//------------------------------//
// 50 - The Forbidden Chamber 
// Story: Re:Harmony 
// by starcross7 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 50 - The Forbidden Chamber

Here, the blue unicorn splayed, bruised, and bled herself on the damp floor of a dimly lit cavern.  She felt no broken bones within, but even thinking about what pain her instructor caused within threw Minuette into a groaning agony. 
 
Above her with the hanging stalagmites as witnesses stood Twilight Velvet with a completely unreadable expression.  Barely did she break a sweat, and the older mare looked as if she had just rose from tender nap.  Minuette didn't know if she failed, or, by luck, managed to live up to Chieftain Velvet's expectations of their recent magic duel.  Even with the years of training as the 3rd Magisister did the blue unicorn fully realize that she knew next to nothing about Velvet aside from her well-known family history.  She was harsh, even to her own family, but Minuette never imagined that she would inflict a thousand points of pain on her body. 
 
"Get up," Velvet commanded. 
 
The blue unicorn was in so much pain that instead of thrashing in her place, Minuette could only elicit a pathetically lethargic grunt.  That last blast from Velvet knocked the wind among other things out from Minuette, and she looked up to silently beg the Chieftain for a little more time and a little mercy. 
 
After gazing coldly back at her pupil, Velvet harrumphed before firing a magic blast to the ceiling of the cavern.  The impact rocked each and every hanging stalagmite above her and Minuette.  The Chieftain turned a cold shoulder as she composed her trot back to the entrance, even as rocks fell all around her.  None of the rocks struck Minuette as well, but if she didn't move, Velvet would have succeeded in completing her execution. 
 
Desperation overcame pain, and Minuette struggled with all her might to finally stand on all fours.  The rate of falling rocks increased, with a few finally striking the Magisister.  Minuette bolted out of the cavern just in time, for immediately behind her there was nothing but a wall of ruin. 
 
Yet she was still in the caves, but in a bigger part.  Velvet could have issued her another challenge from here, but even the Chieftain knew better.  A slight smirk drew across her face for a moment, and she turned around to head back towards the new location of Unicornia. 
 
"My daughter got out in less than thirty seconds," said Velvet.  "Trixie was thirty-two seconds.  You took almost a minute." 
 
No words of thanks?  No words of congratulations?  All Minuette could do was quake and glower at her Chieftain at such brutal recklessness of the training.  She knew Twilight and Trixie often spoke angrily about Velvet, and she knew why.  Sure, her training had a method to her madness, and some unicorns claim it was Velvet's way of showing her love.  If this was love, Twilight Velvet was being too tough and generous for the blue unicorn's health. 
 
Minuette did not remember trotting back to her stonemason home, and when she did, she did nothing to take a bath, pull the bedsheets over her equine body, or even eat.  The promotion to First Magisister felt more like a death sentence than an honor.  Minuette could not count the times of being cursed, hexed, or having her limbs splintered and separated due to teleportation mishaps.  A few times, she cursed Twilight for leaving, but all the same she cursed the orange Earthian and the army of Clone Soldiers that disrupted the long peace the unicorns had while living underground. 
 
And so Minuette curled up on a slab of a bed, and briefly glimpsed the top half of her Destiny Glyph: an hourglass.  She was proficient with a few advanced time spells, but the training so far made her cast doubt on what Glyph truly meant for her.  Sometimes she self-deluded herself that the sands in her Glyph were slowly seeping from top to bottom, and that when the top emptied out, she would be no more. 
 
The next day soon started at the crack of the sun spell.  No time to make her bed or even eat a healthful breakfast.  Minuette doubled her pace out of her stone home and galloped all the way to the new temple at a time where many other unicorns slept. 
 
Only Twinkleshine, a pink-maned and cream-white unicorn, was present at the front-most pews.  At least she and Minuette would be scolded for being late.  Twilight Velvet hated late ponies, and she issued the most grueling punishments even for those who were seconds late.  Minuette took the first seat next to Twinkleshine, whose nose wrinkled at the stench of the blue unicorn's panting breath. 
 
