Beneath the Surface

by Racingwolf

Chapter 5 – Take Her Place

Beneath the Surface

Chapter 5 – Take Her Place

Twilight ran frantically through the cave’s mazelike passages. She had managed to evade her pursuers for a time, but they weren’t as clueless about the unused tunnels as she and her friends had hoped. When she had the chance, she used her wings, but most of the tunnels were too small or had ceilings too low for flying to be much of an advantage.

There were more unicorns chasing her now than there had been earlier; from the shouts she could hear at times behind her, it sometimes sounded like half the unicorns left in the cave were following her. She was often left with little time to choose a new route, and many times was forced to leap into random tunnels in the hope it would throw off at least some of the unicorns following her. Fear of reaching a dead end weighed heavily on her mind with every turn.

She reached a path that split off into two tunnels, and without much time to think, she chose the smallest one. At least if they followed, they could only follow one at a time. With her wings pressed close to her body and her horn lit up enough just to see a few paces ahead of her, she charged onward, trying to ignore her ever increasing exhaustion.

Dim lighting from up ahead got her attention, and for a moment she panicked, thinking her enemies had cut her off. But then she realized that it wasn’t moving closer, and as she ran on, the tunnel widened out, the ceiling no longer so close to her head.

It was time to use her wings.

Twilight spread her wings and soared toward the ceiling, trying to keep as close to it as possible. Glad for the chance to give her legs a break, she risked a glance over her shoulder.

That was when she saw the head and front hooves of one of the unicorns charging toward her out of the darkness. He fired a spell at her, which she barely managed to dodge. He was getting ready for a second shot, but luckily Twilight saw that up ahead, the tunnel opened up even wider. With all her might, she sped forward.

-ooo-

Thorax lay with his head between his forelegs as he stared into the gloom of the massive cavern in front of him, the eerily glowing moss lighting up the stone formations. He couldn’t see Spike or Starlight from his position at the moment, but he knew that if they shouted, he would hear them.

His panic had mostly subsided, but instead he just felt exhaustion in its place. He could not stop thinking of what might be happening to his other friends, or where in the cave they were at that moment.

A beam of light flashed through the gloom, brightly illuminating the further side of the cavern before it struck the ceiling with a boom. Thorax jolted upright, peering out of the tunnel opening to try to get a glimpse of Starlight and Spike.

Before he could spot them, more lights appeared at the far end of the cavern, where a large opening served as a ‘window’ into another open area. A pony darted through it in the air, barely ahead of where the beams of magical light were striking. The light of the spells was much brighter than the glowing moss, casting enough light for him to recognize the fleeing pony.

It was Twilight.

Alarmed, Thorax took to the air to get a better view, watching as Twilight vanished beyond his vision, and a group of white unicorns thundered after her, not noticing him at his distance. He froze, only his wings beating, as his first thought told him that he needed to find Spike and Starlight. But another part of him told him to run to Twilight’s aid.

There were lights coming from a few other tunnels on the other side of the cavern. He could now see Starlight and Spike racing back toward him, looks of terror on their faces.

Thorax knew they couldn’t leave Twilight to be caught by that furious group of unicorns. But what could they do? What could he do? As thoughts raced through his mind, he thought of something.

Trying to summon his courage, he looked toward Spike and Starlight, knowing they’d probably also seen Twilight and the unicorns run by. Teal magic engulfed him, and it when it vanished, he looked like an exact copy of Twilight. Giving Spike and Starlight a look of determination that he hoped masked his fear, he sped across the cavern and into the tunnel Twilight and the unicorns had gone.

Flying through the wide cavern Twilight had run through, Thorax kept his gaze fixed ahead. The sounds from the chase echoed in the tunnel and made it difficult for him to tell how far ahead Twilight’s pursuers were. He could see some lights in the near distance. It seemed like fewer spells were being fired, and he hoped that Twilight had managed to lose them. He tried to gather more courage as he sped toward the light of the spells. No matter what happened, they could not capture Twilight. Starlight had said that they might not hurt the others, but the purpose they wanted to use an alicorn for would kill her. If there was anything he could do, he couldn’t let that happen.

