//------------------------------// // Chapter II // Story: Journey to the center of Equestria // by Rarity Belle //------------------------------// The morning slowly managed to crawl over the Equestrian skies. Its gentle rays of light penetrated through the curtains of Twilight’s very room. Before the mare even knew what was going on, were they all tickling her face. She hadn’t moved a single inch from the position that she laid in the night before and thus the shock of waking up actually came more as a surprise to her than anything else. With a shock of her body was she rushed back into the realm of the waking world and her body rose itself upwards. Both of her hands were brought over to her face where they began to rub it under the sounds of a massively annoyed groan. Twilight was a lot, but she wasn’t a morning mare in the slightest. “For the love of everything, why does it always has to be this early?” she muttered to herself. Twilight then leaned a bit more on the bed. The hands were calmly placed upon the mattress before her head was flung backward. Which allowed her hair to hang free while her thoughts were brought to nothing more but a calm breeze. Her mind needs to be cleared for the lessons given that day. Even though the time was early, there still was plenty of time to actually dress up and do everything she needed to do. So Twilight stood up from her bed and walked past her desk without giving it too much attention. For the demons of her mind actually laid upon that very desk. She had forgotten about most of the matters that came to her the evening before and didn’t wanted to be reminded upon them until she was ready. With a gentle pace in her legs did the unicorn make her way over to the bathroom where she locked herself in. The waters of the shower could be heard some time later, together with the humming voice of the mare that filled the room with the most elegant sounds and feelings. Twilight seemed to have actually transported herself over into a world of pleasure as a warm shower in the early morning meant more than the world to her. It certainly drove away the cranky mood that she always happened to be in. The hums of songs from days gone by passed the room yet nopony else was able to actually hear the tunes she brought forth. Every last one of them remained within the borders of her room and even when the guards passed it they didn’t even look up. From time to time there was the occasional mumble of words that were spoken to nopony else but herself which then resulted in her actually getting a bit of a tongue twister. The sheer speed in which she spoke her words was the cause of it and it always ended in her making some ‘blegh’ and other strange sounding noises. Time came and went before the waters of the shower finally ceased and the mulberry skinned unicorn began to dry herself off. Yet while she did that, she also did her hair and tail in the right fashion. A fashion that some could have called lazy or casual as they both weren’t really brought in any kind of model, but Twilight couldn’t care less about their opinion. It was functional for her and that was all that mattered most. ~~~~                       Eventually was the door of the bathroom flung open again. Twilight looked upon her room within the castle of literal dreams. A deep and content sigh was released through her nostrils as the expression in her eyes seemed to have been nothing but joyful. The only problem happened to be the fact that she still wore the towel around her body. Not that she minded it in the moment. Calmly she walked out of the door and dropped the towel. Then the horn and hands charged themselves up within the magical aura. It was within seconds that her attire came out of the clothing cabinet and had begun to shroud her body in them. Within an explosion of nothing but pure white were the clothes put on. When it faded away, she simply stood there with the same attire as before. The striking blue against the morning sun was undoubtedly her kind of color. It was strange, like she was. Unusual, like she was. Pretty, like others claimed she was. The tail of the robe swayed a bit as she made a little pirouette upon her spot and giggled a little. “This will do just nicely,” said Twilight to herself. Her body turned over to a massive shelf filled with books. A shelf of books that she had written herself and all had to do something with her profession or magic in general. All of her discoveries were written down in those very books and all manners of trying to communicate with the goddesses was written in there as well. Once more a fact that many actually despised, but they didn’t had to teach it to students. One could have said that Twilight’s role within the walls of the castle was diverse. Walls of a castle she almost never left unless absolutely necessary. She didn’t like the changing world around her. Especially the march of the factories and the war-torn history the land had. She felt safe within those walls. As if nothing and nopony could ever touch her within. Perhaps it was for the better. Even if it was just to save her mind the troubles of that what laid on the outside. A couple of the books were levitated from the shelves. Twilight glared over the titles before nodding. They were then placed upon the desk for storage as she continued to glare over the rest of them. Every so often she got another book that could have been of her aid, only to lay it either back on the shelf or add it to the stack. Time was running short and she knew that precious fact. The unicorn had to leave that instant or she would be risking getting too late in her class. “If I have missed something, so it be. I have to go now,” she muttered to herself in haste. The books on the shelves lost their aura. The stack of books that was placed on the desk was picked up and carried along with her. The door of her room was opened and