//------------------------------//
// Chapter 12 
// Story: A Discordant Tale 
// by piedol 
//------------------------------//

ADT Chapter 12

"Are we there yet?" she asked for the thirty-seventh time.

"Shut up," I told her.

"Are we almost there yet?" she asked for the twelfth time.

"Shut up." I said once more through grit teeth.

Rainbow snickered at my irritation and performed a tight somersault overhead, narrowly avoiding every leafy branch and vine in her way. "Hey, it's not my fault you two saps can't fly. I'm bored with all this slow hiking. Just tell me where these caves are and I'll be there in ten—no—three seconds flat! I promise I'll wait up," she added with a wink.

I pinched my forehead, sighing as Rainbow Dash's lack of patience began to grate on my own. "Rainbow, believe me when I say that, were I able to do that, I'd have sent you on your merry way a while back. However, as Twilight and I have tried to explain over and over, the forest's canopy is too dense. You wouldn't be able to make out the cave entrance from up above-"

"Blah blah blah~" she mimed a pair of flapping lips with her hooves. "Quit yer yammerin’ and just point me in the right direction. Some dumb trees aren't enough to get me lost!"

I said nothing. Despite how desperately I wanted to let her learn the hard way and end up far removed from my presence, that would have meant putting her life on the line, and my conscience prevented me from doing something so selfish.

By 'conscience', I of course mean 'Twilight Sparkle', who had shut me down with a stern glare or curt cough every time I'd been about to give in and let Rainbow have her way. She wasn't overly perturbed by the pestering pegasus. Not only was she used to her obnoxious personality, but she was also thoroughly distracted with making a detailed list in her field journal which recorded our every travel decision, along with several side notes regarding the various sights (read: terrors) of the forest. She didn't have to deal with the confined and increasingly restless  pony left with no outlet for her energy under the uneven roof of leaves and wood that lay spread out over us and obscured all but the tiniest glimpses of sun and sky.

Luckily, the cave system we were headed to wasn't more than three or four miles away from where we'd had our little incident with the manticore. Even so, those few miles passed like ten, due to the sheer number of obstacles that lay in our land-bound path.

It also didn't help that Twilight's shield had one fatal flaw, which was that it couldn't work on more than one species at a time. A cockatrice and a massive snake are duking it out for the right to eat the loser. Who wins? The answer is 'the one who gets sabotaged by a stray unicorn's spell last'. On that note, if you ever find yourself in the position of being a snake who's in the process of eating a still twitching cockatrice corpse, do yourself a favor and start from the tail. I cannot stress this enough.

Where was I?

Oh, right. Annoying blue pony.

Well, I'll cut a long rant short and tell you that the good news is that we arrived at our destination without dying, and without having used any of our survival supplies. The bad news is that we couldn't have used these supplies even if we'd needed to, because Twilight made the brilliant decision to give Rainbow her bag when we needed to descend a particularly steep cliff on our own. Our friend—the pegasus, that had wings, mind you—decided to help by grumpily flying herself to the base of the cliff face and watching us climb down on our own.

That in itself wouldn't have been so bad, since we handled ourselves just fine, but she couldn't leave fate completely untempted; She put the bag down, on the ground, and then turned away from it so that she had her forelegs free to continue not helping us. How was that a bad decision? Remember the Similian? Want to take a big fucking guess as to what made a brief appearance, then disappearance, when everyone present was too distracted to notice?

So yeah, we made it, but with nothing save for the container that Cashmere had given me, and a small burlap sack which I'd stuffed to the brim with the Rumroot that Zecora had asked for, both of which were secured to my back at all times by the rope provided with the sack. Even Twilight was feeling the slightest bit murderous by then, because her journal had been in her bag. It could have all been avoided if she'd just let me kill off Rainbow from the start, but the silly pony had to learn her lesson the hard way.

Anyway, we reach the crystal caves...

***

"Is that it up ahead?" asked an out of breath Twilight.

Rainbow visibly perked up for the first time since she'd lost our everything. "What? Where? We're finally here?"

I shut my eyes momentarily and checked the mental images I'd gotten from the manticore. The area had been pictured as being slightly less dense with trees, with the cave entrance jutting a good distance further out from the earth than it actually did, but it was clearly the right place. In an environment with so many extreme factors, significant changes in the span of a relative few years were nothing to be overly surprised about.

"That's them," I confirmed with a breath of relief. "We just go in, find this thing, and move on to the next one. It shouldn't take too long."

"That's music to my ears," muttered Twilight as we came to a stop at the entrance to the rock formation, which was essentially a large gaping hole in the ground that opened into a tunnel that descended at a relatively gentle angle into the dark bowels of the Everfree.

It would have appeared a regular, boring cave of doom, if not for the twinkling azure crystal formations along the ceiling and walls. They captured what little sunlight there was to be found from the outside and reflected it between each other in such a way that it bounced from rock to glimmering rock. This caused each and every one of the crystals to glow slightly, providing an eerie bluish illumination for the cave system that went on for quite some distance before fading into obscurity.

