The Shadow Over Seagift

by Monsignor Gabriel

3. Deepest Secrets

3. Deepest Secrets

We settled into the train, the only ponies occupying a passenger car. Our conductor was young and handsome. Rarity led an effort at teasing him a bit, convicing him to let us stay and eat there instead of packing into the dining car with all the other ponies for the full-blown breakfast service. That early in the morning, we weren't all that hungry, but hungry enough to eat a snack. Rarity even got him to bring her some food from the dining car. I wonder now whether I approved of it, knowing Rarity was using her "feminine wiles" to make him think he had a chance. The poor colt's probably bitter about it; he might've even gotten into trouble with his boss or something. I unwrapped the breakfast Spike had cooked for me to take on my trip, and I again felt rather saddened about leaving him behind. I suppose the emotion registered on my face, because Rainbow Dash piped up.

"Hey, Twilight, what spooked you so much when we were in Ponyville?" she asked.

I still had Spike on my mind, and didn't hear her at first. "Uh, spooked?" I said.

"She's right, Twahlight. You looked like you'd seen the ghost of the Drowning Mairy," said Applejack.

"Oh, that was nothing. I bumped into the door and it hurt something awful," I lied.

"Doors can be really scary and all, but I've never been that scared of them, Twilight," cooed Fluttershy, though I could barely hear her as she was rather far away from my chair.

"It was probably just the shock. I was half-asleep, had a bad morning, I guess. I'm fine, really."

I didn't understand why I was holding back. I was going to have to tell them eventually. Indeed, I wondered whether I wanted to tell them about the dream I'd had last night. They're my friends. Why should I hide anything from them? They'll help me. But I can't tell them. I couldn't tell them. I wanted to wait for a better moment. I wanted them to eat first. The situation still wasn't clear, even to me at that time. I didn't really understand why Celestia was so worried about Seagift. I was blissful, ignorant, willing to dismiss the situation. Celestia always said it helps with nerves, but I knew I was making a mistake. I knew I shouldn't dismiss this. I knew I couldn't. I was nervous. I had to accept I was nervous. I had to accept I was maybe even scared. What was I thinking? Why didn't I realize it sooner? Why didn't I snap myself out of this stupor and protect myself, protect my friends, protect anypony from this terrible truth? I can't remember now. I drifted on and off into sleep. The train was a shepherd, herding me to places I didn't understand or know, craning my neck with a harsh pull. I wanted to bite. I didn't know any better.

"Hey, what's this town we're going to like, anyway?" said Rainbow Dash.

The girls started chattering amongst themselves, churning out theories. Some of them thought it would be a snowy town with snowy cliffs and plenty of chances to slip and slide on skis; Rarity thought it was a decadent coastal city, fashionable yet exotic; others thought it was a tropical resort town with shady markets and really humid, hot weather and palm tree beaches. They all got really excited when the latter one was suggested. I felt silly listening to such things.

"I think you guys already knew it was a coastal town. Otherwise, you wouldn't have brought all of that beach stuff," I said, feeling smug about their assumptions.

"If it's a coast, it's a beach, isn't it?" said Pinkie Pie.

"Not necessarily. It could be a rocky coast," I speculated. "It's in the northeast, after all."

"Aw, shoot. Ah didn't know that. Can't swim if we're more likely to end up with a case of the Muzzle-Meets-Stalagmatites," lamented Applejack.

"Nah, I had a cousin who lived in Manehattan. They got beaches fine," said Rainbow Dash.

"Although..." said Rarity, rather quiet until this point. "I SINCERELY doubt the Princess sent Twilight and allowed us to accompany her if the business wasn't of supreme importance... I hope."

"Beaches're kinda important, if you ask me," joked Applejack.

Fluttershy giggled. "Well..." scoffed Rarity, unamused by Applejack's pedestrian, bare-bones humor, I'm certain. "I doubt that's the reason the Princess sent Twilight along."

"Ah, come on, Rare. Twilight already told us. Dontcha remember? The Princess wants Twilight to cozy up to the Mayor of Seagift and ask him for some of his algae," said Rainbow Dash.

