• Published 20th Feb 2015
  • 3,682 Views, 176 Comments

Journey to the center of Equestria - Rarity Belle



Tremors of the earth itself plague the land of Equestria. Soothsayer Twilight hopes to stop them with some help. Together with five strangers, she must travel to a place where nopony has gone before. They must go to where it all began and stop it.

  • ...
17
 176
 3,682

PreviousChapters Next
Chapter XLIX

“How long have we been wandering around these parts already?” Rainbow asked. The fact was getting on her nerves that she couldn’t fly away from the place. The urges to just spread her wings and take off into the skies only grew with the minutes passing by. But the mares were locked inside of the cavern system. They didn’t have a single thought about just where they would be having to go as Twilight only seemed to have been following her nose.

“Ah don’t know, four hours? Ten minutes? Everything seems the same down here. Not to mention it’s getting colder,” replied Applejack while as her torch was held up high. The freezing cold was something that they all felt and it was real easily explained to them. The deeper they went, the colder it would be getting until they would be reaching the lava flows. At least it was something that Twilight said to them just to reassure their very thoughts.

The major of the air force released a gentle grumble from her throat. The very feeling of something watching her crawled yet again over her back. It tickled her, gnawed at her, but she never saw anything. The mare turned herself around quickly and waved a bit with her torch. The eyes shifted from right to left and back. She wanted to see something within that eternal darkness.

Hisses and growls she thought to be hearing far away from their location, but those could also have been rocks falling in the far distance. Their echo’s might have been the things that Rainbow caught within her ears. Perhaps it was a little creepy, perhaps she was just getting jumpy about everything. It was the place that would be taking care of it for all of them.

It was both uncomfortable and claustrophobic despite being wide open. The closed in feelings were created by the facts that their torches only had a limited range of casting their lights. The very light they both loved and hated at the moment. At one end it gave them the opportunity to look exactly where they would be walking, not to mention the fact they could see.

Yet they all hated it as they couldn’t let their eyes adjust to the darkness. It was either looking into the bright light or end up watching into a wall of eternal darkness. Not even Twilight was actually happy with the facts as they were but she had to bite herself through it. Of course she could have decided to make everyone drop their torches and just tell them to sit still for a couple of minutes.

Those very same lights also happened to be things that a lot of things inside of the cavern system hadn’t seen for centuries or not at all to begin with. It formed one of the most perfect defense mechanisms there was. For even Twilight realized that something was looking at them.

Something was staring them down from beyond the darkness. Something that was hidden in plain sight but still invisible. Suspicion and curiosity combined with a great caution were given off by the unicorn as she seemed to have turned more silent than ever before by the rest of the group.

All of the anthronies were worried about that very silence she gave off. Something wasn’t right within the mind of Twilight, that much they could tell right on the spot. But just what it happened to be remained the question that needed to be answered for them.

Fluttershy was almost gobbling herself up because of the levels of fear hidden inside of her body. The timid and shy doctor wasn’t used to caves like she was in then and she really just wanted to go home and sleep in her own bed, thinking it was all but a bad dream she was in. She even whispered those very same words to herself just to give her some form of courage.

Which resulted in the urges of Rarity rising. How much she wanted to just slap a hand upon the doctor’s shoulder and tell her it was all real. How much did she wanted to do just that. Though as she moved her arm up did the entire shoulder area just began to bring her pain once more. A deep winch was given off by the mare before she stroked it with her other hand.

Perhaps it scared the doctor in the way she wanted wasn’t something that seemed to have been a wise idea. Then again, most of the ideas that the unicorn would been having didn’t seem like they were actually wise ones.

"You alright?” Fluttershy asked when she noticed the winch that Rarity had given off. The pirate opened one of her eyes a little bit. The shocks of pain were still travelling through her body. What could she be answering to the doctor that wouldn’t be setting off any kind of alarm bells inside of her head?

“Yes, yes I’m fine. I just made the mistake, that I moved it again. N-Nothing too harmful. Ow,” managed Rarity to speak just before the pain was finally leaving from her body. “Oh that’s better. Hey, you don’t happen to have any potions, do you? You know, to speed up the process?”

