//------------------------------// // Chapter LVIII // Story: Journey to the center of Equestria // by Rarity Belle //------------------------------// Before the company of beings it stretched like as far as the eyes could see. A massive lake that was filled with the hottest stuff to be found in their entire land. The boiling rocks in the red water-like substance gave of an intense heat that made the icy shards in their heart work almost in actual overtime. Nopony had any idea on how they needed to be going across it. What they did know was that the scene in and of itself looked amazing and breathtaking. The giant magma chamber that they stood in was truly one of mass and the hanging rocks from the ceiling made the scene only more spectacular. Though that wasn’t all that was going on there. Far from it actually. For left and right were there rocks that gave away because of the intense heat. Numerous rocks just broke apart as if they were nothing under the pressure that was given off. “Timber!” Applejack shouted just before everypony did a couple of steps back. They all heard the crack above their heads and aimed their eyes directly towards the location. They needed to see it, they wanted to see it, is they had to be honest. Even though it probably would have become a terrifying sight to witness, they believed they owed it to themselves. Pinkie Pie coiled and twisted around herself upon the spot while her eyes went from left to right, as well as up and down. It almost seemed like she wasn’t really that content with the shards of ice covering her heart. Yet she also knew that if she would have taken it out, the heat would have gotten to her sooner than anything. The lamia was a tough one though. She had survived situations that almost no other had done in such a long time. She should have been proud of herself of having been alive for as long as she had been doing. Which she also happened to be, secretly. The cracks of the rocks above them became even louder until the final snap echoed through the chamber. There it then went, the icicle of stone came crashing down towards the boiling magma. Only to be consumed by it and serve as fuel for the fires. With a massive splash it landed in the substance and rose up for one last time. After that, it fell down to a side and before the mares could say anything, had it gone under the surface. They could only watch in utter amazement. For none of them had seen something that violent from nature in their recent memory. They were used to pretty big storms made up in Cloudsdale, but the magma was nature doing its intended job. But the rock that crashed into the magma lake also opened the troubles of what would be coming next. How would they be crossing it all, without being burned alive and to a crisp? A series of questions that were rightfully upon their place, that much was certain. Everything was just one massive variable in the mind of the soothsayer. Speaking about Twilight’s mind, there was something else that bothered her since they had arrived at the magma chamber. Something that was being said by one of the mares in an earlier state. Once everything had calmed down a little bit did she took a step or two forward and turned her attention towards nopony else then Rainbow Dash. “And just how are you so certain this volcano is the one of Solitude? What makes you think about that fact to be so certain of that all?” Twilight questioned after her hands were placed at her sides. The question was of course rightfully asked, but Twilight did it in such a manner that she was suspecting the major from something. The other members of the company turned their attention towards both Twilight and Rainbow while they raised their eyebrows in confusion. Of course they wondered about the situation themselves, but they wouldn’t have treated the pegasus as some sort of convict. Yet Rainbow herself seemed to remain oddly cool and calm about the whole matter. She simply crossed her arms over each other and released a small huff through her nostrils. “The city of Cloudsdale needed to get its hot air from something to help in the weather-factories. This was the only suitable place on the original route of the city. Only once we discovered that the ceiling had formed, we changed our course for other places,” explained the pegasus to Twilight. Twilight then rose an eyebrow herself. Almost as if she didn’t seem to fully believe the facts as they were presented to her. “So, you want to say you had pegasi actually flying into the crater, down to the magma chamber and none of you even once saw either of the doorways? A little suspicious, don’t you agree?” The company all groaned pretty much at the same time while they silently declared that Twilight had become just downright crazy. Was she really accusing Rainbow Dash on the matter like that? But that same Rainbow knew that she had to defend herself from Twilight’s sharp words, no matter the cost. She had to find a way to talk herself out of the crazy words that were said to her. Something that most likely was more easier said than done. Luckily for her did she happened to have the truth on her side. Her lips curled up into a small grin before she answered upon the accusation that was being made. “How can we have seen it, if the magma, as you call it, was high enough that it covered both of the doorways? You know volcanic activity a lot better than any pegasi does, Twilight. We came here for our hot air and that’s that. Any other words you wish to share? Or insults to give?” Twilight wanted to open her mouth on the matter but she was cut off by Fluttershy. The doctor took a hold of Twilight’s arm and just dragged her along for a couple of steps. Confused did the soothsayer just let her body being