//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: The Secret of the Crystal Ponies 
// by DaisyDaedal 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 2






“Twilight, I know you’re awake,” Spike’s voice grumbled from the darkness. They were both in their beds in the bedroom they shared whenever they visited the Crystal Empire. Spike was correct that the mare had not been sleeping- Twilight had been having trouble finding a comfortable spot and turning off her mind.
“Go to sleep!” the little dragon insisted.
“But what if I over think fusing when we practice tomorrow?” She asked, voicing her thoughts.
“You do realize how ironic that statement is, right?” Spike replied with a groan. He turned on the bedside lamp, his expression one of surrender. “Is it really that hard not to over…” Spike trailed off as he met Twilight’s eyes, and together they remembered the mare’s personality. “Anyway, losing sleep is going to make it hard to do anything tomorrow. Why don’t you just think about counting sheep?” the dragon suggested with a yawn.
“That’s it!” Twilight said excitedly. “If I think really hard about my friends while I’m dancing, maybe that’ll make me able to fuse with them!”
“Great. Now do it in the morning,” Spike grumbled, turning off the lamp. Twilight laid in bed, wanting even more now to sleep so she could wake up and have it be the next day. But she couldn’t help running her plans in her head over and over. If only she had thought to bring her friendship journal with her so she could review how her friends think! Didn’t she gift a copy to Shining and Cadence? It must be in their royal library.


****


Twilight couldn’t remember having fallen asleep, but it was morning before she realized it. A servant knocked on the door, announcing breakfast, and Spike joyously leapt out of his bed. They tidied their appearances and left their room, taking the long sparkling stairway down to the first level of the castle.
Instead of the large dining room Cadence and Shining Armor used for formal occasions, Twilight and Spike met the rest of their friends in the smaller receiving room the royal family ate in on an average day. The kitchen staff had made regular, blueberry, chocolate chip, and gem waffles for breakfast, along with almost every kind of fruit, syrup, jam and jelly you could imagine.

Flanked by her parents, Flurry Hearts sat in a high chair, giggling. Judging by the bits of sticky food present all over her parents’ upper bodies, she seemed to be more interested in throwing her food around then eating. But she was only a baby.
“Good morning, everyone,” Cadence greeted warmly.
“Good morning!” Twilight and her friends replied with various degrees of alertness.
While her friends sat down and started dishing themselves up, Twilight rushed over to her niece. Flurry Hearts giggled as Twilight scooped up the sticky baby and cooed at it.
“Who’s my favorite niece? You are!”
“Isn’t taking care of Flurry Hearts and running the kingdom a lot of work? Maybe we should come back to the Crystal Empire later for the fusing practice,” Fluttershy suggested. The royal couple- who had taken the moment Flurry Hearts was occupied to eat- exchanged a small look while swallowing their food.
“It won’t be a problem- Sunburst is going to be looking after Flurry this morning, and we usually don’t open court on the weekends,” Shining Armor replied. Fluttershy nodded, but this info didn’t seem to soothe her worried expression.

Breakfast was uncharacteristically quiet after that, and Twilight looked around at her friends while putting Flurry Hearts back in her high chair. Rainbow Dash looked pretty groggy while she inhaled whatever food was closest to her, Applejack had a thoughtful expression on her face as she spread apple preservatives on her waffles, Rarity’s lips were pressed tightly together as she daintily dipped tiny cut pieces of waffle into maple syrup before popping a piece into her mouth one at a time, and Fluttershy seemed to be pouring a large amount of berry syrup into her tea as she stared off into space.
But it was Pinkie Pie that was the most unusual of all. She was preparing her waffles like she usually did before eating them- into the shape of a skyscraper using every kind of syrup and jam available to hold it together- but her movements were slow, like she was moving through molasses. In past breakfasts Twilight had with the pink mare, the waffle skyscraper had almost touched the ceiling, but today’s was barely as tall as Flurry Hearts.
“Is everypony ok?” Twilight asked.
“We’re fine, darling- just dealing with sleeping in odd beds,” Rarity replied. The other ponies nodded and grumbled in agreement, but something about Pinkie’s “yeps” worried Twilight. Hoping that it was just that she was tired, Twilight sat down in the last empty chair between Spike and Shining Armor and dished herself up some breakfast. The breakfast conversation seemed heavy and forced, with Applejack and Fluttershy barely adding to it and Pinkie Pie only answering direct questions shortly.

