Chapter 71: Trail Mix
"Zecora, where the hay have you been?" the workhorse questioned her.
Applejack rushed up to the top of the sandy hill to catch up with Applebloom, who got ahead of everybody to find her mentor having gone ahead.
But just like before, she didn't answer, and instead pointed into the distance, to the canyon, into which the sandy hill upon which they currently were, descended. “The path below us is the trail we must take. But let me warn you, this will not be a piece of cake.”
“Just as well, Zecora, but unfortunately I couldn’t bring along-!” before the party planner could finish, the orange earth pony shut her.
“Not now, Pinkie,” she said, turning to the zebra. “Zecora, you didn’t answer my question: Where did you disappear off to?”
And yet, she still didn’t reply to her query. The pony was about to speak again, until the elder zebra stepped past her, and stood by the younger one’s side, leaning forward to check under her cloak, before pulling back.
“That’s not important right now,” she addressed the rest. “We will have to descend into the canyon, that is the usual route that will lead us to the homeland of abadas.”
“Doesn’t seem like a big deal, madam,” Spike said, as he gazed downhill. “How long will it take us to get there?”
“Three days.”
“THREE DAYS?!” It was a response that just about everybody else shared after hearing it.
“The canyon below leads to the open dunes of Farasi,” she elaborated. “It is actually a short trail, however, because of the winds that push from either east or west, they funnel the sand storms into it, making the journey slow. Only camel caravans are able to traverse it at a faster pace, but they’ve been gone for days. If we were to try and travel down that road… it would probably take even longer.”
“But we can’t travel three days or more!” Rarity exclaimed. “I doubt that people trapped in the city will be able to survive that long!”
“Do not underestimate King Abraxas, miss,” Zeg’us reassured her. “He’s far more powerful than you’ve seen him.”
Discord popped out of the fanny pack. “If I may add another problem that involves us directly, but how are we even supposed to survive three days or more without any food or water?”
“Twilight,” the draconequss’ bearer turned to her leader, “can’t you teleport our supplies from the airship to us?”
The alicorn seemed to be in deep thought when she called her, breaking her concentration. “I fear that’s not possible, Fluttershy. When we got arrested, I saw the guards moving all our things. I can’t just bring them here when I don’t even know where their location is. But that can wait for a moment.” She turned to the old zebra. “Madame Zeg’us, I have to ask: Hypothetically, if the sandstorms weren’t present, and if we galloped all the way to our destination, how long would it take?”
The elder gave her a confused look. “That’s a lot of wishful thinking you’re asking of me, miss.”
“Just please try.”
The zebra rubbed her chin. “Well, if we remove all the obstacles, then my guess would be… about half a day. But I fail to see how that’s of any help.”
The princess of friendship smiled. “Because I can make it work.”
“Is that so, miss?” The Zebra raised an eyebrow. “Can you make the sand storms cease? Do you possess the power equal to Farasi’s Kings?”
“Probably not. However, I can make sure that the sand storms won’t bother us. I can erect a magic barrier that will keep the elements at bay while we travel.”
“What about the foodstuff shortage, Twilight?” Pinkie Pie asked. “And even then, we won’t survive the whole journey without water.”
“I know. But I’m pretty sure that Zecora has enough stashed in her saddlebags. She always comes prepared in case of an emergency. Right, Zecora?” The alicorn looked at the hooded zebra, who seemed rather distant, and she thought she didn’t hear her, yet just before she repeated her question, the shaman nodded. “See, Madame?”
“You’re a clever mare, miss,” the elder one acknowledged. “However, there’s one little issue that you’ve not taken into account.”
“You mean yourself?” the wonderbolt recalled. “No worries. As we said, we’ll carry you the whole way if we have to.”
“Pull her, Dash,” the workhorse corrected her. “But that was before we knew what we were getting ourselves into. Sure, Twilight’s cut our travel time down, but even so, we’re working against the clock, so we’ll be exerting ourselves to the limit. Even if we pass the ma’am between each other we’ll just end up slowing ourselves down.”
The mare in question sighed. “Then you see the problem. Even with all the deterrents dealt with, my condition will force us to go with a slow tempo.”
“But… but we can’t let the city of Musa fend for itself for three long days!” the alicorn stressed out the urgency of the situation. “There has to be some other way!”
