Diprosopus

by WritingSpirit

The Mare Of Cirrus Gorge

"Nope, miss. 'Fraid noth'n in the library could'elp ya with that."

"But there must be at least something about this, right?" Twilight protested, unconvinced. She waved in her hoof the late Professor Page's diary, its tattered, leather cover already starting to shed loose its yellowed, sand-ridden pages. The contents were nothing short of delusional, if not strange, what with its ancient inscriptions written in some sort of long-lost language she couldn't understand, to which she then consulted Cirrus Deep's library.
The librarian in front of her just shook his head, arranging his dusty spectacles with a sigh as he studied the text again. There's no mistake, Twilight recognized immediately some of the diverse languages that were inside, namely Old Equestrian, the ancient minotaurs' Cumarsáidean language, the cervines' Traditional Calligraphy, the Draconian Runic Script and the most numerous of them, Ancient Saddle Arabian.

The text both of them were pondering over, however, was something she had never seen before, as if some prankster just scrawled strange symbols and bothered to call it a language. They were an extraordinary array of complete circles, all written in red ink, yet all of them were decorated differently within.
There were some circles with only a single dot in the center, and others with a triangle or square, sometimes even both! There were some adorned with a cross, its lines poking out its circumference, while others remaining within the boundary or at least touching it. The more intriguing ones were the ones which had portions being shaded in, forming simple quarters to even diabolically vast, polka-dot patterned arrangements.

"M sorry, miss," the librarian finally said in defeat.
"None of them books ever mentioned such a language. It's either somepony think its witty to make someth'n up, or this writ'n's dead and no longer exists."

"A-Alright. Thanks anyway."
Disappointed, the lavender unicorn soon trotted out of the library with frayed diary in hoof, the ringing bell clearly signaling her departure. Another dead end, she told herself with a sigh; another lead that freezes up cold into the middle of nowhere and leaving her ever the more confused. It reminded her of the time she and Scootaloo tried their best to track down the Masque, though similarly with this diary, their search ended how they started: empty-hoofed.
At least she and Scootaloo spent some time together. The teenager was unsurprisingly the perfect carbon copy of her idol, Rainbow Dash, from her love of flying to the most recent discovery of her being an avid reader, having caught her reading a few novels while in their search for the Masque's origins. They had a few laughs and both even teased each other on having no coltfriends, which reminded her of how far she and Scootaloo had gone as friends.

She was already starting to miss her, as well as the rest of her family and friends and in particular, her nephew, Radiance. It's strange, to babysit the son of your babysitter, almost as if you're returning the favor she has given to you in all these years, but Twilight was extremely eager to pursue it if she happened upon the chance again.
Right now, she had to deal with the survey regarding the camp's situation and a supposedly dead language that the late professor had discovered. She was almost done with the former task; it was only a simple survey, after all. Just a cream puff compared to dead languages.

"Twilight, Twilight," she muttered to herself, shaking her head.
"One day you've got to just sit back and relax..."

Slowly but surely, the unicorn trotted out of the town of Cirrus Deep, up the hillside and back into the cluster of tents that is Camp Éigríochtar. As always, soldiers were scrambling about, tending to their weapons and armor as well as their stomachs even. Some of them gave her a wave, having known of her origins, to which she tried her best to do the same in return. She didn't mind their greetings, really; it just feels awkward to be around so many soldiers at once, as if there was actually true danger around them like a panther lying in wait for the best time to pounce on its prey. Perhaps this was how Shining felt when he first stepped into the Canterlot Barracks, she surmised.
Her eyes soon caught Rarity and Spike among the fray, along with the gryphon captain of the camp, Kynsi Alsenaar. It was embarrassing to have a name like Kynsi, though the gryphon assured her it was a nickname: his real name was Teräviä Kynsiä an ceathrú Alsenaar, shortened to Kynsi only for ponykind's sake. Being one of many generals sent by the gryphon kingdom, with their colorful history in warfare and such and his own numerous telltale scars, it's expected for him to be experienced in combat than any of them combined.

As she got closer, however, she soon spotted another pony being with them; a local, no doubt. His aquamarine eyes were squinting down onto a piece of parchment on the table, to which Twilight recognized it was the diary entry that she gave to her friend. Something about bleeding foxes and woodpeckers, if she remembered correctly.
"Twilight!" Spike called to her, apparently noticing her approaching. The lavender mare gave a meek wave at the four pair of staring eyes, warmly welcoming her to join them to which she earnestly did so. She seated herself quietly, watching as their attention turned to that of the aforementioned paper; one that the local pony was studying.

