• Published 16th Jul 2018
  • 733 Views, 45 Comments

Overgrowth - ezra09



One year after the events of Harmonics, Scootaloo, Thistleroot, and Mimic return to Greenhaven Grotto. Within the long sealed ruins of Libiris, ancient spirits vie for power and ancient grudges rise anew.

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The Depths

“If I was a betting pony,” Thistleroot said. They stood with Coco and the Librarian deep within Libiris, facing a large doorway. The smooth halls fell way to natural caves beyond. “Yeah. There’s no way it isn’t down there.”

“Good to know we’ve been wasting our time,” Mimic said with a huff.

“It hasn’t been a complete waste of time,” Coco said. “All of that stuff has to be unpacked eventually.” She gave a cheery smile, which Mimic replied to with a flat look.

“Well, might as well check it out,” Scootaloo said, keeping her own agitation from her voice.

The Librarian nodded. “Lead the way, little one.”

Coco walked forward, and the group followed. “I didn’t go very far. Just to the first intersection. The path splits three ways up ahead.” She looked back as she spoke, and didn’t notice a faint light glow into existence ahead of her.

Scootaloo stopped as it appeared, rocking back on her hooves, wings flaring enough that she could take off at a moment’s notice.

“Watch out!” Thistleroot called a moment too late, hoof coming up to try to get her attention. The light coalesced into a semi-transparent wall directly in front of the caagan. Coco walked into the wall as it formed, passing through it without issue.

Thistleroot’s hoof dropped “...Or not.”

Coco blinked and frowned, turning her body back toward the newly formed wall. It was thin and solid looking, like faintly stained glass. She put one hoof gingerly back through it, then stepped through it again. “This wasn’t here last time.” She looked up to the Librarian.

“I’m not sure what it is,” he answered slowly, tilting his head to the side. “It looks to be part of Libiris’s composition, in aesthetic at least.”

Scootaloo relaxed, folding her wings against her back again and rolling her shoulders. She glanced at Thistleroot and Mimic. Fortunately, neither of them seemed to have noticed her jump.

“This place is terrible for my nerves,” Thistleroot said. “Well, it didn’t disintegrate Coco, so I’m guessing it’s not some kind of magical death trap,” He strode forward. “Maybe it’s some kind of security scanner. You know, to keep the spirits—” Whatever he was about to say was cut off as he walked muzzle first into the wall and bounced off. He landed on his haunches with a little, “oof.”

Scootaloo chuckled and stepped up beside him. She carefully felt out toward the wall. Her hoof pressed against it and met resistance. It was cool and smooth to the touch. She pulled back and gave it a sharp smack, but it didn’t break. “Eh, worth a shot.”

“I guess only caagan can get through,” Thistleroot said, rubbing his nose gingerly. “Like some kind of magical ‘Employees only’ sign.”

“This is getting old,” Mimic said.

The Librarian stepped forward. “Coco and I will go forward then. You are welcome to wait here, or return to—” He cut off as his face smacked into the wall of light. He didn’t fall as Thistleroot did, but took a surprised step back and paused, blinking twice in confusion. After a moment, his mouth twisted in a scowl that was more offended than anything.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Scootaloo said, watching as the Librarian pressed his hoof against the wall without effect. She reared back and struck the wall with both front hooves, but it didn’t give. She sighed. “Come on. Every time Rainbow Dash and her friends have to save the world, it’s done in an afternoon. We’ve been here for two weeks already.” She gave the wall another half-hearted shove.

“Maybe Discord or Nocturne will know about this.” Thistleroot suggested.

“Then why didn’t they say anything?” Scootaloo asked.

“Because they’re Discord and Nocturne,” Mimic said, venom creeping into her voice as she said the changeling queen’s name. She walked up beside Scootaloo and swung her own front hooves at the wall in a half-hearted swipe of frustration.

Her hooves passed through the wall, and she landed on her belly with a surprised ‘oof’ of her own.

There was a brief pause before Thistleroot spoke. “Okay. I am thoroughly confused now.”

Mimic stood up and stepped forward, through the wall. “Uh, yes. Same.”

“That is unexpected,” The Librarian said, testing the wall with his own hoof again. It still wouldn’t give.

“Maybe it’s because changelings and cagaan are similar,” Thistleroot said. “One was made by the Archive, the other by Nocturne.”

