• Published 18th Feb 2012
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The Steadfast Sky - Greytercakes



Celestia, Luna, and Discord grow into their godhood by unearthing the Elements of Harmony. EqD 6 Stars.

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XLIII : Overcast Risk

The Steadfast Sky : Overcast Risk
The Grey Potter
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/11495/The-Steadfast-Sky
http://cosmicponyfiction.tumblr.com

THANK YOU FOR OVER FIVE HUNDRED FIMFICTION FAVS. HERE IS YOUR PRIZE:

~Celestia~

“This is stupid. If Discord’s hiding down here, there’s no way we’ll find him. He’s a slippery little coward.”

“For the last time. He’s got two ponies with him. He can’t be too many places.”

“Lucky lucky...”

“And if the adults say look, we look. That’s all we have to do.”

“So let’s double back, say we searched all we could.”

“Why would you want to give up? Crusher! Two ponies. If we find them, do we get to keep them?”

“The adults probably wouldn’t--”

“They don’t have to know that we found ‘em intact.”

For a moment, it sounded like one of them had stopped moving, somewhere beyond our dark pocket. One of the voices snickered, breath hissing between his teeth.

“But how will we split two whole ponies between the three of us?”

“Same as we always do...”

There was a snap, a yowl, the sounds of scuffle punctuated by squealed swearing.

“Get offa me! Save it, Gnash!”

“So,” a third voice rose in a tittering chuckle. “What are you going to do to Discord, if we do find him?”

“Rip his throat out.”

“He’s slippery, he’s slippery, I’m telling you. We’ve got to have more of a plan.”

“Yeah, grab his legs first.”

“But I want to bite him!”

“Then bite his stupid legs for pete’s sake!”

“Hang on.” Once more, the tunnel was silence. “There was another section here. An open one, I swear there was.”

“Of course you’d know, you little coward...”

“Clamp it. There was like… a little hallway bit.”

I looked to Discord. His reflective eyes stared right past me, steady as ever.

“Liar.”

“Look.” There was a small scraping sound. “He has those illusions and stuff.”

“And? Look again.” Thump thump thump. “That’s freaking rock.”

“But I could have sworn…”

“Of course Crusher. You swear by your constant visits to this filthy little hole. You know the place like the back of your claws.”

“You shut up! I’ll kill you!”

“You couldn’t kill a week-old kid.”

“I killed Turmoil, I’ll kill you too!”

“Wow, still bringing that up, are you...”

“Who’ve you killed lately, Crusher?”

“Not like you’ve done any better!”

“You see those new kids? They’re all teeth and no body, it’s not even worth it.”

“So don’t insult me!”

“I’ll insult you all I want you little piece of--”

There was a yowl, and then, further away, a bark. The squeals and swears of a squabble faded, echoing away. I strained my ears, hoping the crumble of rock, the skittering claws of who knows what were not signs of their return…

“Okay…” Discord mumbled. “Think it’s safe to turn the lights back on.”

“They’re just a bunch of colts, Discord.” I breathed, barely able to talk as I eased the light back around us. How many times must I hear a bunch of squabbling… “How could… how can they just talk like that?”

Discord didn’t answer. He couldn’t even find it in himself to look at me.

“So…” Luna’s horn flickered blue as she spoke up. She turned away, and began dragging the sopping wet sheet out from one corner. “I collected some of that water, so we can—“

“Luna!” I whimpered, “Don’t exert yourself, not so soon.”

“I’m feeling okay.”

“You’ve already overexerted yourself too far, Luna. Please…”

She pouted, “It’s just hovering, and I wanna help. Lemme do this.”

“Well…”

“Not like I can help with the um… Super… alicorn magic… because we’re awesome all powerful gods, hail the alicorns’ wisdom… something something... The Aurora Spell.” She frowned. I was still very surprised to see her bent Element still intact. Even in the dim light, I could still see the little blue sliver stuck firmly in its place. “I wish I could remember its whole name. It was a funny one. We could use some laughter right about now.”

