Chapter Seven: The Angel of Darkness

Talon stares into the eyes of the Hell hound, facing his death. The hell hound growls, a sinister guttural groaning coming from it's gaping maw of razor sharp daggers. He doesn't think, only reacts to his instinct. Before the skeleton monster can move, the pilot leaps back, pulling the trigger to his assault rifle.

The rounds clear the barrel, firing in rapid succession, each and every speeding bolt of lead striking it's mark, shattering the demons skull into pieces, and leaving behind a collapsed pile of bones in a crumpled heap. As he's taking aim on the second hound, it leaps over it's counterparts remains, taking the pilot to the hot basalt ground.

He screams out in anger, jamming the body of the rifle sideways into the feral monsters deadly jaws, kicking wildly into it's empty rib-cage. The bauble around his neck glows brightly, the star spinning violently and turning a deep amethyst hue. He plants his boot on the exposed inner spine of the hound just below its ribs, pushing out with all of his strength to flip the monster onto its back.

The skeletal hell hound is vaulted into the air, it's teeth embedded deeply into the rifle as it continues biting, severing it's skull from its spine as it flips. The bones of its body continue to fly, colliding with the back wall of the room, then sliding down in pieces from the impact. Most of the bones fall into the magma channels beside the door, bursting into a puff of smoke as they incinerate.

"Holy shit!" He cries out in surprise, trying to shake the still alive skull off of the rifle as he rises to his feet. It continues to growl and hiss darkly, it's still crimson eyes glowing bright, the jaws still snapping and moving to try and get to the pilot. He grabs the muzzle of the rifle, swinging it hard against the door opening and shattering the skull.

He pants, regaining his breath as he looks over the room, checking for anymore of the creatures. He finds none, only the sounds of the flowing molten rock, and his strained, rapid breathing. He calms his breathing after several minutes, then finally looks at the damaged rifle. It's now bent in the center, several of the teeth remaining embedded in the body and barrel of the steel; the weapon now unusable.

"Fuck." Talon says to himself, wide eyed and surprised. He shrugs and tosses the broken rifle to the ground, his hands grasping the twin pistols he brought into the keep with him. He checks the clips, then readies the pistols with rounds as he cocks the hammers back. Heaving a tired, irritated sigh, he takes aim at the two remaining orbs of the room, and pulls the triggers. The orbs glass shatters, the door flying open into the ceiling of the chambers, no further monsters spawning.

The pilot presses on, moving slowly through the long hallway connecting the rooms of the keep. He's sweating profusely, the droplets of sweat falling to the ground and hissing in puffs of steam. He has no trouble seeing in the darkness of the halls, the ambient light from the magma and blisteringly hot cracks in the floor illuminating the path.

The hall splits off into two directions along the ground; a proverbial fork in the road. He stops, looking down the long corridors of each path. It's unbelievably hot in the keep, the pilot becoming dizzy from heat exhaustion more and more with every passing moment. Swallowing hard and wiping the sweat from his face on the sleeve of his undershirt, he turns to the right and begins to follow the pathway down.

Talon continues to walk for several minutes, arriving at a dead end. He shakes his head, letting out a defeated groan as he turns around, and begins to trudge back through the twists and turns, then finding the hall he was once in. Taking the left corridor this time, he walks ahead for a few more minutes, before arriving in yet another chamber similar to the last three. He grits his teeth in annoyance, wiping the sweat from his face again as he looks over the room.

'If there is a hell...I know where I'm going for some R&R after I get the fuck out of this place.' He thinks to himself. He takes in a deep breath, coughing from the heavy scent of sulfur and smoke in the toxic, hot air. He raises one of the pistols, and fires upon the orbs. The first orb shatters, a inky shadow forming in the center of the room, the darkness swirling. He quickly targets two more orbs, the inky shadow mass growing exponentially in size with each orb. He then fires upon the final orb, the glass shattering and the door flying open.

The shadows suddenly vanish, no trace of them being left behind. Talon quirks an eyebrow, standing at the doorway of the rooms entry, waiting for the mobs to spawn. Several tense, sweat filled minutes later...nothing appears. The room remains empty, the only occupant being the pilot.

He chuckles nervously, before continuing to move forward to cross the room. Walking through the opposing door without incident, he doesn't notice the shadowy mass trailing behind him slowly, keeping pace with him as he walks forward, heading to the next room.

* * * * *

"We must find a way to enter!" Luna cries out in desperation, pacing around quickly and tittering nervously. "Your kind built these keeps! Surely thou made some kind of a back door to sneak into?!" The midnight alicorn nearly shouts angrily.

Queen Obsolescence shakes her head sadly, still continuing to paw at the broken earth within the keeps entrance. "Again...for the one thousandth time. There isn't a back way. One way in, one way out. The only way he can get out now is either to touch the statue inside the initial room, or to exit through the treasure room at the end of the keep. Otherwise, no. There isn't a way out. Nor for us to get in. We have to know what he dropped, and drop that same exact item..."

Luna silently screams in her mind, furious that her flame is trapped in such a hellish place alone. Memories of the nuclear detonation of the parasites hive, and the crash flood her mind, forcing her to remember when she had lost him to deaths icy grasp once before. As she's about to speak, the black alicorn before her lets out a heavy, tired sigh.

"What we could do is watch what is going on. If your connection to his heart is strong enough, you may be able to get some message to him that way. Telling him to touch the statue and to exit the keep. If he does, we'll simply make sure we're on the platform this time." Queen Obsolescence mutters, her horn alight with inky black shadow magic.

The midnight alicorns ears perk up, her mouth slightly agape. It takes a moment for her mind to process what she just heard, before her anger flares. "THOU HAD A WAY TO SEE HIM THIS ENTIRE TIME, AND YOU JUST NOW SPEAK OF IT?!" She shouts, her eyes narrowed into slits, foam slightly peeking from the corners of her maw in blistering fury.

