//------------------------------// // In the Dark // Story: A Duel of Jewels // by Pony Circuit //------------------------------// “Spike... don’t make a girl a promise… if you know you can’t keep it...” Spike woke up, gasping for air. Judging by the level of light, he’d been unconscious for at least two hours. He tried moving, and groaned near instantaneously. He’d never been in this much pain before in his life. The last thing he remembered was somepony shrieking his name, as the pain kept coming. He thought back to before that; he had been doing something, what was it? The foals, something to do with the foals... “Urgh…” Something was tapping his face. He tilted his head slightly to look at it, a whole new wave of pain crashing down on him. “Ow.” Why did Angel look ups- Oh. Everything came flooding back to him, the fillies being abducted, the Diamond Dog beating him to a pulp… he had to get the girls back. Somehow. Maybe when the world stopped spinning… Blackness again. Angel sighed. The dragon look pretty beaten up. What would Fluttershy do here? No wait, panic wouldn’t help. What else? He smiled triumphantly. That would work. He bounced back to the cottage and into Fluttershy’s bathroom. Somewhere in here there was a medical kit she used for sick creatures. Surely something in there would help the dragon. Angel rummaged through the kit, spotting a small crystal. He remembered something about it; Fluttershy had been given it by her friend Rarity, something about charged magic, and healing acceleration. Angel shrugged. Enchanted objects were way above his pay grade, but he’d give the thing a test. Anyway, he was pretty sure he’d seen that dragon chomping on some rocks from Rarity before, so he probably wouldn’t care. Spike was in a deep dream. His friends were all there, but they were ignoring him for some reason. He didn’t know what he had done wrong; all he wanted to do was try to help. He tried to speak, but Applejack shoved an apple into his mouth and held it shut until he swallowed. He started choking, before tasting the familiar taste of an aged amethyst, with a hint of magic. He looked around at his friends, and they started to vanish, turning into the unamused face of Angel Bunny. “Angel? The girls! Where are they?!?” Angel rolled his eyes. A little thanks for saving his life would’ve been appreciated. He pointed out the huge tunnel behind Spike, with obvious signs of scuffle around it and sighed, looking around. Fluttershy used to really like this meadow too. From the moment Angel showed him the tunnel, Spike knew what he had to do. Despite all his shortcomings, he knew he was the only one who had any chance of rescuing the girls. They were his friends and not only that, he’d made a promise to Rarity, and he owed Applejack who constantly looked out for him. And well… he was pretty sure Rainbow Dash would be a little happy about him rescuing her self-proclaimed number one fan. Without another thought, he leapt down the tunnel, eager to avenge himself and prove his worth. In the back of his mind, he wondered how he was fighting fit, but didn’t look the gift pony in the mouth. As he rushed down the claustrophobic tunnel, he could swear he could hear a soft chittering behind him, but soon that was gone too, into the deep darkness that was the tunnel. Angel stopped trying to call out to Spike. He was furious. He didn’t even get to pass Spike the warning that came with the gemstone. Well, at least he tried. It wasn’t his fault what happened to the dragon now. He dropped the warning note down the hole, and headed back to the cottage to start trying to calm down all the animals. . . . “Let us go!” Scootaloo still struggled against her captors, before Fido finally dragged the fighting Pegasus from the ground. “Shut up pony! If you had not tried to stop us from taking the unicorn, you would still be free” said Spot, annoyed that they had differed from the original plan. “But why would you want me?!? I don’t even have a Cutie Mark” Sweetie looked confused. “Because the boss pony told us to get unicorns” answered Fido. “And he said he’d give us lots of gems when we’re done.” “Shut up you imbecile. You don’t have to tell these ponies anything. You ponies will work in here and you will be fed. Disobey, and we shall put you in the Pit” spoke Rover maliciously. “Why should we listen to you? You hurt our friend!” Scootaloo was incensed at Spike’s injuries, having seen the little dragon do his best to try to save them. Rover just smiles evilly, and grabbed a handful of feathers on her wing, pulling quickly, dropping the result on the ground. Sweetie gasped, even the other two dogs looked shocked at the act of wanton violence. Scootaloo blinked for a moment, before yowling loudly. “Now you know. We will hurt you too.” Rover laughed and walked up ahead of the others. Sweetie shot her friend a worried look, but Scootaloo gave her a reassuring smile. Apple Bloom was strangely silent throughout the exchange, Scootaloo noticed. She arched her neck around Fido’s thick shoulder to check on her friend, and noticed that Bloom’s mane was lying loose, her teeth frantically worrying away at her trademark ribbon, leaving tiny red shreds on the ground. Apple Bloom sensed herself being watched and immediately stopped, looking around. Scootaloo