Wrath of My Righteous Little Ponies

Save for the sound of their hooves against the stone of tunnel Twilight, Gold, and Cranky walked in total silence. Every few moments the tip of Twilight’s nose would touch Gold’s side reassuring Twilight that Gold was still there. Twilight didn’t seem to mind the slow pace set by Gold’s bad leg, but Cranky walked up ahead at the edge of the unicorns’ light, never brave enough to venture beyond it and stopping when it failed to shine around one of the winding tunnel’s corners.

“What is that?” Cranky’s voice broke the silence. Gold looked up at him, Twilight tried to do the same, seeing that he had stopped at a fork in the tunnel staring intently down one path his perpetual frown deepening.

Gold fought the urge to hurry to the split, she looked back at Twilight who called out to the donkey. “What is it Cranky?”

“I don’t know!” The elderly donkey snapped back at the blind unicorn earning him a glare from Gold. “There’s a green light coming up from the tunnel over here. We shouldn’t bother with it.”

“If it’s coming from up ahead we’ll find its source eventually,” Twilight noted as Gold held up a hoof to stop her at the intersection.

“We can just go the other way,” Cranky scoffed not realizing or caring that the unicorn wasn’t able to see the clear divide in the tunnel.

“We shouldn’t just leave it unexplored,” Gold countered stepping past Cranky with a glare and peering down the tunnel. “It looks like it opens into a cavern not too far down. There might be an easier way out then following this tunnel; don’t you think so Twilight.” Gold winced at the slight pleading in her tone, but she need to get at least one of the others on her side or she would end up investigating the place on her own again.

“It could be dangerous, but it is important to check every possible alternative,” Twilight said thoughtfully. She looked in Cranky’s direction, “I think we should investigate as well.”

“Fine whatever let’s go!” Cranky snapped and started off down the tunnel grumbling to himself. It was only a few dozen feet before the tunnel opened up into a large thirty foot high cavern. Cranky stopped in shock for a moment not hearing the voices of the mares calling to him to wait. Built in the cavern, as it had clearly not been disturbed by the attack on the city, was a single twenty foot high building. It was a bunker-like structure with no windows and walls of worked brick. Cranky move around the building in awe until he was able to see the ten foot long carving of a hammer that decorated the building façade. Cranky instantly recognized it as the symbol of the god Torag.

Cranky’s awe was suddenly broken at the sound of buzzing. He looked up and saw himself reflected in a massive red bug eye as an enormous fly turned on its twitchy legs, before it launched itself into the air.

Cranky cried out in horror his fore legs coming up to cover his face when suddenly something cut past his ear. The fly was thrown back against the wall, twitching and flailing as if struggling to escape it. Panicked breaths rushed from Cranky’s lips as he looked up to see the monstrous insect pinned to the building by an arrow that had pierced it just below the head.

“Cranky are you OK?” Gold called hobbling up to the cowed donkey and reached out for him.

Cranky slapped away her hoof, and jumped back to his hooves glaring at her fiercely. “No thanks to you.”

“What! I just saved you or do you think the fly just shot itself with that arrow?” Gold snapped back fiercely pointed to the finally still giant insect hanging limply from the building. “And I told you not to run ahead like that.”

“I wouldn’t even have come down here if it wasn’t for you.” The donkey shot back jabbing a hoof at her chest.

“Enough!” Twilight cried managing to push herself between the pair. “Cranky please calm down. Gold don’t be so hard on him, he was just attacked.”

Cranky scoffed and rolled his eyes at the blind unicorn who was still looking in Gold’s direction a stern frown on her lips. Gold fought the urge to scream at Twilight for once again siding with the miserable old donkey. With a growl she turned and stormed around the building praying silently that it would give her a way out of this place and away from the mad ponies she was trapped with.

She had no such luck, the only way in or out of the cavern was through the tunnel they’d come through. The green glow came from a luminous moss that grew on the walls of the cavern in large patches. There was only a single door into the squat temple and it was stuck, taking their miraculously combined efforts to get it open and shut again.

