Chapter Fourteen
Not one day of guarding the Crystal Empire, and Shining Armor had a problem.
Some of these issues were minor. Shining could handle bringing the Crystal Guard up to speed with the rest of Equestria, polishing their armor and making them shine, so to speak. Their occasional shenanigans was a bit irritating, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. No, reassembling the guard was manageable.
This unknown entity, on the other hoof, was a thorn in his side.
Not only had this individual appeared from nowhere, but it had managed to best two of Shining's guards. Not only did it wreak havoc on the morning market, but the person was also a magical anomaly.
And not only was it still at large, but it had slipped away into dark recesses that no crystal pony in their right mind would dare delve into.
'An agent of Sombra,' somepony had deemed it. His guard had claimed it capable of strange powers and immense strength. Shining wanted to believe he was only exaggerating. Still, the thought of it being related to the mad king lingered. He prayed the entity wasn't truly a minion to the enemy they had defeated only yesterday, especially if claims of such abilities were true.
He dared not allow such a rumor spread among the citizens. They had endured so much, and their plight of enslavement under a mad king had only recently come to an end. The crystal ponies were finally happy again. How would they react if they heard of the accused minion of Sombra?
Shining took every step he needed to to ensure the ponies remained oblivious and carefree, hushing the guards and covertly apprehending the mysterious villain in question.
However, as Shining Armor stared down from the castle balcony, he saw no happiness anymore. In the morning, the crystal ponies trotted around with smiles on their faces. Now, there was only trepidation in the air. He saw no laughter, no smiling, no merriment among them.
Despite his efforts, they already knew.
Shining Armor blamed himself, reflecting upon his decision to order a mass lock down. Of course the citizens would notice something was wrong after such an order.
Though, on the other hoof, if this person was truly on a rampage, he did prefer if they were all safely indoors.
He was damned if he did, and damned if he didn't.
"Blast it all to Tartarus..." Shining Armor began to have second thoughts about calling off the lockdown, but soon dispelled his worries. The creature would have to come out of the caves eventually, and he had every entrance to the slave mines guarded. He would be well informed when the beast finally emerged, and the citizens would still be able to go about their business. Then they could snuff this threat out quickly and quietly, and be done with this Sombra business.
Candance's words echoed yet again, Unless Sombra himself comes back from the dead, try not to wake me.
No. I'd eat my hoof if it truly was related to Sombra. I can still handle this, Shining assured himself. He never liked to wake his wife anyways; She could be a very angry pony when her sleep was interrupted.
...Still, it never hurts to be prepared. Shining Armor stood up straight with a determined look in his eye, marching back inside the castle. Especially with an enemy we supposedly can't touch.
"Lieutenant! Where'd you get off to?"
"No need to yell, sir."
"Ah," Shining stopped in his tracks to see Stone Rend standing not three feet away from him. How he managed to get there so quietly, Shining had no idea. "How long have you been there?"
"I had entered the room as soon as you cursed at the window."
Shining Armor sighed. "The citizens can plainly tell that something's brewing in the air," he paced the room. "I can sense it. Can you?"
Stone Rend thought for a moment. "Yes, sir. Though we have yet to fully understand what it is that troubles us."
"Indeed. All we know of this entity is what those two troops told us, and it's not much to go on." Shining halted, his eyes wandering. "Although I don't fault them for that, I wish I had more information on this strange person before I issued the lockdown."
Stone Rend didn't hold his tongue, "You did what you needed to, sir. It's better the citizens are safe and scared then unaware and at risk," he remarked. "Besides, I believe I would have done the same, were it still me."
Shining let out another sigh, "Well, there's nothing to be done about it now. No sense in lamenting past decisions," He faced the stone-faced Stone Rend. "But we can plan for the next time this aggressive person bears his head from the mines."
"Should we alert Princess Candance sir? I expect she would want an update on this situation."
Shining Armor paled for half a second. "No. You don't want to be the one to wake my wife when she needs her sleep. When she awakens on her own terms, let her know the news." Shining headed for the doorway, signaling for Stone Rend to follow. "But for now, we're going to make some preparations."
