We've got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can't just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it's going to get on by itself. You've got to keep watering it. You've got to really look after it and nurture it.
- John Lennon
After the group returned they discovered that only twenty minutes had passed in the living realm, though it felt like an hour in limbo. Time always seemed to pass differently in other dimensions. It was weird and something that Russel was never able to solve. They came back to the castles meeting chamber where Elder Rockjaw sat discussing with Princess Cadence and Shining Armor about the treaty. They were going over a few of the details when they turned to acknowledge the groups presence.
"Welcome back, so what happened exactly? You were only gone for a brief time," Cadence asked wanting to know. Celestia and Luna explained where they went and what they did but in a manner that was quick and shortly worded. After they had finished they sat for a minute to ponder on it while Celestia continued on with the negotiations. It was half an hour after she took over that Russel received another letter out of nowhere that landed in front of him. He observed the letter and immediately recognized Daring Do's signature.
He immediately opened it and read the contents inside. She had learned from one of her own contacts the location of a new artifact. It also contained news of several obstacles that would likely present themselves. The artifact was in a territory that was racked with snowstorms constantly. Not only that but the area also happened to be rough terrain with many rocky mountains. When he finished, Russel explained the situation to his master who with reluctance excused him so that he may go on his artifact hunt.
Celestia requested that he bring somepony with him who knew how to navigate the area and could defend themselves. He decided to bring along Applejack and Rob. Rob knew of the area since he'd been teaching about it to his class before the summit. He remembered some of the maps he'd shown of the North Tundra Wastelands. Applejack could take care of herself in a fight and she insisted on going. She didn't know why but she had an urge to go so she could make sure they stayed safe.
After a few minutes of preparation, Russel used the same word of power he used last time to transported them as close as possible. He landed as far north as he could which put them a few meters from the border of the north frozen tundra. To say it was heavy with snow was an understatement. The whole area in front of them was in the midst of a storm that released both heavy amount of snow and hail. The wind bit at you as the air was severely cold and you couldn't see much more than five feet in front of you. If anything, it was the perfect spot to hide any important and dangerous artifact.
Only the most brave and well equipped would ever attempt to traverse something as dangerous as this terrain. It seemed the weather pony teams control over the world weather was extended only to certain countries. Anything outside of it seemed to follow normal uncontrolled weather patterns like back on Earth, and this tundra was no exception. Russel used a spell to change his companions into more proper attire for the area. With them now in warmer fatigues, Russel created a heat shield so they could see without the snow getting in the way. They journeyed onward through the deep amount of snow and thick weather.
After trekking for about an hour they stopped so Rob could allocate their position to his maps. While Rob tried to remember the details, Russel began scanning what he could of the landscape around him. He felt like they were being watched and he had to make sure the area was clear. Once Rob recalled the necessary details, Russel used their combined information to determine that the artifact was on a mountain somewhere in the general vicinity of them. The only problem was that they couldn't make out any mountains nearby because the storm was to thick.
"Wait right here for a second. I've got to fly up high enough so I can determine where the mountain is." Russel quickly created a fire to keep them warm and then took off to the upper cloud banks. Rob and Applejack sat near the campfire staring at the flames as it whipped and flicked around with the wind direction. Rob wasn't thinking about anything in particular when he noticed Applejack shiver a bit from the cold winds nipping at her body. Rob moved close to her and wrapped his arm around her to share body heat.
"What are ya doing? You don't have to do that, I'm not that cold," Applejack said lying and very badly at it. Rob knew this and continued anyways. Her fur was cold to the touch and she was shivering but trying to keep him from noticing.
"I think the rest of you is telling a very different story. You don't have to act tough in front of me. I've lived with you long enough to now when your trying to put on your signature tough pony act. You don't have to do that around me, especially in place like this with how cold it is. Here," Rob said as he embraced her fully in a hug and wrapped the jacket around them both. Applejack was uncomfortable with the closeness at first but soon relaxed as she slowly began to stop shivering.
Applejack was at a loss for words. When Rob did that, she felt a sense of calm and warmth pass into her that she hadn't felt in a long time. She couldn't describe it but when she was around Rob it seemed peaceful. A foreign feeling awoke in her and it was centered directly on Rob. She liked the feeling of his embrace and leaned into it. she hadn't felt this whole since her last hearths warming eve with her parents when they were alive.
"Thanks, I guess I did need that," Applejack said as she wrapped her right foreleg around him as well. They looked at the fire together as it danced back in forth in the chilly wind. They sat like this for a time until Applejack heard the faintest hint of movement nearby. She was about to get up when something hit her over the back of the head and she fell over. Applejack had blurry vision but she was able to make out a couple of Changelings picking up Rob off the ground. She too was shortly picked up and retrieved and then she soon blacked out.
