Myra’s ears perked up, her pupils shrinking as the ground below them tremored mightily, and effortlessly startled her from her restless sleep. She glanced to her left to see the reaction of her guard. Even though Kietelethar had long since left her, the cursed shell of the pony whom she had once considered a close friend was ordered to stay behind and watch her.

The Shadow had remained unnervingly stoic for hours, yet even through his possession she could see from the reaction of his eyes that he was just as startled as she was by the sudden shaking, if not more so. And that thought worried her more than anything, despite it being a possible comfort: for if he didn’t know what it was, then it must be something terrible.

“What was that?” She asked, hoping past her instincts that the Shadow might somehow have some idea of the disturbing quake’s cause. Her ears folded back, however, when his brow only furrowed as he looked over his shoulder, with an uneased grimace etched on his face.

“I’m… not sure…” He growled, his dark tone grating her nerves like hooftips on a chalkboard. “Not unless…”

Her ears perked back up. “‘Unless’, what?”

He swiveled his head back to face her, and thoughtfulness shone beneath the dark fire of his eyes. “Unless they woke it up early…”

“Woke up… what, exactly?” She asked as shiver went down her spine, and she swallowed the growing lump in her throat.

Suddenly, the Shadow’s grimace morphed into a wicked smirk that nearly made her wish she had never asked, and he cackled menacingly.

“Funny you should ask, Little Bird…” he started, his dark voice echoing eerily as a moving image of Applejack appeared on the floor when he motioned his hoof across the surface.

“Don’t you find it interesting that while you’ve been up here, in the very heart of luxury and relaxation, your friends have been fighting for their lives and yours in an endless dark?” The Shadow asked Myra calmly, his smirk still plastered on his face. “Do you want to know why you’re being coddled while they go through Hell to ‘save you from imprisonment’?”

“C’mon, pull it together, AJ…” Applejack hissed, having to force herself to move as she slid through yet another hole in the wall. She had been ducking and weaving for too long, in her mind, as her back had started to ache mere minutes ago. Damp sweat collected on her forehead, and matted her mane to her neck. Her muscles protested each and every motion, and the lack of sleep was starting to catch up with her.

To her, the worst part of all was the hallucinations that followed her sleep deprivation, as for the third time she saw a lizard-like tail disappear into the darkness, this time down the tunnel to her left.

“You’re curious as to the master plan that the Prophet has, aren’t you? But you only want the boiled-down version, to hear that the big bad king of ages past wants nothing but to see the demise of all things good...”

Cocking her head lightly, she finally decided to follow it, and see if she could catch sight of the entirety of the thing, even if it was just a figment of her imagination after all. Plus, having a small idea of where she was going was a more welcome though than wandering aimlessly for all eternity. Without a moment of hesitance, she wandered off to the left, and followed the shape into the tunnels ahead.

Myra watched in terror as the husk of a pony lowered his head, and closed his eyes in a villainous chortle, which came out an oddly satisfied sound. “You know nothing of the truth of his desire, do you?”

His head snapped back up to glare at her, and his smile disappeared as his eyes lit enough to ignite the room into an uncomfortable heat. The white mare’s heart raced desperately, but she knew she could do nothing but watch the projection of Applejack journey through, helpless as she was to aid, she was fearful of what she would be shown. For as one friend stumbled in the dark, the taunting voice of the evil within another carried on...

Right, walk, walk, left, walk, right, right, left, walk. The tunnel continued on and on, no intersections in sight, and only once in awhile did the farmer catch sight of the tail again. She was too focused on the phantom to notice when the path stopped, and her hoof missed the floor, causing her to fall forward into a large chamber. She tumbled down a crude stairway, possibly bruising a rib or two, and stunned herself as her stomach collided with a boulder.

“He wants to see your friends suffer for what they stole from him, he wants them punished, he wants them battered and in agony. But he doesn’t want them dead. Oh, no: what he wants is for them to live through losing their black-and-white mentality, he wants them to question their morality in ways they never have.”

