The Equine Scrolls: SkyFiM

by FireOfTheNorth

Chapter 83: Return

After thousands of years, the Minotaurs were back in the Northlands, and we were standing among them. They were too busy trying to shake off the shock of being transported through time to have noticed us yet, and we tried to stealthily make our way to the exit. That proved to be impossible, as one of the towering creatures noticed us as we neared the door.

“Pony trespasser!” she shouted, pointing a finger at me.

“Get them!” the Minotaur standing near the controls said, looking over the crowd at me, “We must have surprise!”

We took off through the crowd, dodging the hands that reached for us. Eventually, one of the Minotaurs managed to catch me by the tail, and I blasted him with a paralysis spell.

<<<WULD~NAH~KEST!!!>>> I Shouted, shooting forward.

As I shot through the crowd, I grabbed Steadfast and Mystic and pulled them along with me. Mephalda flew overhead, ducking through the door with us. We galloped down the silent halls for a bit until we were sure that the Minotaurs weren’t chasing after us. We trotted into another room, keeping a lookout not only for the Minotaurs but also their automatons that most likely still stalked the halls.

As we stepped into a small room in the middle of the steamworks, we ran right into one of the hairy residents of this ruin. He had little time to react as Steadfast swung his warhammer up toward his head. The Minotaur caught the hammer in his hands and tried to pull it away from Steadfast, but suddenly slumped over as Mephalda shot an arrow through his head.

“Bthardamz Overseer to Steamworks,” a voice spoke out of one of the pipes lining the wall, “Be warned, a group of ponies has infiltrated the city and may be in your area. Lock all gates and seal all exits from the city. Acknowledge.”

We didn’t wait around for the Overseer to figure out that the Minotaur manning the Steamworks was dead. We couldn’t have them sealing the gates on us once they figured it out, either, so we shut the gates to the Minotaur’s office and locked it with the key he had on him. Hopefully, this would deny them access to control of the city long enough that we could escape.

We headed down the passages, more wary now that we knew not every Minotaur had been transported within the Arcanex. But, it wasn’t a living enemy that we encountered next. A few of the Minotauran spheres rolled around, blocking our passage.

Mephalda sent an arrow flying through the air, and it punched through the head of one of the automatons, damaging it severely, but not killing it. Mystic and I shot lightning at the automatons as they approached, knocking some of them out for the moment. I drew Dawnbreaker as they reached us and swung my sword up through its body, slicing it in half.

I blocked the sword swing of the next one with my Draconequus blade. Steadfast knocked it to the side with a swipe of his warhammer, bending it out of shape. Steam hissed ominously from it until my earth pony companion finished it off with another strike.

As one swung at my head, Mephalda fired an arrow into its arm mechanism, stopping the spinning blades. I blasted the automaton with lightning, shattering its eyes, before swiping its head off with Dawnbreaker. I shot an ice spike at the next automaton, tearing its head open. A blast of fire from Mystic through the hole finished it off.

Steadfast crushed another of the automatons, and I jumped over its crumpled body, swinging Dawnbreaker through a machine stunned by an arrow from Mephalda. A blast of magic from Mystic melted the last automaton standing in the hallway. We galloped away before more could show up.

“Does anypony know the way out?” Steadfast asked as we galloped through a set of stone tunnels, voicing the worry that had been nagging at my mind.

“If we keep heading up, we should reach the surface eventually,” Mystic said, though it seemed to be a plan with many drawbacks.

“I could fly ahead and find a way up,” Mephalda offered, and took off when we she saw we agreed with her plan.

The tunnel we were walking through currently appeared to be the Minotaur living quarters. At least, that’s what I gathered from the small rooms set off the hall containing beds and desks. The rooms were all empty, their residents in the Arcanex. Or, they had been in the Arcanex when they were transported. It seemed that the magical field only transported the Minotaurs from some places and not others.

We darted inside one of the rooms as we spotted two Minotaurs walking through a side passage up ahead. We hoped they were gone, but to be safe Mystic and I cast a spell of invisibility on ourselves and Steadfast drank a potion before stepping outside. The two Minotaurs were still standing in our hall, looking up and down the passage and searching for us.

“There!” one of them said, pointing at me as steam spurted from pipes on the wall, outlining my invisible form.

As one of them aimed a crossbow in my direction, the other pointed a wand at me, sending a blast of magic from the tip. It impacted my body, and a pale glow surrounded me, but there were no other effects as far as I could see. Then Minotauran spider automatons began to crawl from a pipe on the ceiling, converging on me. Apparently, the Minotaur with the wand had called them.