The question was one that caused Fluttershy to think and seemingly made her forget about the words exchanged earlier. “Hmmm, I might be having something in the void storage. It’s only a flesh wound that you have gotten from that talon so it shouldn’t be troubling you too much. When Twilight decides that we may be getting a break, I shall get it and apply it to your shoulder,” said Fluttershy before her head turned over to Rarity with a gentle smile.

It could be seen as a major relief for the captain. Not only had she avoided the conversation subject, but also would be getting something that would be making her able to heal just as quickly. Rarity formed a little smile of her own when she looked back to Fluttershy. She didn’t wanted to say it out loud with the rest of them wandering next to them. But she was eternally thankful for the fact that Fluttershy took so much care in each of them.

The pegasus was truly having her heart on the right place, or she just loved her job. Perhaps a combination of the both would have been more on its place. The unicorn then turned her head back forward as the eyes began to scan through the darkness. She needed to find some form of rest, a place where the lot of them could be just taking a little break.

Eventually they came near an opening in the rocky formation. The ways would have been expanding themselves both sideways and upward as the torches’ light travelled further and further up. All of them were tired and just ready to hit the brakes for a little while. Even though Twilight wanted to continue, she too was too tired to take another step.

“Alright everypony, let’s take a break here. Don’t leave too far from here, last thing we need is one of us getting lost in this system. It’s treacherous enough as it is with us all together,” said Twilight. Then she was approached by Fluttershy. The two of them then engaged themselves in a little conversation before the unicorn eventually nodded.

With help of the staff was the void storage opened and the pegasus reached inside for something. Once the hand was retracted while holding a little vial with a strange liquids inside of them, the storage was closed again.

The doctor then made her way over to the captain. Both Rainbow and Applejack had decided to sit down for the moment. Where Rainbow sat in the crossed leg position, Applejack made the decision to just stretch her legs. Not because she wanted to, but because she couldn’t bend her metal leg into that direction.

“Rarity, if you can stand against the wall please, then I’m going to apply the serum to the wound. It’s made from ingredients that are both found in the woods of White Tails as well herbs from the sea. …So…” Fluttershy spoke up before she awkwardly fell back into a silence. A silence that didn’t seem to be settling the pirate captain too much.

“So what?” Rarity asked before she crossed her arms. Once again there was a shock of pain going through her. Though not as bad as when she wanted to raise her wounded arm. “You’re not telling me everything here, are you?”

With the accusation fallen into her ears, the doctor made a little step backwards. It almost seemed as if she was actually getting a little bit scared of the pirate. And she had all the right reasons to be. For the serum would be having some certain side effects. “Well, uhm, you, you see, it’s kinda made with… Sea urchin venom.”

“You what?” Rarity spoke straight away. The mare couldn’t believe the words that she heard. “You are happening to be actually aware that the sea urchin is highly venomous along the Equestrian shoreline, right?”

“And that’s why!” Fluttershy exclaimed in a squeak just before she took a step forward. “Once the venom is concentrated enough, it can be used for all kinds of purposes. Including healing. Just how do you think the skin of a sea urchin is as though as they are?”

“I have lived most of my life on the sea, but I do not know all too much when it comes down to marine biology, doctor. So please, enlighten me upon the answer that you are willing to give me,” growled Rarity in a tone that could almost be seen as sarcastic. But in reality was she just anxious for the treatment that would be coming next.

Sea urchin venom within a healing potion? It must have been one of the craziest things that she had heard in the past months. But if it would be helping, she had to make one massive apology to Fluttershy. “They practically bathe in their own venom. Which turns the skin into something as hard as rock. Of course, with the little amounts that I used in this vial, you won’t be getting an iron skin or anything.”

“Well that’s a relief, saves me the rusting parts,” chuckled Rarity. Her eyes gently shifted from Fluttershy over to Applejack, who surely must have heard the words. And not be liking them.