"Sheesh, that's the third time you haven't brushed your teeth," said Twinkleshine.  "Was the training that harsh?"
 
"I didn't have time."
 
"I still have some toothpaste leftover in my saddlebags..."
 
Minuette's cheeks puffed up with a sickened stomach and a sickened memory.  She remembered eating tubes after tubes of toothpaste Twilight Sparkle had found in an Earthian crate long ago, thinking it was another one of those exotic surface world snacks.  She blamed the purple unicorn for the magical stomach pumping operation, and yet she was the last to know that toothpaste shouldn't be eaten.  The other unicorns, the mares especially, became receptive to the idea of toothpaste since it made their mouths clean and their breath smelling fresh.  There were even fights over near-empty tubes since Sparkle's extra stock was quickly running out, and nopony dared to venture back to the Great Chasm ever since the invasion. 
 
Several minutes to an hour had passed, and no other Magister or Magisister arrived for the morning prayers.  Now Minuette was starting to worry, because Velvet would take out her anger at her and Twinkleshine instead of the others.  The dread increased right as Twilight Velvet trotted stoically to the front of the altar, and she coldly eyed the First and Second Magister, Minuette and Twinkleshine. 
 
"Chieftain Velvet," said Minuette.  "I apologize for lateness of our brothers and sisters.  If you allow Twinkleshine and I..."
 
"There is no need," said Velvet.  "I told everypony to sleep in for an extra hour."
 
Velvet being nice for change?  Something was up.  Velvet would never be nice unless she had an ulterior reason for allowing the Magisters and Magisisters to sleep in.  Otherwise, she would have told Minuette and Twinkleshine the same thing. 
 
"I have mission for you two," said Velvet. 
 
Here we go...
 
"I want you to cross the Chasm and secure a path for all of us to breach the surface."
 
"Hu-what?"
 
"Something the matter, Magisister Minuette?"
 
"It's just that you yourself forbade us to cross the Chasm."
 
"I have, but that was the rule that was put in place by our ancestors until the appointed time.  The elders and I have consulted the oracle, and the Starswirl Prophecy will soon come to pass."
 
"If anything, Chieftain Velvet," said Twinkleshine, "there is a war going on between the Earthians and the Pegasi.  Shouldn't we let them destroy themselves first before we go up?" 
 
"That war has been foretold by the Prophecy.  The Unicorns, the Pegasi, and the Earthians are the three divided houses that will rouse the Beast from slumber, which will mark the appearance of the Twilight who will change the world.   Even here we will not be exempt from the changes that will come."
 
"But this is the surface world we are talking about.  I heard that there are mechanical abominations up there that are more dangerous than the ones Twilight Sparkle unearthed, and that they cut off unicorn horns to make aphrodisiacs."
 
"Magisister Twinkleshine, your training with Minuette should have already prepared you for such horrors.  Now, I expect you to be packed and ready so we can meet at the chasm at noon.  Try not to be late, if you'll please."
 
Just as she came in, Velvet trotted away through the temple's back door.  She did not initiate a morning prayer service like she had always done, not that she could anyway.  That left Minuette and Twinkleshine quaking in the pews with butterflies in their stomachs, fearful of the mission their Chieftain had given them.  Minuette could assume that, like her, Twinkleshine did not want to cross the chasm, and yet taking on the mission would spare them from bearing another day or years of Velvet's harsh training.  Either way, Minuette and Twinkleshine had better obey her, lest they be cast into the Endless Pits or thrown to their violent deaths upon the jagged rocks of the Great Chasm. 
 
"Well, let's get ready," shrugged Twinkleshine.  "I guess." 
 



 
"I'd give my life... Not for honor, but for you!"
 
"Um, Pinkie Pie," squeaked Fluttershy. 
 
"In my time there'll be no one else...  Crime, it's the way I've lied to you!"
 
"Pinkie Pie.  What are you singing?"
 
"Our sneaking theme song!" Pinkie Pie cried.  "I just thought of it when my face planted itself in that cushiony pink pillow." 
 
