Overgrowth

by ezra09

Gil

Mimic gritted her teeth, squared her shoulders, and launched another blast of changeling fire at the wall that barred her path. The emerald flames scattered across the stone relief of some long gone griffon king without effect.

Mimic growled in frustration and sat to catch her breath.

She’d managed to figure out the intersections that turned her around, but she didn’t know which direction she’d originally come from. She’d had to pick a direction and start moving, but whatever magic had confused her was only the beginning. She’d come across three walls now, each made of smooth stone and obviously separate from the tunnels they were found in. She’d thought that meant the tunnels continued on the other side, but nothing she tried had let her force her way through.

Her horn flared with magic and she sent another haphazard bolt at the door. It scattered across the stone once again.

“I don’t think that’s working.”

Mimic’s heart jolted and she surged to her hooves, the fire from her last attack flaring again before it could fully fade. She turned, looking for the sound of the voice.

A griffon stood in the cave behind her, leaning nonchalantly against the wall, one foreleg propped up. He was tall, but lean for a griffon. The tip of Mimic’s horn was even with the base of his neck. His head was a dark slate gray, almost black, while most of his body was a bit lighter.

“Maybe you should try blasting it again,” the griffon said. “I bet the Heart of Creation is right on the other side.” The griffon pushed off the wall and stepped forward.

Mimic backed away and crouched forward into a ready stance. The griffon quirked an eyebrow and raised his taloned forelegs in a placating gesture. “Hey, if I was gonna come at you, it would have been when your back was turned.”

Mimic frowned, but relaxed her posture. Her horn dimmed until it was just bright enough to light the room. “I guess. Who are you?”

“A filly scout,” the griffon said. “I’m here to sell cookies so my troupe can go to Vanhoover. Do you want to buy so— Who do you think? I’m one of the guys looking for the heart, same as you, I’m guessing. Any other dumb questions?”

Mimic narrowed her eyes as her horn brightened.

“Alright, alright, straight to the point then. You’re the first other champion I’ve met, and I’m not invested enough in this whole thing to go attacking strangers, so I thought we could talk instead. Maybe compare notes on this freaky fun house down here.”

“Freaky fun house?”

“Yeah. You haven’t been in these caves very long, have you?”

Mimic shook her head. “A few hours now.”

“Well, whoever hid the heart down here wanted to be sure no one ever found it. There’s all kinds of magic junk to turn you around. The caves in that direction swap places when you’re not looking, and you already found these doors. I’m pretty sure there’s some kind of keys to them, but I’m not sure where.”

“Another continent, if he was smart,” Mimic said, looking back up to the doors.

“Yeah, probably. So, maybe we help each other out. Get through this place, and then once we get to the end, well...” The griffon shrugged. “That plays out how it plays out, right?”

“Uhuh,” Mimic said.

The griffon shrugged. “Hey, I’m not gonna pretend to be your friend or anything, and I’m not asking you to trust me. We both know what we’re here for, but these caves are lame. The sooner someone figures them out and I can never come down here again, the better.”

Mimic hesitated, and almost turned away, but another thought came to mind. How had this griffon entered Libiris without the caagan noticing? Not just entered the building, but found his way into the deepest caves. And by the sound of it, he’d been doing it for days or weeks.

“Fine,” Mimic said.

“Great,” the griffon said. “So, which spirit are you working for?”

“You’re the one who wanted to talk. You first.”

The griffon waved a few talons in a vaguely dismissive gesture.

“Because if you tell me, I can ask the one I’m working for all about you,” Mimic said.

The griffon grinned at that. “Worth a shot. Gil.”

“Huh?”

“My name. It’s Gil.”

“Okay,” Mimic said. They paused, a moment of silence stretching between them, and then she started walking back the way they came.

“Okay,” Gil repeated, turning to follow her. “So, you want to go first, or should I?”

I shouldn’t let him know that I’m working with the caagan, Mimic thought. He’s right, we’re not going to trust each other, so I need to keep any advantage I can. If I ask him how he gets past them without their knowing, it’ll raise the question of how I do the same. “I’ll go first.”

“Sure.”

“The caves over in that direction. The ones you said switch places. They don’t.”

“Yeah, they do. Believe me, I’ve gotten lost enough times to know.”

