The orb on top of the staff charged up a bit further. It caused the glue to be removed from the mouths of the mares. Which allowed the others to speak again. Their lips were finally broken from one another and all of them just rubbed them for a couple of seconds. They could ask how it was going with Twilight of course, but they had heard the entire conversation between her and Chrysalis.
“None of you, move a single muscle,” the mare said while she only turned her eyes towards them for a couple of seconds. “I’m not going to take any chances with this.” The words were all acknowledged by the rest of the mares who simply nodded and just had Twilight have her way. There wasn’t much else that they could be doing if they want to stay on the mare her good side.
Then did the eyes of Twilight focus themselves back towards Chrysalis. “From the looks of it, both you and I are going to make a little trip to the basement of the castle. I hope you’re packed for the cold, Witch,” the soothsayer said in a tone that almost sounded sadistic as the eyes of Chrysalis went wide. She was actually terrified to near death about going down there, for she hadn’t been there in ages and who knew how the real Cadence would have reacted to her.
The chance to struggle and to fight wasn’t granted to the being as the arcane hand still held her within its firm grip. There wouldn’t have been any escape until the final absolution was given to Chrysalis. Who on her own began to fear for the end.
No words were spoken by either of the anthronies inside of the room. All while Twilight’s staff kept on charging once more. Time would decide when it would be that the two of them would be going down, time would decide when they would be coming back. And time would decide, with whom they would be coming back.
Finally got the massive burst of magical energy sent into the real world and within a split second had both Twilight and Chrysalis just left the room. On the spots where they used to be standing were only two last bolts of arcane lightning before the emptiness of the place got to them. That was when they all realized that the beings had just left the room as it was.
Meaning that Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were all just left alone in the igloo chapel. It wasn’t the most comfortable place for them to have ended up in, but at least it was a whole lot better than standing outside and waiting for another blizzard storm to be happening. Everypony thought the same thing about the situation, a massive rehash of what happened around Sunset Shimmer.
“Ah don’t know ‘bout you lot, but Ah say she loses her mind every single time she’s coming across one of them Witches. Ah mean, this is the second time and look at her,” said Applejack. The admiral tried to make some sense out of the situation she was thrown in.
“Albeit that being true, you had to admit that you didn’t know the facts as they were, until after Twilight had realized everything,” replied Rarity. She did happen to be having a massive point on the matter. Nopony could have ever predicted that the soothsayer they happened to be after was actually a Dark Witch impersonating her. “To keep silent about her erupting into flames…”
“Ah told ya, that other thing must have infected her with something,” the admiral quickly replied before she got back up on her hooves.
Suddenly it was Fluttershy who’s very eyes went as wide as possible and signaled to the admiral to come back. “Come back here and sit down. You remember what Twilight said right? Maybe there are more of those shapeshifters around here,” she spoke up in a literally terrified sounding whisper. The fear was real within her eyes and Applejack looked back to her with a dead serious look.
“Ah know Ah am the real me, doctor. Quit being such a scaredy cat for once. Ya made it this far already,” returned Applejack in a calm and collected tone. But the pegasus did happen to have another point. Who was there to say that there weren’t any other of those creatures just lurking at the lot of them from that moment onward?
“Are you sure?” Fluttershy asked with care. The words caused Rainbow to have a little bit of a chuckle to herself. In the moment she had a little inside joke, which the others couldn’t follow. Or perhaps they just didn’t wanted to follow it. It was either the first or the last, but never both.
The admiral then turned her attention back towards the yellow skinned pegasus with a thoughtful expression upon her face. She remained standing there for just a couple of seconds before the words finally were said. “Ah’m certain Ah am the real me. See, nothing to be afraid of. Besides, Ah need to have mah leg working. Systems can’t be getting jammed, am Ah right?”
The knowledge of the fact that Fluttershy was the anthrony who had given Applejack her leg was just used against her for a change. The doctor knew the terrible conditions that the North was in and they were a downright death sentence for the steam powered leg. It already was a surprise that it managed to keep on working for as long as it did since they had entered it.
