Chapter One: Journey
The winds howled across the desert plains of the territories of the dragons, whipping around the sandy hills and inciting dust storms to form in its wake. It would entertain these storms for a while, adding to each of them simultaneously, a great monster of tentacles, reaching across the uninhabited terrain. The stream of air rushed on, until it was stopped, abruptly, by a great obstruction. The wind halted in its course, as though dazed, but barred its incorporeal fangs all the same at this new obstacle. The beast struck again, and again, but finding the offender only the least bit affected, turned its course and exited the scene, head held high in disdain.
Within the dome of light walked almost fifty equines. All of them wore gilded armor, around which a shimmering aura could be seen if one stared long enough. This effect gave the impression that if somepony were to reach out a hoof and touch the metal, it would pass through, as though the protective garb were a trick of the light. In their hooves, they all carried a weapon made from the same material as the armor; some handled spears, some bows and quivers, and still others preferred swords. Leading this disorganized band of soldiers were two ponies, both walking with a gait that implied power that remained leashed for the sake of their subordinates. The first was a pegasus, white fur visible from the eyeholes of his helmet. His weapon of choice, a tall spear which had seen a great many battles, was carried in his left hoof. In his right, a shield was held, although it dipped to the ground, as though the owner was not fond of using it. The demeanor of this pony was cautious, if not outright paranoid. He constantly surveyed the land and looked for the potential assailants who would surely be concealed by the tall sandy hills to their left and right.
The pony by his side turned to look at him and let out a short, feminine chuckle. Her mane, patterned as though it were a segment of some airborne rainbow, flowed out from behind her. She spoke to him with a knowing look in her eyes.
"Storm Shield, please, we are not at war with the dragons," she remarked. "Besides, why would the dragons hide from us? You know they prefer aerial combat to stealth."
Storm Shield continued to glare at the hills as if by sheer force of will, they would turn over their secrets. "Well, I certainly don't see them in the skies. If they are to mount an attack, it will be from behind these hills."
The pony turned her head to him, interested in the speculation. "You doubt the capabilities of our shielding spell?"
"Of course not, Princess," he replied. "I just doubt that our trade relations with the dragons will keep us safe from their greed." He shook his head. "I know it's unprofessional to say this, but how do you deal with those savages?"
The rainbow-maned pony thought his query over. Slowly, she replied, "Why do you call them savages?"
Storm Shield resisted the urge to snort at the ridiculousness of the question. "They ornament themselves with the bones of their fallen adversaries. Their children have been known to torch entire changeling colonies for the pleasure of hearing the screams of the dying. For Cruenta's sake, most of those children don't reach adulthood if there's another famine and the elders need to be fed!"
The princess did not take nearly as long this time to reply. With a whisper that was not unkind, she replied, "They may have said similar things about us ponies, back when we were called the protequi."
This gave the stallion pause. After a long silence had elapsed between the two, he changed the direction of the conversation. "You think that the dragons are misunderstood?"
The princess shook her head. "No. I think that, as a pony, I cannot know what living as a dragon would be like."
The soldier raised an eyebrow. "Aren't those the same?"
"Perhaps," shrugged the princess.
Storm Shield still did not appear entirely convinced. "They're still a dangerous and unpredictable race."
"Of course. But are we not too heavily focused on racial relations and forgetful of the benefits of not shying away from conflict? The dragons, for all their faults, are bold and courageous, and will fight for a cause they believe in to the last breath."
With a watchful eye turned again to the hills, Storm Shield muttered, "That's true, Princess, but it's not the least bit reassuring. I have a company of ponies who are trusting me to get through this journey safely."
The princess' tone softened. "Of course. No one blames you for being careful."
"You know," replied Storm Shield, in a tone that revealed he was unsure if this question would overstep some boundary of etiquette. "Philosophy won't help if it comes to a battle."
"True," she replied, a smile lifting the corner of her lips. "Then again, that's why I travel with a company of soldiers."
The stallion chuckled. "Touché." Then, with a glance at the horizon, he announced to her, "We're here."
"Indeed we are. Ready the troops to enter the city. And remember, we're trying to engage in a diplomatic mission. I don't want a repeat of Syllua."
Storm Shield shifted on his hooves uneasily. "That won't happen again, Celestia. I promise."
The legionnaire turn back to the procession and called out, "Avimat! Klavidis illut de negtidos!" The call was answered by a strong "Hae!" from the soldiers. The stallion returned to his royal companion with a smile, clearly enjoying the moment.
