A Dangerous Sparkle

by David Silver

120 - Penetrate the Darkness

The group withdrew from the cave entrance. Once safely behind cover of trees, they tended to their wounds. Soft allowed her power to radiate across the group, healing her own injuries while soothing that of others. Even the flash burns faded from her with effort.

Applejack gave a soft sigh of relief, "Boy howdy, that kind of healin' magic's something amazing."

Soft Mane seemed dissatisfied, "But I'm not good enough to get rid of it all." It was true, while Soft Mane's lesser hurts were eradicated under the pink glow, Spike and Applejack still sported bruises and aches to remember the battle by. She approached Spike first, "I could try to go for the rest, but that's it."

Spike hopped back, "I'm OK! Save it for an emergency. Those stupid gnolls had a hard time getting through these awesome scales anyway."

Applejack wasn't as selfless, "Wouldn't mind another hit or two if'n you got it." A touch from Soft made her relax, "That's fine... just fine. So what's the plan?"

Twilight snorted softly, "Our plan was ruined by reinforcements, but good job, everypony. We pulled through it, together."

Applejack suddenly brightened, "Hey, Twi? Don't suppose that fire slingin' one uses the same kinda book we do?"

Twilight smiled, "Excellent thought! Spike, go check them, quickly." She touched Spike with a hoof, making him vanish from sight. "Better safe than sorry."

"Roger!" said Spike before he left quietly to loot.

Rainbow shook herself out, "Do I get a turn to loot? That's the best part."

Twilight snorted softly, "Keep it serious, Dash. Spike's a bit faster, and he has fingers, and those scales of his means if he is spotted he'll probably get away easier." At Rainbow's expression of anger and disappointment, Twilight gently smiled, "You were great, Rainbow. You came out of nowhere, bam!"

Rainbow's mood flipped around, "Oh yeah! I came down on that guy like an angry sack of bricks. Who did he think he was, roasting my friends like that? Roasting me like that the first time."

Sonata did not seem as pleased with her performance, "Sorry..."

Soft raised a brow, "Sorry for what?"

Sonata cringed a little, "I ran away, when you guys totally needed me the most."

Rainbow waved a wing at Sonata, "What are you talking about? You turned that big guy into a statue. He was throwing off that, whatever it was, the crystal thing."

Twilight frowned, "Speaking of crystal things..." She looked to Lex, "You have some explaining to do."

Lex's features hardened slightly as he looked back at Twilight. "Do I? In what regard?"

Twilight nodded, "You were using pretty strange magic I never saw before, and I've seen those crystals only one other place." She raised a hoof, "That goes along with that horn. Now don't get me wrong, you did good, along with everypony else, but I want to know who I'm fighting with."

Lex opened his mouth to give a scathing reply, when he suddenly had a flash of insight.

He had thought that his experiment with telling Twilight she was pretty earlier had been a failure. Even considering that the varied environment meant that it hadn't been a perfect recreation of the circumstances as when he'd said that to Sonata - a common-enough situation since he'd been thrown into Everglow, where he'd been too itinerant to form a proper laboratory - he'd hoped that her reply would have something in common with the sea pony's, something that he could use as a point of reference. He'd thought that there'd been none, but now realized that his initial conclusion had been hasty.

Twilight had said "I hardly know you," when she'd replied. By contrast, he'd already told Sonata some of his personal history before their train had crashed. Ergo, a more positive reaction from the subject was predicated on the subject having greater biographical data available to them.

It was a shaky conclusion, to be sure, but it was far and away better than nothing at all. After all, now he had an idea of what to do next. In fact, she'd even suggested a venue for how things should proceed.

All of this went through his mind in an instant, his scowl suddenly turning into a thin, satisfied smile. "You're the one who said we should focus on the task at hoof. Once we've gotten those prisoners to safety, we can go on a date. I'll tell you more about myself then."

Twilight went red and sputtered, "I... wasn't asking for a date!" She cleared her throat softly, "But you're right, we should stay focused. Let's give Spike a chance to get back, then we'll decide on the next step."

Rainbow snorted in a poorly restrained laugh, "Dude, you're so smooth it kind of hurts."

