Applejack continued to look at Pinkie's side, her mouth slightly agape, as a small amount of blood seeped out of the three wounds. The possibility of the timberwolves actually being able to hurt them had left her mind once Pinkie had brought up the idea that they were illusions, the only conclusion that could explain their survival for so long down here. Of course now, with her eyes wide with shock as she stared at the three claw marks, all of those previous thoughts were tossed to the wayside. She and Pinkie looked back into each others eyes, the shock overpowering the pain in Pinkie's eyes, as they both looked at each other for answers.
The orange mare looked away, and tried to size up their situation. To say that their position was dire would be a grave understatement. The mares were completely surrounded, with at least twenty timberwolves slowly approaching from every direction as the wolves bore their teeth menacingly, growling at their next victims. As they approached, Applejack looked around, desperately looking for any way out of their desperate position, maybe another tunnel she had missed before, possibly some doorway that led out, or even another platform, but none of them panned out to anything. If there was another tunnel, the meager light from above and her torchlight, neither quite reaching the walls of the cavern, showed the way.
The voice of Pinkie broke her out of her thoughts, and Applejack watched as the frightened mare worked her mouth slowly, “... Applejackie...”
Pinkie's blue eyes shimmered, the fear within them all too apparent. It wasn't fair that such an innocent, kind, and fun pony should have so much hardship placed on her shoulders so often recently, the burdens that she had borne too great for any pony. The slight shiver that Applejack had when Pinkie was taken from her in Xavier City now returned in earnest, the terror gripping her heart again. The orange mare watched as Pinkie's forehooves danced slightly, the anxiousness obvious in the pink pony's tells, though the thought that the pony would try to hide her fear was ridiculous at best. Applejack saw Pinkie tear her eyes away from her, and looked at the predators all around them; her eyes darting from creature to creature, trying to find something, most likely a way out, through the wall of teeth and claws.
Applejack's eyes narrowed. This was the mare that she was supposed to protect. This was the mare that she had been doing nothing but failing to protect since the beginning. This was the mare that she was supposed to help find the element of laughter, not to watch idly as she was taken away time and time again by the evil all around her.
That would end now.
“Pinkie Pie,” Applejack said, her voice deep and filled with determination, “get behin' me. Now.”
Pinkie's eyes darted back to Applejack, her trance broken, “Wh... what?”
“Get... behin'... me... now...” Applejack slowly spoke, her stance spreading slightly wider, readying her body for the coming fight, “And find us a way out if ya can.”
Before Pinkie could comply with either request, the first timberwolf charged.
Time slowed as Applejack saw the hulking form of wood and teeth bear down on her pink companion. Pinkie's head slowly turned as she looked behind her, utter terror in her eyes as she saw the wolf coming straight towards her, her body frozen in fright. Applejack's instincts immediately took over, and she quite literally leaped over Pinkie, her belly slightly brushing against the poofy mane of her friend. Planting her forehooves in the hard surface of the platform, she used her forward momentum to pivot her body so that her hind legs, now curled up tight against her body, faced the wolf. The wolf appeared to understand what was about to happen, and tried to escape the coming hit, but it was far too slow.
Applejack's legs shot out like cannons, the years of apple bucking strengthening the muscles in her legs to the point that nothing could withstand a single hit. Both legs connected with the wolf's jaw, a stomach-churning cracking sound emanating from the point of impact. The wolf flew backwards from the force, and with a resounding thud, landed flat on its back, the whimpering cries it let out being all that was needed to tell Applejack that it would not be getting up anytime soon.
She smiled, “One down, twenty to go...”
The rest of the wolves hesitated, watching as their companion squirmed on the ground in pain from the broken jaw. Their hesitation was short lived as they slowly came to, and, with a vengeful growl, three of them started to cautiously move towards the pair, the pack still appearing to be testing the waters. Applejack braced as she watched the three out of the corners of her eyes, all the while making sure that none were able to get to Pinkie. The four pairs of eyes stared down at each other, watching each others movements. The wolves waited for a blink of an eye, a sneeze, or any other kind of slip that would lead to some kind of opening for them to exploit against the pony. Applejack meanwhile was growling, trying to look as menacing as possible, settling to staying on the defense, her body always staying in motion, always moving in response to the circling the wolves were doing around the mares, making sure to place her between them and Pinkie.
Finally, one of the wolves, tired of the waiting, leaped at the orange mare, its hunger clouding its mind as it wanted the first taste of her flesh. Again, Applejack pivoted on her forehooves, reared back her hind legs, and let out a thunderous kick, sending yet another wolf whimpering to the ground. Before she could ready herself again for another attack, a second timberwolf came at her, swiping at her side. Seeing the claws coming at her, she ducked down, the sharp weapons barely passing over her body. Before the wolf could react, she jumped up, and brought a forehoof to the wolf's chin. While her hoof did damage in the uppercut, her climbing claws, which were still attached to her forelegs, dug into the wolf's face, causing it to stumble back in a pained cry. The sounds of the final wolf of the trio entered her ears when all of the sudden, an idea came to her mind. She violently swung her forehoof around, the climbing claws now being treated as deadly weapons, and caught the surprised timberwolf in the side of the face, throwing it away from the mares.
She looked at the claws on her forehooves, “Oh... oh Ah really like these...”
