Chapter 28 - Her Beginning
Crickets chirped loudly through the camp. The winter wind bashed against the tent hosting Flurry Heart and Fresh Dawn. Illuminated by a single candle, they were protected by four Royal Guards from the Crystal Empire.
Within the tent, made of reflective material to preserve body heat, Fresh Dawn and Flurry Heart sat across from each other. Flurry was twiddling with something she snagged from the castle while Dawn watched from across. A small toy train. It must've been important to her. She stared at it with the longing of a foal.
"How are your hooves?" Dawn asked.
Flurry shrugged and tossed the toy to the side. Guess it wasn't that important.
"It hurts but I'll live," she answered. "Things are going to be a lot different when this is all over."
"Yeah. Psera is completely destroyed. We're going to have to go through a complete remodel and restructuring. Playtime's over for us, I guess."
Flurry laughed and sighed. "Then, you have to be crowned after that. That's going to take years, I'm sure."
"It depends on the damage." Dawn turned her head to the opening of the tent and let the silence briefly wash over them. "You raised a good question earlier, Flurry."
"About..."
Dawn turned her head back. "How did mom know about all of this? About Narmeelah, about the attack, about everything?"
Flurry flipped over on her back and danced her hooves in the air. "Your mother is really good at keeping secrets."
"Well, it's going to be a long drive there. She can spill all of them during the journey. I'm not mad at her, I just really want to know. I feel like there's so much more I don't know about her. Specifically, her life before Psera."
Flurry glanced over to Dawn. "Parents don't really tell their children about their lives before them. They get all weird. My mom never talks about it, and dad just sort of talks differently. Don't even get me started on Luna and Celestia."
Interesting. "Have you asked mom?" Dawn asked hopefully.
Sadly, much to Dawn's downcast expression, Flurry answered, "No. Aunt Twilight and I—according to mom—used to have a really tight bond. She used to tell me everything when I was a foal. Then she left Equestria and that bond broke. What you know about your mother is probably about as much as I know, if not more."
Dawn lied on her side and faced Flurry. "Wouldn't you want to know more? Especially now?"
Flurry stopped dancing to the air and flipped over to face Dawn. "Well, I suppose if this was a family matter, which it is, then I would. But if it wasn't, I probably wouldn't give it a second thought. But we're two different ponies. Excuse me, three."
Dawn sighed and nodded. Hopefully mom could talk about it in the morning. Until then...
"Goodnight, Flurry."
"Goodnight, Dawn. Goodnight, Light."
"Goodnight, Flurry."[/hr]
By the time the sun rose, the small flame they created within the tent had dwindled into smoking ash. The sun shone brightly on Flurry first before someone called out from beyond their haven of slumber.
"Queen Dawn! Princess Flurry!" Dawn's eyes slowly opened. "Your presence has been requested!"
"Yes... Yeah." Dawn shifted from her lying position to a sitting one. She rubbed at her eyes. "Flurry... Flurry, wake up."
"Mmmm, don't wanna."
The tent was quickly unzipped and Luna poked her head inside. She moved it from Flurry to Dawn. "Come, you two. Awaken and ready yourselves. You can sleep the rest of the way."
Well, any chance of sleep was now impossible. Flurry groaned and flapped irately into a sitting position.
"Fine! Fine, let's go!" She said before stomping out past Luna.
"Note to self: Do not wake Flurry from her sleep," First Light said.
"Yeah, no kidding." Dawn grabbed and strapped the sword around her body before walking out into the morning action. All the soldiers were packing up the tents and throwing them into the back of the Pods. The Legends of Psera, the Creatures of Taratarus, the International House of Trade, and Psera's commanding officers were standing in front of a large ramp leading into the ground. Looks like Twilight managed to open the well.
It was massive. It was deep. It was dark. Even from way back here Dawn could see the earth give way to stone and rock.
Dawn joined Flurry who seemed to perk up from having her sleep interrupted to an interest as well.