"Fine, fine, fine, fine, have it your way again then! Just don’t come knocking at my door if something terrible happens, again,” replied Fluttershy before she laid her arms cross over her chest and gave the admiral her nastiest look.
Which in the case of Fluttershy actually looked she was playing to be angry. Playfully anger was the thing that was given to the admiral. The other mare just shrugged it off as she began to walk over to the moved snow.
Rarity and Rainbow were both sunken deep into thoughts of their own as they both just wanted to get the hell away from the place as fast as they possibly could have. The cold was not meant for them, they both belonged to other places within the land of Equestria. One belong high up in the air as the other belonged on the high seas that had one thing in common. The fact that it was a lot warmer.
They differed so much from each other, but the desire to go back to the thing they came from was only greater. The sounds of the wind howling by as she soared through the skies or the breaking of the waves as the ship cleaved through them, those were the sounds that filled their minds. The two of them actually decided to close their eyes for a moment and gain some of the much needed sleep. A sleep that wasn’t laid away for either Applejack nor Fluttershy.
The admiral herself was staring down into the darkness of the hole that Twilight had seen as well. Her hand stroked her chin before she shook her head from side to side. She couldn’t have believed that the unicorn actually had been daring to do down there. Not to mention the little fact that she wouldn’t have been that difficult to miss with her flaming hair.
“Flutters, what do ya think? Has Twilight been infected by something? Or is that whole, fiery hair thing-y normal for a soothsayer?” It was the one question that still troubled and haunted the mind of the admiral. The visual fury of the unicorn was something she never had the desire to see ever again.
Her eyes turned themselves over to the doctor while she waited for the response to come. But Fluttershy shook her head in a calm manner. She denied the fact that Twilight had been infected with anything. “I don’t think she is infected. Used to be, but not enough to cause serious harm. She said that she had filtered her very blood to get the poison of that other thing out of her, I wouldn’t say she has kept any of it inside her body. No, I think it’s something else that triggered it.”
Finally could the mare be talking about the medical affections, her very hometurf and trade in life. Nopony in the company knew more about healing, potions and patching up then she did. The admiral took a couple of steps back before she leaned against a little table. “So, what do ya think it is then?” she questioned to the doctor in a genuinely interested tone.
A sobered up Applejack was much like Fluttershy and Twilight themselves, a mare with literally two sides of her personality. That observation was one that had been made rather quickly by the pegasus before she dropped herself into thoughts for a little moment. “Hmmm, if I may say so, I think it has to do something with a trauma in her youth. I mean, she did saw her friend become that thing which roams in Everfree.”
“Aye, yar having a point there indeed, doc, but Ah don’t think that’s the main reason though,” the admiral replied as she used both of her arms to stabilize herself. Her metal leg was stretched a big bit as the gears inside of it began to crack and creak softly. She needed to loosen up the joints from the freezing cold, or risk getting them stuck.
Of course was the igloo nice and warm, but the speed at which the leg thawed was still uncomfortable for the earth anthrony. “No, I think it’s all of her anger that is venting through.” Fluttershy continued. “But instead of it being delivered as punches as you or I may be doing it, Twilight becomes that. I do admit that she could almost pass right away for a demoness though. She looks terrifying like that.”
“Ah agree on that actually. Ah hope to never see that side of hers ever again. Ah don’t fear much, but that state of her mind…” A shiver went down the spine of the admiral at the mere thought. Which then chimed in the silence of the company. A silence that they all loved.
"But, what do you think that they will be encountering down there?” Fluttershy asked after a brief moment of silence. She wanted to be kept on talking as the igloo itself got to her. Much like the rest of the Frozen North did even the hut made out of ice have the problems of feeling isolation. Although on that thing it made a little bit more sense given how it was all covered up.
Not to mention with both Rainbow and Rarity asleep did the silence just happen to be uncomfortable to say the least. But Applejack gave the anthrony first a shrug followed by a face of genuinely not knowing. The mare had not a single clue about just what would have been encountered down there. “If Ah only knew. Traps? Wine? Torture dungeon? The actual Cadence? An army? Ah don’t know and Ah don’t dare to be making any predictions on it.”
