The Festival of Lights

by Dusk Melody

Chapter 3 - Capstone Fort

Stonecutter decided she hated Umberfoal and everything about it. The group of four were stood at one of the High Bridges, the only way to get from the main pillar to those scattered around the edges that made up the outskirts of the subterranean city. “How can I be under a mountain and I have to cross a bridge over a thousand-foot drop?” she complained.

“It is a stone bridge, though,” Cloudy Skies offered in an attempt to be helpful, “At least it’s not that light bright job.”

“I like stone. I know stone...” Stonecutter repeated her mantra over and over to herself as she gingerly set a hoof on the bridge, her hands at the high stone sides. She greatly envied the two fliers. They didn’t have to deal with falling. “Feels strong enough, at any rate.”

“You are strong enough, love,” Sparkler said gently, the smaller unicorn stood next to her and she held the earth pony’s hand. It was a tight squeeze on the narrow bridge, but it was worth it. “Let’s go adventure!”

Hovering by their left side, Blackbeak snickered, “Okay, that didn't sound like you at all, Sparks.”

“Light bridges, stone bridges...I'm beginning to think CB had the right idea...” Stonecutter grumbled as she stepped her hooves on the bridge proper and walked over, pointedly looking dead ahead, not up, not down, not at anywhere but her destination in front of her.

Cloudy Skies, who was flying over the gap next to Blackbeak, turned her head so she could admire her lover. “You know, you do look dashing in that armour, Master.”

Smiling, Sparkler took a moment to admire her own armour while her marefriend slowly made her way over the High Bridge. They had each gotten a full set of light barding from the Duskloak Barracks when they had presented the token with Evenlight’s cutie mark on it. “You could wear it to the Friendship School to show off your Griffon-ness.”

Stonecutter, the strongest among them, moved easily in her armour, while Cloudy Skies and Sparkler were taking longer to get used to the metal plates on their lower legs, arms and chests. “You might want to leave the sword in your dorm though,” she suggested, almost over the bridge.

Cloudy Skies, for what felt like the hundredth time, adjusted the breast plate of the barding to a more comfortable position. “Of all the things you could've gotten, you got a sword!”

Blackbeak snickered. Being a griffon, he was the most comfortable in his armour. It reminded him of his ancestral armour he kept in his closet at school, the one heirloom he had gotten from his family in Griffonstone. “You know I don't care for archery, or the two-handed weapons. I do have claws.”

Moments later, and they found themselves stood before Capstone Fort. Partially cut into the surrounding rock, the fort rose up to meet the downward slope of the bridge. It was built from perfectly smooth obsidian, something that Stonecutter appreciated. Parts of the outer wall had crumbled over time, but it still looked formidable defense. Holding out an arm, Sparkler halted her marefriend before she walked into the closed doors. “I thought they would be open for us,” she huffed in a deep pout.

Blackbeak stood back and looked up at the huge dark timbered fortress doors. For a thousand years old, they looked quite solid. “They may have shut them to keep something from getting into the city.”

“Probably...” Stonecutter murmured, though she didn’t want to dwell too much om that. Like Blackbeak, she looked up at the double doors, “That private did say there were screams coming from the inside,” she laid her hand on the wood and allowed her earth pony magic to ‘read’ the wood. “Feels solid enough. Should be able to force it no problem.”

“I'll say this for the ponies here, they knew how to build things to last,” Cloudy Skies cast an appreciative eye over the black obsidian walls, “I mean, this could have been built now, but for the crumbling bits.” the pegasus stood aside and watched as Stonecutter put her shoulder to the door, easily hefting it open like they weighed nothing.

The room they entered beyond the main doors was small, roughly ten-foot square, and it was in quite poor condition. A ragged carpet that might have once been red lay strewn across the floor. Two tall candle holders had fallen over and rusted with time. A layer of dust covered almost all the surfaces.

“So....” Cloudy Skies consulted a map she had picked up at the guard barracks, “This is the Antechamber. Through that door is the Long Gallery,” she pointed to the only door out of the small room they found themselves in.

“Jeez...checkout all the dust,” Blackbeak said, for it was everywhere, except for the rather obvious sets of hoof prints on the floor. It was clear that they belonged to Captain Flash Hoof and his guards. “Guess they haven't been in here much since waking up, huh?”

“The place could use an interior decorator,” Cloudy Skies sniffed derisively once Stonecutter had forced open the slightly smaller set of wooden doors and let them into the gallery. “It’s a dump!”

