I'm back baby! Oh yes! After a long and arduous wait, I have returned to pick up the quill again and write! Freshmen year is over and all you fans I may or may not have can read my story again! HA! Summer vacation is on and I can assure you I have NOT forgotten all the plans I have in store for this story. I'll be updating MUCH more frequently and regularly.
Now. Where did I leave off? Oh yeah! Into the salt mines! Read on my friends!
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Ch.8 Into the Salt Mines
"Let's see here. Rope? Check. Pickaxe? Check. Shovel? Check. Flashlight? Check. Pith helmet? Check. Alright on my end! You guys ready?" Daring Do asked.
The others stood in the hotel room geared up to enter the mines. "We're ready."
~oooXooo~
Night had settled upon the city of Dabylon as the quartet gathered around the entrance to the salt mines. Ruby shivered. "Remind me again why we had to do this at night?"
"The police patrol these entrances to ward off anypony messing about here. Their patrols are less frequent at night though and we're less likely to draw attention to ourselves this way," Epsilon answered.
Ruby said, "Well I'm sure we'll be fine with such a smart, strong, and handsome-"
"Ruby not now!" Epsilon cut her off. She looked away, dejected. "Alright you lot! We don't know what's down there. But you all remember what was said. Strange voices and disappearing ponies. We're leaving nopony behind. Have you got that? Now everypony stick together. Good luck to all of us."
Turning on their flashlights, the group went inside. The four went on in silence, their artificial lightning illuminating the collapsed beams within the caves, spider webs lining the walls, weaving themselves into the niter that hung down from the ceiling, wandering deeper and deeper into the web.
The sounds of their hoofsteps crunching against the gravel came to a halt. "Fork in the road. Which way should we take?" Jett asked. One path led up to higher ground, while the other continued to go down into the mines.
"Let's go up. This path most likely leads back to the surface, so if we're met with another entrance to the mines, we can always go back down," Epsilon said. They walked uphill traveling back to what was most likely the surface.
"Daring. You notice something strange about this path?" Epsilon Hoof asked.
"How do you mean?" she asked.
"It was made really sloppy. Messily and carelessly. Like someone was in a hurry to make this. And the ground is really rough and bumpy. Pony hooves haven't had time to trample across this and level it out. I don't think this was an original tunnel of the mines. This one's new," Epsilon concluded.
Jett had gone further ahead and came upon something. "Hey guys! The path dead ends here. But look! There's a hatch in the ceiling leading above ground."
Jett grabbed the handle and grunted as he turned the handle. "It's...stuck!"
"Wait! I think we should head back! I've got a bad feeling about this," Epsilon said.
"Got it!" Jett pushed open the little door and stuck his head up the opening. He came face to face with the two thugs that had been following Daring Do and Epsilon earlier along with three disciples. "Whoops! Wrong hatch in the ceiling of the salt mines! Gotta go!" He ducked back into the mines and slammed the hatch shut. "Run! Disciples and thugs!"
"You guys go! I'll be right there!" Epsilon magically sealed the door and ran up with them. "I don't know how long it's gonna take that other unicorn thug to get that door open! Come on!"
A screeching sound behind them caused Ruby to whirl around. "What was that?" The screeching grew louder, like the call of some deranged beast. Then a bright flash of light illuminated the way behind them. The hatch had been blown off its hinges!
"He's gotten the door open! Keep running!" The four ran on and were met at the fork again. Jett was about to take the path they entered in, but was pulled back by Daring. "This way!" She ran into the cavern hallway that they hadn't taken.
"But we don't know what's down there!" Jett called. He then heard a thug getting closer. "Oh wait up!"
The four ran on down the caverns. The two thugs pursued them relentlessly, their labored breathing getting closer to the group with every passing second. Ruby shouted, "Wait! Look!" The four skidded to halt. The four looked down. The path ended in a drop. A ladder led down into darkness. "Let's hurry down-" but was cut off as the thugs crashed into them!
"WHOOOOOOOOAH!" The six of them fell over the edge. Jett landed face-down into a mine cart. "Well I guess that wasn't as bad as it could have been." Then Ruby landed on top of him. "Get off of me!" His complaining was cut short as the cart began to move. "What?" The two looked out and saw they were beginning to roll as the track led downhill! "WHOOOO-HOHOHOOOOOOOOAH!"