And the silence fell upon them, being disturbed by the clash of thunder not far from them, reminding them of how serious the current situation was, and even so, the princess couldn’t just deal with being forced to leave the natives to their fate.
“We can help.”
They were all quickly roused by the voice. Behind them, standing on the edge of the other side of the hill, another zebra appeared, and another, and another, followed by several dozen more that climbed to the top.
“What the… what is this?” Zeg’us looked at them confusingly, as she could tell that they were members of her tribe, based on their bare bodies. “Why are you outside of the city?”
The zebra who was slightly taller than the rest and at the front was the first to respond. “We were on the beach when we heard the commotion, and when we saw the dark airships arrive, we decided to make a run for it to the edge of the city just in case. And then all of a sudden, this giant electric field came down only a few hooves away and we couldn’t get back in. That’s when we saw you going up the hill. We cannot help our kin that are trapped inside the city, but we’ll be more than happy to assist in any way possible.”
The group members looked at each other in surprise. “Well… That’s convenient,” Autumn Blaze responded.
“If you’re gonna help, then get us a sand sleigh or something, so that granny can be given a lift!” Rainbow Dash urged them.
A hoof suddenly got wrapped around her, as the aforementioned old person pulled her in. “Let me give you a piece of advice, young filly: Do. Not. Call me a granny. Age may have not been kind to my bones, but that doesn’t mean I can’t give a good buck when one deserves it. Did I make myself clear?” And the wonderbolt quickly nodded.
The group of zebras disappeared and returned sometime later, several of them pulling a makeshift wooden sleigh with a single seat on it. It didn’t take long for the elder mare to place herself on top of it.
“Wait, where are our spots?” the fashionista inquired.
“What makes you think there’d be any room for us?” Fluttershy asked.
“I mean, if there’s this many, why not put more seats on it? We need not waste our energy in a climate to which they’re all suitable.”
Her tail was suddenly tugged, her hooves dragging in the sand as the workhorse pulled her away. “Come on, Rarity, let’s not take advantage of them, you’ve got a perfectly well-suited set of legs.” The white unicorn whimpered as she dragged her to the leader.
“I think we’re all set to go, Twilight,” Spike reported.
“Excellent. Now then, Zecora, why don’t you go and lead...” The alicorn looked around, as their zebra friend, who was sitting nearby, disappeared out of sight again. “Zecora?”
“There she goes again, Twi. She’s acting really suspicious,” Applejack pointed out.
“I’m sure there’s a reason why she’s acting so evasive.”
The group of locals that were pulling the sleigh passed them, the contraption garnering their attention as it stopped next to them. “If that’s the case, I supposed it’s up to me to point you all in the right direction,” Zeg’us smirked. “Now then, miss Twilight, right? Will you provide the protection that you’ve mentioned earlier?”
The alicorn didn’t meander about. Her horn glowed, creating a magical field that expanded several dozen hooves in diameter, covering everybody present. The matriarch pointed, and the horde of zebras marched on, pulling the sleigh, and the rest of the visitors following them. But as they did, one of the striped equines that was wearing a cloak was left in the back, pacing after them in the distance.
“So, Chrysalis managed to escape from her imprisonment and she attacked the Crystal Empire with… What did you say his name was again?” Stygian asked.
He was sitting outside Café Hay enjoying a meal, and with him was his enormous companion, who was retelling what was told to him on his journey, but not before gorging himself on a large bowl of oats.
“The Storm King, lad,” Rockhoof elaborated. “From what I got, it once invaded Equestria, but that was before we came back, the princess and her relatives had dealt with him before. I’ve not seen ‘im myself, but I’ve seen the whole castle cut right down the middle, that was the extent of ‘is power. But from what they told me he was supposed to be destroyed, so I’ve no idea how he came back.”
“That’s not the only thing, Rockhoof. What about-?”
“Oh, one moment, lad,” he stopped him. “Waiter!”
And just when he dropped the word, a yellow pony with slick hair and a small mustache, carrying a proud look on his face, was standing right next to him. “You called, monsieur?” Savoir Fare asked.
“Ah, perfect! I’d like-”
“Another portion?” he placed a large bowl of oats on the table.
