Swimming down from the Agaricus Forest, the four adventurers made their way mostly uneventfully through the lower depths of the Deepwell. They knew they were going the right way when they saw the gigantic shadow of the Carcinus moving past them. Drawing their Duskloak cloaks around them, they stealthily made their way past it.
Fortunately the enchantments on the cloaks worked underwater.
Reaching the very bottom of the Deepwell, they saw by the light of Sparkler’s horn a small circular hole in the floor, just large enough for them to swim through in single file – although Stonecutter was admittedly a tight fit – and they found themselves in a small square chamber just ten foot across.
Still completely submerged, the four looked around the room. The ceiling had the small hole they had swam through. Apart from that, the room’s features were obscured by silt and sediment that hung low in the water. As far as they could see, there was nothing to see, except a lever on the northern wall.
“I wonder what that does?” asked Cloudy Skies. Looking around, like the rest, she saw there was apparently no way out of this room other than the hole they had entered by.
“Only one way to find out, I guess,” Stonecutter swam over, and, after a rather hefty pull, she managed to get the lever in the down position. Immediately, there came a low rumbling sound from somewhere nearby as ancient gears were engaged. The circular opening in the ceiling slid shut with a grinding noise of stone on stone and then all the water began to drain out of the room through slits in the walls that had not been there before.
Finally, once all the water in the chamber had drained away, a crescent shaped panel on the floor slid away revealing a descending spiral staircase that led down into a dark space below. “Wait,” Cloudy Skies stopped them as they were about to walk down the staircase, “Hang on a moment,” she tossed the magic collar into an empty space, and the dog appeared in a flash of purple light. “I thought Dog would be handy if anything tries to creep up on us.”
The glowing purple dog had only been summoned for a few seconds, and he started to scratch and snuffle at the eastern wall of the featureless room. “What's got him so excited?” wondered Stonecutter out loud, “It’s just a wall.”
Curiously, Blackbeak tapped on the wall, and his sharp ears picked up a clue. “It’s a hollow wall.”
That excited Sparkler, “Treasure room, maybe?”
“Hang on,” Stonecutter took her warhammer in her hands and she attacked the wall like it owed her money. In noticeably short order, it was smashed to smithereens.
As soon as there was an adequately sized hole in the wall, Blackbeak stepped through into a very narrow passage. At the end, where water was running out through a rotting burlap sack. “We have a rotting sack!” he reported, and then, “In the sack we have a dead rat...and a shield!”
When the griffon came out of the passage with his prize, Sparkler’s horn lit up. “The shield is definitely magical. I'm having a hard time getting a fix on it.”
“Hmm…it feels...like a shield,” Blackbeak gave his own verdict on the kite shaped shield. He liked it though. It felt, ‘right’, and even though the once bright yellow paint had become dulled with time, and the familiar stylized sun design had long lost its luster, he could tell it was as functional as the day it was made.
As he hefted it onto his non sword arm, Cloudy Skies let out a very loud, very girly squee. “Oh my...you look so hot...ter than usual!” she wafted herself with her hands, because it had gotten extremely hot in the small room all of a sudden.
“Can you put the shield down for a moment, please?” asked Sparkler. When Blackbeak had placed it on the floor, she cast her spell again. “Ah, now I can get a fix on it. Magic reflection, it can either absorb a spell or reflect it back at the caster…it’s from the Order of the Sacred Sun, an order of knights that hasn’t existed for six hundred years!”
“Good Dog!” Cloudy Skies knelt and fussed over her dog, petting the Great Dane’s head, “Yes you are!”
“Think Dog would like a honey sweet for a treat?” asked Stonecutter.
No sooner had the earth pony asked the question, than Dog bounded over to her and he sat with his paw up and panting. “I think he understands you Stony. He can have a treat, he’s earned it.” She was pleased to see that her magical companion was apparently well trained.
Not only did Dog get one treat, Stonecutter gave him two! He snaffled them with abandon, his purple translucent coat glowing to show how happy he was. “I kinda figure chocolate would be bad like it is for Winona,” she blushed, realising he was a magical construct.
“Now that’s sorted,” Blackbeak grunted, his impatience getting the better of him, “Are we going down this spiral staircase or what?”
Smiling, Sparkler struck a most heroic pose. “Adventure!”
“I don't think that means what you think it means,” Cloudy Skies grinned, fussing Dog with her delicate fingers.
“It means we're doing this regardless,” Sparkler replied with a roll of her eyes.
“Okay,” Cloudy Skies conceded, “Maybe it does.” Once they were all down in the lower passage, which was a long L shaped hallway with three doors, one at each end and one part way down, Dog was drawn to the closest closed door. There was a sign, faded with age and rust, but they could just make out the words ‘Robing Room’. “I think he's sensed something in there,” the pegasus pointed to her whining, pawing pet.
