Under the Northern Skies

by Prolet

Chapter 9: Mountain Climbers

”You’re getting closer, Twilight,” resonated a voice from all directions at once. I was floating in a black void.

“Twilight Sparkle, don’t be afraid. You are welcome.”

--

My eyes snapped open. Only a reddish curtain in my vision, I closed them again and rolled onto my side. The sky was almost a menacing sight at these hours. Even though I tried hard to empty my mind and fall asleep again, it was hopeless. Adrenaline had done its job.

Frustrated by the rays of the morning sun, I got up. Rarity was still curled up inside her bedroll, snoozing lightly and peacefully. Embers were the only things that were remaining of the fire. It had served well; not once had I woken up during the night. The air was chilly right now, but the rising sun would surely warm it up.

Yawning every now and then, I began collecting branches to feed the fire before it would completely die out. There was no wind. The only audible sound during the tranquil morning was the occasional singing of birds, lulling me into a sense of security. At least for now, Rarity and I were safe from anything, be it the formless entity apparently following us or mere weather.

Being able to levitate the branches onto the embers was refreshing – I had missed my magic so much that casting even the simplest spells felt like something new. It didn’t take long for the fire to start again, as the still-hot embers lit the branches up, allowing me to start making food. Though I didn’t know much about the subject, cooking rations shouldn’t have been too hard. After all, you just put them into a kettle full of water and left them to boil for a while. So, naturally, I did just that.

“Darling, that’s not how to prepare rations.” Rarity suddenly commented from behind my back, making me jump.

I cringed. “Would you please not do that again, Rares?”

Rarity just giggled for a response, taking the wooden ladle out of my levitation. She proceeded to lower the kettle into the flames, somehow managing to keep the wooden stick I had hanged it on from catching fire.

Soon, our breakfast was ready. As expected, the soup tasted like bland potatoes. We didn’t exchange any words while eating. The day ahead would be long, but at least we were now visibly close to our destination.

--

I swiped sweat off my brow. The forest was now behind us; on the steep cliffs, only the most stubborn trees thrived. Those that did survive up here were mostly birches, disfigured and sometimes sprawling on the ground due to the lack of nutrients. Because of the rough and rocky terrain, Rarity and I had to take extra care to avoid injuring ourselves. Luckily for us, an apparently safe path was marked onto the rocks by specks of red paint.

After climbing upwards for an hour, we reached a flat plane. Birches grew on the natural haven – a cliff with a long drop down was on the other side, while on the opposite side an equally tall cliff rose up, sheltering the place from sun. Instead of the dull rocks, the ground was made of peat. My hooves got wet as I strolled next to the edge. Down below, the forest stretched far, until a tiny but still visible line cut through it near the horizon.

“Whoa,” I gasped, astonished by the sight. “The train tracks can be seen from here.”

“Quite a view,” agreed Rarity.

“Rarity, I…” A shiver went down my spine as I realized what I was seeing. “This forest. This view. I’ve seen it before.”

“Hm?”

“I saw it in a dream, not too long ago. In the dream, I was climbing a mountain. The forest was down below, just like now.” Still examining the landscape below, I sighed.

“That’s quite a coincidence,” stated Rarity, smirking. The meaning of her expression was lost on me.

“To tell the truth, I don’t think it’s a coincidence. Some kind of voice, one just like that which called me while I was running across the bridge, has been haunting my dreams. Maybe it’s trying to contact me?”

Rarity looked confused. “Something called you? On the bridge?”

“Yes. In fact, that almost caused me to slip off,” I revealed. Why did I not tell this earlier?

“Look, Twi, I know that things haven’t gone very well lately. But you shouldn’t have kept that for yourself.”

“You’re right. It just… didn’t feel important at the time.”

“Phew,” snorted Rarity. “That’s pretty much in line with everything that has happened to us by now. And yes, I do think something’s trying to contact you, darling. In your dreams, and now even in the middle of a day – I strongly suggest you try to listen to it.”

