Chapter 3
Keeping secrets is not one of my strong suits. I guess this comes from having a thirst for knowledge and a helping attitude. I like to boast about what I've learned to others in order to help them gain some knowledge as well. This time however, I feel like I need to keep my mouth shut. Being the only pony here from the future, I know a lot more than any other pony does. Giving too much information could alter the events of my timeline, and having a mare asking me about my life is really thinning that line.
"What school did you go to?"
A school dedicated to a yet-to-be-crowned princess, so instead I said "I'm home schooled."
"What do you need Master Star Swirl to help you with?"
To help me travel to the future, however, I replied with "A spell formula."
"So what do you do for a living?"
Being a princess, but I decided to pick one of my friends' occupation, "I'm a fashion designer."
She views over my attire, "You don't sell very many designs, do you."
Despite the bombardment of questions about me, I was able to get a bit of information about my guide. Cici is a unicorn that seems to have quite a sunny personality. She doesn't seem to take her studies seriously, but guessing off of how she properly titles Star Swirl, she shows a lot of respect for him.
Speaking about Star Swirl, Cici is taking me to the town 'Earth', obviously residing with the Earth pony nation, to meet up with Star Swirl.
"So what kind of name is Twilight?" She continues with her questions.
"It's my mother's name."
"Doesn't that make it really confusing at home?"
"Not really, the majority of the time she would be called 'mom' or 'dear'."
"You know what, you should probably have a nickname to avoid the issue altogether."
My mother is about two thousand years away from me. I think we're safe from confusing me with her.
"Oh, I got it! How about we call you 'Twinkle'."
"I'd prefer to be called Twilight."
"Would you consider 'Grasshopper'?"
"I'd prefer Twinkle over that."
"Then Twinkle it is."
I'm not going to keep my name with this pony, am I?
Arriving in the farming fields of Earth was something to be considered. Not a place to visit, but someplace to donate to. The fields seem to have seen better days as divots can be found everywhere. Crops are ruined as many of them have been ripped apart and displayed on the ground. Did a twister come by here recently? Trailing off the fields, I notice some of the farm ponies. I began to recall what Glory said to me and I could see what she meant by 'cold stares'. A lot of Earth ponies are glaring at me and they're not trying to hide their aggression in those gazes. I'm in their neighborhood now.
"Why would Star Swirl come here?" I whisper to Cici.
"I don't really know," she responds just as quite "He seemed quite settled earlier with his geology book, but he was panicking later stating that he had to get to the Earth kingdom."
"How are we going to find him?"
"I know somepony who might know where he is."
When I look back at the town's ponies, I begin to notice some subtle differences between the Earth ponies of my time and the Earth ponies I'm seeing right now. They seem more chisel than modern Earth ponies. They have less fur, seem a bit bulkier, and... are those rocks embedded into their backs?
"Cookie! Hey Cookie!" Cici called out.
I broke my concentration to view the pony she was heading to. She seems no different from the other ponies around here except for that oversized hat, but I can't help but feel that I've met the descended to this mare. Maybe it's the orange fur, maybe it's the blond mane.
"Well howdy there, Cici."
Or maybe it's the accent.
"What brings you around here?" She says with a friendly smile. She doesn't seem to be viewing us as all of the other ponies are doing, frankly, I don't think she can view anything from inside that hat. But judging from that eye peering out of that small hole in the fabric, I think she seems to be a very trustworthy pony.
"We're looking for Master Star Swirl. Have you seen him?"
"Star Swirl did come by here, but he left some time ago."
"Do you know where?"
"I'm afraid I don't," she tugs at her hat "but I'm cert'n that big sister, Pudding, knows."
Big sister, Pudding?
"Oop?" No more than two seconds did I hear a sound coming from the ground between us. The dirt begins to rise and suddenly bursts apart to reveal a pony's head from underground, "You called, sister?"
As I'm getting a better look of her as she digs herself out of the ground, I become absolutely certain that I know whose ancestor this is. That poofy mane, those various tones on the color pink, that bizarre entrance. No doubt that this is Pinkie Pie's ancestor. This 'sister' has her eyes focused on Cookie, who now seems to be in a panic state judging by the sudden vigilant jolt she just made.
