//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Uneventful // by QrV //------------------------------// Chapter 4         The tunnel piercing the heart of Mount Loom was one of the greatest achievements of Equestrian engineering, stretching several miles and having been carved using exclusively top of the line stone cutting magic. Ever since the connection was established, a gust of wind has been blowing through it, the air flowing upwards with an almost constant speed. There are many theories as to why that's the case. Difference in air pressure, difference in temperatures, inability of changing the air flow first established during the initial breakthrough, magic. Some think it was intentionally created to aid a train's climb up and to slow down any descending ones, another ingenious invention of unicorn engineering. Others claim it's just a local magical phenomenon. The idea, that using the local aura to aid your undertaking is a sign of ingenuity seems to elude some of those. Regardless of what the origin of the current of air flowing through the tunnel is, it is without a doubt, that its presence makes traversing it on hoof a rather unique experience. The cold air gently pushing against one's face has been compared before to the feeling of pushing against a black, silken curtain. The feeling is ruined should one choose to bring with themselves a source of light, an act so unimaginably barbaric somepony has tried to ban it. The ban's proponent was a very dedicated pony, but a misguided one, as they pushed for it so hard it ended up being decided by Princess Celestia herself. And this is where the misguided nature of their fervor becomes apparent. Why would anyone think Princess Celestia herself would ban light, under any circumstances? Suffice to say, by carrying lamps into the tunnel Maud Pie, Red Beryl and Rain Shadow broke no laws, just a single pony's already broken heart. The magic used to carve the tunnel was so cutting edge, the floor of it had to be intentionally made rougher, as to avoid ponies slipping down its entire length after one false step. The walls however, remained as smooth as the rocks they were carved from allowed it - not quite silky smooth, but not quite pumice either. The little expedition into the dark heart of the mountain was led by Maud, who walked slowly right by the rock wall, holding the lamp in her teeth and occasionally slowing down and pushing her face against the rock as if listening if it had something to say. Two steps behind her followed Bixi, who quickly stopped admiring the mineral composition of the place to instead marvel at Maud's incredible technique. Closely behind him walked Rain Shadow, busy enjoying the wind in her feathers. Sensitive from months of tinkering with his device, Bixi started sensing something emanating from the direction of Maud. Could it be, that she was expressing an emotion? He focused on the sensation. A bond seemed to have been forming between Maud and the rock surrounding them. The bond, being of emotional nature, had a flavor even a novice such as Red Beryl could detect. The tight space between Maud's face and the smooth surface of volcanic rock seemed to be full of one particular emotion. It was a happy emotion, without a doubt, as it had the same flavor as most pony towns have. But there was also a more elusive element to it. Surprise perhaps? Was Maud surprised by something? Bixi looked around, paying closer attention to the rocks around them. While being this deep inside a mountain is not something ponies do every day, most ponies at least, nothing around seemed out of the ordinary. Just igneous rocks in their mostly virgin state. Could it be that it wasn't Maud who was the origin of the emotion? Could it be that it was the mountain itself who was pleasantly surprised? Maybe the mass of rock was delighted to finally be fully understood and appreciated by somepony, so much so it emitted an aura of surprised joy? Is that even possible? Is Maud really that good? Maud suddenly stopped, a subtle change of pace in her case, which prevented her from blowing Bixi's mind even further. An act of self sabotage, if anything. -What's up? - asked Rain Shadow, annoyed about no longer being able to walk and glide at the same time. -This wall is funky - explained Maud. -Funky? - Rain Shadow had trouble imagining how a rock wall could ever be called anything even close in the meaning to the word "funky". Maud just pointed to the wall with her hoof, encouraging her to see for herself. Rain walked over and carefully put her cheek against the smooth surface. While funky is not even on the list of words she'd use to describe the sensation, she couldn't deny its accuracy. It felt as if there were strands of hair, or maybe a root, coming from the wall and going deep inside her body. But not in a painful way. In a weirdly stimulating way. Like the wall was her friend and was telling her she could do anything she wanted. She quickly pulled away, because right then all she wanted to do