Chapter 17: Heart of Ice
The Blue Mage
By Nebula Star
Chapter 17: Heart of ice
***
“Looks like the gems in the ceiling and floor mirror each other.” Daring said looking up and down. “Does it look like it from your angle, Trixie?
She took a moment to look up and down comparing the position of the gems. “Yes.” She said sourly. It had been almost a half hour and they hadn’t figured out the trap yet.
Apple Bloom looked as well. “That’s got to be a clue,” she said looking up at the gemstones. Lit only by the enchanted crystals they seemed to almost to glitter. Like stars really. Her eyes widened. “Ah think that’s it!”
“What is?”
Hang on, Ah want to get a better look. She said and deliberately stepped toward the trap. A moment later she was once again pinned to the wall next to Trixie. “Ow.” She groaned, Slamming into solid stone wasn’t really comfortable, but from there she could see clearly all the gemstones and the pattern they made on the ceiling and floor. And she could also see that the gemstones on the wall varied in size, with some of the larger ones appearing to follow the same pattern. “Yeah, it is! It’s like constellations. Trixie, use your magic to light up the gems on the wall that make the same pattern as on the floor and ceiling!”
Trixie rolled her eyes, but complied, casting a beam that lit up one of the gems. One by one she lit up the gems forming the pattern that matched the floor and ceiling. When she lit the last gem, glowing lines appeared between them and the gems on the ceiling and floor glowed in response. There was a low rumble and a door opposite of where they’d entered slid open. A moment later, the spell holding Apple Bloom and Trixie released and they both dropped to the ground.
“Ooof.” Trixie grunted as she flopped onto her belly. “Oh, thank Celestia. Trixie was worried her hooves would fall off!”
Apple Bloom sighed shaking her hooves a bit. “Huh, well, now that we got you down; Ah’m Apple Bloom and this is Daring Do. Daring, this is Trixie Lulamoon.”
Daring smirked. “We’ve met.”
Apple Bloom glanced at Trixie to find the unicorn blushing. “Indeed,” she said sounding embarrassed.
“Really?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Trixie here, got herself captured by one of the wild diamond dog packs in south-eastern Equestria. Fortunately I was there to save her flank before they carved it into steaks.” Daring explained.
Apple Bloom smirked seeing Trixie turn almost as red as her brother, but decided to give the mare a break and change the subject. “Well that’s three down, how many traps do you think there are?” Apple Bloom asked as she got to her hooves.
“I don’t know, honestly I didn’t even think there’d be this many.” Daring admitted. “But that feeling drawing us in feels close now. I don’t think it’s much further.”
“Yeah, could still be another trap though.”
She shrugged. “Possibly. But we’ve gotten past the last three. If there is one, we’ll figure it out.”
“Now wait just one second! You aren’t actually planning on going on, are you!?” Trixie exclaimed.
Apple Bloom and Daring Do both looked at her. “Well yeah. We want to know what it is that’s drawing us to this place.” Apple Bloom told her.
“Are you crazy!?”
“Ah did spend last night and this morning killing myself.” Apple Bloom told her bluntly.
Trixie blinked. “What?”
“Just relax, Trixie. As long as you’re with me, you’ll be fine.” She shrugged. “Or if you’re too scared, Ah guess you can go wait by the sinkhole back there.”
Trixie glanced back the way they’d come, considering her options. “You’re certain Trixie will be safe?”
“Even if something were to happen and you got killed, Ah could just turn back time to before it happened, and you wouldn’t even remember it.” Apple Bloom told her confidently.
“But what if you got killed?” She asked pointedly.
“Then time gets reset to…” She closed her eyes and the Sa’Dracori glowed brightly for a moment. “Right now, and Ah’m the only one that will remember what happened. So basically, you’re perfectly safe.”
Trixie stared at her a moment more, still a little unsure. “You’re certain?”
“Filly, you just saw her reverse time a little bit ago; and I’ve watched her cut off her leg and reverse time to reattach it just for demonstration. Yeah, the kid’s certain.” Daring cut in, rolling her eyes. “Now are you coming or not.”
She hesitated a moment more, then nodded. “Trixie will come with you.”
