//------------------------------// // A Secret In the Depths // Story: The Fugitive Draconequus // by Ironskull //------------------------------// This was an experience that I hope to never have ever again. She stayed up for hours. Even when Spike finally came in and went to sleep without a problem, and even after she put out the lights. She wouldn’t stop twisting and turning in her bed. And then, when it finally did happen, when she finally passed out, I realized that it didn’t even matter. I could have risked sneaking out of her room after she finally managed to pass out. Only, there was one very big problem. I was scared of waking up Twilight, or Spike, who would certainly in turn wake Twilight. Even though I’m pretty sure the odds of that actually happening are pretty low, I still wasn’t going to risk it. Not when statue time is the penalty for failure. Of course, Twilight’s reaction to my note was priceless. And her ideas about potions were definitely something to seriously consider. There’s nothing wrong with taking her advice if she didn’t know I was there. I’m glad that I was able to get at least that much from this business. I can’t believe that I let her trap me inside of her own room. And, what makes it even worse is that she didn’t even know that she did it! I’m definitely going to have to pay more attention to my surroundings from now on. I was so busy writing that stupid note, I didn’t even sense Twilight’s return until I finished writing it, only to realize that she was already in the library. I was already trapped from that very moment. Leaving the way that I came in was out of the question, and the window was sealed. I should have just smashed the window open, but for some stupid reason, I had it in my head to try to not leave my evidence of my presence. As if she wouldn’t figure out that I had been there when she read my note! And then I realized that Twilight was coming up to her room and I took the only remaining course of action left to me. I hid under her bed. Watching her freak out was great, of course, but it would have been much more enjoyable if I wasn’t so nervous about what would happen to me if I was discovered. But it’s all over now. I actually managed to sit through the entire night, and now Twilight has finally gone downstairs. And now I’m considering smashing that window in. And yet... Ugh. I hate to admit it, but breaking glass would be a really stupid idea. She would probably hear it. Oh, hello, what have we here? What’s this little clasp thingy? Oh. So that’s how you open the window. That’s really easy, actually. Freedom, here I come! Although I have one hand clutching stolen books, I’m able to slip out of the window and climb out onto a branch. Should I bother closing the window again? I can’t reach that clasp from the outside, so it won’t be possible to seal it like it was before. Although, if I leave it wide open, Twilight might suspect that I came back again. And this would be a problem, why? Good point. Why do I care, I’ll be far away from here by the time she notices. I’m just going to leave it wide open. As I crawl down the side of the library, I see that my minions are loyally waiting at the bottom. As soon as I get close enough, one of them starts running its mouth! “Zip it!” I quietly snap. “Somepony might hear you!” The jackalopes look stunned, but they don’t make any more noises. I quietly sneak back to where my bush disguise is waiting for me. And almost step on a box hidden inside. I can smell sugar. Of course! I forgot about that! Clearly, they were successful in the mission I had given them! Now if only they had had the presence of mind to get the boxes back to the cave instead of hanging around here and worrying about me. At least they joined me in this bush without me having to specifically tell them to do so. Alright, there’s nopony watching. Let’s get far enough out of here that I can talk. I pick up the bush around us once more and away we go. I don’t need to go very far. This is far enough. I stop and set the bush down, and then turn toward the jackalopes. “Alright, before I can leave Ponyville, we still need to see if Rarity actually came through with my ‘request’, and if she did, get the stuff and get out without her noticing. But we can’t be hauling those boxes with us. We’ll hide them somewhere and come back for them.” “Alright, here we are,” I whisper. “This is Carousel Boutique. You,” I say as I point at the jackalope with the longest horns. “You know what to look for, right?” He nods. “Excelent. To work!” He salutes and hops away. The door to the shop opens ever so slightly as the critter sneaks inside. So far so good. And now, only about a minute later, it cracks open again. And now here he is once more. “So, does she have my stuff?” He nods. I feel a burst exhilaration at this. I knew she would be too generous