closed again before she stood in the hallway and looked upon those who passed her by. Many of the guards greeted the soothsayer while others just didn’t say a word. It was a bit funny to Twilight to see others busy like that. Though it made her forget the thing that she needed to be doing. The thoughts slowly rendered themselves back to the there and then. She realized again where she was needed the most. Without much hesitation did the soothsayer step towards the classroom. A classroom that was actually located right on the other end of the castle. Twilight knew she was late already and that they would be getting impatient. So there was only one way she could actually enter the place and make them all focus their attention upon her in an instant. Some may not have liked it but she didn’t saw another option into it. It had to be done, and that was that. The horn of the unicorn charged itself up even further before she just poofed out of the plane of existence. Twilight had literally vanished into nothing but thin air. Only to reappear on the place she was required to. ~~~~                       “Oi! Keep quiet will you, the teacher can be here any moment. You want to ruin the big day of us all?” a blue skinned unicorn student questioned towards another. She had more than enough of the bluff talking. “You might be a big stallion, but deep inside you don’t have the heart to be a soothsayer. I bet that when you encounter her, you’ll beg on your knees to deal with her. To become her servant.” Another student –who had sprung in between the two– didn’t wanted to take a side, but felt like she did have a point. “Wishful Star, don’t taunt him. You know it is going to end bad for us all. Besides, teacher Sparkle is a smart one. She knows exactly who is always lurking out a fight,” the gray skinned unicorn said to her. He had placed both of his hands upon the shoulders of Wishful Star. The mare released a deep growl of utter anger. A deep sigh was being released. “You’re right, Sky,” said Star when she looked over to the bully with one last glare of utter discomfort. “I swear to you that he has only gotten in here because his parents paid the grand master, there’s no other way.” Sky Comet couldn’t help himself but to release a chuckle. He shook his head. “I wish it was that way, but from what I’ve heard, he actually passed the exams required to get into here. So the best we can do is to suck it up,” he said to her. It was a hard story to swallow though. Yet Star wasn’t prepared to actually suck up the words of Burning Spring. The bully with the fiery skin and the stallion that had made both of their lives pretty miserable. They didn’t like it when he shared their classes, none of them actually did. Though most didn’t wanted to admit that little fact. “Can’t be true, now can it? That he actually got allowed to enter just like that? I mean, him passing his tests? Look at him, he can’t do anything,” continued Wishful Star to mutter. Then she realized that it was just pointless. If it wasn’t for the comment that Burning Spring was about to make. “I shall become nopony’s servant!” he yelled up to her. He stood up behind his desk and punched it. “I shall teach her a lesson she won’t forget! I shall conquer where the others have failed and banish her to the deepest parts of Tartarus!” Those very words caused the whole class to gasp before Wishful Star turned herself around. “Don’t do it Star, he’s not worth it. You’re smarter than him and y- Oh who am I kidding,” said Sky Comet. Moments later had he just given it all up. He threw his hands into the air before crossing his arms over his desk which acted as a landing cushion for his head as it fell down. “Just don’t blame me for anything. I tried to stop you, but you were foolish enough to continue.” “I won’t,” replied Star before she left her seating. The mare walked up to Burning Spring. The stallion gulped already. She placed her hands upon his desk and lowered her head so it could meet his. The two had a bit of a stare-down before Spring was the first one to look away. That action actually caused a grin to form itself upon the lips of the mare before she released a deep exhale. “You really think you can take on the queen of darkness, when you can’t even look an actual girl in her eyes? What kind of hero do you want to be anyway? You only make it more obvious that you don’t belong here. Am I right, or am I wrong? Tell me,” questioned Wishful Star with venom. She had gotten the attention of pretty much the whole class right there. All of them were just wondering what could be happening next. Yet Burning Spring managed to gather his guts and look her straight back in the eyes. “I plan on crushing her, once and for all. You’re wrong! I came here because I have the power of a soothsayer!” “Yet the mouth of a battlemage! I start to think you came to the wrong class. Isn’t Beatrix looking for a missing student right now?” Star continued to taunt him before she chuckled to herself. It felt so good to her that she could finally overpower him with his own little game of trouble. Of course she knew he was trying to act tough in front of her, but that didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy the fact he was at a loss of word from time to time. And to make matters even worse, she made one last remark. “Sit down boy, you’re not worthy of being a soothsayer and the moment you meet her, she will kill your conscience and take your body as a puppet. Heard of the term, ‘a fate worse than death’? Well that’s that. You aren’t going to make it against her. So drop the act and admit it!” Wishful Star growled to him. She slammed her fist upon the desk. The actions altogether caused the stallion to gulp again. He lowered his body back down into his seat. “That’s enough for me,” replied Wishful Star. She had a nasty looking grin before she left him and returned to her own seating. The