“Three doors to choose from, so that’s as good as any,” Sparkler commented, “I just hope they’re all unlocked.”
“I got this!” Blackbeak declared brashly, then he noticed the look from them all. “What? I know the last time I said that there was a fire, but this knob feels cool!” still, when he opened the door, he backed away quickly just in case, making Cloudy Skies giggle.
“I may lose my door opener title at this rate,” Stonecutter snickered.
“Looks pretty much intact,” Cloudy Skies commented as she stepped inside for a better look, Dog following hot on her heels. The room certainly seemed to have stood the test of time better than the L shaped corridor outside. There were a few pieces of wooden and metal furniture – a wardrobe, a bookshelf, a chaise and a treasure chest - all of which had somehow remained relatively untouched. Cloudy Skies was drawn to the wardrobe like a moth to a flame. “Oh my...look at all these dresses!”
Sparkler wasn’t interested in the robes. Fancy as they were, they seemed more ceremonial than functional. She practically skipped to the bookshelf with a look of foalish delight all over her face. Giggling at her marefriend’s antics, Stonecutter walked over and sat on the chaise, happy and relieved that it could take her weight. To the unicorn’s interest, the bookcase was full of books written in Old Ponish, torn pages and rolled scrolls all stacked on top of each other. “I was right! Old Ponish!” she held up a scroll she had pulled out, “Search for the right answer and receive guidance. The secrets of the Crucible lie in the heart of all!”
Cloudy Skies pretended to think for a moment, “I think the standard answer is 'friendship'.”
“I think that’s the answer to all the test questions at school,” Blackbeak snarked, then his greedy yellow eyes found the chest, and he eyed it up for possible treasure. It wasn’t that big, barely two foot wide, eighteen inches high and a foot deep, but when it came to treasure, he knew something didn’t have to be big to be worth big bits.
“Is that all there is in the bookcase?” asked Cloudy Skies, “Sure you didn't find Umberfoal's version of Fifty Shades of Hay?”
Blackbeak was sorely tempted to haul his pet over his knee and spank her cute ass raw just for mentioning that damned book, but he was focused solely on the chest. “I call dibs on the chest!” he cried, but as he went to crack it open, it suddenly attacked him!
A pair of yellow eyes opened in the chest lid, and it opened to reveal several rows of very sharp teeth. Blackbeak got closer and the barked and growled like Dog. Alarmed, the griffon jumped back and drew his sword while Stonecutter pulled out her hammer.
Confronted by the sudden unexpected show of force, the chest whimpered and trembled in fear, causing Dog to pad his way up to it and snuffle, exchanging a few yips and woofs like they were greeting each other. “Is that...a Mimic?” asked the pegasus, “I've heard of those!”
Quickly, Sparkler stepped in front of Stonecutter and Blackbeak before they could attack and harm the creature. “Step aside, Sparks,” Blackbeak grunted, “Those things are dangerous!”
“Dog doesn't think so,” Sparkler looked down where Dog was rubbing his face over the top of the chest, and she gently patted the top with her hand. The way it affectionately rumbled at her was just adorable! “And I don't think so, either.”
“Woof! Ruuuuuuff!” the Mimic pants and a tongue appeared from its mouth, licking the back and the palm of the unicorn’s hand. Dog, happy that he had made a new friend, padded softly around the chest and helped himself to a sniff at its rear.
“What are you going to do?” asked Stonecutter, “Magic up a leash and take it for a walk?”
“What’s the matter, jealous, Stony?” asked Cloudy Skies, earning herself a chuckle from Blackbeak and a raspberry from the earth pony.
Kneeling, Sparkler skritched the front of the chest, delighted to get a low rumble of pleasure in turn. “You know, that's a good idea Stony.” The chest then gave Sparkler what was clearly a nuzzle and a wet tongue lick, making her laugh. “Don't worry Stony, I'm not replacing you.”
“I wasn't worried,” Stonecutter shrugged, “I lick way better than that.”
“Sparks just has a thing for chests, that's all,” Cloudy Skies giggled at Sparkler’s blushing reaction to her little joke. Pointedly, the unicorn did not try and deny it.
Satisfied there was no treasure or bits to be found in the Robing Room, Blackbeak walked out of the room and back into the hall. “I'm going to see what's down this hall to the right.”
With Sparkler still blushing bright red, the three mares followed the griffon out of the room. “Let's stay together,” Stonecutter said as she fitted her hammer onto her belt.
“Okay,” Sparkler smiled warmly, “And I think I'll call you Chester, or Chesty for short.” The unicorn giggled, “Come along, Chesty!”
