Chapter 5: The Master Metal
Chapter 5
The Master Metal
Far below the surface, a lizard that dwelt in the darkness of the hollow parts of the earth scurried about, living its life as it always had, blind in the darkness, taking every sound as a threat, and every movement as a signal for prey or danger.
At the moment, it had gone perfectly still and quiet, hearing the sounds of creatures far larger than itself breaking through the walls somewhere in the caverns. Somewhere far from where it was now, but growing steadily closer.
There was still time to hide from the approaching giants. With all haste, it scurried across the wall to escape to safety, its claws clattering against the metallic surface. The noise would give it away. It was going to be found if it didn't find a new place to run to. Then, it began to feel something within itself.
It began like a dull ache, which soon spread through its entire body. It was as if something had struck it all over, and begun to change something from the inside out. Though intense, it passed so quickly that it hardly noticed anything had happened at all.
The aching pain it had before was replaced with something else. A new feeling that it hadn't ever felt before. Something different. Something powerful.
Even though the lizard was born blind, it knew that something about itself had changed. As it was now, it would fear nothing. It had become the top predator in the caves, and it would assert that on everything that crossed its path. The many legged things that would try to swarm it, the larger creatures like itself, and especially the cold, wriggling things that lurked in the water.
The lizard then realized that its extra mass had added extra weight, and it had a rather loose grip on the wall. Scrambling its legs, it tried to stay anchored to the wall, only to fall off and splash into the water below.
This wasn't a problem for the lizard. Now was its chance to show those wriggling things in the water who was king of the caverns. And the opportunity presented itself when it felt one of them brush against its foot.
With a snap of its body, the lizard clutched the fish in its teeth, then swallowed it whole. It was the most satisfying meal it had eaten in a long time. Not only because of how big it was, but how it was able to finally show those fish who was the boss.
The lizard heard those larger creatures from before. The sound of breaking rock and soil stopped, and they were walking closer to where it was in the water. Slightly submerging itself, the lizard began drifting about, awaiting the next meal.
Until a great set of jaws completely surrounded and closed around it.
The larger fish splashed back into the water, swallowed the lizard whole and swam away from the glowing metal that illuminated it from beneath, into the darker parts of the pool where hiding places of stone and darkness were plentiful.
At the other end of the cavern, the intruders had arrived.
"Something's in here!" Rarity gasped. "There's something down there in the water! I know it!"
"Whoah, whoah. Take it easy," Copper said. "Things just tend to fall from the ceiling in old caves like this. Some rocks probably just fell down into the water."
"I don't suppose rocks that can eat us! You've seen the things down here! And look at this room! The entire floor is a web of this devilish mineral!"
Rarity was right. Below the four was a vast pool of water, illuminated by the green metal that was embedded in the ground below the surface. Worse still, it appeared the only way across was to swim.
"This is dreadful! If something doesn't eat us, we're going to become monsters and eat one another! Oh, isn't there some other way around?" Rarity said.
"Actually, Rarity, there is," Twilight pointed out.
Along the nearby wall, there was a path that circumnavigated the perimeter of the pool of water complete with a vein of metal along its inside wall, as though to guide any travelers on its path.
"Hot dog! Finally, a break from any diggin'," Mickey exhaled, as he wiped his forehead.
Whistling a merry tune that echoed off the walls and rocks around them, Mickey led the group onto the safety of the path.
In a far off corner of the cavern, where the light of the metal did not shine, Mickey's song attracted the attention of something beneath the water. Though the tune was muffled by the water above it, the beast was able to seek out the direction of the musical mouse.
The four friends traversed along the path, which had conveniently saved them the trouble of facing whatever dangers would have possibly awaited them. In fact, as they walked, Twilight started to think the path was a little too convenient. This was not just a shelf, or an outcropping. This was like an entire notch was carved out that was just the right size for a pony to comfortably walk through.
