Into the Myst

by flyingweaselman

Chapter 2: Tomahna

Twilight trotted around the edge of the cliff where the catwalk met the top. It lead through a crag in the side before becoming fully exposed to the sun under the edge where the gazebo was built. She arrived to where the pedestal had fallen and took a deep breath before she broke out into a gallop down the pathway.

In no time at all she was at the bottom on solid ground, hundreds of feet below the top. The water's rapids rushed and splashed over unseen rocks under the surface. The noise blotted out most other sounds. In any other circumstance Twilight would have found the sound to be relaxing but it now only reminded her of her predicament. Her pace quickened as she wanted to get away from there and towards a solution.

Not long after she met the ground and followed the trail, it lead her under an artificial arch and around a bend. The noise of the rapids became muffled while they disappeared behind her and the river's current became less tumultuous.

To her frustration, the path in front of her meandered out of sight again along the riverside. She had hoped that she would be able to see more signs of civilization sooner.

With determination, Twilight spread her wings and jumped into the air. Flight was the most convenient thing that she had gained since becoming a princess. She hoped that she would be able to find out where this path went much faster than if she simply galloped. The trail could lead on for miles, and if she was really unlucky it might be days travel on hoof. Twilight was desperate to get to the bottom of her situation and travel time was something less she needed to worry about.

Twilight flew in the center of the canyon and kept close to the river to keep the hoofpath in easy view. She doubted that it would be a major problem because there weren't any tributaries from the main canyon to distract her. The water below was deceptively calm from the air, but Twilight knew that it was rushing speedily on its way. She rolled her eyes at the thought that she had to appear at the more dangerous part of the river. The rest of the surface was undisturbed by any obstacles and she may have been able to save the book.

She rounded a u-bend in the canyon into view of a fork in the river. The vein she was following ended suddenly and joined another perpendicular to its flow causing whirlpools to form where the rivers met. The new river was double the width of Twilight's and was also doubly saturated in sediment. Twilight wondered how a river could become so filled with sand.

Twilight blinked for a moment at what she thought was a mirage. A large monorail suspended several hundred feet above the river stretched along its length. Multiple metal support towers held it in place. Twilight wondered what it could mean, and soon she became filled with hope. Other ponies could be near! That thought, unfortunately, was snuffed out quickly. If a rail existed then the nearest civilization could be much much further away than she thought.

Her brow furrowed, why then would there be a hoofpath and a gazebo with a magical book be placed so far out from anypony? She began to think that her worries had been misplaced. Some sort of dwelling had to be near.

As she flew closer to the monorail she saw a single pod travel in her direction. Twilight gave a hearty sigh of relief. She could figure out where she was and the easiest way back to Equestria. Any second now the ponies inside it would see her. She hovered in midair for a moment before she noticed something off. The silhouette in the pod was definitely not another pony, nor any other creature she was familiar with. Twilight panicked and flew out of sight from the pod.

When she had rounded into a crag she peeped around the edge to watch the monorail. A station that she hadn't noticed in her attention to the rail was nearby. The mechanical pod slowed to a stop at the station. Twilight's heart raced. What could the strange creature's intentions be? Had they seen her? She didn't even know if they were friendly or hostile. She was in a strange new land where basic concepts could be foreign. Twilight didn't want to take any chances yet.

Twilight held her breath as the door of the pod opened up and a figure emerged. It was bipedal and wore clothing similar to the ponies in Canterlot. It had on a grey vest and a white shirt with its sleeves rolled up. It wore clothing that covered its legs and Twilight didn't know why. Perhaps that was a different fashion here. His feet were deep brown and looked like they could be hoof-like. It all seemed strange to her. She didn't know if it was male or female, but going solely on the design of the clothes she guessed it was male. He appeared to have no fur on his forelimbs. He had a short-cropped mane and glasses on his face. The male creature's face grimaced in the sun as he adjusted them. He slung a bag and a canteen over his shoulder then walked down some stairs to the hoofpath below.

Twilight moved back behind the crag in the cliff and perched herself on an outcropping of sandstone. She finally remembered to breathe and gasped for air as she worked to catch her breath. She looked down and said, "What was that?"

