Chapter 14

Entrance To the Chamber

The day after they survived the Flyders in the Everfree Forest, Twilight and Applejack visited Rarity in the hospital once again. They sadly looked down at Rarity's petrified body as they held her hoof.

"We wish you were still here, Rarity. We need you!" Twilight sighed.

After a few moments of standing next to Rarity's bed, Applejack looked over to Rarity to see that there was something clutched in her hoof. Upon taking a closer look, Applejack realized that it was a piece of paper.

"Twilight, look! It looks like Rarity found something before she got petrified!" Applejack noticed.

As she took notice of the piece of paper, Twilight grabbed it and took a closer look at it. As she gazed at whatever was written on the paper, Twilight gasped in surprise as it all made sense now.

` "Applejack, it looks like Rarity figured it out! Follow me!"

Twilight and Applejack walked through the castle's hallway as Twilight was showing Applejack what she found.

"This piece of paper seems to talk about a creature called, The Cockatrice, a creature with the head of a chicken and the body of a dragon. According to this, has the ability to petrify its victims. Applejack, don't you see? The monster is a cockatrice. That explains how everypony is petrified!" Twilight explained.

"But that still doesn't explain how it keeps getting loose in the castle without anypony noticing." Applejack replied.

Curious, Twilight looked at the back of the piece of paper before she replied, "I think Rarity figured it out." She turned the paper over to the back to reveal that there was a word that read, 'Pipes'. "It seems that the cockatrice has been using the pipes to sneak around the castle. Applejack, we both know that there had been a girl who had died in a bathroom 50 years ago, but what if she never left?"

Applejack pondered Twilight's question for a moment before realization hit her. It wasn't long before Twilight and Applejack heard Cadance's voice echo throughout the hall.

"Attention, students! Please return to your dormitories, and we need all teachers on the second floor hallway immediately."

Curious with what is going on, Twilight and Applejack sneaked over to the second floor. They hid behind a corner as they found all of the school's teachers gather on the second floor.

"Everypony, I'm afraid I've got some terrible news. It would seem that the monster just captured one of our students." Cadance announced. "We cannot allow anymore students to be put in danger! I'm afraid that this might be the end of Canterlot."

The teachers gasped in shock upon realizing that one of their students had gone missing. They muttered among themselves as Blueblood showed up at the last minute.

"So sorry I'm late. I had some important matters to take care of. What did I miss?" Blueblood asked.

"It would appear that one of our students just got taken by the monster." Cadance answered. "We were considering closing down the school, but perhaps you might be able to save the student from the monster."

As Cadance said that, Blueblood began to panic. "Wh-What? Why me?"

"Because you did say in your autobiographies that you defeated all kinds of monsters. This should be no problem for you!"

Blueblood gulped before giving a fake smile. "Why, of course! I just need to prepare myself and I'll go down to the chamber and defeat this vile beast!"

At that moment, Blueblood hurried over to his office before the other teachers walked away, leaving just Cadance and Nurse Redheart.

"Professor Cadance, if I may ask, who is the student who got captured?" Redheart asked, curious.

"The student is Rainbow Dash." Cadance answered, much to Applejack's horror.

The rest of the teachers left, revealing writing on the wall that read, 'Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever.' This was all too much for Applejack to process. Her sister was trapped in the chamber with the monster and she didn't know what to do about it. Twilight knew how hard this was for Applejack, so she decided to assure her that everything was going to be fine.

"Don't worry, Applejack! I have an idea! Follow me!"

Applejack followed Twilight through the castle until they reached the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Considering that Blueblood was looking for a way in the Chamber of Secrets, Twilight knew that they could use his help. They burst into Blueblood's office to see Blueblood surrounded by packed bags and suitcases.

"Professor Blueblood, are you going somewhere?" Twilight asked.

"Uh, yes." Blueblood gave an awkward smile. "I have some super important business to attend to! I can't stay here!"

"But what about my sister?" Applejack yelled. "Rainbow is still trapped in the chamber!"

"It is such a shame, but there is nothing I can do about it." Blueblood focused on packing his bags as quickly as possible.

"But you're the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!" Twilight argued. "What about everything you have done in your books?"

"Books can be misleading!"

"You're the one who wrote them."

With an annoyed sigh, Blueblood yelled, "Would you use your common sense? My books wouldn't have sold half as well if ponies didn't think I wrote them."

Putting two and two together, Twilight figured out the truth.

"You're a fraud! You've been taking credit for what other famous witches and wizards had done!"

"Is there anything you can do?" Applejack asked as she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Actually, yes." Blueblood said as he slowly reached for his wand. "I know a spell that can wipe a pony's memory. That was how I was able to get away with selling my books. Now that you know about my memory spell, I have to do the same thing to you!"

As Blueblood grabbed his wand, he turned around only to realized that Twilight and Applejack already had their wands aimed at him.

"Don't even think about it!" Twilight threatened.

Seeing that he was outnumbered, Blueblood had no choice but to surrender. Twilight and Applejack then walked Blueblood over to the girls' bathroom, where they hoped to ask Moon Dancer about how she died. As they stepped into the bathroom, Moon Dancer took notice of them before giving a depressed sigh.

"What do you want, Twilight?"

"Moon Dancer, we were kind of wondering if you might be able to tell us how you died." Twilight explained.