Looking down, Twilight saw that the ground beneath her hooves was chipped and broken, as were the walls and ceiling. No, not chipped. Pulverized. Something large and very strong had been through this way. Something that knew better than to face the metal below. Or did it?
Twilight's gaze went to the shore of the bank where they had entered from, and only a few hooves to the side from where they had been standing, a chunk of the rocks had been broken away. Broken the very same way as the path they were currently traversing, as if something had forcefully broken a way out of the pool of water.
"I don't want to worry anypony, but I don't think we're alone down here," Twilight said.
"That goes without sayin'. What with that badger on the loose," Mickey said.
The thing in the water drifted around a rock, sighting the intruders.
"Besides that. I mean that something else has been this way."
"Well! WELL! What is it!?" the thing in the water heard Rarity say, her voice muffled by the water.
"I can't say exactly," Twilight continued, "But, get a look at the entire path here. It's been carved out by something that wanted to get out of here. And fast."
Slowly, the thing in the water drifted toward the intruders, where the metal would shine beneath it.
"I knew it! That badger's been through here, and I bet he's waitin' for us at the end of this path!" Mickey said, brandishing his pickaxe, ready to take on the danger to protect his new friends.
The thing in the water drifted closer.
"I don't think so," Copper said. "The boss always uses his claws to dig. There's no sign that any of these rocks were cut or broken by a sharp object."
"But, it couldn't have been done with any tools the miners have. I don't see any marks like the ones that Mickey's been making with his pick," Twilight said.
The thing in the water passed over the glowing metal, its light from below turning it into a silhouette that glided beneath the surface.
Copper examined the wall, running his hoof along its surface, careful to avoid touching the green metal. There was something familiar about the marks that scarred the surface of the rock, something he could exactly put his hoof on.
"You're right, Princess. This wasn't done with tools. It was done by hoof," he said.
"By hoof!?" Rarity gasped.
The thing in the water was nearly upon them.
"That's right," Copper affirmed, hovering his own hoof over a massive hoofprint that had dented both rock and metal.
"Holy Toledo!" Mickey shouted. "Must've been some kind of giant that came through here! Or..."
The mouse's thoughts immediately went to the insect that had undergone a monstrous transformation earlier. Then to the ponies who Copper had said had been sent down the shaft to this subterranean nightmare world.
"It was them," Mickey concluded. "The ponies that were sent down here! One o' them must've done this!"
The thing in the water had only to jump, and began to surface.
"Oh, Celestia! What's to become of us next!?" Rarity said.
The fashionista's ears pricked up at the sound of moving water behind them. Turning to the source, she saw a gigantic shadow, the top of which had broken the surface of the water, right where Mickey was standing.
"MICKEY!!!!" Rarity shouted, grasping the mouse's collar with her teeth, and pulled him backwards, just before the spot where he was standing was clasped in a gigantic pair of jaws.
Rarity fell backwards onto her flank, cradling Mickey in her hooves.
They all watched in horror as before them the owner of the jaws let go of the rocky path they were on, and slid back into the water, before slowly swimming away and disappearing in the shadows.
"Sweet mama! That's one serious catfish!" Mickey shouted.
"Look!" Twilight said, pointing ahead.
The path before them had been bitten off by the mouth of the catfish, prohibiting any further passage.
"Now what? We can't go back! And there's no way I'm swimming across!" Copper said.
There had to be a way out. Hopefully, one that would allow them to avoid that catfish. Of course, no such luck was to be had. Then again, if a path could be made...
Mickey stood up and started swinging his pickax at the wall, only to hit the metal embedded within and shake violently from the recoil.
The fish came swimming back, faster now that its prey was aware of it.
"Huh?" Mickey said when he stopped shaking, and saw the fish jumping out of the water toward him.
Once again, Rarity pulled Mickey from the jaws of death, and another chunk of the wall was taken out.
What little progress Mickey had made was undone by the fish. If anything was going to happen, they were going to have to take a path across the water. Remembering how he had gotten out of the previous chamber where they had the run in with the bug, Mickey thought he may have an idea how.