I drew Dawnbreaker and began slashing away at the mechanical creatures skittering toward me. Steadfast drew his warhammer and began to crush them against the floor and the walls. Mystic put a ward up in front of us as the other Minotaur began to fire crossbow bolts at us. As the glow around me faded, the spiders lost their focus and scattered, attacking Steadfast and Mystic as well.

<<<FUS~RO~DAH!!!>>> I Shouted, throwing the spiders away from me and knocking the two Minotaurs over.

I drew the Blade of Hoofingar as well and spun around, chopping apart the mechs surrounding me. As the Minotaurs at the end of the room picked themselves up, Steadfast finished off the last of the machines. One raised his crossbow and prepared to fire, but it was knocked from his hands by a blast of lightning from Mystic. As the other pointed her wand at me, I shot ice spikes at it, forcing her to drop it as my spikes struck her hand.

From his belt, the first Minotaur drew a long bronze sword, while his companion grabbed a crossbow on her back. I galloped toward the sword-wielding Minotaur, striking my sword against his. He swung the blade around, aiming toward my neck, but I blocked it with Dawnbreaker.

As his companion tried to shoot me, she was struck by a blast of ice from Mystic. Steadfast charged her a moment later, forcing her away from me. I focused on the Minotaur in front of me and swung my Draconequus sword around toward his waist. He angled his sword, blocking me before cutting up toward my head.

I jumped back, swinging Dawnbreaker around and knocking his sword away. As he swung around toward my back, I rolled forward, stabbing up toward his chest. He sidestepped, and I went sliding past him. He turned back toward me, swinging his sword in an arc to cut my head off.

<<ZUN~JOT!!>> I Shouted, and the sword went flying from his hand.

Stunned, he stared at where his sword had been for a moment before I stabbed Dawnbreaker up through his stomach. Broken bits of a crossbow came flying my way as Steadfast destroyed the other Minotaur’s weapon. A blast of flames from Mystic finished her off.

Mephalda wasn’t back yet, so we continued through the halls, searching for a way up to the surface. Another Minotaur appeared up ahead, searching the living area. We headed into another room until he passed, and then darted ahead. I snuck up behind him, trying to remain as stealthy as possible, until I was able to stab Dawnbreaker up through his back.

A few automatons rolling around near a door at the end of the hall spotted us, and began to roll in our direction. Mystic and I shot bolts of lightning at them, and they began to spiderweb across their heads, shorting many of them out. I swung Dawnbreaker around through the head of one that hadn’t.

Steadfast crushed two together with a swing of his warhammer, fusing them. As they tried to roll in separate directions, he swung his warhammer between them, destroying them both. As one of the machines tried to strike me with its sword, I blocked with Dawnbreaker. I drew my Changeling war axe and struck it in the head while I had it immobilized.

We galloped forward before more of the automatons could show up and pushed open the doors at the end of the hall. We entered a large cavern beneath the mountains, its walls ringed with Minotauran buildings. In the center a market was set up, with permanent stands made from stone and bronze. A group of Minotaurs was here, standing near the cavern’s center.

These Minotaurs were different than the ones we’d encountered previously. While they had been ordinary Minotaurs simply trying to catch the ponies that were about to ruin their plans, these were trained soldiers. Bronze armor covered their bodies completely, even their faces, and they all carried at least two weapons.

One gave a shout as he saw us and drew a crossbow from his back. Bolts began to fly through the air, and Mystic put up a ward around us. I shot ice spikes back at the Minotaurs as we approached, though most of them bounced off their armor.

<<KRII~LUN!!>> I Shouted as we neared them, and they were all hit with sudden pain from within.

While their armor was weak, I swung Dawnbreaker around, knocking the crossbow from one’s hands before stabbing the blade through his armor. My Draconequus sword sank between his ribs, puncturing a lung, and he fell to the ground coughing and choking on his blood.

Mystic shot spikes of ice at one, slicing through her currently weak armor. The shards of ice jetted through her body and tore out the back, gutting her. Steadfast swung his warhammer around, crushing the leg armor of one of the Minotaurs. As she fell to the ground, he slammed his Changeling hammer down on her face, flattening the helmet.

I slashed my sword up through another’s crossbow before my Shout wore off. As I tried to lunge for his heart, the Minotaur jumped back and pulled a mace off his belt. However, to me this mace was about the size of a small warhammer. I jumped out of the way as he swung it at me.