Twilight was glad when Sunburst interrupted to pick up Flurry Hearts- finally they could work on something productive instead of forcing conversation. With their daughter occupied, Cadence and Shining Armor lead the group into the castle’s gym for fusing lessons.
They spread the mares out so that they were just out of hoof’s reach from each other, and lead the group through some stretches while Spike napped on a bench nearby. Then they passed out sweatbands to the ponies.

“To start, we’re just going do some repetitive dance steps to help you girls stay on the same rhythm,” Cadence explained. “Shining?” Her husband nodded, and switched on a boom box he had next to him. The music that started playing was a fast-paced funk.
“Let me demonstrate first, than you’ll mirror my movements,” Cadence encouraged. She listened to the music for a couple lines, then began to march in place- her steps on beat with the rhythm. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash caught on to the movement fast and copied Cadence, AJ following shortly. After a couple of missteps, Twilight and Rarity joined in too. Fluttershy looked anxiously at her friends.
“No pony will judge you, Shy- c’mon!” Rainbow insisted.
Fluttershy looked uncertain, but as her friends smiled and said encouragements to her, she moved a little shakily until she was marching with the rest of them with a practiced air.





Cadence let everypony march together for a couple more lines of the song, then declared,
“Ok, let’s kick it up a notch.” Staying on beat, the pink princess took two steps to the right,  two steps to the left, and repeated side stepping back and forth, counting aloud her steps as she went. Most of the mares watching her were able to adapt to the new movement, but Twilight stumbled at the change, nearly knocking over Apple Jack in the process. But both ponies picked themselves up fast and got right back into the movements.
After another few beats where everypony was sidestepping together, Cadence added two more steps to each sideways movement, calling out “One two three four” with each step.

“Okay, this time we’ll turn around in the four beats, turning left and right instead of just stepping sideways. We’ll go slowly at first,” Cadence explained while demonstrating. It felt fairly easy while they were going slow, but as it got faster Twilight found herself having trouble remembering what hoof went where. She apparently wasn’t the only one, as Fluttershy slipped, stuck out her wings to balance herself and hit Rarity with them. Like dominoes, the entire line fell.

“Okay, let’s take five. Good job everypony!” Cadence said without a drop of sarcasm.
“But we fell!” Twilight argued.
“It wasn’t about how good you are dancing- it was about being focused on the dance instead of your own thoughts. Moving together without thinking will help when you try to fuse in these next few days.”
“We aren’t going to try to fuse today?” AJ asked.
“Rather than attempting it right away, Shining Armor and I would like you to think about how a group of ponies with very different personalities have remained friends for so long. Individually and as a group, dwell on your bonds that keep you all close.”
“But I thought you said not to think while fusing,” Fluttershy pondered aloud. Cadence smiled.
“When you’re ready to fuse, it’ll become second nature that doesn’t require much thought. But for now, we’re just practicing.”
“I don’t know…” Twilight mused. “I think I’m lacking the right mindset.”
“It doesn’t have to be perfect, Twilight. You and I could fuse with our greeting ritual, for instance,” Cadence explained. Twilight was confused.
“Really? Than why haven’t we fused before?”
“That’s because our intention wasn’t to fuse. You know what? Let’s try it now.”
“What?” Twilight and Shining Armor said together. Cadence laughed.
“Adding a hug at the end should do it.”
“Cadence, I’m not-” Shining Armor started, but his wife put a hoof over his mouth.
“We can do ‘Sunshine sunshine’ in our sleep, Twilight- just don’t overthink it.”

Cadence began to prance in place, smiling encouragingly. Twilight still looked uncertain, but joined the older Princess.
“Sunshine, sunshine
Ladybugs awake!
Clap your hooves
And do a little shake!”
After the shake, in unison the princess twirled around and hugged each other, releasing a dazzling light that engulfed their bodies. The joined being that used to be the princesses rivaled Celestia in height. She resembled a orchid-colored papillon dog with very long legs ending in hooves. She also had a pair of long horns on top of her head, four violet eyes on her forehead, a wavy purple mane, and large wings.

