Their eyes were placed upon the top of the mountain. The airship began to make the turn in order to drop them all off. Of course could Sharpbeak have just sent in a couple of his own griffons to do the job, but he didn’t trust them in the company of mares. With the way the talons had been set in the shoulder of the pirate captain already was it perhaps better to not take any risks from his side.
He could only have hoped that the anthronies would have done the same to him and his men. Gilda had recovered in the meantime and she stood next to the griffon at the helm while the emperor stood by the mares. His silence was something wasn’t really scary or anything anymore. The looks within his eyes didn’t do anything to the mares either. They knew what he was capable of and with all their weapons returned to them, they could be taking him hostage once more if the situation called for it.
The airship then made its way sideways to the mountain and managed to come to a standstill within the winds that ravaged over the summit. The boarding ramp was then extended by a couple of griffons who set their paws upon the ground. Each of the anthronies looked at one another before they all gave a slow but powerful looking nod.
They could be ending yet another chapter of their adventure. They could be ending another chapter of literal and utter madness and just leave it behind them. Finally they could be returning to the leg of their journey they had been wanting to complete for such a long time already. They all had one last glance over the emperor before their heads turned the other way.
And then they just went. One by one they just went over the boarding ramp towards the summit. The sooner they would be having the solid ground under their hooves, the sooner they were overall happier about the fact that it all was over.
Seconds later stood the whole of the company at the summit of the mountain. They were higher than any of them had ever been on the place. The actual summit of the mountain did have a majestic view over both the Frozen North and the rest of Equestria. A view they couldn’t enjoy as the airship was still the one thing that worried them.
Sharpbeak just stood there, with his hands behind his back and that crooked look to him. They were expecting him to say something about the cannons that needed to fire at any given moment. They were expecting him to break the promise now that they were on the ground again. Yet the boarding ramp was tucked back into the floor of the top deck. One of the two griffons then flew over to the flagpole. From which it glanced to the mares before it took it with him.
Yet when it flew back, Rainbow’s eyes couldn’t remove themselves from it. The feelings of hatred began to once again surge through her body. The pegasus was in the need to have at least one griffon dead, perhaps just as a warning for taking the other mares. But when would have been the best time to do such a thing?
The griffons all returned to their ship before it set sail once more. The burners for the balloon were fired up and slowly was there movement within the massive wooden beast. It managed to leave the mountain’s side, it seemed to be going over towards the Frozen North. But Twilight could already see that it only went that way to turn around.
“They are coming back for one last time, probably heading east after the mountain to return to their own empire. I hope,” the soothsayer said to them all. Though the calculations never ceased within her mind. So many things could still have gone wrong in her eyes. So many thing could still have changed the facts as they were. So many things, could still have changed the course of history.
Rainbow gave them all a rather eerie looking grin before she drew out one of her flintlocks and aimed it towards the vessel. The hammer was pulled back and she was ready to fire its deadly payload into one of the poor and unfortunate griffons who happened to fly in her way. “Might as well give them a little warning, don’t you agree, admiral?” the major said while she held her weapon steady. Rainbow was more than ready to be the first one to fire.
The fear in the eyes of all the other anthronies was clearly readable. They didn’t predicted that Rainbow would have been the one who could possibly break the promise that they had made. Not even Rarity had expected such had thing, but it was Applejack who returned a series of words.
“Normally Ah would give ya yar right, but in this case Ah’d say ‘no’. We made a deal with the emperor and Ah intend to stick with it. Last thing we’re gonna be needing here, is a graveyard because somepony was stupid enough to attack the imperial flagship with a flintlock!” Applejack explained to the best of her abilities without sounding either too angry or mad. Something that didn’t really work out for the earth anthrony. Applejack had yelled the last part in a tone that almost certainly would have been deemed as ‘losing her mind.’
The flintlock of the major kept being held up to the skies. Twilight didn’t dare to intervene that time. Her knees were shaking and she didn’t had the faintest of clues on what to do. Of course she could channel a powerful spell through her staff to make the flintlock break or misfire, but that required time to say the spell. Time in which Rainbow could have fired the shot already.
She was in the need of help from an outside source but nopony seemed to be able to talk some sense into the cyan skinned pegasus. Not even the doctor could have been doing it. Her whispers weren’t even tried as she had already explained that Rainbow was still too sane for them to work. Meaning they were running out of options while the ship only came closer.
