“Alright ah’ll bite. Just what are you looking at?” Applejack asked as she followed the pegasus’s gaze to the top of the cavern.
“With all of the time I’m spending in these caverns, combined with the normal weather of where I grew up, I think I’m forgetting what the sun looks like,” Light Patch replied, squinting through his glasses. Applejack chuckled, prompting the stallion to look at her. “You know, I’m kind of surprised you were so quick to forgive my friends and me for the whole secrecy thing. Considering that you’re the Element of Honesty.”
“Oh, make no mistake. Ah’m still a little angry at ya’ll. But us mares never really did exactly ask just where you stallions were from, so it’s not like you were prompted to say it.” She fixed the pegasus stallion with a hard look. “It was still a lie of omission, but I feel you three have proven yourselves trustworthy enough to keep working with.”
“Well, thanks for being honest. Why me though? Why’d you decide to go with me rather than Wits End or Purple Heart?” Light Patch inquired to keep the silence from returning.
“Ah thought somepony should keep you in line,” she replied, smirking at the glare he gave her. “Mostly though, ah kind of wanted to get ta know ya a bit better. Other than way back at the start of this whole mess, we haven’t really had a chance to just talk to each other.”
“Yeah I guess that’s tru-” The rest of Light Patch’s reply was cut off as an unrolled scroll slapped into his face. At the same time, both of the ponies felt the familiar feeling of leveling up and then immediately felt it again. The two glanced at each other in confusion before standing next to each other to unroll the scroll and read it. As the scroll unrolled, two clouds collected beneath it and formed two words; ‘auto’ and ‘manual’.
To the honest and trustworthy Applejack, and the mostly harmless Light Patch.
I’d had a brilliant idea while working on the town: I’ve still got enough power and control over the system to grant everyone two level ups. If you’re busy or in the middle of a fight, I can pick your new skills. If you’ve already got your own plan, you can pick on your own.
Light Patch frowned at the mostly harmless part. “I feel both slightly insulted and slightly praised. In any case, I’ve already got two things I was thinking of picking myself,” Light Patch said, looking at the two clouds. He reached out and poked the ‘manual’ cloud as Applejack put a hoof through the ‘auto’ cloud.
“I haven’t got a clue what I’ll pick, so I think I’ll let Discord decide,” the orange earth pony explained, seeing Light Patch’s curious look. The clouds disappeared in puffs of magic and a new scroll fell into the still outstretched hoof of Applejack she quickly unrolled it and the two read it while the other scroll disintegrated, forgotten.
For Applejack, I chose for you the Indomitable skill which will allow you to stay standing after any hit that should have reduced your hp to zero or below. I also picked the Improved Rope Combat skill which basically does what it says on the tin and allows you greater use of your rope in combat and all rope related skills are improved as well.
As for Light Patch, I noticed that you chose the Bramble Vines skill which makes the vines you revive grow into thickets and they now have sharp rending thorns on them. I also noticed you picking the Grease Garden skill. A good, if slightly worrying choice. Do take care to not slip in your own vines now.
Now, I must return to fortifying this town so that we may rest safely behind its ramparts against the sea of villainy. Toodles.
The two looked at each other as the second scroll disintegrated away, joining the first.
“Well, at least Discord is trying to help,” Light Patch said with a shrug. “It’s also nice to note that he’s still has some control.”
“Ah guess, but it woulda helped us all a lot more if’n he hadn’t even gone and wrangled us all into this thing,” Applejack replied with a snort.
“Well yeah, but then you wouldn’t have met awesome me or my awesome choice in friends,” the stallion said, leaning against the farm pony, a dopey grin on his face.
“You forgot to mention how modest you are.” She began to roll her eyes but then suddenly her ears twisted to face a direction. “Do you hear that?”
“It sounds like a fight. And I think I hear the Arachcolsid language,” Light Patch said, moving in the direction the combat was.
“Doesn’t sound like it’s going all that well,” Applejack mused as they got closer. Light Patch nodded his head in agreement and started to run towards the sounds of combat. A glow in the distance combined with the sounds of the fight increasing in volume let them know they were heading in the right direction. Eventually, they crested a hill and saw an old castle well lit by several large lanterns along its walls. Unlike the last time Light Patch had seen it, the castle showed signs of neglect and were likely caused by the pack of creatures currently trying to force their way past the defenders at the gate.
