//------------------------------// // In Whom We Trust // Story: Requiem of Equestria // by TheBlox //------------------------------// Scootaloo and the rest of her group were still resting before they carried on with their search. Rarity was nearly done healing Dozer’s battle wounds, sealing them up with her magic. “So, where do we look next?” Rainbow Dash impatiently questioned the others. “The others could be anywhere.” “We’ll find them,” Scootaloo reassured her. Rarity had just finished up with the last of Dozer’s wounds, and released her aura. “My healing magic is limited in comparison to Twilight’s, and I can only heal what is visible,” she exclaimed. “I was able to seal your cuts and stop any bleeding, but your hind leg on the left side may still give you some trouble walking.” Dozer sighed and stood up, putting pressure on his legs. His back limb was still aching like Rarity thought it might, and it had a limp, but it was no longer unbearable. “You’ve done plenty,” he murmured quietly, gritting his teeth as he tried getting used to the pain. “Uh… thank you.” “Alright, we should get moving,” Flake suggested and gestured onward. “We can’t stay here.” The others nodded, and together they wandered deeper into the tunnels. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Traveling further into the caves, they came across a fork in their path which lead to nine alternate directions. They stopped there, suddenly feeling lost, and they exchanged looks with each other. “Uhm…” Rarity looked to the others in question as to which way they should even go. Then clearing his throat, Dozer stepped forward, and entered one of the paths. Rarity raised a brow at him. “Dozer, do you know where we’re even going?” “I believe this route would best interest us,” he replied. Rarity blinked. “Why, exactly?” “Wait, who made you boss, anyway?” Rainbow Dash muttered to the changeling taking initiative. There was a momentary standoff. Scootaloo exhaled through her nostrils and stepped toward him. “We might as well follow him,” she suggested. “He got us to Rarity. Perhaps we should take his advice.” “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Rainbow questioned her with lacking enthusiasm. “Well, you could stay here,” Dozer cynically offered, “That is, if you want to be a sitting duck for Chitin.” The others nervously winced at that. “Look, we should keep moving,” he sighed. “No, I don’t know these old caves, but I do know techniques in which changelings use to dig tunnels. I used to be a tunneler before I joined the guards.” “So, what exactly is it about these nine paths that makes this particular one so special?” Flake asked with curiosity. “Just the way they’re laid out,” Dozer replied factually. Trek shrugged. “I’ve never been a tunneler, so I can’t say I know any techniques or tunneling spells.” “Well, it’s the best lead we have right now,” Flake exclaimed. At first there were some more exchanged glances among the others. But after finally agreeing to the retired tunneler’s suggestion, one by one they followed him into the cave. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Together they wandered deeper into their chosen path. Rarity kept her horn lit like a beacon to light up their vicinity. After a long walk, everyone seemed to begin to grow anxious. “So, Dozer,” Trek muttered, “I never knew you were a tunneler. You’ve never mentioned that to the rest of our search crew.” Dozer just winced at that. “I didn’t think it was important.” “Uh huh,” Trek suspiciously murmured. Up ahead, they could see a clearing. Their ears perked, and they tended to trot a little faster after finally spotting something new in this path. With high hopes, they made their way to the room ahead of them. Entering the dome shaped room, they examined the area, and found a cocooned pony hanging on the ceiling. “It’s a pegasus!” Scootaloo determined. Lifting off the floor, Rainbow Dash flew up to the cocoon. Hovering up close, she placed her hooves upon the shell of the pony’s prison. “It’s Fluttershy!” Rarity and Scootaloo both expressed beaming smiles. “Well now, about time we had some luck,” Rarity exclaimed. “Are you able to bring her down here?” “Hold on, that’s a different kind of cocoon…” Trek determined from below. Rainbow Dash raised a brow and looked down to Trek in question. “What of it?” Trek’s eyes widened after realizing the shape and tint of the cocoon, and he turned quickly to look for Dozer, who was still in the cave they had entered this room from. Dozer just gave him one last glance, and his horn glowed yellow. “You backstabber!!” Trek shrieked and lunged after him. The others all turned to watch the commotion as Trek ran toward him, and Dozer cast his spell at the floor. The yellow beam of magic emanated