Perhaps it was about the wisest decision that the mare had made sense they had entered the northern, icy plains of the land. What could be encountered down there? What was there to be found or gained outside of a certainty of death? It was a thought that caused the mare to shake her head softly. “Small chance of success, certainty of death. What are we waiting for?” she then asked aloud to herself.
The thought of why she had said yes against the trip or not leaving the minute she realized that Rarity would be getting on board rushed through her. Thoughts that haunted her since the first day that they actually left. Though the answer upon all of the question was perhaps one that could be given by nopony else but Fluttershy.
“Because, you have a sense of duty?” she returned in a questioning tone. It was about the most perfect opportunity to finally get the admiral back for the trick that had been played upon her for a long time. The manner in which they had gotten Fluttershy on board might have been the very reason of why Applejack actually stayed.
Another chuckle was being released by the admiral. Then she shook her head once more. “Heh, ya might be having a point there. And Ah made a promise to her, to keep her safe no matter what,” said Applejack, reminding herself of the reason she was there.
“You really think she needs more protection?” Fluttershy asked with care. She wanted to know the finer details about the matter. But the words seemed to have been traveling past the ears of a deaf anthrony at first.
Only when the pegasus gave a little snap with her fingers did the eyes of Applejack look back towards the doctor. “Hm, oh, yes, sorry. Ah, Ah was sunken in thought for a little moment. At first Ah thought she needed, but now, now that I have seen her like this… She’s a strong one, Fluttershy. Perhaps better than any other would be in time.”
The doctor gave a gentle nod towards the mare before her eyes closed themselves for just a bit. The chance to get some sleep was given to all of them as Applejack would be standing on a watch. Her eyes looked over all three of the beings before a deep sigh was released through her nostrils. “Why have Ah made a mess of mah life?” she then asked as the eyes turned over to her leg.
Finally was the question of questions being asked. The simple word of ‘why’, a word with only three letters. Yet it dominated most of the anthronies their very lives.
~~~~
All the way down in the hole did the aura of the unicorn appear again. Only to be followed up a split second later with both of the beings. Twilight still held Chrysalis by her neck, they both rubbed their heads a little bit. The teleportation spell didn’t really like it that the black magic of the Witch was traveling with it.
“Oh that hurts so much,” the soothsayer said before she straightened her back a little bit. A soothsayer that was still on a literal fire. Lights they didn’t need to be worrying themselves over too much as they had their own shining little light. Twilight’s hair had been more than enough to act as a massive torch.
Right next to the anthrony torch did the darkness consume everything again. The eternal darkness of the cellar of the castle was something neither of them were afraid of. But it was that what lurked inside of it that caused them to think twice about moving too fast. Not to mention the sheer freezing cold in which they were dropped got too the Dark Witch.
Of course did she also happen to have a flame that was coated with her heart, but that flame wasn’t nearly as powerful enough then the one Twilight had given herself or the mares. The shivers went up and down the spine of the other creature as its wings were tucked around the body. The insect-like wings were literally tucked against the body to form a transparent dress.
Twilight’s eyes looked at it for just a moment before her attention turned back to the creature’s eyes. “Which way do we have to travel?” she asked in a demanding tone.
“I prefer to be going topside again, if you do not mind.” Chrysalis replied in a cold tone before she rubbed her arms to stay warm. “I’m not made for this kind of terrain you know.”
“Well that’s your own fault then, shouldn’t you have come to the likes of this place.” Twilight replied as she also let out a snarl of annoyance. The Dark Witch really reminded the unicorn about an actual bug and ever since that connection had been made, history was being written.
Chrysalis released a growl of her own before she pointed into the darkness. “There, follow the tunnel and then you will come to your old mentor. Can I just leave now before I freeze to death?”
The answer that she got wasn’t one she originally had intended to hear from Twilight. For her throat was squeezed again, up to the point that almost no air would have been making its way into her lungs. It remained that way for a couple of seconds before the unicorn finally allowed herself to release the Witch. “Next time, I won’t be so generous with your life. Am I clear to you?” she said in a dominant tone before she began to walk forward.
