Dash yawned, rubbing sleep from her eyes. “Not the worst nap,” she muttered. The thief stood, picking up her makeshift bed her. The hooded cloak was unrolled and held before the unimpressed girl. She snorted, pale face wearing a doubtful expression. “This is gonna be real subtle.”
She nearly tripped when Applejack gave her a firm slap on the shoulder. The ranger grinned at her, wearing a similar cloak from which the hilt of her greatsword poked. Her blonde hair was tucked under the cloak, for once not wearing her hat. It made an odd shape where it hung on her belt, pushing the cloak out.
“Can’t have that guard fella recognisin’ us. Cheer up, we’re all wearin’ ‘em.” Applejack let go and walked past her. “I was ‘bout to wake ya. Come on, the others are ready.”
Dash yawned again. “Why’d you let me sleep if everyone else was getting ready?” she demanded. “Not that I mind.”
“Ya had to sneak into that place, ya deserved to get a bit more sleep,” explained the ranger as they trudged through the tunnel. “Remember yer job?”
Nodding, Dash yawned again, rubbing her eyes. She only kept one eye on their path through the gloomy tunnel, the dim light providing no obstacle to her. Her bare feet navigated the ancient stone with ease, each step habitually soft and quiet.
“Y’all okay, sugar?”
Glancing over, Dash rolled her eyes at Applejack's concerned expression. “M’fine. Just tired.”
“If yer sure.” Doubt laced Applejack’s tone.
The trip didn’t take long. The others were waiting by the entrance to one of the small drain tunnels, just barely big enough for someone to squeeze through. Time Turner returned Spike’s dagger once he saw them approaching, nodding in greeting.
“Ready to go? The ceremony starts in under two hours, and with the crowds we can’t be sure how long it will take us to get to the temple itself.” Snapping shut her spell book, Twilight slipped it into the satchel hanging at her hip and adjusted the shoulder strap. “Timing is important.
“Sorry, pretty tired,” Dash said with a shrug. The fact she had actually nonchalantly apologised seemed to pass her by for a moment. The realisation fired a shot of lightning up her spine. “Hey, I needed the sleep.”
Twilight sighed. “I’m sure you did. Let’s go then. Who was going first?”
“That’d be me, Sparkle,” Dash retorted. She slipped past her into the tunnel, barely having to duck her head.. “This tunnel area should be fine for a day or two more, but let me know if you hear any sorta rumbles or groans or anything.”
Time Turner let Twilight and Spike go next, taking the fourth place in line with Applejack bringing up the rear. He cheerfully said, “It would be nice to get there without drowning or being smashed into little red stains.”
“Let’s hope Dash’s ears don’t fall asleep,” added Spike.
“Spike…” Twilight warned him.
“It’s hardly her fault, Spike,” Time Turner informed him. He patted the boy’s head and ignored the muttered protest. “Puberty is like that for half-elves. All that developing magic is tiring, so she doesn’t get much say in it.”
“Ye- wait, what?” Dash stopped sharply, nearly getting bowled over by Twilight. She shoved the mage to one side and stared at Time Turner. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Turner stopped cocked his head to the side. “...exactly what I said?” he ventured. “Oh, oh! I’m sorry! You see, puberty is when-”
“I know what puberty is!” Dash snarled.
“I think she means the ‘half-elf’ part, sugar.” Frowning, Applejack looked past to Dash. “Guess that explains the ears thing.”
“Ears thing? What’s wrong with my ears?”
“Nothing is wrong with them, but they’re clearly elven. Haven’t you ever noticed?” Time Turner raised an eyebrow.
Twilight held up a hand for silence. “Okay, back up. Dash is a half-elf?” She rubbed her closed eyes. “I think I would have noticed.”
“And so would I!” Dash growled.
“Would you?” Ignoring her sour scowl in reply, Time Turner gave them a placating grin. “It might be hard to tell, if you’re not me. It’s not uncommon for half-elves to seem mostly human until they hit puberty.”
Dash tried to force her way past Twilight, shaking a fist at Turner. “Except I already did! Years ago!”
A cough that sounded suspiciously like a quickly stifled laugh came from behind Time Turner. He looked back at Applejack, who was covering her mouth. She flapped a hand at him to ignore her.
“Right, well, no. Except yes. Listen, it’s complicated and is now really the time?” Turner shrugged. “I promise to explain it all later. Time, girls-”
“Hey!” Spike protested.
“-and Spike, we don’t have forever. Dash, I’m sorry to accidentally drop that on you, but please, leave it for later.” He met her eyes, holding her gaze until she looked away. “I promise, I’ll explain everything to you once the day has been saved.”
Relenting, Dash stepped back. “Fine. But once this is over, we’re gonna have a long talk about this ‘half-elf’ bullshit, got it?”
He nodded, giving Twilight an apologetic grin when Dash turned and set off again. The mage just sighed.
“Sorry I mentioned it,” he muttered.
“Not your fault. Is she really-” Twilight began to ask, voice quiet.
“She can hear you!” Dash called back. “Hurry it up, I thought were were ‘on a timetable’.”
Time Turner gave a rueful shrug, just nodding at Twilight in answer.
“I feel so ignored,” Spike muttered as the two looked at each other over his head. “Rainbow Dash is right, let’s move it! We’ve got a day to save!”
Applejack added her say by giving Turner a gentle shove. The party set off again, only speaking in low tones and only when necessary. All listened intently for any of the warning sounds, though in places the crowds gathered on the streets above drowned out any chance of detecting them. Those were the most tense minutes of the trip. They passed through the tunnels, Twilight with a hand clamped over her nose, as the festival above grew louder. When Dash jerked her head towards an opening that lead upwards, relief was had by all.
“You wanted us out near the garden temple? We’re as close as we can get,” Dash murmured as they crept through the absurdly spacious sewers. “Once we head up, we can get back onto the streets just inside the Park District’s border.”
“And you’re certain there are no tunnels directly under the temple?” Twilight asked. She shuddered, looking down at something she had stepped in. “Not that I’m complaining about getting out of here as fast as possible.”
Snickering, Dash shook her head. “Sorry, Twilight, but we’d have to find the tunnels and hope they’re the right ones. It’s not like I’ve knocked off this temple, and most thieves steer clear of it.”
Twilight sighed. She gave Dash a weak smile as she followed her to up the old tunnel, helping the thief remove an old iron grill between them and a narrow alleyway . “We’ll make do. Ugh, I hope the smell doesn’t raise any eyebrows.”
Dash laughed, waiting for the others to clamber out. The alleyway, like all those connected to the old sewer system, was at a lower level than the streets with a stone building forming the other wall. She peeked around the corner at the stairs leading to street level. The sounds of the festival boomed down at them.
“Sounds like everyone will be too busy to notice a little smell,” Spike pointed out. He dropped one hand onto his belt, to the hilt of the dagger, as he joined Dash. “You’d think more people would know about these things. They can’t be that hard to find.”
Looking down, Dash grinned darkly. “Oh, people find them all the time. The lucky ones get lost for a few days.” She leaned down. “The unlucky ones wander through active tunnels. They hear a distant rumble, getting closer and closer, until they realise something is coming their way. They start looking for a way out, trying to remember where they came in. They run. Sometimes the active tunnels are wet and they slip, scrambling and slipping as they try to crawl away. Sometimes they even find a grill, but it’s too heavy, or it’s not loose enough. They struggle and push and pull as the water gets closer and closer, roaring down towards them until it-ow!”
