Chapter 58
Secrets of the Everfree
“You need our help?” Applejack repeated.
“Is that so surprising?” Fluttershy quietly piped up.
“What can we do that your magic can’t?” Flash narrowed his eyes.
“I’m afraid there’s nothing you can. I need the Elements of Harmony,” Discord corrected, looking at us seven.
“Say what now?” Rainbow spat out her punch.
“Wow! A real Elements of Harmony problem?!” Thunder excitedly fluttered. The girls had only heard stories of our time with the elements; we hadn’t needed to wield them in ages. Even Charcoal perked up, his interest peaked.
“Are you going to use the elements again, Mom?” Lilac wildly grinned.
“I don’t know, sweetie,” I absentmindedly shook my head.
“I thought you hated the elements!” Caramel exclaimed.
“While they did trap me in stone for an eternity, they also freed me from my casing. I need them to do it again.”
“What do you mean, do it again?”
“We are not freeing another ancient evil villain,” Twilight firmly stated. “Enough of them are out on the loose as it is.”
“Radiance isn’t a villain!” He pounded a fist on the table in desperation.
“Radiance?” My eyes grew in surprise, and I recalled the backstory Celestia and Luna told us when we first brought Essence to them. “Isn’t that-?”
“The love of my life,” he sadly, quietly finished. Fluttershy looked away. Twilight’s disposition softened a bit.
“We’re listening.”
“I don’t know how, and I don’t know why, but I found Radiance,” Discord began. “I was in the Everfree as usual, minding my own business when an obnoxious little timberwolf runs up and takes a good bite out of my tail, for no apparent reason!” He displayed the very evident bite mark for us all to see.
“For no good reason, eh? Surely something must have provoked it,” Rarity disbelievingly raised an eyebrow.
“Ever since Princess Essence took back the Everfree, we haven’t had any trouble with the monsters,” Twilight agreed.
“I’m just surprised you didn’t try to turn it into a beach ball,” Rainbow folded her arms.
“Well, if I was going to retaliate, I would probably go the furniture route. Ironic and useful, no?”
“Discord,” Fluttershy scolded.
“I didn’t!” he raised his arms for a truce. “I may have tried, but I didn’t really harm it.”
“What do you mean, tried?” Twilight furrowed her brow.
“It was bizarre- this timberwolf was impervious to my magic!” Discord exclaimed. “Not even Celestia can say that.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. You got attacked by a timberwolf that’s immune to your magic?!” I wasn’t sure if Charcoal was disbelieving, afraid, or both.
“Even stranger was that when I got a good look, it was encrusted with jewels.”
“You mean like Princess Essence’s pet Jasper?” Fluttershy voiced.
“Yes! Exactly like Jasper. But this timberwolf was smaller, and the gems were glowing red.”
“So a royal timberwolf attacked ya, and there was nothin’ ya could do about it?” Not even Candy Apple believed his story.
“Roll your eyes if you want, but it’s true,” Discord narrowed his eyes at the filly. “I can’t even heal the bite it left.”
“Let me see,” Twilight offered, sliding out of her seat and examining his wound. She tried casting a spell over the injury, and gradually, the skin healed over.
“Why, thank you, Twilight. You’re far more considerate than some here.” He glared out at the greater majority of our mutually scowling company.
“What happened next?” Lilac pressed, not so interested in hearing the rest of the story as aborting a quarrel. Twilight returned to her place by Flash to hear him out.
“The creature intrigued me, of course. It’s not just anyone that can not only repel but also suppress my magic. So I followed it.”
“And?”
“And it led me to an extensive network of catacombs.” The whole room fell under a dark and mysterious, eerie mood. Until Pinkie burst out laughing, of course.
“I’ve never heard of any Everfree catacombs,” Applejack declared.
“Me neither, and I’ve visited Princess Essence’s castle several times,” Twilight concurred.
