Chapter 23:
Petrified Pegasi
"Well, if that changeling's goal was to waste our time, it's doing a pretty good job of it."
There was a tinge of frustration mixed with concern in Daring Do's voice as she, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash continued to venture deeper into the labyrinth. Everywhere they turned, all they were able to find were bookcases stretched out into the shadows.
"This is quite eerie," said Twilight. "I've been to the Clover the Clever Wing several times, but this feels so, different."
"It's probably that changeling messing with things," said Rainbow irritably.
"Hmm," Twilight mused. "If that's the case, it'd have to be pretty powerful, almost on par with the Queen. This is pretty high-level magic."
"Frankly, I don't care how powerful it is. I am not letting it erase me," said Daring with a snort.
"You said it, Daring," said Rainbow. "It can flaunt all of the magic power it wants, but it'll still be no match for the three of us."
"While that may be true, we have to find it first," said Twilight before reaching a forked path. "Alright, which way should we go now?"
Daring looked down each path, narrowing her eyes and stroking her chin. Her pondering was interrupted by the sound of a loud hiss. She felt her heart freeze.
"Oh no," she said.
"Oh no? What's the matter, Daring?" asked Rainbow.
"If that's what I think it is, then we're in big trouble," said Daring nervously.
"You mean that hissing sound?" inquired Twilight.
"Uh, yeah," said Daring. "Anyway, I vote we go in the opposite direction of wherever that sound came from."
Twilight and Rainbow looked at each other and shared a shrug.
"Um, okay then," said Twilight, sounding a bit confused. "I guess that means we're going right."
The three mares then made a turn and continued their search. As they walked, the hissing sound continued to return. Each time it did, Daring's eyes darted around the room, as if she was expecting something to come out of the wall.
"Hey, you okay, Daring?" asked Rainbow, tilting her head.
"L-let me get back to you on that," said Daring, still looking every which way. "Ugh, as if this day couldn't get any worse."
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Worse than slowly being erased from existence."
"H-hey, everything is relative, alright?" said Daring, a bit of panic in her voice. "Now c'mon, we gotta keep moving."
Rainbow's brow furrowed. "It's that hissing noise, isn't it? You've been acting all jumpy ever since we started hearing it."
"Like I said before, if it is what I think it is, we're gonna be in big trouble," Daring said with a gulp. "I'm just praying that it isn't."
"It might just be more of the changeling's magic," said Twilight. "We haven't encountered any traps yet, so I don't think there's anything to worry abou—"
She trailed off as a horrific sight before her caught her attention. "I-I stand corrected," she squeaked.
"What are you talking about, Twi—? Omigosh!"
Rainbow gasped in horror and placed a hoof to her mouth, unable to believe what she was looking at. In front of the bookcases ahead of them were statues of the Wonderbolts, the best flyers in Equestria and Rainbow Dash's idols. However, these statues were not normal. Each Wonderbolt was recoiling in fear, a look of panic frozen on each of their faces. Daring herself turned as white as a sheet.
"H-hey, Rainbow Dash? Remember when you asked me if I was okay or not?" she said.
"Y-yeah," said Rainbow. "Wh-what about it?"
"W-well, to answer your question..."
Daring trailed off as a low rasp resonated from behind. She felt something breathing down her neck, causing her mane to stand up on end. She swallowed.
"I-I'm not okay," she whimpered.
"Huh?" said Rainbow, turning around. "I didn't catch th—"
But she got no further. She saw that right behind Daring was a large snake-like creature. Still staring at the creature, she nudged Twilight with her elbow.
"What is it, Rainbow?" asked Twilight.
"I, think we've got a problem," said Rainbow, pointing at the monster.
Twilight turned around, and immediately saw Rainbow's point. The serpent let out a powerful rasp. Daring shrieked and hid herself behind one of the Wonderbolt statues.
"H-how in Equestria did that changeling get a basilisk into the Canterlot Archives?!" Twilight exclaimed in disbelief.
"We'll have time to worry about that later!" said Rainbow. "Right now, we gotta get out of here! Let's go, Daring!"
But Daring didn't respond. Rainbow frantically scanned the area, worrying that she was disappearing again.
"Daring?! Where are you?!" she called out.
"Um, Rainbow?"
Rainbow looked over at Twilight, who was pointing over at the Spitfire statue. Hiding behind it was none other than Daring Do, trembling all over.
"I hate basilisks, I hate basilisks," the great adventurer chanted, her breathing becoming erratic.
Rainbow sighed. "Okay, this isn't going to work," she said. "Twilight, think you can teleport us out of here?"
"I-I don't know," said Twilight, shaking her head. "With Daring constantly phasing in and out of existence, I have no idea what effect my spell would have on her."
There was another loud rasp from the basilisk. For a moment, Daring looked like she had stopped breathing. A spark of determination flickered in Rainbow's eyes as she landed on the ground.
"Twilight, behind me, now!" she commanded, turning to face the serpent and spreading her wings.
"What?" exclaimed an aghast Twilight. "Rainbow, you aren't thinking about taking that thing on, are you?! You don't have any room to fly!"
"Well, I gotta do something!" Rainbow barked back.
"In that case, let me fight it!" Twilight yelled. "I stand a better chance!"
"This isn't up for debate, Twilight!" said Rainbow, arching her back and pawing the ground. "Stay here with Daring!"
"But..."
"You're our only chance to bring everypony back from stone!" Rainbow said sternly. "If you lose to that thing, it's just gonna waste more time!"
Twilight opened her mouth to argue, but began to see her friend's logic. "Alright," she said, finally relenting. "But remember, don't look it in the eye."
