//------------------------------// // Chapter 16: The Way Forward // Story: The Blue Mage // by Nebula Star //------------------------------// The Blue Mage By Nebula Star Chapter 16: The way forward *** “Ya think it failed? It’s gotta be a couple thousand years old.” Apple Bloom said after a few moments when nothing happened. “Closer to three thousand actually,” she said looking around nervously as well. “It’s possible, I guess. But in all the ruins I’ve been in, the traps always worked, no matter how old.” She frowned then amended; “Unless someone had smashed them to bits anyway. What the…?” Apple Bloom looked over at the pegasus to see she was looking up in confusion. She looked as well and spotted something near the roof of the chamber, something fluffy looking and gray in color, lit from below by the dim light. “A storm cloud?” “Wait, do you hear something?” A deluge of water suddenly poured down on them from narrow slots halfway up each of the chamber’s walls. They barely had time to be surprised before the water level rose above their heads. Apple Bloom kicked to the surface, sputtering and trying to stay afloat in the churning water. Suddenly she felt something under her and the next instant she realized it was Daring Do and clung to the older mare’s neck as she kicked up spreading her wings and getting them both out of the water. “Thanks.” Apple Bloom said as they came to hover just above the water inlets. “No problem kid…” She sighed looking around. “The old drowning room… Hate these,” she said as the water level continued to rise at an alarming rate.” “Any idea how to get out of this one? Because trust me; drownin’ is not a fun way to die.” “I don’t doubt it…” she frowned looking down. “The last one I was in I found a secret passage under the water, but this chamber was a simple square and pretty well lit. I didn’t see any other passage than the two doors.” Apple Bloom shook her head. “Ah didn’t either. “So unless it’s hidden with an illusion, no secret passages.” Apple Bloom frowned looking up and down the walls. Other than the slots where the water was pouring in, there didn’t seem to be any breaks, just smooth stone walls all the way up to… “What’s that?” Apple Bloom pointed over Daring’s Shoulder up near the cloud they’d seen earlier. There was some sort of crystal set in the wall in the center of some kind of pattern. Daring frowned and took them up higher to see. “It’s a simple spell array,” she said after a quick examination. “Huh, looks like it’s what made this cloud.” Daring said, giving the small storm cloud a nudge. “But why?” “Good question,” Daring said as she looked around some more for an answer. A glint of light on the far wall got her attention. Flying closer she saw this wall wasn’t simply smooth stone like the rest; there were several veins of what looked like copper inlaid into the stone all leading together into a central point. “What is it?” “I don’t know… looks like copper but...” Her eyes widened, and she looked back at the storm cloud then at the copper veins. “Lightning! I think we have to cause a lightning bolt to strike the copper! The veins will act as a receptor and guide the lightning into triggering the release!” Apple Bloom glanced between the cloud and the web of copper veins. “It’s worth a shot.” She shrugged. “Go ahead and try it.” Daring balked. “Kid, we’re both soaking wet and I’m not a weather pony! I’ve never had any luck controlling lightning. I’ll just as likely fry us as strike the copper.” “So!?” “Kid…!” “Ah’d much rather die of a lightning strike than drown again. Ah’ve already done that once today.” “Yeah well it may not kill us, just make our last moments before we drown full of pain.” “Then Ah’ll just turn back time and we’ll try again. If Ah knew how, Ah’d do it myself, but Ah don’t, so it has to be you.” Apple Bloom countered. Daring sighed and flew up next to the cloud, moving it over near the copper veins. “A cloud this size, I’m only going to get one, maybe two strikes…” “Daring.” Apple Bloom said calmly. “Yeah.” “Kick the bucking cloud.” Daring glanced back at her sharply, then smirked. “You know, when we get out of here, I might just have to tell that big sis of yours about your language. Here goes.” Positioning herself with the cloud behind her, she kicked backwards, striking the cloud with one of her hind hooves. There was a tremendous crack and a blinding flash as a bolt of searing white arched from the cloud down to the water. “Pony feathers!” Daring cursed over both their ears' ringing. Moving the cloud a little closer to the copper web, she kicked again. Nothing. “Crap, like I thought, only one strike.” Before she could say more, suddenly she felt a strange sensation as her wings suddenly reversed their beats, she felt her mouth moving, the words she’d said coming out again in reverse. She felt herself moving backwards, the cloud following to its first position and then she turned her hind leg extending, the crack and flash of the lightning strike and the reverse of her kick. Finally, it stopped, and she found herself hovering near the cloud again, readying her first kick. “Okay try again.” Apple Bloom said from her back. “Right…” Daring muttered. That had felt so much weirder