Where there were crystals, there was light.

"This is beautiful..." murmured Twilight as she looked around at the sparkling gems with wide eyes full of wonder.

"This is a death trap," I corrected her, running a finger along the edge of the nearest jutting stone and receiving a thin cut with only the barest amount of pressure. "I hardly think a trip or stumble into one of those rocks will be a pretty sight."

She tsked and shook her head. "It's one thing to be cautious, but there's no harm in appreciating the beauty there is to be found all aspects of nature. Princess Celestia taught me that."

"Did she also happen to teach you any decent healing spells while she was at it? You know, for times when you lack the supplies to take care of yourself?" I looked pointedly at Rainbow Dash, who at that moment decided to take a fancy towards the rocks herself.

"Well... No," said Twilight, "but that's not the point."

I spat a laugh as I stretched my sore joints after the hours of walking and climbing. "I get what you're saying, but I'm saying that those lessons are easy to teach when you're high up in that cosy palace. When you're in a place this dangerous and unpredictable, some more practical advice would be preferable. Knowing how to 'admire the sights' won't keep us alive."

Twilight said nothing, which meant that either she'd realized I was right and was considering my words, or that she simply didn't want to antagonize my already foul mood with further protest. I was fine with either of the two, and didn't press for a response.

And so, with no ceremony or conversation, we began our descent.

***

We descended for some time, keeping our mouths shut and our eyes before us. Our every footstep and hoofstep echoed against the solid rock of the floor and the curved walls of the subterranean system. The cave was by no means cramped, but the ceiling was high enough that the crystals it bore seemed more like flickering candles than the shining rocks that surrounded us.

From the very moment we’d set foot in the caverns, we’d encountered many tiny blue pebbles scattered across the craggy floor. The rocks themselves would have been nothing of note, had they not been completely smooth and even somewhat shiny. I'd inspected one or two closely, expecting to find them wet or even slippery, yet they were completely inert and dry to the touch. Try as she might, Twilight couldn't find a suitable explanation for the oddly textured rocks that covered the cave's floor, so we simply ignored them and continued on our way.

Because of the nature of the glowing gems, Twilight's illumination magic was ten times more effective than it had been in our passage through the forest, since they amplified and focused her light between each other so that a sort of path was formed along where the stones lay. The many rocks, crags and sudden dips between them were illuminated well enough for us to avoid mishaps, and so our progress was safe, if somewhat slow and tedious.

We had not talked since entering, not out of any real necessity, but because the cave itself was already deathly quiet. If anything reared its ugly head in one of the many crevices and dark corners that were void of the bluish light that guided us, we wanted to be aware of it as soon as possible. Even if our eyes failed to detect a threat, however, I wasn’t too worried about being snuck up on; As we travelled deeper and deeper, getting further away from the relative comforts of the surface, we had encountered the pebbles with increasing frequency, till we’d reached the point where the cave’s black floor wasn’t even visible through the strange carpet of azure. They’d had yet to prove themselves an issue, but by then it was impossible to take a step without trodding on one or more of the odd stones and causing a disturbance that rumbled like thunder in the silent atmosphere.

To my utmost surprise, Rainbow was the first to break this silence.

"Where exactly do the beetles live?" she asked after she had tired of marching to anything but the sound of her own voice, "it's been a while, and I don't see anything in here but us." 

"I don't know where they hide away," I answered honestly. "All I got from the manticore was information on where to find them. The one in the picture was blue, like the crystals here, so I'm going to hazard a guess and say that they live in somewhat close proximity to the glowy rocks."

Twilight, who was leading the way, spoke up without turning her head or slowing her pace. "Something doesn't make sense, though."

"Hmm?"

"If the manticore's memories led you here, it would have had to seen the beetle much closer to the cave entrance. I doubt something that large would have much reason to come this deep into a cave. There's no food that anything but a dragon would be interested in, and shelter from the elements wouldn't be much of a motivation, not to mention how narrow some of the passages have been. How could it have encountered the beetle near to the surface when we've been walking for almost a full half hour and have yet to see anything?"

"To be fair," I told her, "we haven't seen much of any insects since we left Zecora's, thanks to your..."

We all stopped dead in our tracks, and a round of facepalms and facehoofs ensued.

"The spell!" Twilight cried in frustration. "We forgot about the spell!"

"You mean that all this time, the reason we haven't seen squat is because you've been scaring them off before we even get close?!" hissed Rainbow.

"Twilight," I said in exasperation, "Why would you add the beetle that we're supposed to be looking for to the list of animals repelled by the spell?"

"I didn't mean to!" she protested. "I just blocked out all arthropods. I wasn't even thinking about it at the time."

"Well can you un-block all the arthropods?" I peevishly suggested.

"Alright," she huffed. "but I'll need to get ahold of one of the beetles if I'm going to allow them through the barrier once it's re-activated. It's all or nothing if I don't have an individual specimen to devise runes for."

