//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Shadows // Story: Under the Northern Skies // by Prolet //------------------------------// My hooves were aching and my breath was labored. The sun was already setting behind the mountains, enveloping the world in a red hue that’d only last for the ten minutes it would take for the sun to vanish. Rarity was at my side, looking just as weary as I was feeling. She slowed down and stopped. “It’s getting late, Twi. We should make camp before we’re in complete darkness, don’t you agree?” Rarity said. We have travelled a respectable distance, but with this pace, it’ll take us five days to reach our destination… perhaps if we walked for another hour, we could… When I stopped, a feeling of pain washed over my body. I wasn’t prepared for a forced march like this. It felt like every nerve of my body was burning away slowly and steadily. “Well?” “Umm… yes, I suppose we should set up our bedrolls and make a fire. We need food, warmth and rest. Well, at least I do…” I responded with a tired voice. It had been a long day. Rarity smiled and started to levitate her stuff out of her bag. I did the same, and soon everything necessary was lying on the ground next to path. It would’ve been pointless to set up farther from it; we hadn’t encountered a single pony after the discussion with Autumn Harvest. Thus, the chances of attracting unwanted attention were small. Besides, I could always ward the area with an alarm spell that would wake us up in case anything came near. In no time we had a fire up and running. Rarity had set up a small kettle over the flames with a long pole, and water taken from a small nearby stream was now being heated in it. Outside of the circle of light the fire emitted it was dark. The sun was now down, but we wouldn’t be sleeping for a while despite our weariness. We had to eat. “Quite a day… will we have to keep this pace up?” Rarity asked while pouring compressed, dried vegetables into the kettle. “Yes. The path ends only a few miles from here, but we’ll have to strain ourselves just as much as today. Our speed will likely still be much slower. It all depends on how well I can navigate in the woods. The map we have isn’t very detailed, so finding the most even terrain won’t be easy,” I responded. A quick look at the dark silhouettes of the mountains against the dusky sky was enough to tell that steep height variations were inevitable. “Even worse than today? My legs are numb already… tomorrow will be painful,” Rarity sighed. “I’m afraid that’s the case,” I said, compassionately smiling at my friend. “But at least we’ll have each other’s company. “ “Of course, darling.” Rarity shivered a bit. “It’s going to be a freezing night. I think we should try to feed the fire during its course.” “Correct; catching cold would be bad. Every even hour should keep the fire lit,” I said not from experience, but from reading a book on camping. I nodded, feeling a sudden worry crawl up my spine. I hadn’t thought much about the weather conditions. The fact that late summer nights here were quite chilly had for some reason not even crossed my mind. We sat there silently for a short while, waiting for the soup to get ready. Up in the sky, stars had already lit up, but the moon was lingering somewhere behind the mountains. I let my gaze wander around to our surroundings. The outlines of trees were barely visible as my eyes had quickly gotten used to the relatively bright light of the fire. It was hard to see anything more than a few yards away. Turning my eyes away from the eerie void beyond the flickering, comforting light, I moved a bit closer to the warm flames, next to Rarity. To my surprise, she leaned on me. “I just want to sleep…” Rarity silently told me. A blush rose up my cheeks, but she didn’t seem to notice. Without replying, I took the kettle off the pole and poured the soup evenly into the two small bowls waiting in front of us. Levitating mine up to taste it, I noticed something white in the corner of my eye. As I turned to look, nothing but the surrounding darkness greeted my gaze. More shivers ran through my body, and I drank the soup greedily. It took only moments for me to finish my bowl. “Already finished?” exclaimed Rarity while taking sips of her portion. “Even in the middle of nowhere, certain manners should be remembered,” she giggled. I scowled at her and drank the last drops of my soup. The taste was nothing special, but I’d have enjoyed any food at the moment. Rarity finished hers in a couple of minutes without further comments. “I’ll take the first watch,” I