When the first dragon, Geborah, traveled from the forests of the South to the barren landscape in the East, he found that sand was the only substance with which he may build a home. With his monstrous strength, rumored to equal that of a hundred dragons after him, he brought up a mound of sand that touched the skies themselves. Breathing in gases from the pits of Beloah, he fashioned the mound into a pillar of glass. His claws hollowed the pillar, giving rude form to his home. This pillar stood against the windstorms of the desert, protected by the will of Geborah himself. The massive structure stood today as the center of Rekoah, the largest city in Drakegorah. After Geborah's passing, his children built their own homes around their father's, each one identical to the original. Geborah's pillar was transparent in hue, while all the others were stained black by the transgressions of his successors. Such was the sight that greeted the band of ponies upon entering Rekoah.
Celestia herself had visited this city on three separate occasions. The first was accomplished when she and her sister were no taller than the smallest of dragon youths, to beg for aid in the rebellion against Discord. Not wanting to meddle in the affairs of equines, the dragons declined their offer of friendship upon victory. The ruler of the nation at the time had laughed particularly deeply when Celestia made reference to the mystical Elements of Harmony. The second visit was undertaken by a haughty young mare, drunk on victory and newfound flight. This foolish alicorn mocked the leaders of the dragons for their cowardice. She made many enemies that day, but only a few could have seen the greater enemy growing in the place of her own sister. The third occasion was one of humbled tragedy, a plea to the goodwill of the dragons to give help to her nation, much of which had been destroyed by her sister's battle.
Celestia shook her head in solemn reverence for the dragons, thanking the god above they supported her.
Rekoah was not home to the multitude of noises that may have inhabited the busier cities of Equestria. The dragons, having been beaten down by the harsh winds of their dwelling lands, exercised speech only when necessary. The winds, then, flowed through the houses in stark contrast to their stronger, more violent cousins without the city. This was known as a Whistling, or vënshrøc, in Dragonian. This noise underlay every action of the dragons which was exerted in this city. The inhabitants regarded it as a continual flow, a model to live life by: consistent, and therefore unnoticed. But today the flow was interrupted by a sound paramount to the raising of the dead.
As Celestia's group proceeded through the spiraling art of the dragons, the noise brought to mind the first machine she had ever witnessed. It was a device to mass-produce paper, she remembered. A novelty, and had the inventor not met a sudden death, it surely would have changed the way of life in her country. She was a young foal then, but not young enough to escape Her being by her side. Celestia had tripped and fallen, and her metal crown had been relieved of its career on her head to be thrown within the contraption before her.
Yes, the horrible scraping, the cries of shock, the pounding of blood; it all resided within and without the Paper Producer 5000 and the Rekoah Arena.
Dragons, for all their discipline, were prone to turn to a primal savagery when the need had risen. The Arena served as the ultimate example of this socially-accepted hypocrisy. The scaled monsters, who tomorrow would be cool and dismissive of anything not worth their attention, were all unleashing an excited hollering of bloodlust. The sound boomed out of a crater near the center of the city, the floor beaten down after many battles between criminals and fearsome beasts of the surrounding lands. The crashing of scales upon smaller scales threatened to bring her back to the dread Producer, and so she shut it from her mind. Looking back towards her ponies, she could see many of them desperately wished to leave the city, but hid their emotions well beneath their wall of gold armor. She gave a reassuring flick of her tail, knowing no rationale could placate terror alone.
Two younger dragons stood guard outside the closest gate, wielding halberds of cold grey steel. Looking towards the advancing party, they regarded them with a sense of distaste. One made an odd motion with his tail, and the other disappeared into the shadow of the gate, lost in the horrors of the Arena. The single dragon remained, staring past the travelers as though they were nothing more than a desert mirage. Time passed, and, having heard the approach of some figure behind him, he moved to his right, revealing the scaled face young guard. He passed through the entrance and stood before the party, his face a mirror to that of his partner.
"Genoa desires to see the Princess. All other members of this party are to remain positioned as you are now." He had spoken Equestrian to them, instead of the native Dragonian. Celestia decided to take this as an extension of goodwill.
The spiraling staircase up to the royal balcony of the Arena had no torches to illuminate the grey stones. Celestia inwardly wondered how many times she had found herself walking a darkened staircase to some formidable power. Too many times, she decided. On all other occasions, she had used magic to light her path. Not now.
It was a pleasant change to be greeted by a well-lit area at the end of the damp passageway, she thought. After all, she did not need to prepare for a conflict here. This was friendly ground.
To her right and left were several armored guards, all staring in bored interest at the mauling beneath them. They held weapons, these halberds being gold instead of the grey her escort possessed. In front of her was a shadowy throne of sorts, on which was seated a monstrous figure.
