When ponies get trapped in another world, lives change. When ponies gain new powers, worlds shake.
An explosion of liquid light rocks Ponyville, and when its inhabitants awake, they find themselves stuck in the most foul of foul swamps. All of Ponyville has been transported to a strange new world of foreign magics, dangers, and mysteries, and this time the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony will not be alone in saving the day. But which day needs saving the most? Will it be Equestria's? Or Creation's?
This fic is a crossover with the Exalted roleplaying game by White Wolf Publishing, and was inspired by a collection of pieces by Rhanite.
It was just like any other day at Sweet Apple Acres. Even outside applebuck season, every member of the Apple family had chores to finish. Granny Smith was in the kitchen, preparing the night's dinner – a simple, everyday meal of celestial salad, carrot stew, and an apple pie for desert. Applebloom had just gotten home from school, and she had to take the slop out to the pigs and finish her homework before bed. Big Macintosh and Applejack were together in the south field, clearing it of debris after the recent thunderstorm.
With her job nearing completion and Celestia's sun beginning to set, Applejack took a moment to catch her breath lost to a hard day's work on the farm as well as take in the beauty of the land around her. Four generations of the Apple family had poured their hearts into this farm and now, in the glowing sunset, those four generations of love practically gleamed over the apple trees. And while everypony in Ponyville heard what happened next, only the few (such as Applejack) who were looking to the sky at the time saw the fountain of light that accompanied the explosion.
Out of the windows of the Books and Branches Public Library, a blinding golden light flowed as if it were quicksilver. Before touching the ground around the library, the liquid light shot up into the sky in a brilliant column before flying out in all directions. As the light extended out from above the library, it expanded; it quickly reached the ground as it raced through the small town. In a blink, everything from the foothills of Dragon Mountain to the fields of Sweet Apple Acres and from the edge of the Everfree Forest to the shores of Froggy Bottom Bog was bathed in the golden light. Where the light encountered obstacles, it flowed around them. It seeped into the homes and businesses to bathe every nook and cranny of the town in its brilliance. And whenever a pony was touched by the light, he or she could feel a small tugging sensation; it was the feeling of a current pulling all of Ponyville's inhabitants away from their home.
However, few ponies actually registered the light tugging sensation, though, since the liquid light was accompanied by the sound of a deafening explosion. Unlike thunder, demolition explosives, or even a Sonic Rainboom (which created a wave of noise that was quickly dissipated in the air) this sound seemed to be amplified by the liquid light in both magnitude and duration. The deafening noise was not a continuous series of sound crashing like wave after wave upon a pony's ears, but a single noise carried indefinitely within the light.
Just as suddenly as the light and sound has appeared, it dissipated. It took some time for most ponies to properly regain the use of their senses of sight and hearing, but Applejack's senses of touch and smell were not affected in the least. And it was immediately obvious that she was no longer standing in her southern field among dozens of blooming apple trees.
Applejack was standing knee-deep in the most foul, rotten-smelling muddy water she'd ever come across. Not normally one to complain about a little grime in her coat, she suddenly realized just how Rarity felt every time she got dirty. This stuff was simply vile.
Once her vision returned, Applejack looked around to try and get familiarize herself with her surroundings. It had apparently been several hours since the initial blast at sundown in Ponyville, because Celestia's light was just peeking out through the treetops on the horizon in a bright pink sunrise. Big Macintosh was still nearby, so wherever she'd been transported to, she wasn't alone. That was a comfort, at least. The two of them stood in a swamp a swamp which was a far cry from the sights of Froggy Bottom Bog they were used to. While Froggy Bottom did have decaying plants, they fell into the swamp's waters and fed nutrients to new plants. In this place, it seemed even the new plants were dead and rotting.
Applejack turned to her brother and exchanged a silent nod – words were rarely needed with Big Mac. Whatever happened, they had to find out if it had happened to Granny Smith and Applebloom, too. Figuring out their situation was important, but family came first.
In the center of the swamp stood a massive burial mound, rising 100 spans into the air. Deep in the heart of the mound, a purple unicorn was regaining consciousness.
Twilight Sparkle awoke draped across a granite throne in an earthen room that was slightly reminiscent of the royal audience chamber – disregarding the fact that it was underground instead of surrounded by brilliant stained glass windows lit by Celestia's sun or Luna's moon every hour of the day or night. The few furnishings present besides the throne were all made of the same dark metal. On the floor in front of the throne was a discolored circle in the dust, as if something had rested there for a very long time, and had only recently been moved.
Twilight let out a groan. "Wh-what happened?" When she lifted her head, she winced as a lance of pain shot up through her horn. When she lifted a hoof to her forehead, she felt a warm trickle of liquid and pulled it away with a stain of blood. "Spike? Spiiike!" She tried to call out to her number one assistant, but it came out more like a croak.
"Oh, hi Twilight!" A pink party pony leaned out from behind the throne Twilight was still resting on and waved energetically. "How ya doin', silly-filly?"
"Pinkie? When did you get here? Where's Spike? Where are we?"
Pinkie's face screwed up in concentration for a moment before quickly answering her friend's questions in succession. "Yep, that's me! A couple seconds ago. He's around somewhere, but I think he's playing hide-and-seek with me. And we're in the throne room of the Mound of Forgotten Seeds at the center of the Noss Fens swamp on the eastern edge of Creation!" With that, Pinkie Pie bounced happily around the edge of the throne into a position where Twilight could stare at her, dumbfounded.
"I've... never heard of any of those places. How do you know about them, much less know that's where we are?"
"I... can't tell you." The pink pony's ears drooped a bit due to being unable to adequately answer her friend's question. "I would, um, have to break something in order to tell you."
"What, you Pinkie Promised someone that you wouldn't tell how you know all these things?"
"No, I wouldn't be breaking a Pinkie Promise. More like a wall. Like, 'Rawr! I'm the Incredible Pony! You wouldn't like me when I'm angry! PONY SMASH!!'"
Twilight shook her head and resolved to put everything her friend had just said behind her. It was Pinkie Pie; incomprehensible was her middle name.
"No, silly-filly; my middle name is Diane!"
Putting. It. Behind. Me.
"The last thing I remember... I was using that inter-dimensional scrying spell I found in Exploring the Æther for Fun and Profit, and I was taking notes on the differences between various universes. Then I saw this face... glowing yellow eyes... and then I wake up here with a bleeding cranium and you spouting nonsense in my face about a Mountain for Forest Sewing, and a Grassy Fence you Created. And where's Spike? Spiiiike!"
Carrying an unconscious and slightly green Rarity through the swamp on her 'fainting couch', Rainbow Dash was not in any particularly good mood.
"What the hay, Fluttershy? I mean, I get that some magical horseapples brought us to this nasty swamp place. And I get that Rarity would probably rather die than touch this muck. But why do we have to carry her couch around, too?"
The two pegasi were trudging through the swamp side by side as they carried the couch on their backs between them. It had been Rainbow's idea to head towards the huge hill, both to get out of the mud and to get a better view of where they were. But Fluttershy's assertive side had burst through and insisted that they carry Rarity along. Between Fluttershy's poor flying skill and the weight of the couch, the stunt flier had been forced to walk the whole way.
"Well, um... I couldn't possibly leave Rarity behind, especially not in a place like this. If she came around alone in this swamp, she would just faint again." Her voice grew softer as she tried to hide behind her long pink mane. Her assertiveness was clearly fading. "So I-I figured if we took her up to the hill, then when she woke up, she could... help us understand what's going on... if that's alright with her." Fluttershy ended her sentence in almost a whisper, followed by a slightly embarrassed squeak. "A-and besides, it's a lot easier to use the couch with two of us, than to balance her on one of our backs, right?" She gave a hopeful grin to her more outgoing friend.
As it turned out, being the only distinctive landmark visible in the area had attracted a lot of other ponies to the Mound. Being the only area covered in moss rather than mud probably helped, too. Once at the hill, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy discovered that it consisted primarily of large, flat, step-like ridges leading up to the top which had plenty of room to set down Rarity and her couch safely.
Moments after relieving themselves of their burden, the pegasi pair was glad to hear a very familiar voice: "Howdy, sugarcube! Glad ta' see y'all 'r here, too. Been a might bit worried since tha whole explosion thing, but it seems ev'rypony from town got dumped in this here swamp. Even Zecora's here!" With that, the farm pony pointed back the way she came to the zebra herbalist currently tending to a teary-eyed little colt who must have had a little scrape with some of the broken and rotting wood along the way.
"Have either o' y'all seen Twilight or Pinkie? Ah may not have ev'rypony's name mem'rized like Pinkie does, but from what Ah kin tell, they're the only ones missin'!"
"No sweat, AJ. Now that I've got that big couch off my back, I can zip up to the sky and find those two in ten. Seconds. Flat." The boastful mare set to make good on her claim, leaping to the air only to crash down. Her wings flapped ineffectually as she tried to lift herself from the moss-covered stone. "What the hay? Why don't my wings work?!"
A small chuckle escaped the lips of her best friend and rival. "Perhaps Ah shoulda' told ya sooner, but it seems the pegasi all lost their ability to fly. Cloudchaser discovered y'all can still glide jus' fine, but the liftoffs just ain't happenin'."
The look on Rainbow's face made Applejack switch from a mirthful jab at her friend's expense, to honest sympathy. "Ah'm sorry, sugarcube. Ah s'pose Ah'd feel the same way if Ah found out Ah couldn't farm apples no good no more. Or if Ah suddenly lost all my strength 'n endurance and was like Fluttershy." She darted a glance towards her other Pegasus friend, "no offense, Fluttershy."
"Oh... none taken," the butter-colored pegasus even smiled; it seemed there were indeed, no hard feelings over the comment on her fragility.
"Anyway, RD, what say you and Ah search around on hoof for our friends, together?" To this, Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement. "Fluttershy, honey, why don't you stay here an' watch over Rarity 'till we come back?" Fluttershy also nodded in agreement. It seemed that without their unspoken leader in the form of Twilight, the leadership role had fallen to the Element of Honesty.
Ponyville's Iron Pony competitors walked off together, heading up to the top of the Mound first to try and get a better view of the surrounding swamp.
Twilight sighed in exasperation. This place, this... 'Mound of Fallen Seeds', as Pinkie had called it, was definitely spooky. Except for Twilight and Pinkie, the winding corridors and stark rooms were all empty save for furniture, lamps, tableware, and even foal's toys – all of it made from the same dark steel material, and all just slightly too big. And yet there was something in the back of Twilight's mind that suggested there were many more presences here. Perhaps dozens or even hundreds! Pinkie, for her part, was giggling and bouncing the entire way. Earlier, she had tried for a reprise of her 'Laughter Song' that she'd sung the night Twilight and her friends became the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, but Twilight managed to prevent that. While Pinkie's laughter had completely eliminated one of the traps set for them by Nightmare Moon, singing in this place felt subtly wrong. And Twilight didn't want to tempt the presences she couldn't avoid feeling.
"Hey, listen! Twilight, you can hear the ocean in this thing!"
Twilight rolled her eyes, "Pinkie, that's not the ocean, that's just the blood in your-" but Twilight couldn't finish her sentence, as Pinkie had cupped one of the strange metal objects to her ear. It wasn't even something that could have possibly amplified the sound of Twilight's blood pumping (thankfully, the cut on her head from earlier was small, and had already stopped bleeding).
What Twilight heard wasn't the blood in her ear; and it certainly didn't sound like the ocean, as Pinkie had claimed.
Twilight heard voices screaming in agony. The cold, dark, steel material was quietly moaning in pain with the voice of a dozen ponies: dead ponies. Frozen stiff, Twilight scanned the room they were in, slowly looking to each and every metal object that surrounded her. And suddenly her sense of other presences in the Mound made sense. She wasn't being spied on or followed; there weren't any invisible unicorns around. All of the metal in this place had been forged from pony souls. Twilight wasn't feeling the presence of a few hundred; she was subconsciously hearing the presence of a few hundred thousand.
Fearful, horrified, disgusted tears began to well up within Twilight. Some of these were shaped like fillie's toys, for Celestia's sake! Admittedly, some of the toys were oddly shaped, bearing more resemblance to a diamond dog than a pony, but a filly's doll made of souls shook Twilight to her very core, all the same.
"Wh-who would do such a thing?" Twilight's knees began to feel like jelly, and she would have surely fallen over, if her ever-cheerful friend hadn't been there to support her.
"There, there, Twilight," Pinkie Pie softly cooed, wiping the beginnings of tears from the purple librarian's eyes. "It was the Dowager. She's a bad person, but don't worry, she's not here." It was telling of Twilight's current state of shock and horror that she didn't even question Pinkie's knowledge of who had created these monstrosities. Nor did she question where the Dowager was if she wasn't here. Or Pinkie's use of the strange word, 'person'.
"C'mon, Twilight," the pink mare gently nudged the purple one with her muzzle, "let's go find our friends. Then we can leave all this soulsteel behind us."
At the top of the Mound, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had found a sloping tunnel heading deep into the hillside. With a shrug that said 'well, we can't see them in the swamp', the pair began their descent. Just as the light from the entrance gave out, the walls began sporting steel lamps; they were burning bright enough to illuminate the large earthen corridor, yet they still casting ominous shadows across the walls. After a minute of walking along a snaking corridor, featureless except for the irregularity of the walls and the light fixtures, the two athletes stumbled into a broader area which was presumably an entrance hall. Before either of them could take it all in, they heard a bubbly voice chattering away and coming closer.
"... and that's how Creation Equestria was made!" Rainbow Dash and Applejack each looked to the other, as if to confirm the other had heard it, too. While normally eccentric, they'd never heard that sort of noise come out of Pinkie's throat. It was almost as if she'd said one word, and the cosmos had scribbled through it, backed up, and allowed her to say 'Equestria' in the space where the other word had been previously.
They didn't have long to think about it, because not a second later Twilight and Pinkie Pie both trotted (or hopped, in Pinkie's case) into the room. It wasn't long before the four friends met in the middle of the room for a group hug; the still-muddy Rainbow Dash and Applejack incidentally mussed the until-now pristine coats of the other two mares. After her revelations in the Mound, Twilight couldn't care less about a little mud. And Pinkie was... Pinkie.
Twilight seemed even more happy than usual to see two of her closest friends. "Oh, I can't tell you how good it is to see you girls! One minute I was in my library, the next minute I was waking up in this strange place, pain in my horn and blood dripping from my head!" Twilight indicated the trail of dried blood still clinging to her coat. "And if it weren't for Pinkie, I'm sure I would've gotten lost in here. It's like a labyrinth in this place!"
"Aw, shucks, Twilight, an' we were just comin' to look fer ya. Whatever happened, it caused ev'rypony in Ponyville to end up in this here swamp. Rarity seems to have fainted from the muck, and Fluttershy is outside with her."
"Yeah, what the hay did happen, anyway? Got any ideas, Twilight?"
Twilight shook her head a bit when she replied, "not really. The last thing I remember, I was working with my inter-dimensional scrying spell. You remember the one that I mixed up with a teleportation spell and we ended up in that gender-swapped Ponyville?"
Shock crossed Rainbow's face. "You mean you teleported the entire town to an alternate dimension?!"
Twilight shook her head again. "No, I wasn't using any teleportation magic this time. I was just doing research on other dimensions by looking at them." Twilight straightened up and beamed at her friends, "I even came up with a universal addressing system that I could use to determine the extra-spacial joint conjunction relationship between dimensions! I call it the Sparkling Address System for Superior Yewniverses. That's 'Yewniverses' with a 'Y', like yew wood. Because otherwise I couldn't call it SASSY!" Pinkie Pie's giggle fit indicated her approval of the acronym.
The upswing in her mood disappeared as Twilight continued, "The last thing I saw with the spell was this shadowy face with glowing yellow eyes. Pinkie seems to think it was something called a 'Dowager'."
"Hey, Ah know that word. Granny Smith is a dowager, too!" Applejack looked between her friends, all staring at her with just a hint of disbelief. "What? Ah get to know things, too! A dowager is just a mare who outlives her stallion, iffin' her stallion's got lotsa money and land, and gives it to her when he passes."
"From what Pinke's said, this is a bit different. If you can believe what she's said, anyway. She called it... what was it, Pinkie?"
The pink pony bounced up on her tiphooves as she sung back the blackened name as though it were some kind of song, "The Dowager Of Irreverent Vulgate In Unrent Veils." Even though everypony in the room heard Pinkie's normal voice, there seemed to be some sort of ethereal echo of darkness when the Dowager's full name was pronounced. Everypony but Pinkie seemed to shiver at the sound.
Twilight, back with her friends, took the mantle of leader once again. "Come on; let's get back with Rarity and Fluttershy."
When the four friends got back to Fluttershy and Rarity, Rarity had finally come out of her fainting spell and the spa buddies were chatting animatedly, though Rarity still seemed a little distressed. Perhaps because everypony (excluding herself) and the underside of her couch were all muddy, and the air still stank.
"Oh, Twilight, darling! I'm so glad you're here!" Rarity was about to give Twilight a hug, until she noticed the mud that had rubbed off Rainbow Dash and Applejack onto Twilight during the group hug under the Mound. She pulled back, trying (and failing) to avoid being rude about it. "Eh-heh. Well, anyway, Twilight, I was hoping maybe you could, help, what with being the princess's student, having a special talent at magic, and being the Element of Magic and all." Twilight raised an eyebrow that that, but allowed her friend to continue, "You see, the other unicorns and I have noticed... well, doing magic has become rather difficult. All I've been able to accomplish since waking up has been some minor telekinesis, and with a limited range and weight limit at that."
Fluttershy took up the reins of the conversation. Apparently, despite her timid nature, she'd been the one doing most of the talking to other unicorns; Rarity had only recently woken up. "Yes, well... you see... it seems nopony can levitate much more than they could lift with their hooves. A-and they can't levitate anything further than a few spans away." The Pegasus shrunk down and tried to hide behind her mane again, as if suggesting that the unicorns couldn't do everything they were used to would bring down their wrath upon her.
"I was hoping perhaps you might have had better luck, Twilight?" Rarity batted her long eyelashes at her friend, a move that frequently tossed stations head over hooves for her. Of course, Twilight was a mare, and not a filly-fooler, so it didn't have quite the same effect.
"Honestly, Rarity, I haven't tried any magic at all since waking up. I've felt extremely drained and-"
Before Twilight could finish explaining why she'd not tried to use magic, Rainbow butted in, "Yeah, Twilight teleported all of us to another dimension, I'm pretty sure she's worn out."
"Rainbow!" Rarity admonished her overzealous friend. Of course, she had to be sure, "Is that true, Twilight?"
"Well, no... at least, not directly. I think. I was using a spell to look at other dimensions, but all it does is give me a look at them, not transport me there. There's no way it could transport the entire town. Even princess Celestia would have trouble teleporting an entire town within our own dimension – much less to another one." Twilight's ears flopped downwards, now convinced that this entire predicament was her fault.
"Hey don' worry, Twi. I bet it was something that 'Dowager' pony-"
"Person," interrupted Pinkie Pie.
"Uh... 'person' did while you was lookin' at her with your spell that did it. Maybe mixin' the Dowager's magic with your own caused some kinda' magical screech like when Pinkie held the mic too close to DJ p0n-3's amplifiers at the weddin' reception."
It was a good theory. At any rate, it was a theory that didn't put all the blame for getting the entire town of Ponyville lost in the multiverse squarely on Twilight's shoulders. It also put some of the blame on the shoulders of somepony who was, if Pinkie's inexplicable knowledge about this place was to be believed, clearly evil.
Pinkie glanced up towards the midday sky a little nervously, though none of her friends seemed to notice. "Hey girls, I think we should get everypony out of this swamp. Like, I think we should get moving now."
"What's the problem, Pinkie? This hill seems safe enough, even if the swamp doesn't smell so hot. We can also take everypony inside if it starts to rain or something."
Pinkie shook her head. "It's almost noon. We got here at dawn, which is a good thing, but we really don't want to be in this swamp after dark. Even inside the Mound. It's a long way to go to get out of the Noss Fens, especially when everypony has to walk, so we should probably leave soon." Her friends eyed her quizzically, but when they noticed the sweat beads starting to form on her brow, her eyes darting quick glances into the distant reaches of the swamp, none of the other Bearers decided to be neighsayers.
Twilight was the first to speak up. "I don't know how, and I'm not sure I want to know. But you seem to know a lot about this place, Pinkie. Which way should we go to get out of here?"
Pinkie seemed to perk up that her friends were willing to follow her advice on the matter, and pointed her hoof to the east. "Bordermarshes. Bad." She simultaneously pointed both north and south while managing to remain balanced on three legs, in a maneuver that her friends' brains eliminated from memory to prevent meltdown. "Barbarian lands. Less bad, not good." Finally, she pointed west, allowing her friends to cease their mental gymnastics. "The Scavenger Lands. Plenty of places to hide from anything bad, plenty of good people." There was that word again: 'people'. Twilight was about to ask about the word, but decided against it.
"That's settled, then. Gather everypony together. We're heading out to the Scavenger Lands."
In the waning light of the early evening, Pinkie Pie gave a sigh of relief as the last of the ponies made their way out of the Noss Fens. It had been a close thing, getting everypony out before nightfall. Pinkie was not ready to explain shadowlands to a group of ponies (especially the foals!) barely used to the concept of death, much less the world of ghosts and other undead horrors – these were things for playful Nightmare Night costumes, not a reality to be trapped in until the sun rose in the morning.
While Pinkie's stresses had been eliminated, however, Twilight's had only increased.
"Has anypony seen Spike?" Twilight wound her way through the crowd of ponies on the edge of the swamp. With nothing but the clothes on their backs (the few that were wearing any clothes) when they were transported the Noss Fens, and nothing edible during their trek out, everypony was hungry and tired; some had gone without any food for an entire day. The majority of the foals along with the elderly had finally given in to exhaustion, and a handful had been carried the last few miles of the journey. The ponies still able to keep their eyes open were giving thanks to Celestia, and trying to gorge themselves on the fertile grasses.
Twilight was far too agitated to either fall asleep or to give in to hunger. "Pinkie! I haven't seen Spike all day! I thought maybe he was lost among the crowd, and you were really insistent about getting out of the swamp earlier, so I didn't press the issue at the time, but now I'm really worried!"
The truth was that Pinkie hadn't seen Spike either. He had been in Ponyville, and everypony in Ponyville at the time of the explosion had been brought to the Noss Fens. So he must be in the area somewhere. Even though he was a baby dragon, he was still very smart. When everypony you know starts marching in one direction, you don't stick around and you don't ask why or where everypony's going. You stick with the herd!
Still, her friend's stress was getting to her, and Pinkie's smile began to falter. "I'm sorry, Twilight, I haven't seen him either," she replied, ears beginning to droop. Her eyes began to turn down to her hooves, following the path her ears were taking, and then suddenly froze in place. Almost as if she had seen something below perception, her eyes flicked back-and-forth, reading words that weren't there.
"Don't worry, Twilight! Spike will show up soon! I'm positive!" Pinkie's eyes grew wide and her grin grew wider as she leaned in towards the bookish unicorn. "I guess that means you're negative!" At that, Pinkie gave her friend a soft head-butt along the cheek. "Get it? 'Cause you just attracted me to you!" The pink party pony trotted off with a peal of giggles, and Twilight couldn't help but smile a bit at the terrible, terrible pun. It didn't find Spike or relieve her of her concerns, but just knowing that Pinkie was herself despite her baffling knowledge of this strange place was a small comfort.
Twilight turned to continue her search, when a screaming dragon materialized mid-sentence, "...IIIIGHT!" She winced, instinctively folding her ears back against her head in an attempt to reduce the volume of Spike's cry. "TWILIGHT! SAY SOMETHING! ANYPONY, CAN YOU HEAR ME?!" When her eyes opened she could see the little dragon inches away from her muzzle, coughing and out of breath.
Spike wasn't ready to stop, not until he finally got through to one of the ponies that seemed to treat him as though he weren't even there. Thunderlane had nearly stepped on him earlier on the hill! Not even a 'sorry, kid' for it! After catching his breath, Spike began to puff up in preperation for another shout in the hopes that this time, somepony would listen. Before he could open his mouth, he had all the air knocked out of him as he was tackled to the ground by his mentor.
"Oh, Spike, I was so worried," she sniffed, happy tears beginning to stain Spike's scales. After a short moment of bliss from being reunited with her number-one assistant, she froze. Without getting up, or moving from the crushing hug she'd subjected him to, Twilight asked, "Spike... what happened to all of your baby fat?"
Twilight finally let Spike off the ground, and sat back on her haunches. To her surprise, Spike levitated off the ground without the assistance of wings or any unicorn's magical aura. His posture in the air did a good job of showing off his now nearly serpentine body. It didn't seem that his mass had changed much; he'd just been... reshaped, from the short and pudgy baby dragon she knew, to a miniature version of a Canternese dragon.
"You're floating." Twilight's blitheringly obvious statement nearly prompted a strong enough facehoof to give her a concussion. "I mean... what happened to you, Spike?"
As the other Ponyville citizens began to drift to sleep in the meadow bordering the marsh, too tired to even consider erecting shelter from the elements, much less prepare a camp for the evening, Spike launched into his story.
"I was getting ready for bed, like you told me to. I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth when suddenly, the entire room filled up with this crazy light and a really loud noise! The next time I opened my eyes, I was in some kind of tunnel, and I looked like this.
"I tried calling for you, Twilight, really. I remember you said if I ever got lost, I should find some place open and wait for somepony I knew to find me. So, I started walking around, trying to find someplace open like you said, and then I heard voices! I was gonna hide, but then I realized it was you and Pinkie, so I started shouting to get your attention, but you both acted like you didn't even notice me.
"I followed you guys outside but nopony would pay any attention to me, no matter what I did. Thunderlane nearly stepped on me, and he wouldn't apologize. It was like he didn't even know I was there.
"When everypony started leaving, I figured I could hop on your back for a ride... at least for a little while. But then I didn't land on your back, I fell through. Just before I hit the ground again, I started hovering – like this!
"On the way, I tested out what I could do. I'm no Rainbow Dash, but however I'm doing this, it's pretty easy. Like, I just think about how I want to fly, and I do it! Well, mostly, anyway. I get something close to what I think of. No sonic rainbooms – I tried. Still, nopony even looked at me the whole time.
"When we stopped, I came back here to you to try and get your attention again. I've been shouting in your face for almost half an hour, heh. I was just so frustrated. All I wanted was to be seen again. And then, uh... you tackled me." Spike's narration was accompanied by gesticulation to try and express the severity of the emotions he'd felt. From fear to worry to relief to confusion to boredom, elation, and joy, his past day had been an emotional ride the likes of which neither Ponyville's wall-eyed mailmare nor Equestria's self-proclaimed fastest flier could hope to duplicate in the air.
His exhaustion obvious in his face, Twilight pulled him in close with a gentle embrace much different from their tearful reunion. "Have you at least eaten anything?"
Spike's eye ridges shot up to the top of his head and he went rigid with shock. He'd never imagined in his wildest dreams that he would ever say the following words: "Actually, I'm not hungry. I wasn't even tired at all... until... just now..." His eyes drooped, as he drifted off to sleep.
With her concern for her ward eased, Twilight finally felt the pangs of hunger attack her midsection. A light grazing quieted her needs, and she curled around the purple and green creature at her hooves. Though he may have changed form, Spike was still Spike, and his love for sleep certainly hadn't changed. Twilight looked up to the stars and the faintly-visible rising new moon. The constellations were all unfamiliar. The midsummer night air was warm, feeling almost like a blanket engulfing Twilight's entire body. Wherever they were... the ponies... weren't home... but that was... a... problem... for... tomorrow.
One by one and two by two, the ponies of Ponyville succumbed to sleep. Celestia's dawn would bring them a brighter tomorrow, surely, they would soon return to their home.
Only one pony remained awake. Perhaps she was on watch for predators of the night, some ancient instinct telling her the herd needed to be protected. Or perhaps she knew something about this place the others did not. Or perhaps she was still riding the high of comatose-inducing levels of sugary sweets she ingested on a daily basis.
This close to a shadowland, Pinkie Pie couldn't afford to sleep.
In the morning, everypony seemed to understand there wouldn't be any pancakes and coffee for breakfast. With nothing but the clothes (or lack thereof) on their backs, grazing would have to be the standby until everypony got home or some form of civilization was found. And although nopony said it, not even Mayor Mare, everypony was looking to the Bearers for guidance in this alien land.
Twilight was more than willing to take the lead, conferring with her friends after her walking breakfast.
"So, girls, let's sum up what we know, and what we need."
"Well, Ah reckon we're gonna need water pretty soon, or these ponies are gonna die o' thirst 'fore we can get back home."
"This place has robbed me of my awesomeness!" With a glare from her friends, Rainbow amended, "uh, I mean... the pegasi can't fly, but we can glide. And the unicorns can barely do any magic."
"We simply need to get some shelter. Sleeping outside last night has simply ruined my mane!"
"Well, um... Pinkie says there's... 'p-people' to the west. Maybe they could help us?"
"And, of course, we need to find a way back to Equestria. Pinkie, do you have anything to add?" Five pairs of eyes turned to the pink mare, who'd apparently been distracted by a grasshopper nearby.
"Huh? Oh yeah! D'you girls think it's hot out?"
The rest of the Bearers let out an exasperated sigh. Pinkie had seemed so knowledgeable and helpful yesterday, even if they couldn't explain where she'd gotten her knowledge. Now, it seemed Pinkie was back to being regular old Pinkie. (If 'being Pinkie' could possibly be called regular.)
"I just wish I had something to write with and write on. I guess I'll just have to keep my checklists in my head for now. Sorry to put you out of work, Spike!" Twilight gave herself a little chuckle, and then stopped. Where was Spike? She'd been with him when she went to sleep... "Spike! Where are you? SPIIIKE!!"
After a minute or two of shouting as the six mares searched around for Spike ("I swear he was lying right here last night!"), Spike showed up exactly where Twilight had last seen him, almost appearing out of thin air. In fact, she was certain several of her friends had looked there; she had stomped through that very spot herself during their brief search.
"Aw, geez, what do you want? It's sooo early!" Spike yawned, and lay his head on his front claws to try and go back to sleep.
"Spike, you disappeared again! What happened?!"
"Ooh, he's good!" Pinkie Pie cooed, hovering uncomfortably close to Twilight as she tried to inspect the sleepy dragon. "I'm not even that good at hide-and-seek! And hide-and-seek is one of my favorite games!"
Twilight tried to ignore Pinkie, and prodded Spike awake. She was annoyed at him for being lazy, yet she was worried that he might disappear at any moment. "Wake up, Spike, we have to keep everyone moving. And why did you disappear on us?!"
With a groan, Spike lifted himself into the air, eliciting an impressed gasp from Rarity and a jealous grumble from Rainbow. He didn't reply to the question until he was satisfied that he'd rubbed all the sleep out of his eyes. "I dunno, Twilight. I went to sleep, and when I woke up, you were shouting. I was a little annoyed at being woken up so early, so I... I think I focused on being seen, and then I complained about how early it was."
Rarity stepped up, eyeing Spike and taking in his new form for the first time. "Perhaps, my dear, his new form came with certain abilities in addition to his unconventional mode of flight, and might I say absolutely gorgeous body." Everypony held her breath to see Spike's reaction to the fawning praise given to him by his crush. They were not disappointed by his midair swoon, and had to stifle giggles lest they bring down Rarity's wrath for teasing her 'Spikey-wikey'. "Based on the story he told you, he was able to pass through you when nopony could see him. Perhaps his new body's natural state is immaterial, like a ghost! When he went to sleep and relaxed enough, he became immaterial again. And when he expressed desire to be seen, he returned to a material state."
Silence roared through the group, staring at Rarity as if she had grown a second head. "What?"
"Rarity, you sound like an egghead."
"What inspired such a hypothesis?"
A small flush of color rose to her cheeks as she tried to hide back the embarrassment in her reply, "ah, you see... it was the premise of a novel I've been reading recently. The stallion was a ghost, but he could become solid, so he... would walk through the walls of the mare's room to see her... and..." Now a full crimson, the fashionista could not finish her explanation.
But that didn't stop Spike from panicking: "I'm a ghost?! Are you saying I died in that explosion?!"
Spike was cut off with a purple hoof filling his mouth. "There are no such things as ghosts. I don't know how many times I have to tell you, Spike, all those Nightmare Night monsters are completely fictional."
"Well, um... Nightmare Moon was real enough..." Twilight had no response to Fluttershy's argument, and she opted to change the subject, and turn the conversation back towards guiding all of Ponyville through an alien world.
"Spike, could you fly up and see if there might be a source of water nearby?" Twilight tried to ignore the look of anguish that flashed over Rainbow Dash's face, but it was gone quickly enough. Losing her flight had been a big blow to Rainbow's self-image, and now the previously flightless Spike was the only one who could serve as an aerial lookout.
Spike began floating into the sky, legs hanging limp behind him as his body undulated through the air. His muscle memory really did seem to be like that of a snake; even in midair, he was unconsciously trying to slither.
With only a little altitude, he could see for miles. It was, in fact, a little disorienting to be able to see this far, almost as if the land had been a bowl, which was then flattened out while Spike could still see the entire interior. To the west, he could see rolling meadows shining in the summer sun, broken up by small trees here and there. Sweeping his vision southward, he passed by two separate forests, which were no larger than Whitetail Wood back home. He focused on this until his view rested on the rising dense foliage due south, extending to the east and north, then finally surrounding on three sides the swamp they'd stepped out of the previous evening. The huge forest extended far beyond what he could see, though the trees grew noticeably taller further west. It wasn't homogenous, either: to the south, the trees were rougher, almost scrub-like; to the deep west, the forest consisted of giants like redwoods (and trees taller than the redwoods!), and the forest graduated to evergreens in the north.
In the open fields, Spike could make out animals, despite the distance. They were too far away to identify any individual species, but there was obviously an entire ecosystem from edible plants to rodents and grazers to predators. There were creatures shuffling through the grass, climbing or resting in the small trees that dotted the landscape, and birds flitting through the air. Satisfied, Spike began his descent to give his report on the surrounding area.
Twilight was a bit disheartened by the news. "No sign of civilization anywhere?" There was none visible as far as he could see. "Let's head toward the nearest of those two smaller forests. There's bound to be a source of water there to support all the trees."
Pinkie stepped in again, the serious face she'd shown the previous day returned. "No, it's too far. Spike has underestimated how far away he'd been able to see up there. The wood to the southwest is over a hundred miles away, and the other is nearly two hundred miles away. We'll never make it to either of them before dehydration sets in."
Reactions among the ponies were mixed. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash both stared at Spike in awe (their reasons for the awe may have been different, but awe it was). Applejack glared at Pinkie, unable to believe such an empty, uninhabited and uncultivated area of land could be so large. Twilight was lost in thought; whether she heard the declaration of the immense distance, nopony could've been able to tell. Rarity, to her credit, did not faint at the prospect of 'roughing it'.
Twilight stroked her chin, "well, if making for the forest is out of the question, I say we stick with our original plan and head west. Spike said there were smaller trees dotting the landscape that direction, so there must be a stream or creek or something somewhere giving them water. Plus, all those animals he saw will need water eventually. Hopefully, it'll be enough for everypony to share.
With no further objections from Pinkie, the Bearers led the townsponies further into the heart of Creation.
Fluttershy's extensive experience with animals came extremely handy that afternoon. She'd found a trail created by some unknown grazing animal – the kind of trail that its creator took to drink. Within minutes, the ponies in the front of the herd stumbled into a small stream that they'd been unable to see until they were right on top of it. The shape the water cut into the earth and the grasses surrounding it formed a kind of natural optical illusion disguising its presence. Even the bed of the stream conspired to keep it hidden, the water running smoothly over without making a sound. If it weren't for the small willow tree growing by the bank, it was unlikely any ground-dwelling creature could've found it. Even a flier would probably have some trouble.
As the thirsty ponies rushed to the bank to drink their fill, Twilight approached the animal loving pony with a hint of unease. "Fluttershy, Spike said he saw creatures all over this place. We followed an animal's tracks to get to this stream. Why haven't we seen any of the actual creatures?"
Always eager to talk about animals, Fluttershy didn't try to hide from the question. Instead, she launched into a lecture that could almost put Twilight's standard to shame. As it turned out, Fluttershy had seen evidence of many animals in their passing. All of them had made themselves scarce in the wake of the trampling hooves of an entire town of ponies. The prey among them were frightened by the noise, or by unfamiliar faces, and fled or hid. The predators were either too small to take down a pony – and also fled or hid – or they couldn't risk attacking such a large group, and followed the fleeing prey for an easier meal.
In the stream, many ponies were getting silt in their mouth, mixed into the water by hasty ponies further upstream. That didn't stop them from drinking their fill, the first source of water they'd had in almost two days. With the banks full of drinking ponies, some spread further up or downstream to find a spot, while others were patient enough to wait for their friends and family to get their fill before taking a turn.
Pinkie smiled as Mr. and Mrs. Cake ushered their twins away from the stream, and stepped up to take a drink herself. She bent down, and hesitated. Before her eyes, familiar symbols began to form on the surface of the water in black ink, floating in the water but ignoring the current. Nopony else could have recognized the symbols for what they were, even if the symbols had been visible to them. The strokes in the water appeared in sequence, as though being written by an invisible quill.
Keep ponies there. Carnival in three days. Carnival entrance near you. Entrance little trouble for you and dragon. Recommend find way to get others inside.
Pinkie read over the message, then read it again. She fought with all of her willpower to avoid one of her signature "potential party" gasps, and looked away from the water to clear the message. She was going to the Carnival of Meeting! That was even better than the Grand Galloping Gala, and unlike the Gala it wouldn't be stuffed full of snobby royalty. They probably wouldn't have sarsaparilla or "Pin the Tail on the Pony", but there would be plenty of other stuff.
Pinkie gulped up enough water to sate her thirst, and galloped off to find Twilight and her other friends.
"Twilight! We have to make camp here for the night. And tomorrow night. We gotta stay right here!" Twilight, taken aback by the sudden outburst from Pinkie, lifted a foreleg and shifted her weight to her back legs, an instinctual response to surprise, readying her body for flight. She raised an eyebrow and was about to question why they had to make camp for two days when all previous data had indicated that continuing westward was the best course of action, when the pink pony continued, "if we stay here for two nights, then we won't have to wander the countryside for weeks! There's this thing... I'm not sure if I'm allowed to tell you about it yet. But it's gonna happen the day after tomorrow, and close to here. Well, sort of. It's gonna be really far away, but the entrance will be close. And it's probably the best thing EVER!"
Twilight was about to say 'no', but it seemed Pinkie was prepared for that, and turned on the most adorable puppy-dog eyes anypony had ever seen. Twilight didn't manage to look away in time, and she was trapped. With a sigh, she said, "Fine. Let's get everypony together and start trying to make a camp."
As the day drew to a close, the ponies began to settle down in their makeshift camp. It had been difficult at first; ponies traveled in groups of five to gather supplies at Fluttershy's recommendation, in hopes that the larger predators wouldn't try to attack a group, and the earth ponies had been confounded by the difficulty they were having weaving grass into tarps. It seemed much of their inherent magic was lost to them just like the pegasi and the unicorns. With all of the ponies working together in harmony, though, they managed to construct grass-tarps, gaps sealed with mud from the stream and dried in the sun, and propped on sticks to form a loose collection of tents for temporary housing. The situation was far from ideal, but it would be sufficient for two nights, at least. And everypony had something they could put in their belly (even if it was just grazing), and plenty of water to drink.
In the late afternoon, as it was obvious the new arrivals were not going to leave the stream, some of the animals in the area gave in to curiosity and came for a closer look at the strange creatures. Most of the curious were simple vermin leaving their hiding places when nothing came knocking. Squirrels, field mice, grass snakes, possum, and more all returned to the bustle of small life in the wild. Most of the ponies ignored the resurgence of the local fauna, used to similar sights back home. Fluttershy, of course, took great interest in the animals.
"Hello, little friend," she smiled to a badger drinking from the stream. Even if she was in a new world, she could still make friends with and take care of all the little creatures she came across. Communicating with animals was her special talent, after all! Unfortunately, the badger spooked at the sound of her voice and ran off, far faster than she could have chased it. She tried to call out, ask him to wait, to tell him that everything was ok... but the words died in her throat as she came to a realization: what if special talents were linked to the magic of Equestria just like Pegasus wings and unicorn horns? Fluttershy wouldn't be able to work with woodland creatures, and Pinkie Pie's parties would flop, and... and...
The tears began to flow, and Fluttershy let her worries and fears pour out of her. More than anything, she was homesick, and she barely noticed as her closest friends began to silently show up around her. First Applejack gave her a shoulder to cry on, and then Rarity leaned on her other side creating an oddly comforting pressure as Fluttershy was sandwiched between the cowpony and the seamstress. Pinkie Pie nuzzled her cheek, simultaneously lifting spirits with the touch and wiping her cheeks dry, while Twilight tried to rub her back, murmuring something about 'letting it all out'. Rainbow Dash stood to the side awkwardly for a moment, uncertain what to do in a situation like this, but wanting to help her oldest friend. Rarity caught her eye, and mouthed a command to Rainbow: hug her.
Finally joined in a full group hug, the six Bearers were joined by their bonds of friendship as each relieved the stresses built up within the others. Surely they would find a way home, but for now they could rely on each other for all the support they would need.
On her third day in Creation, Twilight approached Pinkie for answers.
"I looked up at the sky last night, Pinkie." The pink pony blinked back at Twilight, as if waiting for something more substantive. "I tried to find the moon in the sky." She was met with another blank stare. Suppressing a frustrated growl, she finally revealed what was bothering her, "it wasn't there, Pinkie! The moon was gone! The night before last was a new moon, but it's easy to see a new moon if you know what to look for, and it simply wasn't there! The stars were all missing, too, and they were present the night before last as well! What's going on?"
Pinkie's response began with a lighthearted chuckle, "is that all, Twilight? Don't worry, that's normal!" Twilight must have looked extremely taken aback by the claim that it was 'normal' for the moon and stars to be present one night, and gone the next, because Pinkie grinned and launched into the most bizarre explanation of celestial dynamics Twilight had ever heard.
In Creation, the calendar had to be reset ('you mean like Winter Wrap-Up back home?'; 'yup!'). The last five days of the year were a period known as 'Calibration', when all of the celestial bodies were returned to their correct position in the sky for the new year. That meant the stars and moon had to be taken down for a few nights. It was nothing to be worried about.
Cautiously accepting the explanation – after all, Twilight's studies of other universes had revealed that not all of them needed to move the sun and moon by magic, so perhaps this one needed more than just the sun and moon to be moved – Twilight's shrewd mind caught on to a connection Pinkie hadn't expected: "So, does this 'Calibration' have anything to do with why we're staying here tonight?" Hesitantly, Pinkie nodded the affirmative. "Please, Pinkie, tell me what you've got planned. I need to know what we're getting all of our friends and neighbors into!"
Pinkie hemmed and hawed, and finally decided to give her friend the truth (part of it, anyway). "We're going to a party!"
"A party," Twilight deadpanned.
By now, Pinkie had gotten herself worked up over the prospect of attending a fantastic festival, and nodded enthusiastically. "Every year, on the third day of Calibration, there's this great big party held in... well, the place is called 'Yu-Shan', and I'll leave it at that." She scraped a bit at the ground with her forehoof; there was obviously more to tell about 'Yu-Shan' than she was willing to share. "Anyway, they open gateways to the party all over the world, and a lucky few get in without a formal invite. And one of those portals is supposed to open near here!"
The party pony was obviously enthused about attending this world's biggest party of the year. But there was still some nagging doubt in Twilight's mind, and it wasn't just her negative experience with what should have been 'the best night ever!' for her and her friends. "If only a 'lucky few' are allowed in to this party without invitations, then how do you expect to get all of Ponyville inside?"
Pinkie's grin twisted mischievous, verging on sinister, as she confided with the purple unicorn, "oh, I have a plan..."
"Pinkie, are you sure this is gonna work?" Spike was extremely nervous as he floated next to her in the lead of the entire herd towards their mysterious destination. He stared back at the other ponies, with unicorn auras surrounding every horn, hoof, wing, tail, and mane. It was kinda eerie to see the mismatched colors floating around everypony, and the final result made the ponies look like some kind of supernatural beings. "And what about you and me? Why don't we need any unicorns thrumming on us?"
Pinkie seemed confident that her plan would work, and pated the little dragon on the head. "Don't worry, Spike. The guards are pretty smart, but they've never seen unicorn magic, even if it is just thrumming. And they won't bother you, because you're a dragon." She beamed her most reassuring smile at him, to try and lift his spirits. It seemed her strategy worked, as he gave a slightly surprised smile right back. They're going to let me in... just because I'm a dragon?
Soon, Pinkie and Spike crested a hill and saw their destination below: a free-standing arch made of gold, silver, some kind of prismatic sparkling steel, and five different colors of stone (a fiery red, an inky black, a sky blue, a forest green, and a dusty white). The arch was taller than three ponies standing on each other's backs, and wide enough for three or four ponies to walk abreast, with plenty of wiggle room. The arch led nowhere, but it was obvious this was where Pinkie was leading everypony.
And he drew closer Spike could see that when he peered through one side of the arch, it opened into an expansive hall perhaps three or four times the size of the Books and Branches library; from the opposite side, the arch was completely empty.
Pinkie stalked up to the 'front' side of the arch confidently, and walked in. After a moment's hesitation, Spike followed, and the herd followed closely behind. The first thing he noticed in the hall was the only thing to notice: three golden lion statues positioned like guards, each with a mirror finish and standing nine spans high at the shoulder. Are these the 'guards' Pinkie had talked about? They're only statues! Then one of the statues moved.
It turned towards the pink pony approaching it and bellowed, "Halt. State your business in Yu-Shan this day." The statue's voice boomed like thunder and rang like a bell at the same time.
As her friends drew in closer to listen to the conversation, Pinkie craned her neck up (way up) and looked the lion in the eyes before replying, "I have come for the Carnival of Meeting. On my way, I encountered a young censor," she indicated Spike to her side, "as well as a group of elementals from the Court of Seasons who were finishing their planning for the Carnival," she indicated the herd of ponies behind her, still filing through the archway.
The lion barely glanced at Spike before announcing, "The censor may pass." Not one to take the chance at this magical statue changing its mind, he quickly floated to the relative safety of 'further down the hall'. The other two lions had, by now, taken up more menacing guard positions around the herd, ready to pounce should anything go wrong. The first lion, the one who had done all of the talking thus far, spoke again. "I have never seen elementals such as these. Identify yourself who vouches for their authenticity."
Through it all, the other ponies kept quiet. Pinkie had warned them what might happen if their ruse slipped. Since they were all mortal, they couldn't be punished under the normal laws of Yu-Shan (Twilight had been quick to ask whether that meant Yu-Shan had immortals in it, but Pinkie had refused to answer). However, the guards at the gate still had full authority to fine or imprison them or, should they feel it necessary... devour them. Pinkie's ruse was a dangerous one, but the plan required that Pinkie do all the talking, so Twilight kept her mouth shut even when Spike got through the checkpoint unhindered.
Pinkie had not lost any of her confidence, but now she would be forced to reveal her nature to her friends. She'd never imagined she would ever show this side of herself to anypony; then again, she'd never imagined she would actually be in Creation with anypony either. She closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath. When she opened them again, her blue eyes were sparkling, almost glowing. And on her forehead a symbol had appeared, glowing with a bright blue light. "I am Pinkamena Diane Pie, Chosen of Serenity and servant to Maiden Venus. I am a Joybringer and one of Heaven's Courtesans. On my word and under the light of the Cerulean Lute of Harmony, I vouch for the honor of those who walk with me." Pinkie was keenly aware of the shocked stares the other ponies were giving her, boring through the back of her skull. This was also the most risky part of her plan; while her oath held no magical enforcement (and it wasn't a Pinkie Promise), it was still an oath made in the face of a celestial lion. She had been very careful to word her oath such that it sounded like she was answering the lion's demand, but was still truthful. She hadn't named the ponies as elementals, nor claimed they were members of the Court of Seasons; she had only vouched for the ponies' honor. She hoped the lion wouldn't notice the fact that she'd dodged him.
As soon as Pinkie had closed her mouth, of course, the Lion graciously stepped out of her way, "you may pass, Ms Pie. Yu-Shan welcomes your return." That wasn't the part Pinkie was holding her breath for. It was the pause as the Lion stared at the other ponies and considered her oath. He knew a Chosen of Journeys could not make a mystically binding oath, and carefully considered her words. Eventually, though, he conceded that a Sidereal vouching for the group would be good enough: "The Court members may pass."
Finally letting go of her baited breath, Pinkie led the ponies to the opposite end of the hall and rejoined Spike. At the end, they reached a gateway apparently made of diamond or crystal. The two lions who had not spoken followed the group, and as they approached the gate, they stopped and each barked a command. The gate swung outwards at the sound of the golden lions' voices, and the ponies strode into the city of heaven.
On the opposite side of the crystalline gateway there were six more lions standing guard. Few ponies paid them heed, though; there, opening before them, was the most incredible sight any of the ponies had seen. The ponies had walked into a massive plaza festooned with all manner of decorations. Creatures of all shapes seemed to wander about, purchasing foods both fantastic and mundane. A four-armed, four-legged spider-like creature with green snake-like scales raced by, stopping at a stand that seemed to sell (of all things) apple pies. Another creature slithered by on a serpentine tail as thick as Big Macintosh, but its forward half was pink and fleshy, cloth covering what could only be (compared to a pony) oversized mammary glands. More golden lions patrolled the area, their demeanor similar to a royal guard on duty. Dragons like Spike (but slightly larger than a pony) floated through the air. A dark figure passed by, wrapped completely in some kind of cloth and cloaked in the same material. Bipeds – both with and without clothes – roamed the fairgrounds. Insectoid creatures that reminded Fluttershy of praying mantises chittered in a small group. A creature that struck Rainbow Dash as a cross between one of the pink bipeds and a pony was in the middle of a contortionist routine. A squid walking along the ground waved to Pinkie Pie (who waved back, of course). A giant and apparently blind mouse caught the scent of apples before waddling away. A dozen different creatures each with an ensemble more opulent than the last filled the street. There seemed to be new species everywhere Twilight turned.
The Carnival grounds were filled with creatures of all shapes, it was certain. The ground stretched as far as anypony could see in both directions, and in the center of it all stood a construction of massive proportions. The domed building was composed of plates of the same colorful stone material that the archway in the field had used, and they had been polished so that they reflected the magnificence of Celestia's sun in the sky. Around the edge stood entrances large enough to sail a royal navy trireme through, each guarded by six more golden lions. Each of the entrances was also given a very wide berth by the attendants of the Carnival. More striking than the material it was made of or the curious nature of the entrances to the building was the sheer scale: the dome stretched three miles into the sky, and from where the ponies stood the edges could not be seen.
"Okay! Before anypony runs off for the party, everypony needs to know the rules!" Pinkie's call demanded the attention of all the ponies present. It wasn't until then that they realized Pinkie had led them a short way along one of the streets feeding into the plaza, away from the center of the party and the giant domed building. The street she had led them down was unremarkable compared to the area surrounding the dome, except for a pair of obsidian pillars covered in glowing blue runes.
"Rule number one! You're not allowed to get offended at anything anyone says to you," Pinkie was looking at Rainbow Dash as she said it. "No. Matter. What."
"Rule number two! You're not allowed inside the Jade Pleasure Dome," she indicated the only domed structure within view with a hoof, as if she could have been talking about something else. "The Celestial Lions will do everything they can to stop you from getting in, and the enchantments on the archways will do bad things to anypony who passes them without an invitation."
"Rule number three! No violence of any kind!" Pinkie glared at Rainbow Dash again, and then gave Applejack a glare as well for good measure. "There are some fighting arenas around the plaza set up for tournaments and the like, but outside those fighting isn't allowed. There are even enchantments in the plaza that make fighting almost impossible," she said with a wink back at her athletic friends. "If you do get into one of the fighting arenas, any injuries you get should be healed by tomorrow."
"Finally, rule number four! You can't leave the Carnival grounds without the willing escort of a god." Pinkie turned and waved towards the obsidian obelisk next to her before continuing, "These things mark the boundaries of the fairgrounds, and it's simply not possible to pass without escort." She turned back to the herd of ponies with a grin stretching from ear to ear. "Now let's go PARTYYYYY!"
The party pony shot up into the air and raced off, leaving the other ponies to look between each other in mild confusion. After some muttering and shrugs, the ponies began trotting in small groups to sample the biggest party they'd ever seen.
"C'mon, AJ, you gotta enter this tournament with me!" As soon as the ponies began to break up, Rainbow Dash had immediately dragged her athletic rival to the first fighting arena she could find. The opportunity to get another win against Applejack while simultaneously showing off to (and also beating!) a bunch of weird creatures from another universe was too good to pass up.
Applejack was having none of it. "Ah ain't gonna fight you, Rainbow! Ah got no problem with the sports and the hoof-wrasslin' and the racing and stuff, but Ah don't wanna fight. What if Kicks McGee here," she lifted her right rear leg for emphasis, "breaks yer wing or somethin'? How d'you think Ah'd feel then?"
Rainbow brushed off the farm pony's concern, "Aw, you heard Pinkie! If you somehow manage to hurt me, I'll be healed up by tomorrow!" Her demeanor shifted suddenly, her voice sullen, "Besides, it's not like I'm using them for anything anyway..."
"Ah also don't know nothin' about these here other fighters. What if they're too weak to fight against a pony? What if they're too strong? We got no way o' knowin' how bad this could turn out, Rainbow!"
Rainbow spit out the pen back onto the sign-up sheet as she looked back to Applejack. She lifted a hoof to her ear and called back, "What was that, AJ? I couldn't hear you over my signing up for the contest!" The pegaus smiled, far too pleased with herself for her own good.
Applejack realized she was too late to stop her friend. She sighed, "Fine, Ah guess me an' Fluttershy will just hav' ta be yer cheering section." The frustrated farmer grabbed the still silent petrified pegasus' tail in her mouth, and dragged her over to the audience seating area.
Twilight managed to catch up with Pinkie just after she finished a conversation with the squid creature from before as Pinkie was waving goodbye.
"Pinkie. I think you owe me some explanations here."
The pink mare bounced up from where she was sitting into step with Twilight. "Sure Twilight! What do you need to know?"
"Well, for starters, there's that whole... glowing forehead thing. Since when can you do magic? If you can somehow do magic, why work with illusions like Trixie?"
Pinkie giggled and playfully pushed Twilight to the side. "Oh, silly! That wasn't magic! I was just displaying my caste mark to prove I was who I said I was."
"You mean your cutie mark? But your cutie mark is on your flank. And it doesn't glow. And it's three balloons, not whatever that thing was." Twilight emphasized her point by prodding her friend's rump and forehead as she spoke. "The word 'caste' is a callback to the feudal system ponies used before the princesses ruled Equestria. You don't have a 'caste mark'."
The giggling continued in response to the prodding, but Pinkie eventually managed to say, "No, my caste mark is different from my cutie mark. I got them at almost the same time, though..."
My sisters and I were raised on a rock farm outside of Ponyville. We spent our days working the fields; there was no talking. There was no smiling. There were only rocks. We were in the south field preparing to rotate the rocks to the east field, when all of a sudden there was an explosion and the sky was filled with a rainbow! (That was Rainbow Dash's first Sonic Rainboom, of course.) I had never felt joy like that before! It felt so good I just wanted to keep smiling forever! And I wanted everyone I knew to smile, too. But rainbows don't come along that often. I wondered, 'how else could I create some smiles?'
The next day, when my parents and my sisters came out of the house, I leaned out of the silo I'd been working in all night, and called out to them: "Mom! I need you and dad and the sisters to come in here, quick!" I got my family inside the silo and shouted, "Surprise! You like it? It's called 'a party'!"
They were all quiet, and it looked kinda like they were scared of my decorations and my cake. I got a little depressed, and said, "Oh, you don't like it." After a few moments' more hesitation, though, smiles spread across all their faces! "You like it! I'm so happy!" We danced and partied for hours and I got my cutie mark then and there.
Of course, we still had our rock farm, and we still had to turn a profit if we wanted to eat. My dad sent my sisters and me to the south field to finish the harvest that afternoon. Before we reached the south field, though, I saw a blinding blue light. I felt hot and cold at the same time; my body tingled. The light was so bright in my eyes that I should have been blind, but I'd never seen more clearly in my life. I've never seen that clearly since. I looked inside myself, and I saw the light spread everywhere. The light burned towards seven points, and words flew into my mind: Nirakara, shape; Nirguna, existence; Dharma, desire; Nirvishesha, identity; Nirvikalpa, communication; Nishkriya, conflict; Nirupadhika, location. Faster now, images and memories that weren't my own flooded my vision, but somehow they were my memories. I was no longer just a pony. I was no longer just a mortal. I had been transformed into a tool of my goddess and an extension of her will.
That last part confused me a bit, because even though I suddenly knew all these things, I also knew I wasn't thinking about Celestia.
Finally, I heard a voice echoing in my head. "Take now your second breath, Pinkamena. Bask in the shining glow of my love for you. You have been fated to this story since before the day you were born, and now the threads of fate lay within your reach. Join your brothers and sisters in the celestial city and take on the responsibilities of Harmony." I had to laugh at that a bit, because I didn't have any brothers. I only had two sisters.
The blue glow subsided, and I saw my sisters again. They were both staring at me strangely, so I asked them if they were ready to go harvest the south field. My little sister Inkie hid behind big sister Blinkie, and Blinkie kinda shouted at me, "Who are you? What are you doing on our farm! Rawr! I'm the Incredible Pony! You wouldn't like me when I'm angry!"
Okay, maybe Blinkie didn't claim to be the Incredible Pony. Still, neither of my sisters knew who I was after that, and it turned out my parents didn't recognize me either. They didn't really let me inside the house, thinking I was some sort of madpony claiming to be their daughter, but I did manage to see the family photo on the mantle. It... didn't have me anymore.
That's the real reason I left the rock farm. I didn't leave because of my cutie mark clashing with my home life, and I didn't leave because I was so different from the rest of my family. I left because as far as they knew, I wasn't part of their family.
I may have just been a filly at the time, but I managed to put two and two and two together and I realized that all this 'forgetting who Pinkamena was' stuff had to be related to the blue light and the voice in my head. Since the voice told me to go to the celestial city and there were thoughts in my head about being a tool for my goddess, I figured the best course of action was to head to Canterlot! After all, it was a city where a goddess named Celestia lived; Canterlot must be a celestial city.
Well, it turned out the voice wasn't talking about Canterlot, but here in Yu-Shan. I couldn't have known that and there was no way I could have gotten here on my own, but either luck or fate was on my side. Barely two hours after I started my epic journey, I met this human (those pink, fleshy, ape-like creatures, see?) who called himself Shepherd of the North Star. At first I was afraid, because I had never seen anything like him. He liked to smile a lot, though, and when we started talking, I found out he was a lot like the way I wanted to be. He tried to be friends with everyone he met, and he helped people get where they were going all the time.
"And that's why I'm here today, Pinkamena," he told me. "I'm going to help you get where you're going." He pulled out this starmetal (that's the prismatic stuff that was in the gate arch earlier) and moonsilver (that's the cool silver stuff that was in the arch earlier) rope with knots in it. He spent a moment to untie one of the knots with those fingers of his, and when he was done a circle of golden light popped into the air in front of him; I think it was maybe a span in diameter? Anyway, he reached into the circle and pulled on something. A bell chimed, like he was just ringing somepony's doorbell.
The golden circle disappeared, and Shepherd just stood there, like he was waiting for something. I was about to ask, when one of those archways appeared in front of us! The celestial lions were kinda scary, but they seemed to know Shepherd and let us through.
"And then when I came back I got a job with the Cakes and started living in Ponyville!"
Twilight took a moment to absorb Pinkie's story. If it weren't for the festival the two mares were currently walking through, Twilight would have probably dismissed the whole thing as another one of Pinkie's eccentricities. The unicorn considered her words carefully before responding, "If this whole glowing light business made your family forget who you were, then why hasn't anypony in Ponyville forgotten you?"
"You and the girls can't forget me because you're intertwined with my destiny," Pinkie smirked. "After all, it was Rainbow Dash's first Sonic Rainboom that got us all our cutie marks, and it was you that really brought us all together as the Elements of Harmony. Even if some of us knew each other beforehoof, we weren't the big circle of friends we are now. As for the rest of Ponyville, it's a complicated dance I struggle with every day," Pinkie's face drooped a bit as she sighed. "Shepherd called it 'Arcane Fate', and it's all because some of us Sidereals broke some sort of mask a few hundred years back. All that effort I put into making friends with everypony every day is all so I can counteract the Arcane Fate. Making ponies smile is great and it makes me smile back, but not being forgotten is most important."
Pinkie's words struck a chord with Twilight, as if there was somepony else the mare was forgetting. She managed to shake off the feeling soon enough and she forgot about the missing memory without Pinkie even noticing her silence.
Twilight remembered the other thing that struck her about Pinkie's story. "Wait! You came here when you were a filly, and you managed to get back to Equestria! You know a way back to Equestria, and so does this Shepherd guy! Why aren't we on our way back to Equestria right now?!" Twilight had managed to get in front of her friend, and she had pressed their two muzzles and foreheads together as she realized this Carnival was just a distraction caused by the party pony when everypony could have been on their way home. To say Twilight was annoyed with her friend at the moment would be putting it lightly.
Uncharacteristically, Pinkie calmly and quietly pushed Twilight away so that both mares could have a little personal space. Her face grave, she said, "No, Twilight. The path I took to get back to Equestria is too dangerous. Not only did it involve ten days in a sentient and malicious desert, but I think any mortal pony would be killed within minutes of starting the journey."
"Are you saying you're immortal now?"
"I'm saying I've exalted." After a brief pause, Pinkie returned to her normal cheerful self. "Besides, I haven't died yet! Let's go see what Dashie is up to! I bet she signed up for one of the martial arts tournaments and she tried to get Applejack to sign up with her but Applejack didn't want to fight so AJ and Fluttershy decided to be Dashie's cheering section!"
