The sun seemed to roll around relatively quickly, with the sunrise orange painting the skies above Trotstock. With the first awake being the one who didn’t actually sleep. Harmonous. During the night, Harmonous had travelled around Ceyonait. The goal of his mission being to gather the other ingredient that he had elected to not send Acidic, Sour and Sweet after. Being situated in Western Ceyonait, Harmonous trotted through what seemed to be an endless cave system. He specifically was in the middle of his quest to retrieve what was known as a Drop of liquid rainbow. A magical stone that was needed for the potion to be successfully mixed and brewed. The stone holding magic specifically tailored to extracting the raw magical essence of other things once heated. It wasn’t powerful enough to act as a Unicorn magic draining stone, but was used in the ancient times of Ceyonait for some of the hardest potions to brew. The Aquarespiratius being the easiest of the hardest.
Trotting hooves slammed down as his movements echoed through the caves. His magic lighting both the way infront, and the way behind in case something lived in the caves. He hadn’t visited this place since the Queen of Ceyonait moved to New Gallopvant and away from Trotstock. Looking ahead, he noticed a door made from crystal. A crystal door down in the depths of the cave system would’ve been very abnormal to the average pony, however Harmonous didn’t question it in his mind as he uttered a spell aloud.
“Lockia Unravellium”
Like a snake, orange magic from Harmonous’ horn weaved its way to the door; then slipping into the door itself as clicking and mechanical moving could be heard from the other side. It took a few more moments as he seemed to be concentrated on the magic he was controlling, but when he heard a final louder click he stopped. The orange magic he was using disappearing behind the door and then, using his magic again, he swung the door open. When he trotted to the other side, he saw it. Radiating and lighting up the pool of water it was in, the Drop of liquid rainbow resided. Every colour of the rainbow quite literally reflecting out and onto every surface it could. With a quick touch of his hoof, he felt the water. The cool, refreshing feeling washing over him as he froze the water he touched ever so slightly.
Then, he took his hoof out of the water; the water dripping off of his hoof as he used his magic to bring the stone out of the water. The stone dripping with water itself as Harmonous grasped it, almost allured by it. Nevertheless, he knew what he had to do as he sulked into his mist. The stone sinking in with him, in turn making his mist glow with the colours of the rainbow. It didn’t last long however, as his mist became so dense that the light was no longer able to reach the stone. With that issue out of the way, Harmonous departed from the cave system, his mind focusing on his goal. To drop the stone off to the quartet in Trotstock.
Back in the present, and about six hours after his escapade, Harmonous finally reached Trotstock. Quickly, he travelled to the inn and, once on an adjacent roof to it, he used his magic to freeze the window. Then, breaking it with a loud shattering sound accompanying it. Immediately, Sweet jumped out of his bed in a panic and the others soon followed in waking up. “W-wuzzat?! I’ll wake up in five more min- Ah!” Sweet exclaimed. His sleepiness setting in until he looked in Harmonous direction. “H-Harmonous! What’re you-“ but before Sweet could ask, and before any of the others could even process that Harmonous was in the room, he dropped the Drop of liquid rainbow stone and disappeared without response. “So much for him- Hey, what’s that?” Sour then said, having trotted up to Sweet from his bed and then pointing at the stone. When Sweet looked down, the stone began reflecting the light from the morning sun and shining as it did before.
Dawn and Acidic on the other side of the room, quickly scrambled to the book. “I knew something wasn’t right about sending us for just the lily!” Dawn said to themselves as they flipped through the pages. Once they had reached the page of Aquarespiratius, Dawn scanned the pages. “Of course! It matches the name perfectly. The drop of liquid rainbow. I mean, just look at it! It also makes sense since I’ve never heard of it before. I was going to actually mention it after breakfast, but I guess the day had other plans!” they then said, getting enthusiastic at the realization. “So, we have the Drop of liquid rainbow and the Breath-Imbued Lily…” Acidic then said to himself, looking at the pages. “Wait, that’s it? I guess that makes the potion itself impossible just because of the ingredients needed. Doesn’t help that Harmonous directed our attention to the lily immediately though” he then added on, being slightly confused at the lack of other ingredients.
“I guess we should be… Happy? Although, how’re we going to fix the window? He completely smashed it!” Sweet then asked. The four turned their attention to the window, which they found was shattered on the floor; much to the worry of Dawn. “If we don’t fix the window, we’ll have to pay the repairs…” they said aloud. Sweet also had the same feeling, but was taken aback as he found the other three looking at him. “Why don’t… Why don’t you try fixing it?” Sour asked. “Yeah! You could, after all we do know how to repair things! Even if it was hard back then and even if we didn’t pay attention, I’m sure you could try at least!” Acidic then suggested to Sweet. Looking at the glass, he noticed it was freezing upon touch, but he had to try.
Closing his eyes, he thought of the window in its original form from the night prior. His horn beginning to glow as he channeled his magic. One by one, the shards on the floor started floating toward the window, slotting in like a jigsaw puzzle as Sweet’s magic then started going around each fractured border. Bit by bit, the window reformed and finally, it was back to what it was before. Sweating a little bit, Sweet opened his eyes and, overjoyed, started galloping around the room in circles. Sour and Acidic particularly being very happy. The celebration didn’t last long however, as they knew they couldn’t rest until they had reached the Spring of Mind. After taking an hour to wake up, get some breakfast and gather their things, they all trotted off toward the train station. The quartet managing to get there just in time to hop onto the train. Which hauled off immediately after the four got on. With Harmonous watching from above.
