Letters To No one

by cutedementia

Chemical ash (Chapter 11)

"Myraid, why can't you tell me more about this thing?" Twilight asked with a frown. "What is it?"

"It's a chemical; you can't see it, you can't sense it, you can't feel it. Not at least until it shuts down your lungs, then works its way into your muscle tissue, and from there into your bones. It decays you from the inside out, but you need to be exposed for at least seven minutes before damage starts to take place. We found that the masks we devised provided such a pure amount of oxygen that it expelled the gas, vacating the lungs within a few breaths and saving your life. That is why you must never take the mask off, it is your only defense."

"Do you know where it comes from?" Twilight sat down with a frown, looking over at the door where she would soon be able to meet her brother.

"The changelings made it four thousand years ago, before Queen Chrysalis took power. Once she took power, however, and the princesses had gotten old enough to deal with the changelings themselves, they made a deal for the changelings never to use such a terrible weapon ever again. Queen Chrysalis revealed she had long ago rid her hive of the chemical, and outlawed its use in her kingdom. She called it barbaric."

Twilight gave her a weird look. "Queen Chrysalis gave up a weapon that could bring her world domination?"

"Yes, because it only killed ponies and sea ponies. It would leave the world without any affection for them to live off. When the princesses called it a weapon of mass destruction, she corrected them with self-destruction, explaining the loss of conscious life on the planet would leave her without a source of power for her hive. She assured the princesses the weapon had been eradicated decades before, and that she had never planned to use it. I guess that was our luck until now."

"Where is it? Is there any way to check with magic?"

Myraid took a deep breath. "We need Fluttershy’s help. Animals can smell the chemical, and they can tolerate it. If she trains one to help us, they can tell us where the infection is, without any harm being done to the animal. That I can assure you."

"It is not me you will need to assure," Twilight pointed out. "Fluttershy is quite protective of her animals."

"I understand. I will speak with her, but your brother requests your presence."

"When did he wake?" Twilight asked with a slight acidity to her tone, angry that no one had told her he had woken.

"About three hours ago. He was busy planning things with me and some other guards. He is waiting for you now in the room across the hall," Myraid explained, looking back at the door.

"Thank you," Twilight said calmly, though very nervous and excited behind her calm words. She quickly stood, making her way to the door, stepping through it and across the hall, her magic hanging on the doorknob as she hesitated. About what she was unsure, but she felt like she needed to ready herself for something.

She sighed, stepping inside and taking a deep breath as her eyes locked on Shining, who was standing facing away from her at a table with a few more guards. They were silent, which was odd. As she walked over, the attention of the silent room quickly snapped to her. Shining stood up, turning to her. "Ah, there you are Twilight. I need to speak with you." He paused for a moment after that, glancing back at the ponies dotting the table side as if silently telling them to leave.

And so they did, filling out the door until Twilight stood in the living room with Shining alone and in silence. "I'm sorry... I couldn't help Cadance," he frowned, looking down. The guards who had left obviously had him under emotional lockdown. Now that they were gone, Twilight hoped he would open back up again.

"That doesn't matter anymore...this chemical that is forcing us into lockdown, is this what killed her?" she asked, walking over to him.

"Yes...the chemical, when exposed to unicorns, hollows out the inside of their horn. It's the only thing that could do something like that, so we knew immediately what we were dealing with."

"And you didn't say something in your letter about it?" Twilight asked with a frown.

"No, I didn't wish to scare you. It was an isolated incident in my room, no one else died. We didn't know what to think of it. I did not expect we'd be attacked" Shining sighed, shaking his head.

"Attacked? Is that why you came alone? Where are your personal guards?"

"Dead. I tried to give them all masks, but they were fighting off something through the smoke and ash. I couldn't see, and my magic couldn't latch on fast enough. I teleported as far away as I could. The few guards I managed to haul with me were all exposed before I could help. They died a few hours later."

"So...who did this?"

"I don't know, but I can't get in contact with anyone. We're cut off from the outside world, letters will not get responses and guards sent out on missions never return...something incredibly strong is doing all this," he explained.

"Like Chrysalis?" Twilight suggested.

"No, please. That little bug was nothing. Whatever this is, I just...don't understand. It's like a god."

"There are no gods here, Shining, just us... " she frowned, wrapping her hooves around him in a tight hug. "You're here, and safe. That's all we need to think about at the moment."

"The workers Celestia had assigned to the building, my guards had tried to get them into a secure area, but something happened. We heard screams, and no life can be found in there. At least, not with our magic, and I'm not sending anyone out there...the door is wide open, there's blood...I don't know what's going on here Twilight, but we need to leave."

"And go where? I have to speak with the princess about this first," Twilight said with a heavy frown.

"Twilight, I just need you to gather your friends and meet me in the lobby. The way down is secure. You will be each given a mask and any unicorns will be given the mask spell. Do not bring Spike, do not bring Applebloom or Scootaloo. There is no room for children where we are going."

"No, Shining, they are not children. They are over a hundred years old! Sure, Spike is just the size of a baby, and I can understand leaving him behind, but I cannot leave Applebloom and Scootaloo behind. The others will be furious!"

Shining sighed, looking down. "You're right. I'm....I'm sorry Twilight. I've lost myself in all of this...I don't even remember how long it's been..." he took a deep breath. "Leave Spike behind. Most of the guards are staying here to build up a credible safe house for us to return to if the mission becomes too dangerous."

"Where are we going?" Twilight asked, watching Shining walk toward the door.

"I'll tell you once we’re on the move," he said, looking back at her.

"Brother...where are we going?" she frowned, walking over to him.

He sighed, looking down. "We're headed down to the other side of the construction zone, from there we head back to the windmills. We don't have a cart, so this trip will take us months...please, don't bring anything you don't have to. Meet me in the lobby."

Twilight spent the next half hour or so gathering her friends and the few things they could carry in saddle bags. Twilight assured them they would one day come back for their stuff and said her goodbyes to Spike, explaining to him that he would be notified as soon as it is safe to join them. Of course he was not happy, but the prospect of having a whole hotel almost to himself was enough to persuade him.

Twilight now stood at the front lobby doors. Big glass frames that were now the only thing holding back the deadly chemical. "Okay...let's go," she sighed, yet sounding eager.

"Never take off the mask, no matter what," Shining said one last time as his magic slid the doors open. They felt a rush of cold air, the feeling of something slick sliding over their coats as if they could feel the poisoned air pressing against them with the wind.

Twilight took a long deep breath as she felt Luna step up beside her. "Alright, Princess, let's get moving," Luna said, leaning down and nuzzling Twilight's cheek, as she was unable to do much with the mask.

"Ladies first," Twilight replied, watching her brother walk off toward the path through the smoke that was now billowing all around the hotel. Her friends followed in suit, Scootaloo and Applebloom staying back to follow the two princesses. Despite their age, they were always dependant on their elders for guidance. Twilight grew fond of this trait by now and happily led the two girls outside, following her brother through the dense ash. From where this came, they still did not know.

Author's Note:

To clarify, since my editor had this confusion.

The statement that it could be a god, does not necessarily mean a god is doing all of this.

Comments

[cutedementia]

I know it's been a whole 10+ days since I updated, and really I'm sorry for the wait.

But when I planned to write/update another chapter, I started having to deal with a lot of bullshit on this site. So until this is all resolved, I cannot promise a chapter any time soon.

[cutedementia]

Please refer to this tumblr for further story updates, only one more chapter will be uploaded here before I leave this site: http://cutedementia-ltno.tumblr.com/

[cutedementia]

Next chapter done, it will be uploaded as soon as my editor gets on.

(Probably this weekend)