Chapter 5.4: Moly
Twilight marched out of the otherworldly manor house, conscious of the eyes of the guards and strange ponies on her. It pained her curiosity not to go back to the party and try to meet more of its guests, but not quite so much as her fear of Thunder’s promises.
Could he really hold her hostage here for a whole year, doing the terrible things he’d implied? Would Celestia tolerate it?
There’s so much you didn’t tell me, Celestia. Did you really plan on waiting for me to find all this on my own?
It was a strange place to be agreeing with Discord of all creatures, but his reasoning was sound this time. Equestria wasn’t the world she thought.
I have to get back to do anything about it.
No pony or other creature stopped her on her way past the building, and she found a path waiting for her that Discord said would get her home.
She had saddlebags on her shoulders this time, which Discord had showed her hanging abandoned in an old gardening shed. She’d used scrap linen used for binding damaged trees to wrap the herb she carried, and would have to moisten its roots every hour.
According to Discord, it would last until sunrise outside of the soil. That was just fine, since she’d be trapped here anyway if she took that long.
The path continued for only a short time before it began to narrow, the hostile growth of the forest on either side leaning towards her with sharp thorns and glittering spines. She couldn’t so much as let her tail wander outside the path without it getting caught, yanking her to a pained halt.
She walked for what felt like hours, using the dampness of the cloth in her pack more than any absolute time. “You better make it,” she said to the little plant, voice desperate. “You’re going to be the first of a whole generation. You’ve been waiting to make it back to Equestria, haven’t you?”
The herb still looked green, though there was a little browning near its leaves where they’d been rubbing against the bottom of the bag. Being moved like this was hard on any living thing. Too bad it wouldn’t survive in a vase.
“Strange for a spring not to be at the solstice celebration,” said a voice from nearby, apparently from the bag itself.
Twilight’s eyes winded, and for a moment she wondered if coming here had somehow made her crazy enough to hear the voices of plants. But no—she looked up again, and there was a creature beside her.
It was a pony, if ponies were the size of large insects with wide, delicate wings. “Hello.” She smiled politely, the way Discord had instructed her to do for all visitors. She shut the bag even so, strapping it closed. Not letting anypony see what she carried was also part of his instructions. “I think I’ve read about you. You’re a… breezie.”
He was bright orange, with electric blue fluff at various points on his chest and legs. They were incredibly delicate creatures if her books were any guide, though also some of the best caretakers for rare and valuable plants.
“And you’re an idiot,” he said, eyes narrowing. “Your queen won’t be happy with you leaving.”
“I’m not—” She hesitated. She didn’t have to tell any creature everything, but she absolutely couldn’t lie. “She told me to go back to Equestria before sunrise.”
“Oh.” He landed on her shoulder, his weight so faint it probably wouldn’t have bent over the stem of a flower. “I’ll come with you then, pony. I can see you haven’t been here long. Few promises sworn, little protection granted. But I’ve been here five centuries, I am wise. You’ll want my protection.”
You couldn’t protect me from a beetle. Twilight only smiled back. It wasn’t like carrying a breezie would slow her down much. “Okay. My name is Twilight, what’s yours?”
“My nickname is Set, call me that. I’m not ready for first name basis yet, Twilight.”
Then why’d you just— She started walking again. It was already full dark overhead, with no easy way to gage just how much of her night she had left. “I will let you come with me, so long as you don’t try to look into my saddlebags.”
“Agreeable,” the bug responded. He remained on her shoulder, soft and faintly fluffy. “I accept.”
They walked in silence for another little while, until the darkness around them forced Twilight to light her horn to avoid wandering off the path. This forest wasn’t quite the Everfree, but it wasn’t the garden she’d left behind either. It wasn’t self-illuminating.
At least the light from her horn kept working. The one spell that didn’t seem to care what realm she was in. I wonder if I could just teleport back. She thought about trying it—but ultimately her time-limit made her dismiss that idea. A long-range teleport would leave her drained and weak even if it failed. Almost helpless was not a state she wanted to be in while wandering through a world she barely knew and didn’t understand.
They stopped at a fork in the path, with two nearly identical choices spreading in east and west. Twilight sat down on her haunches, frowning at it. “I’ve already been walking longer than the time it took to get here with Pinkie in the first place. I should be there by now.”
“You just… speak her name?” Set asked, eyes wide. “Do you have a death wish, sprout?”
