Obsidian: Legacy Of Sombra

by Randimaxis

Nine: Doggone Sneaky

Thunderclap followed along with Obsidian as Cupcake continued his song, with color slowly returning to the masses as the two friends moved to the side.

"Okay, Siddy - I guess Cup's busy, but you an' me make a GREAT team! So, I say we fire up that airship of yours, and we go get those poor souls outta there!"

"Actually," Mica Chip spoke up as he stepped toward the two of them, "you're needed here, Clap; the Wonderbolts need some coordination, not to mention the fact that if anything happens, YOU are the fastest communication we possibly have."

Clap's muzzle fell. "Awwwww... but-"

"No buts," he admonished, but gently, "we need you HERE, Clap. Because you ARE awesome when it comes to stuff like this; it'd be a shame if you're needed here, but unavailable. Besides... I'LL go with her."

Clap balked. "Mikey! I couldn't let you go and deal with this stuff! It'd be-"

"Thunderclap, you know I can take care of myself, yes?"

"Well... YEAH, but-"

"And that needs come before wants, correct?"

"Well, sure Mica, but I-"

"And that I'm going to be stubborn about this until you finally give in, because you know I have a good point?"

She let out an exasperated sigh. "Rrrrrrgh... fine. FINE. But you'd better make it back here in one piece, or I'll break you into EVEN MORE pieces!"

Mica nodded. "If it's in the Everfree where you say it is, then I know how to get there; my father kept taking Twiggy on walks there to show him what he could grow up to potentially be."

Clap looked back and forth between them both. "You realize this means I gotta let my sweetheart and my best friend go off somewhere together without me, into something that's probably gonna be dangerous?"

Mica nodded. "You'll survive... right, Obsidian?"

Damnation - each change meant that they had to adapt their plans, and an exchange of Thunderclap for Mica WAS a big change. She knew that he was aware of how to take care of himself, but fighting alongside an earth pony was far different than fighting with a pegasus by your side. Especially this specific pegasus.

"We are experts in survival, aren't we? And, er... Twiggy? Do you possibly have a currently unheard-of brother?"

Mica gave a polite cough. "Stepbrother, so to speak."

Clap looked at both of them... then grabbed them both up in a big hug. "Aw, I'm gonna miss you guys! You two be REAL careful, okay? I mean, like, super-duper careful, okay?"

Mica nodded. "Super-duper; you bet." He then turned to Obsidian. "We should get moving... before Clap here decides to give us another hug or four."

He turned and began heading towards where the airship was parked at, while Clap looked on with a sigh, then turned to head back towards where Cupcake's musical number was winding up to a big finish.

She was certain she could hear multiple voices joining him now; that was her Cupcake, after all - not the bleakest moment. Unfortunately, with all of the tragedy that had happened in Obsidian's life, she really didn't know what would count as a 'bleakest moment'. There was always the risk she'd simply mistake it for another average day of being a hero in Equestria.

"So, have you seen all of Opal and Patty's upgrades?" she asked Mica as she walked alongside him to the Airship.

"Actually, I haven't seen them, no... but Cupcake did tell me about them. A solid booster, augmented armor plating, a massive propeller and... what did he call them... bubble cannons?"

He gave a small smirk. "Sounds like they were pretty busy, to me. Cup even told me they saved everyone when the balloon burst - that must have been a sight to see, I'd wager?"

He then gave a nod. "Besides, I've seen your sister eyeballing my cousin a bit - do you think it's possible that Opal has some feelings for Patty? She certainly seemed as if she did."

Hunh... 'Bubble Cannons' was a good, indicative name. In fact, it should stick. She liked it.

"Oh, most certainly - for a moment, I was absolutely sure that we were about to die, because those two were arguing over materials. And, er... feelings? Come on - they spent an hour together, and it started with Opal insulting her almost constantly. For the moment, I'll just be happy if my sister's bad side doesn't try to assassinate her for some strange, mysterious reason that would make sense only to her."