"I hear stallions like cozying with mares," said Pinkie Pie. I'm unsure if she intended innuendo.

"Yeah, they been known ta do that," said Applejack, smirking.

"Yeah... I wonder if his coach ponies won't mind him getting cozy," said Rainbow Dash, chuckling.

"Oh... my," said Fluttershy, her eyes widening in realization. Oddly enough, Fluttershy is who finally put me on the defensive.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, that's not what Celestia meant... She would never... I..." I could barely stay coherent. I felt my cheeks burn a bit.

"Then what?" said Rainbow Dash, a sudden insistence on my retelling of what Celestia told me.

"Look... It's really rather boring. Economics, too much algae importation from the surrounding hamlets. It's all really technical," I tried explaining.

"Yeah, you're probably right," said Rainbow Dash. "Besides, stallions are more Rarity's game."

"And WHATEVER would you mean by that?" said Rarity, audibly annoyed.

"'Sides, ah know sumthin' about that, runnin' th' orchard an' all. Maybe ah could help ya out, Twi" offered Applejack.

"Um... Twilight? Can I ask you a question? I'm a little confused" cooed Fluttershy, gentle and sweet as ever.

"I dunno, Fluttershy... Well, alright. What's up?" I said.

"If this is so small, why did Celestia send you? Doesn't she have auditors and officials for that?" asked Fluttershy.

"She said this was my introduction to this. It's practice. I think" I said, sounding not too sure of myself.

Applejack picked up on it and decided I was making things up. "That's still kinda too small for ya, dontchathink, Twi? Yer an alicorn an' a princess! You've got magic powers an' all. Isn't a local thing kinda counter-productin' and wastin'?" she explained.

"Yeah, Twi. She should save you for something really crazy. Like an Ursa Major or something. That's what anypony would do. RRRRRROAR!" said Pinkie Pie, raising her arms up like a bear.

"Yeah... That doesn't make any sense" said Rainbow Dash, scratching her chin with her hoof. "She would keep you on retainer until something... WEIRD happened, don't you think?"

I sighed deeply. I saw the futility in hiding it, and, thankfully, it didn't take me that long. I felt some relief telling them, as, I must admit, everyone was ignorant when it came to Seagift.

"Yeah... You guys are right. I should tell you. Celestia DID send me because something weird happened."

The girls went quiet. The ambience became tense, to say the least. I was suddenly afraid to tell them again.

"It's... Not THAT weird," I said, trying to settle the mood.

"What's the sitch already?" said Rainbow Dash, impatient.

"Alright, alright... Well..." I began. I told them. About Seagift. About the mass dissapearance five years ago. About the resurgence a month ago. About the possibility somepony was stalking me. About how Celestia recommended I travel in a group for my own safety.

"... Th' hay is goin' on?" began Applejack.

"So, wait... That's it? They just dissapeared?" said Rainbow Dash.

"I'm not entirely convinced I believe that... It sounds like an old ghost story, Twidear" said Rarity.

"But... Celestia wouldn't send Twilight there for nothing... Would she?" whimpered Fluttershy.

"Hey... I heard of Seagift before," said Pinkie Pie.

"You have?" said Applejack, inredulous. "What'dya hear 'bout it?"

"It was a zombie sea cucumber that made everypony disappear," I said, dead-pan. "That's what she told Spike."

There was a brief silence as everypony, even Fluttershy, frowned and looked at Pinkie Pie in mild dissaproval. Pinkie Pie's usually ever-present smile faded as she looked at around at all of us, feeling the weight of our accusatory stares.

"What? I can be wrong sometimes!" said Pinkie, somewhat offended at our implications. "... It was a zombie fungus."

The silence lasted for a while longer.

"Celestia did mention the ponies around Seagift are spooked by the way the citizens have been behaving. The ghost stories have been coming from them for about that long. Local legend and whatnot," I explained.

"If you ask me, it sounds like a lot of..." began Rarity.

"Hoopsnake," said Applejack.

"I think the word is 'hoopla'," said Rainbow Dash.