“Hunter shrooms. Kind of like mushroom versions of Timberwolves,” Light Patch decided after a few moments of studying them. “Orb pointed them out to me. Individually weak. Problem is they tend to spread through the usual mushroom methods and are a dime a dozen. So, worse in groups. Or hordes.”
“Right, sounds like we’ll wanna try to scatter them. Any insights on how?” Applejack asked, looking down from the hill they stood upon.
“They hate fire, but know how to fight it to some degree. They’d smother our torches if we tried to use them. We’d need larger source.” He looked around before wishing that the light from the castle itself wasn’t making it so hard for him to see around the rest of the cavern. Suddenly, his own thoughts came back to him and he locked on the massive lanterns, specifically the one over the gate. “You interested in putting those upgraded rope skills to work?”
“You want me to pull the lantern down?” she asked incredulously.
“At least spill some of the oil it’s burning. That should be more than enough fire to scatter them. Besides, the Aracholsid learned from the mistake the original builders made and keep all flammables away from the walls just in case.”
“I’ll see what I can do, but it’ll probably take me a couple of tries to wrangle it in the right spot to make it spill.”
“The other defenders of the gate and I will work on that. Now, let’s get going before they are overwhelmed,” Light Patch said, trotting down the hill. To Applejack’s surprise, after a few steps he burst into a charge. “Waaargh!” Even more surprising, the warcry was picked up by the castle defenders and their efforts at repelling the ‘shrooms redoubled.
The two ponies crashed into the back of the Hunter Shroom pack, scattering the first few with ease. The next few quickly jumped out of the way of the two newcomers, not ready to come to grips with them yet.
“I thought you said they were like Timberwolves!” Applejack called, looking at the ring forming around them.
“Did I forget to mention the group mind thing they’ve got?” Light Patch stole a look at the mare to see her split second glare. “Yeah, sorry. They get smarter in larger groups. It only seems to go so far though. Orb told me about this really interested thin-”
“Oi, ponies! Talk later! Split caps now!” Healing Cut shouted as he burst through the Hunter Shrooms. Without a reply, Light Patch bolted towards the hole the Hog Dok made, swinging the two parts of his broken weapon to keep it open. After a second of hesitation, Applejack moved to follow the two, using her rope and hooves to keep the Hunter Shrooms from encircling them.
They quickly fought their way through the mass of fungi to the guards holding the gate. Without a word, Applejack quickly moved up and began working on her part of the plan, leaving Light Patch to help defend against the Hunter Shrooms.
“What’s she up to?” one of the Arachcolsid shouted down, looking at the farmer pony who was attempting to lasso the lantern above the gate.
“We were thinking if we could spill the oil from that it’d chase the hunter shrooms off,” Light Patch called back, swatting away one of the creatures that was getting too bold. “Once she’s got a good hold of it, we can fall back through the gate and shake that bush again.”
“That’s not a bad plan,” the spider being replied before it turned to face the giant armored figure on the line. “Smithing Westi, go help the pony get ready to bring down the lantern.” With a nod and a final sweep of its mace, it strode back to assist Applejack.
Sensing something was up, the Hunter Shrooms redoubled their own efforts to break the defensive line. Giving up ground, the defender’s perimeter around the castle gate began to shrink step by step. The Hunter Shrooms numbers allowed them to switch out tired and wounded with fresh numbers. The defenders were lacking the same advantage and their fatigue showed in the wounds they began to take. Finally, a cry went up from the castle gate. “Ah’m ready to pull it down!”
The defenders gave one last push back to buy them the space and time they needed before falling back through the castle’s gates. Light Patch turned to follow before noticing one of the Arachcolsid fall to the ground with two hunter shrooms jaws locked onto it. Opening his wings, he swiveled around and jumped towards the downed arachnid. He crushed one of the fungi with his landing and smashed the other away with his broken hammer. Before the other Hunter Shrooms could close in and surround them, he gathered the wounded Arachcolsid on his back and raced for the gate, casting his Bramble Vine spell along the way. Vines ripped up from the ground at each of his hoof steps, spreading out and growing high enough to block Light Patch’s vision. Several of the Hunter Shrooms got entangled by the rapidly growing vines. They thrashed about, frantically clawing and biting at the thorns ripping into them. Unfortunately for the panicking fungi, their frantic actions tore open the faintly glowing orange pods scattered through the vines, spilling the slick oil contained inside.