"I'll get one for you," I promised, gesturing for her to get on with it.

She blinked, her horn flashed brightly in the space of that moment, and we were left standing in the same motionless twilight afterwards. We waited for several seconds, straining our eyes for any signs of the beetles returning from their hiding places, but the first disturbance unexpectedly ending up coming from beneath us.

What I mean to say is: The ground sprouted hair at our feet.

In the space of the time it took for the three of us to look down in shock at what we had so naively taken for inert pebbles, we realized that we'd found our prize, but not in any way that we'd expected to.

What the heck is this?!

Let's see... Blue pebbles everywhere you go. Not a blue beetle in sight. The moment you disable the scare-spell, this happens. If this is any indication of what you've ended up caught in, you'd better cross your fingers and hope that they're not carnivorous.

Yeah. That floor of loose pebbles that we'd been trudging across for the past half hour? Beetles. Rather than run when terrified by Twilight’s spell, they'd just retracted into their shells and pretended to be rocks. The survival tactic had been convincing, to say the least, but now that they weren't being forced to act in self defense, they'd begun doing whatever it is they do to stray animals that they happened to find in their midst.

As bristly legs and heads were withdrawn from shell after shell, I found myself in the unfortunate position of being the only one at any real risk. Rainbow had been quick to find herself fluttering above the shifting mass of carapaces, and Twilight clung to her flying friend for dear life. I'd been left to bravely stand my ground against whatever nature was about to send my way.

"Got room for two up there?" I asked hopefully, doing my best to resist the urge to move, lest I unintentionally send one of the beetles wriggling its way down into my shoes.

"This is about as much as I can carry without any real momentum," answered Rainbow, much my dismay. "But, come on, what's the worst these bugs can do? They're just a little gross. Toughen up, Jo!"

Easy for her to say. For all we know, these things could turn out to have a deadly bite, and have a taste for exotic flesh.

They might also enjoy rending the flesh from their prey with painstaking slowness, so as to prolong freshness. That would be a crying shame.

You suck at being supportive, you know that?

I learned from the best.

In the heat of my irritation, I was momentarily distracted from the swarm at my feet. When I next focused on them, I found that the beetles had formed an irregular circle around the hovering ponies and myself. It wasn't as if they'd planned to surround us or anything—we'd simply ended up in the middle of the lot of them, and they'd all backed off in response.

Even so, being surrounded and outnumbered is never a pleasant experience. Every furry blue body was angled our way, and despite their lack of eyes, they seemed to know full well which direction the intruders lay in. What did they do with this knowledge? Absolutely nothing; After the initial upsurge, they just sat there and stared blindly towards us, bodies fully extracted from their shells but completely motionless. The three of us remained where we were and shared several seconds of panicked breathing as we waited for the inevitable attack, but as time passed and nothing happened, we found ourselves hesitantly relaxing so that we could calmly decide our next course of action before our audience of possibly deadly insects.

"They're not moving. This is our chance!" I declared. I reach out towards the swarm to claim my ticket to temporary wealth, but when not a single insect flinched at my approach, I reconsidered, not wanting to risk a nasty surprise.

I turned to Rainbow Dash. "You do it."

She did a double-take. "Why me? You're the one that wants them!"

"What happened to 'they're just a little gross'?" I mimed. "You afraid of some insects?"

"Normally, I wouldn't be, but I'm not about to go sticking my hoof anywhere near something that hairy."

"I'm sure it's a different story for Applejack..."

"What the hay is that supposed to mean?!"

"Girls!" shouted Twilight, immediately grabbing our attention. She blinked in surprise under our combined attentions before she realized her error and fumbled a correction, "I- I mean, 'guy and girl', I guess? Nng- Whatever! Stop arguing. We're in no position to be wasting time. We know nothing about these insects, and we're completely surrounded by them. Any moment now they could pounce on us."

"And eat us," Rainbow helpfully supplied.

"Or crush us under their combined weight," I offered.

"Actually, they just look really itchy," said Twilight, looking down at them with a shudder. Note that at this time, she was still hanging on to Rainbow's neck as if her life depended on it. I got the sneaking suspicion that she wasn't too keen on spindly, tickly, crawling things. She continued, "Just stand still and let me reactivate my barrier. You can grab however many you want once they've curled up again, and I can filter them out once we reach outside so that they don't spend the whole trip feeling terrified. Now don't do anything that might upset them, because I need to focus for a while. Adding to a spell isn't as easy as removing a part from it."

"Aye aye, captain!" I saluted.

She rolled her eyes. "Rainbow, it's a bit hard to concentrate with you bobbing up and down like this." she motioned to her friend's flapping wings, which were working hard to keep them suspended in the air. "Could you set me dow-" she glanced toward the sea of blue fur and shells surrounding us and hastily reconsidered. "On second thought, I think I'll manage from here."

First thing I'm doing when we get back to civilization is stuffing one of those things in her bed sheets.

