As the unicorn and minotaur cautiously made their way through the cave, their senses were on red alert. They listened for anything that might be the gorgon, hearing slow but constant drips of water, their steps quietly echoing around them, smelling damp rock, felt the chilly breeze blow through the cave as though it were breathing and they were going down its throat.
But their eyes showed only a purplish blackness and faint outlines of stalactites and stalagmites they passed by.
“M-m-maybe we should just let my father handle this,” Blazing Spirit whispered nervously. “There’s still time to leave, go back to the tribe, pretend nothing happened and let my father and his archers set this cave ablaze! There’s nothing shameful of admitting we’re biting off more than we can chew!”
Midnight stopped and jerked his tail out of Blazing Spirit’s hand before whipping it in his face, making him yelp.
“OK, see? That’s the kind of attitude that explains why your father doesn’t respect you. Blazing Spirit, if you want to prove you are worthy of your father’s respect and can be entrusted with eventual leadership of your tribe, you have to prove it!”
“…You’re right,” panted Blazing as he shook of the stinging on his cheek. “I need to do this for myself as well-”
“Shh!”
Blazing Spirit tensed and froze as Midnight whispered, “There’s a vast chamber ahead. Be ready…”
Although they couldn’t actually see it upon entering, the chamber was indeed vast, like the same amount of space as the ballroom Celestia used to host the Grand Galloping Gala-vast!
Within laid the long forgotten ruins of what appeared to be a temple of Olymponyan architecture. Fallen pillars and columns littered about with less than half of the original amount still standing and holding the cave roof. There were several crevices so dark they seemed to have no bottoms, stone stairways leading to higher levels, a stone bridge mostly cracked and worn away with only one railing still connecting both ends.
And within were more statues. A few diamond dogs, more animals, a few ponies, even a dragon. All with expressions terrified, taken by surprise, shocked in awe, or even angry.
Not that the two intrepid adventurers could actually see the expressions on the poor petrified victims’ faces. They only saw their outlines yet easily figured out what they were.
“Where is she…?” Blazing Spirit whispered nervously, grasping the handle of his labrys axe like a lifeline.
“Not sure, but stay close,” Midnight whispered back. “I need you near to keep the spell on our eyes active…”
A distant hissing made them gasp as they looked in the sound’s direction, only for an echo to throw them off. She was here, they knew it, and feared their beating hearts would not give them away.
But it was too late. She knew her lair had been trespassed as it had been so many times before, given the amount of victims in her collection.
As they slowly moved out from behind a column, something whizzed through the air and came very close to piercing Midnight’s temple, startling them! It was an arrow! They hurried to another column ahead and hid behind it, peering ever so carefully around both sides when flaming arrows flew out, striking and igniting several wall-mounted torches, hanging lanterns, even a brazier soaked in oil, the entire chamber of ruins alit as they heard her muscles coil and her taunting laughter echo.
“Where is she?!” Blazing Spirit whimpered, Midnight whispering, “I don’t know!”
But she soon made herself known, one of her coils running down a column as she appeared out from behind it!
She appeared a mare in the front, but the rest of her, starting from her hips, was the long and frightening tail of a snake!
Her scales were green like a forest and patterned like a diamondback, the end of her tail a sharp rattle. Her coat was white like marble and even looked as though she were living stone, her almond-shaped eyes were molten gold with narrow pupils, full lips, and she had no mane. Instead it was like widow’s peak that spread out towards a small cobra-hood that looked rather small, and he realized, She hasn’t spread her hood out yet!
He wondered why. The Gorgon needed only to keep her hood extended that on the off-chance her unwanted visitors looked her in the front her curse would take them. Yet she wasn’t spreading out her hood for some reason. For the moment, she kept an arrow nocked and surveyed the chamber, looking for her prey.
“She’s lit the place up! We’re at risk!” Blazing Spirit whispered urgently, his vision having returned to normal because Midnight had been startled and lost concentration on maintaining the spell.
“Not if I can help it…” Midnight concentrated and spread his sphere of influence throughout the chamber, sensing every source of energy, Blazing Spirit, the Gorgon, and every torch and lantern and fire she’d lit to banish away the darkness.
“Pyro Extinguo!”
Almost instantly, every fire in the chamber snuffed out like a blown-out candle, the Gorgon hissing in irritation as Midnight and Blazing Spirit quietly snuck to a new hiding place.
“Okay, that should by us a little time,” Midnight whispered, as his horn flared, “just gotta re-cast-”
*THWANG/SNAP*
“AUGH!” They both startled as Blazing Spirit had felt the arrow zoom mere inches over his head and break against the wall behind them.
Then they heard her, hissing furiously, her slithering body coming at them, Midnight yelling, “Run!”
They hurried as quickly as they could. There was little light left in the chamber, so they had to be careful not to run into anything. Unfortunately, they came up to a column and were split up in their mad hurry to get away. Midnight hurried towards a crevice the Gorgon was aware of, prompting her to follow him in the assumption she would have him cornered.