Cookie gives a sheepish little nudge towards us. Pudding turns towards me and Cici with a curious look, but that look soon turns into a peevish one. "Unicorns?" she returns her sites back on the orange mare, "You called me out of my meetings to meet Unicorns?" She now looks like she's about to take a bite out of Cookie!!! "I have the right mind to send you to harvest Bomb Flowers for a week, sister!!"
Are we really that big of a deal? "We just want to know where Star Swirl is." I spoke on Cookie's behalf, uncertain if that would even calm down to this angry tyrant.
"He went that way," she points towards a gigantic cumulonimbus cloud. She then proceeds by getting closer toward my face "Now beat it, filly." then begins treading away.
"What's got her so grouchy?" Cici gives a comment whisper between me and Cookie.
"What's got me so grouchy?" Pudding stops and turns her gaze towards Cici "WHAT'S GOT ME SO GROUCHY? Our fields have been destroyed, hungry ponies are starving, and our only source of mineral nourishment is being housed by a gigantic bug-lizard!" she states each problem with a step towards the unicorn till their noses touch, "But... These are all Earth pony problems and I don't want to add the hassle of dealing with Unicorns to the list, either!" the white mare literally zips backwards from the counselor.
The pink pony straightens up "Sister!" Cookie stands at attention, "I need to get back and see how the crops are doing. Tend to these mares needs and send them on their way back to their own kind." She then takes her leave by curling into a ball and begins to roll away. She may not have that friendly charm that her descendant has, but she certainly has the quirkiness.
I hate to admit it, but after meeting her and the majority of Earth ponies here, there really was nothing learned from Hearth's Warming. Ponies hating one another simply based upon race. At least there's some hope with Cookie. She seems to be relaxing now that Pudding is gone "It's probably best for you guys to leave anyways. Things could get ugly if somepony decides to take charge."
"Sorry for causing you trouble." Cici says with sympathy. "Come on, Twink."
I began turning around, but was slowly coming to a halt. 'I should leave. Things will be resolved eventually if I don't interfere with the past.' That's what I keep telling myself, but I feel like I should do something to help them out. Leaving them like this will only be haunting me for the rest of my journey, but helping them might screw up the timeline.
.........curse my sympathy.
I return my face back to Cookie "Where is that lizard that Pudding mentioned hiding?"
"Over there," she points a hoof to a distant mountain, "why do you ask?"
"I'll get rid of that monstrous creature for you." I said against my better judgement.
Both Cookie and Cici seem to be taken aback by my offer, "You really going to try and stop that thing?" I gave a brave nod to the earth pony. "I see, well....." she views me over ".....hold on a sec." she turns her head around and returns it back to my view to see that she has something in her mouth "Ish aneroush oo ho awone! Ake ish."
I couldn't quite get at what she said, but I think she wants me to take that. I cast my aura around it and pull it towards me. Getting a better view of it, it turns out to be a wooden sword.
"You best be careful in there. Varmints inside wouldn't think twice about striking at ya. Use that if they give ya any trouble."
It was considerate of her to care about my well being, but why would I need to wield around a stick when I can use magic? I place it inside the back of my tunic, accidentally tapping my wing against it which resulted with another scratch at it.
"Be rational, Twinkle." Cici tries to dissuade me "Helping them is nice and all, but whatever is in there is a big threat. If it's giving a group of farming ponies a problem, what chance would one unicorn have?"
"That's Twilight," I correct her "and I'll be alright." After all, this isn't the first time this princess protected her ponies. "Just stay here. I'll be back in a flash." and I did just that by flashing a teleportation spell to travel to the entrance of the mountain.
Staring into the dark corridors of the cave, I was hearing nothing but echoes of the threat that lies ahead. They were small sounds like the earth settling and the occasional falling of a rock, but the fact that I could hear practically everything, no less in the dark, is going to be pretty overwhelming. Viewing the circumference of the entrance, I can only guess how big this monster is. It gives more than enough room for at least ten ponies to walk side by side. Taking a nerve settling breath, I lit up my horn to see in the darkness of this cavern and begin my exploration.