“Well, I’ll be… How d’ya know?”
“Call it an instinct, monsieur. That, and ze fact that this was ze third bowl you’ve scarfed down it was easy to narrow it down.”
“Well, thanks a lot for that then.” He quickly took a mouthful, while the empty dish was taken away. “Now, you were sayin’, lad?”
“The other thing you’ve mentioned, Rockhoof,” the scrawny unicorn resumed, “one that was with Chrysalis and the Storm King… Grogar. Are you sure that’s what Mistmane said?”
“It’s what Princess Cadence told her. I’d take her word for it.”
“But, Rockhoof, how’s that possible? Grogar was a myth, a legend, a name of terror that struck fear in the hearts of ponies in the time now forgotten. Even our generation never saw him, or any trails of his existence, except for hearsay. I mean, I know that his bell existed, one that the changeling queen and two others used, but how did HE end up working with her?”
“That’s a whole lot of questions that I’ve no answers for, lad,” the massive stallion answered, before taking another mouthful. “’Tis why I decided to come back to Ponyville. Mistmane told me that Star Swirl’s here, so I came to ask him about that.” He took a mouthful one last time, before getting up. “There. I think we’re just about done. Let’s get going and see what he can tell us.”
“Wait, not yet!” Stygian raised his voice in fear, other guests of the café giving him a look of surprise.
“Why not?”
“Because I…” he tried to make an excuse. “I… haven’t finished my oats yet. I don’t want to waste food.”
When they arrived, they each ordered a bowl, but while the bigger pony managed to down three of them in that time, all the while pausing to relate his journey, the little one hadn’t even managed to finish off the first one.
“Y’ve not even gotten down to half of it, lad,” he noticed.
“I mean, with the tale you’ve been telling me, I didn’t really have the time to focus on eating,” he smiled awkwardly.
“I’ll be happy to get rid of it for ya if ya don’t want to waste it,” the Pillar of Strength offered.
“Ho-how about I get you another bowl of oats instead? That way, I’ll get to finish mine and you can get yourself another so you won’t have to wait for me.”
He was waiting, hoping that his attempt at temptation worked.
“Well, I certainly won’t say no for another bowl of oats, lad,” he eagerly sat down again. “Hey, waiter! Another one!”
Stygian exhaled in relief, he bought himself some more time, if even a little, enough to think of the next step that would not get them in contact with the Pillar of Sorcery. But he wasn’t sure at the moment what he could say, and considering how fast his companion was handling his meal, he knew his time was short.
“Crepes!” the waiter called out into the kitchen.
“Oui, Fare?” the chef by the name responded, as she ran about the kitchen.
“It’s ze big lug from outside again, he wants more oats!”
“It’ll have to wait, mon ami! I ran out of it in ze kitchen, I have to get a new bag from ze cellar!”
“Well do hurry. The way he’s been eating them, I fear he might devour one of ze customers if he doesn’t get his fill soon.”
The chef opened the doors to the cellar and ran downstairs, turning on the light, and began rummaging through the bags that were stacked against the wall, checking which of them contained the necessary cereal.
CRASH!
She jumped at the sound of breaking glass. A bottle of cider fell off the nearby cupboard and crashed against the stone floor.
“Oh, come on!” she moaned and went upstairs to grab a broom.
CRASH!
She froze halfway up. Another bottle just fell out of the cupboard and broke. She was certain she didn’t see any other item on the shelves looking like they were about to fall off. It soon became clear to her that wasn’t the case, as the cupboard suddenly shook and another thing fell out of it. The chef thought for a moment that there was an earthquake, but when she went to inspect the shelves it became clear to her that only it was rumbling. She pulled it away from the stone wall, only to find the cause for it at the back. Stone bricks of the wall were budging outwards as if something was trying to force itself through. The bricks finally fell away, and a face popped out of the hole in the wall. A dark green, horned equine-looking face that resembled an alien bug. The moment its eyes met the ponies’, it hissed. The chef screamed in panic and crawled backward. The horrid creature climbed through the hole, and soon enough, several more followed it.
She quickly ran upstairs and locked the door shut. “CHANGELINGS! THERE ARE CHANGELINGS IN OUR BASEMENT!!!”
