//------------------------------//
// Prologue: Seeking a Legend 
// Story: Amorphous: The Tale of Arcadês the Immortal 
// by Quillian Inkheart 
//------------------------------//

Twilight read aloud from the journal as she walked along the forest trail, eyes sliding over the words with gusto. "In the lands south of the town of Tell Tale— that's the old name for the city of Tall Tale," she paused to clarify before continuing her reading, "— and flush with the Smokey Mountains, we encountered the last known location of Arcadês the Immortal." Twilight let out a small squeal of excitement, a noise that was mirrored by Starlight not far away.

"Arcadês! Maybe we'll even find her textbooks!" Starlight exclaimed, rushing to Twilight's side to read over her shoulder for the fifth time. "I can't wait!"

From behind the two, Rainbow Dash sighed in boredom from her place beside the other girls. "And why are we coming along again?" Rainbow asked, rolling her eyes. "It's not like we even know who this pony is."

Twilight lowered the book and stopped walking, looking back to her friend. "Arcadês was a legendary pony alchemist who tried to create a potion of immortality. As the legends go, she vanished into the Zebra Tribes never to return. But this book says she did come back to Equestria!" Twilight's eyes sparkled with her excitement. "We might be able to find the secret of immortality!"

That stole Rainbow's attention. She darted right up to her friend, trying to read over Twilight's other shoulder. "Wait, what? Immortality?"

"Now, why in tarnation would anypony leave a secret like that way out here?" Applejack tossed in, stepping over a small ledge and hurrying to catch up to the others. "And where'd ya find that musty ole book anyhow?"

Twilight smiled proudly. "In a secret chamber in the Castle of the Two Sisters."

Rarity gave a small shudder before hopping over the same ledge as Applejack. "Isn't that... unwise? Don't forget what happened the last time a secret book was taken from that library."

Twilight chuckled an starting walking again, putting the book back into optimal reading position. "Oh, don't worry about it, Rarity. I went over this book three times with detection magic. There's not an ounce of magic in these bindings; just knowledge."

Rarity let out a small sigh of relief as Pinkie Pie darted right up to her side. "But immortality? Is nopony going to say how awesome that sounds?" The pink pony exclaimed right into Rarity's ear.

"Y-yes," Rarity said, giving her ear a rub. "Being forever young and beautiful does sound rather magnificent, but..."

"But then, what about everypony else?" Fluttershy chimed in from her place over the other two, hovering casually over them. "All our friends and family. We'd leave them all behind." She shook her head sadly. "I'd never want to see so many animal friends come and go. It'd just be too much."

Rainbow, overhearing all this, let out a defeated noise. "That's a good point, Twilight. What good is this immortality stuff, if we can't give it to everypony?"

Twilight passed the book over to Starlight, who eagerly took over the reading. "It might not be for us, but that doesn't mean it can't be useful. Look at Celestia and Luna; their immortality has let them keep Equestria in a state of peace for centuries, aside from the odd hiccup here and there."

Starlight paused, then looked over. "But... what about Nightmare Moon? Immortality in the hands of somepony evil..." Twilight opened her mouth to reply, paused, then closed it.

"We should still look," she finally said, taking the book back and resuming her walk. "Arcadês was an Earth Pony who used curative potions and brews. She was known as one of the only pony alchemists outside of the Zebra Tribes... And then she went and trained under them." Twilight let out another squeal. "If her journals are in this location, just think of what we could learn about potion making! What advances could we find in the texts of a master like Arcadês?" She hurried her steps almost unknowingly. "It's all so... so exciting!"

"Twilight," Starlight said, but Twilight kept talking right over her.

"I mean, just think about it. Arcadês was alive when Discord ruled Equestria. She wasn't even here for Luna's rebellion and the thousand years of peace."

"Twilight."

"And her knowledge was said to surpass even that of Mage Meadowbrook! She was a genius in the field of alchemy, and—"

"Twilight!" Starlight shouted, cutting Twilight off. The Princess of Friendship turned to her, a little surprised, but Starlight just smirked and slipped a hoof in between a few trees, pulling the brush aside. "We're here." Beyond was a massive cavernous opening, protected from the elements by an overhanging cliff and the plants below.

