Journey to the center of Equestria

by Rarity Belle

Chapter VIII

Hours on end had Twilight been walking already. Her journey had brought her down the mountain of Canterlot and straight to the great plains that were stretched out before the enormous castle. While her head was constantly focused upon the road that laid ahead of her, it was her mind that sometimes wandered back to the halls she had been running through since she was a young mare. A smile always came to her face as she realized even one of those moments.

Whether it was her first lesson, or the first attempt to ascend into the plane of the goddesses, it didn’t matter. It made her all actually feel rather good about the journey she had taken for herself, or that she had gotten it by the mightier beings themselves. She knew the dangers were still lurking around every last corner for certain. Though it didn’t really matter to her in the moment.

The first day of travel had to be ending perhaps sooner or later. The sun was already setting and the unicorn had no desire to travel alone in the dark. Darkness was considered to be her greatest enemy simply because of the fact that it was unknown what would happen a couple hooves away. Darkness shrouded words of truth and reformed them into a truthful lie. That was the lesson she remembered from her own teacher.

Yet not all of the darkness was bad, for it also allowed them to watch the skies up high and therefore the magnificence of space itself. Astronomy was something that Twilight did every so often, though she merely did it to watch the beauty of both the stars and the nebula’s hidden among the realms of deep space. One of the few places that an anthrony perhaps never would be setting a step.

Though she continued walking over the plains. And there was a sudden but ever so chilly breeze from the Frozen North that managed to hit her frontal. What happened next was a cold shiver that traveled down the entire spine of the unicorn. The mare then began to stroke both of her upper arms in order to remain on temperature before a gentle growl was being released by her.

The near nothing that she wore over her chest was the massive suspect for the event and Twilight wasn’t all too happy about it. She wasn’t happy about it when she first saw it but made the decision to actually stay with it for the time being. Though times could have changed rather quickly and all of the sudden.

“Okay, this needs to change, as soon as possible,” she mumbled up. Her body had come back to the right temperature for her feeling. Her violet rimmed eyes then turned away from the ground and looked up into the skies. She then noticed how the last remains of the sunlight were inching away behind the hills. The night was coming in faster than she had anticipated.

Time was thus running short and she needed a place to shelter for the night. Perhaps it was a good thing that there wasn’t any rain or clouds predicted for the night. Which in return meant that the unicorn could just take it easy with just what kind of shelter she would be making.

As her eyes tore themselves away from the lowering sun, they looked over the plain in order to see just what would be the best for her to crash down. Outside of a couple of bushes there wasn’t all too much that could be seen.

That was until she noticed a tree standing in the far distance. A tree that seemed to be the perfect camping place for the anthrony and it was her initial decision to go straight there. Her legs were once more kicked into gear before she calmly walked over to the lonely tree.

A tree that actually seemed to have gotten bigger and bigger with every single hoof she came closer. It was something that managed to surprise Twilight more than it should have. One of her eyebrows rose itself up just before she reached the tree and couldn’t believe what she saw.

That very tree was one of the rare specimens that could be living up to a thousand years. The anthrony couldn’t help herself but to give a small inspection over the entire bark of the massive tree before she erupted out in nothing but sheer laughter. A laughter that was joyful within the ears as if she was genuinely happy about what she had discovered.

"Oh my, aren’t you a beauty among your kind?” said Twilight in a mesmerized tone to the tree. She was even petting its bark with one hand. To others it might have seem a little bit unusual in the way she was going around and about, but it wasn’t every single day that one would encounter a seven hundred and forty six year old tree in the middle of a plain just outside of the castle she lived.

The anthrony did a couple of steps back to take the whole tree in her eyes before she let out a content sigh and calmly charged up her horn. Mighty tree of the grand plain, do not fear me. For I don’t mean to harm you as my only desire is to rest against your bark for the night, the mare spoke in her mind and directly towards the tree itself.

Once the horn had discharged, there was only the waiting game that could be played. And how long that would have taken her, remained to be seen.

