Wrath of My Righteous Little Ponies

Gold had just moved beyond the sight of her new companions when her light revealed a disturbing shape. Gold hesitated but steadying herself hobbled forward and shed her light directly on it. It was an immense black spider, bigger than a stallion, crouched silent and still on the ground. In an instant Gold had her bow drawn and an arrow knocked, held in her orange magic.

Gold was about to let the arrow fly when she realized the creature had not moved. In her experience with monstrous vermin she knew that those that lived in the dark either fled from light or where spurred into attack by it. In either case they didn’t remain still.

Gold replaced the arrow back in its quiver, the fall had damaged most of them leaving only four useable, and hooked her bow over the quiver. Drawing her sword she hobbled carefully up to the spider keeping a close eye out for any movement, but it remained deathly still.

When she was close enough to stab the thing with her sword Gold let out the breath she was holding, it was dead. It didn’t look like it had been injured by the collapse that had trapped her and the other down there, it had been dead for a while.

She was about to leave it behind when the sound of squirming came to her ears. Gold shot a quick looked back and forth seeking the source of the noise. The light of her horn illuminated two tunnels leading out of the cavern, but the sound didn’t seem to come from either. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and looked back down at the spider. Its legs and head were still, but its thorax was quivering slightly.

Suddenly it burst open and a giant maggot burst forth from the thorax spaying strings of green mucus-like gore at Gold as it unleashed a high pitched cry. Gold let out a muffled scream through her sword and slashed at the vermin. Her sword cut through its pale flesh with little resistance cleaving its head apart.

Gold was panting wildly when a second maggot burst from the spider with such force it launched itself at the mare. Unable to dodge properly on her broken leg Gold brought up her sword to block the maggot’s attack. Its beak snapped around the steel of her sword.

The maggot was easily half her size and nearly brought Gold down as it clung to her sword and slammed its body into her chest. With a hard toss of her head Gold threw the maggot off of her. It slapped to the ground like a soaked towel and before it could wriggle back onto its belly Gold drove her sword through it. The maggot cried out like the first and flailed its head and tail up and down in a short death throes before falling still.

Gold released the sword, gagging and spitting wildly to get the putrid white gore that had gushed up from the maggots wound out of her mouth. Many had questioned why Gold didn’t wield her sword in her magic as she did with her bow. In truth even she could never say why, save that it simply didn’t feel right to wield it that way.

“Gold is everything alright down there.” Twilight voice called through the gloom. Gold answered it was, muttering that she was surprised the other unicorn found it in herself to care at all.

Pulled her sword out of the maggot by her magic she drew a cloth from her saddlebag and wiped it down as she peered into each of the nearby caves. One looked like just a long tunnel, narrow but passable. The other was a very short tunnel that opened up into another cavern.

“There’s a couple of possible ways out I’m gonna check them both.” Gold called back then took the sword in her mouth again and winced as she could still taste the maggot on it.

“Brilliant Kid, ideas like that and we’ll be otta here by tea time.” Cranky called back causing Gold to groan and roll her eyes. She re-sheathed her sword and started up the short tunnel.

Gold looked over the cavern beyond the tunnel with great curiosity. A torn bedroll lay next to the cold remains of a fire and a pile all manner of garbage lay just beyond them. Gold was struck by the idea that someone might be living down in this place. She’d heard rumors of such things ever since she came to Manehattan with Greenery, but never paid them much mind. Now the idea of there being a native of these tunnels that could help them back to the surface caused an excited grin to spread across her face. A moment later the grin faded as Gold realized that if someone was living down there was a good chance that anyone hiding down in this place wouldn’t be friendly.

Gold steeled herself, let her eyes roam over the small cavern, and craning her ears forward, she wouldn’t be caught off guard a second time. Her caution paid off when she saw an edge of the pile of trash swell up slightly before shrinking back down. Gold grinned in satisfaction, “Fool me once shame on you.” She whispered drawing her bow, carefully taking aim, she had to guess the best point of her shot, and let her arrow fly. It cut through the air and stabbed into the pile of trash. The arrow quivered for a moment and Gold could swear she hurt some kind of muffled cry then it went still.

“Fool me twice shame-” Gold was sudden cut off as a large brown shape shot out of the trash. “Oh come on!”

It was a cockroach, but like all the maggots it was massive, easily as big as them, but flatter and much faster. It leaped at Gold with a hiss spreading its mandibles to take a bite out of her and buzzing its glossy wings. Gold thought fast and thrust her bow at it shoving the thickest part of the grip between its mandibles and held the string in her magic letting the force of its charge tangle it around the insect's wings and legs.

Releasing the bow from her magic the tangled cockroach dropped to the ground writhing to get free. Before it could Gold drew her sword and stabbed it down through the creature’s head. Its legs continued to twitch even in death, but Gold ignored this and quickly retrieved her weapons.

Moving over to the pile of refuse she pushed back a layer uncovering a second cockroach, her arrow still sticking up out of it. “Does everything in place come in pairs?” She mutter and started for the back of the cavern where it connected to another tunnel.

She felt her hoof kick something and looked down to see something shining back up at her in her light. Picking it up in her magic she saw it was a copper brooch shaped like a bat perched on a mushroom, the bats eyes were tiny amethysts. The colored gems caused the memory of Spike desperate act to save her to flash through her mind. Sniffing Gold smiled down at the brooch, “I bet you’d be worth more than a few bits if I kept you safe.”

However, instead of putting the brooch into her pack Gold floated it down and pinned it to her plain white undershirt. “But I think you’re here to be my good luck charm.”

