33 - Darkness, Part 4 of 6
Beigh felt frantic, but he moved forward in feigned calm. The SAR team had found the entrance to the caverns beneath Canterlot easily enough, but there was no way to tell what awaited them inside. There were only two squads here, and they were waiting for more to arrive before they moved in. He’d heard all kinds of crazy rumors about Queen Chrysalis taking The Hero of Canterlot’s form and attempting to assassinate Prince Shining Armor. They also said that Sparklefly hadn’t been seen since. He shook his head, trying to put it from his mind.
Gathering up as much courage as he could find, Beigh approached the mouth of the cave. It was a gaping maw that looked like it could swallow a dozen ponies at once and still have room to take more. The early sun was on the other side of the city, leaving only shadow-blue light to shine here. The depths beyond fell to a blackness as dark as pitch almost instantly. A coolness to the air was the first thing Beigh noticed. It was still and old, but it didn't seem stale. A flutter of wings heralded the approach of three more squads.
"Okay," a lieutenant called out, "Squad one, hold this position. Sound the alert if there are any signs of trouble, inside or out."
"Yessir!" the sergeant answered.
"Everypony else, grab a lantern."
With that, they began moving into the cave. Beigh found a place in the middle, which made him feel much safer. The pony at the rear had a large spool of twine of which they anchored an end at the entrance for ease of finding their way back out. The air was even cooler than he'd thought once they were enveloped in the blackness. The faint light from the firefly lanterns was dim. Following a cue from the other unicorns in the party, a surge of magic flowed through Beigh, and he managed a faint light from his horn.
It took several minutes for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the cave. There wasn't a sound, other than the movement of the SAR team. Above their noise, it would have been difficult to hear much. The interior of the mountain was like another world, filled with its own beauty and dangers. The rock formations allowed passage, but in some places there stood towering columns that seemed to hold up the ceiling far above.
Other chambers revealed stalagmites that resembled ancient sentries, standing post in a place that hadn't been occupied in an unfathomable amount of time. This was disheartening, as Beigh had expected to find signs of recent disturbance as they entered. The floor was uneven and wet from the moisture in the air. Progress was made even slower by sudden pits into which nopony desired to fall. Many of the passages were so narrow that the team was forced to spread out. In many places they could only get through one at a time. A metal clinking sound startled Beigh.
"LT, you'd better come see this," one soldier's voice echoed through the chambers.
"At least we're heading in the right direction. Let's keep moving, ponies," the lieutenant ordered.
When Beigh finally was able to see, the dim light from his horn revealed three sets of thick chains with iron collars on the end. The fact that they were empty was unsettling, but it didn't mean anything. There were no signs of recent death or struggle as far as he could tell. In the few moments that he stood there, Beigh inadvertently put himself at the rear, and they nearly left him alone.
"Hey," one of the other soldiers called out to him. "I'm sure those chains are interesting, but we're looking for live ones. Don't want to get left behind."
Leaving the chains in darkness, he followed. Carefully negotiating the rugged stone floor, they must have continued for hours. There was absolutely no way to tell time in the complete blackness that blotted out the sky, wind, and the sound of birds. It was just cold and quiet.
The passage continued to narrow until it was difficult for even one to pass through, forcing them to crawl to get through. Unnerving as it was to be squeezed into such a confined area, the path widened slightly before fear was replaced with curiosity: the sound of trickling water was ahead. It sounded odd somehow. If Beigh didn't know better, he'd have thought it was raining. Had he been told about the vast expanse that the tunnel opened into as they squeezed through, he would not have believed even half of it were true.
A gaping chamber in the heart of the mountain opened up. It was so large that the small lanterns were not enough to reveal the walls or ceiling far above. The rain-like sound had come from this place. Fat drops of cold water fell from the ceiling at random, very much like a spring shower. The SAR team stood in silent awe, captivated by the subterranean world they had discovered.
"Sergeant," the lieutenant said. No answer came. "Sergeant!"
"Sir?" the sergeant replied, coming back to himself.
"Take your squad left. The rest of us will go right."
Beigh followed to the left, dumbstruck by the seemingly boundless cavern. The path was passable, but caution had to be taken with every step. The ground was slick from the rain, the sound of which was soothing. The squad to which Beigh was attached found several more sets of iron chains and collars, all rusted from exposure to the water. They passed more than a dozen before he stopped counting them. The path wandered until they lost sight of the rest of the SAR team. After about a half hour, one of the others came running up the path to them.
"Sir!" he puffed, "The lieutenant wants you back on the other side right away. We've found something."
"What is it?" he asked.
"An abandoned changeling camp, we think."
“Let’s go.”
