"Is that it?" Oort asked, pointing over the side of the dragon as icy winds lashed at his fur.
"No." Spike replied, flatly; a hint of irritation on his tongue at being asked, yet again, if a large gash in the side of a mountain was the home of unicorns.
"How can you tell where we're going? It's so cloudy down there." Dawn sounded out in concern as she cautiously peered over the side.
"I have flown these skies many times; I know where we are and where we're going." Spike sighed, as if speaking to bothersome children who ask too many questions, yet are too young to believe their parents answers.
The dragon tuned out the metaphorical buzzing of the two ponies as they surveyed their frigid surroundings and soon found himself lost in thought as he played out this journey in his head, as he had done so many times, before...
"Fear not, sweet Rarity! After a long and arduous journey, I have finally found you!" Spike declared, triumphantly, as he took a heroic pose before the six mares, who swooned at his feet and thanked him in a chorus of appreciation.
"Not so fast, little dragon!" Discord bellowed, appearing before the heroic savior and sending the mares scurrying behind the scaled hero for safety. "Those mares are mine and, as soon as I've dealt with you, they're going right back into stone where they belong! I may even make you a nice little paperweight!"
"Over my dead body, beast! Have at thee!" Spike snarled before spreading his wings and charging the draconequus; the pair clashing claws in mid air as they swirled about, struggling to one-up the other, all while the mares below cheered their purple friend onwards towards yet another victory. "You've defiled this land and tortured its denizens; today, you pay for your crimes!"
"Over my dead body, dragon!" Discord barked, as he made a lunge for the dragon, allowing Spike a critical opportunity to strike at the exposed opening as the draconequus stretched its arms towards him.
"Precisely." Spike uttered with a grin, charging the exposed belly of the beast with open jaws until teeth met skin and blood spurted out across the dragons' snout as Discord let out a cry of pain. But Spike did not release his grasp, and instead dug his teeth deeper and deeper into his flesh until he had bitten clean through, letting Discord's body fall to the ground as the monsters' gurgling cries fell silent.
Below, the mares released thundering hoofsteps in joyous approval, and Spike gracefully landed before them to bow in respect as he wiped his jaw clean.
"Our hero!" the group announced in unison, charging to throw themselves at the dragons' feet once more, before Spike was suddenly pulled from his day dream by the rough tapping of a hoof against the back of his head.
"Hey, hey!" Oort sounded, irritatingly. "Is that it?"
"No, that is not-" Spike began, letting his temper flare up for a moment before he looked towards the decently sized hole in the side of a mountain. "...That is actually it."
Oort beamed with pride as he turned to look back at Dawn for approval, who simply gave an amused smile and shook her head, slightly, in disbelief, as the dragon began to descend.
"Frost-Horn." a stoutly gray unicorn began, calmly, as he held his temper in check. "Let me get this straight. You were at your post, guarding the mouth of the cave. Our home. The place where we sell goods, where we sleep, where we raise our children. Then, a dragon with two pegasi on its back flies down and asks if it can come in. is that right?"
"Yes, sir, Captain Serenity." Frost-Hown nodded, slightly shaking in his heavy cloak. But he was not shaking from the frigid cold wind that periodically blew into the cave. Rather, he was shaking due to the presence of the massive dragon standing patiently, behind him.
"Then, for what reason in all of TARTARUS did you bring it inside?!?" Captain Serenity screamed, forcing the other stallion to collapse to his feet in fear. "Get out of my sight! You are stripped of your rank, Frost!"
The fearful stallion, his mind being torn between fleeing and curling into a ball to die, froze as it struggled to choose the best course of action, until a flare of Captain Serenity's magic sent him scurrying deeper into the cave with a frightful whine. Once the soldier had gone, Captain Serenity eyed the dragon and his companions, suspiciously.
"Who are you, and what do you want? I know you're not here to cause trouble, or you'd already be doing so." the unicorn explained.
"I am Spike, and this is Dawning Amity and Oort." the dragon replied. "We came seeking a guide to an old fortress in the area. We are prepared to pay."
"I'll need to inspect your payment." the Captain began, trotting over to the pair of ponies to eye them, more closely, before the dragon spoke up, once more.
"They are not for sale, Captain." Spike said, as he turned his head downwards and began gagging.
