Chapter 12 - Ancient Magic
Macintosh wasn't entirely sure he should be walking so much with his current condition; a fact he only ever considered when he wasn't working (which he tried to do, and it went pretty well until his body decided to tell him he was overworking and he could feel his muscles straining as if he had been bucking nonstop for days), and that Braeburn was keen to remind him of. Pinkie bounced along with the two of them too, of course; something Macintosh wasn't entirely sure was okay, but if she knew Twilight and Spike, he couldn't imagine what harm could come of it.
It took them some time, but they finally managed to reach the desolate house. They pushed the gate open (which Pinkie closed back behind them) and stepped onto the property, making their way towards the house, and giving a nice knock on the door. They were met with silence for a bit, before a familiar purple head peaked out over the balcony of the tower. "Oh! You're here! The door's unlocked, come on up."
Macintosh pushed the door open, and all three ponies made their way into the main room. They climbed the stairs up to the top floor, where Twilight stood, waiting for them. "Oh, hello everypony... and Pinkie Pie... I wasn't expecting you?"
"I know," said Pinkie with a nod, "I just had to come up to visit you with my favorite maybe-cousin, and brought you and Spike some muffins from the bakery, and they're fresh! Well, as fresh as they can be considering it took us forever to get here, but it's not like I can afford a balloon to get up here faster, although I do have a propeller bike that could get up here faster, it couldn't carry three ponies, or one pony of Big Mac's particular mass I imagine, but I suppose you make do with what you have!"
Everypony sat quietly for a moment, trying to figure out what she just said. Big Mac merely frowned. "I ain't fat."
"Of course not, Macky! You're big boned!" Pinkie giggled, hugging the big red stallion, who merely scowled at the pink mare. Braeburn seemed to be suppressing laughter, and Twilight was rolling her eyes a bit.
"Well," she said with a sigh, "I only really needed Big Mac's help, but I suppose I can find a way to incorporate you two into the experiment as well." She turned, gesturing into the room. The three ponies followed her in, and up a set up stairs into the tower structure.
The room was different from the rest of the house; almost a living quarters in its own right. Near the balcony was a telescope that seemed to be set aside for the time being, several tables were covered with beakers, vials, and test tubes, a nearby table was covered in scrolls, books, and other parchment, a map of Equestria hung from a wall with various notes tacked to it. Several bookshelves seemed to line the walls, a keg nearby with an apple painted on it hinting that she might have spent extensive periods of time in this room alone. Another set of stairs led up to a second floor, where a bed sat, a few more book shelves, a dresser, and some other personal affects, though none of them saw this at the moment. A familiar yellow pegasus stood there, smiling at the others as she petted an owl. "Oh! Hello!"
Macintosh seemed a bit surprised. "Miss 'Shy? Why are you here?"
The yellow mare made her way towards the group, leaving the owl alone. "Oh, Twilight asked me to come. She was trying to figure out what happened with that over there..." She pointed towards a familiar stone orb on a pedestal. "She's been questioning me a lot about who I am and what I do trying to figure out what might have made it glow, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything..."
Macintosh nodded. "I see. Well, you try." He looked from the pegasus towards the stone for a moment, staring at it curiously for a moment before turning his attention back to Twilight. "So, how's that research goin'?"
"It's going..." Twilight sighed a bit, putting a hoof on the bridge of her nose. "I've... more or less got ideas of where the others might be, but all of the elements' locations seem to be displayed as some kind of riddle. Bits and pieces I really can't make sense of." Twilight trotted towards her desk, staring at some parchment that sat next to the book that had seemingly started this whole mess. "As you know, the stone here was said to reside "In Canterlot's grave; the resting place of Harmony'. This seems very vague, but those who were fascinated in ancient Equestria might tell you that this mountain was to be home to a city." She turned around, looking at all the other ponies. "It was Celestia's dream to build a city that represented unity and harmony among the tribes. But, with the growing tension between ponies, she left before she could build it."
Macintosh, Braeburn, and Fluttershy exchanged glances, and Pinkie seemed to tap her chin inquisitively.
"The others are a bit more... difficult..." Twilight frowned a bit, looking back towards the parchment. "One is said to 'reside with my blood; heirs to throne despised, and rulers of a crumbling kingdom'. Another 'among the clouds with warriors proud and strong'...." She shook her head. "I've... basically determined that that second one is likely Cloudsdale..."
"Cloudsdale?" Fluttershy's eyes widened just a bit. Macintosh noticed her slowly put a hoof on her chest, and the look on her face seemed... almost longing.
"Guess Fluttershy will have to get that one." Braeburn said with a shrug, looking to the pegasus, whose pupils shrank to pinpricks.
"No no no no," Fluttershy said, shaking her head, "I-I-I can't go there! Ever! Never again!" The room fell silent. Everypony exchanged glances, then looked to Fluttershy.
"Why not?" Braeburn smirked, shaking his head. "You can fly, right? You're a pegasus. Why wouldn't you be able to?"
"She can't because she's not in Cloudsdale."