only problem was that in the moment she slammed her fist upon his desk, Twilight herself had teleported into the room and stood behind the teacher’s desk. The whole class gasped for air. None of them had even seen the magical burst of energy when she came in. “Is there something I should know about you and mister Spring over there, miss Star?” asked Twilight to them. Her expression had turned into a stern glare. A glare that was directly aimed towards Wishful Star, who shook her head. “Good, then sit down and keep quiet. That goes for all of you.” Star did what was asked of her and quickly regained her seat next to Sky Comet. Whose eyes only made a glare to her before she hissed her reply to him. “Not, a, word.” Only then all of their focus went to the front of the class, where Twilight was making some drawings on the chalkboard. ~~~~                       “Right then,” said the blue robed unicorn after she had finished with her drawings. Twilight would have looked each of her students deep into the eyes. Some of them got an eerie feeling through their body as they couldn’t believe that a teacher so kind could look so cold. But behind her, on the chalkboard itself could the massive drawings and explanation be found. One thing was certain, she took her job dead serious. “I think I need to remind you all just what it is to be a soothsayer.” Immediately did some hands go up as if they wanted to ask a question or explain the situation before she entered. Yet Twilight shushed them all with one little sound before she continued to talk. “I don’t care who started it, or how it happened. All that I care about is that neither of you two acted like a soothsayer should. You all have been under my teachings for more than a year, you should know better. No questions, no excuses. Just listen.” The teacher moved to the front of her desk. She rested her bum against the edge and used both of her hands as support for her body. It had only taken her a couple of centimeters or she would have been sitting upon the desk. “We soothsayers are a pride among the unicorns, we have the gift to communicate with the divine entities of both the sun and the moon, the two goddesses whom we love and praise every day,” she explained to them. At the same time had she been using her hand to make some interesting motions. No longer where they used as support. Twilight had made the transition from leaning against the desk, to sitting on top of it. “Nopony is actually certain as to how our order came to existence, but all we can do is confirm that it at least is over seven thousand years old. Any records before it, simply don’t exist. But what is a soothsayer actually? Not a bragger about their power, that is one thing. Not some kind of eliminator of all evil, that’s another.” Twilight calmly shook her head before the violet rimmed eyes looked through the class a second time. “No, a soothsayer is a servant of the goddesses. For they guide us, and talk to us. Faint whispers of their voices echo within our ears whenever we go to their very plane of existence. Knowledge given to us and to use for the greater good. Something that perhaps more should realize before going on to a pointless war with the imaginary zebra and griffin alliance. No offence.” The last words were spoken directly towards the only zebra within the class. A stallion who always kept his hood on his head and never spoke a word unless asked. “None taken,” he replied in calm towards the teacher, who gave him a faint little smile. “Being a soothsayer is a huge responsibility and is more build on failures than successes. For those who succeed, are also often the ones we never hear from again. One can try to enter their realm without respect, but they are the divine beings. They hold every right,” continued Twilight while the concern became readable within her voice. “Many have fallen victim to other forces like corruption. It is a force that is easily mistaken for hope when said in the right tones. Don’t get me wrong, being a soothsayer is dangerous work for both your body and your mind.” The lecture continued onwards for about half an hour before Twilight finally started to summarize the facts of what it was to be an actual soothsayer. “Don’t look for fame, for it shall only destroy yourself. Don’t boast about your abilities for they shall only make you a victim. Respect, care and kindness are the three virtues in which you have to treat everypony else. They gave us all the ability to communicate with them for a reason. Who are we to throw that ability away like it is a common something? Magic is powerful, unicorns are powerful yes. But the other races are still our friends and allies deep down within them.” Twilight removed herself from the desk. She wanted to just walk a bit around the classroom and through the rows of desks that were placed before her. Her blue robe swayed with grace when she walked by. Next to that, it also managed to hide her tail pretty well. Almost as if it wasn’t there anymore. Many of the students had actually released a gentle gulp. They were a bit and genuinely afraid of whatever she would be doing next. But outside of just the walking, there wasn’t all too much that she did. Until she came to the back of the room. She turned her body back around and looked at each of them from the back before a deep sigh was being released. A sigh that was soon enough followed up with words of concern and warning. “However, being a soothsayer doesn’t always mean it’s about roses and moonshine. For can anyone tell me exactly what the greatest danger is, that a soothsayer can face in its life? Or better said: what is the lesson that is taught throughout history about the work of a soothsayer? Anyone?” She didn’t took pride in asking the question of questions, but she needed to be sure that each of them knew exactly what they were talking about. Not to mention where they