The general misconception among her ponies was the King of All Dragons was a sort of brute, ugly in form, scarred from many savage battles and perpetually devouring the flesh of enemies. This was simply not the case. To say he was the opposite, or that he was a weak leader in stature and mind, would likewise be undeniably false. He was, in a way, the perfect leader for his people. Dragons would never follow a brutish king; they had already forcefully dethroned many of that type. What the dragons valued was ability. The king was physically fit, muscles proudly displayed, and possessed a strong mind that had won many strategic victories against the Changeling Colonies. He had a handsome face, not having been marred by any scar. In reality, he possessed no scar on any place on his body. He was pure muscle and wisdom, with the authority to exercise them as he wished.
Celestia stood beside him, only a fourth as tall as he. He seemed not to notice her, watching the battle below intently. The alicorn turned her head as well to find what he decided was more worth his interest.
There was a small dragon fighting for his life beneath her. His scales were a dark black, and he sported no wings. He appeared to be savagely beaten, and was audibly gasping for air. Discarded a few feet from him were a shield and a bent wooden sword. Glaring down at him was one of the monstrosities the desert sometimes dispelled into the civilized world, a beast with the body of a lion and the limbs of a snake. The beast snarled at him, and raised its mouth to expel a blast of acidic saliva. The dragon dodged the assault, or rather threw himself left and right, and cried out as his hind leg collapsed under him.
Celestia heard a quiet chuckle to her right. The King of All Dragons repositioned himself, humming quietly. Still watching the fight, he murmured so lowly that only she could hear, "If he survives this, you may have him."
She too did not turn from the struggle. "He will never defeat this beast in his weakened state."
The King tapped the arm of his throne with a claw. "That is not my concern." The throne was beautiful, really, a scorched and blackened masterpiece of metal.
Her voice betrayed no emotion. "But it is certainly mine."
The dragon had been cornered. He cowered in the shadow of the beast, who was smirking down at him. Moving too quickly for a normal pony to perceive the movement, a limb struck the dragon and threw him across the Arena. The crowd howled in delight as the monster roared and bounded toward the crumpled figure, batting it to and fro.
There was a deep chuckling to her right. "Do you think us savages, Celestia?"
She spoke as she must. "No."
The King opened his mouth to say more, but was interrupted by a whisper. He and the pony next to him stiffened, ears pricked and trying to decipher the words. The audience seemed unaffected, still pounding at their seats as they saw the beast stand over the heap, serpentine paw raised over it as though intending to crush the dragon into the dust. The whisper became more insistent, and suddenly the fleshy pile shifted, shifted when no movement should have been possible, and gently tapped the paw away.
The howling of the crowd was replaced by the cries of agony coming from the creature. All were silent as they saw it bound away, raising a paw and bawling in horror. As it passed beneath the balcony, Celestia smiled to herself as she saw the quick thinking of the dragon. It had made the beast touch a smoldering crater of its own discarded saliva.
The pile was standing. It was now less of a mass and more of a small dragon again. It was shaking, and as it shook harder the beast stopped in its journey around the arena. It yipped now both from pain and confusion as it was lifted from the ground. Celestia stared at the dragon, heart beating faster and faster as a black aura engulfed his form, his eyes losing their whiteness and becoming pure shadow.
The princess saw something move in the corner of her eye, and turned to look at Genoa for the first time in their meeting. He was still. Perhaps it had been nothing. She looked again at the black dragon, but struggled to retain a gasp as she saw him sprawled on the ground, the beast's paw crushing him beneath it. The crowd was just as loud as it had been but a minute before; the paw the manticore utilized was its lame one, the one with which it was tricked into stepping on the acid. It was as though nothing she had seen in the moments beforehand had occurred at all.
The dragon gave out a little cry as its rib-cage cracked beneath the pressure. She may not have known what had occurred, but she understood the child's safety to be her priority.
"Stop this," she murmured.
Genoa's voice was deathly serious. "And leave the crowd wishing for blood?"
Celestia had made many hard decisions in her time. As much as she had tried to ensure peace and security for the citizens of her nation, war could never be fought without loss. But above sacrifice was the one choice that stood above all the rest, the one that for a few hundred years had defined her as a violent warrior-queen. What she said to Genoa next would most likely have lasting impacts on her life that she could not foresee.
She nodded slightly. "Then give them blood."
The King smiled in understanding. He raised a clawed fist and let out a deep growl, one that silenced the audience and caused even the beast to look his way. He then made an odd motion with his claws, and the beast howled in delight, and the bones of the light dragon cracked again. His cries were drowned out by the roar of the audience. Celestia turned and walked down the dark passageway. No one followed her.
