Sun & Moon Act I: Ascending Star

by cursedchords

Chapter 11: Parallel Lines

“Hope is the greatest weapon which can be wielded against tyranny. For a tyrant may sunder our freedoms, deny our rights, even take the voices and lives of those who would stand against him, but hope that burns within our hearts he cannot touch. And hope is what unites us against him.”

- Last recollections of Atlas, retrieved from the Cloudsdale archives

Twenty-five Years Earlier

Citadel of Everfree

Atlas’s steps were lit only by burning torches as he slowly climbed the circumference of Unicorn Tower on this night. Outside, the light of the Moon was shrouded by great storm clouds, and a steady patter of rain fell onto the stone walls and roofs of the Citadel. The rainclouds came out of the east, having split off from the eternal maelstrom above Eridian, and they carried with them shards of Discord’s magic. The rain that fell from them was notably fouled, and plants that were watered with it shrivelled and died within days. Seraph had taken it upon himself to analyse the water, over the protests of his instructors, who believed that any contact with the chaos magic would be folly.

At least, that had been his intention, until his friend had shown up outside his door and nearly dragged him halfway across the compound. So now, Seraph was ascending the stairs alongside his compatriot, seething with each step. A crackle of lightning threw its light over the scene, casting the orange stallion’s features in deep relief, as drops of water still trickled from his loose and unkempt mane. “You seriously owe me for this one, Atlas,” was all he could say.

“I needed a partner, a wing-colt if you will,” came the yellow pegasus’ slightly nervous reply. “She’s your sister, after all, and I might need some backup later on down the line. I’ll pay you back, don’t worry.”

“It is not merely a question,” Seraph continued through clenched teeth, “of a few extra desserts over lunch. There are some very important experiments going on in my room right now, and if anything happens to them while I am gone, it will all be on you, Atlas!”

“Nothing will happen to them, my friend. Now could you focus for a moment? This is my future we are talking about here, and I need your head to be in the game as much as my own.”

Atlas turned off the staircase and onto the circular hall that outlined this particular floor of the tower. Inside, his heart was dancing a merry jig about the walls of his ribcage, as he tried not to think of the myriad ways this plan could blow up in his face. Still, it was the best one that he had been able to think of over the past few days, based on what his friend had told him. The plan was risky, and a large part hinged on his abilities as a charmer. But if he wanted Aqua’s hoof, a large part of it had always depended on his charm, so that wasn’t so much of a detail.

The two of them finally arrived outside of the door to her room, which was large and salubriously adorned. Atlas remembered all the times he had stopped here before, with his hoof outstretched, trying to work up the courage to knock and finally throw it all out there. Truthfully, there was a sizable section of his mind, even tonight, that insisted now was not quite the time. But blinking a moment, Atlas realized that if now was not the perfect moment, then that moment would never come. Turning to his friend, he spoke in a low voice. “I need you to go in as soon as she opens the door. You still have a private area here?”

“A small storage closet, yes.”

“Rummage about in there for a moment, and meet me back here. Hopefully, I’ll have been able to talk her into the enterprise by that time.” Seraph nodded, but couldn’t quite suppress a sarcastic laugh at his friend’s confidence. To his experience, Aqua was not a mare that allowed herself to be easily talked into anything.

Finally, steadying his racing heart for a moment, Atlas took a deep breath, and knocked twice. There came a second of tense silence, then another, then a third, and then just as Atlas was breathing a sigh of relief, the door swung inward silently, and the face of Aqua appeared in the entryway.

Her light purple mane was uncombed and unruly, but Atlas still found himself struck dumb by her beauty for a moment. Every curve of her face stood out in perfect harmony, crafting a visage as clear and focused as a freshly cleaned diamond, and punctuated in azure brilliance by the deep reflecting pools of her large, clear eyes just above it. Tonight those eyes reflected a flicker of lightning outside with a sparkle of divinity, and Atlas had to hurriedly clench his jaw in order to save some dignity as Seraph brushed past his sister into the chamber. He now had a minute, maybe two, to attempt some sort of sales pitch.

“So,” she began, looking at him with a knowing smirk. “My brother roped another innocent into one of his experiments.”

