Sassy landed on a roof, not too far below from where she'd jumped, and scanned the sky in search of her friend, or what had become of her.
Then something else fell to her side. Someone else, but not somepony else. The minotaur seemed dazed for a moment, then began to look for the bat-pony while Sassy seemed to study him instead.
"You jumped," the unicorn said, some surprise in her tone.
"So did you." The minotaur only barely looked down at her, focusing on the sky instead.
"I am a unicorn," stated Sassy. "I could have caught myself with magic. What's your excuse for jumping out of a building?"
"I have jumped out of higher windows." He tried to ignore her stares, but ultimately couldn't. "My parents didn't like me adventuring around as a kid. I had to get creative to get out." When Sassy's expression grew only more baffled, Silver Hooves finally looked straight at her. "Minotaurs are made of sturdy stuff. Throwing rocks at each other is a friendly game for our young."
The mare was trying to decide how she should process the prince's words, when movement caught her eyes behind him. "There!" she said, pointing a hoof at the pink and yellow blur in the sky.
Silver turned, and in a moment he'd jumped onto the nearest roof, running towards Fluttershy. Sassy had to admit, he was rather fast for having only half the legs. She teleported at his side, initiating her own run.
"What's gotten into that friend of yours, anyway?" The prince jumped again, landing on another flat rooftop.
Sassy followed close behind. "I don't know. It might have been that thing she picked up."
"And you're sure this is not a normal thing for ponies, right?"
"You think?"
"Well I have never met one before."
Sassy almost chuckled at the brief note of excitement seeping through the other's tone. "It isn't, no. Though I have been told it's not the first time this has happened to her specifically."
"Well, whatever it is we need to stop her before-" The minotaur cut off as something streaked the sky, missing Fluttershy by only a couple wingspans. "That," he flatly added.
Sassy was starting to feel the exhaustion in her legs, and talking didn't help make running easier. Still, she had to ask, "What was that?"
"That's the guard shooting at your friend," Silver explained.
"What?"
A couple more projectiles flew towards the bat-pegasus from different corners of the city, each closer to the mark than the last one.
"We don't typically get flying creatures in here, and she doesn't look like either of the flying ponies that walked in today. This is standard procedure. You'd do it too if you ever had to deal with stray crabhawks."
Sassy decided it wasn't the time to inquire about that last part. "Well get them to sto-"
She didn't have time to finish her sentence. Fluttershy was hit, the rope-like projectile wrapping around her wings, and she fell to the ground, landing atop a large but not particularly tall building with a vast circular opening in its roof. Then she got up, a little dazed.
"What is that?" Sassy asked, stopping for a moment as she searched for which roof to jump on next. But as she turned briefly towards the minotaur, she saw his mouth working wordlessly, his expression one of surprise at what he'd seen. "Ponies are made of sturdy stuff too," she said with a half-smirk.
Silver shook his head. "Right, okay." He jumped to a nearby house, once again leading the run. "That's the Labyrinth," he explained.
Sassy was quickly at his side, having recovered a bit of breath through the pause. "Why do you have a labyrinth?"
"Do you not have one in your capital?"
The unicorn opened her mouth, then closed it after a moment of silence.
It was Silver's turn to half-smirk. "So how do we stop her? How do we fix her?"
"No idea."
The minotaur almost tripped as he turned to stare at Sassy.
She gave a stifled sort-of-laugh in response. "We'll figure something out. Probably. Or at worst hold her long enough for Twilight to get out."
The two were just about to reach the top of the Labyrinth, when Fluttershy jumped into the hole. And then the hole started closing.
"Oh, that's not good." Silver tried to rush towards the sliding metal plates that were sealing up the entrance, but couldn't get there in time. He stopped, standing on top of them, panting for breath. "That is not good."
Sassy reached him after a moment. "What happened?"
"She closed it."
"I can see that. What did she do?"