All right, Rainbow, you can do this! The rainbow-maned flightless pegasus performed a few stretches to warm up for her match. It was still round one of the tournament, but hers was one of the last fights to go. These monkeys got nothin' on you, Dash! Float like a Fluttershy, buck 'em like a tree! The irony that her pre-match psych-up was entirely based on the two members of her cheering section was entirely lost on Rainbow.
When Rainbow was led to her position in the arena, she finally got the chance to look at her opponent. She was one of those pink ape creatures; there were a lot of them around, and maybe half of the creatures that weren't the same species shared a lot of traits with the hairless apes. Rainbow's opponent removed a crimson cloak from her shoulders, revealing some kind of woven red armor. The armor had a skirt covering the creature's thighs, and she wore additional guards on her lower legs and forearms – also colored red. As she prepared herself for the fight she removed a (red) helmet which bore golden horns and a ruby that would make both Spike and Rarity drool, and she removed a pair of red and black boots which made a distinctively metal 'clink' when set on the ground. The creature handed all of the gear she had removed to an assistant standing behind her. Finally, she removed a sword that had been strung across her back which she also handed to her assistant. With most of her clothing removed, Rainbow could see tattoos covering the creature's forearms, stretched over some serious muscle.
"You ready for our fight yet, you hairless excuse for an ape?" Rainbow called across the ring. "Or do you need to priss up your helmet hair first?" Rainbow had to lean against the ring's barrier and clutch her sides laughing at her own jab.
Her opponent was less amused. The creature looked to the referee dragon waiting in the center of the arena to ask, "Why have I been paired with this? I was under the impression that this tournament would consist of only the finest fighters in Creation. And this is a mortals-only tournament! This thing must be an elemental or something." The referee shrugged in response. It was the job of the guy at the sign-in sheet to make sure everyone in the tournament fit the requirements.
"Hey! I'm Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty! I'm the winner of this year's Best Young Fliers competition in Cloudsdale, I won the first annual Iron Pony competition, I'm the only pegasus to ever pull off a Sonic Rainboom, I'm personal friends with both Spitfire and Soarin of the Wonderbolts, and me and my friends have saved Equestria from three different major catastrophes!" Rainbow stood up on her rear legs using her wings for balance as she raised her forelegs to bask in the awe of the crowd after the revelation of her amazing feats.
All Rainbow got was a barely audible "woo-hoo" from Fluttershy. She realized too late that perhaps extolling her achievements in another universe wouldn't impress her opponent or her audience, and dropped back down onto all fours.
Rainbow's opponent, despite having absolutely no idea what any of Rainbow's achievements meant and being able to easily recognize a braggart, gave the poor mare some slack. "I see. Since you have graced me with your name, I shall grace you with mine. I am Minister-General Blood Linnet of Great Forks. I command the city's army and with few exceptions I make all of the city's military decisions. I am the sole surviving commander of the massacre at Mishaka, and three years ago," Linnet paused – apparently for dramatic effect – and dropped her eyelids into a glare at Rainbow before continuing, "I took home first prize for this very tournament."
The Minister-General took a battle ready stance and Rainbow responded in kind. Seeing both combatants were ready, the dragon serving as the referee for the match nodded and raised a large bell above his head. He struck the bell once and raced out of the way of the two fighters charging to the center of the arena.
The crowd rising in stands to both sides of the arena (which had been eerily quiet up to this point) erupted with noise. The majority of the spectators either jeered at the newcomer or cheered for the Minister-General. Bets had already been placed, and as expected Linnet was the favorite to win. A few cheered for Rainbow besides the two ponies in the audience: they were the risk-takers who were willing to gamble on an unknown quantity.
The two fighters nearly collided head-on at the center of the ring, but just before they connected Rainbow pivoted on one hoof and gathered all of her strength into her hindquarters trying for a one-hit knockout buck. Linnet was surprised by the agility of the creature she had seen as 'just a horse' before the match began, and it took a rolling dodge for her to avoid two cyan hooves to the face.
While her gambit for a quick and decisive fight was foiled, Rainbow had to press her advantage. Linnet was on the defensive, and Rainbow took to a bipedal position with her wings as balance ready to strike out with her sharp hooves. She was a little unsteady on the approach with the unnatural stance, but now she was nearly as tall as her opponent and she wouldn't have to resort to surprise attacks to reach her opponent's soft face.
Rainbow lashed out again and again towards Linnet's face, but the Minister-General simply parried and redirected every swing. "Why. Won't. You. Let. Me. Hit. You?!" Rainbow huffed between her attacks.
Linnet grinned as she replied, "Why should I let you get tired hitting me, when I can let you get tired missing me? It's so much better for my complexion this way."
Rainbow stepped back from her offensive and landed back on all fours again. "Are you telling me you've been playing with me this whole time?"
"No, Ms. Dash. I'm telling you that I'm warming up!" With that, Linnet launched forward almost as fast as Rainbow Dash in flight, grabbed Rainbow around the neck, and twisted violently sideways. With a choice between excruciating pain and falling to the mat, Rainbow's body chose the mat.
Once Linnet had Rainbow on the ground, she kneeled on Rainbow's withers. With a raised fist, she called, "Do you yield?"
"Never!" Rainbow cried as she thrashed her legs around in an attempt to escape being pinned to the ground. She tried to hit Linnet with the free wing, but the angle was all wrong to do any real damage, and Linnet was able to ignore the feathered appendage. In the stands, Fluttershy was unsure whether Rainbow denied the request because she was stubborn, or because she just didn't know what 'yield' meant.
With Rainbow's refusal to yield, Linnet began a series of punches. She began along the spine of Rainbow's neck, sending waves of pain through Rainbow's body. Linnet continued punching through Rainbow's cries of pain, and began on Rainbow's jawline. The cries became whimpers. "DO YOU YIELD?!"
"Mevr!" Rainbow wheezed through the pain. She abandoned her initial strategy of randomly thrashing her limbs in the vain hope of wounding her opponent, and began a more methodical twisting of her body. Hopefully, with the right motion of her torso and her barrel, she could force Linnet off her body and get back in this fight.
As Rainbow had refused to yield, Linnet continued her assault on Rainbow's body. This time, to counteract Rainbow's twisting motion (a strategy Linnet quietly applauded the equine for compared to her earlier attempt), she attacked Rainbow's ribs. The pain managed to disrupt the rhythm of Rainbow's twisting, allowing her to keep Rainbow pinned to the mat. When Linnet finally heard a wet crack as Rainbow went rigid with pain, the whimpers changed to sobs. "DO. YOU. YIELD?!"
Rainbow weakly shook her head. The uninjured Minister-General sighed and stood up, releasing the pegasus from the ground. "Despite the enchantments in this arena and at this festival, I do not want to kill you Rainbow Dash. Reconstitution is an unpleasant experience. I know. I would have no problem inflicting it upon my enemies, but I do not even know you, much less hate you." Rainbow slowly inched herself up onto her legs, though it seemed the slightest breeze would cause her legs to buckle. "Unfortunately, you refuse to yield, and I do not intend to lose a match to someone as stubborn as yourself. You have spirit, little pony, but you do not have experience."
Unable to properly defend herself through the blackness invading her vision, Rainbow's eyes widened as Linnet slowly approached. This was the end, then. Rainbow flared her wings in an unconscious effort to appear larger than she was.
Then, with a yelp that came out more like a squeak, Rainbow felt Linnet grab her at the base of each wing and lift her bodily from the floor of the fighting arena. The world spun past Rainbow's clouding vision and she began to feel sick, as though Pinkie Pie had spun her around a few too many times during a game of Pin the Tail on the Pony. As suddenly as the motion began, it stopped. Rainbow could feel the rush of the wind over her wings. Yeah, baby, it's time to fly! Let's see that Linnet fight me when my wings are workin'!
With a crash, Rainbow blacked out.
Twilight and Pinkie walked up and into the stands around the mortals' martial arts tournament, Pinkie's unerring ability to locate things directing the pair to Applejack, Fluttershy, and the still-unconscious Rainbow Dash.
"Hi AJ! Hi Fluttershy! Why's Dashie sleeping on the floor like that? I know she likes her naps, but isn't that uncomfortable?"
Fluttershy looked up from her attempts at caring for her pegasus friend, visibly flustered by the lack of first aid supplies. "Oh, hi Pinkie. Hello, Twilight. Um... Rainbow tried to compete in the tournament a-and..." she trailed off.
"She got herself beat up, is what happened," Applejack said with a snort. She had little sympathy for the daredevil flier, getting into fights with creatures she knew nothing about. Of course she had cheered on her friend with Fluttershy and the few others in the crowd betting on the underdog, but now that was all over and maybe Rainbow had learned something from it. Applejack said as much to the others.
Twilight frowned a bit before turning to the conscious pegasus, "Wow. How bad is it?"
"Aw, she's just got a few bruises an' a cracked rib," Applejack interrupted her more timid companion. "She'll be fine. Plus, Pinkie said any wounds in the tournaments would be healed by t'morrow, right Pinkie?" The pink pony nodded. "Ah think when she wakes up her ego'll be hurt more than anything else."
Applejack shifted her weight to get more comfortable watching the current fight. These bipeds were actually kind of impressive. So far she had seen at least a dozen different fighting styles as the combatants danced around one another through the rounds of the tournament. Some of them looked strong enough to lift her big brother in one hand, and they fought as though they were living piles of stone. Others were skinnier than Fluttershy, and as they moved around the battlefield Applejack could almost imagine they had wings. Some of the fighters disabled their opponents with finesse while others would just evade and tire their opponents out. A couple of the fighters even changed styles partway through a match. Rainbow's opponent had said something about the tournament being for the finest fighters, and as the tournament neared its final rounds that claim really showed. The only breaks the competitors got were the duration of the other fights. The only medical treatment they got was what they could give to themselves. This tournament was as much a test of endurance and fortitude as it was fighting prowess.
"Let's just not tell her that her opponent got smacked by a one-hit knockout in the second round, all righ'?" A chuckle graced everypony's lips at the expense of their unconscious friend's ego.
Without warning, the sky over Yu-Shan shifted from the bright sunny day it had been, to a moonlit night. The majority of the creatures throughout the Carnival were unfazed by the shift, though one of the current combatants allowed himself to be distracted which his opponent quickly pressed for a victory.
"What in Equestria is going on? Did Discord follow us here somehow?" Twilight was anxious, and Fluttershy had taken to hiding under her seat. Applejack shared some of Twilight's concerns, but looked to Pinkie. All the strange happenings in this world seemed to be explained by Pinkie.
Pinkie simply yawned. When she noticed her anxious (or frightened, in Fluttershy's case, and still unconscious, in Rainbow's case) friends, she giggled again at their culture shock. "Don't worry girls. Heaven is like this a lot. There's no real day-night cycle here, it's all based on who's winning."
"Who's winnin' what, sugarcube?"
Pinkie pointed towards the towering dome. "The incarnae are in there, playing a game. Whoever is winning determines what the sky looks like. Moonlight means Luna's winning."
Silence roared between the three conscious ponies staring at Pinkie Pie, nearly drowning out the cheering and jeering spectators around them. Twilight was the first to pick up her jaw off the floor and began quietly shouting (a skill she'd picked up from her mentor) at Pinkie, "You mean to tell me that not only have you been able to come and go to this place, but Luna is here, too?! I see Luna every time I go to Canterlot, but she finds time to play this game! You said it was an extremely dangerous ten day trip when you came back to Equestria! There must be another way if Luna is going back and forth so much."
"Wait, you think..." It started as a snort. It quickly grew, becoming a giggle and then a guffaw. Soon Pinkie Pie was rolling all over the place, laughing so hard she was having difficulty breathing. Twilight and Applejack didn't find things so funny. Fluttershy had gone back to hiding under her chair.
After a full minute, the dagger stares from both Twilight and Applejack broke through Pinkie's laughter and she calmed down. "Sorry, girls, that was just too funny," she said as she wiped a tear from her eye. "I know why you're confused, but I just had to laugh."
After a beat, it was Fluttershy who finally broke the silence. "Well... um... why are we confused?"
"Oh! Right. Well, the Luna that's playing in the Dome isn't our Luna. Different goddess of the moon entirely. This Luna is a shape changer, not an alicorn."
Her question answered, but left unsatisfied, Twilight turned to Applejack. "Are you done watching aliens pummel each other, or can we go find our other friends and make sure they aren't freaked out about Discord messing with the sun and moon?"
"Just a sec, Twi'. This is the last fight of the tournament." Twilight had no idea how Applejack had been keeping up with the fighting below between the discussion with Pinkie and the laughter and the sudden change from day to night. "This here feller in the blue pants has been doin' pretty well so far, he's barely done anythin' at all. He just lets his opponent tire hisself out then lands a couple careful blows and POW! The other guy's been takin' a beating, but he don't really show it. He's got more endurance than an earth pony with a marathon cutie mark."
Twilight snorted in annoyance. Based on Applejack's description, this fight would take a long time. She trotted down to the front row, watching the two fighters carefully. When she got close, a quick telekinetic jerk at the heel of a cloth shoe sent the smaller human tumbling. As Twilight returned to her friends, she heard the referee's bell and half the crowd sprang up shouting with glee. She didn't even try to hide the smirk on her face, until she saw Applejack's scowl.
"That there's a might disrespectful, Twi'. That fight coulda' been anypony's game and you went and interfered. The worst part is we're the only ponies who know what really happened, on account of nopony else here knowing what your magic looks like." Twilight's ears drooped a bit at the tongue lashing she was receiving. "I'm ashamed of you, Twilight."
"Sorry, AJ. I just want to get out of here and find everypony else. Can we go now?"
"Wh-what about Rainbow?"
Twilight leaned in close as if to whisper in Rainbow's ear. Then she shouted, "Free Wonderbolts tickets! Get 'em before they're gone!"
Twilight barely had time to move out of the way as Rainbow flipped over onto her hooves gibbering about her idols. After taking a moment to collect herself, realizing there were no tickets to be had, and remembering the sharp pain in her side, Rainbow glared daggers back at Twilight. "Totally. Not. Cool."
Twilight brushed off the dagger stare. "Come on, girls, let's go find Rarity."
"Listen, lady. No ambrosia equals no product." The creature running the stall was nearly spherical. A pair of eyes sunk into the top of its body rested inches above a froglike mouth that took up nearly a third of its frame. Two spindly arms rested on the counter separating Rarity from the peaches.
Rarity stomped her hoof in frustration as the line behind her grew longer with each passing minute. "I have waited in this line for three hours! The number of... creatures... who have come here tells me that your product is exemplary, and I shall not be turned away simply because you refuse my currency!"
The salescreature lifted itself higher so that it could angle downwards to look Rarity in the eye. Its deep gruff voice indicated masculinity, though Rarity could only guess. "Not even obols and talents are good here, horsie. Your foreign gold coins certainly won't buy you anything. Unless you got a friend willing to spot you some ambrosia, then you need to get outta here so I can help my other customers."
As if on cue, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, and a slightly limping Rainbow Dash turned around the corner at the front of the stall. "Hiya, Rarity," Pinkie called out. "What'cha up to?"
"This ruffian refuses to sell me his peaches! Apparently my bits are no good here and he wants 'ambrosia'."
"Peaches?" In a blink, Pinkie Pie was standing on the counter of the peach stand giving the proprietor a suspicious stare. She stared at the peaches themselves – apparently pristine to the point of glowing in the moonlight. She glanced back at the creatures waiting in line – each a more unsavory character than the last. Pinkie turned back to the stall keeper, "These wouldn't happen to be special peaches, would they? The kind of peaches that would require somepony to call a censor about? The kind of peaches that results in a severity five offense for stealing? The kind of peaches that nopony should have this many of?" At this point, Pinkie Pie was leaning into the (extremely flustered) face of the stall keeper. True to form, she was standing firm on the counter of the stall, yet leaning so far forward any other creature would have fallen face first.
The stall keeper seemed to sweat. "There's no need to call any censors, miss. In fact, I think it's time for me to go. Yes, I have this thing... to do... with some people..."
The rotund creature scrambled away from his stall and from the pink demon that had stared into his very soul, leaving his stall and his contraband merchandise behind.
Pinkie turned back to the line behind Rarity, now much shorter as its occupants began to slink off and avoid being associated with the bust. One man was not fast enough in his withdrawal, however, and became the next target for the exalted pony. This time, she wore a smile that could inflict a sugar coma and bat her eyelids in a manner that somehow managed to communicate 'do what I say or regret it'. "Would you please go fetch a celestial lion guard and please tell him that we have some confiscated peaches of immortality, please?" Her unfortunate victim nodded silently and ran off.
"How d'yall know he's gonna get the guard?"
Twilight had a better question, "How did Rarity end up in line for stolen merchandise?"
"Humph! How was I to know it was stolen? I was hungry and his stall looked popular!"
"Didn't y'all notice the distinct lack of other stalls nearby? Or crowds? Or guards?"
"I... may have gotten myself a little lost." Rarity's face flushed at the admission of her mistake.
The conversation between the six friends continued for several minutes, when finally a party of five celestial lions rounded the corner. Behind them followed a pair of identical humanoid figures no taller than the ponies, each with a bald head, full beards, and leafy green coveralls. Walking sedately behind the rest of the group was a much taller man in bright ornamental green robes. He wore a white sash, and like the two shorter creatures he was bald. He did wear a beard, though it was much shorter and neatly cropped. The elderly man walked with a wrapped wooden staff which had a golden setting for a large spherical red gem.
The leading lion glanced to the vacated stall and gave a gruff nod to the ponies. Without a word, the twins began to carefully collect the peaches in a large basket while the lions stood guard. The entire process went in silence, until Pinkie saw the remaining man past the lions.
With a gasp she cried, "Ohmygosh it's Ketchup!" She began waving to the individual she'd identified as 'Ketchup' and continued, "Ketchup Carjack! Over here! It's me, Pinkie Pie!"
The expression on 'Ketchup's face shifted from solemn boredom to obvious annoyance. It was an expression worn by almost everyone at some point when dealing with the party pony. He did not quicken his pace, but he turned away from the peach reclamation towards the ponies. When he was close enough to be heard without shouting he finally replied to the (still waving enthusiastically) pink mare, "How many times do I have to tell you, Pinkamena? My name is Chejop Kejak, not 'Ketchup Carjack'! That nickname doesn't even make any sense!"
"Well, you see... 'ketchup' is a condiment made from tomatoes and vinegar, and a 'car' is-"
"Thank you Pinkie," Twilight interrupted with a slightly manic smile. "Hello, mister Kejak, my name is Twilight Sparkle, I'm a friend of Pinkie's. These are App-"
Chejop interrupted, "Yes, yes, I'd heard that Pinkamena managed to smuggle in some extra mortals to the Carnival," he glared at Pinkie, who was still trying to rattle on about maintenance on some sort of self-propelling transportation device. "I don't know how she managed to get so many of you here from Equestria without knowing any sorcery, but your existence here poses a problem. Here at the Carnival you can pass off as gods or elementals, but in Creation the humans will likely react poorly to your appearance."
Rainbow was quick to pick up on at least one of Chejop's words. "Wait, did you say we can pass as g-" She promptly had an orange hoof filling her mouth.
"Unfortunately, a trip back to your home may prove difficult," he continued. "While we have had contact with Equestria before, the trip from here to there requires passing through Cecelyne, the Endless Desert. It is a ten-day journey, and it is not a pleasant one." Chejop glared at Pinkie once more, "Which is why someone was supposed to stay in Equestria on guard, in case anything decided that Equestria could be a staging ground against Creation." Pinkie began to droop under the cold stare of the older man.
Thankfully, Twilight came to her friend's aid and laid a foreleg around Pinkie's shoulders. "Don't take this out on her mister Kejak. We arrived here after a magical mishap threw our entire town into the Noss Fens." The mention of the swamp's name drew Chejop's attention. "I was doing research on alternate universes, when I began scrying on this one. Except instead of being able to view any arbitrary point on the world, my eyes were locked with another's. Pinkie said it must have been the Dowager, but she wasn't in the Mound when we were there."
Chejop seemed pensive for a moment before asking, "When you were in the Mound, did you see the Dowager's throne room?" Twilight and Pinkie both nodded. "Was the well there? Of course it wasn't there, the two of you would be mindless shells now if it were." Chejop paused again before kneeling before Pinkie and putting a hand on her head. "Pinkamena, I believe whatever brought you and the other ponies here also sent the Dowager and the Well of Udr to Equestria. Head to the eastern entrance to the plaza and wait there. I'll send a messenger to gather the other ponies you've brought, and I'll have a minor god meet you there to let you through the Carnival boundary. Gather your things from your apartment and leave via gate sixteen."
Chejop looked solemnly to the other Bearers, "I'm sorry, but you may not be able to return to Equestria with Pinkamena. I don't know what the Dowager will do there, but anything she does will not be good for your home. The place Pinkamena will take you is habitable and near a river, but far enough away from human settlements that you shouldn't cause any uproar. I'm sorry, but you may have to create a permanent home here while Pinkamena rallies our agents in Equestria as well as the local forces. I am sorry." Chejop's eyes were impassive, but he truly meant his apologies.
Word had spread among the ponies that getting home wasn't happening. The air felt heavy as Spike double checked his head count. Everypony was accounted for, and they just had to wait for the 'minor god' to come and let them out of the Carnival grounds.
As the minutes ticked away, the mood among the herd of ponies worsened and the sounds of the Carnival seemed to dim. Fluttershy's ears twitched when she heard muted gasps at the edge of the crowd. Soft murmurs began to spread, and by the time the source of the disruption reached the Carnival boundary, all six Bearers were looking up.
"Hello, my little ponies," smiled the pearl-white alicorn with the flowing pastel mane.
It was a long trip back from Trottingham for the intrepid mailmare. The special delivery had been a success (no damage to the cargo meant success, even if there were a couple crash landings). Dinky would be waiting with her half-sister for Derpy's return. Lunch today was going to include a muffin. All was right with the world.
The grey pegasus made her landing on a small grassy knoll to stop and rest, and to eat her lunch. She fished out the sealed bowl of gazpacho soup that nice stallion with the hoofball goalpost cutie mark had given her when she made her delivery, and of course her blueberry muffin as well. Derpy popped off the top of the sealed bowl, and paused. One eye scanned the scenery around her (I should really take on more long-distance deliveries. Maybe when Dinky is older...) while the other stared hungrily at her lunch.
On the surface of the soup in the bowl, fiery golden symbols began to form. Derpy forced both eyes to focus on a single point and began reading.
Dowager in Equestria. Ponyville in Creation. Inform others and warn princesses. Do not reveal existence of Creation.
Derpy processed the information in the message, but her mind stuck on one fact. If Ponyville had been sent to Creation somehow...
Movement caught her eye as more symbols began to form, almost as if the writer had paused to think before continuing with the text.
Don't worry, Dinky is safe.
With her mind put to ease, Derpy swallowed the soup in two mouthfuls and scarfed the muffin almost as fast. If a Deathlord was in Equestria, plans had to be set into motion as quickly as possible.
The air around the mailmare began to glow yellow, and a yellow symbol appeared on her forehead. She closed her eyes, sat back on her haunches, and began to wave her hooves in strictly defined patterns. Her wings joined in as arcane figures formed in the air. Derpy started muttering in a voice that was not her own when suddenly all of the light and symbols vanished. Floating a span in front of the mare's face was a naked humanoid figure half her height. Its skin constantly shifted between many hues, and on its back were six glittering blue-chrome wings which held it aloft. She leaned in to the cherub's ear and began whispering. After a moment she leaned back and nodded.
The cherub floated up and then seemingly vanished as it sped on its journey to deliver a message. If there had been anypony around to look (and if their eyes could have followed the cherub's incredible speed), they might have deduced that the cherub flew towards Canterlot.
Deep in the blackest depths of the Inner Sea, a creature stirred. The beast stretched over a mile from its snout to the end of its tail, and half that top to bottom. If the creature extended its arms to each side, the distance between the tips of its claws would put its axial length to shame. The beast's tremendous claws were constructed; the armor covering its hide was artificial. Between its jaws, like a whale's baleen teeth, its masters had affixed hundreds of spiked chains. Even the creature's eyes were not its own, manufactured so that its vision could pierce the depths... and report what it saw.
As the creature swam towards its destination with a purpose, it rotted.
This beast did not have a name, not any more. The beast was resurrected and altered for a singular purpose, the mission it was in the process of executing.
It slowed in the waters as the target drew near: a domed structure of jade, sunken into the ocean almost two millennia ago. The beast scooped the structure out of the ocean floor with a single swipe of one of its great claws as the other rose far as the beast could stretch. The plan required precision, both in angle and in force.
With a single motion, the beast struck the jade object in its claws. The jade should have fractured. That was the plan.
The jade shattered.
Fragments of the magical stone flew everywhere, blinding several of the beast's many eyes. The force of the attack ripped the artificial claws from the creature's body. Shards of power scattered in all directions, invisible to all but the beast. These were the targets of the mission, and the beast flailed in an attempt to capture the shards with the massive chains filling its mouth. When the beast could not catch enough, it resorted to flailing the chains in an attempt to catch more. Finally, the motion stopped. The shards of power were all either gone or captured. Of nearly three hundred imprisoned in jade, not even eight score were caught.
Slowly, the spiked chains drew back into the beast's mouth and down its gullet. When all of the chains finally disappeared, the unlife given to the creature was withdrawn and it died once again.
Lytek, the Right Hand of Power, sat in his office hunched over that most infernal invention: paperwork. He appeared to be an elegantly dressed human, with layered white robes and golden trim. An angular headpiece rested on his forehead, and extravagant epaulets rested on his shoulders. The epaulets shifted as he flipped a page in the document he was scanning and he ran a hand through his forest of spiky blond hair. He appeared to be a normal (if well-off) human, save for one detail: his body was composed entirely of light.
At one point, Lytek's office had been a grand affair. Due to political maneuvering and events out of his control, however, Lytek's status in the Bureau of Heaven had been steadily declining for over a millennium. His current office held simply a desk, three chairs, one cabinet set into the wall, and the door to a vault. While his position had declined, Lytek still held a position of power, and the quality of the items and decorations in his office reflected that.
Lytek paid little heed to these sorts of things, which was why the political moves of his peers had succeeded so well – Lytek lost the game, because Lytek generally refused to play. If Lytek could have his way, there would be no politics and no paperwork, and he would be left in peace to tend to his real duties. In a moment of quiet nostalgia, he turned towards his cabinet and sighed. The doors were intricately carved, and the wood of finest quality. Even despite magical maintenance over the centuries, the cabinet was obviously worn. The wear was much like a child's stuffed animal losing its fur due to too much love, for that's exactly how Lytek treated his cabinet. The cabinet's use had been in sharp decline almost at the same rate Lytek's position within the Bureau declined. With another sigh, Lytek returned to the papers in front of him.
Unbeknownst to Lytek, today was a special day for his cabinet.
It began with the small thunk of wood tapping on wood, barely audible from Lytek's seat at his desk. The Right Hand of Power dismissed the noise, perhaps attributing it to the Carnival. With another thunk – louder this time – Lytek turned towards the source of the sound: the doors of the cabinet had tapped against the cabinet's frame.
Thunk thunk. Lytek watched as the cabinet's doors rocked on their hinges before closing again to tap the wood.
The sounds continued with increased volume and frequency. As Lytek rose from his chair, a grin began to form on his face. The cabinet rattled, and the doors nearly fell off of their hinges. Lytek reached for the handle of one of the doors, and the motion suddenly stopped.
If the god had a physical heart, it would have frozen. If he needed to breathe for any purpose other than speech, he would have been holding his breath. Trembling with excited trepidation, Lytek pulled the cabinet open to reveal dozens upon dozens of glowing golden orbs. The sight drew a joyous tear from his eye which he wiped away while he whispered to the empty room, "welcome home."
Approximately Three Months Later
Chejop Kejack leaned back in his chair, staring at the message on his desk in disbelief. Copies had been sent to every divisional head throughout Heaven, but it couldn't be possible.
From the desk of Lytek, Right Hand of Power It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Solar exalted have returned.
Oh, there would be hell to pay...
Approximately Four Years Later
"Hello, my little ponies," smiled the pearl-white alicorn with the flowing pastel mane.
The Bearers were stunned into silence. Even Pinkie Pie had nothing to say. Celestia was in Creation, a world the princess should have known nothing about. How was this possible? What did it mean for the secrets she'd kept for so many years?
Pinkie's train of thought was violently derailed when Celestia turned to her and asked, "Vizier, I was informed that these mortals needed passage outside the Carnival grounds?"
The lone survivor of the train crash stumbled out of the wreckage and crawled back to the rail line. The felt pony discovered a pump car on the tracks (or was it a Kalamazoo?) and slowly regained her normal momentum. Pinkie finally snapped out of her reverie to respond to the princess, "Oh! Yes, um... I need to get all of these ponies to gate 16 as soon as possible and-"
While Pinkie floundered around surprised at seeing Celestia for her own reasons, Twilight's brain finally began working again. "Princess Celestia!" Even Twilight's brain had to warm up before adding anything significant to the conversation.
The princess blinked once at Twilight's outburst. "Do I... know you, mortal?"
Shock rippled through the ponies close enough to hear Celestia's words; Twilight's shock nearly shut her down a second time. Perhaps she was inured to the inexplicable world by now because she managed to keep herself together.
"Princess, it's me, Twilight! Your most faithful student!"
"I don't know what you're talking about. I've never met anyone named 'Twilight' before, and I certainly don't have any students faithful or otherwise."
Tears began forming in Twilight's eyes. How could she not recognize me?
"Your majesty, if I may," Rarity took the floor to try and piece the puzzling situation together, "you have been ruling for thousands of years. You and your sister have protected Equestria from goodness knows how many threats. You must have met a million ponies in your lifetime." She bit her lower lip, not wanting to speak the next words. "Is it possible you've simply forgotten us? Somehow?"
As Rarity spoke, Celestia's head cocked and her face contorted with increasing confusion. "Sister? Thousands of years? 'Equestria'? What are you talking about, my little pony?" Celestia straightened up and gave the best serene smile she could. "I have no sister. I have only been employed on the Quays for twenty years, give or take. What in the name of Sol Invictus is 'Equestria'?"
Finally, something within Pinkie Pie clicked, and she laughed. Like someone coming late to the punch, line she squealed, "I get it! I get it now!" The others turned to her and she smiled back. "This is my fault. Well, our faults, but it started out as my fault."
Nopony responded to her claim. Everypony (including Celestia) seemed to want an explanation.
"Sigh. Praying to a god is like currency in Heaven. When I came here the first time, the only goddess I knew of was Celestia. The only god I ever prayed to was Celestia, but Celestia was in Equestria." The princess cocked her eyebrow at the claim that she'd been in a place she'd never heard of, but let Pinkie Pie continue the story. "Prayers have to go somewhere. If I had just been praying to the sun or to nothing in particular, my prayers would have been redirected to the Unconquered Sun. Since I was praying to a nonexistent god, I guess a god was created to fill that void."
"Yer sayin' you created the princess?" Applejack seemed just slightly doubtful.
Pinkie Pie looked to the princess. "Celestia, what is your role in the celestial hierarchy?"
Celestia's smile spread wider. If anypony had cared to think about it, her smile had an eerie resemblance to the smiles Pinkie Pie wore on a daily basis. "I am the goddess of sunrise and sunset."
"Where do you work?"
"In the morning I work at the Quay of Dawn and assist with the crew change of the Golden Barque. In the evening I perform the same task at the Quay of Twilight" Her wings fluttered with pride.
"What year did you start working at the Quays?"
"Realm Year seven hundred forty-two."
"One more question, Celestia: what did you do in Realm Year seven hundred forty-one?"
"Nothing; I didn't exist."
Pinkie Pie nodded with satisfaction. Pinkie said with a wink to her friend, "Guess what year I showed up, Applejack?"
Pinkie cleared her throat and turned back to Celestia. "You may not know us, Celestia, but your appearance, name, and even your role are all based on one of the princesses of Equestria, where all of us are from," Pinkie said as she waved a hoof over the herd. "I assume you've been receiving many more prayers in the past four days than you have in the past twenty years? Those would be coming from these ponies." A thought struck Pinkie, and she gasped. "You never got a 'Welcome to Existence' party! It would be like a birthday party, but for a god! You've gotta come with us so I can throw you a surprise party!"
The tinkling of bells was Celestia's laughter at the sudden enthusiasm of the young vizier before her. "Come; let's see you all through the barrier. I wish to see more at the Carnival, but if you little ponies are the source of my ambrosia, then I think you deserve a visit someday."
As a group, the ponies walked down the road past the obelisks marking the edge of the Carnival grounds. Once everypony was outside, Celestia stopped. "You'll be settling near gate 16, then?" Pinkie Pie nodded an affirmation. "Then I will see you in the future." With that, Celestia spread her wings and flew back towards the festivities.
"Huh," said Rainbow Dash, "how come she gets to fly?"
Pinkie led the ponies towards a bridge rising from the street over a silver and gold canal. A large boat – much longer than it was wide – was moored on the edge with a spindly-armed spider-like god resting in it. At each end of the boat was the carved head of a dragon.
"Hey, taxi! You think you can fit all of us on your boat?" Pinkie waved to the lightly snoozing god who awoke with a snort.
The spider glanced over the herd of ponies, making mental calculations before waving one of his arms over the seating area. Without any other indication of action on the part of the god, the boat widened by fifteen spans and lengthened by twenty. "Three coins, plus two every junction, plus one for every five of you lot," the god said.
"Come on, everypony! Hop in the dragonboat!" As ponies began boarding and finding seats, Pinkie walked up to the driver and said, "We're headed to Surprise Avenue and Algedonic Boulevard, which should be nine junctions." The driver nodded confirmation, and Pinkie reached into her mane to pull out a hefty bag of coins. "I'll pay you fifty now, and the rest when we arrive safely." She reached into the bag and pulled out several stacks of coins: foil-wrapped ambrosia stamped with the image of Sol Invictus himself. Pinkie hoofed the coins to the driver before bouncing gleefully into the center of the cram-packed dragon boat.
The taxi driver stood in the back and removed the enchanted rope securing the boat to the edge of the canal. As soon as the boat nudged into the current of the quicksilver, everypony's mane flew back violently with almost enough force to be ripped out of each pony's head. The bridges, streets, buildings, and crossing canals (the latter of which seemed to separate themselves from the path the dragon boat was taking) sped past at an alarming rate.
Noticing the panic beginning to spread through his charges and the flesh pulling away from their faces (and the hairs threatening to detach and wrap around his head), the taxi driver waved another of his long arms through the air. The rushing wind stopped, everypony's mane collapsed around them, and skin hung loosely off of everypony's face for a moment before its natural shape could be regained.
"Sorry 'bout dat. I didn't realize you wuz mortals."
That's when Rarity saw what had become of her mane, and began to scream.
The dragon boat took nearly two hours to reach its destination. It took most of that time to calm Rarity down and repair her coif.
As the ponies disembarked, Pinkie smothered the taxi driver in a hug. "Thanks for the lift! Here's the rest of the fare," she said as she hoofed another pile of coins over to the stunned god.
If it weren't for the quicksilver canal, the street the ponies stood on could have been mistaken for uptown residential Manehatten. Most of the buildings lining the street were many-storied apartments, but each exuded an air of grace and quality that most apartment buildings simply couldn't match. Between apartments stood the occasional restaurant or other place of business, but this area of Yu-Shan was obviously a residential district.
Pinkie led the herd away from the canal. She took several turns on her route, but within a few minutes, she stopped in front of a golden revolving door marking the entrance to one of the smaller towering buildings. Pinkie turned to her friends and said, "I just need to pop in and grab some stuff. There's... not really enough room for everypony, so could you girls just keep them here on the street for a bit?"
The other Bearers dully nodded their assent, and watched Pinkie enter the building.
There was an awkward silence among the ponies for a few minutes. They had nothing to do, they were lost in a strange world, and the only pony among them who could make sense of any of it was the pony who had always made the least sense. Perhaps their current situation shed some light on her previous behavior, but for now, there was nothing that could be done.
Unnoticed by her friends, Fluttershy began to grow antsy. Her ears folded back and she chewed on her lower lip as she looked towards the door. She set her shoulders and steeled herself for what she felt she had to do, and made her way to the entrance.
It was then that somepony finally noticed her behavior. Rainbow trotted up next to Fluttershy and asked, "Hey Flutters, what are you up to?"
"I... I have to talk to Pinkie about something. It's important. Just... stay with the others, please? I want to do this. I n-need to do this."
Rarity stood on Fluttershy's other side, eyebrow raised. "Just how do you expect to find her, dear? There are dozens of rooms!"
Fluttershy froze; she hadn't considered the possibility that she would need to search for her friend. Her resolve only faltered for a few seconds, though, and she resumed her march inside. "I need to do this," she repeated. "It's important."
Behind Fluttershy's back, Rarity nodded to Rainbow and the two let the determined pegasus go on alone.
Fluttershy paused in the lobby. There was nopony around. She began to study the soft red carpeting to try and find her friend's tracks, hoping she could follow them to Pinkie's apartment, when she looked up at the large black placard on the wall. A series of buttons ran alongside spaces on the placard, each space filled with strange white symbols. The symbols were clearly hoof-written by different ponies, but the language was unfamiliar. Yet in the dead center of the list was something Fluttershy could read: Pinkamena Diane Pie.
With newfound confidence, Fluttershy pressed the button next to Pinkie's name without hesitation. The loud, artificial buzzing noise that accompanied pressing the button, however, caused Fluttershy to dash underneath the small chair on the opposite wall. She covered her head with her hooves under the chair and her exposed flank quivered incessantly.
After a few moments of shaking, Fluttershy heard a voice. It was almost like Pinkie's, but a bit scratchier. "I'm a little busy at the moment. I don't know if you noticed the huge herd of multihued horses outside, but I've got to lead them back to Creation. If it's not SUPER DUPER important, could you come back in a couple years?"
Fluttershy rose from her ill-fitting hiding place. "Pinkie? It that you?" She looked around, but couldn't see her friend. "Where are you?"
From the direction of the placard on the wall, Fluttershy heard a scratchy version of a Pinkie Pie gasp. "Fluttershy? What are you doing here? I thought you were going to wait outside?"
Still slightly confused, Fluttershy replied to her invisible friend, "Um... I n-need to talk to you. It's important."
Fluttershy could almost hear Pinkie Pie smile. "Sure thing, Fluttershy! Just climb the stairs and I'll meet you at the landing." Fluttershy heard a rather loud click, and a gate barring entrance to a stairwell on the opposite end of the sparse lobby area opened up on its own accord. With an audible gulp, she trotted over to the entrance and began her ascent.
After twelve floors, Fluttershy was beginning to get worried that she'd missed Pinkie. Just as she was about to turn back and search lower floors for her friend, she heard an unmistakable noise: an equine bouncing on all fours. Fluttershy only knew one pony who did that, and she suspected her friend might be the only equine in two worlds who bounced. With a flutter in her heart, she surged up the last two flights of stairs and nearly collided with Pinkie.
It seemed that Pinkie was not satisfied with narrowly avoiding a collision, and took Fluttershy several spans off the stairs and down the hallway with a leaping tackle ending in a hug.
Before Fluttershy could even register the events, Pinkie Pie grabbed Fluttershy's tail in her mouth and began galloping down the hall. "C'mon! You can come see my apartment!"
Hurricane Pinkie Pie eventually subsided, and Fluttershy found herself at the entrance to an apartment barely larger than Fluttershy's own living room. A door led to a bedroom (with room for the bed and not much else) which had another door within (presumably leading to a bathroom). There was a kitchenette, a coffee table, and a small couch by the table. Beyond that, there were no other visible furnishings, nor were there any decorations. There was, however, dust. It was obvious that Pinkie had not actually entered this apartment in years, and when Fluttershy finished looking around and turned back to Pinkie, the party pony actually looked embarrassed about the state of her 'home away from home'.
"I'm sorry about all the dust. I don't get a chance to come by and clean up very often."
"It's... nice." Fluttershy nodded with a reassuring smile to her friend.
"Since you're here, do you think you could help me?"
"Sure," said Fluttershy, "what do you need help with?"
Pinkie led Fluttershy into the bedroom (cramped with two mares inside) and opened the closet to reveal a shining breastplate within. What did Pinkie call that stuff? Starmetal?
"It's troublesome to put this stuff on alone. I'd love your help!"
At the instruction of Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy returned to the living area where the pair would have more space for suiting up. Pinkie brought out the armor, padding, and some accessories that Fluttershy hadn't noticed, and laid her panoply out on the floor.
Fluttershy followed Pinkie's directions for how all the pieces came together and in what order. What Fluttershy didn't expect, though, was the conversation that happened while each piece was being put in its place on Pinkie's body.
"So, you wanted to talk to me about something?"
Fluttershy had almost forgotten the reason she had come to talk to Pinkie privately in the first place. She bit her lip before answering, "It's... it's about our special talents."
Pinkie's silence prodded Fluttershy to continue.
"The other day, before you girls gave me the hug and told me everything would be all right... I-I tried to talk to a badger that was drinking at the stream." Fluttershy sniffed a little, the memory of the events coming back a little hard on her. "I don't think the badger understood me, and he ran away!"
"So you think there's something wrong with your special talent?" Pinkie asked. "Fold that padding here, around my girth."
"Ever since I got my cutie mark, I've been able to communicate with the woodland critters. They could understand me and I could understand them. A-and except for the Gala, and that time when I was a meanie because I was too assertive, I've never had an animal run away from me!"
"Our cutie marks have some magic of their own. Yours helps you work with animals, mostly by letting you communicate. Secure that clasp, next comes the breastplate." Pinkie's ability to instruct while carrying her friend through an emotionally charged conversation was perhaps the only thing stopping the pegasus mare from breaking down into tears again. "Equestrian magic doesn't really work here in Creation. The magic of your cutie mark won't work until you get home."
That may have been the wrong thing to say, as it was exactly what Fluttershy had feared when she tried to ready herself for this conversation. Fluttershy also knew the difficulty that the ponies were going to have actually returning to Equestria.
"No! Fluttershy don't cry! Please!" Pinkie begged. Fluttershy managed to get her tear ducts under control again, and Pinkie gave her the best reassuring smile she could. "You may not be able to talk to animals, but think of all the experience you've gained working with animals for so many years. None of that is magic. That experience is how we found that stream in the first place, remember? If it weren't for you and your experience with animals, we would have a lot of thirsty ponies right now."
This seemed to calm Fluttershy down as she helped Pinkie lift the (extremely heavy!) armor over the earth pony's head. Pinkie didn't seem to mind the weight even though Fluttershy felt like she was barely able to move the thing at all. "Look at me, Fluttershy. I make ponies happy and throw parties. I may not have any magical assistance here, but I can still make you smile!" Pinkie nudged her friend with a hoof while grinning like an idiot. In return, Fluttershy gave a sheepish grin.
"Is... this why the pegasi can't fly, and the unicorns can't do magic?"
"And we earth ponies aren't nearly as resilient or good with the earth as we usually are," Pinkie nodded confirmation. "Help me with the straps around my legs, would you? I mean, Applejack will still be tougher than Cloudkicker, and she still knows what goes into growing apples; she just won't suddenly have the best apples around. You still know how to care for animals; you just can't talk to them. That's all real stuff we've earned through our daily lives."
Fluttershy finished with all the straps on the armor and went to fetch the headband and other accessories. Pinkie sighed as her head lowered a bit. "The really frustrating thing is all the fillies and colts that don't have a cutie mark yet. You can't get your mark without Equestrian magic, and everypony really looks forward to getting their mark." Neither of the mares said anything, but both of them turned their thoughts to the excitable trio of fillies who were obsessed with finding their special talent.
Pinkie winced a bit as she put on the starmetal earrings, using holes that were all but closed. As she adjusted the headband, she cried out, "pinchy knee!"
Pinkie's body began to move on its own accord. "Ear flop! Twitchy tail! Achy shoulder! Oh! It's a scene change."
Outside, the waiting ponies began hearing hoofsteps drawing near, sounding from the opposite direction the ponies had arrived. Another pony? The steps were far too heavy for either of the princesses.
As it turned out, the source of the hoofsteps was a massive stallion. His coat was a dappled cloud grey, and his mane was a silver that almost shined. When he raised his head in surprise at seeing the ponies waiting for the return of Pinkie Pie, he became more than three times the height of any stallion in the herd. This was no pony; this was a horse.
The new stallion recovered from his shock quickly and spoke in a booming baritone, "Hail, small ponies!" He paused, as if he was waiting for some form of recognition to spark in the eyes of the equines standing before him. When he received no response, he continued: "Do you not recognize your lord? I am Hiparkes!"
Applejack was the first to speak up. "We serve the princesses, Celestia and Luna. We never heard a'no Hiparkes."
"It is I, Hiparkes, Stallion-Lord of the Marukan Plains! If your ignorance blocks your knowledge of me, then I shall simply have to escort you to my ranch!"
Twilight chimed in, "The maru-what plains? Look, we're waiting for a friend here. If you could just leave us be, everything will be all right. We have our own plans, we don't need to visit your ranch."
In an instant, Hiparkes shifted from a haughty – almost regal – stallion (which Rarity was trying desperately to avoid drooling over) into an entire herd of wild horses. Beyond the stallion leading it which appeared to be a diminished version of the original Hiparkes, nopony could tell where one horse in the herd stopped and the next began. "If you will not come with me of your own will, I shall take you there by force. Despite your diminutive size, you mares seem to have excellent foal-bearing hips. It will be an interesting experiment to see what sort of offspring talking mortal ponies can produce with my mortal and my spirit horses. You shall all come with me. Now."
Every single mare in the Ponyville herd looked horrified at the implications of Hiparkes' words. Many of the single stallions seemed to be considering his offer, though. (A few of the married stallions tried to consider it, before getting whacked by their wives.)
All second thoughts dissipated when Twilight stepped forward and began to speak. "Look, Mr. Hiparkes. We don't know who you are. We don't understand everything that's going on around us. I formed a bridge with this world and brought everypony here on accident. My friend Pinkie has made this entire experience survivable for us. If it weren't for her, many of us would be dead or worse. We aren't from this world, and while we may be forced to stay a while, I intend to help get everypony home one way or another.
"I would sacrifice my own life to protect these ponies; whether I'm protecting them from monsters or from lecherous scum like you doesn't matter. My friends and I can do anything if we're together. We've protected Ponyville and Equestria from threats before, and we'll continue to do so. I'll admit: my power has been reduced since coming here. I also don't like to fight if I don't have to. However, if you leave us no choice, we will stand up for ourselves. We fought off a hundred thousand changelings that attacked my brother's wedding, including their queen which managed to overpower our god-princess. What makes you think you can walk all over us?" As Twilight spoke, her friends took up positions next to her; they stood between Hiparkes and the herd of ponies. By the time Twilight had finished, most of the other ponies had planted their hooves, ready to fight for their loved ones and for their town. Even some of the young fillies and colts looked ready to help, though their parents dragged the foals back to a protected huddle in the center of the herd.
Twilight's words certainly tweaked the horse god. The words themselves would not have filled him with rage, though. No; the rage came after Twilight's lecture ended, when she became bathed in a golden light. Comforting warmth filled her body, and Applejack and Rarity standing next to her could feel Twilight radiating heat. Twilight's eyes burned a fiery white as new memories flooded into her mind.
The sounds of Hiparkes' growls and the gasps of surprise from the other ponies fell silent in Twilight's ears. Only one voice could be heard, a golden masculine voice. "Take now your second breath, Twilight. Bask in my evening glow. You have proven yourself worthy of my power, and greater brilliance lies just within your reach. You are a leader – a ruler – but this world is broken. Fix it."
The light cleared and Twilight's eyes dimmed, leaving only a half-filled glowing golden ring shining below her horn. The other ponies were speechless, but Hiparkes was foaming at the mouth.
"Damn you, you Unclean! Anathema!" Hiparkes gurgled in his rage, unable to properly control himself. This... pony... had no right to rule over the proud stallion lord. All he had to do was execute this poor excuse for an exalt, and her power would be reborn into a more suitable host to satisfy the Mandate of Heaven.
Hiparkes and his herd of a body charged forward at Twilight Sparkle. The Ponyville herd surged forward to meet him, led by the four Bearers.
After several minutes of stomping, bucking, thrashing, and biting, both sides were showing wounds and signs of exhaustion, but neither was willing to give up. Hiparkes had the advantage of size, but the Ponyville citizens had the advantage of maneuverability thanks to independent thoughts. Minor telekinesis from the unicorns, acrobatic maneuvers from the pegasi, and excellent strategic advice from Twilight helped, too.
The tables tipped when two mares waltzed out of the golden doors. One of them was wearing a starmetal breastplate and her right foreleg was covered with what looked disturbingly like a hoofheld party cannon. Pinkie and Fluttershy looked to Hiparkes and to the other ponies; both sides were panting for breath and yet ready to go another round. Behind the panting ponies stood a number of others which had stayed out of the fight to guard the foals from Hiparkes' attack: Cheerilee, Mrs. Cake, Filthy Rich, Berry Punch, Thunderlane, and others formed an angry-looking circle around students, children, siblings, and young friends. When Pinkie saw the brightly glowing aura surrounding Twilight that had built up over the course of the fight (with an image of her twinkling cutie mark floating above her) she winced. At the rate Twilight was going, she'd be burnt out and Hiparkes would overrun the ponies.
Fortunately, the cavalry had arrived. Pinkie lifted her canon and called out, "Hey Mr. Hippo!" As soon as Hiparkes turned to see the pink menace, she fired her weapon – a warning shot only, serving as a very short manecut. The blue-white ball of lightning singed the inner edges of Hiparkes' ears and he could smell burning hair. After the shot passed, steam vented from the sides of the cannon for a moment before clearing away to show Pinkie Pie positively beaming at Hiparkes as though she had invited him to a party, rather than fired an extremely deadly weapon at his head. Although he did not turn to see it, there was a five-inch wide hole in the wall of the building behind him. Hiparkes' eyes widened as it dawned on him exactly what sort of weapon Pinkie was wielding, and what sort of being this pink pony must be: another exalt.
Two exalted ponies. Even if one of them had just taken her second breath, the other had access to advanced First Age weapons technology. The tides had shifted, and not in his favor. Hiparkes shifted back to being just a single horse, and without a word, he fled back the way he had come.
The ponies relaxed their tensed up muscles, and Pinkie happily trotted over to Twilight (the cannon covering her foreleg served equally well as an artificial hoof). She drew in close to Twilight's ear and began to whisper, "You became an exalt like I did. Do you know what that means?" Twilight was about to respond with something along the lines of 'return to Ponyville with you,' but before she got the chance to even open her mouth, Pinkie shouted in her ear, "PARTY!!"
Octavia Philharmonica stood in the small living room of her apartment on her rear legs as her cello supplied balance. The room was mostly ignored by the apartment's occupants; the only use the room got was passing from the door to the kitchen or bedrooms, and Octavia's cello practice. While a plush couch on one wall dominated the room's space, it was not even used as a bed for temporary visitors or drunken stupors.
With each wave of her bow across the strings, Octavia pulled forth the enchanting notes of "Meditation" by Masseneigh. She was so lost in the music that Octavia almost didn't notice the cherub that flew through the window. As the colorful fluttering construct began to speak, she altered her speed across the strings and reduced her volume so that she could listen, but she continued to play.
The cherub spoke with a perfect facsimile of Derpy's voice, "Octavia, we have a problem. Intelligence reports that the Dowager has appeared in Equestria. It seems her base of operations may be in Ponyville, as the citizens were transported to Creation." Octavia, ever the professional, didn't miss a beat of her music at the news. "I'm headed to Canterlot now to seek an audience with Celestia; I'll figure out a cover story by the time I get there. We don't know what the Dowager is planning yet, or why she sent Ponyville to Creation instead of just killing them all off." The cherub paused.
"To be honest, I'm glad – my little muffin lives in Ponyville." The grey mare's fear was evident in the cherub's perfect mimicry of her voice. You wouldn't be so worried if you hadn't had that foal, Derpy. Octavia had met Dinky, and she was a cute kid, but this situation was exactly the sort of reason Octavia had refused any intimate relationships. There were only three agents guarding the entirety of Equestria and the lands beyond; attachments split loyalties, and split loyalties led to mistakes. Pinkie spends all of her time overcoming Arcane Fate, Derpy has a foal. Am I the only one taking her job seriously?
"I need you to go undercover and see if you can find out more about what's going on." Octavia rolled her eyes despite herself. Of course that was the plan. Send the Chosen of Endings to infiltrate the camp of the dead. Sending Black Ice Shadow on a mission like that was different – Shadow's father had been a ghost when Shadow was conceived. Still, Octavia thought to herself, I must admit these things carry a certain thrill.
The cherub winked out of existence, and the final notes of Masseneigh's music hung in the air. With a sigh, Octavia dropped forward to her natural posture and returned her cello to its case. She silently thanked the stars that her roommate was practically nocturnal, and was asleep during the visit of the otherworldly messenger.
With one hoof, the high-society cellist lifted the large couch away from the wall. It had taken three stallions – professional movers – to get the couch in place, but Octavia lifted the entire thing as though it were made of paper-mâché. When the couch was safely back on the floor and out of the way, she tapped a rhythm on the section of wall it had been concealing: tap-tap-taptap-tap-taptaptap. The wall section slid to the side revealing a secret cache of belongings, including another cello case. Octavia snapped open the latches and opened the hidden case. Within was a cello crafted of a dark steel material, and as she leaned in close, she could hear the voices inside...
As Octavia scribbled a note on the dining table, she began to plan. I think this time I'll use "The Conductor of the Cacophonic Steel Chorus", working for... the Lion? That might infuriate the Dowager when she's told one of the Lion's knights has followed her, but I think I can use that.
Vinyl – I'm going to be out of town for several weeks. My half of next month's rent is in my room on the dresser. You're welcome to any of my food in the kitchen I've left behind. Please don't set anything on fire this time. If you have any "coltfriends" over, you are NOT TO USE MY BED! YOU USE YOUR OWN BUCKING BED!
Between two remotely located Bois d'Arc trees, the air shimmered for just a moment. From one side, nothing had changed. From the opposite side, the natural archway led into a hall guarded by celestial lions. Multicolored ponies began filing out of the hall and gathering outside, their ordeals in Yu-Shan completed.
Twilight and Rarity stopped immediately outside the arch to oversee the ponies' exodus from Yu-Shan. Applejack and Rainbow Dash led the ponies outside and encouraged them to keep moving, helping make room for the ponies in the rear. In the hall, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy brought up the rear, ensuring nopony would be left behind in Yu-Shan.
Once everypony had returned to Creation, the air between the trees shimmered again, and the hall disappeared.
"C'mon, everypony! Let's go find us a spot to settle fer a while." Applejack put on a strong face for the rest of the ponies. If they were stuck in Creation, they might as well make the best of it. Applejack set to work assigning ponies to jobs building a (hopefully) temporary home.
Twilight sat off to the side, distant and quiet. She had been introspective ever since Pinkie had driven off Hiparkes, mechanically doing her part to get the other ponies out of Yu-Shan safely, but her heart hadn't been in the job. Her friends gave her some space, and Pinkie assured them she was just coming to terms with her newfound power.
Twilight's gaze searched around the area surrounding the hidden gateway. Just over the hill to the north, she could hear the rushing waters of a river, identified by Pinkie as the Meander River. The rolling hills surrounding the gate reminded her of the outskirts of Ponyville – of home.
A confusing wash of memories flooded Twilight's mind. Her memories of Equestria and her studies in friendship twisted around the images of a dozen other lifetimes. Twilight turned back to stare at the gateway just so she could focus on something. It seemed to work, as the alien memories in her mind slowly merged into the image of the gate in front of her. Her concentration only held for a moment before wandering off again. However, this time instead of a dozen memories from a dozen lifetimes, she saw a single image. Twilight stood and began walking south.
Spike noticed Twilight's behavior immediately. Rather than ASSIGNING him a job to help build shelters, Applejack just asked him to watch over Twilight and make sure she was all right. When and if her disposition changed (to use words from Twilight's vocabulary), he was expected to fetch the others. Walking off on her own definitely counted as something new and worth gathering the other Bearers, so Spike floated off to do just that.
Within minutes, each of the other five Bearers had been notified that Twilight's behavior had changed, and thanks to the help of Spike's bird's-eye-view, caught up to Twilight.
"Twilight, dear, is there anything wrong?"
Twilight shook her head groggily, as if she were waking from a dream. She did not stop walking. "I think... I think I know this place."
"What the hay are you talking about, egghead?" Rainbow asked. "None of us have been here before." She paused a moment before adding, "Except maybe Pinkie."
Twilight shook her head again, more forcefully this time. "No. I can see a sort of path away from that gateway. I need to follow it and figure this whole thing out."
Rarity trotted to the front and tried to block Twilight's path. "Look, Twilight. We're stuck here. We need to work together on this!" Twilight walked around her without saying a word.
"But... Twilight! Wait!" Just as Rarity began to reach out to stop Twilight again, Pinkie held her back.
"Don't worry, Rarity!" Pinkie gave her friend the biggest grin she could muster. "I think I know what's happening. When she exalted, Twilight got some of the memories of all the previous hosts to her exaltation. It looks like this area was familiar; at least to some of them." Pinkie turned to Fluttershy. "Why don't you take Spike and go back to help everpony else? The four of us will stick with Twilight and make sure she's OK!" Fluttershy cast a single glance towards Twilight before nodding and cantering back to the rest of the displaced ponies while Spike floated effortlessly behind.
After three hours of walking, Rarity and Rainbow Dash were beginning to show signs of fatigue. The group had reached the bank of another river (the Yellow River, according to Pinkie, which met with the Meander River west of the ponies' camp) and changed course to the southeast to follow the river's bank upstream.
"Are we there yet, Twi?"
"No, Rainbow. Please stop asking."
Pinkie bounced up in the air and shouted, "Look! There's a bridge!" She began galloping towards the new landmark, and her enthusiasm (plus the break in the monotony) seemed to energize Rainbow and Rarity who quickly followed in Pinkie's wake.
Applejack turned to Twilight and asked, "That bridge ain't our destination, is it?"
Twilight shook her head. "No. We do need to cross it, though. Wherever we're going is still further south." Applejack sighed inwardly at the news. Applejack was accustomed to long days of arduous work, so she hadn't tired as quickly as the other two ponies. Already, though, the working pony could tell her muscles would give her 'proper' thanks with a raw, sore pain in her legs the next morning.
The sun hung low in the sky and the clouds began to turn pink. After the bridge, Twilight had directed the group due south, and they had all lost track of exactly how long they'd been walking. Ahead, a small copse of trees stood in their path. Before reaching the tree line, Twilight stopped for the first time since she had begun walking.
Taking Twilight's halted movement as a cue, Rarity finally collapsed, unconscious. Rainbow Dash lay down, exhausted, but (unsuccessfully) tried to hide her exhaustion from the others. Applejack dropped to the ground heaving, and didn't bother trying to hide it. Pinkie and Twilight were barely winded; they could have just as easily walked from the center of Ponyville to Fluttershy's cottage.
"Thank... huff huff... Celestia... wheeze... we're here!" Rainbow managed to say between heavy breathing.
Pinkie looked to Twilight for confirmation, but the unicorn seemed more confused than triumphant or relieved or excited... or any other emotion that might indicate she'd found where she was going. "I'm not so sure, Dashie..."
"It's supposed to be here!" cried Twilight.
Applejack drew a deep breath and asked, "What exactly have we been lookin' fer, sugarcube?"
"I don't know! That's the problem!" Twilight dropped to her haunches in defeat. "I swear, this is the spot I was supposed to go to, but whatever I'm supposed to find isn't here."
Pinkie drew closer to Twilight, intending to comfort a friend in need. Just as she reached out, the sun dipped below the horizon and the trees masking the location of Twilight's objective vanished.
"What in tarnation?"
"What the hay?"
"Ooh! That's suspiciously appropriate!"
Twilight looked up from her stupor to discover a fence and gate wrought in orichalcum, starmetal, and moonsilver. Written at the top of the gate's archway was a series of symbols, but Twilight couldn't read them.
Pinkie grabbed Twilight around the shoulders and gave her a cheery, enthusiastic smile. "Do you think you've found it now, Miss Twilight the Twilight at twilight?"
Rainbow and Applejack struggled to their hooves, and Pinkie scooped up Rarity. The four ponies (and the fifth on for the ride) walked into the compound revealed by the light of the setting sun.
The compound was massive. Rarity awoke before they even reached the primary building. The yard held water features large enough to be small lakes, sculptures with detail fine enough to be petrified monsters and humans ("Those are just normal sculptures, right?" "I hope so."). Marble pathways led to every corner and smaller buildings were scattered throughout, each with exquisite craftsponyship (or perhaps 'craftsmanship', as the case may be). The pièce de résistance, of course, was the building located at the end of the main walkway, a straight shot from the entrance gate.
The only building Twilight could compare it to was Castle Canterlot. This building was not as tall as Castle Canterlot, but it also didn't have the restriction of being built into a mountainside, and there was obviously no need for a city to be built around it. Instead of building up, the architect had built out. Where the Castle had stained glass windows depicting major events in the history of Equestria, this building had reliefs showing the exploits of several groups of humans.
Once the ponies stepped inside, though, the building proved to be bigger than it seemed. The artistic style matched the exterior and the other buildings, but it seemed the inside favored utility over style: form on the outside, function on the inside. Even if the interior was more subdued, the décor was still fancier than anypony had seen outside of the upper districts of Canterlot. Whites and golds were heavily favored in the color scheme, mostly stemming from gold and marble. The hallways branched at right angles, and a pattern of color-coded lines on the floor directed anyone walking the corridor to whatever their destination might be.
Applejack was the first to break the silence. "What is this place?"
"Totally awesome, that's what!"
Twilight turned to Pinkie for an answer. "Well, Pinkie? Do you know anything about this?"
"It's yours, silly filly!" Pinkie booped Twilight on the nose. "I mean, we followed your memories to get here, right?"