Green magic pooled around Velvet Heart's horn and fell down onto the broken body below her, lazily moving over the shattered scales. In all the places it touched, the body seemed to inflate. Muscles were reconnected; organs were mended; bones came back into their correct alignment. The mare was standing next to the bed of her patient, concentrating on her healing magic and keenly aware Celestia was seated only a few feet away. She opened an eye to check if the scales under her had moved. The dragon was still unconscious, and had not stirred in the three days of their trip back to Canterlot.
Celestia smiled apologetically to the purple unicorn, head ducked to avoid touching the low roof of the tent. "Thank you, Velvet. I know I asked much of you to stay by his side a little later than you may have liked."
The mare stifled a yawn and smiled back at her. "I can never refuse to help a pony in need. Besides, they'd revoke my license if I went back to Canterlot and told them I couldn't fix this poor dragon. Do you think you could—?"
She was interrupted by a feeble coughing beneath her. She gasped in shock, temporarily losing control of her magic. The green aura dissipated, revealing the shivering form of the dragon. Velvet squeaked and readied her healing magic again. She paused when she felt a hoof on her shoulder. The princess walked towards the child, and gingerly laid down next to him. Gently wrapping her wings around him, she pulled him into her breast and whispered comfortingly into his ear. Her horn alit with yellow magic, which moved quickly over his body. Feeling her warmth, the dragon relaxed, breathing sharply. Celestia's magic continued to soothe him, pulling him into a deeper sleep.
She leaned her mouth next to his ear and whispered a simple question. "Who are you, my little dragon?"
In response, lighter than a murmur and with the assurance that only exhaustion can give, he replied. "I am Remus."
Chapter Two: Dark
Remus' eyes shot open as he drew in a deep breath. Uncurling himself, he blinked rapidly and flexed his legs. He was in a dark room, roughly three feet of space to his left and right, with no discernible source of light. The floor felt like damp stone, and fresh air appeared to be entering from an invisible passageway directly in front of him.
Drawing himself up, he reached out a reptilian claw and made a series of taps on the rock beneath him, the sound echoing in all directions. He pricked his ears to listen as it bounced from wall to wall. As he had suspected, it sounded as though there was a passageway in front of him. Another, wider passage opened up behind, and there may have been a small opening in the rock to his left, too small for him to crawl through.
He waited for a moment before he heard a resounding series of taps from the passage behind him. He snorted in amusement. Of course Copper Tail would lead them away from the entrance. He padded down the tunnel, looking into the shadows for any sign of his friends. As he walked, the air before him seemed to grow paler. He cocked his head but continued walking, occasionally stumbling in the dark. Perhaps this was a natural light, or a wyrrlight produced by one of his friends. He stopped and tapped the ground again.
This time, the response was startlingly close, if a little muffled. He closed his eyes and concentrated, lifting a claw and scraping it along the wall to his left. There was a small crevasse to his right, where the floor and the wall met. He moved over the crack, poking his snout through the rocks. He murmured quietly, "June?"
He felt a hoof press lightly against his nose. "Unfortunately!"
He growled quietly, scrunching his snout. "Anyone else?"
He could feel the air move beneath him, implying she nodded. "Copper and Gemy."
There was a quiet hello from the first invisible pony and a meep of protest from the second. Remus sighed, not sure if he should be amused or exasperated. "Do you guys know a way to get to my tunnel?"
Gem decided to speak out this time. "We're found a few passageways leading upwards, but all dead ended. We probably missed a bunch, though. We were mostly focused on figuring out what Celestia wants us to do here."
Remus nodded to himself. "If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say we either need to find our way out of here, fight something, or solve some problem."
He felt a hoof poke his nose again, and he jerked back. "Please stop doing that."
"Sorry!" called June.
The dragon huffed. "I'll keep going this way. Try to find a way up to my level, I suppose. Copper, can you generate a wyrrlight?"
There was a small voice coming from the crack. "I already did." The darkness around him light up three times in rapid succession, indicating the presence of the floating orb of light.
Remus nodded. "Alright. See you soon." He paused, hearing his friends' hoofsteps fade out below him. He sighed, pulling himself close to the wall and seating himself in the darkness. He fanned out his ears and listened.
There was a stream of water cutting through the rock some distance away. He tried to lose himself in the quick lapping of the water to the stone. He felt himself sink down, letting his mental guard down and simply concentrating on the noise. Was there a splash in the stream? It didn't matter. He was almost there.
