Rise of Char

by Turtlehaus


Chapter 38: Lair of Spiders

The underground mines rumbled from the battle taking place above, Wisp, Tiff, Ember and Applejack crossed the old stone bridge in the deep darkness. Their fiery manes provided ample lighting to the bridge they walked across but could not illuminate anything in the dark void around them. With a sudden rumble from up above, streams of dirt trailed down from the high ceiling above, flashing for a moment in their light before disappearing once more into darkness.

Wisp began to increase his pace across the bridge, the thundering up above seemed to bother him. It bothered every pony, the importance of the mission was unquestionable, but they have been relatively safe while their friends up above were in for the fight of their lives.

"Why would any pony build such an immense bridge underground?" Ember asked after a while.

"This old stone bridge was built primarily for carts to move gems and gold underground to the mountain. It was used by the first Flame Ponies to honor the Great Dragon Char with gold." Wisp replied.

"It must have taken years to build this." Tiff mentioned, gawking at the sheer size and length of it.

"How much further until we reach the mountain?" Applejack asked.

No sooner had Applejack posed the question, Wisp's fire illuminated several large pillars lining the wall of the cliff face before them. The bridge brought itself up to dual iron doors that were thickly covered with spider webbing. One iron door was ajar, offering the smallest of openings. Wisp approached the webbing, swiping his hoof across the metal door to clear it, revealing engravings of Flame Ponies kneeling. With the blast of fire Wisp burned the rest of the webbing from the door, the fire burned through it quickly, dropping the webbing like a stage curtain. The iron door depicted the Great Dragon Char reared back; its scales decorated with gems and its eyes bore two gold coins.

"Are… we… going to find a dragon in there?" Tiff asked slowly.

"We're here to find the Obelisk, but keep your wits about you. Spiders I can deal with, but I'd not like to take my chances in waking the dragon." Wisp replied, pulling the iron door open some more.

The groan of the metal echoed throughout the cave, Wisp was first to enter followed by Ember. Tiff and Applejack followed in after. Beyond the doors it was a world of webs and forgotten history. The walls were lined with etchings, statues, abandoned stone carts that still bore some coins in its bed. Wisp blazed a trail along the ground, burning the webbing away, walking down the forgotten hall with his team following close behind him.

"Mr. Papyrus would be beside himself if he happened upon this." Ember mentioned.

The hall offered several stone doors, covered with thick webbing, but Wisp seemed to pass each one without much care. More than once did Applejack attempt to reach a stone door, hoping a glance on the other side but the webs proved too difficult. Tiff had to burn the webs away from Applejack's hooves every now and again, there seemed to be no place to step with getting ones hooves covered in it.

"What are we looking for, partner?" Applejack asked aloud, wondering how much more wandering they were going to be doing.

"Signs of recent activity, the webbing here is rather old, which means that the Obelisk must be further in the mountain." Wisp reported.

With that, Applejack started to keep an eye out for something that looked like it had been moved or disturbed recently. It was rather easy; the thick layer of dirt, grime, dust, ash, and soot seemed to cake everything around them. It wasn't until Ember pointed out some streaks on the wall that had cleared some dirt did Wisp consider taking a closer look. The webbing was unusually thick around this particular door, with the help of both Tiff and Ember, they were able to burn the webbing away quickly to reveal an open door underneath it.

"Spider's don't get stuck in their own web. It allows them to pass through it without much trouble." Tiff mentioned to Applejack.

Within the room every pony could see a collapsed wall that had caved in, an exposed tunnel that led deeper underground; once more webbing caked everything. Wisp took a moment to clear a majority of the webs with his fire before approaching the tunnel to inspect it more closely. Motioning every pony to be quiet, Wisp strained to listen, placing his ear very close to the tunnel. Faint voices could be heard in the distance.

"I don't 'ave any idea whys Gorun done left us down 'ere." A spider's voice echoed.

"We're supposed to be protecting that large pointy thing." Said another spider.

"You mean the dragon poker?" Asked another.

"It ain't a dragon poker." Replied a spider.

"Well that's what Gorun did wit it." Replied the spider.