"She pulled the lever. Now we gotta get in the other way." Without waiting for her, the prince began to walk towards a set of stairs leading down from the Labyrinth's roof.
Sassy's next sentence died in her throat, replaced by a huff, and instead she teleported to his side. "Will you tell me what this place is about?"
"It's a test." Silver reached the bottom of the stairs, and began to walk around the building. "It's part of the ceremony to enter the Council. I went through it too. There's a room in the centre in case you get lost, with a lever that opens and closes the roof, so if you fail you can go there and get pulled out. We leave it open when it's not being used, just in case someone accidentally gets in, but your friend just sealed herself shut in there."
Sassy stopped as he did, right in front of the entrance. It was another metallic double gate, a different set of scenes sculpted onto it, showing monsters and other odd creatures. Two holes were on the front, where doorknobs should have been. "So we have to go in here then?"
Silver nodded. "If you want to recover your friend, that is."
The mare gulped. "Is it dangerous?"
"Not for a minotaur. But your friend might be injured. And when a minotaur takes the test, they receive instructions and supplies," the prince explained. "There's nothing in there that can really harm her, but she might remain stuck, and you can only go so long without food and water. Not to mention any possible injuries."
"Well, it's a good thing you've explored it already, no?" Sassy nervously shifted from side to side, looking towards the ground.
"Hardly." Silver Hooves took a step forward, kneeled, pushed his horns into the holes and turned his head. A section of the doors shifted, then a click sounded from inside them and the heavy slabs of metal seamlessly slid open. "It shifts. There's a mechanism below it that moves the sections around, so you can't map it out. I have no idea what it's like right now."
"Oh." Sassy looked ahead into the pitch black interiors of the building, stairs leading immediately down from the entrance. "So... We're going in there, uh?"
"What else?" Silver stepped into the building. "I can go by myself if you want, but only one minotaur at a time can enter. The corridors are narrow either way, and it would take a while to get more guards here. In these conditions, I would say being quick matters most. Unless you want to leave your friend inside here for the night." He took another step forward, and stopped to look back. "So? Are you coming?"
Sassy considered her options for a moment. Then, shaking her head, she headed towards the prince. "Who's going to talk to Fluttershy otherwise?"
Silver smiled. Without warning, he grabbed Sassy and stepped forward. The doors locked shut behind them, and a gate slid up further in front of them, at the bottom of the staircase. "Pressure plates," he explained. "As I said, only one adult minotaur can pass through. Or a minotaur and a pony, in this case. There are two levers to unlock that, one in the central room and one at the main exit. But for now, no one else can come in."
"If only your guards hadn't shot her!" Sassy whined, getting back to her hooves.
"If only she hadn't closed the roof behind herself. No point in worrying now though." He began to trek down in the darkness, fetching something from the ground just a few steps up ahead.
"If only Twilight was here. We should have waited for her help." Sassy followed him without really seeing anything, and tried to light her horn.
"And leave your friend here alone, scared and maybe hurt?" he asked. "Same reason why we didn't go call more guards. Finding her quickly to make sure she's alright is the most important thing now, the time lost by waiting for help would be more than that gained by covering more ground. Besides, it would have hardly mattered if your princess had been here too." There was a click, and the torch in his hand ignited, spreading a cone of warm orange light. "You've probably noticed already, but magic doesn't work here. Anti-magic rocks in the walls."
The unicorn stopped trying to use her horn. Instead she just started to follow behind the minotaur. After a while, she asked, "So, huh, why do you have anti-magic rocks here?"
"To prevent cheating." Silver looked around a corner, and took a left turn. "We minotaurs can't use magic, but artefacts and amulets get here through trading. Can't let someone cheat on this, it's a matter of honour." He stopped a second to consider another turn. "And at any point, someone eligible to one day enter the Council can challenge a current member to replace them, which makes it doubly important that the competition is fair."
Sassy followed behind. "How did you even get an anti-magic mineral when you're not a magic species?"