Sonata stepped in, "Hey, just because he's a little awkward doesn't mean you get to make fun of him!" Perhaps seeing a bit of her own plight in Lex, she moved to stand defensively in front of him, "He's trying his best, like, give him a break."

Applejack shook her head, "Easy there girl, we're not trying to be harsh on him."

Lex's brow furrowed at the exchange, clearly confused by what was going on, before he decided that it didn't matter. Nothing had outright contradicted his initial conclusions, so this was still a step forward. That didn't explain Sonata's odd characterization of him, though; he wasn't awkward, he was the only one acting in a way that made sense!

Mentally shrugging it off as more of her unpredictability, he instead turned his attention to the task ahead. Now that he'd gotten results to his satisfaction, it was time to put this experiment aside until he could move on to the next phase.

Spike returned, announcing his presence with a 'hey'. Things began to drop on the ground. A sizable pile of gems and a separate pile of necklaces. Twilight raised a brow, "Where did you find the necklaces?"

Spike spoke from nowhere, "The mohawk one was wearing them, all of them. Here." A book appeared and settled in front of Twilight.

Twilight grinned and opened it quickly, scanning it, "Ooo! His fireball spell is in here..."

Applejack perked an ear, "Is that something ah can learn? That'd teach those timberwolves somethin'."

Twilight nodded, "You'll have to keep practicing before you get to spells that complicated, but yes." She closed the book and tucked it away.

Rainbow snorted, "If you have so much magic now, AJ, why didn't you blast anything?"

Applejack tilted her head, "Ahm pretty sure that's why I'm still here. Ah did a protective spell before we charged in and ah saw several shots that would have hit bounce off of it. It saved mah life..."

"You're not the only one with an interest in new magic," interjected Lex, his usual frown back on his face. "I think I've earned the right to see what's in there."

Spike suddenly appeared as Twilight's horn glimmered. He shrugged softly, "I don't think anypony was asking you to wait outside. It's pretty quiet in there. I didn't hear more gnolls coming."

Twilight rolled her eyes, "I think he means the book. We all want to read it, but there's no time for research now. Gather up everything and let's get moving. If we've taken out their defenses, maybe we can quickly scoop up some of those slaves before they recover."

Sonata wrinkled her nose, "I don't get it. What's so special about that book? I didn't have to read any books to learn my magic."

"Your magic is different," explained Lex, half-interestedly glancing through the pile of gemstones and picking up a few. "It comes to you naturally, without any study or effort on your part. Twilight and her student," he canted his head towards Applejack, unable to immediately recall her name, "need to study whatever scraps of magic they can cobble together from others. I can also acquire new magic that way, though I prefer to simply invent it myself."

Heedless of the others, Lex started moving towards the cave network. "Let's hurry."

The remaining treasure was scooped up quickly, piled into Spike's and Applejack's bags. Twilight frowned a bit at Lex, "Hey, I've made up a spell before!" Once...

The group was moving though, returning to the mouth of the cave and peering into its torch-lit depths. Spike led the way, moving at a brisk pace. Rainbow asked quietly, "Should we be trying to sneak, or should we just tell everypony to start running?"

Twilight shook her head, "No reason to shout yet, let's free who we can without making a scene."

It didn't take long to find the first two, the small ponies. They were still hammering at the rocks, looking tired but not pausing. They noticed the approach of the group, glancing at them, but continuing their work.

Applejack frowned, advancing quickly and bringing down her hooves on one manacle, then the other, crushing them to scrap. "Yer free now."

They still hammered. Rainbow trotted up and poked one in the side, "You can go now."

The small pony shied away from the poke, "We don't want to be punished. Please leave us alone."

"We are here to rescue you," Lex's eyes glowed as he mentally snatched the picks away. "Your captors have been dispatched, and we are taking you back to civilization." His tone left no room for argument.

The pair looked quite confused, but didn't try to shy away again. Soft approached, "It's going to be alright." With some gentle encouragement, they got the two moving, and the two followed after the group as they roamed the tunnels. The human and orc were more responsive.

"Who are you?" asked the orc, "Have you come to trade with the gnolls?"

Spike advanced, "Nah. We're here to set you free."

The human smiled, "You're a crazy looking bunch, but you have my thanks."

Spike soon had their chains broken, but they held onto their picks. The orc gave it a testing swing, "If I see another gnoll on the way out, I will test its metal in their hide."