"With you singing so loudly, we're not exactly sneaking around, especially with an audience," groaned Spike as he scratched his black spandex-covered belly.  "How did I get roped into this?  And are you sure Princess Rarity made this?  The quality is a little... off."
 
"I found it laying around in Rarity's closet.  Should I tell her that you don't like it?"
 
"No, please don't!  I like it... very much." 
 
Fluttershy could easily believe that Pinkie Pie somehow managed to sneak into the closet of the Diamond Princess, but these suits they were wearing weren't functional.  They were essentially costumes, with Pinkie Pie donned in a turtleneck black shirt, balaclava mask, and goggles, and Spike adorned in a tight back spandex.  There was nothing sneaky about Fluttershy's costume, in which she wore a black hoodie suit with a belt full of individual pouches, turquoise booties, and turquoise rabbit ears.  With her wings bound underneath her suit, the pegasus appeared more as an earth pony, never mind the fact that she rarely flew around like she was supposed to. 
 
And the embarrassment was amplified by the fact that, as Spike had said, an audience of guards and servants gathered around them like flies to a compost heap, and they followed the two mares and the baby dragon as they moved around the castle.  None saw their actions and costumes as suspicious, and despite the terrorist incident, this was welcome entertainment after the Dinner Gala.
 
"Thank you, thank you!" Pinkie Pie bowed as she, Fluttershy, and Spike stopped at a corner while ponies around them applauded.  "Would you like to hear another song?"  
 
"There you are, darlings," said Rarity as she parted the sea of spectators with a dainty gait.  "I was looking all over for you, but where is Miss Twilight and Miss Applejack?" 
 
"They're, um, predisposed at the moment," said Fluttershy. 
 
"They're out looking for that hunk of a handsome stallion, Captain Armor," said Pinkie Pie. 
 
"Of course," said Rarity.  "What mare could resist his charms, even though he can be quite dense at times?  Say, are those my garments?"
 
"We're sorry that we stole them," said Fluttershy. 
 
"It's quite all right, because as guests you are free to ask for anything.  However, I do wish you'd ask ahead of time, because I haven't finished designing those.  And Sir Spike, are you wearing Sweetie Belle's dancing leotard?" 
 
"Wait, this wasn't from your wardrobe?" asked Spike. 
 
"It is, but I am still not finished accessorizing that as well.  Although, seeing you wearing that gives me an idea.  Several I might add.  Do you think you could come with me to act as a model for Sweetie Belle's new outfits?  After that, I'll give you a reward."
 
"It's late at night," said Fluttershy.  "Spike is a baby dragon, and he needs his--"
 
"Yes, I'll model!" Spike cried out. 
 
"Splendid!" clapped Rarity.  "Oh, and you girls have to come as well."
 
"Sure," said Pinkie Pie.  "Fluttershy and I will catch up.  We need to wow these ponies with our final act."
 
"Don't be too long.  Sir Spike, hurry on."
 
"Coming!" cried the baby dragon. 
 
The pair of mares lost their dragon companion, but it was a necessary sacrifice so he could help distract Rarity.  Besides, he would have gladly accepted the Diamond Princess's offer with gusto anyway, and nothing was going to stop him from following her.  
 
However, there was still the manner of finding a way to disperse these beaming spectators. 
 
"And now, for our disappearing trick!" Pinkie cried out.  From her saddlebag, she raised a smoke grenade high up in the air.  The audience did not gasp in terror for two reasons: number one, the construction was vastly different from their usual weapons; and number two, Pinkie Pie had them so mesmerized that she managed to convince them that it was a magic trick.  That weapon was but a curious foreign prop in the eyes of the Crystal Empire's citizens. 
 
Pinkie pulled the pin, and she threw the grenade to the floor.  The device exploded to produce an enveloping mist of smoke that gagged and blinded everypony within the vicinity, including Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, who blindly pressed randomly on the walls on the corner for the secret switch.  Just in time as well, because they had narrowly entered into the cramped passages to close the heavy crystal door behind them. 
 