than the first time. In Apple Bloom’s earlier demonstration, she hadn’t really moved much; to feel her body moving in reverse, completely unable to control it. That had been an experience. Moving the cloud closer this time, she braced herself and tried again. This time with a loud crack the lightning grounded out in the copper veins. Somewhere they heard a low rumble and a moment later the water stopped pouring in as the level in the room began to drop. “That got it!” Daring grinned as they watched the water level drop, draining through the doors that were once again open. Apple Bloom watched from Daring’s back as the last of the water drained away. “Huh… That seemed kind of easy don’t ya think? Ah mean, sure you only got one try, and only a Pegasus could do it, but still, it’s almost like… Ah don’t know. These traps just don’t seem that deadly so far.” Daring frowned. “Yeah I know what you mean. In both cases what we had to do to get out was fairly obvious.” “Do you think maybe they meant for these first couple traps to scare ponies from continuing?” “Possibly. But if that’s the case, then the traps will likely grow deadlier further in.” “Yeah…” Apple Bloom looked toward the door further in considering that. “Well, might as well continue on,” she said cheerfully. Honestly she was finding this rather fun. “Have any magic to dry us off?” Apple Bloom thought for a moment. “Nah, not really; Ah could conjure a big fan to blow on us for a while…” “How about just conjuring some towels?” Daring asked with a smirk. She blinked. “Oh right, Ah can do that.” Her Sa’Dracori glowed and two large fluffy towels appeared in the air in front of her. Daring gladly took one while Apple Bloom took the other. “Ugh my vest is soaked,” Daring groaned as she stripped off the garment along with her hat. “It’s a good thing none of my gear is damaged by water.” “You’re probably out in the rain a lot, huh. With how often you’re explorin’ the rain forests an all.” “More often than I like, to be honest. That’s another thing I left out of my books; how often I just holed up in my tent to stay out of the rain. Course, I can’t always avoid it. Can’t really justify staying out of the rain when the fate of Equestria hangs in the balance.” Apple Bloom snorted. “Yeah, Ah can just see it. ‘You let Ahuizotl take over the valley with ancient magics!?’ ‘It was raining that day…’” Daring laughed finishing up drying her mane. “That would not go over well.” Once they were both sufficiently dry, Daring reluctantly pulled her sodden vest back on. She sighed. “Hope I don’t get a rash from this,” she said, tossing the used towel on top of the one Apple Bloom had already discarded. Apple Bloom grinned. “Check this out.” She picked up the towels and held them out in front of her, then canceled the spell that conjured them. The towels vanished, leaving all the water they’d absorbed to splash to the ground. “Heh, nice. Gotta admit, it would be nice to just be able to conjure what I need, when I need it instead of carrying it around all the time.” She tugged on her vest, trying to adjust it to be more comfortable. “I wouldn’t even bother with this thing if I could do that.” “It is rather useful.” Apple Bloom agreed. Finally, Daring put her hat back on. “Alright, now let’s continue on.” Apple Bloom nodded and together they started into the next chamber. Like before, the cave became a natural chamber beyond the door with a path leveled in the floor, leading deeper in. Once again glowing crystals lit the way. But the chamber they found themselves in was much narrower with a steep falloff on the left side. “Looks like there’s a few bends ahead.” Daring said, having taken the lead on the narrow path. They reached a narrow corner and turned. “Stairs. Looks like we’re going up,” then she paused, opening her wings slightly. “Huh, I’m feeling a bit of a breeze.” “Really?” Apple Bloom recast her wing spell and opened her own wings. Sure enough, she could feel a slight breeze as well. There seemed to be another bend in the cave at the top of the stairs turning back toward whatever it was that was calling to them. “The light seems brighter ahead.” Daring said as they neared the top of the stairs. Apple Bloom looked up seeing she was right. “You think there’s another opening?” “It’s kind of looking like it.” Reaching the top of the stairs they turned around the bend and saw that the cave was indeed getting brighter ahead. Far brighter than the glowing crystals could manage. Daring breathed in deeply. “Fresh air.” “Could the cave have collapsed?” “Maybe… question is, if it did collapse, did the way further in get buried?” Apple Bloom frowned. That would be unfortunate. She really wanted answers to what was drawing them there. They turned another bend and the cave again opened up into a large natural chamber. But unlike the first couple; this one was brightly lit. Daring and Apple Bloom had to shield their eyes as they entered, after so long in the dim light of the rest of the cave. When their eyes had adjusted, they looked around. Toward one side of the chamber was a pile of rocks and dirt below a large hole that let sunlight stream into the cave. Fortunately it was well away from the passage deeper into the