The Equestrian Odyssey - A Tale of Two Worlds

by Kamahido


Chapter 8 - Breakthroughs

The pair stand there silently looking around. Eventually Scootaloo speaks.

“B-Big Brother! Wha-what are we looking at here?!”

“The same kind of pods in the other cavern. These look like they’re not empty though.”

Walking up to the nearest pod, Arc peeks inside. A strange form floats within the thick green slime. Scootaloo joins him.

“There’s something in there!”

“Yeah. But what?”

“Only one way to find out, right?”

“I guess. Stand back.”

Drawing one of his blades, Arc steps to one side and slams it into the top of the pod. Jerking it down, he deftly slices the pod from top to bottom. Vile green slime gushes forth onto the cavern floor as the encased form falls out. Scootaloo’s eyes grow wide as she turns to Arc.

“Is that…?”

Arc nods grimly. “Yes. That’s appears to be a pony.”

“Are they… alive?”

Arc kneels down and puts his fingers on the stallion’s neck.

“There’s a pulse, yes. I think he’s just unconscious.”

“That’s a relief!”

Arc nods as he stands and looks around. “We need to get them out of whatever these things are right away. Take this.”

He gives Scootaloo one of his blades. Running to the opposite end of the room, she begins slicing pods open as Arc does the same. Meeting in the middle, they look over the unconscious mares and stallions that now lay on the floor. Arc is the first to speak.

“They’ll be coming around soon I hope.”

“Yeah. Better get back under wraps, Big Brother.”

Arc cloaks as Scootaloo moves to the center of the room. Several of the ponies slowly try to stand. They look around, clearly dazed.

“Where… are we?”

“I… don’t know. It’s all so hazy.”

Scootaloo clears her throat loudly. “Everypony listen to me! You’ve just been freed from some kind of green sacks. I know all of you must be feeling really out of it right now. But we need to get you out of here, and soon. This way.”

Motioning for everyone to follow her, Scootaloo leads them back to the mouth of the cave. They look around, confused.

“How are we supposed to get out of here?!”

“Everypony wait here. I’ll fly back to town for help.”

Spreading her wings, Scootaloo takes flight and returns to the cliff above. Looking around to get her bearings, she quickly heads back toward town. Reaching the police station she runs up to the guard on duty.

“Back again so soon?”

“I found a bunch of ponies who’ve apparently been kidnapped!”

The guard frowns. “What are you talking about?”

“They’re being held in a cave to the west! I need some help to get them out of there and back to town!”

“Okay, first of all there’s been no reports of missing ponies. Second, there’s no caves to the west.”

Scootaloo frowns. “You can’t just ignore this!”

The guard sighs as he picks up his phone. “Fine. I’ll call for a couple guards. They’ll investigate your claims and report back.”

A few minutes later Scootaloo leaves the station with two guards.

“Which way?”

Scootaloo points a hoof. “Follow me!”

Taking flight, they fly to the west. Scootaloo lands on the cliff’s edge and points down.

“There’s a cave directly below us! The missing ponies are down there!”

A guard rolls their eyes. “Are you sure?”

“We’re not aware of any caves in this area.”

“I’ll prove it to you!”

Diving off, Scootaloo spreads her wings and glides back down into the cave as the guards follow her. Landing, they look around at the slimy and scared ponies around them.

“Oh my Celestia!”

“There really IS a cave down here filled with ponies!”

The victims hurry forward.

“You’ve got to get us out of here!”

“I need to let my family know I’m alright!”

“Now, now everypony. We’ll look all of you over before ferrying everypony topside one at a time. No need to panic.”

A voice rings out behind them.

“You sure about that?”

Turning, they spot another guard standing in the mouth of the cave. Scootaloo points at him as she turns to the guards.

“Where did he come from?!”

“I don’t know. Only two of us were sent.”

The stallion chuckles. “Quite so, yes. Truth be told, I’m not actually a guard.”

“Impersonating a guard is a serious crime! Come along quietly! You have a lot to answer for!”

“Oh, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

One of the guards draws his weapon. “Are you resisting?!”

