By Her Grace, We Walk the Dark
Chapter 10. - By Her Grace, We Walk the Dark
Lantern was lying on the floor, eyes closed, wings stretched and was doing his breathing technique.
Archive watched him, all the while worst case scenarios zig-zagging in her head, but for some reason his calmness soothed her uneasiness.
When he slowly opened his eyes, Archive could see the light of the stones reflecting in them, but there was something else too. Some kind of tired wisdom. He was at peace.
She couldn’t tell if he was just so confident or he gave up and put his life in the hooves of fate.
His mouth curved into an endearing smile, and he radiated a warm feeling.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked.
“My grandma. Whenever I’m facing a difficult situation, I think of what would she say and her words usually help me, but for some reason all I can think of is her favorite saying.”
“What’s that?”
“The Night belongs to Her and by Her grace, We walk the dark. The Night Mother provides.”
“Night Mother?”
“Princess Luna.”
“Why would she call her Night Mother? Aren’t you ponies more biased towards Celestia?”
“Granny was a thestral.”
“You mean you have bat pony blood in you!?” Archive looked surprised. “Huh, never woulda guessed.”
“Please don’t say ‘bat pony’, it’s kinda…” Lantern trailed off.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.” she apologized sincerely.
“Nevermind. I called you a bug before, now we’re even.” he said with a lighthearted smile plastered on his face.
Lantern got on his hooves and stretched one last time before he nodded to Archive.
“So? How are we doing this?” asked the nymph.
“Stand over there,” he pointed. “I’ll start from here. When I give you the sign, we put on the masks and I’ll pick you up. I know the tunnel leading into the chamber, but once we’re down, you’ll have to guide me. I’ll be fast, so be quick and plan our course in advance as you get visual on the chamber below. Make sure I have clearance. Remember, my wingspan is a lot wider than yours. A moment of hesitation could lead to us crashing.”
Archive nodded and took her position. She calmed herself as best she could and looked back at Lantern, waiting for the sign.
“Are you ready for this?” Lantern called over.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Then go!”
With that, both of them put on the masks with a deep breath. Lantern took off and rose a few meters off the ground, then swooped down and grabbed Archive around her midsection. She was slightly startled form the sudden jolt of movement, but as they entered the tunnel leading downwards, she got ready to point the way for Lantern.
Lantern was fast. Faster than Archive ever flown on her own. As they burst into the chamber, Archive’s eyes flicked around quickly, picking up little details about the place. It was in a much worse state than the mental image she had in her head.
She was scanning around for suitable ways, gaps in the pillar forest wide enough to allow easy flight for the pegasus. She guided Lantern with her outstretched hoof, hovering it in his sight so he would be able to see the little stones no matter which way they turned.
They crossed half of the chamber at a breakneck speed when she first started to feel the burn in her lungs. She was panicking, but forced herself to focus.
Lantern’s heart was pounding in his ears. He was pushing himself hard. This little flight would probably kill an ordinary pegasus, but he was trained to be Their Majesties’ shield and sword. He knew he could do this.
By the time they reached the exit of the chamber, Archive’s vision was blurry and she pointed a little lower than what would’ve been enough for them to make a clear exit.
As Lantern dropped lower, Archive’s dangling hoof got caught in the lip of the stone step, which sent both of them careening through the air and they hit the ground rolling.
When they came to a halt, Lantern ripped off his mask, and did the same to hers as well.
His head was swimming, but he managed to ask her “Are you okay?”
Archive was breathing so hard she couldn’t say a thing, so she simply pulled Lantern closer until their foreheads were touching and nodded her head.
Lantern dropped to the ground backwards and hollered on the top of his lungs “Wooooo!”
His voice echoed throughout the large hall they were in, but for long minutes after that, the only sound that could be heard, was their panting.
At one point Lantern actually fainted from the exertion and his hyperventilation. He didn’t even realise this, but Archive could see through the darkness as his eyes rolled back and he passed out. Archive wasn’t worried, since it only lasted a minute or two. When he came to he was still panting hard.
They lay there for minutes, just a few meters from the mouth of the tunnel they flew out of and when they caught their breaths Archive looked back at it. She could see the eerie green glow of the spores starting to get stronger in the hole.
“Lantern! We should move. The draft we made is pulling the toxic spores out of the tunnel. If we stay here, we’ll be in trouble. Can you stand?”
Lantern got on his hooves unsteadily. His wings hurt like they were burning in the flames of Tartarus, but the rush he got from flying again after being grounded for days helped him.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Where to now?”
“First, we’ll make some distance between us and the poison. After that I’ll need a few minutes to gather my memories of this place, and you can rest some more.”
A deep rumbling sound echoed around them.
“Aaand I’ll get you something to eat too.” giggled Archive.
In spite of the dark, she could see the blush on Lantern’s face.
“Let’s get going before you collapse again. Here, let me guide you.” she said and brushed up against his side.
The halls of the old hive were more practical than they were decorated, but Archive could see a few battered and crumbled pillars that stood by every archway leading to certain areas of the hive. These had little engravings on them that said what was behind each portal.
