Chapter 32

We have been walking for a few hours now, following Daring as she led us through the jungle. The heat of the place was getting to me, and I had half a mind to take my shirt off because of it, however a certain lizard was preventing me from doing so. Rasi has been on my shoulder the whole time we were searching for the item that Ahuizotl wants us to find.

I sighed as I looked around at the others. They weren’t fairing as well as me, perhaps even worse then me, due to their coats. The only one that seemed to not be bothered by all of the sweat and heat was AJ and Daring, the latter of which was taking a look around, looking for something.

“We there yet?” Asked Twilight, panting from exhaustion.

“Almost. I think it’s just around here somewhere.” Said Daring, not looking away from her search.

“What exactly are we looking for?” I asked, getting tired as well.

“We’re looking for some sort of stand, or pedestal. One that will be holding a statue that will lead to the place we are looking for.”

“Is it this one?“ Asked Pinkie, pointing into a clearing. In the clearing, stood a pedestal, and on the pedestal was a small sapphire statue in the shape of a coiling serpent like creature. It seemed familiar to me, almost like it was a wingless dragon. Everypony was staring at the statue, and then they turned to face the pink pony. “What? We passed it a few times, but I thought we were looking for something else.”

Dash sighed at this and began to approach the stand. “Whatever. At least we found it sooner rather-” before she could take another step, the ground beneath her began to cave, causing Dash to shout in surprise. Fortunately, she was able to open her wings and fly out of there before she hit the bottom. We all rushed to her to make sure that she was fine.

“Dash! You ok?” Asked Twilight. Dash took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, and then she gave us her traditional smirk, saying, “Of course, I saw that trap a mile away.”

“It wasn’t a trap.” We turned around to look at Daring, who was staring down the hole that formed. When we looked down, we noticed that the hole actually formed a spiral staircase leading further down into the earth.

“So, ah guess were goin’ down.” Said AJ, trying to lift up our moods. I said nothing, deciding to continue down myself, letting the rest of them follow me. I felt Rasi shift on me slightly, getting herself a little more comfortable on my shoulders.

The rest of the ponies were quick to follow, Twilight and Rarity once again lighting the way. “Drak, p-please don’t push yourself, if t-that’s all right.” Said Fluttershy in a nervous voice.

“The sooner we find this item, the sooner we can save Ditzy and the fillies.” I said, keeping my voice empty of emotions. Fluttershy said nothing after this, preferring to nuzzle my side to try and comfort me, but to her dismay I just shrugged it off, not in the mood for that kind of stuff.

After about a minute of walking down the stairs, we entered a large room. The room was lined with bright purple crystals that lit the interior, producing enough light to see through the darkness. In the center of the room was a giant stone statue, in the shape of a large tribal Earth pony. The statue was about as tall as Celestia, and was very life like as well; its eyes seemed to pierce into our souls, making me very nervous. For some reason, I felt uncomfortable with looking directly at it, and I had to advert my eyes away from the statue. On the walls were strange pictures, all of them showing ponies following a unique creature into all sorts of battles. The creature was holding what looked like to be two unusual blades. The ponies that were here before hand (or hoof) must have worshiped this being before Celestia and Luna came into power long ago, and they must have thought that it was sort of warrior of amazing power.

However, I was able to correctly identify what the creature truly was. Believe me, I may have selective amnesia, but I can still recognize another human when I see them.

As we looked at the room, I saw that Daring and Twilight were looking at the pictures on the walls with interest. “This is so fascinating! The ponies here must have worshiped the human like a god in the ancient times.” Said Twilight, glued to the ancient art.

“And by the looks of it, they said its name is…it’s hard to pronounce, but I think it says ‘Argenteus’, which roughly translates into ‘The Silver One.’ I wonder why that is.” Daring said, mostly to herself though, forgetting that we were still here.

“Well, does it say what the item that we are looking for is?” I asked, getting a little impatient.

“Geez Drak, you’re normally more patient then this.” Said Twilight, giving me a small grin, trying to coax me out of my funk.

“Well, you try to keep a cool head when some psycho is holding your loved ones hostage.” I said sarcastically, making her flinch a little.

“That’s it! One more word out of your mouth like that, and I’m gong to send you back onto the airship with Fluttershy!” Shouted Daring, glaring daggers at me. I mentally berated myself for once again losing a little of my self-control, and took a few deep breaths to calm myself down.

“I’m sorry, Daring, I’m just…really uptight right now.” I said with a sigh. Daring nodded her understanding, and then turned her attention back towards the ancient ruins.

“Just keep yourself together Drak. Now, from what I can tell, the story says that a human warrior was found trapped in a crystal long ago, and next to the crystal was a prophecy written in stone.”

“Sounds cliché if you ask me.” Said Dash, chuckling slightly.

