//------------------------------//
// The Promises We Make And Paths We Take - Crystal Caverns 
// Story: The Guard And His Sword 
// by Himntor 
//------------------------------//

Well, things were not coming back together as much as I’d thought. With Katana having vanished, all there was to do was prepare for what waited for us at the caverns. Summer went off to collect her camera while Shining Armor and I went to the barracks to put a squad together and gear up. The Crystal Empire’s guard armor was quite different from what I was used to, aesthetically speaking, but it fit just fine and it was good to be back in armor again. I also got a nice broadsword with a sheath that fit around my torso. Nothing special about it, and it was bizarre to need a sheath for once, but it felt comforting to have.
In a few short minutes, Shining Armor had gathered the guards he wanted with us. Besides myself, Summer, and Shining Armor, we had Flash Sentry, Lightwing, and Peddlefoot. Three unicorns and three pegasi. They were some of the best Shining Armor had, so he said.
“You all be careful,” Cadance said before we left.
“Always, sweetie,” Shining Armor said before giving her a slightly prolonged kiss. Summer caught me staring and I quickly turned away. Ponyfeathers, was my face going red? Gah!
Fortunately, we quickly set off for the train station. It was too far to just walk to the caverns, especially with the snow just outside the Empire. Which was weird, having snow in the middle of summer that wasn’t scheduled. It reminded me of Everfree Forest’s spontaneous weather.
Summer herself kept up quite well with the galloping pace we set. She stayed close to me and kept a determined look on her face, though once we were seated on the train she was panting.
“Sorry for the run,” Shining Armor said, sitting across from us with Lightwing and Peddlefoot. “I hope that didn’t push you too hard.”
“Not at all!” Summer said in-between breaths. “Nothing like a good sprint just after… ugh… breakfast.”
“It’s about twenty minutes to the caverns, so take your time with recovery.”
“Oh, thank Celestia,” Summer sighed, slouching and letting her head fall on my shoulder.
“Sir, what’s our plan when we arrive?” Flash Sentry said, who was also sitting next to me.
“First we have to make sure everypony gets out of the caverns,” Shining Armor said. “We’ll have the tour guides do that while we close off and investigate the area. Flash, I want you to stick with Swordulan and Summer. Lightwing and Peddlefoot will be on point with me while you three watch our backs at a distance. If any of you run into Katana, you’re to detain and escort her to safety.”
“What about Stonehenge?” I asked.
“I don’t expect him to be there, but if he is, treat him the same as Katana. He’s got some explaining to do.”
I nodded. “Agreed. If he’s here though, I expect him to fight back against capture. So long as we don’t face him head-on, we should be okay.”
“What’s the deal with Stonehenge, anyway?” Summer asked. “Like, why did he disappear?”
“He was kicked out of the Royal Guard,” Shining Armor said. “Bad conduct discharge.”
Summer sat up. “What for?”
“It’s not for me to say.”
“For burning plants,” I said grimly. “He had a slight addiction. That, and he never got along well with anypony. Joining the Royal Guard was his way of trying to live up to the family legacy, to prove himself to his parents. My grandfather, Steel Shield, was a Captain-General, you see. Very distinguished. Both my father and uncle were going to join the Royal Guard, but destiny had a funny way of things and they both went into business together instead. So it was up to us kids to carry on Grandpa Steel’s legacy. Didn’t work out so well for Stonehenge, and Katana never wanted anything to do with the Royal Guard. When Stonehenge was kicked out, he went off to Fillydelphia, and we haven’t heard from him since.”
“That’s horrible,” Summer said, putting a hoof on my shoulder as if to comfort me. “I’m so sorry you’ve had to deal with all that.”
I shrugged. “Could’ve been worse. It’s the life of a Shield. Still… every now and then I wonder what it would be like to have siblings, but then I’m grateful I don’t because I wouldn’t want them to have to go through what I did. Ha, could you imagine me having siblings, Shining Armor?”
“Well, if you did, I think you’d be a great brother,” Shining Armor said.