“Death wish? Because of Pinkie?” She giggled. “I’ll take my chances.”
“I wouldn’t.” Set lifted off her shoulder, drifting a little distance forward. “Have you come this way before, Twilight?”
“Nope,” she answered. “I think Pinkie did some magic to get us in so quick. This place is so much bigger than it looks from the outside.”
“Well you’re lucky you have me,” Set said. “What are you willing to trade for directions? Do you have anything interesting?”
“No,” she answered. “I’ve been given instructions not to share it until I make it to the other side. Are you going into Equestria, Set?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “Thought about it. Thunder is the worst, and the further away I am the harder it is to get his instructions.”
“Well…” Twilight hesitated for another second. “Suppose I have something I can share with you once we get there. Maybe even a place to stay on that side, if you need one.”
His eyebrows went up. “Your queen must be even more liberal than I thought. Walking with me is one thing, but… under the same roof? Are you crazy?”
She lowered her voice to a whisper. Discord hadn’t wanted her to say that she wasn’t fae herself—but Discord wasn’t here. If he’d wanted to micromanage how she made the whole trip, he should’ve guided her the whole way. “I’m not Spring,” she said flatly. “I’m a visitor from Equestria.”
“Well then.” Set pointed to one of the forks. “It’s that way, come on!” Not even a second’s hesitation.
He didn’t even have to think about that. I don’t like this. But Twilight didn’t argue yet, just picked the chosen path and started walking. “You’ve got wings too, Set. Why can’t we just fly over all this?”
“Because we’d be devoured,” he answered. “You’re new here, so you don’t know. But things watch us from above. Hungry things. Bigger than you, so don’t even think it. You’re not safer than I am. Otherwise we’d just use airships the way ponies do in their world. Fly over it all, save the trip.”
The path continued forward into the gloom for a short distance before curving slightly north. Twilight stopped, glancing back. “You sure about this direction?”
“Positive!” he insisted, bobbing up and down. “It’s just dodging a hazard. There are all kinds of dangerous things in the Faewyld. The best way to overcome them is to be as far away as possible!”
Twilight started walking again. Rarity seemed to think nobody lied in here. So this must be the way back.
“You’re right about me being new here,” Twilight said, speeding up a little. So much that Set had to land on her shoulder again, or else get left behind. “What else is in here? It can’t be just impassible wilderness with an occasional mansion, can it?”
“No,” he agreed. “This is just the barrier. Separates your world from ours, stops them from bleeding over too much. We like our rules, you like yours. Ponies who wander here by mistake usually spend a few minutes bleeding themselves before they give up and turn around.”
Twilight winced. She’d already gotten herself pricked by a few of the wickedly pointed thorns. She couldn’t imagine trying to walk straight through them. “So if we went the other way, it would end.”
He nodded. “At the queen’s palace, that’s the closest to your world we can get. It’s where the old treaties were all signed.”
“And the fae recruit from Equestria,” she went on. “The ones who don’t give up, I guess.”
He nodded again. “Spend too long here, and you can’t help it. Rubs off on you. Works the other way too—the ones who visit your world have to keep making the trip back—”
“Or they lose their magic,” Twilight finished. “Go back to being what they were.”
Set laughed bitterly. “No, child of Equestria. They die. Fae doesn’t like it when you refuse her gifts. I’d like to see you try.”
“I… can’t say I plan on it,” she said, hurrying a little faster. The path was widening now, almost as wide as it had been when Pinkie made it for them. One side was no longer the thick brambles she’d been seeing so far, but a bridge over brackish water, which sagged a little under her weight with every step.
“We still haven’t turned around,” she said, stopping on the edge of the bridge. “Give me some space, I have to do something in my bag.” He obeyed as he’d promised, fluttering a little bit away while she opened the pack and dumped more of the water she’d gathered in a jar there onto the cloth. It had been dangerously dry already. She couldn’t keep getting distracted.
“It leads to Equestria,” Set said, confident. “I’m positive it does.”
“How soon?” Twilight asked, snapping the bag closed again. “Does it go anywhere else first?”
Set fell stubbornly silent, avoiding her eyes. Buck this.
“Okay.” She turned squarely around, and cantered away from the way they’d been going.
“Wait!” Set squealed, hurrying to catch up. “You shouldn’t run in the borderland, everyone knows that!”