“Ah heard what ya said, Brittenburg. And to make ya bubble burst, Ah ain’t rusting away with mah leg. It’s coated in a paint that prevents it,” countered Applejack before she turned some of the many valves. Calibrations had to be made almost constantly, or she just needed to keep herself busy with something. If not anything in the depths.

“Just the fact that you heard it was good enough for me, dear,” returned Rarity with another chuckle before she got a rather annoyed glance from Fluttershy. “What? Can’t I make a bit of fun every now and then either?”

The doctor just rolled her eyes away before she gestured to Rarity to walk against the wall. The unicorn just shrugged a little bit and turned herself around. It were doctor’s orders after all. She walked up to the wall. Yet when she arrived, Rarity seemed to notice something rather strange.

There were thousands upon thousands of white strings traveling up and down the side. “Oh don’t tell me…” Rarity said to herself. She seemed to be knowing just what time it already was. Everything looked exactly like it had done in the classic books, it all looked like cobwebs of spiders.

So either there was a massive colony hanging right over their heads, or the colony had already ventured further and left the webs behind. Rarity prayed to the latter as she turned herself back around. Her body was then dropped against the rocks as her teeth were pushed together.

Much to her own surprise did the webbing not stick at all and Fluttershy was finally allowed to do her thing. The doctor came closer to the pirate captain before she gently removed one side of the blouse to make the bandages visible. Then were those very bandages were taken off.

The blood coated and sweat stained bandages were thrown aside before the doctor then looked at each of the wounds to the best of her abilities. “You may speak of luck that those talons weren’t coated in a poison, some real nasty things could have been to you if they were,” she said as everything seemed to be on the right track.

“Thanks for the encouragement. Next time a surprise griffon attack comes in, I’ll check first. Just hurry up now, would you?” Rarity spoke up as she wanted to get the treatment over with. It was however a major relief that the bandages were finally off the side of her body. Finally it felt like she could be breathing normally again.

“Yes, yes, yes, just give me a moment.”

The cork was removed from the vial before the doctor placed her hand in the neck of the pirate. She began to measure the heartbeat of the mare in order to see whether or not Rarity was calm enough for the treatment. The last thing she needed was for Rarity to go in shock because of the violent reaction her body made when it came in contact with the potion.

“Heart rate seems good enough to me. Are you ready? It’s going to sting, a lot,” said Fluttershy in an honest tone. Her eyes looked right into those of Rarity. The dead serious look within the doctor’s eyes caused Rarity to gulp a little bit.

Though there was only one answer that could be given on the matter. One answer that would end everything. “Just do it,” she replied before the vial was held just above her neck. The doctor nodded towards the pirate as she wanted it herself.

Finally would the liquids have been released and be poured the skin of the mare. They travelled down her neck, over to the shoulders where some drops already would have entered the wounds. The unicorn gritted her teeth together as the burning sensation slowly tried to get the better of her.

But the treatment was far from done. Fluttershy had emptied the whole vial on the neck of the mare which was then followed up by a massage. The doctor would be making certain that the whole shoulder was nicely coated within the potion.

At the cost of Rarity almost losing her mind sadly enough. The burning sensation that was surging through her whole body almost drove her over the edge of killing the doctor. Perhaps it was because of a hand stuck against her chest and the webs at her back that she remained so calm. Though a little sailor’s curse left and right was released every couple of seconds.

It seemed to have been hours for the unicorn, but in fact it had only been just a couple of minutes that the pegasus had been treating her wounds. In the end of everything did the doctor take a couple of steps backwards, to avoid any kind of fury that the mare would be having. “Okay, you have to take it easy for at least a day or two. After that, the wounds should have been fully healed.”

Rarity immediately reached out for her burning shoulder while a large hiss came through her teeth. She wasn’t happy with the whole ordeal but it would have worked. She was glad to have undergone it as it would be over soon. A couple of last curses did leave the mouth of the mare before the blouse was raised back up as a whole.

The whole body of the unicorn was once again covered and she removed herself from the cobwebs. With a difficulty in her pace did the unicorn approach the doctor who could only take a step or two back. Then it was all just too late for her. She was captured by the unicorn.

