//------------------------------// // Chapter LV // Story: Journey to the center of Equestria // by Rarity Belle //------------------------------// The lamia was leading the way for the company, but Pinkie didn’t rush over to the entranceway that they came from. No, instead was the creature guiding them straight into the deeper parts of the cavern. The parts previously untouched by any and all that lived there. The torches of the mares illuminated the nearby surroundings while all they could see was nothing but rock. The corridors were narrow, perhaps a little bit too narrow for their personal liking. But Pinkie Pie didn’t seem to be having a problem as she slithered through them like they were nothing. Not to mention the little fact that everything seemed as if she knew what she was doing or where she was going to. Twilight and Rarity had formed the rear guard and they were on a constant lookout for anything that possibly could have gotten their way. Anything from the spiders, to the lamia guards to perhaps the mysterious Gorgon One. Rarity knew of course that he had been silent for so long, but who wasn’t to say he had the desire to wake up any time soon? None knew the answer to that. Troubles always followed the company of mares, nothing on their trip had been going easy so far and it worried each of them. Some could be dealing a little bit easier with it as others were near death terrified because of them. Fluttershy was scared for everything. The torch was a little lifeline for her. The second its flame would have faded, who knew what would happen to the doctor. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were a lot less worried about anything happening to them. Their faces irradiated even an unusual kind of calm. Yet it was behind that calm that their worries hidden. Their beating hearts as the eyes shifted constantly from right to left. Even with the fact of nothing being able to come in from their sides, they still felt as if the rocks themselves were watching them, haunting them. ~~~~ All the way back at the stone gate of the lamia city and after the dragon had vanished had the guards been collecting themselves. They stood ready to fight the mares as they ran away. The guards wanted to chase right after the group until they saw exactly in what direction they were going. In a near instant did the charging group came to a standstill of their own. Not even the commander of the group was in the mood to chase after them. He gulped deep while he stared them down, disappearing into the darkness. He saw their lights becoming fainter and fainter before they just disappeared. The little twinkles in his eyes just faded. They had gone. They had gotten away. All of the guards were scared for their lives. The mares had gone into the direction where they were scared the most for. They had gone deeper into the caverns and they didn’t knew a single bit about what could be waiting for them around the next corner. Troubles would arise without a doubt for them all. Everything was better than being sent down there. The commander turned himself around and had a good look at each of his men. “We’re not going further. I make this clear here and now. The first one of you saying we should continue, good luck. I’m not moving in inch further into that hellish place. They have sealed their very own fate and they know it. Turn around and retreat,” he spoke in a confident tone. One that was actually used to mask his scared one. He was terrified for the horrors that possibly were waiting on the other end of that very cavern. None of the lamia knew what really rested there, but they had all heard the stories of monster beyond their wildest dreams. Creatures made out of both rock and lava, guardians of the underground and never showing any mercy to any and all. Whether or not it was true was something that wasn’t confirmed nor denied in the years that they had lived. But the tales were passed over from generation to generation. Fear for what lays behind the gates of the city was given to the lamia from the day they were born. One last glance was given off by the commander into the direction of the cursed hallway. A deep exhale was then released via his nostrils as the eyes closed themselves just a little bit. “Rather have the fury of the king over me than the uncertainty of the unknown,” he mumbled to himself while he turned back around. ~~~~ For minutes had the company of mares been running their lungs out for any- and everything that could possibly be dwelling behind them. They were out of breath and had to make a little stop somewhere. Pinkie Pie luckily understood the silent messages that were given to her and she would have come to an abrupt standstill. They would be taking their rest there and then before they would move on, forward and downward once again. Surprise after surprise came from the lamia when the mares spread themselves. Each of them leaned against the walls to their sides to catch up with their breath. Rarity and Twilight couldn’t help themselves but to keep looking upon the road they had been travelling. They needed to see if anything was actually heading their very way. But the road remained empty for seconds. If the guards had made the decision to chase after them, they would have been either hearing their commotion or seen their lights. They saw neither. The two unicorns kept on breathing heavily while their hearts were beating faster than they had ever done. Even with all of the chaos and trouble that had fallen upon them, they could still be laughing about the matter. A little something that wasn’t shared with the rest of them, outside of Pinkie Pie. Though the lamia could release a smile about pretty much everything there happened to be. A little something that none of the mares could actually wrap their heads around. They remained there for a little bit of time as the questions arose inside of the mind of Twilight. They