Chapter 28- Underhive Wars
The signal came as sudden as it was quiet, yet there was no mistaking it as every ant in the chamber came to a sudden halt. The difference was so extreme that Kalypso rose from her slumber, blinking against the dim light.
“Shh.” Honeydew whispered before she could make a sound. “It is time.”
As he spoke, a new wave of motion came through the crowded chamber, but unlike the previous chaotic shuffling, they now moved with unmistakable purpose as all the smaller ants opened the paths for the larger soldier ants to scuttle onwards into the tunnels, their mandibles clicking in anticipation.
“That’s our cue.” Honeydew whispered hoarsely as he rose from the tiny patch of dirt we’d been given to rest. In a swift motion, he swung his saddlebags onto his back before helping me and Kalypso do the same. Briefly, his hoof touched the little sheath on his bag where the knife would’ve been, and a look of sorrow crossed his face. As insignificant as it would’ve been in the grand scale of things, his weapon would’ve made me feel a bit safer, too. But Honeydew just lowered his hoof, facing the tunnels with a stern expression. “We’ll have to follow them and try to skirt around the battle.”
I think the fact that we wouldn’t be going right into the fighting was the only thing that allowed me to move my stiff legs as I followed Honeydew toward the tunnel. The ants briefly halted at our approach, allowing us to squeeze past before continuing just as before, so we had to adopt their pace. It forced me to push my already tired legs. It’d been hard to get much rest in the ever-bustling chamber, and with the anticipation of what was to come the next morning, we’d only caught brief naps in-between periods of silent waiting.
Swallowing, I told myself to keep going, keep following, trying my best to push away the thought of just what I was heading toward… The sound of a thousand marching ants was already enough to make my skin tingle, as I couldn't help but imagine insects crawling over my body everywhere I couldn't see. My nerves were so on edge that I almost burst out screaming when a real ant crawled past, using a brief widening in the tunnel to get ahead of us.
And this ant was friendly. Maybe that thought should’ve been reassuring, but I could only shudder. “A-are we sure this is a good idea?”
“Farin Gaela wouldn’t let us go unprotected” Honeydew claimed, but I could hear the uncertainty in his voice. “W-we’ll be going around the fighting after all.” Looking back, he asked: “are we going in the right direction?”
“I don’t think we’re going in the wrong direction.” Kalypso mumbled.
“Kalypso?” I began, “are you okay? You’ve been really quiet ever since we got down here.”
“I was?” Kalyps blinked, seemingly surprised by my observation. “I just feel like this place is wrong somehow…” she shuddered after those words. “We shouldn’t be here.”
“No surprise.” Honeydew muttered.
“The queen called you a deep-eyed one.” I said, trying to put on a smile, like we were just having a casual conversation in a casual place, not underground heading toward a hostile army.
“That’s just a name.” Kalypso took a deep breath of the musty air. “Ants believe that truth and knowledge lie with Jörgd deep below us in a great cave below an ocean of fire. They think that seers can get glimpses into the cave, where Jörgd gives us instructions or warnings.”
“And do you think that’s true?”
“If it is, I want to kindly ask if I could just get a clear look around for once instead of just glimpses.” she huffed. “I still don’t know what the frozen pond means, Twilight. I haven’t seen anything more since Myrmelsday, I’m just hoping it’ll all be clear once we find it.”
“It will.” I assured her. “I may not know all about your gods, but I have faith in you. You did find the portal after all.”
“Thank you.” she spoke the words so quietly that for a moment, I almost assumed I’d imagined them.
“No problem.” I responded, even briefly managing to wear a real smile. “Uhm, when the queen said we were moving toward a ‘mountain of fire”, did she mean that… literally?”
“I’m not sure.” Kalypso shrugged. “Windchime spoke of legends that it once housed a raging spirit, spewing fire over the world.”
“There is fire underground for sure.” Honeydew said. “I think the ants use it to make special rocks soft and hard again. It can make their soldiers invulnerable, if they survive the process.”
So those mandible blades I’d seen were made of metal! Probably bronze, judging from the color, though I could be wrong about that, considering the lighting. But what was that about surviving the process? I… wasn’t sure if I even wanted to figure this out or not.
The speed of the procession quickened. Suddenly, I was forced to step aside, squeezing myself into the tunnel walls as ants surged past, each and every one wearing those bronze blades on their mandibles.A few steps later, the light of Honeydew’s feelers touched the edge of the tunnel as it widened into another great, dark chamber, into which ants poured in, disappearing into the darkness with great haste, where I could only hear the pounding of uncountable legs into the gravelly dirt. Then, just as Honeydew was about to step into the chamber, a horribly shrill sound from deep within the chamber made us stop in our tracks while our ears folded back. Metal scraped against metal, creating small sparks in the otherwise complete darkness.