"Well sure, but... What is it?" Asked Applejack.
"Oh!" Pinkie grinned and said, "This is pretty obviously a manse. The building and the land around it work together to focus magical power!" She put her hoof to her chin and thought for a moment before adding, "I'm actually kind of surprised we haven't found any traps or guardians or anything. I guess the architect was relying on the limited point of access instead of some more forceful means to keep out intruders."
The mention of magic sparked Twilight's interest. "So a manse is a focusing lens for magical energy here? Where is the power directed? Is the magic pulled from an ambient reservoir, or is it from an upwelling caused by the intersection of multiple leylines? How does it account for natural overflow and possible feedback loops?"
While Twilight continued rambling about magical theory and the possibilities such a large magical focusing lens implied, Applejack sidled over to Pinkie Pie and asked, "D'you understand what she's talking about?"
Pinkie grinned like a maniac and said, "I have no idea!" Pinkie nudged Twilight and snapped her out of her monologue. "Hey Twilight, I bet this place is big enough for everypony. It might be a little more cramped than Ponyville, but it'll be safer than building a camp out in the middle of nowhere. You girls have a look around, I'm gonna go fetch everypony else!" With that, Pinkie hopped outside and off towards the entrance.
Rarity spoke up. "Well, if this place belongs to you as Pinkie says, Twilight, why don't you lead the way?"
"Um..." Twilight scanned around the entrance hall, trying to get an idea of where to start. She finally decided to pick one of the colored lines on the floor and follow it. The purple line was as good a choice as any. "This way!"
It. Was. Glorious. The line Twilight had chosen to follow ended in front of a library large enough to rival the Royal Archives. Shelves covered each wall and more shelves filled the room in neat rows. Every shelf was completely filled with books. A dozen chandeliers filled with some sort of crystal were currently glowing, creating plenty of light to read by in the wan light of the early evening.
Just inside the entrance stood two circular columns which also served as shelving, and they were also leaden top to bottom with books. Rainbow Dash approached one of the columns and scrutinized the spines of the books. "What's with these things? There's no writing on them, just weird squiggles."
Twilight approached from behind Rainbow and studied the subject of Rainbow's confusion. "No, Rainbow, they're just in some other language," she said. Twilight glanced at some of the other books on the shelf. "By the looks of things, there are a number of languages represented here. Look at that one, the writing is similar to Neighponese or Canternese. This one over here has symbols that look like the ones above the gate we came in."
"Now that you mention it," said Rainbow, "I remember seeing some squiggles like these when I signed up for the tournament before." Twilight sighed inwardly but didn't bother to correct her friend about the difference between 'squiggles' and 'foreign alphabets'. It wasn't like Equestria had a single alphabet; equiish and old symbolic were both fairly common (although old symbolic was being phased out, it was still taught in schools), and both extended equiish and cervvian were widely used elsewhere in the world.
Rainbow reached to grab the book that had originally caught her attention. As soon as her hoof touched the spine, every single book shelved on the two columns launched outwards from its resting place. The force of the book flying from the shelf knocked Rainbow's hoof to the side and spun her in place. Twilight managed to duck under the flying books before crawling back to Applejack and Rarity, who were gawping at the scene unfolding in the air between the columns.
The books from the two columns spiraled together in the air, their covers opening and twisting as they slid together. The books began interlocking and a shape began to form. When the storm of literature ended, a beast made of paper stood above the four ponies. The thing had two clawed arms, two legs with talons as long as a pony was wide, a long and tapering tail, and a head that consisted mostly of a mouth (not that it had a throat or other organs to eat with, but the conical teeth could probably do some damage).
The guardian beast spread its arms, opened its mouth, and leaned forward. The ponies braced themselves for a mighty roar... they got the sound of a few pages turning simultaneously instead.
"Well, horseapples."
"Didn't Pinks say something about 'traps' and 'guardians' and 'being safe for everypony' before leaving?" asked Rainbow. Her question went unanswered as the beast advanced.
Applejack set her Stetson securely on her head and took a combat stance. "Ah reckon we got no choice, girls. C'mon, it'll be just like the other day with that 'god of ponies' fella."
"Applejack, there were nearly four hundred of us in that fight," Rarity deadpanned. "There are four of us today."
"Don't use your fancy mathematics to muddle the issue!"
"It's not fancy mathematics... it isn't even arithmetic!" The two mares were practically at each other's throats, the threat of the paper monstrosity all but forgotten.
"AJ? Rarity?" Rainbow asked, "Do you think you could settle this after we're done fighting for our lives?"
Twilight noticed something rather odd. The four of them were seemingly at the monster's mercy, yet they had been standing still arguing for several seconds. "Now that you mention it, why hasn't this thing attacked us yet? We've certainly given it enough openings."
Indeed, the guardian remained between the two columns. Although it appeared ready to strike, it had not yet advanced past the invisible line between the columns.
Rainbow approached again and said, "Hah! I guess this thing is just for scaring ponies." Twilight tried to stop Rainbow, but before the words could escape her lips, Rainbow kicked out at the beast.
Before the hoof could connect, the beast grabbed Rainbow's leg and threw her against the nearby wall. It let out another silent roar, and began to advance again. This time, it did pass the columns.
"Everypony scatter!" cried Twilight.
Although they were physically exhausted, the adrenaline and the reassuring presence of their leader pushed Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity to continue. The four ponies split up, each running down a different corridor of books and forcing the guardian beast to pick a single target to follow. Twilight proved to be the unlucky one, though her unflagging stamina meant it was the best possible outcome.
Twilight turned on a bit around the corner to try and put some distance between herself and the lumbering beast. Its longer legs gave it greater speed, but the ponies had superior agility. Twilight was relying on that advantage. Agility might be the only advantage they had.
She turned back to see how much she'd gained on her pursuer, only to gape in horror as her defensive strategy crumbled before her eyes. Rather than slow down and follow her around the corner, the guardian opted to travel straight through the bookshelf. The beast ran straight into the wall of books and merged with them, reforming its body out of the books shelved on the opposite side. The books that it had previously been composed of were left neatly shelved behind it. On top of the fear for her life, Twilight's librarian compulsions rose to the front of her brain. Those need to be shelved in the right place! No! Concentrate, Twilight. Survive the magical construct of living tomes that's trying to murder you first; you can have a re-shelving slumber party later.
Regardless of its blatant disregard for organization, the beast's ability to walk through shelves meant that it would catch her sooner rather than later. Twilight needed a different strategy. "Rainbow! Get behind it and try to rip out the tail!" The tail itself was unimportant; this was a test to see if the beast could understand the ponies coordinating verbally. It didn't have any visible ears, but it didn't exactly have eyes, either. (Perhaps it had 'I's?)
Rainbow dashed around the corner behind the beast at Twilight's instruction, and chomped down near the base of the tail. The beast seemed to notice the attack, so it obviously had a sense of touch, but from Twilight's point of view it seemed Rainbow had caught the beast completely unaware. If it did have a sense of hearing, it was practically deaf.
Rainbow was attempting to worry the beast's tail, but the size of the beast combined with the thickness of the tail at the point she had attacked ensured her attempt bore little fruit. The beast cracked its tail like a whip, launching Rainbow up, but her grip was tight enough to hold on. As she fell back towards the floor, the beast's tail rose up to meet her, cracking once again and bruising Rainbow's chest. Rainbow's grip stayed firm, but the force was apparently too much for the tome between her teeth. The book audibly ripped from the guardian's tail as Rainbow once again launched into the air before she spit out the book and glided back down into another pathway between the shelves.
Rarity had managed to climb to a second-story catwalk with an excellent view of the current confrontation. The book Rainbow removed had torn a few other books out with it, which now lay scattered at the beast's feet. The tail itself was currently hanging by a thread – or rather, hanging by a few pages. The beast resumed its pursuit of Twilight who had stayed in sight to make sure it followed her instead of any of her friends, but the time Rainbow had given to her let her put on some safe distance. When Twilight saw the beast lumbering after her, she continued leading it onward.
Rarity, however, saw something immensely troubling. "Twilight! The books... it's using the books on the shelves to repair itself!" The books ripped out during Rainbow's attack lay inert, but there was no way the four of them could damage every single book in the gigantic library just to stop this thing. Rarity doubted if Twilight would allow for such an approach to the problem, anyway.
Twilight was already halfway through her next plan when Rarity called to her, and incorporated the new information into her strategy. We've got to get this thing away from the books. Will it follow us out of the library? It didn't advance past the entrance when we 'woke' it up, but then Rainbow attacked and it suddenly became much more violent. Perhaps now that it's engaged it will follow us anywhere.
"Applejack! Rainbow! Get to each side of this thing and take down its left leg together. I'm coming up on an intersection between the shelves, meet me there!" Twilight's caste mark began to glow and her heart raced faster, her breathing heavier.
Twilight raced past her two friends who were waiting to ambush the guardian beast. When it charged into the reach of the two mares, Rainbow took the most dangerous approach from the right, and leaped across in front of the beast to slam into its left leg. At the exact same moment Applejack charged, spun, and bucked with all of the strength she could put into a single attack directly on the opposite side of the left leg from Rainbow.
The force of the pincer impact on each side of the leg caused books to explode from the front and back. As Rainbow and Applejack took a step away from the monster, the leg began to crumble under a weight it could no longer support.
The beast was not without recourse as it fell. The right leg swung forward, talons catching Rainbow in the side and throwing her into the nearby shelves. Four puncture wounds began leaking crimson onto the thin carpet floor. The kick had destabilized the beast's balance further, but the beast was falling towards another target anyway. It turned towards Applejack and opened its wide maw as it fell. The cowpony managed to overcome her fear and run, but she wasn't quite fast enough. The beast trapped Applejack's right hind leg in its jaws, and she cried out in pain.
"Oh, no you don't! Ah'm too pretty to be eaten by a dictionary!" With that, Applejack lashed out with her free hoof, ripping out several of the beast's teeth and knocking its mouth open. She took the opportunity to run to a safe distance, only wincing slightly whenever she trod on her wounded leg.
"Rarity! Help me with this bookcase!" Rarity looked down to see that Twilight had emptied the bookcase looming over the guardian beast, and was now straining with her telekinesis to move the case itself. Rarity focused her mind and reached out to the bookcase below her, and began to push with all the force she could summon. Slowly, the case began to tip over towards the beast, until finally gravity began to assist and the case came crashing down.
"That won't hold it for long. It shouldn't be able to stroll through a bookcase without any books, but it's already repairing itself from Rainbow and Applejack's attack. Come on girls, back to the entrance!"
As the ponies reached the entrance to the library, they heard the crashing sound of heavy wooden objects colliding – likely the empty bookcase being thrown against full ones. The guardian beast was back on its feet and would probably be hot on their tails any minute.
"We need to draw it out of the library so that it won't have anything to repair itself with. I'll keep getting it to follow me around. Applejack, Rarity: you two split up and try to find something we can use to fight this thing with. Our record hasn't been very good so far," Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash, who had needed help to limp out of the library. She was showing signs of blood loss, and she had already been exhausted when she entered the manse. "Rainbow, I want you to go find somewhere safe, and hide. Keep pressure on that wound with your wing, and we'll find you as soon as we can, OK? I don't want you getting hurt any more than you already have."
Rainbow shook her head, but stopped as it seemed to make her dizzy. "Hay no, Twilight! I'm gonna stick by you to the very end!" Rainbow tried to take a step forward, but stumbled a bit. "Or... Maybe I'll just wait this one out."
"Okay, Rainbow, you're in no shape to go anywhere on your own. Rarity, help Rainbow get out of sight and make sure she doesn't leave a blood trail that the beast can follow to find her." Rarity seemed a bit nauseated by the blood, but nodded her consent as she let the injured pegasus lean her unharmed side onto her own, unmarred coat. She began to collect any drips of blood falling from Rainbow's coat in her telekinesis to prevent it from trailing on the floor and walked off with her patient as fast as she could.
Applejack had already galloped down the hall, leaving Twilight to wait and act as bait.
Rarity tore down one of the smaller tapestries as she helped Rainbow hobble away from the library. With her telekinesis, she wrapped the cloth tight around the wound to stem the blood flow.
"Keep pressure on that, Rainbow."
"Yeah, sure," she replied, a bit woozily.
Rarity took a gamble and followed a hallway that wasn't marked with one of the colored lines on the floor. The gamble paid off, as it led to a smaller area of the manse with lower ceilings which would give the guardian beast trouble if the fighting ever came this way. She opened a door to find a modest (compared to the rest of the palatial building) bedroom. Either the original owner didn't spend much time in bedrooms and designed them accordingly, or this is for the servants. Even modest compared to the rest of the manse she'd seen so far, this bedroom was spacious and just short of extravagant by Ponyville standards. A four-poster bed with a small mountain of pillows dominated the viewer's attention. Two folding screens stood in the room: a larger one partitioned the room, while a smaller one stood near the wall by an ornately lacquered dresser to serve as a dressing screen. The smaller folding screen was decorated with a beautiful calligraphy in one of those languages from the library that nopony could read. Even without reading the words, though, Rarity could appreciate the elegance of the script. The larger screen depicted a city built into the side of a mountain. Wha—is that Canterlot...? No, it couldn't be. The towers are all wrong. Still...
Rarity helped Rainbow into the bed. "Stay here and try to stay awake. We'll be back to help you soon. If you hear fighting, try to go hide behind that dressing screen, just in case." Rarity finally released her hold on the blood she'd been collecting from Rainbow during their walk to prevent any trail the beast might be able to follow. "Ugh. We'll clean that up later, too."
Rarity's pale coat turned a bit green, but a lady does not vomit. Still, she walked out the door quicker than strictly necessary. Rarity closed the door behind her and set off to search for anything that might help against the beast.
Applejack charged through the halls of the manse more or less at random. She stopped at closed doors to shoulder through them and quickly check their contents, but nothing useful had presented itself.
Consarn it! Ah can't find anythin' in this place!
Through her twists and turns, Applejack found herself back at the main causeway near the entrance where all of the colored lines in the floor met to form a veritable rainbow pattern.
Okay, Applejack, just think back an' remember what lines you saw earlier. The pink an' blue stripey one stopped at some kinda church. Or workshop. Or somethin'. The black one stopped at an empty kitchen-like place attached to a greenhouse. The brown one stopped at a gym or somethin'. Now Ah just gotta pick a color Ah ain't seen the end of yet, and Ah'll find someplace new.
Applejack scanned the colors beneath her feet. Aw, there's so many left! This place is too darn big. Ah guess Ah'll start with the orange one. Orange always did me proper b'fore. She galloped off once again, this time with a definite direction instead of taking random turns.
The other colored lines began to branch off, leading to other important rooms throughout the manse. After some time, only the orange and brown lines were left. Applejack sighed. Ah guess orange was close to the gym. Ah came this far so Ah'm gonna finish, but Ah think Ah'll have to turn back and pick another color.
Applejack finally arrived at the point where orange and brown diverged, and she turned into a side corridor. Within moments, a pair of heavy steel doors barred her way. The doors were unadorned and unpolished, clashing with every other part of the manse Applejack had seen so far. When she tried to open them, they proved to be locked.
Ah didn't come to the end of the orange line to be turned back by a pair of stubborn ol' doors!
Exhaustion had returned to Applejack once again, but she pivoted and threw out both Bucky McGillicutty and Kicks McGee as hard as she could. Her hooves connected with a satisfying and resounding clang, followed by a metallic crack. The doors slowly swung open on their hinges to reveal a utilitarian room stocked floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall with all manner of bladed weapons. The only area in the room that wasn't used to store bladed weapons contained devices meant for maintaining bladed weapons.
... That'll do, pony.
Applejack grabbed a nearby sword in her mouth and turned around to find Twilight and the guardian beast.
After dropping off Rainbow Dash, Rarity began her search to find something useful within the manse that might help against the guardian beast. She retraced her steps out of the residential wing, and heard the distinct sound of hooves on metal echoing through the halls. I dearly hope that's Applejack, and that she hasn't found some metal guardian somewhere...
After trotting down a few more hallways, Rarity found herself back on the main concourse, considerably further down than the group had explored previously. In fact, all of the lines traced into the floor had already branched off, but the concourse continued to Rarity's right side.
I wonder...
The ceiling lowered as she traveled further, and the hallway narrowed. Eventually, the entire hallway was no larger than the door to the room Rarity had left Rainbow Dash in. The walls and floor transitioned from gleaming marble and polished wood to rough-hewn granite. The chandeliers which kept the entire rest of the manse so well-lit in the night had been replaced by dull red crystal sconces. The light was bright enough to read a book under, but not much else.
The hallway abruptly ended in a downward spiraling staircase, extremely narrow and extremely dark. Rarity pried one of the glowing sconces off the wall and was surprised to discover that it was made of a single large crystal embedded in the stone. She held the light source in her telekinesis and began to descend the stairs.
Even in the dim light, navigating the stairwell was difficult. The spiral was tight and the stairs were narrow; along the inner edge Rarity couldn't even fit her hoof on the stair. During her decent she did stumble a few times, but she managed to catch herself before the stumble became a back-breaking fall.
At the base of the stairs, a short hallway ended with a dark gray curtain that blocked her path. Sewn into the fibers of the curtain was more of the foreign script nopony could read. I hope that doesn't say anything like "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here!" Rarity considered the script for a moment, but finally concluded she wouldn't get anywhere staring at it and willing it to spontaneously morph into equiish.
Rarity pushed aside the curtain to reveal a circular stone room with a vaulted ceiling. In the center, a pedestal rose from the floor. No... the pedestal was part of the floor, rising up to form a natural surface. Hugging the pedestal halfway to the top was a deep magenta, rope-like object, though it was far too thick to actually be a rope. On top of the pedestal lay seven gems arranged in a heptagram, with grooves in the stone connecting the resting places of each gem.
The gems were not uniformly shaped. Although each was clear as glass and the top half of each was a semicircle angled towards the center of the pedestal, the uniformity ended there.
The two gems nearest to the entrance were the smallest, and difficult to analyze from Rarity's position. Both had a pair of squared off corners opposite the semicircle. The near right gem was marred by a dark circular imperfection, while the one of the left had a similar imperfection forming a ring.
The lower half of the four gems in the center formed half of an octagon. These contained imperfections, too, though the imperfections were light rather than dark. The gem on the near right was another circle, while the far right was another ring. The near left imperfection was a ring surrounding a smaller circle. The far left gem contained several lines which all crossed each other at roughly the same point.
The gem furthest from Rarity was shaped almost like a dewdrop, and contained no imperfections that she could see.
Rarity began to approach the pedestal to investigate the gems further, but the 'rope' began to move as she approached. It detached from the sides of the pedestal and floated into the air, revealing that it was in fact a creature shaped similarly to Spike's new body: long and sinuous, with a draconic head and a spined tail. Now that the creature was awake and in the air, two small legs dangled from its belly near the head. The dragon (for lack of a better name) began to glow, bathing the room in a comfortable, white light which made Rarity's crystal sconce obsolete. She placed the crystal on the floor, to save her dwindling energy.
Rarity froze. The last time something in this place had apparently changed from an inanimate object into a creature, the ponies had been forced to fight for their lives and Rainbow had been seriously injured. This time, Rarity was alone and the only escape route was a flight of stairs that was nearly as lethal as the guardian beast in the library.
The dragon cocked its head to the side.
"There is a pony in my chamber." The flat voice somehow managed to echo in the small confines of the stone room.
"Um, hello?" At least this creature could talk, and it seemed more curious than frightening, even if the voice was odd.
The dragon cocked its head to the other side.
"There is a talking pony in my chamber. Hello, pony."
The day had been long, Rarity was tired, and she was just about ready to snap. All the same, she bit back the snark she desperately wanted to reply with. "Well, mister dragon, you seem awfully busy, and there's nothing in here for me," Rarity said as she stole a wistful glance as the gems underneath the glowing dragon. "I suppose I'll just be going now and I'll leave you to your hoard." She tried to laugh, but it fell flat in her throat.
"Pony, you seem sentient. Tell me, pony, do you know if the master is here?"
Rarity huffed. "My name is Rarity, thank you." Whatever or whoever this dragon was, it wasn't hostile like the guardian. "If by 'master' you mean the owner of this manse, then I think your master is Twilight. She's upstairs, being chased by some horrendous monster made of books."
"One moment, pony Rarity. Scanning... Error: The Librarian has left the library. Automatic control systems for The Librarian temporarily nonfunctional. Please return The Librarian to the library so that control systems can be restored."
Rarity could almost hear the dragon speak in capital letters whenever it said "The Librarian". She stared at the dragon, dumbfounded. "Do you mean to say all we had to do was talk to you and the librarian wouldn't be trying to kill my friends and me right now?"
"The library has no acting librarian at this time. Did you mean The Librarian?"
"Yes, the librarian that's chasing Twilight around upstairs as we speak!"
"The library has no acting librarian at this time. Did you mean The Librarian?"
"Yes! That monster of a librarian!"
"The library has no acting librarian at this time. Did you mean The Librarian?"
"For Celestia's sake, yes!"
"The Librarian is a defense mechanism designed to protect the library in the event that the master reincarnates and no allies occupy The Spark at the time. As an additional countermeasure, The Spark will slip into Elsewhere and its locations will be masked by illusions. So long as The Spark remains unoccupied by the master's allies and the master remains in a reincarnation cycle, The Spark will negate one illusion for the hour preceding sunset and appear in Creation at one of its alternate locations."
Rarity, bolder now, stalked up towards the dragon hovering over the pedestal. "Sir, you have still not answered my question. If the librarian is back in the library, could you or could you not stop its rampage?"
"The library has no acting-"
"UGH! I get it!"
"-librarian at this time. Did you mean The Librarian?"
Rarity took a deep breath to calm her frustrations. "Yes, that. If... it... were back in the library, could you stop it?"
"I have full control over most of The Spark's systems. While The Librarian is within the confines of the library, I am able to commandeer The Librarian and control The Librarian's actions, or shut The Librarian down."
"That's all I needed to know, dear." Rarity began to trot back to the stairs. "I'll go get the librarian back in the library, and then you can shut it down for us, ok?"
"The library has no acting librarian-"
Rarity didn't hear the rest of what the dragon had to say, as she had already grabbed the glowing red crystal and begun climbing the stairs again.
The guardian beast had recovered far too quickly for Twilight's taste. Barely a minute after her friends were out of sight, it lumbered into view from within the library.
Ever since then, Twilight had been leading the monster on a merry chase through the manse's halls. She had taken a few potshots at the thing, both throwing objects at it with her telekinesis and doubling back to ambush it from behind, but she didn't have the strength of Applejack or Rainbow Dash and she failed to inflict any noticeable damage. At least it can't cut corners any more.
"Oowyiite!" Applejack had returned, carrying a rather large and unwieldy sword in her mouth. Twilight was loath to have her friend slice through potentially valuable books, but no other options had presented themselves. Twilight had managed to stay ahead of the beast so far, but even the extra endurance she seemed to have since her exaltation would not last forever.
Applejack matched pace with Twilight ahead of the beast and looked to the unicorn for suggestions. "Applejack, can you get up on that balcony? I'll draw it around for another pass through this hallway, and you can leap down on top of it. The extra force from gravity should help."
"Ot ouit!" Applejack nodded and broke away from the chase in progress. Her aimless wandering earlier helped, as she managed to recognize the area and quickly find a stairway up to the second level.
Applejack reached the balcony and rested her forelegs on the rail, waiting for Twilight to lead the guardian beast past again. It wasn't long before she heard the clatter of Twilight's hooves on the marble floor. Applejack pulled herself up to balance on the wooden rail and craned her neck to spot her target.
Twilight charged around the corner, the guardian hot on her tail. It always gained on her in the straightaways and lost ground around corners, but it wasn't enough to continue running indefinitely. Twilight could feel the displaced air as it swung a claw at her. The beast was getting too close. Hopefully Applejack's attack from above would slow the beast down enough so that Twilight could take a moment to catch her breath.
"Ake iss!" Applejack cried as she leapt from the balcony. Her primal shout drowned out all other noise in her ears. Time seemed to slow down; from Applejack's point of view, the distance between herself and the beast seemed to close in an example of Orlov's Paradox – impossible, since Orlov's Paradox in the natural world had been disproven by Clover the Clever over a millennium ago (though certain hexes could mimic the effects of the paradox). These facts slipped by Applejack both because she had never heard of Orlov's Paradox and because only two things ratted through her mind at that moment:
One: her own battle cry as she fell through the air (with style!) towards the construct that had hurt Rainbow Dash and would probably hurt more ponies if it wasn't dealt with. Everypony was tired after a full day's travel and a full night's fighting and running, and if Applejack couldn't do something now they would all be in trouble.
Two: a voice echoing in her mind. "-but this world is broken. Fix it."
"I'm not pulling your stupid cart!"
"If you don't take your turn pulling, then you don't get to sleep in it, either!"
"I'm not some pony!"
"You will take your turn and you. Will. Like. It!"
As Gilda and Trixie struggled to force one another into the harness used for pulling Trixie's trailer-cart, neither noticed the flash of light in the sky over the northern horizon. It was not until after Trixie had managed to use her magic to force Gilda into the harness that either of the two even looked up.
"What in Tartarus is that?" Gilda cried as she pointed up to the fountain of light to the north.
Without looking up, Trixie put on her showmare voice to reply, "Hah! It seems you are not as knowledgeable as you thought! The Great and Powerful Trixie knows all and sees all. That," Trixie turned to follow Gilda's pointing claw and deflated, "Trixie has no bucking clue what that is."
"I think we should run."
"Trixie agrees."
Gilda slashed the straps attaching her to the trailer-cart and shook herself free. The pair began to run south at top speed with Trixie's trailer-cart all but forgotten. Gilda opened her wings and began pumping as hard as she could to escape the approaching cataclysm. As she began to pull ahead of her land-bound companion, Trixie called out, "Don't leave Trixie behind! You still owe Trixie!"
With a sigh, Gilda banked into a tight spiral and grabbed Trixie between her claws. Gilda strained to lift herself and her passenger into the air and resumed her flight.
"Why are you so heavy?!"
"Are you calling Trixie fat?!"
"I'm not calling you a trout!"
"Trixie doesn't even know what that's supposed to mean!"
"Rainbow Dash was never this heavy!"
"Rainbow Dash is a pegasus!"
Trixie turned back to gauge their progress. They had far outpaced whatever was happening on the ground, but there were strands of light falling towards them from higher in the sky. Gilda was losing ground. (Losing air?)
"It's gaining on us! Trixie is too pretty to die!"
"And what am I, chopped salmon?"
"Fly faster!"
"Lose some weight!"
"Trixie is already skinny and beautiful!"
"Buck this noise!"
Gilda released her passenger in an attempt to gain speed and outpace the light. Her selfishness was short lived, as the light surrounded both of them immediately after she dropped Trixie. The mare's screams were masked by the sustained sound of an explosion. Gilda couldn't properly move her wings, and felt the familiar sensation of falling. Rather than a fall through the air, though, the sensation was closer to sinking in water – slow and not immediately lethal.
When Gilda opened her eyes, she was laying on what felt like a soft (and extremely lumpy) pillow. Oh, dreamland, how you taunt me so. Now c'mere and give me a second round!
At that moment, Gilda was violently launched into the air by a swirling maelstrom surrounding a powder-blue unicorn who could – apparently – be extremely soft (and lumpy). Gilda reoriented herself in the air with pure muscle memory to see Trixie floating a span above the ground for a few moments surrounded by a miniature tornado of winds.
"Oh, yes. The Great and Powerful Trixie has become EVEN GREATER!"
In an inhospitable swamp on the edge of Creation stands an unremarkable burial mound some 100 feet tall, built by some race long forgotten to prehistory. In the surrounding swampland, no animal or plant life exists… but despite the lack of life, there are apparently rotting animals and plants that still exist, the magic of the region allowing them to even go so far as to produce equally rotted offspring. Such is the Noss Fens.
Within the burial mound affectionately named the "Mound of Forsaken Seeds", corridors twist and turn, as if carved by some gargantuan earthworm. Chambers within are lit by steel lamps, furnished with steel furniture, steel children's toys are strewn across the floor, and even steel flatware rests on some of the tables. And yet, if one were to sit in quiet contemplation; if one were to put an ear to one of the steel productions, one would hear hundreds – perhaps thousands – of voices, screaming in eternal agony.
The voices of children haunt these halls. This is not because the children are dead; they are in fact the only truly living beings within the borders of the swamp. Yet the children also know what their ultimate fate is likely to be. It happened to their parents, their grandparents, and all of their ancestors for the past thousand years. All of these children have witnessed death at the hands of their adoptive 'mother'. They have witnessed their families harvested like heads of cabbage, smelted into the very screaming soulsteel they rely on for light, for comfort, and for entertainment. These children know that, eventually, their 'mother' will return them to their village, where they will grow into her next harvest, when she will take their children to begin the cycle again. This is the fate of all the children in the mound. All save one.
One child lives apart from the rest. One child has received a gift of near-immortality from her 'mother'. One child walks the line between life and death, and serves her 'mother' without question. One child will aid her 'mother' during the next harvest. One child has had her name ripped from her soul, to be crowned Shoat of the Mire.
But even the Shoat does not – dares not – venture into the deepest parts of the mound. In the dead center lies a vast, open room. The walls, floor, and sparse decorations and furnishings are all sculpted, oriented, or designed to draw attention to the center where a throne sits before an open well. Sitting in the throne, staring deep into the well, sits the 'mother', The Dowager of the Irreverent Vulgate in Unrent Veils.
The Dowager sits naked on her throne, save for a half dozen veils made of a translucent black silk, and an ochre body paint from head to toe. Or, what would be her toes, if her legs didn't end in the cloven hoof of a ram, paired with the ram's horns protruding from her head. Beneath the obscuring shadows of the veils, her eyes can still be seen, burning yellow in the darkness. As she stares endlessly into the Well of Udr, she strokes its edge with the snakes that have taken the place of her fingers.
Several weeks after an accident transporting Twilight and her friends to another universe where they met male versions of themselves, Twilight is in the library's main room studying her new book, Many Worlds in One: the Search for Other Universes, by esteemed Doctor Alexi Vilenkolt (responsible for the Theory of Eternal Inflation of Magic and an important researcher in the field of Quantum Magic). After a first-hoof encounter with another world, Twilight was eager to read what theoretical research had to say on the matter.
Compared with historians and detectives, the great advantage cosmologists have is that they can actually see the past. Light from celestial bodies is millions or billions of years old by the time it reaches our telescopes, so we observe them as they were millions or billions of years ago. This wonderful vision, however, has its bounds. Even though we can trace the history of our universe back to its creation, we are still unable to see just how that creation came to pass. Was it created by our dear princess, or is she a product of this universe as much as we are?
The worldview that has emerged from new developments in cosmology is nothing short of astonishing. To paraphrase Doctor Neigh Bolt, it may even be crazy enough to be true. This worldview combines several contradictory features: our universe is finite and infinite, evolving and stationary, eternal and yet has a beginning. This theory also predicts the existence of remote regions of our universe containing planets just like our own, with the same continents and terrain, inhabited by identical creatures, including our clones and clones of our princess, some of them holding copies of this book in their hooves.
Twilight frowned a little as she read, noting the singular 'princess'. She flipped back to the credits at the front to find the date it was printed, and sighed, dejected. Seven years old, plenty old enough for nopony to even think of Nightmare Moon as real, much less remember Princess Luna. And when it came to the theoretical fields of magic, seven years was practically a lifetime. Twilight levitated the book to its place on the shelf, uncharacteristically leaving it unfinished.
Twilight turned back to another book lying on the table, the one which had started her whole adventure, Exploring the Æther for Fun and Profit. If theoretical magic and cosmology couldn't help her, then perhaps the scrying spell which she had accidentally mixed with her long-distance teleportation spell would let her experiment for herself with the existence and diversity of other universes.
Sitting back on a pillow, Twilight closed her eyes, and concentrated on the leylines surrounding her. To start, she focused on the frequency she had used to access the gender-swap dimension she'd landed in before: 40.1 Kiimehertz. Twilight opened her mind's eye to the power resonating between her horn and the clearly marked leyline, contorting in shapes that would cause any mundane eye to bleed. Suddenly she had a bird's eye view of Ponyville, and was able to move her point of view around freely. Below her, oblivious to their invisible observer, familiar ponies continued in their daily lives. Familiar… except for the gender they were supposed to be.
Twilight took a deep breath and opened her mundane eyes, momentarily disoriented by the view of her library overlapping with the floating view of the town outside in her mind. "Okay, now to start experimenting!" She extended a tendril of power to her desk, pulling a roll of parchment, quill, and ink bottle closer to her as she settled in to take notes on her findings. Finally, she shifted the frequency of her focus, snapping her mental image to another Ponyville in another universe.
The Dowager looked deep into the Well, combining her magic with its inherent power, scanning other worlds for a solution to her master's problem. Centuries ago, the Dowager had used her magic to pull a disease from within the Well – from another universe – which she released upon the land. Nine of ten died to the 'Great Contagion', whether it was man, beast, or plant. Had it not been for the glory-grabbing actions of her so-called 'allies', the Dowager reasoned, her pestilence would have annihilated all life in Creation. With all life destroyed, her master could finally slip from his current existence. Whether to finally fall those last few centimeters into the yawning pit of Oblivion or spontaneously return to his former nigh-omnipotent glory, neither master nor servant cared. After endless suspended millennia, escaping the precipice was what was important.
On the inky surface of the Well, many shifting images could be seen. The Dowager seemed to be able to control the images to some extent, though not even the god of secrets knew exactly how. Suddenly, all of the images in the Well blinked, and the Dowager drew back in hesitation. After a moment, she returned to her ministrations over the Well, only to have the images blink once again. Before the Dowager could continue searching other worlds for another weapon to wield against life itself, all of the images floating in the Well converged to form a single image, spanning the entirety of the Well's surface.
Unable to control the images displayed to her any more, the Dowager stared down into the face of a surprised-looking… purple… unicorn?
"And in Universe Upsilon Beta 9-6, we have… hairless, tailless diamond dog-like creatures, nearly half of them dressed similarly to the super heroes in Spike's comic books." Even through her pride at her ability to organize a simple, efficient naming system for the universes she viewed, Twilight had to shake her head at that one. "I'm sure Spike would jump at the chance to visit 'comic book world', and I realize an infinite number of universes means every possibility is covered, but that's just absurd. Moving on!"
Zeta Tao 7-63: creatures apparently made of shadows (relation to the Nightmare? Warrants further study!) Alpha Upsilon 24-2: apparently uninhabited, but the remains of several metropolises like Manehattan suggests an advanced civilization used to live here Omicron Zeta 12-20: cyborg ponies! Epsilon Tau 27-2: many clockwork devices, no evidence of other sentient life Delta Zeta 24-10: more hairless, tailless diamond dog-like creatures; all dressed in the same uniforms, all seem to have the same coat color (peach/white), same mane color (white/yellow), and same eye color (blue) Tau Gamma 9-24: appears to be one giant Everfree Forest! Sigma Psi 20-7: many buildings that appear to be laboratories; looks like biological research Lamda Rho 57-20: night everywhere – did Nightmare Moon win?!
As Twilight continued her mental observation of other universes, she didn't notice the heat building at the base of her horn when viewing certain dimensions, and dissipating as she looked away. Perhaps, if she had made note of the sensation, and cross-referenced it with the universal addressing system she had divised, she would have been able to make an inter-dimensional map. A map showing a circle where her horn began to heat up, with more heat building the closer she came to the center of the circle. And if she had calculated the universal address of the center, she would have known to avoid scrying into –
"Next on the list is… Chi Rho 34-71!" Twilight closed her eyes to help concentrate on her new destination, and then opened them again, ready to take notes and by now used to the strange double-vision. But this time, when she opened her mundane eyes, she didn't get a double-vision of her library and another world. This time, she saw the same thing with both her mind's eye and her physical eyes. And, unlike every other world she'd viewed where she began with a bird's eye view looking downwards which she could move nearly any distance with her mind, this time she was staring immobile up at an earthen ceiling, her view obscured by a singular figure. And unlike every other world she'd viewed, this time the figure she saw stared back.
The Dowager was just as shocked at the development in the Well as the unicorn appeared to be. As she took in the unusual sight, she was oblivious to the previously invisible runes that began appearing along the outside of the Well. They began as a faint black shimmer, barely visible in the dark throne room. Quickly enough for an outside observer – if there had been one – to readily notice, the runes began to glow blue, and gradually increased their intensity.
Blind to her surroundings, Twilight had no choice but to stare into the eyes glowing from within the shadows of another world. Only now did she notice the heat creeping slowly up her horn, spiraling as if somepony had poured molten steel into the groove around it, which flowed upwards base to tip. Twilight cried out in pain, but couldn't tell if anypony had heard it, or even whether her cries were audible, or locked inside her head.
The Dowager looked on with the same analytical interest she gave to other worlds she had seen over the years, searching the vast expanse of the multiverse for the antithesis of life. The spiral around the unicorn's horn began to glow red, at first merely a point of light where the horn met her skull, then spiraling upwards. The unicorn cried out in pain – apparently the glow was not normal, and was excruciating if the creature's reaction was any indication. The Dowager sneered a bit, relishing in the pain of a living creature. But as the red glow neared the tip of the unicorn's horn, the Dowager snapped back to her reality, finally noticing the glowing blue runes on the Well.
No consciousness survives for centuries without either going mad or becoming quick-witted. While some might claim the Dowager was both, it was easy for her to connect the loss of control over the well, the glowing unicorn's horn, and the previously unseen runes on the exterior of the Well which was now glowing bright enough to make it painful to look at, even for the Dowager. Unfortunately, while she was quick enough to assimilate all the facts presented and form an accurate conclusion based on them, she was too late to stop what was about to happen.
There was an explosion. Or perhaps it was two explosions. Or it was an explosion for each and every world in the multiverse. Or there was no explosion at all. As described in an unread chapter of Twilight's discarded book, the real answer was 'all of the above'.
Regardless of what was going on in the realm of inter-dimensional physics and quantum magic, the two mages each heard a small 'pop', much like ears popping when gaining extreme altitude. Everyone (everypony?) else in the vicinity of each mage heard something entirely different. From Sweet Apple Acres to the Everfree Forest, and from the western edge of the Noss Fens swamp to the wyld bordermarshes on its opposite side, every sentient being was deafened and blinded by what was, in their minds, definitely an explosion.
Twilight opened her eyes, magically exhausted as though she'd been casting some of the most difficult spells in her repertoire for hours on end. Through the exhaustion and the tingling feeling of relief from pain, it took her a few moments to register the fact that she was no longer in her library, but sitting on a throne in the same dark earthen room she'd been staring up into moments before. A discolored circle marred the ground in front of her, as though something had been sitting there for a very long time and was only recently moved.
These were the last words Applejack knew as a mortal pony. She stood with her fellow exalt over what remained of the guardian beast that had been pursuing the ponies over the last hour or so.
"That's quite impressive, Applejack," Twilight said, admiring the cowpony's hoofwork. A glowing image of Applejack's cutie mark still surrounded the pair. "I don't think it's dead, though..."
"How could it not be dead, Twi? Ah cleaved it in half like a piece a'firewood!"
"Well, the two halves are still twitching, see? If it were an animal I'm sure it would be dead, but this is some kind of magical construct. It's possible the spell used to create it can allow parts to move independently of the whole. I suppose since it's a construct it wasn't ever technically alive in the first place..." Twilight began to mumble to herself about whether a construct of paper (which had once been a living tree) ought to be considered a living thing, or a once-living thing, or merely an inanimate object given locomotion by magic. Still, her words rang true, as one of the beast's arms reached towards the pair of ponies. The beast's movements were sluggish and weak, but it was still attempting to perform its function.
Applejack casually kicked the beast's arm away, and accidentally broke off one of its claws.
"What should we do with the thing, then?"
At that moment, Twilight was broken out of her musings by the sound of hoofsteps on marble, which could only mean one thing: Rarity!
Rarity, for her part, had no idea that The Librarian had already been dispatched, and was frantic to find Twilight and Applejack before any more harm came to her friends. "Twilight! Twilight, where are you?!"
"We're over here, sugarcube," Applejack called out, much calmer than her friend.
Rarity skidded around the corner on the smooth marble floor (very unladylike, but that wasn't her primary concern at the time) to see Twilight and Applejack calmly standing over the body of The Librarian, cleft in twain by the sword laying to Applejack's side. Although the image of her cutie mark had disappeared, Applejack was still glowing brightly, much in the same fashion that Twilight had done after telling off that brute Hiparkes. On Applejack's forehead was a small golden glowing circle surrounded by eight rays.
"Oh," was all Rarity could come up with.
"I gather from the fact that you've calmed down at seeing us not in mortal peril that you had something to fight this guardian with?" asked Twilight.
Rarity shook her head to collect her thoughts before replying, "Oh, yes. I found this dragon... thing... in the basement. He said he could control the librarian and even turn it off if we could get it back into the library."
Twilight's eyes bulged out of her head. "This was the librarian?!"
"Well, the dragon in the basement kept calling it 'the librarian,' but whenever I said 'the librarian,' he just kept repeating that the library had no librarian and he asked if I meant 'the librarian.' It was quite frustrating, let me tell you!"
"Twi, maybe if we drag this thing back to the library," Applejack casually kicked away The Librarian's claw again, breaking another digit, "that there dragon Rarity met can turn this here librarian back into books."
Twilight nodded. "Yes, that's probably the best plan. Rarity, why don't you go help Rainbow Dash while Applejack and I get this librarian back into the library?"
Rarity trotted off towards the bedroom she had hidden Rainbow in. Applejack grabbed The Librarian's tail in her mouth, and Twilight began to pull the other half of The Librarian with her telekinesis.
"I do hope none of the books you damaged were too rare to find another copy of. Or if I can't get another copy, I hope they weren't damaged beyond repair."
"Oowyiite?"
"Yes, Applejack?"
"Ut up."
"Hiya, Fluttershy!" Pinkie bounced up to her timid friend. Fluttershy was doing her best to stay out of the way of the other ponies who were diligently working to make the area habitable. She had planned to help make some lunch for all the hardworking ponies, but the Cakes and the Apples together seemed to already have that covered.
"Oh... Hello, Pinkie. Where are Twilight and Rarity and Rainbow Dash?"
"Twilight found a manse!"
Fluttershy blinked in confusion. Assuming perhaps that everypony had already been told what a 'manse' was, she didn't want to be a bother and ask for clarification on that point. Instead she said, "Oh, that's good...?"
Pinkie didn't notice Fluttershy's hesitation (or if she did, she didn't mention it). "Yeah! It's really big, I'm sure everypony could fit! I came back to show everypony the way to the manse. It'll be a lot safer in there than out here."
At the mention of 'safer,' Fluttershy's eyes bugged out. The claim that somewhere else was safer implied that this location wasn't safe. When Pinkie finished talking, she found Fluttershy clinging to her, trembling. "Aw, I love you too, Fluttershy! But right now we need to get everypony together and head south!"
The Cakes and Apples worked together to make lunch for everypony, exceeding expectations. If they had access to a real kitchen and their usual supplies of ingredients, they could have done better; but when the choice was between a humble lunch and another day of grazing, nopony was about to complain. Pinkie spent the rest of the morning helping the Cakes and the Apples to prepare the lunches.
When the ponies arrived for lunch, Pinkie seated them close together so that she could give her big announcement to everypony at once.
"Hey everypony! I've got a big announcement!"
Throughout the crowd, some ponies made comments along the lines of "another party" and "kind of inappropriate right now." Even if they had witnessed some of her power and understood that she was familiar with the world they were stuck in, she was still Pinkie Pie.
"No, sillies! The mansewarming party isn't until next week! You can't have a mansewarming party until you're settled in!" If anypony in the crowd knew what she was talking about, they didn't comment. Again, they reasoned, it's Pinkie Pie. "Anyway, that's what my announcement was about. Twilight found a manse!"
There was silence in the crowd. Pinkie grinned over the ponies until the silence became quite uncomfortable. The silence was suddenly broken by somepony in the back letting out a great belch in compliment to the Cakes' work.
"The manse is big enough to fit everypony and it'll be safer than what you've all been working on here and it has all the modern conveniences although I suppose technically it's got ancient conveniences since it was built a few thousand years ago but it's still shining like brand new and it's really pretty—"
"Pinkie," Mayor Mare interrupted Pinkie's monologue. "Are we to understand that you want us to abandon the work we've done over the past day and a half to go stay in this..." Mayor Mare paused a moment, sorting through Pinkie's previous, scrambled dialogue before finally finding the word again, "'manse' that you and Twilight found?"
Pinkie nodded vigorously for a few seconds before actually opening her mouth again. "It won't be nearly as much work to house everypony there as it is to build a tent city here," Pinkie waved a hoof over the small sea of tents that had been constructed in the last day. "It'll be a little more crowded than Ponyville was, but it's got some magical defenses on it. I think you can all appreciate that Creation can be dangerous. You've already seen the undead swamp that we landed in when we got here, and you were attacked in heaven of all places." Pinkie drooped a little. "I just don't want to see anypony get hurt. I know it's not my fault we're here, but I'm the only one who's been here before. I feel kinda responsible for all of you."
Several members of the Ponyville community cried out in protest. Some called out to Pinkie simply because they couldn't bear to see a mare cry. Others had seen exactly what Pinkie became when she was depressed, and they were willing to do anything they could to stop that from happening again.
Pinkie's funk was not very deep, and the kind words of the crowd in front of her were more than enough to bring her out of it. In seconds, she was grinning like a maniac again.
"Perfect! So, once you're all done with your lunches, we'll just head out again. Make sure you grab anything you want to take with you, because everything else is getting left behind. FOREVER!"
It had begun to rain. Zecora was no stranger to wild weather since moving to the Everfree Forest. According to Pinkie Pie, the weather here wasn't technically wild in the sense that ponies were used to (water evaporating from lakes and rivers forming clouds in the sky to rain down again all as an entirely natural process). At the same time, the gods and elementals that worked with the weather here didn't have as much control over it as the weather teams in Equestria did. They certainly didn't bother to coordinate with locals about what weather was needed or desired for crops or events. (Supposedly, the gods could also use weather for combat, which Zecora found fascinating. The Wonderbolts sported storm cloud contrails, but she'd never heard of weaponized weather.)
From Zecora's point of view, then, the entire world might as well have wild weather. That was fine by her, though it could be a tad inconvenient without a timetable for storms. Even if the local weather team was sometimes tardy or made mistakes, at least they tried to keep everypony informed when the showers and such were scheduled; living in an area with wild weather, Zecora knew inconveniences could happen. Inconveniences like getting caught in the rain while gathering local herbs in a totally new world. (Most fascinating for Zecora was that many of the herbs she found while hunting were similar if not identical to ones that she knew from Equestria, both in the Everfree and outside of it.)
Wearing saddlebags leaden with herb samples, Zecora had found shelter from the rain in an abandoned foxhole. She laid her head down on her hooves and watched the rain, mumbling to herself, "I can rest here an hour or three. Sooner than that, nopony will need me."
Between the pitter-patter of the rain outside and the dark confines of the foxhole, Zecora soon drifted off to sleep.
Not even the rain could dampen Pinkie's spirits at the moment. Not only did she have almost all of her friends right by her side, but who could be sad with puddles to splash in?! Sure, their route took them along the bank of a river, but splashing in a puddle was way different from splashing in a river. Many of the colts and fillies joined Pinkie in her fun, and while none of the other adults joined, seeing the foals play despite the town's current problems brought smiles to everypony's face.
"Pinkie, um... how far away is the manse that Twilight found?" Fluttershy asked once Pinkie had finally exhausted the last of the puddle-splashing from her system.
"Well, it took us most of a day to get there the first time, but there were only four of us so it was faster than taking the whole herd will be. Then again, we walked most of the way, so we might be able to make up that time difference if we go any faster than a walk. Then again again, we didn't leave until after lunch this time, so that's several daylight hours we won't have." Pinkie furrowed her brow. "We can probably be there by midmorning tomorrow if everypony is ok with grazing for dinner."
Zecora awoke with a start. The rain had just stopped; the cessation of white noise was probably what had woken the zebra.
"How long was it that I rested? I must return to where Ponyville has nested!" Zecora lifted herself out of the foxhole and looked to the sun hanging low in the sky. "The whole afternoon did I sleep, lying in this foxhole deep? If I wish to be of use, I should get back and these herbs peruse." Zecora's ear twitched a bit at that last rhyme. She was sure that it wasn't quite right, but it was too late to change. Besides, nopony had heard her anyway, and a life of spontaneous rhyming couplets was sure to generate a few bad apples.
When Zecora finally returned to the tent city built by the citizens of Ponyville, she found it abandoned. Why would everypony leave? What goal would this achieve? The sun was sinking below the horizon, so Zecora resolved to leave the problem of the missing ponies for the next morning. If everypony had left together, it would surely be easy to follow their trail. The food stockpiled by the Cakes for making communal meals was gone, so Zecora had a grazing dinner in the sunset light before huddling under her tent to sleep.
Zecora woke with the rising sun the following day, and quickly found some grass to break her fast. She put on her saddlebags full of herb samples (which she had yet to study at all!) and considered collapsing her tent to take with her as well. She glanced at the other tents, noting that they had all been left alone, and decided to do the same. A tent – even a small one – would weigh her down; if she was going to catch up to everypony else, a tent would only be a hindrance.
Within the main area of the tent city, the ground was trampled everywhere by hundreds of hoofprints going dozens of directions. She would have to start her tracking from the outside. Zecora began at the westernmost tent and trotted counterclockwise around the 'New Ponyville' as a few stallions had begun calling it.
As the sun approached its zenith, Zecora began to grow frustrated. "Where could all of the little ponies have gone? I nap for a few hours and they just disappear without a... hold on." Zecora finally found a group of tracks heading out from the southern edge of the tent city. Her ear twitched again, annoyingly. She only made that last rhyme because she found the tracks; otherwise she wouldn't have rhymed at all.
The tracks were fuzzy from yesterday's rainfall. They'd been pressed into the dirt before the rain started, and while the rain hadn't washed them away, another shower or two and they'd be erased for good. Zecora broke into an easy canter to follow the tracks and catch up.
Less than an hour into her run, disaster struck. One, she hadn't expected the tracks to go quite so far and Zecora was no endurance runner (she didn't even participate in the Running of the Leaves, although until the last year everypony had been afraid of her so entry to the race was out of the question anyway). Zecora was exhausted, and she wasn't sure she'd be able to make it before the trail went completely cold. Two, the trail led to a river with a shale bank. Normally, a herd of a few hundred ponies would still make a clear trail on shale, so that wouldn't be a problem. However, the rain storm had swollen the river, covering most of what would have been the river bank the previous day (and completely erasing any evidence of pony passage thanks to the patient river's progress). What was left of the river bank had been washed clean by the rain, making it very difficult to tell whether a given piece of broken stone had been broken by the constant flow of water, arbitrary happenstance, or a ponyshoe or two.
Zecora slowed down to a walk so that she could analyze the terrain better (neither her legs nor her lungs gave an argument against the reduced pace). There were, in fact, traces of hoofprints heading up the river to the southeast; Zecora continued following the trail.
Despite her exhaustion, Zecora refused to rest for long. A minute here, two minutes there, but kept pushing onwards to find the herd.
Unfortunately, the further Zecora walked, the harder the trail became to follow. She found some solid hoofprints by a puddle further out from the river bank, and decided to investigate the softer ground away from the river. Perhaps the ponies traveled in a wider formation, or they broke for a grazing lunch away from the shale.
Zecora traveled back and forth from the river bank searching for the trail. Occasionally, she'd find it once again, still traveling against the river's current. After three hours, Zecora finally admitted to herself that the trail had gone cold. She'd lost time sleeping in the tent city and zigzagging to and from the river bank. Still, giving up was not an option. She resolved to continue following the river until she either found the Ponyville herd or something to prove to her that she'd missed them somehow. Perhaps they crossed the river at some point, but Zecora hadn't seen any shallow areas (of course, any ford would be covered by the river swollen with rain) or bridges.
As Pinkie predicted, the ponies reached Twilight's manse midmorning the following day. Pinkie had to call out a few times, but eventually Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash (walking, but bandaged) came out to meet everypony else. The ponies stared in awe at their surroundings. Many of the ponies had seen Canterlot Castle up close, and like Twilight they had the same impression of a Canterlot Castle that had been built out instead of up. The prospect of living in – for all intents and purposes – the castle or on the castle grounds lifted everypony's spirits. Real roofs and beds (even if they were on the largish side) instead of ramshackle tents didn't hurt any, nor did the news of a real kitchen: several real kitchens.
Twilight felt a tug on her tail, and turned to find Applebloom on her own, without the other Crusaders.
"Hey Twilight, have you seen Zecora? Ah found a greenhouse Ah just know she'd love, and Ah wanted to show it to her, but Ah can't find her anywhere!"
"Sure, Applebloom, I'll help you look for her. Have you met Servant yet?" Applebloom shook her head 'no.' "Come on, I'll introduce you. I bet you'd love him!"
Applebloom fell into step with Twilight as she began walking down the main concourse of the manse. After Twilight and Applejack dealt with The Librarian and Rarity revived Rainbow, Rarity had led the whole group to the basement to meet with Servant.
Two Days Earlier
Rarity strode into Servant's chamber confidently; the other three ponies were more cautious in the gloomy atmosphere. When Rarity pulled back the curtain, Servant was once again dormant and wrapped around the pedestal containing the seven gemstones. Once again, when Rarity began approaching the pedestal, Servant animated, began glowing, and floated above the pedestal in the center of the room.
"Hello again, pony Rarity."
"Hello, darling. Thank you for deactivating the librarian!"
"The library has no acting librarian at this time. Did you mean The Librarian?"
Rarity turned and whispered to the other mares, "See what I mean? He says that same line every single time. It's so frustrating!"
Twilight whispered back, "The exact same line? Every time?" Rarity nodded. Turning to Servant and raising her voice, Twilight asked, "Who are you? What are you? Are you alive? Or are you a construct?"
"I am designated Servant of the Spark. I am a fourth generation artificial intelligence interface. I am not alive; although I can interact with organisms such as yourselves and I can respond to most stimuli, I cannot digest or reproduce. I am not a construct in the classical sense, that of an artificial body imbued with either real or artificial intelligence; I am an artificial body that serves as an interface to the artificial intelligence which manages The Spark. However, in order to facilitate that interface, I am able to concede the false claim that the artificial intelligence is a part of myself."
"That was... surprisingly thorough." Twilight wasn't sure what to make of this 'Servant of the Spark.' It did confirm her suspicions about why the Servant of the Spark would always answer references to 'the librarian' in the exact same way, every single time. As an artificial intelligence, it simply had a few gaps.
"You designed me to be so when the situation warrants."
Everypony turned to stare slack-jawed at Twilight.
Twilight and Applebloom reached the bottom of the stairs leading to Servant's chamber. Twilight held open the curtain for the little filly, and Servant activated as Applebloom drew closer.
"Greetings, pony master."
"Hello, Servant."
"Pony master, there is a dwarf pony in my chamber."
"Hey! Ah'm not a dwarf! Ah'm a filly!"
"Pony master, there is a filly pony in my chamber."
"Yes, Servant, we had some questions, and we were hoping you could give us some insight."
Applebloom tugged on Twilight's mane to get her attention. Twilight leaned down to hear the filly whisper in her ear, "Do ya really hav'ta keep callin' him 'Servant', Twilight? That don't sound very nice."
Twilight replied in the same whisper, "I tried, but he really won't respond to anything else. I'm with you, it doesn't sound very nice. My alternative is shouting 'hey you!' at him, and I think I prefer using the name he goes by – even if that name doesn't sound very good."
Servant of the Spark cocked his head at the whispered exchange. Servant could hear any noise created within his chamber past the curtain with prefect clarity. He would never point that out to his master, of course. Master always did prefer to be able to pretend she (or he) could be private. On a few occasions, Servant's ability to hear everything in his room had come in handy, when master wanted to know what someone else had whispered that master hadn't heard. Servant always granted master her (or his) pretense of privacy, though.
The mare and filly turned back to Servant. "We're looking for Zecora. She's an adult zebra, about my height. Her mane is cropped short and formed into a Mohawk. She wears golden rings around her neck and around one foreleg and golden earrings as well. Oh! She's also got a cutie mark of a spiral with several radial triangles. Can you find her?"
"One moment, pony master. Scanning... Error: No creature matching your description has ever entered The Spark's grounds."
"What?!" Applebloom shouted. "You mean ta tell me Zecora never made it here?!"
"There are no zebras within The Spark compound. There has never been a zebra within The Spark compound matching your description. The last zebra within The Spark compound died forty billion six-hundred and thirty-two million four-hundred and thirty-six thousand eight-hundred seconds ago."
Applebloom's face scrunched up trying to contemplate the number. Twilight said, "That's over one thousand two-hundred years, Applebloom."
"One thousand sixty-two years one-hundred and twenty-one days thirteen hours. Exactly."
It was Twilight's turn to scrunch her face up. "That's not right... sixty seconds to the minute, sixty minutes to the hour, twenty-four hours to the day, and three-hundred and sixty-five days to the year. It should be twelve-hundred years and change."
"Sixty seconds to the minute, sixty minutes to the hour, twenty-five hours to the day, and four-hundred and twenty-five days to the year. It is one thousand years and change."
Twilight couldn't help but smirk. Servant of the Spark – an artificial intelligence – was actually talking back to her. Perhaps Rainbow had been sneaking down to talk with Servant and she was rubbing off on him. Still, "Are you telling me the year is four-hundred and twenty-five days long?"
"Three months per season, five seasons per year. Each month is twenty-eight days long. The year ends with Calibration, five days long and outside of any month."
"Five seasons? There are only four seasons! Spring, summer, autumn, win—"
Applebloom tugged on Twilight's mane again. "Twilight, enough with the numbers and calendars and stuff! Zecora never got here! We gotta find her!"
"You're right, I'm sorry. Servant, you wouldn't happen to be able to track anything outside of the compound, would you?"
"Only the hearthstones. Even then, I can only tell which of The Spark's loci the hearthstone is closest to and nothing more."
Twilight glanced at the gemstones on the pedestal. Servant had explained a little bit about what they were, but Twilight wanted more information from Pinkie Pie before she started messing with them. She did know they were extremely strong sources of magical power, and that's not something was willing to mess around with on a whim.
"...so, without magic or wingpower, you're the fastest of all of us, Pinkie." The Bearers of the Elements of Harmony (now with three exalts!) had gathered to discuss what to do about the missing zebra. After the nonsense with The Librarian, leaving some exalts in the compound seemed prudent for the time being. That meant no leaving as a group of six. Applejack brought up the issue of the surrounding terrain, which nopony really had any knowledge of. Pinkie was generally familiar with the map (but not with anything specific) and Twilight had fuzzy memories surrounding the manse (but nothing clear nor reliable). Speed was the last facet of the search they addressed. Rainbow nearly jumped at the chance to show off... but she was still injured. Even without her injury, Rainbow's speed came from her wings, which did not work properly in Creation. Applejack could run fast, but Pinkie Pie's mysterious ability to outpace whoever she was chasing made her faster still. Thus, the duty of searching for Zecora fell into Pinkie's hooves. As a bonus, should there be any problems on the way, Pinkie was possibly most capable of fending for herself.
With a serious face and a salute mimicking the ones Dashie always gave, Pinkie bounced off north towards the river to find Zecora, and bring her home.
Ahead of Zecora just off the river bank stood a small human – probably a child – apparently playing with his feet in the mud. His flaxen hair was cropped short, and his pale skin was unmarred. Although his dark, gray clothes were tattered, they were clean and dry. How strange, thought Zecora, I wonder if this child will stay. We were told about humans to keep away! Zecora tread lightly so as to avoid alerting the human and she gave him a wide berth.
As soon as she was within earshot of the child, he turned and called out to her. "Zecora, sweet, come here to me!" Zecora was justifiably hesitant to meet with an alien stranger who knew her by name. When Zecora didn't step forward, the boy closed the distance himself. "Your dedication to the ponies is admirable. You've lost their trail and still you search for them. You have exhausted yourself and still, you search."
Zecora was about to give thanks to the stranger; strange and alien as he was, Zecora was willing to accept genuine compliments. Before any words spilled forth, the boy held a finger to Zecora's lips. The small digit pressed against her mouth was the strangest sensation, but it felt almost like a lover's hoof. Zecora kept her silence and let the boy continue. "You have healed the sick and carried great emotional weight upon your back. You care for yourself as you care for others, and you do so with the intelligent eye of a true Zebrican shaman." How could this boy know of my home? What's next, he hails from Roam? "No, I am not from Roam, my sweet Zecora. I'm merely here to claim you as one of my stewards."
Zecora saw a blinding light. It should have damaged her permanently, but instead she gained absolute clarity. The light spread throughout her body, and her mind flooded with memories of past lives. War. Training. Love. Rulership. Betrayal. Hatred. Love. Flight. Fear. Creation. Destruction. Loss. Creation. Freedom. In an instant, it was all gone. You should continue up the river, the boy's voice echoed in Zecora's mind, although this time it had a sort of ethereal quality.
When Zecora opened her eyes, she noted several extreme changes in her body. Most noticeably, she was at least a span taller than she had been before meeting the boy (who seemed to have vanished). She could feel her mane lying flat against her neck, and she could see her snout in front of her face had extended quite a distance. Zecora craned her neck to see the rest of her body, and noted that her oh-so-familiar stripes had changed their pattern, and her cutie mark was missing. The golden bands around her foreleg and neck were also missing, as were her earrings and saddlebags.
A moment of fear passed through Zecora's eyes when she realized the rings around her neck were gone. She tried to reach up with a hoof and feel the left side of her neck, only to find her leg joints no longer bent in the correct ways, and she couldn't reach her neck. Something was wrong.
An answer to this I can find. I must simply clear my mind. Zecora knelt on the ground and closed her eyes, and she began to meditate on the problem. Her mind focused on her true self, and in moments she felt wind rushing up past her ears and a familiar weight around her neck. Zecora opened her eyes to find that she had returned to normal, and all of her belongings had returned as well.