They joined the other royals. Dawn squeezed in between Twilight's legs from behind and peered down inside.
"Whoa," she muttered. "How deep does it go?"
"Deep enough where it makes sense," Twilight answered. "It's at just the right depth. Over two kilometers."
Twilight turned around and walked back to the camp with Dawn following close. "We'll be leaving soon. You can catch up on your rest while we move."
"Right, yeah, but I... I have a few questions."
"As you always will. I did not forget what I promised you when we were building these." Twilight stopped at an empty Radwood, likely reserved for them and faced her daughters. It was longer than the others. The engine was loud, ready to move. "You want to know if I can split you and Light."
"Yeah, she wants to venture out on her own."
"The process to perform such a skill I can pull off. However..." They tracked Flurry stomp past them and jump into the very Radwood they were going to take. "It's an extremely risky process."
"How?"
Twilight sat down and raised her hooves out to Dawn, facing upwards. "The body that you share has two souls. Yours, and First Light. In order for you to split successfully, I would have to, for lack of a better term, solidify First Light's soul on her way out into another vessel. First Light herself is already magic sharing your body. She changes it whenever she comes through to a look she wants, but she doesn't have her own actual appearance. Instead, she modifies yours."
"So..."
"That means I have to do two things. One, I have to pull First Light's soul and magic out of you, and, two, place them into another non-living body."
"...necromancy," Dawn figured. "You have to perform Dark Magic. Sounds complicated."
"It can be. But that's just one process, and it's not even safe. There may be other ways and alternatives. I'm doing more brainstorming. Hopefully, I can come up with something safer." Twilight bent low and bit into Dawn's coat to pick her up. Then jumped into the Radwood.
"Mom, put me down!" Dawn cried. Stars, this was so embarrassing. She covered her eyes and tightened her wings to her body, hopefully to hide her shame.
Dawn transformed into First Light and wiggled free onto the Radwood floor.
"Oof!" She grunted.
"No need to be embarrassed," Twilight assured. She sat down across from Dawn. "I did that all the time when you were a foal. Would you rather I do it, or a guard do it? Or Celestia, Luna, Cadance... Flurry?"
"How about no one?" First Light suggested. She slid in next to Flurry while Twilight sat across and turned back into Dawn. "We don't need anyone picking us up. We can get in on our own."
"Okay, okay," Twilight gave in. She was soon joined by Celestia and Cadance. Luna and Shining, carrying his gear sat next to Flurry, who used her father's coat as a pillow to help resume her sleep.
"Didn't you wake her?" Celestia asked.
Cadance chortled and said, "If we didn't wake her, Flurry would've slept through everything and further still. She doesn't like to be disturbed."
Yeah, Dawn noticed. Did it come with age? Size? Because Dawn could barely sleep a wink these days. Speaking of... What would it be like to sleep on Psera once more? So much has changed, so fast. One moment, she was sleeping with mom and dad in the next room over. She had her toys, her pictures, her memories.
The next, the castle is attacked, mom razes an entire country, and dad was... Dad was killed. Stars, it was so hard to think about. She never even saw his grave. After arriving on Psera, she was immediately shot at and had to be put on lockdown in the castle. She wasn't able to leave until her mother's trial, and even then they were very reluctant to let her.
"Dawn?"
Dawn looked up from her hooves and noticed the darkness of the atmosphere. Were they moving? Dawn looked behind her and saw rock walls pass them by. Wow, was she that out of it?
The lights on the floor of the Radwood kept them illuminated to reveal Luna staring at her. Celestia and Cadance were leaning against each other sleeping, and Twilight was writing in her little notebook with a pen in her mouth.
She looked towards the back of the Radwood. Their convoy was on the move alright. For as far as the eye could see, headlights were trailing behind them. There were so many.
The roof of the well was high. But it was perfectly structured in a circle made of stone. Ahead of them were eight more Radwoods packed with guards, all for them. No, for her.