"Everyone: get back to the tunnel! I'll take care of this palooka!" the mouse declared.
"But, Mickey--" Rarity said, before Mickey put his hand in her face.
"No 'buts!' That thing's comin' back this way!"
The fish was coming back toward Mickey, ready to take another lunge.
Twilight and Copper had obeyed, uncertainly confident in the mouse's ability to pull through tough times. Rarity, however hesitantly lingered, unsure that she wanted to completely abandon Mickey.
The mouse stared intently at the fish. His eyes darted quickly to the ceiling, then back to the fish.
The fish started surfacing again.
Mickey gripped his pickaxe.
Rarity saw the brief moment when Mickey glanced upward, and caught onto his plan. There was only one possible way up to reach the cavern ceiling, and it was swimming right toward Mickey. Even if the mouse was able to dodge danger before, there was no way that Rarity was going to allow him to risk being eaten.
Before the fish was close enough Rarity ran over to pull Mickey from danger.
"Mickey! Don't!"
"Rarity!? What the heck are ya doin'?" Mickey said.
Water rushed as the fish surfaced, and jumped through the air to its prey.
It was too late for Mickey to do anything else. He grabbed Rarity by her hoof, and jumped just as the catfish's jaws were about to close on them.
Boots and hooves landed on the top of the fish's head, and Mickey jumped with Rarity up to a very large hanging stalactite.
"Aw jeez, Rarity! I told ya to get back to the tunnel!" Mickey said, after the fish splashed back into the water.
"I'm sorry! But, it's not in my nature to leave my friends to be eaten!" Rarity rebutted.
The fish circled below them.
"I guess I can appreciate that. Right now, we gotta take care of that stomach with flippers," Mickey said.
"How? We can't do anything up here."
"That's why we gotta get down there."
Mickey raised his pickaxe and started chipping away.
"He wouldn't!" Twilight said.
"He's gonna!" Copper answered.
"You aren't!" Rarity said.
"Just did!" Mickey answered.
The stalactite began to crack, and Mickey took hold of Rarity's hoof again.
"Get ready!"
Rarity and Mickey both screamed as the stalactite came crashing down into the water below, making the fish dart away from the area, and back to the shadows.
With one quick maneuver, the mouse was able to use his pickaxe to flip both himself and Rarity up to the top of the structure.
"Now what do we do?" Rarity said.
"Somethin'. Before that fish comes back," Mickey answered.
"What are you doing out there? You need to come back," Copper called from near the tunnel entrance.
"No can do, Copper," Mickey called back, "There's no way we can jump back across without becomin' fish bait."
"So, how do we get you out of there?" Twilight said next.
"Just keep an eye out for that fish. I got this covered," Mickey answered.
From what could be seen, there was nothing that could be done. There were no more stalactites large enough to break for them, and the only other things out there were rocks and the magic metal.
Mickey planted the handle of the pickaxe on the ground before him.
"Grab on," he told Rarity.
"Grab it? What for?" Rarity asked.
The fish's shadow reappeared over the glowing metal.
"No time to explain! Just grab it!"
Rarity hurriedly grabbed the metal head of the pickaxe, and flushed red when she felt Mickey suddenly place his hands over her hooves.
"What are you doing!? This is completely improper!"
"Get ready to fly!"
Mickey bent the handle so that the head nearly touched the ground, and let go, sending Rarity back toward the tunnel entrance, where she landed on top of Twilight.
Once Rarity had scrambled to her hooves, she ran back to the edge of the water, and watched as the fish's silhouette started swimming back toward Mickey.
"What could you be thinking, sending me back here!? Now you've nopony who can help you!" she shouted to the mouse.
"Just stay on the shore! I can handle po'boy-gumbo here!" Mickey answered.
Rarity watched as the fish started to surface again as it swam closer to the mouse.
Mickey grabbed his pickaxe, and dove off of the stalactite, just as the fish jumped over and tried to swallow him again.