A dump was an understatement. As soon as they entered the Long Gallery, it was obvious that everything in it had suffered the erosion of time. Damaged display cases and shattered glass covered the floor. Tapestries on the wall hung faded and torn. Despite that, the dust on the floor was not so thick. Looking around, Sparkler took note of the large pile of collapsed rubble that blocked their way to their right. “Only the city center was protected by the enchantment.”

Stonecutter flinched, “There’s noise is coming from the door straight ahead...” she automatically fell into a combat posture, her hand on her hammer.

“That leads to the...” Cloudy Skies again consulted her map, making sure she had it the right way round, “The Hearth Hall.”

“How are you doing with the dust, Sparks?” Blackbeak couldn’t resist a gentle tease, “I heard you were super neat and clean.”

“Adventure!” Sparkler declared loudly; her exclamation swiftly followed by a well-aimed eye roll. In truth, the layers of dust and dirt were bothering her, a lot, but she was trying her best to put her freak out to the back of her mind.

Marching ahead, Stonecutter placed her palm on the knob of the gold inlay decorated door. “Hey, the door is warm, that can't be good.”

“Pfft, I got this!” tired of the earth pony showing off how strong she was by constantly opening all the doors, Blackbeak roughly shoved open the door, revealing to them all the fire that Stonecutter had felt spreading out from the large old style hearth on the east wall. “Stormclaw's feathers!” he cursed, taking a step backwards.

Moving forwards, Cloudy Skies took the time to giggle at her flustered lover, “I got this, Master,” she snickered, just as the raging fire caught a long tapestry that hung along the hall. As the flames started to get high, she used pegasus magic to create two jets of water that shot out from the palms of her hands.

While his mare busied herself with putting out the fire with her water, Blackbeak took the time to stick his tongue out at her. “A fire?” Stonecutter said once the inferno had been reduced to columns of rising steam on the drenched surfaces of the hall, “How did that happen when this place has been abandoned for a thousand years?”

“Perhaps the scout party lit the fire when they got inside?” suggested Cloudy Skies, as she cancelled her magic once she was sure the fire had been fully extinguished.

Sparkler though was looking at the floor. The bright yellow unicorn was studying the hoof marks in the dust and the scattered soot from the fire. In her mind’s eye she could picture the stallion’s hooves. “It looks like there was a fight in here.”

“A fight?” Stonecutter whirled around, her eyes looking everywhere at once, “Where?”

Blackbeak saw the earth pony stroking the handle of her hammer and he smirked, for he was doing the same with his sword. “Check out the dust, Stony,” he pointed to the floor and the signs of the struggle that Sparkler was studying, “The dust that Cloudy didn't just wash away.”

“That struggle must have been the noise we heard,” observed Stonecutter, the hair on the back of her neck still stood on end, “But it’s silent now.”

Sparkler shuddered, “Silent isn't good.”

“What’s down that way?” asked the earth pony, pointing to a narrow corridor that led off of the main hearth area.

Sparkler, who was looking curiously over Cloudy Skies’ shoulder at the map, said, “The Captain’s quarters, a strong room and the rest of the Long Gallery.”

“We should probably explore the area a little bit, if we have the time.” Cloudy Skies suggested helpfully. She had seen the extremely bored look on her lover’s feathered face while Sparkler had been investigating the portraits and tapestries, “I know quiet isn't good, but we need to get the lay of the land, at least know where all the exits are.”

“Cloudy and I could go and check out the rest of the corridor we passed,” Blackbeak offered quickly, eager to be doing anything other than just standing around looking at pictures of dead ponies.

“The Long Gallery runs all around the outside of this room,” said Sparkler, not looking away from the portrait she was studying, “But you saw it was blocked in one direction outside.”

Blackbeak was getting antsy. “It might be unblocked on the other side.”

“Is that smart?” asked Stonecutter. She had seen enough cheesy B rated horror movies with Cloudburst and Seafoam to know that you did not split up when you were somewhere creepy.

“It will lead to the door at the end of this hall,” Sparkler stated, the unicorn, who had never seen a horror movie in her life, was utterly clueless to her marefriend’s concerns, “We can meet up there. I want to check out the other two rooms first. There might be clues.”

With that, and a four way promise to each be careful, the group separated. Blackbeak and Cloudy Skies went back the way they had come, and Stonecutter and Sparkler went deeper into the fort. “The Captain's door is unlocked, at least,” the earth pony mare commented as she tried the knob and it opened for her. “Seems that Flash Hoof guy was as neat as you, Sparks.”

Sparkler noted the cheek in her lover’s voice, and she filed it away for later under ‘naughty pet behaviour’. She was right though. Flash Hoof’s room was relatively tidy, and it didn’t seem to have been damaged over the years. “Could use a poster or two. Rather spartan,” she commented, pointing to the single bed at the north end of the room and the desk at the opposite end. “I guess they didn't keep plushies. Doesn't look like anypony has been in here recently.”

