//------------------------------//
// 26 - Race To The End Part 2 
// Story: Legends Of Ponyville 
// by mechafone 
//------------------------------//

Russet Hearts cringed as the bigger stallion brought his hoof down on the hard, green substance encasing his front hooves for the third time, and for the third time the results were less than hopeful. A single green chip fell to the ground, and Spark Storm scowled and shook his hoof to rid himself of the numbness his efforts were causing. "Ugh, this is really ticking me off!" Spark growled, raising his wings with the intent to try to shock the resin off of Russet's hooves.

"Spark Storm, don't you dare!" Rarity chided, reaching over to touch a hoof to the resin protectively. "We have no idea what your wings could do. You could shock poor Russet!"

Russet looked between the two, thoroughly confused. He'd never met Spark Storm before today, so he had no idea what kind of conversation the two were having.

Spark Storm scowled down at the resin, but he knew Rarity had a point. He was just being angry and impatient. They'd been down here much too long trying to get Russet free from his bonds, and the creaks and groans he heard in the background were becoming more and more unnerving.

"You're right," he said off-hoofedly, glancing briefly at the ceiling. What a day it'd been; so much had happened, so much to process, it was almost too much. He would need a very long vacation from dealing with this kind of thing when it was over.

"Um..." a timid voice from behind Rarity sounded, just barely heard over the sound of Spark Storm thinking. "If it's all right with everypony, I'd really like to see the sun again and go home..."

Spark and Rarity turned to look at Fluttershy with looks on their faces that they shared the sentiment. "Of course, dear," Rarity told her reaching up to comfortingly stroke Fluttershy's back. "I think it's high time we make our way out. Spark Storm, could you...?" she trailed off, pointing to Russet.

"I guess there's nothing else to do at this point," Spark commented as he positioned himself to slip Russet's front hooves around his neck, then pulled the unicorn easily up onto his back. He shifted himself as Russet's back legs were also encased in the resin. It took him a moment, but finally got Russet's back legs to rest over Spark's rump.

Spark thought nothing of it, but the position made Russet blush nervously. Rarity had to hold a hoof over her mouth to keep from commenting, but seeing the two in that position made her blush and think very inappropriate things about the two. She could only imagine what Russet was thinking.

Spark Storm, completely oblivious to what he'd just done, turned to face Rarity and Fluttershy, a wary look on his face as he looked up at the ceiling again. He was sure he could see and hear debris falling to the ground. "We need to get out of here as fast as possible. It really sounds like the place is going to come down."

"Wait!" Fluttershy said, a look of worry and concern in her eyes as she cast a glance towards a still red body at the far side of the room. "We can't just leave her here..."

Spark Storm blinked. He had hoped there wouldn't be any neigh-sayers about leaving Fire Lotus here while the place came down, but this was Fluttershy. He didn't know her as well as he knew Rarity or Applejack, but he knew her well enough to know that she valued life, all life. Then again, this was Fire Lotus, who, for all he knew, valued nothing but pain and entertainment.

"I don't know, Fluttershy," Spark told her carefully. "Fire Lotus is very tricky. She's not going to-"

"You have to!" Fluttershy interrupted, stepping closer to Spark Storm, her eyes pleading. "Spark, please. I know she's mean and she's done bad things, but...oh, we can't just abandon her, please!"

Spark winced at the pleading look in Fluttershy's eyes. He was very very opposed to do anything to help Fire Lotus, but that look..."Ugh...fine," he grumbled, then looked to the other side of the large room, where Ampelus had laid herself out to heal. By now, the nymph's severed leg had begun to grow back, a soft, winding tendril forming from the stump.

When Spark turned to face her, he didn't even need to call her. Ampelus sighed and stood, walking towards the small group. As she got close, she noticed the position that Russet and Spark were in. Her eyes widened in confusion, but her vision wasn't her only senses getting cues. The brown unicorn was giving off reaction pheromones; that position was turning him on, even if he was uncomfortable.

Ampelus paused when she got to Spark Storm, a hoof rising to her mouth, much as Rarity had done to keep herself from commenting. Ampelus, however, was not nearly so subtle. She burst out laughing, even striking the ground with a hoof. "Spark Storm! I had no idea you swung that way!"