The banging of numerous forces could be felt against the door against which the pony was pressing to try and hold them back, but it didn’t take long before they broke down, and the numerous attackers burst through, hissing. They lept against the first moving thing they saw, and it was the lone chef who was trying to crawl away. Before they could even claim their prize, however, the head of a shovel swung in and smacked the attackers back through the door. It took her a moment to realize what had just happened, and that she wasn’t alone in the kitchen anymore. Looming over her was a large imposing light-blue stallion, holding a shovel in his mouth, with a small scrawny unicorn by his side.
“Monsieur! Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you!” she hugged his hooves and kissed them. “You saved my life!”
“Calm yerself, lass. You get out of here. We’ll handle these things,” the tall one ordered. “Stygian, with me.”
As the staff member ran out, the two descended downstairs, where they were met with the aforementioned creatures, some of them recovering from the pain that the Pillar of Strength had just inflicted upon them. They hissed at him to try and terrify him but he didn’t even flinch, something that couldn’t be said for his companion. He lept into the fray, swinging his tool at them, while the unicorn tried to use his spell to keep his blind spot covered. The fight was fierce but brief after a few strong swings with the shovel – all the invasive intruders lay on the ground bruised and unconscious.
“We’ve made a downright mess here, lad,” the imposing earth pony said as he put down his shovel. “Let’s clean it up and go.”
“Hold on, Rockhoof. I’m pretty sure changelings weren’t hiding in the cellar this whole time if the chef came running out,” Stygian pointed out.
“How do you mean? They can shapeshift into everyday objects from what I learn. They could’ve been in waiting for a while.”
“True, but if that were the case, the chef wouldn’t have noticed them either. For all we know the pony would’ve been replaced by one of them and we wouldn’t have even noticed it.”
“Wait, then, does that mean that the chef that came screaming for help was actually-?”
“No, of course not, and that’s all the reason why I don’t think it was her. If she was a changeling there’d be no need for her to pretend she was being attacked, she’d just act like nothing was happening.”
“You’re making sense, lad. But then how did they get here in the first place?” Rockhoof wondered.
It didn’t take much time for both of their eyes to wander across the room and notice the moved cupboard. They went to inspect it further and noticed the bricks of the wall being broken down.
“I think we’ve found it, lad.” The large stallion raised his shovel. “Let’s go and see where this takes us.”
“Hold on. Before we go anywhere, what about the changelings?” the smaller one pointed out.
“Oh yeah. We can’t have ‘em just scurrying away and hiding among other ponies. Best you stay behind and keep your eye on them.”
“Wait, I can’t do that! Somepony has to cover your back. If there’s more of them on the other side, who knows where they’re hiding? Not to mention even on my own, when they wake up, I wouldn’t be able to keep them all in check for long. Let me go in. I may not be a capable fighter, but I’ve got a keen sight, I’ll be able to spot any oddities if they’ve set up an ambush.”
“Oh no, lad! That’s precisely why I ain’t lettin’ you in there on your own,” Rockhoof protested.
“But we have to assess how bad things are on the other end,” Stygian insisted.
“Well, we’re just two. What are we supposed to do otherwise?”
The unicorn went silent. An action needed to be taken, and the two of them just weren’t enough, they needed more people and they didn’t have any…. Or at least, that’s what he initially believed. A thought formulated in his mind. It was sound, but he didn’t want it to be taken there, he wasn’t ready yet. Even so, they didn’t have any other option.
He inhaled deeply. “Give me a second,” she said, before trotting back up the stairs, opening the door and finding the chef and the waiter by the side of the door, nearly missing him with the frying pan.
“Sacre bleu! I thought you were one of them,” the mare expressed surprise as they pulled back at the last moment.
“Sir, miss, I need you to go to the Castle of Friendship and fetch Starlight Glimmer. Tell her to come here immediately,” Stygian instructed.
“What about you?” the stallion inquired.
“We’ll go and check where the changelings came from. In the meantime, do not let anypony else inside. Understood?”
Both staff members nodded in unison before the scrawny pony shut the door and trotted back down.
“So, what happened?” the bigger pony inquired.
“I’ve sent them to get Starlight here. She’s powerful enough to isolate the changelings so they won’t run amok. You and I will go inside in the meantime.”
“Excellent!” he prepared himself to rush through the opening in the wall.