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Russel flew over the clouds and was rewarded with a beautiful sight of the sun as it was high in the sky. As he turned he saw the mountain they were looking for. The target mountain was a little further to the north and then they would have to turn in through a pass. The cave should be in that area. He descended back through the cloud bank and down to the campfire he made only to find his companions gone. Russel knelt over and began looking at the immediate area for clues as to their whereabouts and discovered the disarray of hoof prints and drag marks all over the place.
He eventually pinned them to a set direction and tracked them. He followed the hoof prints and they lead to one of the mountains that veered off slightly from the planned path his group was going to take. He followed the tracks all the way to a tiny cave entrance. It was too dark to see inside so he switched to his dragon vision and continued on in. As Russel went further in, the caves got more extensive and finally lead a decently sized chamber. There were several tubes connecting to this one chamber but that didn't matter at the moment.
The chamber was somewhat alive with Changeling activity and they seemed to be going about their day when he spotted his friends. They were being carried into another corridor tube and out of sight. Russel cast a spell to become invisible and quickly followed the captors to another slightly smaller chamber. Applejack was put into a pod/cocoon looking thing without to much trouble. However when they tried to put Rob it didn't quite go over so well. He did not fit and so the Changeling couldn't figure out what to do.
A larger Changeling showed up and Russel immediately recognized it as a the queen. She walked up to the sac and began making modifications to the pod and then tried again. This time Rob went in without as much hassle. The Changelings left leaving the queen to look at her new captives. She was particularly interested in Rob.
"I have never seen a creature like you before but I do hope you have a lot of love in your heart. All the more to feed me and my children with. You however are going to be a sweet treat that I will enjoy personally," she said as she turned to Applejack. She regarded her like a foe and Russel could quite understand why. She licked her lips as a predator would after capturing its prey then started laughing manically as she left the room. With him now alone in the room, Russel turn visible and sneaked over to the pods to cut them open.
When he did, his friends slide out and he tried to wake them up. Not much luck was to be had though as they seemed to be out cold. He picked them up and turn invisible again before going back out the way he came. When he finally reached the caves exit he extended his wings and flew to the mountain he spotted earlier. When he touched down near the base his friends started to stir so he let them down.
"Oh horse feathers, what the heck happened? Something hit me over the head and knocked me out," Applejack said as she rubbed the sore spot where she was hit. she stopped when she remembered and immediately turned darting her eyes back and forth looking for Rob. When she saw him slowly getting up, she sighed with relief and walked over to help him. She hugged him albeit a little harder than she probably should. when she realized this she quickly retracted her hug and blushed.
"That was quite a hug, not that I'm complaining but maybe next time you could dial it down a bit. It was making it a little hard to breath," Rob said in a sort of teasing manner. Applejack punched his arm playfully for the teasing then hugged again but more softly this time.
"I was worried, I saw you being dragged away by Changelings. I thought we were going to be Changeling food for sure. What did happen exactly," Applejack asked as she turned to their behemoth savior?
"The Changelings took you to their underground home and tried to store you away for later like food. I saw an opportunity and got you out of there as quickly as possible. I wasn't sticking around to find out who they were or why they took such interest in you when you were brought in."
"Its probably Queen Chrysalis, she has a grudge against me and the girls cause we stopped her from taking over Equestria. She was considerable weakened afterwards so we haven't really worried about her since," Applejack said as she remembered the detail of Princess Cadence and Shining Armors wedding.
"That sounds like an interesting escapade. I heard bits and piece about it during my previous dealings in Equestria. I didn't ponder much on it though because I'm more preoccupied with looking for the dragon priest artifacts. Well, now that your safe we can continue on with this venture. This time I'm not leaving you for a second. If they come looking for you, they wont last long.
The cave is this way so lets get moving." Russel waved for them to follow and they headed up a very old almost completely worn down path up to two large stone doors.
"Well this seems like a problem and a half. How are we suppose to get through that," Rob asked somewhat shocked by all the obstacles they've had to go through so far?
"Well it wouldn't be proper if it was easy to get. That not a good way of protecting important treasure and the adventure wouldn't be as exciting. I like the puzzles, they've grown on me since I first started searching for the artifacts. I'll figure this out, just give me a few minutes," Russel said as he picked up a couple of torches and lit them with his fire breath. He handed one to Rob and then began studying the doors. They had marking on them like many of the other doors he had seen during his artifact hunt.
It had a pattern and it was all about finding the correct sequence of symbols to open the door. He explained this to them as he found the exactly in the time he said he would and spoke the word of power. The the entire doorway lit up with an ethereal light and the words highlighted themselves on the door. The ground shook as the door slowly opened.