Her mind began to search through its index for something that resembled any creatures she knew, both factual and mythical. The male creature's torso was almost exactly the same as Tirek's. However, the skin color and facial structure didn't match up. The strange tufts of hair on its head had some similarities to ponies. They both had manes and some stallions had facial hair like this thing. There was a lot that could probably be learned from him, however, Twilight had yet to determine if it was hostile or not. She decided to follow him.

The male walked with a purpose along the path. He moved at a painfully slow rate for Twilight who was used to flight. Even a steady cantor was more than double the pace the creature moved at. Twilight's teeth gritted as she watched safely out of sight. She made sure to take short, quick flights to other hiding spots when its back was turned away from her. It was a tedious process coupled with the slow pace. This was enough to begin wearing down on her nerves. Nevertheless, she was a mare of science, and sometimes you had to be patient with observations.

After an hour they had traveled the same distance Twilight would have gone in a fraction of the time. It got to the point where Twilight would sit lazily in a crag for several minutes so that the male creature could get out of sight. She knew where he'd be. He was walking at a brisk pace but he had nowhere else to go other than forward. Twilight counted herself lucky that he was easy to track.

Twilight got up from her resting point and looked out over the edge to see where the male was. Seeing that he was out of sight, she started back up on her stalker routine. She flew out from her perch and then rounded the corner. She yelped in surprise when she saw that the creature was looking in her direction. Twilight flailed her limbs manically to stop her flight and find cover as quickly as she could.

She hugged her back to a rock out of sight from the creature, her eyes wide with anxiety. Had he seen her? She desperately hoped not, what if it had some magical powers she didn't know of yet? What if it could teleport like she could? Her breathing intensified as her mind raced at a million miles a minute in panic, the entire situation bearing down on her mind. Twilight swallowed and calmed herself down using the breathing technique she had taught Princess Cadence to relieve stress. Now composed, she worked up the will to look around her boulder.

The male was gone. Twilight blinked a bit and fought hard to suppress the thought of a teleporting Eldrich thing suddenly appearing in front of her. She didn't know if she wanted to see it up close yet.

She gave the area around her a visual inspection, trying to look for the creature she had been following. Thankfully, it was nowhere to be seen. Twilight flew out from where she was and traced her flight path along with the trail below. This time she was more careful when she rounded another bend. It was the last twist in the river before the straight shot to the gazebo.

Twilight found a place to hide near the arch from before. She looked along the path and saw the creature, to her surprise, right below her drinking from his canteen. Up close he wasn't as terrifying. Twilight guessed from the color of his mane that he was probably older. His fatigued look further reinforced that assumption. He was panting and sitting in the shade that the arch offered. Twilight peered over the edge, stretching her neck as far as she could in an attempt to better observe. In her carelessness, her hoof slipped and some rocks slide off the edge.

"No no no no!" she whispered harshly.

The rocks made a loud noise as they fell over the edge and near the male. He let out a startled yelp as the rocks hit the ground. Dust flew up into the air and everything became completely still. Twilight cursed herself for her curiosity. She had clearly given herself away.

"Who's there!" The male's voice called out.

Double crap! Twilight's face tightened up.

"I know you're there, you've been following me for some time now," he said. He didn't sound too happy.

Twilight gulped. She wasn't ready for this sort of contact. She didn't want to hurt him, but if it came to blows she would be ready to defend herself. However, Twilight was searching desperately for a way to tactfully approach this. She didn't know if she even wanted to reveal herself now at all. After thinking about it carefully she decided to see what would happen.

Twilight cautiously looked over the edge towards the male, bracing herself for anything. The creature looked surprised at her appearance and, strangely, his expression went from stern to gentle as her whole head came into his view.

"Why hello there little fella. What are you doing following me around?" he said in a singsong voice.

Twilight's expression switched from apprehension to slightly offended, "Little fella? I'm not some filly that you can act all condescending towards!"

The male's expression went immediately to shock. Taken aback he said, "You're not just another animal!"

"Of course not!"