Stonecutter had to agree with that. What dust there was on the floor had not been disturbed like in the other rooms. “Look, the bed's been made, I guess the guy must've done it when he came in. He's cleaned his desk too, look there's no dust, even on that model.”

“Model?” that caught Sparkler’s attention immediately and she walked over to take a look. The model was of an ancient wooden sailing ship. There were three masts, each with six sails. It was perfectly modeled and scaled. “This is what they used a thousand years ago! It’s a merchant ship called a clipper!”

“A ship?” Stonecutter picked it up and straightaway it rattled in her hand, “Why would they have a ship underground?” out of curiosity, she shook it a little harder and one of the three masts started to wobble dangerously.

“Don't break it!”

“No ma'am,” Stonecutter smirked, and she set it down carefully in the stand then, she looked over the desk, idly opening the top left drawer. Her brow wrinkled in concentration as she read what was on the piece of paper she found. “What does this mean? Beats any clubs, diamonds, hearts or spades. The name holds the key. Some code?”

Off handed, Sparkler replied, “A trump card.”

“Trump card?” Stonecutter repeated, and she smiled a wide smile. The base of the model was pointed to Sparkler, but she grinned all the wider because she put two and two together. “Look at the ship, Sparks. The name holds the key!”

Sparkler, who was admittedly highly intelligent, nonetheless suffered from the occasional blind spot, even though she was looking at the name of the model ship. “What, we need to go sailing?”

Quietly, Stonecutter facepalmed, “You may be the smartest mare I know, but sometimes you're clueless. The ship is called the Trump Card. The key is in the hold of the model! Now...how to get it out without breaking it?”

In an attempt to hide to hide her blush, Sparkler studied the model intently. “It really is well made, and I think the cargo doors open. They would drop in cargo from the top with a crane.” carefully, she fiddled with the model and opened the tiny doors.

Stonecutter watched Sparkler’s dainty careful fingers and smiled, “You had models in Canterlot, didn't you?” Not toys, or dolls, no, she just knew her marefriend had models.

“Hmm, but not like this. I had figurines like the Power Ponies, and the Princesses.” Tilting up the model, Sparkler retrieved the key from the hold, “Or action figures as some would call them. Okay, so what is this key to?”

“Huh,” Stonecutter resisted the urge to say ‘a lock’, “And I had you figured for models of the royal palaces.” the slate grey mare looked at the note again, “The Strong Room, over there.”

Sparkler’s deep blush returned in full force, “Well, um, my figures did need a setting...”

“Uh huh,” Stonecutter couldn’t resist a tease, “And I bet you spent months building and painting each one?” she giggled, “Don't worry, my dad does the same. Ask to see his airship collection, you'll see what I mean.”

“Okay, but you may not see me for hours,” Sparkler giggled, filing that away too for the future. “Is there anything left to check in here?”

“I don't think so,” Stonecutter walked out with Sparkler across the small hallway to the strong room, whose door was opposite the room they had been in. “Fair warning though, say goodbye to your afternoon. Dad's got hundreds of airships,” A blush now coloured her cheeks too, because one of the models was of the airship her parents actually owned.

Sparkler tried the door, it was locked, and sure enough the key they had just found did open it. “I sense magic in here. Objects.” the unicorn reported as she looked at the small pile of wooden chests in the room. Some had decayed over time, spilling their contents over the stone floor.

“Like the ‘magic’ in those yellow toys you keep under your bed?” Stonecutter grinned and she cracked open the first chest that Sparkler pointed to. “A pole? That’s magic, a pole?”

Sparkler muttered darkly, “I can think of uses for a magic pole on you,” she said as she placed it in her pack, and louder, she said, “That and the rope too.”

“Let's not forget these gems!” Stonecutter picked up a handful of the spilled stones and weighed them in her palm. “There's easily over two hundred bits worth here. What does the rope do?”

As Stonecutter filled her pouch with the gems, something Sparkler did not object to, the unicorn cast an arcana spell on the rope. “Could have used this in the badlands. Toss it up and it will automatically connect to an anchor point. Sure grip makes it easy to climb.”

“I bet it can tie awesome knots too, huh?” Stonecutter wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, “Huh?”

Sparkler greeted her marefriend’s salacious look with a deadpan look of her own, “Are we feeling a bit frisky from our adventure, pet?”

“Following your tail always makes me frisky, Mistress,” she grinned and playfully slapped the smaller mare’s ass.

“We should get Sky and Blackie to watch then,” Sparkler winked and, wrapping the rope around her waist a few times like a belt, she walked out of the strong room and onwards to the door at the end of the small hallway.