for her own good! When the day finally comes when I reveal to Rarity about how she aided me in regaining my powers and taking over Equestria, it will be glorious! Unfortunately, the mare was also currently on the premises, as I knew from my ability to sense her magic. And there was also another magic signature. One that I have no idea what it belongs to. It seems familiar, but I just can’t seem to place my talon on it. “I suppose the pony is wide awake?” I ask. I get a nod in response. But then he makes a strange gesture that I don’t understand. I shrug at the critter. He scratches his head for a second, and then bares his teeth at me and makes a hissing noise. Before I have much opportunity to wonder what in the world has gotten into him, he points at the shop. “Ahhhh...” I say. “She has a cat, am I right?” Another nod. This is good news, actually. “Do you think you could get its attention?” The jackalopes all look terrified at this idea. But he does finally nod his head again. “Don’t worry, I think I have a plan.” I take a look around, looking for anything that could be useful against a frenzied feline. There is a wooden bucket sitting in the street not far from here. I grab the bush again and make my way toward it. When I get close enough, I stop, and then jump almost on top of it, enveloping it in foliage. Just as I had hoped, it has water in it. “This will do,” I tell the long horned one. We scamper back to the boutique. “Get that thing to make a lot of noise,” I say. “When the pony comes running outside to try to calm it down, the rest of you get in there and get me what we came here for. And I will be helping you, mister distraction, so have no fear. Let’s get to it!” The long horned jackalope is obviously still nervous, but he does as I say. The door cracks open once again. It remains quiet for only a moment longer. Suddenly, I can hear the sound of the cat as it sounds like something stepped on its tail. “Opal!” I hear Rarity cry out. Suddenly, the door flies open and my faithful minion comes shooting out of the boutique, carrying a fuzzy green mouse toy, and the white kitty is in hot persuit. “Opal!” shouted Rarity. Before the door can close itself again, she runs through it and looks down the street, trying to locate her pet, and then looks down the opposite direction. As planned, as soon as she ran after the sounds of her excited feline, the rest of my minions rush through the boutique door. I just hope that they can work quickly. Suddenly, long horns runs past me, coming back from where he ran off to. The crazy cat is still chasing after him. Rarity is somewhat further behind, but I can hear her yelling, “Opal, what has gotten into you?” Aha! Here comes my box of supplies! They’ve managed to get it into the bush without being seen by anypony. I don’t have time to look over the spoils yet, however. Here comes my brave little fur ball again. As he runs by, I slosh the bucket of water directly behind him. Right onto that cat. It saw the water coming a split second before it hit her, but she couldn’t avoid it. Not that she didn’t try. Made a feline screeching noise and somehow jumped in the air in a hysterical flip as she tried change the direction of her momentum, but the water simply fell onto her in mid-air, completely soaking her fluffy fur. I am struggling to not burst out laughing right now! The last thing I need is to be discovered! The kitty sure does look a lot smaller now. Ah, and here comes Lady Rarity, here to save the day! “Opal! Goodness gracious, what ever happened to you?” she cried in concern and confusion. Opal meowed back miserably. “Why, you poor, poor thing!” Rarity cried. “Let’s get you dried up!” And then, she put the soaking wet creature on her back, to my great surprise. I was rather under the impression that that pony would do anything to avoid anything unpleasant happening to her coat. I look down and see that long horns is back in the bush. He’s still holding the toy mouse. And looking quite pleased. “Here,” I offer, holding out my paw to him. “Let’s put it in the box and take it back with us. As a trophy of victory.” He does so. Ah, what fun this was! However, more importantly, I have everything that I need at last! It’s time to retreat to the rabbit-hole and find me some magic! Twilight was sitting in the library, anxiously awaiting a response to a very important letter. That answer came very abruptly when the front door opened and none other than Princess Celestia herself stepped inside. “Princess!” cried Twilight in shock. “I... I see that you received my letter!” “I did,” answered Celestia, her tone grave. There was an awkward silence. Spike ceased bowing before the ruler of the country and spoke up. “Can... can I get either of you some tea?” The princess started to refuse, but then stammered and said, “Yes, that would help