Dog and Chesty both came walking out of the Robing Room, the chest having grown short stumpy legs from its underside, each pet scampering at their owner's heels. After a short walk, Chester hopped up a little at Sparkler’s legs. “I think he wants you to carry him,” Cloudy Skies observed.
“Hmm, I guess with those little legs it is hard to keep up,” Sparkler lit her horn and carefully she picked Chester up in her telekinetic field. When they reached the old door at the end of the hallway, she set Chester on the floor so her hands and horn would be free is she needed her magic for what might be beyond the door.
Not wanting to wait any longer, Blackbeak shouldered open the door and he found himself in an old storage room. There were a number of rusted metal stands and rods that he assumed were ceremonial in nature, as well as bags of food that had long rotted away. Paintings were water damaged to oblivion. “It's...it looks like just a storeroom.” He reported as he picked through a stacked pile of mouldy fabrics. Then, something gold caught his eye. “Oh! What's that?”
“Well preserved,” Sparkler said as she looked intently at the golden baton, “but I sense no magic.”
“Might as well take it along with us,” Blackbeak snickered, “It’ll be magic enough when I turn it into bits at the pawn shop in Ponyville!”
“So...we have to go back the other way, right?” asked Cloudy Skies, “There's only one other door down here we haven't tried yet.”
“I wish we had a map,” Sparkler grumbled ever so slightly as Blackbeak led the way down the hallway, past the Robing Room and through the third and final door. It was hard to be grumpy though with Chester licking her hands.
“The semi-circular part of the L shaped hallway doubled in width after roughly fifteen feet, widening to twenty feet across. On either side of the wider section, the walls were covered in exquisitely carved ornate murals that looked as though they had been carved yesterday. “I have to say, I like these!” Stonecutter, a master smith herself, appreciated the craftsponyship on display. “The carving is exquisite! I can hardly see the tool markings!”
Sparkler paused in the hallway to take a longer look at the murals. She had to agree with her marefriend’s assessment. The quality was amazing. “They look like wendigos from the story books.”
“They were around before this place was shut down?” asked Cloudy Skies.
“Oh yes,” Sparkler affirmed, still studying the mural. They looked like the wendigos shown in the old stories as these three had long serpentine bodies she would expect. Only they also had gems in their upper bodies and fins along their tails, more like a siren, "They predate the Princesses, for sure."
That awed Cloudy Skies. “That means this temple predates The Unification of the Tribes!”
“So...it’s old then?”
“Yes love,” Cloudy Skies said with a very loud roll of her eyes, “It’s old. Hey,” she then noted something that caught her sharp eyes, “These gems in the wall are real pretty. They’re kind of like those blue ones up in Umberfoal, only darker.”
“They're not glowing either,” Sparkler pointed out as they walked along the hallway. As soon as they walked past the wide section though, and the mural hallway narrowed once more, the dark gems flashed a bright red, only for just a moment, then they were dark once more.
A second later, Dog started to growl and bark seemingly at nothing in front of them, and the hair on the back of the translucent purple dog stood up. That unnerved Stonecutter more than the flash from the crystals. “Guy, I got a bad feeling about this…”
With a word for him to stay safely behind her with Dog, Sparkler set Chester down on the ground and she lit her horn, readying her fire spell. Next to her, Blackbeak looked around, his sword and shield ready for action.
Then, when they thought that nothing was going to happen, three Mistforms appeared from thin air, floating four feet off the floor in front of them. The creatures looked a lot like the carvings on the murals, but in insubstantial vapor form. “Oh...” Cloudy Skies gasped, “Oooh my... th-they m-must be the three sisters Spryyg warned us about!”
“We got to get through them to get in there, I assume?” asked Blackbeak, pointing his sword at their latest obstacle.
“Yes, I should assume so,” Sparkler mused out loud, though she hesitated to unleash her magic, wanting to see if they would attack first. There might be a diplomatic solution, after all, if they were intelligent. “They’re not wendigos, that's for sure.”
“Why aren't they attacking us?” asked Stonecutter, gesturing at the creatures with the business end of her hammer, “They're just floating there in front of the door.”
Impatient as ever, Blackbeak took a few steps forwards towards the three insubstantial floating creatures. They shifted and shimmered between an indistinguishable cloud and the smoky serpentine form they had adopted. One step closer however, and the Mistforms turned from smoke to a violent blood red and, with peaceful faces now visages of horror with needle like teeth, they moved to strike!
Thinking quickly, the griffon took several steps straight back and, just as quickly as they had changed to attack, the Mistforms reverted back to their smoky gaseous state, content to hover near the door they were guarding. “That answers that,” Blackbeak said, “Must be a proximity thing.”
“Friendship!” screamed Sparkler who, throwing all caution to the winds, sprang forward. As one entity, the three Mistforms turned blood red, let out a ferocious howl and they attacked, the lead one firing off a stun bolt that hits the floor in front of Sparkler’s hooves.