Again, she pulled forward the dripping sheet. It looked… Well, it may have been a trick of the light, but the water dripping off one end looked practically brown.

“Goodness, don’t even know if this water is sanitary,” I said. “If we still had that rubbing alcohol…”

“I grew up drinking this crappy water,” Discord said. “I can handle it.”

“Well then,” I said, “Where were we?”

Discord stuck out his green leg as Luna moved forward with the sheet. A red gash had smudged and scabbed up his flank. Shallow… Already closed, or at least, no longer bleeding. But if we expected to keep running, then it was probably better to fix this up, as best we could.

Discord’s element eased to life, and I let my own glow in tandem. A steady little dribble of brown water fell over the wound. The droplets clung where they hit, glittering with tiny gold bubbles. They magnified the red wound as it slowly zipped up. We released the spell, and the blood washed away, streaking down his leg. His skin looked a little stretched, a lighter shade of tender green with a chunky, pale scab marking the point where the skin came together.

Discord looked over the healed cut, thumbing the pale line.

“So um,” Luna spoke up, magically wringing out the rest of the water with a grimace on her face. “What now?”

“Well, we can’t stay here.” Discord stood up, gingerly putting weight on his bad leg. “It won’t be long until they try something besides sending the kids after us.”

“What else could we possibly face tonight?”

“Anything.” Discord stared blankly at his illusion wall. Stared beyond it. “We’ve got to go now. Shadow magic or no.”
The wall in front of us vanished, Discord briefly looked around before he slipped around the corner.

“The sheet…!” Luna whispered, hastily trying to fold it up as she too left our hole-in-the-wall. “Discord!”

Softly, we trotted through the twists and turns of a maze only Discord knew. Roof low, no torches to speak of, shadows thick and heavy on the eyes. And yet, as Discord pulled us under the blanket of darkness, they still felt uncomfortably tight. My sister edged past me, wet sheet flung over her back like a poorly tied skirt. She snuck right up beside my friend, and whispered a question into his ear.

“Where are we going?”

Discord looked around, and led us down another passage.

“We can punch a hole through the outer wall now,” he said softly. “We go there, blast it open, and we’re home free.”

“Oh…” I frowned, wondering why I didn’t think of that sooner. Or why we hadn’t tested the Elements out more before entering into the city. But a more important feeling began bubbling to the surface as we walked through the twisting, tight paths.

“Discord,” I said, “That means we can use this power to create a passage for other ponies to escape, right? That’s got to be our plan now.”

He was silent. Silent for far, far too long. There were voices in the distance, footsteps. Yet, maybe those were our footsteps, our own voices slowly echoing back to us. With how my ears were straining, everything sounded like some dark creature, creeping and whispering right up behind us.

“That could mean,” Discord said, at long last, “That Draconequus could escape too.”

The tunnels were getting brighter. Or was it just my eyes getting used to the dark? We turned a corner, and the passage opened up into a large hallway lit by sparse torches. Discord nudged his nose out into the new space, but he quickly retreated. We all held our breath as the feet of a massive Draconequus casually lumbered past. It was a long, long while before I stopped hearing the echoes of those padding, clicking feet.

Discord slipped into the corridor, pulling shadows along with him. Yet, this cloak squeezed and relaxed as we approached and walked past torches. It felt like… Well, I tried not to think about what it felt like. Something absolutely nightmarish.

I spoke up, quiet in a lonely moment. “We can find a way, right? Stay here as long as it takes… You know I won’t leave this city with nothing accomplished, Discord.”

“I know.”

“Big sis…” Luna whispered ahead of me, “You told us, all the way here, that we had to try… And we did try.” She sighed, face puckered. “But we lost. There’s nothing we can do now. We just gotta get out of here.”

“I can’t accept that.”

My sister bit her lip and turned away. Ahead of me, Discord nodded, following the slow, spiraling curve of a wall. When did they start to curve like that…?

“I know,” he said.

“Oh!” I exclaimed. “So you agree we have to do something about this.”

“Yes, Celestia. I know.”

