built to assist survivors in their exodus. After all the refugees had left, many decided to remain in what had basically become their home. Time passed, and the settlement would grow into a town, prospering. But then one day, a bad omen appeared; a bright purple light flew across the sky, trailing from the south and disappearing into the far reaches of the Frozen North. Then, darkness began to roll in, the sky was covered in thick blackness accompanied by harsh snowstorms, and with them came the umbrum, the shadow ponies, creatures of darkness, bringers of fear and horror, and they began to terrorize the town. The residents would live in constant terror for some time until a resident pony, one called Amore, stepped forth, determined to save her home. Somehow, she had managed to acquire a strange magical artifact of great power and used it to open a doorway into another realm, one beyond their own, one which she would enter by herself. By the time she returned, the artifact lost what power it had and crumbled, but in turn, she had in her possession an artifact she had created herself: a big heart carved from a teal crystal, which she conveniently called the Crystal Heart, a weapon with which the umbrum would be stopped. But when the time came, the Heart alone didn’t have enough power to turn the tide against the living embodiments of fear, and in her desperate moment, Amore called upon the residents of her town to assist her, to offer the Heart their love, for their home, their family, and the rest of pony kind. Moved by her words, the residents offered all they could to the artifact, overcharging it. Fully powered now, the Heart emitted a powerful magical wave that pacified the umbrum, reducing them to shadows of their former selves. But something else occurred as well; the residence of the town had been changed, their fur and mane have been imbued by the magical essence, transforming them into ponies of pure radiant crystal. As for Amore… she too had changed, beyond recognition; the artifact she had made in another realm, empowered by the love of her people, made her transcend what she once was, she had become a living embodiment of the Crystal Heart's essence. As for the creatures of shadows, though the artifact had crippled them, a more permanent solution was needed, so in the center of the town, these “crystal ponies” dug out a deep pit, at the bottom of which they built a sealing container, where the umbrum would remain locked away. As for the prison itself, it was covered up and a massive structure was built on top of it, and it would be in the heart of this castle, under the throne room, that the only portal to the deep prison could be reached, accessible ONLY to the descendants of Amore’s line.” “Well…” Chrysalis finally spoke as her compatriot stopped reading. “I fear we may have hit a snag again. We know now where the prison is and how to reach it, but how are we even supposed to get there?” The old ram sighed. “You’re making it sound more difficult than it is, Queen of Changelings.” A twisting cracking sound followed as the Changeling Queen turned her head in an unnatural way in his direction. “Am I? You said it yourself that the portal to prison can only be accessed by one of Princess Amore’s descendants.” “Correct…” he answered calmly. “And we have one at disposal. I mean, I’m assuming that the princess in the castle is related to the first one.” “Yes, but prey tell how are you going to convince Princess Cadence to unlock it for us?” “I won’t,” he said bluntly before finally giving her a glance, “you’ll be distracting her.” “Distracting her?! How will that help us?!” she yelled. “It’s going to keep her distracted from what will be happening inside the palace, Queen of Changelings,” Grogar said as he folded the giant enchanted piece of paper and put it away. “After all, the scripture said A descendant can open the way, it doesn’t have to be a specific one.” Chrysalis thought for a moment, and it finally clicked for her. “Ooooooooh… I see. Well, you seem to be doing well on that front, so I’ll give you that. But I’m concerned about the whole “distraction” thing. I’ve gone through this twice in a row already. I’m having a hard time believing they’re going to fall for it the third time.” “Oh, you’d be surprised how quickly people flare up after sleep deprivation,” he said. “Point taken. When do we start?” she asked. The old ram traipsed over to the window cover and looked outside. “Hmmm… the dawn’s about to come, and the state in which the pursuers will be returning… I’d suggest NOW is about the right time to get to work.” “Wait, now? As in RIGHT NOW?! That’s not