//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Affirmation of the Truth // Story: Arabian Nights // by RidiculousPony //------------------------------// All seven ponies scrutinized the tunnels for any clues to Brant’s location. Their search was hindered by the hard stone that showed no hoof or pawprints. Some of the tunnel walls were natural stone but other parts had been widened by tools. For the most part it was wide enough for the ponies to walk two-by-two as they delved deeper into the earth.   At the first fork Rarity’s magic guided them down the correct path and again at the next. Amira was supremely thankful for that spell—each branch looked the same as the last and she never could have found her way alone. After nearly two hours of winding through the maze of indistinguishable tunnels they rounded a corner and stopped. The passage was filled to the ceiling with rocks and dirt.   Applejack climbed up and examined the exposed soil. “This looks fresh. I bet those varmints were expectin’ us so they collapsed the tunnels behind ‘em.” She dug in and started to drag some of the rocks aside but Twilight stopped her.   “It’s no use, Applejack. The cave-in reaches even further than my magic can sense. There’s no way we can dig through in time. We’ll need a new plan.”   The mares walked back to the previous fork, a room with four tunnels branching from it. They debated their options on the way and decided to split into two groups. Each would explore some of the tunnels they had skipped and try to catch another trail with the gem-finding spell.   “Meet back here if anything goes wrong,” Twilight instructed. She lifted a pocket-watch from her bag. “It’s about four in the afternoon now, so let’s all meet up here at eight-o’clock at the latest.” Twilight waved a stick of chalk. “And remember to mark the tunnels you’ve taken so we don’t end up walking in circles.” Rarity took the lead for her group. “Very well. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy, could you please accompany me?” Rainbow Dash seemed to like the arrangement. “Sweet! More chances to show Amira my skills. Are you ready, Amira and Twi?” Amira nodded slightly and glanced at Twilight Sparkle. Amira was unsure about splitting up but at least she would be safe with the princess. Rumors of her power, especially about her earth-rending battle against Tirek, had reached Saddle Arabia and beyond. Even if those stories were mostly exaggeration, the seed of truth at the core would still be impressive. “Alright, I’m ready,” Twilight said as she fired up the same gem-finding spell as Rarity. “See you soon, girls.” She waved to the other group as they went down their own tunnel.     After several hours of exploring, the process of marking off each featureless tunnel had become routine. Once they were sure a path was a dead-end or loop, Rainbow Dash would fly up to mark the ceiling and the trio would move to the next fork. Rainbow Dash marked another dead-end then spat out the stub of chalk into her saddlebag. “I’m sick of the taste of chalk. You’re marking the next one, Twilight.” Twilight mumbled, “Uh huh.” She was focused on her horn and continued her thoughtful pace. A moment later, she stopped suddenly—her horn had lit up again with a weak flicker. “I’m detecting something but it is really faint. Give me a second to pinpoint it.” She swept her head from side to side like a dowsing rod and then settled on a fork up ahead. Twilight moved slowly and focused on the flickering magic. The trio followed the spell through several more branches but the gem signal remained faint. They descended deeper still and finally came to large opening. Twilight cast a light spell and revealed a room filled with odd junk and treasure. From pottery and wine to fabrics and furniture, it all looked to be stolen from merchants and travelers, and any precious gems had been stripped from the ill-gotten gains. Twilight’s gem spell only illuminated a burlap sack near the entrance. Rainbow Dash, her natural impatience only worsened by the mind-numbing search, rushed to the bag and poured it out on the floor. A green saddlebag was visible on top of the other contents. “Brant’s saddlebag!” Amira gasped. She grabbed it and uncovered the loose clothing and two rolls of ornate cloth underneath. “And our enchanted carpets!” she exclaimed. After a moment the happiness on her face was replaced with