Chapter 7
The room was shaking fiercely as Twilight jumped off the floor tile that was falling down underneath her hooves. She could see that all across the room floor tiles were collapsing, and after mere seconds she felt the ground she was standing give out once more. Again she leapt up, landing on some tiles that were still stable. The whole room quaked violently, and a cascade of stones fell from the ceiling.
“Twi!” Rainbow Dash shouted from above. “The altar! Quick!”
Twilight looked up and saw that the pedestal the Golden Alpacan Princess had been on still seemed stable. Without waiting for the tile she was standing on to fall down as well, she took a deep breath and jumped, barely crossing the distance to the altar. She landed with her front legs on the edge and struggled to pull herself up as the violent shaking of the room ceased. Finally, she stood on the top of the pedestal and could watch the destruction of the sanctuary with wide unbelieving eyes as the dust started to settle.
Almost the whole floor was gone. Only a thin line of stones between the columns remained intact. At the same time, the exit had been blocked by the cave-in – even though some rocks had just fallen down when the floor collapsed. She carefully looked down into the void around her and saw nothing but a bottomless black pit. Rainbow was hovering over her and looked at her worriedly.
Twilight took a deep breath and tried to calm down. She cast a quick look at the ceiling, aware that a collapsing ceiling was pretty much a staple in trapped temples in a Daring Do novel, but for the time being its remains looked stable enough, which was at least a small relief.
“Twi!” Rainbow shouted, “are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Rainbow”, she calmed down her friend. 'But how do we get out of here', she didn’t add because she didn’t want to sound whiney. The situation was bad enough without one of them panicking. They had to get out of there! She desperately scanned the walls, searching for some kind of exit.
A slight draft coming from below caught her attention. If there was a draft, it had to be going somewhere! And maybe that was an exit for the two ponies was well! She carefully licked her hoof and held it into the air.
The air appeared to be moving towards the wall opposite of the destroyed exit. Staring intensively, Twilight realized that one of the big stone panels lining the walls, the one that was just opposite the entrance, had a large crack. Maybe, hopefully, that was a possible exit.
“Rainbow!” she called out. “Can you buck that panel over there? That could be our way out.”
“I will buck that thing into a thousand pieces!” She darted over to the panel, turned around and, giving Twilight a wink, she kicked the wall with all the force she could muster up. While it didn’t burst into a thousand pieces, she managed to break it in half along the preexisting crack, and both halves fell down into the bottomless pit.
Behind the panel there was a dark passageway.
“Woohoo!” Rainbow Dash cheered, triumphantly pumping her hooves in the air. “You found a way out! Lemme fly you over there!”
“Thanks, Rainbow, but I’ll just teleport over there.” She closed her eyes and concentrated on the teleportation spell.
Nothing happened.
“Are you kidding me?” Twilight groaned in exasperation. “Rosetta can’t teleport? I guess I’m lucky then that at least she knows the light spell and some levitation!”
Before she had time for more complaining though she once more found herself picked up by a pair of strong cyan hooves, and before she could protest, Rainbow Dash had already set her down in the passageway. In the light of her horn they saw that the tunnel was very much like the one that had led hem there, including the mushrooms. They couldn’t see its end.
They didn’t have to walk for long. The tunnel eventually ended in another large room which unlike the sanctuary was completely empty. In the wall on the opposite end there was another doorway, hopefully leading to an exit. Rainbow Dash examined the doorway, carefully hovering above any suspicious floor tiles around the threshold.
“Looks like this thing is going on forever”, she remarked. “You sure this is going somewhere, Twi?”
“I sure hope so”, the unicorn replied.
“It really sucks that jerk Silver has the Princess”, Rainbow mused grimly. “We should totally go after him when we’re outta here and get it back.”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea”, Twilight disagreed. “We’ll only get lost in the jungle, and I have no intention to almost fall to my death again in some deadly trap. We should continue to Malatierra and tell somepony about what happened.”
“He stole the statue! We gotta get it back!”
“But – “ Twilight tried to reply, but Rainbow interrupted her by hovering in front of the lavender unicorn and staring right into her eyes.
“Twi, if we stop now, we’ve lost. I don’t lose! You know that!”
“But it’s going to be dangerous! We don’t know the jungle! There could be goats out there to meet with Manehattan Silver, or worse things even! Going out there on a whim and hunting down Manehattan Silver is just reckless!” Twilight finally managed to object.