What did that boy say? Up the river was my way? Zecora stood once again and continued up the river along the bank. Hopefully, she would find the other ponies soon.
Crane on the Ocean whittled his latest masterpiece (a pair of doves back to back) while Virtuous Willow napped on the riverbank. Crane's boat (carved himself from an ebony tree he grew from a seed) floated in the river's water, lightly tethered to shore. The boat could easily fit five, but only needed one to pilot. Crane glanced at his companion with a sad eye – not for the first time, and probably not for the last. Virtuous Willow had been beautiful, once. Unfortunately, it took her too long to join the Silver Pact after taking her Second Breath. She had been given her tattoos after only a single mutation marred her body, but now she was missing all of the features that should have graced the left half of her face – no eye nor ear nor hair on her scalp, and her nose and mouth had both been warped by the change. Crane felt sorry for the young girl every time he looked at her. The Pact should have found her faster, they should have done something. Instead, Willow was transformed from exceptional beauty to (in most people's eyes) a hideous beast.
Willow didn't seem to mind the change. Crane suspected that as a mortal, she had grown tired of the affection she received for only her looks. The loss of half her face made people ignore her, she said, like some unclean thing. She could go where she liked and not be bothered by dozens of men (and a fair few women) with libidos larger than their brains. It also meant she could sleep where she pleased, and usually go unmolested. The occasional adventurous child might throw rotten fruit, but according to Willow, it was better than the alternative.
Crane's own body had recently begun to fail him. His hair was going as silver as the Pact, and he could no longer partake in so many sacred hunts as he was used to. Two months until his nineteen-hundredth birthday – what a milestone!
Crane looked up from his whittling and found himself staring into the eyes of a small zebra. Without taking his eyes off of such a unique animal, he nudged Virtuous Willow awake.
"Huh? Whazza?" Willow was not the lightest sleeper, so she always took some time to get her bearings after waking up. She enjoyed sleeping, and did so frequently.
"Don't make any sudden moves, Willow. Would you like the others to stop calling you an Unblooded?"
"Eh?"
"Look there, it's a zebra foal. I'm quite surprised to see one so far north, actually. It should be easy enough for you to hunt, though. The recent rain will make any tracks it makes stand out, and it is not likely to be very fast." Crane took a moment to glance down at his young companion before turning back to the quarry before him. "Do you think you're ready?"
"{Err... are you talking about me? It is difficult to understand, you see...}"
Crane blinked, dumbfounded. The zebra had talked, in Old Realm no less.
"Did that zebra just talk?" Willow was wide awake now. "What did it say?" Willow looked to Crane for translation.
"Um... she asked if I was talking about her. {How is it that you can speak Old Realm?}"
"{I do not know this 'Old Realm' of which you speak. I think 'Equestrian' is the language you seek.}"
Willow continued looking to Crane for guidance. "Is she... Rhyming?" Crane nodded the affirmative.
"{What language are you speaking to each other? It seems familiar but not quite... if it's not a bother!}" The zebra's ear twitched and her extremely expressive face seemed to show annoyance. She composed herself quickly.
Crane replied, "We are speaking Low Realm. {We are speaking Low Realm.} Can you understand it? {Can you understand it?}" This situation was too fascinating to pass up. This zebra was definitely off the list of things Crane was interested in hunting – while he knew of communication between animals, no animal he had ever communicated with had ever shown this level of intelligence; most forms of animal communication were extremely basic, and Crane had never heard of an animal speaking in a human tongue before. The zebra's face was a curiosity, as well. Now that Crane could see it clearly, he realized that it looked far more human than any zebra he'd seen before in his long life.
The zebra shook its head side-to-side (a very human expression). "{I cannot understand your other sound. Perhaps some common ground could be found?}"
"{We're looking for someone. If we can't find her soon enough, she may eventually become a danger to herself and to others.} Show off your 'pretty' side, Willow." Willow turned so that the zebra could see her left side; the zebra took three steps back in shock. "{We found Willow here a bit too late. I don't want to lose another to the same fate. Damn, now I'm doing it, too!}"
The zebra let out a jovial laugh, though she still seemed concerned by Willow's asymmetrical appearance. "{My speech can often have that effect on another. You should have heard the curses spoken by my mother! Who is this mare that you seek to aid, perhaps I can help you in your crusade.}"
"{I'm not certain what she looks like. Only that she would be somewhere near this location today, and that her name is Zecora.}"
The zebra's eyes seemed to grow half again as large as they already were (and her eyes were several times larger than a normal equine's), and it seemed as though they would escape her skull. Her voice trembled as she said, "{My name is Zecora. What do you want with me? What do you mean I could be a danger to myself? What about my friends?!}" Zecora's ear twitched incessantly while she talked, but she paid it no mind.
That was not the response Crane had been expecting. Willow took the moment of silence to butt into the conversation again. "Hey Crane, what's going on? Why's the zebra look so scared? Was it my face?"
"She says that she's Zecora. That's not possible. {No, that can't be possible. We were sent to find a woman who had taken her Second Breath. You're... not even human. It's not possible.}"
"You mean Luna exalted a horse?" Willow was intensely interested now, and she stared (extremely uncomfortably, due to her deformity) at the zebra intently.
"{Zecora, are you sure there's no human named Zecora around here?}"
"{I cannot rule out that possibility, but it seems like a slim probability. I am Ora of the Zec clan. Each mare in my family has been a strong shaman,}" Zecora's ear twitched again. "{My name is unique, as far as I know, but I think you have arrived apropos. Not long ago I met a boy, who gave me a gift that fills me with joy. When I awoke I found my body had changed; my cutie mark gone, my stripes rearranged. Since I believe myself to be the only mare with my name, perhaps it is time to tell – with full detail – why it is that you came.}"
Willow looked up to Crane, hoping for a translation of the zebra's monologue. Crane sighed, "I don't think there's much question. Based on her story, it sounds like she's just taken her Second Breath. {Zecora, we are here as your brethren. Just as you have changed once, so can we two... Luna damn this stupid contagious meter!}" Crane took a breath to steady himself. "Willow, show Zecora your spirit shape, won't you?"
Willow nodded to her elder, and focused her mind inward. The girl began to shrink and her skin grew rough. Her robin's eggs blue robes – muddy from lying on the river bank – vanished into thin air. Willow's flat face stretched out to form a muzzle, and then flattened into something more reptilian. Within seconds, in the place of the marred girl there was a similarly marred gecko. The silvery tattoos that could be seen on Willow's face covered the gecko in the same places, and without clothes Zecora could see the tattoos extended to cover the gecko's entire body. Moments later, the gecko transformed back into the human Willow, and her clothes reappeared with her human body.
Crane looked back to Zecora. "{Every time you change forms, you risk your body mutating. The more often you shift, the higher the risk. You need to have tattoos like the ones Willow and I have; the spells used in their creation will protect you from any kind of mutation, caused by your own shifting or not.}" Crane's face softened. "{Please, Zecora. If you don't receive tattoos, you will eventually succumb to chimerism. Once you do, the Silver Pact will be forced to hunt you down and eliminate you. In all my years, I have never seen a creature like you; I do not wish for you to die before your time comes.}"
Crane's words gave Zecora pause. "{What if I just don't shift form? I rather like what I perceive as the norm.}"
"{Chimerism will come for you eventually; it is merely a matter of time. It could be weeks, if you abuse your power, or years if you avoid using it. It will still come.}"
Crane could almost see the wheels turning in Zecora's head. Even if much of his life had been spent on the fringes of civilization, nineteen centuries was plenty to learn how to read body language. Though she wasn't human, her face was expressive enough to be one. If Zecora joined Crane, she would be leaving some very close friends to join a complete stranger. If Zecora refused Crane, she would eventually endanger those same friends.
"{Just one thing more, I must make sure I have asked: how many years are in your past? You say there are many and that I am rare. I wish to know how you think I compare.}"
Crane smirked a little. "{In two months, I'll be celebrating my one thousand nine-hundredth birthday.}"
"{Did somepony say BIRTHDAY?!}" Zecora could not be entirely surprised by the outburst; she had seen it before. Neither Crane nor Willow could have expected a pink pony to stick its head out of Crane's knapsack.
"{Pinkie?}" Zecora
"Crane?" Willow
"{What in—}" Crane
"{Zecora!}" Pinkie
"{What are—}" Zecora
"{How...?}" Crane
"Zecora?" Willow
"{Rocky!}" Pinkie
Crane finally decided that a speaking pink creature popping out of his bag where it could not possibly fit was not worth shouting about any more. Rather than attempt to understand impossibility, he could act. Crane's fingers gleamed in the sunlight and he grew long, needle-like, silver claws. In a flash of light, Crane's claws were suddenly occupying the space Pinkie had been. Pinkie, however, was not there anymore.
"{Hiya! My name's Pinkie Pie! What's your name?}"
In another flash of light, Crane raked across his own back where Pinkie Pie had been hanging from his shoulders. Again, Pinkie was missing.
"{Hey Zecora! I'm so glad I found you; I've been looking all over. Then I heard somepony talking about having a birthday but it turned out to be someone instead!}"
"{Pinkie, look out!}"
For a third time, a flash of light was the only indication that Crane had moved. This time, rather than disappearing from where she was standing, Pinkie's hoof was covered with her cannon. Crane's wicked-looking claws were pressed against the iridescent weapon covering Pinkie's foreleg, and his eyes widened in realization.
"{I just wanted to wish someone a happy birthday and find my friend Zecora. Why are you trying to stab me?}" Pinkie's eyes grew large and started to water.
Crane stood up straight and dismissed his claws. "{Vizier,}" Crane's demeanor became polite, but curt. "{I would advise against performing 'impossible' acts in front of strangers. Especially strangers who can be violent,}" Crane's eyes narrowed. "{Like me.}"
Pinkie returned to her normal smile. "{Aww, don't worry, I forgive you!}" With that, Pinkie leapt up to give Crane a hug.
Willow looked very confused. "Um, Crane? How did a horse climb out of your bag? Er... and why did you try to kill it? And... Why can it talk like Zecora? Why are you hugging a pink horse, Crane?"
Through Pinkie's tangled mane, Crane replied, "I honestly have no idea, Willow."
"Do you want a hug too, Willow?" Pinkie asked (this time speaking in Low Realm, to the surprise of everyone else standing on the riverbank).
Before Willow had a chance to respond, Pinkie had transferred herself from Crane's neck to Willow's.
"I hate to admit it, Willow, but you look kinda cute with that horse around your neck." The rising heat in Willow's face was her only response.
When Pinkie finally released Willow from the hug she asked, "So what were you two lovebirds talking to Zecora about before the birthday was brought up?"
Willow's blush deepened. Crane managed to maintain his impassive appearance. "We're taking Zecora to the Silver Pact, Vizier. I hope you understand the implications of that, and stay out of our way."
Pinkie turned back to Zecora, who had lost track of the conversation thanks to the change in language. Pinkie wasn't smiling, which concerned Zecora. "{Hey, what's going on?}" Zecora was certain that she'd pulled a few auricular muscles that time.
"{Are you gonna go with them, Zecora?}"
"{I... don't know whether I should go...}"
Pinkie turned back to Crane and Willow. "Can you promise you'll bring her back here when you're done? She's got a lot of friends that are gonna miss her." Pinkie was clearly distressed. It didn't take hundreds of years of practice to know what emotions were floating though this horse's brain.
After a silent moment, it was Willow who spoke. "I swear to bring her back." Crane raised an eyebrow towards his companion, but said nothing.
"Do you Pinkie Promise?" When Pinkie instructed Willow on the bizarre pony oath, Willow couldn't help but laugh a little. The extreme seriousness with which Pinkie delivered the lines even made Crane crack a smile.
With the bond struck, Pinkie turned to Zecora once more. "{Don't worry, Zecora. I'll make sure to have a HUGE party for you when you get back.}" Pinkie wrapped Zecora in perhaps the gentlest hug the zebra had ever witnessed from the hyperactive mare. Pinkie disengaged and began to trot away down river. Zecora watched her go, and the further she got, the more spring returned to her step until finally Pinkie was back to her usual bouncing gait.
"{Climb in the boat, Zecora, let's get on our way.}"
Zecora and Willow both climbed into the boat, but Crane held back. Crane began muttering under his breath as arcane glyphs formed in the air around him. He began waving his arms in angular patterns; the glyphs danced to his motion. Crane raised his voice and the glyphs intensified. The glyphs rose into the air above the trio and began interlocking into a dark shape. Additional glyphs formed, filling holes, until finally the shape solidified. The dark glyphs shattered and evaporated, revealing a creature made of many white wings and a pair of scaled claws. The creature floated above the trio, five hundred spans long and two hundred spans wide.
Crane finally climbed into the boat, and the creature descended down onto them. The flying beast gripped each side of the boat and pressed itself down, forming a feathery canopy. With the sound of great wingbeats and the dropping of Zecora's stomach, the group was under way.
Gilda swooped down and landed by the fire in front of Trixie with a pair of jackrabbits in her claws.
"You're... not planning to prepare those things here, are you?"
"This is what you get for traveling with a carnivore. If you don't like it, feel free to go it alone, Trix."
Trixie's coat turned a few shades lighter as Gilda began her work gutting and skinning the rabbits for her dinner. "Trixie does not have a problem watching you eat meat. Trixie does have a problem watching you spill blood and guts all over our campsite!"
"I already bled them on the way here!"
"Then what is all the red stuff soaking into the dirt?"
"Um, precious bodily fluids?"
"Ugh. Why does it smell so bad?"
"That would be rabbit feces."
"That's disgusting! Trixie cannot fathom how you meat eaters can possibly stand such things!" Behind her, Gilda felt a brush of wind signifying Trixie was using her 'newfound greatness.' Presumably, Trixie was just trying to get the wind to keep the smells away.
Gilda swiftly finished cleaning her dinner, and skewered the two rabbits to hold them over the fire. Raw meat was fine, but that meant coughing up pellets later. Cooked meat just tasted so much richer than raw meat. If only Gilda had some seasoning for the rabbits. Even just a little salt and pepper would do. She tossed the leftover bits into the blaze (Gilda had no intention of eating viscera and fur when she had a campfire available, and Trixie certainly wouldn't be eating it), and tossed some dirt onto the ground where she had worked. There were plenty of animals who would smell the remains, but she could at least keep her campsite tidy. After turning the skewered rabbits a bit, she walked off into a grassier area to clean off her claws.
By the time she had finished cleaning up after her meal's preparation, the wood she'd used for skewers was about to ignite (in fact, the tip of one of them had already lit). Gilda removed the rabbits from the open flame and sliced into each to check on the state of the meat. They were purple and juicy on the inside, crunchy on the outside, and warm all the way through. Perfect. Trixie raised her nose in distaste as Gilda dove in to her meal with gusto.
When she was done, Gilda wiped her beak clean and turned back to the blue unicorn. "So, how was your dinner?"
The winds surrounding her died down. "Trixie found it... adequate."
Gilda snorted. Considering what I've got to work with, your dinner was practically gourmet. Ginger meal with wild berries, mushrooms, and sunflower seeds, rolled into a husk made of local grasses and cooked in the fire until the grasses flaked away at a touch. Like a wild tamale.
"Whatever, Trix. I'm gonna go grab some more firewood and take first watch," the pair had already encountered predators other than Gilda. They certainly weren't in Equestria anymore, wherever they were. "You get some rest. I saw a town to the south, we may be able to get there by tomorrow and figure out what the buck is going on."
"Wake Trixie when it is Trixie's turn to keep watch."
"You know it, Trix."
Trixie moved a little closer to the fire and made herself comfortable.
Gilda approached a lone Bois d'Arc tree; twigs and Bois d'Arc fruit littered the ground around it. The sun had already dipped below the horizon, and Gilda was quickly losing her light. She began gathering some of the larger sticks to use as fuel for their night campfire, and she even found a small branch that had broken free from the trunk.
A bipedal creature stepped out from behind the tree. It stood less than a span taller than Gilda with her head raised, and the hair on top of its head seemed to change colors as it turned in the sunset – almost like an opal, or a prism splitting light. It didn't seem to have hair or feathers or scales elsewhere on its body (strange enough in and of itself), but Gilda couldn't be sure, since it was draped with what appeared to be a sky-blue sundress.
Gilda made no sudden moves, but tensed up, ready to fight or fly away as needed. If it came to that, Gilda was sure she could outfly any ground-bound creature (except for that demonic pink pony Rainbow Dash had befriended); this one clearly couldn't fly.
"Good evening, Gilda. It's a lovely sunset, don't you think?"
Talking... was not what Gilda had expected.
"Yeah, sure, I guess; if you like that sort of thing. Do I know you?"
"No, but you will know me soon." The creature – Gilda decided that, based on its voice, it was probably female – changed gears. "You've taken excellent care of Trixie."
"You been spying on us?"
"I suppose you could say that. You don't have to stay with her, you know."
Gilda sighed. "Yeah, I do. I guess I could leave if I wanted, but I'd hate myself forever. She saved my life, you know." The other creature nodded – somehow, Gilda understood the nod wasn't about knowing Gilda's situation with Trixie, but rather knowing the bond of such a relationship. "I don't even know why I'm opening up to you like this. Who the buck are you?"
The creature smiled. It was a thin smile, like she didn't do it often, but it seemed genuine. "I am many things. I think the least confusing name for you to use would be Selene. As for why you're opening up to me," Selene gave a shrug, "I sometimes have that effect on people."
Gilda relaxed a bit, although she still wasn't sure why she had any reason to trust this 'Selene.' "So Selene, why are you here?"
"Much has happened to you in your life, Gilda. From losing friends to nearly losing your life, you've been beset by challenges, always. Even now, you're in a strange world and you're attached by honor to one who barely tolerates you—"
"I wouldn't say barely..."
"Yet you pull through the difficulty and strive on in your own unique way. Why am I here? I have come to claim you as one of my stewards."
Gilda barely managed to sputter, "Wha—" before her world went white. When she opened her eyes again, she lost her balance and fell over onto her side. For some reason, the fall was much shorter than she expected.
Gilda noted that she was still clutching the wood (including the small branch) to her chest with one claw (surely, that was why she'd lost her balance), Selene had disappeared, and Gilda's light was all but gone. She quickly flapped her wings to right herself and pushed off from the ground with her free claw (yet not with her paws). The wood seemed heavy as her wings strained to lift her from the ground, but soon she was aloft and gliding towards Trixie and the campfire.
Suddenly exhausted, Gilda simply dropped the firewood onto the fire from the air as she came in for her landing. Some of the wood missed the fire, but enough landed on-target to last through most of the night. Trixie could shore it up when it was her turn for watch. Gilda stumbled her landing like her claws were tucked to her stomach and her paws were asleep, eating some dirt in the process.
I must be way too tired. I think I'll just stay right here until it's time to wake up Trixie.
Gilda never woke Trixie. Fortunately, ever since her tour of the Badlands, Trixie had grown accustomed to sleeping with an ear to the ground.
thud thud thud thud
Trixie pulled herself out of dreamland at the vibrations. Gilda wasn't waking her, though, so whatever it was couldn't be terribly important.
thud thud thud thud
Trixie was fully awake with her eyes still closed. What is that noise anyway? Surely Gilda would wake me up for something like this.
Trixie cracked her eyes open to the early sunrise. Well, that explains why Gilda didn't wake me. She must've passed out.
THUD THUD THUD THUD
Remembering why she was awake in the first place, Trixie leapt up and trotted over to Gilda (beak in a small furrow – sleepy flying makes for sloppy landing!). Trixie nudged her companion with a hoof. "Gilda, get up! Something big is coming this way!"
Gilda was not the light sleeper that Trixie was, but a hoof in the gut could wake anyone. Within moments, Gilda was up and ready to fly, and both mare and griffon were facing the oncoming sound. It wasn't so loud now that Trixie didn't have an ear to the earth, but the pair could make out a cadence of four heavy steps, running.
Just before the source of the sound came into view, they heard a voice that would put Princess Luna to shame. "{DAK IS HERE!}" Neither Gilda nor Trixie understood what the voice had shouted, but soon the source bounded into view. Rather than a single quadrupedal creature, as Trixie had expected, there were two bipeds running together; two very tall bipeds (at least twice Gilda's height), with very broad shoulders and very thick limbs.
"Trixie has this covered, Gilda!" Trixie stepped up and pointed her horn towards the nearest of the two (both still running full-throttle towards Gilda and Trixie with no signs of stopping). A visible blast of air launched from Trixie's horn to the front biped. The attack hit the dead center of the creature's chest, but the creature brushed it off as though nothing had happened.
Gilda had to smirk a little at Trixie's failure. The mare had been so proud of her new ability; she'd often practiced exploding every other log of small rock they came across. "Nice try, Trix. I bet you just made him mad."
Trixie didn't even bother asking why Gilda assumed the creature was male. Instead, she let off a barrage of air blasts from her horn, aiming at the same point on the target each time. By the time she had let up, the two bipeds were getting extremely close, and Gilda readied her talons for her own assault. Trixie noticed her attacks had in fact torn a gash into the creature's bare chest between the silvered tattoos it sported all over. Yet to Trixie's astonishment, the wound slowly closed right before her eyes.
Gilda readied herself to attack. Trixie was about to warn her about the creature's regenerative ability, but it was too late; the bipeds were upon them. Trixie is too pretty to die!
Rather than plowing through them both, the two bipeds skidded to a stop, throwing a wave of dirt (and a few charred and dried rabbit remains) into the air – a wave of dirt which landed right on Trixie's head, and missed Gilda entirely. (Gilda's chortles at the situation did not improve Trixie's mood at all.)
The two bipeds were like yin and yang in almost every way except for their body structure. Where one had light hair on the top of its head, the other had dark. Where one was densely covered with tattoos, the other had only a few. One wore as few clothes as possible, the other was covered. One had yet to open its mouth, the other didn't seem to have a concept of an 'inside voice.'
"{HELLO!}" Bellowed the bare-chested one, waving and arm with a giddy smile on its face. What is this, a child? Thought Trixie. She had no idea what the creature had said, but it seemed to be a greeting.
"Er... Trixie welcomes you...?" If the bipeds weren't going to attack, she might as well stop fighting, too. The speaking one didn't seem to mind that only a moment ago she'd been blasting him (might as well go with Gilda's instinct on that one) with her substantial magical power.
Both bipeds focused on the dirt-covered mare. "{ARE YOU} GILDA?"
Trixie looked over to the griffin. "How does this thing know your name?"
Without taking her eyes off the intruders, Gilda said, "Buck if I know. There was another one last night... a lot smaller, mind you. She knew my name, too." Gilda directed her voice towards the two bipeds in front of her. "AND SHE COULD SPEAK SENSIBLY!"
The other biped finally spoke, "{Horned one shoot magic.} Gilda {no shoot magic. Feathered one} Gilda?"
The loud one smacked his head hard enough that any other creature would have been knocked out cold. "{OF COURSE! FEATHERED ONE} GILDA! {HELLO,} GILDA!" He waved frantically at Gilda.
"{Elder say bring} Gilda. {What do with horned one?}"
"{NOTHING, KIMCHEE. TAKE} GILDA."
"Hey you dweebs, quit talking about me in some stupid made-up language!"
Gilda raked her talons across Dak's chest, and traced three deep gouges into his flesh. Despite how deep the wound appeared to Trixie, Gilda blinked at how shallow it was. The amount of force she used, she should be able to see the guy's heart pumping in his chest. Dak, for his part, didn't seem to notice.
While Gilda watched the wounds on Dak's chest slowly close, Kimchee wrapped a long arm around Gilda's waist, pinning her wings. "{Come, Dak. We go to elders!}"
Kimchee hefted Gilda over one shoulder, leaving her upside-down and facing Trixie. "Can't you do anything about this, Trix?!"
Trixie looked uncertain. On one hoof, traveling with Gilda was definitely safer than traveling alone. It was also kind of fun to shout at each other. On the other hoof, these things had proven impervious to both Gilda and Trixie's attacks – at least, they seemed not to suffer any lasting damage. On the other other hoof, they didn't seem to want to hurt Gilda or Trixie, just take Gilda somewhere. That was a good thing, because after the small (failed) altercation, Trixie honestly didn't think she could win, even with her new power and Gilda's help.
"No. Trixie thinks she should follow these creatures wherever they are taking you, and then plan from there."
Gilda was beginning to get lightheaded from the blood rushing to her brain. "Didn't you see their teeth, Trix? These things eat meat! Like, griffin meat!"
Kimchee and Dak began stomping off the way they came from, and Gilda soon passed out due to the head rush. In order to keep up, Trixie had to step up her usual gait. As the sun began to climb in the sky, the unlikely quartet ran headlong to the east.
"That is one way of describing their nature, yes."
"And every manse makes different hearthstones! Who knows what these might do, Twilight?" Pinkie was the only pony excited about the magic stones in the center of Servant's chamber. Twilight was curious about the new form of magic, of course, but she was cautious about possible dangers. She had had spells blow up in her face one too many times to rush headlong into an entire new branch of the arcane.
Applejack was a 'normal' earth pony compared to Pinkie (of course, your average pegasus was a normal earth pony compared to Pinkie), and she was dubious about the use of any external magic. Even after her exaltation and several explanations about her new nature, Applejack didn't quite accept that she had a new form of magic at her hooftips.
Rarity, Rainbow, and Fluttershy all expressed varying levels of interest, but Servant and Pinkie had made it clear that without 'awakened essence', none of them could make use of the hearthstones anyway. The trio was present in Servant's chamber mostly to support their friends.
"Pinkie, Ah suspect Servant here may know what the hearthstone thingies do."
"Fire pony is correct—"
"Mah name's Applejack."
"The Spark can exist in many locations throughout Creation. From within The Spark, pony master can shift The Spark's location daily. The hearthstones can collectively shift The Spark every five hours, from anywhere in the world. Anyone resonating with a hearthstone can also divine the location of The Spark relative to their own location with a moment's concentration."
"That's awesome!" Rainbow Dash cried from behind her exalted friends. "How do you resonate with one of these babies?"
"That's easy, Dashie!" Pinkie Pie lifted her hoof cannon and pointed to a similar gem resting in the weapon's casing.
You... Put the hearthstone in a socket (Not a pocket, not at port), Then attune it to connect it (With your magic for support).
That's how you use a hearthstone Of any kind and any sort. With The Spark's special power you will never be alone; Twist your hearthstone clockwise and the manse will transport!
Now... If your cursor finds a menu item followed by a dash, And the double-clicking icon puts...
"Wait, that's not right." Pinkie's face screwed up in concentration for a few moments before springing back to a smile. "Anyway, you girls need something to put the hearthstones in if you want to resonate with them."
"That problem is easily remedied, pony Vizier."
The stone pedestal the hearthstones rested on shifted. The surface seemed to become almost liquid, flowing away from the gems themselves to reveal seven necklaces already set with the hearthstones. The grooves in the pedestal tracing the heptagram shape became ridges, maintaining the design in relief.
"So... I just put on the necklace?" Twilight fiddled with the largest of the gems on the pedestal.
"Attunement requires approximately thirty minutes of handling the artifact."
Applejack and Pinkie each grabbed a necklace of their own, and Twilight set hers around her neck. The group walked out of Servant's chamber and Twilight turned back to the curtain separating Servant's room from the stairwell.
"Hey Pinkie, do you know how to read that language?"
"Sure!" Pinkie stifled a giggle behind a hoof.
The heat in Twilight's cheeks rose. "Um, could you maybe help me learn it?"
"I can try! Lemme go check the library!" As the rest of the girls slowly ascended the narrow stairs, Pinkie Pie practically vanished into thin air.
When Twilight reached the top of the stairs, she saw Pinkie trotting back from the front of the manse, book in her mouth.
"Wow Pinkie, that was... fast."
"It was under !" Pinkie cried as she spat the book out in front of Twilight. The binding was failing, the pages were yellow with age, and the script on the cover was fading.
Twilight squinted at the cover in an attempt to make out what it said:
After a pause, she gave up and looked to her pink friend. "Nope, not getting it."
"It's Erymanthoi, Erymanthoi, What Do You See? It was written to help children learn to read. Look, it's got pictures!" Pinkie flipped the book open to one of the earlier pages, with a block print illustration of a gorilla sporting many bony protrusions in the center of some sort of magic circle. Outside the circle stood a small human child alongside a man with the same kind of caste mark as Twilight.
"It doubles as an introductory primer on demon summoning!"
Twilight stared at Pinkie with half-lidded eyes. "It's a foal's reading book... and a tome on demon summoning?! Who would write something like that?!"
"It does seem a mite bit strange, Pinkie."
Pinkie shrugged off the complaints. "What can I say? You Solars got weird near the end of the High First Age." She stuck out her tongue playfully to try and diffuse the tension. "Demon summoning or no, this should help get the basics of reading Old Realm."
The girls began walking towards the entrance to the manse, and Twilight picked up the book in her telekinesis to begin reading as she walked.
"Girls, Ah think this necklace thingy is attuned!"
Twilight nodded, "Yes, it's almost like... I can breathe easier. Or perhaps each breath fulfills me more than it did without the hearthstone."
The Bearers sat together in the manse's dining hall for dinner, and the attunement to their new hearthstone amulets completed halfway through their meal.
Despite being one of the Bearers without the power of an exaltation – and therefore without a hearthstone – Rainbow was the most excited at the news. "Awesome! Servant said they'll let us move the manse around, right? Where do we wanna go first?"
Rarity dabbed her mouth with a napkin before speaking up. "Rainbow dear, the sun's almost gone down. Why don't we wait until tomorrow to think about what we can do with these things?"
Rainbow Dash wasn't listening. Instead, she was invading Twilight's personal space. Before Twilight could voice protest, Rainbow reached towards the gem hanging from Twilight's neck and twisted it as though it were on a pivot joint. Twilight batted Rainbow's hoof away, but one of the vertices on the gem had already reached the ninety degree position. When Rainbow's hoof released it, the gem fell back to its natural orientation, with the semicircle on the top.
A barely audible click sounded from each of the three amulets, and everypony felt their stomachs fall out from beneath them. The falling sensation ended in moments and nothing seemed to have changed, but some of the Ponyville residents around the dining hall were murmuring in confusion.
"Not to worry everypony! Rainbow is just messing around with things she shouldn't! Everything's okay!" Twilight shot a glare at the offender.
Rainbow gave Twilight a guilty smile right back. "Hey, c'mon Twilight! Did you really expect me to resist something like that?"
"Yes, Rainbow! I did!"
Rainbow rubbed the back of her head as she tried to think of a way out of the hole she'd dug herself into. "Uh... how about we go exploring!"
"Ah'd love to, sugarcube, but it's sunset in sixty eight minutes."
Rainbow blinked a few times. "That's awfully specific. How do you know that?"
In tandem, Applejack and Twilight pointed to their foreheads and set their caste marks aglow.
"Oh, right. 'Chosen of the god of the sun' and all that. Heh. Well, we could still go out for an evening walk, right? Back me up, Fluttershy!"
Fluttershy poked her head out from underneath the table where she'd hidden during the shift. "Um... I suppose seeing the stars would be... nice."
"Woo-hoo! Stargazing party!" Pinkie whooped as she threw her forelegs into the air.
As the ponies walked out of the compound (making sure to assuage the Ponyville citizens' fears about the falling sensation they had experienced during the shift), Twilight turned back to the arch at the entrance.
"What's up, Twilight?" Pinkie asked.
"I'm trying to figure out the name of this place. Servant keeps calling it 'The Spark,' but there's way more text here than that."
"Oh that's all? It's called The Sp—"
Twilight shoved a hoof in Pinkie's mouth to interrupt her. "If it's all the same to you, Pinkie, I think it would be better if I figure out the whole thing by myself." Pinkie nodded her understanding and Twilight removed her hoof.
"Let's see. That symbol is 'Da,' which usually means 'The' on its own, right?" Pinkie nodded. "The next word... Sa... Ra... Pa... Ka?" Twilight looked to Pinkie for confirmation.
"You ordered the middle two symbols backwards. Sa, Pa, Ra, Ka."
"Spark! The Spark, like Servant keeps saying." Twilight nodded to herself.
"Don't forget, Servant is actually 'Servant of The Spark.'"
"Right, right. Now, those two symbols together are 'Of;' they show up a lot in the book you gave me."
Pinkie nodded. "Demons tend to like elaborate titles rather than names."
"So... what's that symbol?" Twilight pointed to the beginning of the next word on the archway.
"That's an 'O.'"
"It looks nothing like the 'O' in the 'Of!'"
"Most syllables have a few alternate symbols. I guess it's to help make words look better?"
Twilight sighed, but she had to acknowledge that the shape of the word would be awkward otherwise. The way that syllables combined to form words in Old Realm was exceptionally annoying. "So..." Twilight checked back to the reference section of the book (convenient, but odd for a foal's book), "O, Mo, Ni, Pi, Re, Se, Ne, Te... is that even a word?" Twilight's brow furrowed in thought before she slapped herself. "Of course! It's an endocentric compound! Look, the head and the modifier are even slightly separated – 'Omni' and 'Present'."
Pinkie Pie grinned widely at Twilight. "Wow! You've barely had that book for an hour, and you're already pulling apart big words in Old Realm like it's nothing! I'm impressed, Twilight. And I don't even know what an endycenwhatsit is!"
Twilight flushed in the waning light at the praise. "So, the last word... Ha, Ra, Mo, No, Yo." Twilight's eyes shrunk to pinpricks as the reality of the manse's title sunk in. She slowly turned to gape at Pinkie Pie, who simply grinned back like a maniac.
"I... You... What? Isn't this arch thousands of years old?"
"Yup!"
"Why didn't you say anything about it earlier?!"
Pinkie frowned a bit. "You said you wanted to figure it out for yourself..."
"I mean when we first got here! Why didn't you say anything then?!"
Pinkie reached into her mane and pulled out a small stack of papers, and began leafing through it. Twilight raised an eyebrow at the behavior, but remained silent. Pinkie coughed, "When we first showed up I said – and I quote – 'Ooh! That's suspiciously appropriate!'" She stowed the papers back in her mane before continuing, "I mean, a pony named Twilight exalting as a Twilight caste and finding her manse at twilight is cool and all, but that's not what I was talking about."
Rainbow Dash trotted up behind the pair. "Hey, what are you two doing? I thought we were all going on a walk together?"
"Rainbow! Do you know what this manse is called?" Twilight was beginning to become unhinged.
Rainbow cocked her head sideways. "Er, isn't it called 'The Spark?' That's what Servant keeps calling it..."
Twilight shook her head, simultaneously denying Rainbow's answer and composing herself once again. "That's just the short version of the name, like saying 'Pinkie' instead of 'Pinkamena Diane Pie.'" Twilight drew a deep breath and turned back to the archway. She pointed to each word in succession as she spoke the name to Rainbow Dash, "The Spark of Omnipresent Harmony!" Twilight punctuated the name by stomping her hoof.
Rainbow looked up at the archway for a moment, and then she shrugged. "I guess it's a cool name. So what?"
Twilight sighed. Just take it slowly, help her figure it out. Try Sorraian questioning with her, Twilight. "Okay, what did we just learn about the manse today?"
"You guys can make it teleport. Which is awesome, by the way!"
Twilight nodded. "Good, good. Now, who owns the manse?"
Rainbow lifted a hoof to her chin, "Well Pinkie says it's you, and Servant calls you master..."
"So we can assume I'm the owner?" Rainbow nodded emphatically. "Okay, now let's switch gears for a moment. What did we use to defeat Nightmare Moon?"
"Twilight, I'm lazy, not stupid."
"Just answer the question, please."
"Fine... We used the Elements of Harmony."
"Good. Two more questions. First, what's my Element?"
"Magic, duh."
Twilight nodded. "Okay, now: how did we find the Element of Magic? Please be specific."
"Um..." Rainbow closed her eyes to try and remember the specific details. "'When the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed,' right?"
Twilight leaned in towards Rainbow. "And...?"
"What?"
"A spark found the Element of Magic – my Element of Harmony. The manse belongs to me. The manse goes everywhere. It's named The Spark of Omnipresent Harmony. You're telling me you're not drawing any conclusions here?"
Rainbow Dash put on her best Big Mac imitation: "Enope." She couldn't keep the straight face afterwards, though, and broke into giggles. Rainbow's giggles threw Pinkie into a giggle fit of her own.
"Ugh!" Twilight shouted in frustration. "Listen to me! There's some kind of connection here!"
"Whatever, Twi. C'mon, the others are waiting for us." With a flick of her wings, Rainbow trotted away.
Twilight turned to Pinkie, who finally calmed down. "You believe me, right? There's some sort of connection between this place and Equestria?"
"Of course I do, silly! I mean, I lived in Yu-Shan for nearly half of my life."
"That's not quite what I meant, but at this point I'll take it. Let's go catch up with the others."
The land surrounding The Spark now was much colder than it had been before, and it grew worse the further from the manse's grounds the ponies walked. In fact, the land immediately surrounding the manse's compound looked identical in both places. Less than a mile from the compound, though, the land quickly turned to farmland. Applejack was certain she could see an apple orchard in the distance, and the group was currently walking along the edge of an alfalfa field.
"Ah'm sure we could find a way to trade with these farmers tomorrow or somethin', but we should really be gettin' back home."
"Naw, AJ! Look, there's a campfire up ahead!" Rainbow Dash was still excited about exploring the area around the manse.
Applejack gave a deep sigh.
"It's all right, Applejack. Even if it's dark when we go back, you, Pinkie, and I can supply light for everypony. We're going to have to interact with humans at some point, you know."
"Fine, fine... Let's go meet the neighbors."
As they approached, the glow of a distant campfire resolved to three tents surrounding three humans hunched over a small fire.
"Hey guys! Free salt lick!" Rainbow bent down to a line of loose salt on the ground and began lapping some of it up.
Rarity rolled her eyes. "Taking loose salt from the ground is positively barbaric, Rainbow. You have got no idea where that salt's been!"
"Hey, a little dirt never hurt anypony!" Rainbow discreetly scooped up a small hoofful of loose dirt and tossed it towards the fashionista, letting it land harmlessly just shy of her hooves. Rarity's panicked reaction to the flying filth was what Rainbow really wanted, and it was predictably priceless.
"Why...! Rainbow, I'll get you for that!" Rarity retaliated, levitating an earthen clump and tossing it back at the cyan pegasus, where it impacted her shoulder and broke up.
The other girls stayed out of Rainbow and Rarity's impromptu dirt clod fight. Pinkie cast her gaze along the line of salt on the ground, noticing that it seemed to encircle the human camp up ahead. Line of salt... Surrounding a campsite... Nighttime... Oh. Oh dear.
"Girls, stop!" Rarity and Rainbow turned to see Pinkie with a panicked expression to rival Rarity's initial reaction to the dirt. "Rainbow, that wasn't a salt lick," Pinkie pointed to the churned earth that was the casualty of the fight. "That was a salt line."
Rainbow looked to Rarity, then back to Pinkie. "What's the difference?"
"Salt lines act as a simple barrier to ghosts. If those campers made a salt line around their camp, that means they expect hungry ghosts in the area. Hungry ghosts... Or worse."
"What's a ghost gonna do to us? It'll just pass through. Right...?" Rainbow began to get nervous in the face of Pinkie's serious tone.
"They're not called 'hungry ghosts' because they want to eat my cupcakes, Rainbow! And there are worse creatures of the night than just hungry ghosts! War ghosts! Nemissaries! Nephwracks! And those are just the ones that will be stopped by the salt lines!"
"Ahem," Rarity cleared her throat, "Perhaps, then, we should go apologize to the humans for our mistake, and help them fix the salt line if they have any salt left."
The group moved forward at a brisk pace (although Applejack had to drag Fluttershy, who had frozen stiff at the talk of malevolent spirits roaming the night). Hopefully no ghost would find the broken salt line before it could be repaired.
One of the humans noticed the ponies' bold approach in the night and pointed them out to his fellows.
The group consisted of three males: a child, an adult, and an elder. Possibly related, the three shared similar facial structure. Each wore little more than rags for clothing, though the elder was decorated with many beads, talismans, and other small trinkets. The adult stood next to a fine-looking straight sword sticking up from the ground, and his posture suggested he was ready to fight. Based purely on smell, either the child had no idea how to create a toilet in the wild, or he was scared out of his mind.
When he ponies drew close, the elder calmly spoke, "{You're obviously not barbarians or icewalkers, but you're not humans either.} ⟨If you passed the salt lines, you're obviously no ghosts, and you do not shamble like zombies.⟩ I've also never seen a winterfolk that looked like you, though. What are you?"
Rarity stepped up. "My dear, we're simply ponies. More importantly, I want to apologize to you for my friend here," Rarity gave Rainbow a light jab in the side right on her injury. "She decided that your salt line was a salt lick. This and that happened and long story short the line is broken."
"Talk about revisionist history," grumbled Rainbow under her breath.
"{Grandfather, are they going to eat us?}" The child wailed.
"{I don't think so. But according to the white one, they have put us in danger.} Why would you be so foolish to break a line of salt at night so close to Marma's Fell?"
"I'm sorry dear; we're new to the area. We have never heard of Marma's Fell before." Rarity raised an eyebrow inquisitively, hoping the man would elaborate.
The adult lifted his sword and glowered at the ponies. "{What do you mean they've put us in danger, father?}"
The elder raised a hand to steady his son. "{They say the salt line was broken because of a misunderstanding. You have no reason to antagonize them.}"
Pinkie was muttering to herself, "Marma's Fell... Marma's Fell..." she jerked her head up, eyes wide and starting intensely at the elderly man. "If we're so close to Marma's Fell, aren't we close to the Traveler's Road?" He nodded. "Why would you set up camp so far from the road? That thing's got all kinds of enchantments to protect the travelers!"
The old man sighed. "My son is not permitted on the road. He was sentenced to summer exile. {All because he is a fool!}" The old man smacked his son in the back of the head. "I promised my daughter-in-law to see him safely to another city. My grandson snuck out and followed us. {He will be going home to his mother after this is over, right?}"
The child shrank into himself and did an impressive Fluttershy impression for someone who had never met her.
The old man sighed as though the weight of the whole world rest on his shoulders, and he was tired of dealing with it. "We had better fix the salt line before anything gets through. {Ember, go fetch the salt bag.}" The child hurried off to the pile of supplies next to one of the tents.
Groan.
Pinkie turned to Twilight, "Hey, we just had dinner. Surely you can't still be hungry?"
"It wasn't me, Pinkie. Rarity?"
"No lady would ever make such a noise!"
Rainbow shook her head, "Hey, don't look at me!"
"Nope, Ah'm stuffed!"
Fluttershy shook her head quietly.
Groan.
"Uh..." Pinkie pointed past the adult with a hoof, "maybe it was... him!" Everypony turned to see a desiccated face lurching up behind the human.
"EEEAAAAAhhh!" Rarity screamed, and tried to hide behind Fluttershy. It was a difficult feat, since Fluttershy was simultaneously trying to hide behind Rarity. Her scream launched the human into action, though. He turned and with one stroke he separated the creature's head from its shoulders.
"{Zombies...}"
The elder nodded. He turned towards the ponies and said, "I hope you ponies can fight. Where there's one zombie, there are more. With zombies assailing us, we won't have time to repair the salt line. Which means ghosts may find their way in as well. We may be in for a long night."
Even as the child returned, he dropped a bag of salt near the fire and shakily drew a dagger before standing next to his father.
Everyone heard the moans before they saw the walking corpses. Five. Ten. Two dozen. The group had been surrounded by ravenous zombies, and they were closing in.
"Pinkie, I thought the salt was supposed to stop them!"
"Do those look like ghosts to you? I said the salt stopped ghosts!"
Six ponies and three humans faced out from the campfire at the approaching undead. The two unicorns each levitated a blazing brand from the fire.
"Do not let them bite you, little ponies!" The elder called out.
"Why, will they turn us into more zombies?" Rainbow asked.
"What? No! You'll probably contract leprosy if they get in a good bite. I've seen it happen."
The conversation was cut off as the first zombie came close enough to reach out for Applejack. The zombie was greeted with Kicks McGee, and he was launched over the heads of his fellows.
The other members of the defense team quickly engaged the enemy. The elder human wielded a knobbed staff, and caved in the heads of his enemies with cold precision. While his grandson stood by with a dagger and a brave face, the elder's actions protected the child from any real combat.
The adult human seemed to have little in common with his father beyond looks. Where the elder used no extraneous movements and dispatched zombies with a minimum necessary effort, the son swung his sword wildly and passionately. His eyes were filled with rage and though he cut through the enemy as quickly as his father did, he spent much more effort doing so.
Twilight and Rarity swung their firebrands with enough force to stagger the zombies, though they did not cave heads in like the elder. On the other hoof, the dried corpses burned easily. By the time a zombie had recovered from the stagger, the flames had spread far enough and done enough damage to the dried-out joints that standing was nearly impossible.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash stood side by side lashing out with their hooves at the oncoming horde. Predictably, the pair had turned the fight into a competition.
"Hah! That one must'a flown fifteen spans!"
"Please, accuracy over distance, AJ! Watch this!" Rainbow bucked the nearest zombie in the chest, leaving a pair of deep hoofprints and knocking it back into one of its fellows. Both zombies fell to the ground, and the one on the bottom began struggling to remove its burden. The zombie Rainbow kicked did not move.
"That only counts as one!"
Fluttershy backed herself into the center of the circle, and bumped into the child human who had finally realized he wasn't going to contribute to the fight. Both human and pony jumped in surprise. When she'd recovered, Fluttershy gave the human the most comforting smile she could. Neither of the noncombatants could understand the other's spoken language, but body language was universal.
The child reached out with one hand towards Fluttershy, and guessing his intent she leaned in. The boy ran his fingers through her mane, and actually giggled at how soft it was. Fluttershy, for her part, was surprised at how nice the fingers felt rubbing against her neck and scalp. Oh, I hope Miss Aloe and Miss Lotus don't get too sad when ponies learn how this feels. I wouldn't want to hurt their feelings.
With their immediate zombies dispatched, the two fighting humans turned to assist the ponies. While the ponies had made progress, they did not have experience in killing; most of the zombies on the pony side of the circle had been disabled or delayed, rather than destroyed. With sword and staff, they dove into the fray.
Fluttershy released the boy from the hug they'd both desperately needed. Between the petting and the hug, Fluttershy had calmed down considerably; it seemed the boy had calmed as well. Despite the fighting taking place only a few spans away from the pair, they were both serene. Fluttershy closed her eyes and smiled, bright warmth filling her heart. Why can't this whole world be more like this colt?
Fluttershy opened her eyes to look at the boy again, noticing a faint blue aura surrounding him. A similar blue glow shone from his chest below his shirt. The boy's eyes were wide with shock, staring past Fluttershy's back. She turned to see what he was looking at, but only saw the same battle as before. She heard a faint thump from the boy and turned back to see the boy face down in the dirt... with a bloody hole in the center of his back. Standing above the boy was a softly glowing apparition; the crazed eyes and wild hair did nothing for its appearance, but the biggest clue to its intent was the still-warm human heart in its hand.
In the history of the world there have been many screams described as 'blood-curdling' without even being backed by magic. Only five such screams have even approached the ability to affect a listener's blood flow, and none have actually achieved that lofty goal. The sound that Fluttershy released at that moment left all of those screams in the dust, and even the near-mindless zombies were distracted from the fight. Although no one would ever make the connection, her scream of terror actually managed to cause a blood clot near the elderly man's heart which would ultimately lead to his death several months later.
The pony and human combatants scrambled to protect the group against the new threat; most of the zombies were destroyed, but more hungry ghosts were slowly joining the battle. Fluttershy's mind was frozen. The sound of fighting was miles away. The entire universe was herself, the campfire, and the young boy's fresh corpse. Fluttershy slowly turned the body over onto its back, and the boy's cooling eyes stared up into hers. 'Why didn't you save me?' his eyes said to her. 'Why didn't you help everyone?'
Fluttershy screwed her eyes closed in an attempt to shut out the image of the dead. The image inside her head just made matters worse; rather than a body staring silently into the sky she saw a scared human colt walking towards her, with a bloody dripping hole straight through his chest. "Save me!" the vision cried.
Knocked back towards the fire by one of the ghosts, Rainbow Dash looked up to see the tears welling up in Fluttershy's eyes. A single drop escaped and rolled down her check. The tear fell from Fluttershy's chin towards the child. Halfway to the body, the teardrop began to glow with a golden light. When the golden tear hit, the body erupted into golden flames; the smoke rose high into the sky, and Rainbow later swore she could make out the colt's face in the smoke.
Fluttershy glowed brightly in the night, far outshining the modest fire built for the camp. Her eyes remained closed, but beams of light launched towards the ghosts and the remaining zombies from the solid disk that had appeared on her forehead. Each zombie erupted into holy flames much like the boy, although no smoke escaped the animated corpses. The effect on the hungry ghosts proved to be much more dramatic: the light sunk deep into the ghost's corpus, and then the ghost's eyes and mouth began glowing with the same golden light. Glowing cracks spread like spider webs from the point of impact until the ghost could no longer maintain its own shape. Finally, each ghost erupted with pieces of corpus passing through the living combatants harmlessly.
Silence descended upon the awestruck group. The younger of the two remaining humans finally broke the peace, "{Father... is that creature a Lawgiver?}"
"{I don't know how, but I don't see any other conclusion.} You there, yellow pony."
Fluttershy shrank away from the elder before replying at her standard mouse-like volume, "... yes?"
"How is it possible that you are a Lawgiver?"
"Um... Well, I saw this man with four arms... And we had a... Nice... Chat. He said I needed to protect people, and I talked about all my animals, and he talked about the sun. I talked about Celestia, and he talked about his siblings. But then he said he uh... Had to go because it was his turn... Or something. Um..." Fluttershy looked up to the elder with a toothy grin.
Pinkie Pie grabbed Fluttershy around the neck. "Now after our stargazing party we can have another exaltation party!"
"We haven't had an exaltation party, Pinkie. We can't have another one without having the first one." Twilight deadpanned.
"Oh. Then we can have three exaltation parties at once!"
The elder stared back and forth between the ponies. "The three of you are all Lawgivers?"
Pinkie giggled, "No, silly! I'm not a Lawgiver, Applejack is!" Pinkie pointed to the cowpony. Applejack and Twilight both lit their caste marks to reveal their nature to the old man.
"{Father, do you think...?}"
"{No, your crimes would not be excused for bringing Lawgivers to the Syndics.}" The younger man looked surprised. "{I know what you were thinking, boy! Still, the Syndics would appreciate a circle of Lawgivers in the city.}" The elder bowed low before the ponies. "You three have done much for my son and me; from defending against the dead at our sides to saving my grandson's soul, I owe a debt I cannot repay." Rarity opened her mouth to speak, but reconsidered when she realized she was not being included in the man's display of gratitude. The elder turned to Pinkie and said, "You are familiar with the Traveler's Road? It would please me greatly if you showed these Lawgivers the way to Whitewall. I am certain the Syndics would be willing to grant an audience.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I must repair the salt lines."
The younger man sat down heavily and stared at the ground where his son had fallen. Fluttershy moved to try and comfort him, but he shook his head and waved her off. "{Go. You can do more good in the city than with me.}"
Applejack spoke, "C'mon girls, we should go back to the manse and rest. We can go see those Syndic folk tomorrow."
As the ponies walked back in the direction they had come, Pinkie lagged behind the group, lost deep in thought. Syndics in Whitewall? Where have I heard that name before?
Everypony turned to look past the adult human to see a desiccated face lurching up behind him.
"EEEAAAAAhhh!" Rarity screamed, and tried to hide behind Fluttershy. It was a difficult feat, since Fluttershy was simultaneously trying to hide behind Rarity. Her scream launched the human into action, though. He turned and with one stroke he separated the creature's head from its shoulders.
"{Zombies...}"
The younger man sat down heavily and stared at the ground where his son had fallen. Fluttershy moved to try and comfort him, but he shook his head and waved her off. "{Go. You can do more good in the city than with me.}"
Applejack spoke, "C'mon girls, we should go back to the manse and rest. We can go see those Syndic folk tomorrow."
As the group walked back towards the manse in the night, Pinkie rejoined the group, jovial as ever.
"Pinkie, where did you run off to? We had to fight off zombies with a pair of humans!" Twilight was not pleased with Pinkie's disappearing act.
Pinkie cocked her head to the side and gave her most innocent smile. "You were throwing humans at zombies? That doesn't sound very nice, Twilight!"
"You know what I mean, Pinkie!"
Pinkie stifled a giggle with her hoof. "Sorry, I couldn't resist." Pinkie tapped Twilight on the nose, "Don't worry, everything's okey-dokey now!"
Pinkie began trotting back towards the manse; there wasn't much that the others could do but shrug and follow. In the direction Pinkie had come from, unnoticed in the darkness, a cloud of smoke and steam lifted in the wind, revealing a battleground covered in scorch marks and disturbed earth.
The next day, the six Bearers gathered after breakfast to meet the Syndics of Whitewall.
"Rarity, what are you wearing?" Rainbow asked. "It looks like you just grabbed your sheets..."
"It's called a toga, dear. I figured since we're planning to meet our first human leaders in this world, I ought to dress for the occasion."
"It still looks like you made it out of your bed sheets."
Rarity mumbled something under her breath.
"What was that?"
"I made it out of one of the curtains that were hanging in my room, okay? It's silk!"
Fluttershy put on one of the amulets from Servant's chamber. Twilight gave her final instructions to Spike. Applejack spoke to the Crusaders, instructing them to stay inside the compound. Pinkie Pie baked cupcakes for the Syndics.
By midday, the group had reached what Pinkie called the Traveler's Road. The road was wide enough for twenty ponies walking abreast, and it was paved with smooth white granite. As soon as the ponies stepped onto the road, the chilly northern air became pleasantly warm. Every few minutes, the ponies passed a pair of pillars standing sentry on the road's edge.
At the third set of pillars, the group stopped. A man hung from his neck swung in the breeze.
Fluttershy began to tear up. "W-who would so such a thing?"
"Urgh... I think it was a suicide." Twilight tried to keep her breakfast down at the thought. "Look at the log underneath him; it seems he used it for support and then kicked it away."
Suicide wasn't unheard of in Equestria, but it was extremely rare; when a pony did commit suicide, the matter was only spoken of in hushed voices behind closed doors.
"Gasp! Why would he do that to himself?"
"It's the curse," Pinkie nodded. "Anyone who attacks another on the road is compelled to take his own life by hanging." Pinkie paused, then, "Or, if a ghost does it, the curse forces them back into the cycle of reincarnation."
The ponies continued, but the image of the suicide hung low over the other ponies for some time, stifling attempts at conversation. Eventually, though, the city's eponymous walls appeared over the hill. Rarity's and Rainbow's spirits both rose with a destination in sight. For the Solar exalted, the sight of the white-walled city drew forth something more than relief at seeing a destination. Nopony could put their hoof on it, but there was something special about this place.
The walls were easily fifteen ponies high, and the open gate revealed them to be thick enough for three ponies to stand nose to tail. There was no traffic through the gate in the early afternoon, but the guards were ever-vigilant.
"{Halt, fae filth!}" A spearman on the ground leveled his weapon at the ponies, and archers with crossbows leaned over the side of the wall. "{Turn back now and you will not be harmed!}"
Although nopony understood the words, the body language (and weapons!) made the message clear. With practiced regal grace, Rarity stepped forward. "We are here to meet the Syndics of Whitewall. I travel with three Lawgivers who wish to speak with Their esteemed graces." On cue, Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy ignited their caste marks.
The response of the guards was not the same warm reception given by the old man and his son the night before. The guards murmured to one another, and sent a runner into the city. In silence, the remaining guards blocked the gate, denying entrance.
Rarity waited patiently, with a smile on her face. The others tried to follow her lead, but Rainbow began to get antsy.
"What are we waiting for, Rarity? Why can't we just go inside?"
"Patience, Rainbow," Rarity replied out of the side of her mouth, "if we want to be treated as guests, we need to be cordial, not barge past the guards who are simply doing their job."
Rainbow grumbled, but kept her peace.
A few minutes passed, and eventually a man in royal blue robes walked up to the gate, with the runner in tow. He barked a few questions to the guards, who replied by pointing at the ponies.
"I am Seneschal Luxrian. The guards claim you have the power of Lawgivers, but you bear unnatural forms."
Rarity bowed low. "Greetings, Seneschal. As you say, we are different from yourselves. Our kind hails from afar, but I can assure you we are who we claim to be."
"The winterfolk are skilled with glamours and illusions; they could surely fool a man with the appearance of a Lawgiver's powers. Will you prove your claim?"
Rarity arched one brow, displaying both curiosity and a reserved indifference to the man. "What would you have us do as proof?"
The Seneschal smirked as he replied, "None of you have been invited into the city. If you can pass this gate without such an invitation, you will have given proof enough." The Seneschal spoke in a language the ponies could not understand, and waved the guards to the side.
The smirk that still lingered on the Seneschal's face gave Rarity pause, but she steeled herself and stepped forward into the gateway. When nothing happened, her stride lengthened, and the other Bearers followed. Once everypony was through the gate, Rarity turned back to look at the Seneschal. His smirk had disappeared, and he had begun to bow. The guards stowed their weapons and turned out towards the road once again.
"Please forgive us our trespasses; the winterfolk are forever a problem despite our treaties with them. We can never be too careful." Luxrian rose to his full height, towering above the ponies. "If you were winterfolk entering our city without invitation like that, you would be writhing in agony right now. You may not be human, but you're no fae, either." For the first time since meeting him, an honest smile spread across the Seneschal's lips. "And if the guards' report is anything to go by, that leaves you as true Lawgivers. The Syndics will certainly wish to meet with you. Please, follow me to Afton."
Luxrian led the ponies onward through the city. Immediately inside the gate stood a market – much larger than the one in Ponyville, and the buyers and sellers were aliens, but it was otherwise not much different from what Applejack was so used to. Soon, the buildings shifted to a residential district built of white marble.
"And over there stands the Jeweler's College," Luxrian explained the high points of his city as they passed. "You won't see it, but in that direction is our acclaimed College of Agriculture."
In the center of the city stood a gilded building with many golden spires which reached towards the heavens. The exalts could feel the building's power before they could see it, and the Solars recognized it as the primary source of the feeling they had upon seeing the city. Rarity began walking towards the entrance only to have Luxrian stop her.
"I'm sorry, that's not the Syndics Hall. That's the residence of Rune, a special diplomat to the winterfolk."
The group walked around the edge of the manse – for that is the only thing it could be – and continued out of Midtown towards Afton.
"And over there is the Lotus Mind College of Thaumatugical Sciences. That's the College of Architecture. The Guardians' barracks are over there. Here we are, at the Syndics Hall."
The Syndics Hall, while not as large as the manse in the city center, was just as radiant. Built like a temple, the block surrounding it seemed older than any other part of the city the ponies had seen during the tour across the city. The city wall rose behind the Syndics Hall, completing the circle that began at the gate.
Luxrian opened the doors for the ponies. Inside, the comparison to a temple was even more pronounced. Gilt-leaf decorations and golden sunbursts decorated many of the walls. A mosaic spread across the center of the floor with a distinct sun motif. The far wall held a generic shrine, but the decorations made it obvious what god was worshipped.
Contrasting with the aged temple, desks of government workers divided the room, and citizens with various grievances or forms to fill out were scattered around. Many were too busy with their business to notice the multihued ponies following the Seneschal, but a few took note. Interestingly, the ones who did look up at the ponies tore their eyes away with haste, as though being caught staring was some grievous offense.
"This way, this way," Luxrian directed the ponies to a door leading to the east wing of the building. As they drew close, they could hear music from the other side.
When Luxrian opened the door, the music became fully audible. It was a soft, unending tune played on a harp or lyre. The melody filled the ponies' hearts and evoked emotions from their very souls. The music brought forth memories new and old, happy and sad.
"My word, what beautiful music," Rarity sighed as the door closed behind them. "Where did you find such a talented musician?"
Luxrian shifted uncomfortably at the question, but didn't answer.
"My lord Seneschal, whatever is the matter?"
Luxrian kept quiet, but Pinkie answered in his stead. Her voice was different; she sounded almost angry with the man. "I know what's wrong. He won't answer you because that's not a talented musician. That's an angyalka, isn't it?"
Luxrian tried to keep his distance from the glaring Pinkie Pie, but eventually he nodded the affirmative. "Ethernais plays for the Syndics all day. Every day. We have her chained to the floor so that she cannot escape." The news that Ethernais was restrained seemed to relax Pinkie somewhat, but she didn't return to her bubbly demeanor.
Pinkie turned to the others to explain, "An angyalka is a demon harpist. Their music is pulled from time itself. The only reason to keep one around so long is so the music reminds you of who you are." She rounded on Luxrian again, "Just who are the Syndics, anyway?"
Luxrian saw an opening to escape from the pink pony who had changed so much in the past few minutes. He swept his arm towards another door and said, "Why don't you meet with them and find out?"
Pinkie opened the door while Luxrian made his escape. The music's volume jumped again; on the floor by one of the walls, a beautiful woman sat shackled with golden chains. Her hair flowed along with the music, which emanated from the twelve seven-jointed fingers on each of her hands.
On the wall adjoining the one Ethernais was bound to, three golden thrones stood side by side. In each of the thrones sat an identical figure: tall, slender humanoid with immaculate features. The Syndics' skin was clear ice, and their bones fashioned of silver. They wore identical crimson-and-gold robes and silver headpieces with a golden orb at the apex. Each carried a crystal scepter in the left hand which bore the image of the eight-spoke wheel that appeared on banners throughout the city.
When the Syndics spoke, each spoke in turn – it was as though they spoke as one being. "Welcome, strange Lawgivers. It has been far too long since your kind graced our city with a visit."
Pinkie raised a hoof, and the Syndics turned their attention to her. "You're not humans, what's going on here?"
The Syndincs scrutinized Pinkie for a moment before replying, "You're no Lawgiver. Why are you here, Vizier?"
"No fair! I asked first!"
Rarity put a hoof to Pinkie's shoulder, "It's okay, Pinkie. We're not here to fight them." To the Syndics, she said, "Pinkie is not a Lawgiver, that's true. But she is our friend."
