Part 2: Chapter 9 ~ The Nameless Horrors That Shouldn't Be (V2)
Don't stop! Wake up!
The voice rang through her head as she drifted through an endless ocean of stars, only a split second after they had hit the lake. She hadn't even felt the shock, that's how quick she'd fallen into the cold. Derpy had always been good at falling, but bad at landing. Even worse, it was one of those times where she truly regretted being unable to swim.
Her eyes were resting until the voice hit, she felt like another round of sleep was due, but then she threw them wide open. Bubbles were rising and the water was all around them, stars were glittering far above and down below.
She blinked, strangely weak, pain surging through her body. Still, she felt somepony grabbing her. It was Tavi, she knew, because that pony was strong now, stronger than she. That was a good thing, because she helped her and Twilight up with ease.
Really, why couldn't she swim? She blamed it on the rules, how you shouldn't go into the water for an hour after you ate. Derpy had never spent an hour without eating something, thus never dared to touch any water deep enough to swim in.
They reached the top of the lake and all of them took their breaths like it was their first time in a thousand years. Twilight, however, used the chance to look up and check up on where they were.
“It's another cave,” she said with a cough and then a smile. “Look, there's more crystals in the walls.”
Derpy did as she was told and looked up. Water had gotten into her eyes and so they hurt, but she did make them out. The cave was a huge dome and the walls were littered with crystals which glowed with a strange, faint light. There was also the darkness, whirling around the falling water, spreading from the hole Tavi had made.
It swallowed one light after the other, but as steady as it moved, Derpy had to admit that it was slow. They had escaped that thing and it was all because of Tavi. Derpy turned towards that earth pony, who still held her close.
She looked different. There was a tint in her mane and she looked a bit taller, a bit stronger, but there was also something else, something Derpy couldn't quite define. Her eyes turned to Tavi's neck and she also spotted something new there.
“That's a beautiful necklace,” Derpy said, wondering if she'd missed that before.
Octavia tried to look at it, but only barely seemed to manage. That was a shame, really, because it looked really nice. It was made out of pure gold and at its front there gleamed a gem shaped like a treble clef. But even if Tavi noticed it, she was unimpressed and quickly turned her head around.
“Where're Raindrops and Lyra?” she asked.
Derpy frowned, she got ignored again. Yet she decided to look around, too, seeing them nowhere. She almost got worried, but the two of them rose up from the waves, though their motions were everything but controlled.
“We're fine,” Raindrops said, not looking fine at all.
She'd been able to swim since a long time ago, Derpy knew, but had always looked like she purposefully got it wrong. Much like her flying was purposefully faulty.
Twilight nodded and looked to her sides, coughing yet again. “Alright, so now that we've got everypony, I just want to say that I have no idea to where we should go.”
“Well, we're in the middle of a lake that's in the middle of a huge cave and that thing doesn't look like it's going to give up,” Derpy said, blissfully unaware that, once again, she had figured out the most obvious of points.
Twilight humored her and nodded. “You're right.”
“So we're stuck?” Raindrops asked, barely managing to keep her mouth above the water.
“Uh-huh,” Derpy answered, feeling rather smart now that Twilight had agreed with her.
Though the crystals did give light to the cave, it was only very little and to neither their left nor their right could they spot land. Above them, the blackness took its time spreading, like it was unsure of this area, or as if something was stopping its advance.
“Uhm, guys,” Lyra suddenly said after turning around. “Look.”
She pointed into the opposite direction to the one which they were facing and all of them turned around instantly. A small patch of land lay there, just a few meters away from them, and behind was a hole with an exit.
Octavia snorted and cracked a smile. “How convenient.”
“Yup. First time I have to congratulae whoever designed this place,” Lyra quipped and followed up with a hearty laugh.
Derpy had to agree, especially after that endless walk by the river this was a welcome change of pace. Octavia meanwhile did most of the work, kicking her legs against the water as they closed in on the piece of land. Reaching it, a sound reached their ears.
Crack!