“As crystal,” the Witch simply answered. Then she decided to follow the unicorn soothsayer for some reason. Yet so many accidents could have happened to the walking torch, so many manners in which she could have killed her. But none of them would have been worth the effort in her eyes. Her own neck could have been snapped just before she could be doing anything else.
No, Chrysalis had to play it safe for the time being. She might have been a servant of Nightmare Moon, but she didn’t follow the laws that were given to her. An outcast within an outcast society was what she was. At least that was how Twilight saw it the more she thought about the matter. The Witches were a strange bunch of beings and nothing like the textbooks said about them. That much was already discovered in the eyes of Twilight numerous times.
Both long and tedious was the way through the hallway. Both Twilight and Chrysalis couldn’t help but to look at the near countless things that were stuck into the walls. Finally did Twilight realize just where Rarity’s ‘conversation partner’ came from. It was a sinister thought, for anthronies of all ages were frozen within the icy crystals.
The grumbles that were released by Twilight as a direct response of it caused Chrysalis to be put on high alert once more. “These aren’t my doing. I swear to everything dark. No, these have died millennia ago. Stuck in the permafrost ever since.” Chrysalis replied in a honest tone towards the unicorn soothsayer.
“I know you aren’t as bad as you seem, even though I want to squash you like a bug,” replied Twilight before she increased her pace just a little bit.
“Well, thanks… I guess?” Chrysalis replied before she also joined the changed pace. Soon enough they would have gotten to where they needed to be. Soon enough would they have been at the spot where Cadence was held captive. Soon enough they would be able to finally separate their ways for a change.
“You’re welcome,” the unicorn said with a mocking tone to complete the insult. Chrysalis released a little huff through her nostrils before just deciding not to listen to it anymore. There were more important and urgent things on her mind.
The more they wandered through the hallway, the more there seemed to have been a secondary light. A light that could be seen from the other end of the hallway. Twilight turned her head over to the Dark Witch with the wondering of what it possibly could have been. That little twinkle inside of her eyes was already enough to make the Witch roll her eyes away.
“Keep on walking, she’s right in there if you really want to find her,” said Chrysalis before she made a shooing gesture with her hand. “Go on, go and get her. It’s not like I expected any kind of company anyway.” The words were just odd, they spoke right against one another. At one end did Twilight wanted to believe them as they were, on the other she knew that they could have been a massive lie. There was something that Chrysalis held behind.
Yet she also knew that Chrysalis was actually right on the matter. Nopony with the right mind would have even been thinking about going up to the Frozen North, let alone getting the Dark Witch that far enough to make it show its most prized trophy. So the only thing that Twilight could be doing to carry Chrysalis with her as she made the final stretch of the journey.
The last couple dozens of steps before they finally were standing in the room where the lights came from. But the lights weren’t from the torches, they were blue. Icy blue in fact. The revelation of just what was causing it came the second they both walked into the room. The place was nothing that Twilight could have expected. She had walked straight into a massive cellar.
Inside of that massive cellar of the once great castle, there was a massive room with a dome for a roof. Something told the unicorn that it actually was a place where they could be praying to the goddesses themselves as she inspected the very dome of it. The drawings and art that could be seen actually confirmed the thoughts.
“This can’t be true, can it?” she whispered to herself. Chrysalis didn’t even say a word while she looked right in front of her. The stern glance in her eyes upon the object in the room caused her to have gotten mixed feelings. Yet Twilight’s own eyes fell upon one of the torches.
It was blue fire that raged like mad but it never gave off any form of heat. Cold fire, literal cold fire was lightening up the room. But if cold fire caused it to be lit up, how could Cadence have survived for that long?
The unicorn then focused her attention upon the middle of the room. And in a circle that had the symbols of both the sun and the moon was she placed. Two columns with chains hung it up by its arms as the horn had a protective ring around it. There it hung, the beaten up, near starved mentor of Twilight Sparkle.