“Wow, my sister and my wife in one body. This isn’t weird at all,” Shining Armor said with a forced laugh. The fusion turned at the sound of his voice and beamed a smile- the sight of everyone filled her with overwhelming joy. She leapt towards all the watching ponies, wanting to hug everypony but she held back, knowing they may be frightened of her.
“Hello! It’s nice to meet you all! I’m Philia. You’re all adorable, I love you!”
“Thanks?” Applejack said uncertainly.
“Delighted, darling,” Rarity replied.
“You’re so big and fluffy!” Fluttershy exclaimed in wonder.
“I am? I guess that’s why everypony looks so small. Oh, I have wings!” Philia squealed in delight, twirling around to try to get a better look at the giant plush wings on her back. Her giant ears fluttered and somehow held the fusion aloft in the air. In mere moments until she was corkscrewing three feet in the air and still rising. Shining Armor grabbed one of her legs and pulled Philia back to the ground. The fusion kissed him on the cheek, and fluttered around the courtyard, examining everything curiously. Fluttershy followed close behind her, one hoof extended like she wanted to pet the fusion.





“Is this your birthday?” Pinkie Pie asked. Philia’s violet eyes latched on the pink pony, and briefly wondered why the pony seemed to be holding back her usual cheer.
“Yep! I think I need a birthday party!” Philia replied, firmly hugging her pink companion, Fluttershy gave a little squeak of envy.
“Can you make me a cake as tall as me?” Philia asked Pinkie, holding her high above the tall fusion to empathize her height. Pinkie Pie couldn’t help giggling.
“Yupperino!” she replied as Philia put her down.
“I wonder what powers I have,” Philia pondered as she suddenly picked up Fluttershy and set her on her back. The yellow pegasus cooed in delight.
“Warm-fluffy-ness?” Fluttershy suggested while stroking Philia’s neck.
“Most powers come out with years of training, but some can be revealed in stressful situations, or in surprise, instinctually,” Shining Armor explained.
“Right, Cadence knew… knows that. But we don’t how long we have until trouble shows up again. Somebody surprise me!’ Philia insisted.
“Already on it!” Rainbow Dash declared from a balcony high above them. In a blink she was flying right at Philia, about to knock the mare over. The ponies looking at Philia saw her eyes turn black, and Rainbow fell limply to the ground. Philia broke apart in a flash of light, and the ponies gathered around the pegasus.

“Rainbow!” Twilight Sparkle cried. “Are you alright?”
“What happened?” Rarity cried.
“I’m fine! My heart started hurting… it feels fine now though.”
“I think we were controlling the blood in your body, Rainbow- I’m sorry we hurt you,” Cadence apologized.
“I’m so sorry, Rainbow! What if I caused permanent damage? What if you have blood clot issues in the future because I did this? How can you ever forgive me?”
“Twilight, cool down. We’re friends, and you didn’t mean it,” Rainbow Dash replied confidently. “And I’m sure those other things won’t happen either- right?”
“Of course not!” Shining Armor answered. “Rainbow will be fine.” Twilight wasn’t convinced- did she have a book about long-term magic efforts in her library somewhere? Maybe Starlight could send her one.

“I didn’t realize fusions could be so… dangerous.” Rarity mused.
“Moving that close to anyone that quickly could cause the pony being rushed to reflexively defend their self. It’s better to test out powers in a more controlled setting,” Shining Armor argued.
“I thought this was a controlled setting,” Applejack argued back.
“I wasn’t in control!” Twilight declared in a panic. “What if I fuse again and I hurt somepony else?”
“You didn’t hurt Rainbow Dash, Twilie- WE did. It’s hard to say what traits will show up in a fusion, but everything you do is a result of the ponies combined personalities. You don’t think anyone here would hurt somepony innocent, do you?”
“Of course not.”
“Than don’t fret. We have plenty of time to practice so accidents don’t happen.”
Twilight wanted to, and tried to breathe like Cadence showed her. But it was hard to dismiss the doubt that gnawed inside her.


****


Twilight told her friends she had an official Princess of Friendship duty she needed to check up on, and promptly hid in the Crystal Palace’s library. It was Shining Armor, Cadence, and Flurry Hearts’ personal collection of books- a lot of which were presents Twilight had given to them over various holidays. While not as large as the library in the city, the three book cases in the tiny side room not far from the royal bedroom were all Twilight needed to distract herself.

As she began to organize the books alphabetically by author, genre, then age, Twilight noticed a lot of the books were still in pristine condition- not even a little bent at the spines. Had they not been read? Did Twilight not even know her family well enough to give them gifts they’d like, either?
Reflecting her own misery inside her mind, Twilight heard a muffled sob outside the library’s door. Curiously, she opened the door to see who it was, and heard retreating hoof steps down the hallway. She glanced at the direction the sound came from, only to catch a glimpse of a small pink figure disappearing down some stairs. She started to follow after it, but stopped when she heard a familiar voice call her from behind.

