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open The Dark Millennium


Hederik

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"Where's Colenso's glare?" As she turned her gaze back to the ground she added, "Double Standards, Carto."

 

Cat's sharp intake of breath made an audible hissing noise, and she looked like she might have struck Silver if they hadn't been standing in front of two of the most senior ponies in the Valley... two of the most senior ponies in the whole of Equestria for that matter. The rebuke stung, at least in part because it contained more than a grain of truth - she did judge Silver more harshly than the others, and yet Silver had volunteered where others had not.

 

"Can you blame me for doubting you?" Cat responded, her voice low and angry. She stood silently for several seconds, wrestling with her conscience before adding "But... well, you're here now. You did make the right choice." And I'm not going to give you more of an apology than that.

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@@Colenso Rivers@@SilverHeart@@Once In A Blue Moon @@AzureNightLight

 

 

Star smirked at Cat's last remark, mouthing the words 'right choice' as if to test them for herself. She then looked at her four volunteers, regarding them silently. "Four will have to suffice then," she said dispassionately and turned away from them to begin walking with purpose towards the marked entrance to the Sieve. "Come, let us waste no more time. Hardy..." she paused mid-step with her right front hoof raised, letting her head hang low for the moment, "...good luck, friend." With that, she continued onwards.

 

Accepting the finality of their leader's decision, Midnight was the first to follow the winged unicorn's lead. As he went, the stallion cast a glance at the other two unicorn stallions of his unit, his expression puzzled more than hostile as he pondered what the weird relation between Star and Reverie meant and what it could lead to in the future.

 

It wasn't before all the four ponies left the meadow and stepped onto the stony path declining into the ravine before a voice rang from above them and an anxious Cirrus appeared at the edge over their heads, making it clear who it was that had yelled for them to stop. Right as she made herself visible, Star turned her head sharply towards the beige mare. The intensity of her gaze caused the pegasus to back off a step and wince in expectation of equally sharp words to follow. As none came for a few seconds, she straightened up, steeled herself and opened her mouth to explain how it had been said they needed a pegasus to round out the group. Instead, it was Star who spoke up at that moment, but her tone was calm and respectful in stead of the anticipated rebuke. "I understand the hesitation," was what she said. "This is not an easy environment for a pegasus to cope with. Your sense of loyalty is most admirable," she added with a nod, for a moment catching the eyes of the general, who had positioned herself a little to the left from Cirrus to witness the exchange.

 

"That means she agrees to your participation," hinted Hardy as for a long while the younger mare had made no move to continue downwards. Cirrus stirred, then smiled awkwardly and jumped down, gliding easily to the arrow made of broken crystal where Midnight and the four mares were headed. As she landed, she shot a sheepish smile at Silver and Midnight, the latter grinning in approval of this last-minute addition to their little task force.

 

The huge violet mare led them as far as the mouth of the marked cave before stopping and turning around. "Azure," she addressed the only pony to have volunteered out of the older of the remaining units, "you appear to have a good grasp of the situation at hoof, and so I task you," here for a brief moment the green abomination of an eye focused directly on the white unicorn in question, "with leadership of this expedition on its way through the Sieve, at least until I am positive that its defenses have been sufficiently restored. Fear not," she added in response to the mare's alarmed look, "I shall impart onto you the extent of my knowledge concerning the navigation of this type of environment at the first fork we come upon. The only thing I ask is that I'm left in the middle of the formation and tasked with nothing, as it will require full focus from me to perform the necessary repairs on the walk, in such short time as well. I will remain conscious of you, albeit barely, so address me directly if need arises and I'll comply with the orders, but for the most part treat me as a liability." After a pause, she finished with an almost motherly air about her, "You can do it." If not for the creepy addition of her alien eye, she might have almost resembled the legendary princess Celestia as she was portrayed in literature.

 

The anatomical detail in question dimmed visibly as the imposing mare looked away from them and began to channel her magic; a thing she apparently intended to give her undivided attention to on the march. And a spectacle it was: starting off as a slight whitish glow at just the tip of her horn, it began to shimmer in a multitude of colors as more of its length became enveloped in the radiance. In the end, more than half of Star's horn had lit up, emanating a literal rainbow of ever-changing hues of light. The focused look on the mighty mare's features, however, was a clear reminder that this was not a performance aimed at entertaining, but rather part of a serious task.

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I task you [...] with leadership of this expedition on its way through the Sieve.

 

@@AzureNightLight.

 

"If you're taking charge, do you want me to scout ahead?" Carto Sketch suggested with a faintly pleading tone in her voice, looking up at Azure expectantly before adding, "Or I can watch the rear, if you want to take point."

