12-Trials of the Sun and Moon
Chapter 12
Luna frowned.
This night was peculiarly tense. The stars were quiet, the aether was anxious, and the void was nervous as they watched the earth below.
Luna said nothing as she mentally comforted the stars and planets. “Hush, my children, it will be alright.”
Nevertheless, the sky did not relax.
Luna sighed.
She knew, of course, what they were worried about.
They were worried because she was worried, and of course, she was worried about those across the sea.
She had learned from Twinkle Drop’s restless dreams that she had been left behind in favor of the Element Bearers.
She truly couldn’t blame them for that. The pink one’s skill with a cutlass was uncanny, especially since she was using her hooves.
Still…
She sighed once more and tried to calm her sky and her own doubts.
<<<|Ω|>>>
The siblings Sparkle trotted up yet another set of stairs, going deeper and deeper into the darkness.
“Alright, Twily, I think my darkvision spell is dying.”
“I’ll tap you up here in a few seconds, I think mine’s going as well.”
There was silence for a second.
“I’m going to roll Knowledge (Dungeoneering).”
Twilight laughed.
“Never thought my first real dungeon would be, well, real,” Shining said.
“It’s been that kind of day, hasn’t it?”
“Yeah...yeah…”
More silence.
“So how have you two been?” she asked.
“Who, Cadence and me?”
“Cadence and I,” she corrected under her breath.
“Didn’t we tell you already?” he asked, oblivious to the grammatical error and verbal proofreading.
“No, you told me how you were doing, she told me how she is doing, but neither of you have told how you are doing. Second person plural if I hadn’t made it obvious for you.”
“Was Alan the one who taught you to be so snarky? Or was that the Princess?”
“Snark, snark,” Twilight replied.
Shining chuckled. “Well, we’ve been alright, I suppose. Cadence swears up and down that our foal is not only going to be a filly, and she’ll also be born on the nineteenth of November.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, she says she can sense it because of a hereditary thing. Princess of Love and all that. Doesn't change the fact I’m betting on a son.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. She may have an ancient, powerful bloodline of magic that has not been wrong for sixteen generations, but she doesn’t have the power of the Y chromosome.”
Twilight facehoofed.
Shining nudged her.
She looked up at him, and did her best not to laugh.
“I…” she stifled a laugh, “I think having a Y chromosome actually hurts your cause when it comes to childbirth.”
Shining looked at her and blinked. “Crap, you’re right. Aw, crap, how did I not see this coming!?” he asked, standing on his hind hoofs to grab his face in mock horror.
She laughed.
Shining smiled, before motioning on. “Come on, we’ve got to keep going. Can’t leave everypony waiting, can we?”
“No, no we can’t,” Twilight said, “and apparently, we need to get you back home by Fall.”
Shining smiled.
Twilight hugged her older brother, and gave him her biggest smile before turning the corner.
She froze.
“Twilight?” Shining asked, turning the corner right behind her.
Before them was a massive stone set of double doors. The marble portal, pure white, had eleven large deadbolts set into it, five on each side with one in the middle, sealing the doors together. At each deadbolt was an inscription, a small verse or two of a riddle, and next to each riddle was a gem. In the middle of the door was a twelfth gem, a large emerald as opposed to the small clear diamonds that surrounded the door, as well as a crescent moon carved of obsidian, a black sickle on the white background of the marble.
“Wow…” Shining said, “Big door.”
“Yeah…” Twilight said, approaching the door.
“Uh...so…” Shining began, “what are we looking at?”
Twilight blinked, before approaching the massive doors. “Well, obviously, it’s a door,” she said, “a rather ornate door. Even so, for being so ornate, the only real decoration on this door are the gems, and the moon.”
Shining watched as his sister quickly slipped into science mode, and decided he best spend his time finding a nice comfortable patch of floor to sit on.
“The gems are, oddly enough, magical. Probably enchanted for spell storage by a unicorn, before having the spell matrix imprinted on them. This means, of course, I have no idea what spells and in them, nor can I discern their purpose until such a time as activation. The moon, however...
“If I remember correctly, the crescent moon is an ancient Griffonian symbol of femininity and wisdom, while the sun was masculinity and strength. So, that, combined with the fact that these inscriptions seem to be riddles of some description, I’m assuming that this door is supposed to be a test of the mind. If I had to guess, since I can’t see the mechanism for opening the deadbolts, the test is probably to open the door.”
Shining merely sat back and watched, a smile forming as he watched his sister go to work.
“Now...let’s see how much I remember from The Yellow Book of Riddles…” she said aloud as she looked at the lowest inscription on the left side.
“A barrel of rainwater
weighs twenty pounds.
What must you add
to make it weigh fifteen?”
She smiled, “Well that’s an easy one, the answer is ‘holes.’”
The diamond went from clear to green, and the deadbolt slid open with a loud clink-clank.
She clapped her hooves with glee as she gave the slightest squee. “Yes! I was right! It is a locking mechanism! Alright, alright! Let’s see the second one.”
“A box beneath a tree,
Inside some tasty meat.
Kept for a month or more,
It still tastes just as sweet.”
“Hm...a box beneath a tree…let’s see, boxes commonly refer to shells and cases and if it’s beneath a tree means it’s probably a nut...nutmeat...Ah! A walnut!”
The second diamond turned green. Clink-clank.