Mica nodded again as they reached the airship. He got onboard and began to look over the changes that had been put into place. "Yes... Opal is a bit different than your other siblings. In fact, all of them are fairly unique in their own way, have you noticed? Frankly, I'm just glad they're not cookie-cutter Sombra clones; each one is an interesting study in and of themselves, don't you think?"

"Well... every pony is unique in their own way, isn't it true? But yes, I sort of noticed that my own brothers and sisters are rather interesting, yes," Obsidian smirked a bit, though she really couldn't stop herself - Mica was practically begging for this kind of response, in her eyes.

He made his way to the anchor level box. "I take it you'll be doing the flying, so I'm ready to do the levers. If, er..." he looked at the box sheepishly, "if you can tell me what does what?"

Oh, by Darkness, he didn't even know that much? Obsidian had kind of hoped he'd already had a little bit of experience, here....

She sighed and started to work on informing him of the levers. It was going to be an interesting trip, as Mica was completely inexperienced and Obsidian herself had only piloted the thing once. And that was BEFORE the upgrade.

Mica, thankfully, only had to be told once - he picked up quickly, and soon they were airborne. The process was a bit different, as she now had to steer up and down using the huge propeller instead of the gentle balloon...

However, once they were in the air, the booster kicked in, and it went MUCH faster than it did before!

"My siblings were all fashioned from a number of different emotions from our father, though - it's only natural that they're as different as they are."

"Different emotions, you say?" Mica asked. "Well... now would be as good a time as any to tell me about it. I honestly am curious about the rest of your family, and I'd like a bit of insight as to their origins."

He smirked then. "If that's okay with YOU, of course."

"Oh, I'm fine with it. Basically, we were all created while Sombra was attempting to revive what was left of our mother, each time using bits of his own soul and a generous helping of corrupting Umbral Magic. I'm... er, sort of an exception in a way, as I was created with the remnants of her body, and without any Umbral Magic whatsoever," she explained cheerfully.

Mica nodded. "Mmmhmm... so, what you're saying is that your siblings all represent different aspects of your father AND Umbral magic?"

He pondered this for a moment. "Well... would you mind terribly if I asked which parts went into making them? I mean, I can already guess that Amy came from anger, yes? Am I on the right track here? What about the rest of them?"

It seemed as though Mica was genuinely interested in finding out; he wasn't mocking or simply letting her go on; he was honestly wanting to know about them. She considered where to begin...

"Onyx was a product of His Power... Aqua was His Strength... poor Jade was supposed to be His Independence... Peridot was His Logic, and Tourmaline - my dear brother who tried to turn me into jelly during our first meeting - was an example of His Wisdom... Amber, of course, was His damned Willpower... Diamond was, of course, His Kindness... poor Sapphire was His Heart, though I'm not sure how she's supposed to work, especially as we haven't found her yet... Ruby was His Hope, Opal was Ingenuity, Quartz was Charisma, and Amy, as you correctly guessed, was His Anger."

Mica put a hoof to his chin in thought for a moment.

"Onyx being power... I can see that; she certainly wielded it effectively enough. Even if you kept calling her 'stupid', she proved to be strong enough to best us a few times. Aquamarine as strength - yes, that makes sense. But strength without guidance... at least, until he found his wife. SHE must've been his calm, his own control."

"Peridot makes sense as logic; taking an alicorn to utilize for your return would certainly count as logical. Too bad his head was a sponge for rogue thoughts; he might have made an interesting study partner for me."

He then gave a light chuckle. "Tourmy as wisdom? Well... he DID manage to ambush you, and he was smart enough to realize that fighting you wasn't worth the risk, back when we came across him in the cavern. Plus, he was the first one to actually integrate - a few steps ahead of Amy, I mean."

"Jade... has anyone seen him since this all began? I mean, there was the view on the monitors as he left, but there's been zero sign of him since. I certainly hope he hasn't allied himself with Amber."

"Amber... willpower. Yes, you'd need a LOT of that to take over an alicorn - especially one as feisty as Flurry Heart." He then sighed. "That poor mare - I can't even imagine what she's feeling right now; I still wish we could comfort her."