"Is it?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"But... Twilight, I still don't understand. It's really confusing if you think about it. Why would all those ponies stop coming to talk to all the other ponies?" asked Fluttershy. "Are they hiding something? What are they afraid of? What happened 5 years ago that made them stop coming?"

"I don't know, Fluttershy," I said. "That's what I'm hoping to find out. With you girls' help, of course. I feel way safer now that I know you guys could come along with me."

"Ah, don't mention, Twi," said Rainbow Dash, smiling. "We're glad to help you out."

"I'd feel AWFUL if I knew something bad happened to you, Twilight," said Rarity.

"'Sides, y'all don't know what kinda varmints could crawl outta th' woodwork," said Applejack, patting me on the forehead.

"We're friends! Right, Fluttershy?" said Pinkie Pie, wrapping one of her forelegs around Fluttershy's neck.

"Y-Yeah... Friends," said Fluttershy, a little smile creeping up on her face, directed at me but also at everyone.

"Thanks, everypony," I said.

I felt joy for once in many hours; I felt safe, comfortable, in control, for the first time since Celestia surprised me with the letter yesterday and I stumbled onto the train looking behind me, wondering if I were being followed, lurking in secrecy, hiding, scared, paranoid. Like I am now. Like I am now that I know. Now that I'm here. Alone. Wondering if they're safe. Wondering if I'll live if I fall asleep. Wondering if I'll have another dream. Wondering if I'll wake up tomorrow and find out something bad has happened. Wondering if my heart won't want to quit on me when I find out about it. Wondering if I won't loose it.

The girls shouldn't have stopped probing me; they shouldn't have stopped forcing me from revealing anymore. For two days, we only talked about our lives, about our family and about the friends we'd left behind only for a while. About whether we'd done it because we were sick of them, and laughing when we concluded in the positive. We played games, told jokes, appreciated Rarity's knitting skills, tossed Rainbow Dash off the train on a dare as it rocketed down a tunnel, tossled and styled poor Fluttershy's mane in many fashions and colors, and joined Pinkie Pie in the dining car when she threw a party.

And afterwards, when we were finished doing all of the fun things, they all asked me to bust out some ancient history books, so I could educate them a little. Before I knew it, it was only early in the night of the second day, and they were all in a deep sleep. I giggled, and read quietly until I too succumbed to slumber. I was stupid. I did what I always did when I was around my friends, what felt natural and pure and beautiful and what friends are supposed to do around friends. I forgot about my problems. About Seagift. About the duties Celestia had given me.

About the dream I'd had in Ponyville. As though I was being punished for my joy and the joy of my friends, I slipped back. A darkness crept over my mind and my heart once again felt enveloped by a polar hurricane that froze the blood in my veins. The warmth of my friends and my distance from Seagift mattered not. I could be taken by this stupor anywhere, anytime, anyplace. It is like I am a target and someone else holds the gun. I now barely consider these dreams. They feel real. They're too real. They feel too real. They last too long. I can feel my heart beating in my ears.

I was standing on the shore of a beach at the bottom of a hill. My mind felt blank and bland and I could only stare into the distant horizon. That quickly faded into dazed realization, and the accompanying horror at the fact that I seemed to be inhabiting a world that wasn't in my own mind. It was someone else's mind, or a real place, but it can't be a dream. It just can't be. I felt the freezing whip of a northern wind strike me against the face, an insult from nature itself. It was strong, and I hid my face. The ocean crashed against the jagged rocks that seemed to invade the ocean from land. The scent of salt water, bittersweet and alluring, and the reek of fish, the funk of incompetence and of creatures both foul and pathetic, assaulted my sense of smell.

The ocean roared once again as it crashed against the rocks.

"NO... Ah..." I gasped.

The seawater had crept up along the sandy beach I stood on, cold as the wind itself, and sunk my hooves under the water. I recoiled, taking several steps back to avoid it.

"It's good you've come." Someone spoke. I was sure I was alone. I had previously looked all over, behind, to my sides, to the rocks, to the empty beach.

