On the Brink

by Digital Ghost

Chapter 4: Forks and Crossroads

Chapter 4

Forks and Crossroads

"They seem to be doing well, a bit too well."

"Since when were you so worried? You said it yourself, none left the maze alive, and they are only half way there. By the way, isn't it about that time?"

"Oh? How silly of me to forget. Excuse me."

=====

Ghost's group found themselves faced with a fork in the road. The maze split off in two directions. "At this point, we can just guess which way to take." The commander glanced back at the group. "So, left or right?"

Zulu put a hoof to her chin and mused on it. She winced, put her hooves to her head and massaged her temples, giving a groan.

"Hey, no need to pop your head thinking about it." Runner jokingly said.

The mareling tossed left and right which made them start to worry.

"You alright Zulu? Zulu? Hey? Hey!"

Zulu's tossing became more desperate and now she was grinding her teeth. "My head! It hurts!" She moaned in pain. "It BUCKING hurts! Make it stop!"

Jellybean's horn glowed over the mareling but he soon felt a sharp pain in his head. He dropped to the ground with his fore hooves on his head and began to chant about the pain. "It hurts, it hurts!"

Rook was the next to fall victim to the strange sickness, then Brutus went to the ground. Everyling fell to the ground holding their heads and chanting something similar to Zulu's mantra. Ghost tried to power through the massive headache, his skull feeling like it was going to burst at any moment. The pain was so intense that he could hardly even breathe. Eventually his limbs failed him and he dropped on the hard floor. He could feel his cranium pulsing, ready to burst in a gory explosion of brain matter.

As if the headaches weren't enough, the maze rumbled, indicating another mechanism was at work. The rumbling was but a gentle hum, but to them it felt as if hammers were being dropped on their heads from the top of Canterlot Castle's spire. One part of the floor was rising.

"No..."

It rose and rose until it became a low wall.

"No!" Ghost stood up through sheer will power and clumsily dragged himself to the wall which continued to rise without giving a sign of slowing down. The wall hit the ceiling with a deep, loud, reverberating bang, sending dust and small debris to pummel the changelings.

The commander threw a punch at the wall before ramming his head on it and slid down back to the cold cobble. The wall had split the party in half.

Just as Ghost felt like his skull couldn't take it anymore, the pain disappeared like a stone dropped into the bog, swallowed up by the murky waters. The changeling commander didn't waste time and surrounded himself with flames. When it subsided, there was no physical change. "What in Equestria?" He tried to morph again, but gained the same result.

"Let me try." Runner attempted to change into a pony, only to be stuck being a changeling. "That's odd."

Zulu shook her head after her attempt failed.

"Hey! Can you hear me?" Rook's muffled voice pierced through the thick wall. "I, I can't use the channel, and transforming is a no go too."

"Same here." Runner spoke up for the other two. "Are the others with you?"

"Yeah. Jellybean, Brutus and I recovered from the headache, but Siren's not doing so hot."

This time Ghost spoke, "Alright, I want you to take a torch and mark the walls as you move through the maze. It's a long shot, but maybe we'll cross paths. We'll do the same over here." Like he said, it was a long shot and the chances of them meeting up were slim

Ghost could hear some panicked murmuring from the other side.

"Sweet Chrysalis, they're everywhere! Go, go, go! Ghost, we've run into a problem, gotta run!" The sound of hooves on cobble faded into the darkness. What problem did they run into?

Ghost glanced at the two changelings with him. "Let's get moving." He pulled out a torch from the wall with his magic. "Well at least that still works. Come on."

The group followed the right side of the wall, hoping to eventually find an exit. They took turns holding the torch against the wall to leave a black line of soot to mark where they had been. Not a single trap was triggered yet as they took the time to scrutinize every inch of the cobble as they made tracks. Ghost felt like they were being watched again and slightly quickened their pace.

"I hope the others are alright." The mareling mumbled to herself.

Runner heard her and flashed her a smile. "Don't worry about it, Rook's a smart little nymph. He'll stay out of trouble. And if trouble finds them, that muscle mass of Brutus will break down any obstacle. As for us, we have our great leader here to keep us safe."

