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Sohndar

by CTVulpin

Chapter 9

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Surveyor’s Island

“I won’t pretend to understand the reason why this is so,” Whark Bait explained as he and Twilight worked on realigning the survey telescope to look on the rotating metal dome in the distance, “but the magic books Aldro creates in the attempt to make new worlds will not work without power from the Fire Marbles. I think it’s leaning forward now.”

Twilight pulled the post back a little with her magic and said, “I know; I found some of Aldro’s notes on the domes. They didn’t go into detail about what the Fire Marbles are though.”

“Tiny bit to my right now,” Whark Bait said, gazing through the telescope. “All I know is that the Marbles have a lot of potential magic in them, especially for being so small. There are six in all, each a different color, and might be from the time before the land began to divide and Aldro made himself known to the ponies for the first time. Now they serve as the power source for the Books. Ah! Perfect, hold it right there. Now let’s hope the mechanisms still work.” He pressed the button sitting on the top of the telescope, and after a few seconds the slotted disk on the front of the telescope began to spin. Whark Bait looked through the telescope for a moment, and then smiled and nodded. “Looks like it’ll work,” he said, stepping back and gesturing at Twilight, “Take a look.” When Twilight stepped up and looked into the eyepiece, she saw a circular eye-like symbol that appeared to be closing, and then a pair of curved lines closed in from the sides, removing the horizontal line and then opening again to reveal a dot in the center. At one point during the cycle, the symbol turned yellow for about half a second.

“Wow,” Twilight said, looking up from the telescope and observing the dome as a whole, “This makes it look like all the symbols engraved on that dome are a single moving image, like those old spinning cylinder toys that predate filmstrips.”

“Let me see,” Rainbow said, pushing her way between the others to peer into the telescope itself. “Neat,” she said after a moment, “but why is one of them yellow?”

“If you hit the button when you see that symbol, the dome will stop and open,” Whark Bait said, “But, if you don’t mind, I need to see what one it is first.” Rainbow and Twilight made room and the robed stallion peered through the telescope until the yellow symbol appeared. “Ah, green, right,” he said as he pressed the button. The dome and slotted disk both gradually slowed to a stop, and then the dome flipped over, revealing its underside to be two gilded half-domes with space between them, a miniature replica of the giant dome on the first island.

“Wait, what’s green?” Rainbow asked, “The symbol for ‘stop here’ was yellow.”

“It was tinted yellow to stand out, yes,” Whark Bait said, “but the symbol itself was for the color green. Didn’t you recognize it?”

“We’re, uh, not familiar with the symbols and writing of this world,” Twilight explained. She dug into her bags as the Surveyor made a sound of understanding and realization. “Ah, here we go,” Twilight said, levitating the sheet of notes she’d made from Aldro’s journal and showing the row of eye-like symbols she’d copied to Whark Bait. “These are the color symbols, right?” she asked, “Could you tell us which is which?”

“Ah, those are indeed the colors,” Whark Bait said, “and they’re in proper order too: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.”

“The rainbow spectrum,” Twilight said, casting an involuntary glance at her friend’s multi-colored mane, “That makes sense. So, are the colors important for powering the domes?”

“Oh yes, very much so,” Whark Bait said, “To send power to the domes and activate the books inside of them, you need to know the color associated with all five and their precise location in the world. You could use the Surveyor Guild equipment on this island to figure out the latter part if you wanted, but I happen to have the entire map of the world memorized. We’ll have to go to each dome and look for the associated colors though; I don’t remember that part too well.” He smiled apologetically.

Twilight’s brow furrowed as she regarded the mushroom-like structure in the middle of the lagoon, and then the robed stallion’s guileless face. She smiled. “Ok then,” she said, “let’s get going then, shall we?”

“Back to Aldro’s old workshop then?” Rainbow asked, flying slightly ahead as the trio left the lagoon and headed toward the grav-car station, “Unless there’s another way off the island I haven’t noticed.”

