• Published 4th Jan 2021
  • 227 Views, 44 Comments

The Crystal Caves of Confuzzlation (Iota Force Issue #6) - The Iguana Man



Iota Force descend deep beneath the Crystal Empire and must find a way to escape, fight through a gauntlet of traps - illusory, deadly and both - to bring their captor to justice. There's no backup down there - they're all alone. Or are they?

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Chapter Ten: Turning Tails and Tables (Part Two)

Conundra ran down the tunnel, no longer sprinting and with her eyes firmly locked on the tunnel in front of her. While it was unlikely that there was someone ready to block her in every escape route, there was no reason not to be prepared. As such, she was fully prepared to come to a stop when someone showed themselves. Of course, she knew that such a halt would be temporary, lasting only until she figured out a way past them, but she was still ready.

Sure enough, a figure stepped around a slight corner, making her canter instinctively to a stop. However, as she did, she briefly considered simply continuing, as it suddenly seemed a viable alternative.

The figure was clearly a minotaur and, while that fact would normally be daunting, this particular minotaur was... not exactly what the stereotype of their race would suggest. In fact, he stood only slightly taller than Conundra herself and, lacking the length and width of a pony, seemed a ridiculously small figure.

He was wearing a long (for him), battered brown coat, beneath which he wore no shirt, letting Conundra see his well-defined, but nonetheless small muscles. Hanging around this waist was a thick leather belt, two straps going down to the sides of his legs, though the coat blocked her from seeing any further. On his head was a well-worn hat, two holes poked in the wide brim for his tiny, nub-like horns to fit through.

Overall, he was not an especially imposing figure and Conundra couldn't help but scoff as he strolled nearer to her, raising his head to look at her, his hat-brim covering his eyes for a moment.

Conundra rolled her eyes. “And just who are you supposed to b-”

His eyes locked with hers and her sentence cut itself off with a strangled gasp, all her words fleeing, panicked, off her tongue and taking with them all the thoughts in her head and most of the stability in her legs.

It was hard to say exactly what was so petrifying about the glare that was now pummelling its way into her senses. Part of it was the slight squint to his eyes and the narrowness of his pupils that told her that every single scrap of his attention was laser-focused on her. Part of it was the surrounding expression on his face that showed no trace of humour or enjoyment or respect, giving the impression that, to him, she was nothing more than a target. And probably the largest part was just how... hard his eyes seemed – they seemed to have little reflection and she wouldn't have been surprised if they were as physically unyielding as stone. As she looked, transfixed, at those eyes, she couldn't imagine them looking less intense than they were now. They seemed to lack even a capacity for pity or hesitation.

Conundra swallowed hard, her suddenly-dry mouth working silently for something to say.

The minotaur, however, just continued to glare for a moment before slowly opening his mouth, speaking in a voice like an Appleloosan had gargled for an hour with gravel and broken glass.

“Call me Runt!”

Conundra nodded, unable to think of any other response to the command. “O-okay, Runt, are you... I mean... are we...?”

Runt hummed for a moment, his rough face unmoving. “Ain't my decision, is it?”

He swept his hands down, blowing his coat away from his hips and revealing a pair of holsters, each containing a dull metal revolver.

Conundra jerked back as she saw them, just about managing to stop herself from simply fleeing from this clearly unbalanced, gun-toting minotaur.

“Are those...” she shook her head, trying in vain to distract herself from Runt's stare. “Are those... actually... you know... real?”

Runt's head shifted to the side slightly as he rested his hands on the grips of his guns. “Ain't no powder in 'em, if that's what yer askin'.” The corner of his mouth twitched, as if to imply that that was the closest he'd ever get to a smile. “Ain't found I needed any. Air pistols do me just fine!”

Conundra blinked, the fact she'd just learned almost, but not quite, breaking her out of her terror. “Air pistols? But they're just... t-toys.” Her brief surge of confidence rapidly subsided as his expression didn't move, giving her the distinct impression that he knew this and had no reason to care.

Still, she managed to get her next sentence out, even if it lacked the self-assurance the words needed. “Y-you're threatening to kill me with... toys?” she finished with a squeak.

Runt hummed again, his fingers drumming on the handles of the guns.

“Dunno,” he said after a moment. “Ain't decided yet.”

Before Conundra could even consider that, his hands had already clasped the revolvers and whipped them out, bringing them towards her in a fraction of a second and firing off three shots.

The first impacted on her chest, knocking the wind out of her and making her wince as she fell back. However, she didn't even have time to put a hoof on the impacted area or move back from the force before the second shot hit her horn, sending a horrible ringing sensation through her head and knocking out any possibility of magic for the next couple of minutes. Her head was knocked a little back from the blow, but it hadn't got far before the final shot glanced off the side of her head, forcing her left eye closed as the skin just to the side of it was pressed in painfully.

A moment later, as the sounds of the shots faded, it occurred to her exactly what might have happened if that final shot had been aimed just slightly to the right. And, looking back at Runt, she knew for a fact that that realization was exactly what he'd intended.