I ducked down as the Minotaur swung the mace at my head. The next time, he swung it toward my body, and I used both Dawnbreaker and the Blade of Hoofingar to block it. He tried to drive the massive club toward me, but I was able to hold him off, and he drew his weapon back, preparing to slam it down on me.

<<YOL~TOOR!!>> I Shouted, and my fire breath engulfed the Minotaur.

The flames seeped through the cracks in his armor and blistered his flesh immediately. He roasted inside his suit of armor, as if he was wearing an oven. He screamed as the flames devoured him and dropped his mace, the weapon landing in front of me and nearly crushing my hoof.

Meanwhile, Steadfast was taking on another one, trying to swing his warhammer around the Minotaur’s sword long enough that he could get a hit in. Eventually he succeeded, and smashed the armor on the Minotaur’s side. The hulking creature swung his sword up as Steadfast did so, and caught him right between the forelegs, sending him flying back. Mystic destroyed the Minotaur she’d been fighting with a blast of magic, and rushed over to help Steadfast.

The one he’d struck strode toward where he had fallen, but he appeared to be injured from Steadfast’s strike. I shot as many ice spikes as I could toward the weak spot in the Minotaur’s armor until they broke through, shredding his flesh beneath.

The last Minotaur soldier swung a flail at me, the weapon’s end landing on the ground near my forehooves. I ran beneath the swinging chain as the Minotaur swung at me again, and passed the creature by. Now that I was behind him, I stabbed Dawnbreaker and the Blade of Hoofingar through his back armor.

The Minotaur swung around at me, catching me with the back of his hand and sending me flying. As I slid across the ground, I scrambled for my weapons, managing to catch Dawnbreaker. Before I could get off the ground, the Minotaur swung his flail at me, and I raised Dawnbreaker to block. The flail’s chain wrapped around my sword, and the Minotaur easily pulled it away before preparing for a final strike. Arrows suddenly sprouted from his throat where his helmet met his cuirass, and he dropped his weapon. Mephalda landed beside him as he hit the ground.

“I found a way out,” she announced, looking over my shoulder at where Mystic was helping Steadfast back up, “It’s just through the workshop and the grand hall.”

“Great,” I said, “Let’s go.”

We took off at once, following Mephalda as she led the way into one of the buildings ringing the cavern. It led through halls coated with steam pipes until we reached Bthardamz’s workshop. There were no Minotaurs present here yet, though there were a few automatons in various states of repair that someone had activated.

As one of the machines rolled toward me, I blocked its blades with Dawnbreaker. I swung my blade down toward the machine’s head, but it rolled to the side, avoiding my blade. Still, I did manage to chop one of its arms off. It spun its other blade around at me, and I ducked, shooting fire at its base until the ball it rolled around on had melted. I swung Dawnbreaker up through its torso, destroying the mechanisms and its steam plant.

Mystic shot through the steam plant of another, which was exposed. Steam began to gush from the pipes, propelling the automaton forward and causing it to knock over its fellows. Steadfast ran through the chaos, warhammer swinging, and took down the automatons.

I swung Dawnbreaker around as another of the automatons came at me, this one missing the top of its head. I blocked as its sword slashed at me, dodging back and forth as Mystic sent lightning into the exposed mechanisms in its head. As she did so, the machine went berserk, rolling into a steam pipe on the wall and tearing it apart with its blades before falling down it.

<<<FO~KRAH~DIIN!!!>>> I Shouted, ice washing over the automatons in front of me.

I ran through the crowd of frozen mechs, slashing at them with Dawnbreaker while they couldn’t move. The brittle metal cracked easily, and I soon left a trail of shattered automatons behind me. I was stabbing my Draconequus sword through another automaton that tried to strike me, when I noticed a death-clanker sitting on a workbench nearby.

It wasn’t active yet, but I wasn’t taking chances. I galloped toward it, before jumping on its exposed chest. At that moment, steam began to hiss from it, and the automaton grabbed me with its hands. The claws tried to cut through my crystalline armor, but failed. The automaton stood up from the table, staring at me with its gem eyes while it held me out in front of it and prepared for a scalding steam attack.

<<<FUS~RO~DAH!!!>>> I Shouted at it, and I went flying backwards, tearing the arms off with me.

The armless automaton was defenseless as Mephalda pelted its internal mechanisms with arrows and Mystic filled its innards with lightning. Steadfast smashed its head in before it could even attempt an attack, and the machine fell to the ground, lifeless again.

