• Published 20th Feb 2015
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Journey to the center of Equestria - Rarity Belle



Tremors of the earth itself plague the land of Equestria. Soothsayer Twilight hopes to stop them with some help. Together with five strangers, she must travel to a place where nopony has gone before. They must go to where it all began and stop it.

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Chapter XIII

After the yelling for the doctor or the nurse had been done did neither of the two really had any other idea. Any indication of just how long it would be taken before they finally would be able to speak to another anthrony. Hope was something that wasn’t kept really high in the matter for rather obvious reasons and when the two of them laid in their beds, there wasn’t much that could be done to begin with. Of course they could try to get out of bed and see how well their legs were doing, but who was to say that all of them around them wasn’t just some kind of hallucination?

It was a question that always managed to trouble Twilight’s mind. The mare was constantly looking around to the place. She needed to know for herself what happened, what actually had happened to the both of them. Even though she didn’t have any memories for the events, there might have been traces left. Not much but perhaps enough to get them on some sort of a trail. Risky business was the thing that Twilight was about to embark too, but her mind persisted that she would be doing it, no matter what.

The head of the unicorn slowly turned itself over to Applejack before her body rose itself up in a sitting position again. A deep exhale was being taken before the words left her mouth. “Applejack, I need you to watch over me,” she spoke in a semi confident tone while the other part of it just reeked of the insecurities that she had.

The admiral didn’t fully understood the words that were spoken against her and gave a quick shake of her head. “W-What do ya mean, Twilight? Been watching ya since we went to Cloudsdale. So what are ya mumbling ‘bout now?”

It were words that actually caused Twilight to giggle softly to herself before she placed her hands against each other in the manner a soothsayer would do it before they would ascend to the planes of the goddesses. “Let’s say you have the duty of guarding an ascending soothsayer.”

“Beg yar pardon?!” Applejack exclaimed straight away. She didn’t even have the slightest of clues on what she had to be doing. “What am Ah supposed to do?!”

“Just, just make sure my body doesn’t get destroyed, more I don’t ask. I think and hope, to find answers in their realm,” spoke Twilight in a rather calm tone. Then the aura around her horn and hands appeared once more. Arguing against the mare wouldn’t have helped Applejack one bit, for she wouldn’t listen for a single bit. Twilight was the kind of mare who would be going through the ultimate sacrifice to get done what was required of her or what she wanted to know.

Stubbornness at its finest, that was the only thought that went through the mind of Applejack as she felt the tingling of the magic going across her face. Almost as if it was looking for its own place to latch on for some unknown reason.

The green rimmed eyes looked at the body of Twilight while it remained in the same position without changes. The magic was powerful enough to make her keep sitting down on the bed the way she did and not to mention the fact that she was already gone. The admiral released a deep sigh through her nostrils before her head was turned straight again.

“Great, now ya left me as well in this place. What’s the worst that can happen anyway?” she muttered up to herself. The mare didn’t had a lot of faith in the matter to begin with, not anymore at least. But if there indeed was a chance that the both of them could be helped on the matter of remembering, Applejack would embrace it with both of her hands and hold tight.

Though she would be having her own manner of actually getting to know the truth to her. It would have been in a manner that not even she could have predicted. When the admiral’s ears began to twitch, her attention turned over to the door that slowly opened. Which resulted in her almost instantly wanting to reach for either her blade or her flintlock.

