The Elements of Harmony and the Princesses walked into the long abandoned castle cautiously. There was no trace of the being, not even a faint blue glow. The girls automatically spread out and looked around. Apart from the dust, not much had changed since the last time they had entered this place. Their hooves left behind clear hoofprints, but none were freshly made. None belonged to the creature.
Princess Luna walked into the old throne room with apprehension and looked to the raised dais at the end. That was where she had fought the Elements and thankfully lost. The thought made her turn away in anger and disgust. This was where she had challenged Twilight and her friends as Nightmare Moon. She wanted to forget that dreadful time, but she knew she could not and now having to have it reminded in this way made her feel sick in her stomach. Then again a lot of things had happened here that left a foul taste in her mouth. Her fight with the Elements was only a tiny end-note in the passage of history. What this place had seen, what had transpired within these walls in that every chamber...
Something on her face must have given away her sentiments because she felt a comforting wing drape over her shoulder.
"Sister? Is something the matter?" Princess Celestia asked.
"Must you ask that? Coming back this place after everything."
"That's in the past. Let's concentrate on the present." Celestia give her little sister a comforting nuzzle.
It helped.
"Shall we continue our search-"
A sudden high-pitched scream exploded into the empty hall and a red-faced Rarity was somehow standing atop one of the broken pillars with one hoof. She looked at her friends and let out a guilty giggle. "I'm terribly sorry, i-it's just... a-a rat ran past me a-and it scared me."
Despite the situation they were in, both Rainbow and Applejack could not help but burst out into fits of laughter.
"Now, that's entirely uncalled for." Rarity stuck her bottom lip out at her two friends.
"Yes it is! It's completely called for! You shoulda see your-"
Rarity yelped again as a sudden burst of speed followed by a rainbow contrail whizzed by her.
"O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-over t-t-t-there!" Rainbow squeaked pointing towards the far end of the old throne room. She had zoomed past Rarity and hid herself behind another pillar further away.
Everypony turned to look where Rainbow had pointed. A blue glow shone through a doorway blocked by rubble. None had noticed it before, but the light revealed the ancient passageway. They all watched in silence as the light momentarily grew brighter before fading out completely.
"Stand back!" Celestia announced. Her horn glowed a bright, fierce yellow and she projected her power at the stones blocking the entrance. The rocks began to glow and finally melt, yet they felt none of the unbearable heat associated with molten stone.
Following her sister's lead, Luna used her magic to cool the lava with her magic. The result produced a smooth, glassy finish that overlapped the walls and floor.
"I... I remember this doorway. This passage leads down towards the old dungeons, dearest sister," Luna whispered from behind Celestia. "I do not want to venture there. The memories of-"
"Hush, Luna. We promised never to speak of that time again," Celestia replied quietly, a reassuring smile on her face.
At those words, Luna's eyes began to water. The Princess of the Night quickly wiped them away before Twilight and her friends could see. "Yes, big sister."
"Follow us, my little ponies. We'll head down first and make sure it's safe, but keep the Elements of Harmony ready in case."
Celestia led the way, her horn still glowing brightly as her light illuminated a long staircase that led downwards into the bowels of the ancient castle. Luna followed right after her sister with her own horn glowing in the dark. After her followed Twilight and her friends.
In the limited light from the glow of their horns the way seemed to go down forever; a seemingly endless staircase. The girls were beginning to believe that there was no end, but both the princesses kept on going. It was clear that they knew just how deep this went. After what seemed like an eternity Celestia's horn started to illuminate something ahead of them. As they approached the first thing they noticed was a smooth, ice-like wall, much like the one that Luna had created at the entrance where they could see their reflections. Ahead of them was an empty space where the light soon revealed an iron barred door.
"What is this place?" Rarity asked using her horn to illuminate the wall next to her. She unconsciously checked to make sure her makeup was on and her mane tidy, which made Applejack roll her eyes.
"A dark place for dark times," Celestia replied quietly. "Our history wasn't always so... harmonious."
