For the next three days, the seven equines navigated their way through the thick forest that hung onto and around the mountains of the Ramshead range. Their eyes were as wide as saucers as they looked out for any openings in the rock faces they encountered during their walks. Their spirits lifted when they did find openings, only for them to drop like stones in water when it was revealed that they were just caves.
Sometimes they would have to take shelter in these caves due to the storms that quickly came into the Ramshead range. They would use that time to think of home and what their families were doing, or have some laughs of good times and have a sing-along. Fluttershy, however, never joined in.
With each passing day that ended up with failure, her mood had become more and more sombre. She would raise a smile every now and then at a good memory they shared around, but her heart wasn’t in to singing. She was beginning to doubt herself on whether she could find this key. And even if they do find it, would they still be able to defeat Heimdallr?
Twilight’s theory on him using the sun to gain his powers put a lot into question. Such as where is he hiding, and if he was using the sun to stay alive, how, if he’s buried hundreds of feet under?
It troubled her and Twilight to no end, and the two would stay up longer than the others, trying to think what exactly was he waiting for. When Fluttershy asked the unicorn on him using the sun, Twilight theorised that his connection to it was spiritual, rather than physical. Meaning he didn’t need to be within sight of it, just needed it to be there. As for what he was waiting for, Fluttershy had suggested that he was waiting for another solar flare to occur, so he can ravage the planet without having to move. Twilight quickly swept it aside, thinking it ludicrous since Celestia now controlled the sun. If he wanted full control of it again he would have to kill the Princess to get at its power. But since she’s miles away it would be impossible for him to do so.
Fluttershy accepted it, albeit reluctantly. Since becoming a Dragonlord, since becoming a bearer of the Elements of Harmony, she had a change of view on what’s impossible or not, and now thought that nothing was impossible.
On the fourth day, they emerged from the forest and arrived in the Ramshead range proper, overlooking a vast array of mountains, hills, valleys, and lakes. They walked through small streams, and down steep cliffs into an old abandoned village that was once inhabited by miners, or so Thowra told them all.
It was going towards this village where Rarity made her genius known.
“Suppose…” she began hesitatingly, but stopped when she thought it was a silly idea.
“No, go on,” Twilight beckoned her on. “What were you going to say?”
“Well, I was just thinking. Suppose that these miners had found this entrance?”
The question Rarity asked never really came into their minds. But when it did, they instantly understood what Rarity was getting at.
“It’s possible I suppose,” Thowra said with a shrug. “You reckon they might have left a marker indicating where it could be?”
Rarity nodded. “And possibly a map as well. What do you all think?” she asked, looking to the others.
The grins from Twilight and Fluttershy said it all. “Rarity, you’re a genius,” Fluttershy complimented. Rarity blushed at the compliment and waved a hoof modestly.
“Okay,” Twilight said, “I propose we split up into groups of two and a three. Fluttershy, Thowra, and Rarity you go in one and cover that road of this village.” She pointed to the road heading right. “Applejack and me will cover the second road.” She indicated with her head the road that ran down the centre of the village. “And Rainbow and Pinkie, you will cover the third.” She finally pointed to the road on the left, following a river. “Okay, everyone?”
“On it!” they cried out in unison. They split up into their groups and went about looking for a map, or something that could give them an indication of where this place with the final key was.
The village was old, very old. It was split up into three roads going from south to north, or north to south, depending on which way you would come in. The houses that made up the village were mostly two-storeys high, and were built out of wood. They were also ruins, since the roofs on most of them had broken through and destroyed the second, or even ground floors. The houses were placed in nice little rows along a thin, concrete road wide enough for four horses to walk across. On the right a small river flowed gently behind one row, which Fluttershy made out now and then due to small alleys that split some of the houses apart.
Fluttershy, Rarity and Thowra walked down the road towards the northern end of the village, their eyes scanning the buildings for any sign of one that could have been a headquarters the miners used. Thowra said they should be looking for a building that has three floors, maybe more, and probably made of bricks rather than wood like all the houses here had been made of.
“So, Fluttershy, Thowra, what do you both think of the name ‘Dancer’?” Rarity said suddenly.
Fluttershy shook her head and said, “Oh, um… I’m sorry, Rarity, I didn’t hear what you just said.”
Rarity looked back at her pegasus friend with concern. “You must have a lot on your mind.”
“Oh, I do,” Fluttershy agreed. “I was just thinking about my animal friends back home. I was wondering if they’re doing alright without me.”
“I’m sure they’re fine, Fluttershy. Spike has taken care of them before, albeit not too well thinking about it, but I know that he should be okay,” Rarity said re-assuredly.
Fluttershy smiled. “Okay, but what did you say before?”
“Oh yes, of course. I was wondering what you both thought of the name ‘Dancer’?”
Fluttershy raised an eyebrow in confusion, and then turned to look at Thowra, who also had the same gormless face. “Um… well, it’s okay I guess,” they said at the same time. They looked at each other then laughed. “You go first, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy nodded her thanks, and then turned to face the unicorn, who by now was beginning to look impatient by the lack of an answer. “It’s… well, nice. But why did you want a name?” She suddenly let out a gasp. “You’re not pregnant, are you?!”
“Oh goodness, no!” Rarity shouted with a shake of a hoof. “I was just thinking a name for my sword here.” She stroked the bracelet around her right leg as if it was a small dog. She looked back to see the utmost confused look from Fluttershy, but a look of understanding from Thowra. “What?” she exclaimed upon seeing Fluttershy’s face. “I know you’ve called your sword Drage Bane, so why can’t I call my sword something?”
“My father called it Drage Bane. It means ‘dragon bane’ in Dragonian. I always wondered why he called it that, but now I know why, as it has done its purpose. I personally wouldn’t have called it that, or anything for that matter. It’s a tool, not a thing.”
“Well I think it’s a great name,” Thowra said with a smile. “Dancer it should be.”
Rarity grinned. “You see, Fluttershy, at least someone’s got good taste in names. Come along, Dancer, we’ve got a map to find.” She trotted merrily in front of them, leaving Thowra to explain.
