Adjacent Adventure

by Merallakos

Rating: everyone
Tags: Zipp Storm, My Little Pony: A New Generation, Adventure
Length: 10600

Zipp has found discrepancies in Equestrian Lore, and has become determined to find the truth.

As magic has begun to fade again, Zipp's urge to explore has risen. When she comes across a perfect opportunity to uncover Equestria's past, Zipp will discuss, network, interview and literally dig her towards a long abandoned and ancient Equestria.

This fic is a setup for a longer adventure, but is intended to work standalone*. It features Sweets as the deuteragonist, and a number of side characters from the movie (some of who I have taken the liberty of naming). They are: Moon Sonnet (who it turns out is usually named Gloomy Sonnet), Tomas (that one pony who looks like Sunburst but with completely different hair and maybe a nationality change), Z.Z. (Who usually goes by Zoom Zephyrwing), Thunder (Who has not remembered to talk about his sneaker collection yet.), and some others too I guess.

This story is a submission to the Generation 5 Bingo Contest

My prompt:
Zipp Storm, Rescues, Sweets, Scroll, Tartarus

Thank you to MeanderingNekomata for editing and proofreading! Thanks to TheAncientPolitzanian for more proofreading! Special thanks to the Bingo Contest Discord, and the flashfic 150 group which are both great! Thanks to Honk Boy and Vuld Edone who both gave me motivation to work on this at least once.

*I can no longer see that word without thinking of Ghost in the Shell.

Published 2022-01-10 04:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2022-01-10 04:30:01 UTC

Craturhuld

It was said that ancient Equestrian pegasi could sense currents in the wind, know where they came and where they went. That they never feared loosing their balance. They were best mountaineers, the fastest scouts, and the nimblest fighters.

Amid sun cut shadows, the mottled hills of grass and stony dirt gave way to climbing granite. Up here, the wind rode fiercely; forcing stands of tenacious trees down into strenuous crawls along the mountain. Hours of hiking had banished any chill in Zipp's body, but what she saw before her made her shiver. It was... Her eyes traced further and further and further, she was struck by the extent of everything. It was was much bigger than she'd thought it'd be.

It was an enormous basin, a colossal bowl two dozen miles in diameter. Mountains crested the rims. What would be smooth land beneath the foothills was split by shearing ravines. There was a maze-like pattern to the ravines, it didn't look like any natural formation Zipp had ever known. Everything was coated in yellow grass and pilings of granite ruins. The deeper into the basin Zipp looked, the more and more ruins cropped up. In the center of the basin, a massive stadium-like building dwelt.

It was shocking. Zipp had never been taught about this by any of her tutors. But it was here, in this remote corner of Equestria. It was so plain to see, it almost made her angry. But, generations of ponies had never known of ancient Equestria. Of course Zipp's tutors hadn't known of Craturhuld. Even Sunny hadn't known about it. Only two records even existed.

Only two strange ponies' accounts of the city had led Zipp here, the first step to answers. And only one would lead Zipp all the way back to Canterlot. To Answers. About history, magic, and the crystals.

A glob of warmth formed deep in the pit of Zipp's stomach. A smirk spread across her face. Yes. She spread her wings, rising proudly forward, then a gust of wind nearly blew her off the cliff--

She recovered.

She shook her head, rising regally, this time with a little better grip of the stone. This! She surveyed the chasms and buildings. This was what she was born to do!

Zipp's eyes dashed this way and that, there was one more thing that was critical to find. The Northern Pass. According to Ghostir, it was critical to pass through this to get to Canterlot... If Zipp could not find it--ah! There! The massive fortification not only visible, it was intact. Just like Gostir had described, it was made with--Zipp squinted. Between the wind-caused tears and the distance... Well it was definitely what she was looking for, though binoculars would be nice.

Zipp was broken from her reverie by a light green pegasus walking to the top of the mountain beside her. His eyes darted around the basin, appraising it.

"Thought the scroll said this would be navigable by hoof!" the guard had to raise his voice against the wind.

It is. Zipp thought.

From behind, another guard called. "What are you whining about now, Thunder?"

"We found it!” Zipp answered. “Craterhold!”

"Woah!" Z.Z. exclaimed, eyes widening as she surveyed the vast, vast depression. "Incredible!"

"Yeah, but how do we get across it?" Thunder pointed at the concentric chasms. "If you're not careful, you'd be blown right into one of those!"

"It’s just a maze!" Zipp said.

"What about the Storm the villagers were talking about?" Z.Z. asked.

“It abates nearing autumn,” Zipp explained. “But it seems like we got lucky!”

"So are we going to explore it?"

"Definitely!” Zipp looked backwards. “Where’s Marble?"

The group looked back. There was moment of dread as none of them spotted the photographer, and then–

“I’m coming!” A white unicorn came barreling up to the crest. “Just had to take a few photos– Wow!” Marble took out a camera. “Now this is good stuff!” click “Storm clouds, ancient ruins, oh yeah!” click “I need a scale photo. Somepony come here, wait–”

“Hey, Marble!” Z.Z. called, already descending, “Keep moving!”

Zipp and her team of three picked their way down into the main pass (the south pass) that led into the basin. The pass was dammed at the end by a six story defensive wall. Approaching the wall were the moldy remains of hundreds of tents. The remnants of pennants and weapons were scattered throughout the ruins, peeking out from a sea of yellow grass. Two massive banners had survived. The first lay in a tangle before the wall, a faded purple star on it. The second hung from the middle of the wall, its tattered length stretching nearly three quarters of the way down its surface. The unicorn, earth pony and unicorn crystals were printed on it.

Once past the wall, the basin began. Muzzle high, ochre wheat carpeted the descending hills and vales, overtaking many small walls which had once segregated various farms. The accompanying houses had long since crumbled away, and very few recognizable roads remained.

About two miles in, the grade of the basin began to even, and the ruins intensified. The group encountered their first ravine. As Thunder had worried, the wind, coupled with a lack of visibility made the path along it quite dangerous even with the powers of flight. Zipp had a sinking feeling, she knew that to attempt this within the Storm would far too risky. And expedition to cover all the distance necessary would have to be perfectly planned.

They found their first dead end. It was too wide and too windy for the pegasi to risk carrying Marble across. Luckily Marble’s photos, in conjunction with some daring aerial reconnaissance from Zipp, allowed the group to find a viable route.

By the third mile –halfway to the center of the basin– the wind began to pick up. Then it mellowed, switching directions, becoming suddenly warm. It was at this point that Zipp realized the Storm was coming in. Or rather, it was at this point she saw it.

“Uh oh!” Thunder pointed up an armada of grey clouds spiraling rapidly closer. “That’s that perpetual storm the villagers were talking about, right?”

“Think we can take it?” Marble asked.

“Nope!” Zipp said. “Let’s head back!”

The group picked their way back out of the basin, but by the time they reached their pass, the storm was already in force.

Zipp, Izzy and Sunny talk about History

Izzy, Sunny and Zipp rode together on the back of the Maretime Bay tram, watching the scenery scroll by.

"So," Sunny blew a hair from her face. "What have you found so far?"

"Honestly," Zipp said, "most of the stuff in the secret archive is too delicate to touch. The place was sealed away before anything could be digitally archived."

Sunny asked, “Would telekinesis wor–?”

“No. I checked with Marble.”

"Oh come on!" Izzy jabbed Zipp. "You didn't come all this way just to tell us that!"