Though it took only seconds, but for Twilight it seemed to have been minutes before the branches in the top of the tree began to sway. They swayed as if there was a powerful wind blowing through them. Yet the wind didn’t blow at all. Slowly but surely managed the rest of the branches to have done the same.

All until the bark of the tree gave one massive creak and even seemed to have moved half a hoof. Most of the anthronies would have called it witchcraft and they were semi right on the matter. Yet for Twilight it meant that the tree trusted her. The being from centuries of age trusted her enough that she was allowed to sleep against its bark.

Peace was made between the tree and the unicorn to a certain degree. Would Twilight ever physically have cut or burned the bark, the tree would awaken. Which was about the last thing she needed in the moment. With a smile that stood upon her face had Twilight accepted the invitation in silence and gratitude. The mulberry anthrony walked up towards the bark before she dropped her bum into the grass where she crossed her legs and leaned back against the bark.

A bark that almost acted like some sort of a pillow to her. A small giggle was released by her before one of her hands coated itself within the magical aura. Only mere seconds after it was a small ball of fire levitated towards her side and away from the tree.

A groan from the bark was heard again which caused Twilight to look up before she rolled her eyes. “I made you a promise, remember? I’m not going to burn you down, but I have to keep myself warm at night,” she spoke to the tree. Who in return gave off a different toned groan. Only to then let the silence dominate the place again.

The purple and magical fire was levitating a bit above the ground and didn’t require any kind of fuel outside of Twilight’s near constant arcane feeding. With her other hand she allowed herself to conjure up something that every soothsayer had and always had proved useful. Her ‘void portal’ opened itself in front of her. Twilight then looked into the distortion of spacetime itself.

All of her stuff was nicely placed in an ordered fashion and she took out a book as well as some food. Yet the moment she took the food in her hand, her stomach released a grumble and she finally made the realization that she was hungry. Never in her life had Twilight walked that much in one go as she had done today. Which came to the surprise of her that she even managed to do it the way she did.

She took out both the book and the food before the portal was closed again and disappeared out of their plane of existence. The sandwich was being consumed at a gentle rate while she looked towards the rays of light shooting over the hills.

The last remaining light shot itself over the skies before it seemed to realize that the darkness had come in. That their time of shining had gone and only would return for the next day. And as the last light faded away had the entire plain where Twilight traveled upon simply shrouded itself into nothing but darkness.

Never was there even the faintest form of light to be found outside of her own fire. It did make her a sitting duck for anything that wanted to harm her. Weren’t it for the fact that she had a massive tree as her friend, or at least as ally. For the tree she leaned against was one she had only read about in books and always needed to be treated with respect.

They were beings of a world gone by where respect between all the living beings was mutual and only that what was required was taken. Though the times had changed and a lot of those ancient values had been taken out. So to an extent was the tree itself actually happy that it managed to encounter a creature that treated it with the same respect it treated her.

The unicorn anthrony swung her head to the other side of the land before her body almost followed suit and she laid down in the grass in order to watch something that stood literally equal to the rising sun. Something that many didn’t really watch as they deemed it uninteresting. But it was the rise of the moon that was so much more interesting to Twilight. For its way and light revealed hidden paths among the darkness and only those brave enough to travel them would discover just what they carried.

Calmly and gently it managed to crawl over the horizon. Its weak light was cast over the land. The tail of Twilight began to sway from left to right while she held her head up with both of her hands. A massive smile of near pure glee stood across her lips. She was enjoying the scene, so much.

Bigger and bigger did the rock in the skies became. Then it had finally risen all the way out of its hiding place and showed itself once more to the world. Its cobalt blue light shone mighty and powerful as it also was the signal that the night had begun. A content sigh was being released through the nostrils of Twilight before a smile was formed with her lips.

“The sun and moon always in perfect harmony, showing those who live under it the way of life,” whispered Twilight in a calm tone. She tried her best to get some kind of inspirational quote out there. Something that for her mind didn’t really work. So instead she rolled back up against the bark of the tree and looked at the book that laid in the grass.

