An alternate sequence of events in the two-part episode "The return of harmony", discord manages to dodge the swirly rainbow of doom and he manipulates it to turn the six mares into stone. as a ditch effort, the elements of harmony shoot in
(I wasn't able to fit all that I had wanted to into the short description.) An alternate sequence of events in the two-part episode "The return of harmony", discord manages to dodge the swirly rainbow of doom and he manipulates it to turn the six mares into stone. To prevent their power from falling into discord's hands, the energy that makes up the harmony elements shoots into space to find a group of four who have the capability to stop discord. What will happen?
Every like I and positive comment I receive motivates me to write, and every dislike and hurtful comment I get causes me to feel sad and I'll lose the motivation to write.
Princess Celestia just finished up day court and decided to take a stroll through the gardens. It was a stressful day. The Princess of the Sun thinks deeply, not paying attention to where she is going. Her horn hits a statue, wincing in pain she looks up to see an empty pedestal. The plaque reads "Discord"
The Princess gasps. Discord has escaped! She immediately summons a parchment, inkwell and a quill and begins writing.
Twilight,
Discord has escaped! Discord must be stopped before its too late. Heed this message. Gather the elements and stop him by any means necessary.
Princess Celestia.
With a flash of gold light, the letter folds itself up and vanishes.
"Well hello Princess Celestia. It sure has been a while since we met like this." A voice behind her says. Celestia whips around to see the mischievous lord of Chaos.
"That it has Discord. How did you escape?" She hissed at the draconequus.
"It's been a thousand years since you trapped me in that hellish prison. The elements kept me under lock down for the entirety of that time."
"I see." 'I must delay Discord as much as possible, and give Twilight enough time to defeat him.'
"Delaying me won't stop the inevitable, my dear. I know how this will end, for this is all but a game." Discord said with a smirk, flicking Celestia's horn with a claw.
"A game?" Celestia asks. Discord nods in response.
"The Four will rise, Celestia."
"The Four?"
"Yes, The Four. The Natural Elements of course. or have you forgotten about them?"
"Yes, but they were locked away. Very far away."
"Ah, but the old prophecy states they will return, and that time is upon us. Now, i'd like to stay and chat, but I am missing some excellent chaos. Ta-ta for now!" Discord jumps in the air with a huge smile and disappears in a flash of light.
[-----]
Twilight, and her number one assistant sat down for a wonderful dinner which she had cooked. She definitely could have done better but she really wanted to try her hoof at it. She managed to only burn the lettuce, she was making a salad. Apparently, you aren't supposed to cook a salad.
Spike took a bite of the salad but his eyes bulged and his cheeks inflated. He looked like he had just eaten something very very sour. "Spike! if you don't like it that's fine, but you don't need to be so dramatic." Spike suddenly lets loose a huge belch, and from it, came a wisp of green fire which materialized into a letter. Twilight catches the letter and reads it aloud.
Twilight gasps. Discord has escaped? "Spike, lets go get the others." Spike punches the air in triumph.
"Yes!" Twilight stares at Spike who shies away. "Uh, not to say that it wasn't a great meal?" He tried.
"Ugh, whatever, let's get the others. Spike, go grab the elements and meet us in the town market." Twilight gallops into town, immediately spotting pinkie pie and Applejack. "Pinkie! Applejack!" She says as she runs toward them.
"Slow down sugarcube. whats the big deal?"
"Discord has escaped from his stone imprisonment. The Princess has asked me to gather the elements of harmony and put a stop to him before he can rule this planet in eternal chaos."
"Then what are we still doin' here?! Lets go get the others! Twi, you go get Fluttershy, Pinkie, you go get Rainbow Dash, And ah'll go get Rarity. Meet back here as soon as you can."
"Right" Twilight, and Pinkie both said. The three split up to go retrieve their respective pony.
[-----]
Several minutes later, six ponies and dragon are all dashing to the meeting spot where they find someone shocking. Right above the spot they designated to be their regrouping point is the one and only, Lord of chaos and disharmony. Discord.
"Discord!!!" Rainbow Dash yells, pouring on the speed. She tries to buck him in the face but discord dodges and catches rainbow dash by her back legs.
"My my Rainbow. Testy as always. You'll never learn." Discord says disappointed.
"Put her down Discord!" Twilight yells.
Discord flashes above Twilight, his eyes directly in front of Twilight's glaring eyes. "I take orders from no one but myself. Perhaps you should have already known that." Discord taps Twilight on the forehead, causing clown clothes and makeup to encase Twilight. Discord laughs heartily. Twilight's horn flares and the clothes disappear. Behind Twilight, Spike is distributing the elements to their respective owners while Twilight keeps Discord occupied.
"NOW GIRLS!" Twilight shouts, levitating her tiara onto her head. The five ponies behind her lift into the air as Twilight joins her in the middle. Her eyes open and a rainbow swirls around their elements and into the sky.
Acting quickly, Discord vanishes and reappears behind the six girls. the rainbow makes a turn before hitting the ground and the rainbow hits the six ponies, instantly turning them all into stone statues.
Discord, who is untouched by the rainbow of doom gets up and laughs maniacally. "I'VE WON! HAHAHA!"
Discord looks back at the six mares turned into stone with a smirk. The Twilight statue's tiara flashes purple and shoots a beam into space, Applejack's element, Rarity's element, Rainbow's element, Fluttershy's element and Pinkie's element does the same. The six beams swirl together into a solid beam and shoots off. As the jewelry on the stoned ponies' necks stop shooting a beam into the sky, the jewelry cracks and shatters.
Discord stares in disbelief. "How? Wait... if the Elements of Harmony are gone...... I AM UNSTOPPABLE!" He screams to the heavens. He snaps his fingers and he grins evilly. "Let TRUE CHAOS REIGN!!!!"
Waking up sucks. ESPECIALLY if you have that annoying beeping alarm clock. After all, nothing wakes you up better than to have a heart attack. My morning routine is much like it is every morning. Wake up with a heart attack, smack the alarm until it shuts up, get up, stretch, change my clothes for the day, put on the ring my grandma gave me, head downstairs, make myself breakfast and eat it, grab my backpack and head out for school. Yeah that pretty much sums up my average morning.
You see, my mom died giving birth to me, so it was just me and my dad. He has stayed with me for sixteen years. He has been incredibly busy with work so he is almost never home. I don't resent my dad for doing that, because he doesn't have a choice. He has been single for way too long. Providing for me has been running him into the dirt. Once he even contacted a drug dealer to ask for a way to gain money to help provide for me. The deal they struck made our situation even worse than it was before he struck that deal. But surviving is what we do best.