Spike jumped with a yelp that matched Dash’s. One hand clutched his chest, his face pale from the horror story Dash had pulled him into as the thief put a hand atop her head. Applejack walked past nonchalantly, flexing the tanned hand she had rapped Dash’s head with. She gave the smaller woman a slight smirk.
“If yer done,” she drawled, jerking her head towards the stairs. Time Turner had passed them. He stood at the top, pulling his hood up to hide his face.
Shooting Applejack a childish sneer Dash stomped past her. “You’ll know when I’m done, Freckles.”
The festival they found at the top was familiar to most of them. It happened every year, and Dash couldn’t help reminiscing. She could practically feel the coins filling her pockets, after liberating them from festival goers a bit too cheerful and not quite careful enough.
‘Scootaloo is probably raking it in,’ she thought with a bittersweet smile. ‘She’ll do well, I don’t need to worry about her tonight.’
A whistle brought her attention back to the present. It wasn’t directed at her, she found, but was simply Applejack giving an impressed whistle. The ranger was staring at the loud, colourful crowd with a gobsmacked expression. A smirk spread Dash’s mouth at the sight.
“What, surprised?” Her tone only just avoided being mocking.
“I-I thought this place was crowded before! How the hells do so many people fit here? How do they stand it?” Applejack shook her head.
“You should see the Summer Sun Celebration! Hey, you will, it’s not that far away! People come from all over to see Celestia! It’s amazing!” Spike explained excitedly. His voice turned smug. “We always get to see it from the palace, which is even more amazinger!”
Twilight sighed and said, “That’s not a word, Spike.”
“Applejack’s head might just melt if she sees how crowded the place is then. This is nothing compared to that,” added Dash.
Ignoring the mocking look Dash was giving her, Applejack reached up to adjust her hat, only to find it not there and sigh before squaring her shoulders. “Only if we do our job today. Let’s get goin’.”
She forced them to go, walking out ahead. Time Turner followed without missing a beat, whistling cheerfully and grinning when Dash jumped out to keep up. She grumbled a complaint that Applejack had no idea where they were supposed to go. Pulling Spike’s hood up, Twilight grabbed his hand and ignored the complaints that followed.
The Park District was rightly considered one of the most beautiful parts of the city, rivaling the noble-maintained High District. The architecture as a whole was an inward spiral from the edge of the district, the stonework carved in natural curves and shapes following the crescent streets that formed the arching shape. Strips of well-tended gardens were frequent, kept lush and well-cared for. The bustling, cheerful crowd that now filled it added even more life and colour. As dusk approached they saw workers preparing torches and lanterns.
“They don’t have anythin’ to light the lanterns,” Applejack pointed out to Twilight. The biggest of the group, she stuck out the most. On any other day she would have attracted attention, she knew, but today the festival seemed to have a tight hold on everyone’s common sense and the tall, cloaked woman was ignored.
Time Turner provided the answer. “When the First Fire is lit in the Park Temple, it will light them all. Quite a marvelous bit of spell work, actually, very specifically designed so it won’t set off anything harmful. Only those torches and lanterns ignite, all across the Park District.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Apparently Princess Celestia designed the spell herself, but Twilight would know more about that than little old me.”
“Emphasis on old,” Spike snarked under his breath.
If he heard the remark over the crowd, Time Turner didn’t let it show. In the lead, Dash’s shoulders quivered for a moment as though suppressing a snicker.
Twilight pushed her hood back. She looked towards the falling sun worriedly, her expression of anxiety almost lost to the near-dusk shadows and her dark skin. Each moment they were delayed by the press of bodies, fighting the crowd to stay together and get to the temple, was a moment longer in which Cadance had her hooks in Shining Armour. A knot of anger, set to slowly boil since Dash’s revelation, seemed to burn in her chest.
‘Anger clouds reason. Reason is the key to magic,’ she recited. The mantra helped her calm and control it. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She opened them a second later, and the anger and the pain of betrayal began to fade, yet guilt lingered. ‘I should have realised on my own. He’s my brother, and she is—was my friend.’
Concern filled her, and it took her a moment to realise it wasn’t her own emotions. It was concern for her.
The outside emotion surprised Twilight. She stopped walking, glancing up without thinking about why. Almost like her brain was receiving a sharp kick to put it at attention, she realised who it was.
‘Owlicious!’ Relief rippled down her bond to him. She couldn’t see him, but she could sense him. Once again Twilight was assailed by guilt for forgetting her familiar. The owl was patient with her and her frequent memory lapse, and even now he had come to her when she needed him. Twilight wondered idly if all owls made as stoic familiars as Owlicious did. All wizards shared an empathic bond with their familiars’, but often Owlicious seemed to fade into the background. ‘I forgot all about you.’
Her thoughts translated as emotions were answered by his amusement, and at the edge of her hearing, despite the noise of the crowd, she caught a faint ‘hoo’.
A small smile tugged at her lips. ‘I’m not Spike, I’m not falling for that,’ Twilight reprimanded the owl, her amusement colouring the thought enough for him to get the sense of it. There was no need for words, their empathic bond sharing their feelings.
The odd sense of her owl familiar’s emotions shifted. The combination of fondness, worry and bemusement that Owlicious felt about Spike touched Twilight’s awareness. Her hand clenched automatically, proving the smaller hand was gone. She had let go at some point, and now she realised she had lost them in the crowd.
Looking across the crowd proved next to useless. Twilight realised the answer to her sudden separation was already with her though. In fact, he had just arrived. Barely had she begun to form the thought that he complied, the owl flying above and looking down. His empathic directions — approval, annoyance, frustration, satisfaction — sent her forward while his sharp eyes found the panicking boy. Spike had brushed his hood back, scanning in every direction desperately.
“We thought we’d lost ya!” Applejack said the moment Twilight rejoined them. The tanned warrior took the rear position now, looking about suspiciously.
“I just got a bit distracted. I’m sorry,” she apologised with a faint blush. Her hand curled around Spike’s again. He didn’t complain this time. “It was silly of me.”
“Silly’s only silly when it’s funny,” Time Turner began.
“Otherwise it’s stupid,” Spike and Twilight finished together, perfectly copying his accent as though they had heard him say it a hundred times before. The Trottingham scholar pouted and turned back to walking, hunching his shoulders sulkily. Eye-rolls greeted his childish reaction.
Dash was less discreet about her annoyance. “It’s not my brother we’re trying to save here, you know,” she pointed out.
Twilight got a moment’s warning in Owlicious’ feeling of smugness. It wasn’t enough to warn Dash, but the pale-skinned thief didn’t need it. She abruptly side-stepped, a gross missile hitting the cobblestones where she had been standing.
“Long night!” Dash glared into the ever-darker sky. “Some bird nearly crapped on me!”
Keeping her expression carefully bland, Twilight shrugged and smiled. “Good dodge,” she complimented.
“Hey, that’s just the sort of thing that makes me awesome…” Dash trailed off. Their path through the crowd was getting slower and harder as they got closer to the Park Temple. “You guys keep going, I’ll catch up.”