Although he had been planning several good opening lines, Atlas’s mind had totally forgotten them on first sight of his love. Still, he wasn’t so far out of it not to notice a thrown line when he heard one. “Yes, unfortunately,” he replied in a tone that barely bordered on exasperation. “You know him better than I do. It’s always something.”

“And what is it this time?”

“Rock samples, for his chemical work. Very special rocks, he assures me, only found—” and here Atlas glanced up, attempting to add a mischievous glimmer into his gaze “—in the caverns underneath the Citadel.”

This caught Aqua’s attention, for the caverns were a forbidden area for all the students, regardless of seniority or specialization. “The caverns?” she repeated back to him. “He’s not allowed down there, and neither are you if I’m not mistaken.”

“That’s correct, but something about the very nature of ‘forbidden’ things has always interested me, just as it has your brother, I think. What is it about them that is so important we will never be able to see it?” He tried to project an air of adventurous disdain, of the potential for excitement in things unknown. For her part, Aqua answered his question with a challenge of her own.

“And what is it then about the inside of the Headmare’s office that seems to interest you and him so much? If she finds out about this, the both of you will have invited punishment most severe. I tend to think that when something is forbidden, it is that way for a reason.” Her eyes were cold, but Atlas thought that he might have seen just a hint of a playful glimmer. She was likely enjoying this test of wits.

“Ah, but is not the risk of danger half the excitement?” he returned, locking eyes with her. “Besides, the Headmare is in her garden, just like she is every night, and she won’t be back for a very long time. There is little risk of our being caught.”

Her eyes seemed to search deeply within his mind, penetrating beyond what veneer of confidence held his features in what he hoped was an invitingly disdainful expression. After an instant, she was interrupted by Seraph again exiting, having tossed about his closet for a bit. Brother and sister exchanged a set of looks, and then Aqua turned back to her caller. “Well, I suppose the two of you shall be off on your adventure then.”

“I suppose so,” he replied, still calm, but willing her with his eyes not to leave yet. “On to adventure, discovery, and maybe even a bit of danger, hmm?”

He had laid it all out with that last statement. Either she would say yes now, or else the whole thing was dashed. He reached out to her with all his heart, but Aqua merely motioned after her brother, who had begun to walk away. Delaying until the last second, Atlas turned to follow his companion back down the hallway. That was it, then. Three days of planning, of working up his courage and he had nothing to show for it. Perhaps his conscience had been right all along after all. Perhaps she simply was just too good for him.

His thoughts were interrupted then by a ruckus from farther up the hall. Glancing backwards, he saw a most unexpected sight, and felt his heart jump up again. Buttoning up a raincoat, Aqua emerged from her room, and ran forward to join the two of them at the staircase. As she arrived, he fixed her with a questioning glare. “Thought you didn’t like forbidden places?”

“I still don’t,” she replied with an upright air. “But I think I recognize you now. We’ve taken a couple of classes together, and you’re that dreamy-eyed one that always sits in the back, with his head in the clouds.” Affixing him with an appraising stare, she continued. “If my brother is going to be going on some adventure fraught with risk, I would much rather prefer his escort to be some pony I know I can trust to think maturely.”

Accepting her presence with a nod, Atlas wasn’t entirely certain whether that previous statement had been a compliment or not. Regardless, he was happy that tonight’s itinerary was still afloat. The three of them continued down the staircase in silence, before stealing across the covered walkway into the heart of the Citadel. Thunder rumbled in the distance as they descended stair after stair, peeking around corners in darkened hallways to ensure that their presence was not detected by the members of the night watch on duty.

Finally they came to a solid wooden door, wide with dark iron hinges. A big padlock stretched across its handles, barring entry, and a cool draft exuded from behind it. Atlas turned to Aqua then. “Thus far, the three of us haven’t broken any major rules. That changes as soon as we go through this door. Just making sure that you understand that.”

Aqua brushed him aside, and stepped away. “Of course I understand that. And as I’m clearly the only one here who’s actually thought about the consequences, I think I understand it even better than the both of you do. But somepony here has to be the mature one, so do whatever you think you have to.” Atlas could see that she had resigned herself to whatever amounted from this endeavour, but as he waved Seraph forward, he couldn’t resist tickling her sense of adventure a little.