After a short time, and a bewildered stare from the three ponies, Spike spat out a glob of dripping green goo that sizzled as it burned the grit and other small debris that littered the cave floor. Before anyone could speak to voice their disgust, a small jet of green fire spurt from between the dragons' teeth and engulfed the blob, burning away the putrid stomach acid to reveal a raw sapphire the size of a pony's' head.
With great reluctance, the unicorn approached the uncut gem and did his best to inspect it, before turning his head towards the dragon. "Go on in, but keep those two freaks close to you and out of trouble. If any of you cause trouble, my guards will be on you before you know it; and we won't be asking you politely to leave."
Spike gave a simple nod in agreement as he swallowed the gem whole, once more. Beside him, Oort struggled to keep what little food was in his belly down, while Dawn's face was riddled in a mix of fear and anger over the revelation that unicorns dabbled in slavery.
"What the hay was that about?!" Oort began, the first to speak as the trio made their way deeper into the well-lit cave. "That was disgusting!"
"Do you see any bags hanging over my sides?" Spike retorted. "How else do you expect me to carry things?"
"I don't know, just... Not like that!" Oort finished, with a shake of his head. "Warn me next time you're going to do that."
Spike simply gave a shrug as the trio left the narrowing tunnel and emerged into a massive room, riddled with holes carved out into the walls that were turned into shops and housing, complete with wooden boards for doors and shutters as unicorns hawked their wares to any passerby. Near the middle of the room, several ponies stood on a raised platform, and one seemed to be speaking quickly and loudly to a crowd that had gathered before them. As they neared, it became apparent that this was a slave auction, and Dawn reeled back in horror that ponies would stoop low enough to sell their own kind to the highest bidder. As they walked past, a young unicorn mare with a white coat and dirty blue mane was sold for sixty pounds of gems. She didn't even have a cutie mark.
"Dawn, look at that." Oort called from ahead of her, pulling the pegasus mare from her thoughts and sorrow as she followed her friends' hoof. A short distance away, large wooden cages filled with sad looking monsters sat behind a pair of unicorns. The next moment, Dawn realized that these weren't ordinary beasts, but creations of Discord! The Grycordia with its tail snipped and wings clipped barely gave a snarl as a foal approached it and gave a cautious pet through the bars, before its mother snatched it up and began scolding it.
"The unicorns proved themselves far better suited to the harsh realities of this world than most other species." Spike explained. "While they may have survived Discord, their own downfall turned out to be themselves and how they adapted to this world. A long time ago, unicorns were the pioneers of magical arts: magical defense, technomagic hybrids, street performances, it didn't matter what. Everything they dabbled in was done for the betterment of Equestria and Equestrians."
"How did they get to this point?" Dawn asked, as she passed a group of children playing king-of-the-hill atop a pile of rocks.
"Desperate times change a pony." Spike stated. "When you go without food, water, or shelter for so long, when every day you live is spent avoiding the talons of another beast, you adapt. You try anything to get what you need. Unfortunately, it's far easier to betray your brother for a meal than it is to starve, together."
"There are so many ponies, here. I've never seen so many in my entire life." Oort blurted out, in amazement.
"The north was far easier to adapt to, for unicorns. Less visibility meant less threat of a monster eating you, and the dangerous passages throughout the mountain range were easily conquered with magic. Frankly, I'm simply surprised there aren't more unicorns staring at us; not often you see a dragon, let alone a pair of pegasi."
"Should we be worried?" Dawn piped up.
"I wouldn't be. If a fight does break out, this room will trap the heat from my flames and cook everything alive." Spike mused.
"Lovely." Oort said, with a groan.
"Don't worry, my scales do well in extreme heat; I'll keep you two tucked safe in my wings." the dragon continued, his eyes becoming fixed on something in the distance.
The next moment, Dawn saw it: an orange unicorn mare with a yellow mane and a dirty straw hat flanked by a stack of loosely bound books, beckoning the trio closer.
"Ooh, you all must be travellers! What brings you to our cozy cave?" the mare bounced, her voice dripping with a very forced, traditional southern accent.
Spike eyed the mare with intense suspicion, seemingly trying to place the familiarity before giving up. "We are looking for guide to a nearby fort."
"Oh, you must mean Fort Artemis! The one just over Mount Talonshire?" the mare bounced.
"I... Suppose so? I am unfamiliar with this area and its names." Spike admitted.
