The Olden World

by Czar_Yoshi

Long, Long Ago

The walls hummed around Starlight as she descended the final staircase to the tree room, hot on Glimmer's heels. Her blind counterpart felt her way carefully down the curving steps, leaving Starlight a lot of time to think in her wake.

"You don't want me here," Starlight said.

"No, I don't," Glimmer replied. "But perhaps it was inevitable. Don't be scared, though."

"You sure did a great job of reassuring me with everything it took to get here," Starlight mumbled. "It wasn't nearly as hard as it should have been. Valey had an idea, Lyn had an idea, I never even got lost on the way down. If this place is so hard to get to, why am I here without even trying? Especially if you don't want me along."

Glimmer nodded, steadying herself on the blind descent. "Questions like those are exactly what I hoped to spare you from grappling with. Nothing in this tree will hurt you, but it will make you wonder. For now, we must visit the generator with all due haste. Once we are finished, if anything can be answered that would set you more at ease, I will do my best to help. But for many of the things in this place, you would be best off if you forgot them."

Starlight bit her lip. "So..."

"If you can stop yourself from asking until we are finished, you should," Glimmer advised. "Whatever is on your mind, you have a mission from an immortal to complete. We should go."

---

"Wait a second." Valey pointed a hoof at Garsheeva's cutie mark. "That's... from Mistvale... You're...?"

Maple and Shinespark gaped quietly at her, and Garsheeva watched them with yellow eyes. "The Night Mother? Yes. I am the goddess of the north, as I have been for nearly a thousand years. And now we meet in person. I am surprised Starlight didn't tell you, and to see she brought so many with her."

"Yeah, well, we had no idea what we were getting into and came prepared." Valey met her eyes, then pointed at Meltdown. "And what's she doing here?"

Meltdown folded her hooves on the table, speaking for the first time since they had arrived. "I am the ruler of the Griffon Empire."

Valey squinted. "Wait, huh...?"

"And not Garsheeva?" Shinespark stepped alongside her and frowned. "I don't understand."

"The curiosity and restraint of mortals surprises me at every turn," Garsheeva rumbled, tall and imposing. "You have heard the legends. Everyone has, of what meeting the Night Mother face to face will bring. Yet no one ever runs to claim their reward."

"You're talking about your wish," Maple said, eyes shimmering as she stared at Garsheeva. "They say we can ask for even more than for winning the tournament. But we were let here by the Princess."

Garsheeva's tail lashed once. "I assume she followed the rules. You are here, and I follow mine as well. You may all make your requests, and I will follow the spirit of them. But..." She sniffed, breathing deeply of their scents. "I sense you are conflicted about what you seek. Ask wisely, my little ponies."

"Asking you for information doesn't count, right?" Valey asked warily.

"No." Garsheeva's eyes scanned across them, panning from one side of the trio to the other. "I can read you, all of you. This is the heart of my empire, and I would not have left mechanisms for mortals to come here if I did not intend them to be used. That you are here means you have found each other worthy through bonds of friendship and trust with my princess. You have judged yourselves and earned the right to see the forces that hold this continent together, and to receive their power."

Shinespark's brow furrowed. "You care more about whether Gwendolyn will let us in than whether you want us here?"

"Yes."

Garsheeva's gaze grew intent, and Valey stared back without flinching. "What is it with you and judgement? I've heard this from everyone. Grandpapa, Chauncey, Wallace, random dudes on the street. You've got the whole thing with the Golden Regents where we kick each other out, and everyone says it's theologically important. Now a filly figures out whether it's cool for us to visit this place. Like, is there a pattern here?"

"Oh, there is." Garsheeva continued watching without blinking, regal and imposing. "You have likely heard from anyone who studies eastern theology that putting a value on others is a right only afforded by gods. But I force them to live a paradox, because I judge no one."

Valey frowned. "Heretics you capture and execute?"

Garsheeva shrugged. "I mete out the punishments, but only because I need food to sustain my size. The Empire's heresies are ancient rules put in place to protect its greatest secrets and way of life, but many were not even made by me and instituted by my church instead in the first few hundred years of my reign. And it is the head of my power company who enforces them."

Maple turned to Meltdown. "Explain?"

