Crackling with chaos magic, the Young Six arrived in various battle-ready poses. Not that anything tackled them the moment they appeared. Well, except one thing.
Sandbar squeaked as he was tipped over by a huge tongue. "Help!"
Smolder burst into laughter at the sight of it. "Cracked, were you waiting for us here?"
"No." She directed a hoof at Comforting. "I smelled her in a strange hole. I went through it and I found her." She nodded at Comforting. "There."
Comforting clapped gently. "Good, you're all gathered. You know the mission ahead of you. I've given you transportation, but the rules say I can't do much more than that. Even giving you a lift is stretching the rules, so no asking for anything more than that."
Ocellus inclined her head. "Huh... Okay, um, at least you're more upfront about it. I've heard Headmare Twilight talk about the times she tried to ask Discord about things."
Gallus was looking at Cracked. "So, what do you know?"
Cracked's ears perked up as she sniffed the air. "I smell...another like me?" She turned to Comforting with surprise. "Are we near Lily?"
Comforting nodded. "Yes. There's another like Cracked. Her name is Lily. She's been captured by a... pony, I think. We're here to set her free."
She gestured to the Young Six. "My friends have all agreed to help with the rescue mission."
Cracked drew herself up resolutely. "Point me to this fiend that imprisons my kin. I will tear down any barrier between us." A low growl rumbled in her throat.
Comforting gently touched Cracked's shoulder. "I understand you want to rush in, but they're in charge of this mission. You're playing backup this time. Your nose will guide the way."
Cracked took a deep breath, calming her fury. "Yes, wise Alpha. I will not fail you or the one called Lily. Your plan is sound." She dropped to her belly, looking at the ones that would lead that mission. "Little hunters, we meet again. We hunt our largest prey so far today."
Smolder flashed a thumbs up as she turned. "Biggest, but least tasty. Chomping another wolfpony sounds like a bad idea. Now, I'm no expert... But that looks suspicious." She pointed to what looked like a ruined castle on the side of the hill before them. "What do you think the odds are we need to be there?"
Cracked sniffed at the air, circling a moment before she took a powerful step towards the hill. "Yes. I can smell her."
Gallus lifted on his wings, swooping in to perch on Cracked's back, sliding down onto her neck. "You can smell something big like you? Shouldn't we... you know.. see her then?"
"I smell her. I don't see her." Cracked inclined her head upwards, sniffing anew. "Yes. I smell her. This way." She pointed with her entire form at the ruined castle's direction.
Gallus ruffled his feathers as Cracked started lumbering towards the ominous castle ruins.
"Well, I guess that settles it then." He glanced back at the others. "Time to put our rescue plan into action!"
The group headed towards the crumbling structure, keeping a wary eye out for guards or traps. As they drew near, Yona cracked her knuckles.
"Yona ready to smash bad pony and save friend!"
Sandbar held up a hoof. "We want to avoid, um, getting rough if we can. The goal is freeing Lily unharmed."
Yona grunted reluctantly but nodded. Sandbar then spoke up.
"Ocellus, Smolder and I will sneak in, see if there are any guards. Silverstream and Gallus, you two fly up and try to locate Lily from above."
The pair saluted and took wing. Sandbar continued, "Yona, wait until, um, unless you hear fighting inside, then smash down the front gates."
Yona grinned and stomped her hooves, ready for some smashing. Comforting was nowhere to be seen.
Sandbar turned in place. "Perfect. And Cracked?"
The massive wolf-pony turned an attentive ear his way.
Sandbar pointed to the gate. "Once Yona breaks through, follow Lily's scent straight to her. We'll handle any bad ponies."
Cracked dipped her head. "As you command, little pony."
Smolder gestured at where Comforting had last been seen. "Where'd she go, anyway?"
Gallus shrugged. "You know her. She's wherever she wants to be. She gave us the mission, and she's acting like she has to follow a dictionary of rules this time, so guessing she had to go and not help us more than she already did, right?" He elbowed Silverstream hovering beside him. "Let's go."
The pair launched over the castle, but it was just as ruined from above as it was from the front. They could see the gate still stood tall and imposingly, and there were a few smaller structures still standing inside. Aside that, it was abandoned and ruined. Even the buildings that stood had their share of holes and rubble. Time had not been kind to the place.
Silverstream pointed back at the gate. "Look!" She dived at it, and the heavy wooden bar slid into place to keep it closed. "Couldn't we move this?"
Gallus came to a fluttering stop beside her in the air. "Yeah? Pretty sure. Looks kinda heavy. I'll take this side."
They took opposing positions and lifted with frantic flaps of their wings and grunts of effort.
Outside, Yona inclined her head. "That sound like trouble." She could hear the grunts, muffled and distant. "Yona help!" She charged the gate, crashing into it with all the power yaks were known for. She collided with it just as they were getting the bar free, knocking the gate open and sending both flyers sailing to the ground in separate arcs. "Gate smash!"
Yona looked around for trouble, but saw no bad ponies, or any other creatures in need of smashing. Oh, there they were. She tromped up to Silverstream, the closer of the two. "You okay?"
Silverstream sat up with a groan, rubbing her head where it had impacted the ground.
"Oww... yeah, I'm okay," she said, a little dazed. She blinked a few times then flashed Yona a reassuring smile. "Just wasn't expecting to go flying like that!"
