//------------------------------// // The Slow Walk into the Unknown // Story: Scattered Thoughts // by Coyote Mustang //------------------------------// Princess Celestia arrived at the hospital with a tired expression. Her sleep had been haunting her with the words Twilight had said to her no more than a month ago. Her mind couldn’t seem to hold its focus for the beginnings of day court, leading to some very inappropriate measures being put into effect. But she could worry about that later; right now she had to see Twilight. Celestia arrived at the door to Twilight’s room with a weary smile as she looked on at her friends. They all lay around Twilight, two to a couch, some in chairs; even the floor had a pony on it, all of them in a circle around Twilight. They appeared to be asleep to the princess; some of them snored to prove it. Her smile grew as she laid her eyes on Twilight’s figure. She lay on her bed with an expression of calm on her muzzle. She would have laughed, knowing this was probably the first time she had ever seen that face on her most faithful student, but a voice in the room brought her attention elsewhere. “Mornin’ Princess.” Applejack yawned as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “Good Morning Applejack, sleep well?” “I slept ok, you on the other hoof look like you haven't slept in a thousand years” Applejack answered back, her expression one of sympathy. “No, I suppose I haven’t.” the princess answered back. A light chuckle came from the both of them, their collective thoughts needing the release. Applejack stood up from her chair and moved alongside the princess. They walked out of the room and began to talk. They made their way over to the hospitals coffee shop and ordered some. It came to pass that the coffee they found was rather lacking in the taste department but it kept the conversation light and happy as they both knew they would be making the decision of a lifetime in the next few hours. Celestia and Applejack made their way back to the room, each in their own state of thought about how best to treat Twilight. Their thoughts flew around in their minds as the slowly made their way back to Twilight’s room. As they approached the door, cries of pain and of anger could be heard in the room, it’s intensity growing by the second. Applejack and Celestia quickened their pace, afraid of what they would find. The door exploded off its hinges right in front of the two ponies, the magical blast following behind. The two of them made their way into the room, only to see Twilight not only awake, but extremely pissed off at the fact she had awoken in restraints. Her thrashing and magical talents were in full swing as Celestia entered the room with a startled expression. She deflected the blasts that made their way at her, and swiftly made her way to Twilight’s side. Celestia’s horn began to glow as she set it against Twilight's head. her eyes sprang open as she began to back up slowly. “Princess is everything ok?” Rarity said as she watched the scene unfold. “That’s impossible” was all the princess could get out before she fell to the ground. Celestia awoke a few hours later, herself placed on one of the hospital’s beds. She glanced around the room and found that both Applejack and Rarity stood vigil by their princess. The looks of relief they held gave Celestia a soft smile. Her smile quickly faded as she remembered why she had been placed her in the first place and apparently this information was what the two of them wanted to know. “Princess, not that we ain’t relieved or nothin’ but why exactly did you pass out after doin’ that thing to Twiligh’?” Applejack gave Celestia a look of concern, her eyes slowly welling up. “Is Twilight going to die?” Celestia tried to give a look of comfort the two of them, but she couldn’t give it to herself. She had seen it; she knew what it was and the implications of the thing she had found would be catastrophic. Celestia gave a small sigh and stood up from the bed. She wobbled slightly as she did, but she soon righted her balance and made her way out of the room. She stood in front of Twilight’s room and slowly opened the door. She walked alongside Twilight and sighed again. she turned towards Applejack and Rarity and answered their question with another. “Would you like me to explain it, or would you just like to see it for yourselves?” Applejack and Rarity looked at each other and then back at Celestia, dumbfounded at her request. They slowly made their way over to the princess, unsure of what would come next. “See what?” they both questioned simultaneously. Celestia’s horn gave a soft glow again, this time placing the two of them in a sphere of light and soon they were transported to a place they had never expected to go, a place no pony had and probably would ever see. Applejack