"Well that seems simple enough, if you know how to read and speak the dragon language. Not much good for the rest of us though," Rob said as he looked to Russel.
"Yeah, still its an important note about dragons and I thought it worth mentioning. Come on," he said as he descended into the cave. Applejack and Rob followed close behind. As the trio headed in, they could see just how long it had been since somepony had been there. The walls had cobwebs all over them and rubble strewn about all over the place. There was a lot of dirt on everything and the air tasted stale in the mouths of the everyone present.
After continuing for about ten minutes they came across an old door that seemed to stand the test of time. It looked solid for its age and looked almost to good. Russel tried opening the door but it was locked tight. He then tried ramming it down but got sent skidding back when energy surged from the door. He decided to take a closer look and figured out the door was protected by a barrier spell. He then tried to dispel it using a counter spell but it still wouldn't budge.
"If its locked, you cant bash it down, and you cant remove the barrier around it. How are we suppose to get in? It seems impossible," Applejack asked pointing out the big obvious problem in their way.
"No, there is still one thing we haven't tried. Is their a lock on it," Rob asked Russel? When he looked sure enough, there was a old looking lock on it.
"Yeah, why, do you think you can pick the lock," Russel asked looking as optimistic as before?
"I've never done it but I once read a book on lock picking and it seems simple enough. I just need a large hook pick and a tension wrench," Rob explained the parts he needed. Russel took out a small knife and used his magic on it to reform it and molded a few of them out. He handed them to Rob who immediately went to work on the lock. As he began to pick the lock, he used the pick to feel around the inside of the lock and figure out how many tumblers he would need unlock. It turned out to be a medium level lock with five tumblers that had some resistance designed in them.
He continued the long process of twisting and lifting the individual tumblers and clicking them into place. It took a few minutes and a broken pick but he started to get the hang of the whole process. After a few more minutes of fumbling with it and a couple more broken lock picks, Rob finally managed to unlock the door. Rob pushed the door open and the trio headed into the next room. It was a decent sized room apart from the huge pieces of rubble in different places in it. As they navigated their way through the area, they made sure to find more fuel for the torches.
After that they moved through an opening into an even larger room. This room had statues of different types of dragons and water falling from their mouths. The water fell into artificially made streams routed throughout the room. They ended near the other end where their was a water wheel. It wasn't moving and hadn't looked it moved in ages. The trio began searching around for any sort of way to get the wheel moving.
They searched for several minutes before Applejack came across a water tube that led up to an opening over the wheel.
"Hey Russel, this tube leads up their above the water wheel. Do you think you can steer the water into this tube to make it go up there? Their should be someway to get the water over here," Applejack said as she got Russel's attention. He came over to the tube and tried to find a connecting one when he saw a small lane blocked by debris. He lifted the debris out of the path and soon enough the water started to flow through again. After a few minutes the water made its way up to the wheel and the wheel began to turn.
Several clanking noises rang throughout the room as the floor in the middle started to shift. A pedestal rose out from the middle of the room and clunk into place. Russel walked over to it and found a lever at the base of it. Pulling the lever, a wall at the far end of the room raised up and gave way to an anti chamber. Rob and Applejack were the first to go through the door followed shortly by Russel. When they got a good look at the anti chamber they were taken aback by its structure.
It was a giant cavern with a dragon throne on the other end of the room. It had dragon language carved all over the the massive throne and a stone obelisk in the on either side of it. Russel walked over and began deciphering it as Applejack and Rob looked around. Rob found a small chest in an inconspicuous area of the anti chamber. He picked it up and brought it over to the middle of the room to shed some light on it. It looked old and worn away slightly because of its age.
Applejack couldn't find anything useful, just a small area with burial alcoves. Most of them were empty anyways, save for a couple of slots with partial skeletal remains in them. She joined Rob over by the chest since it seemed to be the only thing of value in the room. Rob opened it to find a weird artifact. They were metal contraptions that almost resembled Pegasus wings except they were made of gold and bronze.
"Hey Russel, I think I found the artifact you were looking for. It looks like its two separate pieces connected together," Rob called as Russel turned around joined them.
"These are the wings of Clavintus Reigns. He seems to be one of three founders behind this group of dragon worshipers. He garnered quite a name for himself apparently," Russel stated as he picked up the artifact and examined it closely.
"How do you know that," Applejack asked as she stared at him with a confused look on her face?
"Because its all on the throne over there. According to it, he was targeted many time before he was finally taken down here. After he was defeated, they feared he might somehow come back so they agreed to scattered his bones across Equestria. They did that with several other members as well." Russel finished explaining as he held out the armor piece. He began to absorb its magic like all the other artifact previous to it.
Once he finished, he cast a spell to miniaturize it and put it in his belt pouch then proceeded to finish reading the writing on the throne.
