“We should go back to the others.” Thiemo threw the broken canteen back into the saddlebag over his shoulder. The little fall through the yielding rock formation had brought him down a bit from his high, which seemed to be appropriate, judging from their situation. Amaryllis still had Aura on her back, and as he saw them both, he realized that it was the first time the two had gotten so close. Aura had always tried to keep a distance from her. Then, just as he was ready to go, he remembered something else. “Aura, how did you find the way? Through the cave, I mean. Amy was too far away to give you light with her horn.”

The filly looked at him questioningly. “What do you mean, dad? I’m doing it just like you.” Confused, he crouched down so that he was on the same eye level with her.

“What do you mean with that?” Thiemo looked deep into her eyes, and then he noticed it. It was just a small spark, but it was there. “Amy, please let a stone levitate.” His marefriend nodded, and small rock lifted off the ground. “Can you tell me which color the magical energy around the rock has?”

Aura looked over to him and nodded. “Sure, it’s purple.” Alarmed, he put a hand over his mouth, stood up, and turned around. How could that be? She was a filly, never taught shamanism. If someone like the princesses could do it, okay, but not his Aura.

“Since when?”

“Since when what, dad?”

“Since when can you see magic?”

“Is that something special? You can do it too. Isn’t that normal?” Based on her answer, she had done it for a good while and just took it as granted. “Dad?”

“Nothing, dear.” He stroked through her mane and took her in his arms. “Yes, it is something special but nothing bad. It just makes you even more special than you already are.”

“Can Amy do it too?” Both looked at the changeling princess who shook her head.

“Unfortunately not. My mother sure. Maybe someday.” She smiled at Aura and snuggled slightly against the filly.

“You really like my dad, do you?” Thiemo and Amy looked at each other for a few seconds.

“Very much.”

“Can’t I leave you alone for two seconds?” Hawk stood in the passage and waved them back.

“Here we are again.” Indeed, they were the last ones to return to the meeting point. Hawk was immediately pressed by Heart who tried to get to her wing. The rest sat around the small light and looked at the things that were lying underneath it. Two more saddlebags. One belonged to Hawk, the other to Rarity. The white unicorn was busy checking her belongings for damage.

“Heart and I flew to the ceiling. No chance to get past the debris without endangering the cave’s stability,” Twilight announced and sighed. Thiemo put the saddlebags they found to the others and sat down as well. Amaryllis snuggled against him while Aura climbed from his back to his shoulders. Applejack watched the scene with a grin.

“We have found out two things. Amy noticed earlier that the structure of the cave reminds her of her home. I’ve seen a bit of her hive and have to agree. These caves were built by changelings.” A worried look appeared on Estoc’s face, while Rarity pressed herself against him. In the corner of his eyes, he saw the two soldiers cutting their play and listening carefully. “Furthermore, we are not alone down here. I accidently threw over a stalagmite and something moved. I think different noises came back out of the depth of the shafts. No echo.” The question was on the lips of everyone present, so he beat them to it. “We should keep moving. I don’t want to find out what exactly survived for thousands of years down here.”

“The human is right,” Estoc agreed. “Hawk, do you still have some equipment? A weapon I could use?” The thestral grinned and pulled out one of her knives and threw it in front of his hooves. Estoc lowered his head and tapped with his horn against it. Just like Protes, the metal began to twist, and an epee, with a handle to be held in the mouth of a pony, appeared at the place of the dagger.

“Let me guess, that’s why you have the armor?” Thiemo asked.

“Sure. Do you think you were the only one with cool toys?” A bit of air escaped through her lips. “Humans, always so big-headed.”

“Guys!” Everyone flinched at Lyra’s outburst. “Could we talk about which monsters could be down here again?” Her trembling was evident. Thiemo wasn’t surprised that the others were not. After all, from what he had heard, the Bearers had some adventures on their back already. The rest were soldiers and adventurers. And Amy was too high on cloud nine to care much about what was happening.