“Hey...” Stonecutter paused at the now open door, “Can you hear shouting?”

~ ~ ~

Having left the Hearth Hall, Cloudy Skies walked to her right around the gallery, and as she gazed at the many portraits on the walls, she started humming one of her favourite Blondie song, Heart of Glass. She turned the corner to the right with Blackbeak by her side and they came to a naturally hollowed cave in the rock which had caused part of the fortification to collapse. “This place really is decrepit,” the griffon snorted.

Cloudy Skies wrinkled her nose in distaste, “I know, I can practically taste the dust...”

“The hall is blocked,” Blackbeak said as he noted the cave in up ahead of them. If they wanted to explore any further, the only way was into and through the cave to the left. “This cavern must have expanded. Let's check it out.”

Walking along by his side, Cloudy Skies wasn’t really listening to her lover. Her mind was wandering, as it often did when she was alone with him lately. She couldn’t help but think of something he had said to her a month ago. ‘I need you inside me, a toy feels good, but it can't compare to the real thing.’

Cloudy Skies had heard that in her head daily for the past four weeks. Every time Blackbeak had cuddled her when they went to sleep. Every time she woke up in his arms. Every time he had looked at her. She heard that sentence over and over in her head. ‘I need you inside me, a toy feels good, but it can't compare to the real thing.’

It made her skin crawl under her blue fur.

‘I need you inside me, a toy feels good, but it can't compare to the real thing.’

“There's a cave entrance there,” she said absent mindedly as she walked up to the mouth of the cavern that the griffon had just pointed out to her, “To the left. It looks big enough for us to walk in. Want to check it out?”

“I literally just said that,” said Blackbeak as he entered the cave, making sure as he did so that Sparkler and Stonecutter weren’t following them. Ever since he’d had the chat with Stonecutter on the way to their visit at the Founder’s Forge, he had wanted some alone time with his mare.

“Sorry, my mind was somewhere else, Blackie.” It was somewhere else alright. She was so distracted by the sentence running non-stop loops in her head that she didn’t notice the shallow puddle of water that covered the whole of the cave floor. “Oh damn it!” she squealed, “Now my horseshoes are wet!”

“You didn't wet yourself?” asked Blackbeak, still looking around to make sure they were definitely alone.

“No, I did not wet myself!” Cloudy Skies pouted and stamped her hoof, which just made matters worse because now the water splashed up her legs and ran inside the armour she wore. “I did that one time! One time, and you never let me forget it,” she then noticed the griffon looking around. “What are you looking for, love?”

“If the others followed us,” he answered her, and after he had taken a deep breath, he continued, “Stony told me she would be willing to help with the cost of the surgery.”

He was expecting her to be happy. He was expecting her to jump up and down, to clap her hands and squee like an excited filly.

What he was not expecting was for her face to fall like he had offered her a tub of salted caramel ice cream only to give her a lettuce leaf at the last moment.

“Oh...” Cloudy Skies splashed to a halt in the shallow water. “Oh right.” she was less than enthusiastic as that cursed sentence ran through her head once more. “You spoke to her about me?”

“She brought it up,” Blackbeak countered. He wasn’t wrong. Stonecutter had broached the subject first. “It would take forever for us to afford that. It's what you want.”

“Hmm...” she turned away from him and she used her wings to shield her face. She didn’t want him to see her heart break into a million pieces in front of him. ‘I need you inside me, a toy feels good, but it can't compare to the real thing...’ It was what she wanted, yes, but was it what he wanted?

“What's wrong with you?” Blackbeak reached out a clawed hand to his mare’s shoulder, only for her to shrug him away. She had never, ever shrugged him away in all the time they had been an item! “A wet horseshoe and you're weirding out!”

Cloudy Skies didn’t turn around, nor did she lower her wings. “It's nothing, okay? Operation, great!”

That just served to confuse the griffon all the more. “Why are you being sarcastic? It's what you've dreamed of!”

Neither of them noticed the plant growing nearby in the middle of the shallow pool of water, a tall flower with petals the colour of a flaring bruise. Petals that grew bigger and glowed red as the couple began to argue.

“I said it's nothing!”

“What's wrong with you?” Blackbeak exclaimed angrily, snorting air through his nostrils, “I can't understand you if you don't talk to me!”

Cloudy Skies laughed. It was a hollow, humourless laugh. “It's what I dream of.” she purposefully put a heavy emphasis on the word ‘I’. “It's not what you dream of!” At last, she turned to face her lover, and in her temper, her wings flared out wide, “If I get it done, you'll leave me for a stallion!”