"Sir?"
Shining let a sly smile slip, "Lieutenant, what do you know of crossbows?"
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"—So then his companion tries to flank me to try and get the jump on me. Of course he believed I didn't see him, as if some flunky could escape my trained eye."
Coral stared at nothing in particular, sighing softly. Dusty Ore's tales had fast grown stale.
The two guards remained near one of the mines many entrances, ensuring none came near, in or out. They had been standing watch over the entrance in question for several hours now, and Coral began to wonder when their duty would change.
"—and then the lout pulls another glass from nowhere, and hurls it at my head while I'm trying to wrestle his friend to the ground! Smashed into pieces upon impact, and bloodied my mane! That's how I got that scar up there," Dusty rambled, folding his ear to show off the damaged skin.
"So you lost the bar fight, then?" Coral humored him.
Dusty snorted, "They wished. That's the thing about being drunk, it makes the pain go away." Dusty let out a long, satisfying breath. "I really wish I hadn't been banned from the place."
"Well, that's what you get for starting trouble."
"Hey, like I said, they threw the first glass!" Dusty whined indignantly. "At least, I'm almost certain that's how it happened."
"Yes, I'm sure you were completely without fault in that situation."
Dusty Ore nickered. "Oh sorry, were you there? Because if you were, then first of all I really could've used your help," He joked. "Second, had you bore witness, you would realize I was acting quite rationally given the circumstances."
"Really? Because it sounds to me you acted purely on impulse, as you seem to make a habit of doing," Coral wasted no time to jeer.
Dusty Ore narrowed his eyes. "Do you have something you would like to say to me, Coral?"
"Why do you ask?" Coral returned in monotone.
"You've been deriding me as though I were an adolescent dragon all day. Why?"
Coral wanted no part of this conversation. In truth, there was many things he'd like to say to Dusty Ore, but he knew for a fact that it would only lead to an angered argument from which neither could walk away from without abandoning their duties. Did he want to tell Dusty what he thought?
"Dusty, I don't want to get into this. It won't end well, I can already—"
"No no no, none of that!" Dusty interrupted. "You are not going to bottle up your issues, and continue to make snide remarks! Be a stallion! Say what your problem is and get it out there."
Coral grit his teeth.
"Come on," Dusty egged on. "Out with it!"
"My problem," Coral glared, "is that you are a boorish guard."
Dusty raised an eyebrow, allowing Coral to continue.
"Earlier today when we were approached by the mare in the crowd, you demoralized and humiliated her in front of her peers."
Dusty scoffed. "This again? I thought I told you that I had to do what I did, otherwise she—"
"I understand that you did it to defuse a situation," Coral cut off. "I understand that you think the ends justified the means. But by the time you were done antagonizing her, you had this... disgusting smirk on your face. As if you were proud of what you had done.
"I get that we as Crystal Guards will have to make sacrifices sometimes, but... what you did was just not right. In my opinion, the very moment you start sacrificing for some other cause, the moment you think that ends justify means, I don't see how you can call yourself a Crystal Guard.
"There are others who had your same thought process, Dusty. You know what always became of them? They're cemented in history as Equestrias greatest enemies. The most ruthless warlords."
"So you're saying I'm on a slippery slope to becoming a warlord. Thanks for the warning, Coral," Dusty snarked.
But Dusty's unwanted comment only served to further sour Coral's mood. Here he was, trying to get Dusty to take the conversaion seriously, only to be stonewalled by sarcasm.
So Coral said something that he knew would make Dusty listen, "And one of them enslaved the Crystal Empire!" And he regretted his words as soon as they left his lips.
A pregnant pause, and the smirk on Dusty's face disappeared. "...You'd compare me to a tyrant? You'd compare me to that abhorrent bastard Sombra!?"
"No, wait. I didn't mean for—"
"I know very well what you meant, you pansy-picking, sunshine-spewing clod! You think I don't care about the decisions I make?"
