Finally the shaking stopped, and only a few of the more persistent projectiles remained. (Silver Shield was certain these crystals were sentient. And mean.)
Applejack and Rainbow Dash slowed to a stop and turned around.
Silver Shield picked up both mares in his magic and thrust them forward.
"Keep moving!" he ordered, ignoring their protests as he threw a shield back above them and shoved them towards the exit.
"No way!" Rainbow Dash shouted, pulling free of his grasp. She turned to fly deeper into the caves. "Shining Armor and the others are in there! We have to help them!"
Applejack merely tilted her hat and followed.
Silver Shield bit back a couple of choice words as he grabbed the foalish ponies in his magic before they could get too far.
"Are you out of your minds!?" He scolded them as he pulled them towards the cavern entrance. "We have to get out of here before the..."
Silver Shield broke off as he felt the ground's trembling with the first of the aftershocks beneath his hooves. Gritting his teeth, he put his head down and galloped.
Shining Armor ducked and fired back at the statues advancing on them. Beside him, Cherry Fizzy bucked one into a wall. Shining blasted another one, quickly diving to the ground as Bronzewing flew over him and tackled it while it was dazed, knocking out three others in the process.
The spectral Twilight had vanished as soon as the fighting had started, but Shining Armor knew that her, 'NO!' Shining Armor firmly corrected himself, it's evil laugh would haunt his nightmares forever.
"Strike!" Bronzewing cheered, and then ducked as a massive arm came crashing to the side of him.
Shining turned and blasted the walking chunk of crystal that threatened to reduce Bronzewing to the state of the crystal cavern around them. Smashed.
But even as they took out the ones in front of them, others quickly appeared to take their place.
"There's too many of 'em!" Cherry Fizzy shouted as he bucked the statue Bronzewing had dropped from above onto it's comrades.
All around him the sounds of battle raged. The ground shook from the force of the blows.
'Wait a minute...' Shining Armor quickly signaled to his team, "On my signal!" With the next quake of the ground beneath them, they leaped to one wall. Bronzewing and Cherry Fizzy attacked the nearest of the statues, knocking in into the others, causing them to stumble. As the creatures struggled to keep their balance, Shining Armor sent a wave of power into his horn, causing a magical surge to blast into the ceiling above them.
Almost before his horn's glow had subsided from that spell, he was forming a slanted wall above them. Crystals cascaded down the side of his magical field. Effectively creating a barrier between them and the strange possessed statues. (Unfortunately, it also left them trapped.) But it would give them a few minutes, at least. And it was preferable to being smashed to pieces, that was for sure.
Crystals smashed around them as the floor shook with a vengeance. It was like the cavern was annoyed they had made it through the first time.
Silver Shield weaved and bobbed, abruptly changing directions as he maneuvered both himself and the two ponies in his magical field through the minefield of crystals.
He flung Rainbow and Applejack to the ground and flattened them beneath him, just barely getting a shield up in time.
The crystal shards crashed against his shield, breaking into a thousand pieces. Each one feeling like a blow to the head. As soon as the falling stopped, he released the shield and grabbed both mares in his magic, before continuing his dash to the exit. There was no way he was risking either one of those foal-brained mares deciding to play hero.
"Aahhh!" Rainbow screamed as she was just barely yanked out of the path of a falling crystalline projectile. "Let go! We'll get out of here a lot faster if I fly!", she yelled, struggling against his magical field.
"Not a chance!" Silver Shield barked, his attention focused on getting all three of them out of the cave alive.
"Ya can't keep this up!", Applejack shouted.
"I'll get you out of he- oof!" Silver grunted as a chunk of crystal grazed his left side.
"Let us go! We'll run straight to the exit!"
"Not taking that chance!"
"Listen to me! I'm telling ya the truth. Ah promise ya we'll all get out! Now let go fer ya get yerself killed!"
Silver Shield was used to ponies pleading with him to let them go. Usually after he had arrested them for breaking the law. And occasionally he had to restrain foolish ponies like these two. So he was used to ignoring those pleas. But something about this mare... she felt like somepony to be trusted...