With his magic, he opened a window of magic to the mountain cave, Dallasite being the one to answer. “You called?” he said, looking at Harmonous. “I understand water isn’t your element… However” Harmonous began. “I’d like for you to take the reigns in terms of helping Bounded. It needn’t be a big task, but if you could make sure they reach the Ceyonait Great Barrier Reef, that’d be fine” he requested. His tone being monotone as he glared at Dallasite. It also held some dismissal and doubt as Dallasite stared back, taking notice of the undertone. “Fine” he simply responded, before Harmonous nodded and closed the window of magic. His work wasn’t over, but he hoped Dallasite could at least do what he had asked correctly. With that, he disappeared into his mist and followed the train from behind, moving at a speed almost adjacent to the train itself.
An hour or so passed with not much development, with the train chugging along without issue. The quartet sat quietly, with Sour almost falling asleep at the journey as the ambience on the train was so peaceful. Infact, the train ride was so peaceful that the other three had the opposite reaction. Looking around corners slightly as they feared an attack was coming, given the last few train rides from Buckgrove. Which, in turn, made a few of the ponies around them that were also enjoying the ride to Trotquay eye them up with some confusion. “We really ought to try and not be so worked up” Sweet commented, giving one last glance around and then looking out of the window. “Well, it doesn’t help that half our train rides so far haven’t been safe. One of them ended up with us nearly dying, and the other one yesterday ended with us finding out Arcane was being creepy” Acidic responded, with a nudging of his wing waking Sour up from his temporary nap.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s not hard to believe we’ve developed paranoia of sorts” Dawn then added in, although Dawn clearly looked like they had their mind in another place. Not acting negatively distant, but still drifting from the conversation after they had given their comment. “You alright?” Sweet asked, putting a hoof on Dawn’s shoulder. Jumping slightly, Dawn quickly nodded, and then sighed. “Oh I can’t keep it in. I’ve been wondering how to announce this but…” Dawn began. “But?” the three others then asked in unison. “But I’ve been on the topic of choosing a new name, in my head of course” Dawn then finished. Sour and Sweet looked at eachother, before Acidic then asked “So, is there a new name then?” with curiosity. Dawn nodded, and then spoke again. “There is! I was thinking of something that connects me with the night, but also something that doesn’t keep me completely away from the day. So, I figured Dawn Star would be good!” they said, eagerly awaiting the three’s response. Acidic was the first to nod in approval, with Sweet responding with “Yeah, that sounds good! Although, are you sure that the day and night theme needs to stay?” with Sour lightly punching Sweet as the pair look at eachother; with Sweet rubbing the area that Sour had hit.
“Well, in terms of being who I am, I don’t want to completely lose my old self. I can’t avoid the past after all, so why not at least accept that the past happened? I mean, that way I can move onto the future without having any residual regrets” Dawn explained, defending their choice of name as Sweet nodded in understanding. Although, Sour then decided to comment “I wish that it was that easy for us, I don’t even know how we’re going to reach Stardew, father or Manestralia”. With the other two looking at him. “Yeah, but let’s focus on one thing at a time” Sweet responded. “Yeah, we need to focus on getting back together as one Alicorn” Acidic then told Sour. Sour, looking at the other two, simply asked “And is getting back together to become one alicorn what you two really want?” which made Acidic and Sweet take the moment to think. “I mean, it’s what we need to do” Sweet tried saying, but Sour looked away. Acidic, being in the middle of the pair, awkwardly shuffling as he looked to Dawn in hopes that they’d change the topic of the conversation.
Just then, the scenery outside of the train itself changed. From the green plains that they saw before when they stared outside, they noticed cliffs and the sea for the first time since they left Buckgrove. Acidic and Dawn awed at the sheer amount of light reflecting from the seas, and that’s when Dawn started speaking. “I… I never knew that the sea down here looked so stunning…” they said, with them taking a moment, before sitting back and grabbing the book that they had next to them. Quickly, they flipped through the pages to the potion recipe of Aquarespiratius. “So… Place the Drop of liquid rainbow in tropical waters. Okay simple enough… Trotquay is the hottest area in the continent” they began saying as they scanned the book more. “So, all that we need to do is put the stone in the waters of the sea whilst holding out the lily in a flask of fresh water. The light should reflect against the lily, and then the lily should disperse its magical essence in the water. Creating the Aquarespiratius” Dawn then finished off.
The other three looked at eachother. With Sweet asking “Wait, that’s it?” in genuine surprise. In turn, he also tried to get up close to the book. To which Dawn immediately retracted the book. “Ease off! But yeah, that seems to be it. As I said this morning, I guess the ingredients themselves qualify this as an impossible potion” Dawn responded, gazing at the book with a little disappointment. “Wait… Fresh water?” Sour then asked as he wanted to make sure he had heard the words correctly. “Yep, I know the sea only holds salt water, but I’m sure there’s at least a place we can eat at that has water or… Something” Dawn then responded, making Sour quiet again as he looked out to the sea. His headspace was in a completely different area from where he wanted it to be. He wanted to enjoy the travels without the constant need to go to the springs. He didn’t even feel like he wanted to become Covet again. What was the point? After all, there wasn’t any way to get to Stardew, Crimson or Manestralia. It just seemed like a dead-end to him. Which downed his mood even more, given the fact that the whole journey to the Spring of mind seemed in vain.