Beyond the short tunnel Gold came to another small cavern this one heaped with mounds of rock fallen from the ceiling and walls. Gold watched nervously for some sign of instability but all she saw was a few wafts of dust fall lazily through the air. Two yawning caves exited this cavern, one leading back the way she had come, most likely connected with the tunnel she hadn’t taken before. The other was on the far side of the cavern.

Gold started carefully for the far tunnel, wobbling several times as the uneven ground and her broken leg conspired to make her fall. She was just about to the tunnel when an emerald snake shot up from the rubble hissing threateningly. Gold’s sword was in her mouth in an instant and she swung wildly at the snake. The powerful swing sent her off balance and she stumbled a few steps before crashing to the ground on her good side.

Gold hiss in pain as her broken hind leg knocked against her good one, but forced herself to open her eyes and search for the snake before it could attack. It was right in front of her nose its mouth wide in a silent hiss. Gold pushed herself up so she could swing at it again but realized that it was only the snake’s head. A pool of blood spread out from the back of the head and Gold looked up to see the body laying limply across the rubble, blood dripping from it into a pool.

Gold sighed releasing her sword and slumping back against the rubble strewn floor. She reached up, tapped the bat brooch muttering, “I don’t if that counts as one in your favor.” Gold knew she couldn't lay there long, and with a myriad of stone poking into her back she really didn’t want to.

Getting up Gold stumbled to the far tunnel and shone her light down it, but the tunnel stretched on past the range of her light. She turned and looked back at the unexplored tunnel she knew lead back to her companions. If the unknown depth of the tunnel leading out of this place wasn’t reason enough to go back, Gold guessed the unexplored tunnel back was a clear sign from the gods.

She started back finding the floor of the unexplored tunnel to be much more uneven than the other. This tunnel to opened up into a cavern, thought a tiny one. The cavern proved more generous than the others however, for as Gold shined her light up and down searching for instability in the walls or ceiling she found an enticing prize. Above her hanging half off a ledge, beneath a dark narrow fissure, was a saddlebag. She enveloped the bag in her magic and gave it a tug pulling it down. The sudden movement caused the gravel under the bag to shift and spill down on Gold. The stones and dust rained down on her head blinding her for a moment as she shook her head and tried to blink the grit out of her eyes, when they cleared she looked up and sighed in relief having kept her old on the saddlebag.

Floating the bag down to her she noticed immediately that the craftsmanship of bag was high quality, far better than her worn saddlebags. Gold opened the flaps and was greeted by the sight of a bundle of a dozen arrows all perfectly intact. The other side held bundles of trail rations, and bag of caltrops and several flasks, two of oil and two potions.

Gold floated the potions out, popped the top of one and carefully dribbled a drop of the liquid onto her tongue. It was a taste she was all too familiar with. Bringing the potion bottle to her lips she drank it down in a single gulp. She shivered at first to the bitter taste of the brew but then in pleasure as her wounds quickly began to mend. Gold found the second was a healing potion as well and drank it down just as readily healing all the cuts and bruises incurred in the fall. The pain in her leg eased, but remained, the simple healing potions wouldn’t be enough to heal that damage.

She repacked her own things from her worn bags into the sturdy new ones and added the arrows to her quiver giving the bat brooch a thankful tap. “You definitely came through for me on this one.”

Gold re-entered the first cavern to see a gentle light glowing within and guessed that at Cranky’s request, or demand, Twilight had cast her own light spell. Gold made her way back to where they stood before the wall of rubble. Approaching she found herself a little ashamed of her own gratitude that Twilight had wrapped bandages around her mutilated eyes.

“Did you find a way out kid?” Cranky asked as soon as Gold was in sight and Twilight’s ears perked up realizing that the other unicorn had returned.

“No but…” Gold started then trailed off as she stared past the old donkey to a glitter of purple in the wall behind him.

“But what?” Cranky snapped. Gold ignored him and moved to the wall now seeing several glittering purple specks among the wall of debris.

“What is it Gold Guard, tell us.” Twilight stood and tried to look at the other mare, but just ended up staring in Cranky’s general direction.

“There’s something in the rubble,” Gold said finally and reached out with her magic to seize one of the purple specks. Gold gasped as a sudden wave of grief washed over her. She saw Spike’s death again in her mind’s eye, except this time it was from the dragon’s perspective.

“What is it, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked taking an uncertain step in Gold’s direction.

Gold took a breath to calm herself and looked up to see that what she was holding in her magic was a purple scale about the width of a pony’s hoof. “It’s one of Spike’s scales.” She said breathlessly her eyes returning to the other specks of purple. “There’s more of them.”

“Who cares!” Cranky snapped throwing up his hooves, “The dragon dead, a lot of help he was too.”

“Why you old-” Gold started but a hoof dropping on her side stopped her.

“Gold that’s enough,” Twilight cut her off sharply. Then she turned as if to look at Cranky, but was still a little off. “Maybe you should let it be Cranky, we all need each other down here.”

Cranky grumbled at that and stomped away to the edge of the unicorns’ light. Gold shot Twilight a glare, but it was lost on the blind mare.

Gold’s magic took hold of the other specks of purple, one at a time, and pulled the scales out the wall. Each came with a wave of sadness and a different thought of the dragon’s final moments. There were four in all and Gold tucked them gently away in her saddlebags before moving to Twilight’s side. “There’s a tunnel leading out of here, I don’t know, but it’s our only way out.”

“You’ll have to be my eyes,” Twilight nodded at that and started out, Gold guiding the blind mare as Cranky unhappily following them.