The black alicorn rolls her eyes, ignoring the midnight blue alicorn shouting at her. "It's....been a few hundred years since I've had to watch some pony else enter one of these. I can't help that I had forgotten about that ability. Besides...the items it would take to form the mirror pool are hard to come by. We need a polished surface of a very hard to make material, and liquid moonlight. I have the base and material, but no moon to create the fluid. The last drop of it was used long...long ago. With the skies blackened, I cannot form it."

Luna blinks in confusion, then thinks. "Liquid...moonlight..?" She takes pause, her mind screaming back to the war machine just outside the keeps front door. "Thou means moonshine! We hath a great quantity with us!" She cries out in joy, rushing to the door. The queen quirks an eyebrow and turns, galloping after the midnight alicorn to the exit.

She follows Luna to the downed war machine, confused when she sees her leap upon the wing of the warbird, her horn alight and two small doors upon the canards base opening within the gentle magic glow. Luna looks to the queen and hisses. "Gather thy materials! Make haste!"

The black alicorn tilts her head, tittering quietly for a moment. "Unless you somehow had control over the moon in your realm, outsider...you wouldn't have the same liquid moonlight. It's nigh impossible to make, unless you have a great deal of power. Mother taught me how to create it, and it's a sacred liquid only used in blessing rituals, scrying and purification ceremonies. It wouldn't be held by some Mother forsaken...banshee...as you called it."

Luna narrows her eyes, a smug grin upon her muzzle. "Oh ye of so little faith." She croons out, reaching into the warbird's fuel tanks and grasping a small sphere of the moonlight fuel in her magic. "Thou forgets, I AM the Night princess, I control the moon and all of its wonder within mine realm." The midnight alicorn recovers a small amount of the liquid from the tank, lifting it out carefully and holding it suspended within her magic. The silvery silken liquid sloshes around within the bubble gently, it's heavy, intoxicating scent wafting into the air. "Only I can make it in my world, and it is used for many things, including fuel for mine war machine."

Queen Obsolescence stares at the sphere of fluid, disbelieving her eyes and her senses as she takes in the sight of it. 'It...it cannot be...' She silently looks on at it, then regains her train of thought. Her horn alight with inky black shadow, she calls the items to her from the wreckage of nearby buildings, a large sapphire and silver saucer like container, covered in centuries of soot and dust to her. With an effortless flick of her magic, it knocks all of it off, polishing its form to perfection within a heartbeat. "Place that in here then, 'moon princess.' Let us see if you hold the genuine article."

* * * * *

Talon pulls the triggers again and again, emptying the pistols into the mammoth monster trying to slaughter him. He's gone through another twelve rooms, each one the same before he found a nightmarish creature already spawned within the depths of the keep. Despite the demonic creature having almost two full clips of rounds emptied into its chest, it continues coming for the pilot, un phased by the humans weapons.

"Fuck!" He shouts, using a pistols grip to block the blade from it's fall to him, the heavy swords edge only inches from his nose. The creature flaps its leathery, tattered wings in anger, barring its fang filled maw at him with a guttural laugh. Talon pushes the creature back again with all of his strength, falling forward to the hot basalt ground to his knees as the creature is tossed.

He has no time to react as the gargoyle recovers, taking aim and slashing at the pilot with its free and opened clawed hand, the sword being drawn back for a death blow. The claws strike on target, cutting deep into Talons shoulder, tearing the flesh from his body and wounding him severely. Blood gushes and spurts out from the deep wound, causing him to cry out in pain.

He dodges and rolls out of the way from the blade, its honed and sharpened steel edge embedding itself deep within the stony floor. The gargoyle yanks back hard on the blade, quickly freeing it once more and turning its attention back to the wounded pilot.

"Itichaim Manna Paean Prowl!" The creature bellows, swinging the swords tip against the ground and kicking up a wave of sparks as it contacts it. It continues its slow gate to him, grinning menacingly as it approaches its prey.

Talon scoots back against the hot wall of the keep, forced onto the floor of the room from his injuries. He can't stand, his legs not responsive from exhaustion, his mind a fog from the pain. Blood continues to rush out of him from the deep wound, his life force slowly draining from him. His blood falls to the floor and begins to puddle under him, some of the crimson flow falling into the glowing cracks of the basalt and obsidian floor, sizzling as it contacts the hot and super heated rock surfaces within the cracks.

The gargoyle raises the sword above its head, preparing to deal the final deathblow to the invader of its masters keep. "Defrock Die Eshuna!" It bellows in its gravelly voice, its glossy pure black eyes focused with murderous intent on the invading life form.

Talon closes his eyes, waiting for the final, painful blow that ends his journey, ready and having already accepting death as the outcome. He hears a loud, surprised hissing, followed by the sound of steel contacting steel and clashing. The strike never comes. He opens his eyes quickly, widened in pure shock.

A shadowy mass of lavender light swirls before him, between him and the demonic creature that nearly ended his life. The sword frozen in place as the miasma holds it, a ball of shadow swirling at its center before lashing out and striking the demon in its center, launching it HARD to the other side of the room. The blade is then cast into the magma flow in the corridor, melting and disappearing in a puff of flame and smoke.

"You shall touch nothing of him..." A dark, malevolent voice hisses icily, the temperature of the room sharply plummeting. The fires within the keep suddenly seem to quell, as frost and ice begin to form and quickly overtake the walls. The pilot can see his rapid breath being released as steam, as if he were standing outside again in Canterlot on a very cold winters night.

The gargoyle shakes its head in surprise, trying to regain its senses as it finds its footing. The shadowy mass takes shape before the two of them, black and blue arcs of energy dancing rapidly off of its visage, angry, evil hisses of rage and pure malice heard from it. As the gargoyle charges forward with a loud roar of rage, it's suddenly snatched up within the miasmas tendrils, suspended in air several inches off of the ground. The sound of pained, agonizing howls of the creature, followed by the loud, blood chilling cracking and splintering of bones is heard. The temperature continues to plummet, a sheet of ice now having formed within the rooms walls, extending out several yards into the halls, the orbs shattering from the quick temperature change.