“Sour?” Sweet then asked, tapping him as he seemed slightly worried about the sudden lack of interest in the conversation. When he turned around, he simply said “I’m fine” before turning back to the window. All he could really focus on at this point was the seas he saw. Sweet went to talk to him again, but Acidic stopped him. “Let’s just let him be” Acidic said to Sweet, with Sweet looking concerned as he glanced at Sour every now and again. Focusing back on Acidic and Dawn, the three sat in silence as they all rode the train into the outer skirts of Trotquay. The train then slowing down and stopping soon after.
Once the doors of the train opened onto the platform, everypony got off. The four trotted out last. Dawn having the saddlebags on them and Sour almost being carted off back to Trotstock. Luckily, he was hauled out last second by Acidic, who grabbed him and flapped his wings insistently to get Sour onto the platform. The mist behind the train, however, disappeared up onto the rooftop of the train station. With no eyes diverting upwards, Harmonous reformed from his misty dispersion and immediately looked out to the ocean, which was a little ways away. “Soon, we’ll all be back together again” he said to himself, eyeing the four as they trotted onward to the main road that led to the seafront.
Back down on the ground, the quartet looked around in sheer awe at the beauty of the area around them. Nature and the urban environment seemed to live in harmony; with the ground under their hooves being partially grass as well as dirt. Houses allowing the foliage around the city to settle nicely around them, with them being spaced apart allowing foliage of all types to exist in unison. Birds and butterflies even flew overhead as the air also smelled fully of the sea salt. Unlike in places like Buckgrove or any equivalent where taller buildings resided, Trotquay seemed to be the anomaly. With all buildings managing to remain at relatively the same height. It didn’t degrade in consistency either as, the further the four trotted into the city, the less it seemed to look like the average coastal cities that Sour, Sweet, Acidic or Dawn were used to. Add on the fact that the sun was blazing in the skies overhead, and the environment itself almost made the town look like a resort location within itself.
That was, until the four made it to the near seafront part of the city. Lining the streets were different buildings that ranged from colt and filly sandcastle building bucket stores, to café’s that built an atmosphere around them that echoed a comfortable and cute place to enjoy the day at. Ponies all around them flocking to every building they could find, with many colts and fillies of all types galloping around playfully and without a care in the world. It was nice to see, for Sweet, Acidic and Dawn that was. Sour however, seemed to still be in his own head as he simply looked down; only occasionally glancing up to make sure he didn’t lose the other three and trotting behind them a fair amount. Sweet, once they noticed, tried asking “Are you sure that you want to at least sit down and talk about-“ but before he could finish his sentence off, Sour nodded quickly with refusal. “Focus on getting to the Spring. We can talk after” he then said in response. Sweet glanced at him as he slowly nodded in understanding, although he was clearly annoyed with the insistence of Sour internalizing his feelings. Nevertheless, the quartet resumed their travel. Sweet and Acidic looking at eachother when Dawn trotted over to a particular store. One that stood out from the others as it looked very old. The structure of the store looked as if it were about to give way at any moment.
When the other two started trotting off to the store to follow Dawn, is when Sour took his chance, without telling the others, he headed in the opposite direction. To the seafront that was a road away at this point. Unbeknownst to him, a familiar Lavender Alicorn watched him from a slight distance, making sure that he waited until he fulfilled Harmonous’ mission that he had set for him. Although, he himself felt as if he wasn’t alone, which greatly frustrated him. Still, he decided to follow Sour specifically. He didn’t know whether or not the Earth Pony remnant of his target would be willing to strike up a conversation, but he knew that something was amiss. His curiosity hit its peak, and he disguised himself. Whereas he was once Lavender-Purple, he now held a striking red. His mane and tail being scarlet. With a whisp of his magic, he concealed his horn; making sure that he appeared as a Pegasus. Then trotting off after Sour with the intent to get his own frustrations out of his mind.
Whilst Sour headed off to the seafront, the other three headed into the store Dawn had started trotting to a little bit prior. Inside, strange smells filled their noses. From foreign spicy smells, to strange, sickly-sweet smells. All of which came from the potions lined up in cabinets around the store. Their glass doors open slightly as the smells seeped out. “…Why’re we here exactly?” Sweet asked Dawn as he noticed candles lighting the walls of the store they were in. “We’re here to get some fresh water. Well, you three are-“ Dawn began. Turning around, they noticed Sweet and Acidic. But Sour? Sour was either a ninja at the gym (you’d never see him there!) or just plain gone. The latter seemed more likely as the other two also looked around for Sour. “I’ll go try to find him!” Acidic then said to the other two. Galloping outside, he quickly flapped his wings and took off in the air; a small gale of sorts accompanying him.
Once Acidic had flown off, Sweet and Dawn looked at eachother with concern. “Acidic flew off the first time we set hoof in Buckgrove… And that was out of anger. Did we do something wrong?” Sweet asked Dawn, his mind thinking of possible causes. “I’m… I’m sure Sour just needed some time to himself. It would’ve been nice for him to at least let us know… Let’s trust Acidic can find him” Dawn responded, trotting finally up to the store counter, and ringing the dingy little bronze bell on it. A high-pitched ringing emitted from the bell as the pair felt slight pain from the pitch of the ring. After about a moment, a figure from a previously unseen backdoor slipped in. “Sulking in the shadows as usual Elixir?” Dawn asked the figure. Coming up to the light, the figure was revealed. With a slightly pastel green coat colour, the rose-colored eyes stared at their customers. With a Forested green mane that resembled a bush covering one of their eyes; with them being revealed as a mare. “Well, it’s better than doing whatever everypony else does these days. I mean really, relaxing around like there’s nothing that could kill them all not too far off the shores!” she protested.