Of all the things he was expecting to come from her mouth, that was not one of them. Like the pegasus though, Blackbeack’s wings flared. His feathers stood up on his head, and his talons extended from his clawed hands. “What in Tartarus makes you say that!?”

“You!” Cloudy Skies yelled in the griffon’s face. “You admitted it, the day after Nightmare night!” she affected a deep, fake voice in imitation of the towering griffon, “I need you inside me, a toy feels good, but it can't compare to the real thing!” She was panting hard like she had flown through a hurricane, anger all over her muzzle.

“What...” Blackbeak had to stop and think about if he actually had said that. Thinking though was made hard by the fact that it was his mare shouting and yelling at him. She had never, ever so much as raised her voice to him before!

“You said it!” Cloudy Skies stepped forwards well into his personal space and jabbed her forefinger into his broad muscular chest, “You said it knowing full well I hate having this...'thing' between my legs!” she punctuated each other word with a jab of her finger, “It's hideous, it's disgusting, I. Am. A. Mare!”

“I'm not the problem here!” Blackbeak snarled, roughly shoving the pegasus back away from him, “You're the problem here!”

Cloudy Skies stumbled backwards two then three steps. She almost fell on her ass in the water. Her hands became fists, her body shaking with the release of the pent-up rage. “I only ask to be unlocked to please you! I...”

Whatever Cloudy Skies was going to say after that was lost to the ether as Stonecutter came panting into the cavern from the opposite end, “He-Hey, guys!” the chubby earth pony mare was slightly breathless, “What's all the shouting about?”

“I'm not shouting!” Blackbeak snarled, his own hands spread out, displaying his wickedly sharp talons and the intent to use them, “Sky is being an idiot!”

“Don't you dare call me an idiot!” Cloudy Skies stomped her hoof and splashed water over Blackbeak’s legs, “I'm not stupid, you're stupid!”

Just then, Sparkler ran up, coming to a halt by her marefriend’s side. The yellow unicorn took in the unfolding scene. Blackbeak and Cloudy Skies looking set to tear each other apart, and then her eyes landed on the glowing red flower. “Rageleaf! This is bad. Stony, grab Blackie and drag him back to the Captain's room. I got Sky.”

“I'm not going anywhere till I talk some sense into this featherbrain!”

“You're the feather brain!”

Stonecutter didn’t question Sparkler’s order. She moved up to the griffon and seized his wrist. “I got him, Sparks,” taking a hold of his arm, she started to pull him back out of the cavern. “Come on, let’s go have a sit down, huh?”

“Let go of me!” Blackbeak, in his rage, tried to use his extended talons to remove himself from the earth pony’s tight grip, while at the same time, Sparkler quickly wrapped her arms around Cloudy Skies from behind so that she couldn't fly off and she moved her back out of the cavern towards the Captain’s quarters.

“Alright big guy,” while he was her friend, Stonecutter was not prepared to be a scratching post. As he tried to claw her, she slipped behind Blackbeak and she got him in a full nelson wrestling hold, and then she dragged him all the way to the Captain's room.

Once they were all four of them in the room, Sparkler sat Cloudy Skies down in the one chair, using her magic to keep her there. “You hold Blackie down on the bed till he calms down,” she ordered, “I’m making sure Sky stays seated.”

“Don't worry, Sparks, I got this,” Stonecutter then hefted the struggling griffon onto the bed and to end any further argument, she sat on him, and under her not inconsiderable weight, he was going nowhere.

Cloudy Skies, who was trembling and sobbing in the chair, couldn’t get up, thanks to Sparkler’s magic. For the moment, Sparkler ignored their shouts and curses, instead she pulled out a book from her satchel, Meadowbrook’s Guide to Umberfoal's Flora and Fauna. “Hmm...that was definitely Rageleaf in that cave...”

“Told you it was a cave...” Cloudy Skies snarked, but all the fight seemed to have been crushed out of Blackbeak by the weight sat on him. He looked utterly dejected and he didn't bother to argue back. Slowly, Sparkler’s words entered her brain. “Rageleaf? So, it made us argue?”

“Well, sort of,” Sparkler answered without looking up from her book, “It feeds of negativity. It made you think of reasons to argue.”

“It...didn't create the reasons?” Blackbeak asked, the griffon struggling to breathe under Stonecutter's weight.

“Um, no. It only amplifies issues to unreasonable and irrational levels. Sorry.”

“Oh...” Cloudy Skies sat calm and dejected in Sparkler’s glowing green aura, a sad look on her face.

Sparkler glanced over at the bed and she saw the gasping griffon turning slowly blue. “I think you can let go of him now Stony.” she released Cloudy Skies from her magic, and she gave her a hug. “It’s good to express your fears. I did that with my mom. I just wish it could have been a bit more controlled.”

