//------------------------------// // Chapter IV // Story: Journey to the center of Equestria // by Rarity Belle //------------------------------// Sunlight. Once again there was it that ever so cursed sunlight that tickled itself against the eyelids of Twilight. A moan and a groan came from the mare. She brought a hand to her face and covered up her eyes. Yet something about that very same sunlight was different about the rays of sunlight that tickled her. Normally they would have come to her from the side whereas these rays seemed to have come from the top. It was a realization that didn’t do too much to Twilight as she was still moaning and groaning to the fact she was woken up again. Her sleep was something that was rather dear to her and she really didn’t wanted to be disturbed by it. The hand was removed from her face and brought to her chest where she released a sigh. Which was naturally followed by an inhale. An inhale of air that went through her nose and thus also brought the many scents with it. Scents that were unusual got recognized by the nose and that caused Twilight to actually shocked up and out of her sleep state and open her eyes. She wasn’t home anymore, that much was certain. Though where else she probably could have been was a fact that had yet to be discovered. The eyes opened themselves under a lot of force and in the first seconds was Twilight just blinded by the power of the sun. The mare sat up straight on the edge of something. Though she couldn’t feel the ground below her hooves. “What in the names of..?” mumbled the mare in disarray. She rubbed both of her eyes and blinked to get them adjusted to the light. Slowly did the splashes of green do their turn within her eyes while the shapes were made. “The Canterlot gardens? Did they really pull that prank out with me again?” she said to herself. There was another groan that left her which was followed up by a yawn. The eyes were shut with force once more before carefully opened to reveal the world around her. The thing that she saw was nothing she ever could have expected to see in her entire life. The grassy fields below her hooves and the numerous colorful flowers weren’t typically found in the Canterlot gardens. Not to mention the bed she was on, one quick glance over it revealed it to have been a cloud on which she slept. “Where, am I?” questioned Twilight aloud in a confused tone. It would have been moments later that she dared to make the leap. A leap that was only half a hoof high from where her own hooves dangled in the air. The unicorn stood up from the bed which began to dissolve the second she left it. Yet then there was a realization that went through her, something that caused her to come to a standstill with a massive shock. “My nightie,” she quickly spoke before looking down to her clothing. Yet much to her own surprise, there wasn’t anything unusual as she looked like she was ready for class with her normal attire. The blue robes around her body were perfect as ever and only caused a raised eyebrow from the mare. “What in the name of everything am I supposed to be making out of this?” the mare mumbled to herself as her eyes continued to look around. They caught the grassy fields and the hills on which she stood on one of the highest tops. Before her laid a land that was unknown to her, forests came and went as a single solitary peak could be seen off in the far distance. The sun shone calm and brightly over her hair as Twilight still tried to find the location she was. “No, it can’t be that this is the western mountains ridge. Am I then in the Great Plains? Impossible, that is almost all desert or savannah.” Nothing about any of the geological structure made any sense to the soothsayer. Despite the fact that she didn’t came out of the castle much, she did have a pretty good understanding of just how the world looked like. “Impossible. Utterly impossible.” Though then she made probably the wise decision to turn herself around and witness a part of the land that had been going unnoticed to her since she woke up. Her mouth dropped open in utter disbelief as her violet rimmed eyes took in whatever they saw. The sights revealed to her were something that was unseen and unbelieved before. Twilight couldn’t believe it herself if she didn’t know any better just where she was. “No, this can’t be. This just can’t be right? It’s impossible that I’m here. I mean, what have I done to ever be granted the chance to come to this place?” exclaimed and explained Twilight  for herself. She perhaps wouldn’t even have dared to believe the place she was in. When she looked to the other side of the world, there was the same sight to behold. Exactly the same sight as if it was, perfectly mirrored from the other one. The only difference  had to have been the massive fact that where she stood in the warm light of the sun, the mirror image was covered under the darkness of night. Two worlds that were the same, but having different times at the same time. It was enough to make Twilight’s head spin with the sheer physics that went behind everything. Which made her come to the one realization that she perhaps had to throw out all of the believes that she knew about the world. For she no longer was in the world as she knew it. Instead she was found in the realm of the two beings they praised and loved with equal might. Twilight Sparkle had somehow made the ascend up towards the planes of the goddesses within her sleep. Or they might have called for her personally for whatever reason. Though that would have been the more unlikely answer to most of the questions that the mare had. Yet she knew suddenly and fully just where she had ended up. A particular part of the plane of the goddesses that was untouched for millennia and only very few soothsayers had actually the honor of visiting it. Her own teachers had told her about the place as well as certain books she had read. “The garden of the goddesses, there where the sun and