“Alright, then let’s go, before this trap resets,” Apple Bloom said starting toward the tunnel deeper into the cave.
“They reset!?”
“Probably. They’re meant to keep ponies out after all. Kind of defeats the purpose if they each only work on the first pony that comes exploring.” Daring told her. “But don’t worry. We know how to escape this one now, and if we need to, we can just carry you out the sink hole you fell down to avoid the rest.”
“Oh… okay.”
“Good, now let’s get going.” Apple Bloom said taking the lead.
The tunnel out of the third trap room wasn’t very long and soon opened up into a small chamber lit by multiple clusters of glowing crystals attached to the ceiling along the walls.
“Wow…” Apple Bloom said as the room came into view. Unlike the previous rooms, the walls weren’t smooth stone. Instead, every inch of the room was carved into reliefs depicting battles between alicorns and other mortal races. In many were gruesome scenes with alicorns standing victorious over the fallen bodies of unicorns, earth ponies, or pegasi. A few showed members of one mortal race or another in chains, bowing before the alicorns, and a couple showed mortal ponies clearly begging for their lives as an alicorn or two stood over them dressed for battle. One thing they all had in common, was that the alicorns were all depicted as villains. Murderers, tyrants, slave drivers…
Only one broke the pattern, at the far end, just above a narrow tunnel that was barely thee ponies wide, there was a large relief showing three ponies; a unicorn, pegasus, and earth pony, standing before two alicorns, one smaller than the other with rays of light radiating from them. But unlike all the others, these two alicorns were not made to appear angry or dressed for battle.
“This is definitely purge era.” Daring said looking over the murals.
“Purge? What… why are all these alicorns…” Trixie’s eyes widened as she saw one of the more gruesome scenes of an alicorn in armor standing smiling wickedly surrounded dozens of unicorns impaled on spears.
“The ancient alicorns weren’t like the princesses.” Apple Bloom told her. “They weren’t benevolent or kind. They ruled over the mortal races and treated them like slaves.”
“What!? How do you know…”
“Princess Celestia told me. You see, the purge was the extermination of the ancient alicorns that happened about three thousand years ago, Ah think.”
Daring nodded. “About; the purge itself took over a century. These prisons weren’t built until near the end of the purge.”
“Prison!?” Trixie gasped and it was at that moment that they heard the sound of grinding stone behind them and all looked just in time to see a stone slab slide down over the tunnel they’d entered through.
“Huh, guess there’s no backing out…” Apple Bloom said, not really concerned.
“You mean we’re trapped!?”
“Relax, Trixie. If we need to Ah can always turn back time.”
“Oh… right.”
Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “I think this hall might be the next trap.”
Daring nodded in agreement. “Most likely. Question is, what’s with the murals?”
“You think they’re a clue to the trap”
“Could be; but they could also just be a warning about the alicorn imprisoned here.”
Trixie’s eyes widened further. “There’s an evil ancient alicorn imprisoned here!” She squeaked. “I thought you said they were exterminated!?”
“Most were,” Daring answered. “But the most powerful were imprisoned.”
Apple Bloom nodded. “Yeah, Princess Celestia said that at the time, ponies believed that the most powerful alicorns could resurrect themselves if they were killed. So, they imprisoned them instead. She said it was a lie though.” She moved closer to the hall as she spoke. It was dimly lit with the same glowing crystals as the rest of the ruin, but otherwise looked like smooth cut stone. As far as she could tell, the walls, floor and ceiling were all one solid surface. It wasn’t even very long; the chamber they were in with all the murals was longer than the hall was.
“So why would ponies believe that the alicorns could resurrect themselves?” Trixie asked still looking at the murals.
“Because Alicorn magic gives them incredible healing powers;” Daring explained. “Alicorns can survive and heal from wounds that would kill any regular pony.”
Trixie looked at her surprised. “Really?” She asked.
“Yep. Princess Celestia has even survived being stabbed through the heart.” Apple Bloom told her distractedly. She couldn’t see any sign of a trap in the hall ahead of them.
“When was that!?” Daring asked in surprise.
Apple Bloom looked back to see them both looking at her in shock. “Shortly after she and Princess Luna defeated Discord. She said most ponies still hated Alicorns back then and many of the unicorn nobles didn’t want them ruling.”