"And yes, kindness fits Mundy to a 'T'; I think I've only known a few ponies who were that level of kind, and he certainly seems to fit that bill well."

"And I noticed that you spoke of Sapphire... yet, aside from the bit at Quartz's factory, she's not been seen... though I get the feeling she's still active, anyway. If she's his Heart, then maybe she's at a different plan... one that might be better in the long run, mayhaps."

To be fair, Obsidian had first thought that Sapphire would have been imprisoned with them, back in Tambelon. That, and she'd hardly had much time to think about her to begin with; first, she'd been dying... then later on, she'd been transformed into a shard... then there'd been the full realization of war against Amber...

It was no small wonder that Sapphire had ended up fairly low on her priority list. Even lower than Jade, as her poor brother was in a state of constant torment, while Sapphire's main problem was connected to Amber's mind control.

"Ruby being Hope - that makes a lot of sense." Mica continued. "Opal, Quartz and Amy not being surprising in the least, but... it leads me to wonder, Obsidian..."

He looked at her. "Are you the true daughter of Sombra and Hope?"

Now, what was the definition of 'true'?

"Well, that's... a rather complicated issue, isn't it? I was literally made from her 'remains', while her soul is still somewhere in my head, and I'm only alive because Harmony intervened at the last possible moment. I honestly believe I'm just as artificial as the rest of my siblings."

Mica lifted both eyebrows - quite a feat.

"Harmony itself intervened? Siddy, between hearing that, plus the fact that you were created without Umbral Magic as your siblings were, plus all I've already gathered about you from talking to the others..."

He now gave her a full-on smile; it looked good on him.

"I would actually say you're not artificial: you're a miracle. And you should remind yourself of that whenever you start feeling down, like you sometimes do. You came to be ONLY because of a direct set of circumstances, and you seem to be more real than many other mares or stallions I've met in the past."

He placed a hoof on her shoulder. "You're the miracle that Equestria needs right now, here in the horseflesh; use that to your own advantage, because with all I've seen? You're amazing."

He then smirked. "Just don't let Clap know I said all of that; she gets jealous, even if she doesn't say it."

"Being artificial and being a miracle don't exactly contradict each other," Obsidian noticed. "And being artificial doesn't mean I don't feel real. I mean, I know that my life is hardly average - just ask Peridot what the odds are that Harmony itself would help with turning a shard of crystal and the righteous fury of a possessed king into a mare that would hook up with a stallion born a thousand years after her creation. I assure you that the number he'd come up with would be terribly, absurdly low. And to think, it's not even the strangest thing that has ever happened in my life, either... like, for instance, the fact that I currently hold the ancient homeland of all ponykind in my head."

Her very presence in modern times AT ALL was a miracle unto itself.

"Don't worry - I won't tell Clappy about this little chat," she smirked.

Mica nodded. "And that is just further proof that I made the right call in sticking with you. That and, honestly? All of what's happened to us... it most certainly hasn't been dull. Not one bit."

He then sighed and looked into the distance. "I just wish there were fewer casualties..."

With the speed of the airship, it didn't take long to spot the tail-end of the cart trail; sure enough, the line was only one way now - and it was moving into the Everfree Forest. With the sun setting, she could see the telltale yellow-orange glow still coming from the eyes of those pulling the carts - Amber still had their minds under her hoof, apparently. The line wasn't hard to follow, and Mica gave a hard look at the sight of their path.

"From what I can tell," he said, "they're not just going into the Everfree... Siddy, I think they might be going into the Cave of Harmony. NOT good."

Into the Everfree... aaaaaand... "Damnation - we forgot to bring Quartz!"

Mica grinned. "No worries - way ahead of you, there." He reached back to his saddlebags and opened the flap, revealing a bunch of, er... hankerchiefs?

Yes, hankerchiefs... ALL monogrammed with the same glyph Obsidian wore on her scarf.

"Since I was originally going to pass these out among the others, I just figured I'd bring them with us instead. Quartz will have to make up the loss... but I got the feeling he was just enjoying being useful, and not to the other side."