greatly.” Spike raced into the kitchen, leaving Twilight alone with her mentor. “Have you had any further contact with Discord after he fled?” asked Celestia. “Yes, a little,” Twilight answered nervously. She hadn’t put this information into her brief letter. “He came to the library when I wasn’t here and stole several books and to leave a note to taunt me!” “And even now, he roams free,” said Celestia solemnly. “Princess, I don’t understand why Discord would do this!” cried Twilight. “Discord loves one thing, and only one thing in this world,” answered Celestia angrily. “His powers of chaos. All thoughts that are unrelated to regaining it have no place in his mind. He has no interest in what we have to teach him because he does not believe that it is worth his time. And he hates being controlled more than anything. He will not allow himself to play by any rules other than his own, even if it means that he must lose the one thing that he loves.” “Princess, I...” Twilight trailed off and hesitated to continue. Princess Celestia gave her a look, asking her to finish her thought. “I think we might have made a terrible mistake by separating Discord from his powers...” “What would you have me do, Twilight?” asked Celestia wearily. “His anger burns hot, and if we return his power to him now, I have no doubt in my mind that he would use it to destroy us all.” “But what if we never took it away in the first place?” Twilight insisted. “We could have still kept him in line with the elements! If we didn’t take away the thing that he loves most, he wouldn’t have run away from us!” “I appreciate the confidence that you have in yourself, and in your friends. And even... in Discord himself. You might even be completely correct,” Celestia admitted. “But I was the one who made this decision that has now backfired. All of the blame for whatever befalls now is mine.” “But that’s not true!” cried Twilight. “It is true,” insisted Celestia. “And Discord knows it. And he’s smart enough to know that you and your friends are innocent in this matter. He may taunt you, and scare you, but you are not the victim of his wrath.” Celestia hung her head. “I am.” “Princess...” “Twilight, I need you to understand this: if I personally confront Discord, any hope we have of reforming him is doomed.” “But if we just give him back his powers, maybe-“ “I can’t!” cried Celestia abrubtly. Twilight’s eyes shot wide open. “What? But why not?” “Because,” Celestia cried, “like Discord himself, chaos magic does not like to be controlled! Soon after I removed it from Discord, his magic forced itself out of the vessel that I placed it within, despite all of the magic that I placed upon it to prevent it from happening!” “Do you mean to say that Discord’s magic is going to find him again?” “Twilight, calm down! No, despite what I have just told you, I have managed to keep his magic contained!” “But how? You just told me that you were unable to contain it!” Celestia let out a long sigh. “Technically, suppression of Discord’s magic is impossible. However, I have found that I have much more success with less forceful methods of containment. I have... made it comfortable in the environment that I have provided for it, and… ‘encouraged’ it to stay put. “However, there is nothing to stop Discord from reclaiming his power, should he somehow break the magic seals that lead to it. If he learns of this, it could be disastrous.” “I see…” said Twilight. “So, what do we do then?” “We will do nothing,” answered Celestia. “Nothing?” “If Discord is come to his senses, he must make that decision for himself, without influence from others. If we attempt to interfere, he will automatically turn away from what is right. I do not cherish the thought of Discord running lose, but if he wants to remain unfound, he will have no choice but to not cause trouble. Until he does, I can do nothing.” “But there must be some way for me to help!” “You can help by living out your life as though nothing is amiss. Discord wants to cause chaos, wants you to disrupt your life in order to focus on him. Don’t let that happen.” “What is this?” Sitting in the light of one of my two new lamps, I behold the object in my hands in complete surprise. “I didn’t ask her for this!” I’m holding a fedora. Why am I holding a fedora? It’s black with a red ribbon tied around the base. When I flip it over, I discover something even stranger. The inside is hard. And there are rivets all along the edges. What I am in fact holding is nothing less than a fedora bolted to a hard-hat. ‘Of course,’ I realize. ‘She think’s I mine rocks for a career! She threw this in to protect my skull.’ My skull doesn’t need protecting. Still... I have to admit. Despite the other numerous flaws that that pony has, she does have an excellent fashion sense. I’ll keep this little hat. I’ll wear it when I finally decide to show myself. “Anybunny else hungry?” I ask, looking around at the jackalopes around me in the burrow. “I’m starving. Let’s tear into those cakes.” I don’t even care that I don’t have a plate or any utensils whatsoever. I’ll just grab a piece and eat it from my claw. ... This is the best cake I have ever had... WHY IS THIS SO GOOD? There’s no way that this can be superior to my own technically perfect confectionary fabrications. Actually, now that I stop and think, I don’t even remember the last time I ate anything that was prepared by a pony. There’s very faint traces of magic in this cake. I have no idea what it is, but it must be responsible. There is no other explanation. It’s probably not dangerous, though. After all, the pony who made it didn’t know I would be the one to eat it. Oh, is my cake slice gone already? Maybe I’ll just have another… NO! You don’t want to wind up like Celestia! Forget about sweets for a few minutes and get on with the whole finding magic thing! And I don’t want any fur balls following me. I want this moment to be mine, and mine alone. There is a lot of junk to carry down there with me. I’ll just have to tie it all to my body with the bungee cords. “It’s time,” I declare, drawing the attention of the jackalopes. “I’m going down there now. I’ll be back soon. Probably. I don’t want you following me.” They chatter something to me. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll be fine. Just make sure that there’s someone here waiting for me when I come back.” I turn the knob on the lantern tied to my waist. I decided to leave the other one with fuzzy ones. I can’t carry it along with everything else I’m hauling already. My lantern starts giving off a fairly bright glow. And away I go. The passageway almost immediately starts sloping down as I leave the burrow behind. Already I am surrounded by solid stone in every direction. And my feet are complaining a little bit. But I ignore that. That doesn’t matter right now. Suddenly, I step out of the passage and I am surrounded by darkness in all directions, despite the light of the lantern. I grab the kazoo which is strung around my neck and bring it up to my mouth and blow into it. The buzzing noise echoes all around me. After it fades away, there is complete silence, except for a steady dripping noise. There is a drip about once every fifteen seconds. Well, if there was anything alive down here, it would have done something. Probably. I turn the light up some more, trying to see my surroundings. The chamber that I am standing in is huge. There is a pool of stagnant water nearby. And there are ripples appearing on its surface in sync with the dripping noise. I look up and strain my eyes at the ceiling, several dozen feet above. The ceiling is quite thoroughly pocked in one direction. However, there is a smooth, round area where it looks like whatever used to be there fell down. In the middle of this smooth area is a huge crack that seems to run the entire length of the room. Or, at least, it goes for as far as I can see. The drips of water seem to actually be originating from a particular spot in that crack. There must be water actually making its way from the forest all the way down here. All through that one crack in the rocks. How fascinating... I press onward, but I don’t get very far before my light reveals something that simply demands my attention. BACON. I shake my head. What in the world is wrong with me? And what is it about that gryphonic dish that I had over a thousand years ago that made it stick in my mind? It looks more like curtains, really. The giant rock formation really does look like that. Really, really tall curtains. And behind the curtains lies a precious treasure. And so I continue onward again, into the passage at the base of the giant formation. There are stalactites lining one side of this new passage. That group of them right there looks pretty cool, I guess. ... Hang on a second, back up. Let’s get a look at them again! I give the stalactites another glance. They are all lined up neatly in a row, and they go from biggest to smallest in an unbroken sequence. Suddenly, a mad urge seizes me and I pick up a couple of loose, long rocks from the cave floor. And I beat one of them against the largest stalactite. It releases a delicious low tone. And I start laughing like a maniac, beating these stupid rocks against them like a xylophone. It’s a shame that there is nobody else here to listen to my musical genius. This is fantastic! Of course, I’ve heard far richer sounds from musical instruments of my own making, but there is something beautiful in the flaws of the sound that this natural phenomenon gives off. It sounds glorious! Or, at least, it did. One of the stalactites just conked off because I whacked it too hard... Darn it. Note to self: Request a bottle