Prelude: The Spiral by Twilight Sparkle
Since before Equestria was founded, we know the spiral has existed. There's simply no records of it being built by the first settlers, so we must assume it is older than us. The stone has been dated to be billions of years old, predating any current species, yet it stands the test of time.
I've returned recently from a five year expedition to attempt to understand what the spiral is. The expedition was originally meant to be two years, but the allure of becoming the first creature, let alone pony, to see what was at the top of the spiral was too much for me to resist. Being the student of Princess Celestia herself, I was able to extend the funding to include an attempt at scaling the spiral.
First, I must relay to you what I found within the first year of the expedition, as was the agreement for the original funding of the trip.
I had a thesis on the spiral and it's anti magical properties. To educate any who read this essay and don't know, though I doubt that's many of you, there is a field around the spiral that keeps flying creatures to the ground, limits magic practitioners from fully using their craft, and weakens earthponies to a severe degree... Comparatively.
As this isn't common knowledge, earthponies simply feel especially weakened by the spiral due to the fact that they've simply been lowered to the same stamina and strength as normal creatures. Being so powerful to begin with, the sudden change makes them feel especially weak, though they are far from 'sickly'. This sadly still dissuades most earthponies from entering the field, so many adventurers are not earthponies, and the ones who are don't go very far up the spiral.
My trip down to Spiral's Shadow was an interesting one. The town itself was quite the melting pot of cultures, everything from Zebra alchemists to Minotaur artificers. The town flourishes under the shadow of the spiral and surprisingly has a booming agriculture despite the limited room for farms and uncontrollable weather.
Within the town I was able to find many opinions on the spiral. Some thought it was a gift of the gods, and practically worshiped the spiral itself. Going to one of their services is, in my honest opinion, a must. They're a very philosophical bunch.
Other, more conspiratorial creatures said it was from extraterrestrial beings, as a form of homing beacon back to the planet. They were... Interesting to say the least.
Of course, the town was nothing compared to the spiral itself. Stepping into range of the field was sudden and jarring. I was holding a photography crystal in my magic taking aerial shots when I did, and I ended up breaking the crystal. It felt like something had grabbed hold of my horn and changed my font of magic into a trickle. It was nausiating at first, and the guide laughed as I fell to the ground. They had opted to not tell me we were getting close to the field as it would have been 'absolutely hilarious'.
At this point I had taken my first glance at the spiral proper. I was charmed. The sight took hold of me instantly, drawing me in like a moth to a flame. I knew then why everyone stayed by the spiral, even though it stripped them of their abilities, of their magic, their flight, their strength.
It was not till later that I knew exactly why I saw the spiral as so magnificent as I did. But I'll get to that later in the essay. Before I was veiled to the absolute beauty this structure held. From the high Canterlot mountain palace looking out to the spiral I didn't even realize how transfixing it would be. Yet there I was, unable to remove my eyes from it.
I didn't realize it then, but I now know that my original two year stay had changed from that moment. From that moment as I looked up at the spiral, I know now that I would have spent those five years no matter what. I could see how they thought it a god, a beacon, and alien. Nothing on Terrathaumis could have built that.
And I had to know how to build one myself.
Author's Note
I have a goal with this. I've said that before. But I do have a goal for this.
The purple unicorn stepped off the train. After a four hour trip down the mountain she was finally at the town surrounding the spiral. The spiral itself was breathtaking, but she had work to do. Off into town she went, looking around for any information she could get her hands on.
One of the first stops she made was a small, church like building fairly close to the train station. Equestria is by no means theocratic, why would they when they have a literal goddess presiding over them? Thus, she was curious about the strangely religious sect that she's never heard of seemingly centered in Spiral's Shadow. As she entered, she realized why the cult wasn't all that known. Within the building was a crowd ranging from powerful looking unicorns, to muscle bound Minotaur.
When she entered, she was quickly approached by a pegasus wearing a pendent with small, seemingly innocuous rocks strung on it. "Welcome, weary traveler. We all welcome you to our small cult. Tell us, why have you been brought here today?" The purple unicorn was a little unnerved. While she had some belief in the predestination of ponies, she never thought of herself finding places on her own as 'being brought there' by fate, or any other such force.
"Could you tell me what this cult worships? I was a little confused when I saw the church here in Spiral's Shadow, and it doesn't seem to be related to any recognized sects within Equestria." She asked, quickly as she was unnerved by the strange, almost statue like behavior of the cult.
"We worship the spiral, of course. It has brought us all here in our times of great sorrow, and showed us the way all creatures have abused their power. By taking it in our hubris as we stood before it, thinking it but mere stone." The presumably cult leader replies, an almost manic glint in his eye.
"I... See." The purple unicorn replies, clearly put off by the pegasus stallion's seeming reverence of the inanimate object. "Why do you believe the Spiral to be the thing that brought you here?"
