//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5 - Deep in the Crystal Cavern 
// Story: The Equestria That Never Was 
// by desertbat 
//------------------------------//

By some sort of miracle, we not only made it down the waterfall unscathed, but the sharp rocks at the bottom broke the log we were tied to - freeing us. We managed to swim to the shallows, choking up water from almost drowning. Discord shook himself dry and I soon followed. Both of us were a hot mess, drenched, cold,  and I lost my new saddle bag before I could use it, but we couldn't help but laugh about what just happened. "I must say, that was a traumatic experience; even for me." Discord said in a baffled tone.

Despite nearly being killed twice and agreeing with him, his comment only caused me to laugh. "What's the matter, Discord," I playfully asked," never been chased by an ursa major before?" Discord tried to act upset, but he couldn't help but laugh with me. I had never been so scared in my entire life, and we were merely laughing and telling jokes like it wasn't that big of a deal. 

We took a few moments to rest and decided it was time to go on. "I can feel she's getting closer. This way."  I followed behind again until I noticed Discord stopping. "That's odd?" I heard with worried curiosity. "I can't locate her. I lost the connection."

The sound of that made me panic. "Wait! Are you saying she's..."

Discord placed his paw on my muzzle to keep me quiet. "No! Not that! I'm saying she might have entered someplace with a magical imbalance. Wherever she is...it's too chaotic for even me to get a proper signal."

I'm sure he assumed this would somehow comfort me, but it did the exact opposite. I galloped in front with determination. "Well let's hurry up. We'll keep going the direction we were going and hopefully find wherever she is." Leading the way, we kept going to where I hoped would lead me to Violet.

We ran as fast as we could before I noticed something familiar. "What's wrong, Desert Bat? Don't tell me you're cracking under the pressure already; I was enjoying that strong confidence you had a moment ago." 

I signaled Discord to come over to my position and pointed to a trail of pink mist. "Do you see what I see?" He looked at me puzzled and merely shrugged - as if the trail was invisible to him. I didn't have time for this, I needed to make sure my girlfriend was okay. "Never mind. Just follow me. I think I found our way to Violet." Without a word, he let me guide him on.

At full speed, we trod through the thickets and found the end of the trail. "This was the cavern I saw in my dream. I bet she's in there. Come on! Let's go!" 

Before I could enter, Discord held me back. "Now hold on. I feel a strong power in this cavern, and I don't think it's very friendly. We need to be on our guard." I gave him a nod and we entered the cavern.

According to Discord, the cavern was pretty dark, with only the dim glowing energy radiating from the crystals giving off just enough light to see - it was times like these that made me glad to be a bat pony. Due to my better vision, I continued to lead the way - making sure we didn't take one wrong step and fall down its dreaded abyss. I could see this cavern's tunnels were massive - as down below were streams flowing steadily down and slowly eroding new paths for future travelers. Tunnels lead everywhere - giving the cavern a stronger impression of a deadly labyrinth.

"Do you think we're getting closer to her," I asked in a whisper.

For a change, it seemed Discord was the one terrified. "We need to hurry up and get out of here. I think we might have trespassed on something dark and twisted." 

The fact that it was Discord telling me something in here was twisted meant it had to be a threat, but I wasn't going to abandon my love - not when I was this close. "Not without Violet. You can leave if you want, but I'm not leaving till I find her."

Discord appeared to be struggling with the idea of leaving without me, but, to my relief, he stayed. "You're lucky I care about you." He stated, frustrated. This caused me to grin. "I see you smiling over there, and believe me, this is not the time to be smiling." 

We had managed to arrive at a wide open area that appeared to be a hub for many tunnels when suddenly, our focus was stolen by what sounded like a blood-curdling scream. The smile I had carried soon faltered, and we waited a moment to hear if anything else would happen. Eventually, loud echoes of galloping hooves approached, and before we knew it, two ponies had collided into us - unintentionally tackling me down and causing Discord to slam his head on a rock; he didn't appear to be waking up soon. As the other ponies and I got ourselves up, we were then greeted by the source of their fear.