A book that was perhaps too dangerous for anyone with a closed mind to read as it contradicted everything that the anthronies believed, or were allowed to believe. The book was taken within her hands and opened upon the page where she last left off. Only to begin reading again until she was too tired to continue, or something else would happen.

It was a peaceful sight to see her sitting against the tree like that while the purple flames crisped near her. The only light to be found out there and it lead to the interesting scene with the mulberry skinned anthrony.

An anthrony who was deeply sunken within her book and the more she read out of it, the more interested she became. Minutes had she already been laying there while wondering what or why. For the book spoke about subjects that were truly questioning believes, which included hers. Though it was only when she lowered the book again and looked up to the star filled skies that the words left her mouth.

“We anthronies think we have done it all so far, that our industrial revolution shall change the land, but what if we destroy everything that makes us, us, is also taken away from us? So many think the world is in our hands, that we can control its very breath with our magic. But we can’t, for the forces greater than us are always there.”

Twilight then looked further into the darkness that surrounded her before she continued to speak her words in that calm but also questioning tone. “Those who remain in the shadow shall never be seen by those standing in the light, yet their plans shall always be revealed by any form of light shone upon them.”

Then her attention was turned back to the fire. The little flames reflected themselves within her eyes. She gained a small smile across her face. “Yet those who remain in the light shall always be seen. One needs to find the balance between light and shadow, to find out who one is. Only then, a soul can be having rest. A true rest.”

Even in her mind did the words sound pretty much ridiculous. But she didn’t minded it all too much. A quick shake of the head was given in order to get rid of everything that was plaguing her before she continued reading in her book.

The book told about the many myths that Equestria was right and the evolution of pony to anthrony. How many thousands of years it had taken for the simple equines to develop into the beings they were today. It did explain a couple of matters, mostly as to how they referred to the sexes as both a stallion and a mare.

Twilight wanted to delve deeper into the mythology with all of her heart. But she was never allowed due to different things getting in the way such as her classes. Those were a prime example of just why any form of massive research to their own history was more often than not just cancelled. “We’re all just pawns in the chess game of those greater than us. We think we’re kings and queens, but we’re far from it. Shame that most don’t realize that. Then again, ignorance always has been a bliss,” said Twilight in a calm chuckle. She then placed her head against the bark and closed her eyes for just a little moment.