have gotten themselves into before they would continue and do anything else. “Well, I’m waiting. Perhaps you can tell me, mister Spring,” said Twilight while she moved back to the front of the class. “Or perhaps you, mister Comet. Or what about the lovely miss Star? Can either of you three tell me the answer to my question? No? Anyone else want to take a guess?” Silence remained the dominant force within the room. Nopony even wanted to dare and tell her the answer upon the question. Yet in their mind they had all agreed upon the one fact that made it what it was. They knew the answer, but were either too afraid or too embarrassed to actually tell her. That was all except for one single soul one. Out of nowhere did the zebra stallion flung his hood backwards. He looked up to Twilight with his gray and black striped skin. All of the students were horrified to see him uncovered but they also had to admit the fact that he carried a certain charm of mystery to himself. Something that they never would have dared to speak out in the open. The stallion himself stood up and bowed towards the teacher as a sign of respect. “Forgive my interrupting, miss Sparkle,” he spoke to her before he continued, “the answer to your question is that most of the anthronies in the land don’t believe our abilities. Their desire to stick with the fact of what they think is right often places them upon the wrong path.” Twilight was actually pleased to hear it from a student who wasn’t even a unicorn at all. “That is indeed correct, yes. Your words speak the truth and you don’t have to be sorry about it, for you answered the question exactly as I liked it,” answered Twilight to him with a faint smile. Then she made a bow in return. A bow which was actually the sign for him to sit back down on his place and cover his face with his hood. The reason behind it was just that he was different than the other unicorns. He was more or less a witch doctor. The zebra worked with potions instead of actual magic. Yet the effects always were the same –if not better from time to time. “Anthronies are creatures of habit, they don’t really like it when you start to tell them what they need to be doing. Their minds think that they have it always at the right end. Make a change in their routine and things will be ending up rather differently and difficult for them. Often ending in perhaps something you don’t want them to do or that they do something you don’t expect. As you all know, it takes only a spark to set a place ablaze.” Those words made all of the students nod as they couldn’t get them out of their heads. None dared to say even a single word against her as Twilight placed her hands behind her back. The posture she assumed was that of a soldier who was ready to be inspected. But in fact it was her who could be seen as the general. “Now that you all know again what it is to be a soothsayer, I think that the time has come to show you what is required to commune with the plane of the goddesses. So far we have only talked about it, guiding your energy to the mind to ascend into their realm of existence. Today, each of you is going to try it. Don’t worry if you fail, it never works the first time around,” said Twilight to them. All of them removed themselves from their desks and set them aside with the help of some spells. ~~~~                       Twilight looked over the cleaned up classroom before she sat down in front of her own desk. All of the students did what she did and assumed a sitting position with their legs crossed. From there on out could they only watch as to what would be happening next. Twilight released a deep exhale through her nostrils before she took a deep inhale through her mouth. That routine would have been repeated a countless times before she placed both of her hands against one another in front of her. The index fingers were pointed upwards and touched each other at the top as the thumbs did the same but pointed down. That was the starting pose for the meditation to commune with them. Calmly and slowly did the raspberry colored aura collect itself around her horn before it spread over to her hands. The eyes slowly shut themselves as she managed to speak her words. “The power of your magic, guided by your mind must be brought over to your heart before you let go of your body. But never let go as a whole as it is your only anchor point in the physical world. Only then, when your mind and heart are both at peace you shall be able to make the ascend to them. There, you pay your respects to the both of them and see if they grant you an audience. Don’t hope they do. They can sense that.” Then the silence of Twilight took place as both her mind and heart were at peace. Her body had become the anchor point and for the sake of her students she forced her eyes back open. Each of the students looked right into the white orbs of pure light as they thought they saw Twilight actually entering the mythical realm. But in fact they saw just nothing. For more than five minutes had she remained in the same position. Her spirit descended again towards her body. The eyes were closed again before the head lowered itself. The lights faded as the magic disappeared from her horn and hands. Which resulted in her getting fully back to earth. The unicorn leaned a bit backwards before she shook her head. “Always tougher when you have to show it, usually I do it without this much strain. Either way, the descend back is more important than your ascend. One wrong motion during it and you can end up missing your body. Making it a soulless husk for any kind of creature or being to invade it.” Slowly but surely did Twilight got up from her position. She pointed to the first anthrony to make the test. “Don’t be afraid, I will be right here with you and know it when something goes wrong,” she spoke in a reassuring voice. The student wasn’t all too satisfied