Vertigo overtook him as he began to fall into another plane. He cracked an eye and saw red-tinged blackness on all sides. He was falling faster now. It was a shame he had no wings, really. Perhaps then he could try to fly and miss the inexorable crash into the looming ground below. He looked down, and there is was, death. The blood-red grass of an infinitely expansive hill was rushing to meet him. He closed his eye again right before he hit.
Gasping for breath, Remus pulled himself up off the ground. He must have fallen over during his experience. He blinked rapidly, trying to bring his old world into focus. He suppressed a gasp of shock as he realized the entire passageway had been made visible to him. The rocky walls and smooth floor were all coated with a redness reminiscent of the world he had just seen. He stood up, looking down the path with his newfound vision, and grimaced. About thirty feet from him, there was a sheer drop into the stream he had been listening to. If the dragon had continued in the dark, he would have surely fallen and frozen in the water.
I'm sorry about that, the Voice said.
He paused, still not used to speaking to himself. Sorry for what?
The Voice answered him in a whispery tone, the same way all his or her words sounded, as though he came from far away and almost lost its voice. I nearly allowed you to fall down that hole. That was bad of me. I must learn to speak to you whenever I want… Its words trailed off at the end.
Remus twitched his tail decisively. We can discuss our connection later. Can you help me get to the level below me?
There was silence for so long that Remus was tempted to ask if his Voice had disappeared. Before he could, it responded. Turn around and walk until you come to a divergence in the path. Take it. Ignore the next divergence. I will tell you to stop. When I do, there will be a hole above you. Jump into you. The path will slope downwards and you will meet your friends after a while.
Those are a lot of instructions, Remus commented.
It is the most efficient means of travel that I can foresee. Hurry now, you may miss your friends.
Remus followed the Voice's instruction as well as he could. Traveling was much easier with this altered vision, he discovered. Before, when he had practiced this alone in his room, he had simply found it added an eerie effect to the surroundings. Now it served some useful purpose. Good.
As he plodded along the path, he began to wonder where he was. Theoretically, he had been teleported here by Princess Celestia, along with his classmates. Maybe they were below Canterlot. If that were the case, then there should definitely have been an exit to the lower levels they were in and into the upper levels, where the precious jems were mined. But they might have been anywhere in Equestria; nothing indicated these caverns had even been explored by ponykind.
Remus sighed. This was an interesting life. To be honest, neither he nor any of his friend understood what they were doing here, or even what the purpose of Celestia's school was. Supposedly, he, June, Jem, and Copper possessed remarkably powerful magical abilities, which Celestia wanted to train for whatever reason. Remus figured that his abnormality was his heightened abilities in combat. As he unconsciously followed the instructions of the Voice, he absorbed himself with something he had worked through his mind for a long while.
During class one day, he had seen Copper fiddling with something in his desk. He had stared for a while, and when Copper was done with whatever he had played with, he put it inside his desk and refocused on Celestia's lesson on basic Algebra. Remus' dragon heritage gave him naturally increased perception, and he could see the thing clearly in the shadows. It looked like a block of metal, intricately compressed together. Remus had no idea what the thing was, and Copper didn't seem to have any real magical ability. He was the least talkative of all his friends, as well as the smallest. The only time he had ever seen the earth pony smile was when he was alone in his room, writing something down on his desk.
Usually, he went on to wonder about what the others could be hiding about themselves, but for whatever reason, his mind turned to the voice in his head. He knew where and when the voice had come to him; every detail of that conversation was inscribed in his memory, solid as stone. That was the nature of discovering something that would change your life beyond repair, he supposed.
But what was the Voice? Did it have a name? Was it some sort of ghost? They had only talked a few times before; the second time was when he had lost himself in that other plane, coming out the other side and seeing everything in this strange red-vision.
Stop. There is something approaching you, his mysterious guide murmured.
Remus ceased all movement at once, taking control of his breathing. Now that he had stopped, he could hear something moving through the tunnel. It seemed huge, brushing against the walls of rock with a metallic scraping. He could hear heavy breathing from far off, punctuating the tomb-like silence of the cavern tunnel. There was a bend a few feet off from him, obscuring whatever was on the other side.
Do not attempt to retreat. The creature is too large to slip past.
Remus grit his teeth. Is confrontation inevitable?