The creature put a hand on his chest and another in the air towards Twilight, "Forgive me, I'm a little embarrassed right now."

That took Twilight off guard. Thank goodness he wasn't hostile. However, with her pride slightly she was still a bit peeved.

"What are you?" she asked.

"What?" it said back.

"I said, what are you? I've never seen any creatures like you before, and neither have I read about you. I should know, I read. A lot," Twilight said with finality.

The creature blinked for a second. He was obviously just as puzzled about her existence as she was about his.

He changed the subject, "How about we start with names rather than 'whats.' My name is Atrus, do you have a name?"

Twilight's disgruntled expression revealed her displeasure, she didn't like misdirection, however it was a more pleasant turn in their conversation. She carefully moved more into the open but remained on top of the arch high up from Atrus. She needed to convince herself that he could be trusted more fully. "I'm Twilight Sparkle."

Atrus responded with a polite nod. "I'm pleased to meet you. As for what I am, I'm human. You've never heard about humans before?"

Twilight shook her head. "No."

Atrus hummed to himself with interest before looking back up to Twilight. "What are you, may I ask? And where did you come from?"

This was new for Twilight because she never had to explain what she was to anypony. In Equestria everyone just knew, especially her status as an alicorn.

"I'm a pony, you ever heard of that before?" Twilight said with a mixture of annoyance and some hope.

"Well... yes..." Atrus said back, not what to say.

Twilight perked up a bit at that information. If he's heard of ponies then there's a chance that she could get back to Ponyville.

"So you have heard of us!" she said in excitement.

The corner of Atrus's lip rose. "They're not like you. You're unique."

"Oh," Twilight said as her ears drooped. Her hopes, albeit small ones, had been in vain. Atrus's words drew some questions to Twilight's mind. If he had heard of ponies before then why did he say that she was unique? She looked similar to the rest of her species, except for being an alicorn of course. She had elements of all three types of ponies embodied in her, it was what helped her and her fellow princesses rule. They could empathize with all three of the pony races.

"What did you mean by unique?" Twilight asked.

"The ponies I know aren't as colorful as you, also they can't talk," Atrus said matter-of-factly.

Twilight cocked an eyebrow, "What, really? I don't believe you."

"It's true."

That both intrigued and horrified Twilight at the same time. To think that there were other ponies that didn't share the same attributes that she was used to was shocking. If they couldn't speak then could that mean Atrus had done something to them that had taken that ability away? What if there were ponies that were enslaved by him? These thoughts came and went in Twilight's mind as possibilities, however, she was one that preferred to believe in the good inside everypony. She was curious to know what Atrus meant but, for now, other pressing matters demanded her attention, such as heading home.

"Where are we?" Twilight asked.

"This," Atrus said motioning with his hands to everywhere, "is Tomahna. My home."

"Where in Equestria is that?" Twilight asked.

"Equestria?" Atrus replied.

"Yes, this is in or around Equestria, right?"

"I'm not familiar with..." Atrus trailed off.

Twilight leaned closer to hear him. She was really hoping that she was still at least close to Equestria. Since Atrus knew where they were then he should know where Equestria was. Twilight clung to that thought as hard as she could because the only way she knew how to get back to her castle in Ponyville at the moment was currently rushing down the river to be forever lost.

After a moment Atrus quickly looked up at Twilight, "Wait a moment, I know that name!"

"You do!" Twilight jumped up and flew from the arch before landing several yards away from Atrus.

"Yes, I wrote an Age a while back with that title. I think I know where I can get it, but first," he turned around to head up the trail, "I want to check on something."

Twilight immediately thought back to how she had accidentally knocked the book off the pedestal in the gazebo. Atrus was surely going there, and if he was going there he was certainly going to check on the book. Her chest began thumping as she thought of the trouble she might get into if he found out she was the cause of the book going into the water.

"Check on what?" Twilight asked with trepidation.

"Didn't you see the large explosion in the sky near here?" Atrus asked.

Twilight blinked, "The what now?"

"There was a pretty spectacular explosion in the sky that happened not too long ago. I think it happened near here and I wanted to try and find the source."

