Legends Of Ponyville

by mechafone

25 - Race To The End Part 1

Chrysalis paced back and forth down the tunnel. It was a tunnel that branched off three different ways: One lead to the former queen's personal chamber, one lead straight to the surface world, and one lead back around to the central chamber. The tunnel that lead into this area inclined upwards, leading from a chamber that lead to large, open-spaced chasm that had access to all the other levels.

Something was bothering Chrysalis, something that was somehow worse than the feeling of having her position, her title, her very right stripped away from her. No, it was the fact that while she could sense her soldiers once more, there were at least one hundred unaccounted for. That, and she could swear she felt the very foundations of her home trembling. These two things combined made her very nervous.

The changeling queen narrowed her eyes as she turned towards the chasm tunnel, sensing an approaching presence. She didn't have to wait long until the usurper herself, Shimmering Oasis slid down the final few hoof-steps, and came to a stop as she saw Chrysalis. A small smile came over the princess' face as she approached.

"And what are you smiling about? Coming back with nothing to show for it? Did you fail?" Chrysalis asked, emphasizing the fail with a grin.

"I failed to take the king, I failed to take the queen," the alicorn said with dripping ambiguity, stepping past the changeling to examine the tunnels ahead. She smiled pleasantly as glanced back at Chrysalis over her shoulder. "...I shall have to be happy with taking the pawns. A small victory is better than a huge loss."

Not liking the sound of this, Chrysalis stepped a little closer to the alicorn, eyes narrowed with consternation. "And just who are the pawns?"

"At this point, everyone. If you don't want to play, then get out from under the board before it comes crashing down."

The pawns. Everyone. Crashing down. These five words clicked in Chrysalis' mind like a lock sliding into place. It all made sense now - her missing soldiers, the unsteady foundation of her home, Shimmering Oasis' plan. The changeling queen began to scramble past the alicorn princess, who made no move to stop her. "You're insane! Play your game, but leave me out of it!"

Shimmering Oasis merely snorted and closed her eyes to concentrate and smile over her inevitable victory. While she had taken Chrysalis' entire army under her control, she had given one hundred and ten a special job, and given them locked commands so that they would continue their work if she were somehow disconnected from the others - and that was to dig. Dig until the caverns collapsed in on themselves. The princess wasn't too keen on competition for her lord Discord's favor.

She sensed that at least ten of her special workers had died - either at the hooves of her enemies, or having perished as the cave began to collapse in that area. By locating all of the locked changelings, Shimmering Oasis estimated that there was still at least fifteen minutes left before the entire cavern collapsed. Plenty of time to stall her prey and trap them in the center, and ensure their demise.

The alicorn began walking to the tunnel that would take her back up to the central chamber, her horn lighting up as she began to recall control of the changeling soldiers. She smiled as they fought in vain to keep control as they all slowly came under her control once again, but something seemed off. She could feel some kind of flicker in the flow of her power, an interruption, like a bad casing in an electrical light. It felt familiar, it felt...no. He wouldn't dare come for her, would he?

Shimmering Oasis put this troubling thought at the back of her mind. What could he do now? If Shadow Heart came for her here, he too would be caught in her trap. One last welp to worry about, she thought as she chuckled, making her way to the next group she intended to crush. If should could not defeat Spark Storm or his little pea pod, she would destroy his friends.

---

In the highest central chamber, the point where Spark's team had originally been separated, the remaining three comrades, Emerald Skies, Kecnik and Lazer Reflex, had been busy. The floor was littered with changelings. Some of them had been killed, while most of them had been incapacitated, either broken or unconscious.

Kecnik had resigned himself to standing guard while Emerald Skies and Laser Reflex rested beside him. For the entire time that that the rest of their group had been separated from the three, the chamber had remained closed off to any other passageways. They had been stuck battling a fierce fifty changeling warriors in an enclosed area, with no way in or out.

At first it had been a bit of a one-sided fight. For the first ten minutes, the changelings had been predictable, too easy to outmaneuver. Quite suddenly, however, the changelings had stopped fighting and just stood there, as if in a trance, every single one of them. Two minutes later, the changelings resumed the fight, but this time they were unpredictable, in a rage.

The fight for the three comrades had then become a battle of survival. The changelings had suddenly gone into a rage, furiously attacking the three and wounding Kecnik while severely battering poor Emerald Skies about. The two of them had been lucky that they hadn't been seriously injured. Laser Reflex had been particularly fierce. As trapped as he had been, he had remained true to his determination to fight his way to Russet Hearts and rescue his friend.