Once she regained her senses, she looked at her surroundings in relief. It was still dark, of course, but not in the same way as the dreaded Labyrinth. Oh, no, this dark was far more comforting in comparison: cool, clear, and above all else, natural. There was no evil running thick in the air, no demons hunting you around every corner. It was just a cave, an organic chasm that was… intentionally linked to the Labyrinth.

“He wants to watch them scream in pure, unfiltered anguish as they lose something dear to them right before their eyes, and he wants their tears to soak the floors until the Labyrinth is flooded.”

Applejack’s ears flicked at the sound of sharp hissing. Whatever she had followed in here was definitely not a figment of her imagination, and was likely set here to lure them into its lair. Off to her right, she saw the tail move yet again, and focused her gaze on it…

“And you may ask for an explanation as to how he plans to accomplish this…”

... before immediately regretting not just backing out of the chamber.

“... but why waste energy begging to hear, when I’ve been given permission to let you see?”

The chamber was filled with snakes of gigantic proportions, easily as big around as Applebloom was tall. They slithered overtop each other in writhing masses, and many stopped to glance at the startled mare with their eerie, glowing, bulbous green eyes. Their scales shone like polished cast-iron, and glinted black as night.

What really disturbed her was the looks in their eyes: each serpent was easily large enough to swallow a grown pony whole, yet they eyed her with curious, innocent, non-malicious interest. She almost felt as if she were a fawn that had wandered into a den of wolf pups, for what scared her is that in spite of their immense sizes, these clearly were mere juveniles.

That gave rise to a question that set her on high alert…

’Where’s momma?’

“We’ll… get you out of there… Pinks…” Rainbow panted, her voice hoarse as her throat was left dry from over an hour of crying. “I… I promise…”

She was weak, all of her energy was spent long ago on tears as she feebly pawed at the rubble beneath her, endlessly desperate to uncover her friend. Her breath came in labored heaves as her will faltered, until she limply pounded a hoof against the sand in exhaustion.

“Damn you, Pinkie… you wonderful fool…” she sobbed, “why did you do this to us?”

Twilight had stumbled off to the side in shock almost as soon as she started digging, and had lowered her head so that her bangs fell limply over her eyes. Her mouth displayed nothing as far as emotion, as all she felt was cold, and nothing else. There was no sadness in her heart, nor anger, nor anything else that could be described as actual emotion. To her, there was just a cold, emotionless void where her soul should have been.

“Forget it, Rainbow.” She finally spoke, for the first time since the cave-in. “Let’s face it, she’s gone. We should move on.”

Rainbow wearily looked over her shoulder, her nose wrinkling cautiously at the sound of Twilight’s voice. It was hollow, unnatural, and worst of all: logical. Her temper was so bitter that she didn’t even try and fight responding.

“No, Twilight.” She hissed through heavy breaths. “I’m not… I’m not abandoning her to… to her own stupidity. Not this time…”

Twilight lifted her head at an agonizing pace, eventually revealing the dead look in her tired, bloodshot eyes as she stared at the desperate mare without a hint of sympathy. “So we should just end our search for Myra, and give up on the pony that Pinkie sacrificed herself for?” She bit, albeit in a harsh monotone. “That doesn’t sound anything like the Loyalty you’re known for, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow sighed in weary defeat as her head fell back, allowing herself to roll to the bottom of the hill of ruin and dust. She didn’t need all these heavy decisions, not now. Not when she’d just lost yet another friend to that monster. She just needed to rest…

She saw Twilight finally collapse from exhaustion in front of her, and felt her own eyelids grow heavy as her heartbeat slowed. Just five more minutes, that’s all she needed. Just five more minutes…

A dead end.

That’s where Rarity was, a small intersection that was closed off on all sides, with no way out. She couldn’t remember how she got here, nor did she even know where ‘here’ was, all she could remember was running once she saw that… that… thing in the darkness after the tunnels trembled.

It wasn’t a Stumbling. No, no, not in the slightest. The Stumbling were ponies, or at least pony-sized. This thing was… well, she didn’t know what it was, because she was too busy running as soon as she saw that row of fangs glowing like sickened starlight in the tunnel ahead of her, and those hideous eyes of emerald fire. The putrid grin took up the entire tunnel, and she could tell that its mouth wasn’t even open as wide as it could’ve been.