had been passing corridors which had multiple manners of access, so why didn’t the lamia go through one of those in order to shake of the guards? Was there perhaps a deeper reason inside of the lamia’s mind for guiding them almost perfectly straight? The only way to get to know it, was to ask her aloud. “Pinkie Pie, can I ask you something?” the out of breath Twilight said to the best of her abilities. The lamia shifted her attention over to Twilight before she then gave a simple nod. The question was allowed from the creature. “Do you, happen to know these parts of the caverns? Or are you just running around?” The creature couldn’t help herself but to let out a gentle giggle. The head was being shook by her as she then gave the reply that none of them had expected. “I know these caverns like the back of my scaled hand. We’re told not to go that way, but I have been sneaking further down for a long time now. Not much to see though,” said Pinkie with a silly smile. To even demonstrate it further, the lamia had risen up her right hand and showed the back of it towards the group as she spoke her words. “Though, nah, you’ll see.” Curiosity was then awoken in Twilight perhaps more than ever. Pinkie Pie wanted to give them some kind of warning about something terrible or wonderful. Whichever it would have been, the pressure of asking the question was high inside of Twilight’s mind. But it was never asked by the mare. If the lamia said that they would be seeing it, so it be. The rest of the company just remained silent while they caught up with their breaths for good measure. They had been running for so long through caves that were far from perfectly straight to begin with. Naturally they would be needing the time to catch their very breath. Yet on the other hand were they relieved that Pinkie Pie seemed to be knowing exactly where they needed to be going. How she had figured it out, when she had figured it out didn’t matter for the group. They were just glad she knew something about it all. The longer they stood there though, the more they began to realize something. Something that they all had felt beneath their hooves. “We ain’t going back to the spring we found you, are we?” Rainbow dared to ask. She hoped that her suspicion wouldn’t have been turned into a reality. The lamia nodded towards her words, shattering them against the rock as if they were nothing of value or anything else. “My spring is nice and all, but it won’t help you. You said you needed to go deeper, that’s where I’m taking you then. Deeper into the earth, teehee.” Pinkie tried to say in a most serious tone before it would turn over into plain mysterious. Only to be followed up by a little laughter, she couldn’t believe she had said those very words. As pale as snow had the rest of the group turned when the words caught in their ears. None dared to question the lamia anything anymore from that point onwards. All that they could be doing was to just follow her and pray silently on the fact she wouldn’t have turned against them. The urge to draw their weapons already against the creature was there, but Twilight shook her head to each of the mares. They had to place the same trust in her, as the soothsayer did. And hope it was rightful. Even if the lamia would have been downright insane. For many more minutes would the company have been walking down with Pinkie Pie at the helm of everything. The lamia hummed a couple of tunes to herself while the mares just followed her like blind sheep. In a strange and unusual manner were they actually like a couple of sheep following their shepherd. An unusual resemblance to the whole scene which came up. But they hadn’t encountered anything while they kept on traveling. Their hooves could feel they were going down with every step. They went down slopes and staircases hidden from their eyes. The torches were their only light that they had. The how’s and the why’s rose up in each of the mares as they wanted to know where they were going and who had actually build the staircases. Obviously they weren’t designed with lamia in mind, so it must have been some form of anthrony. That was the reasoning in the mind of Twilight at least. But for how far she would have been right on the matter was to be discovered. “Pinkie, just how far is it?” Twilight dared to ask. No response came from the creature as it continued to slither forwards. Unusual really, for the unicorn had been speaking up in a loud enough tone as far as she knew it. A little shrug was given off to Rarity. Both of the unicorns refilled their magical reservoirs with time. The pirate captain closed her eyes for a moment and she then just focused upon the task that laid ahead of them. So many things could have happened deep within those very caves. So many things could have been going wrong, but it almost seemed as if the place had been going untouched for dozens of years. No dust, no cobwebs, no nothing. Twilight’s ideas were rising through the roof as all kinds of theories had been made up by her. Ranging from the reasonable sane to the downright insane, the plans did all cross through her mind. But which ones were the right ones remained to be seen by any and all. Who knew what could be waiting for them around the next corner. Silence and echoes were two things that the predators inside of the caverns had been developing ever since they went underground. Move silently and hear everything, that was the primary rule down there. Twilight’s head rose itself upwards a little bit as if she tried to let the sunlight hit her skin and clothing. Yet the sun was high, high above them and wouldn’t show itself down there. A sad fact for the unicorn as she released another deep exhale through her mouth. Rarity kept an eye upon Twilight. The pirate noticed that something didn’t seem to be a full one hundred percent Twilight. Then again, she had only been travelling with the mare for