As he approached the unicorns, he heard commands being shouted. They were approaching two different tunnels and one unicorn was shouting at the group to split up. Thorax knew that no matter which tunnel Twilight had entered, the unicorns were bound to find her quickly.

Thorax lit up his horn with teal magic and fired a weak spell in the direction of the running unicorns. Several of them turned around, and when they discovered the source, their eyes went wide. “The alicorn’s back there!” one cried. “She can still teleport!”

“There’s no way-” the one who seemed to be leading the group began, but as she turned around, she spotted Thorax and her mouth dropped open. “What in Equestria…turn around!” She raised her voice loud enough so that all the unicorns in the group heard. “Everypony, back this way!”

The confusion that followed as most of the unicorns fought to reorganize themselves in the small space gave Thorax the time he needed to speed off in the direction opposite of where Twilight had gone. Within seconds, however, the group of unicorns was racing after him, every one of their horns lit.

“Keep her in your sights!” the mare, now at the back of the group, shouted. “Don’t let her fool you again!”

As Thorax flew down the tunnel, he noticed with unease that it narrowed the further he got. One of the unicorns fired a particularly far-reaching spell that zoomed past his feathered wingtip. They could still see him, and as long as they could see him, they wouldn’t suspect that Twilight was somewhere else.

As the tunnel got narrower and the ceiling lower, Thorax was soon forced to tuck his wings to his side and run. He could hear hoofsteps pounding behind him, sounding like they were getting louder. Did these unicorns ever get tired?

Thorax emerged from the small tunnel into a larger area with several connecting passages. He had no idea which one led where, but he had no time to think. He swerved into a tunnel to his right and continued running.

When the unicorns emerged from the small tunnel entrance shortly after, they quickly split up, a small group going in each tunnel.

-ooo-

The unicorns had all raced after the transformed Thorax, but none of them had noticed that Spike and Starlight were watching from the darkness of the larger cavern. The sounds of the chaos quickly faded further away, leaving an eerie stillness in its wake. Were it not for the distant shouts and the marks left by spells on the walls near the tunnel the unicorns had just run through, it would have seemed like nothing had happened.

Feeling like she’d finally caught her breath after the dash across the cavern, Starlight stepped closer. “He just-”

“They were after Twilight, so Thorax distracted them,” Spike responded, echoing Starlight’s own thoughts. He turned to Starlight frantically. “Who knows what they’ll do if they catch him and find out! We have to go after them!” He grabbed one of Starlight’s forelegs and tried to pull her toward the entrance to the large tunnel.

“Wait!” Starlight exclaimed. “We need some sort of plan. We can’t just run after them or they’ll-”

“I’m not leaving him alone with them!” Spike protested, and before Starlight had a chance to object, he let go of her hoof and began running toward the tunnel.

“Spike!” she shouted, realizing immediately that she’d said it too loudly. Spike made no response, so she ran after him. She reached the edge of the opening into the tunnel as Spike vanished from view.

“You!” a voice shouted, coming from somewhere behind.

Starlight whirled around, seeing two more unicorns climbing out of a small tunnel. They looked to be alone, which was some relief, but without her magic, Starlight didn’t think she could hold her own against them.

She couldn’t lead them toward Spike. She didn’t want to split up, but she could think of nothing else to do. Spike was in enough danger as it was. And she was sure she could lose two unicorns in the tunnels.

Without a word, she turned and darted across the cavern, jumping up onto some rocks to reach a higher tunnel opening. She climbed inside it as quickly as possible, wanting to put as much distance between herself and the unicorns.

She needn’t have bothered. As the two unicorns approached, they noticed the telltale spell marks and signs of commotion in the big tunnel before they reached her.

“Look at all this,” one said. “They had to have chased the alicorn this way. Forget the unicorn, she can’t do any damage without magic. I want to be part of the group that brings Twilight back.”

The other unicorn agreed, and they headed into the tunnel, following the most recent spell marks.

By the time Starlight realized she wasn’t being chased, she also realized that she wasn’t sure of her way back.