Wisp lowered himself into the tunnel, making a motion with his hooves to keep quiet and lowered himself down. Tiff leaned over the edge, peering down into the tunnel to see Wisp carefully bracing himself down the steep decline. The tunnel lacked any sort of webbing, but it had unsure footing that made Wisp's decent slow and steady. Tiff started his decent down into the tunnel, Ember volunteered to go next, while Applejack waited her turn; not wanting to slip and run into any of them.

"I'm so 'ungry I can't even feel me legs." A spider groaned.

"You can have all you can eat once the Gorun is done beating them ponies." Said another spider.

Wisp was near the edge of the tunnel, the slope nearly finished but his hoof met with a wet patch that had him slipping. Tiff attempted to catch Wisp before he fell, taking holding his wing but found Wisp to be too heavy. Reaching out behind him to grab onto something, Tiff took hold of the chain wrapped around Ember and had him falling with them as well.

The three Flame Ponies tumbled out of the tunnel, landing on stone floor with a thud, piled atop one another at the legs of three spiders.

"What's this then?" A spider asked.

"The battle was a lot closer then I was expecting it to be." Remarked the other.

"We've got intruders!" Shouted the last spider; smacking the other two in the face with its front legs.

Applejack overheard the spider yell intruder, tipping her hat a bit forward; she jumped into the tunnel and began sliding down the slope. The sounds of a struggle echoed up through the tunnel as she reached the landing. Dropping out from the tunnel, Applejack was poised ready for a fight when she saw three unconscious spiders all piled up atop one another with Ember binding them together with some of his chain.

The room seemed to be part of the structure upstairs, although due to the tunnel, it was a much faster route then taking the intended way. It seemed like a storage area, tons of empty stone boxes, with several smashed clay pots strewn about. There were to paths leading to both the left and the right, but the left was effectively caved in while the right showed some promise.

"Flawless." Wisp said nodding at Tiff and Ember for a job well done.

"Flawless?" Applejack asked unconvinced.

"Don't sweat the details, Snappleback." Wisp said nonchalantly.

"Did you at least ask one of them spiders where to find the Obelisk?" Applejack asked.

A light seemed to turn on inside Tiff's, Ember's and Wisp's heads. They glanced at each other, then at the spiders, then back at each other.

"We should get going." Wisp said clearing his throat and pointing towards the right path.

Rolling her eyes, Applejack followed, leaving the unconscious and bound spiders behind. The path led them down a staircase, their flames bouncing from the walls and throwing their shadows. Nearing the landing of the staircase Wisp motioned to Applejack to come up to the front with him. Applejack did as asked.

"Just peek your head around the corner and see what's there. We'll hang back so our flames don't draw any attention." Wisp whispered to her.

Applejack nodded in agreement. Taking the steps carefully, doing her best to remain as silent as possible, she reached the corner of the land where the staircase led out into the next room. Removing her hat, slowly turning the corner, Applejack stole a peek at to what was on the inside.

Strewn about were immense cobwebs stretching out over a vast expanse, a dozen or so spiders were crawling their way across, sliding down into the dark, and adding more webs. It very much seemed to be the lair of spiders, but the bulk of the nest seemed to be up above in the battle. With not much light to work with, Applejack strained her eyes to make out anything else in the darkness. After a minute, her eyes began to adjust to the darkness, noticing several spiders clustered together near what seemed to be the center of the pit.

"When do you suppose the dragon is going to wake up?" A spider asked.

"Normally a pony will frenzy for about an hour, if you bite'em real good. Nearly all of us bit the dragon two day ago, seems like it be waking up any time now." Replied a spider.

"So why are we still hanging around here?" Asked another spider.

"Gorun left one of the Queens down here, just in case things take a turn for the worse with this here dragon. We're just here to keep her safe." Said the spider.

Applejack was just about to leave when she saw a familiar glow of green, gleaming in the darkness. The Obelisk rested upon its side, on the other side of the pit near the edge; caked by web. Withdrawing from the corner, Applejack made her way back to let the others know.

"We've found the Obelisk, partners." Applejack whispered.

"Really, Applejack? Is it close by?" Tiff asked in surprise.