Dawn turned back to Luna who was staring at her oddly. "What is wrong?"
Twilight stopped what she was doing and glanced up.
"I've just been thinking. You know... That day. The last time I saw Dad was when I told him I was taking Juniper for a walk. He was in the kitchen cooking breakfast. Mom was still asleep."
Dawn sighed and tapped her hooves together. "I never saw him again."
Twilight closed her notebook and set it aside. "Come here, sweetie."
Dawn rose from her seat and walked over to Twilight, who embraced her in both hooves and wings.
"He loved you very much," she whispered down to her.
"I miss him," Dawn said. "I wish he was here right now."
"I do too."
"I thought I was over his death, but... I can still hardly believe it." Dawn looked up to Twilight. "How did he die?"
"A Zebra snuck into the throne room. A suicide bomber. Your father was closer to the Zebra. It took his life. There were more who slaughtered the guests."
Those Zebras. She felt some kind of hatred for them. An inferno of anger deep within.
"I can't say I'm proud you... Decimated their country," Dawn admitted. "But I am a little relieved they won't be setting hoof in Psera waters anymore."
"I made absolute sure of it, sweetie."
The Radwood dived into silence, allowing them to think and read before Dawn asked another question. "How did you know?"
"How did I know what?"
"About Narmeelah? When did your research truly begin; What tipped you off?"
The question woke Celestia and Cadance, even Flurry. One of the guards that wasn't driving peeked over their shoulder. Even Snap Seed in the very back with the rest of Twilight's friends listening leaned closer in her seat.
Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"The life I lived away from the library, away from the books and the Castle of Friendship was one of adventure and discovery, prior your birth, prior calling Psera my home, prior meeting your father, and prior becoming Princess of Friendship."
She shifted Dawn into a more comfortable position. "The day I discovered that something was amiss were one of the greatest adventures of my life. Let me go back in time, and tell you the story of how I met the Children of the Stars, a civilization that I believed was the home of Narmeelah and her followers after disappearing from Psera."
Twenty Four Years Ago
Evening
Ponyville
The sun shone bright upon the small town of Ponyville. The summer heat screamed down upon the ponies within, trotting along the roads, going about their day. Some stopped to say hello, but others chose to stay indoors.
Ponies like Miss Cheerilee, who cut recess early with a wave of her hoof for young foals like Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle in favor of the cool insides of the school house.
Ponies like Mayor Mare, who tended to her duties within city hall instead of leaving her office.
Ponies like Applejack, who shamelessly wore a sunhat gifted to her from Rarity she never thought she'd be seen wearing.
But within the tree, conveniently placed in the middle of the town, young Twilight Sparkle was preparing for an adventure of her own. Her loud voice could be heard from beyond the wood of the home-slash-library.
"Spike!... Spike!!!"
Twilight's faithful assistant came running out of the kitchen carrying a pair of violet saddlebags and a fishing hat as fast as his little claws could carry him.
"Okay, okay!" He replied. "Here. I got your bags, your notebooks, your coat—why do you need a coat?"
Twilight floated everything out of his claws onto her back and smiled down to her faithful assistant. She was smaller then. With a bitty horn on her head and lively eyes full of determination.
Twilight walked towards the entrance of the treehouse with Spike rushing to keep up.
"There could be a storm," she answered. "And those hills have dense vegetation and forestry. I could encounter humidity or even a rainforest. I'd hate to ruin my fur. I spent all morning smoothing it out!"
The door for the treehouse was opened and Twilight trotted out en route for the train station.
"And you're sure you don't need help?" Spike called after her.
"I'm certain, Spike!" Twilight called over her back. For assurance she raised her wings. "No need to worry, I know how to fly!"
"Do you though?"
"Oh hardy har. I'll see you in two days! Don't burn down the library!"