Daring Do and Epsilon got up as they saw them begin to roll away. "Gah! Epsilon come on!" Daring yelled. They chased after the mine cart hurriedly.
The cart dipped onto lower ground than Epsilon and Daring and turned onto a bend ahead of them. "Guys!" Ruby called. "Jump! Jump into the cart!"
"We'll never make it!" Epsilon called. Daring frantically looked around. She spotted a hook and cable running along the ceiling. If we can grab onto that..., Daring thought. She followed the line with her eyes. Yes! We can make it! she thought.
"Come on Epsilon!" She grabbed him by the coat and jumped off.
"Whoa whoa whoooooooooooaaa!" Epsilon yelled. Daring grabbed onto the hook and set it moving. They trailed after the mine cart and jumped into it.
"I think we lost them," Daring Do said, looking for the thugs. Then the thugs appeared on a different track in a mine cart chasing after them. "Oh of course they're still here! Wait. What are they doing?" Bang! "Wah!" The four ducked. "Guns?! Since when did they have guns?!"
"I dunno! But I'm hoping they run out of ammo!" They ducked as a new barrage of bullets sprayed them. Jett pointed ahead. "Which way?!" The track split into two.
"This way!" Daring Do hit the switch and changed the lanes of the track. Now the thugs were directly behind them! They ducked as they were shot at again.
"Oh great! Now they've got a clear shot!" Ruby yelled.
Daring silenced her with a glare. "Trust me!" Her words were soon snatched away as the track turned into a rollercoaster ride of twists and turns and loops.
"Woooooooooo-hoohoohooooooooooooooooooo!" they yelled in glee. Until they heard gunshots behind them.
"Not even an awesome mine cart rollercoaster can stop them?!" Jett yelled.
"Maybe this will!" Epsilon grabbed a loose beam from the floor and threw it backwards. The beam got caught between the thugs' mine cart's wheel. The mine cart wobbled unsteadily before it got thrown off the track.
"Thank goodness!" Ruby sighed. Then three disciples came into view in a separate mine cart, their cloaks billowing in the wind. "Aw come on!"
They rammed their thugs' cart out of the way and plowed forward. One stood up and addressed Daring Do and her band. "We warned you to call of this investigation! Now you will know what happens to those who disobey us!"
"Oh stuff it you! You know how cliche you sound? Very!" Daring Do yelled back.
"Hey. I know you!" Epsilon called back. "What was it they called you? Oh yeah! Snagglefang!" Epsilon said joining in the taunting.
The other two disciples snickered at that but were quickly punched into silence. "I'll have your hides hung on my mantle when we get back!" Snagglefang said to the disciples. "AND MY NAME IS INCISOR! LET IT BE KNOWN TO ALL SO THEY MAY FEAR THE NAME!" Incisor roared to Daring Do and her comrades.
"Oh go boil your head!" Jett yelled.
"Taunting them isn't the best strategy!" Ruby said, worried.
"No but this might be!" Daring grabbed the shovel and hacked at the beams keeping the ceiling from collapsing. Pieces of debris began falling from the ceiling, bombarding the disciples behind them.
"Wah! Track ends up ahead!" Jett pointed forward to a drop where the tracks stopped abruptly.
"Aw shiz," Epsilon said. The mine cart reached the end of the track and went sailing off into the air! "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" they screamed as they plummeted downwards. They sank like a rock, or in this case a mine cart, down into the river. Epsilon, Jett, and Daring Do breached the surface.
Epsilon gasped. "Where's Ruby?" He dove back under to find her. Searching desperately, he found her trapped beneath the mine cart, unconscious. He levitated the cart off her and carried her to the top. Dragging her onto dry land, he checked for signs of life. "She's not breathing!" He pushed down on her chest and checked again. "Come on. Come on!"
Suddenly, the disciples went flying through the air and crashed into the far wall on the other side of the river. "Epsilon! Hurry!" Jett said.
Epsilon tilted Ruby's head back and applied mouth to mouth. "Still nothing!" he cried exasperated. "Come on don't quit now Ruby!" He pumped on her chest again.
"Kha! Kha-ha!" coughed Ruby.
"You're alive!" Epsilon said happily.
Ruby threw up the water from her lungs, along with some other things. "Yeah. Just barely. Was someone kissing me while I was passed out?"
"No time for that! You know, disciples, keystone, death, running. Come on!" Epsilon said. They headed deeper into the mines, weaving their way through the winding maze of caverns. They soon slowed to a walk, their pursuers lost behind them.