“Sparkler!” screamed Stonecutter in panic.
Spurred to action by the reckless thing that Sparkler had done, Blackbeak ran forwards, his shield raised as one of them fired a stun bolt at him. The beam of energy hit the shield and sent straight back to the Mistform, which howled in pain. “Are you bucking crazy?”
With a manic look in her green eyes, Sparkler cast her firework spell, shaping it so that it was two bolts of fire, at two of them for no effect. “Crazy? Totally! But they seem resistant to my magic."
At a complete loss, Cloudy Skies cried, “What do we do?” she dispelled Dog back to his collar in order to keep him safe, just for good measure.
Blackbeak saw what the magic bolt that reflected off his shield did to damage the Mistform and the griffon had an idea from an action movie he had seen not long ago. “Sparks, aim your fire at my shield!” the griffon angled it so the fire would bounce off to hit all three of them at once. “Make it good!” In his mind, he was Captain Equestria and Sparkler was Iron Mare, and they were the Revengers!
“Sparks!” Stonecutter yelled as she watched the reflected fire burn away one of the Mistforms while the other two dodged around the intense heat, “Can your telekinesis hold them in place, make them solid enough so I can attack them?”
Honestly? Sparkler didn’t have the first clue if Stonecutter’s plan would work or not, but it was as good an idea as any she had up her ass, so she switched her magic from fire to telekinesis, and she cast it over the two remaining creatures. Holding them firm, the earth pony and griffon both made extremely short work of them and hacked them apart.
As soon as the threat was over, and the Mistforms had been destroyed, Sparkler congratulated her marefriend’s heroic strike by burying her face in Stonecutter's vast bosom, wiggling her head until it was nestled between her breasts. Cloudy Skies rushed over with Chester in her arms and she hugged Blackbeak, kissing him all over his feathered face.
“Well...” Stonecutter smirked as she looked down at Sparkler’s head wedged in her breasts, “I could get used to this celebration.”
Sparkler’s muffled voice just reached their ears, “Me too!”
Ten minutes later though, and the ‘celebration’ was still going on. “Uh…guys?” Blackbeak said, speaking louder than was necessary, “The door's open now. It’s been open ages!”
“Adventure!” Sparkler’s voice was muffled by the earth pony’s bosom, reluctantly she separated herself and took her mare’s hand as she took Chester back in her arms from Cloudy Skies and headed for the door. “Wow,” she breathed in the doorway to the altar room, “That may even predate Celestia!”
“Wait!” Cloudy Skies threw out her hands and stopped them from entering the large triangular shaped room. It opened up the further in it went, so that the end was four times wider than the end they were at. It had a low angled ceiling, giving the room a pyramid shape. “Wait. Guys. Let’s be careful, shall we? This is the point where the spikes with skulls on come out the floor and the walls.”
“Sky...what?”
Cloudy Skies rolled her eyes at her lover, “We're entering the altar of a sunken temple. Have you never seen Daring Do?”
“Oh, I read that one!” Stonecutter spoke up, while Sparkler just blinked.
“Daring Do and the Temple of the Power Stone, right?” Cloudy Skies and Stonecutter fist bumped each other, “Come on. It can't be that easy! The Crucible is right there, unguarded?”
With a great degree of trepidation, the four stepped out into the room. One step, nothing happened. Two steps, still nothing. Three and four steps, nothing. By the fifth step, they left their worries at the door as they passed by galleries on each side of the room with stone benches behind low walls. A huge stone slab protruded slightly out of the far wall.
In the middle of the room there stood a stone altar decorated with shining gold rods. Atop the altar stood the Crucible, though this one looked simpler and more primitive than the two they had encountered already. As old as it was, there was no mistaking the fact that it was a Crucible. Reaching into her pack, Sparkler reverently placed the Arcast into the receptacle.
“Alright,” Blackbeak sighed reluctantly, “Here comes my next headache, I guess.”
As soon as the unicorn had placed the corrupted Arcast in the Crucible, the primitive stone construct flashed bright white. Then, a low rumbling sound echoed throughout the room. The source of the noise soon revealed itself. Where once the north eastern wall had been flat stone, now it seemed to twist and carve itself, until a vast stone face appeared. The face was vaguely serpentine, like the creatures in the murals.
“Dear Celestia!” Cloudy Skies squeaked in abject fear, the mare only just able to keep control of her bladder.
Automatically, Stonecutter stepped protectively in front of Sparkler, “I should be able to stop a rolling stone.”
Impassively, the great stone face surveyed the four creatures stood before it. It was not impressed. “I am the Guardian of the Crucible,” when it spoke, the sounds of stone grating on stone made up its voice. “Of what do I speak? All welcome this thing. Whether roost, nest, hole or building. It makes you sick if you stray far away, but always your heart can be found within.”