“Nice!” Shining said as he stood up, his inner adventurer beginning to rise up at the sense of a challenge.
“A strange earthen house,
That brings naught but disdain.
And yet those who stay there,
Never do complain.”
“Hm...an earthen house…” Shining read.
“That brings nothing but disdain,” Twilight said.
“But no one ever complains…”
“Hm...that one’s a little tough…”
“Well...badgers in in the earth, and they don’t complain about it.”
“A den then?”
“Yeah,” Shining said. “Let’s go with it.”
Twilight nodded before saying loudly. “A den.”
The gem in the middle of the door went from green to blue. A griffon’s face, constructed of mana appeared, and stared down on the two.
“Oh dear,” Twilight said.
“Three wrong answers remain!” the griffon bellowed, before a bolt of electricity shot behind the two. The bolt ran along the walls and floor, before quickly forming a wall of lightning at the edge of the corner they just came around.
Shining looked over at Twilight. “Well...I guess ‘den’ was not the answer.”
“L-let’s come back to that one, shall we?” Twilight asked.
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Alright, let’s see, number four…”
The next riddle read:
“All about the house,
With his Lady he dances.
Yet he always works,
And never romances.”
“Okay…” Shining began. “I’m going to go ahead and call this one as ‘Broom.’”
“What?” Twilight asked. “That doesn’t even...no...no, wait it does. Okay, ignoring the fact that it makes sense, how did you come up with that?”
“Cadence has been bringing up housework as an excuse to get out of stuff, brooms and stuff like that have been on my mind lately.”
Twilight blinked.
Shining turned to the door. “Is it a broom?”
The diamond turned green, and the deadbolt slid open.
“I-I...I don’t even…”
“What’s the next one?” her brother asked.
Twilight shook her head, but nonetheless read the next one aloud.
“Flat as a leaf,
Round as a ring,
Has two eyes,
But can't see a thing.”
“Has two eyes, but can’t see a thing...hm…” Shining began.
“Oh! Oh I know this one!” Twilight said excitedly. “Rarity taught me this one! It’s a button!”
The diamond turned green, and the lock clicked opened.
“Ha!” Twilight cried in victory.
Shining smiled before moving on to the riddle over the center bolt.
“Always smiles or maybe frowns
Sinks in water, never drowns.
Catches prey on its barbed teeth.
Hunts all day but never eats.”
“Always smiles or maybe frowns?” Shining asked aloud.
“Um…” Twilight began, “I don’t know that one…”
“Catches prey with its barbed teeth…” Shining said aloud, thinking. “That...that sounds like a trap to me…”
“Like a griffon rabbit traps?”
“Yeah...yeah! Yeah, it’s a trap! You know, when it’s closed it can look like a jawbone bearing its teeth! That could be a smile!”
“I don’t know…besides, Shining, you’re missing—”
“Yeah. Is it a trap?” Shining asked aloud.
The middle gem went from green to yellow. “Two wrong answers remain!” the ethereal griffon said.
The wall of lightning buzzed loudly, and the two unicorns turned to see the electric field move closer.
Their manes began to lift, standing on end as the wall of electric death moved closer, halving their space.
Twilight snorted. “Well, that answers the question as to what happens when we run out of guesses.”
“Okay...so not a trap...I haven’t got a clue.”
“Well, I was going to point out that a trap wouldn’t always be smiling, only when it’s closed. But I do think your right.”
“What? But my answer was wrong…”
“Yes, but not entirely,” she said. “You also forgot the second line, ‘Sinks underwater, never drowns.’ I think this means it’s a hunting tool for water, or more simply put, a fishhook!”
The smaller gem turned green, and another lock opened.
“Yes! Four to one!”
“Wait, we’re keeping score?”
“Of course we are, Shining.” Twilight said with a smirk.
“Oh, it is on,” the Captain of the Guard said before tackling the next riddle.
“I have no fearsome claw or bite
Yet all flee from my black and white
To provoke me makes bad sense
To them that knows my best defense”
“‘To provoke me makes bad sense,’ huh? Sounds like my wife to me,” Shining said with a smirk.
“One wrong answer remains!” the griffon roared, as the center gem went from yellow to orange.
“What!?” Shining cried. “No! No, that was a joke! Cadence doesn’t even have any black or white on her!”
The wall of lightning shot forward.
“Look out!” Twilight yelled, as she picked up Shining with her magic.
The purple aura threw him forward, keeping the stallion only inches in front of the wall of magical electricity. It flew forward quickly, eating up the floor space eagerly. A stray bolt ran through Twilight’s magick, and her entire magical grip exploded in light.
“Shining!” she cried, as she watched her brother fly forward, slamming into the door.
She ran forward towards the unmoving body, hoping that he was alright.
She pulled him up, and looked at his face.
Static ran through Shining’s fur, turning him into a giant ball of fluff.
He coughed. “Well,” he said, voice hoarse, “that was something.”
“Are...are you okay, Shining?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.”
Twilight nodded, and then burst out laughing.
Shining glared at her. “Glad to know you care, Twily.”
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” she said through tears. “You just look absolutely hilarious!”
Shining continued to glare.
Twilight slowly, very, very slowly, collected and calmed herself. “Okay, okay! I’m back, I’m back.”
“Good to hear…” Shining said, trying to pat his mane down to some semblance of order.