“Not at all. But I think you will.”

Scootaloo narrows her eyes. “What are you…?”

“I can’t very well let this little secret become common knowledge. Therefore I have no other alternative other than to bury all of us with the truth.”

Without another word, the stallion bucks the stones around the entrance. With a low rumble the rocks tumble down, sealing the entrance. Coughing as several unicorns struggle to cast Light Spells, Scootaloo and the guards rush forward to survey the damage.

“This isn’t good.”

“It’s completely sealed.”

Scootaloo waves the dust away with her hooves. “There has to be a way out! Maybe we could…!”

The sound of coughing near her hooves rings out. Scootaloo pushes a few rocks away to reveal the imposter guard pinned under the rubble. Copious amounts of blood surround him as he looks up at her weakly.

“Mission… accomplished.”

“Mission? What are you talking about?”

The stallion coughs up a mouthful of blood. “The Dark Lady… will be… victorious…!”

Gasping, he strains to smile wickedly up at them as he breathes his last and expires. Scootaloo turns to the guards.

“Who’s this ‘Dark Lady’?”

“No clue. Well, it doesn’t really matter now. After all, we’re not getting out of here.”

“Don’t give up yet! There’s still a chance another way out is around here somewhere.”

One of the victims shakes their head. “We checked the room you found us in! It’s a dead end!”

“That and the other room only connected this corridor with the entrance! We’re really stuck in here!”

A guard turns to Scootaloo. “Any ideas, Scarlet Filly?”

“I’m thinking.”

A mare looks to her. “Scarlet Filly?”

“The one whom brough a whole gang to justice in Dodge Junction single-hoofedly?!”

“That’s me! But as for your earlier question, I might need some more time to figure this one out.”

She looks at the guards before continuing.

“Take everypony to that larger room back there and see if there’s any other options available to us. I’ll work on this little problem here.”

Nodding, the guards do as they are told. Looking over her shoulder to make sure she’s alone, Scootaloo calls out to Arc telepathically.

“What are we going to do, Big Brother?!”

Arc sighs as he puts a hand on the rubble covering the exit. “I’m not sure. These rocks won’t budge.”

“Even if we did manage to move some of the smaller ones, the larger ones above us might give out and crush us.”

“Yeah, it’s really…”

Arc gasps as he holds his head. A vision of him escaping the abandoned mine with Minerva and the Shards comes to him.

“What did you see?”

“I think I was rescuing a group of creatures like me from a place similar to this.”

“How?”

“Not fully sure. But in a few of the memories, I… I was using some kind of strange power.”

“To do what?”

“Climb a shaft at one point. I disappeared and reappeared some distance up.”

“That sounds like Blinking.”

“But I wasn’t a Crimson back then. How could I have…?”

“Magic!”

“Like what unicorns have?!”

“Yeah!”

“But I don’t feel magical.”

“Maybe not. But they’re your memories.”

“I guess they are. But that doesn’t help us here.”

“It just might!”

“What do you mean?”

“Remember how I said we could get crushed if we tried to dig our way out of here?”

Arc nods. “Yes. What are you getting at though?”

“If you were powerful enough to Blink all the way up a mine shaft maybe you could use your magic to get us out of here.”

“Probably not. After all, I wouldn’t even know where to start. That is, unless you have an idea of how to cast spells.”

Scootaloo shakes her head. “Only unicorns have magic, so I don’t know how it works other than what I’ve heard.”

“I’ll take whatever insight you have.”

“You have to focus on what it is you want to do.”

“Then what?”

Scootaloo shrugs. “No idea. That was just what parents back in Knothole Village would tell their foals when teaching them to use their powers.”

“So… do I just… um… “

“I don’t really know any more than that.”

Arc sighs. “Great.”

“Why don’t you try picking something small up?”

“Alright.”

Holding out a hand, Arc attempts to pick up a rock nearby. However, nothing happens. Scootaloo thinks for a moment before responding.

“Maybe you need to put a little more umph into it?”