“I’m not running, I’m cantering,” Twilight said, picking up speed just a little. A creature as delicate as a breezie shouldn’t be able to keep up with her.
But somehow he was, though it was costing him every drop of energy he had. “Slow down!” he yelled, his tiny voice almost lost in the wind. “You’re going to get killed!”
She slowed to a trot, and the Breezie zipped right past her, slowing in the air and landing on her shoulder. “You’re going the wrong way,” he said, annoyed. “You didn’t forget.”
“I didn’t forget,” she repeated, not slowing down. She wasn’t out of breath yet, not from such a short trip. “I just don’t trust you. Unless you want to tell me this path goes straight back to Equestria.”
The poor bug on the other hand was lying flat on his belly, and spoke only with great effort. “It doesn’t,” he answered. “But it does go there. We’d make it.”
“Before sunrise?” Twilight asked.
No answer.
She sped into a canter, though she didn’t try to dislodge him. It would’ve been easy to throw him off, or even to hurt him. But she resisted for another moment longer.
“You don’t understand!” He sounded genuinely panicked this time. “Don’t run! You’re attracting them!”
“That’s another lie,” she said flatly, glowering down at him. “There’s nothing to attract!”
“Not a lie.” His voice was as weak as before. “There are hunters on the border, come for easy prey. Running is how they find you.”
She slowed down again, and this time it was sudden enough that he was thrown right from her shoulder. Not to be smashed to his death on the ground anyway, since his wings spread, and he caught himself in the air in front of her.
Too slow. Somewhere not far away, Twilight heard the howl again, the same one she’d heard when Pinkie brought her here. Another joined it from a different direction, then another frighteningly close.
Oh buck.
They weren’t alone.
Twilight abandoned all the advice she’d heard and galloped as quickly as she could, using a little of her magic to cushion the inside of her saddlebags so her precious cargo would survive.
But whether she would survive the rest of the trip was less certain.
She was fast, faster than any minotaur or other biped could hope to be. But the creatures following her weren’t bipeds.
One broke through the thorns just ahead of her, nearly causing her to buck right and lose the path.
“But that is what you must not do, above all other concerns,” Discord’s voice sounded in her ear, clear in her memory. “The boundary between worlds will sap your magic and fill in the gaps with itself. If you’re lost for too long, there won’t be anything of you left, and you won’t be able to return.”
The monster had little fur, only faint tufts on its chest and near its wicked claws. Its body was naked, and skin was sagging, torn and matted with the thorns and sharp stones that waited just off the path.
It had no face—neither eyes, nor teeth, just faint indentations where they might’ve been on a head with matted white streaking back from it like a mane.
How is it screaming without a mouth? Not only that, but it turned directly towards her, bounding forward like a wolf.
“This is it!” squeaked Set from her shoulder. “Never thought it would end like this! Worse than spiders…”
There was a sword in Twilight’s hooves. She felt its familiar weight settle there as though it had never left her presence, dark metal seeming like a patch of condensed shadow beside her.
How are you here? Twilight thought, but she didn’t pause to consider.
The sword had killed many demons before.
Twilight didn’t slow down, but swung forward with all her magic might behind the swing. She parted the creature in two separate pieces, dodging to the left to avoid the spray as it fell.
She galloped over where it had fallen, watching as its dark red blood fizzed and hissed off the metal of her blade.
“Rip off my wings and leave me for the spiders…” said the little voice on her shoulder. Well, now he was riding in her mane, clinging for dear life. “Who are you?”
Behind her, three more hunters emerged from the thorns, yowling in fury at their fallen companion before taking off after her. Their loping strides were much faster than a galloping pony.
“I told you!” She gritted her teeth, spreading her wings and lifting off the ground. It wasn’t hard, since she was already running so fast. The hard part would be turning swiftly enough to avoid breaking her neck on a tree. “I’m Twilight!”
“You’re a Daughter of Nightmare?” He swallowed. “How about we just forget about the part where I sent you the other way?”
“How about you let me concentrate!” she snapped back, flying with the sword beside her. The branches of a tree up ahead hung across the path, and she sliced through them with the sword, leaving a smoking wreck behind it and just enough room for them to fly through.
The first of the hunters leapt up into the air, leading with its sharp claws instead of its featureless head. Twilight didn’t even have to think about what she did with the sword, she just swung, cutting straight along its neck this time. She sped up, avoiding the corpse as it arced into the space she’d been in moments before.