Zipp smiled. "That doesn't mean that I didn't find anything."

"What did you fiiiind?" Izzy asked.

"Three things." Zipp smirked, "First, you know how everything hints at ponies coming over to Zephyr heights from Canterlot, right? And some ponies talk about the travel, but nopony ever talks about the the actual route, right?"

Sunny and Izzy nodded.

"Well, that changed. I found two travel logs. For the first time ever, I pieced together a fairly comprehensive route from here to Canterlot." Zipp produced a map from her backpack, holding it on display for Izzy and Sunny to see.

"Wow," Sunny's eyebrows shot up. "That's incredible, Zipp!"

"Woah," Izzy pursed her lips, eyes tracing north. "That's a lot of mountains. No wonder Canterlot never got involved in the war."

"Hey, wait a minute," Sunny studied the map. "If what we figured out about the coastlines is true, then shouldn't Canterlot be to the west of us? And, there are too many mountains."

"But we already know that if that were really true, earth pony sailors would've already found Canterlot Mountain." Zipp countered.

"Yes, but--"

"Oh not this again!" Izzy interrupted. "What else have you found, Zipp?"

Zipp took a deep breath. "Well, I looked into Argyle's accounts of Twilight."

"Twilight?" Sunny asked.

Zipp raised an eyebrow. "Well, have you ever looked into her?"

Sunny raised an eyebrow back, Izzy pursed her lips quizzically.

"Some ponies say she's a unicorn." Zipp gestured. "Most say she was an alicorn. Some say she was a student. Others say she was a princess."

"Uh, duh." Sunny rolled her eyes. "Because she was a unicorn who became an alicorn, and a student who became a princess!"

"I think you're right." Zipp tapped the side of her muzzle, "Buuut sources are conflicting. Some accounts... The way they're phrased make it seem as though Twilight was only a unicorn or only a student."

"Mhhmhmm," Izzy mhm’d , "I'm not so sure about that, Zipp."

"I guess it's worth considering." Sunny's face scrunched in thought. "But wouldn't that just mean that the accounts were written at different points in Twilight life?"

"Yes, except for this." Zipp frowned. "Almost every one of them is after Twilight became an alicorn and a princess. And the same holds true for tons of accounts regarding Twilight's friends, and Equestria in general."

"Elaborate," Sunny said.

"In some stories, Rarity can use magic, but in others she never had it. Some stories say that Applejack had earth-pony magic that helped her farm. Others say she was just a regular pony. And some stories categorically deny that pegasi controlled the weather. Considering some of the incidents in Zephyr Heights... we obviously could."

"Guess that's one good thing about the magic fade," Sunny said.

Zipp chuckled uncomfortably. “It’s getting harder to fly. I used to be able to do loop de loops with a thought.”

“Yeah, now it’s like it takes actual skill or something.,” Izzy rolled her eyes.

Sunny laughed.

"Hmmm," Izzy thought. "You said you found three things, Zipp?"

Zipp nodded, taking her map back out. She pointed to a spot in the mountains north of Zephyr Heights. "I went to Craterhold."

Sunny frowned, "It exists?"

Zipp reached into her backpack, spreading a series of photos like cards.

"Woah," Izzy and Sunny gasped. They were quickly taking the photos from Zipp's hooves, examining them eagerly.

"Look!" Izzy presented two photos, "It's a Starswirl statue. And this one is Twilight dressed as Starswirl! It’s Nightmare Nights!"

"I found a wall with the three crystals," Sunny said, showing a photo. "And the building kind of looks like a temple?"

"For somewhere so remote, this place sure does have a lot of defenses," Izzy observed. "And weapons."

"I think there was a big battle at some point." Zipp shivered. "We found some skeletons… According to basically everypony, the Storm is basically perpetual. There are even multiple reports of explorers getting struck by lightning."

Sunny looked up from the photos. "Zipp, wasn't this dangerous?"

Zipp took out one last photo. Zipp, Thunder and Z.Z. were frozen in a screaming gallop against the wind, lightning and a broken building behind them.

"Very dangerous." Zipp said. "But don't you guys want to know more?"

“Not if it kills you.” Sunny said slowly.

“...Are you okay, Sunny?” Izzy asked.

Sunny shook her head. “I’m fine.”

“Zipp.” Izzy took Zipp’s hoof, “It’s dangerous.”

“Hey,” Zipp smiled, “I have a plan.”

Queen Haven Rescues Phyllis’ Dying Faith in her Company

A moon had passed since Sweets (and Toots) helped Sprout induce mass hysteria and almost start a race war. It had been four weeks of idiocy as the City Council refused to use Canterlogic to its full capacity (they could at least clean up Sunny’s house!), and perpetuated the idea that interracial trade was silly. Sweets was half-way between amusement and horror at the level of silly-ness maintained in Maretime Bay. Speaking of which:

"I WAS THE MARETIME DICTATOR!" Sprout yelled above the tumult of the meeting.

"Who cares about what the council members think?!" shouted a stockholder.

"They're our main source of investment!" an engineer rebuked.

"We need a new product!" a voice cried.

"We don't even know what ponies want!"

"Oooh! Ohh! I know! Phones!"

“That’s pegasus technology!”

“Well, it’s not like it’s outlawed.”

"Where are all the sparklllllles???"

Sweets frowned at that last remark. She chewed her gum a little harder.

"Everypony!" Phyllis shouted, but nopony seemed to notice. "EVERYPONY!" she screamed.

Silence. All heads turned towards Phyllis.

One of the overhead lights started flickering.

Phyllis sighed. "The Towel Dispenser was a flop. Our workers are complaining about the lack of work. We need solutions. Today. Does anyone have any reasonable suggestions that they can present? It's okay, take your time."

A rotund pony raised his hoof.

"Toots?" Phyllis asked.

"I think we need to see what Maretime Bay wants." Toots adjusted his collar. "See what ponies want."

This extremely basic idea Sweets and Toots had come with in hopes its simplicity would capture their audience.

"Bah humbug!" shouted an elderly pony. "What we need is another twenty ton war machine to show those unicorns who's boss! Like in the old days!" He rubbed his hooves, "This time, with cannons."

And just like that, the meeting derailed again.

Zipp, accompanied by Queen Haven, had entered Canterlogic thirty minutes ago. They sat now in a hallway so universally bland that it was hard to believe it hadn't been transposed straight from a Zephyr Heights office.

Zipp looked over at her mother.

Even in the most hopeless situations, Haven had the uncanny ability to make it seem like there was nothing to worry about. Even after her arrest, and the ensuing demand from Zephyr Heights corporations for a political reform, Queen Haven was still managing her regular duties and continually filibustering policy changes. In the midst of this, she’d excused Zipp from her royal duties, and was here, ready to help her convince a foreign company to develop a vehicle for an expedition of which she had no assurance of success.

Queen Haven smiled at Zipp.

Zipp smirked back.

The door opened. A pony with a gravity defying ponytail trudged out. She turned towards the window at the end of the hall, staring blankly as she chewed bubblegum.

Zipp cleared her throat.

No response. The pony despondently blew a bubble.

"Uh..." Zipp opened a wing, "Hello."

The bubble popped as the pink pony startled. She gasped. "You're not a Canterlogic employee!"

"Woah." Zipp stood up, holding her hoof out. "Relax. I'm Zipp Storm, or just Zipp for short."

