What Dwells in the Darkness
“Here we are,” Pinkie Pie said to me, stopping before a random section of the wall. The odd luminescent moss that was prevalent everywhere was here as well, but it was different. Instead of coating odd recesses in the ceiling, the vast majority of this hallway’s fungi was grouped along one wall, leaving one just the dull gray stone that the passages were carved from.
I took a closer look. Pinkie Pie may have been crazy, (in more ways than one,) but it didn’t seem likely that she would make up something as important as our escape route. Sure enough, closer inspection revealed a small groove running along a slab of rock barely big enough for a stallion to fit through. The only thing I didn’t understand was the scratches the blemished the right side of the “door.” I only knew of a few creatures strong enough to gouge out solid stone, and I didn’t want to meet any of them.
“Is... is it going to work,” Pinkie asked me as I pulled back from my inspection.
“I really don’t know. It looks like it could be a door, or it could be the lair of some terrible monster that would eat us whole,” I replied with another nervous look to the indent.
“Would that really be so bad...?” the quiet response came.
I spun around quickly, staring my pink friend dead in her eyes. “Don’t talk like that Pinkie, don’t even think like that! We... we can’t give up!” I was shouting now, desperation lending my voice a shrill edge. “Pinkie, please, we have to fix this. We have to make this right, because we are the only ones who can! We have to find the girls, have to get rid of Chrysalis, have to save Equestria...” my voice trailed off. Have to free Celestia, I thought for a moment before quickly banishing it. Focus. Have to focus.
Pinkie blinked. “Yeah, ok. What do we do then, Miss Boss Pony?”
“Well, it’s pretty simple Pinkie. All we have to do is--” I blanked. Nothing came to mind. What do we do?
“Isssss...?” Pinkie responded, drawing the word out, leaning forward until her muzzle poked mine. I playfully pushed her back, causing her to fall on her haunches and smile.
I smiled back. “Well, the plan was to use a spell I learned to burst the door open, then just run through and try to get out in one piece.”
“Huh. Seems kind of unplanned for you,” Pinkie said, poking a hoof at the door, trying to get it to move.
“Well, there really isn’t much for me to go off of, Pinkie. It’s better than nothing though, isn’t it?” I asked, a little bite to my tone.
“Well, yeah, but your plans are usually so... so... Twilight-y!”
She seems to be swinging back towards normal. I couldn’t suppress a giggle. “Twilight-y? That isn’t a word.”
“But it works! I mean, sure, so does ‘organized,’ but Rarity is organized too.”
“We can both be organized,” I said, fighting hard to suppress my grin.
“Well duh,” Pinkie rolled her eyes. “But she is all... clean-organized. You are more... everything-exactly-where-it-belongs-and-aligned-perfectly-organized. It’s totally different, but the same thing.”
I opened my mouth to respond, then closed it a second or two later. It really wasn’t worth the argument that would probably just end when she slipped back to the other end of her personality pendulum. Instead, I turned my attention towards the door.
A feeler of magic pulsed out from my horn, worming against the stone seal that locked the slab of rock firmly shut. No matter how much I pushed against it, however, the seal remained, firm and defiant. Not so much as a small hole allowed me to see to the other side either, so even if we could get it open, we would be going in blind.
“Twilight,” called a tiny voice from far, far away. “Twilight? Are you ok?”
“Huh?” I opened my eyes to see two bright blue orbs staring down at me. “Waugh!” I screamed, jumping back to the sound of giggles.
“Jeez, Twilight, you don’t have to be so jumpy,” Pinkie Pie said between gasps of laughter.
“That’s not funny, Pinkie!” I said, though my smile betrayed me.
“hehe If you say so... What were you doing anyway?” she asked, much more calmly.
“I was using magic to see if we could see through the door somehow,” I replied, getting back into position to take up the broken spell.
“Well, that’s easy! All we have to do is open it!” Pinkie said, moving towards the door.