“See, that's the good thing about these “toys”, ain't it?” He said, not sounding angry or mocking at the term, simply using it to show how wrong she'd been. “Can hurt,” one pistol pointed at her chest, “can disable,” the other pointed at her horn, “can maim,” the first pointed at her left eye, soon followed by the other being pointed at her right, “can even kill.”

His mouth widened, showing that he was, in fact, capable of smiling, but making Conundra wish he wasn't – his eyes remained hard and focused, letting her know exactly what that grim smile was anticipating.

“You got the choice! So,” he pulled the pistols' hammers back with a loud, imposing click, forcing her to look squarely down the barrels, “what's yours?”

With a whinny and a stumble, Conundra silently answered him that her choice was to run away. Very, very fast.


“Holy...” Icy pressed a hoof against her chest, making sure that her heart was, in fact, still beating despite all sensation to the contrary. “Is he... is he always like that?”

“Yeah, that's Runt, alright,” Aura replied, her easy smile just a little smaller than before. “His whole mental field’s, like, all kinds of off and he can put it right out there, you know?”

Caprice sighed. “That's Aura-speak for “he's a scary little thing”, not that you was needin' a reminder.”

Alula nodded. “Indeed, he certainly is... memorable.”


“Well,” the smaller of Cadance's guard began, having been further back and, thus, less directly exposed to Dinky's entreatment, “we'll rescue your friends, but in the meantime, I suggest you come with me to the guard station.”

“I'm sorry, what?” Scootaloo asked, narrowing her eyes at the suggestion they be taken out of the action.

Cadance nodded. “Please don't feel insulted, we have... well, I have no doubt about your capabilities in your own field, but the Caves of Sombra are incredibly dangerous and I cannot in good conscience ask you to accompany us down there.”

“You aren't asking us,” Alula pointed out, raising an eyebrow. “We're telling you we're coming.”

The larger guard, just about coming out of the heart-swelling Dinky had caused, gave her a patronizing smile. “Look, we appreciate the offer, kid, but don't worry – we'll be fine down there.”

“That a fact?” A new voice piped up, Runt striding his way to the front of the group.

“Course it...” the guard trailed off as he caught Runt's intense stare. “Course it is!”

Runt continued to look in his eyes, his gaze firm and unwavering. “You ain't scared o' the Caves of Sombra!” he asked, putting a hard emphasis on the final word.

An almost-impercepible shudder went through the guard before he blinked, seemingly confused about how unnerved this minuscule minotaur was making him. “Well... yeah, we... we have a duty and we are fully capable of carrying it out.”

“So yer sayin,” Runt drew a hand out of his coat, one of Griz's feathers tucked into his palm, out of sight of the guard, “you ain't scared of Sombra an' his sick surprises. The guy who took over yer empire wit’ barely a fight,” he stepped closer to the guard, his other hand going to his holster, “the guy who slithered his way into yer mind and held yer thoughts in fear for years... the guy who yanked y'all into his escape from this world wit' barely a thought and pulled y'all thousand years outta yer time... then covered the whole o' yer empire with his thick, black, chokin' self...” he drew out each world, maximising the repulsion in each action and adjective. “You ain't scared o' that?”

The guard, to his credit, managed to just about keep a neutral expression, even if it was twitching and jittering so much it looked like he was on the verge of an epileptic fit. However, the sweat pouring down his brow gave away just how hard Runt's words were hitting him, as did the quaver in his voice as he replied. “Of c... course we're not.”

Runt nodded slowly, seeming for a moment to accept his assurance before, all at once, he was moving. With a flurry of motion from his arms and coat, he flashed his hand out, the muzzle of his pistol an inch from the guard's muzzle.

The guard, however, didn't flinch. A tension came to his legs, making them shake slightly for a moment, but it seemed as if the sudden, overtly-aggressive motion had actually strengthened his resolve. It made sense, Alula supposed, that he would be far less intimidated by a simple weapon pointing at him than the magic that Runt had alluded to.

“See, kid,” the guard said, the beginnings of a shaky smile coming onto his face, “nothing to worry about.” However, above him, Alula could see the feather Runt had been holding, thrown up in the confusion of his motion, now fluttering down towards the guard's back. “We won't be needing y- AH!”

The feather brushed up against his side, making the guard literally jump with fright, whipping his head and forehooves around to see what had just touched him. His hooves clamped themselves around the area the feather had fallen against, as if to knock away whatever magic had caressed his skin and protect his flank from further intrusion. Of course, a moment later, gravity reasserted itself, making him fall to the floor in a tangle of limbs.

He glared up – though, even from the floor, it wasn't that far up – at Runt, who just looked disdainfully at him.

“Sure you won't,” he said, a faint, unpleasant smile edging onto his lips.

Cadance sighed at the scene. “I think you've made your point.” She looked at Runt with a hint of disapproval as he holstered his weapon.

“Y'don't say,” Runt said, not a hint of apology in his voice.


“I can only say I'm glad he's on our side and on your team,” Alula concluded.

Icy could only nod before the sound of hoofbeats drew her attention down one of the tunnels.

A moment later, Conundra came charging through, the terror still fading from her face. However, she lit her horn and suddenly six different versions of her raced out of her form, each one going down a different tunnel. One even ran ethereally through Icy's wall, the sight making her blink with its surreality.