going to be enough time to-!” He closed the curtain, interrupting her. “I can only assist you so much, Queen of Changelings. The rest…. You’ll have to figure something out.” “But what if despite all that the princess doesn’t get coaxed out of the castle?” “Then be bolder in your approach,” the grizzled ram told her. “Time is of the essence, who knows when that rug rat will finally turn up, and we must be prepared for his return. I can only provide you with the necessary access, but the rest of the brunt is on you alone. If the princess will not take the bait, then offer taunts, threats, anything that will MAKE HER come after you. Put that hatred of yours to some use.” “Fine…” she groaned. The sun slowly began to rise over the horizon, the early sparks of light illuminating the land. As the morning birds of the empire began to awake and go about their businesses, they saw a large flock flying in from the south. The pegasi, led by their illustrious Princess of Love, returned to the city after being up all night, patrolling the skies above the patch of forest where the changelings had fled to, while the unicorns and earth crystal ponies combed through their hideout. But alas, just as it happened with the day before, they came back emptyhanded; the changelings and their queen had once again disappeared without a trace. Princess Cadence yawned. Being thrown out of bed, and then having to lead a search party in the middle of the night and all the way to dawn wasn’t how she wanted to start her day. She was exhausted, with no idea how’s she going to pull through the regular working day in her current state. She, along with her company, landed on the border checkpoint to meet the stationed guards, the one leading stepping before her. “Though the light shines brightest before the dawn…” “… it can’t compare to the one within our hearts,” she slowly answered. “Welcome back, Your Majesty,” the guard bowed, stepping aside. Cadence walked past, leading the rest of the exhausted units through in a procession. “Your Majesty,” her guard’s captain tried to grab her attention as they approached the castle, “should we resume with the regular routine?” “Yes… switch the guards, sort out the new password, and…” She yawned. “… report back to me in about… three hours.” “Three hours? Your Majesty, what about the morning inspection and reports?” “Just…” She yawned again. “We’ll handle it later. I have some prior engagement to deal with first.” Flash Sentry already knew what this “prior engagement” was, he honestly couldn’t blame her. Most of the men that were with him were hardly in any better position, and they were the nightly exchange. “I’ll report back to you later then, Your Majesty,” the captain of the guard answered as they approached the castle’s main entrance. Without saying much else, the Crystal Princess nodded, as the guards opened the main door to let her in, and closed it behind her. What an arduous night this was, and she had no results to show for all the exertion she had to deal with. If she could, she would just drop to the ground right now and have a nice snooze on the cold crystal floor, as her sight was starting to become wobbly, heck, the guards would’ve probably carried her back to her bed. But she couldn’t, there was another matter she had to deal with first. As she walked down the castle’s numerous hallways, she eventually stopped at the door leading to her little filly’s room. She gently juggled the door handle, slowly opening the door and taking a peek inside. The sunlight was still dim, despite the sun slowly rising, yet she could still see a small bump in the bed rising every now and then. The mother flew to the side of her bed so her horseshoes wouldn’t make so much racket. The sweet little pile of curly hair was all snuggled up in her bed, softly snoring. The mother smiled, and gave Flurry Heart a gentle kiss on her head, before once again flying to the door, and then slowly closing them behind. Cadence once again slowly walked down the hallway, this time encountering several of the royal guards that were patrolling the castle at night, and much to her delight, they reported nothing out of the ordinary happening, taking another burden off her mind. She opened the doors to her bedroom wide and sauntered over to the big, inviting pile of softness that was just screaming for an embrace. She stopped at the foot of her bed, waited for a few moments, and then promptly fell face first on it. She nuzzled the warm, soft fabric, slowly beginning to feel the stress leave her, the consciousness slowly beginning to drift away; she would finally be able to sleep. The sounds of