"In The West Find Ye Kadath"
by Memory in Crimson
When the Cutie Mark Map showed Starlight Glimmer's cutie mark hovering alone in the Undiscovered West, she dashed through the castle to find her mentor.
"It's just beyond the North Luna Sea," she told Twilight Sparkle as they trotted to the great hall.
Indeed, the Cutie Mark Map had changed, incorporating lands that had not been displayed previously. The Undiscovered West had appeared, except an anomaly concealed the topography above which Starlight's cutie mark hovered. A gray phosphorescence concealed its shores and the adjoining inland, contrasting with the rest of the Map, which glowed with blue hues that were harmonious with one another.
Twilight did not notice the strange phosphorescence at first. Instead, she hopped about the great hall and extolled the possibility of encountering new environments, new creatures, new ponies, and new friends. Her head swam jubilantly at the prospect of discovering all that a pony could learn in that region of the Undiscovered West: new knowledge to collect and add to her library—
"Twilight!" exclaimed Starlight, and she returned her mentor's attention to the Map. "Look again, here, where my cutie mark is. From the coast to what I'm guessing are mountains here and all this area inland—it's shrouded by this muddy gray color, almost like a fungus or something."
Twilight's brows furrowed, and she eyed the gloomy cloud that veiled the land and part of the sea. She hummed pensively, and finally, she said, "The last time the colors were off like this was when you traveled through time. But everything else, from Equestria to the rest of the Undiscovered West is normal. I'm as mystified as you."
The ponies leaned closer to the Map, narrowing their eyes, peeking for any sign of some civilization or even trees or the details of the mountains. A bolt of static slapped each pony across her nose as a reward for their curiosity, and they shrieked.
Jumping back, the ponies walked slowly from the Map, not yet taking their gaze off that concealed land or Starlight's cutie mark.
"I-I don't know, Twilight," said Starlight, rubbing her sore nose. "Did you get a strange feeling from that bolt?"
"Like an icky, slimy feeling in the pit your stomach?"
"Yeah."
"I did." Then she gazed upon her student and said, "Let's gather the others. I don't want you going anywhere near that place until we can figure out just what happened."
Starlight agreed. While she summoned Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, Twilight pulled aside Rainbow Dash and Apple Jack. The mares were amazed by this new development, and they, too, felt concerned at what had occurred. In haste, the ponies returned to Twilight's castle.
On her way, Twilight crossed paths with recently-made friends, Fizzlepop Berrytwist and her traveling companion, Grubber. They had stopped in Ponyville with the hope of meeting the princess and her friends, perhaps with whom to share good meals and good conversation. Twilight confessed that sadly, she did not know if there would be time, for a strange and worrisome thing had happened. If Fizzlepop and Grubber did not mind accompanying her, then they were welcome to join. The pair accepted her invitation and suggested that they might be of some use.
As the parties converged upon the castle, they recognized an old bay earth-mare with white hair and glasses standing at the entrance. Beside her stood a sea-green earth-mare, about the same age as she, with hair as white and curly as sea foam.
"Mayor Mare," said Twilight, "what brings you here?"
The mayor smiled and sighed and stepped forth.
"Princess Twilight, I'd like you to meet my friend: Providence Arcanter."
The sea-green earth-mare stepped humbly toward the violet alicorn, and she bowed her head. "How do you do, Your Highness?"
Mayor Mare continued: "Providence has come all the way from Vanhoover, looking for help. Her, uh... former husband has gone missing. The police in Vanhoover have done all they can do. And since she knows that you and I are friends, she asked if maybe—"
Providence burst into sudden wretched sobbing and leaned upon her old friend. Her knees wobbled, and she groaned, "I'm so sorry, my friend! I should have never asked you to bring me here—oh! Girls, I'm just terribly sorry for wasting your time. I'm just so tired and frustrated and... ugh! I can't think straight at all."
The younger ponies frowned and drew closer around their guests. Perhaps, they said, if they could not solve the mystery, they could, at least, give her some comfort by listening to her plight.
The ponies, Spike the Dragon, and Grubber led the elder ponies to the library. Hospitable Fluttershy disappeared to the kitchen and returned with tea, a gesture which Providence thanked her profusely. Then the Keepers of the Elements of Harmony each uttered, from her heart, kind words to soothe her nerves. When she appeared finally calm, Twilight said, "Now, Ms. Arcanter, if you'd please, go into as much detail as you can. What happened before your husband disappeared?"
Providence sighed and frowned anew.
"Former husband," she emphasized. "I know, it's not common for ponies to break the bonds of matrimony."
She sighed again and shook her head. She continued: "I suppose it's my fault, though, that he picked up and left. Oh! He went galloping off on another adventure to Celestial-knows-where."
