Time and Space in Harmony

by Inkspots

Chapter 4

Time and Space in Harmony

by Inkspots

Chapter 4

Applejack was laying next to Twilight, drawing in shallow breaths. The earth pony’s mid-section was covered in bandages with a splint down the middle. Jade had crushed some dark purple leaves and smeared them onto AJ’s side before she wrapped her up, so she smelled minty. Twilight had decided this was well worth one of the doses of painkiller Zecora had sent with them, so Applejack took that and quickly fell asleep.

“Twilight, darling, you should get some sleep,” Rarity said. “I’ll stay with her.”

“I’m already up, you don’t have to,” Twilight replied.

“You’ve been casting spells and pulling carts today, you get some sleep,” Rarity insisted.

Twilight got up as quietly as she could and gave Rarity a short hug, then headed for the tents. The palace was mostly in ruins, save three levels of one tower, and the ground floor of the main hall. At least, that’s all they had found so far. There was rubble everywhere, and Twilight would bet her horn that a palace of this size had basements.

The campsite had been set up on the second floor of the tower, in the very room they had fought and vanquished Nightmare Moon. When they had set up camp and told Dark Matter this was where the battle took place, a strange look came over his face, and he quietly thanked them.

Twilight walked through the camp of ten tents in a circle around a fire, but kept going. She headed for the stairs. On the first level of the tower was a similarly sized room with a doorway into the main hall. One of the wagons had been drawn up in front of the doorway, making a ‘choke-point’ Dark Matter had called it. Rainbow Dash was sitting there on guard duty.

“How’s AJ?” she asked.

“She’s sleeping,” Twilight replied.

“The next time I go up against that chimera, it’s payback. I’ll tear it apart,” Rainbow Dash said.

“I wouldn’t get too mad at it,” Twilight said. “It’s a golem, a magical construct. Someone built it, probably thousands of years ago, and it has no choice but to follow its orders. Which I guess are attack anypony who approached the city.”

“Still, it needs to go down. We just need to figure out how.”

Twilight left Rainbow Dash to her battle strategies and entered the main hall. It was a grand room, with tall pillars that looked like they were holding up the sky now that the roof was gone. In the middle of the room was the Fountain of Harmony. It was as dry as when they had first come there in years past. Now, Twilight looked over it with a critical eye. Here and there she saw tiny holes. The floor was depressed less than an inch around the base. The Fountain would be an amazing sight to see if they could get it working again, though it now lacked the stone representations of the Elements.

There was a muffled roar in the distance, the chimera. Twilight walked out of the front of the hall and looked towards the gatehouse and the magical barrier that protected them. Quick Fix had tried to track down the source of its power, hoping to get an idea of how long it might last, but all she could tell was that it originated from the palace. Twilight looked away from the gatehouse and around the areas next to the palace. She began walking. Here and there she saw ancient walls, reduced down to a foot or two high. Occasionally she found an arched window frame, a doorway, or even a pillar. All of it was covered in vines, bushes, or wrapped up in the trunks of towering trees. At one point she even found one of the starlight street lamps, rising suddenly out of grass beneath the hanging limbs of a black leafed tree.. She looked around, picturing the street and the buildings that would have line it.

“Princess, you’re putting yourself at risk out here,” came Dark Matter’s voice.

“I know, but if I go up there I’ll just sit at Applejack’s side and worry,” Twilight said.

Dark Matter walked over to an intact piece of wall that was just a bit taller than himself and brushed off a layer of vines with his hoof, exposing the marble blocks beneath.

“I am ashamed, Princess,” he said.

“Why?”

“Applejack put her life on the line to save you. I should have been protecting you first and fighting the chimera second,” he explained. “I let my emotions dictate my strategy.”

“You’re the only real warrior here, I think fighting the chimera was the best thing you could do,” Twilight replied.

“I was of little use. I simply don’t have the weapons to fight a stone beast. Rainbow Dash’s-”

“Sonic Rainboom,” Twilight supplied.

“Yes, that. It was the only thing that affected the chimera,” Dark Matter said.

“It’s not just a chimera, it’s a golem. Fluttershy said that when she heard the roar, it just didn’t sound right, and it makes sense now. It’s a magical construct mimicking a chimera’s roar,” Twilight explained. “And if it’s a golem, that means that something is powering it.”

“So we must discover its power source?” Dark Matter asked.

“Quick Fix could explain it better, but yes. The only problem is, it’s large enough the power source could be inside of it,” Twilight said.

