Equestria 485,000

by Unwhole Hole

Chapter 7: Crystal Ghost

They made it some distance into the expanse before Twilight began to feel strange. The ice plain gave way once again to forest, although now the strange and fungoid trees had been replaced almost entirely by a vast apple forest. These trees had not spent their lives growing upward through ice, but had instead grown directly from the ground below. Because of this, the land was covered in sprawling roots between trunks hundreds of meters wide. The trees progressed upward far higher than Twilight could see, and because of this the light from the coming day failed completely to penetrate- -but also, so did the snow.

This should have comforted Twilight. The ground below was free of excessive frost or thick snow, and actually had a few strange wispy plants resembling narrow asparagus growing from between the boulders that the apple roots had pushed up. The trees also seemed to generate some level of heat, making the environment seem almost temperate compared to the rest of wastes of Equestria.

Yet, somehow, she still felt strange. It had been a long time since she had become ill- -almost an impossibly long time- -and the plagues that had ravaged ponykind throughout history had no effect on her immortal body. Yet, somehow, she still felt sick. The sensation got worse and more potent as she advanced toward her destination.

The source was not far when Twilight collapsed.

“Goddess?” said Silken, her tone not conveying concern in the slightest. “Is something wrong?”

“It hurts,” said Twilight through clenched teeth. “Oh Celestia, it hurts…”

“I still find it odd that you pray to her.”

Twilight fell to her side, shaking. “It hurts…”

Silken started to appear concerned- -although it was probably only Twilight’s imagination. “What is wrong?” she asked. “I can attempt medical care- -”

“Don’t you dare touch me!” growled Twilight.

“You’re wounded,” said Silken, more firmly. “Unless you intend to fix the problem yourself, it is my job to repair you.”

“You’re not a doctor!”

“You can at least tell me what’s wrong.”

“My flank,” groaned Twilight, almost crying out as another wave of pain shot over her. “It’s my flank…”

They both looked at the black armored morphiplasm that covered Twilight’s rear.

“I can’t administer medical care through the suit,” said Silken, “well, not without risking cutting you in half.”

“It’s fine, it’s- -” Twilight wailed softly as an even more powerful wave of pain covered her, as though her sickness were attempting to make the decision of whether to show it or not to her. She relented quickly, and the pain subsided slightly. “Fine,” she said.

At her will, the morphiplasm separated and curled back from her flank. This time, Twilight did cry out. The air was so cold, and the feeling of it against her unprotected skin was already shocking. The sickness only made it worse. Twilight writhed for a moment before regaining control of herself.

Silken stared at her flank. Then her eyes and their tiny pupils turned toward Twilight’s face. “You were correct,” she said. “I have no idea how to deal with this.”

Twilight looked down at her flank. She half expected to see some kind of injury, but instead, her violet skin was perfectly intact. What she saw, though, made her wish that she had seen a real wound. Instead, she saw her cutie mark. It was glowing and shifting, sending a wave of pain through her each time it did.

“No,” she said, standing up. It hurt, but her fear had neutralized some of the pain. “It can’t be…”

“Can’t be what?”

Twilight turned her head toward direction of the magical source she had been detecting. She took a step forward and cried out from the pain.

“Goddess!”

“Don’t touch me!” screamed Twilight. She took another step, limping forward. It hurt, but not as much. It was as though the sickness wanted her to walk forward- -and as much as she did not want to, she followed it, not out of fear of the pain, but because she had to know.

The trees did not clear, and for a moment Twilight had hope that she was mistaken- -but then they suddenly stopped. Instead of trees, rocky ground extended forward into a circle. At its edges stood the massive forest, their trunks and canopy forming what felt like an enormous chamber. The ground here had no snow and no ice, but a circle of grass and flowers that had no doubt long-since gone extinct everywhere else in Equestria.

And to Twilight’s horror, she had been proven right. There, in the center of the circle, stood a different kind of tree, one that rose from the ground as pure crystal, extending upward to where it grew around a castle of the same substance. It had grown since Twilight had last seen it, but it was still the same as she remembered- -down to the crystal star that stood atop it.

“My castle,” gasped Twilight. “It…it can’t be…”

“Your castle?” Silken looked at it, and then at Twilight. “Do you recognize this place?”

“This was…” Twilight could not immediately finish. She took a breath and closed her eyes. “This was my castle. In ancient times. When…when it all started.”

Silken looked up at the structure. “But that should not be possible,” she said. “You said it yourself. There is no way a structure built by ponies could have survived this long.”

“It wasn’t built by ponies,” said Twilight, softly.

“It appears to be emitting a signal,” said Silken. “Although I am only barely able to detect it. Somehow, it is causing resonance with you.”

“It’s still functional…”

“Excuse me?”

“The map. It’s still functional. And still transmitting…” Twilight shivered. “But there’s no way to know how long. The atmosphere was blocking it…and I was out of range. It’s so much weaker than it used to be, but more urgent. It could have been calling for millennia…”

“Should we go in?”

“No,” said Twilight without hesitation. “This is not our goal. It is irrelevant.”

“But you said that it used to be your home.”

“It did, but it isn’t anymore. That time is passed, and that Equestria is dead.”

“But- -”

“My decision is FINAL. Whatever the map wants, it doesn’t matter anymore. That castle is a pointless relic.” Twilight lit her horn, and summoned an extremely complex spell that surrounded herself. Silken took a step back at the surge of violet light, and then watched as the light became runes, and as these sunk into Twilight’s armor- -or through it, to the skin beneath.

“What did you do?”

“A shield spell,” said Twilight. “Set to the exact frequency of the transmission.”

“You’ve insulated yourself against it.”

“Yes. I have. But I can still feel it, and I’ll still be weak until we get outside the perimeter of its effect.”

“We’re leaving?”

“Yes. Of course.” Twilight started walking. “This place is of no use to us. We will go to the next location on the list. I’ll scan for it once we reach the perimeter. We should consider ourselves lucky. Someone already marked it for us.”

“As you wish,” said Silken. For a brief moment, Twilight had wished that she were more insistent- -but to expect that much from a remnus was far too much to ask for.

They began to walk, but as they did, a strange sound echoed through the trees. It was a distant and somber cry, a wail not of pain or anger or even true sadness- -but of desolation and emptiness. Twilight felt her divine blood run cold. As distant as it was, it came from the blackest depths of her memory with ease. It was not easy to forget such a cry.

Silken turned her head up, tilting her translucent ears toward the sound. “What was that?”

“Windigoes,” said Twilight. She swore under her breath. “Of course they would be here. We need to keep moving. Quickly.”

Comments

[Cylindryk]

Why, Twilight, why? Maybe The Map was showing what you needed, althought that maybe wasn't waht you wanted?

[AdventurePone]

underappreciated story

[Oreng Pingvin]

will harmony be restored?