Rise of Ponietheus

by twitterdick

9. Twilight Sparkle: Rubicon

There was an oddity in the divide between the dank forest still illuminated by the still sun and the dim town beyond. It looked like a grained photograph, or a relic encompassing only what little familiarity hadn't been beaten from it by dust and time. The rain was a mere drizzle, despite that looming build up, but was noticeably thick and viscous.

The whole place, in just an hour or so, was destitute and cold.

The group was at the edge of the forest, a few feet from the cloud line. Twilight Sparkle sighed. Their plan was feeble and she knew it. She could see what was left of the bridge they'd crossed earlier, and a couple of building silhouettes, but not much else. She nodded to her comrades and shrugged.

"Well, here goes!"

A fiery purple glow emerged from her horn. It formulated and morphed into a large dome that spread out over the group. Twilight let out a sigh of relief as they prepared to move into the storm covered areas within the magic bubble.

"I'll take the lead," said Pinkie Pie, "I remember exactly how to get to Sweet Apple Acres from here!"

"Twilight, I think you should get in the middle," said Spike.

"I'll take the back," said Protean Joy.

"Me too," said Rainbow Dash.

"I'll, um, hang out by Pinkie Pie," said Rarity.

They all organized themselves - Pinkie in front with Spike and Rarity, Twilight in the middle and Rainbow Dash and Protean Joy in the back. Twilight felt strange there, however. While her magic bubble was up, her perceptions were bizarrely heightened. She could feel little Spike's heart pounding from within it's borders. She could feel the lingering fear haunting the group. She could almost hear it. She squeezed her eyes shut as they began to walk. She could feel them, all of them; their hearts, their heads, their movements, all of it. It was loud. It stung in the back of her head.

The falling rain collapsed into the transparent purple barrier and rolled to the side, with very little residue. Twilight could differentiate between each drop. Time hadn't slowed any, however. She perceived that normally. But her - her mental processes at least - must be going much faster.

"The barrier's pushing aside the big puddles, but there's still a lot of black stuff on the ground. Watch your step, ponies!" Pinkie Pie said loudly.

Pinkie's voice stung, like it had prodded the part of Twilight's head that was already buzzing. The slight tapping of the rain upon the top of the barrier resonated brilliantly and loudly in the heightened hearing of Twilight Sparkle. She fixated much of her attention on maintaining the spell, and on little Spike who walked directly in front of her with his little hand on her chest. She mentally weaponized her perceptions of him to drown out the awful sounds of the rain beating against the bubble.

The landscape around them echoed a terrible silence. She felt nothing, nopony except them. Few of the sun's beams broke through the thick clouds above them. Twilight could see it in her head - her eyes were closed all this time. It looked a little like the waterline of a pool when one looks up from underneath it.

"It's getting quite hard to see, Pinkie," said Rarity, "We're going to need a lantern or a flashlight or something."

Pinkie Pie stopped, stuck her hoof up in the air to motion the rest to stop too, then brought that hoof to her chin. She squeezed her eyes shut and tapped her hind leg rhythmically.

"The cake shop's near here! It's only a few minutes to our right!" she said, "We could stop and look for some supplies there!"

Although they all spoke rather softly, their words collected loudly in Twilight's ears. That little stinging tick wiggled in the back of her head spread. She grunted from the migraine and felt it pulse. Keeping this barrier up was must be taking it's toll on her. 'No,' she thought, 'No, I've practiced tougher spells than this… This perception, how do I turn it off!?'

"We're going to need to stop," Twilight said. Her voice was raspy, "Get us to cake shop, Pinkie …My head can't take much more…"

Pinkie Pie nodded and turned the party right towards the town. They waded through the shallow stream and out of the fields to the creaky, empty streets of their town. Time drug it's heels in at Twilight, and the pounding of the hoofsteps upon the stranded cobblestone streets reinforced the headache crawling about her skull. She felt so far away and so stiff, like her ears and hooves were about to burst.

"How much farther, Pinkie??" she moaned. The barrier was getting harder to maintain. It flickered slightly, threatening to collapse down and expose them to the rain. Twilight's left knee cramped and she released small cry. She could feel warmth behind her and her ears ringed. And, behind again, it felt like something was shuffling. Then her left leg gave out and she stumbled.

