The Legend of Calway Cay
Starring Applejack and Rainbow Dash
By Hart Braeker
CHAPTER 1
The rain fell silently against the frosted windows of her office, the one that overlooked Ponyville, up on the twenty-seventh floor of the newest building in town. A strong clap of thunder and a brief dance of lightning caressed the sky and had awoken a napping Applejack. Not many things happened in Ponyville these days, and there weren't many ponies in need of a private investigator anymore. Princess Celestia had ordered that each province, town, and city of Equestria appoint a committee of investigative reporters and detectives in the event of another Changeling invasion. Applejack, being the most trustworthy and loyal pony was given the job, and she left the Apple Family Farm in Applebloom's care. AJ sat staring longingly out the glazed window and let out an apathetic sigh as she looked up to the sky to catch a glimpse of the bluest sky, which was quickly obstructed by a Pegasus pony who brought over clouds to conceal it once again.
"I reckon these rain seasons are gonna get more and more frustratin' each year..." She said as she returned to her desk, "I can't stand all this rain."
Just as AJ took her seat behind her desk, a quick and rapid rasping berated the door from the outside. When she had risen to answer it, the door swung open and in flew a somewhat harried Rainbow Dash. "Have you heard?" she cried, "Did you know?"
"Whoa there sugar cube, calm down a bit. Now what happened that's got all your feathers in a fright?"
"Look at this!" she responded as she threw down a small folder upon AJ's desk and gestured for her to examine it.
"Well go-lly... And you're sure this is true?"
"Every word, now come on we have to go help her!"
CHAPTER 2
It wasn't long until the Equestria Express arrived at the station to pick up passengers. AJ and Rainbow Dash waited for around ten minutes, but to them it felt like ages slowly passing time, taking it's sweet time and practically torturing their minds. At last, the locomotive had stopped completely and the doors opened inviting new arrivals to enter, and implying to those who have arrived to exit. Being so worried and nervous, AJ and Rainbow Dash almost didn't notice the train had met the station until the conductor had leaned out and shouted, "ALL ABOARD!"
"I guess we'd better get ourselves inside, then." Reasoned AJ, clearly not wanting to begin the journey she was about to make.
"I guess so..." Replied Rainbow Dash in similar fashion.
Once safely seated in a secure car of the Equestria Express, the Pegasus Pony speaks slowly and carefully, "Applejack-" she catches herself, and tries again, "What are we going to do?"
"I don't know, but we'll have to figure something out."
"But we don't even know where we're going!"
"Well... Do you still have the file?"
"Yes, it's right here- But why will that help us?"
"I think I noticed something when I looked at it earlier today, now just hand it over, will ya'?"
Rainbow Dash pulled out the light brown folder and retired it to AJ, who flipped through it immediately. After pulling page by page out and examining them in the light of the window, she stopped and examined one page in particular. "Well I'll be..." She said with a surprised tone, "Here, look at this."
"What is it?" Rainbow Dash said inquisitively.
"Watch..." AJ Held the paper up, and on it was the letter that began the whole journey, a letter with big bold letters scratched on the surface reading:
STRANGE THINGS HAPPENING
CREATURES OF DARKNESS
SHADOWS WITHOUT LIGHT
STRANDED IN DARKNESS
SILENCE COATS THE WALLS
COLD AIR CUTS ME TO THE BONE
CAN'T WAIT LONG
PLEASE SEND HELP
SIGNED,
TWILIGHT SPARKLE
"We already knew that, what's so special about it, AJ?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"Just wait a darn second and I'll show ya'!" AJ grasps the paper, and shines it to the light, in between each letter lies a small figure unknown to the two ponies...
"Whoa... That's-" Began Rainbow Dash, "That's Magdor Draviil..."
"What are you goin' on about?"
"Magdor Draviil! Back at flight camp, one of our fellow Junior Speedsters was from a certain part of Equestria, and she spoke two languages. This was the other language. I was called Magdor Draviil I'm sure of it! And if I remember correctly, the area she came from was something like... The Hoof Islands I think..."
