Gladiator

by Not_A_Hat

17 - Systematic

I staggered as I landed in a dark room. The floor had lowered a good four inches in the transfer. I heard a 'thunk' and an 'ooof' behind me as my companions arrived. I stood in the dark for a minute, eyes straining for any sign of light; I could hear quiet breathing behind me. The other two must be OK.

I raised a hand to my face, thinking to test for light. I noticed a purple glow barely apparent in the dark.

"Huh," I murmured, as I turned my hand back and forth, inspecting the luminescent stain under my skin. "Hey, Twilight, can we get a light here? A small one?" I whispered, wary of attention. A gentle glow flowed around me, bathing the chamber in a dim light and revealing a small room. It was maybe twenty feet to a side, bare of any distinguishing features, and carved from red crystal streaked with black. A spell circle was fading under our feet, the room's only real marking quickly disappearing back into the rock it had sprung from.

I stepped towards the door, and glanced through. It opened into a corridor that lead straight out before widening into what might have been a larger room, but the creeping darkness made it difficult to tell. I motioned, and Twilight dimmed the light a bit. I waved again, and it blinked out completely.

"Ok." I said quietly into the dark. "Here's what's up. For now, we consider ourselves behind enemy lines. We need to discover where we are, and then get out of here. We need to be as quiet and inconspicuous as possible. Rainbow, try and raise Captain Armor on the comm. Twilight, any ideas on how to get a message out if that doesn't work?"

There was a moment of silence, and Rainbow started to talk quietly into the comm.

"No." Twilight said at last. "I don't have any long-range spells that would work, not with the sort of interference I'm sensing. I wish we'd had more time."

<"If wishes were horses..."> I said.

Twilight snorted quietly at that.

"Well, we can't let that hold us back. Oh, hey, check it out; I'm glowing." I held up my hand, showing her the purple light on my palm.

"Fascinating!" I felt her horn brush my hand and jerked away, surprised. "Hey, come back!" she said. "I want a closer look."

"Shhhh." I urged, carefully returning my hand. The tip of her horn, cool in the air, dimpled my skin and I felt a fizzy-tingly feeling spread across my hand. "Didn't we do this before?"

"Yeah, kinda. The fact that this glows, though, makes me think the stain might really be a form of crystallized magic...which I'd previously considered, but dismissed."

"Oh. Um, shouldn't that be impossible?"

"Ordinarily, yes. That's why we never bothered to test for it. And it's such a dim glow, this never came up."

"So, what's going on?"

"Well, if it IS crystallized magic, it means...well, I'm not sure exactly, but at the very least it means that your body isn't completely incompatible with magic like I'd first thought."

"Ow." I felt sharp pain lance up my arm, tracing back towards my heart. "Ow! Ok, stop." Her horn drew back for a second, and then touched me again. This time the pain was worse, like tweezers on my nerves. "Ow, OUCH! Seriously cut that out!" I yanked my hand back, and then froze, listening in case my raised voice attracted attention. I grit my teeth and silently berated myself for my stupidity.

"Um, guys?" Rainbow's voice interrupted me. "I can't get anything on the comm. About what I expected, but..."

"Still discouraging." Twilight finished for her. I nodded, realized they couldn’t see it in the pitch dark, and grunted my agreement.

"Ouch," I said again, quietly. "What was that about?"

"Oh, don't be such a 'fraidy foal! I was just scanning you!"

"Well, it hurt! Don't you ever think to ask before you start running tests on people?"

"Hey, don't be like that! We needed to know-"

"We? Needed? You mean you wanted! Get your head out of the clouds, and consider other people for once!"

"Um, guys-" Rainbow tried to interject, but at this point, neither of us were feeling particularly rational.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that! I'm working my horn off here to help you, and you're treating me like this? Maybe I should let you try and figure things out! On your own! See how well you do, completely unable to sense magic!"

"Just because I need help, doesn't mean you're allowed to do whatever you want to me! That seriously hurt, and it's not the first time you've ignored my complaints! Maybe I'd be better off without your help anyways! Death by burnout would be preferable to being cut, scorched, and worried away bit by bit!"