"Just thought somepony here could help us," Rarity explained after seeing her friend's inquiring expression.
"We are in the north, after all. Wouldn't be surprised if anypony here knows what this riddle means."

"You know this is confidential, right?"

"We need all the help we can get, Twi," Spike spoke up in her defense.
"Princess Celestia would've wanted us to do this. It'll be one step closer to finding out what Janus and his cronies wanted with Professor Page's work."

Twilight just sighed. "You've got a point."

The old colt pondering over the page soon shook his head, with his reward being disappointed expressions from the rest of them, to which he responded with a chuckle.
"I tr'ad m'a best," he said with a sheepish smile.
"Someth'n my eyes never seen b'fore. Ye sure t'is an Equestrian riddle?"

"It's translated from an Old Iolaric script, from the old gryphon ruins," the lavender mare explained.
"Professor Page mentioned somewhere about it being relevant to his findings in Saddle Arabia."

"Aye, Iolaric..." Captain Alsenaar let out a gruff sigh.
"Ancient gryphon. Really a pain in d'beak! Even for us gryphon scholars! Aye, those times, poetry was like squally'n in the bars. All 'ose bards back then crow only their sagas in song... remembered lots of 'em, back in the day."

"So have you heard of this riddle before then?" Rarity asked.
"It is, after all, in your native language."

"But it ain't anything I heard before," the gryphon said, scanning through a faded photo of the untranslated text carved intricately into a stone tablet on the opposite page.
"Chun a shásamh an tart madadh rua gcaillfidís fola... to quench the thirst of a bleeding fox... noth'n about that back home."

Twilight sighed, her head pondering over such an abstract riddle. There wasn't any such writing in Equestria, not even in Old Equestrian; there were only translations of it, but from where exactly, she has no idea. One thing's for sure, even a citizen from the prosperous literature background of the Highlands claimed it wasn't from them, but if so, where did they get it from? Was it from scriptures written in the dead language she encountered previously?
"Is there anypony else in Cirrus Deep that can help?" she asked the resident.
"Anypony that knows these kinds of things?"

"There is 'un..."

"Who is it?"

"The mare of Cirrus Gorge."
The colt shuddered at the mention of the mare so much that his ashen-white beard swiveled like a broom. His voice flattened, lowering into a raspy whisper as he leaned closer into the group, prompting the rest to do the same, their shadows combining underneath the afternoon sun.
"Th'say she's from the ends of Equestria, bearing knowledge never seen b'fore in these parts; knowledge forbidden, like some black magic. Her home lies at the end of Cirrus Gorge, the ravine just r'aht behind town. Ponies always see her lurkin' round in the night, w'rin a cloak to hide 'erself. Ye might see her if you were walk'n 'bout Cirrus Deep at night. Gray coat, darker gray mane and tail, and--"

"Purple eyes..."

All eyes turned to a visibly shocked Rarity, who just stared wide-eyed at everypony, particularly Spike himself. The dragon just wore a grave expression, turning to the rest of the group.
"Rarity told me last night she saw somepony in the dark," he said, voice sharp.
"Somepony that completely fits that description; somepony we believed might not be on our side."

"That's yer mare alright. Mysterious'un, eh?"

"But whoever this mare is might know what this means," Twilight affirmed, waving the diary in the air.
"Who knows? It might be like facing Zecora again. Rarity, you know how we misunderstood her for some dark creature practicing black magic to spread some plague in Ponyville now, do you?"

"Quite true..."

"So what are the odds that this pony is harmless as well?" she continued.
"Friend or foe, we'll have to discover the truth ourselves. If she has that much knowledge of the unknown as he," she pointed at the colt, who flinched a little, "had said, we must find out if she could help us."

"T'is your choice, lass," Captain Alsenaar said with a sigh.
"But ye best be careful. I trust yer judgement, but it don't mean there ain't nothin' in the gorge that can swipe you up faster than a minotaur charg'n with two heads worth of anger in its addl'd mind."

