Beneath the Surface

by Racingwolf

Chapter 4 - Separated

Twilight finally stopped in the darkness of one of the tunnels, sure enough that she had lost her pursuers in the long, labyrinthine passages. However, she had also become lost herself.

The alicorn stood alone, exhausted from her frantic flight and aching from where she had been scraped by rocks or the jagged edges of walls as she fled. Her only source of light was the faint glow of her horn, and even that took all her effort to keep up. She let the light fade, deciding to conserve her magical energy while she thought about what to do next.

The darkness that settled over her when the light went out was enough to make her shiver, despite the heat. She couldn’t make out anything, but at least she didn’t have to use what little of her magic that could push through the cave ponies’ spell. She lay her head down on the warm stone ground, trying to make sense out of everything that had just happened.

Unless the others had managed to stop them, the unicorns now had Rainbow Dash. Maybe the others, too. Thorax hadn’t seen enough of the cave to have any idea of where they’d take prisoners, and even if he had, she had no way of talking to him, and no way to know whether or not he had been found out. What could she do? She was the one the cave unicorns were targeting. They clearly thought she was a good enough substitute for Celestia to try to retrieve the second artifact.

She thought about finding her way out of the cave, getting help from the Crystal Empire, and leading them back to find her friends. But would there be enough time? She couldn’t just leave the others there while she escaped. Who knew what these ponies could do to them?

She knew her choices were to wait there, to find a way out of the cave and get help, or to find a way to reach her friends herself and come up with a plan. Out of those three, the last one seemed like the best option, or at least the only one that didn’t make her feel terrible and helpless, but Twilight had no idea where to start. She was lost, and for all she knew, her enemies were probably still lurking in the black tunnels. Trying not to let her worried thoughts spiral into panic, she took a deep breath.

“Okay…” she whispered to herself, as quietly as she could. “Just think. Where to go from here…?”

She couldn’t just barge her way back into the well-worn paths these unicorns used; they were, apparently, monitored well at all times, unless she and her friends had just had a particularly bad bit of luck. At least, she thought, nopony looking through the crystal balls had seen her specifically among all the chaos; there would have been dozens more unicorns teleporting to the spot if that were the case. However, the ones that had seen her were bound to spread the word, so she supposed it didn’t matter all that much in the long run.

Lost in her thoughts, she paced back and forth in the tunnel. “Okay, maybe…wait, maybe I can-” Then she paused, her brief hope fading. “No, that won’t work. But what about…no...” It seemed futile; every plan she could think of had a glaring flaw.

“They’d just teleport the moment they…” She paused. From the moment she’d flown into the dark tunnels, none of the three unicorns pursuing her had tried to teleport ahead of where she was flying. Teleportation spells were difficult, and she imagined that teleporting while in darkness, into a narrow tunnel they probably didn’t know well was even harder. Risky, even. There. That was one flaw the cave unicorns had, even underground. It wasn’t much, but it was something, at least. And since a lot of them were at Canterlot, there probably weren’t as many able to teleport to random tunnels at a moment’s notice. That was something else.

“That still doesn’t leave me with much,” she sighed, thinking back to each of her friends and wondering where they were now. Surely at least some others had managed to escape and were wandering the unmarked tunnels like she was. Should she go to find them, or stay where she was in case they wandered her way? Perhaps she could write a list of the pros and cons of each and work it out.

As she lit her horn, she remembered with dismay that the saddle bag she’d brought was gone, along with her notebook, pencils, food and water. Depending on how much time they might spend down in the caves, maybe waiting wasn’t an option.

The sound of shouts echoing from somewhere close made her jump, and the light from her horn faded. Ponies were yelling – and it certainly didn’t sound like her friends – but due to the cave’s echoes she couldn’t quite tell which direction it was coming from.

Then, further up ahead, she saw a light, faint but getting closer. She tensed, realizing that the cave unicorns had almost found her again, but this time, it sounded like there were more than three voices.

In a panic, she lit her horn just enough to see by and raced into a side tunnel.

“Well, it’s dark. There’s nopony around…and we’re not sure where Twilight is,” Pinkie mused, her eyes wide as she glanced around the blackness. “Yep, this is pretty much awful.”