cave. “Huh, yep looks like a collapse.” Daring took off and flew over near the pile of debris, looking up into the hole. Apple Bloom followed to see for herself. The hole went up a ways, perhaps a few ponylengths above the roof of the cave, before it seem to reach open air. She could just make out a tree to one side of the hole. They could fly out if they wanted, but without wings, a pony would likely need a rope at the very least to climb out. “This looks kind of recent; there might even be a bit of a sinkhole up above.” Daring said, looking up at the edges of the hole. Apple Bloom nodded noticing that most of the top of the pile of debris was loose dirt and soil. Even as they looked, they heard something falling and a few more pebbles joined the pile. Then Apple Bloom noticed the hoofprints. “Daring, somepony’s been here.” Apple Bloom said pointing. She looked and her eyes narrowed looking back up at the hole. “That’s not good, unless they’re a pegasus they’d be stuck down here. Apple Bloom nodded in agreement. “And if they tried to find another way out…” Daring sighed. “We may be finding a corpse at the next trap.” With a wince Apple Bloom nodded. “I wonder who else found this place… aren’t we in the middle of the Everfee?” Daring looked at her surprised. “We’re actually not that far from the southern edge of the forest. In fact, there’s an ancient road not far from here that cuts though this part of the forest. Some more reckless ponies use it as a shortcut between Dodge and central Equestria.” She rolled her eyes. “Usually they don’t even know what kinds of dangers there are in the Everfree; they risk their lives just to save a few hours travel time. Most make it, fortunately, but ever so often you hear of somepony going missing.” Glancing back up at the hole though, Daring frowned, thinking. “With this open to the elements; those hoofprints would have been washed away in the rain. They can’t be more than a day or two old; pegasi don’t control the weather in this region and it’s been raining pretty often down here for the last month, so it might not be too late yet so long as they didn’t wander into a trap.” She shrugged. “Or maybe it was a Pegasus and they’re already long gone…” “Ah guess we’ll see.” Apple Bloom said, starting back toward the leveled path. Daring joined her and they continued on, deeper into the cave. “At least we know we have a way out without having to go through the first two traps again. I’m guessing they’re designed to reset themselves after a time.” Apple Bloom winced. “Ugh, Ah hadn’t thought of that. Not that they’d be much trouble, but yeah, Ah’m glad we can just skip them.” “Hello! Is somepony there!?” A voice echoed from deeper into the cave. Exchanging a glance, both Daring and Apple Bloom took off at a gallop, though there was something about the voice. It seemed familiar to Apple Bloom. There were a couple twists, and a short stairway down, then the cave opened up into another large chamber. This one, well lit, though not nearly as bright as the chamber where the collapse was. This one however was a mix of natural and pony made, with one wall to the right of the entrance being completely pony made. Standing nearly ten times the height of a pony, it was clearly the next trap as there suspended against the wall nearly halfway to the ceiling with magical bindings was a unicorn. A unicorn with a light blue coat and a silver mane and tail. “Oh thank Celestia, Trixie could use some assistance.” ~~~ Twilight glanced back at her guard captain, more than a little nervous, but she had to be sure… “Feather, could you get my copy of The Universe Before Your Eyes, by Mystic Eye? I think it’s on the top shelf. Second from the door.” Feather glanced up at the shelves. Usually the princess would ask Spike to retrieve the books she needed, he knew where they all were after all, but since he was still out helping with the search effort… “Sure.” She said and took off, hovering in front of the specified shelf to read the titles. Finding the book Twilight wanted. “Got it,” she said retrieving the book and dropping back down to land. Turning back toward the princess, she found her standing with her eyes closed and wings held open. “Uh, princess?” Twilight’s eyes snapped open and her horn suddenly glowed brigtly as her eyes turned furious. The next instant Feather felt her hooves wrenched to the sides as she was lifted off the ground, a glowing circle appearing beneath her. “Princess, what are you doing!?” Twilight glared at her. “I knew something was wrong on the flight back here, but I wasn’t sure what at first. But now I realize what it was! We were flying side by side, I should have felt some of your pegasus magic rolling off your wings, but I didn’t; because you don’t have any pegasus magic, do you, changeling!?” ~~~ Apple Bloom facehoofed as she recognized the showpony. Daring however seemed amused. “Fell down a sink hole, did ya?” Trixie glared at her. “Trixie did not ‘fall down a sink hole.’ She was simply exploring.” “Right… that’s why you didn’t leave any rope or anything to climb back out.” With a sigh, Apple Bloom shook her head. “What are you doing here, Trixie?” “Trixie… does Trixie know you?” She asked looking at Apple Bloom. “Yeah, Ah helped my sis, Twilight and her friends trick you into thinking Twilight’s fake amulet was more powerful than the alicorn amulet.” A blush spread across her face. “Trixie remembers.” Daring raised a brow. “The alicorn amulet? That things a top tier corrupting artifact. Very bad news; what happened to it?” “Princess Twilight had it locked up and hidden.” Apple Bloom told her. “After we tricked Trixie into taking it off anyway.” “You actually put on the alicorn amulet!?” Daring said sounding amused. “Didn’t you do any research on it?” Trixie’s blush deepened. “Trixie thought she could resist it…” Daring rolled her eyes. “Everyone always thinks they’re strong enough to resist…” “Are you going to help Trixie down or not!?” She shouted getting impatient. “We’ll get you down Trixie.” Apple Bloom said and started to step forward. “Whoa!” She’d barely taken two steps when a pattern on the wall next to Trixie lit up and she felt herself yanked off the ground and her back slammed against the wall all four legs stretched outwards just as Trixie was. “Ow… Uh, Daring, you might want to stay back.” “Yeah, I got that.” Daring said frowning. “I’ll try to look for clues how to get you two down.” “Well this is just great.” Trixie grumbled. Apple Bloom looked over at Trixie as their heads were the only part of themselves they could move. “So… how’d you end up down here?” She huffed. “Trixie just happened to be passing through the forest when she felt a strange feeling, like something calling to her. So she went to investigate. She found the sink hole, but when she was trying to see where it led the ledge gave way. She couldn’t climb back out, so she decided to look for another way…” “So how long you been here?” “What time is it?” She asked with a heavy sigh. “Mid-morning, Ah think.” “Four or five hours…” Apple Bloom winced. It could have been worse, but four or five hours stuck to a wall sounded pretty boring. “Wait, you were up before sunrise?” “Of course! When traveling, One must rise early if they wish to make the most of the day!” Apple Bloom nodded; living on a farm, she could certainly respect that. “Makes sense… so… can you use your magic?” She sighed. “Yes, but obviously Trixie has not been able to break the spell.” “Well you’re lucky you went this way, otherwise you might have drowned. The last trap we got through required a pegasus, and I doubt you could have held your breath for hours.” “Speaking of the last trap, it was set up like a puzzle. We just had to solve it to deactivate the trap.” Daring called across the room, examining as much as she could without getting any closer. “Have you noticed anything like that?” “Other than this wall and the path, this cave seems entirely natural. The chamber is lit by the enchanted crystals arranged throughout the room on both the floor and ceiling. There are one-hundred-eighty-seven small gemstones embedded in the wall, but only seventeen in the floor and ceiling. And my forehooves have been tingling for an hour, so will you please find a way to get me down!” Apple Bloom raised a brow at her slip out of third-pony but decided not the mention it. Maybe they’d get lucky and she’d keep slipping… Instead she looked around noticing that there were quite a few gemstones in the far wall. But the way they were embedded in the stone. “Ah don’t think those gemstones were there naturally.” Daring moved back toward that wall, getting as near as she dared. “No, doesn’t look like it. They seem to have been inset.” “Think they’re part of the trap?” “Probably, but the question is; what are they for?” Daring said. “Yeah, Well Ah’m going to back us up a bit to get me down and then let’s try to figure this out. Worse comes to worse, Ah can turn back time until before Trixie got stuck.” “Can you go back that far?” Daring asked sounding impressed. “Yeah, RJ said Ah could probably go back a full week or more, but he’d rather Ah didn’t, cause however far I turn back time, it takes his magic that long to recover.” Apple Bloom explained then cast the spell before the conversation could continue. Everything flowed in reverse double-time until the moment before she’d stepped forward and gotten caught by the trap. “That still feels weird.” Daring commented but was completely drowned out by Trixie. “WHAT THE BUCK DID YOU DO!?” ~~~ Feather couldn’t move; the princess’ magic held her immobile in the center of the room. She didn’t struggle, she knew it was no use. “I figured it was only a matter of time.” She said softly. “You’re not going to deny it?” Twilight asked, suspiciously. “Not much point is there.” Twilight glared at her a moment in silence. “Where’s the real Feather?” “I am the real Feather…” “You said there was no point in denying it.” Twilight growled. “I’m not… I created this persona when I first came to Equestria seven years ago. There was no Feather before that. I didn’t replace anyone.” She looked up at Twilight. “I am the mare you chose to be your captain. And I am loyal to Equestria.” Twilight considered her for a moment. “Why did you leave the changeling kingdom.” She snorted. “You met the queen. Do you really have to ask?” “You disagreed with the way she was running things?” “She’s leading the hive to destruction. We