“WAIT!” the unicorn stopped him. “We can’t just rush in. This was just a reconnaissance group, so we managed to deal with them. If an entire swarm is waiting on the other side I don’t think we’ll be able to survive it.”
“So, what’s the plan then?”
Stygian looked about the cellar and noticed several roughly sewed bags of earthly color that contained potatoes. He knocked several of them over to empty them and cut them in half.
“What are we supposed to do with these?” the bigger one wondered.
“Camouflage. Should be enough to fool a casual observer in a badly lit environment.” The smaller pony levitated them with him as he moved to the opening in the wall.
He looked inside and it was completely dark, and it forced him to illuminate the surroundings with his horn. The tall stallion followed him as he squeezed inside, he needed some help, as the hole was narrow, and the inside was barely better; the walls were just close enough for two changelings to walk together upright and next to each other. A long tunnel led into the distance, and they were unsure of what was waiting for them further away.
The sandstorms were unrelenting, intensified by the funnel that was the long canyon that connected the kingdom of Mansa to the rest of Farasi on the other side of the mountain range. It was no wonder that hardly anyone except for the camel caravans was able to traverse it, and even they took a long time to finally reach their destinations. But Twilight Sparkle’s workaround did the trick. The barrier that she erected created protection for her friends and the horde of refugees from the city of Musa. And no matter how hard the elements pressed, they managed to keep a steady gallop, something they needed if they were to reach their destination in time. After several hours the alicorn finally noticed something had changed in their surroundings: The sandstorm had softened up, as when they could barely see anything earlier, sandy dunes were now visible, as was the obscured sun.
She halted, and the rest of the equines did as well. “Madame Zeg’us…” The princess took a moment to catch a breath, standing next to the sleigh that the group of zebras was pulling. “Did we just leave the confines of the canyon?”
“Yes, miss Twilight,” the elder answered. “The Kuhama Desert has now opened before us. And once we pass beyond the veil of elements we will see our goal in sight. But before we do that…” She turned to look at the group in the back. “I believe your friends could use some reprieve.”
“That’s okay. We can continue without-”
“Twilight,” the yellow pegasus breathed deeply, “I speak for everypony when I say, that we have a break, please.”
The pink earth pony groaned, dragging herself through the sand. “We haven’t eaten anything since breakfast, and I need my daily intake. I’m beginning to think that sand is brown sugar…” She scooped a tongue-full it into her mouth before spitting it out.
“We’re all a bit plumb tuckered out, Twi. And if we’ve still got half a way to the end, Ah’d rather we all get an hour break or somethin’.” The workhorse pulled off her hat to wipe her brow.
“But this is urgent! The king-!”
“Twilight, we’ve been in this predicament once before,” the dragon reminded her. “It was urgent back then too when Storm King invaded Equestria, and we ended up getting saddled with nothing but trouble when we rushed things. Besides, I think you could use a break yourself. I saw you stumble a while back.”
“Wha-! No, I didn’t!” she denied.
“Nah, I’m pretty sure I saw you too,” the kirin interjected, and a moment later, so did the former Lord of Chaos, as he poked his head out of his refuge. “I third that notion.”
She groaned. “Okay fine, I did… Let’s have an hour-long break so we can recuperate.”
“Can we have our rations now?” Pinkie Pie inquired hopefully.
“That is if we can find the carrier, Pinkie,” Applejack looked about. “Anypony seen Zecora?”
“She’s not that hard to find if you know where to look,” her younger sibling poked her and pointed behind them.
Twilight remembered all too well how Princess Cadance managed to raise a protective barrier around Crystal Empire. If she could do it then there was no reason she wouldn’t be able to. It was no wonder that she was beginning to feel the burden. The magical barrier that protected the group from the sandstorm was quite large, big enough to cover the team of nine, as well as a horde of natives that were pulling the elder’s sleigh, and then some. And at the very far back of the barrier, near its border, was the shaman, standing still.
The Elements of Generosity, Honesty, and Laughter approached her. “Zecora, darling,” the former addressed her, “we’re taking a break. Can you please provide us with some food?”
“Just not one for thought, my tummy’s in some serious need,” the pink one urged.