Mac, Braeburn and Pinkie looked to Twilight, who seemed to be looking towards the orb again. "Cloudsdale and similar Pegasus settlements have strict rules about who can come and go. Only pegasi with special permission can leave Cloudsdale and come back, mostly for trading purposes. Any pegasus who leaves without such permission is labeled an exile, and not permitted to return. Some sort of method to keep their city 'pure' by not polluting it with earth-born pegasi who might potentially have earthpony heritage, which is just as well since an earthpony born in Cloudsdale would never be able to be put set without falling to its death."
Everypony was quiet a bit. Nopony knew what to say. Macintosh merely rubbed the back of his neck, and Braeburn bit his lip, clearly feeling some level of sympathy for the poor yellow mare. "Well," said Pinkie with a sigh, "guess that's one we're not gonna get!"
"Don't be so sure." Twilight smirked a bit, looking towards the others. "I've got a trick or two up my sleeve, and I've already got a few plans lined up for getting into Cloudsdale." She stopped a moment, blushing. "Though... it might take me some time to arrange it."
"Well," said Macintosh, "what about the others?"
Twilight cleared her throat, looking back at the parchment. "'One was said to be entrusted to a family of nomads, so in-tuned to nature that they seemed to breathe life into it wherever they went. And another one, left 'where disaster began, and her doubt blossomed'." Twilight looked up to the others. "I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure that, judging by some other things written in that book, that what this is describing is supposed to be the Castle of the Sisters."
Braeburn groaned. "We have to go back!?"
Macintosh seemed to turn pale. "Into the Everfree?"
Twilight waved a hoof. "Yeah, well, don't worry about that. I set up a little something to make a journey like that far more expedient." She grinned. "You're talking to a pony who has access to unicorn technology."
The room fell silent. Macintosh and Braeburn exchanged glances once again, and Twilight blushed. "Uhm, but keep that under your hat. I'm really not supposed to have a functional magic mirror."
The group made their ways into the house's cellar. There stood a single, lonely mirror, it's frame golden, yet somewhat damaged, worn by time. Twilight stepped before it, waved a hoof at it, and smiled. "Well," she said with a sigh, "Here it is. One of the old unicorn relics. Found it in the Castle of the Sisters with Filthy Rich. He let me keep it, and I restored it." She seemed to wilt a bit, frowning as she looked up at the strange mirror. "Unfortunately, it only connects to that one mirror."
Macintosh stared at the mirror, curious. He stepped closer to it, eyeing it, taking the entire thing in. "So... did all unicorns have something like this?"
"Well, no..." Twilight giggled, waving a hoof towards the mirror halfheartedly, "these mirrors were usually kept only by certain unicorns. Those who could make them, and those who were given them. A few Pegasi and Earth ponies had some too, but I imagine most of them were either destroyed or no longer work."
"Neat..." Braeburn said, tapping the mirror, though his hoof got smacked for his efforts by an angry looking Twilight. He chuckled a bit, pulling away from it. "How does it work?"
"Well," said Twilight with a nod, "there is another magic mirror in the castle of the Royal Sisters. It's basically how I got back and forth from there without having to go through the Everfree Forest repeatedly." She looked towards the ponies, clearly enjoying the explanation. "All we really have to do is approach it, and it should react to our innate magic and open a doorway."
"Neat." Braeburn grinned. "So... why not jump on in?"
Twilight looked towards Braeburn, raising a brow. "I'm ready whenever you guys are, but I hope none of you have eaten in the past forty five minutes. I'd rather nopony throw up on thousand year old carpet."
"Wait, we're going in there right now?" Macintosh said, grimacing at the prospect of such an impromptu adventure -- especially one through something he has never used before that seemed guaranteed to be unpleasant. He wasn't entirely sure he was comfortable with the idea of trusting his well being to an artifact that does something he had never even imagined as possible before.
"Yep." Twilight turned, and trotted towards the mirror. As she approached it, the glass rippled as if it were water. She looked back at the others, giving a little smile. "Well, see you on the other side!" With that, she turned and stepped forward. Much to Macintosh's (and everypony else's) surprise, she passed right through, the mirror rippling once more as if it were just water, until she was gone.
Three ponies stared in shock at the mirror. None knew what to say or how to respond. Before they could figure out a proper response, however, they noticed the pink pony sticking her hoof into the mirror and wiggling it around. "Ohh, tingly!" She giggle-snorted, moving her hoof around, causing it to ripple like water following her leg. "Well, last one in is an expired muffin!" Pinkie simply lunged forward, shouting a 'Woohoo', though she only got to 'woo-' before she passed through and her voice was lost to long-distance spacial displacement.
The remaining three ponies exchanged glances, some parts frightened, some parts curious. Braeburn gulped. "Mac? I don't think I want to do this no more..."
"Nope..." Macintosh said with a gulp. The three looked towards the mirror, and Macintosh grimaced hard. "But I said I would." He took a deep breath, scrunched his nose, and squeezed his eyes shut. With that, Macintosh made a brave charge forward, lunging through the mirror's surface.
The world seemed to spin around him, as if he were in a vortex of endless power. He could feel it; the energy coursing through him, permeating him... no, what he felt was something else entirely. A natural sense of wrongness. There was no ground. His heart would race, but he didn't feel it beat at all. There was no gravity, there was no up, there was no down; only a forward. One that he was being pulled to.
All of this happened in but a blink.
Macintosh stepped from the mirror, eyes wide. He wobbled a bit, before falling onto his side. Nearby, Pinkie Pie lay on her back, giggling and waving her hooves around as if she were drunk. "That was fun! Again! Again!"
