Gladiator

by Not_A_Hat

63 - Well

We stood by the edge of the pool for a while. I rubbed my temples, trying to line my thoughts up.

"Sir…"

"Yes?"

"We should complete our investigation and begin our return." Bit gave me a serious look. "The trip was arduous. We should be careful on the way back."

"You're absolutely right." I heaved a sigh. "Thanks, Bit. Let's grab our stuff, look around, and try to head out in an hour."

"Of course." It gave me a nod and turned towards the packs.

"Wes."

"Yeah, Pinkie?"

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Better." I grinned. "I guess I owe you an explanation." A thought struck me. "And maybe you can explain what you know about the tree."

"Not much." She shrugged. "But of course I'll tell you! Maybe when we're crossing the shadowy part again! There can be singing! And an epic trombone solo!"

"Ugh." I grinned, despite my dismay. That enchanted darkness was more trouble than the foxfire had been. "Pinkie…"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for always making me smile. Don't ever change, 'k?"

"K~!" she sang, bouncing off.

I heaved a sigh, and started pacing slowly back. The return trip would be laborious, but -

I stopped, thought cut off. As I walked, sparks flew up around my ankles. The pattern cast by the Tree at Cog's arrival had mostly faded, but it had lingered under my feet, and now it was reacting to me. I took a few more steps. Twists and curls flared as I moved. Specks of glowing power rose, like fireflies in the evening. It was pretty.

No. I frowned. Magic. This pattern was magic. I needed to adjust my thinking. I'd assumed it was something others could see, but that was wrong. Something was affecting my brain. That bothered me, but now I knew. There were principles behind it. Even the wild magic of the Everfree had phenomenotions; the basic symbolism that underwrote all spells. If they were simple enough, maybe I could divine them and see the intent behind it.

I threw my mind back to the memory Twilight uncovered, focusing on the pattern. It had appeared around a crystal tree, much like this one, only smaller. I looked up. Maybe that one modeled this. I smirked. Or the other way around? That was the first time I remembered seeing the pattern. So was the effect in place before that?

I groaned, rubbing my temples. I let my mind wander, searching for more memories. Cog said I had mental scars. I'd felt something change when it… did whatever, but I couldn't recall anything new.

"A chance," I mumbled, trying to remember exactly what Cog said. I'd have Bit repeat it later for transcription; it would definitely remember, even if it didn’t understand English. "Cog claimed it gave me a chance, but couldn't interfere much, so I should be ready to seize it." I pondered that for a minute, before tabling the thought. It was useless worry. I scanned the memory Twilight found again, searching for a sense of time. When was it? How long had it taken?

I'd told ponies I’d fallen asleep in one world, and woke up in another. Until last night, I'd honestly believed my own story. Still, I hadn't explained that to anypony until I'd learned Equestrian, which was months after my arrival. Looking back, I was fuzzy on the details. I did remember something like that, but I may have forgotten something more. I'd been captured in short order, and after… I hadn't done much thinking. It had taken a friendly voice and strong motivation to return me to my senses.

Now, I wondered. Just how much memory was I missing?

Relativity aside, I'd considered 'transit time' to be instant, not unknown. I had no guarantee for that. Camping, I’d fallen asleep soon after sunset and awoke lost, soon after sunrise. Twelve hours? Okay, that was my simplest guess; twelve hours transit time.

Twelve hours was a long time. It was just over fifteen hours since leaving Ponyville. A lot could be accomplished in that time.

But I had no guarantee that was right, either.

Relativity meant I couldn’t measure time between dimensions. My clothes had seemed the same. My cellphone had battery when I turned it on; I’d been searching for GPS, or even cell signal, when the changelings attacked me. But a battery would last weeks or months with the device shut off. And if magic was involved…

Could I guess a maximum? Months? Years?

Was this even my first world? Would I have noticed a year's physical aging?

I shook my head slowly, throttling my brain back as it tried to shift into overdrive. I couldn't afford to trace that train of thought; it would only lead to frustration. For now, I would choose simplest. Transit was twelve hours, give or take, and some of that was sleeping. Besides; my beard hadn't grown past stubble, so without magic I wasn't missing more than a few days.

That was less insanity-inducing. It hinged on no magic intervention, but I needed to make some assumptions. If it was wrong, I'd revise.