"Free us."
Startled, Daring Do looked around. "Did you guys hear that?"
"I didn't hear anything, D," Jett said.
"Your destinies are doomed."
Creeped out, Jett said, "That I did hear."
Ruby shivered. "I can practically feel the tension in the air. Like I'm being crushed by this sense of...of...."
"Foreboding," Epsilon finished. "The book back at the library. It said 'Miners there reported overwhelming feelings of foreboding and say the heard whispering in their heads. Voices that told of evil and destruction. Voices beckoning them to set it free.' Whatever's down here, we're close."
The flashlights began flickering. "Oh no. No no! Don't pull this cliche!" Daring Do said. As if in spite of her, the flashlights died.
"It's fine Miss Do. All we need is a bit of magic," Epsilon said. His horn lit up to illuminate the path. "See. It's fine." But nopony expected what came next. Shadows gathered at the tip of Epsilon's horn, then they were absorbed into it.
KABOOOOM!
The four were blasted with a concussion of air as Epsilon's horn imploded. "Agh! My head!" Epsilon cried out in anguish.
"Hoof! Hoof what happened?!" Jett asked.
"Shadow magic! Somehow entering my body through my horn! Gah! It's eating away at my mind! Taking my sanity! AGH! Something's trying to take control! HNGH! You need to get away! As fast as you can! ACK! Go! Run!" Epsilon cried.
"No!" Ruby was close to tears. "We're not leaving you!"
"Ruby you've got to! GAH! Once the shadow magic takes over, I won't be myself. I don't know what I'll do. I'll have no control. AGH! You've got to run. You've got to!" Epsilon said, gasping for breath.
"We need you Epsilon. What happens if the disciples come here and find you?" Daring Do asked.
"Then I trust you three will be able to rescue me. GAH! Now go! Run!" Epsilon yelled.
"We can't stay here. Come on!" Jett said to the two mares.
Now Ruby was in tears. "But..." She watched as Epsilon got thrown into convulsions. He thrashed across the floor, spit and foam flying from his mouth.
"Come on! We'll come back for him later. I promise you we'll make him alright. Now let's go!" Daring Do said. The trio left the suffering unicorn thrashing around in the dark.
~oooXooo~
"I can't see two feet in front of me. How are we supposed to tell where to go?" Jett complained.
"Let's just keep moving forward. We're bound to come across something," Daring Do said.
Ruby walked on in silence. Until she crashed into a wall. "Ow! By dose!" she said, rubbing her snout.
"Dead end?" Daring Do felt the wall, looking for other paths. There were none.
"Well now what?" Jett asked.
"We can't head back. We're already lost as it is. No use in making it worse. Let's see here." Daring started tapping the wall. She continued until she heard what she was looking for. "Ah-ha! Here! Get your shovels guys! This section of the wall is hollow. It might lead us to another path."
They began hacking away at the wall, hoping they weren't working in vain. Luckily, they weren't. The wall gave way and exposed a long hallway, unlit torches lined along the walls. Upon entering said tunnel, the three staggered, hit by a wave of voices, yelling in their minds.
"Free us!"
"Bring our command back into the world!"
"We will bathe in your blood as we conquer again!"
"Aid us in our conquest!"
"FREE US!"
Daring Do struggled to speak. "They're just...voices. Come...on guys. We've gotta go..." The group traveled through the corridor, battling with the voices in their minds. Their internal struggles were soon forgotten as they exited the hallway.
The trio found themselves inside a Magia temple grand hall. Arches rose up to the high ceiling, adorned with emeralds. The floor was inlaid with precious stones, giving the room a multicolored glow.
"Magically altered gems. Giving off light," Daring realized.
Busts and statues of unicorns decorated the hall. And at the end of the room was an archway with runes written across it. At the top, exactly where you would expect, was a keystone with a blue gem.
The Teardrop Keystone at last.
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So what do you think? I'm very proud of how this turned out! Not too shabby for a two month hiatus, right? Feedback is much appreciated! And if you dislike this, at least have the guts to tell me why in a comment.
Easter egg in this chapter: The mine cart chase. Do I even need to give a hint? I mean, Daring Do. Mine cart chase.
Again, summer vacation is on and updates will be on schedule for one a week. No sooner and no later! Hope you're all looking forward to it as much as I am!
Stay frosty my delicious friends. Silver, out!