"You wouldn't happen to know where those are, would ya'?"
"Just outside of the Equestria mainland."
"Well then it looks like we're gonna have to change transportation..." AJ sighed, remembering how much she disliked boats.
CHAPTER 3
Dawn was breaking over the mountains as the two ponies woke from their evening sleep. The train was about to pull up the final station and let them off to continue their journey. Wobbly legged and tired eyed they stepped onto the platform, and began a trek towards the Canterlot Quay. Before hand, they stopped quickly in a bookstore to pick up a Draviilian Translation book, but couldn't have left faster as they were assaulted with thoughts of how much Twilight would love the library. The entire time they traveled on the boat, Rainbow Dash was hard at work deciphering the code in the message. "You know, there is one thing that's got my head all turned around." AJ said, breaking the silence caused by the suddenly astute Rainbow Dash, "How did Twi even know about this Mad Dog Drape Peel anyway?"
"Magdor Draviil. And it's actually a very common language... Or it used to be. It says in the book that it died off many years ago, but is still widely practiced in the Hoof Islands. Twilight was going down there to do some studying, so she most likely picked up some of it."
"Maybe..." AJ responded skeptically, "How much longer ya' think we'll be on this floating rock?"
"About an hour longer, don't worry."
"Couldn't you have flown us there?" AJ whined.
"I can't hold you that far," Rainbow Dash shouted in a tone that suggested that should have been obvious from the start, "... You'd have surely fallen into the ocean!"
The morning sun soon became high in the sky and had reached it's peak. Shortly after it began its descent upon the world, plunging itself into the ocean to make way for the iridescent crystal moon who chased it across a sky lit by millions of stars. When the boat had docked on the shores of Calway Cay, Rainbow Dash piped up with a voice which indicated a large appreciation for self. "I've got it!" She shouted, waking up AJ in the middle of the night, "Twilight's letter, I've figured it out!"
"Well, what does it say, then?"
"It's only in the first couple lines, but it says 'BEWARE. DEMON CREATURE WATCHING.'"
"Demon Creature?" AJ said terrified. After so many encounters with magic and Poison Joke flowers, it was apparent these things exist. "What're we gonna do now, then?"
"Now, we head into the Cay and find our way to Twilight..." Rainbow Dash said,
"Even if it kills us."
CHAPTER 4
The moment the ponies stepped onto the Cay shore, it was apparent that finding Twilight would be no easy task. Facing them, were hundreds of caves and crevices in the mountain before them, it would be nearly impossible to check each one, and Twilight said she couldn't wait much longer. "This is hopeless!" cried Rainbow Dash, "We're never going to find her!" a tinge of panic struck her voice as she almost began to weep in despair. AJ was about to join her when her clever mind clicked and she demanded to see the folder once more. "Here, look at her note. It says 'Creatures of Darkness'... Now I don't really know, but it could be a clue. A little blunt, but could be something we can us-" she was interrupted by the screeching of a small bat that flew into one of the overhanging cave openings, "There! A bat, it flew into that cave over there. A creature of darkness. Hey there Rainbow..."
"Yeah?"
"You think you could get us up on that there cliff?"
"Shouldn't be a problem for me..." Rainbow Dash almost offended.
Rainbow Dash picked up AJ and they headed for the cliff. Once they made their way to the top, they noticed that there were around seven different cave opening that the bat may have flown into. When they went to investigate each one, they all had bats, and AJ realized her clue may have been only a fluke. In utter apathy, she moves back, not realizing the cliff edge stood dangerously close to her, and she plummeting towards the shores, mane flowing in the uprising breeze. The air, desperately trying to break her fall.
As Applejack hurtles down to the inevitable end, the bats from one of the caves blast from the darkness and fly down beneath her. The bats, as if in some trance or magical unison gather and form a blanket beneath the shock riddled pony and slowly float her back up to the cave mouth. Almost as soon as she was planted safely on the cliff, the bats dispersed once more. Rainbow Dash looks in awe, runs to her side and hugs her as she never had before on the account that a few moments ago it seemed that she wouldn't have had the opportunity again. After a few minutes, Rainbow Dash looks at AJ with understanding eyes and begins to speak.