“Well!” Discord actually understood what I was going through? He knew that we couldn’t leave without helping someone? Well… Well finally! “So then— EEP!“ I squeaked, offensively loud. My foot had dropped through what had felt like solid floor into a pile of something nasty, something wet and frigidly cold. I looked down. The puddle of hopefully water had been iced over, discarded straw trapped in the film.

In the distance, there was a little clatter of stones… or was it claws on stones?! Our entire group huddled together, painfully close to one of the guttering torches.

Discord plucked a little at the shadows. Silence. Not long after, we were off again.

“I think,” Discord said slowly as the corridors wound tighter. As doors began cropping up on one wall, little rags hanging from each one. “If we want to get out. If we want to make sure no Draconequus find the hole. And especially if we want to set up a regular road out of this city…”

He stopped walking. There didn’t seem to be anything particularly special about the spot. I strained my ears for a Draconequus, but there was nothing. Nothing larger than a drip of water, or the scratching of a rat. To our left, there were three apparent doors, each with their own scrap marker. A crude red claw. A jagged white set of fanged teeth. And a black star with six sharply drawn points.

“Well.” Discord took a deep breath, and the shadows around us snapped back against the walls. Exposed! My eyes flicked up and down the corridor… nothing. Please, let there be nothing…

“Discord?”

Jaw set, Discord walked up to a door. The one adorned with the black star. “To set something, anything up… We’re going to have to speak with Ruin.” He placed his paw on the door. “I dunno what’s going to happen, but I gotta talk to him alone first… okay? I can hide you here, with an illusion…”

“It’s okay. I got it.” Luna nodded, and her horn flared…

“Luna,” I put my hoof on her shoulder, “Luna you don’t have to…” But with a little wobble of her head, the shadows once more rolled over us. She dropped to her knees, making herself small. I did the same, trying to make things easier for her.

“Luna…” Discord whined.

“Just don’t be too long, kay Discord?”

“Right.”

He spun and forcefully pushed at the door. It squeaked a little in its frame, and barely opened. I frowned. What if somebody heard…?

“Stupid… door!” He slammed his shoulder into it, and it popped open a little bit further with a horrible squeal.

“Discord!” I hissed.

“Shh! Darn thing never quite opened right…”He heaved into it again, and it swung just barely open, stuttering from the impact. I tried to see what I could of the room beyond. It was small for something as big as a Draconequus. Lit by an overhead lamp, dry with a pile of straw in one cornor… I didn’t see anybody, but right after Discord wormed his way through the narrow gap, it slammed immediately shut after him.

“I…” I stammered, “I really do hope that wasn’t a trap.”

“We stay as long as I can hold this shadow,” Luna said, “And then you can blast the door open.”

“Oh yes, I agree.” A fleeting image of what we might find passed through my head. But… “I don’t think it’s going to come to that. Discord...” I mulled over my words in my head. “He’s been afraid of the danger in this city long, long before we got here. If he thinks Ruin is going to help him, then, well, I trust him.”

“Uh-huh! Me too!”

I winced. Her voice was creeping upward. Nothing loud, and there were no Draconequus around. But… I put my leg around her shoulder, holding her to me.

“Let’s just be quiet and wait, alright?” I whispered.

“Oh…” She nodded up at me, wincing a little as her horn sputtered. Then, we both simply watched the door and waited.

I could hear small things. Occasionally the muffled baritone of the Draconequus beyond the door, calmly speaking in words I couldn’t make out. Even more rarely, I heard Discord’s little voice rise and fall. I strained my ears when I could hear him… He sounded upset. But, with nothing to do but stare and wonder, my own thoughts quickly overtaking my attention.

I knew, as soon as we escaped the horrible Stallion’s attacks, that there had to be another approach to this. Another way to help these ponies. And it almost causes me a little swell of pride in Discord to know he feels the same way. Or, at the very least, cares enough about me that he’d find a way to help.

