//------------------------------// // Chapter 19 - Six Hooves Deep // Story: True Magic // by CodeMonkey //------------------------------// Chapter 19 - Six Hooves Deep Cold, lifeless darkness encapsulated Trixie and the skeletal abomination before her. Without a moment’s hesitation she turned to run, hoping to somehow find an escape from the pitch black room. Before she could get more than two steps away, something tugged at her hoof, causing her to plummet to the ground. Landing flat on her face, she instinctively curled into a ball and covered her eyes as she waited to be eaten or whatever other horrible fate awaited her. The magic she’d relied upon to save her wouldn’t come; it was blocked by some force she couldn’t explain. She couldn’t even focus enough to use her horn, not that it would do much good when she couldn’t see her opponent. “Please, don’t eat me!” Trixie pleaded, shivering on the stone floor. “I-I don’t taste good. I…” Before she could come up with another reason why she wouldn’t make a decent meal, juvenile laughter suddenly filled the room, echoing all around. Trixie removed a hoof and blankly peered into the chuckling blackness, glancing around in search of answers. Her racing pulse and frantic thoughts died down as she got to her hooves and looked around more closely, whirling around in an attempt to pinpoint where the laughter had come from. A glow soon bloomed at her hooves, the soft light partly illuminating the subterranean room. She stood in an ancient, circular chamber made of stone with sets of pony-sized alcoves along the walls, some occupied by worn wooden boxes while the rest were vacant, though the disturbed dust framing a rectangular outline suggested that something had been recently moved. An old vaulted ceiling towered above, broken by roots that snaked through the crumbling stone and patches of dirt. The room seemed to be just a small part of the crypt, judging by the four arched doorways leading off into separate darkness-filled paths. At her hooves, Trixie noticed more roots breaching the cobblestone floor; likely what caused her to fall. Movement soon caught her eye, drawing her ahead. Before her was a colt-sized figure, balanced atop a lantern, giggling beneath the skull resting on its shoulders. The shape of the creature suggested that it was a foal yet the skull implied something else, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. With another chuckle the creature stepped down from the lantern and put its forehooves to the skull. With a push and a hollow pop, the otherworldly creature became somewhat more recognizable; at least as far as equines go. At first she thought it was a pony, but with another quick glance she noticed black and white stripes decorating its fur, indicating to Trixie what it was almost immediately. A zebra, and a colt at that, looked up at her with a playful smile as he sat the skeletal head down. Trixie had met zebras before in her travels, although they were few and a rare sight to behold, especially in Equestria. But in all her days, she had never seen a foal before. The young colt’s striped mane stuck straight up for the most part with the front end sagging forward a bit, breaking away from the rest of the hairs. A long braid stretched from the back of his mane and over his shoulder, the colorful beads decorating it hanging in front of him. He wore a necklace with a single long fang as a pendant and a beaded bracelet around his leg. With a twinkle of joy in his amethyst eyes and smile on his face, he triumphantly said, “I scared you! I scared you! I scared you…” The zebra gleefully hopped up and down as he chanted his success. Trixie exhaled a breath of relief, seeing the happy colt instead of some freaky, undead monster. Looking down at him she furrowed her brow and sternly said, “You didn’t scare me. You just…surprised me.” The colt giggled at her excuse. “And then I scared you,” he replied in his youthful, high-pitched voice. Trixie growled before she said, “What are you doing down here any--?” “Jabari!” a stallion’s voice called, echoing through the crypt as Trixie turned and observed all the entryways, searching for the source. At that moment a fully grown zebra walked into the room, carrying a muddy shovel over his shoulder with a radiant lantern dangling from the end of its shaft. “Have you seen the…” he stopped dead in his tracks when his eyes fell on Trixie, locking onto her. His eyebrows knit together