Twilight stood firm, unaffected, rolling her eyes. "Yeah. We'll be going back through soon enough."
"That was..." heaved Macintosh, eyes wide, "Horrifying..."
Twilight merely shrugged, then turned about, making her way towards a nearby door. "It is kind of scary at first, but I feel it's also beautiful in a way."
Macintosh looked back at the mirror, panting. Visions of a shifting, endless reality, of a swirling vortex of nothing. 'I thought heights were scary... but at least then I know where the ground is...' "What was that...?"
"Well," said Twilight, seeming to ponder the question over a moment, "there are very few known theories... but texts suggest that the unicorns who made them were masters of teleportation magic. They theorized that as breaking down the matter of a pony might potentially be lethal and that rearranging it may not in fact be restoring the original that they needed some way to assure continued existence, so the mirror works by creating a temporal and spacial rift that--"
"Not to sound rude," said Macintosh with a tired groan, "But the short version?"
Twilight frowned, clearly upset that she was interrupted. "You basically stepped out of this dimension for a moment. Think of it as a bridge."
Big Mac's jaw hung limp as he stared at the dirty ceiling above him. "I wasn't..."
"Yeah," said Twilight with a shrug as she turned to make her way towards a nearby door, "it's a little surreal, but it's ultimately nothing to worry about." Suddenly, screaming turned everyone's attention to Braeburn as he stepped from the mirror and stopped, standing tall, wide-eyed, mouth agape, and letting out a small whimper, before falling on his side.
Braeburn panted and heaved. "Wh-where was I?"
Macintosh continued to stare at the ceiling, trying to fully comprehend the fact that, for a moment, he was not in Equestria. "Edge of reality. Between dimensions, in the ether, the void, the vast eternal nothing."
Braeburn nodded, his expression not changing for a moment. "Oh." He lay there silently for a moment. His expression slowly shifted towards what seemed like disgust, before he jumped to his hooves, stepped away, and vomited on the floor.
Twilight grimaced at the sight. "Oh for the love of-- you ate before you came through?"
Braeburn panted and heaved. "Y-yes, I di--" he stopped as he let loose another wave of purging.
Twilight rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Oh well. Everypony get your bearings and we'll continue on. First off, I want you boys to show me where you found that book. We very well may find our answers in the same room." Another sound turned everypony's attention towards Fluttershy, who stepped through the mirror, wobbling a bit. Macintosh slowly lifted himself up, walking towards her. Surprisingly, she simply held up a hoof.
"I-I'm okay," she said with a nod, "J-Just... give me a moment..." Everypony was silent. Fluttershy closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled calmly.
"You okay?" Macintosh raised a brow, looking towards the timid little pegasus with concern. She looked back towards him and smiled.
"That... that was... exhilarating!" The sudden energy was a bit surprising as the little mare looked back towards the portal. "I-I mean, it was scary but... for a moment, it was like... like I was seeing into the very fabric of the universe!"
The group had made their way into the small, round room. Twilight stared at a stairwell that seemed to descend into the floor, wide-eyed. "You found a hidden path?"
"I found a hidden path!" Braeburn said, grinning and brushing his hoof against his chest. "Does the brave adventurer get a kiss?"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Not even if you didn't recently get sick. However, I can't help but notice nopony thought to close it back." Nopony responded, though Macintosh had the decency to rub the back of his head in embarassment while Braeburn simply seemed confused. "If you leave things like this open, then treasure hunters can come in at any time and start looting! We're not even sure that if anything was in there it's still there!"
"Well, guess we gotta go make sure nothing's been stolen then!" Pinkie hopped down the stairs, though she missed a step and tumbled down the rest of the way. Everypony rushed after her, worried, to find her laying against a wall upside down, grinning sheepishly. "Whoops, guess I'm a bit clumsy today!"
Twilight seemed to stop all at once, her expression becoming alert. She looked about, eyes darting left and right, on edge, and clearly uncomfortable. "No... there's... there's something off here..." She walked towards the lever slowly, as if it might lunge out and attack her. "Something... in the air..."
Macintosh grimaced, looking around the small elevator chamber. He didn't feel anything at all. He looked towards Braeburn and Fluttershy, who seemed equally confused. "You sure?"
"Yes," said Twilight, touching the lever cautiously. "... Everypony... be ready. There's something powerful here..." Macintosh raised a brow, curious how Twilight knew this. Still, he supposed she was the expert on magical unicorn artifacts here. The mare grabbed the lever and pulled. The ground jolted a bit, then slowly the platform began to descend down into the depths.
Macintosh looked to Twilight, noticing something strange about her. The mare was tense; very tense, like a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Was she expecting something? He looked towards the others, curious as to how they were faring. Pinkie seemed to enjoy the elevator, at least watching the walls rise up. Braeburn was looking back at him, shrugging once he noticed his cousin was looking back, and Fluttershy seemed partly curious, but also kind of anxious, likely made worried by Twilight's claims.
The elevator came to a halt, and once more Macintosh and Braeburn gazed upon the sanctuary beneath the castle. Twilight and Fluttershy gazed in awe upon the castle that seemed to be built beneath another, though Twilight seemed a deal more fascinated. She stepped toward the building, eyes wide, silent for a bit.