Twilight looked back to the book, scanning the text again, muttering the words under her breath. She looked up at the cave, then back down again, giving a small nod. "I think you're right, Starlight."

"W-wait..." Fluttershy drifted down to the ground, shaking slightly. "You never said a-anything about going into a spooky cave." 

Rainbow landed beside her, putting a hoof over her. "You'll be fine." Fluttershy didn't look like she believed a word of it.

"Arcadês was last seen here, according to Celestia and Luna's journal. She met the two sisters here, a chance meeting of fate, and then departed into the caves." Twilight paused a moment, then looked at the cave mouth. "Though... Why would Arcadês go into a cave like this?"

Applejack walked over to Twilight's side. "Well, I ain't too keen on this whole business, but..." She gave Twilight a little smile. "You are. And I ain't gonna question it; if'n we need to go in a cave, we'll go in a cave." She looked over to Fluttershy. 

Rarity, who moved to stand beside Applejack, gave the southern pony a small nod. "Though... we could use a lookout, just in case something uncouth tries to follow us inside."

Fluttershy perked up, then blinked and sagged again. "No, I couldn't. I won't stay behind while the rest of you go in." She sat up a little more, trying her best to look brave. It wasn't very convincing, but the other girls all gave her supportive smiles. "I'm going in too."

"Woo-hoo! Cave party!" Pinkie shouted down into the cave, listening to the echo. "It goes reeeeally deep." She said back to Twilight. She turned back to the cave and shouted again, then turned her head and listened to the echo. "I'd say somewhere around 1,600 feet, or so. Give or take a few." Twilight gave her a confused and awed look, to which Pinkie simply shrugged. "You learn these things, growing up on a rock farm."

Twilight had no argument there; it was a fine point. She'd also learned to never question Pinkie Pie's ways. She motioned to the girls, giving them all a big smile. "Together then."

The cave opening was wide enough for the seven mares to walk shoulder to shoulder, stepping down into the darkness. All at once, three horns ignited with basic light spells, illuminating the way. "Together," the other six said in almost perfect unison, then laughed that they were all thinking in sync.





The only sounds were the echoes of their hooves. Flying had become dangerous, with stalactite hiding in the dark, ready to give them a shock. Everypony kept close to the unicorns, who illuminated the way for them effortlessly.

"There as so many paths..." Rarity said quietly, staring at another side passage as they passed it. "Are we sure we can find our way out of here?"

Fluttershy let out a little whimper and Rarity quickly corrected herself. "I mean, of course we'll find the way out, but..." She looked down, inspiration striking. "Well, my hooves are getting positively mangled by this uneven ground."

Starlight looked back, instantly reading the situation. "We're following the largest passage and keeping as straight as possible."

"And I've been leaving a trail of balloons," Pinkie added. Everypony turned, giving her matching incredulous stares.

"And you didn't think of telling us... why?" Twilight asked. She wasn't upset – it was a brilliant idea – but she would've liked to have known.

Pinkie just shrugged. "I guess it was just kinda second nature." She pulled another unfilled balloon from her mane and tossed it down beside her. "Don't worry Fluttershy. We got this."

The meek mare smiled and hummed a song. "We got this together~."

"Exactly," Rainbow said, moving to her side. "Just be cool; it'll all be okay."

"Twilight, you need t' see this..." Applejack's tone – one of sheer awe – drew everypony's attention. She was staring down one of the side passages; no larger than two ponies wide, her jaw slightly slacked.

Along the walls and floor was a thick mucus – slightly transparent, with a luminous, light-blue hue. It almost looked as if a giant slug had slid through the tunnel, only this slug's slime was moving. Rarity let out a blatant sound of disgust, but Fluttershy instantly perked up, her previously frightened eyes taking on a joyous gleam.

"Amorphi!" She exclaimed, flying down the tunnel towards the slime.