She flashed them a grin and vanished into the crowd without waiting for a reply. The group of four shared an array of bewildered expressions until Applejack sighed and shrugged.
“I got a bad feelin’ about this. Let’s get movin’. I’m sure she’ll turn up.” She smiled. “Trust me. Even better, trust her.”
Applejack’s trust proved well-deserved. The crowd was thicker than ever as the group reached the central park of the district, a circular garden centred on the Park Temple. Again, the only one who had never seen it was Applejack, but even Twilight stopped to admire the beautiful temple. Comprised of two circular towers from which high stone walls formed V shapes facing north and south to create a thin diamond, the southern tip of the stone walls hosted the First Fire. It waited, a great beacon sitting unlit. From there sparks would be carried by magic to set the Park District ablaze with light from dusk until dawn. A thousand-year tradition, lit each time by the High Priestess of the Sun, Twilight had never before imagined she would need to assault such a place. She could make out the colours of people standing near the dark First Fire, the soft pink of Cadance’s usual robes easy to spot above the guards keeping the crowd back.
Owlicious’ concern brushed her thoughts, his silent wish to take away the ache of betrayal and soothe the rekindled embers of anger. As futile as it was she appreciated the gesture. Twilight squeezed Spike’s hand. He squeezed back, blunt, claw-like nails pressing against her skin gently.
“So, you ready to crash this party?” Dash asked from behind them. The thief raised her head so they could see her grin. She made no secret of enjoying how Twilight and Spike had jumped in surprise. Dash kept her arms hidden in her drawn cloak, shielding her body and hands from view.
“Y-yes,” Twilight forced the word out past the knot in her throat. ‘Control. I need to be in control. No matter how much it hurts that Cadance could do this, I have to stay calm. Shining Armour needs me to be calm, not angry.’ “Make a distraction when Spike messages you and draw the guards away There aren’t usually this many. I’m not sure how-”
Dash’s hand rose up, halting her. Something landed on the ground under her cloak as the thief grinned. “I know the plan. Trust me, Sparkle, I got this.” Chuckling, Dash paused only to pick up whatever she had dropped and began to slip into the crowd. Her parting comment was cryptic; “Be sure to cover your eyes.”
This was Twilight’s last chance to change the plan before Dash was gone. She stared after the shorter woman, no ideas for changing it coming to mind. She didn’t even know what Dash meant. Why cover their eyes? Twilight wished she had asked that.
Spike squeezed her hand. “Are you sure I can’t come up with you?” he asked, a hint of a whine to the question. The boy had made no secret that he disliked his part in the plan.
She wrapped his hand in both of hers, smiling down. The hoods made it harder for her to see his expression, but he peered up at hers easily. “You need to be out here in case Dash needs help.”
“Twilight can only cast Invisibility so many times. She’s burning all of her second level spells just to get the three of us in.” Peering up at the temple, Turner looked back at the pair. “Don’t worry Spike, if things go belly up you can charge in and save the day. Shining Armour used to do that all the time!”
That brought a brief smile to Spike’s face. “Like the time he went to bathroom, and you guys got drugged and kidnapped, so he had to save you before those harpies made you their consorts!” He remembered excitedly, imagination painting the vivid scene of a younger Shining Armour valiantly rescuing his companions.
Twilight was considerably less excited. “Turner, I thought we had an understanding about which stories were inappropriate for Spike.” She gave Time Turner a pointed look.
“Ah, yes, well, about that...Shining told him! Not me, of course. So we had best sally forth and save him so you can give that rascally big brother of yours a talking to, yes?” The artificer grinned nervously.
Applejack chuckled, checking to make sure her sword in easy reach and the cloak was loose enough to pull off. She let the others bicker, knowing they were letting off the tension that grew before action. Time Turner was doing it by reflex, effortlessly drawing Spike and Twilight into talking about things much less worrisome than the threat of their plan falling apart. Casting an eye across the crowd, Applejack was pleased to find no sign of Dash, the sneaky girl hiding with ease. She was confident her new friend would reveal herself when she needed to. More, she was pleased by the trust Dash was showing. Few would give the suspicious thief credit where it was due; that she had stayed with them, despite the geas being removed, and was playing such a dangerous part in the plan. Yet Dash was still with them, still helping, though nothing stopped her from leaving.
The plan. It was a good plan. It was the plan, and she knew her role in it. The ranger flexed her right hand absently. Her simple, straight forward, and above all satisfying role. Her memories of the fight in the old library flashed across her mind for a moment, feeling the rush of blood in her veins and surge of adrenaline. And, of course, the...the magic.
She couldn’t lie to herself. It had been magic. Utterly different from the tricks she had been taught by her grandmother. Applejack hadn’t been drawing on the pulse of natural energies as she had been shown. The words had spilled from her lips without her understanding a single one. Magic, arcane magic, had guided her sword in the deadly blow that separated wererat from claw. Applejack had cast a spell and she’d told not a soul.
‘We got this to deal with,’ she reminded herself. The very edge of the crowd was getting closer now, the small group trying to keep close without looking like it. ‘I’ll tell Twilight after. Won’t she be surprised. What are the chances she’d pick up two criminals with magic?’
Applejack frowned. She brushed a few hairs from her face. The others had fallen silent. Any second now, Dash would strike. Even Time Turner had shut up, but he was whistling cheerfully which wasn’t much better. Spike, at Twilight’s behest, was casting and speaking into the air.
‘What are the chances? Unless it wasn’t chance...’
A flicker of movement drew Applejack’s up. She saw a sack soaring above the crowd, towards the line of guards keeping the crowd from the temple. A slender, pale arm just managed to poke out above the crowd. Dash’s warning came back to her.
“Cover yer eyes!” Applejack warned before the thought had even finished forming. She followed her own advice, closing and covering her eyes.
The sack of ‘borrowed’ fireworks flew over the crowd. Just before it reached the guards Dash finished her spell. The spell itself was tiny, nearly inconsequential. On it’s own, it was harmless. It could, with a bit of luck and good aim, perhaps kill a fly. It was a spell that couldn’t kill or maim or even do the smallest of damage.
Combined with a sack of fireworks left unattended — unattended by Dash’s standards, which is to say the owner was looking in the wrong direction — Spark might not be deadly, but it was far from useless.
The noise of the crowd vanished beneath a wall of noise. Sound and light exploded from the sack in such force that the nearest fire-revelers fell to the ground, stunned, and those who remained standing cried out without being heard, covering their ears and eyes. Fireworks whizzed and banged and boomed overhead, flying in every direction. People fell over themselves to get away. Chaos was spreading before the abrupt explosions even began to die down.
Applejack felt Twilight’s hand on her wrist. Magic followed from the mage, sheathing her in a screen that twisted light and the laws of physics to simply remove Applejack from sight. She opened her eyes, ears ringing from the blast of fireworks, and charged from the crowd. Twilight’s hand remained on her, but when Applejack spared a moment to look back there was no sign of her save the physical contact. If Turner kept his hold on Twilight, the three of them would be fine.