The mouse swung his tool into the side of a large rock. He was about to start chipping away the base, when the fish came swimming back toward him with its mouth open.
Mickey yelped and scrambled around the side of the rock, narrowly dodging the jaws of the fish.
The mouse hooked his pickaxe around the rock, and started swinging himself around to the other side.
The fish followed him closely behind, growing ever more close to its prey.
Rarity bit her lip as she watched Mickey. One look, and she recalled what she had said about not leaving her friend to be eaten, and contemplated her next move.
"What's he doing!? He'll be killed!" Twilight said.
This was a time when she would normally use her magic to solve the problem at hoof. But without that, she was left only with her wits and her nerve. Something that she wasn't used to relying on, but had pulled her through countless perils before. Only, it was her magic that did most of the work in executing the solution to those problems. But, it was the only shot she had.
"Ohhhhh, this is stupid!" Twilight said through her clenched teeth, as she psyched herself up to jump in.
"Princess? What are you thinking?" Copper said.
Twilight didn't have time to answer, as Rarity suddenly ran past her and splashed into the water.
"Rarity!" Twilight shouted.
The water was shallow enough that when Rarity dove in, her hooves barely touched the bottom. Not wanting to stay closer to the magic metal than she had to, she pushed off the rocky floor and floated to the surface. After gasping for air, she started paddling to her friend.
The fish had heard her enter, and started swimming toward her.
Rarity rounded the fallen stalactite and saw the shadow of the fish come swimming toward herself.
Now that she was in the fray, Rarity began to think that it may have been a bad idea to enter it so foolhardy.
Mickey had managed to make some progress on the rock now that the fish wasn't hassling him, but he quickly stopped what he was doing when he saw why.
"Rarity!" he shouted.
Taking his pickaxe in his teeth, he started swimming toward her.
Rarity dove beneath the fish's open jaws, barely avoiding getting swallowed up, but getting pushed down to the metallic floor of the cave.
She quickly surfaced herself and looked around for the fish again.
There it was, circling around and coming back toward her.
Rarity would have screamed, if not for Mickey hooking his pickax around her waist and pulling her from danger.
"Doggone it, Rarity! I told ya to stay on shore!" Mickey scolded her.
"I know! But, I already said that it's not in my nature to leave my friends to be eaten!"
"Aw, jeez! What good's that gonna do ya if ya get eaten too?"
The fish was circling back.
Rarity and Mickey both gasped at the sight.
"Hang on," Mickey said, putting Rarity's hooves around his shoulders and twisting his tail around the handle of the pickaxe.
The mouse pulled on his own nose, making a sputtering sound as his tail spun slightly. Another pull, and his tail spun harder. One last pull, and his tail was spinning wildly, turning the pickax like a makeshift propeller.
The fish surfaced to swallow them, only to be sprayed in the face by the wake of the mouse's pickaxe, before rocketing away.
Mickey and Rarity coursed through the water, swimming circles around the fish, which became dizzy from the sudden swirl.
The fish was left spinning in a small whirlpool, while Mickey steered himself back to the base of the large rock he was chipping away.
Once they arrived, Mickey gracefully put himself and Rarity on what little surface of the rock was above the water, took the pick from his tail, and started chipping all over again.
As she watched, Rarity saw that the way Mickey was chipping the rock away would cause it to fall in a specific direction. One that would out a part of another rock that would further facilitate their trek across the water.
The fish had stopped spinning, and was in a daze. Once its vision cleared, and smaller versions of itself stopped swimming around its head, it saw Mickey and Rarity back at the rock where it had first cornered them.
The last part of the rock had been chipped away, and it began to slowly tilt forward.
The fish was upon them again, and this time there was no chance of jumping away to safety.
The rock fell into the water, shaking the cave and creating a swell that blew them all into the air. The fish landed first, on a high shelf where two rocks mounted it on the wall like a trophy. Mickey landed next, on top of the rock that he had just toppled. Looking up, he saw Rarity falling next, and sprinted forward with his arms extended to catch her.
