//------------------------------//
// Chapter 20 
// Story: The Dark City 
// by awf 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 20

The white around them was completely monotonous. Rusty couldn't tell how long they had been walking, nor how far they had come. Maybe they had missed the town entirely and were wandering in the wilderness of the Frozen North. She tried not to think about that. Gustaf and Ember were up front, but all she could see were vague shapes. The pegasus had been pulling Curio's sled for a while now, after they had switched. Beside Rusty, Winter Shine was walking with her head bowed down. She hadn't spoken in quite a while, but Rusty couldn't muster up the energy to ask how she was doing. Not that she had to. They were all cold and tired, hungry and thirsty. It was a small wonder none of them had fallen over yet. Rusty couldn't even feel her hooves anymore, but she raised her head and tried to pierce the fog anyway. Surely they had to be close? She saw nothing. There was no choice left. They had to stop and make a camp. Perhaps the weather would clear in the night and they would be able to navigate the next morning.

Even as she made that decision Rusty's heart sank. Curio hadn't stirred at all and she doubted whether he would make it another day. If nothing else, he hadn't drunk any water since the ruins. Their only hope was to put up a tent, boil some water, then sleep a few hours. There was some daylight left, but they couldn't take the blizzard anymore. Despite their warm clothes, the wind seemed to get into every seam and froze their sweat.

She lengthened her pace to catch up with the two colts up front and tell them to stop. Winter Shine gave a small whine when she saw Rusty pulling ahead and that seemed to be the final straw. Her legs folded up and the poor unicorn fell into the snow. Her side heaved with each breath and she raised her voice in a plaintive mewl at what must have looked like being left behind.

"Ember! Gustaf!" Rusty called in a hoarse voice.

They heard and stopped to look back.

"Can't-" she gasped. "We have to stop."

Ember came back and saw Winter Shine lying on the ground. He hurried over to check on her while Gustaf simply sat in the snow. Rusty wanted to do the same, but the chilly ground would sap what little was left of her body heat, so she forced herself to keep standing.

"Have to... tent."

The griffin gave her a nod and slipped Ember's saddlebags from his back. Rusty hadn't even noticed when he had taken them. He was in the process of untying the bundle with tent poles when he stopped and stared at Rusty.

"What?"

"You're glowing," he said.

It was such an unexpected thing that Rusty opened and closed her mouth a few times in amazement. "What?!"

Gustaf pointed a claw and she looked down. Her forelegs were encased in a faint, golden yellow glow, like nearly transparent liquid honey.

"What is that?!"

She was suddenly aware that the wind had stopped and the sky was growing brighter. Was the storm passing? Perhaps some kind of a strange weather effect? Her eyes were drawn to a point of brilliance just beyond the griffin.

"Gustaf! Look out!"

Before either of them could do much else the mist swirled aside and a tall, gleaming white alicorn emerged from the white fog. Her horn, longer than any unicorn's, glowed brightly with that same golden yellow light.

"Princess? What are you doing here?!"

"I am the deus ex," she said with that secretive little smile Rusty remembered so well, despite only seeing it a few times from a distance. Her voice sang like a melody in her ears and a sense of relief washed over the mare as Celestia spoke.

"Wha- huh?!"

The Princess chuckled softly, then shook her head. "Never mind that. The important thing is that we found you." Even as she said that, more ponies poured around Celestia. A few of them had the distinctive white cap with a red cross, and some had gleaming golden armor.

"How- how did you find us?" Rusty managed. "We must have gotten lost! Ice Floe-"

Celestia smoothly interrupted her as she strode forward: "-is a few hundred hoofsteps. You had nearly made it yourself, but you stopped."

She had been about to set up camp mere yards from the town! Rusty flushed in sudden embarrassment and lowered her gaze to the ground, but a large white feather tipped her muzzle up again.

"Do not be ashamed, with the blizzard it was impossible for you to tell." The golden light kept flowing around her and Rusty Bones saw that Celestia's magic was wrapping around the others, too. When it touched Curio, the Princess gave a small gasp and turned to look. "Careful with that one," she ordered her medics. "Make him comfortable, but do not attempt to heal him. I will see to him personally."

"What? Why? It's just his horn," Rusty said, confused at the sudden attention.

"It's more than that, I am afraid," Celestia explained. Her mouth twisted a little and a look of frustration and anger came into her eyes as she stared across the impenetrable fog in the direction Rusty and her party had come from. Then she sighed and lowered her ears. "It keeps finding its way back, no matter how many times we wipe it from history."

"What does? What are you talking about."

Only then did Celestia apparently realize she was not alone and looked once again at Rusty. "Forgive me. Had I known sooner about your expedition, I would have stopped you. As it was, it only reached my ears yesterday and I hurried over. You may thank Princess Luna for finding Winter Shine's dreams, otherwise we would not have known to expect you."