"Suffer...YOU SHALL SUFFER! AN ENDLESS NIGHTMARE OF PAIN FOR YOU! A HUNDRED THOUSAND DEATHS FOR YOU!" The voice darkly calls out in a silken, eerily calm voice. The pilot shivers, trying to keep awake and focused upon the sight before him. He watches as suddenly the gargoyles wings twist and snap upside down, its limbs all twisting and ripping away from its body, its chest compressing and caving in before its head finally tears from its neck. It's jaws open wider and wider, snapping and ripping from its hinges and finally away from the rest of the demonic creatures skull. The pilot watches in absolute horror as its flesh shears off of each piece of its broken body, carelessly being tossed to the corners opposite of him, before they fall into the hardened channels of the cooled lava flow.

As the last scraps of flesh are torn from the remains of the gargoyles parts, the cloud hisses and turns, floating slowly to the pilot. It stops right above his body, tendrils of wispy lavender light flowing over him. He breathes shallow, ragged breaths as he feels an odd warmth over his damaged and exposed flesh of his shoulder, the sounds of a wet, sickly almost licking filling the frozen room. With each lapping sound, the pain within his body begins to fade, a sensation of being warmed and caressed by a soft, gentle warm breeze passing over his skin and body. He tries to turn his head, but finds his neck muscles frozen, as if he was being held in place by a rigid, unmoving force. The wet lapping continues, the squelching sounds growing and filling the air. The wound continues to seal itself, the blood ceasing to flow out as it somehow cleanses and sutchers itself.

"Shhhh...shhhh...be still now." A soft, dark and loving voice whispers and croons out adoringly. "You're safe now." It whispers into his ears. He can feel the hot, gentle sensation of breathing upon his neck and shoulder, the comfortable warmth enveloping his whole form, as if he were being wrapped in Luna's gentle, feathered embrace. It's lulling his mind away into a almost euphoric state, unable to process and nearly pulling him into a sleep. He tries to fight it, willing his mind to focus as much as he can. His legs twitch and feebly kick, a feeling of weight bares down upon him in his lap, pinning him in place.

He tries to fight the presence around him, desperately trying to regain his footing and get away. The blood flow completely stops from his deep wounds, the pain now completely replaced by a sensation of gentle warmth and comfort, a feeling of security suddenly washing over him. Despite the extreme temperature drop within the chamber, he feels warmed and comforted as if he were sound asleep, laying with his alicorn in their bed chambers.

"Master...be still and allow me to mend you. Your body has grown weak, exhausted. Let me help you now." The gentle light calls out all around him, it's tone silken, sincere and loving. It continues to take shape, a ghostly transparent alicorn appearing upon his lap, her hooves and wings wrapped around his body. The pilots blood stains her maw, her ghostly white, sharp daggers stained a light pink now from it, the scent of copper heavy upon her breath. She leans back, her teal draconic eyes staring into the humans lidded emerald eyes.

The ghostly nightmare alicorn raises her fore hoof, wiping the cold sweat from the pilots dirtied face, the feel of his stubble beard tickling against her fur, yet another new sensation to her. Nightmare leans forward and plants a gentle, careful and loving kiss upon his lips, smiling at him with a calm, loving smile.

"How...how did you..." He barely manages to speak, before she silences him with a hoof softly being placed upon his lips, then followed by another kiss. She leans back again, shifting her weight carefully upon the pilots lap, her eyes trained upon his.

"I was in the bauble since you called me to you yesterday. I was asleep, until I felt your heart. ...my master...I have heard your call. And I see you. I am with you." She whispers to him. Nightmare draws in a soft, gentle breath, before exhaling slowly, her lidded, loving gaze fixed upon his still. She draws in another breath, in taking his mixed in with the fresh air, the scent of the pilots breath, sweat, and the old smells she fell in love with, the fuel, exhaust and the sweetness she couldn't even identify herself all being drawn deeply into her form. "Talon...my answer is yes. I have chosen to seek my refuge within your heart, and here I will stay."

He carefully eyes her, feeling his strength returning from the rest. He nods his head and coughs, turning away slightly to not do so on her. Nightie lets out a soft giggle, then adjusts her heads position to look him in the eyes again.

"Use my power now, let's do this together." She whispers, helping the pilot back to his feet. She watches as he tiredly picks up the empty pistols, checking for any remaining rounds. He searches his pockets, not finding anymore either.

"I don't see how we are going to get out of here now." He responds discordantly, shaking his head. "I'm out of ammo Nightie. We can't go any further if I have no way to fight. These aren't exactly things I can fight hand to hand, I can't reach the orbs as fast as I can shoot, and I'm exhausted." He breathes out, coughing more. He looks at the tear in his shirt, seeing the wound completely healed, as if it never happened. Only the scars from several years ago, in the gardens.

Nightmare Moon cackles quietly for a moment, raising her bare hoof to meet his cheek softly. Her ghostly body leaves a small, shimmering after image in her movements wake, the touch upon his flesh feeling cool, and somewhat refreshing. "You forget just who I am. Do you not recall my legends, the tales of the monster I once was, my master?" She smiles smugly to him, a sardonic grin and eyes glittering with a hint of malice. "Allow me into your heart then. I'll show you just how weak these creatures are against a TRUE Nightmare."

He recalls her warning to him upon the beach in the dream world, thinking over her offer. 'You do understand...undertaking such a risk may very well end your life, my master. With my soul melding with yours...it would bring with it the knowledge of the ages, thousands of years of memories, emotions and ancient power. You would experience pain unrelenting, your very mind would collapse from the sheer shock of it all. Even then if you did survive...my power would be a poison to you...it would corrupt and twist your heart, turning you into a monster...if your love is not strong enough.' He takes pause, then looks her in the eyes, seeing her smiling sardonically still. He takes in a breath and responds. "You said it could kill me though. It would poison me."

"Not if I don't completely intertwine our souls. You and I shall not be what Luminescence and I were." She responds. "I wish to still remain who I am...self aware and my own self. But I can take refuge within your heart, join ours together. I will be your strength when you are weak, I can be your wrath, your justice here. Talon...let me in. Let me fight with you. I promise you here and now, upon our children...I won't let you suffer."

He laughs, falling back to the ground and taking a seat upon the frozen obsidian floor. The ice seems to glow from the magma channels and cracks deeply below them. "Why not....I'm already in Hell...It couldn't hurt to make a deal with the devil now."

