//------------------------------// // Chapter 16: Into Darkness // Story: Rise of Char // by Turtlehaus //------------------------------// Solar Wind, Wisp Seeker, Flare Fizzle and Ray Horizon had reached the end of the tunnel that led out into a chasm. There were several large pieces of rocks that lay broken all around them. Flaring their manes to provide themselves with more light, they searched the area for any sign or clue to where to Mystery Pony might have went. There had to be hundreds of old mining tunnels spotted along the cavern walls, with several old stone bridges connecting a few together; needless to say it was going to be nearly impossible to search them all. "Alright every pony, fan out and see if you can find any clues to where that Mystery Pony went." Flare ordered. Flare watched Wisp stride over to the broken rocks, examining them closely, she found herself staring at him a lot longer than she thought she would before Wisp looked up at her. "You see something you like, Flare Bear?" Wisp asked raising an eyebrow. "Just silently criticizing your methods." Flare replied watching Wisp's face turn sour. Having averted her gaze away from Wisp to avoid seeming truly interested, Flare saw Ray and Solar standing near the edge of the chasm looking over its ledge. Having since gone back for Ray, she was unusually quiet and seemed to be trying her best to turn over a new leaf. Flare watched Solar look over his shoulder and motion for Flare to come hither. Striding towards them, Flare looked over the side of the chasm, noticing a pathway leading down to a lower part of the mine. "Permission to scout the area?" Solar asked aloud looking towards Flare. "You mean down there?" Flare asked pointing down into the dark chasm below. "I can fly over the expanse of it, see what there is to see, it shouldn't take long." Solar replied motioning towards the emptiness in front of them. "I'd rather we not separate…" Flare began thinking it over. "I won't be long." Solar stated; his monotone voice trying to sound more assuring. "Alright, but be careful." Flare warned him. Nodding in agreement, Solar opened up his wings and let himself fall off the side of the chasm. His wings caught the air rushing past him and he glided out over the chasm. Flare watched Solar's light become smaller and smaller for a while, only to realize that Ray was watching Solar just as intensely. "Keep an eye on him, Ray." Flare said turning away from the chasm. "Yes, ma'am." Ray replied promptly. "Hey, it's Flare." Flare said nudging Ray with her hoof. "Okay, Flare." Ray said with a small smile. Flare believed that if this team was going to work they would need to have some even ground to stand on, being in charge gave her the privilege of doing things the way she wanted to do but it almost meant earning the trust of the other ponies. It would appear to Flare that Solar and Ray were already on her side but Wisp seemed to be another story. "What are you doing?" Flare asked watching Wisp smell a rock. "Tracking." Wisp replied taking another big whiff. "Come again?" Flare asked seemingly turned off by Wisp's insistent sniffing of the rock. "There is a layer of mildew under many of these rocks, although this one appears to be rather new." Wisp explained tossing her the rock. Flare caught the rock, debating whether or not to smell it for herself but decided to take his word for it. "So what does this rock tell us?" Flare asked looking it over. "Not much, other than that Mystery Pony has been here recently." Wisp replied looking through the other rocks. "We already knew that." Flare said looking rather disappointed. "I'm not done looking around, Flare Bear, just cool your flames a little." Wisp said casually lifting up another rock. "Come find me when you have something useful to report." Flare said turning around and tossing the rock back towards him rolling her eyes. "You got it Flare Be-" Wisp was cut short by loud thump. Flare looked over her shoulder to see what the noise was. A Cave Spider had pinned Wisp to the ground, the spider wildly trying to bite him while he held the spider's face back with his hooves. Leaning her head back, Flare shot a blast of fire at the spider, the flames licked the Cave Spider all over, but it didn't seem to bother is much. Although, it did draw it's attention away from Wisp, now focusing its eight eyes upon her. The spider quickly lunged at her, Flare stepped back lifting her wings to defend herself, but the spider fell short of reaching her; slamming hard onto the ground. Wisp was already