As the crowd began to recover, so too did the guards. Far faster, in fact, reacting with admirable speed. The nearest broke away, searching for the assailant. This task was made much easier thanks to her jumping onto an empty cart, its occupants ducked to avoid the fireworks.
“Hey, ants! Come get me!” Dash shouted, waving another sack in the air. “I’ve got more, just for you losers!”
She held the sack by the rope holding it closed and about to whirl it. The action disturbed her cloak but she kept it on, well aware she was still in sight of the platform and people who could identify her. Dash grinned as they took the bait. She shouted out another taunt and jumped down. The crowd cleared as she ran, whirling the fireworks threateningly.
‘This plan is fun!’
*
Shining Armour stood on the edge of the platform with a displeased frown. “They should know better than to just go charging off. Look at that gap in their line!” He sighed, massaging his forehead with one mithral plated hand. “Captain, stay on guard. It just looks like someone making trouble with fireworks, but it could be a distraction.”
Captain Green Husk nodded. “Yes sir.”
“I wish we had some of our mages up here. You deserve more protection than this,” Shining went on, turning to the third person there.
Cadance smiled back as she shook her head. Her long hair, its pink, purple and blonde colours reflected in her robes, seemed to shimmer in the light of the staff she held, engraved with burning, golden runes. Her golden circlet reflected it, almost giving her a halo, and the gold-light played with the edges of her burnished copper symbol of the sun that hung from her neck.
“Shining, dear, we’re perfectly safe. I have my lord-captain here, don’t I? What more protection could I possibly need?” she asked, laughing lightly.
He smiled weakly back. “I’d just feel better. The divination experts in the guard, at least-”
“We talked about this, remember? I told you what to thi-” Cadance coughed delicately. She looked, for a split-second, annoyed with herself before it disappeared behind a warm smile. “I told you what I think. No divination mages. You know how I feel.”
“I...yes, of course, I know how you feel,” he repeated, blinking a few times. The Lord-Captain nodded. ‘Right, we talked about it. She didn’t want any because...’ He remembered talking with her about this. He knew they had discussed it. Yet he was having trouble recalling the details.
“I’m sure the High Priestess knows what’s best, sir,” Green added. He stood off to the side, at Cadance’s right hand. His posture was hardly at attention, relaxed and nonchalant. More nonchalant than he had any business being, in Shining’s estimation.
“Yes, of course she does.” He fought down a flare of annoyance. Green was exemplary in his duties, he deserved some slack. ‘It’s not his fault Twilight is-’ Shining closed his eyes, fighting the pain. ‘Burning day, I want a drink.’
He drew in a ragged breath and stepped back from the edge. It loomed closer than he had expected. When had he gotten that close? Shining Armour adjusted his belt slightly to distract himself. He had been distracting himself all day. Guilt and pain gnawed at his insides as he strode back to Cadance. The feelings didn’t quite vanish when she curled her arm through his, but they lessened.
“Green,” he commanded, not bothering to explain what he wanted. When he lowered his mouth to Cadance’s he knew the captain would be shielding them from view. Dark lips pressed against pale. Everything was alright. So long as the woman he loved supported him, he could survive this. Survive this until he found the people to blame for the deaths of his sister, little brother and best friend.
The people to blame, of course, other than himself. Because the knowledge that he was responsible for it never left his mind. It was his fault.
*
They ran, invisible and aware of each other only by touch and the sound of their footfalls. A cloak had appeared from nowhere in a hall near the entrance, abandoned by Applejack the second she had the chance. Her hat, though it was invisible, was sitting securely on her head.
“Up the stairs to the left,” came Twilight’s voice.
Applejack nodded before remembering, well, she was invisible. “I hear ya,” she said instead. There was little need to be completely silent, given how few people seemed to be wandering the halls, but she kept silent otherwise. No sense in taking chances.
She lead the way, storming up the stairs. Only when they approached the door did Applejack slow, realising the heavy running would doubtless give away their presence.
“We’re nearly there. The walkway should be through that door.” Twilight pulled them up short. This was it. Owlicious was outside, his emotions calm and typically aloof. “We have just over two minutes left before we’ll be visible again. Applejack-”
“Keep that Green fella busy, I remember.” Applejack put her hand around the door knob. “Just make sure ya hit the bastard so yer brother sees what he really looks like. Hope no one’s lookin’ this way…”
With that she pushed the door open, peeking out. No-one looked their way. The only people on the walkway were Shining Armour, Cadance and Captain Green, and all were too busy looking in the wrong direction. She let go of Twilight’s hand and began to advance. She might be invisible but she was still making sounds. The door clicked shut quietly, presumably behind Time Turner.
Twilight went straight down the middle of the walkway. Owlicious rose from his perch on the tower behind them, soaring parallel above her. She took the scroll Time Turner had provided, gripping it tightly. They had a single shot. Breaking Green’s shapeshifting would hopefully be enough to break the control Cadance had over Shining Armour.
She came to a stop just at the edge of the walkway, on the cusp of the platform. Shining was standing there with his arm around Cadance. His expression was tight with suppressed emotion. It made Twilight’s fist tighten even harder on the scroll. It crinkled softly.
Green took a step towards Twilight’s position, frowning. He was still too close to Shining Armour and Cadance. Ideally there had to be a way to separate him from them, but at the very least either Cadance or Green had to leave him. Twilight took a step back, and the sound of her robe’s loose folds drew him after her, a suspicious look on his face.
“My la- Lord-Captain, I think-” he began.
Applejack struck. She appeared behind him as her great blade swung through the air. The massive weapon slammed into his armour with all the force the ranger could put into it. Green screamed, lurching forwards as blood sprayed from his back. There was no sound of metal bending or shattering as the armour on his back had, and too much blood following from the terrible wound carved in the meat of his lower back.
He spun, trying to draw his blade and hiss a spell at her, but the surprise attack had caught him unawares and unprepared. She didn’t give him the time, forcing the false-guard to stagger back to avoid her vicious assault.
Shining Armour turned at the sound of Green’s scream. He stared at Applejack, recognition in his eyes. His brow furrowed in confusion. “What...how…”
Cadance, whatever her other faults were, didn’t miss a beat. She pointed at Applejack. “Isn’t that one of the criminals you told me about, Shining? If she’s here, she must have been part of it! Listen to me; She killed Twilight and Spike!”
Twilight paused. She was circling the fight, lifting the scroll to cast. She watched her brother’s expression of confusion transform into raw hate. The sight of such naked fury on his face froze her, so unexpected was it. The mage wanted to kick herself for not realising how easily Applejack’s presence could be explained.
She hesitated as Shining ripped his sword from his belt, his shield from his back, and started to march towards Applejack with a murderous expression. There was no way Applejack would be able to beat Shining Armour. It wasn’t just sisterly pride that made her realise that. Applejack was skilled, but Shining Armour had spent years as an adventurer, and the last decade rising to lead the Canterlot Guard with a proactive attitude that saw him leading raids on the deadliest of criminals. Even taking his formidable fusion of martial prowess and magical combat out of the equation, he was armed and armoured in heavily enchanted equipment.
“Twilight,” Time Turner hissed. “Disable Cadance.”
Before she could reply to the unseen artificer, Time Turner faded back to into visibility between Shining and his target. He gave Shining a grin.