“But the Librarian is a cagaan,” Scootaloo said. “Aren’t you?”

“As far as I am aware,” The Librarian said, brow furrowed.

“Then I got nothing,” Thistleroot said.

“What about ponies?” Scootaloo asked. “We weren’t made by any of the eternal spirits, were we?”

“No,” The Librarian said, shaking his head. He paused. “Not like the changelings. Not more so than anything else walking this planet.”

“What’s that mean?”

“That the genesis of your species is the same as many others, and is nothing worth worrying over.”

Scootaloo gave him a dubious look, and made a mental note to push the issue later. “So, what now?”

“I can go,” Mimic said. “If the heart is down here, me and Coco might be able to find it today.”

Scootaloo frowned, and after a moment of thought, shook her head. “No. We don’t know what might be down there.” She looked at the Librarian. “You’re going to try to figure out how to get past this wall, right?”

“Yes,” He said, simply.

“Then we’ll wait. I’d feel safer if we went with you.”

“I can handle myself,” Mimic said.

“We know,” Thistleroot said. “Nopony in their right mind would question that you can take care of yourself, but the point of having friends is that you don’t have to.”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo said. “It’s not like any of the other champions have been getting into Libiris. Right?” She directed the last question toward the Librarian.

The Librarian frowned. “I wish I could say with certainty. I told you before, some rooms that should not have been opened yet have shown signs of being disturbed.”

Scootaloo frowned. “Okay, but even if they found a way inside, this wall would stop them.”

“Maybe,” Mimic said. “Or...” She waved a hoof through the wall, then shook her head. “I’ll just check it out. Give me a few minutes.” She turned to walk away.

“Mimic, hold on,” Scootaloo called after her. “We should do it together.” The changeling kept walking. “Darn it.”

“Go with her, Coco,” The Librarian said. Coco nodded and trotted to catch up with Mimic.

“Just be careful down there,” Thistleroot called. He added in a quiet mutter, “Stubborn, hot-headed, crazy—” He caught Scootaloo’s eye. “Uh, not that there’s anything wrong with that.”

Scootaloo chuckled and sat down. “Guess we’ve got a few minutes to kill.”

“Yeah.” Thistleroot looked up to the Librarian. “So, uh. About those lessons we talked about last year?”

*****

“The intersection I mentioned is just up ahead,” Coco said, leading the way. The tips of her ears glowed with magic, casting the tunnel ahead of them with flickering green light.

“So, you don’t know anything about this cave?” Mimic asked.

Coco shook her head. “This is the lowest we’ve come since waking up last year.” She frowned. “I don’t think we’re going to find it today. If it splits up again even further, we could have a dozen paths to explore. Your friends are right. It would be smart to do this with more of us.”

“I thought you wanted this heart found quickly,” Mimic said, her voice sharper than she meant. “It’s your home that everyone is going to be looking through.”

“I do,” Coco said. “I just,” she looked around. “I don’t like it down here. I can’t feel the archive. I don’t think this cave is part of Libiris.”

“It’ll be fine,” Mimic said, trying to make her voice softer. Judging by Coco’s reaction, she wasn’t very successful. “Everyone wants to wait and be careful. We’re not going to get anything done that way.” Ahead of them, the cave split into three paths. Each vanished into darkness a few dozen feet from Coco’s light spell. “Left, right, or center?”

“None,” Coco said. “Let’s go back.”

Mimic gritted her teeth in frustration, but managed to keep herself from growling, barely. “Just wait here. I’ll be right back.” She started down the center path, her pony form melting away as she walked. Her horn lit with green fire.

“Mimic!” Coco called, taking a hesitant step forward, and the stopping.

“Just let me take a look,” Mimic called back. She shook her head and kept walking.

How did they expect to find the Heart of Creation if no one was going to look? With any luck, she’d find it now. They could hand it off to the Librarian who’d probably just make a bigger, safer library with it. Or maybe Scootaloo would want to take it to Princess Celestia. That seemed more likely, if she could manage it. Mimic didn’t care either way, as long as neither Nocturne nor Discord got it. And then she could go back to Canterlot with her friends.