She nestles beside him, wrapping her ghostly ethereal tail around him, the chaotic star field encircling him like a blanket. He shivers as the icy energy of the nightmare alicorn clings to him. "Throughout the centuries I was known for my hate...but now thanks to you...I have seen the light. I only wish to do good now. I want us...you, Luminescence and I to return to our kingdom, our treasures. You have my word, my master. I offer you power...take it."

He looks at her, letting out a sigh. 'Why not....I'm dead anyway if I don't.' He thinks. He knows through the next door could be the end. And with no more weapons, he has no prayer of escape from the fire demon, or the ice demon at the end. He heaves a heavy sigh and nods.

Nightmare cackles loudly, a sinister, wicked laugh coming from the ghostly alicorns image. "Time it is then, my master. I hope you're ready to die." Her voice echo's around him as her image fades, the miasma retaking its lavender light and mist, swirling all around him quickly and violently as a maelstrom. He feels her power snaking all around his body, constricting and wrapping tightly, the sensation of thousands of needles all piercing him at once.

His eyes open wide with the new pain, taking him to the floor completely as he lets out a howl of agony. Nightmares powers and mist wrapping all around him, the sensation of cold washing over him everywhere. His heart pounds in his chest faster and faster, the miasma hardening all around him, the final piece encased of him being his head.

* * * * *

Luna leaps down from the canard, carefully holding the moonshine within the sphere of magic. She walks to the saucer, placing the moonshine within the container. The midnight alicorn looks on at the silvery liquids surface, not seeing anything other then the bottom of the polished saucer.

"Patients, outsider." Queen Obsolescence breathes out, recalling the spell weaving necessary to create a mirror pool. "This takes a moment to create the connection. I need a personal effect of your flames to finish the right of ritual." She says cooly, keeping her eyes glued to the fluid settling into the pan.

The midnight alicorn quickly turns on her hind hooves, galloping back to the corner of the decrepit blacksmiths shop remains, getting the pilots satchel. She grasps the strap within her maw, then rushes back to the mirror and black alicorn. Her chest heaves, out of breath. She titters nervously, pulling back quickly on the flap of the satchel and burying her snout in the bag. She pulls out the pilots noise block that has caused her so many headaches, the bane of her existence. She holds it in her teeth with a grin. "will thish work?"

"If it is his, yes. It will work fine. We simply need to toss it into the fluid for it to..." She trails off, seeing the midnight alicorn unceremoniously drop the music player into the liquid, curious how and why Luna would have a large, satisfied grin of seeing the glow of the screen flicker and die out. "...work." She finishes, rolling her eyes.

Luna seems to trot in place, staring at the moonshine with a smile. "Hurry, hurry! The sooner we tell him, the sooner we can get in there and help him!" She blurts out, excited that now she has a way to reach her flame, so she can help him. The night princess eager to escape this nightmare and return home to her treasured children.

They watch together as the saucer seemingly starts to glow with an other worldly light and iridescent hue, before it flashes with a bright white light, releasing a small mushroom cloud of smoke. Luna and Queen Obsolescence cough from the smoke, stepping back.

"I don't" she coughs heavily several times, hacking loudly. "I don't remember the smoke" Cough cough cough. "Being that heavy before!" Cough cough. "Yours must be..." Cough cough. "More potent!" Queen Obsolescence coughs loudly, then sneezes from the smoke filling her nose.

Luna fans away the smoke with a wing, before quickly regaining her senses and narrowing her eyes at the black alicorn Doppelganger. "Practice. Lots of practice." She states, before turning her attention back to the ceremonial saucer. She sees the inside of the container, the liquid now having of taken on a still, hardened surface of a high polished mirror, before turning into a smokey image of the keeps interior. Looking intently at the image, she watches as if she were seeing the screens back in the control center of the palace, looking through the war machines forward cameras in flight. The image races through the keep, clearing room after emptied room. Luna's breath catches in her throat of seeing the carnage so far, seeing every broken orb, dead monsters and hellhounds, scattered bones and a trail of blood. Her heart nearly stops as the moving image catches the broken rifle of the pilot's laying on the ground, but her flame nowhere near it.

"The spell is seeking him. He's moved deep into the keep now. He's alive...if it's able to follow his trail." Queen Obsolescence comments quietly, her own attention drawn to the images. She opens her wings erect upon her back, twitching slightly with curious wonder. "So many emptied rooms...I've never been that far within the keep..."

"He's mine flame...what did thou expect?" Luna retorts, chewing on her lower lip nervously. Her wings are held tightly to her sides, as she titters nervously and looks upon the images. Room after room, the image shows the same. Broken orbs everywhere, more blood drips along the ground, the blood dried and hardened. The image takes them down several long hallways with dead ends, then turns back to the correct path. It's when they both see a sheet of ice suddenly appear on the edge of the current hallway, they gasp.

Luna's heart almost stops within her barrel as she sees an eerily familiar light resting upon the pilot's lap and chest as he sits down against a wall of ice within the current chamber. He appears heavily damaged, his shirt and pants torn in several places, blood and dirt covering parts of his neck, legs and arms. "Mine flame!" She cries out, trying to dive into the pool. He's there, RIGHT THERE! and he's HURT! She lets out a loud, desperate whinny and cry, before the black alicorn grabs her within her wings and forelegs.

"You cannot simply jump in!" The queen shouts, trying to steady and calm the outsider down. "We must try and communicate! Calm down for a moment!" The image suddenly changes, the pilot rising to his feet, the cloud of purple mist moving away from him slightly. They watch in curious wonder, listening him talk to himself. No words are heard, just his lips moving, and the cloud pulsating and flashing with a gentle glow. "What is he doing....I've never seen a formor like that one before..."

The midnight alicorn does an inward search, desperately seeking that old familiar black magic. It's missing...something within her mind suddenly snaps, and comes together. The bauble, the nebula formation, the pilots odd behavior. It all makes sense now. She lets out an angry hiss in rage, seething with blistering cold fury. "OBSOLESCENCE! THOU HATH TAKEN MINE FLAME?!" She shouts angry, her voice nearing royal Canterlot levels.

