Since When am I Faust?

by McDufus_456

Chapter 6: Through The Cavern.

Since When am I Faust?
Chapter 6: Through The Cavern

I clenched my teeth as Cadance pulled another shard from my back. The princess had been at this for a while now, and it had been easily over an hour since she started. A small pile of crystals laid beside her, showing her progress, and they shimmered in the dim light of her horn.

Cadance tossed the crystal to the side and leaned closer as she checked to see how many were left. Nodding to herself, the pink mare lifted her head and sighed. "Okay, Lauren, there’s two more, but these ones are a little larger. You might want to prepare yourself."

"Okay…" I whispered, and I tensed up. The shard Cadance was looking at was in my wing, and as she bit down on it, I felt myself clench my teeth in pain. I tried my best to keep my cries to a minimum, but the sudden jolt of her pulling the crystal back through my wing was painful enough to make my knees buckle.

"Aarrgghh!" I yelled, and I collapsed to the ground. My body was shaking, my ears were ringing, and my heart was racing. Gritting my teeth, I shut my eyes and prepared for the next one.

Cadance spat the shard out and looked at me, "Alright, last one." She leaned forward to grab it, but as she got a closer look, the alicorn paused. The princess proceeded to tilt her head to the side as she looked at my leg curiously. She was trying to find the best way to pull it out, and her concern was causing her to hesitate.

It was only a momentary pause, but for me, it felt like an eternity. The anxiety and anticipation of waiting for her to grab the next one was like torture, and I desperately wanted it to be over. Scrunching up my muzzle, I pleaded, "Please! Just get it over with already!"

The pink mare sighed, and she decided to oblige my plea's for mercy. Steadying herself, Cadance grabbed the last shard with her teeth and started counting down. "Alright... Three... Two... One..."

With a sudden jolt, she pulled it out. The sickening sound of it leaving my flesh was enough to make my stomach churn, and I covered my mouth as I screamed. The pain shot through me once again, and I couldn't help but hammer the ground with my foreleg as I waited for it to subside.

When it began to ease up, I found myself to be breathing heavily, and my coat was damp with blood, sweat, and tears. I felt absolutely gross. Looking up from the ground, I turned to look at Cadance with a weak smile and said. "Th-thank you…" My voice was quivering, and my whole body was shaking, but I was glad that my torment was over.

It was a brief moment of relief, but as I looked up at the cave system, I just knew that this was only the beginning of my day. Taking a deep breath, I tried to stand, but my legs quickly gave out, and I fell onto my stomach.

Cadance rushed over to my side in a hurry, and she helped me off the ground. A faint smile made its way onto my face, and I thanked her as I draped a wing over her back. As she helped me up, I looked at the princess and said, "Come on, let's get out of here."

Cadance nodded in agreement, and the two of us began walking, or limping in my case. We weren't sure where we were going, but we decided to head towards a section of the cave that opened up to a large cavern.

Along the way, we came across a pile of rubble blocking the path. There was no way around it, so the two of us had no other choice but to climb over it. Giving it my best shot, I began climbing. Unfortunately, though, my hoof slipped when I was partway up the slope, and my wing slipped off Cadance's back.

Siding down a short ways, I let out a grown as I winced in pain. The princess quickly came over to my side, and she helped me up. Not wanting to fall off again, the two of us locked wings over each other's backs, and we held on tight as we made it up the rubble.

Although we were working together, I was still struggling to climb, and I was panting by the time we made it to the other side. Cadance gave me a concerned glance as she asked me, "Are you alright, Lauren?"

"Yeah... I'll be… fine." I gasped.

Cadance’s look of concern remained, but she decided to listen to me, and the two of us continued moving. With her help, I limped my way about ten feet from the pile of rocks, and then we heard an odd sound.

It was not too far away from where we had just been, and from beyond the rubble, just out of view, we saw the cave become illuminated with an emerald glow.

