Under the Northern Skies

by Prolet

Chapter 13: Endgame

I again felt a solid ground under me, and opened my eyes. Even though I was still next to the cave’s entrance, it seemed to… flicker. At one moment, it looked just like it had in the future, but after some seconds, it again changed back to its former self. The entire world seemed somehow ‘off’. Lights flashed out of nowhere to illuminate the mountainside or the forest below, and clouds sailed in random directions in the sky.

“Twilight… where are we?” asked Rarity’s voice from behind me. I turned around, and saw my friend standing in place, her mouth agape. “What is happening?”

“We’re in the past, Rares,” I told, frowning. “There was an alicorn here – not Celestia or Luna. She called herself Twilight. She was going to use us for something, but I think she might’ve already done that. Now we just need to…” Get back to the future? Stop her? “I don’t really know. But I believe her intentions weren’t any good.”

Rarity frowned. “Doesn’t that mean whatever she does will change the future we return to, then? And, pardon me, Twi, but this is a lot to take in.”

“I don’t really know. Temporal mechanics are a weird thing. If this is a parallel timeline, not directly connected with ours, it doesn’t matter what happens here. But that’s probably not the case, seeing what Twilight did-“

“Twilight? You?” Rarity gave me a look of confusion. Behind her, the sky momentarily turned orange, changing to its natural blue in the blink of an eye.

This is confusing. “No, not me. The alicorn. Her name is Twilight.”

Rarity’s face had a blank look on it. She opened her mouth as if she was going to say something, but didn’t. Our surroundings suddenly stabilized, and were now portraying the scene that apparently had been nearly two millennia ago. The sky was empty, the city by the Bottomless Lake reappearing, although the army I’d seen there earlier was now missing. For some reason, the entrance of the cave in front of us was now blocked by a huge boulder.

“Huh.” I shrugged, carefully examining the view. I noticed numerous dark spots on the sky close to the horizon, as well as movement in the forest below. “There will be a fight soon. A big fight.”

Turning her eyes at where I was looking, Rarity gasped. “Is that a pegasus army in the horizon? I’ve never seen anything like that.”

“I think it is – the alicorn told me that the armies of Canterlot and some other country were advancing.” As Rarity tried to reply, I put a hoof on her mouth. “There’s no time to explain, and it doesn’t really matter, anyway. The past is a weird place. Right now, our priority is getting back.”

“But what if we create a paradox of some sort?” asked Rarity nervously.

“No idea. It’s unlikely, though. Paradoxes just can’t exist in nature, and this is no exception.” Now you’re playing with untested, purely theoretical metaphysics. Get a grip. “But I suppose that preventing the total rewrite of history is an option…”

We quickly agreed that either way, the key would be finding the alicorn. Without her, return was unlikely. It was obvious that she’d most likely be with her army. Though seeing ponies killing each other disturbed both of us, there wasn’t much of a choice. Because the Bluerod army was likely now in the forest, our distance to the field of battle was two to three miles. With only about an hour until the armies would meet, we started our descent from the mountain.

My body was soon wet with sweat, but my shape being good enough wasn’t the biggest obstacle. It turned out that climbing down a mountain required much more care than climbing one up. I was several times close to tripping, and on the rocky mountainside, that would likely have injured me seriously, if not killing me.

Despite the hardships, we eventually made our way down into the forest. The battle hadn’t started yet, but the pegasi forms were now much closer. It wouldn’t take long for them to strike down – assuming that they noticed the army of ponies down here. Perhaps there’s a trap waiting for them in Bluerod?

“How far away are the soldiers from us?” asked Rarity, warily glancing around. “Did you take into account that they could find and detain us?”

That risk always exists. “I’m not sure, but I’d say we’re a safe distance away. Nevertheless, if we are seen, I can cloak us with a spell for a moment. We’ll certainly notice when the fighting starts; such a large mass of ponies doesn’t just go unnoticed. When it begins, we’ll find the other Twilight and ask some questions.”

“And what makes you think she doesn’t just blast us into pieces?”

I gave Rarity a reassuring smile. “I just have a hunch. She might still need us.”

