“I’m trottin’ on sunshine! Woohoo~! I’m trottin’ on sunshine! Woohoo~! And I feel -oof!” Pinkie was cut off as a big burly Diamond Dog kicked her unceremoniously in the side. “Hey! Ya’ big meanie! What was that for?”
“Just keep walking,” the dog barked, not even glancing in the pink party pony’s direction.
Pinkie sighed and glared forward with a huff. These Diamond Dogs were no fun, no fun at all. She looked each of her friends over with concern as they shuffled their hooves across the dirt before her. Even Rarity seemed too tired to care. They’d been sleeping in dirt for days now anyway. That was no fun. Pinkie didn’t care, of course, but she cared that her friends cared.
They were being led down a dark tunnel toward who knows where. Pinkie’s head whipped back and forth as she took in her surroundings. Not one to let a dull moment pass, Pinkie began to catalog ‘fun’. Her hooves and those of her friends were all tethered together by thick chains that weighed heavily upon the already exhausted ponies. That wasn’t fun. Their Diamond Dog escorts kept poking them with cattle prods every time they slowed down. That definitely wasn’t fun. Even Diamond Dogs couldn’t see in complete darkness, so they took advantage of local flora. There was a special kind of luminescent mushroom apparently indigenous to these caves, and they utilized them as a light source. Now that was fun. Pinkie wondered if she made them into a soup if it would glow in the dark. Would it make her teeth glow? Maybe her tongue? She giggled as she thought about a floating tongue in the dark. It reminded her of one of Rainbow Dash’s terrible old scary movies.
“Attack of the floating tongue~! WoOoOoOo~!” she exclaimed with a giggle and a snort. Rainbow Dash seemed to catch on pretty quick and snickered in kind. This resulted in each of them being prodded in the behind, eliciting squeals of pain from each of them…
Worth it…
Up ahead in the distance, Pinkie thought she started to see a bright, shimmering light. She squinted, her neck stretching over the others to try to get a better look. It kept getting larger and larger, brighter than before. It wasn’t long before she found she didn’t even have to strain to see it. The mushrooms around them dimmed as the light washed over them. The light became blinding for a moment as they exited the tunnel, and as eyesight returned to the group, they gasped in awe at the sight before them.
Here it was, the jewel of Equestria long lost to any existing manuscripts. This was the place many an adventurer had fought and died to see. This was the City of Gold. “If Twilight was here, she’d go nuts,” Rainbow Dash observed. Even she seemed entranced by the beauty of it all. Unfortunately, that meant they’d all stopped moving. Applejack held up the front. As such, she was the one poked forward. Reluctantly, she trudged along, dragging the rest of the girls with her, a chorus of grumbles echoing along with them.
The city was a massive beehive in shape and just as busy. The place was teeming with Diamond Dogs and ponies alike, though it seemed the latter were of a working class, slaves to Diamond Dog masters. It seemed many of those adventurers had found their city, and now their descendants were paying the price.
Massive rope bridges stretched across the crevice on all levels and in all different directions, and the ponies chipped away at the walls with hammer and chisel, carving intricate designs into the golden surface of the walls. Ordinarily, Pinkie categorized art as fun, but there was nothing fun about this situation. Nothing at all.
The girls seemed to be herded upwards. Pinkie had lost count of how many bridges they’d crossed already, but each of them connected to the next level up. Entrusting her direction to the chains pulling her along, she looked up above toward the top levels of the city. Some sort of glowing red jewel illuminated the massive space, its light reflecting off the meticulously polished gold, and under that jewel was a massive shape suspended in the center. The raucous clamor of dogs upon this platform suggested that their destination was the same. Pinkie grinned from ear to ear. The more, the merrier. She was about to throw the best party ever.
It seemed they’d been walking for an hour before they finally arrived. The crowd was massive, and they all chanted in unison, smacking staffs to the platform. It shook dangerously below them, but none seemed to care in their excitement. If Pinkie wasn’t so loud, she wouldn’t have been able to hear herself think.
In the center of the platform sat a hideous blob of a dog, more fat than bone on him. A large decorative crown sat atop his head, and he held a golden scepter in his right paw. The jewel at its tip nearly had Rarity drooling, though she composed herself nicely, as a lady does.
The fat dog king let out a booming and joyous laugh that somehow cut through the noise of the crowd, though that ceased soon after as he stood up, a truly impressive feat considering his mass.