My thoughts drifted back to the pattern and the memory. I couldn't remember anything before or after, but I could remember the Tree, the pattern, and Cog. Cog and the tree were for later; I needed to consult Twilight, Pinkie, and Luna. Maybe Celestia, too. The pattern, though...

In the past day or so, I'd learned three things. The pattern was magic. The magic affected only me, and it may have been applied before my arrival.

Now, what did that mean?

I slowed my pacing, trying to synthesise an answer. Curling. Tribal. Twice, it showed up by the Tree. I set those aside. There were four others. The entrance to the Caverns, the Crystal Kingdom, the painting, and the inter-dimensional portal. Each situation involved powerful magic, even if I hadn't known. The mirror was hidden behind the painting. The Caverns. Sombra's secret passage, and teleport door.

My excitement grew as I started to make connections. The entrance to the Caverns was an intricately warded trapdoor. Sombra had a teleport door hidden under his throne room. The painting concealed the Misty Mirror which took us to Mirror Equestria, while the dimension door brought us back.

Was that it? Doors?

I looked at the pattern beneath my feet. It glowed and faded as I moved, lighting up step by step. Farther away it was nearly gone, but nearby, I could see it clearly.

"Hold on…" I stopped, and turned around.

Behind me, I could see every step I'd walked. The pattern grew, thorny and intricate, from my feet. It traced my trail, running along the floor, marking a… pathway. It extended under my feet. I’d never have noticed, without turning around.

I traced it into the dark, towards one of the unexplored walls. A trail. To… something. A door?

"Holy crow." I rubbed my eyes, and stepped carefully backwards. The pattern sparked to life beneath me, extending by inches. The glow faded when I lowered my foot, leaving another portion of pathway connected. "That's… actually pretty cool."

I peered into the darkness. Pinkie and Bit's light were small sparks, nearly lost in the dark, moving around near the entrance we'd made. I sighed, and continued my walk. We could investigate after I collected my pack.

---

"You believe it's a… signal?" Bit gave me a curious look.

"Yeah." I walked back along the path. As I followed it, the pattern slowly faded. "Whenever I've seen the pattern, it's near a door or portal. I don’t trust it, but… it hasn't hurt me yet. I think." I shivered. Looking back over my actions, I didn't seem manipulated. But then, maybe I wouldn't. The idea of my perceptions being messed with no longer scared me stiff, but it was still unsettling.

"So, we're following it now?" Pinkie bounced along beside me.

"Yup." I looked into the darkness. "We don't have time to explore everything here, so I picked the most interesting."

"Okey dokey lokey!" Pinkie grinned at me. "Oooo, look!" She pointed ahead with her lamp. "Is that where it goes?"

"Yeah." I followed her beam. A crevice in the stone wall yawned wide. "Yeah, it leads right in there."

"Sweet!" Pinkie bounced ahead.

"Do you think the pattern harms you?"

"I'm honestly not sure, Bit." I sighed. "It's possible it’s benign. It's even possible I knew what it was, and just forgot. Hay, it's possible I brought this on myself, and forgot! I wish Cog…" I sighed again. "But, if wishes were fishes, the sea would be full."

"I will take your word for it." Bit nodded. "Ah. Stairs."

I stepped into the crevice. The pattern I was following continued on, running up a rough-carved flight of stone steps. We followed as Pinkie sprang upwards.

"I swear, she's half bouncy ball." I rolled my eyes at her inexhaustible energy.

After a long, long, tiring climb, the pattern faded out. We had reached a door. The smooth stone was obviously a portal; the lintel and side posts were clear, but there was no obvious means of entry, just a carved frame sealed with a solid slab. I thought, while Pinkie scrutinized and searched, running her hooves over it methodically.

"Maybe it's magic?" I tried to scan the door. "If this pattern points to portals, it only illuminates certain ones. I've never seen it around normal doors."

"Oooooh!" Pinkie grinned, stepped back, and pushed me forward. "Why didn't you say so sooner? Get to work!"

"Um." I raised my wand and tried another scan. "But the background magic is too strong, and I don't know how much - "

"Excuses!" Pinkie slapped my back roughly, unbalancing me. "You're the magician here, so it's your job!"

"Right," I said weakly, stumbling forward. I put a hand out for balance, bracing myself against the door.