horseshoes echoed through the castle’s hallways, growing louder, before the doors suddenly burst open, a too familiar captain making a whole lot of racket. “You’re Majesty! They’re back!” A small groan escaped her in her half-asleep state. “Who’s back…?” “The Queen of Changelings and her army, Your Majesty! They’re attacking again!” Her eyes shot open. She probably hadn’t laid down for more than five minutes, and now all of a sudden, the changelings have returned, after they spent all night looking for them?! With great resistance she rose for her comfort zone and went back on her hooves, Flash Sentry noticing the sorry state she was in. “Your Majesty, if you’re in no condition to deal with this, please don’t burden yourself. The rest of the guards and I can-“ “No, Flash,” she cut him off, “I have to be present. It’s clear at this point that the changelings aren’t gonna stop coming until Chrysalis is dealt with.” She turned and walked forward only to end up hitting her face against the open door, the blunt pain waking her up. “Let’s go,” she said as she sauntered through the doorway, pretending as if nothing had just happened, her guard’s captain following her with a concerned look. A familiar sight was in view: the changeling swarm flew on the border of the Crystal Empire, the special armored soldiers hovering at the front of the host, protecting it from the shots fired by the unicorns below, and in the heart of the swarm, the changeling queen lounged on top of a small group, waiting, yet this time it was different. An amount of uncertainty lurked at the back of her mind as things were moving fast, too fast for her taste, she wasn’t even able to make proper preparation for the occasion. But she had to have faith that her actions would buy the old ram enough time to achieve what he had to. “SOUP’S ON, EVERYPONY!” the country pony’s voice rang. Surprisingly, the big house had a serviceable kitchen, despite it looking ancient in comparison. It took a little while to get it cleaned up, but Applejack immediately went to work on fixing something warm to eat. After some time, she finally came out of the kitchen and into the big open room in the middle of the structure where the rest of the gang had huddled up, all dressed up again, carrying a cauldron with vegetable soup. She picked up a ladle, and almost instantly Pinkie Pie jumped to the front holding a bowl in her hooves anxiously waiting for the first portion. The orange mare poured it in, and quickly as it came, the party planner went on to chug it down, only for her to realize that it was hot, causing her to cry out in a scorching fire. “Wha- who- whe…” Rainbow Dash finally woke up from the noise, spotting the pink pony holding her burnt tongue. “Ya may wanna slow down a bit, suga’ cube,” Applejack suggested. “Okay everypony, gather ‘round!” The rest of the mares joined, having a well-deserved break, after everything they’ve been through, allowing them to get the country pony up to date on what’s happened. And of course, it didn’t take long for the wonderbolt to once again snooze off, her muzzle still stuck in a half unfinished soup bowl, blowing up bubbles. “Well, somepony’s been having it tough lately,” Applejack said, then her gaze slowly drifting to fashionista’s side. “Although Ah guess somepony’s been having it harder than others…” A glare escaped her when she realized what the earth pony was insinuating. “You’re as tactful as ever, Applejack.” “Hey, somepony had to be honest about it.” “As if others before you weren’t!” the unicorn snapped at her. “Sorry…” she apologized. “But that begs the question where do we go from here? We’ve yet to find Fluttershy, Spike, and Discord. I mean do we even know what this place is?” The loud slobbering sound stopped as Pinkie Pie pulled her face out of her bowl. “I dunno. I mean, apart from Chancellor Puddinghead’s frame and all of the others before her on the wall, there’s really not much to go on. The slobbering sound resumed, only to be stopped by the county pony’s sudden realization about what was just said. “Wait… Pinkie, what did you just say?!” “I dunno?” “No, I mean after that! The Pudding frame thing!” “Chancellor Puddinghead? I said his frame is hanging on the wall over there,” she said, pointing to the wall on the other end of the house. Everybody’s heads turned in the direction and spotted frames hanging on the wall in a long line, and Applejack got up and got close to inspect it. The pictures in the frames looked faded, almost blank to indiscernible details, yet the last one was still intact, and there was no mistaking it who was in it: a slender elder stallion with an