Approaching us was a minotaur that stood as tall as Discord. Its torso was a blood red and legs as black as death - though it seemed to have a pink aura surrounding him. With a wave of his hand, large barriers of mist blocked all the tunnels - leaving us trapped in the central hub and at his mercy. "You dare enter the domain of Taurus, the Barbarous?" He asked in a deep, threatening voice. "I will ensure this becomes your grave."

Suddenly, I heard crying from one of the ponies we encountered and, almost immediately, I noticed this pony bore a striking resemblance to one of the ponies in my dreams, Fluttershy; the only real difference was that this mare was an earth pony and not a pegasus. "Please," the butter-coated mare pleaded, frightened to the core, "we didn’t mean to intrude.”

“Don’t you dare come any closer. “A lavender unicorn mare with a violet mane commanded - her horn aglow with a purple aura. As he slowly approached us, the expression she gave made it clear - there was nothing she could do to stop this beast. It hurt to see there was little I could do to help, but then I realized there was something about this mare that seemed...familiar, and that's when I noticed that her cutie mark where violets and lavender, and around her neck was a pendant similar to mine. 

“Violet...is that...really you?” 

My question caught her off guard and she looked at me with a hopeful expression. “Angelo?”

Our reunion was cut short as we heard  Taurus charging towards us - intending to end us. We didn’t say another word, nor did we yell out - all I could do was get in front and try my best to protect my mare. While closing my eyes and expecting to die, I heard the other mare cowering in fear and she cried out. “Some pony help us!”

All it took was that second when something inside me awoken. A golden aura surrounded me and the barbarous foe no longer frightened me. On instinct, I flew at him and head-butted him in the face. Blood dripped from my forehead, but I had managed to halt his progress to everyone. 

Taurus laughed and seemed amused with my defiance. "Seems you have some fight in you, little pony, but it will only last for so long. Submit now, and I will make their deaths quick and painless."

Fear was still in me, not from my adversary, but from the possibility of losing Violet again - I wasn't strong enough to lose her again. "Never. I find no nobility in your actions, you vile beast. I would choose oblivion over losing them."

With another sinister laugh, Taurus gave one final statement before charging once more. "The choice is not yours to decide."

To my relief, I managed to keep him as far away from the others as I could. Taurus swung and charged at me and I managed to dodge his attacks - giving him a few jabs as I did it. How I was going to defeat him was a mystery to me; it was a miracle I was doing this well. After a while, the look of exhaustion was clear on his appearance and my constant jabs were putting a number on him. I flew as fast as I could and decided I would attempt to finish the fight by charging him, however, my overconfidence got the best of me and I was struck hard in the ribs. The impact sent me flying back to my friends and I found myself next to Discord. This was the first time I felt this sort of pain; it was excruciating and I soon began coughing blood. What hurt the worst, though, was seeing Violet look at me so traumatically. "Angelo...please stay with me." Violet held me tightly and, for some unknown reason, a nightshade aura surrounded us. My pain seemed to have faded, but I could hear Taurus approaching and I still felt too weak to continue on. Regardless, I stood up and held my ground.

The creature's approach was obviously more sluggish than before; if I didn't know any better he was ready to collapse himself. "You will never defeat me. I will paint this cave with your blood, bat." Taurus was soon knocked down by a blast of magic from Violet - for some reason, her aura was now a nightshade color instead of purple.

"Posey, look after my boyfriend while I finish this bully off." Too hurt to continue to stand, I fell back to the ground - accompanied by the yellow earth pony, who I now knew way named Posey. 

Violet was rushing headlong, blasting the weaken beast with her magic and despite her clear advantage, I  still worried about her safety. "Goodness," I heard Posey say in bewilderment, "she's improved on her magic fast for only one day of training." While spectating Violet, surrounded by a nightshade aura, combat Taurus, I couldn't help but smile.

