Their sleep was fitful but needed. While Tempest might have complained about how they had only been walking for a few hours, the force of the storm had sapped their energy. They weren't going to have another opportunity to rest again after they left the small mine, either, so not taking the opportunity would have been foolish.
Rufus slept as well, though his unease was from the two strangers sharing his normally private space rather than from the risks ahead.
By what they reckoned was morning, all three were rested enough to rise but little more than that. A quick meal was shared - Rufus' hard-tack biscuits and some dried fruit from the packs of the ponies.
Little was said until the end of the meal - and Tempest was the one to break the silence.
"I suppose it's time to get back on the road."
Rufus' head lifted from staring at the fire. "You're actually going further in?"
Nodding curtly, Tempest confirmed it. "I already endured a storm to try and get my horn back. This one can't be much worse."
"And if it kills you?" The cat's tone stayed even, burying his disbelief.
Tempest merely chuckled lowly. "I'll die appreciating the irony."
Rising to his hooves, Starswirl slowly stretched his legs one by one. "If we might trouble you one last time, could we have a rope?" Tempest raised an eyebrow at the sorcerer. "So that we may tie together ourselves and our fates, rather than become separated in the storm," he explained.
It took a moment of consideration before Rufus answered. "Three bits."
Starswirl raised a bushy eyebrow. "Three?"
"To buy the replacement," explained the miner. "You're not going to be coming back with it."
Tempest hoofed out five small coins. "A few extra for our share of the food."
Rufus took them with a nod and a flick of his tufted ear towards his supplies and the rope. "Good luck. I hope you don't get too far before you come to your senses and turn back."
A wry smile danced over Tempest's lips. "The sentiment's appreciated."
Tempest and Starswirl lashed themselves together, braced and plunged out into the howling storm.
Of all the ponies in the world to barge into the endless blizzard, this pair were some of the best choices. Tempest had spent most of her life outside Equestria's borders and in service of the Storm King - wild weather and horrific storms were entirely commonplace for her. And Starswirl had been born in an era where the three tribes were still warring with each other - he had seen just as many days where the stormclouds were being used as weapons against him as he had days where the skies were kept clear and peaceful by the ancestors of the Weather Bureau.
Those facts were little comfort to either in the face of reality.
Ice-filled winds whipped into the pair as they stumbled and staggered ahead. At least they assumed it was 'ahead'. Starswirl's magic had helped them make good progress for a while: he'd crafted a shield spell to form a pointed wedge that acted as both wind-break and plow. It had made their advance easier - not simple by any stretch, but stepped up from 'impossible' to only 'painfully difficult'.
Then they'd hit a patch of quicksnow. Seemingly hard-packed and solid ground below them had suddenly become loose powder and Starswirl dropped like a stone.
Only the rope saved Starswirl's life - his shout of surprise was lost in the wind, but Tempest felt the tug and braced herself against a nearby rock in time to prevent them both from being pulled in. Hauling the sage to safety took agonizing minutes of hard pulling while he struggled for air, but she'd gotten him free. Unfortunately the lapse of concentration and close brush with death had dropped the twin planes of force that had made up the shield, and each attempt to reform it simply led to it shattering under the wind and exhausting Starswirl further.
They forged ahead without the protection.
Time was nearly impossible to gauge - the sky was light so it was some time after dawn yet before dusk but nothing more precise was possible. Direction was even less so. All either of them could do was try to continue in what seemed like a straight line and hope.
Tempest was in the lead now, her greater strength and heavier hooves anchoring the lighter, weaker Starswirl. Without the shield, there was no point to having the wizard be in front. Her magical senses were duller, however, which meant Tempest had no warning before she collided face-first with a wall. Not one of stone - but of magic.
She dropped and Starswirl was by her side in an instant. He reached down to lift her up - and then stopped. His gaze shifted to an invisible point in front of them, indistinguishable from the rest of the roaring snowstorm. One hoof stayed on Tempest as she struggled to right herself, while the other reached out to touch that point.
A tap of the hoof and the air rippled.
Starswirl's eyes narrowed.
Ducking his head next to Tempest's, Starswirl shouted against the howling wind. "Barrier! Touch horns!"
A snide rebuke almost instinctively came to Tempest's frost-covered lips - she bit down on it at the last second. Turning her broken horn towards the direction Starswirl was pointing, Tempest gathered what magic she could.