“Maybe. I think it would be hard being as busy as I am with the Royal Guard.”
“You could be less busy, you know. Justice tells me you still take more overtime hours than all the other Lieutenants combined.”
Summer laughed. “You’re a real hard worker!”
“Yeah… well, I don’t have much else to do,” I said.
Shining Armor gave me a disbelieving look. “You really need to find a hobby. Start traveling some more, get outside Ponyville and Canterlot, climb a mountain.” I rolled my eyes, but he only gave me a sterner look. “I’m serious, I think it would be good for you. You can get the time, do things that make you happy. Even Cadance and I get away from our duties every now and then.”
“He’s right,” Summer said. “Everypony needs a hobby. I have my books and an occasional night of Ogres and Oubliettes with friends.”
“Ogres and Oubliettes?”
“Oh my gosh, you don’t know what Ogres and Oubliettes is? You’ve got to find a group and try it some time, there’s no other tabletop game like it.”
“O…kay. What’s it about?”
“Whatever you want it to be about, that’s the magic of it! You create a character with a group, and somepony helps to guide you through the story, where to go and what to do and all that. It’s like going on an adventure from your living room.”
“Interesting. Maybe I’ll try it sometime.”
“I recall there being a couple groups in the Royal Guard at Canterlot,” Shining Armor said. “I think Lieutenant Arrow is the game-master for one. I’ve heard he’s got a hidden talent for storytelling. You should ask him about it.”
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
The conversation lulled, but it was only a few short minutes until we arrived. The tour-guide facility was meager, but it housed a cute gift store and a small café. We found the manager and had him radio all the guides to return back with everypony. There weren’t that many, being so early in the morning. Shining Armor asked if there had been any suspicious visitors, but the manager hadn’t seen or heard about any, nor about anypony with Stonehenge’s description.
“Well, there’s still some time before noon,” Shining Armor said. “Let’s get to work.”
We set off for the caverns with Shining Armor leading the way. He had been through them a number of times, so there wasn’t any need for a guide. Summer stuck close to me and had her camera out, taking pictures of the large crystal formations outside the entrance and everything else along the way. Shining Armor and I used our magic for light, but Shining Armor stopped in his tracks only a short ways in.
“I feel like we’re not alone,” he said slowly. “Lightwing, Peddlefoot, change of plans. You two go back and guard the entrance, I don’t want anypony getting in or out without us knowing. Everypony else, stick close to me.”
The two pegasi nodded and flew back and out of sight as the rest of us continued further down. I kept my broadsword levitated at the ready, keeping an eye on the shadows. There was no movement besides them and reflective lights from the crystals around us. From time to time the echo of wings flapping reached our ears.
“Frost bats,” Shining Armor whispered. “Nothing to be afraid of.”
We kept going, and the path began to branch out. Some paths were quick dead ends that we briefly searched through before continuing down the main one. Time seemed to drag, though we couldn’t have been down here longer than half an hour or so. By my estimate, it was just before noon when Shining Armor decided to turn us around and start heading back to wait at the entrance and see what would happen.
Just as we turned around, a faint echo reached my ears. “Help.”
“Did you hear that?” I asked.
The others stopped and listened.
“Help!”
“There’s somepony further down!” Summer said.
“Come on,” Shining Armor said, charging back down the cavern. We raced behind him, dodging stalagmites and crystal formations along the way and pausing at a few branched paths to listen for where the cry came from. It wasn’t long before we reached the source; Katana, wedged tight between two stalactites right between another branching path.
“About time you coneheads got here,” she said. “I’ve been stuck here for hours.”
“It’s only been an hour and a half since you fled the castle,” I said. “How’d you get stuck there, anyway?”
Katana glared at me and wiggled her legs. “I was trying to find Stonehenge when I learned my wings can’t cut through solid rock, now can you please get me down? This isn’t exactly comfortable.”
Shining Armor used his magic to break apart the stalactites, and Katana fell to the ground.