is to not be encouraged by a wall. -Do you have any idea what this is? - she asked Maud. But Maud's face was much closer to a regular stone wall than the one that was right beside her. -It's magic! - announced Bixi, who quickly investigated the wall behind Rain's back. -Great detective work, Shadow Spade! - she mocked him - Now if you told me what kind of magic it is, that would much more helpful. -Well... - Red Beryl was clearly preparing for a highly informative monologue - This mountain has an abnormally strong natural aura. If you think about it, you can probably realize that you are feeling slightly better than the circumstances would dictate. I know I barely mind losing my project at the moment, and normally I would be freaking out pretty hard. This part of the wall, however, is clearly anomalous even for the heightened magical potential this place has. Such pockets of magic are rare, as natural geo-magic usually flows in veins, and this one feels very much focused. But! Even though everything points to it not being unicorn magic, the spell cast on this wall was intentionally woven into the natural aura of the mountain, which leads me to believe this is illusory magic meant to hide something inside, or perhaps beyond this wall of, what looks like, basalt. -Wow, Shadow Spade, you've managed to actually impress me! Now, if this is a magical wall hiding something, can you unhide it? -Me? - he pointed to himself - no way - he laughed, shaking his head - it would take someone with proper magical education days, maybe weeks to remove this spell. This is some complex stuff... -Ok then, let's say this isn't a wall, it's a secret door. Can you open it? Bixi opened his mouth, closed it, raised one of his eyebrows and then looked at the wall. His horn lit up briefly and the wall in front of them started slowly pulling away from them, withdrawing into the mountain's body. Without making any sound, it moved to the right and revealed a vast, dark cave that was hidden behind it. The cave, gaping in front of the ponies just as the majority of their mouths was agape, was almost as wide as the tunnel they just traversed. Several dark silhouettes loomed in the distance, subtly implying another source of light was present much further into the cave. It was hard to judge just how big the silhouettes were, but from where the ponies were standing at least one of them seemed absolutely massive. -Nice! - exclaimed Rain Shadow, breaking the stunned silence, and walked into the cave. The other two followed a couple steps behind her. -Who's Shadow Spade? - Bixi asked Maud in a voice quiet enough to be masked the echoing hoof steps of the mare in front of them. -Sounds like a card game - Maud shared her insight. Bixi quickly veered to the right, and started looking at the magical rock door he just opened. -I don't get it - he muttered a couple moments later, unheard by anyone. Meanwhile, further into the cave, Rain Shadow reached the first dark object. It turned out to be a massive pile of brutally disemboweled and then mercilessly discarded suitcases and saddlebags. Dresses and fancy hats were strewn across the cave floor, with clear signs of ponies stomping on them multiple times. Bits were sprinkled across the ground, seemingly originating from a purse that has been opened and then cast away with great force. Rain picked up one of the bits in case they were chocolate coins. They weren't, but she kept it for later anyways. She moved on, walking by trampled glasses, smashed saddles and ripped open toiletry bags to finally reach the big, shadowy figure hidden further away from the door. It was an entire cargo train carriage, looking suspiciously familiar, with an avalanche of packages coming out of its side door. Most of the packages were ripped open, and somepony must have searched all of them looking for something specific, as both completely empty and full boxes were present. The full ones were in many cases simply filled with rocks, while the empty ones were without exception filled with air. Not really sure whether they were actually looking for this or not, Rain Shadow walked forwards a couple more steps, enough for the light of her lamp to reveal there was another train car behind the first one, an almost identical looking one, with the exception of the open door. The second car seemed untouched, with only a few items scattered on the cave floor around it. Rain Shadow put her lamp down and turned around, feeling a strong need to consult her findings with somepony else. As she turned, she almost bumped noses with Maud, who was standing right behind her. -I think we found the stolen baggage the pancake pony was talking about - she said. Maud slowly moved her head around, looking at everything around them, as if she needed another look to confirm this outrageous idea. -Looks like it - she admitted. -You know what - Rain said, stepping back - I'm gonna fly back to the town and inform the police. You guys stay here and keep watch or something. -Sure - Maud sounded