Without waiting for a response, Twilight galloped off into the distance. Underneath the scorching sun, and the passing of many pegasi and lovebirds, she made her way out of town past the train station to a waiting balloon fixed with her cutie mark. Nailed to the ground, it withstood the blowing breeze of nature that carried with it falling leaves.
With one last look over her shoulder to ensure no one was following her, she tossed her bags and books inside before following along shortly. The nail was removed, and with a pull of the string, the burners came to life.
She turned around and peered over the edge, watching the ground grow further and further away until Ponyville was far in the distance. With that, Twilight Sparkle turned around and watched where the balloon took her. Further and further into the wildlands of Equestria and soon over the border.
"My trip was initially a journey for the Blackened Hills, on the southeastern coast of Equestria. The plan I predicted was that there would be a three hour balloon flight there and back. The spell I used to walk on the clouds was not one I would use so flippantly. That spell is temporary, and I'd rather not arrive at my destination tired and winded after having pulled it off. So I used my balloon instead."
"Did you ever make it to the Blackened Hills?" Dawn asked.
"Not only did I make it. I overshot it. During the trip, I fell asleep. The heat of the sun forced me to rest, treating my coat as a blanket. When I awoke, I was met with black clouds."
No! No, no, no, there was no storm in the prediction! Twilight bounced to anxious hooves and used her magic to grab a few sand bags she tossed over the edge. She had to make an emergency landing quickly.
The moment the balloon began lowering, the wind intensified and droplets began falling from the darkening sky.
"Come on, come on," Twilight seethed through her teeth. The balloon had to fall faster! Come on! Twilight looked around for another source of weight. There! Her bag! But wait! Those had her notes in them!
Her decision-making cost her time, for the wind's true intensity had arrived. The balloon suddenly shifted, throwing Twilight back into the basket. Wildly, it flipped and turned. Unable to rise to her hooves, Twilight remained seated and held on for dear life. Rain water slammed into her fur, her books, and her burner, putting out the flame keeping the basket in the air.
The basket twirled faster and faster. Twilight's eyes squeezed shut. She held on for dear life, for if she lost her grip, no doubt she would be sent careening out of it.
The high pitched sound she was hearing, she was able to make it out as her own horrified screams that were suddenly cut when the basket finally crashed, and she was consumed by darkness.
"I impacted soon after. Naturally, it incapacitated me. For how long, I do not know. All I knew was that I was stranded in the green with little to no knowledge of what direction to take."
The cawing of birds and rustling of leaves roused Twilight from her deep slumber. Her hooves were splayed in multiple directions, her muzzle deep in wet mud.
Groaning, Twilight slid her hooves along the forest floor and cracked open her eyes. Blurry vision soon faded into clear sight, where she recognized old mossy trees, the richest of green grass, and the scent of summer.
She slowly rose to her hooves. Standing was wobbly and a sharp pain shot up her right wing that forced her to sit. Carefully, she grabbed her feathers and brought it into sight. She may not know too much about Pegasi, but even she knew their wings don't bend in that direction. It seems she was more injured that she thought.
"Great," Twilight mumbled. There was nothing she could do about it now.
She carefully set it down and looked around. It wasn't the Everfree Forest, but it was most certainly close. Nature, mud, tall trees with a canopy so thick the sunlight could barely get through.
The balloon was trashed. Tilting her head back, Twilight could see it stuck in the branches, punctured, ripped, and leaking a fluid. Even worse, only a single notebook made it down here with her. Unlike the big ones up there, this one had only a few pages that would serve better for a journalist than for her. Alas, she picked it up and looked around.
Which direction for help?
"They say that when you're stranded you stay in one location so a search party could find you. That is very much true."
Twilight began walking in one direction deeper into the forest, dragging her broken wing behind her until she disappeared from the wreckage, with her hoofsteps as the only indication she was ever there.
"However, I needed medical attention. Imagine. A mare of my caliber who knew all there was to know about magic and travel forgot to bring a med kit."