“There’s a grav-car that will take us to the village island,” Whark Bait said, “We should use it; it’s the only way to reach that island’s dome.”

Twilight shook her head. “Arcem left that way,” she said, “I suspect he’ll be lying in wait with friends if we take that grav-car. We should backtrack and check out the domes on the other islands first. I remember seeing where the dome is on Village Island, so once we work our way around to it, Rainbow Dash can just fly up and see which color goes to it.”

Rainbow scoffed and rolled her eyes, flipping over to give Twilight a disappointed look. “Those guards aren’t so tough Twilight,” she said, “You’ve knocked Arcem out twice already with your sleep spell, and the others we’ve encountered were those pansies in the watchtowers. We’re bound to run into them eventually anyway, so why not get it over with now?”

“I agree with you in part Ms. Rainbow,” Whark Bait said, “we will undoubtedly meet resistance from the Maintainer’s Guild, but they are not to be underestimated. If they are truly on alert, the only safe place to be might be a Moiety hideaway, assuming we are lucky enough to stumble upon one and they don’t find us in the meantime.” He shivered at some unspoken fear. “All things considered, I’d prefer the safer route.”

The group arrived at the station and Twilight looked between the waiting transport and the door leading to the island’s interior and the other grav-car station, although Dash remained hovering just outside, looking miffed at Whark Bait. “Fine,” she groused, “Guess I’ve been outvoted. See you two in a bit.” Without another word, she turned around and began to fly back to Book Island. Twilight started to call after her, but the pegasus moved out of earshot too quickly, leaving Twilight to simply sigh and climb up into the grav-car. Whark Bait followed her and sat down in the space behind the pilot seat, and then Twilight turned the craft around and engaged the thrust.

“Whark,” Twilight asked as the grav-car began to pick up speed, “tell me something. Do you really believe that Aldro created this world?”

“I… don’t have any reason to doubt that claim,” the Surveyor replied hesitantly, “I mean, I haven’t seen any of the other worlds he’s made, or any really spectacular miracles performed by him, but… Well, he’s certainly a lot older and smarter than any pony on the islands.”

“But then why did he populate the world with ponies and not beings more like himself?” Twilight asked.

Whark Bait started to answer, but then closed his mouth slowly as he pondered the question. “I’ve never really thought about it,” he said at last, and then his tone grew serious as he added, “Ms. Twilight, I realize you and Rainbow probably are actual agents of The Deceiver, and that means you consider Aldro your enemy, but he’s not as bad as you’ve been led to believe. He can be a strict taskmaster at times, and his laws aren’t always easy, but everything he does has been for our benefit. Sohndar is dying, the islands are drifting farther apart by the day, and Aldro has been struggling ceaselessly to create a world that we can all take refuge in before the end.” Twilight felt her gut tense up as the stallion’s conviction pierced her mind, and her ears drooped slightly. “I owe Rainbow Dash a debt for my life,” Whark Bait said after a moment, “I’m repaying it by not prying into your intentions and helping you reach Aldro. Beyond that, I can only hope you consider your actions carefully.”

“Whark Bait,” Twilight began, but a knock on the grav-car window distracted her.

Rainbow Dash was hovering in front of the window, hooves on her hips as she glared impatiently at Twilight. “Are you guys coming?” she asked, and Twilight realized the grav-car had already docked at the station and the hatch stood open. “I’ve already scouted ahead,” the pegasus continued, “the coast is clear, so let’s go!” With a sheepish blush, Twilight and Whark Bait disembarked and followed Rainbow up the stairs and through the workshop. Whark Bait paused and looked around the building with interest in his eyes, but Twilight and Rainbow kept walking and went out the other door, forcing him to run and catch up.

“I have never been in there before,” he said as he pulled up behind Twilight on the catwalk.

“Oh?” Twilight asked, “Then how did you manage to map out the island?”

“I’m not the only Surveyor for one thing,” Whark Bait said, “and I come here the same way everypony does: across the bridge from the Great Dome.”