I nearly toppled as it suddenly shifted, sliding sideways until the gap was open.

"Ooooh!" Pinkie grinned. "See, I knew you could do it!"

"Did you?" I gave her a skeptical look. "I'm never sure when you're being literal, Pinkie."

"Perfect!" She rubbed her hooves together, and chuckled darkly. "My evil plan is working!"

"Uh… huh." I stepped through the doorway, and whistled. "Is that…"

"The tree." Bit followed me in.

I’d no idea how high the stairs had climbed. They'd twisted and turned, going up and up. Now I knew we’d reached near the roof because here, extending through a gaping hole in the floor, was a thick column of crystal.

I edged towards the edge, and peered down. The Tree spread below me, a dizzying profusion of branches curled and twisted together. Perspective flattened them into a spiny, thorny pattern, which strangely drew the eye. I shook my head, and turned away.

"Yup, that's the Tree."

"Look!" Pinkie pointed. "It goes up more!"

Sure enough, across the room, the stairs wound up the wall. They were carved directly into the face of the stone. The Tree continued as well, eventually vanishing into a cracked stone ceiling.

"Those look… precarious." I grimaced.

"I think you mean fun~!" Pinkie bounded across the room, and started bouncing up the stairs. "Look, you can see all the way down to the pool!" She gazed over the edge, waving a hoof into space. I grimaced.

"Pinkie, you have good balance, right?" I walked over to the steps, and started carefully ascending. "Bit, be careful."

"As you say." My aide started after me.

"Well, I can unicycle on a tightrope!" Pinkie bounced a little higher. "Is that good?"

"Good enough." I stopped worrying about the pink pony, and concentrated on my own climb.

"Hey, art!" Pinkie pointed to the step she was on.

"Huh?" I looked down. Sure enough, each step was carved with a rune. "Oh, interesting." I stopped, and rubbed a finger over my own. "I wonder…"I drew my wand, and carefully scanned the stone. At first, I didn't get anything. But as I focused, I picked up faint traces of magic over the background noise. "Bit?"

"Yes?"

"Can you use detect?"

"Indeed." Bit nodded back. "If I locked down my magic, I would require assistance to return to my shape."

"Right. Huh. Okay, I know you don't cast much, but could you scan one of these? I want your opinion." Bit memorized spells quickly and easily, but its overly literal viewpoint made it an inflexible caster. Its disguise was an earth pony, and most of its power went to transformation. It wasn’t much for magic.

"Strange." Bit ran a hand over the faint carving. "There is no spell here, but… magic persists."

"My thoughts exactly." Each step had a rune. I turned, motioning Bit back. We walked to the bottom step, and I examined the first one. "These are magic runes, but they're only tied to each other once, in a stream. Like… like…" I paused, thinking it over. "Like someone cut a grimoire apart, and pasted the words randomly onto a… paper." I stopped, looking at the stairs again. When I was a child, I'd done that with a newspaper. "This is... A message?"

"How?" Bit gave the runes a skeptical look.

"Phenomenotation." I ran a hand over the rune. "Runes store meaning, magically. It's independent of language; it's a direct concept, tied to a symbol by the caster. With clever formulation, you could leave a series of runes readable by anyone who could scan, if they understood the concepts. A nearly universal language."

"Ingenious."

"Very."

I leaned down, and scanned the rune again. This time, instead of looking for spell-structure or connections, I concentrated on understanding the meaning, the idea that the rune signified.

It looked different from a pony rune, like a comb with missing teeth. It linked to exactly one other; the rune marking the next step. I scanned upwards, and added that meaning to the one in my head.

"We."

"Hmm?"

"These two." I pointed to the steps. "A person and the group they belong with. It's the first… word?" I shrugged. "Yeah. The first word." I looked up the stairs. "This is a message. Let's see if we can read it."

"Sounds challenging." Bit produced a notebook. "Ready when you are."

"Right." I lowered my wand to the steps, and started upwards. "I may give several words for some runes. I keep getting vibes of trees, even from these two. I have no idea how cognate our concepts will be, but I bet we can get something."

"Understood."

---

"Good grief." I slumped on the landing. "We finally reached the top." Behind us, the stairs stretched down. Beside us, the lone crystal column continued, disappearing into the roof. Before us, another sealed door barred our way.