Her words of wisdom were perhaps well placed, but there weren’t any ears that could be listening to them. Perhaps it was something for the better though, as many soothsayers didn’t support Twilight in her quest for the truth behind the book. Perhaps it was a saddening fact or perhaps their world simply still wasn’t ready for the discovery of a literal lifetime.

~~~~

Just about two hours had the mare been reading through the book before she finally placed it back aside and leaned once more against the bark of the tree. With her eyes gently closed and a calm breeze of cool wind blowing past her, life just couldn’t get any better for her. She forgot about almost everything for just a moment in time while the thoughts never ceased to swirl.

She just didn’t thought about them. Calm and peace could be found within the mind of the anthrony unicorn before a deep and long exhale was being released by her nose. How long has it last been since she even had slept below the starry skies of Equestria? The unicorn couldn’t remember as all that she knew was that it seemed to have been a lifetime ago.

It were those little moments that made her realize just how fast time was actually moving. A day was literally nothing for her yet an event that happened only a year ago already seemed to have gone so far by. Time was a curious thing, most anthronies could agree upon that fact. None of them fully understand its concept and some didn’t wanted to know it.

But all of them knew one little thing. Which was the very fact that time was not their friend. It never had been and it never would be. Their time was limited upon the face of the land and they had to be making the best out of it before they would leave it again.

The reason why they lived was often the question that then popped back up. A question so simple, yet something that many scholars still hadn’t figured out at all and whatsoever. Their very reason of existence remained a mystery that perhaps wouldn’t have been solved at all.

Or perhaps were all the answers right under their noses.

The book that Twilight was reading through could have given some sort of information about it. The book was controversial as hell of course, as it went pretty much straight into the anthrony’s believes. Yet all of it did make sense in the long run and when thought about deeply. The book was respected and accepted, the author -though untraceable- was also a respected mare or stallion within the library.

It was the confirmation of the goddesses that always questioned the soothsayers. They never neither confirmed nor denied the facts on whether or not the book had it on the right end. Yes, even the goddesses knew the book was there and they knew the answers for certain. But they never gave a straight one to anypony who asked them.

A matter for yet another day, that was how Twilight’s mind was working. The mare had been up pretty much all of the day and the next morning she would be leaving at first dawn towards the pegasus city of pride. A long night it certainly would have become and she made herself comfortable against the bark of the tree.

Even the clothing –or lack thereof– around her chest still was something that worried her. The excuse she then gave to herself was that she would be doing that somewhere in the morning before leaving. A promise she wanted to keep vividly.

There wasn’t much else that she could be doing outside just trying to get some sleep and rest for the night. A sleep that she would have gotten weren’t it for one single little fact. Over the plain itself could the stomping of a hoof be heard, followed up by some mechanized sounds. Both of Twilight’s ears twitched before it if before she opened her eyes again.

Her violet rimmed eyes then stared over the whole place in the hope that she would have been able to figure out something about the sounds. The unicorn was too tired to stand up and she eventually gave up looking as the sounds only did seem to becoming closer.

Different shades of shadows had been seen by her for certain. Though she didn’t actually believe that they could be doing much harm to her. Yet when the sounds came closer, she began to worry herself. The tree itself remained dormant while the anthrony charged up both her horn and hands. If it wanted to harm her, there was only one way it would be getting to her.

It was also in that moment that she actually regretted that the fire was burning that bright. For not only did they reveal her location, it also prevented her eyes from getting used to the darkness. “Who goes there?!” Twilight then exclaimed. She needed to know who or what was coming her way. Whether it be friend or foe, it didn’t matter to her.

A growl was the first thing that followed her immediately afterwards as she was ready to shoot a blast of magic towards the shadow. Slowly it managed to walk into the light of the fire and was revealed to be a certain somepony she had met before. When the other being finally was revealed to Twilight, the magical charges were all dropped as her mouth literally dropped itself.

Never could she have expected to see that same anthrony standing before her again. Never would have expected that she would be standing in front of her again. With one last puff of steam that came from under the trench coat, the other anthrony finally spoke the words that were on its mind.

“Twilight Sparkle, yar a hard mare to find.” That tone, only one anthrony that Twilight knew spoke in that tone and even that strange, southern accent. Twilight looked even further and noticed the orange skin within the purple fire, as well as the couple of freckles near her eyes.

“A-Applejack? Is that, you?” the unicorn then dared to question. She said it a tone of utter disbelief. She didn’t wanted to believe even that it was Applejack who stood before her. Especially not after the way that they had separated the day before.

“The one and only,” answered Applejack. She walked past Twilight and sat down to the left of her. She leaned against the bark of the tree who let out a groan before it went silent again. Questions where the thing that was filling up the mind of Twilight. The mare wanted to know pretty much everything as to how she had found her and why she came back for her.

Yet the questions were perhaps not her place to ask. Though the will to know the answers was there for certain. “If you don’t mind, I have a couple of questions for you.”

Applejack’s head turned itself towards Twilight after she had taken out her flintlock out of her coat for a small clean-up. “As long as it ain’t ‘bout mah leg, go ahead,” the earth anthrony spoke up before she focused herself back upon her weapon.

“Trust me, your leg is about the least of my worries now. No, I want to know why, why and how you came back here, for me.” Twilight then asked the admiral as she prepared for the worst thing to be coming.

The admiral herself looked down the barrel of her gun before she gave a gentle chuckle in response. “Ah said ya were a hard mare to track down, partly true,” began Applejack. She then placed her weapon back inside of her coat. She then turned her attention back to Twilight to tell her the story. “So Ah was walking through the castle…”

~~~~

And the more she wandered through the castle, the more hopeless she began to feel herself. Never had Applejack expected the place to have been that big or massive. As an admiral who was only used to the size of her own ship, entering the castle was like a whole new world to her. Yet she knew that she had to find Twilight somewhere inside of that cluttered mess.

