//------------------------------// // All For One // Story: Harmony's Wrath // by hahatimeforponies //------------------------------// "Can I get a little light up here?" Rainbow Dash called, staring into the darkness of the storm drain. Beyond the fifteen feet or so of light around the two unicorns, there was only pitch black. Twilight summoned another glowing orb to follow the pegasus as she explored the hub. She zipped this way and that, looking for anything that might come loose. The central drain was quite spacious, about fifty lengths along each side and seventy tall, and converging on the hall were too similarly roomy side drains with arched ceilings, branching into smaller tunnels again. The drain system itself was remarkably well built; the network of channels appeared to function by itself, and many of the maintenance walkways were in various states of decay. Only the stone ones seemed to be still functional - many metal components were rusted down to brittle frames, and wooden parts would have long since rotted to nothing. It occurred to Rainbow that they might be the first ponies down here in decades, maybe even centuries. Metal ladders corroded to dust, gaps where wooden platforms had rotted away and not been replaced, broken rope bridges... Wait a second, a broken rope bridge! She nearly passed it by completely; hanging from two posts on a stone walkway, mounted on the side of the central hall, about halfway up, were two grimey ropes, with a number of blackened wooden planks between them. She traced the path from the bridge to see where it led. Indeed, this seemed to be one of the few (vaguely) maintained routes through the drains. A path looped around the hall once, with gaps bridged by softened planks or rope bridges, many of them looking quite hastily constructed. Lo and behold, the path converged on the centre of the room at the top, leading to a series of metal rungs built into the side of the hole Applejack had pointed out earlier. Excited, she returned to the rope ladder and took one of the ropes in her teeth, and tried not to taste it. She pulled it towards the central platform, gingerly, since it was probably not in the best shape... She muffled a yelp and came to a sudden halt about half a length in front of the platform. She was about to explain the situation to her friends, until their collective grimace told her she didn't need to. "That's the best you could find, Rainbow? That ol' thing looks like it could snap any minute!" Applejack complained. "Short of fishing the ladder out of the water, I think it might be our best option." Twilight frowned. "Fluttershy, help Rainbow hold it up." Fluttershy gulped and bit her lip as she took position. Reluctantly, she took the other rope in her mouth and held it taut, bringing the planks on the rope bridge level. "Alright. Rarity, out of the rest of us, you're the lightest, you go first. I'll try and steady you with magic, I suggest you try and do the same." Twilight looked over to the other unicorn earnestly. Rarity looked back at her, then to the bridge, then back to her again, boggling incredulously. "I suppose we're beyond joking here..." she sighed and stepped over to face the ladder. She kept her horn light on, while Twilight let hers, and the orb following Rainbow Dash, go out, in order to focus on lifting Rarity. Rarity reared up and pounced at the first few steps. Her reduced weight caught her off guard - she flew a few feet higher in the air than she had anticipated, and shakily landed on the first few boards. They were slippery, and her hooves gave her little grip. They slipped off to the outside, and she fell a short distance, her belly smacking on the planks. In panic, her light went out. She screwed up her face, preparing for an ice bath... that never came. After a moment or two she breathed a sigh of relief, her heart pounding away. "I'm... I'm okay!" she called back, trembling. She lit up her horn again, and gingerly pulled herself back upright. She took a moment to carefully balance herself between the two ropes, hooking her hooves around the otherwise useless, gripless planks. Cautiously, she began to climb the bridge like a ladder, grappling around one plank at a time. The rest of the climb proceeded as such, all of her focus on her delicate climb, to the point that her horn lamp occasionally fizzled and spluttered. She couldn't be happier to have all four hooves firmly on the ground at the top. "Okay..." Twilight sighed, her glow dissipating as she let Rarity go. "Now we know the bridge holds, let's send up the heaviest. Pinkie Pie, you're... Pinkie?" She looked around herself, the pink earth pony nowhere to be seen. Rarity craned her neck over the ledge to try and lend her light to the search. "Hi!" Pinkie squeaked. Rarity squealed and very nearly fell off the ledge in fright - Pinkie appeared right behind her, beaming. It took a moment for the unicorn to respond in a muted yell. "Don't... do that!" "How did... what... y'know, I won't ask..." Twilight rubbed her temple with a hoof. "Applejack, your turn." She sighed, and again turned to concentrate on lifting. Applejack leaped boldly at the bridge, landing with a doof in much the same position as Rarity had. One of the planks cracked. The crack echoed around, eliciting a universal gulp (except from Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, who couldn't wait to get these icky ropes out of their mouths). With a little less gusto, Applejack righted herself