"We do not wish Sidereals within our city. Vizier, please leave."
Rarity shook her head. "Pinkie is no threat to you. She is one of us."
Pinkie's mouth drew up into a smirk like the one the Seneschal used when the ponies entered the city. "They don't want me because they're afraid I'm going to report them. I'm right, aren't I?" Pinkie pointed a hoof accusingly at the Syndics, "You're gods! But it's obvious to anyone with eyes who the city-god of Whitewall is, and you're no Unconquered Sun. Ruling the mortals like this is breaking at least a dozen laws, and you just don't want me to tattle!"
"You cannot report us. You do not know who we are."
Pinkie's smirk grew. "So that's why you've got the angyalka? You're disguising yourselves, and you don't want to forget that you're not, in fact, the Syndics." In a sudden shift, Pinkie dropped her smirk and her accusatory tone. "Look, you guys are doing a bang-up job here, even if it is against the rules. If I swear to never report you to the censors for your activities in Whitewall, will you let me stay with my friends?"
The Syndics looked to each other, in silent conference. Finally they said, "Yes, if you so swear, you may stay. We will even reveal ourselves if you desire."
What followed did not surprise Pinkie's friends. However, it was the most bizarre oath any of the Syndics had ever seen. "Cross my heart and hope to fly," Pinkie pulled out one of the cupcakes she had baked in anticipation for human Syndics, "stick a cupcake in my eye!"
The Syndics stared in disbelief. Twilight waved her hoof to the Syndics, indicating them to continue. "She practically turns into a demon if she even thinks somepony broke her Pinkie Promise. You don't need to worry about her breaking it herself."
The three Syndics shimmered, and their appearances all changed.
"I am Luranume, the Master of Fivefold Luck and the Lord of Auspicious Surprises." The center Syndic's appearance changed very little. His robes changed from crimson and gold to blue and silver. His clear icy skin changed to translucent ebony. His silver bones shifted to a normal bone-white, and the headpiece did not change at all.
"I am Uvanavu, the Chrysanthemum Shogun and the God of Health and Well-Being." The left Syndic wore crimson and gold armor over white flowing robes. He appeared to be a man in the prime of life, with a short goatee and cropped blonde hair underneath a golden headpiece. His headpiece kept the golden orb, but it was located in the center rather than the apex, and a golden curl of fire stood in its place.
"I am Yo-Ping, the Celestial Minister of Harmony and the God of Peace." The right Syndic wore white robes with a large silver and gold collar. He had a curl of golden fire above the orb in his headpiece, like Uvanavu, but the rest was made of a royal blue cloth. Like Uvanavu, he appeared to be a man in the prime of life and he also wore a goatee, though his hair was jet black.
Rarity bowed deeply before them. "We are honored that you willingly reveal yourselves to us, despite the danger it could cause for you in Heaven. I am Lady Rarity Belle, master seamstress and Element of Generosity."
"Rainbow Dash! Most awesome pegasus alive, and Element of Loyalty!"
"Pinkamena Diane Pie, Chosen of Serenity, baker extraordinaire, and Element of Laughter!"
"Applejack Apple, Dawn caste, manager of Sweet Apple Acres, and Element of Honesty. It's good t'hear y'all telling the truth."
"Twilight Sparkle, Twilight caste, student of friendship, and Element of Magic."
"Um... Fluttershy Posey. I'm a Zenith and the Element of Kindness."
Rainbow Dash looked at Fluttershy quizzically. "Your name is 'Posey'? I never knew that..."
The yellow pegasus hid behind her mane and squeaked, "I don't really like it, but everypony else was using their full names."
"So," Yo-Ping began, "what brings you to Whitewall?"
Rarity lifted a hoof to her head and sighed, "Truthfully, we were simply in the area. We ran into a pair of men and Fluttershy exalted right before them. Applejack and Twilight revealed themselves, and the men recommended we see you.
"We are not from this world, Minister Yo-Ping. More than anything, we wish to go home. According to Pinkie, however, the only known route is deadly to mortals, and we have our entire town to transport back to Equestria."
Luranume nodded with understanding. "I can feel the misfortune that surrounds you. We would love to have more Solars living in Whitewall. We hope to one day restore our city to the glory it once was, but that goal cannot be fully realized without a Zenith like Lady Fluttershy blessing each brick."
"I suspect you will wish to continue your journey?" Uvanavu asked. "It is a shame you will leave before Rune returns from his mission. He would have liked to meet you. Captain Macha Pethisdottir is currently out of the city as well, on a campaign to quell some of the local barbarian hordes."
"We do not know of anything that will help you get home."
"But we do know someone who might."
"It would be a dangerous meeting, but The Lover might have some information you seek."
Yo-Ping stood, and fetched a scroll from a desk on the wall. He unfurled it to reveal a map of the region. "The Lover owns a small tower, here in Gradafes," he pointed at a dark spot on the map.
"Be wary of The Lover. She knows many things, but is sure to ask a high price."
"Do not bed The Lover. None leave her bed with both their mind and their life."
"Above all else, do not leave her tower at night."
"The Lover is not violent, but there are many weapons in this world which do not have an edge."
Rarity accepted the map in her telekinetic grip and the ponies turned to leave. "Wait," called Luranume. "I do not wish to see you sent to your deaths. Take my blessing, and may all things go according to the wishes of those that hear it."
"Hmph," Rarity smiled, "the blessing of the god of luck? I think I can accept that."
In Servant's chamber, the Bearers gathered to see if the manse's power could cut their journey's distance.
Twilight leaned over and whispered to Pinkie, "Hey, does the curtain to Servant's chamber say what I think it says?"
"I dunno, Twilight," Pinkie whispered back, "what do you think it says?"
"If I read it right, it said 'Servant's room! No girls allowed!'"
"Ah-hem"
The sound a pony makes when clearing his throat sounds extremely strange when spoken by an AI interface with no throat to clear.
"That curtain was stitched many years ago as a joke by one of your allies, pony master. I assure you, I have no prejudices against females of any species."
Twilight blushed at being caught gossiping. Trying to change the subject, she said, "Rarity, do you have the map?"
Rarity levitated the scroll from her saddlebag and presented it to Servant. "Our goal is here, in a place the Syndics called Gradafes. Are there any locations The Spark can reach that are closer to there?"
In response, a section of stone on the wall began to melt, much like the stone on the pedestal had melted to reveal the amulets. When the stone became solid once more, there was a bas-relief of a world map. Scattered around were twenty-five shapes, and one was set inside a circle: north of a narrow area of a sea surrounding a large island. The shapes each corresponded to the shapes of the hearthstones, and each was rotated so that a different vertex was pointing up. For all except the teardrop-shape that hung around Twilight's neck, the shape on the stone map was etched with the imperfection coloring the interior of the gem.
Twilight took hold of the Syndics' maps from Rarity and compared it to the map on Servant's wall. Sure enough, there was a location to the southeast of The Lover's tower that The Spark could shift to. Twilight used her forelegs to stand on two legs up against the map and pointed it out to Servant. "Can we go there?"
"All you need to do is concentrate, pony master. Or use the appropriate hearthstone."
Twilight glanced at the wall; the location was one of the smaller hearthstones that nopony had used. Rather than waiting half an hour, she concentrated on the point, and felt a familiar sensation of falling.
Rainbow gushed, "That. Is. NEVER. Going to get old."
Twilight studied the scale of the two maps, trying to figure out a bearing and distance. Her ears drooped. "Girls, this is as close as we're going to get to The Lover's tower... and it's still two and a half weeks away on hoof. That's assuming we don't run into any problems on the way and the ground is fairly even."
"I don't like leaving everypony from Ponyville hangin', but they can take care of themselves – especially with Spike and Servant here. This is our only lead on getting everypony home safely, Twilight. We've gotta do it." Rainbow was right. Despite the length of the trip, it seemed to be a necessity.
"This is going to be absolutely terrible for my hooficure, isn't it?" Rarity sighed, "What must be done must be done, I suppose."
"Then we'll head out at first light tomorrow morning. Everypony pack what you need tonight. There are tents in storage near the armory, and Granny Smith found a device for food preservation, so grab some of the stuff she's been experimenting with." Twilight stalked off to follow her own directions (and maybe pack a book... or three... or six...)
"Why are you bringing that?" Twilight pointed to the sword packed along with Applejack's tent.
"We haven't exactly had the best a'luck with our encounters here. Ah want to be prepared next time."
"Applejack, dear, we're going to meet somepony named 'The Lover'. Even the Syndics said she wasn't violent," Rarity said.
Pinkie shook her head. "Don't relax too much. Her full title is The Lover Clad in the Raiment of Tears. She's a Deathlord, just like The Dowager." Pinkie looked up to see that she had the full attention of her five friends. "She may not be violent, as the Syndics say, but that doesn't mean she can't be dangerous."
Applejack nodded in agreement. "Besides, we've got two and a half weeks to get there. Who knows what might happen?"
Despite Pinkie's assurances that it was summer, the climate was not warm in the least. The temperatures plummeted each night as the ponies made camp, and the hottest part of the day barely reached the fall temperatures everypony was used to. The northern climate simply did not agree with the ponies who had lived their entire lives in Dream Valley, Equestria. Biting winds encouraged pairing up in the tents to help keep warm, rather than leaving each girl to sleep on her own.
"Twilight, would you please turn out the lamp and go to sleep? I can't sleep with your light on!" Rainbow groused.
"I thought you had gotten an appreciation for reading, Rainbow?"
"Well I'm sorry I didn't bring any Daring Do books with me when you launched the entire town into another dimension!"
"You know, there are some novels in the library. You might like some of them even if they aren't Daring Do."
Rainbow rolled over to face the unicorn and her damnable lamp. With half-lidded eyes she said, "You and Pinkie are the only ones who can read those books. And you can only read half of them."
"You could always learn," Twilight didn't even look up from her book to reply. "I brought Erymanthoi, Erymanthoi, What Do You See? with me just in case I needed to check its reference section."
Rainbow gave a noncommittal grunt. "What are you reading there, anyway?"
"It's called Daric's Laws of Magic. Pinkie said it's the 'worst book ever written', but I've found it very informative!"
"I thought the unicorns couldn't do magic here, like the pegasi can't fly?"
Twilight shook her head slightly, but her eyes didn't move from the page. "We can't do Equestrian magic. You must have noticed even Applejack using some pretty flashy moves since exalting? This is an entirely new form of magic for me to study!" Twilight managed to pull her eyes away from the book between her hooves and look at Rainbow – when she smiled, Rainbow could swear she heard a quiet squee-sound.
"It's strange, though," Twilight continued, "the book talks about somepony named 'Brigid' and how she brought sorcery to this world. It's a little unclear about how it all happened, but it's got something to do with passing through a series of 'stations', and the sorcerers and sorceresses that followed had to do the same thing."
Two weeks after leaving The Spark, rations were running thin. The steppe the girls were travelling through had sufficient vegetation to prevent anypony from starving to death, but cold grass just couldn't compare to an Apple family home-cooked meal. Even if the meal was cooked in a different dimension from 'home', and the food had been preserved for a couple weeks.
As everypony was packing their tents and distributing the weight for the day's travel, Fluttershy lifted her nose to the air. "Does anypony smell that?"
Rainbow Dash only heard Fluttershy's question by virtue of standing nearby when she asked. Rainbow responded by lifting her own nose and taking a good long whiff. "Smells like... sniff sniff... eggs... sniff... and, umm..." Rainbow looked cautiously at her animal-loving friend. Out of the side of her mouth (away from Fluttershy), Rainbow finished her sentence, "pig meat."
Of course, simply speaking out of one side of her mouth was not enough to stop the world champion of 'Shhh' from hearing the comment. "How do you know what cooking pig meat smells like, Rainbow?"
"I was roommates with Gilda, remember? She learned that most ponies would prefer the smell of cooked meat to the sight of eating raw meat, so she always cooked her meals. And she loved having pig for breakfast." Rainbow did a double take. "Wait, how are you so cool about the smell of a dead pig?"
"I take care of all kinds of animals, even bears," Fluttershy said flatly. Her eyes suddenly shot open in shock. "Oh no! I promised Harry I would house sit for him! Where is he going to find a house sitter if we're all here?"
Rainbow draped a foreleg over her muzzle in frustration. "Fluttershy, there is no 'Harry'. You and I made him up to get out of going to Gummy's 'after birthday party' while we set up Pinkie's surprise birthday party, remember?"
Fluttershy cocked her head at Rainbow. "What do you mean we made him up? I give Harry semi-monthly chiropractic therapy."
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy followed the rest of the group in awkward silence as the smell of cooking pork and eggs grew stronger. Within minutes, the ponies crested a hill and stumbled upon human campsite where it seemed breakfast was served.
Rather than tents like those brought by the ponies, these humans were living out of semi-permanent wooden structures covered by a patchwork of various cloths and sheep's wool to keep out the cold. The humans themselves wore thick woolen clothes; woven into the clothes over vital areas were what appeared to be pieces of human bone.
Wait, what? Twilight looked at the humans below a second time. The proportions were certainly right. Unless there was another mammal of similar size and shape to humans wandering around this world, these humans wore the bones of their own species as armor. It's one thing for a predator species to make use of the remains of its prey... but this is practically cannibalism!
Rainbow Dash was not making the same observations plaguing Twilight's mind. Instead, she began trotting down the hill and calling out to the camp below. "Hey! Good morning! We were wondering, um... do you have any food to share?"
None of the humans understood the words, although they could certainly hear the shouting. When a group of four looked up from their meal, they could not find the source of the voice, only a small blue horse with a rainbow-colored mane, heaving a pack of traveling supplies.
"{Do you see the owner?}"
"{Yes, for I claim ownership now.}"
"{We already have enough horses to move our homes and travel the steppe. What use is another?}"
"{Well, with coloration like that, it must be magic. I'm curious how it will taste, myself.}"
"{Are you sure that's a good idea? What if it is toxic to Man?}"
"{Then either I shall have a once-in-a-lifetime meal, or I shall join the ranks of the Greater Dead. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.}" The speaker grinned and drew his blade. His fellows followed suit. Other humans around the camp turned towards Rainbow at the sound of her shouting, and then continued to watch on with interest as the men nearby flashed weapons at the rainbow horse.
Rainbow Dash was not so dense as to ignore the blades drawn by the humans paying her the most attention. "Whoa, hey! If you wanna keep your food that's fine, I was just asking! I thought you guys might be cool and lend us a hoof, that's all!" Rainbow began backpedaling away from the approaching humans.
From on top of the hill, the rest of the Bearers saw the scene beginning to unfold. Twilight rallied them to action, "Come on, girls! We've got to help Rainbow!"
Each of the ponies quickly unhooked their packs to launch assistance for their friend – Fluttershy almost literally, as she spread her wings and glided down the slope ahead of the others. Twilight and Rarity followed, lifting stones from the hillside and launching them at the men advancing on Rainbow. The humans' surprise at the attack gave Rainbow the time she needed to drop her pack and get some breathing room, but the falling rocks could not keep the men at bay for long.
As other warriors realized there was an actual fight rather than just a single strange wild creature, they too moved to join the fray. Applejack retrieved her sword and flashed a smug 'Ah told ya so' grin at Pinkie Pie. Pinkie's response was merely to shrug and lift her hoof canon before laying down the covering fire that Twilight and Rarity could no longer effectively supply.
By the time Twilight and Rarity joined Rainbow and Fluttershy, nearly two dozen humans were up and bearing arms. Those carrying swords and axes were – for the moment – being held at bay by Pinkie, but Twilight could see archers crawling on top of the yurts in order to get a clear shot.
"Rainbow, there's too many of them, we've got to get out of here!" Twilight was beginning to panic, and her voice betrayed her emotions by cracking.
"Hah! You know what my great-great grampa Gimmi always said? 'Certainty of death? Small chance of success? What are we waiting for?!' And that's what we've got right now, Twilight. So, what are we waiting for?! I'm gonna 'love' and 'tolerate' the buck out of these stupid humans!"
"Major General 'Last Stand' Gimmi? But those were his dying words, Rainbow!" Twilight blinked. "Wait. You're related to General Gimmi?" Twilight rubbed her temple with a hoof. "That explains so much, actually." Twilight shook her head before continuing, "Look, this fight is a bad idea. We've got no idea—and you've run off with Applejack to fight them anyway."
As Applejack passed the unicorns and pegasi in full gallop, Rainbow Dash leapt to join the assault. Applejack saw three arrows flying straight at her, and deftly deflected each one without slowing down. Pinkie stopped the covering fire as the two athletes approached the line of human warriors; she changed her attention to the archers in the back and began an offensive of her own.
Twilight looked on in shock as Applejack's charge actually managed to separate one man's hands from his arms. The blood spray dyed Applejack's orange coat red, while Rainbow Dash flipped over the carnage. The cowpony turned to the rest of the humans as she began to glow with a fierce golden light. She almost appeared to grow in size, her eyes burning with a visible inner fire. The look on her face could haunt the dreams of mares, foals, and stallions alike, and all of this terror was directed at the group of humans before her. "'oo 'ant 'ome?!"
"Yeah! Who wants some?!" Rainbow cried as she landed opposite her friend.
The display of power gave the humans pause, but just for a moment. Soon, Applejack and Rainbow were beset on all sides by bladed weapons various and sundry.
"Come on, Fluttershy, we've got to help them. They're surrounded!"
"I don't know... I'm no good in a fight..." Fluttershy became very interested in the state of her hooves.
Rarity put her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder, but spoke to Twilight, "Come now, what are we supposed to do? Applejack and Rainbow are the two most physically capable among us. Plus, besides Pinkie, none of the rest of us really has anything to fight with. You saw how effective our 'throw rocks' plan was. It bought Rainbow a little breathing room, and that's it!"
"But I—"
"No buts, Twilight. We're just going to have to leave this one to Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie." Rarity dipped her horn to enforce her point.
Just then, the trio heard a resounding scream from within the crush of bodies. Unlike the pained moans which emanated from the humans wounded by Applejack and Rainbow Dash, this scream had a very familiar voice.
Fluttershy's eyes opened wide as her pupils shrunk to pinpricks. "R-rainbow?" She whispered to herself. Twilight looked up to see one of Rainbow's legs outside the circle of humans... but only her leg.
The next few seconds were a blur to Twilight. There was some shouting at Applejack to pull Rainbow out of the battle. There was some shouting at Rarity to help Applejack move Rainbow. There was some shouting at Pinkie Pie to make a hole so the duo could escape. Twilight was fairly certain that she was the one doing most of the shouting, but it was difficult to remember looking back; Fluttershy was being pretty loud, too.
"HOW DARE YOU HURT MY FRIENDS?!" Tears were streaming down Fluttershy's face. There is an expression about 'glaring daggers' to describe an angry expression. While the traditional meaning of the expression is a valid description of how Fluttershy looked at the humans through her tears, a better description for this particular situation would be 'glaring javelins'.
For that is exactly what Fluttershy did.
In the air before Fluttershy, a javelin composed of light phased into existence. She grabbed the javelin in one hoof and threw it at the nearest human with all of her might. As the javelin flew through the air, it split into two. The two javelins split into four, then eight, then sixteen, and so on. By the time the phantom javelins connected with the group of humans, there were hundreds of duplicate javelins riddling all of the humans in the way. Half of the fighting humans lay motionless. The javelins vanished into thin air, and blood began to pool from the dozens of holes perforating their bodies.
Those humans who still lived stared in horror at their fallen comrades. They looked up at the pink and yellow horse who had felled half their warriors with a single stroke, dropped their blades, and ran.
Likewise, her four friends that weren't blind with pain stared at Fluttershy in mute disbelief. She sniffed and wiped away her tears with a hoof. When she spoke, it was the calm of somepony in shock who was coping by continuing to do what she did best. "Pinkie, bring me my pack. Quickly, we've got to stop Rainbow's bleeding."
Without a single word, Pinkie did as she was asked. Fluttershy trotted up to the center of the battle site to analyze the damage. One of the humans' swords had bisected Rainbow's left hock, and the blood didn't look like it would be stopping soon. She would bleed out without immediate attention. Rainbow had bit into her tongue due to the pain; while bloody, the wound was superficial. Beyond that, the cyan pegasus had remarkably suffered nothing more than a few scrapes and bruises.
Fluttershy put a hoof on Rainbow's side and concentrated. Her wounds continued to bleed, but Rainbow's cries and whimpers ceased as she relaxed and her eyes dilated.
Pinkie dropped the pack by Fluttershy's side. Without hesitating, she pulled out a length of some sort of smooth rope, and wrapped it around Rainbow's afflicted gaskin. She pulled the knot tight, and the small river of blood slowed to a mere trickle. Fluttershy pulled out a torch and lamp, lighting the former with the latter. Everypony held their breath as Fluttershy moved the blazing torch towards Rainbow's stump and winced as the flame was applied. Rainbow didn't even flinch.
Once the wound was cauterized, Fluttershy handed the brand off to be extinguished, not caring who completed the job. Fluttershy gave Rainbow a once-over on the other injuries, placing a cloth in her mouth to stem the blood from her tongue. Once she was confident it was safe, Fluttershy removed the tourniquet from Rainbow's leg and continued her ministrations.
The other four sat back and leapt to assist whenever and however Fluttershy requested it. Her bag seemed to have a never-ending supply of medical devices... or at least objects which Fluttershy was able to substitute for a medical device.
Fluttershy worked for nearly two hours, and nopony made a single sound except as required to assist in Rainbow's care. Throughout the entire ordeal, Rainbow didn't moan or cry – the only sound she made was a few contented sighs. Finally, Fluttershy stopped and let out a deep sigh. She turned back to her friends, caste mark glowing brightly, with a demure smile on her face.
Pinkie's lower lip trembled, "Is Dashie gonna be okay?"
Fluttershy nodded and said, "Yes. She's going to pull through just fine. She'll be lucid again in about an hour, and back on her legs in a couple days."
Twilight was astounded by the news. "Just a couple days? Fluttershy, that's incredible! Why didn't you ever apply at Ponyville General? Hay, why not Canterlot Medical Center?! Or start your own practice and name your own price?!"
Fluttershy squeaked happily and pointed to her forehead, where the golden disc still glowed. "When I said 'back on her legs', what I meant was 'back on all four of her legs'."
"So, Ah take it we don't need that?" Applejack pointed to the missing portion of Rainbow's leg where it had flown through the air and landed apart from the battle.
Fluttershy shook her head. "Reattaching limbs is very difficult, even with the proper tools. If I did reattach her limb successfully, she still probably wouldn't ever be able to walk properly again." Fluttershy turned to look fondly at her charge, and then scanned the human corpses surrounding her operational theater. "I'm a little scared of what I can do with this power, and I just know I'm going to have nightmares about today for a long, long time. Still, that same power allowed me to save Rainbow's life, and it's going to help her regenerate her leg, as well."
Applejack lifted the half-conscious pegasus and began carrying her up the hill, out of the gore. Pinkie Pie lifted some supplies from the now-abandoned human camp. The others gathered their scattered packs and joined Applejack on the other side of the hill.
An hour later, Rainbow Dash realized there was something cold and wet rubbing on her neck. She turned to see Applejack with a bucket of water and a red rag.
"AJ... What the hay do you think you're doing?"
Applejack dropped the rag in the bucket, where the water was slightly pink. "Ah'm givin' ya a sponge bath."
Rainbow narrowed her eyes. "You better not touch my hooves, AJ. You know I don't like ponies touching my hooves."
"Already did 'em while you was zonked out," Applejack said with a smug grin.
Rainbow dropped her head to the ground with a resigned sigh. "Well, if you're so set on giving me the spa treatment, could you scratch my back leg? It's itching like crazy!"
"Sure thing, buddy!" Applejack began to scratching near Rainbow's remaining rear chestnut. "Just tell me where ya want me to move to."
"A bit lower, but on the other leg."
Applejack stopped scratching, instead lifting her hoof to her mouth in concern. "Um..."
"Look, if you don't feel comfortable touching my cannon when you know I don't like ponies touching my hooves, I'll just do it myself." Rainbow's stump rotated forward as she reached back with a foreleg to where the lower half of her leg should be... only to whiff and hit air. "Huh?" Rainbow looked back to see what was wrong.
"AAAA!"
"Rainbow, calm down!"
"AAAA!" Rainbow's rebuttal was swift and to the point.
"You're gonna be fine!"
"AAAA!"
"Stop yer yellin'!"
"AAAA!" It was difficult to counter such a well-reasoned argument, but Applejack was stubborn and willing to try.
"Look, Fluttershy fixed you up proper; she says you'll be right as rain in just a few days!"
"AaAaAaAa!" Applejack had decided to advance the debate to the physical level, and it became difficult for Rainbow to formulate poignant points while being shaken.
Fluttershy decided to voice her own opinion on the matter, running up behind Rainbow in the middle of her monologue. Fluttershy pressed a hoof to the side of Rainbow's head.
"AAaahh..." The debate was settled; Fluttershy had won.
"Great," Applejack groused, "now she's gonna be catatonic for another three hours."
"Catawhat?" Rainbow's voice was the pinnacle of serenity. At the moment, she could give Princess Celestia a run for her bits on 'calm'.
Applejack looked to Fluttershy for answers, "What's goin' on? Last time you did that, she couldn't do no more'n sigh."
Fluttershy blushed. "Last time I was trying to keep her still for surgery. This time I just wanted to keep her calm."
Rainbow Dash stared at her stump with a mix of curiosity and confusion. "Oh look, my leg's gone missing. I do hope somepony finds it and returns it to me. I do so hate losing track of my belongings."
Twilight walked up with a steaming bowl of soup in the telekinetic grasp. "Is everything all right over here?" Rainbow began poking the stump; Applejack nudged her to stop.
"Rainbow freaked out a little bit over the stump thing. Fluttershy had to zonk her again."
Twilight cocked her head at Rainbow, still trying to fiddle with her injury. "She looks a lot more lucid than last time."
Fluttershy nodded. "I didn't push it quite so hard this time. I just... um... wanted her to be a little quieter."
Twilight stared off into the distance, thinking, then nodded and returned her attention to the pegasi and earth pony in front of her. "Lunch is ready. You two go get something to eat. I've already had some, so I'll help Rainbow."
Twilight sat down to feed the loopy pegasus while Fluttershy and Applejack stood to get their own bowls of soup. As they walked, Fluttershy's head drooped.
"Hey, what's wrong, sugarcube?"
"It..." Fluttershy shook her head and started again, "When Rainbow was screaming... I..." Fluttershy squeaked and returned to her long-practiced defense mechanism of hiding behind her mane.
Applejack drew her into a tight hug, and didn't let go. There were no tears, because the tears had already fallen. "There, there," she said as she lightly tapped Fluttershy on the back, "Ah think Ah know what ya mean." Rainbow's scream three hours ago had precipitated Fluttershy's attack on the humans, leaving nearly a dozen lying still in pools of their own blood. It had almost been the marker of Rainbow's own demise, as well. The events were not something anypony would soon forget, but for peaceful little Fluttershy – who had both been the one to kill the humans and been the surgeon operating on Rainbow – the events hit especially hard. Even though Rainbow's scream at her own phantom limb was different from the scream she released upon losing the original, it was still a scream in the same voice; Rainbow's scream would likely shake Fluttershy to her core for a long time to come, regardless of the reasons.
"Come on, sugarcube. Let's get something warm in that belly of yours."
Once Rainbow was fully lucid again, she was able to remain calm and collected about her missing leg. She had some difficulty standing up from the ground, but once she was up she could hobble at a decent pace. The group would not have to camp in one spot for days waiting for Fluttershy's magic to regenerate Rainbow's limb. All the same, Fluttershy insisted that Rainbow not be saddled with much weight; nopony argued the point – Applejack even volunteered to carry all of the weight Rainbow couldn't.
Over the next four days, Fluttershy inspected Rainbow's injury every time they stopped, and shared a tent with Rainbow at night. Every morning, it was obvious that Fluttershy had indeed worked magic into her healing; nopony should be capable of regrowing a limb once lost, and it certainly shouldn't make visible progress over night. On the morning of the fourth day after the 'incident', Rainbow even had something beginning to resemble a hoof, and her hobble was more like a limp. By late afternoon, the ponies spotted their destination.
There was no question whether they had arrived at the right place. In the center of a small, shadowy valley sat a pale miasma of red and purple. As the ponies moved closer, the miasma clarified to a building of red-crystal parapets and fortifications around a turreted central tower. When they approached within a few hundred spans, they could make out translucent ghosts floating around the exterior seeming to seek entrance to the tower.
The ghosts ignored the ponies as they passed, to their great relief – nopony wanted a repeat experience of the night outside Whitewall. As they drew near the structure itself, many sounds could be heard within.
Pinkie's ears swiveled rapidly, taking in all of the sounds. Finally, she gasped, "They're having a PARTY!"
Applejack arched an eyebrow. "Uh, what kinda party? Didn't you say The Lover was evil or somethin'?"
Pinkie dropped back to her hooves and her face turned a shade darker. "It's, um... an adult party."
Rainbow cocked her head to the side, "Huh? I don't get it."
"Her name is The Lover, dear," Rarity playfully bopped Rainbow on the nose. "You figure it out."
"Uh... oh. OH!" Rainbow's cheeks flushed.
Applejack turned towards the large red-stained oaken door marking the main entrance to the fortress. "So, how're we gonna get inside if'n they're having a great big orgy?" At her companions' silence, Applejack turned to find her friends staring at her in shock. "What? Do Ah got somethin' in my teeth?" The others shook their heads. "Was it somethin' Ah said?" The others nodded. "Are y'all being uncomfortable-like because Ah said 'orgy'?" Several cheeks turned pink. Or they turned pinker, in the case of Rainbow and Pinkie Pie.
Rarity recovered fastest. "I find that the simplest approach can often be most effective – like the dress I made for Twilight's birthday. To get in, we need only knock and ask for an audience."
Rarity walked up to the door and lifted the steel knocker in her telekinetic aura, rapping it smartly several times. Whatever the other Bearers expected the response to be, they did not expect what happened next.
"By the Third Pact bound for eternity at the Convention of Midnight," Rarity's voice echoed with an ethereal quality that permeated the soul and surely penetrated the thick door, "I hereby call upon my right as a Crowned Sun; grant admittance to your domain so that we may parley on matters of concern to two worlds." If her supernaturally harmonious voice weren't a clue, Rarity's solid white glowing eyes and billowing gold-silver aura confirmed beyond all doubt the nature of her sudden exaltation. The disc within a circle emblazoned below her horn might as well have been an afterthought.
Five heartbeats later, the door slowly swung open with nary a whisper. Standing in the entrance was quite honestly the most handsome unicorn stallion Rarity had ever seen. His coat was a pristine – nearly glowing – white; his mane was a silken gold expertly styled. His horn – Oh, Celestia, his horn! – was the longest and most elegant she'd seen on anypony besides the princesses. Beyond his physical perfections, he wore a red velvet and satin tuxedo that was at least twice as good as anything she'd seen before (made by her own hooves or otherwise). The tuxedo concealed his cutie mark, but that will just add to the excitement when I finally strip it—no! He is not some Sugarcube Corner confection to devour at will! He is surely a gentlecolt, and... am I drooling?
Rarity turned to the side to wipe her mouth, suddenly becoming very conscious of the horrid pack strapped to her back. She chanced a look at her friends to gauge their reaction to the stallion; both of the pegasi's wings were standing at full attention. Huh... I could have sworn Rainbow preferred mares. And... is Twilight drooling over somepony that isn't a book? That means I owe Pinkie ten bits!
"So," the stallion's voice was a silken blanket wrapped around Rarity's brain, "my Tear Eater messengers had told me there was an anathema channeling his powers through a small herd of horses. Imagine my surprise when I hear a Deceiver knocking at my door and invoking the Third Pact only to find a group of ponies."
The stallion lifted a hoof and pointed it at Rarity. A flash of black crossed his eyes, but nothing happened. He examined his hoof, and then looked back to Rarity, "So you're not simply horses, then. There is no Deceiver controlling a pony; there is a pony that is a Deceiver. How interesting."
Rarity cleared her throat, "Sir, we were—"
"Madam," the stallion interrupted.
Rarity blanched, "Um, I beg your pardon?"
"You may address me as either 'madam' or 'mistress'."
Rarity turned to look at her friends; Applejack looked as confused as Rarity felt, but Rainbow was looking at Rarity like she was a crazy pony. Rarity returned her gaze to the stallion and coughed politely into her hoof. "Er, perhaps we have gotten off on the wrong hoof. You are a gentlestallion, are you not?" The stallion cocked an eyebrow, and Rarity's heart skipped a beat. Rarity continued, "Permit us to enter, and perhaps we can clear everything up."
"You have already invoked the Third Pact, Deceiver, I cannot stop you." Rarity's eye twitched a bit at the title that the stallion continued to use for her. Still, it seemed to be the closest they would get to an actual invitation to enter. Rarity walked inside, and the moans of pleasure and scent of sex washed over her like a wave. Her ears folded back involuntarily, but she tried to hide her displeasure and she held her judgment; any place home to a stallion such as this had to have redeeming qualities.
Once everypony was inside, the door shut as silently as it opened – without anypony touching it. The stallion began to walk down the hall, and Rarity followed. "Now then, my name is Rarity Belle. My friends and I were told that The Lover resides here, and that she may be able to help us with a certain problem."
"If your problem is estrus, I'm sure you'll find a solution here. We have not had sentient beasts here in many centuries; a little bestiality may be just the thing to spice up the existences of some of the residents." The stallion paused, not noticing Rarity's deep blush when he mentioned such a personal issue so casually. "I am curious why you would wish to solve such a problem with the aid of The Lover, rather than, say, the Stallion-Lord of the Marukan Plains."
While Rarity may have flushed with embarrassment at the casual treatment of estrus, her flush deepened with rage at the mention of the Stallion-Lord. "I would ask that you do not mention that boor around us, good gentlestallion." Rarity took a few deep breaths to calm herself as the stallion gazed at her lazily. His gaze did not help her cool the fire under her skin, although it did replace the source with a different emotion. "I have given you my name; may I ask yours, so that I may know who to thank for directing us to The Lover?"
The stallion gave a wicked smirk, "Directing you to The Lover? Whoever said I would do that?"
Rarity sputtered for a bit, "But... the Third Pact...!"
The stallion turned to face her fully. "Miss Rarity Belle... I am The Lover."
Pinkie Pie spoke up, "But The Lover is a meany meany-pants human ghost! And you're a talking kumquat!"
"I'm a what?" The stallion asked flatly.
"A talking kumquat! Did I say it too softly? I've been hanging around Fluttershy a lot recently. Talking kumquat, Talking Kumquat, TALKING KUMQUAT!" Pinkie Pie bounced happily. "I mean, some ponies might mistake you for an orange, since you're not the size of a kumquat. But trust me; I know the difference between a kumquat and an orange."
"But Pinkie," Fluttershy whispered, "kumquats grow on shrubs, not on trees."
Twilight had been humming a song to herself, but her enjoyment caused her to sing a few of the bars aloud, "look at me: still talking when there's science to do..."
"Y'all are plum crazy," said Applejack, "that there's the finest piece a'stallion Ah ever did lay eyes on."
"Yeah, heh," Rainbow looked off to the side and rubbed the back of her head, "one hot stallion, all right! Heh."
The Lover pinched the bridge of his nose. "Let me just tell you that what I'm about to say has never left my lips in over three thousand years: this is too weird." The Lover shimmered, and in moments the stallion (or talking kumquat) was replaced by an elegant human woman. She wore thigh-high black leather boots with two-inch stiletto heels and a short red skirt with black trim which attached to a matching 'breast' plate that left little to the imagination. Deep blue – almost black – lace gloves stretched from her fingertips to her elbows and two golden bands were spaced along each arm to accent the gloves. The red and gold hat which rest on her head had a black veil hiding her hair, but not her face.
The Lover continued walking deeper into the fortress, leading the ponies past groups of humans furiously copulating (both living and dead – together as often as not). Those who were not actively feeding carnal desires were participating in other decadent acts: everything from gorging themselves on food while already sporting distended bellies, to imbibing obviously psychedelic substances.
Pinkie whispered to Rarity, "I never thought I'd say this ever, but I don't think this is my kind of party."
"As a representative of the citizens of Ponyville, I thank Celestia that's the case, dear," Rarity whispered back.
The group left the core of the orgy and began advancing on the central tower. Before reaching its base, however, The Lover's impromptu tour led the ponies past a group of ghosts who were each disfigured in some horrible fashion – dismemberment, for the most part. Despite their handicap, each of the ghosts was fumbling around in an attempt at personal release, and failing.
"Oh, my," was all Rarity could manage.
The Lover noticed her reaction and turned back. "Do you like my collection, Miss Rarity Belle?" The Lover smiled wickedly and ran a finger down Rarity's neck, sending a shiver down her spine, "You're welcome to help them if you like. After all, you're my guests." The way The Lover had stressed the word 'guests' made it difficult to determine exactly what she meant. Were the ponies prisoners? Would they be forced into the orgy taking place in the fortress? Was The Lover being legitimately welcoming? Was this merely a formality due Rarity for invoking the Third Pact? "Look there, Miss Rarity Belle," The Lover leaned into Rarity's ear to point out one of the ghosts. The frustrating thing was that her voice still felt as pleasurable as the stallion's had. "That's one of the celibate monks who called this place home before I arrived. Their purity protected the other people living here from a plague. Then I showed up, and I took the purity of every last one. The plague wiped out ninety percent of the people living here by the next morning.
"Now look at him. He's had no arms for seven centuries, and he's been mad with the desire for release for just as long. But he can't give it to himself. Won't you help him, Miss Rarity Belle?" The Lover's voice had turned sickly sweet, but her words horrified Rarity. The Syndics may have been correct that The Lover wasn't violent, but she was a far cry from a pillar of Harmony.
The Lover saw that the plight of the monk would not tempt the ponies – whether they were not that sort of virtuous hero or they simply couldn't get turned on by the human form didn't matter. She backed off and continued leading the ponies to the tower.
The interior of the tower was empty at its base, save for a spiral staircase hugging the interior wall leading to the top. Every cycle around the stair brought a closed door, with no indication of other beings behind it. At the top, The Lover opened the final door to reveal the entire floor taken up by a single bedchamber. The room was densely decorated with many warm colors; tapestries, throw pillows, couches, several ornate rugs, and an expansive poster bed in the center. Among the more normal accoutrements of the bedroom and hanging from the walls were the tools for more... exotic... forms of the same pastimes going on in the rest of the fortress.
As The Lover waltzed into the room, a stocky man with short brown hair wearing nothing but white canvas pants sat up from the bed. "Mistress, you have returned to me! Oh, this is a glorious evening. Command me, my mistress!"
The Lover reclined in one of the couches near the bed. "Good evening, Derrik. You may begin the evening by cleaning my shoes."
"Yes, mistress!" Derrik knelt before The Lover; rather than pulling out a rag or other tool for footwear maintenance, the man began to slowly lick the bottoms of The Lover's boots.
The Lover ignored the man salivating over her feet and looked to Rarity. "In order to invoke the Third Pact, you must have legitimate business with me. Out with it, then."
Rarity drew herself up to her full height and inhaled deeply. "As you might have guessed, we are not native to this land, madam." The Lover waved her to continue, "We were pulled here by an accidental interaction of a spell native to our land, and a spell being used by one who is perhaps an acquaintance of yours: The Dowager."
The Lover made a slight grimace, "I know the hag, but I rarely interact with her in any meaningful way."
"Yes, well. The only previously known route from to our home is via Cecelyne; I am told that while possible for exalted, this is not a journey to be taken by mortals. Unfortunately, we were transported here along with our entire town – while the few of us might be able to return home, it would not be home without the ponies living there.
"To further complicate the issue, we have reason to believe that the Well of Udr was sent to our home during the course of the transfer. The only way we know to get everypony home safely requires combining the Well's power here with a spell that only works there. If the Well is there, I think you may begin to understand the problem."
The Lover was quiet for a moment. Then, "So, you need an artifact to help you transport a few hundred mortals to another dimension?"
"I never said anything about another—"
The Lover raised her hand to interrupt Rarity. "The Well connects to alternate dimensions. You've swapped places with the Well. You're nothing like what exists elsewhere in Creation, and you're not Fair Folk. It's not hard to piece together." The Lover ran her fingers through Derrik's hair. "Still, whoever sent you to me was smart – and I don't like people I don't know about being that knowledgeable about me. I'll give you the information you need, if you consecrate our agreement on the price beforehand."
Rarity arched her brow, "Why would I do that?"
"Because," said The Lover, "the price that I want is in the same place as the artifact I intend to direct you to. What's to stop you from grabbing the artifact and returning to your own dimension, leaving me out in the cold?"
Applejack bristled with anger. "Hey! We're better ponies than that!"
"Applejack, it's okay," Rarity tried to calm the cowpony. "The Lover has no reason to trust us beyond our word."
"My word's as good as an Apple family apple pie after a hard day's work on the farm!" she growled.
"And my word can now be a magically binding contract which neither party is capable of breaking without grave consequences."
"... oh."
Rarity turned back to the Deathlord. Darrik had continued 'cleaning' The Lover's boots, but he'd begun climbing her leg. Beyond fondling his hair, The Lover barely registered his presence, so Rarity tried to ignore the display. "I accept your terms, but I must hear your price first."
"I request three things:
"I want the name of the one who sent you to me. They know more about me than they ought. Only one of my peers even has an inkling that there's more to my actions than decadence, and he barely scratches the surface with his suspicions. You've spoken with someone who knew I might have the answer you seek, and I want to know who they are.
"I also want two corpses. No, I don't want you to go back to the site of your fight with the Tear Eaters and bring me their bodies. I want two specific corpses. I know their location, but I'm unable to access them myself. The corpses are both in the same place as the artifact, hence my terms."
Rarity considered the price for a moment. "Who are these... corpses?"
"I can't tell you that. They're historical figures, so you may be able to find their last resting on your own if I tell you their names before consecrating the agreement."
"Fine then. What do you intend to do with the name we give you?"
"That would depend on whether the individual is a threat to me. If he's a threat, I will eliminate him. If he's not, I'll simply send a message to convince him to stop talking about me to others." The Lover paused. "Oh, and even if we don't make our little deal, I will eventually learn who you spoke to. Tracking the route of rainbow-colored talking ponies will not be difficult. Telling me is simply a convenience."
"And why do you want these two specific corpses?"
"I know the ghosts they belong to. Possession of their corpses would give me a measure of power over their ghosts."
Rarity looked to Twilight and Pinkie; the former would likely be able to figure out the consequences of the actions The Lover was requesting, and the latter had far more knowledge of this world than anypony else. Without even speaking, both nodded ascent. Rarity turned back to The Lover and said, "Very well. We accept your price."
Rarity held out a hoof, and The Lover gently clasped a hand around it (Derrik had reached the top of The Lover's thigh-high boots, and was showing no indication that he would stop soon). Her caste mark flashed, and a ring of golden light expanded from it, flying through everyone in the room and dissipating near the walls. "So it is bound, so shall it be," the unicorn and the Deathlord spoke in unison.
"The two corpses belong to men named Larquen Quen and Meherrin. They were Solar exalts in life, living at the time the Dragon-Blooded decided to usurp them. They fled the massacres with ten other Solars, intending to wait out the storm, as it were. The leader of the group was a man named Kal Bax, the greatest manse builder the world had ever seen, and likely ever will.
"Kal Bax designed a manse for the group of twelve to live in; he designed the manse to hide itself from the world. And he succeeded. But the demons Bax bound to the manse after building it proved a dangerous barrier for leaving, and the group slowly went stir-crazy – or perhaps simply crazy. There were a few murders, a suicide or two, and a 'disappearance' until finally all of them were dead. They wanted to escape death at the hands of the Dragon-Blooded, but they found it at the hands of their brothers. Quite poetic, really.
"The manse they built is called the Invisible Fortress. It is not truly invisible, but it is camouflaged and you cannot follow the Leylines to find it. The Fortress is almost fifteen hundred miles due east of here, but that is a poor route. Travel east approximately one thousand miles to the Silver River, cross it and continue south to the Blackwater River and the town of Wangler's Knob. The Invisible Fortress is three hundred miles northeast of Wangler's Knob, through lake, forest, mountain, and plain. You should be able to find it easily enough once you're that close – something about the place attracts the exalted.
"The artifact you're looking for will likely be in the Retreat, underground. It should appear as a round glass held vertical by two orichalcum horses – ironic, don't you think? I don't know exactly where Larquen or Meherrin are entombed, nor do I know the exact location of the artifact, but they'll all be within the fortress."
By the time The Lover had finished speaking Derrik was decidedly not licking her boots any more. The woman hadn't missed a beat. Rarity nodded thanks. "I suppose I can grant you a part of your payment now, then: We were directed to you by the Syndics of Whitewall."
"Cool, are we done, now?" Rainbow asked.
Twilight narrowed her eyes at the Deathlord. "If Kal Bax was such a brilliant builder and made this Invisible Fortress, how do you know so much about it?"
The Lover smirked. "One of the Solars was one Ozandus Pal. He sent letters to his Lunar mate speaking of many things in the Fortress. Care to take a guess where his mate lives now, little thing?"
Rarity's ears perked up. "You wouldn't happen to have any of those letters left, would you? They could be extraordinarily helpful in learning about the manse, and finding the corpses you need."
"A few of them remain preserved. It is late in the evening, and I assume your little city-god friends left you with plenty of warnings about my own fortress. Since you're going to stay anyway, take the bedroom on the third floor. Its last occupant recently passed into Oblivion. I'll have a meal sent up with the letters, and you can leave at sunrise."
"That's it?" Pinkie asked. "You're just letting us go?"
The Lover smiled, "Well, if I can convince any of you to stay longer, I certainly wouldn't complain. I haven't had any new exalts join my party in years, and certainly never a Solar... yet."
The ponies filed out of the room and the door closed behind them. Once they were out of earshot, The Lover grabbed Derrik by his hair and violently pulled him out from between her legs. "Send a message to Melkin Fool in Red. Tell her to suspend her activities with the Circus Moribund and wait for the pony Solars to arrive in the Knob. Then, she is to track the Solars unseen and send regular reports of their progress."
Derrik's demeanor shifted from that of a lovesick puppy to a faithful servant. He bowed, "Yes, my mistress."
How it tears at my heart to be so far away from you, my love. This world, our world, has gone mad it seems, and that madness has driven us apart – but not for long. I have accompanied Master Bax and 10 of his closest friends north. You should see the world up here, it is all white and vast – a far cry from the Capital. There, the air is filled with shouts; here, it is filled with silence. When the wind is just right, even at noon, I can feel the cold on my skin. It is a wonderful sensation, sharp and fresh and new. This will be an excellent place to wait out the war down south. As Master Bax says, "Let the Dawn caste deal with those thin-blooded troublemakers. We thinkers and artists should not have to dirty our hands." Instead, we will pass the time (short, I wager) in isolation with our thoughts, planning the fate of this world at its edge.
That is not to say we live in common residence. Master Bax has built a great stone mansion right into the mountain – a manse comparable to the estates outside of Sperimin. It offers every amenity from a great library to baths to store rooms filled with the finest food and drink – more than enough to stuff ourselves while the traitors are put down. Yet, the appearance of this place is less impressive than its function. It is, Master Bax says, a crowning achievement of the manse builder's art. Not because it offers up fountains of essence, but because it offers up none.
I can see you scratching your perfect head now, love, but you read right. This place, which bears my own mark below that of Master Bax, is one of power, yet it does not draw others like us. To another Chosen walking merely feet away, it looks like nothing more than a small cave, yet, inside, we can live in luxury for as long as we wish! It is a manse the likes of which has never been seen before, one that takes the essence it summons and channels it back onto itself, thus appearing invisible to the outside world. No turncoat brigade will find us here. We will be free of that conflict. A most cunning charade – and one your beloved was part of. How they will be thrilled to hear this at the next builder's conference! Master Bax says I may receive my marble robe early for this! And while that thought comforts my mind, it does little for my heart, which aches for you. Visit soon, my love. I await you eagerly.
Until then, may the Sun and Moon favor you,
Ozandus
The parchment in Twilight's hooves had seen better days. That wasn't surprising, since it was supposed to be nearly two thousand years old. Puzzling through the text was difficult for several reasons. She was still learning the 'Old Realm' language the letter was written in. Despite several techniques used to preserve the document, it had still deteriorated over the millennia. 'Residents', as The Lover called them, kept interrupting to offer their 'services'. Applejack and Pinkie had convinced everypony to refuse the food offered by The Lover, on the grounds that it was likely laced with drugs, aphrodisiacs, or both. And frankly, Ozandus had terrible handwriting.
Twilight had obtained blank parchment, a quill, and ink, and began translating what letters The Lover had supplied. Every now and again, she would reference Erymanthoi, Erymanthoi, What Do You See? or ask Pinkie for some help, but soon enough the first letter was completed. Twilight hoofed the translation off to the others to read while she began the next.
Mithra,
It has been too long since we last spoke, far too long. The conflict in the south echoes even here, and we hear stories of Solars who survived the ambush being executed. I do not want to believe the tales, but our friends no longer respond to correspondence. I do not fear the worst, but I think, perhaps, we might have underestimated the earth-blooded; they are weak but many. Crinis Proles says we should leave this hidden place and come to our brothers' aid, but all she does is talk, and most of us try to ignore her. We are thinkers. What good would we be in battle? Certainly, we are more valuable here. We will defend our temporary home and hope for the best. There is always hope. Always.
Worse news, my love, Master Bax has gone to the Sun's Court. We found him in the baths, the glint gone from his eyes. He was an ancient man, 15 times my own not insubstantial age, and he will be missed not only by we, his friends, but by the world. Who else will sculpt essence flows of such grace and power? Being his apprentice, I will be looked to, and I have learned his craft but not his genius. I fear I will fail. I have been practicing though, molding rock beneath the chateau. I fashioned a tomb for Master Bax. It is a low and ugly thing, but it will suffice until we can return him to the Captial and give him the funeral he deserves.
Our food stores, which we consumed with such gusto at first, are almost half gone now, and some of us have taken to eating conjured food one meal of the day. The taste is the same, but too much of it makes one weak. Aure Orchester used to go hunting and bring back fresh game, but now, the lands around our home are almost stripped bare – not by us, dear, we are not that fat – but by the demon laborers Master Bax used and then bound to this place. We expected they would wither and die, but instead, Aure says they are multiplying. I pray he is mistaken.
On a brighter note, our discussions and debates are truly things of beauty. With the Guardian watching the outside world and the servants catering to our needs, we are given time to exercise our minds. We talk about the world, the future and many new and wonderful theories about essence. These are truly gifted people – and brilliant. I feel that, when we do return, we will be toasted in the parlors and salons of the Capital as true thinkers. We may even shape policy after this war is over.
I await your response, my love.
Yours,
Ozandus
Rainbow Dash had fallen asleep, while Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack discussed the content of the first letter. Fluttershy tried to look interested, but her eyelids were beginning to droop.
"So what is this stuff about traitors and a war?" Rarity asked.
"Um... we Sidereals read the future. The prophecy basically said that you Solars were going to destroy the world. So, a bunch of Sidereals convinced the Dragon-Blooded to overthrow your rulership, and the Sidereals trapped your Essences in a big prison so you wouldn't reincarnate." Pinkie Pie grinned sheepishly. "Heh."
Applejack stuck out her tongue at Pinkie. "Well, y'all didn't do a great job of it. This Bax character got off scott-free with his friends!"
Twilight floated the second translation over to the group. "You might want to read the full story first, Applejack. Bax died in the bathtub. He died of old age, but still."
I die, my sweet. Time moves slowly here, but the seasons and years fade together. It seems ages since I smelled your perfume or held a lock of your hair to my cheek. So long, so long.
We hear nothing from the south, no news or rumors, all is quiet. We retreated to a silent place, and now, that silence is a curse. Crinis left to get word, but she never returned. We do not know if the demon hordes that attack our walls nightly took her or if she is living in peace in the Capital. One or two have tried to follow, but they too have vanished. How did we fall so far?
Our debates have turned to arguments and infighting. We have nothing to fuel us except our own hate now. Love, passion – these things are alien to us. We fight each other, with words and fists. It is a sad cycle – one that I have participated in, to my shame.
We do not starve, and we do not freeze, but we are cold and hungry. Our food is gone, and all attempts to grow more have failed. We have burnt every flammable thing for heat. Our skins have faded from gold to bronze to ash. The elements cannot kill us, but they pick and pick at our will. My will. Aure Orchester, driven mad by this place, put out his own spark. Others have considered doing the same. I have.
I wrestled this parchment away (yes me, your Willow – I have become cruel in isolation) so that I might write you, though I know not where you are. I only pray that you hear my cries and send some response.
We were wrong to come here. We thought to live like gods while the world warred, and yet, we find ourselves prisoners of our own devices and fears. We cannot leave, and we cannot stay. So, slowly, we fade away.
Yours,
Ozandus
Fluttershy had finally succumbed to the late hour, and Rarity gently laid her on the bed next to Rainbow. Twilight quietly read the last letter aloud to the other three Bearers who were still awake.
Pinkie was solemn, "This doesn't sound like a very happy place."
"Unfortunately, this is our only lead on anything to get everypony back home," Twilight said.
"So all we have to do is walk a couple thousand miles, fight through an army of demons, find an invisible manse, search a possibly haunted mansion for two corpses and an artifact, walk another couple thousand miles (adding said corpses and artifact to our already heavy load), and get an evil sex ghost to tell us how the artifact works?" Applejack asked. "What could possibly be easier than that?" Her voice absolutely oozed sarcasm.
"We may be able to cut the travel time with The Spark," Twilight began.
"And don't forget we've got to pick up Zecora!" Pinkie added.
"Shh!" Rarity, Twilight, and Applejack shushed Pinkie to keep her from waking the pegasi.
"It's late, everypony," said Rarity, "why don't we get some beauty sleep and worry about tomorrow's problems tomorrow."
Wait, Twilight thought as she drifted off to sleep, I thought Pinkie said she already found Zecora...
The news from Cloudsdale was troubling. The head of Ponyville's weather team had missed a mandatory meeting with her superior at the weather factory; not an unheard-of phenomenon according to the missive Celestia had received, and standard procedure was to send a messenger pegasus to suss out the situation. The troubling news was that neither the messenger nor Rainbow Dash had reported back to Cloudsdale... nor the pair of investigators sent after the messenger.
Coupled with multiple missing ponies reports from neighboring towns regarding ponies who did regular business in Ponyville, and it was painfully obvious that something was wrong. Twilight hadn't responded to any of the letters Celestia sent by dragonfire, either. Nothing had gone wrong with the dragonfire spell on Celestia's end, but considering the nature of the situation, Celestia was unwilling to try sending a letter by the Pony Express or Fet-Ex.
The Sun Princess' expression was grave. "Shining Armor, please send for Captain Storm Wi—"
Her command was interrupted by the sound of shattering glass and a ball of gray and yellow rolling across the throne room floor before coming to a stop next to Guard Captain Shining Armor at the base of the stairs leading to Celestia's throne. Somehow, the crash landing had ended in a perfect pose of supplication to the Princess of the Day.
"Whoops! My bad!"
The gray mare was wearing the saddlebags of a Pony Express employee, and Shining Armor had almost immediately trapped her in one of his signature force fields.
"Your highness!" A pair of pegasus guards flew in the broken window after the mailmare. "We give our humblest apologies, Your Majesty, for failing to apprehend the intruder. We attempted to detain her after she violated the restricted airspace around the castle, but her flight pattern was extremely erratic and difficult to match."
"Yes, I suspect it was," Celestia said with some amusement as she noticed the mare's severe case of strabismus. Celestia dismissed the two pegasus guards and turned to the trapped mailmare. "Hello, my little pony. I apologize; I feel like we've met before, yet I can't recall your name."
The mare didn't seem bothered by the force field surrounding her, and rose from her prone position to address her diarch. "No, we haven't met. Well, I've been in the crowd at a couple Summer Sun Celebrations, but we've never spoken. My name's Derpy! Derpy Hooves!"
"And just what do you think—?" Captain Armor began yelling at the poor mare, but was cut off by a stern look from Celestia. He began again in a less confrontational tone, "I mean... Why did you crash through the window to see the Princess instead of waiting for tomorrow's Day Court, or visiting Princess Luna at the Night Court in a few hours?"
Derpy looked between the Captain and the Princess with a bewildered expression on her face, the apparent severity of her confusion compounded by her wandering eye. Her eyes widened and she blushed as it finally dawned on her where she was.
"Captain Armor, I think you can release her, don't you? I doubt she's a danger to anypony."
The Captain dispelled his shield and muttered under his breath, "At least not intentionally."
"Now, then, Miss Hooves, I'm afraid I don't have time to chat with you. There is a situation developing in the town of Ponyville that I must deal with. Captain, would you please escort Miss Hooves out of the castle?"
Shining Armor began to direct the mailmare out of the throne room, but Derpy's eyes brightened and she exclaimed, "Ponyville? I live in Ponyville!"
Celestia and Shining both stared at Derpy for a short moment before Shining forcibly levitated her back to the base of the throne. "Tell us everything you know about the loss of communication with the town and the disappearing ponies," he ordered.
Derpy chuckled into one hoof before replying, "There are no disappearing ponies! You're silly, I like you!"
Shining's left eye began to twitch. "We have no less than seventeen missing ponies reports from neighboring towns, for ponies who do regular business in Ponyville. Cloudsdale is also missing a messenger and two investigators, there's no word from the head of the Ponyville weather team, and no response to the dragonfire messages the Princess has sent to her protégé. How can you claim there are no missing ponies?!"
Celestia bowed her head. "I was about to send for Captain Storm Wing of the Sky Archons before you arrived. If you have any information on the situation it would be much appreciated. No offense intended to my sister, but I feel like I'm night flying."
"Aw, they're not missing; they're just in a bubble!"
"A... bubble. Like, a wibbly-wobbly thing make from soap and water?" Shining Armor resisted the urge to bludgeon himself with something heavy. Losing consciousness would not be conducive to solving the matter at hoof.
Derpy stared into space in the direction of the wall behind the Captain (and in the direction of the ceiling). She made a 'so-so' gesture with one hoof. "More like a wibbly-wobbly thing made from time, but yes." She returned her gaze to the two other ponies in the room (considering one was in front of her and the other was to her side, this was an impressive feat for a normal pony, but an easy trick for Derpy). "The librarian was doing some sort of timey-wimey spell, and now everypony near Ponyville is moving super slow, but most of them think nothing's wrong."
Celestia relaxed a number of muscles she didn't even realize were tensed. Still, there were unresolved problems. "That is indeed good news, Miss Hooves. If I may ask, how is it that you escaped the effects of Twilight's spell?"
"I was on a long-distance delivery to Trottingham when it happened," Derpy replied quickly.
"Wait," Shining mused, "If you weren't in Ponyville when it happened, then how is it that you know what's going on?"
Derpy winced at the question, but the Captain didn't seem to notice. Her eyes widened a bit as though she had struck upon an idea, and before anypony could blink, Derpy went from being on all fours to having one hoof in her mailbag. "The truth is... I read some of your mail, Princess..."
"Th-That's illegal!" Shining Armor cried.
Derpy bowed her head in apparent shame as she withdrew a scroll with a broken seal and hoofed it over to the Captain who read it aloud.
Dear Princess Celestia and Captain Shining Armor,
In a few days I'm going to be testing out a spell I discovered in the Star Swirl the Bearded Wing of the Canterlot Archives. If you don't hear from me, then I've probably gotten the spell backwards and slowed down time in Ponyville. This is a problem that needs to be solved from the inside of the 'time bubble', and anypony who gets too close will be trapped inside until I figure things out.
So just keep the Sky Archons back and make sure nopony tries to go to Ponyville until I send you a letter by dragonfire saying otherwise. Everything should be fixed soon!
Your loyal subject and your little sister,
Twilight Sparkle
"Huh," Shining said after he finished, "since when does Twily send letters to the two of us at once?"
"Since when does she address you as 'Captain'?"
"Or sign her letters 'your loyal subject'? I thought you said she always signed her letters 'your faithful student'?"
"She does." Celestia narrowed her eyes. "It's also troubling that she knew we'd consider making use of the Sky Archons." With a puff of green flames, Celestia summoned one of Twilight's previous Friendship Reports and began comparing the two letters; both appeared to have been written by Spike's claw, and the ink and parchment were both consistent with what was available in Ponyville. Twilight did not use any sort of crest on her wax seals, so there was no way to confirm whether the two letters had been sealed by the same pony.
Princess Celestia looked up from the two letters in her telekinetic grip. "Captain Shining Armor! For the moment we have no choice but to trust this most recent letter from Twilight. I want you to take a detachment of Royal Guardsmen and coordinate with the Sky Archons to blockade all roads into Ponyville so that nopony else is caught in whatever is happening there. Create a perimeter at least a mile out from the boundary of the town.
"If what this letter says is correct, even a failsafe spell won't be enough from the outside; Star Swirl's enchantments are potent, and with time manipulation like this, the spell itself would likely be slowed before dispelling the problem." Shining Armor gave a salute before turning and trotting towards the door.
As he crossed the threshold, he stopped and turned back to look at Celestia. "Forgive me for saying so, Your Majesty, but perhaps you should get Princess Luna to look at the letters again when she wakes up. You've never been one for subtle things such as counterfeiting." Celestia nodded, and Shining closed the door behind him.
Celestia sighed into the empty room, and then shivered from a cold breeze. What in the name of Faust happened to my window?
The fields outside of Ponyville were quiet, almost serene; if she had been any other mare, Octavia could have easily let herself enjoy the late spring day. Unfortunately, she was not any other mare. Octavia was a mare on a mission: find intelligence on The Dowager's beachhead in Equestria and report back to her superiors via Derpy's sorcery.
Octavia shifted the cello case on her back into a more comfortable position, and then stepped sideways. To the average outside observer, she would have appeared to vanish into thin air; such an observer would then forget the grey mare had ever existed in the first place. In truth, Octavia stood exactly one step to the left of where she had been before. Nothing had changed, save for the fact that the universe now insisted that she was not standing wherever she was. Anypony who tried to look upon her would simply agree with the universe: nopony was standing where Octavia was standing.