put a hoof to her lips gently and motioned to Bloom that she should continue. Maybe, if they were lucky, somepony might find them. . . . “Ooh, wait a second girls, I just need to do something” Pinkie said, smiling as usual, despite the oppressing feeling the cave gave off. She unpacked her saddlebags and took out a giant platform cake and laid it gently on the ground in a corner, quickly decorating it. “Pinkie dear, I hardly think this is the time for eating.” Rarity looked a bit bemused by the party pony’s antics. “Oh, it’s not for me, I just thought I’d leave it here for later.” She told Rarity happily, confusing the elegant unicorn further. As the group had stopped, Twilight turned to her friends. “Suddenly I’m really glad Spike isn’t here for this, I’ve just got this really bad feeling that he’d get injured if he was here” she said, looking a little worried, before gazing at the ominous cavern ahead. “I don’t know what I’d do if he got hurt that badly ever again.” “Ah completely understand what you mean sugahcube. Every time Apple Bloom tries one of her crazy stunts to get her Cutie Mark, it feels like mah heart would stop. But Spike’s a sensible type, and he seemed really set on wantin’ to help us. We do leave the poor feller high and dry a lot of the time.” “And imagine how boring it must get back in Ponyville without me there?” Dash added. Applejack and Rarity rolled their eyes at Rainbow’s level of self involvement, catching sight of each other as they did so, and rolled their eyes again. “That may be the case Rainbow Dash, but the poor dear will have quite a time I’d imagine. I asked him to keep an eye on the foals while we were gone, and I speak from experience in saying that can be a… messy task.” “Hmm… thank you Rarity. That should keep him out of harm’s way.” Applejack muttered under her breath. “Clearly you don’t know mah sister well enough.” “Hey guys” Pinkie giggled. “Wouldn’t it be ironic if Spike got into loads of trouble looking after the Crusaders and went on a wild adventure and got a teensy bit hurt, despite everypony trying to protect him? And all the things we’re looking for are connected to it, but we’re all on a wild goose chase?” Everypony’s jaws dropped. “What? Is there something on my face? Is it a bat? Ohmygosh it’s a bat isn’t it?!? Get it off get it off!!!” Pinkie started flailing wildly for a moment and then stopped. “Oh wait, why would a bat be on my face?” she giggled. “Oh you big kidders.” With a prance in her step she trotted deeper into the cave singing to herself. “La la la, la la la…” There was a long moment of silence as the confused friends recovered their wits. “… Ah swear, ah will never understand that pony.” . . . Reaching the bottom of the tunnel, Spike quickly set off after the tracks on the ground. They’ve got to be heading back to their old camp, he thought to himself. Spike walked down the caves slowly and carefully. The marks along the ground were quite self explanatory; the girls had put up quite a fight before the dogs had finally stopped dragging them and picked them up. A few orange feathers lay on the ground, and Spike looked startled, seeing little drops of red on the floor near it. Upon closer examination, he realized it was a ribbon of some kind, probably Apple Bloom’s. They were leaving a trail for him! Spike heard noises up ahead. He skidded to a halt and ducked behind a stalagmite, peering out to see what was going on. Up ahead he saw several unicorns, both mares and stallions, some were digging using their hooves and magic, others were pulling carts full of gems, all under the watchful eye of guard dogs. “What in Equestria are they doing down here?” He whispered softly, asking nopony in particular. He took a closer look, noticing that he knew several of the ponies that were being forced. There was Pokey Pierce trying to chip away chunks of rocks, and Colgate dragging a cart filled with gems of all sorts. Despite himself, he drooled at the sight of the gemstones. It had been a long time since he’d seen gems of that cut and carat. A loud feminine shriek broke his reverie. It wasn’t one of the Crusaders, he was sure of it, but he recognized it somehow nonetheless. Spike crept forward along the side of the cave as quickly as he dared, sticking to the shadows so neither dog nor pony would see him. As he approached the mouth of the tunnel, he stopped suddenly. One of the guard dogs looked alerted, despite the fact that he had been moving as noiselessly as possible. Spike froze completely still as the dog took a quick glance around. For a moment, he was certain that the dog had seen him, but he appeared to have gotten away with it. As soon as the dog disappeared back to his post, Spike slipped by behind him. The little strips of ribbon were starting to get further apart, and he’d missed the vast majority of them in the earlier cave. Apple Bloom must’ve run out of ribbon, he thought to himself. He kept going through the grotto, until he got to a large thick wooden door. Seeing no other way the girls could’ve been taken, he slowly and cautiously opened the door. It was a dungeon. That was the only way he could describe it. He’d seen the old dungeons of Canterlot, despite the fact that they hadn’t needed to be used in such a long time that even Twilight couldn’t