One of them caught her attention. This pillar, unlike all the others, were made of some kind of black stone and it was the only one that was in perfect condition. Etched in the smooth surface of the stone was a single word, that Archive found so inviting that she had to see the chamber behind it for herself.
She stopped Lantern as they reached the pillar. She traced the writing on it with her hoof.
“Mother.”
“What?”
“This used to be Queen Arathea’s throne room. We should be fine inside.”
Archive led Lantern into the throne room. The room was less spacious than Archive imagined and about as spartan as it comes. Aside from a stone bed in the center that had some kind of black fabric on it that has seen better days, the room was practically empty.
Archive felt a little underwhelmed, but it still felt strangely homely.
They settled on the tattered blanket. Archive carefully removed the glowing stones from the holes on her leg and pushed them over to Lantern so that he had at least some small light in the utter darkness that enveloped them.
“Try to get some rest. It’ll take me a few minutes to recall the layout of the hive, then I’ll look around for some kind of food for you.”
Lantern was so exhausted that he fell asleep in the time it took Archive to gather the memories she had of the place.
Archive left the sleeping pegasus behind and walked around the now familiar halls and tunnels of the hive, looking for something that would be edible for a pony.
She passed by a pillar that had fallen centuries ago and entered the resting place of her distant relatives. The walls here had rows upon rows of small cavities on them. Each little hole housed a piece of carapace armor of Arathea’s lost children, sealed into them with changeling resin. Broken ring plates, fangs and every now and then even nearly intact horns as well.
She buzzed a quiet prayer for them to rest in undisturbed peace for as long as the sun may rise.
As she looked around, she spotted some hanging moss dangling from a lip above one of the holes that was carved into the far wall. This hole was much larger than the rest, and strangely, this one stood on its own.
As Archive pulled down the curtain of moss that obstructed the hole, her heart almost stopped from the fright.
This particular hole housed a large, crystallized block of resin. In it, a curled up, seemingly peacefully sleeping body of a changeling. In her shock, she almost missed the elegantly curved hornwriting of Queen Arathea, etched onto the face of the crystal resin, ‘I forgive, and thank you my son’.
The memory of Arathea’s gratitude towards her son for his sacrifice warmed Archive’s heart and her mouth curved into a smile.
She closed her eyes and bowed her head.
“Thank you.” she said sincerely, then picked up the fallen moss and turned around to head back to where Lantern was sleeping.
She was in a good mood, now that things were starting to look a little up again.
When she stepped back into the throne room, Lantern was lying on the stone bed on his side, his wings extended limply behind him. In his sleep, he knocked the glowing stones off the bed and they rolled away, leaving the bed in complete darkness. He was snoring quietly. Archive walked up to the bed and dropped the moss onto the floor. She looked over the resting pegasus and her smile spread wider, then she sat down next to the bed and propped up her head on her hooves.
As she stared at the sleeping face of Lantern, her heartbeat picked up to the point where she could even hear it. Their ‘kiss’ flashed before her, and her gaze wandered to his lips. The memory of his soft lips made her blush furiously. They looked so inviting.
Overtaken by a sudden curiosity, she closed her eyes and inched her mouth closer to his. She could feel his warm breath wash over her muzzle. When she was about to touch her lips to his, she froze to the sudden noise of Lantern’s growling stomach.
Lantern opened his eyes, and drowsily called for her.
“Archive?”
She popped her eyes open. His unexpected awakening freaked her out and she shouted into his face.
“Waah!?”
The glow of Archive’s eyes filled Lantern’s vision. Her light stung his eyes from this close, and the sudden shout startled him in turn.
“Waaah!?”
Both of them backed away from the other.
“Holy Celestia!” Lantern was clutching at his heart and panting heavily. “What was THAT for!?” he asked.
“I-I-I w-was just dropping this moss down when you called my name, so I looked up.”
Archive was thankful for the darkness that hid her burning face from Lantern. She was hoping that he wouldn’t call her bluff.
“Yeah, but why did you shout into my face?”
“Damn.” she thought to herself.
“Y-you just surprised me. Here, I’ve brought you some food.” she said, and with that, she shoved the moss into Lantern’s chest.
“Oomph! Oh, thanks!”
Lantern started munching away on the lush piece of moss happily, but followed Archive’s eyes from the corner of his. She was behaving oddly.
Lantern could be as dense as a bar of lead at times, but he wasn’t an idiot.
Archive tried to calm her racing heart. She gathered up the glowing stones from the ground and put them in a neat little pile in front of Lantern. He seemed to be very fond of these stones, but maybe it was only because ponies tend to gravitate towards the light and in the darkness down in the hive, this was his only source of light.
Archive looked at him as he was eating, and told him “We should spend the night here and rest up. Tomorrow will be a long day of walking.”
Lantern finished up his piece of moss and put the rest of it away for the next day. He gave a sigh of satisfaction.
“Agreed. I’m still beat, and you could use some sleep too, I’m sure.”