“You better not be here to stop me,” she said, dusting off her wings. “I won’t let you keep me from finding him.”
“He’s not even here,” Summer said.
Katana’s eyes made daggers at her. “I don’t remember asking you, princess.”
“Shut it, Katana,” I snapped. “Have some gratitude that I heard you at all, we were right about to leave and you could have been stuck there another few hours. Stonehenge isn’t here, so let’s go.”
“Sorry, friends, but I can’t let you leave,” a new voice said. We all looked back up the path to find a unicorn mare standing there, face hidden in the dark and at least half a dozen other ponies surrounding her, unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi in equal proportion. “It is a sad turn of events that Swordulan didn’t come alone as requested, but it matters little to me how many of you I bury.”
Shining Armor cast a protective shield around us. “Who are you? Why are you after Swordulan?”
“And my brother!” Katana said.
“In better circumstances I would certainly use my manners and introduce myself,” the mare said, “but such things matter little to the dead.” She turned her head to one of the unicorns close to her. “I never want to see these vermin ever again.”
The unicorn smiled. “Of course, Lady Fate.”
The unicorns’ horns began to glow as the mare walked away, and suddenly the roof of the cave overhead exploded, instantly destroying Shining Armor’s shield. Time seemed to slow as rocks and crystals began to collapse around us, and I had only a brief glimpse of Shining Armor, Katana, and Flash Sentry before a giant crystal crashed between us. I turned to see a boulder falling right over Summer, and with every ounce of strength I had, I dove into her and rolled to safety. The roar of rocks and crystals crashing into each other died, and all went still. The way back was completely caved in, and there was no sign of the others.
“Oh, Celestia,” I breathed. “This isn’t good. Not good at all. Summer, are you—”
Summer wasn’t moving.
“Summer? Summer!” I turned her over and gasped. There was a gash on the side of her head, bleeding slightly, and a large area around it was bruised. “No, no, no, don’t do this to me. Please, Summer! Don’t let me fail like this! Anything but this, please.” I put an ear to her chest—thank Celestia, she’s still breathing, but she showed no sign of consciousness. “Don’t worry, I’m going to get us out of here.”
I focused on my magic in an effort to teleport us both out, but it was a futile effort. The crystals surrounding us prevented teleporting outside, reflecting all magical energy. Any attempt to teleport out would’ve resulted in the same effect as running into a brick wall.
“It’s okay… it’s okay,” I said, taking a deep breath. “We’re only trapped with no way anywhere but further in. Maybe Shining Armor will get us out… unless they’re buried, or stuck so far apart it’ll take forever and all they’ll have left to find are our corpses. Shining Armor! Can you hear me!? Katana? Flash! Agh… Discord! You there buddy? Come on…”
Nobody answered. We were on our own. I looked down at the plain broadsword lying on the ground, half buried by crystal shards. What a fraud. Without my real sword, I was useless. I couldn’t do anything special.
Stop SAYING that!
I gave a start. That was my father’s voice, from all the way back when I was still training to be a Royal Guard.
“I can’t do it,” I said.
“Stop SAYING that! Pick yourself up and try again. You’ll get it only if you keep going.”
“But it’s just so hard,” I muttered.
“You are a Shield!” Shining Armor said.
I took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes, Sir.”
Summer was still out cold, and her head was still bleeding. I took off my helmet and put it on her, using my magic to shape the helmet so it kept some pressure against the gash. The padding inside the helmet was meant to soak up sweat or blood, and it was the only thing I had to treat her. I took off the rest of my armor and laid it aside, then gently picked up Summer with my magic and lowered her onto my back. There was no point in sitting around and feeling hopeless. Maybe there was a way out down the cave, or maybe it linked back with the other path and I’d find Shining Armor. Whatever the case, I needed to keep moving, even if it was just to find water.
I took one last moment to arrange my discarded armor into an arrow pointing down the cave, hoping for the possibility that somepony might dig through and find us.
“Don’t worry, Summer,” I said. “We’ll get out of here.”