Twilight snickered. “You know, Cadence was a bad answer, Alan would have been better. He’s black and white.”
“Yeah, but so is a sku...ah...oh man…” Shining said, hanging his head. “Is it a skunk?”
Clink-clank.
Shining glared at the door. “I hate you.”
“Hate it all you want,” Twilight said, “but I’m still winning.”
Shining glared at her before reading the next one.
“An untiring servant it is,
carrying loads across muddy earth.
But one thing that cannot be forced,
is a return to the place of its birth.”
“Untiring servant…” Twilight mumbled. “Can’t return to the place of it’s birth…”
“Oh!” Shining cried. “Oh, I know this one!”
“Oh really?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah! It was in a book I read.”
Twilight looked at him for a moment. “Book? You have a book I didn’t read? Are you holding out on me?!”
“You were six! I couldn’t let you read it! It had so much smut and gore in it that Mom and Dad would kill me if they found out!”
“And what were you doing reading a book filled with smut and gore at sixteen? With Mom and Dad’s rules on literature?”
Shining looked at her, before quickly turning to the door. “River.”
The gem went green, and the lock opened.
Twilight gave him a look, before turning to the next riddle.
“Bloodless and boneless
it travels about.
Yet it never leaves home.”
“Well,” Shining said, “turtles are famous for never leaving their homes, they carry them with them.”
“Right by they have bones.”
“Snails don’t though,” Shining noted, and was quickly rewarded with another clink-clank of a deadbolt sliding free. He smiled. “That’s four-four, Twily.”
She smirked. “It is so on.”
“Inside a burning house,
This thing is best to make.
And best to make it quickly before,
The fire's too much to take.”
“That’s water, isn’t?” Twilight asked.
“I don’t think griffons can make water, Twily.”
“Oh, right. No magic,” she said with a facehoof.
“So,” Shining said, “what can a griffon make that would be the most useful in a burning building?”
“Well...wouldn’t the best thing to do would be get out of building?”
“Yeah…” Shining said.
The two sat in silence for a second. “Oh! That’s clever!” Twilight said.
“What?”
“Haste!” she yelled.
The deadbolt slid open.
“Five-four, Shining~” she said in a singsong voice.
“Don’t matter,” Shining said. “You are not going to win this!
It can pierce the best armor,
And make swords crumble with a rub.
Yet for all its power,
It can't harm a club.”
“Uh…” Twilight began. “Okay, that’s a tough one. Can’t hurt a club, but can break swords and armor.”
Shining smiled.
“Would it be a weapon of some kind? Or would it be an object or force?”
Shining spoke. “So there is an advantage for getting into the guard the hard way.”
“What?” Twilight asked.
“As somepony who’s never been made to scrub and polish their armor, I’m not surprised you didn’t get this one.”
“What? Wait do you mean it’s—”
“The answer is rust,” Shining said, loudly.
The lock opened, leaving only one deadbolt to go.
“All tied up,” he said with a smirk.
Twilight sent a glance his way. “I guess that means we just have one riddle left…”
“A strange earthen house,
That brings nought but disdain.
And yet those who stay there,
Never do complain.”
“Okay,” Shining said, “Now, I know we just went through the last few riddles trying to forget the fact that answering this one wrong will kill us, but I am going to bring this back up to our attention as a motivation to answer correctly. No pressure.”
“Thanks, Shining…” Twilight sighed.
“On that note, I just thought of something that I should’ve asked earlier, but only now just occurred to me.”
“Oh, I hate it when that happens.”
“I know, right? Anyway, do you have anything that can bypass the wall back there?”
Twilight turned to the wall that buzzed and popped behind her. “I doubt it.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Well, I think this is a mix of natural and magical lightning,” she said.
Shining nodded, was silent for a second and then said “Meaning?”
“Meaning the way it behaves is not going to be predictable. Natural lightning and magical lightning act two different ways, and when you mix the two, there are at least another four ways it could possibly act. As opposed to a magical/natural fire mix which can only act in two separate ways, and they are both relatively close.”
“And if you don’t calibrate the shield for the right behavior it could just pass right through.” Shining finished.
“Exactly,” she said. “Natural/magical lightning mixes are potentially the most dangerous combat spells in existence. The issue is that they are hard to make due to the mixing of pegasus and unicorn magics.”
“Right.”
“This in turn, makes them ideal for thaumaturgic magic rather than spellcasting, which of course—”
“Rambling,” Shining warned.
“Anyway,” she said, a slightly angry undertone in her voice, “I don’t really have the resources to test all six calibrations.”
“So, no luck, then?”
“Not really. I mean, theoretically I could figure it out through experimentation, but the magical backlash from one could leave me out of action for a few days.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah…” Twilight looked down towards her midsection. “Anyway. So the only thing we can really do is answer this riddle.”
“Awesome,” Shining deadpanned.
They both turned back to the door, which was all but open.
Shining walked up to it, and threw his weight against the door where the deadbolts had been opened. “Nope, magically locked.”
“A strange earthen house, That brings nought but disdain.” Twilight read aloud. “And yet those who stay there, Never do complain. Well...it’s not a den, probably not a cave.”
“Just remember, Twily, you guess wrong, and we’re fried.”
“Yes, Shining. I know.”
“So, you know, we could totally die.”
“Thank you, Shining.”
“Death by electrocution.”