Protean Joy moved up beside her and knelt. He motioned for Rarity and Rainbow Dash. "Get her on my back!" he shouted.

The two obeyed. Twilight felt herself being whisked up and her stomach made contact with his spine. She was perpendicular to him with her legs at his sides. She felt Protean Joy frown and look at Rarity.

"We're going to have to run."

Rarity nodded and picked Spike up. Then they all took off. Twilight only thought about the barrier, about keeping the barrier. The barrier! She felt their hearts, their apprehension flavoring that sting in her head. Her joints ached. Time worked its rusted joints and chugged slowly to the virulent tune of hooves on cobblestone. Twilight felt her limbs shake and bit her lip. She heard shouts, banging and a door slam. She couldn't take anymore. She rolled her dice and dropped the barrier.

No, no, nothing was making sense. She opened her eyes but couldn't see, it was all mixed up and blurred like different flavored ice-cream all melted and shuffled together. She heard all wrong and felt like she was upside down. Her limbs didn't feel like they were in the right places, or even made of the right parts. But she didn't feel pain. She didn't feel much of anything, really. Strange. Was she trembling?

"Why is she shaking like that!?"

"What's going on?"

"Her Majesty is seizing, hold her head."

'Seizing!? Oh, that makes sense. My nervous system is reseting…'

She felt immersed in fluid. And like she was twitching. Like she was twitching and inside out. Still no pain, strangely. She began to feel her eyes, and like she was lying down. She felt fingers on her the back of her head - the tips slightly sharp. Then there was the tips of her hooves. Then she felt her ears.

"She's… she's not hurt, is she!?" said a whimpering voice. Sounded like Spike.

"No… No…" came a stern voice, deep, definitely male. That Protean pony, perhaps? "Her head's just reseting, that's all. It… it should subside… It… should."

Hmm. He sounded worried. Didn't make sense. Twilight didn't feel worried. She felt fine. Better, even, now that the sounds and the sights went away. Couldn't explain it… what she 'perceived'. She saw all of them, but… but didn't 'see' them. It was like when you think thoughts - you hear it, but you don't 'hear' it. They were fuzzy, though, like melted chalk on a canvas. They were just blurs. A pink blur, a white blur, a purple blur.

She could then feel her lungs and limbs. She tried blinking and could blink. Then sound dropped in with an almost audible thud like a needle touching a record. She felt a couch beneath her. She was lying on her back. Her limbs twitched a bit. But, other than that, she was fine. A little thirsty, perhaps, but fine. The blurs gave way to a very worried pack of ponies all huddled around her. Spike took his hands for her head and peered up over her. He looked like he'd seen a ghost.

The soft sting and swirling ringing subsided then. Twilight blinked a few more times. Things inside seemed more or less back to normal. She started laughing. Seriously, she had just had a seizure. Her. She had never even called off sick for school.

They all just looked at her with a mix of incredulous worry and surprise. Except Spike, he just looked sick. The laughing subsided.

"Ha…he, he…I'm thirsty," Twilight Sparkle said. She brought a hoof to her face and wiped a soft tear from her cheek.

Spike looked straight at her with watery eyes and a little boy's scowl. "Don't you ever do that again," he said.

"He, he… heh, I don't want to," she said back.

"What on earth was that!?!" said Rainbow Dash angrily. She sounded like Twilight's father when Shining skipped class. "You had us worried sick!"

"It's… okay now…" Twilight said. Was it? She thought so. "It was the sound. I think… being so focused on the spell heightened my senses. The noise, even the soft ones were almost unbearable. I could…feel sound."

"Sounds like somepony needs earmuffs," Pinkie Pie said in a purposefully verbose voice. Rainbow Dash sneered and snorted. Pinkie Pie pulled the earmuffs from her saddlebag and both the balloons and the brown book toppled out. She place the earmuffs lovingly on over Twilight's ears and kissed her forehead. "Don't hurt yourself anymore, Twilight!"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "I'm going to look around," she muttered, "See if there's anypony else here…"

Rarity lit some candles on tables and cabinets around the living room they were in. It became decently lit. This must be the Cake's living room with the faint pictures on the wall. The couch was quite comfortable. Pinkie Pie picked up her balloons, sat in a chair near an end table with a candle, and began to read that brown book. Spike nestled up on the couch by Twilight's hind legs and nervously fiddled with his thumbs. Rarity then came up beside Twilight.