“Let me try something…”

Focusing, Arc tries again. However this time the rock shoots upward like a rocket. It smashes into the stone ceiling overhead and explodes from the sheer force. Scootaloo gasps.

“Big Brother! That was amazing!”

“Th-thanks. Although I think I put a bit too much into that one.”

“It might be enough to get us out of here though!”

“By moving rocks?”

“Kinda. I was thinking more along the lines of one big push outward.”

“Could work. Or it could also bring the whole hillside down on our heads.”

“We have to try something. After all, as it stands, we’re not getting out of here. That and nopony else knows where we are.”

Arc looks over his shoulder as the sound of hooves approaching can be heard echoing down the corridor toward them. “I’ll let you handle this.”

“Me?!”

“Just do what I tell you to.”

“Okay.”

The others return with the guards in front. They appear dejected.

“No other ways out exist.”

“It appears our only other way out is to start digging and hope for the best.”

Arc calls out telepathically. “Tell them to get back.”

“I might be able to do something. Everypony stand back.”

They do so as Scootaloo looks toward the sealed entrance. Arc continues.

“Sit down on your flank and hold your front hooves toward the rocks.”

Scootaloo holds out her hooves and takes a deep breath.

“Here goes nothing.”

Arc nods soberly. “Same.”

Focusing his energies, Arc pushes with all his magical might. With a rumble, the rocks blocking the entrance are thrown outward into the North Luna Sea. Everyone present gasps.

“H-how did she…?!”

“I thought she was a pegasi!”

Scootaloo nods. “That I am.”

“Then how did you…?!”

“Come on! We have to get everypony back to town for medical attention!”

The guards nod. One by one they ferry those whom can’t fly up to the cliff. While still very weak everypony is able to walk, albeit slowly. Arriving back in town they are approached by a guard captain. Stepping forward, the guards with Scootaloo’s group salute him.

“Report.”

“Sir, on the word of this filly, we found these ponies trapped in a cave outside town.”

“That and somepony tried to seal us in there!”

The captain rolls his eyes. “And where are they?”

Scootaloo sighs. “Dead. Crushed by their own attempts to keep us sealed in there.”

“And everypony here?”

“I work at the bakery.”

“I’m a nurse at the…”

Interrupting the, the captain turns to the guards. “Arrest these individuals!”

“Sir?”

“Nopony has been reported missing. In fact, I’ve seen several of these ponies at their jobs as late as this evening.”

“B-but…”

“They’re pulling some kind of elaborate hoax here, and I intend to get to the bottom of it!”

He waves a hoof toward the ground. His guards run to surround everyone.

“Now then, if everypony will quickly and quietly follow me to the…”

A similar voice rings out.

“Not so fast!”

Turning, the captain looks for the source of the familiar voice. A lone stallion steps forward and points a hoof at the captain.

“This isn’t the captain!”

Scootaloo gasps. “What?!”

The guard nearest them appears confused. “How can you be so sure?!”

“Because I AM!”

Stepping into the light of a streetlamp, he turns back to the guards. They quickly salute.

“S-sir!”

“Arrest that imposter!”

“What?! NO! I’m the real guard captain!”

“No, I am! Don’t you all recognize me?!”

“He’s the imposter!”

Scootaloo calls out to Arc telepathically. “This is getting complicated, Big Brother.”

“That it is.”

“Who’s the real one though?”

“The one with us, I would imagine.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“If he was an imposter, I don’t think he would have been imprisoned with the others.”

“Makes sense. But what do we do about this?”

“Start by taking out the fake. Hit him!”

Scootaloo grins. “Yeah!”

Charging forward, Scootaloo lunges at the armored captain. As she makes contact with him, Arc casts a Telekinesis Spell. The stallion flies head over fetlocks as he slams into the side of a building. He falls to the ground, unconscious. The real captain walks over to him with the guards.

“Sir, how did this stallion…?”

The captain holds out a hoof. “Give me your weapon.”

“Sir?”

“We need to know for sure before proceeding.”

Nodding, the guard hands his superior his spear. Turning back toward the unconscious imposter on the ground, the captain drags the tip of the blade across the stallion’s cheek. A small stream of blood flows out as everyone gasps.