“What are we talking about? A crystal? A machine?”

“I don’t know, many things have been used to power golems over the years, and I have no idea what ponies were using as far back as Harmonia,” Twilight said. “I’m honestly surprised they had the ability to make them.”

Dark Matter scratched his chin. “How is the earth pony?”

“Applejack,” Twilight said.

“How is Applejack?”

“She’s sleeping. Jade put some herbs on her that should help her breath, and she’s on a dose of the painkillers and bandaged up,” Twilight explained.

“Do we need to get her back to Ponyville?” Dark Matter asked.

Twilight didn’t answer. She had been thinking about it all night. They had just gotten to Harmonia, but things weren’t going at all how she expected. She hoped to arrive, arrange an archeological dig, unearth the evidence of some ancient magical battle and device a clever counterspell that would see the whole kingdom restored.

“We’ll see how she’s feeling in the morning,” Twilight said. “But if there’s any risk of permanent harm, then yes, we’ll take her back to Ponyville. I think the best option would be stripping down one of the wagons and having Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy fly her back.”

Dark Matter nodded. “Very well Princess.”

* * * * * *

“Heck no,” Applejack said. “I’m fine as a fiddle, just need to convalesce, you know?”

“Be honest AJ,” Twilight asked.

“I’ll be honest, about five years ago I was out bucking my way through a harvest. Hit a tree and a branch high up broke, swung down and caught me right in the side. Well, the other side that time, but still. I went to the doctor and they did just the same as you’ve done here, but without the herbs. So I reckon I’m better off than last time,” Applejack insisted. “I just need to rest up, like I did last time, and I’ll be back at it soon enough.”

Everypony was sitting around the camp eating breakfast the morning after the battle.

“Applejack don’t be afraid to say you need to go back,” Rarity said.

“If I could get up and stomp off I would,” she replied. “But I told you, I’m fine.”

They returned to their hay fries and buttered bread.

“So, what are we going to do today?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Well, if the chimera wasn’t here I would probably start excavating this place, looking for evidence of what happened here and how to reverse it. But obviously we have a more pressing problem,” Twilight said. She took a deep breath. “Quick Fix, can you figure out where that golem’s power is coming from?”

The unicorn munched on her hay fries for a moment. “I thought about that last night, actually. I have a Magimeter, but it’s kind of a short range, about ten feet. I’d have to walk right up to it, then trace the magic back to the source carefully. I don’t think I’d make it. Besides, if the power source is on board, then we’re no better off, we’ll still need to get inside it to deactivate it.”

“Is it indestructible until the power source is turned off?” Dark Matter asked.

“No, but as a golem it feels no pain, you have to literally dismantle it,” Quick Fix replied.

“Then we have an option, we can drop it in the canyon. It would be like dropping a stone tower. It might be strong, but its own weight will destroy it there,” Dark Matter explained. “Princess, could you lift it?”

Twilight shook her head. “If I had absolute calm and it was perfectly still, yes, but if something is moving around in your telekinesis its very hard to move it.”

“But you moved that Ursa Minor,” Pinkie Pie insisted.

“Honestly, the hardest part about that was moving the water tower. The Ursa Minor is ethereal, it weighs very little,” Twilight explained.

“What about you, Rainbow Dash? Could you launch it with your Sonic Rainboom?” Dark Matter asked.

“I would need to make sure I came down on the right side of it. Once you start reaching those speeds turning just slows you down, so I can’t really aim after a point,” Rainbow Dash explained. “Again, if it wasn’t moving, sure.”

“So is there a way to disable a golem?” Dark Matter asked.

“If I was standing next to the power source, sure, easily. But on the golem end, not really a way to do it magically,” Quick Fix said.

The ponies sat in silence, eating quietly. Then a thought dawned on Twilight.

“The problem is, it’s so heavy, right?” Twilight asked the group. “Well what if I cast a gravity spell that made it float in the air. Then it can struggle all it wants, and Rainbow Dash can line up a shot and blast it into the canyon.”

“That might just work. How close would you have to be?” Dark Matter asked.

“I’d have to at least cross the canyon myself,”Twilight said. “Which is why I think we should spend today, maybe tomorrow as well searching the city for the power source. If we just can’t find it, if it’s well hidden or onboard, then we can resort to the canyon.”

“Alright, search parties then,” Dark Matter said.