"I-it's.... it's amazing..." she said, her words quiet, as if afraid that if she spoke too loud, she might ruin the moment. "Of all the tales... all the legends... nothing ever mentioned this being here..." She began to hurry forward, and everypony made sure to keep pace. They moved quickly, entering into the sanctuary. Inside, Twilight seemed like she might pass out. She let her eyes roam the place over, and turned about, making sure she got it all. Macintosh almost smiled at the sight; the mare before him seemed to be in her element.
"There's so much here," she said, still quiet, "So many books... so many things we might learn from this..." She slowly brought a hoof to her chest. "... Maybe... even the things we lost..."
Macintosh raised a brow, but Braeburn seemed to take it upon himself to say what they were both thinking. "What did we lose?"
Twilight paused and looked back at the others. She seemed to ponder this a moment. "N-nothing... we lost... just a part of our history..." She turned around, looking at it all once more. "Rumor has it that after Celestia's disappearance... much of Equestria's history was smoothed over in the span of centuries in order to preserve an ideal image of Equestria as it is and was..." She cantered down the steps, towards a book shelf, letting her eyes scan all the books there. "Some more recent historians have dug up inconsistencies and evidence that some events may not have happened quite as we envisioned them... although they're often heavily debated because the authenticity of their claims is hard to prove."
"So..." said Braeburn, rubbing the back of his neck with a hoof, "What does that mean?"
"Nothing at the moment," said Twilight, keeping her eyes locked on all of the history before her, "but it could mean anything with the right information..." Everypony stepped further into the room, Twilight continuing to take it all in as if it were oxygen. Macintosh took a moment to look around himself; he noticed a few things here and there that he hadn't paid attention to before, but for the most part it was nothing new. "Where did you find this book...?"
Big Mac turned and pointed towards a small table, covered in bits of parchment, scrolls, and a few other books. The lavender mare made her way towards it, observing it with deep interest. She gently put a hoof on one of the scrolls, careful not to put too much strain on the ancient piece of paper for fear it might crumble to dust. She seemed to read it over before gently pushing one of the scrolls open. Macintosh let his eyes wander the room once more, absentmindedly occupying himself (as his other two companions were) while the local smart pony figured things out. He looked towards a mural on the back wall, depicting what looked like a tree, but with six gems hanging from its branches. Slowly, he stepped towards it, looking up at the image of the massive tree, beneath its branches a beautiful field, and three ponies surrounding the tree, rearing up -- maybe dancing or playing? Upon closer inspection, Macintosh realized that one of the ponies had a pair of wings, and another one had a horn. He could not place what, but something about the image seemed to make something in him stir. Some sadness he could not place.
"Aha!" Macintosh was broken from his trail of thought as he turned to look towards Twilight, who seemed to be looking towards him. "I think I know what to do next, and I think that mural is a clue." Twilight approached Macintosh, stepping at his side and eyeing the wall thoughtfully. The stallion took a few steps back to let her do her work. Twilight looked at the mural, before looking behind herself and finding what she seemed to be looking for. Macintosh turned his attention as she made her way back, to realize there were three platforms sticking up from the ground; something he had failed to realize earlier.
"Here we are..." She said, looking over each one. All of them had a symbol etched onto them; one depicted what looked like a star, another one a cloud, and the last one a budding plant. Twilight looked over each one a moment, though she seemed somehow apprehensive. "Oh... I see....." She stepped back a bit, staring at the platforms, looking back towards the others. Twilight looked to Pinkie, biting her lip, the mare stepping closer and inspecting the platforms herself, before letting out a silent 'ohh' and stepping back.
"Maybe," said Pinkie Pie, rubbing the back of her neck, "we should go home? Try another time? I'm sure we can--"
"N-no..." Twilight said, shaking her head. "No. No, I.... I think I have a plan. I think we can still make this work." The little purple mare seemed a bit tense; almost scared even. Twilight looked towards Fluttershy and gestured towards the platform with the cloud on it. "Fluttershy, could you stand right here?"
The little yellow pegasus did as asked, though she seemed a little concerned. "Twilight? Is something wrong?"
"No..." Twilight shook her head, clearing her throat. "Pinkie, if you could, please stand on the one over there?" Pinkie did as asked, hopping towards the platform and standing on it. Twilight looked at the last platform, the one in the very middle. She frowned, getting very nervous for a moment before stepping onto it, and turning to face the wall.
"O-okay girls... are we ready?"
"Yep!"
"No!"
Twilight looked back at the stallions. "Boys... you might want to look away. find cover if possible. This could get... messy..."
"What!?" shouted Fluttershy.
"Not for us!" Twilight responded, giggling nervously. "W-we're in a safe zone." She looked back towards Mac and Braeburn, her expression a bit more firm. "Seriously though, please, go hide. I have no idea if this will work, so we're taking big risks here." The two stallions shared a look of confusion. Neither knew what to make of her request, though neither thought to question her either after their trip through a magical mirror. They both walked towards one of the nearby statues and stood behind it.