“It’s calling me towards someplace, Rarity,” I sighed. “But you’re not making ‘listening’ any easier. If I remember correctly, a certain white mare burned the book that would’ve been useful in this…”

“What?” Rarity looked shocked. “That book had something to do with this? I thought it was just talking about us. I…”

Frowning, I explained. “No, Rarity. It didn’t talk about us that much. There was something else – something like a witness account of a historical event. Or just the telling of a legend. But I swear it was there.”

“Oh… I’m sorry then.” Rarity looked very tense. I could see from her eyes that she was telling the truth. “What I saw was different. The pages were all filled up with text. It was like a narration of our day.”

“Filled with text?” I crooked my head. “In that case, we were seeing totally different things.”

“Well, we don’t have to worry about that anymore, now do we,” sighed Rarity,

“I suppose you’re right. We have more important problems to take care of, anyway. Tomorrow, we’ll get very close to the excavation site. It’s important to keep our pace up today, so that we’ll get there as soon as possible.”

“Twilight,” said Rarity with an irritated voice. “We’re already almost there. Why the hurry?”

“It’s just that…” A test. Given to you by no other than Princess Celestia. The faster it’s done, the better. “I’ve already talked about this. Our task must be important, or else Celestia would’ve sent somepony else to do it.”

Rarity didn’t look very convinced. “Fair enough, Twi.”

We didn’t stay in place for long. A painful and lengthy hike was still ahead of us, and even though we had marched for days, nothing had prepared us for this exertion. Because of the steep uphill and our decent-at-best shape, constant breaks were necessary. Due to this, it felt like we were resting more than walking. The only thing that kept us from collapsing was tiny streams of water occasional sprouting from cracks between rocks. Fresh water just made traveling that much easier.

Given our subpar physical condition, we were actually doing pretty well. Our progress was slow but steady. The long conversations we had made time flow faster, and before we even realized, the sun was setting under the mountains.

“Where should we set up a camp?” asked Rarity.

“Good question, Rares.” Certainly not here. You need to find someplace much less steep. “I think we should try and find flat ground.”

With no such place in sight, we decided to continue forward for a little while. Not taking my eyes off the surroundings, I soon saw something interesting: a dark hole between two huge boulders. It seemed big enough for a pony or two to crawl into. Noting about my find to Rarity, I walked next to it. I lit my horn up – and saw that the hole continued inside the rock, looking a bit taller in the back.

“Rarity!” I exclaimed. “A cave! We can rest here.”

My friend trod next to me and took a quick look inside. “Forgive me, Twilight, but… uhm…” Rarity bit her lip, her face tense from uneasiness. “I don’t want to go in there. Just look how narrow the hole is! We would barely fit in. Even if the cave expands later on…” She shook her head. “Just no.”

I sighed, even though I wasn’t too happy to crawl in a tight space like that, either. “Do you have any better ideas then, Rares? Shelters like this don’t grow in trees.”

“I don’t like this. At all,” commented Rarity, glancing at both the darkening sky and the hole in front of us. “To be completely honest with you, Twi, I’d rather sleep on a cold and tilted rock. And I mean it.”

She’d just get sick. “Oh, come on. What if I go in first?”

“Hm?”

“I’ll go and look if the cave gets any bigger than we can see from here. If not, I simply crawl back. If it does, then you’ll follow me. Deal?” I gave Rarity a smirk. For some reason, she seemed to blush the tiniest bit.

“Alright then, if you insist. But this will be the last time I give in.”

I rolled my yes. “Sure.”

Taking one last look at my mortified friend, I crouched and crawled inside. My horn’s light eerily danced on the rocky walls, casting shadows everywhere. It was immediately apparent that only the entrance had been narrow: in front of me the cave expanded towards every direction, until it was about ten feet high and wide. The ground gently sloped downwards. Stale and chilly, the air made me cough.

“Twilight?” called Rarity’s worried voice from outside. “Everything okay?”