* * * * * *

After breakfast the group split up, with Spike and Applejack staying in camp, planning to go through the supplies and see what fell into the canyon. Twilight, Quick Fix, and Dark Matter spread out and started searching the palace, tower, and grounds. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy took to the sky, and the rest of the ponies spread out through the town. Before they left Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash donned their armor, just incase.

Jade, Rarity and Pinkie Pie began east of the palace, but quickly found that the city was reduced to rubble in that direction, with entire swaths of it indistinguishable from the forest. They then headed south and crossed over a stream to find an open space filled with tall pillars. They weren’t entirely sure what it had been, but decided to call it The Market. The stone pillars were very plain, with no fluting or scrollwork on the plinth or capital. They were arranged in three concentric circles, with large paving stones of the same color creating a large circular clearing out of the forest. Interesting though it was, they found nothing but the pillars, so they moved on. Then they stumbled into a dense grove of trees. Initially they made to go around it, but Jade caught sight of something.

“Wait a minute,” she said. “This is a planted grove. These trees are in rows.”

“It’s a garden?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“I think it’s an orchard,” she replied. “These look like the Zap Apple Trees from Sweet Apple Acres, these I’m not sure, but look there, the ground is covered in fruit pits.”

“However did you spot those?” Rarity asked.

“I’m just used to looking for them,” Jade replied.

The three ponies entered the grove and found themselves walking down covered corridors created by the overgrown trees. The grove echoed with the sound of hidden song birds, and in the center they found a clearing that was almost entirely covered by the tree branches overhead, save a circular opening in the center, just above the remains of an ancient stone building. It was in surprisingly good shape, so they investigated.

“Jade, I think this was a farm, I bet we’re on a huge Zap Apple Farm,” Pinkie Pie said. “Oh, I wish AJ could come see this.”

“It’s lovely in here, honestly I think the overgrown trees make it more lovely. It’s like standing in a tall grand hall,” Rarity said.

They entered the building and looked through the three rooms, finding little but dust, animal nests, and bits of wood. The silence was broken when Jade kicked open a trapdoor she found in the corner of the house’s main room.

“I know logically that’s probably just a cellar for preserves and such,” Jade’s voice trailed off. The three ponies stood around looking into the dark opening for a moment.

“Alright ponies, this is a soldier’s job,” Pinkie said.

“You’re not a soldier, you’re an event planner,” Rarity said. Pinkie gave her a critical look. “But you know what, you’re right. Here,” Rarity pulled a small red gem out of her pack and shot a beam of magic into it. The gem began to glow brightly like a torch. “Take that down there so you can see.”

“Good thinking, private,” Pinkie said. Rarity ignored that and affixed the gem to Pinkie’s helmet. The pink pony then turned and hopped down into the root cellar. Jade and Rarity peeked over the opening.

“What’s down there?” Jade asked. “Dusty jam jars and such?”

“Not much, some bits of wood, I think some glass, annnddddAAHHHHHHHHH!” Pinkie’s word morphed into a horrified scream and in a bolt the pony was out of the cellar and clutching onto Rarity’s legs.

“Pinkie, what did you see?” Rarity asked.

“Uh, well, some ponies.” she managed.

“There are ponies down there?” Jade’s voice was incredulous.

“Well, what’s left of them,” Pinkie said. “We should leave, I didn’t see any power source.”

“Alright Pinkie, let’s head back into town,” Rarity said, patting the pony in the head. Jade gingerly replaced the trapdoor and the three ponies quickly left the grove. Outside they saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flying overhead. Pinkie waved Rainbow Dash over. The pegasus came down and Pinkie wrapped her in a tight hug. “I’ve seen some stuff.”

“Uh, okay? What’s with the hug?” Dash asked.

“Pinkie found some... remains,” Jade explained.

The two ponies took a moment, then Pinkie shook herself out.

“Sorry, a soldier’s got to keep it together,” Pinkie said.

“But you’re an event planner,” Dash said.

“I know what I do for a living, jeez,” Pinkie said.

“Well we were flying over the town, and we only saw two places that looked in decent shape. One was west of the palace near the shore of the lake,” Rainbow said.

“Yeah, there were four of five buildings that looked intact,” Fluttershy added.

“The other was this fortress looking tower near the northwestern gate, how about we check out the fortress, you guys check out the buildings near the lake?” Rainbow suggested.

“We’re on it captain,” Pinkie said with a salute.

The pegasi left to follow the barrier back around to the northwest and the three ponies headed back towards the palace. They circled around it and headed for the lake. Just before they reached the water they found an entire city block in good shape. Most of the buildings had their roofs intact and all of their walls. A few even had colored glass panes still hanging in the windows.