In turn, Starswirl did the same. Pressing his horn alongside Tempest's, he used his unbroken length to act as a conduit for the power in hers. Both horns sparked, arcing dangerously. Then with a surge they blasted forward.
The invisible wall ahead wobbled, shaking like gelatin. The point they were aiming at messily splattered open, ragged liquid gaps tearing wide as the wall flowed away from the pressure. It made a not dissimilar slurping sound as well - though that detail was lost amidst a renewed burst of wind. The difference in air pressure between the two sides of the wall viciously pulled on both ponies like a vacuum. They were hauled through, crying out in fear as they were yanked from the blizzard and into whatever was on the far side of the barrier.
Just what that was resolved slowly, but there was one thing neither questioned: it was warmer. Not the same as the lovely spring it should have been, but even the cool autumn-ish air was leagues better than the bone-deep chill of the storm.
There was no wind, either. The silence in their ears was soothingly painful - up until Tempest groaned and wobbled to her knees.
"Are we dead?"
Starswirl brushed ice from the brim of his hat with a jingle. "I suspect that if we were I would be less tired."
Laughing despite her raw throat, Tempest wiggled her ears to brush away snow from the top of her head. "You and me both."
She helped him up and they finally got the chance to take in their surroundings.
The barrier was closed again - mostly. Its amorphous magic had pulled itself together and the only way to discern their point of entry was that one spot was thinner than the rest of the liquid-like glow. Thinner and threateningly bowed slightly inward as the winds continued to batter against it. Across the wall - now visible only by a slight sparkle and the lack of snow - other sections flexed and moved, giving a little when the wind hit directly and pulling back to shape when it relaxed.
Around them was... it had to be the valley. Tempest might have doubted it, but there was a look of recognition in Starswirl's eyes that was undeniable. He had seen this place and knew it well. Even if it was a thousand years removed from him, it was familiar.
Down the slope from where they stood, the valley leveled out quickly. The rocky soil they were on gave way to richer earth, and then scrub and short trees that gave way to regimented fields. And beyond those came the town itself. The architecture was ancient - wood-framed wattle and daub houses with the occasional flagstone structure. Few rose to a second story in the tight cluster that sprawled around the town's well, most sitting squat and tightly together. The only exception was the giant of a walled keep that sat near the center of the miles-wide green oasis and on the foot of the further mountain's rise. Looming four stories at the highest tower, it stood vigil over the small town in somber dark stone. Breaking that dark up was the golden six-rayed sunburst in bronze that graced each side of the high central tower.
And inside that tower was a bell - one loudly ringing out.
Distant specks of ponies in the town were scrambling - most into buildings but a distressing few were not. They, instead, had formed a small phalanx and were rapidly galloping towards the slope and the pair.
Tempest swung her head around to her companion. "Somepony's coming and fast. We should..." Her words dropped away into a growl of annoyance.
Starswirl saw none of the commotion. He was too busy poking and prodding the barrier wall with both hoof and magic. "Fascinating work. Entirely non-rigid and self-repairing. Something this size requires an absurd amount of magic, but we are atop one of the more powerful ley nexuses in Equestria so I suppose that makes it plausible. And the non-rigid structure makes sense given the function to keep out the winds. A harder shield would eventually have a fracture point. It's an excellent example of the adage of the oak and the reed. With a little--"
The orchid mare grabbed him by the beard. "We need to hide."
It took approximately sixty seconds for Starswirl to take in the view, spy the oncoming group of ponies and process what was going on. Then just as Tempest was about to yell at him again, Starswirl teleported them both into the cover of a nearby scrub thicket.
The village was further away than Tempest had thought - it took almost five minutes for the oncoming group to reach them. Her estimated half-dozen turned out to be seven in total, all unicorns. Three wore nothing; two had on a loose cuirass of lamellar armor; the last two had on orange cape-like robes. They split apart as they arrived, with two beelining for the barrier and the others spreading out.
They were uneasy. Tense. Waiting for something and on the verge of panic. Tempest had seen those postures often enough - usually in guards and militia who were bracing for the first wave of an attack. (Of her attack, a tiny voice reminded her.) This group obviously had some level of training judging by their wordless coordination, but they'd come expecting a fight and not finding one had them on edge.