“Twilight, darling, are you finished with that Princess business of yours?” Rarity asked. Twilight put a friendly smile on her face and turned around, noticing that Fluttershy, looking worried, was there also.
“Yes, I think so…” she replied. Not wanting to keep her friends waiting, Twilight hoped that maybe whoever was crying would be alright without her intervention. It could be something embarrassing, like a stubbed hoof or spilling something on their clothes, after all.
“May we go somewhere private? Fluttershy and I would like to discuss something,” Rarity asked.
“Of course, I think I know just the place,” Twilight replied. 

She lead them down the hallway to a pair of opaque crystal doors, decorated in a mosaic of crystal that graduated in color from blue to purple to pink on top. Turning the door handles with the pink glow of her magic, Twilight led her pair of friends onto a small balcony that hung several stories above the ground. It was high enough over the courtyard below that no pony could over hear them without flying- and Pegasi were in the minority in the Crystal Empire.

When all three ponies were on the balcony, Twilight closed the doors behind them. Twilight silently admired the shapes the weather patrol had made from the clouds for a minute before Rarity spoke.
“Fluttershy and I were talking, and we think that it might be better if we sit this adventure out,” she confessed. Twilight snapped to full attention on her friends- it wasn’t like them to not want to help.
“Why?”
“This all seems a little more war-like than we’re used to, and Fluttershy and I aren’t really the fighting type,” the white unicorn explained. “I can’t imagine we’d make fusions that could help the lost crystal ponies.”
“But you’re both so in-tune with your emotions, and thoughtful of others- you’d be great at fusing!” Twilight argued. “Unlike me… I thought I knew you all so well- but I can’t seem to get out of my own head.”
“Oh no, Twilight, I’m the weak link of our friends,” Fluttershy insisted. “I’d be too scared to do anything against those beasts that are working with the Diamond Dogs.”

Before any more words of protest, Twilight heard a pop of magic from the courtyard below, and whirled around to get a better look. A small pink unicorn faced a dark aqua furry figure slowing walking towards the unicorn. It seems like the shape of a pale pink shield was trying to form around the unicorn child, but the unicorn just couldn’t get the spell to stay up.





“Oh dear,” Rarity gasped as she looked at what Twilight was seeing. When the furry figure got close enough, it grabbed the unicorn a moment after the spell failed, and started to run with the kid out of the courtyard. Twilight didn’t think they were playing a game.
“Get help!” she yelled at her friends, and teleported a yard away from the fleeing figure, with whom Twilight made eye contact with. It was the former Tourmaline, now escaped and carrying Stellar Quartz over its shoulder. The fused being tried to plow through the alicorn, but Stellar Quartz’s struggling to free himself made the creature lose its balance, which helped Twilight dart out of the way.

“Help! She’s getting away!” Stellar yelled.
“I’m with you!” Twilight called as she chased after the pair. She had to rescue Stellar, and hopefully recapture the fusion. What kind of spell could she use that wouldn’t put the colt at risk? And how had Stellar gotten in this situation in the first place? She had a theory...
“Did you let her out?” Twilight shouted as she managed to keep a few paces behind the pair. They left the palace grounds and started racing into the city.
“Yell at me after you catch her!” He replied, his failed attempts to cast a shield spell still sparking from his horn as they turned a corner. They raced around ponies on the street, and the fusion did it’s best to knock barrels and other inanimate objects into the alicorn’s path. Twilight dodged what she could, knowing without her wings to make her jumps longer and higher she would’ve tripped. Twilight wasn’t sure how long she could keep this pace up, but she was determined not to lose them.

Like a shooting star, Rainbow Dash flew over Twilight Sparkle and gave her hope. Her wings beat like a hummingbird’s as she kept pace next to the lavender mare.
“What’s going on?” She asked the Princess.
“We need… to catch… those two…” Twilight managed between breaths. “Anyone… else.. coming?”
“Please, I can catch ‘em with one wing tied behind my back,” Rainbow Dash declared, gliding forward towards the escapee and kidnapee. The pegasus tried to grab the furry being, but it only ducked and dodged out of the way with amazing athletic prowess, somehow still keeping its speed up and holding onto the struggling colt.

“Hold still!” Rainbow Dash yelled at it in frustration. But with the fusion’s attention diverted, it was unprepared when Stellar Quartz’s horn finally produced a pale teal bubble shield around the colt’s body. It popped the fusion’s grip off of Stellar, and the bubble bounced off a nearby street lamp and began rolling ahead of them. The former crystal pony and Twilight raced to seize the bubble shield, but Rainbow Dash was even faster. A moment before she had the colt, he was lassoed and brought over to Applejack.