confusion. “This doesn’t make sense.” She looked to Twilight. “Why would your spell lead us to this bag? Other than my ambassador regalia back at your castle, we didn’t bring any gems with us from Saddle Arabia.” “I don’t know,” Twilight shrugged. “Hmm, let me check something.” She leaned closer until her spell illuminated a spot on the side of Brant’s saddlebag. She opened it and looked inside. “Aha! There’s a secret pocket in the side here.” Her magic lifted out a small silk pouch. Twilight set the saddlebag aside and peered inside the pouch. She let out a small gasp. “Um… I think this is for you,” she said as she passed it to Amira. Amira set the pouch down and nudged the contents out onto the burlap. It had held two chain earrings. Each had two cuffs that were adorned with small diamonds and supported a solitary teardrop sapphire, surrounded by a crescent of intricately woven gold wire. The Bazaar of Neighjran has never seen the likes of these, she thought. She lifted one for a closer look and noticed a bit of folded paper underneath. “Amira” was written neatly on the outside. “Oh, Brant…” she sighed. Rainbow Dash eyed her expectantly. “Well, are you gonna read it? It could be important.” Twilight put a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder and steered her away. “We’ll give you some privacy,” she said. Amira took a deep breath and unfolded the note. It was written in Arabic and in Brant’s familiar penmanship. As she read, she could hear his voice in her head. Amira, I may be a bit slow sometimes but I'm not completely oblivious and I know you aren't either. We've both spent enough time with each other to put all the pieces together. You must know that I like you as more than a friend. I have for a long time but I know now that you don't feel the same. Through all the furtive glances and longing stares I directed at you, I’ve seen you looking at mares in the same way. I love you Amira, but I love you as a friend first. Ever since we were foals we've been there for each other and I wouldn’t trade that friendship for anything. I want you to find happiness, whoever it’s with. I'll help you find the one for you and I’ll find my own love too. By the way, these earrings were my mother's and she would have wanted you to have them. She loved you too. I think she might have figured you out before I did. She never did try to play matchmaker with us. It may be a while before I finally work up the courage to give you this letter, but I know I’ll feel the same then as I do now. Forever your friend, Brant Amira sat in silence. Tears slid down her face and left dark trails of mascara in her pink fur. Without thinking, she started to brush them away and smudged her makeup even more but she recovered and managed to smooth it back out. She carefully folded the note again and returned it and the earrings to the pouch. Rainbow and Twilight waited quietly as Amira methodically gathered her and Brant’s reclaimed belongings. She strapped an enchanted carpet to each saddlebag and stowed everything else inside. In a daze she tried to put both heavy saddlebags on her back but Rainbow Dash intervened and extended a leg to her. “I’ll carry one of those if that’s alright.” “Um, yes. Thank you.” Amira mumbled, still a bit dazed. Twilight leaned in close. “Is everything okay, Amira? If you need somepony to talk to about that letter, I’m here for you.” Amira shook her head. “It wasn’t anything bad. Just a lot for me to process.” A determined look settled on her face. “That’s not what’s important right now, anyway. We need to find Brant.” As they moved to leave, Rainbow Dash cast a longing look back at all the treasure. “What about all this stuff?” In a lecturing tone Twilight explained, “It isn’t ours to take, Rainbow. And besides, we can’t carry it with us right now. We’ll tell the town watch about it and they can come collect it later and try to find the owners. I’ll map out the path we followed to this room.”     