The moment Light Patch passed through the gate, Applejack and the large armored figure yanked on the ropes and with the scream of twisting metal, the lantern fell from its mounting. Glass shattered, the sound echoing through the cavern as it smashed into the ground, flaming oil and scraps of metal and glass flying everywhere. Then, the flames found the vines and spread along them until they found one of the pods. With a sharp crack, the pod exploded, sending a chain reaction throughout the vines as the rest of the pods caught as well, along with the oil from the ruptured pods. A flash of light followed by a deep shock wave shook the fortress as a large fireball rose to the ceiling of the cavern. Everyone in the castle turned to watch in stunned amazement. Their awestruck silence was broken by a giddy laugh and they turned to look at the grey pegasus laughing in pure joy.
“Behold! I grant thee mortals the Gift and Curse of Fire!” Laugh Patch shouted at the fleeing Hunter Shrooms as he cackled madly.
“No more holding the torch for you,” Applejack muttered as she snatched away said implement. “An’ don’t even try the whole puppy dog eyes routine. Yer not cute enough for it to work after I’ve had to deal with the Cutie Mark Crusaders doing it so many times.” She ignored his pout.
“Dat,” Healing Cut wiped a tear from his eye, “was da most beutifol thing ah’ve ever seen. Don’t leave much in da way of remains to play wif doh.” He sniffed, dragging a hand across his face as he turned to Light Patch who’d quietly been singing fire songs while watching the fire through the gates. “Wot brings you back? Somefin wrong with dat ‘eart of yours? Or you just want a spare? Dats the great thing about slime hearts. I could probably squeeze two more in yah if yah needed.” Noticing that he was being spoken to, Light Patch turned and realized what had been said to him.
“I think the one is good, thanks,” Light Patch said, quickly stepping away. “Actually, I’m back because of events on the surface. We were hoping the Arachcolsid could lend some support.”
“I’m afraid that there isn’t much support to lend,” Orb said, striding up to the group. “I’m sure you’ve noticed how few of us are here. More than there would have been without your intervention though. We owe you our thanks for that.” He inclined his head in thanks to the two adventurers. Applejack hesitated for a second before she nodded back.
“What’s caused you to leave this place so under ma-” Light Patch paused, “Spide-” He looked at Smithing Westi and Healing Cut, “staffed?” he finished deadpanned.
Orb chittered in amusement a couple of times and replied. “I’ve missed your wonderful ability to trip over daisies. To answer your question however, the capital has been under siege. Something in the deep caverns has been trying to get out and the queen has been valiantly attempting to keep them bottled up. However, it’s not going so well.”
“So why are ya’ll out here rather than back at home to try to help?” Applejack asked.
“My squad and I were about to head off to investigate something that the queen though might be able to help. The rest were packing up and preparing to assist in the fight back at the capital,” Orb replied.
“Just what are you looking for?” Light Patch asked
“I can’t give away all of the queen’s secrets, even if it was to you.” Orb teased. “In all seriousness though, I’m not entirely certain myself. I just know it’s supposed to be back in the ruins we found you in. You know, it might help to have you along. You might know that place better than us.”
“I guess. That place is big enough to hide more than the one artifact Just Duty and I went in to find,” Light Patch reasoned.
“Plus, it wouldn’t be right to ask you to help us if we didn’t help you when you need it. Count me in,” Applejack added.
“Thanks, we’re gonna get going just as soon as your little fire burns itself out. Now’s the time to snatch up and supplies you may need,” Orb said, turning to prepare his forces.
“We should fill up while we have the chance,” Light Patch said. “Who knows what new brands of fun has moved in since Just Duty and I took out the big old death barnacle.” The two ponies trotted towards where several Aracholsid were gathered. Before they could get close however, the armored minotaur blocked their path. Light Patch recognized the blacksmith who had first repaired his hammer.