The vessel was almost at the summit again and the company could hear the chanting of the griffons in their own language. Words they had never heard before in their lives were riding the winds as echoes from the speaker. Somepony had to do something to ensure that it wouldn’t have turned into a bloodbath.
Yet the help came from a rather unexpected corner. When Rainbow had aimed her weapon upon an unsuspecting griffon, she almost was ready to squeeze the trigger and fire. Though instead of firing the musket ball, there was the white hand that laid itself on top of the barrel, who brought it down in calm.
Rainbow just let the events happen while both her arm and the flintlock were aimed down towards the ground by that eerie looking hand. Her attention then shifted to see to whom the arm actually belonged. The eyes of the two anthronies crossed one another right away as Rainbow was looking deeply in a set of sapphire blue rims.
The rims themselves remained oddly calm before the words left the mouth. A mouth that laid a bit further down the face. “I can understand your anger against their very race. You have all the right within the world to shoot them to nothing but a pulp. However, you have to remember the little fact that we made an agreement with them,” was spoken towards Rainbow.
“An agreement they would never honor,” the major hissed through her teeth. The eyes were still staring at one another. Not even blinks were made between the two anthronies. It was a literal stalemate of power between two titans in their own right.
The rest of the group all took a little step back. Both the unicorn and the pegasus were having their argument together. The last thing they wanted was to be sucked up right in the madness of their own doing. The last thing they needed was to be getting involved and pick a side.
“Perhaps. Perhaps they wouldn’t have honored it when somepony else was having the command. It is true that Sharpbeak is the mad emperor, but the side we have seen the most seemed honorable in my eyes. So, taking everything into account: if he can see that we keep our end of the deal, he will be keeping up his,” explained Rarity to the best of her abilities to Rainbow. Who on her own was still having a little bit of trouble sucking everything up.
But a deep huff was released through the nostrils of the mare. The eyes did close themselves a little bit further. They were never fully closed but the eyelids did allow themselves to be closed about halfway. The stares that were then exchanged as the ship silently floated by which made it almost seem like the scene out of a war story.
A story of war where a lot of pegasi would still be talking about years after it. About her, who didn’t fire the shot yet therefore saved the day.
Only once the airship had moved itself out of the way did the unicorn continue with her words. “Honor is a precious thing, we can lose all of it in an instant. Don’t make this that instant, Rainbow. I do not care about what you have done in your past, what I do care about is the present. The here and now, you understand me?”
The gears inside of the pegasus her head were turning and spinning at speeds previously unseen. She tried her utmost best to actually make a lick of sense out of the words that were being said to her. At one end she could understand them pretty clearly while the other part of her all found it a little bit of hocus pocus. “I, I think I understand you,” she eventually said to the pirate. The hammer was lowered again and the flintlock was stored away in its holster.
The pegasus mare had one last look over the airship before she separated herself from the group. Rainbow required a little bit of time alone. She had to be alone to get the facts straight in her head and to get everything working the way she wanted it all to be. As difficult as it seemed, Rarity made it seem as if the pegasus had done a good deed.
Rainbow couldn’t help herself but to occasionally glance towards the airship as it seemed to be traveling to the east as she had sat down upon a couple of rocks on the summit. The cold winds of the Frozen North and the warm ones of Equestria had an interesting effect on the summit. For one part of her body was almost freezing while the other was warmed up.
It could have seen a torture for the body, but Rainbow seemed to be enjoying the odd treatment of winds. Then again, the pegasi race always had been a bit of a strange one for anyone that wasn’t a pegasi themselves. Whether it was admitted by those that lived in Cloudsdale or not.
Rarity had returned to the group and just stood there with her arms over each other. She wanted to know exactly what would be happening to the rest of them on the summit. Yet her actions had caused something to happen in her nemesis that she couldn’t have predicted at all.
In the corner of her eye did the unicorn thought to have seen the lips of Applejack curl themselves up a little bit to this odd smile. Her eyes then shifted over to the face and they indeed saw that they were curled up. “What are you so happy for?” Rarity then bluntly asked. She didn’t have a clue of just why the mare seemed to be genuinely happy about something.
Though what she didn’t knew was that Applejack never had expected the pirate to honor the deal that was being made up. Applejack had expected that she would actually have joined in the fight and fired the first shot. The images of Rarity being this ruthless monster that plundered and sailed all she wanted continued to once again clash with the images given to her there and then.
It confused the admiral perhaps a whole lot more than it originally should have been. All of the images conflicted with one another and it made her mind a giant mess. Was Rarity truly her enemy there? Or did she just deluded herself with years of hunting down the mare? Stories about her raids were being glorified in the taverns. Tales which were then caught up by the spies of the navy. Nothing made a lick of sense to her anymore and anything was possible.