guided by the other pegasus until they were nearly at the edge of the magma lake. The eyes of Fluttershy looked over it before she pointed to the other entrance way. “That’s where we need to be going, Twilight. You’re accusing Rainbow of knowing where we are doesn’t help. It doesn’t help at all if we know where we are to begin with! You set those gears in your head working on finding a way across, you understand me?!” she growled in a low tone. The doctor inside of her had fully returned. Not a grain of shyness, fright or anything else could be noticed within the tone of her voice. She was talking her words confidant and even a little bit angry. She meant her words. She meant them with every single one she spoke up. Twilight dropped her head against her chest and nodded calmly to not only herself, but to Fluttershy as well. “You, you’re right, Fluttershy. Bickering like that is not going to help anypony getting any further. It’s just…” “Just what?” the doctor interrupted her with a questioning gaze in her eyes. “It’s just how to get across it,” commented Twilight after which she turned her head over to Fluttershy. “I have no idea how we can cross this boiling lake. Magic might do the trick, but it would need constant resupply and there are only two unicorns in the group. Not even the pair of us are powerful enough to get everypony over.” The doctor nodded with a gentle motion to the words spoken to her. She laid a hand upon the shoulder of Twilight. “I’m certain that you will discover something that can get us across. You haven’t let us down since we began, so I don’t see why you would be doing it now. But it’s your call. Though…” “Though what?” Twilight returned to Fluttershy, the tables were turned all of the sudden. “Can’t you just teleport over to the other side?” “Ha, if only such a thing was possible. No, the heat of the lake would interfere with everything. Even if we manage to go over the coolest parts, we still be ending up with burned atoms all around,” the soothsayer explained to the best of her abilities. It wasn’t a risk she was wanting to undergo unless it would have been absolutely necessary. “Alright then. You just sit here and figure something out, I’ll go talk to the girls and, Pinkie,” said Fluttershy while her eyes glanced with haste over to the lamia in the group. She still wasn’t all too comfortable about the fact that they basically had a giant snake just roaming around. Twilight nodded to the words and Fluttershy made her departure from her. The soothsayer just dropped down into the ground below as her mind began to rattle. With the magma almost behaving like the gentle rolling waves of the sea did she knew there was a current inside of the stream. It may not have been much, but at least it was something they could be looking at. They needed a vessel. A vessel of some sort that was able to carry them. That made two things that were a certainty. Two down and only so many more to go. The pegasus returned to the group and gave Rainbow a gentle nod. Who on her own turn was genuinely surprised by the fact that a pegasus like Fluttershy would have defended her. A mare who had left the city of Cloudsdale, still seemed to have had some bits of a true pegasus hidden inside of her. It was a little something that caused the mare to gain a gentle smile upon her face. “Thanks Fluttershy, I do appreciate it what you did for me just yet,” said Rainbow before she patted the other mare on her shoulder. Unlike the last time, it was both gentle and calm. “It’s nothing, Twilight just needs to cool off from time to time but she fails to realize it from time to time. Sadly enough. I only did what seemed best.” The attention of the mare then turned back to the soothsayer. “Which is for her to work out a way to get across the lake.” The major and the other two mares couldn’t help themselves but to chuckle softly towards the words. They all knew that they were true and that there wasn’t any other way for Twilight to have relieved herself from the frustration. Though whether it was actually a good idea to give it off against Rainbow in the way she did was something that remained to have been seen. “So, what’s the plan now?” Applejack asked towards the doctor while Rarity just stood there. With one hand in her side and the other upon the hilt of her sword in a relaxed position. The pirate captain just watched over the events as they would be coming down upon her. She didn’t thought that any kind of input from her side was really necessary for any of them. Perhaps she was right, perhaps she was wrong. Her decisions were standing firm no matter what. Her eyes only shifted to look at the speaker of words or to watch the situation upon the lake once more. There had to be a way across, a way that they could be using, right? ~~~~~ Minutes had gone by while Twilight just sat there. She sat there like a foal who was trying to figure things out for itself. It seemed almost as if she was playing with a series of toys instead of doing any actual any research. But the eyes were misleading them all. For Twilight was in fact doing a whole lot of research at that moment in time. With her magic had she levitated up small pieces of rock and placed them within the magma. She would then calculate the time it took before it vanished. Only to then multiply everything together. Everything together just came down to a massive number. The mare her eyes opened up widely for just a moment as at the same time a gulp was being released. “That’s impossible, right? Multiply everything by the amount and you would need a ship the size of a naval vessel… Might as well build a bloody bridge over it then, if you don’t think it was crazy enough yet.” The inner mutters of Twilight were an utter