There was a pause before Moonwing spoke up. “So, Aura, you think we should tell her you can see through her illusions?” She asked, leaning against the console with a relaxed posture.

Aura shook her head. “Nah, let her have her fun.”

“Well, she won't for much longer,” Alula said, looking down the tunnel that, Icy assumed, the real Conundra had gone down – had Icy been fully paying attention as Alula so often did, she could have probably worked out which of the Conundras had been real from the motion and trajectory of her running.

Alula pressed her hoof against her badge. “Lance, she's on her way to you.”

A quick fzt of response came over her badge.


Conundra scampered down the corridor, at this point totally expecting someone to be waiting for her. She hadn't kept an exact track of how many tunnels she'd gone down – that last encounter had really thrown off her analytical abilities and she was only just beginning to recover her full faculties – but she knew she was rapidly running out of escape routes. As such, she resolved that, whoever or whatever she encountered, she would simply blast them with a blinding bolt before they could speak or do anything.

Sure enough, she heard hoofbeats coming up the tunnel towards her and, as she looked up, she saw a colt in white dashing towards her, a wire mask over his face. The wide, feathered hat and billowing scarf suggested somepony showy and yet, Conundra couldn't help but notice, he wasn't slowing down or saying anything.

Still, whether he preferred showmanship or practicality, she could respect him either way. It didn't make a difference to her anyway as she fired off a bolt of illusion magic at his face, already turning her hooves to run past him.

However, to her surprise, he neither stopped nor even slowed down much. Instead, he rose to his hindhooves and, in one fluid motion, drew the sword at his hip and slashed it through the magical bolt, carving it cleanly in two and sending the halves flying to the side, where they soon dissipated. That done, he continued the motion, spinning around as he flashed the blade around before ramming it back into its scabbard and falling back to all four hooves, not having lost much speed in the process.

At this point, it occurred to Conundra that being impressive and being practical were not necessarily mutually exclusive.

Still, she scowled at the colt and fired off another blast, this time aiming a little higher to hopefully make it difficult for him to parry it as easily. However, this time he simply ducked down into a slide, the ray sailing cleanly over his head as he skated along the ground.

Conundra hopped to the side, hoping to pass him by, but in a flurry of motion, he pulled his scarf from around his neck and whipped it to the side, slamming the thick material into her leg. For a split second, she felt as if this wouldn't be a problem, as the scarf wrapped around her leg once, very lightly. Then, a moment later, the colt grabbed the other end of the scarf as he slid by, using her leg as a pivot point as he flew around her, wrapping the scarf around her legs and sending her crashing to the ground.

Conundra grunted as she toppled over, her horn lighting instinctively to try and stop herself, only to find that the colt had done a full circuit around her and was right by her head. He kicked off the ground as he moved, flying over her head – through her illusory helmet, she briefly realized – and slammed a hoof down, driving her horn into the ground and knocking the magic out of it.

With a slightly woozy groan, Conundra looked to the side at the colt, who was continuing his slide into the wall. As he impacted it, however, he bent his legs before springing off the wall and onto his feet, rushing at her head.

She tried to call up a spell, but the lingering impact with the floor made it impossible to focus any energy into her horn. After a moment, the colt was on her, grabbing her head and slamming a hoof towards her, something black grasped in it. She didn't have time to ascertain any more details of the thing before it was out of sight, though she felt it fall lightly around her horn. As it did, she felt a horrible pressure suddenly come into existence around it, as if something was clamping down over her magic and preventing it from even ambiently diffusing into the air around it.

Still, the thing didn't seem to be on especially tight, so she was confident she'd be able to shake it off.

However, she had barely started that thought when the colt leapt up from his run, swinging up around her head and pulling her neck up immensely painfully. A brief spike of panic surged through her at the thought that he might snap her neck, but was soon subsumed by other thoughts as he sailed over her head and rammed his sword down along her horn, wedging the tip into the ring hanging around it and firmly, painfully pressing the two together.

The colt let go of her head and spun around to land on his hooves, sliding along the ground for a second before, for the first time since Conundra had seen him, he stopped moving.

Conundra snorted, determined not to let on how impressive the whole sequence of actions had been. “You done?”

The colt nodded firmly before strolling up and grabbing the scarf still wrapped around her hooves. Without pausing, he continued on, confusing Conundra for a moment before she felt him give a slight yank and began being dragged along the smooth crystal floor like a very sullen sack of flour.

He glanced behind her and, though she couldn't see his face past his mask, she got a very distinct sense of his sentiment:

Even if I'm not, you are.


“Well, that was sure... somethin'!” Caprice said as Aura deactivated the screen fully.

“Quite something,” Alula replied. “That's certainly a good way to describe Lance.”


“Well, even if we are...” the smaller guard trailed off before shaking his head. “I don't see that we can fully trust the Princess's safety in your hooves.”

Alula was about to question whether an Alicorn capable of fending off the real King Sombra for days on end really needed their protection, but was saved from having to challenge the guards' career choices by Lance rising to his hindhooves, thrusting his sword out in a definite challenge.