"I'm going to the kitchen," she said, "Would you like anything?"

Twilight smiled. "Water, please!"

Rarity nodded and smiled back then stiffly walked off to the kitchen. Twilight caught a glimpse of Protean Joy, who'd slunk off and taking refuge by a window. He stared off into it like an old mare at a picture album. Odd pony, that one. Twilight next looked at Spike.

"I'm so sorry that I frightened you," she said.

Spike looked at his thumbs and shrugged. "You didn't mean to…" he said.

Twilight tilted her head. "D'you wanna talk about it?"

Spike shook his head at first and looked away. But he relented. "I'm worried about you. You've been different since you became an alicorn. Like you get tired quicker. I'm worried because there's nothing I can do to help."

"Hey, Spike, you don't have to worry about me. It's okay. You don't have to wear yourself out protecting me."

Protean Joy's head hit the window with a clunk.

Spike frowned. "Yes I do. I can't help it. I don't know what I'd do… if I lost you."

Twilight smiled at him. "I'm not going anywhere, Spike…"

He was placated. He shuttered and went silent, like he hadn't said it right. Twilight let it go, knew he'd talk when he was ready. She laid her head back.

Commander Protean Joy stared bleary eyed out the yellow window pane. He didn't make much noise. He was stoic. It was hard to know what he was thinking. Twilight Sparkle frowned. She didn't like not knowing.

"So, Commander," she said, "Might I ask you a question."

Protean Joy nodded and looked back from the window. "Absolutely, Your Majesty," he said.

"Why'd you come with us? You had the chance to leave. Why didn't you take it?"

"It's my job to protect the Princesses of Equestria, Your Majesty," he said, "Princess Celestia is down and out, Princess Luna is off somewhere I can't follow. So, in order to uphold my oath and fulfill my duty, I am to follow you and protect you - even if it means my death."

Twilight looked at him quietly but sourly. He glanced over to her and sighed. "You don't look satisfied…"

"Your friend Mogadon didn't seem that interested in upholding his oath and duty and you didn't seem to really fault him on that. I'd like you to be honest with me, Commander." Hearing herself in such a blunt and authoritative manner was both drunkenly empowering and paralyzingly terrifying. She never thought she'd enjoy such a thing.

Protean Joy shook his head. "Mogadon is a special sort. He's cold. He doesn't care for oaths, honor or vows, and he'd tell you to your face if you asked him. He's only in the guard because they told him Earth ponies don't often make it and he wanted to see the looks on their smug faces when he pulled it off. Most don't know what to do with somepony like that, but I keep him around because when you tell him to do something, he'll beat himself bloody to do it. He respects me because I don't coddle him. But this discussion on Mogadon's attitude isn't what you're asking…"

Protean Joy swallowed and looked off out the window. His stern exterior was cracking. "…I understand how important you are. Princess Celestia would let this country burn if it meant preserving you."

Twilight Sparkle scowled. "Princess Celestia would never let such a thing happen!"

Protean Joy let out a chuckle, but quickly regained his composure.

"I've worn this tired old uniform for near forty years, and I've read enough history books to rival that library of yours," he said. He did his best to keep from lecturing a direct superior. "I can say without a sliver of a doubt that Princess Celestia is the fairest, kindest and most noble ruler this planet has seen in nearly twenty-five hundred years of recorded history. This place has endured tyrants, madmen, the selfish, the weak, the petty and she hasn't even called in sick. There are only two kinds of benevolent rulers on this Earth: One's that don't want to rule, and one's that do their damnedest to keep somepony worse from ruling. Can't figure which she is."

Twilight did not appreciate that opinion. Her wrinkled lip communicated that.