“Come now, Aqua. Tell me you’re not at least a bit curious about what we might find. A chamber bristling with ancient history, upon which this very Order was founded. Doesn’t the intrigue just whistle to your intellect?”

“Oh, it whistles to her, alright,” Seraph interrupted from in front of them. The engineer had pulled an assortment of lock picks from a front pocket of his shirt, and diligently set to work on the locking mechanism. With a final shake, the lock fell to the floor, and Seraph pulled on the door handle, revealing a dimly lit stair beyond. “But she’ll never let on, and certainly not to you, my friend. Now can we get on with this?”

Ready with a glare of annoyance, Atlas whipped his head around to his young friend. But just as his sight was leaving her face, he saw the faintest hints of a blush coming to Aqua’s cheeks. It seemed that Seraph’s observation had been right on the money. Quickly hiding his scowl beneath an expression of genuine joy, he stepped toward the portal. “Coming?” he asked Aqua behind him. “Or are you going to let this opportunity go to waste? Last chance to turn back.”

All business again, she brushed past him. “Fine. Let’s get this over with then.” As Atlas and Seraph joined her on the stairs, the two stallions exchanged winks. For his part, Atlas could barely contain his glee.

---

The stone stairs became steeper and more treacherous as the group descended. When Atlas had shut the door behind them, the area had been plunged into utter darkness, before Aqua had created some light with her magic. It didn’t take long for Atlas to realize that they were entering a whole new world down in the depths. The passageway grew narrow, constricted by grey stone on all sides. Still, it tunnelled deeper into the earth. The air was noticeably colder and drier, and suddenly Atlas realized that even the steady patter of the rain outside had died away. Pausing for a moment, he faintly heard a rumble of thunder high above them. It was the only sign, except for the passage itself, which confirmed that they were still anywhere close to the Citadel.

Since she was the one providing illumination, Aqua led the group. Seraph went second, his eyes eagerly sweeping over the area, gleaning as much information as he could from what he saw. Even though the story about collecting rock samples had only been a ruse, Atlas wondered if the orange earth pony might have decided to collect some anyway, so long as he was here.

Atlas brought up the rear, trying to think of how best to continue with his personal plans for the evening. It seemed that he had done little to impress Aqua so far, and he wasn’t entirely sure what more he had in store for her. At least Seraph had demonstrated that she was at least somewhat excited about what they might discover down here, so he would have to work with that. She clearly wasn’t enthralled by the risk, or the thrill of adventure. Atlas shook his head in confusion. He had struck out on all of his options thus far, and that familiar voice of doubt rose in the back of his mind once again.

“Who are you to ask for that which is so clearly above your station?” it whispered into his mind. “Settle for that which life has adorned for you: a future fashioned from your destiny.” Was that truly to be his destiny? Alone and heartbroken for the rest of his life, until some other mare came along that he could impress? Ahead, light from Aqua’s horn refracted through crystalline deposits in the rough-hewn walls, adding a rainbow of colour to the azure magic. The brilliant sight steeled his resolve. Screw destiny. I love her, and we will be together, whatever sacrifices will be required to get there.

After some minutes spent in silent descent, Aqua’s flare of light struck out into open space. The three students exited the confined tunnel into a large antechamber, with a high, arched ceiling that stretched out over their heads. The ceiling was engraved with simple designs, straight lines meeting at sharp angles to denote corners and edges. The antechamber continued on ahead for several yards, before opening up into a yawn of sheer blackness. Whatever lay beyond may as well have been the edge of the world for all they could see.

All three of them had to stop for a moment, taking in the scope of their surroundings. It was an awe-inspiring sight, after all. Seraph was the first to recover. “Well, best to take a look around, I suppose,” he said in a deadpan tone. “I think I’ll leave the two of you to your own devices.” With that, he picked up a torch from a pile that lay on the floor a few paces to the group’s left, apparently left for any earth ponies that needed to come down here without magical aid. He struck a phosphorus match off of the rock wall, and wandered off into the gloom.

