My Little Hunchback Of Notre Dame

Chapter 13

Once he made it down the stairs, AJ opened the door, and attempted to walk out, but Spike poked his head above the door, and stopped him as he said "AJ!" AJ yelped in surprise, and Spike shushed him as he said "I'm coming with you." "Ah'm glad you changed your mind." AJ said. "I'm not doing it for you." Spike said. "I'm doing it for Applejack." "You know where she is?" AJ asked. "No, but she said this would help us find her." Spike said as he gave AJ the gift Applejack gave him. AJ looked at the talisman closely as he said "Good, good, good! Ahhh. Great. What is it?" "I'm not sure." Spike said. "Mmm. Must be some sort of code." AJ said. "Maybe it's Saddle Arabian. No, no, it's not Saddle Arabian. Maybe it's Old Equestrian." "When you wear this woven band, you hold the city in your claw." Spike whispered out remembering what Applejack said. "What?" AJ asked. "It's the city!" Spike said. "What are you talking about?" AJ asked. "It's a map!" Spike said pointing at the talisman. "See, here's the catedral, and the river, and this little-." AJ interrupted him as he started arguing with him. They then stopped yelling at each other, and they took a deep breath. "All right, okay." AJ said. "You say it's a map, fine, it's a map. But, if we're going to find Applejack, we have to work together." He lightly patted Spike's back and said "Truce?"

Spike thought for a minute, and said "Well...okay." He slapped AJ's back, and he winced in pain. "Sorry." Spike said as he got on AJ's back. "No, you're not." AJ muttered as he began running to the destination on the talisman map. Moments later, they arrived at the graveyard, and they went up to a grave with a sun symbol on it like the symbol on the talisman map. "This looks like the symbol on the map." AJ said. "But what does it mean?" Spike asked pointing at the words on the ring on the circle. "Hmm. Ah'm not sure." AJ said. "Ah can make out an inscription, but it's going to take a few minutes to translate it." Spike then opened the lid on the grave to reveal a secret passage, and AJ said "Yes, well, or we could just go down those stairs." They went down the stairs, and stepped into a partially flooded chamber, lined with pony skeletons. "Is this the Court of Miracles?" Spike asked. "Offhoof, Ah'd say its the Court of Ankle Deep Sewage." AJ said as they walked down the chamber. "Must be the old catacombs. Cheerful place." He chuckled as he said "Kinda makes you wish you got out more often, eh Spike?" "Not me." Spike said. "I just want to warn Applejack, and get back to the bell tower in Canterlot before I get in any more trouble."

Little did they know, they were being watched by three earth ponies wearing skeleton costumes. "Speaking of trouble, we should have run into some by now." AJ said. "What do you mean?" Spike asked. "You know, a guard, a booby trap, or-." AJ started to say, but he stopped talking when the light on the torch went out, leaving them in darkness. "Or an ambush." AJ said finishing his sentence. Suddenly, the chamber became lit, and the earth ponies grabbed AJ and Spike, and forced them onto their knees. Then, Trixie went up to them as she said "Well, well, well. What have we here?" "Trasspassers!" An earth pony Double Diamond said. "Spies!" Another earth pony named Feather Bangs said. "We're not spies!" AJ said as he got gagged by Double Diamond. "You got to listen-!" Spike tried to say, but got gagged by Feather Bangs instead. "Don't interrupt me!" Trixie said. "You're very clever to have found our hideaway. Unfortunately, you won't live to tell the tale!" They took AJ and Spike to the gallows platfrom in a large room, and Trixie stood up in front of the other earth ponies as she said "Gather around, everypony! There's good 'noose' tonight!" As Feather Bangs placed the noose on AJ and Spike's neck, Trixie said "It's a double header, a couple of Discord's spies!" The earth pony crowd booed as Trixie said "And not just any spies! His captain of the guard, and his loyal bell ringing dragon!"

Apple Bloom gasped in shock when she saw AJ and Spike about to be hung at the gallows, and ran off to tell her sister. Trixie went up to the handle, looked at AJ and Spike, and said "Any last words?" Through their gags, AJ and Spike tries to warn the earth ponies. Not understanding what they were trying to say, Trixie rolled her eyes, and said "That's what they all say." Before she could pull the handle with her magic, she was stopped by Applejack who said "Stop!" "Applejack!" AJ and Spike said through their gags. Applejack went up to Trixie, and said "These two aren't spies! They're our friends!" "Why didn't they say so?!" Trixie said as Applejack removed AJ and Spike's gags from their mouths. "We did say so!" AJ and Spike said as Applejack removed their nooses from their necks. She pointed at AJ as she said "This is the pony soldier that saved the miller's family." She then pointed at Spike as she said "And Spike helped me escape the cathedral back in Canterlot!" AJ went up in front of the earth ponies, and said "We came to warn you! Discord's coming! He says he knows where you're hiding, and he's attacking at dawn with a thousand ponies!" The earth pony crowd gasped in horror as Applejack said "Then, let's waste no time! We must leave immediately!"

As the earth ponies began gathering their stuff, AJ, Applejack, and Spike got down from the gallows platform. Applejack hugged AJ as she said "You took a terrible risk coming here, sugarcube. It may not exactly show, but we're grateful." AJ looked at Spike who turned away in embarrassment, and pushed him over to Applejack as he said "Don't thank me. Thank Spike. Without his help, I would never have found my way here." "Nor would I!" A voice said. They turned around in horror to see Discord standing there as the pony soldiers moved in on them. The earth ponies tried to escape, but the pony soldiers surrounded them, and one of them grabbed Apple Bloom as she said "Sis! Help me!" As Discord went down the small steps, he said "After twenty years of searching, the Court of Miracles is mine at last." He looked at Spike with a smug look on his face, and said "Dear Spike, I always knew you would someday be of use to me." Spike gasped in horror, and muttered "No." "What are you talking about?" Applejack said as she glared at Discord. "Why, he led me right to you my dear." He said smugly. "Ya'll are a liar!" Applejack said. Discord looked at AJ who was glaring at him, and said "And look what else I've caught in my net. Captain AJ back from the dead. Another miracle, no doubt. I shall remedy that." He looked to Trixie, and the earth ponies as he said "There will be a little bonfire in the square tomorrow, and you're all invited to attend." He looked at the pony soldiers, and said "Lock them up!" The pony soldiers obeyed as Spike grabbed Discord's tail, and said "No, please, Master Discord!" Discord glared at him as he let go of his tail, fell into dispair, and muttered "No, no." Discord looked at the two pony soldiers, and said "Take him back to the bell tower, and make sure he stays there." The pony soldiers then dragged a depressed Spike away.