The Voice didn't reply. Remus wasn't sure if this meant he had asked a dumb question, or if it was mulling over its options. Regardless, he decided to draw his weapon if the creature came a few yards closer. Now that his internal conversation had been quieted, he could hear the thing easily. It was enormous, filling the entire tunnel with its form. It was moving relatively fast, as though it were moving somewhere with a purpose. It seemed unencumbered with the usual complication of moving through total darkness, not colliding with any of the walls at any time. Still, there was that constant sound that reached him, slightly louder than the breathing of the beast. It seemed like something of its body was protruding and constantly scraping against the rock. A claw, maybe?
The young dragon calculated the situation. Taking into account the speed of the creature and the distance away it seemed to be, the thing would be on top of him in about thirty seconds. A few more moments, and Remus would reach out a claw and pull his weapon from the Magis. Hopefully, it would be effective enough to stop the thing.
Walk backwards, please.
Remus didn't even bother to second-guess the command, complying and pacing back into the tunnel, never taking eyes off the bend.
Do you trust me?
He paused. He had no reason to mistrust this spirit. It had never done him any harm in any of his encounters. But still, the pure fact that he had no idea what this thing was or what it wanted unsettled him.
No.
The spirit didn't hesitate to answer. Then you will trust in your weapon as you fight this beast, I hope.
The creature was almost around the corner, he realized. He readied his claw, bracing his body on the rock floor. Then the thing barreled around the corner.
Looking back, Remus would remember the distinct thoughts going through his head as he saw the thing. They were, "Oh dear Membrana." The word beast could not adequately describe this monstrosity, so horrible were its features. It was a mass of rotten muscle, standing on two legs and snorting hard through its nostrils. The arms hung limp at its sides, swaying in the momentum of its movement. The feet were hooves, the legs obscured by a mass of black, putrid smelling fur. The chest was the color of a deer's, dark brown and scarred in multiple places. The sounds he had heard were from the tops of its antlers dragging against the roof. Its face was the worst of all its parts, though. It had the extended snout of a horse, gashes running over the nose. The skin on the face seemed directly attached to the bone beneath, yellowed and emaciated. Lacerations ran all over its body, and the was so much loose skin on its face, one might confuse the separate sections for bandages, hanging off the skull. It turned to him, drenched in the red of his new vision, eyes flashing horribly, and screamed.
Remus was hit by a wave of terror. This was when he discovered the acute difference between being afraid and being terrorized. This thing was not merely something that could tear him to pieces. This was an affront against the inherent goodness of being alive. This was an affront against all goodness itself.
Please, I must help you!
Remus did not have marvel at this being the first time emotion had been present in his spirit's voice. He simply cried out as the beast charged at him, "Take it!"
He immediately felt his body soften. He was becoming less real, more like smoke. His thoughts were abstract, coming and going as they pleased and never focusing on one thing. He had the feeling he was flying through the air, and then he was standing again, standing right next to the edge of a great fall. He was gasping in and out, clutching his chest and taking in great gulps of air. Between breaths, he murmured, "What did you do?"
The spirit's voice was gentle, if detached from emotion. I transferred your body into a non-physical state. I then piloted you towards your intended destination.
Remus had no idea what the Voice had just said. He was content to merely lay his body back against the wall of the tunnel opening and take in his experience. The horror was gone. He had escaped. And best yet, there was fresh air coming from the exit right next to him. This whole experience was nearly over.
After several long moments, he posed his next question, thinking it this time. Do… do you have a name?
The voice heard him. I see no use for one. Do you?
Remus supposed there wasn't, but he thought about it anyways. There's an old story about a griffon named Viscor who talked to ghosts. He talked to them so many times he became one and joined Aetatu in the Underworld.
He giggled to himself, almost out of his mind. Am I going to be a ghost soon?
The spirit did not answer his question. Would you like me to be named Viscor?
Remus smiled, closing his eyes. Yeah… that's good.
He fell asleep.
Remus awoke to the sound of a permanent marker being drawn on his scales. His eyes shot open as he stared at the now-immobile Juniper Heart, who stared back with a marker touching his forehead. He was still leaning against the rock wall, at what he now realized was a dangerously close distance to the drop to his right.
Very slowly, he said to his guilty companion, "You brought a marker."
June's face flushed. At that moment, Gem Shine burst out laughing, falling to the ground and struggling to contain himself. The earth pony above him took the moment's distraction to tuck the marker in her mane and jump back from him. Gem was at the point of tears now, rolling on the cavern floor. He managed to gasp out before another fit of giggling consumed him, "I got it from the Magis. Awesome, right?"
In his rolling, he bumped into a smaller figure, obscured by the dark, who squeaked a little and stepped forward indignantly. "It's too bad you brought one that matches the color of Remus' scales, though," Copper commented quietly.