-ooo-

Thorax sped through a winding tunnel, not daring to look back. He could hear shouts and hoofbeats, but he had no idea how far behind his pursuers were. He brightened the light coming from his false alicorn horn, hoping that they were still following him and that they hadn’t somehow stumbled upon the real Twilight again in the maze of passages. He had no idea where he was going, or what he planned to do, all he could think of was leading them away from Twilight, away from the one whose life they were planning to take.

He reached a longer section of tunnel that simply sloped downwards instead of twisting. He charged down it, and when he was halfway across, the tunnel lit up and he ducked to avoid a spell that seemed like it had been fired from a longer distance.

Maybe they were getting tired, he hoped. That couldn’t help with their aim or spellcasting ability. He focused his attention on the way ahead, where the tunnel curved again and he could briefly put a wall between him and the closest unicorn. He felt the ground beneath his hooves tremble as he rounded the corner, looking around for his next path to take.

He ran right into an open area with unicorns blocking every exit.

Thorax skidded to a halt, realizing that there was nowhere to run. The room was larger than the tunnels, but the ceiling still low; he couldn’t fly his way out of there. Without thinking, he started to back up, only to hear a spell hit the ground behind his hind legs. He glanced over his shoulder to see a line of unicorns standing in the tunnel behind him. He turned back around to realize that the horns of every unicorn guarding the exits to the room were lit.

In the center, a mare stood as if she’d been waiting for him. “So,” she said, stepping forward as magic sprung to life around her own twisted horn, “this is the ‘Princess of Friendship?’”

Thorax crouched down. Terror washed over him, the adrenaline from the chase quickly wearing off. “Are…are you Scarlet?” he asked, in Twilight’s voice.

“No,” the mare replied. “But she’ll be happy to see you.” She stepped closer to Thorax, examining his transformed body. “It’s fascinating, isn’t it? New alicorns springing up out of nowhere. And you’re so young, too.” She paused to look at the cutie mark on his flank. “I assume this means that you’re a gifted magic user?” She smirked. “I don’t know how you and those ponies and the dragon got in here, but you had the sense to stick to tunnels that made teleportation difficult, and you did a good job of tiring us out. So, we’ll let Scarlet and Comet deal with you.”

A stallion stepped up next to her, his gaze threatening. “You’re coming with us, Twilight. Do not open your wings, and do not use any magic.” He angled his head toward one of the other tunnels, which Thorax now realized led to a path that glowed with light from the crystal orbs he’d seen in many of the tunnels. The unicorn in front of that path stepped aside. Thorax was pushed toward the center of the room, where all the pale unicorns gathered around him, ready to cast spells at the slightest sign of resistance.

Thorax felt his fear rising. Whatever the consequences of his choice were, he was about to face them. “Wait…where are we-”

“Just come with us,” the mare leading the group replied. “We’re walking there. If you can run through all those tunnels, you can handle a walk.” Looking around at the unicorns, Thorax figured most of them were too tired for a teleport, but not too tired to stop him if he tried to flee.

Shaking, Thorax was forced to walk amongst the group of unicorns. He hoped that wherever Twilight was, she was far away from here. And that somehow, his other friends were able to find one another, and to find the artifact, or at least a safer place.

-ooo-

Spike had realized quickly that Starlight wasn’t following him. The thought filled him with dread, as he knew that splitting up was a bad idea, and he didn’t know if she was in danger. Had some of the shouts he’d heard been coming from back in the mossy cavern where Starlight was? He had no idea how to tell. He wanted to go back, but he was sure Thorax was in more immediate danger. The stone walls around him were marked with spells that had missed, some of them having singed the stone and were made visible by remnants of glowing moss. Even if the tunnel split up ahead, he had a path to follow.

Hoofsteps sounded behind him, and he felt a surge of panic. He darted behind a rock near a wall, watching as two other unicorns thundered past. Where had they come from? They were running from the direction of the moss cavern, so he feared they had come across Starlight. Spike briefly debated what to do. He again decided that Thorax was in bigger danger, so once the unicorns’ bodies had faded into the darkness up ahead, he got up and followed them. As he did, he grabbed a small bit of the moss from the wall so that he would have something to see by when the tunnel got darker up ahead. He had to find and help Thorax. If Thorax was willing to put himself in danger for Twilight, Spike could do the same for him.