But Midnight wasn’t blind in the darkness – He was part lunar pony, so he was capable of echolocation and knew the crevice was there, as well as the stairway across it. Concentrating his lunar powers, he felt his body become light, the Gorgon almost upon him as she raised a dagger from her belt and lunged!
Only for Midnight to leap, his gravity lessened so the jump across the crevice was easy! But the Gorgon was not about to be outdone as she strung her bow with the speed of a master and let her arrow fly!
Midnight landed safely on the other side of the crevice, only for a searing pain in his left gaskin to make him cry out and fall onto his side. Grunting, he looked to see an arrow in his left rear leg, when something arose from the edge of the crevice, and he gasped in frozen horror, his raised foreleg stopping, the sound of his body petrifying before the Gorgon’s sneering satisfaction as she closed her hood. Hissing her forked tongue at the newest addition to her collection, she heard a gasp from far behind her.
Blazing Spirit quickly hid behind a column, his pounding heart making it difficult to hush his terrorized panting as he grasped his labrys axe. He held it up, fearing it wouldn’t be enough – So easily, this monster had petrified his one ally, leaving along in the dark. Nay, with her.
He felt tears well up in his eyes, of shame, of fear, of a wish to be far away from this terrible place that may very well become his tomb. He wished Midnight had not made his axe reflective, seeing his fear mirrored back made it all the more real.
Then he heard her tail rattle, her mocking laughter as she slithered closer. However the echoes had returned so it was impossible to determine from where she was coming. He couldn’t hold back the terrified sobs as he stepped out into the open, holding his axe, fear compelling him to run but his head told him that’s what she wanted him to do.
“You musssst realize that you… are doomed…”
Blazing Spirit gasped in horror and dared not turn around. Her voice was soft, enthralling, but slippery, as though to engage it would be to fall. He heard her slither towards his right, obviously trying to turn the situation into a face-to-face, compelling the young minotaur to clench his eyes shut and turn away. She laughed softly in an almost pitying way, as though she were honestly sorry for him, “You’ve no one to blame but yourssself… My gaze leavessss all asss my… captive audience… I warned your brothersss to leave me be, but they were ssso meatheaded, hung up on the idea of glory in ssslaying the wretched ssserpent, the fame it would bring them, the honor to your worthless tribe… And they paid dearly for their bloodthirssst…”
“N-no! You… you gave them no warning!” Blazing Spirit whimpered, refusing to believe his teacher was that kind of warrior, and keeping his eyes shut, his hands gripping his axe so tightly that it almost hurt.
“You cursed them just because they wandered into your home!”
“They ignored my warning ssstatuesss…” the Gorgon maintained her demeanor as she encircled him but not taking him into her coils as she extended her hood, “they knew exactly what lay in ssstore for them when they entered my home… I think and feel asss anyone, do I not ressserve the right to defend my life…? Besssidesss… there is ever temptation in that what would be called taboo… Come on… sssneak a peek! Before long, the desssire to look at me will be… overwhelming!”
Blazing Spirit felt his eyes begging to be opened, he’d heard her open his hood! His head told him to look would be the end of him but his eyes were making a very compelling argument.
She hissed softly with a smirk, deciding he needed but a push. She rose up, her hood extended to the fullest, and released a screeching hiss!
Blazing Spirit yelped and held up his axe!
She gasped when she saw herself in the reflecting metal! She was horrifying indeed, a beautiful but deadly, a carnivorous flower so frightfully beautiful as to draw in her prey, a sight worthy to behold for all eternity!
And that’s exactly what happened. Her curse rebounded off the reflection back onto her, her faze froze in slow petrification, her body suddenly acting without conscious thought as it struggled, the curse slowly enveloping her like being submerged gradually into water. First her hooves flailed out before they froze, her barrel, her long snake body and tail writhing before the process was finally complete.
Blazing Spirit stood there, panting, whimpering, waiting for anything! But when he heard only silence and nothing happened, he ever-so-slowly risked peeking and gasped to see! The Gorgon had petrified herself because she’d seen herself with her cobra hood extended in the mirrored surface of the broadside of his axe!
“Uh!”
He jerked and looked in the direction that sound came from and heard grunts and groans. To his awe, he watched as cracks appeared on Midnight’s petrified body, turquoise shining through them, as pieces fell, revealing flesh and fur as Midnight collapsed gasping, alive
“Midnight!” Blazing Spirit hurried over to the injured unicorn, the arrow still in his leg, “Don’t move, I’m here!”
“Blazing Spirit…” Midnight groaned in a dazed voice. “Wha… what happened?”
“The gorgon! She’s… She turned herself to stone!” Blazing Spirit explained as he helped Midnight to his hooves, making sure he stayed off his injured leg.
“I think when she looked at her reflection while her hood was up-”
“Her power was rebound upon her,” Midnight nodded as his head cleared, “Yes… I thought that might work, but… I wasn’t sure.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re alright, but…” Blazing Spirit looked around at the other statues, seeing none of them moving or anything.