He was nearly at the edge of the rock, and had to lean far out to catch the mare. When he did, he nearly fell off himself, but managed to regain his balance back to solid ground.
"Oh! My hero!" Rarity swooned.
"Heh-heh...It was...nothin'..." Mickey said, straining under the weight of the mare. Even though he was only slightly shorter than any of the ponies, he hadn't accounted for their extra body mass.
When the cave was done shaking, two large rocks fell from the ceiling near the entrance of the tunnel. Large enough to allow Twilight and Copper to hop across to their friends.
The fish let out a gurgling scream when it realized how it was mounted on a wall, and wriggled itself free, before splashing into the water below.
Copper had just hopped onto the fallen stalactite when he saw the fish back in the water, and quickened his pace so that he passed by Twilight.
After Twilight stopped spinning, she saw the fish swimming toward herself, and quickened her pace in turn.
It was a thing of beauty. A new step had been forged in their path to safety. One rock had broken another, creating a ramp that rested on a bed of stalagmites, and would allow them to climb up further to another rock that was unbroken. However, one look at the unbroken rock, and Rarity thought she could picture a shape it could be broken that would allow them to escape up to the path where another tunnel led out.
"Come on! Let's get movin' before ol' fish sticks gets too close," Mickey said.
"But, where can we go next? There's that rock blocking our path!" Twilight said.
"No. There's a way past it," Rarity said. "Mickey, can you make a set of steps from that?"
"Sure thing," Mickey answered.
"What? Okay, this is getting seriously crazy!" Copper said.
The mouse leapt forward, and started chipping away at the sides of the rock before them in a very precise pattern.
The fish started circling around beneath Mickey, ready to jump for the mouse again.
Rarity saw the danger Mickey was in, and her mind raced for a solution.
Looking down, she saw the tops of the bed of stalagmites their foothold rested on. Maybe, if she could break one off, it could create a barrier that would stop the fish from swimming too close. But, this was a rock she was thinking of breaking. With her bare hoof no less. Still, Mickey had done similar things, and this stalagmite was awfully slender. Maybe, something could be done.
Closing her eyes, and trying not to think of the damage she would do to her hooves, she gently kicked the tip of the smallest stalagmite, breaking off a tiny piece, only inches long and thinner than a pencil.
The small rock fell down into the water, when it landed on one of the fish's eyes.
The fish thrashed about in the water, trying to get the tiny irritant out. After spinning and spurring about, it finally was able to remove the small stone, and glared upward.
Even though it was only a shadow from the surface, Rarity knew it was looking at her, and that it was going to come for her next. Terror gripped her mind, as she hoped Mickey would finish soon.
There was only a little more work to do. Mickey had already worked every other side, and was finishing up on the back.
The mouse pressed his back against the wall behind him and his feet on the wall before him, suspending himself in the air as he swung his pickax at the rock. One more chip, and done.
Mickey hooked his pickaxe onto the edge of the path just above himself, and began pushing his feet against the rock.
The fish began surfacing as it approached Rarity.
The ponies all started backing away from the edge of the rock they were standing on, just before the fish jumped out at them.
A huge rock fell right on top of the fish's head, sending it back into the water, while the rock itself caught onto the bed of stalagmites.
The fruits of Mickey's labor stood before them. The mouse had cut a set of stairs out of the rock that was blocking their path, and he himself was hanging from the edge of the walkway they had started out on.
"So, who wants to break in the new steps?" Mickey said.
The ponies couldn't help but smile. The danger had gone, the path was clear, and Mickey hadn't batted an eye.
Rarity took the first honors and climbed the steps toward the mouse, who allowed himself to be used as the final step to the proper path.
After Twilight and Copper had passed by, Mickey swung himself up and dusted off his jacket.
"Tough crowd down there. Kinda feller that makes ya put off fish an' chips for life," the mouse chuckled.