"Oh, don't fret; we didn't name either of those. They were named way back when there were lots of other ponies living around here, before Discord was around, if you can believe that. I'm Red Delicious, and I know this area like my own hoof." the orange mare bowed, in respect.
Something clicked in Spike's mind, betrayed only by the narrowing of his eye slits, as he placed the familiarity. "Tell me, Red Delicious, how does a unicorn make a straw hat so far north?"
"Oh, this old thing? Well, I've actually travelled all over this world and seen a lot of stuff. Got it down south when I was helping a band of pegasuses till the land for their crops." Red Delicious said.
"Mhm. And is that where you picked up that ridiculous accent?" Spike mused in disbelief.
"I'll have you know this accent has been in my family for generations, thank ya kindly!" Red Delicious defended, passionately.
"Of course. Regardless, we need a guide. Would you be willing to lead us to Fort Artemis?" Spike asked.
"Well, that depends on what you've got to offer me, now doesn't it?" Red stated as-a-matter-of-factly.
Spike's teeth showed in pleasure as he smiled, and Oort hurriedly turned his face away as he held his snout in disgust.
"Woo wee!" Red exclaimed as she took a stance against the icy wind that blew towards the cave, towards her home. "Can't believe I get to go outside, again! It's been so long since I was last out here."
"Which way to the fort?" Spike asked, straight to the point.
"About a three days' walk in that direction-" Red pointed to the west, over the cave entrance. "provided we have good weather. In this brewing storm, though, I reckon it'd take us about a week. Hope you brought some food for yourselves."
Dawn and oort looked, unsurely, up at Spike, who stared silently at Red before picking her up and placing her on his back, prompting the pegasi to hop on, as well, despite the mares' protests. "What in tarnation are you doing? Let me back down or I'll call the guards!"
"You can drop the horrendous accent, now." Spike said as he spread his wings and steadily lifted himself into the air. "Your hooves don't have a days worth of wear on them, and there's no 'band of pegasi' down south; they've all scattered to survive. You got all of your information out of books, and lying to fill in the gaps."
"I'm not a liar! How'd I get this hat if I've never been down south, then?!" Red shot back, clinging to the ridges on the back of Spikes' neck as he took off over the mountain, towards the west.
"We passed a wild wheat field on our way up here, about a half a day's walk downhill. You've never left the mountains, have you?" Spike challenged.
For a while, the mare was silent as he unseen face was twisted in irritation. "Fine. My name is Crystal Shard." she finally admitted, in a crisp, somewhat posh voice.
"Lying may get you somewhere, at home, Crystal Shard-" Spike began, thoughtfully. "But it can also pay to be honest."
"What does it matter what I say my name is, or where I say I've been?" Crystal retorted. "At home, I'm just boring old Crystal Shard, buried in her rotting books. But, in my head, I can be Red Delicious, travelling farm pony who sees the world and helps others!"
"There is comfort in fantasy, Crystal Shard, but think of all the good you could be doing if you used your knowledge to help your town." Spike said. "You have a desire to help others and to see the world; you are a free spirit if ever I saw one - exactly what this world needs."
Although she fell silent after the dragons' words, Dawn could see that the mare was lost in contemplation for the next few hours.
"Is that it?" Oort piped up, with an amused smile.
"What? Oh, yes, that's the fort, down there!" Crystal observed, directing Spike towards the crumbling building.
In no time at all, the group had landed in the deep snow before the archway granting entrance to the fort, and Dawn noted to herself that, underneath the snow, the once proud oak door had crumbled into mulch long ago.
"It's... Smaller than I was expecting." Oort spoke up, eyeing the dragon-sized stone building and its dark interior. "You thought this place had the Elements of Harmony?"
"The Elements of-" Crystal Shard began, in wonder, before Spike hushed and interrupted her.
"The fort is deep underground, accessible only by a stairway in this building." Spike explained, crawling through the archway with the ponies in tow, before he brushed away debris from the center of the room to reveal a large pit that had once held a spiral stairway; the only remnants of which lay broken and crushed at the bottom of the pit, having collapsed in on itself centuries ago.
"Dragons first." Oort offered, with a smile, before Spike crawled down the hole with Oort following. Crystal Shard blocked Dawn from going down, eyeing her with a bewildered gaze.