Fluttershy was back in familiar territory from an hour ago, and while she was supposed to lead, Pinkie Pie had already bounced up many winding stairs and pathways.  The pegasus worriedly followed her on hoof, but it became clear to her that the feathers that fell off her wings during her accompaniment with Sweetie Belle were still present, and that Pinkie Pie had immediately locked on the trail Fluttershy left behind.  That, or dumb luck. 
 
They were back in the Secret Library once more.  It looked to be in the left in the same state the Crystal Rebels left it, but close inspection revealed that all of the books had been replaced with the leather-like hardcover tomes that had nothing to do with the with the design and the operation of the Crystal Empire.  Book after book, scroll after scroll, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie could only find mere histories of the Empire, tracts of lineages, and the mundane records of crystal mining and crop rotation.  It couldn't be the Rebels who replaced it, because they escaped without carrying any books on their backs.  Even if they were responsible for the switch, why would they go through all the trouble to make it look like they left it in a hurry?  Why would anypony replace these books in the first place? 
 
"Are you sure this is the Secret Library?" Pinkie Pie asked with her snout buried in one suspicious book.  "All I could find are old books about growing crystals and one titled, 'The Secret to a Tantric Intercourse.'  Man, all my life smuggling contraband pornography in and out of Rock Prison and I never seen a stallion do a mare like that."
 
"This is the place, I know it is," said Fluttershy, setting a book aside.  "Somepony came in and replaced all the books."
 
"Maybe they just moved them, and if we keep poking around these secret passages, we might find another Secret Library." 
 
"No Pinkie, we shouldn't be poking our noses around places we shouldn't go.  Pinkie, wait for me!"
 
From the tiny library, Pinkie Pie bounced away, making the same unexplainable squeaking noise at each bounce that Fluttershy had to figure out.  The pegasus quickly chased after her, mostly because she didn't want to be left all alone and hidden in a secret room and to be stuck in the darkness when the torches burned out.  She could no longer find the yellow feathers she had inadvertently left behind.  Pinkie Pie took her through another direction completely unknown to the pegasus, with the pink pony occasionally stopping between floors to randomly knock on the walls for a secret door. 
 
Several winding narrow stairwells later, they reached a dead end, but an obvious metal handle served as a method to open a secret door.  The earth pony and pegasus emerged into the King's personal library they thought they had seen during the tour.  Without all the light however, it appeared darker and crammed full of various antique and artifacts they had not seen before.  Tip-hoofing in, the two ponies thought it best search this library.  Yet while Fluttershy focused on books, Pinkie Pie busied herself touching anything but books, such as globes, sextants, a reflective crystal ball on the table, and the dangling models of the planets. 
 
But there was one artifact Pinkie stopped in front of that garnered all her short-term attention span.  Fluttershy didn't know what to make of it, but her pink friend sat before an ornate horseshoe-shaped mirror making faces and laughing at it.  The pegasus had to intervene, because now the pink pony was hysterically rolling in the ground. 
 
Before she could even think about reprimanding her, Fluttershy saw her own bizarre reflection in the mirror.  She appeared taller, almost grossly thin, and her face had been flattened to where her muzzle disappeared.  Where her front hooves should be, there were instead flat appendages each containing five gangly digits. 
 
She had no time to be spooked or wonder about the reasoning of this magical mirror, for the entrance door at the other end of the King's Library opened.  Gripping Pinkie's tail between her teeth, Fluttershy pulled her friend with all her might back to the secret door disguised as a bookshelf, and quickly shuttered herself and Pinkie in the secret passage way.  
 
Even curiosity prevented her from closing it all the way.  All the library's magical candles lit up one by one for the two lanky unicorn stallions entering in.  Both had a yellowish coat, a wavy red mane, red tail, and blue and white striped robes and wizard hats.  These unicorns might as well be twins, though each had a slightly differently styled manes and one of them bore a red and white-striped mustache. 
 
"Isn't that convenient, brother of mine?" asked the mustached unicorn.  "Rebels break in, and Blueblood accidentally burns the manual and plans of the Crystal Castle."
 
"It is a good thing you suggested moving the others to a 'Super Special Secret Library'," said the brother. 
 
"No, no, you're too kind.  It was really you who suggested moving the books underground and replacing them with dusty old tomes."
 
