The Day Before

by Dr. Rarity

Chapter 5: The Right Kind of Guidance

Four of the six that had left Ponyville broke through the forestry at last, finding where that blue smoke had trailed next. An old temple, by the looks of it, ravaged by the ages and constantly growing plantlife tearing it down even further. Regardless, in the middle stood five pedestals, seemingly untouched by time itself, each with an orb with a strange symbol adorning its surface. The four looked up in some awe, even "Pink." dropped her facade a little, something about this seeming bigger than herself.

"What do you suppose this chamber was for?" Jacqueline was the first to speak up. The others looked at her curiously, as if she had said something inappropriate. She shook her head a moment, restating herself in response. "Look, this is an obvious landmark, and we need to regroup; it doesn't hurt to have something to discuss while we wait."

"Be that as it may," Rarity stepped up to the occasion, "We have no way of understanding its significance. It must have been centuries since this room was last used."

"One thousand years, to the day," A voice piped up from another corner. Rainbow Dash strode in amongst the others through a collapsed wall; Twilight Sparkle dropped down onto a step beside her, obviously worse for wear from the trip. "This is the site of the old palace, back when Princess Celestia and Princess Luna ruled side by side."

"Twilight, Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy leapt up, meeting them both enthusiastically. She wanted to ask them if they were alright, but she just stood close by, a soft smile marking her joy to see them again. 'Rainbow, mostly,' Twilight thought to herself, spotting this happiness on her face.

"We don't have time for this," Twilight spoke up, standing slowly, but weakly, pressing on to leave immediately. Rarity stopped her in-place, her horn sparking to life as a bottle of water floated from her pack for her consumption.

"You say that a lot," "Pink." interrupted. She gave the pedestals another look, before staring back to Twilight blankly. "I'd say we have all night." Twilight wanted to retort about how the night wouldn't end if they didn't do something, but was dumbstruck, realizing that's exactly what she meant.

Twilight needed something to focus on, so she turned to one of the pedestals herself. She blinked, checking the old inscription, a dialect nopony anywhere spoke anymore. "Laughter," she muttered, remembering her studies in dead languages. She scoffed a little at the notion, wondering how that could have warranted such a lavish display. Idly, she read on. "Honesty, Loyalty..."

"Wait a second," Rainbow Dash stepped up to the display herself. "Kindness and Generosity, right?" Twilight just nodded at her assertion. She was too tired to ask more questions. "Those are the Elements of Harmony. You knew about The Mare in the Moon, right?"

"I, uh..." Twilight trailed off, embarrassed about one thing or another, "I skimmed over that story." Rainbow Dash sighed, sitting down as she gave Twilight a disbelieving look.

"Anyway, the Elements of Harmony are supposed to be the one thing that can defeat the Mare in the Moon, when the six of them are brought together."

"There are only five here," Jacqueline pointed out. "What about the sixth?"

"I... don't know," Dash relented, dropping her head. "I don't think there's anypony alive who does know what it is, except for the princess, and..."

A gust of wind picked up through the ruin, the orbs set atop the display swept off as blue mist dragged through, each of the five spheres vanishing deeper into the remnants of the palace. "Pink." was first to pick herself up, charging after them. Her progress, however, was stopped by a set of tall, gnarled roots, the barrier meaning nothing to those that rode on the wind, but she lacked the agility to bypass it. Rainbow Dash flew forth ahead, but was stopped by branches reaching into her path, as they could hear voices echoing through the air. "Halt!" One deep, grainy voice called out.

"No one passes without paying the toll!" Another, more melodious tone rang from another direction.

"Toll? What are we going to do with money? We're supposed to hold out for proper tribute!"

"That's what I said!"

"No, you said 'toll,' and that specifically denotes monetary gain."

"There you go again, with your definitions... what are you, a dictionary?"

"I'll make you a dictionary!"

The six ponies looked up, spotting where the voices were coming from. The two trees, cradling the entrance they sought, each had a face, old, wrinkled and very, very cranky it would seem. Frankly, the bunch seemed utterly dumbfounded, like they'd walked onstage in the middle of a play. "Um," Rainbow Dash spoke first, "Excuse me, what seems to be the problem here?"

"You hear that?" The masculine tree gestured out with a stripped branch to Rainbow Dash. "Even they know we have a problem. This is all your fault!"