Meltdown sighed. "Garsheeva is a figurehead goddess. To protect her realm, she empowers others to rule for her from a less-visible location, holding the Empire together as a symbol and only intervening to protect her interests, or when given no choice. This is because she would not make a good political leader, and knows the Empire would collapse under her direct rule."

"Seems to be a trend with sphinxes," Valey remarked warily. "But you still seem a lot saner than some of the others I've met."

"That is because I rule from behind a mask," Garsheeva rumbled. "And only over sarosiankind. And because I have made many long millennia of effort to contain my worse nature. I was never created to be harmonic or benevolent." She focused completely on Valey, the light in the room seeming to concentrate around her gaze. "You have lived it out hundreds of times in your worst nightmares. I am a weapon of war."

---

This tree room was different.

Starlight felt the fur on her back rise the moment they entered the central chasm, the organic crystal spire rising up from the depths to the map table above. But instead of the natural ruby walls, every inch of space was covered with massive, rotating metal cones, facing the tree point-first with rings around their ends that made them look somewhere between cannons and drills. The surfaces of the cones were alive with red plasmatic energy, and a storm of red lightning unendingly spread from rods inserted in the tree trunk, lancing out to join them. A wall of cases, meters and metal supported them, surrounding the entire chamber, and Starlight's ears fell flat as she looked up into the chaos.

"It's quite a sight, isn't it?" Glimmer asked. "You recognize them from anywhere?"

Starlight mutely nodded. They looked identical to the device that made up Aegis the metal dragon's tail, as if one had been removed and installed there instead. And not only that. She had seen one even earlier, in the nightmare in the sea cave on the metal monstrosity fake-Yanavan had attacked her with.

"What are they?"

"They are harmony extractors," Glimmer said. "Much like the ones your friends from Ironridge constructed that now power your airship. Only, these ones are built using technology from a forgotten age, making them small and light enough to fit on mobile machines."

Starlight folded her ears. "Are they safe?"

"I assure you, they are much more dangerous for me now than for you." Glimmer started across the bridge to the tree, the tunnel into its interior arched and lined with metal. "Fortunately, you will not need to get near them."

Starlight followed hurriedly along. "You would disappear like I did."

Glimmer nodded. "Without an intelligent force that had the plans and knowledge to rebuild my body? Yes."

"So when I came back..." Starlight's brow furrowed.

"The flame was necessary," Glimmer continued, completing her sentence. "And it had help and guidance from me. Even if it served as a suitable crucible to restore and repair your body, these flames are harmony without form on their own."

"I'm guessing you can't just guide it to fix yourself," Starlight said, trotting along after her. "Could I help?"

"You are correct," Glimmer lamented. "Part of the damage from overusing my horn is a loss of the abilities I briefly unlocked for you in telepathy. That communication protocol and this technology go hoof in hoof."

Starlight tilted her head in confusion. "But there's not a generator in Ironridge. You mean the flame is technology?"

"I should have worded that better. I'm confusing you," Glimmer sighed. "I can't fix myself without my telepathy. You could fix me, with the proper knowledge, but I can't unlock that telepathy for you my way and telling you how to unlock it yourself would mean giving it to you forever. And it would both not make you happy and potentially be very dangerous if something attempted to possess you with your guard down."

Starlight's eyes widened. "That can happen?"

"Garsheeva, Stanza and myself are three easy examples of beings strong enough to do it," Glimmer responded. "I would be surprised if the world has not found ways of creating more."

"...Okay." Starlight bit her lip. Thinking for a moment, she asked, "So who did invent these generators?"

"They are technology from the land of Indus," Glimmer replied, furrowing her brow. "That is a name you will likely hear more than once down here, but don't dwell on it. It isn't a place you want to learn about or go."

Starlight tilted her head. "You've been there?"

"I have." Glimmer nodded. "It is a tomb and prison for all things that belong in the past. Dangerous knowledge, history... power. Aegis is from there. If you were willing to do truly anything for the strength to never sacrifice and never lose, you would find yourself trying to get there at some point in the future. I promise you, it isn't worth it."

Starlight looked down. "Right. I'll remember that..."

Glimmer halted, holding out a foreleg. "We have arrived."