“Yeah, I um...I'm sorry, Blackie, I shouldn't have raised my voice...” Cloudy Skies said softly, the pegasus unable to meet her lover’s eyes.

Stonecutter got off of the griffon, and she hauled him up one handed by the scruff of his neck and dumped him on his paws. “I, ah, we need to talk about this, Sky.”

Just then, there came the sound of a scream from somewhere in the fort. It was faint and muffled, and whoever it came from was clearly terrified, if the scream was anything to go by. It came from the direction at the other end of the hall. “Later, guys,” Stonecutter was on her hooves, “I think we're close to finding the guards.”

Sighing deeply, Sparkler got up. “Adventure. Let's go.”

“Yes!” Cloudy Skies exclaimed way too loudly, “Let's go!”

With her hand on her hammer, Stonecutter led the way out of the Hearth Hall, across the Long Gallery to a large double stone door that barred their way. The mason stopped to study it. Unlike the other doors, this had no knob or handle. Grooves in the floor and ceiling gave her a clue. “This one slides rather than swings.”

Sparkler looked at the flat featureless door and motioned for her marefriend to continue. “You are my official door opener, love.”

“Nice to have a job...” Stonecutter rolled her eyes and she pushed against the left door. It did not move. She tried again, this time putting her considerable weight behind her push, and it barely budged an inch. “HNNNNNNNG!”

Watching, Sparkler was used to seeing her pet easily overcome anything with her prodigious strength. She was not accustomed to seeing her struggle. “Oh my, Blackie can you lend a claw please?”

“Happy to,” Blackbeak didn’t look or sound exactly happy, but he went to the other door, placed his back to Stonecutter and he pushed along with her. He got nothing for his trouble but another inch of movement and a loud grating sound that went right through him.

“Um...Sparkler?” Cloudy Skies spoke up, “There's a glowing ring there on the doors, perhaps it's magic?”

Cautiously, Sparkler laid her hand on the door and she cast her arcana spell to see if it was a mundane lock, and enchanted shield, and if it could be dispelled. While the unicorn was busy with that, and while Stonecutter and Blackbeak were both struggling with the uncooperative door, Cloudy Skies turned her attention to the portraits on the walls.

Her sharp eyes caught on to a detail. “All these portraits of previous Duskloak Captains are different, did you notice that? Apart from those two on the east and west sides of the door.” That intrigued Sparkler enough to check out what the pegasus had said. “Look, that one and that one are both the same stallion,” she pointed to the identical portraits on the left and right of the stone door, “Where all the other portraits are different.”

Sparkler looked, and sure enough, the portraits were the same. “I know that portrait. That’s Captain Firemane. He was the first Captain of the Duskloaks.” What Sparkler didn’t know, what she couldn’t know, was that the stone doors were password protected. The password, which she also didn’t know, was Firemane. As she said it out loud, the doors slid open with a dull rumble, and Stonecutter and Blackbeak both ended up face first in the dusty floor. “Great work guys!” Sparkler congratulated her two door openers; sure it was them that had opened them. “Now to go in.”

Sparkler helped Stonecutter up to her hooves and stepped carefully into the next corridor. Cloudy Skies likewise helped Blackbeak up to his paws, though the two didn’t look at each other. “According to the map, this bit of the fort is called the Overlook.”

Leaving the short corridor, they stepped out into a circular stone room roughly sixty feet in diameter. Cobwebs hung everywhere from the high ceiling down to the floor, cobwebs that Sparkler was trying to ignore. “Those crystals on the right wall look a lot like the ones in that Tomevault place,” Blackbeak noted, pointing out the crystal array mounted on the stone wall.

“They should be glowing though, shouldn’t they?” Sparkler asked, taking note of the fact that these crystals were neither glowing white nor were they humming like the ones in the Tomevault had been.

Before the unicorn could ask anything else about the unusual crystals, Stonecutter cried out, “Aren't those ponies over there the guards?”

Cloudy Skies followed where Stonecutter was looking and she saw, on the southern side of the room, in semi darkness, four stallions. “Sweet Celestia...they're tied up...is that...spider webbing?”

Blackbeak though was concentrated on the crystals mounted in the carved stone surface on the wall. “I remember from that Arcast thing, it's a shield array, powered by another Arcast back in that Crucible. It's not working though.”

When she heard the word ‘spider’, Sparkler lost her focus. She hated spiders. Everypony who knew her knew that she hated spiders. “We...Webbing?” she stuttered in fear, “Did you say webbing?”