find records on them, but while that was Pony-made, this was different. The Diamond Dogs had taken a cave formation and somehow shaped it into a prison where they could keep ponies who would not serve them, complete with bars made with some metal. Clearly, one of the dogs had some skill at metallurgy, or one of their pony captives had been forced to make it. Spike heard a sombre song being played on a stringed instrument, and a soft voice singing along with it. He continued his stealthy approach through the jail, his heart aching at the haunting melody, and the sights of ponies he knew locked in cells. Most of those ponies were looking down, lost in thought, and nearly every cell and cage was full, he noticed, only one left seemingly recently vacant. He didn’t know why he was still hiding, but crept on nonetheless. His caution was well vested, as there was a dog watching over the cells. Luckily for him, the dog was fast asleep from the tune, and an empty jar that smelled a little like Sweet Apple Acre’s cider. When the little dragon approached, the dog started slightly, but only to turn over and start snoring. Spike let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. He looked into the final cell where the music originated from, and saw a sight that caused him to sigh in relief. The girls were there, enthralled by the music of the cell’s other occupant, a sad looking Lyra with one black eye, playing her lyre and singing softly to them whilst sitting on a rock in that strange way of hers. “Girls?” He whispered loudly, hoping the sound would reach them. Lyra jumped, suddenly startled, the music screeching to a stop and the battered lyre clattering to the ground. She turned around swiftly, moving to protect the fillies before realizing who surprised her. “Spike!?! What are you doing here? You’ll get caught by those things!” Spike tried anxiously to calm her down. Even in the depths of his drunken slumber, the guard dog would probably hear Lyra’s frantic high pitched voice. The foals got the message quicker, Apple Bloom covering her mouth with her hoof, having lived with her big sister’s example for so long. “It’s okay Lyra, I’m here to rescue…” He took a look around the room. There were an awful lot of ponies in here; he thought to himself, it’d take a miracle to sneak them all out without the dogs catching them. “Everypony. I’m here to rescue everypony.” Sweetie Belle swayed on the spot from relief and smiled at him and whispered, Scootaloo supporting her up. “Thank you so much Spike, they only wanted me for some reason… it’s my fault Scootaloo and Apple Bloom got taken too.” Lyra gave Apple Bloom a nod, showing that she’d calmed down enough to talk normally. “They want unicorns” she whispered. “They force us to find and mine for gemstones, and since we’re the only type of pony that can use magic…” “Why are you guys all in cages instead of being forced to work then?” Spike asked, looking at the bars and trying to figure out a way to break them. Lyra smiled a little proudly, wincing at her bruises. “This is where they put the disobedient ponies. I bucked one of the guards in the face and nearly escaped, before the pony in charge caught me.” Spike smiled, quite impressed. From what he’d heard his friends say about Lyra, he’d assumed she was a bit of a cry baby, incapable of such a fierce response like that. “Why’d you do it?” Then Spike turned and looked at her full on. “A pony’s in charge here?” he asked quite loudly and incredulously. Apple Bloom reached out through the bars and shoved a hoof in his mouth, and he gave a meek laugh. “We saw him too.” Apple Bloom said. “He’s a big colt, almost as big as mah brother, but we couldn’t see his face, he was wearin’ a dark cloak with a hood. He spoke real fancy like, kinda like Rarity. Ah don’t think he’s from around here.” Lyra nodded in agreement. “And as for the dog… he took my lyre.” She looked at the battered instrument on the cell floor sadly. “My parents gave it to me.” “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you earlier.” “Oh that’s not what’s wrong with it, it’s looked like that for a while” she gave him a small smile. “I haven’t been able to get it back in tune since that dog fiddled around with it.” She chuckles softly. “That really should be the least of my worries, shouldn’t it?” Spike smiled, before remembering the situation at hand. “How do I get you guys out of here?” “From what I saw, those three dogs that grabbed us each had a key of some kind. The cage opened as soon as they waved it in front of the bars.” Scootaloo said. “Okay, I guess I’ll just have to grab one of their keys… Oh, Scootaloo, are you okay?” He asked with sudden concern. ”I saw some of your feathers on the ground. And I found your trail Apple Bloom, thanks.” “Eh, it’s nothing. Pegasi moult every now and then. They should probably have come out earlier, but I was too busy to take care of them.” She gave a low chuckle. “You should have seen the look on the dog’s faces when I did that fake howl afterwards. Hey! Maybe I should try acting for my cutie mark!” She smiled, despite her surroundings. Spike smiled. Soon that smile turned to a look of horror as the door to the dungeon slammed open and another guard dog came in. The dog sniffed the air and looked up straight at Spike “Foolish purple scales, you think I not discover you? You not know a dog’s sense of smell far greater than sight? Especially a Diamond Dogs’…” The guard dog walked closer to Spike, growling threateningly. A rock flew out from one cage and smacked the dog in the face. “Spahk! Run for it!” Applebloom bucked another rock towards the dog, Scootaloo fetching some more ammunition. “But what about you?” “You’re not going to be able to rescue us if you get caught too!” Lyra picked up some more rocks and started pegging them at the dog as well, who was now whining on the floor. “Get that key! Or try and get Twilight or somepony to help you!” Spike didn’t want to leave his friends, but he didn’t have much choice. He ran out past the still sleeping first guard and the whimpering second, his heart heavy with regret. It did not last long however, as he turned the corner and ran right into a group of guards and slaves. “Oh pony feathers.” The dogs seized him, growling, and pulled him out into the main chamber. Spike sighed. This was it, it was all over. And now his friends would never find him or the Crusaders. As he prepared himself for whatever doom he thought the dogs would inflict upon him, an imperial voice rang out. “Enough. Hold him still. I want to see the face of the creature that dares interfere with my plans.” The guard dogs let go of him and stood back respectfully. As soon as they backed away, the stallion strode forward, with the confidence of Rainbow Dash and the room commanding grace of Rarity. He took off his hood, revealing to Spike the face behind Ponyville’s latest troubles. “You?!?” . . . Twilight led the way into the deeper parts of the dark cave, her horn lighting up to show the way. “What in Equestria?” She glanced around at the grime and muck, spotting several small pools of dirty water covered in scum, piles of what she hoped were just rubbish and for some reason, feeling a strange primal feeling in the back of her mind. She shook it off, chalking it up to nerves. “Urgh, Twilight, are you sure this is the place? It is positively filthy in here!” Rarity made a disgusted face, pointing a hoof at the dank musty pile in the centre of the cave. “And look at that water stagnation! I’d say this place hasn’t been cleaned in decades.” “Normally Ah ain’t one to fuss about mess, but Rar’s got a point here, this place is disgusting.” Applejack turned up her nose at the smell. “It smells like… well, ah was goin’ to say mah brother after Applebuck season, but ah don’t know; maybe some poor critter died in here or somethin’.” “Oh dear, I hope no little innocent creature got lost in here…” Fluttershy’s voice started breaking up, and Pinkie gave her a hug to console her. “I’m sure nothing would be silly enough to come in here deliberately, Flutters. Present company excluded of course.” The party pony gave her a reassuring smile. Rainbow Dash saw the worried look on her oldest friend’s face still there. “Fluttershy, I’m sure if there’s anything down here, and that’s a big ‘if’, we’ll probably see it when we find those ponies who got lost here.” “Well girls, speaking of Colgate and the others, I don’t really see any signs of th- AHH! “ Twilight turned around, shining her light on the pile and suddenly gasped and stumbled at the jabbing pain in her mind, the light on her horn going out. She felt an old powerful consciousness, something infinitely alien to her. “Twilight!” cried five ponies simultaneously, Rarity immediately taking up the illumination duties, wincing as she felt a strange feeling. “I’m okay, I’m okay. I just felt… I don’t know, I can’t describe it…” “Umm… maybe we should leave?” Fluttershy looked down as she gained everypony’s attention. “It’s just well… I’m getting scared.” “You’re not the only one sugahcube, but we’ve got a responsibility to those missin’ ponies.” “Applejack’s right” said Twilight. “Princess Celestia gave us a mission and we’re going to go through with it” “You’re right, what if they’re lost, or lonely or scared. We have to find them… can we look for them somewhere else though? They really don’t seem like they’re here. We would have heard them by now.” Fluttershy pointed out. “She has got a good point Twilight, and I must say, this place does give off… how to put this delicately…” Applejack rolled her eyes. “It gives Rar the willies. Same as me. If we can’t find a sign of them, ah’m all for skeddadlin’.” “Please Applejack” Rarity said with disdain. “I do not ‘get the willies’, I simply have the common sense to know when I’m afraid. But I do think you’ve had one good idea all day, so shall we depart?” Rainbow put on a brave face for her friends “Aww come on guys, don’t tell me you’re all chickening out. It’s just a cave.” She smiled and took to the air, hovering above the piles of filth and decay. “Nothing the heroes of Equestria can’t handle.” Pinkie suddenly looked around warily “Girls, I really don’t like this… my knee’s feeling pinchy.” Twilight turned around to look at her friend, so unusually subdued. “Your knee’s feeling pinchy? Doesn’t that mean…?” Pinkie nodded, whispering “Something scary’s about to happen.” As Pinkie shivered, nopony noticed the long feeler that slowly slithered out of the central pile of muck, wrapping around one of Dash’s hind legs and yanking her down to earth hard.