The Last Healing Dragon

by Gearsmash King

Chapter 18: Sunlight Above, Darkness Below

It was late afternoon as Starlight lead Twilight and her friends to a place that she believed, would be a good hiding place for the two gems.

"Are you sure about this, darling?" Rarity asked, sporting one of her new outfits, "The last few places we tried didn't appear to be very secure."

They had spent most of the day wandering around Ponyville, looking for suitable locations. But almost everywhere they went, they either found it to be too easy to find, or too easy to access. However, there was one more place left to try. And only Starlight knew about it.

"It's worth looking." Starlight replied, "If it doesn't work out, then we could ask Lazarus. Maybe, he could give us some suggestions."

"But he asked us to hide them." Twilight said, "We can't let him down."

"I said, if."

Twilight rolled her eyes and followed behind Starlight, with the crate in tow. Twilight still didn't feel comfortable carrying the gems in her magic. The feeling of their magic frightened her more than her fear of failure. Thankfully, she had her friends around her. Having them around, made her feel less afraid and more confident about resisting the power of the gems.

"Rarity, why are ya wearin' that?" Applejack asked, looking at her friend's attire.

Rarity's outfit consisted of a violet silk blouse and skirt, that covered the upper part of her hind legs, jewel encrusted shoulderpads and chest piece, and a little silver ribbon that tied back her mane. However, the most interesting parts of her outfit were the sword and knife that she kept at her sides. They were the same sword and knife that she had acquired, after they had met the Changeling hunting party.

"I wanted to try something a little different." Rarity replied, using her magic to grasp the weapons, "Look, I even made an improvement, or two."

Pulling them free from their sheaths, Rarity presented them. The hilt and handle of the sword was lined with polished silver and wrapped in a special and rare fabric, while the blade had been polished so much, she was able to use it as a mirror as well as a weapon. However, her knife hadn't changed much. The only difference on it, was a symbol that had been etched onto the hilt, which was her cutie mark.

"Do ya even know how to use those, Rarity?" Applejack asked, looking at her reflection on the sword's blade.

"Who cares if she knows how to use them?" Rainbow Dash chimed, admiring her friend's appearance, "She looks awesome! Almost like some kind of rich monster huntress, or something."

"Well," Rarity began, returning the weapons to their sheaths, "monster huntress wasn't what I was aiming for, but I'm happy you like it. If you want, I could make an outfit for you as well, Rainbow Dash."

"Are you pulling my wings? I can't wear that. It doesn't look very aerodynamic and I can't really hold a sword, unless I'm using my mouth. Trust me, I tried it once and the sword hurt my teeth."

"I never said it had to be a dress. And I never said you had to have a sword, either."

"What do you mean?"

While Rarity and Rainbow Dash discussed about the possible outfit, Applejack slowed down and walked next to Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. She didn't want to hear about their odd ideas that involved various garments, accents, and anything else that had to do with Rainbow's "adventurer/warrior/athlete" outfit.

"I miss my party cannon." Pinkie Pie sighed as they approached Applejack, "I wish I knew where we left it, so I could bring it home and fix it."

"Don't worry, Pinkie." Fluttershy said, "Maybe, when we're all done with hiding the gems, we could talk to Lazarus. He might be able to help you find it."

"Do you think so?"

"I'm sure if you asked him nicely, he'd be happy to help."

Catching onto the conversation, Applejack decided to join.

"Yeah, Pinkie." Applejack agreed, "Ya can almost bet that he'll help ya."

Pinkie smiled at her friends and nodded.

"Or, maybe I could jump back a few chapters." She beamed.

"What?" Fluttershy asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Never mind."

Before they could ask what she meant, Pinkie sped up and joined Spike, who was following behind Twilight. Fluttershy and Applejack exchanged looks, before shaking their heads and smiling. Then Fluttershy went quiet as she began to think, only to be pulled out of her thoughts by Applejack.

"What are ya thinkin' about, Sugarcube?" She asked, seeing that something was bothering the yellow pegasus.

"Oh, Applejack." Fluttershy murmured, "I'm worried."

"What about?"

"Lazarus. After he showed us that dream of the other dragon, something's been bothering me."

"What?"

"Do you remember the city in the dream?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I don't know about you, but it looked an awful lot like Canterlot."

Applejack put a hoof under her chin and thought back to the reflection of the dream. She thought back to the shape of the structures and the cobblestone streets. Every detail that entered her mind, showed that it was Canterlot in the dream.