The guard rolled his eyes as he strolled up, lowering his spear towards Lance. “Look, kid, I'm sure you're real good with that thing, but I don't think-”

He was cut off when Lance drove his rapier down, pushing the spear to the ground. Frowning, the guard put both hooves around the spear and yanked it upwards, easily overpowering Lance's downward pressure.

However, that was evidently what Lance had been counting on, as he pulled his sword away and stepped onto the spear's head, riding it up before using the force to augment his leap over the guard's head. The guard barely had time to react to this before Lance landed on his back, both hooves on his sword as it pointed down, pressing gently against the fur of his upper back, just before the area covered by his armor.

The guard gulped before his larger friend gave a slightly uncomfortable chuckle.”Okay, you've made your point.”


“But in any case, it seems the danger of both her and her escaping has passed.” Alula concluded before pressing her hoof to her badge. “Okay, we have her, you can rejoin us if you like.”

“It certainly sounds like Lance is,” Truffle said as everyone turned to the appropriate exit, also beginning to hear the sounds of walking, dragging and complaining.

“...if I hadn't been merciful enough t- ow! Look,” Conundra's voice came into clarity as they approached, “could you maybe be a little more gentle – this sword's painful enough as it is, but getting it jolted like that's just...” She trailed off as Lance pulled her into the room proper, prompting everyone to fix their eyes on her.

“My most sincere apologies,” Alula said in the most disinterested, insincere tone Icy had heard from her. “We couldn't get any horncuffs in your size, so we had to make do.”

Archer nodded. “Yeah, and also, you... kind of put us through Tartarus so...” she swayed her head from side to side in mock consideration for a moment before shrugging, “yeah, bite me, you crystal craphead.”

Caprice smiled, seeming genuinely respectful of Archer's words. “Not bad, but I'da gone with “shiny shi-””

“She's not a crystal pony,” Aura interjected, lighting her horn and yanking the cloak off Conundra's prone form.

The moment she did, the dome that had covered her head instantly receded into the hem of the cloak and her skin shifted, the reflective crystal fading into more mundane green fur. Once the helmet was gone, the filly's face was revealed, along with her short, deep purple mane and her golden eyes, locked into an intense scowl at the surrounding ponies. On her haunch was a picture of a cloud of pale pink, sparkly smoke, with a pony's ear emerging from its upper left side, the wing of a bat coming from its upper right and a staring eye in the middle of it – a very clear indication of a Special Talent for illusions.

“Well, congratulations,” the filly sneered, sounding as if she was only just restraining herself from spitting on them, “you managed to catch me and all it took was having ridiculous numbers on your side. You must be so proud.” She gave them a mocking smile, her eyes still glaring at them as if to set them all on fire.

Archer just returned the smile, though a little more happily. “Nah, just satisfied. Besides, we haven't turned you in yet – that'll be the real treat.”

Oddly enough, Conundra's smile became a little more genuine and smug at that. “Oh, yeah, about that! What exactly were you planning to tell the guard?”

Icy narrowed her eyes, a little more confused than annoyed. “Er, that you were down here and we came down to stop you, but you used traps and illusions against us...”

“Ooh, yeah, great plan!” Conundra interrupted, the smugness now radiating off her. “One small problem – you've got no evidence and, let's not forget that you were the ones trespassing down here. It's your word against mine and I think I've got more of a case that you do. It's not like there's a record of what happened down here and I don't think the grown ups are going to buy a kid like me being in control of this whole place.”

Alula raised an eyebrow. “So, you break into these highly secure caves to steal Sombra's secrets...”

“And you use your illusions to make us attack each other,” Icy picked up Alula's sentence the moment she trailed off, “then you make the traps down here even more deadly when you use them against us and you attack us with golems and solid illusions and then you try to use Sombra's ultimate fear illusion on us... and you expect nothing to happen to you because of it?!”

Conundra shrugged as best as she could while still bound. “Why not? You know that's what's happened and I know, but no one else does. All they know is that you came down here and came back up with me captured. Maybe I was another prisoner who you decided to pin this all on so you didn't have to admit you got caught by Sombra's traps. Maybe I heard you sneak down here and followed you down only to get caught and used as a scapegoat. Ooh, maybe you took me down here so you'd have someone to take the fall if you couldn't find Sombra's secrets.”

Zatrathan raised an eyebrow, a touch unnerved by Conundra's confidence but still clearly skeptical.
“We're representatives of Luna's guard
I think convincing them will not be hard.”

Conundra snorted. “That's what you think but I happen to be the daughter of the eq- of some very important ponies too and they happen to actually have some real authority here. Not to mention, I live here while you're all obviously visiting. Even if the guard doesn't just dismiss you, I can drag this out for a long time. Are you ready to stay here for weeks just to oppose me?”

There was a short pause before Alula spoke up. “Not perfect logic, by any stretch, but it doesn't make a difference. All we need to do is have someone with real authority hear what happened from your own mouth and the whole dilemma is moot.”

Conundra's smile reached peak punchability as she beamed at Alula. “And just how are you losers planning on making me do that?”

“Oh, I'm sure they'll find a way,” an entirely new voice spoke up, making Conundra's smile drop so fast Icy could almost feel the pain of her mouth being wrenched down.