"A-what-now?" Applejack asked, looking over to Twilight, who's moved to her side to look down the passage herself.

"Amorphi – also known as slime-ponies..." 

"Those don't look like no ponies to me..." Applejack said with a slight tremor in her voice. "Even I think they look kinda gross."

"They're a monster indigenous to deep caverns and damp places," Twilight said, looking over to her friend with a smile, "and they don't always look like ponies. Their bodies are mutable; they can be whatever shape they want to be."

Meanwhile, Fluttershy was hovering over the puddles of slime, looking from one to another. She began to hum softly and all the puddles began to vibrate slightly along with her voice, before rising up from the ground like strange, living water and changing into shapes that could almost be seen as pony-ish.

Rarity made another disgusted sound, and this time, a whole tunnel full of pony-like slime heads turned to look at her. She cringed back only to be blocked by Rainbow, who looked ready for a scrap. "They violent?" She asked, obviously hoping for a yes. This walk had been slow and boring, and she was itching for some excitement.

"No, not usually." Twilight shot back and Rainbow deflated. Fluttershy was among the slime-ponies now, humming her tune. The song seemed to sooth the amorphi, who melted slightly at the sound. "But... I have no idea what Fluttershy is doing..."

"Amorphi take in sounds through vibrations," Starlight put in. "Songs, with their rising and lowering pitches, are like a massage I imagine."

Fluttershy started talking to the amorphi out of earshot, flying back over when they were done. "So, uh..." Fluttershy landed in front of the others, kicking her hoof. "S-so I know which way we need to go."

"Excellent!" Twilight shouted, drawing the attention of the amorphi. They started towards her, then stopped and sank back down into shapeless puddles.

"B-but t-they said a few other... things." Fluttershy cleared her throat. "I brought up the name Arcadês to them, and..." Twilight leaned forward, hanging on Fluttershy's next few words. "T-they said she's still alive."





"She did it!" Starlight shouted once they were away from the amorphi. "Hah! She actually cheated death!"

The group followed Fluttershy now, who walked with the assured confidence of somepony who knew the darkness held no horrors for her. If there were Amorphi here, and Fluttershy was friends with them, then nothing in these caverns would dare harm her.

"So, this pony's still kickin', huh?" Applejack looked impressed, despite herself. "Maybe there's somethin' to all this immortality stuff."

"Don't get your hopes up," Twilight said simply, "amorphi aren't known for being very bright..." She shook her head, slightly. "At least not younglings."

"Those were children!?" Rarity asked in a horrified voice. "How big are the parents?"

Twilight laughed a bit. "Amorphi don't have parents... At least, not as far as we know..." She continued in silence for a few steps while she collected her thoughts, trying to find an easy way to explain it. "Do you know what 'osmosis' is?"

"Isn't that where you make someone stare at a watch until they fall asleep?" Rarity asked, genuinely confused.

"That's hypnosis," Starlight said with a smirk. "Believe me, you don't need a watch."

Twilight cleared her throat; she didn't want to think about that comment right now. "It's cellular division." Rarity looked even more confused. "Look, one amorphi can make young amorphi by splitting bits of themselves off. The bigger the amorphi, the more bits they can spare to make new amorphi."

Rarity wasn't confused by that; just disgusted. "These things are so—" Many words jumped to Rarity's mind on how to describe these monsters. However, Fluttershy had stopped and was looking back at her with a mildly reproachful expression. "—N-not my style." Rarity finished lamely, but it was enough to pacify Fluttershy, who smiled and continued leading.

"I know they're a little hard to get used to," Fluttershy said as she lead them, "but amorphi are very friendly and almost never eat ponies when there are alternatives." After that statement, there was a very long pause.

"Soooooo," Pinkie broke the silence, tossing out another balloon. "How much longer, Fluttershy? I'm almost out of balloons here."

Fluttershy stopped, then looked over to a passage, turning down it. "Right past here." She poked her head through, then motioned the other girls up. "It's so dark, I can't see my own muzzle."