“It’s a Horscan tradition to name your sword, Fluttershy. My father used to say that if you had a sword, it would be like naming and caring for a child. You would cradle it in your hooves. You would weep when it’s broken or lost, and most of all you would proud of it as it was by your side when noone else was.”
Fluttershy’s mouth hung open. She closed it again quickly and looked to the ground, thinking about what Thowra just said. “Well… when you put it that way.” She looked down at the sword that Star had given her back at Detrots, the one that spilled the blood of a Reman and a dragon in what seemed like years ago, and contemplated on a name it could give. “I think I’m going to call this one Firewing,” she declared after a while. “In my father’s memory, as well as knowing that if I have to use this sword again, when I have to press it to my chest, I know my father will be close to my heart.”
Thowra nodded with approval. “Do you have a name for your sword?” Fluttershy asked.
“Not this one, no,” he answered. “My first sword I did, though. I named it after my wife.” He stopped talking and bit his bottom lip when he realised he said too much.
“You never said you had a wife?!” Fluttershy exclaimed, visibly shocked.
Thowra lowered his head and nodded. “I met her in Castilian during a family visit. A beautiful creamy with brown mane and tail, and bright green eyes like sapphires. But she was a giant of a mare, taller than me by half a foot. Thuelda her name was.
“When we first met we really didn’t like each other, thought we had too many differences to really get on. But over time we talked a bit more and realised the things we didn’t have in common were not important, but our personalities. We came to love each other and much later got married with Freya’s blessings.
“We moved away from the city and settled down in a small village on the coast, far from the war, or so we hoped. In time, one thing lead to another, and I had a daughter.”
Fluttershy smiled. ‘It must be nice to have children,’ she thought. “What’s your daughter’s name?”
“Her name was Nadra,” Thowra replied, his tone quiet and seemingly sad.
“So where are they now?”
Thowra’s head sunk even lower and closed his eyes. Fluttershy felt her heart skip a beat when she saw tears in his eyes. “I lost them when I lost my sword,” he answered.
Fluttershy placed a hoof over her mouth in horror. She could feel her own eyes begin to water. “I’m so sorry, Thowra. I… I shouldn’t have asked.”
“No, it’s okay. I’ve kept it inside for too long. In fact, it feels quite nice to tell someone other than Freya about it. So thank you, Fluttershy.” He continued telling her what happened next. “Afterwards, I was left broken and I felt like I failed my family. Still do, really. So as soon as I recovered from my injuries I went to Castilian and took up the mark of the slayer.”
“A s-s-s-slayer?” Fluttershy stammered.
Thowra nodded. “A slayer is a horse who believes he has failed at something. So much so that he or she thinks they can never be forgiven for it. So they take up the mark of the slayer, and then go out into the world to fight anything until he or she is killed. Only through death can a slayer be truly forgiven.”
Fluttershy looked at him with a mixture of pity, and disgust. She looked away and continued walking, her eyes darting across the houses to look what they were here for. “Can you break off the mark of the slayer, and continue your normal life?” she asked suddenly.
Thowra shook his head. “Sometimes I wish I could, but I can’t. Once you have accepted the mark there is no breaking it. Not until you die.”
“Well there should be,” Fluttershy growled. She fell silent once more and continued walking. She hated Thowra for wanting to go to his death because he believed he failed his wife and daughter. She wanted to tell him there was no need to do that, no need to blame himself for their deaths. But she could see it would’ve been folly. Freya had probably said the same thing to him over and over again, and still he didn’t relent.
She sighed sadly for Thowra, and prayed it wouldn’t be this battle he would fall in.
“Dashie?” Pinkie began in a singsong voice. The two ponies were making their way up the road Twilight asked them to go down. To their left was a wide but shallow river, to which Pinkie could see little fish floating for a moment before disappearing in a flash. To their right were ruined houses, much like the other ones in this dead and deserted place.
Rainbow sighed wearily. ‘Why did I have to be paired with Pinkie Pie? This is like the fiftieth question she’s asked me already.’ “Yes, Pinkie?”
“You know you said a few days ago that if I broke Fluttershy out of her psychotic episode that you would kiss me?”
Rainbow’s eyes widened in horror. ‘Surely she isn’t thinking…?’ “Um… yeah… well I think so anyway. Why?”
“I haven’t got that kiss yet,” Pinkie said.
‘Darn it.’ Rainbow turned around to face Pinkie and looked her in the eye. “Look, Pinkie, nothing against you or anything. But there’s no way I’m kissing you.”
Pinkie drew her bottom lip. “How about a quick, friendly peck on the cheek? I know some ponies do that when they greet someone.”
“There is no way under Celestia’s sun that I’m kissing you,” Rainbow said, surprised and annoyed about Pinkie’s persistence. “Kissing a mare, or my friends for that matter, just isn’t me.”
“But you promised,” Pinkie pouted.
“I didn’t pinkie promise though, did I?” Rainbow countered. When Pinkie didn’t reply she congratulated herself in thought, then turned around to continue walking.
“Dashie?”
Rainbow fought down the urge to scream out what she was going to say. “Yes, Pinkie?” she whispered, her voice on the verge of a growl.
“What’s that building over there?” Pinkie was pointing to a large rectangular building that stood on a small block of land, where the river split up and went around. It was three-storeys high, with a tiled roof and bricked walls, and surprisingly still in one piece. A wide wooden bridge tied the building and the village together, and was held by large wooden poles that dug into the riverbed.
“I think we’ve found what we’re looking for,” Rainbow said with a grin.
“Let’s see, shall we?” Pinkie said as she skipped over the bridge and towards the building. Rainbow galloped off after her. The two arrived at the door at the exact same moment. Pinkie tried to get the door open with her hooves, but found it to be locked.
“It’s locked,” Pinkie stated.
“Not for much longer. Stand aside,” Rainbow said as she backed across the bridge, ready to charge it. Pinkie stepped out of the way and watched as Rainbow lined herself up for a charge.
Just when Rainbow was about to charge, Pinkie giggled at herself as she remembered something. “Oh you silly filly, Pinkie. You push doors, not pull them.” She quickly moved in front of the door, and pushed it open, leaving Rainbow to gallop through the open door and smash into the wall with a scream before she could put on the brakes. Pinkie put a hoof over her mouth in shock, and then raced in to see if the pegasus was okay. “Dashie, are you alright?”
