Never Lucky

by Ferris the 1st

Chapter 30: Treasure Hunting

The air within the cave, while a fraction cooler than the air outside, was much staler. It was the equivalent of marching into a tomb of some kind with the various remains of previous spelunkers littering the floor around me. True, the bones and equipment was getting more and more sparse, but what came after was far more horrifying. Over there, a hole in the wall just large enough to fit a pony in while on the other side was a pile of rocks with the floor stained with dried blood.

The voice had departed some time ago, leaving me alone with the sound of my own breathing heavy in my ears. My thoughts were equally loud in my skull as I skirted small pools of magma, carefully watching the ceiling in case something decided to drip. On more than one occasion, I found the ground breaking under my hooves and sending me sprawling to the ground.

The entire time, I found my path was slowly leading upwards. I marveled at the sculpted look of my path, but it wasn't my objective. Gathering my thoughts, I tried to figure out exactly what I was looking for, this weapon called the Reach of Sol. I'd gotten a crash course in enchantments and possible effects from Glass, but the entire thing was vague.

From the story Sunslayer had given me, I could assume that it was linked to Princess Celestia in some way, but in what way? It could range anywhere from being a light on a stick to some world ending armament. I was going to lean toward the latter considering the distance the featherbrain was willing to go to obtain it.

That left me with a powerful question: what was I going to do?

I couldn't just hoof over something like that to Sunslayer, but to keep it away from him would be to sacrifice Martial and the rest. That thought sat wrong with me in so many ways, but what was my alternative? I shook my head. Theoretical thoughts had to be pushed to the side right now because it all meant nothing if I couldn't find the damned thing and I was on a ticking clock.

I wasn't sure what sort of enchantment was on the mask I was wearing, but it was invaluable at the moment. Judging from the tint the air was taking periodically, it would have killed me to breathe the air in here. The path I was following took a sudden turn and began to spiral upwards, leading me to believe that I was following a path that had been carved out of the stone.

What do you think of my lair, little pony? I spent years forging a throne that I could rule from; crafting a palace to ensure that my subjects knew how far beneath me they were... and then your kind came.

Oh great, he was back. After my initial fear had given way to a grim determination, I found that spooky voices from nowhere were more annoying than anything else. Especially when they were self-important jerks. Where was a silence spell when you needed it?

Your precious rulers invaded the sanctity of my home. They demanded that I tell my kind, the beasts of air and fire, the one true alpha predator, to cease their ways. Arrogance. Prey demanding anything of their hunters!? There was only one way to answer such foolishness...

I suppressed a snort. It probably wasn't a good idea to start chattering sarcastically at the spirit of a Dragon Lord. How was that even a thing? Part of me wished I had a unicorn on hoof to explain all of this to me, but it was a little late for that.

Yet still you persist on coming here. Equines, felines, canines, bovines! The strong, the weak, the intelligent, the stupid! You all come to this place seeking something! You will answer me, pony! What is it that you all want so desperately as to come to this place!?

I paused in my step, flicking my ears. Well, if the big, bad dragon lord had information, perhaps that would make this easier, “I'm afraid that I must answer your question with a question, my lord,” I intoned respectfully; stories said that dragons were suckers for that sort of thing, “but have you ever heard of a weapon called the Reach of Sol?”

The effect was immediate. As the words left my lips, the mountain shook as a spectral hiss filled the tunnel around me.

So, the wench of the sun desires the thing that served to end me!? I will not surrender it! It is mine now! I have claimed it for my hoard as repayment for the injustice she delivered upon me! My soul is eternal and I will rise again! I will drive her own weapon into her flesh and we shall see how she fares with it stuck in her bones for a thousand years!

He continued to grumble to himself as I started moving again. Well, it wasn't much to go on, but I guessed that I was on the right track. I wasn't sure how long I spent following the spiraling path upwards, but I finally emerged into the open air again. A flat expanse of obsidian stretched out around me and could have housed the majority of Canterlot on its surface.

The smokescreen that had accompanied me up until this point seemed reluctant to cover this place. Clear air dominated the peak of the dark mountain, but it was the thing filling the great expanse that drew the breath from me in awe.

Most ponies will probably never have any idea just how big a dragon can get. Sure, there were stories about those that towered like small mountains and breathed fire that could devastate countrysides, but it's one thing to hear about them and another to see them. While the dragon before me was not among the living and lacked scale or flesh, its skeleton was bigger than anything I could ever begin to describe.

Some form of twisted magic kept it whole, even as the spine vanished off the far side of the mountain. To either side of me, gargantuan claws, seared into a dry, cracked alabaster color dug into the stone, anchoring the thing to the place. Not even a few yards from myself, the skull towered over me like a skyscraper in Manehatten.

The empty sockets far above me held a swirling, eldritch light that bore down into me. This had been a beast of legend, a king of kings and even in the strange undeath that surrounded him, Ragnarok's presence was a physical force that sought to bring me to my knees.

Gaze upon me, pony. Know the wrath that will come down upon your pathetic race when I am freed of this prison of her making! This is my gift to you out of praise of your spirit! Now, begone before I bring down my wrath upon you as well!

I was beginning to hate being me. Letting out a long sigh, I did my best to ignore the gaze far above me and wandered closer. The spear was somewhere in this bone yard if I could take this guy at his word, stuck into his skeleton. Passing beside the massive jaw, I wondered just where somepony would strike to bring him down. The heart maybe? It was just a guess, but I had to start somewhere.

The entire journey was made irritating as Ragnarok continued to hurl insults and threats at me. As if it wasn't bad enough that there was literally miles of bones to search for this thing. Of course, this was all assuming that everything stayed more or less calm like this. It did not.