brightly, and a buildup of mesh rose up from the floor like crystals. “NooooOOOO!!” Trek slammed into the built up wall of solid mesh, and pounded it a few times with his hooves. “Damn it!!” “What the hell just happened!?” Flake trotted to the scene. “Dozer used a high class tunneler magic! It’s a yellow aura spell, and it forms tunneling walls made from our solid mesh!” He turned to the wall beside him and punched it. “The only way to break through this wall is with an orange aura drilling spell, and I don’t know it. We’re trapped in here!” He then turned and galloped to the center of the room at an alarming pace, and yelled up at Rainbow Dash, “Get away from that cocoon!!” “Huh?” Rainbow raised a brow. “But what about Fluttershy?” “That’s not Fluttershy!” In that moment, the cocoon made a crackling sound. Rainbow Dash turned to look back at the upside-down pegasus just in time to see her open her eyes and glare back at her. Her stare gave Rainbow Dash frightful chills rushing down her spine. Then the bottom of the cocoon split and popped open, and Fluttershy fell out, flipped upright, and her yellow body was then engulfed in green fire. “It was a trap!” Trek shouted from below. Rainbow Dash backed away from the flaming pony. The bright flames lit up the room with a haunting neon tint, and the others could all feel the tension rising from their mistake choosing to follow Dozer. In a few moments, the fire surrounding the faux Fluttershy evaporated into a cloud of smoke, and a changeling revealed himself after the traumatic transformation. “Chitin!!” Trek shouted out from below. Immediately after Chitin’s transformation, he turned straight to Rainbow Dash, and in the blink of an eye, he fired a green dart of magic at her. Rainbow Dash was thrown off guard and didn’t have time to react to the sudden attack. The spell struck her out of the air, directly in the face. The frantic pegasus flailed helplessly as she fell downward with her head concealed in mesh, and she collapsed into the ground. Chitin dropped down on top of her, landing on her back, and cast more magic down on her, sealing the rest of her body in a thick cocoon. “Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo shrieked. Rarity gasped traumatically and held a hoof to her mouth at the sight of the downed pegasus. Chitin looked up, and he was in direct view with Rarity. Not wasting time, he went for it, firing another green spell at her. It struck her in the head, concealing her horn and blocking her eyes. “AH!!” The unicorn sidestepped, shaking her head blindly. “H-help me—” Before she could get very far, he struck her down with a few more green bullets, and consumed the rest of her body from mane to hoof in mesh. She collapsed to the ground in a puff of dust, motionless in a cocoon. “No! Rarity!” Scootaloo panicked, and turned to scream at Chitin, “That’s enough!!” She pushed off with her hind legs, and charged toward him, flapping her wings hard to increase her momentum. “You ponies and your gullible nature,” he spat and pushed off the ground, ascending back up into the air. “So blind to the idea of friendship you’ll believe anything that can speak.” Lifting off the ground, Scootaloo chased after him. “You won’t get away from me!” Chitin frowned at her as she approached him at an accelerating rate. He awaited her attack, and just as she reached him, he gripped onto her left forehoof, and used her momentum to flip her over. Holding onto her by the limb with one hoof, he punched her in the gut with the other. “OH!!” She buckled from the hit to the stomach. Then with her flight out of focus, he gave her a little push, and turned around to buck her in the head. Knocked out of the air, she flipped backwards as she dropped to the floor, and collapsed into the ground with an emanant thud. For a moment, she was completely motionless. She twitched a few times, and slowly brought her hooves beneath her in the attempt to push herself back up. Her vision was blurred from the hit to the head, and there was a constant monotone ring muffling her hearing. Chitin dropped down on top of her, and standing on her back, he prepared himself to strike her down again. “Back in your cocoon!” he snarled and charged up a green spell. As he was about to fire, Flake leapt into him, knocking him off of her. They hit the ground, and rolled into the wall with a crack. “You!!!” Furious, Chitin was quick to buck Flake off of him. Flake stumbled over and collapsed. Scootaloo’s vision was slowly coming back to her, and she managed to look up, just in time to see their fight. “That is the last time you make a fool out of me!” Chitin angrily shrieked, and his horn illuminated bright red. Scootaloo hasn’t seen Red Death being cast before, but she had a good idea what