“Huh? What do you mean by that?” Dawn then asked in curiosity. Elixir scoffed at Dawn as she then responded. “Oh please. As if you don’t know about the Great Barrier Reef!”. Dawn then looked at Sweet, who decided to interject. “We know how to get past the Barrier Reef. We just need fresh water” he said, catching Elixir’s attention. Unfortunately for him however, she laughed mockingly, saying “Oh yeah sure, all that’s needed is for the salt in the oceans to go!” before Dawn stepped in again and grabbed the book in the saddlebags, flipping the book to the Aquarespiratius potion. Slamming the book down, they then quickly shuffled through their saddlebags again. This time showing the Breath-Imbued Lily and the Drop of liquid rainbow. “We have the ingredients. Now for the love of Ceyonait get the fresh water!” they then said to the mare as they waited. The mare took a moment to scan through the page, before then looking at both ingredients they already had. Looking then up, she nodded as she trotted off to the door she came from.
“Wonder what she meant by the Great Barrier Reef killing ponies?” Sweet asked himself. “Oh I’m sure it’s nothing. She loves over-exaggerating. Just look at her mane for instance. Mare looks like she straight up trotted with children in nature and then became nature itself” Dawn then remarked, throwing some light and playful insult toward her. It was at that moment that Elixir came back. “You know I can hear you from behind that door right? Anyways… Here’s your water” she commented as she sat the freshwater flask down. “Now you just plop it in and bam” Elixir then added on, looking at Dawn. “Thanks. Right, let’s find Sour and Acidic” Dawn then said, gathering everything and beginning to trot off. “Now you hold on a minute there miss ma’am!” Elixir then shouted, galloping up to Dawn as they turned around.
“I’m not leaving you! Besides, you still need to pick those Lily seeds! Plus, this gives me a chance to finally grab some ocean ingredients. If Aquarespiratius allows you to breath underwater for an extended period of time, I’ll be admitted to a retirement home before I pass up this chance!” Elixir then protested. “But don’t you have this store to run?” Sweet then asked, eyeing the mare. Quickly, Elixir flipped the previously unseen sign on her shop door; which the other two didn’t pay any mind to when they first entered. “You were saying?” she then asked with a smug grin on her face. Without even giving a response, Sweet just stared with some annoyance as she gleefully trotted past him and out of the store. He took a second, before saying “This is going to be… Interesting” to himself and trotting out last.
Meanwhile, Sour sat on the seafront shore on his own. Not knowing that Dallasite had been following him. He was so enveloped by his disdain for his actions that he had begun contemplating just galloping off. Away to a different, unfamiliar city to escape his mission. He wasn’t just repulsed by himself, but by all the bad memories he had associated with his past self. In his pit of dark thoughts, Dallasite as the disguised red Pegasus tapped him on the shoulder. Quickly, Sour turned around. Eyeing the Pegasus. “Sorry, but you looked like you were about to spiral into the ocean. Are you alright?” he asked. Sour, being reasonably weirded out by the sudden appearance of the Pegasus, got up slowly. “I’m… I’m fine. Really” before he and the red Pegasus began to initiate a stand-off. Dallasite in the red Pegasus form trying to think of what to say. That is, until he noticed out of the corner of his eye, a familiar orange Pegasus galloping up to the pair.
As he turned around, Dallasite saw that it was Acidic, with an expression of both defense and aggression. Managing to dodge the tackle Acidic had attempted, he caught a glimpse of Harmonous. Worrying and remembering his mission, he quickly flew back down and spoke. “Don’t worry I’m not trying to kill him… Or you! Infact, I have a way out to the Barrier Reef” he then said, pointing to a boat that seemingly appeared from nowhere. The only remnant of its sudden appearance being some subtle purple whisps. Luckily for Dallasite, neither of the other two noticed. Instead, they noticed Sweet, Dawn and a mare that they hadn’t seen before galloping up to them. “Who’s this!?” Sweet asked with some aggression. “Oh, right… Never got to introduce myself did I?” the red Pegasus then began. “I’m… Embered… Fires. Embered Fires”. He paused for a moment, before pointing at the boat that had been unknowingly summoned. “You all want to get to the ocean, right?” he then asked the other six around him.
“Yeah, but what’s it to you?” Dawn then asked him, eyeing him up with suspicion. “Exactly” Sour began. “We never told you about what we were up to…” He then finished. The red Pegasus took a second to respond, before coming up with an excuse that, in his mind seemed good enough. “Well, I couldn’t help but overhear you on the train” before he trotted on up to the boat. Sour and Acidic looked at eachother, as Dawn and Elixir began trotting forward. “I suppose any help is good enough at this point…!” Sweet then said with a cheerful tone, trotting behind the pair and then getting in. Sour and Acidic stood still for a second, before finally agreeing to get in. “I’m warning you” Sour began as he looked at the supposed Embered. “If you try anything funny, you’ll be going overboard” he then finished. The supposed Embered laughed as he simply grabbed two of the oars and began rowing out into the oceans. “To the Barrier Reef, right?” he then asked, looking at Sweet specifically. “Uh, yeah… Just focus on rowing” he quickly responded, then looking away as he felt immensely awkward.
Watching from the buildings on the shore, Harmonous stood. He was angered that Dallasite had gotten unnecessarily close to the three parts of Bounded Time. His anger being concealed, but concentrated as a small mist cloud formed around him. The usually sunny shores of Trotquay almost froze as he struggled to internalize his anger. But he maintained his composure. Several ponies in Trotquay seemed to stray away from the beaches due to the sudden cold; which gave Harmonous an idea. Opening a portal, Harmonous left the rooftop. The other side being a dark room without water. Behind him, stood the Door of Mind. Meaning he had reached the very end of the Barrier Reef labyrinth. Creating a magical white line, he cast it through the labyrinth; as an indicator for the three who were going to come through shortly.
