In Pursuit of...

Chapter 15: Seeing is Believing

Twilight shakily disengaged the arena spell and trotted over to Mecha and Nimbus, glaring at the former.

“What?” Mecha said, trying to look innocent.

“Next time,” she whispered, “next time I’ll get you.”

“We’ll see,” said Mecha, “now let’s finally have a look at that scroll, shall we?”

Twilight used her magic to open the saddlebag and pull out the scroll, unrolling it gently and turning it towards Nimbus.

“Okay,” said Nimbus, “let’s see what we’ve got here.”

On the scroll was a simple depiction of a dark castle, which appeared to be floating in the sky, as well as one phrase, inscribed at the bottom. Nimbus read it aloud.

“Only through the eyes of the first will the truth be revealed.” He looked up. “That’s weird. What’s that supposed to-“

Suddenly, Nimbus’s vision went white. He closed his eyes to escape the blinding light, but still it persisted, burning into his very eyes behind the lids. No one else had observed anything, however. To them, it seemed as if Nimbus had just undergone a nervous breakdown. Immediately, both Twilight and Rainbow Dash were at his side.

“Nimbus!” Twilight said, “can you hear me? What just happened?”

“Snap out of it!” Rainbow Dash yelled, “stop being a weirdo!”

Nimbus’s eyes opened suddenly. When his vision returned to focus, he immediately noticed something odd- he could see an aura of sorts around everyone, the same color as their coats. It took him a moment before he realized he was seeing magical fields.

“Whoa,” he said, “this is awesome!”

“What’s awesome?” Applejack asked, still nursing her neck where Nimbus had slashed her earlier.

“You mean you guys can’t see this, too?” Nimbus asked.

“See what?” Mecha asked. “Nimbus, why don’t you tell us what just happened.”

“Okay,” said Nimbus, calming down. “When I finished reading the words, the scroll let off a flash of light. I tried to close my eyes, but it didn’t seem to help. After the light was gone, I opened my eyes again, and now all of a sudden, I’m seeing these weird auras around everyone- I think they’re magical fields.”

Mecha and Twilight Sparkle, the group’s experts on magic, looked at each other, confused. Was it possible Nimbus had just been given magical sight? If that was the case, then locating the Unifier would require his eyes alone.

“I think you’re right, Nimbus,” Twilight said, “and here’s my theory as to why: the Unifier must be hidden somewhere only initially visible through this vision you have, which sounds like an advanced stage of what Rarity, Mecha, and myself have. That means you will be our eyes for this journey.” She turned to the scroll. “Apparently we’re looking for a large castle in the sky. That shouldn’t be hard to find. The question is where to start looking.”

Nimbus peered at the map as others gathered around. He noticed a very large waterfall set right below the castle.

“Can anypony make sense of that?” he asked, pointing to it.

Rarity stepped forward, beaming. “Of course!” she squealed, “that’s Neighagra Falls!”

“Neighagra Falls?” Rainbow Dash asked, “you’ve been there?”

“Well of course I have!” said Rarity, “the banks of the river below it are positively littered with polished stones and gems!”

“I should have known,” Rainbow Dash said, rolling her eyes.

“Oh goody!” said Pinkie Pie, bouncing around again, “so we’re going to Neighagra Falls?”

“It looks that way,” said Nimbus, “but I don’t know how we’re going to get all of you non-flyers over there. It’s a long walk, and I don’t want to waste too much time.”

“Hmm,” Mecha said, eyeing Nimbus, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, “I have an idea, but our Pegasi friends aren’t going to like it much.”

“What did you have in mind?” Nimbus asked warily. Mecha turned to Twilight.

“Do you still remember your conjuration spells?” he asked.

“Of course I do!” Twilight said, kicking at a clump of grass absently, “what do you need?”

Mecha grinned somewhat wickedly. “A chariot. Can you do that?” Now it was Twilight Sparkle’s turn to grin.

“I do believe I can. Stand back.”