Out of the corner of his eyes he saw a large crystal boulder rolling straight towards them. It was too big to dodge, too deep to try to break up with his magic, especially while holding two ponies at the same time. He'd never be able to outrun it. And he knew he couldn't teleport all three of them. He was running out of energy. He tried to push himself to run faster, but he knew it wasn't enough.
He'd simply exhausted himself, physically and magically.
There was only one way to save them.
He'd have to throw them. He'd have to trust them.
He caught their gaze with his own, and in that second, just knew that they understood.
With a powerful surge of magic, he flung Applejack forward and leaped straight into Rainbow's hooves.
She grabbed him expertly and flew forward, catching Applejack on her back.
"Yee Haaw!"
Silver Shield heard somepony cry out before he was deafened by a loud
BOOM!
Cherry Fizzy and Bronzewing looked about in amazement at the piles of rubble surrounding them. They had dropped into defensive positions to cover Shining Armor while he cast whatever spell would save all their flanks, when they had been simultaneously blinded and deafened as a wave of power surged though the caves.
Bronzewing blinked. Then he shook his head like a dog as he walked over a chunk of what had been a crystal statue trying to kill them. The sheer force of power had blasted apart the wall they had hastily created. (Not that they had expected it to last more than a few minutes, but they didn't expect it to be completely leveled either. Or, at least Bronzewing hadn't.) "Woah, Captain...like, I knew you were tough but..."
"That wasn't me..."
Shining Armor looked at the faces now staring at him in horror.
"Then what was..." Cherry Fizzy started, only to be interrupted by Shining Armor.
"I don't know." He said as he narrowed his eyes and lit his horn again.
Bronzewing dropped into a battle stance, his wings held ready at his sides. "Well, whatever did that, it's gonna wish it hadn't..."
Cherry Fizzy fell in beside them as he too prepared for battle. "Eeyupe."
Silver Shield struggled to hold onto consciousness (not to mention Rainbow Dash) as the world rushed by and he was nearly blinded by a flash of light.
In a matter of moments he could feel the grass beneath his hooves. Not to mention his face. As he laid there, his mind tried to make sense of what had just happened. 'We were in the caves, there was a cave-in, aftershocks, flying crystals, big boulder crystal, flying ponies, big boom, pretty lights... And then grass.'
He must have been knocked out. (That was usually why he saw lights)
He would have to report to the medic immediately upon returning to base. Hopefully his mental facilities were not too affected by the blow and he would still be capable of rational decision making.
He longed to just lay there in the soft, welcoming grass forever, but he still had his mission to complete.
With a groan, he pushed himself off the ground and looked around for his charges. He wasn't sure how long he was out for, and he needed to make certain they hadn't done anything foolish. (Like trying to go towards a cave-in)
Sure, if it had just been him, he would have been running towards the cave-in to help. But he had his shield spells and the training to prevent becoming another casualty in need of rescuing.
They most certainly did not. And there was no way he was letting two civilians get themselves killed. Not on his watch.
It only took a few moments to find them. (It was a lot easier with his face out of the dirt.)
He trotted towards them quickly, all the while scanning the area around them for danger. It was unlikely that they were in any immediate danger now that they had gotten out of the caverns, but his instincts told him to be wary. (And Silver Shield had long ago learned that it payed to listen to his instincts.)
"Applejack, Rainbow Dash, are you hurt?" Silver Shield asked upon reaching the two mares, using a trained eye to search for any signs of injury.
"We're fine. Now let's go!" Rainbow Dash said quickly, her wings flared and ready to carry her straight back into the caverns they had just narrowly escaped with their lives.
"Now hold up there, partner." Applejack said at the same time as Silver Shield said, "The only place we're going is straight back to the palace!"
Rainbow Dash looked at the two of them in disbelief, "Wait, what?!" She quickly pressed on before either one of them could answer.
"We can't just leave them in there! Come on, we have to help them! I mean, no pony left behind right?" She looked at their faces and tried a different tactic. "Come on, Applejack! Our friends are in there! You can't honestly expect me to abandon them in there! I mean, I could expect it from Mr. Retreat over there, but you? You'd never leave anypony behind!"
Silver Shield felt rather than heard the growl rising from low in his throat. He'd never expect two civvies to understand, but it still hurt to practically be accused of desertion.
