The Elements of Salvation

by Slick Dash

Bye bye Cookie, hello cave

"RIGHT! Rise an' shine ladies and gen'lecolts! We got a Princess to see!" Seed shouted, the morning sun just glimpsing over the horizon. He went over to their new blanket, ready to awake his sleeping cousin, but was surprised to see she wasn't there. The only mare beneath the cover -and truly taking advantage of that fact- was the sleeping Ruby. The platinum mare began to groan quietly as she was pulled out of her dreams, Seed frowned glancing around, seeing Cookie and Sweetness slowly waking at his cry. Archy gave a loud snort, waking up very suddenly and bolting upright. Seed laughed at his crooked glasses, and the look of utter surprise at the early wake up call. Archy shot him a deadly glare, so Seed quickly glanced away, whistling innocently.

He headed towards where he thought Thor would have probably slept after his watch. Surely, enough, the burgundy back of his pegasus friend could be seen just to the side of the opening made by the archway of the train line above. He began to walk over, knowing that waking Thor would be a much more difficult task than the rest of the group.
"Mmmm... morning everypony!" Ruby said quietly, stretching after her wonderful rest.
"Morning." Archy replied drearily, lifting his glasses with his magic and wiping his sleep filled eyes with his hoof.
"Hey, Ruby you know where Angry is?" Seed asked, turning to walk backwards while addressing the mare who had been sharing the sack/sheet with his cousin.
"H-huh?" Ruby looked confused when she turned to see Angelica was no longer beside her. "Uh, no, no I don't." Almost immediately she looked worried.

"It's ok." Archy mumbled, getting to his hooves and beginning to walk towards the fire's remains, inspecting if it had gone fully out, it was a surprisingly cold morning for the summer, also quite dark still... "She probably just went to that town to get us some breakfast..." He glanced over the remains of their feast. "Did we actually eat all of that food?!" Seed laughed at the suddenly sickened face of his friend as he recalled how much they'd had. Turning, he resumed towards his other friend normally.

"Thor! Get up!" He shouted loudly as he approached. As expected, there was no movement from the pegasus. Rolling his eyes, he pierced his lips and whistled shrilly. Coming ever closer to the back of his sleeping friend. He heard a groan from ahead of him and smiled. 'Easier than I thought!' he thought quietly, preparing to return to the campsite now Thor had shown signs of life. Then he paused, that... didn't sound like Thor waking up, it sounded far too high pitched for the gruff voiced pony. He focused again on his friend. "Thor?" Another groan, this time a lot louder, a lot more female. It was then that Seed noticed a brown and yellow braded tail protruding into view just ahead of Thor.

As Seed reached his friend, his eyebrows skyrocketed as he saw Angelica lying ahead of him, holding Thor's forehooves close to her chest making him hold her in their sleep. It was her who was now waking up due to Apple Seed's loud shouts. Archy sidled up to his friend, yawning as he did. "Just give him a kick! That'll get him up fast! Shame Angy isn't here I could finally get him back for all those storm cloud pranks!" He laughed, but the joke died as he noticed his friend wasn't laughing. "Seed what's... oh..." Archy reached Seed's side, and saw the problem. "That's... ummm..." Archy glanced at Seed, unsure what he was thinking. He'd known about Thor's crush, but had Apple Seed?

Slowly Archy backed away, retreating back to the fire. He seated himself near Ruby, who looked at him in confusion. "What's wrong Archy? You look like you saw a ghost..." Archy chuckled, watching as slowly, Seed turned silently and came over to the rest of the group, his eyebrows still lost beneath his scruffy mane.
"No, but I may just have seen somepony who will be one soon!" Seed sat down, surprise still obvious on his face. Ruby looked at the orange stallion, frowning still.
"Aren't you waking up Thor?"
"N-n..." He coughed loudly, clearing his throat. "No, he'll be up soon." Ruby looked slightly annoyed.
"Why does he get to sleep in?" Archy leant in, and explained his and Seed's find. Ruby's mouth fell open. "No!" She looked from both Seed to Archy, amazed at their discovery, she craned her head to try and catch a glimpse of her friend, but couldn't see beyond Thor's large back.