She closed her eyes once more, doing her best to ignore outside disturbances, and began working her magic in the most literal sense. Rainbow Dash tried to minimize the vibrations caused by her wings, and I just stood there and patiently waited for Twilight to get us out. A couple minutes is a lot of time to spend doing nothing, though, and very soon I found myself absently looking around at what I could see of the cave without any unicorn light to aid me.

Rock.

Rock.

Rock.

Slightly shiny rock.

Rock...

The minutes passed by like eons. When I tired of the rocks before me, I decided to try my luck with the rocks behind me in the hopes that they would be at least marginally more interesting. I took a step as I turned around-

Crunch

... Fuck.

I winced and looked towards the sole of my foot, finding pulped remains of some anonymous beetle that had thought it smart to settle directly behind me. I glanced at the onlooking crowd of its brethren that continued to stare at us, and was relieved to find that they made no immediate move to avenge their fallen comrade. Instead, for some reason, they began to click their razor sharp mandibles together. It began with a single snapping motion, which was mimicked by two of its neighbors, then the two nearest them. Within seconds, every one of the thousands of beetles was slicing their jaws together, but strangely enough, no noise emerged from them. There was only a quick contraction and reopening of the jaw, followed by endless repetitions of this meaningless act.

Unsure what to think of it, but glad that I hadn't brought about our untimely demise, I turned to Twilight to inquire about the beetles' odd behavior. However, the moment I opened my mouth, both ponies let out sudden shrieks of pain. Rainbow, who had been keeping herself and Twilight aloft, spasmed in the air, causing them both to crash unceremoniously into the now exposed solid rock below.

I looked at them, stunned by their sudden outburst. Any semblance of calm that either had exhibited seconds before was now completely gone, and they were instead writhing against the cold stone, hissing in barely suppressed agony.

"What- Nnng- is that noise?!" Twilight managed to choke out, only just able to pry open an eye to look around.

"Make it stop! Make it- AAAAAAAH~!!!!" Rainbow Dash, the bold and strong, was quick to lose her composure. She openly screamed out, and her cries echoed throughout the cave, rebounding from wall to unfeeling wall and surrounding us in a cacophony of torment.

"What's wrong?!" I asked in rapidly mounting panic. Both my companions were completely incapacitated and clearly suffering intense pain. For all the annoyances and minor grievances I may have had with one or the other, it hurt me to see them like that. "What noise are you hearing?" I yelled when they didn't respond, hoping that my words would be audible over whatever phantom sound was breaking them.

Twilight's mouth opened as if to reply, but her words were stifled by her own soundless scream. In spite of the pain, she managed to shakily point a hoof towards...

The beetles. They continued to snap their mandibles together in a bizarrely silent frenzy, but their pace had increased significantly in the short space of time since they had begun. The flashing blades of natural steel were now a blur at the head of each insect. Each repetition now occurred at such a high rate that the bodies themselves were vibrating where they stood, and still they grew faster. My confusion lasted only a second before I understood what was happening.

It's the vibrations! They're making a high pitched noise with their bodies, matching the frequency of the ponies' bodies and amplifying it until... Oh no.

If you're going to do something, I suggest you do it quickly. When they're finished with your little helpers, you'll be next.

Wasting no time, I took the obvious first course of action and stamped down on the nearest cluster of beetles. The moment I raised my foot to crush another group, however-

"AAAAAAAARGH!!! FUCK!"

I suddenly found myself in an unbearable haze of pain. Every inch of my being was on fire in a way that was extremely reminiscent of the initial awakening of my psychic ability, except this time the pain was not one of forced expansion, but of brutal destruction within my body. My eyes, my bones. My nails and even my skin; I felt as though I were being torn apart from within by powerful vibrations, and every part of my body was being mercilessly pulled and pushed against the other.

I struggled to keep myself upright, because with my height, falling would have meant landing bodily on a dozen or more of the insects that had switched their attention onto me. If they could cause that amount of damage from a distance, I wasn't eager to put myself any closer to them.

At least one good thing came of my pain, however, and that was the discovery that the body structures of the ponies and I were sufficiently different that the beetles could not attack all three of us at once. As I found the limits of my endurance for pain being tested, I noticed Twilight and Rainbow Dash rousing themselves out of the corner of my eye. I couldn't bring myself to speak or motion to them, so I could only wait and hope that they would find a way to get everyone out alive, and fast.

Thankfully, it didn't take long for them to act. As one, they leapt to my side and took up positions. Rainbow leaned hard into my back, providing me with support that I wouldn't have even known was needed until it was too late. As I righted myself, Twilight tensed her legs and scrunched her eyes in panicked focus. Despite the urgency of the situation, she managed to cast a somewhat shaky but entirely tangible shield of magic around us. The moment it fully encompassed our cramped circle, and the last gap between us and the screeching beetles had been filled, their sound was completely cut off, and we were once again in total, eerie, exquisite silence.