"This is intriguing." Bit gave me a serious stare. "But we should send word back soon, or the others will begin to wonder."

"Blech." I grimaced. "I left in such a hurry, I didn't think to grab - "

Bit silently extracted my communication folder, and presented it to me.

"Bit, have I ever told you you're the best assistant in the world?"

"Yes." Its voice was quietly pleased. "But it is nice to hear again."

"Bitterbloom, you're absolutely the best assistant in the world."

"Thank you, sir."

"You're welcome. Now, take dictation; a vivre card for Twilight, and… copy to Sunset."

"Ready." It flipped open the binder.

I dictated a quick blurb, enough to dispel fears of our being lost, with just enough information to quell search parties but not bring rabid curiosity down on us. I promised answers, reparations, and hugs. Bit sent the letters in a stream of sparkles, which wafted quickly towards the roof, fading from view.

"Now, what have we got from the steps?"

Bit handed me the notebook. I carefully scanned it.

"Is it done?" Pinkie gave me a wide-eyed look. "I'm turning into a cat over here! And then dying! Because of curiosity!"

"Yeah, we've got… something." I scanned the paper. It was neatly printed, but still seemed scrambled. First came the names of trees. For some reason, each separate rune had one; there were twenty or so, total.

Underneath were the concepts for each step, followed by concepts grouped into words, often chained by slashes. Although the message was surprisingly readable, several concepts weren't concrete. Some were only sounds; likely names. I carefully copied the completed 'letter' onto a blank page, trying to understand the message as a whole and pick appropriate meanings. Eventually, I had a message of sorts.

"Alright, here's what we've got." I scooted back against the wall, and held the translation up, reading it slowly. I wasn't certain every word was correct, but it was legible and mostly understandable.

"We are children of the supreme being Danu. Defeated and tricked by Amergin of the Milesians, we fled into the West, choosing to rise in transcendence instead of suffering their rule. Mananan Mac Lir has led us on the path of the people of the mounds. We have arrived in a gentle and beautiful world, passing through a Well filled with stars, a Tear in reality itself.

"Beware, you who follow. If you continue West, take heed! A Tear such as this may be created by careless walking! We did not create the one here, though it eased our entrance. The dangers of foolish walking are clearly seen here. It is a source of strange power, leeching the very fabric of the Otherworld into this place. Even the sheevra come and go freely, afflicting all who linger. To repel the corruption, we have sealed this cavern. The One Between works against them, though his efforts have yet to bear fruit.

"Escape from the cave can be found above, but beware the wilderness. We have laid our vanquished Kings to rest here, beneath the Record of All. Safety can be found in our halls. We welcome all who walk peacefully. These are the words of Oghma."

I slowly lowered the paper. I'd translated this, and it was still strange to me.

"Wow." Pinkie gave me a wide-eyed stare. "Twilight is going to tweak."

"No kidding." I gave her a weak grin. "This is ridiculous. Tears in reality? Walkers? The One Between? She'll go berserk."

"I hope that was worth it." Bit yawned. "Night is falling. We will need to spend it here."

"I think it was." I shrugged. "This is going to take some serious thought, but… even without Cog's help, there's more here than I thought I'd find." I glanced up. "Let's just try one more door, and then we can make camp."

"Alright." Bit rose wearily, dusting itself off. "Maybe we can find a sheltered spot."

Again, the door moved easily before my hand. I gave it a suspicious glance. Why had these doors moved for me, but not Pinkie?

I stepped through, and glanced around.

"If the letter is correct, we should find the tombs of their kings, and the Record of All. They didn’t warn against them like they did the Everfree, so they’re probably not a big deal, but be careful. We have no idea what sort of ponies…" The words died on my lips, as I shone my light into the darkness. Yellow gold flashed back, but that's not what silenced me.

"Sir…" Bit breathed. "Those are not ponies."

"They must be the kings." My voice was numb. Three slabs lay before me, wreathed in runes. Upon each rested a body, dressed beautifully and crowned richly. No decay touched their faces, no wounds marred their bodies.

Three human corpses. They looked like they were asleep.