Nothing seemed to happen at first. But then, Macintosh noticed a glow from the side of the statue. Curiosity had struck him, and he wanted to look out, to see what was happening, but he thought better of it. Suddenly, he noticed a bit of a draft as wind seemed to spiral around the room... a gentle breeze, calm and almost comforting. He looked back to see Braeburn somewhat confused, squinting at something. Macintosh turned his attention to whatever Braeburn was staring at; something in the ceiling. It was a bit dark and hard to see, though whatever was going on now seemed to illuminate it just a bit.
That was when he noticed something dart down from the ceiling and towards where the others were.
He didn't think. His body acted on its own, and before he could stop himself, Macintosh had leaped from behind the statue to see the mural rumbling, though he stopped when he noticed a fading light in the direction of the girls. Fluttershy simply stared at Twilight quietly as she fixed her hat, head hanging, with Pinkie Pie smiling towards the yellow mare, though something in her eyes seemed worried. Twilight looked towards Fluttershy, who then looked towards the stallions. As Twilight looked back, she noticed Macintosh's worried look. All at once, Twilight's expression became fearful. ".... I... "
"Miss Twilight," said Big Mac. In a strange shift, the purple mare seemed to react as if physically struck by the use of her name.
"... Yes...?"
Macintosh looked past her, towards the mural. "... Somethin' was on the ceiling. It moved towards you girls. I jumped out to warn you but I lost track of it." He looked around, his expression a bit confused, but still focused. "Did you see a little... black thing run across the wall or anything...?"
The mares all exchanged nervous glances, though Twilight and Pinkie both looked towards Fluttershy last. She looked towards them a moment, quietly, seemingly confused. Fluttershy looked towards Macintosh. "What did it look like? A small critter?"
"Heck no," said Braeburn, stepping forward. "It was... weird. It was quick, but it didn't look like no sort of animal. Kinda... blobby?"
A loud clack made everypony jump to turn their attention to where the mural was. It was gone, and in its place was a blank wall that was trembling and shaking, a square hole in the floor before it where the other wall had dropped into. Then, that wall fell, revealing another wall that itself fell, and another, and another. This happened a few more times, each one falling lower than the other, forming a staircase that led to a hidden door. The group shared looks once more. Twilight looked towards Fluttershy, then seemed to suddenly looked down at her hooves. Pinkie looked worriedly towards Twilight, then back to Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus simply smiled and put a hoof on Twilight's back.
"Let's go find that element, huh girls?"
Twilight looked up a bit and smiled, though she still seemed a little tense. Pinkie seemed more than a little relieved. Macintosh and Braeburn exchanged glances for a moment, before deciding to ask about it later. The five ponies turned their attention towards the new room.
As they entered the hidden chamber, the ponies saw a sight unlike anything any of them had seen before. The floors were flooded with knee deep water in a large, circular chamber that seemed big enough to fit a small party in, a bridge filling the gap from the door towards a raised dais in the center of the room, standing out from the water. Surrounding that platform were three statues, old and worn, though still standing, and looking quite sturdy. As the group crossed the bridge, Macintosh noticed there was a pedestal on the platform, and on that pedestal rested something round.
"There it is..." said Twilight, her voice quiet, as if trying not to wake a sleeping foal. "... An Element of Harmony... hidden in a room nopony has been in for nearly a thousand years..."
Macintosh looked over the bridge into the water. Despite the age of the room, he couldn't help but notice the water itself looked clean, and didn't smell stagnant. "Wonder if there's some sort of sewer system in here?"
As the ponies stepped onto the dais, Twilight took the lead and stepped towards the round stone. She gently raised a hoof up, pressing it against the stone orb. She seemed confused a moment as she gently picked it up and held it towards herself. She looked it over inquisitively, curiously. "Strange... it's... not doing anything either..."
"Was it supposed to?" asked Braeburn.
Twilight continued to examine the stone, looking it over, hoping to find something. Nothing stood out, however; it was completely identical to the other one that currently lay in her home. She sighed, shaking her head as she turned back to the others. "Well, I suppose we can't expect it to do very much. I think... maybe we have to have all of them?"
"But if that's true," piped Fluttershy, holding up a hoof, "why did the one in your house start glowing?" This question seemed to stop whatever trail of thought Twilight had, as she looked down at the artifact between her hooves. It was definitely an excellent question, though it was one none of them knew how to answer at the moment.
"What say we think about the 'why' somewhere a lil' safer?" Braeburn stepped away from the group. "This whole place is givin' me the creeps."
Twilight sighed, looking down at the orb in her hooves again. "I suppose. We won't get much done here. Just let me gather my things and--"
"Nopony move."
Everypony froze at the unusually commanding tone in Fluttershy's voice. Macintosh stood stock still, wondering what had brought on this command. Slowly, he turned to face her. "What's wrong?" She replied with a hush, staring up at the ceiling with wide, terrified eyes. Slowly, Macintosh followed her gaze, and when he saw it, he felt his heart sink into his stomach.
Something was staring back at them.
A single, massive green eye stared down upon them, seeming to be part of the shadows in the ceiling above them. It blinked once, it's massive eye staring down at them. Slowly, the shadows on the ceiling seemed to creep down in the form of small, dark tendrils along the walls with tiny clawed hands. Then, just beneath the eye, something white appeared and grew, until it revealed a toothy grin.
"What do we do...?" whispered Pinkie Pie.
"Run!" Shouted Twilight.