“How’s the hammer holding up,” she asked, pulling off her helmet.
“It’s uh, it’s been better,” Light Patch said nervously, chuckling. He reeled back when she growled at him.
“What did you do to it this time?” Westi snarled.
“The shaft got broken when it took a blow meant for me,” Light Patch said trying to hide futilely behind the head of the warhammer. “The head is still fine as far as I can tell.” Westi grunted dismissively as she grabbed the two parts of the hammer to examine them. She had also hefted the pegasus till he remembered to actually let go.
“Looks like the head is still in good shape, a bit dirty though. You haven’t been taking good of care of this,” she muttered, turning the head over in her hands.
“Things have been hectic as of late,” Light Patch replied, waving at Applejack to go see to their other supplies.
“I can imagine,” Westi muttered as she scrutinized the damage that had been done to the handle. “I can replace this, but I don’t think I’ll have the time to do much more than a simple wooden haft,”she decided, looking at the already dwindling fire through the main gates. “Considering the fights you seem to get yourself into, it wouldn’t likely last through the first few swings.”
“I’d rather wait to have it fixed right than fast,” Light Patch said.
The female minotaur rubbed her chin in thought for a few seconds. “If you’re willing to leave this with me, I can fix it up for you,” Westi declared confidently after some thought.
“And what would I use against anything that wants to turn me into a thin red paste? Harsh language and horse shoes?”
Westi pulled a sledge hammer from her box of tools and hefted it over to the pegasus. “Use that, but remember-” she leaned over so she could quietly whisper into his ear, “-my grandfather gave me that sledge hammer. Break it and I will use your bones for my next work stool, got it?” She finished the threat with a snort right into his ear.
“I am afeared,” Light Patch gulped weakly, gingerly tucking the sledge hammer away. Smithing Westi nodded and placed the broken warhammer into her box before plucking it easily off the ground.
“Looks like it’s about time for us to get going. Y’all got your weapon issue all settled up?” Applejack asked after she had trotted close enough to the pegasus.
Before he could reply, a sharp whistle echoed through the courtyard followed by shouting. “All who are joining me in checking the ruins form up! Everyone else get ready to do it! Looks like the fire is almost out!”
Orb’s team formed up, Applejack and Light Patch falling in with them. The group set out, heading left while the others went right and disappeared around the side of the fort. After a few minutes of walking, Light Patch trotted forward to keep pace with Orb. “Hey, uh...how are we getting back into the ruins anyway?”
“The same way we got you out last time,” Orb said, pointing towards the ceiling of the cavern. “The hole you made in the roof.”
“I was afraid you’d say that.” Light Patch gulped, looking towards the ceiling.
“At least this time you’ll be able to fly yourself,” Orb pointed out.
After a few more hours of travel, they reached the area underneath the hole. Light Patch and Applejack gave their gear to the Arachcolsid to haul up the cavern walls while Light Patch flew himself and Applejack up.
“That went quicker than I remember,” one of the Arachcolsid said once they’d all gotten to the top.
“Yeah, but it wasn’t as much fun without hearing Light Patch whimper in terror and rant about how pegasi weren’t meant to be in the air,” Orb replied, joining Applejack in snickering at the blush and anger on the grey pegasus’ face.
“Yeah, yeah laugh it up. Where do we go from here?” the grey stallion asked, glaring at Orb.
“We’re heading back to where you fought the Crypt Pendulum. Beyond that room is where the queen believes we’ll find what we’re looking for,” Orb replied. “Light Patch and I will lead the way. Applejack, you and Weaver follow right behind. Everyone else, form up behind them in whatever order you’d like.” With that, Orb turned and started stalking down the hallways, Light Patch right beside him. The grey pegasus frowned at the chuckles from the others as he held the sledge hammer ready to use in case of a fight. Applejack and Weaver fell into step behind the lead pair, Weaver with a bow and Applejack with her rope.
The group slowly worked its way through the labyrinth, working hard to keep quiet. Light Patch was delighted to see that few things seemed to have been disturbed since he’d last seen the halls. Their speed was tempered more by caution than difficulty. Many traps were still marked or even discharged from Light Patch and Just Duty’s earlier adventure through the halls. Light Patch frowned as the thoughts worked through his head.