on his hooves, having a firm grasp upon on of the spider's back legs and dragging it away from her. Before Flare could have the chance to attack, Ray soared over her head, spinning head over hooves like a flame wheel, and landing hard on the spider's back. The spider screeched in pain while its large body acted like a trampoline, bouncing Ray clear of the spider. Wisp turned on the spot, dragging the spider around with him with great force, before throwing it clear off the side of the chasm. Echoes of the spider's screeches rang off the walls of the chasm; before it faded to silence. "Oh yeah!" Ray hollered tossing her hooves up in excitement. Ray jumped over to Wisp, holding her hoof out to him, Wisp half-heartedly hoof bumped her before watching her bounce around some more. "Are you alright?" Flare asked approaching Wisp. "Darn Cave Spiders, thick hide makes it hard for fire to scare them, you got to beat some sense into them before they wise up and take off." Wisp grumbled wiping the dirt from his arms. "I asked if you were alright." Flare said taking his hoof and looking at his arm. "I'm fine." Wisp said flatly pulling his hoof away from her. Flare gave him a cold stare, holding out her hoof once more to have him let her look at it. Wisp did not oblige, tapping her on the nose and walking past her. Flare whipped around to make her demands when she saw Solar come soaring back down to where Ray was waiting for him. "Every pony alright?" Solar asked looking around. "Cave Spider tried to make a meal of me, gave it the old heave-ho off the side of the ravine." Wisp replied approaching him. "Which is why you need to let me check to make sure you're not hurt." Flare said striding up next to Wisp trying to take his hoof. "You find anything?" Wisp asked him while moving his hoof around, keeping Flare from being able to grab it. "There was a cave in further down the cavern. Our best chance of finding anything is to go deeper into the mines." Solar reported watching Flare become flustered trying to grab Wisp's hoof. "I'll lead the way, just in case this Mystery Pony left us anymore traps." Wisp said giving Flare a gentle nudge to move past her. Flare fumed in frustration watching Wisp walk away from her towards the tunnel entrance. Solar gave her a soft pat on the shoulder, trying to calm her down before following after him. "Wisp doesn't like it when ponies fuss over him." Ray mentioned quietly. Flare shot her a look, she was still pretty hot from being brushed off by Wisp but felt herself coming down seeing how Ray was trying to help her. "It's silly Flame Pony pride, it makes colts stupid." Flare replied still sounding annoyed. "Why does he call you Flare Bear?" Ray asked curiously. Flare felt her mane fizzle for a moment. Clearing her throat, Flare merely motioned for Ray to get moving and Ray complied. The old Flame Ponies mining tunnels were some of Equestria's most dangerous and maze like passages to have ever been dug. In the early days of the Flame Ponies, the mines were dug in haste to satisfy the needs of the Dragons greed. Creating hundreds upon hundreds of tunnels that were left without supports, leading to dead ends, and sheer drops at times; ponies could wander aimlessly for weeks before meeting a very unfortunate end. Luckily, Wisp was rather familiar with most of the old mining tunnels. Having chased stray Diamond Dogs from the old mines year after year, Wisp felt more confident than most ponies when entering but this only seemed to make Flare more flustered with him slowly taking over as leader. "Every pony is going to need to get down low, on their bellies to get by this one." Wisp announced to the group patting a large boulder that blocked their path. "Is it safe?" Ray asked looking at unconvinced. The boulder blocking the path had seemed to come from the ceiling above but got wedged between the narrow walls and creating an even narrower path underneath it. "Hard as a rock, ain't going to budge one bit." Wisp declared giving it a rather forceful kick with his back leg. The boulder did not budge, adding truth to Wisp's statement offering Ray the first go. "Ladies first." Wisp said watching Ray get down on her belly and slowly crawling herself under the boulder. Flare stepped forward to go next but Wisp held out his hoof to her stopping her short. "Sorry Flare Bear, but you're the leader of this little team and that means you have to go last." Wisp said watching Solar begin to crawl underneath it. "What sort of stupid rule is that?" Flare asked knocking his hoof away. "One