Chapter 8: The Memory Room
The Elmheim Temple, Deep Jungle, Elmheim, Gaia, Winter, 1002 C.E.
Colgate was unsure of how much time she spent curled up in that red robe. Minutes? Hours? Days? Weeks? Her dulled, confused senses prevented her from being entirely sure. It didn't take her long to notice that she was lying on a dusty, wooden floor and several clouds of dust particles were occasionally creeping their way into her nostrils, thus causing her to give a series of quick and silent sneezes. During her time under the robe, most of Colgate's thoughts and memories were muffled. There were moments where she forgot her location, her objective, her friends, and even her own name. Thankfully, she managed to pull her memories together in the end and slowly pushed the robe off her body.
Upon taking in the scene of the dusty castle classroom in front of her, she knew where she was. That classroom, Colgate thought before turning her attention back to the red robe that had previously concealed her. She picked it up in her hoof and examined it closely. It seemed to sparkle a bit in the moonlight pouring in through the dusty windows of the classroom. Colgate could definitely sense a strong amount of magical power emanating from it. However, the magic within the robe was not Equestrian in nature. This is definitely from another world. A part of her wanted to hide the robe away in the dark corner of the classroom to never be found again but something convinced her to take it with her. I'd definitely like to learn a bit more about this robe. Who knows...it might prove useful somewhere in the future. She quickly stuffed the robe into her bag before slinging said bag over her back. As she did this, the sound of hoofsteps and talking could be heard from the other side of the door at the far end of the room. This is it.
Colgate hastily and quietly shuffled her way into the darkest corner of the room just as the past versions of herself and Bright Eyes entered the room. "Creepy," said Bright Eyes as a few cockroaches made their way across the floor.
"This whole temple is creepy," Past Colgate added as she made her way towards one of the windows. "The way its rooms change. It's like we're walking through a blender of rooms and hallways from different realities."
Colgate prepared herself. My part's coming up! she thought before taking a silent, deep breath.
Past Colgate stared out the window at the castle exterior. "Sometimes, I forget we're even in the temple. It's almost as if we're in these other worlds altogether."
It's show time, Colgate. Just play it cool, Colgate thought as she straightened herself up and began to step out of the shadows. "Actually, you're in both," she stated calmly as she professionally approached her past self.
"What the hay?!" gasped Bright Eyes.
"Don't worry! I'm not a threat." Colgate gave a calm, soothing smile following her statement.
Past Colgate gave a suspicious glare as she cautiously approached her future self. "Then...what are you?" she asked awkwardly. "A clone?"
It's still weird, even from this point of view, Colgate thought as she continued to smile warmly at her past self. "No. I'm you from a few minutes in the future," she replied.
"What?"
"I know it's confusing. Trust me...er...yourself. I'm...er...you still don't quite get it." Stumbled a bit there but I think I'm good, Colgate thought.
Bright Eyes grabbed her head as her eyes began to spin like tops. "My head hurts," the pegasus sighed.
"You'll understand once you get to the junk room...hopefully," Colgate replied with a nervous chuckle.
"The junk room?" Past Colgate asked.
"Well...that's what I decided to name it." Or it's just me copying my own future self but whatever, she thought. Just then, she thought back to her own encounter with her future self and she inadvertently gave an expression of realization. Time to go into the desk! Where is it? Where is it?! "Let's see." Colgate quickly glazed over the rows of desks until she found the one she wanted: the one with the series of scribbles drawn on its surface. She quickly, yet calmly, made her way over to it. "Ah! Here it is! The desk with the drawings!" She stepped in front of the desk and let her past self get a good look at it before smirking at her and Bright Eyes. "Don't worry, Colgate, you'll get everything right." 'Cause I managed to at least. "And, Bright Eyes, I hope you're waiting on the other side." Please be waiting on the other side, Bright Eyes! She pulled open the lid and felt her heart sink like a rock.
She knew that her past self and Bright Eyes were seeing a bright, white light but that wasn't what Colgate was seeing now. Sitting in the confines of the desk appeared to be a murky mesh of different substances that gave the appearance of a vat of dirty blood. For a split second, Colgate thought about closing the desk lid and backing away...but she couldn't. She knew this is what had to happen or the established timeline would be thrown out of whack. There's enough paradoxes and time travel nonsense going on in this temple already. I don't need to create any more havoc, Colgate thought. With a hard gulp and a quick glance at her confused past self, Colgate leaned forward and dived straight into the murky substance.