At seeing the green light, I felt the hairs on my neck stiffen, and I began to feel nervous. I had recovered some magic while I was passed out, but it wasn't enough to protect Cadance or myself. We were practically helpless.

The two of us looked in the direction of the flickering light with tired eyes, and we awaited whatever the green glow would reveal. The light stayed there a moment longer, and then it died down. When it was gone, our sight was enveloped in darkness, and they had to readjust again. We stared forward with wide eyes as we tried to see, but it was just blackness.

Then out of the darkness, a dim purple light appeared, and a young female voice called out, "Hello… is anyone there…"

We could tell that she was afraid and unsure of where she was. I felt myself sigh in relief, and my heart went out to whoever was trapped with us. However, I was glad that Chrysalis had not come back to finish what she started.

As for who was down here with us, I was fairly confident I knew who it was, but I was reluctant to trust that it wasn't a trap to lure us in.

Cadance looked at me, and her face said it all. She was nervous, and her eyes were asking me if she should respond. I hesitated and weighed our options. After thinking about it for a moment, I gave her a weak smile and nodded. I held her tighter as the two of us turned towards the pony, and Cadance called out, "Over here!"

We heard our new guest walk across the stone floor, and we listened as she climbed over the rubble. Our eyes had been slowly readjusting to the darkness, but the dim purple light rising from the other side of the stones helped us see. We saw her walk into the light, and Cadance tilted her head in confusion as she recognized the mare before her.

"Twilight?"

Twilight's eyes widened, and the purple unicorn instantly leaned down and got into an attack position. The light from Twilight's horn brightened, and it was accompanied by a charging sound. My eyes widened as I realized what was going on, and I turned to Cadance in a hurry, "Get down!" I shouted and pushed her to the ground.

The two of us fell, and we narrowly avoided the beam of magic from the purple unicorn. I hit the ground with a thump, and my body slipped on a wet stone and fell into a crevice. I became hidden in the shadows, and I grit my teeth as my wounds reminded me of their presence.

Weakly I leaned up from the ground and looked at Twilight, only to see her charging up another spell.

"Stop!" I cried out.

My voice was weaker than usual. But with the effort that I put into it, I reached Twilight over the sound of charging magic. She turned her head and looked in my direction, and she seemed to notice me for the first time.

Glad that I had her attention, I took the opportunity to quickly explain, "The one who sent you down here was an imposter. This is the real Cadance,"

Twilight raised an eyebrow at my explanation, and she glanced at Cadance with a narrowed gaze. Frowning, she demanded that the pink pony, "Prove it!" And Cadance looked at me with an uncertain expression.

Putting a hoof to her chest, the princess breathed out to calm herself, and she straightened up and stood tall. The pink mare walked forward, and Twilight began to back up as the princess advanced. The unicorn flared her horn, ready to strike if Cadance tried anything, but a weak smile from the pink pony slowed her retreat. A bit skeptical, Twilight tilted her head to the side, and she watched as the mare in front of her suddenly started dancing.

"Sunshine, sunshine, Ladybugs awake." She reached out, "Clap your hooves…"

"And do a little shake…" Twilight finished. She looked down at her hoof, then she looked back up at Cadance and smiled. Leaping forward, she embraced the alicorn with a warm hug. "You remember me!"

Cadance smiled, "Of course! How could I forget the filly I loved to sit for the most." The two enjoyed the hug for a moment longer before they separated and smiled at each other.

My wincing as I leaned forward pulled the two out of their stupor, and Cadance ran over to my side to help me up. Putting my wing over her side, I leaned on the pink mare. The pain was manageable now, but I was still limping as I walked.

Even so, I hobbled as fast as I could. When Twilight saw me walk out of the shadows with Cadance, her eyes shrunk at seeing my injuries.

"Oh, my goodness! What happened!?" She asked, and she quickly ran to support my other side.

Glancing down at her, I noticed how the purple unicorn was a little shorter than me, and with a labored shrug, I said, "I got on the imposter's bad side."