My grandma gave me a ring when I was ten. She said it was my mother's and she wanted me to have it. It was a elegant ring. The metal was 24 Karat gold. The gem in the middle held a petrified sapling of a plant. Which plant, I wasn't sure. The one thing I find most interesting about the sapling, is the leaf. At the change of the seasons, it changes color. When it is spring, its a dark green. In the summer, it becomes a sparkling bright green. During the fall, it turns to a bright Red. And during the winter It turns to a sickly brown color.
Whenever I'd wear the ring, I'd feel more tuned into my surroundings. My father always said that It must be from my natural survivalist instincts. I come from a long line of expert survivalists so getting this ring is definitely the best thing that has ever happened to me.
I reach the side walk where the school bus would pick me up. As I wait, I see one of my best friends wave at me from down the road. It was Jordan. He was a nice kid. Tall and very good at sports.
When ever I stood near Jordan, there was always a slight breeze. No matter where he was, there was always a breeze. Other people noticed this strange event but no one else cared enough to figure it out. He has a ring much like mine. The metal is made of 24 karat gold. the gem on the ring was most peculiar. The gem looks hollow. and there seems to be a never ending air current inside of it. If you stared at it, it was sort of like a kaleidoscope. but it moved in a circular motion. Jordan told me he got it from his grandma as well with the same story that my grandma told me.
There Is one strange thing that all four of us have in common. My story, is the same as theirs. They have the same routine as me, they have the same ring as me, although the gem for each of us is different. Our mother's died giving birth to us, our fathers love us to death and is never there enough due to their need to provide for us. We even take the same fucking bus.
I explained that to them one day and they thought it was strange too. Okay, so there is Myself, Joshua. I am a short haired 16 year old. I have black hair. I am about 5 feet tall. yeah a little short for my age but whatever. Okay, there's also Ian, and Andrew. Ian was a short kid, but very pleasant to be around, he would crack many jokes as well. He was 16 just like me. His ring held a bright blue sapphire that looked like it held the ocean. Andrew was an averagely tall kid. he always wore jackets. He was a very skinny kid as well. He loved playing games. And like the rest of us, he was 16 years old too. The ring he wore was a dark red ruby that glowed brightly under the sun. The ring also emitted a bit of heat as well.
Now, aside from our stories being strange, each of us had very different personalities. I loved the outdoors, the trees, the fresh air. I also had a green thumb. Probably the best in my area. Jordan loved the air. He owned a hang glider, which he would take to his roof and he would jump off of it. He crashed into the window of a neighbor once and was threatened with a call to the police if he didn't stop playing with it. Ian came from a long line of expert surfers. He is also really good at surfing too. He won at his very first surfing tournament. Everyone says it was beginner's luck, but I don't think it is. Ian also loved to go to aquariums and he knew a lot about all of the sea creatures that were there. He even impressed the tour guide by how much he knew. And finally, Andrew. He is a averagely tall kid, like I said before, He loves playing with fire. When his dad won a contest and they flew off to Hawaii, he stood still on hot burning coals and he walked off minutes later, with a slight burn, the medics had no idea what to make of it.
Unfortunately when everyone knew about these strange events, they started avoiding us completely. They alienated us and called us freaks, but the four of us stayed together as friends.
We all got on the bus and sat together. "Hey Ian!" I called. He looks at me with a raised eyebrow.
"What?" Ian asks.
"After school, lets all go over to my house."
"Uh, sure I suppose I have no problem with that."
"Great. I hope our history teacher Is having a good day, i didn't finish my homework."
Ian winces. "Ouch bro, Mr. Richards is very strict about that late homework."
"Yeah. I had quite a lot to do yesterday." The bus slows down as we arrive at the school grounds. The other kids in the bus rush out and into the school. We wait until we're the last people on the bus before exiting.
Upon exit, I see my ring light up and glow with energy. I see Ian's ring do the same. Ian and I share a glance before walking into school. our rings still glowing with energy.
"Whats going on with our rings bro?" I look over and see that Andrew's ring and Jordan's ring ar both glowing as well.
"I have no idea dude." We all took a step forward before getting struck by a white beam of light.
"What's happening!?!?" We all shouted. Our rings glowed even brighter. We simultaneously got picked up into the air. We were floating momentarily. I looked around and saw a few kids standing at the door of the school staring at us in shock and awe.
We shot upward into space. "WHERE ARE WE GOING?!"
We left the troposphere and into the stratosphere, Still screaming. And soon entered the mesosphere. Weirdly enough we could still breathe.
A voice came in, almost like static. "Hello? Can you hear me?" It was a shy female voice. "You are going to be safe. We are protecting you."
"Where are you taking us?" I yell.
"You will see later." Another female voice says.
"What are your names?"
The first voice speaks again as we enter leave the thermosphere and lapse into the complete darkness of deep space. "My name is Fluttershy, There is also Rainbow dash, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie pie, Applejack, and Rarity."
"Wait, from my little pony?"
"My. Little. Pony?" Six feminine voices say at the same time.
"Oh right. never mind."
"Well sleep well. Its a very long journey." I feel myself drifting off. I glance at my friends who are traveling beside me as my eyes close and I fall asleep.
"I'm not your dad. We've almost arrived at the destination. I woke you up now so we may tell you what you need to know."
"Okay." I open my eyes and see the never ending depth of space. I look beside me to see Ian, Andrew, and Jordan all in separate bubbles.
"I will allow you to talk to your friends." I hear something click, almost like a switch being flipped.
"Hey! Wakey Wakey Josh!" I hear the familiar voice of Jordan say in my mind.
"What? How am I hearing you in my head?" I ask, completely confused about how it is apparently possible.
"Never mind that, We're here to tell you a story, one that you may find interesting. Your friends also informed us that your people have been spying on us!"
"Spying? no. Is it an apparent coincidence? Most likely. Now I'm interested in hearing this story."
"Alright, we do not know everything about your task, but we will tell you what we do know."
"Okay Twilight, cut to the chase!" Jordan shouts.
'Twilight' Grunts. "Ugh, fine. As you may be aware, The Lord of Chaos and Disharmony has escaped his stone imprisonment. He overpowered us by using our own elements of harmony against us."
A different voice speaks up, much more tomboyish. "Yeah! he was fast, he jumped behind us to avoid the power of the elements, which made the rainbow hit us instead. It's power turned us into stone instead of him. I'd bet he's drooling in cotton candy clouds right now, terrorizing Equestria."
A cheery voice speaks up. It can only be pinkie pie. "Yeah! That meanie Discord! He tricked the elements."
"We know Pinkie. Dash and Twi have already gone past that." A southern accented voice speaks up. I gasp... 'Its best pony! EEEP!' "Ah read somewhere about an old legend. It states that 'The Four will return.' Now, Ah ain't the best when it comes to the whole prophecy business, but I'd have to say its referring to you four."