After my friends helped pry me out of the automaton’s hands, we headed through the rest of the abandoned workshop, following Mephalda to the surface. We saw no more automatons or Minotaurs as we trotted through the hallways, until we reached the grand hall. A group of them guarded the large bronze doors at the far end.

Mephalda took off into the air and shot arrows down at them, killing two right away. The rest of us galloped toward them, weapons at the ready. Mystic and I shot ice spikes at them as we came, piercing the neck armor of one and killing her. One of the remaining three ran over toward a pipe on the wall near the door.

“Grand Hall to Overseer!” he yelled into the pipe, “We’re under attack!”

As an arrow bounced off the pipe, he jumped away and drew a crossbow, firing up at Mephalda. Mystic and Steadfast headed toward a Minotaur soldier with a shield, while I headed for another. She swung a battleaxe at me, and I pulled up short as the blade whistled past me.

I swung Dawnbreaker up as she swung down again, and our blades met, screeching past each other. As she swung her battleaxe at me again, I blocked with my Draconequus sword, fighting to keep her blade in place. As I did so, I drew out my Changeling war axe and swung it around into the gap in her armor between her cuirass and her greaves.

I forced the blade deeper into her flesh, and she jerked back involuntarily, pulling her battleaxe away. I stabbed Dawnbreaker in, sticking up through her stomach. As she staggered back, I jumped in the air and swung my Draconequus sword through her neck, taking her head off.

The Minotaur leader continued to fire his crossbow, and managed to hit Mephalda in the wing. As she fell from the sky, I lunged toward the being that had shot her. He pointed his crossbow at me and shot a bolt off, but the bronze shaft bounced off my Twilight Armor, leaving a scratch but doing no other damage.

I swung Dawnbreaker through his crossbow, and he jumped back to avoid having the same thing done to him. He drew two swords from his belt and swung them at me. I drew the Blade of Hoofingar as well and blocked, keeping the Minotaur at a distance. He swung his swords around toward my sides, but pulled them up at the last minute, aiming for my head.

<<ZUN~JOT!!>> I Shouted, and his blades went flying from his hands.

He was stunned for a moment, but quickly recovered as I swung my swords up at his neck. With his gauntlets he blocked my swings, until the armor on his forearms began to deteriorate. When Dawnbreaker sliced one of his hands off, he staggered back. The Blade of Hoofingar swiftly shot into his armpit and angled down into his heart. I drew my blade out and cleaned it as the Minotaur fell to the ground.

“Bthardamz Overseer to Grand Hall,” the voice of the Overseer came from the pipe near the door, “Report.”

We ignored the urgent commands of the Minotaurs’ leader and pushed open the doors to the Karth.

We now had no idea where we were, and it was getting dark out. We began to ascend a hoofpath just north of Bthardamz, and found a camp built over the ruin, no doubt once home to Minotauran researchers that had died from an attack by wild animals or the Cloven Hoof. We were fairly confident no Minotaurs could see us from where we were if they left their city, so we set up camp there for the night.

“Minotaurs back in the Northlands,” Mystic said over dinner, “It’s hard to believe. This will upset everything.”

“As if the Northlands didn’t have enough problems already,” Steadfast said, “Unicorns, earth ponies, pegasi, and Griffins at war, and now the Minotaurs will be joining the fight. Not to mention the dragons that still roam the land.”

I had to admit, things looked pretty bleak. But, we’d made it through so much, we couldn’t give up now. Sure, there was no easy solution to the war that ravaged the Northlands, and the windigos fed on the disorder and grew stronger every day, but we did know how to stop the dragons. Five of the keys to defeating Alduin now hung around my neck. I examined the last one as I tried to look on the bright side.

Mephalda’s ears pricked up, as if she heard something none of the rest of us could. Cryptically, she stood and gazed to the north before suddenly taking off into the air. She was above the clouds for a few minutes before she came back down.

“What was that all about?” Steadfast asked.

“Pegasari troops are moving in the north,” she said, “Around Seclusion, I reckon.”

“Another attack?” Mystic asked.

“Most likely,” Mephalda said, “Though I figure that it’s more important at this time to stop the Minotaurs than keep the pegasi from expanding.”

Mephalda’s news didn’t help the mood one bit. I could tell everypony was down in the dumps, but what was I to do about it? There had to be some way to lift everypony’s spirits.

“Have any of you ever been to a Jester’s Day festival?” I asked out of the blue.

“They don’t celebrate Jester’s Day in the Featherrest Isles,” Mephalda said, the first to respond.

