Twilight didn't get a chance to risk her life the next day, or the one after that. She and Windfall explored more of the tunnel system and found another food chamber that provided them with a half saddlebag full of potatoes. It wasn't the apple tree room, but neither mare felt like complaining..
There were two fairly trivial challenges, both involving getting past a barrier, that they solved easily. Then came the orb.
Twilight settled down to study it. It was about as big as a buckball and metallic with different colored longitudinal bands. They rotated separately and there were words etched into the metal that could be lined up.
Twilight frowned. "Some of these words are pretty rude."
Windfall took a close look and then burst out laughing. "Here." She held out her hoof. "Let me do it."
Twilight handed over the orb but it turned out that it was so smooth and polished that Windfall couldn't get a good grip on the bands with her hooves or mouth. "Figures," Windfall grunted, passing it back. "We gotta do it together. Okay Princess, let me teach you a cadence."
"A what? Oh, right, right… go ahead." The words to the marching song were even ruder when Twilight lined them up correctly with her magic.
Windfall laughed at her discomfort. "This one's tame compared to some of the ones I know!"
When the last word was in place, there was a click and the top of the orb flipped open. Twilight looked in. She sighed and said to Windfall, "Hold out your hoof."
Windfall did so, and Twilight tilted the orb, tipping a small cellophane-wrapped bit of hard candy into the middle of her hoof. She then shook another one out into her own hoof and set the orb aside.
"That's it," she said flatly. "That's all that's in there."
The two mares looked down at the candies for a long time and then, as if they had practiced the move, simultaneously looked up at each other with expressions of disgust.
"This is some serious dragonshit, right here," Windfall said as she dropped her candy to the ground.
Twilight cracked up. She dropped her candy, too and laughed so hard that she had to put out a wing to steady herself against the wall. "I… I… oh, ha, ha, ha!" She took a deep breath and then continued. "I wouldn't have phased it exactly like that, but you're not wrong."
Windfall grinned. The prissy princess wasn't half-bad sometimes. She raised her head and shouted, "You hear that, you demeted maniac? Your puzzles suck and your crappy candy sucks! It all sucks big, fat—" She got a bit of a kick out of Twilight's expression of shock and subsequent blush, as she let loose with a bit of creative invective, describing in excruciating detail what it was their mysterious tormentor ought to suck.
Even better, when Windfall had finished, Twilight's expression grew very serious and somber. The Princess put a hoof on her shoulder and leaned in close, as if to impart a secret. "Now, now, Windfall," she said very softly. "You mustn't taunt the demented maniac. You might hurt her feelings."
The rest of their evening was spent in roasting potatoes over magically heated rocks while telling stories to each other. They were trivial stories that avoided sensitive subjects, but ones that gave the two mares more than one occasion for delighted laughter.
Just before they fell asleep for the night, Windfall said, "Hey Princess."
"Mmm? Yes?"
"You know what I could go for right now?"
"What?"
"A nice piece of hard candy!"
Laughter echoed through the cavern.
= = =
In the morning, after they had the last bits of cold potato from the night before and some water from the stream, Twilight held up her chart of the tunnels so that they could both see it.
"There are only two spots left that could be the apple tree room. If the changes in the tunnels are random, I think we can get to it within fives shifts. Maybe as little as three, if we get lucky."
"I don't care if it takes all day if it means I get to sink my teeth into an apple again!'
"Okay then, let's—"
That's when the flame beast attacked.
It roared out of the largest tunnel exit, a writhing horror that looked like a cross between a giant crab and an octopus with knives on the end of its tentacles.
And it was on fire.
Strangely, both Windfall and Twilight blurted out the exact same obscenity in shock as the monster appeared. The mercenary was having an influence on the princess, it seemed.
"You fly right!" Windfall shouted to Twilight. "I'll go left and—"
"No," Twilight said in a voice that was only a little bit shaky. "Stay here. I'm going to try something." She tossed the map behind her and began walking toward the beast.
Windfall didn't argue with her. Debating in a combat situation was worse than useless. It was time for action. She glanced around quickly looking for something she could use as a weapon against the huge monster. Nothing but rocks.
But rocks could be very good weapons, indeed.
She made a quick evaluation and dismissed any of the small stuff that might only wound or anger the thing, as well as any that were too big for her to lift. She spotted a perfect one right by the side of the stream and rushed to pry it out of the sandy bank.
She grunted and strained, rocking the boulder loose from the sucking wet ground. A less powerful pony could never have managed it, and Windfall herself might not have, if it wasn't for her surge of adrenaline. She finally got the rock loose and flapped with all of her might to lift it into the air.
She turned and saw that Twilight was standing only inches away from the monster. The princess's mane was starting to curl and singe from the heat of the fire, and the tentacle blades were striking at her, only missing by a hairsbreadth.
Windfall knew she'd never be able to drop the rock in time to save her friend, but she kept flapping, straining upward.
"Well?" She heard Twilight shout below her. "What are you waiting for?" She wasn't entirely sure, but she thought that Twilight was talking to the monster.
Windfall reached the perfect spot and twisted her wings and body, guiding the boulder to its target. The stone struck the monster dead center, crushing its hard shell and mashing its softer parts to jelly.
Windfall dropped to the ground next to Twilight, panting heavily.
Twilight let out a long shaky breath and said quietly, "Thank you. That was a nice shot."
The mercenary grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her roughly, shouting, "What in stinking Tartarus were you thinking? It's a miracle you survived!"
"Stop, please. That hurts."