In Twilight's fit of desperation she had tried to teleport to Ponyville from here. To her, the spell had inexplicably failed. When that happened the next thing she remembered was falling to the ground. The explosion that Atrus was talking about must've been the result of her failed spell.

"Wait," Twilight said and Atrus stopped to look back at her. "That was probably me."

"You did that?" Atrus said with a skeptical chuckle.

"I'm being serious," Twilight said.

Atrus's humored smile disappeared. "How could that have been you? You would've died if you were caught in that."

"It's not that farfetched. A failed spell can have spectacular results," Twilight said, "or be spectacularly dangerous."

Atrus said nothing, looking back at the purple alicorn, trying to rationalize what he'd just heard. In Atrus's field, a creature at the center of an explosion would not survive. Twilight's mention of a failed spell made him mentally double take. Atrus liked to think of himself as a rational thinker and a mention of magic was new to him coming from a real creature in front of him.

"In the field of magic, anything can happen," Twilight said with a nervous laugh.

"You're able to perform magic?" Atrus asked.

"Yes. What? Is that uncommon?"

"In the Ages that I've been to, yes," Atrus said.

Twilight pointed a hoof at him. "You keep talking about 'Ages.' What are those?"

Atrus sighed and looked out over the river in thought. "I think, to understand that it might be best if I just show you." He began walking up the trail again. Twilight followed.

It was slow going for Twilight despite the short distance to the gazebo. Twilight was worried about what she'd say to Atrus when he figured out she had been the one to lose his book. She knew inside that it would be inevitable. He would find out and it would be bad for her because she knew that that book was going to be very valuable. If she had created a book that could transport you to other places, she'd value it very highly.

When they came upon the pedestal on the catwalk Atrus had a puzzled look on his face. He ran up to it and inspected it.

"Is something wrong?" Twilight said past a swallow.

Atrus sat on the pedestal and sighed, "Yes. One of my linking books was placed here. When you said Equestria, it reminded me of this location. I stored it here. I can't believe I forgot about it."

"Linking book?" Twilight asked.

"It allows you to travel between Ages. The explosion you caused must've knocked this over and sent the book into the river." Atrus obviously looked disappointed. However, Atrus's response to the loss of the book was surprisingly mild. He had correctly deducted that Twilight had been the indirect cause of the loss of the book.

"Yeah," Twilight said looking down. She decided that honesty was the best policy right now. The book was her only way home and she had accidentally lost it. She felt terrible.

"You're not mad?" Twilight asked with caution.

Atrus gave a weary chuckle, "No. It was probably an accident."

Twilight let out a very audible sigh of relief. "That takes a load off my chest."

Atrus grinned lightly. "Well, the loss of one linking book, while unfortunate, isn't something to worry about. The actual Age is in my library where I live."

Twilight snapped to attention. "You mean that you have another way I can get back home!"

"Well... yes," Atrus said as if it was common knowledge, not feeling the weight of his words.

"Haha!" Twilight exclaimed as she rushed forward and gave Atrus a big hug. Before long she let go. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou! You have no idea how happy that makes me!"

Atrus was startled at the sudden pony hug he received. However, sensing her gratitude he let it happen and he was happy to help. He knew what it was like to not be able to return back to your home. It had happened once before.

Twilight stepped back from Atrus as he got up from his seat. "I'll take you back to my home. I'll have your Age in my library, it won't be a problem to get you back. You'll get to meet my wife and daughter as well. I'm sure they'd love to meet you," Atrus said as he walked down the catwalk to the trail below.

Twilight nodded eagerly as she followed him. She was now interested in meeting Atrus's family. It not only made her feel better for being accepted here but she would also get to see what other members of Atrus's species looked like. Those facts did interest her as a mare of science and discovery. With these new observations she could record much for Equestria's benefit.

There was one thing that Twilight didn't learn from their conversations yet. "Again, you keep mentioning 'Ages.' What are those?" she asked Atrus.