It was at this point that I realized I had been screaming (Read: Using my battle-cry) the entire time, and promptly cut myself off. As I panted into the tiny safety bubble, I clutched my throbbing skull and looked to Twilight, who was in far better condition for thinking that I could have hoped to be at the moment.

"So what's the plan?" I asked hopefully.

She turned full-circle, taking in the sight of the swarm that surrounded us with nervous eyes. When she spoke, it was noticeable uncertainty. "We need to find a way to block out that noise so we can get away."

"Or we can just shut them up," said an irritated Rainbow Dash, who was scratching her ears as though she could still hear the beetles. "Why don't you finish that spell you were casting?" she asked. "They can't get to us inside here."

"Like I said, it's not that easy to modify a spell once it's been cast. I spent most of the time at Zecora's setting it up to begin with. Adding to it or restarting it entirely would take too much time."

"I think we've got enough time," I croaked. "These are defensive animals. There's no way they'd be able to get through your shield."

Indeed, the smooth violet bubble of energy had steadied and was now standing firm against the continuing external onslaught. The beetles worked as a group to project a chosen tone, and so could only imitate one frequency at a time. Sounds would be warped when passing through the dense magical barrier, and as a result would have no effect on us.

"We're safe," I told her.

She shook her head and said, "For now."
they know
"What do you mean, 'for now'?" Rainbow voiced the question before I could.

"Think about it; They have no eyes and didn't actually touch us. How would  what frequency they'd need to vibrate at to affect us like they did?"

Rainbow tilted her head in confusion. "Frequency? Ya lost me, Twi. Mind going that over?"

I gave her a quick rundown, "They snap and shake their jaws together at a certain rate that causes them to shake all over. Noise is generated and amplified by their bodies, and that makes things around them shake really fast as a result. Alone, this wouldn't be an issue, but with this many in an enclosed environment, we're in some serious trouble." Suddenly the idea of the two-ton manticore wanting to avoid these creatures was completely understandable. "To answer Twilight's question, it makes sense that they wouldn't have eyes because they'd be damaged by the intense vibrations whenever the beetle needs to protect itself. I'm guessing that it would instead navigate using an extremely sturdy but sensitive system for hearing, along with echo... location." My mouth had provided an answer before my brain had had a chance to even come up with it.

"That's exactly it," Twilight confirmed, now that we were on the same page, "and they don't just use their echolocation to get around. Once they identify a threat, they match the resonating frequency with one of their own, and using a form of shared awareness through a hive mind, they all synchronize with the base existential frequency of the foreign object and then amplify the rate at which it vibrates, hertchz by hertchz, until-"

"TWILIGHT!"

Rainbow's voice snapped her back to the realm of the non-eggheads. She cut off her frenzied and increasingly verbose explanation and blushed sheepishly.

"Eheh~ Sorry about that. Got a little carried away," she apologized.

"Mind keeping it simple?" Rainbow asked with a smirk. "You said it yourself; We're strapped for time."

Her mind leapt back on track. "Right. Basically, they send out a sound, listen for the echo, and depending on the type of echo they get, they create another sound to respond. It's primarily used for navigating their habitat, but they've turned it into an effective weapon to protect themselves. The point is that my shield won't keep us safe. My magic has a frequency of its own, and once they find it, they'll do to the barrier what they were doing to us just now."

"And once that's gone, we won't have much chance." I finished for her. "It's either you guys run while they focus on me, or vice versa, or we figure a way to save everyone in the limited time we have."

"Nopony's leaving anybody," confuffled Twilight (It means it was friggin awkward to say and confusing to hear). "We're getting out of this together."

"Then what do you propose?" I inquired earnestly, throwing a meaningful look to the barrier.

"Maybe if we're quick enough, we can squash a whole lot of them before they know what's going on," suggested Rainbow, "and then they won't have enough to make a loud enough sound to really hurt us."

Twilight shook her head. "We invaded their home. They're just doing what instinct tells them to. I'm not going to k—squash—anything that doesn't deserve it."

"Or unless you can help it," I supplemented.

"There's got to be another way," Twilight protested with absolute certainty. She shot me a steely glare, and I found myself unable to even suggest taking the easy way out and slaughtering the 'innocent' beetles for our sake.

Damned pony morals...

And what, pray tell, is preventing you from ignoring her and killing them yourself, Mister 'I do what I want'?

It's called 'the looming prospect of Twilight being mad at me'.

Coward.

Hey, if a pegasus can pack moves like Cashmere used on me, I don't want to find out what Miss Potter has hidden in that Elder Horn of hers.

... Fair enough.

"What's your alternative, then?" I asked.

"Yeah, Twilight. I'm seriously not looking forward to going through that again," said Rainbow with a shudder. I winced as well. Simply watching them endure the attack had been painful, to the point where I'd rather wish it upon myself than them.

"Well..." Twilight looked around indecisively, seeking some sort of inspiration that would allow her to spare the beetles. They, on the other hand, hoof or segmented claw, were facing no such indecision when it came to dealing with the intruders.