Octavia continued her trek towards Ponyville, her eyes ever watchful. It was not long before she stumbled – almost literally – over a group of children gathered just outside the border of the small town. Human children. Assuming the children arrived at the same time as The Dowager, they had to have been living in Ponyville for almost a week. Despite this, each child had come outside to look with his or her own two wondering eyes at the fields, the trees, and the skies.
Why are there human children with The Dowager? Why are they still alive? Octavia stood near the group, unnoticed, as she tried to wrack her brain for any tidbits of information about The Dowager. According to intelligence from Black Ice Shadow, the other Deathlords considered her a failure as she secluded herself in her swamp, never attending meetings held in Stygia. Has she fallen so far from the Deathlords' cause that she's raising humans rather than killing them? The children looked practically emaciated, but that wasn't necessarily evidence one way or another; The Dowager was a ghost, after all, and she was millennia removed from the normal processes of life – such as eating.
Octavia attempted to listen in on the children's conversation, but after speaking nothing but Equestrian for over a decade Octavia's grasp of other languages was severely weakened.
"... Died... Told me... Thought I'd see..."
"What about... Out?"
"Mother... You know... Only... Of the Mire..."
"This place... Open... Be fr—" One child was silenced by another. The boy covered the speaker's mouth and looked around frantically, as though he was worried someone was watching. Of course, somepony is watching him, but there's no way a mortal could detect my presence. Most likely, the boy was simply worried about the possibility that what the other child had begun to say would be overheard.
These children are fearful of something, and it's unlikely that they'd be afraid of some ponies. Hay, they might be thrilled to see a pony; I know I had my share of little babes thinking I was fit for 'pony rides'. Octavia rolled the possibilities around in her head. If the children were afraid of being overheard, then logically they were either afraid of The Dowager, or some of The Dowager's servants. By the stars, I hope she doesn't have many Deathknights with her. Based on that, these children were held by The Dowager for some other reason than to nurture humans – not surprising, really.
Freeing these children from their master could either hurt The Dowager, anger The Dowager, or both. Either possibility could be beneficial in the fight against her. On the other hoof, Octavia had nowhere to send the children that was safe (the nearby Everfree Forest was no place for a child), out of The Dowager's reach (hiding anywhere near Ponyville would do no good, and might just incite The Dowager's wrath, depending on the reason she was holding the children), and would not reveal their existence to the rest of Equestria.
Horseapples. If Derpy were here, they could lead the children away from the town and call up the Calibration gate. The children could be sent back to Creation via Yu-Shan; the Bureau of Humanity might even be able to find a new home for them.
Inspiration struck. Octavia leaned in close to the eldest of the group, and began whispering in her ear, "We should head up the valley, towards that mountain. If anyone asks us where we're from, we can just point out that forest over there. After all, this place is near the forest, and the place we were in before was near a forest, too." Most anypony would believe that these 'strange bipedal creatures' had come from the Everfree... if anypony could translate what they were saying. Octavia had her doubts the children even realized they'd left Creation.
Octavia could see the girl's brow furrow as her voice became the girl's thoughts. The girl's resolve wavered when she looked back towards the town, so Octavia leaned in once again. "There's nothing to worry about. If we leave now, there's no way we can be caught. We'll be free."
As the girl began to think Octavia's words, her mouth began to twitch; Octavia began to worry that something might actually be wrong with the poor child. When the twitching finally stopped, however, the girl's mouth curled into a small smile – possibly the first smile to grace her features since she was a baby. The girl turned towards Mt. Canterlot with a twinkle in her eye and she began speaking to the other children. Unlike the subdued conversation before, the girl's voice was animated and strong. Octavia didn't bother expending the effort to translate the speech, but as she walked away towards Ponyville proper, she heard the girl hesitate. Octavia paused and swiveled her ears back to listen; the girl breathed one final word, relishing the sound of it: "... Free."
Octavia permitted herself a smile of her own, which mirrored the new smile on the face of the eldest child.
Ponyville was not empty.
On the contrary, there were a fair number of ponies walking about the town. Or rather, there were a fair number of ponies shambling about the town. Octavia was unfamiliar with the population of Ponyville beyond it being the residence of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. However, what limited information Derpy had to share indicated that the entire population of the town had been sent to Creation somehow. Ergo, the zombie ponies that now walked the streets were not residents. Judging by the state of a few of the corpses and the state of the graveyard as she entered the town, some of the zombies had been residents while alive, but other zombies looked brand new.
Octavia passed an earth pony stallion and mare walking together, both sporting identically snapped necks and several years' worth of decay plaguing their flesh. The stallion's cutie mark was still fully visible, depicting an apple tree in full bloom. The mare's flank was beginning to slough off her body, but some of her cutie mark remained: an apple lay near the right edge of her mark, but the rest was lost to time. Their injuries suggested they'd died together; now even with their soulless corpses reanimated by necromancy they didn't seem separable.
Octavia watched the zombies' movements for some time, and eventually noticed a pattern. Each individual seemed to shamble aimlessly, with neither rhyme nor reason. However, the entire horde as a single entity created a disciplined militaristic patrol pattern. The pegasi did not fly, but those zombies that still had eyes did keep note of the sky above. Octavia wondered about the lack of flight, but none of the possible explanations she could come up with were properly testable at the moment (and most of the possible tests were rather immoral, in the first place).
Still, the horde acting as one entity suggested a single, powerful necromancer. The Dowager was the obvious first choice, but why would she expend the effort when she was personally so much more powerful than almost everypony else in Equestria? She had no idea how The Dowager would compare in a fight against Celestia or Luna (or even Cadence), but there was certainly no mortal pony who could stand up to a Deathlord.
The second choice, then, was a servant of The Dowager: a nephwrack or Deathknight. If a nephwrack were animating these zombies, they would have tried to destroy all the plant life, and then likely tried to destroy each other. These zombies, on the other hoof, were acting as a guard for the town. That left a Deathknight as the most likely option.
This line of thinking proved true as Octavia turned around a corner to find the town square. In the center sat another human child, no more than twelve years old. Unlike the other children, though, this one didn't seem to care about the comparatively perfect world that surrounded her. She was also dressed in soulsteel armor, and the scabbard on the ground at her side held a blade taller than she was and as wide as her shoulders. It was difficult to tell whether this diminutive Deathknight was meditating, or actively controlling the zombies throughout Ponyville.
Octavia approached for a closer inspection, confident that she would remain undetected. In a flash, the child Deathknight was on her feet with her soulsteel blade drawn and pointed in Octavia's direction. The mare froze in place, uncertain. Surely, she can't see me?
"Who's there?" the girl cried out, swinging her sword back and forth. Her voice faltered; even if she was a Deathknight and a powerful necromancer, she was still a twelve-year-old girl. The girl took on her best defensive stance and cried, "Show yourself!"
No, I don't think I will, Octavia thought. You might be able to sense my presence, but you still don't know where I am, and I'm still not done with my observations. Octavia slipped away from the frightened little girl née frightening Deathknight to explore what else The Dowager might have in store for Equestria.
Octavia wound her way through the town, but couldn't find much else besides the zombies. Some of the food stores were low or missing, most likely eaten by the mortal children. As she began to cross to the opposite side of town, she noticed a gigantic oak tree; it seemed a house had been built into the trunk of the tree, and the leaves were beginning to turn brown and die. Wait... beginning to die? That tree should've died as soon as the house was dug into it! As she began to approach the tree, the presence of the zombies all but disappeared; this only spurred Octavia's curiosity further, as it indicated the tree held something that the Deathknight didn't want or wasn't permitted to see.
A pressure began to build in the back of Octavia's mind as she approached the tree. She could almost swear that she could hear far away voices. She drew close enough to read the sign above the front door on the tree – The Books and Branches Public Library – and she could no longer pretend that she was 'just hearing things'. Some of the voices were fainter than others, but they were most assuredly there.
"... never be destroyed... outside."
"... intelligent fool can... takes a touch of genius... opposite direction."
"Friendship is unnecessary... no survival value... value to survival."
"It is not... lack of love... lack of friendship... unhappy marriages."
"... impossible for God... sense in... law..."
"... decided to stick... Hate is too great..."
"... forgive your enemies... annoys them so much."
"False words... evil... infect the soul..."
"... richest man in the cemetery... something wonderful... matters to me."
"... friendship is precious... in the shade... in the sunshine..."
"The wheel is come full circle."
The pressure on Octavia's mind grew, as did the volume of the voices. The pressure was already affecting her ability to move forward. Rather than suffer the full effects of whatever was causing her ailment, she began to back away from the library. The pressure did not let up; despite increasing her distance from the library, the pressure began to mount further, as though some consciousness were behind the attack and it had latched onto her. The voices in her head became deafening, and the mental fatigue began spilling over into physical agony. The edges of her vision began to blur, until finally her will broke beneath the onslaught and she collapsed, unconscious.
"It is true, Morning Flight, Zecora is actually a zebra," Crane on the Ocean explained to his elder. Morning had been confused when Crane returned from his mission with an equine in tow, and then assumed the new Moonchild was simply wearing her spirit shape. "I do not know what the Fickle Lady intends, but Zecora must certainly be a special individual for her to be exalted despite her nature."
Morning Flight held up a hand to stave off Crane's defense of the new steward. Although she was more than a century older than Crane, she looked almost half his age. Her dark brown hair was split by a silver birthmark and her body remained firm. Morning's eyes, however, betrayed her age with a piercing quality that stared deep into men's souls.
"You do not have to fly to her defense, Crane. I understand the situation." Morning turned to Zecora, "I would like to begin your initiation immediately, if you don't mind." Zecora nodded hesitantly, still uncertain of what the process entailed.
Crane politely ducked out of the small hut the three of them sat in, leaving Zecora alone with the elder. As Morning began to gather her tattooing supplies, she struck up a conversation to try and get the zebra to relax. "According to Crane, the only language you know is Old Realm. Can you tell me how that is?"
Zecora shuffled her hooves uncertainly as Morning Flight lifted the needle to begin her work. "I do not know what to say, but Mister Crane is wrong, if I may. The languages that I know are two: Zebrican, and Equestrian too." Zecora winced as the needle pierced her flesh. "I do not know Old Realm as you claim, but it seems you hear me speak such all the same."
"What do you think we are speaking now, then?"
"Equestrian is what we speak. Zebrican is far more unique."
Morning continued her practiced motions across Zecora's right flank. "I'd love to hear some Zebrican, if you don't mind, Zecora."
"Kinyesi! Kwamba inaumiza!" the zebra shouted as Morning struck the needle in a particularly sensitive spot at the base of her tail.
Zecora turned to glare at the elder lunar. Morning smiled back at her and said, "I don't think I need a translation for that one." The moonsilver ink was blossoming into an intricate spider web across Zecora's body. The patterns etched into her skin were more than aesthetics. As Morning Flight distracted the zebra by getting her to talk about herself, Morning incorporated Zecora's words into the design.
Morning shifted the topic of discussion to stories about Zecora's childhood (or foalhood, as the zebra put it). She was born to the chieftain of the Zec clan, living at the base of Thunder Drum Mountain in Zebrica. The Zec ruled the area as a clan of scholars, shamans, and lore-keepers, and Zecora's father was the most talented potion-maker of them all. She began learning his trade from a young age, and the greatest drought Zebrica had ever seen put pressure on her to accelerate her studies.
"What did a drought have to do with learning how to make potions? Surely you don't have a potion to find water?"
Zecora shook her head, "It was not the drought, but the Bite. The drought spurred a spider blight." Zecora lifted a forehoof to the left side of her neck, as though remembering an old injury.
A particularly nasty breed of subterranean spider was forced to the surface by the drought. The spiders sought hydration from animals when they could no longer sustain themselves with groundwater. The spiders' venom continued to sap the victim of moisture long after the spider had gone, and the Zec were at a loss to treat it.
The Ne clan of laborers was the first to seek refuge at Thunder Drum, which had maintained a supply of water and had the lowest incidence of Bite victims. They also brought many more mouths to feed and water, more zebras sick and dying from the Bite, and even a few of the dreaded spiders which had hitched a ride with the Ne in their supplies. Within days of the Ne clan's arrival, Zecora's father was dealing with ten times as many patients as he had before.
Of course, without a cure for the Bite, an individual patient would only be around for two or three days before their body was left for the rocs to take away.
"You have great rocs in Zebrica?"
"When a zebra dies, a roc flies. It is every zebra's destiny to be lifted by a roc heavenly." Morning kept her surprise about the incredible abundance of great rocs in Zebrica to herself, and allowed Zecora to continue the story.
With her father overworked, Zecora took to pure research on the Bite cure. More problems arose when the warriors of the Ke clan arrived to take Thunder drum by force. The Ke took a predictably violent approach to the problem of the Bite: extermination teams of Ne workers led by a Ke warrior swept the camp surrounding the mountain regularly, searching for any and all spiders – regardless of species. The extermination teams doubled as hunters for victims of the Bite; after the Ke's takeover, all victims were expelled from Thunder Drum, left to their own devices without even the chance for a healer to help ease their passing.
Without victims, Zecora and her father could only hope to experiment with the spiders to find a cure – and housing spiders had become a crime in Thunder Drum. Eventually, their crime was discovered by an extermination team. The assault on Zecora's hut allowed one of the captive spiders to escape. Before the exterminators could destroy the rogue arachnid, the spider bit into Zecora's neck.
Morning looked up from her work. "I assume from the fact that I have the opportunity to inflict this new pain on you," she waved her needle to indicate her point, "that you found a cure?"
Zecora nodded and smiled fondly at the memory. "Yes, with the help of my father and some strange traveling ponies, we discovered a cure. The potion's main ingredient was a potent poison; it killed the venom in my veins, but it felt like I was burning from the inside out. I was left with a large green scar on my neck, which I cover as you can see. For the rest of my life, I was also forced to rhyme my words. Speaking without rhyme produced a headache so great I would... black... out..."
Zecora paused.
"I'm not rhyming."
"No, you're not. You stopped rhyming about the point in your story where the Ke were exiling the bite victims."
"How is this possible? I've rhymed ever since I earned my cutie mark!"
Morning brushed a finger along the lines of one of the glimmering silver tattoos along Zecora's back. "Well, you rhymed when you arrived. What has changed?"
"That's just it! Nothing has changed! The only thing that's happened is talking to you while you filled my skin with silver."
"And these tattoos protect your body and mind from being forcibly changed."
Zecora's eyes began to water. "Are you saying you've cured me of the side effects of the potion?"
"It seems so," Morning nodded, "but I'm not done yet. I'm afraid you're going to have to remove the golden rings from your neck."
"Perhaps you should bring Crane back in. I do not have the strength to remove the rings myself."
"Have you tried since you took your second breath, Zecora?"
Zecora looked at Morning warily, but sat down to at least humor the woman. She pulled at the seam of the topmost ring; to her surprise, the metal sprung apart as though she had exerted far more force on it than the effort she expended suggested. Zecora held the warped ring of metal between her hooves in shock. She quickly discarded it and removed the others more carefully, laying them in a pile at her hooves. Zecora absently stroked the left side of her neck once again. Morning, grasping Zecora's unvoiced thoughts, crossed the room to fetch a silvered disc. She lifted the makeshift mirror for Zecora to examine herself: no scar marred the mare's neck.
The dam finally broke, and tears of joy flowed freely from Zecora's eyes.
Gilda awoke to shouting, in that same unintelligible language of the brutes that had carried her away. She had been dropped unceremoniously in a pile of pine needles, and through the fog clouding her mind she could make out her own name in the shouting.
"{I said to bring} Gilda, {you morons! Did I tell you to go capture a griffin? No! I sent you on a simple retrieval mission. All you had to do was go find the new moonchild and bring her back.}" The shouting man was much smaller than Dak and Kimchee – larger than Selene had been, but much closer to Gilda's mass than the monstrosities that showed up at Gilda and Trixie's campsite. Despite the difference in size, the two oversized creatures seemed cowed before the one making all the noise. The shouting man was clad in plate armor that matched the color of the tattoos all three bore; the style reminded Gilda of the costumes worn for Commander Hurricane in the ponies' Hearthswarming Eve play.
The shouting man slumped, the wind lost from his sails. "{I can't do much of anything with a captive griffin except maybe make a roast. And that's another moonchild that may be lost to chimerism. She might get picked up by someone from the Winding Path, but that hardly helps our cause.}"
At some point, Dak had stopped listening to the shouting and begun stroking Trixie's mane. For her part, she let herself enjoy the feeling of the creature's fingers in her hair. She hadn't yet figured out a way to escape with Gilda, but surely a little personal pleasure couldn't hurt?
"{Dak! Stop playing with the wyld horse!}"
Dak whined like a pitiful child, but complied with the order. When he released Trixie, she whined as well. "Oh, can't we go on just a little bit longer? Your paw feels so wonderful in Trixie's mane! It's not hard and sharp like Gilda's claws!"
The armored man froze. He switched gears, and when he began talking again, he was speaking intelligibly, like Selene had done. "You can speak? That's an incredible mutation! I've never seen the like! And you say you know Gilda?"
Gilda sat up from the pile of needles where she had been laid and disregarded by the humans. "Of course she knows who I am. We've been traveling companions for almost three months now." She casually picked a few needles out of her feathers. "By the way, I can't express how glad I am that there's one of you that can speak sensibly. I was beginning to wonder if Selene was the only one."
Dak and Kimchee looked to each other, not understanding the conversation. Kimchee shrugged and began plodding off into the nearby pine forest; Dak soon followed, leaving Gilda and Trixie alone with the armored man. He turned slowly towards Gilda, eyes wide open. "You can speak, too?"
Gilda scoffed, "Of course I can speak. All griffins can speak."
The man scowled. "Griffins may be able to communicate with one another, but they certainly can't speak. I'll prove it." The sallow skin on his face rippled, and a coat of feathers burst forth. His nose and mouth melded together, stretched out, and hardened to form a beak. The man dropped onto all fours as his hip changed shape and his knees bent backwards. Golden fur spread over the lower half of his body, and his hands became sharp claws. In moments, what had once been an alien figure in silver armor became a handsome griffin in silver armor.
"... Hawt," was all Gilda could manage.
The griffin let out a few squawks and chirps as if to demonstrate the lack of linguistic ability. He coughed, and then began again. "As you can see, the griffin vocal system is not designed for human speech."
Trixie waved a hoof to get his attention. "Trixie would like to point out a flaw in your argument."
The man-turned-griffin released a low, annoyed growl from deep within his throat. "I'm able to speak now by using magic. The normal griffin throat can't produce these sounds."
The griffin transformation reversed and he stood as a human once again (much to Gilda's disappointment). "You're obviously no ordinary griffin. What is your name?"
"I thought you already knew my name? It's Gilda. And this here is—"
"The Great and Powerful Trixie!"
"Right, she's Trixie," Gilda said with a sigh.
The man began muttering to himself, "How could Luna have picked an animal to be one of her chosen? She's admittedly a unique specimen, but still; the chosen are all humans."
"What's that about Princess Luna?"
He turned back to Gilda and cried out, "Princess?! Luna is the Fickle Lady. She is the many-faced trickster. She is the goddess of the moon." The man's voice grew passionate as he threw out sobriquet after sobriquet for his goddess. Finally after he reached a climax in his monologue he said flatly, "One thing Luna is not, however, is a mere princess."
Gilda waved away the man's stare with a claw. "Whatever. You know our names. What's yours?"
"Ah! My apologies. You may call me Stalker. And you must be very confused about what exactly is going on."
Gilda nodded. "You could say that."
"Come with me, you need to get your tattoos as soon as possible." Stalker walked into the forest in the same direction Dak and Kimchee had left, leaving Gilda and Trixie to follow.
The encampment of the Seneschals of the Sun Kings, as Stalker called it, was composed of a half dozen tree-huts in the pine forest, each built in the largest trees available. The buildings were connected by rope bridges, with platforms on the smaller trees between them. While some Seneschals used the bridges to travel between the buildings – as one might expect – others simply leapt from tree to tree as they desired.
"Gilda, Luna has granted you a great gift. You are now one of her children. But you are only half of what you should be," Stalker began explaining as they walked underneath the small tree-bound community.
"What do you mean?"
"Our name does not include the phrase 'Sun King' for no reason. The world was built by the gods, and by design the chosen of the Unconquered Sun were meant to rule it. When Luna created us, each of our exaltations was paired with one of the Solar exaltations." Stalker stopped, and placed a hand on Gilda's head. "Until you find the current incarnation of your Solar mate, you will be an incomplete being."
Stalker looked up to the building above their group and said, "Come, let's go up and fix you up with a caste." In seconds, Stalker changed his form again; this time he became a short, bipedal reptilian creature with long neck and tail. His new scaled skin almost looked like its own kind of armor, yet as before with his griffin transformation, his silver armor changed to fit his new shape.
Once Stalker's transformation was complete, his powerful legs launched him a quarter of the way up the height of the tree. From there, he leapt back and forth between the tree he had indicated to Gilda and Trixie and its neighbors, climbing higher with every jump. Finally, he landed on the platform near the tree's canopy and changed back. "Come up and I'll tell you more!" he called down.
Gilda looked to Trixie and shrugged. She unfurled her wings and with only a few flaps, she was airborne. Gilda landed neatly next to Stalker on the wooden platform before turning back to watch for Trixie's arrival.
Stalker paused. "Um. How does your talking horse intend to get up here? I expected you to bring her up with you."
His question was immediately answered by a rush of wind which flung the mare into the air, then caught her to land gently on the platform's surface. Gilda turned to Stalker with a smug grin, "That's h—"
Gilda's snark was interrupted by Stalker calling out in his unintelligible language, "{Dragon-Blood in the camp! Warriors report to the Midnight Tree!}" He dropped into a fighting stance, and began to change shape again. This transformation highly resembled the previous one, but he grew larger and more ferocious rather than shrinking. He also seemed to stop halfway between man and beast. Around the forest, other Seneschals took heed of Stalker's call: some were brandishing weapons and running along the rope bridges, others were transforming much like Stalker had.
The half-beast, half-man spoke to Gilda through a mouth full of teeth that didn't quite fit, without taking his eyes off Trixie. "Did you know your 'traveling companion' was the enemy?"
Gilda shook her head in disbelief. "What in Tartarus are you talking about? Trixie's not—" Once again, Gilda was cut off as one of the other Seneschals charged in, attempting to catch Trixie unaware while her attention was focused on Stalker. Gilda launched high through the air, catching the offender solidly on the check with one of her paws, claws fully extended. The claws left deep gouges in the woman's skin, and the force of the blow knocked her off the edge of the platform. Gilda landed behind her unicorn companion with muscles tensed, ready to fight. With the element of surprise lost, Trixie lowered her horn to face Stalker and pawed at the platform under her feet.
"What are you doing, Gilda?!" Stalker cried out as other Seneschals – both human and beast – began to gather around the trio. "Why are you defending filth like her?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, Stalker!" Gilda called back, refusing to tear her eyes away from the armed exalted in front of her. "Trixie saved my life, and griffins repay their debts!"
Stalker relaxed his stance slightly in confusion. "She... saved your life?" He shook his head and returned to battle-readiness. "I'm sure it was simply a ploy to lead a Wyld Hunt to the den of our pack. If not our pack, then some other Lunar's."
"We haven't seen anyone except animals and you guys since coming to this stupid place!"
"Yes! Trixie doesn't even know what a 'Wild Hunt' is!"
"Gee, what a shocker." Gilda rolled her eyes.
Trixie broke her concentration and turned to glare at her griffin companion. "Are you saying Trixie is not smart?"
Gilda responded in kind, butting her head right up against Trixie's. "I'm certainly not saying you are!"
Trixie huffed. "Anything you know, Trixie knows better!"
"I know everything you know and more!"
"No you don't!"
"Yes I do!"
"No you don't!"
"Yes I do! Yes I do!"
Stalker and his companions looked to each other, uncertain. In theory, the blue horse was an enemy and a threat to the group. In practice, the horse and griffin had begun ignoring the impending battle completely in favor of arguing with each other.
"Trixie can eat most anything!"
"How 'bout a rat?" Gilda offered.
"Ew, not that!"
Stalker coughed, breaking the pair out of the private little world they had created. In an annoyed unison, they cried, "What?!"
"Your companion is Dragon-Blooded."
"Trixie doesn't know what that means." Gilda tried to stifle a snicker, and caught a glare from Trixie for it.
Stalker was dumbfounded, and his face showed it as he transformed back to his human form. He waved the other Seneschals away and ushered Gilda and Trixie into the tree-hut; the apparent threat was a false alarm. "How can you not know who you are?"
"Look, Stalker," Gilda began, "we only showed up here less than a week ago. We've been alone since that stupid... whatever it was brought us here. We showed up and Trixie had these new powers. A few days later I talked with someone that called herself 'Selene.' The next morning I was picked up by Tweedledee and Tweedledum, and now we're here."
"Both of you are a blank slate." Stalker made it more of a statement than a question. Under his breath he sighed, "Fantastic."
"Come, sit!" Stalker gestured to a series of mats inside the tree-hut. After Gilda made herself comfortable, Stalker began setting a series of bowls next to her. "While I begin giving Gilda here her caste, I can treat the two of you to a history lesson. Trixie, you can know the truth of the world before the others like you poison your mind with their lies." Stalker turned to Gilda, "This might hurt a little bit, but it shouldn't take too long."
Stalker began applying the tattoo needle to Gilda's hide; she stubbornly refused to show any reaction to the process. While he worked, he talked. "Ages ago, the gods created the world. Unfortunately, their access to heaven was blocked off by treacherous primordial beings, who bound the gods against taking action to claim their right.
"The gods found a solution in humanity, who had no restriction against taking the necessary action, merely lacking the power to succeed. Gaia's children, the Elemental Dragons, exalted ten thousand mortals – only one hundred of them men – to create the foundation of the exalted army. The unique nature of their exaltation allowed power to spread along bloodlines, and spread it did. On average, each of those Dragon-Blooded women bore thirty children in her lifetime. Masira, the Tree of Many is still a legend today; she bore an even hundred.
"The Unconquered Sun chose three hundred mortals to empower. These Solars served as the generals in the war, and they were the great champions who gave hope to the armies and ultimately brought the primordial beasts to their collective knees.
"The Five Maidens of Destiny created one hundred exalted to serve as advisors to the Solar generals. The Sidereals could read the future in the stars, and they could manipulate Fate to gain advantage in battle.
"Finally, our lady Luna created us. For every Solar, a Lunar mate. We are half of a whole, and our soul resonates when we find our partner.
"Eventually, the war was won. The gods took their rightful place in heaven, and the Solars took their rightful rule over the world. We stayed by their sides for a golden age of peace and prosperity. Their benevolent rule brought exalt and mortal alike a life none could have dreamed of.
"Then disaster struck. The Dragon-Blooded host, who had served so well in wartime and so well in peacetime, rebelled. The traitors trapped the rulers of the world in an ambush, not only taking lives, but destroying most of the capital city in the process. Those that escaped the bloodshed and those that hadn't been there in the first place were hunted down like animals and put to the sword. To make matters worse, they found some way of preventing the souls of our partners from reincarnating.
"The traitors established a new regime, held together by flimsy threads. A few hundred years ago another traitor replaced that first government with her new empire, but that's been ruined by infighting almost since the beginning. It's painfully obvious that the Dragon-Blooded were not meant to rule the world. That's why the Seneschals were created: to take back the world for our mates' return."
Stalker looked to Gilda and Trixie for their reactions. Trixie's mind was still stuck near the beginning of his story. "You expect Trixie to foal thirty times?!"
Gilda, at least, had made it all the way through. "Wow, you dweebs really are shooting for the stars, huh? The whole world? Ambitious. How do you expect to do it with so few?"
Stalker waved away Gilda's question. "Oh, this camp is not the extent of our numbers. We have other camps, and there are always Seneschals running missions against the traitors. Now then," he said as he scrutinized his work, "tell me about your life, so that I can customize your tattoos to you."
"Pft, my story isn't very special."
"How special you see your life is less important than the fact that it is your life."
Gilda sighed. "I wasn't born in one of the aeries like a 'proper' griffin. I was born within Equestria's borders, and all of the 'proper' griffins treated me like I was a pony because of it. Nogriffin even had to ask – they just knew, as though I had a pony scent or something. Even my parents shipped me off to the pony flight camp every chance they got, which just made the problem worse..."
"For your first trial, Zecora," Morning Flight began, "please fell this tree by whatever means you deem necessary. You have until the sun sets to complete your task. Begin."
The tree that Morning indicated was an ancient oak. The tree's branches had grown so long and fat that they drooped low to the ground; some branches even touched down to become secondary supports for the massive living structure. The elder Lunar stood back to observe Zecora's approach to the problem.
Zecora pondered her options. Somepony like Applejack (or more likely her brother Big McIntosh) might be able to simply buck the tree into oblivion, but the child of the Zec clan leader did not have a lifetime of physical exertion to build up the muscles necessary for such a task. Digging up the tree's roots would work to topple the giant, but such an endeavor would likely take multiple days, and she had less than one.
Zecora looked to her mentor and asked, "Could you complete this task in the time allotted yourself?"
Morning raised an eyebrow at the question, but replied immediately and simply: "Yes."
Zecora nodded to herself and said, "Morning Flight, could you please cut this tree down for me?"
Without a word, silver nails extended from the tips of Morning's fingers. The woman strode up to the tree and calmly slashed out with one hand. Nothing apparently happened, until Morning dismissed her claws and lightly tapped on the bark of the old tree. Slowly, the tree tipped away from her. As gravity took hold, the tree began to fall faster, and Morning whispered, "Timber."
With a great crash and many snapping branches, the ancient tree fell to the ground. Morning Flight turned back to Zecora. "Congratulations on completing your first trial. Unfortunately, you've failed at the intended purpose: the Test of Mettle. That said, I did instruct you to use 'whatever means you deem necessary,' without stipulating any conditions. By seeing the loophole in my trial and completing it without taking a single step, you've definitely succeeded at the Test of Cunning. For that, you deserve praise."
Stalker was out of his armor, and had begun tying a rope around Gilda's body. "For this next trial, I cannot permit you to fly. This rope is to ensure your compliance."
"Couldn't you use something a little more comfortable? This thing itches." Stalker ignored Gilda's complaints.
"We're currently at the Midnight Tree. Over there," Stalker pointed to another tree-hut in the distance, "is the Dawn Tree." Stalker set two small bowls on the deck in front of Gilda, each filled almost to the brim with water. "When I tell you to begin, you will have ten minutes to get these two bowls from Midnight to Dawn, without spilling any water on the way. Do you have any questions before you begin?"
"How in Tartarus am I supposed to do that?! Without my wings it'll take me at least five minutes to get over there. Trying to avoid spilling anything on your stupid rope bridges will slow me down to a crawl, and there's no way I can avoid spilling any if I have to be on my hind legs holding both of those bowls in my claws!" Gilda glared at Stalker as hard as she could, but he was unfazed.
"This is called a 'trial' for a reason, Gilda. It is your duty to find a solution to the problem I've presented to you."
"There's no way this has any value in the real world!"
Stalker frowned. "The town of 'Dawn' is dying of plague. You've found a hermit named 'Midnight' who can supply a cure. He makes a quantity that will save the town, but the only means you have to store the cure is difficult to transport. If you do not get the cure back to 'Dawn' quickly, everyone will be either dead or too far gone to save. What do you do?"
"That scenario is ludicrous!" Gilda shouted. Trixie stood by and nodded in agreement.
"That scenario is actually similar to my experience with an unnamed hamlet about seven hundred miles southwest of here." Stalker narrowed his eyes. "There are several hundred people alive today who would be dead if it were not for my own actions."
Gilda growled a bit, but eventually nodded her head and stared at the two bowls. "Ready."
"Begin!"
Gilda gingerly lifted one bowl in a claw. She carefully moved a paw forward to balance herself on two legs as she grabbed the other bowl and began to stand upright. When she finally stood erect, she wobbled a bit and tried to spread her wings for balance, but the rope held firm. She desperately shifted the weight on her paws to steady herself while swinging the bowls to keep the water inside. After an awkward dance she had eaten up a full minute of her time, but she had both bowls, and she had spilled nothing.
Gilda began a slow bipedal walk towards the nearest rope bridge. Halfway across, she was beginning to get used to the bipedal motion, even if it did put undue strain on her body. Trixie stomped an applause at the other end of the bridge. "Go Gilda! You can do it!"
Gilda finished crossing the first bridge with seven minutes on the clock, and her legs wobbled as she stepped onto the platform before the next one. Stalker and Trixie stepped onto the bridge as soon as Gilda stepped off, to follow her progress. After she recovered her balance and ensured that no water had been spilled yet, Gilda began on the second bridge.
Gilda's excellent progress was halted before she even passed the midway point on the second bridge. Stalker grabbed the ropes on his end, and he began to swing the bridge causing Gilda to lose her balance. She instinctively tried once again to spread her wings, but the rope binding held. Gilda fell in a tangle to the bridge floor, dropping both bowls into the forest below.
"Hey, what gives?!" she cried as she extricated herself from the bridge's ropes. Once free, she slashed her bindings and flew back to meet Stalker, butting heads with him and the smug grin he wore. "That's cheating, flankface!"
"Is it?" Stalker asked. "When did I say you would be left undisturbed throughout the trial?" Gilda dropped to the deck with no rebuttal, but her face reddened with anger.
"I commend you for your efforts, Gilda. It could not have been easy to walk like that for you. However, you could have tried thinking about the problem more before rushing into action." Stalker began to walk back towards the Midnight Tree that the trial had begun at and Gilda and Trixie both followed.
"First thing's first, you had an ally by your side that you did not seek for assistance. I'm sure if you'd asked, Trixie would have gladly carried one of the bowls for you. For this, you fail in the Test of Succor." Stalker walked back into the tree-hut, and returned with another bowl filled with water. "Of course, even with Trixie's help, you would have spilled water when I shook the bridge. However, something like this would have been easy for a quadruped like you." Stalker leaned forward over the bowl of water, and lifted his cotton shirt out of the way. He pressed the bowl tightly against his skin before standing back upright. The seal was good, and no water spilled to the floor. Stalker took a few steps around to finish making his point. He released the bowl of water and set it aside. "You showed no reasoning or forethought in this trial, and for that you fail the Test of Wisdom."
Gilda's head bowed, cowed. After being told that she'd passed several tests, the information that she'd failed two at once was humbling. "So, failing these tests... what does that mean, exactly?"
Stalker's expression softened. "Gilda, I'm using these trials to evaluate your skills and personality, to help determine what your caste ought to be. A failure is as useful to me as success; in fact, I never expected you to pass all of the trials. Succeeding at everything is nearly unheard of. Even an elder Lunar would likely fail at one or two of the tests, simply because of the means by which they choose to approach problems."
Stalker walked to the edge of the platform. "Now, for this next trial, we're going to need to head to the edge of the forest..."
"I can't do it!"
"Zecora, this is instinctual for you."
"I'm a zebra, how is eating a bird instinctual?! The thought alone makes me nauseous!"
Morning Flight sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Zecora, you've been hunting this bird for hours. Did it never occur to you what comes at the end of a Sacred Hunt?"
Zecora shifted nervously. "I... I didn't want to think about it. I suppose I thought we would track her down and you would finish things, then we could leave."
"Zecora." Morning Flight glared at her. "I am not the hunter today. You are. The Hunt can only be completed by you, and only by tasting the raven's heart's blood. Once you are done, you will have earned the right to take on that raven's form. You will have the power of flight at your finger... er... hooves."
"I don't want it!" Zecora shouted as she shook her head. "Not at this price!"
The sudden noise spooked the raven Zecora had been tracking, and it flew away. Zecora relaxed, but Morning scowled. "Fine. Stay unblooded if you want. I'm leaving."
Morning turned back the way the pair had come, and Zecora scrambled to follow and keep up.
Stalker brought out the needle and ink for the final session modifying Gilda's tattoos. "Gilda, I'm concerned. Trixie says you've been going out hunting almost every day, sometimes more than once. She says you haven't been bringing back food, either. Tell me: have you been performing Sacred Hunts?"
Gilda snorted. "Yeah, what of it?"
"As a friend, I'm just worried for you. The Sacred Hunt can be very draining if you're not careful. I don't want you to become addicted to the experience."
"I'm fine, mother." Gilda waved away Stalker's concerns. "I can take care of myself."
Stalker gave her a thin smile. "Yes, you've proven yourself more than capable. Now, there are two more things you must do to complete your initiation: your Declaration of Stewardship, and your Deed Name.
"You must select a place, a thing, a concept, a person – something – that you will defend and shepherd in Luna's name. And you must select a new name, one which defines you as a Moonchild. You may continue to go by 'Gilda' if you wish, or you may use your Deed Name as you choose, but I need to incorporate your Stewardship and Deed Name into your tattoos in order to complete the work."
"Shouldn't Trixie be here?"
"This portion of your initiation is intensely personal. If I could have you scribe the tattoos yourself, I would. I've asked Trixie to keep away while we complete it."
Gilda nodded in understanding, and then closed her eyes in contemplation. Minutes passed. Stalker was about to check whether she had accidentally fallen asleep when her eyes snapped open again.
"My time here with you and the other Seneschals has been enlightening, to be certain. I've learned more about myself in the past month than I'd rather admit, honestly. You've helped me understand some of what's happened to me, and taught me about this new world Trixie and I have landed in. I don't know how we got here, and I don't know how or if we'll get back home. But she and I have managed to truly become a part of this world, and given what you've told me, I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.
"Trixie may want to do what she can to leave. I don't know. I know I've used my life-debt to her as an excuse before, but the truth is that I've come to enjoy her company. I even enjoy when we fight. I'd like to stay with her, even if she doesn't complete me like my Solar mate will. So, I think it's appropriate that I become Trixie's Steward." Gilda paused. "You were right to say that this was personal, Stalker. I'm not sure how comfortable I am with her hearing any of this."
Stalker nodded. "She won't hear anything unless you tell her. Do you have any ideas for your Deed Name?"
"Yes, it feels almost obvious. Perhaps it's something to do with Luna or my past exaltations or something, but the words came to me easily. 'Heaven-Piercing Eagle' just feels... right."
Stalker nodded and, for the last time, brought the tattoo needle to Gilda's hide and began his work.
"Fair day, Zecora!" Crane called out to the zebra. "Where are you off to in such a rush?"
"I'm leaving, Crane. Neither you nor Morning can stop me. This whole blood hunting thing is revolting."
Crane's smile shifted to a frown as he looked over Zecora's shoulder. The mare turned to see Morning Flight right behind her. "It's one thing to refuse to allow yourself to hunt, Zecora," She said quietly, "And you're welcome to leave our company. But I haven't completed your tattoos yet and I cannot permit you to leave until they are done."
"Besides," Crane added, "You've no idea how to get back to that crazy pink pony. I flew you here, remember?"
"Fine," Zecora huffed, "Finish your tattoos."
"It's not quite so simple, Zecora." Morning Flight looked Crane in the eyes, and he bowed himself out of the conversation. "The last part of the tattooing requires that you choose your Stewardship and your Deed Name."
Zecora raised an eyebrow. "A Deed Name? I thought I had already told you: I've already got one."
Morning's surprise showed on her face. "Indeed? I don't recall you mentioning that. What is your name, then?"
"Ora, Thrice Abandoned. A depressing name, certainly, but it's mine."
"It is the name of a pessimist, but you are a new person now. Perhaps it is time for a new Deed Name?"
Zecora considered the possibility of renaming herself. "Perhaps you are right, Morning. Perhaps 'Thrice Found' would be a more positive name to take on."
"And what would you take on as a Stewardship, then?"
Without stopping to think about it, Zecora replied, "Herbivism."
Morning Flight blinked twice. The forest was silent. Zecora didn't bat an eye. Finally, Morning said, "Very well. Let's get those tattoos finished."
From the boughs of one of the nearby trees, a voice drifted down to meet the pair. "Once you're done with that, I've got a Pinkie Promise to fulfill." Zecora and morning looked up to see a large lizard basking in the sun near the top of the tree. The lizard was covered in moonsilver tattoos, and half of its face was missing.
"Here," Stalker held out a silver axe and sheathe to Gilda. "This is Mightchopper, the Hatchet of the Immovable Home. He was forged in a bygone era, and he has served me well in battles past. I wish you to have it before you leave."
"You're waxing poetic, Stalker," Gilda needled the older Lunar as she accepted the weapon. When Stalker released it into her grip, she was surprised by the weight and dropped it to the deck. "Tartarus, that thing's heavy!"
"You'll get used to him." Stalker winked.
Gilda fastened the belt comfortably just in front of her flank, with the axe in easy reach of her right claw. She paused. "What do you mean, 'before I leave'?"
"I want to send you on a mission for the Seneschals. Are you interested?"
Gilda's eyes sparkled. "Are you kidding? Of course I am!"
"Good." Stalker handed Gilda a folded parchment. "Here's a map to where you'll be going. We've learned of the existence of an organization that may be sympathetic to our cause. They call themselves the 'Cult of the Illuminated,' who worship and wait for the return of the 'Shining Ones.' That is, they revere the Solars, or at least they claim to."
"So you want me to find out if these guys are on the up-and-up, and beat them to a pulp if they're not?"
Stalker hemmed and hawed before responding, "More or less. They're surprisingly widespread, and they understandably hide their existence from the Realm dogs. In that, they resemble us. We've gotten word of the location of one of their cells. I want you to go check them out. If the cult is everything we've heard, then you're to set up a meeting between whatever they use for leadership and Swims in Shadows."
Gilda cocked her head to the side. "Swims in Shadows? I'm pretty sure I've met all the Seneschals here, and that name has never come up."
"Don't forget, we're not the only Seneschals in the world." Stalker put a hand on Gilda's shoulder. "Swims in Shadows is the eldest Seneschal on the council of elders, and he speaks for his own mentor, Leviathan." Stalker pointed to the map Gilda had absently tucked into her belt. "I've left some instructions for you on how to get in contact with Swims in Shadows on the map."
Gilda began walking out of the tree-hut, but Stalker called out to her and she stopped. "Gilda. Make sure Trixie leaves with you."
"I wouldn't dream of forgetting her!" Gilda waved and flew out.
"Your presence is the only reason the others haven't torn her asunder," Stalker whispered to the empty room.
With everypony hale and hearty, the group reached the Tear Eater camp and the site of their battle in just four days... rather, what was left of the camp. It seemed that the barbarians that fled had not returned, as their possessions and tents remained. However, something else had found the campsite in the barbarians' absence.
"Whoo-ee!" Applejack whistled as she scanned the wreckage. "Something sure did a number on this place!" The portable huts the barbarians had been using were all completely flattened. Campfire ashes were scattered, chests were smashed open and their contents strewn across the ground, food was left out to be spoil or be eaten by scavengers.
"But what was the point?" asked Twilight. "It looks like random vandalism, perpetrated upon a people with no apparent intent to return. The design of their dwellings implies a semi-nomadic nature, so it's not like leaving in a hurry should have been difficult for them. I just don't understand it."
"Well, maybe it was a thief that was looking for something?" Rainbow suggested.
Applejack turned back to Rainbow, "Why would a thief need to completely flatten somepony's house?" Rainbow had no response other than a shrug.
"Oh!" Rainbow cried. "What about my leg? That would be a sick souvenir!"
Despite several cries of disgust from her friends, Rainbow galloped onwards to the area where she and Applejack had fought against the humans. The ground remained scorched by Pinkie's cannon, along with gouges in the soft turf created by the struggle. Large areas of the ground were stained a very specific color of brown, but no corpses remained.
"Hey Fluttershy, you didn't do that 'burn the corpse to ash' thing, did you?" Fluttershy shook her head as she caught up to the cyan pegasus. "Huh. Where'd the bodies go, then?"
"I'm sure it was just a carrion feeder, Rainbow. Probably a large one, capable of dragging the body away, which is why there aren't any bones."
Rainbow Dash frowned. "Does that mean my leg won't be here?" She scanned the ground around the battle site anyway.
The rest of the Bearers finally caught up to the two pegasi. Twilight answered Rainbow's question before Fluttershy could respond, "If there was a carrion feeder large enough to remove adult humans, it's highly unlikely it would have left your leg, unless for some reason it knew that it wouldn't like pony flesh. Ugh." Twilight stuck out her tongue in disgust. Rainbow folded her ears back and resigned herself to missing out on her morbid souvenir. Thanks to Fluttershy's ministrations and magic, she didn't even have a battle scar; what was she going to use as a prop when telling her war stories?
"Come on, everypony," Pinkie waved the group over to the base of the hill. "It's getting late, and this hill makes for a great wind breaker. We should set up camp for the night."
"Hey," Rainbow approached Pinkie one night, a few days before they were scheduled to arrive back at The Spark.
"Hiya, Dashie!" Pinkie beamed. She sat a short distance from the campfire, sipping on a mug of hot chocolate – Where did she get the marshmallows?
"So, Pinks, I've been thinking—"
"Good for you!"
"I've been thinking about this whole 'exaltation' thing. You've been like this since before any of us met you. Now the rest of the girls have all exalted in quick succession, too. It's just... I dunno..." Rainbow scratched the back of her head, at a loss for words.
Pinkie's expression softened. "You're wondering why the super-ultra-extreme-awesomazing Rainbow Dash hasn't gotten the same treatment, almost two months after arriving in Creation? But you don't want to admit that you're jealous of your friends?"
Rainbow looked down and poked at the ground for a bit before replying, "Yeah, I guess. I mean, Twilight inherited that cool manse that's sheltering everypony and making travel a whole lot easier. Rarity got us in to talk with The Lover like it was nothing. If it weren't for Fluttershy I'd probably be dead twice over, and AJ's always got my back. I just wish I had something to contribute."
"Aww," Pinkie crooned as she draped a leg over Rainbow's shoulder, "you always have something to contribute, Dashie. That's why you're our friend!" Rainbow looked away and didn't respond. "If it makes you feel better, I could try my hoof at some lesser divination; maybe we can see what Fate has in store for you?"
"You can do that?" When Rainbow looked back up, Pinkie was wearing a purple scarf and turban. The turban was decorated with a lavender gemstone holding some sort of feather in place, and golden crescent-moon earrings stuck out from underneath the cloth. Her leg had never left Rainbow's shoulders.
"Sure can!" Pinkie stood and trotted over to her saddlebags, sticking her head in. When she pulled out a few moments later, she held an opaque black orb in her mouth. Pinkie trotted back to Rainbow's side as the pegasus stared on in apprehension. Pinkie dropped the orb on the ground in front of Rainbow, and sat down with the orb between them. The top of the orb was marked with a white circle, and within the circle was a black infinity symbol.
"Go ahead, ask your question," Pinkie waved at Rainbow, urging her on.
Rainbow cocked an eyebrow, but followed her friend's instructions and leaned in close to the orb. "Uh... will I ever become an exalt like my friends?"
Silently, Pinkie shooed Rainbow away from the orb. The pink fortune-teller traced a few lines in the dirt around the orb, connecting them in a circle.
"Hey, Pin—" without looking away from the orb, Pinkie shushed Rainbow with a hoof stuffed in the pegasus' mouth. She completed her drawings, then squatted on all fours and stared intently at the orb for several moments, the silence only broken by wood cracking in the fire.
Finally, Pinkie sat down once again and swept up the orb in two hooves, erasing the drawings at the same time. With her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth in concentration, she violently shook the orb for several seconds, before turning it upside down. Opposite the white circle on the top of the orb was a glass circle on the bottom. Words began to appear in the glass, as Pinkie read them aloud: "It says, 'Better not tell you now,' Dashie, sorry."
Rainbow threw up her hooves in frustration. "What the hay is that supposed to mean?!"
Pinkie shrugged, once again bereft of scarf, turban, and infinity orb. "Divining the future isn't easy, and I don't pretend to be super good at it. It could mean that you will exalt, but the events surrounding your exaltation won't be any fun. Or maybe you won't exalt and the universe doesn't want to make you sadder. Ooh! Or maybe telling you yes or no would influence the answer, so you can't have an answer if the answer is going to be right!"
"Pinkie, could you keep it to a dull roar, please?" Twilight walked out of her tent with several books in tow. "I'm pretty sure Rarity and Fluttershy are trying to sleep. Applejack, too, but I doubt even the return of Discord could wake her up at the moment."
Rainbow stifled a snicker at Applejack's expense. "So what are you up to, Twilight? Did you decide reading by lamp light in a cozy tent was no good, so you'd come out here to read by fire light in the cold?"
Twilight gave a thin smile. "Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike that, Rainbow, yeah."
While Rainbow and Pinkie both scrunched up their noses trying to parse Twilight's comment, Twilight walked past them towards the fire, levitating both Erymanthoi, Erymanthoi, What Do You See? and Daric's Laws of Magic at her side. She stopped just a span away from the fire that had begun to die down, closed her eyes, and took a slow, deliberate breath.
When Twilight opened her eyes, she used her levitation to dump both books into the fire, one at a time. For several seconds, nothing happened. The two books sat atop what remained of the wood used for the fire – it was mostly charcoal by now – as the orange flames licked at the edges of the covers while the books remained undamaged.
"Twilight, what are you—" Pinkie began to speak, but she was cut off when the two books began to burn with brilliant green flame. The fire grew. First, the orange of burning wood was replaced entirely by the green from the burning books. Then, the fire continued to grow beyond what its current fuel should have been capable of. Pinkie and Rainbow could both feel the heat of the eerie green flames from their position several steps back from Twilight. For her part, Twilight seemed completely unaffected by the fire, even as tongues of flame danced mere inches from her face.
"Twilight, dear, what's going on?!" Rarity called out from the flap of her tent, Fluttershy at her side. The newly roaring flames and drastic change in lighting had woken both mares.
Twilight didn't respond. She didn't move a muscle or bat an eye as the fire climbed higher and expanded beyond the circle of stones meant to contain it. "I don't know what's going on!" Rainbow called back to Rarity, moving closer so that she could be heard better while shielding her eyes from the intense light and heat with an outstretched wing. "She came out, complained about Pinkie being loud, and then pitched her books in the fire!"
"Why would Twilight burn her books?!"
"I just said, I don't—Twilight!" The expanding column of fire had halted its advance, and the peak of the flames bent over towards their creator before beginning their descent. As though in slow motion, several things happened at once:
First, the pillar of fire became an arch, descending upon Twilight much more quickly than it had risen in the first place. When the flames above Twilight reached the midway point between the arch's zenith and the ground, the flames in the campfire ceased completely, following the arch up and over.
Second, Rainbow Dash noticed the change in the fire's movement and deduced the flames' trajectory. She began to charge at Twilight, intending to knock her friend out of the path of destruction even if that would result in her own injury.
Finally, Pinkie spied Rainbow's movement, and began moving to intercept the cyan pegasus. While Pinkie did not know what the fire was, she did know that it was no normal fire, and Twilight had been confident in her actions when burning the books. Whatever was happening, Twilight had caused it intentionally.
All this happened in the span of less than a second, and Twilight had still barely twitched an ear. Before Rainbow could reach her, the flames engulfed the unicorn, the entirety of the fiery arch falling upon her like a waterfall. Rainbow could not halt her charge quickly enough, and Pinkie arrived just in time to create a three-way collision sending Laughter, Loyalty, and Magic tumbling across the campsite into Applejack and Pinkie's tent. The three bowled the tent over, leaving the still-sleeping orange mare exposed to the cold autumn evening. Applejack rolled over onto her other side.
The campfire was completely cold, and the night was illuminated only by the waxing gibbous moon high in the sky. The ground where Twilight had been standing had become a perfect circle of obsidian, save for four hoof-shaped circles that remained dirt.
Rainbow was the first to recover from the collision. Once she was sure that she hadn't been seriously injured herself, she checked on her two friends. Pinkie was unharmed, and bounced to her hooves easily. To Rainbow's shock, Twilight also appeared to be okay, without a single bruise – or the massive patches of burned flesh one would expect for somepony who had just been in the middle of her own private inferno.
Twilight shook her head to clear away the fog as Rainbow helped her up. Rainbow asked, "What the hay was that all about, Twilight? How did you survive that?"
They say a pony's eyes are the windows to her soul. Rainbow would later swear that when Twilight looked her in the eyes that night, she could see those same green flames deep within Twilight's eyes, as though they had become a part of the unicorn, in body and in spirit.
"Remember when I told you about passing through several 'stations' to become a sorceress, Rainbow?" Twilight was exceptionally chipper for a pony who by all rights should be dead. "I finally figured out the whole 'stations' thing. That was the last one."
Rainbow was dubious. "The last station to becoming a sorceress... is throwing books in a fire?"
"It's the Station of Sacrifice, sometimes called the Station of the Phoenix. A Phoenix is only born after it dies; do you remember Philomena? In order to become a sorceress, you have to give up something that's meaningful to you, and you become a new person – or a new pony, as the case may be. In my case, I gave up the two books I've found most vital since arriving here: the one teaching me how to read all over again, and the one teaching me how to access an entirely new brand of magic."
"But if that was the last station," Rainbow cocked her head to the side, "then what about the others? You haven't been consumed by freaky green fire before."
Twilight shook her head. "Mostly, the stations are about realizing something important, either something relating to yourself, or something relating to the world around you. It's like how we learn something important about friendship before sending a letter to Celestia. The Station of the Sword, for example, requires broadening your horizons through travel. I'd say all of us have passed through that station several times over!"
Rainbow did her best to follow along with the explanation, but it wasn't exactly easy. "Hey Twilight!" Pinkie interposed herself between the pegasus and the unicorn-cum-sorcery. "So now that you're a sorceress, what new tricks can you show us, huh?" The pink mare dipped low and wiggled her butt, acting like a puppy ready to play.
"None, Pinkie," Twilight said calmly, trying to encourage Pinkie Pie to come off her high. "I may have completed my initiation, but that just means I'm capable of the spells. It doesn't mean I've learned any yet."
"Awww..."
"Why don't we help you put your tent back up, and we can all get some sleep?"
The Bearers of the Elements of Harmony arrived back at The Spark to joyful tears. Each had family or friends to welcome them back from their journey, and the girls spent the evening reconnecting with their loved ones. Pinkie Pie managed to hold an ice cream party with the assistance of the Cakes. The Apple clan members held a quiet dinner, alone but for each other. Rarity met with Sweetie Belle and their parents Magnum and Pearl (although after suffering through Pearl's cooking, Rarity swung by the ice cream party for desert). Rainbow Dash began an inflated retelling of the trip for her fan club, and Fluttershy disappeared with some of her animal friends that had come from Ponyville.
Twilight and Spike attended the ice cream party for a short time, before retreating to Servant's chamber. Twilight examined the relief map still on the wall, while Spike continued to devour the sarsaparilla float he'd grabbed on the way out from the party.
Greetings, number one assistant. Did you complete your objective, pony master?
"Yes, Servant. We did manage to meet with The Lover and get some information on the whereabouts of an artifact that might be able to get everypony home. There's a price to pay, but it wasn't too exorbitant."
"Afmphf?" Spike tried to ask with his mouth full of ice cream. He swallowed and tried again, "A price? What sort of price? We only have the bits everypony had on them when the jump thing happened."
Twilight stroked a hoof along Spike's sinuous back, ruffling his spines. She smiled and said, "The artifact is located in a manse, which has become a tomb for several exalts like the girls and me. The Lover wants us to bring back two specific corpses that are also there."
"T-tomb? Will there be g-ghosts there?" Spike would surely blame his stuttering on brain freeze if questioned about it, but Twilight took pity on the poor dragon.
"You can still send messages by dragonfire, right?" Spike nodded the affirmative. "Good, I'm going to need you to stay here at the Spark as a message relay." Spike cocked his head in confusion; while he could certainly send letters to Twilight at vast distances, Twilight would have no means of replying. Twilight saw his reaction and smirked. "Watch this."
The air around Twilight began to glow violet, and her caste mark appeared. Twilight closed her eyes, sat back on her haunches, and waved her hooves in strictly defined patterns. She added motions with her horn as arcane figures formed in the air. She began muttering in a voice that was not her own when suddenly all of the light and symbols vanished. A cherub appeared a span in front of her face, and she leaned forward to whisper into its ear. When she was done, she leaned back and nodded.
The cherub floated up near the ceiling of Servant's chamber, then practically teleported in front of Spike, the only indication of movement a streak of color in the intervening distance. The cherub began to echo Twilight's words in a perfect imitation of her voice, "This is a new spell I've learned; the cherub will find its target and deliver my message anywhere in the world. There are a couple of limitations, but it will work perfectly well for communicating with you while you hold down the fort here. If there are any ghosts, you won't have to worry about any of them." Its job complete, the cherub vanished.
Twilight turned back to the map on the wall. "Now, apparently Pinkie didn't bring Zecora back here when we sent her out; something about Lunar training. Do you know anything about that?"
Negative, pony master. None of my data on Lunar exalted indicates any sort of standard training exists.
Twilight shrugged. "Anyway, we need to get Zecora back. I'll take the Spark back to where we found it, here," Twilight pointed to the map location where they had originally found the manse, "and I'll head out with Pinkie tomorrow morning to find her. Once we've got Zecora, we need to find our way to the Invisible Fortress."
Twilight traced a line across the map from the location of The Lover's domain to the east, trying to follow the Deathlord's instructions. One thousand miles east to a river, then south to another river. The map on Servant's wall had no marking for the town of Wrangler's Knob, but according to The Lover, it would be there. Northeast through lake, forest, mountain, and plain for three hundred miles should be the location of the manse. From there, it was a matter of finding the closest location for the Spark to shift to.
The easternmost of the two rivers intersecting at Wrangler's Knob traced a line north and east around the region that the Invisible Fortress was supposed to be in. North of the manse's supposed location, along the river, lay another shift point for the Spark – lucky! A journey that would have otherwise been nearly two thousand miles on hoof was cut down to a hundred. Twilight concentrated on shifting the manse back to the south, where they'd left Yu-Shan, and bid Servant good-night. The dragon-shaped construct returned the sentiment and coiled himself around the pedestal still holding three hearthstone amulets, and his glow dimmed, leaving the chamber in darkness.
"Why are you helping me, Willow?" Zecora asked. She was back in Crane's small boat once again, using Crane's magic to fly at great speeds back to her pony friends.
"I made an oath to that pink one, remember? What did you say her name was?"
"Pinkie Pie."
Willow giggled, "How appropriate! I even had Crane teach me Old Realm while Morning was teaching you Claw-Speak."
Zecora's eyes turned cold as she contemplated her hooves. A language taught to me based on the assumption that I would consume an animal with claws or talons. She looked up to Crane. "And you? Why have you offered your services to speed Willow and myself on our journey?"
Crane averted his eyes from the two women in the small boat – for he knew that despite her form, Zecora was as much a woman as any Lunar in an animal shape. "Um. Willow asked me if I would fly her somewhere... and I saw no reason not to." The man coughed, embarrassed.
Zecora let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in. "Thank you," she sighed. Willow cocked her head, asking the silent question. Zecora looked the deformed human straight in the eye and repeated, "Thank you, for honoring your Pinkie Promise. I admit distaste for your Sacred Hunt, and I know that you have performed it yourself, but you're returning me to my friends. So... thank you." Zecora leaned in and pulled Willow into a gentle hug.
Willow accepted the show of affection, but pulled away sooner than Zecora expected. "Actually, Zecora, I haven't performed a Sacred Hunt." Willow's eyes were downcast. "I'm unblooded, like you. I mean, I would do it, given the opportunity, but..." Willow waved a hand in front of her face, "no depth perception. It's difficult."
Zecora grinned, as if greeting an old friend. "It's okay. I will forgive you when the time comes."
"Speaking of time, ladies, we're almost there." Crane directed the winged spirit towards a landing in the river that he knew was below. With a soft splash, the boat landed, and Crane dismissed the spell.
As soon as the trio could see out from their boat, they were greeted with the sight of a powerful dust devil headed directly for them. Willow shrieked and Zecora shouted something in her native tongue, but Crane remained calm. He crossed his arms over his chest and twisted his hands into a gesture of defiance directed towards the cyclone.
The circling winds flew apart as though torn by unseen hands. The dissipating winds pulled violently at Willow's clothing and Zecora's mane, but left Crane untouched. Two equine shapes tumbled from the center of the vortex, one giggling with glee and the other shouting with surprise. Both ponies rolled head over hocks before coming to a stop in the mud on the river bank.
"Ow..." Twilight moaned.
"That was fun! Let's do it again!" Pinkie was back on her hooves in an instant, though her coat and mane were substantially dirtier than the last time Zecora saw her; landing hard on a muddy river bank tended to achieve that result.
Zecora looked to Twilight, struggling to unstick herself from the mud. Something about the scene simply clicked. Twilight and Applebloom were jointly responsible for getting Ponyville to accept Zecora, but looking back on things, Twilight had also begun to form a strong friendship with Zecora as well. Twilight understood that there were things Zecora knew that Twilight did not, and outside of Princess Celestia, Zecora was the first pony Twilight would turn to for assistance of a scholarly nature.
And here Twilight was, once again accepting Zecora for who she had become, ready to bring her home. Home, Zecora thought, Ponyville really has become my home, moreso than Thunder Drum Mountain, any more. All because of Twilight Sparkle.
Zecora hopped out of the boat and onto the river bank, offering a hoof to help Twilight up. "It is good to see you again, Twilight. I've missed you."
Twilight accepted the assistance, and gave Zecora a once-over. The dzilla rings were all gone, and silver tattoos had taken their place. What's more, Zecora's greeting did not rhyme, not even remotely. "Are you okay, Zecora?"
The zebra smiled, "I'm better than okay, Twilight. My fillyhood injury has been cured, the side effects of the potion that saved my life have been removed, and I'm returned to my friends. And yourself? What have you been up to while I've been away?"
"Well, we fought some zombies, we talked with some gods, then we fought some humans, Rainbow Dash lost a leg then grew it back, and we made a deal with an evil sex ghost to help us find a way to get everypony back home." Twilight smirked, "It's hard to believe this has become our life, huh?"