“Yes, Rares! Don’t worry!” I took a pause to examine the cave better. The walls were made of the same grey rocks as the mountainside, but a bit deeper, where the light started to fade away, I could see a layer of solid stone. In the Crystal Mountains, the layer of soil is shallow. Bedrock can commonly be found very close to the surface, I recited in my head, remembering the passage from a book precisely as it was written.

Suddenly, something loudly thumped behind me. My heart instantly jumped, and I gasped, turning around. Rarity was scrambling back to her hooves, smiling. I scowled at her.

“What? I started to get worried for you!” she defended, obviously trying to contain giggles.

“By Celestia’s name, Rarity... Please don’t do that again.”

“Yes, yes, I know that’s not how a proper lady should behave.” Rarity grinned.

Not caring to continue the discussion, I stepped further into the cave. As I walked on, the cave abruptly ended. Numerous rocks, both large and small, blocked the path. It was evident that there had been a collapse. Rarity followed me to the site.

“You think we should sleep here?” I asked.

“Since we made our way into this awfully dusty and terrible cave in the first place, yes. I don’t want that to have been for nothing.”

“Alright then.”

It was late and both of us were tired. Thus, without any hesitation, we rolled our bedrolls open onto the hard floor. Rarity looked a bit disgruntled, but said nothing. Before going to sleep, I trod back to the entrance, setting up an alarm spell like last night. After taking one last glance at the starry skies above, I returned. The fur I wrapped around myself didn’t feel warm at all, and with a wordless agreement, Rarity and I moved our bedrolls closer to each other. Sharing your bodily warmth, sure.

I shut my horn’s light, the world beyond my consciousness soon beginning to take over. The day had been long. My muscles still ached. Trying to think about tomorrow was a lost cause; before I got to mentally argue with myself, my mind drifted off.

--

A corridor, well-lit despite the lack of any visible lighting, stretched into eternity in front of my eyes. The walls were made of huge brown slabs of rock. Even though it was so long, the corridor was barely wide and tall enough to contain me.

With nowhere else to go, I trod forward. Every step increased my speed drastically – soon, the walls were just a blur as I raced ahead.

“Life is just an endless competition against yourself,” echoed a voice inside my head. I tried to slow down, but to no avail. No matter how hard I tried, I kept going faster and faster with each passing second. My legs were no longer under my control.

In the blink of an eye, all of it ended. Air escaped my lungs as I was plunged into an abyss of darkness. Terror was filling me. I screamed, but nobody was there to hear my pleads for help.

Then, the world rematerialized out of nowhere, like it had never been gone in the first place. I was in a scarce forest – tall pines, some of them dead, rose from the ground up towards the blue sky.

“Or against others,” resonated the voice again, piercing inside my skull like a dagger.

Still recovering from the painful message, I heard something not very far away. Almost like a… buzz? Whistle?

The source of the sound was somewhere high up. I turned to look – what I saw paralyzed me, sending my heart racing. Countles of pegasi flew over the treetops; so many, that the sun was partially covered. I noticed that some of them were carrying banners, lances or swords. Every now and then, a trumpet was blown by one of the pegasi.

“But in reality…” continued the voice, sending me reeling onto the ground, covering my ears in desperation. A horrible, soul-wrecking chill went through me. It felt like I had been dragged through a lake under the polar ice cap.

And then, once more, I was elsewhere, lying on warm, soft grass. Hesitantly, I opened my eyes to be immensely relieved. The grass was green. The sky was blue. All around me were ponies, happily chatting with each other. Finally, the nightmare was over. I smiled.

But what was this place? Had I been here before? I glanced around – and there it sat, just where it always had been – my home, the Golden Oaks library. I felt warm inside. Home was always a special place.

Ignoring the ponies trodding from one place to another, I walked to the door and knocked. A smiling Rarity opened, looking astounding like she always did. With a grace unmatched even by alicorn princesses, she invited me in with a simple nod.