Rainbow was on the ground flat on her back, her eyes spinning around in their sockets, and a large bruise where her head met the wall. She shook her head, clearing her dizziness, and looked up at Pinkie with knives for eyes. “Pinkie! What did you do that for?!”
Pinkie took a moment to control her laughter, and then helped Rainbow back onto her hooves. “Sorry, Dashie. I just remembered you push doors, not pull them.”
Rainbow dusted herself off, shot Pinkie another glare, then turned around to look at the house. The interior was left untouched, as if the owners had just gone out for a morning stroll. There were a few large couches, a large bricked fireplace blackened by soot, a smooth wooden floor, a large map of Horsca embedded on the wall above the fireplace, and a door on the far side leading into another room.
“How did you know this place might be it?” Rainbow asked.
“I didn’t,” Pinkie shrugged. “My pinkie sense told me.”
Rainbow looked at her oddly. “Your pinkie sense told you this place was the mining headquarters?”
The earth pony nodded. “Sort of. First it was my right hind leg shaking, then my left, then my left foreleg, and then my right. It told me something integral was near by,” she finished with a massive grin.
“Uh huh? Pinkie, did I ever tell you that you are so random?” Pinkie shrugged. “Whatever, you head upstairs and look for the map up there. I’ll stay down here and look for it.”
Pinkie gave a quick salute. “Yes, sir.” She spun around on the spot like a soldier on parade, and trotted towards the stairs.
“Pinkie, you do realise I’m a mare, right?”
Pinkie giggled. “Of course you are, silly. Some soldiers address female commanders as sir, not ma’am.”
Rainbow blinked, and stayed silent as Pinkie skipped upstairs. “Yep, like I said. Completely random,” she muttered to herself. She cleared her head on Pinkie, the pony being too hard to explain in the first place, and concentrated on the present. She scanned the room carefully, looking for anything that could help them all, and especially Fluttershy.
She sighed sadly when she thought about her oldest friend. Although she seemed okay with the fact she will outlive her and the others, something told her that Fluttershy was anything but okay with it. She knew it would be hard on the kind pegasus to watch her and her friends and loved ones grow old, and eventually die. It was a hard, cold fact, but true all the same. She hoped that by then Fluttershy would’ve found new friends to be around, friends that could be beside her when Rainbow does leave.
“No need to think like that yet, Rainbow,” she berated herself. “You’re only eighteen, and still a lot to give and get.” She made her way through the open door that led into a large room that looked like a debriefing room with a large table at the centre. She took to the air and hovered above it, getting a pegasus eye view of the whole map. On the map were around twenty different markings; each was a large tower of some sort, with a wheel at the top and a lot of cogs and such in the middle. Except for one. One was a mountain with scribbled lines below it. Rainbow grinned.
“Pinkie!” Rainbow called. “Find the others and get them here, quick! I think I found what we’re looking for!”
Applejack and Twilight were plodding through the street they had chosen the look through. Their eyes locked in front of them as they made their way through the broken street. Unlike the others, this one looked like it had been bombarded with rocks. The houses were more broken for some reason than the others, and huge cracks broke up the path like an unfinished jigsaw puzzle.
“What do ya think happened here, Twi?” Applejack asked.
“An earthquake most likely.” The unicorn stopped to examine one of the destroyed houses. “These houses were made entirely of wood.” She stood on a piece of wood and it broke at the slightest pressure under her hoof. “And extremely brittle. These houses didn’t stand a chance.”
“Yeah, that’s mighty interesting and all, but we’ve got other matters. Namely finding Fluttershy’s spooky Dragonlord place,” Applejack said. The unicorn stepped away from the ruined building, and then proceeded to walk beside Applejack once more as they continued their search.
“What do you think about that anyway? About Fluttershy I mean?” Twilight queried.
Applejack looked to the ground as she thought about what Twilight just asked her. “I don’t really know what to think about it, Twi. I mean she’s sort of the same pony, but the way she killed that dragon a few days back… it just wasn’t her.”
“Hey, to be fair she lost her father that day and did it to defend us. What would any one of us have done if we were in her hooves?”
“But would she have done the same thing before she became a Dragonlord?” Applejack countered. Twilight didn’t know how to reply, so she stayed quiet. “She’s changed a fair bit since we met. But now she’s changed dramatically, not just in personality but in body as well, and I’m worried about what it might mean.”
There was a short silence as Twilight began to understand what Applejack meant. “You’re scared of her, aren’t you?”
Applejack gave Twilight an odd look. “I ain’t scared of her, Twilight; I’m scared for her. I’m scared she might do something that she will regret.”
“Like what happened with Rarity and Pinkie?”
Applejack visibly shivered. “Possible. I still find it hard to believe those two about what Fluttershy said to them.”
“I know. When they came to me about it I thought it was ridiculous. But then I heard about what happened around town, and I just couldn’t believe it.”
“The question is though, whose going to be the one to stop her if she does something like it again?”
“You think she will?”
Applejack nodded dolefully. “I pray I’m wrong, but I know some things tend to repeat themselves, and this could lead to one.”
“I hope you’re wrong also,” Twilight replied. The two ponies ears twitched when they heard Pinkie’s voice call out their names. “Over here, Pinkie!” Twilight called out.
A few moments later Pinkie emerged, but not alone. With her were Fluttershy, Rarity and Thowra, all with huge grins on their faces. “What’s going on?” Applejack enquired.
“Rainbow Dash’s found something!” Pinkie said excitedly. “She didn’t say what or where or how but it’s something and it’s this way, come one!” She beckoned the five equines to follow her to the house where Rainbow was waiting.
After crossing the bridge and entering the building, they found Rainbow Dash sitting on a large table with a smug grin on her face, and her wings extended outright in her excitement. “So, girls, am I a genius or am I a genius? And you too, Pinkie, since you brought us both here,” she added upon seeing Pinkie’s glare.
Thowra stepped forward and took a look at the map, scrutinizing it for every detail. Fluttershy and Twilight stood beside him, having to stand on their hind legs and rest their fore hooves on the table so they could see the map as well.