"My fault?!" The daintier of the trees rang out. "You've been on my case for three hundred years! I don't know why I ever agreed to plant roots with you!"

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have! In fact, why don't you pick those scrawny things up right now?"

'Well,' Twilight thought to herself, 'That WOULD get them out of our way.' "Pink." took initiative at that, climbing up the conjoined roots partway, anchoring them together. "Actually, why did you?" She asked, looking stoically to the two plants.

"Don't get me started," The female tree crossed her branches with a mighty 'harumph.' "He hasn't appreciated me once since we were transplanted!"

"You're not answering her question," The male started up again. "And I can hardly recall myself!"

This back-and-forth seemed hopeless, every word they were saying just sprung up another argument. "Pink." dropped down from their roots, pacing with a more determined look on her face. Jacqueline knew that look, and inched away a little in preparation for what was likely to occur. 'No, not this time, narrator,' "Pink." thought, hardly alluding to what that might be. She strode over to Twilight, proceeding to put her hooves in the unicorn's mane. With a rather rapid series of strategic shakes, she reproduced a familiar shape the others recognized from the previous afternoon. Everypony stared at this recreation, then their mouths went agape as they looked back at the trees, certain this wouldn't end well. "Pink." whistled for their benefit, directing attention, showcasing Twilight's head for their discretion.

There was a long pause, tension filling the air. Each of the trees looked back to one another, pointed as if for confirmation, followed by utter silence. The feminine tree stifled a small snicker, her companion suddenly doing the same. In an instant, this elevated to full-blown laughter, Rarity, Jacqueline and Fluttershy following suit. Rainbow Dash kept a big grin on her face as Twilight shot her a look, but Dash could only shrug, only barely stopping herself from doing so as well.

"Oh my gosh, is that what we look like?" The male tree coughed out, edging away from the path a little.

"You look like a weed that just rolled out of bed!" His partner called out. The ponies suddenly went silent, as the male suddenly shot back to attention, staring her down. His stern expression dropped as he had a playful grin, leaning in a branch like an elbow for a nudge.

"And you look like a daffodil with a mustache!" He quipped back, which caused them both to laugh loudly again, embracing one another in their branches. Twilight couldn't help but think that this plan had backfired somehow, glancing back to "Pink.", wondering why she'd done that in the first place. She would soon have her answer.

"I wouldn't feel too bad about it," "Pink." spoke up, pre-empting any discussions of what clods the trees had been, "We all need to know how ridiculous we look sometimes."

"Are you saying I look ridiculous?" Twilight interrupted, trying to brush her hair down again. The trees' eyes were on her again, and they both pointed with another laugh. Twilight could only blush, hiding her face as whatever she did seemed only to make her mane come out even worse. Peering between her hooves, however, she spotted the two's roots had parted, to which she inched toward slowly.

"Excuse us, ladies," The feminine tree spoke out, "We've held you up long enough. We've a lot to talk about... in private."

"Private?" Her companion asked, "Our neighbors are gonna' hear all about it! We're turning over a new leaf!" A mixture of groans and polite laughs came from the ponies, but "Pink." just turned her head outward, as if facing someone nopony else could see.

"Don't worry, folks," She assured her company, "We won't have any more of those puns after this scene."

The six companions were soon out of earshot, traveling down a small staircase into a part of the castle left still standing. The remaining walls were overgrown with moss, but seemed to remain strong, as they ventured further down. Fluttershy had stuck close to Twilight for now... very close, in fact. She had managed to distract herself from the foreboding darkness by way of her mane, gently easing it down into a more manageable state. Twilight was grateful for that, at least, but she didn't stop there. Once her hair was straight, Fluttershy began to apply a long curl, starting with a wrap around her foreleg. "Could you hold that, please?" She asked sweetly to Twilight, who sighed and used a little magic to keep the shape in such a way it would hold.

"You're looking better already, dear," Jacqueline spoke up with a soft smile. Her eyes soon turned forward, as the stairs came to an end. There was a long, lengthy hallway ahead of them in much better condition than the rest of the ruin, though they couldn't see the end. Jacqueline took point now, as all they could do was press on. Jacqueline's expression dropped in composure a little as they kept going; something was wrong, she could feel it in her bones. She held out a foreleg in front of the others as she looked back to them. "Wait a moment. We need to get our bearings."

