The Mirror-Stone Wasteland

Chapter 03

“Some ponies are destined for greatness. Others are destined to serve as sacrifices. There are also those among this latter group that are born merely to serve this purpose. They have one of two answers: acceptance or rebellion. However in the end it is always the same. There is always death.”

-Shadow-Stalk

As Twilight walked through the ruins with her royal guard as the excavation crew went about moving the rubble. The plan was that by clearing the wreckage that repairs could be underway. Hopefully once repaired the ruined structures could serve as houses or shops for the residents of the Mirror-Stone Empire. Also there was something Trixie wanted to show Twilight.

“Now you wouldn’t believe this,” Trixie spoke in a excited tone, “but one of our recovery teams found a mysterious chamber under this section of the city.”

As the group continued walking Trixie lead them to a stairway that descended into the city’s sewer system.

“Three weeks ago this area was selected for restoration purposes. While examining the structure of this system a member of the recovery team stepped on an unstable floor tile, which collapsed causing her to fall. Fortunately all the pony suffered was a few bruises however her fall revealed the secret chamber.”

“Should we be worried about the stability of this enclosed space?” Fire Stride asked intensely.

“Certainly,” Trixie said with a huff, “After the incident I had the excavation team bring in some supports to increase the stability of this area. I also place a warning spell over the supports so that if anyone of them were strained too far an alarm will sound alerting everyone so they may flee to safety.”

‘That is reassuring’ Twilight thought to herself. Suddenly another royal guard walked up to Fire Stride and whispered something in his ear. The red pony nodded and waved the guard away before bowing to the princess.

“My apologies your majesty,” the commander Pegasus spoke, “but there are some matters I need to address. Please continue on, I shouldn’t be too long.”

Twilight nodded and Fire Stride followed after the guard. Trixie, Twilight and the remainder of her guards continued to the system until they came to a large gaping hole in the pavement. Below there were a few earth ponies doing various tasks from moving rubble, to measuring the walls and looking for defects. A single ladder led down to the chamber below.

“Sorry Twilight,” Trixie spoke, “But we didn’t have anything more extravagant.”

“It is alright,” Twilight said moving towards the ladder, “This will do.”

The group descended the ladder a single pony at a time. Two recovery team ponies held the ladder still so that the group could descend safely. Once they were on the ground Trixie lead them through a large tunnel that was two ponies tall and three ponies wide.  As they walked the Princess noticed other tunnels leading off of this main one, similar to the catacombs underneath Castle of the Two Sisters. Twilight and the group walked for about seven minutes before the tunnel opened up into a cavern.

“Now would you look at this?” Trixie said motioning her hoof through the chamber “Isn’t it amazing?”

The chamber was large; the walls carved out of mirror-stone now cracked with age and an amphitheater in its center.  In the middle of the amphitheater stood the statue of a mare dressed royal attire. Twilight recognized the royal mare as Queen Sapphire, the mother of Princess Platinum. The queen looked proud with her hoof held forward and a look of determination on her face. After looking at the statue for a minute Twilight noticed something behind it.

On the other side of the chamber stood what appeared to be a large circular door. A dozen excavation ponies stood around while members of the recovery team placed magical devices up against the door.

“Fascinating,” Twilight said motioning towards the door, “Do you have any idea what is on the other side?”

“We will find out soon enough.” Trixie spoke walking over to one of the recovery ponies. He was a light blue unicorn with a white mane; he also wore glasses and a white lab coat with the name-tag, ‘Jerrode.’

“Your highness,” Jerrode said once he noticed the princess, bowing his head to her, “the presence of your majesty honors us.”

“It is a pleasure to be here.” Twilight replied.

“Have you had any success finding out what is behind that door?” Trixie asked Jerrode.

“Using our sonar devices we have determined that there is a large space behind that door, perhaps even larger then this chamber,” Jerrod spoke before pushing his glass up his nose and shaking his head, “but sadly that is all we have discovered. The mirror stone seems to be greatly impacting our machines thus preventing us from seeing what is behind the door.”

“A chamber larger than this one,” Twilight inquired, “What purpose would Queen Sapphire have for such a large chamber?”

“I don’t know princess,” Jerrode spoke. “but one thing you may find more shocking is the fact that the door is much older than that statue. As a matter of fact the statue appears to have been erected a decade after the door was completed.”

‘That seems a little odd,’ Twilight thought to herself, ‘I guess that means that the chamber had some other purpose originally but was later dedicated to the Queen.’

“What is your plan to gain access to that chamber?” The Princess inquired. Jerrode’s expressions changed as he began to think on the subject.

“Hmmm… well, we tried using the excavation drills but they didn’t put in so much as a dent in the door,” Jerrode said before pointing at some barricades being put into place, “so the next step will be an attempt to use high explosives to blast a hole in it.”

“Explosives!” Twilight’s ears shot up, “But wouldn’t that be dangerous considering the stability of this chamber?”

Jerrode nodded, “That is why we have several ponies reinforcing the chamber walls. The explosives won’t be here for a couple more hours. In the mean while it might be a good idea for Trixie to show you to your quarters. We have a special room for your majesty to stay in while you are here to observe the operation.”

Suddenly there was a commotion to the right side of the chamber. A group of excavation ponies held their drills defensively to ward off a fearsome creature resembling a dog with two heads. An orthros, Twilight recognized at as she had seen Fluttershy and Rainbow-Dash pulling one around at the Rainbowfalls Trading Festival a couple years ago.

“How did an orthros get in here?” One of Twilight’s guards asked frantically.

“It actually isn’t too surprising,” Trixie replied, “Remember this area has only recently been uncovered by ponies. No doubt much of the local wildlife moved in after the Mirror-Stone Empire fell years ago. No doubt the orthros thought this would make a great home.”