“Well this is definitely what we were looking for. So thanks, Rainbow,” Twilight said. Fluttershy looked up and gave Rainbow a look of gratitude.
“There was one thing that caught my eye while I waited for you slowpokes,” Rainbow said. She took to the air and hovered above Thowra.
“Rainbow, I can’t concentrate while you’re above me flapping your wings like that,” Thowra said agitatedly.
Rainbow grinned sheepishly. “Oh, sorry.” Once she set down opposite Thowra, she pointed to the picture of the mountain. “I saw this one was the only one that looked different to the others, and I wanted to know what the scribbly line below it meant.”
Thowra looked at where Rainbow was pointing, and his eyebrows rose in surprise. “To be honest I wasn’t expecting something so quickly. That there is the Horscan language, and it says ‘unidentified’.”
“So this could be what we’re looking for?” Twilight said excitedly. She glanced over at Fluttershy and saw to her confusion the pegasus didn’t look as happy as the unicorn thought she would be.
“I think so. There may be a chance it’s nothing, but give me a moment and I’ll map out the route we need to go.” Thowra looked at the map carefully and began looking at the roads.
Twilight meanwhile put Fluttershy to one side. “I thought you would be more happy about this, since this is what we’re looking for.”
“Oh, I know. And believe me I am happy we may have finally found it. But…”
“But what?”
“If they found it, they may have broken into the chamber and…”
“Taken the key,” Twilight finished for her. Fluttershy nodded. Now the feeling of worry was creeping through her once again. If they did find the key and take it, and they wouldn’t be able to find it, then the whole world was doomed to burn. The very idea of the world burning didn’t sit well for Twilight, nor did it for anyone.
In the end Twilight gave her a comforting smile. “I think we should worry about that when we get there. Plus with Thowra as our guide, we’ll be able to find that key, even if it means going to the ends of this country.”
Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak. But stopped and turned her head when Thowra pulled away from the map. “Right, if I got my bearings correct, we should be here.” He pointed to a small black dot that lay on the bottom right corner of the map. The six mares surrounded the horse as he trailed the route they needed to take. “It seems this,” he pointed to a small purple line running from the main road, which was lined in a thick black, towards the spot, “is an old goat path the inhabitants of this place use to take hundreds of years ago, before the Horscans drove them out that is. It breaks off from the main road after about a mile or so and then makes its way up and over and around this mountain.” He pointed to, and around the large spear shaped mountain. “And then finally to here.” He pointed to the unknown location.
“How long do you think it will take us to get there, Thowra?” Fluttershy asked, desperate to be there as soon as possible.
Thowra simply shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. But judging from the distance between it and us, I would say about half a day. Maybe longer, maybe shorter.”
Fluttershy nodded, although she didn’t bother to hide her feelings in her eyes. They all knew she wanted to be there, get it and get out as quick as possible. “Well then,” she said suddenly, breaking the silence, “I guess we better get moving. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover before nightfall.”
The others nodded in agreement, and after rolling up the map, and taking any good food that was left in the house, they filed out of the place and made their way back into the village. Above them, a large formation of clouds moved slowly over them, blocking out the sun and making the rather warm day slightly chillier. “Rainbow, Fluttershy, would you be really good dears and go up there and tell those clouds to go away? I’m getting kind of cold here,” Rarity whined.
Fluttershy and Rainbow looked at each other for a moment, then nodded. “Give us a sec, Rarity,” Rainbow said as she and Fluttershy soared into the air. They disappeared into the grey clouds, and soon were dispersing the formation away from the sun, bringing the warm summer feeling back down on them.
Thowra’s jaw hung from his mouth. “How… how… how are they doing that?”
“Pegasi can manipulate clouds,” Fluttershy explained as she touched back down. “I don’t normally do it, but sometimes I like giving a little patch of rain for my frog friends in the bogs back home. Rainbow’s more of the expert, so you should ask her.”
With Rainbow explaining to Thowra how pegasi control clouds, they departed from the village and made their way along a thin, mud road that wormed its way around the trees that made up this range. After about an hour they arrived at a T-junction, where a thin, overgrown road disappeared into the woods heading towards the mountains. After much complaining from Rarity, they made their way through the thick bush, guided by Twilight’s illumination spell, and Thowra’s sword cutting through the thicker foliage.
An hour or so later they had left the darkening forest and were now heading uphill. The mountains around them were coated light green from the soft grass that covered them, and were distanced from each other to make it easier to navigate. They stopped at a small waterfall where a couple of otters resided for a quick break and lunch and wash. Fluttershy watched them with interest as they caught their meals and ate them greedily. She looked up from the otters and was mesmerised by the natural beauty around her.
Behind them was the forest stretching out towards the road, while a mountain shaped like a wall ran across the horizon. She could make out with her eyesight an edge of a river snake its way around the woods, which she figured was the river this stream was connected to. In front of them, was a long uphill climb with what seemed like iron towers burrowing out from the ground.
“Those are mining lifts,” Thowra explained upon noticing what Fluttershy was looking at. “They were built to carry whatever they found down to where the main base was and then make their way back up to be reloaded.”
After half an hour or so of another round of duelling and practicing with swords and crossbows, they continued on their way up the old path. They saw some of the towers had collapsed from metal thieves, or so they imagined, or were rusting away from being left out here in this rather cold and lonely place. The higher they went, the chillier it got, and soon all of the equines’ coats where standing on end, keeping them warm to some degree.
By the time the sun was descending from the sky they made it to the top of one of the tallest mountains, and had a pretty good view of the surrounding area. It was here where Fluttershy’s eyes widened in excitement, and hope. To the northeast of the mountain they stood on was a larger mountain that seemed to be the shape of a ram’s head, with rocks resting on the edge forming the horns and was arched to roughly resemble a head looking towards the sky.
Fluttershy brought the map out of her father’s saddlebags and spread it out, looking up from time to time to see if she’d got her bearing right. She grinned when she was indeed correct. “We need to go towards that mountain there,” she said, pointing to the ramshead.