The illumination spell was created to allow the individual a small view of vision in small dark places, like walking through your house in the middle of the night. This cavern, however, is anything but small, so my vision is basically the gravel I tread upon, and when you can hardly see anything, your imagination begins to wonder. Just what will be the first thing I'll find in here? A bat, a miner, or maybe that bug-lizard? Whatever my first obstacle may be, I hope it won't cause too much trouble.
After a few minutes of pacing, I come across the worst possible problem to ever come across.
Choosing to go left or right.
On the left side, there's more tunnels with a smaller corridor than the one I've been walking in, from ten ponies to about three, a standard size for ponies to walk through. On the right, the tunnel is the same size I've been traveling, but there's a boulder blocking the path. It seems like an obvious choice, but a simple blast of magic keeps the possibility open.
I keep shaking my head back and forth between my options until it dawned on me that I should take the right. Pudding did say that it was gigantic, so if it hidden itself in here, it would take the path it could fit in. Even though it seems unlikely with this rock blocking both my path and common sense.
Summoning my aura together, I shoot a magical bullet to hit the rock..... then the floor.... then the ceiling.... then the walls.... then the rock again.... then nearly my head. My magic shot had ricocheted off all over the place. Apparently, these rocks seem to have some kind of property that allow them to repel magic.
How am I going to get by this now? There's no way I'll be able to push this thing, and I can't really teleport to the other side of the boulder, either. The teleporting spell I know needs to have an image for me to concentrate on if I want to teleport to that location. Basically, if I seen it once, then I can return there. It really pays off to have a photographic memory, but that isn't going to help me out here.
I shake my head in defeat and go down the only other path I can take.
Traveling down the left side was a lot easier on me though. The smaller passage gave me plenty to see, which is really calming on my nerves. It allowed me to see everything around me and focus purely on listening for anything to come, and I believe I am indeed hearing something a bit off. I've been hearing a constant sound that is being made in a rhythmic pattern. It sounds like something is bashing on the wall, and it appears to be getting louder as I proceed further. I slowed my pace and proceed lightly towards the sound.
As I approach this sound, an image begins to form from the darkness. A fur-like biped was bashing the cavern walls with an instrument that I couldn't get a good look at. The creature stops his attack on the wall and curiously looks behind him for me to see his face, revealing to me that this individual is a Diamond Dog!
This dog seems to have characteristics that resemble that of a Bulldog's, from the drooping flaps of his face, to the teeth showing of his underbite. He's wearing gauntlets and boots that appear to be made out of leather. He also has a bit of armor plates on him as there are shoulder guards, a collar, and a cap, all of them bearing spikes to them.
The Diamond Dog turns his bulky body towards me, dragging the hammer he holds along the ground. "Cave. Mine. Leave!!" It snarls at me. It seems that the Diamond Dogs of my time have learned a few new words than their ancestors did, which brings up an obvious question that's been unseen from me up till now. If this is the past, then why isn't everypony speaking in an older dialect?
The dog begins stalking closer to me. If it's not the glaring eyes he's intimidating me with, then it's the mallet he's holding up. I take out my wooden sword to point it at him and try my own intimidating tactics "Stop! Don't make me use this!" Although, I can't decide if I should use the stick to defend with or to play fetch with. He charges at me and I grip my magic tighter around the sword. I take a swing at him and a beam comes shooting out, hitting the dog back. Frozen at what I did, I'm wondering at what just transpired. I decide to swing my sword again and another magical energy bullet launches itself at the dog, resulting in him yelping. I don't know why, but it seems that a bit of my magic gets sent forward every time I swing my sword.
This. Is. AMAZING!!!
I have no idea what type of wood they used to make this with, but I feel like I'm unstoppable now that I have an advantage of shooting magic from practically anywhere.
The Diamond Dog didn't seem like he was out just yet, as he continues his approach towards me. I throw another shot at him, but he blocks it with his hammer. He's learning from my attacks just as much as I am. He's holding the hammer in front of him like a shield as he gets closer.
A hammer.... that could be useful, but I need to get it away from him first.
The dog approaches me and I wait for the moment to counter while moving backwards. Now only a few hooves away, he swings the hammer at me and I keep pulling myself back from every swing. Swings from above, swings at angles, he just aims wildly. He swings the mallet at me horizontally towards his center and then I made my move. I quickly teleport myself back from his attack and shot a bullet at his wrist. He loses the grip on the hammer and it goes flying left of him.
