There was something waiting for me in the darkness, heedless of the horrific stench that enveloped it. I saw a glint of yellow as the light of the lantern fell on a polished surface. The sparkling article swayed as I neared it. I saw that it was a trumpet, being played by a giant segmented insect. I backed away, unnerved by the sight. Its squirming legs worked the valves on the golden instrument and the mouthpiece was wedged firmly between its mandibles. This was the noise that had drawn me to this place. I looked closer and realized that the creature was not alone. There was something else, an unmentionable form in the darkness. The insect seemed content to keep ignoring me, so I paid it the same.
I took a few hesitant steps forward, pulling the lantern farther in front of me. As the flickering light illuminated part of the ominous shape, I was driven to look away. It was big and ugly as sin. I gathered that it was organic from the way it shivered and the various veins and blood vessels that ran through it. It had four main limbs ending in razor-sharp claws, resembling some kind of gigantic mole. That comparison wasn’t entirely accurate, however. Unlike a mole, the fleshy mass was also surrounded by a mass of presently inactive tentacles. They knotted endlessly around the abomination and I couldn’t imagine what they’d look like in motion. Big as it was, it must have been even heavier than it appeared. Each time it shifted its weight the surrounding stone would shake and crack beneath it. There were faces imprinted into the body of the thing. They had no noses and were all twisted in various stages of horror and agony. Much of the chamber was filled with the disgusting mass, and the mountain shuddered as it moved. Has the entity always been here? Had it simply lain dormant for all this time? Regardless of what was happening in Equestria, it didn’t seem terribly likely that the city and its tenant were brought here from the Gray Domain. Solitaire said that the miners had found this place, probably before my time. It remained forgotten here for what might have been decades.
There was a silent interlude in the melody permeating the cavern. The bug had ceased playing the trumpet to look at me quizzically. The behemoth stirred and another earthquake violently shook the grotto. I was becoming increasingly anxious in its presence. While I sensed that the Other Gods were simply indifferent, this entity was something else altogether. As I stood before it, I was overwhelmed by an aura of pure, unshackled malevolence. A large eye flickered open. There was a crucifix in the place of its pupil. It slowly focused on my gas lamp, whose light promptly went out. I fell to pieces.
I cast the worthless item aside and stumbled out of the sinister chamber by the half-light of my horn. The mountain convulsed once more. Against my better judgment, I turned to look behind me. I had read somewhere that an octopus is capable of squeezing through any cavity no larger than its eyeball. The same principle seemed to be at work here. As I watched in horror, the malignant beast oozed through the comparably tiny doorway with little difficulty. I sprinted shrieking from the scene, knowing that my desperate cries for help would not be heard.
I was mistaken. Evidently someone had heard me. As I ran past the outlandish buildings, countless creatures of various unsightly shapes poured out from the crevices. Why had I not seen any of them before? Where did they come from? These questions failed to occur to me in my blind panic. I could sense the changeling tome in my knapsack beg me to stop, to stand and fight against the incoming hordes, and far behind them, the massive beast that shook the walls surrounding me. I ignored it. Even with the bloodthirsty book, I couldn’t face these terrors head on. I hid in one of the structures and waited for the mob to pass. This didn’t work as planned. Realizing they had lost sight of me, the monsters split up and began to search the buildings. I saw a hideous lizard hound sniff the air nearby. I quietly mounted a winding irregular staircase. On what I thought was the fifth floor of the strange house I leapt onto a nearby rooftop. I was lucky the gap was narrow enough to facilitate this. The streets and houses were apparently laid out randomly. I proceeded silently while fighting to stay calm. I had to use my horn for light, but I tried to do so sparingly. It would only take one careless flicker to alert my pursuers. The constant shaking of my surroundings told me that the gigantic horror had not gone back to sleep as I’d hoped. It was out there, hunting me. Perhaps it was simply my nerves, but I thought I heard the far-off sounding of the trumpet. I must have frozen up in terror.