“No...” Conundra turned her head towards where the voice had come from. “No, it can't be...”

“Oh, I'm afraid it is,” the voice replied as a pink form began shimmering out of the air.


“And quite a point you've made,” Cadance said as Lance flipped off the guard's back. “Well, children, we've no time to lose if we're going to get down to the caves, rescue your friends and deal with whoever has been going down there.”

Cadance began trotting off, her guards preparing to follow before Alula's voice stopped them. “Well, while we're obviously grateful for your help, it shouldn't be necessary for you to confront the perpetrator yourself.”

Cadance turned to Alula, an innocently condescending smile on her face. “Oh, don't worry, kids – I may be a princess, but I know how to handle myself. Trust me, I think I can handle somepony still young.”

“I don't doubt it,” Alula assured her, almost entirely truthfully – while an alicorn like Cadance would obviously have the power to take on most opponents, regardless of age, her tone of voice suggested that, as with most adults, she wasn't taking the threat of such a foe seriously. How much of a disadvantage this would be, Alula couldn't say, but it was still a consideration. Fortunately, it was neither the only nor the primary reason for her suggestion. “That is, in fact, why I suggest you conceal yourself while we take down whoever is responsible for the situation – keeping our strongest asset in reserve until and unless we need it.”

Scootaloo cast a disbelieving look at Alula, mirroring the one on Cadance. “Are you kidding... you really want a friggin' Princess to come with us just so she can stand around and let us handle things?”

Alula shrugged. “Only if we can handle things. If we can't...”

“We can,” Aura interrupted with a gentle smile.

“If we can't,” Alula continued forcefully, “Cadance can come in as our trump card. Otherwise, there's no reason to put forward additional assets if the basic ones will work perfectly well.”

Scootaloo narrowed her eyes a little. “Not even to keep them close by in case, say, the “basic assets” fall down a pit and the “additional” ones have gotta catch 'em?”

Alula opened her mouth to reply, only to stumble and stammer for a few seconds, caught totally off-guard by Scootaloo's not-inaccurate criticism. “I... well... She'll still be available if we do need her but...”

“But the kid's got a point,” Runt finished for her, his stern gaze handily seeming to make Scootaloo ignore he was one of the smallest beings present. “Pappy always used to say: never play an ace if a two'll do.”

“Well, I can see your point,” Cadance said, her smile speaking of infinite patience. “However, I can't help but think you might be overthinking this a little bit. It shouldn't be any problem for me to simply catch whoever is down there, so...”

“Well, maybe, but you'll also probably scare them,” Dinky pointed out, focusing her puppydog eyes on Cadance like a laser. “I know if I saw a big, powerful princess, I'd want to run away too. If they think we're the only ones there, we might be able to convince her not to run, but if they know you're there, we probably won’t.”

Cadance's mouth hung open as she obviously tried to come up with a response. After a few seconds, however, she closed it with an endeared sigh. “Well, I suppose I can see your point, but I'm not sure about hiding myself. I am, after all, fairly distinctive.” She flared her wings out for emphasis.

Alula nodded. “True, but I would be very surprised if our opponent was the only one in the castle who knew a bit of illusion magic. Surely, you know some variety of invisibility spell.”

Cadance nodded. “Well, yes, but those aren't the hardest things to detect. You'd have to be able to keep her from magically scanning the area – do you think you can do that?”

Alula allowed herself a small smile. “Oh, I'm sure we'll manage it somehow.”

Aura shook her head. “Won't be hard, we'll do it.”

Alula nodded, silently wishing that vote of confidence had come from anybody else so she could pretend it had some basis in logic.

Meanwhile, Cadance shook her head. “I can see why Auntie Luna talks so much about ponies like you. Okay, if you insist, I'll just be there and watch. Although...” she trailed off into thought for a second before a cheeky smile came onto her face, “I would like to stop by the kitchens first.”


“P-P-P-Princess Cadance?!” Conundra spluttered, her hooves trying to scramble back despite the long scarf tangled around them. “I... I can explain!”

“I doubt it,” Cadance replied, striding up to the filly with the confidence of a monarch, “but I'm very interested to hear you try.”

Icy trotted up to join her, both because she figured it would be a good idea to be nearby to ice up Conundra's hooves if she somehow managed to get free and because standing next to a triumphant princess was just awesome. On Cadance's other side, she could see Scootaloo and Archer also joining them, presumably for the latter reason.

“I... er...” Conundra began babbling, her eyes locked on Cadance as her mouth worked rapidly, seemingly without any input from her brain, “they made me... I was just... I thought they were going to... they set me up to... well... you see...” she trailed off into silent mouth movements before thumping her head against the ground with a loud, self-pitying moan. “It's not fair!”

“It's perfectly fair,” Cadance said as she lit her horn and pulled Lance's sword out from the ring around Conundra's horn. Conundra looked up, the beginnings of gratitude and hope peeking their way onto her face for a split second. After that, however, they vanished as Cadance's magic grasped the shiny metal handles attached to the outer edge of the black ring and tilted it hard, fixing the magical dampener onto her horn.