Now though, a mere twenty minutes after entering the cave, the three comrades were worn out, having fought constantly for nearly fifteen minutes. "You know, isn't it always like this?" Kecnik and Laser glanced at Emerald Skies, his comment bringing them out of their bored stupor. "It's like a story in a book, and trust me, I know books." The changeling and blue pegasus glanced at each other. Somehow, they knew exactly what he was going to say.

"There's always a hero, and there's always a close bunch of friends that he trusts when they go into battle. There's a pyramid chart to show how this works, but just try to picture it. There's the main character, the hero, at the top. Then there's his love interest, his close friends, and then at the bottom, there's the friends who get left behind and end up fighting the other bottom feeders," Emerald closed bitterly.

Laser Reflex let out a tired chuckle. "Yeah, I believe it. You know,-"

Laser Reflex paused as he, Kecnik and Emerald Skies all felt a rumbling in the floor. Something was happening. All three got to their hooves as the far wall slowly slid open, like a secret panel. Laser sputtered incredulously and got to his hooves slowly, his body aching but screaming for more action. "Finally, something else to do. Come on in here, and give me back my fr..."

Laser Reflex again cut himself off as he stared at the open doorway in horror. There stood Shimmering Oasis, an eager smirk on her face as she laid eyes on the three she wished to see most. The ones left behind.

Shimmering Oasis offered no words as her horn lit up. The changelings littering the floor around the trio began to get to their hooves, despite their injuries and unconscious states. Kecnik stared at his fallen kin as they rose. It was a terrible insult to be used like this, and the alicorn had no qualms using them as ragged puppets.

Despite Kecnik's reasons to be angry, it was Laser Reflex that released a roar of rage and flew directly at the alicorn, surprising his comrades. "Geez!" Emerald Skies exclaimed. "You've got to admire his persistence, if not his insanity!" Kecnik responded with a noncomittal grunt as the two took to the air to avoid the approaching changeling puppets.

"Give me back Russet Hearts!" Laser Reflex shouted. He flew straight at the princess, hooves extended, probably reaching for her throat. He met a psychic shield, though, and bounced off it like rubber, sending him careening backwards into a group of changelings. Emerald Skies and Kecnik were quick to go to their comrade's side, easily fighting off the surrounding changelings. Despite the alicorn's control of them, they seemed very sluggish, as if the princess' control of them was weak.

Before the trio could give commentary, Shimmering Oasis' near-permanent grin turned into a frown. Her light from her horn flickered, then gave off a barely noticeable black glow. The princess groaned and shook her head before turning a glaring eye at the far wall, where the intrepid group had first entered twenty five minutes ago. "He's here, that little brat..." she muttered.

Just an instant later, there was a loud, intense boom as the wall came down, shattered with a single shot. Shimmering Oasis, her changelings and the formerly trapped trio all turned to look as two unicorns entered the room through the shattered doorway. Gunslinger and Shadow Heart had arrived.

Shadow Heart's horn was aglow with the same shade of black as Shimmering Oasis' horn, his eyes instantly locking with hers. "Little welp, you made a mistake in following me!" she hissed angrily. His presence was severely messing with her magic flow. Wait a moment, she thought, her eyes on the blue unicorn's magical hold of his weapon. He certainly wasn't having trouble with his magic.

Noticing the princess' observation, Shadow Heart smirked with bitter amusement, the magical glow from his horn intensifying. "You taught me well, princess. What was it you said? 'It's all about willpower'? You left me my focus, and I'll use that to mess you up any way I can!"

Glancing between the three of them, Kecnik leaned closer to Emerald Skies. "I can't tell. Are they on our side?"

"Heck if I know," Emerald responded. "Although I think I recognize the blue unicorn. Wait, yes!" Laser turned his head to look at Emerald in confusion. "He's Gunslinger. He's in Spark Storm's group."

"Just how many 'groups' does Spark Storm have?!" Laser said loudly.

"Enough!" Shimmering Oasis announced. Her horn's glow grew in intensity, her natural gold glow slowly overcoming the black magical drain of Shadow Heart's own magical grasp. Between fighting the powerful unicorn and attempting to keep control of every last changeling in the caves, it seemed she still had enough power to overcome.

Instead of ordering the changelings to attack, however, Shimmering Oasis seemed to have other plans. Her own eyes began to glow. Shadow Heart grunted with effort as he intensified his spell, but his magic draining seemed to have no effect on the alicorn. "I have no more time to play with you children," the princess growled. All at once, every last changeling in the room let loose howls of such volume that the ponies dropped to their knees and held their hooves to their ears.

