The Unexpected Journey - Interlude XIII - Part 1
Seven ponies looked each other in the eyes and exchanged nods. As one they entered the gaping tunnel that dug its way under the ruin. Above them, up the summit of the barren mountain to the very peak was a broken turret that had once served as a look-out point. Thick black smoke billowed out of the shattered stones in great waves as a dragon slept beneath.
By hornlight the made their way through the twisting and ever narrowing passageway. They had started six abreast with the seventh riding in a cart pulled by Big Macintosh but as the tunnel narrowed they moved into a single file.
“How long have we been walking?” Cross Circuit asked, breaking the silence that had settled over the group.
“Two and a half hours. It will be dawn soon.” Everypony looked back over their shoulders at Moon Shadow. She gave a halfhearted shrug. “I’m used to spending time in caves.”
One by one the group turned forward and resumed their walking. “So where is this one leading to?” Cross Circuit asked.
“Oh you know, up, down, left, right. Maybe even back to Canterlot.”
“Really?”
A tiny rock struck Cross on the head. “No! I don’t magically know where every cave in the world leads.”
“The cellars,” Luna said, cutting off the two, “or the dungeons beneath them. I cannot say for certain; it has been a very long time since I have lived here.”
“How long?” Lyra asked.
“Perhaps a historian could tell you,” Luna said with a sardonic laugh. “I am afraid living the millennia between then and now has blurred them together. Celestia and I were exiled years before hearth’s warming ever took place and when the windegoes struck we only stayed long enough to gather what ponies would follow. That was among the last days that ponies walked this place.”
“What happened to the ones that stayed?” Cross Circuit asked.
Those ahead of Cross turned and gave him a blank stare.
“Oh, right.” As he walked Cross couldn’t help but feel a creeping cold along his spine as the party made its way deeper into the tunnel. “What happened to the windegoes then?”
“If there is any justice in this world they were burnt to ashes when the dragons took this land from them.”
Cross cringed. “That’s pretty harsh.”
“They drove ponies to the brink of extinction and rendered my home barren and unlivable. It is justified.”
“Still, you sort of have to feel sorry for them. They had to feed off the coldness in somepony’s heart. That can’t be an easy way to live. It’s kinda like those changelings that attacked Canterlot, they weren’t malicious as much as they were desperate.”
“And you would hold their station in their defense? Justice is blind, it sees neither wealth nor poverty. A ponies station, no matter how great or small is no excuse before the guilt of her actions.”
“But that’s just it, they’re not ponies. As far as we know they never knew enough to have a choice or saw that there could be a better way. All I’m saying is that it’s unfortunate that all they knew was hate and darkness.”
“If you ever find yourself facing a changeling you’re pretty little philosophy will be the first thing to go,” Moon Shadow said from the back.
Cross gave a shrug. “I don’t doubt it. Pacifism is easy when you’ve never been in a fight in the first place. I guess I have you guys to thank for that.”
“Don’t mention it. We give up our morals so you don’t have to.”
“Vivas nactus,” Moon Shadow and Morning Star said together.
Cross looked back at the two guards as he walked. He heard Lyra mumble a translation to herself before he ran into something.
“Oh, sorry Princess I wasn’t watching… Princess?”
Luna seemed not to have noticed. She stood rigid looking into the distance.
“Princess Luna?” Cross tried again.
She gave her head a slight shake and looked down at him. “It—it is nothing. We should be more silent, this is not the place to debate philosophy.”
It was good and stuck, Big Mac concluded. They’d been tromping in the caves for about three hours and had made a near complete circle around the ruin by Miss Shadow’s reckoning. Really it was surprising they hadn’t found a place the cart couldn’t go right in the cave’s mouth.
He could pull it free, he reckoned. But he didn’t quite see ripping the axil off and pulling a sled all the way back to Equestria as much of a solution. Plus Granny’d chew his ear off if she knew he’d done that to somepony’s wagon.
The tunnel was a mite cramped for her to use her wings and putting any weight on that leg wouldn’t do anypony any good. There was nothing for it but to carry her until she got to where she could get around on her own. He backed the cart out to where it wasn’t so cramped and unhitched himself.