very watchful. Careful as not to step on anything, Rain Shadow trotted back to the entrance to the hidden cave. -Keep the door open! - she told Bixi, who nodded and kept muttering to himself about weaving rocks and reality together. Left effectively alone with a large quantity of personal belongings, Maud started to inspect the items lying around. Despite them being clearly the stolen baggage, there was a non-trivial amount of money simply lying about, while there were other goods obviously missing. While finding which items are missing from a collection one sees for the first time can be considered rather tricky, Maud decided to give it a go anyways. Starting with the part she knew best, she decided to inspect the conspicuously empty packages from the cargo train car, as they were most likely to belong to con attendees, a rather single minded bunch she happened to know in depth. Outside of t-shirts literally nopony would ever want to steal, Rok-kon attendees mostly carried two kinds of goods with them. Rocks, which were clearly still in their boxes, and gemstones, cunningly replaced with air. Maud moved on deeper into the cave to see if the missing gems weren't just hidden further away. Beyond the second train car the piles of baggage became more orderly. Rather than being spread across the floor, they were swept to the side, and seemingly compacted. They formed a thick layer of clothes and traveling supplies, which, if left alone, would form a rather fascinating mineral. Since the thieves picked, understandably so, the bags belonging to more well of ponies, Maud has almost instantly dubbed the would-be mineral 'snobium'. It was most unfortunate that she was unable to witness the process of that mineral forming, but she did have a train to catch. The layers of potential geological delights ended where the tunnel, so far mostly straight and constant in width, narrowed and turned sharply. It was clear, that beyond the turn there was a source of light and, possibly, a tourist attraction, as a distant and distorted by echoes voice kept talking in a manner similar to that of a tour guide describing a particularly dull object. Maud, who would have loved a tour of the place, without hesitation started walking towards the voice. She did not hurry, however, as there was still much to experience along the way. The cave floor, for example, was raw, natural rock, almost unspoiled by pony hooves. Impressive, considering how much traffic processing all the bags lying around must have caused. Maud was so impressed, she stared at the ground for most of the time she walked towards the voice, now sounding much less like a tour guide and much more like a teacher about to lose their patience. It has to be said staring at the ground was the default state for Maud Pie, but this time the reason she did it also validated looking just about anywhere else around her. She almost got close enough to be able to make out the words of the lecture, when the sudden change in her surroundings forced her to stop. The cave around her suddenly turned from regular, dull stones, fascinating in their own right, into shiny, almost blinding in the light of her lamp, minerals made out of mostly crystals. Finding crystals deep inside a mountain is not unusual, except these ones seemed to have grown on top of the other rock. Maud's mind instantly jumped to the trees overgrown with peridots outside the train tunnel. These crystals weren't peridots, but there were some structural similarities to the way they've grown on the walls. It seemed there was a crystal infestation happening and nobody had bothered to inform her. Similarly to the ones in the forest, the crystals on the ground bristled with tiny needles. Somepony has walked on them before, clear hoof prints visible as patches of crushed crystals. They did it a few times, back and forth, as recently as it took those crystals to form. Maybe it was today, maybe it was a thousand years ago. Probably today though, as the voice Maud could hear probably belonged to them. As Maud got closer, the teacher transformed again, this time into an angry construction overseer. His words became quite clear. - ...and wrap the one on the left in some cloth, it needs to be in the dark. And this one, yes the green one, fifth from the bottom, should have an organic connection to all the zircons around it. Organic. Do you know what that means? It means made out of a plant. A copper wire is not organic, you imbecile. And you! I told you to connect that bit of lapis to the others with the golden chain, and what did you do? Stare at it for an hour! Just do it, for Celestia's sake! And when you're done, align all the diamonds so that they form an octagon. No! That's not lapis, you sad excuse of a properly developed mind! That's a diamond! Yes, one of the ones I just told you about! No, don't do that now! Finish the rest first! It kept going and going, not quite a monologue, but rather an extremely one sided stream of communication, with some insults towards the