"I guess... but... no, you're right! They'll be okay, and so will we."

Great leader? Safe? Ghost couldn't help but cringe. The last time those three words were strung together in a single sentence, things didn't end well. Dark memories invaded his mind. He could see the young faces of the troops he was leading against satyr raiders in the forest bordering the hive. They were fresh from training and eager to take on their first ever mission. He was just promoted to captain back then, and he shared their enthusiasm as this was his first mission in command. Funny how things could easily change course.

"Hey, Commander. Your turn with the torch." Runner pulled Ghost out of the darker recesses of his mind. "You okay, sir? You looked like you zoned out."

"It's nothing to worry about." He said, taking hold of the torch. "It's just... never mind. It's nothing, really."

A cold breeze stopped the party of three where they stood. "Tell me I wasn't the only one who felt that." The mareling shuddered.

The party looked around and their eyes laid upon a large hole in the ceiling big enough for the three of them to fly side by side.

"Looks like we found our way out of here, let's go!" Runner flew up but was immediately grounded by the mareling.

"We don't know what's up there!" the mareling said.

Ghost levitated the torch through the hole. Something sparkled inside, like a cluster of tiny gems reflecting the light back. He drove the torch further and was terrified of what he saw. "Oh sweet Chrysalis." The tiny glimmering gems were actually a set of eyes, the owner of which hissed and spat at the torch, dousing the light.

The commander turned and galloped as fast as he could, beckoning the other two to follow quickly. But they just stood there for a moment, unsure of what to think. The creature that resided in the hole crept down, dropping debris down below. Zulu gave a cry of pure terror when she realized why the commander galloped off in such a hurry. She too galloped after him and Runner was urging her to go beyond her maximum speed. Because just behind them, an eight legged creature crawled out of the ceiling with fangs the size of a fully grown changeling. Its' many eyes kept a constant glare as they beamed out the reflected light from the torches on the walls.

"Come on!" Ghost was standing just ahead the two of them.

"What are you doing? RUN!" Zulu screamed, nearly tripping over her own hooves from fright.

The two passed by him and Ghost sent the torches on the walls clattering in front of the giant arachnid then galloped at top speed. That only slowed down the colossal spider for a second. It took refuge on the ceiling, still chasing it's prey. Flying would have helped here, if only there weren't so many cobwebs to blind them.

Arrows whizzed by, spikes shot out from the ceiling and the floors. Trap by trap, they triggered each one in their mad dash. Neither the changelings nor the arachnid were phased. The arachnid was bent on catching it's prey, and the changelings were bent on living another day. As they rounded the last corner, the spider was mere inches away. Just as it was about to strike down it's first victim, one of the changelings stepped on a loose brick which made part of the ceiling come crashing down and landing on the spider before rising up again, stunning it momentarily. Noticing this, Ghost went back for the button. This chase ends here.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" Runner and Zulu sang in chorus, stopping where they were.

Ghost misjudged his move and found himself looking desperately for the pressure plate. He found it, but before he could send the ceiling to crash down, the spider sent it's foreleg through the changeling's hind leg. Ghost screamed in pain as his body earned another hole. "Press the button!" He screamed, pointing at the pressure plate. "Press it!"

Runner jumped into action, going full steam ahead. There was no time. The spider was already spinning it's web to mummify it's prey. He got to the plate but hesitated pressing it.

"What are you waiting for?! Press the bucking plate!" Ghost fought through the tumbling and spinning he was subjected to.

"But you'll be crushed too!"

"Press- Pmhh!" The changeling was now completely covered in a cocoon.

With all his might, Runner pressed the plate hard and the ceiling crusher slammed down. He repeatedly pressed the button, hoping that mashing it as fast as he could would make the crusher stronger. He ignored the spider's pleas and just pressed and pressed and pressed. He could hear every squishy detail of crusher meeting spider. The monstrous arachnid dropped, loosing the last ounce of life it had. Just before the final blow, Zulu yanked the cocoon free from the spider's appendages with her magic. The last blow broke the spider's hardened body, cracked it open like an egg thrown against a wall. The arachnid literally exploded on contact. It's fluids decorated the walls and bathed the changelings in crimson, green and brown.

