Lesser Light: My Time in the Limelight

by soothsayer

Chapter 15

The roar of the waterfall lent the shrouded world a magical atmosphere. The bridge loomed over head and now they sat on the banks of the underground stream. Milky white fish and crustaceans flittered beneath the dark waters. Overhead stalactites hung forever divided from the floor below it.

Silver had spread out a blanket she had pilfered from the club house and the three fillies were sitting up on it, enjoying each others company. Sweeties had filled her bags with stuff she thought they might need: like extra rope, flashlights, pitons, and a small first-aid kit. Silver wasn't well as well equipped, besides the blanket she still had a few coloring books, a box of crayons, and a bag of goodies from Sugarcube Corner. Narci's stomach let out a little rumble which made Silver smile. Pulling out the goodie bag she watched as Sweetie's eyes went wide,

"Is that what I think it is!" she happily squeaked. Narci edged closer to bag only to be swatted away by Silver's hoof.

"It is." she said as she opened the bag. The scent of near fresh cookies and ginger snaps invaded the air and caused all three fillies to salivate. After dividing up the sweet treats they dug into a meal that would have made Ponyville's resident dentist, Minuette who was affectionately dubbed Colgate, to cringe. Narci nibbled at a ginger snap upon tasting it her eyes flew open,

"These are soooo good! Who makes these?"

"Pinkie Pie!" answered Silver.

"The bouncy overly-energetic party planner who brought the cake and punch to my welcoming party?" said Narci with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep!" piped Sweetie.

"I wouldn't have thought that." muttered Narci.

"My big sister Rarity said that when she first started they had to have the firestallions constantly on standby because she had two and three kitchen fires a week." giggled Sweetie, "It was so bad that the Cakes came really close to firing her. But they couldn't because despite all of her accidents their customers found her joy infectious and they wouldn't let them get rid of her."

"I don't think I could stand being around her all of the time. I would go crazy" said Narci.

"I don't think she can stand being sad that is why she is so crazy-." added Silver before being cut off by Sweetie.

"That's mean, Silver!" shouted Sweetie as she shot Silver a hard look.

Silver raised her hooves up in defense,

"You didn't let me finish," she replied," I think that she tries her best to make others happy because she can't stand how being sad makes her feel and she doesn't want anypony else to feel that way, ever."

Sweeties face softened and she muttered a soft,

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok Swee.....Eek!" shrilled Silver as she leapt from her seat crashing into Sweetie who was knocked onto her back.

"Bwhahha" roared Narci as tears streamed form her eyes after watching Silvers reaction to her wing tip grazing her flank.

Standing above Sweetie the two fillies locked eyes and both started to blush furiously which only made Narci laugh harder. But they both silently agreed that Narci's wing teasing had gone far enough,

"Do you trust me?" mouthed Silver.

Sweetie shivered just a little and then nodded yes. On cue Silver dropped her muzzle gently brushing Sweeties ear which caused the filly to blush even more. The warm breath ticked her ear and she could help but giggle, as Silver whispered her plan,

"I think Narci needs to go swimming,"

The position Silver had taken on a not so innocent appearance and she looked like she was kissing Sweeties ear. A blush started faintly glow beneath Narci's coat but before it was even noticeable her wings shot out with a loud,

"Pomf!"

That was the sign the other two had been waiting for, so the sprung to action. Scooping the bat filly up they marched over to the stream and chunked her into the cool running water. The watched as the filly sunk in cloud of bubbles. Moments passed and Narci didn't surface. Sweetie and Silver each shared worried glances and then they approached the waters edge.

The sounds of their movement sent her tail tell signs that they were with in range so Narci kicked off the bottom and launched herself from the surface pulling Silver in with a deft swipe of a wing. Silver fell into the water with ease but Sweetie wasn't so easy a rock to budge. Fighting back Sweetie didn't particularly care to get her mane wet.

In a rush of adrenalin her magic roared to life, with a high ascending note her voice was boiling over with power and ethereal sharpness as a thunderclap of energy spread out shaking the foundations of the cave. The breadth of the psionic wave was far larger than anything she had ever managed to summon in her short life. The force of it sent Narci screaming back into the water as several of the stalactites fell from their perch above.

Grunting as she pulled herself from the water Silver watched in horror as one of the stone spears crashed beside her barely missing her body. She let out a scream as she sprung to her hooves and then she ran as fast as they could carry her.

Surfacing Narci could feel the wave echo throughout the chamber each one giving her a vision as to what was going on. Suffering form a information overload she didn't register the colossal stone that had set its sites on her.

"LOOK OUT!" screamed Sweetie as she watched the boulder splash down in the water atop her friend.

Running for her life Silver had ran up the ramping passage and had just crossed the be bridge when it exploded behind her turning the natural bridge that had withstood a thousand lifetimes crumble like old bread. Her heart and lungs were pumping and the sound of her heartbeat could be felt in her ears. She was already halfway through the diagonal passageway when she heard Sweetie scream, look out. Guilt about leaving her friends behind started to well up inside her so she slammed her hooves down trying to stop her forward momentum. After sliding several feet she whirled around and ran back towards her friend.

Jerking her head up at the killing stone time seemed to freeze; the silver locket around Narci's neck pulsated and then opened. One side held a clock face and the other a compass. The clock's previously unmoving second hand started ticking and the spinning Compass needle came to abrupt halt, pointing north. Her eyes were opened and for the briefest time she felt as though she was everywhere and her soul marked every year, month, week, day, hour, minuet, and second, down to fractions of time that were incomprehensible to understand. That all came to a halt as time rebooted and the rock continued on its course.

Diving down she raced the boulder to the bottom of the pool. Peddling with her hooves and flapping her wings she slipped out from underneath the rocks shadow but she wasn't fast enough. The boulder wasn't going to be denied its kill as it pinned the tip of Narci's port side wing. Feeling the delicate bones crack under the colossal weight she let out a scream that did nothing but create a stream of bubbles. Desperately pulling at her wing hot tears began to pour from her eyes only to be stolen away by the coolness of the water. Her chest burned as her need for air became more important than the freeing of her wing and just as she opened her mouth to suck in water- thinking it was air her world warped and twisted. With sickening pop she fell to the stony floor a few feet away from Sweetie Belle, who was rushing to her aid. Just before she blacked out she spotted a warm magical glow illuminating from Sweeties flank. She smiled as she recognized it what it was, a cutie mark.