“How long until they leave me alone?” she asked, her breath coming in ragged gasps now. But all her terrified swimming in the Undercity had prepared her for this—she didn’t wander off the path as it curved, or let her wing stretch far enough to be caught and ripped off. “There’s only two left!”
“You made them angry!” Set squeaked. “I don’t think they’re going to stop!”
“They’re fighting an Alicorn!”
They rounded a bend, into a narrowing stretch of the path. Much too tight for her to fly it, not without Rainbow’s level of mastery. She stabbed her sword into the ground, wrapping her hooves around it and coming to an abrupt stop.
Regular steel would’ve shattered like glass at such mistreatment, but this sword wasn’t just steel. “Get behind me.”
Twilight gritted her teeth, preparing a spell she’d last used during the changeling invasion. Magic built in her horn, until it outshone the moon above them.
“Don’t be too mad at me, Fluttershy,” Twilight whispered, as the two remaining hunters came around the bend. Twilight released the spell, and a billowing curtain of flame twenty feet across left the space in front of her. It caught her pursuers off their claws, flinging them bodily into the nearby trees even as they burned.
Twilight dropped to her knees, panting. Her horn steamed, and for a few seconds she couldn’t even see—that was a lot of magic to use at once, almost as much as a long-range teleport.
“Brood mothers before us,” Set whispered from her ear. “Please don’t kill me.”
Twilight forced herself to her hooves, glaring at the bug. “Show me the way back. Now.”
Twilight knew Rarity would find her.
She hadn’t gone to look for her when she returned, dreading what might happen if she did. She went straight for the Apple farm, and the expert help she could receive there.
A few hours later, and she dragged herself to the library steps, her hooves digging little grooves in the ground behind her. She stopped in front of the door, using her mouth to open it instead of her magic. She didn’t have the strength left.
It was early morning as she wandered in, trailing mud from the trail and little bits of plant.
Rarity was already waiting inside, just as she had been last time. She dressed this time like she was about to take off on another one of her adventures, with a thick coat hanging by the door and saddlebags filled with gear on the ground beside her. She rose to her hooves as Twilight walked in, watching her. “You made it,” she said. “I was beginning to worry. It’s been hours since sunrise.”
“Yeah.” Twilight flopped sideways on the ground, and for once she didn’t care that she was making things dirty. I’m sorry Spike. I’ll make it up to you somehow. “I made it.”
“Did you—”
Twilight met her eyes. “Yes. But it’s going to be a few months before we can take advantage of what I brought.”
Rarity’s own frown deepened. “If you brought it with you, I don’t know why that would be. Did we win or didn’t we?”
“We won,” she said. “But I made a promise. Now I have to keep it.”
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Here's hoping that the final section is visiting Celestia, with Twilight expressing her displeasure at great length and high volume
Of course there's more. After all the ruminations on what Celestia's done, she needs a chance to have her say. Assuming you go in the direction I expect you to, which is by no means guaranteed.
Also, pretty sure Twilight just made quite the legend for herself among the Fae.
Definitely staying this is interesting :)
9694738
Varies, but usually cold iron has to be a cutting or stabbing implemenr, and most modern sources require it be prepared 'naturally' without factories and the like.
well it is the secrets of the mane 6. what has old twiggles been hiding?
9697449
Well considering we've already had Vampire the Masquerade, Lovecraftian Horror, The Fae Realms, The Classical Greek version of Hell and whatever Fluttershy's Dark Paladin thing is based on.. I'm almost thinking Twilight could secretly be the settings God ala the Melancholy of Haruhi. It fits far to perfectly just by virtue of her friends all being supernatural creatures normally only found in popular fiction. That along with all the other borderline impossible one of a kind situations that happen to her in Canon seems almost far to fitting of that notion.
Personally I hope that Twilight's secret comes to light soon.
Well that is secrets relating to five of the mane six which just leaves twilight...
9697449
9697460
9697477
Considering how little Twilight knew about...anything, I doubt she's anything supernatural. Her secret could be her immortality; how she had to tie to something and chose friendship, just as Celestia and Luna chose their respective bodies. How all alicorns must do this or die in one year and one day.
Come on, people, the whole story has been from Twilight's point of view. The only secret about her that could possibly be revealed is one which has been kept from her - by others or by herself.
Personally, I'm not too enthused about a Total Recall scenario.
9697512
As far as I know the true lifespans of an alicorn is her secret. Although if she is secretly a supernatural creature she's not even aware of it would be something.