Desperately, they clawed at the cocoon, separating web from changeling. It was a task easier said than done as their own hooves stuck to the fresh webbing. The stench of spider innards rivaled that of the nursing pool inside the hive, no, it was worse than that, about twenty times worse. The changelings, used to gross stuff like this had to stop for a moment to keep themselves from being reintroduced to the last solid thing they ate. Finally after what felt like an eternity, they freed Ghost's head from his prison. He gasped up for air as soon as he was able. His lungs burned as if the air was hot sauce. In a few more minutes he was free.

"Why did it have to be spiders?" Zulu was fighting every nerve she had to work up the courage to even get that close to the thing, let alone be close enough to yank Ghost out of its clutches.

From the end of the hall, they could hear clattering of tiny clawed feet. The ground started to rumble as well. "Oh, you just had to say it!" Ghost groaned. He tried to stand but his wounded hind leg was bleeding and burning. That leg wouldn't be useful any time soon. "Help me up, will you?"

Runner threw Ghost on his back and dragged him to a spot well away from the dead arachnid. "It really got you good. That leg is mangled. Zulu, grab the webbing, maybe we can use it to put pressure on the wound."

"Alright." The mareling didn't delay in gathering up the thick web scraps.

Runner checked Ghost's wings and found that they were in perfect condition. "At least you can still fly."

Ghost nodded to this. "Hey. Good work."

"Don't mention it, Commander."

"I thought I told you guys to call me Ghost."

"Can't hurt to be formal."

The gentle clip-clopping of hooves announced Zulu's return with the make-shift bandages. With a little help from Runner, the two of them covered the wound with the spider web. To Ghost, his leg felt numb and stiff, but considering he was still breathing, it wasn't much of a bother. He tried to stand up, trying to put the least amount of pressure on his wounded leg. "Come on. We have to find a way out, fast before anything else pops up."

He wasn't met with resistance and the three of them started off to continue their trek. Meanwhile, the other party wasn't doing so well fighting off their troubles.

=====

WE ARE DEAD! That was probably the only thing running through everyling's mind right now.

Rook, Jellybean, and Brutus - who was still a minotaur and carrying Siren - were galloping as fast as their hooves could carry their frames for just a tiny distance away, a swarm of spiders were chasing them. Jellybean identified them as black widows, tiny but very dangerous. A few moments ago, Rook was talking to Runner and the others through the wall when those things began flooding out of the vents. The corridor was absolutely pitch black thanks to those spiders. They swallowed up the walls, floor and ceiling like a demonic shadow erasing everything it touched.

"I would love to see Zulu's face when she sees this," said Rook, trying to make the situation feel less dire as it was.

Jellybean was busy launching torches at the spider swarm but gave a nervous chuckle. "Rook, I don't... I don't think we'll make it. Running out of juice here, buddy."

"Do you hear running water?" Brutus said.

"Is... is that a waterfall?"

"One way to find out, this way!"

They rounded a dim corner and immediately fell down a hole. The minotaur instinctively curled up into a ball to protect Siren as he tumbled along. The other two changelings weren't as nimble and their ride down the slope was rough. They were beaten and stabbed by outcrops of rocks. At the end of their tumble, they were thrown into an underground river and whisked away by the current.

Rook broke the surface with a gasp for air. The other changeling popped out a short distance from him. He seemed to be okay, but where were the other two, Brutus and Siren? Rook looked around in panic, but it was Jellybean who spotted them. Siren miraculously had her head above the water but the current was trying to drag her down, almost succeeding a couple of times. A short while later, they spotted the back of the minotaur floating on the water. He wasn't moving.

Jellybean made for the mareling and Rook went for the bull. Jellybean helped Siren keep her head out of the water, but that was all he could do. Before Rook could get to Brutus, the party sudden felt like they were pulled down. It didn't take long for them to realize that they were falling. Too exhausted to scream, the conscious changelings just closed their eyes and hoped that this was all over.

SPLASH!