At least in this predicament, she was safe from it. She took several breaths to calm herself, and quickly regained her composure as she leaned back to rest against the wall…

… only to tumble onto her back with a startled shriek when the barrier easily gave way.

“At it again, are we?” She shuddered as images of the eyes flashed through the front of her mind, and she stood with a shaking breath. “At least those horrid Stumbling have scattered, so hopefully I won’t have to worry about them as well…”

Hesitantly, she dusted herself off, and stepped forward into the dark unknown.

“... I’ll only have to take care to avoid whatever scared them off…”

Warp’s group was caught off-guard when the demons they fought vanished like will-o-the-wisps. Shocked, they stood in back to back in the center of a four-way intersection: waiting for something, anything, to signal their next move.

“Did anyone-- err, anypony else feel that earthquake before the torches went out?” The Stranger spoke up, looking over his shoulder.

“That wasn’t me, kid.” Warp shrugged.

“I--... wha--... that’s--...” The Stranger sputtered, rubbing his forehead. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it!”

Warp chuckled, and turned to look at the frustrated Pegasus. “I know, forgive me if I try to lighten the mood. I don’t know what that was, but yes, I felt it too.”

The Stranger nodded, and looked over his other shoulder. “Zecora?”

“I indeed felt the ground shake like a hoof of dice,” Zecora uttered somberly,  “and I fear one of our friends has paid a high price.”

The Stranger’s ears flicked. “Beg pardon?”

Zecora lifted a hoof, and gestured vaguely into the tunnels. “The air carries several ponies’ cries of pain, I fear there is one who hasn’t survived the game.” Eying the cement beneath them, she lowered her head to press an ear to the ground. “The earth also groans a song of death’s reap, for it sounds as if a friend has been buried deep.”

“The quake…” The Stranger muttered, his eyes drifting to the floor.

“What do we do?” Warp questioned, sheathing his sword. “If you’ve truly lost one friend down here already, I don’t think it’ll be long before you lose another. And we don’t have ‘long’ either way, because if memory serves: we have barely a day left to get your friend.”

The black stallion tilted his head. “Really? I could’ve sworn we had only around an hour left.” He chuckled. “Then again, I’m not that good at judging time. But, now that the tunnels have stopped rearranging, maybe we won’t be getting lost as often?”

Warp opened his mouth to speak, but shut it just as quickly when he found no argument. “I suppose you’re right, but we still need to hurry. Just because the Stumbling scattered doesn’t mean there’s not something else down here.”

Just at that moment, they felt the ground shake again as the walls trembled at the sound of the throaty, reptilian roar echoing through them.

The Stranger rolled his eyes in terrified irritation. “You just had to flap your fat gums, didn’t you?”

“Not that I need to use language most crude,” Zecora sighed, “but it appears, my friends, that we’re now thoroughly screwed.”

Lifting a hoof in front of her own face, Fluttershy squinted as she waited for her vision to adjust to this new darkness. For once her panicking had ceased: she decided that there was nothing left to fear in the caverns since the Stumbling fled once the lights went out, and now she was feeling not as much frightened as… oddly bored.

She lowered her hoof once she felt her eyes had compensated enough, and tentatively looked back out into the tunnels. “Girls?” She called into the darkness. Tilting her head to extend her ear as far as she could, she waited for a reply. Nothing.

“Girls?” She repeated, a little louder. Again, no response came. Satisfied that she was alone: Fluttershy lowered her head, closed her eyes, set her ears forward, and opened her mouth.

*Chirp!*

Slowly, an image of varying shades of a sort of peach color flooded into her mind, enabling her to map out the tunnels ahead. It displayed two intersections, and a right turn at the end. Smiling in satisfaction, she decided to follow the right turn, and proceeded. Each time she passed a tunnel, she’d turn her head and send out another chirp, forming a short map in her mind’s eye.

