The Land Unspoken

Twilight threw up a shield at the last instant. Rarity was near her and together the two held off the onslaught as a barrage of stones came crashing down, some larger than houses. The castle was huge, and many floors occupied the space above them so it was some time before the echoing rumbling, gradually growing more distant, finally stopped. With a monumental effort of will the two unicorns began to levitate themselves upwards, moving the shield with them as they did so. Great slabs of rock were forced aside and crumbled as they rose. Eventually, having ascended some twenty meters from floor level, they emerged blinking into the sudden sunlight.

Twilight now stood atop a mountain of stone, remnants of the once mighty castle. Barely a wall still stood to indicate what had once been. Then a crushing realisation hit her at the same time as Rarity, having the same thought, spoke.

“The others…”

“They’re dead.” Twilight replied flatly. Some part of her had been hiding from this fact ever since the collapse, but as she said the words she felt the cold hard truth hit her like a hammer blow. “There’s no way to survive that without magic. Only we could have protected ourselves from the debris. Oh, and Xerox. And neither of us is strong enough to fight him, even were we not exhausted!” Even as she spoke, she heard the hysteria in her voice and realised how tired she really was. Now their friends were dead, they might as well give up anyway. Tears began to form in her eyes as Rarity spoke. The other unicorn’s voice was trembling.

“Maybe… maybe they got out… Rainbow Dash could have…”

“Did you see how hard Rainbow Dash hit the floor?!” Anger gave Twilight’s voice power. She didn’t even notice when Rarity flinched at the volume. “Do you really think anypony could survive that?! Our friends are DEAD, Rarity. They’re dead, and Xerox isn’t!”

“He… he could be?” Rarity leaned back, startled at the abrupt change in her friend, “he might not have got a shield up in time?”

“I’m afraid I did, my dear.”

Xerox was standing a little way away. He seemed unharmed and not even slightly fatigued, and as he spoke he began to walk towards them.

“Well?” Twilight demanded. Now that she was trying to sound angry it wouldn’t come. Tears choked her voice and revealed her true feelings. “What’re you waiting for? Kill us and be done with it.”

“Ah, but how little you understand.” Xerox replied. It seems to be the sort of thing said in these situations. “Would I... eliminate such powerful unicorns such as you two? No, I have a better use for you. Come, I wish to show you something.”

As they followed him Rarity whispered to Twilight; “he’s forgotten to block our magic!”

“Yes,” Twilight replied sourly, “because he knows we’re not strong enough to fight him. For now we’ll have to do as he says. I think he’s going to show us this ‘weapon’ of his so we’ll need to find some way to disable it. Give me time. I’ll try to think of something.”

The stallion led them away from the ruins of the castle and into the nearby forest. It was midday now, but the thick canopy blocked all but the most persistent of the sun’s rays so that Twilight and Rarity appeared to be walking in a perpetual half-light. Shadows danced and spun amidst the trees, calling and beckoning, and Xerox’s bulk was only just visible ahead, a black outline guiding their way through the blackness. Twilight had no idea how long they continued in silence, heads bowed and minds despairing, until Xerox suddenly stopped. A somewhat unremarkable clearing greeted them, bland yet light as the canopy parted above them. The sudden sunlight hurt Twilight’s eyes, but she forced herself to look upwards, finding new strength in the warmth from above.

Xerox, meanwhile, had approached a tree nearby and had inserted his horn into an otherwise natural looking knot in the trunk. There was a brief pulse of magic and a yelp as a hidden trapdoor flipped up right where Rarity had been standing. Twilight moved over to the affronted unicorn and peered into the hole. A spiral staircase curved downwards into the darkness, and Xerox led the way down without a word.

As they descended the stone steps a sense of foreboding gripped Twilight. Candles sat in alcoves at intervals, and instead of illuminating the darkness they merely gave it sentience. Shadows crept and leapt at every turn, and the pressure in the air, the sense of wrongness that Twilight had been feeling for their entire journey was climbing. Whatever was causing it was down here. She began to shiver as they descended further and further into the heart of the mountain.

All of a sudden they reached a thick steel door which Xerox opened with a pulse of magic. As the door swing open Twilight had to suppress a gasp.

A huge space greeted them.  Lit by a massive chandelier in the centre was a room that could quite easily have accommodated most of Ponyville with room to spare. Blank, grey walls stretched out on either side, the far being lost in distant shadows. Twilight mused that were they, by some significant effort of engineering, to get rid of the ceiling it would quite likely remove the entire mountaintop.