She heard a quiet sniff and turned around, moments before another pony headbutted her in the dark. “S-sorry, Pinkie,” followed Fluttershy’s voice. The pegasus sounded on the verge of tears.

“Oh, it’s all right,” Pinkie said in her usual cheery voice. “And just ‘cause everything’s awful doesn’t mean we can’t turn it around.”

Fluttershy responded with only another sniff.

“Well, um, just look at what’s around us! I’m sure we could make use of something.” She tapped her hoof against the rock wall. “Now, there’s rocks…some ceiling rocks…oh, and those weird plants that we-”

“I can’t see anything,” Fluttershy responded, her voice sounding even more distraught.

“You know, you’ve got a point there,” Pinkie replied, but her smile fell when she heard the quiet sounds of Fluttershy’s sobbing.

Pinkie stepped closer, careful not to run into her in the darkness. “Aw, don’t worry. Twilight and the others have gotten out of worse situations than this. We’ll find them!”

“I just…wasn’t expecting everything to go wrong so fast. And I panicked and I couldn’t help the others.”

“It’s not your fault, Fluttershy,” Pinkie replied. “And remember, this isn’t over yet! Those unicorns are gonna feel pretty silly once we escape. Oh, and I have cupcakes! That’ll cheer anypony up!” She rummaged around in her saddlebag for a moment before saying, “Hm…they’re kind of smooshed, but I’m sure they taste just as good!”

Fluttershy sighed. “Thanks, Pinkie, but not right now.”

“All right,” Pinkie replied, shoving the smashed cupcake in her mouth. “Well, we better start looking around for the others.” Pinkie began walking ahead and called over her shoulder. “Just be careful where you step!”

Fluttershy kept her wings close to her body as she followed the sound of Pinkie Pie’s hoofsteps. She tread carefully, jumping whenever she heard the sound of a rock shifting or a strange echo.

“Hold up!” Pinkie shouted from up ahead. “My tail’s twitching, so I think we’d better…”

Fluttershy gasped as Pinkie suddenly backed up into her, and a loud thud was heard up ahead as a large rock crashed to the ground. “Wh-what was that?”

Pinkie walked forward and felt around the rock with her hooves. “These old tunnels are kinda…crumbly. But my Pinkie sense is there to help!”

“We’re not safe here in the dark…” Fluttershy whispered.

“Hmm…” Pinkie mused, glancing around. “Ooh! I think I can see something up there. Though I’m not sure.”

“What?”

“See? There?” Pinkie replied, taking a moment to locate Fluttershy and try to turn her in the right direction. “It looks like there’s some light down there, reeallly far away.”

Fluttershy squinted her eyes, peering into the darkness until she noticed what Pinkie had seen. Faintly, in the distance, there was a tiny pinprick of dim light reflecting off a cave wall. “You’re right. I…guess we should at least get closer and see what it is, in case…”

“Let’s go,” Pinkie cried, bouncing ahead.

“Careful!” Fluttershy warned as she cautiously moved forward, feeling the ground in front of her with her hooves.

The two ponies headed down what turned out to be a fairly narrow tunnel until they reached the turn where the faint light illuminated the cave wall. Around the bend, they realized that the tunnel led out into a much bigger cavern, one that was nearly dark. Nearly.

They crept forward, peering out into a cavern that dwarfed anything they’d seen underground so far. If the ceiling were higher, Twilight’s castle could have easily fit inside it. Parts of the cavern were lit up by the same round crystal lights as in the other parts of the cave, but these lights were at a fair distance away from where their small tunnel had led out, and many of them looked to be coated in dust and grime, dimming the glow.

The most notable thing, however, was the massive structure built around two stone pillars. It had no distinct shape, being a mishmash of different sheets of metal and in some places blocks of stone crudely put together. Glowing orbs – these cleaner than the others in the cavern – were positioned all over it seemingly randomly, and the light reflected off the metal, giving it an eerie look. They could see some brighter lights behind and to the side of it, and realized there were well-lit tunnel openings next to the structure.

“Whoa…” Pinkie gasped, stepping forward from the tunnel.

Fluttershy jumped as some kind of bang sounded from inside the structure, and a hiss of steam leaked from a rusty pipe leading from its “roof” into the cave ceiling. “We…we shouldn’t go near that,” she whispered.