“The intersections have some kind of magic that messes with your sense of balance and turns you around. You think you’re going straight, but actually end up veering to one side. I think there’s some kind of illusion magic to blur the transition, too.”

Gil frowned. “Are you sure?”

Mimic nodded. “When a changeling’s function is decided, their skills for that job are improved by the overseers. Soldiers end up stronger. Infiltrators have their changing magic improved. Stuff like that.”

“Oh? That’s cool.”

“It’s not that cool. It’s mostly just painful. The point is, the queens and their overseers can change us, but it’s all part of our magic. The magic at those intersections interfered with my gatherer magic and threw off my sense of direction. It made me feel sick. Since you never noticed, I’m guessing it’s supposed to be more subtle.”

“Okay, so they don’t mix themselves up. It’s still a pain to find your way around.”

“Not if you mark the ground at each intersection.”

Gil blinked several times before breaking out into a smile. “I knew teaming up with you would be a good idea. Okay, so I guess it’s my turn.”

“How do we get out of here?” Mimic asked.

“The same way you came in. Duh.”

“I don’t know where I came in,” Mimic said. “That magic messed with my sense of direction, remember? So, for your turn, I want you to show me the way out. It’s getting late anyway.”

“Alright, fair enough,” Gil said. “I was getting ready to call it a day anyway.” Mimic fell back and Gil took the lead.

*****

The path Gil and Mimic took through the depths was a long, twisting route, and it took them more than an hour to find their way through it. Along the way, Gil showed Mimic markers he’d found and created to point the way.

As they neared the end, some uncomfortable, nagging anxiety began to tug at the back of her mind, but she couldn’t quite put her hoof on what it was. Not until the last few minutes. The path had been on a gentle incline the entire time, but the last few hundred feet were much steeper, enough that she was breathing heavily as they went, climbing as much as walking. The solid stone of the depths gave way to loose rocks and dirt, and Mimic felt the occasional drop of water on her head and wings.

It wasn’t until she was several feet from the exit, that she felt the breeze and realized they were much too high. She followed Gil through the muddied gap between two boulders, under the gnarled roots of a fallen tree, and into the open air of the forest.

There was another way into Libiris. One the caagan couldn’t guard.

“Oh,” Mimic said, turning and taking in her surroundings. “Ponyfeathers.”

*****

“Mimic!” Before she could respond, Scootaloo had thrown herself into a big hug.

“Oh, thank Celestia,” Thistleroot added, joining the hug.

“Okay, yes. That’s enough hugging. Please.”

They backed away and Scootaloo helped Mimic right herself. “Heh, sorry.”

Mimic had disguised herself as one of the caagan to avoid questions, then dropped the disguise once she was inside.After asking around, she’d been led to a small room with one of the crystals that they’d used in the stacks. The crystal looked to be projecting part of a map of Libiris. The Librarian and another of the male caagan were in the room as well.

“What happened?” Scootaloo asked. “Why were you gone so long?”

“Where’s Coco?” Thistleroot added.

Mimic’s stomach writhed at the question. “She never came back?”

“No,” Thistleroot said. “We waited for like, two hours, but nothing happened. We came up here to see if we could learn more about the caves, but there’s no records of them at all.”

The Librarian stepped forward. “What has happened? Why would Coco have returned on her own?”

“Well,” Mimic said, ignoring the guilty twisting of her stomach. “Uh, the details are kind of fuzzy. I took a shot to the head.”

“Are you okay?” Thistleroot asked.

Mimic nodded. “We were attacked by a pony. I think he must have been a champion. He ran away, and then Coco ran. I thought she would have come back.”

“But, how could somepony have gotten down there?” Scootaloo asked.

“There’s another—” Before Mimic could finish, the male caagan said something hard and angry in his own language. The Librarian responded in his own measured voice.

“Uh, can we get that again, but this time in Equestrian?” Thistleroot asked. “Or at least give me time to translate?” He floated a book from his saddlebags and started leafing through it.

“You should be barred from Libiris,” the caagan said, switching to Equestrian.

“Wait, what?” Scootaloo asked.

“Mahoney,” the Librarian said.

“It’s not her fault,” Scootaloo said, voice hard. “Weren’t you listening? Somepony attacked them.”