"You guys talking about Thor and Angy?" Cried a happy looking Sweetness, trotting over to the rest of the group, glancing in the direction of the sleeping pegasi.
"Y-you knew?" Seed stammered, surprised like the rest of the group.
"Of course silly, I woke up and the two of them were reeeeaaally close! Like this." She zipped over to Ruby, and pushed her face mere millimetres away from hers. The unicorn's eyes shot wide open in surprise, as did the two watching stallions. For a moment Sweetness smiled at the other female. "And then they kissed!" She looked to everypony else, at which point Ruby scootched away slightly, praying Sweetness wouldn't feel the need to demonstrate that on her as well!

Archy laughed at the sight, even Seed smirked, unknowingly, the pink pony was defusing the situation slightly; making it far less of a big deal than Seed first thought. He glanced over at the still sleeping two, just as Sweetness continued. "They fell asleep together a little later, I wanted to go and ask them about it, but you know what they see about sleeping pegasi!" Archy frowned.
"And what's that?"
"You know, let sleeping Pegasi lie."
"That's dogs Sweetness..."
"Oh..." The pink pony looked a little surprised, but then smiled. "Ok then, don't worry, I'll g get them up!" She smiled, and bounced into life. Archy burst into hysterical laughter as the pink pony bounced away, leaving Seed and Ruby to stare on in utter terror.

Only a moment late, the pink earth pony returned, the two flyers in toe. One annoyed looking Thor, and an extremely quiet and embarrassed looking Angelica. "See Seed, it's easy! I don't know why you struggled and getting them up!" Sweetness yipped, returning to her place around the dead fire. Seed closed his eyes, his stomach churning at his random friend's words. 'Why Sweetness?' He thought to himself. When he opened his eyes, he saw Thor had frozen at Sweety's words. He looked at Seed awkwardly, who looked back just as much so. The pegasus gulped, then burst into a walk towards Cookie, still waking up, and preening his feathers.

"So, who's hungry?" He asked, with far more joy in his voice than usual. The group stared at him.
"You're not planning on going all the way to that town again are you?" Angelica spoke up. Making everypony stare at her, she looked at each of them, unusually unable to look them in the eye. "W-we need to get going to Canterlot!" She explained, rubbing her neck absentmindedly.
"I knew we would!" Thor explained, reaching behind the Harpy. "So got this as well!" He pulled out a second bag, that Seed now remembered the bird bringing.

It was far smaller than the one containing their dinner, but when Thor opened it up the sight was more than welcome. Some bread, a few apples and a muffin each. The perfect breakfast! "Thought you'd all like it!" Thor laughed as all the group's stomachs gurgled with delight at the sight. He then picked up another bag held within the first one. Turning to the Harpy, he tossed it into the air, calling out as he did. "Cookie!" The large bird looked up, seeing the bag, reached out quick with its beak, and caught it. "Bird feed." Thor explained to everyponie's confused expressions.

They all murmured their understanding, and began to tuck into their small meal. Sweetness reached over to pick up hers, separating from her new friend for the first time that morning. This left Cookie to stretch his wings. Afterwards, he began to flap. Sweetness heard the movement from behind her, as did the rest of the group. The ponies turned to see the Harpy taking to the air slowly.
"Cookie?" Sweetness asked, dropping her food and going over to the bird. "Where are you going?" The bird looked down, confusion fogging his expression.
"Rawwk, home, rawwk!" Sweetness didn't seem to understand.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Archy got to his hooves and came over to the two of them. he placed a hoof on Sweetness's shoulder.
"He's got to get back to his kids, right?" He looked up at the bird, who nodded, letting out a loud caw of agreement.
"B-but... I thought..." Sweetness stuttered, her lips beginning pout, her large purple eyes becoming round with disappointment. Cookie saw the pink pony was sad, so he slowly descended to the ground, and scuttled over to her. Leaning down, he rubbed the bridge of his beak against her chest, to which the pony began to giggle at the tickling contact. Cookie chirruped with glee at his friends returning to normal, after a quick embrace from Sweetness, he straightened up and looked at the rest of the group. Saying a silent goodbye.