“What in Equestria is it?” Pinkie asked, not seeming nearly as worried.

“I don’t know, but this doesn’t look like a safe place,” Fluttershy replied.

“But what if they keep their artifact in there?” Pinkie countered. “You know, to throw us off? Like, we’d think they’d keep it in some fancy-shmancy cave room with powerful crystals or something, but no! Instead, they keep it in this dirty run down shed! It’s the perfect conspiracy!”

“Well, I think we-” Fluttershy began, but broke off as an angry shout sounded from the metal construction. She quickly urged Pinkie to duck back into their tunnel with her, just as a crude door in the structure opened and a unicorn strode out.

Like the others, this one was pale with black markings, her body having a tint of green, but she wore a sort of helmet over her head that shielded her eyes. With a frustrated growl, the unicorn levitated the helmet off and tossed it to the ground. Her eyes were the same bright red as the other unicorns they’d seen.

“Jade!” the angry voice from within the structure shouted again, this time clearer thanks to the open door.

“Cool it, will you?” the unicorn shouted back. “I’ve been working all day. I’ll clean the mess up when I get back.” Ignoring any further shouts, she made her way toward one of the bright tunnel entrances.

On the way, she glanced over the tunnel Pinkie and Fluttershy were hiding in and turned toward it. “Huh?” she said, her eyes peering into the darkness. “Who’s there? Is this a joke?”

Fluttershy had no idea how they’d been spotted but figured these ponies must have sharpened eyesight from being underground so long. She crouched lower to the ground, watching the stranger in terror.

The unicorn levitated over a small lantern that easily detached from the makeshift building. She held it in front of her with her magic as she walked closer to where the two mares were hiding. “If you still think this is funny, now of all times, then you’ve-”

Just as Pinkie and Fluttershy were trying to quietly back into the tunnel, the unicorn appeared at its entrance, the light swinging in front of her and revealing the two ponies. Her eyes went wide as they stared at her in shock; she seemed just as horrified to see them as they were to see her.

Pinkie was the first to snap into action. “Here, have a cupcake!” she cried, reaching into her saddle bag and flinging one of the smashed treats into the unicorn’s face.

The unicorn cried out in surprise, flinching back and dropping the light she carried.

“Run!” Pinkie cried, racing back into the tunnel.

Fluttershy took a moment longer, snatching the lantern by its handle before she turned and ran after Pinkie.

“Intruders!” the unicorn cried from the tunnel entrance as she wiped cake frosting off her face, not following the two ponies in but clearly trying to alert the others. “Some ponies got into our cave! They may be working with Celestia!”

“What’s all the noise for?” an older mare said, walking out of the metal structure.

“Two ponies from the surface were here,” the first unicorn answered. “Get me another light and I can go after them.”

The older unicorn, however, did not seem surprised. She walked toward the younger one, levitating the helmet she’d thrown to the ground earlier and none-too-gently placing it back over her head. “You’ve got a job to do, Jade. Get back in the workshop. The others will deal with this.”

The younger unicorn made a sigh of frustration and stormed back toward the door. The older one then motioned to another two ponies who were exiting the same doorway. “I want you to send a message. Tell the ponies monitoring the crystals to keep an eye on all the tunnels they can, especially those that connect to any abandoned ones.”

“But, there are so many,” said one of the unicorns. “They could be hiding anywhere. With everyone searching for the intruders, there aren’t enough of us left to monitor everything-”

“Find any of them if you can. But they have an alicorn. That’s the one who’s important. That’s what we’re really looking for.”

Starlight and Spike came to a halt when they were sure they weren’t being followed by anypony other than Thorax. They’d also come to a stop because their tunnel led out into a huge, open (but thankfully empty of any unicorns) cavern, that they could only see due to a strange type of glowing moss lining the walls, trailing down in places. Spike stepped down from Starlight’s back and immediately let himself collapse to the floor, exhausted after what had happened.

Starlight was trying to catch her breath, frantically checking for any sign of an enemy. “Spike…you alright?”

“I am,” Spike said after a few moments, “but they…they got Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity.” He sadly looked down at the ground. “I guess I wasn’t much help.”