"Could you not heal yourself?"
"No. At that time, healing had to be done the normal way. With bandages and time.
"I walked for hours. Traversing hills, jumping over streams. I followed the clouds thinking that there could be water nearby. Of course, I stumbled across something better."
After walking for hours, Twilight slowed her steps to a thinning treeline. Behind it there seemed to be movement. Finally, some help! She could grab some materials to get this wing wrapped up!
She approached the treeline but slowed her speed until she was an inch away from being spotted. These ponies were rather strange. They came from all walks of life. Zebras, ponies, dragons, pegasi with long wings and tall ears. She's never seen them all in one place before.
But that wasn't what stopped her. It was a large pyramid in the middle of what appeared to be a small village made of mud, speared with sunlight breaking through the canopy above them all. There were homes both on the ground and in the trees connected by walkways. It was beautiful.
But the ponies there. They all wore the same clothes and face paint. Something was up here. Maybe she shouldn't approach just yet. Instead, sit and watch.
Two creatures, a dragon and pony stopped in front of each other.
"To the next light, sister," the dragon greeted.
"Away from shadows, brother," replied the mare. "Are you prepared for the word of Her Majesty?"
"As always."
Her Majesty? Twilight raised an eyebrow. Strange. What was going on here?
Suddenly, a loud gong rang from the pyramid and echoed through the forest. Twilight felt it along her coat. As did the rest of them. They all dropped what they were doing and immediately trotted for the pyramid. Whatever was going on, Twilight would be able to figure it out from within there.
Ah, but her wing. Perhaps one of these ponies had bandages inside of their homes. Oh, but that's stealing!
"I had to make a decision and quickly. A gut feeling that whatever they were doing was incredibly important bit away at my insides. Of course, it could've just been organized religion. But I had a feeling it was deeper than that. I stole some bandages and an extra cloak from a nearby home and made my way up to the pyramid."
She could see the entrance. Up the stairs where other ponies and creatures were headed, disappearing into a single door flanked by two of those long-eared ponies wearing red face paint and holding spears.
Twilight adjusted her cloak and made sure her wings were hidden before following after. She crept up the stairs.
Walk like the others, Twilight, she reminded herself. She adjusted her steps and walked with more confidence. By the time she entered the dark hall of the temple, she was walking with renewed confidence, as if this structure and the secrets held within were as common knowledge as a museum in Canterlot.
The air was cold, illuminated periodically by torches lining the brick walls. Writing she couldn't read were engraved into their surfaces.
Twilight dared not stop walking to decipher them. Walk like the others. Twilight closely followed two more in front of her into a larger space that must've been the center of the Pyramid. The ceiling was high, the room packed with these believers of whatever faith they were practicing.
On the far wall were luminescent symbols. Many circles with lines cutting through them. They seemed to be thrown up there almost haphazardly, taking up the entire wall before breaking off onto the side. Some of those circles intersected each other. One of them had both vertical and horizontal lines running through it.
b]"The wall was packed with those circles. Stars, I've never seen them in any book I've ever read. Whatever they were, they were important. I wanted to draw all of them. Alas, my little notebook wouldn't allow me that satisfaction. So, I only drew one. The one you have all seen before 'Her Majesty' finally showed herself."
A bright light suddenly permeated from the ceiling. All conversing ceased talking. Twilight stopped drawing in her notebook and raised her hoof to cover her eyes while the rest of the crowd bowed their heads.
"Hello again, Children of the Stars." The light slowly disappeared. Twilight lowered her hoof and stared in wonder at this majestic enigma before her. She had an all white coat, an all-white mane, and eyes the color of the sun. Around her neck were pendants of stars. Like a few of the ponies here, she had tall ears and long wings. So, this must be her majesty.
"Blend in!" Twilight's mind shouted. She slammed her face to the floor.
"To the next light, my children."
"Away from shadows," the crowd replied. They all rose back to their hooves.