Yet both of the weapons weren’t where they were supposed to be. That fact meant that Applejack was left over to the mercy of whatever being would be entering through the doorway. Whether it be good or bad that came through, time was the only thing that would be telling the tale. The admiral could only mentally prepare for the possible torture that was about to be coming.

~~~~

The eyelids of Twilight were twitching a little bit. Carefully even as a cold but calm breeze of air traveled past them. Her ears twitched gently as she heard the leaves of the trees dancing within that very same wind. She didn’t had a true clue of where she had landed, but from the sounds it looked like she was in the right place. Exactly the one place she wanted to end up. Though the power to get up in the grass that laid beneath her was something easier said than done.

The grass and the ground felt like the most heavenly mattress that she had ever laid down upon and simply didn’t wanted to get up. The temptation to fall back asleep again seemed to have been too big in the first place, yet it was soon afterwards that the determination returned to the unicorn.

Both of the eyes opened themselves and they were blinded by the light of the moon that shone down powerful, causing numerous reflections to happen which blinded the mare. Twilight closed her eyes again as she then sat the right side up while rubbing her eyes calmly under a groan. One thing was for sure, she had ascended to their plane of existence.

Only when the eyes were opened up again was the truth of the matter revealed to the mare and she couldn’t be happier in fact. Because as her eyes looked forward, they could see the massive moon shining down upon the face of the land, but also the one place she needed to be.

Because before Twilight had it stretched for miles and miles without end. A massive forest that was made out of crystalline trees as the leaves were made of glass. Yet their music was the same as their earthly counterparts. “The forest of memories,” whispered Twilight to herself. She got up on her hooves and placed both of her hands behind her back to assume a calm pose.

A smile then came across her face as a gentle exhale came through her nostrils. The near colorless trees shone brightly in the light of the moon as its rays went straight past the barks and branches, causing them to be filled with a white light. It was a sight that was remarkable to see and even more amazing to behold.

Twilight paid her respects to the two goddesses by drawing their symbols into the air with her arcane power before she made the first step towards the woods. And then another, followed by another, before she was just walking towards the tree line. “Don’t look at other trees. Find your own and see what you can find,” the mare mumbled to herself before her head hung itself low.

She really didn’t wanted to look at any other tree outside of the one that was claimed to be her own. It was all because of the really simple fact that the trees contained the memories of every single anthrony that ever lived or still lives. Memories ranging from far and wide and only suitable for one anthrony.

If one would have looked into a memory that wasn’t their own, the brain could be destroyed while it tried to place the memory somewhere in the timeline. Even though it has no recollection of it. As beautiful as the forest seemed, so deadly it was as well. There was one massive advantage to it all. One could look to the trees and not see a single thing.

Only when the bark was being touched would the memories start flowing through the anthrony as if it was part of the tree itself. Twilight knew that fact all too well, stories of older soothsayers being consumed by the memories of others wasn’t something that was that uncommon. But it managed to tear her heart apart every time when she heard or read about it.

“Beauty is also deadly,” whispered Twilight with certainty to her tone. She continued to wander through the forest. Her mind had reminded her on the latest incident of a soothsayer getting its mind demolished. Tranquil for life it had become, forgetting everything and not being able to reform any new memories.

The mare shook her head a couple of times before she huffed a bit through her throat. Only then she stepped up her pacing and wanted to continue traveling further. While the soft grass under her hooves gave away for them, the journey would be everything but simple.

That was at least the thought that she had in her mind. Yet then, among the darkness of the night and the shining light of the moon there was something to be heard that Twilight recognized out of thousands. “Impossible…”

Her body turned itself around on the spot as her ears were perked in the hope to find the general direction of where it came from. That laughter, that ever so happy and innocent laughter of her as a filly. It was almost downright creepy that Twilight heard it, but it could also give her a lead to her tree. “Where are you coming from, eh?” she questioned herself almost silently. The laughter was heard again within her ears.

In the end did Twilight manage to lock herself upon the location of the sounds and she gave herself a rather powerful nod. She knew what way she needed to be going in order to find her tree. The only problem was whether or not her own filly giggles would lead her to it in a straight line. Most likely not, but the thoughts were nice enough.

For what seemed to have been hours had Twilight been wandering around the forest as she still hadn’t found her own tree. Yet the volume of the giggles only seemed to have become louder with ever so many dozen hooves she advanced. Closing in was the thought that dominated pretty much all of her mind.

She had to be close, she could feel it and almost even taste it. The air got filled with scents that all reminded the unicorn of moments of her life. Whether it was with her parents or with her brother, or just alone in her study. All kinds of happy memories began to flow through the mind of the mare. Her tree, her own memory tree was close by.

The unicorn kicked her pace up a bit higher as she gained more and more ground. Yet it was the giggle that she had followed that faded more and more with every single step she took. Eventually did the unicorn just stop near a tree. One tree out of thousands, nothing about it seemed to have been out of the ordinary from that place.

