From Beyond

“And she wants us to study this, thing?” Applejack asked, turning to look at Twilight.

“We have no idea what it is, but it is spherical. And alive.” She shuddered, remembering how it stretched out to touch her.

“I can understand you, but why does she want the rest of us walking around in a dark, and possibly dusty cavern?” Rarity asked, shuddering. “Just the thought of what kinds of things could be down there make me squirm.”

“It has something to do with us being the Elements, right?” Pinkie asked, popping up from behind Twilight in a cloud of confetti.

“Would you please quit doing that and take this seriously Pinkie. This thing creeped out both Twilight and the Princess.” Applejack said, glaring at her.

“Fine, party pooper.” Pinkie replied, sticking her tongue out. She plopped down in the circle, a frown upon her face.

“Whatever it is, we can take it. We’re the bucking Elements after all.” Rainbow said, jumping up. “We’ve beaten Nightmare Moon, Discord, Sombra, even Chrysalis. There isn’t anything on Equestria we can’t take.”

“Technically we didn’t beat Sombra or Chrysalis. Besides, Princess Celestia doesn’t think this thing is from Equestria.” Twilight said. The color drained from Rainbow’s face at that revelation. “She said that she found it in a crater after a meteor shower. In the Everfree Forest.” A cold wind passed through the room once it was mentioned.

“So she thinks this thing comes from somewhere else?” Fluttershy asked, being the first to speak after the revelation of its finding.

“That’s what we’re going with right now. Until we can get some more details about it, we won’t know for sure.” Twilight replied.

“They’ve had this thing for however long, and know nothing about it. And now they’re going to send us, the Elements of Harmony, down to investigate it?” Applejack asked, staring at Twilight with a bemused look on her face.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much sums it up.” Twilight said, blushing. She didn’t want to admit, but it sounded questionable to her as well.

Tick Tock. The clock has begun counting down. To what, only I know.

Twilight froze, hearing it again. There was no way it could reach all the way up here, not through an entire mountain and so many spells. The rest of the girls were talking amongst themselves, apparently not hearing the voice.

Didn’t you pay attention? I’m immune to magic. It doesn’t matter that there are so many shields. They can’t stop me.

Twilight visibly paled at that remark.

“You ok sugarcube?” Applejack asked, standing up and walking over to her. She put her palm on Twilight’s forehead. “You feel a little cold, are you sick?”

“It’s nothing. Please. Let’s talk about something else.” Twilight said, waving away Applejack.

“Fabulous then. While we were walking from the train station I saw the cutest little...” Rarity said, taking up the reins of the conversation. Almost instantly Twilight tuned her out, not caring to listen to her talk about this or that little bit of fashion.

What took up her mind was the orb. ‘Celestia said that it hadn’t even moved since they had put it there. Yet the first time I was there, it tried to reach out and touch me. Was it something meant for her, or was it really alive?’

‘And if it was alive, does that mean it chose her for something?’

You’re beginning to get it. Yes, I am alive. Although not in the same sense you are.

She paled again. Apparently it could read her mind as well.

“Ok, thats enough. You look very sick now Twi, are you sure yer ok?” Applejack said, noticing that Twilight had gone even paler.

“I don’t think so this time. I’m going to head to bed.” Twilight said, standing up.

“I guess we should all get some sleep then. We have a big day tomorrow. And every day after, it seems.” Rarity said, standing up as well.

“Yeah, if we’re getting up early to head down there then we had better get our rest.” Applejack said, joining the standing group.

“You’re no fun. I thought this was going to be a sleepover.” Pinkie said, flopping backwards onto the ground.

“No Pinkie, we aren’t here to have fun. We have a job to do tomorrow for the Princesses, and we need to be ready.” Twilight sighed, as she opened the door to the room. “Good night everyone. We’ll head down early tomorrow, so try to get plenty of sleep.” She left to the sounds of several replies of assorted enthusiasm. She wandered throughout the castle, heading in the general direction of her old room. She didn’t know why, but the thing down there had picked her to do something. ‘Why me though?’

Why not?

And that was going to get really annoying. She sighed very loudly, drawing the attention of a few guards. She simply waved them off before continuing her walk. Not even her mind granted her the sanctity of being alone anymore.