Big Mac still felt that there was something improper about picking up a mare without so much as a ‘how do you do?’ but he had learned a long time ago that giving them any warning made the whole process more trouble than it needed to be.
She settles onto his back with nothing more than a frustrated sigh. Big Mac gently centered her weight on his back, thankful for her compliance and deciding it was more likely due to the princess’s command than anything else.
Big Mac stepped to the side and allowed the rest of the group to unload the more necessary supplies from the cart.
Morning Star came up to him. “I should be the one to carry her,” he said tensely.
Big Mac brought a hoof up and lightly tapped it on the unicorn’s armor.
“Nope.”
Morning Star opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by Moon Shadow. “It’s fine,” she said. “Can you get my bedroll? We’re going to be making camp soon and I don’t want to sleep on stone.”
“Fine,” Morning Star growled as he stomped his way to the cart.
A bundle of unused saddlebags was found in a corner of the cart. Morning Star grumbled to himself as he triplepacked one for himself and Moon Shadow and Big Mac. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Princess Luna. Out of respect he internalized his grumbling as he settled the bursting saddlebags across his back and began packing another set for the princess.
With a twist of his neck he slung them across his back only to pause when he did not feel their weight. He glanced up again to see them settle on Princess Luna’s back.
Morning Star bit his tongue and gave a terse nod to the party. Wordlessly Luna resumed their march deeper into the mountain.
As she continued on the tunnel became increasingly narrow until she had to hold her wings uncomfortably along her back to avoid scraping them against the walls. The ponies behind her mumbled claustrophobically as Morning Star’s overstuffed bags scraped against the walls.
The tunnel ahead seemed to narrow further for a few yards(meters) until it came to a black opening that even Luna could not see beyond. While she could she drew a deep breath and moved forward. She exhaled as the tunnel began brushing against her saddle bag. By the time she reached the opening her lungs ached at being so empty and when she finally squeezed through the last crack her saddlebags caught and fell off her rump.
She cleared them out of the path for Lyra, Bon Bon, and Cross. Once they had made it into the chamber Luna turned to see Macintosh and Morning Star eying the opening doubtfully. Morning Star’s bags had already become a nuisance and although Macintosh’s frame was little wider than Luna’s his broader build and the mare on his back would make the opening a very tight fit.
Morning Star floated his bags through the tunnel and after a few minutes he followed with his armor held before him. It seemed to work until the last moment when his shoulders wedged against the opening. He grunted and strained against the rock but he seemed unable to get himself out.
“Exhale,” Luna commanded.
He seemed to go through a fit of panicked breathing as he tried to force air out of lungs that only wanted to breathe in. Finally he regained control of himself and forced a long, ragged breath out.
His chest and shoulders narrowed just enough for him to slip free and he quickly settled into the lengthy process of donning his armor.
Big Mac eyed the opening with barely concealed panic. “Nope.” His bass voice echoed through the cavern.
“Just shut up and get through there,” Moon Shadow hissed from his back.
Big Mac gave a violent shake of his head. “Don’t add up,” he said. “Hole’s too small, I’m too big.”
“Farmer,” Moon shadow said, trying to stop the stallion’s shaking. “Farmer!” she tried again. “Macintosh!” she finally shouted. “You will fit, I promise.”
He gave a frustrated snort but took a small step forward. Slowly he made his way towards the opening until he felt stone walls against both of his shoulders. He shook his head in short jerking motions and took rapid shallow breaths.
Moon Shadow put a hoof on his shoulders and ran it up through his mane. “You’ll be fine,” she whispered in his ear, “just a few more steps.”
Slowly Mac started taking deeper breaths until he finally took another small step forward. Mac inched forward feeling every crag and crack in the stone walls as they closed on his shoulders like a vice. His head peeked out of opening into the large cavern that the rest of his party stood in. He saw their mouths moving, giving him words of encouragement but he could only hear the panicked rush of blood through his ears. He could feel the walls against his chest. They constricted tighter with every inch until Mac couldn’t move forward or breathe.
