The Inheritors of Friendship

by NgKQ

Chapter 56

Deep down, Melody Aurora kept going deeper and deeper. For a long while, she hadn’t encountered anything. Her mind was racing. She had to locate her mother and brother fast.

It was not until when then, Melody eventually stumbled upon Orion Galaxy.

“Orion…”

“I’m glad you’ve came,” said Orion, looking unamused.

Fearing that Orion will begin to lecture her severely, Melody pleaded. “Please, Orion, I’m not sure if you know what I mean, but please, I came here to help, not to mess things up. Please, I get what you mean…”

Instead, Orion went up to her and put his hoof on her shoulder, puzzling Melody.

“Melody,” he began. “Remember the day when our grandparents were attacked?”

“Yeah…”

“Tell you what,” he said, his speech becoming somber. “That night I swore to myself that I will not let everypony I know get harmed, even my beloved ones, like you…”

With that, he hugged Melody, in which she responded. In the embrace, Melody could feel his manly tears dripping on her back, showing that he really cared for her like everypony else.

They hugged for a few minutes, when Orion eventually got up.

“Anyhow,” he continued. “Mom sent me to find you.”

“Where is she?”

“Right there. Follow me.”

Orion directed Melody through a series of passageways. After some tough navigation they eventually reached their mother. She was waiting.

“Mom…”

“I’m still glad you’ve finally came,” said Twilight, hugging her. “Princess Celestia messaged me that you’re here, so I deployed Orion to find you.”

“So, what are we going to do now?”

Twilight pointed to the wall beside her. “I’m seeing something suspicious on this wall. Look at it. See that crack running down like an arch?”

“It used to be part of a door,” said Orion. “But I can sense some strange energy from the other side, yet we can’t find a way to get in. Our suspicions turned to this site.”

Melody scrutinized the cracked site for a moment.

“I think it leads to a secret passageway,” suggested Melody. “Perhaps Queen Myra must have used magic to seal this path to make it hidden to others!”

“So the only way to check this out is to use magic to unseal it, huh?” asked Orion.

“Good point,” agreed Twilight. “But first, let me observe this one more time…”

Soon, she noticed something.

“Aha!” she said. “I see something like an old mark right up there. I guess that it’s a lock to the secret passageway.”

“Just as I expected,” said Orion. “Magic is the key to unlock this.”

“How are we supposed to open that?” asked Melody.

“I’ve got this,” said Twilight. “Listen to what I say. Now first, we’ll touch our horns altogether…”

The three gathered in a circle, with the tips of their horns in contact. Concentrating with each other, they directed the magic to the mark. Then, another miraculous thing happened. The place where the door stood began to shine. Then the shine faded away to reveal a path leading into darkness.

The siblings gasped with surprise.

“Okay then,” said Twilight. “We have to walk inside carefully. It’s really dark in here and I don’t want anything unexpected to happen to us so let’s walk together.”

“Right!”

The family entered into the hidden passage, walking quietly, with Twilight leading. For a minute, nothing happened.

Suddenly, the unthinkable happened.

Orion sensed a glow behind him. He turned around with horror to see the entrance slowly being sealed up.

“The entrance!” he alarmed. “It’s closing!”

“What?” Twilight and Melody turned back in time to see the entrance slowly enveloped in black.

“It’s a booby trap!” exclaimed Melody.

Worse still, everything around them began to glow, then spin and tremble.

“Keep calm!” instructed Twilight. “Stay together!”

The three immediately hugged with each other. The tremors went on for another minute.

Suddenly, everything slowly went still.

“Is it… over?” asked Melody, opening her eyes. She was greeted by an unfamiliar site. “Where is this?”

“I… have no idea…” responded Twilight.

Then they heard hoofsteps accompanied by an evil laughter.

“Who’s that?” asked Orion.

“So, you’ve finally discovered my hidden route.” The figure showed up, revealing their long-time nemesis.

“Queen Myra…”

“It was nice seeing you again, Princess Twilight,” she spoke. “And good thing you’ve got your children here, too.”

“We’re not here to play host!” said Melody. “We’re going to end your nice days!”

“Tell me, what do you have to do with my people dreaming of your minions and couldn’t get up?” demanded Orion with fury.

“That, is merely the first stage of conquering,” Myra explained. “I simply created a maze with no way out for the dreamlands of each pony, at the same time I sent my minions to add the fear for them. That way they’ll keep searching that they’ll never get up, and with that I can absorb their spiritual energy from them. By the time all of Equestria is under my spell, they’ll ultimately become my slaves, and my minions shall dominate the entire universe!”

“That’s a cruel act! Princess Celestia will never allow that!” declared Twilight.

“That’s enough to see some of my friends suffer! Time to stop this!” shouted Orion.

“Well, catch me if you can…”

An all-out battle ensued between Myra and Twilight and her children. They all fought fearlessly, despite got attacked by Myra’s blasts.

It was not until when Myra was reduced to an almost weary state.

“How you’d like it?” asked Melody.

“Nice try,” said Myra. “But I’ve got one final backup!” She immediately produced a strange potion out of nowhere. With one gulp, she drank it all.

To their horror, a dark aura of magic surrounded her. With a boom, Myra now stood as a huge monstrous figure, almost three times her size.

“What was that?” asked Twilight, shocked.

“This potion,” said Myra. “Is merely a mix of my standard recovery potion with fragments of Melody’s charm scratched the other day. With this mixture, I am now powerful and unstoppable!”

“So you stole the magic from my charm!” said Melody.

“That is a heritage of our family. Nopony can ever use that!” barked Twilight, infuriated.

“But I suppose that I’ve broken your rules, huh?”

“Enough of this. Take that!” said Orion as he fired magic towards her. But to his shock, she took no damage.

“Oh, I forgot. With this potion, I am now invincible! Mwa-ha-ha…”

“I don’t care! I’m going to finish you!” yelled Melody.

The three fought, but as hard as they attacked, there was not even a scratch laid on the ultimately-transformed Myra.

Soon, they all grew weary.

Then, Twilight suddenly fell over. She had been suffering from fatigue.

“Mom!” cried Melody.

Seizing the opportunity, Myra prepared her ultimate death blow and aimed towards Twilight.

But, quick as lightning, Orion instantly teleported in front of her and used his magic to intercept the attack, leaving Twilight surprised.

He concentrated with all his might, but alas, he soon proved no match for her. Myra’s beam eventually outpowered him, sending him into a tumble.

“Orion!”

Orion lay bruised on the ground. Both Twilight and Melody rushed over to help him. His horn was scorched from the attack.

“Orion, are you okay?” Twilight asked, worried and concerned.

“Why… does my fate… have to be… like this?” He uttered before passing out.

The two now turned to Myra, with faces of horror.

“Now, have you witnessed my true potential?” she asked. “Surrender now, and be my slaves tonight…”

“Gah! How am I supposed to defeat her!!?” Melody buried her face in her hooves, crying with despair.

Just then, she heard calls coming from the distance.

“Melody! Twilight! Are you alright?”