Twilight and Starlight both rushed to help; beyond this cavern the secrets of a legend – maybe even the legend herself – was waiting for the group of friends to discover them. As the light from their magic touched the chamber beyond, they noticed instantly that it was much bigger than anything they'd encountered thus far. The ceiling was lost to the darkness, and before them stretched a massive underground lake. Applejack let out an appreciative whistle that echoed through the monstrous chamber over and over. 

And made the lake shiver.

"U-uh... Sugarcube..." Twilight, who'd been snapping her head left and right for some clue about Arcadês location, looked back to Applejack with a curious expression. Starlight was by her side, her eyes wide and frightened. In fact, every one of her friends were all staring in the same direction; right behind her. Twilight gulped and slowly turned back around.

There, only a few feet away from her, was a massive pony-like head. The lake wasn't filled with water, but the massive form of a colossal amorphi. Rarity gasped and fainted – or at least pretended to – while Fluttershy's eyes lit up like candles.

Twilight started to back up, but a tendril of slime snapped up behind her, halting her retreat. Frightened, she took to the air, hoping to escape this massive monster, but the tendril snapped up, grabbed onto her hoof. It was just as slimy as she imagined it would be, but it was strangely solid as well. She hit the ground with a puff of lost air and all her friends snapped out of their dazes.

"Twilight!" Rainbow shouted before hurdling herself at the amorphi. She tried to punch it, but her hoof just got stuck in it's slimy surface. She followed that up with a kick and a shout, but the other hoof became just as stuck. She tried to pull them free, but quickly realized that the ooze around them had hardened, trapping her inside. "Help!"

Pinkie darted to Rarity, shaking her in an effort to wake her up. It seemed that, at least this time, the fainting spell was actually real. Starlight blasted a beam of magic at the creature, but its body simply parted, the beam flying through the gap where it'd been only a moment before. Applejack, seeing what happened to Rainbow and how it dodged Starlight's attack, decided to go another route. She was about to buck a stalagmite into the writhing body of the slime lake when Fluttershy glided past her, into view.

She flew right up to the slime head, giving it The Stare all the while. "Hey! Leave my friend alone!" She shouted, her eyes wide and menacing. "There's no reason to be such a big meanie!"

The slime blinked. It actually blinked. It was the only expression the amorphous face had made this entire time, but for some reason, its genuine shock and confusion made Starlight chuckle. She hadn't seen The Stare in action before, but she had to admit, she was obviously impressed.

The slime drew its tendrils back from Twilight and released Rainbow, while the massive head moving further out into the lake. It was then that Twilight and her friend's realized that they couldn't see the other shore of this lake. It was that massive. This amorphi was that massive.

Things began to shift beneath the slime-pony's outer layer. Things vaguely resembling organs and bodily tools began forming inside the gelatinous mass. It opened it's mouth, closed it again, and took a breath. The sound of air filling it's temporary lungs was loud enough for the seven ponies to hear. It sounded like putty being squeezed between two hooves. Rarity, who had woken up moments ago, nearly fainted again.

"I'm sorry, Fluttershy, but these creatures are positively repulsive." She shuddered from head to toe. "Aside from general icky-ness, they look like an absolute fright and... and..." She shuddered a second time, giving her head a shake. "To quote a friend: nnnope!"

"Ight offere! Ouzer brakii und khellid."

The voice sounded like the rumble of the earth. For a moment, everypony stopped and stared at the amorphi, which continued to speak in the same rumbling tone. "Andra ight nomon!"

Starlight had no idea what was being said, but she knew she'd heard that way of speaking before. This was a language she'd had experience with, if only briefly. "Twilight, is that...?"

"Old Ponish..." Twilight's words came out quietly, not because she wanted to be quiet, but because she was absolutely breathless. "It's speaking Old Ponish..."

"Well, what did it say? Is it gonna eat us?" Pinkie was cowering behind Fluttershy now, who had returned to the group.

"Rarity, it says you offended it. It then asked why we're speaking the language of 'its children.' And then demanded to be answered..." Twilight shook her head in amazement. "I can't believe it... an amorphi using receptive bilingualism?" She took two more steps closer to the creature, speaking to it in it's native tongue.