“Heh,” Rainbow laughed humorlessly, “Twi and I rode the mine cart from Village Island to get here the first time.”

“Mine cart? Oh, you mean the cart that brings the wood.” The Surveyor’s eyes went wide as the idea fully dawned on him. “That… must have been quite the experience,” he said.

“It’s the most thrilling ride I’ve ever been on now that I think back on it,” Rainbow said, “Although nearly landing in the wood chipper at the end was probably a bit too much…” Twilight grimaced at the memory and the bruise on her stomach started aching again for a second. The group came up to the entrance to the cavern and Rainbow slowed down, casting a nervous look around.

“Why don’t you stay out here and keep watch?” Twilight suggested, taking pity on her friend, “It won’t take all of us to check the dome.”

“Yes, good idea,” Rainbow said, quickly putting on the appearance of casual confidence as she took a position hovering above the opening in the rock, “and maybe I should have the dagger, just in case.” Twilight nodded and levitated the curiously shaped blade out of her bag and up to the waiting pegasus, who took and held it in the corner of her mouth. Neither mare noticed Whark Bait’s shocked reaction to the weapon’s shape, and he managed to compose his features before Twilight glanced his way to see if he was ready to proceed. At his nod, the two entered the cavern and moved quickly for the stairs down to the spinning dome.

“Look,” Twilight said, slowing her pace, “I don’t fully understand what kind of history Aldro and Star Swirl – the pony you call The Deceiver - have and I’m trying not to judge Aldro until I’ve had a chance to meet him, but I do know a few things with certainty. Aldro is holding Star Swirl’s family against their will, and Star Swirl is currently doing everything he can to either stop Sohndar’s decay or at least hold it off until an alternative can be found, but he doesn’t know what Aldro recent activities have been. Rainbow and I are going to free Clover and Nyx and… try to arrange a way for Star Swirl and Aldro to be able to talk to each other. After that it’s out of our hooves.” Whark Bait simply nodded slowly. They reached the foot of the stairs and Twilight pushed the door open. “Well, here we are,” she said as they entered the chamber, “Now, where is the…” She trailed off as Whark Bait closed the door behind him, revealing a passage into another, smaller room behind it. “Oh.” Whark Bait smirked and stepped through the opening, and a moment later the dome slowed to a stop and flipped over. Twilight went over to get a closer look and found that in between the two half-domes was a smaller, curved cover with a round window on it, through which she could see a book. Below the window was a ruled slot with five sliders bunched together on the left end and below that was button. Including the positions taken by the sliders, Twilight counted twenty-five ruler ticks on the slot. Looks like this is how I’ll have to enter that code, she thought, making a mental note for later.

“The color is yellow,” Whark Bait called, pulling Twilight’s attention back toward the door. It stood open again and Whark bait was waiting patiently for the unicorn to join him before heading back to the surface. “You were looking at the lock over the book, weren’t you?” the Surveyor asked as they climbed, “I think I could recall what the combination is, but I’ve never actually had to use it, so-”

“I already know the code,” Twilight said, “Aldro wrote it down in a notebook he left out in the open.”

“Ah, lucky,” Whark Bait said, “Well, here’s another thing about those locks: even if the domes aren’t properly powered the combination will still work. You’ll just end up inside the dome with a useless book though.” They reached the top and emerged back into the open air to find Rainbow still hovering diligently on watch.

“Oh, back already?” the rainbow-maned pegasus said, “All right then, next stop!”

“The big dome,” Twilight said.

“Temple Island,” Whark Bait said at the same time. He exchanged a quick glance with Twilight, and then set out down the catwalk with purpose. He led the mares past the workshop and through a straight tunnel onto a bridge leading off the side of the island toward the giant golden dome on the first island. Near the end, a section of the bridge had been raised to a near vertical angle, preventing the group from proceeding. A wooden lever sat near the raised section and Whark Bait grasped and pulled it without missing a beat, although his ears perked with mild surprise when the bridge began to lower into place. “I guess we got here before the Maintainers had a chance to lock things down. The mechanism for raising and lowering the bridge is powered by a steam vent on Temple Island, and it’s normally left on for convenience but…”

“Yeah yeah,” Rainbow said impatiently, “where’s the spinny dome?”