 

a voice rang from above them and an anxious Cirrus appeared at the edge over their heads

 

A thought occurred to Cat, somewhat belatedly, and she surreptitiously picked up a small stone in her hoof. When Cirrus' eyes were elsewhere, with a swift and practiced motion of her hoof she threw the pebble as hard as she could at Cirrus' scale armour, listening intently for the 'ping' of stone on metal. 

Edited by Once In A Blue Moon
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@@Once In A Blue Moon, @@Hederik, @@AzureNightLight, @@Colenso Rivers,

 

 

 

"Can you blame me for doubting you?" Cat responded, her voice low and angry. She stood silently for several seconds, wrestling with her conscience before adding "But... well, you're here now. You did make the right choice."

 

Silver opened her mouth to respond, but Star was too close. So was Hardy. Even she knew not to raise the ire of the two most powerful and highest ranked ponies in Equestria. And so, she said nothing and allowed Carto to get the last word in their little argument. Following the others in their group down the rocky trail, Silver resigned herself to stew in her anger, self-pity, and fear. The latter of which grew with each step towards the cave below.

 

 

 

As she landed, she shot a sheepish smile at Silver and Midnight, the latter grinning in approval of this last-minute addition to their little task force.

 

Cirrus' arrival heralded a slightly improved attitude from Silver. Midnight seemed just as pleased as she was to have Cirrus coming with them. The young medic took her place next to Cirrus' side. As she approached she gave the mare a short and friendly nuzzle, quick enough that it could be easy to miss.

 

 

 

she surreptitiously picked up a small stone in her hoof. When Cirrus' eyes were elsewhere, with a swift and practiced motion of her hoof she threw the pebble as hard as she could at Cirrus' scale armour, listening intently for the 'ping' of stone on metal.

 

Silver glanced over in Cat's direction, only catching a glimpse of her actions. Her first instinct was to catch the pebble with her magic. And she might have done that If she hadn't listened to the conversation about discovering changelings. As the pebble soared towards Cirrus, Silver found her breath catching in her throat.

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Pebble rose into the air, fulfilling its lifelong dream of defying the overwhelming forces of gravity. It soared upwards, battling the deemed-negligible air resistance and pushing ever onwards to its ultimate goal, the mission it had been given by a being it neither knew nor cared about. Perhaps had it not allowed the long-term relationship with his southern cousin Boulder to stagnate over the last millennium, there would have been a greater understanding of purpose and a possibility of mutual respect and gratitude between the two parties that in these circumstances remained ignorant of one another. Now, feeling his kinetic energy converted almost entirely into potential, Pebble braced itself for the inevitable impact that would rattle its hard yet not indestructible body and allow it to make a mark on a story far bigger and more important than it could have ever imagined over eons lodged in its stony microcosmos.

 

Ping.

 

Cirrus stirred, then smiled awkwardly and jumped down, either disregarding the projectile that bounced off her armor or missing it entirely. The tiny rock shard was thus left unheeded in an environment it didn't really like, already starting to wonder whether it wouldn't have been wiser to let dreams erode and stay home with its family. As they say though, the stone has been cast, and that's that.

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At that moment, Azure’s mind was in turmoil, Star’s words echoing around in her head, again and again. She wasn’t the leader type, she would usually be the one hanging behind in the group, like a wallflower, until she felt the need to step in. But, she thought to herself, she was the only one with that level of expertise; she was the only one in her group who stepped forward. She shook her head. She was just going to have to suck it up then.

 

As they neared the mouth of the cave, Azure trotted out to the front and turned around so she could face them. “Right,” She looked at Cat. “As I mentioned earlier, I want us to walk in single file, I’ll be at the front, and I’ll keep track of where we are going. I want Midnight to be next; I would assume that they would have quite a considerable amount of changelings if they decide to charge head-on. Following Midnight, will be Star… doing her… thing.” Azure scratched her head; she still wasn’t exactly sure what Star was doing exactly. “After that,” She continued. “Will be Silver, followed by Cirrus and Cat, bringing up the rear. You, Cat, will be tasked with making sure nopony gets the jump on us. Silver and Cirrus will be able to respond quickly, should that happen.” She paused, looking around. “I guess that’s about it. We need to get a move on.” As she turned around, she quickly spoke up again. “Oh. One more thing. I think it’s common sense for everypony to be alert, just some more than others. The reason why we’re in a single file formation is so that everypony can keep an eye out to the sides.” With that, Azure trotted through the mouth of the cave. She snuck the rest of her team a look before she left. They were all looking at her with a some-what proud aura emanating from their expressions.

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She wasn’t the leader type, she would usually be the one hanging behind in the group, like a wallflower, until she felt the need to step in. But, she thought to herself, she was the only one with that level of expertise; she was the only one in her group who stepped forward. She shook her head. She was just going to have to suck it up then.