I came up with right now." Wisp replied with a smirk. Wisp wasn't quick enough to slip under the boulder without having Flare give him some rather harsh whacks with her hoof. Flare felt her mane fizzling in her frustration, taking a deep breath to calm herself she got down on her stomach and proceeded to follow. Ray and Solar assisted Flare back to her hooves as she finished crawling beneath the boulder. Wisp was several meters ahead inspecting the dirt once more. "There has been some spiders messing around back here, looks to be about ten of them or so at least." Wisp announced turning back to the group. "How can you tell?" Ray asked coming over to look at the dirt. "Impressions in the dirt, some fairly old, some more recent, I'm just throwing out a rough number but rest assured that spiders have big families." Wisp explained to her. "So what do we do?" Solar asked looking to Wisp. "That's up for our leader to decide." Wisp replied looking back towards Flare. It was a rather difficult decision for Flare to make, finding the Mystery Pony was their task but leading her team into a nest of spiders to do so was rather reckless. As hard as it was for Flare to say these words, she did so with as much dignity as she could muster. "Wisp… what would you suggest?" Flare asked trying not to sound annoyed. "Glad you asked Flare Bear, I say we explore the length of the tunnel and see what there is to see. If we run into any spiders we'll have the advantage of bottle necking them in these narrow walls." Wisp suggested with a smug smile. "Ray and I will scout up ahead." Solar said motioning Ray to follow him. "Not without me you're not." Wisp countered stepping towards them. "You need to stay here and have Flare take a look at that arm." Solar said. "Look at what?" Wisp asked looking confused. Solar gave a swift jab onto Wisp's arm. Surprisingly Wisp recoiled hissing in pain holding his arm. There was a rather greenish looking mark that drew itself down the length of Wisp's arm, it did not seem too bad but it did not look pleasant. "You got scratched by one of the Cave Spider's fangs." Solar informed him. "It's only a scratch." Wisp insisted still holding his arm. "As Wisp said, if we run into any spiders we will have the upper hand. Ray and I will scout ahead while you attend to Wisp's arm." Solar said to Flare. "Look after Ray and don't take any side routes." Flare said to him walking up next to Wisp. Wisp grumbled in annoyance watching Ray and Solar head off down the tunnel. Still clutching his arm, Wisp lifted his hoof for a moment to get a better look at it. "Let me see." Flare said reaching for his arm. "I said it's just a scratch!" Wisp snapped pulling it away from her. Flare reared back, much to Wisp's surprise, throwing her whole weight into Wisp's side and knocking him to the ground. Wisp landed on his side, looking quite bewildered, while Flare placed one hoof on his back and took his arm rather forcefully with her other hoof. "Just a scratch." Flare mumbled looking at it at last. "That's what I've been-" Wisp began. "The poison doesn't look too good though." Flare cut him off; inspecting his arm further. "Poison?" Wisp asked looking at his arm again. "Working its way to your heart as we speak." Flare explained letting go of his arm. "So what are we going to do?" Wisp asked getting back onto his hooves gingerly holding out his arm. "Do? We're in a cave, there's no doctor pony here." Flare said shrugging it off. "Whoa, wait a minute, we can head back and get me some medicine or something." Wisp suggested pointing back at the large boulder. "The poison is already in your blood, it's just coursing through you faster the more you move." Flare explained looking at his arm once more. Wisp froze on the spot, his injured arm outstretched, doing his best not to move. "Straining yourself also helps the poison." Flare mentioned. "Come on Flare Bear, you've got to have some sort of cure in that brain of yours." Wisp said starting to sound nervous. "I did minor in Medicine." Flare mumbled rubbing her chin. "Yeah, yeah?" Wisp asked looking hopeful. "Normally we'd just take the whole arm off." Flare said lightly sliding her hoof back and forth at the Wisp's shoulder. The color in Wisp's face started to drain away. "C-Can I have a second opinion?" Wisp asked sounding rather shaken. "Well there might be another way but it might hurt a hay of a lot when it's over." Flare offered tapping her hoof to her chin again. "Can I keep the arm?" Wisp asked hurriedly. "You'd be able to keep the arm but-" Flare