He lay back onto the torn black sheet while Archive climbed up to the bed. She settled down behind him, facing away.
“Good night, Lantern!”
“Sleep well, Archive!”
After wishing each other good night, it only took Archive a minute to fall asleep. She was more tired than she let on.
Lantern couldn’t fall back to sleep right away. Thoughts kept swirling in his mind. Thoughts of what would he do first once he got back to Canterlot. Thoughts of his family and friends, and thoughts of Archive.
He thought back to earlier, when he woke up and Archive scared him.
“Is it possible, that she was trying to…? Damn, I’m not even sure if a changeling can actually love a pony, or if they’re even allowed to!?” he wondered.
Archive suddenly started shivering in her sleep.
“Weird. I thought she said they didn’t get cold in the night.” recalled Lantern.
He turned around and put his hoof around her ring plates and covered her with his wing.
Somehow, embracing her felt right. It made him feel at ease.
As he relaxed, his lingering fatigue catching up with him.
When he felt that she stopped shivering, he let his eyelids fall and his breathing synchronise with hers, then he fell asleep too with the nymph in his hooves.
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D'awwwww!
this is just precious :3
7179087 Your avatar is what's precious! xD
Getting close! She's almost realized herself!
Best food ever, coming soon to an Archive near you!
Keep going! ;)
7179089 Why thank you hehe :3
Waaah!?
Oh the anticipation for when they return to civilization.
......but whose civilization? Pone or 'Ling ?
But you know bat pony is actually more like true term not that harry potter thing
7180190 Yeah, but really it sound like a racial slur...I'm more partial to Lunar Pegasus anyways, so you'll see that one too.
7180212
Seriously I don't get how this stand for racial slur but ok
7180299 Calling them bat ponies, to me it feels like calling a Vampire a mosquito.
7180339 I seriously don't see this.
But same thing cracker is for me too funny to be offensive
7180446
Ya mean out of the cave,,, or letting each other know? :P
7180729 You're really thinking too much of me...I'm not THAT sneaky. I meant it literally, but I really like the way your brain works!
7180768 Lol thanks
7180795 No, no, no...Thank YOU!
they are going to be such a fantastic couple! in or out of caves! his grandmother would be so proud of him! well done !
7180547
7182702
Awww shit! xD
Nice new chapter man, nice new chapter!
hehehe
So adorable!
I'll be waiting in anticipation for the next chapter whenever that comes out. 
7184616 Damn, you've got me worried for a while. It took you unusually long to comment, so I thought you might've died between the two chapters! xD
Promise me that you post it in a blog if you die, so I know not to expect you showing up in the comments!
Another cute chapter. :P
7186424
Hahaha, nah I ain't dead, I've just been writing and watching TV, been taking a break.
Don't worry, I'll be sure to do so if I do kick the bucket
Keep up the good work!
I'm not sure why, but my brain suddenly decided that Archive's name was pronounced 'Our Chive'. Not sure what to do with this development.
7234219 I'm hungarian, so my native language is Magyar and the grammatical rules are vastly different from the English ones. My English is self taught that's why my grammar is all over the place.
Ooh! Archive trying to make her move. xD
updates?
7272823 There are some...UPDATE: Chapter 11 is not finished yet...not a single word was typed of it so far, but I kinda have it outlined in my head already, but unfortunately I can't really publish a new chapter soon, because I have this terminal illness, it's a VERY deadly thing with a death rate of 100%, it's called life.
Jokes aside, please be patient, I kinda have a lot on my plate right now, and that keeps me from writing.
7273102
Oki doki loki that i can relate
Finally got to read this "new" chapter. I love how it develops and the closer to the exit simbolises the growing emotion.
7317937 I read something about Hungary?
7317943
7317937
That is correct, but I have answered Chryssi's question! (comment #265)
So again, I was referring to hungarian, or in my language: Magyar.
7317864 That would be "his" in this case! :D
7378926 As the writer of a barely popular fic, I can confidently say, that this is the kind of comment that makes it all worth the trouble and effort, even if at times I'm not able to make time to write, encouragement like this helps me to make sure I'll see this through to its end, and if there's demand enough for some manner of continuation after this one is done, as long as you guys are willing to read it, I'd be glad to provide!
Thanks for your comment, it means a lot!
Each chapter is really good, and leaves me wanting to read more!
I would binge read this in one sitting if it were complete
Finally got around to read this. Enjoyed it so far. Let's hope that those three or so months were enough for an update to pop up sometime soon. ^^
7438098 Haha, bite me! But seriously, the chapter is done, but it's in Mike's hands at the moment, and I don't set him a date to finish it, but instead let him work on it at his convenience, since it wouldn't be fair, seeing as how it takes me 3 months to make a shortass update.
As for that, I can only quote NaS, "Life's a bitch...", meaning I had to deal with a bunch of BS, barely having enough time to wank it, not to mention getting any kind of progress in the story.
But hey, do check back sometimes, and thanks for reading!
Are we leaving the cave yet?!