Without Question

Without Question

Chapter Fourteen – Insanity’s Embrace

“Light up a few more torches,” Grimsoul ordered.

Though the task force had initially crafted torches out of the campfires at the cave’s entrance, they were more than well-prepared.  Several Changelings carried enough food and torch-crafting material to allow them to survive comfortably in the cave for days.  But they were not here to relax in a cave; they were here to hunt.

Just as the old torches began to die, flint struck flint and new torches lit up throughout the corridors.  The old, smoking torches were tossed aside and new ones were passed around to those who needed them.

“Keep moving.  We cannot afford to waste time,” Grimsoul shouted to the four hundred soldiers behind him.

The horribly shaken Widow Battalion was becoming increasingly exhausted by the minute.  To make matters worse, many were passing out and had to be carried by others.  The light emanating from the horns of the unicorns was fading slowly and would not last much longer.  The thick, moist darkness of the catacombs surrounded the ponies like a black, creeping wall.  The only sounds that could be heard were the light shuffling of hooves and a few drops of water that fell from the ceiling.

“Bon-Bon, we’re so tired…can we please stop for just a moment to catch our breaths?” a young earth pony panted from behind the Battalion’s leader.

Bon-Bon stopped for a moment and raised a hoof so that the others halted as well.  She turned to face them.

“I know you are all worn out from this, and I know you all wish to rest.  But we can’t just stop now!  The only light we have left is fading with each second, and those filthy Changelings could catch up to us at any moment!”

An orange pegasus in the middle of the group spoke up.

“What about the dragon?  Can’t he light up the corridors with his flame?”

Bon-Bon froze.  When was the last time she saw Typhoon?  She had lost track of everypony when they retreated into the cave.  Where could he be?

Drip…drip…drip…drip…

The small blue and grey dragon’s eyes opened slowly.  His vision was blurred and he felt water drops gently splattering on his forehead.  Wiping the moisture away, he tried to stand up, but the soreness of his legs forced him onto his knees instead.

What happened?  The last thing he remembered was stopping to look at the ceiling, and then realizing he’d been separated from the group.  He must’ve gone searching for them and became lost in the process.  Typhoon rubbed his eyes and lightly blew flame from his mouth, just enough to see a few feet around himself.  To his shocked surprise, the ground was covered with ancient, decomposing bones.  He fell onto his back in fear and flailed his arms upon realizing he was now lying atop more bones.

With what little strength he had left, the little dragon forced himself onto his feet and ran through the darkness.  The pitch black seemed to laugh at him, excitedly whispering at how pathetic he looked.

“Bon-Bon!  BON-BON!  Somepony!  Anypony!  Please, help me!” he screamed as he sprinted madly into the endless abyss.

The bones clacked and snapped with every step the dragon took.  This only served to further frustrate Typhoon.  Small, dim flames from his panting offered no aid in lighting his way.

“HELP!  SOMEPONY!  HEL--!”

Typhoon’s face was met with a sudden, crushing pain as it made contact with a huge coffin.  As the small dragon fell onto his back for a second time, he looked up in horror at the wobbling stone encasement above him.  The massive lid of the coffin slid off, revealing the equally massive skeleton of a Changeling Colossus within.  The skeleton, which stood on its hind legs and had its forelegs crossed over its chest, wobbled with the coffin.  Typhoon was too sore to move; all he could do was stare in terror as the skeleton fell towards him.  He closed his eyes, awaiting the blow that would end his life.

Death was not so kind to the small dragon.  As the bones crashed down around him, he didn’t feel a thing.  He slowly opened his eyes.  The rib cage of the Colossus had trapped him.

“Wha…no…no no no!  NO!  I’LL DIE IN HERE!  HELP!  HELP ME!” he shouted, but the catacombs would have no mercy on him.  Little did he know, his greatest enemy would be himself…

“Bon-Bon, where is Typhoon?” a small unicorn asked Widow Battalion’s leader.

Bon-Bon was still trying to sort things out in her head, but it she was so tired and hungry that her memory was blurry.  She could’ve sworn that he had been right next to her the whole time.  Then again, she couldn’t recall the last time she’d heard him speak.

“I…can’t remember,” the puzzled mare replied.

“What do you mean you can’t remember?” another pony inquired.

Bon-Bon pressed her hooves against her temples.

“I can’t remember!  Okay?  I just can’t!” she shouted, shutting her eyes as a tear formed.

“Well…we have to go back for him, right?” the pony pressed.

Bon-Bon felt horrible.  She couldn’t believe she’d lost Typhoon in the catacombs.  Her love for him was second only to her love for Lyra.  Typhoon was like family to Bon-Bon, and it crushed her to know that everything she loved was disappearing before her eyes.  But she couldn’t go looking for him; that would put everypony else at risk.  She kept trying to think of a way to fix the situation, but every idea held the risk of death or becoming lost as well.

“N…no…” Bon-Bon mumbled as she covered her eyes, “We can’t just stop.  It would put all of our lives at stake and I can’t take that risk…”

“Typhoon would try to find you if you were lost!” an earth pony shouted.

Bon-Bon opened her eyes, now flaring with anger as she rushed towards the earth pony that sent further guilt her way.  Pressing her forehead to his, she yelled and glared into his eyes.

“TYPHOON ISN’T HERE!  And don’t tell me what he would do!  I KNOW he would try to find me!  But he thinks with his heart, not his brain!  That’s why he’s better than me!  That’s why he’d put you all at risk just to find me!  If you want to live on and honor his memory, then follow me!  Searching for him and dwelling on his loss will only make this harder than it already is!”