"Ooooo, you, you...FOOL! Why did I even try to reason with you, stupid, meat-headed, ignorant, APE!"

"Guys, seriously, what are you-"

"Calling names now? Well, Miss I'm-so-perfect Sparkle, You, are an insensitive, clueless, naive filly, who doesn't know the first thing about friendship!!"

"I'm an expert on friendship! You're the one can't seem to understand that I'm the victim here! I wish I'd never seen you!"

"Yeah? Well, I'd rather have died, then ended up in your company!"

"Both of you, SHUT UP!" Rainbow's shout echoed in the small room, shocking us out of our litany. "You're both acting like foals! What happened to teamwork, Twilight? And what about keeping a low profile, Wes? What is wrong with you two? And why is it so cold in here?"

"I don't know! Can't you do anything on your own, Rainbow? Do I need to have all the answers for you?" Twilight snarled out of the dark. I took a step towards her voice, a fist raised in anger, but found my shoes stuck to the floor. Unable to lift my feet, forward momentum pitched me onto my face. My flailing arm caught Twilight a heavy thump, and I yelled in pain as my ankles over-extended and my head hit the floor.

"OW!" I yelled again.

For a moment, there was silence. The pain robbed me of my anger. I tried to curl up, and ended up squatting on the floor. Feeling around my feet, I discovered that there was a thick layer of ice encasing my shoes, and it was slowly creeping up my legs.

"Twilight!" I gasped, realizing a bit of what was going on. "Windigoes!"

"Oh hay," she spat, and re-lit her horn. All three of us shied away from the specter that floated in the center of the room, gazing down on us with white eyes. It looked like a windigo, all strong lines and fierce features, but instead of the bluish colors that they had sparkled with in the fight against Sombra, this one was a dark and forbidding but much less substantial. It looked like an ink outline hung in the air, and it was remarkably hard to discern against the dark crystal walls. I moved my head to the side, trying to make sure that it wasn't just a tracing on the wall. When one line obscured part of Rainbow's head, I decided it was real.

"What do we do?" Rainbow yelped, her red eyes flicking towards me.

"No idea." I shot back. "Twilight? Um, I'm sorry for what I said...I don't think I was completely in control. Do you have any idea what to do here?"

"Not really, but...hey, did it just get a little smaller?"

I looked down, as I felt a flake of ice chip off my leg.

"Um, maybe..." I thought for a second. "Twilight, I don't regret meeting you, and I don't wish I'd have died instead. You've been a big help to me while I've been here, and I'm honored to work with you." I looked down. Sure enough, a larger crack ran through the ice holding my feet to the floor.

"Did that actually work?" she asked, eyes flicking from my shoes to my face. "We just have to...apologize? O-Ok, I...I'm sorry for what I said. I don't think you're a coward, and I really have enjoyed getting to know you. I'm sorry for all the problems my mistakes have caused you."

"I forgive you." I said sincerely, and the ice around Twilight's hooves receded a little. "I'm-I'm sorry for yelling. I know I shouldn't raise my voice like that. It doesn't help anything, and it just makes things harder. I apologize for not seeing the situation for what it was sooner. I let both of you down."

"That's Ok," Rainbow said. Twilight nodded agreement, before continuing

"I'm sorry for not stopping when you asked. I know I need to work on taking other people's feelings into account sometimes, especially when I'm wrapped up in work. I shouldn't treat others as experimental subjects, even when they have absolutely fascinating magical phenomenon happening around them."

"I forgive you." I said. "I'm sorry for saying you were a bad friend. You've been nothing but gracious to me while I've been here. I think that-GET HIM!" Judging the time right, I snapped my feet loose with a quick movement, and leaped for the Windigo in the center of the room. Rainbow did the same, and Twilight lashed out with her horn.

I was surprised when the pegasus and I collided roughly, the specter giving no more resistance than the wind. I staggered back, my eyes flicking around the dimly-lit room, trying to spot the threat.

Twilight had him.