“Yeah, look, they're all wrapped up!” Cloudy Skies pointed out to the quivering unicorn the white webbing wrapped tightly around the immobile guards, holding them as secure as any rope. “That's got to be spider web, right?”

“I hope they’re just knocked out, and not...you know...” Sparkler wasn’t listening to what Stonecutter was saying. The scared mare was deathly quiet, and her head was on a swivel, suddenly trying to look everywhere at once.

“You okay, Sparks?” Stonecutter took Sparkler’s hand in hers and gave it a gentle reassuring squeeze.

Sparkler was not okay. “No,” she squeaked, “No I'm not okay. I'm not!” there were spiders somewhere close, she just knew it. They had to get out of there!

Blackbeak shrugged, “Let's untie them and see what happened.”

“I'm on it!” Cloudy Skies flew over to the unconscious guards and, quickly checking their pulses, she breathed easy. “They're alive!”

“Thank Celestia for that!” Stonecutter breathed a sigh of relief and she turned to Sparkler, “It's okay, whatever it is, isn't here now.”

Seeing that his mare needed help, Blackbeak walked quickly over the room, covering the sixty feet in a few heavy stomps of his paws. He started to rip and tear at the webbing with his claws and talons. “Definitely spiders!”

Sparkler still wasn't moving as she looked around in paralyzing fear. She remained rooted to the spot when Stonecutter tugged on her hand. “Come on Sparks, we need to help them.”

“Damn webs!” Blackbeak had to stop, his claws were all gunked up with the sticky webbing. The more he tried to tear it away from the unconscious guards, the more his hands were snarled up.

In an attempt to get any kind of response from Sparkler, Stonecutter clicked her fingers in front of the unicorn’s wide staring eyes. “Come on, Sparks,” she tugged harder at her hand until she made three steps inside the chamber. Sparkler closed her eyes tight shut and allowed Stonecutter to pull her along. “See, it's fine...AAAAAAH!” the earth pony screamed as two giant spiders, each the size of a large cow, dropped down from the ceiling.

A split second later, and Sparkler started to scream because Stonecutter screamed, and she ran off blindly in a random direction before she even thought of opening her eyes. An excited glint shone in Blackbeak’s eyes, at last some action! “Guard the ponies, Sky.” he drew his sword and charged forward towards the closest spider.

“Yes Master!” the past argument was for the moment forgotten. She had a job to do. Cloudy Skies drew her little short sword from its scabbard and placed herself in front of the guards.

The first spider, faced with a charging griffon, spat a web at the attacker’s legs, aiming to trip him up. Blackbeak flapped his wings and took to the air, easily dodging the web. The second spider reared up in front of Stonecutter and jabbed its pincers at her. SC swings her hammer at it* Jeez it's huge!

While Stonecutter clumsily swung her hammer at the spider’s face, Sparkler ran over to a wall where she hyperventilated with no paper bag. In midair, Blackbeak jinked side to side to avoid the spider’s stabbing legs and he swung his sword at the creature’s upper body.

“Sp-Sparks!” Stonecutter screamed as she just narrowly dodged a pincer attack, and she swung her hammer at one of the spider’s legs in retaliation. “We need help!”

The spider in front of Blackbeak reared up and jabbed both of its foremost legs at the flying nuisance. In return, the griffon fought back, displaying the combat skills he had learnt in Griffonstone that most didn't even know about to fight the spider back.

Sparkler, who was paralyzed with sheer terror, couldn’t answer Stonecutter’s frantic screams for help. She just couldn’t! The second spider jabbed at the much slower and less skilled earth pony mare, and it succeeded in stabbing her in the thigh. The sharp tip of the leg going all the way through the chubby mare’s upper leg. Stonecutter dropped to a knee, hot red blood spurting out of the grievous wound. “GAAaaaAAARGH! Sparks! Sparkler! HELP ME!”

All of a sudden, Sparkler’s mind cleared. She heard Stonecutter scream, she smelled blood in the air. She was not scared. Just like that, she was back in the wagon facing down the three Diamond Dog bandits. She would not fail her Stony. Eyes glowing white, Sparkler turned and, horn lit, she summoned her fire. Channeling her fireworks into both hands, the unicorn shot bolts of coloured fire at each spider.

As soon as the magical fire hit the spiders, the creatures ignited into two giant fireballs. Screeching and thrashing, they rolled on the stone floor for a few seconds before they lay still as the flames consumed them just as Cloudy Skies managed to free the guards with her short sword. “Stormclaw's breath...” Blackbeak muttered, “Who knew burning spiders smelled that bad?”

Now the threat was for the moment over, Sparkler ran over to Stonecutter who had taken a knee and hugged her tight. “Stone! Stone...are you okay?”