At that moment, the magic field visibly wavered around us. We directed our gazes outward, and were gratified to see that the crowd of machine-like beetles were still humming away unceasingly, and that the only thing between us and them was now under attack.

Wait. 'Gratified' isn't the right word. I meant to say 'horrified'.

Yeah. That’s more like it.

We were completely fucking horrified.

"Twilight, any time now would be great," I said, backing away from the increasingly unstable bubble of violet.

"I'm thinking. I'm thinking!" she hissed, not even looking my way as she racked her brain for a solution.

Rainbow Dash, rather than back away, reared up on her hind legs and swung her forelegs in challenge, mocking the swarm and daring it to do its worst. While they may not have been able to see or understand her display of bravado, they still made haste to fulfill her request.

Things looked bleak, and every second wasted resulted in the appearance of one hairline crack after another on the surface of the weakening barrier. By then, I had recovered from my ordeal sufficiently enough to consider the possibility of using magic, but what options were there? My energy was waning after a day of physical exertion, and though their minds were simple, the enemy was strong in numbers. The beetles had covered the cave from the entrance all the way down to our current location, and affecting them all at once was out of the question. It seemed that this time we'd have to rely on Twilight's talent to save us. I could only hope that she'd find us a sliver of hope in such a bleak-

"I've got it!" she cried with elation.

"Already?! But... We're not even cutting it close yet! This isn't how it happens in the movies! Where’s the dramatic climax?"

Both ponies stared confusedly at me.

"Huh?"

"... Never mind..." I sighed. I looked to Twilight. "You said you had something?"

She smiled proudly. "Yes, as a matter of fact. I do. It took a bit of imaginative thinking, but I figured out how to beat the beetles, so to speak." She cleared her throat. "I'll make two more magic barriers, but this time they'll be nothing more than floating spheres—one inside the other. If I can get the beetles to focus their attention on that, it could buy us enough time to get back to the surface. Any vibrations that strike the outer sphere would cause it to shake and hit the inner sphere, due to the gap between them being only a fraction of a millimeter wide. The inner sphere would then hit the opposite end of the outer sphere. The vibrations would be offset and the frequency of both spheres would change till they settle, making it difficult for the beetles to find the right frequency to break them. By the time the spheres synchronize with each other and are able to be broken, we'll be safe."

"Nice wall of text," I commented. "Now, any particular reason you're telling us the details instead of making with the magic?"

Twilight lost some of her composure and hesitated before answering,"Well, my plan works in theory, but we still need something to get the beetles to attack the sphere and not us. I have an infatuation spell that would make any living thing obsess over any object at first sight... Except it would affect us as well, and they don't have eyes to begin with."

"So you're saying we're stuck?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Not necessarily," I answered. Both turned to me, and I continued, "You might not be able to, but pretty much all I'm good at is manipulating minds. It'd take some doing, but I'm sure I could get them to ignore us till we reach outside."

"Excellent!" exclaimed Twilight.

"One thing, though," I added as a thought hit me. "How're we going to get all the way to the cave entrance without touching them? Rainbow can't carry me, and the moment any one of us makes physical contact with them, they'd switch focus from the orbs."

Rainbow spoke up, "I can take care of that. I'll just use my wings to blow a path straight through them. The only thing touching them would be the wind, so we'll be fine."

Twilight and I looked at each other unsurely, and paused to consider her proposal. Despite how silly it may have sounded at first, though, we couldn't find any fault in her reasoning.

"That might actually be crazy enough to work," I concluded.

Twilight stamped a hoof resolutely to the ground. "That settles it, then. I'll get to work with the spell. Joseph, Rainbow, be ready."

Without waiting for either of our confirmations, she clenched her eyes and got to business. It took mere seconds for a sphere of magic to materialize and solidify in the air before her, but it wasn't so basic. A hollow bubble would be too fragile for what was required, and so for her spell able to withstand the battering it was about to take, it would need to be not only dense, but solid wherever possible. Thus, while the initial orb was formed with a diameter of several feet, the next stage in the formation process was to contract it till it was no more than a fifth of its original size. The color of the magic darkened significantly as it grew denser, and by the time she was done, it had gone from violet to purple to near-black. Once that had been completed, it was on to the outer casing.

At this point, I stopped paying attention to Twilight. Rainbow was busy stretching her back and wings in preparation, so it was only fitting that I ensured I could handle my own task. While I didn't doubt my own mental capacity, I doubted my body's ability to fuel the effort.

Like I mentioned earlier; An afternoon in the forest without food or rest does not a potent Psychic make.

Hypnotizing the cave's entire beetle population is out of the question. I'll need to find a way to circumvent my own limits if this is going to work.

Or just work with them. Why bother getting technical when the beetles themselves provide you with a channel for influence?

What are you- Oh!

Beetles. Hive Mind. Hive Mind plus Selective Suggestion equals an Easily Manipulated Beetle Population. It really was quite elementary.