---

"Two thousand years ago," Garsheeva began, "when the Griffon Empire was actually a land of griffons alone, a vicious war broke out with the civilizations of ponykind far to the west. It began as a technology race, fought with advancements rather than battles and fueled with differing theologies and ideas about gods. Each side possessed a societal virtue; love in the east and knowledge in the west. We had these relics in their physical incarnation, each with the power to mold existence itself. But mortals could not survive their energies, and they were worshipped instead of wielded. Due to changes in the world, the two civilizations began to research ways these artifacts could be harnessed, to create beings capable of wielding them."

The other mares in the room sat still as she continued. "The foremost goal in the race was to reach a land known as Indus. Indus was incredibly ancient, and all research into the mists of time concluded that it was linked to the energies surrounding the very founding of this world. Eventually, the race concluded, with griffons reaching Indus first. They brought things back, materials and technology and information."

Garsheeva's eyes flickered, and her voice grew deeper. "They also awakened a thing that had been sealed there and brought it home with them. A mechanical life form, a machine with a soul. It called itself Tetra, and they desired it for the knowledge it had. Tetra was interested in creating higher life forms, the same kind the griffons sought to wield their societal virtue. With all of the Empire's amassed knowledge, the resources from Indus and Tetra's expertise, I was born. The first sphinx, a product of extensive eugenics, modifications, infusions of chaotic energies and attempts to cross-breed a griffon and a pegasus to create a griffon that could bear a brand."

She growled softly, her wings flexing on her back. "The societal virtues manifest on their bearers as brands, or cutie marks, as you call them, much like Luna's later imitations. The ability to carry that was one prerequisite. The second, as I mentioned, is the necessity of an immortal host whose body can properly process to exposure to their energies. Mature sphinxes contain a shell of chaotic energy inside their bodies that develops as we reach adulthood. It functions like a bag, allowing us to contain the energy of hope from branded ponies we devour. It is this energy that powers the immortality of a sphinx, and is why there exists a heresy on cannibalism. The populace must never be allowed to revere this act merely because I execute heretics like so to survive."

Valey paled at this news. "Wait, a shell of negative energy that contains cutie marks? Bananas, can Mistvale Monks detect this stuff?"

Garsheeva snorted. "They could, if a sphinx was foolish enough to allow it."

"Huh..." Valey's ears folded, instantly remembering what Felicity had told her about Crystal on the night of the Stormhoof invasion. But there was no way she was telling Garsheeva. Not after she had finally gotten that mare somewhere she had a chance for a happy future. And looking at the expressions on her friends' faces, she had never told them about that conversation. "Weird. Feels like that should be more widely known."

"It is not the kind of information that spreads," Garsheeva replied with a rumble. "Now, if you don't mind... This is what I am. A life form based on chaos magic. It manifests in our demeanors and behaviors, appearing when we reach adulthood and often relating to our harmonic, special talents." She brushed her flank with a wingtip. "Something Princess Gwendolyn has not yet learned is that the ability I gave her to open this tower will cease to function once she loses her innocence to the call of chaos. The Night Mother will then be sealed until she bears a new heir and they grow old enough to open it themselves. Though we can fight it, sphinxes are like dragons: beasts, not griffons or ponies, who lose their wisdom in a great spiral that increases as they indulge their darker desires. This is why I entrust the true oversight of the Griffon Empire to a pony anointed through friendship with a child."

"So Lyn's going to go insane just like Gazelle?" Valey blanched. "Bananas, that's dumb. And touching on some seriously uncomfortable personal history..."

"I am aware." Garsheeva's voice grew more gentle. "That is why I am telling you. Everything you fear being, I am, child of the night. And I have been so for two thousand years. Your problems are transient; your emotions your own to wield. You do not need to recuse yourself from responsibility and things that could inflame your bloodlust or greed."

Maple put a hoof on Valey's shoulder. "But you still leave sphinxes in charge of all the houses of the Empire," she said, a note of defiance in her voice. "You haven't recused them, have you?"

"Yes," Garsheeva continued. "I still oversee my empire. Meltdown or myself can intervene with force should things become truly dire. It is my hope that one day, a noble like Gazelle who sees the corruption of sphinxes as they age and hates it will find a way to break our race from the curse it was created under. Immortality is not worth this. It would be a mercy to the world and myself to spare me of an existence so prone to fiendishness. Yet I will not let myself die until all my children are saved and all have found a true goddess who can love them and rule in person without fear of losing themselves to madness."