“What, no mention of me? Not that she killed them or me.” He waved. “Well, hello there Shining. You’re looking confused. Quite understandable really, given you thought I was dead.”
‘Looking confused’ was an understatement. He was standing there gaping. The fight behind Time Turner was paid no mind as Shining stared at the man who resembled...who was his dead friend. He spluttered, lost for words.
Twilight looked past him, to Cadance. She almost missed it as she prepared to hit the deceptive priestess with a powerful spell, but despite the gloom around them and the bright glow around Cadance, Twilight caught a far, far stranger reaction. There was shock on Cadance’s face, mixed with fear, but for a moment her eyes changed. She stared at Time Turner with slitted toxic green eyes.
The fight the night before came back to her. The memories struck her, of insane, slitted eyes with bright, unnaturally vivid green, glaring insanely as Green ripped at her webbing with his real, twisted form.
Cadance blinked and her eyes were normal again. It had happened so fast it would have been easy to miss it, or dismiss the change as her imagination. The sounds of Applejack’s fight with Green were just background noise now as Twilight stared. She just barely heard Time Turner launch into a wild, distracting explanation and Shining Armour’s disbelieving stuttering. Finally it was Owlicious loud hoot as he flew down that broke Twilight from her daze. With it came a sense of certainty in her sight.
“I know what I saw,” she whispered, unrolling the scroll. “I know what you are.”
“It’s a fake! Shining, darling, the people who killed your sweet little sister are just trying to mess with you.” Cadance was pleading, gesturing with the blazing staff. With the final encroachment of the night the flaming gold runes became brighter and fiercer, creating a fiery halo around her. “Just an illusion to confuse you. Listen to me; kill hi-”
Cadance’s order became a scream. Twilight’s Invisibility was stripped away with the blast of ethereal energies. They had launched from her, unseen but not unfelt. The words vanished from her scroll of Force Shapechange, the archaic, rare spell spent.
The scream drew Shining’s attention faster than Green’s had. Ignoring Time Turner he looked back. He almost stopped when he saw Twilight, but Shining couldn’t avoid catching sight of Cadance’s twisting form.
“Cadance!” He looked from her to Twilight and the scroll she was dropping. Pieces began to fit together, wrong as they were. It couldn’t be Twilight. It was his fault she was dead. He knew that. So long as that was true, she had to be dead. Meaning this had to be a fake, taking his sister’s form to curse the woman he loved.
The staff fell from Cadance’s hand. She staggered back, screaming in pain. Her features melted, becoming monstrous and inhuman. Her skin went from pale to a milky, chalky white with touches of other colours before hardening to glossy blackness. The beautiful robe was torn by growth, distending and stretching it until it broke at the shoulders and sleeves. Her hair remained as long as it had been, but it became ragged and green, more like seaweed than hair. The creature that had been Cadance fell to her knees, retching violently. The crowd below had fallen into chaos, and the remaining guards were little better. Many were streaming into the temple, charging to get up there.
“My lady!” Green screamed, lashing out at Applejack. “Out of the way! Get out of my way!”
She caught the blow on her blade and bounced it off with a savage smirk. “Not today, sugar. Not ever. Hold still an’ I’ll give ya a match for that were-rat buddy of yers.”
He snarled with eyes flaring green and the onslaught began anew.
“T-that’s...what have you done?” Shining Armour, charging at the false-Twilight. She jerked and tried to retreat, shocked by the attack and the fury directed at her.
“Shiny! It’s me, Twilight!” she cried in a desperate attempt to stop him. “I’m not dead!”
Time Turner drew his wand, leveling it on his friend and hoping he was fast enough. The same mental faculty that normally made Shining Armour the worst target for such a spell had been jeopardised by the drugged tea. “Sit!”
Shining Armour froze a foot from Twilight, his shield held out to slam into her. She still fell over, collapsing on her rear with a yelp. The fury and pain and guilt in Shining’s glaring eyes made her tremble.
“O-Ow-Owl-l-licious,” she stuttered, holding out her hand. The owl descended, carefully placing his talons to keep from hurting her. She held her familiar up. “It’s...uh, it’s Owlicious. Please, Shiny, it’s me. I swear, it’s me and I’m fine. Spike is fine. It’s been lies, all of it. You’re being drugged, so she could control you.”
“C-Cadance...wouldn’t…” Shining groaned through the binding magic.
Twilight nodded. She could feel tears running down her cheeks, her brother’s state tearing her apart inside. “I know, Shiny, she wouldn’t. But that’s not Cadance!”
They stared into each others’ eyes. She willed her tearful, desperate gaze to convey the truth of her statement. It seemed to take forever, but the look of fury in his eyes died. The pain fell away at the same moment as the Hold Person spell. Shining Armour collapsed to his knees. Before either knew it Twilight’s arms were around him, and his around her.
“You’re alive,” he sobbed. Or he thought he did. His mind was in chaos as the layers of control his subconscious had been resisting broke. They left a mess in their wake. He held his sister against his armoured chest, holding her so tight she felt her breath forced out of her.
“G-Green Husk,” the imposter hissed from where she lay. Her robes torn and ragged, she slowly rose. Each movement seemed pained and slow. “Attend me. Attend me!”
Her scream tore through the night, shrill and hateful. It bore no similarity to Cadance’s delicate, beautiful tones. It was shrieky and as grating on the ears as her appearance was on the eyes. It got her minion’s attention, but he wasn’t the only one.
“Green Husk, huh?” Applejack braced. She was a barrier between him and whatever was shouting. She hadn’t wasted time or risked herself looking back to find out. “Least yer less ugly than last time.”
He hissed at her. It wasn’t even an attempt at words. It was just a hiss. Green flames flashed along his body. The guard armour and normal skin vanished, replaced by chitin-like skin in matte black. Green Husk retreated as he let his falsehood fall. He hissed again, words this time. Emerald fire flared for just an instant. When it was gone, so was he.
“...huh? Damn! Twi’, he’s– he’s over there!” The warning was hardly necessary. They could see as well as Applejack that Green Husk had appeared at the shapechanger’s side, pulling vials of healing potions from his belt.
Shining Armour rose stiffly. He let go of Twilight. Everything else was unimportant as he looked at it. At the monster that had replaced Cadance. Things were falling into place, the way they should have done months ago. Something had been wrong, he remembered, and he had been trying to work out what it was when she gave him that tea. Despite everything, he hadn’t been suspicious. This monster had taken her place and he hadn’t noticed. He had ignored the fires, he had promoted Green far faster than he should have, he had done so very many stupid things and it was all her fault.
With agility his heavy plate belied, so long as the properties of mithril weren’t considered, Shining Armour used his foot to kick the fallen Staff of the First Fire into his hand. He marched towards Green Husk, holding the staff loosely in one hand and his shield in the other.
“Shining–” Twilight reached for him only to be gently rebuffed by a shake of his head.
“You’ve done enough. All of you. You’ve done so much that I should have done.” Shining Armour leveled a look at Time Turner. His hands trembled. “I’ll deal with them.”
Time Turner looked from Shining Armour to Green Husk, who was rising as the other creature guzzled the potions. He shrugged. “If you insist. I’ll, uh, try to keep the guards from killing us or the crowd from rioting.”