A moment later, Conundra was enveloped in a blue magical field and lifted off the ground, held firmly in place as she unwove the scarf from her hooves and handed it and the sword back to Lance.

“If there's one thing I've learned from my sister-in-law,” Cadance continued as she hovered the sulking filly in front of her face, “it's that Friendship, being one of the most powerful forces in the universe, always pays dividends. If you hurt someone with friends, those friends will stop at nothing to help them. And no matter how powerful and skilled you think you are, Friendship is mightier.”

It was a good speech, to be certain, but Icy couldn't help but be distracted as, once Cadance started speaking, she detected the distinct smell of butter and popcorn on her breath.

Nevertheless, Conundra sneered, clearly not convinced by the speech but saying nothing.

Cadance smiled. “Well, I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to think about it soon.” And, having said that, she started walking down one of the many exits to the hub room, the morosely-floating filly trailing behind her.

Icy followed along with the rest of the two groups, noting that this was the tunnel Dinky had been stationed in. And since Cadance was exiting it, that presumably meant it led to the main entrance to the caves. However, Icy wasn't sure whether this meant it would be the tunnel most in need of guarding, since it was the most direct and obvious route of escape, or the least, since it would most likely have guards on the other end. Thus, she wasn't sure if the others had the least faith in Dinky to stop Conundra or the most. For that matter, she wasn't sure which she'd have thought in that situation.

Nevertheless, she trotted close behind Cadance, her wings a little tense and ready to move in case, through some miracle, Conundra both tried and managed to pull something from her seemingly-helpless position.

However, that tension fled in favour of awe as the group turned around a bend in the corridor and saw what had clearly once been a deadly trap for intruders and escapees.

Littered across the floor, walls and ceiling were dozens upon dozens of long, thin, metallic spikes, their tips looking so sharp Icy could almost feel them jabbing her eyes, and their heads glistening with something wet. Icy couldn't say what kind of liquid or chemical was on them, but she knew for a fact it wouldn't be a good idea to get pricked by one.

However, that wasn't really a danger any more, as every single one of the spikes had been twisted into a tight knot, their tips now pointing back down along their shafts, replaced by the curled sides of the tangles.

Icy was about to ask what had happened when the question was pre-emptively answered by Cadance's satisfied tone and gait as she trotted through the spikes, not even bothering to use her wings to replace or augment her confident stride. “Be careful, kids – they're designed to ram up if someone disturbs them. We wouldn't want you getting shoved by them, would we – you might get a slight bruise.”

“Also, there's the poison to consider,” Alula said, sounding genuinely cautious and utterly unamused by Cadance's cavalier attitude. “It has a particularly nasty effect if ingested, so don't eat anything until you get a chance to wash your hooves thoroughly.” Taking a moment to make sure Cadance wasn't looking, she shifted herself a pair of wings and took off, flying carefully through the field. “Still, it shouldn't be an immediate danger unless someone decides to lick the spikes."

“Spoilsport!” Truffle said with a smirk as he began to warily step through the field.

The group began making their way across, only for their care to turn to be unnecessary as, once Cadance had reached the end, she turned around began levitating the group, one or two at a time, over to her position.

“You know, Princess,” Truffle said as he and Griz, by far the two heaviest members of the two groups, were casually floated across and around the array, “I can't help but get the feeling you might be showing off a little.”

“I've no idea what you mean,” Cadance replied with the pleasant, blank face of an experienced politician.

Truffle laughed a little as he was deposited down. “I didn't say I disapproved. It must be nice to let loose a little after however long of just governing, eh?”

Cadance gave a single, quiet chuckle, but said nothing. As she focused on the next children to be aided, Truffle gave a look to Dinky, who silently nodded twice, prompting a mirroring nod of satisfaction from Truffle.

Once everyone was across, the group continued down the tunnel. However, they weren't walking long before Cadance flared a wing out to stop them and pointed down at the ground in front of them.

Looking down, Icy saw a slightly raised section of the ground just next to Cadance's hooves, stretching out along the long corridor in front of them.

“Hmm, pressure plate, looks like,” Caprice said quietly, more to herself than anyone else. “Wonder what it...”

She was cut off when Cadance put a hoof on the plate and pressed down, with more weight, Icy noticed, than a single filly like Conundra would have put on it. The plate moved down and, just a moment before Icy could fully brace herself, a long sea of circular saw blades dropped down rapidly from the roof and spun to life, making her stumble back in shock and bumping into the unmoving form of Lance.

Looking up, she saw two things. Firstly, she noticed that only those who had been captured with her were surprised and, secondly, she saw Lance giving Cadance a disapproving glare. From this, Icy concluded that Cadance had done the same thing to the other group when they had first come down this section and, further, that Truffle and Dinky were entirely correct about her showing off.

This thought was only compounded when, a moment after the saws retreated back into the ceiling, Cadance lit her horn and conjured up an energy construct of a massive bridge, extending over the whole of the pressure plate and covering the entirety of the ground in that area, from wall to wall.

The group made their way over, only those who had not been in this section before worried about the weight capacity of the bridge.

As she carefully made her way across, however, a thought occurred to Icy. “Wow, there must be loads of traps this way if these ones are so close together.”