The answers were there, Rusty knew that in her heart, but she was too tired to piece them together. She stood up, but her legs swayed.

Celestia saw how tired the mare was and shook her head. "Later. I will explain later. First, let's get you inside and warmed up."

Some of the ponies with the Princess had stretchers and Winter Shine was already lying on one of them. She was curled up and sobbing miserably. Ember walked beside her with his wing extended and the mare looked like she was clutching it to her chest. On Rusty's other side, Gustaf waved away the offer to be carried, but he did let one of the unicorn medics examine his wing. A third stretcher came beside Rusty and one of the medics gave her an expectant look. She shook her head and waved the offer away. If the town was only a few hoofsteps away, she would walk herself.

Celestia quirked her mouth up in a smile and turned. "Come then," she invited and began to move, slowly for her, but it still took some effort for Rusty to keep pace.

"I d- I don't understand," she said, looking up at the Princess. "What is that place? The eclipse cult? The sacrifices? Why doesn't anypony know about it?"

"Later," Celestia repeated. "Are any of you injured? Did anypony behave strangely? Like they were not himself? Beside the Professor, I mean?"

"You know about that?!"

The Princess inclined her head. "Some of its darkness lingers around him. I will banish it."

"Will he be alright?"

This time Celestia drew a deep sigh. "I do not know. We will see."

It wasn't the best of news, but at least it seemed Curio was still alive. There was a chance, and the Princess didn't look entirely resigned. She was about to ask more, but the lights of Ice Floe came into sight from the fog. They really had been mere paces away!

"At least we were going in the right direction."

"Yes, at least there was that."

They headed straight for the tavern. It had been a little over a week since Rusty had been there, but it looked completely different. For one, it was brightly lit and warm. It was the most welcoming sight she had seen in her life.

Celestia held the door open for her with her magic and Rusty stepped into the warm common room.





It wasn't much later that two ponies and a griffin were sitting at one of the tables. Rusty and Ember had their hooves on the seat, with thick blankets wrapped around their entire bodies, and still shivering in residual chill. Gustaf claimed he was fine, but Rusty saw how tightly he was holding his mug of hot coffee, and how Ember had covered his legs with the edge of his blanket. Celesta sat opposite them with one of her scribes, a black-maned unicorn the Princess called 'Miss Inkwell'. The name suited the serious-faced mare. Every now and then a guard or a medic would come to the table, murmur a few words with the Princess then leave. Their voices were too low for Rusty to catch their words, though.

"Princess? What did you mean by erasing it from pony history?"

For an instant it looked like Celestia would refuse to answer, but then her ears splayed. "Very well, you know a great deal too much, so I might as well fill in the gaps. Perhaps that way curiosity won't drive you back." Rusty shook her head and started to say that she would never return to those ruins, but Celestia simply spoke over her. "You know by now, I assume, that a tribe of earth ponies took to living underground sometime even before Equestria itself had been founded. You also know that the city they built died suddenly, with many of its inhabitants unable to escape their doom, correct?"

"Yes, but-"

Once again the Princess interrupted: "You have probably seen the temple of the Eclipse cult, since you mentioned it. I believe you've seen their prophecy?"

"It showed they would defeat you and Luna and take over Equestria!"

Celestia inclined her head and smiled. "Then it is lucky, is it not, that it's a false prophecy?"

"False?"

"Indeed. Neither me nor my sister know exactly what kind of evil those ponies found under the Frozen North, but all it fed them was lies. The prophecy, while it was something it wanted, was not something it could achieve, at least not easily."

"Then why give it as a prophecy at all?" Ember Clover interjected.

Celestia paused for a moment to think, her eyes unfocusing as she searched her memory. "My best guess - and mind you, it is only a guess - is that it fed the lie to the ancient earth ponies, or at least to their priests. It played on the old hatred between the tribes. Undoubtedly they saw the rise of Equestria as a direct threat to their city. A promise of conquest, of Equestria's riches, would have kept them obedient."

"Why would it need obedience when it could control ponies? Like the Professor."

"Control, yes, but not many, and not completely. Why do you think it has not simply taken control of you all, especially once you realized what had happened to Curio Trinket?" All Rusty could do was shrug her shoulders. Celestia smoothly went on: "It could not. Whether it can take over a mind or not varies from pony to pony. Luna believes that a mind must be receptive for it to enter. In any case, it took Curio because it could, but more importantly, because he was the most powerful among you."

"We all saw visions- walking dead ponies, fire which wasn't there, strange fog. Was any of it real?"

This time Celestia didn't seem to have a good answer, judging by her shrug. "Who knows? Some of the horrors are in the mind, but some may be real. How else could it have killed the original inhabitants? We do not know how capable that evil is, but we do know it is bound to the ruins and its power wanes quickly outside, in the light of day."