Shining Armour nodded his thanks. “...I’m glad you’re alive,” he murmured, the anger abating to expose relief. The anger returned with a rush of hot fury through his veins when he looked at Green Husk with coldly furious eyes.
“Step back, ‘Lord-Captain’,” Green Husk sneered. He stood between Shining Armour, the imposter Cadance behind him.
She was looking off to the edge of the platform, looking for an escape that wouldn’t expose her even more to the crowd as she used the First Fire’s bulk to conceal herself. It sounded like a riot was going on down there.
“I’ve spent months waiting for the chance to finally do this,” Green Husk grinned, showing off pointed teeth. “Months making sure you drank that damned tea, watching you guzzle it down like an idiot. Months serving Lady Chrysalis, knowing that one day I would get to do this. Do you know what I learned, watching you wander along with your mind so fogged it was a wonder you could think?”
If he didn’t, Shining didn’t say. He just marched closer, mithril gauntlet tight on the haft of the Staff of the First Fire. Night had truly come, the sun’s light gone, and yet the Park District was dark. The Staff burned with all that contained fire.
“That you…” Husk snapped his hands out, glowing with magic. “...are pathetic. Weak.”
Chrysalis rose behind him, ripping the robe further to free herself. “Cease taunting the fool and kill him,” she ordered. Her imperious, alien, green eyes were filled with contempt when she glanced dismissively over Shining Armour. “This charade has come to an end. My plans, great as they are, must continue. Be a dear and clear my way.”
Green Husk nodded “Yes, my lady!” Scorching Rays shot from his fingers straight at the oncoming warrior. Shining Armour made no move to avoid it, his coldly furious expression unchanging. He caught the rays on his shield. With a gesture he thrust them aside. The surprised look on Green Husk’s face was rather rewarding.
“I,” Shining Armour replied. “Am a magus.”
His shield slammed into Green Husk with more than mere human force. It struck with magical empowerment. The Forceful Strike channelled through his shield, blasting Green Husk back. Blood streamed from Green Husk’s face as he was fired through the air. The pain of hitting Chrysalis was barely noticeable, given the agony of his ruined, shattered face, and he was too far gone to notice the piled materials that formed the unlit First Fire collapsing atop him.
Shining lifted the Staff of the First Fire, pointing it straight at the pair like a lance. A cone of light shone from it, revealing the creatures to the guards now rushing onto the roof.
“Do you know what I learned?” he asked, almost conversationally. His expression, somehow, darkened further. “Or rather, what Cadance taught me exactly one year ago?”
The imposter,Chrysalis, tried to pull herself out from under Green Husk. She shrieked furiously, hissing hateful words in an alien tongue before reverting to Common. “Don’t you dare! I am Chrysalis! I control you, you weak, wretched little human! I own you!”
Shining Armour ignored her and answered his own question. “How to light the fire.”
Fire lanced from the Staff, a golden beam that bored into the bonfire. Husk screamed for an instant before he was, essentially, vaporised by the concentrated fire magic, and Chrysalis made not a sound. She just glared. There was a flicker of green around her, a failed spell trying to hold off the inevitable and succeeding not at all.
*
Her cloak gone, left in her Obscuring Mist with a band of confused guards a few streets away, Dash came to a stop. Her cocky smirk faded as the late-ritual finally took place. The lights went up, blazing merrily. She wasn’t sure how, but she decided it felt like the others had succeeded. Her tiredness was gone with the lights burning merrily away, for the first time in a long while, Dash was happy.
“Heh, am I good or what?” she asked herself, sauntering towards the temple.
*
Shining Armour stared at the blazing First Fire. The smell of burning flesh had vanished quickly, the scented flames taking the stink away. The crowd below had calmed with the lighting of the First Fire, and the return of stillness to the platform. The stomp of armoured boots on the platform informed him one of his guards had approached him.
“Tell the people an imposter had taken the place of the High Priestess,” he informed the guard without looking back. His voice was flat and monotone, working on automatic. “Tell them…tell them the First Fire struck her down because of it. The Sun judged her, and...and all of that.”
“Yes sir!” The guard was probably saluting. Shining didn’t turn to check.
His sister’s voice, on the other hand, was more than enough. “Shining!” She hit him from behind, wrapping her arms around him. “Are you okay?”
He nodded, only to stop and blink. Suddenly everything that had happened hit him. Shining wasn’t sure when he turned and hugged his sister, but before he knew it he was.
“You’re alive.” There was no hiding the naked relief in his voice, or even any attempt.to. “Holy Sun, you’re alive.”
She smiled up at him, spending a moment just letting him hold her and feel the reality of her presence. The anger and guilt she had been feeling for her brother’s situation ebbed away, replaced by relief of her own. Relief that her brother was himself again, and that the greatest betrayal might not be the deception she had taken it for.
“Spike is too,” Twilight murmured. “And, well, you saw Time Turner.”
Shining nodded. “Y-yeah, I did...Twilight, gods, I don’t know...I thought I got you killed, that it was my fault. That bastard made me focus on it, but it already felt like that.” His eyes narrowed, a vicious light burning them. “He didn’t suffer nearly enough. Him or that monster.”
They parted slightly, Shining looking down on her. There was a question in his eyes. Twilight was taken aback by the intensity.
“Twilight, Cadance is still alive. I’m sure of it. We have to find her.”
“Of course we do!” Time Turner intruded. He was staring at the golden blaze a few feet away, admiring it. He looked over and gave Shining a mock bow. “Lord-Captain.”
“Turner!” Shining Armour let go of Twilight and clapped his friend on the back so hard he was nearly launched into the fire. “I’m so glad to see you! I thought…”
Time Turner shook his head with a small smile. “You thought wrong, but isn’t that just you all over? Nothing you could have done. That shapeshifter, Chrysalis the other one called her, was powerful. Worse, she was smart.” His smile became a smirk. “We~ell, smart-ish. Not quite smart enough to catch yours truly.”
“It was smart enough to burn your house down,” Shining pointed out. He shook his head. “Long night, this is insane. There’s so much we need to- no. We need to find Cadance. I don’t know where she is, but I know she’s still alive.”
“So, that shapeshifter was definitely not her?” The artificer scowled. “I was sure there was more to Cadance than we knew. We found her in a great lump of crystal without so much as a memory!”
“Turner, now is not the time. If that creature has more minions, and they learn what happened here, they could hurt Cadance!” Shining Armour grabbed his friend by the shirt and shook him. “Get that mind you’re so proud of focused on helping find her.”
Time Turner held up his hands defensively, one curled around something copper and shiny. “Alright, calm down. I’m sure we can find your mysteriously-amnesiac-but-totally-not-evil girlfriend if we put our minds to it. Well, put my mind to it, and maybe Twilight’s. We’ll put some minds to it, you just stand there looking heroic until we need someone to move heavy things.”
Despite the situation, despite his frustration and fear and desperation to find Cadance, his old friend’s familiar manner made Shining Armour laugh. It felt like an age since he had last laughed. He patted his friend’s shoulder as he let go. Glancing across the walkway, he noted one of Twilight’s charges, Applejack, having an argument with one of the guards. Before he could intervene, he looked to Time Turner again and noticed the copper holy symbol the fake Cadance had started wearing recently. The fog of mind control gone, he felt a flicker of recognition.
