Applejack ducked under a vine. “You're telling me that they built all these traps just in case somepony was foolish enough to try and get back here… for what?”
“Dangerous magic,” Daring said, making air quotes with her wings. “Where we’re going can destroy anything.”
Applejack frowned. “Seems kinda silly to me. Where did they even find this magic?”
Daring gingerly stepped over a root. “Some things are better off left undiscovered,” she said.
Applejack snorted, but then realized that she had a point. If everypony had this destructive magic at their hooftips, there’s no telling what would happen.
“I’m more interested in how they knew how to build so many traps,” Rainbow interjected. They hadn’t had a trap in a while. They really were due for one.
“Yeah, well, I guess this is what ponies did for fun back then,” Daring shrugged. “Build traps to kill ponies.”
“What, they didn’t write stories?” Applejack snarked.
Rainbow chuckled, but Daring Do just smirked. “One of the earliest records of writing we have is actually a story that can only be called science-fiction. It details the account of a stallion being taken up in a strange flying ship that flies on air instead of water, where he describes technology ages beyond our own, talking about space flight, transporting heavy objects across great distances, and flying machines that run on steam power.”
“Maybe that actually happened!” Rainbow suggested excitedly. “Alien visitors! That’s how early ponies knew how to build those giant pyramids!”
Daring Do’s smirk never left. “And then he describes the female aliens. In great detail. Especially the parts they’ve got under their tails.”
Rainbow blanched.
“As it turns out, alien mares and pony stallions are quite compatible. In fact-”
“Wait,” Applejack interrupted, suddenly understanding. “You mean to tell me that the oldest writing in the world is a-”
Squish.
Applejack glanced down. Her hoof had sunk into the stone ground. “Huh,” she said with a chuckle. “Guess I don’t know my own strength.”
“It’s not supposed to be wet here,” Daring murmured, looking down nervously. “Water wreaks havoc on traps. Sets ‘em off when they’re not supposed to go, keeps things from going when they’re supposed to…”
“Rusts things?” Rainbow offered.
“Yeah, rust, too. Why?”
Rainbow pointed behind them and up. A large boulder, primed for rolling down, sat in the alcove above.
The sagging alcove.
Propped up by almost-hidden metal rods.
Metal rods that were nearly rusted through.
And it looked like their presence was all that was needed to disrupt the delicate balance that had heretofore been maintained.
As they watched, the rusted pole on the left snapped, and the boulder shifted. The right instantly gave way.
“Run for it!” Daring cried, turning and running down the corridor.
The boulder began rolling. Thankfully, since the rods had broken at different times, the boulder rolled at an angle; so instead of chasing the three mares down the hallway, it slammed into the wall. The impact was hard enough to shake the dust from the ceiling.
And a few chunks of rock.
Daring Do hissed under her breath as the entire ceiling began to sag, and then all three screamed as it caved in, burying them beneath chunks of stone and dirt.
The corridors were silent, much as they had been for years. The dust slowly settled. Not even the sound of breathing was heard.
And then an orange hoof punched out from the rubble.
* * *
“I gotta say,” Applejack said with a smirk as she flexed a foreleg demonstratively, “I might actually miss this super strength when it’s gone.”
Rainbow Dash rolled out her neck and tested the bandages Daring had put on her. “Yeah. Sure saved our feathers,” she said.
Daring Do nodded as she put the roll of bandages back in her saddlebags and brushed dirt off of her helmet. “Yeah.” She looked back at the cave-in and winced (and not just from the injuries on her hind legs). The hallway had effectively been sealed off under the rocks from the ceiling. “That’s going to be a pain to get past again,” she murmured.
“I’m sure we’ll get out workin’ together,” Applejack said hopefully.
“Yeah. Together.” Daring tossed her head. “Come on. Shouldn’t be far, now. Let’s get that thing off you.”
The three continued down the hallway, moving in the darkness.
Applejack stepped over what seemed to be a small stream. She glanced at it. “Seriously?”
Daring Do glared at it. “Bet that’s what weakened the walls,” she grumbled. She spat derisively into it.
Thankfully, the harrowing part of their journey seemed to be over. As they walked around the next corner, they passed through a doorway and arrived at the inner sanctum.
Daring Do gestured towards the stone altar on a small raised portion in the center. Applejack neared, climbing up the small set of stairs, and slid the bracelets off and set them down. “Alright. We got here, and all in one piece. Now what?” Applejack asked. “Do we just leave them here?”
Daring took a steadying breath. “Confession time. I lied to you.”
“What?”
Rainbow looked at Applejack. “You don’t know the story of Orb of Chrysanthemum, do you?”
“Never heard of it,” Applejack said, now a bit suspicious. “Why?”
Daring exhaled. “These are powerful magical artifacts, combined with even older magic. To destroy them… it’s going to require a sacrifice.”
“A what, now?” Applejack stammered, taking a step back; the bracelets reappearing on her forelegs as she did.
Daring held up her hooves placatingly. “No. It’s not you.”
Applejack sputtered. “That supposed to make me feel better? If’n it ain’t me, it’s one o’ you. No. No. I ain’t about to allow that!”
“Applejack…”
“No!” Applejack trotted away, stopping at the edge of the stairs. “Ain’t nopony going to die today! We’ll figure something else out! There’s gotta be a special volcano or some kind of magic fire or something we can destroy them in! It doesn’t have to be this way, and it ain't going to be this way.”
Daring Do looked at her, and then exhaled. “Fine,” she said. “We’ll think of a second option.”
Rainbow looked at Daring Do and nodded. She walked back up to Applejack, bumping her with her hips. Applejack cracked a smile and went to return the favor.
But Rainbow Dash slid out of the way. Applejack hit nothing, and she was left slightly off balance. Rainbow grabbed her and pulled her towards her; at the same time, she pressed her hooves against hers, tripping her. Both mares rolled onto the ground. Rainbow’s hooves landed on her forelegs.
Applejack realized what she was trying a split second before she did it, but she was too disoriented to fight back, or even to properly resist. Rainbow Dash pulled the bracelets off and darted back around. Daring Do flew alongside, back to the altar.
Just like they'd planned.
“No!” Applejack shouted, getting up and running; but even as she did, she knew she wasn't fast enough to catch them.
Rainbow Dash placed the bracelets in their positions and sat in the middle. She met Daring Do’s eyes and nodded. She was ready.
She glanced back towards Applejack. “Told you I’d pay you back,” she whispered.
“No!” Applejack cried, pushing herself even faster. “Rainbow!”
Daring Do shifted the stone back into position. Black magic circled around the altar, forming a shield that Applejack bounced off of. The bracelets began swirling in midair, and Rainbow Dash lifted her head. Her body raised up off the altar. There was a low whistle that slowly grew in volume and raised higher in pitch, and then there was an explosion of black energy.
The altar remained the same. The bracelets and the collar melted into slag, dripping harmlessly to the stone floor and from there boiling and fizzling away into nothingness.
And Rainbow Dash’s lifeless body fell to the ground.