Only about ten minutes had passed when a deep hissing drew my attention. Whirling my head around, I caught sight of a large shape lumbering around the plateau with me. Then another... and another. They were bulky, quadrupedal things covered in thick, leathery hides. Over the grumbling of the spirit watching my every move, a crackling began to grow in volume.

Finally, one of the creatures decided that there had been enough build up. Landing in front of me, it revealed itself. Lizard in shape, but covered in jagged skin that formed a sort of armor over its body. A bright orange underbelly was barely visible as it glared down at me with reptilian eyes while the rest was a burnt brown. As the creature glared down at me, its back suddenly ignited like a miniature inferno.

Salamanders are wonderful creatures, aren't they? Ragnarok taunted, and they do make the most delightful treats. It's been agony watching them build nests in my remains. An eternity of hunger-

I stopped listening at that point as I was forced to dodge away from a swipe of the salamander's claws. The familiar, cord-snapping sensation filled my chest as I flopped backwards in time to avoid a snap of another's teeth. Grunting as I forced myself to twist and clamber to my hooves, I darted away from the creatures as fast as I could.

Snarls and hisses surrounded me as I fled deeper into the rib cage of the fallen dragon lord. Salamander's of all shapes and sizes nipped at my hooves from alcoves within our alabaster maze. Above it all, the mocking laughter of Ragnarok shook the peak around us. For a time, the only thoughts I had were of survival as I jumped, ducked, flopped, skidded, and squeezed my way out the jaws of the salamanders over and over, but I was running out of steam.

Wouldn't you know it that during my wild run, the fire of a nearby salamander glinted off of something golden. It was on the other side of a wall of angry fire-lizards, but it had to be what I was looking for. New plan, get it and get out before I became lunch!

I let out a yelp as a pair of jaws snapped closed in front of my face. Instinctively, I put both my forehooves on the massive nose in front of me as it pushed forward, only for a similar sensation to hit my back hooves. Panicked, I pushed off of the leathery surface behind me and narrowly managed to avoid landing on the fiery back of another.

I had very few options in the matter, so I continued to push forward. Slide, jump, pray, and hope. That was the name of the game as I darted between salamanders, leaving them to bite at each other and the snarls of pain might have been funny if I wasn't running for my life toward the glint of gold... several feet above me.

How in the Tartarus was I supposed to-

Whack!

A tail blindsided me with the force of a cannon and I was airborne. Again. I was really starting to hate the feeling and wondered how the pegasi and thestrals managed it. Thankfully, it was sending me in the direction I needed to go and I wrapped my hooves around the object in question and grunted as I slammed belly first into one of Ragnarok's ribs.

Held firm in my hooves was a... rather simple looking spear. On first glance anyways. The haft was composed of an ebony wood with segments of gold looped around it every little bit. It was the head of the spear that drew attention though. The gilded blade was sunk into the rib and the guard depicted the image of a golden alicorn with its wings spread wide.

The Reach of Sol was in my grasp.

...Now I just had to dislodge it.... and escape this death trap.

Grunting with the effort, I tried to ignore the fact that not only was there a nest of hungry fire creatures blazing beneath me, but also a dead dragon lord shouting about how the spear was his. Pressing my back hooves against the rib in front of me, I strained, yanking on the damned thing for all I was worth. It didn't budge. Matters were made worse by the fact that I was essentially a hanging treat and the salamanders had remembered what jumping was.

Aside from a few moments of hot breath on my flank, everything seemed to be going well... until I felt jaws lock around my hanging tail. Standing on the back of one of its fallen brethren, a salamander had me and was starting to pull down on me as I held onto the spear for my life.

I wasn't sure which was going to give first: my hooves or my tail, but as fate would have it, the answer was neither. As I gritted my teeth and growled in pain, the fire-breathed abomination was doing what I hadn't been able to do. With a sudden crack, the spear came loose and the three of us, myself, the salamander, and the Reach of Sol, fell toward the ground.

I wasn't quite sure what happened as we hit the ground. All I know is that it went salamander, then me, then spear. As countless maws closed in on me, eager to devour me, I closed my eyes and prepared for the end. Then, with a clink, the spear hit the ground...

...and the world exploded.

My hooves wrapped tightly around the spear, I watched in lethal-time as the ground fragmented around the blade of the weapon I was holding. In a burst of brilliant, golden light, salamanders were sent flying in every direction as the cracks in the ground spread from the point of impact to the edge of the plateau.

Everything stood still for a breath... and then the world caved in. More accurately, the roof of the mountain collapsed and fiery, orange light appeared between the cracks. Ragnarok joined in me in a scream of mortal terror as we and a plethora of salamanders began to fall towards bubbling lava.

In the chaos of it all, I never noticed the lone figure standing at the relative safety of the rim. I was still screaming in fear as I felt something catch my hind hoof and tighten, swinging me to slam into the rock wall some distance away. Momentarily stunned, all I could do was instinctively cling to the artifact in my hooves as I watched the mighty skeleton of Ragnarok descend into the unforgiving pool below and sink below the surface.

When my brain finally decided to reboot, the only thing I could do was start laughing hysterically.

“I'M ALIVE!!”

Comments

[StarzGecko]

Lucky is the mighty hero of luck and bone dry salon

[Emperor]

Oh good, Lucky was lucky enough that pulling the Reach of Sol out if its resting place didn't somehow allow Ragnarok to restore himself to his former glory and go on to wreak death and destruction. Now he just has to figure out how to use the Reach of Sol to stop Sunslayer and his minions from making out with the artifact, but that might not happen. We need a proper climax after all, and in the volcano just wouldn't do it!