Chitin was about to do when his horn emanated a crimson rippling effect as he charged it up. Her eyes widened, and she stood up to try to stop it, but she was too weak, slow and dizzy from the impact to her head. Flake was just getting back to his hooves when he turned to Chitin, and the twisted changeling fired his deadly attack. Flake saw it coming, and felt a rush of adrenaline pump through him as it came closer at a horrifying speed. Time felt like it had slowed down as he watched his fate rushing forth. Then in that instant, he felt an impact, but from his side. He was pushed out of the way of the attack, and sent tumbling over. Scootaloo watched it happen; Trek had leapt into Flake, and took the hit. When the Red Death spell made contact with him, he let out an agonizing shriek, and there was a loud crackling sound as the spell pushed him across the floor. Chitin took a step back, wide-eyed and dumbfounded by Trek’s sudden act of sacrifice. Trek held onto his chest as he tried to get up from his haunches. Breathing hoarse, the wounded changeling collapsed onto his side, twitching and panting heavily. Smoke was rising from his body from the spell, and he groaned in agony from the burning sensation. “Trek!” Flake stood up and galloped to the downed changeling. “Trek, are you alright?” Trek’s breathing was growing more rapid, and he looked up to Flake with his wide, terrified eyes. “It… it hurts,” he breathed. Flake didn’t need to ask him how he felt, having experienced being struck down by that spell himself. Trek tensely buckled, and he grit his teeth from the immense pain. “Fool,” Chitin muttered and shook his head. Flake grit his teeth, and his eyes furrowed into an intense frown. Standing defensively, he turned around and faced Chitin, glaring him in the eyes. The room was ominously quiet; the only sound heard among them was Trek’s hoarse breathing. Flake stepped forward, and his horn began to glow blood red. Chitin’s eyes widened when he saw Flake attempting to conjure Red Death, and he stepped back from him. “Flake,” Scootaloo called out to him. Flake turned to her, and he could see her concerns she had in her eyes. His eyes widened when he realized what he was about to do. He cringed and he shook his head, snapping out of his tense behaviour. “No!” Flake growled to himself, and he deactivated the magic he was conjuring in his horn. “I’m not like you,” he cynically said to Chitin, eyeing him furiously. Chitin remained wide-eyed, and was absolutely dumbfounded and puzzled by Flake and Trek’s actions. Trek had taken the fall for Flake—a selfless action that Chitin had never seen by another changeling—and Flake refused to kill him by the means of Red Death. “Chitin, there is a reason that spell is forbidden,” Flake exclaimed. “It burns the victim from the inside out. Do you realize how painful that is?” He squinted at the thought. “Extremely.” A twitch, and then an impatient growl emanated from Chitin’s throat. “Why?!” he snapped. “Why are you being this way?! I don’t get it!” He placed a hoof upon his head. “Why won’t you defend yourself?! You illogically make actions that cripple your chances of survival, and why? Because it’s wrong?!” He leaned forward, yelling louder, “Your actions don’t make any sense!! They’re flawed; they show weakness! Why do you refuse to use that spell??” “Because, Chitin, not even you deserve to die that way. And I won’t watch it, nor let it happen.” With that, he turned away from Chitin, and stepped toward Trek. Chitin took a step back, raising a brow and lowering his jaw. His eye twitched at the sight of Flake’s refusal to battle on. Then, gritting his teeth, he stood furiously and charged his horn again with crimson magic. “Don’t you dare turn your back on me!!” he yelled as red sparks were flying from his horn. “Face me like a real changeling!! Face me! I’ll kill you!!” Preparing to carelessly fire, he stepped forward and took aim. “Die, you useless waste of—!!!” In that moment, Scootaloo had leapt into him from the side. On collision, Chitin launched his infuriating spell; it fired far off course, and bolted upward. The spell crashed into a section of the ceiling with a loud crackling impact. The room then began to rumble. Scootaloo and Chitin both stood up in a panic, and Flake spun around wide-eyed. “What’s happening?!” Scootaloo shrieked. “The spell hit a support brace in the ceiling!” Flake exclaimed aloud, and rocks began to fall. “The room is caving in!” In response, Chitin panicked and initiatively went for the crystallized exit. Ignoring the others, he charged an orange aura drilling spell, and fired it at the doorway. The crystallized mesh cracked and split, and began to fall apart. Before it had a chance to fully come apart, a rock as large as a melon