said. My friend simply nodded and tucked herself into her bedroll, falling asleep almost immediately. Time seemed to move very slowly as I took looks at the woods, pondering about the possible routes we could take tomorrow. I had to feed the fire once. Carrying branches from the dark forest around the fire was not a pleasant experience; I had a constant feeling of being watched. The eerie light of my horn wasn’t exactly comforting, either. Trees around me cast large shadows which creepily swayed around as I moved, though I was relieved to find out that the ground was full of dry, well-burning branches. Apparently, the cold nights had already taken their toll on the forest. After the first hour I was having a hard time staying awake. The crackling of the flames in the otherwise quiet night was mind-numbing. Just as my head once again drooped, an image flashed into my mind out of nowhere: an unrecognizable form, a grey mass of something, sat atop a mountain, with the grandest of views beneath it. Hilly forests stretched all the way to the horizon, and here and there rose enormous peaks, though none were as high as the one the form was on. I could feel the pace of my heartbeat instantly climbing to new heights. The fire was no longer emitting any sound. A sudden urge grasped my mind, guiding me to use my magic to grab the nameless book from my bag. It gracefully levitated in front of my eyes. Instinctively, I turned its pages until a hunch stopped me. …the two ponies laid to rest, taking turns to keep watch. The leader took the first one, in her mind the contents of a mysterious book, which she… The book snapped close when I understood what I was reading. Cold sweat had already formed on my forehead. Even though the noise of the fire was back, I was paralyzed for a moment. How? What is this book? I thought, keeping it off the ground with my magic. I levitated it over the fire, trembling and closing my eyes. I wanted to release it. I really wanted to. But I couldn’t; at the same time, a feeling of anxious curiosity was also overwhelming me. The desire to know what else laid in the book was so strong that I was eventually forced to move it farther from the flames. At least I had enough sense in me to put the book back into my bag instead of opening it again. For the remainder of my watch I stood next to the sleeping Rarity, trying to calm myself by being closer to her. Being disturbed was of course unpleasant, but I certainly didn’t have any trouble staying awake for the remainder of my turn. When I was on the verge of getting drowsy again, I tapped Rarity. To my surprise, she rose up almost immediately. “Alrighty…” Rarity yawned, clenching her eyes shut to shelter them from the fire’s bright light. “You can sleep now.” “Rares, we can’t keep watch for the whole night. Our vitality needs to be in decent shape in the morning for us to have any hope to keep our speed up,” I commented with a soft voice. “Sure… I won’t wake you up after my watch is over, then. Have you warded the area in case wildlife decides to pay a visit?” “Yes,” I mumbled while curling up inside my bedroll. I closed my eyes, and sleep got me only moments after. The biological needs of my body were stronger than the dread of something bad happening. -- Darkness surrounded me. There was nothing to be seen, nothing to be heard, nothing to be sensed. Suddenly, the world around me flickered. Bright pulses of light came to life only to die out a split second after their appearance, turning the void into a plane of random flashes. I crouched, trying to shield myself from the disturbing place. “Twilight Sparkle,” whispered a voice from my side. I looked at the source; as expected, nothing was there. “Y-yes?” I answered the call. I was met with a distant echo from somewhere far away. A brief shock of pain paralyzed my body. I was locked into place as a colorless forest came to be around me, only to abruptly shift into something else entirely. Trees were replaced by gigantic buildings that reached all the way to the clouds and the dirt under my hooves transformed into polished marble. I was in a city of sorts, only it appeared to be made for giants instead of ponies. I could move again, and took a step. With a flicker, I was now in Ponyville. Everything was covered in a deep layer of snow. The roofs of buildings were visible, and smoke rose from some of the chimneys. A blizzard raged across the landscape and lighting bolts arced from one place to another without reason. “Twilight Sparkle,” I could hear the voice calling faintly from someplace far away. -- I woke up