…

Moments later, a large, ornately-decorated chariot was sitting in front of everyone. Rainbow Dash just looked at it in horror.

“We’re supposed to pull that? Do I look like a workhorse to you? No! I’m a free spirit! I’m the soul of the sky! I’m-“

“Voluntold,” Nimbus finished. “Let’s just get hooked up and do this.” He took a second look at the chariot. “Although really, Twilight- you couldn’t have done something a little more… inconspicuous?”

Twilight Sparkle shrugged, climbing in. “It’s the best I could do!”

Nimbus groaned and hooked himself up to the lead position. He knew this wouldn’t go well with Rainbow Dash, but as he was apparently the only one who could see the castle, she’d have to live with it.

“We ready?” he called back as Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash strapped in on his sides.

“Ready!” Rarity called, “just follow my directions!”

“Right,” Nimbus mumbled, “that’s comforting.”

He looked to Rainbow Dash, then to Fluttershy. Both nodded, signaling that they were ready. Nimbus took off at a trot, stretching his wings to warm up for takeoff. Slowly, he began cantering, then galloping. They were picking up speed now.

“I’d suggest you hold on!” Nimbus called back to those behind him, “we’re doing an emergency military departure from here!”

He heard a muffled “oh no,” from behind. Though he wasn’t sure, it kind of sounded like Mecha. Nimbus grinned. Time to show Mecha what the Air Force could do.

At top speed, Nimbus pulled up sharply, pushing an almost vertical climb angle, and accelerating rapidly. The speed at which they were climbing was pulling his cheeks back, and he noticed that Dash and Fluttershy were having the same experience. Slowly, he rolled right, completing a barrel roll and leveling off. He looked back, to make sure everyone was alright. Twilight had cast a restraining spell, so no one had fallen out. Still, there was at least one very disgruntled passenger. Mecha popped his head up over the side of the chariot and glared at Nimbus.

“I hate flying!” he yelled, “I hate being in the air, I hate your Luna-forsaken ‘military takeoffs’, I hate barrel rolls, and I hate you!”

A sudden rush of turbulence bumped the chariot, and Mecha lost his balance, falling to the floor. Nimbus and Rainbow Dash shared a chuckle, though Fluttershy seemed more concerned than anything. Now it was Rarity’s turn to take her place at the front of the chariot.

“Nimbus!” she called, “start going north! You’ll run into some train tracks soon that will lead you right past Neighagra Falls!”

“Okay, sounds good!” Nimbus replied, banking north. By himself, a trip like this would only last perhaps an hour, but he’d have to double that time at least, considering the load he was carrying. That meant a long flight… and plenty of time for showboating. He looked back at Rainbow Dash.

“You feel like showing those ponies back there what a Pegasi feels like?”

Rainbow Dash’s face lit up. “Oh yeah!” Now Nimbus was speaking her language.

Nimbus turned to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, just… hang on.”

Fluttershy let out an “eep,” and closed her eyes.

“Ready?” Nimbus yelled out.

“Ready!” Rainbow Dash responded. Rarity turned her head back to the Pegasi pulling them.

“Ready for what, exactly?”

Nimbus didn’t answer, though he did hear another “oh no,” from Mecha. He angled himself downward, into a dive.

“Let’s pick up a little speed, eh Rainbow Dash?”

“Now you’re talkin’!” Rainbow Dash said, putting all of her wingpower into the dive. They pushed downwards, flying faster. The ground was rushing up quickly to meet them, but still they continued on, unphased.

“That’s low enough, don’t you think?” Rarity called from behind.

“No way!” said Rainbow Dash, pushing on. Just before impact, they pulled up, barely skimming over the ground, and diving and climbing to match the contours of the earth.

“Yeehaw!” Nimbus yelled, pulling the chariot into another roll, then leveling off again. Next, he started to climb back to the sky, using the speed from the dive to keep climbing beyond the altitude where they’d leveled off before. Looking out of the chariot, Twilight was amazed. From here, she could see the land’s curvature. She’d seen pictures in books before, of course, but to actually see it in front of her was something else entirely.