And just like that, as sound exploded in the tight tunnels, the battle for the hive had begun. In an instant, the sound of the one fight expanded hundredfold, as ants rushed in and out our limited circle of light. My heart raced as I stared into the void, but I couldn't make out a thing! Ants screamed out, a shrieking chirp, followed by rips and cracks, coming from every side at once-
“Twilight!” Honeydew screamed, barely audible over the blind carnage. He stood right at the periphery of my visibility. “Don’t just stand there, we need to move.”
But my legs were frozen to the ground. We couldn't do this, going further in was insane! We couldn't see which side was winning, we would run right into the murderants without even knowing! I wanted to go back into the tunnel, away from this crazy underground deathtrap, I WANTED OUT!
Something warm grabbed my hoof. Screaming, I nearly fell over, stumbling into a warm body. Kalypso hissed as she grabbed my hoof tighter. “COME!” She yelled.
“We gotta go back!” I tried to resist, but her pull was stronger than I was. Struggling, I tried to tell her we had to turn back, to find another way, as I shot a look back. And my blood froze as I realized I couldn't see the exit anymore.
Suddenly, an ant launched into our circle of light. Immediately, another insect engaged, their mandibles interlocking as both fought to get a bite on the other. I couldn't make out who won as we ran past them, I didn’t even know which one was on our side! My heart was beating like a jackhammer as we blindly raced through the chamber, Honeydew nearly out of sight, Kalypso at my side, ants everywhere we had to dodge as they ripped each other to pieces. Where are we going? Does Honeydew even know?!
I only had brief second of warning, a motion in the corner of my eye, before a weight rammed into my side and knocked me into a nearby wall. Dazed, disoriented it was only pure luck that allowed me to ram my hoof into the ants body before it's bladed mandibles could tear me open. While stronger, the ant was at least still lighter than me, so even my weak strike was enough to knock it back. The insect recovered quickly however, clicking it's mandibles with a bone-chilling metallic screech before attacking once more.
But it hadn’t counted on me being more than a breezie.
The next moment, a blazing stream of purple energy threw the ant back across the chamber, and for a brief second, the whole room was exposed to the naked eye. Hundreds, if not thousands of ants were locked in their merciless battle to the death, climbing over the bodies of their allies, both living and dead, to get to the enemy, wwith still more ants streaming from nearly every tunnel. And just before the light faded away once more, a large group of them raised their heads to look right at me, freezing the blood in my veins as the dark shrouded them once more.
With only a swift glance to Kalypso, I took off toward Honeydew, a scream burning in my throat, yet all air was needed just to keep my heart from giving out as I ran for my life, the scuttling of ants seeming to drown out every other noise as we reached a side tunnel. Please, Celestia, let it be the right one. I managed to spare a thought to the silent prayer before whirling around, shooting a gleaming web out of my horn, blocking the entrance behind us and allowing us to see our pursuers clearly.
If there were ants on our side, they were quickly overpowered as the swarm piled onto the shield, some even climbing atop as they sank their mandibles into the magical web, as if trying to unravel the magic by literally ripping it apart.
Worst of all, it wasn’t without success! Nearly instantly, I felt the heat rising in my horn, a result of dramatically underestimating the strength of these insects, and how much magic it took at this size to keep a whole swarm of them out. A drop of sweat rolled down my forehead as I slowly stepped back,.
In my effort, I’d missed it. The low grumbling, the rattling of the ground beneath my hooves, until it exploded into a roar of shattering earth, casting dust from the ceiling as the world began to shake. My side hit the floor, and I screamed as rocks dug into my already sore side. With my concentration broken, the barrier flickered out of existence, allowing the swarm to pile in. Terrified, I rolled onto my hooves.
The ceiling broke apart. From one moment to the other, I found myself on the ground once more, my heart hammering in my chest. Dust coated my mouth as I tried to breathe and broke out in violent coughing. My eyes watered and I waved a hoof to disperse the dust, but nothing helped as a stabbing pain grew in my chest, I had to breathe!
Next thing I knew, I was sliding across the ground, saw an orange hue coloring the cloud of dust, and my wheezing breath caught a bit of fresh, stale underground air!
“Twilight,” I heard Honeydew’s voice like it came from far away. “Are you okay?”
Unable to answer as another coughing fit took hold, I tried to haul myself up. Almost immediately, I could feel my knees buckle, but Honeydew rushed in to support me.