shivering. It felt like my body was turning into a solid block of ice. Nowhere around me was there light, save for the dimly glowing embers a few feet away. Lighting up my horn to take a quick look around, I noticed Rarity shivering in her sleep. Without hesitation I moved myself next to her, wrapping my hooves around her to provide warmth for the both of us. Clutched up next to the white mare, all the worries I had were pushed back into my subconscious. For the rest of the night, I dreamt of beautiful meadows and fields of roses. -- Waking up next to Rarity felt wonderful. Her soft coat was as warm as the sun that was currently rising from behind the mountains. I just wanted to lay there besides her for an eternity, enjoying her proximity. My cheeks flared up when I realized my hooves were still wrapped around her; she seemed to not have woken up during the night. Her beautiful purple mane flailed around silently in the morning wind. Get to work, silly filly. I rose up quietly, doing my best to avoid disturbing Rarity. She’d need all the sleep she could get for today’s hike. A quiet laugh escaped my mouth as Rarity turned onto her other side, snoring a bit. After standing still for a moment to enjoy the already-faint memory of Rarity’s wondrous coat, I took out the worn map of the region from one of the books I had taken with me. We were almost at the end of the path we had walked on yesterday. There were numerous landmarks, but I’d still have to pay attention to not get lost in the unfamiliar terrain. “Good morning, Twi,” said a smooth voice from behind me. I turned around to see Rarity basking in the first rays of light. She was looking straight into my eyes, a smile on her face. “Morning, Rarity. We’re going to move out as soon as possible.” “I thought so. In fact, I already packed everything into my bag during my watch,” Rarity said, tapping the saddle bag strapped onto her. “I’m ready to go when you are.” And so our journey continued. Rarity and I chattered for a while, but eventually my thoughts were taken up by the book. I could only wonder how it knew what we were doing. Of course, it could have been mere coincidence, but I doubted that. Perhaps I’m somehow projecting my own expectations on it? My magical aptitude could do that in principle. You know very well that’s not the case. You can control your magic well enough for something like that to not happen. No, it’s something else entirely. The path became less and less noticeable as we hiked on, until it dissolved entirely into the surrounding forest. We were now walking under the sparse canopy of tall pines. The trees were few and far between, most of them looking like they had been there for centuries. Having read numerous books about the Crystal Mountains, I knew this was the case. Vegetation was scarce on the ground, making traveling relatively easy, though the uphill climb we now had to endure was already straining our muscles. The sound of water rushing down somewhere to our right betrayed the presence of a stream – after hours of walking, we were desperately in need of a rest, and didn’t think twice before heading towards the direction of the sound. It wasn’t far away, and soon we sat by a narrow yet seemingly quite powerful river. Upstream from us a tall waterfall roared down, sprinkling vapor all the way to us. My map told me the place was called Glimrock Falls. Enjoying the view, we began eating tasteless, compressed rations from our bags. “Bland,” Rarity commented, sighing. She stared at the water with a blank face. “Where does this stream flow to?” “Yes, it is. Foraging would simply take too much time, which we’re already very short of. We’ll just have to get used to this. As to your question…” I took yet another look at the map. “It flows into and merges with the Golden River. Why?” “It’s… nothing.” Rarity looked uneasy and glanced warily around. “I’ve already eaten my ration. Let’s go.” As my friend got up and started aimlessly trotting towards the forest, I hastily gathered my stuff from the ground and followed her. “Rarity, what in the name of Celestia is going on?” She halted and turned towards me, her eyes wide open. “I don’t wish to talk about it.” “But…” “No. Not now, at least. Perhaps some other time,” Rarity continued, her voice slightly trembling. I cocked my head in response. What’s this all about? was all that I could think at the moment. My friend pawed the ground, facing away from me, as I tried to gather my mind again. “This is important. If we have to avoid water from now on, we’ll be in trouble! There’s at least one river we have to