She beamed in satisfaction as her experiment worked, proving that the tips from the local bats seemed to be helping her build up her… leftovers, as it were. She chuckled at the fact that she once thought side-effects were always bad, back before she actually gained experience in the matter.

Once she made the turn, she let out another chirp, and listened closely as the echoes painted another chart in her mind. She furrowed her brow in confusion as the figure of a pony appeared, completely stoic and unmoving in the passage ahead. Cautiously, she approached it, letting out numerous rapid chirps to maintain the image until she was close enough to see it. When she opened her eyes, however, nothing but the darkness could be seen.

With the hairs on her back bristling, she let out another squeak, and sure enough: the shape was still there.

‘Only one pony with a coat that dark could be in these catacombs.’

“Stranger?” She asked tentatively. Her entire coat stood on end when the only response that came was a low cackling from a voice she knew all too well as a pair of lantern-like eyes opened enough to light the Labyrinth like a torch.

‘Make that two ponies with dark coats...’ she mused as her throat went dry. Cautiously, she took a step back, only to see his eyes come closer. His legs were always the longer, and she knew that he could easily outrun her on his good days, but her instincts told her to flee as adrenaline flooded her veins.

“Why run, little foal?” She heard him say in an almost sincere tone. “I mean you no harm, you are not the one I seek.”

She tripped on a small pebble, not realizing that she was still backing up, and fell with a squeal onto her rump. Unfortunately, that squeal unveiled the image of her old friend’s form morphing into a single tendril of flesh once the lights of his eyes went out. Her stomach churned as she heard the abomination slither through the air and retake the form of her friend behind her with a putrid squelching.

It wasn’t until that moment that she realized just how weary she was, and how much her joints ached as the energy started to fade from her blood. And all at once, she felt lightheaded, and so terribly hungry as she swayed like a drunken mare.

“Rest, if you so desire,” the Shadow murmured in a soothing tone as his eyes opened once more, “no harm will come to you as long as you sleep.”

As much as Fluttershy wanted to question what he meant as he walked away, she found that his eyes left a rather homelike glow on the walls, not unlike that of a warm fireplace. In fact, a new warmth- assumedly radiating from those fiery eyes -was so comforting after two days in the cold that she could no longer resist the tempting embrace of sleep. Slowly, her eyes slid to a close, and a welcome darkness embraced her.

She didn’t even notice the great, glowing smile that rushed silently towards her.

Myra tried her best not to appear afraid as she once again found herself face-to-face with the titanic being that was Kietelethar, who eyed the world outside with an odd look that was mixed of sadness and anticipation as he gazed out the crumbling window. His massive form shone with brown scales that covered thick muscles, and his size was easily thrice that of Princess Luna. It was a wonder how he could stand upright in the room, antlers and all.

What was oddest about his appearance, however, was that he wasn’t in his iron barding, and the sight of him outside his armor- while not completely removing his hideousness -revealed that he was indeed a mere mortal being. She had heard of how he was numerous millennia old, but to her, he still somehow looked as if he was just entering the later stages of his middle age.

Without the terrible iron suit, he also somehow appeared more… real. He was still very easily told as the foreboding figure in the distance, as the figure which most evils only dream of being, yet he also appeared to her as a brother who had consciously chosen to go to war with his family out of spite. Despite his turn to darker forms of magic, he had not lost his regality as he still had the look in his eye that would once have belonged to a wise king.

The thought that he had tossed aside wisdom in favor of blind grief always struck Myra as odd, until Mac- the Shadow of Mac, that is -explained it to her. What made her stomach churn was that she could see his reasoning, warped as it was. Might it have been possible to change even the cruelest monster, instead of dooming them without a chance to the Prison Eternal?

She shook the question from her head as a tear built in her eye. This beast was trying to show them the light by selling himself to the darkness, which was the same as a guide leading tourists into a spelunking venture wearing sunglasses instead of a headlamp: he needed to be stopped before he killed somepony. Or all the worse, killed everypony.

Myra suddenly found herself worried as to why the Shadow was sent into the Labyrinth, and she was afraid as to what his mission might be.

“How does it work?”