“An assassination attempt?” Daring asked.
Apple Bloom nodded.
“Wow, I never heard that before.”
She shrugged. “Well Princess Celestia has worked hard to erase the prejudice ponies had for alicorns. Back then, she said alicorn foals were killed at birth. The only reason she and Luna weren’t was because the ponies of Equestria were desperate for somepony to stand up against Discord.”
“Okay, well this is interesting and all, but could we focus on getting out of here?” Trixie said impatiently, sounding more than a little uncomfortable.
“You asked.” Apple Bloom said rolling her eyes again, but turned back to the hall anyway. “Ah don’t see anything that could be a trigger, so if there is a trap, Ah’m guessing the trigger is magic based again.
“Yeah looks like it.”
Trixie looked past them into the hall. “But it’s just an empty hallway like the one we just came through…”
“Yeah, but if it’s not a trap, then what’s the point of this chamber; most the rest of the way, there were only a few pony carved chambers and they always had a trap. The only places there wasn’t a trap, the cave was mostly natural with just a path carved through it.” Apple Bloom told her.
Daring nodded. “And why close the door behind us?”
Trixie glanced back at the door. “Maybe so we don’t go back into the traps?” Maybe there’s another way out further ahead and they didn’t want ponies trying to go back through the traps once they got through them all.”
“I guess that’s possible.” Daring agreed reluctantly. “The murals could just be a last warning about the alicorn imprisoned here. But if that’s the case, the way out must be very well hidden. Anyway, I don’t think the other site I explored had a second exit, so let’s not rush in.”
~~~
“Twi, you here?”
“Up here, Dashie.” Twilight called from her room up in the library’s second floor. A moment later, Rainbow stepped through the door.
“Thanks for actually using the front door.” Captain Feather said with a hint of a smirk.
“Heh, no prob.” Rainbow said, rubbing the back of her neck. Twilight got up from her desk and gave her marefriend a quick kiss.
“I thought you were helping with the search?”
“I was, but I had to take Scoots and Sweetie home; poor fillies were falling asleep on their hooves. So I thought I’d stop by and see how you were doing. Any luck with your magic search?”
Twilight sighed and glanced out the window, noting it was already around mid morning. “No, Apple Bloom’s magic has been too much in flux lately. None of the spells I’ve tried can get a lock on her.”
Rainbow tilted her head. “I’ll just trust you know what you’re doing.”
Twilight snorted, rolling her eyes. “You’ll pick up a few things, if you spend enough time with me.”
“What about Rekaj; he have anything new?”
“Yes, actually.” They all looked up as the dragon's avatar stepped in the door. “I was just coming to tell you. I felt Apple Bloom cast the reset spell twice now without activating it, and she’s also used a time reverse spell a couple times,” He told them getting straight to the point.
Twilight considered that. “You think she’s doing something else now?”
“I think so. What it is, however, there’s really no telling.” He sighed. “I really wish I could do more.”
“You’re doing plenty.” Twilight told him reassuringly. “We wouldn’t even know if Apple Bloom was alive, let alone what she was doing, if it weren’t for you. And don’t let Applejack get you down; she’s just worried about her sister.”
He nodded. “I know; I’ve never really cared what others thought of me…” He gave a smirk. “It’s kind of funny actually; that what you little ponies think of me is more important to me now than what my own world thinks of me.”
Rainbow laughed. “Yeah, well, we’re awesome.”
He just smiled in return. “Anyway. Whatever Apple Bloom is up to, it seems she’s at least distracted from killing herself anymore.”
“I suppose that’s something…” Twilight said. “And whatever it is, it’s starting to look like we’re not going to find out about it until she’s ready to come home.”
“I’m afraid you may be right.” Feather said, heavily. “The guard is continuing the search, but we can only cover so much ground, and without some clue where to search…”
Twilight nodded understandingly. “What about Applejack and Big Mac? They still with the guard?”
“Yes, and I’ve had the guard keep them informed of what had been going on here. Of course, Rekaj has a clone helping the guard as well.” She said then turned toward the blue stallion. “Do you want to inform the Apples of this change in Apple Bloom’s status?”