Her magic had wrapped the spirit, and was slowly constricting, crushing the black thing smaller and smaller as it tried to escape. Finally, with a small 'pop', it imploded, leaving behind a wisp of black smoke that quickly dissipated.

"What was that?" Rainbow asked.

"A windigo." I said. "And, I think, what we're going to be up against. Unless Sombra has some other kind of ageless, undying guards to patrol his hidden city."

"Remember the golems?" Twilight panted.

"Oh, right." I nodded to Rainbow. "Last time we fought these, they used crystal bodies. They could physically attack us while they had them. I needed to crush them before they turned like..." I waved to the center of the room. "That one."

"Um, Wes?"

"Yes, Twilight?"

"No hard feelings? I think the windigo was influencing us, and I didn't really mean all those things, and I'm sorry I was so angry though I understand if you're still—"

"No, Twilight. No hard feelings. I was being stupid too, and...well, I'll forgive you, if you forgive me—Ahg! Why are you hugging me! Why do you ponies hug everyone so much!"

"Oh, don't whine," Rainbow interjected, from where she'd positioned herself by the door. "Sometimes ponies just need a hug. Give it a try. You'll feel better."

"Um..." I wasn't entirely sure of the logic of that, but my mood HAD been severely whiplashed just now. I fought back my instinctive twitches at having anyone this close to me, put my arms around Twilight’s neck and gave her a squeeze. She was fuzzy and warm and I did feel a little better. I broke off after a few seconds anyways, stepping back.

"Ok, what now?" Twilight asked. I turned to look at Rainbow, and found her staring at me expectantly as well.

"Hey, wait a minute. How come I have to make the decisions all of a sudden?" I asked, struggling with a sudden feeling of responsibility.

"You were all 'this is what we're doing', a minute ago!" Rainbow said. "Also, you seem to have some actual experience with this kind of thing."

"Yeah," Twilight agreed, "last time was the same. You called the shots, and got us out of Sombra's other dungeon."

I sighed, and rubbed my temples for a minute. I didn't really feel that me being the leader was a bad choice. I could understand where they were both coming from, and, honestly, I did know a bit more about what we needed to do. Although Twilight technically outranked me, she wasn't really part of the formal chain of command; and even then, she wasn't really a field operative except in very special circumstances...which this was.

What really weighed on me was the responsibility.

Captain Armor, now I know how you feel. I looked up. Two ponies had just placed their lives in my hands. That sort of trust...well, it could make or break a man. I wasn't particularly eager to find out what it would do to me. I'd never considered myself particularly strong-willed or clever, although I tried my best. I guess my best had better be good enough. My biggest problem with calling the shots was the fear that I might call it wrong. Someone needed to do it, though, and they were looking towards me. For the sake of my companions, I could do this. I would do this. And I'd be dammned if I didn't do it with every single ounce of effort I could. No pressure. I took a deep breath, and braced myself. Here goes.

"Ok. First off, can you secure the door, Twilight? We need to assume they know we're here, and we do need to move, but they're not here yet, and we need to make sure we understand our situation as best we can before we rush into anything. Sound off; what do we have to work with?" The purple unicorn cast a shimmering barrier over the door, and nodded to me.

"Well, I have my armor and chains," Rainbow began, "although they're not much good in here. I have a full canteen, a first-aid kit, and my comm, but it's keyed to my squad and Captain Armor. Umm, a few days worth of emergency rations, and my saddlebags. That's it."

"I can re-key the comms, so they work with each other," Twilight began. "I have a few notebooks, ink, pens, saddlebags as well, a telescope, and...oh, this." She reached into her bags, and my jaw dropped as she pulled out a bandolier loaded with a dozen crystal grenades.

"Holy crow, that's great! Where did you grab that from?" I asked, taking them from her and dividing them up evenly between the three of us.

"Well, when I realized that the comms weren't working, I...kinda panicked a bit. I stripped the tactical thaumic clockwork cannonade down, grabbed what I could, and started 'porting to get to where the action was. This is one of the things I found in the command tent's ammo cache."

"Don't suppose you have any of those vortex crystals, do you?"