"Ah yes. And Once this whole Discord business is wrapped up, you four will come to my boutique and I'll make the best outfits you've ever seen! After all its a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to design clothes for a completely new species." A voice I can only assume to be Rarity says. "Fluttershy do you have anything to add?"
I hear a shy 'EEP!' before a low response. "No."
"I have one thing to add." Twilight starts. "We need you to help us get our bodies back. We don't know how things look down in equestria but I can't say it will be good."
I see a small speck appear in the distance. As we get closer, I realize that the sun and the moon are acting very strangely. The two opposing Stellar orbs are barreling across the sky at an alarming rate. It seems like every minute, it switches from nighttime to daytime. As we get even closer I notice the texture of the planet. Discord turned the entire planet into a giant golf ball.
I couldn't help but facepalm.
"Woohoo! Lets go to the golf planet!" I hear Andrew yell. We hit a bit of turbulence as we enter the upper atmosphere of the planet.
"MOVE!" I hear Fluttershy scream. I look around to see the Sun barreling towards us. Instantly all ten of us scream as we fly forward. I see a flash of light in my peripheral vision. Jordan's ring lights up and we suddenly lurch forward, faster than before.
A small cone of pressurized air appears in front of us and the sun barrels by barely dodging us. I can feel the millions of degrees of heat blazing my back. I suddenly smell bacon... Oh wait that must be me.
I see Ian's ring flash with a bright blue light from which a tentacle of water appears. It stretches out and encases our bubbles, protecting us from the raw power of the sun.
"I don't think I can hold this bubble much longer!" I hear Twilight's voice straining against the power of the sun.
"Wait!" I hear Jordan yell. "I have an idea. we can use our rings." We all stare at him in shock.
"There's no way that will work." Ian yells.
"Yes It will. I have a good feeling about this. Ian, use you water to encase us in a bubble, I'll use my air so we can breathe, Andrew and josh, work together so we make a soft landing."
"How can fire and earth work together? They are practically opposites!"
Jordan smirks. "Opposites attract."
"Okay." I look over and see Andrew spraying lava into his hand. Wait he can make LAVA?! oh that is SO-O unfair. "How come you get to use Lava?!" Andrew smirks but doesn't say anything.
We pass through the upper cloud layer and I see the ground through the bubble of water. Andrew uses his lava to create a hardened casing around the outer side of the water bubble. I suddenly feel tuned into the earth. I can feel the way the plants grow. I don't know how I could feel these things this far up but I decided to question it later. "ANY TIME NOW!" The bubble of magic the 6 mares gave us vanished as we free fell with more power.
I could feel a particular plant. It was a small sapling but with so much potential. I called out to it and I could feel it starting to grow.
"COME ON JOSH! I REALLY DON'T WANT TO DIE!" Ignoring him, I place all that I can into rapidly growing plant.
Okay this is definitely familiar. I could see a spiraling plant extend towards the sky. It immediately grew giant leaves to slow our fall.
We went straight through the first three before we started to notice a decline in speed. I called out to the plant to grow more leaves for us and it bent to my will, sprouting a massive leaf that was at least a foot thick. We slammed into it, drastically slowing our fall. Thankfully the plant did what I asked and stopped the rapid decent of our sphere made of hardened molten lava and water.
We slid off the leaf and fell the rest of the way to the ground with a dull thud.
Ian, Andrew, and Jordan dispersed their elemental shell before collapsing to the ground in exhaustion.
Seeing them fall, reminded me of how much that act took out of me. I fell to the ground, quickly summoning a leaf to lay on before falling asleep.
[-----]
"Hey! wake up!" I hear a feminine voice yell. I open my eyes to see a glowing blue mare standing before me.
"Rainbow dash I assume?" The mare nods proudly.
"The~ one and only." The egomaniac states.
I rub my eyes to clear out the remaining blur. "Hey Dash? How is it that I can see right through you?" The mare looks down at her glowing, transparent body.
"I'm not sure." She says, dumbstruck. A glowing purple form steps into view.
"I believe I may know what is going on, If I am correct, the energy from the Elements of Harmony took the souls from our bodies before we could be turned completely into stone, the Elements of Harmony should be able to provide these forms power. But I fear that these forms won't last long, even the Elements of Harmony have their limits."
"I suppose that makes sense. And i'll assume we'll need to start moving, For all we know, you could only have enough power for the journey from here to my world and back again. So we will need to be extra careful about how we go about this journey. Now lets get moving." I stand up but wince as I remember the burns the sun gave us. "That sun cooked my back, we will need a way to treat is and soon."
Rainbow flexes her transparent wings and gives them a flap. She lifts off the ground a few inches. "WOO! I can still fly! I'll fly above and try to get a good idea of where we are." She soars off, high into the sky.
Twilight grimaces. "I can't help but feel like something is going to go very wrong very soon. I've never liked the feeling of dread. Not like this."
"I would offer some soothing words but I don't think they'll be helpful." I frown.
"GUYS! GUYS!" Rainbow Dash returns from above. "We landed on the far end of the Everfree forest. We are REALLY far away from Ponyville." I see Andrew grin with excitement as he hears the name of the infamous town.
Twilight looks down and puts her hoof to her chin in thought. "So we can either take the long way around the Everfree forest, or go through it. Either way we need to find the Princesses and get them to help us. Discord has rules long enough already. He MUST be stopped." Twilight stomps her hoof in determination.
Without warning, the six mares flicker for a second. When they reappear they gasp. "What was that?" All six ask at the same time.
"I was right! The elements of harmony only had enough charge to retrieve you four and bring you here."
"Wait, would it be possible to go into our minds and inhabit our bodies?"
Twilight thinks for a moment. "While it should be possible, only one of us can inhabit your body each and that would leave two of us to fizzle out completely... We aren't going to do it. We are friends and we stay as friends. TOGETHER!" All six shout the last word at the same time.
"Wait!" Jordan calls. "Which way is Ponyville?"
"Northeast of here, shouldn't be hard to miss." Rainbow says, slowly fading.
"We'll see each other again Joshua, do not fret." Twilight says. "Find the princesses!!!" the last word echos as they vanish from existence, only to reappear as six flaming orbs which swirl around and shoot off into the sky and vanish.
The four of us continue staring at the sky for several minutes, before Ian breaks the trance with a cough. "Lets get going guys. We need to find shelter soon." A wave of magic rolls across the land. Behind it, is a checkerboard pattern ground, which alternate between hot-pink, and light-pink. A low rumble radiates across the ground. I see mutated creatures running behind the chaotic magic. There were rabbits with really long legs, buffalo in tu-tus, Several color-drained Pegasus ponies flying upside down and backward along with them.
"Dude this is just bizarre." I said, unable to keep my eyes away from the strange, mutated creatures.