“We should fill our canteens. They would have to be repaired first.” Thiemo pulled them out, and Rarity immediately took them. The designer pulled some thread and a needle out of her bag and began to patch them. When she was done, she used a bit of magic and declared them as being as good as new, just a bit smaller due to the missing material. Then the remaining baggage was split out amongst the ponies. Lyra got a bag again, Rarity and Heart their own. Applejack offered to carry Hawk’s. Aura was wandering between them and helped put them on.

After everything was done, Thiemo and Amy took the lead and led the large group to the passage. This time, it was Twilight who heard the river first. Not that it would have been necessary for Amy or Aura to say that. They filled their canteens while a quick spell from Twilight confirmed that the river contained no poisonous material. Then they continued their way into the unknown darkness, accompanied by Twilight’s little floating light.

“Hawk.” Thiemo turned to the thestral. “Why don’t you let Heart have a look at your wing?”

She threw a look back at her comrade who was chatting with Rarity. “That’s not necessary. My wings are more robust than pegasi wings. In a few hours, I will be able to fly again. And she has no idea how to treat them.” She reached out her healthy left wing so that it reached out from her under her cowl. Then everything happened in a blur. Thiemo felt the ground giving in a little underneath him, there was a clicking noise, and in the next moment, Hawk threw him on the ground. A hissing sound went over his head as something drilled into the rock wall next to them. Twilight jerkily moved the light near the impact side, and they all saw a bolt out of metal that had bored itself into the stone. Thiemo looked at the place where he had been standing. A rune shimmered there for a few more seconds before it went dark.

“Someone injured?” Estoc asked as he pressed himself past Lyra and Applejack.

“No, everything’s alright! Stay where you are!” Amy, with Aura on her back, stopped and then took a step back. Thiemo looked over to Hawk who gave him a rock from the ground. He aimed and threw it at the place where the rune had glowed. Immediately, it glowed up again, and a second bolt flew with a hissing sound through the air, landing close to the first one. Twilight reacted immediately and placed her light above the rune, then Hawk stood up and drew a circle around the trigger of the trap with a her hoof.

Carefully, Thiemo stood up and cleaned himself off the dust. “That was close, too close.”

“Attention everypony!” Hawk directed the attention to herself. “All those who do not have trouble with the darkness, to the front. Everyone else, especially foals, to the back. We’re going in a line, no swinging off, and no one stays behind.”

“Hawk takes the lead, Heart and I will bring up the rear.” Estoc took over. “When you see something or think you have seen something, speak up immediately. There is no playing around with traps. Even if such a bolt hitting is not lethal, it can still be poisonous.”

While Estoc kept on explaining, Hawk nudged him. “Couldn’t you see the rune?”

Thiemo shook his head. “Not until I activated it. I’m not seeing a crystal or anything the keeps the spell going either. Whatever that is, it is either unknown magic or not magic at all.” The alternative to magic was clear: technology. But why should anyone take the trouble to simulate magic? And more importantly, where did they have the means to build it, not to mention keeping it active for thousands of years. One thing was clear to him: the cave just got more and more interesting.

“Alright, everypony together. File behind me. Princess, you with your light should go in the middle.” Twilight nodded and squeezed in behind Applejack. Amy had just given her Aura, while she herself was directly behind Thiemo.

“Changelings don’t build such traps. Especially not in their own hive,” she whispered to him.

“I know, and that is what worries me. Changelings need their… donors alive. The thing fires directly at head level of a pony.” Thiemo looked over the river from where the missiles came from. But there was no opening to be seen from where they came from. In front of him, Hawk began to walk again, so he and the rest of the group followed. For the next few hours, they followed the path by the river. From time to time, Hawk threw her knife to check for traps on conspicuous places. They found three, but no pattern could be seen. After a while, the first complaints began to come up. Rarity and Lyra both wanted a quiet place to rest. Aura was bored and like every normal child, she was getting grumpy. She tried to get Applejack to play with her, but the mare was too busy with stepping in Amaryllis’ hoofprints.