Thor, being the other pony close to the big bird, shot into the air before him and smiled. "See you soon big guy!" he said with a gruff cough, Seed wasn't sure but he thought he'd heard Thor's voice crack ever so slightly when saying goodbye.
"Bye Cookie!" Angelica, Ruby and Archy smiled.
"See yah, yah big buzzard!" Seed laughed. The bird cawed with happiness at them all, and sweeping up the bag of feed, he began to flap hard. Soon he took to the air again, and within moments he was high above them, turning and heading for the mountains above. Archy watched the most fascinating creature he'd ever met fly out of view. To his left, he heard a loud sniff. The glasses wearing unicorn turned and saw Sweetness watching the departing Harpy, her smile a little too sad to be considered normal for her.
"You ok?" Archy asked. Sweetness gave another loud sniff, and rubbed her nose with the back of her hoof for a moment, when it came away, she was the usual her. Big smile back in place.
"Yeah, I'm fine. So come on, we gotta get eating! We don't know how long it's going to take to get up there."

She returned to breakfast, leaving nopony guessing what she meant by 'up there.' They all glanced at the high peaks above, and even the element of bravery gave a gulp of nerves, and Strength simply shuddered at the thought. "She's right!" Angelica said loudly, all awkward feelings about the morning's previous events gone, reassuming her role as leader. She looked to the element of knowledge and asked. "D'you have a clue how long it'll take that tunnel to get to the castle Archy?" Archy blanched for a moment.
"Uhhh, it could be anything between an hour to two, or even three, and that's just if we don't have to clear any obsticles."
"Obstacles?" Ruby asked, dabbing her lips after a bite from her muffin. Seed glanced at her, and caught a glimpse of her dazzling eyes looking right back. The farm stallion blushed and looked away. Ruby smiled. "I'm sure that's why we have 'Mister Strength' here." Seed -who was still looking at the grass as though it were more fascinating than the bird who had just left their company- couldn't help but feel a little pride in the fact a part of the adventure had finally fallen to him! He also like the idea that Ruby was relying on him, but hopefully nopony else would guess that.

"Just what I was thinking beautiful!" Angelica smiled to her unicorn friend. Her head snapped to Seed. "You better get eatin' cousin, I think you' got some work cut out for you!"
"You go it boss!" Seed said, giving a mock salute to their leader. The group smiled.
"So that means Seed's gonna be up front with me, getting rid of anythin' that gets in our way. I'd say Archy should-"
"Archy should be at the back of the group with me." Angelica froze, turning to see who had said the strange comment. It was Thor.
"Pardon?"
"Archy." Thor said, gesturing to the unicorn. "He should be at the back of the group with me. That way, we've got you two upfront who are able to fend off pretty much anything ahead of us, and me and him can cover our flanks, while we all protect Ruby and Sweetness." Sweetness opened her mouth to complain, to say she could fend for herself, but was cut off by a concerned sounding Ruby.
"Why do we need to cover our flanks Thor?" she asked, catching onto the pegasus's tone slightly quicker than the rest of the group. He didn't sound worried, merely cautious, as though something was worrieing him about the climb through the caves.

Seed saw a tell tale sign that he was sure only him and Archy would notice, an advantage of knowing him so much longer than the rest did probably, but Thor flicked his head slightly, trying to move his mane back into its usually spiky shape. Seed knew that his friend was hiding something, with a glance to the unicorn, he saw the tick hadn't gone unnoticed, Archy's eyes had shot wide open.
"Well..." Thor said slowly "It'd suck if after everything we went through, to come up short only a few minutes from finishing all this." Archy frowned, there hadn't been any sign that there would be a risk of something following them, or had Thor spotted something the others hadn't.
"I guess that makes some sense." Angelica murmured, obviously thinking the same as Archy. She glanced around and saw pretty much all the food was gone, Seed still had an apple, and her own breakfast she had barely touched. "A'right then! Everypony just about ready?" They all nodded, those who were sitting now rose to their hooves. "Then let's get a move on!"

.....