"Lets go guys, every minute we stay here, the chaotic influence on this world gets stronger." Jordan says, pushing us all down, knocking us out of the trance. We get up and walk Into the Everfree forest.
"Guys, I truly think that traveling through here is much better than around, for one, it's faster, and two, we won't have to deal with those mutated chaotic creatures in here." Andrew reasoned.
"Are you saying that as a fact? or are you just reassuring yourself that we won't meet any of those... things out there." Jordan asks.
"If we go through the forest, we risk running into Cockatrices, changelings, manticores, timberwolves, the list goes on." I protest. "But then again, I can never unsee the rabbits with long legs... buffalos in tu-tus..." I shiver. "Lets get going. Keep quiet. We need to be stealthy if we are going to get out of here alive."
"That's true, lets go." Jordan says, taking the lead on a path through the trees, the rest of us follow silently, being careful to test where we step before placing our full weight on the spot.
"Do you have to be any louder Josh?!" Ian hissed quietly at me. I give him a sheepish smile.
"Sorry." I replied. "I'll try to keep it down."
"Can you both quiet down? We are trying not to have our faces eaten by a manticore here!" Jordan said from the front.
Andrew silently ran forward and crouched next to a fallen log. He peaked over momentarily before ducking back down. He mouthed the word "Manticore" to us and we instantly fell silent and hid from plain sight.
My keen survivalist instincts help me decide whether to continue, wait, or just run. I could hear a low growl and the sound of something cutting through flesh. Very quietly, I inform the group."If we can stay absolutely quiet, we can sneak past it. Which means no stepping on branches." The other three nod and we group up away from the manticore's location.
"Josh, we need to make some kind of distraction, perhaps a loud noise somewhere we are not. and then run away while it is distracted?" Ian suggests. "Unless you have any better ideas?"
"I think we should just look for another way around it, that clearing is too large for us to sneak around before it finishes eating its meal, and we don't even know whats on the other side of the clearing. I mean, though those bushes, there could be a gorge or canyon that we have no hope of crossing." Andrew says quietly.
"It's worth a risk, and besides, whats the worst that could happen?" I say with a sly grin.
Ian just stares at me. "I just hate you sometimes. I really do."
I laugh. "You know you love me!"
"Guys!" Jordan hisses, "KEEP. IT. DOWN!"
"ROOOOAAAAR!!" An ear piercing screech erupts from the direction of the clearing.
I take one look at Jordan, Ian, and Andrew before starting to run in the direction we originally came from. I take a sharp turn right at the first opportunity and we enter a dark cave. Andrew runs in behind me and summons a weak fireball, just enough to emit light. What becomes illuminated in the darkness scared me deeply. I saw mentions of these things. They were huge and could destroy entire towns even if it is cranky... And i'm pretty sure I didn't have a water tower full of cow milk, and a sweet lullaby to lull it back to sleep if it wakes up.
Before us, was an Ursa Major... Not an Ursa Minor... I'm talking about a gigantic transparent purple bear.
"Oh shit." Ian says, "We should leave." He says quickly. The giant bear shuffles in its sleep. We quickly run out the way we came and find ourselves face to paw with an Ursa Minor...
"Wow, our luck just keeps getting better and better!" Jordan says sarcastically. the Ursa Minor looks down at us with murder in its eyes. "I know our luck is bad, but seriously? This is ridiculous."
"So, we have two options, stay in here and get mauled by a stellar bear, or run outside and have a manticore AND an Ursa minor on our figurative tails. I'm liking the second option because we have at least a small chance of surviving." I deduce.
"If we're taking door number two, we'd better start running!" Andrew just BOOKS IT! He dodges between the Ursa's legs and out the cave entrance. We quickly do the same. The Ursa Minor roars and charges after us.
Leaving the scary cave, we dash the way we were originally going. We race into the clearing with the manticore still there. It doesn't even look like it actually moved in the first place. I guess it just roared to divert prying eyes. Well it definitely worked flawlessly! We ran for our lives.
The manticore swivels and roars at us, unknowing of the giant bear behind us. The bear is knocking trees down like an elephant on a rampage would. The manticore started chasing after us.
"I know this is a really bad time to say it!" I yell. "But I apologize for jinxing this!"
"Apologize later! run for our lives NOW!" Jordan yells, jumping over a fallen log.
We enter a large clearing that looked inhabited. On the far edge we see the inevitable. "Yeah I guess we all saw this coming!" I yell, dashing through the clearing as the manticore bursts through, followed shortly by the giant stellar bear. We dash past several wooden wolves that are snarling at us for barging in and destroying their campsite. As we broke through the opposite side of the clearing, and dashing past some surprised timber wolves, several started to give chase.
"A manticore, Timber wolves, and a giant stellar bear. Oh my." Ian says.
Jordan stares at him, almost smashing into a tree. "Is this REALLY the time for movie references?!" The three of us laugh and continue running. I can feel fatigue starting to grow.
"Guys! I'm starting to get tired." I yell, starting to breathe heavily.
"Great! we'll leave you behind!" Andrew yells. "Its what you get for getting us into this mess in the first place anyway."
I swat a large plant out of the way and continue running. "I already said I was sorry!"
"Whatever. Just keep run- woah!!! stop!! Cliff!" Andrew yells. Ian stares at me, giving me an 'I told you so' look.
I look across the gorge. It was quite a distance across. Hmm... I focus on the power in my ring and I imagine a bridge in front of us. Quickly, pieces of mud and dirt form themselves into a bridge for us to cross. It still looks very dangerous to cross. And I'm not one who likes falling to his death. I look over at Andrew and a silent conversation is played out. Andrew nods in understanding and shoots lava out of his ring which douses the bridge. Ian quickly douses it in water and we hurry across right as the manticore takes a swipe. The manticore steps on the bridge as we make it safely to the other side. The bridge collapses and the manticore falls with it. Several seconds later we all hear a dull thud making all of us wince. even the Timber Wolves and the Ursa Minor winces at the sound.
The four of us collapse on the ground and sigh in relief. "Let's take a moment to catch our breath and then we'll continue our journey." We all agree. I look around the area, surveying our surroundings.
"This sucks. Not saying I don't like having a journey on an alien planet, but I really want my bed from home. A nice rest would probably do us all nicely. Come on lets go find a place to rest for the night... well... its hard to tell when 'Night' is when its sunny one minute and dark the next, but whatever I guess." I exhale and I help the others to their feet. They follow behind me.
I catch a glimpse of a stone structure. "Hey I think there's some sort of building ahead!"
"Great! I hope it's inhabited. And NOT by something that can kill us." Ian says forging ahead through the thick underbrush. As he gets to the other side we can hear him stutter. "Sp-Sp-Sp-"
"Spit it out already!"