devastation for her moral support. The facts seemed to have been truly unbelievable and they could have actually been just that. But the unicorn was certain there must have been some sort of alternative that the group could have been using in order to cross the deadly streams. “I’m not going to teleport us all together or one by one. The amount of magic that’s needed in order to do such a thing are astronomical. Not to mention the heat becoming able to morph our atoms into the shape it wants… No, it’s lunatics work to do something like that. Only those with a wish of death do such a thing. I do not have a wish of death yet.” Twilight had begun to argue with herself in whispers inaudible to the rest of them. Whispers that may or may not have been leading them all to the solution of their problems. Solutions had to be found on the matter for she wouldn’t fall back to the last resort that she had. Her eyes closed themselves gently as she leaned back against the rocky surface. The time to think in silence had fallen upon her and who knew, perhaps the answer she was looking for came falling from the skies? Or the ceiling, in their case. Pinkie Pie found herself becoming a bit more uncomfortable in the presence of the company and made most likely the wise decision to make her departure. At least she thought it was a wise decision. The lamia just darted away from the group of talking mares without being noticed by anyone and slithered past the rocks. Her pace was calm, gentle even. Which was something odd for the always twitching creature. But it actually came from the icy shards that she remained that calm. Her heart coated in ice made her a little bit slower than usual. Whether she liked it or not, she still happened to be part reptilian. That included a little bit of cold blood inside of her. Lamia’s would have become a lot more active in the neighborhood of massive heat sources, but would slow down during colds. That was most likely the reason of just why the lamia had been sticking to the spring and the sunlight for such a long time. She must have gotten her energy out of there. Her eyes shifted constantly from the rocky walls to the boiling hot magma. She sure loved to be in a hot place but the boiling rock was getting a little bit too much of the good stuff. The only thing that she could be doing was to naturally stay as much clear from it as she possibly could have been. Which was in fact working out pretty well for her. The lamia leaned more towards the wall than anything else as she continued to slither away. Her mind had sunken away as the eyes had been closed almost halfway. She almost appeared to be daydreaming and from what happened next, she could have sworn she was. When Pinkie was just slithering away from the group, in a flash did everything became black before her eyes while her body crashed into the ground itself. Uncertain of what had hit her did the lamia crawl back up quickly and turned her body around with a growl. Her eyes were opened wide and they shifted all over the place. One of the mares must have done something, right? That was the thought she was having at least. Only problem happened to be that all of the mares were still standing in their original positions or sitting by the lake. “…What?” Pinkie exclaimed in a whisper and to herself. She turned her body the other way. She hadn’t found the origin of why she had tripped, but she had discovered something else. For her eyes were staring into something shiny, something bright and something pretty big. The lamia was captured by the mesmerizing sights it carried and actually went into the little side cavern. Whether it was a trap or not remained to be discovered by her. “Hey, any of you seen Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow asked when she noticed that the pink blob of snake had left the scene as a whole. The attention of the other mares turned over from the pegasus to the nearby surroundings and they all began to look for her. Yet Applejack was the one who replied to the matter. “Yer wasting yar time, she’s gone slithering over the rocks there. She’ll be back soon enough, Ah hope,” she said to the company just before she gestured with her hand to where Pinkie had gone off to. A massive relief came to each of the mares. They at least knew where the lamia was, or thought that she was. A massive weight could be dropped from their very shoulders and they were just so glad on that little fact. They all thanked the admiral in silence for her hawk eyes and returned to their normal conversations. But Fluttershy couldn’t help herself but to look at Twilight every so often. It almost seemed like she knew through what kind of stress the unicorn was going. The sheer amount of mental pain that was plaguing her the way it did. It must have been devastating for the soothsayer, to have the entire weight of the team resting upon her very own shoulders. All of the responsibilities and such. Yet it wasn’t that different from her and her hospital. She was having a great respect for the unicorn, that much was certain from her side. Anything else remained to be the question. The voice of Pinkie Pie was loud enough that it travelled all over the place in loud echoes and managed to get the attention of each of the mares. “Hey!” she shouted first, “look at what I found!” Eyes were both shifted and opened into her direction and saw the lamia waving with her arms. Perhaps it was the moment where Twilight had been waiting for all that time? Perhaps Pinkie had found the thing that would have been able to get them all across the lake without much of a problem? Then again, almost everything they had been doing so far was a little bit of a problem. The soothsayer got back up on her hooves and