Meanwhile on the ocean above, the six rowed to a point in the ocean that almost made the shore of Trotquay disappear on the horizon. “Quite a ways out huh” Sweet said to himself, gazing at the near infinite blue that surrounded them. “Yeah, as somepony with the name Embered Fires it’s not my forte. So, I have a plan to combat that” the supposed Embered began. “You five dip down there. After making the potion of course. I’ll sit up here and be a point for you all to return to” he then finished. Dawn and Elixir looked at eachother, with Sour responding. “Look, I really don’t feel up to going down there. You two have fun in the labyrinth” he said, looking out into the ocean. “But we can’t do this without you!” Sweet shouted out in slight anger.
The supposed Embered looked at the pair, before looking at Dawn and saying “What’re you waiting for? Put the stone in the water!”. Dawn took out the stone once more, the light bouncing off of it and creating a small rainbow around itself. “Sweet, stabilize the stone and the flask” he then said, with Sweet nodding. Sweet, using his levitation magic, lowered the stone into the waters. The explosion of colours prevalent. Then, Dawn got out the flask of fresh water and the flask with the Lily. “One last thing” Elixir then said, getting up close with the Lily and then ripping their seed pods out and rummaging through the saddlebags as she grabbed a spare empty one Dawn had in their saddlebags. “And here we go. Now you can do what you need to do!” Elixir then said, plopping the seed pods in the flask. Dawn however, had a thought. "Why don't you take the seeds? You could get more use from them than me" they suggested, making Elixir excited at the idea. "Hey thanks! Oh joy, I can't wait to see what I can do with them!" as Sweet looked at the seed pods within the flask. With a flick of his horn, he used his magic to drop the Lily into the fresh water; moving it from the one with soil.
The effects of the light were instant. The stone launching liquid rainbows of salt water in all different colours upward. The water swirling around the flask until it battered the Lily. It took the six aback at first as the salt water almost seemed razor sharp against the Lily; cutting it up without care and then mixing with the fresh water. Dissolving the remains of the Lily which was all powder at the point of the two merging together. When it had all finished, the water glowed in a bright symphony of all colours, with overtones and slight influences of blue. Sweet then brought the stone back above water and then brought the flask back to the six ponies on the boat. “Well, bottoms up then…” Sweet said, taking a gulp of the potion as he passed it around. Sour and Embered being the only two to reject the drink. Both for reasons they had previously explained prior to the potion being brewed.
Once the four who drank the potion had finished, bright light surrounded them. From their hooves, they felt something growing. It didn’t hurt but it felt weird. Then, they saw what was happening. Their hooves were growing fins. All four of them. It almost made the four jump into the ocean out of pure shock. Though, the potion didn’t seem to be done. With another shock, the four felt themselves emitting an aura of sorts. It radiated a bright cyan. With Acidic jumping in the water at once. The other five looked in shock until Acidic came back up a moment later. “It works! I can breathe! And swim quite fast it seems!” Acidic then said, instantly grabbing Sweet and pulling them in. Screaming, Sweet fell into the blue ocean. When he opened his eyes, the view was stunning. All across the ocean floor, he could make out Reef formations of various shapes and sizes. Sea creatures of all shapes and sizes swimming around in the Reef’s as the ecosystem didn’t seem to take notice of them.
The supposed Embered and Sour meanwhile, stayed above as the other two jumped in. Embered looking through the book after rummaging through the saddlebags. Sour not even noticing until Embered said “Ah, so that’s the catch that they didn’t mention” and instantly shedding the disguise. Sour turned around to find the revealed Dallasite and instantly went into a defensive stance. “I knew something was off!” he shouted, but to his surprise, Dallasite said “Don’t worry Sour, or uh… Whatever you call yourself. I’m not here to fight you. I’m here to help. Firstly with letting those four idiots know about the catch that they didn’t bother to mention to eachother” and instantly jumped into the ocean after drinking the last of the Aquarespiratius. Sour looked at the book again and gasped in pure shock as he didn’t bother to look at the part Dallasite had found at that point.
Diving down, Dallasite immediately raced to the main two he wanted to warn, viewing Elixir and Dawn as secondary and lesser. He blazed through the oceans and quickly caught up to Sweet and Acidic. Both of whom turned around and quickly went into the same defensive stance that Sour has gotten into on the boat. Dallasite however, said “Goodness you’re all so defensive. I’m not here to fight” as he swam closer. “Then… Then why’re you here?” Sweet then asked, still very much cautious of the lavender Alicorn. “I’m here to let you know about what you missed. Or at least didn’t mention…” Dallasite then began. “The thing you missed being about when the Aquarespiratius wears off. It wears off at Sunset. So make sure you get back to the boat by that point” Dallasite then finished off. The pair looked at eachother, before Sweet then said “Uh… Thanks?” as Dallasite then swam off to find Dawn and Elixir.