as he stared, speechless, his mouth slightly open. Atop the stallion’s head was a dirty, black top hat, with a tattered red ribbon around the crown, covering his noticeably untidy mane, long black and white strands of which poked out from beneath it. He wore a burgundy vest underneath a long, black-tailed coat, secured at the neck by a silver, skull-shaped broach with two glistening amethysts for eyes. Around his collar was a necklace, similar to the one the colt wore but with smaller, bone-like objects accompanying the large fang in the center. Ceasing his motionless gawking with a shake of his head, he turned his attention to the colt with a scowl as he firmly said, “Jabari. What did I say about conversing with the legions of the undead?” “Um…aim for the head?” he answered. The elder zebra continued to frown at him in silence for a moment before giving him a wide grin and saying, “That’s my boy.” “But Dad, she doesn’t look like one.” The shovel wielding zebra looked at her again with a narrow gaze, leaning in closer, refusing to take another step in her direction. Quickly scanning her head to hoof he leaned back and determined, “No, no, that’s definitely a zom-zom.” Directing his eyes back down to the young equine, he said, “Well, close your eyes, son. You know what comes next.” As he did as he was told, Trixie realized that, despite being zebras, neither one spoke in rhyme like others she had encountered. Both behaved like an Equestrian pony and they didn’t even carry any distinct accent. Were they from around here? The colt lay down and covered each eye with a hoof as Trixie reminisced, but couldn’t recall if she had ever met another zebra who’d acted like them. She refocused her attention on them when the parent zebra removed the lantern from the shaft of his shovel and gently sat it down next to him before taking a deep, cleansing breath. Trixie was about to speak when, in a flash, the stallion shot up onto his hind legs, taking the spade in both hooves before violently winding it back, with gritted teeth, preparing to strike as he yelled, “AWAY WITH YOU ABOMINATION OF THE AFTERLI--!” As he brought the shovel fully behind him, the blade flew off the handle, clanging loudly against the far wall. Trixie barely had time to flinch back as she stared between the dumbstruck zebra and where the end of his shovel had landed. For a moment, the striped equine stood motionless, his pensive face and bulging eyes still fixed on her before quickly peeking over his shoulder to see the former digging tool had been reduced to a stick. “…Huh…” he said nonchalantly, still staring at the shaft behind his head. “That was my favorite shovel.” Taking another look back at her, he dropped the stick before quickly getting down onto all fours, then kneeling to eyelevel with the colt. “Jabari,” he said sweetly, getting the colt’s attention, who raised a hoof to see him. “Could you bring Daddy his zombie whacking axe?” The colt sprung to his hooves, his face lighting up at the request. “Okay!” Jabari shouted before dashing down the passage that his father had come from, his tiny hooves reverberating into the distance. Looking back at Trixie and her vacant expression, he said, “I’m sorry about this, but could you give us a minute?” Trixie didn’t know what to think or how to act as the now relaxed and smiling zebra stood before her. Her body went stiff as her mind caught up with the danger she was in. Running came to mind, but she had no idea where she was or even where to run to, the passages around her could go anywhere, maybe even leading to a greater danger. Hopefully correcting his misunderstanding would stem his violent intentions. It wasn’t the wisest course of action, but there wasn’t much else she could do at this point. Against her better judgment, she decided to speak, asking, “You know I’m not a zombie, right?” “Oh, sure, sure, sure, I know that,” he erratically said, waving his hoof and letting out an odd laugh. “It’s just a show for the boy, you see.” His words sounded convincing, but Trixie had he doubts. “A show? I don’t see how--” “Jabari!” he shouted, turning to the corridor. “How’s that axe coming!?” “I can’t find it!” Jabari’s voice echoed back. The zebra groaned as he brought a hoof to his face and mumbled, “Left it at home, again. Stupid!” Removing his hoof, he shouted again, “What about the Evil Smasher!?” “…This big stick!?” “The one with the spikes!? That’s it!” “Spikes?” Trixie