"We all came seeking respite, distraction from the day to day drudge we endured up till we traveled here to its base. All of us were skeptical, just as you are now. But once we crossed past the magic field, we knew why we were brought here. Why we were summoned even!" He cries out, raising his hands and turning towards where the Spiral resides. The rest of the congregation follows suit, turning the same direction and raising their hands to the sky.
While they're distracted with their worship, the unicorn backs out of the small church, unnerved by the strange mannerisms of the creatures inside. As she backs out she meets Spike at the door, her shattered nerves clear on her face. "Twilight? Are you okay? What's going on in there?" He asks in quick succession, looking beyond the now named unicorn to try and get a look inside.
"Nothing, Spike. Come on let's go find someplace to stay..." She says uncertainly, looking over her shoulder as she ushers the nicely dressed drake off towards the town, fully intent on searching for an inn or hotel to stay at.
Aside from the strange cults, the stranger monolith, and the occasional wild cloud, the town looks fairly normal. Bustling streets, vendors on every corner selling trinkets and crafts. All hawking their wears to any tourists and citizens alike. They make their way quickly through the busy streets, briefly asking for directions and advice for good places to sleep. Eventually finding themselves by a larger tavern looking structure, a sign above the door denoting it as 'The Demon's Rest Tavern & Inn'. Despite the ominous name, they've been assured by many locals that the rustic looking inn is the most reputable and pleasant stay in that part of the city.
The enter in, and find themselves once again submerged in life. Tables filled with patrons, waiters and waitresses busing food and dishes back and forth from the kitchens. Behind the bar and seemingly front desk is a larger mare, well into maturity with a kindly face, wearing a smart set of pants, a dress shirt, and a dress vest. A small blue bowtie sits nicely under her shirt collar, matching her eyes to the hue.
They make their way to the mare, standing at the part of the bar that isn't occupied by chairs and patrons alike. "Excuse us, we'd like to rent a room for a few days?" Twilight calls out over the din of conversation and dinnerware, the mare obviously heard them and came professionally and quickly to their assistance.
"Of course hon, you would like a double, yes?" She asks, glancing at the drake beside Twilight and taking a wild guess that they're together.
Twilight quickly confirms, and the mare nods, pulling out a key and registry form. "Just sign a few lines and check to see if the pricing is fine for you, and we can get you settled in before Celestia raises the moon." Twilight glances out the window, where the sun had risen not five hours ago. Hoping it didn't take as long as the mare implied, she looks over the registry, marking off boxes and, seeing the price as fair, signs her name giving the registry back with the necessary funds.
Taking both, the mare slides the key forward towards Twilight, nodding gently to herself. "Enjoy your stay hon, and don't go breaking any beds~" She winks at the two, completely miss interpreting their relationship. Not even giving them a chance to correct her as she goes back to taking drink orders.
Finding it a lost cause, they look at each other with an embarrassed flush as they quickly head up to their room. Giving Twilight some much needed privacy to get over her strange experience earlier, explaining in short what happened to Spike, who quickly begins snickering at Twilight's overreaction to the situation.
Author's Note
Well, this was overdue. Don't expect another chapter soon, but I promise I'll work on this more now.
Prelude: Arrival by Train
A purple unicorn wearing a simple, white and turquiose dress is jostled awake as the train jumps a little due to some debris on the tracks. Her purple eyes wide and dilated as she looks around manically for the source of her sudden wakefulness. Across from her an equally purple dragon sits, looking amused at her sudden fright.
The dragon adjusts the sleeves on his dark purple, crushed velvet jacket before looking back at the unicorn. "Did you have a good nap? I hope the train derailing didn't startle you too much." The dragon jokingly asks the unicorn, though she doesn't seem to take it too well as she looks further panicked.
"Derailed?! Why are you just sitting there we need to-!" She cuts herself off as she finally thinks through what she's saying, her sleep deprived yet sleep addled mind finally clearing away the fog enough for her to realize how stupid she was sounding. On the other side of the coach room the dragon laughs away, his chest heaving as he tries to catch his breath.
"Spike Glitter Sparkle... You will stop laughing right this instant. That wasn't a funny thing to say, and it isn't funny to joke about disasters like that..." She warns 'Spike' slowly. Her face settling from panicked to a more disapproving glare. Spike calms just enough to respond.
"I wasn't making a joke about the train derailing, I was laughing at your reaction!" He barely gets out, before falling back into a fit of laughter. The unicorn was absolutely fuming at this point, deciding it was a lost cause to settle Spike down and berate him for the unfunny prank. She simply looks out the train window at the slowly growing town down the mountain and the large monolith of a structure jutting out of the flat green lands below. She sighs, knowing there to be at least a few more hours before they arrive. She lays her head against the window, enjoying the cool glass and drifting back off to sleep, her mind slipping away as she rests her head.
Author's Note
One part of the plans is for the 'prelude' to be a few short chapters while I figure out my writing prose a bit.