Sparkler studied the stone face, “It looks a lot like one of those creatures we just fought, don’t you think?”
“It's a riddle,” Blackbeak snorted, “I'm absolutely crap at riddles!”
Suddenly, inspiration struck Stonecutter. “I know what it is!” Quietly, Sparkler squeezed her hand and motioned for her to go ahead. “Home. The answer is home. I get it. The Festival of Lights is about creating and protecting a home. The ponies of Umberfoal, the Agari, even the spiders, they all want to protect their homes!”
Cloudy Skies flinched, “My homelife sucks.”
Blackbeak shrugged, “Griffonstone stinks.”
“Those aren't your homes,” Stonecutter spoke to both of them at once, “Just like Canterlot isn't Sparks’ home now. You all know where your true home is.”
Sparkler knew where her home was. “With you.”
“With you,” Stonecutter replied. Much louder, she addressed the waiting stone face. “The answer's home!”
“That…is the right answer.” After a long pause, the guardian spoke again. “For one each home is suited right, by blazing sun or sweet moonlight.”
“Okay,” Sparkler reached out her hand. “Crucible touching time.”
“You need a new catchphrase, Sparks,” Blackbeak sighed, reaching out his hand until it touched the Crucible, “I really hate this bit…”
Together as one, the four companions spoke, “For one each home is suited right, by blazing sun or sweet moonlight.” Instantly, they were gifted quick, fleeting images of those who built the temple. Again, Blackbeak suffered his splitting headache.
The guardian though was not finished. “Knowledge into Arcast can the Crucible turn. But matter into words you may also learn.” A glowing white light floated out of the guardian’s mouth and hovered over the room straight to Blackbeak’s hand. As he caught it, the face returned back to solid stone. In the griffon’s palm, the ball of light became a twelve inch long amber crystal.
“A Reverse Arcast!” Sparkler breathed in sheer awe, having an instinctual feeling for what it was and what it was for, thanks to the Crucible. “Wow, we are almost done. Just the sp... sp...” her voice fell to a whisper, “Spiders to go.”
“You best look after this, Sparks.” Nodding, Sparkler took the new crystal along with the partially purified Arcast and placed them both safely back in her pack.
“Back to the forest,” Stonecutter pointed back the way they had come, “We could use some more of that Sporedust elixir before we do anything else.”
Almost as an afterthought, Sparkler checked the time. “Okay, we got roughly twenty minutes to get back before the Water Breathing potions run out, or do we take the last ones now?”
“I say we take them now,” Blackbeak opined, “I don't think we'll be coming back down here again.”
“If we don’t take them,” Stonecutter put in, “You know something will go wrong.” Since it seemed to be agreed, the pegasus opened her potions case and passed out the last of the Water Breathing potions to everyone.
When they were back in the first ten foot square room, and Stonecutter had pulled the lever to seal the floor and flood it with water, Sparkler asked the pegasus to make sure the coast was clear, for she was still worried about the giant crab.
“I see it,” she reported, “But it’s a long way off and not where we're going.” With that, they swam back to the tunnel and allowed the current to take them back to Agarica.
~ ~ ~
There was only one way to get to the spider’s nest. The passageway in the back of the Hall of Rituals in Agarica. Though it was unguarded, the journey still took three hours, because it was tight and every few feet there were sticky webbing blocking their way.
Presently enough, they arrived on the edge of the vast hollow cavern that was the nest, and Sparkler almost wet herself because the walls and the floor were completely covered in layers upon layers of silk webbing. “Have I mentioned how much I do not want to do this?” hissed the unicorn as quietly as she could.
“I'm here to protect you,” Stonecutter said quickly, though if she was honest, she was as scared as her marefriend was. When Sparkler gave her a kiss on the cheek, she found she wasn’t as scared as she thought she was.
“I think this is the nest that Spryyg told us about,” Blackbeak thought out loud. He could see that the spiders had used natural columns, stalagmites and stalactites with their webs to create a multi-layered domain for themselves.
“At least they have some light down here,” Cloudy Skies pointed out the thousands of softly glowing red crystals dotted all around the cavern, “I guess they can't see completely in the dark.”
“Yeah,” Stonecutter spoke without thinking, “Imagine walking head first into a mass of webbing in the pitch dark!”
Hearing that, Sparkler stopped, she shuddered and she stayed frozen in place like a hard drive that had crashed and needed rebooting. “Way to drop the stone, Cutter,” Blackbeak snickered and Cloudy Skies giggled as she watched him wave his hand in front of the unresponsive mare’s face.