Weren’t it for the one single fact that all of her memories and the scents in the air had led her to it. She was gazing once more upon her own tree of memory. The one thing in the entire world that would possibly be giving her and Applejack one for of answer as of what happened to them.

Hesitation came to the mare when she closed in with the tree even more. The feelings of it being hers became stronger while the sparks of magic traveled out of her hands. Instead of returning to her body, they went almost straight into the tree itself. Remarkable to say the least. What followed by Twilight was that she took a couple steps closer and raised her hand towards the bark.

She could almost touch it. It was so close by her that she could almost feel the tree ‘breathing’ with the events that had happened in her life. “Hello old friend,” she spoke in a tone as if she had seen somepony who she thought to have lost a long time ago, “I hope that you have the answers I’m looking for.”

All of the hesitation and doubt within her body had to make way for the muscles doing their job. The palm of her hand touched the bark and the magical powers of both entities came surging to live, even managing to merge together. The magic of the tree as well as Twilight’s own managed combined itself together to form the bond that was needed for her to become part of the tree.

Shards of the crystals that the bark was made of began to engulf the hand of Twilight before they even crawled up slowly towards her wrist and lower arm. Scream of utter pain were released by the mare while the memories were all relived like she was actually there.

Memories of past and close present all surged through her mind at once. A mind that morphed them all into a manner as if she was actually at the moment it all happened, but stood on a different location. She had to travel to some of the most recent memories and once she got accustomed to the pain, it was a race against the clock.

Twilight really didn’t wanted to end up as a piece of the tree she had called her friend for so long. So the only thing that could be done was to search rapidly. With her eyes closed and her breathing decently under her control did the mare began to look for any kind of memories that she could be having from that one unknown night.

The desire to know what had actually happened to the two of them was something that went even further as to stopping the tremors of the land. The sheer amount of dedication that came from the mare as her eyes kept themselves forcefully shut wasn’t something she had done often.

“Come on, come on, show me something, anything!” she yelled out towards the tree. She had come closer and closer to the moment. She was only seconds away of possibly figuring out just what on earth had happened to them as her memory was at the part where she spoke about the Dark Witches of Everfree.

“So close, just, just show me anything!” Twilight spoke before she gritted her teeth firmly together and almost hissed her words out. The crystal shards had already moved up to her elbow as everything became suddenly a race against the clock. She was so close to both figuring it out and becoming part of her tree.

That was until there was nothing but darkness that suddenly fell over the memories that the mare carried. Not even the faintest shimmer of light managed to show her anything up to the point she went asleep to waking up in the hospital. “No, that’s, that’s impossible. No magic,” she muttered to herself before her own horn discharged itself.

With the magical connection gone from the two of them could Twilight easily take her hand off of the bark again. The crystal that grew just so vividly moments ago, simply fell off of her arm as if it was a piece of dead coral. “No magic in the world is that powerful to completely destroy memories as a whole,” whispered Twilight in disbelief. The eyes went up and glanced towards the moon.

There she saw the image that had always been in it. An image that never had left even if so many had wanted it. The mysterious face of an entity banished ever so long ago. “The mare in the moon,” she said to herself before the gears and cogs turned and twisted inside of her head. Nothing about it all made sense to her and nothing about it seemed to have been right within her eyes. There was something going on that she didn’t see.

The unicorn perhaps had focused herself too much upon the smaller details instead of the bigger picture. “Applejack’s tree,” said Twilight then. There was a shock that went through her body. She looked around the place in the hope to find any form of evidence that the memory tree of the admiral was somewhere around there.

Though it was only then that she realized the most important lesson once more. The fact that she wasn’t allowed to watch the memories of others. And with good reason too, especially for a mare like Applejack. Her past was troubled and clouded, perhaps best left a secret for the world. One wrong word and Twilight could have unleashed a war with the admiral.

Twilight gently shook her head as she didn’t found it a wise decision to actually go and look for the tree of the admiral. She would be needing to descend again, descend back down and into her body and tell her partner that she had failed in figuring out what possibly had happened.

It was a longshot to begin with. But it was the only place where the possible answer could be found. Twilight turned herself away from her tree and placed her hands behind her back as her eyes focused upon the road ahead. Only one way she could be traveling from there on out. “Return the way I came,” she spoke up louder than any of her previous words before the steps were taken.

Every step she took caused more trees to fade away into the distance. As if they were consumed by the darkness of the eternal night itself. But in reality they just faded away as Twilight’s very soul was taking the steps down. The soul was ready to merge itself back with the body it had belonged to since the day of birth.

“I wish that you had an answer for me today, but I suppose not every entity holds the answer to everything in the universe.” Those were the last words that Twilight spoke in a proud and wise tone before everything collapsed around her. Everything got consumed by the darkness of the night as Twilight lost her grip of reality. Or at least the reality that she happened to be in.