"Mickey! What the hay was that you were doing!?" Copper said. "That's not just some kind of creativity or imagination! That's pure magic!"
"Well, sure. I already told ya that imagination's got a certain kind of magic to it. Best part is that anyone can do it," Mickey explained.
"Anypony can do it..." Rarity thought to herself. She thought back to when she broke off a piece of the rock earlier, and wondered if it may have been a simple touch of imagination that allowed her to do so. Admittedly, it was nowhere near as impressive as the feats Mickey accomplished, but she did feel a certain spark in her mind.
Twilight smirked at the idea. If magic was as simple as just a bit of inspiration, somepony would surely have discovered that a long time ago. Then again, maybe magic worked differently where Mickey was from.
"You're going to have to tell me more about how to use that kind of magic. But for now, let's just follow this tunnel, and hope it leads out of here," the young alicorn said.
None of them argued with that. With Twilight leading the way, they all started toward what they hoped would be an escape.
Behind the others, Rarity stepped up to Mickey's side.
"Um...Mickey?" the fashionista asked.
"Yeah?"
"About what you did back there...When you saved me from going back into the water...Well...Thank you. I'm not sure if there was anypony else who could have done such a thing for me."
"Aw, it was nothin'. I mean, it's not like I was just about to let ya go back into the danger zone."
Rarity smiled at the sentiment, and was about to say more, when she noticed that the others had all stopped.
"Whatever is happening?" she wondered.
No answer was needed, as the entire floor of the path before them was nothing but the magic metal.
"That? That's no problem. Just gimme a sec'," Mickey said.
He took his pickaxe in hand, and started swinging at the ceiling, before stepping back and allowing a chunk of rock in the perfect shape of a gondola drop down.
"All aboard," Mickey said.
The ponies all did as instructed, and climbed into the gondola.
"Get ready. 'Cause we're gonna sail across this metal in style," Mickey said.
"But, how are we going to move?" Twilight asked.
Mickey didn't answer. Instead, he took his pickaxe in his hands, stuck it over the side of the gondola, and used it to push them across the ground.
"I should have guessed," Twilight said with a smirk.
The sailing was not as smooth as they would have liked, since as soon as the stony bottom of the gondola touched the metal, the friction created an incredible screeching noise that made everyone cover their ears.
"Sorry. Hang on, I can fix that," Mickey said.
The mouse cleared his throat and began to sing. To everyone's surprise, the mouse with the falsetto voice had an incredible baritone when he sang.
Before anypony could wonder why Mickey was singing, he began to push forward, and the gondola sailed smoothly over the metal, no noise to be heard coming from beneath. It was as if the horrible sound had been completely muted by the mouse's song.
"Must be more of that 'imagination' magic," Copper muttered.
The ride was completely serene after that, even though the dangerous metal was directly beneath them. Rarity was almost tempted to put her hoof over the side, as though she were trailing it in the gentle wake of a river, but knew that such a thing would be disastrous. Still, with the soothing ride, the dim lighting and the beautiful song, it was almost like one of her romantic fantasies.
Mickey soon stopped singing, but continued to row.
"That was wonderful, Mickey. You have quite a surprising vocal range," Rarity said. "And that song. Why, it was exquisite! What was it?"
"It's this old piece called 'O Solo Mio.' Somethin' I learned when me an' Minnie took a trip to Italy," Mickey answered.
"Minnie?"
"My girlfriend. You remember. The one I was supposed to spend my anniversary with before I came here."
"Oh, yes... I'd forgotten about her," Rarity thought to herself.
"It just occurred to me: what happened to that ungodly scraping noise," Copper asked, once he noticed Mickey had stopped singing.
Mickey hadn't realized that either, and looked about for an answer.
"Uh... ya better brace yerselves fer this: I think we've gone over a ledge,” he said.
"A ledge!?" Twilight said.
She and the others looked over the sides, and saw themselves suspended in the air over a steep slope. Nobody could get a word edgewise over the sound of one another's screaming as they plummeted below.