uneasily said before the colt came dashing in, lugging a large club, with long, metal spikes sticking out from the top, in his mouth. Bringing it to his father, the older zebra thanked him as he clutched it tightly in his hoof. “Now, close your eyes,” he instructed. “This will most likely get messy with brain stuff.” Jabari covered his eyes in the same fashion as before, as his father jumped back onto two legs again, readying the club over his head. “DIE BEING OF THE WALKING UNDEAD!” he exclaimed as he brought the club down in a killing strike. Trixie yelped as she recoiled back and shut her eyes tight, shielding her head as best she could. Why had she thought she could reason with this mad zebra? It all happened so quickly that there wasn’t enough time to do much else, so she waited for the attack’s arrival. An oddly silent and uneventful moment passed with no strike ever making contact. Cautiously, she peeked around her foreleg to see the zebra with his back arched and his forelegs extended down in front of him, still clenching the stick. The gears in his head were noticeably turning for some reason, his mouth hanging open as he continued staring at her. The zebra’s gaze shifted down to the weapon as he lifted the end up slightly to get a better look at the tip. The once blunt, spiked club had seemingly been torn in half by fire, leaving nothing remaining but a blackened, burnt stub at the end. “How the…?” he said, falling on three hooves while the other held the singed stick up to his face as he examined it, searching for some sort of answer. With the danger appearing to have passed, Trixie lowered her slight defenses, staring blankly at the former bludgeon, mind searching for answers as much as the zebra who held it. ‘Did I do that?’ she thought, unsure what exactly had happened. Suddenly, a shadow came into view behind the dumbfounded zebra, standing almost as tall as her striped attacker. The light from the lantern on the floor illuminated part of the figure, but, even as the moon started to shine back into the room, the small bit of torchlight was all Trixie needed. “What are you doing, Hex?” Magus asked, causing the zebra to shriek as he almost jumped out of his skin to get out of the way. Hex dropped the stub as he struck an exaggerated pose of shock, clutching his chest and breathing heavily. Staring wide eyed at the robed unicorn, he said, “Don’t do that!” As Magus began a slow gait towards Trixie, the zebra said, “Can’t you just say ‘hi’ like a regular pony? Or how about, “Hey Hex, nice to meet you, long time no see, sorry to bother you, but could I perhaps scare the stripes off you and possibly kill you with the resulting heart attack!?” That would be nice for once!” “Hello Hex,” Magus replied nonchalantly as he joined Trixie’s side. “…Meh,” Hex said with a shrug. “Close enough.” Glancing over to Magus, Trixie murmured, just loud enough so only he could hear, “Took you long enough. Where were you?” “Taking the stairs like normal ponies. You should try it.” Trixie snapped her mouth shut to keep from yelling at him. “Well, while you were taking your sweet time, I was almost assaulted with a shovel!” she muttered again in a stifled tone. Magus sighed, before muttering back, “If Hex really wanted to hurt you, he would’ve. But only if you posed a real threat.” “Oh, right, and how do you know that?!” she quietly mocked. “Hex is…odd like that…” Hex cleared his throat loudly, getting their attention before saying, “Excuse me!” The zebra had broken away from his dramatic pose to fall onto his haunches, crossing his forelegs and scowling at the two as he said, “I’m right here you know. Don’t you know it’s rude to whisper behind someone’s back and even ruder to do it while they face you? That pony, or zebra depending on your species, might just go crazy and start on a killing spree using his hat as a weapon!” “My apologizes Hex,” Magus said, stepping forward before giving a small bow. “I meant no disrespect.” The zebra scowled for a moment longer until his cheeks filled with air before busting out in laughter. “Well, no need to go all fancy pants on me,” he said, returning to his hooves. “You’re making me look bad. I was just kidding, geez.” The zebra stepped closer and reached down, picking up a large, jagged piece of rubble with both hooves. “Now, if you don’t mind Magus my friend, I have a brain-sucking creature from the Shapeless Land still to deal with.” Hex bolted up onto his