The cave was dark, it's walls didn't span that high only a few feet higher than the ponies' heads. Each step that was taken by the Elements of salvation echoed out, reverberated and returned to them ten times louder.The smell of damp air hung heavy in the air, making the group feel slugish and weak. Angy was leading the group along with her cousin, and the two stared at a blank sheet of rock staring back at them. "Well there goes that plan." Seed said sarcastically, looking back over the others heads to Archy who was looking around thoughtfully. "Any ideas Archy?"
"Yeeeaaahhh..." He said slowly, glancing up the walls. "Look for something big, something that would hide the entrance unless you knew it was there."
"A'right..." Seed said as the group began to spread out, a few moments of fruitless searching later, Sweetness shouted to the rest of the group!
"OVER HERE!" The group followed her call, and sure enough, a gaping gap in the wall lay just behind a large boulder.
"Nice one Sweetness!" Archy smiled to the mare, who smiled back. Archy saw her ear twitch, then her head shook slightly as though trying to rid an annoyance. "You ok?" the unicorn asked, concerned by the odd movement.
"Yeah, of course I am silly!" she smiled. With that dismissal, the rest of the group returned to their original formation, and proceeded into the dark, steep tunnel.

.....

"Hey Archy..." Thor whispered, pulling back from the rest of the group as they made their way through the barely lit tunnel. The air was far cooler and dryer in this passageway, so Ruby, being in the centre of the group, thought it best to light the way with the faint glow of her horn as they progressed now the air wasn' making it difficul to do the slightest thing, this tunnel was obviously pony-made not natural, that bobed well for them so far! Archy glanced back at his pegasus friend, maybe it was trick of the light, but he looked concerned.
"Yeah?"
"You mind if we talk?" Thor sad lowly, making it hard for even the dark unicorn to hear him.
"W-well sure buddy, why what's up?" Archy replied, dropping back slightly to ensure the others didn't hear. He smiled, prodding Thor playfully in the chest. "This about your little adventure last night?"
"What? No!" Thor said guardedly slapping his friends elbow away defensively, making his friend chuckle.
"Right ok then." Archy grew serious at his friends attitude. Something was obviously up. "What's up?"

Thor took a breath, knowing there was a high chance his next words could get him trouble with the others, he could only pray he hadn't been the only one to notice.
"Archy, have noticed anything... strange, about Sweetness?" Archy frowned at him. "I mean stranger!" Thor corrected.
"No man, why-" He stopped, thinking to the moment outside the tunnel, no that had just been a twitch, she was probably tired, that's all.
"Well I have." Thor continued darkly, glancing up at the pink figure several feet ahead.
"Like what?"
"Well, back in town, when I went after her... I saw something." He remembered Sweetness's eyes changing from purple to scarlet. "A-and as well as that, there was Cookie."
"What about him?" Archy was taking a little while to catch up.
"He freaked when he saw her at first! Screaming she was a Draconequus!"
"Yeah..." Archy murmured in agreement. "I thought about that too, but surely it's just because she has some Draconequus blood in her, you know because of her dad." Thor's stomach churned at the mention of Discord, but waved it aside.
"I'll come back to him in a minute! What I wanna know is why was he so scared of a supposed Draconequus!"

Archy glanced up at his pink female friend, though he hated to admit it, it didn't look too good for her with Thor having all these -reasonably understandable- worries. "S-surely it's from the dark ages, Harpys probably ran from Draconeqie when they were around." Thor shook his head, his eyes fixing on his friend's, it seemed he'd given this a lot of thought.
"After thousands of years? I don't think so, don't forget, Discord was the last of them wasn't he? Then HE was trapped for a thousand years." He stared resolutely at his friend. "So unless Harpies really hold grudges, I'm thinking Cookie had a far more recent experience to make him that scared."
"You think..." Archy glanced up again to Sweetness, talking animatedly to Ruby. "Her?"
"No, no I don't think Sweetness would ever do anything." Thor quickly mended his implication. "But her dad..." He began darkly.

...