"Now wait just a cotton pickin' minute, Rainbow Dash! Ah never said we was abandonin' anypony! But we can't go rushin' in there like foxes after chickens! We'd be hogtied fer we got farther than apple cider on a hot day!"
"Well, we're not gonna get anywhere at all if we listen to him! He's too afraid to..."
Silver Shield silently counted to ten as he listened to the ponies he was trying to keep safe argue instead of following him to where it was safe. He wondered if knocking out and dragging the two mares to safety would be worth the impending court-martial...
"Ladies. We need to get moving." He said through gritted teeth, (while subtly readying his levitation spell.) "It's not safe here."
Unfortunately, it wasn't subtle enough. (In his defense, a glowing horn is awfully hard to hide.)
Rainbow Dash turned on him, "Or what?! Lieutenant Levitate is just gonna drag us out of here by force?!"
Lieutenant Silver Shield met her gaze without flinching. "If that is what it takes."
He reached out with his spell slowly, so as to trap her before she could zoom off. (He didn't think he could catch her if she did what she did in the caves again.) But as his spell closed in on Rainbow Dash, he kept Applejack in his sights, ready to extend his spell to her too, if she made any sudden movements. (He hoped she wouldn't, his magic was pretty exhausted at this point)
It hurt to see the look on her face as Rainbow Dash realized she was caught. But Applejack's expression was worse. She looked so disappointed, as if she had personally trusted him to make a different choice.
"Am I going to need to carry you, too?" He asked her simply as he started walking with Rainbow Dash in tow.
She stared at him for a moment before falling in step beside him.
"Eenope." was all she said.
Silver Shield could feel the strain of his magic. Rainbow Dash had stopped struggling, (Thank Celestia for that, every time she had kicked it had felt like a buck to the horn) so he knew the steady throbbing was from his exhaustion. He had to let her go soon, or risk his horn burning out. (And that was not an experience he wanted to go through again.)
The pounding in his head was loud enough by this point that he almost didn't hear Rainbow's muttering. Almost. But at her next statement he stopped short. Applejack walked a few more feet before realizing and turning back in confusion. But Silver Shield barely noticed. His attention was focused on the insolent, foal of a pony in his grasp.
"Care to repeat that." He said softly. It wasn't a request.
Any pony with a lick of sense at that point would have backed off, but Rainbow Dash was too worked up to notice. Or maybe she just didn't care. In either case, she looked Silver Shield straight in the eye and repeated herself. Loudly and clearly, as if talking to a simpleton.
"How can you call yourself a guard when you'll abandon anypony at the first sign of trouble? You're a coward! Practically a traitor!"
"Is that so." Silver Shield narrowed his eyes and lowered her gently to the ground, before releasing the spell. But the pounding in his head was quickly replaced by a new headache.
"Allow me to explain something to you, Miss Rainbow Dash. I am not a traitor. I am not a coward. I am a Lieutenant in Her Majesty Princess Celestia's Royal Guard. But that's not the issue here. To be perfectly honest, I don't care what you think of me. All I care about, is getting you both home safe. You may think that you know exactly what you're getting into, but you don't! You have no idea!"
"So let me ask you something. What exactly do you intend to do if I allow you to go back into those caves? Did you think you would be able to just waltz right in and everything will just magically fall into place?! Did you think it was a coincidence that mere minutes after we split up, a cave-in just happened to cut us off from each other?"
Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to respond, only to be cut off.
"No! That is what we call a trap! And Cerberus take me before I lead the best friends of my Captain's little sister right into it! So I don't care what you think of me! There is no way in Tartarus we are going back into those caves!"
Applejack stepped forward, "But they..."
"Are my best friends!" Silver Shield interrupted, "And I want nothing more than to be in those caves with them, trap or no trap, protecting their backs! But Captain Shining Armor ordered me to protect you two! Because he knows that I'd be dead before I let one of you be injured! So yes, we're running away. I'm abandoning my friends. But I'm doing it to protect you!"