"There's mighty wide pit with a whole mess of spider webs mucking it up, at least a dozen or so spiders and a sleeping dragon somewhere down below I reckon, but if we can get passed all that I say we got a good chance of getting the Obelisk out of here." Applejack replied, returning her hat to her head.

"So what are we going to do?" Ember asked looking over at Wisp who seemed to be scratching his chin for an idea.

The cluster of spiders began to climb their way across their webbing, stepping onto the ledge of the pit near the staircase.

"Hey! Legs!" A spider shouted towards the staircase; obviously speaking to one of the unconscious spiders upstairs. "How's it looking up there?"

The sound of several hissing fuses could be heard coming around the corner. Small circular bottles of ceramic, plugged with fuses, rolled towards the spiders grinding against the uneven ground. Several spiders crowded around the noise, pushing one another aside to look at what it was.

"What is it?" Asked a spider.

"Can we eats it?" Asked another.

"It hisses like us, but it don't gots any legs." Said another.

The hissing fuses popped for a second, followed by a forceful explosion. Blasting the crowding spiders clear off their legs, sending them slamming against walls, burning others, and tossing some back into the immense pit. From around the corner Wisp, Tiff, Ember, and Applejack stormed. The confusion bought them time, blasting their fire at the surprised spiders and forcing them to scatter back into the shadows.

Applejack, Tiff, Ember and Wisp galloped around the edge of the pit. Making good use of the time they had before the spiders knew what was going on. The size of the pit was immense, sprinting full tilt only got them half way around the pit before the echoing of screeching spiders could be heard. Spider legs began reaching over the pit. From the caves hidden in the shadows, scratching of spiders became more frequent as they raced around the pit.

"Get to the Obelisk, I'll cover you!" Wisp shouted, detouring from the group to engage the spiders.

Wisp blasted a surge of fire, forcing the spiders to stagger back, and whipped his wings around knocking several spiders trying to flank him. Leaping over a lunging spider, Wisp flared out his wings and soared over their heads. Spewing fire from above, the spiders scattered towards the pit leaping onto their webs to escape from the flames. With nearly twelve or so spiders balancing themselves on the web, the spiders turned to face the flying flame pony together, but saw Wisp already burning through the webbing that kept them aloft. With several snaps the fire burned through the webbing, dropping the spiders into the pit with only their screams to mourn them.

Applejack, Tiff and Ember were nearly out of breath when reaching the Obelisk. Tiff and Ember began burning the webbing holding it in place with their hooves while Applejack kept a look out for spiders.

"How long is this going to take?" Applejack asked, anxious to leave as soon as possible.

"Not long, it's carrying this thing out that's going to slow us down." Ember replied, breathing flames onto the top of the Obelisk.

A screeched had Applejack whipping around, two spiders barreled towards her. Driving her hoof into the face of the first spider, Applejack knocked it out cold before leaping over the unconscious spider to avoid a bite from the other. Bucking the unconscious spider, its body slammed into its partner and sent them both falling over the edge. Several more spiders appeared from the dark corners, quickly moving towards Applejack and the others. Applejack readied herself for another fight but saw a blast of fire come sailing past her. Ember rushed passed her to engage the spiders, doing quite well in holding them back. Applejack glanced over her shoulder to see Tiff still burning the last bits of web off the Obelisk; Ember's chain spooled next to it. Picking up the chain, Applejack took over for Ember and began to loop the chain around the Obelisk.

Ember blasted spider after spider, feeling his old Solider Pony training starting to resurface. His nerves melted away, his breathing became calmer, and his fire burned hotter. Wisp dived in, knocking a few spiders away from Ember and shot fire near the lip of the pit where legs started to reach over the edge. Wisp turned left, Ember turned right, Wisp bucked a kick, Ember spewed fire; they almost looked they were having fun fighting for their lives. Standing flank to flank, Ember and Wisp paused to catch their breath. Dozens of spiders started to creep their way towards them, fangs clicking and voices hissing.

"Do you think we can take them?" Ember asked with a smile.

"We'll be in trouble if one more shows up." Wisp replied, jokingly.

"I almost got it." Tiff mumbled, speaking through breaths of flame.

