Noble Steel took point as Zecora’s team worked its way down the long, shallow slope from the upper rim of the chasm to its first major ledge. They picked their way, single-file, along a loose, wet, pebble-covered path that descended via a series of tight switchbacks and hairpins.
Smudge arched a wing above her head: “I fucking hate caves! They’re all drippy and dank and slow as Tartarus to traverse!”
She pointed through a gap in the cave walls: “We could be over to that next ledge by now if we could all fly!”
Solar Gleam rolled his eyes as he formed a water-shedding screen above himself and Zecora: “Well, yes--perhaps Celestia should have sent a full pegasus team, then! I’m sure your pegasus wizard would have no trouble--oh! I forgot! Pegasi can’t use magic!”
Smudge ground her teeth: “I know that--I’m just a little frustrated at how long this is all gonna take before we get into the real action!”
Noble nodded: “I agree, though I see an issue coming up fairly soon.”
Shatter raised an eyebrow: “What’s that, Lieutenant?”
“We’re going to have to span the first major gap at the bottom of this set of switchbacks.”
“Right--the map says so. So what’s the problem?”
Noble looked nervously back over his shoulder: “Meaning no disrespect, Ma’am, but Zecora is the problem.”
“No, Smudge and I will fly, and you and Solar here will take turns teleporting across any big gaps with Zecora.”
Zecora groaned, and Solar’s eyebrows jumped: “Oh, dear, that’s right!”
Shatter furrowed her brow: “What’s right?”
“Princess Twilight informed me that teleporting leaves Zecora disoriented and nauseated.”
“Alright, levitation, then. Is that OK?”
Zecora nodded.
“Super! Problem solved!”
Shatter squinted at the notes and map: “Although...it looks like we will have to keep an eye out for strong cross winds and updrafts as we get deeper. That’ll make ferrying a bit trickier.”
After several minutes of slipping and shuffling, the team reached the edge of the first gap. Noble Steel teleported across carrying the bulk of the group’s supplies while Smudge flew over with the remainder slung across her back or clenched in her teeth.
Shatter spread her wings and hovered over the gap: “Alright, Solar, levitation time!”
Solar turned to Zecora: “Are you ready?”
She nodded, and was immediately surrounded by a pale blue field which lifted and moved her across the opening in a quick twenty seconds.
Solar set Zecora down as Shatter landed next to the zebra. He then closed his eyes and disappeared with a golden flash, reappearing a moment later next to Noble Steel.
Shatter ruffled her wings: “There we go, folks--just like that. One down and a bunch more to go. Let’s get a move on!”
Noble Steel adjusted his packs: “Yes, ma’am--I’ll keep point!”
“Fine. Smudge! Join the Lieutenant, please!”
As the dark-grey pegasus hustled past Zecora and Solar Gleam, Shatter fell back and turned to the old unicorn: “So explain something to me--how is it nopony seems to know anything about these catacombs and caverns and all this shit down below the palace? I assume the earliest builders and masons sounded a lot of this out before putting in foundations, and that wasn’t really all that long ago!”
Solar nodded: “That is true. However, you have to remember that there were unicorns living in what would become Canterlot long before its founding.”
“I remember my history classes--there were a couple of tribes that overlapped and had settlements in this area.”
“Correct. But what is often overlooked in most classes anymore is the savage nature of early unicorn tribes.”
“Can’t be worse than pegasi…”
Solar smiled grimly: “It is believed that the earliest crude unicorn magic was developed not long after ponies gained true sentience, between five and six thousand years ago. At that time earth ponies were, shall we say, working out their differences with crude weapons and strength. In all honesty, so were the pegasi. Much of your reputation as great warriors is, in my estimation, bluff and bravado.”
Shatter bridled: “‘Bluff and bravado,’ huh? I seem to recall stories of the early pegasus-unicorn conflicts that say otherwise!”
“But those took place long after the Awakening, even if they are still quite old by our current standards.”
“So, what happened in those years, then? Why didn’t unicorns just wipe everypony out?”
“Because they nearly wiped themselves out, first.”
Zecora nodded: “Too much power, too raw and too soon / quickly becomes a curse, not a boon.”
“Exactly. Much of the earliest magic discovered or developed, I’m not really sure what word to use, would be considered forbidden and dark today.”
Shatter furrowed her brow: “Which makes my question all the more relevant!”
Solar nodded: “They likely would have overrun all other ponies, except they were busy wiping each other out. That was the beginning of the unicorn tribal wars that lasted intermittently right up to the Age of the Sisters, especially in the Northern Marches.”
“I don’t know this part…”
“Not surprising. Celestia has done her best over the last few centuries to bury and launder much of this. Many academic careers were derailed long ago by a short, pointed scroll from the Palace.”
“You seem to know a lot…”
Solar smiled: “Because I know when to keep my mouth shut and my quill in its holder. My deep knowledge of the past is an open secret among academics and palace staff. It is why I was selected for this mission.”
“But why hide all this? It’s ancient history, yes?”
Solar took a deep breath: “Yes and no. The worst of the worst ended with entire tribes being wiped out and great, terrible experiments going awry, destroying the wizards who were casting the spells. There are echoes of those days even now: many an old tale of evil warlocks and monsters have a grain of truth to them.”
“OK, but again: ancient history…”
“Not so ancient. You must remember that this period only truly ended with the imposition of order brought about by Celestia. Even her great friend, Starswirl, dabbled heavily in ancient, dark magic--and he is revered as a hero of the early days of Canterlot!”
The team rounded a corner and Noble Steel stopped and held up a hoof: “Captain--didn’t the Major say something about bones and the like?”