Though not in the way that originally seemed to have been the matter, for Rarity had captured Fluttershy yes. But she held her in a tight hug for some reason, almost as if she was saying a massive thanks towards the doctor. It may have been a silent one, but a thanks was still a thanks.

Once the doctor began to realize just what was happening to her, she couldn’t help herself but to return the hug just as tightly towards the pirate. “It’s nothing Rarity, honestly,” she added in a whisper before the captain began to chuckle calmly to herself.

After a couple of seconds was the hug between the two mares broken. After which they each went their own ways again. Rarity made her way over to Twilight to discuss where they would be going next. Whereas Fluttershy was walking to the major and the admiral to hear a couple of stories.

The time that they were given off was just great. For just a moment of their time could they be doing things they normally couldn’t. Which was to actually rest to their heart’s content. Of course they wanted to continue walking, but they didn’t even have the slightest of clues about where they needed to be going.

Applejack had made the comparison before during their times in the caverns, and she wasn’t afraid to say it again. “We’re a mighty fine ship without a heading. We’re having no way to know where we be needing to go… So we just sail, sail the ocean until we die. Becoming the ghost ship everypony fears.”

“Lighten up, would you? You had me captured by the first part, but as soon as you began on the second part I was just jumping off your train,” replied Rainbow Dash when she almost seemed to be getting tired of the words of the admiral.

The pegasus was ready to stand up from her place when all of them were shushed silent by both Rarity and Twilight. None of the mares knew what was going on but they didn’t even dare to be moving one bit.

Their eyes shifted when the absolute silence took them all over. The sound of silence was the only thing that could be heard clearly as the anthronies began to listen to it. And they listened all just so carefully. Rainbow Dash was still halfway her rising motion when she was ordered to just stop by both of the unicorns.

All of their ears twitched when they caught a sudden sound. A sound they couldn’t believe to hear. Something that they all thought to have been actually impossible was caught within their ears. All of the mares looked at one another with an expression of terror. None of could believe the sounds they heard, and again, and again.

Almost as if it was hunting them, actively searching them out. Nothing made sense to them all in the moment but they knew something was terribly wrong. “Incoming!” Applejack yelled without a warning. All of the mares hurdled to one another as both Twilight and Rarity charged up their horns.

Before they knew it there was a massive arcane shield that surrounded them all. The shield only seemed to be having a raspberry colored aura meaning that only Twilight had cast it. Though when they looked at Rarity it became clear that she was giving her own powers to the soothsayer. Which in return made the shield even stronger.

Then it finally happened. The sounds that had been hunting them came once more. For what was hunting them wasn’t some kind of mythological creature out for their heads. Nor was it a nice little anthrony who was looking for her mommy. No, the sounds that they had heard were nothing more than the sound of a tremor heading their very way.

A tremor that had finally knocked upon their very door and was surging itself through the massive room. Rocks were separated as if they were nothing while the floor cracked left and right. The shield was literally the only thing that prevented from being crushed by the falling rocks above their heads.

None of the mares had a good look to the area that laid above them, but they all went out from the absolute worst. And for the first time since their journey had begun, could Twilight say that she had been inside of an actual tremor.

It had been a little desire of her ever since they first appeared to happen. The only problem was that she wanted to study them, learn from them as they happened. She didn’t wanted to be stuck thousands of hooves beneath the earth when they could be happening. The strength of the shield was literally the only thing that would prevent them from being squashed by the falling rocks.

With the added strength that Rarity gave her, that shouldn’t have been too much of a problem. For the shield felt like it was made out of the toughest of steels and wouldn’t be bending for anything. At least it felt that way, whether or not it actually would be that way could only be discovered if there was something that fell on top of it.

A theory none really wished to test out there and then.

“Ready or not, here comes the rain!” Rainbow yelled just before the first rocks seemed to have left the ceiling. And mere fractions of seconds later did the massive thuds of falling things echo in their ears. It weren’t the natural crashes of the rocks as they were used to. No, the sounds that they would be hearing in their ears was something more, organic.