“None of us were prepared for that,” Starlight replied, still breathing heavily. “But we’ll find them. We’ll…figure out something.”

They both looked up at the sound of hoofsteps and Thorax, still transformed into a pale unicorn, arrived. “Are you okay?” he asked, his voice frantic as he rushed up to them. “They didn’t hurt either of you, did they?”

“Yeah, we’re okay,” Starlight said. “Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack were captured, and they may have gotten others, but I think Twilight probably escaped.” She noticed the terrified look in the disguised Thorax’s eyes, and added, “They didn’t look hurt. The spells just disabled them. I don’t think these ponies really want to cause unnecessary harm.”

Thorax shook his head. “They tried to hurt Spike! And who knows what they’ll do to the others. We have to do something. We can’t let them hurt them!” Teal light engulfed Thorax’s body, revealing his normal black chitin form. He was shaking, and breathing more rapidly. “They almost hurt Spike, and if they find us-” He stopped, starting to hyperventilate.

“Thorax, I’m fine,” Spike told his friend, but in spite of the reassurance, Thorax couldn’t calm down. Spike looked worriedly at the changeling. He had never seen Thorax this way.

Starlight had. She moved closer to Thorax, putting a hoof on his shoulder. “We’ll figure it out. They didn’t seem to care that we ran off, so they probably aren’t hunting down the others right now…” ‘Except Twilight…’ she thought, and realized that wasn’t much of a comforting statement. “And, well…nopony realized that you were a changeling. We’ve got that going for us.”

“Yeah,” Spike agreed. “We can still use that.”

Several minutes passed as Thorax gradually began calming down. However, he still seemed shaken up. They could see him trembling in the dim light of the luminous moss.

Starlight took a deep breath. “I think…what we should do is…to look for any signs that any of our friends have been near here.” She turned her attention to the large cavern just outside the space they were resting in. Thanks to the luminous moss, she could see quite a ways ahead, where other caverns and tunnels connected to the large one. There was no sort of pony-made lighting; it looked abandoned. “We need their help. And we won’t go too far looking. We’ll just look around the tunnels and see if we can find something.”

“Like what?” Spike asked.

“I don’t know,” Starlight said, scrunching her eyes closed. “Some of our friends had supplies, maybe they dropped something. Or there could be mud with hoofprints that are fresh. I…”

Spike glanced down at the ground, realizing as much as Starlight did that the plan was a long-shot. Yet like her, he didn’t know what else to do. “Well, we know there’s a path the cave unicorns use back that way…” He pointed down the tunnel they’d followed to their current spot. “So we can’t go back there.” He turned to face the large, gloomy cavern. “Guess our only option is to wait here or go forward.”

“Well, let’s take a look around,” Starlight said. “If it seems safe, let’s wait here. If any of our friends show up, we can spot them easier in an open area. A lot of tunnels lead out into this place.”

“Good idea,” Spike said, before turning to his other friend. “Thorax?”

Thorax still looked on the verge of panic. “Okay…” he replied, his voice still shaky. Spike wasn’t sure he had paid much attention to their conversation.

“How about…” he began, realizing that Thorax was not currently in any condition to help them. “How about me and Starlight look around the cavern and you stay here?”

Starlight glanced to Spike before nodding. “Yeah. We won’t be far, and we’ll stay within earshot. If something happens, we’ll find each other. Just take a moment to rest and calm down. Don’t worry, we won’t be very long.”

“You’re gonna be fine,” Spike added, giving Thorax a reassuring smile.

“If you hear anypony coming, disguise yourself and come find us,” Starlight said.

“And if we hear anypony, we’ll come find you,” Spike added.

“Are you sure about this?” Thorax asked, looking from Starlight to Spike.

“We really won’t be gone long,” Starlight promised. “We just want to check it out. We’ll be careful. We’ll try to stay within sight of this tunnel. We’ll see what we can find, and then make a plan if nopony shows up.”

Thorax nodded, and the others called some encouraging words to him as they left. Then Starlight and Spike were carefully walking out into the large cavern, Thorax watching nervously from the tunnel entrance.