"No, Dusty! For all the years I have known you, you have made it very clear that you do not!" Coral countered.
"You do not know me! You don't get to claim moral high ground after what I suffered through. What we've both suffered through! Don't you dare judge me, Coral!"
Both of their glares narrowed. Instead of saying anything more, Coral turned away from Dusty, and resumed his post next to the trap door. With a snort, Dusty did the same.
I knew I shouldn't have said anything. Coral rued.
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"—and right when I'm about done with wiping down the bar, this oaf of a customer turns to the stallion next to him and smashes his drink over his head. Glass shards and alcohol everywhere, rendering my hours of cleaning pointless!"
In their dank, warped prison, the Amethyst and Glass had fast come to remember something about being in a cell for long periods of time: It was supremely boring. It didn't take long for Glass Pond to try and lift the heavy mood with a lighthearted tale. The effect was small, but noticeable. Before long, the two crystal ponies were conversing as if they were two old friends coincidentally passing each other by in the market.
Amethyst chuckled a bit at Glass' latest story, "So what did you do about them?"
"Right then? I hid behind my counter," Glass Pond admitted. "These stallions had more muscles than some minotaurs. I wasn't about to get in their way."
A few seconds of silent contemplation passed before Amethyst quipped, "I believe you could have stopped them."
"Amethyst, come now. I'm sure even you could best me in a hoof wrestling match," Pond rolled his eyes.
Amethyst nickered, "Not with brute strength, you fool. You could've tried diplomacy and talked them down. You have a way around words."
"He who tries to reason with a drunken fool is a fool himself," Glass Pond gave a heavy sigh that spoke volumes of experience. "Nothing I could've said would have helped the situation. Besides, I have no more charisma than one of my regulars."
Amethyst seemed placated by his answer, but chose to add, "I think you give yourself too little credit."
"That's exactly what Cold Stone would sa—" Glass Pond driveled absentmindedly, stopping before the last word could finish. As if his sentence was unintelligible unless every word was completely spoken.
Amethyst adapted a puzzled look. "Cold Stone? Who...?"
Glass Pond didn't speak. Every muscle in his body tightened like taut rope about to snap. Had their surroundings been illuminated, Amethyst might have seen his eyes race to every corner in the room, searching desperately for a topic change.
Amethyst was sharp enough to figure out that she had uncovered an old wound, one that had been festering for some time.
She contemplated pressing the matter. Did she dare try to help alleviate his problems? Pond likely had issues that tangled him like a fly in a spiderweb. Would she try to free him of those bonds? Could she even do so?
She could certainly try. After all, Glass Pond did try for her.
"Glass. Please tell me?" it was just a simple request. One he could easily deny.
Glass breath was long, weighed down by a heavy pain. "He was... an acquaintance."
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Earth Tone would like to say he was having a nice day. The tall pony would love to tell you that he could finally focus and get back to his passion. He'd be ecstatic to spend one of his first days of freedom in a long time just doing what he loved, blissfully painting away in the peace of his home.
Earth Tone would like to do all of that, but today the unseen forces that guided life simply said "no."
The countless interruptions of acquaintances wanting a chance to chat after so long was ridiculous. Several times he was shaken from his activities by a knock on his front door, and every time Earth Tone groaned. Hadn't these ponies had anything else to do with their newfound time? With all the disruptions eating away at him, he had hoped to clear his head spending some time in the market.
A lot of help that did! Everything had been swell until an unfortunate soul was assaulted in the street. The name of that pony escaped him, but Earth Tone had seen his face before well enough. The mere sight of his blood churned Earth's stomach something fierce.
Then that... thing appeared, attempting to take away a foal! The ghastly claws that the pale creature held that child with, and the deranged look in it's eyes were images Earth would not soon forget.
Earth wanted immediately to flee the scene then, but was called by another bystander to help move the injured pony to safety. With great care and luck, Earth managed not to get a speck of blood on his coat, and dumped the pony off at the hospital. The pony would still be resting there now, he'd be fine. But Earth wouldn't have said the same about himself if he didn't find shelter soon.