Because that’s what we have to do. It doesn’t matter if we can’t handle this, or if it seems too overwhelming. You’re supposed to throw yourself at a problem. Try, try, and try again until you find just the right way for everything to work out. It may not be the most comfortable or best policy, and it can hurt quite a bit to get to a good position… But it’s what I have to do. There’s no point in complaining, crying, or thinking that you can’tdo it. You just have to do it.

I squeeze my sister’s shoulders, nodding quietly to myself. I didn’t know all the ins and out of raising my sister. I spent months feeling horrible and inadequate, lost and uncertain. But things fell right into place in the end, didn’t it? And she’s turned out wonderfully, a healthy and happy little filly.

If I can learn as I go with raising a filly, than for goodness sake, I can learn as I go with taking care of Equestria. And with Discord finding a way to help our people, well, throwing ourselves at the problem was the right thing to do after all.

With another loud scrape, the door heaved open. Luna dropped the shadows, startled, as Discord stepped out of the room. His eyes were puffy, he was fiddling with some string on his neck… and he wasn’t alone. Towering over him, reaching up to a ceiling lamp to douse it, was a fully grown Draconequus. The one that Discord had chatted casually to in the streets.

“Oh!” Luna exclaimed. “So that was Ruin!”

“Um, yeah. This, this is my mentor. Ruin.” Discord turned back to the large Draconequus, poking a finger under a string around his neck. A flat, brown bag was flung over his shoulders, cradled between his wings.

“What do you have there?” I asked.

“Some personal stuff,” he quickly replied. “Um, anyway. Celestia, Luna, Ruin says that he’s going to help us.”

“Really?! I mean um,” Too loud, Celestia, much too loud! “So, we have to work out a plan, or…?”

“Not here. Follow me, and we will discuss plans when we have arrived.” Ruin said. He smoothly stepped over Discord, and in just two strides, he was already a ways down the tightly curving corridor. He glanced back at us, over an old scar in his side. He lifted his eagle talon, and the shadows swelled around all three of us. Not a tight sheet or an easy blanket, but a gentle, unpopable bubble, only visible but for the lacking shadows beneath our feet. “Let us go.”

And, just like that, we started walking. Just… walking in silence, following this, honestly, quite massive Draconequus as he led us down torch-lit hallways. Following this calm, stalking creature… To say the least, I found the situation to be very bizarre. Discord said that his brother would help, though he was so adamantly against it before… I wondered what Discord could have possibly said to change this Draconequus’ mind.

No, no, the answer to that is obvious! Discord simply misjudged his brother, quite completely. This Draconequus, distant and estranged as he was, actually cared for his little brother! It actually felt very sweet and cute. A misunderstood, protective big brother looking out and raising his younger member of the family…

Not that… I was just placing my own situation over top of this, wasn’t I? I tried to talk to Discord about the matter, but he just waved me silent, face solemn. Alright.

We were moving out of the curving-wall section, and into a place of just flat, straight halls. Slowly rising upward, and getting warmer. We reached the end of one, where the passage beside us veered at a sharp angle upward. I could see a dim light coming from its top. A light to the outside.

Morning. Morning already.

“This. Here.” Ruin said, voice grumbling from deep in his throat. He lifted his massive paw into the air and place it on the wall in front of us. “This is the escape you’re looking for. Dig through here, and you should find yourself out of the city.”

“Well I…” I stared up the ramp, at the gray opening. “Isn’t this a little exposed here?”

“It’s very rare that a tunnel should come so close to the last wall itself,” Ruin carefully explained. “And due to its distance from the home castle, I suspect that it would be rarely used by the Draconequus… However,” he rumbled, “It would not seem strange for one such as myself to use this exit. I can defend it with little question.”

“Oh! So… Ruin.” He looked down at me, almost, in a creepy way, coldly judging me. Maybe it was just his face… Well, I stood against it. “We still need to discuss the plan. How are we going to get ponies out of the city?”

“I am going to handle it,” he explained.

“I would still like to know what you’re planning.”

“Celestia…” Discord warned. Ruin nodded slowly down at his brother. Then, once more, his gaze returned to me.

