JTHW: Journey To Hearth's Warming

by Lighttone GryphonStar

S4 Episode 30: Behold Unholy Alignment

After days of traveling, the two airships finally came into sight of the new land. Despite arriving in the afternoon, they quickly found their light darkened by the sheer size of the structure. A mighty glass feature entrenched in the depths of the badlands.

It stood taller than any mountain in nearby sight. And seemed to dwarf the mountains in the distance. Two mighty kingdoms, encased in a giant blue hourglass, separated by height alone. The top, a kingdom of clouds and bliss. The bottom, canyons and pits.

"What is that?" Starlight's voice echoed over the intercom of the Titan Airship. "I thought we were here to see the pegasi and the batponies." She was on the other airship and was forced to talk through the voice box to communicate with the rest of the group.

"We are here to see the batponies and pegasi," Lady Cat answered. "Haven't you been here before?" She knew better than more since she was a batpony, after all.

"No, such a structure doesn't exist in my future." Starlight's words puzzled them greatly.

"Maybe it exists in a distinct form from what you are used to in your time," Starswirl the Bearded took away the intercom, hoping to correct any missing details between the two airships. Also, to ensure there wasn't any precognition from Starlight's words. "This is the two kingdoms of the batponies and pegasi. The clouds above are forged through a mix of magic and ancient technology that the pegasi have kept staple for several millennia. All supported but the super spires of earth within the canyons below where the batponies lay."

"And this is where we split up." Lord Red took over from there. "Starlight Glimmer, Silver Pear, Clovis the Coward, and I will head over upward to the Pegasus Ilse and meet with the pegasi directly. Meanwhile, Starswirl, Rex Moba, Clover the Clever, Captain Fredricson, Lady Cat, and the remaining sirens siblings will head down to the Batpony Canyons."

"How do we get past the glass?" Starlight questioned.

"Entrances lie at opposite sides at the waist of the hourglass," Lady Cat answered. "Normally, defenses would be on high around the larger portions of the structure so it's best to go for the narrower path."

"I've contacted them ahead of time," Lord Red answered. "However, we still need to show them we can be trusted."

"Yes, constant warring with the griffins has made trust a rare luxury for both species, even with each other." Starswirl confirmed.

"Danger has arrived either way. War has affected the unicorns, odds are the pegasi and the batponies won't be far behind." Rex answered them. He grew tired of the back and forth and closed the intercom. "Enough questions. We need to land."

"Fine, fine," Fredricson took command. He moved the titan airship down to the first entrances. The group knew they had a lot of work ahead of them.

The titan airship arrived at a metal port strange still between the canyons below and clouds above. Clover was just as curious as Starlight. She was the first to exit.

Fredricson wanted to follow but was stopped by Rex. The umburm held up his hand to stop him and asked, "Keep watch over the ship. Both of you." He remarked to Lady Cat as well.

"You will need a guide in this land," Lady Cat argued.

"Don't worry..." Rex turned away before answering. "I remember the way."

Starswirl exited the titan airship and noted the surrounding. At his side was a case containing the alathar. For now, Rex and Clover had been assigned to hunt down Twilight and Cold Blue. The old wizard was tasked with watching over the alathar in their possession. It was agreed that the center of the hourglass was the safest place for the alathar.

The interior was made of much stronger metal than the outside and systems of powerful magic was setup to seal the room and even the hourglass completely if danger arose. This gave the feeling of being more like a prison than a wall of pure safety. "In Starlight's time, most batponies live in a place called Canterlot. Alongside other ponies, like it's commonplace." The rest of this room was barren outside of a few desks, chairs, and a large safe. Two doors on opposite sides. The three reached the main desk and rang the bell.

"Sounds like things are better in the future," Clover commented.

"I thought you didn't want spoilers, you old wizard," Rex commented.

"Considering the rush we are in, I was a bit more flexible." Starswirl laughed. "Though, I only asked for the need to know information."

"Are you sure about this, Master?" Clover questioned as Starswirl took a seat.

The old wizard puffed in some cotton candy clouds, several books, and some drinks before finally answering her, "The pegasi know what we have and agreed once you have entered the Batpony Canyons, this area will be sealed off entirely from the world and will only open again once you are finished." Starswirl sighed in content. "Besides, Fredricson and Lady Cat will be just outside if I need more protection."

"I... I understand."

"So no answers on if we save her or not," Rex popped back.

"Don't be like that, Rex." Clover encouraged. "We will find her and save her. We just have to have faith."

"Faith?" Rex raised an eyebrow. "This coming from the mare who didn't want Twilight or her allies anywhere near the titan airship when they first arrived, let alone helping in the plans to stop this war."

"Well, I guess you could say recently I had to become flexible too." Clover kept a smile, but deep down, she was filled with fear. Not simply for Twilight's safety, but what Twilight meant to them now. She was from Rex's future, his family line. Clover wondered now more than ever. If there was a future for him, was Clover in it?

Starswirl could sense the fear in his former student's eyes as she stared at Rex from behind. "Strange how many things can change. Time is the thickest of fogs. Never can one see all of it, but they know it's there always waiting for them to step forward. What is truly going to happen isn't simply up to fate. It falls to the ones willing to take the next step forward."