He could feel the mare on his back, her weight incessantly driving him forward but he couldn’t move anymore. She was whispering something in his ear but her words were far away and muddled, as if he was hearing from underwater. The darkness of the cave seemed to intensify as blackness encroached on his vision.
He felt the mare shift on his back then a sharp pain in his side drove what air was left out of his lungs. His shoulders slid against the walls and he fell forward out into the open air.
He lay on the dusty and cracked stone gasping at the air. Once he could lift his head without it swimming he looked at the rest of the group. Morning Star was hovering over Moon Shadow fretfully with straps and buckles hanging from his half-donned armor. From the state of the wrappings he could tell that her leg had jolted painfully during the fall but hadn’t taken any serious damage.
The rest of the party hovered curiously around Princess Luna. She had her eyes closed and was slowly moving her head back and forth as her glowing horn distilled it’s light into a small pile of glowing orbs.
Big Mac rose to his hooves and walked over to where Moon Shadow lay. When he reached her a hoof shot out and struck him in the gut.
“Breathe out when I tell you to or next time I won’t be so gentle.”
“Eeyup,” Big Mac coughed out.
The hoof hooked around the bottom of his pulling harness as Moon Shadow used it to climb to her hooves. She started towards the others grouped around the princess. Mac gave Morning Star a confused shrug only to be met with a stern glare. Morning did an about face and caught up to Moon Shadow. With every step he hovered over her only to get swatted away.
Mac hung back for a moment in confusion. He should have been more careful with Moon Shadow but Morning Star seemed to be more concerned with his own jealousy.
He trotted to catch up to the pair as the joined the rest of the group. Once Princess Luna saw that they were all assembled she turned to them. With a dramatic flare of her horn she scattered the glowing orbs throughout the cavern.
Some of the stately flagstones remained vaguely square while the once-intricate mosaic was nothing but colored dust. Behind the group a high arch spanned over the crack the group had entered through. Rusted and crumbling remains large hinges gave testament to the mighty oaken door that had once filled the archway.
The vaulted ceiling disappeared into darkness overhead. There were a few last vestiges of plaster clinging to the few interior walls that still stood. A small stack of stones suggested that there had once been a stairway and a balcony looking over the grand entrance but only ruins remained.
In the center of the room was a statue. The stallion depicted stood only a hairsbreadth shorter than Big Mac with only a slightly narrower frame. Its rear legs seemed about to crumble into dust and the body had lost any definition to erosion. Beneath a broken horn and a simple band of stone the stallion’s face was untouched.
He had a youthful and vigorous face with a masculine beard covering his jawline. His mouth was set in a stern, flat line that hinted at a challenging smirk near the corners. His eyes held a far-off and slightly wild look.
“My companions, who have followed me through dread and discomfort, my little—my friends, I welcome you to the Fortress of Canterlot the once-throne of the great unicorn kings and the place of my birth.”
As Luna spoke the party looked around in wonder at the few structures that still remained. Lyra and Cross began an excited discussion about what the castle may have looked like when it was still inhabited. Lyra went on at length about what myths, forgotten in time, the murals and tapestries might have depicted while Cross looked at the scattered bricks and stones and ventured how the huge cavern might have been several rooms separated by interior walls that had collapsed and worn away.
At Luna’s command the rest of the party began clearing a place to make camp. Most of the time was spent finding a place that was not under any of the long and delicate stalactites hanging from the ceiling or near any of the unstable walls that still stood. After judging a suitable location they cleared any debris and small rocks then laid out the bedrolls.
Mac stared up into the shadowy ceiling as he listened to the talking voices, shuffling legs, and other sounds of wakefulness faded into rhythmic breathing. All he could hear was an occasional shuffle from Princess Luna as she kept watch and the half-light of the cavern was completely relaxing. Still Mac couldn’t sleep.
He slowly rolled to his stomach and rose to his hooves. He carefully made his way through the sleeping ponies to the princess. She stood in front of the statue with a pensive frown on her face.
“Don’t feel right, does it?” he asked her softly. “looking down at him is just wrong ain’t it?”
“Am I truly so transparent?”