“Uh,” The pink pony's face scrunched. “I'm Sweets. I don't think you're supposed to be here."

"I was wondering when the meeting will be over," Zipp redirected cooly, flashing her visitor pass.

Sweets frowned, "It's already over." A particularly large shout issued from the meeting. "Well, it will be soon."

"Hmmm," Queen Haven stood and spread her wings regally. "The truth is, Sweets– that is your name, right?"

The pink pony nodded.

"The truth is, Sweets," Haven continued, "that after much research, Zipp and I are here to discuss an important business opportunity with Mrs. Cloverleaf. Maybe you can tell us about the problem with the..." Queen Haven flicked a hoof at the meeting room, "current discussion is. We might just be able to help out."

Sweets frowned skeptically.

"Please, let us help you." Queen Haven said.

Sweets looked at Zipp.

"Uh," Zipp smiled, "Please?"

Sweets noted that while the initial angry passion that derailed the meeting had since faded, the bickering had not. The small brains of Canterlogic were truly in play now.

Toots and Phyllis both sat at the head of the table. The latter was nodding idly, pretending to follow along with the unproductive babblings of her company's upper management, the former was not even trying to hide his disappointment.

Sweets trotted up to Phyllis. She whispered, "Do you know Zipp Storm and Queen Haven?"

Phyllis nodded minutely.

"They want to know if they can join the meeting. They seem convinced they can fix this mess."

Phyllis' face betrayed no emotion. She gave a slight nod.

Sweets opened the door, signaling to Queen Haven outside before closing it behind her and taking a seat at the table. Toots shot her an inquisitive glance, but Sweets only shrugged, popping another piece of bubblegum into her mouth.

Then the door burst open. In entered a pale pink pony wearing mauve business attire, her sparkling vestments lighting up the room like a disco ball. Queen Haven quickly captured the attention of the bickering business ponies.

Gliding in after her was an absolutely magnificent pegasus. She wore an expertly tailored suit, whose charcoal grey tones underscored her candy colored features. She surveyed the room with a calm air, eyes moving cooly from pony to pony.

"Phyllis," Queen Haven's voice broke through the room.

"Oh! ...Your majesty!" Phyllis bowed. "What brings you here? Don't you know we are discussing important business things?"

"Business meeting?" The Queen surveyed the dozen or so ponies whose eyes were now trained on her. "Is that what all that yelling was? Sorry, but in Zephyr Heights things tend to go a little differently. Never a need to raise voices– unless it's to praise Me of course." She chuckled egotistically.

"Uh," even Phyllis seemed taken aback, but she shook it off. "With the recent antiquidation of almost all Canterlogic products, and being Maretime Bay's prime source of economic prosperity and capstone of the City Council's investments, we are struggling to redefine our company."

"OH." Haven sat down. "Well. Please continue. I wouldn't want to interrupt."

"Oh, I'm afraid it's a lost cause at this point," Phyllis waved dismissively.

"Perhaps," Zipp moved to the front of the room. "We can help get things back on track. You said this meeting is to discuss the future direction of Canterlogic?"

"Mmhm," confirmed Phyllis.

Zipp repositioned a whiteboard in front of the room. She erased it, and wrote out 'Canterlogic - New Directions.' at the top, underlining it for emphasis. "So, just what was the agenda for your meeting?"

"Uh, agenda?" Phyllis asked. "It's right there: what is Canterlogic going to do in the future?"

Queen Haven walked in front of Phyllis, looking straight at the camera. "Hah, hah hah! Everypony knows that the start of any good business meeting is an agenda! First on the list is naturally a briefing, to make sure everypony is up to speed."

Zipp wrote ">briefing" on the whiteboard.

"Then we must discuss, in depth, the problems that our current paradigm shift presents."

Zipp wrote ">problems" on the board.

"Then we should talk about opportunities. Does anyone disagree?" Haven looked around the room.

The business ponies shook their heads.

">opportunities" appeared next on the board.

"Can we also have one for complaints?" asked Phyllis.

"Of course," Haven nodded, "Zipp?"

">complaints, concerns"

"And then we can finally discuss–"

"The solution." Phyllis smiled.

"Exactly. After which we can debrief." Haven looked to her audience. "Anything else before we begin?"

Another round of shaking heads.

">solution

debriefing"

"Now," Queen Haven said. "Before we continue, perhaps we should have a little recess?"

Murmurs of agreement spread through the room.

"Everypony dismissed. Be back in ten minutes!" Phyllis waited until most everypony had left the room, then heaved a massive sigh of relief. "Thank you, Queen Haven."

"Please," Haven smirked. "Just 'Haven.' And besides, what are friends for? ...About that 'business opportunity' though...”

Vignettes

Vignettes

Sweets hurried out of the elevator onto the factory floor. She took a left at the welding stations, eyeing the remains of the Sprouticus Maximus, before hurrying into a meeting room. She clicked her pen, set down her clipboard and cleared her throat.

Canterlogic had split in two, one half focused on market research, the other dedicated to developing a roving base for Zipp Storm's exploration deep into the mountainous north. Sweets was given the opportunity to choose her division.

"Toots couldn't make it. But I have the full list of specs from Zephyr Heights."

Sweets felt like she'd made the adventurous choice.

"We're anticipating it to have a minimum crew of three ponies, maximum capacity of nine, including two month's supplies..."

Afterwards she'd reconsidered. Sweets couldn't shake the feeling that this was the unimportant side of things.

"The weather is pretty bad. So, it needs to be insulated against electrical hazards…"

Which part of Canterlogic would ultimately have the most impact? The domestic impact of whatever the next line of Canterlogic products was would likely reshape Maretime Bay industry. It’d definitely impact the ponies Sweets knew. Wouldn't it be in her best interests to help them?

"There will be... 'communications utilities' manufactured by Zephyr Heights,"

Zipp's side however... It was simply exciting to be involved in an "expedition." Besides Toots and her family, Sweets didn't even know if her friends cared much about her. With this, even if she didn’t see where the vehicle and Zipp went, even if she never saw anything they did, even if she didn't even make anything for it, it would still be nice to be involved.

"It'll need to be able to cover rocky hills with grades up to 66%."

Sweets would have to go back to regular Canterlogic projects once the mobile base was finished. Speculatively, only three lucky ponies would be selected as personnel for the machine from Canterlogic. She had hunches on who would volunteer. It wasn't like she was about to go on some life or death adventure she might not return from.

"And it needs to be painted... Hot pink. Got all that?"

Instantly, every engineer's hoof shot up.

After days of conferencing with engineers, scouts, various consultants, and her mother, Zipp had finally almost struck a balanced plan for the base. There was only one holdup.

“Ah,” Alphabittle examined a stack of papers. “Manacrystals.” He looked at Zipp, handing the papers back. “To be honest, I never really knew a whole lot about those. Back in Bridlewood we don’t use them complexly. Guess with losing the war and everything, that became a thing of the past.”

Zipp sighed. Based off of previous vehicles and current prototyping, Zipp’s base would need a fortune’s worth of manacrystals.. The budget was already strained! Zipp’s one hope was that perhaps Bridlewood could help. Now, her hopes were dashed.

“Hey,” Alphabittle said. “Stop frowning. I didn’t say I don’t know anypony who could help!”

Zipp raised an eyebrow. Perhaps her hopes were justified after all.