The zebra took off her saddlebags and reached inside, and out of it, she pulled three large, tied-up sacks. “I have a set of three to provide fulfilling nutrition for thee: Cereals to ensure cravings will be out of the question, fresh fruit for fortitude and staving off dehydration, and bread to help with your digestion. In case the way before us will be longer still, please, try to ration it, if you will.”
The party planner couldn’t contain herself any longer and instantly stuck her face into one of the bags, moments later raising her head out of it, holding an apple in her mouth, before devouring it in a frenzy, and soon after sticking her head back into the bag.
“Pinkie!” Rarity panicked, grabbed her by the tail with her magic, and dragged her away, along with the bag of cereal. “Please, control yourself! Save something for everypony else!”
As the two mares departed, the third one remained, and she tossed the sack of bread on her back. “Aren’t you gonna join us for lunch, Zecora?” she inquired.
The zebra shook her head. “Thank you for the offer, but I’ve had my fill already. I’ll just have a rest so that my path won’t feel unsteady.”
“You sure you’re not just makin’ excuses not to be close to somepony you don’t want to be?”
As soon as she suggested that, the shaman lowered her head, her face completely obscured by the cowl, and she gave no reply.
“Zecora, what’s going on? You hardly spoke a word since we left the city,” the county pony questioned. “And what’s with you disappearing out of sight? Why are you staying away from everypony?”
She didn’t answer. And before the workhorse could interrogate further her tail got tugged by the blue pegasus.
“Come on, AJ. Gran… I mean, the zebra elder said she needs her fill.”
“Dash, a moment, will ya? I’m asking-”
“And she wanted me to tell you not to pester HER right now. Now come.”
The orange pony grumbled as she got pulled away, leaving Zecora all alone again. The rest of the group was already being handed out the fresh fruit by the time they rejoined, at which point the country pony opened the bag with bread and they dug in.
The fashionista levitated the bread and some oats to the rest of the zebras and offered them to the eldest one. “For you, Madame.”
“Oh, why thank you, miss,” she smiled, before taking a mouthful.
The pony then levitated more bread and cereal to the other members of the herd. She offered it to one of the stallions, who took one sniff of it and then made a cringing expression.
The senior took notice of it. “You really should eat something, boy.”
He didn’t answer; the mare from earlier did instead. “Oh, we’re fine, madame. We’ve all had a hefty meal before the invasion of the city happened. We’ll manage to survive until we get to the destination, don’t worry.”
The old mare stared at them for a bit. “Alright…” she said in a tone of uncertainty, before turning to Rarity. “You may go back to the rest. We’re fine.”
The fashionista was surprised that the zebras were able to survive a gallop for several hours and hardly showed any exhaustion, even though their eldest still needed something to eat. Was this their species at the most basic? She couldn’t tell when even their own zebra needed a break. She rejoined the rest of the group that was filling their tummies, and she proceeded to dig in herself.
But out of them, one mare, the youngest one, showed concern, as she was staring at the back of the group where her mentor was. “What’s wrong with her? Why is she avoiding us?”
“Your guess is as good as mine, Applebloom,” her elder sibling answered. “She refused to talk to me. Ah wonder what’s eatin’ her.”
“Don’t worry, Applejack,” Autumn Blaze said as she bit into a piece of bread topped with banana slices. “I’m sure when she’s ready to talk she’ll let us know what’s up.”
“I wonder about that,” the orange mare said, unsure, and the younger one seemed to be of the same thought, as they watched the cloaked zebra in the distance.
The Pillar of Strength and his companion crawled for what felt like miles through the narrow tunnel, and so far, they hadn’t encountered any changelings. But then they began hearing a skittering sound, and dim green lighting in the distance. They finally reached the end of the tunnel, only to find a bigger one connected to theirs, it was big enough for multiple people to travel through in massive numbers. And that’s when they saw changelings, coming and going back and forth down it. They hadn’t noticed them yet, so they waited for the coast to clear just enough for them to get out, and then quickly covered themselves with the large drapes and pressed themselves against the wall. As several other changelings passed them it’s become apparent they didn’t catch wind of their presence, so their disguises seemed to have been working. Stygian motioned to Rockhoof to follow further down the tunnel and then proceeded. The tunnel was going for quite some time, but the further they traveled, the more they began noticing that this large tunnel had multiple passageways, similar in size to the one through which they came out. And if those were anything alike, where were they leading?