receivers intellect thrown in from time to time. Impressive in both its length and the scope of what it must have been dealing with, the constant flow of instructions accompanied Maud as she took another turn and entered a large, egg shaped cavern. The cavern looked a lot like a geode, except way too big to be one. It was so similar to an egg, the more sensible comparison of a drop or stretched bubble did not come to mind easily. All of its walls were covered with thick layers of crystal, similar to the ones in the corridor leading to it. None of that, however, was what one would notice upon entering the cave, for the object in the middle of it was a real show stealer. If somepony asked her to describe what she saw, Maud would have no idea where to start, or even where to end. Perfectly in the middle of the eggy shape there was a large, irregularly shaped crystal pillar, slowly pulsating with gentle light. It was hard to see exactly how big it was as it was tightly surrounded by an intricate web of various gemstones, held together by sometimes the most bizarre bindings. There were definitely some belts and ribbons in there, a lot of what looked like horribly disfigured jewelry and at least one bicycle. The bicycle has been disassembled, its parts spanning all across the odd construction, which formed a sort of scaffolding all around the crystal pillar, covering almost all of its height, maybe two or three layers away from reaching the tip. Two pegasi were busy flying around the monstrous construction, adjusting its parts and adding new elements to an already unbelievably complex design, all while a visibly annoyed unicorn kept releasing a deluge of new instructions upon them. Maud did not really know what to do about her discovery, so she just kept on walking forwards. Through pure coincidence, that put her on a collision trajectory with the loud unicorn, who now went on a tirade about the quality of eyesight of the two pegasi accompanying him. He was so into it, it wasn't until one of the pegasi looked over his shoulder and then motioned to his winged friend to do the same, that he even noticed something was wrong. -What are you two looking... - he managed to blurt out, but upon seeing the mare behind him he quickly changed his tone - Hello there, friend! - his friendliness was quite authentically fake - How did you get here? Are you lost? - the concern in his voice was not fake at all. -I'm spelunking - she answered, her eyes glued to the apparatus erected by the three ponies. The unicorn smiled, noticing she couldn't resist staring at his unfinished masterpiece. -You look like a pony who can appreciate true art - he said with a smile - I can show you around if you'd like - he proposed still smiling - We are deep inside Mount Loom - he continued, practically without pausing to let Maud give an answer - in what could be called its heart, if something as inanimate as a mountain could even have one. Unusually strong magic is coursing through its crystalline veins, but this strong magic doesn't seem to actually accomplish anything - it sounded like he has rehearsed this part, bringing back the idea that he could have been a tour guide - There is a powerful aura here, centered around this here enormous crystal core, ready to be used. The problem, of course, lies in the fact that there really is nothing around to use this power on, this being the almost exact middle of the mountain, and it's probably safe to assume a mountains magic will not appreciate any attempts at trying to move it away from the actual mountain. So I decided to construct this little installation of mine, which uses an intricate web of carefully hoof-picked gems to redirect the magic emanating from the core into a feedback spiral that, if arranged perfectly, should make it so that any spell cast on the core itself is reflected in a radius around it. The size of the radius, if my calculations are correct, should be large enough to encompass all of Equestria, and quite a few of the surrounding lands on top of it. Of course, if the arrangement is not perfect, there could be holes in the coverage, or maybe even spots where the magic is distributed unevenly, incinerating some areas and leaving others unaffected, both being an effect completely undesired by me. But there is no need to worry, perfectionism is one of my many curses, the others include being a misunderstood genius and... What are you doing? It turned out Maud was not interested in what he had to say after all, because who would want to listen to a tour guide with an ego? Instead she decided to take a closer look at the "installation" on her own. She was close to one of the several particularly densely packed parts of the monumental construction when the unicorn finally realized she'd been ignoring his lecture. She raised her right, front hoof, turned her head around to look the unicorn straight in the eyes and said: -Your crime, grand theft - she said, slowly - your punishment, failure. She pushed her raised hoof into the