I looked in the direction of the voice. There was a pony, I think, standing there, appeared from nowhere I saw. I can't be sure even now. I can say he was in the shape of a pony or something that resembled it, but I'm not sure if he was a pony for certain, for he was covered in a haphazardly sewn series of cloth rags that seemed to be standing in for robes. The robes didn't have eye holes. He was a faceless robe, a ghost of things yet to come.

"Where am I? Who are you?" I spoke out of ignorance; I was frightened.

"That's not important. What is important is that you're here. He's been waiting for you," said the robed figure.

"Who... Who has been waiting for me? Who are you?" I get the feeling now he was never intending to answer.

"I hope you like to fly and swim, beautiful," he said. "Look."

He pointed behind me. He had a stallion's voice. I fell, and I crawled away from the edge.

I never felt myself move, nor did I see myself move so much. I wasn't on the beach anymore.

I was high up on a cliff overlooking the ocean, but that couldn't be; I was on a beach. I never felt the move.

"Fly," the robed stallion whispered. He started to push me.

"No... What are you doing... Please... No!" I struggled. I tried to run away. But he mounted me and pulled on my mane and dragged me. And he tossed me.

And I flew, I fell, I plummeted, and I screamed my lungs out as I did. As I approached the water, my thoughts were of death. And then... I went in.

I felt no pain, no sudden stop, no freezing water. I had my hooves over my face, closing my eyes forcefully, hoping I didn't see what killed me. But now, I opened them. And I saw the great blue expanse of the ocean before me. The first thing I noticed was the temperature: it was mildly cool, but not freezing. The water was freezing before. I was staring out into the great blue beyond and it was like there was no water. I could breathe. I flailed upwards, trying to reach the surface, thinking it was only a matter of time before I drowned, because it clearly had to be some kind of illusion or damage to my mind. But I realized I kept sinking, and my flailing subsided as fatigue began to set in. I was sinking. I was sinking very quickly. I was plummeting through the ocean. I was flying through the ocean. I saw below me the sea floor, and the life that usually occupies it. Fish, crabs, octopi, sea slugs, all swam about and below me, filter-feeding and poking through the sand and grime for food. I sank further. The water around me began to grow cold and began to press on my body and my head. I became deaf and mute in the water. When I tried to exclaim, water bubbles floated by my head.

And soon, I was in darkness. I stared straight ahead of me.

And then I saw light. A firestorm of bioluminescence, deep in the crag off of the rocky coast. It was so bright it lit up everything around and in front of me. It was a city. A city, underwater. And I saw in front of me a great divide that separated me from the city. I saw movement around the spires of great towers in the distance: schools of fish, as I looked more. I felt the water around me vibrate and shake me. The earth was moving.

And out of the great divide, I saw at last: a great beast arising out of it.

"Twilight." It called my name.

Twilight. Twilight. Twilight.

"Wake up."

My eyes opened. I was covered in cold sweat.

"What... What is it?" I said.

"We're here. The conductor said we're here." It was Pinkie Pie.

"Eeyup. Ya gotta get up, Twi. We gotta tell th' conducter which bags are ours and whatnot. Hate this part ah trips, personally." It was Applejack.

"Twilight... Were you having a bad dream?" I heard Fluttershy speak behind my head.

"No... I'm fine... Why do you ask?" I said.

"You were fidgeting around like you were running away from something. You looked like a sleeping doggie!" said Pinkie Pie.

"And... You're covered in cold sweat," said Fluttershy. She passed a dry towel over my face. I felt the sweat she was talking about cause the smaller hairs of my mane to stand on end.

"It's fine... It was just a bad dream. It can't hurt me," I mumbled, drowsy.

Pinkie Pie smiled at me. She was right in my face, too. "Can't it?" she said.

Author's Note:

Twilight's dream is partly based on a dream I had.

Comments

[GiftedMonster]

Trippy. Very trippy. I'm tempted to think Twilight is a Deep One hybrid given her dreams of the ocean and of the Deep One city.

Very intriguing dialogue and Pinkie at the end...spooky man. Very spooky.

And the thing that arose...Dagon?

[yurakstorm]

yep pinkie is creepy there but more importantly why doen't this have more likes? this is awesome