“If she can be believed.”

“Why would she lie?” Scootaloo asked. “We’re the ones helping you, remember?”

Mahoney turned away from her, toward the Librarian. “Please, Keeper, you have dismissed questions of the ponies before, but this newest turn cannot be ignored. They do not respect what we have gathered here. They destroy what they consider useless.”

“That was an accident, and it happened one time,” Scootaloo said. “Trader did it the second time.”

“They claim that no spirit can enter, but then blame one of them for their misdeeds. Their story is inconsistent, and they offer no proof. We have seen no Discord. No Eternal Spirits at all. You trust them because they have been honest, and believe they have been honest because you trust them. And now the rash actions of one of them led Coco beyond the reach of the Archive. We have no way of knowing what happened to her, no way of communicating with her. How can we know that they don’t seek the Heart of Creation for their own selfish reasons?”

“Hold on a second,” Scootaloo said, stepping forward. “I don’t—”

The Librarian raised a hoof. “Enough.” She hesitated, and then dropped her hoof back to the floor. “Mahoney. I do not believe these ponies mean harm. I do not feel that they have lied to us. Their stories are consistent with events that transpired long before they were born.” He turned toward Scootaloo, Thistleroot, and Mimic. His milky green eyes paused on each of them in turn. “But that is only a feeling. Given the circumstances, I must ask you to leave. Libiris will close until we have found Coco.”

“But what about the heart?” Thistleroot asked.

“It will be found and kept safe,” the Librarian said. “That was always the plan, after all.”

“But...” Thistleroot trailed off before looking at Mimic and Scootaloo.

“Let’s just go,” Mimic said. “We’re not going to be able to change his mind.”

“I am sorry,” the Librarian said. “Mahoney will lead you out.”

“Whatever,” Scootaloo snapped, turning for the door. Thistleroot gave an apologetic smile and left after her, and Mahoney followed him.

Mimic turned, then paused. “Inside the caves are intersections that turn you around. It’s possible that Coco’s just lost down there. I marked as many intersections as I could find. I hope you find her quickly.”

“We will. Thank you.”

Mimic swallowed and shifted toward the door.

“Is there something else?” The Librarian asked.

“...No. No there isn’t.” Mimic ignored the chill in the pit of her stomach and followed after her friends.

Comments

[Forestfire34720]

I’ve finally reread and caught up with the whole series. I got behind but I’m up to speed now.

I can’t decide if I morally approve of Mimic’s decision or not, but I will agree with its practicality.

It’s interesting learning about all the different spirits and what they represent. If someone brought that idea up to me, then order and chaos I might’ve been able to guess, but I doubt that instinct or deals would’ve ever occurred to me. It’s pretty cool.

[ezra09]

9701034
Yeah, that was pretty much the reaction I was going for with Mimic.

As a note to anyone who reads this, you might notice it's been a while since the last chapter, as I'm switching roommates and jobs, but the next chapter is in progress. Promise.

[INFUSCATE]

Love the story. Can't wait for it to continue.

[INFUSCATE]

I refuse to give up hope on this story, i love it too much.

[INFUSCATE]

Not updated a story since 2018? Damn... It's probably been like, 5 years since I read this fic? (Even longer if you count the series as a whole), but I'm going through all the old ponyfics I saved links for ages ago for future updates and it still hurts a little bit whenever I need to remove a link due to the fic being on indefinite hiatus. At least the other two fics in the series form an acceptable ending.

[DopplerEffect]

11468236
I really, sincerely hope nothing bad has bappened to Ezra, and I hope he'll publish again soon. Going on his profile he was active on this website halfway through last year, so maybe there is hope.

[ezra09]

11468236
Sorry, I do still want to work on this more, but life has a way of getting away with me.

11493737
Still alive, just don't have as much free time/energy as I had in college. Sorry, but thanks for your concern.

[INFUSCATE]

11501417
Heh, you shouldn't feel obligated. The siren song of real life responsibilities can be extremely seductive, and real life matters more than ponyfic anyways. It's just a shame that so many of my favourite fics must meet bitter ends. (Static World not being completed tears me apart every time I remember it ngl.)

[Cold Spike]

Been going through old stories and I feel bad that I still haven't even gotten to the first sequel in this series. I will, soon enough.