began. "Do it! Do the thing that lets me keep my arm!" Wisp said pleadingly. "Alright but you might want to sit down for this." Flare said flaring her mane and taking Wisp's arm. Wisp sat down, watching Flare's mane blaze, closing his eyes tight he braced himself for the pain to start. Wisp felt himself jolt, his face was feeling hotter than usual, the stinging sensation went away and his eyes shot open. Flare leaned in giving him a kiss on the arm; she held it there for a few seconds before pulling away from him. Wisp stared wide eyed at her, unsure of what was going on but felt his face grow even hotter seeing Flare's smile. "I think that will do it." Flare said patting his arm gently. "But… the poison…" Wisp mumbled still trying to register what just happened. "My mistake, turns out it was just a nasty little scratch after all." Flare said whimsically. "You tricked me!" Wisp exclaimed getting back to his hooves; mane flaring in embarrassment. "I said it would hurt a hay of a lot, but you didn't think it would come from your big ego now did you?" Flare taunted Wisp letting the flames of her tail whip him on the nose. "You got a problem with me, Flare Bear?" Wisp asked stepping towards her. "Yes, your fat head is taking up more room than that boulder!" Flare shouted standing up to him. "Coming from the egghead that couldn't be bothered to listen to any pony else and almost got crushed by a slab of granite!" Wisp snapped back. "Well thanks for saving me!" Flare shouted back. "Don't mention it!" Wisp shouted. Wisp and Flare stood fuming at one another. Both of them were trying to stare the other pony down, their manes blazing, and breathing coming in short bursts. Wisp buckled, stepping forward, lowering his head quickly and kissing Flare. Flare didn't shy away from it, leaning into him, and placing a hoof on his shoulder. Their embrace lasted for a few more seconds before Flare pulled away abruptly. "Well now that that is out of the way, let's get moving." Flare said clearing her throat and trying to regain her composure. Wisp stepped towards her once more with a grin on his face. Flare was deliberately avoiding his gaze and trying to smooth down the flames on her mane as if to keep herself occupied with something to hide her nervousness. "Come on; let's catch up with the others." Flare mumbled walking ahead of him' trying to maintain her calm and collected demeanor. Solar and Ray strode side by side down the tunnel. Ray was attempting to be on her best behavior for the other ponies, hoping to convince them that she was making a solid effort to be a team player. Except now that Wisp and Flare were not hanging around, Ray could let herself relax being with Solar. Ray had time to think about how she acted in front of the others, how she nailed that spider good, and her attitude during the mission and felt very proud of her efforts. It was also because Solar didn't really talk much, giving her the time she needed to work things out in her head. Ray glanced over at Solar's stoic, almost expressionless face. It wasn't that Solar didn't care enough to show his emotions, but rather Solar didn't sweat the small stuff; that's at least how Ray saw it. Where most ponies got nervous, Solar would yawn, when ponies got frightened Solar would shrug, and when things really got out of hoof, Solar would raise his eye brows. The whole of Equestria could be collapsing around him and Solar would go calmly marching on. "End of the road." Solar stated. Ray arrived at a sudden stop. The tunnel let out into a drop off that seemed to go on forever. The expanse of the cavern was so immense that their light could not reach the other side, illuminating the stone walls around them and nothing else. "That's a long way down." Ray mumbled looking into the deep dark abyss. Solar spit a stream of fire out over the abyss, illuminating a broken stone bridge that seemed to have connected to the tunnel at one point. Without a word Solar leaped from the edge, fanning out his wings and glided out over to the broken edge of the stone bridge. Ray watched Solar motion to her to follow. "Shouldn't we wait for the others?" Ray asked looking back over her shoulder. "Then wait." Solar replied turning to proceed down the stone bridge. Ray bit her bottom lip, trying to figure out if waiting here for the Flare and Wisp was the right choice or if following Solar was. Stomping her hoof, Ray jumped from the edge and went soaring after Solar. Trotting up next to him, expecting to see him smiling at her choice but Ray was disappointed to