Goldenseed starred in horror, her entire body shaking as she looked at the bloody ponies on the ground. “They... I thought it was just sea ponies? A few other things in the water? Why... why were they...”

“I have no idea,” Crescent said as he nudged the unicorns, shaking his head. “I don't like it, though. Unicorns mean a lot more magic. They--”

“Who cares? You're supposed to deal with it!” Shinybit said angrily. “We've been here for days! This should have been done ages ago! Who cares if a few unicorns are working here?”

“I care,” Crescent snapped. “These caverns are massive. There are new tunnels all around them. If there are unicorns working with the sea ponies, it could mean something big. Something dangerous. We could be onto something that, frankly, we don't want to be a part of. It could get us all killed.” He then turned to the merchant. “Is there anything you aren't telling us?”

“W-what? No! I just--”

“You just told me that you were ambushed and your stuff was stolen by sea ponies. You never said anything about unicorns,” Crescent said angrily, grinding a hoof into the ground. Goldenseed watched him until her shoulder was tugged.

“Come on, let's scout ahead,” Firecoat said.

“What? But what about--”

“He'll deal with it. Come on,” the crystal pony said as he led her off. She followed behind, occasionally glancing back.

“We... aren't as liked as I thought, are we? Adventurers?”

“Oh, no, we're liked plenty,” the stallion said with a chuckle. “Everypony loves the guy who fights off the giant dragon burning down your farms or the bandits attacking your roads of travel. But nopony likes having to pay them. That's why Crescent deals with those kinds of things.”

She heard a scream from behind them. “W-what? What's going on, what is he--”

“Don't,” Firecoat said firmly glaring into her eyes.

“Why? Is he--”

“He's dealing with the situation. Ponies like that you have to take a firm hoof to. Otherwise they'll walk all over you.”

“But... but what about...”

“Trust us. We know what we're doing.”

She stared for a few moments before nodding. They were experienced, they knew what they were doing. She was new to this. Besides, she was still young. They had been doing this for years. They had to know best. Goldenseed stared out towards the darkness. “What do you think about the unicorns? I mean... you don't think...”

“They could have just been bandits hiding here. Maybe came in through one of the many openings in the caverns.”

“Really?” she asked, perking up.

“Could be. Probably not, though. The moment they saw us, they started fighting tooth and hoof. They wanted us dead. Ponies who are trying to keep a low profile, well, they run. They were protecting something.”

She nodded. “Do... you think that means we're close?”

“Probably. This place is a maze, but the map makes it easy to go through. There can't be that much more that we haven't seen yet. It's been... well, who knows how long. Sometimes I wonder if we'll ever see the sun again when we're down here.”

She nodded. They had used a lot of aether for fire and glowing magic. She wondered how long they'd actually been down here. “Do you think they know?”

“The sea ponies? Of course they know,” Firecoat said with a chuckle. “We've been eliminating those we've come across, but some always get away. Whatever they have here... well, they're probably working to get it out.”

She gulped. “Why aren't they just ambushing us?”

“Probably scared. We've killed... who knows how many of them now? Probably think there are more of us than there are. Or they don't work well together. Or they don't just have the hoofpower to come at us. We're moving pretty fast, too. They might not know where we are, maybe just keeping watch.” He paused. “Or maybe they don't know we're here at all. Any number of things, really. Just keep your eyes out.”

She nodded and stared into the darkness. Back from where Crescent and Shinybit were she could hear more fighting, angry words. She closed her eyes and tried to tone them out. They knew what they were doing. Who was she to object? She was a conjurer who felt almost no remorse despite being a killer. She'd abandoned her throne so she could go on these little adventures. These ponies were smarter and better than she was, so it was best she just did what they said.

Firecoat motioned back after a few more minutes. She trotted behind him, chewing on her lower lip. She cringed when she saw Crescent and Shinybit. The merchant was on the ground, holding his face. She could see blood on the marauder's armor. “How'd it go?” Firecoat asked.

“Apparently Shinybit decided to leave a few things out,” Crescent said with a sigh. “Apparently he wasn't ambushed at all. He watched as a bunch of unicorns and sea ponies took his supplies and headed into the caverns. He left all that out.”

“Why's that a problem?” Goldenseed asked. “I mean, we knew there would be resistance. Does it really matter what kind there is?”

“Yes,” Crescent said as he glared down at the stallion. “Hiding information like that can be the difference between life and death for us. We're leaving.”

“W-what?” Shinybit said, sitting up and holding his nose. “But I paid--”

“You lied to us, you can get your own flank out of here.”