"I'm sure the King won't miss his 'Mushroom Crop Census, Volume XVI'.  So my dear brother, is the 'you-know-what' nearly complete?"
 
"Indeed, and the 'other thing' is ready to be installed in the 'device'."
 
The crystal ball on the table suddenly glowed and whirred in a pattern of flashes, catching the attention of the unicorn brothers.  It reminded Fluttershy of the light signals ponies passed to one another from one end of the train to another on very dark nights. 
 
"Brother of mine," said the mustached unicorn, "looks like there's another one of the crystal earth ponies acting up.  Shall we?"
 
The non-mustached brother nodded, and after igniting their horns with the same green aura, the two brothers vanished in a flash, and all the candles were put out as if they took their flames with them. 
 
"Oh, good," sighed Fluttershy.  "They moved the books to a safer location.  If you don't mind, maybe we can ask them tomorrow for them.  Pinkie Pie, is something wrong?"
 
"Something about what they said sounds and smells suspicious," said Pinkie Pie as she tapped her chin with her hoof.  "And it almost sounds and smells like bacon-apples.  You ever tried bacon-apples?" 
 
"Goodness, no!  I would never eat the flesh of another animal!  But what would bacon and apples have to do with anything?"
 
"You heard what they said: something about 'device', this 'other thing', and a 'you-know-what'.  Those two unicorns are planning something dastardly, and my Pinkie Sense is going off the charts.  In the kidneys."
 
"What?"
 
"If my kidneys are bouncing, then tells me there are evil schemers lurking around, and all this time I thought it was my stomach growling." 
 
Then the two heard the growling of an internal organ. 
 
"Okay, those weren't my kidneys.  Let's go the kitchen and grab us some grub." 
 
"But don't we have a mission?"
 
"We can't complete our mission on an empty stomach.  Follow me, Fluttershy!  It won't take long for me to devour whatever is left in the pantry."
 
The Pink Joy bounced off confident of her sense of direction, even though her companion knew well that at that moment, both were hopelessly lost.  The yellow pegasus quietly closed the secret door to the King's Library to follow the lead of Pinkie Pie.  There was no feather trail to follow, unfortunately.  The costume would not allow Fluttershy to molt on a scheduled basis, and even if they had something as equivalent as breadcrumbs, Pinkie Pie would most likely eat them right off the floor. 
 
Almost fifteen minutes later, the pink one's bounces were reduced to a lethargic trot.  Fluttershy's stomach joined in growling with Pinkie Pie's stomach in their hunger for a late night snack on top of being plum tired.  The pair ascended and descended many narrow staircases and squeezed many crevices.  Perhaps they made several revolutions about the castle as well as striking many dead ends.  Even their attempt to go back the way they came was met with failure. 
 
Fluttershy's teeth gnashed at the thought of being trapped in the Crystal Castle's secret passages for the rest of the life.  Would anypony hear her cries if she screamed?  And if they were too late, would they find a pair of dead corpses?  Or two piles of skeletons?  Tempting thoughts of beating Pinkie down for being too whimsical rippled in Fluttershy's mind, and yet even with all anger she was too timid and even too weak to bring herself to do such a thing.  Pinkie Pie was her friend.  She wouldn't dream of hurting her, no matter how foolish or stupid her pink friend's ideas were. 
 
In what seemed like their last leg of their trek, Pinkie Pie finally plopped to the ground as exhausted as she could be.  Her pegasus friend helped her back to her haunches, and gave her some water packed in one of her saddlebags.  After a full swig, the pink pony tried rising back up, but fell back down again. 
 
"Fluttershy," she said.  "I have a confession to make.  It's regarding both of us."
 
"What is it?"
 
"The thing is… We're lost!"
 
The pegasus facehoofed.  Just now she realized it? 
 
"Oh, by the earth, we are lost!  Fluttershy, this is all my fault, and I don't want you to die on my account.  You're going to have to become an omnivore and eat me."
 
"WHAT?"
 
"I do recommend starting with rump, 'cause I know I've been packing a lot of juicy fat in there.  I made sure to pack some steak sauce in my saddlebags, just in case for cannibal emergencies." 
 