Russet, realizing what was happening, blushed heavily and shifted uncomfortably, actually drawing in a little on himself, then cast a 'help me' look at Rarity, who was also blushing at the implications. She, however, found this outburst to be extremely distasteful. Spark Storm, of course, was still completely oblivious, until he realized of course the position he'd put poor Russet in on his back, especially the unicorn's back legs hanging over the end of his rear.

"Enough of this immature banter!" Rarity barked, turning to face Ampelus. Behind her, Fluttershy had pulled herself into a little crouching ball, her face red as a tomato, wings erect. She immediately hid her face in her hair when she realized that she, too, had dared to let her imagination run for a moment.

"Pfft, like you haven't thought about it," Ampelus shot back at Rarity, her eyes predatory and suggestive. When Rarity sputtered and made to argue, Spark Storm stepped in. He seemed to be the only one among them that wasn't blushing, but he felt hot with embarrassment.

"Knock it off, Ampelus. Look, we've decided that we can't leave Fire Lotus here. I think the foundation of this place is coming down, and-"

"Well of course it's coming down," Ampelus interrupted, poking at Spark's chest with a hoof. "Heightened senses, duh." She trailed her eyes upward, ears tilting this way and that. "With all the digging the changelings have been doing, I'd say we have less than ten minutes to get to the surface before the caves collapse."

Fluttershy let out a tiny gasp of fear as Spark frowned, following Ampelus' gaze. "Well, then I suggest we get a move on out of here. Grab Fire Lotus so we can-"

"No."

Four pairs of eyes settled on Ampelus, who had settled herself into a sitting position. "You can all give me the guilty 'please' look all you want, I'm not doing anything for that bitch."

A small gasp from Fluttershy was the only sound before the yellow pegasus took to the air to position herself just over Ampelus, the pleading look in her eyes just slightly harder than before. "But you must! It's not right to leave her down here, no matter what kind of evil things she's done. Everypony deserves life."

Spark Storm watched Ampelus very carefully. Despite the amount of trust she had earned from him so far, he still didn't trust her not to hurt his friends if she was so inclined. The nymph sneered up at Fluttershy, the vines around her body twisting with slight agitation. "She kidnapped you, tortured your unicorn friend, beat the crap out of both her and Spark, she stuck a needle in my forehead, and you want to help her live? I think you've got a screw loose!"

Spark Storm had seen enough. He knew well enough that Fluttershy was very sensitive, and anything else that Ampelus had to say would hurt the pegasus. He started to step forward when something happened, something that struck him with fear. Rarity and Russet could feel it, too, a feeling of dread, but this feeling was coming from Fluttershy.

The yellow pegasi's eyes had opened wide, but the look in her eyes spoke volumes. She was angry, and it was a look that terrified even Ampelus. "No!" Fluttershy said, the look in her eyes intense and nearly palpable as she closed in on the nymph. "I've had it with your apathetic attitude towards life! Life is precious and it should be preserved! We are not going to abandon Fire Lotus, not if we have a chance to help her, now you go over there, pick her up and let's move!"

Ampelus stood, though crouched, in a defensive position. Fluttershy had cowed her into submission, the vines around her body hanging limply on her sides. "Ah, f...fine, ok!" she said as she took off at a run around Fluttershy as fast as she could, the soft tendril replacing her leg actually supporting her weight.

Fluttershy smiled with satisfaction as she watched Ampelus run to Fire Lotus, the angry look in her eyes gone. As she landed and folded her wings, she happened to glance at Spark and noticed the look on his face. She turned to see the same look in Rarity's eyes. She immediately drew in against herself, a guilty look spreading across her face. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lose my temper..."



As Spark Storm, Rarity and Russet Hearts shared an uncertain look, Ampelus slowed down as she approached the earth pony cautiously. Her eyes told her that the earth pony hadn't moved since she had connected with the wall, but her other senses told her that Fire Lotus was awake and very alert. "Clever," the nymph said, beginning to circle Fire Lotus but keeping a distance away from her. "How's your butt feeling?"

"Like there's a four-inch needle in it," came the answer, Fire Lotus opening an eye to peer at Ampelus. "How's the forehead?"

"Better than your ass," the nymph responded, noting that Fire Lotus still hadn't budged an inch. "The sympathetic ponies want to take you to the surface. The one you kidnapped refuses to leave you down here."

Fire Lotus offered Ampelus a cruel smirk in response. "I couldn't care less what they want. I'm just fine here, why don't you go play somewhere else? I certainly won't be doing much playing with this needle in my glutes."