"An adventure?" asked Pinkie Pie, perking up. "Ooo! Was he looking for treasure or a lost city?"
"I don't know if 'lost' is the word," said Providence, "but he was looking for a place. You see, my Clark is a fiction writer, and his favorite part about writing is doing firsthoof research. He'll go hiking just about anywhere, looking for abandoned villages and ruins. Browsing through libraries for old books containing information on history and different cultures."
"Huh! His name doesn't ring a bell," said Rainbow Dash.
"Clark always publishes under the name Phillip Myschthonic."
"Phillip Myschthonic? Oh, yeah!" exclaimed Spike. "I've read some of his stuff—not a lot, though, and usually just around Nightmare Night time. He writes a lot of short stories about spooky, ancient places and spooky ponies and creatures."
"Yes, that's my Clark," replied Providence. "It's very rare when one of his stories ends happily. Hmm! I'm convinced that maybe this time, his fiction has finally caught up with him.
"This whole ordeal started over six moons ago, when he insisted on finding a ship and paying somepony enough bits to get across the North Luna Sea. He was following a lead from a very, very old source that talks about an unnamed land, far to the west of Equestria."
Twilight and Starlight exchanged glances but held their tongues until they heard all of Providence's tale.
"It's been years—centuries, really—since anypony's spoken of it. It's just mentioned as a blip in the history books, and most sources admit that what they think they know is just that—pure speculation. It's a land of mist and mystery, reached only when you pass through foggy seas. And if you reach its shores—you know, if the land hasn't already sunk to the bottom of the sea—nopony knows what dangers you'd encounter.
"The pony who does talk about it the most—and mind you, most scholars don't care to mention it because it is pure speculation—was Professor Wilcolt Whinneley of Caballano University. He was a pegasus who traveled to many archaeological sites and apparently made it this mysterious place."
"What's it call, ma'am?" asked Apple Jack.
"He wrote that it's call Kadath, in an ancient tongue that nopony in Equestria, not even Star Swirl the Bearded, recalls. Whinneley somehow flew there, apparently, but he didn't stay long. He said that there are ponies in Kadath, but they're not like us. Not at all. And not like zebras or donkeys or even the equines of Saddle Arabia. They're a queer sort, he wrote. Probably more ancient than the Two Sisters and if not, the creatures that they revere are definitely older than the Two Sisters.
"Well! You can imagine that when Clark got his hooves on that information—and mind you, Whinneley spoke briefly on the topic—my dear Clark just had to find some way to get across the cold, vast North Luna Sea and see Kadath for himself. And I told him, I'd supported him throughout his entire career as writer. Through all the highs and the lows! He'd done some fool things, too. Got into some situations where I wondered if our foals were going to grow up without a father. And now he wanted to gallop off into part of the Undiscovered West—Undiscovered? To look for some... some... lost and possibly dangerous civilization?
"I told him that I'd have none of. Our grandfoals barely know their grandfather! And if he was going to put my concerns last, behind this obsession to find Kadath, then he could walk out. And that's what he did! Packed up all his things, moved in with a bunch of scholar friends. He still wrote to me, but it almost felt like he was mocking me, going on and on about his preparations to sail west. Ugh!"
Providence huffed and snorted, her eyes ablaze with the same frustration she had vented on the last day she had seen her husband. Then she looked around at her audience, and her withers crumpled. She gazed upon the floor and pawed at it.
"Six moons... He sailed off six moons ago. And I haven't heard from him. Nopony's heard from him. He, uh... He finally managed to find a boat that was willing to take him as far west as he wanted to go. It was a crew of kelp-harvesters, and I know he paid them off. Took some bits out of our savings account and paid them twice—once to sail him farther than what they or any other crew are used to, and again to keep quiet about their run-in."
"Run-in? With whom?" asked Apple Jack.
"A troop of pegasi in strange, dark armor. The crew mate I found and finally got to talk to me said that he couldn't recall any insignia. Just that they were tall, maybe about your height..." she said as she tipped her head toward Fizzlepop. "... perhaps a tidbit more. All the crew and my Clark were made to come out, and they demanded to know why they had breached their waters. Wouldn't say whose waters it was, just that the boat were to turn around, and the pegasi would make sure they stuck east toward home.
"Well, Clark stepped in and said he was looking for Kadath. The ponies got the nastiest expressions, I guess, and pulled Clark aside. They talked for a long while, and finally, Clark said to the captain to fetch his pack. He paid them—the crew—to keep quiet, and then the pegasi put some sort of harness on him. And when they flew off, they took Clark with them."
When Providence ended her tale, an eerie silence crept into the library. As she stared vacantly at the floor, mouth agape, Mayor Mare and Fluttershy leaned close to her, hugging her and rubbing her withers.