For the moment, the strategist with whom she had set out seemed to have returned to her. The question remained for how long said strategist would have been there. Though that was a matter for a different day to worry about. In the moment, they all were having different things on their minds.
“Oh, ya know, just glad to finally be off of that airship. Ah ain’t the greatest when it comes to the skies. Flying’s for the pegasi as a ship’s supposed to be in the sea,” lied Applejack to the pirate. Even though it was a terrible lie, the other unicorn just shrugged a little bit with her shoulders before she actually bought the lie for what it was. Something that came as a relief for the admiral.
“So Twilight,” said Rarity before she set her hands in her sides. Her attention had switched over to the soothsayer. “What’s the plan that you’re having for us now?”
“A rather simple one actually. A simple one, for a change, I might say actually,” returned Twilight when her horn charged itself a little bit. In the air was then an arcane rendition of the mountain drawn with the platform they had been standing on before as well as the very top they were. “This is the mountain right here and I think I have found the entrance way when we were picked up by the griffons.”
“Oh did ya now?” Applejack asked curiously. Though her words did seem to come over as something a little bit more sarcastic. Fluttershy rolled her eyes to the back of her head as she then came closer to the group. She wanted to know what would be happening and what plan of madness had been cooked up.
“Yes Applejack, I did,” countered Twilight before the mountain was spun around. Only to stop before the eyes of Twilight. There was another place that had been marked on top of it. Then it was spun again towards the rest of the group and they all looked at it.
Even though the dominant color was raspberry, the details that could have seen within the magic still baffled them. For the place that was added was a little archway made out of stone that seemed to have been sealed up. Each of them knew exactly what it was as their hopes were already kept up high again.
It meant that they didn’t had to go all over the mountain once more to find the doorway that would be leading them all down to the center of Equestria. There was only one small little problem. A problem that was being addressed by Fluttershy. “And how, exactly, are we getting there? I don’t think there’s just a staircase walking to it,” the doctor said to them. She did happen to have a point.
A point which was razor-sharp and all of the other mares could have seen it there and then. Twilight spun the mountain back to her eyes before she looked over whether or not there would have been any kind of staircase down towards the entrance way. The last thing she wanted was to be flown by Rainbow again.
Seconds ticked by while they gazed over the arcane map. All while the silence became the most dominant thing on the summit. Not even the major of the air force seemed to have been making any sound. The silence on the summit was only broken by the constant howls of wind that did their lovely turn literally every second.
Those same winds never ceased to exist on the top of the mountain. Though the last thing they wanted was to spend the very night on top of it. Yet finally there were the relieving words from nopony else but Twilight. The unicorn had mapped out a possible route that they could be traveling down to the entrance way. “Actually Fluttershy, there is a staircase that seems to be walking down to the entrance way. It’s a natural one, but it is still one,” commented Twilight when she seemed to have been delighted. There even was a gentle smile formed by her lips.
With the way of traveling stored in her head, the unicorn removed the arcane mountain from existence as her horn discharged itself. “There’s only one major but. We’re not going all at once. I’m not all too certain whether or not it’s the actual entrance way so it might actually be best if I take one with me.”
Gulps already came from Fluttershy before she made a step or two backwards. The last thing she wanted was to join the unicorn on a quest to nothingness. No, she preferred to stay on the summit with the howling winds in comparison. Of course could Twilight have taken Rainbow Dash with her. Though that still left the two powder kegs of both Rarity and Applejack wide open.
If either of the two decided to explode right in somepony’s face, Fluttershy wouldn’t have been able to calm them down. So the only option of the being who could have been going with her was Rarity Brittenburg. The unicorn glanced in the eyes of the other unicorn who understood the silent message almost right away. “If it really works, point me the way, milady,” replied Rarity. The mare wasn’t all too happy about doing with the soothsayer though.
~~~~
After a little hike down the slopes of the mountain and some close incidents of not having paid too much attention to the formation of the rocks, had the two mares finally reach the little platform where the archway was built right into the mountain. Rarity couldn’t believe it when she saw it gaping before her. There even was this little twinkle inside of her eyes as she touched the stone with her hands.
“Wow, I, I have to give it to you, Twilight, there’s indeed an entrance way here. But, how long has it been untouched by hands?” Rarity dared to ask, while Twilight began to inspect the surrounding. The soothsayer remained silent for just a couple of moments though.