The rest of the wolves paused for nary a moment before they charged the orange mare all at once, their intention to overwhelm the pony with pure numbers. All hell broke loose as Applejack leaped into the fray, kicking out with her hind legs where she could, swiping with her claws at those in front, most were focused on dodging the innumerable amounts of teeth and claws. More than once she found herself catching a wolf with a hind leg, knocking it backwards off of the platform, and more often than not when she swung with one of her climbing claws, she caught the face of a wolf, forcing it to retreat in pain.
That wasn't to say that she wasn't taking hits of her own. While she was definitely dishing out a lot more than she was taking, far too often a stray swipe of the claw got past her flurry of blows, and cut a part of her body. Adrenaline flowing, she noticed none of these, and every hit received always resulted in that wolf being sent flying off the platform from the strong kick or punch from a hoof.
In the chaos of the fight, she lost track of the very mare she was trying to protect, the orange mare becoming cut off from Pinkie by the swarm of attackers. Applejack desperately attempted to find the mare, but was constantly distracted by an errant wolf that wanted to take another bite out of her. She heard Pinkie fighting some distance away, and from the sounds of the howls of wolves in the distance, several of the wolves had broken off from attacking her and had decided to focus on the pink mare. Applejack was worried for her friend, but the sudden appearance of a large blast of confetti in the distance, a wolf's cry coinciding with the explosion, told Applejack that, at least for now, Pinkie was alright.
She let out a sharp cry as another wolf had latched itself on her, digging its teeth into her flank. With a strong kick, she removed the predator, sending him off of the platform, and out of sight. The rest stopped attacking, merely watching the ferocious mare, their idea of her being an easy kill being completely thrown on its head. Still, Applejack looked around, only to see the line of wolves, at least ten, still surrounding her, still determined to make her their meal. She, on the other hoof, could feel her strength beginning to falter, her wounds were starting to get the better of her and the many small cuts and bites were doing enough damage to slow her movements.
This was a battle she couldn't win.
Applejack charged forward as she desperately tried to link up with her friend. They needed to get out of this fight, and get somewhere safe, or at least somewhere where they weren't always surrounded. A swipe from a foreclaw stopped her, the sharp appendages coming within inches of her face. Again, she was forced onto the defensive, focusing all of her attention on the dodging and parrying of the blows against her. Dodging another swipe to her flank, she shot out her legs, but this time missing the wolf, the wooden animals finally starting to learn her moves. Another sign that the battle was tipping in the timberwolves' favor.
A squeak from the other side of the room attracted her attention, the high pitched cry no doubt coming from Pinkie Pie. As a fresh rush of adrenaline ran through her veins, the orange mare watched as the vast majority of the wolves turned their attention to the wounded pink mare, though Applejack herself couldn't see where her companion was. Taking the second of respite, she turned her head up, and her mind racing, came up with a very stupid idea.
With a quick motion, she opened her saddlebags, and brought out the bright orange rope that was gifted to her by Sarlaka. Looking up, Applejack spied a thick root that dangled from the ceiling of the cavern, right next to the hole that the greenish light came from. Applejack did her best to judge how high the ceiling was, knowing that if she was off by the tiniest of amounts that she would miss, and she doubted she'd have a second shot at this.
With a burst of speed, Applejack charged the wolves in front of her, and started to spin her bright orange lasso in the air. Once she got close, she bounded over the wolves in front of her, and allowed her rear hooves to strike the wolves directly in front of her on the heads as she used them to gain extra height. As she soared through the air, she released the lasso, throwing it high above her. The seconds ticked by as she held her breath, watching the brightly colored cord move through the air, going higher and higher. Finally, at the impossible height of the ceiling, the rope looped itself around one of the roots in the air, and pulled taught.
Reaffirming her grip on the rope with her teeth, her jump morphed into a swing, and she shot across the dimly lit cavern. All the while, she kicked in a running motion on top of the heads of timberwolves under her to propel her faster and faster. In front of her, a small circle of wolves were standing around the unconscious form of Pinkie, the malicious intent all but apparent. Dangling from the rope, she reached out as far as she could with her hind legs, and somehow managed to grab the mass of pink, and with new found pain in her mouth, lurched forward, and away from the wolves.
Slowly, Applejack began to lose speed as her swing reached the apex of the climb. With Pinkie still wrapped in her hind legs, the orange mare quickly reached out with her forelegs, and began to quickly wrap the rope around them, coiling the rope around her forelegs. After only two or three full loops around her legs, after which she was forced to let go with her teeth, her swing finally started to reverse itself, sending her back into the horde of teeth. The entire time, Applejack furiously coiled the rope, doing her best to make sure there was as much clearance between Pinkie and the ground as possible. She could hear the snarling of angry predators as she climbed, the rope finally reaching its lowest point.
Fortunately, she didn't feel any timberwolves grab onto Pinkie as they reach this point, and the rope started a second and much smaller accent as Applejack continued to coil the rope around her forelegs. This process repeated itself, until Applejack found her forward and back motion completely lost, leaving the pair of ponies to dangle precariously from the rope. During this, the orange mare continued to wrap the lifeline in her hooves around her legs, slowly climbing the orange rope.