The stony gondola landed in the slope, and slid down with a deafening screech.
Green sparks flew up around them, ignited by the friction beneath. So great was the resistance that it began to crumble away the bottom of their gondola.
A green light shone through the floor just under Twilight's hoof.
She backed away from the light to the stern of the ship with Copper.
The center of the gondola grew thinner and began to chip away, breaking the entire construct in two.
Mickey swung his pickax into one half of the gondola, while Rarity held his feet in the other. He had effectively become a living coupling between the two parts.
Even though they were kept together, nothing could stop the two parts of the gondola from disintegrating under the force of the slide.
Each side got smaller, forcing them all to find a new place to stand in the ever shrinking transport.
Rarity walked her hooves up the bow of the ship while she held Mickey's feet, and Copper and Twilight both stood precariously on the stern.
The slope leveled out, and the gondola was on its last leg.
There were only pebbles beneath them now, but the momentum had slowed to a point that they all only rolled to a stop in the new cavern.
"Filthy mines. Stagnant water. And now I'm rolling on the filthy floor. I'm going to need such a spa day after all this," Rarity moaned. The fashionista gasped when she saw that she and the others were all lying on a wide vein of metal. "Everypony move!"
Nothing more was said, as they all scrambled away from the metal, only to find a thinner vein next to them. And another beyond that. They had all found a safe place to stand when they realized that the entire floor around them was covered with veins of the magic metal.
Mickey took the initiative to start hopping across the metal veins, like a dangerous game of hopscotch.
"Mickey, slow down! We still don't know what else we'll find," Twilight called, as she hopped after the mouse.
"Well, if we stay here, we already know what's gonna happen," Mickey answered.
They all hopped, skipped and jumped past the dangerous metal, realizing that the path they had taken and were currently on were both carved out by hoof just as before.
There was another tunnel that led to the next room, but instead of being illuminated by the green metal it was completely dark. Instead of feeling reassured that they would no longer be harried by the devilish mineral, they were instead worried by it. Why, they could not say. But, a strong sense of foreboding came from within that next room.
When they entered, it was completely dark. Not even their own noses could be seen in front of their faces.
"Gosh. It's like I been dunked in ink," Mickey said.
"Oof! What the hay did I just run into?" Copper wondered.
"Me."
"Oh. Sorry, Your Highness."
"You can just call me Twilight. Everypony does."
There was a brief silence.
"Ugh! I hate this! I can't even conjure a simple light!" Twilight groaned.
"Perhaps Mickey could," Rarity suggested.
"Maybe. Anyone got a match?" Mickey said.
The room began to illuminate with a dull, green glow.
"Yeah, that's the stuff," Mickey said with a smile, which faded completely when he turned around to see the source of the light.
There before them was an entire wall of metal. Not like the metal from before. This was slowly changing its shape, bulging and churning like the ocean. Spikes and bumps grew and receded on its surface. Formations slowly built up and deconstructed on it. And all around the base of it was a group of perfectly still ponies.
"It's them! Mickey, you were right! It's all the ponies who've been sent down here!" Copper said.
His voice rang through the chamber, stirring one of the ponies.
"Copper...?" the pony weakly asked, as he raised his head.
Copper couldn't believe his eyes. There before him was the one pony he never thought he would see again.
“Dad!” Copper rushed to his father’s side, putting the withered stallion’s hoof around his shoulder. “Come on, dad. Let’s get you away from that thing!”
“Copper...” his dad wheezed. “That metal...it’s alive...”
"Alive?"
"It uses its magic to empower whoever touches it...Then it saps it all away after you keep using it...That's what happened to all of us..."
Copper, Rarity, Twilight and Mickey all looked around at the ponies who were strewn about. If what he said was true, then they had all tapped into the metal's power and paid the price.
"Every time it does it grows stronger...and affects the next creature that touches it even more...It's a dangerous thing that should have stayed forgotten down here..."