“I know, but that’s what it says here. Anyways, the prophecy stated that ‘To waken the warrior of Equestria past, one must offer the blood of the innocent soul to make him kneel, his weapons drenched in the offering of his meal, and upon receiving the generous gift, he will serve to the one that brings him back to life.’ Interesting.”

“Um, not ta sound like a prune, but ah thought that these prophecy things were supposed to be a little more…rhyming.” Said AJ, a confused look on her face.

Daring chuckled at this and said, “You would be surprised at how many prophecy, predictions, and the like that I find that actually do rhyme.” She said. “Trust me, this is what they normally sound like, no matter what those news ponies say otherwise.”

“So, what do you think the item is then, Daring?” I asked, making sure to keep myself calm this time.

Daring gave me a quick look, and then she turned to the rest of us and said, “Well, the prophecy says that it needs to be served with its own weapons, so I’m assuming that we are looking for one of the blades that it is holding.”

“Indeed, and the blade that you are looking for is the Ikazuchi blade, mortals.”

We all jumped at the noise, before we slowly turned to face the direction that it came from. However, all we saw was the same stone statue from before, and no evidence that anypony was actually here.

“Um, hello. Anypony else here?” I asked the darkness. To my shock, the voice came back again, a bit deeper then before.

“The question is, why are you here, oh brother of Argenteus.” With that, the most unexpected thing happened.

The statue lifted a hoof off of the pedestal it was on and placed it on the ground in front of it.

It was at this point that we finally noticed the soft glowing orange eyes on the statue as it continued to walk off of its previous resting spot. As it moved, the stone seemed like it was made of flesh instead of rock, seamlessly moving as the structure moved. It finally stopped in front of us, just staring into our eyes, seeming to be waiting for something.

“Wowie! You’re really big!” Shouted Pinkie, zipping all around the giant behemoth as she examined it. The statue didn’t even seem fazed by Pinkie’s hyper energy, and simply stated, “I see you’re as excited as always, oh Pink One of Laughter.” The statue then turned towards us, and upon seeing me with my Bo staff at the ready, it said, “Relax, relative of Argenteus, for if I wished you any harm, then you would all be dead now.”

Its words somehow relaxed me a bit, but I still kept a close eye on it, staff at the ready, determined to keep everypony safe while I was with them. We were all quiet for the time being, neither party saying anything. Finally, after what felt like hours of silence, Twilight spoke up.

“So…um, h-hello? My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I’m-”

“The holder of the Magic Crown, and the student of the White One.” It interrupted.

Twilight raised an eyebrow at that. “What do you mean, ’Magic Crown’?” Asked the purple unicorn, getting more curious as we continued to talk with the statue.

“You are the leader of the Ones that Hold Harmony, the others of who are with you as we speak. The others are the Rainbow Pony of the Loyal Soul, the Pony of the Honest Earth, the Pink One of Laughter, the Innocent Soul of Kindness, and the One that Bears Gifts for nothing in return.” It continued, its voice making the cave rumble slightly. Finally deciding that he wasn’t going to attack us any time soon, I slowly lowered my staff, but still kept a close eye on it.

“So, since you know who we are, then perhaps you can tell us what your name is?” Asked Daring, curious herself.

“I have no name, for I forsook it the day I took this body that you now see before you. The only name that I go by is the one that describes what I truly am.”

“And, that would be…” Said Rainbow, getting a little impatient.

“You may have me known as a golem.”

“Wait, you’re a golem?” Asked Twilight, shocked. The golem simple nodded, and this set Twilight off into a research frenzy.

“Oh-my-gosh, a real live golem. Well, technically it isn’t alive, but still, a real golem. I thought that they were just a myth. Then again, I thought that humans were a myth, but here I am, with my human coltfriend, searching for an artifact that can wake up another human, and I’m now talking to an actual golem! Oh this is so exciting! I wonder if they are other myths that are actually true. If only I had brought more paper with me, then I could-” At this point, Rarity thankfully interrupted her.

“Twilight, dear, you're rambling again.” Said the white unicorn, causing Twilight to blush a little.

“Oh, r-right…s-sorry.” She said softly.

“A curiosity to learn is not something to be ashamed of, Magical One.” Said the golem, seeming to be nonchalant about the whole thing.

“Oh, uh…thanks, um…golem.” Said Twilight softly, not prepared to receive such a comment from a complete stranger. We were silent for a while, and then, Daring finally broke the silence.

“So, who is going to fight you, and what are the conditions, and yada yada, and so on and so forth.” She said, getting slightly impatient.

“I’m not here for combat, grave robber, I’m just the guardian of the temple, and here to make sure this place remains intact.”

“Wait, if you’re not here to fight us, then why did you get off of you little pedestal there? Also, who are you calling a ‘grave robber’, you stone pony?”