"Mining." Another turn. "There happened to be a rather large vein of it in one of our mountains, we never exhausted it actually. And we had other uses for it besides this. And ways to figure out its properties, which I assume is what you were asking. Equestria isn't the only country with magic users among its inhabitants."
Sassy moved a little closer to remain in the light. "What else is out there?"
"Oh, lots of things. Changelings used to be a problem, though it is my understanding that your kind is to thank for their relatively recent turnaround. Moose are still out there further north, they're a reserved kind and they don't enjoy being bothered. Fungiforms live south. Enjoyable creatures, certainly, but some of them are rather prone to mischief. Gotta make sure they didn't use transmutation on the merch they're trying to trade to fake it." Silver stopped for a moment, studying the next intersection.
"Interesting." The unicorn came to a stop right at his side, looking left and right as well. "So, where are we going?"
"I'm trying to spot any signs of your friend. I think we can walk our way to the central chamber pretty easily, the Labyrinth is designed for that, but we need to find her first." He tried to illuminate further with his torch on both sides of the corridor. "Any idea where she might be? It doesn't seem like there are any traces here. Left or right?"
Just as the mare was about to open her mouth, a sound came from down the hallway to their right. A thumping, followed by scratching, moving closer then becoming more distant. "Well, I think that answers our question."
The two shared a look, then began to run down the corridor. At the next intersection, they waited for a moment, and then heard sounds again on the left. At the one after though, everything had gone silent.
They both stopped for a moment to catch their breath. "Where do we go now?" Sassy asked.
"Not sure. But she can't be too far." Silver scratched his chin, thinking. "What should we do once we get to her, anyway? I can try to subdue her but I wouldn't wanna hu-" He stopped. "What's so funny?" he asked, looking at the pony.
Sassy managed to stifle her chuckling. "Sorry, sorry. If half of what Rarity has told me about Fluttershy is true then I doubt you would be able to deal with her so easily."
"Oh, you think I can't handle a pony?" Silver leaned against the wall, amused. "What is she gonna do, cuddle me into submission?"
Sassy chuckled again. "You shouldn't underestimate her. I've heard of her tossing bears around, I'm sure she could give you some thread to weave, as we say. You shouldn't judge us ponies just on appearance."
It was the minotaur's turn to chuckle. "Oh, believe me, we know." He sighed, his eyes distant for a second. "Your kind moves the Sun and Moon for all of us- Earth, a single one of you does it now. And I've seen her. She's small enough I could pick her up and throw her around, and yet she gives night and day to the whole world. We minotaurs aren't like that. You get what you see. It's hard for some of us, knowing there's a world out there so different from our own. It's why you don't see many of us around."
There was a pause, then the unicorn spoke again. "I think I get it, yes. It's never really stuck out to me, but I can see it." Another pause. "Though she may or may not have found a way to set those things on automatic." Sassy moved a bit closer to him. "Well, you'll get to see a lot more of this now. Better get used to it." She sat back, then another chuckle came to her lips.
"What is it this time?" Silver raised an eyebrow, curious.
"Nothing, it's just..." She shook her head. "Princess Twilight was really impressed with your technology. And I mean really, really impressed. Practically bouncing up and down while we were on the boat. And I must admit I'm quite impressed as well. That you managed to do all of this without magic, well- We don't really have anything quite like this in Equestria. We've never seen anything like it. It's fascinating."
Silver smiled. "Well, I'm glad you feel that way." He looked down at his hands, and counted his fingers.
"What is that?"
"What?"
"The..." Sassy waved a hoof around. "The counting thing. Is that a hands creatures thing? You're the only one I've seen do that."
"Oh, that." Silver looked at his hands again. "It's a reality check. We don't get a magic princess taking care of our dreams, so I personally find it enjoyable to-"
Before he could finish the sentence, a cry came from down the hallway to their left. They briefly gave a nod to each other, then dashed towards the sound. Left, then right, then left again. Finally they spotted a pink patch of tail disappearing at the end of a corridor.