“Well, seeing as it is still pretty dark, and we don't want to give away our locations with horn light, drink these,” Cloudy Skies reached into her potions kit and she passed out the potions of Dark Vision she had gotten from the Burrows.
“Um...I’m sorry,” Stonecutter blushed hard then she prodded Sparkler to get a reaction from her. “Here, drink this, Sparks.”
Not really paying attention, Sparkler took the potion and she drank it in one large mouthful. “Oh wow,” she exclaimed as the unfamiliar taste took hold in her mouth, “That is cool.”
“I think we'll need to be on our guard in there,” Blackbeak said quietly, “Who knows how many spiders might be patrolling.” He pulled the Duskloak cloak tight around him, “Use the cloaks guys, and stay sharp.”
Stonecutter looked up at the layers of silk draped all around the cavern. Thanks to the potion, she could see the three dimensional maze like aspect to their surroundings. “The only way up is along this webbing.”
“Wait,” Sparkler stopped her as she took one step onto the exceedingly strong silk, “We have to be careful. They can sense vibrations.”
“Two of us can fly?” offered Cloudy Skies.
“Not sure about that, Sky,” Blackbeak glanced up and he didn’t fancy his chances. “Not much room for our wingspans up there.”
“I can see a path,” Cloudy Skies whispered, her sharp eyes even more so thanks to the potion, “It's like a three dimensional maze. Follow me.” Very gently , very carefully, she hovered up amongst the webs.
Naturally, as Stonecutter, Sparkler and Blackbeak crept along the silk threads in the pegasus’s wake, it was Stonecutter who tripped and sent waves of vibrations running up the webs. “Celestia damn it!” she cursed under her breath and hid under her cloak as a spider appeared. Fortunately, it didn’t detect her, and it soon scurried away.
When she was absolutely sure the coast was again clear, Sparkler let out the breath she felt she had been holding since she was born. “Still love you, Stone.”
“I don't have a light hoof potion...sorry, Stone.” Cloudy Skies gave her an apologetic look.
“This is like the tatzlwurm all over again...” Stonecutter muttered darkly, not quite under her breath.
“But you punched it so hard it went back in time,” Sparkler pointed out, quite correctly.
Stonecutter’s failing mood lifted just a little. “Heh...that was fun,” now smiling, albeit tentatively, she very carefully tread the webs exactly where Cloudy Skies led them.
“Just be grateful that almost all the spiders are elsewhere,” said Blackbeak as he carefully made his way across the webs. Bigger than his mare, he wasn’t even attempting to fly around, lest his wings get gunked up in the webs. He noted that Sparkler wasn’t happy that the spiders were elsewhere, because that ‘elsewhere’ was Umberfoal.
After some considerable time picking their way delicately along the silken webbing, they reached one of the upper layers of the nest. Up ahead of them, to the left in the main web structure, was an alcove made of webbing set against the rocky wall. “Hey...” Cloudy Skies whispered as they cautiously approached the alcove, “Can you guys hear something?”
“My breaking sanity,” grumbled Stonecutter.
“My heartbeat?” offered Sparkler. Ever since they had entered the nest, she had heard little else. Her heart was beating like a cannon blast in her chest.
“Yeah,” Blackbeak, whose ears were sharper than the rest, nodded his head. “It’s coming from that little alcove.”
Cloudy Skies cocked her head to one side. The sound, different volumes and pitches of hissing and clicking, almost sounded like… “It sounds like...arguing?”
Stonecutter shrugged, “Sparks, can you understand that?”
The unicorn shook her head. “No, sorry.”
“What?” Blackbeak whispered and snickered, in spite of the situation, he couldn’t help but find the amusing in the dark. “There's something you don't know?”
Curiously, the pegasus hovered up just a little and, after she had surveyed the rather disturbing scene, she came back down. “Okay, that was...uncomfortable. There's a big spider with red ridges on it’s back being...well, bullied, by three other spiders!” there was no other explanation for what she had seen.
Sparkler turned a deadpan look to the snickering griffon, “I know you're not as big as my mom's boyfriend.”
Stonecutter high fived her marefriend, “Burn!”
“Ouch...” Blackbeak winced, “I need some cream after that!”
Cloudy Skies couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Didn't you hear me?” she hissed angrily, as loudly as she dared so as not to draw any attention from the nearby spiders.
“Sorry, Sky,” Sparkler apologised, nudging Stonecutter and Blackbeak in the ribs so that they at least looked sorry, “Maybe Friendship is the answer. Let's go take care of the bullies you saw, but I can't use my fire magic in here.” The unicorn knew if she cast a firebolt and missed - or even if she hit – she would set the whole nest alight.
“If we two time one spider we should be able to take it out quickly,” opined Stonecutter, “Then we can deal with the other two.”