All at once, the beast above let out a loud scream - not a roar, a scream - as the shadows themselves fell from the ceiling. Everypony made a mad dash across the bridge, the weighty mass slamming onto the dais behind them destroying the bridge and launching Big Mac (who had fallen behind somewhat) the rest of the way. Everypony hurried back to help him up, before continuing their escape. After fleeing into the room, Fluttershy looked to Twilight with wide eyes. "Close the door! Close it!"
Twilight, however, stared at the platforms, looking from them to the wall. "I don't know how!"
"What!?" Pinkie jumped next to Twilight, shaking her. "You're the smart one! You know this weird magic stuff! Close the ugly in!"
But it was too late. Slowly, a black mass seeped through the doorway as if it were almost liquid, and it peeled open, revealing that massive green eye once more. Everypony ran as tendrils rushed forward, grabbing for each of them, everypony being quick and trying to avoid them. The ponies hurried away from the door as the massive black form moved to follow, thankfully slow enough to allow them to make distance from their pursuer, though quick enough to be terrifying and encourage them to run as fast as their bodies would allow as it's amorphous shape shifted and jiggled like some kind of gelatinous dessert.
Quickly, all of them hurried out of the sanctuary, across another bridge, and onto the elevator. They pulled the lever and turned in time to see the wall explode outward, and their hunter, continuing to give chase, though now it seemed to be trying to move faster. As the elevator climbed, the walls would disrupt their visual contact of the beast.
Things became quiet. Ponies could hear the heart beats of their friends. Nopony said a word, fearful that any breath out of place might bring misfortune upon them. Slowly, the door leading upstairs was revealed to them, and the elevator stopped.
"Whew! Hahaha!" Braeburn laughed hysterically. "I thought we were goners for sure!"
Several loud metallic bangs on the floor beneath them made the ponies jump. Several tendrils cracked through the floor and grabbed the elevator, and the room shook, and the door pulled up just a bit.
Macintosh grimaced. "Dammit, Braeburn!"
"Move," shouted Twilight, running towards the door and jumping up, gesturing the others to follow. Fluttershy and Pinkie filed out first, followed by Braeburn. Macintosh hurried towards the door where the others waited, but another shake caused him to tumble a bit, and the door rose even higher up. He shook his head, looking up at Braeburn and Twilight, staring wide-eyed at him.
"Grab our hooves!"
Macintosh hurried, feeling the elevator shake, but not give. He jumped up, both ponies grabbing his hooves and pulling. He could see just beyond them that Fluttershy and Pinkie were pulling them as well. With a strong yank, Macintosh was pulled free from the elevator, just in time to hear the platform squeal as it was pulled free of it's holdings. Everypony hurried the rest of the way up the stairs, Braeburn giving the book stand a kick to set it upright, closing the stairs behind them. Quickly, they hurried out of the tower room, back down the stairs, and soon, had made it back into the main lobby. The sounds of screams and walls breaking kept them running, Macintosh feeling his heart beating in his ears, his lungs burning. A few weeks ago this wouldn't be a problem, but he hadn't been working as much as he should and he suspected he was paying for it now.
After a run through the halls and making their way back to the room with the mirror, Twilight was quick to turn her attention to the others. "Everypony, get through!" Brokering no protest from the others, Pinkie and Fluttershy were the first to jump through, with Braeburn close behind, following Macintosh. As they all entered into the basement of Twilight's house, a loud scream told them that the creature was present. Twilight yanked the mirror and was quick to jump through as everypony saw the ground come towards their doorway. As it met the mirror's surface, a sudden blue flash of light emitted from the reflective glass, and then all they saw was their own reflections staring back at them.
Macintosh helped Twilight back onto her hooves, who then quickly adjusted her hat on her head. "Well," said the lavender mare with a sigh, "That was more adventure than I'm used to."
Big Mac panted a bit, trying to gather air. He reached into his bag and produced his flask, taking a quick swig from it, looking to the mare. "You mean.... that doesn't happen often?"
"Not very," said Twilight, who hung her head as she tried to regain her composure. "Still, without that mirror, at least we know that thing will never find us."
Fluttershy frowned hard, her eyes widening. "What... what if it leaves the castle? Comes to Ponyville?"
"Not likely." Twilight stood firm, looking back at the mirror for a moment. "I would have thought that some kind of guardian... but something about it seemed far too sinsiter to merely be a protector." Twilight paced a bit, eyes on her hooves as she seemed to piece it together in her head. It was then that Big Mac's eyes widened as he remembered something.
"I saw somethin' shadowy run along the walls towards you girls."
"What?" Twilight, Pinkie, and Fluttershy turned their attention to Big Mac, though Twilight seemed the most curious, if also the most anxious. "You did?"
"Eeyup. That's why I jumped out when I did." He pointed a bit at the mirror. "But it was too bright and I lost track of 'em. I reckon it went in that room an' got bigger?"
Everypony shared glances, though Twilight seemed to consider the idea. "It's a possibility. But a guardian doesn't do that sort of thing... they're always alert, always ready.... which would mean..."
Twilight looked up, then at all the others. Her expression seemed almost concerned. "... Somepony was either after the element too, or seeking to stop others from taking it." The lavender mare was quick to get on her hooves again and trot out of the cellar. "Let's go. If my fears are true, then our adversary knows what we're doing."