Twilight nodded, glancing down at the forbidden riddle scrawled on the table. If anything, she figured that Zecora would know the answer to this, and to have somepony similar up in the north somehow only eased things a little. Just by a little. The pony they had planned to meet was a total stranger; who knows if her intentions were for the better? What if she was actually one of Janus's followers?
"Calm down, Twilight," she told herself, kicking all her uncertain thoughts away.
"Who knows? Maybe this 'Mare of Cirrus Gorge' might be much more harmless than you think. Maybe she... maybe she just needs a little bit of company to cheer her up..."

She could only hope in all her heart that she was right.

"...nkie..."

She heard a merry-go-round

"...nk... ie..."

A merry-go-round, its organ faded and antiquate, echoing all around the boundaries of her head.

"ke... inki..."

The hollow wind blew around her like the insides of a flute, but as she glided closer, the sounds in the distance grew clearer. Fuzzy lights danced before her eyes, telling her, pleading her... come closer... come closer... The voices in her head calmly spoke to comply their needs. Go towards it, they said. Towards the light.
The clusters of luminous orbs seemed to split apart, dancing only when she was close enough. How close she was to the merry-go-round, she could not tell; all she could get about her distance from it was the music: a cacophony of accordions, tambourines and trumpets galore, all smashed up into a quirky ensemble. It made her felt happy, as if she was smiling, yet she could feel something wet crawl down her cheeks... a tear? Was she crying?

"...inkie P..."

Pinkie's ears twitched at the faint echo of something else; a whisper compared to the warped, blaring music that was ringing her mind senseless. It was a voice, quaintly soft and supple like a gentle feather of a swan tickling the hairs on her skin. She strained both ears and eyes, traipsing dazedly in the darkness towards the shimmering lights, drawing her in closer and closer.
Then she saw her: a mare of lime-green, dancing in a brown frilled dress with her moss-green tail flicking about fervently along. She was standing on two hooves, clapping a halo of glistening bells with a gleeful smile as she swung her braided mane about, though she stopped immediately once she spotted the pink mare, instead giving a wave as she opened her mouth.

"Pinkie Pie!"

"H-Huh? What?"

The dancing lights and the cheerful mare was gone, leaving in place instead the concerned face of Phoenix Mellow sitting at the other end of the room.... wait.
Pinkie's blue eyes darted about in confusion, trying to figure out where she was. Instead of the caravan's bunk bed, she was in a single mattress and instead of the wooden walls of the caravan, she was facing one coated in a flowery yet dull-colored wallpaper. The rays of the afternoon pierced through the window by her bed, and as she glanced aside, she gasped in surprise when she saw a cobblestone pathway outside, with a group of fillies playing hopscotch, skipping across the chalk-drawn squares with giggles from their mouths.

"We..." she stuttered in disbelief.
"We're in... we're--"

"In Valewood, yes."

"But how?" Pinkie asked, still in denial.
"We... w-w-we were at the lake just moments ago!! All of us w-went to have a swim--"

"And you almost drowned."
Phoenix's expression was nothing short of indignant, his eyes flatly staring directly at her, making her cringe in her sheets. If anything, he seemed a little angered as well, yet somehow he still maintained his composure and haven't burst out into her face. Yet.
"You're Celestia-damned lucky that we spotted you in time," he continued, his scowl turning grimmer.
"One second later, we might've lost you, and you know what I said about staying safe, right Pinkie?"

The mare just nodded quietly, the weight of guilt tugging her flesh from within, almost as if shrinking her in comparison to the unofficial leader of the caravan. It was a top priority for any of them to not do anything dangerous, and although she didn't want to drown intentionally, how he said it seemed like mockery, yet she brushed it off.
"Th-thank you," she managed to stammer.
"For saving me and all..."

"It's not me you have to thank."
Phoenix flicked out his pipe, the stress already reaching his head as he let out a smoke-filled sigh, his eyes closing and letting the fumes seep into his mind. It was calming of a sensation to experience; to alleviate all the worries away, yet it still only met a frown from Pinkie.
"Brutus was the one that rescued you," he continued as he lowered his pipe.
"He was the only one who noticed you were not surfacing."

Wait, what?

Pinkie couldn't believe her ears. Of all the members of the caravan, it was Brutus who came to save her? He was the one she was least acquainted with, and the one she secretly found slightly uncomfortable to be around, but for the minotaur to save her?
"I know you like to have fun and all, Pinkie," Phoenix continued.
"Yet you know you can't get carried away like that."

"B-But it wasn't my fault!" she protested.
"There was this... this pony! He tried to get me! He trapped me there! HE TRIED TO KILL ME, PHOENIX!! WHY WON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!"