"SPIDER!" He screams. Oh yeah. He is deathly afraid of spiders. He had a traumatic event when he was young. He woke up in the middle of the night. There was a spider on his chest. Well... It crawled into somewhere... and it bit him, he was taken to the hospital for anti-venom and ever since then, he was absolutely TERRIFIED of them. Even the tiny ones that have no way of actually hurting you. If he sees a spider, he screams bloody murder and the whole neighborhood knows about it.
We quickly jump to the other side of the bush and I see a giant spider. I shit you not. It is a spider, easily as big as the giant spider that stabs Frodo in the lord of the rings movies.
We stand frozen, taking in the sight of the monstrous being in front of us. It opens its eyes, all eight of them. and they all seem to lock onto me.
"ye who holds the power of the earth. We will not harm you and grant a safe passage through our section of the forest."
My eyes widen. "Did you... did you just talk?!" Ian, Andrew, and Jordan look at me with raised eyebrows. Even Ian, who was shaking uncontrollably in fear looked at me. "Did you not just hear him?! He just talked!"
"The gift of understanding the arachnid language is a rare one. I am impressed you could understand me." The spider says, keeping it's eyes on me at all times.
"Would the invitation extend to my three friends here? We would like a place to rest for a while and gather our strength for the rest of our journey." As weird as it was to be able to talk to spiders, I couldn't pass up a safe place for us to rest, even though Ian will probably be shaking the entire time, holding himself in a fetal position, mumbling to himself and slowly going insane.
The Giant spider rises from its web and bows to me. "We shall allow you and your party a place to rest. Though I must ask, What are thou names?" I look to my three friends.
"He just asked your names." They are too conflicted with emotions to respond. "Whatever, My name is Joshua. The one on the right is Jordan, the one cowering and shaking is Ian, and the other is Andrew."
The spider bows again. "Sir Ian is given permission to rest in our burrow." He declares before turning to Andrew and doing the same. "Sir Andrew is given permission to rest in our burrow." He turns to Jordan and does the same once more. "Sir Jordan is given permission to rest in our burrow." The spider turns to me and extends one of his legs. "May I see the ring? It has been centuries since it was in our possession."
"Uh, sure? I heard mention that this, and the rings my three companions have, originated from this planet. I'm assuming that's true."
"Indeed it is. My name is Spinner, and you may call me as that."
"Thank you Spinner. I can't speak for my friends, but its a pleasure making your acquaintance."
"Before you leave, do come see me again, I'm sure there are a lot of questions you want to have answered." I nod in response.
"I do have a lot of questions, and yes I will."
Spinner smiles, which looks weird because of the massive fangs protruding from his skull. I walk back to my friends and I start pushing their petrified forms forward. I knew Jordan and Andrew weren't scared of spiders, but I can tell their brains can't process what just happened.
"My brood will assist them. They are young but they know what they're doing."
"Alright. Well, Can you point me in the direction of where i'll be resting?" Spinner nods and extends a limb towards a hole in the ground that is covered in webs. I start to walk towards the hole in the ground. A spider, half the size of spinner, emerges from the hole. The arachnid bows to me.
"Follow me to the place you can rest. Be careful and do not touch the webbing. It is layered with poison to keep the pests out. It doesn't react well to skin." I rush down the hole, being careful not to touch the poisoned webbing.
I follow the spider down the hole. It wasn't a straight drop like i thought it was. It was more of a spiral staircase. There were spiders everywhere. I felt nervous with all of those eyes watching my every move. I made my way deep into the burrow. My escort stopped by a doorway and beckoned for me to proceed ahead of him. Inside was a huge spider. The spider was so huge, it made Spinner look like an ant.
The spider opened its eyes. All eight of them burrowing into my soul. I swallow. Even my natural tolerance to spiders would've never prepared me for a spider of this caliber. I clear my throat before speaking. "My name is Joshua. Myself and my party of three was allowed temporary sanctuary in your burrow." I bow before the enormous being that could very easily squash ME like a beetle underfoot.
"Yes," It's voice rang through the burrow with a lot of force. "I've heard. please follow my associate. She'll lead you to the borrowing room." The giant arachnid lifts one of its limbs and points to spider next to it which seems to be teeming with energy. It was like the spider was going to shoot into the sky and explode in a bunch of fireworks. I glance back to the large spider with a raised eyebrow. He just sighs.
"HI THERE! I've never met anything like you before! Are you a monkey? A seagull? A parrot? A seal?" She yaps on at about one hundred miles an hour, bombarding me with questions and complements. "You're very tall. Are you an alien? did you know the first 12 digits of the square root of pi is: 1.77245385091? It's very interesting isn't it? Do you eat meat? Why are you so tall? Why do you walk on your back feet?" The bombardment of questions were giving me a serious headache.
"Woah, Woah, Woah! Slow down please." I could see the other spiders in the burrow giving me a look of sympathy. They knew she acts like this. Wow.
I look behind me to see Ian, Andrew, and Jordan being escorted by another spider. They are led through the small archway and into the main chamber. Jordan walks in first. he sees the giant spider and immediately puts a hand over Ian's eyes.
"Ian, trust me, you do NOT want to see this. If your arachnophobia is that bad, this will give you a heart attack." Ian swallows.
Jordan looks at me. "Lead the way." The small energetic spider hops away.
"Boy, its like pinkie pie possessed her." Andrew states. We all follow the eccentric spider across the room and though an archway.
"Don't touch the webbing with bare skin. It's lathered with venom to keep the pests out." I warn.
"Nopedy nope! down here it isn't. The newly hatched brood are kept down here. They are slowly introduced to the poison so they can grow and adjust to it." the energetic spider states happily.
"Look, we're all very tired, can you show us where we'll be sleeping?" I ask, a slight wave of drowsiness comes over me.
"Yepperuni! right this way!" We pass under a badly damaged archway.
"What did that?"
"Oh the evil fire ants. They come down here for the hatchlings. They attacked yesterday... relative time. With discord in the throne of power, its been rather hard to tell time."
"Huh, are they going to attack again?"
"Probably. They've been getting more and more antsy each day." She giggles at her own pun. Hearing a spider giggle is fucking weird.
"How dangerous are the ants?"
"Very, their colony is a mile north of here. Before discord took the throne, They never attacked us, but now they attack quite often."
"Is there anything we can do to help?" I ask.
"Well... You could try to talk to their queen." We enter a small room with wads of webbing compressed into pillows for us to lay on. I see a few spiders spinning silk into a blanket for the four of us.
"Oh thank the lord!" Jordan shouts. "Fresh silk is the best!" He runs a head and lays on one of the pillows. "Josh, thank them for me wouldja?"
"They can already understand you." I replied. I take a deep breath and I walk over to join Jordan. Andrew does the same and eventually Ian does too. The weaver finishes the silk bedding and tosses it over the four of us. "Thank you." I say to the weaver who bows in return and leaves the room.