"You won't be doing much of anything when the caves come down," Ampelus said, putting herself into a sitting position a good few feet from the earth pony, whose ears twitched with interest at the nymph's statement. "Didn't your partner in crime tell you? She's bringing everything down. This place will be buried in about ten minutes."

Fire Lotus narrowed her eyes at Ampelus, and thought back, years and years ago to when Shimmering Oasis and she had made a pact, that while their plans would run parallel to each other, if either one got in the way, they wouldn't hesitate to kill each other. This took off a lot of pressure between them and made it easy to trust one another, to trust that there was no trust. It seemed that Fire Lotus had finally been left behind.

"Hmph. Whatever. I'll find my own way out, so why don't you-"

Fire Lotus cut herself off as a sudden, angry buzzing could be heard from the direction that Spark, Rarity and Ampelus had come, filling the chamber with a loud, overwhelming echo of buzzing wings. Fire Lotus immediately shot to her hooves, issuing a sharp grunt as the small metal needle in her rump shifted. "Sounds like she did more than just order the caves to collapse. The blood-lust..."

Ampelus chanced a glance at Fire Lotus. She'd never known a pony to be able to sense rage and blood-lust before. "Well? Going to chance staying around here with that wound?"

Fire Lotus glared at Ampelus for a brief moment before turning her hindquarters to Ampelus. "I'll let you help me if you take this needle out of my ass, it's hampering my movements."

"Oh, ok," Ampelus said. Without waiting, without warning, Ampelus thinned out her front hoof and jabbed it into Fire Lotus' wound, then pulled out the needle, along with fresh blood. The action had been so sudden that Fire Lotus didn't have time to brace herself. She let out a pained scream and fell forward, barely catching herself. She had no time to recover as Ampelus wrapped a vine around her waist and deposited the earth pony on her back as she ran back to the others.



Fluttershy's determined attitude drained away as she heard that sound, that angry buzzing. Russet Hearts clung tighter to Spark Storm. The unicorn just wanted to go home and spend the rest of his days forgetting about today. Rarity and Spark Storm shared a look; they both knew this sound well. The changelings were coming.

The four ponies stood together (except Russet Hearts, who clung to Spark Storm for dear life) as Ampelus approached, carrying a furious Fire Lotus, her tail curled to the side to cover her wound. Spark and Fire Lotus locked eyes for a moment. When Spark Storm said nothing, Rarity surprised him by speaking up. "Whatever she did to you it wasn't enough. I hope you suffer."

Spark Storm, Russet Hearts and Fluttershy all cast the fashionista a surprised glance. Rarity met their looks with righteous indignation, but turned apologetic when she noticed Fluttershy, who looked like she might cry. Fire Lotus looked like she was about to respond when Spark Storm intervened. "Fire Lotus, if you want to live, show us the way out."

Fire Lotus sneered down at Spark Storm from her perch, but the approaching sound of death was much too close for her to argue. She turned and pointed behind the group, but as she did there was a deafening crashing sound from that direction. A small landslide came crashing through a carefully constructed hidden doorway, revealing that that way out was out of the question.

"Uh..." Fire Lotus said and frowned. She turned to another direction, to their left. The group ran over to what looked to be another fake wall. Ampelus reached out and broke it down with two swinging vines, but when the dust settled they could hear more angry buzzing. The changelings had them cornered. The group ran back to the center of the room, their backs to each other.

"Wh-what are we going to do?!" Russet asked, his nerves nearly to the boiling point. He was freaking out, and Fluttershy was worse, drawing herself into a little ball, her hooves hiding her face. Tears fell from her eyes, tears of fear and despair, and Spark had had enough of it.

The big pegasus carefully eased Russet Hearts down onto the ground and stepped forward, his wings raised. His feathers began to spark, then began to dance as threads of electricity leapt and crossed along his wings. Russet stared in wide-eyed fascination. Never before had he seen a pegasus call forth lightning at will. Did they really have a chance to survive?

Spark Storm shifted his hooves into a sturdy position, eyes glued to the fall wall where the angry buzzing was coming from and getting closer. He saw their shadows approaching, they came into view, and then...they were gone. Two walls of heavy, moist earth erupted from the ground and covered the entryways.