“Yes.”
“Rather painful.”
“Yes.”
“One chance.”
“Thank you, Shining.”
“And then we die.”
“Thank you, Shining.”
“And then we’ll have to be buried.”
“Thank y—” she began, turning to him, before suddenly stopping. “T-thank you!” she said excitedly.
“What?”
“That’s it! That’s the answer!”
“What is?”
Twilight turned to the door and said as loudly and proudly as she could, “the answer is ‘Grave!’”
The last gem turned from clear to green, and the last deadbolt opened with a clink-clank.
“Yes!” She cried in victory.
The large white doors opened, filling the air with a stale breeze of long-stagnant air as it came rushing out of the room beyond.
The ethereal griffon spoke. “Your first trial is complete. One yet remains.”
The two entered the previously sealed hallway, Twilight quickly refreshing their darkvision spells. They moved in silence, quickly moving down the hallway.
Shining looked over at her. “So what are you hiding, Twily?”
She froze.
Spinning quickly to face her brother she began to spew the fastest-paced monologue she had managed to date. “Hiding? I’m-not-hiding-anything! Does-it-look-like-I’m-hiding-something? Because-I’m-not! I-would-never-hide-things-of-incredible-importance-from-you-or-my-friends! Hiding-something-like-that-would-be-wrong! Why-would-you-think-I-was-hiding-something?”
Shining lifted his hoof towards her. “Fillies and Gentlecolts of the Jury, Exhibit A.”
She frowned.
“Seriously, Twilight, you aren’t exactly the most subtle of ponies. That, and no matter how well Al knows you, I’ve known you longer, you cannot keep any secret from me.”
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about…”
“Yeah, just like you haven’t been been staring at the horizon with that same thousand-mile stare that you got when Mom took Smartypants away or a week to get her fixed.”
“Well…”
“Or the fact that you keep looking away and biting your lip whenever you think Al isn’t looking. Or how you keep glancing at your midsection. Or how you keep mumbling worriedly to yourself when you sleep, and to top it off, the ridiculous lengths you go to to hide it all from Alan.”
“I…”
“Look. I have a sneaking suspicion I know what it is, can you just tell me?”
“I…” she said, her ears splaying flat against her head.
“Twilight.”
She ducked her head lower, and mumbled something that was barely a whisper.
“One more time, Twilight. Enunciate.”
“I’m pregnant,” she said, relenting.
“There, can we move on now?”
Her head shot up, blinking. “You’re-you’re not mad?”
“Oh, I’m furious,” Shining said in a deadpan. “I mean, really? Not telling me I’m going to be an uncle, as well as knowingly going behind enemy lines while pregnant?!” he said, anger seeping into his voice. “What were you thinking?! The only reason I’m not tying you up and stuffing you in a closet somewhere is because that is slightly more dangerous than brining you with me! At least this way, I can save your flank when the changelings come after us!”
Twilight winced under the verbal lashing.
Shining sighed.
“Look, let’s just go, alright? Stay close, stay safe, don’t do anything reckless.”
Twilight nodded, and the two began to walk forward, along the dark, featureless hallway.
“How long have you known?” Shining asked, leading the way, his sword drawn.
“Right before we landed in the Isles. I realized I had missed my period that month.”
“Don’t need to know the details, Twilight,” he said, grimacing.
“Oh, right. Sorry.”
Silence.
“So when are you going to tell Alan?”
“As soon as we’re done here.”
Shining nodded. “I hope so.”
As the exchange finished, the two unicorns entered a massive room. The vaulted, almost-cathedral ceiling was hidden by shadows cast from the two, blue ever burning braziers that sat in the room. The middle of the room, however, was dominated by two massive statues, about twelve feet tall, three times the size of a pony. The one on the right was a large, armored griffon lion, a sword in his claw. The one on the left, however, was a lithe lioness, dressed in a long dress carefully carved to have flowers “sewn” into the seams.
At their hooves, visible only because of the Darkvision spell, was a white stone disk set into the floor, a white sun. Beneath the sun was a small inscription.
“Two lovers, a great distance between,
Bring them together, and the exit shall be seen.”
“Really?” Shining asked. “Just bring them together. There halfway there already! This couldn’t be easier!”
Both statues turned their heads towards him, gem eyes sparkling.
“You know, I’m starting to subscribe to the whole ‘dramatic realist’ thing,” Twilight said.
The statues charged forward, the lioness lifting her claws while the lion lifted his sword.
Both statues slammed their weapons down on the space where the two had been standing moments ago.
“You take the lion!” Twilight said, running. “I got the lioness!”
Shining nodded. “Understood. Hey! Ugly! Yeah, you! The guy who needs the overgrown chastity belt! You and me! Let’s go!”
The two statues began to follow their respective prey, their blows slamming into the floor and walls with enough force to make the room shake.
Twilight did notice, however, that the architecture was relatively undamaged as they slammed into it repeatedly. It was probably another gem-based spell, probably one with a very powerful restore spell matrix. Considering the minimal damage though, that would probably mean the gem was as big as she was. Unless of course it wasn’t a restore spell, but an invincibility mat—
A massive stone claw slammed into the ground beside her, missing her by inches.
Analyze later!
A curved plate-shaped shield formed, and began to orbit the lavender unicorn as she leaped between the near hits the lioness was landing.