The queen steps back in surprise. "I have done no such thing!" She retorts, her teal draconic eyes wide with fear. "How dare you accuse me of such a thing, off worlder!"

Luna thrusts her fore hoof out, pointing at the miasma. "Not thou, thou foalish twit! The miasma! That devil mare hath escaped mine bindings and hath taken refuge in mine flame! That trixie wicked mare!" She seethes out angrily between clenched teeth. She gasps with shock when the tables suddenly turn, the miasma swirling around the pilot and taking him to the floor, the human falling to his hands and knees upon the ice. They can hear a faint sound akin to a blood curtailing scream of pain and anguish, before its silenced. The miasma clinging to his body and taking form. They watch for several tense, soul rending minutes as he writhes in pure agony upon the ground. The only sounds around them being the ambient gentle wind of the barren world, and their strained, quiet breathing.

The pilot stops moving altogether now, still as the grave for several tense seconds. They see the miasma harden and take shape, turning into cobalt blue armor, high polished and strong, with soft, blue lights in several areas, focused ahead as beams of light, shining against the icy ground of the chamber. The human gets to his knees and hands again, before standing upon his armored feet. The image circles around to see his face, now hidden by a helmet that clings to his form perfectly, the armor completely covering him now from head to toe. Once focused upon his face, they see only a strange, honeycomb like visor as the only distinct feature of the helmet.

The image pans down, showing the rest of him. A jet of flame, akin to the same of the war machines engines launches out forward from his center of the chest, before calming to a hot, focused glow of pure hot, blue fire. His stance seems rigid, his movements almost machine like. The human steps forward, the ice cracking and breaking under each step as if he weighed an unfathomable amount now. They watch in disbelief as he reaches the still frozen door of the chamber, their maws opened with surprise, their jaws hanging open as he suddenly brings back a fist and punches the door. It shatters like glass, the pilot now stepping through it as if it were never even there.

'mine flame...what happened to thou...' Luna asks herself in a haunted whisper below her breath, looking on in pure horror of the armored monster shown in the mirror pool. Her eyes must be playing tricks. She must have been deceived by what her eyes clearly see! This is wrong! It couldn't be! Luna shakes her head in disbelief, her heart and mind not willing to accept or process what is clearly before her.

* * * * *

He awakens again after blacking out for a few moments, his eyes focused ahead at the ground now. His body feels cool, as if he were in a nicely air conditioned room once again, comfortable, not too hot, and nowhere near too cold. That just right temperature. He feels heavy, like he was weighed down by his armor that Rarity gave him years ago before the war.

'Get up, my master. Rise to your feet.' She whispers to him, tightening her hold all over his body. The pilot obeys, finding strength his body nearly had forgotten deep within himself, a surge of power coursing throughout his blood unlike anything he's ever felt. The room is filled with sounds of metal under tension and groaning, metal twisting and grinding slowly with a deep, bone chilling screeching.

He rises to his feet, his vision now filled with an almost orange glow. The room seems different, he can see things he never did before. Turning his head to look around, the creaking sound of metal echoes in the room again. He sees the remains of the broken orbs, three of them glowing with a black shadow, one of them glowing a bright red. He turns again, looking upon the door. It's frozen shut with a thick wall of ice, but he can see the door is partially opened.

"What happened...am I dead?" He asks quietly. He can hear the soft, silken giggle of the dark alicorn echo in a ghostly, wicked voice. The tone sardonic and malicious. He shivers, hearing her speak all around him, both in his ears, and echoing within his mind.

'No, you foalish mortal. You are not dead. I have taken this form because it best suits our intentions here. I am your shield now...I am your sword. Now with us joined together, I shall protect you. Together, my master....we shall defy Gods and Demons today. Move now. Go forward, and finish this fight!' The disembodied voice of Nightie responds.

"The door is frozen shut. I can't open it." He groans out, dizzy from the exhaustion and fog from the earlier pain. The alicorns voice cackles wickedly again, a sinister, dark laugh.

'You forget just who I am. If I could strike down Celestia, smite that foalish parasite and break through Luminescence's bindings effortlessly...do you really think a simple door would be a problem for me? Hah! Your faith in my abilities amuses me. ...BREAK IT DOWN!' She answers with a firm, silken and seductive tone.

Walking to the door, his every step feels heavy, mechanized. Almost to him as if he was wearing the warbird itself as a suit of armor now. The sounds of metal remind him of the wings and canards deploying, or the landing gear raising and lowering. He comes to a halt near the door and draws back his fist, clenching it tightly. As he does, he feels the alicorns energy snake around the arm, propelling it forward with unimaginable force. His fist contacts the ice, breaking through it and shattering the door like glass, the shards all falling away. "Huh..." He responds, stepping through the remains into the next chamber. The walls are partially frozen, the flowing magma cooled and hardened up to the halfway point of the room.

"I'm not going to be stuck like this, am I?" He asks, looking at the orbs. He quirks an eyebrow within the helmet, seeing the strange sight from before. Three of the orbs glow with black shadow, but the orb closest to him on his right glows a bright red.

'No. Once my power runs out, or we've exited this hellish nightmare, you'll return to normal. This is my power you're using, not your own. If I were to merge our souls together as I did with Luminescence, you would surely die. Think of this more as...you're wearing me as you would your uniform.' She answers him in a coy tone.

"So I'm still mortal." He asks, walking to the glowing red orb within his vision. "I'm still me then, I take it?" Drawing back his fist again, he punches the glass orb, it shattering and the door flying open. With a grin he changes direction, turning to exit the room. His every step thunders, bits of the basalt ground cracking and breaking away, leaving impressions of his boot imprints with every step. He exits the room, coming to a set of stairs heading downward to the next level.

'Yes, my master. Though there will be side effects of having my power throughout your body like this. It will either shorten your life significantly...or extend it. Which, I do not know. But whatever happens, I am now bound to you as I once was to Luminescence. You will be able to call upon me in your time of need from now on...do not so carelessly do so however, I do like my sleep, after all.' She responds with wicked glee, the pilot could almost see the black alicorns fanged smile within his minds eye. 'The only way to separate us completely now...would take the all mother herself. Otherwise, I'll be within the bauble again, and tied to your heart.'

