-An Old Library-
The young filly was trotting through the hall of the old library looking for one of her favourite books, “The Wonderbolts, Heroes of Equestria”. She squealed with glee every time she read the book, and hopefully this time she would be able to make it to the end without being terrified by the great monster. She jumped between bookshelves allowing her rainbow coloured mane to flop back and forth.
She found it lying on the table where it always was. Her wings flapped in excitement, but she didn't know how to properly use them yet. She jumped onto the stool and opened the book. The first page had an expertly drawn portrait of the Wonderbolts. She rubbed her face on the page imagining she was one of them. She raised her head and turned the page.
Instead of the usual picture was a picture of the monster. She screamed and jumped off the stool. The book floated into the air and the monster started moving. It reached out from the page and grabbed the edge of the book, pulling itself from it. It grew as it left filling every crack and space until it dominated the library. It turned its head down at the frightened filly and opened its mouth, revealing rows of jagged teeth against its flame red tongue. It reached for her and scooped her up, bringing her towards its mouth. With nothing else to do the filly screamed.
-Nigma's Cove, Charmtail Side-
Dash's mind faded back into reality as she got up. The board trap in the wall had knocked her senseless. She looked up at it. Painted on the board's surface was a grinning face. She pushed it aside with a huff and let Twilight help her up. This is going to be a long day, she thought to herself.
"Sorry about that! It wasn't too dangerous so it didn't set off my trap detecting spell. I'll have to adjust the search parameters," Twilight said. She tried to help Dash, who was unwilling to let her after the last time she tried to assist her. Her teeth still chattered.
"Yeah, you do that," Dash said, rubbing her aching face.
Twilight and Dash made steady progress as they continued their journey through Nigma's cove. They both had to help each other escape danger from traps, which were increasing in number.
Dash jumped and grabbed Twilight just before a bear trap slammed on her hoof.
"Bear traps now? Ugh...” Twilight muttered. “And I thought that pitfall was going to be painful. That would just be messy."
"Great! Now you have to add metal to your list of things to detect. I swear that was trap number twenty in this hall." Dash replied.
"What would you prefer? Rows of dead ponies locked in battle?"
"Yeah! That would be at least twenty percent cooler!" Dash looked at Twilight, who frowned at her. "Oh. You were joking."
Twilight sat down after carefully making sure there was a surprise copper spring trap like in the last room. Her thigh and head still ached from being hit by that and being sent into the roof, as Dash started floating around her practicing her swing with her new sword.
"Is it really necessary to do that?" Twilight asked. The sight of the blade unnerved her slightly.
Dash seemed almost insulted. "Is it necessary?" She turned to Twilight. "Is gravity necessary? Is water necessary? For your information Miss Sparkle, IT IS! Whenever a skilled swordspony, such as me, gets a new sword, we have to become used to it.”
“Which means plenty of practice swings?” Twilight asked.
“Of course! Otherwise in the heat of battle we might cut out own ears off, due to the unfamiliarity of the sword we're holding," Dash explained. She waggled hers to support her argument.
"I suppose you’re right. It's the same for magicians as well. I mean, if I didn't practice every time when I learned a new spell it would be catastrophic. I might blow my own head off rather than send a fireball flying towards the enemy." Twilight stood up, shook her mane and patted the side of her head. Both actions caused a thick deluge of dirt to fall away from her hair. "This is the third time and there is still dust!" she finished with the shaking and started walking forward. "Come on we're getting closer to the exit, it shouldn't be far now."
They continued through to the end of the passage. This room was filled with another array of skeletal ponies, but these ones were suspended by nooses. This was an execution room.
Twilight closed her eyes and made up a list. "Great... Creepy room? Check. Two passages? Check. Rainbow Dash excited by the dead ponies?" she said, turning towards the ponies and catching Dash playing with them. "Definite check," she finished. She started walking towards Dash when a thought struck her mind. "HHUUHH..." She let out.
Dash froze and fell to the ground. "What is it?!" She yelled.
"We need to make you look different," Twilight said. "If you walk into a town looking like you always do we'll be in trouble, and you'll be locked in a jail, which means we'll have failed our quest, so to stop that from happening-" Dash had stuck her hoof in Twilight's mouth.
"Take a breath, I already thought about that," Rainbow told Twilight. She walked over to the hanging pirates and finally selected one. She floated up and removed its bandana and wrapped it around her head, hiding most of her mane. She then folded up her wings and pulled them into her cloak. Her tail still stood out, but now she was less recognizable.
"It works, but did you really have to use clothing from a dead pony?" Twilight asked, but got no response, save for a shrug. Dash looked walked to one of the new tunnels.
"I can see structures this way. It must lead to Nigma's hideout. Let's take a look," Dash said. Twilight's response couldn't be further from agreement.
"No," she stated.
"What? Just no? What about all the history and other booky stuff there that you could find," Dash remarked.
"No, we promised the serpent."