and began her climb. Without a convenient torch on her forehead, she was a little more wary going up, and was as relieved as Rarity was when she staggered on to the platform. Twilight gulped as she stepped up to the plate herself. She set Spike down on the floor - Fluttershy could come back for him in a moment. This was going to be tricky - she had seen how much Rarity needed to concentrate on climbing, so she wouldn't be able to make herself an awful lot lighter. At the same time, since Rarity's specialty wasn't itself magic, Twilight doubted she would be able to concentrate on illumination and levitation of a whole pony at the same time, and do both effectively. She gulped, and hoped the two pegasi and the bridge could take it. She reared back, and took a leap of faith. Whap. She landed on the bridge, she knew that much. She hooked her front hooves around a rung and let herself slide back, like she had seen the other two do. This gave her a moment of relief, before... crack. When she slumped into the same landing position the other two had, the last board took another impact, and it was close to splitting in two. She gulped and started to struggle up. Crack. The plank was getting worse. She started to sweat. Crreeaaak. She could feel it bowing out, prompting her to hook her front hooves firmly around the more intact plank in front of her, before... snap. The board supporting her abdomen gave out, and she swung around, clinging to the other one for dear life. Rainbow Dash made a snap decision. Rather than leave Twilight swinging there, she spat out the rope and bolted underneath her. Before she could fall even a foot, she had positioned herself under the unicorn, letting her haunches sit on her shoulders. The weight shift prompted Fluttershy to swallow her terror, ditch the bridge aswell, and throw her front hooves around Twilight's torso. Both pegasi beat their wings furiously, desperately trying to exert lift. Dang, Rarity was right, that whack really did take it out of me... Dash thought. Ordinarily lifting a pony would be no problem for her, and with some momentum behind her, she could lift several - such as when she rescued Rarity and three of the Wonderbolts at the Best Young Flier's competition. However, the injury she had received earlier was really taking its toll here. Even with Fluttershy's help, they were barely keeping Twilight level. Twilight was far too panicked to help herself. "Rarity, lift!" Rainbow cried out. The bright, white light disappeared, and the same soft glow replaced it, encircling the three of them. Slowly, they began to rise up, both pegasi still flapping frantically. Rarity's strain was audible. Even if she did help with the ladder, it was still no heavier than a single pony, and Twilight did most of the lifting anyway. They inched upwards and forwards, closer to the ledge, second by second. Applejack just looked on as she watched the building fatigue in the three ponies' faces, merely outlined in the soft glow; right now, there was nothing she could do... or was there? She checked her hat for her trusty lasso. Ah, horsefeathers. Gone. However, it wasn't long before another idea grabbed her. She grabbed Pinkie Pie and shoved her off the side of the platform. Before Pinkie had the chance to look behind her, to ask Applejack just how crazy she was, she stopped falling, something holding her over the edge. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw Applejack with a firm teeth grip on her tail, and noticed her own legs were braced against the edge of the platform. With just a nod, she instantly understood. With this extra length's reach, she could hook a hoof around Twilight's hind leg and pull her in. Once Applejack felt the weight shift, she yanked back too. This was enough to bring Twilight, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash onto the ledge, bowling into the three already there. The six lay there in the darkness, panting in relief. Spike still slept peacefully down below. The other bridges weren't anywhere as bad as the first one, and while it was still nerve-wracking to cross them, there were no major incidents. Twilight let Fluttershy hold on to Spike for the time being, a responsibility the pegasus relished. It took them about ten minutes to reach the very top. The ladder inside the funnel extended onto a small stone tab projecting from the wall, about two lengths wide. The slip earlier had somewhat broken the ice with most of the ponies; they were starting to break out of their preoccupation and talk among themselves. That is, with the exception of Twilight; she stayed in front, still as absorbed in her own thoughts as ever. When they reached the top, Twilight just stared at the hole in the ceiling, saying nothing. After a brief pause, Rainbow Dash took off past her. "Okay Twi, you're the boss, no need to shout!" she jeered as she disappeared into the tunnel. "Oh... right... yeah..." Twilight sighed. Rainbow was only gone for a moment when a gurgling screech rang out of the tunnel. Everypony gasped and looked up in time to watch a cyan blur tumble limply from the hole, and accelerate into the darkness below. Twilight peered over the edge, the bottom so far down that only the faintest shimmer of light reached the bottom. She scanned the ice for any break where the pegasus might have fallen. There seemed to be nothing, indicating she fell in the... "Gotcha!" Rainbow popped out from under the platform they were standing on. Twilight yelped