He nodded. “I think it’s for the best if I do. I’ll be back in the kitchen if you need me.” He said and turned to leave.
“So weird to think that he’s literally in three places right now.” Rainbow said shaking her head.
“Four actually, he still has a clone at Sweet Apple Acres and there’s his real body as well.” Twilight told her.
Rainbow snorted. “Crazy. Well I guess I should rejoin the search. AJ will have a fit if I take too long.”
“Alright, call with your bracelet if you find anything. And remind AJ that she can as well.”
“Heh, right. Keep forgetting about those things.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “I’ve noticed.”
“Well I’d rather come talk to you in person.” Rainbow said stepping closer and giving her a quick kiss. “Just isn’t the same talking through a magic gem.”
Twilight smiled. “I guess that’s true; but they’re still useful.”
Rainbow nodded then headed toward the door herself. “See you later, Twi.”
“You too, Dashie.”
With one last smile, she jumped, gliding down to the main floor and was gone. Twilight looked after her for a moment with a small smile, then a thought occurred to her. She looked at Feather. “When this is over, you’re going to tell her as well. I’m not going to hide this from Rainbow.”
Feather looked hesitant at first, but then lowered her head and nodded. “Alright; when this is over, and she’s had a good night’s sleep…”
“Good.”
~~~
“Can we just go already, it’s just an empty hall.” Trixie complained for what had to be the dozenth time.
“That’s what worries us.” Apple Bloom growled, getting a little tired of the show pony. “It’s too innocent looking…”
“There’s not even any magic!” Trixie countered.
“That you can detect!” Daring countered, getting a little annoyed as well.
“Yes, that I, the great and powerful Trixie can detect. And obviously, if the great and powerful Trixie can’t detect it, then there is none!”
Apple Bloom just rolled her eyes.
“And I’m sure you detected the last trap just fine.” Daring countered.
“Trixie wasn’t expecting traps!”
“Yeah, well we didn’t detect the triggers for the first two traps either, and we were expecting them.”
“Well we did detect the second one, but only right as we triggered it.” Daring corrected.
“Oh for the love of Celestia, it’s just an empty hall!” Trixie growled and started down the hall at a quick trot before either of them could stop her. “See, nothing…”
SHING!
Daring and Apple Bloom watched Trixie’s body collapse with a spray of blood about half way through the hall even as her head rolled back toward the entrance.
“Yeah… Ah’ll be turning back time now.” Apple Bloom said staring wide eyed at the showmare’s corpse.
“Yeah, do that…”
They watched time reverse, Trixie’s head rolling back to her body and reattaching itself as the blade the had emerged from the seemingly solid wall swung in reverse, returning to its hidden slot. Then Apple Bloom kept going until just before Trixie started into the tunnel, finally ending the spell.
“… it’s just an empty hall!”
“TRIXIE STOP!” Apple Bloom shouted as she started into the hall again.
“We’re wasting time!” She objected, trotting ahead anyway. “We could be on our way out…”
SHING!
Apple Bloom facehoofed as Trixie’s head again left her body.
“Maybe a little further?” Daring suggested.
“Right…”
Again time reversed and Trixie was once again made whole. This time Apple Bloom took them back a few moments more.
“…wasn’t expecting traps!”
“Trixie don’t enter that hallway!” Apple Bloom shouted.
“You’re both being paranoid!” She shouted back and started toward the hall. Both Apple Bloom and Daring dove at her, tackling her to the ground.
“What are you doing!” She objected, kicking her hooves, trying to get them off of her.
“Trixie, you enter that hallway, you’re going to lose your head before you get halfway through!” Apple Bloom told her angrily.
“How do you know!?”
“Because we just watched it happen twice!” Daring growled, still holding her pinned.
“You… what!?”
“We watched you die, Trixie.” Apple Bloom told her. “Ah had to turn back time to bring you back.”
“What?” Trixie repeated sounding worried.
“About halfway down the hall, a blade comes out of the wall that will take off your head.” Apple Bloom told her.
“There… is?” She squeaked.
“Yes, so will you please just let us try to figure out how to get past it.”
“Okay…”
Apple Bloom nodded and she and Daring got up off of her; Daring helping her back to her hooves as well. She immediately backed away from the hall, huddling in the corner.