Valey frowned. "When you talk about your children, you don't just mean sphinxes. You mean as the Night Mother."

"I do." Garsheeva's voice quieted. "Long ago, the sarosian race was created by Princess Luna. Luna and Celestia were created on the other side of the war for Indus, once it had taken a darker turn. They, too, were weapons like I was. Celestia had her differences with us relating to the three societal virtues... She was the only one who truly wielded hers. When Luna later lost herself to loneliness and a fell spirit, her children and powers became entrusted to me. The Nightmare Modules... weapons you already know as much about as you need to. But her children are our children, and they are different."

She finally looked away, eyes meeting a diagram on the wall of the Emblem of the Nine Virtues. "I cannot afford to take the approach I take with the Empire with them. I love them, and love is the purpose I was created for. Through magic born of the vast collection of brands I have stockpiled, I invented dusk statues and constructed a network I can reach them through, anywhere in the world. With the statues, I am right there with them, speaking into their hearts and seeing all their thoughts as one. You have likely seen the veins of blue crystal that light cities in Mistvale. These are crystallized hope, and act as conduits, receptacles and a reservoir for my power. Everything I do in the Empire, I do for their future."

Garsheeva slowly turned back to the assembled ponies. "In fifteen years' time, the seal imprisoning Princess Luna will break, and she will return. I will be ready. Decades ago, I instructed my servant Yanavan and caused the most significant faith crisis in Mistvale's history. Should Luna return healed, it will be easy for the sarosians to defect to their real goddess. Should she remain the tyrant she left as, I will cast her as the Night Mother and offer myself publicly to the Mistvale church as their goddess. They remember me fighting in the war against Gyre. With the Empire, I allow Meltdown to do as she will. Mistvale and the sarosians are where my heart lies."

"Bananas," Valey whispered. "That's, like... really messed up and also kind of cool at the same time."

"I hoped you would be inspired," Garsheeva said. "The struggles you have seen surrounding your identity in the face of your origin I can relate to deeply. However, sarosians were not created with immortality in mind, and while they share some similarities with sphinxes, your kind do not suffer from our curse. You may live your lives however you will. Now... are you ready to make your wishes? Through the power of my artifice, I can do things you may not even imagine possible. Ask for anything."

Shinespark folded her ears. "One more thing I'm curious about, first... What happened to Tetra?"

"Tetra?" Garsheeva's nose wrinkled. "It was stolen by a unicorn known as Star Swirl the Bearded. Or perhaps it joined with him and escaped. It was likely involved in the creation of the Equestrian alicorns, though I know not where it is today."

"...Right. Wishes." Shinespark took a breath. "I wish for a way to create trade between Ironridge and Equestria. You said your generator somehow controls the spell that makes the mountains uncrossable."

Garsheeva shook her head. "The Aldenfold is an Equestrian defense. It is them keeping you out, not me. Changing the foreign policy of a sovereign goddess is a monumental task, even for my influence. If I grant this, the results will likely not be able to help you in the way you desire. But if passage to Equestria for yourself is all you desire, I have one more Writ of Harmonic Sanction here, separate from the one stored in my castle for diplomatic emergencies and tournament rewards."

Shinespark bit her lip. "Let me think about it."

Maple cleared her throat, stepping forward. "We each get a wish, right?"

"You do. As does Starlight, once she returns." Garsheeva nodded solemnly.

"Okay..." Maple took a deep breath. "I wish for a new home. Somewhere all of us can settle in peace, where we won't have to fear mad ambassadors or corrupt lords or ponies who hate batponies. Where we won't be invaded and can live happily and at peace."

Garsheeva narrowed her eyes, rumbling in thought. "Do you plan on ever reaching Equestria?"

Everyone looked at each other. "That's the dream," Valey said. "We've got one Writ of Harmonic Sanction. Yakyakistan has promised us another, so we're going to go pick that up once we're done here. And you just said you have a third? It sounds possible enough to work towards."

"Worst case," Shinespark added, "they're apparently more common inside Equestria. Some of us could go through first and look for more to bring back for the rest. And for some of us, it's a stronger dream than others."