The golem ignored Daring’s comment and said, “I’m only here to lead you to what you seek. I trust that the Ones that Hold Harmony would be much more trustful then the monster with the third hand.” He said, gaining a slightly darker look in his eyes when he mentioned the other one.

“So Ahuizotl was here already?” Daring asked.

“Yes, the one that you call Ahuizotl snuck in here and invaded the first half of the chambers, before he incorrectly took the Baransu blade, which is not his to take, for the weapons of Argenteus must be acquired nobly. However, I can sense that you of eight will be willing to pass the challenges that you must face, if you so require the blade of Ikazuchi.”

“So, what are these tests?” I asked, somewhat happy that we were finally getting somewhere with this now.

“To pass these tests three, you must separate yourselves, and trust each other to succeed, for that is the only way to pass the tests. However, Brother of Argenteus, you are not allowed to join the others in this travel of theirs.”

“Now hold on, there is no way that I’m-” I began to say, before I was interrupted by Dash.

“Drak, remember what Daring said.” I was about to yell at her, saying that she should be the last one to tell me to calm down. I caught myself, however, before I did, and taking a few deep breaths, I was able to calm myself down again, and nodding my thanks to the cyan Pegasus, I then turned to the golem and said, “Fine, but I still want to know why I can’t.”

“You’re anger clouds your judgment, and it will prevent you from properly passing the tests of Argenteus.” It said in its semi monotonous voice. I was quiet, absorbing what it said. His words, even though I wished they weren’t true, I knew that they were, and I couldn’t think of anything to counter it.

With a reluctant sigh, I nodded, and said, “Fine, I’ll stay out of the tests. One last thing, though, what are the tests exactly?”

“To receive the Ikazuchi blade of Argenteus, you must past these tests three. The first one will test your faith in each other, for without faith we would have no pony to turn. The next of the challenges will challenge you in a game of wits and mind. The finally of three, is not one of brain or faith, but one of soul, for only those of truth to oneself shall truly prosper.”

We were all quiet as he spoke, listening to him explaining the tests that we, or more accurately, they, had to pass. As soon as he finished speaking, Daring said, “Ok, so were do we start, then?”

The golem moved to the side, and we were then able to see that he was blocking what seemed to be a large entrance way. Inside the entrance, there were three paths, each with some sort of slot above them. “You first must decided who will go where, and then you will all enter the chambers testing tombs. When you have passed, you will find the items to place in the slots, and once placed, you will be allowed to take the Ikazuchi blade.”

We were all silent for a while, and then Daring turned to us and said, “Is it just me, or does something seem off here?”

“Yea, are you hiding something, Mister giant stone pony?” Asked Pinkie, suddenly wearing a detective’s hat, staring intently at the golem.

The golem was silent for a moment, and then it said, “That is all I am aloud to tell you for now, but if you pass then you shall receive the Ikazuchi blade, and with it, a chance to awaken Argenteus. Now, the first test to pass is the one of faith. Which one of you value the word of faith and it’s meaning?” We were quiet for a while again, and then Dash spoke up.

“Well, I guess I can go for it, I mean, it can’t be that hard, right?” she said, puffing her chest out to make herself feel more confident.

“I’ll join you on this one as well, Dash.” Said Daring, walking up to the cyan Pegasus.

Dash smiled, and then said, “This is going to be so awesome!” and with that, she flew off in a rainbow streak, leaving Daring to run up to catch up to Dash.

“Next, comes the test of the mind, and a question that only the brightest of minds can figure out.” The golem said, motioning to the next path.

“Well, I’m defiantly taking this one, there is no way that I’m going to pass up on something like this.” Said Twilight, her eyes seeming to be brimming with excitement.

“I’ll join you as well, darling, since this test seems to be the less…demanding of the three.” Said Rarity, giving herself a curt nod. She then turned to the yellow Pegasus. “Fluttershy, you wish to accompany us for this one?”

“Oh, uh…ok, I g-guess.” She said softly. She went to go with them, but then stopped for a second, before turning around and giving me a soft kiss on the cheek, saying, “Be careful, Drak.”

I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at that, and asked, “Shouldn’t I be the one saying that?”

“You know what I mean.” Fluttershy said, giving me another small kiss and nuzzle on the cheek, before she turned around and entered the path with the others. I noticed that she seemed to be staying closer to them then before, probably because she was scared of what she might find.

“Well, ah guess that leaves me an’ Pinkie with the truth telling one.” Said AJ, looking at the golem for conformation, to which it nodded. With that, AJ and Pinkie left the room and entered the third and finally chamber.