with the answer given but knew Twilight had to be trusted. For the life was quite literally on the line. With a deep exhale did he sat down and made the same preparations as Twilight did before. Before finally ascending up into the plane of the goddesses. None of the students could believe it that with the first anthrony to try it, it also actually succeeded. Yet Twilight knew that many of them wouldn’t be able to make it to the plane to begin with. She was actually more afraid of them not returning to their bodies and thus leaving them in a husk. It was a constant fear for her that she needed to master one way or the other. Sooner or later, she knew something would be going wrong. Twilight just couldn’t place her feelings right, but it was just there. Then had the descend of the first student begun. Twilight monitored every last vital sign. If even one thing would go wrong, she would notice it straight away. The entire classroom was just silent while the tension was about to be cut. Seconds seemed like it had been hours before finally the mouth started to twitch and the eyes gently were opened. “Welcome back,” were the words that Twilight spoke to the student. A student who looked around to see where he had actually ended up. “It’s okay, it’s okay. You’re back with all of us. Take it easy and tell me what you saw.” The student took a couple of deep breaths before a swallow was released. Only then did the words finally leave through his mouth. “I saw, nothing at first really. Just darkness before I suddenly stood before this, this forest of moonshine. Leaves all in the same coloring as the moon. A-And whispers. Whispers I couldn’t understand but they were so sweet and calm. Then, I woke up here again.” Twilight placed her hand upon the stallion’s shoulder and gave him a warm smile. “You did good, you did amazing. Want to know what you saw and heard?” The student only nodded and the teacher returned one to him. “Alright, what you saw was the forest of the moon. It’s a place not many soothsayers come out of their free will. Simply because of the fact that, those recently passed away make their journey through it. The whispers you heard are for those spirits to safely make the journey to the other side. Nopony knows what is on the other side and it’s a mystery that has tempted many. But none ever dared to set a foot inside.” The stallion had listened to her words with care before he tried to crawl back up again. He had seen one of the greatest mysteries in life but the desire to figure out what laid beyond the forest border wasn’t there. Once he stood back up on both of his legs did the stallion walk back to the rest of the group. There some hugged him and congratulated him for the deed he had done. First time and a straight success, not many would have done that. It was a little fact that they all knew. Both Sky Comet and Wishful Star wanted to go next, but before they could be making it forward had Burning Spring cut them off. He insisted on going before everypony else. He wanted to show them all how it was supposed to be done. But Twilight wasn’t a fan of him either. “Master Spring, this is serious business and I don’t want you talking around and about like that. You are not better than anyone else in this room. All are equal here. Though, proceed when you think you’re ready.” Burning Spring sat down on the spot with his legs crossed and fists and fingers together. Both of his mind and heart were made empty before he made the ascend upwards. There was only one little problem. During the ascend he was supposed to be going up. Yet in his ears he could hear strange whispers that managed to capture his interests. Whispers that deluded him of power and might. Whispers that actually caused him to stop in the middle of the ascend and fall down. Falling down, down, down, all the way down until he was surrounded by nothing but utter darkness. Burning Spring was starting to become afraid as he actually managed up in the place he really didn’t wanted to end up. Yet it was also the one place where he could be fighting the one he spoke about earlier. “Twinkle, twinkle, little star,” was then whispered in an utterly eerie and disembodied feminine sounding voice. The levels of terror rose up in his body. All that he wanted was to get out as soon as possible. Though there was literally no way that he could see. He was trapped inside of the worst place imaginable and Burning Spring didn’t like it one bit. “I, I’ll beat you! I’ll end you and your existence if I have to!” he said in a brave voice. The stallion kept on charging the magic around his horn. He wanted to create some form of light. Yet there was nothing but more darkness that was being revealed before his very eyes. “Reveal yourself!” he shouted out towards the darkness itself. All in the faint hope to witness his worst fears. “Hmhmha, what fun is there in doing that? I like my preys unaware of the looks I carry. A bit chubby, but it should work,” the voice returned to him. It became more and more distant. Burning Spring didn’t have the slightest of clues what was going on, but he did felt himself becoming more light in the head. Before he knew it, he had passed out as the laughter of the being became only more distant. Whatever had happened to him, however it was caused, one thing was certain among the chaos. It must have been Twilight who had gotten a scent of the situation and was bringing him back to his body. That was the last hoping thought that went through his mind before he just lost every grasps of either plane of reality. He had no idea what would happen next, he could only pray upon the fact that it would be something better than dying. Though it could have been seen as just wishful thinking. Time was short and he was out for the count. Anything could happen if a force wanted it. Whether it be good or bad, anything could happen and it most likely would.