Doubting her senses for a moment, Myra squinted to see if the immense crocodilian maw had moved, as she was unsure that the giant had spoken. She knew for certain that he had uttered the sad words once his head turned to her, and his snakelike- yet somehow gentle -silver eyes focused on her with a look akin to pity.

“How does what work?” She asked in return, trying to sound brave and polite in spite of her frightened staring. The Prophet snorted a small bout of steam as one of his immense paws kicked impatiently at the ground, signaling his irritation.

“This magic that your kind holds, these Aspects of Alliance.” He clarified. “How do you ponies acquire them?”

Suddenly, the talk with the Stranger on the bow of the Albatross came back to her, and she allowed a small smirk to form on her muzzle.

“The same way you gained them, to be honest.” She said coyly, feeling her nerves relax. She found that when she spoke, her panic was calmed as if there was no wrong thing to say.

Her wings fanned slightly as if in preparation for a speedy departure once the Prophet’s slit eyes were set on her with clear impatience, his lips- a feature that noticeably separated his face from that of a true crocodile -parted in a frustrated and confused snarl, and a growl like the hiss of an adder lingered in his throat.

“I have no Aspect borne on me, fool!” He spat. “Why do you think I sent my son here to begin with?”

Instead of sealing her mouth, as she very much wanted to do: Myra found that her lips moved faster than her mind as she began to laugh at his foolishness.

“I can’t believe you!” She giggled, confused but careless about her sudden mirth. “You travel all this way out of the kindness of your heart to sacrifice yourself, yet you don’t think you have any good in you?”

The titan opened his mouth to rebuke her words, but no noise left his throat as he found no argument. Much to his displeasure, this seemed to her all the more reason for amusement, as now she was nearly doubling over herself as she clutched her stomach in a desperate fight for breath. She bawled endlessly, blissful tears wetting her cheeks.

Kietelethar remained silent as her laughter rang in his ears, his expression morphed from frustrated curiosity into seething confusion as steam began to billow lightly from his nostrils.

Whatever befuddlement he faced, however, was nothing compared to how disoriented Myra was: she had no idea why she was laughing, and an incredibly peculiar yet immensely thrilling mixture of mortal terror and unbridled joy coursed through her body as her tittering raged on.

“You dare to make jest of me, do you?” The aged king hissed, the muscles of his arm rippling as he clenched his owl-like talon into a fist. “Very well, at least I now know what they will lose…”

By now, the mirthful Pegasus was laughing too hard to notice when he began to bend the bars back into place, sealing her in while he disappeared as quietly as a cat.

Brushing a lock of translucent pink from her face, Celestia worriedly eyed the old palace that once was the dwelling of her and her sister from the deck of the Sundrop. Two days had passed, and nopony had yet emerged.

Though Discord’s presentation answered numerous questions about this mysterious ‘Lord Kietelethar’, a disturbing thought made its nest in the back of her mind. When Starswirl took her to confront the Sirens, she remembered hearing them refer to their king fondly, and it was the same when Scorpan and his brother arrived.

She still did not fully trust Discord, but she knew he would not lie in such a matter as this: he was always a trickster, not a liar, and what he showed them of Tirek’s father displayed that he once had the same heart as any father. So surely he understood that his son must deal with the consequences of his choices?

Celestia shuddered a sigh as she lowered her head. Dealing out punishments were never her favourite part of her reign, and neither were they Starswirl’s. He tried numerous times to make peace with the Sirens, but they ignored him. They both tried to deal a treaty with the ambassadors from Mythos, and while it was eventually successful: that negotiation cost a friend his brother, and evidently it also cost a king his elder son.

She couldn’t help but wonder if it was poor luck, or by some usurping scheme that five out of six Mythosians that came to Equestria before Kietelethar had only conquest or destruction in mind. It wasn’t only Equestria either, for Celestia remembered the tale told to her of the Arimaspi attack on Griffinstone by her messengers, and the mention of the beast in the scene Discord revealed had indeed confirmed where he came from.

Ever since Scorpan left for his home, however, no more invasions by monstrous creatures had been heard of. Surely, he now led his father’s kingdom with as much wisdom as was asked?