“Hey you!” Applejack then called out to one of the guards. A yellowish skinned stallion turned around in order to face the admiral and the two of them had a bit of a stare down. Though it was the guard who blinked first from the serious look that was visible within Applejack’s green rims. “Ah wanna know where Ah can find Twilight Sparkle, now.”

The guard himself gulped a little bit before he tried to form his reply. With a hesitant voice he finally managed to speak his words and they were not for the better of any kind. “Soothsayer Sparkle has left the castle, a couple hours ago. I don’t know where she went to, but other guards said she might have gone to the plains. M-Maybe her brother knows. This hallway, take a left, second right, third door to your left. Shining Armor’s the name you need.”

“Thanks,” huffed Applejack to him. She left the yellowish skinned, blue haired stallion alone and followed the direction that was given to her.

It wasn’t much later that she found herself knocking at the door. The one that hopefully lead to the office of this Shining Armor. “Come in,” a stallion’s voice on the other side said before the admiral walked in. Before the two even knew it, they were standing eye to eye with one another. Both inspecting every last inch of the other to see if there was going to be a threat.

It could be called a military thing, as if all of them were a little bit jumpy. Yet who could be blaming them all for that little fact? Their country had been at war not even ten years ago. “Captain, Shining, Armor, Ah presume,” said Applejack just before she placed both of her hands upon the back of the chair in front of the desk.

“The one and only, admiral Applejack,” answered Shining in a sly tone. He kept on inspecting the earth anthrony through his glasses. A pair of glasses that were eventually taken away from his nose. He stood up in a calm manner and left his desk for what it was. “What’s the honor that brings you here today? Need new recruits again, or…”

“Yar sister.”

“My what? …Wait, no. Don’t tell me…” stated Shining Armor. He had already began to fear the worst. Even though he was about to blow a fuse or three at the same time, he still managed to keep his mind calm and collected. The expression upon his face turned back to neutral when he needed to know how everything was going to pack out. “What do you want from my sister?”

“Ah need her location, now,” demanded Applejack while her green rimmed eyes looked stern into those of him. “She came to me talking ‘bout them tremors and how she could solve ‘em. But now she left without me. So, where’s she hiding her hide?”

The news was actually a lot better than the stallion could have thought but it also worried him. He knew that Twilight had gone someplace for certain, but little did he knew that she left out a partner already.

A deep sigh was being released through his nose before he nodded to the admiral. “I think, she’s on the plains outside of Canterlot itself. Heading towards either Cloudsdale or the hospital. You might catch her if you’re quick. Daylight becomes scarce and darkness upon the plains is about as bad as the Everfree forest.”

The admiral herself knew exactly where the captain was talking about. She knew that she needed to make haste. She needed to run like never before for a distance almost unearthly for her mechanical leg. “Then Ah’ll be on the way, thanks for the information, captain,” she said to him before sticking out her hand.