dizzyingly complex network of stolen jewelry and other private belongings surrounding the crystal pillar, causing the entire construction to collapse like a house of cards, even making a similar, if much more metallic, sound. The unicorn stood there for moment, completely motionless, his mouth open as wide as it is possible without conscious effort. It took quite a few seconds for his mind to process what has just happened and decide how to react. It then decided to just do what it always does. -Why are you two featherheads just standing there?! - he yelled at the two pegasi who landed on the floor behind him and were also staring at the destruction completely motionless - Do something! Catch her! The pegasi looked at each other. They didn't really understand why he wanted them to catch somepony who was standing completely still, but before the unicorn had time to get even angrier Maud mercifully turned away and started leaving the, now much messier, cave. The winged ponies sprung into the air, glided towards Maud and grabbed her as tight as creatures without claws can. Unfortunately for them, easy to apprehend was not a quality that can describe Maud Pie when she is moving. Slow, maybe. Deliberate, probably. Inevitable, if you're feeling dramatic. But stoppable? Not really. So Maud kept moving, now with two more bodies, two more heads, four extra wings and eight additional legs attached to her back, but at a pace completely unaltered by her sudden change of appearance. The pace allowed the unicorn to angrily stomp around her, mumbling something about having to do everything himself. -Where in Equestria do you think you're going? - he shouted at her, standing right in front of her. Maud might have not spent that much time outside her family's rock farm, but she knew that trampling is not something other ponies appreciate being subjected to. So she stopped before the unicorn. Somehow that sudden lack of motion has caused the two pegasi to lose hold of her and they flopped to the floor besides her. They slowly picked themselves up from the floor and positioned themselves behind Maud, creating a triangle of ponies around her. Meanwhile, the unicorn seemed to struggle to find a way to articulate his thoughts. The pegasi were already bracing for another diatribe by him, expecting this one to be particularly juicy. But instead, he started screaming right into Maud's face. Pure vocalized frustration poured from his mouth, causing the two pegasi as well as the fluff inside of Maud's ears to all flinch. Several seconds into his scream, something shattered in the pile of metal and gems surrounding the pillar in the middle of the cave. When he finally stopped, the echoes kept going for a long, ear ringing while. -Who are you?! - the unicorn bellowed. - Why are you doing this?! For what purpose?! - he was clearly trying to induce an existential crisis in Maud. An interesting, if rather ineffective tactic. Overall, his unconventional approach to situation has had an effect probably exactly opposite to the one he desired, as several voices, at first easily mistaken for echoes of the thoroughly vexed unicorn, could be heard getting closer and closer to the only entrance to the cave. -Guard the door! - the unicorn ordered his hench ponies upon realizing the echoes were unusually creative and ran towards the crystal pillar. -I don't see a door here, do you? - asked one of the pegasi after the unicorn moved away. -Nope - answered the other, but not before quickly scanning the cave. -Good. I was half expecting a door to suddenly appear somewhere around here. It would make just as much sense as calling this a door - he pointed to the corridor. The sound of multiple galloping ponies was overwhelming for the trio standing in front of the acoustic amplifier that was the tunnel leading to the cave. At first it felt like they were just around the corner, but then the source of the sound seemed to be getting closer for several more seconds. -So… - said the one who spoke first - how do you think he imagines us guarding this 'door'? -I don't know what he had on his mind, but how about we try do it from over there? - he pointed in the vague direction of 'not here'. They moved away, leaving Maud still standing where she was first stopped by the unicorn. She wasn't paying attention to what the other three ponies present in the cave were doing - she was listening to her own hooves. They were telling her about how a large group of ponies running fast deep inside a mountain can cause a sensation similar to a seismic event happening several kilometers away. Her hooves are real fun at parties. Fun times were over soon however, as the entire local police force barged into the cave. Accompanying them was a bright flash, and the loud sound of shifting rocks, as if a thunder strike has caused a rockslide the very moment they entered the cave. The freshly arrived ponies quickly assumed the facial expressions and poses characteristic to ponies about to be turned into mashed marshmallows