Alphabittle smiled, leaning forward and polishing a platter with a napkin. “I happen to know a guy who knows a lot about crystals. You kind of met him the first time you crashed my place. Tomas. He’s a bit of a recluse, but if you want Crystals, he’s your guy.” Alphabittle chuckled, “I should know.”

“Limbo contest.” Zipp remembered the unicorn crystal.

“Limbo crystals?” Haven looked up from her phone.

“No, Limbo contest.” Alphabittle chuckled. “Haven, I have to tell you about this.”

“Well,” Haven stashed her phone. “I do find unicorn culture fascinating. Maybe we could talk about horns again?”

“Uh,” Zipp interrupted, “Tomas?”

“Oh, yeah.” Alphabittle nodded, “Izzy knows where he lives.”

Zipp stood from the table, thanking her mother and Alphabittle, before exiting the dining hall, trying to make space for a trip to Bridlewood in her schedule.

Zipp Digs a Hole

Confirmation from Zephyr Heights had finally come in. Sweets had already begun queuing production of the mobile base's tracks and suspension. Much of it was already adapted from the Sprouticus Maximus. The scaffolding for the frame was already unfolding on the floor, and chassis elements from old war machines were neatly organized to the right, outside of Storage.

In comparison to the production of the Sprouticus Maximus, things seemed like they'd be even smoother, especially with the extended deadline which would allow for much more intensive testing and optimization. Not that was saying much, as the Sprout’s vehicle got about an hour before it was put into use.

From Sweets' vantage in Toot's office, she saw no reason development would not be speedy and smooth.

Sweets looked down at her desk. The three personnel slots open on the mission. Anypony was allowed to apply. Sweets had taken two copies of each application from Pony Resources and had given four away to prospective candidates, but the last two she'd yet to fill.

There was a knock at Sweets' door.

"Who is it?" Sweets asked.

"It's me." It was Toots' voice, and it sounded like he'd gotten over his cold.

"Sorry, no name, no service."

Toots came in anyway. "Hey, so I've been thinking."

"About?" Sweets got out of Toot's chair.

"Well," Toots came around to the side of the desk. "First of all, you're way too organized."

"Pffttt," Sweets scoffed.

"Second, you've been doing really well. I uh, talked to Phyllis, and she really appreciates the work you're doing here..."

"Yeah, and what's your point?"

"Well," Toots ran a hoof through his ginger combover. "I know we usually work as a team. Do things together, partners and all that... but I was wondering if it'd be okay if we split up."

"Sure." Sweets moved the chair over to Toots, "You want your job back?"

"Well," Toots paused, flipping one of the applications on the desk so he could read it. “Pilot. Nice.”

"I'm encouraging ponies to apply." Sweets explained.

"...Right. Well, I was thinking I'd take a different position. And I was wondering if you wouldn't mind staying here?"

"Uhm." Sweets put a hoof to her chin in thought. "Hm... Yeah, I guess I can stay." She slowly settled back into the chair.

"Oh, good!" Sweets smiled. "Uhm, also, I'm seeing another mare."

Sweets frowned. "Toots, our relationship was never romantic."

"Whaaaat? C'mon, you're telling me you're not at least a little jealous? She's a unicorn."

"That's pitiful, Toots. Go back up to Phyllis and get your job."

"Alright," Toots laughed as he turned to the door. "But if you ever change your mind," He made a very terrible impression of a smolder, "You'll know where to find me."

Sweets had a very spontaneous fit of coughing as she good-byed Toots. Closing her door, she all but collapsed on the floor laughing. Eventually it subsided, and she settled back down at her desk with a smirk. It would be weird without Toots, but she'd already proven herself more than capable. Besides, pegasi were cooler than unicorns anyway.

Zipp, Thunder, Z.Z, and Izzy all made their way to the Crystal Tea Room to look for Tomas. In wake of Alphabittle's "business trip," the Crystal Tearoom had closed, but the regulars had come anyway: setting up a picnic outside the tree, between its wide roots. Sitting atop one root was a mare dressed in red beret, with purple dyed hair swept over one eye.

"Hey, Moon Sonnet?"

The mare scowled.

"Hey. Moon Sonnet," Izzy repeated, "you know where Tomas lives, right?"

"His place," a set of bongos played faintly as Moon Sonnet paused, "Is my place.”

"Can you tell us where it is?" Zipp asked.

...Moon Sonnet stared blankly at Zipp.

Zipp gazed back.

Izzy side-hugged Zipp, raising her eyebrows.

"...Okay," Moon Sonnet decided, plopping off the root. "Follow me.”

As Zipp, Izzy, Thunder and Z.Z. followed Moon Sonnet deeper into the forest, it became darker. The massive trees grew closer together. The varied terrain sloped downwards, and a dark carpet of soil covered the trench-like path recessed into the roots, boulders and vines. Where not covered in plant life, the path was sporadically paved with pentagonal slices of glowing crystal. Of course, being Bridlewood, there were crystals everywhere. Sprouting from the ground, hanging from the trees, growing on trees.

Tomas' house turned out to be a cottage, built atop a large root berm. Spread around the house there were several yam-vine laden trellises. A set of stairs was carved into the root base leading up to the cottage. Dappled crystal-light sparkled across the vines and cottage. The overall effect was quite cozy.

Zipp noticed a long crystal that looked surprisingly similar to the type required for her base hoisted under one of the eaves of the house. Crystalline braids wrapped around it, disappearing into the abode.

Moon Sonnet led the way into the cottage. Tomas, as it turned out, was in a rustic kitchen, boiling a kettle on an electric stove.

"Visitors." Moon Sonnet announced.

"I can see that," Tomas said. "Who– uh, What are you all doing here? And, uh, would you like some tea?"

Izzy entered first, and the rest of the group followed, crowding into the small space.

"Hi, I'm Izzy," Izzy held out a hoof.

Tomas shook it, "I remember you, you helped steal the Unicorn Crystal from Alphabittle. Tea?"

"Yes."

Tomas took a cup and saucer from a cupboard, pouring Izzy a cup of tea.

"I'm Zipp," she gestured at her guards, "and this is Z.Z. and Thunder. I'd love some tea."

"Alright, Zipp." Tomas poured another cup of tea. "And what about you, ...Thunder and.. Zee, was it?"

"Zoom Zephyrwing," Z.Z. clarified. "You can call me Zoom. I'll take tea."

"Do you have any energy drinks?" Thunder asked.

"...No, but maybe I can mix something up?" Tomas pursed his lips,, possibly considering what might constitute an energy drink.

Thunder nodded, "Make something wi–"

Z.Z. clamped a hoof over Thunder's mouth. "He wants tea."

"Oh, uhm, of course." Tomas got halfway through filling Thunder's teacup before the kettle ran out.

"Oh, oh no." Tomas squirmed. "Uh, I can uh, I can make some more tea!"

"No no no, it's fine," Zipp soothed. "We can just share." Zipp poured some of her steaming hot tea into Thunder's cup. Z.Z. followed likewise.

"Uh, that works. I guess."

Thunder immediately downed the cup. His carefree smile quickly turned into scorching panic. "FFFFFFFF–"

“No!" Tomas rushed to the sink.

"Ah, maybe you guys should take this outside," Zipp advised, patting Thunder on the back.

"Hold on," Tomas filled a canteen with cold water, rushing back to Thunder, who was still hissing in agony.

"Drink this, it'll cool you down." Tomas hooved Thunder the canteen.