"I see." Garsheeva snapped her claws, and a scroll of paper appeared held between them. "Then I grant you this."

Maple tilted her head, taking the scroll curiously. "What is it?"

"A land title deed," Garsheeva explained. "One I obtained at great trouble long ago, but have little use for. It covers an area in northeastern Equestria, a mountainous desert where few see value in the land. But far beneath it is another Tree of Harmony like this one, the only one in the world that is freely accessible and not near civilization or built over. With this deed, the land and the tree are legally yours. It would require effort, but with the technology you possess you could gain access to a power source like mine. You could fuel your ship forever, generate energy for a town. With research, you could learn to use the powers of harmony to control the weather and climate, transforming the desert into a paradise. You will have to build your home, but this land could make an ideal foundation. Does this suffice to grant your wish?"

Maple stared at the paper reverently. "That sounds..."

"Building our own home," Valey murmured. "Bananas, setting stuff up from scratch does sound like a lot of work, but if we had this ship and a Tree of Harmony... Sparky? Think it's worth trying to get passes for everyone, then make some friends in Equestria and make this happen?"

Shinespark nodded firmly. "If that's the case, I wish for your second border pass. This will take us years, but we're all young. If we built enough of a new home in Equestria, we could use this ship and some of us as a crew to fly goods between there and Ironridge. We'll use the Tree of Harmony in Ironridge to learn to build a proper power reactor..."

Garsheeva snapped her claws again, a second scroll appearing and floating to Shinespark, this one a Writ of Harmonic Sanction. "Granted. And you would be wise to experiment. The technology in this reactor uses designs from Indus, which are now guarded by Princess Celestia. The Equestrian monarchy have been far more liberal with the secrets of that place than the Empire, but you will likely not be able to get your hooves on the plans or the equipment to manufacture them yourself."

"That's fine," Shinespark assured. "Arambai's harmony extractor works well enough. If three percent of your generator's output can power the entire continent, it won't matter if ours is less efficient."

"So we're really doing this. We're spending our wishes on this, and we might get it." Maple finally took the paper Garsheeva was offering, unfurling and reading it before stowing it in her cutie mark. "We have a dream we can really work towards."

"What will we call it?" Shinespark asked. "All big plans need a name."

"Our town?" Maple tilted her head. "...Yes. Our Town. Because we'd be making it for us."

As the others debated, Garsheeva's eyes turned to Valey. "And what about you?"

"I want my sister put back together," Valey said without hesitation. "I have her body. I have her cutie mark, in moon glass. I want it done."

"And her memories?" Garsheeva raised an eyebrow.

"Bananas, it would be neat if she could remember everything." Valey shook her head. "But I just want her to be able to walk around and feel stuff again. I've neglected her far too many times on this stupid trip since I first brought her back, and now that I have a real chance to fix this, it needs to end here. Can you do it?"

"I can transfer her soul," Garsheeva said. "By eating the moon glass her brand resides within, I can gain control of it. With sufficient power, the dusk statue network can act as a conduit for brands. As long as her body has not been stripped of its ability to connect to the network, I can reassemble her wherever she may be. But you will need to bring her soul to me. As for her memories, those are stored in the unique bond that forms between a mind and a body. The equipment I would need to extract those from a machine is unstable thanks to the generator. Whether and how soon I can do that will depend on the success of Starlight in fixing it."

Maple's ears folded. "What happened to it in the first place? The most we've heard is something about Chauncey's power reactor, but something this advanced and old can't have been damaged by that alone."

Meltdown cleared her throat, cutting in at last. "That was the final straw, but it wasn't the catalyst. Indus technology has lifespans too long to accurately measure. Many thousands of years. The reason our generator was vulnerable was because for the last forty years, it's been doing double duty. The Aldenfold was initially designed to be powered by two reactors, and after the war in Yakyakistan, the one in their Tree of Harmony went offline."

"Wow. I guess that would do it." Valey scratched her head. "Bananas, and it held up fine for forty years? This thing's tough."

Shinespark nodded in appreciation. "That's some quality engineering."

"Exactly," Garsheeva agreed. "That is why, if the emergency power boost is overridden, even a small drop below maximum capacity could allow the generator time to fix itself. And so, we wait to see what will be accomplished."