The next while was spent waiting. Rarity and I crouched into a bush, concealing ourselves just in case. Expecting the sounds of battle to start any moment, my heart was racing. I’d never seen a pony killing another before, nor even a serious fight. I would be having a new experience – and could only hope that it wouldn’t scar me permanently. What does it really look like? What would it feel like?

Loud shouts echoed from somewhere to our right. I took a look at the sky, and was amazed to see pegasus after pegasus diving down into the forest. The dive of some turned into a fall as bolts pierced their coats. I could only watch in horror – if I cast a protection of any kind, we would surely be seen. Rarity appeared to be in a state of shock herself, just blankly staring in the same general direction as I. I took her hoof in mine and fought myself to give a short smile. Rarity returned it.

“We’ll get over this eventually,” I said to Rarity. There was no fear that anypony could have heard me from behind the sounds of battle. “And we have to do it pretty soon, Rares. We have to move. I’m sure the alicorn is close by.”

We started to carefully walk towards the sounds of battle. As we began seeing fighting ponies between the trees, we slowed our pace to a crawl. The soldiers were holding spears or swords in their mouths, some even resorting to kicking. Most had no uniforms, but it appeared that it was easy for the Canterlotian pegasi to keep track of their own, since the Bluerod army was apparently composed of unicorns and earth ponies only. I felt my legs trembling as I saw a pegasus slashing a brown earth pony viciously, splattering blood all around. The pony fell to the ground and didn’t rise up.

Unfortunately, here wasn’t yet a sight of the alicorn; we’d have to get closer, no matter how dangerous it would be. Every nerve of my body was tingling. The field of killing was there – only a few dozen yards away.

Then, a bright flash appeared in the sky. I looked upwards and saw three alicorns facing each other, magic pulsing in the horns of each. They weren’t very high up, so I could easily see that Princess Twilight was there. Another blue one – probably Luna – was facing her. And the white one… could it really be?

“Princess Celestia!” I gasped.

“We need to contact her,” replied Rarity. “Let’s stay on the ground. Try to contact her in some way. I know you can do it, Twi.”

I thought about the choices for a second, and then lit up my horn. The familiar tingle of magic charging up in it comforted me. Focusing on the distance between me and Celestia, I unleashed the charge, conveying a message with it. “Princess Celestia, please help us. We’re from a different time. Princess Twilight brought us here after her imprisonment, and used our power for something.” I felt my surge meeting an invisible barrier, but apparently managing to get through it.

Celestia’s form in the sky appeared to twitch for the fraction of a second, but I couldn’t be certain. It was a very real possibility that she’d set up some kind of magical protection that had prevented my message from reaching her.

“Did it work?” inquired Rarity with a tense voice.

I shrugged. “I hope so.”

“Interesting,” boomed a neuter voice inside my head. “That’s a lot to take in, but considering the fact you managed to send this message through my wards, I believe you. I did not think that Twilight would go that far. Kidnapping ponies from the future? Quite something. If you want to help me defeat her, be my guest. Just do not do anything stupid.”

Rarity’s face was full of worry as I recovered from the voice inside my head. It was now aching, the pain pulsing in synch with my heartbeat. “Yes, Rares, it worked. She heard me, and replied that we might be able to help in some way. Though I still have no idea what my namesake did to deserve her imprisonment, I’m sure she’s up to no good right now.”

“Alright. I suppose it would be best to wait at first. When something happens between the alicorns, we can try to intervene, though I don’t know how,” said Rarity.

“I think I have a plan…” I replied.

“And what, pray tell, might that be?”

I stood up, keeping a keen eye on the soldiers a bit further in the forest. “Eventually, they – the alicorns – will start fighting, just like you said. Once that happens, we’ll try to distract Princess Twilight as much as possible. Of course, just… killing the Bluerod soldiers would work, but…”

Rarity cringed. “I see where you’re going with that, darling.”

And so we stood in wait, ready to create a very distracting ball of light right next to my namesake as soon as she would do something. But the wait was long and hard – we had to endure shouts for help by wounded soldiers, earth pony and pegasus alike. A glance at the battlefield every now and then told that no clear winner had yet emerged, but the pools of blood and motionless ponies lying on the ground made me sick to my stomach. This will eventually be over. Don’t be afraid. You have somepony who cares about you right there.

