//------------------------------// // Chapter Ten // Story: Guilt and Hate // by Mindblower //------------------------------// Chapter Ten ******* “I’m beat,” Hate said, lying down on a plush Canterlot sofa. She was deep underground in a hidden bunker that Arrogance had installed while she was the Daymare. It was designed more for comfort than defense, though, for the furniture was elegant and the chamber was very well-lit by candles that lined the gray walls. Hate rubbed her eyes and stretched. “This is an awesome second base. Am I right, Arrogance?” “Yes, thanks to me,” the magenta unicorn said, filing her hooves. She glanced at a white unicorn teen that was tied up and gagged on the other side of the lounge. “Want me to untie her now? We don’t want any nicks and scratches on our little white mage here.” Hate shrugged. “Knock yourself out.” Tossing the file aside and lazily getting up, Arrogance summoned her magic and cut Sweetie Belle’s bonds. The young unicorn sat in shock for a moment. “B-But... aren’t you supposed to keep me tied up?” she asked. “We’re supposed to do a lot of things,” Arrogance laughed. “Just keep out of trouble and don’t run away. And don’t think that you can outsmart us--we’re a few thousand years older than you are. I mean, it’s not like we’re keeping you here very long.” “But why let me go? Aren’t you afraid I’ll hurt you?” Sweetie Belle asked, shrinking farther into her corner. Hate rolled her eyes. “Look, Sweetie-cheeks. There’s no use in keeping you tied up as long as we keep track of you, ‘cause face it, you’re not very dangerous. We’re giving you back as soon as the Elements of Gullible finish up inside the mountain. Want anything to eat?” Sweetie Belle clutched her stomach in an effort to keep it from growling. She hadn’t eaten breakfast before she was kidnapped, but she didn’t want to accept any food from the enemy. “N-No,” she stuttered. “I’ll tell Envy to fetch you something anyways. Just being polite, y’know?” Hate smirked. “Oh, and Arrogance? You’re due for a scouting mission pretty soon. You might want to prepare a bit.” “Psh. You say it like I need to,” Arrogance scowled. “I’m going to get something to eat. Sweetie Belle, you’re coming with me.” “B-But I don’t wanna...” Sweetie Belle trailed off. “It wasn’t a question,” Arrogance retorted. “Trust me, you don’t want to stay with Hate. He’d bore you to tears with all of his fluffy ‘oh, woe is me’ nonsense.” Hate shrugged, picking up a nearby book and turning to a dogeared page. “Guilty as charged. ‘Sides, you don’t look like you can afford to miss your next meal.” “Okay...” Sweetie Belle mumbled, though she didn’t move. She wiped her eyes. “C’mon, get up,” Arrogance mumbled, tapping the immobile Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle shrunk into a tight ball, refusing to meet Arrogance’s gaze. She sniffled a bit, trembling with fear. “I said get up!” Arrogance yelled, frustrated. “NO!” Sweetie Belle yelled. ******* “Arrogance,” Hate moaned upon her sister’s outburst. “Y-You’re the Daymare a-and you killed my friends!” Sweetie Belle cried, flailing her limbs at the exasperated Arrogance. “Ugh, fillies are so annoying,” Arrogance grumbled. “Stop crying!” Hate vanished for a moment before reappearing behind Arrogance. Dark energy tendrils leapt from her pelt and wrapped around Arrogance’s neck, strangling her. “Now look what you’ve done,” Hate scolded, her eyes shining with fury. “You’ve gone and made her cry. S’not her fault she doesn’t want to go with you.” “Ack!” Arrogance choked. “Alright, alright!” “Say you’re sorry,” Hate commanded. “Are you kidding me?” Arrogance hissed. “Say it,” Hate insisted, constricting Arrogance’s neck even more. “S-Sorry,” Arrogance managed. Hate tossed her aside, refusing to look at her. Arrogance muttered something, rubbing her neck. “Fix your attitude,” Hate sneered. “She’s just a kid.” “Just a kid my flank!” Arrogance coughed. “There’s millions more like her.” “Every pony in Equestria deserves a chance,” Hate protested, turning to face Arrogance. “We were lucky we got one. Others deserve their second chances. And their third. Fourth? Fifth? Gee, I wonder how many times I’ve died.” “Not as many times as I have,” Arrogance growled. “She’s your problem now.” Arrogance turned to leave, but Hate stopped her. “What would Justice say?” she asked. Arrogance snorted. “What are you, her official spokespony or something? Or are you her geeky number-one fan?” Hate scowled. “You’ve been getting out of line. You destroyed an entire city without permission.” “Yeah, so? It’s not going to make any difference to them,” Arrogance spit. “They’ll still be hunting for blood. Might as well spill some myself.” “Do that, and we won’t be any better than they are,” Hate growled. “Dis-missed.” Arrogance muttered