Realizing he's unarmed, he runs to go pick it back up. I hastily shot at his path, reacting in him halting his pursuit. He stares at me, realizing that I've got him at a loss. I shoot at the ground near his feet until he scampers away yipping.
Now that he's out of the way, I return the sword back into my tunic and went over to take the hammer for my own. I pick it up with my magic to view at the basic form it has. It had a silver handle with leather straps at the base and a golden metal head. With this, I think I'll be able to break through that bolder.
I teleport back to the intersection with the hammer in aura and view the giant boulder that stopped me before. I take up the mallet and begin bashing at the oversized rock.
I replaced the hammer with my sword and viewed my work. It took dozens of amounts of swinging, but the boulder finally crumbled apart to reveal a path for me to see on the other side. I wipe the sweat from my forehead, this hassle took a lot out of me. I plant myself down on the floor, deciding to rest for a while.
Sitting in silence wasn't that bad as it was before. It actually felt like a nice place to reflect and think about your actions, which I brooded on. Is helping these ponies really the right thing to do? It's definitely the moral thing to do, but is it going to change anything drastic?
I mulled over the idea and started to see a light from the corner of my eye. This light seemed to have a tint of gold and was a little higher from my eye level. It seemed to get brighter, looking like it was getting closer to me. I was about to get up, but I soon saw that this light was coming from a familiar white mare. She quickly gallops over here and I say "What are you doing here?" to Cici.
She has a panicked expression as she scans me over, "Forget me, why are you on the ground. Are you hurt?"
"No no," I said, getting back up with sword it aura, "I just needed to rest for a moment."
"That's good," she had a look of relief on her, "so are you done here?"
"No," I began walking towards the once blocked path "I haven't found that bug-lizard yet."
"Then, I'm coming along." I froze my steps, startled by her offer. I looked back and she just responded with a "What?"
"Well to be honest," I continued walking while she followed, "I really thought you would just want to wait outside."
"I just..." she acted a bit hesitant at continuing, "I just don't like the idea of you stopping this thing by yourself." She looked like she was ashamed at admitting it, "I guess it's a trait you pick up from being an older sister."
"Oh, you have siblings?"
"Yes," she nods with her answer "She's a strong young mare, but I guess I can be a little overprotective of her."
"Well, don't let it bother you. I have an older brother myself and he can be a little overprotective as well."
"Really?!" She sounded a bit too interested in that info.
There was silence between us for a while before Cici spoke up again.
"So....." she tries to sound casual, "What's you brother like?"
"He's married." I said bluntly, and judging by the cursing that followed, I was right on the mark at what her hidden intentions were.
Cici suddenly stops her pacing, "Wait." I look back at her, she seems to have an uncertain look on her face as stares past me. "There's something there."
I look back, and couldn't see anything. I tried squinting my eyes to see what's there, but all I could see was just shadows. Suddenly, something shoots out from down there and it bashes the ceiling between me and Cici. Whatever that was launched at us suddenly pulled itself back, leaving the roof to collapse. To avoid being crushed under the debris, I jumped deeper into the cave while Cici jumped back. Rocks fell between the two of us as I watch my way out slowly closing in a pile of dust and stones.
Did Cici make it? I ran towards the crumbled path, but a low growl coming from behind me sounded like it didn't want to be ignored. I quickly turn around and see two red glowing eyes glaring at me. A blue face was beginning to form as it approaches closer to my illuminating horn. The beast stomps closer, scraping the ground with its sharp claws as it does. Red scales were starting to appear, making that blue face to appear more like a mask. Its entire body seems to be nearly revealed to me, showing a body that is fitting to a horned lizard. The last part that it reveals is the tail hanging over its back just like a scorpion's, with a spike-ball shape sphere at the end. It was practically taking up the entire space of the tunnel. It takes a step forward and I a step back, bumping into the fallen rocks. It pulls back and lunges its tail forward, nearly hitting me by mere inches before pulling it back.
It has me trapped and I barely have any room to avoid being hit by this thing. I need to widen the gap!
I swing my sword at it, sending beams towards the giant. It hits the mask and it bounces off just like the rocks in here. If that's the case...
