Death Be Not Proud

by ShinigamiDad

Event Horizon

Solar Gleam appeared at the back of the group and watched for a moment as Zecora tossed powders, Smudge wielded her lance, Steel fired bolt after bolt of magic, and Shatter directed it all from a few feet off the cave floor, like some gruesome ballet. He glanced warily over his shoulder and saw the thickening shadow reforming on the far rim of the chasm.

He turned back to the action and squinted at the various defiled, crucified ponies arrayed across the floor, watching their mouths for a moment, observing their attempts to break free of their bonds. He then closed his eyes, took a deep breath and pulled the vial of Twilight’s blood from his shoulder bag. He poured out a small measure on the floor and drew a set of glyphs in it with his horn.

He stoppered the bottle, stood up and unleashed a blast of magical power, deep-green and streaked with black, which filled the entire area with a sudden, brilliant flash.

The tormented ponies shimmered and disappeared, leaving mere stones in their place. The rodent-like skeletons scurried away, disappearing into an adjacent passage with a raspy, scratching sound.

Solar looked over his shoulder again and noted that the far rim had now entirely vanished in the swirling darkness. His brightest beam could no longer penetrate it.

Shatter dropped to the floor: “Thanks a million, Solar! This whole battle was getting tiresome!”

Solar nodded as he stepped up beside Zecora: “And time-consuming. Look across the chasm--we’re out of time.”

The others turned back to look at the encroaching darkness. Shatter furrowed her brow: “What does it mean? What’s happening over there?”

“Please draw in close again, everypony. Zecora, if you would be so kind as to cast another measure of your yellow compound…”

Zecora reached into her bag, pulled out the gourd and tossed up a small pile of yellow dust, where it caught in Solar’s regenerated field. The air around them shimmered and the five ponies disappeared.

Shatter glanced around as the field took effect, blurring the air surrounding the group slightly: “Great. We’re cloaked. Now would you please explain what the fuck is going on back there?”

Solar began walking toward the passageway where the rodent skeletons had retreated, causing the rest of the team to fall in: “I have suspected for some time that we were entering a one-way zone; now I’m sure of it.”

He accelerated to a trot as Shatter forced her way past Steel: “What do you mean ‘one-way?’”

“Do you recall the stream we crossed many hours ago?”

“The one where we all saw different things? Yeah…”

“That was a boundary. I believe we are now inside the Void itself--or at least its outer sphere-of-influence.”

Smudge’s eyebrows jumped: “Inside? B-but how do we get out?”

Zecora sighed: “Only through victory can we attain / the freedom needed to go home again!”

Solar nodded grimly: “Surely you knew this, Captain. Celestia made it clear to me, in any event, that this was a must-succeed mission.”

Shatter ducked under a stalactite and bumped against Solar: “Yeah, I just didn’t envision getting trapped…”

Smudge frowned: “We pegasi never do! So now what?”

“Same plan as always, Smudge--we seal this thing off and secure it. We were never gonna bail on this mission in any event, so nothing’s really changed.”

Steel shrugged: “True. It just would have been nice to have known it a bit sooner! Anyway, what’s the plan? If we’ve entered its ‘sphere of influence,’ as you call it, does that mean we’re close?”

“Let’s find out. Zecora, please toss down another pinch of your tracking compound.”

Zecora drew out the vial containing the glittering blue powder and cast a small amount at her feet. It slithered forward into the darkness as before, guiding them into a small, branching passage.

Shatter looked down at the faint, blue line: “So far so good, yes?”

Solar nodded: “I believe its behavior will change as we approach the epicenter of activity, as it were. The power of the Void and the presence of death will overwhelm its homing function and it will simply disperse like insects from a ruptured hive.”

Smudge pressed in close against Steel as they squeezed through a narrow gap: “The cloak’s different this time. I can see fine, now.”

Shatter glanced over her shoulder: “I assume this is the same form we demonstrated for the Major.”

Solar jumped over a fissure and waited for the rest of the team to collect back under the field: “Correct. I am certain we’re being watched and likely tracked closely. I doubt those rodent-like skeletons are the only things down here.”

Smudge peered then pointed at a massive, half-exposed skull sticking out of a rock face: “Obviously! Like, what is that thing?”

Solar smiled: “Ours is a world soaked in magic, young flyer, and beasts far older than the ancientest of dragons and manticores once roamed here, long before the first pony stepped forth onto the northern heath.”

“Like the bones up in that bone pit?”

“To some extent. In fact I suspect Grey Thorn must have done some of his earliest work down here, among the fossils and relics of long-dead megafauna. Here he could have tapped some remnants of this world’s oldest, most-primitive magics.”

Shatter furrowed her brow: “So those rat-thing skeletons might be…”

“Thousands or even tens-of-thousands of years old, yes.”