“No, don’t!” I shouted, but it was too late. With a massive heave, Pinkie bucked the door, causing the rock around it to shake, and dust to rain from the ceiling. For a moment, I thought it wasn’t going to be enough, but then, to my horror, the rock creaked and slid back on hidden joints, revealing a dark passage beyond.
The first thing I noticed was that the passage was pitch black. The strange luminous moss apparently didn’t grow in the dark tunnel. What little light flowed in revealed rough walls, of some strange dark stone, possibly granite or marble. I moved closer, gently but firmly moving Pinkie Pie as I focused magic into my horn.
“Whatcha doin, Twilight?” Pinkie asked from behind me. Rather than ruin my concentration with an answer, I fired a bolt of energy deep into the crevasse. The soft purple light didn’t really stay in one spot long enough to illuminate much, just a few branches off the main path, but it went on for a small eternity before it hit a wall and fizzled out. “Ooh, what was that supposed to do? Make a portal back to the surface?”
“I wish it was that easy, Pinkie,” I replied, taking a tentative couple of steps into the dark passageway. “It was just to put some light in, maybe show if anything else was here. After all, if we have to walk through, do you want to share it with, say, changelings?”
“Well, no...” she replied. “Should I come too?”
“Unless you want to stay here, yeah.” As soon as the pink pony took her first step into the tunnel, I started walking forward, focusing my magic like a lantern. As Pinkie finished clearing the threshold, tail and all inside, the door shot back around and slammed shut, sealing us in.
“No, no, no, no!” I galloped back, pushing Pinkie out of the way in my haste to get to the door. Right before I hit, I spun and bucked the stone, just as Pinkie had done earlier, but the door did not budge. We were trapped, in the dark, with no idea where to go.
I took a deep breath, steadied my nerves, and started off in a random direction.
*****
“Twilight, are we lost?” The voice came from behind me, as quiet as always.
“No.......... maybe,” I replied, hoping Pinkie wouldn’t freak out. Thankfully, only silence answered my admission. When we next came to an intersection, I plopped down on my haunches, resting my hooves, and letting my dim light fade. I felt more than saw Pinkie sit next to me.
“Are we ever going to get out?” I didn’t reply, so Pinkie put a hoof on my shoulder, and shook me before repeating herself. “Twiliiiight, are we ever going to get out of this place? At least back in the mines there was light.”
I was about to respond when something hot blew past my right ear, making it twitch. “Pinkie, this really isn’t the time to be blowing on my ears, of all things.”
“What do you mean? I’m not doing anything to your ears. I’m over here, silly,” Pinkie replied, prodding my left side with a hoof.
I gulped, adrenaline flooding my system. I didn’t want to probe the air, afraid the light from my horn would aggravate whatever ferocious beast occupied the tunnel with us. “Pinkie,” I whispered urgently, “listen very closely to me. On the count of three, I’m going to flood the chamber with light. When I do, run forward, and don’t look back, okay?”
“Uh, if you say so, Twilight,” Pinkie replied in a soft whisper matching my own. “When do I stop?”
“When we stop being chased. Get ready, on three.”
I took a deep breath. “One,”
I started condensing power inside of myself, without channeling it into my horn, lest the glow give us away. “two,”
I exhaled slowly, cleansing my system, and taking another deep breath. “three!”
I pushed all the power I held in my being, and shoved it through my horn, closing my eyes as I did so. Through my eyelids, the room glowed a bright, bright purple. Something next to me roared in agony, and I took off, galloping down the passage as fast as I could. Every so often, I felt something whip across my muzzle, letting me know Pinkie was right in front of me.
It wasn’t too long before the thing took off after us, claws scratching at the floor. A massive bellow shook the cave around us, echoing off the walls, making it seem like we were surrounded on all sides. Somepony screamed, probably not me, and we poured on the speed, galloping for our lives.
It briefly occurred to me that we were running blind, no idea what was coming, and no way to make enough light to facilitate quick reactions. Pinkie must have had some idea, because when we came to a dead end, she darted over to the left, and I quickly followed, praying to her that we were going the right way.