The beetles all did the same thing until one or more of their number suggested a new trend, and it was rapidly adopted. If I could force a new trend myself, then I wouldn't have to worry about more than a couple of the insects at a time.

Let's try this.

I relaxed my aura, extending my awareness outward till I encountered-

The magical barrier that Twilight had erected.

Damnit! It keeps me in as well as it keeps them out. I won't be able to influence them from inside here.

In that case, I hope you can develop a fantastic reaction time in the next couple minutes. You've got all of three seconds between the moment that shield comes down and the moment either you or the ponies get your insides torn to shreds.

Entering a trance under pressure is never a fun experience. Can't you just set up one of the macro spells?

Can I burn you out like a battery and leave you unconscious for the next couple hours? Sure!

You're not making this very easy.

I'm an enabler, not a miracle worker.

I sighed, but couldn't deny it. It all came down to whether or not I'd get them before they got me. And as I realized my lack of options, the answer came to me.

Fine. If I can't get them the old-fashioned way, then I'll just take advantage of my current position. They won't even have a chance to react.

And so I began my own preparation. Within the enclosed space, I began to push out as much of my energy as I could muster. In the process, I blocked everything from my mind but the awareness of the orb before me. Imagery wouldn't have been relevant for a creature without eyes, and that actually made my job easier. All I kept in mind was a basic understanding that the sphere was there, along with a secondary urge to ignore everything else. What was nothing more a minor desire to me or the ponies would have been the equivalent of instinct to an animal that could only think of one thing at a time.

My aura was infused with this single-minded intent, and it was prevented from fully expanding by Twilight's magic. Her shield was to my aura what a bottle would be to gas; Pressure mounted, and I kept on pressing as hard as I could. The moment the barrier came down, my energy would rush outwards and over everything in the vicinity, saving me the trouble of having to fixate on any one of the creatures. Lo and behold, I’d finally found a use for the year I’d spent flunking Physics in high school.

By the time Twilight announced that the decoy was ready, I was set for my all-or-nothing bid for freedom. Rainbow said as much for herself. By that point, the shield was only minutes away from being broken, but we saw no sense in delaying the inevitable. Without any fanfare or final words, our escape operation was underway.

Twilight gave us our warning. "I'm taking down the shield in three..."

Rainbow Dash held her wings erect, ready to let loose with a powerful opening gust.

"Two..."

The layered orb of magic floated into position before us.

"One..."

I gave one final mental push-

And our sole protection was whisked away.

The beetles froze momentarily as their focus was broken. We stood in tense silence, waiting to see what would happen.

The beetles found their next target, and attacked without hesitation.

***

"I can see the trees up ahead!"

"We're almost there?"

"About friggin time."

We walked in single file through the sea of almost certain death. Rainbow led the charge, sending the tiny monsters flying left and right with each mighty flap of her wings. Twilight followed close behind, holding a violently shaking orb of magic aloft. I took up the rear, walking in an almost dreamlike state as I struggled to maintain my projected disinterest in both the ponies and myself.

We'd been walking for well over an hour; Almost three times as long as it had taken us to reach into the cave to begin with. It was the longest period of time I'd ever used my fledgling abilities for and I was almost at my limit. Thankfully, the end was in sight.

Left, right, left, right, left...

I counted off the steps, keeping my head down so that I wouldn't be distracted by elation at the sight of the world outside. It was only a good many seconds after I'd made the transition from unyielding rock to fallen leaves and twigs that I realized we were out.

And that was it. We'd passed the last straggling members of the screaming swarm and were home free.

Once we were far enough away to drop our efforts, Twilight did me the favor of levitating a trio of the beetles and sending them over so that I could lock them in the case. No way did we go through all that trouble with the intent to leave empty-handed. She used the live specimens to properly re-enable her protection spell, and we were set to move on.

We of course turned for a final look at the cave and its inhabitants. What had seemed serene and, as Twilight had put it, 'beautiful', at first sight was now bustling with agitated beetles that formed a moving carpet of dark blue carapaces across the rock, but for some blessed reason did not venture into the open environment of the the Everfree Forest. The sky above was significantly darker than when we had descended, and as a result the crystals had lost much of their luster, casting the cave in a darkness that made it seem far more sinister than it had when we first laid eyes on it. It went without saying that the experience had left us with an even more stark understanding of how even the simplest of things within the Forest could conceal living nightmares.

We decided to take a short and well-deserved breather where we stood. While Rainbow was distracted with panting off the heat she had generated from the constant wing-work, I took the chance to ensure that Twilight and I were still on good terms.

I moved over to the tree she had collapsed against to rest after the considerable magic she'd had to sustain. She rasied her head when she heard me approach, and I said what I had to before I had a chance to change my mind. "I'm... Sorry about all this. You were right about the forest being too much to handle alone. If it weren't for you volunteering to come with me, I wouldn't have lasted the first hour."

She accepted the apology with a smile. "To be honest, I didn't fully understand how dangerous it could be here. This is the deepest I've ever been into the forest. I wouldn't have dared come all the way out here for my own sake. In spite of everything, I have to thank you for giving me the chance to learn something more about Equestria."