"Pinkie, just clear your mind for a second--"

"SOMEPONY'S AFTER ME, PHOENIX!!" she screamed suddenly, the other pony recoiling from it.
"SOMEPONY'S HUNTING ME DOWN, AND NONE OF YOU EVEN CARED!! SO YOU THINK THE CARAVAN'S BETTER OFF WITH ME GONE NOW, HUH? SO YOU THINK YOU GUYS WOULD WANT TO SEE ME DIE?!!"

It was then that Pinkie widened her eyes in realization at her harsh tone and peaking volume, covering her mouth with both her hooves in shock at her sudden tantrum.
"I-I'm sorry..." she stammered at the visibly-shocked Phoenix.
"I... I didn't mean to..."

"It's alright," the stallion assured, much to her surprise.
"I would've done the same if I were you. But just because there's somepony hunting you down doesn't mean that we can't do anything about it. You're part of the caravan too, Pinkie. Remember that: you're one of us. Even if we don't know who's coming after you, we're going to try our very best to make sure he or she wouldn't get you, got that?"

Pinkie scrunched her eyes shut, the tears squirming through her eyelids. With a quiet sigh, Phoenix rose from the chair, heart sinking once the mare let out a few sniffles; the ones he knew he could not console even if he tried. Strutting towards the door, he turned back one last time towards the mare, his expression somber.
"When you're ready, come down to the lobby," was what he said.
"We'll all be waiting there once you're done."

Without a minute to waste, Phoenix stepped out, silently shutting the door behind him before turning to face the corridor. A part of him knew it was wrong to leave her like this, yet she needed time by herself, and this time especially she needed it badly.
He stopped at the sound of muffled shrieking right behind, followed by a clatter of wood and a shatter of glass; no doubt the extreme rage of Pinkie Pie that resided within, building up from her anxieties for so long now. Already some heads were poking out doors, though they quickly shirk back in, obviously not wanting to get themselves involved. The need to calm her down grew once those shouts were reduced into loud, wailing sobs, and however painful and remorseful it was to leave her like that, he forced himself forward, not wanting to give a glance back.

The sight of the caravan gathered in the lobby was one for sore eyes and a troubled heart, with some of them welcoming him back in with a small wave. He seated himself right next to Velvet, letting out all his worries for Pinkie out in a sigh, which unfortunately the rest of them noticed easily.
"Is she alright?" Velvet asked the simple yet tough question, to which Phoenix answered hastily, albeit with a little hesitation:

"She's fine."

"Just stay perfectly calm..."

Harmony Peridot stifled a small grin at the sight of a syringe piercing into her skin, its murky contents swirling into her veins and making her sigh with relief as if it was an aphrodisiac instead of an antiseptic. She could feel her hooves tingle and turning slightly numb, the flurry of sensations dancing in her head making her swoon. A part of her knew it wouldn't help out in her condition, with so many open wounds and all, though she didn't bother really.
Caduceus could only raise an eyebrow at her smile. Normally, ponies with that much bleeding scars on her body should be at least wincing from the stinging pain of the subterranean dust landing onto their severed skin, though she was practically humming a tune happily in the darkness! It was his idea, to tend to Harmony's wounds, seeing how she could be a worthy ally to have in such a desolate place. At least, she seemed like an ally.

They were in one of the many cells of the asylum, holing up within for the night. Already, Stellar had laid out the sleeping bags just right beside a ripped cushion, to which he flattened it out for their new companion to sleep in. The lantern in the center of the room flickered from the cold air, casting colossal, grotesque shadows on the cracking walls that dance effortlessly yet subtly, reminding them of the horrors that might lurk outside. It was with that in mind that Stellar volunteered for night-guard duty, though it's mostly for making sure Harmony doesn't do anything devious in their sleep.
Neither he or Caduceus had bothered to ask Harmony the one important question: why was she still here? They knew if Janus's sword plunging into her chest didn't kill her, then the dastardly long fall from the balcony of Palgiot Palace down to who knows where would. Even if she did, the injuries she was possessing right now could, as the doctor of the group said, kill her off in a mere two minutes! To think that she was alive and roaming about the ruins for a year...

"Should I clean the wound, Miss Peridot?"

"It's not necessary," she replied softly.
"I appreciate your offer; really, I do, but your efforts would've been pointless. Trust me."