shook her head back and forth trying to get the ringing in her ears, one of the spells after effects, under control. She looked to her left and found herself alongside Rarity, who yawned loudly as she too was waking up from the spell. Applejack leaned down and extended a hoof to offer her help in standing up, which Rarity kindly accepted. The two of them looked around the void that Celestia had placed in front of them, seeing only a white backdrop that would accompany their experience. A hiss came from the distance, leading the two ponies to jump in surprise and quickly they searched for what made the noise. they looked all around them again, and soon Rarity noticed a hazy shape moving around the void. As she informed Applejack, they both began to walk towards it. What they found in front of them in the void was startling to say the least. The hazy outline that Rarity had seen was that of a pony, the blackness of its body contrasted with the whiteness behind it. Rarity and Applejack gave each other a sideways glance as they took in the figure in front of them. It stood in its haze, with only two features that stood out; its eyes, as pitch black and emotionless as a starless night, which stare at the two of them and the two large rows of teeth, as sharp as scalpels and as long as fillet knives outlining the edges of its muzzle. Applejack and Rarity took a few steps back from the shape, unsure if it would try to attack them. Rarity and Applejack stood there, too afraid to talk, as they watched it paced back and forth in a circle. They watched as its eyes held steady on the two of them. Rarity was soon absorbed by the entity’s motions and she watched in unwavering fascination as the entity walked back and forth across the landscape. Rarity’s pupils constricted, her thoughts raced, and her breathing quickened as different endings to this time in her life played themselves over and over again in her mind. It hissed at the two of them, eliciting a small whimper from Rarity. She attempted to grasp at Applejack’s leg for comfort, but all her hoof met was air. Rarity’s eyes swiveled up to her friend and she could only watch in horror as Applejack took a step towards it. Slowly but assuredly she made her way closer to the entity. As she approached it, Applejack swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat as she drew close enough to look the beast in the eyes. She carefully took another step towards it, cautiously eying the razor sharp teeth she saw. Applejack drew closer and closer to the beast, and it made no movement towards Applejack. “Applejack, what exactly are you doing?” Rarity called out to her, her body tense with fear. The hissing it made seemed to signal an invasion of space for the entity. What if it took a swipe at Applejack, tried to attack her, maul her, main or even kill her? Rarity’s mind flashed through all of these scenes as she watched Applejack move closer and closer to the entity. “Applejack, don’t get too close.” she called again, and this time she was answered, but not by Applejack. “Don’t worry My little ponies, I am keeping it from attacking the two of you, but it will only last so long. See what you can learn for yourselves and get out of there as quick as you can.” Celestia’s voice called from the emptiness reminding the two of them the task she had set for them. Applejack heard Rarity’s sigh from across the room, so she had heard her too. Applejack continued to step closer to it, but now she knew that it wouldn’t attack her. “Ah’ righ’ time to see what it is yah’ are.” Applejack said as she took a step towards it again. The entity bared its teeth at her and took a swipe when it thought she was in range. Applejack swiftly jumped back and just out of its reach. Applejack landed and turned to run away, but Celestia’s voice called her again, this time with an apology. “I’m sorry Applejack, my magic slipped slightly there, its OK I have it under control again.” She said, causing Applejack to slowly turn and face it again. Her brow furrowed at this little slip of hers, knowing that she could have been hurt or killed if it had hit her. But as she turned back she noticed something odd about the figure. Something she had to look closer at. Applejack took a step towards it again; a little hesitant at first, but soon her steps fell with regular frequency. Applejack approached it again, this time close enough to look into its cold eyes. Applejack looked deep into its eyes and saw only an endless void of black haze behind its pupils. It looked back at her and growled loudly. “What are you?” She roared loudly as she glared at the figure in front of her. The form it took began to fold around the eyes and teeth she saw, the haze shifting back and forth behind this features and never seemed to settle as the time passed. Slowly the