Oh, good; considering the last-minute swap with Thunderclap and the fact they didn't manage to locate Quartz before they left, Obsidian had thought that their entire adventure might have been doomed from the start.

He lifted an eyebrow. "Do you think we'll still need his direct support?"

"No, no... my apologies for my outburst," she said with relief. "Okay then - let's get a bit closer to the Cave of Harmony. Look for more Umbrals or mind-controlled guards. Do you have any idea how to use these bubble cannons? Because I'm... er, I'm afraid I don't."

Mica shrugged in response. "I don't even know how to steer this thing, much less use anything it's got on it. But I think there's a clearing large enough for the airship near where we're headed; if you can land it there, we could make our way down to where it is... from that point, I have no idea what we'll do - but I'm all up for it, whatever it may be."

Sure enough, the line of carts went down into what almost looked like a small canyon, and into a cavern at the bottom. No carts, however, were coming out.

Near the top, there was just enough space to put the airship down without damaging it.

Apparently, they were down to straight improvisation, all over again. They had absolutely no idea what was waiting for them inside, except for the fact that the cavern would be filled with mind-slaves...

What was Amber doing? As far as Obsidian was concerned, the only interesting thing inside was the Tree of Harmony... and that was gone, if what she saw at Opal's factory was any indicator. Was Amber planning to use the roots too? Or perhaps she'd just decided 'hey, this is a decent cave - let's build factory here'?

Once they had landed safely and (mostly) quietly, the two ponies made their way to the lip of the canyon, looking down into it as the last few carts were making their way into the cave. Oddly, they both noticed that the last three carts in line apparently had something inside them, as they had tarps over them - just like they had while going to the factory.

Were they returning some of the wood? That didn't make sense...

Also from here, Obsidian and Mica could both see sections of the forest that had been cleared back; undoubtedly more of Amber's work... well, more like her mind-slaves' work.

"Do you see any guards?" Obsidian whispered.

Mica scanned the line. "No... I don't see any-... wait." His eyes widened a bit, and he pointed a hoof towards the cave's entrance.

She saw what he was looking at; next to the cave's opening, she could see someone standing there with that telltale glow coming from their wide, large eyes as they numbly watched the last of the procession enter.

It was a diamond dog.

Splendid - another mission where they could achieve multiple goals at once! They'd free some diamond dogs, stop any further clearing of the forest, save Amber's mind-slaves... then they could discover what in Tartarus Amber may have been planning.

"Okay, let's try to sneak up to them from the side, and I can quietly put those glyph-hankies on them with my magic. It shouldn't be too dangerous, and as soon as we can free this particular dog, we can question him about further information. Shall we?"

They crept closer and closer to the entrance, but just as they got there, they saw the diamond dog in question move back from the mouth of the cave and go deeper inside, leaving the way in unguarded.

Mica's eyes remained riveted to the cavern entrance. "I don't like this... something's not right, here - and I mean more than the mental slavery. Why do I get this feeling that the way in is being left open on purpose?"

If it was a trap, then Amber was an even more annoying enemy than Obsidian had ever suspected of her. "How did Clap find out about this? Did she notice it in passing, or did somepony tell her about it?"

Mica pursed his lips before speaking. "While you and Cup were gone to get Patty back, Clap's been flying a lookout over the surrounding area - I'm pretty sure she'd seen this herself, and probably came back to ask for volunteers to check it out. However, with just the TWO of us, it could mean that we'd have an easier time than a whole group would..."

He then set his jaw firmly. "Then again... with only TWO of us, we're that much more vulnerable as well. Balances out on both sides of the equation. So... do we go in, or do we try something else?"

Obsidian looked at the cave; she knew nothing about this place... "Are there any other ways in?"

"I don't think so... I mean, it's the Cave of Harmony; the Element Bearers might know other ways in, but I don't. Now, it's possible that unstable tectonic shifts have created another fissure we might use to get inside, but..."

He shrugged. "We'd have to spend time looking for it - and I've got a feeling that time is of the essence, here."

Time was of the essence, eh? This wasn't going to end well, she could feel it...

"We go in."