“If I only knew, Rarity, I would say it hasn’t been touched in thousands of years given the rock formations. But with the griffons also aware of this place, they might have destroyed it,” the soothsayer replied to her. Then she finally turned her attention over to the blocked off entrance way. “There must be way inside of it, isn’t there?”
“What if we just blow the rocks up?” Rarity suggested while her horn was already charging itself up. But Twilight immediately shook her head. Blowing it up wouldn’t help anyone. No, they would have to deconstruct the ancient doorway block by block. As tedious as the job seemed to have become, it was always better than just barging in. “Fine, have your way again. Just don’t look up strange if it is going to take half a day.”
“Time is something I happen to have a plenty of, I just hope the mountain does as well.” Twilight simply commented as her horn charged itself up. A small beam of arcane power was then sent into the wall and came in contact with the concrete that was used to seal the entrance way. “Help me if you please, either remove the blocks or melt away the concrete. Or, both.”
Time came and went when the hours passed by like they seemed to have been nothing. Neither of the unicorns knew for how long they would have been working themselves upon the blocks but they were finally done. Finally did the pair of them created a doorway that was big enough for the anthronies to squeeze themselves through.
The eyes of both of the mares stared into the eternal darkness as the wind was finally allowed to make its way into the new entrance. “How far do you think it is?” Rarity asked. She turned her attention over to Twilight who was probably already having an idea or two about how to measure the depth of the doorway.
The horn of the soothsayer began to charge to itself up again. Though before Rarity could have said another word was an arcane flare send forwards. It travelled for a couple dozens of hooves before it came to an abrupt standstill.
“What..?” both of the unicorns asked to each other as they couldn’t believe what they had seen. They were used to a lot when it came down to magic, but that scene was something they hadn’t seen before. The eyes turned back into the entrance and towards the arcane flare.
Then they finally saw it, hidden within the light that was irradiated. The flare was stuck in the rocks that once belonged to the ceiling of the place. All of the sudden it felt like somepony had been hitting Twilight with a sledgehammer in the very stomach. Her guts turned and twisted in manners she didn’t even thought were possible.
The crushing realization of defeat came to her as their only way to the center of Equestria seemed to have been destroyed by the gears of time itself. “They stopped us, long before they knew what we would be doing. I, I’m not going in there, Rarity. I feel… sick,” said Twilight before both of her hands reached the sides of her head. Her brain was jumping all over her skull and the constant banging wasn’t good for the mare at all.
Rarity had seen enough as well as she had one last glance inside of the tunnel. Not even a single side way was revealed to her. Not to mention the fact if they would have started hauling out the massive boulders, who know how much damage there actually was to the structure. “Let’s go back to the others. This is just madness and you know it Twilight. We can’t go this way. There has to be another way to get in.”
While the words of Rarity surged through her ears, Twilight was already witnessing the darkness taking over as a whole. The land shrouded within the terror of the volcanic activity because they had failed their quest. Not only had she failed herself, but she had failed Equestria. Yet worst of all, she had failed the very goddesses who had given her the task.
Though the mare was only brought back out of her mental state by a little shock from Rarity who then gestured to the unicorn that they needed to be going back up to the top. The other mare nodded calmly and together they made the trip back to the very summit.
~~~~
Once back on the summit would Rarity have shared the story with the rest of them. She also spoke about the fact that they needed to set up their camp there. The other mares shrugged a little bit as they were visually devastated by the fact that they didn’t found the actual entrance way. Even though they wanted to complain about the facts as they were. Though each of them knew that they couldn’t bring their complaints to anypony.
There just wasn’t anypony who could be blamed in the matter that they happened to be in. The anthronies did the only thing that could have been done and that was to just set up their camp and spend the night on top of the windy summit. The following day they would be discussing the facts as to what they would be doing next.
It took them only a matter of minutes before the tent was set up and the anchor points were set securely. The tent actually stood like a house as each of them hoped to their dear lives that the mountain would remain quiet. Perhaps it was enough reason to set up a watch system for the night, Though the whole event with the griffon emperor and all of the things on the ship, as well as the added possible defeat, had worn them all out both mentally and physically.
All of them were just done for the day and they all wanted to do nothing else but to sleep. Even though Twilight wanted to have a watch system, the rest of the mares just all wandered to their beds and dropped down on them. They were done, they were so done with everything for the moment. All that they wanted to do was to just sleep.