Mimic’s thoughts were interrupted when she noticed a light in the cave ahead. She extinguished the fire around her horn and crept forward. She could suddenly feel her heart hammering in her chest with excitement. Hadn’t the heart been glowing in the image Discord had shown them?

Not like this, she realized. The glow from the heart had been a slowly pulsing pink. This light was flickering like fire, and it was the yellow-white light of a normal candle. As she moved forward, she could see a four-legged figure. A pony, with a light orange coat spotted with white. He stood at another four way intersection in the cave, a quill held his mouth as he marked a paper lying at his hooves.

He’s mapping out the caverns, Mimic realized. This must be one of the other champions!

The pony set his quill down and looked in her direction. “Oh, finally. I—” He cut off, blinking, and took a startled step back.

Mimic moved, making a split second choice and diving toward the paper he’d been writing on. She crossed most of the distance between them before he could recover, but he snapped the paper up with his mouth and turned to run. She followed, wings buzzing to push her faster.

The pony took two long strides and stopped, balancing his weight on his front hooves. Mimic’s breath caught and tried to stop herself, realizing a moment too late what was about to happen. The pony threw his hind legs out, and Mimic’s speed carried her into the buck. Her head snapped back as his hooves hit her on her cheek and shoulder, and the world exploded into ringing, disjointed noise.

She felt the cold ground under her left side. She tried in vain for a few seconds to focus her eyes. Finally, she pushed herself up, shaking her head, and moved forward into the intersection. Her stomach twisted with horrible nausea and she nearly fell again, but she pushed her way forward, teeth bared. The pony was out of sight now. If she hurried, maybe she could find him again and...

She stopped, the scattered pieces of her brain pulling themselves back together. What was she going to do? She didn’t even see which path the pony had gone down. She forced herself to breath and shove back the sudden adrenaline that was shaking her body.

She should go back. She should tell her friends what had happened. The pony’s presence in the caves changed things. She would—

A fearful cry came from the tunnel behind her.

It took her rattled brain a moment to place the voice. “Coco!” She wheeled around. The pony must have gone down the path she’d come from. She lurched forward, back through the intersection. The sudden movement caused her stomach to twist again. He eyes blurred and she slammed into the wall, but managed to keep moving forward.

Her stride lengthened into a run and she hurtled down the path in a panicked run toward the scream, green fire lighting her way. The next intersection was only a few hundred feet away, and she made it in less than a minute. There was no sign of Coco or the pony. “Coco?”

She probably ran for the others when she saw him coming toward her, Mimic thought. She blinked, trying to clear the fog from her head. Her ears were still ringing with the blow. Hadn’t there been three paths, before? Four, counting the one they’d come from? Mimic ignored the thought and continued forward, trusting her well honed sense of direction over the confused thoughts her rattled brain was trying to piece together.

As she passed into the intersection, the sense of twisting nausea nearly caused her to careen into the wall again. She came to an uncertain halt and turned to look back at the intersection. Directly across from her was a solid stone wall. The tunnel continued to her right and left.

That wasn’t right. She’d walked straight across, hadn’t she? There wasn’t time for that. She turned and started walking again. “Coco!”

No answer came. After a few hundred feet, she came to another intersection, this one with three branching paths, and once again as she crossed it her stomach twisted with nausea and her vision blurred.

She turned back, panting in exhaustion. Something was horribly wrong about this place. She was sure of that now. Her sense of direction had always been a valuable asset to her as a gatherer. She knew without a doubt she should have made it back to the others by now.

Her horn flared and a bolt of fire scorched the ground at her hooves. She steeled herself and crossed the intersection again. The horrible sensation hit her, and then she was across. She turned and scanned the other paths.

The scorch mark from her blast was not across from her, but to her right.

“No,” she said, realization finally dawning on her. “No, no, no.” She crossed the intersection and turned. The scorch mark was across from her, when it should have been on her left.

It was some kind of maze. Another way that the Archive had protected the heart, or whatever else might be down there. Mimic realized with a jolt of horror that she was lost, separated from her friends, and from Coco. Coco, who’d been waiting for her despite the caagan’s protests and obvious discomfort.

Mimic closed her eyes and forced herself to breath. She wasn’t going to be able to help anyone if she panicked. It was just a puzzle. She was good at puzzles.

She bent her head and her horn flared again. She scorched a large, clumsy ‘1’ at the center of her current path. “I can do this.”