The earth pony gulped and slowly back away.  The other ponies nearby also backed away a bit.  Bon-Bon simply ran a hoof through her mane and continued walking deeper into the cave, which was beginning to lead upward slightly.  The ponies of Widow Battalion traded glances with each other before concluding that it would be best if they did as Bon-Bon said.  They walked on.

Typhoon lay on his back, staring up at the yellow-brown spine of his prison.  He was so hungry, so thirsty.  His body still ached and his face felt the worst.  He couldn’t scream for help anymore; his throat was just as sore as his body.  All Typhoon could do was think.

Thinking was proving to be a dangerous thing.  It was completely silent and the only light was the dim glow of Typhoon’s blue eyes, the reach of which only illuminated a small part of his cage.  Every so often, the small dragon would twitch, thinking he’d heard something.  But there was nothing there.  How long had he been trapped?  Minutes?  Hours?  He couldn’t even make a guess.

“Typhoon…”

The dragon’s ears perked up a bit, but he remained as he was.

“Typhoon…”

There it was again.

“They’re laughing at you, Typhoon…”

At this, the dragon groggily sat up and cautiously looked around.  Nothing to be seen.

“They’re laughing at how pathetic you are…”

“Who’s there?  Show yourself!” Typhoon rasped.

“Look at you…can you blame them...?”

Typhoon frowned, irritated at these insults.

“Shut up!  I’m not pathetic, and no one is laughing at me!”

“You let her die, you know…”

“Wha…what?  Let who die?”

“You knew it was dangerous…but you didn’t care…what kind of friend are you…?”

“Huh…?  Wait…how do you know about Lyra?!” Typhoon asked with confusion in his crackling voice.

“You could’ve stopped all this…but you didn’t…selfish little waste of life…”

“Stopped what?  Who are you?!”

“She could’ve gone home and lived happily with her wife…but you took that all away...didn’t you…?”

“Shut up, already!  You don’t know anything!” Typhoon managed to shout, but he quickly clutched his burning throat.

“They all know it, too…that’s why they abandoned you…”

“No one abandoned me!  I’m just lost!”

“Oh…you would love to believe that...wouldn’t you…?”

“I believe it because it’s true!”

“They left your worthless carcass here to rot…even the maggots wouldn’t touch filth like you…”

“Go away!  They’ll come for me, I know they will!”

“Come for you…?  They hate you, Typhoon…they hate you with every fiber of their being…”

“No…no they don’t!” Typhoon tried to shout as his eyes began to water, “They don’t hate me…they don’t…”

“You killed her…not the Changelings…you…”

“No…I…no…”

“Disgusting worm…it’s all your fault…”

“…”

“Oh…nothing more to say…?  You can’t even defend yourself…pathetic…this is why they are laughing…”

Typhoon stared blankly into the darkness.  Tears gently fell from his eyes.  With a quiet sniffle, he closed his eyes for a moment.  When he opened them, his heart nearly exploded.

Bon-Bon was standing about a dozen feet from the rib cage.

“B-b-Bon-Bon…” Typhoon whimpered as he crawled over to the side of the cage.

Her kind eyes immediately flashed to a glare, one with such hate that Typhoon could feel it from where he was.

“Bon-Bon, please…help me…” he pleaded with tears streaming down his face.

The mare gave an ugly frown and intensified the fury in her eyes.

“Help you?  Like you helped Lyra?  No.  I don’t think you deserve help for what you’ve done…” she growled as she slowly backed into the shadows, still glaring at the small dragon until she disappeared.

Typhoon was on the verge of crying.  He turned around only to see Princess Celestia looking down at him.  He looked up at her, expecting to see the matriarchal love that only a benevolent goddess such as herself could give.  But he was met with a sorrowful gaze, the likes of which he’d never seen.

“I’m so disappointed in you, Typhoon…so disappointed…” she whispered before fading away.

“B-but…I…” he stammered and shut his eyes tightly, “…I’m so sorry…I never meant to—“

“To what?”

Typhoon opened his eyes upon hearing a familiar voice.  In front of him stood his former closest friend.

“Never meant to what?” Lyra asked with an aggravated tone.

“Lyra?!  Oh thank goodness!  I th—”

“ANSWER ME!” the unicorn leaned down and screamed at the dragon.

“L-Lyra!  Please!  I’m sorry for leaving you!  I—!”

“‘Sorry’?” Lyra chuckled, “‘Sorry’ doesn’t exactly do much at this point.  ‘Sorry’ doesn’t mean a damned thing.  ‘Sorry’ won’t bring me back or correct the hell you’ve put us all through.”

“Lyra!  Please!” Typhoon was openly crying now and the tears flowed.

“I can’t believe I thought of you as a friend…” Lyra whispered and closed her eyes.  A dark silhouette slowly emerged from the shadows and stood behind Lyra.

“Lyra!  Turn around!” Typhoon screamed, fighting the pain of his burning throat.

Lyra remained still as two of the silhouette’s hands gently held the unicorn’s head, one hand on each side.  With a loud, violent twist, the hands snapped her neck and she fell limply to the ground.

“LYRAAA!” Typhoon screamed hysterically, trying to force his claws through the ribs to reach her.

The dark silhouette grabbed her hind legs and began to slowly drag her into the darkness.  Then, she faded away.  The small dragon sat with his mouth agape, eyes now dry from all of the crying.  The immense hunger, thirst, and exhaustion he felt were nothing compared to how shattered his heart now was.  He collapsed to the floor and stared into the pitch black abyss.  His eyelids were heavy, and he could no longer resist passing out.  They slowly fell.  Just as they had almost closed, he thought he saw a faint orange glow in the dark, but he was beyond weak at this point.

“Someone get him out of there!  We need him alive…”