“Unfortunately, that orthros will hinder this expedition if it isn’t removed,” Jerrode spoke, “We may have to euthanize it.”

Twilight’s heart sunk as she remembered her old friend Fluttershy. The yellow Pegasus loved animals even to the point of sharing her own home with them. It would sadden Fluttershy greatly if even a fierce creature like this orthros was killed.

“Wait,” Twilight spoke, “Let me try something

“Princess are you sure this is wise?” Jerrode asked, “The orthros seems awfully aggressive. You could be injured.”

“Maybe,” Twilight replied, “However it would be better to resolve this situation peacefully if possible.”

“What do you have in mind?” Trixie asked.

Twilight thought for a moment, “Did we bring anything to eat with us?”

“There are a few oat-burgers packed. Trixie replied. After looking through their bags Trixie pulled out an oat-burger and telekinetically gave it to Twilight who telekinetically held it behind her back as she approached the orthros.

The two headed dog barked loudly and threshold at the surrounding ponies. The excavation team cautiously moved aside for the princess, making a clear path for her while being close enough to jump in front of her in case the orthros attacked. It saddened Twilight that these ponies would be willing to die in order to protect her.

While maintaining her telekinesis Twilight cast another spell, one she had practiced with Fluttershy back in Ponyville a year ago. It was sort of an animal communication spell. While it didn’t allow the pony to talk to animals and vice versa, it did allow her to share her intentions with it. The orthros continued to growl.

“Hey there boy,” Twilight spoke calmly, sending signals of her good intentions to the orthros with her spell, “Would you like to calm down for me?”

The orthros stopped growling but it continued to glare with its two pairs of eyes. Its muscles still tense as it stood ready to react.

“Would this help?” Twilight asked revealing the hidden oat-burger. Seeing the burger the orthros’s eyes went wide and its ears shot straight up. Normally a carnivorous creature like the orthros would find little interest in pony food but the oat-burger had some soy-beans in it, which could serve as a source of protein. A resource that was difficult to obtain in the wasteland. Also the seasonings probably made it smell more appealing to the two-headed dog. The Orthros sniffed in the air and within seconds its two mouths were salivating.

“I’ll give it to you if you let these ponies be.” Twilight spoke holding the burger in front of her while conveying that she meant no harm to the creature. The orthros sat on its hunches panting with its two heads.

“Very well,” Twilight said telekinetically tearing the oat-burger in half and placing it in front of the orthros, “Here you go.”

The orthros greedily wolfed down the two burger halves. Once it finished licking its lips the two-headed dog looked up at Twilight with glistening eyes. After having the meal the orthros just followed the princess around like a puppy.

“Well, you certainly have a way with animals.” Jerrode spoke glancing to Twilight’s side, where the orthros sat.

“I have a friend who likes animals,” Twilight shrugged, “I just remember some of the things she would do.”

“That spell you used must have been of some help though.” Trixie said with a grin. One trait Trixie had was how she enjoyed bragging. In the past she would brag about her exploits but as she stepped out of her acting role and starting making more friends this trait adapted to where she would also like to gloat about her friends and their accomplishments. Jerrode looked impressed at this making Twilight feel nervous.

“Oh its just a minor spell,” Twilight said nervously, “When I developed it I was originally trying to create a spell that would allow a pony to be able to understand and communicate with animals. However there was very little success as it only allowed the caster to share their intentions with the animal. So you could say it was more like a reinforcement spell.”

“It is still impressive.” Jerrode replied.

Now that the orthros was no longer detaining the ponies from reinforcing the wall Trixie lead Twilight back through the tunnel they had come from earlier. They went through a second tunnel on the right and come to a hallway with several rooms built into it. This was probably where the recovery and excavation team members slept. At the end of the long corridor was a doorway, which lead to another small chamber. This was the VIP sleeping quarters. Within the chamber there were four doors as well as another tunnel with a sign above it reading, “Surface Exit.”

“In the case of an emergency take this tunnel,” Trixie spoke, “It connects back to the main tunnel. From there move as swiftly as possible to the surface.”

Twilight nodded. It would be handy to know this in case there was a cave in. Trixie then redirected the princess’s attention to one of the doors. This door was larger then the others and its door frame was covered with purple stars. A sign on the door read, “Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“Here Twilight,” Trixie said, pointing a hoof at the door, “This is your room.”

The two ponies stepped inside the small room. Inside there was a desk with a pen and inkwell, twelve blank scrolls, a map showing the tunnel matrix and a first-aid kit. A chair and bookshelf rested behind the desk. There were not very many books on the shelf and most of them had to deal with either tunnel excavation or geology. Across from the desk there was a small bed covered in white linen bed sheets.

“I hope you don’t mind the simplicity of this bed,” Trixie spoke, “It was the only bed we could bring down here.”

Twilight waved a hoof, “It is fine. Thank you. I hope you don’t mind but I am tired and I would like to get some sleep.”

“Of course,” Trixie replied, walking towards the door, “We will have someone come for you once the explosive charges are in place.”

Once the blue unicorn left Twilight set down her saddlebags and lay down upon the bed, pulling the sheets over her body. The orthros then jumped onto the bed and after making three complete circles lay down at the foot of the bed, resting its two heads on its paws. Twilight watched with interest as the orthros slept there peacefully. She found it odd that this creature was so trusting of her, perhaps her spell had worked better then she thought.

“You know,” Twilight spoke thinking aloud, “if this keeps up I am going to have to give you a name.”

Upon saying this Twilight yawned and rested her eyes. Soon she was fast asleep.