Her Majesty gestured to one of the symbols on the wall. The one Twilight drew. It illuminated with light the closer her hoof got.
"The time, it is close," she said. "Soon, very soon, the betrayal of many will act as the catalyst of this event. The Reset. She will, of course, fail."
Her Majesty rose to her hooves and spread her wings. Glowing with power, all the markings on the wall were filled with light.
"Thus, the beginning of our new light! We will reach the stars and create a new world; the rules of this one will no longer apply! For we will make our own!"
"Children of the Stars!" They all shouted.
"Children of the Stars. That's what they called themselves. It was another Cult in Equestria."
"Another?" Dawn asked.
"They're quite common. Not all ponies are as happy as they seem in Equestria's photos. Equestria doesn't have their own religion like Psera, The Dragon Lands, or even Saddle Arabia. It quite common for citizens to make their own."
"It's true," Celestia replied. "Plenty a moon have I come across cults of my own name."
"In the years before our reign, I had quite a couple," Luna admitted. "They soon flocked to Celestia, triggering the Nightmare Moon Era."
"But this Cult was different," Twilight continued. "For instance. What happened next."
A mare standing next to Twilight suddenly bumped into Twilight's broken wing.
She seethed and yelped, "Ouch!"
The mare hidden behind her cloak turned to Twilight with a gasp. "Are you injured, my sister?"
Twilight waved it off. "It's just a bruise," she lied.
Her friend however didn't quite believe her. She gasped and danced on hot hooves. "Stars above! An opportunity!"
Dawn suddenly shifted into First Light. "Wait, I've heard you say that before!"
"Say what?"
"Stars above. You say it all the time."
"All Pserateps say it, my little Light. I didn't know at the time, but a lot of those ponies that were there were Pserateps. That was the first time I've ever seen them. But it wasn't until years later that I ever truly met them."
The mare turned to the stage and raised her hoof. "Mother! A mare here is wounded, she needs help!"
Wait! No! Before Twilight could stop her, she had caused all eyes in the hall to turn in her direction. Including Her Majesty.
"Oh!" She said. "Our newest guest. Do not be afraid, Child."
Her Majesty reached out one hoof, hidden behind a golden shoe glowing white. "Come forward."
A white glow surrounded Twilight and picked her up. She was levitated up and over the crowd before placed on the stage, facing Her Majesty. She had a smile Twilight felt she should stay away from. She towered over Twilight. She was most likely taller than Celestia. This was no ordinary pony. Her eyes were glowing gold for star's sake!
"I see you, youngling," Her Majesty said. She leaned low, closer to Twilight's face. "There is no need to hide." The hood on Twilight's coat was yanked back before the entire cloak was torn away, exposing Princess Twilight for all eyes to see. However, no one reacted negatively. It was as if they knew she was there the whole time.
Twilight slowly took a step back. Would they hurt her? "Listen, I don't want any trouble."
"Do not worry," Her Majesty said. She rose back to her full height. "We do not inflict harm here."
She pointed to Twilight's wing. "A balloon accident. No? Earlier today in the woods?"
She knew. How did she know?! Timidly, Twilight nodded her head.
"Hold yourself." Her Majesty's illuminant hoof was raised in the direction of Twilight's injury. Suddenly, Twilight's wing shifted back into place. It cracked and snapped before the pain vanished.
The glow disappeared. Twilight raised and dropped her newly repaired appendage. Holy Celestia. She just healed her with magic. It's... That's never been done before! Twilight had no words, despite all the questions she had on the top of her tongue.
"Now then." Twilight focused back on the situation at hoof. She was face to face with who could only be described as a pony more powerful than Celestia. Smiling knowingly down to her.
"What is this place?" Twilight asked.
"Do not worry yourself, Twilight Sparkle." Her Majesty pointed over the crowd to the entrance. "You will see us again one day. We will let you go; and when you return to your balloon, it will be fixed."