Sweat poured down the mare's face as she climbed, the immense height seemed to never end. Her muscles started to ache even more as she carried not only her own, but Pinkie's weight in only her forelegs. Muscles she never thought she even possessed were strained to the limit to make sure the pair never fell. Adding to this pain, the various cuts and bites she endured during the fight finally started to catch up with her, the throbbing pain finally making itself realized. Fighting for every inch, she climbed more and more, battling gravity itself for all one hundred and fifty hooves of distance with tooth and nail. The entire time, the timberwolves under her howled and snarled, demanding that she give up, drop to the ground, and let their pack feast upon the two.
Fifteen minutes after she initially started her climb, she finally reached the top, the mighty root that the rope was attached to still holding strong. Applejack grabbed onto the root with her teeth, and allowed the pair of ponies to hang from it, her heavy panting of exhaustion through her clinched teeth did not nearly provide enough air for the tired mare to regain her strength. Instead of resting her aching legs or tending to the new and sharp pain in her mouth, she continued to fight against the pain, and slowly slipped the rope from her forelegs, releasing her tether to her rope. Looking to her right, she saw her target: the hole where the light was coming from. At this distance, she noticed that the hole itself was rather small, a little less than three hooves wide. She tried to judge the the distance between the two of them and the hole where the light was coming from; a short, yet harrowing six hooves of open air between them and their destination.
One last time, she looked at the rope she was gifted. 'Ya saved my life,' she thought to herself, 'Ah jus' wish Ah knew ya better.'
Carefully, she started to swing herself back and forth, using Pinkie's limp form as a weight to build up her momentum. Her motions were smooth and regular, her swinging started slow, only to build up faster and faster as her teeth dug deeper into the root that she hung on for dear life. Sharp pain started to shoot through her neck as the entire weight of the two mares was suspended by her teeth. Finally, after a few swings, she released her teeth from the root, and the pair sailed freely through the air.
For a few brief moments, the feeling of how a pegasus in flight would feel began to wash over Applejack. Her body felt weightless, releasing the stresses of gravity against her entire body, giving her muscles a short instant to rest. The slight lurching feeling in her stomach as she reached the apex of her jump, and allowed her to release all control of her flight to fate and luck. Finally, the wind against her face, just like in her leaping swing before, cooled her brow and gave a slightly refreshing reprise against the stuffiness of the cave.
Of course, being an earth pony, this feeling of bliss ended quite abruptly.
Barely making the distance, she reached out with her forehooves, and dug them deeply into the wall, praying to the princesses that they would grip into the loose earth. While her left leg's claws slipped through the earth without catching, her right hoof caught, saving the pair from the long and fatal fall that would've come very shortly after. Of course, the weight of two mares plus the downward momentum they built was now all being supported by a single foreleg, which nature did not design to be pulled in such a way.
“Argh!” Applejack grunted, the painful feeling in her shoulder was very similar to that of her leg being yanked out of its socket, though by the way she could still move it gave her relief from that worry. For a fleeting second, she dangled yet again, her other hoof not yet recovering from the slip. As the wolves below bellowed and the green light from the passage nearly blinding her, she reached up with her dangling hoof, and gripped the earthy wall of the hole, the claw striking true this time. With a grunt, she pulled herself up, until her forelegs were curled up completely with her hooves at her chin. With a quick motion, she reached a foreleg across to the opposite side of the wall, and struck the claws onto the opposite side, bracing her body between the walls.
Taking a few seconds to breathe, she hung from the walls, her forelegs beginning to slightly quiver from the constant strain that she had been putting on them since she started to climb the rope earlier. Soon, she began her climb, pulling herself up as high as she could, until both of her forelegs were bent as much as her joints would allow, then she quickly pulled one hoof out of the wall, extended it up about half her reach, and slammed it into the wall, reconnecting the claws to the earth. Then, she pulled out the other claw, and jammed it into the wall as far as she could reach up, so that her hooves were staggered in height, allowing for her to constantly have pressure on the walls.
She repeated this process for longer than Applejack would care to ever imagine, though from the numb feeling from her forelegs, and the silence of the wolves under her, she knew that it had to have been close to forever and a day. After what felt like ten days of work, she looked down, and while she could only barely see past the pink mane of her unconscious friend, she saw that she only moved a little bit, the going painfully slow, Applejack having to fight for every single miniscule inch of height.
At that moment, she heard slight groaning from below, “Ugh... Ap... Applejackie... wha... what's going o-” The voice stopped suddenly.
Applejack would've replied, but the pain from the climbing had gotten so bad, tears had started to form in her eyes. Instead, Pinkie started again, this time in a panicked tone, “Applejackie!? What's going on!? Why!? What!? I'm... what!?”
The orange mare started to strain as she felt the panicked mare hooked in her legs starting to struggle in her panic, flailing her legs around, trying to find something to grab onto. Applejack's anchor on the walls of the tunnel slipped, sending the pair down a hoof or two, prompting the terrified mare she was holding onto to struggle more.
“Pinkie Pie!”
Pinkie's frantic squirming suddenly slowed, her attention diverted to Applejack. Applejack continued, her voice strained, “If ya keep squirmin'... like tha', we're... both gonna fall!”
“But... but Applejackie! My tail's a-twitching!” Pinkie squeaked. A chill ran through Applejack's spine as the words sank in. Pinkie's tail twitching could only mean one thing...
