A Blight on Equestria

I take a deep breath and prepare for the worst as I focus and light up the beginning of the cave.  I’m relieved that Blight isn’t in front of me but at the same time it just means that he she or it or possibly even they are waiting in ambush deeper inside.  I take another deep breath and take my first step into the opening.  The area is lit up as if Celestia herself brought the sun inside and I can’t help but feel a little proud of myself for the spell’s success.

Then again, I am Princess Celestia’s number one pupil and I could cast a simple light spell in my sleep.  Actually it did happen one time.  I got gently shaken awake by a kind of irate dragon around three in the morning around the time I first moved to Ponyville.

I sigh to myself.  Just a month ago I sent Discord to take Spike as far away as he could go to keep him safe from Blight’s threat, and now I can’t imagine going into this abyss without him.  I look at my number one assistant as he steps in behind me.  I’m guessing that Discord’s plan involved a lot of treasure since my baby dragon is now just over twelve feet high.  Well… twelve foot one if you want to be more precise.  I’m still impressed on how close his guess to his height was to be honest.  His guess was only three inches above the reality.

I take a brief moment to look at Spike again.  He doesn’t look as ferocious as he did when he was overcome by his natural greed.  Instead of an angry beast looking to expand his horde, I’m walking next to a gentle leviathan whose strength is in fire use rather than brute strength.

I smile a bit more.  He took after me even after all that time being poisoned by tempting treasures that I can’t imagine.  Don’t get me wrong he has a lot of strength but it’s not what he considers his best asset.

I agree.  His heart is made of tougher stuff than I thought.  I’m glad he’s here.

I’m still mad at Discord for apparently attacking my Spike to subdue him and I’m still mad at him for just stepping aside after he promised me that he’d keep him safe.

I shrug the thoughts out of my head as I venture onward.  All the tools and mine carts are very well maintained.  Somepony had done a lot of work down here.  My mind starts to compile what Discord learned about the spider statue against what I know about the material.  Obsidian is a brittle material so logically without magical enforcement the statue would not have come out so flawless being erected then given bodies to hang from some of the most delicate areas.  Any kind of obsidian can be traced to its volcanic area of origin just like any other type of stone and thanks to Discord’s surprisingly good eye for details the trail led me to this old mine.

Well it led me to the abandoned town outside of it.  About two hundred years ago the town’s silver mine went dry and thanks to a sudden rising fad of using obsidian in jewelry they thought they would save the town by making their own.  Sadly by the time they got a good process for magically making the new town’s export the market was already dominated by suppliers who had built strong reputations in the field.  The marketing campaign that encouraged ponies to buy naturally occurring obsidian didn’t exactly help the town either.  They had made a lot of high quality stone but nopony was interested in buying it from them.  Eventually everypony moved and their obsidian making factory was left behind.

Left behind for Blight to eventually find and use.

I venture deeper into the mine with my faithful assistant at my side.  Obsidian is formed when felsic lava is rapidly cooled, which would be a dangerous thing to manually accomplish so it makes sense that they kept the operations in the empty mine instead of the town.

I start to think about another thing Discord said about the statue.  Somepony made the statue with attention to detail that borders on obsessive.  I didn’t notice the spots where pieces were sealed together at first or even right after they were pointed out to me.  If the pony who made it wasn’t magically inclined then they logically needed one who was to put the completed statue in the heart of Canterlot.  There just was no possible way one could build the spider and hang corpses from it with nopony noticing.

“Hop in the cart.”

I barely realize Spike even said anything.  I just climb into the mine cart that I didn’t realize we had even walked towards.  It doesn’t take a lot of effort for Spike to push it forward, which further proves that somepony has used this place recently.

I start to think about the poor souls who were killed for the grotesque display.  Four changelings and four unicorns.  According to Discord the changelings had no signs of being forced to starve whereas the ponies were tied down savagely.  I shudder as I recall him telling me that one of the changelings was caring a child at the time.  Who willingly gives themselves to such a terrible fate?  Who does that with a baby on the way?  I drift my thoughts back to the victims again.  All eight of them could use magic.

Yeah…Blight really was going to make this all about me.

I lean over the edge of the cart and vomit.  Ponies and changelings suffered because of me.  Blight has an army terrorizing random cities and towns because of me.  Another round of my stomach’s contents come out and I realize that the cart had stopped.  I’m crying at this point.  Spike gently rubs my back and I just lean into him and lose it.  He lightly holds me against him; obviously making an effort to mind his strength and my much smaller body.

It’s strange actually.  Hugging Spike just made me feel safer back when he was still just a baby dragon.  Being this close now doesn’t make me feel all that better.  With all his strength and my magic I’m not sure if we’re really capable of handling Blight.

On the other hoof however, we’ve never actually tried yet.  Now that I think about it, nopony reports even seeing Blight after one of the raids.  It is possible that Blight is as fragile as … well… they look.

I pull myself together and reluctantly break away from the embrace of my silent guardian.  I also realize that the light from my horn went out.  I also notice that there is light at the other end of the shaft.  A bright glow consistent with what I’ve read about lava.  I jump out of the cart and with some effort I try to sound brave.

“The cart will make too much noise.  We’d better carry on without it.”

“Agreed.  I defiantly smell someone.”

I pause before I ask the inevitable question.

“Blight?”

Spike just nods.

“It also smells like it’s not alone down there.  There’s somepony else but I can’t quite place who.  I feel like I should but I can’t.  There’s also something…I don’t know…it’s like it smells explosive or something”

“It’s OK Spike.  We’ll find out.”

“Ah reckon we will.”