“Nope,” Mac said with a shrug. “I suppose I got a way of getting a sense of what ponies are thinking.”
“Truly? What am I thinking now?”
“You don’t believe me,” Mac said with a blush.
“No, I am thinking that such a skill is not surprising for one who has the quiet contemplation of a philosopher.”
“I’m just a farmer.”
“And thus the greatest and most noble philosophies are spoken to empty fields and lost to hearts too humble to proclaim what they have found.”
“Really princess, I’m just a farmer.”
“That does not make your thoughts any less valuable. You have more to offer the world than your strength before the plow.”
“I saw the sunrise change when you got back. I was always up and fed before the sun. “Burning Daylight,” Granny’d always say if I was a might stubborn about getting out of bed. Didn’t much bother her if daylight hadn’t near come. I was always dragging myself out to the fields while the sun was dragging itself up into the sky. It always seemed every bit as tired as I was, always fighting to keep itself from going back to bed. The mist would always hang around wherever it pleased. Like it knew the sun needed another few gulps of coffee before it’d be up to chasing it off.
“Then you came back. I was out trudging to the field like always and the sun rose fresh as a daisy and clear as a bell. It’s like when you’re doing music, you feel something bigger than you can put into notes and words and this sunrise felt so happy it could cry.
“You changed your sister’s life just by coming back to it. Them that matter don’t need much more than a strong back from me. Applejack just needs me to stick around and listen to her once she’s done being stubborn. Applebloom just needs me to remember how to toss her in the deep parts of the swimming hole. Granny just needs me to carry her up the stairs when she’s not feeling up to it and keep quiet about it so Applejack doesn’t worry. Ain’t none of them that need me to think up something pretty to say.”
“Then perhaps it is you that needs these things. A poet’s heart longs for verse, a singer’s for melody, and yours would have depth and eloquence of thought. But enough of this,” Luna said as she settled onto her stomach. “You were right. Looking up at him is much more familiar. How did you know?”
“You said you were born here. I figured you grew up looking up at this here statue.”
“Your guess is very near the truth.” Luna took her gaze from the statue and saw Big Mac standing beside her. She scowled and patted the ground beside her with a wing. “Please, join me. I left my crown in Equestria, there is no need to stand on ceremony.”
Mac gave a slow shrug and settled beside the princess.
“This statue was not built until I had nearly outgrown it. He is so much younger than I ever knew him to be in life. His eyes are not right. They were always filled with pride but it was tempered by wisdom and love. It is hard to believe that this stallion grew to be my father.”
“Your pa!?” Mac’s head whipped around to the sleeping ponies to ensure that none of them were woken up by his outburst.
“Yes,” Luna said with a smile. “If Celestia and I are sisters then we must have some lineage to share. How else would we have come to be?”
“I suppose I just thought you always were.”
“Oh come now, we are not nearly that old,” Luna teased.
“Nope,” Mac said with a chuckle.
Silence settled between the two. Luna began to examine the statue more closely. As well preserved as the face was the rest of the statue was unrecognizable. Her father had been a solidly built stallion with a thick chest and strong legs. The statue seemed delicate, like one misplaced breath would tear the whole thing to pieces.
As correct as it was looking up at her father’s image she was reminded that this was not her father.
“Settler’s eyes,” Mac said beside her.
“Pardon?”
“It’s that look a pony gets in their eyes, when they spend too much time looking at land that needs taming and not enough time looking at home. It’s that look he has in his eyes,” Mac said, gesturing to the statue.
“How are you familiar with this ‘settler’s eyes’ condition?”
“Granny may have accused me of having it once or twice when I was clearing some new fields.”
Luna chortled. “Forgive me but you do not strike me as one who would be affected by mere field labor. Surely it was something more.”
“That wasn’t an easy time for us,” Mac said looking away. “Ponies have gotten used to not asking why our folks ain’t around. Parents don’t leave the family farm for no good reason but death don’t much care for asking nicely when it asks.
“Applebloom was just a baby, wailing up a storm. Granny was trying to keep it all together. Applejack had run off to Manehatten and I ran off to that field. It takes about all the off time you’ll get in a season to get a new field ready for planting. I did it in a week and I about killed myself getting there.