"Why are you reading, we got the artifact. Shouldn't we be getting out of here," Applejack asked. She wanted to get out of here as soon as possible because it gave her the creeps.
"I am reading it because I need to know if it contains any clue to the whereabouts of the last artifact pieces that I need." Applejack and Rob walked out the other room and waited for him to finish. After about twenty minutes Russel finish and rejoined his companions in the main chamber.
"So what did it say," Rob asked now curious after having waited for that long.
"It vaguely talks about several artifact which I've already collected but at least one stood out. Its an amulet that's suppose to intensify the magical capabilities of any unicorn that used it. So much so in fact that their power would become unrivaled by even the most powerful of unicorn. It didn't talk about what it looked like only that it was so powerful that it would corrupt the mind of the unicorn that used it unless properly shielded from its effects. The AI says it was called the Suleyk Lah Rii when it was first made but it could go by a different name now. It has been centuries since it was forged and I doubt the name would have stuck since it was dragon speech.
Only a select few outside the dragon race know the language fluently so I'll just have to look for something that matches the description. Lets get out of here and get you back to the castle. I need to go see Daring Do about this," Russel said as he headed for the exit. A bunch of Changeling however came from it and blocked the path. They jumped at the trio attacking as fast as they could. Russel put up a field at the entrance to keep the Changeling from escaping.
He pulled out his swords and start slashing at them slicing left and right. One by one the Changelings slowly fell to his blades. A smaller group of them broke away and went after Rob and Applejack while the rest kept throwing themselves at him. The two tried fend off their attackers as best they could. One launched itself at Applejack but Rob punched it in the throat before tossing it ten feet away. Applejack bucked a pair of them against the wall before continuing their defense.
Russel eventually slayed the ones that were keeping him distracted before turning towards his friends. He was about to launch at them when the Queen Chrysalis showed up and stood in front of him. She hovered up and grabbed Russel by the face. Her eyes soon gained a sickly green aura to them. Russel was unaffected for a time and she started to think it wasn't working, but then his eye slowly did the same thing. She let go a few seconds later than disappeared into the shadows.
Russel's eyes stayed that way for a few seconds before he shook his head clear of it and regained his bearings. He turned to his friends who were for their part defending against the changeling admirable. He erected a magic shield around them before promptly slaughtering the rest of the changeling present. Once the battle was over, Russel flicked the blood of his blades and sheathed them.
"What the heck was that, why did they attack us again. Its not like they were going to win," Rob announced wondering what they wanted. Russel was about to say what happened to him a few second ago when unbeknownst to himself and his friends, his eyes turned the same green aura again.
"I don't know, they may have been trying to capture you again to feed on you. Lets get out of here before they come back," Russel said before the aura went away. He shook his head and all of a sudden couldn't remember what he was going to say. Rob and Applejack ran past him and through the exit. Russel pondered on what happened before he shrugged off what he thought to be nothing and ran after them. Once they exited the cave system they took a moment to rest.
Applejack walked over to Rob and embraced him in a hug before kissing him. Rob was shocked by this at first but soon excepted and returned the feeling. after a few second they let go and reveled in the feeling they were both sharing.
"I just wanted to thank you for what you did back there. You got the stuff of a fighter and I was impressed by the way you chose to protect me without a second thought for your own safety. I'm usually the one doing that so it was something different when you did that for me. I have been having these feeling for you that I done can't explain for a while now. I shrugged them off as nothing at first, but when you did that, all those feelings came rushing back and my heart told me that I needed to show you how I truly feel. I think your a kind and smart person who cares a great deal for other.
That's what I admire most about you. I don't know, I just thought you should know that," Applejack said letting everything out in the open. The air was full of nervousness as he didn't know what to say to that. Rob decided to do the only thing he could think of. He held her both her cheeks in his palms and kissed her, this time showing her the same passion she gave him. When he broke the kiss he saw so much joy in her eyes. She smiled as wide as Pinkie Pie, if that kind of thing was even possible.
"I hope that answers your question," Rob said as he stared lovingly into her eyes. They enjoyed the moment together before Russel came out of the entrance to the cave. Russel walked over to them and spoke the Thuum again, returning Applejack and Rob to Canterlot. He then promptly did it again and teleported himself to Daring Do to get his payment and some much needed information. When they were gone Chrysalis came out of the darkness of the cave and stared into the distance.
"He will be a most powerful slave yet. One who may finally help me accomplish what I started a year ago. Soon Celestia, you and your little Elements Of Harmony will cower in fear of me once my spell has taken its course. Nothing will be able to stop me then. All of Equestria will be mine," Chrysalis yelled and started to laugh maniacally as her eyes changed to the green colored aura once more.