"Nope."

"Dang. Um, my turn, I guess. I have my comm, my armor, my war hammer, half a first-aid kit, half a canteen and field rations as well. Oh, and my knife. My armor is kinda patchy, since they had to throw it together in a hurry."

I stood for a minute, trying to think things through. My arm twinged again, and I winced at the shooting pains.

"Ok, before I forget; I don't have any debilitating wounds. A cut on my scalp, and bruises, but that's it. How about you two? And Twilight, how's your magic doing?"

"I'm OK," Rainbow said. "None of them could even touch me in the air. We had them out-flown and out-classed."

"I'm fine as well. I ported right into the arena, and Shiny watched my back after that. As for magic..." Twilight grimaced, obviously unhappy. "I don't have much more left in me. Maybe a half-dozen good spells, or one real doozy. Certainly not enough for prolonged combat. I'll need several days rest to get back up to level. I really pushed with the cannon."

"Rainbow, you need a different weapon." I slipped my dagger out of its sheathe, and presented the hilt to her. She carefully coiled the barbed chains she used in the sky, making sure that the hooks were turned inwards, and took the knife from me.

"Wow, this is good steel." Her voice was indistinct as she tested the knife-edge against her hoof, peeling off a thin sliver. "Where'd you get this?"

"It's one of the few things I still have from my world. It's a utility knife used by the army there. It should take anything you throw at it." I felt a little naked after giving up my trusty dagger, but consoled myself with my hammer. "Twilight, any idea why we couldn't do anything to the last windigo?"

"Yes, actually. They're pretty much beings of magic. I was able to dissipate it by disrupting the coordination of its components. Let me see your weapons." I held out my hammer, Rainbow the dagger, and they floated out of our grips. Twilight glared at them for a minute, and then cast something on them and returned them to us. My hammer's head was warm to the touch. "That ought to give you at least a few good hits against one of them. I made them somewhat magically repellent. They ought to be able to disrupt a windigo if you can get them going fast enough through their body." I mentally ticked off one of the six spells Twilight thought she was up for.

"Thanks, Twilight. Are you going to have trouble maintaining this light?" She shook her head. "Ok. Adjust the comms, and we're moving out. Try and conserve your strength; your magic is our most versatile asset, so let's save it for when we need it. Stay in the center, and try to keep the light useful but not too bright. Rainbow, watch our back. I'm taking point. We're looking for anything that can tell us where we are. Remember to keep calm. As long as we're not fighting, I hope the windigoes won't find us as easily. They seem to be awfully sensitive to conflict." My companions nodded, and I walked out the door, shattering the barrier with my passing.

We quickly left the building. I stopped for a second at the door. Outside, cobble streets empty of traffic rolled away in all directions. We had arrived in a blocky crystal house. It seemed to have originally been red, but streaks of black ran through the entire structure. It seemed military in nature. A flag, decorated with a snowflake, hung limply from a nearby roof.

I looked up, and winced. Deep black hung above us. Maybe we were inside a cavern? Yeah. That must be it. We weren't trapped in a fathomless void, unable to find our way home. Drifting forever. Lost and alone.

I pushed my shivers back, and stepped out the door. Once more into a brave new world. Or something like that.

Comments

[JBL]

Engage de suspense!

[damnaion]

hummmm

[StarChaser01]

3641842 *veeeeeEEEEEEEEEE-*
Suspense engaged!

[Dj7291993]

showing her the purple light onmy palm.

"on my" Missing space.

You were all 'this is what were doing', a minute ago

"we're" Contractions use an apostrophe in place of the dropped letter(s), in this case, the 'a'(we are). 'Were' is a plural past-tense be verb.

for the sake of my companions,

"For" Beginning of a sentence.

We need to assume they know were here,

"we're" same as above.

You probably already know the were vs we're thing, but I figured I'd put the explanation anyways. That said, it is nice reading stories where the only errors are easy to read over like this. Also, ones where the authors take the time to fix them. So thank you for that. Now, back to the story for me.

[Lovecraftia]

Times are changing, don’t get left behind