“What’s wrong, hay bale?” Applejack asked, having noticed the pegasus stallion’s ears folding back.
“I was thinking back to when I was here with Just Duty. I feel like I should have seen it coming or I should have tried harder to talk him down. Or I should have convinced him to let me go and retrieve it. Or....or...something! I feel responsible for what’s happened with him, like I could have and should have done more!” Light Patch replied vehemently. He sighed.
“If’n you had seen this coming, you’d have acted sooner and probably been in a fight with him sooner. He seemed pretty determined on using the artifact from what you’d said. I don’t think there was much you’d have been able to say to talk him outta it.” Applejack paused to think back to what Light Patch had said. “This may just be me, but I reckon he might have actually been preparing to turn on those other two, Holdfast and Bael. At least until Discord revealed the whole game thing, that is. So, I doubt you can take the blame for that one either.” She finished with a nod.
“Yeah, I know...” Light Patch replied slowly, “But there’s a difference between knowing something and accepting it.”
“Truer words have rarely been spoken,” Orb chimed in, causing Applejack to nod.
Light Patch took a few steps before turning back to look at Applejack in curiousity. “Hay Bale?” he asked.
“Well, calling you three sugar cube doesn’t feel right, so I thought I’d try something else,” Applejack replied along with a shrug. “It’s kind of nice to work with you again though. We haven’t directly worked together on something since back at Roads Crossed.”
“Most of what I remember from working with you in Roads Crossed was getting so tangled up in ropes it put spider webs to shame,” Light Patch deadpanned, causing Orb and the other Arachcolsid to chitter in amusement, which then turned into laughter at the blush on Applejack’s face as she remembered.
Any possible retort Applejack could have given was suddenly cut off as Light Patch and Orb began to gag. Seconds later, Applejack regretted her curiosity as she got a wiff of the smell incapacitating the two ahead of her. The group pulled back to get some relatively fresher air and a chance to talk without losing their previous meal.
“What was that smell?” Applejack choked out once she was sure her lunch was going to stay put.
“If it’s what I expect it was, it means we’re close to the artifact room,” Light Patch replied, rubbing his nose.
“And what do you suspect that awful stink is?” one of the Arachcolsid asked.
“The corpse of the Crypt Pendulum that Just Duty and I had to fight to take the artifact...” Light Patch paused before continuing. “You know, I never did learn the name of that artifact.”
“Focus, Light Patch,” Applejack urged, poking the pegasus. “You sure that...” she trailed off trying to think of an appropriate word for the smell.
“Stench?” Orb offered.
“Yeah stench. You sure that stench was it?” Applejack finished.
“From what I’ve smelled, it stinks enough to be. And this place doesn’t seem to have an eco system. So there probably aren’t any scavengers to eat the dead stuff. I’m almost positive that was the smell of the Crypt Pendulum turning into dirt,” Light Patch replied. “I regret I don’t have a spell for dealing with it.” He was solemn as he gazed back down the way they’d just fled from.
“We might have something,” Orb said, gazing at the ponies speculatively. “We didn’t figure on this happening, but I think a combination of Arachcolsid silk nose plugs and some herbs might help to combat the worse of the smell.” Orb looked through his own gear. Lacking any better options, the ponies let the arachnid-like beings get to work. They took the natural silk they produced, then rolled it up along with the strongest smelling herbs they had. Within minutes, they had finished and Light Patch looked down at the two web pellets on his hoof.
“Yay, I get to smell cinnamon and spider butt for the next hour or so,” the pegasus cheered dully, a frown on his face. This caused Orb to roll his eyes. “What herb did you get Applejack? Anything is better than cinnamon? I hate cinnamon.”
“Mint, and is there anything good that you actually do like?” Applejack asked, thinking back to the argument with Pinkie Pie.
“If you ask Wits End, the answer is no,” Light Patch said, taking the newly traded plugs and shoving them in his nose. “Now, let’s do this before I discover that I actually hate mint too.” The group slowly made their way towards the stench, having almost unanimously selected Light Patch to go first to test the nose plugs. The rest of the group quietly pulled up short and let him tromp unknowingly ahead.