Stellar just scowled. Trust her? Trust the pony that made Pendant Lakes what it was today? Of all the ponies in the world that he could trust, it must be her? Not even when the fate of Equestria depends on it; he would rather see the Princesses fall from their glory than to trust her.
Caduceus was the more lenient one when it comes to trust. After all, the doctor did tend to her wounds even after he advised him not to, adding that if she could survive a treacherous fall, she would survive from all her bleeding lacerations as well. Then again, he was always one prone to sympathy, even in his youth: he could still remember the time when Caduceus was fighting back a few bullies from a pony; one that eventually became one of their closest friends: Sidus Sirenheart.

"But are you sure you'll be alright?"

"Why don't you ask yourself?" the mare replied slyly, much to Caduceus's annoyance.
"You're a doctor, after all."

"Enough."
Stellar's voice snapped their attention to him, watching him as he stood up and strode back to them after closing the cell door. Hastily, he unsheathed the Patriarch's rapier and raising it up, its tip pointing towards the mare's chest, bandaged even before their arrival. Caduceus could only watch in horror at his friend's actions, though Harmony herself just looked on in amusement, her flickering eyes taunting him as if to do it.
"Explain," the colt griped, twisting the blade a little, though it only made her snicker.
"Tell us how the heck you're still walking and not rotting underneath some rocks."

"Stellar, please!" Caduceus protested.
"There are more reasonable ways to deal with--"

"You know better than to trust her, Brineheart!" he yelled, turning to his friend.
"Need I remind you she was responsible for the demise of Pendant Lakes? She turned against all of the Voyagers, Caduceus!" he turned back to the mare, gritting his teeth, "who's to say she wouldn't betray us as well, just like she betrayed Sir Winter Palgiot?"

At the mention of the Patriarch, Harmony's smirk turned into a glower, her venomous gaze steeling onto the former butler that once served the prestigious, now-defunct family. In response, Stellar himself returned the glare, the flames of fury between them reaching a boiling point.
"You really think I intend Winter to die, do you?" she hissed.
"You were there, Stellar. You saw me apologizing to Pinkie Pie. You saw me fighting Janus! He was the pony orchestrating everything, and you say that I was the one that brought down Pendant Lakes?"

"You could've refused!" he shot back.
"Yet you let Janus in! You let the enemy in! If it wasn't for you--"

"If it wasn't for me, what?!"

"Winter would still be alive! The Palgiot lineage should've carry on--!"

"JANUS WOULD STILL FIND A WAY TO DESTROY IT!!"
Harmony was already on all four of her hooves; any further, she would've actually smacked the old colt. Her furious panting slowed down to a halt, the closing wounds around her body bursting open once more from the pressure, once again forming rivulets of blood streaming down her body, the gruesome sight prompting Caduceus to reach desperately for a bandage in his satchel.
"All you care about is the Palgiot family, Stellar Lionheart," she spat.
"Palgiot this and Palgiot that. Just that bucking name over and over. Don't you realize it? Oh, how the Palgiots would've lived on if Janus hadn't interfered, or maybe how the Palgiots would've prospered if the Princesses hadn't sent us Voyagers here. Well, it's about time you wake up and realize that the extinction of one whole family means nothing to Janus. He's here for something else; something that he destroyed Pendant Lakes for."

Stellar would've lashed back at her, yet what she said was true; his head had been focusing on the possibilities and the endeavors the Palgiots could achieve if they were still here, seeing how they were always one step ahead of everypony else. It was a trait he himself had admired the family for, the Palgiot family's progress in the modern industry and technology, though it seems even those who move too quick would die out sooner or later.
"Now he's waging a war against the Princesses," Harmony continued.
"He's bringing what happened in Pendant Lakes to the rest of Equestria, and I intend to stop it. Would you say then, that I'm on your side? Or are you still stuck in delusions of the past, just like how Sidus was when Sicarius Nox was abolished?"

"She has a point, Stellar," Caduceus spoke up finally, his friend's expression turning sullen.
"This isn't about avenging the Palgiots. It's about stopping Janus before he turns the rest of Equestria into what Pendant Lakes is now."

Silence momentarily filled the air; one of cold, merciless dread as the eyes of Harmony and Caduceus were set upon Stellar Lionheart. His head was trenched up in turmoil, as if he was caught in a mesh of spiderwebs, yet no matter how hard he clawed to find an alternative answer, there was only one that could rescue him.
"Fine," the colt said breathlessly.
"But there's one thing I have to ask: why are you still alive?"