The unicorn’s eyebrows raised, "Oh, wow... I'm sorry to hear that…" Twilight glanced down for a moment, and I gave a shallow smile at her genuine concern. Lifting my wing, I let it drape over her back, and as I did, the unicorn glanced at the appendage. Then her brow furrowed, and she looked up at my horn.

Twilights eyes seemed to light up, and her head spun around again. She looked at my wing, and then back at my horn and she continued to do this several times over as her mouth bobbed open like a fish. "Wha… bu...who... How? ... !?" Twilight stammered as she tried to pull the pieces together. Her eyes were wide open, and she stared at me with shock as she finally managed to say, "W-Who the heck are you!?"

I found her adorkable behavior comical, and I could see out of the corner of my eye that Cadance was smiling to herself as well. I looked at the unicorn and grinned, "Name's Lauren. I'm Celestia and Luna's mother. It's nice to meet you, Twilight."

From my other side, I could hear Cadance quietly counting as she looked in the other direction. "And three, two, one..."

Suddenly, the unicorn stopped in her tracks, and her head shot up to stare at me. To be honest, I almost fell over because of her sudden stop, but I managed to hold onto Cadance with my wing. She saved me from falling, and we continued walking as the unicorn stared off into space.

The two of us got a short distance away before we heard Twilight's mind reboot, and she shouted, "Y-You're Celestia's MOM!" The mare was almost in full freak-out mode as she ran up to my side.

Cadance leaned forward to get a look at the unicorn, "Twilight, you need to calm down."

To which she responded, "How can I!? She's Celestia's mother! I have SO MANY QUESTIONS!" She was running in place, giddy at the idea of asking about Tia as a filly.

She bounced around a little as she squeed, and then she hopped in front of me with a grin was on her face. It stayed for a moment, but then it faltered as a stray thought crossed her mind. Tilting her head to the side, the unicorn raised an eyebrow and asked, "Wait... Why have I never heard of you?"

At this point, I would have expected Lauren to take over and answer her, but, to my surprise, Cadance spoke up in our stead. She leaned forward to see the mare and said, "Do you remember the time we went to the memorial fountain in the middle of Canterlot?"

The unicorn's eyebrow raised at the alicorn's question. "Yes? But what does that... Ohh..." Her eyes widened again as she turned back to me and stared.

Cadance smiled, seeing that the unicorn remembered that day; she continued her explanation, saying, "That statue, the one in the center of the fountain, was made in honor of her. The mare who saved Equis from the darkness and led us to a better generation, Lauren, Faust."

I felt my heart flutter as she said this, and I smiled. It was fascinating to learn, even if it was only a small amount, just what type of person Lauren was before we met. On the other hand, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to tease Cadance. Her speech was just too polished, like something you would read in a book.

I looked at the pink alicorn and raised an eyebrow as a grin plastered itself on my face. "You did your research after my return, didn't you?"

Her eyes widened, and her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment, "Well, I was curious…"

I hugged her tighter with my wing and let my head rest on her, "I'm glad."

Cadance smiled at me, and she returned the improvised hug. Meanwhile, Twilight returned to my other side, lost in her thoughts. A moment later, she turned to Cadance, "But, I thought that story was just a legend," She said this as she glanced up at me in surprise.

I smirked, "You’d be surprised at how many fictional stories are actually real." I said this as I thought of my own situation.

The unicorn looked down, contemplating this thought, and she thought back to the Nightmare Moon incident. Nodding to herself, she began making plans to read over as many folktales and legends as she could when she got back to the library.

After that, the three of us continued to walk in silence for a time. We came across a ravine at the bottom of the cavern, and Twilight teleported us all across. Afterward, she had to rest for a minute because transporting Cadance and me put a lot of strain on the unicorn. While Twilight recovered from her headache, I took the opportunity to sit down and relax.

Ahead of us, Cadance was looking around for a pathway we could use. Just as my muscles began to relax, she came around the corner and directed us to a minecart. It was filled with rocks, and it was on a track that spiraled down.