The audience parted, creating a path for Twilight to slowly and silently walk off the stage and through the crowd, under the eyes of over a hundred creatures; the Children of the Stars. No one said a word by the time she made it there.
"And Twilight?"
She turned around, quivering in fear, facing the multitude of ponies, the unreadable smirk of Her Majesty and her eyes of deceit.
"I certainly can't wait to meet you again. The mare you grow into will be one of power, knowledge, and influence. You and I will meet in a more formal manner, just as sure as I am that Spike will greet you with a story of what he and Rarity did while you were gone."
"I ran. I bolted from that temple as fast as my hooves could carry me and didn't stop. I ran through the forests, soared over streams, and made it back to the crash site."
Dawn leaned in closer to Twilight. "What did you see?"
It was fixed. Sitting on the forest floor as if it landed peacefully in a clearing. Even her books were positioned neatly back into the basket as if she herself organized them. Big ones on the bottom, small ones on the top. Sweat dripped from Twilight's face. Her body shook with each deep breath she took.
"No. No, that's..." She looked around the site for a shot, a clue that she wasn't alone. That someone else came and did this. But no, that would be impossible. The balloon was rebuilt in a clearing.
She didn't even crash in a clearing big enough to see the blue skies. She crashed in a thick canopy and awoke beneath the shadows of thick trees. The balloon was stuck in the branches. This spot wasn't like this before! The entire scene had changed! No way magic did this! It's unfathomable! Impossible! Incredible!
Carefully, Twilight stepped back into her basket and lifted the balloon through the clearing back into the sky. Her research would have to wait. But not once did her eyes leave that forest. She was sure Her Majesty was staring right back.
"I cut my trip short and came back home. When I walked through the door, I was prepared to tell Spike everything that happened to me, but..."
Twilight opened the door to her treehouse that same evening. She sighed and hung up her coat.
"Twilight! You're back!"
"Yep. I ran into a small snag and had to turn around."
"Well, it certainly seems like you had a trip. You probably need to go to a spa. Rarity and I went almost everyday since you'be been gone."
"Yes, a spa sounds... Wait." Twilight turned around fron the coat rack and faced Spike standing there in the foyer, proudly smiling at his glistening claws with more luster than any gem that was brought into this house.
"What do you mean 'everyday?'"
Spike looked up from his claws. "You've been gone for three days, remember?"
"What? I just left a few hours ago, Spike. It hasn't even been a day."
Spike lost his smile. "Uhhhh, no, today's the fifth, Twilight. You left on the second, remember?"
To reinforce his point, Spike pointed to a calendar conveniently placed on the wall next to the door, where Twilight remembered circling the two that Monday, now crossed out. She could make out Spike's sloppy circling of the fifth.
Today was the fifth.
Twilight's heart rate spiked. She shook her head and slowly backed away from the calendar, as if being near it would destroy the entire universe.
"No," Twilight whispered to herself. "No, no, today is the second, I just left."
She grabbed Spike in her magic and pulled him up to her wild expression of bewilderment.
"I just left!" She shouted.
"Twilight! You've been gone for three days! Like you said! Did you ever get your research done? Is that why you're so wound up?"
Twilight dropped Spike from her magic straight on his face. He easily brushed it off and pointed to the kitchen. "Look, all the newspapers that came in are in the kitchen. You can—"
She didn't ket him finish his sentence. She ran into the kitchen and immediately grabbed the pile of papers sitting by the back door. He was right. There was one here for the third, fourth, and the fifth. Today.
"After I read the papers, I ran out the door to the closest pony. I asked him the date."
Twilight slid to a stop in front of the last pony in the square closing down their shop. He was an earth pony with a dark brown coat and blue eyes.
"Oh, Princess Twilight!" He greeted. "Good eve—"
"What's today's date?" She urgently interrupted.
"Oh! Uh, the fifth, I believe."
Twilight slowly shook her head. "No. No, no, no, that's impossible!"