“You done yet, showboats?” Mecha gasped wearily, pulling himself up to glare at Nimbus. Nimbus noticed that his friend seemed a bit greener than black, and took pity.

“Oh, fine,” he said, beginning a slow dive back to their original altitude. Pinkie Pie was ecstatic.

“That was awesome!” she called from the chariot, “I like the part where you were diving, and whooshing across the sky, and rolling, and- oh my gosh, it just makes me want to yell Chimicherrychanga! Actually, I think I will! Chimicherrychanga! Chimicherrychanga! Chimi-“

“Oh no,” said Rarity, eyes going wild, “not that again! Anything but that!”

Nimbus smirked, picking up speed and allowing the wind in his ears to block out the sound of Pinkie Pie’s bliss. Before long, Rarity called out again. It seemed she had an edge of insanity to her voice, but Nimbus couldn’t tell. At least Pinkie Pie was quiet now.

“Nimbus, dive below the clouds! You should be able to see the train tracks by now!”

Complying, Nimbus led the chariot down through the clouds. Sure enough, there was a train track below him. He recognized it as the North Equestrian Line- one of Equestria’s busiest tracks. Something struck him as odd, however, and it wasn’t until Applejack spoke up that he realized what it was.

“Hey,” Applejack said, “where’s the train?”

“Probably not scheduled right now,” said Mecha.

“Applejack’s right,” said Twilight to Mecha, “I’d believe your statement, except that there’s almost always a train on this line. Something’s not right.”

“We can’t focus on that now,” said Nimbus, equally disturbed by the missing train, “we have to find the Unifier before Eclipse does!” He didn’t dare say that it was possible Eclipse already had found it.

“Right,” said Rarity, obviously starting to regain sanity, “Neighagra Falls are right behind those mountains,” she pointed to a group of mountains surrounded by large, dark storm clouds. Nimbus couldn’t see anything above the mountains, as the clouds were too thick, but he knew their destination rested in those clouds.

“We’ll have to go through the storm!” Nimbus yelled back, raising his voice to compensate for the wind, which was picking up and howling.

“Are you crazy?” Rarity yelled back.

Nimbus didn’t answer. Instead, he charged straight ahead, aiming right for the center of the cloud. He squinted as rain began to beat down on him, obscuring his vision. Still he plowed on, through the clouds which were beginning to darken now. They were almost there. High winds rocked and buffeted the chariot. Rarity screamed, Mecha looked sicker than ever, and Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie clung together for their lives. Nimbus had ceased to hear anything now. The wind screamed, and attempted to throw him back the way he’d come, but he refused to yield. Up ahead, he saw a glint of green. The magical aura was dead ahead! Giving his all, Nimbus surged through the clouds ahead. There was a flash of green, then abruptly everything stopped. The wind was gone, the skies were clear, and the rain had disappeared. They were inside the field now, and everyone could see the sights around them, unrestrained by the field’s power. Nimbus felt a strange tingling sensation near his eyes, as the strange vision he’d been given earlier disappeared. “Probably only good for one task,” he realized. As his sight returned to its original state, he looked up at the sight in front of him. Looming dead ahead was a massive, dark castle, hovering like the one on the scroll. This was where the Unifier was. It had to be. Nopony spoke for several seconds. Finally, it was Mecha who broke the silence.

“Let’s get in there,” he said, “and find that Unifier. I hope we aren’t too late.”

“So do I,” said Nimbus, banking right, climbing, and landing on one of the castle’s towers. As he unhitched himself, however, he felt something odd that made his mane hair seem to stand on end. perhaps it was just a feeling, but this structure seemed to echo nothing but despair and disappointment. Whatever happened, they’d need to get in and out of here quickly. He only hoped what they found inside would be what they were looking for.