“Can you move?” Kalypso stepped into our sphere of light, wearing a look of worry. “I know you’re battered, but I’d rather not spend any more time down here than we have to.”
“Me neither.” I affirmed, grimacing at how raspy my voice sounded. “Who knows if this could happen again.” Narrowing my eyes, I glared up at the solid ceiling. I just wanted out of here already, to see the light of day or at least the moon again. Why couldn't it just go away?! Breathing a long sigh, I steered myself back to more rational thought. “Is this the right tunnel?”
“I think so.” Honeydew nodded as he slowly withdrew his support, allowing me to walk by my own strength again. “But I haven’t been here before, so I can’t say for sure. Not that it matters,” he added, pointing back where the rubble blocked the path. “There is only one way we can go.”
“I’d feel better, knowing we were on the right track.” I muttered under my breath as I rubbed my sore spots.
A light rumble went through the ground, causing us all to freeze on the spot. With my heart hammering, I stared at the ceiling , but the quake had already stopped, doing no more than cause a bit of dust to whirl up. Still, it took us several more moments to continue onwards.
My nerves were stretched to the breaking point as we creeped through the tunnel. We may have circumvented the battle, but there was still a whole hive of hostile ants somewhere out there, there could be hundreds heading right toward us this very moment! Every now and then, another tremor would add a new shock to my already upset heart.
Suddenly, Honeydew came to a halt, hissing as he glanced at something in front of him. After the first startled second, it became clear that whatever it was, it wasn’t dangerous, as Honeydew didn’t simply drew his head back. “You… you should come see this.” he whispered, ushering us forward.
It was dead. The realisation came almost quicker than the observation that it was an ant. An ant so dismembered, so brutally torn to pieces that I felt sickly just looking at it. Even the individual segments were cracked open, leaving parts of the poor insects as mere shards of chitin.
“I- ants don’t do this, right?” Kalypso whispered.
“Usually not.” Honeydew bit his lip. “But nothing about this is normal.”
“Well, it’s creeping me out.” she shuddered as she looked away from the corpse. “Even more reason not to stick around.”
Giving her a quick nod, I shot one last look at the remains, before- my thoughts ground to a halt as I perceived something from the corner of my eyes, a spot in which the darkness seemed even more dense, amassed around a single, flickering dot. Whirling around, I tried to get a better look-
Nothing. A drop of sweat rolled down my forehead as I stared into the darkness, even increased the light from my feelers, but still nothing!
The darkness was getting to me…
Suppressing a shiver, I followed the others. It must’ve been my imagination, being in the dark for so long, obviously you’d start seeing things…
Of course, there was something that had dismembered the ant further back. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to banish those thoughts out of my brain, yet they were like slimy eels, sliding out of my mental grasp with surprising agility.
It was eerie, only being able to hear your own sounds. Even in the forest, there had always been the rustling of leaves in the wind. Even after snowfall, there’d been the whistling of the wind or the creaking of snow-laden branches. Now it was just our own hoofsteps, resounding in our confined space.
“Something’s wrong…” I could hear Kalypso whisper. “I feel like something’s watching us.”
Honeydew silently trudged on, neither affirming nor disagreeing with her.
I took a deep breath, biting on my underlip to calm it down. “L-lets just go on.” I muttered. At least there hadn’t been a quake in a while. Something to take a degree of comfort in.
“How long until we reach the exit?” I asked.
“I haven’t been here, how would I-”
“Guess, then.” I demanded, feeling a shiver go through my body as we passed a root bursting from the ceiling. For a moment, it had looked to me like the leg of some spider-like creature.
We shouldn’t be here, I thought, unable to ignore the… wrongness I felt about this place.
“Well, we’re not going further down anymore.” he said. “So I think we’re at the deepest part, so… maybe we’ll arrive in the afternoon.
I had no idea when that would be, an hour? Two? Six? But I knew better than to ask for specif-
A faint scratching noise disrupted my thoughts, like a razor-sharp claw that almost quietly parted a piece of paper. My whole body tingling, I turned back to the source of the noise.
The root had moved. From the dark outline I could make out now hung a long, spindly leg, reaching all the way to the ground. As I watched, another slowly grew out of the ceiling, moving almost gracefully, gloomier than even the surrounding darkness.