something and vanished. Hate turned back to the sobbing Sweetie Belle with a soft gaze. “Look, you don’t need to be afraid of me. I’m not your enemy here. I don’t have anything against you.” “Go’way,” Sweetie Belle mumbled, her hooves covering her face. “Arrogance was being an idiot, okay? But if you listen to me, I’ll help you,” Hate said. Sweetie Belle paused, inspecting her options. Option, really, once she thought about it. “Pr-Promise?” Sweetie Belle asked. Hate nodded. “Promise.” Sweetie Belle pulled herself up, though she still shook with fear in the presence of such a powerful pony. “How d-do I know y-you won’t hurt me?” Hate sighed. “You’ve just got to trust me, Sweetie Belle. I’ve been held against my will before, too, and... Well, it wasn’t pretty. I just don’t want you to escape from jail the way I had to.” “How did you escape?” Sweetie Belle asked hesitantly. Hate looked away. “...You said you wanted something to eat, right? Follow me.” Refusing to answer Sweetie Belle’s question, Hate led the way deeper into the base. ===================================================================== ******* Twilight slowly walked into the dimly lit chamber hidden inside the mountain. The walls glowed magenta when she walked in, magical runes appearing on the walls for just a moment before vanishing. She exhaled, yelping as a purple pulse of runes spread throughout the cavernous room. The chamber was covered in long-dead magical texts, though they briefly reactivated whenever Twilight moved. It was a small, dimly lit chamber, with a single corridor leading deeper into the mountain. Fluttershy was the next inside, though she squealed with fright as pale pink runes were activated inside the small chamber. She jumped into the air and tried to fly away from the initial pulse, panicking as the room began to glow a bright, almost blinding pink as her vigor increased. “Fluttershy!” Twilight exclaimed, grabbing the yellow pegasus’s leg and pulling her back down to earth. “They’re not going to hurt you.” “Mighty strange, though, don’cha think?” Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow as the room glowed orange upon her entrance. “All this’s inside a Mount Nevercrest? No wonder Discord wanted ta lead us in here.” Celestia was the next one in, though the runes did not glow when she stepped into the chamber. “I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of an Elemental temple where Harmony is concerned, but this has to be related somehow. It can’t be a coincidence.” “Ooo!” Pinkie giggled, tapping the floor. Light blue ripples of energy spread across the room as if it was the surface of a pond. “Hey, what’s down there?” Dash asked, pointing down the corridor. Fiery red runes activated as she moved her leg, and she glanced at them in annoyance. “Are these things going to act up when we do anything?” “I wouldn’t be surprised,” Celestia shrugged. She began to walk down the narrow corridor Dash had pointed out. Scootaloo entered, though for a moment she was dizzied by an unfamiliar presence. “Hey, I feel really weird all of a sudden, uh...” she stumbled, bringing a hoof to her head. Fratri... “Are you okay, Scootaloo?” Centime asked. Scootaloo shook her head. “Um, yeah. Sorry.” ‘Fratri?’ Why did I just hear that? Rarity followed Celestia through the corridor into the center of the mountain. She saw that the sun goddess had stopped dead in her tracks at the very end of the corridor. After Rarity had pushed past her, she saw why. Dark, stone-cut buildings lined dirt roads. Mushrooms and other subterranean foliage dotted the crippled infrastructure of the area and lined the rim of the dome-shaped boundary of the enormous cavern. It appeared to be the ruins of an ancient city. About half of the buildings had crumbled to dust, having been eroded by the water droplets that fell from the ceiling, but the buildings all looked like they were carved from stone completely foreign to the mountain. Whereas the mountain was composed of dull granite and limestone, the buildings looked like they could have been made out of the finest marble. However, it was impossible to tell because of the decrepit state of the ruins. The most pronounced feature, however, was the large marble spire that led from the center of the cavern to the very top. It was glowing with a dim white light, and didn’t seem to be covered in magical runes like every other structure in the cavern. It was puny in comparison to the entire city, though, which may have been an hour’s walk end to end. A pulse of energy shot from the top of the tower, hitting Rarity and Celestia like a fierce gale and almost knocking them off their hooves. Ignosco. Volo ire domum. “D-... Did you hear that, Celestia?” Rarity gaped. “I-I’m not sure,” Celestia stammered, regaining