“Finally back at home,” I told Rarity, happy about being in Ponyville again.

Answering nothing, she waved me to follow with her hoof. To my surprise, Rarity headed upstairs with me right in her hoofsteps. We were now at my bedroom door. Rarity gave me a smirk, making my heart pound and my forehead sweat. A blush was burning its way up my cheeks.

I followed Rarity into the bedroom, my mind fuzzy from her presence. Turning to close the door, I felt chills running down my spine. A crackling stomp turned my attention back towards the room.

Celestia stood tall right in front of me. Only inches were separating us – I could see deep into her eyes, into her soul – and what I saw made me drop on my butt and crawl back in horror.

“But in reality, Twilight…“ boomed Celestia. “In reality, life is a race against destiny.”

The world shattered into millions of pieces. In the background, a song I’d never heard before was eerily being played by a lyre. When it already seemed like the worst was happening, I felt water engulfing me, its pressure hampering my movement. I screamed from the top of my lungs, only to inhale water.

--

“AAAAH!” I jumped at my own voice, shivering like a madpony. The darkness around me seemed to pulse in tune with the lyre – the music was still faintly echoing in the back of my head. I contracted into the smallest form possible, trying to keep even some warmth in me. It was incredibly cold.

Something warm wrapped around me. A white light hurt my eyes, breaking the horrifying veil of darkness. “Twilight, everything is okay,” assured Rarity with a soft voice. “It was just a dream.”

I felt tears running down my cheeks. Silly filly. You’re not a foal anymore.

“Everything is fine,” continued Rarity, calming me down a bit. “Don’t worry.”

“J-just a dream,” I sobbed. “Just a dream. A real one. We have to go on.”

“Shh, darling, there’s no need to speak. I understand. Nightmares can be terrifying.”

Saying nothing, I also lit my horn up. Rarity nuzzled me gently. My shivering was already starting to ease up, when I noticed a blue glow on the floor. I had almost slept on it. Fear took grasp of my mind again, and I instantly stood up. Both my heart and my head were pounding.

“Rarity, was that there before?” I asked from my equally shocked friend. The glow on the floor was being emitted by a carved rune of some kind.

“I… Twilight?”

“Was it there or not?”

Rarity finally turned her head downwards, eliciting a gasp from her as she noticed what I was talking about. “No idea.”

I have seen this before.

Perhaps… I levitated a picture out of my bag, which was resting next to a wall. And there it was. The rune was almost identical to one carved on the surface of the artifact. Yet, this certainly wasn’t it. I had a very bad feeling about the entire situation.

“We need to leave, Rares,” I desperately demanded. “Now.”

“I have nothing against that,” she replied. And thus, with great haste, we packed up our bedrolls. Though the rune still glowed, it had seemingly not affected us in any way, nor was it attached to any object or surface. It was unintelligible, most certainly a remnant of some language long forgotten by now.

The entrance was just as narrow as it had been yesterday. We had to crawl again. Fortunately, neither of us got stuck on any of the small rocks protruding from the walls. In no time were we outside, greeted by a terrible cold and the twinkling of stars – the world was dimly illuminated by their pulsing light. The moon was nowhere to be seen.

“Let’s go,” I stated to Rarity, flaring up my horn again to provide as much light as possible.

We got on the move. Only with great effort was I able to maintain the intense light – but for a few dozen yards around us, the surroundings were as bright as during a day. Even though we didn’t have much to combat the cold, climbing upwards made us sweat.

Under the starry skies, we hiked through the morning hours. Nothing apart from our hoofsteps could be heard. The silence was absolute. After an amount of time that felt incredibly long, the sun finally painted the world with a red hue. So exhausted were we, that when we finally found a small patch of flat land, all we could do was collapse onto the ground. And in the chilly morning hours, we peacefully fell asleep, cuddled next to each other, the rising sun warming us.

Comments

[Alpha123]

I'm sad :(