“Boros! My brother!” he greeted. It was unclear if he was speaking literally or not, but Pinkie giggled under her breath at the thought of the two being brothers. “Bring the fresh meat forward! Let me see what you have to offer us!”
For the first time ever, Boros seemed nervous. He was a terrifying individual. It sent a shiver down Pinkie’s spine to think he could be afraid of anything but his own reflection, but the signs were clear. His eyes were wide, his lips were quivering. Even his ears betrayed him, now plastered to the sides of his head. He eventually caught on to Pinkie’s staring and kicked her backside with a short growl. “Move up, pink one,” he commanded. Pinkie held up the rear, so she nudged Rainbow Dash, who nudged Rarity and so on and so forth until they were marching forward in unison. They were nearing King Blob now, close enough to be crushed if he were to suddenly realize his heart was half cholesterol and fall to his death. The king bent forward, looming over the ponies just to get a good look at them. He was supporting a good portion of his weight on the scepter, it’s soft metal bowing slightly from the pressure.
The king sneered and let out a low throaty chuckle. His putrid breath wafted over the crowd. The dogs seemed unaffected, but several of the ponies gagged as the scent hit their nostrils. Even Applejack’s eyes watered in response to the musty, rotten breath.
“I am King Titanus, little ones,” he announced. His eyes glowed bright red, and the world around him seemed to darken. A powerful, foreboding feeling washed over the ponies. It was clear that strong magic was at play, but only Pinkie noticed an important detail. The magic wasn’t coming from King Titanus himself, rather the staff he held. It glowed along with his eyes, just as bright. Well that… that seemed like a whole lot of fun…
The rest of the ponies were struggling against the pressure of the magic. Applejack and Trixie seemed to be fighting back the hardest, stubborn as they were. Not even Trixie had a plan to get out of this, occupied as she was. It was taking all the willpower she had just to keep standing.
Titanus’ spell intensified, and all the ponies fell to the ground. His laughter boomed throughout the cavernous city. “Ah you ponies are tenacious, but all bow before the might of Titanus in the end!” The crowd roared with approval. “You all belong to me now, as part of my empire!”
“Are there games in your empire?” Pinkie interjected. There was a smile on her face and a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. It was clear she was tired, yet she still persevered. This puzzled the mighty king. He leaned forward more, ever so slightly. His face neared Pinkie’s, and his eyes searched hers. No matter how hard he tried, Titanus failed to detect any ill will in the pony, but he couldn’t help feel she had something planned
“There are no games here, little one,” Titanus answered bitterly. His brow furrowed in contemplation. “There is something in your eyes I have not seen in nearly two centuries. Who are you?”
Pinkie fought not to gag in disgust as word after word sent his breath washing over her. It made her hairs stand on end and her nares flare, but she held her gaze firmly on the king. “Oh, I’m just a pony who really likes to have fun!” she answered with a cheeky grin. “Do you like to have fun?”
Titanus opened his mouth as if to give Pinkie an answer, but her narrative barrelled forward without one. “I bet you do! Say, you know what sounds like fun? Rolling! I bet if all of us were to roll right now, we’d have so much fun! What do you think?”
The jewel on Pinkie’s necklace glowed brightly, but not as bright as her smile as she giggled. An energy washed over the ponies, as if Pinkie was beating back the magic of the scepter. With their heads clear, the girls began understanding what Pinkie had planned, yet Titanus remained confused.
His confusion yet remained even as Pinkie began to count down. “To the right on three! One! Two! ...Three!” she shouted. In unison, the ponies each rolled to the right. “Aaaaand left!” Pinkie commanded once more. The ponies followed, barrelling to the left, right into Boros and the king’s scepter.
At this point, a number of events took place. As Applejack rolled into the scepter, it gave way, flying out of Titanus’ grip and causing the obese king to tumble forward. With a gleeful cry, Pinkie rolled into Boros like a bowling ball, sending him sailing over the ponies as his legs were swept from under him only to be slammed to the ground as the full weight of King Titanus crashed over him.
With deft reflexes, Rainbow Dash clutched his key ring in her teeth as he sailed past and began unchaining herself and her friends. The scepter fell from the platform entirely, and when it finally hit the ground, the jewel shattered. This was Pinkie’s favorite part. After all, what was a good party without a light show?
The shattered jewel released shockwave after shockwave of pure magical energy, causing the entire cavern to quake. Unaccustomed to such abuse to its inner chambers, it seemed the entire city was ready to collapse. “Well, it’s been fun, but the party’s over! Let’s get out of here!” Pinkie cried. She could barely be heard over the cries of the diamond dogs and slave ponies.