“Pinkie, ya gotta trust me. Just... please don' move... Ok?”
Applejack felt Pinkie's squirming subside, until it felt like the mare once again hung limply in her grasp, though the feeling of Pinkie's forelegs wrapped tightly around her hind legs told her that the pink mare understood what she was trying to command. Taking an extra few breaths, Applejack hoisted herself up again, grunting at the exertion, and resumed her endless climb. Her entire body was in pain now, her muscles overextended while her cuts still freely bled. However, at this point, unless she wanted Pinkie's prediction to come true, she had no choice but to continue with her climb.
After twenty minutes of torture, she knew that she was getting close to the top of the passageway. The cool wind from above blew through her mane, the chill easing the pain slightly from her overworked body. Pinkie appeared to sense it too, for she gripped onto Applejack's tired limbs even tighter. The orange mare rhythmically continued, unable to excitedly speed up her accent as she wanted, settling to merely keeping the same pace. Another five minutes, and she finally saw the lip of the passage just a few hooves above her.
Even through her exhaustion, Applejack nearly squealed like a filly, “Haha! Pinkie! We're almost there! Jus' another minute!”
True to her prediction, it only took about another minute before Applejack was at the edge of the passage. Unable to focus on anything except for the task at hand, she reached out over the ledge with her right hoof quickly, and jammed the claw into the earth, her weight supported by the hard surface. Repeating the process, she threw her left hoof over the ledge, and again, jammed the claw into the ground. A sly smile on her face, she used whatever strength she had left to pull Pinkie and herself over the ledge. Grunting in exertion, she didn't even make an inch of progress before her muscles gave out, leaving her hanging from her position. After resting for a second, she again put every ounce of strength she had left into the task, but again failed to move more than a single inch.
Applejack tried to keep her breathing even as she spoke, “Pinkie... Ah'm gonna let you go, an' Ah need ya to climb up around me, an' pull me up.”
The air was filled with silence, until a slightly wavering voice responded, “O...okie d-dokie l-lokie...”
As Applejack felt her companion grip her hips, she slowly loosened her vice grip on the mare, allowing Pinkie to slowly pull herself around the orange mare. As Pinkie carefully pulled herself around Applejack, effectively using the orange mare as a living ladder, Applejack was pushed hard against the rock as she felt Pinkie's coat brush heavily against her, the mare trying her best to squeeze herself around Applejack. The cowpony swore she heard a “pop” as Pinkie finally worked her head around her shoulders, and with a step or two on her head, Pinkie pulled herself over the edge, and laid herself on the ground, her breathing frantic and uneven, and some of her wounds still bleeding slightly. Even so, Applejack watched as Pinkie quickly picked herself up off the ground and, after taking a moment to adjust her mane, reached for Applejack, hooking her forelegs under the mare's shoulders. Applejack felt Pinkie put her entire weight into the effort as she pulled her up and over the ledge, and as two collapsed in a heap just next to the tunnel.
As she laid on her back, she finally was able to take a moment to look around the new chamber they were in. While not nearly as large as the previous one, it was still a massive space. The ceiling stood high, about fifty hooves tall, and just like the room before, the entire ceiling took on the shape of a dome. However, the difference was that at about thirty hooves high and two hundred wide, the ceiling finally connected with the walls, which came straight down, and while the entire area looked natural, Applejack couldn't help but feel like this was all pony-made.
The most striking aspect of the entire area was that the vast majority of ceiling was made up of varying sizes of bright green crystals, which emanated a intense glow that matched their own hue. The source of their power was unknown, but considering the intensity and vast amount of crystals, the power source either had to be considerable, or the crystals themselves highly efficient. In the soft glow, Applejack noticed that Pinkie's coat looked less like her namesake color, and closer to Applejack's normal coat color of orange, while she herself looked more of a dirty brown.
“Wow,” Applejack heard Pinkie whisper next to her as the normally pink mare stood up, “This place is... funky lunky...”
Before Applejack could respond, a harsh grinding sound tore itself against Applejack's ears, the terrible sound echoing all around the cavern, amplifying the effect. While still laying on the ground, her ears covered by her forehooves, Applejack looked around, trying to find the source of the wretched noise. Her eyes eventually fell upon an unremarkable, other than its size, metal door that was slowly opening, the bottom of the doorway harshly grinding against the earthy floor underneath. The door moved slowly, making the sound last that much longer, until the entire passage behind it was completely exposed. Inside, Applejack could barely make out what appeared to be the Element of Laughter.
Of course, the forty hoof tall metal construct standing in front of it blocked the view a little.
The being was bipedal, and appeared to take on the image of a diamond dog, the arms affixed with five sharp blades each. The construct was hunched slightly, though the hunched nature appeared to be less of a flaw, and more of a design feature to make the construct feel that much more life-like. Its lifeless eyes looked forward at nothing, as if the thing didn't need to use the actual eyes for sight at all. The construction of the mechanical guardian, while looking piecemeal from the various metal plates that appeared to be crudely riveted on, was more technological than anything Applejack had ever seen in her life. While she wanted to believe that the entire thing was run on magic, but the massive amounts of steam that the thing spewed off in violent jets with each motion suggested otherwise.