 

Azure didn't seem as confident as the leaders that Cat was used to; Major Tide had always seemed completely unflappable, and even when a changeling had made off with a third of her command General Hardy had still radiated authority, but then Azure was only a few years older than Cat and was probably a bit nervous herself. The sudden moment of empathy wasn't exactly reassuring, and Cat swiftly buried it along with her other niggling doubts, focusing on the task at hand.

 

 

 

You, Cat, will be tasked with making sure nopony gets the jump on us. Silver and Cirrus will be able to respond quickly, should that happen.

 

"Yes ma'am," Cat answered, falling into position at the rear of the column.

 

@@SilverHeart.

 

As she passed them, Cat nodded to Silver and Cirrus, trying to project a professional 'I've got your back' look. Once she had reached the rear, though, her expression slipped into a more concerned grimace, eyeing the many flickering shadows Star's magic cast on the walls. They weren't far in when she realised that said magic was ruining her night vision, and she covered her eyes with a hoof for a moment before physically turning around and looking back again at the path the group had just taken, still partially shielding her eyes with her hoof.

 

If we know that this is the fastest way, then surely they do too. Unit A was the main course, and we're the delicate little desert to finish with. Cat shivered, desperately trying to force her fears down again as the shadows seemed to advance on her, making her back up towards the group so as not to fall to far behind. 

Edited by Once In A Blue Moon
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@@Once In A Blue Moon, @@AzureNightLight, @@SilverHeart,

 

 

As the small group began to make their way into the tunnel, echoes rang all around them when the rest of Pony Valley's forces - by now being little more than a unit - marched their way past the opening and downwards along the mountain paths. Should someone be looking back, they could have observed a variety of emotions displayed on the officers' faces: awe, fear, hope... sarcastic derision too, although it was always hard to tell how seriously Toad and Gal's shows of distancing themselves should be taken. The last to come by, when the six ponies were quite far inside already, was general Hardy, who stood there until the others disappeared from view entirely. Had someone been trying to read them, it would still be quite hard to decipher her emotions from the distance -- was it longing or apprehension that made her eyes glint like that?

 

Inside, the ponies were being made to wonder if their eyes will avail them anything during this journey. The darkness that greedily devoured what little light reached this deep from outside was bad enough by itself to make this passing unpleasant. Perhaps unwittingly, the glow of Star's horn strove futilely against it, making colors and shadows dance and mingle all around them, making the other ponies' heads spin and blurring their vision. If that wasn't bad enough, what was true about the Sieve's build outside proved doubly so inside: save for the floor upon which they walked, there was nary a flat surface in sight. Crevices opened left and right, some almost wide enough to stick a hoof in, others mere fissures in the stone's structure; cracks of unknown depth opened across the path; and finally, there were holes. Every face and facet of stone, every plane and surface was pockmarked with these like a smallpox-ridden piece of cheese. That had been stabbed repeatedly for the last few days. With a trident. By an apoplectic sadist.

 

Even walking after Azure as he had been, Midnight Rover kept clipping his hooves on the rock and stumbling slightly, emitting a near-constant jangle, although he controlled his balance enough not to make it overly audible. Cirrus, in turn, appeared to have the least amount of trouble navigating this alien environment, even though everything about her screamed about high-strung nerves and a mounting anxiety. Still, she trod lightly and always stopped in time when the group in front of her had to pause suddenly because of the stallion's bouts of clumsiness. Meanwhile, even Star happened to bump into the male on an occasion, although her blank, unseeing expression never changed.

 

Observing the way ahead and behind was proving mostly useless. With the quality of light and the texture of the rocks, the most useful sense available to the van and rear was hearing... and perhaps smell. Thankfully, neither was picking up anything quite extraordinary. The only thing that seemed out of place was a near constant sound bringing to mind two stone slabs slowly scraping against each other, sometimes rising in volume, sometimes lowering, and constantly weaving itself together with the hum of Star's magic.

 

It was a good ten minutes of a mind-wearying travel before a fork finally appeared in the road. It was difficult to say for sure, but the tunnel appeared to have been going mostly on a level until then. Only a few meters before they reached this crossroad, Midnight stumbled into a short stalagmite, causing it to crash down onto the ground where it crumbled into a few jagged pieces. The thud was loud, but the clangor of a full plate mail making such an impact dwarfed it by far. Still, an interesting observation could be made thanks to the accident: the inside of the rock was solid - there was no hollow space that hadn't had any connection to the outside. Furthermore, in quite a few of the deepest recesses, small parts of the rock were off-color. What color it was exactly, Star's magic made near-impossible to tell, though.