“W-what? But... there are sea ponies here! They'll kill me! What about the unicorns? What if more bandits come and attack me? What--”

“I don't care you sniveling, useless pile of pony!” Crescent yelled, stomping a hoof down. “If you'd rather I snap your neck here and get it over with, I'd be more than happy to!”

Shinybit gulped and took a step back. “I... I...” He looked between them. “D-double. I'll... I'll pay double!” He got nothing but glares. “Triple! I'll pay triple!”

Crescent glanced back to the others and slowly gave a nod. “Fine. Triple. But if there is any more surprises, anything you're hiding, I will snap your neck like a twig. Do I make myself clear? Now, is there anything else I need to know?”

Shinybit shook his head. “N-no. Just... just the unicorns. That's all I know, I swear. I thought they were just working for them. I didn't think they were working with them.”

The marauder nodded before he started walking again. “Fine, come on. Let's see if we can find his supplies.”

Goldenseed nodded and walked behind him. She moved close to Firecoat. “He... is he always this angry? This... violent?”

“Only when things go badly.” The stallion glanced to her. “Don't worry. He has no reason to be mad at you yet, so it's not like he'd hurt you. You're one of us now, right? That merchant, well... he's not.”

Goldenseed nodded and glanced back to Shinybit. The stallion was limping as he walked. She then glanced back to Crescent. She wondered if she should try to heal the merchant. Would she get attacked then, too? Would he beat her? He was stronger than her, bigger than her. She lowered her gaze to the ground.

She was an adventurer now, shouldn't that have made things easier? Ponies were supposed to be happy and safe around them. So why was she feeling more and more like she was the evil she was supposed to be exterminating?

------

“Stop,” Crescent said softly as he looked up. “Do you hear that?”

“Yeah, sounds like a lot of them,” Firecoat whispered.

“I think we can take them,” Shatterstep said.

“Maybe. Keep your heads down and keep quiet,” the marauder whispered before slowly stepping forward. Slowly the group made their way down the tunnel as it began to open up. They soon could see into the massive cavern further in.

Piles of crystals were scattered all over the ground, solidified aether. Goldenseed barely managed to keep from gasping at the sight as she stared. She'd never seen so much in her life. There were a few stacks bigger than her.

Groups of unicorns and sea ponies were working together, gathering the crystals up into neat stacks, bagging them, then the sea ponies were given the bags and disappeared under the waters of the cavern. “Where do you think they're taking them?” Goldenseed whispered.

“Not our problem. Is this what we're here for?”

“Y-yes,” Shinybit whispered softly. “I had a whole wagon of them. I was going to make a fortune in--”

“I don't care,” Crescent said. “I asked yes or not.”

“Yes.”

“That means we've got to eliminate them. All of them.”

“What? There's over a dozen of them,” Goldenseed said, her eyes going wide. “We'll get slaughtered. How can we--”

“We'll be fine. We've fought worse odds. The secret is the sea ponies. With them, we're out numbered heavily,” Crescent said as he looked up. “But the unicorns will have to fight us on land. We can draw them here, too. It won't be hard at all if we funnel them into this tunnel.”

“How are we going to draw them, though?” Goldenseed asked softly.

Firecoat stepped forward, fire erupting from his horn. “Just leave that to me.”

“W-what? But we're--”

Her words were cut off as fire sailed through the air. She watched in horror as the fire enveloped a stack of crystals. After a second the aether gathered with them, exploding. Shinybit let out a scream. “Do you know how much those were worth? They're a fortune! You just destroyed them!”

The ponies in the cavern turned towards them. They started yelling to the sea ponies, moments before the aquatic ponies disappeared under the water. The unicorns then took a step forward, swords, shields and axes flowing into the air as they charged.

Goldenseed shrieked and took a step back, holding out her hoof as she began drawing the magic from the land, slowly letting it flow through her. The unicorns crashed against them like a tidal wave, pushing Crescent and Shatterstep back. The two nearly fell as they tried fighting back the larger herd. The blades chipped at their armor. The lancer let out a cry as an axe struck him in the side, piercing through his armor and drawing blood.

She held out her hoof and sent the magic flowing into him, the wound knitting itself almost all the way closed before the lancer charged back in. The marauder swung his axe from left to right, cleaving through the ponies weapons, snapping blades and shields. A few of the unicorns toppled back, blood coating their fur where the axe had managed to graze them.

Only for the wounds to close a moment later, knitting themselves closed. For a moment Goldenseed was confused. Then she saw the other pony near the back. A unicorn holding a green, leaf covered staff. Another conjurer. The zebra yelped and pointed towards the other caster. “They have a healer too!”