One by one, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were ushered into a cell built into the cave wall itself, the metal bars at the front the only thing that wasn’t rock. They had been teleported into the huge cavern with the buildings that Thorax had told them about, and within a few minutes, the paralysis from the spells they had been hit with had worn off. Unfortunately, their captors had thought to stop Rainbow from flying, and put a weaker version of the spell on her wings to immobilize them.

They had been led past the buildings, where a few curious onlookers had stared at them in silence, then down a tunnel and to a wide cavern with a relatively low ceiling. From there, they were taken to one of several cells.

The moment the three ponies were inside, the barred door slammed shut by one of the unicorns’ magic. A moment later, bright streaks of light, like small bolts of lightning, flickered and jumped over the bars.

Rarity lifted her hoof as she looked at the grimy stone ground in disgust. “Ugh, really? You couldn’t even have the decency to put us in a dungeon you bothered to clean? I mean, you’ve had plenty of time down here to-”

The stallion who had taken the lead while they were brought to the cell stomped his hoof into the ground. The two others who had come with him walked up to stand in front of the cell bars, staring at the three captive ponies. Rainbow Dash bristled, gritting her teeth as she fought against the paralysis spell to unfold her wings. Applejack stared defiantly at their captors. Rarity narrowed her eyes.

“You know, it wouldn’t kill you to at least be a bit more polite and show some basic decency if you’re going to force us to stay here.”

The stallion ignored her statement. “You brought an alicorn in here with you. Who is this pony? Where did she come from?”

Rarity and Applejack glanced nervously at each other.

Rainbow rolled her eyes, acting calm and nonchalant. “Psh, you thought that was an alicorn? I mean, I can understand making the mistake. Guess your crystals don’t have an accurate-”

“I saw it with my own eyes,” the unicorn growled. “So did they.” He gestured to the unicorns on either side of him. “You’re a bad liar.”

“In all that chaos?” Rainbow replied. “Are you sure?”

The unicorn gave her a sort of annoyed glare, then turned to one of his companions, whispering something in her ear. She gave him a knowing look and trotted off, vanishing around a corner.

“What was that for?” Rarity asked.

“You’ll find out,” was the only response she got.

“Finally,” Rainbow said, and Rarity turned to see the pegasus stretching out her wings, showing off the fact that the simple spell on them had worn off. The two unicorns standing guard didn’t seem amused, but they didn’t make a move to stop her as she flew a couple laps around the cell.

“I’ll have you know,” Rarity began, turning to the guards again, “we are very important in Equestria, and Celestia would not be pleased if you harmed us in any way.”

“I see,” the stallion said, unimpressed.

“I’m serious, we-” She paused as she noticed Applejack motioning at her to stop talking. She suddenly realized that giving them that sort of information was not a good idea.

Further talking was interrupted as the unicorn mare returned, levitating a bottle of some strange-looking potion. The three captives felt immediately uneasy as the guard who had been talking to them levitated it over the rest of the way with his own magic.

“Any volunteers?” he asked.

“Eugh,” Applejack said, making a face. “There ain’t no way we’re drinking that who-knows-what.”

“Really?” the unicorn replied. “I think you are. And how about you be the one to try it?”

Applejack suddenly found herself being pulled toward the front of the cell by the stallion’s magic. The spell held her in place as the unicorn forced her to drink some of the potion.

“Don’t use too much,” said the mare who’d retrieved the bottle. “We won’t need it to last more than a few minutes, and the ingredients for this potion are hard to find.”

The unicorn pulled the bottle away from Applejack, who looked dazed but otherwise unharmed.

“Applejack? Are you okay?” Rainbow asked.

“Physically I’m fine, but nothin’ about this situation is okay!” Applejack responded. “We’ve been captured, Twilight an’ the others are still out there and Celestia knows what’s happened to them. Speaking of Celestia, if we don’t find a way to destroy that artifact, she and everypony at Canterlot are gonna be in a huge amount a’ trouble.”

“Huh?” Rainbow responded.

“Applejack,” Rarity whispered. “This is probably not a good time to go saying those things.”

Applejack acted as if she hadn’t heard. “Twilight’s magic can still work down here a bit, but it’s hardly enough to get us through all the obstacles in this place, and-”

Rainbow quickly covered Applejack’s mouth with her hoof, but the unicorn guards only smirked.