moon rule with a might and power equal and where few have dared to venture,” were the words that Twilight whispered to herself. Straight afterwards was there another shock that went through her body. They demanded that a soothsayer always paid their respects to them. Which was something Twilight still hadn’t done to the both of them, yet. The horn of the unicorn charged itself up before it began to draw an celestial sign in midair and made a polite but respectful bow towards it. “Sun goddess Celestia, I thank thee for allowing me to come here today.” Then did the sign turn flat and fell down to the grass where it began to leave burn marks. Black stripes covered the area right next to each of the arcane drawn line before it faded out of existence. Leaving only the burned mark upon the grassy hill. Nothing happened to Twilight as she still stood within her bowed down position and silently prayed that it would remain that way. Normally she didn’t have much to fear from the goddesses their power when she would make the ascend, yet that time she was right inside of their home. The inner sanctum, some might have called it. It was considered to the holiest place in the entire plane of the goddesses. One wrong move and they could break the communication forever, that was the way Twilight was thinking about the scene. Most likely just to be safe and not get into too much troubles. Her horn allowed itself to be charged again as it drew another symbol in the air. That time the lunar sign as Twilight spoke the words in a respectful tone. “Lunar goddess Luna, I thank thee for allowing me to come here today.” Once again did the symbol fell down to the ground and faded away, leaving only the burn marks. Twilight remained in her bowed down position until she got some sort of sign from either of the great spirits that she was allowed to move again. Which was something a lot easier said than done actually. It felt like minutes that Twilight just stood there, paying her respects to the goddesses she had served for most of her life. “I, I understand that this is very pretty and all, but if I may be so free to ask, why did you brought me here?” Twilight then dared to ask aloud before a calming wind of a whisper traveled over her back. It was the sign she had hoped to be getting and calmly rose up from her position. She was granted access by both of the goddesses to enter and travel further through their inner sanctum. Yet the nature of her quest still remained unknown. Whichever the case was going to be, it was something that not even Twilight could be fully figure out. ~~~~                       Back in the castle of Canterlot were both Sky Comet and Wishful Star still playing their game as it reached the tensions climax. The both of them still had just one more move and it was all or nothing for the both of them. “It looks like we are at a stalemate here,” said Star after she took a sip from her water. She looked over each and every possible maneuver that could be done. “You tell me,” replied Sky while he did pretty much the same. They could continue moving their pieces around and therefore keep the game going forever. One of them had to fall from glory in order to make the game complete. It was an impasse that the two had encountered so many times since the discovered how the other played the game. “One hit with my fire-sword and you’re out for the count but if you move away I lose. Tough, tough, tough,” mumbled Star to herself before she made a gentle growl. There wasn’t much that could be done for her to achieve victory. It seemed to have been an endless stalemate as they continued to move away from the other and coming in closer. “I think we can best wrap this up and file it under the category of ‘unfinished’ or ‘impossible’, what do you say?” commented Sky before he let out a huge yawn. Star simply allowed herself to giggle softly before she nodded to his words. “I think that that would be best yes. The sun is almost about to rise again anyway. No class today right? …Right?” questioned Wishful Star. She didn’t seem to be certain about the facts anymore. And who could really blame her for the fact, they had been playing around with the game for over eight long hours. Five of them were spend with the zebra stallion called Dolicho who then left to do his own things. Both of the unicorns discharged their horns and therefore allowed the game to finally be finished in some way. Star began to stretch her body a bit and cracked most of her bones back into their respectable places before she stood up and dropped on her bed. “And you, get out,” she said in a playful snarl to the other stallion, One who had a difficult time containing his laughter. “Alright alright missy. I shall be leaving you then,” chuckled Sky. Then he left the mare alone and made the journey back to his own room. But before he entered through the door, there was something else that managed to capture his attention. There was a strange green light that came out of the cracks below the door that led to Dolicho’s very room. Normally he wasn’t the most curious of stallions, but that time there was something about the light that wanted to make him witness more of it. Almost as if it was a massive light show personally given to him. Sky fell down to his knees and placed one of his eyes in front of the keyhole. The other eye was closed and he started to peek through the hole in the hope to see something that would perhaps be giving him something of an idea of what was going on. It was a long shot, but it was the only shot he might have had. ~~~~                       Twilight was wandering down the slopes of the hills. She had closed in to perhaps the deepest valley of the entire place and noticed the most impossible fact that it had. She had reached the place where she wanted to go, the one place that was actually right for her feelings. The exact, separation line. The very line that separated both the eternal day and the eternal night from one