Twilight wouldn’t have been that cruel as to take it away from them. So she just nodded calmly to herself as she then also went to bed. The sun was already setting itself just above the horizon and as they all closed their eyes, each of them would have been traveling towards the world of their dreams.
~~~~
The next morning –still within the darkness of the night– was Fluttershy the first of the mares to be woken up by something she couldn’t remember. Whether it was because of the howling winds or just her mind decided the fact she had enough sleep. It didn’t matter to the mare. She began to stretch herself a little bit in her bed before she left it.
Her attire was changed from her nightie to the more appropriate travelling outfit before she left the tent. The pegasus thought that some form of meditation would have been helping her to collect her own thoughts for the day.
For even Fluttershy was heavily defeated by the facts as they were given. They had come such a long way to start the last leg of their very journey, but everything came to a screeching halt all of the sudden. It wasn’t something any of them were glad with of course. But the mind of the doctor knew that there was always a second way, pretty much how Rarity thought about the matter as well.
The yellow pegasus made her way over to the rocks were Rainbow had dropped down the day before and there she crossed her legs over one another. The eyes were closed while the cold and warm winds were travelling over her body. A gentle moan of satisfaction was then released.
Which in return was followed by the shiver sent down her very spine. But the longer she sat down there, the more she had gotten used to the weather going around her. Her eyes were being closed as the first rays of the sun had been peeking over the horizon. None of them would have been hitting the mountain yet, though time would slowly make a change in that.
While the sun kept on rising itself over the horizon, the light touched the last little remains of the actual summit of their mountain. A light that then slowly but surely travelled all the way down to Fluttershy’s closed eyes. Soon enough she felt that her whole body was being coated within the light of the fresh sun and she released a relaxed and quiet moan towards it.
It all just felt so good for her mind and body. The only problem just happened to be the sound of stone that moved entering her ears. The pegasus tried to dispatch the sounds as something that rolled off the mountain. But the sounds seemed to have actually a lot closer by her. Actually, they were right at her back.
But, moving stone? How in the name of Equestria was that possible, was a thought that went through the doctor before her eyes shot open. Could have been that there was something else right upon their very path? Fluttershy could only hope for the facts being true.
Quickly did the mare turn herself around and there she saw it happening right before her eyes. As unbelievable as it seemed to be, it was actually true. If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, the pegasus would have declared herself crazy. Perhaps the others would be doing the same to her as well. Whether it was something good or bad couldn’t have been really discovered in the moment.
Quick as she was, the mare would remove herself from the rocks. With big eyes had she walked over to the still forming entrance way. Her eyes stared inside of the darkness that it carried and the fear managed to once again get her body within its grasp. The pegasus was becoming terrified. The eternal darkness within and the howling winds at the summit made a terrifying combination for her mind.
But she was staring right down in the way that could have been their very saving grace. It was an entrance way that only appeared when the sun was hitting it from the right angle. The pegasus suddenly let go of all her fears and embraced herself within the enjoyment of having found such a thing. She couldn’t have been happier in the moment.
Her attention kept itself upon the doorway while she felt she should have gotten to Twilight and the rest as soon as possible. But the longer she stood there, the more the entrance-way began to reform itself again.
Once again were the rocks on the move and Fluttershy tried her utmost best to stop them from doing that, even though it was a complete failure. In the end did the rocks look once more like they had always done, as if they were part of the side of the actual mountain.
“Twilight must know,” the doctor said before she rushed back to the tent.
“Twilight, Twilight!” Fluttershy yelled when she entered the enlarged tent again. In that moment did all of the anthronies sat up again with an expression in their eyes of the unknown. “Twilight, I think I’ve found another entrance way! The rocks on the small peak, shifted open to create some form of an entrance.”
Both Applejack and Rainbow turned their attention towards the pegasus with a raised eyebrow. “Gal, are ya certain ya ain’t on something?” Applejack said, which caused her to be the first one to declare the doctor for actual loco.
But Rarity on the other end just dropped herself back down in the bed and turned around. She needed to have a bit more sleep before she would be anything that very day. Twilight on the other end began to stroke her chin. “Alright, let’s say it is true what you have seen, I’m ready for an investigation. Just give me the time to change and prepare. Then point me to this entrance way of yours.”
Fluttershy was more than delighted with the response. Twilight did believe perhaps only a little bit, but that little bit might have been actually enough to win her over for the leg of their journey to have been completed. So that they could begin with the final one, the one they had all been both looking forward to and been fearing for their little lives.
The leg that would have brought them down to the very center of their beloved land.