of glue from Rarity. Okay, enough fooling around. The primal magic is close now. I can feel it. If I’m lucky, I won’t even have to dig to it. Unfortunately, it looks like I will have to crawl down a pit though. I can’t see the bottom. I’m still holding the rocks I was using to play my natural xylophone. Huh. That’s convenient. I drop one down the hole. A few seconds later, I hear it hit the bottom. I make a quick calculation in my head and then pull the one free bungee cord I have off of my shoulder and tie it to a big rock. And then I grab the other end at vaguely the right spot. And jump down the hole. “Waahooo!” I just got a glimpse of the ground at the bottom. It looks awfully like the ground up at the top. I let myself bounce a few times just for fun, and then hop off. I’m really close to the magic now. I can just taste it. Or, whatever. I don’t really know of a word to describe how I use my sixth sense. Maybe I should make one up. As I walk along, I’m day dreaming of the wonderful things I will do once I- OH MY CHAOS, POPCORN. I’m serious! The wall here is all rough and bumpy and yellow and it totally looks like it’s made of popcorn! “I hereby declare this the wall of popcorn rocks!” I say aloud. Feeling very pleased with myself, I get back on track and continue forward once again. The magic I came here for is in the next chamber. I can feel it. And I just passed into it. And then, there was a powerful burst of magic. I’m literally blinded for a moment as my eyes are unused to the intense light. And now the light fades, revealing- OH, CHAOS NO. THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE. “Discord.” “Princess Celestia,” I hiss back, too confused to bother to think of an insult. “And all six elements of harmony, armed with your accursed jewelry. How in the great blue moon did you find me down here?” “That’s easy. I have predicted everything that you have done since your release.” “That’s a lie!” I shout furiously. “You can’t predict chaos! Even I had no idea I would be coming here!” “Your chaos is gone.” “Nooooo, really? And who has it, I wonder?” “Nopony does. It has been destroyed.” Head spinning. Thinking hurts now. “WHAT?” “When I learned that I could not control your magic, and that I cannot control you, I realized that you have now become useless to me. And so I banished your magic from this world. And now I am here to do the same to you.” Despair. “Fine. You want to use the elements on me again? I’m defenseless. I have nothing now. Nothing. Why should I even care any more?” ... ... “Wait!” Shock overwhelms me. I look up to stare at the pony who spoke. Twilight Sparkle… “Princess Celestia, we don’t have to do this!” Twilight cried. “There’s nothing more that he can do to hurt anypony anymore!” I gape at her. Everything around me seems frozen as I gaze at her in complete and utter confusion. What is she doing?! In spite of everything, even though I don’t understand why she is doing this in the very slightest, I can’t help but feel something. Just the smallest bit grateful. I don’t mind admitting it. Not now. It won’t matter in a moment anyway. “Twilight Sparkle!” shouted Celestia. “I am aware that I told you to gather together allies, but you need to learn to know a lost cause when you see one. Use the elements on Discord, now! “… Yes, Princess Celestia.” I didn’t think it was possible. Somehow, Twilight's actions actually feel even worse than Celestia's. And that should be impossible. The elements start to glow. And I feel magic in the air. A very wrong sort of magic. My despair is washed away, replaced with a sea of rage. “You aren’t the elements of harmony.” The only response that I get is glares. “And you aren’t Princess Celestia! Your magic doesn’t feel a thing like them! In fact, you aren’t ponies at all!” The elements are still glowing, but they notably are failing to fire off. “You’re nothing. I’m not afraid of you.” And then, with that, the illusion finally dissipated. And all that is left is... Mushrooms. Giant mushrooms. Hundreds of them, all in this little chamber. Each about a foot across. And each loaded with some of the strangest cacophonies of magic I have ever felt. And in the center of the chamber was a wispy nodule, spewing forth primal magic. Which is then absorbed by these evil fungi. They’ve been thriving off of Primal magic down here for years. Centuries. Drinking it up like water and repurposing it to their own needs. And I think I’m beggining to understand. I can sense the magic in these accursed things. I’m getting an idea of exactly what it is, and how it is made, and what it does. The primal magic node has never formed into anything more complex because this isolated mushroom colony drinks it up before it can build up to a critical point. And the mushrooms have a very special defense mechanism. They show you what you fear.