A huge boom came from above, making my head ring. I instinctively protected my ears with my hooves, and Rarity did the same. The alicorns were now engaged in a fight, Celestia and Luna mercilessly blasting the other Twilight. But somehow, she seemed to shrug it all off without injury, occasionally blasting them back with large, purple orbs.

“Twi…” Rarity gave me a worried look, pointing at the sky. “Do you really think it’s safe? What will we even do?”

I bit my lip. “No, it’s not safe, but it might be necessary. The alicorns are the key of every battle – the main army has only a supporting role. That’s just how war goes. And that’s why Equestria’s only fought a few.” Just as to make my point clear, Celestia sent a white bolt flying down to the ground, where it exploded and threw multiple ponies into the air with a bright flash. I had never truly witnessed that part of her before, or after, whatever it was, and felt glad about that.

“The time has come,” said Celestia’s voice inside my head. “Our magic isn’t very effective against her. Please do whatever you can. This will be a long battle.”

“What if… we aren’t supposed to be here?” I asked from Rarity.

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“Celestia told me that the battle will be a long one. The key to defeating Princess Twilight could be elsewhere.” She was once imprisoned. You know where. “And I think I know where.”

After a quick exchange of words with Rarity and then Celestia, we agreed that it would probably be the best choice for us to head where my namesake had previously been buried. Getting there was of no worry – Celestia immediately commanded two of her pegasi to carry us wherever we would order them to. It was somewhat weird that I’d gained her trust so easily, but of course, the situation was quite dire. Even if the other Twilight noticed our plan, she had to keep her full attention at the royal sisters.

Two of the fighting pegasi first glanced at each other in confusion, and then flew to where Rarity and I stood watching. They looked confused, but had still obeyed their Princess’ command without question.

“Ladies, where to?” asked the other pegasus, a white stallion wearing breastplate resembling that of the Royal Guard, albeit more decorated. The other one looked very similar, but the color of his coat was a bit darker.

I swallowed hard, slightly shaking before the hardened soldiers. “Up the mountainside. I’ll tell you when to drop us off.”

“Understood.” The pegasus lay onto the ground, giving me an expecting look. “Climb onto our backs, ladies. Your word is our law, by the order of our Princess.”

With some reluctance, Rarity and I climbed onto the backs of the pegasi, who immediately took off. I cringed, constricting the pegasus with my hooves. He didn’t seem to care, and simply sped up, leaving the few soldiers chasing us to bite the dust on the ground. My heart jumped when a crossbow bolt harmlessly whizzed past my head, almost scratching my cheek. Rarity was keeping her eyes closed.

Soon we were sailing high in the sky, moving with an astounding speed towards the mountain we’d just descended from. Nopony was there to give chase anymore: Princess Twilight was busy fending off two other alicorns, and the pegasi in the Bluerod army were either incapacitated or nonexistent.

Our speed was so fast that our flight all the way to the level ground where the excavation would later be took only ten minutes. As we flew over the place, I commanded the pegasus I was riding to land. Our descent was quick, but still soft enough to prevent my grip from slipping and causing me to fall down.

“Thank you,” I said, sliding down from the back of the pegasus. “This might have been very important.”

The pegasus nodded. “I just performed my duty, lady. Now, if you’d excuse us, we need to return to the battle. It can’t be over yet.”

“Sure,” stated Rarity, visibly shaken by the rough flight. “I sincerely thank you, too. You may return to your positions now.”

Both of the pegasi nodded again, battering us with dust as they swiftly lifted back to the blue skies. It didn’t take them long to speed off. The place was pretty much the same as in the future – the enormous boulders were still there, though there wasn’t a pit in the middle of them. I walked closer to the boulders and noticed that they were bearing a number of dimly glowing runes, distinctly similar to those the ‘door’ had had.

“Well, what should we do now?” asked Rarity, examining the runes. “I have no idea what these runes are supposed to mean, and I don’t believe you do, either. And the artifact isn’t here.”