Protean Joy frowned softly, and placated. "Not a popular opinion, I know. But, it's my job to read ponies. It's not a negative opinion, just an honest one. But you… you're the first kind. The kind that doesn't want to lead, but does so because nopony else will. No doubt about that.You're somepony that would genuinely care about every head under every roof. Princess Celestia's got plans for you, and those plans will benefit us all. You're her ace in the hole, so I won't let anything happen to you."

Twilight cocked her head. Her sour expression faded. It was strange how he'd made her the subject. "And what has Princess Celestia done to merit such loyalty?"

"Not her, you."

Twilight shrank away slightly. She feared her next question. "And… what have I done... to merit your loyalty?"

Protean Joy looked straight at her for the first time since she'd met him. His grey eyes were worn. He had a wallflower frown and an exhausted face. "...Nothing," he said. He bit his lip and stared back out the window.

Twilight Sparkle shuddered slightly. He was open, helpful, but he made her uncomfortable.

'I'd best leave it alone for now,' she thought.

Twilight's head slapped back into the pillow on the couch. Her thoughts drifted to the macabre, sickly pony attacking her home. He was like a faceless malevolence. What was his name, she wondered. Where had he been all this time? What is his ultimate goal? Was he born evil or did he become evil?

The thought of one drifting to malevolence and losing all sense of self as well as right and wrong had always trouble Twilight Sparkle. From the books she read to the things she'd seen, absolute corruption had always disturbed her. The villains in some of her stories came to mind, the sympathetic ones. Those villains carried a lot more weight than the regular evil ones, Twilight thought. She always wanted the sympathetic villains and antiheroes of fiction to be redeemed - become one of the good guys - but such occurrences had never really happened in the many books she read. The hero would always try to save them, but in the end they often could not.

'That's the way it is, you know that,' Twilight thought to herself in her authoritative voice, 'Bad guys don't think they're bad guys. Everypony thinks they're doing the right thing. Nopony actively decides, 'I'm going to do bad today.''

Twilight thought about saving the dark harbinger, appealing to his sense of honor or righteousness or something. She at least wanted to understand him. If he sought to destroy Ponyville, then why hadn't he done so already? He was certainly more then capable, it seemed. No, not him, that storm. It blanketed both Canterlot and Ponyville in no time at all, relatively - especially within the context of weather, even the bizarre weather in that book she'd read. Does he command the storm? Why sap all the fire? Could they really snatch the Elements of Harmony right out from under his nose? She'd have to save Fluttershy and find Applejack first. How could she even save Fluttershy or find Applejack, for that matter? Could Discord come back? Is whomever Luna fetching really so powerful?

'Don't think about it, Twilight! Let's focus on the now. More information will reveal itself, we just have to wait. Uggh. We're not good a waiting.'

"I brought you your water, dear…" Rarity said. She placed it on an end table near Twilight's head.

"Oh, thank you!" Twilight lifted the cup with a levitation spell and brought it to her lips. 'Levitation spells,' she thought, 'How nice and simple compared to big, bubbly barriers.'

Rarity looked at her and smiled. "How's your head?"

"Fine, now, thanks! We should be able to head out soon. I'll test Pinkie Pie's earmuffs, see if they help."

Rainbow Dash reappeared. She carried a flashlight in her mouth and some bottles for water tucked under her wings. She placed them on the floor in front of the couch. "Found these," she said, "Light and water are scarce, we'll need all we can carry."

Protean Joy pulled away from the window and collected the bottles. "5 in total? Should be more than enough, combined with my canteen. I'll fill these up." He left for the kitchen.

Rainbow Dash peeked into the door to the kitchen. "Pinkie Pie, you don't think the Cakes would mind if we grabbed a snack, do you? I mean, it's an emergency and all.

The mention of snacks reminded the derelict crew of their rumbling stomachs. They hadn't had much time to eat.

Pinkie Pie's stomach rumbled. She put her book down. "No, I mean, I have some leftovers and stuff in their fridge, and, I mean, I'm sure they wouldn't be bothered so longs as we don't eat everything."

"Well, I'm a Princess now," said Twilight Sparkle, "So, I could reimburse them for whatever we take when this is all over."

Spike shot her a quiet, bleak look. It matched the tone of that authoritative voice in her head. 'You can't guarantee this will be over.'