another. Across the floor of that very valley it walked in a straight like a straight line which was just perfect. The eyes of Twilight twinkled gently as she noticed just the sheer beauty that it carried before her mind made the discovery that something mysterious also could be found there. To her it didn’t feel right that both day and night were there at the same time and at almost the exact place. Yet on the other end it also felt rather normal for her. It was a feeling that couldn’t be truly described by anything or anypony really. It was once more one of those times that she had to let go of her reality and embrace the reality she was in. So with one last slide down the slope had the unicorn managed to finally get to the bottom of the valley and she calmly walked over to the separating line. The very line which she had to cross with half of her body. “I just hope that this is going to work,” she mumbled to herself. A deep exhale was taken through her nostrils while she hoped for the best. Anything could happen and Twilight knew that fact all too well. It was quite literally a do or die moment for her as she gathered all of her guts and dared to take the step forwards. Or better said, sideways. What followed was the classical sight between good and evil. Half of Twilight was covered in the bright sun and she just looked like normal. Whereas her other side was shrouded in darkness, covering the other half of her body in an ominous atmosphere. That was how it looked, revealing two sides of the same mare without her even knowing the facts as they were. The unicorn anthrony calmly lowered her body down into a sitting position as her eyes were closed upon themselves and the meditation pose was taken. She wanted to know why the goddesses had called her there and she wanted to know it sooner than later. “Goddesses of the universe, please tell me why you brought me here today. I know that patience is a virtue, but on some matters there isn’t much time that can be lost in order to complete the task ahead. So please, do tell me why I am here,” where the words that Twilight pleaded to the goddesses themselves. She was almost getting desperate as of why she was there. Seconds it remained silent after her plea had been send out into both directions of the mirrored lands. Hope was slowly making way for nothing else but despair as the sheer hope of getting to know why she was there became fainter by the minute if not the very second. Yet out of nowhere and literally without knowledge of Twilight herself, they came. Two howls of wind rushed towards her from different directions of the land. Howls of wind that whispered faint words in an ancient of dead language. A mixture of multiple tales told together where Twilight couldn’t get any wiser from. It was even slightly annoying that she didn’t understood a single word from it. But as she said herself: patience was a virtue. She then could feel the two winds swirling around her as her eyes were kept closed. The tales of old reflected down upon the unicorn before imagines began to appear over her closed eyes. Almost like a movie it played out before her. And horrible were the sights that she saw. For the images played out before her eyes went accompanied with the sounds of animals as well as anthronies dying left and right. Before her swirled a massive sphere of an orange glow. The sun? No, it couldn’t have been the sun, the surface was too rough to be the sun. A core of something? Most likely the case. But the core of what, remained the question. The more Twilight’s attention was focused upon the very core, the more she forgot about the screams around her and noticed something else. That very sphere was made out of something their land had plenty of: rocks. It was a massive sphere of molten magma and rock. Which could only mean one thing in the mind of Twilight. That she was looking towards the core of their very land. The very center of Equestria. Once again was the mare struck with disbelief about the matter before the screams of the dying beings returned in their full force before the sounds of a tremor silenced everything. A tremor unlike anyone they had seen before. The mother of all earthquakes would be silencing the entire land at one point. “A-All fine and such, goddesses, but, what do you want me to do with this? I know I’m supposed to tell this but, it isn’t exactly a fun message. For it looks like you’re going to, cleanse the world as we know it.” Those were the words that Twilight dared to speak up in a frightened voice as both of her eyes opened slowly. The howls of the wind all of the sudden changed their direction and therefore their spoken language into one which Twilight did understood. Words of an ancient language she had studied came forth out of the howls and the unicorn was shocked by what she heard from them. “Wait, wait, wait, l-let me get this straight here alright? You want me, to find five other beings and actually put a stop to all of the tremors before the mother of earthquakes hit? How... How in your names am I supposed to do that?!” Twilight exclaimed and she went directly into the will of the two goddesses. Although she didn’t perhaps go straight against it, she was more wondering to the fact as to how she could possibly succeed upon the fact. Which was something a lot more complicated. “Oh, yes, right. I just go out there, recruit five beings and go down there. No, that’s…that’s not very wise, not even from the both of you, aah!” The unicorn began to scream in pain while both howls of wind had called upon two bolts of lightning, which Twilight got hit by at the same time. All of her muscles had begun to spasm while she was forced to be levitated into the air. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have questioned either of your words, goddesses!” she pleaded for her life. After which she was dropped back to the ground. The mare fell down on hands and knees before she coughed a couple of times. The lightning bolts had simply disappeared but any spirit to fight wasn’t there anymore. “Please, tell me how I can stop, the reformation of our land,” brought Twilight out in a weakened voice. She spat some saliva into the grass while her body gave the last shocks before it was continued again by nothing else but her brain. The howls of the winds changed over into the chiming of soothing bells which tickled within the ears of Twilight, causing them both to twitch. The sounds got translated inside of her mind to words which the unicorn could actually understand but they never seemed to have given any form of straight answer to her. Without any minute in between the words, were the eyes of the mare forced to close again as the locations of where she could find the other being shot before her eyes. Locations that varied from places she knew to places she would never, ever in her life have even considered to be going to. Yet it was the will of the goddesses that she would be going there. Though perhaps the strangest part had to be the simple fact that she knew where to go and which routes to take to come to the very same locations upon the times of day they were pictured in. It was complete and utter madness that was going through the mind of Twilight as the locations were so distant yet so familiar at the same time. Something didn’t seem to be one hundred percent right. Though she wouldn’t wanted to question it. Not against them. Each image was like it was a memory for her before being stored in the back of her head, as if she had been to the places in the past yet the adventures still had to happen. It was more than enough to drive her fully over the edge of madness that time. Nothing could have ever prepared her for the events that were going to fold out, but she would be right in the middle of it all. “What, what have you done to me?!” Twilight exclaimed to the two of them. She had again managed to get up on her hooves. She was still a little wobbly from the thunder strike, yet she managed to maintain her balance and opened her eyes again. The mare almost directly looked towards the two gusts of wind that were still chiming like the calming bells. “I want answers for a change and you two are the only beings in the universe that hold them! Why do you send me on this quest, why don’t you pick someone who is a lot more older and a lot more experienced in the outside world then I am?! Why, why, why, why?!” It was safe to say that the mare’s mind had hoped for a peaceful encounter with the beings she loved. What she got was a near impossible quest which most likely was even going to be one way trip. “Oh no, that’s good. That’s really good actually. Just because of my mastery in the arcane arts and I’m a teacher, I am the most suited anthrony for this entire operation. No, that is some great logic from you two.” Twilight muttered in anger towards the goddesses before she closed her eyes again, expecting another strike raining down on her. Yet there wasn’t anything that happened. Instead the chiming bells continued to talk to her. They explained the situation as they thought that it was the best way to be explained. Twilight gave a couple of slow and gentle nods towards the two entities before a deep sigh was released. “I, apologize, for that little outburst just yet. It doesn’t happen every day that one gets such an assignment from the goddesses. I, understand the points you’re giving to me, but I’m just doubting myself whether I shall succeed or fail,” the mare answered in a humble tone to the two goddesses. Who in return took the words as a sign of goodness and gave her the last words of encouragement. They knew that she could succeed upon the quest as only she had something that many soothsayers had forgotten through the gears of time. She was honest about their work. She was one of the few who actually kept herself to the code of soothsayers. A code which she had spoken before actually, during her class before the events with Burning Spring. It made Twilight realize just where the two entities came from and finally she could understand their decision to choose her. That didn’t mean she was particularly happy about the fact though. She rather would have stayed in the castle and live her life as she had done before. She even began to blame herself for going to sleep that very night as she thought that it would have made any kind of difference. But it didn’t matter in the slightest. The dices of the goddesses themselves had been cast as if all of their lives were some sort of game for them to enjoy. The outcome –as well as the progression– of how and when were the remaining factors that were still open. That was the only factor they didn’t have any power over. All they could be doing were to give small pushes into hopefully the right direction. “But, I have one question, the locations you showed me were four. I need to gather five beings, how am I supposed to find the fifth?” Twilight then asked to the two of them. She had a point though, they did only show her four locations where she could gather the beings. The chiming of the bells in her ears explained everything to the best of their abilities. “So either you really don’t know, or it shall be revealed in time to me. Great,” she said before another sigh was being released. “This is just great, you know that? I mean, I’m about to embark on this grand adventure and you don’t even give me the proper clues… What am I supposed to do with it all?!” What followed was perhaps the most unexpected thing from the entire event. The goddesses themselves actually began to speak towards Twilight. Gone was the chiming of their bells, gone was the chiming of their winds. Instead the skies were filled with the two heavenly sounding, feminine voices of they who she worshipped. “Follow the leads you already have gathered, but make haste, young Sparkle. Time is nopony’s friend.” Soon afterwards did her entire world just turn into nothing but darkness and black as it