"I can live with that." He responds. "Though...angel will probably be pissed when she finds out." He answers, heading down the long flight of steps. He comes to the next level, it appearing much like the first floor did. He still feels cool, his body wrapped in a pocket of comfortable, sweet smelling air. To him, it smells within the suit almost like Luna, the scent of cherries and grass after a spring rain. "Thank God I'm not cooking in here anymore." He mutters, coming to the first room of the second floor. He sees more orbs, much the same as the last nineteen chambers. The orbs all glow again with shadow, one orb glowing a soft red. He walks to the first orb with the red glow, punching it hard again. The orb glass shatters, the door flying open without incident. He grins and turns to exit the room, coming to the next one.

'That's only thanks to me, Talon. I am using a fraction of my power to control the air temperature I have encased around you. Without it, you would feel what I do...the room feels as hot as Tatarus to me.' She responds within his mind again. 'Thankfully for you, I once camped on Celestia's sun for a year out of sheer boredom before I made my contract with Luminescence. So this heat is nothing to me.'

"You'll have to tell me all about this later." He responds, entering the next room. He quirks an eyebrow as the room has a new sight, the orbs gone, now the only object being a wooden chest with metal straps on it, the door closed. "Um...where's the orbs...?" He asks.

'This is likely a chest room, Talon. Like the one with that beast I had slain earlier. We have to fight in this one.' Nightie answers, forcing the pilots body to move to the chest. Her power lashes out and strikes the boxes lid, ripping it open.

Two shadowy masses appear, swirling on both sides of them a short distance away, a bright red key being highlighted in the center of the mass on the left. 'Get ready. Here they come.' She answers to him. Talons arms move on their own violation, four sharp, steel blades unfurling from the tops of his armored wrists and arms to the elbows. They spring out, appearing like a scorpions pincers, the black blades edges glowing with ruins and black fire.

He grits his teeth and waits, taking a defensive stance as the masses take shape, towering over him and the black alicorns heights. His eyes narrow when he begins to recognize their shapes, the snouts and heads forming like the skeletal hellhounds.

'Ooh...Lycanthrope's. I haven't seen their kind in ages.' She responds, a hint of a sadistic laugh within her tone. 'These will be a simple kill for me. Just watch!' She calls out to him, echoing in his mind. The pilot feels her take control of his legs and arms again, causing him to charge forward. The sounds of metal twisting and scraping against metal fills the air loudly as he does, the heavy stomps of his boots digging into the basalt earth. The blades lash out on his right arm, decapitating the first formor before it can fully form. The pilot twirls on his heels and tackles the second mass to the ground, his arms thrusting the blades into the center of the demons mass. The blades dig deep and slice through it like a molten hot knife through butter, splitting it in two and silencing the demon before it ever had a chance to strike. Nightmare laughs sadistically, enjoying the carnage and murderous actions. 'Just like old times. HAHAHAHA!' She yells out with wicked glee.

The pilot reaches into the dead monsters chest, pulling out the key and ripping it from its body. The key is wrapped in the lycans entrails and heart flesh, the blood and sickening fleshy bits dripping off of his armored hand. He begins to feel nauseous, fighting back the urge to vomit within his alicorn armored suit.

'Oh, you of such a weak stomach. You're entirely too soft you know.' Nightie cackles wickedly, bringing the pilot back to his armored feet. He steps forward, jamming the blood and flesh soaked key into the doors lock, turning it and opening the door. It slowly rises once he releases the key, revealing a long, dark hallway to the next series of chambers.

He rolls his eyes and keeps walking. "Unlike you, nightie...I never killed for fun." He responds, continuing forward. "Let's just try and get to the end. Angel is counting on us to get that Falasis piece for the queen here. Once we get that, we can go home." He retorts bitterly, his mind drifting back to his wife and children. "I want to go home, back to the kids. I have a promise to keep."

'You mean to our children, Stardust Kiss and Moonlight Way?' Nightie responds within his mind, the voice having a ghostly echo. 'I am well aware...' She drifts off, her voice now sounding sad. 'I'm...I'm not a monster, my master. I too feel and understand love now. Especially to our children. I'm a part of your herd now...even if it means I have to accept the sun bringer as such. ...I promise you, I will get us out of here. ...I promise.'

He nods, pressing forward to the next room, finding this one has orbs again. He rushes to the glowing red orb and shatters it, watching as the door opens. He says nothing, continuing his gate through the keep. Eager to put an end to this hellish place once and for all. 'Angel...forgive me. Please be patient and forgive me.' He thinks, his thoughts focused upon his family. That cute, adorkable midnight alicorn and his two trouble making fillies. If it meant him being with them to the end of his days...he'll walk through this hell a thousand and one times over for them, without a second thought. Nightie hears his thoughts, smiling inwardly and says nothing. The feelings she gets of warmth and determination, the light and purity within him gives her unfathomable strength, and the steeled will she has always sought so feverishly.

* * * * *

The two alicorns watch from the mirror pool, disbelieving in what they're seeing. Room after room, passage after passage, the pilot and the devil mare, Nightie, walk effortlessly through the demons keep. Luna breathes hard, seething with blistering cold fury, while Obsolescence, the dark queen watches with an almost giddy excitement.

"He's so powerful...now I see why you have claimed him." She whispers, jumping with a long forgotten smile as she sees him barrel through a mimic pit in a corner, slashing and decimating several of the treasure chest Formors nestled in the hall to attract would be victims with their false promises of riches and release.

"Neigh...tis only...Nightie...aiding him. Mine love would never be so vicious, even against such demons. He fights with control, honor and skill. Obsolescence, mine darker half is a blood lusting wicked mare who enjoys tormenting her prey before the slaughter." Luna groans out, face hoofing as she watches the pilot in armor pick up one of the formor boxes struggling to get away, only for him to so callously toss the formor into the lava flow in the passage, the armored chest heaving as if he were laughing. "Ooh...that had to hurt."

