The group moved slowly through the archives of Mount Metazoa, taking care to try and not alert the giant spiders that had taken residence there. The atmosphere was heavy and thick, as though they could be attacked at any moment.
“Man this place is creepy.” Garble said as he kept an eye out.
“You said it. I’d rather not be here any longer than we have to be.” Spring Leaf agreed.
“What exactly are we looking for in here?” Smolder asked.
“Anything related to Opaline. Her history, hideouts, personality, and such. If there’s anywhere that has it, it’s here.” Spike replied.
“Let’s hope we don’t become spider food first.” Ember said, causing them all to shutter at the thought. As they continued to traverse the halls, they saw the full scope of the desolation that had taken place. In the midst of all the spiderwebs, they could see crumbling stone and rotting wood, the displays created for the Convocation of Creatures having fallen into disrepair. As Spring Leaf had stopped to study one of the displays, she began to hear an ominous clicking sound coming from above.
“Uh guys. Did you hear that?” She asked nervously, afraid to look above her to confirm her suspicions. They all looked up slowly to see a rather large spider looking down on them hungrily. As it lunged down towards Spring Leaf, Garble stepped between them, catching the spider before it could reach her. He kicked it away before shooting a steady stream of fire, keeping it up until the spider was finally still.
“You good?” Garble asked as he looked back towards Spring Leaf.
“Yeah. We should keep moving.” Spring Leaf responded.
“If we head for the central archives, we should be able to find what we’re looking for. They have a section on ancient history there.” Spike said to the group.
“Alright, lead the way.” Smolder said. They continued through the halls, taking extra care to keep an eye out for any more spiders that may be lurking around them. As they were about to exit out into a large hallway, Ember stopped the group.
“Hide!” She hissed. As they all pressed themselves against the walls, they saw a giant spider about the size of a BugBear crawl through the hall. Everyone in the group held their breath as the giant spider stopped for a moment, clicking and hissing as it looked around for potential prey. After a moment, it finally moved on, and the group all let out a collective sigh of relief.
“This had better be worth the trouble.” Garble grumbled. Continuing through the halls, and keeping an eye out for any more spiders, the group eventually found themselves in the central archives, although they found it in a severe state of disrepair, with much of the wall and ceiling having been broken away. They could see that some kind of large formation sat in the wall, with the archives almost seeming to conform to its shape.
“This place is a mess. How are we supposed to find anything in here?” Smolder asked.
“I didn’t think it had fallen apart this much. We might be in trouble guys.” Spike said. As they looked around the central archives, they could suddenly hear rumbling in the walls and the sound of skittering coming from all around them.
“I think we’re about to be in even more trouble everyone.” Spring Leaf said. At that moment, an untold amount of spiders emerged from the walls, some about the size of Timberwolves while others were the size of Manticores or BugBears. They looked upon the group with a covetous gaze, sending shivers down their spines.
“Could this possibly get any worse?” Garble asked. As if on cue, they could hear more rumbling behind them. The formation they saw in the wall as they entered began to shift and move and, to their horror, the center of the formation parted to reveal eyes. One by one they opened until it revealed a total of nine eyes. What they saw before them was a massive Brood Queen spider, probably about the size of Twilight’s castle. The spider shifted itself to get a more clear view of its guests before letting out a hearty laugh.
“It would seem my children have found a new toy to play with. How exciting.” The Brood Queen’s raspy voice echoed throughout the archives as its breath actually caused them to stagger back a bit. It shifted a bit more, showing the group that what they thought was a fallen pillar was actually one of its massive legs. “It’s unusual that we get dragons and Kirin here. Quite interesting playthings indeed.” The other spiders around them hissed as they began to creep slowly towards the group, looking to ensure that they don’t leave alive.
“Wait!” Spring Leaf exclaimed. “Maybe you can help us.” The Brood Queen blinked inquisitively at the Kirin’s declaration as the other spiders also paused their advance.
“Oh? And what is it you wish to know, little morsel?” The Brood Queen asked. Spring Leaf gulped nervously as she saw the spiders lingering around them.
“We came here looking for information about a pony named Opaline. She has our leader, Rain Shine, as well as a clutch of dragon eggs.” Spring Leaf explained.
“Ah yes. My children have whispered tales of a wicked pony who roams these lands.” The Brood Queen answered. Spike furrowed his brow and stepped forward.
“What do you know?”
“What does it matter? It’s not like you’ll be leaving.” The Brood Queen responded with a sinister sneer. The spiders that surrounded them resumed their approach as it appeared that there would be no more negotiations.
“Great. What now?” Smolder asked as they all stood back to back. Spike clenched his fists, his blood boiling at being denied answers yet again. It seemed that no matter what, they kept hitting dead end after dead end.
Not this time. He thought to himself.
“Uh guys. We kinda need a plan here.” Garble said as the spiders closed in around them.
“We fight.” Spike said simply as he let out a large blast of fire, causing the spiders to shrink back in fear. The others followed suit as they were able to temporarily push back the large hoard of spiders with their fire. As they got an opening, Ember took flight and swatted away a few spiders with the Scepter and Spring Leaf managed to burn a few of them after transforming into her Nirik form.