“Ya sure, Fluttershy?” Applejack asked, looking towards where the sun was setting. “The sun’s going down awfully quick so we need to make some shelter before it goes completely.”
“I think so, Applejack.” She looked to where the sun was setting and was surprised to see it beginning to disappear over the mountains. “Right, follow me, please?” she asked pleasantly to the others, trotting back down the mountain towards the Ramshead. The others followed quickly as Fluttershy took the lead.
By the time the sun was halfway over the horizon, they had arrived under its shadow. It didn’t look as big from far away, but now as they were below it, it was huge and quite intimidating.
They found another goat path and followed it as it rounded its way around the mountains base. Halfway round they discovered to their horror the path hugged the edge of the mountain, while the right side descended at a sheer drop onto some sharp rocks below. “How the hay did horses manage to find this place through there?!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“We are as sure footed as goats, Pinkie,” Thowra replied.
“But just to be safe,” Twilight muttered. She turned to the two pegasi of the group. “Rainbow, Fluttershy, stay aside of us and make sure nopony falls off. We don’t want any accidents,” Twilight instructed them. A fake cough from Thowra made her quickly add, “Oh and make sure no horse falls off also.”
With Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash hovering over the chasm, the wingless equines literally hugged the mountainside as they moved cautiously on the narrowing path. “Say, Twi?” Applejack called to the unicorn in front. “Do ya know any spells that may change our appearance, like say, turn us into goats? It would be much easier to get around this darn rock.”
Twilight chuckled. “Oh how much fun that would be,” she said to herself. “Sorry, Applejack, I don’t. I’ll have a look into transfiguration spells when we get back, if you’d like.”
“I was only thinking it as a necessity here, really. I’m perfectly fine as a pony thank you,” Applejack said, hoping not to be the test subject of one of Twilight’s magic experiments. She suddenly lost balance for a second, and believed she would soon be falling to her death. Before she could fall, Rainbow put a hoof onto her back and pressed her against the wall. “Thanks, Rainbow,” Applejack said, breathing a sigh of relief.
“It’s what I’m here for,” Rainbow replied with a grin. Knowing that Applejack would be safe, she let go and hovered back within catching distance of everypony else.
Fluttershy flew slightly ahead to see whether the path gets any narrower or wider. She was relieved when she saw it was the latter. “Girls, the path widens into the mountain not too far ahead of us,” she said to them as they rounded the bend. Soon they were free of the chasm and back between solid rocks, with a path cut right through the middle, leading directly into the mountain. Fluttershy was up front, her wings stretched out trembling, showing her nervous excitement as they followed the path out into a large open area.
It was square shaped, with the mountains forming an impenetrable wall around it. But what was in front of them truly astounded the Dragonlord. A huge stone arch, shaped like two long wingless dragons with their claws locked onto each other. Behind the arch was a huge stone door carved into the mountain, with the symbol of the Dragonlords carved upon it. Before the door, formed into a path were about six pillars, each with a grotesque in the shape of a wingless dragon sitting on top of it, and all of them facing the seven equines as they entered.
Fluttershy’s grin was as wide as herself. They had found it! “We did it, girls, we did it!” she whopped for joy, hopping on the spot. The others didn’t reply; they were too much in awe and completely fascinated by the architecture of the Dragonlords.
Rainbow flew up to one of the grotesques and eyed it with a look of curiosity. “These guys knew how to sculpt, didn’t they?” She poked one to be sure it wouldn’t wake up and attack them all suddenly.
“I was going to do that myself when I first saw on those,” Fluttershy said, joining her pegasus friend. “But I was too afraid to even go near one.”
“Well, you’re afraid of nearly everything,” Rainbow said with a teasing grin.
Fluttershy feigned offence. “I’m not afraid of everything.”
“No, you’re afraid of nearly everything. There’s a difference,” Rainbow said.
“So what do we do now?” Pinkie asked.
Fluttershy looked at each member of the group. She didn’t need good eyesight to see how tired they all were, Rarity even looked about ready to collapse. If Fluttershy were alone or with her father, she would’ve gone in straight away. But now she had to look after her friends, and look out for their well-being. They were with her because of her after all.
“I think we should settle down here for the night, then head in at dawn.” She looked to the door. “Or, at least try to get in.”
With that settled, the equines built a small fire and slept soundlessly before the door, with the grotesques looking down on them.
The next day started off with no sunrise, as the sun was hidden by a huge number of grey clouds flying in from the west, giving a cold, dull start to the day. Twilight’s eyes shot open and she sat upright, gasping for breath after suffering a nightmare. It wasn’t a nightmare, more of a flashback, but it scared her nevertheless. She remembered watching in horror as Fluttershy attacked and killed the dragon in a fit of rage, and when she saw the look in her eyes, it was a gaze of absolute hatred, rather than love she usually saw.
Twilight knew Fluttershy would never attack or hurt her or her friends. But would hurt those that harmed them, and that’s what she was worried about. Could Fluttershy, thanks to these abilities and an increased aggression, take defending her friends too far? Applejack seemed to think so, and that troubled her to no end. Applejack said yesterday that she had changed and so did Rarity before her, and it made her wonder who else was.
“Twilight?” Fluttershy’s voice rang through her ears. She turned her head around to see the pegasus sitting on her haunches in front of the door, looking at her with a look of concern. “I heard you gasping for breath, are you alright?” she called as quietly as she could without disturbing the others.
Twilight got up and shook some loose grass out of her mane and tail. “Yeah… I’m fine,” she said as she rubbed her eyes. “Just a little bit tired and… what are you doing up so early?”
Fluttershy’s eyes drifted to the ground. “I had a nightmare,” she answered as Twilight came up alongside her.
Twilight’s ears fell flat across her head. “Why didn’t you wake me?”
“I’m sorry but I didn’t want to disturb you. You just looked so peaceful.”
“Didn’t stop you from waking me up five days ago?”
“Because that was important. This one was just a normal nightmare.”
“No nightmare is normal, Fluttershy. I have said before you should wake me if you have one. Besides, I was having a nightmare myself.” Twilight eyes widened in horror as she realised what she said.
Fluttershy looked up at her friend in horror. “What was it about?”