He then hurried home as fast as his legs would allow. And not soon after he fled to the dark, cluttered recesses of his own house, he found himself confined to it by order of the Royal Guard. For the majority of his day, he was forced to sit among the reminder that his home had become a pigsty.
The mess mostly wasn't his fault. Sure, before the reign of Sombra, he wasn't the cleanest of ponies, but he could easily live. Then the Mad King waged several battles in the Empire, ransacking a few buildings with crystal monsters in the process and shaking a few more to their foundations to go with it. Earth's house was one of several that had been greatly affected by those past events, and he never had the chance to clean up afterwards. Thus, books and other various belongings were strewn about the floor, different colored paints were splattered everywhere, and a few of his works had even been destroyed.
It was another reason he couldn't get back to his art. His work space was so appalling, he could hardly focus in this unorganized chaos. But cleaning and rearranging everything he owned was taking a long while. By the time the Empire's lockdown was called off, he had only succeeded in making a pathway around the clutter to get around his house.
Combine all of these circumstances, and you had a very upset Earth Tone.
So if there were to be another knock at the door interrupting his day and spoiling his focus, one could understand why Earth Tone would pivot to face his front door and yell "For the Love of Celestia, JUST LET ME BE!"
But the pony knocking at the door, ears splayed back, asked from the other side, "Uh, sorry if I came at a bad time Earth Tone, but it's important."
With a loud groan, Earth Tone opened his door, and nearly slammed it back in surprise at the ghost on his front step.
"What? I-is that really you, uh..." Earth rolled his memory, trying to place the name of the stallion.
"Shamrock." he deadpanned.
"But— You were— How did—" Earth Tone panicked.
Shamrock held up a hoof to interrupt, "I won't dance around the matter at hoof. I need your help."
Earth Tone was at a loss. "Um, with what?"
"Finding the truth."
Truth. Something Earth valued greatly. This pony must've known that, or he just got lucky with his wording.
With a sigh, Earth tone invited him in, "Why don't you come on in and explain?"
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Glass Pond took a long moment of silence. It was as though he was hoping they could forget what Amethyst had asked.
"Pond?" she pressed.
Glass avoided her gaze. "The truth is, you were right about me," he mumbled. "I'm... a coward."
It took her a short while to mull over his words. Even then, she had trouble responding. "I don't... what? What are you saying? How could you possibly think that of yourself?" The dank prison swiftly swallowed her echoes.
Glass Pond took his time to answer, "Do you know how I got that tunnel leading into the mines from The Thorny Rose?" Glass Pond quizzed. "I dug it myself. During Sombra's tyranny."
Amethyst's face only became more incredulous.
"Back when Sombra was destroying the Empire, torturing and enslaving us, me and my friend were some of the more defiant subjects," Glass told with increasing difficulty. "Me and Cold Stone, we were among those who fought back." He caressed his foreleg gingerly. "We were... quickly discouraged from doing that."
Amethyst rubbed the back of her neck.
"We both found out soon that we needed to keep our protests silent, or risk the worst. We were lucky we weren't killed sooner," he continued. "So we silently endured our enslavement, doing whatever we could to overcome hunger and hard labor."
Glass adjusted his position on the floor before progressing, "Then, one day, I couldn't take it anymore. I decided that I needed to do something about..." his voice caught in his breath. "About it. I planned an escape, and covertly invited everypony I could. Including Stone."
Glass let out a deep sigh. "We didn't have many ponies on our side in the end, but we went ahead with my plan anyways. That's where the secret tunnel came in," he snorted, and though Amethyst couldn't see, Pond narrowed his eyes. "I stupidly thought that if we could get to the surface when nopony knew, we could escape."
Pond swallowed, his voice becoming a faint whisper in the darkness, "I was caught just as I finished digging the tunnel, and I paid the price for it."