"What are you talking about?" Twilight balked a little. "We've been walking down a straight hall! What bearings are there to get?" Jacqueline then pointed upward. Twilight's eyes turned that way, and she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Now that they'd stopped moving, the hallway had seemed to somehow loop over itself without their noticing. Looking back ahead, things seemed to go from bad to worse; now, there were winding forks in the road ahead, equally twisted in their construction. "Uh... what happened to the straight hall?"

"It's just as straight as it ever was," "Pink." retorted, more wondering where the ceiling went. Twilight fought with what that was supposed to mean, why she didn't bring it up earlier or-- "We weren't supposed to see it yet."

'Well, that explained everything,' Twilight thought. She looked between the halls a moment, looking up, over and back the way they came. "The route back hasn't forked," Jacqueline spoke up, interrupting her train of thought. "That can't be a coincidence."

"I was just thinking the same," Twilight responded, turning 'forward' again. "I think we can keep following one route, if we can just find the existing pattern."

"Perhaps a spell to predict a course?"

"Of course I do! What kind of magic student do you take me for?" Twilight sprung into action, turning her head down to the floor, focusing her energies into her horn. A spark signaled the beginnings of a plan, and before too long, a purple mist shot out in a trail, pointing down the largest of the split paths. They all looked on with some curiosity, almost dumbfounded they didn't notice the prominence before.

"Of course," Rarity proclaimed, "It's so obvious!" She began striding forward with that direction in mind, though Jacqueline stopped them again, before going too far.

"Yes," Jacqueline shook her head, "Too obvious. Remember, the hall we entered was heading downward."

"Yeah, so?" Twilight asked with a condescending tone.

"So," Jacqueline continued, "Nightmare Moon has a fondness for the night sky... and you saw her gloating in town hall. Why would she make base underground? Wouldn't she want to revel in her eternal night?"

"What do you propose we do?" Rainbow Dash strode up at that time, looking over the tangled halls again. "I'm not even sure which way up is, in this mess."

"We could each take a different path," Rarity suggested.

"That would take too much time," Jacqueline interrupted that line of thought.

"And we don't want to get separated again," Fluttershy peeped out from behind Twilight.

"Why don't we try messing up Twilight's hair again?" "Pink." asked, her hooves already making her way over to Twilight's head. Fluttershy lightly tapped her hoof away, standing more on guard of the purple unicorn.

"Don't you dare," She spoke out, a bit more forcefully, but just as quietly as ever. "She's had a hard enough day." Jacqueline, meanwhile, was growing more anxious, trying to make sense of the road ahead. Finally, taking a step forward, she compared each wound trail, forcing logic back a little as she closed her eyes.

"I'm going in," That was all Jacqueline said, before rushing forth, aiming for a side path which looped around several times, but always in the same direction. She pushed back all logical thought, forcing herself to forget everything she knew was wrong about this action, trusting the one thing that just felt right. Rainbow Dash was the first to follow after her, followed by Fluttershy, "Pink.", Rarity and Twilight in that order.

"Do you even know where you're going?!" Twilight cried out, extending her stride.

"No!" Jacqueline answered, but didn't stop. "Just trust me!" That was all she could say, the twisted road seeming to level out as she just stopped thinking about it. None of the others questioned this anymore, her guidance seemed just as reasonable as any other. They didn't know where she was leading them, but it had to be better than where they were.

Their fears were pushed aside as they arrived at the base of a staircase leading upward. Each of them looked back, and the turns the corridor had before were nowhere to be seen. Catching her breath, Twilight was the first to Jacqueline's side, looking up to where the stairs led now. "How did you do that?" She asked.

"Well," Jacqueline began, a bit out of breath herself, "That passage was meant to confuse us. To guide us off-course, possibly into a trap. So I just... didn't give it the satisfaction."

"Huh?"

"Stop listening to the lie... and you can find the truth for yourself."

"Bwuh?" Twilight just stared blankly for a moment, "Pink." walking to her side with a gentle nudge with one hoof.

"We were thinking too hard," She added, trotting up the stairs confidently. Twilight gave that a bit of consideration. Nonetheless, she began the trek up herself, fighting the urge to ask more questions for fear it might happen again.

All of them at the top of the stairs, they came to a truly massive set of stone doors. Rainbow Dash knocked on the surface, checking the density, before pushing a little. She strained fiercely, but to no avail, eventually dropping back down, sprawling out exasperatedly. "We're not getting in that way," She huffed.

