Quizzical Greystone And The Basements Of Doom
Chapter 6 Zapped!
Shadow peeked around a corner, then turned back to where the others were waiting. “We’ve caught up to your friends. Once we turn this corner we’ll fall in behind them again, and it’ll be just like we never lost them. Quiz, put your light out.”
“Do we have to be in the dark?” whined Silver Spoon. “It’s scary.”
“We wouldn’t if we weren’t tracking those stupid diamond dogs,” grumbled Diamond Tiara.
“Aww, cheer up, Girls. We’re having an adventure!” Shadow gave both fillies a hug.
“Well… it is kind of exciting,” admitted Diamond. “Ok, we’ll do it for you, Shadow.”
“Excellent, I knew I could count on you.” Shadow paused to consider something. “We may need you to hang back a bit, Di. That pretty coat of yours might stand out. Silvey, you look good to go.”
“Some ponies can totally rock a dark coat,” giggled Silver, preening a bit for Shadow.
“And some can’t,” sneered Diamond. She was looking right at Quiz.
“Allow me to walk ahead of you, Diamond Tiara. You may use me for concealment.” Quiz had nothing more to say, and began walking down the tunnel.
#
“Shhhh! Don’t wake those, they bite,” said Fern, indicating a cluster of snoring flowers. “The orange ones can burn you.”
“What are they?” asked Tim.
“Snap dragons.” Despite being in the dark, scary forest, Fern was having the time of her life. “Oh, this is wonderful. I’m seeing plants I’ve only read about. There are even some I don’t recognize.”
“Fern, Darling, don’t take this the wrong way, but is everything growing out here a threat to life and limb?” asked Rarity.
“Oh, no, not at all. Most of the plants are very nice. Um, don’t touch any vines like the one growing on this rock.”
“Do I want to know?” asked Applejack, imagining constrictor vines dragging her into the ground.
“It’s called ‘scholastic ivy.’ You can brew a tea from the leaves that aides in learning. Unfortunately, most ponies are allergic to it.” Fern broke a leaf off the vine and began chewing it slowly.
Each pony had a light source. Applejack carried a torch and each of the unicorns used magic. Tim had a crank powered flashlight he’d designed himself. Fern; who was afraid of open flames, magic, and electricity; used a bit of old wood with bioluminescent foxfire on it. The forest was so thick nothing could cast light very far before it was broken into shadows. At least the ponies could dispel the darkness enough to avoid tripping.
“We have left the map,” said Stranger. “Here in the deep Forest maps have little meaning. I have seen aerial maps where the rivers are drawn in blue hash marks. Terrain features smaller than lakes disappear under the canopy.”
“Most pegasi hate this place,” said Tim.
“It’s not so bad, if you don’t mind walking,” said Fern. “But the undergrowth is going to keep getting more and more dense. The plants are adapted to grow in the dark out here.”
Luckily for the little party Applejack had found a dry creek bed to use as a path.
“Really, there is only one landmark you can use reliably,” said the Professor.
“Unless you count the escarpment and the gorge,” pointed out Rarity. “Mind you, one comes upon those edges so suddenly you don’t see them until you’ve fallen off.”
“Eep!” squeaked Fern.
“Easy, Fern, you’ll be fine,” said Applejack. “Unless you forget you have wings.”
“Oh, right,” muttered Fern, blushing.
Something called from the woods, “Ooogie, oogie, oogie!”
It was answered by more calls from all around them.
“Eeeep!”
“Steady, now, Fern, steady,” soothed Rarity. “There is no place you can run to that is safer than right here beside us.”
“That is just the dangedest thing,” said Applejack. “Half of Ponyville has heard the galumpalump call, or at least thinks they did. But it’s always just one call in the night.”
“There are old tales about them,” said Stranger, levitating a binder of loose sheets from his bag. “You only find them in the oldest journals; from when the Everfree was new and had not yet earned its reputation. There was more exploration then. Explorers only stopped going into the Everfree after many of them stopped coming back.”
“Eeeep!”
“Most of the tales are useless nonsense,” stated Stranger, leafing through the binder. “Advice to ‘beware the moon,’ warnings against leaving food out after midnight, other silly things the writer was clearly just making up. But I recall something about the galumpalumps gathering…. Here it is. It is the journal of a mare named Strawberry. In her day they were apparently called ‘gumper lumps.’ She says they gather in large numbers before storms. She places quotation marks around the word ‘storms.’”