by a several tons of rolling stones. Maud was not one to look back at the sources of loud noises and bright lights, but the group of immobilized by fear police officers in front of her made it impossible for her to walk away from it, so she was left with no choice but to investigate the source of the commotion. Besides, her party hooves were completely absorbed by supporting her weight, and they would have not been able to maintain focus if anything unusual happened so close by. One of Maud's greatest and only fears was that one day she will fall over because her hooves will forget what their only real job is when some seismic anomaly happens on another continent and they get really excited. What a day that will be. She turned around and instantly she had to admit, that the sight in front of her could make quite an impression. In the middle of the cave stood four giant, weirdly shaped and slowly moving towards them creatures made out of rock. They stood oddly vertical, on only their hind legs, and seemed to have no front legs, but instead had weird, wing like formations on each of their sides, which they flailed randomly and with majestic slowness of a being made out of rock. They slowly crept towards the crowd behind Maud, sweeping the space in front of them with each step. Even though they only swept through empty air so far, it looked like had any matter been in the space in front of them instead, the end result would have been the same, that is, the space would end up completely empty. That was definitely what terrified the pride of Emerald Pines, but for Maud it was just a really odd scene. The creatures were made out of rock she could not recognize, meaning that it probably did not exist, which was also too porous for their knees to be able to support their weight. They also quite clearly had no eyes or ears. A rock does not need such organs, but that meant that their menacing movement was just clueless, random convulsions. Most rocks don't move not because they can't, but because they have no way of knowing that they should. Having surmised all that, Maud started walking towards the giants, at a pace that should make them think she is one of them should they have a way of actually perceiving their surroundings. Behind her, the volunteer law enforcers have stayed completely petrified. With four rock monstrosities slowly closing in to them, they could not do anything other than slowly opening their eyes wider and wider, which had the benefit of keeping the ratio of their field of view occupied by them the same despite them appearing larger and larger as they came closer. The poor ponies could not force themselves to go any closer to the creatures, and as it is nearly impossible to turn on the spot with four legs, they just stood there, the embodiment of terror, their bodies growing tenser with each passing second. Maud has almost reached the first giant, but instead of getting a closer look at it, she just walked past it, paying no mind to its enormous appendage swinging dangerously close to her head. She has had already set her sight on something else. Standing knee deep in the rubble left over from his latest big project and leaning with his both front legs against the crystal pillar in the middle, which was now pulsating at a much faster rate, stood the unicorn. The light emanating from the pillar exaggerated the expression of extreme concentration on his face into something comically unrealistic, and caused the droplets of sweat running across it to sparkle subtly. Additionally, his entire body had a sparkling aura of primal magic around it, which all together made him look like some sort of a princess. Maud walked right up next to him and leaned in so that her face was right next to his ear. -Boo - her delivery was so incredible, the unicorn opened his eyes and looked around in confusion. -What... - he muttered. As he did, a wet pop could be heard in the cave as the four rock creatures vanished. Almost immediately after, the sudden release of tension knocked over all of the police ponies who were still standing paralyzed where Maud has left them. The pillar lit up brighter and so did the aura around the unicorn. His eyes opened wider as the wild, mountain magic went straight into his head and he blacked out. The day was saved. EPILOGUE Late evening of the same day the late train has finally arrived at High Haven. Rok-kons opening ceremonies have been postponed until the next day, and instead a massive "Drinks on Rocks" party was hosted. Due to the fact that over half of the attendees were late, registration has been reopened. Sitting at the reception desk was the con chair herself. She put another name down in the attendance book and raised her head to look at the next pony in the line. -Maudie! - she exclaimed, overjoyed, and leaned over the desk to hug her with the strength of a thousand whales - How was your trip? - she asked just as she did the previous fourteen times. -Uneventful - replied Maud, as that was how she had found it.