With the ponies gone, it was just the golem and I left in the room. I took a glance at the golem, who seemed to be looking at me with unblinking eyes. His face was unreadable to me; then again, I wasn’t the best at reading facial expressions, if recent events were proof of it. We were quiet for a few minutes, and I was unsure as to what I should say. I finally thought of something to pass the time, and clearing my throat, I asked him, “So…how’s life?”

(Daring Do’s POV)

Dash and I were now trotting at a reasonable pace. Well, I was trotting; she was hovering in front of me, clearly anxious to get there as fast as possible.

“Come on, Daring! Why can’t I just go up ahead and scout it out for us?” She asked, sighing in boredom.

“Because there might be traps in here, even if this is supposed to be some sort of test, I’m still always aware of some sort of trap that might fall on us.” I said, getting a little annoyed by her constant bitching. Honestly, I think Ditzy had it wrong; there is no way that this pony is like me so much in so many aspects. I mean, I don’t recall being this much of an annoyance to everypony that I meet. Then again…

At this point, Dash sighed and asked, “Well, can you at least fly with me, so that we could get there faster? My wings are starting to ache a bit.”

“Well, maybe if you just walked with me, then your wings would be fine for when we actually need them.” I retorted. Thankfully, this somehow got through to her, and blushing, she said, “W-well, I guess that makes sense. Is that why you rarely fly unless necessary?”

I nodded. “Yes. I only fly when I need to; otherwise it is much better to stick to the ground. Makes it easier to spot traps and such. So, will you finally walk with me?”

Dash was quiet for a moment, and then with a sigh, she nodded and lowered herself to the ground. As soon as she hit the ground, however, we all heard a soft clicking sound, and the stone underneath Dash sank into the ground a little.

‘Shit, didn’t noticed that with Dash talking to me. This is why I prefer to work alone.’ With a quick burst of my wings and legs, I quickly rushed forward and knocked Dash out of the way of the trap, however, in doing so, I placed myself in harms way for whatever was to come. As soon as I moved Dash, a few holes in the walls opened, and these small balls came shooting out from them and straight towards me. I tried to get out of the way, but knew that it was futile. As soon as the balls made contact with me, they burst, and emitted putrid orange gas, making me cough and wheeze a little. I was able to get out of the small gas cloud that was formed from the trap’s barrage, but I could already feel the gas taking affect to me, my head began to cloud a little, and I began to feel a little wheezy.

“Oh-my-gosh, Daring! Are you ok? I’m so sorry that happened, I didn’t notice the trap, and-” Said Dash, getting more and more worried as time went on. I was finally able to shut her up with a wave of my hoof, and after a few seconds, I was able to finally breath properly, and said, “R-relax, Dash, you didn’t notice it, and neither did I, though that was most likely due to the fact that you were distracting me.”

Dash seemed to get a little annoyed at this, and said, “What do you mean, distracting you?”

“Well, if I wasn’t trying to get you to walk with me, then I would have noticed it a long time ago.”

“Well, if you’d let me fly ahead like I wanted to, then I could have spotted it so that none of this would have happened!” Retorted Dash, getting her old vigor back.

“And then you might have triggered another trap, or the same one, and then I wouldn’t be here to save your sorry flank!” I said, getting more and more annoyed as we continued with this.

“Whatever, lets just get this over with. And I thought that an adventure with you would be fun.” Dash muttered under her breath, before she began to continue down the hall, only this time she was walking.

‘Well, at least she’s walking now.’ With a sigh of frustration, I walked on after her. “Fine by me. You see, this is why I don’t work with others; I always get in more trouble, and they never benefit you in the end.” She chose to ignore me, and just stared ahead of us, and with a sigh, I too fell to silence.

We were quiet for a good few minutes, neither of us sure as to what we should say to the other. As I thought about the little incident, I began to feel a little bad about the entire situation, especially since she is one of my fans of my stories, and I hated to make my fans unhappy. Not only that, but she was also one of my sister’s friends, which made me feel even more guilty about the whole thing. Deciding that an apology was in order, I opened my mouth to apologies to her, when suddenly; out of the corner of my eyes, I saw some movement.

I quickly snapped my head around to the movement, and to my shock, I saw that it was Ahuizotl, holding Ditzy in his hands, with a blade in his other hand.

“Ahuizotl! What are you doing here?” I shouted at him, getting his attention. The creature, upon noticing me, smiled, and began to place the blade on my sister’s throat, making her squeak in pain as it began to draw some blood.

I yelled in pure fury as I launched myself at him, but he just casually head-butted me in the skull, making me wince as I was knocked back, my vision blurring slightly. When my sight cleared, I was able to see his tail hand waving at me from around the next bend in the hallway, before disappearing from sight. I began to run towards him, when I felt somepony pull me to a halt. I looked behind me, and to my surprise, it was Dash, holding me back from getting my sister.

“Daring, what the hell! What was that all about?” She asked, concern and confusion in her eyes.