Gem froze, jumping up and examining Remus thoroughly. "What? You can't see anything! Argh!" He throw himself on the ground in frustration.
Remus made eye-contact with Copper Tail, and it was clear they were both remarkably confused about their teammates' priorities. But before the dragon could say anything, June chuckled darkly.
"Just you wait, Remus. All we've lost is time. As you get luckier, we get smarter. One day, we'll get you," she said, pointing at him with the marker for emphasis. "And we'll get you good."
She and Gem shared a grin before bursting into laughter. Remus shook his head, waiting for them to clam down. As he did, he turned his body and glanced to his right to see if he could see anything of interest over the drop. There seemed like there was a light at the bottom of the cliff, shimmering faintly, like firelight. The walls were sheer, with the exception of another entrance into a cave on the other side, a little closer to the light. The distance between the two cavern entrances was about twenty feet.
As he was observing this, he felt a hoof tap the base of his tail with a playful, "Boop!" He was reminded of his proximity to the edge, and turned around with a low growl. "June, I swear to Membrana, if you get me killed by the end of this, I'll end you."
The pony in question was crouched low to the ground, staring at him intently as she slinked back into the shadows. Her hoof flashed out once more, striking Copper lightly on the side. The earth pony jumped and squeaked again before settling back into his usual serious composure.
Gem was standing beside him, having recovered from his hysterics. For a moment, Remus felt a twinge of camaraderie for him. He had only known these three ponies for a month now, and none of them were even his species. But there was some strange feeling inside him, the same that had been plucked when he saw the monster in the tunnel, that told him these were family to him.
He focused back on reality to find Gem speaking loud enough for everyone to head.
"… no life in the tunnels, so if we're going to fight something, it'll probably be down there. We need to get closer. None of us can fly to the ledge over there, so I can try to levitate you all, but that'll be exhausting."
June hummed. "I might have a way across."
The air was suddenly filled with an electric sensation. Remus felt his breath catch in his lungs before things almost returned to normal. He looked up to find the brownish-orange earth pony hovering an inch above the ground. Gem's mouth as agape, and Copper looked on with a raised eyebrow. June giggled at the attention, brushing a lock of her red mane out of her eyes.
"Just trust me," she said.
As soon as these words left her lips, Remus felt a sense of weightlessness as he and the other two ponies beside him were lifted into the air. June's long mane was flowing up above her as she flashed them a comforting smile. Then they all began to move across the chasm and towards the ledge.
Remus wasn't quite sure what to make of the situation. If he had to guess, this might have been June displaying her abnormality. June was an earth pony, so maybe she could use spells like she was a unicorn. But even then, it takes an immense amount of energy for a single unicorn to levitate a body; June was levitating three different ones with the most at-peace look on her face he had ever seen a pony display.
His claws touched the edge lightly, and he and his friends all shared a look of confusion. June herself pointed a hoof at the scene playing out below them. "Oh, what's that?"
All of them looked over the edge to be met with an even greater confusion. Separated from them by a thick darkness, torchlight illuminated a bizarre metal contraption, surrounded by smaller machines that scurried around it like ants. The bigger machine stood on four thin metal legs. The head of the machine was nestled at the intersection of the tops of the legs, a sort of mass of complex parts and a core of flashing magic light. The metal was all a dull gray, and the things was moving perpetually, the head bouncing up and down.
The smaller creatures were harder to see, but they could make out a few details. Remus had originally likened them to ants, but he saw now that they looked more like spiders. They had tiny legs at their sides that he used to run across the floor, and a hunk of carved magic crystal as a body. They looked like they had a single, huge hole in their front, which must have served as an eye. These minions, which numbered maybe thirty, were pushing large boulders towards the larger machine. As they watched, it was presented with a rock and raised itself up. With a loud crack, the boulder was sliced in half with a swipe of its leg, revealing a shining blue gem. The minions moved the smaller rock to a pile of its own kind next to a wall.
Gem was already calculating the encounter that would occur. "Alright, let's see. My guess is that we'll have to disable that thing down there. First things first, we need to get down there. Eh, June, if we jump, could you lessen the impact of the fall?"
June nodded. "Yeppers."
Gem turned to Copper Tail. "Copper, you're good with machines. Any advice?"
Remus narrowed his eyes a tiny bit. Copper was good with machines? That might be useful information.
Their tiny friend, however, didn't reply immediately. He stared at the ground with an odd expression before Gem lightly tapped his shoulder. He looked up with a passing emotion on his face, one that looked like fear, before he saw his friends waiting expectantly.
"Um, try taking it out by the joints in its legs. Where they meet the head. That should make it immobile."