“Hey, I almost had him!” Rainbow Dash yelled at the Earth Pony mare.
“Well, I have him for real, sugar cube,” AJ replied with a cocky smile. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie ran up from behind Applejack- all of Twilight’s best mare friends were here. Stellar Quartz’s spell fizzled out, and Applejack placed the colt on her back as he recovered from vertigo.
“But who has her?” Twilight cried, pointing to the retreating fusion. All of mares rushed after it, but its head start was too much, and the fusion quickly slid down a sewer drain.

“We’ve lost it!” Twilight moaned.
“Not yet we haven’t!” AJ declared as she forced open a nearby manhole and leapt in, ignoring the ladder in favor of speed.
“There is no way I’m going down there!” Rarity protested in horror.
“Suck it up- we need all hands on deck,” Rainbow Dash commanded- a certain Wonderbolts commander clearly had rubbed off on her. She leaped in, dragging Rarity after her as the white unicorn cried:
“At least let me grab my boo-oooooooots!” Pinkie Pie accidentally knocked a hesitating Fluttershy down in her excited leap down the hole, and Twilight followed after them. It had looked dark down the manhole, but Twilight was surprised how long they fell. She had enough time to light up her friends with her magic, which in turned allowed each flying pony to grab a non-flying one, slowing their descent just in time to not crash into the shallow water below.





Rarity screamed as they touched down, and she pranced in place like she wished she could keep her hooves above the smelly water.
“Do you know how long it’ll take to WASH THIS SMELL OUT?” the unicorn mare screeched.
“You’ll be fine,” AJ declared. Rarity glared at the earth pony, and opened her mouth to argue, but Twilight interrupted.
“Everypony be quiet a moment!” They listened. In the glow of Twilight’s light spell they could see around them in the rounded stone tunnel, but as powerful as the alicorn was, the light could only stretch so far. Twilight tried not to look in the murky water they stood in, and instead focused on the splashing sounds she heard faintly down right side of the tunnel.

“Rarity, can you handle the light a moment?” she whispered. With a dour expression the unicorn obliged. Twilight dismissed her own spell and summoned a magic firefly, whispering “this way” to it. The firefly would follow them, magically duplicating itself every time they made a turn. Hopefully, they could use the trail of fireflies to find their way back- or to lead the Crystal Pony guards to them whenever they began to catch up.
“Follow me,” she whispered to her friends. Twilight re-lit her horn, and began wading down the right side of the tunnel. The sewers of the Crystal Empire were vast, with so many different corridors off of each tunnel that it became maze-like to walk through it. None of them had clocks, but it seemed like they walked around in circles for hours.

Without her spell in place, Twilight wasn’t sure she could find her way back to where they started. And while there were more manholes that led to the surface, in the dark it was hard to find the ladders to climb to them. It was odd- shouldn’t there be some light system so the maintenance workers could see down here?
Twilight strained her ears to hear the distant splashing so as to not lose the trail of what she hoped was the escaped fused pony, but eventually Twilight wasn’t sure if she was following the creature or the echos of their own steps through the murky water. She paused, and the ponies behind her followed suit. After a moment of silence, it was clear nothing else was making noise beside water dripping off the walls.

“We lost it?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, figuring it out before Twilight could admit it.
“You mean we can all this way for NOTHING?” Rarity cried indignantly.
“I should’ve lassoed that critter when I had the chance,” AJ sighed.
“I’m sorry, everypony,” Twilight apologized. “Maybe when Shining and the guards catch up with us, we can search more of the area.”
“Guards?” Fluttershy asked.
“Shining and the guards are coming, right? Somepony told them what we were doing?” Twilight asked worriedly. Her five friends all shook their heads.
“I guess we all thought somepony else would,” Apple Jack said morosely.
“Well, that settles it. We’ve lost our quarry and no help is coming. We’d better leave before before this day gets even more dreadful.” Rarity insisted.
“You’re right,” Twilight replied dejectedly. “Let’s go.”