Eventually, the path separated from the river that disappeared in a cleft. One last time, they filled their bottles and took a large swig. “How far do you think the path will go?” Twilight looked as exhausted as the rest of them.

“No idea, Princess, but we can’t take a break unfortunately. Who knows what traps might be here,” Estoc returned and wiped his mouth with his foreleg. “Night Hawk, do you think the path leads through the whole mountain?”

“Certainly not. The traps are there to protect something. There will be an exit, but for now, we have to get past what is down here.” She unfolded her wings and flapped them a few times until a crack could be heard and a moan escaped her. “Much better.”

“Mom, I’m hungry!” Aura begged at Applejack’s legs. The farm mare was busy storing their refilled canteens in the saddlebags on her back.

Applejack nudged her quickly. “Sorry, sugarcube, but you’ll have to wait a bit longer for that.” Another sound, like metal that fell on stone, came from the darkness behind them, and they all perked up.

“This was one of the traps, right?” Lyra asked, unsure.

“Sounded like it,” Estoc agreed. “Hawk? You have the best ears.”

“I would say we should get moving again. The bolt glanced off the stone, meaning it didn’t have enough speed. Which means that it hit something before.” Everyone swallowed. “Thiemo is right. We’re not alone.”

“But what could be down here? These caves are old.” A noise sounded again, but this time, it was much closer than the last one. Thiemo spun around and just managed to glimpse something moving in the shadows from the corners of his eyes.

Quickly, he gained the attention of the others by waving around. “Slowly keep on walking,” he whispered to Hawk who tried to peek past him. “Get the others out of here.” He reached at his right arm and got Protes out. “Quick!”

The soldiers stepped into action instantly. Estoc grabbed Rarity, Lyra, and Twilight. Heart flew over to Applejack and Auralia while Hawk began to lead Amaryllis further down the way. Thiemo narrowed his eyes to slits and looked out for what was lurking behind them. It was there, no doubt. Not only his senses were telling him that, but something inside him, maybe primal instincts or just the feeling of being watched. The light from Twilight moved away quickly, not before he was able to tell that something in the water was reflecting the light. Without further ado, he rammed Protes into the river. The staff made contact with the water at the same time something large jumped out of it. Claws dug into his left shoulder as the creature jumped over him to get to the ponies behind him. But Thiemo reacted quickly as he spun around and managed to grab the thing at what must have been its ankle and pulled it to the ground.

A rattling sounded through the cave as bones smashed into the stony ground. Now he could see what he was dealing with. A skeleton, the skeleton of a griffon. And it wasn’t small. Even on all fours, it was almost as tall as him. The worst thing was that the thing was now moving, a hollow skull with glowing red eyes looking at him. Then the skeleton let out a deafening cry. Thiemo let go of its ankle and covered his ears with his hands. It used the time to stand up and charged at him. Immediately, he rammed his staff into it and slammed the skeleton against the next wall. “What the hell was that?”

Cautious, he stepped closer to the pile of bones and kicked against a thighbone of the hindlegs. No magical signature, just a pile of bones. “Thiemo? Everything alright?”

“Everything alright, Lyra! It was just… a skeleton.” No response came from the group, and Thiemo carefully picked up the skull with Protes’ tip. “How did you move?” he asked the thing.

“What do you mean, just a skeleton?” Hawk flew over to him, still a bit shaky on her wing. Thiemo held the skull in front of her face, and she saw the rest. “Are you telling me this thing was moving?”

“Is there magic that could do that?”

“No idea.” She turned around. “Princess? We have a magical mystery here.” Like Hawk, Twilight flew over to them, also careful to not trigger any more traps. Unlike Hawk, she flinched as she saw the skull and the pile on the ground.