The Obelisk suddenly spun like a needle in a compass, pulling Tiff off the edge while Applejack had her hooves knocked out from under her. Tiff struggled to get a grip on the smooth Obelisk, doing everything he could from falling into the pit; the Obelisk began pulsing.

"Hang on, Tiff!" Applejack shouted; rolling back onto her hooves and tried pushing the Obelisk back around.

The Obelisk barely moved; the weight of it was considerably heavier than Applejack had previously thought. Having no choice left, Applejack reached out her hoof for Tiff to grab onto.

"Take my hoof, Tiff!" Applejack shouted.

"Are you crazy?" Tiff hollered in surprise, beginning to lose his grip.

"Take my hoof or you're going to fall!" Applejack shouted back urgently.

Tiff was still reluctant to reach out for Applejack's outstretched hoof. He didn't want to burn Applejack, even though she seemed resigned to it, but deep down Tiff would rather fall then to hurt her. Biting the strap of his satchel, Tiff flung the bag towards Applejack who gripped it tightly, Tiff slid off the Obelisk and slammed up against the side of the rock face; holding on by his teeth. Applejack pulled on the bag, quietly asking Celestia to keep the bag from ripping. Several ceramic jars fell out from his pack, bouncing off Tiff's head and lighting themselves off his mane. The falling ceramic jars exploded after a couple of feet, blasting several spiders from the wall and chunks of rock. Tiff was able to scramble his way up the side of the rock face, getting a hoof over the edge and pulling himself over. Lying flat on his stomach, Tiff took several deep breaths.

"Thanks." Tiff gasped to Applejack.

"You could have fallen, Tiff!" Applejack snapped.

"But I didn't." Tiff chuckled.

"Next time just take my darn hoof!" Applejack snapped.

"Next time." Tiff agreed, but not sounding sincere.

"Colts." Applejack mumbled, tossing the satchel at him.

A large tree trunk sized leg reached over the Obelisk, striking between Tiff and Applejack, causing them both to leap back. Several melon sized eyes appeared from the ledge, with sword sized fangs clicking together, the stay at home Queen had come to fight. Applejack retreated back, watching Tiff spray some fire at the Cave Spider Queen. Her legs swung at Tiff, just missing him as Tiff rolled under. Applejack charged at her, ducking under one of her legs but seeing the second one come following after. Leaping onto its leg, Applejack hung on tight as she started to be hurled about.

"Applejack!" Tiff shouted in worry.

Applejack swung around, holding on as tight as she could, while the Queen struggled to shake her loose. Wisp dropped out of the air, landing hard on the back of the Queen, forcing it to slam herself atop the Obelisk. Her legs went limp for a moment, allowing Applejack a chance to roll off, but not before stomping the Queen's head. Getting clear of the Queen, Applejack turned to see Wisp soaring back up into the air while Ember blasted the Queen's face with a surge of fire.

The Queen's shrieks stirred the spiders around her, coming to her defense, while Wisp flew around the edges spraying as much fire as he could to impede them. Tiff stepped in to lend a hoof in spraying fire at the Queen, having her arch back and swiping her legs wildly at the flames. Applejack saw her opening, charging forward once more, the trail of fire from Tiff dissipated leaving the Queen's belly vulnerable. Landing a hard kick, Applejack slammed into the Queen, knocking her off balance and watched as she tumbled over the edge back into the pit.

With a tip of her hat to the beaten Queen, Applejack returned to the Obelisk where Ember and Tiff were already beginning to drag it. Ember and Tiff pulled the two ends of the chain, slowly dragging it around the pit's edge, while Applejack went behind it and bucked the base of it; sending it sliding a few feet at a time. Wisp swooped down every so often, taking hold of the chains wrapped around the Obelisk, lifting with all his might and raised it a few inches off the ground; giving them enough time to pull the Obelisk a few yards. Although, the spiders would come hissing after them time and time again, prompting Wisp to drop the Obelisk and defend his team. Applejack lent a hoof when she could to fight off the spiders, but her kicks to help moved the Obelisk proved to be sorely needed. Eventually, the Obelisk had made its way back to the other side of the pit.