“Isn’t that the…” he trailed off uncertainly.
“The souvenir of ours from Trottingham? One that was sitting on a desk in my house a week ago?” Turner asked. He turned it over in his hand, inspecting it. “It certainly is. That explains why they were in my house. Chrysalis wasn’t trying to kill me, or at least that wasn’t her only goal. She wanted this. I suppose she realised if she was going to keep up the bluff, she needed to be able to heal like Cadance can.”
Twilight joined the pair, looking at the same symbol. “No one can heal like Cadance can though, how would that help?”
Turner grinned and said, “Twilight, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten all those wonderful stories we’ve told you? The classic tale of the False-Priest of Trottingham and his secret, this fancy little artefact that let him turn arcane magic into divine healing spells for the low, low price of feeding it with unwilling blood.”
She grimaced with disgust and shuddered. “I remember now. You said Macintosh broke his neck.”
“He did. He hit the bastard right in the throat hard enough to break it. But this isn’t important,” Shining insisted. He rubbed his forehead, trying to stave off the ache. “We need to find Cadance.”
“Well, she won’t be in the temple. Too close to the palace, Celestia might have…” Twilight frowned. “Come to think of it, how could Celestia have missed-”
“Not. Important!” Shining cut in. “Damn it, focus, we need to find where the hell she is now.”
“Shining, it is important. If Celestia, a demi-god, never realised the High Priestess wasn’t the High Priestess, any divinations aren’t likely to find much either. There has to be another answer. Did Chrysalis ever tell you anything? Warn away from rooms or buildings?” Turner bounced the symbol from hand to hand as he spoke, but his eyes were trained on the fire.
Sighing in frustration, Shining Armour clenched his hand into a tight fist. “It’s hard to remember. I can remember the last few months, but it’s all just a bit disorienting. She...she convinced me to raid a few places, or to not raid some.”
Twilight put a hand on his arm. “Think. I know you can do it. Just try to remember anything we can use.” She gave him a reassuring smile before a shout drew her attention away. “Applejack?”
“I think I saw Spike an’ Dash down there. Wanna tell these guards to let me go down so I can get ‘em?” The ranger asked. To Shining she added, “Sorry about lettin’ that bastard Green get away.”
“It’s fine. I owe you for helping Twilight.” Shining Amour reached out, and after a moment Applejack extended her hand for a shake. “If you weren’t with her, she might not be here today. That monster might have been planning this for months, but she couldn’t have seen you two coming along. Go on and get them.” He called to one of the guards. “You, Stern Watch! Go with Miss Applejack to get her friend and my brother, and make sure no bothers them, got it?”
“Yes sir!” The guard happened to be the one Applejack had been arguing with, and he tried not to grimace.
Applejack grinned at him. “Much obliged. Twi’ turned off those spells, by the way. So make sure ya thank Dash as well. She might be a thief, but she’s a good girl where it counts. She don’t need thanks for savin’ a friend, but she’ll appreciate it.”
He let out a rueful chuckle as Applejack turned, striding off with a guardsman at her heels. “Well, that was interesting. ‘Friend’, huh?” Shining smiled at his sister’s embarrassed but proud expression. “I guess there are a lot of ways to rehabilitate.”
“Our way didn’t work,” Turner pointed out. He shuddered. “All sealing Iron Will in that cave did was make him even more berserk.”
Shining, looking over the guards slowly leaving the walkway to scour the temple for any more troublemakers, shrugged. “Maybe. He wasn’t really at fault there, it was thanks to that….”
Twilight waved a hand in front of her brother. He didn’t react, staring off into the distance after he trailed away mid-sentence. “Shining?” she asked worriedly. Twilight looked at Turner. “What’s wrong with him?”
The artificer shrugged. “His head has been pretty well messed with, we don’t know—”
“The cave!” They both jumped, startled by the sudden exclamation from Shining Armour. He grinned widely at them. “The cave I told you not to explore, Twilight, with all the crystals. She- it told me to do that. It seemed pretty determined about you not going in there. And Green was put in charge of choosing the guards!”
He didn’t wait for them to agree or disagree. Energy infused him once more, the lethargy that had claimed Shining since killing the imposter vanishing at the prospect of finding the real Cadance was before him. Looking lively once more he began to issue orders, sending guards out and organising them. It felt good to be in control, to issue commands and know they were his. It helped him ground himself back in reality and not get lost in the memories of the past few months.
“Come on,” he told Twilight and Time Turner. “We’re going to the caves. And if the guards Green put there are just his own men…”
Shining Armour reclaimed his longsword, sliding it into his belt-sheath. He didn’t bother to add anything as he turned and strode towards the exit.
*
They reached the caves at speed, all six of them. Spike and Dash had, with Applejack, been on their way back through the temple and were collected. The yell of joy Spike let out when he saw Shining, and the man’s own relief at seeing Spike safe, were heartwarming, enough that Twilight was content to let Spike stick to Shining’s side rather than her own, until they reached the horses Shining had sent guards to fetch.
They were on horseback when they reached the cave entrance in the foothills of the Canterhorn Mountain against which Canterlot itself was built. The Sun Temple itself was carved into the cliff face, but this tunnel was outside, beyond the walls.
“We’re here,” Shining announced. “Guardsmen, remain outside and make sure we’re not disturbed.”
Applejack sighed in pleasure. “Nice to ride again.” She looked back at her passenger. “You get to let go now.”
Dash remained where she was. The only one without any experience in horse riding, her arms were wrapped around Applejack’s waist, she wore an expression torn between joy and disappointment.
“Can’t we take them in?” she whined.
Pulling Dash’s arms off, Applejack climbed down and tugged her off with her. “Nope. If ya really like ridin’ that much, we’ll be doin’ it on the way back.”
“Tell you what,” Shining Armour called as he set off towards the crevasse at the base of the ridge ahead where the cave was concealed. “I’ll get you horse riding lessons. Consider it thanks or a reward or whatever for sticking around for Twilight’s sake.”
Twilight, half-down from her own mount and grumbling about not having a spell to replace it prepared today, looked up at the girlish shriek of delight. So did the others, including the otherwise stoic guards who accompanied them. Dash went red, covering her mouth.
“...shut up!” She stomped off after Shining Armour. The others rushed to join them, Applejack exchanging an amused smile with Twilight.
“Ya really think that High Priestess is in here?” Applejack asked Twilight. She kept her voice low, but there was little need to. Spike was at Shining Armour’s side, and Dash was pestering the noble with questions. “I’ve heard the stories about her. She can heal pretty much anything.”
Twilight nodded. “She can. It’s remarkable. Even the most faithful of the Sun Temple are limited in their ability to use healing magic, but Cadance is capable of something else. I wish I could study it.”
Ahead of them, Shining Armour led the way into the caves. His sword and shield out, he let Time Turner shine a sunrod past him, lighting their way. With the heavily armoured magus in lead, backed up by Time Turner and Dash, they advanced into the caves. It seemed like a perfectly normal cave so far.
“Whatcha mean it’s somethin’ else? Like, arcane magic?” Applejack asked. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she drew her greatsword, just to be safe.