At the end of that spiral, the tracks turned upwards, facing an exit blocked off with boulders. The two mares looked at one another as if contemplating whether or not they could make it. They took rocks out of the minecart and looked over at me expectantly.

"Well..." Cadance said, indicating for me to get in. My heart sped up at the very thought, and I desperately called out to my passenger for help.

'I don't want to go on the cart!'

She didn't respond, but I could feel that she felt the same way. I looked around, hoping to find any other alternative route, but there weren't any. Reluctantly, I lifted my front leg and leaned forward; an unsure expression dawned on my face, and I hesitated. Looking down, I observed how the track had collapsed a long time ago; and I had no desire to be thrown into that pit. I just couldn't bring myself to get into this death trap.

My hesitation worked against me, though, because as Twilight finished removing all the rocks, my still form made it easy for Cadance to place me in the cart. I was shaking my head furiously, and Cadance climbed in front of me. Twilight grabbed the back of the cart and pushed to get it going.

Its rusty wheels slowly broke free from their corrosion, and with a sudden jolt, we were off. Spiraling down the track, the two of us in the cart leaned to the right, trying desperately to keep the cart from derailing. Meanwhile, Twilight had grabbed onto the back of the cart and was trying to keep from being thrown off. As we neared the bottom, the track straightened out, and the cart rocketed down towards the broken part of the bridge.

"Ahhhh!" The three of us cried as we launched into the air. Despite the pain, I unfurled my wings and used them to glide. Cadance and I also grabbed Twilight, and the three of us watched as the cart fell into the abyss.

Twilight sighed in relief, and the three of us landed on the other side. I didn't mean to, but once we were over solid ground, I tried to let the purple unicorn down gently. My arm gave out, and she tumbled to the ground. Meanwhile, I skidded on shaky legs and collapsed, sliding to a halt while lying on my stomach. Cadance was the only one out of the three of us to have a graceful landing.

I stretched, letting my joints pop and slide into place. I was so looking forward to getting out of here. Groaning, I pushed myself up from the ground. From our new vantage point, we could see some light flowing in from the ceiling of the cavern.

Lauren, are we able to take everyone this time? I don't want to put Twilight under too much strain.

' (I would, but taking three of us requires a lot of concentration. In our state, we could miss it. I won't risk that.)'

"Okay." I nodded. Then I looked up, "One more..." I whispered out, looking at the light. Cadance walked up, and I draped my wing over her back. Thankfully, I was no longer bleeding, but my muscles were still aching. Seeing the light of day filled the three of us with hope. I pulled Twilight in, partially for my own support. But I also wanted to include her in the hug I was giving Cadance. The three of us stood on the ledge huddled close together.

Twilight looked at Cadance, "Ready?"

"Ready!" She nodded. Then the unicorn looked at me, "Lauren?" I smiled and gave her a firm nod but said nothing.

"Okay, then." The purple mare looked directly at her target. Twilight's eyes narrowed, and her horn shined bright. There was a sound like charging electricity. And, the light from her horn quickly expanded and enveloped the three of us. With one quick poof, we were gone.

We appeared on the other side, and I clutched the unicorn tightly to keep her from falling over. Twilight brought a hoof up against her head and massaged her temple. The sudden headache was taking its toll on the pony.

Suddenly, the sound of falling pebbles caught our attention. From the cave's exit, we saw three mares emerge. It was the three bridesmaids that followed Chrysalis around. It felt somewhat unsettling watching the faces of Lyra and Minuette staring at us with those wicked smiles. I did not recognize the third pony; she was an off-white cream color, and her mane was deep pink. Twilight stepped back, as did Cadance.

"Why are they here?" The unicorn exclaimed.

I stood up straight and faced our adversaries, "Changelings." Cadance walked forward to stand with me. We both stared down at the trio approaching us, and I continued, "A race that feeds off of love."