“We noticed!” Crescent yelled angrily as he swung his axe back and forth.

Goldenseed kept unleashing her spells, trying to keep them up. But they were out numbered and the line would fall before long. She healed the wounds as fast as she could, but both she and the other mage were drawing on the same powers, using the land's magic to flow out and into their allies. She could already feel her energy starting to draw low. She had to do something and she had to do it now. She gulped and quickly galloped forward.

“What are you doing?” Crescent yelled as she charged past him. She ignored him and charged straight down the line. She gathered the magic around her, water forming in the air before she sent it flying into one of the ponies in the line. The pony was flung back, hitting against the wall and the water coiling around him, holding him to it as he struggled. With the momentary break, she galloped into the other conjurer. She leaped into the air and tackled him.

The conjurer yelped and held up his staff, jamming it into her shoulder, but it wasn't enough to stop her tackle. She slammed into him and sent them both toppling to the ground. The staff flew back and the two rolled around on the ground, hooves flying wildly as the two began to perform their own ancient custom of fighting.

The two conjurers slap fighted as hard as they could, turning and pulling their heads back to avoid getting hit as their hooves slammed into each other, wildly flailing about as they tried to enact victory over their foe.

“Eeeeee!” Espirit cried.

“Ahhhhhh!” the other conjurer cried.

The sounds of battle around them were soon drowned out by their fierce fight as they flailed and kicked and wiggled about on the floor, trying their best to press their advantage. “Ow ow ow ow ow!” she cried.

“Take this and that and this and that!” the other conjurer yelled back.

Finally, she saw an opening and she took it. Her hoof shot out at his stomach. Unfortunately, her aim was a little off and went a little low, striking between the legs. She cringed and heard pained cries from a little bit away. However, the stallion didn't make a sound aside from a small, pained squeak as he locked up. For a moment she relented, before remembering this was life and death as she swung out, her hooves cracking across his head three times. He tried defending himself, but now she had the advantage and she struck out over and over, crashing into him. Finally, he stopped moving, though he was breathing. She slowly stood up. “I win! I've won, I--”

The words died in her throat as she saw everypony watching her. The fight had come to a stand still as the fighters just watched. “That was the most pathetic fight I have ever seen.” Shatterstep said, shaking his head.

“But that last blow, wow. Have you no conscience, woman?” one of the unicorns said, shaking his head.

She opened and closed her mouth a few times, the shock overwhelming her. Finally, she glared to Crescent. “Why aren't you still fighting? I thought you had to get them?”

“It... just didn't feel right. Watching that and all,” the crystal pony said, shaking his head. “Just... that was pathetic.” The axe wielding pony said before glancing to the unicorns. “So I tell you what. Our conjurer won... whatever that was. I'll allow you to leave with your lives.”

“Why should...” the unicorn said, freezing in mid sentence. His eyes were then drawn to their fallen healer, the caster breathing but out like a light. “That is acceptable.”

“What?” Shinybit yelled. “Kill them! I didn't hire you to let them go, I hired you to--”

“You hired us to get your things. Now get them,” Crescent snapped before pointing towards the crystals littered against the floor.

Goldenseed got to her hooves and looked to the others. She cringed as a few bruises formed on her body, though a quick spell healed it. She closed her eyes and felt the aether in the air, slowly beginning to re-balance and settle what they'd disturbed. She then opened her eyes to watch the others leave. “That was very merciful of you,” she said to Crescent with a smile.

He shrugged. “Sometimes I'm too nice for my own good,” the stallion said before watching the merchant trot off towards his supplies. “Come on. Let's help him get what he needs and we can get out of here.”

Goldenseed nodded and smiled, before walking towards the dropped magical staff. She picked it up and, to her surprise, she found the magic in it easily able to shift and mold. Within moments she felt it become attuned to her. “Marvelous,” she whispered.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she said before letting the staff go. It swayed in the air around her, gently rocking from side to side. To most, it looked as if it was flying. In actuality, the aether within it was combining with her own and pushing against the aether from the land, holding it propelled in the air between the two forces. She trotted towards the others and started helping them pick up the crystals and putting them in bags. She could barely believe it. Her first real adventure. She'd succeeded. She'd lived. They might tell stories about her one day. Well, probably not. But once this potion wore off and she returned home, maybe she'd tell her own story. She could even write a book.

Her mind raced as they made their way out from the caverns, laden down by their spoils. Shinybit occasionally complained about how some of the crystals weren't there and his other supplies were missing. He quickly fell silent when Crescent threatened to toss him into the rivers. She'd done it. Her first successful adventure.

She just wished it didn't have to be her last.