The Road Less Traveled

by SteamPoweredStallion

Walking Down

For a short time, none of us spoke. The chilly air of the cave stood still as we looked in awe at the parchment on the floor; so much about it puzzled me. First, who could've sent it? The calligraphy was unknown to me and, aside from the Princess, I had never met anypony who could cast that spell. Perhaps, I thought, another dragon. But where was it, and why would it send that letter right there and then?
And aside from all that, if that creature was indeed down and inside the caverns, how could it have teleported the scroll? Perhaps Clover's conclusions were wrong?
Spike hesitantly picked up the parchment and looked at it closely. We both ran behind him to see: as we had already noticed it, was old, ruined and torn. Seeing it more closely, we realized it was positively ancient. The writing was probably done with charcoal, but it was perfectly readable. The four words were perfectly clear, and their meaning unequivocal.
Rarity finally broke the silence. “What.. do we do?”
“We need to help him... her... we need to do something!” answered Spike. I considered the possibilities. Asking for help would've meant admitting to the Princess that we had contravened her orders, and I didn't want that to happen.
But she had demonstrated clemence in the past when I disappointed her...
Nonetheless, I had never disobeyed a direct order from her. This was something bigger than not sending her a letter; the idea of solving the matter by ourselves was starting lo look more and more palatable.
“We need somepony who can fly.” I said “Actually, we probably need a lot of fliers.”
“Well, we could call Rainbow Dash. I do hope she's back to her room by this hour.”
“Yes.. yes, that sounds perfect. No need to make this... to make this … official”
“I absolutely agree. No need to cause an uproar, is there? The guards might have more pressing matters. Like retrieving the Royal phoenix.”
“Philomena is missing?”
“Well... not really. But they wouldn't let us in here, so I had to... hum... shall we say, divert their attention? And Peewee is such a great impersonator.”
“Wait, what?”
“Suffice to say, it will take a while before they realize they're on a wild phoenix chase.”Rarity answered, with a bit too much pride in her tone.
“I see.” I mentally added that to the count of things we would have to answer for if the matter was revealed. “How long have you two been planning this, exactly?”
“Darling, improvisation is an invaluable skill for any... performer. And Spike just happened to have these wonderful black suits- this one was yours, wasn't it? I have modified it a little, I hope you don't mind...”
“Oh. So that's where it was. I hadn't seen it since the last time I sneaked around here.”
“Well, seeing as you're already an expert... do you have a plan?”
“More or less. You must go and warn Rainbow Dash. Spike.... Spike?”
“Down here!”
Spike was standing on a platform, about five metres below the one we were on.
“How... how did you get down there?”
“I climbed” he waved his arms “Isn't it cool to have hands?!”
“Well, use them get back here! I need you to send a message!”
“But if I can climb down to where that pony... or whoever it is... to where it's trapped, I can help...”
“Don't be ridiculous, Spike! You have no idea how far the other side is! You can't make it!”
“But... but...”
“Spike, please.” intervened Rarity “I don't want you to get hurt.”
Spike stopped. Finally he started climbing back up. Peewee flew around him, chirping madly again.
“Thank you.” I hugged Rarity; words were not nearly enough to express the gratitude I felt in that moment. “now can you go...?”
“Of course!” she galloped towards the exit. Meanwhile, Spike was trying to pull himself up on the platform. I pulled him up with my telekinesis and let him down in front of me. I rifled through the notes I had been carrying around: unfortunately, I didn't have any pens or pencils, so I couldn't write a proper message. If Spike had received that note from the pony in danger, I reasoned, perhaps he could also send a response. As I turned to him I immediately noticed that his face had taken a rather unhealthy-looking pink coloration. He coughed another puff of smoke.
“Are you feeling alright?”
he shook his head.
“Not... really. There was something.. with that parchment...”
That was odd. Receiving magic papers had never been a problem for him... that is, whenever it wasn't too many of them at once. I considered whether it could be the exertion of climbing the rock wall, but either way I couldn't risk having him send another message.
“Stay here for now.” I told him. He nodded slightly. Peewee landed beside him and chirped.
I had to do something. Asking for help? But who could I find that knew how to treat an ill dragon? I considered looking for a cure in the library, but that could take ages, and I didn't have enough time.
Anyway, I had to return upstairs.
I was halfway though the debris pile when I heard behind me another loud belch. Spike had just received another scrap of parchment. I galloped back; he was lying on his back, clenching his stomach. The parchment had fallen on the floor. On it, in the same block capitals of the message before, was written:

THE ROAD LESS
TRAVELED BY

I was breathing faster than a flying pegasus. Spike was moaning with pain, lying on the floor in front of me. I had no way of warning anyone without leaving him, and I didn't want to leave him there or move him. My only hope was to wait for Rarity to return with some help.
In the meantime, all I could do was kneel down beside Spike. He was still conscious, his eyes were half-closed and he was still groaning and intermittently exhaling black smoke.
“Come on, Spike! Fight it! You can do it!”
He didn't respond. Pep talk has never been my strong suit. I believe my problem with it is that I can't help but picturing the worst scenario in any given situation, and once I do, I can hardly assure anyone that they will succeed when I myself have doubts that it's possible.
I decided to stop talking. I tried casting a spell to ease Spike's pain. It seemed to work; he relaxed and attempted a smile. I smiled too.
Rarity ran down that instant; after her, Rainbow Dash flew in disorderly, almost crashing into the rock wall. Behind her came the last two persons I expected to see.