The trio returned to exploring the caves. They still hadn’t found anything of note when Twilight called for them to stop. She levitated her pocket watch before her. “We should head back to the meeting point now if we want to get there before eight-o’clock. Maybe the other group had some luck.” They retraced their steps and made much better time as they passed through familiar tunnels. They entered the meeting room a bit before eight-o’clock. Four mares already sat in a circle on the floor. Brant was not there. Pinkie Pie bounced up to greet the returning group. “There you are! We were bored and then we were worried about you and then we got bored of worrying and started telling stories, but we got worried again!” Applejack rolled her eyes. “It’s only been fifteen minutes. There wasn’t enough time to do all that worryin’.” Pinkie stuck her nose up in the air. “Maybe not for you, but I finished at least four worry-bored cycles since we got here.” Amira smiled wearily. “Thank you for the concern, Pinkie Pie.” “See, Applejack? Every good playground has mood swings.” “Ahem.” Rarity put out a hoof. “Before we get distracted again, let’s hear from Twilight’s group.” She looked to Twilight expectantly. “Well, did you find anything?” “Yes, actually. We found Amira and Brant’s belongings along with some other stolen goods.” Twilight’s ears drooped as she continued, “No sign of Brant, though.” “Don’t feel bad, Twilight,” Fluttershy said. “We didn’t find anything at all. Just another collapsed tunnel and a lot of dead-ends and loops.” Twilight rubbed her eyes. “Well, I’m exhausted. I say we set up here for the night and get some rest. We can search more tomorrow.” Fluttershy shivered. “H-h-here? Do we really have to stay the night in a Diamond Dog cave?” “It would take over an hour just to get back out of the cave and then we’d be camping in the Everfree Forest. It is far safer in here,” Twilight explained. Fluttershy squeaked, scared by the mere mention of camping in the Everfree Forest, and nodded meekly. Twilight lifted the glowing lantern from her side and set it in the middle of the room. Orange light filled the room but left the four passages deep in shadow. “We’ll need one pony at a time to stay awake and keep an eye out,” Twilight said. Applejack said, “Ah’ll take first watch, Twilight. Y’all get some rest.” The other ponies laid out bedrolls and quickly settled in to sleep. Amira fell asleep quickly but didn't sleep well.     After a few hours of restless stirring, Amira gave up. From her bedroll she saw Twilight’s silhouette against the flickering lamplight. Amira rose and joined Twilight in the light. Twilight had been writing in a journal and she set the quill down. “It isn’t time for your watch yet, Amira. Couldn’t sleep?” she said in a hushed tone. “I’m just so worried about Brant. It’s been over a day since they took him and we don’t even have a clue yet.” “These tunnels can’t go forever, and we’ll make a new way through if we have to. We’ll find him.” Twilight smiled knowingly. “You really care about him don’t you? I can tell you’ve known each other a long time.” Amira nodded. “We met when we were just foals. He lived nearby and we both loved to run and explore.” A wide smile crept onto her face as she reminisced. “We’ve been best friends ever since.” “That reminds me of Spike and myself. He’s been with me so long. I can’t imagine life without—” She stopped when she noticed that Amira wasn’t paying attention. Amira was staring intently into the darkness. “Did you hear that? It sounded like thunder,” she whispered. With perked ears the two ponies listened intently for anything other than the slow breathing of five other ponies. Crack. A faint sound echoed through the tunnels and into the room. Twilight whispered, “I heard it that time.” Amira’s ears twitched. “Not thunder. A whip crack?” The sound came again and it really did sound like a whip. Twilight and Amira shared a glance and then woke the others. After some whispered explanations the group quietly crept down the tunnel toward the sound. They had just entered an unexplored section of the caves when a loud crack echoed out of a side tunnel. It was followed by a muffled voice. Wordlessly, the seven ponies took off at a gallop down that path. After about a hundred paces they rounded a corner and skidded to a stop in an open room lit by a few scattered lanterns. The walls were freshly hewn and some pickaxes were still embedded in the rock. Large metal minecarts were strewn about the room and filled with chunks of raw stone. A hunched grey creature with large ears stood on one of these carts with its back to the ponies. Its right paw held a whip up over its head. It didn’t seem to hear the ponies over its own yelling. “Get up, stupid pony-horse. You pulls the cart. You pulls the cart!” The whip came down and snapped at