There was something about the way she said those words that seemed to hint at a terrible burden. This time it was Luna who nuzzled her older sister. It was clear that neither of them wanted to be down here. It did not take a genius to understand that the history here was painful for them both. The princesses were looking upwards at an unfamiliar symbol embossed into the wall. Elegantly carved or molded.
"It's rusted right on through," Applejack commented looking at the hinges.
"Hang on just a second, I'll try and-" Twilight began.
Applejack spun around and gave the door an almighty buck. The ancient metal could not take the sudden jolt and a loud snap echoed through the darkness followed by a deafening boom as it crashed unabashed onto the cold, stoney floor.
"- open it up," Twilight ended.
"Oops. Sorry. Mah bad."
Pinkie poked her nose through the door first but was unable to see anything, not even her hoof in front of her face. Celestia patted Pinkie on the back and the party pony made way for her. As the princess walked in, her horn illuminated a long, narrow corridor aligned on both sides with similar iron-barred doors.
Something in the air felt off. A strange aura or scent that seemed to permeate through the very stone itself.
"It feels like... like... I dunno..." Rainbow whispered. It seemed like the right thing to do.
"A tomb," Luna replied equally as quiet.
That sent a cold shudder through Applejack's bones.
"Come, my little ponies. Let us not delay." Celestia took a step, the sound echoing through the hall. She lifted up her hoof and looked at the print left behind.
"Princess?" Twilight asked looking up at her mentor.
"It's nothing, Twilight. Come along."
Despite the volume of their hooves clopping on the stone floor, they all continued on. Twilight couldn't help herself and peered past one of the iron doors along the long corridor. All she could see were small, windowless room. She used her magic to illuminate the interior but nothing was there except for little mounds of dust and some ancient, ragged pieces that resembled clothing. A few had remnants of what looked to be furniture, but it was hard to tell.
"Are you okay, Princess Luna?" Rarity asked.
Luna had her head down and seemed to avert her gaze from the small rooms keeping her vision straight on. She wore a pained expression, but when Rarity spoke she forced a smile to her lips. "Yes, I am fine. Just... tired from walking down those stairs. Thank you for asking."
It was clear that Luna did not want to elaborate, and Celestia also seemed to be thinking. As the silence grew between them, Twilight found herself deep in thought. Questions started to plague her mind. How there could be no trace of the creature? While she understood that because it was a ghost physical barriers were not be an issue, but even so. Nothing? The only things she knew for sure was that the ghost was glowing. That brought out another question. What would make it glow? Her only conclusion was that there was magic somehow involved. But if that was the case, then was that thing really a ghost?
"Fluttershy!" Rainbow's voice whined. "Leggo of me!"
Fluttershy was hugging onto Rainbow so tight that the pegasus had to struggle to make the butter colored mare relinquish her grip slightly so she could breathe. The Elements of Kindness refused to do as he friend asked and clung to her like a newborn foal.
"There! I see light!" Pinkie shouted.
"Sh!" Twilight, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Luna and Celestia hushed the Element of Laughter.
"Oopsy. Sorry," Pinkie replied in a whisper.
"Not like it matters. Applejack probably announced our presence when she bucked that gate," Rarity pointed out.
The orange mare giggled guiltily.
"Careful, girls," Celestia warned. "Follow me."
Hours passed in minutes.
Minutes passed in hours.
Seconds flowed into minutes like a steady stream merging to form a pool. Time, each aspect of it, each dimension of it, different and constant. Minutes drowned into hours, hours into days, weeks, years, decades, millennium. Eons. An age had gone by slowly stretching out over an eternity, never moving, always in one spot.
Yet it had come so fast.
Minutes to come. Minutes to go. The seconds lingering for moments before dragging on into an eternity in the next moment.
Time flows.
Time never stops.
Time is not linear.