The group turned around, and Twilight led them back the way they came. Going straight forward, they past several turning points before it dawned on Twilight that they had made a turn sooner than this. Where were her fireflies? The first one was still flying around her, but it’s duplicates showing the path back appeared to have disappeared.
“Twilight?” Pinkie Pie asked when Twilight stopped moving. After a pregnant pause, she replied,
“I’m not sure how to get back.”
“You mean we’re LOST?” Rainbow exclaimed in shock.
“NO NO NO NO NO NO! We cannot have no way to get out of his dreadful place!”
“I might be able to teleport myself back to the palace and get help,” Twilight suggested.
“But how would you find us again?” Fluttershy asked worriedly. Twilight’s answer was cut off by an unexpected splash from behind AJ. What looked like a tall shadow of a pony with glowing green eyes loomed over the orange earth pony. Its fore hooves reached for the colt on her back that had fallen asleep while they walked. AJ leaped out of reach and hooved over the colt to Twilight.

“What’s going on?” Stellar Quartz asked groggily. As Twilight looked around, her magic’s light picked up more shadowy ponies wading in the water and crawling over the walls and ceiling like gravity didn’t exist: they were completely surrounded. The colts eyes widened as he too noticed the threat, his mouth turning round into a silent “oh”.

As the shadowy beings began to swarm them, Apple Jack raced into them, bucking and hitting as she went, occasionally kicking Pinkie Pie- who rolled herself into a ball and laughed as she bounced off the walls like a pinball, somehow not hitting her friends. Rainbow Dash aimed for the ceiling ponies, kicking and hitting them to knock them off. Fluttershy floated in the middle of the tunnel to avoid the melee.

Twilight wasn’t sure if she was thankful that the creatures could be hit or terrified that they could touch everypony. With Rarity defending her, Twilight cast a large light spell that hung above them like several large chandelier so they could better see what they were dealing with, and the shadowy figures seemed endless, still streaming in from the ends of the tunnel where the light from her spell didn’t reach.

As the majority of the ponies seemed to be moving towards her and the pink unicorn in her hooves- rather than trying to grab her friends- Twilight realized they must be after Stellar Quartz for some reason. Knowing she’d quickly run out of energy if she just blasted magic in her usual offense, Twilight managed to get the only ponies nearby- Rarity, Stellar and herself- under a force shield while she tried to think of a better plan.

Then Apple Jack lost her footing in the water while standing on her back hooves. In a pink blur, Pinkie Pie bounced off the nearest wall and linked arms with the orange mare, turning her fall into a spin. Sharing a grin with her fellow earth pony, AJ grabbed Pinkie’s other arm and kept spinning, letting Pinkie Pie’s back legs hit all the shadow ponies nearby them. The pair laughed, and suddenly they disappeared into a mass of light that was brighter than Twilight’s spell.

Standing where the Earth Pony mares used to be was a peach-colored Ponytaur with a long wavy mane, pairs of teal eyes on both her face and neck, plus a tiny top hat covering one ear. Her cutie mark was three apple-shaped balloons, and her sly smile was contagious.
“Wow, I did that fusion thing,” she in a naturally loud voice. “Bet I can make this fight more fun!”
“Oh yeah?” Rainbow Dash challenged while bucking shadow creatures off the ceiling. “What can you do that I can’t?”
“Guess we’ll have just have to see as we go!” the fusion replied. The shadow ponies stood warily around the fusion as she breezily stretched out her limbs. Then with a grin, the peach fusion leaped up, grabbed a large pipe on the ceiling with her upper legs, and began kicking the shadow ponies on the walls with all four lower legs.

“Whoa, a fused pony!” Stellar Quartz gasped in awe. Twilight had been so distracted by the fight, and trying to think of a plan that she must’ve missed when he woke up.
“She certainly is a sight,” Rarity said uncertainly.
“Why aren’t we fighting too?” Stellar demanded. “I want to help!”
“We have to protect you, darling. You’re too young to be out in that vicious environment.”
“But I’ve had fighting lessons!” Stellar argued.
“You can help with knowledge! Do you know much about fusions?” Twilight asked Stellar. The fusion in question was knocked down near the unicorns, causing them to jump in surprise.
“Why isn’t she using her weapon?” Stellar Quartz asked as shadow ponies tried to hold the fusion down with their numbers. Rainbow Dash flew over to help, knocking some of the shadow ponies off.
“Weapon?” Twilight asked.
“All fusions have a weapon they can summon or a power they can use- didn’t you know?” Stellar asked.
“Pink-App- err… DID YOU HEAR THAT?” Twilight called out to the fusion.
“Call me Hoedown!” The fusion replied as she kicked out most of the shadow ponies and got back to her feet. “How do I do that?”
“My aunts weren’t very clear on that part!” Stellar yelled in reply. “I think it’s a gut instinct or something!”