Finally had she found the one anthrony where she was looking for and released a deep squee even with her flaming hair. The squee was loud enough to cause the ears of Cadence twitch before her head weakly rose itself.
The first being she saw in her eyes was the nasty Chrysalis and she tore her attention away from her instantly. Only to then notice the ball of brighter light. Her attention shifted once again and as soon as the two sets of eyes met with one another, the feelings of happiness and actual relief were surging through the mare. “T-Twilight?” she said in a weak voice.
The unicorn herself gave a nod as she wanted to take another step. But as soon as her hoof set itself once again upon the floor did the roar of power came. The roar that she had heard before on the mountain ridge.
All three pairs of eyes then shrunk themselves to the smallest possible sides as they didn’t believe the thing they just had heard. But each of them had so their own reasoning for not wanting to. Twilight because it confirmed her thoughts. Chrysalis because she didn’t expected it. Cadence because she thought the thing had left a long time ago already. “The guard,” she managed to say just loud enough towards the two of them.
Shards of ice and snow came from the blue flames which began to build up the very body of the guard. Slowly but surely it managed to build itself up in front of Cadence and the other two mares. “No… No. No, no, no, no, this isn’t happening,” the younger soothsayer exclaimed. The ghost from the past, had become a ghost of the present.
Though because of the fact that the guard originated out to the blue fires, it caused those very same fires to go literally extinct and therefore plunge the room back into darkness once more. Only the heart of the being, that black, rotating orb of black goo and the fiery hair of Twilight were the sources of light. Cadence was rendered useless with the ring around her horn and Chrysalis wasn’t allowed to touch upon her magic.
The battle between Twilight and the guard was one that was easily dealt with though. The magical charge of her horn was being released under a loud scream of utter pain. A massive burst of flame and fire was shot right into the direction of the ice giant who began to melt and evaporate just like that.
Both Cadence and Chrysalis couldn’t believe what they saw and both knew that she wasn’t a mare to be messed with. A gulp was being released by Chrysalis after the hulking giant had disappeared again and she looked at the arcane hand still holding her throat. All of the sudden did that thing look a whole lot more threatening.
“That, that was, interesting,” said Cadence. Twilight rushed over to her old mentor. Before there was any other word that could be said to either of them had the nuzzles been initiated. Twilight giggled a little bit with a massive smile. The warmth of the flames from her hair began to heat up Cadence as well.
It felt so good to have warm blood flowing through her for a change. Cadence her own flame was dying, if not already extinct. The warm feeling caused a couple of blushes to appear upon the alicorn her cheeks as she also regained the ability to speak properly. “Hey Twilight, long time no see.”
“Terribly long time, Cadence. But we can talk, once we’re out of here,” replied Twilight before she placed both of her hands on the chains. She caused the heat to be flowing through them. The shackles went from a frozen state right to a molten one just before they broke. Cadence was then caught by the unicorn who smiled and nodded.
The horn was then again charged up to an incredible level as Chrysalis realized that the arcane hand was gone from her neck. Though before she could be doing anything had the trio been teleported out of the place. All that was left in the room was a puddle of water that was freezing up again and a prisoner who had been escaped.
~~~~
Back in the chapel had Applejack also closed her eyes for a little bit before the giant poof of magic reappeared. Twilight Sparkle, Cadence herself and Chrysalis had all three been teleported back out of the cellar and shocked up the other mares. All of them were looking all over the place as if they had missed something. Until they realized just what exactly they had missed and looked to the beings that were standing right in front of them.
But Chrysalis was having another set of plans, she was finally free again. Not to mention the little fact that she plainly wanted escape the wrath of the elder soothsayer. So with one flash of green magic she morphed herself into the body of some kind of two headed flying creature and just took off like that.
The mares screamed a bit in terror as Twilight wanted to set in the chase. But Cadence managed to stop her just in time. With a simple hand placed upon her shoulder did the calm return to the mare as the ring was dropped. “No my student. Leave her. Leave her to roam the icy fields outside. If you squash her, millions will return. Believe me, I have seen what her kind of witchcraft can be doing. A dark shadow seems to overwhelm the land, but then you realize it’s not darkness. But a pest. A pest that drains emotion out of anthronies and leaves behind husks to be converted.”