Shining, meanwhile, was fighting his statue with a grace and ability that Alan would have praised had he been there.
The pattern-welded blade spun through the air, it’s monofiber-sharp edge biting into the statue’s body with ease. The statue seemingly felt nothing, but its focus was definitely on the unicorn. The silent stone hefted his sword up, and mechanically brought in down on the small white annoyance.
There was a flash of magick as a shield appeared, wrapping around the blade and pulling it back. “Missed me!” Shining taunted, before running between the lion’s legs.
As he came out the other side, Shining laughed. “No wonder why she’s not interested. You don’t have anything to show.”
The lion turned, swinging his sword in a massive arc that would have surely taken Shining’s head, if he were three feet taller.
As Shining jumped around, shields flashing in and out of existence as he fought, Twilight was working in her own dance. Unfortunately, the lioness was faster than her male counterpart, both talons coming down and slashing at the air in front of her with a speed that Twilight was having trouble keeping up with.
If it could leave her alone for a minute or two, then Twilight could probably pick the statue up with her magic and this puzzle would be fixed in a snap. Instead, they were forced to do this silly run-around thing. It was a little stupid.
Even if Shining was enjoying it immensely.
“Sorry to tell you this buddy, but if your swords compensating for something, you’re going to have to get a bigger one to come out average.”
The armored griffon brought his sword down onto the taunting unicorn, only for another shield to grab his sword and yank it away.
“Don’t worry, though. I hear they have pills for that,” the stallion snorted.
Twilight’s face suddenly lit up. “That’s it!”
Shining turned towards his sister. “What’s it? Pills? Is Alan okay?”
“What!? No! I mean, yes! Just...Forget about the pills!”
“Then what is it?” he asked, ducking under the blade.
“Just watch!” Twilight said, before her horn began to ring with magic. A fuschia aura appeared over the lioness’ beak, and with a powerful tug, not alike the one Shining used on the sword, Twilight turned the massive head.
Running around the massive thing, Twilight’s horn began to glow brighter as a second aura wrapped around the lion’s beak, and with another yank, turned him back towards the center of the room.
“No point in doing things the hard way!” Twilight said with a smirk, before the twin auras pulled the massive statues towards each other. The two beaks slammed into each other and there was a bright flash of light.
Once the light subsided, Twilight looked up, and smiled to see the two statues frozen in place, caught in a kiss. “Easy!” she said with a smirk. “Alright, Shining, let’s look for that exit!”
No answer.
“Shining?”
The room was empty.
“Shining?!”
Twilight searched the room, looking for her brother. The statues stood still, the braziers were in their place, nothing was amiss, except for the fact that her brother was nowhere in sight. “Shining!” she called.
He was gone.
“Sh-Shining?”
Something touched her.
“Ah!” she cried, more startled than frightened. She shook herself, throwing the thing that had landed on her back off.
Shivering, she looked over at what had intruded upon her.
“What is that?” she asked as she approached it carefully.
It was a beetle, a small, black and bright yellow beetle.
Twilight blinked.
She had never seen a beetle like this before. Never in all her books, or studies had she ever seen an insect like it.
Its bright, glossy carapace shimmered in the blue light of the enchanted fires. Its two large compound eyes moved slightly as they focused on the unicorn. Its massive, pincer-like mandibles snapped angrily at open air.
Twilight inched a little closer to inspect it, her curiosity begging her to get a good look at this new species of insect.
It bit her.
“Ow!” she cried as she batted away at the small bug that had latched onto her nose.
She crushed it underhoof as she rubbed her now bleeding snout. “Stupid bug,” she muttered.
Something landed on her back.
She turned back, and saw three more beetles riding her back before they bit into her.
She gave a cry of pain before the three bugs burst into flames with a slight application of magic.
More bugs fell to take their place.
Another bite, another crunch as the unicorn’s magic dealt with them.
Twilight chance a look up, trying to find the source of these bugs.
She found it.
The entire ceiling was covered in a living carpet of insects that buzzed and bustled with anger.
Twilight had just enough time to blink before they swarmed her.
They were everywhere, on all sides, biting and tearing at her skin. She screamed, but that only let them inside her mouth as they began to eat her alive.
They were everywhere.
They crawled along her back, her head, her nose, hooves, legs, belly, and eyes. They bit like a thousand tiny knives, nipping and tearing at her skin. Within seconds most of it had been torn away, leaving bloody cuts and marks all over her body.
They were everywhere.
Everywhere.
“Twilight!”
Everywhere.
“Wake up, Twilight!”
She screamed again.
“Wake up!”
She blinked.
The bugs were gone.
She was laying against cold stone, hugging her tail in the fetal position, and there was not a single carapace in sight.
“Come on, Twilight! Talk to me!” Shining roared.
She looked up at him, shivering as the image of being eaten alive faded. Her brother stood underneath three massive shields, all of which were being hammered by the two griffon statues above them. “Sh-Shining?”
He gave a sigh of relief, even as sweat poured down his brow. “Thank Celestia,” he grunted as the two stone giants continued to pound away.Twilight nodded, still shivering, before curling into a tighter ball.
She didn’t get it.
She brought them together, didn’t she? She had brought the two statutes together, so why? Why did she have to go through such...such…
Was...was that not it? Was there something else?
She pushed herself up, still shivering uncontrollably.