Thunder grabbed the canteen. Relief radiated through Thunder's face as he gulped down the water. "I, uhhh–"

"–We're going outside," Thunder stated.

"Yeah," Thunder nodded his thanks to Tomas, taking the canteen out with him.

"Aaaaanyway," Zipp turned back to Tomas, "We were wondering if you knew anything about manacrystals."

Zipp stared down at a smattering of heptagonal crystal tops embedded into the smooth, soft gray earth. Each one had the diameter of a hoof, if not a little smaller.

"These are the crystals?" she asked.

"Yes," Tomas replied, tossing Zipp a shovel. "There's a stream here during spring, and each year when it dries up, it leaves a little more sediment and a little more crystal. This wide part is actually a dried up pond that used to be quite a bit deeper a hundred or so years ago."

"Seems plausible," Z.Z. said.

"It's true," Izzy confirmed.

"Would it be possible to levitate the crystals out?" Z.Z. asked.

"Well I haven't tried it," Tomas stroked his beard, "but if they got scratched on the way, it would decrease their potential. Excavation usually works, and with you four and Moon Sonnet, we’ll be finished in no time!"

"It was worth a shot," Z.Z. leaned on her shovel.

"Alright," Tomas addressed the group, "so, has anypony used a shovel before?"

"Me." Moon Sonnet raised a hoof.

"Us," Thunder and Z.Z. said.

"I dig my own crystals all the time!" Izzy answered.

"Uh..." Zipp said, embarrassed. "No."

"Okay, Moon Sonnet, you teach Zipp how to dig." Tomas gestured at a flat area away from the riverbed. "The dirt pile is over there, don't get too aggressive because you never know when you'll run into another crystal. Hopefully we'll be done before lunch."

The scraping of shovels filled the air as Zipp smiled hopefully at Moon Sonnet for guidance.

"Watch." Moon Sonnet held the shovel in front of her, hooves at the top, the shovel's tip resting in the ground. "The wooden part is the shaft, the metal part is the blade. You want to put one hoof on this step" she placed one hoof over the blade of the shovel, "and then," she jumped, landing on both steps and sending the shovel sliding into the packed silt. "Push it in."

Zipp repeated the motion, noting her shovel was now stuck in the ground.

Moon Sonnet nodded. "Now pull the top of the shaft down," she dislodged a chunk of the ground, "and take it to the pile." The yellow unicorn slid one hoof down to the collar of the shovel and carried the load over to the designated dumping spot. "Easy."

Zipp easily dislodged her chunk of ground, however she found carrying it to be surprisingly strenuous.

"Wait," Sonnet took Zipp's left hoof, sliding it down the shovel towards the blade. "Leverage is important. Keep your hoof close to the collar, that's the part where the shovel and the shaft meet. K?"

"Alright," Zipp dumped her load of dirt.

"Now from the top."

Zipp positioned her shovel near her previous pit and quickly dislodged some earth. Once more she deposited it in the pile.

Moon Sonnet nodded. "Now you can dig."

While Zipp had never used a shovel before, she quickly adapted. With so many other ponies helping, it was actually a lot of fun. Before long, they discovered that it was much faster to have Zipp, Thunder and Z.Z. break up the riverbed while Tomas, Moon Sonnet and Izzy used telekinesis to move the broken earth to the pile.

It was a good two hours of digging and six feet down before the group managed to expose the full length of the first crystal. Another three full length crystals were painstakingly extracted and were just as carefully cleaned and wrapped.

Things Come Together

Maybe development was going a little too smoothly.

From acquisition to processing to installation of the core crystals had only taken three days. The final prototype of the mobile base had passed every test they'd thrown at it thus far. The electrical and mana systems worked well. Everything had just fallen into place, like a mass produced tank from the old war.

Sweets still felt kind of haunted by her choices. Every time an opportunity presented itself to withdraw, she pulled herself further into Zipp's mission. Toots had convinced her to apply for pilot and... now she was ready to be interviewed. She guessed.

A fedora’d pony –Rob– opened the interview room door. "Hey Sweets, we're ready."

Sweets entered the room and Rob closed the door behind her. Sweets had imagined this interview would occur in a dark room, a single table with two folding chairs. She was never sure why. In reality the room had white walls, tinted yellow by the incandescent light bulbs. A simple desk, two office chairs and a couch furnished the room. There was a– a Zipp on the couch. She was dressed in the same dark blue suit that she'd been in when Sweets first met her. Her pink and blue toothpaste-mohawk was as brilliant as ever.

"Uh." Zipp made eye contact with Sweets. "Weird, right?" She gestured at the couch, "Normally interview rooms don't have couches."

"I told you I was letting another pony in," Rob complained, poking his head in through the door.

Zipp smiled at Rob.

She kept smiling.

Zipp didn’t stop smiling.

Rob closed the door again.

"Please," Zipp said professionally, "Sit down."

Sweets weighed her options. She could sit on the couch, behind the desk, or in the interview chair. Frankly, she was a little intimidated by how casual Zipp seemed about the prospect of hosting a job interview on the couch, so she decided to go for a gamble. She dragged the office chair over to the couch, using it as an ottoman.

Zipp nodded approvingly. And then her confidence seemed to wane into discomfort. "I was actually expecting somepony else."

"Who?" Sweets asked. So far she had no idea what was going on with this interview, but this definitely wasn't what she had expected.

"I shouldn't say much, but he applied for all three positions. He showed up first for the other two interviews."

"...Haven't there been a lot of interviews?"

"Phew," Zipp sighed. "Yeah, it's been a long morning. Rob's been teaching me along the way, but it's exhausting."

"Hey," Sweets reached out and gave Zipp what she hoped was a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "You can do it. Just another hour you'll be able to have lunch!"

"Huhhh, and a trip to the bathroom."

Sweets and Zipp laughed.

"I like your collar," Zipp said.

"Oh, thanks." Sweets had considered other options, but the collar looked good on her and was practical. She'd detached he name badge and swapped her blue tie with a dark green one, but it was pretty much the same one she wore everyday.

"I like your suit," Sweets returned.

"Thanks, I pick–"

"Interview?" Rob opened the door again.

Zipp took a deep breath, sighing through her nostrils. "You're right. Let's go back to the desk."

Sweets nodded, "Professionalism is important."

The rest of the interview proceeded much closer to Sweets' expectations. She had mulled over most of the usual interview questions already, so nothing quite caught her off guard.

"Alright," Zipp made a few notes on her notepad. "Any questions for me?"

Still, this was the part Sweets had been a little afraid of.

"Yes," Sweets said. "You've been to Craterhold, right?"

"Yeah."

"You've never been past Craterhold though."

"I haven't. But I have multiple accounts of ponies who have." It sounded like this wasn't the first time Zipp had been over this subject today. "Even if the route doesn't turn out to be viable, we should always be able to turn back around... If you're afraid though... I'm not sure how to phrase this..."

"I'm not afraid," Sweets said. "Just a little concerned."

"About the route."

"About the hazards." Sweets was convinced there would be a navigable route.

Zipp tapped a hoof on the table. "It will be dangerous. There may be problems. But I believe that we're already prepared. With the tank, the right crew and unity? I think everything is gonna turn out alright." I will make sure of it."

Sweets sighed, "I'm sure you will." She went back to her mental list of questions, "Oh, also,"

"Yes?"

“Is Sunny Starscout going to be on the team?”

“No,” Zipp said.