"I know," said Rainbow. She then took a deep breath and galloped straight towards the basilisk. The great serpent lunged for Rainbow, baring its sharp fangs. Before it could connect, Rainbow stopped short of the strike, causing the basilisk to bury its fangs into the floor. As the monster struggled to pry itself free, Rainbow flew over to one of its piercing yellow eyes. Keeping her own eyes closed, she spun around in midair and delivered a powerful buck to the eye. The basilisk hissed in pain, finally prying itself free and turning to face its attacker.
With its limited depth perception, the basilisk found it hard to keep track of the cyan speedster. It continued to snap at Rainbow Dash, but she was simply too quick. Growing annoyed, it focused its good eye on Rainbow, causing it to glow with intensity. The mesmerizing flash drew Rainbow in, but she snapped out of the trance straight away when she noticed that her hooves felt heavier. Looking down, she found that they had indeed turned to stone. Her eyes narrowed and she snorted.
"Oh, you're gonna pay for that, buddy!" she snarled, flapping her wings extra hard to account for her new weight. The basilisk continued trying to petrify Rainbow, but without the other eye, its power was significantly diminished. The most it could do was turn Rainbow's legs to stone, and that was it. This gave Rainbow an idea.
"This had better work," she muttered to herself.
Rainbow then positioned herself so that her legs trailed behind her. With a mighty flap of her wings, she propelled herself straight towards the monster's jaw at a steep angle. The basilisk reared up and rasped, ready to meet Rainbow's charge.
"I can't watch!" Twilight cried, shielding her eyes.
There was a deafening crack, followed by a harrowing roar.
When Twilight peeked over her hooves, she saw the basilisk falling right towards her. With a yelp, she grabbed Daring with her magic and ran out of the way just in time. The basilisk landed to the ground with a thud, shards of what once were its deadly fangs scattered all over the floor. She looked over at Rainbow, who was on the ground herself and tilting forward.
"Um, a little help here?" she said, her voice muffled by the fact that her face was pressed into the floor.
Twilight couldn't help but giggle before breathing a sigh of relief.
***
"Alright, that should be the last of them," said Twilight, using her spell to free Spitfire from her stone prison.
"Ugh, my aching head," groaned Fleetfoot. "H-how did we end up here?"
"I dunno," said Rapidfire, coming to his senses as well. "Last thing I remember is that snake thing appearing in my bunk."
"Yeah, same here," Soarin' chimed in, his stomach growling. "Man, I could really go for some pie right about now."
"They all should be okay," said Twilight. "Well, I think I've found out something else about our changeling friend."
"What's that?" asked Rainbow, stretching out her now-unpetrified legs.
"It doesn't seem to like you."
Rainbow had trouble processing this revelation. "I, don't know any changelings that do like me."
"Think about it, Rainbow," said Twilight. "It's threatening to erase Daring Do and Scootaloo from existence, it recruited Gilda and Lightning Dust as minions, and it used that basilisk to petrify the Wonderbolts. What do all of these things have in common?"
Rainbow pondered for a moment before coming to a realization. "Oooooh~! Yeah, that is weird. Well, we can find out more once we beat the stuffing out of it. Right, Daring?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah. Sure," said Daring, fiddling with her pith helmet. She sounded less than enthusiastic.
"Hey, what's wrong?" asked Rainbow.
"That, was pretty mortifying," said Daring, flattening her ears and breathing a deep sigh. "Kinda ironic, huh? I don't even bat an eyelid at the possibility of disappearing from existence, and yet my blood runs hot and cold every time I have to face a basilisk. I don't even know what it is about them; I just can't stand 'em."
Rainbow smirked. "Daring, I knew that already. I've read all of your books, remember?"
Daring's cheeks became a vibrant shade of pink. "Th-those books mention my fear of basilisks?"
"Yeah. So there's no need to be embarrassed over it," said Rainbow, placing her foreleg around the literary heroine. "You're still awesome in my book."
Daring smiled. "Thanks," she said. "I'm happy to hear that."
As she said that, Rainbow felt her foreleg pass through Daring's body. Once again, the great adventurer was beginning to fade from existence. After a few seconds, she became solid again.
"Nnngh," Daring growled, shaking herself and donning her hat. "Okay, we're running out of time. Let's step it up."
"Agreed," said Twilight before turning to the Wonderbolts. "Do you ponies think you can find your way out of here?"
"Easy as pie," said Soarin', licking his lips. "Hey, maybe we should..."
"Focus, Soarin'," Spitfire said sternly as she got to her feet.
"Uh, right. Sorry, Spit," said Soarin' sheepishly.
Spitfire rolled her eyes and smirked. "We'll be fine," she said. "Thanks for saving us."
"Not a problem," said Twilight with a bow. "Good luck."
"Heh. Won't need it," said Spitfire with a complacent smirk. She then gave Rainbow Dash a salute before taking off. Rainbow Dash returned the salute as she watched the Wonderbolts fly off into the shadows.
"I suppose some congratulations are in order."
The three mares turned around to see the owner of the voice. They saw that it was a figure dressed in a black cloak.
"Wow. You are really playing this dramatic reveal thing to the hilt, aren't you?" said Daring, folding her forelegs.
"Mock me while you can, Ms. Do," the figure spat. "For while you may think I'm that dimwitted thug Ahuizotl, I am actually..."
"A changeling," the trio of ponies said in unison.
With a growl of annoyance, the changeling discarded its cloak.
"Really? You really couldn't just play along?" it griped.
"Frankly, we've had it up to here with your games," said Rainbow, pounding her hooves. "It ends here."
The changeling cackled, its crooked horn glowing a sinister green. "Oh, but my dear Rainbow Crash. This, is just the beginning!"
"Heh. I've heard that line before," said Daring, rolling her eyes.
The changeling's expression became deadpan. "I hate you all," it growled.