"So..." Seed said nervously, glancing at his cousin. "You and Thor had... fun last night..." He felt so awkward, shut your trap and keep walking, simple and easy.
"Yeah..." Angry said uncharacteristically quietly. She kicked a loose stone at her hoof, it rattled away loudly. "Well... I... I think I like him..." She said slowly, as though it were something terribly difficult to admit.
"Really?" Seed asked, surprised. He'd never mentioned it to her, or to his winged friend, but he had been sure for a while that Thor had got a thing for his cousin.
"Yeah!" Angy laughed. Slowly she grew serious. "I don' wanna cause a problem though..." She looked at Seed, true caring burning in her eyes. "I... I don' know what's waitin' for us back home, an' if summit's happened..." She looked terribly worried, Seed couldn't blame her. The exact same feelings had been brewing inside him for a while now. "I don' wanna be alone, an' if my mom 'n' dad are gone, you're all I got." Seed looked at her, he couldn't believe that only three days ago they'd been laughing and insulting each other along the way to flight practise.

"I don't wanna lose you cossa me doin' summit stupid!" Seed frowned, she really meant what she was saying, her sad and concerned tone made that obvious.
"Angy, why would I think my best friend, and my cousin -two ponies who couldn't be better suited for each other- being together could be a bad thing?" Angy stopped for a moment, but quickly resumed her pace of walking as to keep up appearances to the rest of the group.
"You mean that Seed?"
"O'course I do!" Seed laughed. Angy beamed at him, true happiness on her face for the first time Seed had seen since Ponyville. He smiled back at her, at which point she seemed to adopt some of her old demeanour once again.
"Well, doin' it when I did was stupid anyway, we need to sort stuff out first before any o' that means anythin'." Seed sighed at how she was acting, trying to find excuses, for herself as much as him, as to why she shouldn't do what she wanted. This from the mare who would normally spring at a chance for anything she wanted without a second thought. He looked ahead, and saw something glistening, if Archy had been right on their way to the cave, the glistening could be the crystals of the mines beneath Canterlot. That could mean they were close!
...
"Why didn't you say any of this before!?" Archy growled angrily. "I was trying to figure out a way to contact Discord, what would you have done if Sweetness DID have a way?" Thor grimaced.
"I-I didn't wanna upset Sweetness, imagine how you'd feel if somepony told you that?" Archy's temper died at the pegasus's point.
"Ok then, I guess you were right to keep it down. But at least you told Angelica last night right?" Thor gave yet another grimace, Archy stared incredulously. "All that time you had with the pony who's supposed to be leading us, and you didn't think to mention that itsy bitsy detail?" Thor shrugged.
"I-I was thinking about this stuff before Angy came over... but after she did, I kinda forgot about... well everything really." Archy rolled his eyes, unable to stop the slightest chuckle from escaping his lips.
"Just like you I guess, pretty girl, and everything goes out the window." Thor laughed at the comment.
"Hey, at least I'm consistent!" Then he grew serious once more. "So what do you think? Should we tell the others? I'm sure I wasn't the only one thinking this all didn't add up!"

Thor shook his head, glancing yet again at their pink friend, as he did he saw the heads of the group pass through a small archway, which then opened up into a massive crystal cavern. The gleam of the crystals were beautiful, but the conversation was vastly more important. "No, let's wait till we meet Princess Celestia, if we can, we'll tell her out of earshot of Sweety, sound like a plan?"
"Sounds like a plan." Archy echoed thoughtfully.

A few moments of silent walking past, each pony wrapped in their own thoughts, Thor and Archy's thoughts far darker than those of the four ahead of them. Ruby -after so much time around gems due to her mother's love and passion for them, along with her father's craving for the delicious treats- could tell that the walls around them must be worth a small fortune! "That's a fire topaz!" She gasped in amazement, pointing to a large sheet of clear red crystal.
"Ooooooh!" Sweetness cooed in awe at the mighty formations, she looked at each of the crystals as Ruby explained which they were.