“We never had one when I was growing up in Dawnstar,” Mystic said, “The town was too small. I went to the one in Seclusion once, though.”

“Steadfast?” I asked.

“I suppose a few times,” he admitted, “When they had one in Whitetrot. Jarl Valor’s Blade isn’t too keen on it though, so there hasn’t been one in awhile.”

“Kvatch was too small, like Dawnstar,” I shared, “But they had one in Saddlegrad every year. I remember the first time my father took me. It was the first year Anvil cancelled theirs, feeling it attracted too many ‘unsavory characters,’ and the town was packed with ponies from three towns. It didn’t take long before I got lost, before the festivities even started.”

“I was just a foal at the time, and I’d never seen a jester before. But, I figured that it was their holiday, so there’d be a lot of them, all dressed differently than everypony else. I ended up at the office of the Vigilants of Steedarr, back when they were just starting out and had their base inside Saddlegrad’s walls. Now, I thought that they were the jesters.”

“The Head Vigilant, he tried to explain it to me, but I thought it was all a joke. So, there I was in the Hall of the Vigilant, waiting for a show, while they were searching for my dad in a crowd of hundreds of ponies. Well, I guess they didn’t want me to be disappointed at my first Jester’s Day festival, so the Vigilants put together a little show for me.”

“You should have seen the look on my father’s face,” I laughed, “When he walked into the Hall of the Vigilant and saw ponies devoted to stamping out evil in the Northlands trying to juggle apples and wearing pants on their heads, all to please a little filly.”

“Why- why did you tell us that story?” Steadfast asked when the laughter died down.

“Things have been bad lately, and we’ve all been feeling a little low,” I said, “I just thought we could all use a laugh.”

Mephalda’s face suddenly got very serious as she stared down at my neck. Puzzled, I looked down as well, and saw that a blue glow was emanating from the newest Element of Harmony. I was about to ask if anypony knew what exactly was going on, but I was cut off as the light flashed before my eyes.

‘Laughter!’ an outrageously cheery voice spoke from everywhere.

Once more, everypony was frozen around me while I stood in a realm of a single color, this time blue.

‘It’s important to maintain a sense of Optimism and Joy at all times. Those who are glum cannot see the way forward, or the bright side of life, and nopony wishes to be around a pony who sees only darkness in everything. The ability to Laugh no matter what the situation is a valuable skill to have, but like all virtues can be used improperly. Witness now, the story of Oatar the Mad.’

‘As a young colt in Horizon, Oatar sought only to bring Joy to those around him. His greatest treasure in life was being able to make other ponies smile, and he was most talented at it. His cheerful nature drew him to five other like-minded ponies, and they became the fastest of friends. The dragons, pleased with the harmony of the Six Companions, bestowed upon them the most powerful artifacts of all time: the Elements of Harmony.’

‘The Six Companions proclaimed themselves to be Dragon Priests, special emissaries to and from the dragons. The fantastical power they wielded was used to the benefit of all, ushering in a new era of prosperity for Horizon.’

‘But, like all the Dragon Priests, Oatar soon began to abuse the awesome power he’d been given. His desire for smiles grew into a demand, until he built his own kingdom in the far west of Horizon, where everypony would be required to act with cheer at all times. A single misstep would mean death.’

‘Yet, as he forced his own subjects to smile, Oatar himself rarely smiled, nor showed Joy or Optimism of any kind. He was forced to put on a false front, remaining grotesquely happy at all times, and it drove him mad, causing him to become an even greater tyrant than before. At last, his subjects had had enough, and marched on him, sealing him within his fortress at Ragnfoald.’

‘While it is important to remain Optimistic in every situation, this should never be because it is forced, but because light truly can be seen at the end of the tunnel. So long as your Laughter and Joy are genuine, they can help make even the darkest day seem grand. Guard them well, and they will serve you in kind.’

“Another Element already?” Mystic said as I returned to reality, “That was fast.”

“Which one was it?” Mephalda asked.

“Laughter,” I said, “It seems odd that Laughter would be one of the great virtues, but I suppose it really is important to laugh from time to time in order to keep one’s spirits up.”

“It worked for us,” Steadfast said with a shrug, “And your story netted you another Element to use against Alduin. Only one left.”

“All right,” I said, “I can’t be the only one with amusing stories about my foalhood. Who’s next?”

“Very well,” Steadfast said after a moment, “Let me tell you about the time I went sledding down the Whitetrot canals with a guard’s shield . . .”