“Tell us about this Twilight. Is she the alicorn we saw?”

Rainbow cried out as she was dragged away from Applejack and toward the other end of the cell by magic. Rarity watched worriedly, conflicted and contemplating what to do.

Applejack’s ramble about the cave’s obstacles stopped abruptly. “Twilight is our friend, the Princess of Friendship, and one a’ the Elements a’ Harmony. Last night, she was visited by Princess Luna in a dream, and was told of the attack on Canterlot, which-”

“Luna?” the female guard repeated, looking to the other two in surprise. “You mean Luna’s…returned?”

Rarity and Rainbow Dash glanced at each other from across the cell. So they really hadn’t seen Luna when they’d attacked Canterlot. If they had, the news was bound to have spread to the unicorns still in the cave by now.

“Luna returned as Nightmare Moon,” Applejack continued, her voice flat and emotionless. “Together, my friends and I, including Twilight, were able to stop her and return her to her normal form. Luna now rules alongside her sister, Princess Celestia.”

“Are there any more alicorns?” the stallion asked.

“Yes,” said Applejack. “Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, known to us as Princess Cadence, rules the Crystal Empire. She recently had a daughter, Flurry Heart, who is also an alicorn.”

“The Crystal Empire?” the third guard asked, giving the other stallion a confused look.

“That’s where we were stayin’ when this all happened,” Applejack said. “Cadance is married to Twilight’s brother, Shining Armor, who-”

“Is he an alicorn?” asked the stallion, looking just as shocked as his companions.

“No, a unicorn,” Applejack replied.

“That still means that there are two other alicorns in this ‘Crystal Empire,’” the mare said, turning her red eyes to the stallion. “We could always use a backup plan if this ‘Twilight’ isn’t strong enough. Though the baby alicorn is too young, we could wait if we absolutely had to.”

“What?” Rarity gasped. “You would even kidnap a foal for-”

“What are the Crystal Empire’s defenses, and where is it located?” the stallion interrupted.

“The empire lies to the north of here,” Applejack explained. “Your cave is between it and Canterlot. The empire is protected by the crystal heart, which keeps away the blizzards that ravage the north, and has protected the empire’s citizens from enemies such as Sombra. Sombra was-”

“I don’t care,” the stallion snarled. “Tell me where this crystal heart is.”

“The crystal heart is kept beneath the castle in the center of the empire,” Applejack replied.

The female cave unicorn grinned. “I’m betting that any protection spell they make would be easier to take down than Celestia’s if we remove this ‘crystal heart.’”

“That is true,” the stallion mused. “If the alicorn who’s found her way down here fails, we can focus our effort there.” He turned to the other stallion. “Let Scarlet know.”

The stallion nodded, lit his horn, and teleported away.

“Applejack, what are you doing?” Rainbow shouted, despite knowing deep down that Applejack wasn’t speaking of her own will.

“I’m tellin’ them what they wanna know,” she replied.

Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth and flew up to the front of the cell. “You’re sick, you know that? You’re just gonna sacrifice the lives of every alicorn you find until one of them manages to do what you want? Do you have any idea what-” Her words were suddenly cut off as she flew too close to the electricity-like magic jumping over the bars. With a cry of shock, she was flung into the back wall of the cell and then crumpled to a heap on the ground.

“Oh, my- Rainbow, are you all right?” Rarity asked, running up to her as Rainbow muttered a few frustrated words in response.

“Do you have an idea where Twilight is now?” the stallion asked Applejack, ignoring the other two. “Is she still in the cave or would she have fled?”

“She oughtta still be here,” Applejack replied. “I’m not sure where, but she wouldn’t abandon us and she knows Celestia and Luna are countin’ on us to destroy the artifact that is givin’ y’all your power.”

“Go spread the word,” the stallion said to his mare companion. “I’ll keep watch over them here.”

As the mare left, the dazed look in Applejack’s eyes faded away. She shook her head, looking at the stunned Rainbow Dash and Rarity in confusion. “What the… Can somepony tell me what just happened?”

Seeing that the stallion was not going to oblige, Rainbow rose somewhat shakily to her hooves. “They gave you some sort of truth potion,” she said. “And it worked.”