Colgate heard the desk lid slam shut behind her and vanish a second later. There was no going back. The substance around her felt like cold gelatine and had the aroma of really dry wine. Colgate could feel the red robe in her bag bouncing around a bit. Clearly, the robe wasn't taking a liking to the substance. "I better find a way out of here before the robe has a nervous breakdown...that is if robes can have nervous breakdowns," Colgate stated as she began swimming through the mesh. For a moment, she questioned how she was able to breathe within the thick substance surrounding her but she decided not to question it given all of the other far more extraordinary things she had come across in her life thus far.
After a few minutes of swimming, a bright blue light appeared immediately in front of her face. She didn't know whether or not this was the exit; but she didn't have a choice either way for she was quickly pulled through by a strong external force. The light blinded her and she wrapped her hooves around her face to keep herself from going blind. After her eyes had been closed for only a few seconds, she felt the strange mesh vanish and a solid floor appear beneath her. Her eyes shot open and she found herself lying on a metal floor in a room filled with what appeared to be thousands upon thousands of flickering projection screens.
Before Colgate could get the chance to fully take in her new surroundings, she found herself being wrapped in a colossal death hug. "Colgate! You're alright!" exclaimed the being that was hugging her.
"Bright Eyes?" asked a relieved, yet dizzy, Colgate.
Bright Eyes broke the hug, stepped back, and smiled at Colgate. "I'm so glad you're okay! What happened to you?! I just saw a robe fall on you and then both you and that robe disappeared!"
Colgate rubbed her temple and rolled her head around to stretch her neck muscles. "I'm not sure how or why but the robe that fell on me sent me back in time. I ended up back in that classroom where you and I ran into my future self, who I became after going back in time. I then jumped through a portal in a desk that sent me into this world of red mush. I swam a bit before falling through another portal, I think, and ending up here and...I'm really glad that you were waiting for me on the other side, Bright Eyes."
Bright Eyes's smiled widened. "It's good that we're together again. Now we can finish that side quest for Rumplestiltskin, get back together with the others, and find the source."
Colgate turned away from Bright Eyes to examine the room they were now in. "So...where are we?"
"Where we need to be," Bright Eyes replied as she pulled out Rumplestiltskin's map and presented it to Colgate.
She saw they were in the room that was just beyond the zombie-infested junk room. It was here that Colgate looked up and made a further examination of the room. It was definitely large and seemed to stretch on into infinity. The walls were lined with rows upon rows of flickering screens with blurred images moving about. Small lifts of sorts were situated every few feet along the aisle which Colgate assumed allowed one to move themselves between the stacked rows of screens. "So this is where we're supposed to find these two aspects of true love?" Colgate asked as she pulled out the two vials Rumplestiltskin had given her.
"According to the map, yes."
Colgate looked at the screens and sighed. "I guess the aspects are in two of these screens."
"We better start looking then."
Colgate handed one of the vials to Bright Eyes and started walking towards the lift while Bright Eyes began flapping her wings. "So how were you able to get in here?"
"What?" Bright Eyes asked.
"How'd you get past the zombies?" Colgate asked.
"Oh! I just followed the map and flew!"
Colgate looked back at Bright Eyes suspiciously. It was a simple and believable answer...but something felt off. It felt as if Bright Eyes was hiding a few details. Before she could press further, however, Bright Eyes took off into the air to examine the screens. Colgate followed suit by stepping on the lift and using her magic to operate the pulley system.
She quickly lifted herself up to the first row of screens and peered inside one. As she leaned forward, she realized that the screens weren't solid for she found herself leaning right through the surface. It was like passing through a wall of water without getting soaked in the process.
On the other side of the screen, Colgate found herself looking into a very familiar living room. Green carpet stretched across the floor, the walls were painted in light blue, and a collection of violet sofas and cushions were scattered about. The colors didn't meld that well together. The smell of fresh cookies wafted through the air and snow could be seen falling past the exterior of the nearby window. "Can I go outside, Mom?" asked a voice that Colgate quickly recognized as her own, but at a much younger pitch. Colgate watched as her young, filly self entered the room with her mother walking alongside her. Neither of them noticed the head of a future Colgate sticking out of thin air so Colgate figured that they couldn't interact with her.