Atrus was walking in front of Twilight at a slightly quicker pace than he had when she followed him. His gait now showed his excitement. Atrus talked as he walked. "I was hoping to explain that with that linking book. An Age is one of many worlds. To travel between them you need a book like the one that was on the pedestal. Was there anything similar to that-- that you saw before you came here?"

She took a moment to consider the room in her castle with the strange book. Twilight spoke, "Yes, I opened it and it had a panel that showed me this place. It was guarded by an elaborate puzzle. I don't know what happened to make me come here. All I remember is placing a hoof on the page before I was rushing through the air here."

Twilight had caught up next to him. Her shoulders were level with the middle of Atrus's thigh and the top of her head matched the middle of his torso in height. It felt weird to be so much shorter than anypony --or in this case, anybody-- other than the princesses.

Atrus continued to speak as they walked, gesturing with his hands as he went. "It's not uncommon for someone to guard their linking books like that. I know that I've done that before with mine. They are an open conduit between Ages. Think of them like an open door. When a book is left unguarded then anyone can go through them. It can be troublesome when that does happen. I prefer to set up puzzles like the one you found to make it so I can go back and forth without worrying about that because I'm the only one who knows the solution. I think others like me have done the same."

Twilight nodded. "I can see why. It proved to be a problem when I got here. I lost that book."

"Just count yourself lucky that your Age's descriptive book is here. If you'd done the same thing and lost a linking book somewhere else, you'd be stuck there forever."

"Gee," Twilight said, she had almost had that happen to her here. Thank goodness Atrus had another way for her to get back home.

It took them some time to get back to the monorail. Twilight was fine now with the pace they kept because Atrus provided good conversation along the way. As they talked, Atrus asked about Equestria and what it was like there. Twilight was happy to give a full account of every detail she could think of. It proved to be more than Atrus bargained for as she talked about every subject possible. Atrus, to his credit, listened intently, asking intelligent questions whenever he wanted to know more about something. It did well to liven up Twilight's mood.

When they reached the station, Atrus went up the stairs first with Twilight following close behind. The monorail pod was able to fit more than one person comfortably, however, it wasn't made for pony occupants. Two seats were positioned near the front of the pod which had a large glass windshield that allowed a panoramic view to the passengers. Twilight found the seat uncomfortable because it wasn't large enough for her to sit regularly. She scooted back into the seat but there wasn't enough room for her fore hooves. Atrus did everything he could to make her feel comfortable by placing a box or two in front of the seat where a person's feet would usually go.

Atrus sat in the seat next to Twilight where instruments to control the pod were located. It consisted of two levers that could be pushed forward or backward to aid in speeding up or slowing down the pod. A third mechanism with a crank was placed in the middle of the pod between the driver side and passenger side.

Atrus looked over at Twilight. "Are you ready?"

Twilight nodded in reply. Atrus then looked forward and turned the crank in the middle. The pod then began to turn and the door closed simultaneously while Twilight watched in wonder as the machine worked. She was looking upward at their vehicles connection to the rail, trying to see the pod's source of power when she felt them lurch forward. She almost fell on her face but managed to steady herself. Twilight looked backwards to see the station slowly move away from them as they began to pick up speed.

Soon they were moving swiftly through the canyon. It thrilled Twilight to see such a unique landscape rush quickly past them. The water sparkled under the sun of a cloudless day. The sun hit the sandstone, highlighting their red tints. They passed under and over arches formed by the many long years of erosion. The metal towers supporting the monorail soon gave way to large guy-wires that suspended the track above the river. They rounded bends quickly and turned abruptly through a narrow snakelike s-turn. This was exhilarating for Twilight who almost gave a squeal of pleasure at how fun this was.

They emerged from the slot canyon to a more open area. The river was still below them and they now were moving at a much more steady speed. The rail lead them in a straight path through the area with no sudden turns in sight. Twilight took this opportunity to really look around at their surroundings. It was very beautiful to her. The water had an emerald shine with the red-rock formations. As she looked forward again, she saw one of the most beautiful homes she had ever seen.

The river's source was at the top of a waterfall. The monorail lead upwards over an arch to the top of another arch the waterfall cascaded through. Several buildings were built onto the cliff face and were supported by stilts where they leaned over the edge. Walkways crossed between the buildings allowing for easy access. The source waters were as still as a calm lake which added to the beauty of the scene.