 

Speaking of whom, the mare stopped dead in her tracks while the stallion cursed silently on the ground before her, but her trance appeared unbroken and she had shown no sign of noticing the appointed checkpoint in front of her, still focused on channeling her energy to unknown ends.

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save for the floor upon which they walked, there was nary a flat surface in sight. Crevices opened left and right, some almost wide enough to stick a hoof in, others mere fissures in the stone's structure; cracks of unknown depth opened across the path; and finally, there were holes. Every face and facet of stone, every plane and surface was pockmarked with these like a smallpox-ridden piece of cheese.

 

Cat kept twitching as the shadows shifted and twisted around her, ethereal monsters brought to life by Star's magic and her own vivid imagination, her ears flicking in every direction as she peered into the writhing darkness. When Midnight demolished a stalagmite with a clang loud enough to wake the dead Cat almost bit her tongue off, spinning around and spitting out a mumbled curse whilst the metallic taste of blood and fear filled her mouth. 

 

So much for stealth Cat thought, turning to watch the rear whilst the group was halted, grateful that Star's immobility also held the shadows still, even if only for a moment, allowing her to shake off the faint feeling of nausea the roiling darkness had caused. 

Edited by Once In A Blue Moon
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  • 2 weeks later...

@@Once In A Blue Moon,

@@Hederik,

@@AzureNightLight

 

 

 

Ping.

 

Silver released a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding, relieved that Cirrus was in fact Cirrus and not a wolf in sheep's clothing. She risked a glance in Cat's direction but couldn't quite read her reaction, though she imagined it was much like her own. 

 

 

 

Midnight...Following Midnight, will be Star...After that, Will be Silver, followed by Cirrus and Cat, bringing up the rear.

 

 

For pretty much the first time since she had stepped forward, Silver turned her attention to the mare giving orders, apparently their new leader. She was passingly familiar but, like most of the of the Cadets not in her class, Silver knew little about her. All she knew about her was that, besides Star, she was the oldest in their group and that she was a scout and navigator. And the latter was only due to the equipment she carried. "Roger." Silver replied, taking her assigned position behind Star. Personally, she would have preferred Midnight lead them. He had proven himself trustworthy and was already the de facto leader of their unit.

 

 

Cat nodded to Silver and Cirrus, trying to project a professional 'I've got your back' look.

 

 

For the sake of being both polite, Silver returned the nod. And if she were honest, she was glad that Cat had volunteered. Cat was intelligent, observant, and loyal to the cause, possibly too loyal. Silver felt safe with her as the rearguard. As the group descended down towards the cave, Silver's focus drifted away from her friends back to the imminent danger that likely awaited them. With each step forward the sense of dread grew until all that was on her mind were the myriad ways they could die. 

 

Silver stopped at the entrance to the cave, the shadows inside seemed so...dark. Even with Star's magic lighting the way the tunnel seemed so sinister. She glanced back at Cat and Cirrus behind her, hoping that they would both look more confident than she was. It didn't help, Cirrus probably wasn't looking much better than herself. Meanwhile, Cat had already turned around and was slowly backing up. "It'll be okay." Silver said halfheartedly before turning back to face the cave and tentatively stepping forward into the darkness. 

 

 

 

The darkness that greedily devoured what little light reached this deep from outside was bad enough by itself to make this passing unpleasant.
 

 

Silver followed on the proverbial heels of Star. The constant shifting of the shadows and lights made the tunnel feel less like reality and more like a nightmare. It was an almost other worldly experience where the walls themselves looked alive, moving and flickering. The stress, anxiety, and illusions on the wall had Silver's stomach twisting in knots. She kept close to Star, staring at her hooves. When they stopped moving, so did she. Silver sat firmly between Midnight and Cirrus in her ability to navigate the hellscape of the tunnel. There were moments when she stumbled and nearly gored Star with her horn.

 

 

 

It was a good ten minutes of a mind-wearying travel before a fork finally appeared in the road.

 

Hadn't they travelled far enough? It's been too long, we're only going deeper underground, we missed something. These and other thoughts raced through Silver's mind as they continued to walk forward. Little did she know that what felt like hours to her had only been a few minutes in reality. 

 

 

 

The thud was loud,

 

With a loud gasp Silver dropped down low to the ground, it was less a combat stance and more of a stance readying herself to jump or run in any direction, not that there was much choice in where to run. It wasn't until she could hear Midnight and Cat's swearing that she realized it wasn't a cave-in and had been...something else. "Is anyone hurt?" She called out. It was wrong of her, but part of her wanted somepony to be lightly injured, if only so she could have something to take her mind off of the tunnel.

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