Just remember how she died was enough to scare her, but Moon Dancer didn't see the harm in telling Twilight.

"Oh, it was awful! On the day I died, I was upset because one of the students was teasing me about my glasses." Moon Dancer recalled her awful day. "I locked myself in this stall to cry when I heard the voice of a pony. It sounded like a boy's voice, but he spoke in a language I didn't understand. Even so, I opened the door to tell him to go away. Then everything happened so fast! Some creature charged me and it felt as though I was being pecked and scratched to death."

"Can you tell me what kind of creature it was?" Twilight asked.

"I wasn't able to get a good look at it, but I think that it stood near the sink over there." Moon Dancer pointed to a nearby sink.

As Twilight looked at the sink, she noticed the design of a snake at the top. That was when she realized that she was close to solving the mystery.

"Applejack, I think that this is it! This must be where the entrance to the chamber is!" Twilight exclaimed.

"It seems that there is a design of a snake on there. Try speaking in parseltongue, Twilight!" Applejack suggested.

With a nod, Twilight walked up to the sink and began to speak. Applejack had no idea what Twilight said, but she can only assume that Twilight said to open the entrance to the chamber. Suddenly, the sink moved out of the way, revealing a hole in the floor. Twilight, Applejack, and Blueblood looked down to see that the hold was pitch-black with no end in sight.

With a gulp, Blueblood said, "Well, congratulations on figuring it out, Twilight. It would seem there is no reason for me to stay around!"

Blueblood was about to run away when Twilight and Applejack grabbed him and pushed him back.

"Oh, yes there is!" Twilight yelled before she and Applejack aimed their wands at him once again.

"You can't expect me to go down there!" Blueblood argued. "What good would that do?"

"Better you than us!" Applejack countered.

"Okay! Okay! I'll do it!" Blueblood turned around as he looked down the hole before getting intimidated again. "Are you sure that one of you wouldn't want to go down there first because-"

Blueblood didn't even get to finish his sentence as Twilight and Applejack pushed him down the hole. This left Blueblood screaming as he fell into the darkness below.

"Twilight, do you think he is okay down there?" Applejack asked.

The two ponies soon got their answer as they heard Blueblood yell, "Oh no! It is so filthy down here! This is going to ruin my perfect mane!"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Yeah! He's fine! Come on, Applejack! Rainbow is waiting for us down there!"

Before she jumped down, Moon Dancer called out for Twilight. "Hey, Twilight! If by some chance you die down here and become a ghost, you can always stay here in my stall with me. It can get pretty lonely in here."

"Uh, thanks, Moon Dancer."

Once she was ready, Twilight jumped down into the darkness below before Applejack jumped in after soon ended up sliding down a pipe before they reached the bottom of the secret passage. As Twilight and Applejack looked around, they realized that they were in some kind of underground tunnel.

Twilight got back up as she said, "This must be where the Chamber of Secrets is! I think we are getting close."

It wasn't long before Twilight heard heavy breathing coming from Blueblood. He looked as though he might pass out at any minute.

"All of this is too much for me to handle! I think I'm going to faint!" Blueblood said before he collapsed on the floor.

With Blueblood unconscious, Twilight and Applejack rushed over to him to make sure he was okay. Once they got close enough, Blueblood quickly got back up and snatched Applejack's wand from her. The two ponies backed up in shock as Blueblood aimed the wand at them.

"This is where the journey ends! Neither of you will have any memory of what happened. Not to worry though! Everypony shall know the truth of how I heroically stood up to the monster, but was tragically too late to save the girl, and how you two lost your minds at the sight of her mangled corpse! Say goodbye to your memories!" Blueblood aimed the wand and yelled, "Obliviate!"

Unfortunately for Blueblood, he forgot that Applejack's wand was broken, causing the spell to backfire on him. The impact of the spell sent Blueblood flying into a nearby wall. It was at that moment when huge chucks of debris began falling from the ceiling. With a gasp, Twilight jumped out of the way at the last minute before more rocks fell down, separating her and Applejack. Twilight coughed before taking notice of the debris blocking the exit.

"Applejack, are you okay?" Twilight called out for her friend.

"Don't worry, Twilight! I'm fine!" Applejack assured, much to Twilight's relief.

As Applejack tried to get the rocks out of the way, Blueblood opened his eyes and stood back up. Once she realized what was going on, Applejack gulped as Blueblood stared at her with a blank expression.

"Hello."

Surprised by Blueblood's casual greeting, Applejack replied, "Uh, howdy."

"Sorry to bother you, but do you know who I am and where we are?"

It was at that moment when Applejack realized what was going on, so she called over to Twilight once more.

"Twilight, Blueblood just lost his memory! He doesn't know who he is anymore!"

With no idea on what to do, Twilight looked around to realize there was only one path she could go. She could only assume that this was the path that led to the Chamber of Secrets.

"I'm sure that Rainbow Dash is getting close. I'll try to find her while you try to move the rocks out of the way!" Twilight spoke up.

"Can do, Twilight!" Applejack smiled before she got started on moving the rocks out of the way.

Seeing that there was no turning back now, Twilight continued down the path to the chamber. As she walked further down the path, Twilight was hoping that Rainbow Dash would be alright when she finds her.