haze seeped out from around the eyes, engulfing the white below and about this feature and continued down towards the ground itself. The face morphed into the head of a lion as it reared down onto its legs and a tail popped out from behind, longer than what had been there before. The form of a Manticore came from the haze and it suddenly roared back, saliva spewing forth from its maw. Rarity stared at the entity that had been held in Twilight. She saw the form of a Manticore, but the place where its paws would have touched the ground lay barren of haze, as if it could not fully complete its form correctly. Her gaze looked over the figure as it changed again, this time the haze shifted into a slender figure, but one that was just as deadly as the last. Rarity's eyes grew wide as the form of a cobra materialized in front of Applejack. “Why is it doing that, Applejack? Why does it keep shifting into these most unsettling forms? Applejack, why are you moving towards it still? Applejack, stop moving towards it. Come back here,it’s safer,” Rarity yelled to Applejack in the distance. Applejack turned her head around to look at Rarity. Boy did that girl ask questions when she’s scared, Applejack thought to herself. She turned to Rarity and gave her a heartfelt smile in hopes of calming her, but it was to no avail. Rarity was approaching tears as she watched Applejack get farther away from her. As she began to yell back at her that she would be OK, the entity released another hiss, showing her that she shouldn’t turn her back to it. Applejack turned forward and this time it was not a snake but a bear that stood in front of her. Its teeth and eyes still the same. The piercing empty gaze it held on her as well as the sharp teeth that dripped with saliva and, if she didn’t know better, venom in its purest form. Applejack picked up a hoof and noticed the feeling she had when she did, she felt the ground move as she lifted to look and felt the breath she wafted onto it as she gathered her thoughts. Something in Applejack told her that what she was planning was a bad idea. In fact she knew this was probably going to be the single stupidest thing she had ever done. Applejack thought of the consequences of this act over and over again as she continued to stare at the beast. Her curiosity towards the beast in front of her propelled this simple need to find out. Rarity watched Applejack, from behind, examine her hoof for a few seconds and pieced together what she was going to try. Rarity yelled for Applejack to stop, but it was too late. Applejack reached her hoof out and touched it. She felt her hoof go right through it, and coolness accompanied it. The poke sent the entity into a vicious fit, but Celestia's magic held it so it wouldn’t strike Applejack. She had seen it correctly; the haze seemed to keep moving, like nothing was actually set in stone for this creature. She went back to touch it again, but as her hoof touched it; the coolness was replaced by an overwhelming heat coming from its skin. Her hoof held its place on the entity’s shoulder, and soon Applejack withdrew it quickly as it attempted to snap its jaws onto her hoof. Applejack grabbed her hoof, cradling it with the utmost care, for though it had not been bit, it still burned from the creature’s skin. “What in Tartarus are you?” She screamed at the entity as she stared back at it. The entity hissed as it shifted back to the form of a snake, this time it was that of a rattlesnake. It coiled up and a rattle came from its hind end, causing Applejack to back off slightly. “Applejack, why would you do that? How could you do something so stupid? I am not losing another friend to that, that “Thing” over there,” She yelled angrily at Applejack as she watched from a distance. It shifted its focus to Rarity, and suddenly a wild cat burst forth from the haze, growling and hissing at her comment. Rarity flinched at its growls, turning her back slightly. “Hurry up, ponies, I don’t know how long I can hold it down.” Celestia’s voice called, strained from the pressures of holding both spell up at the same time. Applejack walked back to Rarity’s side, her mind already worn out. “ Ah don’t know what to do next but whatever we do it has to be dun’ in a hurry. Ah don't’ think Celestia’s hold on it will last for much longer,” Applejack said as she stood next to Rarity. “I think you’re right Applejack.” Rarity said as she looked at her friend. She was about to call out to the princess but another noise took its place in her mind. The entity gave out a large growl as it stood up from its position on the ground. It gave a wicked smile, its sharp teeth gleaming in predatory glee. And suddenly it lunged at them both, its fangs gleamed as it approached their standing point. Applejack and Rarity let out shrieks of terror and began to move away from the beast’s landing zone. As the beast landed and let out a growl that chilled them both to the bone, Applejack yelled for the princess to bring them out of the spell. They both began running in midair as two separate balls of light encased them and brought them out of the nightmare before them. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applejack and Rarity awoke to the sound of the monitor in Twilight's room, blaring loudly as she heart rate flew off the charts. They were swiftly escorted out of the room, as the physicians attempted to stabilize Twilight. Celestia as well was escorted to her room, and they soon settled on the princess’s room to speak about what it is they had seen. Applejack was the first to speak as soon as they entered Celestia’s bedroom, her surprises still evident in her voice. “Pardon mah’ language, yer’ highness, but what the buck was that?” she said as Celestia sat down on her cushion. Celestia’s fur gave a small frazzle as she heard Applejack’s use of language, but she knew that this was to be expected. She slowly turned to gaze out her window, her mind lost in the thoughts of how to tell them about it. she sat for a few minutes as the two of them got comfortable on the cushions in her room. “Applejack, what exactly did you see in there?” she asked, her gaze not moving from the sunset she saw out her window. Applejack and Rarity relayed their experience, with all the frights and amazement they had. She regarded their comments in silent contemplation, but soon she knew that their need to know would need to be sated. “We don’t know what it is,” she began, her eyes now locked on Twilight’s two friends, “And we still have yet to know why it does what it does. All we do know is that if we don’t do something fast, we may never see Twilight as the same pony she was ever again.” Applejack and Rarity both looked at each other with tears, The Twilight they knew was never to be again. “You have seen this ‘Thing’ before?” Rarity croaked. “A few times, It tends to be the case when you’ve lived as long as I have.” She related a few experiences with this beast over her tenure as princess. She explained the process each went under from the moment of inception to the eventual ends of the ponies. She explained that a spell casting was always involved but it was never the same spell. The creature, they thought, could sense the energy and that was what it fed on. They left her breath for a short time before asking the one question she truly wanted to avoid. “Is their anyway to fix it, to make Twilight well enough to return to Ponyville?” Celestia didn’t answer this question. She knew they had never found a cure, and even with the modern technology this age granted her, she still had little hope for a good outcome. But Twilight wasn’t like the rest, She was stronger than the others. “Now, I know that you are both scared, but I want to assure you we will do all we cannot stop it’s spread from affecting Twilight any more than it already has,” Celestia spoke with a weak smile, one uneasy with the lie she had just told. Applejack and Rarity looked on as Celestia made her way back to the hospital, her mind now focused on Twilight's immediate recovery. The two of them began to follow her, but were told that what she needed right now was for her friends to continue their lives as if she were just on a long vacation. Celestia let them know that Twilight would be back to see them as soon as she was better. Rarity and Applejack began to protest, but with a stern look from the princess they knew this was serious. They slowly turned to go to their sleeping quarters when the princess gave them one final instruction. “Applejack and Rarity, I want you to know that we will do our best. But for the sake of the others, please lie and tell them nothing of what you have seen here today. Do this for me and I will give you my vow to get Twilight back to you as soon as possible.” With a small nod, the two of them made their way back to the sleeping quarters they had been in. Rarity told the others that they had chosen to have the surgery done, as it was the most surefire way of fixing it, and that Twilight should be back to her usual self in no time. It was a collective sigh of relief from the remaining elements, but Rarity and Applejack knew it wouldn’t be the same as it used to be when or if she did arrive back home. The next morning Twilight’s friends made their way back to the train station, accompanied by royal guards. Applejack and Rarity again shared their car, the two of them lay next to each other, still worried at the future of their friend. They both gave a quick glance back at the castle as it faded in the distance and soon found their ways into each others hooves, crying and yelling for the time they had with Twilight to return.