//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: Rocinante and the Wedding at Canterlot // by Charliemane //------------------------------// Once her eyes grew accustomed to the darkness, Sassaflash found that she could see little, only vague shapes and silhouettes, but the fact that she could see at all meant there had to be light coming from somewhere, she just had to find it. “Think Sassa... What did Rocinante say about these caves? Why are they here?” Rubbing her temples, Sassaflash glared at the wall as though it would give up its secrets to her. “They dug these caves because Canterlot used to be a mining town before it was the capital... Unicorns love crystals... They founded the town because this was a rich mountain deposit... ung. Think Sassa, think! How did they dig these?! With magic? Why did they stop? They stopped... they stopped... Ung, I don't remember!” Collapsing on the ground, Sassaflash all but gave in to despair. “Trapped... trapped just like Sir... what's-his-name... Ung— it doesn't matter... or... or does it?” A sudden light flicked behind her eyes as she looked at her reflection in the crystal in front of her. Instead of trying to remember what Rocinante had said about the caves, she tried to remember what the legend had said about the knight that was trapped inside them. “He was tired... hungry... and had all but given up when... when he did something... there was a song... Yes! He sang the song his mother had sung to him when he was a colt and that opened the way home!” Sassaflash trotted in place with eager excitement at her ability to recall the story, but her excitement soon waned as she realized she had no idea how that could possibly help her. With the dust settling back down around her, Sassaflash soon stomped the ground in anger instead of excitement. “This isn't getting me anywhere! Think Sassa, think! I'm out of time! They need me-” Her words were cut of by a sudden rumbling beneath her hooves, as though somepony had magically blasted away a wall somewhere else in the caverns. Yet what caught her attention was not the strange rumbling, but the effect it had on the crystal in front of her. While most of the ground shook briefly, the crystal in front of her vibrated and hummed for what felt like an eternity while Sassaflash stared at it with wide eyes as the idea swirled and formed in her mind. Holding the pitch the crystal had made in her mind, Sassaflash slowly and carefully stepped up to the crystal and opened her mouth. “Ahhh...” Her heart grew lighter and lighter as the crystal vibrated in response. That was the meaning of the legend! The knight was able to sing his way home because the crystals resonated with his voice! Taking a deep breath, Sassaflash sang the carefully held pitch until the crystal began to shake, slowly at first and then violently before long a crack suddenly split the crystal down the middle. With an almost vengeful grin, Sassaflash planted her front hooves firmly in the ground and gave the crystal the hardest kick she could deliver. Though it was certainly harder than any cloud she had ever kicked, it soon gave way to a new chamber behind it, with more light reflecting off of the crystals to guide her path. She couldn't see where exactly the light was coming from, but she knew now it couldn't be too far away. But the smile that came across her face however soon dissipated as she heard what sounded like Princess Cadenza's shrill laughter echoing down the cavern walls. Rocinante eyed the surroundings carefully as he looked for landmarks that matched the descriptions in the ancient legends about the crystal caves. “I do believe... if the far western castle tower was truly built on top of the ruins of the ancient barracks and if main street was built upon the dried riverbed, then an entrance to the caverns should be...” Rocinante scanned the horizon carefully when at last he saw a tiny dot on the mountainside, just within the magical barrier. “Ah ha! There it is! Come, dear allies! Let us make haste to meet the enemy in glorious and decisive battle!” As he checked behind him, Rocinante saw that the three bridesmaids were still as silent as ever, their green eyes staring forward in an almost trance-like state as they followed him. Shrugging his shoulders, Rocinante took their silence to be some form of meditation for their martial art, and led the way. As the cave drew nearer and nearer, he could feel his own excitement growing as a small laugh welled up inside of him. “This day is going to be perfect, the kind of day that makes me prideful as a knight. Now the foe has shown his face, I will put him in his place, soon all the world will see my noble might!” Sassaflash raced through the winding caverns, singing and kicking at every crystal that barred her path. As she kicked her way through another crystal and dodged around another, Sassaflash grimaced as she thought about her cousin's optimistic prediction for the day. “This day was going to be perfect, the kind of day that makes us sad to see the night. But the bride I've realized, is nothing but a mare of lies, and now