It felt like she was smacked over the head with a very heavy stick, like it was her own bones shattering beneath the force of the beast's maw. Yet it only heralded the vile monstrosity's wish to show them the pain of all their nightmares. Derpy understood it, even though she really didn't want to.
Yet it didn't speed up, instead advanced meter by meter, like something was hindering it from speeding up.
“It's afraid of this place,” Twilight said as she took a final breather.
“Yeah, there's a power here, I feel it,” Lyra noted.
“The final stretch,” Derpy intoned, not really understanding what they were talking about.
“Indeed,” Octavia said and nodded to them. “Let's do this, girls.”
They didn't waste anymore time and were quickly back on track again. Twilight stumbled forward and looked like she was about to throw up, so Derpy did the most sensible thing and quickly hurried to her side.
“I'm here for you,” she said, “If anything happens I'll make sure we all make it.”
Twilight nodded, knowing that if she fell or slowed down, Derpy would pick her up, much like she'd done on the road by the river. Knowing that, she, too, could start into the blackness.
Lyra was the one to lead the way, creating another bright orb, but much quicker than the first time she'd done so. Whatever pain had hindered her before was gone now, Derpy thought. Thank Celestia.
It was a simple spell, but the green luminescence allowed them to avoid the parts of the stone which would've otherwise cut into their flesh and they also took any corners with ease. It was the best thing they had, Derpy had to admit, if only because they didn't have any muffins to eat.
Not just because she was hungry, but also because everything was easier with muffins. They'd saved the day quite often, in her opinion.
With that, they hurried through the darkness. Derpy quickly noticed a bad feeling with this one, however. The sense of dread and fear was easy to grasp, almost like one was able to touch it. Something bad was happening all around them.
It was a dark corridor with nothing in it, so there wasn't actually anything to fear. That's what Hugh always told her, she remembered, so she tried to keep her act together, to not get scared.
Yet she was becoming more and more afraid the longer they hurried through the black.
Once, another filly in the neighbourhood had told her that Madame Hooves had been a singer, a long time ago, but had lost her voice in the dark of the night. They had told Derpy that ponies lost things they held dear to the darkness, often so quickly that they did not even notice.
She didn't want to lose her voice, because it was a wonderful voice and both her mommy and daddy were proud of it. Madame smiled when she talked and Hugh laughed when she did. Nothing bad should ever happen to her voice, because otherwise she couldn't tell ponies how wonderful her parents were.
Derpy was glad Twilight was by her side, because she couldn't have been brave without her.
As they trotted through the blackness, though, she felt the fear creeping up on her, felt how it wrapped itself around her neck like tendrils and threatened to throttle her. The silence seemed to grow around them and tunnel grew darker still. Derpy quickly made herself aware that she needed to kill the silence somehow, needed to open her mouth and talk.
But about what? No, that didn't matter. Anything would do, anything that could kill the silence could kill the fear.
“What were those things?” she asked and immediately regretted it.
“There's old stories about the Night Terrors, the nameless horrors that shouldn't be. They were called the 'shadow of a greater threat' in one particular story, where they feasted on a noble unicorn whose fear drove him to fight with the pegasi. He, like all unicorns back then, was a doofus,” Twilight answered, clearly glad to do something else but cough and gag.
“A shadow of a greater threat? Does that mean Magia? Are they different from the candy clouds?” Octavia asked.
“I think they're the same,” Twilight theorized.
“Well, I liked them more as cotton candy, they had funny moustaches and looked rather tasty,” Lyra said and looked over her shoulder to see if anypony at least cracked a smile.
Derpy nodded in agreement with her, which Lyra noted gladly. Her mood affected the orb and for a few moments, its glow a bit brighter than before.
Now that she had a moment, Derpy noticed that Lyra also seemed a bit bigger than before, and it wasn't just the color of her coat and the presence of a horn. It was a strange thing, like there was something about her that was missing from her surroundings. Of course, Derpy had no idea what that was, but at least the golden necklace on the unicorn's neck looked as beautiful as Tavi's.
It had a gemstone in the shape of a harp at its front.
What silence came then didn't last long, thankfully. Twilight used the chance to address Tavi, whose rump presented the same symbol as her neckless.