The two of them snuck their way down to the cavern's entrance, then - after making sure there were no guards - they went inside.

Immediately, they came across signs of what had happened in here; much of the rock walls were carved away, revealing the remainders of ore veins of various types. Mica himself noted several of them to be metals - undoubtedly where Amber had been getting the materials for the harnesses.

There were lines of carts here, with the three covered ones all the way at the back end, where the two stealthy pones were coming from. Mica crept quietly up to one of the carts and, lifting the tarp up, he peeked inside...

And his eyes got W-I-D-E.

"They're... they're full of dynamite," he whispered incredulously.

"So, if we survive this, we'll at least gain plenty of explosives for our trouble," Obsidian joked grimly. She kept looking around, trying to figure out what the deal was with this place; was Amber simply storing supplies here, or did she have more sinister plans in mind?

"Did you notice any more diamond dogs?" she asked her companion.

Mica pointed to the dirt floor of the cave... and sure enough, there were paw prints along with the hooves' pathways into the tunnel further. "Looks like it - seems like either it's one dog doing a LOT of walking... or there's multiple dogs here. I think I heard something about Gypsy's family being missing - what if they're here?"

Cautiously, he began to make his way further into the cavern, making sure not to lose track of Obsidian. They eventually came to a large antechamber, where...

Sweet Darkness...

The cavern was filled with ponies in the center, all simply standing there with dull expressions on their muzzles. They looked exhausted, overworked and malnourished... but their eyes were still aglow, as well. Surrounding them, lining the walls, were at least three dozen diamond dogs, also all sporting the same glow as they simply stood there... doing nothing.

At the center of the room was a gigantic white stump, cut almost to the ground, surrounded by sawdust and stray slivers of wood. And on the center of the stump was what looked to be some sort of small book, just lying there on top of the remains of the Tree of Harmony.

Mica looked around at those present in the chamber, and shook his head slowly. "Not... good."

So many slaves... and all of them looking to be in a rather sorry state. Amber certainly didn't take very good care of her servants. Truly annoying, as it was well known that well-treated slaves had a tendency to last longer, be more productive, and so on.

There was, however, a book - and Obsidian was very curious about that.

"So, how many glyphs DO we have available to us?" she asked idly.

Mica looked at the mass of ponies again, then turned to Obsidian. "Quartz said there were about fifty of them in the bundle I brought - and I only passed out five. It's a lot... but not enough for everyone here, unfortunately. Maybe we should prioritize the diamond dogs first? After all, if the cavern IS going to be sealed, they can always dig a way out."

"And they're apparently the guardians here, so the more dogs we free, the less fighting we could be looking at." They really needed to find a better way to put these glyphs on the mind-slaves. She didn't have much time to talk with Opal or Patty - perhaps they could build machines that could spray the glyphs?

Siddy had high hopes for the power of modern technology.

"Very well, then - we need to keep the advantage of surprise with at least the first few diamond dogs; even if the rest try to attack us from underground, those who we've freed will be able to counter them."

Mica nodded, and they began to make their way towards the first of the diamond dogs.

The one they approached looked almost elderly; he had a lot of grey and white in his muzzle and coat, and wore a thick vest that was faded with age and had numerous patches on it. His left ear was curled in on itself, as if it had been the victim of a rough fight, but his right ear had three silver rings in it.

Mica moved up as close as he dared to, and took one of the handkerchiefs from his bag, then turned to Obsidian. "I can either sneak over to put it on him, or you can use your magic; of the two, the magic approach would be safer."

As much as Obsidian had experienced the incredibly strange and convenient rules of the universe, this diamond dog would probably turn out to be related to Gypsy...

"Magic, Mica. Magic." She carefully took up the handkerchief in her magical grip and placed it into a vest pocket; as soon as it touched him, the amber glow in his eyes dissipated quickly.

The dog blinked rapidly, then looked around curiously for a moment before spotting Obsidian and Mica. Seeing them, he didn't speak out loud - but it was obvious he wanted to know what was going on.

"Another glyph please, Mica," she whispered.