‘Take note, Celestia, to send our ambassador on a goodwill trip into the Dark West in search of this land of Mythos.’ She thought to herself, turning back from the rails. ‘Make sure she’s well-packed… and perhaps ask if Discord wants to go, and meet their current king.’

Before she entered the cabin, Celestia cast a final glance over her shoulder at the old, forsaken palace. A thousand years ago, she left it to rot in the wilds of the Everfree. Dwelling within its walls brought far too many painful memories. And now, maybe as a result of that decision, it housed a thousand demons, a monster, and the Bearers of the Elements.

If her guess was right, there were a few despicable surprises in store for them that she could never guess, as well.

Letting out a melancholy sigh, she went through the doorway, and made her way through the passageways onboard. Each hall was lit with numerous lanterns that cast their warm glow- not unlike that of pure sunlight -into each and every corner. It wasn’t long until Celestia entered her sister’s chambers, which were more carefully designed to resemble a clear, moonlit night.

Luna looked up from the book she was reading to eye Celestia with curiosity, and obviously took note of her sister’s fuming, and guessed the reason, as she immediately set the tome aside.

“Sister, you know the King’s rules as well as I, if not better so. You and I both know that we cannot interfere if we are not first invi--”

“Rules be damned!” Celestia barked, surprising herself at the volume at which she spoke. Sheepishly, she lowered her head, muttered a mute apology, and continued in a quieter- yet still just as stern -tone.

“Forgive me if I speak my mind, but while I am unquestionably loyal to the King and his rules, this old fool Kietelethar is threatening the lives not only of the Element Bearers, but of two of their friends- innocent ponies in all this -as well. If it were up to me, I’d tear that palace apart, pull our ponies out of there, and burn all left inside with the fury of the sun!”

Her voice rose into the Royal Canterlot Voice as talked, a tone which nopony heard from her for hundreds of years. “And the fact that Twilight Sparkle is lost in a labyrinth of his making is not helping me to keep my head on. She’s been like a daughter to me, for the love of the King!”

Luna’s eyes widened slightly, as she had not seen Celestia this distraught since they were brought to Equestria to vanquish Discord. Yet, keeping her pace calm and slow, she retrieved her manuscript, seeing an opening to speak.

“I sympathize, dear sister, truly I do.” She cooed calmly. “But such rules are in place for a reason, for you and I both know what happened the last few times that Pure Alicorns acted on impulse, instead of by law…”

Celestia flinched at that. It stands to reason that Luna would use her own past actions as an example to further her point, and she likely only included Discord’s downfall as a bonus. Lowering her head in a defeated sigh, the Princess of the Sun conceded to lay on her belly and await their emergence with baited breath. She had faith in her student, but even she could not foresee how this might end.

Suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, the ship lurched slightly to the side: just hard enough to cause anypony standing a temporary loss of balance. One of the guard rushed in before either of the Rulers could stand, a worried look on his face.

“What has happened, Sentry?” Luna demanded, rising to her full height, and instinctually flaring her wings to appear larger.

“The-the ground caved in on itself just where the anchor was resting, your Highnesses.” The Royal Guard saluted, looking rather nervous. “And the scouts from the Albatross saw evidence of another implosion on the other side of the palace.”

The Twin Princesses looked between themselves, each fretting internally at this unforeseen occurrence.

“Ow,”

That was the first remark to come from the Air-Cruiser that had haphazardly ‘docked’ through the outer wall of Celestia’s personal chambers, leaving a pile of rubble across her room, and knocking down one of her smaller bookshelves.

Several of the Royal Guard had dashed in, and now had their spears leveled at the familiar ship. At the moment, however, they were confused by the sheer lack of concern in that noise. It sounded oddly casual, as if the driver had merely stepped on an insect.

A brown hoof reached out of a hole in the upturned hull, and waved for the guards to go closer as the voice spoke again:

“I’d greatly appreciate it if one of you could help me,” Orion stated flatly, obviously not caring too much for his predicament. Two of the armored ponies rushed to get him out once they recognized the voice. And after barely ten minute’s struggle, they freed the bruised stallion, and he smiled with a dull expression as they pulled him out.