My mind stops as the third voice beings tones of conviction to the conversation.  I turn and face one of my closest friends.  Applejack somehow caught up with us and I have no idea how.  I then realize that she’s not alone.  With Fluttershy bringing up the rear the rest of our group comes forward behind Rarity who is casting a faint light of her own.

I don’t want them anywhere near me but at the same time I’ve never been happier to see them.  I suppress the urge to initiate a group hug and just smile at them.  Part of me really wants to know how they got here but it will have to wait.  The seven of us make our way to the source of light at the end of the tunnel.

The path leads us to a vast open area.  It was once a large vein of silver, but now it’s a large and impressive forge.  There are so many large cauldrons full of magma and almost as many rectangular workstations for cooling and crafting the desired product.  Everything is so well lit up with the bright glow of iron braziers that the lone figure coming forward stands out.

They look like they did back in the archives.

The sickly thin looking dark grey pony with the copper mane; the steady flow of blood from the corners of their blue eyes...  that almost peaceful look their giving me… I’m looking right at the pony who’s responsible for all the recent chaos.

I’ll admit that I didn’t exactly plan much for this.  Aside from using offensive magic to defend myself and be ready to face a group there wasn’t a lot of planning.  I kind of feel embarrassed at how unprepared I really am.

I’m suddenly very grateful that Princess Celestia isn’t here to see this.

The pony who startled me in the archives is clearly surprised to see us all here.  The brief silence is broken by a pony with a stout heart.

“Y’all got a lot to answer for.”

The confident threat is followed by somepony every bit as brave and headstrong.

“You’re in for a world of hurt!

Pinkie Pie makes her presence pronounced just by confidently marching forward and planting herself next to spike.  She just stares forward at the pony across the cavern.  If looks could kill then the anorexic figure just caught an undocumented strain of something lingering and painful.

“Did you honestly think that you would never have to answer for such barbaric actions?”

Rarity picked up the chain again which I’m honestly grateful for.  Pinkie was starting to scare me.

“The sooner you turn yourself in; the sooner this will be over.”

I’m relieved more to hear Fluttershy is still the same old Fluttershy.  The offer of turning oneself in is a lot more merciful than what the rest of us have in mind, but she’s right.  We may be able to kill Blight but it wouldn’t be the right thing to do.  Even if they are a monster…or monsters.

It’s still weird that Blight sounds like two ponies.

Abruptly a weak voice from further back into the revived foundry calls out to us.  It’s hard to make out but it’s definitely a call for help.  Rainbow Dash takes flight and charges head on with Fluttershy following as close as she can manage and Blight just stands there.  It just speaks to us in that two toned voice.

“I’m impressed Twilight Sparkle and company.  Then again you were taken under the sun monarch’s wing and nurtured instead of punished for what happened.  You’ve grown into somepony clever, I’ll give you that.”

Blight comes forward and Spike and Applejack plant themselves in front of me.  I charge up my horn as the sick pony continues.

“Unfortunately however I must decline participating in this confrontation.  It’s too soon.  You still have a lot to answer for Twilight.  You have so much more to lose.  For example…you have a sibling who’s’ done very well for himself, where as I only have my older sister’s voice and the image of her outline burned into a tree.”

I pause for a moment.  Blight’s manners are different.  There’s some hint of spite in the two voices, and my mind seizes the new detail of Blight ever having a sibling.

I also snap to attention as it registers that Blight just suggested ill intent for my B. B. B. F. F. Shining Armor.  Blight abruptly darts to their right towards a cauldron.  I send a blast of magical energy into the destined object of cover while Spike and Applejack rush to prevent Blight’s escape.

I suddenly realize that blasting the large metal pot was a miscalculation.  I recall Spike’s warning about something explosive a bit too late.  It detonates into a violent flare of bright pink hues and the harsh scent of burning sulfur penetrates the chamber.  The intense light dies down and we are greeted by a thick cloud of ash that had taken up about a third of the room.  I growl at the realization that I just helped them get away.  In the brief moments of distorted visibility Blight had disappeared.  I’m brought back to reality when a hoof is placed on my shoulder and its owner speaks calmly.

“Now Twilight; it can’t be helped now.  Blight’s gone, but there’s still somepony trapped in here under these horrid conditions.”

I nod my head in response to Rarity’s wisdom.  We all dart to the back of the chamber and reach the two pegasi who went ahead.  Fluttershy is tenderly supporting a quivering figure who is weakly talking.

“Please…I didn’t want to help…that monster…I just want to go anywhere but here…All I did was move giant spiders I swear…don’t hurt me…please don’t…I can’t…”

The prisoner is a unicorn chained to a workstation by her back right hoof.  She’s weak and thin and sounds like she hasn’t had any water in a long time.  It crosses my mind to wonder if Blight ever pretended that that was me in her position.  The scared pony cowers into Fluttershy with a squeak and starts trembling more as Spike uses a narrow flame from his mouth to cut the shackle off her bruised ankle.

Oh sweet Celestia…I barely recognize poor Trixie…

I silently creep out from my hiding place behind one of the cauldrons.  Their all too concerned with the welfare of that unicorn to consider the possibility that I’m still here, and I intend to make the most of the misconception.  I had hoped for some more rest but my hoof’s been forced.  I’ll make my way to my camp beyond the town and press forward.

It burned me with so much fire to have looked into that damn unicorns eyes.  She takes away everything I love from me and becomes Celestia’s protégé while my cursed form presses forward in constant agony.

It makes me think of how much I’ll enjoy it when I take her family away.

I smile to myself as I leave the chamber.  I’m getting under their skin with a few acts of brutality and I’ve only just begun.