"Oh, yeah. Fine then," Dash sighed and huffed. They trotted up the other tunnel, surprised by the lack of traps present. After reaching the end they found the final pond. The pond's waters moved around and was even acting like a fountain due to the crystal that grew in the middle. "Alright, let's drink and get out," Dash said as she jumped towards the fountain.
"Wait! Chip wrote that this fountain was the most dangerous. There is probably some hidden danger," Twilight warned. Dash nodded and soon both ponies slowly moved towards the center with Twilight's horn flaring from the spells she was using to detect danger. They made it to the pond and were about to drink the water, when a voice called out.
"Ours. Forever. You."
Both ponies turned around and were confronted by nothing. They looked around. Nothing was in this room. Twitching their heads this way and that, they came up empty. All that was there was stones, sand and shadows. "Okay... I'm hearing things," Dash finally said. Then her eye was drawn to a part of the room. Wait, she thought, I'm sure there wasn't that much sand in this room to begin with... and what is causing those shadows? After thinking a few second she grabbed her new sword. Twilight stared at her. Then, Rainbow Dash in a firm and authoritive voice, said: "Twilight... Don't die!" Then she charged.
Instantly hands of mud shot out of the sand and the shadows whisked into shape, their covers blown. Dash swung her sword and jumped from spot to spot avoiding the monsters' attacks. Twilight whisked up spells in response and started firing of jets of flame and ice at any nearby monsters. The monsters seemed unfazed by the attacks and continued increasing in numbers. Suddenly dash was whipped into a whirlwind of darkness. At least a hundred shadow creatures had converged on her. Twilight screamed out to her friend as was thankful at the response. Dash leapt out causing many of the shadows to disappear, but there numbers were quickly rejuvenated.
"Twilight, drink the waters like Chip said! It's the only way!" Dash screamed out as she eliminated another group of monsters. Her clothes were soaked in mud and her face was already cut. Twilight didn't need telling twice. She lowered her head and took a mouthful. She almost vomited as she spat it out.
"Dash, the water's foul!" she shrieked.
A laughing started out amongst the monsters. They seemed to be chanting the same thing over and over again, together in unison. "Ours. Forever. Ours. Forever." They pushed the ponies back towards the pond, converging into a massive group of brown and black.
"Not like this... Foul water our undoing!” Dash whined. She lowered her head submitting to the ultimate outcome, tears forming in her eyes.
"Un... doing..." Twilight said, almost in a trance. She caused her horn to flare up and at first nothing happened. Dash then noticed that the water by her feet was starting to ripple worse and worse. It drew back and exploded outward, magic glowing through it as Twilight lifted every drop of it and whisked it at the monsters. The creatures screamed as it hit them, dissolving in its clearness. The shadows shimmered and faded while the hands simply melted. The waters raced around the room, reaching every nook and cranny, until all that was left standing was a wet Twilight and Rainbow Dash. The waters calmly subsided back into the pool they had once been.
Water dripped from them for a few moments before anything happened. "Would you care to explain to me what the hay just happened there?" a thoroughly soaked Rainbow Dash spluttered as she spat water.
"I simply did what Chip said. It wasn't us that were meant to drink this pond's water. It was them," Twilight said smugly beneath her own soaked mane. Suddenly an ear splintering cry ran through the room, causing Dash's and Twilight's bones to grind.
"YOU! HURT! WE! HATE! LEAVE! GO!"
An opening appeared in the wall and they ran through it without a moments thought. They raced down the corridors that followed and leapt over the river and continuing on, ignoring the passing serpeant's: "I can't believe you did it!... Oh. How rude." They raced and raced, out of both fear and excitement. The passed a mine and nearly collided with several carts. They kept running until they saw daylight.
"Twilight... It's beautiful!" Dash could hardly keep back as she ran into the light.
"I know," Twilight replied allowing herself to be taken in by what they both had taken for granted.
-Charmtail Field-
Twilight and Dash were busying themselves with one task they hadn't since they started on the journey- eating. They had run through a small wood and found some apple trees. They had collected enough to fill their bags and were currently lying in the middle of a field munching on them. "Man that hits the spot." Dash burped after finishing her tenth apple.
"I couldn't agree more." Twilight agreed placing her sixteenth core in the pile. Dash stood up and stretched. She yearned to fly and move, but refrained from giving in as she knew it would cost her dearly. In the distance, she spotted a small collection of buildings, smoke rising from some of the chimneys.
"Hey Twi, what say we head over to that village over there?" Dash asked, pointing a hoof.
"Why not? That is the reason we went through that cave in the first place," Twilight responded and marched with her friend. The journey wasn't as eventful as their cave adventure, but at least they got to see a few bunnies on the way. Dash had enjoyed chasing after them until she was chased by an angry bunnicorn. She did manage to scare it off with a wave of her sword, but had received a painful left cheek for chasing its friends.
-Saddleton-
The pair finally entered the town as a display started up. It was a celebration of some kind. The guards let the in without a question or a suspicious glance. "Cool! Fireworks! Confetti! This is off the hoof! I wonder what's going down?" Dash exclaimed as they entered the main square.