“It sits on top of a rock spire just off the side of the island,” the Surveyor answered, “Follow me. We’ll probably have to do a bit of walking back and forth to open the path up.” He led the pair across the rest of the bridge and up a set of stairs that led into the giant dome. They found themselves on the upper portion of the catwalk, directly opposite of where Twilight and Rainbow had entered on their first, abbreviated visit to the dome. Halfway around the path connecting those two entrances was another doorway that Whark Bait made his way to. It let out onto an elevated walkway that curved around to head into the rotating room, but the robed stallion stopped just short of leaving the dome and looked down at a section of the walkway that stood apart from the rest. “This is good,” he said, turning around, “this means we’ll be able to use the elevator below.” Twilight and Dash had to back up to give him room as he came back into the dome and continued walking around the catwalk, making for the stairs to the lower level. From there they exited out onto a stone path that wrapped around the base of the giant dome, and Whark Bait came to a stop just in front of an apparently purposefully dug tunnel and pointed up to his left. Twilight and Rrainbow looked to see another of the rotating domes sitting on a tall rock standing apart from the main island. “We’ll need to go down from here to reach the stairs that lead up to that,” Whark Bait explained, “but the elevator only takes one passenger at a time.” He nodded to a square section of stone carved into the path at the tunnel entrance.

“I’ll just save us some time and fly up there,” Rainbow said, spreading her wings.

“But you don’t know what the symbols are for each color yet,” Twilight said.

“You’ve got them written down,” Rainbow pointed out flatly, “and I can definitely remember what it looks like once I’ve seen it.”

“Right,” Twilight said sheepishly. Rainbow took off with a particularly strong stroke of her wings and flew up to the dome. She spotted the rotary telescope a short distance back on the bridge and alighted behind it, peering through with a hoof poised to press the button when the tinted symbol appeared. Even so, she barely reacted in time when it flashed by, a circle with a horizontal line bisecting it. She waited to see the dome slow to a stop and flip over, and then flew back to Twilight and Whark Bait. Twilight pulled out the note containing the color symbols and Rainbow pointed to the one she’d seen.

“Orange,” Whark Bait said, “Well, this just leaves the Village Island dome. I’ll have to guess on the color for the fifth island, but at least there will only be two options.”

“Or…” Rainbow said, fluttering the ends of her wings suggestively.

“Would that be safe?” Twilight asked, “That’s the island where Clover’s being held prisoner, right? Wouldn’t there be guards there?”

“Not likely,” Whark Bait said, “The only way to get there – besides flying – is to go through the books Aldro wrote his new world into. The island itself has a caged room that’s virtually escape-proof, and the waters around it are particularly thick with Wharks. I think Maintainer guards would be unnecessary with all that.”

“Just be careful Rainbow,” Twilight said, “and if Whark Bait’s right about there not being any guards, see if you can get to Clover and let her know we’re here to help her.”

“You got it Twi,” Rainbow said, saluting, “Stay out of trouble until I get back; maybe wait in the ‘back entrance’ cave by the rotating room. I’ll be back soon.” She started to get into a flying pose, and then hesitated and asked, “It’s that smaller island right?” She pointed to the lightly tree-studded island visible past the spire with the dome. Whark Bait nodded and Rainbow took off like a rocket, leaving a rainbow contrail behind. As the contrail faded, Twilight and Whark Bait turned around and began to head back the way they’d come. As they neared the entrance to the giant dome, however, they heard voices and hoof-steps echoing from within. Twilight gulped as she recognized the loudest of the voices, which was directing others to split up and search every available path.

“Oh no,” the lavender mare said, “Arcem’s found us.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 10 Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 17 Minutes
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