Oh, Goddesses, it was terrifying. Every few steps, I felt something snap at my tail, causing me to jerk forward to save myself, but I was tiring out. Each lunge took its toll, making my jumps become shorter and shorter. To make it all worse, the monster was panting, sending some kind of spit against my legs and hooves, causing me to slip every so often, which made my heart to skip a beat until I could regain my footing and put on a burst of speed.
It was also gross. Very, very gross.
But, as the chase wore on, the snaps at my haunches and legs began getting further and further apart. The scritching began growing faint, until the only sounds to be heard were the panicked, shaky breaths of Pinkie and myself, and the quick clopping of hooves on stone. The pony in front of me started slowing down, eventually causing us to halt, leaning against opposite walls for support.
“Did we... did we lose it?” Pinkie asked after a while.
“I hope so, otherwise we are monster food,” I replied. “Yeah, I think I know why this tunnel was sealed now.” I looked down the tunnel, shuddering at the thought of what would have happened. “That was probably a drake, sort of like the dragon’s baby cousin. I heard stories of them living in the mountains before the Royal Army drove them out, but I didn’t realize the Princesses kept one as a pet.”
“You know, Twilight, it probably wasn’t the princesses,” Pinkie said calmly. “It seems likely that Queen Chrysalis put it down here, maybe to eat me later, if she had to. After all, a hunting beast would track down a pony easier than a squad of changelings.”
I blinked, and looked over at where the voice was coming from. “That... that makes sense, yeah. Are you good to go?” I asked, reigniting my horn.
“I’ll manage,” she replied. “But, what’s that all over the back of your legs? Did it get you?”
“No, just slobbered on me. I’ll be fine.” I bumped Pinkie’s hip with mine, flashing her a friendly smile before taking back off down the corridor.
*****
We must have been walking for hours with naught but the flickering of my magic and the sharp sound of hooves on stone before Pinkie spoke again. “So, what happened to you before you came down to the mines, Twilight?”
“I, uh,” my mind scrambled, fruitlessly trying to come up with something to say. Call me crazy, but I didn’t want Pinkie knowing I spent several months helping Chrysalis. “I... I was locked in a dungeon.” Well, it wasn’t a complete lie, anyway. A lie of omission, though, part of me said.
“Oh, that must have been scary. I was locked in a cell too...” Pinkie trailed off, staring down at the floor. I trotted closer, throwing a hoof around her shoulders in a reassuring hug, which ended up turning our walk into an awkward seven-hoof, two-pony hobble. It worked for all of three steps before I tripped, my hoof around Pinkie’s neck pulling her down on top of me.
We stared into each other’s eyes for a long moment. They were still dead, empty of the laughter that long characterized my pink friend, but still such a pretty shade of blue. Suddenly, they lit up with mirth as Pinkie rolled off me, giggling like a maniac. I joined in, our laughter joining together and bouncing off the natural walls of the tunnel, echoing back and forth, until a score of Twilights and Pinkies laughed alongside us.
A score of Pinkies and Twilights, and one angry growl.
The laughter died instantly. “Did you hear that?” I asked as the last of the echoing laughter faded away.
“Yeah,” Pinkie responded quietly. “Is that thing back?”
“Celestia, I hope not, but then again, it could be a lot worse.” I glanced down the tunnel, dimming my light a bit in case it hadn’t found us yet. It was pretty likely the echoes threw it off, unless it was tracking us by scent. Then again, it had slobbered all over me, so we might smell like drake. “Okay Pinkie, we have to be quiet and hope that it doesn’t find us long enough for us to find the way out. After all, they had to have a way to get it down here, right?”
Pinkie nodded.
“So there is probably a door down here somewhere, right?” Pinkie didn’t answer, just started tiphoofing into the tunnel. I followed close behind, scanning anxiously for a way out.