Hey, I’ve been stuck down here with just myself for over a year. I didn’t want to talk to those two prudes that kept visiting, and you’re the first one other than them that came close enough for me to really connect.

‘HEY, they are not prudes. They are the princesses and they-’

I know what they do. I figured that out with all of the jewelry, and how you kept calling the white one princess.

‘Ugh, you’re almost as bad as Discord. Why are you even in my head in the first place?’

I figured that talking with someone is better than no one, and you’re the first who wasn’t one of those insufferable princesses. Would you believe the blue one spent an hour just yelling at me, to do anything whatsoever. I was tempted to reach out and take her crown just to get something other than yelling.

Twilight couldn’t even think of a response to that. This thing had just implied that it would insult one of the princesses just to get a rise out of her.

I have a name. Well, had. I think it was a name. It was what my previous owners kept calling me.

‘And what, pray tell, would that have been?’

They kept referring to me as The Seed. Capitals and all.

Twilight just facepalmed. ‘This thing-’

Seed.

‘FINE. This Seed was by far the single most annoying thing that had ever bothered her. It even outpaced Discord in terms of how annoying it was. At least he couldn’t converse with her in her own head. On second thought though, he might be able to.’

That would be fun. Three of us having a conversation in here? Do you think he would try?

‘No. I’m not going to ask him about sharing a conversation in my head. Two people is more than normal.’

You’re almost as much of a prude as your princesses. I think I might go see if that pink one wants to. Seems like she would be much more fun.

Twilight froze midstep.

I thought that would get your attention. Yeah, you were around them long enough for me to imprint a part of my consciousness onto theirs. If I so pleased, I could go have a conversation with any one of them. The pink one especially might have fun with another voice. She might actually hold an interesting conversation.

The image of her friends, all of them corrupted, came to mind.

Ah, the little flame remembers. Be very careful with that knowledge. Everyone hides their inner demons as best they can, especially from their friends. If any of them figured out that you knew, it might just be enough to let the little creatures free.

‘So you’re holding my friends hostage, so that I would talk to you. What do you want, in return for their safety?’

You have it entirely wrong. I couldn’t affect your friends like that. What you saw was the demons they already hold, the darkness in their hearts that everyone tries to cover and hide. But it wouldn’t do well for your friendship if they found out that you knew about those dark secrets. It might just be enough to break you apart for good. The voice tittered in glee, a sound that sent shivers up Twilight’s spine.

‘So you’re holding me hostage, with my friends. Why? Why would you do such a thing?’

Like I said, little flame, I’ve been down here for a year. With no one to talk to. I’m not going to lose the only buddy I made.

‘If this is how you treat your buddies, I would fear to be your enemy.’ Twilight thought, as she started moving again.

I have no enemies. There are those I am friendly with, and those who are dead. Although my previous owners wouldn’t exactly take the news that I’ve been talking with anyone well.

‘That’s twice now you’ve mentioned previous owners. You’re alive, but you’re property? Are you a slave or something?’

Not at all. I am a Seed. I am a recording of their history, a mark of the passage of time. Yet at the same time I am their future. Quite a conundrum, being both the past and future of something, isn’t it?

‘What are you talking about? Where did you come from?’

Nuh uh, that would be spoiling things. I don’t like spoilers. Ruins everything. You have to ask the right questions. When you do, I’ll give you an answer.

Twilight groaned out loud, getting several odd looks from the maids and guards passing by. She realized that she was still walking around the castle, and quickly made for her room.

‘So when will you tell me more about yourself? You’re immune to our magic, so we can’t exactly figure out what you are.’

As long as you keep asking the right questions, I’ll keep giving you answers. It’s a simple give and take, you give me interaction and you get to take information.

‘And if I don’t talk to you at all?’

Then I’ll take your very sanity.

She gulped. Surely this thing couldn’t affect her like that from that far away, right?

As long as you keep talking to me, you won’t have to find out if what I’m telling is the truth. Do we have a deal?

She either took the chance that it was lying and ignore it, or she kept talking to it and she didn’t have to worry about it.

‘Yeah, you have a deal. But you leave my friends out of this. This remains just between us two.’

Very well, although I think the pink one would find this fun. If you all had me in your heads, she would probably throw a Psychotic Voice in Our Heads party.