Slowly, the metal beast's legs started to move, the rusted over joints in its legs doing nothing to slow it down. Hot steam billowed out of its legs with each movement, the gargantuan monster slowly closed the gap between it and the girls. Applejack tried to roll over and pick herself up, but she never got past getting on her side. Multiple times, she moved her forelegs to pick herself up, but each time, it felt like her legs were made of rubber, and that she weighed several tons. She tried one last time to pick herself up on her legs, determined to protect her friend once more, but was met with failure once more.
Applejack could only watch as the metal being made its way closer and closer to the two, though its lifeless eyes never once gave them even the respect of looking at them. As Applejack laid there, she looked on at Pinkie, the mare's uncharacteristic orange form stood tall, and any sign of fear was replaced with a face of determination. Pinkie quickly turned her head towards the cowpony's tired and broken form, nodded, and walked to stand in between Applejack and their foe. Knowing exactly what the currently orange mare was trying to do, the cowpony tried to pick herself up off the ground one final time, only to quiver and fall before she could even get her stomach off the ground.
“Pinkie Pie...” Applejack whispered, anything louder than that would require far too much effort to allow to escape her lips. She watched as her friend stood between her and their doom, “... no...”
The metal construct only took a single step forward more before Pinkie spoke, the speech was not really directed at anypony in particular, “This entire trip has been nothing but one depressing thing after another. First, I'm separated from all my friends as they find their elements. Then, I'm forced to walk three days before we find anything exciting at all. Then, I find out that the exciting thing leads us to get captured, imprisoned, Applejack getting hurt, and me getting... attacked.”
The construct took another step forward, but Pinkie's voice only grew more ferocious, “Not only that, but then we almost got crushed by a stupid tricky ceiling, get attacked by timberwolves, I get knocked out, Applejack nearly kills herself climbing more than I thought was ponily possible, then to top it all off, we get attacked by some silly diamond dog thingy!? I thought this is supposed to be the place where the Element of Laughter is kept!!”
Pinkie stood back on her hind legs, reached her forelegs into her mane, pulled out a large metal tube, and placed it upon her shoulder, “Well laugh at this you piece of pony manure!!”
Applejack watched as Pinkie moved her right forehoof slightly back, which resulted in one of the most grandiose spectacles she had ever seen. The instant after Pinkie brought her forehoof back, a large jet of flame spewed forth from the rear of the tube, almost singeing Applejack's face with its intensity. The instant after, an echoing thunder rocked the cavern as a large metallic object rocketed itself out of the front end of the tube, and a split second later, impacted against the chest of the machine. The metal object exploded with such a loud intensity, Applejack was forced to look away, her ears nearly bleeding from the sound, until she saw the light reflecting from the walls dim back down to its normal green. The sound of metal falling to the ground caused Applejack to turn her head back around, and see the damage.
To say that the construct was destroyed would be an understatement. The metal being, which moments before was something to be awed at, now was no more than a pile of smoking rubble. While there were larger pieces included in the pile, the construct as a whole was now impossible to identify as anything more than scrap. The metal object that Pinkie had fire had exploded itself inside of the metal being and blown away any working parts of the construct, totaling it. Applejack's eyes slowly refocused onto the pony responsible for the carnage.
Pinkie Pie still stood in the same position as she had been when she fired the object, her chest heaving in and out from the emotional intensity she put into that shot. The only sounds in the chamber now were the echoes of the mare's deep breaths and the settling of metallic fragments. Slowly, Pinkie's breathing slowed, her breaths becoming shallower, until she started to breathe much more normally. Her hind legs finally beginning to tremble, so she unceremoniously placed the the metal tube she was carrying back into her mane, and dropped back down to stand onto a more natural four hooves. Calmly, Pinkie walked over to Applejack, leaned her head down, and started to help her up with her muzzle.
“Wha...” Applejack stammered as she took Pinkie's help in getting to her hooves. Forced to lean on Pinkie for support, Applejack turned to Pinkie, “Wha' in the name of Celestia was tha'!?”
Applejack watched as Pinkie turned her head, their faces inches from one another, and Pinkie smiled, “Oh, just my little gift that Mr. Meanie Dragon Pants gave me.”
Stunned to a whole new level, Applejack worked her jaw helplessly for a few seconds, before nearly yelling her reply, “An' ya kept it in your mane this whole time!?”
“Well duh! Where else would I keep it? I thought of it kinda like your... oh...,” any small semblance of a smile on the normally pink mare's face turned into a deep frown, “... oh no...”
“Wha'? Wha's wrong Pinkie?” Applejack's tone raised slightly, worry in her voice
Pinkie pointed at her head, “Your... your hat...”
“Wha' about my... oh...” Applejack felt her mane, finding the hair naked to the breeze. Looking to either side, she softly spoke, “Where do ya think it went?”
Pinkie suddenly turned around, and, somewhat dragging Applejack with her walked, walked a few hooves back, until she pointed down. Applejack looked down, and saw that Pinkie was pointing down the hole that she had spent the greater part of an hour climbing. Peering as hard as she could, she noticed that at the very bottom, there was a small brown hat shaped object sitting on the floor of the cavern below, surrounded by hungry and curious timberwolves.
Pinkie softly whispered, “Twitchy tail...”