Granny finally told me that I could march into the Everfree and clear it until there was nothing left or I could bring in enough of a harvest to keep us going through winter.”
“What did you do?” Luna asked.
“I turned around, started looking toward home again. I realized I had a family to take care of and a heck of a lot more than just me that I was needing to take care of.”
“Your family is very fortunate to have you.”
“Nope. They need Pa still. I’m the lucky one, that they can get by with just me.”
“You said the sunrise changed when I returned. If it was your sister and not mine who raised the sun I wonder if you would truly see how important you are to her.”
“I reckon she’d drop it on my head next time we get sore at each other,” Mac said with a chuckle.
“Elder siblings are vexing,” Luna said, laughing along with Mac, “Heavens know that I have wanted to throttle Celestia before. That does not mean that I have no love for her, or that I do not admire her. She is so much of what I wish I could have been. She is gentle and kind in her actions yet she is unshakable and resolute in her decisions. She inspires love and loyalty simply by being herself. For all these thousands of years she has been my big sister, so I point out her flaws and draw out their corrections just to convince myself that I am her equal.”
“Probably don’t help that she’s so tall.”
“It simply is not fair! It is as if she flies about with weights attached to her hooves to stretch her legs.”
“Eeyup,” Mac chuckled. “The Ponytones let Rarity drag us to the spa after practice one day. After what I saw ponies do to get looking how they want in there, attaching weights seems downright reasonable.”
“Aye,” Luna said with a laugh. “Bathing in filth was once what foals did to give their mother’s fits now those mothers find it relaxing.”
“When it ain’t their floors it’s being tracked all over I reckon they might.” Big Mac finished the statement with a tremendous yawn. “Pardon,” he said.
“Perhaps you should return to your bedroll. Tomorrow will not be easy and you will need your rest.”
“Eeyup,” Mac said as he rose tiredly to his hooves.
“Macintosh?” His head turned back in answer to his call. “Thank you.”
Mac settled down onto his bedroll. “Eeyup,” he said as sleep finally overtook him.
The next day found the pony’s crude campsite buzzing with activity. It all started with Moon Shadow triple checking her armor and sharpening the metal claws that would attach to her front hooves. Morning Star stood beside her idly adjusting the straps to his armor and saddlebags, and hefting the spiked club that was his namesake.
Loud pops issued from Big Mac as he stretched his limbs and checked his sledge. Once he was satisfied the head was securely attached to the haft he gave it a few practice swings.
Luna stood aside giving her wings a few worm-up flaps while Cross, Lyra, and Bon Bon scratched their heads.
“What do you think they’re getting ready for?” Cross asked.
“Trouble,” Bon Bon replied flatly.
“Well duh,” Lyra said. “We’ve been expecting trouble since the border, why are we just now getting ready for it?”
“Because we’re just now going into the dragon’s den,” Bon Bon said. Her two companions gave her shocked looks. “What, that wasn’t obvious? We go to the place where dragons come from and then go underground, what else do you expect to find?”
“I was thinking a few giant spiders and maybe a slime,” Cross said.
“Well dungeons always do end up with some sort of big bug in them, but why the slime?” Lyra asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve just always wanted to see one.”
“Why did Princess Luna have to drag Ponyville’s two biggest geeks on this trip?” Bon Bon grumbled.
“Pshhh. Says our DM,” Lyra teased back.
“Only because you wouldn’t stop complaining about not being able to play any characters,” Bon Bon said.
“Something that I’m sure you’re coming to realize,” Lyra said.
“I’ve made more characters putting NPC’s on your stupid pirate ship than I ever did as a player!” Bon Bon’s shout echoed through the cavern causing the ponies who were not in the conversation to sharply turn their heads and stare.
Blushing furiously Bon Bon hid her face in Lyra’s mane. “I hate you and I hate the things you make me say,” she whispered.
“Love you too Bonnie.”
After only a few more minutes of preparation the party was ready to move. Moon Shadow took her place on Big Mac’s back with less than the usual amount of grumbling and the others slung saddlebags stuffed with provisions across their back.