“At least we know what kind of trap it is now.” Daring said looking back down the hall. “Any ideas on how we could block the blade?” She asked Apple Bloom.
“Maybe, Ah know a shield spell.”
Daring thought it over. “Risky. The last trap pretty much guarantees that anyone who makes it this far will have a unicorn or some other magic user in their group. They may have enchanted the blade to pierce through magic shields.”
“But my magic isn’t unicorn magic.”
“Maybe not, but I imagine at some level, all magic is the same, and if they wanted to make an enchantment pierce shields, they’d want to make it work against as many forms of magic as possible.”
“But RJ’s magic is really powerful; if I put enough power into the spell, couldn’t that work.”
“Probably not. Not unless you knew exactly were the blade was going to hit and focused all your power there. I don’t claim to be an expert on magic, but I do know that with shield spells, the strength of the spell is spread through the entire shield. If you focus your attacks on one spot; you can break through a shield with a fraction of the power it took to cast it.”
Apple Bloom frowned. “I could conjure a big metal column; maybe that will block the blade. Maybe even break it.”
“But if it’s conjured, it’s still technically magic.” Daring shook her head. “I don’t think it will work. Besides, they probably designed those blades to go through armor like butter.”
“Well we have to try something. I saw where the blade came out, maybe if I just stay low, I’ll be alright. And I could test my shield against it just in case.”
“Kid, do you really want to take that chance?”
Apple Bloom frowned, looking down the hall, then shrugged. Her shoulder lit up again for a moment. “There, if I die, I just reset here. So I’m not really risking anything.”
Daring stared at her a moment, then sighed in defeat. “Are you absolutely sure you want to risk dying again?”
“Hey, you saw how fast that blade was. Dying to that thing will be nothing compared to being eaten by Timberwolves; Ah’ll be fine.”
Daring sighed trying to think of some other way, but nothing was coming to her. “Dang it, kid; fine. If you’re sure.”
Apple Bloom nodded and turned toward the hall. “Here goes.” She put up a shield extending almost to the height of an adult pony and taking a deep breath, started forward, keeping her head low.
She was tense, though she knew she’d be alright; she still didn’t relish dying again, no matter how fast it was. The halfway point was just ahead; she could almost see Trixie’s headless corpse lying where it had fallen. She reached the place, braced herself and took another step.
SHING!
The blade spun through the air, passing through her shield as if it weren’t even there. Apple Bloom felt the wind of it’s passing barely above her head. There was a startled yelp behind her and she glanced back to see Daring and Trixie both watching; Daring with a touch of relief and Trixie with sheer terror.
“I’m alright!” She called back reassuringly. “I’ll see if there’s a way to deactivate it!” She said, and still keeping low, continued toward the end of the hall.
SHING!
She was once again standing at the entrance of the hall next to Daring Do… “Celestia damn it!”
Daring looked at her curiously for her outburst. “Something wrong?”
“Ah just died again.” Apple Bloom sighed. “There’s a second blade a little further on that’s a lot closer to the ground.”
Daring stared at her for a moment confused, then realized what she meant. “You mean you…”
“Ah tried to see if Ah could just duck under the blade. Ah got past the first one, but not the second.” Apple Bloom told her. “And you were right, the blade went through my shield like it weren’t even there.”
“I thought it might…” Daring said, still a little off-balance
“So what now?” Apple Bloom asked. “Ah could try again, see if I can dodge the second blade too.”
“There could still be more though. And if they had one closer to the ground, I’ll bet they have one near the ceiling too, so flying over probably isn’t an option.” Daring frowned, considering their options.
“Ah could just keep trying.” Apple Bloom suggested. “Eventually Ah’ll figure out where all the blades are…”
Daring sighed. “Kid, let’s try to figure out the right way first; I know you said dying doesn’t bother you, but I’m not comfortable with letting you get yourself killed over and over. It’s bad enough that you’ve already done it once.”
“Alright.” Apple Bloom muttered.
Daring nodded, satisfied, and turned back toward the hall. “The rest of the traps, it wasn’t very difficult to figure out how to get past them. They were almost like puzzles really.”