It wasn’t too much further down the tunnel when I heard the scritch of the drake nearby. I quickly doused the light and pushed Pinkie into a narrow crack in the wall, turning myself around to slide in in front of her. Sensing my anxiety, the pink pony didn’t question me, instead deciding to breathe shallowly and lightly, each exhale tickling my ear.
We stayed in the crack for uncounted minutes. Just when I thought I might have imagined it, or overreacted, I heard a sniff. Just to be safe, I poked Pinkie’s leg, hoping she got the message to be quiet. “It wasn’t me,” she whispered into my ear.
Suddenly, the darkness in front of me grew darker. It rolled smoothly by, moving in a very uniform pattern. It was searching for something; searching for us. I held my breath, afraid even the littlest tremor would give us away. I strained my eyes, trying to discern the beast from the black background, every second making my heart beat faster, until I was almost sure the beast could hear it, and that it was going to dig us out and eat us.
Eventually, the shadow left. A small sigh escaped my lips and I slumped just a bit, taking some weight off my hind legs. I was just about to turn and give Pinkie the all clear when a massive white eyeball burst into the entrance to our hiding spot. I stood, paralyzed, unable to do so much as even breathe. This is it, my mind kept saying. I’m about to die, and we never even made it out of the castle.
The slit of the pupil darted around, likely unable to see into the pitch black of our hiding space, but it could smell. Every few seconds it breathed a massive gust of air in, searching for our scent. I felt Pinkie trembling behind me. It wasn’t long until my body wanted to do the same, though I restrained myself.
For a terrifying second, the eye was looking right at me. My entire body froze. I didn’t blink, didn’t breathe, didn’t even think, lest I think too loud and be caught. Suddenly, a noise down the hallway drew its attention. The massive drake lumbered off, tail slithering ominously behind it.
I poked my head out, and, seeing nothing, squeezed myself out of the crack, followed shortly after by Pinkie. “Come on,” I whispered, “before it comes back.” She nudged into me, letting me know she understood, and we set off down the dark tunnel once again, constantly listening for the drake’s claws on the stone ground.
We walked for a few more minutes, before the worst thing happened: we hit a dead end. “Oh now what?” Pinkie worriedly whispered from my right. “We’re trapped!”
“Just stay calm,” I replied, frantically looking at the dark walls for a way out. “There’s gotta be something...”
“Can you make some light?”
“Well, I could, but it would tell the drake exactly where we are if he is still in this part of the tunnels with us. Its so dark that any light would carry for quite awhile.” I moved, pressing myself against the wall and feeling around with a hoof for some sort of indent that would denote an escape.
“Twilight, please!” I felt hooves clumsily fumble around on my coat for a moment before settling on my shoulders. Pinkie shook me. “I can’t stand the dark any longer! Please, just for a moment so we can look. If we don’t find a way out, we’re dead anyway, that thing is between us and the way back to the mines.”
She is right, part of my mind said.
Yeah, but she is also talking about suicide! another replied.
So you would rather sit in the dark and starve to death, or get mauled trying to slip past an angry drake? Even if we do make it out, we’ll just end up rotting down here.
While my inner pessimist and optimist argued inside, the opportunist of me acted. For the briefest of seconds, I flared my horn just bright enough for me to see... there! On the ceiling, a trapdoor! Then we heard the roar. The bellow shook the cave around us, briefly hiding the sound of the drake’s claws gouging at the floor; no longer a quiet scritch, now it was a thunderhead, an oncoming storm. And we were right in its path.
“Pinkie, quick, I need to get on your back!” I shouted, positioning her below the trap door.
“B-But, Twilight! The monster’s coming!” she replied, though she crouched a little so I could clamber up onto her.
“I know, I know, if I can just get this hatch open...” I muttered, more to myself than Pinkie. My horn lit as I channeled a simple levitation spell through it. I found the hinges with my magic. With a simple thought, I moved the tendril of telekinesis opposite the hinge and pushed hard, causing the door to flip open with a mighty BANG!