so long and only was knowing so much about her. It was impossible that she already knew the whole being. Though the pirate was having enough knowledge of their kind to know when something was troubling another being. “What’s wrong Twilight? Aren’t you feeling your magic flowing through your veins again?” she asked with curiosity. She also revealed the fact she knew that something was off about the mare. The other unicorn turned her gaze quickly over to the ivory skinned mare with a near raised eyebrow. “Hm? Oh, s-sorry,” brought Twilight out. A hand was brought over to her forehead. “No, I was thinking about how nice sunlight upon your skin can be. I mean, we haven’t seen the sun in such a long time, let alone the moon. These caverns mess with your sense of time, that was my problem just yet.” Rarity gave a small nod in return, she seemed to be understanding that very fact well enough. It was one that was actually true. For all they could know was that they would travel right in the middle of the Equestrian night and still not be knowing anything about it. “It indeed is a good brainfry, I give you that much, Twilight. Just, take it easy for a moment, okay? I mean, that spell you did back there, never seen something like that in my life. W-What was that? If I may ask, of course.” “Something dangerous,” the soothsayer replied straight away to her. She was serious about it. “Something I do not wish to do again anytime soon, clear?” “As crystal, but, tell me what it was,” replied Rarity to her. Though she insisted upon Twilight to say exactly what it was she had done. The captain was persistent, that much had to be given. Even up to the point of where it be became annoying as all hell for the soothsayer. With a deep exhale gave Twilight into the demands of the other unicorn. She would be telling Rarity exactly what it was, while at the same time, she wouldn’t say a word. “It’s a spell soothsayers learn once they are capable of performing it. It requires almost all of your magic and then you better pray you are able to hold control. Every anthrony, shares traits to dragons of old. We, know the spell to unlock that part of us and, use it in combat if needed. Or better said: demanded.” Rarity couldn’t believe her ears. She knew that dragons had been roaming their land once upon a time, she had even seen the fossilized remains of the creatures in various museums. But that they all held a little bit of a dragon species in their heart was something that she could have never expected nor have dreamed about. “The casting is dangerous as you become the heart of a dangerous beast. One wrong thought and you can see your friends as enemies. You might say you have never seen it before. Such a thing is correct. Deep inside of the mountain ranges far away we practice the spell, hidden from any nosy eyes hidden upon the surface,” continued Twilight, her voice turning more somber with each word. “Yet you remain touching in the dark here,” spoke Rarity in response. She had a genuinely interested expression upon her face. It was a little thing that delighted Twilight. As it meant that the unicorn was interested in learning more about the subject instead of drilling it into the ground as so many had done before. “Very few anthronies know we possess this kind of magic to begin with. You lot, are probably the first outsiders to have seen my dragon form. A form that I do not wish to become a second time this trip. My dragon is dangerous, nearly uncontrollable without the right thoughts. Even the highest soothsayer who has seen it, claims so. …And I have no desire to become such a beast again.” The pirate could understand the reasoning behind Twilight’s words. It was dangerous to see her the way she was from time to time. The fury she could be showing to something were perhaps pieces of the dragon wanting to come to the outside world. “I’m not going to push you to become that thing again, I only asked what it was and my answer is given. No, that kind of magic is best kept out of the eyes of the public. Too many bad things can happen.” “Exactly.” Twilight responded just before the silence between the mares returned. “Heh, and that comes from me,” added Rarity with a light chuckle. ~~~~ Sometime later did the lamia came to a standstill and she turned her body quickly around to the rest of the group. With a smile upon her face she spoke the words that were lying upon the tip of her tongue. “We’re here. We’re, where we need to be. Deeper, into the caverns.” The words were said in a semi-serious and in a semi-ridiculous tone before she gestured with her hand that they needed to look into the darkness. The only sound that could be heard were the torches as their fires crisped every so often. Wonder took the mares over as they wanted to know what exactly was happening there and then. But they were limited by their restricted amount of light. Curiosity of the unknown took them all over as both Twilight and Rarity took a step forward. The two unicorns of the group would have been able to open up some kind of light to illuminate the whole area. The two mares nodded to one another as Twilight summoned her staff and Rarity had already began to charge up her horn. The pair of them would shortly after that release two blasts of magic into the sky. Two blasts of magic that would be circling around each other before merging together. Under the sounds of a loud bang did the explosion of light happen. A mixture of sapphire blue and raspberry was sent into the room. That very light was in fact powerful enough to make everything visible. Both of the unicorns couldn’t help themselves up to give off a chuckle in response to it. Together had they created the most powerful light that the place had seen in perhaps years, if not decades, maybe even hundreds. The wonders of the room were revealed to them and the torches were extinguished. Only to have them being stored away in the