Mica began to pull the glypherchiefs from his bags, while the diamond dog walked calmly over to the two of them.

"Strange," he said as he approached them, "but now that the suffering is done, this one wants to help - you have freed him from the AmberBitch, and he is grateful yes... but he will not leave his clan behind. And there are many here." He looked down at the hankie in his pocket, then back at them. "How can this one be of assistance?"

Amber wouldn't be winning any popularity contests in Equestria, considering the spectrum of names that everyone kept calling her.

"We need to put these glyphs on all others; in theory, it should be enough just to touch them until it makes the glow disappear," she explained quickly, handing the old dog a few new handkerchiefs. "We need to save all the slaves here... oh, and as a side note, do you know how to handle explosives?"

The dog took the cloth saviors and looked about at the others gathered. "He will assist. And yes, he knows of explosives - and what they are capable of. He suggests not to play with them."

He then turned and began to walk along the wall. As soon as he placed a glyph on another dog, he instantly silenced them with his paw to their lips, then pointed back towards Obsidian and Mica. With nods of understanding, they each began to make their way towards the two, looking at them curiously... but keeping quiet as mice.

There were still ponies to free, though.

"Okay, Mica - let's try to free some of the unicorns to help us, and let's check if just simple contact with a glyph is enough to stop the mind control. Patty didn't need to wear my glyph-stitched scarf all the time, so as long as Amber isn't here, it should work." Truthfully, she'd expected that Amber would have put Patty under a stronger spell; she'd seemed to have been a key pony in her war machine efforts.

Single touches seemed to do the trick to allow the hold to be broken. However, the first pony she touched blinked, then spoke loudly. "Wha... WHAT? What happened? Where am I? What's going ON here?"

The moment he spoke, the entire roomful of possessed ponies and dogs all turned to face Obsidian and Mica... and began to applaud.

"NOT... GOOD." Mica intoned gravely.

And THAT was when the carts in the cavern behind them exploded.

>BOOOOM!<

Dirt and rock rained down from above as the antechamber shook with the massive force of the blast, and Obsidian and Mica were both bodily thrown backwards into the cavern. Obsidian was caught by the elder diamond dog, but Mica flew headfirst into a group of ponies gathered near the middle.

The roof in the cavern was shaken... but held; the path they'd come in from, however, was completely collapsed - they were all trapped now.

What's more, now the possessed ponies began to turn on the freed dogs and started attacking them directly.

Damnation! Obsidian had hoped that all the freed slaves would be as calm as the diamond dog had! She had no idea how it felt to be under this kind of mind control, so she didn't know if the elder creature was simply restrained... or perhaps this particular pony was prone to panic?

Whatever the reason was, everything went south very quickly. Explosions, the numerical advantage of the enemy, Dark Magic...

"HIT THE POSSESSED PONIES WITH THE HANKERCHIEFS!" she shouted, so that every other freed creature would hear her and know what to do. With the battlecry still on her lips, she got back on all fours and ran into the largest group of slaves, smacking them with her cloth weapon of choice.

The attackers were fierce, but their numbers quickly dwindled as the hankies were used as the oddest, yet most effective weapons ever.

It was only a short-lived attack before the glyphs had passed around enough to free the remainder from their eyeglowy bonds. Now, ponies all stood around and looked at each other in surprise and worry, while the diamond dogs gathered together - away from the ponies, she noticed.

"You there!" One of the ponies called out, "What in the wide, wide world of Equestria is going on here? Why are we all dirty and tired, and where are we? Answer me!"

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH AND SHOW SOME RESPECT!" A familiar voice yelled out.

The stallion who was speaking turned to face the group behind him. "Who in the blazes would dare-"

"ME!" Blue Raspberry, looking like she'd been working as hard as any of them, stormed over and got right in the stallion's face.

"I dunno what's going on either - but when I see HER," she pointed a hoof at Obsidian, "I know shit's going down... and that she's probably the one who saved our flanks! So STOW the attitude... or I'll put MY attitude on display for ya! Got it?"

The stallion nodded; he got it.