Shimmering Oasis herself winced and pinned her ears against her head as she turned tail and ran back the way she'd come, not even bothering to close the door behind her. And for the third time in the last hour my plans have been ruined...fine! Spend your last moments ruing the day you crossed me! she thought as she ran back down the tunnel to where she'd seen Chrysalis disappear. The way out was this way.

With a last glaring telepathic command, she locked the remaining changelings under her command in a state of fury. They would wander the caves and keep Spark Storm and his friends busy until the entire structure collapsed, due in ten minutes.

---

Shadow Heart groaned at the sound assaulting his ears. He'd had enough; building his magic at the base of his horn, he opened his eyes and identified his targets and separated the friendlies, then loosed a magic barrier that spread out around him, passing harmlessly over Gunslinger and the other ponies. The dark barrier pressed against the howling changelings, then smashed them all into the walls with loud, sickening crunches, ending the terrible sound.

Emerald Skies slowly got to his hooves, a bewildered look in his eyes. "Geez...um, nice job."

As Laser Reflex stood up, he let out a low whistle. "Nice one, uh..."

"Shadow Heart," the unicorn said as he got to his hooves slowly, his body trembling from releasing his powerful spell. "I can't do that all the time, so let's try and avoid more of those things. Now let's go catch her!"

"Now hold on a minute, Shadow Heart," Gunslinger cut in, putting a hoof on the younger unicorn's back. "You might be able to disrupt her magic, but Ah ain't seen evidence that you can straight up take her on. Ah can't speak for you, but out of all the alicorns Ah ever seen, ain't one of 'em pushovers, ya hear me?"

As Shadow Heart begrudgingly and quietly agreed, Emerald Skies stepped forth, a fascinated look in his eyes. "Begging pardon, but did you say 'alicorns' - as in plural? Are you saying that you've met more than just Princess Celestia and Shimmering Oasis?"

Gunslinger sighed and shook his head incredulously. "Can we stay on topic here? Look, Ah'm pretty sure it wasn't just the three of you that came up here on some damn fool suicide mission. Where's the rest of your team?"

"We lost them," Kecnik said. "The changelings separated us and sent the rest of our team to the depths of the caverns."

While Shadow Heart eyed Kecnik with suspicion, Gunslinger sighed and sat down on his haunches. "Ah was afraid of that. Turbid told me these caverns're gonna be comin' down pretty soon."

Emerald Skies shot to attention, his wings perked. "Sorry, what? We, uh..." The pegasus swallowed hard. He'd been trying not to freak out too badly from being trapped in the same room, let alone being trapped while the caves came down.

"Now calm down. My superior told me we ain't bein' no heroes. That means we take this group and get to to the surface as fast as possible. No dawdlin', and no revengin'," Gunslinger said, emphasizing the last two words while giving Shadow Heart a stern glare. The younger unicorn returned the glare, but he offered no retort.

Emerald Skies let out a huge sigh. The thought of being in these caves while they were crumbling was not an idea he had been looking forward to.

"But what about the others? They don't know what we know!" Laser pointed out in a panic.

"Turbid's goin' to get 'em," Gunslinger said. "Trust me, if anypony can locate others under the ground, it's her. She'll find 'em."

Laser Reflex didn't look too sure, but he nodded. After a moment, the others gave their approval. It was time to go. They all turned and headed out the way Shimmering Oasis had gone, and before long they found a tunnel leading up, giving way to precious sunlight. Emerald Skies and Kecnik were all too happy to find fresh air, and went on ahead.

As Shadow Heart reluctantly stepped out into the sunshine, Gunslinger hung back and looked down into the opening of the caves, a heavy frown spreading across his face. Laser Reflex had turned back, a lingering look into the darkness. "Y'all come on, now. Ain't nothin' we can do now but trust our friends."

Laser Reflex frowned unhappily and shook his head quietly. "...I can't. I can't just walk out of here without knowing for sure that he's safe. I'm sorry, Mr Gunslinger, but even if Russet is in good hooves, I'll regret it for the rest of my life if I don't go in there myself and-"

The pegasus fell silent and fell forward, sliding a few feet down into the tunnels, a small dart sticking out of his rump. Gunslinger shook his head as he slipped down into the opening and came back out with Laser over his shoulder. "And I'd regret it if I let you do that, partner."

---

Anorax groaned quietly as he felt consciousness returning to him. The first sensation to return to him was pain, pain at the top of his head. He remembered Madalah being close to him, her wings ripped from her back, her flesh still steaming. This prompted him to nearly sit bolt upright, panic for his new love bringing him to his senses.