"Stairs… why did it have to be stairs?" Tiff moaned, sounding worn out.

That's when the mountain shook.

Countless spiders were shaken from their walls, falling into the blackness of the pit, while other spiders scurried away. A flash of fire appeared in the darkness below, illuminating the pit, followed by another shake of the mountain. Applejack peered over the edge only to feel a sudden blast of heat come soaring up from the pit below, nearly blowing her hat right off her. The mountain shook once more, this time with such violence that it caused part of the mountain to cave in. Wisp soared over the Obelisk, grasping the chains once more; there was a noticeable frightened look about him as he lifted the Obelisk off the ground once more. Together, they moved the Obelisk into the stairwell when the mountain quaked once more.

Applejack turned to see a claw so massive in size, comparable only to the barn of Sweet Apple Acres, come striking down on the ledge in front of them that it collapsed most of the ground beneath it. The four of them watched the Great Dragon Char climb its way out of the pit, tearing the mountain asunder.

"We've got to move!" Ember shouted, pulling on the chains.

Wisp flapped his wings hard, lurching the Obelisk up the stairs, Applejack near the back pushing at the base while Tiff and Ember pulled the chains with their teeth. Applejack kept mumbling to herself how she would never complain about the applecart back at Sweet Apple Acres from being too heavy to move ever again. At the top of the stairs, the bound Spiders screeched aloud, struggling against one another to move, but failed to do so in any regard. A large part of the room collapsed with rocks and dirt, the room shook violently while parts of the stairs broke away.

"Almost there, just keep it moving!" Wisp shouted, noticeably tired.

The ponies pushed on, moving the Obelisk into the tunnel, having to make the grueling climb back up.

"Applejack, get in the front and help pull. I'll be the anchor." Wisp said dropping beside her.

With a nod, Applejack ruched the front, taking hold of the looped chain Applejack dug her hooves into the dirt and pulled. The Obelisk lurched forward, little by little; whenever it felt to be sliding back Wisp slammed his shoulder into it and stopped it cold. Applejack climbed out of the tunnel, mud caking her hooves, pulling the Obelisk up out of the tunnel; Tiff and Ember soon followed. Wisp shakily climbed out of the hole, resting on the Obelisk for support, breathing heavy; every pony was. A sudden boom shook the room, a blast of dust and dirt flew from the tunnel, collapsing it for good.

"Did we do it?" Tiff asked, weakly.

"I think we did." Applejack replied, wiping her brow.

"No pony hurt?" Ember asked, looking around.

Wisp lifted his arms up weakly to show that he was unharmed, as did Tiff and Applejack.

"Thanks for tagging along with me guys, and you Freckles." Wisp mumbled, looking exhausted.

"Don't thank me yet, we've got to get this Obelisk up to Ash before that dragon causes any more trouble." Applejack replied, adjusting her hat and taking hold of the chain.

Wisp looked over at Tiff in disbelief, almost smiling at Applejack's resolve and strength.

"She says that; a lot." Tiff mumbled, taking hold of the chain.

"You really like strong mares don't you, Tiff?" Ember asked with a smile.

"I-I-I-I-I don't know what-" Tiff stammered, looking embarrassed.

"Just start pushing." Wisp mumbled.

The four ponies dragged the massive Obelisk from the room, down the corridor and out through iron doors. It was a lot less hectic to move the Obelisk without hungry spiders coming at them from all sides but it didn't slow them down knowing how many ponies were in harm's way of the dragon. Half way across the stone bridge, the Obelisk started to pulse more frequently, catching every pony's attention.

"Is it supposed to do that?" Ember asked curiously.

"Just keep pushi-" Wisp began to speak but got clocked with the sudden jolt of the Obelisk.

The Obelisk bounced upon the ground, sliding forward across the stone bridge, turning like a clock and knocking Tiff and Ember off their feet. Applejack leaped over the Obelisk, remembering how the last one up and decided to move on its own.

"Where's it going?" Wisp asked in disbelief.

The Obelisk righted itself, standing straight up on the stone bridge swaying side to side before flying up into the darkness before every pony lost sight of it.

"Is… is it supposed to do that?" Ember asked, glancing at every pony.