Queen Obsolescence only smiles wider, her teal draconic eyes focused intently on watching. "Outsider...your husband and that devil mare are doing what has never been done, they've made it to the third floor of the demons keep now. If your so called darker half is enjoying slaughtering these Formors to get me back my kingdom, I bless her actions, and his!" She responds in kind, her wings twitching excitedly. The pilot clears another orb room, his pace quickened as he runs through the new floor. The queen shakes her head while grinning a wide, joyful smile. "He's already completely cleared forty three rooms...no one of my world has ever been so far..."

Both of the mares gasp in fright as they see the room ahead, filled with three hulking behemoths. Obsolescence's jaw opens wide, as if unhinged. "No...NO! Three Argus's?! No pony has ever defeated one!" She shouts. Turning to Luna, she nervously stutters for a moment. "Call out to him! Turn him back!"

The midnight alicorn panics for a moment. "What?! Uh..um..Mine flame!" She shouts into the mirror pool. "Turn back! Flee at once!" It's hopeless, the pilot can't hear her, he only continues forward into the hall, nearing the room. "Run away!" She shouts, not understanding he can't hear her, the nightmare alicorns magic is blocking communication to the bauble.

They watch as the armor begins to glow a dark blue all over, the blades extending out more and seemingly gleaming with their razor sharp edges. Unexpectedly, the pilot and nightmare alicorn move forward with selaritis movement, turning into a blur and a shadowy after image as he begins to attack and slash apart at each of the Formors. All that can be seen in his lightning movements is limbs flying off, body parts and flesh being sheared and cut away, and one formor falling after another. The two relentlessly and viciously work together in a terrifyingly dark symphony, killing without any form of remorse or trepidation. This keep...this hell was no longer a safe haven for demons, it was a blood bath and a slaughter, and the nightmare alicorn was the butcher.

The two alicorns look back at the mirror pool once again, moving their forelegs out of their vision to continue watching the disturbing murder of every formor in the pilot and nightmares path. the minutes tick away as he clears one room after another, running through the dungeons of Tatarus. Every orb room is cleared without incident, every chest room quickly brought down before the formor's could even hope to counter attack, or completely form. Another floor cleared, another flight of stairs gone down.

* * * * *

"Remind me never to piss you off." Talon mutters within the helmet, still in disbelief of how easy this really has become. He can hear Nighties soft panting, then the sound of fatigue within her voice as she responds.

'This...this is quite a workout. I don't recall ever doing this much in all of my years in a single stretch.' She replies quietly, panting and regaining her breath. The energy within the star is beginning to run out, she's expended too much power trying to rush through the floors of the keep. The heat is beginning to get to her, the spell to keep the pilots body cooled wavering.

"If you need to rest, we can, nightie." He quietly breathes out, also panting from being forced to run and fight. Despite the alicorn controlling his body like a puppet at times, the weight of the armor is wearing him down quickly. He's exhausted, to the point where he could easily pass out and sleep at any moment.

'No, my master. We do not stop until we are free of this place, and these demons are sent to their graves!' She snaps almost angrily, picking up the pace. They've cleared all twelve of the orb rooms on the fourth floor without incident, not a single formor appearing. Nightmare Moons gift of Darkness has enabled her to see the correct orb choice without fail, so each room is child splay to the night mare.

He shrugs, continuing running. Once they find the final flight of stairs, they descend down them, the alicorn boosting her magic to almost glide down them with haste. What awaits them, however...was unlike anything they've ever seen or experienced. It was not another floor of the hellish rooms and chambers, but rather a large, expansive cave.

Above and all around them, the onyx and obsidian walls tower high above them to the cave roof, at the end of the massive chamber lays a large structure, a castle, or palace like a twisted, dark version of both Chrysalis's and Celestia's mixed together, added in with a flair of pure scary and a dash of what in the actual fuck. Upon the steeples of each towering peak, were bones, pony skulls and disembodied heads all held upon them like pikes, piles of bones, the scent of rotting flesh and meat thick in the air, wreaking of decay and death. Flows of molten lava cascade down one of the walls in the back, much like a waterfall, a large molten pool of it flowing and bubbling on the side like a large lake or river. Flames jet and leap from them, dancing like the corona of the sun.

"This must be the end..." Talon whispers, seeing movement in the distance. He spots something moving, turning away and rushing back into the structure, a hint of a star field mane and tail trailing behind it like smoke. "Angel..?" He asks, starting to pick up the pace and trotting to it.

'Luminescence? I don't sense her presence...how would she have gotten ahead of us?' Nightie asks, trying to resist the pilots forward movements. 'This isn't right, my master. Don't approach her! It could be a mirage!'

"No, that's Angel!" He shouts, running ahead. The sounds of metal groaning and screeching against itself fills the air as he finally slows, entering the decrepit entrance of the demons palace. They hear a low, guttural laughing coming from all around them, the pilot stopping in place and listening. Silence, several tense moments of silence, only the ambient sounds of the lava flows outside of the demons palace.

All is quiet as Nightie tenses up. 'Something is coming...' She whispers in his mind, probing and feeling the air around her with her magic, desperately searching for movement. The pilot and alicorn turn in unison, the armor creaking and groaning with every inch of the movements, before they're sent flying forward into a wall within the chamber of the palace from a bone crunching impact.

He shakes his head to shake off the initial shock, trying to regain his senses. They turn their head to locate the source of the impact, their vision locking onto the ice demon herself. Talons eyes open wide, seeing, but not believing. A demonic version of Luna, red eyes and long, blood soaked fangs stands a short distance away, its wings deployed out wide, the stance clearly defensive and ready for a fight. It hisses darkly, it's black tongue slithering out between its clenched teeth, its glowing red eyes flashing with rage.

The pilot stands, getting to his feet as he stares down the demon. Talon clenched his fists tightly, holding his guard up, ready for the fight of a lifetime. He's sparred against Luna and Celestia of his own world before...but this was no friendly bout or match. This time, it was to the death. Gritting his teeth his eyes flick down to the bauble against his armored chest, nodding. "Alright Nightie, get ready. This is for real!"