“Octavia?” she asked.
“Yes, Twilight?”
“That amulet you've got there … It appeared so suddenly. How–How did that happen, do you know?”
“It's complicated, but if I were to put into words, I think lied to myself about why I'm walking forward. I allowed myself to believe that this is all just something we do to run away, but I honestly believe in the Lunarium and the good we will do. I think it appeared when I realised that.”
“It appeared when you were honest with yourself, then?” Twilight wondered.
“I guess so, why?”
There was a pause.
“Do you know what the Elements of Harmony are?”
Derpy felt like stopping, she seriously did. Those three words formed the core of why many believed that most of the stories surrounding the princesses were humbug. The Elements of Harmony were said to have been forged from the six parts of the world's harmony, but they were lost a long time ago. Nowadays, the name still carried a weight to it, but nopony truly believed that they had existed.
Even Octavia, it seemed. “W-why?” she asked, her voice without any strength behind it.
Everypony's ears were perked and Derpy's legs felt like they belonged to a different pony entirely as she took the next few steps, because Twilight's answer was that much of a shock for her.
“If that's true, then maybe you're the Element of Honesty.”
Of course, it wasn't just the statement in and of itself, but rather that the word carried an actual power, one that resonated in the air, a power that felt much like Tavi's presence. It wasn't something to be put into words, nothing that could truly be described.
But Derpy felt the truth in that statement and it felt like it changed everything.
Because if the Elements existed, all the stories concerning the princesses were true. One had died and another vanished, gone into the depths below Canterlot to never appear again.
“That voice we heard,” Derpy heard herself saying. “It's the princess. The Princess Luna!”
There was a power in that word, a force that made itself felt. Derpy understood this and it gave her strength. They could do this and whatever the Lunarium was, the Princess of the Night herself was waiting for them there!
Twilight stumbled, nearly fell and something sounded behind them, another crack of the bones, another time the saws met flesh and bone. If she'd let Twilight fall, she would've been faster, obviously. The whole group was slowed down by the sickly filly, yet that particular thought never occurred to Derpy.
Instead, she grabbed her and threw her over her back. Maybe the reaction of Twilight's body to the sudden movement is best left without description, but Derpy didn't really care, all she wanted to do was to get her friend through this.
“I'm sorry,” Twilight said as the group sped up.
“It's fine,” Derpy answered. “I like helping others out and I often slow everypony down, too. So a little kindness here and there is necessary anyway.”
“Less talking, more running!” Octavia yelled as they heard something fall into the water behind them.
As she started into a gallop, right at that moment, Derpy felt an unusual strength surging through her. By whatever grace, she managed to outdo her previous speed easily, even while carrying Twilight. Sure, there was a weight around her neck, but that was probably just her muscles aching for something to eat.
“But wait, are the amulets really that special?” Lyra asked between breaths.
Twilight, who didn't run now, managed to exposit despite bouncing up and down. “Suddenly appearing amulets do tend to be special and the story of how the Elements were forged is my favorite comic, they looked the same Tavi's.”
“It's not just Tavi,” Lyra said with a grin she couldn't keep up as she tried to find her breath again. “Mine appeared during the fall and Derpy's got one, too.”
“Yeah, I noticed yours and–“ Twilight stopped mid-sentence. “Wait, Derpy?”
It sounded like the most shocking piece of information that could be said at the moment. Derpy didn't know whether she should feel insulted or proud, so she just galloped onwards.
After a few moments however, the stare of utter disbelief Twilight gave her became rather annoying.
“What?” she asked and Twilight leaned around to look at her rump.
Again, Derpy was unsure how she should feel about that.
“You even got your cutie mark ...” Twilight said, sounding utterly amazed.
“Okay, so what does all this stuff mean?” Raindrops asked loudly.
If there was one question which got everypony's attention, it was this one. Everything that had happened after they'd woken in the field of flowers needed some serious explaining and Derpy couldn't be the only one who was completely baffled by just about everything.
“It means that we're on the right way, I think,” Twilight stated after a moment of deliberation.