"The Elements of Harmony?" she questioned.
Dawn was hesitant to respond; why had she taken such a sudden interest in the Elements? Did she know what they were? Did she know where they were? Dawn was tempted to call out to Spike in case this unicorn tried to hurt her, but she simply took a step back from the hole and cleared her throat in realization.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be so forward with you; we've barely met and all. Please don't be afraid of me." Crystal said. "I have actually been down south, but only once; to an ancient castle lost in the woods."
"What did you find there?" Dawn pressed, unsurely. She was still prepared to fight if things went south; offput from this mares demeanor.
"A pedestal buried in vines, with an inscription mostly unreadable. But I did recognize a few of the words that were left over, and I cross referenced them with an old book I managed to salvage from underneath that same castle." She continued. "That pedestal once held the Elements of Harmony. I don't know what happened to them, but they were gone by the time I got there."
"What did the inscription read? Maybe it said what happened to them?" Dawn asked, being pulled from her conversation by a call from Oort.
"I don't know, I couldn't read it all. But it mentioned a unicorn with wings named Lunaria, and that she fell a long way and I guess she died? It was all very confusing." Crystal recalled, as Oort flew back into the room to beckon the pair down.
"I was beginning to worry you two changed your minds." Spike mused as the group pooled in front of him, before Crystal Shard produced a light at the end of her horn and took the lead; her pace slow so that the lumbering dragon could keep up in the narrow hallway.
"Not to worry." Crystal replied with a smile at Spike. "So, what are we looking for?"
"Yes, indeed, what are you looking for?" a quiet voice sounded from ahead, causing the party to freeze and duck as Spike clambered over them in protection.
After a moment of silence, the voice revealed itself to belong to a smaller-than-Spike dragon with dull gray scales and sharp blue eyes. "Well, no need to be shy. What brings you, uninvited, into my home?"
"We mean neither you nor your home any disrespect; we believed this place to be abandoned." Spike spoke up. "We will leave if you wish."
"And go another few centuries without guests? Absolutely not!" the dragon exclaimed, as though offended. "Come, come, I'll cook up some Gryphon for us and you can tell me all about the world, upstairs! Has it gotten better? The last time I was up there, there wasn't a lick of life except for a few ponies here and there. Nowadays, I have enough Gryphons to feed me all winter!"
The trio of ponies exchanged wary glances before turning up towards Spike, whose face was solidly concerned at the dragons' demeanor, as if expecting a fight and not getting one.
"Well? Don't just stand there, come in! Come in!" the dragon beckoned, disappearing into a room on the side without needing to squeeze into the doorway.
Hesitantly, the group proceeded down the hall and into the room, leaving Spike at the door with his head poking in, as he was far too large to enter. Within the room, the dragon stood before a large pot sitting atop some logs in an indent in the wall, which quickly sprout into flames as the gray dragon breathed bright red fire onto the logs. Not long after, whatever liquid lay inside the pot began to bubble as the dragon took a seat across from the door.
"So, how is the wonderful world, out there? Teeming with life, I imagine? Is that brute of a draconequus still coming over every few years?"
"Uh... Bad, no, yes." Oort responded, in turn, leaving the dragon with an expression of subtle shock.
"Oh. I assumed it would have gotten better by now. Where are my manners, I'm Nyr'va. This old hole has been my home for the past, oh, I think seven hundred years, now?" Nyr'va introduced herself.
"I'm Spike, and these three are Dawning Amity, Oort, and Crystal Shard, respectively. We came here to find an old library." Spike explained.
"Oh! The library!" Nyr'va exclaimed, leaping to her claws and beaming in excitement. "Yes! It's still here, I've been taking care of the books ever since I got here; you wouldn't believe how old some of those books are, but I saved them all! Or, well, most of them. The ones that mattered, anyway."
"The ones that mattered?" Spike inquired, nervously.
"Yes, the ones with all the great pictures of the different types of creatures that used to be alive. I like to look at them when I'm hungry, sometimes; they all look just so good! I've always wondered what a Mantehcor tasted like; is it spicy, or sweet? that tail makes me wonder!" Nyr'va rambled on, before a groan from Spike caused her to stop.
"About how much of the library would you say is still intact?" Spike sighed.
"Oh, a couple of shelves here, a couple of shelves there. You want to see it? I love the library!" Nyr'va bounced, once more as Spike began to move from the doorway.