“And they weren’t as quick or deadly as this one.” Apple Bloom added.
“Right. So I’m guessing this is the last trap. They knew for anypony to make it this far, they would have had to have made it past the first three traps. Or at least they would have if the chamber back there hadn’t caved in. So they would naturally have made this the most difficult of all. But the rest of the traps… they were more like tests really.” Her eyes widened and she looked around at the murals again. “That’s it!”
“What?” Apple Bloom asked curiously.
“The first three traps weren’t really traps at all, they were tests. Each required one of the three tribes to get past it! The first, only an earth pony would ever be able to move that column alone, and it was far too narrow for more than one pony to really get the leverage to push it, and I bet it was enchanted against unicorn magic. The second trap required a pegasus to kick the lightning out of the cloud. And again, I bet a lightning bolt from a unicorn spell wouldn’t have worked. And of course, the third trap required a unicorn to empower the gems and trigger the release.”
“Okay, but how does that help with this trap?” Apple Bloom asked.
Daring grinned. “Don’t you see? The first three traps were tests to make sure that all three tribes were present, to get to this point; and now that we’re here, the murals are the final clue! In all the murals, the only ones standing upright are the Alicorns.” She said, then pointed to the one over the hall. “Except this one. The only mural that shows all three tribes standing together!”
“And that means?” Trixie prompted, not seeing what she was getting at. Honestly Apple Bloom wasn’t quite sure either.
“All three tribes have to be present!” Daring explained excitedly. “I’m betting the trap is set to trigger if it doesn’t detect all three tribes! All we have to do, is all go together! And look, the hall is just wide enough for three ponies side by side.”
“And if you’re wrong?” Trixie demanded.
Apple Bloom shrugged, “Then Ah’ll reset again and warn you.”
Daring winced, but nodded.
“Alright, but just one problem.” Trixie said and gestured to the mural. “We don’t have all three tribes.”
Apple Bloom blinked. “What are you…” Then it hit her. She still had her wings on, and had ever since they’d first found Trixie. “Oh right.” She shut off her wing spell. “Ah’m actually an earth pony, Trixie.”
She stared at Apple Bloom a moment in shock. “Oh…”
“Yeah, surprised me too.” Daring told her. “So what do you say? Give it a go?”
Apple Bloom glanced at Trixie, then shrugged. “Sure, it’s worth a try.
“Are you crazy!? What if she’s wrong!?” Trixie demanded sounding scared.
“Then your death count will be up to three… but you still won’t remember any of them.” Apple Bloom told her calmly.
“…but… what if she’s right!? What then? You said this was a prison for one of these evil ancient alicorns;” she said gesturing to the murals. “What if we accidently set them free!?”
“Then Ah just turn back time to prevent it.” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes at having to explain again. “Trixie, we are not leaving here without figuring out what is drawing ponies here and if possible, stopping it. Ah won’t let it lure innocent ponies into these traps. So you can either help us and possibly get through this trap right now, or you can wait while we try to figure out something else.”
Trixie glared at her a moment then let out a huff. “Fine, but if we unleash an ancient evil alicorn, Trixie is not taking the blame.”
“Noted.” Daring said. “Now come on, if I’m right, we’ll be fine as long as we go through together. Hesitantly, Trixie stepped up next to Daring and Apple Bloom, and with a nod, Daring stepped forward into the hall. Apple Bloom and Trixie followed half a step behind and together they slowly walked into the trap.
“This is it…” Apple Bloom said softly when they were almost to the halfway point. From the corner of her eye, she saw Trixie close her eyes as they took another step forward… then another. When they’d taken a third step past the halfway point, Apple Bloom grinned. “What do you know, looks like you were right!”
“Well I’ve got to pull my weight somehow.” Daring said with a smirk.
“Don’t celebrate until we’re all the way through!” Trixie admonished.
Apple Bloom glanced at Daring and rolled her eyes as they continued the rest of the way through the hall. Just as they reached the end, the chamber beyond lit up.
“Are we through yet?” Trixie asked, her eyes still closed tight.