"Not today, honey," said Colgate's mother Blue Crest. She had a blue coat similar to that of Colgate's, a red mane, and a purple toothbrush cutie mark. "The pegasi have scheduled a storm for today." Young Colgate let out an annoyed groan before walking over to the nearby Hearth's Warming Eve Tree. She sat down next to the trunk and looked up at the ceiling, a bored expression now on her face.
Colgate pulled her head back through the screen and shook it a bit. "What is this place?" she asked herself as she looked at the seemingly infinite collection of screens. She then moved the lift over to the next screen and peered inside.
On the other side, she found herself staring at the interior of Twilight's library. For a few seconds, nopony was there. Then the door opened and Spike, followed by Princess Luna and the rest of Twilight's friends, entered. "Twilight?! Twilight?! Are you here?!" Spike called frantically.
"Please say something if you're here, sugarcube!" Applejack pleaded.
Spike gasped as he ran over to a particular spot in the library. "It's gone! That blue box is gone!" An angry and hurt look then appeared on Spike's face. "He took her. That...Doctor took her!"
Colgate pulled back out of the screen and moved on to the next one. Through the next screen she saw a dark forest. She quickly noticed a blue light floating in the forest and Colgate focused on the light to see that it was a small, human-like creature with wings and a blue dress, which Colgate recognized as a fairy. Standing close to the fairy was...Rumplestiltskin. He was wearing dark brown robes and a long, jagged dagger was in his hand. The fairy and Rumplestiltskin appeared to be partaking in quite a heated discussion. "You drove him away," stated the blue fairy coldly.
Rumplestiltskin proceeded to angrily swing his dagger at the fairy a few times before she took off into the night. "I WILL FIND HIM! I WILL FIND HIM!" Rumplestiltskin screamed angrily at the fairy. "I will find him."
This was where Colgate pulled herself back out of the screen. "These screens must be windows to the past or something," she thought aloud.
A few rows above, Bright Eyes pulled her head back out of a screen that had shown her a volcano erupting and hastily moved over to the next one. She pushed her head through the screen and felt a sinking feeling rise up from within her. The scene before her was a playground outside a small schoolhouse. A filly Bright Eyes was sitting alone at the edge of the playground. She was sitting on the ground and playing with a few makeshift dolls. She was the only pegasus filly in town and everypony knew it.
Bright Eyes watched as a group of earth ponies approached her younger self and began to tease her. "Derp face!" laughed one colt.
"Good one!" chuckled a filly nearby.
A look of pure hatred and anger came over the young Bright Eyes's face. She stood up and screamed at the bullies. "Just leave me alone for once!" she cried. Time seemed to slow down as the young Bright Eyes threw one of her dolls at the main bully of the group. The force of the throw caused the doll to come undone. A previously undetected sewing needle came loose and made its way over to the bully's right eye.
Bright Eyes pulled her head back out of the screen as the pained screams of the bully rang through her ears. She never forgot those screams There had been so much blood. So much blood. "You alright up there?" asked Colgate from below.
Bright Eyes noticed that she was shaking fiercely and her teeth were chattering a bit. "I'm fine!" she replied back quickly. "Just saw something that wasn't really nice."
"You're not alone. This screen here showed me Princess Celestia...on second that, you don't want to know." Colgate stuck her head through the next screen and Bright Eyes followed suit.
The scene presented through the next screen was nicer than the previous ones that Bright Eyes had experienced. It was the park in Ponyville on a lazy, summer afternoon. For a few seconds, nopony was around but then two ponies appeared: Clockwork and Twilight Sparkle.
"I don't understand why nopony's out and about," Twilight said as they walked. "It's not a very hot day so where is everypony?"
"Who knows?" asked Clockwork with a guilty smile on his face.
"Do you know something about this?"
"Who? Me? I know nothing at all. Now, please, sit." Clockwork led Twilight over to a nearby tree and the two of them sat down.
"Well, whatever you're up to, this is still nice."
"Every moment I spend with you is nice."
The two exchanged loving glances for a moment before Twilight broke the silence with a chuckle. "Okay, what's going on? You seem to know why nopony's out here with us," she said.
"You're right. I'm guilty. I got Pinkie to make sure that the park was empty while we're here. I want this to be perfect," Clockwork replied.
"What? Our date?"