“Do we have to go inside?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Indeed we do, private,” Jade said.

“Please, I’m a lieutenant, obviously,” Pinkie replied. “Alright, let’s do it then.” She made her way up the steps into a building.

“Wait, why am I a lower rank than you?” Rarity called out with a hurt voice.

After thirty minutes exploring the ruins they discerned that the two buildings on one side of the block were houses, and the three buildings on the other side were offices. Pinkie refused to enter the basement of any of them, but they lacked golem power sources and skeletons. The rooftops gave a stunning view of the lake, though the experience was tinged with the fear of the roof collapsing, so the ponies didn’t stay long. The alley that ran between the buildings had marble benches in it, so the trio sat for a moment to rest.

“So, Pinkamena, how are you and Dash these days?” Rarity asked.

“Uh, what do you mean us? We’re all on the same expedition here,” Pinkie said.

“Pinkie, you know what I mean,” Rarity insisted. Jade giggled and looked away. Pinkie frowned at Rarity.

“I’m fine, Dash is fine, everypony is fine except Applejack,” Pinkie answered.

“Darling, there simply must be some reason you two are sneaking about like thieves. It isn’t healthy for a relationship. And literally no one will care. Mostly because they all know,” Rarity said.
“Look, I’m not saying Dash and I are in a relationship, because I’m not the kind of pony who breaks promises, not that I’m saying I promised anypony anything. I just...”
“You don’t like it being a secret either,” Jade finished.
Pinkie sighed and rubbed her face with her hooves. “Alright soldiers, we need to hoof it back to base camp.”

* * * * * *

Twilight looked around the lower level of the tower. The ceilings were vaulted, with stone braces running from the center of the room to the walls then down to the floor. She looked at them, noticing the regularly spaced gaps between them, save one gap, which was a bit wider. She approached the wall beneath the gap and started levitating rubbled out of the way. Eventually she uncovered a small opening. She crouched down and shot a beam of light inside. It lit up a terrible scene. she saw three or four pony skeletons scattered about the large room beyond. She backed away from the opening and shuddered. There was no way she was going in there alone.

She went upstairs and found Dark Matter combing the main hall. She told him what she found, then they both went outside and tracked down Quick Fix, who was poking around the buildings on the palace grounds. The three then returned to the underground chamber.

“Princess, allow me to go in first. It could be dangerous,” Dark Matter said.

Twilight nodded. She then picked up the remaining rubble and set it aside, revealing a doorway. She created a ball of light at the end of her horn and shot it into the dark chamber beyond, where it hung in the air. Dark Matter walked forward, he battle shoes clicking audibly on the marble floor. The room turned out to be a kitchen, with fire pits, water basins, and stone ovens along the walls. The skeletons were scattered about the room, draped over the counters.

Dark Matter waved the two in, though neither were eager to enter the room. There were two more doors on the adjoining walls that led off into other rooms. Twilight nudged the ball of light with her magic until it floated into the left hand room, which was a larder or storage, filled with rotting barrels and empty shelves. They found no skeletons or anything of note, and moved on to the other doorway, which led into a narrow hallway.

“I think this was a servant’s passage,” Twilight said.

“It’s a terrible place to get stuck too, be cautious,” Dark Matter added.

To their left the passage was caved in, and none of them wanted to risk shifting the rocks and bringing the tower down on them. To their right the passage continued on, with stairwells at odd intervals that were collapsed or caved in. Finally they reached a doorway on their right that opened to reveal a large chamber beyond. Twilight sent in her ball of light, then Dark Matter scouted ahead. Quickly it became apparent where they were, it was a library.

“Well this is an excellent find,” Twilight said.

“I know, this could have been caved in just as easily,” Quick Fix added.

The ponies spread out, heading down the aisles between the towering stone bookshelves. Twilight gently cast a levitation around an old tome, and almost instantly it crumbled to dust. She found another book that had fallen over and was laying open. The pages were thin and dry, and on it she saw symbols similar to the ones Star Swirl had described, thought she could read none of it.
They searched the library until they found a small, ornate door. It was made of a dark stone with scroll work radiating from the center. Dark Matter pushed it open and Twilight cast a new ball of light into the room. Within was a smaller room with bookshelves lining the walls. In the middle of the room ran low stone tables covered in various devices. Twilight quickly recognized the room for a magician’s laboratory. They stepped in and began looking around.