At that point, the pink mare just wore a smile that could rival the stitched one on the mask that she once wore. She stepped forward, the tip of the Patriarch's rapier already scratching into the bandages on her chest and, with a small giggle, she spoke softly:

"Who said I was alive?"

The faces of both colts paled once she stepped forward earnestly, the tip of the blade sinking effortlessly into her bandaged chest. Stellar almost tumbled back in horror at the sight, his hoof frozen just as Harmony slid closer, the sound of metal slicing -- more like bursting -- through flesh resounding throughout the room. Waterfalls of blood were spewing our from her back like a leaking pipe, yet still she moved forward.
They had expected her to scream already, though the blade seamlessly running through her only made her laughs louder. Out of terror, Stellar let loose the blade from his hooves, yet Harmony continued pushing it through, until suddenly there was a resounding clatter on the ground: the rapier had completely went through her body.

With a sigh of relief, Harmony then started unwrapping her stained bandages, ignoring the staring eyes of both colts, their gazes switching between her and and the Patriarch's rapier, completely red with blood from the hilt to the tip of the blade in its morbid journey. It wasn't until she finished unwrapped the bandages that the truth came to light.
In place of what would've been her heart, there was a giant, empty cavity; a circular gap accessible from both sides, almost as if somepony plunged a hoof into her chest and pulled her heart out. Caduceus's throat lurched once he knelt down at the hole, clamping his mouth at the smell of rotting flesh and blood profusely spurting from the insides. He could see Stellar on the other side, who had almost tumbled back against the wall, visibly trembling at the sight.
"I'm sure you've said at some point in your life that I was a heartless pony, Stellar Lionheart," she muttered solemnly, as if she was disheartened by their revelation. She soon shot a glare to the former butler as she strode away from them, though it was a weak one: there wasn't a hardened gaze, only pupils shimmering with tears.

Tears of lost hope, made more palpable from the croak in her voice as she snarled hatefully:

"I hope you're happy with what you saw."

Twilight sighed.

There she was, with the mare-and-dragon couple, Spike and Rarity, facing the cavernous opening into the desolate Cirrus Gorge. It was a giant fissure cutting through a barren plateau, the rickety, zigzagged path teeming with murky clouds of fog as if they were being spewed out like geysers from the numerous small cracks in the ground. Aside from the cracks were the littered rocks, chipped off from the crumbling, steep walls beside them, leering treacherously over them and warning them of the many dangers that could catch them.
Some of the walls were parting, revealing pathways admissible only for the thinnest piece of paper to enter. There were larger, ruptured ones, yet those could only let in a hoof or, in Spike's case, a paw. Apart from that, the only other interesting sight to see were the dead trees on the path and staring maliciously from above, their forking branches reaching out towards them in a crudely fashion that reminded them of a certain dark forest not too far from home.

"Just like Zecora?" Spike remarked with a shrug.

"Yep," the librarian replied with a faltering laugh.
"Just like Zecora."

They trotted through a few bent turns, their eyes warily gazing at their surroundings. The air was filled with the gloomy echo of the wind, its whispers warning them to not wander into the depths any longer, yet their cries of persistence in their heads overwhelmed any of that. Sure enough, both unicorns' horns started to light up as the fog thickens around them, feeling the damp beads of moisture gathering underneath their snouts. Even Spike's scales rustled in the wind, sending a chilling sensation down his spine.
The clouds overhead were a melancholic gray, almost as if Celestia's sun had decided to shield its eyes from the desolate view below. Rarity glanced up at the sky, her mood almost matching it as the first drops of rain landed on her cheek, to which she could only respond with a disgruntled sigh.

"Rain..." her thoughts cursed.
"It always has to be rain..."

Pitter patter the drops went, soaking the rocky floor as a slight drizzle picked up. With a swirl of her magic, Twilight grunted, her horn shooting out a purplish dome overhead, shielding them all from the rain. Steadily they marched onward, traversing the deep crevasse towards their destination, which they had yet to figure out.
"She couldn't possibly be living that deep in the gorge!" Rarity cried, raising her voice above the growing cacophony of needle-like raindrops hailing on them like arrows assaulting the barrier.

A clap of thunder shunned them to silence, though it was the least of their worries. Twilight bit her lip at the raging storm, her heart sinking at the sight of lightning flashing above. Whatever weather-pony that made this hellish storm really deserves a kick in the flank, she told herself.
"We're almost there..." she shouted back to the rest, squinting her eyes in the horizon.
"I... I think I see it..."