her bearings. “Something powerful is definitely here, though. I’m just not sure what.” “Please tell me I’m not the only one who heard that,” Olly exclaimed, rushing toward Rarity. “Hear it? It almost knocked me clean off my hooves!” Rarity exclaimed. “I think this entire place is a failed replica of a horror show that would have been bad anyway.” “Celestia, where in, um, your name are we?” Olly asked hesitantly. “Sorry, I’m just not sure,” Celestia said, shaking her head. “I think that the voice being broadcast sounds familiar, though.” Meanwhile, Twilight was still fascinated with the runes in the other room. I can almost read them; they’re in a tongue that’s just a little different than the Ancient Language... So close, and yet so far. Twilight sighed. I’ll never be able to read these. Rainbow Dash, who had just seen the cavern, galloped back into the small chamber. “Twilight, you’ve got to come see this!” Twilight rushed into the empty cavern and almost fell on her side. She stammered incoherently for a moment, but finally asked, “How did an entire city get trapped inside a mountain?!” “That’s what we’re here to find out, isn’t it?” Olly asked enthusiastically. “I call dibs on the giant spire!” “Ya’ll go right on ahead; Ah don’t want anythin’ ta do with this creepy place,” Applejack said, turning around. “The top a the mountain can’t be too far ahead. Ah’ll set up camp with Rainbow; ya can meet us in that first chamber when yer done.” “Aw, but I wanna check this place out, too!” Dash protested. Another blast of energy spread from the tower, vibrating the group’s spines. Conscii sumus. Dash shook her head as a pounding headache threatened her oxygen-deprived nerves. “On second thought, maybe I’ll pass.” “Any idea what she’s saying?” Twilight asked. “It’s a she?” Centime asked. Twilight paused. How did I know that...? “It’s just gibberish,” Celestia said. “I can’t make heads or tails of it, but it feels powerful, so we should all watch our step here. Twilight, you should go search the tower with Olly. The rest of us will go back to camp.” “Why me, Celestia?” Twilight asked. “You think I’m sending him there all by himself?” Celestia asked, pointing at Olly, who was inspecting a nearby mushroom and sneezing as he caught a whiff of its spores. “Good point,” Twilight admitted. “Can we stay a little longer? I want to see what our mystery friend has to say!” Pinkie exclaimed. She turned to the spire, yelling, “Hey! What’s your name? Do you know my friend BonBon? What about Mr. Cake, or-” “Alright, Pinkie, I think the altitude’s getting to you a little bit,” Dash said, dragging Pinkie by her tail back toward the entrance of the cavern. Twilight pulled Olly away from the mushrooms and trotted to the center of the former metropolis. The spire was the only building in the city that looked structurally sound, probably because it was just a simple pole leading up to the top of the gigantic cavern. Twilight approached the tower’s entrance with Olly, only to find a single seemingly endless spiral staircase inside it that presumably led to the top. Purple runes lit up when Twilight entered, and as she started to climb with Olly, they provided apt lighting. They climbed for what seemed like hours. Twilight was getting increasingly annoyed at the nagging though that they weren’t getting anywhere, which was aided by the fact that she couldn’t see the bottom of the windowless spire. Olly was gasping for breath as he struggled to keep up with Twilight. “So... weak. Getting... lightheaded. Good, no heavy head to carry...” he trailed off, rolling over. He folded his legs over his chest. “Olly, you’re not a cockroach. Get up,” Twilight prompted. “Five more minutes, mommy,” Olly complained wearily. Aggravated, Twilight nipped Olly on the ear. “We can’t afford to stay up here very long!” she snapped. “Why not?” Olly asked, shaking his head. “We’ll suffocate,” Twilight breathed. “We need to get to the top of this spire and back down as quickly as we can.” Though it took a lot of prodding and pulling on Twilight’s part, she eventually got Olly to climb to the top of the spire with her. Inside was a single chamber. Crisp, almost new magical texts lined the walls. There was a single pedestal in the center of the room, and atop it laid a single black gem. The chamber was aged and crumbling like the rest of the ruins, and luminescent fungus completely covered the floor and provided dim lighting. Twilight squinted at the text, only barely able to make it out. “Hey, Olly, listen to this.” “I’m all ears,” Olly breathed. “What is it?” “Just and fair is the punishment served. Until we arrive, you shall stay preserved. Steady is our magical prison That keeps you under close supervision. In due time, you will be released, Come the end of the war, during