“Green?!”

The captain grits his teeth. “It’s as I thought. This is no ordinary stallion.”

“What is he then?!”

“A changeling.”

“Sir?”

“They’re creatures that can take on the guise of anypony or anything they imagine.”

Scootaloo frowns. “So these ponies were captured and replaced?!”

The captain nods. “It looks like it… whomever you are.”

“I’m the Scarlet Filly. Let’s just leave my real name out of it. But what do we do now?”

“We’ll head to the hospital and have everypony checked out. After we’re sure they’re really ponies, we’ll send guards to their homes to arrest their doppelgangers while the hospital staff gives them a full examination.”

The captain leads the way to the hospital. After explaining the situation to the nurse at the front desk, they are lead to a large ward. Doctors and nurses examine everyone and report their findings to the captain.

“Everypony here has red blood.”

“Good. I’ll call headquarters and have reinforcements sent over. We’ll need them to arrest the fakes.”

He turns to Scootaloo.

“It looks as though we owe you a great debt of gratitude, Scarlet Filly.”

“Yeah! We would have been stuck there forever without you!”

“Right! Thank you, Scarlet Filly!”

Everyone claps their hooves and cheers.

“I’m just glad this mess is figured out. But what about the apothecary?”

The captain appears confused. “What?”

“We arrested the town apothecary earlier this evening, sir.”

“He was in possession of illegal reagents. It was thought he was the one behind the foal’s being ill, sir.”

Scootaloo nods. “That is true. However, he was only using the reagents to try and boost the power of his treatments for the foals.”

The captain turns to the doctor. “Is that true?”

“It is, yes. We tested the batches and found trace amounts of certain illegal compounds in the medicine.”

“Then why did you administer it?!”

“Because it was a safe, viable treatment. Desperate times… desperate measures.”

Scootaloo nods soberly. “They did what had to be done.”

The captain sighs and shakes his head.

“By rights I should arrest you for this. But I won’t, as you acted in the best interest of your patients.”

Scootaloo turns to the captain. “Can the apothecary be released now?”

“I’ll look over his case when I return to my office. But if what I’ve been told is true, I see no reason to keep him imprisoned.”

“Thank you, sir. Well, it appears you have the situation well in hoof here. I’ll be heading out now.”

“Vanhoover thanks you for your service, Scarlet Filly.”

Nodding, Scootaloo leaves the ward and walks into Arc’s magic cloak. Picking her up, he walks down the corridor toward the main entrance. Scootaloo sighs contentedly.

“I’m certainly glad that’s over.”

“Oh?”

“I mean… I like helping everypony like that. But I’m really tired.”

Arc chuckles. “Well, we have been up all night. Let’s head back to the inn for some sleep.”

Walking down the road, they come to the Inn. Entering the empty lobby, they head for the stairs. Arc sets Scootaloo down in front of their door as he reaches into his pocket for the key.

“I’m going to sleep like a log after this, Big Brother.”

“After a nice shower first though, right?”

“Probably fall asleep in there.”

Arc chuckles. “That’s fine. I’ll clean you up and put you to bed.”

Opening the door, they step into the darkened room. Scootaloo closes the door behind them and locks it dutifully before removing her cloak and tossing it aside. Yawning, she heads for the bathroom. However halfway there the sound of hooves slowly clapping ring out in the still room. Turning around, Scootaloo gasps.

“You?!”

The robed stallion from before stands and walks toward her.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Scarlet…”

He frowns as he looks her over.

“A little Crimson filly. Most impressive.”

Scootaloo grits her teeth. “What do you want?!”

“Mostly to congratulate you.”

“Congratulate me?!”

“Yes. After all, it’s not every day our plans are thwarted by one of your kind. Much less a filly.”

“I just don’t understand. What the heck were you trying to do here?!”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Scootaloo rolls her eyes. “Enlighten me.”

“My companions and I have been here for months grooming this town. Making it ready for the harvest.”

Scootaloo narrows her eyes. “I get the feeling you’re not talking about vegetables.”