"Not quite." Clockwork stood up and pulled Twilight up as well. "There's something I want to ask you." Twilight's face began to glow bright red. She seemed to know what was coming. "Twilight Sparkle." Clockwork knelt down before his marefriend and presented an engagement ring. "Will you marry me?"
Tears began to form in Twilight's eyes and a smile of extreme joy began to engulf her face. "Clockwork...I...I don't know what to say!"
"A simple yes or no will suffice."
Twilight began to vigorously nod her head. "Yes! Of course I accept!"
Clockwork smiled at his marefriend-turned-fiancée as he reached upward and slid the ring onto Twilight's horn. Twilight reached forward, grabbed Clockwork in a fierce hug, and kissed him dead on the lips. Bright Eyes couldn't help but smile at the scene before her. However, she suddenly noticed that the vial she was holding was beginning to shake. She watched as a golden substance of sorts seemed to emanate from the kissing couple and flow through the air over to the vial Bright Eyes was holding. The golden substance filled up the vial almost completely. Once it was full, the vial magically closed itself and Bright Eyes pulled her head back out of the screen.
"I think I got the true love that Rumplestiltskin wanted us to get!" Bright Eyes exclaimed as she looked down at Colgate. She fell silent when she saw that Colgate was looking through a screen but her body appeared to have fallen limp. "Colgate?"
Colgate was staring upon a campsite in a dark forest. The only lights in the area were the full moon above and the light from the roaring campfire. A single tent was situated a few feet away from said fire and a lone mare sat before the flames: Thalia. A nervous look was carved into her face. She appeared to be waiting for something. Suddenly, there was a rustling in the nearby bushes which was followed by the appearance of a shadowy stallion. The stallion carried himself well and had a walk that signified a knowledge of first class etiquette. The stallion entered the light and Colgate gasped to see that the stallion was the Doctor...and yet it wasn't. This Doctor was a pegasus with a gray coat, black mane, and cold, dark eyes. A black bow tie was wrapped around his neck and a curious yet confident smile was etched into his face.
"Why hello there," said the dark Doctor. His voice was like the Doctor's but smoother and much more seductive. Colgate herself could feel her hormones begin to rage at the sound of this Doctor's attractive vocals.
Thalia stood up, saddened joy beginning to encompass every part of her face, and began to approach her visitor. "You came," she said.
"Of course. I had to investigate. It's not every day when I get an invitation in the form of psychic paper." The dark Doctor cocked his head a bit as he examined Thalia. "You look a bit familiar. Are you related to that Twilight Shine or whatever her name was?"
Thalia reached her forehooves forward and wrapped them around the dark Doctor's head. "Let's not talk about her right now. You don't know me yet. I'm from your future. I've just come back...to see you again."
A look of interest began to appear on the dark Doctor's face. "My future? So what can you tell-"
Thalia quickly locked lips with the dark Doctor. They both closed their eyes and continued to kiss for a full minute before parting. "Let us not talk about the future right now. It would be pointless. I can't change it and neither can you." Her voice was beginning to grow as seductive as the dark Doctor's and he was quickly giving in. "Let us just enjoy this one moment together before you forget." Thalia's lips sparkled slightly as she said this.
"Can I at least know your name before I forget it?" The dark Doctor appeared to not care at all about forgetting this event or questioning further about his future. All that seemed to matter to this Doctor now was getting lucky.
"It's Thalia." Thalia proceeded to lock lips with the dark Doctor again before pulling him over into the tent and closing the flap.
Colgate listened awkwardly as passionate sounds began to emanate from within the tent. It was here that the vial she was holding started vibrating. A purple and black substance began to emanate from within the tent and move over to the vial, which it proceeded to fill. Once the vial was filled and closed, Colgate regained the strength to pull herself back out of the screen.
She fell back off the platform but her fall was quickly prevented by an interfering Bright Eyes. "Got you! What happened?!" the pegasus asked as she lowered Colgate to the ground.
Once Colgate regained her footing, she examined the vial in her hoof as well as the vial in Bright Eyes's grasp. "I'm fine. Just a little weirded out," replied the unicorn. "So...is that-"
"I think it is." Bright Eyes examined her vialed aspect of true love. She then looked at Colgate's sample. "I'm guessing that's the dark aspect Rumplestiltskin was talking about."
