//------------------------------// // Stealth // Story: Direction // by Darth Link 22 //------------------------------// The next morning it was all business. No pleasantries were exchanged as the other awoke and ate breakfast while Applejack caught an extra hour of sleep. By early morning, they were on the road again. The temple peered out through the trees after just an hour. Sergeant had said the tallest one would be the only one they were likely to see. "I'll fly up and see how close we..." "No!" Applejack said. "Ya wanna give our location away to every Changeling in the area? They're bound to have some of 'em flyin' around, an' the point is to get in and out without bein' seen." "What if I just hide in the trees?" "All that color is as good as a beacon," the cowpony said. Then she thought. "Maybe Fluttershy could blend in better." After some debate and against Applejack's better judgement, Fluttershy flew up to get a better look. She saw the temple, the largest one, unexplored by Equestria's best archeologist. It stood as a strange pyramid, large and blocky, with steps running up each side. It was colored in reds and yellows, though the color was faded and robbed of its brightness. Surrounding the area were smaller temples, similar in nature. Fluttershy was so impressed by the sight she almost didn't notice the changelings. They weren't swarming the sky, but she did see several. Hundreds, maybe, all swarming over a single temple, dotting its color. It was the only one being explored. She looked carefully. There were a few flying across the sky, no doubt on the lookout for any interlopers. After a bit more scanning, she saw several lower to the trees, all which seemed to be in a line. After a bit of thinking, she realized it was likely a perimeter. Hoping they hadn't noticed her, she flew back down to her friends. "It's about an hour's walk until we get to where the Changelings are. I think it'll be another hour after that when we get to the temple." Applejack nodded. "Then we better rest. We stay here th' rest of the day and go in tomorrow." "What? Why?" Rainbow Dash asked. "We're so close, let's go in." "It ain't that simple, Rainbow. We should be going in at full strength. It'll be hard enough sneakin' in, and what if we're caught? We'd have to run, and it'd probably have to be at least twenty miles before we'd lose 'em." "Um... the Changelings are searching the temples one at a time," Fluttershy said. "Um, they're not on the big temple today, but by tomorrow they could find it." Rarity nodded. “She has a point, Darling. Perhaps it’s worth the risk if the Changelings are going to be out of our way.” Applejack considered this. “I guess that makes sense.” “But how are we gonna sneak in?” Pinkie said. “We all have bright colors and the Changelings are going to be expecting us and if they see even a hint of pony, they’re gonna swarm us!” “We’ll disguise ourselves,” Fluttershy said, stepping forward with a level of confidence that caused everypony to be silenced with shock. “We’re in animal territory, so we’ll use the time honored camouflage technique. It won’t be anything as intricate as they use, but if we look enough like we're not ponies, then the Changelings will just think we’re animals... or maybe won’t even see us at all.” “Well, what do you suggest?” “I already miss using wings,” Rainbow Dash whispered as she crawled along on the ground. “This will take forever to get out of my feathers.” “We’re sneaking Rainbow, that means silence.” Applejack crawled beside her, mud falling off of her at every step. She looked odd, as she had elected to carry the supplies they were taking in with them, so her saddlebag was bulging out of her side as a mud covered lump. “No talking unless you have to.” The cowpony was taking the mud coating her better than anypony except Fluttershy herself. Pinkie grimaced, but still put on a smile. Rainbow Dash took the most coaxing, not wanting to gunk up her feathers. Rarity went stiff at the idea, and while she did it, she had been remarkably silent about the whole thing. “Can’t we go faster?” Rainbow Dash moaned. “Rainbow, the entire point is to be stealthy,” Applejack whispered. “Now please be quiet.” Much to Applejack’s delight, Rainbow was indeed quiet, and for a while they creeped along close to the ground. They were at this for quite a bit before they saw it, hard as it was through the trees. It was a Changeling guard, hovering just over a point in the perimeter. A helmet on its head and a spear in a foreleg, it scanned the area. A partner was at its side, looking in the opposite direction. The five ponies pressed their bellies against the ground, trying to blend in with the shadows. Applejack scanned around. The original pair were slightly to their left. She saw another pair to the right, about twenty feet away from their companions. "The gap should be big enough. Come on." At Applejack's command, the five began moving through the foliage, trying to move slowly enough not to cause any noise, yet quickly enough that they could still reach the temple before nightfall. More than once, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy wished they could fly. But in between the risk of their ruse falling apart and their feathers being gunked with mud, they could only creep along with everypony else. After a few minutes, they were between the two guard outposts. The thick foliage of trees provided some cover, but they could still see the two pairs, their wings beating as they hovered overhead. They all silently prayed it’d be enough to drown out the noise. At a few more steps, there was a loud snap. Applejack pulled her hoof up off the branch she had stepped on. The entire party froze. They didn’t even dare look over at either patrol. One second. Five. Ten. Fifteen. Finally, Applejack dared to look. The patrols weren’t paying attention to them. They either hadn’t heard, or Fluttershy’s camouflage had worked. Applejack began moving again. The others, relieved to see their de facto leader had continued, followed. Once they passed the perimeter, they picked up the pace a bit, but only a bit. They didn’t dare do it any faster. Finally, when they were a few feet away, they picked up the pace. After a bit, they stopped running in a deep part of foilage. Taking deep breaths, they started to talk. “Okay... we’re in. Now what?” Rainbow