"I... I just don't know, girls," she said in her trance. "Something... Something dreadful has happened to Clark. I just know it! Maybe he's alive, still, but in miserable condition." Her bottom lip quivered, and when she squeezed her eyes shut, tears streamed down her cheeks. "I should have never yelled at him. Never discouraged him, like that, anyway. I just wanted him to stay away from that horrible, unknown place, and now... now?! It's my fault. It's my fault!"
Providence collapsed on the floor, weeping. While the other ponies comforted her, Twilight and Starlight excused themselves, stepping into the hall.
Starlight whispered, "I don't think it's just a coincidence that the Cutie Mark Map lit up when it did, and over the place that it did?"
"Let's not say anything just yet," said Twilight. "I wanna show the others what we saw."
Twilight summoned her friends and told Providence that they needed to discuss a plan of action. She led the ponies, Spike, Fizzlepop, and Grubber to the Map and explained the strange phenomenon that had befallen it.
"Yup, there's no doubt about it," said Apple Jack as she eyed the gray phosphorescence that blighted the Map. "That's the west, all right."
"Dear me! It must be a dreadful place," said Rarity. "Poor Clark Arcanter! He must be alive if your cutie mark is taking you there, darling."
Pinkie Pie eyed the Map this way and that way, and she crawled atop the table with feline strides. She snorted like a hog and crept around the gray, veiled land. Then she inhaled deeply and blew at the fog.
It would not budge, not even tremble before her breath. An arc of electricity reared quickly, before anypony could draw Pinkie Pie away. It punched her snout with enough force to send her tumbling off the table. The ponies screamed and cried out, gathering around her and fanning her with their hooves, helping her sit, and brushing her frizzy mane, which had become more frazzled.
Blowing a puff of white smoke, Pinkie Pie opened her eyes and shook off the stiffness in her limbs.
"O-o-okay... I get the icky, sticky, slimy, briny feeling that whoever took Mr. Arcanter aren't the friendliest ponies," she remarked.
"We know that from Mrs. Arcanter's tale," said Apple Jack.
"But, like, really, really, really, really unfriendly," continued Pinkie Pie. "Like, a million times crankier than Cranky Doodle Donkey used to be. Like, a million times more serious-faced than Fizzlepop used to be." She turned to Starlight and said, "Yeah, I definitely wouldn't go alone, if I were you. I'd probably bring someone like me along—"
"But Pinkie, darling," said Rarity, "didn't you just say—"
"I like a challenge!" she exclaimed.
Twilight turned to Fizzlepop and Grubber and asked if they had traveled into the Undiscovered West. Neither as soldiers for the Storm King nor as wanderers they then were had they journeyed to such a forbidding land. When asked if they had heard tales, at least, they recalled nothing.
"So, I guess we're going in blind, huh?" said Starlight with her head hanging low. For this task belonged to her, even if her friends accompanied her, and already, she sensed a challenge beyond aught any of them had faced.
The magenta unicorn, Fizzlepop, joined her side. She stroked a cheek against Starlight's face.
"Blind, yes, but definitely not alone," she said. "I think it's pretty clear: anypony walking into the lands west of here is walking into hostile territory. And while I know you've all seen your fair share of combat and have rather unique ways of fighting, I think—if you'll let me—I'd be a good choice to come along."
The Keepers of the Elements of Harmony gazed at one another, their trepidation supplanted by confidence. For was not Fizzlepop formerly the dreaded Commander Tempest, fleet of hoof and strong of body and magic? She had maintained some of solemn comportment, and it could be useful if Starlight encountered ponies who were no-nonsense.
"And," Fizzlepop continued, "if you don't mind my saying so, I think it would be best if you six stayed here," and she bowed her head toward the Keepers. "After all, Equestria has this bizarre tendency to attract every power-hungry madcreature under the sun and moon. And since you mares are its undefeated protectors, it's probably better that you stay, in case somecreature gets the notion to conquer this place."
Nopony or creature argued; and so, they agreed that Fizzlepop and Grubber would accompany Starlight. Trixie Lulamoon, the proud sky blue unicorn and Starlight's peer, would also be invited upon this quest.
Finally, the ponies returned to the library and revealed all that they knew to Mayor Mare and Providence. Weary though she was, the sea-green earth-mare rose on wobbling legs, nose runny and eyes teary, and she thanked the princess and her friends. She would give them all the information that she had, including notes that Mr. Arcanter had abandoned in their home. Indeed, she said, after Twilight, Starlight, and Pinkie Pie's terrifying jolts, she would bestow all the knowledge that she had of that rumored realm of dread.
Disclaimer: The author of this fanfiction recognizes that Hasbro owns the rights to My Little Pony. The author makes no intellectual or monetary claim to My Little Pony or characters within the franchise. The author would also like to recognize the heavy influence of the works of HP Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith upon this fanfiction.