"Halla. Ight Twilight Sparkle, ano rethi ighth rijanaft. [Hello. I am Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends.]"

The slime-pony shivered, as close to amazement as it seemed to be able to express, and responded. "Halla, Twilight Sparkle. Wurt drel timmal? [Hello, Twilight Sparkle. What is the year?]"

Twilight felt her curiosity swell in her chest. How old was this amorphi? Obviously, it was ancient, but just how ancient...? "Urt drel nenth timmal en drel Seol Hreich dril Seil Srathasi. Heth agathest ert ost?[It is the ninth year in the Second Reign of the Two Sisters. How old are you?]"

The amorphi's laugh was like a rock slide, echoing through the cavern like thunder. "Drel Seil Srathasi! Ight pliat weilun. Ight heltier numbre dintal, Twilight Sparkle. [The Two Sisters! I am glad they are well. I stopped counting a millennia ago, Twilight Sparkle.]"

"What're they saying?" Rainbow whispered to Applejack.

"Shh!" Applejack whispered back, eyes fixated on the conversation in front of her. It was like history was crawling straight from that pit, into their laps. Even Applejack was wrapped up in it's mystery.

Meanwhile, a nagging thought was plucking at the strings of Twilight's mind. "Dro yu knelest ert cenest drel mesit perchit triel Arcadês drel Emortiel? [Do you know where we can find the lost journal of Arcadês the Immortal?]"

The slime seemed slightly taken aback. It sloshed in it's cavernous bowl and recovered itself as quickly as it could. "Arcadês drel Emortiel? Drol perchit es volitare. Curo dro disest rethel? [Arcadês the Immortal? Their journal is long gone. Why do you seek them?]"

Twilight searched for the right words, giving her head a small shake. "Ighth rijanaft ighthi del unkonen emortieles. [My friends and I are seeking the secret of immortality.]" She stood a little straighter, staring up at the slime-pony. "Ert proctro? [Are you its guardian?]"

The slime-pony didn't reply, but for the second time, emotions flowed across it's shifting form. It looked down and away from Twilight, as if ashamed. "Ne, ight net. [No, I am not.]"

Twilight stared at the slime for a moment, adjusting her thoughts. She'd been certain this slime was the guardian of Arcadês secrets, but that didn't seem to be the case. Just as she was about to reply, another idea crept into her mind like a worm through an apple. She was staggered by the implications, actually stumbling back in shock, barely catching herself from tripping over a rock. "By Celestia... It's her..."

"What? What is even going on?" Rainbow Dash complained, tossing her hooves up in defeat. "Are we fighting this thing or not?"

"No!" Twilight spun on her hooves, eyes wide. "It's Arcadês! She's the amorphi!"

There was another very long pause. Everypony stared at Twilight as if she'd gone crazy, but the slime rose up to it's full imposing height again, staring her down. "Quiest corict, Twilight Sparkle. Ight remnatest Arcadês drel Emortiel.[You guess correctly, Twilight Sparkle. I am what remains of Arcadês the Immortal.]

Starlight took a step to Twilight's side, reading the emotions passing over the two speakers. Without a word, all of Twilight's other friends surrounded her, supporting her silently.

Twilight dug for the words in Old Ponish, but her tongue felt swollen and useless. She was standing before not the journals of a legendary pony, but the pony herself, in a different form. She was speechless.

"How did this happen to you?" Starlight asked, knowing the slime understood modern Ponish, even though it didn't speak it.  "If you're Arcadês, how did you become an amorphi?"

The slime sank back down, until it's 'chin' rested on the surface of it's body, staring level with the ponies before it. "Yu unkonen infernil ano forcil. Ight de pasiel droth, ist yu hertch tu ighth gisechicht. Yu trell le ighth specish, Twilight Sparkle. Du trat, und ight de trus yuth drecthen und mal... [You seek knowledge and power. I will grant both, if you listen to my story. You will be my voice, Twilight Sparkle. Do this, and I will answer all your questions and more...]"