“Stay quiet,” Luna said. “We do not know what horrors we may encounter and I would prefer that we know of them before they know of us.”
In silence the group nodded their heads and followed after Luna. A single arched hallway had survived the test of time. Luna slowly led the party dim hornlight barely reached the cracked stone walls. A few recessed statues of long-forgotten royalty and long destroyed tapestries were could be seen as they made their way through the corridor.
As they went on the air began to warm. Moon Shadow shifted uncomfortably as she felt the warming air stir. In and out it moved in a slow cadence, like the breathing of the earth itself. For minutes they carried on until the air was so hot that sweat poured from her brow and the moving of the air was so prominent she could almost feel the air moving her mane.
They passed under one final archway and the tunnel opened up unto a huge chamber that dwarfed the previous one and even humbled the great throne room in Canterlot.
Spreading her wings Luna signaled those behind her to halt. She peered into the darkness beyond the meagre hornlight.
“Wait here,” She said in the barest whisper. “Moon Shadow take to the air and be ready to serve as a distraction should my strike fail but do not take undo risk. You have suffered enough wounds in my name for a lifetime.”
With that Luna extinguished her horn and disappeared into the darkness.
From his back Big Mac could feel the weight lessen rhythmically as the mare silently beat her wings. Just as it seemed about to disappear it settled back down with a frustrated sigh punctuated by a muttered curse.
Again the weight began lifting and again it failed.
“Toss me,” she whispered in his ear.
“Wut?”
“I need you to toss me. The air’s too hot for a flat take off and I can’t jump so I need you to toss me.”
“Eeyup.”
“Even think about telling a soul and I’ll kill you.”
“Eeyup.”
Big Mac shuffled just out of the light. Balancing on his hind legs he took Moon Shadow in his forehooves. He had plenty of experience throwing hay bales without the benefit of a rope and so when Moon Shadow shot like a bullet into the air she had to stifle a startled yelp before she took a more controlled flight.
Fifty paces, Luna thought to herself. I have brought them naught but fifty paces away from this dragon and I have not even told them.
Slowly she began making her way through the darkness towards the sleeping dragon. It was truly massive with its huge bronze scales nearly as bit as a pony. Its head was as large as most houses with a fang-filled maw easily big enough to devour all the ponies present. Its crimson horns pierced the air above it and formed a savage crown.
Forty paces. It was bigger than any dragon she had ever slain before. Its massive wings could cover a village in darkness and no doubt its fire could turn anything to ash. She would need to be within five paces. At such massive levels of power the laws of magic began to bend and the spell she planned to use would lose almost all precision.
Thirty-five paces. If Moon Shadow was afraid she showed no hesitation as she made her way around the cavern. She was recklessly brave and loyal beyond doubt.
Thirty paces. Luna felt a creeping itch at the back of her head. She dared not pause and bring a hoof up to scratch. Still it brought a feeling of familiarity.
Twenty-five paces. With every step the itch grew. Luna set her teeth on edge as if grinding them would do something to relieve her of the itch. As the itch grew so did the feeling of familiarity. Splashes of green filled the edges of her vision.
Twenty paces. The itching burned into the back of her skull. She tilted her head back and worked her jaw in a vain attempt to relieve it. Her vision swam with images of a pleasant green pasture.
Fifteen Paces. The burning itch spread until the back of her neck felt as if a predator was about to bite on it. Before her the green field abruptly ended at a cliff. She knew this cliff.
Ten paces. Not a predator, she realized. Eyes were on her, watching for what she would do. She fought off whatever madness made these hallucinations to no avail. The image of the cliff burned itself over the scene of the massive dragon before her. She knew this cliff, she had spent a millennium dancing on its edge.
Five paces. It was not some great judging host but six ponies, six friends. Her heart raged against her with all the fear and doubt it could muster as she lowered her horn and charged her spell.