“No, it’s not. Healing magic is usually limited to divine magic, and the Divine Barrier limits that. Whatever Cadance does isn’t related to either.” Frowning, Twilight called to Time Turner. “Turner, you still have my staff right? Can I have it back?”
He looked back. “Hm? Oh, right, yes. Give me a moment…” Rummaging in one of his pockets, he slowly drew out the staff from a pocket it had no right fitting in.
She took it back gratefully. “We shouldn’t go too much furth-” Twilight began to say.
“Everyone down!” Shining Armour roared. Time Turner dropped, dragging Spike down with him. Something bounced off Shining Armour’s shield, another splintering against the rock. Twilight found herself pulled back, Applejack stepping in front of her.
Dash had already began to move. She ducked behind Shining Armour, glancing past him, taking a moment to aim. A figure at the edge of the light, part hidden by the gloom, moved. Her hand blurred. A dagger, one drawn from Shining Armour’s belt, flew through the air spinning until it hit with a meaty thud and a yell of pain.
“Got her!” Dash crowed. Her cover abruptly moved.
Shining Armour muttered a word and his armour glowed for a moment. When he moved, he became a blur as the enchantments activated. Crossing the distance between them in seconds he slammed his shield into the attacker. Before the archer could fight back Shining’s longsword gutted her.
“Finished her,” Shining said matter of factly. He shot Dash a smirk. “But you helped.”
“‘Helped’, pfft, I nailed her right in the face.”
Kicking the body and motioning for the others to approach, Shining Armour toed the crossbow. “Repeating crossbow. Not very good aim. Come on, there might be more.”
Twilight murmured, casting Mage Armour as they continued on. Spike, she noted with a smile of approval, was doing the same. She still took him by the hand and pulled him to the back of the group.
The stone became, quite abruptly, crystal. Twilight had to resist the urge to run her hands across it, fascinated by the beautiful formations. ‘I wonder if it’s natural. It can’t be, it practically starts in a straight line.’
There was little need for Time Turner’s sunrod here. The crystals had a faint inner light reflected over and over, leaving the chambers with an ambient, seemingly fluid light. The walls curved up, stalactites and stalagmites all around them.
“She’s nearby,” Shining announced. There was iron-clad certainty in his voice. “I know it.”
“‘Nearby’ isn’t quite as helpful as an actual direction,” Time Turner remarked. He ran a hand across the wall, slowly pacing along it. “Hmm...strange, these crystal seemed to have been attuned. But I just can’t tell to what. Not arcane magic.”
They spread out, searching the winding chamber.
“There’s nowhere to go,” Dash complained. She used her dagger to break a piece of crystal off, inspecting it before shoving it into her pocket. “Where could she be?”
“She’s here. I know it.” Repeating that might have displayed his confidence, but it did little to actually help. Shining Armour’s frustration grew. They were all looking, but there didn’t seem to be anywhere to go. “Maybe there’s another entrance into the cave system. It has to be be bigger than this…”
Spike wandered around. He was fascinated by this place, one he had wanted to explore for so long. Though he wasn’t sure how, he knew there was more to the cave. This was just the start. Resting his hand against one of the walls, he stared at his reflection. The faint pink of this particular crystal tinted the reflection of his scales and hair amusingly.
“Heh,” he chuckled despite the seriousness. Then he blinked. He blinked again. Frowning, he leaned closer. His tongue darted out on a whim. “This one’s fake.”
Twilight, scanning another wall, looked over. “What was that?”
He raised his voice. “This wall, it’s fake. The crystals are wrong. They’re not like the rest.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight hurried over, the others following. “It’s fake? How do you know?”
“Spike, stand out of the way.” Shining Armour advanced on the wall, weapons out. He glared at the wall as Spike darted out of the way. The magus began to cast, energy building in his mind. Time Turner’s eyes widened as he recognised the spell.
“Cover your ears!” He put his actions to words, ducking behind a stalagmite, hands over his ears. Twilight pulled Spike behind one, covering his ears for him.
“Huh?” Dash blinked, looking over in confusion. “Wh-”
Shining Armour’s voice rang out, becoming a deafening, magically enhanced Shout. The whole cave trembled for a moment, sonic energy striking and resonating against the vulnerable crystals. The wall exploded into fragments at the blast of sonic force, even the ground in front of it marred by the cone of overwhelming vocal power.
Ears ringing, but fortunately not deafened by the spell, Dash blinked again. She ran a hand through her hair, brushing out the dust blown over her. “O-oh, I guess that’s why.”
Shining Armour didn’t wait for the dust to clear before storming through into the chamber within. He burst from the cloud, his enchanted armour lending him enough Haste to take the darkly garbed guard waiting on the other side by surprise. Pulling himself up, the man had no time to even attempt blocking Shining’s shield slam. He crumbled to the ground, unconscious.
He didn’t even look at his foe again. His eyes fastened on the woman in dirty, pale pink robes who stared at him with wide, watering eyes. Her thin, malnourished hands clenched the bars, manacles carved with runes clinging to thin wrists. Their eyes met.
“Cadance!” He ran to her, grasping her hands in his mithril gauntlets.
“Sh-Shining…” she whispered, tears beginning to leak down her cheeks. “It’s you...it’s you…”
He nodded, kneeling in front of her and pressing against the cars. “Yes, it is. Oh gods, Cadance, I’m so sorry. I should have realised. I should have found you sooner. I-I’ll get you out. Stand back, I’ll break you out of there.”
Cadance, High Priestess of the Sun, tried to laugh. It came out as a cough. “S-Shiny, stop. The guard, he has a key. I...I missed you.”
He smiled back, his emotions overcoming him for a moment. “I know. I...I love you so much, Cadance. I’m so sorry.” Shining ripped the key from the guard’s belt, running back over to unlock the cage. Pulling the door open, she quite literally collapsed into his arms.
“I know, Shiny. I missed you..” she murmured, months of captivity and barely enough food to survive reducing her to stumbling weakly. Cadance still found the strength to pull herself up Shining’s armour and press her lips to his.
Time Turner stood at the shattered wall, watching the pair. He looked back to Twilight, and to her surprise he looked annoyed.
“What’s wrong? Cadance is alive!” Twilight stayed put. She wasn’t going to disturb her brother and Cadance, not yet. They deserved a few minutes to themselves.
He heaved a great sigh as he turned back, pouting as they looked at him. “I was wrong,” he groused. “Cadance isn’t evil.”
*
Spells & Magical Items of Chapter Ten
Spark: Ignites flammable objects.
Invisibility: Subject is invisible for 1 min./level or until it attacks.
Force Shapechange: Forces shapechangers to revert to true form and deals damage.
Scorching Ray: Ranged touch attack deals 4d6 fire damage, + 1 ray/four levels (max 3).
Forceful Strike: Deal 1d4/level force with weapon and possibly bull rush enemy.
Dimension Door: Teleports you a short distance. (Unnamed use by Green Husk)
Mage Armour: Gives subject +4 armour class.
Shout: Deafens all creatures within cone and deals 5d6 sonic damage. Deals 1d6 sonic damage per caster level to crystalline objects and creatures.
Haste: One creature/level moves faster, +1 on attack rolls, AC, and Reflex saves.
Shining's Mithril Armour: Mithril Plate of Speed