Glass Pond fell silent, and the two laid there in nearly-complete silence on the jail's floor. Only their ragged breaths broke the eerie atmosphere. Amethyst knew the story was not yet done, but a voice in the back of her head ordered her to keep quiet for as long as Glass Pond was.
When Glass Pond's voice sounded again after half a minute, he was straining with his words, "Sombra himself tried to force me to give the names of every pony who tried to escape with me so that he could..." Another ugly pause came in place of ugly words. "When I refused, he... targeted them. He t-tortured Cold Stone."
An empathetic Amethyst wrapped her forelegs around Glass, not receiving any resistance in turn. Soon, she felt damp spots begin to form in her shimmering coat.
Several false starts later, Pond managed to blubber out another painful sentence. "I was t-told the only way I could make it s-stop was to give the rest of their names..."
"Glass," A horrified Amethyst found herself blurting out. "You don't have to say anything more."
Amethyst held Glass close, his sobs echoing through the twisted corridors of the deep dungeons.
"They're all gone, Amethyst," Pond's voice was barely intelligible. "All of them."
She instantly regretted any and every negative thing she ever said of the stallion. How could she have possibly known what he had been through? How had he managed to stay sane?
"He made ice cream." Pond blurted. "He ran a stand that could travel anywhere in the empire. All the little ones loved his ice cream. Even some of the older ponies couldn't resist." Glass moved out of her embrace. "Sometimes he would pull his cart by my bar, I'd talk with him and invite him for a drink, and he would always shake his head with a smile and say 'Maybe next time.' Then he'd be gone to find some customers." Pond sniffled. "That was all he did. He had everything he needed to be happy."
Glass Pond took a pause before his voice dropped to a lower volume, "and I took all of that away. Because of me, we'll never s-see him again."
"So, now you know," He said with finality. "I'm a coward, and I'll forever have to live with that."
With those words, a burning rage awoke within Amethyst Glory. "No! You are many things Glass Pond, but a coward is not one of them."
Glass Pond shook his head bitterly.
"Pond?" she tried, with no response. "Pond! Look at me, and listen."
Reluctantly, his glossy eyes met her stern ones.
"You are not to blame," she assured. "Don't you think for even a second that your painful death could've saved them. Even if you had sacrificed yourself, do you really think that damnable wretch Sombra would've let the matter go? Do you really think he wouldn't have found another way to get their names?"
Pond's pupils scanned the floor, but Amethyst's hoof guided his head to look back at her.
"You did not kill them," she stated with unshakable certainty. "Sombra did."
Glass Pond brought a hoof to cover his eyes.
Amethyst Glory gave a gentle smile, and hugged him yet again. "I'm glad that you're still here."
And once again, they both sat there. Far underneath the Empire, holding each other in a dark cell with little hope.
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I was starting to feel the aftermath of round two.
I had fallen to all fours, hurling my stomach contents onto the rocky floor. My clothes had taken a beating this time, too. Several tears now adorned my pants and T-shirt, rendering me a bit haggard-looking.
My body ran out of energy much too drastically, to the point where I couldn't even move without every muscle and organ groaning in agony. I was lucky that one of those little orange gem monsters scuttled by so that I could grab it and steal its life away. But while that gave me enough energy to be able to move without hurting, my organs still disagreed with me. My stomach twisted and turned, until finally I gave up and barfed.
Barfing was a lot more painful than I remembered, too. I hadn't barfed in forever. The last time I can remember actually vomiting was during high school, when my mom believed I was faking my illness and forced me to go to class. Any other time I said I was sick on a school day, she would've been right. Poor mom.
Thoughts of my mother shaking her head in disappointment at my absence to the wedding danced in my head.
Poor mom...
I'll make it up to you mom, I thought. I'll make it up to you, dad, Janice, everyone.
If I didn't die of exhaustion on that cave floor, that was. I thought I had stored enough energy from that last scrap to keep me going for hours, maybe even the rest of the day. It had drained away all too quickly for my taste, but really it wasn't any matter. All I had to do was keep finding more of those crystal golem things to leech off of, and its not like there was any shortage of them down here.