“Wretched bugs!” The Brood Queen grunted as she tried to crush Spike with one of her massive legs. He rolled to the side to avoid the strike before plunging his hands into the ground, pulling up a large chunk of rock and throwing it directly at the Brood Queen, shattering against her face and forcing her to recoil in pain. Meanwhile, Garble and Smolder stood back to back punching and kicking spiders away before they both leapt into the air and spun around while belting out continuous streams of fire. The Brood Queen managed to break free of the wood and stone that she was encased in and started to furiously swipe at Spike with her legs. With every strike, the archives rumbled and shook as the Brood Queen moved alarmingly fast despite her mountainous size. Spike regrouped with the others, seeing that many of the other spiders had been cleared away, though there were seemingly an infinite amount still coming. He noticed that some of the spiders were moving to protect the Brood Queen instead of attacking them.
“We need to take down the Queen!” Spike shouted to the others.
“How are we supposed to take down something that big?!” Spring Leaf exclaimed.
“By catching it off balance!” Ember responded as she swung the Scepter to knock away a few spiders rushing towards her.
“I got an idea! Spike, gimme a hand!” Garble said as he breathed a stream of fire to burn away some webs entangling a rather large bookshelf that was almost as tall as the room itself. Spike moved to assist, and when they burned away the last of the webs they each grabbed a side and sprinted towards the Brood Queen. They rammed the shelf into one of her legs, which knocked her off balance.
“Smolder!” Ember shouted as she gestured to another of the Brood Queen’s legs.
“Right!” Smolder responded as she pressed her legs to the wall and used her wings to blast off like a bullet, ramming her shoulder into the Brood Queen’s other leg at the same time that Ember took a powerful swing with the Scepter. As the Brood Queen started to lose her balance, Garble and Spike both leapt up into the air and brought down a rather large chandelier, slamming it down onto the Brood Queen’s head. The force of the impact caused some of the wall and ceiling to collapse on top of her as well. Spike landed in front of her so that he was looking directly into one of her eyes.
“Opaline. Where is she?” He asked in a low, menacing tone. The Brood Queen let out a raspy chuckle.
“You certainly have strength, little one. Very well. My children have heard whispers of a hideout to the south. You will find what you seek there.” Spike gave her a stern look before turning around to join the others. Before leaving, he turned back to the Brood Queen and saw rows upon rows of spider eggs lining the walls behind her.
“For your sake, you better not be lying. Or else, I may just be back to finish the job.” Spike growled menacingly. The others all gave each other a concerned look as they turned to make their exit, the other spiders now hesitantly standing aside due to the thrashing they had just given the Brood Queen. Ember’s communicator suddenly went off, and she answered it to see Benga looking back at her through the screen.
“What’s going on in there? The whole place has been shaking out here.”
“Had a bit of trouble with the locals. Almost brought the whole place down. We’re heading out now.” Ember responded. The group made their way out of the archives, eventually making it back to the skiff. They saw that the three who had stayed behind had fully repaired the skiff and were ready to roll out.
“Well? Learn anything?” Autumn Blaze asked.
“Supposedly, Opaline has a a hideout to the south where she’s holding Rain Shine. If we go there, we may just be able to get her back.” Spring Leaf responded.
“Then I guess we’d better head out. Skiff’s all ready to go.” Athos told the group. They all boarded the skiff and set off towards Opaline’s hideout. As the journey continued, Ember found herself glancing towards Spike with a look of concern. The way he had acted towards the Brood Queen gave her a sense of unease. She didn’t have much sympathy for the spider, but her concern lay with Spike’s increasingly aggressive behavior more than anything else. Garble noticed her unease and took a seat next to her.
“What’s up?” He asked her.
“It’s Spike. Didn’t you notice the way he acted back there?” Ember asked.
“Yeah. He’s usually not that aggressive.” Garble answered. Ember leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder.
“I’m worried about him Gar. This whole hunt for Opaline might be weighing on him more than he’s letting on.” Ember said.
“Don’t worry. We’ll be there for him, just like he was there for all of us.” Garble reassured her as he pulled her into a quick hug, planting a kiss on her forehead. “I’m gonna go talk to him.”
Garble got up and made his way over until he was standing next to Spike, looking out onto the horizon. The sun was starting to set, and they could both see the sky changing colors to a pale tint of orange to reflect the day giving way to night.
“That was pretty intense back there man. You wanna talk about it?” Garble asked. Spike knew that he was referring to what he said to the Brood Queen. He studied his hand for a moment before clenching it into a fist.
“To be honest, I’m not sure what came over me. It was an anger unlike anything I’ve ever felt.” Spike answered.
“Can’t say that I blame you. If I were in your position, I’d probably be pretty angry too. I just don’t want you losing yourself in this pursuit of Opaline, ya know?” Garble said. Spike let out a sigh.
“You’re right. Thanks man.” Spike said with a slight smile, which Garble returned.
“We’ve still got quite a ways to go. I’d recommend getting some rest.” Athos announced to the group.
“Guess we better take him up on that. No telling what we’ll face when we get there.” Garble said as he gave Spike a quick pat on the shoulder. Spike took one last look out onto the horizon before following the others. As he did, he could swear he heard the words of his shadow self reverberating through his mind.
It’s getting harder to deny it. Soon they’ll know what I know.
Spike shook his head and grunted to himself in frustration. He followed the others to try and get some rest, as they would soon reach Opaline’s hideout, and face whatever terrors that lie within.