Silver sighed. "Well, that is inconvenient." He tossed his sword, impaling one of the creatures to the wall. It screeched as the blade drained its life force into the crystal. He quickly recovered the blade, and two more fell with a single swing. Within seconds, all but one of the creatures had been absorbed, along with most of Rep's stolen energy. Silver pressed the blade to Rep's skin. "Lapis mortem, reverto." The energy stolen by the creature was returned. "One remains. Do you wish it dead?" ************************************************************************ Nightshade nodded in agreement. "Let's get started, then. We have a lot to do."
After Olga explained that she and her brothers had been diggers, it was decided that she would put her talent to use in finding the garden. An hour later, she popped up from the snow holding a chunk of limestone. "There is cave right below. Thin ceiling, very warm." Cannonball nodded. "Rosie, do the thing." Rose pulled a small satchel from beneath her sunproof cloak and scattered the contents around Olga's hole. The snow instantly began melting, and when the steam cleared, the hole was wide enough for two pegasi to fly down side by side. Nova and Nightshade went down next, and went to work with pickaxes as the griffon brothers shored up the hole above them. Another hour passed, and the four of them emerged smiling. "We're through."
"I've got to see this for myself." Azrael walked up to the hole, peering down in. "Make room. I'm leaping."
"You probably shouldn't..." Nightshade began, then sighed. "...Aaaand you did." Az landed in neck-deep pool of muddy water with a rather impressive splash. The cavern garden was impressive. Nearly a mile wide, and a full five hundred feet from top to bottom, it was lit with a number of strange crystalline orbs that floated near the ceiling, and was filled with a huge variety of plants that almost nopony alive had ever seen. A number of unusual insects buzzed about, and a few small creatures could be seen in the branches of the trees. In the center was a stone brick tower that ran from floor to ceiling, cracked and crumbling from a millennium of abandonment. The others soon made their way down, on wing and on ropes. "Amazing!" Rain said as soon as she saw it. "An entire self-contained jungle ecosystem, hidden under a frozen wasteland!"
Azrael coughed up a bit of muddy water, then took a look around at what he could see, in awe. "This is massive... What is all this?" Navaja rappelled down with a rope, landing on top of Az's back to avoid having to swim. "You know. You really should look before you jump next time. The next haystack might be full of needles."
"Not natural," Nightshade said, looking at the near-perfect hemispherical shape of the chamber. "This was formed with powerful magic." Nova nodded in agreement. "We're in the Unicorn capitol. This could have been the private sanctuary of the royal family, or even old Star Swirl himself." Rain glanced at the tower. It ran straight into the cavern ceiling. "Royals, huh? Then I suppose that would make that over there an entrance to the castle?" *********************************************************************************************** Gaston ignored the discussion. He was more concerned with the new lady in the group. "So, Olga... we haven't bee formally introduced. I am Gaston, collector of the rare and beautiful. And you, my dear, are both." "I am not interested," she said flatly. "Oh, come now, my dear, why not... OW!" He found himself being smacked simultaneously by Olga and his brother. Galahad dragged him away roughly. "Are you kidding me, brother? After everything she's been through, you're going to... act like YOU?!" Gaston snorted. "And why not? Is she not entitled to a bit of comfort?" "You disgust me, brother."
Azrael shoved Navaja into the water, then walked himself onto dry land, now fully covered in water and mud. "This place looks like it could be re-inhabited." Navaja, nowhere near as tall as Azrael, had to swim the rest of the way out, before standing and shaking as much mess as he could off of himself. "Bendejo... A Unicorn sanctuary? I didn't realize they needed such a space to sit."
Cannonball and the still-bickering griffons got to work setting up a winch elevator to the surface, and lashed together some pallets and buoys to make a floating bridge to shore. ********************************************************************* Nova snorted. "The unicorns were always excessive. Especially the royals. Look around Canterlot, and you'll see that a lot of them still are." She glanced at Rain. "No offense." Rain shrugged. "No, you're right. Canterlot unicorns are a bunch of spoiled prigs."
"To be fair, so are many from Canterlot," said Azrael. Navaja nodded. "Si. Many who aren't like that evacuate the city. Much like the old, dreadlocked Stoner."
"I never liked it much," Nightshade said. "Seemed like I was getting into a fight every other day as a filly." "You were getting into fights every other day," Nova replied. "That's why your parents pulled you out of school. You almost killed that colt who pushed you into the mud!"
"That sounds like something you would try," Azrael commented. "But I'm surprised you didn't finish him."
"I didn't mean to hurt him that bad," Nightshade said quietly. "I'd seen Dad and the Guards use that throw a hundred times sparring. I didn't realize it was so dangerous." She shrugged. "But, he was a bully, and bad things happen to bad ponies." ************************************************************************** As Galahad and Gaston continued their argument, Cannonball noticed that the temperature was dropping. "You two stop fighting long enough to get a cover over that hole. I didn't come this far just to lose all these plants to frostbite." The wind was howling across the tundra above. A storm was moving in. He glanced at Olga. The diamond dog had lost her friends and brothers in a storm just like the one above. They'd have to be careful when they went out there.
Silver shook his head. "You would not be able to use it. You have no connection to Death that I can sense. Perhaps one of the other blades would be more appropriate for you." ********************************************************************** Nightshade nodded. "It's at least forty below up there, and too windy to launch an unshielded airship. We came prepared, but a lot of our stuff is brand new tech. Even twenty year ago, this wouldn't have been survivable."
"No," Cannonball replied. "We have gear we need on the ship." He thought for a moment. "Az and Rose are already dead. Olga has weatherproof fur. And Shady... is Shady. Those four will go up and start winching down the gear. The rest of us will set camp right down here. Even with the shields, the ship's gonna be too cold for sleeping."