Several more minutes crept past - then the armored one at the wall shouted loudly. "Breach closed!"
Those words instantly relaxed the five not at the wall. They gathered back together near the point that Tempest and Starswirl had broken through.
The armored one who had spoke - a light red stallion - let out another sigh of relief. "Something broke through, but the barrier fixed itself like it's supposed to. I'd guess it was only open for a little while."
His robed companion at the wall - deep blue with a yellow mane - contributed his own part as he continued to inspect the area around the breach. "Less than two minutes. There's not much melted snow on the ground."
"Did the wind break it?" The other robed pony - this one a teal mare - shifted from hoof to hoof uneasily. "If the barrier isn't able to hold up anymore, we'll have to pull it in before there's another breach. And that means we'll lose the blackberry patches on the south-east edge." One of the bare ponies whined at that, only to be silenced by a glare from his companion.
The red stallion shook his head. "I'm not sure. There's no debris so nothing got thrown through it. It doesn't match up with how wind-breaches usually are, though."
Off to his side, the dark blue stallion dipped his head down. "... hoofprints."
All of the others froze in confusion.
"Hoofprints," he repeated, before pointing to a spot on the ground. "Look. The snow-melt muddied up this area just inside the breach. There's hoofprints here and they aren't ours." Dropping down to his belly, he took a closer look. "Two sets. One's metal-shod. Heavy and fairly wide. The other one's narrower and--" His words cut abruptly as his horn lit yellow. Something levitated off the ground - too tiny for Tempest and Starswirl to see from their hiding place. "Grey fur," the stallion declared. His eyes darted around, confirming that none of their party was grey. Panic crept into his voice. "Bit, these are pony tracks."
There was no mistaking the sudden spike of emotion in them - fear. Tempest could taste it even at their range. On her left Starswirl nervously shifted, rubbing his side against hers as they stayed low and close.
The red stallion - Bit, presumably - stomped a hoof to try and regain control. "Hey! Hey!! Concentrate!" Six sets of eyes focused on him. "Lemon, head back to town and let them know what's happened. Tell them the barrier's secure but don't mention the tracks." He paused. "Tell the Prioress about that, but not the townsfolk."
One of the two yellow unicorns - the paler one - nodded and turned to gallop off.
"Everypony else, pair off and spread out. We'll see if we can find more tracks and get to the bottom of this." Bit pointed to the others in turn. "Pine, Scribble, you head north along the barrier. Glory, Nail, head south. Script, you're with me."
They started to spread out - and that's when Tempest rose to her full height. "STOP."
All seven froze.
Reluctantly, Starswirl stood beside her. Voice low, he tried to avoid being heard by any but Tempest. "What are you doing? I thought we were hiding!"
"Can't let them get reinforcements," she hissed back before raising her voice once more. "All of you stay where you are! We don't want to hurt anypony but we need some answers!"
None of them moved. Tempest was fine with that.
She was less fine with how Starswirl simply stepped out of the thicket and right into her potential line of fire. "Please excuse my companion. Our journey to come here was very difficult and your presence is unexpected. We had thought this an abandoned ruin."
Bit took a single step forward - he'd intended more, but froze when Tempest leveled her jagged horn at him. All seven sets of eyes were on that horn, and a creeping feeling told Tempest it wasn't simply because of her threatening stance. "So-- so it's true? You're from outside?"
Starswirl nodded. "We are."
The seven all dropped to a knee, bowing. "We thought that was impossible," spoke the robed stallion said with barely restrained awe. "That there are other ponies yet in the world. And that you've come for healing. Please, travelers, be at peace. We welcome you to the House of the Rising Sun."
A thousand years is a while, even on the time scale of species. This seems to be a fairly small population and they’ve been breeding amongst themselves the whole time. “That there are ponies yet in the world” might not be *quite* true by the strictest definition, from their perspective; these ones will have drifted a bit away from the larger population both genetically and culturally. I wonder what customs they’ve developed to avoid inbreeding depression and keep their knowledge alive all this time? It seems inevitable that this eternal storm will be dispelled and this little ancient terrarium be finally exposed to the wider world. Thinking they’ll need a lot of help with that.
You’ve certainly captured my interest as a reader though, can’t wait to see what happens next!
Wait till they realize that not only did ponies get through, but one of them is a walking, talking historical figure (not mythical, not to these ponies).