“Didn’t you see him? Ahuizotl was right there, and he has Ditzy with him! He just about to cut her throat before he slipped away around the bend.” I said to her frantically, hoping that she would get some sense and release me. Instead, she just gained a more confused look on her face.

“Daring, no pony was there. I was here the whole time. You just suddenly slammed your head against the wall. Gave yourself a bit of a nasty cut as well.” At the mention of that, I brought my hoof up, and I indeed felt some blood on my head, but there were other things at stake here, and that was to save my one and only sister from the clutches of a psychopath.

“I’m telling you, Dash, he was right there. See, you can see her blood from where he dragged her.” I said, pointing at Ditzy’s blood that was most likely came from her neck even as we were talking. Dash still looked confused by the whole thing, and she opened her mouth to say something else, but at this point I decided to ignore what it was she had to say, and instead I turned myself around and ran around the bend, Dash in hot pursuit behind me.

What I saw around the bend was something the made my heart froze. There, right before me, was a large chamber, filled with all sorts of torture devices. There were ones that I have seen before from different dig sites, from long racks to the iron maredon, to a few that even I couldn’t recognize. The worst part of it, however, was that, unlike the ones that I did find, these ones were in pristine condition. Not only that, but they were being used even as we were looking at them.

It took me a few seconds to fully comprehend what was happening, but when I did, I saw that the ponies that were here were the fillies that we were trying to save, all of them being tortured in gruesome affairs. The closest one to me was a yellow Earth filly, who was crying out in pain as her limbs were brutally stretched by a rack, and I could hear her cry out in pain, as she was stretched far beyond her limit. Next to her was an orange Pegasus filly, and she was having her wings being slowly pulled off. Next was a unicorn filly, and she was sitting on a torture device that I haven’t even seen. The device looked like some sort of pyramid, and she was currently barely sitting on it, due to the chains that were holding her forelegs high above her, a look of panic could be seen in her eyes. Her rear legs were strapped with some sort of weights, likely to help pull her down onto the pyramid. Next were two other Earth fillies, and they were currently trapped inside an iron maredon that was slowly closing them in, the spikes just pressing against their flanks and sides as they squirmed to try and escape the torture device, but to no avail.

The last two, however, were the worst for me, for they were both the ponies that I knew and love. First there was Dinky, and she was hanging from the ceiling by her horn, a look of pain could be seen in her eyes. Right in front of her was a giant bladed propeller that was spinning at high speeds, and it was slowly moving closer to her mid section as it spun. Then there was Ditzy herself, and instead of being trapped by some sort of torture device like all the others, she was on a table at the front of the room, Ahuizotl was right above her, and he had a large maniacal grin on his face as he was slowly pressing the blade on her right hind leg, the cut on her neck still evident from before. I took in the scene in front of me, and at once I began to charge at them, only to be stopped by Dash again.

“The buck, Daring?! Are you trying to kill yourself?!” She said, a look of surprise in her eyes.

“Dash, let me go! I need to save them!” I shouted back, struggling in her grip. At this point, the yellow filly was already reaching her limit, and I could hear her scream as one of her limbs was snapped right out of her socket. Next to her, I could hear another pop as one of the wing joints in the Pegasus was popped out of place, emitting a cry of pain, followed by a whimper of fear. The unicorn filly was slowly being lowered onto the pyramid, and to my horror, I saw that it was aimed straight for her fillyhood, and it began to stretch her out, making her scream in fear and pain. The two Earth fillies barely had any room to move as the iron maredon continued to slowly close, the spikes already starting to impale them, drawing thin streams of blood from their wounds. Above us, Dinky was squirming and yelling, trying to avoid the impending blades that were inching their way towards her torso, just mere centimeters from making contact with her fur. Ditzy, on the other hand, was still screaming, and Ahuizotl, still with his grin, began to saw off another part of her right foreleg as soon as he finished taking off her hoof.

“Daring, nothing is there, just a bunch of-.” She started to say calmly before she was interrupted. I turned to look at her, and to my horror, I saw that she was being grabbed by what looked like to be giant stone tentacles, wrapping around her torso and limbs, immobilizing her completely. As soon as she was trapped, another pair of tentacles appeared in front of her, before one was lowered to her crotch area, while the other was raised to her head.

I have never felt so scared in my entire life. Never in all of my years of archeology have I seen anything like this before. Sure, I have seen pictures of what the devices could do, and I have read some strange comics about tentacles, but my mind was still unable to process what was going on in front of me. At this point, some of the fillies in the room were getting louder as their pain went on, while the others, like the two Earth fillies, went deathly quiet, as the iron maredon was almost completely closed. I could barely see through the small gape, but I could still make out the small forms of the two fillies as their struggles began to weaken, the blood dripping off of the spikes into a puddle that was forming below them. The tentacles that surrounded Dash were already being inserted into her marehood and mouth, but instead of thrusting into her like I thought they would, they instead began to move slowly into her, stretching her holes out. I could hear her gag as the tentacle passed her esophagus, the bulge evident in her throat.