Rook found himself being dragged across the water. The sound of a waterfall was distant, but yet clear... somewhat soothing. He was in some kind of cave. A nice, quiet cave. It was almost as big as the caves at the hive. The sense of familiarity made him forget his current situation. He was hoisted up and dropped on the floor. He couldn't move. He didn't want to move. He just wanted to lie there and take a nap. A nice long nap.

Something moved behind him, nudging him behind the head. "You're alive? Thank Chrysalis." It spoke, sounding feminine.

"Siren?" Rook said without moving.

"I'm sorry I got you all into this mess."

"You couldn't have known."

Rook heard the mareling gag, followed by a 'splosh' sound. In a few seconds, light shone from behind him. It was a dim light, but better than nothing. He turned around to see Siren, visibly pale under the soft glow of the light sac. She had blood oozing out of her mouth, the source of the crimson puddle underneath her. "I can't make it." She said as she leaned against the wall. Rook could see that her remaining strength was quickly diminishing with every second they wasted. It hit him like an arrow straight through the heart. He couldn't waste time. For her sake.

"No! We'll get through this. All of us! By the way, have you seen Jellybean and Brutus?"

Without saying a word, Siren pointed behind her, levitating the sac over to where a changeling and a minotaur was laying down by the water's edge. Unconscious, but breathing. Disturbed by the light, the pair stirred and awoke. The changeling went into a state of panic as soon as he got his bearings. "Siren? Siren!" He was frantically looking at the expanse of water before him, unaware that the one he was looking for was just to his side. He was about to dive into the water, but the minotaur was quick enough to pull him in. "Calm down, she's right here!"

Brutus held the panicked changeling in front of Siren. Jellybean just sighed and gave an embarrassed grin before being dropped on the ground. He shot an annoyed look at the minotaur before standing up.

"Hold on." Rook confusedly said, "Jellybean and Brutus were both unconscious, so that means..." He gave Siren a questioning look.

Siren just smiled weakly, giving her reply, "I'm a drone. Caring for nymphs like you is my job. Dying or not." She let out a giggle followed by a cough of blood.

"We have to get moving. Hang in there Siren" Rook lead the way along the path. Where were they anyway?

Brutus bent over to pick up the mareling but got waved off. "I can walk fine now. Thank you." Siren said as she got to her hooves.

"Are you sure?" He asked. Siren just nodded. Brutus shrugged and tried to turn himself back into a changeling, but when the flames cleared he found himself still a minotaur. "I guess I'm stuck like this."

It wasn't long before they found a tunnel leading away from the river, which gave him a sinking feeling. They were going back into the maze, weren't they? There was no other choice. The area ahead was barred and they couldn't use their shape-shifting at all. Brutus' muscles wouldn't have a chance against those thick bars either.

Shaking off the doubts, he marched in ahead and immediately regretted it. Not three steps into the tunnel, he was tackled by something and next thing he knew, there was a green pegasus holding a dagger over his head. "DIE!" he shouted before being tackled from the side.

"Woah! Woah! Calm down!" The one who tackled the pony shouted. To everyone's surprise, it was another changeling. "Just look at him! His eyes aren't the crazy red like the others!"

He got off the pegasus and helped up Rook. "Thank Chrysalis! I thought I would never see another soul down here. Much less a minotaur. Wait, they're taking minotaurs now?"

"Actually... I'm just a changeling stuck in this form." Brutus scratched his head. "Say, can you shape-shift still?" he asked the unknown changeling.

"No," he replied, "I got a massive headache and I just couldn't shape-shift anymore. My magic's gone too. By the way, my name's Coon, and the pegasus here is..."

"... Rusty Pick." the pegasus finished with an annoyed tone.

"Nice to meet you two. I'm Rook and that's Brutus, Jellybean, and Siren." Rook introduced the party to the two new ones.

Coon turned to the others "We've been stuck here for days on end. We keep running into maddened changelings and quite a few others down here. We're getting a little jumpy."

They exchanged stories as they walked along. Apparently Coon found a small cave somewhere near Canterlot. He was with some other changelings. Sadly they fell to the traps. Rusty apparently was digging for gems in an Appleloosan mine when he and a few buddies of his broke through a wall. There was a cave in and their only way out was completely blocked and their equipment were either broken or buried. This raised two flags for Rook: how big was this complex, and what was it used for?