“It is not reckless, it’s heroic! I can’t believe you’re such an egghead even inside a book!”
Twilight just stared at her, mouth agape, trying to decide if she should be offended. She knew she was right – just running out in the jungle would be dangerous in all kinds of ways, and she didn’t like it one bit that Rainbow had called her an egghead. At the same time, she didn’t want to look like a coward in front of the pegasus. It was obvious that Rainbow was pushing her buttons – but it seemed to be working; she didn’t want her to think badly of her.
Rainbow Dash brought her head even closer to Twilight’s and added, “And if we go home now, the story’s over! I don’t want it to end yet!”
Not liking being called an egghead was one thing, but she disliked the idea of the story being over even more. Even though their adventure had turned out to be rather strenuous, stressful, and even dangerous at times, she didn’t want it to end yet. That was almost like not finishing a book, something she had not done since her second year in school. Besides, she wanted to know how the story ended. She wanted to know how it would all work out. Even if it was dangerous and foolish.
And if that meant hunting down Manehatten Silver, then, well, she’d hunt down Manehattan Silver. After all, an invaluable artifact like the Golden Princess should not be in the hooves of the Goat Empire.
And he had threatened Rainbow Dash. If she was completely honest with herself, Twilight had to admit that this was probably driving her mad the most.
He had also called Rainbow Dash her girlfriend. That was a sentiment that brought forth a weird mix of emotions – a little anxiety mixed with quite a bit of anticipation. Rainbow Dash would become her girlfriend before this story ended! Unless the story ended right here and now.
“So let’s do this already! Silver deserves some flank-kicking!”” the pegasus interrupted her thoughts with grim verve.
Finally having reached a decision, Twilight agreed, “Okay. Let’s get him!”
“Yeah!” Rainbow cheered and pumped her hoof in the air. “We’re gonna kick his flank!” She started moving into the next corridor. “Are you coming? Let’s check this place out!” Smiling at her friend’s determination, she followed Rainbow Dash through the passageway, still half-way caught up in her anticipation. Yes, she definitely wanted to know how this story ended.
The tunnel led them into a wide and surprisingly high hallway that was guarded by statues, ponies in old-fashioned plate mail armor, wearing swords and shields, on the right, and alpacas with their traditional headdresses and armed with spears and blowpipes on the left. The ponies were all injured in some way, spears and arrows stuck in their armors and bodies, and the alpacas were viciously baring their teeth.
“They must have built these immediately before the downfall of their empire”, Twilight whispered, impressed by the gruesome depictions. She continued narrating, “When the first ponies arrived in Neighcaragua, they were less than friendly towards the alpacas, who in turn didn’t want the newcomers on their sacred land.
"There were a lot of fights and skirmishes. The alpacas were driven back further and further into the jungle, and the ponies razed their capital, Teneightitlan. Legend has it that the last High King of the alpacas, Manetezuma, tried to strike a bargain with the alpacas’ sun god, Trotathiu. In exchange for victory over the ponies, he sacrificed his own daughter and, in a horrible ritual, enshrined her soul in the Golden Alpacan Princess statue. Then, with his own hoof, he placed the statue in a secret temple.
"Shortly thereafter, the last Alpacan army went to battle the ponies in the plains north of Marenagua. Confident in Trotathiu’s blessing, Manetezuma recklessly led the charge, armed with a golden spear. His loyal guards, clad in golden armor and absolutely fearless, were right behind him. They clashed into the spearheads of the pony army and killed lots and lots of pony soldiers, seemingly made invincible by the blessing of their god.
"When the night fell, Manetezuma and most of the guards were still alive, but they found themselves surrounded. The ponies had defeated the entire alpaca army, and except for those who had fled, only the High King and his guards were left alive. The ponies offered them to surrender, but the High King wouldn’t listen.
"He was imperturbable in his belief that he was blessed by his god and that the pony army could not defeat him. So he raised his golden spear, and he cried out the ancient war cry of the alpacas, and they charged.” She stopped, unsettled by her own story."
“What happened?” Rainbow asked in a low voice. Apparently she was impressed by the story as well.
“The ponies killed them all. That day, the Alpacan Empire ceased to exist. The surviving alpacas were treated rather gracefully by the ponies once they had made peace, but they had lost the reign over their land.” She swallowed. “They must have built these statues right before the battle, to express their confidence.” With a shimmering eyes, she raised a hoof and gently touched the statue of an alpaca warrior with a raised spear.