"Thank you, Posey, for watching over her. She's my world and I don't know what I would do without her." I could hear Taurus in agony as Violet continued to blast him. 

"I know I'm not very strong, but seeing her come to our village in tears made me feel like I had to do anything to help."

That comment made me smile and think about something she said. Did she just say something about a village? Well, considering how nice she is, I guess there are places where some ponies are still peaceful. I lost my train of thought when I saw Taurus attempting something on Violet while under her blasting spell. Instincts to protect her kicked in and a golden aura surrounded me once more. With my remaining strength, the combined forces of Violet's magic and my attack destroyed the beast once and for all. 

Taurus groaned in agony - imploding into a puff of smoke that mysteriously flew to Discord and into his mouth. As the misty barriers dissipated, the only thing left behind by Taurus was a familiar looking pink gem floating above. We began to approach it, but it flew over to Posey instead. "You have awoken the scions of unity and have released me from my prison." The gem announced to her. ( I'll admit, I didn't expect to see a floating talking gem.) "I have been waiting for this day, bearer of kindness." There was a flash of light and when we could see again, we noticed Posey had a necklace with a gemstone shaped like a butterfly.

Nobody spoke as we were all too confused at what had happened. Posey fixated on the necklace she was bestowed, but then she broke that silence established by tearing up. Violet rushed over to comfort her, which I knew she needed. "I thought we were going to...to...." She didn't finish that sentence, but we knew what she was trying to say - I was surprised the rest of us didn't break down as well. 

I turned around to give them space when, out of the blue, I felt myself getting punched in the face by Violet. Before I could ask why she did that, she squeezed me into a very constricting hug. "Don't you ever do something that crazy again. I lose you for one day, and when I do find you, you decide to almost get yourself killed to save me." It felt great to finally be embraced by her again; even if it was, perhaps, too tight. "By the way, you make one handsome stud, my hot bat stallion." That statement caused my face to turn as red as a tomato. 

There was no way I would let her get away with that. "And you're still the most beautiful creature in all of existence." I saw the blush on her face and kissed her playfully on the cheek; victory. We could see Posey was giggling and probably finding this sappy reunion romantic.

Groans were heard and it seemed Discord had finally awoken. "Ow, that really hurt." He said, snatching his head. It didn't take long for him to notice the mare I was embraced with. "Oh, it seems you found your beloved while I was out of it, Dessie."

That nickname was something I dreaded hearing at the moment because as I faced Violet, I could see a mischievous grin on her. "Dessie? That's so cute. I'm so calling you that from now on."

This statement embarrassed me to no end, and I knew she was enjoying that, "Actually, it's Desert Bat. Discord thought my real name didn't sound, well, pony enough."

"I guess that's only your problem, my little Dessie." I was positive she would call me that from now on.

After everyone had a chuckle from this, Discord's attention was turned to Posey's. He noticed her appearance and the element she was wearing around her neck and was showing signs of joy, but that came crashing down as he saw the lack of wings on the pony. "You're not...Fluttershy, are you?"

It really hurt to see the look of sorrow on him, especially the bit of pity Posey seem to have towards Discord. "I'm...I'm sorry, but my name is Posey." She took a few steps back to give him space, but then, seeing the lamenting expression on his face, she walked to him with a warm expression. "Don't be sad, I'll gladly help you find her if you'd like."

From the tears in his eyes, I could only guess he saw so much of Fluttershy in her; to be honest, with the way he changed the world, I wouldn't have been surprised if this was her incarnation in this universe. "Thank you." He picked up Posey and gave her a hug; I noticed her face turning red from this. For the time being, everything seemed well once again.  

All four of us began trekking out of the cave; me leading while Violet lit her horn in the back for everyone else. While Discord was telling the girls about our little adventure getting here, something bothered me; it was what the element itself said. What exactly were the scions of unity? I gazed at my pendant and could see it glowing a golden aura. This made me wonder what secrets this thing still contained.