overbite, a hat that roughly resembled a dish with a glop in it, and a large ruff around his neck. “Sweet mother Applesauce… it is Puddinghead,” she confirmed. “Applejack, isn’t that another of the founders of Equestria?” Rarity asked. “All of you seem to know a lot about these “founders”,” the broken unicorn finally spoke. Other mares gave her a confused look. “Tempest, you’ve never heard about the story about the founding of Equestria?” “I’ve been away for as long as I can remember… either that or I’ve forgotten most of the things I knew as a filly,” she explained. “That’s silly! Every filly and colt knows the story about Heart’s Warming Eve!” The party planner popped up from behind her. “A long, long time ago, there were three pony tribes,” she started telling the story as leaped onto the balcony, where a purple banner with a unicorn’s head, surrounded by diamonds hung, “the unicorns,” she then ran to the balcony next to it, where the banner displaying the sun, the hills, the fields, and flowers hung, “the earth ponies,” she finally zoomed over to the third hanging banner blue banner, which displayed a winged horse’s head surrounded by stars, “and the pegasi! But they lived in hatred for one another, and then one day a huge snowstorm came out of nowhere and devastated the whole land. They decided to assemble to discuss how to handle it, yet after they had a meeting in a city hall, much like this one, they couldn’t agree on anything, and they all went their separate ways and traveled south where they… Girls, are you even listening to me?” They weren’t. With the party planner jumping all over the place and pointing things out, it made them observe the surroundings more clearly. The country pony’s gaze went to the wonderbolt who was still asleep, tapping her hoof on top of her head, waking her up. “Dash, can you please stay awake for just five minutes?” “Why?” the pegasus groaned. “Not that you’ve been paying attention, but does that banner look familiar to you?” she said, turning the blue pony’s head in the direction of the balcony where the tattered blue banner hung. At first, Rainbow Dash squinted, her eyes still being foggy, but once they cleared, they shot open, and she instinctively jumped to fly up for closer inspection, only to land flat on her belly. “Ugh… Of course, that’s the one thing I’d forget…” A pink string dropped down to her eye level. She reached for it and got instantly pulled up by Pinkie’s flexible mane, only to hit the ceiling before falling flat on top of the balcony. “Sorry…” the pink pony awkwardly smiled, with the pagasus only giving a groaning response. The latter pulled the tattered banner in for closer inspection, and after looking at it for a while it finally dawned on to her. “This… this banner looks like the banner of… errr, the name is on the tip of my tongue… Ptolemya, I think?” “And that unicorn one definitely belongs to Monoceria”, Rarity confirmed. “And Chancellor Puddinghead’s portrait is here…” Pinkie added. “But what does it all mean?” Applejack stood silent, looking about, her mouth agape. “No way… THIS IS THE PLACE WHERE ALL THE TRIBES GATHERED?!” Applejack erupted. “In this city hall?! Then that means this place… Soiliana?” Just like back in the castle, this was another piece of ancient history that seemed to have been lost to time, causing them to absorb the atmosphere of the discovery. “SOILiana. Really?” Tempest quipped. “The ancient earth ponies were really bad at naming places, apparently.” “Pfff, that’s nothing,” Pinkie said. “Chancellor Puddinghead wanted to originally name Equestrian lands Dirtville.“ “… I rest my case.” “But, this can’t be right.” Applejack still couldn’t believe it. “There’s a whole lotta question that’s come with this. Surely there’s got to be an explanation why things are set as they are, right?” “That’s all in the jurisdiction of “her highness”,” Tempest answered. “She’s the one carrying the only book that seems to indicate where we’re going, and she’s still out in the yard.” The door swung open, the sudden chill flowing in, garnering everybody’s attention. The purple unicorn entered, carrying all her things, not even wearing her winter gear. “You guys!” she yelled. “You’re not gonna believe this, but this place, I know what it is! It’s Soilania!” “We know!” they all collectively said. “Y… you know already?” she was confused. “How?” “You can thank Pinkie Pie for that,” Applejack answered, causing the party planner to grin. “But how did you figure that out, Twilight?” “I’ve been digging through the information. I’ve come to several conclusions that I didn’t expect. I swear this is-“ A loud thud followed