Twilight’s eyes darted around, as her mind went into overload to think of something so she needn’t worry the pegasus any further. “Um… well… I… I don’t remember most of it,” she said at last, hoping that would be enough.
Thankfully, it was. Fluttershy gave her a sympathetic smile, then turned back to face the door. The said door was massive, easily the size of a fully-grown dragon, or even a wyvern. The symbol of the Dragonlords, a large dragon head with spread out wings, was carved into the smooth stone itself. And although old, some of the bronze paint could still be made out. “So any idea how to open it?” Twilight asked.
Fluttershy shook her head. “The last one was much smaller, and had a small key hole in the eyes for Drage Bane to fit through. Yet when I had a look at the eyes, I found nothing.”
“Have you tried looking around the door?” Twilight suggested.
“I thought I didn’t need to, as it looked too plain.” Fluttershy turned back towards the pillars and thought for a moment, putting a hoof to her chin as she did so. “The keyhole could be in one of those pillars.”
“Well let’s see, shall we?” Twilight closed her eyes and focused her mind on a spell she learned a few months back. Her horn glowed it usual magenta hue, and soon a magenta cloud formed on the faces looking towards them of two of the closest pillars.
Twilight and Fluttershy quickly examined the pillars, and found a small slit made to fit with a sword like Drage Banein each. “It seems these were made for two swords much like your own to go in, and built to unlock at the same time, like a gate,” Twilight said.
She looked around to see Fluttershy’s devastated face. “But… we only have the one sword like that, and I won’t be able stretch it between them,” Fluttershy said as she collapsed on her rump, completely lost on what to do next.
“Perhaps…” Twilight started. “Perhaps I could try something that I only read once, and see if that’ll work.”
Fluttershy looked up again, the glimmer of hope visible in her eyes. “But I’m not going to guarantee anything. There’s a fifty fifty chance this will work,” Twilight said with a hoof in the air.
“I would still go for it even if it was a twenty eighty chance. Do you need me to do anything?”
Twilight smiled. She couldn’t help herself but admire Fluttershy’s willingness to continue, even going against odds themselves to succeed. “All I need you to do is hold up your right leg, and allow the blade to come out as well,” she instructed. Fluttershy nodded, and lifted her leg so that the blade end was pointing away from Twilight. With a song Drage Bane shot out of its scabbard, its shark-like teeth glinting even in the dim sunlight. Twilight walked up to the bracelet, got hold of Fluttershy’s leg to steady it, and lowered her own head so that her horn was touching the face of the bracelet, and then cast the spell.
Fluttershy watched as several magenta shockwaves shot from Twilight’s horn and worked around the bracelet and the blade, before working their way back into Twilight’s horn.
After a while, she raised her head back up and backed away, letting go of Fluttershy’s leg. “Right, that’s one bit taken care of. You see I was scanning the bracelet and how it works and how it’s made, et cetera. So now I have a print of the sword bracelet in my head, and now I’m going to try and mould it out from my head, onto my other foreleg. Okay?”
“I… I think so, Twilight. Good luck,” Fluttershy said.
Twilight brought up her left leg close to her head so that her horn was touching it. She closed her eyes and concentrated everything she had on moulding out the sword. Fluttershy watched with awe as the locks of the bracelet were starting to appear on her friend’s leg, then the face of the bracelet itself, until it was a sparkling magenta, ghostly thing on Twilight’s leg.
“You did it!” Fluttershy squeaked and jumped for joy.
“Not yet. I hope the spell was able to pick up the blade itself.” Twilight moved her leg about until without warning, the ghostly version of Drage Bane appeared from its scabbard. Both ponies grinned. “Right, let’s get that door open before this disappears.”
Fluttershy nodded in agreement, then moved to the pillar on the right, while Twilight took the one on the left. The two ponies simultaneously placed their swords into the slits and got ready to turn. “Ready?” Fluttershy called.
“Ready!” Twilight replied, before adding, “Wait, which way are we turning it?”
“Clockwise, I think. Okay, one. Two. Three. Now!” Fluttershy yelled. As one the two ponies twisted their swords clockwise. They heard the sound of a locking mechanism click loudly as the locks that haven’t been used in a long time turned free. Then with a huge groan that made the world tremble, the door began to slowly rise.
The tremors made by the door opening caused the sleeping four ponies and one horse to wake up instantly, their legs shaking as the tremors shook the very mountains around them. “What in tarnation is going o…!” Applejack bellowed, only to stop and let her mouth hang open as she watched the door rise between a slim built into the mountain, and disappear like a portcullis.
Fluttershy and Twilight stood side by side, beaming with pride as they watched the door stop with a mighty groan, and watched as little specks of dust fell from the bottom to the ground. They didn’t notice the ghostly image of Drage Bane fade away from Twilight’s leg. “So… now what do we do?” Twilight asked with raised eyebrows.
“We go in,” Fluttershy replied with a small gulp as fear crept back into her. Now that it was open and she could see inside, she didn’t want to go in. She could see nothing but darkness before her, and it terrified her to no end. The sound of hooves hitting the stones brought her out of her daze, and she looked back to see her friends standing behind her, all with their saddlebags on and ready to go in. She looked beside her to see Twilight giving her an assuring smile, the unicorn’s saddlebags already on her back, with Fluttershy’s being held by her magic. With her friends behind her, she felt her fears go away quickly, and now she felt ready for anything.
She gave a little nod and allowed Twilight to place her saddlebags onto her back. Then after swallowing the lump in her throat, she took a step forward. Then another step, and another, and another until her legs were moving by themselves into the first chamber. She glanced over her shoulder just be sure if her friends were following, and thankfully they were, albeit cautiously.
She looked back in front of her and felt the shadow of the mountains around her as she entered the first chamber. She wished she still had that gem Freya had given her, for it would have been useful for times like this. Suddenly a bolt of light from Twilight’s horn whisked past her and then exploded, showering the chamber in a bright light.