The pod reached the top of the archway where the end of the line was. It slowed before entering in and came to a soft stop. Both sides of the pod opened up, allowing both Twilight and Atrus an exit. Atrus methodically exited with the supplies that he'd brought with him. Twilight followed out from her side. She kept on taking in the sights as she walked, forgetting to look where she was going, and walked into one of the guard railings. Since she was much shorter than the intended person it was meant to protect, her neck was the first to make contact. She choked for a moment before springing backward and coughing.

Atrus walked quickly over to Twilight to see if she was okay.

"I'm fine," Twilight raggedly said.

Atrus chuckled, "Try to be more careful. You might be able to fly with those wings, but I still don't want you to get hurt on accident."

After Twilight regained her composure Atrus walked over to a lever and pulled. A spiral aperture opened up allowing access into the natural stone of the arch. Twilight followed him inside, mostly eager to see the rest of his home.

To her uttermost delight, the first room that they entered was a laboratory. The walkway leading in immediately turned right and up some stairs. Next to Twilight, a contraption sparked with electricity arcing from outstretched points. Steam and gears turned on the other side, powering other machinery that was used for scientific observations. Upon looking towards the ceiling, Twilight noticed that this was an observatory as well. All the scientific equipment helped her feel right at home.

"You're a scientist?" Twilight asked.

Atrus let out a short laugh as he walked up the stairs to a large desk that lined the wall. On top of the desk were several cabinets and drawers that stored various items. He placed his bag on top of the desk and looked back towards Twilight who was looking around in awe at the whole place.

"What can I say?" Atrus said, "I love to learn."

"Father?" A younger female voice sounded. "Father, is that you?"

Atrus looked up fondly towards the direction of the voice. "Yes Yeesha, I'm over here," he called out, "and I've brought a guest."

Footsteps gradually got louder as the source grew closer. They were light steps, filled with youthful energy that was eager to approach. A young girl late in her adolescent years walked over to them. She had on a simple skirt and blouse combination with a vest. Her hair was brown and tied back into a single ponytail. "Has your friend come to visit agai--" She cut herself off at the sight of Twilight.

"Uh... Hi?" Twilight said.

"Oh my gosh! She's adorable!" The girl said enthusiastically as she clasped her hands.

Atrus smiled and looked over to Twilight. "My daughter, Yeesha."

Twilight was taken by surprise with Yeesha's reaction, nopony had ever reacted in that way to her. She didn't know what to expect from Yeesha now. Yeesha walked quickly over to Twilight and began to give the most uncomfortable visual inspection Twilight ever had. The entire time Yeesha bombarded her with questions.

"Where are you from? Are there more of you? Can you really fly? Can you do magic?" All of these questions came at Twilight faster than most people had time to think.

"Equestria. Yes, back home. Yes, and yes." Twilight said, not missing a beat.

Yeesha eyes went wide in fascination, "Wow..."

Atrus walked over and placed a fatherly hand on her shoulder. "Yeesha, please don't smother our guest."

Yeesha looked up and began to realize what she had done. She looked over to Twilight in mild shock and clenched her teeth. "I'm so sorry. I got carried away."

Twilight brushed it off, "Don't worry about it. This is new for me too."

Atrus spoke to Yeesha, "Why don't you get your mother. I'm sure that she'd like to meet Twilight Sparkle."

"You can just call me Twilight."

Atrus corrected himself. "Twilight, then."

Yeesha nodded obediently and said, "Yes, Father," before walking out of the laboratory.

"She's very bright, but still very much a child inside," Atrus said.

"I noticed," Twilight said.

Twilight took this opportunity to look around some more. On the desk at the end nearest to the stairs was a contraption that looked like it modeled a solar system. It was made completely out of metal and had a switch at its base. Twilight went over and looked at it. It was definitely different from the astronomy she was familiar with. She lifted a hoof and flipped the switch. The arms which held up the metal planets spun around the machine's center in different directions. It was mildly entertaining and she flipped the switch again when the arms stopped spinning. Sufficiently amused she walked around more of the lab.