hind legs again, turning to Trixie as he lifted the stone over his head with a labored groan and a wild look in his eye. As quickly as he raised the rock into the air, it abruptly shrank to a fraction of its former size, becoming nothing more than a pebble, before falling and bumping the zebra on the snout. With a dazed look he fell to his haunches and shook his head, rubbing his nose as he looked at Magus with a grimace. “Hex, this is Trixie,” Magus said. “An initiate under my protection.” “An initiate? Really?!” Hex said wide-eyed, jumping to his hooves as a smile stretched across his face. He observed her closely, leaning in so much that he was standing only on his forelegs. “Hex,” Magus said, pulling the zebra’s head back to face him, forcing him to assume a normal stance. “Focus! That is not why I’m here.” “Well, then what, may I ask, does bring you all the way out here? Surely you didn’t come all this way for me to bash some walking corpse’s skull in.” Hex tilted towards Magus and loudly whispered, “Did you?” The zebra’s eyes flicked back to Trixie for an instant. Trixie couldn’t tell if he was trying to be funny or if he really was as stupid as he seemed. She didn’t quite understand why he was so interested that she was an initiate, or if he really believed it, but it was probably better if she didn’t know. “I came to see Loa,” Magus said. “Is she available?” The light in his striped face faded and his smile turned upside-down as he heard the name. “And why do ask?” he drawled as he rubbed the back of his neck, glancing away. “You know she’s very, very, very picky about whom she talks to, right? And last time, I think she mentioned something about, not wanting to help…you…again…” Hex gave Magus a false smile and an uneasy chuckle. Magus remained silent, keeping a glassy glare trained on him. The false smile on Hex’s face disappeared as he tried his best to avoid direct eye contact. When he could fight the looming stare no longer, he said, “Look, what do you want?” “Let me speak to her,” Magus answered. “I—well—I don’t…” Looking into his deathly blank eyes once more, Hex sighed. “…Fine. You can see her. She won’t be happy though and there’s no guarantee that she’ll actually talk to you…or to me for that matter.” “I’m well aware. Thank you Hex,” Magus said. “Yeah, well, what are friends for, right? She’s probably going to kill me anyways for being out here so late, so, no harm…I hope…Magus, you still remember how to turn ponies, and when I say ponies I mean me, back to their normal form should they suffer any unfortunate transformation into a newt or other amphibious creature, right?” “Dad!” Jabari’s voice chimed in. “Can I open my eyes now?” Hex quickly spun around and saw the colt still on the ground with his hooves shielding his eyes. Frantically, he ran up to him and said, “Oh! Yes, yes, of course so sorry son. I was so busy dealing with the undead elephant in the crypt, that I completely forgot you were still down there. Are you okay?” The colt removed his hooves and got up once more, a smile still on his face as his father chuckled and patted him on the head. “Hi Magus!” Jabari joyfully said, with a wave as his eyes fell on the pony. “Jabari,” Magus solemnly replied to his excitement. “I’m pleased to see you in good health.” “Jabari,” his father said, getting his immediate attention. “We’re heading back. Grab the lantern.” He did as he was told and picked up the small lamp by the handle with his mouth, having to lift his head high to keep it from scrapping across the ground. Hex walked by his lantern and picked it up with his tail, wrapping it around the thin metal ring once before lifting it from the floor. The two started down the corridor that Hex had emerged from earlier, Jabari leading the way as his father looked back and said, in a cheery manner, “Right this way friend and potential creature of the undying. Onward to what will likely be our dooms!” Trixie didn’t feel comfortable following the zebra one bit, and for more reasons than almost being smacked by a shovel. Wherever or whoever he was leading them to, Trixie could feel that Magus was rattled by the instability in his otherwise steady flow of energy, as well as the occasional, noticeable shiver when he walked, and how he hid his eyes behind his silvery bangs. Trixie marched forward with more than a few worst case scenarios crossing her mind as she followed them out of the room and into the dark corridor ahead.