Death Rides a Pale Mare

by totallynotabrony

Chapter 23

Pale stared at the brass button as it lay on the floor of the hive and willed her magic to pick it up. She managed to move it around, but only slowly did it gain altitude, and not more than an inch.

Her mother walked in and stopped, staring at her. “What are you doing?”

“Practicing magic.” Pale thought that was pretty obvious. “It’s...it’s easier with this.”

Chrysalis stared ambivalently as Pale tried again. She had more success than she’d ever had practicing magic with rocks, but her horn was growing warm.

“Maybe you’d better rest,” Chrysalis suggested.

Pale frowned. Wait.

Chrysalis lay down on the floor next to Pale. “You wouldn’t want to hurt yourself.”

No, stop, this was not how the memory went.

“Here, let me help you.”

Pale tried to pull back, but Chrysalis had taken hold of her horn. No! Pale tried to jerk away but Chrysalis kept her grip. Her hooves were warm to the touch and she seemed to be humming contentedly, oblivious of her daughter’s struggles. “I’ll make it feel better.” She massaged Pale’s forehead.

The heat only grew. Pale felt like she was being smothered, struggling to get away as Chrysalis only held her tighter, enveloping her until-

---

Darkness. Pale gasped.

Her sides heaved as if she’d just run a race. She could feel a stone floor beneath her, but there was no other frame of reference.

Though she couldn’t see it, her body felt as if it was covered in bruises. The cave-in! She gritted her teeth and got her hooves under her, managing to stand. Her legs barely felt strong enough and her head was hard to lift.

There was a sliver of light nearby. Pale groped her way towards it, stumbling over scattered rocks. She realized she was heading towards the door of Mirror’s room, with the faint light coming from underneath it.

Pale fumbled for the handle, found it, and opened the door. A small charm light provided just enough illumination to find a lamp. She lit it, looking around the room. Nothing was disturbed, indicating to Pale that Hammer’s final act had not been in vain. No cyclops had been here, all of them had been trapped behind the wall of rock.

The large mirror was right in front of her, reflecting the room, dim lights, and Pale. She caught her reflection and froze, staring. She was bloody and battered, her cloak torn and stained. But what held Pale’s attention was the horn on her forehead.

Pale swallowed, unable to look away. She slowly turned her head to the side, looking at the horn’s profile. The shape reminded her of an ornate dagger with wavy curves, like a smoother version of Chrysalis’ own jagged horn, but retaining all of the sharp edges.

She reached up and hesitantly touched it. This was no dream, memory, or hallucination. It was real. How? Had Chrysalis done this? While Pale was vulnerable and trapped, she must have forced this on her.

It was hard to believe Chrysalis would wade into the danger of the cave collapse and the cyclops just to put Pale’s horn back in place. Then again, there was very little that was hard to believe about Chrysalis.

In the mirror, Pale saw that the horn looked perfect and clean, as if it had just newly grown. Had it? How could that be? Chrysalis had said she still had the broken piece. But Pale knew it had been much smaller when she was adolescent. What magic had done this, even fixing the jagged seam? How had Chrysalis managed this? Why?

Those were questions Pale could not answer, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to. At any rate, she realized there wasn’t time now and reluctantly turned away from the mirror. She told herself more important things were at stake. What had happened to the guild, and the cyclops?

Back in the corridor, with lamplight, she saw the extent of the cave-in. It had buried the tunnel from floor to ceiling, sealing off the deeper cave.

How had the cyclops gotten in? It seemed reasonable to assume they had adapted to living underground, but hard to believe the Abysmal Abyss had underground connections all the way to this cave. However they had gained access, their surprise attack had worked effectively in their favor, despite the guild’s counterattack.

Pale looked at the heaping pile of rock. Hammer and Mirror were buried under it, their bodies now part of the barrier itself. Pale could do nothing for them now except remember their sacrifice.

Though it raised the question of how Pale herself had gotten out. She hadn’t been buried so deeply, but the answer was probably Chrysalis again. Pale didn’t dwell on it. She had to go. The cyclops could still be coming, and there was no telling how long it would take them to dig their way through.

Pale turned away and headed for her quarters. When a fellow assassin died, it was customary to divide their possessions, but Pale didn’t have time or the ability to carry much. At any rate, Hammer’s forge had also been buried in rock along with her knives.

Opening her door, Pale’s head was abruptly knocked back as she stepped forward. She hissed in pain and cradled her head, looking upward to the scratch on the rock her horn had made. She was going to have to get used to this.

Careful to duck her head through the doorway, Pale entered her quarters. She pulled off her cloak and tossed it on the bed. She was leaving as soon as possible, but it wouldn’t do to go out in public looking like she’d been through the wringer.

With the cave compromised, she might never be able to return. Pale tried not to think about the implications but instead focused on what she would need. There wasn’t much she could take.

Her mail might give her some protection if she had to fight her way out. Pale put it on. With her weapons gone, Pale grabbed the antique sabre off the wall and hung it across her body, covering it with a clean cloak. Looking at the books, she picked up the smallest journal, the one that held Piper’s notes. Her eyes fell on the brass button. Pale looked around the room. There was nothing else she wanted to take.

Indulging herself for a moment, Pale drew on barely-remembered instincts. There was a tingle above her forehead, in a part of her body she had not felt for a long time. Concentrating, she reached out with magic. The button moved.

She lifted it, higher than she thought possible, until it hovered before her face. It seemed to glow differently in the green shimmer of her magic. Something about the sensation was strange, but not unpleasant.

Pale was vaguely aware that this was more command of telekinesis than she’d ever had before, but consciously avoided the subject. She put the button in her pocket and made ready to leave.

There was enough light from her horn to guide her through the cave. Pale checked each chamber, but didn’t stop to survey them. There was nothing more valuable here than finding the rest of the guild. There was no indication that they had died here, and to her surprise, Pale actually felt her mood changing for the positive. Not happiness, of course not, but relief was better than dread.

There were a few splashes of blood, presumably Handsome’s. Shard’s lab looked like it had been cleaned out in a hurry. He might have just swept a hoof over the counter and piled everything he knocked off into a bag. Jolly’s room was intact, though it must have pained him to leave behind his prized trophies taken from dead twitchers, the pages and pages of recipes.

She found Coin’s purse in her room. In the side pocket was her namesake bit. Pale pocketed it.

Pale reached the front room and took a look around. She couldn’t bring herself to miss the cave, but did lament everything that would be lost.

She opened the heavy door and went out. The night sky above was clear and the stars were bright.

She turned and closed the door for the last time.

Comments

[Veo Skride]

Strange.

[BlueNinja]

Chrysalis lay down on the floor next to Pale.

Hmm. Something tells me this isn't Chryssie.

she seemed to be humming contentedly, oblivious of her daughter’s struggles. “I’ll make it feel better.”

Well, that's cheerfully ominous.

A small charm light provided just enough illumination to find a lamp.

If they have magical night lights, why not magical actual-lights with on-off switches?

The shape reminded her of an ornate dagger with wavy curves

That's ... still kind of cheerfully ominous. It doesn't seem like most unicorn horns are all that sharp.

It was hard to believe Chrysalis would wade into the danger of the cave collapse

Nah, probably Thorax's coup had more to do with this.

Though it raised the question of how Pale herself had gotten out.

Ah ... hmm. I thought that Pale was on the fringe of the cave-in, not the middle of it like Hammer, and that was what spared her.

With the cave compromised, she might never be able to return.

Sure hope she can do a good job at hiding all those journals chronicling the Guild's history.

She couldn’t bring herself to miss the cave, but did lament everything that would be lost.

Awww.