Alula turned, raising an eyebrow. “What makes you say that?”

Icy tilted her head slightly. “Well, I mean, I thought because of how long this entrance must be, there'd have to be...”

“Oh, don't worry, little filly,” Cadance said cheerfully. “We don't have long to go at all – the exit's just around this next bend.”

Icy blinked in surprise. “Wait, what?!”

She raced forward past Cadance, turning around the curve to see, indeed, the ornate double doors she had seen when on the initial tour of the castle, closed behind a powerful magical barrier.

“Why did you think we had a long way to go?” Dinky asked as she trotted up to join her. “It doesn't make sense that Sombra would make it take a long time to get from the entrance to the control room, does it?”

“Well, from what I've heard, he had kind of a thing for pointlessly complex stuff,” Archer pointed out, “but you've got a point.”

“Well, yeah,” Icy said, looking at the rest of the group. “But I figured it had to be a really long way from here to there, otherwise how come it took you guys so long to come down here an-” she cut herself off, giving a groan before saying, “okay, wow, sorry – that sounded way less ungrateful in my head. I just assumed it must have taken you a long time to come down to help... no, that's not much better... I...”

Fortunately, Dinky interrupted her. “It's okay, Icy.” Even more fortunately, she drew Icy's eyes away from the rest of the group, as she could see Alula and Griz at least giving her a sardonically sharp look and, in the corner of her eye, she could feel Runt's gaze on her – something she had no desire to see fully.

Dinky just gave a melancholy smile. “We... didn't exactly come straight down here.”

Icy's puzzled expression didn't abate as she turned back to the front of the group, just in time to see Cadance put her horn against the magical barrier, dissipating it instantly.

“Okay, but...” Icy stopped herself thinking hard about how to phrase her next question as the group approached the doors. “what were you doing before that?”

“Oh, we had a few things to take care of,” Alula said with a small, cryptic smirk. “Just to set things up for this moment.”

At this, Conundra perked back up a little, having spent the rest of the journey sulking. However, her expression suggested she did not appreciate the change as she asked, “S-set things up? How?” with the caution of one who did not want to know the answer to what they'd just asked. She looked up at the opening doors.

Following her gaze, Icy saw what Alula had meant – in front of the doors was a small crowd of ponies – mostly guards, but a couple of others as well. And standing in front of them all...

“Persistant Vision!” the tall unicorn snapped, his furious gaze locked firmly on the floating filly. His mane and suit were immaculate and, even with his face contorted into rage and his horn faintly glowing, he managed to look refined. To his side, a unicorn mare was also looking at Conundra – or Persistant Vision, it seemed – with a look of burning cold anger and disappointment.

“M-mother? Father?” Vision squeaked out, every ounce of dignity and poise drained away, leaving only undisguised terror in their wake. “How... How did...?”

“Oh, we have our ways,” Alula said, her smile unusually and unnervingly wide.


“The kitch-” Scootaloo sputtered for a moment before shaking her head. “Do we really have time for that, Princess? We need to get down there as fast as we can!”

“Actually, no,” Alula said calmly, “we have quite a few stops to make before we do so anyway, so it shouldn't be much of a problem.”

“We do?” Aura asked, her sightless eyes gaining a confused frown for the first time since Alula had first seen her.

Alula smiled, gaining, she knew, far more satisfaction than she should have from Aura not simply “knowing” something Alula had worked out. It was petty, Alula was perfectly aware, but given the stress she'd just been under, she was willing to take it.

“Of course – we know that, whoever the perpetrator of this whole business is, they live in the palace, yes?”

“Howd'ya figure?” Runt asked, a tentatively curious tone edging onto his growl.

“Well, at least two, almost certainly more, of the entrances they made are within the palace grounds. However, the caves of Sombra extend far beyond the boundaries of the palace. And, given that getting into and sneaking around the palace would, in itself, be tricky and dangerous, why would they make their entrances inside the palace...”

“...unless they were already being inside.” Griz finished, nodding as she saw Alula's logic.

“Oh, yeah, that makes sense,” Aura said, her normal smile returning. That was fine, of course – Alula would have preferred her to seem surprised, but she'd take her victories against Aura's 'abilities' where she could get them. “So, what? Do we do a headcount of the whole castle to figure out who it is?”

Alula's mouth went to the side in thought. “If necessary, but it's most likely we're dealing with a unicorn, given the illusion spells we've encountered, so that narrow things down considerably.”

“It does indeed,” Cadence added, already starting to move down the corridor. “Come on, we'll check in the living quarters. Though, what are you planning to do once we find out who our mysterious trespasser is?”

Alula smiled. “Why, arrange a proper welcoming committee, of course!”

Scootaloo grunted, even as her wings began propelling her slowly along. “And you're thinking we just leave the others... wherever they are while we go chasing this pony's identity?”

Alula hesitated for a fraction of a second, her stepping hoof almost stumbling before she managed to push through it. “They can take care of themselves, I am certain. Besides which, simply rushing down there without a plan or preparation is as likely as not to fail to help them much. We must trust in their ability to keep safe, which I do.”