as Rainbow Dash jumped off the balcony and landed next to the princess, interrupting her, while receiving a look from the pegasus. “Twi, have you been out there this whole time?” “Yes,” she answered. “All by yourself?” country pony asked. “Yes?” “Without wearing something warm and nice while under snow and ice??” Zecora finally offered a question. An awkward silence followed, Twilight’s eyes zooming from side to side as every mare seemed to be staring at her. “What makes you say that?” “Because darling, you look like you just used a whole can of manespray,” the fashionista gave an answer. Twilight’s mane was standing straight, solid from the cold outside. The wonderbolt didn’t do much, other than to flick a small cluster of strands that were sticking out from her friend’s side and they snapped off with a sound, causing her to twitch. “Well…” she smiled awkwardly, “maybe I got too dragged into the moment and I tunnel-visioned for a bit…” A large warm blanket suddenly got wrapped around her and dragged in by the orange earth pony. “Ya ain’t going anywhere or sayin’ another thing until yer all warmed up, suga' cube. Yer not getting a cold even if we have a professional curer with us.” Sitting in the middle of the town hall, wrapped up in a warm blanket and drinking warm vegetable soup, Twilight managed to get some reprieve from the potential case of frost as a result of her carelessness. “Better?” the country pony asked. “Yes, thanks everypony,” she answered. “Now out with it, how did you know that this was the earth pony's original homeland?” Rainbow Dash set up the question. The alicorn put her soup bowl down. “I decided to take another look at the book from Radiant Hope, hoping to shed some light on the situation.” She pulled out the blank book from her bag, opening it to begin reading. “This is how I managed to find it.” I retreated back into the farmhouse, it’s so cold down here beneath ice and snow, and I must conserve as much energy as possible, otherwise, I don’t think I’ll survive long with the number of supplies I’ve got with me. I’ve managed to clear up the mess that lay about and conjured some lights, allowing me to explore the house in detail. This indeed used to be a farming community a long time ago, but upon further inspection, I came to an unexpected discovery. Banners were hanging on the balcony above the great open room where the collapsed table stood before. One of them looked like the banner that I found in the castle before, which I assumed that belonged to Monoceria, but I’m unfamiliar with the other two; stars and a winged pony head, and four-part framed depicting land, who did these belong to? I searched further and came across a line of pictures that hung on one of the walls. Most of them were slightly faded, however, the plaque beneath them suggested that these were ponies holding the chancellor positions in the past, and strangely enough, they were all earth ponies. Yet it was only when I came to the end of the line, to the picture of the last chancellor that I’m finally beginning to understand what this place is. “Puddinghead”. That’s what the stallion’s name was. I recall the talk during the history class, how the leader of earth ponies at the time led an exodus south to establish Equestria along with the other two tribes, which would confirm that this place, where they originally used to live was actually Soiliana. There is this unsettling feeling at the back of my mind now; back at the castle, revealing that it was Monoceria, I would’ve called it a coincidence, but with this, it can’t be anymore. Sombra’s Mother, she sent me here for a purpose, to see this, but what for? I couldn’t find anything of substance, either in this house or in the field outside, where all I found was a green enchanted stream that doesn’t seem to freeze. There is only one route I can take now and it’s back out again, and now that I’ve acquired all the information, I’m beginning to suspect what will follow next. The Home of unicorns and earth ponies have been revealed to me, and if this has anything to do with the founders of Equestria, that means that the only possible next place I will find is Ptolemeya, the home of the pegasi. “So, it’s all true then. Radiant Hope came to the same conclusion the rest of us did,” Rarity said, as Twilight closed the book. “So, lemme get this straight,” the broken unicorn complained, “you stayed outside to read the book? Why didn’t you just come inside with us instead of going through that?” “Because, Tempest, there was another reason I decided to stay outside,” the princess answered, before reaching into her bags and pulling out