9697512
That's the thing about the Melancholy of Haruhi.. in that situation the God themselves don't know they're a God. Instead, the Reality bending abilities work purely off the subconscious mind. Thus it would entirely fit with Twilight knowing nothing special about herself. That is partially why I pointed out that everything so far has been part of popular fiction. We all know that Twilight is a hardcore Bibliophile, theoretically it's entirely possible that Twilight has read storys about each of these works of fiction, and subconsciously thought "Hey I'd love to be able to explore these worlds myself they sound so interesting" and thus manifested the changes to cause them to be real.
Course this is probably incorrect but I found it interesting that everything encountered has ties to literature considering our protagonist's interests.
9697512
I figured she/her family was part of some Illuminati / Assassins - Templar type secret organization. within the ream of what she would think of as "normal" and ultimately benign in her eye's at least. but could have a fun reveal to the rest of her friends and they all freak out over it.
9697562
....why would you think that? Did it seem like she had any sort of combat experience/training when going hunting with Fluttershy? And while I haven't played an Assassin's Creed game in a long time, I never got the impression that the veterans of either order thought their life was normal.
Did he just make that assumption from her name or did he know something?
The story said 'secrets of the mane six' but on the strain grass window, there are only 5 Cutie Marks. Twilight's Cutie Mark is not on it. However, I noticed at the top of the grass window there is a picture of the moon. Could it be...?
9697621
The chapter was loosely inspired by the same source material as inspired the movie--HP Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth. So I can see why it would feel that way.
[INDIGNANT SCREECHING] CLIFFHANGER CATCH-UP.
9697619
The sword she summoned was rather recognizable to a centuries-old being in-the-know.
9697430
Well, yeah, I guess "cold" is in the sense of "cruel" rather than anything to do with temperature; the modern equivalent being "cold steel". Modern writers for whatever reason kinda mystified it I guess.
9697881
Because its a modern limitation. Cold Iron, as a saying, is less than 200 years old. I personally blame D&D, since they didn't want the fae to be weak to 'sword', but wanted it to be iron, since that's the old limitation. They found a somewhat esoteric term(cold iron), gave it special meaning, and made THAT the weakness instead. I think in D&D it requires some special magic preperation, just like silvering a weapon isn't as simple as smashing some silver on there.
No matter what my 2nd edition games have had to say on the matter.
This train never stops, motherbucker
Cool to see Twilight’s adventures so far coming together and contributing at the end.
...And whatever did become of Set?
I hope it keeps going. Maybe a sequel down another path? Like Twilight confronting Celestia about everything or joining all the secrets together?
This has been such a delightful story. It's a wonderful AU.
9697619
The sword Twilight used was the same given to her by Nightmare Moon (or her statue at least)
That was an exciting trip out of the forest. Particularly once Twilight drew her sword.
Finally, some due respect.
The princess herself!!! Twilight I mean. She has a secret even she doesn't know about!
I hope Twilight both keeps their secrets and arranges for them to share with each other.
She could ask her friends to represent their kind for a diplomatic summit, with the understanding that their identities would be revealed to other similarly-hidden representatives for similarly-hidden groups.
She's not technically betraying the trust of anyone, since they would have agreed to it beforehand and they would actually be revealing themselves to each other.
Also, this all would have been SOOOOO much easier if they all knew each others secrets.
Can you imagine how much simpler it would be if Fluttershy were there for Rarity's arc, for example?
9697881
The term is more analogous to "hot lead". The temperature and method of forging are not actually relevant concerns to the one on the business end of things.
I don't know if this is planned already or not but I think a chapter involving Twilight discussing all of this with Celestia would be cool to see.
9698500
There will be one more section, that is planned. I wouldn't want to say what's in it until next month.
Woo! Caught up and looking forward to the next section!
So Pinkie started as a normal pony and became the Queen of Spring. I think she may have become immortal, if her planning her parents' 500th anniversary is any indication.
As for Discord, I don't think he is one of the fae himself - he just has the ability to travel to their world.
The solution to the Moly herb dilemma was obvious to me - it's not as if there's a limited time to cure Sweetie Bell. They have plenty of time to propagate the plant before making the cure.
I hope we get to see the Mane Six reveal their secrets to each other next. I'm still curious about how Fluttershy and Rainbow coordinated the story of how they got their cutie marks.