Shining Armor needed a little second before he shook her hand and in the blink of an eye was she just gone. “Go with the goddesses their speed,” he mumbled just after the door had fallen back in its lock.

~~~~

“And as Ah wandered down the slopes of the mountain, Ah hurried as fast as Ah could over the grassy field. Ah was about to be giving up all forms of hope on finding ya, ‘til Ah saw that purple fire. Ain’t a natural color so it had to either be ya, or somepony else. Glad it has been ya. So, now Ah’ll be asking a question. Where are ya heading for?” said Applejack when she finished her story and gained the curiosity within her tone as to where the next stop would be.

Twilight had been listening to the story with a pair of open ears as she tried to figure out why the admiral went to her brother and what kind of lecture said brother would be giving her when she came home. But all of that was set aside in order to answer the question of the admiral. “The next place I’m, or we, are going to, is Cloudsdale. The C.A.F. might be holding our next anthrony of interest.”

“The air force? Partner, ya been laying in the sun too long? Those high flying windbags wouldn’t even dare to look at us. We’re the lesser in their eyes. How do ya think you’ll be getting one of them crazy enough to come?” Applejack questioned to the unicorn. She was both honest and genuinely confused about the words that Twilight had said to her.

“Look, I don’t know how I will be getting him or her for this madness, but there is a way. Pride is something that is easily dented. And you said it yourself, they are high flying windbags. Maybe there is something that can be used as some kind of leverage between all of us,” said Twilight then. She held up both of her hands like they were weighing something.

“Mad ya are. I call ya nothing but mad,” the admiral replied. Yet then she gained a grin across her lips. “But Ah like it. Let’s show ‘em who's really in charge.”

“But why did you come after me? That’s what I really want to know right now, Applejack. I mean, I thought I had lost you as a team member back in the harbor,” asked Twilight with great care. All done in the hope not to stomp upon one of Applejack’s hooves.

Applejack knew that the question had to come one moment or the other. So there wasn’t else that she could be doing in order to avoid it. She had to answer it to the best of her abilities even if it seemed impossible to do. “Alright, let me put it this way. When Ah said Ah was going ‘long for yar protection, Ah meant it. Ah ain’t doing this for mah own fun, but to see ya will be able to tell the tale. When Ah left ya, Ah was pissed as hell. Nopony holds the right to ask me that question, but after Ah cooled down, Ah realized we had never met. Ya couldn’t have known ‘bout the rule previously. Guess that’s why Ah came to search ya out.”

"Wow,” was the only word Twilight could bring out. She didn’t knew how to react to the facts as they were presented to her. Was she going to be happy about it, or would she scold the admiral for it? In reality, there was nothing that happened outside of the fact that one of her arms traveled over both of the admiral’s shoulders. “I do really appreciate that Applejack, honestly. But, I think we have to call it a night if we want to reach Cloudsdale tomorrow.”

“Ya got that right partner,” the orange mare replied. Twilight retracted her arm and smiled towards the naval admiral. The both them then leaned against the bark of the tree where they would eventually fall asleep against in a peaceful manner. Simply waiting for what the next day would be bringing to them. What kind of encounters they would be coming across in the massive clouded city of pride?

Comments

[Crescent Glaive]

Goog chapter yet again
Small intermission to build the story line and taking time to tell things at a more slower pace.

But this i found to be in need of repair:

“Captain, Shining, Armor, Ah presume.”

Maybe it would be better without those two (,) marks from there and only leave the mark between Armor and Ah.

Not sure though, so i leave you to decide

[Rarity Belle]

5757141 Every tale needs its slow parts, right? Having the pace always quick makes people tend to forget things. A thing that is not really helpful with this one.

As for the little grammatical issue, I intended for her to say it slow and paused. >-> Kinda a throwback to my ancient style..? I dunno.

[Crescent Glaive]

5757191 thanks for the clarification
English grammar isn't my strong suit since it aint my native language but i got partial knowledge, which does help a little

[Misty Spell]

Darkness shrouded words of truth and reformed them into a truthful lie.

Stop trying to sound deep, Twilight. Darkness is a lack of light, it can't lie about jack diddly.

The being from centuries of age trusted her enough that she was allowed to sleep against its bark.

?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!??!?!?!??!

Congrats Twi, you got the unnecessary permission of an inanimate thing! What's next? Gonna ask the air permission to breath it?

Would Twilight ever physically have cut or burned the bark, the tree would awaken. Which was about the last thing she needed in the moment.

This actually requires explanation, otherwise you're suggesting that Twilight's afraid of an inanimate organism. A tree.

So instead she rolled back up against the bark of the tree and looked at the book that laid in the grass.

So I guess Twilights tree god doesn't have any concerns about the tree corpse she's staring at?

We’re all just pawns in the chess game of those greater than us. We think we’re kings and queens, but we’re far from it. Shame that most don’t realize that. Then again, ignorance always has been a bliss,

Tsk tsk, Twilight. A truly powerful pawn will cross the board and become a queen, then the entire game changes. Cross the board whether the players like it or not, become a queen and take destiny into your own hands. No one likes a defeatist, especially one who just blindly follows fate set for them by gods.

And you said it yourself, they are high flying windbags.

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