had then fallen from the ceiling, and it hit Chitin square in the head, emanating a loud thump. Flake, Scootaloo and Trek watched Chitin collapse to the floor like a ragdoll; he was knocked completely out cold. The door then crumbled away, exposing the open tunnel they had entered from, providing them with an escape exit. The room began to shake more horrendously, and more rocks began to fall. Scootaloo panicked and ran for Rainbow Dash, and attempted to lift her from the floor. “C’mon, Rainbow Dash,” she groaned as she put her back into carrying her. “You’ve saved me enough times!” Leaning down to Trek, Flake attempted to lift the wounded changeling onto his back. “P...put me down,” Trek whimpered to Flake. “Leave me; I’m dying anyway.” “No! You’re one of us now, and we don’t leave anypony behind,” Flake exclaimed and managed to get him over his shoulder. Another rumble shook the room, and more cracking emanated from the walls. “You’ll never make it out with me!” With as much strength as the dying changeling could muster, he pushed Flake over. Trek collapsed back to the ground, and lied there, breathing hoarse. Flake looked down to him, wide-eyed. “Trek, let me take you to safety!” As Flake reached down to attempt to assist Trek again, the downed changeling swat Flake’s hoof away, and pointed to Rarity. “I’m only going to slow you down; don’t waste any more time.” The wounded changeling coughed. “Get the unicorn and go!” Flake turned to Rarity, who was on the other side of the shaking room. Scootaloo at this moment was still dragging Rainbow Dash’s cocoon across the ground, and there was no way she could carry Rarity at the same time. Nibbling his bottom lip, he turned back to Trek, who looked back up to him with a sincere expression. “Please, go... You can’t save us both.” With a brief hesitation, Flake grit his teeth and regrettably nodded to his wishes. “I’ll come back for you,” he said as he turned and ran for Rarity. Galloping through the debris after the cocooned unicorn, a few rocks had fallen to his left and to his right sides, startling him with each impact. Diving for the pony, he grabbed hold of her, and lifted her onto his back. With Rarity in tow, he began marching to the exit. Scootaloo had managed to avoid being crushed under the falling debris, and she safely made it back to the tunnel. Dragging Rainbow Dash a safer distance into the clearing of the cave, she put her down, and then turned back to the collapsing room. Nibbling her bottom lip in suspense in hopes that Flake was going to make it, she witnessed a rock fall and strike him in the shoulder. “AH!!” Flake collapsed to the floor, and he dropped Rarity. Taking initiative, Scootaloo dove back into the collapsing room, she raced to Flake. Everything was shaking much harder now, and the walls were emanating frightening crackling sounds. Flake slowly managed to get back to his hooves, and he got a hold of Rarity again, and began dragging her across the floor, tugging as hard as he could. “Flake!” Scootaloo reached them, and he held onto an end of Rarity’s cocoon. “Together!” Flake nodded respectably and gripped onto the cocoon as well, and their combined efforts pulled Rarity closer to safety faster. A rock crashed down beside them, making the room horrendously shake and caused them to trip. That didn’t stop them; they got back to their hooves, and continued pulling on the unicorn. Closer and closer to the exit, they finally reached the cave where it was safe. The room they had escaped continued to crumble into debris as more rocks kept falling, burying all of its contents. Then almost immediately, Flake raced back into the wreckage. “Flake!” she shouted to him, concerned. The changeling didn’t answer her, and he rushed back to Trek as quickly as he could. Dodging left and right to avoid falling debris, he made it closer and closer to his wounded friend. Reaching a few meters from Trek, there was a very loud, terrifying crack that echoed from above them. Then suddenly all at once, the entirety of the dome ceiling split in thousands of growing crevices as larger rocks began to fall. Caving in hard, the rocks all collapsed around Flake, and he watched as a ton of them fell right down on top of Trek, and buried him in rubble. “NO!!” Flake shrieked when he witnessed Trek disappear beneath the giant rocks. “Trek!!” Another rock landed right in front of Flake, cutting him off. Looking up, he could see there wasn’t much time left, and this room was going to be completely filled in mere seconds. Looking to where he last saw Trek one last time, he expressed his heartfelt guilt, and then turned back to the exit. “Flake, come on!!” Scootaloo shrieked, “Hurry up, damnit!!” Flake galloped for the exit as quickly as he could. Rocks were now