I tried to do something, anything, willing my body to move, but I just stood there, the horror of it all washing over me, and slowly, to my disbelief, I began to curl up upon myself and softly cry. I had no idea what came over me, but just seeing these innocent fillies being tortured in such manners, as well as Dinky and Ditzy, right in front of my very eyes, and then Dash getting captured like that and used in such a manner…it was just too much for my brain to handle, and I could literally hear it shutting down, and I slowly began to go into some sort of inner subconscious area in my mind, trying to escape the reality of the situation.

‘I…I c-can’t b-b-believe it. T-they…they are j-j-just…d-dying…dying r-right in f-front of me, and…and I can’t d-do a thing a-about it.’ I could feel myself slowly going insane, my body curling me up into a ball, my forelegs covering my eyes; just watching everypony that I love and care for as well as the ones that I’m supposed to save, dying right in front of me, and I felt completely powerless to do anything about it.

I laid there for what felt like hours, just listening to the screams and shouts of the tortured, as well as the occasional slashing of the flesh, and other equally soft organs, while one by one, they slowly began to quiet down, until all I could hear was a soft whimper of pain, as well as the sound of dripping liquid. Then, I felt somepony nudge me by my side, but looking up, the only thing that I saw was everypony still getting brutally murdered. I was about to curl up into my ball again, ready to give up on this adventure, on life itself, when I felt the nudge again.

I looked around quickly, trying to see where it came from, and then I finally saw it. It was a small, glowing bulb of light, and it seemed to dimly shine on my face as I stared at it. It nudged me again, trying to get me up on my feet. I just shrugged it away, not caring about it, or anything, anymore. I just saw the fillies that I was supposed to save, as well as the rest of my family, die right in front of me, and I was expected to just continue after all of that?

The light was persistent, and with a sigh, I slowly rose to my feet, keeping my head down, not wanting to see anymore of the after affects of what happened to the room that I was in, as well as the ponies that I promised that I would save. The light was having none of that, however, and just made me tilt my head up. I tried to keep my head down, but my willpower had long left me, so ever so slowly, I could feel it lifting my head, so thinking quickly, I closed my eyes. The light didn’t want this, either, and began to lightly tap on my head, seeming to want to see the devastation in the aftermath. I kept my eyes closed for as long as I could, but it was a losing battle to fight it off. With a reluctant sigh, I finally gave in, deciding that I might as well get it over with. When I opened my eyes, however, it was ten times worse then anything that I have ever seen.

The rack had stopped stretching the yellow filly, due to the fact that there wasn’t anything left to stretch, her limbs already stretched thin, her whole body seemed to be only held by the sinews alone. It was similar to the Pegasus filly was well, only that her wings were completely off, and I could see the blood spilling profusely out of her back, along with her tears, both of which were creating a large puddle beneath her. The blood was gathering at the floor, and slowly flowing towards the center, where there was a large drain, most likely there for cleaning purposes. I could see the blood from the other two out of the corner of my eyes, but I reframed myself from looking in that direction, deciding that I had enough, and now just want to get out of here. The light, however, seemed that it wanted me to follow it instead, and began to somehow slowly drag me around the torture devices. Reluctantly, I followed, deciding that it wasn’t worth fighting it any more. The light began to lead me around the torture machines, towards the table that Ditzy was on, bringing me close enough that I could smell the blood that was oozing out from them. It lead me around the devices, however, instead of straight towards it like I thought it would. It eventually brought me to a point that I had no choice but to look at the other two victims, and I did so reluctantly, my breath catching in my throat when I saw the scene.

The iron maredon was fully closed now, and to my slight relief, I was unable to see the two Earth fillies that were inside it, most likely completely impaled by the dozens or so spikes inside of it. However, it was unable to contain the blood, which seemed to flow out of it like a small stream, a constant flow of the red liquid flowing from the bottom of the torture device and collecting at the drain with the rest. The unicorn filly was a very gruesome sight as well; her entire lower body was stretched out to horrific levels due to the pyramid that was forced inside her fillyhood, and it was leaking blood at an alarming rate. I doubt that all of the blood was due to her hymen being forcefully removed, either. Taking a deep breath, I turned my head around, wanting to see if I would be able to get out of here, or if I would have to find an alternate way out, but that was a mistake on my part. As soon as I turned around, I saw Dash’s corpse still in the grip of the stone tentacles, both of the tentacles went so far into her that they both appeared out of the opposite hole. I knew that it was impossible to actually do that safely, and my suspicions were further confirmed by the fact that there was a large amount of blood coming out of her, gathering onto the floor before flowing down the drain.