“If you can move faster, that would be appreciated!” Shining growled.
“I...I should be dead,” she realized. “The hallucination would have kept me paralyzed until the statues recovered and killed me. This...this is all a trap. The test of the sun, or strength, is a trap. You’re not supposed to complete it.”
She lifted her head.
“You’re...you’re not supposed to complete it!” she realized with a gasp. “This isn’t a trial of strength! This is another trial of the mind, just with physical elements! That means—!”
Her eyes snapped to the walls, scanning over them as fast as she could.
“Twilight! I can’t take much more of this!” Shining panted.
She ignored him.
“There!” There, on the far end of the room, hidden back in a corner, was a small disk of stone. It was a black crescent moon imposed onto a white sun.
Twilight bolted for it.
“Twilight?” Shining called.
The moon and sun was very special in griffon iconography. It was a combination of both the physical and mental, both masculine and feminine.
The symbol of lovers.
She charged the stone, slamming a mana fist into the disk and shattering it. The fist went through the wall and the faint light coming off the magick revealed everything she needed to know.
“Twilight!”
The mental fist grabbed it, and yanked her treasure out of the wall, revealing a small, golden statue of a griffon lioness. Specifically, one that was neither alive, nor trying to kill her.
“Twilight! Look out!”
She leaped to the left, just as a stone claw came down on the spot she was just standing on.
She had found one, now she just needed to get the other.
Her eyes scanned the room even as she ran, searching for the golden statue’s twin. There had to be another one somewhere.
The masonry behind her shook as the lioness clawed after her, eager to end the life of this tiny little prey. Small fractures along the claws began to form as it slammed harder and harder into the unyielding stone beneath it.
Twilight didn’t notice.
“Twilight! What are you doing!?”
She kept running, searching for the sign of the lovers.
It had to be somewhere.
“Twilight!” Shining cried, before he jumped backwards, barely dodging the massive sword of the armored griffon.
“It has to be somewhere!”
She kept running forward, checking the walls as she ran. “It just has to be somewh—”
A flash of white caught the corner of her eye.
“There!” she called aloud, before rushing for the small stone disk.
The lioness clawed after her, barely missing her by inches as she kept getting closer and closer to her quarry.
Twilight kicked the disk apart, and her magic aura reached in and quickly wrapped around a second statue. She smirked as she looked down at the gold griffon lion in her aura’s grasp.
“Twilight!” Shining shrieked. “Move!”
She looked up, and saw two huge talons coming down on her.
“Twilight!”
<<<|Ω|>>>
Twilight and Alan lay in bed together one early Saturday morning.
It was silent in the house, Spike having moved to the Ponyville guard tower, leaving only the two of them in the library.
“Twilight,” Alan said, sighing.
“Yeah?” she asked, her head laying on his chest.
“I have a confession to make.”
She shifted to look up at him.
“I...I still sometimes wonder…”
“Wonder what?”
“If...it this is real.”
She smiled and kissed him. “Is that real enough?”
He smiled as he looked down at her. “Twi,” and then his smile faded. “Twilight, I don’t think I’ll ever know for sure if you are real or not. It...it really doesn’t matter in the long run, all of this is just real enough that I have to treat it that way, but…” he trailed off.
He gave her a long, hard look.
“I just want you to know, because I don’t want to hide anything from you.”
She smiled and kissed him again. “Not that you could.”
He laughed.
Twilight brought a hoof up to his face. “Nothing to hide, no secrets.”
“No secrets,” Alan agreed, and kissed her one more time.
<<<|Ω|>>>
Twilight blinked.
The stone talons of the lioness were inches from her face, separated by a single pane of magick.
“Move Twilight! Move!” Shining yelled.
She stared at him a second, before her brain finally registered his words.
She bolted. Tears fell from her eyes as ran, bringing the two figurines up. She didn’t really realize that they were perfectly posed to wrap around each other, nor did she truly realize the detail in the engraving, like the moon and sun motifs on the lioness and lion respectively.
There were only two things that really registered in her mind. The first thing in her mind was that she needed to get these two statues to kiss, and beat this stupid room.
The other…
She…
She was a terrible pony.
The two golden figures were pushed together, forming an embrace, and there was a second flash of light.
The statues paused in their assault, and lumbered back to the center of the room. A door, carved from the rock of the room appeared and swung open.
Twilight hardly noticed.
She was a terrible pony.
Maybe it was the beginning of the inevitable storm of pregnancy hormones. Maybe it was the fact that she had just recently witnessed herself being eaten alive. Maybe it was how she realized that Alan trusted her more than she trusted him. Maybe it was the fact that she almost broke her promise to herself, twice. Maybe it was her secrets. Maybe it was all of these things. Maybe it was none of them.
Whatever the case, Twilight dropped the small, golden lovers, curled into a ball, and cried.
Shining sat down next to her, silent in the flickering light of the blue ever burning flames.
And she cried.
<<<|Ω|>>>
“You ready?” Shining asked.
“Y-yeah. Yeah, I think,” Twilight said, wiping her face.
“You’ll be alright, Twily,” Shining said, before nuzzling her, “and I going to make sure the both of you get back to Alan, okay?”
She nodded. “Okay.”
Shining nudged her forward. “Come on, let’s go find your husband so we can make it all alright, okay?”
She nodded before standing.
Shining frowned as he watched her stand, a dead look in her eyes.