None of them could be making any sense out of it, but as long as the tremors were still going on the way like they were, it wasn’t safe at all to leave the protective shield. The mares hurdled all together a little bit more which allowed for Twilight to decrease the size of the shield and make it even stronger.

Whether they wanted it or not was one of the ‘rocks’ actually heading straight for them. With a loud thud it landed right on top of the shield, before just sliding off and rolling back into the darkness. Again didn’t it sound like any of the things they were used to.

Terror and curiosity were both racing through the anthronies as they could only be hoping about that everything would have been over soon enough. Prayers were already spoken by some of them as Twilight increased her powers only.

Safety was her number one priority and they all had to be dealing with it. Nopony would be getting out before the tremors were over. Quite frankly, none of them even wanted to be going out. It stormed literal ‘rocks’ outside. The shaking of the earth must have been powerful enough to make the entire mountain shake once more as Twilight realized something.

Perhaps they were getting closer and closer to the epicenter of the whole thing. And possibly the very reason of why the mountain was hit that often was because of its location. One side was constantly battered down by the winds of the Frozen North, while the other had the winds of Equestria. It was a likely theory in the moment at least.

Constantly being both ice cold and boiling hot could have caused a shrinking and expanding effect like with certain metals. Of course it was just a farfetched idea, but anything in the moment made more sense than the rocks leaving only squishy thuds instead of the screeching and pulverizing sounds. A theory on which Twilight was thinking to keep her thoughts away from the real problem.

Though after a little while did the tremor finally lower itself down into near nothingness. It had disappeared just as mysteriously as it had come. The unicorn did keep the shield up though, she knew that an aftershock could have been hitting them literally at any given time. If the aftershock was just as powerful as the actual tremor and the ceiling would be giving away, it would have been game over for all of them.

Seconds ticked by while the aftershock just didn’t seem to be coming. Nothing else but silence took over the place when Twilight finally agreed upon lifting the shield. The raspberry, arcane shield was removed from the plane of existence as the unicorns both discharged their horns.

All of the anthronies stood back up and began to look around with the torches back in their hands. Something hadn’t been making a lick of sense to them for the whole time. And they would be figuring out just what it was, why it was. Even if it meant they would uncover the creeping truth.

“It never made sense,” the doctor spoke up as she looked up to the ceiling and noticed something that none of them had actually seen before. “T-T-Twilight, can you, shine a bit o-o-o-of light, t-there?” Something had spooked Fluttershy terribly, that much was certain. Though whatever would have been enough to spook Fluttershy usually meant that it wasn’t all too bad.

With that assuming did the unicorn charge up her horn and shone a bit of light against the very ceiling of the place. Only to fall head first into a revelation she didn’t wanted to fall at all. “Oh this is terrible… Nopony, move, a, muscle,” demanded Twilight in an instant. Everything remained standing in the position they were.

Rainbow Dash was almost touching one of the ‘rocks’ when she was ordered to remain still. Applejack was maneuvering herself between two of the ‘rocks’ and had to keep her breath in to not be hit by either of them. Rarity was actually standing just behind Twilight before she also turned her gaze back up. Whatever laid up there, it wouldn’t have been good at all and they knew it.

From the frying pan straight into the fire, that seemed to have become a recurring theme for the company of mares during their travels. And once again had they managed to find themselves into the deepest of trouble. “When will our fortune just change for a bloody time?” Rarity asked just before she released a deep gulp.

When they entered the room, the ceiling was black and covered in rocks so the group didn’t pay all too much attention to it all. But after the tremor had the revelation come to them all. For right above their heads was the weight of several tons of stone held up by something that every time surprised them.

All of the rocks that had come loose and should have been fallen down on top of them was instead all just held together by the webs that were created by spiders. That alone explained why Rarity had seen the webs earlier, though it didn’t fully explain everything. “But wait,” said Applejack before she then just so carefully removed herself from the space between the two ‘rocks.’