_____________________________________________________________________________
She and Twilight walked in silence, a condition that the two had been in since the day before. After her outburst yesterday, she couldn't bring herself to speak to her unicorn counterpart. How could she? She had no right to speak out like that against Twilight, no matter how stubborn the lavender mare had acted. It still wasn't Twilight's fault, but yelling at her because of it was detrimental to everything. Instead, rather than try and force an unwelcome conversation onto each other, the pair just walked along, barely acknowledging the presence of the other.
But, if nothing else, the two had been making phenomenal time. While it had taken Rarity and Twilight two days to get to the cave where her element had been kept, it had only been about a day and a half for them to get back. Sure, they had actually taken more time coming back if you included the time while Rarity was dealing with her... condition, but the travel itself did not take very long at all, and if her memory of the mountain served her well, it would only be a few more minutes until they would finally make it back to Sarlaka's lair, though it might take a few minutes longer with all the fresh snow that had apparently fallen recently. Once they were back, all she wanted to do was take a nice, hot bubble bath, sleep until they could use the elements on Discord, then pass out forever.
And to think the day had turned out to be a wonderful one. The sky was the purest of blues, the sky cleared of clouds, the sun was burning brightly as usual, and the snow underhoof had a satisfying crunch to it. Sure, the plains below them were dull and brown as usual, but even the dead brown color gave off a strange sense of serenity. If she looked hard enough, she could see the town of Conflound, the town that they had pretty much started this whole debacle a little over a week ago. It felt like ages since that fateful day, where her innocence was still intact, and the definition of a “disaster” was only when Sweetie Belle got her hooves on her dresses, and tried to “help.”
Rarity looked down and sighed, fighting back tears for a brief moment.
Even in the short moment of looking down, she nearly slammed her hornless head against Twilight's flank, for her lavender counterpart had stopped short suddenly. Looking up, Rarity saw that they had indeed arrived at their destination, with the large cave entrance being all that was needed to confirm they were in the right place, Rarity heard Twilight snort in anger, “Oh, I am going to give that dragon a piece of my mind...”
Rarity was inclined to ask what Twilight mean, breaking her day long silence in the process, but before she could, Twilight walked forward yet again, a new-found haste in her stride. Rarity trotted forward to catch up, and side by side, the pair entered the sanctuary. It was just as they had left it, the cave tunnel was dim as the sunlight from outside of cave mixed with the lights from the massive chandeliers inside reflecting a soft glow. The pair continued to march side-by-side as Twilight definitely set their hustled pace, making their way through the tunnel itself, until they finally hit the bend, and made their way into the heart of the lair itself.
Inside, as expected, the place was just the same as it had been when they had arrived just those few days ago. The columns were still grand and mightily held the ceiling above, the chandeliers were still illuminating the room, and Sarlaka's horde still sat in the center of the room itself. Curiously enough, even if this was the home of a massive dragon, it no longer gave the vibe of danger or filled Rarity with a sense of fear. Instead, she felt slightly relieved and the uplifting sense of safety filled her to the core. The familiarity of the place, mixed with the thick stone walls all around them might have had something to do with it. Of course, Rarity suspected that the hundred and fifty hoof long, several ton heavy dragon that was currently napping on his back on top his horde was the biggest factor.
Just as the finished the thought, Sarlaka appeared to awaken from his slumber with a start. With a surprising level of agility, the massive dragon rolled over onto his feet and, with his wings flaring wide to display their full span, snarled at the two for a brief moment. The threatening pose was quickly dropped when he realized who his guests were, and he instead let a smile fill his face, “Well look what the cat dragged in! Looks like I don't have to come to your rescue at after all.”
His response was met with deadly silence as he continued to smirk at the two mares, slowly starting to walk towards them as he continued, “Oh come on, that joke wasn't that bad! I mean, if you two want to be little sticks in the mud, I'm sure I can find a bog that can...”
Sarlaka's voice trailed off as he finally got a good look at Rarity. In any other situation, the face he held then would've been considered comical: his eyes grew wide, his mouth stayed open from being in mid sentence, and his breathing slowed as he took in the sight of Rarity. Under his gaze Rarity felt so small, and turned her head away from him in response to his oppressive glare, the feeling of being judged placed a weight onto her soul.
It was Twilight that interrupted the heavy silence, “You!” She nearly shouted, “What were you thinking sending us there as ill prepared as we were!? HUH!?”
Rarity turned back towards the two, and watched as Sarlaka turned his eyes towards Twilight, shock in his eyes at her outburst, “What do you mean its my fault, Magic? I prepared you perfectly for the simple task you had ahead of you.”
“You sent us to the bucking Everfree Forest for Celestia's sake! I don't think you can properly prepare anypony for that sort of place!”
“Please Magic, do you really think that I would send you somewhere that you couldn't handle? Hmm? The place you call the Everfree is anything but horrifically dangerous in this time. Sure, there are a few manticores and the like still roaming around, but not nearly in the same numbers as there used to be.”
Twilight let out a single disbelieving and mocking chuckle, “Ha! I'm sure if you told that to the ursa major that we had to fight, I'm sure that-”
Sarlaka raised a foreclaw in front of him, motioning for her to stop what she was saying, “Woah woah woah. The ursa major inside the final chamber?”
“No, the ursa major inside our saddlebags.”