were doing just fine, we had more than enough food to get by. We were safe. Most of us could have been content with what we had.” She shook her head. “But the queen, she was never content with ‘enough’. I knew it was only a matter of time before she did something stupid in her quest for more power. So I left.” “You just abandoned your friends; your family?” Twilight asked disapprovingly. She didn’t expect Feather to snort in response. “There’s no families in the hive. We’re raised communally. I don’t even know who my actual parents are. And we don’t have friends… we have rivals. Every ‘ling is fighting to get ahead of every other ‘ling. I had a few that I’d consider allies I guess, but I wouldn’t call them friends. Chrysalis encouraged us to use whatever means we could to get ahead of our peers. She thought the competition made us stronger. Most… they don’t know any better. It’s the way things are and always have been. Even I didn’t see a problem with it back then. I wasn’t happy, but I didn’t think there was anything wrong with the way we did things.” Pacing now, Twilight considered what she’d said for a moment. “Did you know about the attack on Canterlot?” “Not until I read about it in the papers. I transferred to Canterlot shortly after the attack, so I was still in Manehattan at the time. I knew the queen was going to do something stupid; but openly attacking Canterlot…” She shook her head in disbelief. “I never could have guessed she’d try something so drastic.” Twilight frowned but she knew from Feather’s service record that she had still been stationed in Manehattan at the time. “And how have you survived? How are you getting love?” She shrugged. “It was difficult at first. I went through several relationships. Actual relationships… I don’t know what it’s like for ponies, but when your very survival depends on a relationship, breakups can be pretty rough.” She gave a weak smile. “But once I joined the guard, I found that the comradery among the guard was more than enough to keep me going. I didn’t need to worry about gathering a supply to take back to the hive, so I didn’t need much. Since then… well you’ve read my history with the guard.” “You’ve always been well liked; from what I’ve heard you were one of the most popular captains in Canterlot. I’m guessing that was intentional.” Feather blushed. “I like having friends.” Twilight couldn’t help smirking at that but then went back to pacing, clearly debating what to do. “Princess, since I’ve been here, I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned that there is strength in unity; in friendship. I believe in that strength. I believe in Harmony… Equestria is my home now. You are my princess, and I am loyal to you.” “So why didn’t you just tell me?” She winced and looked down. “I know how close you were to what happened in Canterlot. I guess I was I was afraid to. I know I should have… I’m sorry.” Twilight looked up at her for a few moments more, then slowly nodded. Her horn stopped glowing and Feather was released to drop back to the floor, catching herself with her wings. Surprised at the sudden freedom, she looked up at Twilight. “You didn’t lie to me, not once.” Twilight said in explanation and Feather realized her horn hadn’t only been glowing from the containment spell. “And while I’m disappointed that you didn’t trust me enough to just tell me yourself… I can understand why.” Feather stared at her a moment stunned, then asked nervously, “Am I still your captain?” With a sigh, Twilight nodded. “Yes, but after this search for Apple Bloom, you will be informing the other princesses, as well as your subordinates in the guard.” Her eyes widened. “Princess, I understand where you’re coming from, and I’ll gladly inform the other princesses of the truth; but if I inform my subordinates, there’s no way it will remain secret. Queen Chrysalis will eventually find out and she’ll see me as a traitor, and she will try to have me killed. It will make me a target.” Twilight frowned; she hadn’t thought of that. “I don’t like keeping this a secret… But I guess you’re right. We’ll keep it to just the princesses for now. Until the situation with the changeling kingdom changes at least.” Feather nodded. “Thank you, Princess.” “What did I tell you about titles.” Twilight said, letting a little amusement into her voice. “So what’s your real name?” “Heh, I never actually earned a name in the hive,” she said with a bit of wry amusement. “You didn’t have a name?” She shook her head. “In the hive, we have to earn a name by distinguishing ourselves in some way. Until then we just have a designation. Feather is the only name I’ve ever had.” Twilight considered that, then smirked. “I have to say. It’s not a very creative name for a pegasus.” “Give me a break, I was new to being a pony. I had no idea what names would be appropriate at the time and panicked a bit the first time I was asked my name!” Twilight giggled a bit, then gave a sigh. “Well I guess we better get back to trying to locate Apple Bloom.” Feather nodded in agreement then took on a more serious expression. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.” “You’re forgiven, Feather, just no more secrets okay.” “Of course, Princess.”