“Okay, I really should stop operating vehicles without reading the instructions first.” He deadpanned. A quick glance around revealed exactly where in the castle he had crashed, and his carefree smile hardened into a straight line as his face became blank.

“Oh that’s just peachy. I hear the moon is nice this millenia.”

Once he had dusted himself off, he apologized for the damage, and hurriedly explained his appointment to the guards: displaying a note Luna had given him before dashing out of the palace. He didn’t even pause to exchange pleasantries with the gatekeeper as he fled out of the yard in desperation to get into the Canterlot streets, disappear into his own world, reset the portal’s coordinates, and abolish the Prophet’s following in EVOLVE.

He grinned to himself as he thought of coming back to Equestria, as here was where he felt welcome. His father before him had dealt in this world, and now he would make his home in it. He felt some regrets about leaving Mac in his own world, but his purpose on Earth was done.

Applejack practically leapt back as one of the immense serpents drew closer, not attempting to hide its interest in this new creature. Its green eyes started to ripple with gold, emerald, and sapphire coloring as it neared her, and slowly lifted its head from the ground. Her heart stopped as she watched the muscles of the beast tense for a strike, she knew she’d never be able to dodge a snake that large: and for once in her life, terror had petrified her. She didn’t hear a stone fall from the ceiling, or the fleshy thud of something living impacting the stone floor.

Her blood ran cold as a sail-like frill fanned out just behind the creature’s skull, and it made a lightning fast lunge, glowing fangs on full display as she screamed a final scream: clenching her eyes shut.

There was an intense impact, and then… nothing.

She still felt the calming coolness of the cave, there was no pain, and it didn’t even feel like she was being swallowed alive. She dared to open one eye, and the sight made her jaw drop.

The serpent was rising back to its full height as beams of sunlight cast a grey sheen on the black scales, and a small pig tried in vain to squirm out of its jaws as it squealed in panic. The immense snake flicked its head back, maw open as the prey took a short flight through the air before being engulfed by the creature’s jaws.

Applejack’s head reeled at the sight of sunlight, and she desperately wanted to get aboveground and call for help.

It was then that she pulled what might just be the most stupid move anypony ever attempted…

“HEY! SCALEY!”

The great snake unceremoniously swallowed its squeaking meal as its brethren slithered away from the sunlight, and looked down at her curiously. She had its attention. Good.

Trying her best at simple hoof gestures: she patted herself on the chest, and pointed to the hole in the cave. Back, and forth, numerous times. Never breaking eye contact with the thing.

Juvenile as it was, the monster eyed her curiously as she continued the gestures, switching its gaze from her to the opening to the overworld. Slowly, it craned its neck down to her, and held its nostrils inches from the smaller pony’s muzzle as it stared her down innocently.

Applejack smirked. ’Eat yer heart out, Flutters.’

Groggily, Rainbow Dash stirred as the scent of fresh hay penetrated her nostrils. Her eyes still felt sticky and puffy from tears, but she felt well-rested as refreshing sunlight hit her face. Yawning, she reached down to pull up her blanket, and was only mildly confused by it’s feathery texture.

Then, all the memories hit her: the labyrinth, the darkness, the weariness, the promise of finding the end…

… Pinkie’s sacrifice.

She didn’t remember anything after she fell asleep on the rubble, and that worried her as her eyes started to flutter open. If they hadn’t reached the end, where was she?

Once her vision cleared of weariness, she saw the “blanket” that she was using was actually one of Twilight’s wings, and that the dozing Alicorn was currently using her like a teddy bear: limbs wrapped around her as she nuzzled her head into Rainbow’s chest, her horn resting harmlessly on the confused Pegasus’ shoulder.

“Rainbow? Twilight?”

Rainbow swerved her head away from her seeming cuddle buddy, and spotted Fluttershy tiredly lifting her muzzle slightly as she stretched her back and limbs with several loud pops. Rainbow’s muzzle stretched wide in another yawn, and she tried to carefully ease out of Twilight’s grip.