-ooo-

Thorax had been led through various well-lit tunnels, often attracting the attention of other unicorns in the larger areas. At one point, he’d seen a few small foals peering at him from the entrance to another bright tunnel, but they were hurriedly shooed away by a couple of the adults. Thorax had thought they’d be heading to the underground city he’d glimpsed while first exploring the tunnels, but they had passed it by and he only got a quick look at the buildings through some openings in the tunnel wall.

Instead, they forced him to walk until they came to a large set of metal doors built into the end of the tunnel. A unicorn at the front of the group rang a bell hanging near the doors, and they all stood and waited. Thorax was terrified, but he knew that for the sake of Twilight, he needed to keep up the charade.

The doors opened, revealing the entrance to a chamber larger than any Thorax had seen so far. He was aware that many of the unicorns surrounding him were pointing their horns straight at him as he was made to walk through the doors.

Thorax found himself looking around the cavern. It was lit by the same crystal orbs he had seen in other areas, though most of the light was clustered around a space in the middle, which was surrounded on most sides by tall rocks that had been carved into shelves. Beyond that, Thorax could see immense stone pillars that spanned the height of the cavern, lit up faintly by the orbs near them. He couldn’t see any other entrances or exits aside from the door he’d just been brought through.

He was forced to march forward over uneven, rocky ground toward the brightly lit spot in the center, where he could see a unicorn sitting in front of what he realized was a very large version of a crystal orb. As they approached, the unicorn turned from it to look at them, not seeming surprised in the least.

One of the unicorns leading Thorax dipped her head politely. “Golden Comet, we’ve found her.”

Thorax found himself crouching toward the ground as the unicorns backed away from him, leaving him in clear view of the new unicorn. He couldn’t stop himself from shaking as Golden Comet stood up and made his way over. Unlike most of the others, Comet was taller and bulkier than the ponies Thorax was used to, maybe even more so than the Crystal Empire guards. His pale coat had a faint yellowish tint.

“Very good, thank you,” Golden Comet said, turning from Thorax to the gathered group of unicorns. “I will see that you’re all rewarded.”

“Where is Scarlet?” one asked.

“She will be here, don’t worry,” Comet replied. “Now, I want a few of you to wait by the door. The rest can wait outside.”

“But, Comet, the alicorn’s wings-”

“We can handle it,” Comet said dismissively, waving a hoof. He focused his attention on Thorax again. “Princess, come here.”

Thorax wasn’t given a choice, however, as Comet’s magic gripped him and pulled him forward. When he reached Comet, the magic abruptly released him, and he fell forward, scrambling to catch himself with his hooves.

“Now, listen here,” Comet said in a whisper, leaning his head down toward Thorax. “If you cooperate, we’ll let your friends go. We have no use for them. But you, you could be the answer we’ve been looking for.”

“Wh-what do you want me to do?” Thorax asked, his voice still replicating Twilight’s.

“Scarlet will show you,” Comet simply replied.

Thorax found himself gripped by Comet’s magic again, and he was dragged forward toward the large crystal ball sitting in the center of the area. He was stopped and then held in place right in front of the giant crystal, Comet beside him.

There was a flash of light, and another unicorn walked around the crystal orb into view. This mare was also tall, though not as tall as Comet. Her coat was a reddish white, but unlike the others, her black mane and tail had streaks of orangish-red through them, making them appear like cooling lava.

“Scarlet Rose, here is the princess. This is real.”

Scarlet approached Thorax, who crouched lower, but was unable to back away due to Comet’s magic still having a hold on his legs. The unicorn leader examined him silently, looking skeptical.

“This is a princess?” she asked, but there was a hint of excitement and hope in her voice.

“I told you, it’s real,” Comet replied, using his magic to stretch out one of Thorax’s feathery purple wings. “Unicorns can’t do this. She has to be new; there were no other known living alicorns before our curse.”

Scarlet approached Thorax, her eyes widening as she lightly touched his wingtip with her hoof. “That’s no illusion. A new alicorn…I didn’t know it was possible.”

“Apparently, not the only one. There’s two more,” Comet explained. “One is just a foal, but the other rules a new empire.”