She looked over the cliff, like a curious filly peering at what was beyond. There was a boundless black void of water that reflected the cliff edge and her image. Familiar slitted eyes stared back up at her. Behind the black alicorn banners of every color flew and armies of every kind marched onto the field. As the spell charged her evil smile grew wider and wider. Luna knew this cliff, she had spent millennia dancing at the edge of sanity while she dealt out death and darkness.
Luna closed her eyes. She tried to block it out, the blinding, searing, itching pain of her friends seeing what she was about to do, the warm grassy pasture that gave way to a dark abyss, the frantic thumping of her heart. She tried to block everything save spell charged in her horn.
It crackled and sparked with energy like a dog tugging at its leash. It would be easy to simply let the spell run its course and kill the beast. It would have been easy for her to end Chrysalis’s existence. It would have been easy for Celestia to mourn her death and lock her in the moon for eternity.
It tugged at her horn, begging for release. The spell made with only one purpose strained against her hesitation and hummed angrily with power. It would be not just easy, the spell fought for release and she strained to maintain her hold.
Through her closed eyes she could still see the cliff. The reflection of Nightmare cackled madly as she tore through assembled lines, leaving only gore in her wake. She saw her other self moving away towards settlements, camps, caves, nests; homes.
“Wait.”
The spell on her horn ceased its struggling, Nightmare turned her head to regard her with curious eyes, and even the slow breathing of the great dragon seemed to pause.
“I—I am trying a new way.”
Nightmare turned fully to face her and settled onto her stomach, ignoring the fleeing survivors behind her. A small fanged smirk adorned her face. The spell began to fade away. Luna felt electric tingles all along her body as the power was reabsorbed.
She slowly backed away towards the circle of light with her friends. With each step across the rubble covered floor she felt her legs tremble weakly and threaten to give out beneath her. The final step a rock shifted beneath her hoof and she tumbled forward.
“Princess, are you okay,” Morning Star asked as he rushed over to help her up.
“I—I am…I do not…I—it is not important.”
“What happened?” Moon Shadow growled as she landed gracelessly beside her.
Luna felt her voice catch as she tried to answer. She could only curl up and shake her head.
Bon Bon roughly made her way through the gathered ponies, a scrap of cloth in her hoof. As she reached up to wipe Luna’s tearstained face she flinched away, curling even tighter into herself.
“Hey, hey. It’s okay,” Bon Bon cooed gently as she reached for Luna. When Luna accepted the touch Bun Bon moved a pace closer and began wiping the princess’s cheeks like a mother would a foals.
“There, are you feeling a bit better now?”
Luna nodded dumbly.
“Let’s get you to your hooves so you can tell us what happened.”
Once again Luna nodded. She took Morning Star’s offered hoof and used it to heave herself back up.
“I have deceived you,” she finally said. “There is a sleeping dragon in this very room. I meant to slay the beast in secret but I—I could not.”
“You couldn’t!?” Moon Shadow hissed, “What are we supposed to do now?”
Morning Star shushed her, giving a nervous glance over his shoulder.
“Go around,” Mac said, “best let sleeping dragons lie.”
“We cannot,” Luna said. “We have been extremely lucky it has not already awoken. Once we reach the prize we seek it will wake and we will be trapped. Whatever may come it must be dealt with here.”
“What do you suggest?” Moon asked.
“I...” Luna trailed off.
“What?”
“I cannot believe I am going to suggest this. I will wake it and speak to it.”
“Pahahahaha!” Cross burst out laughing. “I’m sorry but that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Bon Bon gave his shin a very unsubtle kick. “Not to agree with a complete ass but aren’t dragons a bit… well they don’t exactly rise and shine do they?”
“They be somewhat bestial,” Luna coughed, “But Celestia’s and my name carry some weight among them for…varying reasons. I hope that I can reason with it.”
“What if you can’t?” Moon challenged.
“Then I will cover your escape. The beast can chase us back to Equestria if it wishes but I will make it regret every mile.”
“Should we be calling him that?” Lyra asked. “We want to reason with him and we’re all ‘the beast’ that, and ‘that monster’ this. Maybe we should try a bit more positive thinking.”
“Well we don’t know that it’s a ‘he’ either,” Cross said.
“Well making a wrong assumption still isn’t as bad as calling someone an ‘it’, that’s just dehumanizing.”