His eyes lit up as he suddenly had a thought.
“Hey,” he said with a smile. “Remember that time when I taught you how to fly a kite and it got caught in that tree?”
She blinked, and looked at him questioningly.
“And it turned out that there were like, seven kites stuck up there, and I got caught in all of the strings?”
A faint smile grew on her features. “And I had to call Mom to get the fire department to get you down.”
“Yeah, that’s the one.”
She chuckled at the memory.
“Or what about the time where we were playing baseball, and you nailed me with the ball when you were up to bat?”
She smirked. “I was so worried I had hurt you that I swore off sports forever,” she said with a smile.
The stallion smiled. “There you go,” Shining said. “Can’t return you to Alan with such a sad face, he’d skin me alive.”
Twilight chuckled. “Don’t say that too loud, you may give him ideas.”
“Oh, right,” the stallion grimaced. “Because he actually does know how to skin us, doesn’t he?”
Twilight laughed.
Shining smiled. “Come on, we’ve got a dungeon to crawl.”
--------------------------------
And there you go, people. Finally, a chapter that’s over 6k words.
“Yay, Miner!”
Alright, so...I’m kinda mad at all you guys. Well, more specifically, all of you overly smart ones. Why’d you all have to go and figure out that Twi was pregnant? Why? That was going to be a rather nice bomb that I was going to drop in like, the fourth (or so) to last chapter. Instead you all called it, and that—
“Makes Miner a Sad Panda!”
Er...well...yeah…thanks...Pinkie...
“Glad to help!”
So, yeah...thanks for blowing the surprise guys…
“Well, hey, at least they haven’t gotten the big twist!”
The big one? Well, to be fair, I don’t think anyone is expecting that one.
“Like I said!”
Fair enough.
“So thanks for reading, everypony, everybody, and everyone! Be sure to leave a comment!”
And we’ll see you next time.
Bye!
Stats
Page generated in 0.04 seconds
Total duration
954 users online
1,151,965 hits today, 1,822,946 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
To be fair, good sir.
I guessed it right away. From the first hints.
Overexposure to media, I suppose. And TVtropes.com.
I'm just too genre savvy for my own good, I suppose.
Doesn't lessen the enjoyment of the story in the least, though. I assure you.
And I do enjoy the fact that you have another trick up your sleeve.
Carry on with the fine work, if you'd be so kind!
They're coming for you, Chrysalis....
lets be honest miner, twilight being pregnant was pretty easy.
i bet he dosent even have "the big twist" figured out yet and is just telling us that there is one to get the suspence welling up inside us.
beautifully evill, sir......
Miner, I love you man, you're one of my favorite writers on this site, but the whole "Twilight-was-hiding-being-pregnant" thing was WAAAAAAY too friggin' obvious. Just saying.
I'm going to guess that the big twist is either multiple foals, a human being (with or without pony features), or a centaur. Maybe even an entity representing both life and death, along with everything associated with that. An alicorn maybe? Maybe even despite being the lifebringer, the foal dies inside Twilight. Or you could just be messing with us and it's a regular foal. Any combination of the above is also plausible. I have now figured out all reasonable twists.
3472323
Also he's terrible at foreshadowing.
Ha!
3472610
Well. I wouldn't say that.
More like I've been exposed to every trope known to man.
I can see literary contrivances coming at me like a storm front on the horizon.
Hell, I solved half the riddles the moment I saw them!
3472616
Naw, I was just poking fun. But really I caught the pregnancy when he first alluded to it about...3 or 4 chapters ago? At least that's when I first caught it.
Anyway, fantastic chapter, I love myself a good riddle!
....What big twist?I had it figured out from the beginning!
Well if we go with the tropes... I could venture a guess about the great reveal. There seems to be this running subplot with Alan and that darkness that's watching, it might try and posses him... and if it fails it might go after the unborn foal... Oh and I have a sneaky suspicion that Julius might be the changeling queen... oh on that matter his lover in Canterlot might be her. Damn it DungeonMiner there are too many possibilities for awesome to occur in this story.
Dear writer dude guy,
If you didn't want us to figure out that she was pregnant, you shouldn't have foreshadowed. You foreshadowed because you decided that whatever job foreshadowing does was more important then your surprise. Twists are almost impossible to pull off with a 100% success rate. If you really want a surprise, you have to work it into the story on the spot.
so those are your choices: shoe-horned or foreseeable.
Got some rad Tolkienesque feels with those riddles man. Bravo I say. Bravo!
i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/2280609536/h0746BDA3/
or
25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9z524fdbn1ql1l25o1_500.jpg
3473626
Not sure...
Thanks for the help, btw.
Oh, I hate riddles. Riddles is harder than coming up with a self powering spell that scans the entire mountian, then vapourises it before seperating out all the constituents into minerals, vegetables, animals, fully healed good guys, and stasis field contained bad guys.
The mind attacks were particularly nasty, no warning, no sense, no feeling? I wonder if the simulation detection code wouldve triggered inside it.
I wonder what wouldve happened to charging teh lightning field if Dash, electric resistant pegasus, had gone that way instead, or are you saving a whole load of custom traps for each pair?
Wait, it was supposed to be a secret from us? I figured it out the same time Twilight did. How could I not, it was all there? Not to sound contrite, but if you plan on keeping something a secret from the readers you need to do a better job at it. Still.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
The big plot twist: Alan is Discord's son and they will go off to rule the galaxy as father and son!