“Well, at least the nose plugs seem to be working,” Light Patch called.
“Why don’t you take a few more steps in just to make sure,” Orb suggested. Light Patch turned around and frowned when he noticed how he’d taken the lead.
“Cowards,” he muttered, ignoring chittering laughter as he turned back and walked all of the way into the artifact room. He paused after entering. The nose plug was fighting the stench and was so far winning.
Barely, he thought, fighting a strong bout of nausea. Other than the obscene stink, the room was as he remembered from the panicked sprint out of it. The Crypt Pendulum still lay where it had fallen, except it looked much worse for wear. He blinked at it for a few seconds and slowly made his way towards it. Once he was close enough, he reached out and poked it a couple of times. “And Fran is still dead,” he mused quietly to himself before turning back to the hallway. “It’s still dead and the nose plugs are working as well as they possibly could.” He called down the hallway as he walked back to the center of the room.
“Huh, these are working fairly well. Ah may have to keep a set for washing Wanona after she’s been rolling in stuff,” Applejack said, carefully making her way into the room. She looked around and froze at the giant corpse behind Light Patch. “Woah, you two really did have your work cut out for you, didn’t ya?”
“I’m all for admiring the skill of strong warriors and what not, but let’s hurry up and finish this before the nose plugs stop working,” Orb suggested as he and the rest of the party passed between the two ponies to go through the door on the far side of the room. Reminded of the unknown time limit the nose plugs had, the two ponies quickly followed the band of Arachcolsid. They passed through the opening and marveled at the massive pillars spaced through the epically sized room. Each pillar had hundreds of open sarcophagi, each filled with an unmoving skeleton.
“Wow... Ah really can’t blame you an’ Just for running after seeing this,” Applejack breathed in awe as she looked at the uncountable number of skeletons.
“Yeah, and we didn’t even see all of this. We just saw the hundreds on this main row,” Light Patch replied, poking one of the skeletons at ground level. “They look like they were decked out to guard the place.” He looked at their armor and weapons, briefly considering trading out his sledge hammer for one of their war hammers. However, he shuddered at the thought of what Smithing Westi might do if he didn’t bring her tool back to her.
“According to what Arachcolsid legends say about this place, any being who perishes while exploring this place is supposed to be added to this army,” Orb chimed, from deeper in the room.
“And yet it doesn’t look like a single one of them chased Just and me,” the pegasus said before frowning. “Not sure if I should feel insulted by that or not. I am willing to bet they were responsible for maintaining the place too, probably accounts for why the crypt pendulum’s corpse is still there and why so many of the traps are broken.”
“Ah’m sure you’re worth chasing. Maybe they just detected something they considered a bigger threat,” Applejack offered, patting the stallion on the back.
“Or maybe they couldn’t do anything,” Orb shouted. The two ponies shared a glance at each other before they hurried to where Orb was to find another thin pedestal with another large crystalline artifact on the ground next to it. Unlike the mind control one, this artifact was made of purple crystal and looked to be held together by yellow bone.
“Looks like some kind’o necro doohiky,” Applejack said after looking at it for a few moments.
“Thank you for the pure official terminology, Applejack.” Light Patch felt a knowledge check necromancy succeed. “But she’s right. That is totally a necromancy artifact. And I’d be willing to bet it’s meant to control the undead in here. Those lines from the pedestal probably snake through to each and every sarcophagi.”
“If’n it’s the control artifact, then why ain’t we getting swarmed yet?” Applejack asked skeptically.
“Looks like it fell off its pedestal,” Orb retorted dryly, causing Light Patch to hoof pump.
I totally called it, he thought to himself before gagging as his exaggerated movement had loosened the nose plugs, allowing the smell of the dead Crypt Pendulum to enter his nose. He shoved the plugs back into place and forced himself to stop gagging. His eyes locked on the artifact. After a few seconds, an evil smile crossed his face as he glanced back towards the source of the smell and the undead army controller. I think I can work with this, he thought before bursting out into evil laughter.
“Should we be worried,” Orb murmured, leaning towards Applejack.
“Probably. Ahm assuming he’s got a plan of some sort,” she replied casually.