Gem nodded. "Alright! Remus, can you handle that?"
It was Remus' turn to nod. "I can get a good shot in if I take it from midair. After that, I may need help getting it into a position to take out the other three legs."
Gem then turned to the earth pony next to him and whispered something in his ear. Copper nodded. Remus was naturally curious, but figured Gem was giving his friend a small pep talk. Gem had always seemed to be like Copper's older brother, concerned for his well-being and constantly making sure he was out of danger. Come to think of it, Remus mused, he didn't know for certain if the two were brothers or not.
As Gem turned back towards him, Remus prepared to pull his bow from the Magis. It was always a confusing experience for him. He and his classmates had only learned how to do this a week ago, and so he had yet to attain the proficiency Celestia claimed came with accessing the Magis many times.
The dragon breathed out a small sigh, extended his claw, and made a strange motion with the fingers. This motion wasn't exactly necessary, but it eased the concentration that his equine friends were required to expend, since the physical motion bypassed a few minutes of mediation. He closed his eyes and felt the ring of magic in front of the palm of his claw heating his scales, and he pushed forward. His fingertips entered the Magis easily, but quickly gained a sense of abstractness. This feeling was not unlike the one he experienced when Viscor had helped him escape the monster, he realized. He would need to ask about it later. His whole claw was inside at this point, and he closed his fingers around the limb of his bow. He smiled and retracted his arm, the circle expanding to accommodate for the size of the item being retrieved.
He opened his eyes to find an ice-blue colored bow in his hands. The string connecting the upper and lower limb was so thin, it was almost invisible. The ends of the limbs protruded into what looked like disoriented spikes, the metal cool to the touch. There were no arrows with him, but Remus knew the magic of the bow would supply all he needed. He turned to his compatriots and smiled grimly. "Alright. We ready?"
June nodded and Gem flashed a grin. They were all excited about taking down their first monster together. Gem motioned with a flick of his head that they should move closer to the edge. They crept forward, Copper keeping to the back of the group. As soon as he could make out the finer details of the metal beast fifty feet below, he stood on his hind legs as raised his bow into the air.
He breathed out a low sigh and closed his eyes tightly, instinctually moving his head into position. In a moment, he felt his heart skip a beat and resume its course. He opened his eyes to find the world again bathed in red, slowly dimming and returning to its natural hues. More than this, though, he felt a presence next to him, one which he knew would be invisible if he turned his head to look. The shadow laid an arm on top of his, grasping the bow and moving it into position. As he did, the bow became warm, and the shimmering outline of an arrow formed between the string and the metal. It was as though he were two dragons, arming the magic How with sharing strength and mind. He hummed slightly as he, June, Gem and Copper jumped from the ledge.
His clawed feet skated the smooth wall of rock as he loosed his shot, the arrow of light flying straight through the air and hitting its mark. The machine squealed, metal colliding with metal as one of its legs fell from its body. The tripod immediately corrected its course, swinging towards its attackers. But by this time, the four had already hid themselves behind a large boulder. Grinding its internal mechanisms in frustration, it slammed its front two legs into the ground, its head rotating so the bottom was facing the boulder. A bright light began to form at the conic tip of the head, heat emanating from the area.
Remus poked his head out just in time to have his head almost obliterated. From the tripod came a blast of pure energy that cut clear through the rock, leaving the wall in front of them smoldering and with a shadowy new tunnel. Gem was panicking and trying to put out the bit of his own mane that had caught fire. June was looking wide-eyed at him.
Copper, oddly, seemed unfazed. "We should take out the laser," he said in a deadpan.
Gem had recovered from his near-death and was motioning them lower to the ground. "Yeah, let's do that. Um, June, take out its legs. Remus, try to shoot the cannon or something. Copper and I will try to disable those spider robots."
Remus nodded. He felt June move next to him, and Copper and Gem tensing on the other side. They could here the dim noises of the machine turning itself to search for them. They heard Gem inhale and shout, "Go!" before they all erupted from their cover and sprinted away from each other. Remus was briefly aware of June disappearing from his side, but pushed it to the back of his mind as he drew his bow. He couldn't feel Viscor's presence, but he knew he couldn't waste the time to contact him in the middle of combat. Already, the tripod was rotating towards him, titling its head towards him. Remus gritted his teeth and prepared to dodge the blast, drawing back the string of his bow while breaking for the cover of more rubble. He heard a sucking sound and then a great boom as white energy shot behind him. It followed him for a few seconds, carving a long hole into the wall and coming dangerously close to him before fizzling out.