"...Ok, next question: Is this expedition really necessary? I mean, can't you just find more around this part of Equestria?"

Zipp leaned back. "Not strictly. Honestly I know there's a lot to find right here. Izzy and Sunny still have a lot to recover just in the Lighthouse.

"But, I just have a feeling. Do you really need to be in an extreme situation before you go on an adventure? Is it required to have a dragon before you go looking for one? Just because you have more puzzle pieces here doesn't mean that you can't go find others, right?"

Sweets nodded. Fragments of a picture could entice more than its whole. Ponies had strange desires, but those were often the ones most worth pursuing. You didn't need context to define yourself if you knew what you wanted.

Zipp had feelings, she trusted her gut. Sweets supposed that that was valid. Perhaps it would be enough.

"You're right." Sweets stood, "I feel like this expedition has a shot. Thank you."

"Thank you too." Zipp held out a hoof, "Regardless of whether or not you get the position, you've been really helpful getting this whole project going."

Sweets took Zipp's hoof. "Anytime."

Grease had taken a long time with the manacrystal harness since its last use. He'd spent long hours tuning it, positioning each intricate power braid, reexamining the crystals and checking layer after layer of components. Some systems of the mobile base (Grease called it a crawler, despite the fact it could move faster than a gallop) ran directly on mana. The lights, the suspension, and plumbing were all manapowered. Most of the crawler, including the motors which ran the tracks, were electrical.

Beneath the harness, the crawler had two large black boxes and one smaller pink one which served to transform mana from the manacrystals into electricity. The mechanics of how they functioned was unknown, but they tended to generate a lot of heat, and Grease expected to spend his nights sleeping near them.

Grease made sure for the last time that all the electrical fuses were installed correctly and that the crawler was ready to drive. Though, he wasn't sure why he bothered because it had already been driven quite a few times, and it really didn't seem like the problematic type. Unlike a lot of the leftover construction equipment which Canterlogic still provided service for.

From outside the vehicle, a voice announced, "OK, Sweets! Start her up!"

"Ah," Grease murmured, "That's why I bothered.

The pop of bubblegum echoed from the cockpit as Sweets engaged the manacrystals.

“Gahhhhh!” Zipp ground a hoof against her forehead in frustration. The interviews had all gone phenomenally, but when she’d returned to Zephyr Heights to actually pick candidates, she’d found that her original outline of the crew was hopelessly vague!

“I heard sounds of struggle,” Queen Haven entered Zipp’s study. “Is everything alright?”

Zipp was hunched over various papers spread across her desk. Head in her hooves. “I don’t know who to pick! How do you decide the crew of an expedition to forgotten territory?”

“Well,” Haven strolled over to Zipp’s desk, “who do you need?”

“I don’t know! Nopony has ever done this before.”

“Really? I seem to recall that this whole ‘base’ of yours is like some kind of tank? Hasn’t that been done before?”

Zipp nodded. “I know I need a mechanic, mana technician, a pilot and a navigator. But I already picked ponies there from Canterlogic.”

“Who?”

Zipp took a mechanic’s application from a drawer. “This pony is Grease. He applied for all the positions. He’s a very qualified mechanic and manatician. He’s reliable and cool under pressure.”

Haven sat beside Zipp. “You know him? You trust him?

Zipp thought for a moment. “Yes. I met him and I like him. He seems… trustworthy.”

Haven shrugged. “He’s one of Phyllis’ employees I suppose. Now for your pilot,”

“Sweets. She’s consistent, adaptable, and she’s getting pretty good at driving the tank.”

“And you like this one too?” Haven’s tone was slightly pointed.

Zipp nodded slowly, an uncertain look on her face.

Haven looked over Sweets’ application. “She seems of a decent sort. Your ‘navigator,’ I presume, is you.”

“Why,” Zipp feigned surprise,” how did you guess?”

“Hmm, the navigation classes, maybe? You’re also the captain, I presume.”

Zipp nodded. “But who else do I need?”

“Nopony. You seem to have the essentials covered, don’t you? Food, water, transport, shelter… The ponies to maintain it.”

“No,” Zipp opened a drawer, finding a specific page of notes. “I need more ponies so we can be speedy. I want somepony with a specialized knowledge of history. I also need somepony to take photos, that’s important. In Old Equestria there were monsters, so a fighter or someone who knows about animals is warranted. It might be nice to have someone who knows how to cook…”

Zipp monologued for a bit before Haven stopped her. “Let’s go back a hoof or two maybe. What are your goals for this mission? What do you want to happen?” Haven paused. “Why is it you’re doing this in the first place?”

“Okay,” Zipp took a deep breath. “At some point, Equestria changed drastically. We lost a lot. But how did we lose it all?

“The goal is to find out how. Or at least, get clues.”

“What clues do you think you will find?”

“That depends on who I take, if–”

Haven corrected herself, “What clues can you find.”

Zipp’s nostrils flared, “I don’t know!”

“I think you do.” Haven tapped Zipp’s head. “What have you been doing for the past moons, meeting with your friends every week after pouring over scrolls and books in the basement?”

Slowly, Zipp recentered herself. “I want to go to Canterlot because a pony named Gostir came from there to here a long time ago, back when Equestria was whole. I know I can get there. But what would I find there?”

“Did you not think this far?” Haven put on a very straight face.

“One minute, I have some notes…” Zipp pulled out another page of notes, standing up to face her whiteboard.

“The earth ponies have gotten to you, I see.”

“This is a lot easier to erase.” Zipp began compiling a list of possible clues:

-Stone reliefs
-corpses
-graveyards (especially if war)

-personal effects

-clothing
-documents
-decorations

-pictures

-figurines

-Why is Twilight’s cutie mark in certain places?
-magical items
-maps
-buildings
-towns
-Ponies, dragons, creatures

“Hmm,” Haven strolled around the board. “What about these requires a specialist?”

“If it’s been as long as I think it has since old Equestria was lost, a lot of this stuff will probably need to be excavated.” Zipp tapped the list,” I also could use someone with experience cleaning things, not to mention it would just be nice to have more ponies to help.”

“You know for certain that you would need things dug up?”

“In Craterhold, a lot of the houses had sunk into the earth, so yes.”

Haven uncapped a marker and wrote “Unfilled niches:” in a new column. Below it, she added “-Excavator.”

Zipp quickly added “-photographer.” She followed with “historian,” and “diplomat,” ”negotiator.”

Haven crossed out the latter three. “You know more about the relevant history than anypony but Sunny, and you’re perfectly capable of filling the other two roles,” she explained.

“What about a chef?” Zipp asked

“The rations you ordered are prepackaged meals.”

“Warrior?”

“Hm,” Haven’s lips pursed. “Someone from the royal guard.”

“I was planning on Zoom or Thunder.”

Haven rolled her eyes, “Of course.”

“What?” Zipp asked, incredulous.

“Nothing, nothing. Is there anypony else you might need?”

“I think that should be enough…”

Unumbryo

Words on the screen hovered in front of Zipp’s eyes.

The Capricorn is a roving platform designed to aid ponies in exploration of environments otherwise to hazardous for prolonged exposure.

It is divided into seven interior sections with four cabins on the right side and three on the left. The cabins on the right side are dedicated to inner workings of the vehicle, while those on the left are primarily made with the housing of the crew and supplies in mind. The frontmost cabin on the right side is a zephyrglass canopy which houses the steering instruments.