“Well, even though we knew that, I suppose it was nice of him to remind us” Sweet said to Acidic. Acidic then rolled his eyes, displaying some annoyance as he responded “But we don’t need to pay attention to that! We’ll be back up to the surface and the boat before the sun even begins the sunset phase of the day. Now let’s go!” as he swam downwards into a part of the Barrier Reef that looked almost pony made. Strange pillars of stone rising up from the ground almost forming an arch When they swam up to it, they had unknowingly broken through the barrier around the Barrier Reef. Light behind them shimmering and then forming fractures in a dome that they had gotten past. Then shattering the dome for the first time since the old ruler of Ellestros had existed. Of course, the pair hadn’t known that. Those who did take notice however, were Dallasite, Dawn and Elixir. Dawn and Elixir looking at the barrier in awe, then catching the vision of Dallasite who also looked at it in awe. “But where did he come from!?” Dawn yelled out, catching Dallasite’s attention. “Ah, there the pair of you are” Dallasite then said to himself. Dawn went to put up a defensive stance, as Dallasite yawned. “You’re all so boring, surely you all know that me and Arcane aren’t out to kill you?” he then asked, eyeing Dawn. “Arcane?” Elixir then asked, in awe that an Alicorn had approached them in the oceans of all places.
“I’ll explain later” Dawn then responded, lowering their guard ever so slightly. They knew that the likelihood of death from Dallasite and Arcane was low. But what if they’d changed their minds? They certainly seemed fickle when it came to their decisions. It didn’t help that they’d been stalking Sour, Sweet and Acidic again. It just felt too odd to lower their guard completely. “Well, regardless of your position toward me, I feel I have to let you know that Aquarespiratius runs out at Sunset. Do what you need to and then return to the boat. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” Dallasite then said, beginning to swim in the direction of Sweet and Acidic. Elixir and Dawn looked at eachother once more; with Elixir saying “You’re telling me everything once we get back to Trotquay”. With that, the pair swam in the direction they were swimming in before.
Back at the pair of pillars, Sweet and Acidic instinctively swimming through it as they then entered a strange place. One that was made of unnatural purple stone. The water being completely absent as they could feel the power of the potion wearing off. Purple fog surrounding the pair as they then saw walls bursting forth from the ground they stood on. “Watch out!” Sweet said to acidic. The pair jumping away from a wall that had just burst upwards. When they landed, they looked up and found that the skies were filled with stars. Although, some of the stars were differently coloured. Whereas most were white, there were blue stars lighting up in almost a pattern identical to the labyrinth they had unknowingly stepped into. It only took them a second before they then heard a voice. One right behind them.
“Welcome to the Labyrinth of Mind, Bounded”
The pair instantly turned around. To which they ended up seeing Dallasite. “Just managed to make it as well. Given the fact that you went in before I could approach you again” he said as he looked at the two. “Weren’t you going to find Dawn and Elixir?” Sweet asked in an almost annoyed tone. Although he kept his composure. “Yes, well, I managed to tell them about the catch that you neglected to look at. So, I think the three of us are good to go” Dallasite then responded. He seemed a lot more friendly than the pair had seen before, but they couldn’t focus on the nuances of the situation. Trotting forward however, Acidic noticed something on the ground. Almost like a white line of sorts. “But that’s-“ Dallasite began, almost seeming to know about the white line. “It’s what?” Sweet then asked, eyeing Dallasite. “Oh I said that aloud? Apologies” Dallasite then began. “This line, it’s definitely from fa-I mean from Harmonous. Probably as a guide of sorts” Dallasite then finished off as he began trotting past Acidic and Sweet. “Come on then, let’s get moving” he then said, following the white line with the other two behind him.
Back in the Reef, Dawn and Elixir swam through. Many forms of sea life passing them by as Elixir seemed to be the one leading the way. It took about five minutes for the pair to finally reach a kelp forest. “This is it! Just need some of the bottom stuff and then we can get going” Elixir shouted out to Dawn. Dawn however, had other things on their mind. They seemed to be staring at something in the distance. Something that was coming closer. It didn’t look like a pony, or a small fish. Which could only mean…
“ELIXIR, SWIM QUICK!”
Dawn quickly started swimming upwards toward the boat. If they could get to the boat, they could be safe at the very least and could stay above waters. Before Dawn could reach the boat however, they looked behind. To which they saw that Elixir didn’t pay any mind to the incoming dangers. Quickly swimming back, Dawn grabbed Elixir’s hoof as they barely managed to avoid the oncoming creature. When Dawn looked back after getting above the danger zone, they noticed that the creature was unlike anything they had seen before. It looked like a shark, but looked horribly disfigured. It’s eyes didn’t seem to exist at all. The body of the creature looking ripped and teared. Dawn could even see some of the bones of the creature from the tears in its side. However no blood came from the creature. Instead, smoke emitted from the area where the eyes were, and from where the side tears were. The exterior of the creature also seemed to radiate a strange, almost malicious purple.
It didn’t take long for the creature to course correct as it began swimming upward. Even without eyes, the creature still seemed to sense where the pair were. “What is that!?” Elixir asked out as she seemed scared and fearful of the creature. “I dunno but if I were to guess what it wants for dinner, we’re on its list!” Dawn then responded. Continuing to grab Elixir’s hoof as they swam up to the surface of the ocean. The creature following in hot pursuit. They were slower than the creature as they headed upwards, meaning the creature was able to catch up fairly quickly. With a snap of its jaws, it lunged for the pair in a final attempt to finish them off. However, it wasn’t able to bite down. Something cold had appeared behind Dawn and Elixir. When they looked behind, they both saw another familiar Alicorn.
Arcane.