see Solar still stoic. "Aren't you worried we'll get separated?" Ray asked looking back over her shoulder. "No." Solar replied. "What if we get lost?" Ray asked looking around the darkness. "Then we're lost." Solar replied. "What if we're attacked by spiders?" Ray asked glancing over at him. "Then we'll fight them off." Solar replied. There was a long period of silence after that. The light from their flames only illuminated the stone bridge around them, it offered nothing else in the darkness and it was very quiet. Solar didn't seem to mind it but Ray did not like the eerie feeling of being in such a large dark space. "Solar?" Ray asked after a while. Solar turned to look at her, giving her his attention. "We're friends… right?" Ray asked feeling her stomach suddenly turn. "What?" Solar asked looking at her seeming a bit surprised. "No, forget it, it isn't anything important." Ray said quickly brushing it off and continuing on. "You're my only friend." Solar said watching her walk away. Ray stopped short. Her mane flared for a second, her face flushed and she didn't know why. "Y-You're only… friend?" Ray asked turning around feeling her heart speed up. "I enjoy your company." Solar replied striding up to her. "Really? Why's that?" Ray asked quickly trying to settle her nerves. "You're interesting." Solar answered standing in front of her. "We don't ever really talk though." Ray said drawing circles in the dirt. "What you aspire to be, the pony you want to become, the hard work you put in to get there; that's interesting to me." Solar told her. "When I'm not mucking it up royally." Ray mumbled looking away. Ray felt Solar's hoof touch her cheek, he gently turned her head back towards him and she saw him smirking. Ray's face flushed furiously. "That is also interesting." Solar said removing his hoof from her face and continued down the stone bridge. Ray's face was hot, gingerly touching her cheek where Solar had touched her. Her heart was pounding out her chest and she knew what she was feeling. She quickly chased after him, coming up alongside him again and trying to hold back the grin she wore so blatantly on her face. The rattling of chains broke the silence, Ray and Solar ears perked; looking around to determine the origin of the sound. The echoes of the chains traveled for a good while, before the sound of rattling chains came once more. The chains began to grow closer and closer, striking and grinding against stone. Solar flared his mane, as did Ray, their flames casting their light further to reveal a creature running towards them. Clad in iron armor from head to toe, the creature ran on its hind legs and stood up right. It carried a large metal mace in one hand and in its other; it wrapped itself with the chain. The creature snapped its arm towards Solar, a metal chain whipped through the air, lashing itself around Solar's neck. With a vicious jerk, the creature pulled Solar right off his hooves and had him crashing to the ground before him. "Solar!" Ray shouted in panic. Solar was slow to rise, the creature was already standing over him, raising the mace high in the air to bring it down on him. Flare let loose a blast of fire that knocked the creature back, forcing him to lower the mace, Solar was now back on his hooves tugging against the chains that wrapped around his neck. The creature took a swipe at Solar who dipped low to avoid it, letting loose a blast of fire that forced the creature to shield himself with his arms. Ray leaped over Solar, driving a hard kick into the creature's chest, knocking it backwards and forcing it to release its grip on the chain. Solar struggled to undo the coil around his neck, Ray trying her best to assist him with it. Countless loud screeches echoed from the abyss below, long black legs stretching out from over sides of the stone bridge. Solar freed himself of the chains, pushing Ray back towards the tunnel and sending a blast of fire at the spiders coming up over the side. "Get them!" The creature cried, getting back to its feet and giving chase. Ray and Solar raced back down the stone bridge, their light revealing countless black legs just barely coming up over the side, keeping ahead of them by mere hoof steps. The screeches of the spiders grew closer and closer, Ray didn't chance looking back and powered forward, hearing the hoof steps of Solar right behind her. A black spider leg reached up over the side, catching Ray's back leg and tripping her. Ray fell down hard, sliding near the edge, coming face to face with a Cave Spider that