“If those are webs, then these must be…” Applejack added. Fractions later she knew exactly what the ‘rocks’ happened to be. Rainbow Dash just released a deep gulp as everything was already too late. For the ‘rocks’ that made the organic sounding thuds weren’t rocks at all. They were the things that lived inside of the webs high above them.

The sounds of plates that originated from numerous exoskeletons being snapped into their respectable places, had begun to flood the place with an eerie sound of pure horror. The clacking of the teeth against one another as the abdomens smashed themselves against the ground.

The wakeup call was there, and everypony was doing just that. Suddenly the sounds came from all around them and the mares just rushed over towards both Twilight and Rarity. All of them were scared to their near deaths as they finally had figured out where they had been walking into.

“Girls, we’re in a spider's den,” commented Twilight. She didn’t have anything else to say.

“Thanks captain obvious!” Applejack snarled up a bit too loud. The attention of the beasts was turned into their direction by one of them as it rolled back around on its legs. Legs that seemed to have been stretching for an eternity and were made for agility in the rocky environment. It still didn’t took away the fact that the thing was ugly as hell.

Fluttershy released a scream of pure terror before she turned herself away from the beast. Its clacking teeth became more violent as it caught the five mares within its eight eyes. Fresh meat was dropped at its doorstep for the first time in a long time. Naturally wouldn’t the creatures be letting the opportunity slide away like that.

It was the nature of the creatures to say the least, even though the mares weren’t too happy with the fact of them being on the menu chart. Which in and of itself was a first on their trip. Twilight began to quickly look for a way as the rest of the mares all waved their torches towards the giant spiders. They could only be hoping that they would have been terrified for the light of fire.

Which they luckily were as they also took a step or two back whenever the torch was waved in front of them. “Yeah, come and get some!” Applejack shouted up towards one of them as she began to wave even more violent with it.

The eyes of Twilight couldn’t help it but to see that the way they came was blocked. Meaning that they could only delve deeper into the cavern system. Which was basically the turf of the spiders. None of the mares would be knowing exactly just what laid the gateway. They all could just assume that there was nothing else but trouble.

“It our only shot, girls! Run! Run away!” Twilight shouted to them all. Though she was the first of the company to just leave the scene for what it was. The rest of the group followed quick as they could and all gave everything to outrun the creatures.

Where the mares all just ran in a row of two and almost perfectly straight down the path before them, the spiders were in fact more of a hinder towards themselves. Stamped and crushed by the legs and abdomens of others they were as they all wanted a slice of the pie brought before them.

Zaps of magic and the musket balls from flintlocks were all released into the air and into the directions of the monsters to make sure they would be keeping their distance. But the monsters didn’t know of any stopping. They would continue to get the mares even if it would have been the last thing they would have done.

Starved and hungry for flesh that wasn’t from one of their own they all were. The roars of the creatures and the clacking of their poisonous fangs terrified all of the anthronies. Yet out of the mares it was Fluttershy who was the first that was closing in on the giant beasts. Whether she was running out of stamina or if she wanted to try something else was a question left unanswered. But returning for her just wasn’t an option without being eaten themselves.

The pegasus was in fact having a plan of some sort. She turned herself into the direction of the beasts and used her wings to propel herself backwards towards the group of mares as well as her own legs. Then there was the sternest look she could be given off, given towards the spiders. She could only have hoped on the fact that it would have done something to them.

But unfortunately for the pegasus were the spiders so old, so hungry and so driven by their cause that it didn’t have any effect. One even managed to crawl a bit out of the group and wanted to take a massive bite out of Fluttershy. It’s fangs closed in only a mare inch before the pegasus who in a fraction of a second had just vanished.

She had vanished from being right in front of the spider and reappeared almost right next to Twilight. “Run for your lives!” she yelped with her loudest voice. A command that the rest of them were already doing as quick as they were able to.

Their hopes to outrun the creatures of the caverns had turned into a desire and a wish. They knew the spiders wouldn’t be getting tired any time soon and with the adrenaline that was surging through them, they wouldn’t either. Yet who would have been the party that would have given up first? The spiders with their ferocious teeth, or the mares with their quest burned in their minds?

PreviousChapters Next