Replacing my sword with the hammer and try to hit its mask, but it responded by spewing up fire balls at me before I could. I form a barrier around me and the flames slide along my shield, disintegrating as it does. When the flames fizzled, I swung the mallet as hard as I could at the blue surface of the creature's mask. A loud crumble could be heard, as well as the creature reacting upon my impact.
Now's my chance. I began repeatedly striking at the mask and cracks are starting to form. It tries to swipe at my mallet, but it only stops me momentarily before I continue my assault.
With one more strike, the mask breaks apart to reveal its face along with a giant green boil on its forehead. That mask wasn't being worn just to protect that, was it? I switched back to my sword and shot a bullet at the spot. Upon impact, it acted in extreme discomfort and swung its tail at me again. I dropped to the floor as it flew over and continued swinging at the lizard. It suddenly began to raise its claws up over its head. Call me crazy, but I think it's trying to tell me it gives up. I stopped my assault on it, relieved to see things not turning for the worst for either of us.
The beast winces a smirk and suddenly slaps the claws over the weak spot and spews fire balls for me to shield against. Why that stinker!
I began resuming striking as before, but my magic shots don't seem to disturb him. I switched back to the hammer and try striking at his paws, it just keeps on flicking it away with its claws. It takes another pull back and hurls its tail at me again for me to dive to the side.
Darn that tail! How I would love to use that to.... hmm.
I thought about it and got back up. I turned to the side and tapped the mallet on my hind hoof. I rotated my neck and firmly plant a wide stance. I tapped the ground with the hammer then wind it behind me.
The beast gives a growling glare at me. It pulls back and pitches its tail at me.
I swing the hammer just before the tail hit me, sending it screaming up at the ceiling above the monster. The beast gave its own scream as rocks began falling on top of it, entombing the monster under the debris and dust flying everywhere.
When it began settling, the fading dust revealed a pile of stones where the monster was standing. Only his claw could be seen under the amount of rock, trying to push itself out, only to unsettle the debris some more for it to cover up the claw that it missed.
Taking a few steps back, I lay against the wall of the cavern to catch my breath from the intense experience. I never saw such a thing before. This may be the past and things may look a little bit different from they do from my time, but that thing looked like it came from another world.
When I finally settled down enough, I began to hear something. It sounded like muffles..... CICI!!!
I focused on listening to the sound, but it's hard to make out. It's not weak, it's quite lively actually, so I don't think she suffered the same fate as that lizard did. She must have made it out of the way of the fallen ceiling!
I teleport to the other side to see Cici desperately digging at the fallen debris. "Twinkle! What's happening in there? Why is everything quiet? Answer me, Twink!!!" Her voice echoes through the cavern.
I was right, I'm not going to keep my name with this pony.
"Twink? Twink!? TWIIIIINK!!!"
"TWILIGHT!" I sternly reminded her of my name and making her give a frantic neigh of shock.
Cici kept shifting her head back between me and the fallen rocks "How did... when did you..."
"I teleported"
"Teleported!" She said in surprise "So outside when you said 'I'll be back in a flash', you also..." I nodded "How did you ever learn such an amazing spell like that?"
"Oh that's nothing special. Sure it may be a bit advance for novices, but-"
"But nothing!" she interrupted me "This is the first time I've ever heard of a pony being able to teleport."
"I'm sure at least a few ponies know how."
"No, they don't. Not even Master Star Swirl knows how to teleport."
Really! I would think a pony of Star Swirl's status would be able to accomplish such a semi-advance spell. I guess the discovery for teleportation has yet to be found. "Well..." I try to break the awkward situation "...would you like to experience it?"
We teleported to the entrance of the cave, covering our eyes from the sudden change in lighting. I guess we've been in there for too long.
Rubbing my eyes to refocus, a sudden thump sound was heard next to me. Blinking a few times helped me form an image of a pony standing before me, "So you got rid of the bug-lizard for us, huh? Kinda ironic to make a cave dweller to be buried by the cave itself, don't ya think?"
"Who are..." my vision finally readjust to see a grumpy pink pony finally showing me a friendly smile.
"It's me, Puddinghead! Well done!" she gives me a pat on my back strong enough to dislocate a shoulder.
"How did you know I stopped it by a cave-in?"
"I know everything that happens on this land," she gives a serious look, "I can sense it."