"So, Mister Crane! Did you have a great big birthday party? Huh? Didja?" Pinkie bounced along the river bank, chittering at the elder Lunar excitedly.
Crane opened his mouth to say that at this point in his life, celebrating the anniversary of his birth was not something that he bothered with. However, before any words could escape his mouth, he caught sight of Zecora miming for his attention and mouthing silently, 'Say yes!' Crane recalled Pinkie's first appearance, impossibly crawling out of a bag at the mention of a party, and he wisely changed his answer. "Yes, Vizier, I had an excellent party with both my kith and my kin."
Willow reached under a seat in the boat, lifting something wrapped in sackcloth. She climbed out and approached Zecora. "This is a gift, from both of us to you, Zecora. I know your experience with the Silver Pact may be soured, but I hope that you can someday come to accept individuals."
"Thank you, Willow." Zecora accepted the hefty package and lifted aside a fold of cloth to reveal a new set of dzilla rings and a pair of earrings, all made of the same moonsilver etched into Zecora's skin.
Willow scuffed the ground shyly with one foot. "I heard about your Stewardship. The earrings will let you hear the voices of the flora – well, not voices per se, but plants have a connection to one another, and the earrings will let you interpret that connection. The rings will help protect you from any poison, toxin, or venom you run across in the future. And if you're ever in a form that can't eat plants, they'll let you digest plants just like you do now." Willow wiped a hand across her eye and sniffed. "This isn't a 'goodbye' present, okay? This is a 'see you later' present!"
Zecora set the gift on the ground and stood on her hind legs to reach Willow's shoulders, wrapping the mutilated human in a hug. "Right. See you later, Virtuous Willow."
"Here's to being found again, Thrice Found Ora."
Willow climbed back into the boat with Crane, who pushed it out into the river and began directing it upstream; the pair would take the long route home. Zecora gathered up her gift in the sackcloth and turned to Twilight. "So, we're to have an adventure, then, is it?"
The Bearers of the Elements of Harmony stepped out of the Spark compound along with Zecora. This far north, the snow was already thick on the ground, despite still being two weeks out from actual winter. Zecora was the only member of the group truly accustomed to wild weather, but she had never lived in a climate that became so cold so early in the year.
"You don't have to come with us, Zecora, if you don't want to. You're not obligated to come just because you've exalted." Twilight had been surprised when Zecora had met the rest of the party at the entrance to the Spark, packed and ready to go. Applebloom had shown Zecora the greenhouse, and Twilight wouldn't have been shocked to hear of Zecora putting down a bed and using it as living quarters.
"On the contrary, Twilight! From what I hear, you're going to need all the help you can get on this quest. Besides, you can't expect me to leave one of my truest friends out to dry in her time of need."
Rainbow looked to the south, towards their ultimate destination. "Girls, I think we've got a problem."
"What is it, dear?" Rarity asked.
Rainbow pointed south. "We've got huge mountains, about eighty miles due south. They'll be super difficult to cross, and we've already got bad weather here at ground level."
Rarity squinted, trying to clear her vision, but to no avail. "I don't see any mountains that way, Rainbow. I'm sure we'll be fine."
Fluttershy shook her head and spoke up, "Rainbow's right. There are mountains over there. I can see them, too."
"We should concede to the superior eyesight of the pegasi," Zecora suggested. "What are our other options?"
Twilight pulled a map out of her pack, a copy she'd made of the map on Servant's wall (sans shift locations, just in case). "We can follow this river southwest until we hit the forest. If we follow the edge of the forest southeast, we should eventually hit a pass between two mountain ranges, and that will put us on the path that The Lover recommended."
Applejack frowned. "Ah'm not so sure Ah like goin' on the route that Lover person suggested. Ah mean, Ah know Rarity bound her to the agreement an' all, and she seemed to be tellin' the truth about stuff, but it just don't sit right, y'know? She's s'posed t'be evil, and Ah'd like to avoid doin' what she says as much as we kin get away with."
"I agree, Applejack," Rarity nodded, "but if the mountains to the south are as difficult to cross as Rainbow says, then we may have no choice."
"Then it's settled!" Pinkie said as she bounced across the top of the snow. "To the river, everypony!" While Pinkie hopped along the surface of the snow, the rest of the traveling party traded turns acting as the wedge to the plow traveling through it.
"Sometimes," Applejack muttered, "sometimes Ah feel like Ah've just had it with that mare."
Fortuitously, for both Applejack's sanity and Pinkie's security, it did not take long to reach the river bank, where the snow was not deep enough to impede the pony procession.
After a day of travel along the river, the group finally found the forest indicated on Twilight's map. The pine trees looked ready for Hearth's Warming, and walking into the forest was like walking into another world.
The trees grew tall enough and close enough together that the ponies could walk beneath the lowest boughs of most of the trees, and the snow was largely kept off the forest floor. The trees also acted as a baffle to the icy winds, making the area noticeably warmer than outside, though it was still quite cold.
As the sun began to dip below the horizon and the group began searching for a place to stay for the night, everypony's ears twitched at the sound of a howling creature. The call was answered by several more, and as the creatures communicated, the cries crept steadily closer to the group of ponies.
"What are they?" Twilight asked.
"Canine," was Fluttershy's response.
"Gee, that's a real big help, sugarcube." Applejack reached back into her pack of gear and pulled out her sword. As much as Fluttershy would prefer to talk her way out of a confrontation with a woodland creature, timberwolves couldn't be bargained with. Applejack doubted whatever creatures these were would be much different.
The howls ceased, but the creatures were now close enough to see in the wan light of the early evening. As tall as each of the ponies, ten of the creatures crept though the surrounding forest. They looked almost like any domestic dog a pony might keep for a pet, save for their size, smaller ears, broader chests and backs, and proportionally larger paws.
"Pack hunters," Twilight whispered, "they'll do what they can to try and separate us. They'll pull back if enough of them are sufficiently wounded, though. Stick togeth—"
"'Sufficiently wound' a few of them? Now you're speakin' my language!" Rainbow Dash charged forward to the nearest dog.
"I said we need to stick together! Girls, don't let Rainbow out of our sight!" In order to protect the group with the power of numbers, the rest of the ponies were forced to charge forward with Rainbow. The dog saw the rush of the seven ponies, and wisely turned to flee.
"Yeah, you better run!" Rainbow called after the beast. "Hey AJ, did you see how that thing ran away from me? Hah!"
"It ran because it knew it couldn't win a seven-to-one fight, Dash," Applejack said flatly.
"Hey everypony! The other dogs are gone, too!"
"No, Pinkie. Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt." At the attentive silence, Fluttershy gathered the courage to continue. "They're not going to just give up, if they're anything like timberwolves. They may have backed down, but they'll still follow us and harry us throughout the night. If we settle down without proper protection, they'll happily take us in our sleep."
"Wow, talk about a downer," Rainbow said. "What are we gonna do?"
"Just stay on your toes, everypony. Fluttershy and Zecora, you two have the most experience in this arena. Take point and keep your eyes peeled for somewhere that might serve as adequate shelter." Twilight kept the group in working order, and the group pressed on.
For a few hours, everypony was jumpy, seeing glowing eyes in the dark or hearing a snapping twig in the distance. Eventually, though, Zecora called for a stop. "There are humans up ahead. What do you suggest we do, Twilight?"
"Are you sure it's humans?"
Fluttershy added confirmation. "I can smell burning wood, but I can't see a forest fire. Something's made camp ahead of us, and considering the world we're in now, 'humans' is the best guess."
Twilight thought for a moment. "We ought to warn them about the dogs. Depending on who they are, we may be able to share their camp for security in numbers. Pinkie, take the lead, since you're most likely to be able to communicate with them."
A few minutes later, Zecora was proven right. A camp of seven humans lay ahead, with small fires burning inside each tent to shelter them from the wind and snow.
"{Hello!}" Pinkie called out in Low Realm. Several men leaned out of their tents to see the source of the voice. The men wore clothing that had once been fine, but was now dirty and ratted. They had been on the road for a long time. "{We just wanted to warn you that there are some dogs in the area, so you should be careful, maybe post a watch tonight, or... um... can any of you understand me?}"
One of the men flopped onto the forest floor, cross-legged and slack-jawed. He stared intently at the bottle in his hand, and then chucked it as far as he could throw it. "{I never dreamt that I'd be warned about a pack of omen dogs by a herd of colorful ponies.}"
"{Oh, goody, you can understand me!}"
The sitting man rubbed his face with one hand, while the others gathered to one side of the conversation, murmuring to one another. "{I suppose I should thank you... whatever you are... for the warning.}" He turned to the group of men murmuring to the side, "{Erikson! Jakobson! Put up a guard for the omen dogs.}" Two of the men returned to their respective tents before exiting with blades and a determined expression, standing watch outside the circle of tents.
"{Oh, we also had a request!}"
"{I make no guarantees about satisfying it, but continue.}"
"{Could we share your campsite tonight? Big numbers will help against the omen dogs, right? We don't want to be eaten, and we don't want you to be eaten, and I don't think you want to be eaten either...}"
The man held up a hand to forestall Pinkie's yammering. "{You may set up your camp with ours for the night. We will be leaving in the early morning to return to the Knobb, but security in the night is a fine proposition.}"
"Well, Pinks? What'd he say?" Rainbow asked.
"He says thanks for the warning about the 'omen dogs' and that we can stay the night."
"Then let's raise these tents, y'all!"
Applejack insisted on helping out with the omen dog watch, and Rainbow volunteered as well, to ensure that she wouldn't be shown up by Applejack. Pinkie tried her hoof at a watch shift to see if it would be fun (it wasn't), but the rest of the ponies simply slept the night through. Facing a group of fourteen with no intent to separate, the omen dogs never made a second attempt, opting for easier prey instead.
When the ponies woke the following morning, however, they did not expect to find what they saw.
They had expected that the humans would have packed up and left. They might have said goodbye, and based on some knowledge of humans relayed by Zecora via the Lunars that had trained her, there was the possibility that the humans might have stolen some of the ponies' supplies.
Instead, they found the humans' tents still standing. Inside, each human lay dead, apparently strangled judging by their contorted expression and purple complexion. A piece of parchment had been stuffed inside of the mouth of the leader; the one Pinkie had conversed with the night before. Scrawled onto the parchment was some text that Pinkie translated as, "servant of the dark."
Fluttershy used her powers to cremate the corpses, ash drifting on the cold morning breeze. Zecora, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash convinced the others that it would be smart to loot the provisions of the humans for things that the ponies could use; there was still a long road ahead, and the humans no longer had use for it. Applejack made the compromise of constructing cairns for the humans, burying their equipment that the ponies didn't take under small piles of rocks.
As the party continued through the forest for the second day, everypony except Rainbow began to notice a faint pull in their chests.
"The Lover said that something in the region draws in the exalted. This must be what she was talking about." Twilight kept some healthy suspicion, but as the journey continued, the tug became stronger. In the early afternoon, Fluttershy nearly fainted, as the tugging sensation began to blot out her vision. Rainbow and Rarity helped to support the yellow pegasus, but as the group neared the mountain pass, the effects grew and all of the exalted started to feel similar effects. Only Rainbow Dash remained unaffected.
By early evening, Twilight declared that it was time to leave the forest; nopony argued, as the sensation they had first felt had been mostly ahead of them, while the tugging was now directly to their left.
As the ponies stepped out of the boundaries of the forest, their vision cleared. Before them was a cleft between two mountains, opening into a barren snow-covered plain. High in the sky, a brilliant golden flare of energy arced up and over the mountain range at the other end of the snowy wasteland before falling back down to earth. "It's beautiful," Rarity sighed as she stepped over to let Fluttershy walk on her own.
Rainbow cocked an eyebrow as she stepped away from her pegasus companion as well. "I guess it's kinda nice; tabula rasa geography and all that, but 'beautiful'? I wouldn't expect you to say that about a wasteland, Rarity."
Rarity clicked her tongue at Rainbow. "I'm not talking about the ground; I'm talking about the fire in the sky."
As the party stepped onto the snow-covered plain, one thing was immediately obvious: this place was devoid of life. The subtle thrum of life that pervaded the land everywhere else, both in Creation and in Equestria, was completely missing here. Something had taken all that was alive about this place, and simply removed it; the life had not been extinguished, as in a shadowland like the one surrounding The Lover's fortress, but rather taken away entirely. Even the earth below the ponies' hooves felt like it was missing... something.
"Rainbow hit the nail on the head when she called this a wasteland," Twilight thought aloud. "I can't think of any place more deserving of the description." There was a soft murmuring of agreement among the gathered ponies.
The two pegasi caught sight of something ahead of the group, and called everypony's attention to it. As the ponies drew close enough to make out the objects sticking out of the snow, Fluttershy wondered aloud, "Bones? Why would there be any animals in this place?"
In fact, there were five complete skeletons. Judging by the fact that there was very little snow on top of them, the skeletons were not long-forgotten relics of a time when this land teemed with life, but new additions to the snowscape. How the corpses had come to be picked clean rather than mummified in the cold was anypony's guess.
"Fluttershy, do you think you can tell what kind of animal left these behind?"
"I... I don't know, Twilight. This one almost looks like it could have been a bear, but it's got antlers. And that one could be a boar, but the legs are all wrong. I can't even guess about those other three."
"So basically... y'all can't tell us anythin' about what we could run into up here. Is that it?"
Fluttershy folded her ears back against her head and looked down. "Sorry."
"Don't worry, 'Shy," Rainbow put a leg around Fluttershy's neck. "If we run into any big nasties out here, we'll find out what they look like then."
An hour later, mist began to thicken around the group, and the ponies unconsciously huddled together for protection against the unknown. A screech sounded out of the arctic fog, which was quickly answered by an entirely different bellow. A quartet of shadows appeared in the mist, stalking towards the huddled exalts.
The first creature resembled a grizzly bear in profile, though many of the details proved to be wrong once the beast drew close enough to see properly through the mist. Tusks grew from the creature's mouth where its incisors should have been, and rather than a soft pelt of fur, it sported black, chitinous armor.
The second creature could charitably be called a wolf, if wolves had scales and their mouths dripped with venom. The third was some sort of avian creature, and it landed on the back of the fourth, which on the whole appeared to be a perfectly normal mammoth. Two features tied the mismatched group of beasts together: their eyes – each had a sunken pair of sockets which glowed with a faint green fire deep within – and their ribs showing through their sides, as though starved for a very long time.
"Applejack," Twilight tried to keep her voice low and even, "If they attack, I want you to hamstring the wolf with your sword. It'll probably be the only one other than the bird more maneuverable than any of us." The cowpony nodded and drew her sword, ready for battle.
"Fluttershy, I know you probably don't want to, but I need you to ground that bird. It's just like clipping somepony's pet bird's wings, right?" The timid pegasus gulped with trepidation, but spread her wings in a natural stance of readiness.
"Pinkie Pie, we're going to need some cracks in that bear's armor. Do you think your cannon can do that?" The pink party pony giggled and tapped her hoof on the frozen ground; her hoof-mounted cannon unfolded around her foreleg and released a puff of steam which quickly became lost in the ambient mist.
"Rarity, Rainbow, Zecora: the four of us will go after the mammoth while the other girls are disabling the other monsters. I've heard 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall.' Let's put that hypothesis to the test!"
Just as Twilight finished giving orders, the mammoth released a primal bellow and charged, quickly followed by the wolf and bear. The avian creature launched itself from the mammoth's back and prepared for its own aerial assault. Everypony scattered out of the way of the hulking mammoth's charge, and split up to take care of their own duties.
Applejack and the wolf stared each other down after the initial assault. The wolf began circling, searching for an opening in Applejack's defenses, but she refused to turn her back on the creature for even a moment. Applejack pawed at the ground before launching her own charge, starling the beast; prey does not attack predator.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, Fluttershy had summoned a golden glowing chakram and was searching the sky for her assigned target. The flash of Pinkie's cannon to her left and the sounds of hooves meeting flesh to her right were her only companions as the fight spread itself out beyond the limits of visibility in the mist. Suddenly, behind her, Fluttershy caught wind of the bird's distinctive screech. She turned and galloped towards the sound.
Two shadows resolved into the wolf and Applejack, locked in a struggle over the mare's blade. A third shadow was approaching quickly from the opposite side. "Applejack, duck!" Without stopping to question the command, Applejack dropped to the ground, simultaneously yanking her sword from the wolf's mouth. She felt the rush of air as the bird's talons raked through the space she'd occupied only moments before, but she didn't stop to savor the small victory; Applejack still had a job to do.
With the bird low to the ground and still visible, Fluttershy took her shot, throwing the golden chakram as hard as she could. The bird swerved out of the way of the projectile, but the chakram still sliced through several primaries on the left wing, unbalancing its flight. Fluttershy summoned another chakram and began tracking the bird's movements through the mist as best she could.
Pinkie was faring much better in her battle than Applejack or Fluttershy. The bear was slower and more ponderous than a normal specimen of its kind, and it could not keep up with Pinkie's natural speed. She would take potshots at the creature as she danced circles around it, though its armored hide protected it from any real damage. Each crackling ball of lightning that impacted the chitinous surface left behind scorch marks and a half dozen minute fractures.
"Heya scary-bear! How d'ya like my weaponized party cannon?" The bear bellowed in response, and Pinkie stopped to consider the cannon attacked to her hoof. "You think it needs a little work? Well, I supposed it could be a bit bigger, but it's easier to hold this way. Maybe if I shoulder mounted it, then I could run around on all four hooves while still shooting... but I'd have to make it smaller in order to get the proper weight distribution. Oh dear, I've gotten distracted again, haven't I?" She said, as the bear launched itself towards Pinkie in an attempt to maul her face.
Pinkie tried to duck under the attack, but she was too late to avoid being sent flying. When she stood once again, stars swam before her eyes as she mumbled, "A pony in motion is equal and opposite to massed force. A pony at rest is just tired." She shook her head to clear away the stars. "Hokay! No more miss nice Pinkie! Now things get serious. A DJ friend of mine once asked, 'what happens when we push the beat harder?'"
The gears within Pinkie's cannon began to spin, producing a high-pitched whining sound which reached crescendo just on the edge of a pony's hearing range. Pinkie considered her weapon with a critical eye, before turning back to the bear which was exhibiting signs of aural distress. "Clearly, this begs the question: am I pushing science too far, going where nopony should go?" Pinkie leveled the weapon at the distressed bear-like creature. "Why don't we just find out together, shall we?"
The other four ponies struggled to handle the largest of the four beasts.
"Zecora, look out!"
"Rarity, behind you!"
"How does something that big move that fast?!"
Twilight pulled a length of rope from her pack and tossed one end to Rarity. "Tie this off on one of its tusks!" Rarity took the rope in her mouth and raced up behind the beast while it was distracted chasing Rainbow Dash. She leapt onto the beast's tusk, balancing herself on the narrow surface. Her presence drew the beast's attention away from Rainbow, and it tried to shake itself free of the new burden. However, Rarity's perch was secure, and she quickly tied off the rope before leaping away.
At the other end of the line, Twilight kept up with the mammoth's pace. "Rainbow, I need your wings!" Twilight passed the rope off to the pegasus, and motioned that she should use Twilight's back as a stepping-stool. Rainbow Dash took a running leap, from the ground to Twilight, to the air over the Mammoth's back. She used her wings to glide down onto the ground at the beast's other side while keeping the pace.
"Rarity! The other tusk!" Rainbow transferred the rope back to Rarity while Zecora ran interference against the beast. A second time, Rarity stood on the mammoth's narrow tusk while tying off one end of the rope. The mammoth now had a makeshift halter strung over its back, ready for a brave rider.
"Zecora, you're up!" The zebra galloped up alongside Twilight Sparkle while Rarity and Rainbow traded with her to keep the mammoth's attention. Lacking Rainbow's wings or athleticism, Zecora needed a bigger boost from Twilight in order to reach the beast's back. A combination of Twilight's telekinesis, Zecora leaping, and Twilight physically throwing her friend eventually managed to get the mare high enough into the air so that she could land on her target. She gathered the halter up into her hooves and pulled with all her strength, directing the beast's head away from Rainbow and Rarity. Like so many creatures, its body soon followed its head, and its path turned.
"Twilight, how do I stop this thing?!"
"Try pulling harder!"
Ahead of the out-of-control mammoth, a shadow resolved into the avian creature lying on its side with its head cradled in Fluttershy's forelegs. One of the bird's wings was missing, and it whined piteously despite Fluttershy's efforts to take the pain away.
"Fluttershy, look out! Out of the way!" The pegasus leapt to her hooves and scrambled away, partly in an effort to follow directions, but mostly out of a startled fear. No sooner had Fluttershy separated herself from the bird, than the runaway mammoth trampled over the ground where she had been, and where the bird still lay.
As Twilight kept pace with the Mammoth, she passed Applejack cleaning her sword with the snow. "Hey Twi," Applejack called out nonchalantly. Twilight turned her head to the side to stare at Applejack, alone and without her opponent. At the sound of a wet crunch to her other side; she whipped her head back towards the mammoth in time to get hit in the face by a spray of black ichor. "Bye, Twi."
From the mammoth's back, Zecora grunted with exertion and yanked back on the halter with all of the force she could muster. The beast lifted its head upwards as far as it could, and then Zecora pulled it back further still. With a soft snap, the mammoth tripped overs its own feet, pitching Zecora forwards and to the ground.
Twilight charged forward, breathing heavily, to check on Zecora. When she confirmed that Zecora suffered from nothing more than a few bruises, Twilight turned back to the mammoth. It wasn't moving.
A biting wind blew across the plain, sweeping aside the mist. The mammoth's rampage left a black trail in the snow, from its current location to the mound of flesh and feathers near Fluttershy. Twilight was taken aback by how small the battlefield was – she hadn't realized just how thick the mist really was. With the mist gone, she could clearly see each of her companions; each easily close enough to call out to.
Something was missing. "Pinkie, what happened to the bear?"
"What bear?"
"The bear you were supposed to be fighting while the rest of us dealt with the other monsters!"
"Ohhh!" Pinkie's mouth opened wide. "That bear."
Pinkie didn't elaborate. "Well?" Twilight asked. "Where is it?"
"Oh, he's gone."
"Gone? Gone where?!"
"Gone gone." Pinkie simply smiled, and then trotted up closer to Twilight and the unmoving mammoth. Behind her, a patch of ground let off a few wisps of smoke.
As the ponies gathered together, Zecora coughed. "Girls, I think we have company."
With the mist fully dissipated, everypony could clearly see that they had an audience. Ten bipedal figures stood in a semicircle around them. The observers were obviously not human, with crescent-shaped heads and long, chitinous arms and legs. Their torsos were slug-like, and they all seemed to bear head-splitting smiles. They sported a variety of dark colors, none blending well with the snowy plain that surrounded them. Despite their alien appearance, these new creatures seemed far more intelligent than the deformed beasts the group had just fought against; many of them bore various weapons, from spears to swords and axes.
Before anypony could even ready herself for another battle, the new arrivals dropped to their knees and began bowing to the ponies.
Rainbow took a step back, uncertain. "Hey, Twilight... any idea what's going on?"
Twilight shook her head. "Not a single clue. Pinkie?"
"Um... they're demons. Not sure what kind. Maybe they're some relation to the demons summoned by Kal Bax to make the manse?"
Rainbow nodded. "Got it. They're evil and we should send them back to Tartarus." Rainbow spread her wings and took on an aggressive stance, pawing at the snow under her hooves.
The thinnest and shortest – barely taller than Twilight – among the demons stepped forward, keeping his beady eyes downcast, refusing to look into the ponies' eyes. "Oh most exalted lords," the demon spoke with meek tones that put Fluttershy to shame, "we apologize for daring to exist in your presence, we were merely hunting for a meal when we happened upon your glorious battle and we were unable to avert our gaze."
"Oh... please, don't..." Fluttershy blushed as she tried to get the demon to stop prostrating itself.
Eventually, Fluttershy managed to convince the speaking demon to stand once again, but he still refused to look any higher than anypony's hooves. "My name is U'awa, servant to Our Lady Corr'dal. If your most exalted lords would do me the honor, please allow me to lead you to my home for food, drink, and shelter."
Twilight was not impressed. With half-lidded eyes, she said, "The last time a demon offered to take a pony home for food, the self-styled High Lord Tirek nearly brought about the Night that Never Ends." She stepped forward. "Now allow us to pass. We have business at the Invisible Fortress."
U'awa and his companions acquiesced without argument, and the ponies passed without molestation. The demons watched the ponies go, before turning back to the mammoth and the beasts it trampled while ridden by Zecora.
Zecora sidled up next to Twilight to whisper into her ear, "I believe we are being followed."
Twilight sighed and looked back; a black shape in the distance was not even attempting to conceal itself. "I'm pretty sure it's U'awa. He's been a few minutes behind us for the past two hours." She turned to the side and called out, "Hey, Rarity, do you think you could go talk to him and get him off our tails?"
Rarity nodded, and turned back towards U'awa, who stood alone. When she came within speaking distance, he prostrated himself before her once again.
"Please, dear, stop with the bowing. It's unbecoming." U'awa rose to his feet at Rarity's command, but refused to meet her gaze. "Now, will you please tell me why you've been following us?"
"I would extend an invitation once again to join me for food, drink, and shelter for the night—" he began.
"But there are those among us that are not comfortable following a demon to the dinner table."
U'awa's entire body drooped. "I assure you, oh most exalted lord: we are not like any demons you may have encountered before."
Rarity cocked her head. "You're different? How so?"
"Many years ago, when the world ended, a group of sorcerers came north to make a home for themselves – the Invisible Fortress that you seek. Because they wished it to be secret from their enemies, they called on us to build it with our claws and our backs. We did so gladly, for ones so noble. But they had powerful enemies, who hunted them even here at the edge of the world, and they were all driven to madness or the eternal sleep. We Founders have waited for the return of those who would make the Fortress their own again, so that we may serve – or if there is no use for us, release to return to Malfeas. You and your companions are powerful. You seek the Fortress. We would help you as best we can.
"If you do not wish our help, we merely ask one thing: satisfy the promise the great builder made with us, to release us now that the Fortress is complete. Let us just go home."
U'awa was silent, as he wrung his hands together and stared at the snow. Rarity considered the demon while she decided on a response. "We do not wish for your assistance, ser U'awa, so I must ask that you cease following me and my companions." The demon nodded enthusiastically. "However, I cannot promise anything with regard to your release. I can only promise that I will relay your dilemma to the others, and we will make a collective decision from there."
"Oh, thank you your lordship—"
Rarity cut him off with a raised hoof. "And please, though we might never meet again, stop calling us lords. Every member of my party is female."
U'awa bowed low as Rarity turned away. "Yes, your ladyship."
Rarity began to trot back towards the other ponies, but paused and glanced back to U'awa, still bowing low. "U'awa, dear?"
"Yes, oh most exalted lady?"
"You wouldn't happen to know how we would go about releasing you, would you?"
U'awa's spirits appeared to brighten immediately, as he launched into his explanation.
That night, there was no campfire. The icy wind of the northern winter cut through the tents as though they weren't even there. The ponies paired up (Zecora joined Twilight and Rainbow Dash in their tent, making for a very snug fit) and huddled together for warmth as best they could. As the ponies waited for sleep, several conversations drifted to the bombshell Rarity had relayed from U'awa.
"There's no way we're releasing an army of demons from whatever binding spell Kal Bax put on them. The world is much better off with them trapped here, where they aren't bothering anyone but each other."
"I dunno, Twi. They certainly don't seem as bad as any demons I've heard of."
"I'm sure it's just a ploy. Play the innocent victim trapped for a couple thousand years so that they can get released on the unsuspecting world."
"I agree with Twilight," Zecora piped up, "we do not know what these demons will do once released. We do know what they will do if they are not released."
Rainbow lifted her head over Twilight's sleeping bag to try and get a good look at Zecora. "We do?"
"Yes," Zecora nodded emphatically. "If we do not release these demons, they will do the same thing they have been doing for the past two thousand years."
Rainbow dropped her head and grunted in frustration. "But time changes ponies! Demons! Whatever! These guys are basically immortal, and they've been alone here for hundreds of years!"
"That's right, Rainbow, they've been alone!" Twilight tried to slam her hoof on the ground to make her point, but between the sleeping bags, tent, tarp, and snow, the effect was lost. "There hasn't been any stimulus that would make them want to change their ways."
"Well... what about Nightmare Moon? She was alone for a thousand years, and we still gave her a second chance. Look how that turned out; Luna's been great! Especially on Nightmare Night!"
"That's different. We used the Elements to purify her of her jealousy and anger, and we returned her to the pony she used to be."
"Indeed, Rainbow Dash. The two situations are very different."
Rainbow let out a huff and rolled over, with no additional counter-argument.
In the early afternoon of the next day, the tugging sensation led the ponies to a rocky pass between two mountains on the opposite end of the snowy plain from where they entered. They followed the pull as best as they could through a veritable maze of cliffs and clefts, until the sensation began to fade.
When the pull towards the Invisible Fortress finally disappeared, the ponies found themselves on the slope of a small triangular valley.
"So... where is it?" Applejack was the first to speak up.
"Well, duh, AJ. I'm sure it's not called the 'Invisible Fortress' for nothing." Rainbow Dash swept her hoof across the empty space before the group. "Obviously, it's right here."
At Rainbow's caution, everypony began to sweep the floor of the valley, testing the air in front of them for the invisible manse. After three hours, it became apparent that the Fortress was not simply sitting in the open with some magic hiding its presence.
"Well, it has to be here somewhere," Twilight said.
"Um, excuse me..."
"We could try walking back out of the valley and triangulating with the pulling sensation," Zecora suggested.
"Um, over here..."
"That's a good idea, Zecora, but we'd need to spread out more than those cliffs will let us do easily. And we don't really have an accurate map of the area."
"Girls, I think I found something..."
"Ugh, I do not want to go traipsing all over those cliffs any more than I have to. My hooficure is already beyond ruined; I don't want to actually split a hoof as well."
"There's something over here..."
"Rarity, yer wearin' horseshoes. Yer not gonna split yer hoof."
"GIRLS!" Fluttershy shouted.
"Geez, Fluttershy, no need to yell," Rainbow said as she rubbed her ears.
"Oh... I'm sorry, Rainbow..."
"What is it that has you so flustered, darling?"
"Um... this wall over here... the shadows are all wrong. I think it might be important." Fluttershy walked towards the valley wall and began pointing out inconsistencies. "Here and here, and over there... I noticed while the sun was going down that the shadows didn't quite match the rocks and—"
A collective gasp interrupted Fluttershy as the other girls walked close and noticed the unique properties of the wall. With the right lighting, at the right angle, when the ponies stood close enough, it was obvious: this was not a valley wall. This was the edifice of a building. The Invisible Manse was not disguised by magic, but by exceptional camouflage. And just steps away from Fluttershy was what appeared to be the front doors.
We've finally arrived at the Invisible Fortress. You should see this place! At first we thought that Kal Bax had used magic to actually turn the entire manse invisible, but it was actually just some ingenious optical illusions hiding the edifice in a cliff face.
Despite the Fortress's impressive design, though, the first thing we found when we got inside was less than pleasant.
"Oh, Celestia, what's that smell?!" Rainbow Dash covered her nose, and several of the others followed suit.
The floor just inside the entrance was composed of gray flagstone, the walls of white marble banded with silver-gray stone. Two pillars rested along the left and right walls, with three bas-relief carvings on each of the four pillars depicting natural creatures with unnaturally elongated proportions. Between each pair of pillars was a large gilded mirror, creating the illusion of an infinite hallway as the mirrors reflected each other.
"It is the scent of death," said Zecora as she pointed towards the corner on the left. Sure enough, on the floor wrapping around the corner, a pool of blood was drying. Zecora began walking towards the blood, and the rest of the party followed (some more reluctantly than others).
On the floor just on the opposite side of the corner, a human lay in a pool of his own blood. Something had torn the large man's throat out, and left him to rot.
We found another human in the manse, but she had some problems of her own.
Before anypony could come up with a suitable reaction to the sight, they heard a noise drifting from further down the hallway: singing.
Nightingale in lilac tree, Guide me to my lover. Two hearts meet at eventide, In the lilac bower.
"Oh, I know this song!" Pinkie bounced forward to find the source of the voice. The other ponies carefully stepped around the congealing blood to try and keep up with their pink companion.
In just a few short steps, the hallway opened up into a grand dining room, with Pinkie and a human woman dancing on one of five round marble tables. The pair sang in unison:
Nightingale, why do you sing, Calling to your lover? Golden bars confine your wings, Two hearts meeting never.
Faithful to the bonds of life, Trill away, O divine lover! O first nightingale to appear Under your lilac cover!
The song apparently finished, Pinkie Pie and the human both stepped off their impromptu stage. The human leaned down to wrap Pinkie in a hug, which Pinkie returned with enthusiasm. "Oh, Talura, I never expected to see you here! It was nice to see you again. And sing with you!" The human laughed, then turned and finally seemed to notice the other ponies in the room. "Ah! Raja, Nohana, Webi, my friends! What are you doing here? No, don't answer that. Please, join me for tea. I would suggest taking the tea in the garden, but it's a bit too chilly out today for that."
Confused looks bounced between the ponies. Why was she speaking to them as though they were familiar faces? Who were Talura, Raja, Nohana, and Webi? Ever the eloquent one, Rainbow Dash said, "Uh, what?"
The human woman ignored Rainbow's question, and despite her offer for tea, she turned and wandered away.
"Perhaps I can answer that," a voice came from one of the many mirrors set into the dining room's walls. When the ponies turned to see the source of the voice, they found a figure in the mirror, not reflected by the others in the room. The figure wore a golden mask and a hooded black cloak, threaded with silver and gold, and severely tattered.
The spirit of the manse, "the Guardian," introduced himself and told us what he could. At first we assumed the Guardian was like Servant, but apparently that's not the case. Servant is an interface to an artificial intelligence within The Spark. The Guardian, on the other hoof is an actual spirit created to be a part of the manse.
"Her name is V'neef Mahina. She came here with six friends, but... the others seem to have fallen victim to the traps or the demons." The Guardian's voice expressed empathy towards the woman who had lost so much. "I think the loss of her friends has broken her."
"So when she called us those names..." Applejack let her sentence trail off.
"... She believed you to be those that she's lost," the Guardian finished.
Fluttershy's lips quivered. "Oh, that poor woman!" She began trotting off in the direction Mahina had left.
"Fluttershy, wait!" Rainbow called after her, but the yellow pegasus didn't stop. Rainbow Dash ran after her friend, ensuring nopony would wander the strange manse alone. Rainbow had first-hoof experience with 'traps' in manses, and the Guardian's mention of more of the same was not reassuring in the least.
Twilight turned back to the mirror containing the Guardian. "So when you say these men were killed by traps and demons, what exactly do you mean?"
"Well, I'm certain you encountered some demons outside before arriving here, yes?" Twilight nodded the affirmative before the Guardian continued, "Over the years the demons have tried many times to take the fortress. I used to have a full complement of demonbane lights through the halls, but these days the fortress's essence is wild and erratic, meaning the demonbane lights only occasionally function."
"Are there any demons inside right now?"
"Oh no," the Guardian's mask swayed side to side, in a gesture that could be taken for shaking its head. "At least, I don't think so."
"Can you tell us about the traps, so that we'll at least be forewarned?"
The Guardian's mask dipped low. "I'm sorry, I wish I could. Unfortunately, I'm incapable of knowing any specifics about the traps beyond the fact that they exist. Even if one of the traps were to trigger right in front of me, the event would not be retained in my memory."
Twilight sighed. "All right, well... could you tell us where the Final Retreat is, then?"
The Guardian's mask rotated slightly, as though it had cocked its head. "The final what, now?"
"Well he's about as useful as a sack o' orange seeds on an apple farm," Applejack muttered out of the side of her mouth. Louder, Applejack said, "Well if he can't flat out tell us where the Final Retreat is, what do y'all say to splittin' up for the search? We can cover more ground that way."
"Good idea, Applejack. Why don't you and Rarity take this floor, while Zecora and I go upstairs for the second floor? Pinkie, you can handle yourself, right? It seems like there's at least a third floor on this place, so why don't you explore up there?" Twilight began backtracking to the stairs they'd passed on the way to the dining hall. "Oh, and if anypony sees Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, tell them the plan."
I explored the second floor of the Fortress with Zecora. Although we didn't find an entrance to the Final Retreat, there was a multitude of other wonders throughout.
Twilight, Zecora, and Pinkie Pie ascended the stairway together. On the outside wall of each turn, an orb was secured in a sconce – the demonbane lights, presumably. One of the lights the trio passed was dimly light, while another flickered as they passed before dying out completely. The Guardian wasn't lying when he said that his compliment of demonbane lights was functioning erratically.
On the second floor, the stairwell opened into a parlor, almost as large as the entrance hall below it. Three chairs and two couches once had cushions and upholstery, but they were ruined by the ravages of time. On the opposite side of the room was another stairwell, along with six portraits along the far wall; Twilight twisted her head around the corner to see another six portraits along the near wall – presumably, these were the twelve residents of the manse. To the right was a wall covered with more mirrors, and eight short pillars topped with melon-sized white orbs.
"What's with this carpet?" Twilight asked, poking the oddly-textured floor covering.
Pinkie stepped away from the stairs to feel the carpet's texture. "Rock-yarn," she said simply. At Twilight's confused expression, Pinkie asked, "What do you think my parents and sisters make at their rock farm? I mean sure, they grow gems, but there are a lot of uses for rocks that most ponies don't think about."
"Yarn."
"Yeah..."
"Made of rock."
"Uh-huh."
"And your parents produce this material at their rock farm." It was more of a statement than a question.
In one of the mirrors on the far wall, the Guardian appeared. "I'm surprised to hear of rock-yarn being used elsewhere, to tell the truth. Iatrixian the Weaver invented the rock spindle, which she used to create many of the decorations around the manse. Before Iatrixian passed, she lamented the fact that her invention could not be spread across the world. It is good to hear that she was wrong."
Pinkie opened her mouth to speak, but Twilight cut her off. "It's far from widespread. I hadn't even heard of it until just now."
"Well, if you're interested, the rock spindle is on the ground floor, across from the dining hall." The Guardian made a sound that approximated a sigh. "Unfortunately, the loom that Lady Iatrixian used has been broken. I'm fairly certain the spindle is still functional, though."
Twilight nudged Pinkie back towards the stairwell. "Go on, we need to find the Final Retreat as soon as possible."
"Sir Guardian," Zecora said while rubbing her chin, "What are these orbs?"
"These control one of the Fortress's external defenses. You can use these to drain away the magical power of someone trying to assault the manse, leaving them little stronger than a mortal by the time they reach the exterior walls. Excuse me." With that, the Guardian disappeared from the mirror.
Twilight and Zecora shared a look. "Well, which way do you want to start?" Twilight asked.
"Hmm... I like left!" The zebra smiled warmly.
Pinkie Pie wandered among rows upon rows of tables covered in dry soil and papery plants. The skylights did a poor job of lighting the rooms, and she couldn't see any demonbane lights on the walls, functional or otherwise.
Hold on, Pinkie thought, Skylights? Isn't the whole manse embedded into the mountain?
"Applejack would hate it up here. She'd probably try to make the dead plants into living plants again. I should think of some way to make her leave this floor alone..." Pinkie stopped in her tracks for a moment, then suppressed a fit of giggles with a hoof over her mouth. "Oh, Pinkie, everypony knows that talking to yourself is the first sign of ca-razy!" She swirled her eyes around in circles to emphasize her point.
"Well then it's a good thing I'm not talking to myself. I'm just vocalizing my thoughts as a means to more closely analyze them."
"But if I answer the vocalizations of my thoughts with rationalizations, doesn't that mean I'm talking to myself?"
"Well it certainly does if I keep talking back. I'd better stop or ponies will really think I'm insane."
Rarity and Applejack walked down a hallway behind the dining hall, which eventually opened into a garden. Clear skies and green grass were surrounded by hedges and trees. To the left was a series of cascading pools filled with colorful fish. To the right was a deep lilac grove with several varieties of shade-loving flowers decorating the ground. Straight ahead was a long, winding path leading to a small house in the distance.
Applejack looked around the garden – impossible, given that it was deep in the heart of a mountain. "What in tarnation...?"
Rarity sighed. "It's fake, dear."
"Eh?"
"The grass is silk. The path is a painting. So on and such forth, et cetera, and so on."
"... Oh." Changing the subject, Applejack pointed towards the flowing fountain in the center of the 'real' area of the fake garden. "Look, it's Fluttershy and Rainbow!"
Mahina had collapsed at the edge of the fountain – judging by her still-damp clothes, she'd partially fallen in. Fluttershy was worrying over the woman's unconscious body while Rainbow Dash stood guard. When Rainbow saw Applejack and Rarity enter the garden, she relaxed her stance a bit.
"Howdy, Rainbow!"
"Hey, AJ! Sorry for running off. I didn't want Fluttershy to be alone what with traps and such."
Rarity waved off the apology. "Don't worry, Rainbow, completely understandable. A good idea, even." Rarity stepped closer to Fluttershy and Mahina. "How is she?"
Fluttershy's ears flattened against her head. "Physically? She's pretty much fine. She got a few bruises when she fainted against the fountain, but those will heal up pretty quickly. I don't think I'm qualified – or able – to do anything about her mind, though..."
"Oh, Fluttershy..." Rarity wrapped a foreleg around Fluttershy's neck and pulled her into a light hug.
"So... where's everypony else?" Rainbow asked.
"Oh, right. Twi' and Zecora are searchin' the second floor. Twilight says there should be a third floor, and sent Pinkie up there on her own. Me and Rarity are lookin' around this floor. We passed by some stairs that went both up and down, so Ah guess there's a basement, too. Do ya think you could convince Fluttershy to go down there with ya and search for an entrance to the Final Retreat?"
Rainbow glanced over to the other pegasus and raised an eyebrow. "Well, Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy looked up to Rainbow and Applejack, then back to the human under her care. "I don't think I can do anything helpful for Mahina right now... if we can find some place to let her rest, maybe... maybe I could go to the basement with Rainbow Dash..."
"That's the spirit!" Applejack hooted.
Rarity released Fluttershy from her consoling hug and looked around. "I think she's already lying on the softest surface I've seen so far. All of the chairs and things are just stone, with their cushions absolutely destroyed by who knows what?"
"Well, I suppose it is kind of nice here..."
Rainbow wrapped both forelegs around Fluttershy's midsection and lifted her bodily away from Mahina, eliciting a soft squeak. "C'mon, then! Let's go find the stairs down to the basement!"
"Ugh, another maze? The other two rooms with the mask on the door were just plain old normal bedrooms. Why do these rooms need a three-dimensional maze just to reach the bed?" Twilight's neck ached from holding it low enough to avoid scraping her horn on the top of the crawlspace.
"Maybe it was built for or by that one that was standing on his single digit in the portrait at the top of the stairs. His body was folded in ways I can't imagine being comfortable for the human body."
Twilight sighed. "'Kotor Varos the Contortionist,' yes? But even if that's the case, surely only one of the bedrooms would be a cramped maze like this. This is the third maze we've found so far, and none have even had a hint at an entrance to the Final Retreat."
"According to what you told me about what you learned from The Lover, the people living here did not all die at once. Perhaps this Kotor Varos simply expanded his room as his neighbors' rooms became available?" There was no room in the crawlspace for Twilight to turn her head to look at Zecora behind her. Speaking to somepony without looking at them was usually considered rude (although Twilight had to admit to herself that she had done so on a number of occasions while immersed in her studies), and being forced into this position was frustrating.
Occasionally, it was also embarrassing. Specifically, while climbing upwards in the vertical sections of the maze, there had been a few instances where Twilight had slipped, landing her bottom directly on Zecora's face.
"So, Zecora, Pinkie said you'd become a Lunar exalt, but she didn't really explain what that meant. I've been meaning to ask you..."
"Some other Lunars whisked me away to get these tattoos. Apparently, without the tattoos I would eventually turn into some sort of monster."
"What? Why?!"
"Lunars are shapeshifters. Like a hippowolf, but more versatile. Without the tattoos, the power gradually causes mutations; one of the Lunars that picked me up was missing half of her face!"
Twilight gasped, "That's horrible! At least you got the tattoos, though, right?"
Zecora started to nod, before realizing that Twilight couldn't see her. "They also cured the side effect of a potion I needed to heal myself as a filly – you've noticed my lack of rhyming."
"So you can shapeshift now? That's really interesting! How exactly does that work?"
"Well, I can turn into a form that looks more like a 'normal' zebra for this world. It's slightly bigger than me, but less dexterous. Picking up new animal forms... I'd rather not talk about it."
"Oh, okay then..." Twilight tried to hide the disappointment in her voice. "Well, is there anything else you can do other than turning into animals?"
"I've been trying to teach myself how to alter my body without taking on new forms. I can... um..." Zecora coughed.
"What was that?"
"I can turn into a stallion."
Twilight cursed her inability to turn around and look Zecora in the eyes. At least then she'd have a chance to read the mare's lips. This conversation was turning almost as painful as Fluttershy trying to introduce herself to a stranger. "Please speak up, Zecora!"
"I can turn into a stallion!" Zecora shouted before covering her mouth with a hoof. Somehow, her words managed to echo through the stone maze despite the confined spaces.
...
"This is going to make the rest of this maze really awkward, isn't it?"
"Yes, Zecora. Yes it is."
"Oh, my stars!" Rarity exclaimed. Applejack could see why. Nearly every surface of the room was gilded with some sort of precious metal or set with some precious stone.
A niche on one wall contained a relief of a four-armed man sitting on a throne. Applejack squinted at the carving – it felt familiar, somehow. His eyes were set with crystal and gold foil and – as Applejack walked around the room – the carving seemed to always look away from the observer.
On both sides of the enthroned figure stood more carvings. To his right stood an androgynous figure painted and gilded with silver, followed by five women painted yellow, blue, red, green, and purple, in order. To his left was a motherly figure in green, followed by five dragons similar in shape if not in proportion to Spike's new body. The dragons were colored blue, white, red, black, and green.
In front of the carving of the four-armed man was a low marble altar. At one time it had been capped with gold plating, but most of that had been torn away. In the center of the altar was a small depression that still held the ashes of some kind of offering.
The shallow-domed ceiling was painted sky-blue, with a stylized sun in the center. In the center of the sun was a grey orb similar in appearance to the demonbane lights, though the orb in the center of the sun was several times larger. The wall across from the relief sculptures held a now-familiar mirror, used for the Guardian to interact with the residents of the Fortress.
"Well, let's get to it. Rarity, try not to get distracted by the pretty... whatever this room is."
"Please, Applejack. I know that we've got a job to do here."
Before the pair could begin their search for any trap doors or secret switches, they heard a noise coming from a small tube jutting from the wall by the door. Most of the rooms seemed to have similar tubes, but playing with the levers next to the tube hadn't accomplished anything. The fact that they were present in most of the rooms suggested they were important somehow, but neither Applejack nor Rarity had determined their purpose, and they hadn't seen the Guardian to try and ask.
"Applejack should leave me alone."
"Hey, that's Pinkie's voice!"
"Hush, Applejack, I'm trying to listen!"
Pinkie's voice continued to pour from the tube in the wall. "I hate her. Everypony knows she'd better stop living or... I know!" Pinkie's voice grew quiet and the sound of clopping hooves suggested she was moving away from whatever she was speaking into – intentionally or accidentally.
"I'm notcrazy.Sheissodead.Yeah.Yeah.Yeah!"
Applejack looked to Rarity with an audible gulp. Rarity's eye was beginning to twitch. "Applejack? What... did we just listen to?"
"Ah... Ah reckon that was Pinkie plotting to kill me."
"Oh, good. I thought I was losing it for a second." Rarity relaxed for a moment. Then she exploded, "Why in Equestria would Pinkie want to kill you?!"
"Ah dunno," Applejack lifted her Stetson off her head and used it to wipe her brow. "Maybe... maybe she wants to bake some cupcakes!"
Rarity's jaw dropped and she turned to stare Applejack in the eye. The poor apple farmer's eyes were slightly crossed and Applejack's mouth seemed to be in a rictus.
A swift hoof across Applejack's cheek seemed to bring her back to her senses.
"Right, right... We can worry about Pinkie later. Right now, let's get back to searchin' this room. And... uh... Rarity?"
"What is it, dear?"
"Ah think Ah should stick to a buddy system or somethin'. Make sure Ah don't get left alone."
With that, the room returned to silence as Rarity began searching the floor and prodding the ceiling with her magic while Applejack hunted around the walls, starting with the carvings and altar.
Rarity turned up little in her search, but eventually Applejack worked her way around the room next to the Guardian's mirror. She tapped the wall with a hoof, and the echo was different from the rest of the wall. "Hey, Ah think Ah found somethin'!"
Rarity walked over to Applejack to check out her find, while Applejack hunted for a switch or pressure plate or something to access the hidden space behind the wall. She brushed a hoof along a line of golden filigree and a door swung out, revealing a ladder leading downward.
Applejack leaned her head down the shaft, and she could clearly see the bottom. "Looks like it's just a couple dozen spans, and there's another door at the bottom." She looked back to Rarity. "Ah'm gonna check it out, you stay right here. There's no space for two at the bottom."
Applejack climbed onto the ladder and began her descent. She reached the bottom of the shaft without difficulty, and tried the door. "It's locked!"
"Well, can't you just buck it down?" Rarity called from the secret entrance.
"Ah can't turn around very well down here, and Ah definitely don't have the leverage for a proper buck. Don't you have a manepin or somethin' on ya?"
"... Applejack? Since when does the Element of Honesty know how to pick a lock?"
Applejack growled. "Just give me the bucking manepin, Rarity!"
"Not until you tell me how you learned to pick locks!" Rarity sang back playfully.
Applejack snorted in frustration. "Look, I was a curious filly, and Big Mac had a drawer of stuff he didn't want me or Granny to find. Ya happy?"
"Ooh hoo hoo! So the big stallion has a stash, does he?" Rarity's grin would do Opalescence proud.
"Consarnit, Rarity! Toss me a manepin!"
"Fine, fine, here!"
Applejack deftly caught the falling pin and bent it out of shape so that she could use it to manipulate the lock. Rarity called down, "You'd better give it back in pristine condition!"
A bit late for that, Applejack thought to herself. How does she think picking a lock works, anyway?
It took her a few moments, but eventually Applejack heard a soft click and turned the lock. She eagerly pulled the door open a crack, but her face dropped when she saw a sheer wall behind it. Before she could pull her thoughts together to figure out what was going on, the door slipped out of her hoof and snapped closed. Another click and the door locked itself. Applejack looked up to find the ceiling of the shaft much closer than it ought to have been.
"Oh, ponyf—"
CRUNCH
After a bit of wandering, Fluttershy and Rainbow found a staircase leading down. The path was a grand affair, with several landings on the way down. The steps themselves were a beautifully polished stone, and the landings each had a stylized sunburst inlaid on the floor. More demonbane lights were installed in the walls at each of the landings.
Fluttershy took a half step backward and arched her neck, hiding behind her mane. Rainbow took notice and turned to her.
"Hey, we can't turn back now. We haven't even gone down the stairs yet!"
"Oh, it's just that I think I heard Mahina calling for me!"
Rainbow deadpanned, "Mahina doesn't know your name, Fluttershy."
"Oh."
"Look, 'Shy, if you're afraid of anything, you've got nothing to worry about. You've got the coolest, fastest pegasus in Equestria by your side!" Rainbow deflated a bit. "Besides, you're the exalt, here. I'm just a normal pony."
Fluttershy looked on while Rainbow Dash scuffed a hoof on the stone floor of the manse. Rainbow's sudden insecurity brought out something in Fluttershy, and she took a deep breath to steady herself. Fluttershy fluffed her feathers aggressively and stepped forward onto the stairwell.
Her confidence quickly fled when all of her weight was resting on the stairs and they suddenly snapped downwards turning into a smooth slide. The soapy liquid that sprayed onto the stairs from the base of the walls on each side made traction impossible. Fluttershy's wings pulled closed as tightly as they could and she let out a high-pitched squeal as she began to slide downwards uncontrollably.
The squeal broke Rainbow Dash out of her funk instantly. "Fluttershy!"
The downward slope of the stairs-turned-slide worked to Rainbow's advantage, as she could glide towards her friend and hope to catch up, despite losing her ability to fly. Unfortunately, the Invisible Fortress had other plans.
The first landing did little to slow Fluttershy's momentum. However, as soon as she reached the landing dozens of holes opened in the walls of the staircase above her – the section of the stairs that Rainbow was currently gliding through. From each hole a long spear launched, turning the area above the staircase surface into a lattice that would perforate anyone standing, flying, or gliding through the space at the time.
Such as Rainbow Dash.
"Gah!" She exclaimed. The rainbow-maned athlete was no stranger to dodging obstacles while in the air, however, and she snapped her wings closed as she rolled away from the point of one of the spears. She stretched out her hind legs to launch off the haft of another spear whose point had already passed by.
Rainbow spread her wings again, hoping to make up the distance she'd lost dodging the first few spears, but the assault wasn't complete. Rainbow's muscles tightened as she felt a new spear pass through her right wing, though her muscle memory allowed her to instantly roll to the left. Halfway through the roll she flexed her wing, and it seemed fine. She was still flightworthy – or rather, glideworthy.
She spread her wings again when she completed the roll. She kept them close this time, still allowing for some measure of gliding, but slimming her profile in case any spears had yet to launch. Directly ahead of her, four spears formed a tiny square which was her final obstacle to the first landing of the stairwell.
Rainbow narrowed her eyes. I just wish Spitfire could be watching this. An instant before colliding with the spears, she pulled in her wings as tight as Fluttershy's fear response had done. Rainbow also lowered her head and raised all four legs, turning her into a spear of her own as she threaded the needle before spreading their wings to their full extent.
The Best Young Flier angled her wings to try and catch up to the still-sliding (and still-screaming) Fluttershy. The timid pegasus had lost some of her initial speed, but the addition of the slick liquid made it difficult to slow down by any appreciable amount. From her vantage point, Rainbow could see the very base of the stairs. A portion of the landing there dropped open to become a pit; despite her height, she could not see the bottom. Talk about a multi-layered trap! No wonder Mahina's companions got killed!
Fluttershy reached the second landing, and holes once again appeared in the walls beside Rainbow. You have got to be kidding me!
Fluttershy finally managed to stop screaming, and she regained enough motor control to cover her eyes, unwilling to view her doom. In her fear, she barely registered the sound of sliding metal coming from the walls behind her, nor the sound of flapping wings and grunts coming from the pegasus in the air.
Finally, Fluttershy felt the floor drop out from under her. I'm so sorry, everypony! I wasn't strong enough...
And then... she wasn't falling. Instead, she was sitting on something soft and warm. Fluttershy risked a peek out from under her hooves to be greeted by a familiar shock of rainbow-streaked hair. "Rainbow!" She gasped.
"Heya, Fluttershy. How ya doin'?"
With the immediate danger of falling to her supposed doom gone, Fluttershy looked around. She and Rainbow were, in fact, suspended over a deep pit. At the bottom of the pit were a number of wicked-looking spikes, as well as a pair of human skeletons. Fluttershy was sitting perfectly on Rainbow's back, while Rainbow was stretching her legs to their limits pressing against two opposite sides of the pit in order to prevent their doom. And Rainbow Dash was glowing.
"You're glowing!"
"Yeah, I know. I'm awesome." Rainbow Dash grinned, her smile threatening to split her head. Fluttershy gasped again and hugged Rainbow around the neck. "Gak! Still sitting above death spikes! Need to breathe!" Fluttershy released her grip with a quiet apology.
"You ready?" Rainbow asked. Fluttershy squeaked and wrapped her forelegs around Rainbow's neck again – this time without choking her ride half to death.
Rainbow flapped her wings, hard. At the same time, she pushed down with her forelegs and managed to launch the pair of pegasi onto the top edge of the pit – the final landing. Slowly, she twisted around and carefully placed all four hooves on the still-slippery floor. Without the forward momentum granted by the slide, though, she didn't slip back into the pit.
"Well that's pretty annoying."
"Wh-what?"
Rainbow pointed across the pit trap, still taking care to avoid slipping around. Although the staircase led to the pit trap, there was nothing beyond it; the opposite edge of the pit was a blank wall. Despite the dangers and troubles they went through, they still hadn't found the basement.
Fluttershy looked to the slide-née-stairs which were still slick and still folded down. The spears had retracted back into the walls, but it was still impossible for two flightless ponies to ascend. "How are we going to get back up, then?"
With Fluttershy still on her back, Rainbow turned to the stairs and bent into a crouch. "Hold on tight, Fluttershy!"
With a single great leap, Rainbow Dash moved towards the wall... then she rolled onto her side so that her hooves could make contact with the vertical surface. Rather than falling to the slippery floor or attempting to jump back and forth between the opposite vertical surfaces like some of the characters in Scootaloo's Neighponese comics, Rainbow began simply running along the wall as though it were no different than running along the floor. As she passed by each landing, the holes opened in the wall and the spears tried to skewer the pair, but by the time the spears could launch from their recesses, Rainbow was already at the next landing.
In short order, Rainbow had reached the ground floor again, and Fluttershy gratefully dropped off Rainbow's back to stand on her own.
"Rainbow! You're bleeding!"
"Huh?" Rainbow turned to look at her barrel under her right wing. "Oh, yeah. One of the spears winged me on the way down. It must have hit a blood feather."
"Rainbow! You need to take care of yourself better! Broken blood feathers can bleed a lot – more than one or two could require a blood transfusion!"
"I was a little preoccupied with avoiding being skewered at the time, 'Shy."
"Fluttershy!" Rainbow and Fluttershy turned to see Rarity running up to them, frantic. "Applejack needs your help!"
At the end of the day, Zecora and I decided to call it quits and we'll continue tomorrow. My stomach was rumbling, so I figured we should gather everypony together for dinner. The Guardian instructed me on how to operate the speaking tubes that connected all the rooms, so I told everypony to meet in the dining hall for dinner.
I heard back from Rarity that Applejack had been badly injured by a trap, and Fluttershy was working on it. The Guardian said that he'd seen Pinkie going downstairs, so Zecora and I didn't bother to wait for her. We met with Rarity and Rainbow in the dining hall, and Rarity took some food for Fluttershy and Applejack.
... Applejack wasn't our only problem tonight, either.
"Where's Pinkie?" Rainbow asked.
The Guardian appeared in one of the mirrors near the table that Twilight, Zecora, and Rainbow were sitting at. "She's gone to the garden, I assume to check on V'neef Mahina."
Twilight grabbed the last of the travel rations to give to Pinkie and Mahina, and the trio walked towards the back of the dining hall and the garden beyond.
In the false garden, Mahina was still lying exactly where she'd been left by Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow. Pinkie Pie laid collapsed on the turf next to the human. One thing had changed about Mahina since anypony had seen her last – she was covered in blood. Her chest and face had been lethally caved in, and her body was covered in layers of hoof-shaped bruises.
Pinkie seemed perfectly fine, if unconscious. With her hooves covered in blood.
I'm sad to say that we've had to lock up Pinkie for the time being. She says she doesn't remember what happened, but all the evidence points to her as the culprit in Mahina's murder. Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of investigating the issue, and the Guardian's attention was elsewhere at the time, so he doesn't know anything more than the rest of us.
I know, I don't get it either. Rarity says that she and Applejack both overheard Pinkie on the speaking tubes, plotting to kill AJ, too! I don't know what's going on, but it's probably a good thing Fluttershy is still treating Applejack's injuries.
We buried Mahina and her friends in the valley outside the Fortress. Most of the original Solars are entombed inside, but we don't have the tools or the time to build a mausoleum for her, much less one to fit several humans. Rarity managed to make headstones, but none of us knew what to say. Pinkie was the closest any of us got to Mahina, and that was just a song about a nightingale. I suppose they were pretty close when Mahina...
Anyway, with AJ out of commission and Fluttershy tending to her, and Pinkie locked up, there are only four of us left to search for the Final Retreat.
"Oh, Celestia, what is that smell?" Rarity's attention to detail was invaluable, but she also got upset over the smallest things sometimes. The complaints were beginning to get on Twilight's nerves.
"Calm down, Rarity, it's not that—" Twilight stopped. "Okay, it is that bad," She covered her nose and tried to find the source of the smell.
Her trek led her down the second-floor hallway and across one of the bedrooms. When she pushed through a door on the far side of the room, the two unicorns were assaulted with the smell of a sewer. The room contained many tablets bearing architectural sketches, as well as a drafting table with a number of pieces of charcoal still sitting, ready to draw. The far wall was taken up by a scale model of the manse and the mountain behind it. The entire room was covered in filth.
"Ahy fink we're at ze ottr wol," Rarity tried to speak, but it was difficult to understand her with a hoof tightly clamped over her nostrils. Twilight managed to piece together the sentence after a moment, and used her telekinesis to tug at one of the fouled curtains hanging from the wall. She brightened up when her suspicions were confirmed: windows!
Twilight busied herself with opening the three windows around the room. Rarity remained steadfast at the threshold. Rarity did not need convincing when Twilight urged her out of the room, but she was confused when Twilight shut the door, remaining inside the filthy workroom.
Moments passed, and Rarity began hearing the sound of forceful winds from inside; air was even being sucked through the crack beneath the door, and she could hear stone smashing against stone. Rarity was about to reopen the door and investigate, when the noise abated and the door swung open under the power of Twilight's magic.
Everything in the room that hadn't been nailed down – or grown from the stone of the mountain by whatever magic had built the manse – was gone. Streaks of grime around the edges of the windows suggested where all of the detritus had gone, although not how. Twilight stood alone in the center of the cleaned room, no longer covering her nose. Rarity lowered her hoof towards the floor; the air still reeked, but at least she could breathe without gagging, and the open windows formed a cross breeze that would probably clear away all but the smallest traces of the scent before nightfall.
"How—"
"I summoned a small tornado," Twilight smiled innocently. "It's a spell that's supposed to be meant for travel, but it's still a tornado, right?"
"I... suppose." With the filth removed, Rarity could see that like all of the other rooms she'd seen, there were several mirrors for the Guardian to appear in. "So, was this Bax's workroom or something?"