Silver Shield stopped and took a breathe. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were staring at him with wide eyes. As his headache abated, he realized what he had just done. He was definitely going to face a court-martial after this. Losing your cool on the job? Not acceptable. Nothing to be done for it now. Best to keep moving. He took a step, only to be stopped by a tug on his tail.
He whirled around, an order to run in his throat as he spun to face his attacker. Only to see that it was Applejack who had stopped him.
Applejack spat out his tail and marched forward until she was muzzle to muzzle with him. "Ah'm not callin' ya a traitor. And ah believe ya when ya say you'll protect us. But that don't mean ya can't protect them too."
Rainbow Dash stepped next to Applejack. "You don't have to choose who to be loyal to."
"We do know how to fight. We're not helpless. "
"Yeah, we totally kicked changeling flank just a few days ago!"
Silver Shield stiffened at the memory of the failed invasion.
Out of the corner of his eye, Silver Shield saw Applejack smack Rainbow over the head.
The scene was so similar to one that Silver witnessed nearly every day that a startled laugh nearly escaped his muzzle. And for a moment, just a quick moment, he saw not two Ponyville mares, but two stallions in gold armor. From that first day at boot camp to just this morning in the dining hall, Silver Shield could remember every time he had witnessed this exact scene. But even as he stifled a laugh at their antics, he couldn't help being reminded of where his friends currently were. And the consequent flash of worriment was enough to quickly drown out any inclination he had for laughter.
"Look, Silver Shield, ya gave yer word. Ah can respect that. And when ya say ya'll protect us, ah know ya mean it. And ah know ya don't think we know what we're getting into."
Silver Shield resisted the urge to groan out-loud. He really didn't have the time to argue with...
"And you're right." Applejack said.
"Wait. What?", Silver's internal groan of despair cut off as his brain tried to make sense of what his ears were hearing.
"We aren't Royal Guards. We don't know what we're gettin' into"
'Thank Celestia! They were starting to get...,' Silver Shield nearly sighed in relief before the cynical part of his brain cut in. 'Wait a minute...where's the but...'
"But..."
'There it is', part of Silver's brain sang as the other part scowled, 'shut up.'
"We don't have to." Applejack put a hoof on Silver's shoulder.
"Wait. What?" His brain was at least united in confusion.
"We don't have to know what we're gettin' into."
"...What?" Silver's vocabulary was seriously diminished at the moment. (That was pretty much all his over-worked brain could get out. Silver Shield was used to mares arguing themselves into and out of nearly any situation. And he had quite a bit of experience with their word-twisting and manipulating logic until you ended up not only siding with them, but also thinking it was your own idea. But this was a new one. He would have to take notes. Once his brain recovered, that is.)
"Think about it. Do you really think Shining Armor would have let us come along in the first place if he didn't think we could help?'
"You threatened to just follow us anyway." Silver pointed out.
"And he could have just as easily had the other guards put us on house arrest. Or castle arrest or whatever until you all were back." Rainbow's glare turned into a smirk as she flapped her wings. "Not that they would have been able to stop us, but hey, they could have tried."
Applejack shot a look over her shoulder before continuing. "The point is, he didn't. So Ah reckon he knew we could help. He trusted us."
"So the real question here is... Do you trust him?" Rainbow Dash asked, a pointed look replacing the smirk on her face as she got serious.
Silver Shield stared at the two impossible mares standing (Ok, one of them was standing, the other was hovering) in front of him. And even as he opened his mouth to protest, he knew it would be futile. So he bit back a couple of the more colorful curses he had learned over the years and settled for glaring at the two ponies in front of him. They smiled back at him, knowing they had won.
Silver Shield took a breathe and let it out. He knew when he was beat, and fighting it would get them nowhere. "Alright, so what's your plan?"
Applejack grinned as they all turned and headed back to the crystal caves, "Well, Sugarcube, it's like this..."
'Now I know I have a concussion. Because that was actually starting to make sense.' Silver Shield bit back another groan as he followed the two mares (that he was expressly ordered to evacuate at the first sign of trouble and guard with his life) back into the cavern (that had almost killed them all twice already and would certainly do its best to finish the job) 'Yep. Definitely a concussion. At least grade four.'
'I wonder if brain-damage is an acceptable defense in a court-martial...?'