Rainbow Dash had already taken flight, but she paused and turned to face the calamity they were leaving in their wake. A knot formed in her stomach. “Wait!” she pleaded, “What about all those ponies down there? We can’t just let them all die!”
The girls looked around themselves guiltily. Leaving the ponies, even the Diamond Dogs, to be crushed under the weight of an entire city would be abhorrent. Not a single one of them could live on in peace after such genocide.
“But how?” Rarity inquired hopelessly. “There’s no time! How will we ever get ourselves out of this mess?”
Trixie slumped to the ground, rubbing her hooves into her temples. Rarity made a valid point. Only two of them had wings, and there were no access points to the surface in sight. If someone didn’t do something to fix this quick, none of them would have to worry about living with what they’d done; they’d all be dead.
“Oh Luna,” she whined under her breath. “What do we do?” In response, her element began to shine. She gasped and rose to her hooves as a purple light shot from it in all directions. It bathed her surroundings in a violet sheen and seemed to stop time in its tracks. As the quaking and screaming around her ceased, so too did her own breath, even her heart beat slowed to a stop, yet she moved around freely. Those who had begun to flee were frozen in their tracks, and Rainbow Dash hovered almost lifelessly above.
Curious, Trixie wandered to the edge of the rickety platform and peered below. It seemed the entire city was enveloped in the same magic. Squinting her eyes, she attempted to spot the bottom. Unfortunately, it seemed that while the magic did cast everything into shades of purple, it provided no additional light.
“Beatrix!”
Trixie startled at the sound of her own name, flailing as she almost met an untimely demise at the hooves of gravity. After taking a step back, she swung around to address the voice, coming face to face with her master.
Luna smiled warmly, though it was clear she was merely an illusionary projection. She was completely monochromatic, presenting to her student as a translucent blue specter.
“Princess Luna!” Trixie called out in surprise. “How are you here? How did you find me?” she asked, clearly astounded. Just moments ago, she was readying herself for what were undoubtedly going to be her final moments, yet now she found herself moving freely in a fragment of time accompanied by the very mare she had called out for in desperation.
“Night has fallen, Beatrix. I am capable of appearing before you for this reason alone, but I know not where you are. In a way, it is you who has summoned my projection here, as it is your power which has called out to me. I find this quite impressive, I might add. How have you managed such a feat?”
Trixie furrowed her brow in contemplation. “I-I don’t really know, but that’s not really important right now,” she responded. “My friends and I are trapped in an underground cavern that’s about to collapse!”
The small smile that had been playing upon Luna’s lips vanished. “My range of vision is limited in this state, Beatrix, so I cannot offer much in the way of advice,” she responded apologetically. “That being the case, I do believe I can be of assistance in a less direct capacity. This illusion is imbued with my essence, and with it a fraction of my power. Come closer so that I may bestow this power upon you for a time.”
Understanding fully how desperate the situation had become, Trixie wasted no time in approaching her master’s projection. Right now, worrying about what this power might do to her was not a luxury the illusionist could afford. This had to be done.
Once close enough, Trixie stood expectantly before Luna. The princess lowered her head, touching her horn to Trixie’s. In no more than a fraction of a second, the projection was sucked into Trixie and altogether vanished. All around her, the world came roaring back to life, but Trixie was oblivious.
Looking not unlike the breath had been knocked from her lungs, Trixie convulsed in place. Her entire body shook at an incredible rate as she gasped for air, struggling to pull anything into her lungs. Her friends and the diamond dogs who had not yet fled the area all stopped to watch her, some with concern, others confusion.
Trixie shut her eyes tight for a moment, and when they reopened, they gave forth a brilliant white light. Her body ceased its vibrations as her hooves left the ground. The mare let out a pained cry as the sheer force of alicorn magic rocked through her frail unicorn frame. It felt to her as if her insides were liquefying and her skin was on fire. Prolonged use of Princess Luna’s power would surely kill her, of this she was certain.
That meant there was no time to waste, and Trixie began to rise, taking with her first the platform on which her friends stood, but soon the entire cavern began to follow suit. The quaking of the earth only intensified, yet not a single chamber of the city collapsed. When the topmost levels of the golden city broke through the surface, the light of the moon began to shine through ancient windows long since forgotten. Even underground aqueducts beneath the city rose with it, becoming a lake and rivers stretching beyond its borders, a magical oasis to break the monotony of the arid badlands, an expansive city of gold at its center.