Spark Storm's heart leapt into his throat and he looked around wildly until he found her, the only unicorn he knew of that commanded the earth. Behind the group, a small hole opened in the wall, the hard rock turning to mud and allowing the teal unicorn known as Turbid Serocity to step through into the chamber.

Spark Storm said nothing as he ran over to his former mentor and embraced her. The older unicorn smiled and returned the embrace. As the two parted, Spark frowned unhappily down at her, a humble and apologetic look on his face. "Turbid, I'm so happy to see you, but-"

"Leave the past alone, Spark Storm," she told him, a warm smile on her face. "At least for now. We can deal with that later if you want, but for now let's focus on getting you and your friends out of here."

Spark smiled as he turned back to his group and ushered them closer. "All right guys, we've got a way out. First, we'll need-"

"Sorry, Spark," Turbid interrupted as she stepped up to stand at his side. "I'm afraid it's not going to be that easy. You see...I've been ordered to help you get out of here. All of you." Turbid let that set in as Spark Storm and Rarity made faces, afraid of what she was going to say next. "Princess Celestia herself has ordered that we at least try to save the changelings. She'll not have their blood on her hooves through negligence."

Spark's wings twitched with agitation. She always had to have the last word, didn't she? What she said went, even if there was a better way. "Uh, ponies?" Fire Lotus said. "Collapsing caves? Angry bug monsters?"

"Fine," Spark Storm finally said, ignoring Fire Lotus and addressing Turbid. "What does she want us to do?"

Turbid smiled approvingly at the pegasus, then stepped forward and lowered her head towards Russet, situated on the ground beside Rarity. "The first thing we need," she said, her horn lighting up in a dark green glow, "is to appoint my assistants." Spark Storm frowned suspiciously at Turbid's words. He didn't like where he thought this was going.

Russet gasped as the resin on his horn and all four of his legs melted, broke apart and then dissolved. Something in Turbid's magic had a profound affect on the resin. Rarity pouted lightly as Russet finally got to his hooves and pawed at the ground, happy to finally have feeling under his hooves again. "I don't understand," Rarity said and turned to look at Turbid. "I tried that, and failed miserably."

"That's because you don't have the right kind of magic, miss Rarity," Turbid told her. A kind and patient smile came over the older unicorn's face as she approached the two. "But you do have a special kind of magic that I desperately need. And you too, Russet."

Russet and Rarity glanced at each other with uncertainty. Special magic? They both lead unextraordinary lives in Ponyville. The only thing Rarity could think of...wait. Now that she thought about it, she could feel it all around. Gems. Gems hidden in the walls, in the landslide from earlier.

Russet frowned as he thought. What could he possibly have to offer for this situation? He looked around. Now that his horn was free, he was picking all kinds of signals. A glance at the wall where Turbid had emerged from was thick with mud, rocks, roots...that was it. That's what he was feeling his horn connect with. Wood.

Turbid smiled approvingly as the two of them seemed to grasp what she was saying. "That's right, you two. I need your help keeping this place together. If we put our strengths together and put our all into it, we can hold the caves together for a few more minutes. Miss Rarity, I'll need you to gather as many gems together as you can and form a structure for the caves. Russet, you'll help her keep the cave's structure."

Russet stared at Turbid incredulously. "I-I what? How do you even-"

"Because it's a special talent of mine," Turbid said, tilting her head to indicate her horn. "My magic deals with the earth and manipulation of the ground, and I can sense when somepony has strong ties to earth magic, and you two have it in spades. With our three talents combined, we might just be saving more lives than our own." When Turbid noticed the now uncertain looks on her fellow unicorns, she sighed. "Please. I know how you feel about the changelings, but we have to try to show them mercy. We can't just let them die without trying."

Rarity sighed, a heavy feeling in her chest. They were so close to getting out and being done with this terrible day, now she was being asked to help the monsters survive and possibly face death as the cave collapsed? She looked over at Russet, who seemed to be dealing with the same thoughts and fears. The question in both their eyes seemed evident: Were they really willing to risk their lives for those monsters?

Turbid looked between the two, and was about to say more when Russet looked up from his own inner turmoil. "I'll do it." A gasp from Rarity gave the stallion pause, but he continued to stare ahead at Turbid, a surprised but pleased look in her eyes. After a moment, Rarity sighed and stepped forward dejectedly.

"I suppose if Russet has the heart to try and spare those terrible creatures, then it would look terrible if I were to neglect the duty selected for me by the princess herself."