“Meaning Strawberry was not speaking literally,” said the Professor. “And something was happening other than ordinary rain.”
“Yes,” said Stranger. “But she does not explain herself. That is not useful.”
“Bother!” grumbled Rarity. She was not paying attention to the conversation. “There is something in the air tonight, and it keeps turning my pretty blue magic aura a tacky shade of green!”
#
“I can see something glowing on the horizon,” Autumn called from the tree tops. The Blue team’s three pegasi had been taking turns flying up to take a peek.
“Is it a signal fire?” asked Stone.
Autumn fluttered back to the forest floor. She shook her head. “It’s blue-green, like an aura, I guess. If you squint you can see it everywhere; in the clouds, outlining the trees…”
“Um, Autumn, you have a little something on you, there,” said Rainbow.
Autumn’s wings were glowing. “Eww!” With a fierce flutter she shook off the magic aura, and it went swirling away to dissipate and disappear.
“I think that’s just lovely,” gasped the Mayor. “We need photographs of this, for the cover of our tourist brochures.”
“Don’t you think the whole idea of tourism in the Everfree Forest is dead?” snapped Professor Heart.
“As soon as the children are found safely we can begin damage control,” said the Mayor. “We can take steps to show that nothing like this will go wrong again…”
“The first step would be to stay out of the Everfree Forest!”
“Geeze,” Navy whispered to Stone. “You would think somepony who writes Daring Do fanfic would be a little more adventurous.”
“If this aura is truly magic it makes sense that Autumn could see the glow over the horizon,” said Infernalo. “That is where the magic would be strongest. If you are certain that is where we wish to go I have a spell that could take us there immediately.”
“Immediately? I like the sound of that,” said Rainbow.
“What do you plan to do, open a portal?” shouted Professor Heart. “Because with magic acting unpredictably the obvious course of action is naturally to experiment with powerful and dangerous spells.”
“Professor Heart, your sarcasm grows tiresome,” stated Infernalo. Without another word to anypony he began casting his spell.
Briefly, the entrance to a dark tunnel did appear, floating in the air in front of Infernalo. That same instant the woods as far as the ponies could see was filled with vivid pyrotechnic effects, so blinding and garish none of them were quite sure what it was they saw. Infernalo dispelled his magic, and they were plunged into darkness again.
“Well, that wasn’t right,” said Infernalo, clearly shaken. “That was so far from right it wasn’t even wrong. I’m not sure how that was even possible.”
“That was just stunning,” cried the Mayor. “Can you do that again? For festivals and celebrations?”
“Not on purpose, no.”
“What does it mean?” asked Stone.
“It means we’re walking,” said Rainbow.
Excited cries of “Oogie, oogie, oogie!” echoed all around them.
#
“That’s just remarkable!” exclaimed Twilight. “I thought the galumpalump stories were just the locals teasing me because I’m not from Ponyville.”
“Oh, dear,” muttered Old Relic. “They should still be solitary. If the galumpalumps have started gathering that means a storm is coming early, and we are caught out in the open.”
Relic rummaged in her bag until she produced a champagne flute, which she upended and set over her horn. “Dearie, I’m afraid I only have one insulator,” she told Twilight. “You might want to duck.”
#
Suddenly, the whole world seemed to turn blue-green. A shock wave ripped through the forest, but it didn’t seem to actually do anything. The cries of the galumpalumps became deafening, but they soon settle down and the forest became silent.
Most of the ponies weren’t effected at all, and were fine once the purple spots cleared from their vision.
Every unicorn in the Everfree Forest at that moment, however, was knocked to their knees.
#
“What the hay was that!” yelled Applejack.
“And what has it done to my hair!” cried Rarity. She began looking for her hand mirror, but Applejack put a calming hoof on her shoulder.
“You’ll be happier if you don’t look, Sugar Cube.”
The Professor swayed unsteadily, and he was breathing hard, but he was able to gasp, “That was a strike from a magical storm, just exactly in the manner that magical theorists insist never happens.”
“W-w-will it happen again?” stammered a bush.
“Oh, yes, Fern,” answered the Professor. “It is difficult to be certain, as this is supposed to be impossible, after all. However, Clover the Clever’s fifth equation implies that magic may act similarly to electro-magnetism. That seems apropos to our present situation. If we think of what happened as a magical analogue to lightning then there should be more strikes before the storm is over.”
He suddenly sat down heavily, too dizzy to lecture further.