The document continued. Zipp lowered the tablet. “You’ve been working on this manual for three days now?”

“I mean, obviously not all of that.” Z.Z. bounced as the Capricorn powered over a particularly large bump. “But, when I have freetime.”

“Cool,” Zipp hoofed Z.Z’s tablet back, swinging off her hammock. “What time is it?”

“It’s seven.” Tomas called from the cockpit. “Same time you always wake up.”

“Where’s Sweets?” Zipp asked.

“The radio, I think.”

“I’ll remind her it’s her shift now. Where are Marbles and Grease?”

“They’re doing their… thing.” Z.Z. stared sideways at the ground.

"Still?” Zipp crossed her forelegs. “I really thought they’d have it out of their system by now.”

Atop the observation deck, Marbles and Grease were chanting. Grease carried the bulk of the chant with tribal vocalization, while Sweets added accents and percussion with a set of bongos. Together they did not drown out the mechanical noise of the tracks as much as they augmented it.

As the Capricorn rose from behind a hill, an escarpment loomed into view, stretching far into the northeast. The terrain dipped before meeting the escarpment, leaving a good mile of downhill coniferous forest.

From the top of the hill, a small alpine village could be seen spread in the trees against the escarpment. Already at the southern entrance of the village, a small, colorful crowd could be seen accumulating. A few more acrobatic ponies flapping up into the air for a better look.

Two older ponies detached from the crowd, heading up the dirt road to meet the vehicle. As they closed the distance, one of them pointed at Marble and Grease, murmuring something under the noise of the tracks. The other one, a stallion, batted a medallion hanging from his neck, shrugging. Then he actually caught sight of Marble. He gasped, galloping up alongside the Capricorn. "Marble?!"

The Capricorn slowed as the two very squishable ponies came up along side it. Sweets popped open the sidepanel of the cockpit so she could shout at them if need be.

As the vehicle slowed, Marble softened her drumming and she smiled in recognition. "Hey, Dad! Hey Mom! Look, I'm a drummer!"

"Look, Tina!" Marble's dad pointed up, "Our daughter's alive!"

"Tuna we saw her just the other week!" Tina exclaimed. She looked up at Marble. "Is your captain Zipp or whatever on board?"

"What for?" Marble asked.

"The mayor wants us to speak with your captain."

Just then, the rear door popped open, Zipp poking her head out, "Hey, Mr, and Mrs. Tuna! Come on in!

Zipp and Tomas quickly pulled the townsponies aboard into the small back cabin. The back cabin was currently serving as a storage area, filled with various supplies held in place by multi color netting on all sides, leaving only a small tunnel through.

"Welcome aboard, Tina, White tuna," Zipp greeted as they moved towards the middle cabin.

"Hey, Zipp." Tina returned, looking around at yet another cabinful of supplies and the cockpit. "Where's the captain of this thing?"

"Well you're looking at her," Tomas gestured at Zipp.

"Woah!" Tina's husband, Tuna, smiled. "Zipp, How'd you manage that?"

Zipp shrugged. "I uh, came up with the whole idea for this thing?"

From the cockpit ahead Sweets made something between a laugh and a hack.

"Anyway," Tina said, "you heard this spiel before, but I gotta give it to you again, just to make sure you know what you're gettin' into. You might want to get Marble and that other fella down here so they can hear too."

The roof hatch behind Zipp suddenly opened.

"Did someone say my name?" Grease slid down the ladder.

"Yes," Tina said. "There's something you should hear." Tina walked into the middle cabin and sat down. "Before y'all go headin' off to who-knows-where, there's something you should be aware of. The route you're on will take you through the Blackstones.

"Now I know that might not seem important, but let me explain–"

"Ponies who go through" Tuna raised his eyebrows, scowling, "don't come back."

Grease shot Zipp a look. One that said, We know all this already.

Sweets on the other hoof was staring with rapt attention to Tina and Tuna through one of the mirrors in the cockpit.

"Well," Tina corrected, "Not exactly. More like, sometimes ponies have been known to disappear after headin' through the Blackstones. And it's not a myth. It's happened."

"That said," Tuna continued, "it doesn't always happen. Just sometimes. Leading theory is if you go through them an even number of times you won't disappear. Go once or thrice though..."

"Granted, no one's been stupid enough to test that theory yet."

Zipp swallowed, rubbing the back of her neck, "Actually I did."

Tina raised her eyebrows, "'Swear I told you not to do that."

"Well... I did."

Tina sighed. "Guess it's too late to stop ya. We took down the gates as soon as we saw you coming... But just to be clear, y'all know the risk, don't you?"

"We'll be back," Zipp assured.

Zipp noticed the Capricorn slowing down again. "Sweets?"

"Oh, uh, we're uh," Sweets popped a stick of gum into her mouth, "we're getting close to the village."

The village was Unumbryo. The northernmost town in the Pegasus Kingdom before the ruins of Craturhuld. The village was built almost as much into as it was beside the massive, granite escarpment that overshadowed it. The first section of the town was built on one of the slopes leading up to the granite cliffs. It was a series of Tudor style cottages scattered between elder pines. Steep dirt paths wove up down the hillside, creating passages from cottage to cottage. The second part of Unumbryo was composed of several rising tiers of farmland. The fields grew upon natural pillars of rock which hugged the cliffs and each other. A series of canals, waterfalls and aqueducts fed the crops, all delta-ing down from an orange roofed building located midway up the cliff. beneath the farms and cottages, there was a fissure-like lake, It was big enough to warrant one small dock and a couple fishing dinghies, but not much else. At it’s narrowest point, it was crossed by a wooden bridge.

“Wow,” Marble said from the floor of the Capricorn’s cockpit, “it’s even prettier the second time around. Look at that side profile.”

Sweets spared a glance down at Marble and found she was reviewing photos of the Capricorn. The vehicle was all tank on the bottom, with an angular body on top. The original plan of hot pink paint had been toned down to white with pink and purple accents.

“Is now really the best time for that?” Sweets’ tone was slightly disbelieving.

“Look at that bilateral asymmetry,” Marble nodded approvingly. She cooed, “Inverted front windshield, all glass canopy, visibility that totally isn’t limited by the engine nacelle.”

“Marble, you are in front of the ride height lever. Please take some photos, or get off the floor.”

Marble snapped a low angle, capturing Sweets’ shadowed, ornery face in front of the morning-kissed cliffs.

“Why’s everything stuck to the walls?” Grease asked, pointing at the plant filled balconies.

“Keeps us out of the wind, hail and lighting,” Tina replied.

“The Storm, right?” Zipp asked. “Does it have an actual name?”

“Mostly we just call it the Storm. Some folks like to call it ‘Cerberus’ Teeth.’ Heard one stallion call it ‘Garados,’ but he wasn’t from around here.” Tina shrugged. “Take a right here, Sweets. We just want to get to the Watermill where all your friends and food are at.”

The stop at the Watermill was a brief one. Thunder, along with a couple other ponies, met with the crew of the capricorn to perform last inspections and load up all remaining supplies. Before long, the Capricorn was finally underway, moving at a decent canter towards the cliffs.

Zipp had allowed a number of ponies to ride in the tank for the ascent up the cliffs, including Grease’s friends, Thunder, and a couple village ponies who seemed adamant about seeing the interior of the Capricorn. Little had they realized that Zipp would simply stick them on the observation deck.