Turbid smiled proudly at the two of them. "Thank you, both of you. Now," she turned to Spark Storm, a hard look in her eyes. "This isn't going to be easy to hear, and even less pleasant doing it. The thing is...I need you four to head up through the caverns and lead the changelings to the surface."

A chorus of disbelief, anger and fear broke out among Spark, Fire Lotus and Ampelus, fear on Fluttershy's part. "You can't be serious!" Spark Storm said. "Even if we get a clean break and manage to get past the wall of changelings out there, we won't be moving fast enough to outrun them! We have two injured, and that's going to slow us down, slow enough to have to defend outselves. A lot of changelings are still going to die."

"Dead one way and dead another," Fire Lotus said with a shrug. "Your princess sure has some ambiguous morals for such a high and mighty position."

Turbid frowned with disapproval and sighed. "I'm sorry. It has to be this way. We risk our lives in absolute danger and death to give the changelings a fighting chance to survive this."

Hearing this, Fluttershy stood tall. Now this was something she could get behind...if only it meant staying out of danger. She quickly crouched again and whimpered. "Um...I think I'd like to stay behind with Rarity. Oh, if that's all right..." she whispered.

Spark turned to Fluttershy and gave her a rueful smile. "You're welcome to, Fluttershy, between us and them, they're the ones that are going to have to deal with the cave as it collapses. We'll get to the surface first...maybe."

Fluttershy whimpered as she started fiddling with her hooves. "So, you're going to have to fight your way through hordes of angry, mean monsters, and Rarity and her group will have to face being buried alive...um..." She glanced up at Spark Storm, then at Turbid. "What was the other option again?"

This time, Spark actually let out a laugh. A real, entertained laugh. It felt good after so much tense fighting. Spark Storm stepped over to Fluttershy and sat down next to her to wrap a hoof around her shoulders. "Don't worry, Fluttershy. We'll protect you."

Spark immediately shot a look at Ampelus and Fire Lotus, both of whom shrugged and looked the other way. Fluttershy, only having seen Spark Storm, smiled happily, and finally felt a little safer.

Spark sighed softly, then looked back over to the three unicorns. "Well, lingering here any longer won't help us. If this is the only way, then so be it. Turbid, we're ready."

Turbid smiled proudly once again. Her horn lit up with magic and turned to face the recently blocked doorways. "I hope we all are. You have five minutes to get as far as you can before the caves begin collapsing. Rarity, Russet and myself will stay here and create a new structure that should hold the cave together long enough for you to get out, as well as any of those changelings following you. Just...try to save a few of them."

Spark Storm nodded to his former teacher, then turned to the escape group. "All right, here's what's going to happen. Fluttershy, I want you by my side at all times. I'm gonna need a little space for my attack-er, my defense, so keep your distance, but stay close...you know what I mean." The butter yellow pegasus smiled and nodded quietly. "Ampelus, make sure you don't drop Fire Lotus, and use those long vines of yours to provide a little chaos as we go."

Ampelus smirked to herself - she was going to enjoy this. The vines around her body twitched, then reached up and wrapped themselves around Fire Lotus, holding her tightly against the nymph's back. Fire Lotus grunted quietly as her rear was squeezed and held down, obviously a motion that was supposed to hurt, considering the stinging pain in her rump. The earth pony resigned herself to glaring holes in the back of Ampelus' head.

With the four of them tensing and prepared to run, Turbid turned her attention to the barred doorways. She tilted her head down as her horn lit up, then the doors came down and the room began to fill with furious changelings. As Spark's wings lit up, two walls suddenly formed around the two groups of ponies, walls that carried all the way to the ceiling, keeping the ponies on the inside and the changelings on the outside. As the escape group tensed, the walls began to move, opening up a path straight down to the exit.

"That's your window, take it! Take it and keep running!" Turbid called. Spark Storm didn't waste another second as he took off down the rocky hallway, Fluttershy just behind him, and followed by Ampelus carrying Fire Lotus on her back. As soon as they four got to the doorway, the walls began rescinding, leaving just a large dome in the center of the room. Spark Storm turned and faced the changelings, whose attention was on the dome, and shot a bolt into their midst.

That did it. The changelings turned away from the dome and started after the four in the doorway. "This is it," Spark Storm said as he turned and ran, the others following. "Don't fall behind, don't look back!"