“Look here,” Dark Matter pointed at the ground. The dust was inches thick in the corners, but the middle of the floor was disturbed. Around them on the tables sat devices with little dust on them at all. “Somepony has been here recently.”

“Perhaps Nightmare Moon came here? Luna said she explored the complex,” Twilight said.

“What-what if we’re not alone here?” Quick Fix offered quietly.

“Either way, do you see a golem powering device?” Dark Matter asked.

Quick Fix pulled her Magimeter out of her saddlebag and waved it around as she circled the room. “No, and honestly a magician’s workshop would make sense. If it’s not here, I don’t know where it would be.”

“Then we’ll head back up and see if the others found anything,” Dark Matter said.

The three ponies retraced their steps through the library and through the grim kitchen and up the stairs. When they reached the ground floor, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were waiting for them.

“You’ve got to see this,” Dash said.

* * * * * *

Twilight, Dash, and Dark Matter flew over Harmonia, heading for the north western gate.

“So, we checked out the fortress on the northwestern side of town, I think it housed the city’s guards, didn’t really find anything but rusted metal, we decided to check out the gatehouse before we headed back, and guess what? We found another golem,” Rainbow said.

“Another golem?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, but this one’s busted,” Rainbow replied.

Twilight’s heart slid back down her throat to its proper place. “You could have led with the broken part.”

The three ponies touched down near another gatehouse. Like the one they had entered through it stood alone without much wall on either side. On top of it was a pile of rubble. Once they got closer, Twilight started noticing the stone blocks were shaped like parts of a griffon.

“It looks like a statue,” Dark Matter said.

“Yeah, but check this out, it’s got joints to move the limbs, and look at this,” Rainbow led them over to the opposite side. There, the body of the statue was broken open. Twilight peered inside the cavity and saw that it was lined with exotic materials molded to create dozens of interlocking runes. She lit her horn and peaked in. Clearly the power source of these golems was internal, but she couldn’t tell what was powering it. Runes, metal clamps, maybe holding a crystal or gem? Twilight looked around to see more clamps arranged in a pattern. After a few moments, she realized what they were meant to hold.

A roar came from beyond the barrier. The chimera golem was just outside the gate, whipping its tail against the green barrier, causing it to pulse with light.

“So is this a golem?” Dark Matter asked.

“Yes, and the power source is on board,” Twilight said.

“Can you tell what powers them?” Dash asked. “I mean, it’s been thousands of years, it must be pretty impressive crystal or something.”

“I’m, not sure. I’ll talk to Quick Fix, maybe bring her out here,” Twilight said. Dark Matter was staring at her. “We should head back.”

Later, Twilight was back at camp, sitting next to Applejack was was reclining on a pile of sacks that had been filled with leaves to make a couch of sorts.

“I bet you want revenge on that golem, right?” Twilight asked.

“I don’t know,” Applejack replied. “It’s like getting mad at a thunderstorm I guess. It’s just a machine, right? I guess I kinda feel bad for it. Waiting around for thousands of years, must be lonely.”

Twilight looked away from Applejack. “Such a long time to be trapped here.”

“Princess,” Dark Matter approached them. “May I have a moment?”

Twilight got up and walked away from the camp with Dark Matter.

“So what powers these golems?” he asked.

Twilight bit her lip. But she had to tell someone.

“Ponies. Somehow it’s ponies. The clamps inside are meant to hold a pony prone in the cavity, with the runes touching them at various points,” Twilight explained.

Dark Matter’s eyes widened at the news. “I, I did not expect that. So inside the chimera?”

“Yes.”

“How? How can a pony survive thousands of years like that?” Dark Matter asked.

“Not naturally, that’s how. But now what do we do? There’s a pony in there somewhere,” Twilight said.

“Honestly, this changes little in my mind,” Dark Matter said.

“How can you say that?” Twilight was shocked.

“Trapped in a stone prison for thousands of years, kept alive by unnatural magics? Destroying that golem won’t just save us, it’ll save another pony too,” Dark Matter explained. “We should run drills tomorrow, practice our timing, then carry out the plan.”

“I don’t know if I could give that order,” Twilight said.

“I hope you do, Princess, and if that pony in there is aware of any of this, I bet he hopes so too.”

Author's Note:

To make up for a few late chapter updates, here's a really early chapter update!

Comments

[Romalisk]

The golems from Dragon Age. I bet that's where you got the idea.

[Inkspots]

Romalisk, I honestly haven't played Dragon Age in years. I was just thinking in line with the general literary tradition.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golem