She felt a hard push to her side – somewhere between a nudge and a shove – and turned to see Lance giving her a harsh, skeptical look. It took a moment to see past the wire of his mask, but his face had a very clear message: You better be right about this.

Alula nodded. “I am. I know I am.”


Vision's mouth worked silently for a moment, panic-stricken at the sight of her parents. Eventually, she managed to squeak out, “W-what are you doing here?”

“That's the question we should be asking you!” the stallion replied, glaring daggers at his daughter. “What in the world were you doing sneaking into the Caves of Sombra?”

Before Conundra could even begin to think up an answer, Alula swooped in with an explanation. “She was after one of his spells, his “Dream of Dread Despair”,” she explained, rolling her eyes at the overdramatic name Sombra had given the effect.

“Dream of Dre- that illusion spell you asked to...” the stallion stuttered, his face a picture of confusion and disapproval with a tiny hint of disgust. “We told you why you weren't allowed to learn that spell – it's dangerous, repulsive and evil! Why would you go to all this trouble just to-”

“Because I wanted it!” Vision snapped, trying to stamp her hoof while being levitated and only succeeding in throwing herself off-balance. “I figured it must be really powerful if you didn't... it doesn't matter anyway – it turns out the stupid thing's a dud.”

“And you think that makes it okay?!” her mother asked, her jaw hanging open at her daughter's words. “You... wait, you actually tried using the spell... how could you...?”

“Um,” Dinky piped up, looking intensely uncomfortable at both the exchange happening in front of her and the words she was about to say, “if it helps, I... I don't think she'd have wanted it so much if you... if you hadn't told her she couldn't have it.” She squeezed her eyes shut, as if in terror of being punched. Or, for that matter, of witnessing the result of her assessment.

However, the two unicorns simply sighed, looking almost heartbroken at the conclusion Dinky had reached.

“I see,” Vision's father said while her mother turned to Princess Cadence.

“Your highness,” she said, bowing low, “please accept my deepest, most sincere apologies for the actions of my daughter. Rest assured, she will be submitted to your country's judgment and will accept whatever punitive measures you see fit to impose.”

Conundra opened her mouth to object, but her Father's horn lit up and clamped her mouth shut before she could.

“Furthermore,” the mother continued, “our family will accept whatever decision you make about whether and how we should be penalized, including my removal from my post and our expulsion from your country, should you desire it. I only ask that you do not hold Equestria to blame for the actions of one rogue filly.”

Cadance gave a gentle smile to the still-bowing mare. “That shouldn't be necessary, Ambassador. Your daughter will need to be punished, but I see no reason to expel you... provided you pledge to aid her in her reformation,” she said, leaving the addition of and improve your parenting implied.

The ambassador nodded, rising to her hooves. “Understood, your highness. Now, I believe your guards said they have requisitioned an appropriately-sized magical inhibitor and locking brace.” She looked to the side, receiving a nod from one of the guards present, before turning back to Cadance. “We shall see to the fixing of this inhibitor and then place her under house arrest until such time as you are ready to try her.”

“H-house arrest?” Vision asked as she was passed from Cadance's magic to her Father's. “Y-you mean...?”

“That's right, young lady,” her father said with an angry sigh as he began walking away, followed by his wife and the crowd. “You are grounded!

Vision's eyes widened in both horror and shock – clearly this was an entirely new experience for her. Icy knew it wasn't exactly noble, but she did take quite a bit of satisfaction in “Conundra's” expression as the filly was dragged through the air, down the corridor and out of sight.

“No!” she snarled, her voice raising as she kept talking. “No, you can't do this to me! You can't! IT'S NOT FAIR!”

Her voice faded as Icy turned back to the others. “Well, I guess that's one conundrum... cracked!”

Princess Cadence giggled at her declaration, though Icy got the distinct impression that it was because she thought it was cute that a filly had said it, as the expressions on the others indicated the quip was passable at best.

Still, Icy smiled – she thought she was improving, at least. As with everyone else on the two teams, she was still learning.

After a moment, though, Griz chuckled. "Most impressive was victory for combination of..." she paused, looking over the Ponyvillians. "What is name of group, anyway? Ponyville Seven?"

Archer shook her head. "Nah, we're Iota Force. Got a way better ring to it, if you ask me."

Icy looked around, seeing that her team had bunched together, before looking back when Caprice said, "Guess 'Ponyville' don't lend itself to much in the way o' wordplay, does it?"

Icy tilted her head. "So what's your group called."

Caprice smiled as she, Moonwing, Aura Gaze, Griz, Zatrathan and Runt all gathered together. "Us? Well, we are... the Mane Six!"

Icy's head flinched back a little in surprise. "I... really?"

Moonwing raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, what's the problem. There's six of us, we're from Manehattan, so why not that name?"

Icy hummed for a moment. "I dunno, just feels... feels like some other group should be called that."

Aura shrugged. "Well, I don't know anypony else with that name. Have you ever heard any group called that?"

Icy thought hard for a moment before shrugging. "I guess not. Okay then, it's good to work with you, Mane Six."

Author's Note:

Well, except for being so long winded I had to split this chapter into two. But other than that? Not sorry at all!