What he saw both eased his mind and troubled it at the same time. Madalah lay against his side, legs folded peacefully, breathing. But as the battle with Bezzle had left her wingless and wounded, the halfling's heart sank. As far as he knew, a changeling's wings did not grow back. He had always been taught to take very good care of his own wings, and as much as he could tell, they were the only pair he would ever have. Madalah was grounded for life.

Anorax' split sense of mind was soon overcome with another, far less pleasant sensation: an angry buzzing, and it was everywhere. Anorax shot to his hooves as carefully as he could, but the movement still woke his changeling charge. Without a word, she too got to her hooves shakily before pressing against Anorax for balance.

"What is - we need to go, Anorax, we have to get out," Madalah told him dizzily. Anorax turned to frown at her with concern, but something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. What was that behind Madalah? Some kind of mound of broken and bleeding flesh...oh. The halfling's eyes widened with realization as he recognized the remains of Bezzle, crushed under a great weight.

Anorax could only think of one creature in the caves big or heavy enough to have done that. He looked around wildly for signs of Dozix, but there was no sign of him. Madalah, coming to her senses and realizing that Anorax was just standing there, leaned close and promptly bit him on the shoulder.

"Ow!" Anorax yelped, turning to look at Madalah with a mixture of anger and curiosity. When he noticed the panicked look in her eyes, the loud buzzing returned to him. Without a second more to waste, he got to his knees. Madalah instantly straddled his back and laid between his pegasus wings, clinging tightly. Anorax shot to his hooves and immediately launched himself into the air, just as a cloud of changelings came raining down from the chasm above.

Anorax's heart leapt up into his throat, but his actions were quick. He pulled a backflip maneuver, arching up into the air and sailing back down into the darkness below. He was suddenly very thankful that his halfling senses were not diminished in his pegasus form. He just barely saw the transition between chasm and narrow hole that lead down into the tunnel where he and Madalah had first been confronted.

Anorax had little time as he flew off in the direction that he had seen Nuzo, Bezzle and Dozix approach, but he chanced a glance. Nuzo was not where Dozix had laid him to rest.

"Anorax, pay attention!" Madalah's voice sounded in Anorax's ears as she shouted, her head positioned just right to give him an earache. The halfling turned his head quickly and barely managed to avoid a jutting rock on the tunnel side. He rose in the air much too fast, and when Madalah screamed and held tightly to him, he knew he'd bumped her shoulder wounds on the ceiling.

Gritting his teeth in anger, he suddenly heard another sound, this one familiar and filling him with terror. The buzzing of furious changelings began to close in on the two from behind. He didn't dare look back; another clumsy bump could very well land the two of them on the ground and at the mercy of the angry, violent creatures.

As Anorax raced on, something up ahead on the left caught his attention. A vent, just big enough to slip into. However, the changelings nipping at his heels were a problem. If he could just get there and slip inside, the angry changelings wouldn't have the presence of mind to get in after him one at a time. They'd get stuck, and he and Madalah could climb the vent that likely went to a higher level.

The problem was that there wouldn't be time to climb in before they were grabbed and likely torn to pieces. Anorax tensed and groaned as he passed the vent. Even if he'd had time to climb in, he would've had to make a 90º turn at full speed. It didn't add up, his plan was severely flawed, and he was running out of stamina.

Anorax was beginning to lose hope when a large figure suddenly appeared next to him. The two of them barely fit in the long straight tunnel. "Dozix!" the halfling exclaimed happily, but the giant changeling just looked down at him with a grim frown.

"Follow me. The tunnel loops back that way, you can make your exit into the vent I saw you looking at. A brilliant plan."

Anorax smiled and flew faster, feeling some hope and his strength return. "You got it, big guy! W...wait, what about you? You're too big to fit in that vent!"

Dozix just flew faster. He seemed determined not to explain himself, and Madalah had a pretty good idea why and what he planned to do. She said nothing as she clung tighter to Anorax and buried her face in his mane.

The two fliers sped along down the tunnel, the angry cloud of changelings directly behind them. Anorax frowned, slightly panicked as they grew closer again. It wasn't that he was getting slower, it was that they were getting faster. It was like some terrible force drove them past their limits. Some of them even began to fall to the ground to bounce once, causing body pile ups as they ran into each other.

"We're getting close," Dozix warned Anorax. "Be prepared; this isn't exactly a loop, like I said, but..."

Anorax stared at the coming 'turn' that Dozix had mentioned. It wasn't a turn at all, it was a slope, a very smoothly worn slope that climbed the wall and continued down until it came to a complete stop. The halfling started to panic until he noticed that the slope didn't just stop with the wall, it continued along the ceiling and ran sideways down the other wall. This was going to be tricky.