Seed glanced over his shoulder at the beautiful mare. He liked seeing her this happy. He didn't like the idea of thinking of the pony as 'Remorse' Though out of the six, she was definitely the one best suited for that element, he didn't like thinking her being so close to the realm of sadness and misery. Seeing her so engrossed by the gems around them, so happy and awestruck, made him happy too. Glad that finally something had come along to make her life a little more bearable, this had all been so hard on her. For a moment, he lost himself, the memory of her smell when she walked past him, the softness of her legs when he's woken up in Zecora's hut. The feel of her mane as he stroked it the night before. He couldn't help but wonder, had Thor done something different with Angy? Was that why those two had shared a moment, and not him and Ruby?

"Seed?" Apple Seed shook his head, focusing on his sight not his thoughts, and saw Ruby smiling back him. He realised he had slowed down slightly in his thinking, meaning the two mares behind him had caught up. It had been Ruby who had spoken. "You ok?"
"Yeah! I'm fine!" Seed said quickly, smiling at the mare. He thought he was showing a bit too much teeth to actually look cool or anything, so he abandoned the attempt. "I was just listenin' to you talkin' bout the gems is all." He said, wildly trying to find an excuse. It worked, as Ruby beamed back at his interest.
"Well, like I said, they're beautiful, I'd love to take a few smaller ones home if there were any! In fact I wish I could try one now!"
"Try?" Sweetness asked confused.
"Well..." Ruby blushed. "I don't do it as often, but I'm a big fan of fire rubies... like my dad." Seed turned and walked backwards, slowing down even more as Sweetness let out a sudden gasp of realisation.

...

Angy glanced back and smiled at the stallion starting to fall behind. He liked Ruby, and after what he'd just said, not even the objective obsessed Angelica could deny him a quick chat with the girl he liked. She turned back and continued forward, the room was beginning to narrow into an alleyway like funnel. It rounded a corner further up, something caught her eye. Something gleaming on the floor, was that broken crystal?

...

"I REMEMBER NOW!" Sweetness smiled, making Ruby look at her with slight caution. Even her light from her horn sputtered for a second at the loud noise. "YOU USED TO EAT THOSE THINGS ALL THE TIME WHEN WE WERE KIDS!" Ruby laughed, bringing a hand to her lips as she did, and sending Seed into a silent fit of ecstasy at the sight as she did so.
"I can't believe you even remember that Sweetness!" Ruby laughed, even Seed smiled.
"Well of course I do you silly goose!" Sweetness giggled, lightly tapping Ruby on the nose. "That was when we all started to hang out together! Why would I forget that? Those were the best days of my life!" Ruby smiled, and Sweetness flung her hooves around her neck in a hug. Seed smiled again, this time more warmly, that was true, those had been great times! He was glad they meant as much to Sweety as they did to him, though he'd never have the guts to say they were!
"Well yeah..." Ruby continued as Sweetness released her. "I still like to have the occasional gem when I can.

Oportunity! Seed looked up at the surrounding walls, they were beginning to close in as the hallway grew narrower, but a few of the gem encrusted walls had ledges jutting out just above them. If he kicked the stone wall just right... "Hold on a sec'!" The stallion said to the girls, and rushed slightly ahead of them. Both tilted their heads in curiosity as he turned against a wall, and began to scrape his hind leg against the dark rock of an uncovered wall. He seemed to find what he was looking for, as he smiled in excitement. He then retracted his hind leg angling it right, then pushed as hard as he could, bucking the rocky wall like a tree.

Ruby gasped, worried he'd gone crazy and hurt himself, but judging by his big smile he was ok. The girls continued forward, and had nearly reached him when suddenly a few rocks began to tumble down the angled wall and to the ground. "W-what are you..." Ruby asked quietly as Seed walked over to the stones.
"Jus' watch." He said mysteriously. Then stamped hard on the rocks, They all crumbled beneath the hard hooves of the element of strength. When his hooves moved away, a few sparkling red and green gems lay buried beneath the rubble. Seed reached down, rummaged through the small gems, looking for his prize, he found t in a large red ruby. He picked it up with his teeth careful not to crack a tooth with the pressure of holding it, and walked over to the two mares who had just reached his stop. "Huuuhhff" He said with his mouth unable to form the word because of its cargo. Ruby took it from him with her magic, once free, the stallion stretched his mouth, licked his lips and tried again. "Here!" He smiled to the unicorn. Ruby stared at the gem, then back up at Seed. "Really?" She said amazed.
"It's why I got it!" Seed said again, resuming his walk down the alleyway backwards.