"Don't attract attention. I'll go find some stores and see what I can get for our journey. Do you happen to have any gold bits?" Twilight asked, regarding her rather pathetic horde, which consisted of a few gold bits and some lint. Rainbow barely turned around when she handed Twilight a moderate size bagged filled with bits.
"Where!? How!? Why so much!?" Twilight asked, her mouth agape. She had never seen such a stash in her lifetime.
She was met with laughter. "Monsters always carry some gold on them. They pick it up from the ground or get it from strangers they scare into dropping their stuff. You'd be amazed how many treasure hordes are looted from monsters," Dash replied.
Twilight couldn't have realized how much she didn't know about monsters and how much Dash knew. Then she recalled back to the incident involving the slime. She remembered its smiling face suddenly turning sour as it smashed into her muzzle. She left with a quick goodbye and went to get provisions and some treats she thought she deserved.
Meanwhile, Dash was busy enjoying the show and watching all the jesters and clown perform, followed by a display of feeble party magic from a stammering and stumbling unicorn. Everyone laughed at her, but she continued to perform. Dash almost felt sorry for her when she saw what the festival was all about. Sitting in the center of a raised platform on a gold encrusted cushion was Prince Blueblood, the Prince of Charmtail. Dash watched as the prince stood up from the cushion and order some guards follow him as he walked through the festivities and headed off towards the tables laden with food. Forget him, Dash. Just find Twilight. She walked on trying to stay out of his line of sight, but during her attempt at sneaking around she accidentally bumped into the performing unicorn by accident.
"Ohhh!" the unicorn cried as she fell, accidentally sending confetti flying into a group of ponies.
"I'm sorry," Dash apologized, "I didn't look where I was going."
The unicorn got up and shot her a look which was trying to be intimidating but failed with the costume. "Do you know who I am?!" she huffed, but quickly subsided. "Of course not, because I'm... I’m just a nobody. A pathetic loser. A shame to my name and a shame to all unicorns!" She burst into tears and ran off into the crowd and out of sight. Dash just stared as the unicorn ran.
"And I thought I was harsh," said a familiar, silky voice. Dash froze on the spot. The entire time she'd been trying to avoid this voice was for naught. She slowly turned around and was granted the visage of Prince Blueblood.
“Oh, I... erm... I actually didn't mean..." she said as she tried to break away.
"No, no! No apology necessary. She is a sad little creature anyway. Now you, my lady... Let's consider this. Bandana, cloak, tunic, and a sword. You must be an adventurer. And for such a good looking mare like yourself." Dash felt nauseated at the compliment, knowing what was coming next. "I can hardly believe we haven't met." Dash almost fainted with relief. He didn't recognize her.
"Wait a minute. I know I've seen that tunic before," he said questioningly. Dash froze again. "Where was it? Aha! I remember now. You must be one of my dear neighbouring nation's soldiers. The tunic is a dead give away. It has Princess Rarity's seal on it." Dash's body melted again.
He started walking off when he suddenly froze. "Guards. Tell me. Her tail... It wasn't rainbow coloured, was it?" he said very slowly.
"Yes it is my lord," one responded.
The prince turned around and smiled deeply. "Such a clever disguise, I was almost fooled, but the tail gave you away. Didn't it, Captain Rainbow Dash?" he finished in an almost menacing voice. "Guards. If you would kindly give Miss Rainbow Dash an escort to the palace, I would be most appreciative."
Twilight returned to the square and began searching for Rainbow Dash. The supplies she was carrying fitted neatly into her bags, but she knew that she had to give Dash some otherwise she would be the pack mule for the journey. She searched around looking for the tell tale tunic, but didn't find hind nor hair of her. She began asking people if they had seen her.
She trotted around asking many people before someone approached her. "Listen, listen to what I have to say. Dear Twilight, Unicorn of the May," the thing told her.
Twilight could hardly move, even speaking seemed impossible. All she could manage was: "Wah?"
"Six heroes rise to return from hell. With many princesses, lost to spells. Each hero lies in wait. All you have to do is use the right bait. The first to be recruited lies in tears. Talent wasted, her powers lost to the years. The second is harder, a heart made of stone. Bring back his passion, and stop his dreadful moan. The third you met a week ago, or was it tomorrow? Whichever the case, you must return what you borrow. The final is lost in a daze, the second who has little fear. To find her you must breach through the tear. Remember the words I told you dear Twilight. Forget them and the world will lose its Sparkle." With its final sentence, the old creature walked off leaving Twilight dumbfounded. Remembering what she was told, she wrote it all down on a scroll and placed it in her bag. She walked on trying to decipher the words she had heard, when she bumped into somepony.
"Pardon me, please. I'm looking for my friend," Twilight explained.
"Did this one have a Rainbow tail?" he asked.
"Yes," Twilight couldn't hold back the relief.
"Then you might want to head to the palace. The last I saw of her, she was taken away by guards. The prince was with them too." Twilight's jaw dropped. "The prince was here! And he has Rainbow! Unbelievable! How! Why! When!" Thoughts raced through her head, but she came to one conclusion.
"I must save my friend!"