“I heard,” Scarlet replied. “I just wasn’t sure what to believe…until now.” She turned to face the large crystal ball. “Watch closely, Twilight.”

The surface of the orb shimmered, and then in the center, an image appeared. It was an artifact made of four crystals forming a diamond, with two more crystals twisted together in the center. Thorax’s breath hitched. It was the artifact Twilight had described from her dream.

“This artifact brought a curse upon us,” Scarlet explained. “It was found in a part of the cave where many magical objects were buried. However, there is another. One that was said to be paired with this one.” The image in the crystal warped, and another artifact appeared in its place. It looked similar to the first, with four crystals in a diamond shape. There were also two crystals in the center, though these were positioned diagonally across, not twisted or touching one another.

“That,” said Scarlet, “is what you need to retrieve for us. We’ll tell you what to do next once you have done so.”

A feeling of horror washed over Thorax. Twilight and Spike had explained to him exactly what that next step was, and he knew that the two unicorns standing near him did not expect Twilight – or him – to survive it.

“Leave any other artifacts you find alone,” Scarlet continued. “They won’t help you, and may even harm you. Your magic will work in the cave housing the artifacts, but it will be greatly weakened. This is not our doing, but simply the nature of the place itself. Now, follow me.”

Thorax suddenly found that the invisible force holding him to the ground was released, and he could move his legs again. He briefly thought of trying to fly away, but with Comet watching him, he knew he wouldn’t get far. He cautiously followed Scarlet as she walked away from the crystal ball, past the rock-shelves that Thorax could see were lined with potions and ancient books, and out into a more open area of the cavern. From there, Thorax could now see another set of doors, barely visible in the darkness, at the far end of the room. When he looked at it, a sickening feeling came over him.

However, they didn’t make him walk toward the doors yet. Instead, Comet walked back toward the shelves and returned carrying two small bowls. Thorax tensed, wondering if they were going to force him to drink some kind of horrible potion. Comet lowered the first bowl in front of Thorax, and he saw what looked to be ordinary water inside it. He wondered if they had been saving this here for the real Twilight when they caught her.

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Comet told him after seeing his hesitation. “The last thing we want to do is harm you.”

Thorax hesitantly sat and picked up the bowl. He was very thirsty after the chase through the hot and humid tunnels. He drank from the bowl while the two unicorns watched, still having suspicions about the water, but knowing he didn’t really have a choice.

Comet then set down the second bowl, which Thorax could see was filled with strange plants and fruits, including the same fruit he’d seen on the plants growing in some of the tunnels in darkness. He looked up at Comet, momentarily confused. “Why…why are you-”

“Do you want it or not?” Comet snapped at him, looking impatient.

“She has to,” Scarlet said. “There’s nothing to eat in that cave and you know what happens to the food anypony tries to bring in.”

Thorax was still wary of there being some sort of potion or something else in the food, but like with the water, he knew he had no choice. He took a bite of the strange fruit, which tasted odd but not exactly bad. He thought that trying to eat slowly would delay Scarlet’s plans for him, and hoped that it would buy a little more time for Twilight and the others to regroup, help the ponies who were captured, and find the artifact.

Comet, however, caught on to what he was doing. “Alright, that’s enough,” he said, swiping the bowl aside with his hoof and making Thorax flinch back. “I think she’s as ready as she’ll ever be, Scarlet.”

“Are you sure?” Scarlet asked, looking skeptically at Thorax.

“She won’t starve,” Comet replied. “If it takes more than a day or two, she can come out, and you and the guards will be waiting. She can eat and drink and then try again.”

Something like anger flickered across Scarlet’s face at the words, but it was gone almost as soon as it appeared. “…Very well.” She turned toward Thorax, lighting up her horn. “You, come with me. Comet, ask some of the others to come as well, and tell them they will be rewarded.”

Comet nodded in reply and galloped back toward the doors Thorax had entered the cavern from. He watched the unicorn go, wondering how much time he and the others had. At least nopony seemed to be monitoring the big crystal ball; that couldn’t be the leaders’ job and it had to be there for other purposes.