“And that was moving?” Thiemo nodded. “This can’t be. There are no magical residues or anything. Even if someone was controlling it with magic, there must have been a hint somewhere.”

“I know. That is what worries me. Also, wasn’t this place built by changelings? What is a dead griffon doing down here?” Twilight tipped his shoulder with a hoof. “What?” She pointed past him and Hawk into the darkness.

“Something was moving there.” Both followed Twilight’s hoof and saw what she meant.

“More of them?” Hawk nodded. She could see a bit better than the rest of them.

“I count five.” Slowly, they began to retreat. “Run, they are getting more and more. Seven. Eight.” Hawk didn’t count any further as she and Twilight flew back to the others. “Run! Don’t stop!” she shouted to them. Estoc didn’t need to be told twice. Thiemo saw the ponies in the distance in front of him falling into a gallop. He, unfortunately, wasn’t as fast as them, and without his gems, he had no chance of catching up with them.

“Dad!” Aura shouted back.

“Run! I can make it.” He stored Protes at his arm again and started to sprint. Unluckily for him, he noticed after a few seconds that there were still only small amounts of blood circulating through his body. White spots began to fill his field of view, and with every third step, one of his legs almost slipped.

“Dad! Behind you!” In the corner of his eye, he saw one skeleton jumping towards him, and it would shortly land on his back. But then it happened. His leg gave way and he caught himself with his right hand just in time. It landed on one of the runes, and a bolt flew through the air. It took the head off the skeleton above him with it. At some point even he had to be lucky. Quickly, he pulled himself together again and continued running.

“There’s a passage!” he heart Hawk shout, and he began to prepare a plan in his head.

“Twilight!” he gasped between his breaths. “Get ready to blow the passage.” Thiemo could now finally see it as well. Hawk had almost reached it already.

In the next moment, he felt a beak grab some of his hairs. Of course, he just kept on running. “Amaryllis, come on!” Hawk shouted. Another looked up front showed him that everyone except the princess had already fled through the passage.

“Thiemo!” she shouted, and he saw her reaching out for him with her magic. She wanted to pull him over to her, but Protes around his wrist stopped her attempt. Again his legs gave way; he stumbled and fell to the ground. He saw Amy’s desperate look and what prevented her from saving him. One of the skeletons jumped on his back, pressing him even more into the ground. In the next moment, something lightened up above his head. Amaryllis was running towards him and hit the skeleton with both her body and one of her magical missiles. “Everything alright?”

Thiemo supported himself at her. “Yes, thanks.”

“Behind you!” At Twilight’s shout, they both turned around and saw that about thirty more skeletons were standing in front of them. They would never make it the passage in time.

“Seal the passage!” With those words, he grabbed Amaryllis and threw himself and her in the stream of the river. Over the roar of the water, they heard Aura screaming and Applejack shouting after them before they disappeared with the water between the rocks. Then an explosion resonated as Twilight sealed the entrance. “Hold on tight to me, Amy.” The water took them through the darkness. Again and again, they were pressed under water, not knowing where up or down was. Water constantly found a way into their lungs until the finally fell. It went down, and they landed screaming in the water again. Then they reached land. Thiemo pulled himself and his marefriend completely out of the water, coughed, and looked around. Blurry and panting, he looked through the, for him, well-lit room. Magic was everywhere and his fingers stroke over a familiar feeling. Everything was covered by the moss of the changelings. Smiling, he let some magic flow into the magical plant and then he closed his eyes.

Author's Notes:

Do you guys know the feeling that you just want to read the next chapter right now? I'm feeling somewhat like that, only that I can't wait to get your reactions to this act and act 11. I wish I could take pictures of your faces right then, but sadly I'm not the NSA. Can't hack your phones and shit. Well, I could, I'm a computer scientist after all, but I get thrown into jail if I do (unlike those people who do it for "your own protection".)

Thanks to Gron for translating this chapter.
Special thanks to JBL for proofreading and editing.

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