“Why in the nine hells did we have close this thing, we’re just going to have to open it again.” Cranky complained slumping exhaustedly to the floor in the now dark antechamber. “And someone put on a damn light!”

“Well it is safer,” Twilight answered illuminating her horn for the donkey. “If something comes down the tunnel they won’t be able to trap us in here.”

“No, we had to do that ourselves.” Cranky grumbled.

Gold ignored the others and looked over the antechamber marveling at the. On the far side of the room a basin filled with water sat next to another door that was also engraved with Torag’s symbol. Gold moved to stand over the water, its fresh earthy smell filling her nostrils. The scent caused a memory in her mind.

She and Greenery sat at a table with several vials of water opened in front of them. Gold held a vial under her nose, one whose water smelled of earth. Greenery comment that they all smell different passing her a vial she said was made by a Sarenraian that smelled like dew covered grass drying in the sun. They laughed as they sniffed at the different vials and tried to guess which gods’ worshippers had made which water.

“Well are we going through or what?” Cranky’s voice snapped Gold out of her memory.

She hobbled back a few steps looking away from the donkey, a tight pain in her chest at the thought of her wife. Shaking her head Gold climbed onto a stone bench against the southern wall that she’d stumbled back into, and laid herself down. “N-no, not right now. My leg’s bothering me, I need to rest a second.”

Cranky’s perpetually flopped down ears twitched angrily as he frowned down at the yellow unicorn whom refused to make eye contact. He looked over at Twilight whose ears were peaked with concern, but flopped back unsure of what was happening. Moving over to Twilight Cranky muttered, “She’s just laying there now, maybe we should go on without her.” Cranky didn’t much like Twilight, the memories of what she’d put him through were still fresh, but the powerful wizard was still a better choice than a hobbled bowmare.

He might not have intended for Gold to hear him, but her keen ears swivelled in his direction the moment he began to speak. Jumping off the bench it was only a moment before she had him by the collar. “What! You wouldn’t even have made it this far without me! We come to a beautiful refuge of goodness in this dark place and your only thought is to abandon an injured pony! I’d ask how you could be so cold but I shouldn’t be surprised you’re not moved by this place. Being ashamed of one’s own faith is as bad as worshipping demons.”

“How am I not surprised to hear the wife of Green Garden lecturing someone on religion?” Twilight cut in as Cranky pushed Gold back from him, still stumbling in rage to find his words.

Gold turned on Twilight with a look so fierce it probably would have driven the other unicorn a step back if she wasn’t blind. “What in the nine hells is religion to a merchant like you?”

“I’m not just some merchant,” Twilight shot back not at all intimidated by her unseen foe. “I cared about doing the right thing to. But that was never enough for Green Garden, she said I should do more arguing again and again until she convinced me. I lost Cheerilee because of those stupid arguments.”

Twilight let slip a single sob as her voice broke at her lover’s name. Gold’s anger ebbed a little at the broken sound of Twilight’s voice and she couldn’t bring herself to throw her anger back at the blinded unicorn.

Cranky had no such compunction, “Is that why you started accusing innocent ponies and donkeys of worshipping demons?”

Twilight shrank back a step and looked in his direction, “Cranky I’m sorry I accused you the way I did. All my evidence pointed to you being one of them. I was trying to protect the city.”

“Well you failed and I’m stuck down here with a conspiracy nut and a thief!” He spat shooting an accusing look at Gold.

Gold’s snapped around on the donkey, “I am not a thief! What in all of Equestria would I ever want to steal from you Cranky?”

“Your wife’s bloody sword!” Cranky shot back and Gold started back in shock.

“What?” Gold asked confusion almost stealing her voice.

“Her mother’s sword,” Cranky scoffed and rolled his eyes as if it were obvious, “She sold it to so that you could become a mare.”

“You have this sword?” Gold asked suddenly calm. If Greenery really did sell such an heirloom for her sake then Gold would tolerate anything the donkey would throw at her to get it back.