cross in order to get to our destination,” I argued, frustrated by my friend’s mysterious obsession about the Golden River. “Twilight, please don’t do this.” Rarity bit her lip. “I’ll tell when the time is right. Like I said a few days ago, it’s rude to ramble on about subjects one doesn’t want to talk about.” “Fine, Rarity, but you can’t keep secrets like this forever. Besides, you know well that you can trust me with anything,” I finally told her. Instead of replying, she simply continued onwards silently, constantly taking glimpses at the woods surrounding us. Frustrated by her, I quickly took the lead. We’d just have gotten lost if we wandered aimlessly. At least the map told me that we wouldn’t have to actually cross the river we just left behind us. All we’d have to do was keep going northwards while avoiding difficult terrain. But no matter how much I tried to apply the map’s information into our path, large rocks and cliffs kept appearing around us alarmingly frequently. I even used my horn to pinpoint north, but that didn’t help. Apparently the map was simply inaccurate. Like expected, it didn’t take long for us reach a high, impassable cliff. The tall wall of mossy, gray rock extended almost as far as I could see in the hilly forest. “What now?” Rarity asked. “Could you just teleport us over this obstacle, Twilight?” “Not really. The chance of success in an unfamiliar locale like this is minimal. I’d have to spend at least a few days in this area’s immediate vicinity for the spell to have any chance of working.” “Could you at least try?” my friend pleaded. “Well, why not…” I agreed, rolling my eyes. I knew it was a stupid idea, but perhaps worth a shot. Focusing my concentration at a spot above the ledge, I tried to clear my mind. It came from such a routine that there was no need to put much conscious effort in the process. In an instant, I felt magic surging through my every nerve, channeling into my horn. A purple glow surrounded Rarity and me. As magic erupted from my horn, a mind-wracking pain engulfed me. I felt like a hundred daggers were thrust inside me simultaneously, setting my body ablaze. Black filled my vision, and I faintly sensed the cold ground under me as my mind drifted elsewhere. -- Forward. Forwards was the only direction to go. Mist was everywhere, making seeing anything very hard. I could only tell that I was standing on something wet… something very wet. I looked down, and fell into water. There was nothing I could do. Nobody would hear my screams, not that I even could produce much of a sound underwater. There was no hope. My struggle was for nothing. I sank and sank, until air finally ran out, making me inhale water out of panic. Seconds passed, and the world melted away. -- “Twilight! Are you okay?” called an agitated voice from somewhere very close. My eyes snapped open, only to reveal the clear, blue sky. My horn throbbed furiously, sending pulses of pain into my head. I covered it with my hooves. The worried-looking face of Rarity appeared directly over me. “Twilight?” “It depends on the way you look at it,” I answered her question, cringing. She looked distressed, but was obviously relieved that nothing very serious had happened. I tried to rise up, but my legs faltered, unable to support my weight. “I’ll have to gather myself. It appears that I tried too much. Teleportation is a very advanced spell, and trying to cast it spontaneously like that caused a backlash.” I inhaled deeply, trying to rise up again for no avail. The next time I did that, Rarity supported me, and I finally succeeded. “Time to get on the move again. We’ll have to go around this cliff or find some way to climb it.” Rarity looked at the wall in front of us. “Hm… seeing as that didn’t quite work out, perhaps you could try and move some of the nearby boulders so that we could simply climb up? My magic’s not powerful enough for that.” I nodded, and emptied my mind again. Doing it with the pain was hard, but then again, I did have a lot of training. When casting any spell harder than basic levitation or tricks, I had to concentrate by making my mind a blank slate for a moment. However, as I released my magic, it didn’t come. Instead came another pulse of pain through my horn, forcing me to reel. No, no. It can’t be. This is bad. “We have a problem, Rarity. A big one,” I said, sitting down again, holding my head. My friend’s mouth was agape. “It didn’t work?” “I’m afraid so. I think I burnt out my horn with that failed teleportation spell.” I looked deep into her azure eyes. “I won’t be able to use magic for days.”