Whilst the outside would be considered beautiful, the inside would be considered dazzling. It was perfectly preserved, with huge stone pillars forming a path down the middle, beautifully decorated with carvings of dragons. Shining bronze statues representing heroes of the Dragonlords stood at the corners of the rectangular chamber. The floor was filled with squared shaped stone tiles, all decorated with Dragonian runes, and the walls were made of plain stone, but had been decorated with carvings of battles that formed a story through the ages across the length of the walls.
Twilight’s mouth hung open in amazement as she brought out a large sketchbook and quill from her saddlebag and began to sketch out the runes and paintings on the walls. The other ponies and horse spread themselves out to admire the carvings and paintings that adorned the walls.
“These guys must have definitely been big show offs in their heyday. Probably bigger than me,” Rainbow said as she looked at a statue of one of the stallions. It was extremely life like, with the neck muscles clearly visible between the armour and helmet it was wearing. If it wasn’t for the fact that it was coated bronze, it could be easily mistaken for a sentient being. Rainbow’s eyes moved to the helmet, and couldn’t look away upon noticing how awesome it looked. It was shaped like a head of an eagle, with the beak covering the nose, and still allowing the pony to speak. Two slits where the eyes would be were stretched across the front, allowing the user to see without being an easy target for a spear or an arrow to the eye, and two pegasi wings like the crown Rainbow won at the young flyers competition were placed where the ears would be. “I wonder what his name was?”
“Captain Gabriel,” Fluttershy answered.
Rainbow looked from the statue to her friend with a surprised look. “How did you know that?”
“It says here, in Dragonian,” Fluttershy replied, pointing to the runes on the tiles in front of the statue. “It also says he commanded a group of two hundred Dragonlords during the siege of Liberum, and alongside seven thousand Liberans defended the city from an army of around twenty thousand Equestrians!” Her voice rose in surprise as she read they fought against Equestria itself.
“What must have happened for them to take up arms against Equestria?” Twilight asked, having heard her. “I thought they would be friends, being ponies and all.”
“The Dragonlords weren’t friends with anyone, Twilight,” Fluttershy replied. “They merely did their duty.”
“How do you know that?” Twilight asked, clearly amazed about Fluttershy’s sudden knowledge of an order they barely knew.
“Oh, because it says up there,” she answered quietly, pointing to a large group of runes lined up on the wall.
“Mmm, well that makes sense,” Twilight said with raised eyebrows.
“Hey, girls!” Applejack called from the far end of the room. “I take it we have to go through here?”
The six equines broke off from what interested them and rendezvoused alongside Applejack who was standing in front of a single black tunnel that led deeper into the catacombs. They felt their coats stand on end as a deathly chill came from within. “So, who would like to go in first?” Thowra enquired.
“I vote Twilight,” Rarity said quickly, raising a hoof. The others quickly agreed, much to the unicorn’s dismay.
“But why me?! Why can’t Fluttershy go first since she’s the one who wanted to come here?”
“Well… you do have a illumination spell,” Fluttershy countered, trying to sound as polite as possible. “So with you up front we can see where we’re going.”
Twilight opened her mouth to argue back, but closed it again when she realised the pegasus was right. She sighed and lit up her horn with a bright light. “Alright. Would you all mind staying close to me, then?” With a gulp she walked slowly in, not noticing that Rainbow was whispering for the others to hide.
“So how old do you think this place is, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked. She looked back to see her pegasus friend, only to find noone behind her. Twilight’s heart started to beat faster. “Girls? Girls, are you there?” Nopony replied. Twilight walked back the way her came, her eyes wide and her heart racing, as she feared the worst. She neared her way back into the main entrance, hoping to see her friends there, but found noone.
“BOO!” Rainbow suddenly yelled, jumping right in front of her with as scary a face as she could muster. The scream that came from Twilight could probably be heard as far away as Castilian.
When Twilight managed to recover, thanks to Fluttershy’s breath control she had learned to calm herself, she looked to the pegasus who was still rolling on the floor, laughing to the point of crying, glaring at her vehemently. She opened her mouth to scold Rainbow, but closed it again when she thought of a way to get back at the pegasus. The other ponies saw that look and backed away fearfully.
“Oh you should have seen the look on your face, absolu- hey, what gives?!” Rainbow yelled upon realising she was wrapped in Twilight’s magic and thrown into the tunnel, then held in place as Twilight came up behind with the others.
“Thank you for volunteering to go ahead, Rainbow. How very thoughtful of you,” Twilight smirked. She let Rainbow go, and let the pegasus get back up on her hooves. Rainbow didn’t retort, but just walked ahead, with Twilight right behind her shining a bright light from her horn, and the others following suite.
The journey through the tunnel seemed to take hours. It was damp, chilly, and positively creepy for the lot of them. Especially to Rainbow since she was out front, her wings held in place by two magenta clouds so she couldn’t try to fly to the back. Again. Twilight was several inches behind, with her horn lit up so they and Rainbow up front could see where they were going.
The seven equines moved cautiously, their eyes darting to every turning and corner as they looked out for a hidden foe that wasn’t there. They passed many points where a path cut away from the main one and lead into another room, but the passing of time had brought the tunnels to cave in, cutting off whatever was inside.
Eventually the tunnel ended, and the equines found an old stone bridge leading to where the tunnel continued, while below was nothing but a dark abyss. Twilight moved up next to where Rainbow was standing and looked down, gulping in fear when she saw the black abyss. “Let’s take it slow,” she whispered, as if the ceiling would collapse at the sound of more than a whisper.
Fluttershy moved to the other side of Rainbow and looked down. Upon feeling nauseous she looked up to examine the ceiling. Like the last holding place of one of the keys, she theorised that looking at the ceiling might hold the next place for the next key. She stopped looking when she realised there wasn’t a next place. Her destination after this would be Heimdallr’s prison, and her final encounter with him.
She looked to where Twilight was walking forward, then looked to the ground and saw a large circle with a dragon’s head on its face. It took a second to realise it was a trigger of a trap. “Twilight, stop!” she cried out. The call came too late.
Twilight’s hoof landed on the trigger and it sunk into the ground, creating a little rumble that was like an earthquake. Fluttershy quickly grabbed hold of Twilight’s tail and yanked her back from the bridge and into the tunnel to safety. She looked back and gasped when eight giant axes emerged from the walls and began swinging back and forth in quick motion across the bridge.