the air in front of the cart. CRACK! Another sound came from the obscured side of the minecart. “I can’t. My leg... I can’t—” The voice fell off into sobs. Amira recognized that voice. She yelled, “Brant!” and sprinted into the room. The Diamond Dog turned to the ponies and grinned to reveal yellow teeth and slobbering jowls. “Oh, more ponies want to pulls the carts? Enough carts for all of you.” Four more dogs carrying armfuls of rocks entered the cavern from a side passage. When they spotted the intruders they threw the rocks aside and rushed at the ponies, growling. The other six ponies quickly grasped the situation. They also charged into the fray to protect Brant but Amira had a large head start. Amira leapt at the whip-wielding dog and tackled him from the cart. He fell hard on the stone floor and let out a feeble groan. Across the room, ponies fought off the other dogs with spells and hooves. Amira turned her attention to Brant. “It’ll be alright. I’m here now,” she said, but Brant didn’t respond. He lay on his side and was fastened into a rusty metal harness. His eyes were closed but his teeth were bared in pain. Amira quickly removed the harness but she froze in shock when her gaze passed over his back legs. The right leg was badly broken. Amira saw the impossible angle and stretched skin. She shuddered. She knew her magic had no chance of healing a wound this severe. The dog she had tackled scrambled back to his feet and seemed to notice Brant’s leg for the first time. “Oh ho, so that’s what whiny pony complains about. Serves it right. For such a tall pony, it sure is weak.” Amira’s mind raced and she berated the dog under her breath, “You idiot mongrel! Saddle Arabians aren’t sturdy like Earth Ponies.” Tears welled in her eyes and her speech quickened. “You hooked Brant up to this awful cart. You worked him to exhaustion.” She slammed her hoof down, and the floor trembled. Amira’s eyes narrowed on the dog and her voice shook, “YOU did this to him!” I did this to Brant. I lied to him and I brought him here. I’m the reason he’s hurt. I failed him. Her vision blurred and tears rolled down her face. Deep within her, the repressed power started to claw its way to the surface. It gained purchase with each memory and emotion. The air began to crackle. “I can’t fix his leg but I can pay you back...” The tears in her eyes were gone, replaced by light. The crackling became an angry hum as Amira was engulfed in a rose-colored aura, overpowering the lamplight and painting the room a deep fuschia. Amira roared, “I CAN PAY YOU BACK A THOUSAND TIMES OVER!” The other ponies stumbled as the earth shook violently beneath them. Beyond her initial surprise, Twilight sensed something was very wrong. “Girls, get behind me now!” she yelled and summoned a barrier over her head. The ponies disengaged from the equally stunned dogs and scrambled to her. Just as Fluttershy skirted under the pink dome, it slammed down around the six ponies. “Wait! Where’s Amira?” Rainbow Dash asked, but Twilight said nothing. She merely stared through the barrier in confused awe. Rainbow Dash followed her gaze and caught a glimpse of Amira outside the glowing dome. Amira’s eyes blazed with crimson light. Droplets of magic overflowed from the corners like tears of blood. Raw emotion stampeded through her mind and every mental restraint fell before it. Wind whirled around her in a deafening howl as she rose upward. Tendrils of power lashed out and swept along the ground, whipping up a storm of dust. Beneath her, in the eye of the storm, lay Brant's broken form. For an instant everything fell silent. Then her last shred of control slipped and the maelstrom exploded outwards—her regret, her sorrow, her fury made manifest. It rushed forth with a loud roar. The wave lifted stones, carts, and Diamond Dogs and dashed them against the rock walls. The force and flying debris battered and stressed Twilight’s barrier, but it held strong. As quickly as it came, the wave of power dissipated and the thrown objects and bodies fell from the walls. The lanterns had been smashed and extinguished. Only the pale pink light of Twilight’s shield illuminated the cave. The center of the room had been scoured down to the bedrock. In the raised center of the ring-like crater, Amira and Brant lay side by side. Amira heard a frightened voice yell, “What in Tartarus was THAT?!” and then she blacked out.