"Fluttershy!" Sassy called. "Oh, dear. I hope she's alright. I can't begin to imagine what Miss Rarity will do to me if something happens to her and it's my fault."
They turned and faced a dead end. Fluttershy was there in front of them. Her wings had gotten caught up in the projectile, and she drew back against the wall, hissing at them.
"Fluttershy, it's me!" Sassy tried.
Fluttershy hissed again in response. She stepped forward, then back, seemingly studying them. Her fangs bared, her pupils vertical slits, she tried to shake the rope off her leathery wings. She seemed nervous, unsure of what to do.
"Try lowering the torch," Sassy suggested, and Silver did.
The bat pony seemed to calm down just a little, but she still remained on edge. It was like seeing a stray cat that doesn't trust ponies, Sassy thought to herself. There wasn't malice in the mutated pegasus' eyes, so much as confusion. Probably what had caused her to run away in the first place. She suddenly didn't understand where she was.
The minotaur leaned closer, studying the creature. "What happened to her, exactly? You said this wasn't the first time, right?"
Sassy nodded, tentatively moving closer. "I wasn't there, but Rarity told me about it. It was apparently the side-effect of a spell by Princess Twilight. Something to do with rewriting bats' instincts. It seems like maybe it never really left her." She took another careful step forward. "I'm really not sure how to fix it though. Not without Twilight's help. That thing in the library must have triggered her transformation."
"I wouldn't be too surprised. It was probably magical all along, it's not like we ever had a way to check or find out. Nothing we tried ever had any results, at least." The prince took a step closer himself. "It might only work on ponies, for all we know. That's the problem with magic items. You can only ever be sure something is one, never the contrary."
Sassy nodded in understanding. "We'll have to ask Twilight to investigate, once we're out of here." She tried to extend a leg forward towards Fluttershy, gauging her reactions. "Assuming it doesn't affect her just as well."
"Magic creatures are weird," Silver replied. "You move things with your horn and your friend there flies with wings too small to carry her weight. Yet her changing shape like that is somehow weird to you, and something you find hard to explain. It all seems the same grade of impossible to me."
"Well, it may be just a matter of what you're used to." Biting her lower lip, Sassy touched Fluttershy's back.
The bat-pony drew back a moment, her breath speeding up a bit, then became a bit calmer and let the unicorn run her hoof over her body. Just like a cat, there was something there, not quite trust but a lack of annoyance. They weren't hurting her, so she would afford to see what more they were trying to do.
Sassy hesitated. Her hoof moved to the rope binding Fluttershy's bat-like wings, and her eyes searched for Silver Hooves's. "Should I...?"
The prince looked between her and the other pony. "What if she flies away?"
"It's the only way to get her to trust us, unless you're keeping food with you."
He chewed his lower lip for a second. "I know. You're right. And it's not like I can carry her." He pushed Sassy slightly back. "Let me do it though. Knots are easier to deal with when you have hands."
Fluttershy hissed at first, but remained still enough. In a few moments, Silver's fingers untangled the coils binding her wings. As she realised she was finally free, her expression shifted to one of mild surprise. A moment later, she took flight and disappeared down the corridor.
Before either of the two had time to complain, however, she came back, and nuzzled to Silver Hooves's hand.
Sassy tilted her head to the side. "I think she likes you." She leaned closer to the other pony. "And she doesn't seem to be hurt." She smiled, standing straighter. "Very well. To the central hall now, I suppose."
Silver seemed to ponder the idea for a moment. "Well, we need Twilight's help with this, and she won't be out for the whole night. Plus if we open the roof there's always the chance she gets shot at again. We could just try to go for the main exit." He glanced at the sceptical unicorn. "Of course, if you think you couldn't do it..."
Sassy suddenly jerked upright. "Is this a challenge, Silver?"