Everything, like a blanket that covered the cosmos, it envelops all and nothing. The concept once so unfathomable now seemed so simple. Like reading the definition of a word in a dictionary, it all made so much sense once you understood. Everything is both nothing and all combined. The very fabric of time and space included in this simple, yet ever so complex equations of mathematical perfection that could only be achieved by obeying a certain set of rules.
Rules that cannot be broken.
The stars that littered the huge expanse all around them seemed like the all encompassing concept of everything, yet in so many ways it was nothing. The huge expanses between the little dots spanned for billions or trillions of miles had nothing but a majority of empty spaces. Nothing. So much of nothing, yet it was everything as well.
How long had it been? The question in itself made no sense in the planar form of thought. Already the answer was known, because it only took two point five trillionth of a second for his synapse to process it. Faster than light because it traversed a space within where time had no determining factor. The thought was always there, always was waiting for that one specific moment to be known, then it decayed in an instant. Like stepping stones across a vast river, each time it was stepped on it would sink beneath the surface, the only way was forward, never going back. The route set, there was no alternative, but the other paths were clear, visible from any vantage, just that you could never take them.
The next moment was coming... again. The conditions had predetermined it knowingly. It was not a chance nor a matter of coincidence. Everything was set in motion since the beginning. Why did this meeting take place down below the ancient citadel? Why did this place need to be in ruins for it to happen? There were so many microscopic reasons, each one vibrating the right molecule at the right time. On and on, for centuries, since the beginning. Why did it have to be here? Because it was supposed to be that way. Four hundred and twenty two million years ago it had been like this and four hundred and twenty two million years later the events were about to unfold.
Light. It pierced through the darkness. Each particle surging through, bouncing off the centillion surfaces, each ricocheted off into another direction but a few select particles, exactly five octillion, nine septillion, three sextillion, seven quintillion, two quadrillion, five trillion, eight billion, seven million, two thousand, four hundred and eighty seven of them, bounced off these surfaces, some almost as small as an atom themselves, and reflected into the ocular receptors. Not that they were needed. The usefulness of vision faded the moment he could see without seeing.
What had they been called? It had been so long, this concept of sight.
The molecules were rapidly increasing. They number exponentially growing as more and more particles streamed through the empty spaces between the molecules that make up the gaseous expanse between the vacuum beyond the planet's atmosphere and the solid mass below.
Air. That was what it was. The concept, again, had so long escaped him. Worlds of incalculable number he had seen, and so very few had enough air to sustain any semblance of life. Yet this planet had so much. A rather strange feeling it was to see this particular kind of air. It seemed so familiar.
These notions evaporated into half-thoughts before they could be completed. Air was and always will be remembered because he was breathing it yesterday, millions of years ago in a place so far away, right next door.
That's right. He. It had been a very long time since he remembered what gender was, not that he had ever forgotten because he could see himself being with someone else. Someone who cared for him in a time so long ago, yet he could see it as if it were yesterday.
The source of the particles appeared in the immediate vicinity firing. They traveled at two hundred and ninety-nine million, seven hundred and ninety-two thousand, four hundred and fifty-eight meters per second, an agonizingly slow speed that happened before the concept of a blink could form in the brain. Each rushed past him, at a snail's pace. Each one unique, different. He observed each particle individually. Like so many creations that were formed from a multitude of coincidences and chances, it had a life. From the moment of its birth he had seen it. He watched it grow, illuminating other particles within its sphere. Those that were weaker were destroyed, cast aside, obliterated. Never changing its direction it flew straight into the ocular receptors, the eyes, and there it was absorbed, effectively dying in a collision of microscopic proportions. There the light struggled for a moment, trying to reach some sense of its existence only to find that it had no sentient thought as it burned into the retina.
Such was the way of things. Every creation has a life. Each being a particle or a series of particles, an infinite number of series that could have an infinite number of possibilities.
Possibilities that could never come to pass.
He thought about another particle that floated just next to the one that died. This wasn't a light particle. No, nothing so new or bright. This was an old particle. Its journey had brought it from millions of miles away. It was the remnants of a now extinct species of tree. Once it had stood taller than any tree that ever existed. It never loomed over him as he never saw its splendor. Purple leaves and bright green flowers that blossomed in the hottest times of the nine seasoned climate. Nothing save trees existed here.