“Nor have I,” Discord neatly clasped his hands. “I followed it inside, but lost track of it soon after. But I figured so long as I was down there, I might as well take a look around.”
“You mean snoop around,” Pinkie accused.
“It wasn’t as though it was locked or even guarded,” he shot back. Then he paused in scratched his chin. “I don’t think there was a door at all, actually.”
“You were in the catacombs,” Twilight cued, impatiently prompting him to continue.
“Right. I was poking around the catacombs when I found her.”
“Radiance?” I guessed.
“Turned to stone, covered in moss and cobwebs after so many years of neglect,” he wistfully confirmed.
“How do you know it wasn’t just a statue?”
“It was her,” he insisted, eyes wild and more crazed than normal.
“How was she turned to stone?” Spike’s eyes widened, and he leaned closer. Everyone else was finally intrigued as well, and also leaned in.
“Beats me,” Discord shrugged. “But I was elated! Not only had we been reunited, but this also meant she hadn’t really stood me up that night!”
“Wait a second! Weren’t you all in the Frozen North? How’d she end up in the Everfree catacombs?” Rainbow wondered.
“Another excellent question, the answer to which escapes me.”
“So you want our help to turn her back to normal, but you have no idea how she got that way to begin with?”
“We’ll get answers when she’s turned back,” he insisted.
“I’m in,” I raised a hoof.
“I’ll do whatever I can to help,” Torchwood concurred.
“It is a touching love story, though I’m still not sure if I believe it,” Rarity sniffed.
“But if it is true, we can meet a pony from old times! How funnerific would that be?!” Pinkie bounced up.
“Imagine the ‘Welcome Back’ party we could throw her!” Cheese agreed, eagerly touching noses with the pink pony.
“Whoa! Everypony just hold on. Let’s think this through,” Twilight interrupted.
“What’dya mean, Twi?” Applejack scratched her head.
“Think about it! We have no idea how or why Radiance was turned to stone. What if she really was dangerous?” Trender spoke up.
“She also could have just been the unfortunate victim of a cockatrice stare,” Torchwood pointed out.
“In which case, we don’t know if the elements would work anyway. They reversed the spell they cast on Discord, but it was their own magic. They might not be able to undo cockatrice petrification.”
“I’ve seen them work far greater miracles,” Discord pointed out.
“I don’t think it could have been a cockatrice, though,” I shook my head. “They’re native to the Everfree. Rainbow raised a good point- at the time she went missing, she was in the Frozen North.”
“Some powerful unicorns know petrification magic,” Twilight recalled.
“Surely you know a reversal spell?” Discord hopefully pleaded.
“Petrification magic can only be reversed by the pony that cast the spell,” Twilight apologized.
“But whoever that was is long dead by now!” Spectrum reminded.
“You really know how to kill the mood, don’t you, kid?” Discord grumbled, rage, frustration and sorrow all coursing through his wiry frame. Charcoal lightly cuffed Spectrum in reprimand.
“He does raise a good point,” Twilight defended.
“So that’s it? There’s nothing we can do?” We looked to silent Twilight for answers. Discord hung his head, and Fluttershy comfortingly stroked his arm.
“That’s not necessarily true,” Twilight finally informed. Discord’s hopes soared, and he gave her his full attention.
“Sometimes the pony who casts the spell will build in failsafe’s in case anything goes wrong. I would have to examine the spell to be sure. And we don’t even know for sure that that’s what happened to Radiance. We just need to know more before we can do anything. Where is Radiance, Discord?”
“Back in the catacombs where I left her.”
“The way you talk about her, I’d imagine you’d have teleported her back to your place, or at least somewhere less... lonely,” Soarin’ remarked. “I know that’s what I would do.”
“Aww, thanks, Soarin’,” Rainbow returned his nuzzle.
“There’s some magical barrier around her, not unlike the one shielding that timberwolf,” Discord explained. “I couldn’t move her anywhere. All I could do was clear out the cobwebs and mark which room she’s in.”