Suddenly, I felt something strike against my cheek. “RUN!” Kalypso shouted in my face, her expression wracked by blank fear
Hearing a light thump behind me was all I needed to take off, spurned on by the sound of metal clicking on rock at a rapid pace. “It’s catching up!” I gasped, channeling energy into my horn, erecting a glowing barrier in the creature’s path, a grin growing on my face-
Before the creature sliced through the barrier like an overripe tomato. A stabbing pain tore into my horn and I let out a scream as I ran once more, my heart ready to burst in my chest.
“DON’T LOOK BACK, JUST RUN!” Kalypso screamed.
“I’m trying!” I gasped. “But I can’t keep-”
My eyes opened.
I was sitting on mulchy ground, my sore hooves resting in what I could only assume was mud. I blinked against the darkness. My feelers would only flicker when I tried to make light, as well as causing me a headache. With a frown, I poked my chest. Had it just been imagination? I certainly felt like I’d just ran for my life. And where were Kalypso and Honeydew?! Whirling around, I was about to shout their names when I clearly heard Kalypso’s voice.
“I think we got away. But we shouldn’t rest for too long. Something else could lurk in here.”
Got… away? Those words felt like a massive ball of ice in my stomach. Then it’d been real? But- what? “What was that?!” I blurted out, suddenly realizing just how dry my throat was. Nonetheless, I faced the direction I’d heard her voice come from.
A second later, Kalypso’s feelers lit up, revealing her expression, a twitchy, fearful look in her sunken eyes. “All I know was that it felt wrong, Twilight, I’ve never seen something like this before. A-and if I had, I’d probably not be here anymore!”
“So neither of you have gotten a clear look at it, either?” Honeydew asked.
We shook our heads.
“Uhm.. how did we get away?”
“Pure luck.” Kalypso sighed. “Another cave-in separated us from the monster…. You dropped to the ground shortly after, I thought it was your doing.”
My… but- causing cave-ins was insanity, I- my head hurt.
“We have very few tales of underground creatures.” Kalypso whispered. “But… maybe it is connected to the winds of Fjermengard. Remember the myth? The battles between the Heistin and Jörgd caused great damage to the world they fought over. Jörgd’s realm is the ground, earth… who says the depth of the earth do not contain horrors as terrible as the ocean? Maybe the spirits of the earth are rising to fight the spirit of ice!”
Puzzled, I rose a hoof. “That... isn’t that a good thing?”
“Are you blind?!” she barked at me, her feelers growing brighter. “Haven’t you seen the ant hive, or the thing that just chased us?! Great damage to the world, Twilight. Maybe they can fight off the winds, but who knows if there’ll be a forest left here after they’re done!” She took a deep breath before turning to Honeydew. “Get us out of here, please. I am sick of this place.”
“O-of course, Frindrì.” He nodded, and we continued our path. To the surface.
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Finale...? Nnnoooooooo.... /Darth Vader
9776861
I can't introduce more than one side-quest just before the final boss fight, can I? XD
9776869
Not really, no... It's just that I was hoping for more slice of life Honeydew v. Twilight.
9776883
sorry to disappoint
Who boy that could of ended very bad very fast
9776901
how was the arc in your opinion?
9776909
The arc in my opinion while not perfect it has its flaws (one being the fact the seem to be in to much danger but that's just me) it is very good and I would like to see twilight sit down with her bae and give it to him straight she can't stay but he can go with her his choice
I'm thinking it might have been something that looks like a mantis.
9776889
No worries! It's (almost) always the best outcome as a reader to have become invested in the characters themselves after all.
I just hope there's either a fat epilogue or a sequel with the consequences and developments of contact and relationship. Or better yet, both!
What a coincidence that Kurzgesagt released a video on ants recently (specifically ones that love ripping others to shreds). Those ones did not master metallurgy yet though.
And a finale to come next? I... don't think this story can be well finished with only a single more chapter, even in the length ballpark of so far longest 6989 words. Admittedly I do not know what is planned for it, but there just seems to be way too much left for a good closure. There could be an epilogue after I guess, but the idea still just feels abrupt. Guess we'll see what happens.
Didn't read Murky yet, so dunno what the things are. I am planning on doing so eventually though, so hey...
9778475
I strongly advise you read Murky. It might very well be the best thing that has come out of this fandom by just how well it is constructed.
Heck, I'll have to take the time to read it again, despite how freakishly long it is.
On another note, I kind of disagree, I dont think the story has place for anything but the finale to come next. Think about it, what plotline IS left here?
9778572
I've read FoE and Horizons. I can probably manage Murky, but I am not currently in the reading mood for something stupidly long.