“C-Converted?” asked Fluttershy, she couldn’t believe the words. “Do, do I want to know?”
“Trust me, you don’t want to,” added Cadence. She turned Twilight around and gave her a nice, big hug. A hug to welcome her student to the Frozen North as well as to make her return back to normal. “Everything is alright, Twilight. I’m back here, you are safe. You’re all safe again.”
Slow but sure did the fiery hair manage to calm itself down. All the way up to the point it was just the normal hair again. The skin got darker and darker all the way until it had reached its right coloring again. “Hmhmhm, now there’s the filly I remember. But do tell me,” the elder soothsayer said before she broke the hug a little bit. Both of her hands could still be found upon the shoulders of Twilight. “What is it that brings you here? What brings all of you, here?”
“It’s a long story, matter of fact,” replied Rainbow Dash, quick as ever. But instead they only received a giggle from Cadence. Then she finally let go of Twilight completely. She dropped herself down in her chair and some of her bones snapped right into their respectable places.
“I’m quite certain it was. So go right ahead, I have the time to listen,” she said with a smile before gesturing Twilight to another empty chair.
The unicorn released a deep exhale through her mouth as the story was once again formed inside of her head. The story of their journey so far and what had been playing out before it. Then she told it. She told every last bit towards her old mentor. Not a single detail had been spared, all of it was just being told as if it was nothing.
“My my, that’s quite the journey you have been undertaking so far. Dangers lurk around every corner, some of these fine looking mares gave you a bit more trouble than they should have,” said Cadence afterwards. She was genuinely impressed with the accomplishments of her student so far. “But I think I know what question is going to be asked right now. But please, do ask it.”
All of the mares were just that slight bit embarrassed by the fact of what they had been doing prior to their arrival by the elder soothsayer. Though it was also something that seemed to have been easily or quickly forgotten again. For the attention turned over to the younger soothsayer who asked the question. “Cadence, do you know the way, to the center of Equestria?”
Even with the question being expected was it still a massive shock for the older mare. The wings of the alicorn actually wanted to spread themselves out a little bit before she scratched her chin. “So you think that the answer to your quest lays in the deepest and darkest parts of our land. Places unknown, undiscovered and even unwalked for countless millennia? I do admire the bravery that each carry inside of you though.”
“Thanks Cadence, but, do you know of such a place? Shining told you might have it,” said Twilight and spoke her words in a humble sounding tone. Her horn charged itself up as the arcane map had been conjured up once more. The one map that held all of the locations of the earthquakes and tremors that had happened ever since.
But Cadence had something else to say on the matter. “Chrysalis was also looking for something like it. She wanted to make a place to call hers and to live with her ‘children’. A place a long way away from here and everypony else. But she only took my memories with her transformation. She didn’t took the one thing where it is actually stored.”
“And that being, if I may ask?” Rarity asked as she didn’t have a clue anymore about anything. “You, Twilight and I are all both unicorns, but I understand very little of what you’re saying.”
“It’s a long story, milady Brittenburg. Something most soothsayers won’t even understand either. But the location of the doorway is stored in my heart. The one thing that a Dark Witch doesn’t have anymore, no matter what deal is being made with Moon.”
Despite everything still being as clear as mud to her, Rarity just nodded in a matter that she understood what was being said to her. Cadence on the other end charged up her own horn as she glanced over the map. The words that were whispered by her made her look deeply over the map. Her eyes were looking for that one area. That one area that held the doorway.
“Near the top of the lonely mountain in the east, you shall find it. The one mountain whose peak is never covered in snow. Upon its peak you find the way you’re looking for. But access isn’t given to all. Only those that know, can enter,” said Cadence while she circled the lonely mountain with some arcane energy of their own.
That was their next heading, that was the location they had been trying to get for so long already. The one location where they could enter the very earth they walked. Finally could they begin on the third leg of their journey.