storage once more. There was no more need for them, not in the moment of time they were. Before their eyes it appeared, the massive hole in the ground that seemed to have been taking everything there was. Once again had the company found themselves upon the top of a cliff with nothing else but a sheer drop at the other end of it. “Well, this seems to be like a repeating theme,” the major of the air force muttered up before her attention turned over to the soothsayer. “What do we do now?” “Now?” Twilight repeated before she gave off a little chuckle. “Now we go and see what exactly lies within there of course. It can’t be that bad, right?” the rest of the mares only shrugged to the words of the mare. There wasn’t really anything that they could be arguing against and with when it came down to it. So the company of mares made their way the only way they could, forward. With tensions rising and hopes being held high, anything and everything could have happened to them all. Pinkie Pie made the decision to remain a little bit behind all of them. She was the only one that knew what could be found at the bottom of the cliff. A surprise to rich to actually spoil for any of them. Closer and closer did the group of mares came to the edge as they all caught the horn of a statue in their eyes. Curiosity was awoken deep within the beings and they got even closer to the edge. More and more bits of the statue were revealed until they stood at the very edge of the cliff. Nopony could be believing the facts as they were presented to them all. Nopony could have ever even predicted that they would be finding that they had found. Yet in a strange manner, it all seemed to be making sense. Everything began to make sense for at least Twilight. “No…” she said as she shook her head vividly from right to left. “It’s impossible, right? You, you see what I’m seeing right?” Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow and Fluttershy nodded to the words. Which meant to twilight that they were looking exactly at the same thing as she was. “But this means… All our beliefs and legends…” “Shattered?” added Fluttershy in a whisper. The eyes were given to her for just a single second. Then they turned back to the statue. A statue that they never could have thought of having seen. They had fallen from one miracle, straight into the next. The impossible, had become possible. For at the bottom of the cliff, in the middle of the ‘pit’ it stood with a striking pose. A pose that was regal, honest and kind all at the same time. The horn indicated that the species was unicorn, but the wings on the back suggested a pegasus. But most notable of all was the fact that it wasn’t an anthrony that stood there. No, they were looking at something that had four hooves and walked upon both its hands and feet. “This can’t be, right?” Twilight said in disbelief. The mare still didn’t believe in the facts as they were. Her eyes looked better at the statue and she noticed how the head and chest were decorated with pieces like a crown and a crest piece. It told her straight away that that being was something or somepony important, not to forget the seemingly waving mane and tail. Twilight then got a little punch from Fluttershy who pointed to the flank of the being. “Look there, that mark…” she said in a shy whisper. Then Twilight’s attention shifted over to the spot of attention. The eyes of the unicorn became wider with every passing second. Because right there, at the flank of the statue it rested. A symbol that she knew just so well and had drawn so many times before. “No… No, no, no, no, no!” Twilight exclaimed just before she took a step back. “This can’t be true! Yet, the evidence is given right before me!” Nopony knew what she was talking about but they all wanted to help her out so much with her problems. “What’s going on Twi?” Applejack asked who had walked a bit closer to the unicorn. A unicorn who had dropped herself down to the ground and was reaching inside of the void storage. Mere seconds later she pulled out a book and closed the entrance way again. The book was held before her eyes as her body began to visually shake already. “It can’t be, right? How can it be?” she questioned to herself before the book was finally flung towards the group. The eyes of all the mares finally had a gaze upon it and knew right away which book it happened to be. “So, yar saying, it’s actually the truth?” Applejack asked then. She didn’t knew either that she could be believing and what not. “All the evidence we need is gathered right before us. I was reading through that book, because it had interesting theories about our natural evolution and wanted to prove it to all, I just never would have thought that, that they were actually true,” returned Twilight. She began to not make any sense whatsoever. Everything was shaking on its foundation while the company constantly shifted their eyes between the statue and the book. “That right there, is, is not just a statue of any old being. No, the book goes in great detail about her specifically. That, the statue depicted right there, is nopony else then, princess Celestia of Equestria before she made the planes her new home,” answered Twilight finally. What followed was that her head was shaken numerous times. Her foundations of belief were rocking back and forth while she couldn’t believe a single fact of what was shown before her. Twilight Sparkle, the unicorn who had been believing in the theory of evolution from pony to anthrony with all of her mind, was seriously doubting it as the facts were revealed to her. “That, is the goddess of the sun, long before she would leave this realm. My goodness, e-everything. It’s t-true. A-All true…’ “To think, we’ve been mocking the book for so long…” Applejack said to herself before she returned to the edge of the cliff. Her vivid green rims had one more look over the imposing statue before she closed