“Aw! He cleaned her up! That’s so cute!” Pinkie squealed. He flattened his ears in irritation more than embarrassment.
“Are we going or not?”
“One more thing,” Twilight interrupted. “Why come to us? Essence is directly connected to the Tree, and can wield the same power. She’s also closer. So why ask for our help?”
“She can wield the power, but she lacks friends to help her unleash their full potential. I need you,” Discord all-too-quickly replied.
“How much power are we going to need?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow.
“Not that much,” Twilight flatly answered, eyes narrow as she saw through Discord’s lie.
“She turned you down, didn’t she?” Blaze caught on. Discord froze.
“Discord?” Fluttershy prompted.
“She didn’t turn me down,” he confessed with a heavy sigh. “She started to follow me to the catacombs, but at the entrance, she just froze. Completely locked up! She just couldn’t bring herself to go back down there. Something rather unpleasant must have happened to make her that unresponsive. The guards finally had to lead her away and asked me to leave!” I gulped.
“Essence willingly sacrificed her magic to buy us time when Tirek was on the loose, but some dusty old catacombs scared her?”
“That doesn’t sound like Essence at all,” Rarity nervously agreed.
“What’s so scary about the catacombs?” Applejack wondered.
“You mean a dark, cold, claustrophobic, underground maze?! No idea!” Fluttershy squeaked, retreating into herself.
“Did you see anything else down there that might’ve scared her?”
“Nothing more than a few cobwebs and leaves,” Discord shrugged.
“What do you think is down there?” Flash inquired.
“I guess we’ll find out.”
“You’re going to help me?” Discord’s eyes grew wet with hope and joy.
“Of course!” I smiled.
“We’re your friends,” Fluttershy weakly smiled. “Even if it does mean crawling in dark, scary catacombs to free your long lost love from imprisonment in stone,” her face fell at this last bit.
“We’ll see what we can do,” Twilight promised, “if there’s anything we can do.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” Soarin’ assured.
“You all can do anything when you set your minds to it,” Trender complimented, aimed more at his wife than the rest of us.
“So what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Rainbow exclaimed.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” I prompted with a chuckle. She furrowed her brow, trying to figure out what I meant. It wasn’t until I nodded towards the kids that she remembered they had accompanied us.
“Oh, right.”
“Aww, Mom! We want to come!” Lilac pined.
“Sorry, girls. But until we know exactly what’s going on, I need to be sure you’re safe.”
“But-!”
“No arguing! You stay, and that’s final.”
“Your mother’s right, Lilac. Things tend to get dangerous when we investigate the Elements,” Twilight voiced. All the girls pouted. There was no arguing with the princess.
“You all stay here until we get back. If things do get rough, the castle will be the safest place for you,” Flash ordered.
“Spike, Blaze, you keep an eye on them just in case,” Twilight directed.
“No way! I’m not going to let you walk into danger alone!” Spike protested. “What if it’s a trap?”
“I’m not alone,” Twilight nodded back at the rest of us. “And if this does turn out to be a trap, we’ll need someone to stay behind to rescue us, right?” Spike glumly nodded.
“If it helps, I don’t think you’d have fit anyway,” Discord spoke up.
“Just... don’t do anything stupid. I already lost my birth parents,” Blaze pressed his nose between Torch and I. “I don’t want to lose you, too.”
“You won’t,” I promised. “We’ll be back, you’ll see.”
“This isn’t goodbye,” Torch agreed.
“Why’s everyone acting like this is a Daring Do novel? It’s not dangerous- you’re just going to check out a statue... right?” Spectrum became fearful.
“Essence must’ve had a good reason to fear the catacombs,” Flash gently put it to the colt.
“But there’s no saying there is any real danger, either,” Twilight added. “We’re just preparing for the worst.”
“Do ya gotta go?” Candy sniffed, hugging her parents.
“Don’t act like that. We’ll be back before you know it,” Caramel promised.