"But, somethin' that dangerous: that can't be what that badger's lookin' for, is it!?" Mickey said.
"It is...It's exactly what he wants..." Copper's dad said.
Things were quickly taking a turn for the worse, and continued to go downhill when the wall behind them started to rumble.
Soon, a gigantic pair of claws broke through the wall, and exploded outward revealing the badger's snarling face. Behind him stood another large shadow.
"What's goin' on in dis barrel o' tomatas?" the other shadow laughed heartily.
"Oh no!" Rarity shuddered, recognizing the voice of the cat who had blown up her shop and ruined her mane.
Pete pushed his way past the badger, and looked up at the master metal.
"Say! Now, dat'd make some sweet kinda tommy gun!" Pete said.
"You're not gettin' a sweet kinda anything from that, Pete!" Mickey said, standing protectively between his enemies and their goal.
"Why doncha go gnaw on some woodwork, mouse. I gots me an order to fill, an' I ain't gonna let no rodent stands between me an' what the boss wants," the badger said.
"Yup. Ol' Yen Sid'll be awful mad if we don't deliver de materials,'' Pete added.
Mickey's jaw dropped and his mind snapped at the mention of the name.
"Y-Yen...Sid?" Mickey asked.
"Ohhhh. Dat's right. Ya didn't know dat we was workin' fer yer ol' pal," Pete said with a sadistically gleeful smile.
"No. No, ya aren't! Yer bluffin'! Ya gotta be! You ain't got an honest bone in yer flabby body!"
"Hate to breaks it ya, son, but the cat ain't lyin'. Yen Sid wants that metal, 'cause it's gonna be the new standard fer his soldier's equipment," the badger explained.
Twilight dashed next to Mickey.
"You can't do that!" Twilight said. "Look at what it's done to the ponies who used it! If any soldier used it, they'd end up just like this!"
"Ain't no problem dere, doll," Pete said. "It ain't like dere's a shortage o' folks what can be drafted."
This was insidious, even for Pete. And to think that Yen Sid was the mastermind behind the whole plot was unthinkable.
"Den, witout further ado," Pete said, aiming his tommy gun at Mickey.
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Well, this is bad news. Very, very, very bad news.
After all, we all know who taught Mickey to use magic in the first place.
Ugh, the mares panic too much. Twilight should rely on her wits more often.
Oh deary scott me.
Possessive "its" never splits.
Too many apostrophes make a catastrophe.
8240203
By jove, Watson! You've stumbled upon an important plot point! But seriously, good on you for that observation.
Okay, all I'm gonna say is, every time you have Mickey say that imagination is magic(or a variant, or someone else says it) I get serious ToQger vibes.
Nice work!
Well, Mickey keeps finding himself in battles with big monsters, so it's not surprising he manages to defeat yet another one.
Still, Yen Sid...he wasn't ever really a villain, was he? Kind of surprising to make him the man in the shadows here.
Yen Sid? Seriously? Given whom he is an avatar for?!? Either it is an imposter, or we're dealing with a Code Nightmare. I'd be more vocal about this, but I suddenly had a vision of Oswald showing up, and that would forgive an innumerable amount of sins.
Also:
Heartsong. That is all.
8342051
Sorry, my friend. But, I can't say whether or not any of your theories or ideas are correct. So, you'll probably hate or love this story by the end. I will say, however, that I really dig those pictures of Pinkie graduating from school with Buster and Babs Bunny. 'Tiny Toon Adventures' to this day remains one of my favorite cartoons.
Yen Sid .... Disney lol
No...****ing...Way! Yen Sid!? Since when is he the villain in anything!? This is gonna be good!
Re-reading these chapters, the Master Metal reminds me more and more of the Loc-Nar from the Heavy Metal movie.
10392740
I wasn't even thinking about that movie when I wrote this. But, it's still awesome that it reminds you of the sum of all evil in the universe.
I think there’s an evil doppelgänger of Yen Sid!