Twilight sighed, knowing how true that was. For now though, she wanted to sleep. While she was talking to it, she had found her way back to her room. Opening the door, she was about to call for Spike when she remembered that he was back in Ponyville watching over the Library.

“Ugh, just when I needed someone to help.” She said, her shoulders slumping down. She walked into the bedroom and flopped onto the bed, not even bothering to get ready to sleep.

“Tomorrow is going to be absolutely horrible.” She said, crawling up to the pillows. She slid underneath the covers, and passed out as soon as she was covered.

Deep in the Everfree however, things were just waking up. A hydra had decided that now would be a good time to hunt, and had found a good meal. Unfortunately, a manticore had decided on having the same meal. While they were fighting, there was a sudden flash of light by the food they were fighting over.

They stopped fighting long enough to look over and realize that there were three more things standing where there was only one laying before. They were angry that their first meal was lost, but now they had even more to eat. They hissed and started moving towards the three things, planning on making a meal out of these newcomers.

“Kill them both. No mercy.” A female voice rang out. The two taller creatures stepped forward, drawing weapons from nowhere. Both the hydra and manticore could feel the bloodlust emanating from these two creatures.

They suddenly felt very small, and extremely powerless before these two beings. They both cowered under the gaze of these creatures, and the hydra even started shaking.

The manticore on the other hand, turned to run. Almost instantly, it felt a sharp pain in its back. When it turned its head around to look, the largest of the creatures had jumped halfway across the clearing in an instant and had plunged its weapon hilt deep through the manticores spine. Before it could make a sound, there was another blade through its throat.

A flood of crimson hit the ground as the manticore collapsed, dead before it landed on the grass.

The hydra had watched the large creature move so fast that all of its eyes couldn’t follow it. Its instincts kicked in then, like a rat trapped in a corner. It charged the second creature. Before it had moved more than a few feet, there was a hollow feeling in its chest. One of its heads moved to look, and noticed a sizeable hole that hadn’t been there before. The first head had noticed that the weapon in the second creature’s hand was glowing red.

The hydra started to collapse, finally feeling the effects of having a large chunk of its torso simply disappear. As its heads hit the ground, the primary one looked up to the creature. There was a look of pity in its eyes, as it raised the weapon to the hydra’s head. The last thing it saw was a light inside the weapon, before there was nothing.

“Now that that problem is out of the way, did either of you bother to bring a map of this place?” The feminine voice asked across the clearing.

The large warrior grunted, wrenching his blades out of the manticore’s corpse before wiping them on the grass. “No Aphrodite, that was your job. We are here as your security escort. Your job was to know where we were going.”

“Shut up Ares. I was too busy with other things to nitpick over all of the details.” Aphrodite said, her voice starting to whine a bit.

“No you weren’t, you were too busy celebrating that Prophet finally bothered to give you a job. You’ve been complaining nonstop for months that he never has you do anything, yet you fail almost instantly in the one thing he actually asked you to do.” The second warrior said.

“Fuck you Hades,” Aphrodite said, flipping him off. “for now though, we need to find out where we are and where this ‘Canterlot’ place is.” She said, sighing. “Why can’t Hephaestus ever land us where we’re supposed to go.”

“Be glad he landed us on the surface rather than a few miles up. The last time someone had to use his rift to get somewhere they ended up in the shop for a few weeks. Isn’t that right Ares?” Hades asked, turning to his companion.

“Go fuck yourself, that was supposed to be your job. I ended up busted because someone decided to get their hand stuck in the engine gears helping Hephaestus do something he wasn’t supposed to be doing.” Ares said, his blades collapsing back into a small enough form to fit in the small sheaths on his thighs.

Hades chuckled a bit. “Yeah, yeah. So now we’re lost, on some Aether forsaken planet we have no way to get around on, with no easy way to contact Prophet for a while.” Hades said, sighing. His rifle collapsed back into the armor around his forearms. “So what do you suggest we do?”

The two warriors walked back over to their charge, who was deep in thought.

She looked up at them, a smile on her face. “Easy, we find civilization and ask for directions.” She said happily, walking off into the forest.

The two warriors sighed before following after her.

“This won’t be as easy as we had hoped, huh Ares?”

“Nope. I expect that our job just got a lot harder.”