“Yep, we’re through.” Apple Bloom told her, looking around. The chamber was easily thirty ponylengths in either direction and nearly twenty high. Directly in front of them was an enormous half dome made up of two slabs of solid stone that was right up against the far wall. But in front of it, in the center of the room was a large seal carved into the floor. Obviously magical, the circular pattern was glowing softly. Slowly Apple Bloom moved toward it.
“Careful, we don’t know what that does.” Daring cautioned.
Apple Bloom nodded, but didn’t stop something about the circle demanded investigation. It was like she was drawn… Her eyes widened. “Daring, I think this seal is what’s been drawing us here!”
Daring looked at the seal surprised then focused for a moment. “I think you’re right, but if that’s so; then why would whoever built this place want to draw ponies here…”
Wanting a better look, Apple Bloom took another step forward. Magic flared to life in front of her and the next instant she felt herself being dragged forward, coming to a stop in a new circle that lit up with power. There she found she couldn’t move, it was as if her hooves were glued to the floor. Shouts from her companions alerted her that they weren’t spared and she looked to see each had been dragged into a similar circle by the magic all facing the dome that had to be the prison. Then lines traced forward from each of their circles, joining in one larger circle between them.
“What is happening!?” Trixie cried as another line of magic lit up from the center circle, directly toward the dome. There it bloomed, patterns lighting up across the dome and the dome split. With a grinding that they could feel in their hooves as much as hear, the two halves retracted, opening, and inside, silhouetted by the light of the magic that had held them were two figures.
“I think we triggered the release!” Daring called out, trying in vain to pull her hooves free.
“I told you this was a bad idea!” Trixie cried sounding almost histeric.
Apple Bloom’s attention was on the prison, however. The two figures were being lowered to the ground just outside the dome, still just silhouettes. Finally, the magic began to fade and Apple Bloom felt her hooves released.
“NO! I won’t be responsible for unleashing an ancient evil!” There was a flash of light from Trixie’s direction and a bolt of magic leapt toward the two figures, striking the smaller of the two, sending them tumbling to the ground. Too late, they got a clear look at them as the light behind them faded. Two fillies, the older of them appearing not much older than Apple Bloom.
“ADIKIA!” She cried out seeing the younger fall, and ran to her side. What she found must not have been good. She collapsed at the younger alicorn’s side, pulling her into an embrace. “No! Adikia…”
Daring, Apple Bloom and Trixie stood frozen, unsure what to do as the elder filly cried. Then the room started to grow cold.
“Why wilt thou not leave us alone.” She whispered in the nearly silent chamber. “We just wanted to live in peace… WHY WILT THOU NOT LEAVE US ALONE!” Pale blue magic swirled around her horn as she spun to face them, angry tears in her eyes. “WE NEVER DID ANYTHING TO THEE!” She cried and whipped her horn toward Trixie. Ice spikes erupted from the ground in a trail toward the showmare. Trixie’s eyes widened and she tried to cast a shield only to have it obliterated by the alicorn’s magic. In an instant she was impaled by dozens of frozen spikes, her blood staining the crystal-clear ice.
Daring leaped into the air, knowing she’d have a better chance with the speed her wings offered; but that only got the filly’s attention. She turned her magic on the pegasus, forcing Daring to evade. Icy spikes rose from the floor and descended from the ceiling all around her looking like teeth. Daring was fast, but the filly’s magic was faster, and the icy jaws slammed shut, shredding the pegasus between them, leaving one of her wings to tumble down the side of the icy tomb.
Apple Bloom’s eyes went wide at the sight and she turned to face the filly even as she turned her attention to her. For a moment their eyes met, and in that brief moment, Apple Bloom saw the pain there, not only the pain of loss, but also the pain of a lifetime of uncertainty; living in fear… Her shoulder lit up even as a wave of icy spears rushed toward her.
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I thought book 1 was child of misery, not book 2?
Then you shouldn't come to this tomb in the first place. The moment you enter it, you already responsible for breaking any seals inside.
Trixie you idiotic numbskull!!
Will this return?
10164275
Yes, just got a little caught up on my other story currently in progress. And of course real life stuff isn't giving me too much free time, but that's pretty typical. Also doesn't help that I've rewritten the next chapter twice already... I do really need to finish this though...
You think Trixie got the point?
Ah he he he he he he..... I did not like that