A screech interrupted their conversation. Fluttershy had been dodging the shadow ponies from her mid-air hiding spot- who had been mostly ignoring her as she wasn’t attacking- but it appeared some of them had gotten a hold of her tail and were pulling her towards them. Her cry of help made Rainbow Dash pause briefly to see what was going on, and that pause was all the shadow ponies on the ceiling needed to fall on the cyan pegasus, using their numbers to pile on top of her and Fluttershy.

“Rainbow Dash! Fluttershy!”
Hoedown raced forward to help, but like a waterfall the shadow ponies fell down on her, too. The unicorns gasped at the sight. The remaining shadow creatures surrounded Twilight’s magic shield and began pounding on it, the noise drowning out Twilight’s thoughts.
“Take down the force field! We have to save them!” Stellar insisted.
“I want to help, but there’s too many creatures out there- we wouldn’t be able to protect you!” Twilight argued.
“We have to do SOMETHING!” Rarity declared.

“I… WILL… HELP!” Hoedown yelled, flinging the shadow creatures off of her. Her cutie mark was shining, and her whole body had crystallized. Her upper hooves touched her cutie mark and she somehow withdrew a long shepherd's cane with a bell on it from out of the mark. She smacked the cane back and forth at the shadow ponies, the sound of the bell ringing bringing hope to her friends.

The shadow ponies surrounding the force shield raced after the fusion, but Hoedown kept knocking the ponies away as she marched forward towards the trapped Pegasi, each step she took shaking the ground.
“Hoedown!” Twilight cried out, worried about the stability of these old stone sewers. But her warning was mistaken for joining in Stellar and Rarity’s cheers of triumph. The creatures amassed on stop of Fluttershy screeched as they were knocked aside by the cane, until nothing but the shivering pegasus was revealed.
“Thank you!” Fluttershy gasped, and raced over to Twilight’s shield, letting the lavender mare extend it to include the pegasus.

The wriggling mass that was holding Rainbow Dash was bigger, and shook as the pegasus underneath tried to free herself. Hoedown lifted her cane high in the air, and then slammed the bottom of it onto the wet stone floor. The shockwaves it made caused the pile of shadow ponies to topple off Rainbow Dash, who leapt into the air as soon as she was free.

But the sewer tunnel continued to shake. The shadow ponies fled like leaves blown away in the wind, and the murky water began to drain away as the stones making the tunnel began to crumble. Twilight released her shield bubble, turning it into a large umbrella shape to shield her friends from falling debris. Hoedown separated, leaving a sheepish looking Apple Jack and worried Pinkie Pie in her place.
“We’re doomed!” Rarity sobbed.
“What should we do?” Fluttershy asked in a panic.
“Everypony calm down and-!” Twilight started to say, but the floor collapsed beneath them. Twilight opened her wings to try to slow her fall, but the stones in the air around her kept hitting her in various places- making it difficult to even glide.
As they fell into darkness, Twilight managed spot Stellar Quartz falling nearby her, and levitated him to her. She only just managed to wrap her hooves around him protectively when something heavy hit the back of her head.





“Princess Twilight! Please wake up!”
Twilight opened her eyes, gazing up at the colt standing next to her.
“Stellar Quartz?” she said groggily, and reflexively tried to sit up. Pain pinched across her body, and she groaned, falling back down onto the dirt floor. She was covered in bruises from that fall.
“Princess, are you alright?” Stellar asked in concern. Twilight experimentally tried to stand more slowly, and Stellar moved in to help, providing something solid to pull herself up with. Although she ached, she found she could stand. She must not have any broken bones.
“I will be,” Twilight replied to the colt. “Are you?”
“Yeah, you shielded me from most of the debris during our fall- thank you, Princess Twilight.”
“Please, just call me Twilight,” the unicorn mare said with a smile at Stellar.

Twilight lit up her horn and looked around. Each direction she looked there was a tall dirt wall, until she realized they were in a pit that was too small for her to completely stretch out her wings. Looking up, she saw that it was at least twelve times higher than she was.
“Do you think you can teleport us out of here, Twilight?” Stellar Quartz asked when the mare’s eyes returned to him.
“If I could picture what the top of the pit looked like, maybe. But since I was unconscious at the time, I don’t have that image to focus on.”
“I remember what it looks like! Could you teach me how to teleport?” Stellar asked eagerly.
“No- that’s an advanced spell grown unicorns have trouble with,” Twilight explained, but at his disappointed expression, added: “But I wouldn’t be opposed to teaching you when you’re older.”
“If we ever get out of here,” Stellar moaned.