“Ponies.”

“Ponies?”

“Indeed. For you see… they are quite a precious food source.”

In a flash of green flames the stallion changes. His body turns black and reveals a number of large holes in it. The once sheen coat turns to chitin, and his voice becomes much more sinister. Smiling wickedly at Scootaloo, he continues.

“After all, we too need to feed.”

“Wha-what ARE you?!”

“A changeling, you fool! Have you never been told of the animosity between our two races?!

“No!”

“Crimsons and changelings… two sides to the same coin! Both creatures of the night, born to rule the darkness and feed on the weak!”

“You wanted to eat everypony in town?!”

“Just their love.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“We are drawn to it like a moth to a flame. But we are many, and this town was not enough.”

“What have you done?!”

“Nothing much. We simply used our powers to make the fillies ill.”

“But why?!”

“For the love it would produce.”

“That doesn’t make any sense!”

“We’ve found that bringing about suffering triggers an emotional outpouring of love from the adults. And what easier way to do that but to hurt their offspring?”

Scootaloo seethes. “How?!”

“A few changeling secretions regularly supplied to the foals was all it took. We switched places with one of each foal’s parents to continue their poisoning. That allowed us to feed on the love of the other parent while simultaneously poisoning them as well.”

“Eventually the town would fall to you without so much as a fight.”

“Exactly. It would have become a veritable love farm with them as the cattle.”

Scootaloo points a hoof angrily. “Well, you failed in that!”

“Yes, we did. Without the regular secretions administered daily the foals will soon recover naturally. However, we can simply start again.”

“But now that you’ve told me, the citizens here will be ready for you!”

The changeling chuckles. “Little fool. Why do you think I’m telling you all of this?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“Because you won’t be alive long enough to tell anyone!”

In a flash of green flames, the changeling morphs into a large wolf. He bears his teeth and snarls at Scootaloo.

“Goodbye… Crimson filth!”

Charging forward, the wolf lunges at Scootaloo. However before he reaches her, Arc decloaks and punches the wolf in the head. Flying across the room, he lands in a heap on his side. Slowly getting up, the wolf shakes himself and looks to Scootaloo.

“What was…?”

He stops talking as he spots Arc walking toward him.

“Y-you!”

“You know me?”

“You’re the Hero of Light! But… but how are YOU here?!”

“Just lucky for this town, I guess.”

The changeling wolf lays down. “I cannot best you!”

Arc frowns. “Not so lucky for you.”

Kicking the wolf in the belly, he knocks the wind out of him before grabbing his large furry head and slamming it down on the floor. Several teeth fly out as the sickening crack of the wolf’s jaw breaking can be heard. The wolf cries out in pain as he struggles to talk.

“P-please! I beg of you! Mercy!”

“And what mercy did you give those you kidnapped? What mercy did you show those sick fillies?”

“We… I…!”

“They were just food to you. Something to be used as you saw fit.”

Kneeling down over the wolf, Arc grabs his head as he frowns.

“You want mercy? I’ll give it to you.”

“Th-thank you.”

“A painless death.”

“What?!”

With a quick movement, Arc breaks the beast’s neck. It gasps slightly before going limp. Scootaloo walks over to him and nods soberly.

“That should help keep everypony safe.”

Arc nods as he stands. “I going to assume he was the leader of this little operation. With him dead, I imagine those left will either flee or be caught when the guards catch up with them with the real citizens.”

“What do we do now?”

Arc grabs the wolf and throws him out the window to fall to the ground below.

“We head out and report this to the guards. They can take care of the body.”

“Now?”

“No time like the present. That and I’m sure the guards would rather clean up a freshly dead corpse than one that’s been lying there all night.”

“Fair enough.”

“Come on. I’ll carry you.”

“Thanks.”

Grabbing her cloak, she walks over to Arc and hops into his arms. Cloaking, he hops out the window and walks down the street. A few minutes later Scootaloo falls asleep. Stroking her mane, Arc smiles.

“You take a little nap, Scootaloo. After all, you’ve certainly earned it, my brave little pony.”