“So the whole forest is a magic capacitor, building up for another discharge,” said Tim. He was helping Stranger to stand.
“I fear as much,” said Stranger. He had to lean on Tim for support. “We did not experience a direct hit. But we must get to cover.”
“Agreed,” said the Professor, from where he laid on the ground. “To continue the lightning analogy, the strike hit a magic source stronger than us, but there was, and will be side rivulets of magic that will be attracted to us. Also, I sense the atmosphere is saturated. Any magic we absorb will have no way to dissipate.”
“I think I can help with that,” said Tim. He found a spool of something in his pack.
“So, the more powerful your magic is the more a strike will use you as a ‘ground,’ as it were?” asked Rarity. “Oh, dear! Oh, dear, oh dear, oh dear!”
“I know what you’re thinkin’, Rare,” said Applejack. “Twilight is out here.”
#
“I don’t feel so good,” moaned Twilight.
The Chick brothers laughed and pointed. “You look like a bushwoolie!”
“You’ll want to bleed off a little of the excess you soaked up, Dearie,” Relic told Twilight. “Go ahead, you’ll feel better.”
Twilight sat back and fired a bolt of energy into the air. Burnt leaves drifted down. The enchanted static that was making her coat stand on end dissipated, and she looked a little less like a purple cotton ball.
“Thank you, that does help. What happened?”
“Magic storm,” said Relic. “We get them out here. This one’s come about a month early, and it looks to be worse than usual.”
“I’ve never heard of such a thing.” Though she was recovering, Twilight still did not feel ready to stand.
“That’s because you egg-headed unicorns worry about things like how many quantum thaums can fit on the end of a pin, and other such nonsense,” said Relic, with a snort. “You could learn something more practical if you just bothered to ask somepony like me, who lives out here.”
“Will that happen again?” asked Mustang.
“Oh, yes, this could go on all night. Most of the strikes will hit over that way.” Relic pointed. “There’s a grove of wild zap apples there, and some of those trees are close to a hundred feet tall. It’s good for them.”
“What about us?” asked Sky.
“No magic, no problem, you’ll never notice a thing” said Relic. Then she indicated Twilight. “This one, on the other hoof, is a little magic lightning rod. They’ll be side branches off every strike that’ll knock her on her flank. We need to get her to shelter.”
Pinkie went to Twilight and gave her a big hug. “C’mon, Twi, you’ll be fine. Don’t cry.”
“I… I’m worried about my students. What is this doing to Quiz and Angel? They have no protection!”
“So we find them,” declared Sky. “We should be getting close, right? Closer than the Blue Team, anyway.”
#
Infernalo leaned against a tree and gasped for air. He began to drone, as if repeating a lesson, “Magic sometimes acts as if it is a particle, sometimes as if it is a wave, and sometimes it acts like a donut…”
“He’s babbling,” said Navy. “Are you alright, Stone?”
“Yeah, I’m just a little dizzy,” answered Stone Hoof. “I don’t use a lot of a magic, not like Infernalo. I usually think it’s easier just to pick something up and carry it than to use a spell. That seems to make a difference in how whatever that was affected you.”
“I will be well,” said Infernalo. “My head is already clearing.”
“Will you finally take my advice?” demanded Professor Heart. “Are you ready to go back to Ponyville?”
“Not a chance,” snapped Rainbow. “Some of the kids are unicorns; they need us more than ever. And we’re going to get to them before the Red Team!”
#
“Wow, that was really interesting!” exclaimed Snails. “Can we do that again?”
“I hope you are okay, Thnails,” said Twist, who was the only thing keeping him on his hooves. “But if you are faking jutht to get me to hold you I am going to clobber you.”
“No, I’ll be fine in a moment,” said Snails. “Not that this isn’t nice… oww!”
“I’m okay, too,” gasped Snips, from the floor.
“What happened?” asked Cheerilee.
“Magic lightening,” said Bowser. “Diamond dogs do not care much about that, we use no magic. But it seems that little unicorns do not like it at all. Bowser will be kind, as he sees no reason to fry the little unicorns. We will move to a lower level. The rock will protect the delicate little unicorns' heads.”
Scootaloo whispered to Sweetie Belle. “Belle, are you alright?”
“Yeah. I wasn’t singing, and I don’t channel magic without music.” Despite her reassurance, Sweetie Belle looked like she’d stuck her horn in a light socket. She pointed to Snips and Snails. “But that flash affected these two; what could it do to a unicorn who’s actually good with magic?”