"Well, I guess we're cool then?" I asked hopefully.

She chuckled tiredly. "Yes, we are." She looked skyward, and I saw a twinkle reflected in her eyes. I followed her gaze and saw that the first stars of the night were peeking out of the darkness. We'd been there far longer than expected. Rather than fret the oncoming darkness, though, I lay besides her and shared the view while I had the chance.

"What now?" she asked after several peaceful seconds had passed between us. It went without saying that if I felt it necessary to continue searching for the second specimen, she wouldn't let me do it alone.

At that moment, I had the most confusing lack of an urge to continue onwards. It had been so long since I'd had any real interaction with others, and yet she was so willing to risk herself for my sake.

Maybe turning in while I'm ahead isn't such a bad idea.

But... Money!

I'd rather find a way that doesn't involve endangering these ponies. I'd hate myself if they got hurt because of me.

You've been here two days and you've already caught The Friendship. For shame.

I'll save my regret for later. For now, let's get out of here.

"Now, Twilight, I think we should head home."

She breathed a heavy sigh of relief, this time making it clear that she'd been hoping for that answer. "Well," she said, "if that's what you think is the best decision, I won't stop you."

There was a sudden thump as Rainbow threw herself down beside us. "Stop him from what?"

"We're headed back to Ponyville, Rainbow," I told her once my heart had stopped racing from her unexpected appearance.

"Sweet. I was starting to get hungry anyway."

That's because YOU lost our freaking supplies!

"Seconded," I said instead.

"That makes three of us," put in Twilight.

We shared a laugh, shook off our tiredness for the time being, and set off for home.

***

“Joseph? I think-"

"Don't say it, Twilight."

"But-"

"I don't want to hear it from you either, Rainbow! You’re the one who lost Twilight’s travel records."

Well you didn’t exactly keep track either.

SHUT UP!

I sighed in painful defeat, but refused to say anything. I just couldn't bring myself to admit it.

We were fucking lost.

End of Chapter 12


Author's Notes:
Whew! It's been a whole month, but I finally got back into my writing groove. First it was Christmas holidays, then a bad case of the flu (That decided to strike the week before school), then there was, of course, SCHOOL. All the back to back distractions, coupled with a nasty case of Writer's Block (Do you have ANY idea how long it took for me to make these beetles seem anything BUT lame?! A FUCKING LONG ASS TIME), held this chapter back longer than I'd initially expected.

For that, I apologize.

Anyway, I'm pretty glad with how it turned out. A HUGE thanks goes out to Dawn Rush (Keep an eye on him) for helping me patch up this chapter at the last minute. For those of you who came for the magic dueling and action, just keep it in your pants for a bit. I already defined character personalities. Now I need to develop a working world of magic with limitations. I'd say the past two or three chapters have properly defined what Joseph is capable of, while also giving an idea of the limits of Equestrian magic. Now I get down to the nitty-gritty.

With regards to my lateness, College is a bitch to deal with when it comes to balancing free time. Unlike College, however, I actually enjoy this, so I'll give it priority whenever possible. I won't say that I'll always be on schedule from now on, because that would be an outright lie, but rest assured that I am always writing with the intent to please fans of the story. No matter how late, the next chapter will always come.

With that settled, I'll go ahead and give some additional details regarding the beetle that I didn't get a chance to discuss appropriately in the chapter. If you're not interested, skip the next two paragraphs:


For starters, its mandibles are made of a dense natural mineral that is not only dense, but an amazing conduction of vibrations. These, along with its stiff body hairs, pick up even the slightest movements in the air, while also allowing the beetle to generate vibrations of its own. The sounds themselves are generated initially by the mandibles, transferred to a hollow chamber that surrounds its skull. In this chamber, the vibrations are amplified and then sent back out again, assuming the beetle decides to respond with a vibration of its own. The beetle can modify the frequency by limiting or increasing how much its body shakes while the vibrations pass through it, either lowering or raising the pitch of the sound upon release.

On their own, they use these powerful vibrations not only to navigate, but to break apart their food (The crystals in the cave) for consumption. Over time, as they collectively tunnel through the cave in search of more deposits, the cave is expanded and its structure is changed relatively often, hence why the manticore remembered a different version of the cave than what they found (The main swarm existed much closer to the surface back then). Because of their diets, their bodies are naturally resilient, and indistinguishable from rock when they curl up. Only when they are fully uncurled and spread out are they susceptible to being crushed, which is why they were able to survive being walked on initially, but could not survive being stepped on by Joseph afterwards.

I think that covers much of what people would be interested in regarding those monstrosities.

That's about all I can think to say for now. Remember to comment and let me know what you think of my work. All feedback is appreciated. If you feel something was overly nonsensical to the point where it took away from your enjoyment, let me know.

With that, I bid you adieu.

Till next week (hopefully), CHEERS! :D