The creature before him let out a loud, angry hiss. It leveled its cruel draconic gaze at him, its long black tongue tracing its blood soaked fangs in its opened maw. Rearing back, this demonic alicorn bellows out a concussive roar as its lower jaw splits open like a snakes, casting out acidic spittle as it slinks into its defensive posture.

'It's horn! We must break off its horn and wings if we are to kill it. It's the only way to put an end to this nightmare so we can return home!' Nightmares voice echoes in Talons mind, her energy and will coursing through his veins and armor upon his form. She feels him nod as the muscles within his neck and body tense for a moment, signaling he's ready. She knows this could be their end, but is willing none the less.

The creature lunges forward and charges at the armored human, only to be pushed forward in its continued path as he evades the initial attack. It lets out a loud howl of rage as it's suddenly grabbed from behind, feeling one of its wings being wrenched away from its socket and ripping out. Talon has since grasped the wing interlink within his armored hand, crushing and twisting the bone away before ripping it completely out from its body, then casting the bloodied appendage behind him.

Watching from the mirror pool safe and away from the grand battle beginning to unfold, Queen Obsolescence and Luna stare onward, their breath held in silence. Luna's eyes widen as she sees Talon apparently winning so far in the beginning of the fight against her demonic self, disbelieving that her flame and nightie could work so well together as a pair. The midnight alicorn jumps with a start as she hears Queen Obsolescence suddenly cheer loudly. "Yeah Talon! Kick its ass!"

Talon is knocked back hard as an armored fore hoof connects with his chest, sending him flying backward and winded for a moment. The demonic Luna lets out another rage filled howl as it charges forward, tackling him down to the broken tiles and dirt floor of the derelict palace. As he's trying to get back up and rise to his feet, the creature squeezes him into a bear hug, crushing the armor around his midsection and tossing him about like a rag doll, before twisting and casting him away. He sails through the air and crashes through a wall.

He rolls upon the ground, crashing through various debris and stones scattered about the courtyard of the once grand palace, finally skidding to a stop nearly two hundred feet away. He hisses in pain for a moment, gaining his bearings as he searches the area with his eyes through the helmets visor, looking for the demonic mare he was sent to kill.

They watch as the demonic Luna crashes slowly through the remains of the wall, walking through the crumbling stone as if it was never even there. It cries out in another loud rage filled howl and hisses, before coming to a stop. Its gaze meets the pilots and Nightmare alicorns, before charging forward to kill its next victim. It barrels ahead faster and faster, its massive hulking form crashing through the debris field as it charges like a freight train would down tracks at top speed.

Talon rises to his feet and charges ahead, running forward. "Come on! Let’s do this together!" The bauble glows brightly with a deep violet light, Nightmares magic rushing throughout his form as he leaps into the air above the creature, his fists held tight above him as he brings them down and slams into the demonic alicorns head, knocking it square on the snout and to the ground.

Talon grabs the creatures twisted and cracked horn, using it as leverage to pull it in closer as he brings down a heavy punch to its face. He draws back again after the first bone crunching impact of his fist knocking it, sending down another to its jaw. The sounds of bones breaking fills the air as his armored knuckles connect, causing the demonic alicorn to let out a pain filled scream. The pilot does not relent.

He draws back his arm for a third time, his eyes locking onto the demons as he grins through his helmet. "Now!" He yells out. Nightmares magic snakes around his arm, propelling it forward with even more force than ever before. It slams into the skull of the demon, warping and breaking its eye socket with the impact.

The demonic Luna is knocked back briefly by the attack, it's eye now crushed in and bleeding profusely, a black fluid oozing from its deep wounds that seemingly glows with pure evil light. In a defensive move, it grasps a stone pillar within its demonic magic, knocking the pilot and alicorn down to the ground with a mighty swing. It hisses loudly and casts the stone pillar away beside it, continuing its slow, wounded gate to its victim.

As the pilot falls, he grasps two large stones in his hands from the debris, quickly rising to his feet. Both him and Nighty are breathing hard as he does, opening his arms wide to box the ears of the demonic Luna. As soon as she's in range, he slams his arms together, smacking the demons head with both stones and crushing her head. The jaw and face crumple, the skull warping with the crushing impact. She lets out another angry howl, only to be silenced as one of the stones are rammed into her maw, followed by the pilots armored fist.

The demon is knocked down again, the large rock stuck in its jaws. The demonic Luna bites down and splits the rock into dust, then tries to rise to its hooves again, only to be picked up from behind by the invader. It's tossed a short distance away, thrown into one of the stone columns in front of the demons keep. Letting out a loud concussive roar, it charges forward and rushes him, slamming into him to drive him back, forcing him to the lake of fire.

"Nightie! Now!" He yells out within the helmet, Nightmare channeling the remains of her power into a shadow sphere into his hand. She wills his arm to move with her remaining strength, forming and casting out hot plasma bolts of power into the demonic alicorns chest. She fires, again and again and again, each blast tearing away massive chunks of flesh and bone. One of the demons forelegs is blown off as they speed to the lake of molten rock, the night alicorn digging her and the pilots heels into the basalt ground to slow the push. Again and again, she fires, each blast more destructive than the last. One final blast, the demon falling dead in his arms.

He stops an inch from the edge, one heel hanging precariously over the edge, the heat of the magma reaching his foot. He pushes the demon mare off of him, moving ahead slowly and away from the carnage. "One down." He groans out, beginning to move to the palace. Nightmare stops him, freezing his body in place with her will.

'Wait...' She calls out in his mind, turning their bodies together to face the demon mares carcass. 'I Think it's dead...but as you would say, let's check for a pulse...' She replies, a hint of her sadistic nature still evident even in her exhausted tone. She powers up another massive plasma bolt, firing it into the chest and neck of the demonic mare, blowing it wide open in a plume of amethyst and sapphire blue fire. She wills the pilots body back to the mare and raises his heavy armored boot, stomping upon the base of the demons skull and horn, shattering it completely. 'No pulse.' She jubilantly cheers out, turning back to face the castle.