Dark true love, Colgate thought as she thought back to what she had seen. "Well...let's just get these vials back to Rumplestiltskin," said Colgate. Before she or Bright Eyes could take another step in any direction, a cloud of purple smoke appeared out of nowhere and engulfed them.
Dining Room, Rumplestiltskin's Castle, The Enchanted Forest, Winter, 297
When the smoke cleared, Colgate and Bright Eyes looked to see themselves standing in front of a long dining table situated in a magnificent room filled with beautiful tapestries and a collection of interesting objects. The two mares looked down the table to see Rumplestiltskin sitting at the very end, a cup of tea in his hand. "Bright Eyes!" exclaimed a familiar voice as Clockwork rushed forward and hugged his friend. Matilda and Daring Do weren't far behind as they ran up to greet them.
"Looks like you finished your side quest in one piece," said Daring with a relieved smile.
"Are you two okay?" asked Matilda.
"There were a few rough patches here and there but I think we'll live," Colgate replied with a smirk. Just then, the vials in Colgate's and Bright Eyes's hooves vanished and appeared on a nearby shelf.
Rumplestiltskin stood up and approached the group of ponies. "I'm guessing you're ready to get out of here and continue on your way," he said with his usual smile.
"Don't forget to hold up your end of the bargain," said Colgate as she eyed the magical man coldly. "I got you a dark aspect of true love. Now you've got to help us find the source."
"Of course." Rumplestiltskin extended his hand and another map appeared. Matilda took the map and examined it for a few seconds.
"Thank you, Rumple. Always a pleasure to do business with you," said Matilda with a somewhat teasing smile.
"Same here, Matilda. Feel free to visit any time you want in the future if you're in any need of deal making." Rumplestiltskin brought his hands together and let out one of his usual giddy laughs.
"Don't worry, you'll be seeing me again in the future." Matilda turned her attention to the others. "Come along then. I think it's time to bring this quest of ours to an end."
"So I'm assuming you have a history with this guy," Colgate whispered.
"It's a long story for another day."
Rumplestiltskin waved his hand and a silver door appeared before them. "This will lead you back into the temple you were in. I don't think I have to be the one to warn you about the changing rooms and the three psychopaths chasing after you," he said with another wave of his hands.
"No. We're already fully aware of that," said Clockwork as he began walking towards the door with Bright Eyes.
As the others began making their way towards the door, Colgate stopped and looked back at Rumplestiltskin. She couldn't help but think back to the scene with Rumplestiltskin and the blue fairy she had seen in one of the screens. "So...what exactly was that room that you sent Bright Eyes and me to?" she asked suddenly.
"None of the rooms in that temple have any names as far as I can tell. I like to call that particular room the Memory Room but you can call it whatever you like," replied Rumplestiltskin.
"A room with windows to the past...Memory Room sounds about right." Colgate let out another sigh. "I saw you in one of those windows."
"You did? How flattering of that room to include me in its collection."
"I saw you arguing with a blue fairy. You were screaming about finding him." Rumplestiltskin fell silent and turned away from Colgate. "This is just me being curious but...who are you looking for?"
The magic man was silent for a moment. Eventually, he turned back to Colgate with his usual smile on his face. "It was my dog," he replied.
"Your...dog?"
"Yes, my dog. Lovely little guy. The fairy took him from me because she was jealous. So now I'm searching for him. That's who I'm looking for."
Really? Colgate thought. He can't seriously think he's going to convince me with a story that could easily be found in a book for fillies. Colgate felt a hoof touch her shoulder. She turned to see Matilda standing there, silently beckoning her to follow her and the others through the door.
"I guess you all better be off then," said Rumplestiltskin as he turned his back on the ponies. "Have a nice, wonderful, dangerous trip." The imp gave one last flick of his hands followed by another giddy laugh before beginning to walk out of the room.
Daring pulled the silver door open and a bright light flooded the room. The ponies quickly began to walk through the threshold. Daring, Clockwork, and Bright Eyes were first while Colgate and Matilda took up the rear. "I don't think I need to tell you that it isn't his dog he's looking for," Matilda whispered to Colgate.
"I figured that out on my own. Who is he really looking for then?" Colgate whispered back as she glanced back at Rumplestiltskin.
"That...is a story for another time."
Colgate sighed as she glared at Matilda and took one last look at Rumplestiltskin before stepping through the door and heading back into the depths of the Elmheim Temple.