"I know that we're hoping that it's only a dream." Fluttershy continued, "But, what if it's not? What if it actually was a vision?"

"Fluttershy, in truth, I don't rightly know what it was." Applejack replied, "But if that's the case, then we've probably got two problems to deal with."

"Are you talking about the Changelings?"

"Yeah."

Both ponies exchanged expressions and decided to change subjects. They knew that if they kept talking about it, then they would worry and start to thinking about the ways that it might end, should they have to face a dragon and a Changeling army.

"Let's talk about somethin' else." Applejack said, "How's Angel?"

"He's fine."

While they were thinking of more positive subjects, Starlight lead the group into an old cave. The cave looked too small for a dragon, but big enough to explore. It was a place that Starlight had been hiding when she was spying on Twilight and her friends. Granted, since she now lived in the castle with Twilight and had no further use for the cave, there was no point in coming back. However, Starlight did come back to it occasionally. Most of her deep thinking was done in this cave and some of her old possessions were kept here. But the best part about it, was the fact that this cave branched off to others. It was like walking around in an underground maze.

"This place is so awesome!" Pinkie exclaimed, sending an echo through the various tunnels.

"I'm glad you like it," Starlight smiled, "because this is the only place left that's close enough to Ponyville to keep an eye on it and difficult enough to make anypony think before they even try to enter the main chamber."

"It almost looks like a Diamond Dog mine." Rainbow commented, after her and Rarity finished talking about her future outfit.

"Don't worry about them. They cleared out of here as soon as they saw me. Must not like ponies very much."

"Actually, you might have Rarity to thank for that."

They looked back at Rarity, who only adjusted her mane and smiled.

"Now, that's a story I want to hear." Starlight grinned, curious to know how she managed to deal with Diamond Dogs.

"And I'll gladly tell you, darling." Rarity chimed, "After we're out of this cave, of course."

As they went deeper into the tunnels, the light faded away. Twilight, Starlight, and Rarity all lit up their horns, allowing them to see where they were going.

"Are ya sure ya know where yer goin'?" Applejack asked from the back of the group.

"Yeah." Starlight reassured, "We're not far now. Just another right, another left, and you'll see my favorite and most secured part of this place."

Sure enough, two turns later, they entered a chamber that was massive. Where they stood was an outcropping that allowed them to look up at a crack of sunlight in the ceiling and down into the dark abyss below.

"How far down is it?" Rainbow asked as she got ready to dive into the darkness to get her answer, but stopped when she felt something pull her tail.

Looking behind her, Rainbow Dash saw that her tail was wrapped in Rarity's magic and received a glare from her friend. Rainbow smiled nervously and landed on the outcropping with them, before kicking a stone into the abyss.

Waiting patiently, they listened for the sound of an impact.

Clunk! Sploosh!

Nearly seven seconds passed before they heard the sound of the stone hitting the bottom. The sound made everypony back away from the edge as they realized how far down it had fallen. Then looking back up, Starlight spotted what she was looking for.

"Up there." She said, pointing a hoof at what she wanted them to see, "We'll be able to put the gems on that."

Everypony looked up and saw on the ceiling, next to the crack, was a pulley with a small platform hanging under it and another outcropping. A path, connecting their outcropping to the one above it, had been carved into the rock wall, letting them reach the outcropping with ease. Once they had reach it, they saw what appeared to be a small campsite. Most likely, where Starlight had decided to call home for several weeks.

The platform was level with the outcropping as it was hung by the pulley. The rope, it was attached to, lead to a lightly rust covered crank wheel.

"So..." Spike began, "What's the plan here?"

"Well," Starlight replied, "if the rope and pulley still hold, one of us can ride it and put the gems under some of the rocks that are down there. But I'm pretty sure it'll hold, they've only been abandoned for a couple of months and they were used to bring heavy carts of gems to the top. Plus, they look like they're still in good shape."

"Down?"

"Down."

Everyone looked back into the darkness. As far as they knew, the only things down there was a small body of water and the bottom.

"Can't somepony fly down?" Twilight asked, opening her wings slightly.

"No." Starlight countered, "With or without light, you're less likely to hurt yourself as badly, if you're walking. Trust me, I tried flying down there once, but I hit a wall anyway. And it hurt way more than it would've if I was walking."

"You flew down? How?"

"Self-levitation, remember."

"Oh. Right."

Twilight's cheeks turned bright red as she remembered Starlight "flying" around Cloudsdale, during their time-battle. Before she could recollect her thoughts, she felt the crate being tugged out of her magic's grasp. It wasn't a hard pull, but it was enough to make her jump slightly.