“You three are going to carve your way to freedom. Then, once things have settled, I will free some of our prisoners, and reason with them about my intentions. They will help me convince the ponies up above.”

“I suppose that makes sense…” I nodded, but I felt a little bit left out at the same time. I wasn’t invited to help with the plan? I had my own ideas… And how could I be sure this was a good one? I mean… I looked to Discord. I trust him and his judgment here, but was this really the best way? “Anything we can do to help?” I finally asked.

“The sooner you escape,” Ruin stated, “The sooner you find your way to safety, the more help you will do.” He waved to the wall. “Start tunneling.”

Discord immediately moved to blast the wall. By the time I fell by his side, he had already melted a hole the size of a watermelon. Even Luna’s element managed to shine a shimmering blue beam, soft and flickering in and out. Thank goodness, I thought, her Element’s not completely lost… Be silly if they could be destroyed by a little damage, right?

Even with all three of us together, our progress was slow. Frigid, melted stone rolled around our ankles, flowing slowly past us into the hallway. Eventually my entire body was standing in the icy makeshift cave, and we were still blasting our way through the rock. Little darting illusions zipped and dipped around our feet, scooping and pushing the gooey remains away, creating a massive spill behind us. I wondered, looking back, where exactly all this rock would be hidden. In another drainage tunnel? Would Ruin take care of that too? Was that part of the plan?

We were nearly five or six body-lengths into the tunnel… And… I started to feel, I guess a lil bit loopy. Drunk or… Goodness, it was cold. Really, really cold. My entire body was numb, I didn’t even think I was casting or nothing or… anything…

I blinked, head yanking up, spinning a bit as my Element sputtered and… It was dark, a dark place. Still in the tunnel, still… blasting away. But behind me, Luna had collapsed, blinking slow and bleary. I felt like, my own breath was slow. Sloooow slow slow… Hm. Odd feeling. I stopped, closed my eyes, and thought… was I drunk? I was too cold to be drunk. Practically a popsicle. No… a Ponysicle. A… Celest-i-sicle.

I think.

I think that was the best one.

Uh-huh.

Oh Celestia… I creased my forehead, trying to rub it with my hoof. I couldn’t feel my hoof or my forehead. I think, maybe a little bit, I poked myself in the eye.

My hind flank stung. Discord slapped it again. I stared at him.

“Elloo-men’.” He spat, screwing up his mouth. “Dis.” He flipped his Element up and shone it in his eyes. He spat again. “Use the Element. Clear your head.” He turned around and blasted Luna. She stood up straight, stunned.

“Was… goin’ on?” she asked.

“I think…” Discord mumbled, “I think defensive spells? Stop people from tunneling?”

“From doin’ wha’ we’re…” I nudged my Element, and let its ray wash over me. “Goodness! It’s like clearing my mud from my mind! But…” I blasted my feet, trying to get them less numb. They only fell through, into a puddle of goop they created. “Drat. Well, let’s hurry.”

“I don’ think… Yes!” Discord’s ray of light vanished, but the light in the tunnel didn’t dim. There was a hole, just the size of a hoof, oozing this nasty blackish material. And through it, trees. Light.

“Daylight!” I blasted the rock again, and the hole grew wider, spilling out the other side. “Yes!”

Discord looked back as I stepped forward. Ruin was behind us, outside the wall, watching us from so, so far away.
“Well,” Discord said, “Be dangerous to stay here much longer.” He looked out of the hole along with me. It was a short drop, maybe two or three feet, onto a grassy hill… Goodness, it seems like too long since I had seen nice, healthy green grass.

I hopped down, and my legs buckled – Stupid, Celestia, your legs are still numb! My hoof twisted and I tumbled onto my back, slapping into more of the stone goop before rolling down the dry, warm hill. A bit startled, but unharmed. I watched as Discord and Luna approached me, uneasy on their feet. And behind us, our hole snapped shut, slowly oozing and blending with the rest of the stone work.

“Is... that really all?” I asked.

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