Dash asked. Applejack took another breath, then turned to Rarity. “You remember where we’re supposed to go?” Rarity had the best memory of anypony present, which is why she had been put in charge of memorizing everything in case their luggage got lost. The Unicorn nodded. “Of course. It should be a straight walk in that way, if we don’t have any surprises.” “Not with our luck,” Rainbow Dash muttered. It was another hour of travel. It might have been faster if Applejack hadn’t been so adamant about being slow. Sticking to the shadows and ducking at every unknown noise, and pausing whenever a Changeling patrolled too close. Finally, they were outside the large temple where the Princesses' source said the Sun Stone waited. They had to admire the scope of it, even if crude carvings of Discord decorated it from the spirit’s cruelty. Worn and moss covered stone stacked into a pyramid, blocky to the point where it looked like giant steps all around. But the real steps were in the front, leading up to a large opening. “How do we get in?” Rainbow Dash said. They all looked at her. “Uh... the stairs?” Applejack asked. Rainbow Dash put a hoof to her head. “Let me rephrase that. How are we going to get in without the Changelings seeing us?” The other four looked at the temple and saw her point. The structure was huge. And it would be impossible to get up it without being seen by passing patrols. “Maybe the mud will blend us in...” Applejack said, more to herself than anypony. “It’s too dark, we’d stand out,” Rarity said. “Then maybe we’d look so indistinct that the Changelings will think we’re animals.” Fluttershy shook her head. “They might not bother to stop animals coming through the perimeter, but five of them going up to a temple is going to look strange.” Applejack thought another moment. “Then we’ll just have to rush it.” The others blinked at that. “Uh... AJ? Is that really such a good idea? We’re bound to be seen.” “Maybe not. We’ll just have to hope they miss us.” “I don’t know...” “Do any of you have a better idea?” Applejack tried to keep her voice steady, but frustration was starting to seep through. The four looked at each other, a little put off by Applejack’s bluntness. “Ooh! Ooh!” Pinkie said. “Maybe Rarity can teleport us, like Twilight can!” “Pinkie, dear, teleportation is a difficult spell. It’s a strain for me to do the Changeling detection spell, I can hardly be expected to pull off something like that.” Rainbow Dash perked. “Hey, what about Pinkie’s teleportation?” The pink Earth Pony looked at her. “What do you mean? I’m not a Unicorn.” “But you teleport all the time!” “Like when?” “Like when you were chasing me around Ponyville before you met Gilda? Or when you were chasing me around Ponyville trying to find out about the surprise party?” “I was just really fast then.” “You were hopping along the first time!” “No I wasn’t.” “But uh... well, what about the fight we had with those dragons? One of them threw you over the horizon, and you were right behind him a minute later?” “Like I said, I’m really fast.” “But... it’s impossible for a pony to be that fast!” “Well, obviously it isn’t if I was that fast.” “Twilight says you appeared behind a mirror! And Scootaloo told me you popped out a wardrobe then popped back in.” “That’s just me being Pinkie.” “Wha? But... but...” Rarity put a hoof on her shoulder. “Let it go, Rainbow. Just let it go.” “Now, since we don’t have any other ideas, we’ll try mine,” Applejack said. “We need to just go up there and hope for the best.” “Um... and if the Changelings see us?” “We run an’ hope fer the best. Going in the temple would just trap us.” “Great, we’re going in blind,” Rainbow Dash said under her breath. Applejack glared but didn’t say anything. And so the ponies moved. They all dashed up the steps. Even Fluttershy moved fast, the fear of being spotted acting as an effective motivator. It took them only minutes to climb the large structure. At which point, they barged into the large opening. In the dark room, all except Rainbow Dash panted, trying to get air back in their lungs. The cyan Pegasus, used to quick sprints, needed only a moment before reaching into Applejack’s saddlebags and pulling out the lanterns they had brought with them. “Where are those matches?” she said absently, poking through the bag. Applejack, who recovered next, poked her head into the bag and brought out a matchbook. Carefully maneuvering the matchbook in her mouth, she plucked out a match, lit it, and used it to light the two lanterns. “Uh...” Rarity choked out between breaths. “Well, this is a relief. I don’t think we’re about to get swarmed.” “Let’s not rest just yet. We need to find that stone and get out of here.” Applejack placed a lantern in front of Rainbow Dash, who lifted it with her hoof. Rarity lit up her horn, illuminating her own path. Then she stopped. Now that she was looking around the lit room, she saw it. An intricately carved picture on the wall that depicted a round object sitting atop an altar. To either side of it, in round circles, were quadrupedal figures, three on the left, two on the right. They were indescript enough that she couldn’t tell what they were. Rarity, seeing this, looked to another wall and saw it. An empty altar, nothing truly fancy, just a simple square with some patterns carved on it. But it was empty. “Everypony, look!” “I see it too,” Applejack said. “Does this mean it’s already been cleared out?” “Maybe we’re supposed to stand on these!” Pinkie said, hopping up and down. The others looked, and recognized it immediately. On the ground was a large circle, and every time Pinkie landed on it, it pressed into the floor. They scanned the ground and found four more just like them. “Can’t hurt to try,” Applejack said, taking her place on one. Rarity and Fluttershy did the same, but Rainbow Dash actually hesitated for once. “This seems way too easy.” “Come on, Dash, we need to do this quick.” Rainbow Dash only hesitated a moment longer before following Applejack’s command and stepping on her circle. After it sunk, there was a loud sound that reminded Rainbow Dash of stones shifting. And then the floor gave way beneath them. Rainbow Dash flapped her wings, but it was no good. The mud still coating her wings gunked her feathers too badly. Still, they flapped as her stomach lurched. And they fell.