A pegasus wing was softly wrapped around her withers. “Thanks”, she sniffled. “I’m not usually that unsettled by history.” She wiped her eye. “Then again, I never knew I knew this story. It must have come from Rosetta again.”
Rainbow gave her a quick squeeze with her wing before releasing her. “Wow. That was a really cool story. That High King was reckless.” She smiled. “You know, you are a pretty awesome guide. The way you tell history, it kinda all comes to life. I never knew that old stuff was so interesting!”
“Thanks”, Twilight giggled, still a little downbeat. “If you’re not careful, I’m getting you into egghead stuff!”
“Yeah, yeah”, the pegasus replied. “If it’s as cool as that story, I won’t even mind. And most stuff is much more interesting anyway when you – “
“When I what?”
“Nevermind.” She looked away and cleared her throat. “Ready to go on?” Twilight nodded, and they continued on down the long hallway lined by alpaca and pony warriors.
It wasn’t long until they reached the end of the hallway. There had been a cave-in, and the rocks and dirt had toppled over the great statue of Manetezuma who had stood there on a pedestal. He now lay half-covered in stones, looking defeated. After the story of his last resolve, it was sad and oddly fitting to see him lie like this.
Above the statue, where the rocks had fallen down, an opening was visible. The draft was stronger here; there was likely to be an exit up there. Twilight stretched out her neck in order to light as much of the cave above them as possible. It seemed big enough for a pony for walk through, and she could climb the stones like uneven stairs.
“More stupid caves”, Rainbow Dash mumbled.
“Yeah”, Twilight agreed. “I've had enough of them, too.”
Rainbow offered Twilight a hoof as she started climbing up the rocks, which the unicorn gratefully accepted. Soon they found themselves in the cave that had collapsed into Manetezuma’s temple.
The cave was narrow and not very high. The same mushrooms as in the ruins grew in the corners, and a couple of tree roots grew threw the walls that seemed to consist more of dirt than rocks. It continued in roughly the same direction as the hallway with the statues. The air was much damper up here than in the ruins.
They trotted along, the cave leading up a shallow angle. Twilight noticed that the continuous walking was weighing her down. She was not the most athletic pony of all, and hour-long hikes were not her typical pastime. She stifled a yawn.
“You okay, Twi?” Rainbow asked worriedly.
“I’m fine”, the unicorn replied. “Just a little tired from all the walking.”
“Wanna take a nap?”
“Let’s get out of here first. I need some daylight.”
They dragged themselves on. The cave was much less interesting than the ruined temple, and the strain of the past hours was more and more weighing down on them. When they started hearing the rushing of water up ahead, they hardly reacted. They just continued prodding on.
As they turned around a corner, they suddenly found themselves in front of, or rather behind a huge waterfall. Through the rushing water they could make out pale daylight. Looking around, they found that their cave opened into a ravine, into which the waterfall was pouring from a source somewhere above them. Rainbow carefully flew around the side of the water to take a look outside.
“It’s only like ten meters to the top, no biggie”, she reported back.
“But how do I get up there?”
Instead of an answer, Rainbow came flying back into the cave and crouched down next to Twilight. “Hop on”, she instructed Twilight with a smile. The unicorn climbed on the pegasus’ back, careful to not obstruct her strong blue wings. “Hold on!”
With a loud cheer, Rainbow darted past the waterfall. The ravine seemed to reach as far down as the one in the temple, a thought that made Twilight shudder and wrap her hooves even closer around Rainbow’s neck. “Relax, Twi, you’re flying with the best flyer in Equestria!” Twilight smiled and loosened her grip a little, instead burying her face in the multi-hued mane to block out the unwelcome view into the depth.
It was only a few seconds later that Rainbow Dash landed. Twilight looked up again and saw that they were back in the jungle, surrounded by the impenetrable green. She slid off Rainbow’s back and took a look around. The scenery was exotic, yet pretty uninteresting. At least there was daylight and fresh, albeit hot and humid, air.
“You good to go on?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I should be able to walk for another hour or so”, Twilight replied. “But thanks for asking.”
“You look kinda smashed after all those traps and temples falling down on you, you know.” She looked around, trying to determine where to head. “So, where do you think we’re gonna find Silver?”