---

The interior of the Tree of Harmony held a familiar crystal brazier, but the flame inside it danced and sparked like the Ironridge one when Starlight had seen it melting moon glass. She approached cautiously, noting the apparatuses around it: several control consoles lined the walls, and there was a metal platform where it looked like an administrator could stand. "Where do I go?" she asked. "Up there?"

"Into the flame," Glimmer requested. "But first, wait. You need to know what to do."

Starlight's ears flicked backwards. "Yes?"

"You will likely have a reaction to the flame," Glimmer advised, standing safely at the entrance to the room. "When it is over and the flame talks with you, ask it to connect you to the generator, which will automatically verify that you are allowed to use it. Do not dwell in there, or search for any information you do not want to know. It responds to thought commands. All you must do is ask it to lower the Aldenfold emergency minimum threshold by five percent. Whether that succeeds or fails, tell it you want to leave. I have already asked Aegis to stand by on the network and protect you. We will talk more when you are done."

"...Glimmer?" Starlight whispered. "How do you know all this? Who are you?"

"Please be safe, Starlight," Glimmer replied. "Ask me again when you're done."

Starlight swallowed and closed her eyes, reaching out for the flame as she felt it reaching for her. A tendril of red met her foreleg, wrapping around it like a warm blanket offered by a friend, unfamiliar yet familiar at the same time... but just as the sense of rightness began to build in her mind, something cracked deep within her, and her vision shattered, the world falling away to a sea of gray.

Comments

[Borednow]

8253167

>it might be long
>proceeds to write more than a million words

[alamais]

So this is an...Indus-tree?

Well, now we directly know the origin of Our Town. Now to find out how it all got messed up.

[Zapdroid]

The pieces of the puzzle are slowly lining up...

[Boopers]

So Indus isn't the sword after all and it's just named after where it came from? Very curious. Does the land of Indus have anything to do with that edge of the world that was mentioned earlier? That one kinda reminded me a lot of the Grand Choke.

[Boopers]

9765527
Oh gosh, that's probably going to be some kind of 24th style mess up, given that none of the ponies from the story actually were in Our Town. I think there was already one giant hint about what is going to happen to Maple :(

[MagicS]

Barring any unforeseen catastrophes it seems like things are essentially over now in the Griffon Empire. Besides Kero and maybe Chauncey and the true identity of Glimmer I can't think of any other big loose ends. And now that everyone has met Garsheeva, and knows about the Night Mother, and Meltdown, and Gazelle has stopped it feels like there isn't anything else going on now. Except for finishing the tournament. Maybe something will happen, perhaps with Starlight now doing her thing, but if not this is a fairly low-key way to resolve things. I thought we were coming to a climax when Chauncey's reactor was activated. And then we didn't. And then I thought we were coming to a climax again when Gyre was killed and that whole Stormhoof business began. But we weren't. My expectations have been thoroughly subverted.

[Hap]

Oh, no! Maple! Why didn't you make it to Equestria?

[RoboRed]

"What will we call it?" Shinespark asked. "All big plans need a name."

"Our town?" Maple tilted her head. "...Yes. Our Town. Because we'd be making it for us."

...UHH...

Okay, that's not ominous at all. Something bad happened between time point A and time point B here.

[Oberth Effect]

Now that I think about it, Garsheeva being the Night Mother would explain why she ate Lord Goldfeather: by wishing to have a son with the Night Mother, he was wishing for incest, which is a heresy. Clever...

[Alchemik]

I keep getting answers to my questions as soon as I ask them and it's beginning to unnerve me. We must be nearing the end of the arc. For a relative measurement of 'end', anyway.

Also, is Indus beyond the edge of the world? Is Indus the cause of the edge of the world?

[Venlinelle]

Dammit. I was so happy that the characters might somehow get a happy ending in Equestria, just separate from Starlight, and then you had to go and mention the name.

[sploopy slooder]

sooooo they already have a plan, and some harmonic writs, so what the fuck happened........ 15 years from now starlights alone in that shit town. maples not dead but we haven been told where she is (obviously) not to mention the rest of em. the closer this story gets to the end, the less i can see the payoff being satisfying. present day starlight seems to not care about going back at all, like all her friendships are dead/destroyed. but HOW? and why does present day starlight not seem to care at all?