I turned to face the ball of light again, but I tripped over something, making me lose my balance and fall flat on my face. The light helped my back up, and once up, I turned to see what it was, and to my horror, it was the lower part of a pink filly’s body, the guts and intestines spilling out a little, along with tons of blood that seemed to be pouring out by the buckets.

I knew where it came from, and I really didn’t want to look, but I knew that I had to look, for my own sanity, or at least what was left of it, and looking up, I saw what I expected, though it still didn’t make me feel any better knowing what it was. Above me, with more blood and a few other organs hanging out from under her, was the rest of Dinky, still attached to the ceiling by her horn, the glazed look of death in her eyes, the spinning blade having already stopped spinning a while ago, drenched in the young filly’s blood. I could feel myself getting sick from seeing my niece cut into two pieces. Without any more warning, I bent my head down and threw up onto the ground, heaving everything that was in my stomach. For some reason, I could feel the light seeming to be patting my back, trying to comfort me. After a good minute of throwing up, I was able to calm myself down to take a few deep breaths, and wiping my mouth with my hoof, I was well enough (or at least as well as I could be, surrounded by the blood of those that I promised to save) and continued to follow the ball of light.

Eventually, we reached the table where Ahuizotl was chopping Ditzy, or at least, he was here. Somehow, he left while I was following the glowing ball of light. All that was left on the table was Ditzy herself, her limbs and wings chopped into many little pieces, blood pooling all around her and even dripping off of the table’s edge, a glazed look in her uneven eyes. I could feel the tears reappearing in my eyes as I looked upon the corpse of my sister, and began to silently cry again, wishing that this were all just a dream. The ball of light seemed to be carrying a cup, and dipped it into the blood. Once the cup was full, it lifted it up and presented it to me. I gave it a curious look, wondering what it was trying to do, and then it hoofed me the cup of my sister’s blood. I took it cautiously, and then it moved the cup in my hoof towards my mouth.

My eyes widened when it did this, and I quickly shoved it away, saying, “What, I’m not going to drink this! I just watched everypony in the room getting murdered, and you expect me to just drink my sister’s blood?!”

The light hesitated at this, but then continued to push the liquid towards my mouth. I kept on protesting, knowing that I could never in my right mind drink blood of anypony, let alone my own sister’s blood. However, the light continued to pester me, and then getting annoyed, I yelled, “Look, I trusted you enough to make me go through this nightmare, and now you are just testing my faith, and-”

I stopped in mid sentence, and something in my mind click. I began to remember the reason that I came in here the first place. Something to do with faith, I think, though at this point I could have cared less, just wanting to get out of here and figure everything else out later. For some reason, however, I knew that I had no choice now, and that I had to…drink my sister’s blood.

With a very deep breath, I slowly brought the liquid to my mouth, and then, closing my eyes, I quickly began to drink it, wanting to get it over with as fast as possible, not wanting to taste it as it went down my throat. I wasn’t fast enough, though, for I still got an iron tinge on my tongue, and it stayed there for the whole time I drank the liquid. The taste of my own sister’s blood on my tongue was almost enough to make me throw up again, but I pressed on. Suddenly, the taste became more bearable, and instead of liquid iron, it began to taste like a mango juice that I had during one of my trips in Jamareca. Once the cup was empty, I lowered it, and then slowly opened my eyes, and was surprised and relieved with what I saw.

There, standing in the place of the ball of light, was Rainbow Dash, not constricted by tentacles, and not bleeding all over the place. She had a very nervous and worried look on her face. When she saw me looking at her, she said, “Can you hear me now, Daring?”

I just slowly nodded, my brain not fully comprehending what was happening. Was I dead as well? Did the blood of my sister somehow kill me, or did a trap get me when I wasn’t looking? Before I could think any more on it, Dash suddenly lunged at me, giving me a death hug.

“Oh thank Celestia! I thought that I was going to lose you! You were just whimpering and crying on the floor, not even wanting to move. I was just trying to get you to move here, but you wouldn’t even listen, the only time that you did move was when we first entered the room, and you almost ran yourself into the spikes, and-”

“W-wait, w-w-what s-spikes?” I asked confused as to what she was saying. Dash just pointed behind me, and, cautiously, I turned my head around, and what I saw not only surprised me, but also gave me a sense of relief and hope.

Standing behind me were the traps that I saw before, only this time, they were all rusted and broken down with time, and they weren’t torturing any ponies either. Some of the chains were broken and the ceiling blade was now on the ground, the supporting chain that was holding it up having broken a long time ago. What really caught my attention, though, were the waist high spikes that dotted all across the ground, seemingly at random. As I looked, I noticed that they all had some sort of liquid on them, and giving it a closer look, I was able to recognize what the liquid was.