“Where are we?” Fluttershy asked timidly, taking in their surroundings.

Rainbow followed suit, letting her eyes examine the room with interest. It was spacious, roomy, and somewhat like a suite in Canterlot. But the iron bars running through the middle of the sanctuary, separating them from the doorway, was a clear sign that they weren’t in any part of Canterlot they were familiar with.

“Girls? Is that really you?”

Freezing, the two Pegasi whipped around, pausing just long enough to recognize the owner of that voice before tackling her to the ground in a crushing embrace, a viable chorus of relieved cries and questionings echoing through the cell:

“Myra! Thank Heaven you’re alright!”

“I thought I’d never see you again!”

“You are alright, aren’t you?”

“Yes, are you alright? No injuries?”

Laughing through her joyful tears, the white mare hugged her two friends as the cacophony stirred the third from her sleep. Twilight looked up, and eyed the scene with confusion, then joy, and then concern. In the meantime, Myra stepped back from her friends, and giggled her responses: it was all she could do to keep from crying.

“Yes, I’m fine. They haven’t treated me badly at all here, really!” She said, her voice returning to its calm tone. “In fact, I wish I could get this type of service at home!”

Slowly, her smile fell, and the eyes the others in concern. “Who we should be worried about are you guys, what’s been happening down there? I was only allowed to see a few things before Mac disappeared, and then you three appear out of nowhere!”

It barely took a half hour for Twilight and the girls to fill their friend in on everything they remembered, though she did openly express some concern that her friends were now even more divided in those hellish caverns. Myra listened intently as the tales were told, and her eyes went wide with horror once Rainbow described what happened to Pinkie. Once all was said and done, the four of them sat in contemplative silence.

“What happened to bring you guys here?” Myra finally asked, breaking the somber silence. The others looked to her, looked between each other, and then realized the common denominator:

“We all fell asleep…” Fluttershy pondered, pawing at the ground. “... and then we all wake up here. But how?”

At that moment, an immense trap door lifted up from the floor: held up by the head of a great snake- black as midnight and polished as steel -that lifted out and spat a familiar form onto the floor, before retreating back into the hole. The door shut with a crack, and disappeared without even a seam left to distinguish it from the stone floor.

The three Pegasi rushed to the Unicorn, and Twilight approached soon after, relieved to see another one of her friends safe.

“That answers how we got here, I suppose.” Fluttershy sighed, confirming that their friend was merely asleep, likely from exhaustion. “Although I admit, I didn’t expect Kietelethar to bring a Basilisk into this.”

“A Basil-what?” Rainbow asked, lifting the Unicorn onto her back in order to put her on the bed.

“Basilisk,” Fluttershy corrected, flying over to prepare the sheets with Myra. “I’ve never actually see one before, as they’re supposed to live north of the Spires. Kietelethar must’ve had some sort of incentive to convince this one to go with him…”

Her thoughts were interrupted when their new guest stirred, and opened her eyes.

As much as she hated straining herself in the darkness, Rarity tried her best to focus on the bright side of things. For instance, once she and the others made it to the end of this maze of bricks, and this dreadful adventure was over: she could return to her boutique, and make Orion that suit he promised she could make for him.

Not to mention that as much as she hated to admit it, this place was giving her a bit of inspiration for camouflaged ensembles. You never know what might come in handy when, after all. She shivered slightly, and took note that she really should start packing warm whenever she goes on these dreadful adventures.

‘Nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things they are.’ She thought to herself. ‘I love my friends to death, but might there be any chance that just once we could get lost in the Gallopagos or some such paradise?’

Her steps slowed as weariness caught up to her, and her eyes grew heavy. Her hooves dragged on the cement floor until she fell forward onto her knees with a quiet shriek, and shook her head.

“Now, now, Rarity.” She chided herself. “Don’t be alarmed, we only need a little rest. That glowing smile is probably stuck on the other end of this Labyrinth, and there are a few… *yawn* hours to spare. Surely... a quick rest isn’t… too… much… to…”

With a final yawn, she unceremoniously fell onto her side.