"... Thank you," Clover whispered to herself. Though it had been a long time since she was his student, she was happy to know there were still more things he could teach her.

"No matter who's beside you, as long your friendship is strong, they won't leave your side forever," a voice echoed above them, answering their questions.

Their eyes raced to the sight of an intercom on the ceiling and a camera nearby it. A count down echoed out, leaving them confused.

"What's going on here?" Rex's shadows rose in defense.

"This place didn't do that last time I was here?" Starswirl questioned.

The count down ended. The thicker walls opened up and spears poked out. They reared back as if they were about to launch. In an instant, they were surrounded. Rex and Clover ran up to Starswirl as Rex's shadows swarmed around them.

"Friendship, that's a fine word worth its weight in gold," an unfamiliar voice entered the room through one door. The defense systems shut down.

The three turned their attention to the owner; a dark blue pegasus with a rainbow mane in a thick, large coat. Before he could do anything, Rex wrapped him in shadows.

"What's going on here?" Rex demanded.

"Wow, wow. Let me go and I will explain." the pegasus attempted to mend things.

"Explain what?" Clover argued back.

Starswirl didn't do a thing. Instead, he sat back in his chair and munched on some popcorn. He watched the two work from afar. Leaning back on a pink cloud, the old wizard enjoyed a cold cup of chocolate milk.

"My name is Rainbow Dartz!" the pegasus clarified. "I am an ally of Starlight and Twilight."

"Why are you here?" Rex remembered seeing the pegasus from afar back in that old village.

"Outside of being a pegasus--" Rainbow Dartz dropped his snark as Rex squeezed his shadows tighter. "Fine, fine, I was called back into duty."

"Hmm, why?"

"Because I know Twilight and Starlight. The pegasi saw this as useful so they called me back in weeks ago."

"Weeks ago...?" Rex released his grip as confusion fogged his mind. "Impossible, we only told them about Twilight yesterday."

"But they have been keeping tabs on things ever since the Night Brothers' escape," Rainbow Dartz corrected. "They fear the griffins allowed them to escape the prisons to harm them."

"Unlikely," Starswirl answered. "But I have seen little of my former students since they attacked me over two months ago."

"So you sent the packing?" Rainbow Dartz questioned.

"In a matter of speaking. Though, I doubt they will stay gone for long." Starswirl waved his hands back to Rex, hoping to get the conversation back on track.

"Fine, now what is your mission here?" Rex questioned the pegasus. "As you can see, we are not allied with those foolish hippogriffs."

Rainbow Dartz held out a piece of paper. "Order, are orders." He gave them a moment to read the paper before answering them. "I, Rainbow Haven Dartz Blitz, am commanded to escort your group to the lower levels."

"We don't need a guide." Rex crumbled up the paper and threw it at the pegasus' feet.

Rainbow Dartz deadpanned at this action, but picked it up anyway. "This is a mission of the trust. I am here to see if you can be trusted. Follow me or not, I am here simply to listen."

"Fine, you will listen to silence." Rex gave no more words and entered the elevator. Clover gave a sheepish sorry and followed behind.

Rainbow Dartz caved and entered the elevator. He didn't want to be anywhere near these kingdoms, let alone guiding others through them. What he desired now more than ever was a beer, but he was given a mission... by his sister, and he knew he would have to follow it.

*******

Miles below, in another part of the two kingdoms, screams echoed behind an opening as a doorway swung ajar. Aitym, still attached to his siren filly host, entered the room. He smiled in victory at the sights in front of him. After all this time, he had come face-to-face with his ally. Within the darkroom, he saw the sleeping heir of Indigo Frost inside a glass container.

"So this is where you've been hiding," Aitym commented as he stepped closer. He admires the technology mixed with magic. "Incredible how far the lesser species have come along in manipulating the ancient technology since I walked among them with my actual flesh."

"Though, I am annoyed to return to these two kingdoms after so long," Aitym grumbled as he closed the door behind him.

"I'm sorry, I haven't clarified why I'm here," Aitym mocking answered a question that never came as he bowed to the sleeping beast. "I wonder how long you'll be sleeping and keeping me waiting. Oh, how things must feel from your perspective." He stepped right up to the glass structure. "I truly don't know the point of this device," He dragged the small frail fingers of the siren filly along its surface. "Thule says it strengthens you. All I know is it isolates you from this world."

The screams above intensity, making Aitym laugh. "Do you hear that, Frost? Those are your servants are falling your command. As we speak, they are near completion of the Dark City. Gathering quite a stockpile of soldiers and the dead."

Again, Indigo Frost did not give an answer. Instead, he stayed deep in his slumber. "How many do you desire for your army? How long will you continue to slumber under these travesties? And how long do you wish for me to imprison and manipulate Twilight Sparkle and Cold Blue?"

Aitym stopped the claws of the siren filly as the doors behind him reopened. Thule stepped inside, halting all advances. The alicorn hid deep within the flesh of his host against the sight of the rotting corpse's approach.