‘Manticore poison.’ I thought to myself, and then realized that I was still being hugged by Rainbow. I was able to slowly pry myself from Dash’s hug, and then looked back to the table were I saw Ditzy’s corpse. Instead of seeing my sister dead and in pieces, I saw what looked like an indent in the table, with what looked like bright orange juices in it, some cups off to one side of the indent. “W…what h-happened?” I asked Dash once I was able to get my breath.

“You were mumbling and crying about something that I couldn’t make out, and you weren’t willing to move on either. I had to almost push you along the path that I found around the spikes in order for you to continue. It was like you just lost your will to continue.” The cyan pony said.

I sighed at that and then said, “I did, Dash. I did.” I then lowered my head, the images of the ponies getting tortured still fresh in my mind even if they weren’t real they sure felt real. “I was seeing…things.”

“What kind of things?” Asked Dash, curious.

“Horrible things. Things that no pony should ever see if they want to stay sane.” I said slowly, trying to keep myself together. It may have all been my imagination, but it still felt like it actually happened.

Dash was quiet for a second, before she shrugged, and then, turning around, she said, “Well, we at least found our crystal, I think.” She then turned to face me, and under one of her wings was an orange crystal that seemed to be glowing ever so slightly. “So, you ready to go now?”

I was quiet for a second, and then I slowly shook my head, saying, “No, I…I really need to rest.”

Dash looked at me, her worry even more evident on her face. “Celestia, Daring, what happened to you?”

I took a second to just lie down on the cold floor, motioning Dash to do the same. I stayed quiet for a few seconds, trying to figure out what it was that could have drugged me. The only thing that I ate was my quick breakfast on the airship with the others, and I doubt that food poisoning would have caused such hallucinations as well. I then remembered the trap that Dash activated a while ago, as well as the gas balls.

‘That must have been it. But, what was the potion that Dash made me drink?’ “I…I think it might have been the gas from the trap that you activated from before. I think the gas was some sort of hallucinogen, and a pretty powerful one as well.”

“So…so I was the cause of it?” said Dash, her look of worry turning to one of horror. “I…I’m so sorry, Daring, I just wanted to help you, but I ended up hurting you even more, and you almost died because of it. I guess you’re right, then. Having a partner does hurt more then help you.”

I opened my mouth to agree with her, to say that next time I’ll do it by myself, but then closed it, realizing that it was wrong, for she did help me in the long run. “Dash, you’re wrong, you did help me.”

“But, if I wasn’t here, then you would have made it through here, avoided the trap, and-”

“Dash, if I was alone, and I did hit the trap, then I would have been all alone, without anypony to guide my sorry flank through the rest of the area and give me the potion to cure me.”

At this, Dash finally let out a small, weak chuckle, saying, “Actually, the potion was mango juice.”

I gave her a surprised look. I know it tasted like mango juice, but for it to actually be mango juice? “But…what makes you think that?”

Dash then pointed at the wall behind the table, and looking there, I saw the ancient pictures of the ponies that were here before, and it showed them making a potion, presumably the one that I drank, and they were holding what looked to be like some sort of…mango?

“I may not be able to understand Ancient Equestrian like you and Twilight, or even Drak, but even I know a mango when I see it.” She said, a slightly smug look on her face, which showed that she was already starting to feel a bit better from the whole experience. I, on the other hoof, thought that I would never get over it, for I was still shuddering in my hooves whenever I thought about what I went through.

With a sigh, I just placed my head on my forelegs, getting a little tired myself. “Also, if it weren’t for you stopping me from charging in before, I would have most likely impaled myself onto the spikes without me noticing myself, and even if I didn’t, the poison would have been enough to kill me. So…I guess having a partner does help you out in the long run after all.” I said, giving her a small, weak smile at the end.

Dash just stood there, her mouth hanging open, and then she closed her mouth and said, “Do…do you really mean it?”

“Of course, and I…I apologize about what I said before, it wasn’t nice at all. And also…thanks for saving my flank.” Dash remained quiet for a while, just staring at me, and then she suddenly lunged herself at me and hugged me. I just laid there, too tired to hug her back, and after a while, she released me and went to lay down next to me, before she draped a wing over me, and smiling, she said, “Well, I guess we deserve a little bit of a rest after all of that, huh?”

I smiled back at her, and nodding, I said, “I agree, besides…I just…I don’t want to go back and have everypony see how shaken up this made me.”

We both chuckled at this, and then remained silent, both of us staring at each other’s eyes. After a good few minutes of silence, I said, “Oh, and Dash.”

“Yea?”

“Don’t tell anypony what I just went through, ok?”

“I Pinkie Promise.”

Satisfied with her answer, I sighed, and then closed my eyes and let myself slowly fall into a quick slumber.