With that Cadance pregnancy discussion early in the chapter, I was really concerned Shining was going to make it through to the end.
That kite story was just straight up hilarious.
Hmn, big twist. Since Twilight ended up pregnant by Alan after his resurrection at the end of the first story, something is going to be different about the foal? Natural born alicorn, maybe?
That beetles part was brutal
Saw the whole pregnancy thing coming tho, saw it coming chapters back
Don't worry Miner, we still love you, and your terrible foreshadowing.
I saw her pregnancy coming pretty early on. Six-ish (possibly more, i'd have to check) chapters ago, you made some kind of minute allusion to it, and that bell went off in my head and until now, the signs only got more and more obvious. I'd have to check again to be sure it was that far back, but before they landed, i knew she was.
3475037
Calling it. This. Would be something like M. Night Shyamalan and George Lucas's lovechild. And now i'm off to find the mind bleach. I sincerely apologize for any mental scarring from that sentence. Though, because i scarred myself, you will all be subjected to that same torment.
The big twist huh? If it's a widdle baby human i'm going to be sooooooo cross with you.
wow this was a amazing one and i know the book that Shining was reading at 16 it was from "The Dark tower Wizard and glass" and cant wait for the next one
3478049
"Well...it's not that, I can say that much..."
Pinkie! What have I said about telling the audience stuff!?
"...Not to...?"
Am I considered a perv. if I thought the answer to the riddle,
A strange earthen house,
That brings nought but disdain.
And yet those who stay there,
Never do complain.
Was a brothel?... or something like that?
Great job with the riddles! Im just so sad cause I suck at them.
The big twist is that Twilight is actually carrying Chrysalis' alien baby and it's gonna come out of her like a chest-burster.
Speaking of overly smart people, I hope you aren't mad that I not only guessed that Twi was preggers, but I also knew the answer to every riddle the moment I read them. #nerd
As for the big twist, I may not know exactly what it is, but I doubt I'll be supprised. Outraged, perhaps, but not supprised. I've seen quite a few plot twists, and there is nothing new under the sun. Nothing.
You didn't surprise me with the fact of Twilight being pregnant. I got that earlier but that's due to seeing all the foreshadowing. What you did surprise me with is that you actually had one of the characters get mad at Twilight for doing what she did while pregnant. The most I see is "Oh you're pregnant? Well you're here already so let's go on this massive adventure because we can't really send you home and you didn't tell us you were pregnant." All the pregnant character usually gets is a slap on the wrist, a party thrown by the girls of the group and a "Well shit, it sucks that you're here" from the others. So color me pleased with this reveal. 10/10 would read again. Also I called the riddle the moment they had problems with it.
Knowledge (dungeoneering), more commonly known as Knowledge (meta gaming).
NOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPE!!!
It was bound to happen with all the sex Alan and Twilight were having. Still blew my mind with Shining's reaction.
damn. when i heard the grave riddle, I was thinking 'tomb' so close...
3537384
4.bp.blogspot.com/-3xT1_WiH3B0/UM8_38YBQzI/AAAAAAAABEs/NRi66xgwiuI/s1600/NOPE.gif
This reminds me of that one Dr. Who episode where Amy and Rory were stuck in the TARDIS when it was possesed
How is it that the only riddle they had trouble figuring out, was the only one I guessed. Twilight should easily know something that I could guess instantly.
It was rather difficult not to figure out that twilight was pregnant.
I just have one question, why are the griffons working with the changelings, griffons are prideful beings that do not accept help from any one so why are they working with the changelings?
9035786
The way I see it is they are too prideful to let the changelings help but not so prideful that they wouldn't use the changelings, 10 bits says one group betrays the other
A big twist huh? Despite being several years late, I would like to guess what the big twist is now that I know there is one already being embedded.
I have a little personal habit of guessing how things will turn out for novels and fanfics. This is mostly because cliches make it easy to predict outcomes. I like to guess what the author intends or plans to do based on what hints they leave in the story for me to make a logical deduction of what would be the most interesting, bad thing, or twist to happen. Sometimes I see it coming a mile away, other times I don't realize it until a paragraph or two before the reveal when it starts to all come together and warning bells are going off in my head. But, now that I know there IS a big twist, I HAD to stop and think about it. I would logically guess that someone in the group is actually a changeling, especially since that one changeling recognizes them as being in disguise in the last chapter. It makes what that changeling covering for them said must have a grain of truth. The big question was, who was it? That's when I started suspecting Julias. He ticks off all the boxes, his's story of escape was convincing enough to not realize a possible swap and lie. And now that I am thinking about it, his comment about not heading down would suggest a changeling hive down there. Most importantly, I like Julias, so of course, it's him. I wouldn't be surprised if he's Chrysalis, but I have no reason to suspect that other than... well to make the twist bigger.
I also have an alternative "what I would do" guess that follows that guess which is to make Julias look like the changeling and have his friends doubting him would be more interesting. I think his fiance being Chrysalis would be more interesting because she would be striking at the heart of Equestria again so soon while the big players are away. It would be perfect timing. All she'd have to do is have some private time with Cadence any subtlety siphon love magic to beat Celestia again. But the signs seem to point towards Julias. I'm hoping he isn't dead.