"Yeah, that sounds good…" said Rainbow Dash, "Let's all have lunch…or dinner… or whatever. Hey, does anypony know what time it is?"

"Mmm…It's snack time, that's for sure!" Piped Pinkie Pie, licking her lips. She trotted off towards the kitchen with the others close behind. They gathered what little food they had found, carrots, lettuce and other greens, and distributed it among themselves. Protean Joy, who was already in the kitchen, caught on quickly. He distributed water to them. Then, they all sat at the Cake's dining table, and quietly began to eat their meal.

Twilight felt the emptiness there. The atmosphere was like a blurry photograph of life - the appearance of such but none of the substance. She couldn't ignore it. "Where do you think the Cakes are, Pinkie?" she asked.

Pinkie Pie stopped chewing and just shook her head somberly.

"There were signs upstairs that somepony was digging around looking for stuff, and a lot of the pictures of the walls are missing," said Rainbow Dash, "Maybe they ran off and hid somewhere? I'd bet they're fine, you know. We did our best to warn everypony."

"Maybe a lot of the townsponies ran off and hid somewhere," said Rarity, "I mean, everything is so empty… They can't all have been infected by the black stuff."

"Ugh…infected?" Twilight Sparkle's nose scrunched up at the thought. She detested disease.

Rarity shrugged. "Well, so to speak…"

Twilight felt Spike look at her again - same bleak look. 'Hope all you want, we need to focus on finding the elements.' she thought. She shook her head. What compelled her to think such awful things? She tried to shake them off.

"I mean, I could see 'infected'," said Rainbow Dash, "I mean, the black stuff that got on Fluttershy didn't really do anything at first. It could be kind of like getting sick, I think. You're actually sick for a few days before you feel sick… like before it really hits you. Maybe the black stuff's like that; it infects you but waits awhile before it swallows you up."

"That 'black stuff' sure doesn't sound like any disease I've ever heard of," said Pinkie Pie.

"Well, I'm not saying that it is a disease. I'm saying that it's like a disease," said Rainbow Dash.

"Ah, I see!" said Protean Joy, "That 'black stuff' is infecting ponies, but not immediately. Like it's waiting for something…"

Rainbow Dash nodded. "Yeah, yeah!"

Protean Joy cocked his head. "Do you think it has to be triggered somehow?"

Twilight felt a gulp at that thought. If it were waiting to be triggered, what's the trigger?

Spike shook his head. "It might not even be an 'it'," he said. He frowned like he was thinking something he didn't have the words to express. "Er, I mean, the black stuff might not think or feel. Do you know what I'm saying?"

"You're saying it isn't sentient - like it doesn't think or perceive really, but just is. Like a rock. Yeah?" said Twilight.

"Yeah, kind of," said Spike, "'Not sentient' - that's probably it."

"Maybe it just takes time to really set in," said Rarity, "Like it's got to get in your bloodstream and get all over your body." She paused, drawn aback by a spur of thought. "All over your body?" she asked rhetorically, "Do you think it just covers the outside of your body, or does it get inside you as well?"

"Yuck! Some of us are trying to eat here!" Rainbow Dash sputtered. She stuck her tongue out in protest. The room grew silent for a moment with the discussion on hiatus. Twilight Sparkle though as she chomped down her remaining food down.

"Hey, Pinkie," she said after a while, "What's that book you were reading?"

Pinkie Pie chewed quickly, trying to swallow so she could talk. "It's a book of legends, like short stories. They're all concerned with how our species started. I've only glanced over one."

"Huh, I don't suppose there was anything like the darkness in that story…" Twilight said.

Pinkie Pie shrugged. "Um, maybe," she said, "Like, so in the story this Ponietheus guy gave ponies fire so they could be a civilization, and, like, his alicorn bosses didn't like that so they tried to attack him. So, he used a powerful spell to sever them - not, like, cut them half, but some lost they're wings and some lost their horns; unicorn and pegasi, you see - anyway, he used this spell and it was so powerful that it drew from the minds of all the ponies. Since the ponies had come to fear alicorns, he appear all dark and spooky to them - like, he was a piece of paper that all their fears got painted to. Anyway, he was cursed to be stuck in some city and they all left him. Kinda sad, really."