"I'll take them down, Twilight." Starlight said, wrapping the wooden box in her magic.

Twilight still hadn't let go of the crate and hesitated, before replying to Starlight's request.

"I-I don't know Starlight." Twilight stuttered, keeping a firm grip on the crate, "Do we know that it'll be safe? I mean, this used to be a Diamond Dog mine, what if they come back?"

"I know, because I've looked around these tunnels and found very few gems left in them. And considering the fact that they'll most likely stay away from Ponyville, thanks to Rarity and myself, I'm sure they'll look elsewhere for gems."

"B-but what if..."

The large cavern fell silent as everyone watched their alicorn friend begin to tremble. Starlight kept the crate in her magic, but Twilight still refused to let go. The only one that could actually see what was happening to Twilight, was Applejack. She could see that the gems had somehow frightened and fascinated Twilight. However, Applejack knew that if Twilight didn't let Starlight take them, then the power of the gems would get the better of her.

"Twilight." Applejack cooed, stepping forward and placing a hoof on Twilight's shoulder for comfort.

Slowly, Twilight calmed down and released the crate. She had begun to slip into the shadows of her mind, but was pulled back when Applejack touched her and spoke her name.

"You could come with me, if you want." Starlight said, levitating the crate onto the platform with her, "There's room for two, plus cargo."

Twilight thought the offer over, before looking back at Applejack with sad eyes.

"I can't do that, AJ." Twilight whispered, "I almost lost it, five seconds ago. Those things scare me."

"Don't ya worry none, Twi." Applejack replied, "I'll go down with Starlight and you won't have to deal with 'em."

"Thanks, Applejack."

Applejack gave a reassuring nod, before turning away from Twilight and towards the platform.

"Hold on, Starlight." Applejack said, "I'll tag along."

Creeeeeeaaaaaak.

Stepping onto the wooden surface, Applejack heard the platform creak and felt it sway gently. It was old, but knowing a thing or two about structural strength, Applejack knew that it was still safe to use. The short walls that lined the edges, were cracked and worn from the various impacts of mining carts bumping and crashing into the sides of the platform. However, many of them looked mostly repaired. Then Applejack saw two short sliding doors, wrapped in Starlight's magic, close off the platform entrance.

"Oh, before you go, I've got something that Applejack might be able to use" Pinkie Pie beamed, reaching into her mane and retrieving a headlamp.

She tossed it to Applejack, who caught it and wrapped it around her hat. Looking back at Starlight, Applejack nodded and turned on the headlamp. It wasn't a very bright light, but it was bright enough to allow them to see what would be in front of them.

"Alright," Starlight said, "turn the wheel and we'll be on our way."

Getting through the guilt and self-pity for herself, Twilight wrapped the wheel in her magic and started turning it. The platform gave a small jerk, but slowly descended into the darkness with Starlight, Applejack, and the gems secured on it.

"Be careful." Fluttershy said, looking over the ledge and watching them, "It might be abandoned, but there could still be trouble down there."

"Don't worry, Fluttershy." Applejack said, looking back up at her as the rest of them watched the platform go down, "We shouldn't be gone too long."

After giving a wave, Applejack looked at Starlight with a concerned expression.

"We shouldn't be gone too long, right?" She asked in a hushed voice, knowing that Starlight was her guide.

"Actually..." Starlight replied, sounding hesitant, "I've only been down here once and that was only for a few seconds, before I flew back up."

Applejack's expression changed from concerned to annoyed as she realized that they might be in the darkness longer than she wanted to be.

"How far down are we actually goin'?" Applejack asked as she looked back up at the outcropping that her friends were standing on.

"Um... Do you remember how high Canterlot Castle's tallest tower is?" Starlight asked.

"Yeah."

Starlight grinned nervously as Applejack's light shined on her. Then Applejack realized that the only light that they'll have at the bottom, will be from Starlight's horn and Pinkie's headlamp.

"We better not get lost down here, Starlight." Applejack warned as the darkness washed over them.

Author's Note:

Hey, everyone.

Okay, I decided to have Pinkie break the fourth wall, because it's Pinkie Pie and because I wanted to have some intentional humor. Don't question it, please.

I know that I have the "sad" tag on this story. However, this story will most likely have one or two funny parts, while the majority of it is aimed towards mystery, tragedy, dark, sad, and adventure.

Comments

[XYZDreadnought]

7252780 They also have arcade machines, as shown in the hearts and hooves episode.