I have a hard time believing that, but then again, this is Pinkie's ancestor. I think this is her Pudding sense.
"I'll be honest, I never would've thought unicorns would help us out. Especially sense, we didn't listen to you in the first place."
"What do you mean?" spoke Cici.
"When Star Swirl came by, he told us we should stop digging at the mountain. His precise words were 'that mountain holds nothing but death.' We refused to accept his word and scared him out of here. Our pride got the better of us for not listening to him."
"So Star Swirl left Unicornia to warn you about this mountain." I spoke aloud.
"Not this mountain," Pudding informed and she motions us to follow her. We walked behind her for about five minutes before she stops in the middle of the land, "This one."
Cici and I both look at each other with uncertainty. "Where is the mountain?" Cici spoke on behalf of us.
I focused on Pudding's face. She has a grim look as she stares at the floor. I followed her gaze and startled back at the sheer size of the crater before me.
"This is all that's left of the mountain when those things appeared," Pudding said with an uneasy tone.
My eyes traced the rim of the crater, it must be two-hundred hooves in diameter. I can only imagine just how high this mountain must've been. Wait! Did I hear her right? "Those things?! You mean there's more!!!" She nods.
"How did this happen?" asked Cici.
"It happened quite some time ago," she begins telling us. "We were digging for Rock Mushrooms. They were in season, so we were frantically digging through the mountains to find them, when suddenly, the mountain began to shake. We imagined that a cave-in was about to occur, so we high-tailed it out of there. Some of us weren't so fortunate, but the ones that were, saw the mountain collapse upon itself. The dust it made was so thick that you couldn't see your own snout, but the only thing that could be seen... were those eyes."
"Red ones?"
"Green ones," she corrects me, "pure pale green eyes as bright as torches were beaming at us through the dust. I couldn't get a better look at it, but judging from the placement of the eyes, I'd say it was as tall as all three of us put together. That was all I saw of it before that bug-lizard came screaming out of the dust cloud. All of us were so preoccupied by it destroying our fields that by the time we looked back for that other creature, it was long gone."
I looked back at the hole, just what kind of creature can survive a mountain falling on top of them?
"Mares, I like you!" Pudding broke the foreboding atmosphere, "From now on, you two are my sworn sisters. It's not much, but please take these as an apology for my earlier outburst and as a token of our friendship." She pulls out a leather bag for me to take. I grab it with my magic and open to see the content. It appears to be silver. Sharp mineral pieces of silver.
"Thank you," I try to be considerate for the gift. I say 'try' because caring around all of this stuff is starting to become a hassle for me. The sword on my back, the bag in my magic, and the hammer in my mouth. Perhaps I could find something for me to carry all of them in. I scratch the back of my head as I wondered for a solution and found it right in my hoof. I removed my hat and placed the silvers and hammer into it. Of course, it looked like I wouldn't be able to wear it; however, I know a spell that might solve this. I'll chant a spell created from a pony named Marvin that will shrink the items until they're small enough. How did that spell go again? ......ah yes, 'Hockety pockety wockety wack.' The mallet and silvers begin to shrink smaller and smaller until they would deem suitable for a doll house. I place them in my cap, then return the cap to my head.
"You're looking for Star Swirl, right sisters?" Pudding addresses both me and Cici, "He went towards the Pegasi kingdom," and points to the gigantic cumulonimbus cloud again.
Judging by this place and the last, that must be called Pegasopolis.
Viewing the large mass of water vapor, I scratch my wings and begin to wonder. If I'm not allowed to reveal my wings, then how will I get up there?
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6943715
I believe you mean "Zoras", unless it's just ment to trigger me, in which case,
Mission successful
7250774
*views word 'Rutos'*
*Looks at keyboard to see the 'u' key is next to the 'i' key.*
.......yes!!! Tha-that was my plan all along.
now it really getting alwsome, cant wait to read more so I look forward to more ch or storys you make.
keep up the alwsome work
Saw that one coming.
Beautiful “Sword in the Stone” reference.
Took me a second to decipher this but the chuckle I got when I did was worth it.
Oh! Cici has to be Celestia. I get it now!
Also, I'm really loving this story. It's such a perfect blend of LoZ and MLP! All the pieces are fitting so smoothly together!