Then the storms came. Fire rained from the sky. For the next two thousand four hundred and twenty years the planet burned, the ash and cinder blanketing the world from the outside and thus it remained for centuries. He saw it all, but never did. He could smell the high levels of sulfur in the air that was not even discovered in the most sophisticated telescopes of the time.
The particle hovered just in front of him. It had no real life, so it had died too long ago, but it had lived and continues to do so to this moment. It still existed, therefore it was still there. Then it was gone. Another particle of light colliding into it reducing to nothing to form everything.
Everything was nothing.
Then the creatures entered the room. It had taken so long for them to get here, but they were right on time. To the nanosecond. They all froze and he could smell their fear, hear their hearts beat faster, see their pupils dilate and felt their core temperatures rise as their adrenaline pumped into their veins.
Words.
Language.
The formation of noises emanated from the throat and nasal passages to form comprehensive sounds. It had been the basis of communication for all kinds of species. He knew their tongue because he could hear their conversation, hear them talk and the answers he would give. But not now. Now he did not know the language. He had to learn it when they spoke, using his ability to decipher their biochemistry and brain waves to form a full comprehensive understanding over their language. It was not hard it, yet he had never come across anything like it. The roots of this language was something completely unknown to him.
They all talked in quick whispers as they hid behind the two larger horses.
No.
Ponies.
Yes. He knew who they were, but not yet. He knew of their significance, but not yet. He knew what they were going to ask of him, but not yet.
Almost.
More words.
In an instant he understood. He could hear them clearly as they talked. He made out their phonetics, their structuring, their words and that fact that they were arguing. There was a patten. Always a pattern. There was order. In its simplest forms the order always existed, always prevailed. Always was never there.
Order cannot exist without chaos, and therefore chaos cannot exist without order. Like the way that the particles in the air moved in circular waves from their mouths, each vibration releasing various tones and noises. The sound from their mouths reverberated off his ears, or what would have been ears. What use was ears or any other auditory receptors when everything is predetermined already? The words had already been spoken and heard.
The atoms moved like dust in the wind, a compression of space followed by a vacuum that pulled them back together. Like the sand in the ocean, it moved as one for a moment, following the wave, then pulled back as the empty space behind beckoned them to return.
The path of least resistance.
He watched them without his eyes, felt them without his skin, heard them without his ears, tasted them without his tongue. The ripples in the air would reached him soon. Soon in the linear sense, for it had already come to pass eons ago in the near future. Time was planar. It was, is, and always shall be, but maybe, possible, never as well.
Time was not linear.
The creatures would see him soon. The reflection of the light particles ricocheting from his body were not surging back towards the newcomers. He did not know what they were, but he knew. Again there was more vibrations in the air as the sounds of conversation bent and altered the path of millions of particles. As a result they would notice him nearly two hundredths of a nanosecond later, as they had always done.
It was so close to that time, but again it was so far away. He stood outside the ruins observing the three little ones near the tree, their fear and excitement luring them to that place. He saw them walk out with a large red pony. He saw them get eviscerated by a large bear-like creature. He saw them grow up to be adults. He saw them die from a strange accident trying to earn their coming of age marks. He saw it all, yet only one path truly existed.
Only one.
Endless possibilities tied up to the whims of an intelligent law that determined all and everything.
So what was the point of existing if it was all already known?
Because it was also unknown.
Time is planar. It does not move in one path. It never did.
He opened his mouth, and let the muscles that had long since evolved to form the appropriate sounds. He squeezed his larynx as he had always done, but had not done so in so long, just the other moment, many eons ago. He had talked to that being from that world. A man ripping off his mask demanding that he be done with it. The feeling of peeling his field away. The blood on the snow. The smoking remains. Vivid. Fresh. Ancient.
"Hello."