“Y-Ye-Yeah...” Stonecutter gasped as blood spurted from the deep wound on her thigh. “I-I can heal...” she slumped on her back now that the fight was over. The earth pony placed her hand on the bleeding hole, and it glowed bright yellow.

“Praise be for your skill, my love.”

“And to yours.”

Like the others in the Overlook, Cloudy Skies chose to ignore the foul burnt smell coming from the two charred remains of the giant spiders. It was easier that way. “Um...should we wake them up? I've got some smelling salts in this potion kit.”

“Let's get them back into the Hearth Hall,” Stonecutter suggested, “There are couches there, and no spiders.”

Sparkler shook her head, “We need to know what is happening, right now.”

“Alright Sparks, you're the boss,” Cloudy Skies looked through the potion bag she had received from Fizzbang in the Burrows and she pulled out a vial of smelling salts and she held it under the Captain's nose first.

The effects were almost instantaneous. “Uuuuugh...whu-what...” the battered and bruised stallion coughed and gagged. While Blackbeak and Stonecutter both stood guard, Flash Hoof trained his dazed eyes to those who had saved him. “Who...you, you're the saviours, you were talking with Evenlight!”

“And she sent us to find you,” Sparkler affirmed, “Can you tell us what happened?”

Struggling to gather his thoughts, Flash Hoof sat up and winced as pain lanced through his sides. “Evenlight, she said Lady Alethea heard a noise in the fort, so she sent us to investigate. The fort was deserted, or so we thought. We lit the fire in the Hearth, then five spiders ambushed us...”

“Two are there,” Blackbeak pointed at the charred corpses, “Where are the others?”

Flash Hoof had a strained look on his face, “They must have gotten through to the city!”

“You couldn't stop them?” asked Stonecutter.

“We had no warning!” Flash Hoof coughed, feeling bile rise in his throat from the smell in the Overlook, “The shield array wasn't working...” he trailed off to silence and his bruised eyes went wide as saucers, “Oh no...”

Sparkler shook him gently to get him to focus on her. “How do we turn it back on?”

“There's an Arcast at the Tomevault that operates it remotely.”

“Arcast?” That caught Blackbeak’s attention, “Only Alethea operates the Arcasts.”

“We need to get back to the city!” Flash Hoof cried out before the true implications of what the griffon had said could sink in. As Cloudy Skies used her smelling salts to revive the other guards, he tried to get up and he fell back down to a knee. “This fort isn't the only way into Umberfoal from this side!”

“There aren't any other way on my map...” Sparkler pointed out as Stonecutter laid her glowing hands on the Captain’s injuries.

“Is across the bridge the fastest way back?” asked Blackbeak.

“Yes, yes, it is,” Flash Hoof, now healed, heaved himself back to his hooves as Stonecutter worked quickly on his guards. He held Sparkler’s gaze. “These tunnels are not on any map, young mare, but there are hundreds of them in the rock from the Umber Depths, with the shields down, they're all open!”

Blackbeak didn’t need to be told twice. Time was of the essence. “I'll carry the Captain. Stony, you can carry two, and Sparks and Sky can bring along the last one. We need to move. Now!”

“Move,” Flash Hoof agreed as the griffon hefted him onto his back, “Yes! Quickly!”

“I got 'em!” Stonecutter effortlessly picked up two of the guards - fully dressed and armoured stallions - onto her shoulders while between them, Sparkler and Cloudy Skies helped the last one as they all fled Capstone Fort as fast as they could move.

They reached the High Bridge in record time. From their vantage point, they could see Umberfoal. The city was in chaos. A vast silk web now weaved across the rock ceiling and they watched in horror as from it, wave after wave of giant spiders descended on white threads which hung like curtains over the pillar top.

The spiders had spread their webbing across the city itself, transforming it into a great nest web. The four could see the invading creatures tying up ponies who ran screaming in a state of mass confusion. The city’s guardian Golems were attempting to hold the spiders back, but they were vastly outnumbered.

For every spider a Golem crushed to paste under its stone fists, twenty spiders would swarm another and bring it crashing to the ground. Ponies who tried to fight back found themselves quickly overwhelmed and subdued.

Down below, at the base of the huge pillar, they saw a dark, shadowy form several times the size of the other spiders, with a ridged black body striped in scarlet. Confronting this mammoth beast was none other than Evenlight, stood alone on the steps of the Tomevault with flashes of magic bursting from her horn, a powerful shield around herself protecting her from the creature’s vicious attacks.

“Hurry!” Flash Hoof urged them to a gallop over the High Bridge, “We have to save the city!”

Unusually, Sparkler was at the front of the charge. “We have to save the Tomevault!”