Steel’s ears perked up and he pointed to a nearby alcove: “Speaking of--we seem to have company again.”

Dozens of rodent-like skeletons crouched there, bathed in a thin, black mist. In the ceiling directly above the part hung the mummified body of an enormous serpent. It writhed slowly, almost sleepily.

Shatter licked her lips: “I know we’re shielded, but let’s step lightly and keep it quiet, just to be on the safe side!”

The five shrouded companions walked slowly and deliberately through the rough, creature-filled chamber, noting the wide variety of winged, reptilian and unidentifiable skeletons and fossils.

Steel squinted at the bones of a large, bird-like creature that bore a snake’s head: “Are they autonomous? I don’t see any kind of direct control, and I didn’t detect standard magic being used on those rat things.”

Solar nodded: “I repeat, we’ve passed into some sort of zone of control surrounding the Void. It no longer needs to manipulate things directly--its field is enough to give these remains animation and some self-control, though I assume the central ‘mind,’ if you will, exerts overall domination.”

“To what end, though?”

“Survival at a minimum. This thing is clearly imbued with a least a high level of animal cunning, and I suspect even a degree of sentience.”

“Sure--how could it know what disturbs or terrifies us otherwise?”

Solar stopped for a moment to regard an ancient unicorn skeleton blocking a small alcove: “Actually, that’s fairly easy to explain. The Void bears a strong imprint of Grey Thorn. It is his final echo, and much of the Void’s behavior likely parrots actions taken by its creator and master over the centuries.”

Smudge nodded: “Like a dog who’s learned its tricks.”

“Something like that, yes.”

Shatter tapped her hoof impatiently: “Why the halt? We’re still in the midst of all these dead things. Shouldn’t we keep moving?”

Solar licked his lips and tipped his horn toward the blocked alcove: “That space is being protected. I’d like to know why.”

Zecora looked around the chamber: “And in any event it seems quite clear / that the dead from here on will be quite near.”

Solar nodded: “I concur. I assume we will have ‘companions’ for the remainder of our journey--in greater numbers, I would expect.

Shatter sighed: “Great. How are we supposed to get around them? This shield of yours cloaks us, but we still don’t dare touch anything!”

“Maybe. Bear with me a moment…”

Solar pulled out the vial of Twilight’s blood and applied a drop to his horn.

Shatter furrowed her brow: “You seem to like that stuff a little more than maybe you should.”

Solar smiled grimly: “My apologies, but given what I am about to attempt, I need all the amplification I can get.”

He leaned forward and opened a small hole in the cloak. The unicorn skeleton turned its head and a dull glow flared in its empty sockets. Solar touched his black-and-green-glowing horn to the animated corpses’, and it fell to the floor with a clatter.

Steel raised an eyebrow: “What the…?”

Solar pulled his head back in and stepped over the fallen skeleton, hastily shepherding the team into the alcove: “Quickly--before the effect wears off!”

The five ponies filed into the small chamber and turned around as the skeletal guardian rose from the floor and resumed its position blocking the alcove entrance.

Shatter tipped her head and peered at the skeletal form: “Neat trick. Can you control it?”

“Possibly. I am unsure how much effort that might take, and I wanted to find out why a trace of Zecora’s blue powder drifted into this guarded space.”

He pointed his horn at the cave floor, and the other ponies noticed a faint blue thread traced across the cracked stone. It was not moving.

Smudge’s eyebrows jumped: “Those are some good eyes, for an old stallion!”

“Everypony else seemed to be fixated on the various bones and mummies and whatnot. I knew we must be getting close to something noteworthy, so I watched our homing beacon, and saw a tiny filament break off.”

Shatter nodded: “So what’s the story? Why this alcove? Why’d the dust stop?”

Zecora rummaged in her bag for a moment, then pulled out a small wooden box with a brass lid. She opened it and tapped a measure of lilac-colored ash into her hoof.

Solar smiled: “I’d tell you, but it might spoil Zecora’s surprise!”

The zebra tossed the ash into the air, through the cloak: “Reveal now that which is hidden / be it lost, secret or forbidden!”

A pale violet light flickered around the walls and ceiling of the chamber like static across a wool blanket. A square outline glowed faintly on the floor two feet in front of Steel.

Solar took a deep breath and licked his lips: “It would appear we have discovered another relic.” He stepped forward and magically lifted the trapdoor, sliding it aside.

Steel cocked an eyebrow: “Interesting that you didn’t need to trace runes or use blood.”

“I am not certain this is Grey Thorn’s doing.”

“Who else could it be? You said yourself that it was unlikely Starswirl made it down this far.”