times of peace. End the suffering, let it cease.” Twilight read the last words as a warm presence started to claw at her mind. She shook her head, trying to shake the awful feeling. “I’ll give that poem a... well, a nine out of ten,” Olly shrugged. “Wonder what this gem in the center is, though. Wonder if I can swipe it.” He reached to touch the gem, yelping as sparks from an invisible barrier flew down his foreleg. “Ooh, that smarts!” “You can’t touch it; there’s... there’s a magical barrier,” Twilight grunted. The presence was getting stronger, and she couldn’t shake it off. It felt as if somepony were raking the back of her head with metal talons. “What, so I can’t take it? It’s so shiny,” Olly begged, staring at the gem. “Pleeease?” Twilight yelled, falling to her knees. “Alright, I won’t take it!” Olly jumped. “Uh, Twilight? You alright?” Twilight couldn’t answer. Words were flying through her head faster than she could hear them. Before falling unconscious, though, there was one phrase that stood out: I’m sorry, brother. ===================================================================== After a moment’s contemplation, Olly realized he had to physically drag Twilight back to camp. Having no other choice, he spent what was left of his energy trying to save Twilight’s head from too much damage on the trek back down the stairs and across half of the city. He did get her safely back to camp, though, somehow, and as soon as he set her down, he fell over himself. “What in tarnation?” Applejack asked in shock. “What’d ya’ll do up there that knocked her out?” “Altitude sickness?” Olly suggested, panting and wiping his brow despite the fact that it was chilly inside and outside the chamber where they were setting up camp. “She just, well, fell unconscious.” “What was up there?” Celestia asked. “Just a mystical poem and a black diamond that I couldn’t bring back for some reason,” Olly explained. “Nothing I could really make much sense out of. But what’s wrong with Twilight? Anypony know?” Celestia and Fluttershy examined the lightly snoozing mare in front of them. Celestia shook her head. The pulses stopped suddenly an hour or so ago. That must have been them interfering at the top of the spire. “She doesn’t look injured or sick, at least from the outside. For right now, she should get her rest.” “I think we all should get some rest,” Rarity suggested, lying down on her sleeping bag and yawning. “I like that idea. Sweet dreams, everypony!” Pinkie chirped before bundling herself up in blankets. Celestia was the last to fall asleep. Something about that black gem sounds oddly familiar. ===================================================================== ******* Scootaloo stumbled through the snow, having just woken up in a ditch. She was disoriented and groggy as she tried to gain her bearings. “Hello? Anypony?” she called desperately, hoping to see a friend. She was freezing. The frigid cold had seeped through every portion of her body, yet she kept going for fear of being followed. Her steps were uneven as the winds of a blizzard pounded on her side, almost knocking her over. Still, she braved the snowstorm and continued down the first thin, dirt road she found. It had to lead somewhere. Anywhere. Further down the road, Scootaloo finally saw the shape of a pony. She forced what little energy she had left into her legs and plowed through the ever-thickening snow to meet her. “Who are you?” Scootaloo asked, almost yelling over the wind. The mare, an alicorn, laughed sadly. “You do not recognize me, sister? It’s just as well, I suppose.” “Wh-What do you mean? Where am I?” Scootaloo asked, tears welling up in her eyes. “Please, do not be afraid,” the mare said, draping a wing across Scootaloo. She was warm, like a midsummer day. The winds quieted. “H-Help me,” Scootaloo murmured, pressing herself into the mare’s chest for warmth. “I-I’m so cold...” “I cannot help you much more than I am right now, sister. I am sorry,” the mare said. “Wh-Why are y-you out here all al-alone?” Scootaloo stuttered, her teeth chattering from the icy winds that buffeted both her and the mare next to her. “I was here to protect you. It appears that I cannot,” the mare said sadly. The winds were picking up again, and the temperature dropped harshly. “What d-do you mean?” Scootaloo asked. The mare pointed into a pit on the side of the road. Inside was an orange pegasus with a spiky purple mane, her eyes motionless in death. Scootaloo was staring at her own body. She awoke with a scream. ===================================================================== [Note]: I do not own anything in this story that already belongs to someone else.   This story takes place BEFORE season two, but AFTER season one.   Please let me know if a link doesn’t work.