With no small amount of effort, I hoisted myself onto my legs. I could walk for a little longer, at least long enough to find another batch of the rock candy monsters.
Just thinking of rock candy made me dry heave right there. I loved that stuff normally, but I was in no condition to even think about eating something that sweet.
All that said though, that still left me one problem: I was still lost down here in these caves. I tried my best to remember which paths I took from that merry chase, but I was absolutely sure I was still going down deeper into the earth. If I didn't suffocate or get crushed by a cave in at some point, I think I'd just die of starvation down here.
Now I was really wishing I hadn't vomited.
To make matters worse, the walls and floor started to become uneven and craggy, making my walking more uncomfortable and effort-consuming than it already was. Whatever force decided to throw me into this world of colored, deformed horses really didn't want to cut me any breaks.
Yet with very little hope, and no sense of direction, I trudged on.
Some few minutes of aimless wandering down gradually twisting hallways, and I was rewarded with the melodious sound of gem monsters. A myriad of deep pitches could be heard just around a particularly sharp corner.
I hurried my pace, hoping to soon be temporarily free of this exhaustion curse. I needed my fix of stamina, damn it.
Around the corner I expected round three to be waiting for me. Instead, the noises grew quieter, and the limb of a crimson gem monster slid around another corner and disappeared from sight at the end of the hall.
"Hey! Get back here!" I half wheezed, half hollered. My hobbling pace quickened. Nearly tripping several times, I chased after the walking energy sources. In the midst of my pursuit, I wondered where the small thing could possibly be running off to in such a hurry. "You won't escape that easy!"
I turned the next corner to find nothing but a dead end. The monster had vanished into thin air.
Fuck. What am I supposed to do now... I thought, turning my gaze turned upwards. The dark of the caves prevented me from seeing the ceiling, but something about where I was standing, something about this dead end seemed more... open... about it. I needed more than the faint light from the small minerals sparsely embedded in the cave walls.
My hands rummaged through my pockets, and I found my cell phone. "Please don't be out of battery, please don't be out of battery..." I whispered while I hit the power button. To my relief, the screen of my phone flashed brightly, blinding me for a few moments before showing me my battery was in fact very low.
Before I could do anything else, I noticed the time. 1:16 A.M. June 13. Was that really the time of this place, or was my phone still going off of Pacific Standard Time back at home? Or maybe the two were synonymous somehow, which the more I actually thought about that notion, the more impossible it sounded. Time zones were most certainly different from planet to planet.
Or dimension to dimension. Still wasn't entirely sure where I was. Whatever.
I didn't linger on that issue for more than a couple seconds, for I knew that thinking about this planet's time zones and comparing it to my own Earth would only lead to utter confusion. Instead, I made to turn on my phone's flashlight. Soon, the back of my phone lit up even brighter, and further ruined my adjusted vision in the dark.
I pointed my phone at the ceiling, only to find that there was no ceiling. There was only a hole.
A giant hole. One that stretched wider and larger than would seem physically possible.
And further than the light would allow me to see, the walls were lined with a rainbow of gem golems. It would be easier to explain where they weren't. That's how many there were clinging to the expansive walls above me. For that single moment, none of them moved, or even made a sound.
Then all at once, the bee hive of numerous monstrosities above me came to life.
I didn't get to say a damn word before a boulder came bouncing down off the face of the walls to squish me. Ungracefully, I dove out of the way, scraping my limbs against the floor and dropping my phone. A loud crashing of rocks smashing against each other sounded out much too close to me, and a few stray pebbles bounced off of my body.
I knew that boulder should've been my end. Even if I wasn't in my weakened state, that errant rock probably would have incapacitated me at the very least. Call me crazy, but I didn't think my unexplained powers protected me from giant, inanimate, no-energy objects crushing me to death.
And that's probably what these damn crystal things were hoping for. All too late, I finally understood what this fiasco was about. I had sprung their trap. Yes, I realize that should've been obvious.