~~~~

The horn and the hands of the unicorn discharged themselves from the magic and the eyes calmly opened up again. A deep exhale of defeat was released by her as her hands began to rub through the eyes. “Well, that turned out differently than expected.” Twilight spoke up before she released a deep sigh and dropped herself back in her bed.

Applejack could be heard chuckling softly before a third voice filled her ears. “Remarkable,” a shy, feminine sounded voice got heard within the unicorn’s ears. A voice that caused a shock to go through the soothsayer that was stronger than the most powerful spell she ever endured. Almost instantly did her entire body shook back up in a sitting position and noticed a third anthrony just standing there. One that stood almost next to her bed.

Confusion was the thing that went through the mare her mind as she looked to the goldish yellow skinned, light pink haired, blue eyed pegasus. “W-What..? Forgive me b-but who in the name of the goddesses, are you?!” Twilight exclaimed while her heart was racing in her throat. The sheer surprise of seeing another pegasus standing before her like that, didn’t do her mind good.

She was so fixated upon the face and the wings that the soothsayer actually missed the most important part of the other mare. The whole fact that she wore a doctor’s coat. A smile suddenly went across the lips of the pegasus as she took a step closer. “There’s nothing to worry about, soothsayer. I’m a doctor in this hospital. You’re in safe hands.”

“And, how do I know that, exactly?” questioned Twilight to the mare. She didn’t trust the mare for one bit. She had all the right in the world to be doing that of course, and the doctor wouldn’t really held it against her. So the glasses were removed from the pegasi her face and placed in a pocket of her coat. Afterwards she simply pointed to Applejack who was having her own set of words that she needed to say against Twilight.

“Ah know her, Twilight, she’s the one who patched me up before Ah got mah leg. She’s the mare who, well, stitched mah stump,” pleaded Applejack for the doctor. She said it in a tone that was both thankful as well as filled with horror. It was a double sided story for the admiral and listening to the words, Twilight understood that completely.

The soothsayer simply nodded to the words of her partner. She had listened to each of them with the greatest of cares. Which then resulted in the mare turned her attention back to the good doctor. “So doctor, do tell me, what is your name?”

“The name’s Fluttershy, miss..?”

“Sparkle.”

“Miss Sparkle, I heard from Applejack that neither of you two seemed to be remembering what happened to you and, she also told me you went looking for answers,” said Fluttershy while she recapped the entire scene for her alone.

“That’s correct yes. A trip to the forest of memories, but it didn’t turn out to be as profitable as I personally would have hoped. All but black darkness surrounded even the tree when it came to that point. If, I may ask, do you have an idea how we got here?” Twilight asked the doctor as she hoped for some sort of good answer to finally head her way.

Fluttershy began to giggle softly before she nodded calmly. “I know exactly how you two got here. But not even I have the full story though.” For both Applejack and Twilight it was more than enough. Even if she knew just a little bit about that had happened to the pair of them, they would be satisfied with it. However, it could also become something that was more dangerous.

Not to mention the fact they didn’t even knew what on earth was wrong with them. They felt fine, but who wasn’t to say that some parasite was living inside of them after the little endeavor? Questions upon questions followed by a cloak of riddled answers followed them. They needed clarity and they needed it then.

“Flutters, take a seat and tell us will ya?” Applejack then spoke up in a semi demanding tone as she wanted to know it. “Ya been teasing me with it for long enough. Now that Twi’s back here, ya can tell it right?”

The doctor turned her attention over to the admiral before she gave a gentle nod. “That I can now yes. But do you really want to hear it, is the question that remains?” she took a couple of steps back in order to look the two anthronies straight into the eyes as she saw the pair of them nodding. They were certain they wanted to know the answers to the troubles they have been going through. So the only thing that was left to for Fluttershy, was to tell them what happened. “This is what happened, as I was being told by them who found you. I was just…”

~~~~

…working around the clock as she always had done. Fluttershy’s day never had a quiet moment in it. That very night wouldn’t have made a single change. The doctor could be found in the main lobby of the hospital after she was done with the many check-ups on the patients. They ranged from all three races as well as some ‘outsiders’ who were kept there for rehabilitation from their wounds.

Nopony was violent towards the doctors, for they treated each patient with respect and the care they needed. Not to mention the fact they knew the rituals of the country of origin. The eyes of Fluttershy eventually fell upon a griffon in a doctor’s coat. He had come in through the front door and was panting deeper than ever.

It was something that caused Fluttershy to look up a bit strange towards him. “What’s the matter with you? Strong head wind?” she asked him before he shook his head.

The griffon walked up to her and his talons ticked against the stoned floor with every step. He tried to get his breath back before finally speaking the words that needed to be said against the mare. “Ready an operation room, two anthronies, edge of Everfree. Multiple stabs,” he managed to bring out. Moments later was it Fluttershy that knew enough.

She placed a hand upon his shoulder and she nodded. “Alright, have them brought in and I’ll get the best doctors to work on it. But you have to come to my office. I need to know exactly what happened.”

The griffon nodded and already went ahead to the office of the mare. Not even ten seconds later had two more griffons entered the hospital. They both carried the two wounded anthronies in their arms. Fluttershy reacted quickly by letting two stretchers coming in and then pointed the doctors to the operation room.

When the mare finally did turn up in her own office, there was a deep sigh of relief that went through her. The griffon himself had already caught up with his breath and was taking a sip out of a glass of water. The mare herself sat down in her chair behind the desk and locked her eyes on him. “So tell me, what happened to the pair of them?”

The griffon placed the glass back upon the desk and leaned a bit forward. “I don’t know what they had to search there, but as I examined the poison that was on the wound, it was supposed to kill them. But it didn’t, as if they were kept alive by the force of the goddesses themselves. However, the poison isn’t used land wide. Oh no, whatever these two did, the C.A.F. wants them dead.”

Those words caused the eyebrows of Fluttershy to be raised. She really didn’t follow it anymore. His words were true for certain but she just couldn’t wrap her head around the facts as they were. “So, a hit by one of the special forces? This is going to be interesting when Spitfire comes in,” the pegasus said aloud. There was a deep sigh that got released through her nostrils. “You may go now, but not a word to anypony about this. I don’t want her over my floor, understood?”

“Yes ma’am,” the griffon replied. They shook each other’s hands and the griffon departed from the office. Leaving only a wondering Fluttershy in the room, a Fluttershy who wondered about just what the two of them done to get the air force that pissed off.