"You know? I am taking all of this surprisingly well, despite the circumstances." I close my eyes and I hear the other three agree. I drift off into a soundless sleep.
Chapter Four: Looking for the Hatchlings and Getting A New Companion!
I woke up to the chittering of mandibles. The soft clicking of their jaws. I opened my eyes and remembered where I was. In the darkness I could make out a shivering form of a hatchling. I lifted the heavy silk blanket away from myself and I slowly make my way over to the hatchling.
"Are you okay?" I ask. The spider stops shivering momentarily before shaking even harder.
"No, the ants came. They make it past the king. They steal other hatchlings."
"What? They came? I missed it?" I softly hit the ground in frustration. "I wanted to help."
"No! They kill you!" The hatchling insisted. "Tear limb from limb. No mercy.'"
"I must go speak with the king immediately." I stated, standing up and leaving the burrowing room that my friends were still sleeping in.
I walk past a broken archway and through another. I stop when i hear the soft clink of ant mandibles clinching together. I slowly turn around to see a single ant easily half my size in height. but length beats my by at least a few inches.
This must be a worker ant. I quickly run up the spiral staircase and I enter the room with his highness. "Lord, There is an ant in the burrowing halls."
The giant spider tensed up and spoke a command, alerting several spiders to the threat. The alerted spiders quickly jump down and dash past me. Thankfully the ant was still there. The largest of the summoned spiders latched onto the ant's neck and I assume the ant was injected by the spider venom.
With the ant detained, The largest spider turns to me. "Thank you."
I bow in return. "I awoke to find a hatchling cowering in my quarters, when I asked what happened, it informed me that the ants had attacked."
"I'll inform the nurses immediately." It said before chittering off. I turn back around and I reenter the main room.
"Sir Joshua. I ask of you something I believe you can accomplish. The ants stole one hundred unhatched brood. I would like for you to get as many back as possible. Your cooperation will earn you two favors."
"I'm willing to accept the offer, although I do have many questions about the ants and my job." The king says nothing but shows he is listening. "What should I need to know about them? Should I kill them or try a diplomatic approach? I also have the problem of how i'll get inside of the ant nest to see the queen."
"Ah yes, Their mandibles will cut your limbs right off. If I was in your position, i'd try a diplomatic approach. We've been friends with the ants for a long time, to simply have them turn on us leaves us with no option but to make our move."
"Which that 'move' would be me, I assume?" The king nods slowly. "Do the ants wield any sort of venom that I should know about?"
"one. But only the queen wields it. It is a deadly venom that melts your insides before liquefying your skin. It really isn't pleasant." The king openly shudders.
"Okay, I will go wake my friends up and we'll be on our way." With that, I bow and exit the room to wake my friends.
[-----]
Minutes later I was escorting three drowsy humans out of their bed.
"But it was so comfy!" Andrew protested. "Why must you do this to me? I thought we were friends!"
"UGH! Just get moving! We have some mandibles to go kick... well, maybe."
I escort the three into the big room where Ian inhales loudly and tries desperately not to scream. "Your highness, may I ask for a drone to lead and to play the part of a diplomat?"
"usually I am not for risking my brood to such a dangerous quest, but I cannot stand by while they take our young. For that reason, I will offer you two escorts, and a Diplomat to their colony. May the Goddess Arachne bless you with safe travels." The four of us bow and turn towards the exit. Ian was still shaking. In front of us, stood three giant spiders, ready to escort and defend.
"We are ready to depart. Lets just hope this goes well... because if not... we're screwed." I walk past the spiders and eventually exit the burrow. The spiders eventually led us to a mountain. The closer we got to it, the more nervous they got. I watched the top of the mountain as an ant crawled out of the top and down the side.
The ant approached us. The ant's heights came up to my shin. Which, for my height, wasn't very tall. The ant stopped and let us approach. It chittered a bit before walking back towards the mound. The ant disappeared inside. Moments later, ants began to pour out of the mound.
"I have a really bad feeling about all of this." I said nervously.
"As do all of us Josh." The other three agreed. Jordan seemed to break his normally stoic composure and got a little cocky. "I can take them! I know Taekwondo! Given, i'm only a green belt, but none the less!" While we were talking, the ants had us completely surrounded. Our two escorts were shaking and our diplomat was standing tall.
"So, the spider with less training than the highly trained escorts can stand up without fear while the battle hardened soldiers shake in their carapace... This is pathetic." I said, shaking my head in disappointment. I turn to the largest ant. "We will drop our weapons and come peacefully if we may speak with the queen. We do ask to bring out diplomat here. The two guards here have no guts."
The ant nodded in understanding and sent an ant to deliver the message. It scurried up the mound only to return several minutes later. It delivered the response from the queen to the largest ant and the ant beckoned for me and my companions to follow, but told the guards to stay. The four humans and the diplomat followed the ant to the top of the mountain. I looked down at a hole that looked too small for me to fit through. I just jumped right in, holding my nose with one hand and my legs with the other. My impact made a bit of a mess but I eventually passed through to the other side and into the ant's lair.
We were led through a series of tunnels that I had no hope for remembering. After a while, the tunnels opened up into a large cavern. In the middle, sat a throne. It was a gigantic throne. On the seat, sat a crown. A small circular crown.
The throne sat on top of a podium. and there were hundreds of ants, all varying in size, around the podium. Right then, a short fanfare played as the being I assumed to be their queen, walked out.
She was not anything like I was expecting an ant queen to look like. She stood about as tall as Jordan which was like six feet tall. She stood bipedal and she even wore clothes. Her 'skin' was covered in the same carapace as the ants in her colony. on her head was two red antennae. As she walked, all present ants bowed as she approached the podium.
"Humans!" She called with an authoritative voice. "I understand you are here for a reason. Yes?"
"Dude," Andrew whispered. "She is speaking perfect English."
"Yes?" The queen repeats.
I step forward and bow, keeping my head low as I begin to talk. "Your highness, We are indeed here for a reason. Two reasons actually. The first being peace with the spider burrow. It was reported that the ants were stealing the hatchlings from the burrow. And the second reason, is they want whatever survivors you have back. And I, personally hope that we can figure this conflict out."
"YOU DARE ACCUSE US OF TAKING HATCHLINGS?!" The queen roared. "WE WOULD NEVER DO SUCH A THING!"
"My apologies, I was not accusing, I was merely stating what the spiders were reporting. I personally saw no sign of there being any ants ever in the burrow, but we still needed to come out and ask for your side of the story." I stated.
The queen thankfully seemed to quiet down. "Then proceed."