"'A Shadow without light.' A sha-... It's the next clue, AJ. The band of bats formed and saved you, but all there was to see was a giant black mass coming towards you. A shadow without light, just like the note!"
"So whichever cave the bats came from is our starting point..."
"Over there!" Rainbow Dash yelled, "I'm sure of it!" indicated a cave on the far left. A still rather shaky AJ acknowledged and they set off for to save their dear friend.
CHAPTER 5
As AJ and Rainbow Dash made their way through the damp caves, the light from outside slowly diminished. After a few short steps, the light disappears completely.
"'Lost in Darkness'..." AJ said quietly, "Have any idea, there Sugar Cube?"
"Not one. What now?" asked Rainbow Dash, "We have no way of seeing where we are, let alone where we're going." she said as she slowly made her way to a nearby wall. She leaned against it to think and behind her emanated an eery, faint blue glow.
"Lantern Bugs!" exclaimed AJ, "We used to have those when I was in Manehatten those so many years ago! Hot dog, I'd love so much to go out and catch 'em in a jar and just watch those buggers just light up the night!" AJ said with much glee. An idea sprung into her head. "Dash, how long do you need to make a Sonic Rainboom?"
"Not far, I've been working on it, I just need a couple feet tops."
"You think you can do it here, even though you can't see much?"
"Well I certainly can try." said a now confident Rainbow Dash, now that she understood what AJ was getting at. After a few seconds of preparing, Rainbow Dash was off, flying at breakneck speeds- suddenly... A flash of light roared from the cave and an ear shattering clatter arose from nowhere. She had done it, the Sonic Rainboom was a success. Just as AJ was planning, the shock-wave from the Rainboom was so large, it woke nearly every singly Lantern Bug on the wall, and a gradual illuminated pathway arose from the darkness. When Rainbow Dash returned she looked at AJ...
"And then 'Silence Coats the Walls'. It wasn't a clue to where to go, it was a problem to be solved. We've got a one more to go, so we'd better get started. Shall we?"
"I can almost hear Twi's sweet voice..." said AJ, and they set off for the next area.
What seemed like hours passed as they traveled the unforgiving cave. The floor coated with creatures and awful substances unknown to the ponies. They eventually came across a small room with four perfect walls. Almost as if they had stepped into an elevator of sorts. The floor, clean and polished. The walls, perfectly straight. The only imperfection in the room were hundreds of small cuts and gashes in the walls surrounding them. "This must be it... 'Cold Air CUTS Me to the Bone'" said AJ examining the room. As soon as she made contact with one of the walls, the room closed. The entrance was sealed off by a wall completing the perfect square room. And no matter how much they tried, they just couldn't seem to manage to break the fourth wall. Just then, a small hole in the ceiling removed itself, almost as if they in a small bottle, and someone unscrewed the lid. In blew the coldest winds either of the ponies had ever experienced. After a few moments, they realized that the wind blew in a circular fashion around them and enclosed them in what was like the eye of a storm. Now they saw why the walls had so many cuts on the them. As the wind swirled around them, it made contact with the outer walls, and the cold air literally cut like blades into the walls. With fear in her eyes, Rainbow Dash looked to AJ, "I read once in a Daring Do story that sometimes ancient civilizations would only make some chambers accessible, and some were booby trapped, as we saw. But some only open with one thing..." She said nearly about to cry. AJ could sense the sheer distraught panic in Rainbow Dash's voice, and she asked softly, fretting the answer... "And what's that?"
"Blood Sacrifice."