If this place doesn’t hold the key to imprisoning her again, then what does? Think, Twilight, think… And then it came to me. “Rares, we were so stupid,” I told with a defeated voice. “Of course it isn’t here. I know exactly where we should be right now.”

“Well?”

Water all around me. Pushing me down, surging into my lungs. “The lake. Bottomless Lake. I’ve been constantly seeing it in my dreams. As they were the projections of the imprisoned alicorn, they almost certainly hold the key to defeating her. But…”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “But what?”

I put on a dull smile. “I’d really, really like to know what she’s done wrong. And honestly, I don’t think we’ll be able to imprison her again if we don’t know.”

“Better ask Celestia, then. Surely she won’t decline to answer for the second time, hm?”

Ask Celestia. “Uhm… there might just be a problem with that…” I frowned, anxiousness creeping into my mind. Did you really not think of this? “You see, I can’t contact her from this far away. Not a chance. Rares… I’m sorry.”

Rarity’s mouth fell open. She quickly closed it and shook her head in disbelief. “But… that… if you can’t contact her, we’ll have to walk all the way down! The pegasi are already far away, and aren’t going to turn back without orders.”

“I’m afraid that’s just what we have to do.”

We started the descent right away, but immediately fell into problems: there was no marked path. Thankfully, I managed to cast a clairvoyance spell, which showed me a safe path by orbs of light that appeared where I should go. With Rarity following me, we managed to get up a decent pace. Soon, we were in the shade of the mountain, and couldn’t see the fight in the skies any longer. Now we could only hope that Celestia and Luna would hold Princess Twilight up for enough time. I felt like we were in a state of suspense: every moment, the alicorn could appear in front of us, giving a deadly blast from her horn.

Surprisingly, our trip didn’t last very long – only two hours. Talking about mundane subjects with Rarity had kept my nerves at bay. Now we were only about a hundred feet from the shore. The beautiful Bluerod was standing a mile further, but there was no reason for us to go there. All we needed to do now was find a way to imprison the alicorn in the lake… and that was no easy task.

There wasn’t much wind, and thus, the waves hit the rugged shore were small. The entirety of the shore was filled with rocks, almost like the mountain simply descended down below like nothing had happened. From my knowledge of geology, it wouldn’t be a wonder if that was the case.

“Let’s… wait,” I suggested, sitting on a large rock. “There’s nothing here that we could use to trap her. We’ll have to wait for her to arrive. Considering the relation between this lake and her, something ought to happen.”

“Alright,” answered Rarity with a tired voice, sitting down next to me. Her coat brushed against mine. I could feel my cheeks flaring up once again. Rarity offered her hoof, which I took in mine. My heart was racing almost as fast as during the battle.

Then, Rarity pulled me closer, using her other hoof to turn my head around. She took me into a soft kiss. I could have drowned into her incredibly beautiful eyes… those eyes that had been subjects of mere daydreams before. Without me being sent here, we wouldn’t even be together. Is this destiny, then? My thoughts became muddled as the kiss lasted on. Rarity began using her tongue, making me blush even more. Despite her sweet taste, I eventually broke the kiss.

I shook my head, laughing. “What was that for, Rares?”

“Well, darling…” Rarity gave me a hearty smile, smirking. “Who knows what’s going to happen? If we’re attacked… and…” We both fell silent. The inevitable, whatever it might be, was on its way.

Comments

[Ficta_Scriptor]

OK, so I finally got around to reading the 3 most recent chapters. Sorry it took so long! My thoughts as follows:

Hoo-f***ing-ray! We finally see Twilight and Rarity exposing their feelings for one another. Though I do have a bad feeling that something might happen to Rarity... and I don't know how Twi would cope.

We finally discover the source of Twilight's voices. And it's... Twilight? I'm guessing this isn't the same Twilight we know and love, although... There's the whole thing with the diary explaining Twilight's most inner thoughts...

I'm thinking back to the four ponies who were originally at the excavation site. Did Princess Twilight kill them? What has been her plan all along? Did Celestia know about this? If so, why did she send... Oh wait...

Or maybe I'm just having a madcap theory moment. Still, keep up the good work. This fic rocks!