“Yes.”
“We’re now at the mapping team’s second checkpoint, and the map has observational notes. There should be a substantial scattering of bones here--some kind of rodent-like things.”
“OK…”
Steel waved his hoof back and forth and increased his horn’s brightness: “No bones.”
Smudge tipped her head sideways quizzically: “Maybe the mapping crew took them?”
Shatter sucked air through her teeth: “No, the Major is a first-rate mapper and note-taker, but she doesn’t color outside the lines. Picking up bones is somepony else’s department.”
She tapped her hoof and looked around the passageway: “So, no evidence of scrape marks or drag trails indicating they were removed?”
“Doesn’t look like it, Ma’am.”
Shatter chewed her lip for a moment: “Well, nothing to look at here then, let’s move on! I presume you can handle a few rat skeleton thingies should the need arise, yes Lieutenant?”
“Yes Ma’am!”
“Lead on then, Red Tabs--I’d like to get some more of this cave behind us before we stop for a chow break!”
The team proceeded through a series of large chambers, riddled with stalactites and stalagmites, and across another wide gap, at which point they came up against a fork in the passage.
Shatter rubbed her muzzle and peered at the map with Zecora: “I don’t see this on Stormy’s map--what’s going on?”
Zecora took a few steps forward and peered up each possible passage: “I doubt such a change in only one day / Let us now see what my dust has to say.”
She lifted the pouch from her neck and scattered a half-hooful of bright blue powder on the ground in front of the party. It began crawling forward like a glittering blue snail trail, until it disappeared into dark shadow down a steep path leading away to the right.
Zecora walked forward into the narrow gap, eyeing its low ceiling warily: “This dark slot seems to be our route / My homing dust leaves little doubt.”
Shatter grimaced: “Great--confined spaces. There’s no mention of this on the map…”
Solar stroked his chin: “It would appear that something is altering the landscape, trying to throw us off.”
Shatter let out a loud sigh: “Well, not on my watch! Red Tabs! Take point and turn on the high-beams. Let’s see what spooky thing it’s cooked up for us--wouldn’t want to disappoint our host!”
Noble Steel nodded and increased his horn’s brightness as he stepped up beside Zecora: “Shall we, Ma’am?”
Zecora nodded and fully entered the passage with a shudder. A wet, squelching noise came from the floor, and heavy, brownish tar-like matter dripped from the ceiling. The odor was intolerable, and the unicorns hastened to generate shields above the party.
Smudge stumbled in behind the unicorn and zebra and fought back the urge to retch: “By Cerberus’ hairy balls! What is that smell?! It’s like we climbed up the ass of a rotting yak!”
Solar looked about him, squinting and trying not to breathe: “That’s not a bad comparison, Lieutenant Dusk. As I look around, it really does remind me of a large, rather unhealthy, alimentary canal.”
The walls began to pulsate, and the unicorns’ light began to fade, as the stench became overwhelming, and ribbons of syrupy blackness poured out of the lowering ceiling.
Smudge stopped, wide-eyed and tried to back up as a nearby outcropping burst, spewing her legs with putrescence. She reared, ramming her backside squarely into Shatter’s chest.
“Where do you think you’re going, Lieutenant?”
The panicky, sweating mare turned to Shatter: “I--I--we gotta get outta here! Holy shit, Captain! I mean, holy shit!”
Shatter squeezed the tears from her watering eyes, squared her shoulders and pressed a forehoof into Smudge’s ribs in an effort to turn the recalcitrant pegasus around. Behind her she heard Solar gagging and coughing.
The Captain suddenly stopped: “Smudge, that’s it--shit! Shit don't run backwards!” She glanced at the floor, which was now ankle-deep in effluent, and saw a faint sparkling thread of blue.
“We know this passage is at least as wide as a pony, and Zecora’s powder is still visible for the moment. Red Tabs, give us the best forward shield you can, and everypony put your heads down and charge ahead!”
She shouldered her way past Smudge and Zecora and rammed Noble in the flank: “Let’s get the fuck out of this literal shithole!”
Shatter flared her wings slightly and shoved Steel’s hindquarters, spurring him to bolt forward with his pale blue shield glowing its brightest. All five ponies staggered forward as fast as they could through the mire, and cleared the end of the polluted passage with a wet ‘splat’ after a couple of minutes of effort, just as Zecora’s powder trail winked out.
The team scattered across a small chamber, dropping to their knees or slumping against the wall.
Shatter leaned up against a stalactite and retched: “Well...that was...close and ...gross!”
Steel cleared his throat and spit repeatedly as tears streamed down his face: “Sweet Celestia that was awful! Was it real, or just some kind of intense illusion or hallucination?”
Zecora uncapped a small potion and took a shaky sip: “I have seen such things in Everfree’s marsh / though none so noxious, defiled or harsh!”
Solar Gleam nodded: “I believe that was real material, enhanced with the dark power of the Void. Twilight told me of several re-animations of clearly long-dead tissues and fragments.”
He stood slowly and used magic to wipe away the muck and slime: “And I fear we in for worse as we go on.”
Smudge wobbled behind a rock outcropping; the splatter of her piss on the cave floor echoed loudly, and she emerged with a sheepish grin as her tail dropped: “Sorry--I just got kind of nervous back there!”
Shatter waved a hoof dismissively: “Hey--I’m just glad you held it ‘til you got your ass out of my face!” She turned back to Solar: “Worse--how so?”
The old unicorn sucked at his teeth for a moment and looked back at the corrupted passage: “I think I’m beginning to understand Grey Thorn better, now.”