As far as I can tell (and I am guessing here) the plotline left is:
Meanwhile the last chapter was:
I just don't see how you can fit everything needed into one chapter, unless there's an epilogue after, and that *might* not be enough either for a satisfying conclusion. Not that I don't trust you to make it work somehow, but I'll just have to wait and see as to what that "somehow" is.
Also near everyone is hoping for a sequel, though that will likely not come anytime soon, if ever. :P
I have read FoE and Project Horizons as well as some of the further spin-offs such as Pink Eyes. Haven't read Murky 7 though suppose I could add it to my all ready long read-later list.
As to this chapter I rather enjoyed the unseen battle and monsters, it added oomph to Twilight's terror as we were just as much in the dark as she was (no pun intended).
That being said, I have to agree with the majority of other comments regarding your proclamation of the next chapter being the last. It seems really abrupt and it will be difficult to bring this story to a satisfying conclusion even if you also wrote an epilogue.
But it is your story, so you do only as much or as little as you are comfortable with.
Keep up the good work,
Your friend,
Birdsbooksbrownies
9792655
thanks for your thoughts. I would definitely recommend Murky, I also read Fallout Equestria, Project Horizons, Pinke Eyes, Heroes and some less known others. And imo, Murky outclasses them all in sheer quality.
Back to this story, I personallly do not think that there is that much to wrap up at all in this story (I cant exactly say my thoughts in detail, because spoiler) and I think the suddenness is more because we exit what is essentially a side-quest to arrive at the conclusion of the story. I kinda tried to link it back to the main plot by Kalypso making the connection that the ants problems might be a further side-effect of the windigo being there. Alas, I must assume it did not work, and the pacing is screwed here. This was kind of bound to happen eventually, tbh, this story hasnt been planned out beyond its most basic structure. The reason the whole ant-arc exists at all is because I thought we already had too many "travel through snow and eventually the windigo shows up for a bit" sequences.
So...yeah, I agree it wont be easy, but I think its a pacing problem, not of having too many things to tie up in the end. (this wasnt quite your criticism, but I've seen it mentioned
9792668
Fair enough, perhaps once you are finished with this story, you could follow up with either an epilogue or a short sequel (one or so chapters) to clean up any loose ends or popular questions from your fanbase like what have Twilight's friends in Equestria been up to all this time, or perhaps a time skip to Twilight relating her adventures as a breezie to her friends, the Princesses, or a letter to them with the very end being like how earlier seasons always wrapped up with the words "Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle ". That would make in my personal opinion a nice solid way to end the story. But as you are the author, I will bow to your wisdom on where this story goes.
9792677
you- you think I have wisdom?
I still think I have a nice ending planned, nonetheless, but do not set your expectations too high: The happenings in Equestria are outside the scope of this story. I really dont think you'd actually enjoyed it if I did a lengthy exposition dump at the end on what each of her friends have been doing in the meantime.
9792684
Oh, no no, I wasn't thinking along the lines of aTL:DR info dump, more along the lines of a scene or two where the girls got together to see if there had been any news on or from Twilight (presuming that she didn't just up and vanish without a word on account of overwhelming curiosity) and briefly talking about "current events". Doesn't even have to be terribly detailed something like AJ saying something like "How you holdin' up sugarcube?" And a brief response.
But don't worry, my expectations are only such that you will draw the story to a decent ending. My thoughts are merely that, thoughts and simple suggestions which you're free to do with as you wish.
As you wanted, I made your second Review in My little Reviews & Feedback
camo.fimfiction.net/nTsYL2JfiPQN-4kS4U7d-4nWHGXy5_SpBqMd7xWIn3w?url=https%3A%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2FTSIxlufwAzUzuLvkAyR2Omysqduhb6VGCFrlfRQjz-TYmxgHzNVHt6nAz4npC8GCOr4lyKZr_k04NQzMI5Kt9ZPGzXKDsSWYadMRkJr7swMgzkGgDNXnD71p8OGSY6ykwOJ3E2JF
Oh wow that must be very terrifying to hear that specially they're trying to kill each other this is some scary ants
Oh geez that's pretty gruesome but I guess that's how War ants are when they attack each other 😰
Oh my God that was pretty terrifying I will have to say so Twilight in the others had to go through the battlefield in order to get out of this cave it was a pretty panicking reducing when other ants were attacking each other and probably attacking them as well and it was pretty gruesome to see too as well and whatever the unknown creatures they were running away from was not natural again it must be the weather affecting every creatures around them right now they need to get out as fast as they can
Great chapter, the hive escape sequence in particular was intense. I love the ways Two is reminded that she's more vulnerable in this form than she expects, it goes a long way toward showing how capable Honeydew and Kalypso are in their world