Rockhoof came to a halt when he noticed his companion wasn’t moving anymore.
“What’s wrong, lad?” he quietly inquired.
The unicorn finally noticed that the dim light had become brighter. The source of the lighting was clear in the distance – a large lake made of glowing green substance, with a giant sinister foreboding tree that was growing out of it and…
Out of the lake, a large mass of darkness was sticking out, ever-shifting, yet retaining its form, a pair of scrawny arms supporting the towering being as it propped itself against the bank. It was staring downwards, changelings came to it, stared at it for a bit, and then moved on to the tunnel. The young stallion had no idea what that thing was, but from what he could tell, it was bad. He was about to say something to Rockhoof, when he noticed the dark being’s head suddenly turn in his direction, a pair of giant teal eyes meeting his, even though he was hidden under the cover. His heart nearly stopped by what followed.
“We sense a presence,” a harrowing voice emerged from it. “A presence… one touched by turmoil. So much hatred.”
Suddenly, the ground shook. The changelings that surrounded the duo still hadn’t caught onto them even after their attention was drawn back to the source. Another massive shadow emerged from the pool, it twisted and turned until finally, several giant yellow eyes opened on it.
“Plagued by fear,” the multitude of voices came from it. “And others…”
Rockhoof was not ignorant to what he saw, but it was all the more imperative for him to notice his companion - he was shivering, likely from fear by what he saw, unable to control his own actions, as his cover slowly slipped off of him, fully exposing him to the surroundings. The Pillar came to realize they’d seen enough. He threw caution to the wind, grabbed Stygian by the neck of his cloak, and ran off, completely exposing himself as well. Suddenly, the swarm stirred. It took them a moment, just as the ponies passed them, but they quickly responded, and in a tidal wave pursued them. The blue stallion was more than capable of outpacing his enemy, but it quickly dawned on him, when they reached the hole through which they came out, that they wouldn’t be able to get away through the narrow space unless their enemies were stopped. He dropped the small unicorn by the entrance, and whipped out his shovel, making several digs into the walls and ceiling of the tunnel, causing it to collapse, finally deterring their pursuers.
He gave out a sigh of relief before turning his attention to his friend. “Lad! Ey, lad, wake up!”
After some severe shaking, Stygian finally snapped back into reality. “Wha… Rockhoof? What just happened?”
“I was wonderin’ if you could tell me? You just suddenly went limp. Like you had a cold or somethin’.”
“I… I don’t know what happened, I just…” he tried to recollect his thoughts, “I just felt completely overwhelmed by emotions all of a sudden, and then everything went black.” He looked about. “Wh-where are the changelings?”
“Stopped, for now,” the Pillar answered. “But we need t’ get goin’ fast, lad. They’ll be after us any moment now and we have t’ cover our tracks. So, get in, quick!”
The unicorn quickly crawled into the hole, and the earth pony followed, but in reverse, as he used his shovel to collapse the mouth of their tunnel, completely obscuring it from the other end. Stygian managed to traverse the path normally, but Rockhoof, because of his size was forced to walk backward since he couldn't turn in such a confined space, which forced the unicorn to help him. After much struggle they finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel and climbed out, sighing in relief after what they had just been through. But it only took a few seconds for Stygian to realize a lack of certain bodies around them. He was about to yell in panic when he noticed a pink glow above him, and that’s when he spotted a bubble of the same color levitating above his head, and it contained the changelings he feared had gotten away. As for the caster, she stood at the top of the stairs.
“Stygian? What are you doing here?” Starlight reacted in surprise.
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Looks like the Pony Of Shadows is linked with Turmoil too, judging by how Stygian was affected.
Changeling?
11787660
The real question is how though.
Is he Despair's final Pillar? The link to Doubt? Or something to do with Turmoil as a whole?
11787660
11788080
Good questions.
Also, Happy New Year, both.
11789317
How did it go for you?
11789317
Happy New Year!
Glad to be back in the swing of things!
Somehow I've been missing your updates, so it's good to see you've still been working on this.
11789417
Glad to have you back.
11789382
Too quick, to be honest.
11795002
Mine was hectic sadly