“Hmm, Captain Flujo said the goats have some territory claimed along that tributary river we passed yesterday. Let’s have a look at the map.” She pulled the map out of her saddlebags, now happy she’d brought them, and let it hover in front of them.
“Okay, Malatierra is here. The ruins must be around here, so we’re probably around here”, she indicated. “The river where the goats are must be this one, the Rio Moreno. It takes a bend here and flows almost parallel to the Rio Marenagua.” She estimated the distance. “We should be able to get there early tomorrow.”
“Let’s just hope we get there before Manehattan Silver gets on a boat and is gone”, Rainbow mumbled.
“We shouldn’t be too far behind him, actually”, Twilight said, looking around. “The temple is on the other side of this ravine, and to get to Rio Moreno, Silver has to walk around it. We might even be a little ahead of him!”
“Alright, then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Rainbow impatiently waited for Twilight to stuff the map back into the saddlebags, but when the unicorn stifled another yawn, she added, ”Just say it when you need a rest, okay?”
Twilight chuckled. “So I guess you’re in charge of taking care of me now, hmm?” she asked with a smirk.
To her surprise, Rainbow didn’t respond to her good-natured teasing, but instead replied more seriously, “You know, I was really worried about you back there when that darn traitor caused the floor to collapse. With all those stones flying around, I – I – “
“You what?” Twilight asked carefully.
“I wasn’t sure if I could’ve caught you”, the pegasus blurted out. “I was really scared of losing you there. I guess I’m kinda still chewing on that.” Twilight didn’t know what to say and simply gave her a gentle nuzzle on the neck.
“You know”, Rainbow went on, “back when we all got our cutie marks, when I did my first Sonic Rainboom… when I was done with the race with those jerks, I heard how Fluttershy had fallen off of the clouds. I mean, she was fine, but still, when they told me, it hit me like a thundercloud. She could’ve died there, you know? If it weren’t for those butterflies.” She went silent for a short while, and Twilight didn’t dare interrupt her.
Finally she continued, “Back then, she was my only friend, you know? I didn’t really hang with the other foals in my year because, well, they were just learning to fly and I was already pretty awesome. And the older kids just made fun of me.
"Well, and then there was Fluttershy. I kinda took her under my wing, even though she was older, you know? She was just so timid! So whenever some jerk bullied her, I stood up for her. And she, she was just there for me.
"I dunno. I just don’t know what I would’ve done if something had happened to her, you know? And ever since I met you guys, it’s been the same with all of you. I’d rather have my leg torn off than let something happen to you, I mean, any of you.” She cleared her throat, and when she continued in her usual cocky way, it was obvious that it took her quite an effort. “Luckily I’m totally awesome, so I usually just ace it!”
Twilight nuzzled her again. “I didn’t know you felt that way. At least not that strongly”, she finally said. They continued walking in silence for a while, before Twilight added, “Thanks for sharing this with me, Rainbow.”
Rainbow chuckled sheepishly and looked to the other side, scratching her head. “Yeah, well… just don’t tell anypony I got all sappy, okay?”
Twilight gave her an encouraging shoulder bump. “Don’t worry. Your sappy secrets are safe with me.”
“Hehe cool.” She looked around, apparently still a bit embarrassed. “Erm, I’ma quickly take wing, have a look around above the trees and stuff. You cool with that?” Twilight nodded understandingly, and the pegasus took off, darting into the sky, leaving behind her trademark rainbow-colored trail.
It wasn’t long before Rainbow returned to the ground. “Yeah, river’s pretty much where you said it is. It’ll still be quite the walk.”
“Let’s make some way, then, before dark.”
So they trotted on, slower than before. They didn’t talk much, but it was a companionable silence. When they came past a patch of mango trees, Rainbow again flew up and picked some which they ate while walking on. It was more demanding than the way from Malatierra to the ruins, because there wasn’t even a narrow cleared path, and they constantly had to push aside branches and step around bushes and shrubs.
They heard the rain start shortly after, but only a few thick drops reached the ground through the dense canopy above them. Thunder roared once or twice, but then seemed to lose interest. The jungle fauna didn’t react in the slightest and continued their usual cacophony.
When Twilight swayed into Rainbow, the pegasus stopped. She examined her shortly and decided, “We’re taking a break now.” Twilight by now was too exhausted to protest, so she just nodded and collapsed on the ground. Rainbow huddled up next to her, and the unicorn gladly snuggled her face up against her coat and quickly fell asleep.