Without warning, Arcane had appeared and, when Elixir and Dawn turned to the creature, it was frozen. “I don’t know where this thing came from. Definitely not a natural phenomenon” Arcane muttered to himself as he seemed to destroy the creature right before Dawn and Elixir’s eyes. The pair were too stunned to speak, which allowed them to not be noticed as Arcane simply teleported away in a window of magic that he swam up to on the oceans surface. “He didn’t look like he had taken any Aquarespiratius potion…” Dawn said to themselves as the pair just floated in the ocean for a brief moment. That’s when Elixir spoke up. “Well, it probably wasn’t Aquarespiratius yeah… But who’s to say that he didn’t simply use a spell?” she then asked. Dawn thought about it, before nodding and saying “Yeah I suppose that’s true. We only needed Aquarespiratius to get past the barrier at the reef. Even with that though, we didn’t go with Sweet or Acidic”. The two swam back to the kelp forest and the seabed. Elixir finally managing to get some of the kelp before the pair finally began their ascension to the boat. That of which still held a very lonely Sour.
Surfacing above, Dawn carried Elixir on the boat as Aquarespiratius wore off. The additions they both acquired being removed as they landed in the boat. Dawn and Elixir took a moment to dig through Dawn’s saddlebags to retrieve another flask, plopping the kelp Elixir had gotten into the flask before the pair noticed Sour. Sour staring at them with some curiosity. “Finished already?” Sour asked the pair. The pair looked at eachother, before Elixir said “Yep. Got the kelp. The other two are the last down there. Along with Dallasite… I think”. Sour looked slightly worried. “I should’ve gone along huh” he said to himself, looking away. “I mean, if you’re needed I’m sure that Dallasite would’ve shoved Aquarespiratius down your throat… Or something along those lines” Dawn then responded. “Although, the next Spring that you’re all headed to probably relies on you” they then added on. Sour looked at Dawn for a second, before looking away again. “Yeah… I suppose it does, doesn’t it…” he then muttered. Leaving the three of them in an awkward situation.
Back in the Labyrinth of Mind, Sweet, Acidic and Dallasite were trotting through the labyrinth. Sweet kept looking around as Dallasite had to snap him back on the right path multiple times. “Honestly if you keep getting sidetracked you’re going to end up lost” Dallasite muttered as he used his magic to course correct Sweet. Looking annoyed, Sweet simply said “Well if you were paying attention you’d see that the walls have small patterns on them” before Dallasite laughed. Acidic looked at both of them as he stayed silent. “Yes the walls have small patterns and I’m bright gold! Those patterns don’t mean anything. It’s the effect of time itself on abandoned structures” Dallasite responded, adding nasty sarcasm in his sentence. “Yes because effects of time make sentences in the walls like I was about to point out! Clearly I’m the stupid one here” Sweet then responded, with equal amounts of nasty sarcasm. “Sentences?” Acidic then asked, slightly curious. “Yes. Sentences. Remember when we snuck into dad’s study? His ancient archives as he called it? I recognize the symbols on the wall from a book we read that had a whole alphabet of these weird symbols. They’re hard to make out but I think they read… Hold on…” Sweet said, getting close to the pattern as he spoke out what he deciphered.
“For the might of Faeris, Springs abound. Children of water, ice, and fire will be crowned”
“Water, ice and fire?” Acidic asked aloud. “I don’t know what it means by that. But it was something I noticed in the Spring of Body. On the door at least. Briefly, but it was there. I thought nothing of it at first, so I never brought it up” Sweet began. “But there’s a definite running theme to it” he then added on. “Well, regardless of your little discovery, we need to move” Dallasite asserted. Sweet and Acidic looked at him, Sweet looking like he wanted to smite him, with Acidic pulling his hoof in an attempt to carry on. Sweet thankfully obliged, as Dallasite continued leading them through the maze. “When we get out of here we definitely need to make a record of it, and maybe ask dad once we get back to being ourselves” Sweet told Acidic, with Dallasite looking angered by the mentioning of their father. Although the other two couldn’t see it as he faced forward.
It took the three of them about ten minutes more to finally reach their destination. When they reached the end, they noticed a bridge across a bottomless chasm. As Dallasite crossed it, the three of them heard something unexpected. An almost ethereal voice echoed through the space. With Sweet and Acidic sounding uneasy. Dallasite immediately flew back to Sweet and Acidic as the three of them heard what the voice was saying. “I applaud your persistence in making it through the labyrinth of mind… However, you lack your full self” it said. “Sour…” Sweet said to himself, looking at Dallasite as he nodded. With a portal of his magic opening, he quickly grabbed Sour before he knew what was going on. With Sour frantically looking around. As soon as he saw Sweet and Acidic, the three noticed that the voice spoke again. “I see… Such unorthodox methods to retrieve the missing part of yourself…” it said as the now four noticed the bridge disappear. With the abyss filling up with more of the purple stone and the end of the white line. Along with Harmonous. Who seemed agitated by Dallasite’s presence.
The four trotted up. Dallasite being abnormally slow as he looked terrified. Harmonous eyeing him with his signature cold fury. He didn’t bother to greet the three either. Which specifically made Sweet confused. “Are we suddenly ghosts now?” he asked in an annoyed tone. With Sour looking at him and saying “And pulling me in here is anything normal!?” as he sounded angered. Without acknowledging the three however, Harmonous spoke.
“Faeris Oltun Mindurum Unlon”
His horn emitted a green glow as the door they had all neglected to notice opened. It had a book symbol etched into it, with the same stone as the other door they had seen. “The door of mind! But I didn’t even notice it…” Sweet said to himself as Harmonous scoffed. “The element of mind missing a crucial detail. How humoring” he said, his words filling with a mocking energy as he trotted forward and asked “Can the element of mind use his limited intelligence to proceed onwards? Or will his lacking intelligence lead him to-“ but before Harmonous could speak up, and much to the trio’s surprise, Dallasite protested. “Actually, he’s been very observant. He even managed to see and decipher the words on the walls. Something that should be commended” he said, eyeing Harmonous. Still fearful however.
