Gasping, Tarnished Teapot pushed open the door and stuck his head outside so he could breathe in fresh, clean air. His eyes watered and his nose burned as he stood in the doorway trying to recover his senses. “That’s the last time I fix split pea soup for dinner!” As he stood there, sucking in sweet, fresh air, a large hoof was placed upon his rump and then he was ejected from The Egg.

“Outtathaway, chocolate stud muffin!” Helianthus commanded with a husky shout.

Legs wobbling, he tried to recover his balance as other ponies emerged. Helianthus, no doubt the cause of all of this, came out gasping, and she was shoved out of the way by Maud, who appeared to be in a hurry to get outside. Tarnish tried to piece together what had just happened. He had opened his eyes and had awoken in a sulphurous miasma. His gagging had awoken the others, and then there had been a mad scramble for the door along with many cries.

“Oh, it’s in my mouth! It’s in my mouth!” Octavia ran around in circles throwing her head about and trying to spit out her own tongue. “Toothbrush! I need my toothbrush!” With a whinny, Octavia bolted for her supplies and began to search for her hygiene kit.

“Never again will I feel sanitary,” Maud deadpanned as she stood there, staring a dead-eyed stare. “Somepony had the bright idea to keep all of the windows closed because it was cold out. That pony… that pony…” Her words trailed off and she glared daggers at Helianthus.

Thank Celestia that nopony’s horn sparked! Vinyl had written the words on her slate and was now holding it above her head. She wiped away her words and then drew a flaming explosion with little stick figure ponies being blasted about.

“I had strange dreams about oboes… woodwinds, brass sections, and tubas, heavy on the oompah.” As Octavia spoke, she shuddered and squirted toothpaste onto her toothbrush. “There was a dreadful symphony!” Shivering in the cold morning air, she stabbed the toothbrush into her mouth and began brushing.

Bucking out his hind legs, Tarnish let out a shrill whinny and then took off running. He ran about the camp, bucking, his breath steaming in the cold, then he fell over in the grass so he could roll around in the frost and frozen dew. He rubbed his withers, his back, and his croup against the ground while kicking his four legs up into the air, letting out great snorts.

“Mmm!” Helianthus inhaled. “Invigorating! The sting of the frosty morning air against my nethers!”

Vinyl dropped both her slate and her chalk. It came down and bonked her on the head.

Bonk!

With a snort, Helianthus dropped down into the grass and joined Tarnish for a roll. She too, kicked and thrashed about, reveling in the cold, wet grass. Maud, Octavia, and Vinyl all watched in total silence. Vinyl, having recovered from the bonk on her head, summoned up a camera and then snapped a picture.

“I was crammed into a corner all night,” Tarnish grumbled as he tried to unkink his spine.

“We all were.” Maud looked at her husband and then at Helianthus. “She used me as a pillow.”

“Yeah, well you should try sleeping at the south end!” Octavia spat out suds and then continued brushing, all while glaring at the big mare rolling in the grass.

Flamingo, who had been on guard all night, hovered through the camp, paused, and then just hung there in the air. “Something smells real bad. Real bad. Is it time for the Summer Sun Festival and boiled eggs? Are we going to hunt for eggs? I tried to lay an egg once. Other ponies made fun of me, but I kept trying, but it never happened. Sure smelled like I laid an egg though.”

And with that, Flamingo sheathed herself to hide from the smell.

For Tarnish, it was an odd sensation to feel as though his legs were too short to keep up with another pony. Under normal circumstances, ponies hurried along to keep up with him, and his mother was the same way—a mare that towered over most stallions. The worst part was, Helianthus did not appear to be in a hurry, she took time to stop and smell the roses, in a metaphorical sense.

As for the others, Tarnish felt bad for them. They were almost running and poor Vinyl, Vinyl was still limping a little. She lagged behind a bit, but did not complain. Of course, she was mute and nopony had time to read a message even if she wrote one. There was a sense of urgency that could not be denied. Something was about to happen, something that was larger than all of them. They were all bit players in a much larger play and each would do their part.

“Helianthus, not that I doubt you, but how do you know how to see into the astral realms?” Tarnish asked as he pulled up alongside her. “Those images are drawn with astral inks. I’m curious—”

“I am not the common earth pony,” Helianthus replied, butting in and cutting Tarnish off. “Go ahead, Tarnish, try seeing me through open eyes, you are bound to notice sooner or later. Go on. See me for what I am. You have eyes that see through secrets.”

Could he do this while he was moving? Tarnish, overcome by curiousity, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was easy now, as easy as breathing. When he opened his eyes again, he was almost blinded. His pace slowed and he was forced to allow Helianthus to pull ahead, as he was dazzled by her brilliance.

She shone like the sun, bathing the world around her in glorious light. Every plant reached out for her as she passed, and she left behind blazing, burning hoofprints upon the ground. Her body blazed with all of the colours of the sunrise, or a sunset. It was painful to look at her for too long, it was like staring at the sun.

“Are you Celestia?” Tarnish asked as he blinked away his astral vision.

“No, I am Helianthus. I am my own entity.”

“You’re not like other ponies.” Tarnish pulled up alongside her once more and tried to look into her face. “The others, the others are not like you when I look at them. What are you? And don’t just say ‘I am Helianthus’ once more.”

“I am a pony of the earth.”

“I see.” Tarnish puzzled over this answer and gave it some thought, both in his mind and aloud. “So you are an earth pony, but also a pony of the earth. I am sure there is some great distinction there somewhere.”