Fluttershy’s ears flattened against her head. “I’m so sorry, Fluttershy,” Twilight sniffed from behind her. Fluttershy looked back to see the unicorn looked like she was about to cry. Fluttershy walked up to her and gave her a comforting smile and put a hoof on her shoulder.
“It’s okay, Twilight, I don’t blame you at all. I should have known we would have run into one of their traps sooner or later,” she said warmly. “I’m just glad you’re safe.” She looked back at the axes to see they haven’t relented from their fast pace across the bridge.
“So what do we do now?” Rarity said quietly. “Go back, wait and see if they stop, or try to find another way in?”
Fluttershy didn’t know what to do next. She was driven to finding the final key and for all she knew it was on the other side of the bridge. She sighed to herself. If she was faster she could easily dodge the axes and make it through, and she didn’t want to ask her friends to do it for her. They came with her willingly enough, but she didn’t want to put them in harm’s way because of her. A part of her now wished they had gone home rather than searching for her.
She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn’t notice Pinkie squeezing past the ponies. “Pinkie, what are you doing?” Rainbow demanded. Pinkie didn’t answer, her mind was in one place for once; all thoughts were to getting to the other side.
Pinkie took a deep breath, and stepped forward. “Pinkie, no!” Fluttershy screamed, reaching out to grab her by the tail before it was too late. Which it was. Pinkie jumped out of reach from the other ponies and galloped towards the first axe. The blade swung towards her and she quickly leapt into the air, missing the blade and using the handle holding it to the roof to swing around it, and landing back gracefully the other side. She dodged the second, third, fourth and fifth blades with relative ease, while the others watched with their mouths hung open.
Pinkie waited as another one slid by her, then spun around to the other side, letting the blade slip harmlessly behind her. She felt the rush of the axe fly past her, nearly bringing her off balance. But she kept in place, and concentrated on the next one, and gulped.
The next and last two blades were moving much faster, and seemed to be moving towards, then apart from each other in rapid succession. She shook her fear out of her head and forced herself to concentrate. Fluttershy and everypony else was counting on her. She closed her eyes and her listened to the sound of the axes whistling, getting an idea of how they were moving.
She suddenly opened her eyes and leapt forward into the blades.
Everyone behind her looked away and covered their ears, not wanting to hear the sound of steel on flesh, or seeing their friend falling into the abyss. All they heard instead was the sound of a lever being pulled down, and the axes slowing down. They looked up to see Pinkie Pie on the other side, leaning against the wall on her hind legs with a massive grin, while the huge axes slid back into their holds. “Come on, you silly fillies and colt. What are you waiting for?!” she called from the other side.
The other equines soon made it to the other side and looked at Pinkie with newfound admiration. “That was awesome!” Rainbow said as she crossed. “How did you learn to do something like that?!”
“Oh, it was nothing really. It wasn’t much different to ice skating,” Pinkie replied. With that she trotted off in front humming a little tune and leaving behind a confused horse.
“How could someone compare that to ice skating?!” Thowra exclaimed.
“It’s just Pinkie Pie, Thowra. That’s how we usually explain things,” Twilight said.
“Oh, okay,” Thowra nodded, but was still confused at the explanation. He put it to one side as the six ponies he was with had moved quickly off through the tunnel without him. “Hey, wait for me!” He galloped after them.
About half an hour later they left the small confines of the tunnel and reached a small square-shaped chamber with a large portcullis at the far end. In each of the corners were statues of famous Dragonlords rearing up on their hind legs, and their faces carved out to be screaming battle cries.
“I’m exhausted,” Rarity panted as she collapsed on the ground. “Can we take a break here, please? My hooves are going to kill me at this rate.”
They all turned to Fluttershy for confirmation. “Of course, Rarity,” the pegasus said with a smile. With that the six equines collapsed onto their stomachs and let out exhausted groans. Fluttershy giggled and rolled her eyes. With them resting she looked around the chamber they were in, and the statues that they shared this place with. She wondered why the Dragonlords would bother placing statues in a place noone could see them or admire them. For they were fantastic, and represented a different age of chivalry, violence, unrest, plague, and fear. Thinking about it she was glad to be born in this time and not then.
She looked from the statues to the large gate in front of her, and analysed it with two narrow eyes. A long rusty metal chain that was connected to that gate finished at a pulley at the centre of the chamber, which had a sort of letter system attached on its face. Fluttershy moved closer and looked at it. The letters were in Dragonian, so she had no difficulty understanding it, but she what she didn’t understand was why it was here.
“Twilight?” she called back to the unicorn. “Can you make a little ball of light again, to lighten the room I mean, please?”
Twilight walked up to Fluttershy with a thoughtful look. “Sure, but why?” Fluttershy pointed to the contraption in front of her, and Twilight’s eyes went wide with wonder, and curiosity.
“What is it?” Fluttershy asked
“I think it’s a code breaker of some sort,” Twilight responded, darting left, right and centre around it. “Where you put in a word that it contains, and it unlocks whatever it is guarding.”
“Okay. So how do we know the answer to open it?”
Twilight stepped back from the device, and then looked around the room. “There must be a question, or a riddle, around here somewhere.” Twilight sent a bright ball of light out that lit up the room as if it was day, which startled the other equines for a moment, but they relaxed when they saw who did it. The two ponies eyes scanned the room, looking for what might look like words.
Twilight’s eyes narrowed when she saw a large group of what looked like written words directly above the gate, but she couldn’t make them out. “Fluttershy, come and have a look at this?”
“What is it?” Fluttershy asked as she came up alongside. Twilight pointed to the runes on the wall. When Fluttershy looked up, her eyes widened as she read the passage through, then again as she tried to understand what it meant. “I am loved and wanted by everyone. There are many different types of me, and yet we are the same. What am I?” she read aloud in Equestrian. She sat on her haunches and put a hoof on her chin in thought, Twilight followed suite. The pegasus looked back at the code breaker. “Whatever it is, its five letters long.”
“Yeah, and tricky. Is that all it said?” Twilight asked. Fluttershy nodded in reply. The two fell silent once more as they thought it out.