Surprised planted on his face, the purple dragon reared up so that he rested his entire weight on his hind legs, which allowed him to cover his face with one of his foreclaws, “Oh that stupid, stupid mare. I told her that spell wouldn't last a thousand years...”
Twilight narrowed her eyes, and glared at the dragon several times her size, “What spell...”
“I... contracted a unicorn several centuries ago, right around the time I built the place, to help, well, build the place. Among several other very powerful spells to make sure that only Generosity could get in, she decided that an ursa major, well... it was only an ursa minor at the time, would be the best final line of defense for the element, and also claimed that she knew a spell to make sure that the ursa would attack anything except an element bearer.” Sarlaka lowered his gaze, “I guess that didn't work out as splendidly as my new breakfast recipe yesterday.”
The lavender unicorn gawked for a moment, “As splendidly as you... you... how dare you! You do NOT make sarcastic jokes about something like this! That... I don't even... I swear, I'm going to make sure you... ARGH!” she finally said, throwing her forehooves into the air.
“Look, just because I'm taking this a little better than you doesn't mean that you are-”
“WILL YOU TWO SHUT THE BUCK UP!”
The two arguing parties turned towards Rarity, the white ex-unicorn glaring at the two of them, malice and hurt in her eyes. “I... I can't believe you two! You,” Rarity pointed at Sarlaka, “are making jokes about my disfigurement, while you,” she pointed at Twilight, “are doing nothing but trying to place blame on who's fault this was. You want to place blame on somepony? Blame it on the ursa! You know, the thing that attacked us in the first place? Oh, and Sarlaka, because you seem to care sooooo much,” Rarity nearly yelled as she stuffed her muzzle into her saddlebags, and threw her element onto the stone floor, letting the necklace clatter to a rest, “the element is safe and sound. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to get away from your yelling.”
Not wanting to wait for a response, Rarity turned tail, and walked out of the cave, not even bothering to see the reactions out of the two victims of her yelling. Instead, she walked out, and made her way out of the cave, traveling back through the dimly lit tunnel. Just getting those words out made her feel better, even if she had to apologize for attacking the two later. She knew she should, and she probably would in a few hours, but just the fact that she was able to lash out at somepony made her feel better in the most primal of ways.
Finally reaching the ledge outside, she laid herself down on the snow, and felt the shockingly cold powder chill her belly slightly. Still, the cool touch was satisfying in a weird way, as though it was reminding her that she was indeed alive and well. That, combined with the warm sun, made sure the rest of her body was at the correct and restful temperature. She closed her eyes, and turned her face skyward, her world turned slightly red as the light fought to enter her eyes, only slightly getting through her eyelids. The chilled breeze whipped her disheveled mane and tail to the side, though by now, she could not care less about what happened to either, the styling of both had failed shortly after she and Twilight left on their adventure.
Still, the thought of her current appearance, even excluding her hornless nature, sickened her. She knew for a fact that her coat was no longer the pristine alabaster that she usually worked tirelessly to maintain. Rarity also knew that the first chance she was able to, it would have to work an entire day just to return her mane and tail to their perfectly styled coil, not to mention the huge amount of washing that she would have to do to get all the dirt, grime, and mud out of it. In addition, her eyes were most likely puffy, her eyelashes must have been wretched, her hooves chipped and scuffed, and her teeth probably have turned a slight tint of yellow. Of course, all of this would have to be done now without magic... something that Rarity wasn't sure if she could handle just yet, though at least now she wasn't bawling uncontrollably at it still was a step in the right direction.
The sudden rumbling of the ground she laid on alerted the mare of the approaching dragon behind her, a confrontation that she wasn't sure if she was ready for. Sure, she knew she had to apologize for the outburst, but not yet. Besides, the dragon deserved it! Either way, Sarlaka was coming and she had no choice but to talk to him, though she would wait until he made the first move. Make him be the one that is forced to strike up the conversation. However, above all else, she needed to maintain control of the conversation and make sure that he knew that she was the one in charge of the conversation.
Before she knew it, the dragon dropped himself to his belly just a few hooves away from Rarity, the sudden crash alerting her to his nearby presence. For several minutes, he just sat there, as if he was working up the courage to finally tell her what he needed to say, but was intimidated by her previous outburst.
Finally, Sarlaka spoke, “Generosity... I'm so...,” he sighed before continuing, “... I never intended for anything like this to happen, especially to you...”
Rarity didn't turn towards him. Instead, she continued to keep her eyes shut, letting the sun's warmth continue to rain down on her., “It doesn't matter anymore anyways. What is done is done.”
“Generosity...”
Rarity smiled, but the face that showed through was just a mockery of her true feelings, “Its funny really, for so long I was blessed with the gift of magic, but I never stopped to think about how an earth pony or a pegasus got by without it. Of course, now that I had it taken from me, I see now that those other races are blessed with other, and possibly more generous gifts, while I am nothing more than a frail, worthless, insignificant, pitiful...”
“Generosity, please... stop.”
“Why should I? I mean, sure, without me, the Elements of Harmony can't defeat Discord, and don't get me wrong, I am going to make sure that sorry flank suffers for everything he's done. But after all of this is done, I am nothing without my magic. All of my talents pertain to magic, and without it, I am nothing.”
Sarlaka didn't speak at first, letting the silence persist, as if he was pondering over what she said. Finally, after several minutes of nothing but the wind to fill the void, he spoke softly, “That isn't true, for a single simple reason.”