As my heart attempted to escape through my ears, I hurriedly scanned the floor for my phone. My vision could not adapt to the dark soon enough. I needed that light source.
Another crash. I let out a yelp, and several of the monsters above me made their thunking sounds. If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were laughing at my predicament.
Dropping on all fours, I searched once again for my phone, desperate to use its back light to lead me away from here. I could fight these creatures if it were on my terms, but as it was right then, I was very vulnerable.
Each second of darkness was an eternity to me. I could've died at any moment right then and been none the wiser. I could feel falling dust, and hear the sounds of crashing rock above me. All it would take was one erratic to the head. Hell, I held my breath waiting for that moment.
But thankfully, that moment never came. My fingers found the smooth back of my phone face-down on the ground, and there was light again.
I shined it upwards into the chaos that was the golem hole. Every one of them was moving now, flailing their limbs or entire structures against the walls they clung to. They dug and smashed the wall, knocking loose every part of the rock surface they collided with.
None of them were coming down after me. I almost had the opportunity to question why before the cave started to rumble. It didn't take a genius to figure out what that meant.
And the slabs of earth that came tumbling down confirmed my suspicions that I was going to be crushed in a rock slide.
So I pointed my phone towards the way I came, and ran as fast as my adrenaline would propel. All the while, my world came crashing down around me.
I didn't dare look behind me; the deafening sounds of falling rock confirmed that yes, there was indeed a cave-in happening right now. I ran fast as I could for as long as my depleted body would allow, and I pushed through the pain to keep going still. I would not stop until I didn't hear a single sound behind me anymore.
The cave continued to crumble around me, and smash to bits at my hobbling heels. Stones with edges as sharp as swords plummeted from the ceiling, aiming to crack themselves on my head. I'm forever thankful that my reflexes managed to save me and guide my movements.
The splits in caves were, yet again, taken at random. I had no chance to think, only do. Though, to my credit, I did try to take the ones I thought would lead up. None of them did, but at least I tried.
After several minutes of overexerting myself to avoid certain doom, the roaring of stone destroying itself behind me began to quiet down. I didn't take a chance. Further I pushed, running a fair distance away before I finally turned. Besides a few loose bits of gravel, I could see no more rock falling behind me.
To be fair, I couldn't see much of anything anymore. The cave walls were no longer encrusted with the glowing jewels which faintly lit the way.
I could, however, see that there was definitely no way back for me anymore. In what used to be an empty cave, a pile of boulders, crystals and dirt left no wiggle room to get by. I was blocked in, and even more trapped down here now than I already was.
The caves echoed once more. Not with the sound of a cave in, but with my scream.
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Glass Ponds ear flicked, and he lifted his head. "Did you hear something?"
Amethyst lay on the floor next to him, adjusting herself to be slightly less uncomfortable on the rocks. "What?"
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I fell to all fours yet again, with my right hand grasping my phone. Sharp pain slowly but surely began to encroach every muscle and fiber of my being. My stomach leaped, and I retched my throat out, but I had hardly anything else to purge from my stomach. Only a few gobs of bile and spit made their way to the floor.
I made to collapse entirely onto the cold, uncomfortable ground. A lot more effort than I care to admit went into making sure I didn't fall onto my own bile.
A lot of thoughts went through my head in a few short seconds. I legitimately nearly died several times. I couldn't believe I was still alive. Though, I'd certainly die now that I was officially stuck underground. I couldn't get up, it would hurt too much.
I could only endure so much of this damn world.
Then, I didn't have any thoughts. I didn't know what to think anymore, so I didn't. I simply closed my eyes, laid there in the cool cave, and allowed the silence and darkness to overtake my environment. I couldn't feel the aching pain stabbing at my muscles anymore, or anything really. For a brief, dark moment, there was peace.
It was peace that I considered letting last forever.
A light skittering noise, one I had heard before, sliced through the quiet. The noise grew, coming closer to my pathetic corpse. I remained unmoving and stilled my breath, for I knew what it was that drew near. The skittering of tiny legs came to a stop, right at my fingertips. Still, I stayed my hand.