several vials filled with green liquid. “Twi, what’s that?” Applejack wondered. “Remember that “green enchanted stream” that the book mentioned? This is it.” The party planner popped her head forward to look it up closely. “But why would you want to collect some stinky old green water?” “Do you all remember when we were in the underground cavern in the Everfree Forest?” she asked. “Sure we do, darling,” Rarity spoke. “We dropped everything after Spike told us what happened and we went to rescue you.” “But none of you saw the full picture. I was in there some time before you arrived,” the alicorn proceeded to explain. “I saw everything while I was fighting Chrysalis. The giant foreboding tree we now know to be the empty husk of Turmoil, its roots were burrowed into a giant pool of green magical substance, the changeling eggs were also dipped in it. But most of all, the Manifestation of Hatred rose from it, and it beat us with ease.” Rainbow Dash shuddered. “How could we forget…” “And yet for some reason, it didn’t chase after us. It could’ve destroyed us all, yet Chrysalis sent her newborn changelings after us.” “What exactly are you getting at, Twilight?” questioned Applejack. “This may be just a theory, but we know that Turmoil’s aspects were locked away in jewels after he was defeated and scattered about, right?” she further elaborated. “We know now that Hatred was trapped inside the gemstone which served as a base of the Alicorn Amulet, but what if the gem itself wasn’t destroyed in the process?” The mares looked at each other. “I’m not sure I follow…” the pegasus said. “What if the gem in which Hatred was locked still exist, and was only able to assume the dark, towering, ghastly form because something is enabling it, giving it power?” “Soooo… you’re assuming this is the same magical water, is that what you’re saying?” Tempest wondered. “How can you be so sure about it?” “Because this isn’t the only other place I found it,” Twilight said. “Before we departed the castle where Princess Platinum used to live, I caught a glimpse of it, running under the castle’s bridge. And there’s a considerable distance between these two locations as is, so who’s to say it doesn’t reach further?” “Twi, can you confirm any of this?” the country pony asked. “There may be a way but… I’m not sure what are the consequences of our action going to be.” The princess turned her head to the shaman. “Zecora, please give me the jar.” For a moment the was unease in the air. The zebra knew all too well that trying to tempt with the piece of the sinister manifestation was a bad idea, but she too wanted to understand whether or not that theory was true. She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out the jar containing the black mass, which had been strangely quiet since she and the wonderbolt had an unexpected encounter. The princess pulled the jar to her side and was about to open it, only for the orange earth pony to stop her. “Wait Twi! You know this sounds like a really bad idea, right?” “You’re absolutely right, Applejack, but there’s no other way to tell otherwise, and we desperately need any possible options on how we can stop Turmoil’s aspects from coming together if the worst comes to pass. At the very least we have an isolated sample we can try it out on.” “Shouldn’t we take some additional measures in case things go south?” the fashionista questioned. “Ah agree,” Applejack said as she ran to the side in one of the rooms, and after some time passed, with the clanging sounds coming out, she finally came back, carrying a pot with a lid on it, putting it down in front of Twilight. “If that jar breaks or something, drop it all in and bolt down the lid on it.” A crude percussion, but the only one that could possibly work, all things considered. Twilight lifted the jar and slowly opened it, fearing that the aberration might come to life all of a sudden and leap out. It didn’t happen, the ooze remained completely motionless. She then opened one of the vials containing the green glowing liquid and slowly poured it inside. Nothing happened at first, but after a few moments, the ooze and the liquid inside began to twist and turn, more specifically conjugate, and the spark of light inside began to glow as well. Suddenly the blob began to bubble up, and at that precise moment, Twilight quickly shut the lid on the jar to prevent it from escaping. They all watched then as the blob began to rise, maw formed once more, but this time it also formed a pair of eyes. It looked at the group surrounding it, everybody expecting to give the shrilling cry, but instead, a single sound came out of it. “Merw?”