Windfall released her and stepped back, realizing that Twilight had several shallow cuts on her face, chest, and forelegs in addition to the burns.
"Sorry! But you—"
"I was never in any danger. Well, not deadly danger, anyway," Twilight said, prodding a singed patch of her fur with her hoof and wincing.
Windfall fell back on old, practiced habits. The princess would explain in her own good time. She loved explaining. "Okay, then. Let's get those cuts cleaned out. The shampoo has aloe in it, right? That'll be good for your burns."
Twilight shook and trembled as Windfall gave her first aid. The mercenary knew it wasn't fear. It was her body flushing out the adrenaline. Post-combat shakes were nothing new to her. The princess didn't seem to find it odd, either.
"Drink some water. Grab a nap if you feel like it," Windfall told her after doing what she could for her injuries.
"No, it's okay. This is all superficial, and I'll feel worse tomorrow, anyway. I want to map out the last bit of the hex pattern today if we can."
Windfall jerked a hoof toward the smoking, still-twitching remains of the monster. "Yeah, and it'll probably smell better out in the tunnels. Lead the way, Princess."
It was late in the day when Windfall got fed up with waiting. Twilight was certain of the apple tree's location but each shift of the tunnels kept them circling around and around, unable to get to it. The mares had taken a water break and were sitting on the ground at the junction of three passages.
"So are you gonna tell me or what?" Windfall half growled at Twilight.
"I choose 'what,'" Twilight replied.
"Oh, don't get cute with me, you perfumed, pampered princess! You know what I mean. Why didn't that thing fillet and roast you? You were just standing there for at least ten seconds before I nailed it with the rock. You knew it wasn't going to kill you, didn't you?"
Twilight carefully put the stopper back in her water bottle before answering. "I gave it about a 90 percent chance, yes."
"So? Spill it."
"The—" Twilight waved her hoof in a broad arc, indicating the tunnels around them. "—creator of this place—"
"The demeted maniac?" Windfall smirked.
"Yes, that one." Twilight nodded. "They don't want to kill us. They have other plans. The threat is what was needed to…"
Windfall stopped smiling and made a "go on" gesture.
Twilight grimaced. "This is going to sound stupid, but I think they're trying to force us into becoming friends."
Windfall stared at her. "So, a totally evil demented maniac, then."
Twilight couldn't help herself. She laughed. "Yep. I've met a lot of scheming villains in my time, but this one takes the cake. Totally evil."
Windfall thought back on the challenges they had faced together. And then she cast her recollection back even further. "Might not be a joke, princess. But who would want ponies to make friends only to…" She trailed off. Twilight was looking at her out of the corner of one eye, but she quickly looked away and said nothing.
Windfall scowled and put her hoof over a small rock on the tunnel floor. She pressed down with all her strength and ground it to sand under her hoof. She sat and thought for a long time. Twilight didn't say a word.
"She wasn't like you," Windfall said finally, not looking up. "She was scared, jumped at shadows. She told me the whole story right from the start. She depended on me, and I couldn't save her."
Twilight waited, but Windfall didn't continue. She didn't want to pressure the mercenary, but she had to know. Finally she asked, "A challenge killed her?"
Windfall gave a harsh bark of bitter laughter. "Some stupid monster? No, our challenges were never close to the things you and I have fought. Buttercup would have frozen up for sure."
"So…?"
"Listen up!" Windfall snarled, jerking her head around to glare angrily at Twilight. "I'm gonna tell you this exactly once and then you're never bringing it up again, understood?"
Twilight nodded.
Windfall let her head fall forward and she delivered her story in a steady, emotionless monotone.
"She was in here with a pony before me. Four months together and then the damned thing killed the other pony. Not a monster exactly. Some kind of machine made out of rock. It grabbed Buttercup's friend one day and said 'Failure!' in this weird voice, and just crushed her all up…"
Windfall stopped talking to take in a couple of deep breaths, and then started talking again. "Buttercup said it had happened before, too. A lotta times, her friend told her. She was alone for about a month and then I stumbled in here, and… and four months later the thing got her, too. 'Failure!' Fucking 'Failure!' and I tried to stop it. I hammered on it, but it…"
She paused again.
"And it's my turn next. It's always that way. The new pony comes in and the old…"
She stopped talking.
Twilight let her be. Windfall wasn't the sort of pony to appreciate a comforting hug.
Twilight slowly incorporated this new, horrifying information into her guesses about the purpose of the labyrinth. She was sure the challenges were designed to encourage if not outright force friendship. What other explanation could there be? Why hadn't the monster killed her then? Why the four month period? To make friends only to increase the awfulness of their eventual loss? "No, it doesn't make sense."
Windfall looked up, glaring, and Twilight realized she had spoken aloud. "Well, it happens, princess. I've seen it."
"I believe you," Twilight said. She pulled her map out of her saddle bags and slapped it down on the tunnel floor, stabbing a hoof at it. "But this isn't the work of some simplistic, sadistic madmare. There's a purpose behind it, and I'm going to figure it out!"
Windfall blew air through her lips in a snort of scorn. "What good is that going to do you?"
"It's going to tell me how this evil thing thinks, and that's going to let me outsmart them, and that means they're going to get a big damned surprise when we kick their malignant ass halfway to the moon!"
Windfall couldn't help chuckling. "Whoa! The pretty proper princess has got quite a potty mouth on her!"
Windfall just couldn't believe it. This Canterlot dandy could stand up to a thing out of nightmares like a seasoned soldier and still be goaded into blushing like a little filly.
= = =
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