It was not the sheer size of the room that prompted such astonishment, however. In the centre of the room hovered a huge web of magic, many multi-coloured lines twisting and interlocking in ways that hurt the eyes. It was humming too, a constant drone of noise so strong it brought vibrations up through the floor. And in the centre, at floor level…

“Is that what I think it is?” Twilight demanded, her voice unexpectedly loud. Echoes bounced back from the far walls several seconds after she had finished speaking. Such a delay told its own story of the sheer size of the room.

“An adaption of your very own teleporting spell, my dear.” Xerox replied. “But this one takes you a little farther afield.

Rarity approached the device cautiously and peered into the centre. “It’s a… portal?” she hazarded.

“Oh how right you are my dear!” Xerox’s voice was patronising and Rarity bristled, but Twilight was already beside her. She inspected the device, checking all around it for clues as to what it might be, but when she peered into the grey, shimmering mass in the centre her blood ran cold.

“Oh no…” she said.

“Oh yes,” replied Xerox smugly. “A portal to the underworld. Did you really think a few dead trees powered my magic? This is where it comes from. For centuries now I have leeched power from this world, a world where none are alive to resist me. Once I have Equestria, who can stop me from conquering the underworld itself? And then, not even death shall be an escape from my power!” He laughed then, a booming, evil laugh that echoed from the walls and surrounded the two huddling unicorns in manic glee.

For a moment Xerox was distracted, and it was quite likely Twilight could have done something, perhaps attempted to disable the portal or attack him while his guard was down. But she was frozen to the floor at the implications of the complex structure that stood before her. It explained the huge amount magical power the unicorn possessed; Xerox was not only looking to dominate this world, he was drawing his power from another. She shivered as the echoes of the manic laughter died down and Xerox spoke again.

“But of course I need a sacrifice; some burst of magic to open the portal fully. Apparently they need to be…” here the unicorn twisted his lips around an unfamiliar statement “…pure of heart. But now, fate has seen fit to deliver you two into my hooves. How very convenient.

There was a pause. “Am I not making this clear enough for you?” he snapped when they stood their ground. “Open it!”

“No!” snapped Rarity. “What makes you think th- Aah!”

“How rude.” Xerox said to Twilight, holding the struggling Rarity in the air. A bubble of magic held the unicorn in place and appeared to be causing her some pain. “Would you care to be a little more accommodating than her? Or would you like to lose another friend?”

Twilight glared at him as thoughts rushed through her brain. No matter how hard she tried, however, no solution presented itself. They were beaten, and Xerox held all the cards. As she thought this the stallion, growing impatient, flicked his head and Rarity screamed as another lance of pain shot through her.

“Alright,” Twilight snapped, “I’ll do it. Let her go.”

“Now isn’t this so much nicer?” Xerox purred. He flicked his head again and Rarity dropped to the floor with a crunch. She ran to Twilight and they linked their magic again, horrified at what they were about to do but seeing no alternative.

It was almost easy. With barely any exertion at all the portal widened. The twisting strands that had once encased it now expanded and concentrated to form a circular entrance over a meter wide. Within the sphere was a rushing maelstrom of colours. They stepped back.

“Wonderful.” Xerox said dryly. “I could almost believe you meant that. Now for the second part.”

“Second?” Rarity said, aghast, “haven’t we done enough of your evil work for you?”

“But the portal isn’t open yet, my dear,”

“But…”

“Oh, but did you not hear me correctly?” Xerox moved over to stand in front of the two unicorns, his back to the portal. With a flick of his head and a pulse of magic the steel door they had entered through slammed shut.

“I did say a sacrifice, did I not? Who wants to volunteer?”

Little did Xerox know, however, that while linked, as Twilight and Rarity had been doing, two unicorns can communicate without words. As he mentioned a sacrifice both turned and, still linked, attacked.

The element of surprise gave them the advantage and Xerox even took a step backwards towards the portal, a rare surprise crossing his face. But then, with a sigh and a contemptuous flick of his head he disarmed them both and replaced the blocking spell.

“Really?” he said, “how tiresome. Did you really think you could beat me; after all we’ve been through? You haven’t even seen a tenth of my power yet!”

“We weren’t trying to beat you.” Twilight replied quietly.

Xerox  drew himself up.

“–” he began.

The portal, weakened by the discharge of magic, exploded. The magical blast twisted the room, filling it with roiling colours and a deafening roar filled the air, blocking out thought by sheer volume. Xerox screamed, a silent scream of terror as he was dragged backwards into the rapidly expanding blur of colours. He loosed a single, desperate, blast of magic as he vanished. The bolt shot over Twilight’s head, singing her hair as it passed, and earthed itself somewhere behind her.

Then, pulled by the inexorable force of fate, Twilight and Rarity followed him through.