“That’s just what?” Morning asked.
With a sigh Bon Bon answered, “It means you’re implying it can’t think for itself or that its life doesn’t matter, like one of the animals griffons use for meat or something. Don’t ask where she got the word from.”
“Did it look like a boy or a girl?” Cross asked, looking to Luna.
“Dragons are less…apparent about this sort of thing once they reach maturity,” Luna answered.
“So we’re back to ‘it’,” Lyra said with a thoughtful frown. “We need more gender neutral pronouns.”
“Not necessarily more, just more without bad implications,” Cross ventured.
“Can we shut up about gender neutral pronouns and please talk about what we’re going to do with the dragon!” Moon half shouted.
“We’re going to talk to it about getting, uh, whatever we’re getting. We’re just working on the best way to say ‘hi’,” Cross said.
“Howdy usually works for me,” Big Mac said.
“I suppose I could improvise,” Luna said. “It is decided then?”
She looked around the circle. One by one they nodded their heads until she got to Moon Shadow. She gave a frustrated shake of her head but waved a hoof dismissively.
She turned towards the dragon to consider the best way to wake it.
“Wait, what are we looking for exactly?” Lyra asked behind her.
“What, we’ve just referred to it as ‘the thing we’re looking for’ this whole trip and I can’t be the only one who doesn’t actually know what it is.”
“Eeyup,” Big Mac said before a chorus of agreements.
“It is the journal of Starswirl the Bearded,” Luna said with a smile. “I shall endeavor to be more specific in the future.”
“Magic journal with beard hair in it, gotcha.”
Luna turned back towards the dragon. She had come to recognize Bon Bon’s corrections by sound alone and couldn’t help but let her smile widen.
She began casting a spell very different from her earlier one. The chamber began to slowly illuminate as her magic took effect. Before long dark silhouettes began to gain distinction and the dragon became clearly visible. The spell finally came to an end, leaving the chamber nearly as bright as day.
The dragon took one massive, slow breath in and let it out, its eyes still firmly shut.
“Are you sure we can’t just go around? He doesn’t seem to be waking up for anything,” Morning Star asked.
“We cannot, as soon as the least part of a dragon’s hoard is touched they will wake to face the thieves.”
“Is there another way to wake a dragon that doesn’t involve it immediately wanting to kill us?”
“If there is it escapes me. We have already made enough noise to wake the dead and they are not known to appreciate prodding.”
“Could we move like, one coin or something so it knows we’re not trying to get anything valuable from it?” Cross asked.
“Perhaps,” Luna said after a pause. “It may just as likely take it as an insult.”
She looked back over her shoulder. There were three smaller tunnels leading off beside the one they had entered through. When she was young they would have been servant’s passages leading through the fortress.
With a nod of her head she gestured to them. “You should prepare to flee, this-“ she cut herself off with a bark of nervous laughter, “-this will not go well.”
As her friends backed away Luna scanned the dragon’s hoard. After a moment she levitated out a single copper coin. She held it between her and the Dragon’s eye for a moment until it moved away, revealing a slitted golden pupil.
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I just wanted to say cynder just for the sake of a reference and possibly a decent crossover chapter.
Smaug?
Brilliant. Just brilliant.
Rarely have I ever read BigMac being so deep, yet feeling so natural. It's amazing how well he and Luna can go together if done right.
Kudos to you
5722816 Ya Gota be honest I was waiting for Bonbon to say "Thats what she said" or something similar after reading that passage.
If it's Draco I'm going to die of laughter. Loving this story greatly!
Great Chapter, I'm really looking forward to the second part ^^
And I'm guessing the name of the dragon will be "Flightless Fury"
It's unlikely but I suppose it's just possible that Smaug may decide that if an item in his hoard is stolen and belongs to one of the Great, his claim on it is suspect. Draconic honour is a strange thing at times; he may feel bound to release it to the one to whom it belongs.
More importantly, if he is just it's guardian and Luna is one of those with a right to possess it? Then the issue of duty arises.
The dragons name?
Tim
Crackle, the Special Dragon!