Rook abruptly stopped and told everyone to keep quiet. He noiselessly made his way to a bend where he heard faint hoof falls.

"I know you're there," a voice said.

He froze at the statement. Was it the pony who talked through the vents?

"Come out of the shadows and I will lead you to the end of this vile place. You and your friends don't have much time, especially that one."

'How did he...?' Rook cautiously stepped out. There was a unicorn pony sitting on his haunches. Grey coat, red mane, light red eyes and his cutie mark was a ball, a crystal ball if his eyes were still working right. He was also wearing a fancy bow tie. Must be from Canterlot. That felt like a jab in the gut for him. He didn't want to have to deal with grudges right now. Surprisingly, the pony just raised an eyebrow.

"Well? What about your other friends? We don't have much time." The pony said impatiently. The rest of the group stepped out with Rusty going directly to the unicorn.

"Boy, it's nice to see a pony face for a change," he said, shooting a dirty look at the changelings which hardly got them by surprise. Really, what else were they expecting? They did after all invade the pony capital, locked their princess in a cocoon, destroyed half of the city, and ransacked their stores for cakes and sweets. Hey, just because you don't need pony food to survive, doesn't mean you should be strangers to it. Ponies made the best cakes.

In contrast to Rusty, who was visibly grinding his teeth in the changeling's presence, the unicorn was just indifferent. He didn't even care about the fact that there were four changelings there, not counting Brutus of course since he was stuck as a minotaur. "The exit is this way." The unicorn got up and went deeper into the tunnel, not taking a second guess at the fork.

Something nagged at the back of Rook's head. He was suspicious about the unnamed unicorn. How could he know where the exit was? More importantly, how did he know that they were hiding right around the bend, and why was he just sitting there? It was like he was waiting for them. It didn't feel right, but Rook decided to go with it for a while. Maybe he did know where the exit was. Looking behind him, he could tell from their faces that the other changelings had similar thoughts.

"So... got a name?" the minotaur asked, breaking a minute-long silence.

The unicorn took a glance at the rest of the group, and with a trace of annoyance in his face he simply grunted and quickened his pace. He made it clear that he didn't want to socialize with the rest of them.

"Not the friendliest of ponies, I see..." Coon muttered.

It had been an hour of awkward silence and trotting until the lead unicorn stopped and said, "We should split off here."

"Why?" the rest chorused.

The answer to their question shook them to the core. "Cause this is where the road ends." That must have been a password cause just as he finished saying it, metal grills trapped them in their quarantined part of the tunnel. The only one who was not trapped was none other than the unicorn who guided them.

Rook was about to give him a piece of his mind when the ground gave way, sending them all into another ride to who knows where. All they could do was just scream until their lungs burned. It was then when his life flashed before his eyes. That was never a good sign.

Memories of past victories and defeats of small skirmishes with various races plagued his mind. He and his squad had fought against ponies, buffalo, griffons and even the fearsome minotaurs. Boy could those brutes pack a punch. Those memories were more saddening than happy. Friends die with every mission. It was hard to believe that he'd be joining them in another world pretty soon.

Those visions were blacked out as he hit the hard cobble floor. Consciousness didn't slip away, it down right fell. When he came to, he was still on the ground. The sound of murmurs just ahead of him was enough to make his head lift up just a bit to see hooves, pony hooves. They must have seen him squirm cause he was suddenly lifted into the air. Magically, if the glow around him had something to say about it.

He couldn't see their faces. They were all wearing masks and some type of suit. All black. That could not have been a good sign. Rook heard echoing screams followed by thuds of bodies hitting the ground. That couldn't have been a good sign either. And it proved to be true. The new arrivals were the other separated changelings. Ghost had a fast recovery and upon seeing Rook being held up by the masked unicorn, he charge into action. It was short lived though as an aura surrounded his head, and snap, he fell on the floor like a lifeless rag doll.

At this point, Rook's brain just stopped functioning, and the last thing he heard was the sinister laughs of his captors followed by an order that, again, was never a good sign: "Take them."

Author's Note:

Not really sure about this chapter... At least that's over with!

Anyone got a better chapter name?