and fell over backwards in fright. She heaved and panted while Dash brought herself back up to the top, perfectly intact and giggling to herself. "Yeah, it's safe up there." Twilight grumbled and stood up, getting back to inspect the situation. Well that confirms it, this place is part of old Canterlot. There's no way this ladder was designed to be climbed with hooves... "Alright, here's how this is going to work. The ladder here inverts about halfway up, so to climb it safely, we'll need to go up one-by-one with Rainbow or Fluttershy at our backs. I suggest Rainbow and Applejack go first, since you'll be best able to deal with it if something goes wrong." "Right." "Got it." The two ponies nodded, and got into position. Applejack propped herself up on the ladder with her front hooves, and Dash got behind her. They'd climbed rockfaces this way before - no sweat. With their bodies vertical, they moved their front legs back and linked them at the elbows. Dash leaned forward a little to keep her wings free, and began to flap just enough to stay level. Applejack began to climb the ladder with just her hind hooves, balancing against Rainbow. "That's... not quite what I had in mind..." Twilight thought out loud. "... actually it looks safer than what I was thinking of, good job!" Rung by rung, the two carefully ascended past the inversion, with Rainbow taking most of the weight. It was a bit of a strain, but Applejack helped ease the weight by taking a rung in her teeth every now and then. Before long, they were up to the level above. Once Applejack was safe on level ground, Rainbow stopped for a breather. "Alright, Fluttershy, you take Rarity now." Both ponies gulped. Hesitantly, they adopted the same position Rainbow Dash and Applejack had, front legs linked behind their backs. Fortunately, this ladder was nowhere near as flimsy as the rope bridge, and the metal rungs, while rusty, were easily strong enough to take a pony's weight. With this comfort in mind, Rarity diverted attention from light to levitating as much of her own weight as she could, to ease the burden on Fluttershy. At the start of the climb, it was easy enough with the added lift; it became crucial after the inversion. As they neared the top, Rainbow Dash flared out her wings, ready to rush down if Fluttershy found herself in trouble. Luckily, she managed it, barely, and Applejack helped Rarity to safety. Tagging out, Fluttershy slumped next to the two of them, panting, while Rainbow went back for Pinkie Pie. Much to Rainbow Dash's bafflement, as they ascended the ladder, Pinkie Pie appeared to invert with the ladder, and the pegasus found herself not doing much work at all. However, she wasn't about to call attention to it, lest she lose the benefit. Confused but relieved, she deposited Pinkie safely up top. Finally, barely recovered from carrying Rarity, Fluttershy got up to take Twilight. But before she even left, she felt herself stopped by a hoof on her shoulder. When she looked up, it was Dash, with a concerned look on her face. "Are you sure you can do it?" Rainbow asked. Fluttershy took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes. I'm sure." As she swept down, Dash kept a close eye on her, ready to jump down at the first sign of trouble. Twilight was already in position, and, familiar with the routine by now, were off quickly. Rarity held her horn over the edge to replace the light from Twilight's. "Twilight," Fluttershy spoke, barely above a whisper. "What's wrong?" Twilight stopped climbing for a moment. "Fluttershy, this is hardly the time!" "Once we get to the top I won't get a chance to talk to you by yourself..." Fluttershy grunted, and they started moving again. Twilight sighed. "You've been keeping to yourself since the... ngh... rope bridge and I thought... ugh! Something was up..." "I've been... I... I've been focusing on the mission. The spell." They stopped again as Twilight's focus on keeping herself light waned a little. "Twilight... I spend long enough not talking to know focused quiet from worried quiet." They hung there for a moment, with just the sound of wings beating. Twilight shook her head and tried to keep her concentration on the spell, and they started to move again. "Alright, if you really want to know right now, I feel like I'm slowing you guys down and putting you in unnecessary danger!" she blurted out. Maybe if I give her her darn meaningful conversation she'll get on with it. "That's not true at all," Fluttershy was beginning to sound more breathless by the minute. "What happened earlier was an accident... and... agh! We helped you because we're your friends... remember? You said your... ugh... self, we're doing this together... among friends!" These words sparked something in Twilight's mind. She stopped again as cogs whirred away in her head, processing the callback. The realisation slowly dawned on her, her self-doubt beginning to fall away. Unfortunately, this wasn't the only thing beginning to fall away. She felt a sudden upward jerk, bringing her back to reality. She looked down to see Rainbow Dash helping prop the two of them up. "Easy there Sleeping Beauty, this ain't naptime!" With her help, they easily made it up the rest of the way. Applejack and Pinkie Pie hauled Twilight up to safety, and the two pegasi immediately followed. Fluttershy and Twilight exchanged glances for a moment, both panting. They both smiled, and Twilight lit up her horn again to lead on. "Alright. Let's go."