Only when I felt the tiniest prick of the football-sized crystal golem's leg on my left hand did I snatch it as fast as I possibly could. The use of energy I didn't even have damn near killed my arm and almost forced me to let go of the orange gem spider by default. Thankfully, my excruciating effort was swiftly rewarded. The color from inside the gem monster's insect appendage drained and flowed towards my touch, serving to tighten my grip. Power once again surged through my veins. I gripped at the topaz until I was sure that it was rendered motionless obsidian. And considering I couldn't see very well, I kept clutching for a full minute longer than I needed to.
I rolled over to lay on my front, and with my muscles only slightly groaning, pushed myself back onto my legs.
I stumbled at first, needing to lean against the nearby wall. After I willed myself to regain my balance, I took another long look at the way I came from, knowing I couldn't go back.
Then I released the longest sigh of my life. "Maybe down this way," I said, turning around.
I continued on, ever on the lookout for more crystal monsters, and a way out.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Next to the wall of pink energy, in the furthest corner of the Empire, a small dip in the land sprouted flowers so distinct and colorful that poems could be created from their beauty. And in this patch of verdant life, she stirred from her sleep. Her head lifted from the pillow of moss it lay upon, only to fall back down and drift away once again. In this small ditch of greener grass and vibrant flowers, she rested.
Still blissfully unaware of the unfamiliar world she was in.
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i hope he saves pond and Amethyst
You're back? You're back! This story is alive!
Damn, son, this is Dysfunction Junction at its finest. Everyone is crazy!
Also, this is why everyone (or at least every human born of an HiE author's creativity) should always carry a flashlight. ALWAYS. Phones only make very little light for very little time with no focus or power adjust whatsoever. They're awful light sources.
6534328 do you carry a flashlight were ever you go?
6534436 Naturally. An EDC (EveryDay Carry) kit isn't a real kit without one. After all, sunlight has that annoying habit of not going through building walls where ceiling lamps also don't shine, and no matter where you are, it's dark out for 12 hours of every day
Well. First I'm glad your back. Yay. Though this chapter needs some editing. You spell cadance, candance and shining armor calls him a person. Some of the sentences read a little odd as well. Other than that I'm glad were back...though it looks like its not just him in this world anymore, which is kind of sad for me.
Douchebag! Jk jk. I love the story thus far.
6534319 Pond, yes. Amethyst can fall off a cliff.
6535551 wow
6535709 Let me put it this way: she reminds me an awful lot of Aunt Marge and Aunt Petunia.
These corrections are offered without malice (and are not a complete list).
Cadance's (even though I hate the new spelling they used for trademark purposes, that's how they choose it to be spelled. You use this misspelling multiple times.)
if it truly were related to Sombra. It's a use of the subjunctive mood, like how you used it here:
Don't capitalize, it's neither a proper noun nor a new sentence.
Many instances of quotation-ends and beginnings being mis-punctuated (commas in places of periods or vice-versa, capitalization when there shouldn't be, etc.)
than
(Corrections end)
I rather doubt that!
6534608
Yes,well, he is a person and decidedly not a pony.
I hope updates for this start happening a lot more often.
6535764 oooooooo *shivers*
s3.amazonaws.com/rapgenius/peoples%20eyebrow6.jpg
i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/facebook/000/875/509/533.jpg
Ooh, an update... and when I saw the title I thought "Speak Now Or... Forever Hold Your Pasta." XD
there were alot of blank spots where dialog should have been.
God dammit, why do i keep catching up to these stories as soon as they hit a very important cliff hangar.
FUCK
blackframefame.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/mpost2.jpg
I'll hazard a guess and say that the sleeping beauty in the grass, is the main character's fiance.
Y'know, I have one major beef with this story: it needs to get a fucking focus. There are, like, five different plot lines (the human, shining and the guard/cadance, dusty and coral, amethyst and pond, and lastly shamrock) going on, slowing things down to a crawl.
It's a nicely written story, but as things stand I can't read it in its unfinished state.