her eyes. All of it was just a little bit too much. The rest of them remained in silence as they couldn’t find the words nor deeds that seemed to be rightful in the moment. Everything was rocking the believes that the anthronies had been seen and done. Yet if the outside world would have gotten scent of it, how would they have been reacting towards it? That would have been a matter for a different day. Twilight managed to crawl back upon her hooves and dared to make the steps forward. She joined Applejack at the edge of the cliff and the rest followed. Fluttershy picked up the book and held it against her chest, even Pinkie Pie came with them. There they then stood, the company of mares and beings who had been fighting the impossible odds so many times before. Numbed by the facts given to them about their very own believes and reasoning. Yet somehow did all of it managed to make a massive a smile upon the face of Twilight. She then placed both of her hands on the shoulder of Applejack as well as Rainbow. “Looks like that author, wasn’t as mad as everypony thought he was. Thousands of years ago, imagine the whole of Equestria filled with beings just like her. Walking upon four legs, living a life like we do now. He was right, he was just right. We have, ponies as our ancestors.” Those words were difficult to swallow for a couple of mares in the group, but they couldn’t deny the facts as they were given to them. There only rested one more thing to be done, discovering why they were there. “Come down, there’s one more thing I want to show you.” “Hmhm, Pinkie, I think this is already enough for the time being. It’s marvelous that you discovered this little settlement,” said Twilight towards her with a genuine smile. She was in fact content with everything as it was in the moment. Which in and of itself made Pinkie frown a little bit. “You think that doorway we saw on the mountain, leads to here?” Fluttershy asked after she noticed the houses that stood on the opposing side of the pit. It almost seemed as if there had been being living there so many years ago. Where they had been going off to remained unknown though. Perhaps for the better when it came down to her sanity. “No, we’re too far in either direction of the wind. Perhaps through tunnels it can lead to here, but if it goes straight down like the staircase, highly unlikely,” replied Rarity just before she heard Pinkie slither by behind her. “And where are you off to?” “The bottom of the pit. As I said, there’s one more thing I want to show you,” the lamia replied to the pirate. After a bit of arguing against Twilight had the whole company managed to make their way down the couple of stairs and finally they stood at the bottom of the pit. From the top of the cliff was the statue already impressive, but they had the chance to see it in an even fuller glory once they stood at the bottom. Ten times bigger it almost appeared when they looked at it again. “Wow, this is just, amazing,” sighed Twilight just before she drew the arcane symbol of the goddess of the sun into the air. She naturally still wanted to pay the mare a great amount of respect. For she was granted one of the rare views upon her physical form. Nopony had seen such a thing in who knows how many years. Not to forget that it stood in a book that was declared as mad. Evolution was a fact given to them there and then. Twilight’s long cause had come to an end, but against what price? Yet the longer they walked around, the more they came to the realization that there wasn’t anything else that could be helping them to go on further. A realization that slowly managed to settle itself each of the mares. It almost seemed as if that very statue was a dead end. None dared to speak about it as Pinkie Pie had slithered up to what could be seen as the front of the statue. “Twilight, come and take a look at this will you?” asked Pinkie while she tapped on something. Something that could only be described as a golden plate or something along those lines. The unicorn soothsayer turned her body around and caught the lamia in her eyes. She just shrugged a little bit and made her way over to the creature. “What have you found?” “You know I was here earlier, right? I took my time to explore a little bit and when I read what stood here, I just returned back to my spring. But you, you’re a smarty-pants. You might discover what it means,” returned Pinkie before she allowed Twilight to read the words. The unicorn turned her attention towards the plate and wiped away the dust that had been gathering itself on top of it for so long. She blew the final remains of it away and lit up her horn. The orb was indeed more than enough to give her the light she needed, but she needed to be certain that everything what was carved into it, was readable to her. “The sun and moon, both equal in shine shall reveal the doorway. Even in the darkest moment, there’s always a shimmer of light to be found. Sun or Moon, both equal, both different. Balance is the key to everything,” was the text that Twilight read from the plate. She shook her head a couple of times in response. “I’m sorry but, what the hell was that?!” If it was a riddle, it was one where Twilight didn’t happen to be knowing the answer upon. If it was a quote said by princess Celestia, who knew to whom or what it could have been referring to? No, there was only one place where Twilight could have gathered her answers. The planes of the goddesses and to be more specific: a library. It was about the only thing that Twilight could be doing in the moment. She had to make the ascend up and pray on the fact she would have been able to discover just that what she needed to know. “Sun, moon, equal, shine, doorway… So many ideas, but which one is right?!” the unicorn mumbled just she assumed the position to make her mind ascend upwards. “Here goes nothing,” were the final words before she closed her eyes.