"People of the supreme being Danu. I could have translated that goddess." I rubbed my eyes. My mind flashed back to meeting Celestia. Crying on her couch had left a deep impression on me, but there had been more to that day. I'd asked her for myths of humans. "The Princess called them ‘Tuatha’. The dragons had stories of them. I never made the connection. On Earth, the legends called them Tuatha De Danann. People of the goddess Danu." My voice was quiet. "The ancestors of the Irish, driven out by invaders from Iberia. They left for the Otherworld. Humans. From my world?" I looked back down the stairs. "The message said they came through the Well. It must be that pool, under the tree. The One Between helped them; that can only be Cog." I slumped against the wall, head spinning. "What… why… what…" I lapsed into silence. "What do I do now?"

This was overwhelming, confusing. Suddenly, I had more answers than I could deal with. Humans? Here? Why? How? I couldn't process this. It was just too big. I felt like I'd stepped into a puddle and landed in the ocean.

I sat in silence for a while, unsure. Bit and Pinkie left me in peace, carefully examining the room. My confusion subsided slowly. My brain began moving again. I rose, and ran my fingers over the runes, looking down at the corpses. The sea of answers started to align, pointing to ever-more questions.

“Humans.” The word rang loud in the tomb. “From Earth?” The legends matched. Tuatha and Tuatha. But they had magic. They… walked West. Is that how they got here? I found spells for preservation and repelling rot, desiccation and embalming, even removing dust. “Oh.” I found a name; it only took a moment to decipher the spell-script. “Ethur of the hazel?” I stepped back, trying to get a good look.

He looked like a human.

He could have been sleeping. A strong but weary face, still in slumber. He looked like a nice guy, the sort of person who’d be a good friend. I stared for a while, before moving to the other slabs. Knowing where to look, I found their names easily.

“Tethur of the plow, and Cethur of the... sun.” I shook my head. “Would you know how I got here?” I addressed the corpses quietly. “Could you tell me how to get home?”

There was no answer. I sighed, suddenly feeling more lost than ever.

"Come on." After a moment, Bit tugged gently at my wrist. "We're not done yet." It pointed to a staircase across the room. "One more door."

I hurried across, suddenly desperate to be moving away. I needed a break from revelation, a surcease of wonder. I wanted a bit of boring.

This door grated as I touched it. No wonder they only moved for me. I was the only human. Could Bit open them? It hadn’t touched one yet.

We stepped into a large cave. The setting sun poured light around a corner ahead. The door shut behind us with a slam. I turned, worried; it had vanished without a trace. I sighed in relief as a familiar pattern sparked to life on the bare stone. As long as I could see the curly, twisty shapes, I wouldn't lose the entrance.

Suddenly, it looked a little like Celtic knot-work. How had I not seen that before?

I turned back, moving to the exit. We'd reached the end of the Caverns. We must be in the Everfree; hopefully somewhere I recognized.

Turning the corner, we found one last surprise. The crystal pillar we'd been following, the topmost offshoot of the Tree, emerged from the ground here. Cracks radiated through the stone around it. It divided a few more times, radiating glimmering spikes as it branched into a final treelike structure. From the branches hung chains of crystal, and on the trunk stood the symbols of sun, moon, and stars.

A dark alicorn stood beneath, expression worried.

"Luna?" My call was more a gasp.

"Wes!" She turned to us. "Bit! Pinkie!" She galloped over, and threw her wings around us. "I'm glad I found you! After seeing your dream, I knew you'd be looking for the Tree of Harmony, but…" She drew back, giving me a confused frown. "How did you get here?"

"Hah!" Suddenly overwhelmed, I burst into slightly hysterical laughter. "Hahhahah!" I slumped in her grasp, giggling. She gave me a hesitant glance, and turned to my aide. "Bit?"

"Princess…" The changeling drew out the word. "Have we got a story for you."

Comments

[Ocean Waves]

Good chapter. And in other news, hurray for wandering pre-irish!

[Not_A_Hat]

4646599 Yeah, I try to use the magic schools and spell explanations more for flavor. If I'm doing my job, no-one should have to remember the names to understand what's going on. I think I've messed this up a few times, though. u.u;

I'm glad you like my portrayal of Luna. She's a great character, and really fun to write; I'm a little less wary of her than Celestia.