Beigh's heart was lifted by this. The thought that the changelings had fled and left the prisoners unguarded sparked high hopes. He dared not consider a more sinister alternative. Their progress was slow now that they were soaked through from the subterranean precipitation, but they worked their way back up the path and around the other side. When they reconnected with the rest of the team, they found a rudimentary structure on top of a crag that jutted out higher than the surrounding formations. It didn't have walls, but there was a roof to keep the rain out. The primitive shelter leaked in many places, but it was large enough to house perhaps two-hundred in the dry space if needed. It was a commanding vantage point to watch the surrounding area. The lieutenant had found a cache of maps and other documents that he was packing away for later study.
"Sergeant, you will take command of SAR operations until I return," the lieutenant said. "I need to get this to HQ immediately."
One squad went with him, their lights growing dim and finally vanishing in the darkness as they followed their life-line back toward the exit. Beigh amused himself by thinking that this could easily be mistaken for a dark and rainy night if one didn't know they were underground.
The team continued trudging along the wet stony path until they came to the far side of the chamber. At this end, they came to a wall that they followed around until they found another opening. This led to a series of smaller chambers that could barely hold the entire team, but they immediately began finding more sets of the chains and collars. Sometimes there was only one, but mostly they would find them in twos or threes. A stench of raw sewage was in the air. In one of these smaller chambers, something caught Beigh's attention. It looked like a passage going off in a different direction, but as he went to investigate, a corporal yelled.
"Take cover!"
Within a moment, the only sound to be heard was the fading echo of the soldiers dropping into place. Then it was eerily silent.
"Do you see anything?" the sergeant whispered.
The corporal gestured at his ears to indicate that he had heard something. Everything became still again for a few moments, and then Beigh heard a cough. It was barely more than an echo. It had bounced around so much that it was almost indistinct, but it was definitely a cough.
The corporal nodded at the sergeant, who gestured at one team to move forward. They crept slowly into the next passage, out of sight. The moments of waiting stretched into an eternity. Beigh found himself sweating in spite of the cool air. The dampness made all of his gear stick to his body in a way that felt suffocating. The silence was shattered by the sound of running. One of the scouts came back into view and stopped at the mouth of the passage.
"We've found one!" he said, excitement in his voice. "He's alive!"
As the SAR team moved forward, Beigh felt a mixture of feelings. He was excited, but also disappointed. He desperately wanted to find Sparklefly and get her out of here quickly, assuming the rumors were true about her capture. One of the other medics got to the prisoner first. He was barely conscious and showing signs of dehydration. They found him chained to a spike that had been driven directly into the rock of the cave floor; it was identical to the others they had previously discovered.
There was a powerful stink in the air of urine and feces; not the worst thing that Beigh had ever smelled, but it made his stomach churn. The prisoner was weak, almost unaware of what was going on around him. They gave him water and waited; but the chain was thick. One of the unicorns knew a cutting spell and was able to break through it, a delicate process to not injure their liberated comrade. The indecency with which the prisoner had been treated enraged Beigh. He wasn't by nature an aggressive pony, but if he'd found a changeling at that moment, he would have tried to kill it without hesitation.
"Can he walk?" the sergeant asked.
"He should be able to, but he's dehydrated," one of the medics said.
"More," the prisoner said, reaching for the water.
They gave him another drink. Beigh knew he needed to save his water for Sparklefly. If the condition of this first one was any indication of how she would be... He shook his head and pushed it out of his mind. No sense in worrying; he had to find her, and he needed to focus to do that. It didn't help ease his fears.
"Alright, this is what we're going to do," the sergeant said. "You two, head back to the surface. If there's an entire company dehydrated down here, we're going to need more water and more hooves to help carry them out. If we can get at least two more companies, that should be enough. Make sure they bring plenty of rope. We’ll probably have to drag them through some of the smaller passages. The rest of us are going to start freeing these and taking them to that old changeling HQ and set up a command post there.”
They carried the prisoner back into the rainy vaulted chamber. One squad was left with him at the changeling outpost. Everypony else went further into the cave. They began finding more and more ponies, all chained up. Sometimes they would be alone, but they frequently found two or three chained near each other. The water they had went quickly, even rationing it to only one drink per prisoner. After they had pulled almost forty prisoners back to their makeshift infirmary, they were all exhausted.
"Where are those reinforcements? We can't keep up this pace," the sergeant puffed.
Beigh felt driven to find Sparklefly. He had to succeed. "Sir," he said to the sergeant, "Permission to go further in. I can take water and assess any prisoners I come across."
“Yeah, I don’t think the changelings have hung around. Go ahead. Just use the twine,“ the sergeant replied.
The rain from the cavern ceiling danced almost melodically as Beigh set out, unrolling the life-line as he went. He worked his way through the passages where they'd liberated everypony that they'd found, and he continued on. Soon, he found more that were chained and unresponsive to his presence. He knew they needed water, but he didn't disturb them.
Walking straight past, he delved deeper into the cave. The air was still and full of the same stink of biological waste all the way down. It seemed like he had passed fifty or sixty, but he still hadn't found her. He kept thinking she would be the next one, and so pressed on. All hope failed when he rounded the next corner and found only empty chains. Exhausted and in despair, Beigh sank to the floor of the cave. The magical light from his horn gave out, leaving him in total darkness. At any normal time, this would have been rather alarming, but today he didn't even care. Everything seemed so futile.