...

Angelica was closer now, there was definitely shattered gems strewn across the ground just ahead of the corner, but the gleam was coming off of something else, something slivery. Coming closer she saw the gleam changed its angle with each step she took, suggesting it was curved, and the silver suggested metal. A helmet maybe?

...

"Thank you Seed!" Ruby said warmly, smiling at the farm pony who winked back at her.
"Element o' Strength at your service!" He said formally, sweeping low into a bow to which Sweetness erupted into applause at. Ruby leant forward, sniffing the gem in her magical grasp. It smelt wonderful, the aroma was perfect! It smelt like the treats she'd had as a child, it smelt like dessert with Dad, it smelt like home! She opened her mouth, and placed the tip of the gem in her mouth, she bit down seemingly gently, but her sharp pointed teeth sliced through the gem with ease. Seed's eyebrows couldn't help but raise in amazement as he heard the crunch of the crystal grinding to dust in the mares mouth!

...

Yes, that definitely was metal! Not a helmet, too large. Angy was getting close enough to the corner to see it was the upper half of a suit of armour.

...

Ruby was hooked, as soon as she tasted the ruby, her eyes flew open in glee. She took the rest of the gem, and tossed it into her mouth, grinding it to pieces and savouring each fleck that fell down her throat. Within moments, she finished it with a satisfied gulp. "That was wonderful!" She exclaimed happily. She picked up her pace slightly, catching up to Seed. She leant in, and to the farm horse's amazement, puckered her lips and came even closer. His vision fogged for a second in amazement, then he felt her lips touch his cheek. They held there a moment, then came away with a soft pop. He could feel where the pressure had been placed, it felt almost as though they were still there. His vision returned in time to see Ruby smiling back at him, her face very close to his. "Thank you." She said quietly. "That was really sweet of you!" Seed gave a dry cough, the nerves he had always felt around the mare since he began to like her, returned with a vengeance, seizing his throat, making it hard to talk or even breathe.

...

Angy reached the corner, peered around carefully, and her mouth dropped open in horror.

...

"Well... I... uhhh..." Seed began, trying to still sound cool. Before he could speak, behind him came a terrified shriek. His heart plummeting, remembering where he should be, he turned around to see that Angy had gotten very far ahead. She was highlighted by a light just around a corner, and she had fallen to her haunches, staring ahead of her around the corner. Seed began to run towards her. "Angy!" He shouted, but was deafened by the blast of air that hit him as Thor streaked past him. Though in a narrow space, the Pegasus flew perfectly, keeping his speed constant and high. Within seconds he reached her.
"What is it?" He asked, standing between her and whatever lay ahead. It took him a moment to register what he saw. With shivers running down his spine a cold dread spread over him as he shouted his friend's name. "ARCHY! GET OVER HERE!"

Within moments the dark unicorn reached the two pegasi, his friends' terrified tones had made him rush faster than ever before, overtaking the rushing Seed, Ruby and Sweetness. "What is it?!" He cried, skidding to a halt on the rocky uneven floor. The others came to a stop just behind him. The two winged ponies couldn't say a word, they merely looked down the alleyway, they hadn't even looked his way when he reached them! Dreading what he was about to see, he peered around the corner.

A fight had happened here, something big! The floor was littered with evidence; Scuffed ground, scorched rock from magic, shattered crystal and...

"UNCLE ARMOUR!"

Comments

[Alondro]

Must kill the Changelings... must kill Discord... must kill the Changelings... must kill Discord... *polishes his semi-automatic* I am the angel of death, the time of purification is at hand...

[starshine_dash]

1249587 Crush. Kill. Destroy. Swag. Swag invalid. Crush. Kill. Destroy.

[SuperPinkBrony12]

Evil must die, this world has no place for evil!

[Sakits]

Anybody else laugh at the name of uncle armor?