Solar nodded: “True, but there were explorers of both magic and caves long before Starswirl or his acolyte. I suspect the old…”

He looked at the skeleton blocking the alcove entrance, focusing on its hips: “Mare, there, may have been just such an explorer.”

Steel tipped his head and regarded the unicorn's remains for a moment: "Or a guard..."

Smudge pushed forward impatiently and peered into the dark cavity below the trapdoor: “So what was it guarding?”

Solar leaned down and magically lifted away a heavy, moldering, length of dragon hide. He stepped back with a gasp.

Shatter’s eyebrows jumped: “Fuck me!”

All five ponies gazed down at the skeleton of a unicorn, bedecked with fragments of simple, primitive, silver and gold jewelry--and wings connected to its shoulders.

Steel frowned: “An alicorn? But this thing’s ancient! It has to be older than the Sisters!”

Solar nodded: “At least two-thousand years before their ascendance, from the looks of its adornments.”

Shatter shook her head: “Can’t be! There were no alicorns before the Princesses!”

Solar shrugged: “That we know of! And note the development of the wing bones and joints.”

Shatter craned her neck and stared at the skeleton’s wings and shoulders: “Yeah, they don’t look well-developed. A runt? A mutant? A transition between unicorns and alicorns?”

“Hard to say without a great deal of digging--literal and figurative. I would love to get the archaeology team down here!”

“Yeah, well knock yourself out, once we’re done! We have to figure out how to get past all these damn haunted skeletons in tight quarters!”

Solar furrowed his brow and sucked air through his teeth for a moment as the other sat down to rest. He rummaged through his shoulder bag and pulled out the blood vial and his notebook.

“I may have a plan…”

Shatter swallowed a mouthful of water and looked up: “What is it?”

“I may be able to animate and control this skeleton for a time.”

“I thought the effect wears off quickly.”

“That is true in the case of remains controlled by the Void or its field. This skeleton has never been affected.”

Zecora raised an eyebrow: “You have a chance to start out clean / and take control of it sight unseen!”

“Exactly. Our field is preventing the Void from overtaking this small area.”

Steel shrugged: “OK, but what does that get us?”

“I suspect our embryonic alicorn will exert some influence, and draw out a measure of deference from many of the pony remains--you see that this alcove is still guarded. And if not, we can at least use it as a brief diversion.”

Shatter nodded: “Alright--worth a shot anyway. What can it hurt?”

Solar tipped the half-empty blood vial back and forth: “Hmm. I don’t suppose any of you…”

Smudge snort-laughed, and Shatter rolled her eyes: “Hardly!”

Zecora chuckled and shook her head, as Steel shrugged: “Looks like you’re out-of-luck!”

“I’m not surprised--I just thought I’d ask. Alright, here we go…”

Solar applied several drops of blood to his horn and bent down to trace glyphs across the alicorn’s skeleton while muttering unintelligible incantations. His horn pulsed a lurid green, with occasional flashes of crimson as the skeleton began to glow a faint, dark violet--almost black. It rose slowly and stiffly from its grave and turned to face the party.

Smudge wrinkled her nose and took a step back: “That’s creepy as fuck!”

“Indeed it is, but I believe it may just help us get through this.”

Shatter chewed her lip: “OK, so let’s suppose you can control Old Bony, here--can you also keep up the cloak? I doubt the rat things and snake things and whatnot are going to give two shits about Her Majesty.”

Solar took a deep breath: “Yes. It will be a strain, but I can do it. Zecora--please administer a fresh dose of your compound."

Zecora cast another pile of bright yellow dust into the air, and the cloak shimmered and glowed briefly.

Solar nodded and turned toward the alcove’s entrance: “That’s the best we can do. Let’s see if this works.”

He tipped his horn toward the skeleton and a thin black beam lanced the cloak, striking the proto-alicorn in the skull. Its eye sockets flashed a deep gold for a moment, then it walked slowly to the entrance.

The guard skeleton turned its head, then stepped aside and bent down briefly on one knee. Every other pony skeleton in the adjacent passageway fell back as the proto-alicorn passed by.

Noble Steel’s eyebrows jumped: “Impressive! Why did the guard bend its knee? Did you cause that effect, too?”

The party followed close behind the animated remains as Solar shook his head: “No. Again, this whole area is suffused--haunted, if you will, with echoes and impressions of the past. We have entered a sort of bubble of trapped memories. That guard acts now as it undoubtedly would have millennia ago.”

Shatter furrowed her brow: “Yeah--the Void’s bubble! How long before it senses that something in here is outside its control?”

“Not long, I suspect. Let us make haste for as long as I can maintain mastery. Zecora, if you would be so kind…”

Zecora tossed down a fresh pinch of blue homing powder, and her team began trotting briskly behind it as it wound its way deeper into the labyrinth of passages and caves.