Somewhere deep down, Beigh said to himself, 'What are you doing? If she is down here, and you stop looking, she will die.' Taking a small sip of his water, Beigh summoned the strength to keep moving. He was able to make light again and he went deeper into the cave. After passing two more sets of empty chains, he spotted more prisoners.
In the dim light he emanated they were just barely recognizable. He didn’t know he was looking at Sparklefly at first, but then he noticed her missing eye. Dogged determination transformed into exhilaration at the sight of her. She had been kept in the same degrading conditions as everypony else, and for that the changelings would suffer.
He rushed to her and gently lifted her face.
Putting his canteen to her dry, cracked lips, he said, "Drink."
Tilting it up slightly, life flowed back into the mare. She fluttered and grabbed the canteen, trying to drink faster, which resulted in a coughing fit.
"Easy!" he said, pulling it away to slow her down. "You're dehydrated. You'll be fine, just take it a little slower."
Now that he had a chance to examine at her, Sparklefly looked terrible. She took a deep breath and shielded her eye from the dim light cast by Beigh's horn.
There came a moment where she seemed suddenly aware of his presence, and she jerked, recoiling away from him as much as her chain would allow.
He was confused for a moment, but then realized that she had mistaken him for a changeling.
"I'm," he stopped, having nearly said his name. "It's me, R. There’s an SAR team down here. We came to take you home."
He realized that if this were a moment from one of the storybooks he’d enjoyed as a colt that it would be incredibly romantic, probably even how a prince rescues a princess. The stink, terror, and finally relief that made up the last few hours made it anything but. It gave Beigh a real appreciation for just how much those stories were simply flights of fancy.
"R..." she said, still keeping her distance from him. "Save Nitro."
"What?"
Lifting a hoof, she pointed.
"Save Nitro," she said again.
Beigh turned to look at the other pony that was nearby. He hadn't paid any attention to him before. What his eyes beheld made him feel more sick than anything he'd seen in his entire life. Save for the basic shape, it didn't resemble a pony at all. It was more like a skeleton with skin wrapped tightly on it. It was a black & white paint pegasus stallion. The feathers had all fallen from his wings due to malnutrition. He lay still as a stone, totally unmoving. Beigh lifted his head and poured water into his mouth. It filled and ran out. He didn't swallow. Beigh set down the water and moved along the throat, trying to get any kind of reaction. There was none from the cold form.
"R?" Sparklefly said, sounding a little more like herself.
She still sat as far away from him as she was able, her body curled up tightly like a ball.
"Welcome back," he said to her.
She shied away from the light as he moved close.
"Am I dreaming?"
He smiled at her, "No, you're awake." He wanted to say more, be comforting somehow, but he was exhausted from lack of sleep and marching into the bowels of Equestria.
Sparklefly inspected the chain by which she was bound. One of the links was worn almost halfway through.
"Not even close," she said.
"You did that?"
She nodded, “The rest of my company?"
"They're all here," he answered. "The rest of the SAR team is working their way through the caves.
"Nitro?" she said, looking past Beigh.
He turned, but the body hadn’t moved. He looked back at her and shook his head. She nodded, a somber look of understanding on her face.
Man, Sparklefly really stole this chapter, didn't she? She either directly or indirectly has been the focus of all of it to this point! 
Don't fret, we'll check in on our friends in Ponyville soon. 
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Nitro is dead. Noooooo!!!!
8518068
I’m afraid so...
Damn you, damn you to hell!
I thought cool now we can have Nitro join the team for honor of sister, but said nah how about just plain old death
8746420
I'll be honest... that one changed with every draft. First draft, he died. First pass on second draft, he lived. Final pass on second draft, he was dead again. I couldn't make up my mind, and finally went with... if he's been that underfed for that long, there is no way he can survive something that also causes Sparklefly so much trouble, as she was reasonably fed and hydrated when it began.
Well, looks like (most) of the prisoners have finally been rescued. With Nitro dead, there's nobody but for the 'lings and Sparklefly herself to blab that she revealed a classified secret Let's just hope they don't get thrown into another ordeal as soon as they return to the surface if Chrysalis' threat was anything to go off.
Still, while I doubt the changelings were dumb enough to blab anything to their prisoners, the sight of the underfed prisoners should ignite enough moral outrage in the ponies to give them a second wind and boost to their morale to keep on fighing.
8782455
Yep, that is absolutely correct. I expect if I were in that position, I'd have a hard time fessing up to what had happened... Because if you tell any of it... you kind of have to give context as well...
I can't let this action momentum stall, now can I? Press the attack!
You know... I should have played with that a bit more than I did, the moral outrage at the starving prisoners, I mean. However, it wasn't simply a matter of cruelty to not feed them. It was more a matter of logistics.