Anorax and Dozix both glanced at each other. If they didn't time this just right, they would trip and fall prey to the changeling mob behind them. Just just five seconds to go, Anorax formulated a plan so ridiculous it would probably get them killed. He probably wouldn't make that 90º turn anyway, so...

As the two approached the slope, Dozix getting there first, the giant changeling ran up the wall as he flew, his long legs giving him an easy edge. Anorax wouldn't have it so easy, so he did what came naturally and eased his forelegs up and began sliding up along the smooth rock wall. As the slope began to connect with the ceiling, he pushed up and began running upside down on the ceiling, forgetting for a moment that his momentum was driving him over the cloud of changelings.

The angry mob, much too hell-bent on chasing to initiate any maneuvers, began crashing loudly into the wall, some of them fatally. It was just the break that Anorax was looking for. "We're gonna get out of here, Madalah! We're almost there!" he shouted over the sound of rushing wings and snarling changelings. When he didn't get a response, a moment of panic set in. Had she fallen off?!

A shifting of shoulders told him that Madalah was still attached to him, and the feeling of her clinging tighter to him told him she was still with him, but something was wrong. Something was off, and she was refusing to tell him what. After a moment, Anorax let himself fall as he passed over the dark cloud in the tunnel and righted himself. As he sped along the way he'd just come, he could see that vent just up ahead.

There was still the issue of making that turn, and he could hear a fresh wave of changelings approaching. Taking his time to make that turn just right and then crawl into the vents still didn't seem like a good idea, and he was very quickly running out of steam. Continuing down the tunnel and looking for another way out was not an option.

Anorax flew as fast as he could, but he was slowing. His wings and lungs burned, and he could hear the changelings getting closer. His vision was temporarily shadowed as Dozix flew over him at breakneck speed. He wondered just what the giant changeling had in mind when Dozix flipped in mid air, turned, and faced Anorax. The halfling suddenly understood his plan, and oh-so wished there was some other way...

Anorax was suddenly in a world of pain as Dozix caught the speeding halfling, bringing him to a complete halt. The big changeling's hoof caught Anorax in the stomach and around the back. It wasn't a violent grab, but Anorax's speed meant there was no easy way to stop him. Dozix immediately turned and stuffed Anorax into the vent, Madalah and all. Madalah crawled upwards, her hooves pressed against the narrow vent walls. Anorax did the same in a panic as Dozix began to follow them, grunting and squeezing.

"Come on, come on! You're almost there!" Anorax called down, his voice echoing in the enclosed space. One look at Dozix's face, however, told Anorax that the big changeling had never meant to follow them into the vent to escape - he had followed to plug the hole.

Dozix's scream as the back portion of his body was torn into was loud, so loud in the crawlspace. Anorax could only stare in horror, even as he felt wet drops falling onto his head, salty tears that Madalah had been saving for this moment. She'd known of Dozix' intent; Anorax had not.

Dozix grunted quietly, the life quickly draining from his eyes and body movements as he lowered his head to rest against the far side of the vent. "Go, just...get out."

The final whisper of the giant changeling petered out, his eyes now lifeless. Anorax, in shock, could only stare down at the changeling that had selflessly given himself to preserve the two of them. Before, he had been so ready to kill Anorax once Bezzle had defeated Madalah. He still didn't know what happened between Madalah, Bezzle and Dozix, maybe he would never know. He certainly wouldn't if he didn't honor Dozix's sacrifice.

He finally came out of his stupor and started climbing up the vent until he and Madalah's bodies were touching. He reached up with a hoof and brought her muzzle to his, his eyes hard and determined. "We'll thank him properly later...now let's get out of here."

Madalah closed her eyes and bit back a quiet sob for her fallen brother, then the two of them began a long, tiring climb, the only sound in the darkness of the vent their even breathing, given to them to keep a while longer by an honorable giant.

Comments

[Jacensolo43]

It seems to me like Shadow isn't happy about letting Shimmering go. Course... I guess anyone would be pissed at being controlled to the extent of being used as a weapon, especially when it puts innocent lives on the line.
Edit: Hold up a minute! Emerald Skies stepped forth, a fascinated look in his eyes. "Begging pardon, but did you say 'alicorns' - as in plural? Are you saying that you've met more than just Princess Celestia and Shimmering Oasis?" Wasn't Emerald with them when they did the entire mission to what's it called?! Or am i thinking of someone else who was the translationist? I's confused.