All this time, Titanus struggled to rise to his paws, and when he finally did, he turned toward Trixie with rage in his heart and fire in his eyes. Unable to contain her borrowed power, Trixie still hovered in midair like a lifeless magical husk. The land surrounding the city grew increasingly lush. Trixie’s own life force was being poured into the spell, spreading throughout everything within its reach.
“How dare you, vile witch!” Titanus cried out. Boros lied lifelessly at his feet. It was unclear if he had been crushed to death in an instant or if he had suffocated under the mass of his king. “Return my city to the depths and die within its walls!” He struck out with an engorged paw and connected with Trixie’s side. His claws dug easily into her flesh, and the force behind his strike sent her soaring toward the city walls.
Rainbow Dash blew past the gathered crowd to catch her before she crashed to her death, but no one made any attempts to save Titanus as his momentum threw him over the platform’s edge… and to his death below.
Cradling Trixie, Rainbow lowered herself to the ground. No sooner had she set her heavily injured friend on the ground when she found herself surrounded by Diamond Dogs, each of them pointing their spears in her direction. With tears both hot and wild, she growled up at them. Several backed away. These ponies had shown themselves to be capable of impossible acts, and many of the dogs were wising to this fact.
Fluttershy pushed past them, not even taking the time to apologize as she rushed to Trixie’s aid. After no more than a moment’s glance, she turned back toward their former captors. Her eyes wide, pupils merely pinpricks, she looked upon them in terror, not in fear of the dogs, but for her friend’s life. “She needs medical assistance now!” she implored insistently. “Please help me!”
Unable to argue with such a request, most of the dogs dropped their spears. They were still clattering to the ground when a few had already rushed to assist the ponies. Fluttershy flew alongside them as Trixie was whisked away. The rest of the girls, in addition to several of the slave ponies, followed closely behind, ready to lend help wherever they could.
Down they traveled, rushing to the ground level and out of the central palace. The city may have been raised to the surface, but its structure remained largely the same. There was no need to wind through the city in search of the hospital. Instead, the group was led there in a matter of minutes. Each second that ticked by counted down toward Trixie’s death…
Upon arrival, several surgeons took Trixie from Fluttershy and wheeled her on a stretcher into an operating room. She was in capable hands, but it would still be several hours before anyone left the room.
By that time, many curious ponies and dogs had come and gone, but the girls each remained. Quietly, they supported each other and waited for any news. When someone finally emerged from the operating room, the sun was rising on the horizon. A Diamond Dog with a fairly small physique stumbled into the waiting area and wiped his brow with the back of a paw. His auburn coat was peppered with grey and his tired eyes spoke of his age. They scanned the room until they fell upon the girls, and he released a small sigh of relief.
As he approached them, he smiled kindly and greeted them. This alone seemed to put them more at ease. “Good morning, ponies. My name is Felix. I’m the attending on shift, and I have some great news,” he began. No one interrupted, but they each set their gaze upon him in quiet anticipation. As soon as it was clear he had their undivided attention, he continued. “Your friend suffered from obvious lacerations to her side, but there was an incredible amount of internal damage. There was blood in her brain in several spots, there is evidence that she underwent several seizures one after another, and there are hairline stress fractures present in nearly every bone of her body, but I’m confident that after hours of surgery and a few weeks of rest, she will make a full recovery.”
He smiled once more as relief washed over the faces of his audience and they began to rejoice. “Can we see her yet? Is she awake?” Rarity asked, hope in her eyes.
Felix shook his head with a frown. “Unfortunately not. Miss Lulamoon is still recovering and will need a lot of rest in the near future. In the meantime, I can see about providing lodging for you all. I’d like to keep your friend here for a time to monitor her recovery.”
Rarity nodded her understanding. “That’s reasonable,” she responded. She gasped as a thought crossed her mind. “Someone absolutely must notify the princesses! I’m sure there are situations here they would prefer to handle personally.”
Rainbow Dash let loose a drawn out, clearly fake groan as she began to stretch. “Okay, okay. I guess I can fly back and let ‘em know since Spike isn’t around. That’ll give me a chance to check up on the little guy anyway. Don’t you guys leave without me, ‘kay?” With a wink and a grin, Rainbow Dash was gone. Even she knew it was a bad idea to travel back through the Everfree. If Trixie needed to rest for a matter of weeks, there wasn’t much that could be done about that. That was just as well, Rainbow Dash thought as she soared through the air. The safest path back to Canterlot would take her several days at top speed.