“There's always the fire breathing potion,” Cloudy Skies said, an unusually dark and grim expression hardening her soft face, “A fire breathing flyer would be handy, you said.”
“There’s just three of them, I think our muscle can handle it. I'd rather save that potion for up top,” Sparkler said as she thought quickly. She didn’t want the pegasus breathing fire down there for the same reason she didn’t want to cast her spells, “Or if we really get in serious trouble down here.”
“Fine,” Cloudy Skies crossed her arms under her chest.
“I know how you feel about bullies, Sky,” Blackbeak had his hand on the hilt of his sword and he checked the shield was tight on his arm, “I got this, for you.”
“Watch over Sparks for me, Sky,” asked Stonecutter as she followed the griffon on the way to the alcove.
As Stonecutter and Blackbeak both ventured off to the alcove, Sparkler noticed that Cloudy Skies was by her side shaking with fury she had never seen in the pegasus before. “Sky, you okay?”
“No. No I'm not.”
“I'm not okay either, so let's be not okay together.”
“Family shouldn't bully family,” stated Cloudy Skies grimly, her eyes distant, focused on something that Sparkler couldn’t see. After a moment, she shook her head and blushed, “I’m sorry. I wasn't 'here' for a moment there.”
“I may not understand,” Sparkler said gently as she gave her friend a hug, “But I'll always be here to listen.”
Up by the alcove, Stonecutter whispered, “Get their attention and I'll crush some heads.” Nodding his head in understanding, Blackbeak hovered to one side and he kicked the webbing deliberately to let the spiders know intruders were there. As soon as two of the bullying spiders came out of the alcove, Stonecutter was ready. Like she was playing whack-a-mole, she used all her might to turn their heads into paste.
While Stonecutter did that, Blackbeak swooped forwards and he bought the point of his sword down in a double handed strike that penetrated the third spider’s head, killing it instantly. The remaining spider, the one with the red ridges on its back, cowered on the ground in fear.
“All clear,” Stonecutter reported, “The last one isn't attacking.”
In Old Ponish, the quivering Spider squealed, “Don't hurt me!”
Too late to hear what the giant spider had said, Sparkler arrived with Cloudy Skies by her side holding her hand and a wing draped over the unicorn’s back. “It said something that was sort Equish, I think,” informed Stonecutter when they were close.
Now that even more ponies had shown up, armed and armoured ponies at that, the scared spider backed up as far as she could in the alcove, her two foremost legs held protectively over her face. “I said don't hurt me, please!” she begged.
“Old Ponish,” Sparkler recognised the ancient language immediately. “Very good pronunciation too.”
“Really?” Stonecutter raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“What did it say?” asked Blackbeak, his fingers dancing over the handle of his sword.
“It is a she, and she said don't hurt her,” Sparkler replied before turning her attention back to the spider. It was curious indeed to encounter a spider willing to talk, who hadn’t attacked them on sight. “We aren’t going to hurt you. We’re trying to save Umberfoal,” she spoke to the spider in Old Ponish, “And need the Crucible here to do that.”
“Y-Yo-You're trying to save the city?” the spider squeaked, tentatively lowering her forelegs now the likelihood of her getting her head smashed in was diminishing, “I...I can help! Please, I want to help!”
“She does want to help us,” Sparkler translated for the others, “Sparkler,” she addressed the spider, pointing to herself and then to each of them in turn, “Stonecutter, Blackbeak, Cloudy Skies. You?”
“I am Sable,” the spider said proudly, “Princess, Sable. Heir to the throne. Or, I would be,” her tone became bitter, “If mother were ever going to give it up, that is.”
Sensing the division between the Princess and the Queen, Sparkler nodded. “Do you know how to get to the Crucible?” she asked as she pulled out the corrupted Arcast. Having been purified twice, it wasn’t as dark as it was before. “We need to use it for this.”
“What happed to it?” asked Sable, her pincers clicking as she recognised the Arcast.
“Your mother and a pony called Alethea corrupted it,” Sparkler explained, “After they had invaded Umberfoal.”
“What's happening?” asked Cloudy Skies who, unable to speak the language, couldn’t follow the conversation. Just as lost, Blackbeak shrugged, while Stonecutter motioned for them to keep quiet.
“So mother finally did it,” Sable sighed deeply, “She invaded the pony city.” She shuddered, feeling Sparkler’s gaze upon her, “I was against the invasion. I voted for a diplomatic solution to our problems. Mother...did not agree. Neither did my brothers,” she gestured with a foreleg to the three corpses, “You must use the Crucible here, it's next to the throne, up there.”
“Okay,” Sparkler turned to the other three who were waiting, “I've briefed her on the back story. She will take us to the Crucible.”
“Can we trust her?” asked Blackbeak suspiciously.