“Did you happen to see where my friends went? Maybe they can help us.”
“It was too dark with too much stuff in the air.”
Twilight looked around the pit again, her problem-solving brain hard at work.
“Then we’ll have to climb out of here.”
“How? The sides are too steep, and we don’t have a rope or a ladder.”
“We have our magic and hooves! We’ll pile the dirt from the ground against one side of the pit so we have a less steep incline to climb.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier just to levitate me to the top?” Stellar asked, reluctant.
“I know you think you can take care of yourself, but we seem very outnumbered down here. We need to stick together so we can watch each other’s backs, and I wouldn’t be able to do anything from down here if something was dangerous up there,” Twilight rationalized. “C’mon, let’s start digging.” She cast a candle-sized light spell slightly above them, then kicked a small pile of dirt against the wall nearest to her.

Stellar didn’t seem convinced, but the colt began to help anyway. For what seemed like hours, they would scrape dirt from one side of the pit’s wall and floor and bring it to the other. Occasionally, they would lightly pack down the top with their hooves to keep the dirt together. As the pile got taller, Twilight began to levitate clumps of dirt to the top, and coached Stellar in doing it, too.

Twilight Sparkle could tell Stellar Quartz wasn’t used to physical labor- not that she could talk- but the colt was surprisingly mature in that he never complained, even as he was breathed heavily and his movements slowed. When the pile became halfway up the hole, the ponies decided to rest. They each laid against a side of the pile, catching their breath. Twilight wished she had water they could share, but of course she hadn’t taken the time to pack anything.
After a minute or two of silence, Stellar asked:
“Twilight? Do you think my family might all be forced fusions like Tourmaline and Amethyst Armor?”
“I don’t have enough information to know for sure- but that would certainly explain why they’re so focused on you,” the princess replied carefully.
“Do you think my family is behind the pony-nappings?” Stellar Quartz asked, his voice raising in panic. Twilight wanted to soothe the colt, but knew a prolonged silence would only worry him more. As a result, she stumbled over her quick response.
“NO! I’m not saying- well, they seem to act like beasts- I’m sorry, like I said, I don’t have enough information.” The colt didn’t reply, and Twilight sighed, stretching her legs out.
“Stellar, whatever is going on with your family, it’s not of their own volition, I’m sure- bad ponies couldn’t raise a caring and brave colt like you. If they are all forced into fusion, we’ll rescue them and bring them back to their senses!”
Stellar Quartz sniffled a little in response, and Twilight wished he would face her so she could see if he was crying. But his tiny pink back remained in view, and if he was crying it was soundless.


****


After a too-short nap, Twilight Sparkle carefully climbed up their dirt mound, calculating how much more work they had to do. She sent a small ball of light as high as it would go, and almost panicked when she found a dirt ceiling. But while moving the light methodically around the top of the pit, she saw that there was an sideways opening on one of the walls.
“We’re about halfway there,” she told her companion, who she noticed had a determined look on his face as she climbed down to the floor.
“Then let’s get back to work!” Stellar replied, almost excited. The two continued their task, and as their repetitive movements became practiced, Stellar began to sing a little. His small tenor voice gave them a rhythm to work to, and the silly lyrics about digging and dirt were catchy enough that Twilight found herself singing along.



When the song ended, Twilight asked with a chuckle:;
“Where did you learn to compose great songs like that?”
“My Dad- his name is Geode- was a traveling bard before he met my Mom. He often liked making up little songs about what was going on around him. Since I liked singing along with him he taught me how, and how to play a lot of different instruments, too.”
“Are you going to be a musician like your Dad?”
“I want to be a royal guard pony, like my Mom and her friends.”
“Oh? Why’s that?” Twilight asked curiously. The colt’s response seemed like almost forced excitement.
“Because guard ponies know all kinds of fighting techniques, and wear cool armor, and… get to... stand...around…”
“Those aren’t the real reasons, though.” Twilight stated. The colt looked guiltily at the mare, then sighed.

“It’s just… my mom spends so much time away from home, it feels like she doesn’t really know me. She and her friends try, but I think if I were a guard pony too, we could spend more time getting to know each other.”
“That’s very astute of you. How does your Dad feel about it?”
Stellar paused before saying:
“He worries about the fighting, and doesn’t really like it when my Aunts- oh, I mean my Mom’s friends- give me battle lessons. But he says he wants me to happy.”
“It sounds like your family loves you a lot,” Twilight commented. She patted down one last pile of dirt, and looked up at the mound.
“I think we’re ready to climb out.”


To be continued...