Comet quickly returned with three intimidating-looking unicorns, and Thorax could see enough of the door he’d come through to see that the rest of the mob who had chased him were still waiting outside. He realized with dread that there was no getting back out that way, and he wasn’t sure how the others would find him after they dealt with the artifact.

“Are you sure you’re not too tired?” Scarlet asked the three unicorns Comet had brought.

“If she can walk all that way after that run, so can we,” one of the mares said, gesturing toward Thorax. “We’re here to help you.”

The second mare lit her horn and fired a beam of light right at Thorax’s feet. As the changeling jumped back, Scarlet turned to him with interest, having noticed a flicker of teal light pass across his eyes.

“Yes, Princess, we know you can still use some magic,” she said. “But let me explain something to you. That spell is simple, and weak, and it won’t leave any lasting wounds, but it will hurt. This is your warning. Don’t make any wrong moves, don’t open your wings, and don’t try to use magic until you’re in the right place.”

Thorax fearfully avoided her gaze as he was led by Scarlet and the three unicorns serving as guards to the smaller doors on the far side of the cavern. As he walked, he quickly glanced back to see Comet approaching the open main doors, through which he could see the group of unicorns who had stayed behind. Comet said something to them that was then met with cheers. One of the guards walking beside Thorax then barked an order at him to look ahead, and he quickly turned to look forward again, not wanting to get zapped with the mare’s spell. They continued on in silence until they reached the small set of doors.

“Do you think she has enough power, as a new alicorn?” one of the guards, a stallion, asked Scarlet.

“Well,” the leader replied, “we’re going to find out.” Her twisted horn lit up with a purple glow, and the doors were flung open.

Thorax couldn’t help taking a few steps back as he stared into a tunnel that gave the illusion that it stretched forward indefinitely. He had no way of knowing how far it really went; the far reaches of it faded into darkness. In the nearest parts of the tunnel, he could see large crystals embedded in the walls, but it felt nothing like the beauty of the Crystal Empire. Instead, looking into the tunnel gave him a feeling of horror and he wanted no more than to run.

Suddenly he was shoved forward into the ground by one of the unicorns, roughly enough that the shock of it nearly jolted him out of his transformation. Fortunately, if any of the unicorns had seen anything in his eyes that time, they did not react.

“You first, Princess,” Scarlet said.

Thorax brushed the mane – the mane that perfectly mimicked Twilight’s – out of his eyes and shakily stood back up. Despite knowing what awaited him in the tunnel, he thought of the real Twilight, hoping that he was at least giving her and the others a better chance. With so many unicorns having chased after him, maybe there weren’t many left to monitor the images sent by the crystal balls in all the main tunnels? At least he could hope.

With his head bowed, Thorax reluctantly walked through the doorway and into the ominous darkness of the tunnel, Scarlet and the three guards behind him. Then the doors slammed shut.

Back near the large set of doors that led into the huge cavern, a small figure watched cautiously from behind a jagged rock, listening as Comet praised the group of unicorns waiting in the tunnel outside. It was some comfort to Spike that a large number of the unicorns searching the tunnels were grouped here, thinking they had captured the real Twilight. However, now Thorax was in grave danger instead.

Spike was grateful for the areas of darkness that shielded him from view; nopony had noticed him slip in through the doors right behind the large group of unicorns when they had first entered with Thorax. The dim lighting and his small size had allowed him to quickly hide.

Spike realized that it would be hard to move further, at least as long as the large group of unicorns were standing right behind the open doorway. He was hiding in the cover of darkness, but in order to reach the doors they’d made Thorax walk through, he would have to leave that cover and step into the light, and he didn’t think he would get far if he tried it.

His mind began racing with frantic thoughts. He felt powerless as he crouched behind the rock, hardly noticing his claws gouging scrapes into it. He had tried to come to Thorax’s aid, tried to think of a plan once he’d snuck into the cavern, but he had been too late.

-ooo-

Twilight wasn’t sure how long she’d been wandering the tunnels. She had no sense of time in the underground world. She was exhausted, the cave was oppressively hot, and she was desperately thirsty. She knew there had to be water somewhere in the caverns, but there certainly wasn’t any in these small tunnels. Of course, she thought, the unicorns living in the cave would have built all their main living and working spaces around whatever water source the cave had; there was a reason they didn’t use these tunnels anymore.