Nearby, Gallus was already back on his feet, brushing dust from his feathers. "Quite an entrance there, Yona," he chuckled.
Yona looked down bashfully. "Yona sorry, thought friends in trouble."
Sandbar trotted up and gently patted her arm. "No worries. The important thing is you got the gate open." He peered through the entrance. "Now comes the hard part..."
"Right!" Silverstream sprang back into the air with recovered vigor. "Operation Wolfpony Rescue is a go!"
The group hurried into the abandoned castle courtyard, keeping a wary eye out for guards. But the place was eerily silent.
"Where is everypony?" Smolder wondered aloud. "This feels too easy..."
Ocellus hopped forward, wings buzzing. "Oh! This is... Not a fighting puzzle." The others looked to her curiously. "This is that thing Twilight mentioned. This is... arch... archee... Archaeology!" She waved a hoof over the ruined buildings around them. "We have to be gentle and search for clues."
Cracked inclined her head. "Lily is trapped by archees?"
Gallus clapped his hands together. "No, I get it. These buildings, what's under them, all of this. That's the clue. Um. Your friend. Do you know how she's trapped? If we're looking at stuff this old... How old is this Lily?"
Cracked considered with a frown. "Hard to say. I am very old, but most of that was in another world, in many pieces... Did that time even count?" But it seemed to dawn on her. "Maybe Lily is trpped out of time, like me. Maybe she is broken. We have to fix her!"
She thought back to the time, under Comforting's magic, they had met Lily. "She was limping. She is broken... Little hunters, please help find her."
Yona stomped the ground. "We find large wolfpony. We rescue!" She charged for the nearest ruined building to have a look inside.
The others trailed after her, not as ready to charge blindly. Ocellus spread her wings, buzzing into the air. "I'll check that one." She lifted, just to come down. "Actually... Cracked?"
Cracked looked over at what wasn't a little hunter, but one of her friends despite that. "Yes? Do you have another idea?"
"I do." Ocellus smiled nervously. "Your nose." She pointed up at Cracked's enormous snout. "That's the biggest hint we have. We should use it. Track Lily."
"I tried last time..." But Cracked's vision had gotten the best of her, the last time. She had never even gotten past the gates of that fortress. Still, at her little friend's suggestion, she began snuffling anew. "Closer... Yes... closer." She began to prowl around in widening circles, then veered off. "This way."
Smolder snapped her fingers just before a clap. "Great! Um, that isn't where Yona went though."
Gallus hiked a thumb. "I'll get her. Rest of you, stick with Cracked."
Gallus flapped off to retrieve Yona while the others trailed after Cracked. The massive wolfpony prowled with nose to the ground, following an invisible scent trail only she could detect.
After a few twists and turns, she led them to a crumbling watchtower on the castle's far side. Cracked circled it slowly, then tapped a pile of stones with her hoof.
"Here. She is underneath."
Silverstream, Ocellus and Smolder immediately began clearing away the rubble. Before long, an opening was revealed leading down into stagnant darkness.
Gallus and Yona rejoined the group just as they finished uncovering the passageway.
"Any luck?" Gallus leaned in over the new pit.
Smolder jerked a thumb at the hole. "Seems promising. Cracked says Lily's down there."
Yona frowned uncertainly at the ominous blackness within. "How Cracked know?"
Cracked tapped her nose with a wolfish grin. "The nose knows. My kin is below, though I know not what state we will find her in."
Her expression became serious. "Stay alert. And call if you need my strength."
The students nodded firmly, then descended single-file into the passage guided only by Smolder's flickering firelight. The air grew dank and heavy as they went deeper.
Before long, the tunnel opened into a small chamber. Sandbar shuddered. "Anypony else feel like we're being watched?"
Two statues of ponies stood there, watching them unmovingly. Between them hovered an onyx ring of gold framing. The ring hadn't faired much better than the place it was residing in, a long crack running down its face.
Sandbar accelerated at the sight of it. "Great! Um, think that's it?" He went for the ring, reaching a hoof towards it.
A thunderous clap sent him flying back into the others, knocking most of them down with grunts.
"They are held for a reason," came the voice of some older pony. They sounded grumpy. "Do not interfere. It took me moons to track this one down and capture her."
Silverstream tapped her fingers together as she stood up. "That voice... Isn't that... that Starswirl pony? The big wizard?"
Gallus rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, that guy. He solved most problems back in the day, and made a thousand new ones for creatures in the future to figure out." He hiked a thumb at the hovering ring. "Like that."
Yona ran a hoof over the ground as if preparing to charge. "Smash?"
"No smash." Sandbar moved in the way. "You might hurt the ring, and I think we want the ring."
He turned back to the ring. "Starswirl was... a bit of a specist. Maybe a pony has to ask permission."
Gallus shrugged. "You're the one that set off the trap in the first place, remember?" He coughed suddenly. The musty smell of dust and ancient ages wasn't helping anything.
"Yeah, but I didn't try asking." Sandbar approached much more sedately then the first time. "Hello, Starswirl, um, sir? We were wondering if we could have that?" He pointed to the ring as he circled cautiously. "We'll be careful, promise! They won't hurt anypony." Sandbar gave his best smile, but there wasn't sure if it'd be enough.