Rarity opened her eyes and finally looked at him, her face dared him to prove her wrong, even if she was completely convinced of her point. Regardless of whether he knew that was what she felt, he continued, “The first reason is the idea that just because you lost your magic, that you are worthless. Even if today unicorns are rare, I have lived long enough to meet a substantial amount of the magic users, as well as ones that have had their horns removed for many reasons: through battle like yourself, through magical overload, or even as grotesque reasons as their parent being ashamed of their heritage. In nearly every single case, those unfortunate unicorns found a way through the hardship, and had very successful lives. I have also met pegasi without wings, and too many earth ponies without legs, but they are different, because losing wings or legs is... different than losing a horn.”
A look of confusion took over Rarity's face as she listened, prompting Sarlaka to give a small smile, “You see, Generosity, a horn is somewhat different than, say, a wing. A pegasus' wings are physical parts of their body, that use regular old physics to fly. They move the air down, and the pegasus moves up. Take away the wing, and there's nothing to move the air.”
Rarity rolled her eyes, “Well duh, and without a horn, you can't use magic.”
Sarlaka smiled wider, “Wrong.”
The white mare looked back at Sarlaka, slightly narrowing her eyes, “What do you mean... wrong.”
“You see,” The purple dragon continued, “the magic that unicorns generate is from within them. I don't really know what the source is, possibly the heart or soul or whatever, but the point is, the magic isn't generated from the horn. I guess you could say that the horn is kinda like a wing, but only in the sense that the wing gets all of its power from the muscles in the pegasus' back and chest, while the horn gets its power from the magical pools with the unicorn. As such, like the wings focus the power of those muscles into them, the horn merely... focuses the magic within a unicorn's body, and trust me in that it is nearly a perfect focus at that.”
Sarlaka thought for a second, then continued, “I don't think I'm explaining it well... hmm. Ah! Think of it somewhat like a bulls-eye lantern. Sure, the flame inside doesn't give off much light, and with that light scattered in all directions, it does not do much to illuminate anything. However, when that light is put inside the lantern, the lenses and reflective surfaces inside direct all the light towards a specific point, illuminating it quite well, while keeping the power the same. Think of the horn as those lenses and reflectors. They take the magic inside of you, and without changing the power, focus it onto a very specific point, which, in turn, effectively amplifies the intensity of the magic.”
With that, Sarlaka held out a foreclaw. Inside, a massive and completely flawless diamond shined in the sunlight. Rarity had to hold back a gasp as she looked at the massive rock. It was at least the size of her head, if not larger, and the gem, while uncut, glistened in the sunlight, brighter than any gem she had ever before seen in her entire life. If it wasn't for the fact that she was in the presence of another, she would've started salivating at the valuable object before her.
A short chuckle emanated from the dragon's throat, “I see that little pony likes shiny. I'll tell you what. If you can take it from my hand, you can have it. Sounds fair?”
A confused face was now plastered on her face as she slowly stood, and walked over to the massive gemstone. Almost as soon as she took her first step, Sarlaka pulled his claw away from her, “Uh uh uh! Nope! You have to use magic to take it. That's the rule.”
Rarity looked away, “I just told you that I can't...”
“Have you even tried to use your magic, young one?”
“Well... yes... but...”
“Then try again. Harder this time.”
Taking a deep breath, Rarity turned her head back, closed her eyes, and willed the diamond to come to her, forcing as much as the magic that Sarlaka claimed was inside of her into the gem. Several seconds went by as she willed the diamond to move, only to be met with failure the entire time. Finally, the mare released her breath, and settled into a tired pant that resembled one of a pony that had run an entire mile. “I... I can't...” Was all that the defeated mare could say.
The mare watched as Sarlaka, not moving his claw, lowered his head, so that it was a scant few hooves from Rarity, “Then try again, and this time, put everything you have into it.”
Rarity nodded, spread her legs slightly to gain a better stance, closed her eyes, and again pushed her entire being into the simple levitation spell. She grunted, the strained sounds that came from her throat the same as those that would come from a unicorn that was trying to lift an entire mountain. Rarity could feel her face heat up as her heartbeat sped up in response to the strain she was putting on her body. Finally, after a full minute, a loud “thud” entered her ears, breaking her concentration. She opened her eyes, and saw that the diamond was now on the ground next to where Sarlaka's claw was hovering, the massive gemstone slightly sunk into the snow.
She looked up at the dragon now, confusion once again on her face, “But... I...”
Sarlaka simply smiled, “Told you you could do it. You still have your magic, Generosity. You just need to... relearn how to use it again, though I think I might be able to help with that. Until then I'll keep this safe for you, at least until you can better maneuver with it.” With that, he carefully picked the large rock, turned, and slowly walked back into his lair.
Rarity wasn't satisfied though. “Sarlaka,” she called out, “how... how did you know that I... that a unicorn could do that?”
Sarlaka stopped, and turned his head slightly, though never actually looking in Rarity's direction, “A very, very smart and creative unicorn that I have the pleasure of being in the company of for some time figured it out many years ago.” With that, he left Rarity to think about his statement, as he made his way back into his home to escape the chilled snow on the ground.
A/N: And with that... I just broke 100k... oh dear...