She looked back up the tunnel behind them, but all she saw was darkness. “Poor Quiz. I’m so worried about her I could just cry.”
#
“Hay, watch where you’re going!”
Blind, and staggering, Quiz had stumbled into Diamond Tiara. Diamond jumped aside, leaving nothing holding Quiz up. She went over like a felled tree.
“Diamond, she’s sick, and you just let her fall!” Shadow gasped.
“Oh, don’t worry, Shadow, it’s just Quiz.” Diamond went over and leaned on him. “She hurts herself all the time, she’s used to it.”
Quiz had managed to sit up. “That was a very extraordinary phenomenon. However, I do not wish to do that again.”
“See, Shadow, there was nothing to worry about. She’s indestructible,” said Diamond. “Like a cockroach.”
“I do have to protest, Diamond Tiara,” said Quiz. “I do not have accidents so often I am used to being hurt.”
“Yeah, Quiz, you kinda do,” said Silver Spoon.
“I am fine, and I would notice if I were not,” said Quiz, hardly sounding defensive at all. “I have other things to worry about. The flash was unpleasant, here in the tunnels where there is protection. It troubles me to imagine what that was like on the surface. I know that Miss Twilight is in the forest searching for us tonight. She would not stay away. Also, young Angel is a very precocious unicorn; if she is still in the forest the flash would harm her severely.”
“Don’t worry, Quiz,” said Shadow. “My Dad led the little ones back to Ponyville hours ago.” I hope, thought Shadow. There’s been enough time for even Dad to find his way, hasn’t there?
#
Fluttershy had an ear pressed against Angel’s chest. The little unicorn lay very still.
“She’s breathing,” Fluttershy finally said. “But her poor heart’s just racing. And she’s so warm!”
Dinky wasn’t even trying not to cry. “Angel’s hurt because her magic is so much stronger than mine. Oh, Momma, I was jealous of her! I feel so bad!”
“Shh! Don’t think like that,” soothed Derpy. “That just doesn’t help.”
Dinky tried to remember what Twilight had taught her. It was difficult to think. “Angel must have absorbed more magic than she can handle. She can’t release it unless she wakes up, and it won’t just fade away. There’s no place for it to go, the air is saturated with magic!”
“I don’t know how to revive her,” said Fluttershy. The others could barely hear her speak. “I’m very frightened.”
Time to be brave, Dinky told herself. It wasn’t easy. She was still a little dizzy, and she was sick with worry. But Dinky managed to clear her head enough for an idea to emerge. What if what makes me a bad magician is just what I need to help Angel?
“I want to try something,” declared Dinky. She touched Angel’s horn with her own.
“Muffin, stop, that looks dangerous!” cried Derpy. But Dinky had already begun.
Dinky’s problem with magic was at the most fundamental level. There is some magic almost everywhere, but to use it a unicorn must be able to find it and channel it. Dinky could never seem to gather up enough magic to cast a decent spell.
But this was different. “There’s so much!” gasped Dinky, her eyes wide with awe. “This is easy!”
A more experienced unicorn would have had to fight to control the torrent. Dinky hadn’t learned how to be that open to magic yet. She was able to let it trickle in.
Dinky began to glow. The air around her crackled.
“That’s enough, stop now,” cried Derpy. “Please, Muffin!”
“Just a little more.” Dinky refused to quit until she was sure Angel would be alright.
Angel’s eyes fluttered. “Are we home yet?” she asked, sleepily.
“Dinky, you did it!” yelled Pip. “Way to go!”
“Yay!”
“No, don’t touch me.” Dinky waved her friends back as they surged forward to give her a group hug. “Whoa, I’m totally stuffed. Stay back until I can get rid of some of this.”
A unicorn gets rid of magic by using it. Dinky reached out to a boulder the size of a cart and tried to levitate it. She didn’t expect to actually lift it. Dinky didn’t think the rock would move at all. She thought she would just tug at it with nothing happening, until all the excess magic was burnt off.
Not only did the boulder rise into the air, it glowed cherry red. Then it melted.
What was now a pool of lava blocked the path back to Ponyville.
“Um, did I do that?” asked Dinky.
The forest was still dry from the long summer. The lava ignited first the brambles, then every tree it touched. Soon there was a terrifying blaze. The wind was blowing the fire towards the ponies.
“Run!”