As he watched Seraph leave, Atlas tried to come up with something else to say, to get the ball rolling again between the two of them. “Umm, shouldn’t somepony go with him?”

Aqua turned to look at him with a strange smile. “No, in the end I trust his judgement more than I trust yours. He’ll be fine, I’m sure.”

The two of them began to follow Seraph slowly toward the far end of the hall, which could not be seen even in spite of the illumination. The room seemed to stretch out unto eternity, a simple, repetitive architectural style. The columns which held up the ceiling were regularly spaced, and separated by expanses of rock. The areas on the near walls were entirely blank, although they could see that some ways up on the left a series of carvings began. Ahead of them, Seraph had already bent down to examine the first such image.

Aqua quickly noticed the awestruck face of her companion. “The thrill of adventure proving a little much for you?” she asked in a familiar, challenging tone.

Atlas tried to hide his amazement, and then decided that maybe it was a proper tack to start out with. “Well, how do you expect me to react to something like this?” he replied in a flabbergasted tone. His voice barely even echoed back to him in the cavernous space. “I mean, just look!” he continued, spreading his forelegs wide to better illustrate his point. “All the ponies in Equestria could stand in here, and there would still be room left over! What beings could possibly have built this?”

Aqua got an exasperated look on her face, and rolled her eyes away from him. “Don’t you pay any attention in history class? This chamber might be a secret, but everypony knows that the Citadel is built on an old dragon lair. I suspect that the room’s dimensions are merely a matter of convenience for a well-aged dragon.”

“And that doesn’t impress you at all? To think a dragon used to stomp about this place, in all the majesty of his youth. Does nothing impress you, Aqua?” He turned to look her dead in the eyes, entreating a spark of interest to appear. But the cold logic refused to leave.

“Nothing that I understand already, Atlas. Yes, the room is old and magnificent, and yes, it is an impressive thought to think that it was carved out thousands of years ago by a being that we don’t even fully understand. But that doesn’t impact me at all. And it certainly doesn’t impact my plans for the future, besides being one more piece of information to slot into my memory.”

She looked ahead, to where Seraph now squatted close in to the wall, swinging a small pick at a section of stone. “I’m not like my brother, you understand,” she lectured Atlas on. “While everything in the world is something to be deciphered for him, I see only a world which must be understood to be controlled. And understanding is obtained from quiet, private contemplation, which is nothing to get excited about.”

Atlas realized that he wasn’t going to get anywhere with this. He felt the confidence of the past few minutes deflating like a punctured balloon. Maybe his subconscious had been right all along, and the two of them were simply too different to ever be compatible with each other. He would just have to go back to his own life, struggling through one day to the next, and watch her succeed from afar. At least he would know that he tried, and perhaps would have a dream to go to sleep with. At least he would have that much closure. Now all that remained of tonight was to make sure that they didn’t get caught. A punishment on top of this abject failure would be just the kicker he needed right now.

His thoughts were interrupted then by a shattering sound coming from just ahead, where Seraph knelt against the wall. The earth pony stepped back from his work in astonishment, and both Atlas and Aqua hurried over to see what the matter was. Seraph had been working under the first one of the great carvings which adorned the walls. Having seen a section of oddly-coloured stone, he had attempted to break off a sample for testing. Now however, the blow of his pick had sent spider webs of cracks throughout the lower corner of the wall.

Embarrassed, Seraph turned to face his sister first as the two of them approached. “I didn’t do anything, I swear!” he entreated, his unkempt mane waving as he vociferously shook his head. “I just tapped it lightly, looking for a sample, and the whole thing shattered.”

Atlas looked over the damage quickly. The cracks were wide and plainly visible, covering a blank section of the lower corner of the image. It would now be impossible to cover up the fact that someone had been down here. So now, this failure of a night was perfect. He was just about to suggest that they cut their losses and leave when he noticed that Aqua was intently studying the spot where Seraph’s pick had fallen. Approaching from over her left shoulder, Atlas tried to see what had her so interested. Turning to face him, she motioned that he should come closer. “Atlas, take a look at this.”