"Oh, yes we are," Twilight perked up, focusing with determination on the doors. Without hesitation, she focused her magic on the doors, a glow emitting from her horn and them for a moment. They could hear the stone grinding against the floor as they gave way, but as they opened just a crack, a blue smoke erupted forth, knocking Twilight back before engulfing her. She didn't have time to fall before it pulled her right inside, through the doors as if they were never there at all, the portal closing itself just as soon.

"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash called out, pounding on the doors again. It was no use trying to force their way through, they weren't opening without some powerful force to break through. Dash fell to the floor, feeling utterly defeated. There was nothing to be done on this side, but none of them could bear to leave; their target was so close, it wouldn't be any better to turn back now...

Comments

[Azlan]

Rainbow as the most faithful student, I just don't get it. The Sonic Rainboom is definitely cool and impressive, but Celestia formed a School for Gifted Unicorns, not gifted flyers. She has the Wonderbolts, true, but Celestia seems more inclined to magic than physical pursuits. My opinion here is influenced by the fact that I really don't like Dashie at all.

If anything, Celestia would have discovered her and given her to the Wonderbolts for personal training. Rainbow Dash's personality just does not seem to be one for book learning and dedicated study. Celestia seems to be all about dedicated study and research.

I do love "Pink.", this is a very interesting alternate universe Pinkie... possibly one of the best I've read. I'm only continuing to read this because of this character. I dislike Dash and I can't stand insufferable Twilight, but "Pink." makes it all better. "Always capitalized, always punctuated" indeed. This makes a very good signature or trademark catch-phrase for her.

I'm disappointed with Rarity's character though, especially since she is my favorite. Rarity as a doctor was interesting at first, but without her je ne sais quoi of the fashionista she seems just like an add on character and just fluff. The part with her checking on Sweet Apple Acres seemed to be there to show her character, but it almost felt more like her concern was lost and Jacqueline taking responsibility and assuming direction stole that show. Jacqueline fills the sophisticated role and the responsible, hard worker parts, but it is pretty typical of alternate AJs. Rarity does not seem to have any strong characteristics that highlight her more than just her slavery to generosity. Rarity seems to have the caregiver role as a doctor, but she lacks the personality and the kindness that canon Fluttershy has. In actuality, both Rarity and Fluttershy's characters in this seem strained and difficult to discern. About the only thing I like about your Rarity is if she looks anything like your avatar picture than she is rather hot... for a small horse with a horn on its head.

Eh, but I'm probably missing something somewhere.

[FrostBite]

I'll be going in depth with this tomorrow. I will give you credit for being creative with the tree couple bickering at each other.

[J-Rook]

have to keep this short today, forget what Azlan said, we are just more acustomed to the main6 then to your cast so some might have a hard time conecting to the characters.

thare is no guarantee your Princess is exactly like Cellestia, but she still taught dash stuff right so I expert her to have lerrned something that the cannon R.D. dosnt know.

all in all, good chapter. Five down, time to get to the magic.

[Dr. Rarity]

Thanks again for the support, Rook, but I'm fine with what Azlan said. Matter of fact, it's exactly the kind of thing I've wanted to address.

Dash's status as Celestia's student stems from the initial change, and what exactly happened that day; once this is finished, I'll get to work explaining that. I started where I did, because it was the most powerful thought in my head; the story needed to be told, and I felt I could use a little practice before tackling the event.

Rarity, I admit, is a bit more personal a subject. She's my favorite too, and I do have a lot of ideas for her in this state... just not right this moment in the plot. I appreciate that you're upfront with me about your concerns, and she will get a very special scene in the final part, let me tell you. Fluttershy, in the same breath, is in a similar boat. I've had this idea since the beginning to have her and Rarity connected more closely than any of the others, and not in a shipping kind of way. I will capitalize on that over time, but there's a lot of work to do first.

Twilight... now there's a can of worms... I knew not everyone was going to like her, even expected it... but she will get better, and soon. Her attitude will gradually improve, the more I write, and that's one of the driving forces behind this fic.

I can handle Jacqueline being taken as typical for now, it's understandable; honesty doesn't need to be complicated. Glad you dig "Pink.", meanwhile. The things I have in store for her...

Well, enough blind rambling. Thanks for the input, Azlan, I know I haven't really addressed that much here... but if you have further thoughts, suggestions or the like, feel free to send me a private message. Don't want to give any plot devices you might come up with away.