“We just gotta see if we can lend Discord’s friend a hoof,” the country girl agreed.
“You better come back,” Charcoal warned me.
“I promise,” I scooped him into a hug before he could protest. To my surprise, he not only allowed it, but squeezed back. Torch beamed before piling on himself. And Lilac, not wanting to be left out, jumped in the middle.
“Okay, now I’m getting claustrophobic,” Charcoal uncomfortably shifted. Everyone chuckled as we finally broke apart.
“We should be back well before morning,” Trender estimated, judging the sun out the window. It wasn’t dangerously low in the sky, but it was well past its peak, too.
“There’s plenty of food here for your dinner,” Soarin’ gestured to the (mostly) untouched spread.
“You mean no adult supervision around all these sweets?” A mischievous glint entered Thunder Cloud’s eye.
“Keep an eye on them, Blaze,” I hissed.
“Aye aye,” he nodded.
“If we don’t come back before sundown, I still want you to stay put,” Twilight stressed. “The guest rooms are still made up. You might have to share rooms, but I think we can accommodate everyone.
“You hear that, guys? Sleepover in the castle!” Lilac declared. The rest of the girls excitedly squealed with her.
“Be good! We shouldn’t be long,” Twilight looked over the six children one last time.
“Good, good. The kiddies are taken care of. Can we go now?” Discord begged, making a sweeping motion towards the door as if to brush us all outside.
“See you later, alligator!” Pinkie bounced out of the room.
“In a while, crocodile!” Spectrum offered a goofy smile and waved us all on.
“Be safe,” Charcoal ordered again.
“Love you!” Lilac waved with the rest of the girls.
“Love you, too,” I quietly sighed. A feeling of dread began to ball up in my stomach. Was this really such a good idea?
The Everfree was quiet on this night. Not that he would have heard anything if a stampede of hydras had crashed through the forest. This far underground in the catacombs, silence hung thick in the air. Not much else besides the sound of his own breathing disturbed the quiet.
“I trust you are well, love?” The catacombs’ silence was shattered by the rare presence of a visitor. In this darkness, only a pair of red eyes gleamed in the night.
“Is it done?”
“Casper injected Discord with the venom,” a metallic, feminine voice rang. “And led him here. He found Radiance.”
“I have an orb prepared for the draconequus. Where is he?”
“I let him go,” she answered. Those bright red eyes burned with rage in the darkness.
“What did you say?” His nose pressed against hers, and the mare shrank back in fear.
“Please, love. I overheard him talking to that lifeless statue. He promised to return with the Elements of Harmony.” The stallion considered this.
“He will lead them to us.”
“I followed him, and overheard the entire conversation. They are coming, but they are bringing more stallions with them. One is a royal guard.”
“How many more?”
“Thirteen ponies total.”
“We didn’t plan for this... it is too early. Thirteen missing ponies and one draconequus will attract attention.”
“I can send in my drones to take their place temporarily.”
“No! One slip, and we’re through.”
“Then shall I send them away?”
“No. I doubt we will get all of them in one place again. We must take advantage of this opportunity. Speed up preparations. I will secure the Elements while you take Princess Essence’s place. And line Casper’s teeth with another dose of my magic suppressant. Send him after Princess Twilight this time.” As if on cue, a low growl could be heard from the doorway where the glowing red orbs of timberwolf eyes penetrated the darkness. The similarly red-eyed stallion fondly looked over his pet. “With every source to the Tree’s energy cut off, it will be easy to overtake Celestia, Luna, and Cadance. Once I have restored my full power, I will overtake Celestia and Luna’s roles of raising the sun and moon. Even the solar bodies will bend to my will.”
“You must keep the young one away from her husband,” the mare nervously interjected. “Together, they are more powerful than Celestia herself.”
“Yes, I recall your last encounter with them, Chrysalis.”
“You know that is not my true name, Kindling,” the changeling cooed.
“Very well, Smoky Topaz.”