Harmonous turned around. His fury almost escaping his control as he instinctively summoned and threw a cluster of icicles at Dallasite. Dallasite stood still, his courage failing. Luckily, Harmonous threw them in the way that would make them miss as he simply responded with “Your fire gets too bold for your own good” before he trotted onwards without anything more. Dallasite looked away as he seemed conflicted, with Sweet trotting ahead. Acidic also proceeded onward, with Sour staying behind momentarily. “You alright?” he asked, however Dallasite ignored him. He looked angry. But not at Sour. “Always thinks I’m the worst…” he muttered quietly to himself as he stomped on past Sour. Sour, being slightly taken aback, was the last to follow along. The five of them going up some stairs before they all arrived at a familiar place. Except this time, the Spring looked out and up to the infinite cosmos from what it seemed. Strange liquid pouring out into the space around them as the three jumped onto the pedestals that stood out just as the ones from the previous spring did. “Repeat the phrase Reparum Dias Mindurum” Harmonous simply instructed, whilst he looked away. Sweet, having jumped to the pedestal infront of the statue that overlooked the spring, spoke.
“Reparum Dias Mindurum”
The statues wings, as the one before in the Spring of Body, flapped as it rose; lifting it upwards. The stone from the strange liquid that it had stood on followed as a similar little stone door then descended. When Sweet looked at what was inside, he saw a ring. One with a strange, cloudy stone at the center. It was blue, unlike the Beryl before as it made Sweet feel refreshed. Upon seeing it, he experienced a flashback. Much like Acidic had done in his Spring This time, of a mare who faintly said "Oh Quartz..." However Sweet was snapped back to reality too quickly to process what was said . “That is the Moonstone of Mind. It was etched into the ring as a way for the user to become smart. Something you should consider using given your lack of intelligence. It’s supposed to represent you… But you don’t represent the mind. You represent the absence of mind” Harmonous said, his words cutting deep. To which, Sour spoke up. “Well considering he managed to solve the riddle in Old Gallopvant castle all by himself, I’d say he does represent the mind thank you” he said, looking at Harmonous with some confidence. “That’s right!” Acidic added on. “He’s done great! Sure, he may look at the smaller things rather than the main thing, but he is clever!” Acidic then said. The three-standing firm in their position. Harmonous took a second, before looking back at them.
“Apologies. I must’ve not clarified that I meant magic. You lack magical knowledge. In the past, if you remember…” Harmonous then began. Taking a deep breath and speaking, his next sentence echoed in all of their minds. “You failed” he then said, finishing his sentence. Sweet taking a pause as the other two didn’t know what to say. “I believe my stance is clear” Harmonous then said as he eyed Sweet. “I assume you want to be with your friends… So I will leave you with them…” he then added on as he created a window of magic and pushed the three of them through onto the shore. Where Elixir and Dawn waited. The sun having set a little bit before they both sailed back to shore. Dawn instantly galloped over to Sour, hugging him as they said “Thank goodness you’re alright!” with Elixir looking behind them. Before Elixir could get a clear picture of Harmonous, he closed the window of magic. “Strange…” she said to herself, then turning to the other four and saying “Well, it's far too late for the trains… You could stay at mine tonight” she said to Dawn. Looking at the other three, they nodded in approval. However, Acidic had a question. “How long has it been?” he asked. He obviously knew that the pair had probably sailed back, but he was surprised to see the moon and stars in the sky. “Oh about five hours. Why?” Elixir then asked.
“Well, it felt like it only took an hour at most…” Acidic then said as he thought back to the time it felt like it took to travel through the labyrinth. “I see” Elixir said to herself, then further expanding on what she had just said. “So time worked differently there then?” she then asked. “It must have. Although, I’m curious as to what that voice was. We never heard anything like that during our journey to the Spring of Body…” Sweet then said to himself, thinking. “Whatever the case is, let’s just get some rest…” Sour added in, with the other four nodding as they all set off to end their day. All parties exhausted, but mostly satisfied considering their achievements.
It wasn’t all happy however, with Harmonous back in the Labyrinth of mind. He didn’t bother to speak to Dallasite as he opened another portal of magic. This time to the caves. Dallasite trotted through as Harmonous gave him a harsh push over to the other side. Getting out of Harmonous’ way quickly, Dallasite noticed Arcane, who seemed concerned. “What is it” Harmonous stated. His lack of calmness causing him to state it rather than ask. “Well… It’s just that… There was a sea creature. One I don’t believe was of this world. Nothing from this world could look that horrible” Arcane responded. “Curious… Show me” Harmonous then instructed.
With a nod, Arcane used his magic to show an image from his mind of what it looked like. Harmonous widening his eyes in shock as he simply, and quietly asked himself “But the creatures of… Well surely not… But then…?” as Arcane looked at him with some intrigue. Harmonous, looking back at him, simply said “Get some rest. The pair of you. I’ll deal with you tomorrow Dallasite” as he trotted off to the cave entrance. Dallasite remaining quiet as he simply laid down on the floor. Arcane looked concerned, but decided not to question Dallasite just yet. He clearly seemed angry, but Arcane knew that he’d have to ask him alone. Lest Dallasite say something that would anger Harmonous. Laying his head down as well, the pair finally slipped into dreams, with the events of that day coming to a final end. It had been a long day, for all parties.