That had been Rusty's guess too and she was about to say that, but a white unicorn came over and murmured some words with Celestia. The Princess' face became serious and her ears drooped. She closed her eyes for a moment, thanked the medic, then looked gravely at Rusty.

"It is about your friend, Winter Shine."

Ember Clover sat up straight. "Will she be alright? What's wrong with her?"

Celestia didn't answer at first, searching for a gentle way to put it.

"Tell us, please!" Rusty pleaded, finding the wait unbearable.

Finally the alicorn spoke: "She may be fine, in time. She has suffered some kind of a mental breakdown. The evil had tried to work on her mind, as the second most powerful after the Professor. She fought it off, but at significant cost to herself. There are ponies in Canterlot who will work with Winter Shine and do what they can."

"So- she will be alright?"

Again Celestia looked sad. "It is too early to say. I remain hopeful, but she might carry the seed of this fear within herself for the rest of her life. I will ask Luna to safeguard her dreams, since she is likely to suffer nightmares for a long time."

Rusty and Ember shared a look, then the stallion asked: "Can we see her?"

"Of course," Celestia said with an approving little smile.

"What about Curio?"

This was another difficult question, but it seemed Celestia wasn't as keen to sugarcoat this one. "I cleansed the darkness from his mind. Like most creatures of shadow, it cannot survive direct sunlight. As for his horn-" Celestia shook her head, drew a deep breath, then went on: "I'm afraid it's permanently damaged. He should regain some magical ability, the doctors tell me, but it will be a far shot from what he could do before. Mentally- unfortunately we have to wait until he wakes up." Seeing her grim face, the Princess reached over to place her hoof on top of Rusty's. "Know at least that he will live. You have brought him out."

They were all silent for a while, then the Princess withdrew her hoof and that jolted Rusty into action. "What did you wipe from pony history and why?"

"You have not guessed?" Celestia asked, slightly surprised. "Very well. You've seen how dangerous that creature is. The only reason you escaped is because it was impatient. It had been alone for centuries, so it wanted your blood, fast. Had it shown patience, you would have brought an expedition there. Who knows, perhaps it had learned from its mistakes and this time it would not kill its servants."

"So you... wiped it from history?" Rusty repeated to get the Princess back on track.

"Yes. When it happened for the first time, some of the survivors came out of the North and they told us their story. My Sister and I went to confront this evil, but it is too crafty. It hid from us. We could not destroy it in the depths of the ruin. We endeavoured to hide all traces of that city from pony knowledge, so that unwary adventurers, such as yourself-" Even though the Princess smiled as she said it, Rusty's ears splayed and she averted her gaze. "-would not be tempted to seek it. Unfortunately, it seems some rumour has survived. Incidentally, you will give me all the maps you have, and promise you will not make more, nor tell anypony what is out there."

Ember Clover lowered his gaze. "Yes, Princess."

"The ponies who made our map. You knew about them?"

It was Celestia's turn to look down and lower her ears. "Yes, but not until it was too late. They found the evil, but it was weak, much weaker than what you saw. They began looting the upper levels of the city while it worked on their minds. Once it was able to lure them down, it had them too firmly in its grasp and killed most. Only a few escaped, which I assume is how that map slipped through."

"Why was it stronger with us?"

"Two reasons," Celestia explained, "There was a larger gap of time since the original destruction of the city and the first expedition, compared to between that and yours. Second, I believe the entity, whatever it is, has learned to conserve its strength." Nopony said anything, but the expressions on their faces told it all and Celestia inclined her head. "Yes, it feeds on lifeblood. That is why it had to institute a religion of pony sacrifice."

They all sat in silence, horrified at the revelation and unwilling to learn more. Ember Clover changed the topic: "Anyway, Gustaf here is the only reason we made it out. He was immune to the visions and all that."

"I expect that is because the being had never seen a griffin before. It can learn, however, and next time, if there is a next time, it might be ready. It will know about them and perhaps find a way into their minds."

"Like it did with Curio?" Rusty asked.

"Exactly."

"So it could see and hear everything Curio Saw and heard? What about the Professor's knowledge?"

This time Celestia smiled brightly. "That much, at least, is safe. My Sister and I were not able to find out much after the previous expeditions, but we know the being can't read memories. It can see through a pony's eyes, hear through their ears, perhaps even speak through them and compel them to some actions, but it cannot read minds. Well, at least in the conventional sense."

Once more they were silent as Rusty and Ember thought this over. Gustaf broke the silence: "Well, I got you all back, more or less. I'll be expecting my pay, Rusty."

They all chuckled to that and the mood lightened. Rusty threw her hooves up in mock exasperation. "Fine, sheesh, you'll get your money, you griffin!"