CHAPTER 6
Applejack and Rainbow Dash couldn't close in anymore, and they knew that to move on they would have to pay a price. They took deep breaths and began to slowly move towards the winds to counter them. The first cut was made in Rainbow Dash's cheek, and she let out a quick yelp in pain. Second, came a modest gash in AJ's right leg, and another that swiftly made it's away across her lower back. As the ponies moved in closer, the cuts got deeper and more painful. It wasn't until AJ had turned to look at Rainbow Dash did she receive the final blow of the cold airs. Rainbow Dash saw the pain in AJ's eyes, and cried out for her. AJ fell to the ground in agony, caressing the biggest wound of all. Her hair had been severed in the back, and now was short-cropped on account of the line of flesh that had been marked from the winds. Spanning nearly from ear to ear on the back of her head. It wasn't too bad, but it impaired AJ's ability to keep moving. Rainbow Dash looked frantically for the way out, and realized it was the hole at the top where the winds had come through. She mustered all her strength, and matched it with the adrenaline from the last clue, and heaved AJ and herself up through the hole, finally escaping the box they were entrapped within.
She landed somewhat abruptly upon the ground, AJ in her arms. It wasn't until she had met the ground did Rainbow Dash notice that she had a generous amount of cuts in her wings, and came to the conclusion that it would be difficult to fly again without harming herself more. As AJ finally came to, the two badly injured ponies looked up to see a small mass huddled in the corner of the room they were lying in. They had now taken the time to look at the room they were in. No, not room... Chamber. As if a huge dining hall, the chamber stretched for miles, and it's ceiling practically touched the heavens themselves. Rainbow Dash helped AJ up and they went over to the mass they noticed earlier. There she was, Twilight Sparkle, in a crumbled form, clearly torn by the vile tests that stood precursory to this chamber. When AJ had rolled her over however, there was something wrong. Her eyes, black as night and lifeless, her coat, faded and matted, and her horn... Filed razor sharp. This was not Twilight. With one glance, both the ponies who stood beside this creature of disgust knew what they had found...
"Beware. Demon Creature Watching..." The said in perfect unison. And with that, the walls began to tremble and the ceiling shattered, raining rock among them from the highest point in the chamber. Chandeliers crashed down, pillars collapsed, and the whole area seemed to evaporate into dust in the wind. Without warning, the creature believed to be Twilight Sparkle arose and morphed into a sickening, putrid monster who ended out to be at least thirty times it's original size. Snarling and gnashing at the air around it, the demon creature raised itself up and stood upon it's hind-legs and came down with amazing force. It's weight collapsing the mountain completely. Rainbow Dash snatched up AJ and made a 'round-a-bout move circling the beast, and getting out of the way of this fatal blow.
Once the beast had understood the move, it brought it's massive claws up and swatted them out of the air. The two now flightless ponies careened out of the sky and crashed into the ground below. "HOW DO WE STOP IT?" AJ cried out, "IT'S BIGGER THAN ANY URSA I'VE SEEN."
"I HAVE AN IDEA" yelled back Rainbow Dash, "BUT I DON'T KNOW IF IT'LL WORK..."
She flew as quickly as she could around and around the feet of the creature until it attempted to squash her with it's foot. Having lost it's balance in this attack, the beast plummeted to the surface of the surrounding water of Calway Cay. There, it struggled to regain it's footing. And thus thrashed it's eery appendages around attempting to break and maim anything in their paths. AJ screamed, "IT'S NOT ENOUGH, TRY SOEMTHING ELSE!"
"THAT'S ALL I CAN DO!" Rainbow Dash replied frantically. Then she remembered how quickly she could produce a Rainboom, and recalled how the entire cave shook violently when she did. Without any warning to AJ, she swooped in toward the creature, and the it took no time to figure what she was doing. It promptly sat up as far as it could, which was far enough to swallow the Pegasus pony whole.
"NO!" AJ screamed as she wrestled herself to an upright position. Taking advantage of the opportunity that lay before her, quite literally, she clambered up the beasts legs, and made her way to it's head. Making a point to avoid the mouth, she found herself finally on top of the cheekbone of this gargantuan hell-dweller. With a powerful buck, she managed to impair the demon's sight, and without thought, applied the same maneuver to the opposing eye. The best, now utterly blinded, let out a wail so ear shattering that the cay in it's self crumbled beneath it. As water began to pour over the animal, it thrashed harder. And at a single moment, everything stopped. The beast was calm. The water calmed. AJ Calmed, but only to try to understand what was happening.