As everypony followed the mare up the stairs, Big Mac stopped a moment to look back at the lonely mirror behind him. His reflection looked back, just as worried as he felt. Shaking his head, he followed the others up, and the cellar doors shut behind them, encasing the room in complete darkness.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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So Twi is still hiding that she's a unicorn huh?
No, I cannot buy into this.
Few ponies would have seen the Elements in action, fewer still would have understood what they were seeing.
I also cannot accept that pegasi and unicorns would so easily be beaten by Earth ponies, especially so long in the past when there were absolutely no weapons beyond medieval technology. Against unicorn and pegasus magic, it's hopeless.
5431529
Alright. Stop reading it then.
5431529
So fucking tired of the unicorn/pegasus master race bullshit. Most unicorns can practice nothing more than basic levitation, most pegasi seem unable to do anything more than buck a cloud.
Magic is not a fucking instawin button.
5432842
This is something that everyone seems to readily forget. The only individuals we see doing anything more than one or two things with their magic are Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Twilight, Trixie, Discord, Sombra, and Tirek.
Four of them are alicorns. One of them has magic as her special talent, and even then, she doesn't have all that much raw power. One is Q. One uses dark magic almost exclusively, and so gets to bend and break a lot of rules. And the last one absorbed the magic of every pony in Equestria (plus one draconequus), and ostensibly absorbed all their talents as well.
Some unicorns certainly would have combat spells at their disposal, but just as their were no weapons beyond medieval technology in the past, there were medieval armies too; most unicorn fighters would have been conscripts, and limited to using their magic to whip spears around. Swords and armor required a lot of metal and skill to produced and would have been reserved for knights.
Can a bunch of untrained pegasi working together create tornadoes? Yes. Can they control that tornado? Not generally, no, and not for nothing, using weather in combat poses a threat to airborne fighters as well as being imprecise and fickle, and according would not have been practical. And then finally the cost of training and maintaining a professional army? Most pegasus fighters would have also been conscripts also, and would've had cheap weapons and maybe some kind of tough leather armor if they were lucky, with small numbers of elite fighters.
Earth ponies would've had similar constraints, with most of their forces being barely trained conscripts with some elite fighters. So, how would the earth ponies have won? Easy; it takes a lot of resources, generally, to feed a large army, but producing food is kind of what earth ponies do. Unicorn forces would've been routed as the fighting dragged on and their forces grew depleted and tired, and they would've retreated to less hostile lands.
Pegs would've also eventually been routed as the fighting dragged on and their forces grew depleted and tired, and they would've retreated to their cloud cities. With them controlling the weather, and earth ponies controlling land resources, they would have entered into a truce that would look nothing like a peace treaty, and more like the uneasy armistice between the United States and Soviet Union during the cold war. Earth ponies can starve the pegasi, but the pegasi can starve and drown the earth ponies by altering weather patterns to kill crops and flood rivers.
In the absence of a quickly won victory, the prevailing strategy defaults to mutual assured destruction; the only reason pegasi and earth ponies are not actively at war is because they can each wipe the other out at any time.
5432842
5432911
5431529
I see it this way... not every unicorn is a master of reality. The only time we see a trained soldier, his abilities mostly involve barriers and magic blasts. We can assume most unicorns will, at the very best, be trained in Shining Armor's level of combat magic. A handful might be more specialized in magic, but they would likely be one of those 'one per group' type things, and depending on their level of power or area of expertise they might be reserved for particular missions. Truth be told, your common battle unicorn would likely know just enough to stay alive.
Really, guys? You finally found a level boss and you just run? You're NEVER going to level up at this rate!
And Mac DESPERATELY needs it, too. He's basically the main character, but he's mostly been dead weight during all the adventuring. If Twilight had left him behind, I'm pretty sure things would have gone exactly the same.
5432842 Pegasi can fly, and walk on clouds, and make lightning and tornadoes.
Please tell me what Earth ponies in a medieval society could do to ever touch them.
5434070
Starve and outlast them.
5434109 Which of course the pegasi will allow to happen by sitting around and twiddling their feathers until they die.
No, see, that's how you get WAR. And as modern warfare has clearly demonstrated, a nation with airpower dominates any without.
5434583
There is not a single war in history that has been won solely with air power. Not one.
5434583
Well, if you do not like the story, you can stop reading. Simple fix.
5434637 Not a single war has been won by a nation WITHOUT airpower when they fought against a nation with a large airforce.
Pegasi can also walk on the ground as well as the air.
Earth ponies can't fly. They'd also have the unicorns against them.
2/3 of the population, with flight, weather magic, and arcane abilities.. against 1/3 of the population... with nothing but brute strength.
The outcome in such a scenario is predetermined.
5434747
I had a response typed up — and I still have it, too — but have decided instead to go with the much more effective strategy of simply pointing out that this story is both fictional, and also not one that either of us have written; therefore, neither of us will win this argument.
I continue to maintain that you have misapprehended the situation, and misapprehended the significance of airpower as it pertains to a medieval conflict where soldiers and aircraft are not separate things, but I am not going to argue further at this point in time.
5435196 Starcraft, Warcraft, etc. are also mere fiction.
Yet there are clear winners and losers in any battle. Often, it comes down merely to numbers and very simple strategic advantages.