"Pinkie Pie, I know you're trying to humor me, but this isn't funny."
 
"I'm being serious, and I'm pretty sure I taste like cotton candy."  The pink pony licked her own hoof.  She gagged and spat out some pink fur.  "Okay, so I don't taste like cotton candy, but I got some whip cream you can spread all over my body."
 
"No, I won't!  I won't become an omnivore.  We have to call for help.  Help!" 
 
"Nopony will hear us.  I have a hunch that these walls are made out of soundproofing crystals." 
 
"There has be a secret switch somewhere around here…"
 
"How would like your pony cooked?" Pinkie pie asked as she began shaking a saltshaker over her right hind leg.  "Well done?  Rare?"
 
"Stop it!" Fluttershy yelled.  "Don't you ever talk about such things!"
 
"Sorry.  I was being half-serious."
 
"Pinkie Pie, I've seen ponies being fed to hungry, ravenous dogs in the Everfree Forest, and that's after those dogs ate their own puppies.  It's something that I can't forget or forgive." 
 
"That's horrible!  I didn't mean to scare you like that."
 
"I know you were only trying to cheer me up."
 
"I know, and I'm sorry.  If it makes you feel better, I've seen some horrors myself too you know, back at Rock Prison.  I kind of wish I could tell you about the many tortures they did to prisoners, but even knowing and seeing some of it, I knew that that I couldn't let those things get me down.  Smile, Fluttershy!  Even in deepest depths of darkness, you will always find happiness.  The trick is to keep on thinking about the happiest memory of your life.  Mine is when I saw the mysterious exploding rainbow in the sky.  What about yours?" 
 
"Well, that's when after I took my Angel bunny into my life..."
 
"Awww..."
 
"...right after his mother died..."
 
"Oh."
 
"...along with the rest of his aunts, uncles, and cousins..."
 
"You could have stopped at the 'mother' part."
 
"I know, but taking care of Angel has been my joy for all my life so far."
 
"I can see you smiling.  Come on, smile wider."
 
"I don't think I can..."
 
"Smile Fluttershy!  Smile like your life depended on it!"
 
Pinkie Pie rose up to her hind legs and outstretched her front legs in all bravado in a bid to make her yellow friend happier.  The tip of her right front hoof nudged a discreet and small crystal that had been jutting from the wall behind her.  The area around her and Fluttershy rattled, and then a rectangular piece of the wall partitioned itself and slid itself inward and to the side as it ground its flat crystal surface upon the floor. 
 
Even in near darkness, the two mares swore that they had not been to these chambers, especially given the fact that Rarity was outright generous in the tour of the entire castle.  She even showed them Lord Umbra's personal chambers, but for certain Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and their friends were outright forbidden to enter one room, and it was possible that this was it.  
 
"A new room!" Pinkie exclaimed.  She bounced in, and Fluttershy cautiously followed her into a beautifully dark room with walls draped with glittering crystalline curtains. 
 
Fluttershy heard a pony sobbing.  Between fear and worry, Fluttershy galloped straight after her pink friend who had stopped on her haunches to stare at table that contained a silver platter filled crystal berries, pie, and a leafy green salad.  Pinkie Pie's face contorted with a wide range of emotions, from hesitation to heartbreak.  Surely she wanted to extend her neck and devour the food with one big bite, but she resisted and pulled back sadly, only to knock her own head with her front hooves. 
 
"Oh, I want to eat this, but I don't want make another pony sad when I do so," said Pinkie Pie. 
 
"It probably isn't yours, anyway," said Fluttershy. 
 
"I know, but the food has gone cold, and it's just sitting there wasting way.  But I'm sure that if I ask, she wouldn't mind."
 
"She?"
 
"That pony over there," Pinkie pointed. 
 
The chamber turned out to be consisted of several rooms.  Fluttershy barely noticed the second room towards the center where a grand bed adorned with heart-shaped accents flowed down each of its four golden bedposts.  Upon the glittering bed lay a pink pony slightly larger than an adult mare with wings and a horn.