"No offense to you or your books, Miss Nyr'va," Oort interrupted. "But, could we eat, first? Please?"
A pained groan from Oort's stomach further pressed his plea.
"Oh, this is so exciting! I mean, I've never had guests over, let alone guests that are interested in my library! I love my library, did I mention that?" Nyr'va bounced as she led the party into a larger room that allowed Spike to stand to his full height as he no longer felt constricted.
As he did so, however, he noted in horror and sadness that tall shelves had once reached the ceiling in a time where the entire room was filled with books, portals in time to the worlds' past and all that came before it. Now, only pitiful piles sat in the corner, which Nyr'va hurried towards, carefully snatching and opening one of the books to a page showing the anatomy of a Manticore.
"See? Doesn't it look tasty?" Nyr'va questioned with a large grin on her face, letting all of her teeth show.
While Spike was distracted with his own disheartened thoughts, the trio of ponies began to explore the room by picking through the piles of rotten wood, ancient leather and paper, never hoping to fully comprehend everything that was lost to time in this room. Out of the corner of her eye, however, Dawn caught a glimpse of a glowing purple light along a far wall.
As she approached, the light from Crystal Shards' horn faded as she moved, and the purple glow disappeared. Dawns' gaze narrowed in confusion.
"Crystal Shard, come here for a moment." Dawn called, her eyes scanning the dark wall. As the unicorn grew nearer, and her light shone upon the wall, the purple glow appeared to fade in from nothingness once more, and grew only denser and brighter as she neared.
"Whoa, what is this?" the unicorn asked in amazement, scanning the glyphs and runes that swirled around in a circle before the pair. "They look like... Words, almost."
"What do you mean?" Dawn asked, seeing nonsense in the swirling purple light.
"Look, right here!" Crystal noted, bring her hoof up to one of the slower moving glyphs. "This means 'sacred', or 'secret', I'm not sure which. And this one is 'library'. I know that for sure."
"It's a secret room." Spike announced, unexpectedly, causing the pair to shriek in fear at the sudden appearance of such a large dragon.
"Sweet horse apples, you're quiet for such a big guy." Crystal Shard stated.
Spike gave an amused smile to himself and turned back towards Nyr'va, who had curiously followed him. "You wouldn't have known about this, would you have? it only showed up because of Crystal's light; it's activated by magic."
"How do we open it, then? I don't know any spells besides levitation and light." Crystal said.
"Do you see any guards around?" Spike mused, causing a confused glance to be cast on him as he stepped in front of the party and took a breath. in the next instance, the wall before him crumbled and collapsed to reveal the secret room. Much to everyone's delight, the room was filled with ornate looking books, glowing with their individual magic and appearing in pristine condition; an affect of the preservation spells cast upon them thousands of years ago. Spike beamed in happiness, quietly thanking whatever unicorn took such protective measures as he quickly scanned over the titles embroidered into the leather covers.
"There." he said, simply, reaching for a decently sized book with a dirty red cover and golden spine, whose cover was decorated with six different gemstones. When his claw neared, however, a powerful jolt of magic surged from the protective barrier to zap his claw, causing him to reel back in shock as he let out a pained growl.
"Stupid old fool..." he muttered to himself as he rubbed his singed claw. "The protective spell prevents any creature other than a unicorn from touching it; an ancient safeguard since the Order of the Sun and Moon, those who built this place, were entirely Unicorns. Crystal Shard, would you be so kind?"
Hesitantly, Crystal Shard reached out and teased the magical barrier, receiving no punishment. Quickly, she retrieved the book and breathed a sigh of relief, before opening it and flipping through the pages as quickly as Spike could read them.
The party stood motionless, expectantly, for several minutes with nothing but the gentle turning of pages and the occasional zap of magic lashing out at Nyr'va as she attempted to read the books breaking the peace.
After nearly an hour of apprehension, the tension finally broke as Spike groaned, once more. "I was afraid of that." he muttered.
"Afraid of what?" everyone inquired, at once; all deeply invested in whatever the dragon had learned.
"The Elements of Harmony aren't those trinkets, as I thought; those are simply a conduit for its power. In times of crisis or if the Bearers are rendered incapacitated, the Elements of Harmony will relocate themselves into the safest place in the entire world: The Canterlot Vaults."