"I thought you were watching over the time egg?" Thule questioned Aitym's reasoning for being here.

"Once formed, the egg can maintain itself until hatching. All I need to do is scan it every few hours." Aitym tried to change the subject. "However, since I was free, I figured I could get some questions cleared up."

"What do you mean?" Thule posed, "Aren't we all the light in his darkness. The path needed to achieve his dream." He held his hand out to Indigo Frost. "For his father and mother, for the ones who raised him and the ones he leads into battle."

"And yet questions exist. I simply desire the questions to be answered and I will return to my duties."

Both Thule and Aitym were the oldest beings in the group by many, many millennia. They knew more knowledge than any other, especially with the plan and its effects on the group and the heir laying within the room. They needed to trust each other completely, yet Aitym found himself, the light in a darkness of unknowns.

"Secrets are not needed--"

"Exactly, so stop dodging and answer me these questions." Aitym made his frustrations clear and the rotting corpse finally gave signs of conceding. "Good, now first, why was I not told Twilight was an alicorn?"

"We wish to see her ascension to darkness. Her being an alicorn should have been obvious."

"Okay. Second, what about Starswirl's involvement? He cost me my previous host."

"That was a necessity because of his immunity to certain alathar like the Eye of the King."

"An item he could claim over me!" Aitym made his anger known. "Last question, and this is the biggest one."

"What?" Thule raised an eyebrow, wondering what he could mean.

"What purpose does Cold Blue serve?" Aitym smiled at Thule's hesitation. "Hmm, a strange answer to give. Is it because of his species...?" Aitym stepped closer and repeated his question louder. "What role does Cold Blue play in the plan? I know he's a siren and they all hold a certain disdain in the heir's heart, but why? I'm allowed to use these hosts in any way I please and yet you wanted me to bring in a siren I'm not even allowed to touch... why?" Aitym got right in the rotting corpse's face, fighting the stench and horror just to make his demands clear.

Thule kept his silence for a solid minute before answering. "The siren named Cold Blue is not important to the plan--"

"Good," Aitym interrupted, "Because I'll be needing a new body soon. Unlike you, I prefer to not let these things rot--" Aitym was stopped by a giant tentacle from Thule's back. "Careful, you don't want to rip that body apart already."

"I..." Thule calmed himself. "I wasn't finished."

"Fine..." Aitym stopped. "Continue."

"The siren named Cold Blue is not important to the plan, but he is important to Twilight Sparkle."

The eyes of the siren filly widened in confusion. "The alicorn. I know she is important to the plan but what does her feelings have to do with the plan."

"Her feelings?" Thule looked back at Aitym with even more confusion. "Do you know her feeling?"

"Through the time egg, I have been watching her for nearly fourteen hundred years. I've known her far longer than you have."

"And you know so little about her and the one beside her known as Cold Blue," Thule smiled more boldly. "If you cannot see the truth yet, then I can't help you. Twilight is an important piece in the plan, therefore the siren is also an important piece of the plan."

Aitym narrowed the siren filly's eyes and conceded. "Fine, I will return to my post. But I expect a new body soon, whether it's another siren filly or something else altogether." He walked out of the room, keeping his true thoughts to himself. He had far more questions to answer, but he knew he couldn't get them from Thule. So he decided he was getting them elsewhere.

******

Back above, the elevator slowly descended. The three stood in silence for a solid hour before the pegasus couldn't take it anymore. "It's been a long time since I've been down there." Rainbow Dartz looked up instead of down toward their destination.

"The pegasi don't visit their closest neighbor that often, or just you?" Clover questioned.

"No, more like it's been a while since I really had a reason to go down there. We keep connections with the batponies cuz they are one of the few that can face us evenly with the griffins. They are the ones we trust the most in our endless war."

"I didn't know that battles still going on."

"The battles can last from morning to night. Even after many centuries, the warring is far from showing signs of ending."

"They are far older than that," Rex corrected. "When I left these lands as a child, sparks of war echoed on all sides." He traced his fingers along the walls of the elevator. "Truthfully, I'm surprised the technology my species left your kind is still intact."

"Your species?" Rainbow Dartz questioned.

"The original owners of this giant hourglass. The umbrums." Rex's words silenced the pegasus's questions about him.

"Why would they kill each other for so long?" Clover changed the subject.

"Killing isn't the right word to put it." Rainbow Dartz posed. "The pegasus and the batponies cannot get along with each other, but to both of them the griffins are worse."

"Any enemy of my enemy."

"Exactly." They reach the bottom of the elevator and Rainbow Dartz presented them with the pathway, not even looking ahead. The others stopped in their tracks. Clover's eyes widened and Rex narrowed his sight at the oblivious pegasus. "When was the last time somepony visited the Batpony Canyons?"

"I was told around a month ago--" Rainbow Dartz finally faced forward and was stopped cold at the sight of a corpse lying in front of the elevator entrance.

******

Author's Note:

Wow, this one came out shorter than I thought. That can't be bad as I packed a lot in this chapter. Sorry this one came out late, I have been busy all month, practically nonstop. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to comment, like and favorite.