stretched herself a little bit. Bones snapped back before she gestured to the other mares to follow her. They all would be knowing just what Pinkie Pie had found for them. “Isn’t it beautiful? Huh, huh, it’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Pinkie exclaimed in happiness while she slithered back into the side cavern. The rest of the company finally managed to make their way in and they were all presented on just what Pinkie had been wanting to show them all. Their eyes just went wide from amazement. They never could have believed that their very luck would have been turned around. Finally there was something that was going with them and they just couldn’t believe it. Within the side cavern it just stood as if it was nothing. The answer upon the question of how they would be going around the magma lake. The answer? A vessel made out of what seemed to be the purest diamonds in the world. The toughest material that was known to their kind. “It’s, it’s, it’s amazing,” stuttered Twilight when she couldn’t get any other words over her mouth. The rest of them just all gasped from disbelief. Never had they expected a giant, diamond carved longboat to be found just inside of a side cavern. Yet there it laid, just like that Which in and of itself had set the admiral to thinking. “Ain’t it a bit suspicious though, that that thing just rests there, waiting for us?” Applejack asked to the group. She was right on the matter though. It indeed was a little bit suspicious when there was some thought placed about it. But the others just shrugged it off as if it was nothing. Which was much to the annoyance of the admiral herself. She released a deep huff in response just before she crossed her arms. But a couple of seconds later had the mare just given up. Her arms were raised into the air for a fraction of a moment. “If y’all don’t wanna question it, fine by me. Help yarself, Ah’d say.” “Applejack,” the soothsayer said before she turned herself around. Her eyes looked the earth anthrony right in the eyes. “This might be our only shot of getting across. Yes, it is looking suspicious, but it can be our greatest help. Never look a gifted horse in the mouth, remember?” She then gave the mare a smile and turned herself back around. Applejack felt like she was left in the dark for some reason. Almost as if they knew things that she didn’t knew. Then again, everypony was having secrets for everypony, no matter what. No matter how much information they shared with each other, an equal amount always remained hidden deep inside of their very souls. The mare released a deep huff on the matter before she too came in closer to inspect the longboat. There wasn’t anything else that she could be doing at the time really. She had to admit that fact that it was well crafted. Other than that compliment it wouldn’t receive. Rarity was the one who was the most captured by the sheer beauty of the longboat but she also was the first one to have a good look at it all. She saw herself this little expert in gems. After having raided so many merchant ships, she had gotten a little taste for the finer gems in life. Diamonds were among those she desired the most out of them all. So her hands went all over the hull of the diamond longboat to see if there would have been any imperfections with it all. “Don’t hold up your hopes too much, Twilight, the magma has been eating away from this. The sides here are a little bit chewed away. Yet see the burn marks here?” Rarity’s finger pointed to a coal black spot that was visible, clear as day. Spots like that could be seen at the bottom of the longboat all around and those worried Rarity a whole lot. “It shows that it has been used to get across the magma lake, I just don’t know whether or not it can hold one, two more trips. Judging the size of it…” “Only three anthronies can be sittin’ inside of it,” spoke Applejack when she had popped up on the other side of the thing. “Meaning we’re gonna do two trips.” “Thank you for the information, Applejack,” replied Rarity in an almost sarcastic thankful tone. “As Applejack said, it’s going to require two trips, meaning it has to go across the lake at least three more times. I don’t know if it will be able to hold. Diamonds are hard and tough, certainly. But if they can be that hard is a question I dare not to answer. It’s your call though, Twilight.” The soothsayer nodded in calm to the words that were being said to her. She took them all into consideration before a smile was given off to Pinkie Pie. “It’s beautiful, Pinkie, you did a good job finding this,” she said towards the lamia. Who on her own turn released a little squee which caused them all to smile for just a little moment. “I think, if it has to make three trips at least, it would be best if I also coat it in the shards of ice. At least the outer hull that is. It’s going to get boiling hot once upon the lake. Should protect the longboat from the heat as well as those inside of it from it. Everypony, I think we have found our manner of transportation. Oars are included by the looks of it,” said Twilight then. The group was as happy as they could have been. Finally did they have a manner in which they could be traveling over the lake of magma. Finally could they actually venture further once more. Finally were they one more step closer towards reaching their final goal. A final goal that was lying directly into a place some would have referred to as the lion’s den. Somepony had stored the longboat there after it had made its way out one last time. And they would be going directly into the place where it came from. Perhaps not a smart decision, but it was all part of the quest they accepted to take. ~~~~ With all of their might and the magic of