And likely will then get them OUT. Because putting one of the top five horn-wielders in Equestria on top of a ley nexus means you have options.
Oh wow, a community of unicorns entirely isolated from the world. I'd say the blizzard was a Windigo's fault now, though I don't see how they'd be racist if they didn't realize other ponies even still existed. Glad they aren't hostile; had things come to a fight, they would have stood exactly zero chance against Tempest and Star Swirl.
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Given they haven't died from issues of inbreeding, either they've managed to nullify that with the use of magic, or there simply is enough of a population that, with a little bit of control and record-keeping, which isn't too hard considering the isolation which means no introduction of additional ponies, they have managed to at least maintain enough diversity that way.
My money's on that they're in possession of a spell that can nullify or at least significantly dampen that though, somewhat.
Well, this just got even more interesting, if such a thing were possible.
10662451
Given that ponies are polyphenic, exhibit so much variety in coloration and size, and probably haven't undergone multiple near-misses with extinction within recent evolutionary history like humans have, they likely have far greater genetic diversity, and as such would need a smaller population to maintain a healthy genepool. Combine that with the genealogical record-keeping I imagine ancient unicorns (what with their nobility and all) were very fond of, and the lack of fresh blood also making said record-keeping easier, it would be no issue to maintain health entirely mundanely - presuming they knew of the dangers of inbreeding.
An isolated population in an environment with limited food supplies for a great length of time? I’d expect them to have turned into VERY little ponies indeed. Like Falabellas, tiny, economical, and foul tempered. Look adorable, will actively attempt to eat anyone anyone who tries to stroke them.
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This actually was a subject I researched on when doing prep work for the background. There's actually quite a lot of research that's been done on MVP (minimum viable population) in the fields of ecology and biology - and, in fact, a bunch specific to breeds of wild horses. There's a lot of factors involved, but the number you start from is actually not nearly as large as you'd think and even high estimates only put it in the low thousands of individuals needed for long-term viability. The current population of the valley is just under a thousand, so they're still at the point where catastrophic levels of genetic interbreeding hasn't happened yet.
As for the cultural aspects, some of those will come up but I'll also admit that I skipped over a chunk because the details got in the way more than helped.
In fact!
Author's Notes: Cut Content Alert #1
In the original script, Starswirl spent part of the trip over teaching Tempest the basics of Old Ponish under the assertion that any manuscripts they found wouldn't be in a modern language. This would allow her to communicate with the residents of the House and Town when they arrived, as the residents would be speaking an Old Ponish variant.
I discarded that particular aspect because it would 1) require Tempest to become conversationally fluent in an ancient language she had never interacted with before in only two or three days, which is utterly implausible and 2) didn't really add anything beyond a bit of verisimilitude before being hand-waved. I figured that if the Pillars popped straight out of Limbo speaking understandably, I could get away with it here, too.
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This actually is alluded to in a few spots and is a significant part of a later chapter. Add as well that this is a settlement almost exclusively of unicorns - so almost universal telekinesis. Physical fitness is not a prized or particularly sought trait, and Tempest is a veritable amazon giant among them.
Pony tracks frighten them but live ponies don't... The idea live ponies from the outside makes them kneel. So what exaclty are they hiding
from that leaves pony tracks but isn't a pony? And is it even still out there for them to be hiding from?
Zomponies? Sombra's army? a Windego? Discord?
Most curious. The storm definitely seems windigogenic given this added context... though that could be jumping to conclusions. The monastery was abandoned due to worsening storms, after all. I suppose the question is what they were up to in those final days, and what they've been doing since. We'll find out soon enough.
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Starswirl mentioned having lived through a time when the different pony races were still fighting. If these unicorns think they're the last ponies left alive, it's possible that they've been carrying a grudge against the earth ponies and pegasi whom they erroneously assumed to have killed off all the other unicorns. So there's your Windigo fuel.
I really wonder what happened here. It doesn't seem like Celestia to simply leave these ponies to their fate.
Hmm. The thick plotens.
I'm going to note a few guesses here before I go ahead and get proven wrong:
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In a country ruled by an immortal (or so close that make no practical difference) it make some sense that the language would not change that much
"in Equestria is talked the Princess's Ponish, and they had the same princess for a thousand years. "