The stone-built road up the cliffs was only barely wide enough to squeeze through. While the Capricorn had been designed with this road in mind, it did not make it any easier. Despite this, the atmosphere of the departure was fairly upbeat. Zipp remarked that the cottages of Unumbryo would likely be the last pony-inhabited structures the team would see for quite some time, and was met with cheers.

“I’m looking forward to the Craterhold ruins,” Sweets explained.

“And it’s so much more exciting being where nopony has been in centuries,” Marble continued.

“Not to mention the fact that we’ll get to be completely independent,” Grease added.

“Tomas would probably say something about the dirt,” Z.Z. nodded to herself.

“I’m really excited for everypony,” Thunder said.

The Capricorn drove up the last bend in the road before it turned into a split in the cliffs’ crest. Sweets pivoted the vehicle to face into the break.

The road ahead was clearly less traveled, with grass sprouting through the cracks. A metal fence and gate had been moved to the walls of the pass. Tina and Tuna stood next to it.

“Y’all that aren’t on the mission, get off!” Tina called.

The ponies on the observation deck gave a round of “awwws.”

Sweet popped open canopy panel, “What was that?”

“Are Grease’s friends in there?”

“Yeah,” said Thunder.

“Well, this here’s the point to disembark!” Tuna hollered.

The extras, including Thunder, all disembarked, standing behind Tuna and Tina.

“Will you guys be alright?” Tuna asked to Sweets.

“Probably,” Sweets answered.

“We’re not scared,” Grease called through the window.

“But we are prepared,” Zipp continued. “Though, maybe we should ask Tomas before we leave.”

“We’ll just ask him when we get to the Blackstones,” Marble called.

“So that’s consent from all you ponies?” Tina asked.

The residents of the Capricorn made various affirmations.

“Well, get along then.” Tina shooed the Capricorn.

“See you in three months!” Tuna waved.

A couple salvos of goodbyes were exchanged between the Capricorn’s crew and Tina’s group until the tank disappeared around another corner

The first time Zipp had been through the passage in the cliff, she’d expected the road to quickly emerge from the cliffs onto the mountains, or perhaps a plain leading to the mountains, leading to Craterhold.

She was wrong

Which was weird considering Gostir’s account of the passage was very detailed, and Zipp had gotten to the point were should recall most every single one of those many details. Yet still, part of her still wasn't expecting it to actually be real somehow.

The ill traveled road quickly turned head onto into the escarpment through what once might have been a ravine. The cliffs on either side slowly closed over the road until there was no way up. Within the subterranian section, the road forked. As planned Sweets took the right side, diving into a mossy limestone tunnel then coming to a larger cavern with a limestone monolith inscribed with a modest number of names. Past the Chambe of the Lost, the moist caverns joined into an entirely pony made tunnel, completed with a subterranean stream running in a gutter along the road. Sweets pointed the yellow spotlights of the Capricorn down the tunnel, but it seemed no matter how long she stared forward, there was always an inpenetrable blackness ahead.

“I didn’t realize you weren’t kidding when you said the tunnel was long,” Sweets said. “When will we get out?”

“Hmm… How fast have we been going?” Zipp asked.

“We’re going around eight miles an hour for the straights, uh, slower for the corners.”

“We’ve been going for about an hour or a little more," Zipp calculated, "so probably… another thirty minutes.”

“Phew!” Sweets exclaimed. “This is a long tunnel!”

Author's Note

April 23rd, reworked the description of Unumbryo, I've decided to change the spelling of "Craterhold," to "Craturhuld."

Februrary 4th, 2024: Reworked some of the descriptions and dialogue!

The Point of No Return

The last twenty minutes of the drive saw the tunnel get wider. It turned from bare stone to stone interspersed with archways. Then into a single, consistent stone arch. In the last stretch, the masonry stopped, opening into a vast cavern. Sweets took a moment to shine a set of yellow lights upward.

Zipp opened the observation hatch, flapping rapidly up to touch the ceiling. “You look small from up here,” she called.

“It’s a nice temperature in here,” Sweets called up.

“Cool?” Zipp panted as she glided down. “Flying has definitely gotten harder since the last time I tried it.”

Sweets laughed a little.

“So this is the Blackstone chamber,” Marble announced in the cockpit. She pointed directly forwards where the blackstones bookended the cavern’s exit, “Point of no return.”

The two monoliths held enough space between them for three Capricorns to fit through. If together, the menhir would occupy a space equivalent to the Maretime Bay tram. They were embedded in the cavern’s rock face, seeming sharper, their shadows more distinct. Dark was not the right word to describe their intensity. Their onyx-obsidian color ate any light that was shone on them. When hit from the right angle however, they would refract light into spectra, casting back thin lines of red, orange, yellow, and green across the hull of the the Capricorn and into the eyes of its crew.

The lines moved like the reflections of street lamps as the mobile shelter approached in echoing silence.

Perhaps two hours of listening to the reverberated noise of the tracks had deafened the crew, or perhaps the brevity of the moment muted everything. A vibration grew taught, pulling the guts of every pony, sleeping or not, towards the opening between the stones. Afterwards, Sweets would swear that when they passed the threshold of the Blackstones, it was like flying as her guts dropped into her throat.

Zipp swore she saw the extension of the Blackstones a thousand times, extruded in perfect replication across a geometry she didn’t comprehend.

Marble knew the stones were but a shadow, and true comprehension was for only the truly gifted.

The rest of the crew felt themselves shift back, like falling from a dream.

And then, everything was normal. The chamber and the Stones were behind them, the tunnel was ahead and rising. The Capricorn’s rumbling tracks resurfaced.

“Phew, that is not easier the third time,” Zipp wiped a bead of sweat from her brow.

“It happens on the way back?” Sweets asked.

“It’s worse,” Z.Z. answered.

“I can’t believe I did that,” Sweets sighed.

“Hey look,” Marbles pointed. “Light at the end of the tunnel.”

Soon the stone masonry underneath treads gave way to rocky sediment. The sky opened between three peaks to the left and right. Sweets let Capricorn slow to park beside a tarn as she stared. Climbing to the observation deck, the Capricorn’s crew could see the tops of the rough cliffs of Unumbryo far to the south. Ahead, a lengthy series of hills and ridges led to the granite peaks of the Craterhold Basin. Austere green pastures and yellow weeds mingled between twisting outcroppings of granite. Only the vaguest impression of a road belied the vigorous civilization that had once controlled this now remote area of Equestria.

“Well,” Zipp clapped her hooves. “This is where our adventure begins!”

Author's Note

Glossary:
Menhir: monolithic stone erected by ancient civilizations (wikipedia)
Tarn: a kind of lake that forms within circular valleys between mountain peaks (wikipedia). Apparently also a small farming settlement in the UK.

Changelog:
Dec 19 2023

Tinkered with the long description (for the umpteenth time), added a part that got cut from the end of this chapter originally.
And then I tinkered with that too!
Added that glossary bit up there!

Jan 15 2022 - Thanks to TheAncientPolitzanian I have:
-Changed/fixed some punctuation and capitalization things.
-Added these lines:

“It’s getting harder to fly. I used to be able to do loop de loops with a thought.”

“Yeah, now it’s like it takes actual skill or something,” Izzy rolled her eyes.

Sunny laughed.

which somehow did not make it into the original copy-pastening of the story.
-Changed a couple words' tenses. One instance of know -> knew, and is -> was.
-Fixed an instance of missing italics end tag, whoops!