5435405
Seriously, these 'Earth-Pony-is-the-lesser-race' comments annoy me endlessly. You can either have faith in me as a writer or stop reading the story. Is that really so hard a concept to grasp?
Yes, they are works of fiction. You know what else is a work of fiction? Spoiler alert, none of this story takes place in the real world.
5435196
Don't argue with him anymore. I've got a suspicious feeling that it will simply go nowhere.
5437140
Disengagement seems the best option.
5432911 That's a great analysis.
Some earth ponies can hurl huge boulders around with their massive strength, but most can't, anymore than most Pegasi could manipulate weather to the point of hurling lightning and tornadoes on the battlefield, so it's going to be spears vs. spears for the most point.
I would think Pegasi conscripts would have the edge in individual battles, but earth ponies would have the edge in a longer war, both because of their control of the food supply, and the individual endurance of soldiers.
The other thing to keep in mind is that as far as we know, there was no great earth pony-pegasus war. The earth ponies and the pegasi teamed up to drive out the unicorns. It's quite likely that the alliance slowly withered into a state of reluctant tolerance based on mutual need ( unlike the unicorns, who are no longer needed with Celestia still secretly raising the sun). Rather like how the US and USSR teamed up to take down Germany, then slowly became enemies with actually fighting each other.
By the way, if I was a unicorn I would hate Celestia. She took away the leverage the unicorns had to defend themselves against the other tribes.
5439137
In another story, I also did a short pseudo-analysis of how basically all the bad stuff that happens in Equestria can be traced back to Celestia screwing something up, and how even the things that do turn out well do so in spite of Celestia's involvement, and not because of it.
The royal wedding is a prime example, as Twilight Sparkle, who is generally not prone to making insane and specious accusations about ponies she loves, starting making insane and specious accusations about a pony she loved. Obviously, that doesn't mean Celestia should immediately believe whatever Twilight is saying, but at the very least it warrants a degree of investigation. This is especially true considering they were all otherwise expecting something to go down, and Twilight Sparkle suddenly making insane and specious accusations about a pony she loves is just about the very definition of something going down.
But everything turned out fine, of course, so obviously Celestia had planned everything that way from the start.
5439780 I wrestled with the same narrative forced choice of either "Celestia is a manipulative chessmaster" or "Celestia is incompetent." I usually leaned towards incompetent myself, but after the Season 4 Finale I found a 3rd option:
Ok, so we find out in the finale that Celestia has "visions" of the future right? And we know "someone" prophesied the return of Nightmare Moon. So what if Celestia is sort of like Pinkie, in that she always obeys her precognitive predictions, no matter what? She has a vision that if she hides out when NMM returns and tells Twilight to go make some friends in Ponyville, Celestia will get her sister back. She has another vision that if she ignores Princess Cadance acting kind of bitchy, everything will work out. Send a bunch of teenagers to negotiate with a giant firebreathing dragon? Vision. Tell Twilight to treat the rescue of the Crystal Empire as a test? Vision. And so on and so forth. She acts erratically, but she has a 100% track record this way.
5440029
So rather than incompetent, she's merely irresponsible and stumbles into success through nothing other than blind luck.
That's worse. What if someone uses magic to send her a false vision?
5440430 It's not totally irresponsible, she's got a great track record on the visions, so she chooses to keep listening to them. Yeah, if someone could send her a false vision though she would be screwed. Probably kept as a state secret.
5431522 No, I don't think she is hiding it. At least not her, herself. Read it again:
Twilight knows she is a unicorn, but she doesn't have a horn, and can't access magic. If I remember right, it was said the Unicorns went into hiding, right? What's the best way to hide, than to turn your entire race into Earth Ponies? Or mostly Earth Ponies anyways. Twi still has magic, and can still activate things that require a Unicorn, even without a horn and access to her magic. Could just be removing the horn for them and their children, so they grow up as Earth Ponies, without actually being Earth Ponies.
5441190 Twilight has a horn, what makes you think she doesn't? Read closer, it's covered up.
5441444 Well it's just I don't remember reading about Twilight wearing a turban, or a very big and stand out hat. A unicorn's horn is big and pointing out at an angle. Hair isn't going to cover it, and a hat big enough would rise a few eye brows, especially on someone that goes out 'adventuring' a lot in ruins where running, falling, even low branches and such would knock the hat right off... So how is she hiding it? Also remember, magic and unicorns are gone and a myth now. So there are no spell books, or way to learn magic. At most she probably knows basic levitation and that's about it.
ps. My internet is not the best right now, took me 3 hours just to get stable enough to post this reply! So if it is mentioned earlier about it being there but hidden, Quote it and reply it to this so I can see. For all I know, I could be forgetting it because it's very minor and It's been a while since I read the earlier chapters
5445133
Please. Unicorns are all about giant hats.
img1.derpicdn.net/img/2014/1/17/526349/thumb.jpg
5464407
What were they stealing?
5432842 For a species with no prehensile limbs, even simple levitation would be immensely useful - imagine an Earth Pony holding a sword in his mouth going against a Unicorn levitating two or three swords in her magic.
Besides, we've seen numerous times that even "weak" Unicorns like Rarity have some really versatile magic and with the help of magical tomes and the like, can accomplish some pretty impressive feats.