snapped at her, but a quick blast of fire Ray had knocked it from the bridge. Ray felt Solar's hooves reach under her, pulling her away from the edge and setting her back down on the hard stone floor. The spiders had closed the distance, Solar and Ray stood ready to fight the rushing horde. A blast of fire traced the bridge from up above, sweeping several spiders from the bridge and sending them falling into the abyss. Wisp landed hard onto the stone bridge in front of Solar and Ray, flaring his mane more fiercely then Ray and Solar combined, forcing the spiders to stop short in fear. "Ray! Solar! Move it!" Flare shouted from the tunnel entrance. Wisp reared back, throwing a massive blast of fire down the expanse of the bride, forcing the spider to topple over one another trying to get away from the blast. Ray and Solar retreated back towards the tunnel entrance while Wisp continued to lay cover fire. "Come on!" Wisp shouted in amusement, blasting more fire at the spiders that scattered off the sides. Through the flames the iron clad creature came storming through. Whipping the chain through the air once more, catching Wisp in the leg and wrapping itself tightly around it. The iron clad creature tugged to pulled Wisp off his hooves but found that it wasn't so easy. Wisp winced, feeling the chain scrape against his injured arm and tugged back trying to force the creature to stumble. Spiders were climbing up the side of the bridge, this time trying to flank Wisp. A surge of fire washed over the bridge, knocking the spiders clear, as Flare, Solar and Ray raced back to help Wisp. Flare rushed over to Wisp's side, breathing an intense stream of fire on the chains around his arm while Solar and Ray kept the spiders at bay. With the groaning snap of the chain link, Wisp was free and the creature stumbled back. "Let's move every pony!" Flare shouted leaping off the side of the bridge. Ray, Solar and Wisp all followed her. Flying out into the expanse of the cavern and circling back towards the tunnel, leaving the creature and spiders unable to reach them. Ray was the first to land back in the tunnel, followed by Solar, then Flare and Wisp bringing up the rear. There was a lot of heavy breathing between them, all of them looking at one another, nodding that they were okay. Ray smiled a bit, causing Flare to smile, who saw Wisp laughing and Solar trying hard not to. There were a few exchanges of high hooves, pats on the shoulders and a hug here and there between them. Every pony looked back towards the stone bridge to see the iron clad creature standing at the edge. The light of their flames was enough to silhouette him in the darkness; the sounds of hundreds of spiders clicking their fangs could be heard echoing in the darkness. "What is it?" Ray asked in a whisper. "Who the hay are you, bub?" Wisp asked aloud to find out. The creature reached up removing the iron helmet. Its face a dark grey, pointed ears, a bald head, a stout nose and the blackest eyes. It had markings adorning its head and it wore a scowl. "It's an orc." Flare whispered in amazement. "The age of the Flame Ponies is at an end." The orc declared to them; raising his mace into the air. Within the darkness the sound of hundreds upon thousands of screeches echoed up from the abyss. Wisp shot a blast of fire into the darkness below, revealing countless bodies of spiders swarming up the walls, the darkness seemed to come alive with the amount of spiders that were moving. "We need to tell King Smolder about this." Ray mumbled. "We need to leave. Now." Wisp said slowly stepping away from the edge. The iron clad orc watched the Flame Ponies turn to run down the tunnel. The light of their flames slowly faded out of sight. The Orc stood in the darkness, thousands of screeching spiders below him; with a single raise of his closed fist the spiders fell silent. "To the mountain!" The orc cried. A sudden ripple in the darkness formed, the spiders moving at his command, and emptying the cavern. The orc watched through the darkness, his eyes capable of seeing in the dark, lifting his helmet and placing back on his head. Four Queen Spiders descended down from the high chasm ceiling on their webbings; heading towards the abyss below, lowering themselves past the orc. One of the Queens was missing three of her legs, having a few squashed eyes and severe burns all over its body. "We're keeping this in the family, Smolder. Like father, like son." The orc said to himself. Taking hold of the Queen spider's webbing, the Orc slid down into the darkness.