The beast's stomach glowed. And it's mouth opened to let out the worst cry of all.
CHAPTER 7
Everything happened so quickly, there was really no way to identify what exactly had happened at all.
After the beast had swallowed Rainbow Dash, it forgot about the whole experience. Luckily for RD, the beast had not been taught to chew. And she took this glorious moment to put into effect her plan. She made her way through the inner tubing of the creature's interior. Once she found herself in the stomach region, she began to fly around in a continuous circle. One rotation after another and another, and nothing. The speed gained, but there was almost no room to fly, despite the size of the demon. With enough determination, she sought through to the end, and eventually came out on top with the largest Sonic Rainboom she had ever mustered. With that, the beast up and exploded. It's exterior torn apart as if it had been nothing more than paper and string. Parts flew this way and that, and Rainbow Dash made a clean exit.
As the beast lie there still, Rainbow Dash reunited with her friend below. AJ had never been happier to see her. They were about to share stories of their accomplishments but at that moment, the ground shook once more. As if by some unseen force, the Cay then continued to collapse beneath the now deceased creature. But now it wasn't just the area around, it was the whole island in it's entirety, sinking to the bottomless realms of the deep abyss below. "Whoa Nelly, we ought to get outta here and on the double!" AJ proclaimed, looking to Rainbow Dash who responded with an enthusiastic shake of the head. Rainbow Dash took all of her strength and channeled it to her wings, grabbed Applejack, and they were off. Flying away at break-neck speeds trying to get away from the demon forge they had unfortunately been trapped upon all day. The boat that took them to the Cay had been stayed only few leagues out from the Cay, and the two landed comfortably upon the main deck. As medical personnel tended to both ponies, they took a very long, and soothing breath.
CHAPTER 8
Back home in Ponyville, AJ and Rainbow Dash sat in AJ's office on the twenty-seventh floor. Admiring the view, Rainbow Dash speaks, "How were we even involved in any of that? What was the point, why us?" She asks, "What was the reason?"
"I wondered the same" answered AJ, "So I asked around. Logically, I started with Twilight, who was actually safe and sound after all. She had arrived in Ponyville from the Hoof Islands not two hours after we set forth on our... Adventure. I asked her if there was anything she could tell us. Unfortunately, she had no answers, but she HAD been to Calway Cay... She also had a book all about the creature we found, and several mystery's and legends of Calway Cay. I found some interesting things.."
"Like what?"
"Like the note we found. Forged from magic. Same as the cutting winds, the demon creature, and the Cay itself. It is said that every pony in this world will encounter similar Cay's, built just for them. Some don't ever get that opportunity. The strange part is, the Cay's are activated by those who find them."
"But we didn't find one we weren't looking for..."
"Ah, and that's where it gets weirder. When you find a Cay, it activates. But you will NEVER find your own Cay. Instead, it activates for one of your closest loves, friends, etc... When Twilight Sparkle had visited Calway, it had activated for either you or me. Perhaps both. The point is, it was nothing more than some kind of sick magical myth. And this time, it was no myth at all."
"How did it know about Twilight? How did it know we'd come after her, and not send someone else to do it for us?"
"Because since the Cay's activate for those you love, it was certain we would be the right ones to come and rescue her had she been in any real danger."
Several minutes passed with no words. No thoughts. Nothing. The air was still, and the rain in Ponyville continuing to pitter-patter against the windows. Rainbow Dash was still trying to take it all in. All that she had learned. Even some of what she had experienced the last few days. Finally, she spoke. "So what, is that it then?" she asked inquisitively, "No more adventures on this one? Nothing else to do? We did it? We're done?"
"I suppose so. I suppose there should be some kind of twist in the making, but maybe sometimes things just work out. Although I'd be some kind of revolutionary figure if that was the case. Only time will tell."
"Well it's all still so very strange."
"That's business."
END