Cadance looked disgusted at the reminder, and a frown made its way onto her muzzle. The trio approached us; lowering their heads, they said with a hiss, "You're not going anywhere."

As they spoke, they bared their teeth; obviously, forgetting that they were wearing pony disguises, they looked more silly showing their teeth than they did threatening.

Cadance huffed, tossing her mane to the side, "Yeah, right!" Her horn lit up with a bright blue hue, and a nearby boulder suddenly broke free from the ground.

It was flat on one side, and it was round on the other. Cadance then threw it at the three, and it swept them all up against the wall. There was a sudden cry of complaints from three as they realized they were trapped.

"Come on, that won't hold them for long!" Cadance said, and the three of us began making a run for the exit. We could hear the sound of wings from behind the boulder as they tried to push it off of themselves.

We ran up the pile of small stones and found ourselves to be climbing out of a dried-up well. To our surprise, it was in the castle gardens, and I looked on in surprise while Cadance helped pull me out of the well.

The three of us then made our way to the castle. I was still slowing them down, but this time, I was able to take more of my own weight as they supported me.

When we got close to the castle, the guards at the doors took one look at me and began taking immediate action. They ran over and got two patrol guards to escort us through the castle.

The staff and nobility were stunned to see the three of us walking through the halls. I was just glad that my coat had dried off by this point.

Walking up to a triple intersection, Twilight and Cadance began pushing me to the right. Confused, I started to struggle, and I pointed down the hall, saying, "Girls, the wedding hall is this way!" They, however, kept pushing. "You're going the wrong way!"

Cadance didn't look at me. She simply stared forward to her destination and said, "We are going to the wedding hall. You, on the other hoof, are going to the hospital."

My head spun around as I looked at her, "But isn't that too far to go and come back to stop the wedding in time?"

It was now Twilight's turn to speak up, "Actually, Celestia had a medical wing installed when she moved to Canterlot. She did this in case a visitor or a castle member got hurt."

"Huh..." I looked down. I was a little disappointed to be shooed out of the action, but I understood their reasoning. Besides, it was as if there was already a silent agreement between the two mares, one that I had no say in. They directed me down the hallway towards the medical ward.

When we entered the hospital wing, the receptionist threw her arms up with a shriek upon seeing me. Slamming her hoof on the intercom, she yelled into a mic, "Code red! Code red! Princess in need of medical attention, all ponies on deck!"

I looked towards the back, and I could see doctors running back and forth behind the receptionist's desk. They were panicked, hurrying to get their medical equipment ready.

Papers and clipboards flew in the air and littered the back room. A moment later, the whole medical staff suddenly burst through the door. I was amazed they didn't fall.

They were all shocked at my state when they saw me, and I gave them a weak smile. The doctors swarmed around me like piranhas, and they carried me into the back. Passing through the doors, I looked back at the two who had helped me get this far and waved. They waved back at me, and then they turned and ran out the door.

It was strange; now that I knew I was being taken care of, it felt as if a part of my mind clicked, and I suddenly was able to feel just how bad I was.

"Oww..."

Comments

[Vaguely Demented]

Interesting rewrites. I don’t think I spotted all the changes but the ones I noticed seemed to add more character to things.

[McDufus_456]

Thanks, that’s what I was going for. 👍

[Pinklestia]

Yeah, owchie...

[Black--Soul]

Faust is still recovering but still tanked that mutch.
A recovered Faust must be literally a Goddess not ever to be messed with...

I wonder if at the end Faust stopped suppressing the pain or the adneraline wore off

[Chrome Masquerade]

The unicorn was running in place. "How can I!? She's Celestia's mother! I have so many questions!" She then hopped in front of us and looked up to me, "Wait! Why have I never heard of you?"

You never asked.

[Blaze Song]

It was strange; now that I knew I was being taken care of, it felt as if a part of my mind clicked, and I suddenly was able to feel just how bad I was.

That would be a little something called Adrenaline, it's a hell of a drug.