"Look out!"

Spike was a second too late; in a literal flash, a bolt of lightning struck the barrier, smashing it wide open with a resounding boom and sending each of them flying away, with the dragon slamming against the chasm walls.
Everything that happened next was a blur; the echoing rain mockingly dripping onto his back, the mud puddle his cheeks were submerged in, and the sound of rumbling in the distance, the latter of which jolted him awake. With a grunt, he rubbed his aching head, looking around him through his eyes, obscured by the rain and his hazy recovery.

"SPIKE!!"

The mention of his name jerked his senses back into action, his face paling at the sight of Rarity crawling away from a rushing wave of mud, uprooting dead trees and swallowing giant boulders. Without a second to spare, he sprung into action, running across the wide canyon towards the fearful mare.
Twilight was stumbling to her hooves behind him, her horn blackened from the magic with two hooves planted firmly on her head, no doubt aching from the ringing of the earlier explosion. Recovering from her daze, she watched with wide eyes at the charging mudslide, her jaw dropping out of horror at her friend trying her best to sprawl away from it.

Rarity could only wince in pain at her hoof, bruised black with a stinging pain within. She turned back, swallowing with eyes wide open at the rampaging tide of filth and dirt scrambling towards her like a pack of Timberwolves scavenging for food. It was merciless, tearing through the chasm as if it was from a broken dam and engulfing every standing object in its way, and now it's coming for her.
All she could do was close her eyes, sniffling with something crawling down her face, whether it was a tear or the flurry of raindrops falling from above, she doesn't know. She scrunch her lips, accidentally biting the frayed hairs of her mane as she did so, waiting, wishing that it would end soon; waiting for it to hit her.

With a slam, the mare was sent tumbling backwards, grappling with the need to breathe as she swam up for air, rubbing the mud off her nostrils. She gasped and gasped, panting and wheezing as she pushed against its torrential force, though a brief sensation of relief came over her when she saw a purple figure wading frantically towards her in the distance.
"Rarity!" came the dragon's voice, just as she gripped onto a tree trunk, the rotting plant too stubborn to detach its roots and be swept away like the rest of its kind. With a grunt, Rarity heaved herself up, assaulted by rain, mud and exhaustion like never before as she waved at Spike, watching him clambering over towards her. Twilight, on the other hoof, was on the plateau, her magic tugging powerfully on a rope tied around the dragon's waist as she fought against the ravaging forces that would've swept him away.

A brief snap of the branch cracked through the air, and in one horrific second, Rarity screamed as gravity pulled her back down with a splash, sending her underwater to be pelted by rushing debris. She managed to swim up to breathe, coughing heavily as she hustled against the rushing current.
"S-Spike!" she screamed one last time, just as her weakening hooves started to tremble. With one more mighty lunge of the wave, she was sent underwater once again, though this time the strength to swim back up was nonexistent. The brown, murky view that met her made her eyes sting from the pellets of dirt, the foul mix gushing down her throat, her stomach gurgling in response. Rarity thrashed around, struggling to swim back up, though something latched around her hoof, pulling her up to see...

"JUST HOLD ON!!"

"Spike!" she managed to cry amid her coughing, ridding her mouth from the derisive taste.
The dragon was jerking her back up as hard as he could, yet the force of the waves kept pushing onward, leading them closer to the edge of a ravine. Even Twilight was having a hard time pulling them back, and as the waves and rain kept pushing them forward, Rarity let out a yelp as one of his claws slipped its grip.
"I-I... I can't hold on any longer!!" she screamed.
"It's too strong!!"

"Don't you dare let go, Rarity!" Spike shouted, looking at her dead in the eye.
"If you let go, I'll... I'll...... I'll never forgive you!!"

Rarity just gawked in silence at his words, though there wasn't time for her to reply: the waves are getting stronger and faster, and with every passing second their combined efforts seemed in vain.
"You can't die here!" the dragon continued, tears forming in his eyes.
"Y-You just can't...!"

"Over here!"

The couple turned in surprise at the sight of a pony standing over them, her appearance a silhouette underneath the flashing skies. She reached out a hoof towards Spike, who accepted it eagerly and, in return, pulled Rarity out from the rushing mud and onto some sort of raft.
"Quickly now!" she shouted, understandably impatient.
"You want to live or what?"