"I'm starting to think that maybe there is something else that is taking the hatchlings. I'm assuming the spiders were seeing things. HOWEVER, earlier in the burrow, there was a lone ant. it looked woozy and disoriented. Unfortunately, said ant is dead. But I'm assuming that something else still took the hatchlings, and I plan on finding out what. Whatever it is must look similar to an ant since I met a hatchling, barely old enough to talk, it told me the ants had come. but since you deny this, I've come up with three possibilities. The first being that something had dug its way under the burrow to snatch the hatchlings, these beings may have planted the ant in there. The second would be-" I was cut off by Jordan who gasped in realization.
"Wait a minute. What creature can burrow through solid stone, is an expert at avoiding capture, master of deception, and very devious? And it's not a changeling." Jordan said with a slight smile. The rest of us looked at him in curiosity, and then realization hit us like a train.
"The Diamond Dogs!" All four of us said at the same time. We looked back at the queen who was wearing a big smile.
"There's a clan of Diamond Dogs not far from here, It is very possible that they are what took the hatchlings. For what purpose, I wouldn't have an idea." The queen said. "I've been looking for an excuse to run those vermin out of the EverFree for far too long, and I've finally found my reason." The queen rubbed her hands together with a mischievous grin on her face.
"Your highness, May we go inform the spiders of this new development? They might be willing to help." Andrew says, stepping forward and bowing.
The queen thinks for a moment. "Yes, that would be acceptable. It would tighten our bond with the spider. After all, they are quite useful as allies. I'd hate for a misunderstanding like this to spark a war. You may leave at once, I'll send some escorts with you, they will have more guts than your sorry excuse for guards outside." She points at a small group of ants and hisses in a language I can't understand. The group nod and begin to escort us out.
"Beware of the Diamond dogs! They may know we are onto them and may attempt to capture you!" The four of us wave goodbye and we leave, following out diplomat and three ant escorts.
[-----]
We exit the mound and look down upon an impressive sight. The implied meaning behind what was going on was bad, but the sight was impressive nonetheless.
Surrounding the anthill, was an army of spiders. We quickly dashed down to them. "STOP! DO NOT ATTACK!"
I see a familiar spider wade through the crowd. "Ye who holds the power of the earth, where are the hatchlings? We thought the ants had taken you prisoner." Spinner says, looking around for the hatchlings.
"It's nothing like that. We met the queen and told her about it. She was furious that we accused her of taking the hatchlings. She really didn't take them. BUT, we think we know who did and since your here, that pretty much hits two birds with one stone. you're already here, and the queen is willing to help drive out the thieves." I conclude.
"And who are the thieves?" Spinner questions.
"The Diamond Dogs, The queen said she knew where they were hiding out. She has been looking for an excuse to drive them out of the EverFree and she has finally found one."
"Ah, the Diamond Dogs. Devious creatures. Lets get over there and get our hatchlings back!" A roar of chittering from the army of spiders erupted in response. I turn back to one of the ants that escorted us.
"Go get the queen, Inform her that the spiders are willing to help." The ant nods. It runs up the anthill and disappears into the colony. A minute later, the anthill was swarming with ants.
"WOOHOO!" I shouted. "My very first battle! Lets do this!"
The ant queen rises from the colony and walks over to me. "Follow, we will show you where they are." A roar of chittering erupted from the ants.
My three friends and I stand together, ready to charge into battle. "FOR NARNIA!!!!" Andrew yells. We all look at him with amused smiles. "What?!" We all shake off our amused smiles and charge forward.
When we got there the Diamond dogs were in the middle of evacuating. "DIAMOND DOGS! SURRENDER THE PRISONERS AND YOU CAN LEAVE PEACEFULLY!" Jordan yells, using his wind to amplify his voice to sound intimidating, Instantly, most of the diamond dogs dropped to the ground, holding their ears. The others growled at us.
"NEVER!" It shouted back.
"Awesome! I was hoping this wouldn't be anti-climactic. Now we have a battle to wage!" We all charged forward. Most of the evacuating Diamond dogs seemed to come back to help keep the prisoners safe, the others hid in fear.
The Diamond dogs were outnumbered by at least 1 to ten. I mean, they didn't stand a chance. Everyone was in their own little battle. I met a diamond dog one on one.
"You'll never take our gems! filth!" It spat. I lept to the right as the Diamond Dog took a step forward. I ran up behind it and I put it in a headlock.
"Where are the prisoners?! That's all we want."
"LIES! you want prisoners for gems! yes." The level of this creature's insanity was on par with Gollum from Lord of the rings. It spoke to itself in a raspy manner and wouldn't shut up.
A mutt in armor runs up and throws a punch at me. The surprise from the dog makes me drop the diamond dog. "Master, are you alright?" The mutt asked.
"Yes, but he hurt us! Keel him!!" The mutt started rushing at me. I quickly dodged to the side. Distracted with the mutt, I fail to notice the diamond dog come up from behind me. It's claws unsheathed and it's teeth bared. It leaps at me, tackling me to the ground. It starts ripping at my back, tearing away muscle with it's teeth. The mutt recovers and leaps on top of me, starting to rip off my clothes and skin.
"JOSHUA!" I hear from afar. I hear the sound of running feet. A blunt object smacks the diamond dog off my back and smashes the skull of the mutt who grasps it's head in pain. "Joshua! Speak to me. The wounds aren't too bad!" I lay still, unresponsive. My eyes wide open. My breaths feel shaky. I feel my heartbeat get gradually faster as my life force slips away.
"Don't leave Joshua! Who else is going to be a smart ass?" I hear sniffling. My vision becomes blurry as I feel my soul being ripped from my body.
I hear a ringing sound, and a bright glow emits from my ring. I hear a gasp. "So the ancient omens were true. The power of such rings truly do exist."
I hear three more ringing noises, all at a slightly higher pitch. I feel my soul resettle back into my body. The four rings all emit a beam which begin to shoot out and encase my unresponsive form. My eyesight returns to me and I weakly look around. Spiders and ants alike were standing by, staring at the peculiar sight.
The beams created by the natural elements surrounds me and lifts me into the air, where I could feel each of the elements do something. The water rushes into my body and revitalizes the organs. The Fire cauterizes the bleeding wounds and the earth encases them in a protective shell until the muscles grow back. The wind goes into my lungs and starts to help with producing oxygen-rich blood which slowly helps my motor functions restart. The protective shell the natural elements encased me in to help heal me vanishes and I fall to the ground like a rag doll. Jordan, Andrew, and Ian all rush to me and pick me up. An ant provides a leaf and I am placed on the leaf, and carried down into the Diamond dog mines.
[-----]
I feel my strength slowly returning to me. I weakly lift my hand, the one with the ring on it. We came upon an open area, in which there were many exits. I saw my ring flash as it was pointed toward a particular tunnel. "May where could those hatchlings be?" The ring instantly shuts off and I wave it around toward each tunnel. There were seven pathways. I pointed the ring at the one furthest to my left and the ring lit up.