Once more, a noise made itself heard behind them. It was a sudden screech, a cry of pain that made everypony yelp and made Derpy jump from fear. She jumped rather high and didn't manage to land properly again. Instead, the young filly stumbled and fell on her behind.
As Twilight rolled off her, a sudden silence engulfed them all and everypony stopped to look behind them. They could see the darkness move, could feel it approach. It came with claws and teeth and nails and blades, with pain to gift and horrors to draw out. It was a shadow of the greater evil and yet the worst enemy to come.
Crack!
Everypony blinked. The sound was different from before, it wasn't of broken bones but of something else entirely.
“Did you hear that?” Twilight asked.
“Hear what?”
Crack!
Derpy slowly turned her head and so did Twilight, for the sound had come from beneath the grey pegasus filly. They both stared at the crack and with another loud noise, it grew in size.
“What did you do?” Octavia asked, panicking.
The crack reached the wall.
“I don't know,” was all the answer a helpless Derpy could come up with.
And then the screeching came once more and the beast's tendrils shot forward. At the same time, the crack suddenly erupted with what sounded like the roar of the stone itself. Stones fell from the ceiling and one small one hit Derpy on the head.
That was more than enough for Twilight Sparkle to realize what was happening and her eyes widened instinctively as she made herself yell out; “Run!”
Immediately, everypony found the strength in their legs again and they started into a gallop and hurried through the corridor. Behind them, the stone collapsed in on itself, burying whatever came from the dark beneath it.
All ran, all but Twilight, who'd been grabbed by the pegasus once more (her body sadly reacting by trying to empty its stomach once more) and was now carried on her back again. Derpy didn't grasp exactly why they were running, but she did understand that, right now, everything was bad. She needed to get her friend out of here safely.
“What did you do, Derpy?” Raindrops yelled against the rumbling stones.
Even as they all concentrated just on running forward, Derpy noticed that her sister's voice carried a confusion of unimaginable magnitude as the world crumbled around them.
The corridor's exit appeared before them and after a final dash, they jumped through it, leaving the tunnel to collapse while they landed in wet safety.
They were in another cave, smaller than the last one, with water spread out on the ground, but it didn't even reach up to their ankles. Derpy breathed heavily and tried to figure out what had happened.
“Would anypony be mad if I told you that I really don't know what went wrong?” she asked, hoping to appease whatever gods still watched over them.
Twilight got off her back, shaken, but otherwise looking as fine as she did before. Lyra was huffing and puffing, while Raindrops stared at the collapsed tunnel like it was a monster that just tried to eat them.
Derpy half-figured them all mad at her, but instead Lyra immediately jumped at her and pulled her into one mighty hug, laughing like she wasn't angry at all.
“You brilliant, brilliant filly,” Lyra said, looking as bright as the orb above her horn. “Now Magia'll never get to us! You're the most wonderful foal I know and when we're above again I'll buy you all the food you want!”
They grey pegasus with the ugly blonde mane and the strange golden eyes could merely stand there and smile dumbly as she was praised. Bubbles she had for a cutie mark and her hooves felt the water touching them. Whatever she had done, everypony was smiling at her now for it. This was the first time that happened, but it made her appreciate her destructive rump for once in her life.
As Lyra finally loosened her grip on Derpy, she was suddenly embraced by Twilight.
“Thanks,” she said, voice missing from every word. “I don't think I could've outrun that on my own.”
Derpy shook her head. “I don't think anypony would've left you behind. You just don't do something like that.”
“I don't think so, Derpy,” Twilight said, her smile sad and small, “I don't think many ponies would do what you did. It was very kind of you to do that.”
There were tears in Twilight's eyes. Derpy really didn't get why it was such a big deal. Twilight was a friend and even if that hadn't been the case, any other reaction would not have sufficed. She decided to smile at Twilight, return the hug and then pat her on the head, much like Hugh often did with her.
Sometimes, ponies yelled at her in her dreams, but she could smile because she knew that if she tried to do the right thing nonetheless, if she was kind to those around her, the world would grow happier. As long as the world was a happy place, Derpy was a happy pony. That was all there was to it.