I fear that we are heading for a fight... Climbing his way up the steep mountainside was laborious, but not too difficult. Pausing for a moment's breath, Rocinante looked back towards Princess Luna's tower with a smile. While he had hoped that she would be able to rest well, he also wished that she could watch his great victory over the enemies of Canterlot. As the bridesmaids caught up with him, he smiled and continued eagerly up the slope. “Now please rest, my Noble Princess, victory belongs to me. The foes? Well, though they may be strong, I have my knightly virtue, and the cause of right I pursue, since when has right ever lost to the wrong? No I do not fear this fight, so come evil, this ends tonight! Face me now and meet your great demise!” Sassaflash could feel her heart racing as she spread her wings and flew over the ancient mine cart tracks and landed on the other side of the gorge. Even though she knew it was impossible, she was desperate to get to her cousin and her princess before the changeling could do any harm to either of them. “I must escape before it's too late. Warn my knight of evil's plight. Hope, for this gives me such a fright. For I fear that he is fighting, for a changeling who is lying, instead of for his Princess of the Night! For I know that he could win, against all evil, thick or thin. Oh, Rocinante, beware the foe within!” At last the cave entrance lay before them. Rocinante's breaths were beginning to become more and more labored, but he still smiled as he looked to the bridesmaids who were still pressing on alongside him. “Finally the moment has arrived. Dear ladies, please now step aside.” Sassaflash looked up at the rays of light coming from above and flexed her tired wings. Not too long ago, she would have been exhausted by this run, but either all the time spent questing through the countryside had toughened her or the adrenaline in her system simply let her ignore how tired she was and kept her racing and panting towards her goal. “The battle's soon upon us, and the foe still walks among us! Victory will soon be...” “Mine. All mine.” Rocinante let out a tired, but still triumphal laugh as he trotted into the cavern's wide opening and examined the terrain. “I see that there are two paths from which the foe may...” Rocinante's words trailed off as the bridesmaids continued walking past the entrance and on to a path that arched above a lower route before spiraling down into the mountain. “I see... If you defend the high road, then I shall hold the low path and together we shall block all passage for the enemy. Do not hesitate to call upon my aid should you find yourselves overrun. My lance is eager-” Rocinante froze as he rounded the corner, almost walking right into Sassaflash. Both ponies leapt back from each other in shock, but Rocinante was quicker to recover and tilted his lance towards his cousin. “You will not go anywhere near the noble city of Canterlot this day villain! Prepare yourself!” Sassaflash's eyes widened as she stepped further back away from the knight-errant's lance. “Cousin! It's me! Sassa! What are you doing?!” “Her Fair Highness warned me of your devious disguises and I must admit, I am impressed, but I know for a fact that my cousin Sassaflash is assisting Her Fair Excellency with her wedding even as we speak! You are too late to stop us now!” “Rocinante! Princess Cadenza is the real changeling! She's been playing us all for foals from the start! That's why everypony has been acting weird! We have to stop her now!” Rocinante's resolve seemed to falter for a moment, but his eyes swiftly narrowed back on their target. “Sassa? No, I was told this would happen. You will not deceive me so...” Rocinante stopped as a small bouquet of flowers landed on his back. “What is this?” “I WANT IT!” The knight-errant had no time to react as three desperate and determined bridesmaids fell on top of him from above. As the dust slowly settled around the pile of tangled ponies, Sassaflash calmly walked up to her cousin. “Even I could tell now would have been the perfect time to attack. Do you believe me now?” Rocinante looked up from where he was pinned the underneath the three bridesmaids. “Dear Sassa! How foalish of me to mistake you so! I beg your forgiveness! No doubt the disgusting coward of a rebellious upstart pony used some form of terrible magic to deceive me! But how did you come to be down here?” Sassaflash shook her head as she offered her cousin a hoof. “There's no time! Princess Luna is in danger!” Rocinante's jaw fell open as he quickly rose, quite forcefully, through the still bickering bridesmaids. “Then there is not a single moment to be lost! Come Sassa! Let us rush to the side of Her Most Noble Grace!” Sassaflash gave her cousin a worried look as she picked up his lance and passed it to him. “Are you alright? Can you still run?” Rocinante, still covered in dust and a few flower petals, laughed as he started racing for the cavern's entrance. “Fear not! Dear Sassa! For each time a knight-errant is knocked unto the ground, he shall rise again and again and evil shall be undone!”