And so on it went, until the group had about a dozen slaves of various races following them. Some fled immediately, like the smaller gnolls, but many were in no rush to leave their saviors.

After ascertaining that these were all of the captives, the ones still alive, at least, Lex turned his attention to Twilight again. "Can you cast another spell to summon those chariots? We should leave as soon as possible, just to be safe."

Twilight gave it her best, straining her magic before she grunted, "No, and with this many po--people, we would need several chariots anyway. Let's just leave quickly."

Applejack nodded her head, "No arguments here. Don't like caves none."

Rainbow spread her wings as far as she could in the limited hallway, "No room to fly."

Consensus reached, they made quick time for the surface.

Author's Note:

Mission accomplished! Mostly... maybe?

The typos are never finished with their mission.

Comments

[Mad Maudlin]

Someone just get that colt the Egghead's Guide to Mares.

[chronocrosser]

Great Chapter!

On a side note I'm sorry I have not commented in so long when collage restarted I got busy and time had to be taken away from somewhere so I could not read your work for the last six weeks somewhere around chapter 84. Late Yesterday I finally made time to read them all and I wish I had a time machine to comment back when those chapters came out.

Love your work Hope to read Lex's stats eventually.

[Alzrius]

5764441 Lex's stats are built using a variant sourcebook, one that allows for building a d20 character using point-buy, rather than class levels. If you want to know more about it, please feel free to PM me.

[CCC]

5764382

It'll only help him if he bothers to read it, instead of just skimming over it and assuming he knows all it can tell him. From his actions so far, I'm inclined to think he'd do the latter...

[Booster Spice]

Rest and heal up before the box stage?

So far theyve been lucky. all that way out and its clear? Id suggest cloaking Spike and send him out first to make sure the ambush hasnt been set up right at the tunnel exit, or any of the previous side shoots, and have one trailing to try and keep track of replacement guards coming up behind.

Anyone pick up any Caltrops? Very useful. Even better combined with gum.

[Belated1truth]

So wait if the slaves were confused for the party's presense and rescue, then who was the one that sent the letter with the plea for help then?

[David Silver]

5765038

[Belated1truth]

5765043 Oh you.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Mission accomplished! And the party even got a spellbook! Now the tricky part: How do they get all these browbeaten bystanders to safety? Indeed, this may be the very reason why those mysterious people sent them on this quest.

And I have to say, that was a pretty deft deflection of Lex's part. He may not understand why, but it worked, and results matter more than most else. Of course, it isn't like Twilight to leave a line of inquiry dangling. Not unless a hydra and the contents of a moving van get involved.

5764382
An introduction to sociology and anthropology (hippology?) would be helpful as well. Foreign cultures aren't studied in the same ways as purely causal phenomena, and every culture is foreign to Lex. Though, as has been noted, he would need to actually read the thing.

[albedoequals1]

Spike and Applejack still sorted bruises and aches to remember the battle by.

sported

I suspect this is all just the tip of an iceberg. Two midget ponies hardly count as "Lashtada's people." There must be a lot more of them somewhere. (Terribly meta, I know)

[David Silver]

5766793 Fixed!

[Autumn Maize]

Sonata pointed at the fallen Soft, "Do your healing thing, Lex!"

The battle was over, won by a narrow margin. Applejack slumped to the grass, breathing heavily, "Let's not do that again."

The group withdrew from the cave entrance. Once safely behind cover of trees, they tended to their wounds. Soft allowed her power to radiate across the group, healing her own injuries while soothing that of others. Even the flash burns faded from her with effort.

So... presumably Law Law did, in fact, do his healing thing to get Soft up between chapters?
EDIT: I guess "they tended to their wounds," now in blue, counts getting Soft functional enough to spam Positive Energy bursts?

5765041

Although there are sufficient clues available as to the letter writer's identity*, I do not know why they would send the heroes to save the short-legs. Rather then guessing, I shall have faith that the reason will be revealed. (Or have been revealed in the already-written chapters which I have not yet read? I guess future tense works for future chapters even if they already exists.)

More edit: Oh, everything is revealed at the start of the next chapter. Fair enough.

*Not bragging that I'm better at cluefinding than you; the really big one is in another Everglow-related work.