"Hey, I think my ring is acting like a compass in a way." The other three look at my ring as it is facing a particular tunnel and glowing.
"That is so cool. you could use that to navigate out of anywhere." Jordan lifts up the leaf that I was resting on and dumps me to the floor. "Come on. Get up."
I slowly rise to my knees but fall down under the strain. "Not working, can you help please?"
"Sure!" Jordan offers me a hand and I take it. Summoning my strength, I stand up, balancing on shaky legs.
"Was that really a good idea Jordan?" Andrew asks. "He looked really weak from whatever that was."
"Whatever, lets just just find the hatchlings and get out of here." I put my arms around Andrew and Jordan and they help my towards the designated tunnel. On the other side of the tunnel, we see cages filled with various animals. Ian rushes forward to go free them but steps on a pressure plate. The ground opens up below him, making him scream.
"AH! A little help guys? The spikes below me don't look very nice!" We look over the edge to see wooden spiked protruding from the floor. Andrew quickly throws fireballs at the wooden spikes causing them to burn.
Ian looses his grip and falls towards the flaming spikes. His ring seemed to have a mind of it's own, and a bubble of water encases him. The water starts to steam as it got closer to the fires. With a thud, Ian hits the ground perfectly fine, the water doused the fires, but the fires are quickly spreading back to the spikes.
"Joshua! use your ring to help Ian! Wind wont do anything besides slow down the fires."
I felt a tug in my stomach. An urge to save my friend. My well being isn't important right now, Ian's life is on the line. I have to save him. My ring erupted in a blinding amount of light as it starts REALLY hurting.
In an earth-shattering crack, the ground beneath Ian lifted upward, filling in the gap in the floor. A massive crack in the roof of the tunnel formed. Ian, Jordan, and Andrew taxied my weakened form to the other side of the tunnel, right as the entrance collapsed. We were stuck in the room with the prisoners... and all wasn't terribly bad... i mean from the number of creatures in this room, we are going to suffocate.
"Hooray!" Andrew shouts. "Instead of dying by falling rocks, now we are going to suffocate to death. Perfect. Well, i'll be over in this corner crying until we run out of air, Peace." He walks off.
"Wait... 'air' that's it!" Jordan smiles in triumph. He lights up his ring and an air current is flown around the room.
"Congrats." A voice from inside one of the cages said. "Now we have even less air. Did you really think your fancy magic can create real breathable air? you're a fool for even considering it."
from my weakened state I glance around the room. I notice that some cages are hanging in the middle of the room. "Jordan." I weakly say. "free the prisoners. Use the chain in the ceiling to bring it down."
"That's brilliant! but how?"
"Figure it out." I exhale and I slip into unconsciousness.
Jordan runs around, freeing the prisoners one at a time with the help from Ian. There are five griffons, six ponies, two zebras, a Minotaur, a baby dragon, a family of changelings, and there was even a Diamond Dog still down here. "Okay listen up, we need to work together to bring the roof down. when it does, the griffons will help everyone escape. Minotaur, grab the chain and pull. the rest of us will help be any means necessary. I have power over wind and Ian has power over water. And we need to hurry, air is running thin."
Everyone takes their positions. the Minotaur grabs onto the back end of the chain, the baby dragon helps the Minotaur. the three unicorns and the 3 pegasi help too. The changelings change into drakes and help the Minotaur with the chain.
The sheer force being applied to the chain makes the roof tilt slightly and a cloud of dust rain upon us all. "One, two, three, PULL!" The roof tilts again, another dust cloud drops. "ONE... TWO... THREE... PUUUUUULLLL!!!!" the chain gives way, snapping near the ceiling. the roof tilts again, starting to shake from displacement. A Pegasus flies up to the chain and inspects it.
"It bro-"
CRACK! That was the sound of the ceiling giving way. during the few seconds it takes for the roof to fall, everyone runs away from the falling ceiling. The Pegasus that went to inspect the chain wasn't very lucky. But at least his death was quick.
Once the dust settles. Everyone glances at the middle of the room. A beam of light is shining down but disappears a few seconds later due to the constant change of day to night.
"We did it!" Everyone screams.
"Now hold on!, i'll use my wind powers to cycle some fresh air down here." His ring lights up and moments later everyone feels a nice refreshing breeze that has a hint of a peppermint scent.
"Now that we have fresh air, lets get out of here! My friend, Joshua here has power over the earth, but he is very weak. He could use his powers to widen a tunnel for us."
"so now we get to starve down here? fantastic." Someone yelled.
"Wait! the unicorns can give him an energy boost right?" all three of the unicorns nod and approach My unresponsive form. their horns light up and I snap to attention as their energy seeps into my body.
"Huh? Where are we? Am I dead?" I see all of the creatures in the room with me and I remember what happened up until I passed out. "Good job Jordan, Now lets get out of here." I light my ring and point it to the ceiling. The ground rumbles as the hole opens up wider. The sun passes over the hole, leaving it lit for a moment. I collapse to the ground again.
"Griffons, and Pegasi, help lift us from this hole. I am starting to feel fatigue, I won't be able to use my wind powers until I get my strength up."
The Griffons and pegasi nod and start lifting us all out.
[-----]
Finally we were all out of the hole and onto the surface. We alternated shifts. the Minotaur and griffons took first watch while we all slept. Alternating when we woke up.
When the time came That we were all rested up the spiders had found us.
"Joshua! Good to see you're alive and well. Where are the hatchlings?" I shake my head and look at the floor.
"We couldn't find them." The Minotaur approaches me.
"You can communicate to these creatures?" He asks.
"Yes I can, its just one sided though, I can understand, but not speak." the Minotaur nods in understanding. Next I am approached by the changeling family.
"You saved our lives. Whatever can we do to repay you?" I smile, knowing exactly what they can do in return.
"You can repay me by going home and living out the rest of your lives."
"B-But there must be something we can do! We owe you our lives." The changelings bow to me.
"Do not bow, I am no royalty. You can repay me by doing what I said, Live out the rest of your lives." The two adults look at each other and nod.
"Sir, we insist. We would like to give you our child. She craves adventure, and after being trapped in that cave for several years, getting beaten by whips until we yield... We wish for you to take care of our daughter." I stand there, eyes wide. "Please sir."
A little changeling filly runs between her parents, smiling widely. "I've never felt so alive!" She yelled. "Thank you mister for saving me and my family." The little filly then rubs up against my leg like a cat would.
I kneel and look the filly in the eyes. "Your parents have offered for you to come with me on an adventure. Do you want to come along? It will be dangerous and I cannot guarantee your safety." The little filly suddenly looks depressed. She looks at her parents who watch her with a slight smile. She runs up to them and hugs them, before running back over to me.