"More than that," Celestia said after they were done giggling about such an unimportant matter. "There weren't many in history, especially from among other races, but I will make you a Knight of the Realm, Gustaf."

Gustaf stammered a little and looked down at his claws, but Ember slipped from under his blanket so he could throw his hooves around the startled griffin. "I'm so proud of you!"

"We will arrange a ceremony in Canterlot when this is all over. We'll have to come up with some other reason, it would not do for this knowledge to get out. Speaking of, please promise to me that you will not tell anypony about what you have found."

They looked at one another, but after their harrowing ordeal it wasn't an onerous promise. "We promise, Princess," Rusty answered for all of them.

"Good. Since the being hadn't been able to feed on any of you, I am hopeful that it might not have much energy left. Perhaps this time it will stay forgotten until the caves and the tunnels collapse." There was nothing much to add, so Celestia turned her gaze on Gustaf once more. "Are you sure you will not accept healing for your wounds?"

"Thank you, ma'am," he replied, already shaking his head. "Scars are a symbol of my trade, you see."

That statement nearly sent Ember into a panic. "B-But! I thought we were gonna- and you'll- or I will move to Griffonstone- and then we'll-"

Gustaf chuckled a little, but he took Ember's hoof with both claws. "Relax, boy. Don't get ahead of yourself. I promised you can take me on a date or two, we'll see how it goes from there, okay?"

It wasn't exactly the answer Ember had been hoping for, but he relaxed and smiled. "Yeah. Okay. Just you wait, I'll wow you off your hoove- um, claws? Paws? Both? Yeah, and then you won't want to leave."

"Maybe," Gustaf laughed.

Rusty Bones picked up her mug of coffee and emptied it. She looked up to see Celestia watched her with great interest and felt like something was expected of her. "Um, thanks, Princess. For finding us, and for telling us this. I'm sorry we went down there, but we really didn't know."

Celestia closed her eyes as she inclined her head in acceptance of the apology. "Where will you go next? You are free to stop at the Canterlot Palace for as long as you wish, you know? Perhaps you will want to stay near Winter Shine and Curio Trinket to make sure they are doing well. Rest before your next adventure?"

It did sound good. There was still her life-long dream of leaving a mark on history, though it felt like a very distant thing at the moment. Rusty knew herself, however, and understood that it would come back eventually. "Will you let me in the Royal Library?"

"All except the forbidden wing, and on the condition that you inform me about your future expeditions."

"What?! There are more places like that?!"

The only description for Celestia's expression was 'distaste'. "Unfortunately, there are some places it would be best ponies didn't venture. I will say no more."

"Okay, okay, I don't want to know. I just- I never realized being a Princess meant having these sorts of secrets."

"It means much that most ponies never realize," Celestia replied with a slightly wistful smile. "At times I envy you. Enough about that, however. I must see to Curio Trinket again. I suggest you get some rest, we will leave for Canterlot in the morning."

Rusty nodded absentmindedly as she played with the empty mug on the table. She thought back on that dark, quiet city under the mountain. The miles and miles of stone corridors and long-forgotten rooms. She thought of the ponies who lived there, whose only legacy was to leave a pile of bones. Mostly, she thought about that newborn filly and her family, forever having dinner in a city nopony remembered. She hoped they were in a better place, that whatever evil dwelt there couldn't touch them. Her own story was now tied to that ruin. That was a legacy, of a sort. The evil being would forever know that she, Rusty Bones, had slipped through its claws.

She had escaped and brought her friends out.

More than that- she had made some friends.

She would accept Celestia's offer. She had to stay near Winter Shine and Curio Trinket, at least until she was sure they would be alright. She owed them that much.

Rusty caught a glance of Gustaf and Ember Clover, still hugging to her side. "By the way, Gustaf, Equestrian Knighthood comes with a substantial monthly stipend, did you know that? You're basically set for life, and it will extend to any children you might have."

The griffin started in surprise. "It does?! You know I was only joking about the pay! I'm just glad we made it out of there!"

"Yes, I knew. Yes we did. And yes, it was thanks to you. You deserve it."

Perhaps it was just her imagination, but Gustaf seemed to sit a little straighter. Ember Clover was grinning at him and murmured: "Gustaf, Knight of Equestria. Has a nice ring to it."

After that Ember Clover began talking about a particular club in Canterlot and Rusty stopped paying attention. She slid from her bench. "I think I'll go get some sleep. See you in the morning."

She got an absentminded wave goodbye, but the two were already engrossed in each other and she didn't disturb them. She waved to the Princess on the way up the stairs. She moved slowly and all her muscles hurt, but she didn't mind. All Rusty could think about was the soft, inviting bed in her room.

There would be time for more adventures in the morning.

END