I hazarded a glance down the tunnel, and sorely wished I hadn’t. The drake was barreling down on us. Its long, curved horns almost scraped the ceiling, the ridges from the base circled down into mandible-like protrusions on his lower jaw, just below his mouth of countless razor sharp teeth. Every so often his forked tongue flicked out to taste the air, sharp with the fear of his pray.
Quickly whipping my head towards the opening above me, I reached for the power inside myself once again, levitating myself up, holding on just long enough to clear the lip before landing. I quickly spun around and fell to my stomach, reaching a hoof back down the hole. “Come on, Pinkie, jump!” I shouted down at her.
I didn’t need to tell her twice. With a mighty leap, Pinkie launched herself into the air, grabbing my hoof in the process. I heaved, digging my back hooves into the ground and pushing with all my might until the pink pony popped from our underground prison. We tumbled through the air, finally coming to a rest on top of the white marble, side by side.
“Did we make it?” I asked, not opening my eyes.
“Yes, Twilight Sparkle, it would seem you have,” a voice replied.
My eyes shot open, and before I could even think, I was on my hooves, crouched low to the ground, eyes spitting fire. Not a second later, Pinkie joined me, standing facing the other way. Only then did I take in our surroundings; a long hallway, red carpet reaching down the middle, from a massive, gilded door to a big chair, big enough for one pony. White marble pillars were spread out evenly, except for one which had been broken in two and now rested in a corner.
“We were just about to go looking for you, Miss Sparkle. Thank you for saving us the trouble,” a changeling sneered from his seat by the throne.
“You... you are not Queen Chrysalis,” I said, looking it over. “Hmmm... you all look the same to me. Do you know this one Pinkie?” Silence. “Pinkie...?”
“T-Twilight...” Pinkie said, nudging my flank. “We should go. Now.”
I slowly turned. “But I’m having fun... with... buck.” Behind us, crouched over the still open trapdoor, was the drake. “Yeah, I agree. Run!” We took off, followed by the roar of the monster, and the bellow of the drake.
I thrust ahead with my magic, causing the golden doors I had walked through every single day to fly open, ripped from their hinges, and clatter against the twin looping staircases leading upstairs. We skid to a halt, blocked by the line of changling soldiers before us. “Halt, in the name of the Empress!”
“Empress?” I asked, “isn’t she aiming a little high now? I mean, honestly, capitulate one nation, and suddenly she is the Great Creator.”
The lead changeling paled as the drake stomped behind us, saliva dripping from its open maw. The lead changeling shouted orders as his unit bolted. The drake roared, sending the leader running for his life. Not to be outdone, Pinkie screamed, bolting down the hallway towards the front gate. I charged after her, priming my horn for another blast of magic.
The door to the outside world burst open, spraying bits of stone and wood everywhere as the latch shattered and hinges burst. We charged forward, just to be stopped by a score of changelings in full combat armor. Knowing full well what was hot on our heels, I pushed Pinkie to the right, diving over her as the drake burst through the now-demolished gate, plowing into the changelings and through the portcullis, the last thing blocking us from the outside world.
“Go, go, go!” I shouted, pushing Pinkie past the legs of the stunned drake and the bodies of what used to be the changelings. We burst out of the castle, straight into High Street. Ponies gawked, changelings drew weapons and moved towards us, and one very, very angry drake crawled up the walls, perching itself across one of the turrets spaced along the walls, and roared, shaking a bit of snow off the cap of the mountain itself.
Seizing the distraction, I charged forward, knocking a changeling hard enough that he dropped his sword. I quickly picked it up, clumsily holding it in my magic grip as I nodded my head down the street, following Pinkie as she took off running once again. Most ponies moved out of the way, but some joined us, a couple even taking up weapons.