“Why did only you come back to life?”
“I hazard a guess it’s because I was her most recent victim,” Midnight panted, “and the others will probably take longer for the curse to wear off before they return to flesh and blood. Which also means…”
“My teacher and kinsmen!” Blazing Spirit gasped in rejoice.
“Can we get outta here?” Midnight asked. “This arrow freakin’ hurts!”
“Hold on,” Blazing Spirit went over to the petrified gorgon, her feral faze frozen before he raised his axe and broke her head off relatively intact. He picked it up and said, “I’ll need proof for my father.”
“Alright, get over here and hold onto me,” Midnight instructed. Blazing Spirit did so and they were gone in a Flash!
Midnight managed to teleport them out of the cave and Blazing Spirit had to be convinced they couldn’t bring his kinsmen with them back to the tribe. It would be difficult enough for Midnight as his leg was hurt.
By the time they made it back to the tribe, it was morning and they found Earth Fury preparing his warriors. Earth Fury saw them approaching and demanded an explanation. Midnight gave it to him, explaining how they went to face the Gorgon, how he was turned to stone, and Blazing Spirit tricked the sinister serpent into falling victim to her own power!
And with the gorgon’s petrified head as proof, Earth Fury had no choice but to accept it to be true. They then explained the other victims would likely soon be set free of the curse and that they should send someone to look in on the four who’d been turned to stone. Earth Fury sent a band of scouts to the gorgon’s lair and ordered the healers to look after Midnight before hoisting his son onto his shoulder and proudly declaring him a noble warrior!
As noon passed, Blazing Spirit sat at the bank of the oasis, contemplating all he’d been through when he heard his father’s lumbering steps.
“Hello, son. May I join you?”
Blazing Spirit gestured him to sit and the big minotaur did so.
“You were right, Blazing Spirit, our brothers are returned to us and the gorgon’s other victims are also waking up. I think it’s only fair we repay your friend Midnight by helping them.”
“I’m glad to hear that, father,” Blazing Spirit sounded less than triumphant.
“Son, what’s the matter? You overcame the monster, you saved our brothers, restored our honor! You’re a hero!”
“Father… I was a calf…” Blazing Spirit said shamefully. “I didn‘t know that showing the gorgon her reflection would work against her, I was terrified, I had no idea what I was doing! It was sheer dumb-luck, not bravery…”
Earth Fury considered his son’s words for a moment before sighing, “Blazing Spirit, being brave doesn’t mean being fearless. Only a fool has no fear. A cautious and patient warrior allows fear to guide him but not to rule him. Son, when I was your age… I was actually more like you.”
Blazing Spirit looked at his father as the chief looked on in memory, “I was fidgety, afraid of not being the great warrior my own father was and how I had to live up to being his heir, much like you’ve felt… Then I met a young minotauress but was too afraid to show her my feelings. Then one day, our tribe was attacked by tatzelworms, and she was in danger! I was afraid, of course, but when I saw her and the beast coming after her, I was afraid for her, and acted to protect her! I fought back like a mad bull, son! And when all was said and done, she hugged me, sobbing, calling me her hero…”
“Was she… mother?” Blazing Spirit whispered.
“Yes… and because I did not let fear stop me, I found my mate and she gave me a son,” Earth Fury put a hand on Blazing Spirit’s shoulder.
“My young warrior, I’ve acted the way I have to drive you, because as my heir you must be willing to face your fears and prove yourself not to me but to the tribe that they can trust you to lead when your time comes. I’m sorry for the times I’ve belittled you, but believe me when I say I truly believed in you, and I was right.”
Blazing Spirit couldn’t help the tears and his father wiped them away before pulling his son into a hug.
It took a few days but thanks to the tribal healers and his own magic, Midnight was back on his hooves in no time. But he’d noticed a full moon had gone by, so the next night, he announced it was time for him to go.
He stood before the tribe, along with several of the rescued victims of the gorgon, Earth Fury saying, “We can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done, Midnight Blaze, but allow us to give you this.”
He held out a wooden amulet with a symbol of a hammer and axe cleaving stone.
“This amulet bears our tribal crest. From this day forth, you are an honorary member of our tribe, and entitled the same camaraderie as any of our brothers. Should ever you need us, we will gladly aid you.”
“And thank you, Midnight, for helping me,” Blazing Spirit held out his hand and Midnight gladly shook it as he accepted the amulet.
“I still have a way to go before I am ready to lead this tribe, but now… I look forward to the challenges I will face!”
“Lead your tribe well, Blazing Spirit, and thank you Earth Fury,” Midnight smiled. “I accept this amulet and am humbled by it.”
He slowly stepped back to bask into the full of the moonlight, and smiled again.
“Farewell, everyone! We will not meet again but I will remember you always!”
And the tribe watched in awe as Midnight was enveloped in a bubble of mana and before they knew it, he was gone in a Wink of Light!