Aqua moved aside to give him a closer look. A small amount of rock had fallen away from the point of impact, revealing darker stone underneath. Of greater interest, though, was a curved mark in the stone, cutting gracefully across the area from top to bottom. Reaching in with his left hoof, Atlas felt the depression. “It’s very smooth,” she remarked beside him. “Almost as though it was engraved.” Atlas nodded in agreement, although he hadn’t a clue what it could be.

Seraph too had now come up behind them. “Looks interesting,” he said, the panic in his voice having been replaced with piqued interest. “Almost like it might be a part of something bigger.”

Atlas followed the mark, until it disappeared underneath a section of shattered stone. He grasped the rock, and found it was brittle, cracking easily. With a slight pull, he tore away a section, revealing even more engraved marks. A fully formed letter ‘n’ now looked back at him. “Text?” Seraph asked from behind them. “That’s odd. All of the writing on these pictures is in the dragon language. No Equestrian as far as the eye can see.” Atlas nodded. Equestria hadn’t even existed when the dragons still lived permanently in these areas. He did at least remember that much.

Beside him, Aqua had remained calm, but from the look on her face, Atlas could tell that she was thinking hard. Now having reached a decision, she stepped away from the wall. “Stand back, both of you,” she said in a very serious tone. “This whole wall is going to have to come off.”

Both of the stallions retreated to a safe distance. When Aqua switched her attention, the light on her horn went out, leaving the only illumination in the area the flickering light from the torch that Seraph had left against one of the columns. With a grimace of exertion, she reached out to grab the loose veneer of stone. In a single fluid motion, she ripped it all away, revealing the engraved message for the first time in four thousand years.

“By the Four Winds…” Atlas breathed.

Viam pones ut vetus quam novum fit chaos pro fine propinquat.

Τοποθετήστε τη διαδρομή της παλαιάς τάξης έκανε νέα, για το τέλος του χάους »εφιστά την πλησιάζει.

Legen Sie den Pfad der alten Ordnung neu gemacht, für Chaos-Ende naht.

The words were gibberish to Atlas, and he could immediately see that they were no more understandable to Seraph beside him. They didn’t even appear to all be the same language, and they certainly weren’t Equestrian. Looking over to Aqua, though, he saw that her eyes were lit up with wonder, unlike he had ever seen them. She turned and saw his expression of confusion, and indicated the wall spread out before them. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she asked, her voice now carrying a noticeable undertone of excitement.

Taking a step toward her, Atlas understood no more than before. “Hold up, you understand all of this?” Seraph appeared equally bewildered.

Aqua gave them a tortured sigh. “Were both of you sleeping in Ancient History?! These languages don’t even appear slightly familiar to either of you?” Both of them shook their heads weakly.

“I suppose both of you think that ponies just always spoke common Equestrian, then? Of course not. These are the ancient, pre-unification pony languages, matched up with each other and the dragon script. I’m no expert, but the top there is Unicorn, the second is definitely Pegasus, and the third then has to be ancient Earth Pony. When the tribes unified in the founding of Equestria, a new language was created by blending together these three. That is what we call Equestrian.”

Atlas was still trying to get his head around it, but Seraph seemed to have figured out a bit. “So, what you’re saying then, is that this is a translation?” he proffered in a slightly hopeful tone.

“Yes!” his sister replied. “Don’t you see? All of these sentences say the same thing, including the dragon script! This will unlock their language, allowing us to understand even more about this room, and the meanings of the other inscriptions!” Turning back to the wall, Aqua ran her eyes over the engravings again. “As I said, languages aren’t my biggest interest, but I know my ancient Unicorn. And this says: ‘Lay the path of the old order made new, for Chaos’ End draws nigh.’ It certainly sounds prophetic to some degree.”

The words meant little to Atlas, for even though a section of his mind was still trying to decipher the meaning of what lay in front of him, he had seized on an entirely different realization, which had triggered his own special sort of elation. Watching Aqua eagerly pore over their discovery, he noticed the keen fire in her eyes, the carefree smile that now lit up her face. By circumstance, his question from earlier now had its answer. As it happened, certain things did impress this particular mare, and the thrill of new discovery was one of them. And that meant that tonight had not been a total failure after all.

Comments

[AppleTank]

ok, so its a bit overly flowery, but the story ain't bad. Where is everyone?