seemed that the night had taken over the entire land. But in reality it were Twilight’s eyes who were closed upon themselves and she was brought back to sleep by the goddesses. Never did they reveal any sort of physical form, but their magical auras could be seen. A brilliant golden one like the sun and a naval blue like the moon began to dance around Twilight as her body slowly began to dissolve itself from the plane and thus making the descend back to her world. Back to the world where she originally came from to fulfill her given task. “Do you think she shall succeed, sister?” one of the voices echoed in the same tone as before. But the difference was that it sounded worried. Worried about something that may not have been told before. “Only time shall be able to tell that sister. But I have my fate in her. She is different than most of the beings that I have encountered in my life. She might be worthy to carry them,” the other voice spoke in return. Then the both of them fainted away. Leaving behind nothing else but the scenery that was their inner sanctum, their very garden. ~~~~                       Through the keyhole was Sky Comet peeking right into side the room of Dolicho. All in order –or hoping– to see just what caused the strange green light to come from the cracks under the door. But there was nothing in the entire world that could have prepared him for the facts as they were about to be played. All of the sudden was the door being opened and the stallion fell right into the doorway. Only to end up in front of a pair of zebra hooves. “Usually I don’t question, but this time I do. What are you doing here?” the voice of Dolicho penetrated into Sky’s ears. There was nothing that could be considered as an excuse for the matter and he found that it is was the best to just come clean with the zebra. Which meant telling the truth to him. Something where Sky sometimes was having a bit of troubles with in the long run. The stallion crawled back up to his hooves before he straightened his attire and mane a bit. “Well, truth be told. I was peeking through your keyhole,” said Sky Comet in a tone as if nothing had happened. A tone which caused the zebra himself to actually raise an eyebrow. Almost as if he didn’t fully believe the words spoken by the stallion with whom he had played the game for so long. “You were peeking through my keyhole, which I shall not take out of the context, and why is that, if I may ask?” Dolicho asked through. He wanted to know the finer details of it all. “Don’t tell me they set you up to this, did they?” “W-What?” Sky stuttered before he regained himself. “No, I wasn’t send by anyone. Look, can we discuss this inside. That light is really bright and attracts attention easy.” The zebra looked behind his back and then back to Sky before he gave a small nod. He gestured the unicorn stallion to come in before closing the door behind him. Sky was actually mesmerized by the way that the room looked, almost as if he was in a completely different world. Which he was in more perhaps more manners than one. “I guess this is what your house looked like on the Great Plains, didn’t it?” he asked of the zebra with a certain humbleness and interest to his tone. The zebra would have just nodded while he walked past Sky and further towards a cauldron. “It indeed resembles a home in my home country. Equestrian architecture is fine, but I do prefer the environment I grew up. Notice the sand around your hooves, for example.” Dolicho then pointed down to the ground and sky actually noticed the sand tickling against his hooves for the first time. “W-Wow, I have to admit, that’s awesome. How did you manage to get all of it in here. I mean, when you want to hang a painting on your room you already need to have a certificate that they rarely give,” commented Sky. He was genuinely impressed by the looks of the room. “Miss Sparkle provided me with the means necessary to feel myself as if I was back home. She’s a bit scattered or, excuse me the term here, absent-minded from time to time. But she’s a good soothsayer and friend to have.” In response to the words there wasn’t much that Sky Comet could do outside of a well meant chuckle and the shake of his head. “Tell me about that fact. But, uhm, before we do anything else. There, is another reason why I peeked through your keyhole. The light, mainly from the cauldron caught my attention. What are you cooking up, if I may ask?” asked Sky with a careful tone. All in the hope he didn’t offend the zebra and was genuinely curious as to what he was brewing. “Ah, that is actually quite the interesting tale, Sky,” said Dolicho, “I told you I was going back to my room to prepare the potions that I require for the coming day. What you saw was just the beginning of it. Well, it’s the last one actually. I was about to close it all and get some sleep myself.” All of the sudden did Sky Comet knew where the conversation was heading and he felt himself like the land’s biggest idiot at that point. Perhaps it was right, perhaps it was not. It didn’t really matter much to the zebra stallion as it was the first time he actually allowed somepony else into his room. “That’s, something I should have realized Dolicho. I’m sorry for peeking in the way I did, but I also want to thank you for showing me this. Hey, uhm, if it’s alright with you, can Wishful and I come back tomorrow so she can also see the beauty of the Great Plains?” The question literally came out of nowhere and the zebra stallion had to scratch behind his head for a moment or two. “I, don’t see any problem with that, actually. She seems like a mare who knows how to behave. So, sure. Just knock whenever you feel like. I do not have many plans anyway,” replied Dolicho. Then opened the door of his room to let Sky out. It was when the two had said their goodbyes, the door was closed and he sat in a chair that it came. The fact that the zebra began to fear. “Where have I gotten myself into this time?”