Stats
Page generated in 0.044 seconds
Total duration
1,077 users online
2,524,094 hits today, 2,571,732 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
*You can hear a loud squee of delight* Oh. My. CELESTIA! This is perfect!
Octavia: Honesty
Derpy: Kindness
Twilight: Magic
Raindrops: Loyalty?
Lyra: Laughter
Trixi: Generosity?
Can't wait to see how thi'll all go down.
back
Fimfiction didn't deign to notify me of the previous chapter's posting until this chapter got posted. Annoying as it is to think that I might be missing updates to various stories because of some website bug, it was nice to get to read two chapters back-to-back. They're finally getting their Elements! :D
[Edit] Three chapters. Just now noticed another chapter got posted. What timing.
This is such an intense fimfic.
I also don't know how they know what a cutie mark is, but.
I'm not sure if I'm alright with Octavia's Element. I was saying she seems right for Kindness, because she wants to share the magic in music, and that thing with Rainbow Dash, and Generosity might possibly work too if Trixie hadn't run away with the gold cup on that one. When Octavia was the only pony kind enough to accept Lyra's horrific wound without complaint to treat it, I swear she was channeling Fluttershy. As Raindrops would probably point out, Octavia wasn't honest with Rainbow Dash when she told her everything was going to be alright, or told Rainbow that if she waited then she would return, because Octavia didn't know if everything was going to be alright and she didn't know if Dash was going to be okay, and she didn't know if she was ever going to return. But it was such a kind thing to do, the tempting kindness in those little lies that keep us going, that when used wisely lets us persevere against impossible odds, because we don't have to be afraid of being uncertain of ourselves. It's not exactly a lie, since they totally are going to make it dammit, but comforting Rainbow Dash with false surety, while a heart wrenchingly wonderful thing to do, was not exactly the truth. When Octavia was willing to face the powers of Hell itself to make sure of all things, that a little blind pegasus she only just met once in the city's fall wasn't disappointed... well, honesty wasn't the first trait that came to mind.
But if Honesty it is, and Derpy's always looking out for her friends and putting herself at risk to carry them to safety is Kindness not Loyalty, somehow, then we have the following lineup.
Honesty - Octavia
Kindness - Derpy
Laughter - Lyra
Generosity - Trixie
Magic - Twilight
Loyalty - Raindrops
And that-- I mean... Raindrops hasn't even... she has told them what must be, and denied it at her own peril, but... she really hasn't been staying true to her friends, so much as just keeping up with them. She doesn't even really dream about other ponies, but more abstract concepts and scenarios. It seems I dunno, well Raindrops hasn't been developed very much at all so you could make a big long chapter about all the times you haven't yet mentioned that she always sticks by her friends when she should be running the other way, doesn't let any of them falter or fall behind, but it wouldn't have been my first choice. I'd edit the past chapters making Raindrops more loyal in her development, and then it'd fit better, but from what I've read so far it just seems rather forced.
Maybe you're doing it as a homage to the canon show, which also mixed up the elements of Honesty and Loyalty. I dunno.
If you want Derpy to be Kindness, I suggest you have Derpy do the scene with Rainbow Dash instead. And have Octavia hollering about how this is insane and they're all going to die and they're just a bunch of kids who should be running home to mommy, instead of Raindrops. Then have Raindrops carrying Twilight when she falls, and making sure everyone gets through okay. At least, that's what I would do, if I were dead set on that lineup.
5460629
Twilight reads a lot of fantasy comics.
Trixie better be alive and she better get damn generosity for giving herself so her friends could escape
“Would anypony be mad if I told you that I really don't know what went wrong?” she asked, hoping to appease whatever gods still watched over them.
I see what you did there...
5496226 Or loyalty. I get the idea that she's already at the Lunarium, because they've been going down to get there, and she seemed to fall a long way.
5807953 Hello old comment. I agree.
In a twist I had not seen we are making some hardcore creations along with truly momentous movements! Although it's small and even more so vulnerable there is but a sliver of hope. To make it grow we must continue onwards!