"I could double check that for you if you'd like."
Twilight closed her eyes and sighed through her nose. The only sound radiating through the dark Well they traveled through while everyone listening to her story held their breaths, awaiting her next words.
"You never told us about this," Celestia said.
"Because I needed proof first. I needed some form of evidence that what I saw, what I witnessed actually happened. My wing was fixed, my balloon was fixed, there was never a storm. So, I went back to the site where it all happened. That would be my proof."
"This time, I didn't take my balloon. I didn't use a spell on the clouds. Instead, I flew as fast as I could through the night. I've never flown that fast before. But I needed to know that I wasn't going crazy.
"I landed in the clearing and backtracked through the woods. I jumped over the stream and rolled down the hill, almost snapping my wing again. But I kept going until I finally arrived back at where I needed to be. The treeline where I saw everything."
Dawn grabbed her mother's hoof. "What did you see?"
Mouth agape, Twilight walked out of the treeline into...
"...no. No, this doesn't make any sense!!" Twilight shouted.
She ran forward and splashed into the marsh. She slapped her wings into the water. "This wasn't here! None of this was here!!"
Surrounding her was a swamp. A foggy swamp with curving trees relative to the ones of the forests lying just outside of Ponyville's border.
She jumped through the fog, through the marsh until she was in the middle of it all, where she saw the pyramid. There had to be something here! Something, anything!
Twilight took a deep breath and dove her head under the water. Searching for just a crumb. But she needed her oxygen. She threw her head back up and gasped for air. It was gone. Everything she saw was gone.
She sat there in that marsh, dripping wet, head bowed, empty hoofed with no evidence that any of what she saw, that any of what she witnessed ever happened.
"I had nothing. Nothing at all. I thought it was a dream. A nightmare. Except for one small thing proving that it was all real."
Currently
Crystal Empire - Site Four Well
Twilight hoofed Dawn the notebook she's been holding through her story.
"That," Twilight explained. "I had it the entire time. I drew the map of the wells while I was in that pyramid. I never got rid of it."
It was a crude drawing, scribbled with a great deal of urgency by a much younger pony. It was nothing like the one she shown then before.
Dawn passed the notebook over to Cadance, who said, "This is incredible, Twilight."
"I remember it happening like it was yesterday, despite it being over thirty years ago. I had no idea that it would be my inspiration for finding out more. After I made it back home, I researched. I studied. I popped open every last book I had in my catalogue before turning to every single library in Equestria. I found very little information on the drawing.
"So, instead I started looking at pyramids. Then reports of strange locations which soon inspired me to look into the weather, as well as ponies themselves. Perhaps I could track strange phenomenons and patterns, which made me do a double take at my own duties. Because of this notebook..."
Twilight politely took the notebook back from Luna and held it up for them all to see. "We are here right now, traveling ancient tunnels built by a goddess who wants to destroy the lands we call home all because she doesn't like how it turned out; we are all here fighting together against our true enemy because of this drawing, and what I saw that day."
"Let's make sure it all wasn't for nothing," Celestia said. She patted Twilight on her wing. "I know the times leading up to this moment have been hard on you, Twilight. I'm very honored to be here now helping you through this."
"You can count on us," Luna added.
"I would be ashamed not to help my little sister with her final homework assignment," Shining joked. "My soldiers will follow your lead, Twilight."
"All the way to the end, Your Highness," one of the captains added.
"Thank you. All of you. It's going to be a long ride, but I know that if I have all of you..." She reached out and stroked Dawn's bundle of red hair. "We'll make it through. Now I'm going to get some sleep. I never really get enough."
"How will we know when we're close to Psera?" Shining asked.
"I'll know. I set up runes that give of a specific energy. Enough to wake me up. Don't worry." She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. "I learned how to prevent overshooting a long time ago."
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Wh-
What was that emoji supposed to be
Daaaamn this story is amazing. Keep up the progress king.