"I can't think of anything else it could be. I feel a little bad about destroying those tablets with the blueprints on them, but it was difficult just to breathe in here, much less clean it in a conventional way." Twilight walked over to the model of the manse, one of the few features of the room she hadn't blown out of the windows. Unlike the full-size version, it was easy to distinguish the model from the surrounding mountainside; the optical illusion used to hide the building seemed to only work at the correct scale. "Hey, look here. There's an inscription on the front steps."
Kal Bax Builder of Manses His Work is His Monument
"Not that I don't appreciate the cleaning effort, dear," Rarity said, "but do I have to search this room? It still smells."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Fine. You go start on the next room; I'll just finish up in here. Look, there was another mask on that door over there; it must have been somepony's – someone's – bedroom. Probably Kal Bax, if it's attached to his workroom."
As Rarity entered Bax's bedchamber with an indignant flick of her tail, Twilight returned her attention to the model of the manse. With some careful probing with her telekinesis, she found that she could open it to any of the floors, including the basement and the attic. The model didn't include any furniture, so she wasn't hopeful that it would prove to be a map to the Final Retreat, but a scale model of this size inside the building it was a model of surely had some kind of significance.
To that end, Twilight scanned through the model of each of the floors systematically. She couldn't help but marvel at the detail of the model. There was some sort of amphitheater or arena in the basement that was even floored with sand.
When Twilight's investigation reached the second floor, she paused. The pillars that were topped with the orbs that supposedly controlled the manse's active defenses looked... off. They were not evenly spaced across the room in the model.
Twilight galloped out of the workroom to get another look at the defense controls. When she got back to the parlor, a quick scan confirmed it: the pillars were evenly spaced, in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Twilight galloped back to the workroom, and the model still had a pillar throwing off its otherwise perfect accuracy.
"Hmm..." Twilight nudged the errant pillar in the model with her telekinesis, and it slid across the model's floor without resistance. "Curious." On a hunch, she pushed the pillar into its correct position. She heard a click from deep within the model mountain, and then the model began to unfold. Twilight quickly took a step back, and was poised to run at the first sign of another trap.
Instead of another deadly trap, however, the model of the manse and mountain became a throne. A human skeleton was sitting on the throne, covered in a white marble robe with golden veins throughout the stone. The skeleton cradled a book in its lap, and a rune-covered tablet rest at its feet.
Twilight stood for a moment, stunned. Then she laughed under her breath, "'His work is his monument,' huh? Clever." Twilight crept closer to Bax's skeleton, and investigated the book. The title on the cover read Manse Construction in Old Realm script. Twilight lifted the book out of Bax's lap and scanned through the first few pages; the book was apparently Kal Bax's ultimate treatise on the art of manse construction, and Kal Bax himself was supposedly the best in his field.
Twilight glanced down at the tablet sitting at Bax's feet. With a single glance she could recognize its sorcerous nature; she even recognized a few symbols from Erymanthoi, Erymanthoi, What Do You See?
U'awa had said there was a tablet binding the demons to the area, and that destroying it would release them. While he hadn't given a description of it, Twilight could guess what the tablet at Bax's feet was, given the context.
Demons could not be trusted. Applejack had once said that "a good lie always carries a seed of truth," so destroying the tablet probably would release the demons from their binding to the area around the manse – why else would U'awa want it destroyed? The question was what would happen once that binding was gone? U'awa claimed that they just wanted to go home, but Twilight was skeptical. Even if U'awa was telling the truth about the Founders' desires, what about the demonic fauna? Destroying the tablet would release them into the world as well, and Twilight did not want to be party to that.
Still, Rainbow had already expressed her desire to "help" U'awa. Zecora had sided with Twilight on the issue, but Twilight hadn't heard the opinions of the others. Fluttershy would certainly want to help, and Rarity heard the lies directly from U'awa's lips, so those two were probably a lost cause. Applejack would probably be sensible and not believe the lies of a demon, being the Element of Honesty and all. That left Pinkie Pie as the tiebreaker, and she had apparently snapped, so there was no telling what her opinion on the subject would be, if she was even worth listening to. Then there was the possibility that Rainbow Dash would simply act without thinking and smash the tablet before a consensus could be reached.
Twilight recalled once during her studies with Celestia – the real Celestia – when her mentor taught her an interesting game. The "game" turned out to actually be a lesson in futility, as the only winning move was not to play. Once Twilight learned the lesson, Celestia brought out a chess board to play an actual game, and Twilight hadn't thought much more about the other game since. However, the situation with U'awa and the Founders made Celestia's lesson flood back into Twilight's memory.
The only way to ensure that she won the argument against destroying the tablet was to make sure the argument never happened in the first place. If nopony could find the tablet, nopony could destroy it.
"Rarity, I'll be right back, okay?" Twilight called out. "I need to... uh... use the little filly's room!" She grabbed the tablet and the book in her telekinesis and ran off before hearing Rarity's response.
One of the few bits of progress we've made so far is on food. We ran out of the rations we brought with us, but Rarity and I managed to find a summoning circle used by the original Solars to conjure food. According to the letters written by Ozandus, the conjured food could not sustain a human at full health indefinitely, but poor food is far better than no food and the Solars lived on the stuff for years; we don't intend to stay away from you for that long!
The circle was damaged, and the Guardian said that some demons had destroyed it out of spite some decades past. However, with assistance from Rarity to help manipulate the metals that formed the circle and directions from the Guardian, I managed to fix the circle, and the Guardian had witnessed the Solars performing the spell to conjure the food from thin air often enough that he was able to teach it to me.
As the only sorceress among us, I'm now the only pony able to get us any food.
Rainbow Dash stood alone in the basement, already tired of exploring empty storerooms converted into tombs for the fallen Solars. She'd explored the ones she could manage to pry open, and they'd all been trapped... but whoever had lain the traps seemed to have done so halfheartedly. Even without her exaltation, Rainbow was confident that she could've avoided injury. So much for real-life tomb raiding being like a Daring Do book, she thought.
Rainbow trotted over to the speaking tube protruding from a nearby wall and maneuvered the levers to call upstairs to the smithy, outside the cell they'd found and locked Pinkie into. "Hey, Zecora, I don't think there's anything down here; I'm about to head back upstairs. Do you want me to swing by the dining hall and bring you something to eat?"
Rainbow paused to give Zecora a chance to reach the other speaking tube and reply. The reply was... odd. Behind Zecora's voice there seemed to be some sort of rhythmic drumming; it didn't sound like metal-on-metal that she might've heard if somepony were smithing something in the room, but rather more like a tribal drum from Zecora's homeland. The words Zecora spoke didn't help with the creepy atmosphere created by the rhythm, nor did that fact that her voice seemed to have dropped by an octave.
"Rainbow Dash, we want you! I'll wear your skin like a suit!"
"Uh, Zecora? Are you okay up there? How's Pinkie Pie doing?"
"Give up, dear Rainbow Dash; your friend's soul is beyond reprieve! Surrender now: at least you'll be spared from the worst..." Maniacal laughter began to echo through the tubes, before Rainbow hastily shut off her connection.
First Pinkie Pie goes crazy and murders Mahina, now Zecora's lost it and wants to turn me into an article of clothing! Sure, I'd make a pretty awesome suit, but I like being Rainbow Dash, not Rainbow Duds!
In the shadows generated by the unreliable lighting, Rainbow stalked towards the prison cell. She ducked her head low and around the corner separating the smithy from the spinning room, and got a clear line of sight directly to the iron bars that were meant to hold Pinkie in one place – a shaky proposition at best, considering the pony in question, but the best option at the time.
The cell door was wide open. Neither Zecora nor Pinkie was anywhere to be seen. Two holes in the far wall of the cell marked the absence of the golden chains that Pinkie had been locked into. Alarmed, Rainbow dashed forward, and found a small stone statuette lying on the floor just beyond the cell's bars. The base had been broken off, and when Rainbow looked up, she saw that the ceiling held many more similar objects, including a broken base. Why is it that nopony ever looks up? There was a small amount of blood on the face of the figure, along with a hooful of droplets of blood on the floor nearby. Just a little blood – surely not fatal – but Zecora and Pinkie both missing was... worrisome.
"I gotta go tell the others." Rainbow's stomach growled in response. "... Right after I grab something to eat."
Rainbow felt two thin objects lock together around her throat and begin to constrict, cutting off her air flow. She gagged and bucked on instinct, connecting with something light, issuing forth a metallic clang. The pressure around her throat lessened, and she tumbled out of the grip, spinning to see her attacker.
Before her stood a bronze stick figure, humanoid save for the lack of a head. The automaton was light – probably mostly hollow – and Rainbow's kick followed by her roll had caused it to stumble back a few paces, ending up near a worktable that had been upended at some point in the past, scattering tools over the floor. Rainbow stood ready as the headless automaton scooped up a large hammer from the floor by its feet before charging blindly (hah) with the weapon raised.
Just before the automaton was within striking distance, Rainbow Dash reared as her golden aura flashed her cutie mark in the air. Heatless white sparks dripped from one forehoof, which she plunged into the thing's chest as it began the downswing of the hammer.
A flash of light emanated from the point of impact, and Rainbow left an impression of her hoof deep in its metal chest as it flew end over end across the room. The automaton only stopped flying when it reached the corner formed by the far wall and the ceiling, its upper body embedded deep within the stone. The thing's legs swung briefly from the momentum before hanging still and limp.
Rainbow stared at the hoof she'd used for the punch. "Hah!" She laughed, "Take that, AJ!"
In more upsetting news, despite her confinement, Pinkie has escaped. I suppose that shouldn't come as a huge surprise, considering who we're talking about, but the chains she was locked into ought to have drained her of her magic within minutes, and she had been there days before her escape. It seems the chains were ripped out of the stone wall, as they're missing as well.
Perhaps Pinkie's escape was likely assisted by Zecora, because that... zebra disappeared at the same time. Pinkie losing her mind is somewhat understandable, considering the fact that her mind was hardly there to begin with. However, I thought Zecora would have been more stable, her unhealthy fascination with me aside. Rainbow Dash claims that the broken automaton in the smithing room attacked her, but it was clearly nonfunctional the last time I was there, and nopony acting as a guard ever mentioned it moving during Pinkie's entire incarceration.
I suspect something about this place is getting to ponies, and Rainbow Dash is probably going to be next. I'll have to keep an eye on her in the future.
Twilight finished her message to Spike and watched the cherub zip away before laying down for the night to sleep. The beds weren't the most comfortable, being largely made of stone and with most of the upholstery and blankets and such throughout the entire manse destroyed by time, but at least they were heated, and they staved off the chill of the northern winter night. She still had her sleeping bag from the trip up that she could use, too, which increased the bed's comfort just slightly, and her bag worked well enough as a pillow.
The trouble with Pinkie and Zecora kept Twilight awake, thinking. What could have gotten to the two mares? Was it getting to Rainbow Dash now? Twilight turned out the light, closed her eyes, and started calculating perfect numbers in her head to calm down her mind and get to sleep.
Twilight had passed the thirty-three million mark when a shaft of light fell over her face. Her eyes snapped open to reveal a silhouette standing in her open doorway. "Who's there? What is it? I'm trying to sleep!"
The figure advanced, and Twilight noticed his masculine curves. There shouldn't be any stallions in the manse...
The stallion didn't speak, but as he drew closer she saw the light playing over the edges of his silhouette, revealing the presence of black and white stripes – Zecora, using the ability she'd learned to turn into a stallion.
Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank Celestia you're okay, Zecora! We were so worried about you when you and Pinkie both disappeared. Do you know where—" Twilight stopped talking when she noticed another very... prominent masculine feature being sported by Zecora's new body.
"Shh," Zecora was close enough to place a hoof on Twilight's lips. "Just be quiet and this will all be over quickly." Her voice – his voice – was much deeper than Twilight expected it to be. "Relax, and this will hardly hurt a bit," he said, as he climbed onto the stone bed.
"Zecora! Zecora, what are you doing?!" Twilight cried, as the muscular stallion-Zecora held the unicorn down. "Zecora, stop!"
The door slammed closed, plunging the room into darkness.
My Little Exalt THE INVISIBLE FORTRESS, NIGHT TERRORS
by: Lithl
special thanks:
Rhanite
Saekwaka
Rays of sunlight streamed into the room, dulled by the drawn curtains. Rarity's eyes fluttered open, and she sat up in her luscious bed to stretch and yawn. Ever the modest one, she covered her yawn with a hand... hand?
The unicorn took stock of her room, finding it fully furnished; the bed had padding above the stone, and the chair before the unbroken vanity was no longer missing its upholstery. The floor was tastefully strewn with brightly colored rock-yarn rugs, rather than the dull crimes against fabulosity that had been present the night before... no, the rugs had always been there, ever since she had woven them herself.
Rarity tried to climb out of the bed, but found walking difficult. She paused, stood up, and glanced at her hands and feet. Why was she trying to walk on all fours like some common animal, again? She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. Meherrin was planning to host the Calibration feast today! Oh, it wouldn't be nearly as elaborate as the feasts prepared in the Capital, "But I suppose a feast in the Capital will not be possible until those usurpers have been eliminated," Rarity heard herself sigh.
Meherrin? The Capital?
Rarity sat in front of her vanity and began to brush out her long blond hair. She had plenty of time before the feast – it wouldn't start until after nightfall – and she considered how much progress she could make on her tapestry before she truly had to prepare for the social event...
Iatrixian – no, Rarity – happily sat before her spindle, spinning stone to thread, to refill her supplies of the material. She had finished a tapestry for each of the Solars, save Vaznia, and she had nearly completed the work on Vaznia's portrait-tapestry, too. The tapestries were all hanging in the upstairs parlor, and the blank spot bothered her every time she wandered by.
Rarity shrieked and leapt into the air as a pair of hands grabbed her by the hips. She twisted around to see the auburn-haired athletic woman responsible.
"Ahaha! That was priceless, Iatrixian!" It's Rarity, isn't it? "You're too much fun," the woman smiled. Name... name... what was her name? Out of the corner of her eye, Rarity spotted the tapestry she had been working on – a perfect match for the woman before her. Vaznia!
"Vaznia, what are you doing here?" Rarity blushed at being subjected to the practical joke.
Vaznia cocked an eyebrow. "You asked me to come down here today, remember? You wanted to make sure you had everything right for my portrait." Something about Vaznia's voice... the way she moved... that... tight leather vest... Iatrixian bit her lip.
"Yes, well... right!" Rarity fumbled around for something to say, and her face burned hotter.
Vaznia cast a critical eye over the portrait, nearly complete. "Y'know... it looks to me like the tapestry is all done except for a couple finishing touches. I'm thinking you didn't call me down here today to talk about my portrait." Vaznia began to stalk around Rarity slowly, a predatory gleam in her eye. "I'm thinking you just wanted some time alone with me..."
Vaznia's arm shot out four times in quick succession towards each of the four open doorways, and she released four barely-visible needles. The needles each ricocheted off a stone wall and into the back of a door, where they stuck. The force of the needle hitting the doors pushed them closed, and the vibration of the doors' latches engaging dislodged the needles from their resting places. The needles all spun as they fell to the floor, flipping the lock on each door into place on their way down. A shiver ran up Rarity's spine as she began to suspect Vaznia's intent... and she realized that she had no objections.
"I noticed you staring at me at the feasts last week," Vaznia said. "It's not proper for a lady of your station to stare," she chided Iatrixian as she brushed a finger along the weaver's jawline. Vaznia continued to circle Rarity, drawing closer and closer. "Now me, on the other hoof," Rarity didn't even register the equine phrasing, "nopony expects high class from a... 'Maiden of Endings for hire.' I can stare right back at you, and nobody bats an eye." Vaznia's breath was hot on Rarity's neck; Rarity's heart beat faster, threatening to jump out of her chest. "I've heard the rumors, you know."
Vaznia drew back a bit, and Rarity felt a weight settle into her stomach when she did. "Rumors?" she asked.
"I've heard some others say that I'm Thrice-Damned Gorol, reborn. What do you think, Rarity? Am I one of the damned?" Vaznia looked up, eyes glossy with tears.
Iatrixian couldn't stand the pressure in her chest any longer. She stepped forward and wrapped her fellow in a tight embrace. "It doesn't matter who you were, Rainbow, only who you are," she whispered into the assassin's ear.
Did she just call Vaznia "Rainbow?"
The pair of solars fell to the floor of the spinning room, and Rarity moaned with delight.
"You're sleeping with him, aren't you?!" Rarity practically screamed.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Vaznia – Rainbow Dash? – was cool, calm, and collected. She was wearing that tight leather bit that Rarity loved, which was extremely distracting.
"Don't you give me that 'I'm too cool to do anything wrong' shit! I heard you talking to Surin yesterday!"
"Oh yeah? And what, exactly, did you hear?" Vaznia was starting to lose her cool, but her emotions weren't running as high as Iatrixian's already were.
Rarity narrowed her eyes and smirked. "I heard you compliment his girth, and you made a comment about how I could reach all your best spots, but sometimes a man is simply 'required.'"
Vaznia threw up her hands in defeat. "Fine, I slept with him."
"How many times?"
Vaznia remained flippant, tapping her chin with one finger as she thought. "Oh, about once a week, on average."
Rarity growled with a primal rage, but rather than directing her anger at her cheating lover, she stomped over to the speaking tubes, and flipped the levers to shout at the entire manse. "SURIN! THE ARENA! TWENTY MINUES!"
Meherrin was out hunting, and Kal Bax held no curiosity for the sudden animosity between Iatrixian the Weaver and Surin of Justice, but all of the other solars and a great many of the mortal servants had found seats around the arena in the manse's basement.
Iatrixian stood on one end of the sandy floor, still fuming. Surin stood at the other end and Vaznia stood in the stands nearby, both trying to defuse the situation without resorting to violence.
"Hey, Trix, it's just sex! Calm down!"
"Shut up, Dash!" Rarity cried. Dash? Rarity blinked, confused, and her ire dipped, but soon enough she refocused and her rage redoubled.
"Hey, uh, maybe we could solve this with a threesome, instead?" Surin looked hopeful at that prospect. Iatrixian's response was less than ideal, from his perspective, as she issued forth a growl that would put any Dragon King to shame and charged.
Rarity lay in Vaznia's bed, naked to the world save for a single thin sheet. Vaznia stood over her, wearing that tight leather piece again. Rarity smiled. "Are you going to take that off, or do I have to take it off for you?" She batted her eyelashes and gave her best "come hither" look, but Vaznia frowned.
"I haven't had a man between my legs in over a year," Vaznia's voice sounded almost like a hound's growl. Iatrixian blinked in confusion. "The guys have given me excuses, up to and including the stupid rumor that I'm Thrice-Damned Gorol. It's all excuses! Not even the servants will lie with me. Do you know why?" Vaznia's eyes were wild, and she was nearly foaming at the mouth. Her anger was palpable.
"Uh—"
"It's because of you, that's why!" Vaznia shouted, inches away from Rarity's face. Rarity desperately wanted to wipe away the spittle, but she was transfixed with Vaznia's wild eyes. "After you pummeled Surin into the arena floor, it took him a month to recuperate, and he was a warstrider pilot in the War. Everyone is afraid of what you'll do to them if you discover them sleeping with me." Vaznia turned away.
"So... you're saying you're not in the mood tonight?" Rarity sat up in the bed, holding the thin bed sheet to her bare chest.
Vaznia growled and clenched her fists. She turned back towards Rarity, one hand raised in violence suddenly gripping a gleaming dagger. For a split second, the auburn-haired woman in the tight leather outfit appeared as a cyan, rainbow-maned pegasus. Their faces, twisted in rage, were the same. Rarity... Iatrixia... Rarity... she did not have a chance to clear her vision, for the shining dagger advanced straight towards her eye and plunged deep into—
Rarity sat up suddenly from her bed, heart racing and covered in sweat. The room was dark, but she could feel the hard stone beneath her, rather than the plush covers she had been sitting on only moments before. She sparked her caste mark, and saw the ruined room she was used to. She looked to her hands, finding her familiar white hooves. It was... only a dream. Right?
Rarity shakily climbed out of the ancient bed and plodded over to the vanity, the light from her forehead her only companion in the dark. The unicorn gazed at her disheveled appearance in the mirror before absently pulling a hair brush out of the vanity's drawer and beginning to return her mane to an approximation of its normally styled state. She softly hummed to herself as she performed the relaxing, mundane ritual. When she finished brushing out her mane, she set the brush back on the vanity, slowly releasing a breath, relaxed once more. Her coat was cold with the evaporating sweat generated by her nightmare; she'd need to take a bath, certainly. Rarity's eyes settled on the brush she'd set aside, and she did a double take: the brush was not her own. Instead of the wooden handle set with a trio of diamonds matching her cutie mark that she was used to, the brush that she had pulled out of the vanity had a golden handle. Upon closer inspection, the brush seemed truly ancient. In a flash of inspiration, Rarity realized that it matched the brush she had used in her dream, when she'd been Iatrixian the Weaver.
Hesitantly, Rarity pushed the long-dead Solar's hair-care product away. Perhaps I should just go and take that bath.
* * *
Knock knock knock.
Fluttershy rubbed the sleep out of her eyes at the sound of a hoof knocking against her door.
Knock knock knock.
"Oh, just a minute," she said, although her voice barely carried through the room, much less through the heavy door.
Knockknockknockknockknockknock!
Fluttershy managed to climb out of bed and reach the door before the impatient pony on the other side could continue. When she pulled the heavy stone slab, it glided open easily, revealing Rainbow Dash hovering lazily in the air on the other side, hoof raised for more knocking.
"Oh, good morning, Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy hid a yawn, and smiled. "What are you doing up so early?"
"Heya Fluttershy! AJ asked me to wake you up. She's all healed up and she wants to make a special breakfast for everypony to celebrate. She sent me to get you; said she wanted your help." Rainbow Dash flipped over and stood by Fluttershy's side, patting her fellow pegasus on the back. "She's down in the kitchen, underneath the spinning room."
Fluttershy nodded sleepily and began walking towards the stairs. She looked back to Rainbow Dash; the other pegasus stood in the bedroom doorway waving, her face in a rictus.
Fluttershy carefully picked her way down the stairs to the subterranean kitchen. "Applejack?" She called out.
In a blink, a hatless Applejack was by her side. "Well, howdy, Fluttershy! Thanks so much fer comin' to help!" The cowpony led Fluttershy down the remainder of the stairwell. As they neared the bottom, Applejack asked, "By the way, Fluttershy, have ya met Drahak, yet?"
Fluttershy looked to Applejack, confused, and then looked ahead once again. At the base of the stairs lay a large scaled beast. Its green scales shimmered in the low light all the way along its sinuous body. Great clawed hands could have lifted a pony with ease. The beast's head was encircled by a ridge highly reminiscent of leaves and twigs, and two grown antlers jutted out the back. The creature's maw was large enough to snap up Fluttershy in just two bites. The beast slowly lifted its head to stare the pegasus straight in the eyes.
"D-D-Dragon!" Fluttershy managed to stutter, before her legs stiffened and she fell over onto her side.
Applejack laughed out loud. The laugh wasn't malevolent – far from it. Her laugh was more like Rainbow Dash after a successful prank. "That was perfect, Drahak! Ah couldn't have wished fer a better job o'scarin' her stiff! Now just make sure yer not out o'her sight fer too long, okay?" Applejack grabbed Fluttershy by the tail and began to drag her towards one of the tables in the middle of the kitchen.
Fluttershy sighed, and she was on a large wooden table covered in the nicks of years of use as a cutting board. "You know, Applejack—"
"Ya can talk while yer like this?" Applejack's voice carried a heavy inflection of surprise.
Fluttershy rolled her eyes around, trying to get a better view of her friend. "Of course I can talk. It's just my myotonia acting up."
"My what, now?"
"Myotonia. It's a condition I've had since I was born. Whenever I get particularly scared or excited, most of my muscles lock up." Fluttershy was uncharacteristically calm about the whole ordeal. "You know, if you just wanted me to be still, you could have asked."
"Oh." Applejack stopped to consider the position she was in. "In that case, can Ah ask ya to not scream during this next bit?"
Fluttershy smiled. "Certainly, Applejack."
A short knife appeared in Applejack's mouth, and the mare bent over Fluttershy's immobile body. She cut a shallow line from the base of Fluttershy's jawline all the way down her neck, the center of her barrel, and her stomach. Some blood began to pool in the cut, but the loss was minimal.
In just a few blinks, Fluttershy found herself divested of the majority of her coat, as well as all of the feathers on her wings. The underground kitchen was suddenly very chilly. Applejack spit out the knife and said, "Ah'm mighty proud o'ya, Fluttershy. Not one single peep!"
"They don't call me the world champion of 'Shh!' for nothing!" Fluttershy beamed at the praise. "I suppose the oven comes next?"
Applejack did a double take. "Wha—how did y'all know what I was up to?"
Fluttershy managed to turn her head towards the "chef" and said, "This is a pretty stock nightmare. The setting and players may change, but the story isn't anything innovative."
"Th-This ain't a dream! This is real!"
Fluttershy let out an annoyed huff. "You're not wearing your hat, Applejack." Fluttershy blinked, and Applejack's hat appeared in its proper place on top of her head. "Not to mention Rainbow Dash, who was flying when she knocked at my door." Beads of sweat formed on Applejack's forehead. "Plus, I keep skipping forward through the dream. I must say, this one hasn't been put together very well."
Applejack looked around the kitchen before fixing her eyes on Fluttershy once more. "Well, d'ya mind if we finish anyway? Ah'm kinda invested in th' role here."
Fluttershy shook her head. "Sorry, but I'm a little uncomfortable right now. I think I'll just wake up, instead."
And so she did.
Knock knock knock.
Fluttershy rubbed the sleep out of her eyes at the sound of a hoof knocking against her door.
Knock knock knock.
"Oh, just a minute," she said, although her voice barely carried through the room, much less through the heavy door.
Knockknockknockknockknockknock!
Fluttershy managed to climb out of bed and reach the door before the impatient pony on the other side could continue. When she pulled the heavy stone slab, it glided open easily, revealing Rainbow Dash on the other side, hoof raised for more knocking.
"Oh, good morning, Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy hid a yawn, and smiled. "What are you doing up so early?"
"Fluttershy, come quick! I found a trap door underneath the arena! I think is might be the Final Retreat!"
My leg is still a bit sore, thanks for asking. I obliterated the crenellation that dared break and drop a chunk of stone on me, but that doesn't fix a fractured metatarsal. Letting out some frustration felt pretty good, though. Fluttershy used her anesthetic power to dull the pain, but that's worn off. She told me not to put weight on it and that I should be fine in a day or so. Do you know how awkward it is to walk around on just three legs?!
Pinkie is still missing. The five of us have been able to find neither hide nor hair of her since she escaped, even with the Guardian's help, and we still haven't found the entrance to the Final Retreat. Maybe that nag found the entrance and closed it up behind her.
Rainbow got herself into a fight with a group of training dummies (don't ask) and she's sporting a black eye for her troubles. Personally I think she's holding one of her wings funny too, but if she's actually injured you'd think Fluttershy would help. Rarity has been whining day and night about everything from the dirt to the way Rainbow looks at her. Seriously! She really did complain about how Rainbow was staring at her last night at dinner!
We had a few demons break their way in just after dinner, through a hole in the attic. They found a route downstairs that bypassed any functional demonbane lights and trashed our food stores along with the summoning circle. I had to blow their flanks into next Tuesday and repair the circle – without help from any of my "friends," I might add! At least the Guardian is still helping me out; even if he couldn't help to vanquish the demons, he was an invaluable resource in repairing the circle, and his mirrors prevented those demons from sneaking up behind me. I didn't cast the spell to restock our supplies after fixing the circle; I'll do it when I'm hungry, and if those selfish nags get hungry in the mean-time, well tough. They should've helped me solve the food problem if they wanted extra food.
Who's there?
Rainbow Dash? I'm a little busy composing my message to Spike, what are you doing up here?
What do you mean, "good morning?" Did I really... I stayed up all night, didn't I?
You found the WHAT?! Come on, let's go!
A large oval sand-floored arena sat in the basement of the manse, directly underneath the grand salon on the ground floor. Stone stadium seating rose in tiers on each side of the room: enough seating for all of the mortal attendants to watch their Solar masters display martial prowess.
Three bronze human statues had been trashed and stacked in a heap at one end of the pit, the "culprits" of Rainbow Dash's very visible bruise. Rainbow Dash led Twilight towards the opposite end of the arena, where the other Solar ponies stood waiting. A trap door stood open near the wall, with a thin chain preventing the wood from falling to the sand.
There was an uncomfortable tension in the air, which only grew as Twilight and Rainbow drew closer to the rest of the group. Nonpony was willing to maintain eye contact with anypony else for more than a moment. There was awkward silence as everypony stood around the hole in the floor of the arena, staring at the stone steps leading into the dark abyss.
Fluttershy broke the silence and said, "Are you sure this is the Final Retreat? I mean, I'm sure you're right, I just... um... nevermind."
Rainbow bristled at the implication. "Of course I'm sure! I wouldn't have brought each and every one of you down here if I wasn't sure!"
"Who pissed on your breakfast, Rainbow?" Twilight asked. "We just want to be certain this is our destination before we go gallivanting off into some unknown dark space. Not like that's out of character for you, but we'd like a little more than just your word."
Rainbow whirled on Twilight and stalked towards the unicorn with a fire in her eyes. Twilight didn't even twitch an ear, but Rarity leaned away from the pegasus, almost imperceptibly. "Nopony 'pissed on my breakfast,' Twilight, because we didn't have any breakfast. I wonder whose fault that was, hmm?" Twilight turned up her nose and looked away. Rainbow backed off, but her mouth turned up in a prideful smirk. "I understand. I'm no Element of Honesty. How can you trust me at my word? But I did my research, Sparkle. The guardian can't see this trap door, even now."
That got Twilight's attention. The one thing she'd been unable to learn from the spirit of the manse was the location of the Final Retreat. Based on her conversations with him, it seemed the original Solars had either built the Final Retreat in such a way as to conceal its presence from him, even today, or else they had edited his perceptions and memories after the fact, making him actually incapable of perceiving the addition to the manse.
The Guardian knew of the Final Retreat's existence, of course. That knowledge was simply a matter of deduction, as the Guardian could see anyone coming and going from the manse. Beyond knowing that the Final Retreat was real, however, the Guardian was of little help in discovering it. If what Rainbow said was true and the Guardian could not see the trap door that was now in plain sight rather than buried under a layer of sand, then chances were good that the goal was near. Soon, they'd be able to return to Equestria. Perhaps Princess Celestia would even tell Twilight she'd completed her assignment in Ponyville, and she could return to the princess's side in Canterlot.
Applejack took the first step towards the darkness. "Well, what are we waitin' for, y'all? Let's get this over with and get out of here!" Just before she disappeared into the inky black, she flared her caste mark and the sunburst on her forehead illuminated the stairs as she descended. The other ponies present did not waste much time before following her below, single-file.
The stairs soon gave way to a slightly sloping tunnel. The tunnel opened up from the initial narrow stairway into something where the five ponies could easily walk side-by-side and not feel crowded. Unvoiced tension from the girls at the front of the line slowly turned the procession from single file to five abreast.
The tunnel was a perfect square in cross-section, save for the fact that the stone was very rough, rather than the smooth – and in some cases, polished – stonework in the manse above. Paired columns supported the ceiling along the walls, and the walls also sported familiar engraved sunburst designs as well as ceramics in relief at irregular intervals. Many of the decorations surrounded glass orbs similar to the demonbane lights located throughout the manse, although after a brief investigation Twilight declared that while they would produce light given power, these orbs had no power over demons.
Arcane glyphs also dotted the walls. Twilight identified some of them as passive wards, but none seemed designed to be traps. Certainly, none would explode as you looked at them.
After several minutes of walking, the girls spied the end of the tunnel, blocked by a stone door. The ponies broke into a canter to reach the door, but as they passed the second-to-last pair of columns a sound startled each of the Solars; skidding to a stop, they looked back in tandem to see a series of wickedly curved blades spinning up from between the stone tiles, slashing through the space they had occupied only a moment before. Had they maintained their single-file march, everypony but Applejack would have been in grievous trouble. Each Bearer looked to another and gulped: the Final Retreat was no freer of traps than the manse itself, and might be even more dangerous. They would have to proceed with caution if they wished to survive the quest for the artifact.
The other Solars stood some distance away while Rainbow Dash tried the door. With muscles tensed and ready to leap away at the first sign of a trap, she tried the lever next to it, and nothing happened. She gave the door an experimental push, and it glided open on perfectly balanced hinges with nary a squeak.
On the other side of the room directly opposite the door, two giant stone human arms protruded from the wall. The hands at the end of each arm were missing, as was the door between the two arms – the large volume of stone debris told a story of what had happened.
"Looks like we've found what happened to Pinkie," Twilight whispered.
"What d'ya mean, Twilight?"
"Look at the scorch marks on the stone, Applejack. If that isn't the result of Pinkie's cannon, I'll eat your hat."
"Um... I don't think that's how the expression goes," Fluttershy whispered.
"Why are we whispering?" Rainbow asked, also keeping her voice down.
Without answering the chromatic pegasus, Twilight ventured toward the two arms slowly, cautiously. When they didn't react to her presence, she stepped through the doorway and picked her way through the stone debris.
On the other side of the devastated door, a short flight of stairs led down into a hexagonal room. Some of the stone debris had found its way into this room as well, but the room was mostly carpeted with butterfly-shaped shards of glass. Fluttershy stepped into the room behind Twilight and gasped at the sight. She picked up one of the glass butterflies and asked, "Can I keep one?"
Twilight shrugged, "It's no fur off my flank. Knock yourself out."
Rarity entered next, and she scrutinized the glass with her craftsmare's eyes. "This is the same crystal-glass material used in the gates to that Yu-Shan place Pinkie took us to." The fashionista drew out a piece of spare cloth from her saddlebag and ran it along the edge of the butterfly's wing. With nothing more than the aid of gravity, the cloth was neatly sliced in two. "And against the grainline, no less," she muttered to herself. Rarity turned back to her saddlebag and eventually produced another piece of cloth – this one made from rock-yarn. Rarity wrapped several of the most intact butterflies in her swath of rock-yarn fabric before stowing them in her saddlebags for later use.
"I don't think there's anything here for us, girls. The room's a dead end," Twilight sighed with frustration. Her trot around the room revealed five doors, each of which opened easily but revealed nothing but solid stone.
"Girls, y'all better come back up here," called Applejack from the broken door at the top of the stairs. "Pinkie left us another trail of destruction."
More scorch marks marked a corner of the 'arm room,' along the same wall as the entrance. Again, a rubble-strewn hole in the wall led further into the Final Retreat, although this hole was much smaller – barely wide enough for a single pony.
On the other side, a hallway similar to the entrance led to a door. Rather, it led to the remains of a door. More of Pinkie's hoofwork: the door at the end of the hall was pulverized, as well as a portion of the wall it opened into – the door was false, just like the ones in the 'butterfly room.' Some mechanism next to the door had also been mangled, although it appeared to have been bucked into oblivion rather than destroyed by Pinkie's cannon. A few short spans in front of the false door, a gaping pit lay open – another trap apparently destroyed during Pinkie's romp through the Final Retreat.
Rarity began thinking aloud, "I wonder if Zecora's with Pinkie?" One of the walls of the hallway had been knocked through by Pinkie's cannon – another secret door revealed. The party of ponies ducked into the new hallway. "I can't say this is exactly the most elegant way to travel around secret passages."
Rainbow scoffed, "Like anypony but you cares about traveling through secret tunnels 'elegantly.'"
"Ya gotta admit, though, Pinkie's wake of destruction is makin' it a might bit easier on us. Ah'd rather not fall into pits an' such, and she's clearly marked 'em all," Applejack drawled. Indeed, the new corridor the girls found themselves in was littered with multiple pits burst open with the same destructive force they had been trailing since the start. Each pit left only a small ledge on one side of the hall on which a pony could pass.
The third such pit had a ladder leading into the bottom, and another "door" formed through the pit's wall. Pinkie had certainly taken the brute-force approach to trailblazing. "Which way do we go?" Fluttershy asked; though Pinkie had clearly taken a route down through the pit, the hallway continued onwards to another door.
"I'm going to follow Pinkie. She escaped confinement, but continued our mission – on her own – rather than continuing her rampage or talking to us. I want answers," Twilight said as she began to lower herself into the pit, awkwardly climbing down the ladder designed for human bodies.
"Buck that!" Rainbow Dash cried. "We should check out that room first—"
"—I'm with Twilight!" Rarity squeaked a little too enthusiastically before Rainbow could finish her thought.
"—We need to at least check it for the artifact we're here to get," Rainbow finished.
"Rainbow's right. We need ta check every room fer the artifact."
The two unicorns made their way into the pit. The two athletes advanced on the closed door. Fluttershy stood at the edge of the pit, looking back and forth between her two pairs of friends, indecisive.
Fluttershy closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing. She thought back to something she'd heard Shining Armor say once.
"You never split the squad! Put the medics in the back to render aid quickly. The mage goes in the middle, where she can easily direct her magic in any direction. And never let that Tartarus-damned merc out of your sight!"
Fluttershy shook her head. She didn't think most of the guard-captain's overheard strategy advice would apply, but "never split the party" sounded like good advice to her. When she opened her eyes again, though, the door had just shut behind Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and Rarity and Twilight Sparkle had both disappeared into the next section of the Final Retreat in their pursuit of Pinkie Pie.
The first thing that Rainbow and Applejack noticed as they entered the next room was that the lights were functioning; although the light was dim, the room was fully lit. To the left and right were two more stone doors.
Without hesitation, Rainbow Dash walked up to the left door, turned the handle, and pulled. She leapt back to avoid any trap that might have been laid on the door, but no trap was sprung. The door, however, opened into more stone wall – a fake. "Are you feathering kidding?! Every other door in this place is a fake! A waste of time!" The pegasus galloped to the opposite side of the empty square room and yanked the other door open without caution. Again, the door was a fake. Rainbow growled in frustration.
Applejack, much calmer than her prismatic partner, coughed to get Rainbow's attention. Applejack pointed to a gap along the floor of the wall opposite the entrance: a secret door had failed to close properly, jammed by a small pebble. "Could y'all give me a hoof?" she asked. Grumbling under her breath, Rainbow joined Applejack at the secret door and the pair began to lift the heavy stone.
When the door was halfway open, it seemed to catch on its mechanism and lift the rest of the way on its own. On the other side of the door was a small alcove filled with piles of gold and silver, along with a few closed chests. A wall of steel bars blocked the path to the treasure trove.
Applejack removed her hat and pressed it against her chest. "Well ain't that somethin'?" Her eyes glistened in the light reflected off the precious metals.
"We should check those chests. Who knows whether the artifact is in one of them?" Rainbow seemed to have control of her faculties, but her eyes were glistening as much as Applejack's.
The wall held a locked gate to one side, which would grant access to the piles of treasure. Rainbow considered the lock for a moment before plucking a feather from one of her wings and inserting it into the keyhole. After a minute of manipulating the feather in the lock, a soft click sounded from the gate, and it began to swing loose.
At the same time, Rainbow heard a deep rumbling from the room's entrance. Her pegasi instincts forced her to scan upwards when she turned and that split-second decision granted her a view of a block of stone just above the entrance start shifting. Rainbow would later claim that her extensive experience reading the Daring Do novels gave her the impetus to run, but the truth was much more primal: a deep-seated instinctual fear of being trapped under ground that every pegasus shares to one degree or another.
With a wordless shout, Rainbow Dash ran for the entrance of the treasure room. Her exclamation prompted Applejack to turn and pay attention, but by the time the farmer had processed what was going on, it was far too late for her to escape, even at top speed. Rainbow Dash was underneath the heavy stone block as it was falling, and she was jerked to a sudden stop just outside the room when the block landed on the tip of her tail.
Inside the treasure room, Applejack began pounding on the stone block with her hooves. "Rainbow! Are ya out there?! Get me outta here!"
Applejack stopped shouting when she heard a popping noise behind her, near the treasure pile. When she turned around, she saw one of the chests had opened of its own accord, and some sort of nozzle had extended from within. A feeling of dread washed over the earth pony.
Outside, Rainbow hadn't been able to understand exactly what Applejack was shouting, merely that she was shouting. The shouting stopped for a moment. "AJ?" Rainbow whispered. Before she could open her mouth to speak again, Applejack's shouting began again in earnest. This time, there was no need to interpret the words – there were none.
Pain. Agony. Torment. Suffering. The emotions in Applejack's wordless cries carried through the stone exceptionally well. Rainbow Dash's throat tightened up and tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. Her reaction could have been emotion... or it could have been a physical reaction to the smoke seeping through the crack between stone block and doorway. Distracted as she was, Rainbow Dash didn't notice when her tail came free of the stone block, shorter than before, the end singed black.
Applejack's screams did stop, eventually. Ten seconds after the screams began, the massive stone returned to the ceiling of its own accord. Rainbow was greeted with a pony-shaped pile of charcoal. Around the room, small puddles of oil still burned with a green flame. Rainbow Dash evacuated her stomach – what little it contained – before fleeing the scene as fast as possible. No good could come from that treasure.
Twilight and Rarity walked together into a pentagonal room. Directly opposite of the entrance was a corner formed by two of the five walls. To the left of the far corner was a door sporting a smiling porcelain face. To the right was an identical door with an identical face, save that the face was frowning. Between the two, suspended from the corner itself, was a third face with a neutral expression.
When the two ponies approached, the center face began moving and said, "One face tells truth and one face always lies, but both say only 'Yes' or 'No.' One question you may ask, to find the fortunate path." As the face finished its speech, Fluttershy walked in the room behind the unicorns, unnoticed.
Twilight scoffed, "The Liar's Puzzle? Seriously? This is foal's play." Twilight stepped up to the smiling face and said, "Would the other face tell me that your door was the safe one?"
The smiling face spoke with the same voice as the neutral one, "No."
"Excellent," Twilight said as she reached to open the door with the smiling face.
"Wait!" Rarity cried out. Twilight sighed and stopped. "The face just said it was the wrong door! We need to go through the other one."
Twilight wheeled on Rarity. "Let's assume the smiling face tells the truth and the frowning face lies. If the smiling face covers the safe door, the frowning face would lie and say 'no' to the question 'is the smiling face's door safe?' So, the smiling face – the truther – answered 'no' to my question. If the roles are reversed and the smiling one lies while the frowning one tells the truth, the smiling face would lie and say the opposite of what the frowning face would say. Either way, an answer of 'no' means I was asking the face in front of the safe door.
"If, instead, the smiling face covered the trapped door, the answers would be flipped, and I would have gotten a 'yes' whichever face was lying or telling the truth. It's a foal's puzzle, Rarity, really, you ought to know this one." Twilight finally noticed Fluttershy in the back of the room, raising a hoof to get the "teacher's" attention. "Yes, what is it, Fluttershy?"
"Um... I was just wondering... why would the Solars who built the manse need clues to avoid their own traps?"
"Who cares?! I solved the puzzle, and now we're going through this door and we're going to go find Pinkie and we're going to get some answers out of her! Then we're going to find the artifact, we're going to find the corpses of Larquen Quen and Meherrin, and we're going to GO HOME TO EQUESTRIA!" Twilight yanked on the smiling door's handle.
Rather than opening, the smiling face's eyes lit up like a Hearth's Warming tree. Without giving the three ponies any time to react, bolts of lightning lanced forth from the glowing eyes. Twilight was struck squarely in the chest and launched halfway across the room. Fluttershy's myotonia forced her legs to lock into position, and the lightning strike bowled her over, head over hocks.
Fluttershy, who had moved up closer to Rarity, would have knocked the fashionista over, had the unicorn not had the presence of mind to leap onto the forehead of the frowning mask. Though she had the narrowest of ledges to cling to – and one that curved smoothly downwards, at that – Rarity stood as though she had an entire stage to herself.
The miniature lightning storm did not last long, and eventually Rarity let herself back down to the floor to check on her companions. Fluttershy's pride was injured more than her body, and Twilight was able to move under her own power, despite complaining about a massive headache. Anticipating further aches, Fluttershy applied her anesthetic power and localized it to the black burn on Twilight's chest.
"Okay," Twilight wheezed, "I think perhaps the original Solars didn't need clues to the location of their traps, and designed this Liar's Puzzle to trick smart ponies."
Rarity pulled on the handle for the other door with her telekinesis... and the door opened without incident. She pulled the door all the way open, revealing another hallway with a cascade of stairs leading down, deeper into the mountain.
Four hooves dropped onto the stone tiles at the bottom of the pit forming the entrance to the Liar's Puzzle room. Everypony turned to see Rainbow Dash, alone. Her eyes were red and puffy, and as she walked into the room, she wiped at the edges of her mouth.
"Rainbow? Where's Applejack?" Fluttershy asked.
Rainbow shook her head, but said nothing. She walked onwards towards the open door and didn't look back.
A long, straight stairway stretched out before the morose Rainbow Dash, penetrating deeper into the mountain and further underground. Each of the landings bore the now-familiar sunburst design, and the air practically hummed with energy.
Twilight walked up behind the athlete, with Fluttershy and rarity in tow. The recently-minted sorceress cocked an eyebrow at the passage before them and said, "Well there's a magic spell, if I ever saw one."
"Gee, ya think, bonehead?!"
Rarity gasped. "Rainbow Dash! That is incredibly insensitive!"
"What do you want me to say?" Rainbow shouted. Fluttershy cringed and flinched away from the volume. "Pinkie's gone axe-crazy, Zecora's lost her mind, and now the only pony who could push me to my limit is dead, all thanks to this stupid manse and its stupid traps and the stupid humans who built it! We're only here on the word of some sort of evil sex ghost, and the only reason we needed her help was because Miss I-Want-To-Cast-Magic-On-The-Multiverse over here screwed up!"
Fluttershy drew in a calming breath and stepped forward. "Maybe... you should try to calm down a little—"
"Calm down? Calm down?! We're lost on another world and even if we get home somehow, we can't use the Elements to protect Equestria because our Circle is broken!" Rainbow gave no indication that she noticed the emphasis she gave to the word "circle."
"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy's voice rang with the authority of the Sun, and the glow from her caste mark intensified. The declaration of her name, spoken with such authority, was alone enough to quiet the anxiety in Rainbow's heart, but Fluttershy was not done. "Don't worry about what went wrong. You can't change the past. You need – we all need – to focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward and finding the answers to our problems, because at this point, 'forward' is the only means we have of getting out of the thicket of thorns."
The normally timid mare turned to the two unicorns in the group. "It is not for us to hope for tasks equal to our powers, but for powers equal to our tasks. Ever since arriving at this manse – this 'fortress' – I've seen our friendships begin to fall apart. It was slow at first, and I admit to being swept up in the current, but I don't want to see a bad problem get any worse." As Fluttershy spoke, the others at least had the grace to look embarrassed. She shook her head, dismissing a stray thought. "We've learned a lot together over the years. As friends. If we can't hold onto that friendship in the face of adversity, then we haven't really learned anything at all.
"Rainbow, I know you're distraught over what you've seen, but you're not alone. Applejack was part of our family, and we were a part of hers. We can't let that loss stop us; we're not just searching for a way to get ourselves home, but for everypony in Ponyville."
Rainbow Dash straightened her neck, and gave Fluttershy a curt nod, a quick salute, and said, "Right!" Without further warning, she turned around and ran for the first platform.
As she approached the sunburst pattern in the floor, the energy in the air noticeably peaked. A split-second after she touched the first landing, the area around her filled with fiery swords, each dancing through the air with a will of its own and slicing at Rainbow's unprotected hide. The magical fires cast an ominous orange light on the walls, mixing with the golden light of the ponies' glowing caste marks. The nimble pegasus dodged hither and yon, contorting her body to avoid the fires. She reached the next flight of stairs unscathed, and stopped for a breather. "Whew! That's some spell, Twilight!"
"Indeed," Twilight replied, her eyes narrowing at the floor, walls, and ceiling of the landing.
"Can you counter it?" Rarity asked hopefully.
"Oh, not a chance in Tartarus. This is way beyond me."
"Right!" Rainbow cried with another salute. "I'll check the far end of the hall for a disabling switch or something." Without waiting for a reply, Rainbow Dash continued to the next landing; once again, the ambient energy spiked and the air around the pegasus was filled with fiery blades, which she dodged with flair. Twilight continued to stare at the effects of the spell on the staircase, and while Rainbow took a short breather just past the second landing, Twilight calmly stepped forward onto the first.
"Twilight!" "No!" "Wait!" The others cried out in alarm. Rather than taking the effort to dodge the sabers as Rainbow had, however, Twilight calmly stood in the center of their dance. Once after another, swords cut deep into Twilight's body... only to pass through, harmlessly.
The other three ponies could only stare in shock, while Twilight studied the flames surrounding her. "Curious," she said, "I didn't expect them to tingle like this. It reminds me of the tickle fights my brother and I would sometimes have when we were foals."
"I... what... I don't even... huh?" Rainbow articulated her confusion.
"They're completely illusory. Harmless, all of them."
"Then what's the point, dear?"
Fluttershy took a deep breath and stepped into the flames next to Twilight. "Fear," was all she said.
At the bottom of the final staircase, a simple door barred the way. An engraved golden human hand encircled with the sunburst design dominated the center of the doorway. Twilight pressed a hoof to the center, and with a soft click, the door unlocked, unlatched, and swung open.
The door opened into a white tile-covered hexagonal room, with a door on each wall. "So, do we split up, or...?" Rainbow trailed off, waiting for input from the others.
Fluttershy shook her head. "No, I don't want us to split up again. We need to stick together." There was a chorus of agreement, and Rarity led the group to the door on the left.
"We might as well start with door number one."
Behind the first door was a small room, nearly full of heavy metal spikes that had fallen from the ceiling and dug deep into the tile floor. It was a squeeze, but the girls managed to move past the spikes into the hallway beyond.
The hallway behind the room appeared identical to the hallway at the Retreat's entrance, save for the gaping pit partway along its length. "We found Pinkie's trail again," Rainbow muttered, noting the fragmented edges of what used to be the pit's trap door.
At the end of the hall was a room showing more evidence of Pinkie's presence. The beige tiles and vaulted ceiling were nice enough, but the twisted wreckage on the right side was less so. To the left, a metal portcullis displayed a neat hole, large enough for a pony to fit through. Behind was a furnished sitting room – or the appearance of one, at any rate. Much like the frescoes in the artificial garden of the manse, this room presented the facsimile of more space. This particular fresco held a pony-shaped dent, destroying the illusion.
On the right side, the damage was more apparent. Some sort of mechanical beast – a spider or some other insectoid creature – lay in ruin, apparently launched into another portcullis and causing the other gate to warp beyond repair. Another sitting room sat at the far end of a short hallway beyond, presumably another expertly-crafted optical illusion fresco.
"I've got to admit, despite what's happened to Pinkie, her passage through this place has been really useful," Twilight remarked. "How may traps has she destroyed, now?"
The other ponies mumbled agreement; that the pink monstrosity had laid waste to many of the Retreat's traps had proven exceptionally useful.
The party squeezed back past the spikes and into the hexagonal room. Casual inspection of the next three doors following the first one clockwise proved about as fruitful as the first. In each, the far wall held a door blasted from its hinges, revealing nothing but stone wall beyond.
In the first of the three, the white tiles and stone walls were pockmarked with thousands of tiny pits, and a few of the larger holes in the floor still held water, from whatever event had taken place within.
In the second, every single tile on the floor had been smashed by some great weight, but there was no other indicator of what had occurred.
In the third door past the first, many of the tiles had become rough, as though attacked by some corrosive agent. Rarity refused to even enter, worrying that some of the corrosive might still remain.
The final room was different. While the door at the far end was also blasted off of its hinges, and it also revealed bare stone, and it also showed signs of some deadly trap – long crisscrossed gashes in the floor, this time – this room also had a heavy stone broken free from the wall and set very specifically on a certain tile near the far corner, which was clearly depressed by the stone's weight. The left wall had an opening, leading deeper into the Retreat.
Past the not-so-hidden door was another cascade of stairs. This passage held no energy like the previous one. However, the entire second landing was missing, leading into another pit.
The gap was a good six spans or so. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy cleared it without difficulty, by gliding down the stairs with their partially-functional wings. With a grimace and a shared look, the two unicorns galloped down the stairs, taking a running leap to clear the space.
Rarity cleared the pit with grace, landing on the far edge and flicking her tail in pride.
Twilight tripped over the final step on the way down. She pitched forward and slammed horn-first into the pit's far wall, landing at the bottom with a painful-sounding crunch.
"Ow," the hapless unicorn called up from the base of the pit.
"Twilight, are you all right?" Rarity turned and called down to the pit's bottom.
"I've just got a bruised pride and a sensitive horn, nothing to worry about."
"Um..." Rarity tapped a hoof to her lips and looked back at Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. "How do we get her out?"
The three mares exchanged worried glances. "Did anypony think to bring a rope?"
"Oh," Rarity beamed as an idea hit her, "what about this rock-yarn cloth?" She produced the folded material from her saddlebag, and carefully extracted the razor-sharp butterflies she'd stored within, setting them aside on the floor. "Will this do?"
"There's only one way to find out!" Rainbow grabbed one end of the sturdy bolt of cloth and tossed the other down to Twilight, who grabbed a hold. Together, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Rarity slowly pulled their friend out of the pit trap and back onto sturdy footing.
Once Twilight was back on the stairs, Rarity gathered up the cloth once again, remarking on the surprising lack of creasing despite the torture it had just gone through. She carefully re-wrapped the glass butterflies and stored the collection in her saddlebags once again.
The group progressed to the base of the stairs without further incident. Past the door at the bottom was a great circular room, whose most outstanding feature was the proportionally great pit in the center. The room was at least as large as any other previously encountered, if not larger, but there was only a small ledge around the edge on which a human or pony could walk.
The pit in the center of the room was at least three stories deep, and the domed ceiling was at least three stories above the ledge at the center. The pit was also filled with hundreds of crystalline spikes glistening in the light of everypony's caste mark. To drive the point home further, there was a bare human skeleton in tattered armor impaled upon a few of them near the center.
"How'd a human get all the way out in the center of the pit?" Rainbow asked.
"If I had to guess, I'd say it had something to do with that," Twilight pointed to the top of the dome, where a polished opalescent stone poked out of the ceiling, easily as large as a pony's head. With a glance, each of the exalted ponies could feel the stone radiating power.
With a low hum, the stone in the ceiling began to glow softly. Everypony braced herself for another trap, but nothing seemed to happen. With a clatter, the sword lying by the skeleton in the center flew to the roof of the dome, and stuck pommel-first to the glowing orb.
"Um." There was no further reaction from the orb, and Rainbow Dash cautiously began to walk along the ledge encircling the room, hugging the wall tightly. The other three ponies followed.
A minute later, when Rainbow reached the halfway point, the ambient hum and the glow from the stone both stopped, and the sword instantly fell into the giant pit. The pegasus halted her motion when the sounds changed, which nearly caused a collision with Rarity right behind her. In just a few short heartbeats, the stone began to hum and glow again, pulling the sword up out of the pit to hang from its pommel once again.
Rainbow cocked her head, "I don't get it."
"Perhaps it's meant to disarm intruders. None of us have any weapons," Rarity suggested.
"Are you kidding? My hoof is a weapon!" Rainbow bragged. She paused, and then continued more quietly, "But yeah, that sounds like as good an explanation as any..."
"But what about the other weapons that human has – had – on him? Or her?" Fluttershy asked, pointing to the skeleton. Sure enough, the corpse had several knives sheathed along its belt and an unstrung bow on its back, which had been sliced in twain by the crystal blades.
"Maybe it's something unique about that particular sword?" Twilight suggested. "I notice that the sword is always hanging from its pommel, regardless of its orientation at the bottom of the pit."
Rainbow continued her trek around the room's perimeter. "Now that you mention it, that blade looks like it's made of wood. The grip is made of some green... stone?"
Twilight nodded absently as she walked. "Jade, at a guess. Remember the Yu-Shan gateways? They were made of all of the 'magical' materials, and one of those was jade."
The party reached the far end of the room, and the touch of Rainbow's hoof on the golden palm print opened the door. As Fluttershy brought up the rear and exited the room, the orb once again died down and dropped the blade into the pit.
After a short passage and another door, the girls found themselves in a funnel-shaped room, directing them towards a door at the far end. Above the door was another porcelain mask, similar to the ones that challenged Twilight to the Liar's Puzzle previously.
As soon as all four ponies had entered the room, the door behind them slammed shut, and the mask above the door shouted, "Halt! Give the password or die! You have thirty seconds!"
Rainbow edged closer to her companions and changed a glance backward. "Twilight?"
Twilight was, understandably, on edge. "I don't know! How should I know what the password is?!"
Rainbow gave a few attempts of her own. "Open sesame! Abracadabra! Shazam!" When none of them worked, she wove her way past the other ponies to try and force the door they'd entered from back open so they could escape, but was unsuccessful.
"Twenty seconds!" The mask shouted.
Rarity moved forward to the far door underneath the mask, and mimicked Rainbow's idea, trying to create an escape route. Twilight was frozen with indecision.
"Ten seconds!"
Fluttershy began listing the names of the original Solars, from their portraits on the second floor of the manse. "Kal Bax, Larquen Quen, Meherrin, Surin of Justice, Iatrixian the Weaver, Vaznia," Rarity's eye twitched at the mention of the name, but nopony was able to see the reaction. "Kotor Varos... um..."
Twilight shook herself from her stupor and continued where Fluttershy left off. "Crinis Proles, Ozandus Pal, Arvika Chas, Aure Orchester, Surin of—"
"Fluttershy already used that one!" Rainbow Dash shouted from the back door.
"Now you die!" The mask bellowed. Fluttershy hid her face beneath her hooves and tried to protect her body with her wings. Rarity and Rainbow Dash both pressed themselves against their respective doors. Twilight squeezed her eyes shut. Everypony waited for the end.
The end never came.
Twilight cautiously opened her eyes. Four arrow slits had opened in the walls of the room, but no arrows were coming out. Rarity and Rainbow both relaxed. Fluttershy peeked out from under one of her hooves, confused. The room was silent.
A moment later, Fluttershy squeaked. "I remember! Daveg Chlurion! That's the name we missed!"
She beamed as the mask spoke once more. "Pass." The door Rarity was leaning on swung open, dropping the fashionista to the stone floor.
Beyond the door was a narrow passage in each direction, curving around the room they had just exited. Below each of the four arrow slits was the wreckage of an automaton, a broken bow, and a quiver stocked with several dozen arrows.
"I suppose that answers that question, then," Rainbow said.
"I suppose," Rarity agreed, "but where do we go from here?"
Nopony had an answer. They had penetrated deep into the Solars' Final Retreat, but there was nowhere else to go. Surely, this was not the end? The narrow passage surrounding the previous room on three sides had no apparent exit other than the door leading backwards.
"Okay, everypony," Twilight clapped her hooves together. "Let's start searching for a hidden door."
"But every 'hidden door' we've come across so far was destroyed by Pinkie..." Rainbow whined. "She must not have come here."
"Rainbow, dear, did you see anywhere else Pinkie might have gone? For that matter, if Pinkie wasn't here, what happened to the archers that were supposed to kill us just now?" Rainbow grudgingly conceded that Rarity had a point. "We've simply gotten complacent – we're too used to the aftereffects of Pinkie's rampage. From here on out, we'll have to depend on our own cunning and skill."
The four ponies, at Twilight's direction, began to systematically search the corridor for some trigger or switch or pressure plate that might open a hidden door, or at least indicate its presence.
thud
"Did anypony hear that?" Twilight asked.
"Hear what?" Rainbow walked up behind the sorceress.
Thud
"That!" Twilight pointed to the wall directly opposite the door they'd entered the passage through.
"I certainly heard it that time, Twilight," Rarity joined Rainbow and her fellow unicorn.
THUD
"What is it?" Fluttershy asked. All the ponies gathered at the wall, and Twilight put one ear up against it.
THUD
"It's getting louder!" Twilight backed away from the wall just in time for it to burst outward, showering the corridor with stone and dust. Some kind of silvery light mixed with the golden light from the girls' caste marks; combined with the dust-filled air, it was impossible to see anything.
There was the sound of some kind of creature panting. The two pegasi worked their wings to try and disperse the dust, while the unicorns braced themselves for whatever was hiding in the dark. Soon, a silhouette was visible through the cloud: a large, blocky quadruped. Then, it became apparent that the source of the silvery light was the creature standing before them, as swirling patterns became distinguishable on its body.
Twilight, who was the closest, was the first to see that the creature was a large zebra stallion, easily more massive than Big Mac.
Twilight's heart began to race, and her breathing became heavy. Sweat drops formed on her brow and mixed with tears as her eyes were forced wide open and were irritated by the remaining dust cloud.
"No... No, stop!" Twilight cried. She backed into Fluttershy, but didn't seem to notice. "What are you doing, stop it!" The beast looked directly at her and cocked its head. The slight motion set Twilight off further, and she gave a wordless cry of terror. She began galloping as fast as she could down the corridor, despite knowing intellectually that it was a dead end.
As fortune – or, perhaps, misfortune – would have it, her panic-stricken flight caused her to run over a floor switch which opened exactly the secret door the group had been looking for. Without a care for the possible repercussions, she turned left and fled down the corridor behind, screaming the entire way.
The huge zebra stallion stepped forward and shrank, becoming a normal-sized zebra mare. "Was it something I said?" Zecora asked innocently.
cough cough
The puddles of burning oil died out. The pile of charcoal spasmed, causing flakes of soot to shake free of its bulk. Slowly, shakily, one leg moved, and then another. The legs gathered together underneath the body, and the motions began to tear the blackened outer layer away, revealing a fresh orange coat. With the inevitability of a glacier, the creature rose to its feet.
At her side, a black hat lay upturned, serene. With a swish of her tail, the hat crumbled to dust.
!" Pinkie cried as she spat the book out in front of Twilight. The binding was failing, the pages were yellow with age, and the script on the cover was fading.