4646694 If you wait, it will keep getting longer. I update pretty regularly. :P

4646944 Haha, yeah. Kickin' ass and drinking beer in every universe.

[REDACTED99999]

4647107 Good job on yet another chapter :D hmm... I have been wondering, but it is a little more personal question if you do not mind: Do you play role playing? I saw a reference in some chapter but don't remember what it was. And you use Blender to make your... picture...thingy. Are you a designer or is it more hobby? ^^

[Not_A_Hat]

4647331 I enjoy roleplaying. I DM'd a pretty sloppy D&D game last semester, right before I dropped out of college for money and health reasons. I've done 3D art in Blender on and off for years. I'm self-taught; it's basically the hobby I took seriously before writing. I'd do it more, if I had a better computer. The cover is done using Freestyle, a non-photorealistic render engine, and post-processed for the shading; I purposefully picked a simple design, so it didn't take long.

[REDACTED99999]

4647407 Hail fellow roleplayer XD I have played D&D, it's less known cousin Pathfinder, Magic-The Awakening from the world of darkness world... and some selfmade games ^^ unfortunately I don't have a group anymore since I moved :/
Cover, that's what it's called XD I start in university soon, where we will use 3D programs like Maya, so I took a look at Blender since It's free ^^ Though I havn't made anything in it per say, I just watched a lot of tutorials on youtube...

[Arexander]

I felt like I'd stepped into a puddle and landed in the ocean.

i.imgur.com/IvalA.gif

even Sweetie Belle can understand

But... isn't she a dictionary? Maybe Scootaloo would have been better?

[Not_A_Hat]

4649961 *Wesley teaching Scootaloo magic*

"So, the basics of magic are - "

*zZzZzZz*

"Hmm.... I bet I could glue her to the ceiling next to Rainbow Dash..."

4649823 Yeah, we played D&D 3.5, and lots of people have told me Pathfinder is like, 3.75. I would play, given the chance. You can find a group in University, I bet. Mine was just a few guys from my dorm, who were all like "Let's play D&D! You DM." I and I was like, "Uhhh... well, I'll try anything once." So I did the plot, and another guy did the rules, and it worked okay. I'd do better, now.

Blender's definitely worth a look. It's just as powerful as Maya, but the interface will be different. You may be able to find a template that re-arranges the interface to match, though; blender is incredibly flexible.

[REDACTED99999]

4650901
I played 3,5 aswell :) I hope I get one, cause roleplaying is aaaaawesome! :D You were the DM the first time? :O that was so mean of them XD normaly you play a couple of times before you are ready to DM ;)
I know it is, and best of all, it's free XD I love freeware... :3

[Not_A_Hat]

4651272 Well, I mainly just did the story/plot. I had an assistant who did most of the numbers, until I started learning them. It mostly worked quite well, actually.

Yeah, Blender is one of the few really successful freeware projects. They actually manage to employ full-time developers, and give away the software. I'm not really sure how they do it, but it's genius. It also updates at a breakneck pace.

[REDACTED99999]

4651344 Well if it worked well then thats good XD I like being the player more... Altough I have made some atempts at being the game master XD It did not last very long for some reason ^^
Yeah the only bad thing about blender is finding tutorials to the current version XD but thats not a very big problem in itself ^^

[Dj7291993]

You're right, there is this strange disappointment when you see that a story is already complete. Which is odd, since it's far more disappointing finding out that the story you just caught up on hasn't updated in over 2 years. The part about not searching for new stuff I definateky agree with. Not that I don't like finding new stories, there's just so much to sort through.

Also, is it safe to read the extras yet?

Pinkie slapped my back, roughly unbalancing me..

First, you have an extra period. Second, seems like the comma should go after roughly rather than before it. The way it is now, sound like he was unbalanced roughly, rather than slapped roughly. Could just be me, though.

This is.. A message?

Your ellipsis is missing a period. Maybe it snuck up to the one above.... Also, I don't think the a needs capitalized, since there is no full stop after the ellipsis.

Beware, you who follow.

Escape from the cave can be found above,

These two are both missing those pesky opening quotaion marks.

[CrustyKing]

God damn irish planewalkers. It reminded me of Bad Mondays. Great story by Handyman.
Also, I might have been binge reading this story for the last 12 hours. Amazing story so far and only 11 chapters to go! I really love all the references to popculture and great books, like Disc World or Lovecraft's creations.