What began as a two pony dash quickly turned into a full-scale riot. As we galloped through the streets, ponies everywhere joined in, taking out changelings, breaking through barricades and checkpoints. We were an unstoppable wave, wrecking everything in our path. We pushed forward, breaking through one last checkpoint to reach the gate out of Canterlot, but they knew we were coming.
Changelings, outfitted in full riot gear stood between us and the gate. A force too large to count, with more constantly pouring in from the sides. I turned around, intent on leading us through to another gate, just to find more guards sealing us in. No longer were we an unstoppable force, no, we were now in the center of a slaughter.
As one, the guards pushed in, weapons sharp and glinting in the noonday sun. They caught us off guard, cutting a swathe through the ponies on the outermost edges, changelings in the back levitating the bodies out so the guards could push forward. From there, it devolved into an all-out brawl.
Those who had stolen weapons as we charged through the city stepped up, getting in front of those without. Inexperienced ponies fought trained soldiers, getting cut down as easily as the unarmed. The ground quickly became slick with blood, turning the cobblestone into a sticky red mess..
I stood in the middle of the carnage with Pinkie, looking around for the one who had to be in charge. From what Zil had told me, an operation this large had to be directed by a changeling somewhere nearby. If I could take him out, we could escape while the troops reorganized. I saw one changeling holding back, up on the wall. Assuming he was in charge, I heaved my stolen sword at him, and watched as he fall down into the crowd below.
I was right. For a second, the guards faltered, allowing the ponies to push the box out a little bit, but it wasn’t enough. Another changeling quickly claimed the chain of command and they pushed forward, more determined than before. The fight was drawing closer to Pinkie and I now, to the point that I started firing off spells into the crowd of guards. Pinkie, however, wasn’t doing as well. She was huddled up against me, cowering.
That gave me an idea. It was a long shot, but it was better than dying silent.
“Changelings, halt!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, praying it would work. For a second they faltered, but quickly pushed back once again.
Damn. “In the name of the Empress, halt!” That caused a bit more of a stir. The changelings pulled back, and the ponies nearby stared at me, looks ranging from curious to concerned to outright hostile.
One changeling strode forward from the groups, his silver armor denoting rank. “And who are you, silly pony, to challenge--” He stopped dead in his tracks and stared at me. “Twilight...?”
Suddenly, the group of ponies gathered around me pulled back, leaving me alone with the silver-clad changelings. “How do you know my name?” I asked him, mind whirling. My plan had worked, but only a little. Now I had to figure out the best way forward.
The changeling took off his helmet. Most changelings look alike to me, but his features were engraved in my mind. “Zil...?”
Pinkie Pie bounced forward. “Ooh, you know him, Twilight? Is he a friend?” I didn’t respond, just pushed her behind me.
“I thought you didn’t work for them,” I said, directing my words at Zil.
“Well, you abandoned me in the tunnels. They found me, and gave me a very... convincing offer,” he replied with a smirk.
“Right... Well, it’s nice to see you’re enjoying life.” I stepped forward, moving to go past him. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, my friend and I here need to get past you, so if you don’t mind...”
Zil roughly shoved me back. “I can’t do that, Twilight. I’m under orders to bring you to Empress Chrysalis.”
I rolled my eyes. “Again with the Empress stuff? I think all this power has gone to her head.”
“Silence!” Zil roared. “You and your pink friend are coming with me, and the rest of these insignificant whelps can die by the sword!” At his words, the changelings quickly moved in, separating Pinkie and myself from our little group, which was quickly herded away. I calmly took note, and stored it away to freak out about later.
“Well, too bad, ZIl. I’ve had my fill of being captured, and I’m not going back. So you can just kill me now.” He flinched at my words. Hmm... interesting...
“You don’t have a choice,” Zil replied, moving forward and drawing his sword.
Oh, please trust me Pinkie... I hope this works... “No, you’re wrong. I do have a choice.” Zil’s eyes widened as he realized what I was going to do. I quickly turned towards Pinkie, channeling power through my horn. I grabbed her and myself in an aura of arcane teleportation, and flung us far outside of the city.