Near another door was a large contraption that Twilight had no clue of its design or purpose. It was a large cylindrical machine with glass tubes protruding from the top at every direction. They were all lit up and had electricity arcing inside of them. In the middle of it there was a glass screen which furthered Twilight's perplexity.

"That is my crystal viewer," Atrus said from behind her, " It can be used to look into Ages if you know the proper frequencies."

"Couldn't you just use one of your linking books to do that?" Twilight asked.

"A linking book has a fixed point it can see that is determined by its location. This," Atrus placed a hand on the machine, "can have its picture adjusted."

Twilight walked over to it. "Where do you see the image?"

Atrus motioned to the glass screen. "You see in right here. And these," he placed pointed below the screen where four slots were seen, "are where you put the tuning crystals in to see the Age you want to." He pointed to another machine opposite to them. "That is where you can calibrate the sound component to hear what's in the Age."

"Could you use it to see Equestria?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, if we knew more about the frequencies your Age was tuned to."

This intrigued Twilight. She wanted to see Equestria through the device but it was better if she could simply go back. Being there was better than seeing it through a screen.

In their attention to the crystal viewer they failed to notice the other person who had walked in. "Getting another one of your friends involved in your work again?"

Atrus and Twilight turned around to see a woman the same age as Atrus standing with her arms folded. A smile was on her face as she looked fondly at the two. She wore a faintly blue dress under a red coat that nearly reached the same length as the dress. Her salt-and-pepper hair hung freely from her head behind her shoulders. Her face was beginning to show wrinkles that added to her gentle appearance.

"Well, yes and no," Atrus said quickly.

"You've always been so passionate about your work, I'd be surprised if you weren't about doing that. Who is this?" the woman asked.

Atrus introduced them, "This is Twilight, Catherine." He turned to Twilight, "This is my wife Catherine."

Twilight gave a pleasant smile, "I'm pleased to meet you."

"And I you," Catherine said with a slight nod. "Yeesha couldn't stop talking about you when she came to get me. I sent her off to begin preparing lunch. Would you care to join us?"

Twilight was flattered. Here was a nice family that invited her to stay for a meal. It reminded her of when she first arrived in Ponyville and their hospitality. She really wanted to get back there as soon as possible but she didn't want to refuse their generosity. "I would love to," she said.

"She really couldn't stop talking about her?" Atrus asked.

Catherine let out a chuckle, "She kept on saying how there's an adorable pony doing sciency things with Dad."

Atrus laughed lightly at that comment. "Yeesha's pretty smart herself. It's funny how she phrased it like that."

"She's pretty smart?" Twilight said.

"Yes, she's learned everything I've given her very quickly. She assists me a lot with my discoveries now days. Like I said, very bright. She's been very adept at writing Ages. I haven't had her make the leap to having her write Ages that are inhabited yet, but Yeesha is almost there," Atrus said.

"Please, explain this to me. Ages are written?" Twilight said.

Catherine walked up next to Atrus. "They are, it's a prized skill. My husband here writes Ages and explores them. You'll see that when he gets a new idea he has to begin writing an Age based around that immediately. He's written hundreds."

"You create worlds through writing?" Twilight asked, amazed.

Atrus grew a little uneasy. "Not exactly. I've theorized, and there are many who agree, that when we write an Age we aren't creating it but instead are just creating a link to an already existing world."

"I see, that makes a lot of sense. It requires less assumptions," Twilight said. "Already I can see how this could give somepony a god complex."

"Exactly," Catherine said.

Yeesha walked briskly into the room. "Lunch is ready, we can eat now." She couldn't stop staring at Twilight.

"What?" Twilight asked.

Yeesha broke out from her trance and shook her head quickly. "Nothing," she said before walking out of the room.

"We'll talk more over lunch," Catherine said as she followed behind Yeesha. Twilight and Atrus followed after her.

Comments

[sailing101]

"Already I can see how this could give somepony a god complex."

Way to Trigger Catherine's potential Ghen related PTSD Twi.