At least, she thought, she had somehow managed to evade the horde of unicorns chasing her. Everything now seemed…quiet. She wasn’t sure whether to be worried or relieved about that.

She kept going, putting one hoof in front of the other, until a light up ahead caught her attention. She froze; the light was small and moving, and it had come from around a bend in the tunnel up ahead. She realized with dread that she must have been found again, and darted toward a side tunnel. Then she heard a voice.

“Hey? I think somepony’s up there?”

Twilight stopped in her tracks; that was Pinkie’s voice. She decided to take a risk and call out. “Pinkie! It’s me!”

“Twilight?” the voice called back. There was a moment of silence before, “Twilight! It’s you! It’s really you!” A pink blur sped toward the alicorn, and Twilight found herself knocked off her hooves as Pinkie embraced her in a hug. “Twilight, you would not believe what we’ve been through! We all got separated, and me and Fluttershy were lost in the dark tunnel, and I tried to give her a cupcake, but then we kept wandering around which just took forever. Then we saw a light, and followed it to this really weird sort of building, only it looked like it was built by chipmunks! Ha! Anyway, we got chased away by a unicorn, and we’ve been walking around for ages, but at least we have a light this time.” Pinkie turned back toward the light, which Twilight could now see was a lantern held by Fluttershy.

“Pinkie, Fluttershy, I’m so glad I found you,” Twilight responded in relief. “Do you know what happened to any of the others?”

Pinkie’s smile vanished. “No,” she said with a shake of her head.

“I saw Rainbow Dash get hit by a spell,” Twilight mused. “They might have the others captured somewhere.”

Fluttershy set down the lantern she was holding. “What should we do?”

Twilight sighed, getting up and starting to pace around the tunnel. “I’m not sure. Everything’s gone so wrong and I just-” She broke off, her eyes widening.

“Twilight, what is it?” Fluttershy asked.

“Do you…feel that?” Twilight asked, peering toward the blackness of a tunnel she had walked towards. She stepped inside and noticed faint light in the distance.

“Feel what?” Fluttershy asked, but as she walked closer, her eyes went wide and she backed up. “That is…that is not something good.”

Pinkie Pie came to stand beside Twilight. “Yep. That feels like some not-so-good magic alright.”

“So you two can feel it too,” Twilight mused. The feeling wafting from the tunnel was very faint, hardly noticeable from the oppressive magic that plagued the entire cave, but what she could notice was…different. Related, it seemed, but different. Like it was the source.

“The artifact,” Twilight said. “It’s close. Luna told me that I’d be able to know when I was close because I’d be able to feel its energy. I just never got near enough to-”

“But that has to lead to where a lot of those unicorns are,” Fluttershy said with a shudder.

“I dunno,” Pinkie replied, “we haven’t really run into anypony for a while. Maybe they’re all just tired.”

“Or…planning something,” Fluttershy whispered.

Twilight looked into the tunnel with determination. “One way or another, we’ve got to get there.”

“What will we do?” Fluttershy asked.

“I’ll tell ya what we’re gonna do!” Pinkie replied, her smile returning. “We’re gonna find a way to end this mess and free our friends.”

Comments

[Deergenerate]

Seriously wish that this story had more likes and views. It deserves them much more than some other stories.

[Racingwolf]

9746958
Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoy it. I think the reason it doesn't have many readers is because I'm new at writing for this fandom.

[Yoshifan30]

Ok things look pretty bad right now the other unicorns found twilight again so did thorax fights with his thinking he disguised himself as Twilight so the other unicorns chase him instead which that's a pretty good plan but unfortunately Starlight and Spike got separated because now the other ones are chasing them but while this is happening thorax got Caught an unknown to the unicorns that is not Twilight but they took him to the leader and then leading him to the tunnel spike is trying to figure out how to get them out of there while Twilight is still running around she found Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy but it looks like they are close to the artifact still looking for but right now things are not doing good they need to find the others and thorax because he's in serious trouble I wonder what's going to happen