“We are connected, you and I,” Helianthus said to Tarnish in a low voice as she turned to look down at him. “Your unique magic comes from the same source that I do. We are of the earth. Terra-thauma. Not from ley lines, not from the aether, but the heart of the earth. It is why you feel such a strong connection to Maud, as she too, is from the earth. Terra-thauma.”

“She is more than just an earth pony, otherwise, you’d be telling me that Octavia is from the earth as well.” As Tarnish spoke, he tried to read Helianthus’ face, but it was like trying to read a book written in a language he could not hope to understand. “Terra-thauma… that’s the source of earth pony magic, isn’t it?”

“Yes…” Helianthus’ voice was a low, almost unheard whisper.

“It’s how I know things, like what poison joke wants.” Tarnish felt as though he was on the verge of some great understanding. “Or how Maud knows when something is wrong with the land. Or other earth ponies, who I guess are still connected, but are separate somehow in some way that I don’t understand.”

Beside him, Helianthus nodded.

“This… terra-thauma… earth magic… it’s been polluted, hasn’t it?” Even as he spoke the words, he knew the answer. He understood. There was a powerful moment of realisation, of understanding, an epiphany as his mind awakened to new possibilities. He thought about Twilight and her connection to magic. As an alicorn, she was part earth pony now. As the alicorn of magic, this affected her in some powerful, purposeful way. But he didn’t understand his own role in all of this.

“Hey, Mister Teakettle…”

Annoyed, Tarnish squinted at Helianthus, knowing that she was teasing him.

“What looks like a unicorn, has a horn like a unicorn, sometimes even acts like a unicorn, but isn’t a unicorn?”

Eyes narrowing, Tarnish’s mouth tightened into a fine thin line. He kept pace with Helianthus and looked up into her eye, hoping for some glimmer of understanding. She was grinning and looking far too self satisfied. His annoyance grew and a feeling of mild irritation settled into his thoughts as well.

“It’s you, of course!”

“But I’m not an earth pony, either.” The muscles in Tarnish’s jaw clenched.

“To be honest, I don’t know what you are. You are a pony, you have a horn, and your tribal connection is only skin deep. You are a mystery to me, Mister Teakettle, and as such, pose as an object of great fascination for me. To Princess Celestia as well, as you have no doubt figured out that she and I are connected.”

“There is more that you are not telling me.”

“Well, perhaps.” Helianthus grinned and she turned her head to look at Tarnish. “I see you as a seed pod. A tough, durable, eminently survivable, almost impossible to destroy husk… a shell… a means to carry a precious seed until it meets a patch of fertile earth, so that it may be planted.”

“Did you just… did you just call me a pinecone?”

“Well, you are rather brown, like a chestnut.”

“A seed pod, eh?” Tarnish, unable to resist the bait, walked into Helianthus’ obvious trap.

“You even come with the means to ensure that the seed that you carry remains uncorrupted. You have the means to neutralise the threat that is most difficult to overcome. When that seed is planted, it shall be free of taint, corruption, and it shall grow into something incorruptible, perhaps. Something free of weakness, something pure, wholesome, and good.”

Tarnish realised that Helianthus was being serious and he had nothing snarky to say.

“Of course, I am only guessing. Princess Celestia and I have been pondering this matter for quite some time. Only time will tell. She has her ideas and I have mine. Sometimes, a pony isn’t remembered for what they do, but rather, for what they leave behind.”

“Thank you, Helianthus. You’ve given me something to think about.”

“Don’t mention it, Mister Teapot.”

“Where do we begin?” Tarnish asked as the herd of ponies he was with once more looked upon the ancient, buried city. “This place is big. There is so much here and I don’t even know where to begin looking.” As Tarnish spoke, Helianthus began to examine a centaur steel lamp post.

“Right now, I feel as though there are ten thousand songs in my head waiting to be let out.” Octavia stood on top of a crystal conduit and her hoof traced along its top edge in little slow circles. “I can hear a thousand melodies, all of them beautiful.”

“With so many,” Maud began, “where does one begin to let them all out?” Maud moved and also stood over the same crystal conduit as Octavia. She closed her eyes and appeared to be concentrating. “I feel calm. When I stand on one of these, the rage trapped inside of me feels quieted. And while that’s nice, that volcanic fury is my motivation, my inspiration, it is a part of what makes me who and what I am. Nope, I don’t like this.” Opening her eyes, Maud stepped away from the conduit.

Octavia too, stepped away, and then stared down at the conduit where she had stood. “I think I understand a part of what went wrong.”

“There is wisdom in learning from the mistakes from the past,” Maledico said as he manifested.

“Okay, what do we do and what are we looking for?” Tarnish looked at the projected image of the blue centaur. “This city is huge. I have no idea where to even get started.”

“Tens of thousands lived here.” Maledico’s face became sad and he looked around the empty city. “Civilisation was at its peak. I would imagine that we fell down a long way and entered an age of darkness. How much was lost…”

“Even more will be lost now if we fail.” Helianthus looked serious, grim, and the merry twinkle in her eye was gone. “Take me to the Hall of Memories, so that I might see what knowledge has been left behind.”

“A good place to start.” Tarnish turned his head and tried to remember the right direction. Spying a landmark he recognised, he took off at a trot, his hooves clopping on the strange, unknown stones that made up the streets. “Come, we must be going, there is much to do…”

Author's Notes:

Heavy on the oompah...