Blue then turned and looked at them. "Siddy... Mica... why do I get the feeling we're in deep, deep shit right now?"

"Because we are, Blue. So, to explain everything quickly: the mind-controlling daughter of Sombra - not me; I don't even know how to control myself, let alone others - took over Equestria, brought back the Umbrals and overall acts like a complete and total bitch. We're currently doing our best to send her straight to Tartarus... but it's going to take a while. All of you were mind-controlled, but we used these magical glyphs to set you all free. Any questions?"

Even as she was talking, she was walking towards the stump of Tree of Harmony. To see it destroyed like that... well, it was more hurtful than finding the chopped wood at Opal's Factory. Here... it hit home. HARD.

Of course, there was this small, interesting book still lying on the stump.

"Well, shit... I don't even know WHAT to say to that," Blue sighed, "but I guess we just get outta here and go fight her bitchass, right?"

"One problem," Mica spoke up, "we're stuck in here. There were carts loaded with dynamite at the entrance, and that big rumbling, explosion-y thing was the way out being sealed off."

Blue let out an exasperated groan. "Perfect."

The elder diamond dog made his way over to them and raised a paw to get their attention. "If this one may say, whomever made this trap was foolish indeed - for they buried you with the best diggers in all of Howler's Hollow. It should be no issue at all to make holes for leaving, and quickly too."

"We'd counted on that," Obsidian said, her eyes focused on the prize. What was this book doing here? Preparations for some kind of ritual? A mocking parody? Amber's autobiography? She walked closer to take a peek.

The book was small, with a red cover that looked weathered and old. There was no title on the cover, nor on the spine.

"Good, great, wonderful," Blue sighed, "so, any chance we could go ahead and get out of here?"

"Oh... so iz NOW time for poneez to NEED diamond dogs, hunh?" One of the dogs stepped forward... and he was big.

He was wearing what looked like a pair of overalls, with goggles on his head that stuck out of his bright red mane. His big eyes were almost a silvery grey, and he had two sharp-looking teeth jutting up from his bottom jaw. He had muscles to spare, and he walked over to stare down at Blue with contempt in those eyes.

"So, we juz DO what yu SEZ, an dat's dat, hunh? No one notize dogs until we NEEDID, hunh? We all work an we all TIRED... butchoo don care, do yu?"

He snorted loudly. "Maybe diamond dogs juz dig tunnel owt for uz, yah? Maybe leev poneez heer to see whut happunz when yu ONLY take an not giv, hunh?"

Blue, undaunted, stared right back up at him. "Oh, give me a break - we're ALL stuck here together, in case you haven't noticed... which means we're ALL tired and overworked! I'll get in there and kick rocks with the rest of you, but it's obvious who the better diggers are!"

"Yah, we see dat," the dog growled, "an we see dat YU juz wanz OWT, an don't care bout uz at a-"

"Bonzo, noh." The elder finally spoke up. "This is not how we do things..."

"Shuddup, Skipper!" The bigger dog yelled back. "Iz time for NOO leader - an I sez ME should be in charge now! STOOPID poneez juz wantz yuuz uz, an don't care what happen ta uz afterwards!"

"That's not the case, dumbass!" Blue tried to speak up.

"Den how cum wez not told bout AmberBitch powers!?" Bonzo bellowed back at her.

By Darkness, accents! She'd need Gypsy just to discuss things with them properly, it seemed! Why was it that so many creatures around were butchering Equestrian with every twitch of their tongues? Perhaps it was connected to their teeth? Maybe fangs were making it harder to enunciate?

"Is that not what I just did for everyone present?" Obsidian said aloud, picking the book up to inspect it closer. "And as far as I'm concerned, you diamond dogs can dig much, much faster and better than average ponies - I've seen it for myself."

Granted, it was while Gypsy was chasing her through Ponyville... but it was probably for the best NOT to say that part out loud.

"And while I have your attention, is Gypsy Rover's family here? He and his sister are worried sick," she added, both to defuse the tension and to try to solve the mystery.