~~~~

“And that brings us to now, three days after you were brought over here,” said Fluttershy before she ended her story. That was the story as she knew how it happened. Whatever happened prior before the griffon found them was unknown to her. And perhaps best left that way for all of them.

It had been three long days since the two anthronies had been out cold. But the story of Fluttershy made Twilight think. Which was perhaps something that was either for the better or worse as they could accuse the entire C.A.F. for the act. However, before the doctor would speak any other word had Twilight finally opened her mouth again as she shook her head.

“I don’t think it’s the air force who did it. I don’t really see Spitfire as a mare who wants those who defy her dead. It’s the city of pride we talk about here.”

“You don’t know the horrible stories that do their turn, miss Sparkle,” commented Fluttershy. After which she took a seat herself. “Stories of horror roam the streets if you know where to look. It’s the city of pride, yes, but they also forgot to mention the sheer corruption that going on. As well as the shady tales about the factories of weather.”

The doctor really didn’t have any good word left for the city and the both of them noticed that immediately. Even Applejack didn’t knew why Fluttershy was having such a grudge against the city, but it was perhaps a story that would be told through time itself.

“So,” Twilight then continued as she released a small exhale, “I think forces of Everfree managed to get us. As you told, the poison is special and should have killed us. Pegasi, never really do that if you look into the history of their battles. No, whomever did this, resides in Everfree and wants to place the blame on the city.”

Applejack nodded calmly to the words that were said as she understood the direction where Twilight was coming from. “Ah have to admit, that’s some reasonable thinking ya done there partner. But we don’t know nothing for certain.”

“And that’s perhaps the best,” said Fluttershy when stood back up in order to make her departure. “Everything is fine with you two, the wounds have been healed and shouldn’t leave any scars. If you will excuse me, I have other patients to attend.”

It was in that moment that both of the anthronies knew that they couldn’t let her go. For their quest to succeed, they needed a doctor or a physician. They had the best one in the land right before them. It would have been stupid not to at least ask her. So instantly did the horn of Twilight charge up and locked the door before Fluttershy could even reach it.

She turned herself back around to watch over the two with a raised eyebrow. “Are you two going to prevent me from doing my work?” she then asked in a stern tone. Her hands were placed in her sides and one of her hooves was tapping the stones of the floor. Annoyed was the best word to describe how Fluttershy felt herself in that moment.

“Not at all, we’re going to ask you for a favor,” answered Twilight. Who then quickly shoved the matter off to Applejack to do the word.

Though the admiral wasn’t really subtle with them. As she bluntly stated where they needed her for. “We need ya for our quest, Flutters. We need a medic on our team and yar the best in the business. So, what do ya say? Ya be taking this chance to leave these walls behind, and see the world while making it a better place?”

Silence. Nothing else but complete and utter silence came from Fluttershy. The pegasus didn’t even knew a single word of what had to be said on the matter. She wanted to scream, cry and just so much more. But instead there was nothing that left her mouth. She took only steps backwards. Almost as if she had contacted some kind of horrible disease in their bodies.

All that the two could be doing was to keep calm and pray on the fact that the pegasus would eventually understand the way that the two of them came from with their words. “Once in a lifetime chance,” the admiral added to only add to the visual stress of Fluttershy.

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