both Twilight and Rarity was the vessel pulled out of the side cavern and pulled upon the little ‘beach’ that separated both the rocky sides and the lake of magma. Then were they all granted a bigger picture of the longboat and saw it within the light of the magma. They had to admit that it looked even more impressive than it had been doing inside of the cavern. It even seemed to have been able to make the trip without being covered in ice. But Twilight’s decision stood firm. She would be coating the outer hull in a layer of ice similar to the shards around their hearts. It was a matter of being rather safe than sorry. They had seen what the magma did to a icicle of stone, they wouldn’t dare to think about what it could be doing to flesh. More specifically, their very own. The horn of the unicorn and the orb of the staff were both charged up as the casting of the spell had begun. Twilight was doing her utmost best to make certain that everything would have worked out the way it was supposed to be. Rarity had taken it upon herself to look at the oars that laid inside and nodded to herself. One on each side while the third anthrony could be relieving one of the others if it was needed. Her eyes shifted over to the other doorway at the end of the room. The calculations were made in her mind about the time that was required to make the journey from one end to the other. She took into account that four of them had never been holding an oar before. “Just about an hour…” Rarity whispered to herself before there was a deep exhale released through her nostrils. “Which is just great.” Once Twilight was done with the coating of the hull, she whistled all of the mares to gather themselves to her. Each of them came as if they were good dogs and listened to the words that she had to say. “Okay, what I’m going to say next sounds stupid, but it’s the only way we can be getting over the lake in two trips. The hull is iced and should provide cover from the heat. Now then, who wants to go first?” Of course there weren’t any volunteers when it came down to it. Something which Twilight had expected to happen and already taken into account. There was only one way that all six of them would have gotten to the other side without problems. And the soothsayer knew exactly how. "Applejack, Fluttershy and myself will be the first ones to go. After that can Rarity pull the longboat back to this side and then she, Rainbow and Pinkie enter it. Once we’re all on the other side, we’ll be dragging the thing on the shore as high as possible. Any questions?” said Twilight while she just made up the schedule on the spot. That was the plan and they had to deal with it. “One, are you out of your mind?” questioned Rainbow. The pegasus even raised a hand like a good school-filly. Though they all knew it was to mock the soothsayer, Twilight included. “Actually, I kinda am seeing how I’m down inside of a volcano! Not to mention, you all are probably ripe for the loony bin as well at this point. Given the fact that you came with me. Now get in,” said Twilight in a joking tone at first before it turned over into a dead serious one. When it came to magma, there was no room for error because there was only shot to be given. The longboat was going over the lake of magma like it would have been going over the waters of the sea. Slow but steady it managed to crawl forward while the eyes of the mares on board constantly looked for any faults that could be happening to it. For them it seemed as if time had come down to nothing but a crawl. They were all terrified for their lives. Even Applejack who was a weathered sailor had to admit she was scared. The fear was visible within their very eyes while both Twilight and Fluttershy were rowing the longboat. They made long, heavy strokes that didn’t brought them up to speed, but at least made them cover a great distance with each one. Death seemed to have been lurking right around the corner in their eyes as they were all three nervous as hell. Anything could have happened. From an unexpected wave to a giant monster that roamed the lake. Of course were most of their thoughts just madness and ghosts from their own mind, but there was some form of truth to them. Anything could have happened to them. Which resulted in them only becoming greater once they had set their hooves upon the ground of the other side of the lake. Sighs of relief were made as Twilight intensified the strength of the icy shield even further in case Rarity had forgotten the spell. The unicorn soothsayer finally waved to the other side of the lake and Rarity understood it right away. With her sleeve rolled up and the wrist mounted harpoon clearly visible, she took aim. Mere seconds later was her shot fired away. She prayed on the heavens high that the shot would have been a direct hit, otherwise she could be looking for a new hook. But much to her own surprise and luck was the thing a hit and got stuck into the top of the longboat. Exactly where she had aimed. The longboat was hauled back to the other side for the final three mares to make it across. Once the little vessel was there would the three of them boarded it. Rarity and Rainbow took on the oars as they commanded Pinkie Pie to sit still no matter what. Rarity remembered the spell that was given to her and she charged it up right away. For on the way back, it didn’t had a constant charge of resupplied ice. On the third trip it would be having just that. Then they were off. They were just off to make their way to the other side of the lake and get back to the rest of the company. Behind them laid an underground civilization and a locked door. In front of them a magma lake and beyond that, who knew what would have been lurking at them all?