Both of the speaking diamond dogs reacted. "You... you are Gypsy Rover's friends, yes? Then this one thinks... you are Obsidian, yes?" Skipper said plainly.

Bonzo stormed right over to Obsidian and nearly got in her face. "WHERE IZ BISCUIT!? WHERE IZ MY DAUGHTER!?"

The book didn't say anything on the outside, but maybe the inside had something to say... and, surprise surprise, it did; written in red ink on the front page was a single word that Obsidian could see...

Gotcha.

As soon as she read it, a plume of sickly green smoke began to pour out of the book itself, and as soon as it touched her coat, Obsidian began to feel very ill...

Everyone else backed away from it instantly... except for Mica, who made his way over to grab Obsidian by her rear hoof and haul her back and away from the foul book. Slowly, the spray of gas began to expand outward; at the rate it was coming out of the book, the entire cavern would be filled with it in less than fifteen minutes!

Obsidian felt as though she'd been hit with something that was making her stomach twist into knots inside her, and had her eyes watering as well; there would be no way she would be able to cast a spell like this - even a simple one.

Apparently, Amber knew about her weakness for books... and had set quite a clever trap for her. NOW, they were not only stuck in this cave, but they were all going to breathe in this stuff and die here.

Lovely.

Planting traps in the books? Obsidian just got another reason to slaughter Amber. It was cruel! Blasphemous!

... and admittedly pretty clever, all things considered, but COME ON!

"... d-dig, please," she squeezed out of her throat, doing her best to keep her lunch down and her eyelids up.

Bonzo backed away from the fog like it was poison... which, to be fair, it totally was... but Skipper gave three LOUD barks, and the rest of the diamond dogs turned and began to tear away at the dirt near the collapsed entrance.

After a few moments, Blue made her way over and started digging too, as best as she could with hooves. "Well? What are you waiting for?" She looked at the gawking ponies. "GET YOUR FLANKS IN GEAR!" she shouted.

The gathered ponies began to join them, all digging frantically at the dirt and rocks that stood between them and their freedom. Except for Bonzo, who began digging where he was... and throwing the dirt on top of the book, and Mica who was looking Obsidian over as he tried to figure out what to do.

Her stomach felt like it was rolling inside her barrel, her vision was blurry, and her head began to pound like a sledgehammer as the sounds around her began to become muffled and dim. Pain coursed through her, and her lungs began to hitch.

Shit shit shit shit SHIT! Breathing was getting more and more painful - which was rather bad, considering that Obsidian was starting to hyperventilate due to the panic that was starting to creep into her dizzy, oxygen-starved brain. What in Tartarus was going on? What did Amber put into this terrible book? How was it even possible that she was related to this tome-defiling monster?

"Mica...", she whispered. "If I become... a bit too dead... th-the seed... in my bags... on the ground... say 'friendship is m-magic'...."

Mica stared as she spoke, then began to frantically rifle through her bags. "Seed, have to find a seed, must be a seed, seed, DAMMIT SEED, where's the seed?"

Her vision began to grow dim, her hearing muffled, her breathing such a chore, so very tired...

"There's no seed IN here, Obsidian! OBSIDIAN!?"

Just to close her eyes... for a few moments, that would be all... just a few... moments...

"No... SIDDY NO... n o y o u c a n ' t g i v e u p . . . . . . O b s i -

Author's Note:

Aquamarine, Son of Sombra

=]OO-I-OO[=

And so, a feat of Necromancy was in order, it seems.

Eeyup, another chapter! It's NOT dead! Just in a very, very slow format as I continue to be busier than I want to be. BUT... I haven't given up on this. The story WILL be finished!

So, a nice little side trip with Mica, which turned out to lead to what was once the Tree of Harmony. *sigh* A sad thing, to be certain - but only further proof of Amber's madness.

And that book - with Siddy's fondness for them, it was a completely in-SIDDY-ous trap, was it not? (I'll show myself out, thanks...)

So - what now? Is she dead? Imprisoned? Most likely going to have another dream sequence?

... okay, yeah, most likely the third option.

Comments

[Silverblood1776]

First. I love it keep going 😃