Once they managed to clamber up, the pony swung a lasso onto a nearby rock and, with the help of Spike, she pulled the raft towards what seemed to be another path somehow completely unaffected by the raging waves. Rarity watched as Twilight galloped across the plateau in the horizon with the rope in her teeth, wearing an expression of relief and surprise at the sight of their savior.
Soon enough, the rowing came to a halt, and Spike and Rarity climbed down from the raft to see a house standing in the middle of a bowled valley. It looked derelict and wobbly, as if built by a bunch of wooden sticks stacked together, though the sight of warm, flickering light from the windows was enough to welcome them in. With a sigh of relief, Spike gave the whimpering mare a tight hug, gritting his teeth at the near-loss of his marefriend.

"Celestia, I thought I was going to lose you..." he stammered, almost on the verge of tears.

Rarity just clenched her eyes shut, sobbing quietly at her ordeal, her head buried in his scaly chest. Both of them wanted to just collapse on the floor and cry in the rain, yet the cloaked mare was already climbing up the porch, unlocking the door and, fortunately, ushering them inside warmly.
With a pop of magic, Twilight zapped herself towards them from the plateau, galloping towards the couple and giving them another hug, laughing quietly with relief as they hastily marched inside the house, the owner of which closing the door behind them. She really had nothing to say about whatever that just happened, only saving a large 'thank you' for the mare that helped them. It was by sheer luck she was living here, almost as if she were...

"What are you ponies doing out here?!"

All three of them shunned in silence at the mare, to which Rarity could only gasp at the pallid, lilac eyes; the same ones that she had seen last night. She tugged Spike's claw, though the dragon already knew who she was without even the slightest mention of it. Her mind echoed the local's words: gray coat, darker gray mane and tail, and (from her inadvertent interruption) purple eyes.
"W-We..." Twilight began.
"We were here to--"

"Do you know how dangerous Cirrus Gorge is with all this rain?!" the mare continued her reprimand. Apparently, despite having that aura of mystery and suspense around the local town that could outmatch Zecora's even, she certainly did not possess the zebra's temperate patience.
"Had I came any later, neither of you would ever hear a single soul again!!"

That was harsh, the unicorn thought to herself, glancing uncertainly at her friends. Neither could give a response they deem perfect, only staring as the mare scrambled about her living room. She tossed her keys onto the table, handing them towels to wipe their dripping-wet manes and sure enough, kicked more chunks of wood into the burning fireplace, the radiating warmth immediately flushing throughout the small room.
"L-Listen..." Twilight tried again, just as Spike's curiosity was piqued by the living room's rather odd trinkets.
"We're here to look for you--"

"What do you want from me?"

The mare removed her cloak, tossing it into a basket while she started wiping her drenched and flat dark gray mane with one of her coarser towels. Kicking more wood into the fireplace with a crackle, she struck a match against the wooden walls, lighting up one of the hanging oil-lamps around the room and illuminating a little of her face.
She turned back to Twilight, though with the glowing light from the lamp brightening up the room it wasn't long before she widened her eyes, disbelief having swept over her. With that, the gray mare crept closer, mouth gaping wider, the sight of which only made both unicorns nervous.

"It... it can't be..." she muttered, her voice softening.
"Y-You... you are... you're Twili-"

"Twilight Sparkle, yes," the said mare finished her sentence hastily.
"I was wondering if you could help us on something, for the sake of Equestria, Miss--"

"Twilight!"
The unicorn turned at the dragon's mention of her name and was about to scold him sternly once again but stopped short at his shocked expression, his claws holding up a rectangular portrait of three laughing fillies in a tight group hug. There was a younger version of the mare herself, another mare that shared the same coat and mane colors, although reversed, though the one in the center... she was the one that made all of their jaws drop.

"Th-That's..." Rarity stammered with a gulp.
"That's Pinkie Pie!"

Twilight could only nod in response, unable to believe her eyes.
"But if she's Pinkie Pie," she began, the conclusion she came to blowing up in her head.
"Wouldn't that mean..."

All eyes turned to the mare of Cirrus Gorge; the one who had shied away on her couch, her mane draping over one of her purple, shimmering pupils. She let out a quivering sigh at their revelation, holding back her tears as she raised her head, flinging her mane to the side.
"Yes," she answered them somberly.
"I'm her younger sister..."

"Inkie Pie."