“You know I don’t,” Cranky snapped back. “I know about it because Cherry Jubilee, who bought the damn thing, took out a loan from me to do it.”

Gold wondered for a moment why Cherry Jubilee would want Greenery’s sword as her family weren’t know crusaders. Gold was snapped out of her thoughts by the still furious look that cover Cranky’s face. Clearing her throat Gold tried to sound as apologetic as she could to the short tempered donkey. “Cranky I wasn’t trying to steal anything from you I was investigating…”

“What?” Cranky demanded frustrated when Gold suddenly trailed off. She’d turned back to look at Twilight who stood listening to the pair unaware that she had suddenly become the center of attention. Then Gold started to laugh, shaking her head she slumped to the ground and shook her head as both her companions demanded to know what was so funny.

“Don’t you get it?” She asked looking up with a smile, “We three really are the most unbelievable trio to get stuck down in this place together.” Gold continued to chuckle as the others continued to stare on in confused. Finally Gold cleared her throat and explained, “Cranky I did break into one of you warehouses, but not to steal anything. I did it because Greenery asked me to investigate the claims you were a consorting with demons, Twilight’s claims. We’ve all been at odds with each other of things we’ve done to each other without even knowing it.”

“That’s not funny,” Cranky roared even as Twilight let out a giggle of her own. “I didn’t do anything to either of you.”

“You haven’t been the easiest donkey to deal with since we woke up Cranky,” Twilight stepped in chiding the donkey a little. “Gold and I both apologized to you for what happened, but I guess I should apologize as well.” Twilight said and looking in Gold’s direction, “I’m sorry Gold, it’s not your fault what happened between Cheerilee and me. I shouldn’t have taken my anger out on you.”

“Greenery no more to blame,” Gold answered, then silently scolded herself for not just accepting the apology politely.

Twilight frowned at that and reluctantly admitted, “I guess not.”

“Well I’m not apologizing, I did nothing wrong!” Cranky shouted shooting them fierce glares. “I’m the able bodied one, I’m the one that set Gold’s leg, I’m not just some useless old noble!”

He waited for the conflict ready to cut down whatever the pair had to say against him, but rather than returning his angry look Gold just stared back softly and Twilight answered. “We never said we didn’t need you Cranky, we do. We all need each other.”

Cranky had no answer for that, and before he could scoff at the sentiment the door behind him that led deeper into the temple suddenly burst open crashing against the wall with a tremendous force. The bleach white skull of an earth pony hanging off its fleshless spine thrust itself through the door and turned to look at them with glowing red embers sunk deep into the shadowy sockets of its skull.

“What is?” Twilight’s voice quivered at the sound as she huddled near Gold.

“It’s a skeleton, we have to run.” Gold answered her eyes flashed from the skeleton to Cranky who stood seemingly frozen in fear as he stared at the undead. “Let’s go Cranky.”

“We can’t the door’s stuck!” Twilight cried back at Gold reminding her that she had insisted in shutting the heavy door that taken all three of them to move.

The pony skeleton stepped fully into the room displaying its body of fully naked ivory bones. It hissed in a hoarse voice somehow, despite lacking a single shred of flesh to act as vocal cords, and began a slow menacing advance on the trio.

“Gold use the damned holy water!” Cranky snapped as he seemed to be standing his ground between the mares and the undead.

Gold hesitated for only a moment as she looked from the donkey to the basin and then to the undead. Her horn flashed to life with magic and seized the water basin in its grip then flung it at the skeleton. With a crash the clay basin shattered on the bony undead and with a splash the water washed over its bones which bellow smoke as the water began eating away at it like acid.

Against all logic the skeleton continued to cry out, now in a long shrill agonizing wail. The skull, having received a full dose of the sanctified water quickly began to crumbled away. Seemingly all at once it was gone completely, and when it had the thing fell silent and the rest of its skeleton body collapsed lifeless to the stone floor.