I remembered the bottommost plane of silence and its vast framework of white lines. If only I’d been able to warp there now. No. I could not afford the luxury of wishful thinking. I focused my efforts on finding the white arrows I’d been leaving behind previously. I hadn’t seen even one since exiting the forgotten temple. My panic had gotten the best of me, and I sprinted in whichever direction seemed best at the time. Now I was paying for that grave error. I followed the walls outside the city until I found the tunnels that probably led me here. My hallucinations intensified as I left the contorted settlement. Although I’d left the hostile hordes and their master far behind, their silhouettes haunted me ceaselessly. The whining of the trumpet rang in my head, even though I knew it was impossible for the beast and the horrid bard to have caught up to me so soon. The chalk arrows leading me seemed to swim in the dim purple light of my spell. I could have sworn that the twisting passages had moved somehow, that the journey back to the surface took infinitely longer than the descent. The eternal darkness was taking a toll on my senses.
At last I arrived to the mouth of the mine. I breathed in deeply, savoring the feeling of fresh air slipping into my lungs. The sun was touching the treetops. If I didn’t hurry, I’d have to walk home in the dark. I took a moment to look back at the caverns anyway. The mountain has been trembling non-stop over the past few hours. I knew the inhabitants of the underground city would find their way outside eventually, now that they were awake. I didn’t want to consider the consequences. Perhaps I should send a letter to the Princess? Could she arrange the demolition of the entrance? There’d be some uncomfortable questions afterwards, but Ponyville would be safe. Or would it? The creature was gigantic but gelatinous. A rockslide would not impede its progress for any significant length of time, especially were it assisted by its servants.
The sun was setting as I returned to the library. I was fearful and paranoid after my experience in the depths. My heart leapt into my throat when the lights in my bedroom flickered out and the dark cloud gathered before me. I had forgotten that the alien stallion promised to see me after the ordeal.
“So,” Solitaire began, his uneven tones echoing in my abused psyche. “I trust your time in the caves was… educational?”
I tried to stay rational.
“Ha, ha. That it was. Definitely not the kind of experience you’d get from a regular old book. Definitely. What was that, exactly? Why did you insist that I go and see it? I ended up waking it up and you must’ve known, Solitaire, you snake.”
Despite my best efforts, rationality was sorely lacking. As I’d grown to expect, he was unabashed.
“Yes indeedy. Fear not. That entity would have awakened within days regardless of your presence. It is Our approach that roused it from its eternal slumber. The closest approximation of the creature’s name in your tongue would be Gun Quidwreth. It is a fairly powerful representative of the Tellurians. The insect trumpeter’s melody signals the point of no return for Equestria. I hope you’re prepared.”
“Tellurians…?” I repeated dumbly.
He sauntered over to the knapsack I’d dropped in the middle of the room, and took out the second Volume. He slid the book over to me, after hastily flipping to one of the pages nearing its end.
“Here. Translate this bit.”
“Why don’t you just tell me?”
He tapped his black spectacles and grinned.
“I can’t read. Remember?”
I sighed in exasperation and carefully started working on the paragraph he’d indicated, struggling to keep my writing uniform while the earth continued to shake at regular intervals.
“The world’s origins remain a mystery, despite what various faiths would have one believe. The continents are vast, and their occupants are always [adapting], preparing for tomorrow, fighting for their survival. Among the lesser-known of nature’s secrets are the chthonic avatars, the ethereal Tellurian Few. Few have survived an encounter with these majestic fiends and the information regarding them is [sparse] and none too reliable. Some scholars argue that the creatures are visitors from the stars, for nothing on this earth could possibly compare. Others hold that the Tellurian Few are embodiments of nature’s wrath, destroying anything they perceive as a threat to their land. There is evidence to suggest that there’s a feud between the Tellurian Few and the Other Gods. The [Tellurians] and their [servants] actively seek out and destroy all nearby scouts of the Gray Domain. Many a civilization had perished while caught in these horrific battles. Today, the Tellurian Few hibernate in the ancient cities that their minions erected in their honor. Beware, for they are not merciful.”
I felt ill. Up to this point, I only needed to worry about the outlandish things from the Gray Domain. And now, seemingly from nowhere, I’d come across a whole new breed of monster. Gun Quidwreth’s arrival was inevitable. Soon, Equestria would become a battlefield between two forces beyond our imagining. Did we have any hope of surviving a war betwixt these godlike abominations?
I heard Solitaire let out a high-pitched giggle.
“Maybe you’d be better off just choosing a side.”