“Do we have a choice?” responded Sparkler.
“Power of Friendship!” cheered Stonecutter.
“You might not think it, Pony Sparkler,” Sable spoke up, “But even spiders value a home. It's why mother did what she did, to get us a better home. She seeks to reach the surface world. But, I am not my mother. Her sins are not mine.”
“Many creatures can share this underworld area in peace and harmony,” commented Sparkler, not unkindly, “To do that though, we must first stop your mother and change her mind.”
Sadly, Sable shook her head, “That is not possible, Pony Sparkler. Mother has dwelled for countless years on this. Her path is set.” The spider let out a deep sigh, “As is mine. To use the Crucible, remember, ‘Ageless, endless, ancient thing. Friends together, home will bring’.”
“Lead on, your highness,” As they all followed Sable, Sparkler spoke to the others. “We will follow her, but stay cautious. Many side with her mother and not the Princess.”
“Follow me carefully, Ponies,” Sable said over her shoulder, “The nest may be mostly empty, but my father guards the throne. I will distract him. But you must hurry, you will not have long.”
“Okay, here’s what we say when we put the Arcast in the crucible,” Sparkler repeated what Sable had said to her, “Ageless, endless, ancient thing. Friends together, home will bring.” As she spoke, Sable scurried on ahead, and on the very highest level of the nest, they were confronted by the humongous shadow of a truly mammoth spider sitting above the throne.
“Imagine if you were dating her and you pissed off daddy...”
Sparkler gave her marefriend her signature roll of her eyes, a roll of the eyes that Blackbeak had to agree with. “Two legs are enough for me.”
They wisely kept their distance while they listened to Sable talking to the massive spider. After a few long moments, the gigantic shadow of the Webfather moved away, leaving the throne and the Crucible unguarded.
When they advanced upon the Crucible, Sparkler found a note scrawled hastily in the webbing. ‘We are not all monsters’.
Taking the partially purified Arcast from her pack, Sparkler placed it in the waiting receptacle. “Quickly now,” she touched her hand to the Crucible, along with Stonecutter and Cloudy Skies.
Blackbeak was the last to place his hand on the ancient construct. “I know I'm going to regret this…”
Together as one, they recited, “Ageless, endless, ancient thing. Friends together, home will bring. Instantly, along with a bright flash of magical light, the true nature of the spiders was sent into their minds. They saw a proud noble race. A race driven by the courage of their convictions, and the desire for a home.
Again, Blackbeak found himself on one knee, his head in his hands. “Sweet mother of Stormclaw my head...So...has it worked?”
“Yes, it worked!” Sparkler hissed as she stowed the fully restored – and brightly glowing foot long crystal – back in her pack. “Quickly, let’s get back down before the really big one comes back.” Without any argument, they carefully made their way back down the webs back the way they had come.
“How do we get back to Umberfoal?” asked Cloudy Skies.
“I guess the best way back is to get to the Agaricus Forest and from there, up the Deepwell and back to Capstone Fort.”
Stonecutter didn’t much care for Sparkler’s suggestion. “But...Sparks…the rope ladder…”
“And don’t forget we used the last of the Water Breathing potions getting from the Sunken Temple to Agarica,” pointed out Blackbeak, entirely unhelpfully.
“Buck!” swore Sparkler, echoing the sentiments of them all. It was a small word, yes, but ‘buck’ seemed to cover it nicely.
Just as they reached the edge of the spider nest, Sable returned, noticeably alone. The Princess scuttled down the webs until she was in front of them. “My...friends? My Pony friends?” they didn’t need to understand what she said to understand the hope and optimism in her voice. “You have cleansed the Arcast?”
In Old Ponish, Sparkler replied, “We have, now, we have to put it in the Crucible in the Tomevault and raise it up to the city. We are going to have to try and find a way back up the Deepwell, somehow.”
“Not that way!” exclaimed Sable, “I know a faster way!” she pointed with a foreleg up above her to the ceiling of the cavern. “Through the webway tunnels. Much faster way to get to the city!”
Sparkler reported that to the others, “She says she knows a short cut. The way the invaders came. No ladder Stony.”
“Praise be!”
Blackbeak ignored Stonecutter for the moment, “I'm sure they’re well guarded, too.”
“From themselves?” asked Cloudy Skies skeptically, “Maybe they’re guarded at the other end to keep the city ponies out.”
“It's my own personal tunnel,” explained Sable quickly, “There are no guards. It comes out in the ceiling high above the edge of the pony city. You need to tread the webs to get down to the city.” Since they all agreed, Sable led them up the layers of silk webbing to the opening of the tunnel, which was wide enough for them to crawl in single file.
Sparkler crawled behind Sable, lighting the way with her horn. She prayed silently to whoever might be listening that they weren’t too late.