Twilight had never heard of these stories, not in all her time is libraries. "So, that 'sever' spell he used, it manifested as a sticky darkness."

Pinkie Pie shook her head, "No, that's not what I meant. The sticky darkness wasn't actually, like, there in the story, it was an illusion. When Ponietheus cast the spell to sever the alicorns, the spell drew power from the collective knowledge of the Earth ponies. However, it needed so much power, that it 'descended deeper into something darker and more primal', and it made all the ponies afraid of him. They saw him as a darkness, he didn't actually become one. It was an illusion."

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "I don't see what that story has to do with anything."

"Well, how'd you guys find the book?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Spike rubbed the tips of his claws against his cheek. "It was just lying on the ground in the throne room. I had picked it up when it got stuck in my fingers. I just didn't think to pull it off. I don't know if it means anything."

They were all quiet for a while.

"Hey, when a pony's eyes turn black - like Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy's - They were hallucinating, right?" She drew her head back, disappointed at the clutter of words she had spouted. Looks of subtle confusion swept her friends at the table, and Twilight rushed to reorganize her words.

"Er… I mean, when the black stuff… infects a pony and makes their eyes turn black, maybe it makes them hallucinate. Like when Fluttershy went all dark… She must be vividly hallucinating, like a dream or something."

"I don't see your point, Twilight," Rainbow Dash said. "I mean, I get what your saying, but I think we all gathered that. I mean, it's pretty obvious that I was hallucinating back at the library, for instance."

The corners of Twilight's mouth hinged in disappointment. She knew what she meant, but the right words to convey the idea proved difficult to pin down.

"No, no…" she stuttered, eyes fluttering to and fro, "Like, when you get infected. Like when Fluttershy or Princess Celestia went all black, maybe they're dreaming! It's only a theory, but maybe the black stuff traps you in a dream, and all we have to do to counter it is find a way to wake them up!"

"I think I get what you're saying, Twilight," Rarity said,"That if we were to get infected like Fluttershy, that we'd all see and hear different things like in a dream. If being infected means you're dreaming, then we can save ponies by waking them up!"

"Yeah, yeah… That makes sense!" said Pinkie Pie, "but we'd definitely need to know more about the, um, 'infection'. All we have to go on right now is Rainbow Dash's experience and what Rarity saw at the castle…"

Protean Joy chewed and swallowed. He looked at Rainbow Dash. "Madam, didn't you say - when the Dark Harbinger was in your head, I mean - didn't he tell you to be afraid."

Rainbow Dash nodded.

Protean Joy looked at Twilight. "Maybe that's our trigger. The infected become afraid and the blackness swallows them up, renders them… mute, unresponsive."

"Well, we won't know for sure unless we test it," Twilight said. "In the name of subterfuge and all, I mean. We'd need a test subject."

'Maybe I could listen to them?,' Twilight thought, 'I mean, I could feel everypony around me earlier. Maybe I could feel what whomever is infected and know for sure if they're afraid...'

They all went a little quiet.

Rainbow Dash coughed. Something made her uncomfortable. "Well," she said, "If we get to Sweet Apple Acres and Applejack is infected, then…"

"…then we could study her," Twilight said, "We didn't get much of a chance with Fluttershy." The bitterness of referring to her friends as little more then hypothesis and test subjects did not settle well with Twilight Sparkle. But such unpleasantness was brutally necessary in the situation, and everypony seemed to understand it. Twilight Sparkle despised this side of intellectualism where objectivity became cold and unfeeling, only concerned with data and results.

Twilight shook her head. "I don't like the sound of that. I don't like referring to my friends in such a cold manner."

"None of us do, Twilight," Rarity said, "but… this is what the situation calls out for. We need to know more about the 'infection' if we ever hope to reverse it."

"You're not the only one who hates that idea, Twilight…" Spike said softly, "but… well, here's hoping that Applejacks alright."

Rainbow Dash sipped from the cup upon the table before somberly pulling herself up from the table. She motioned for the door.

"I know a way we can find out."

Twilight sighed. 'No going back now…'

"Let me test Pinkie's earmuffs, then we'll head out."

Author's Note:

Applejack/Tumbleweed: "...so far away, come on home."