slamming one after the other, shaking the room with each impact. Closing in on the exit, another downed body caught the corner of his eye to his left. Chitin was still lying there, inevitably about to be crushed in the debris. He knew it would be a bad idea; he knew what Chitin had done. But all the same, he felt it was his obligation. Gritting his teeth, Flake made an instinctive decision, and he passed the exit, running for Chitin. “Flake!!” Scootaloo’s eyes widened. There wasn’t much time, and it was stressing her out to see Flake seemingly dance around in the falling debris so close to safety. Reaching down to Chitin, Flake grabbed onto his limbs, and he pulled him across the ground. Dragging him as quickly as he could, the last of the ceiling suddenly burst, and everything then fell down at once. “AAAAH!!” Flake immediately picked up the pace from a case of adrenaline, and pulled Chitin faster than he knew he was able. And just as everything crashed down in a heap, he reached the safety of the tunnel, dropped the unconscious changeling, and collapsed to the floor with a loud relieving huff. A loud rumbling echo roared through the cave as a thick layer of dust clouded the air. Scootaloo and Flake coughed from the dust that fogged their vision, and after a few moments, it slowly settled back down to the ground and the tunnel cleared up again. Wide-eyed and exhausted, they turned to the entrance of the now buried room, which was completely blocked off by boulders. There was a long moment of silence as they recollected themselves from the intense escape. Flake’s ears fell back, and he slowly stood to his hooves. He sauntered to the concealed room of buried rock. He gently placed a hoof on the blocked off entrance, and lowered his head. “I couldn’t save Trek,” he murmured in a low and disappointed mutter. “I’m… I’m sorry.” Scootaloo nibbled her bottom lip, and trotted up to him. “You gave it your best shot, Flake. You tried.” Flake’s eyes were wide, and full of trauma. He leaned forward, and rested his head against the face of the rocks with a quiet thump. “Trek saved my life,” he whispered. The concerned pegasus felt sore for the changeling. At first, she hesitated to say anything, but then a warm smile appeared on her face. “You know… I have very high hopes for our mission.” Flake’s ears perked, and he turned to Scootaloo in question. “What he did, that was a true act of friendship. You and the other changelings; you all claim there is no love in any of you. That you’re all selfish and heartless?” She tried to express a smile to ease the hurt. “The elements of harmony are not just in ponies. I see them in changelings, too.” “You… you do?” “In you, Flake, I see the element of Loyalty. And in Trek, I saw the element of Generosity.” She smiled. “He gave you his life. And you said it yourself, that no changeling was selfless enough to even consider such an act.” She turned to Chitin and pointed to him. “And I can see just how much you have learned about the magic of friendship, because you risked your life to even save our enemy.” She turned back to Flake in question. “May I ask why?” “I…” Flake paused. There was a moment in silence, and Scootaloo waited patiently, and proudly for Flake to think of an answer. It took awhile, but he eventually said something. “It felt it was the right thing to do.” His eyes wandered. “I saw Chitin lying there, and I thought… well… If he was conscious, unable to save himself, how would he feel knowing he was about to die? If I was in his hooves, how would I feel?” He paused again, and lowered his head. “I knew I would feel scared. Cus, when I saw him, I… I saw myself.” Scootaloo nodded. “And, that is what Trek was feeling when he saved you. It’s called empathy.” Flake’s eyes slowly widened and wandered. “Somewhere in all of you, changelings do feel compassion,” she assured him sincerely. “If you and Trek can learn the magic of friendship, then I have faith in the rest of your kind. Everypony has a purpose. And I believe that all of you do, too.” Flake lowered his head as he took in what she had just told her. His olive coat began to brighten greener, and a tear slowly trickled down his cheek. “Scootaloo…?” A silent pause. “Yes, Flake?” “I-I think… I…” the emotional changeling quietly cried, but he stopped and searched for different words. He turned to her. “Thank you.” Scootaloo was caught off guard by his first statement. She tilted her head in question. “What do you think?” “Uh…” Flake turned to Rarity and Rainbow Dash, and he gestured to them. “I’d better um… get them out of their cocoons.” “Might be a good idea,” Scootaloo suggested. With that, Flake nodded and used his changeling magic on their mesh prisons. “I think we should rest here for awhile,” he said quietly.