It took a few hours before the two finally woke back up ready to face the day. Discord was the first and groggily rose from bed quickly looking on his back to see the quaver mark on his back. Curious, but too lethargic to do anything about it Discord paid it no mind and found his way into the kitchen area. The same routine went on with food and waiting but the contemplating was a new thing.

‘So what are we at… eight marks already and six left. We didn’t even check what was going to be the next door. Whatever happens in that door is Spike’s deal. All these worlds have been familiar but only on the surface. If I remember correctly the only one I’ve actually gone into was Rainbow Dash’s choice. The rest are merely familiar shadows… I think. Too many memories to sort through at this point.’

Spike finally woke up and stumbled into the room. While sluggish he still managed to get food to get through the rest of the day. Discord watched passively and didn’t even try to assist in any possible way more due to his own lethargy than any lack of interest. The two ate in silence and waited for the awkwardness to break. The two finally finished but couldn’t find anything to say. The fight was still on their mind and they barely survived the entire ordeal. They each looked at each other. Spike’s haggard look and traumatized stare complemented Discord’s apathetic and despairing view. Neither had much to go on but they felt that they were reaching the end of their rope. The constant danger and lack of seeing friends had become heavier with every step they took.

“Shall we?” Spike intoned and waved his claw towards the door with the treble clef mark emblazoned upon it.

“Yeah. Might as well get this over with. I’m already tired of this and I really want this to stop getting in the way of our freedom.” Discord uttered in a disgusted tone while the two stood up carrying their way towards the door.

Spike was the first to the door opening it to a large courtyard. Stepping within they were suddenly in the presence of a large castle but something was off. Something evil was floating through the air and Discord was sent into a stuttering mess as shivers raced down his spine. It felt very familiar and he hated that feeling. Spike patted his leg to try and get him to calm down. It didn’t work though and Discord merely shrugged it off though gently.

“This place is very familiar. I really don’t like it at all…” Discord scoffed and took his time to examine the area.

Everything seemed to be in tune with Canterlotian architecture with plenty of white marble and intricate designs. It felt too neat but at the same time comforting. Discord shook off the feeling leading the way further within. Spike pointed a general direction but the path immediately went vertical within the first room. The entire castle felt alive and neither could explain exactly why it felt so familiar. They could only continue to step forward following the feelings that Spike was getting for the artifact that was within the walls.

“I’m surprised that we haven’t been attacked yet… I just jinxed it.” Spike facepalmed only to receive a pat on the back from Discord.

“If you didn’t I would have.”Discord prepared himself as the two managed to make their way into a large ruined tower.

The two made their way into a huge ruined tower with no visible staircase up. Spike stared up in awe when he fully understood just how big the area truly was and the feeling that he was getting from the artifact and its general location. It was further up quite literally in fact. Discord froze in place glaring at a particular spot as he held back Spike with his tail. A voice rang out of nowhere shocking Spike out of his revelry and making his blood run cold.

“Two more souls within the Master’s halls. Full of power it seems. And one that feels so familiar that he could be family.” The voice was cold and carried into their very souls chilling them to the bone.

A large figure in a black cloak appeared with face fully encased in shadows. The piercing stare of it’s red eyes focused on the two and when they looked at the hands the figure had they could feel exactly what it was. Two bony hands descended from the opening holding a sinister scythe with a crooked notch in the blade. The notch looked particularly gruesome and seemed to be around only to keep the head in place while the blade did its grisly work.

“W-who are you?” Spike muttered out only for Discord to take a step back.

“Seems only the large one knows what I am too bad that fool in the shadows is trying so hard to control and failing so miserably. My dear little lizard… I am the incarnation of that which everything fears. The being every being meets when it is time to shuffle off this mortal coil and everyone always meets me. No one is immortal in my gaze without my approval. I am Death.”

Spike instantly backed up while Discord stepped forward. As an aspect of the force of chaos he was at least somewhat resistant to the concept.

“Seems I was right when I smelled your rotting corpse here, Death. Do us a favor and leave.” Discord snarled accidentally summoning some of the cotton candy clouds which crackled intensely with lightning.

“I wondered what I felt was inside here. Seems the aspect of Discord has finally graced us with his presence. Truly it’s a momentous occasion. Or it would be had I not hated your pathetic guts. Seems fool don’t know their place when dealing with the chaos of the world in truly beneficial ways. In fact you feel nothing like before. You feel like a shell… one I will relish in destroying for my master.” Death slurred his words as he brandished his scythe menacingly.

Before Death could react Spike shot a volley of ice at Death freezing him in place. Spike fired continuously until the mark on his back flashed and sputtered out of energy. Discord wasted no time and picked up the exhausted drake and ran off deeper into the old castle. The freezing effect didn’t even last for more than forty seconds. Death clenched his fingers around his scythe and let off a laugh that sent a staccato of rattling from his ribs. The game would be interesting. Very interesting.

Several monsters began to form within the castle. While the master was still destroyed due to the ever increasing efforts of the Belmonts, their kin, and the annoying little pony that kept assailing the castle Death was eternal and always waiting in the shadows for his prey. No Belmont regardless of their heritage would ever outlast Death.

“Are we safe yet?” Spike coughed out.

His question was answered when several swarms of zombies formed from pools of blood that covered the ground rose up to strike. Discord immediately jumped to the ceiling and clung onto it while they raced onward. Spike coughed up but he still used his normal fire breath and Applejack’s ability to keep the hordes from growing too large. They were mindless beasts unable to truly think of anything but they were also a constantly growing force that continually kept shambling after them. Spike had read enough zompony comics to realize that underestimating zomponies was the first way to be killed on the spot.

“Door. Door! DOOR!” Spike screamed out pointing towards one of the nearest doors for the two to escape through.

The next room consisted of a trek upwards through a winding staircase while pegasi wearing fancy armor and wielding giant piker’s lances flew around. The moment they were spotted the pegasi dove down upon the two attempting to spear either of them. Discord summoned his clouds capturing the creatures and watched them roll down the stairs like a slinky. While they both chuckled the grim outlook on their situation still worked it’s way into their thoughts. The vassals of the castle were on Death’s orders now and hunting was on the agenda.

“Discord, how do you know about that… thing? What even is it?” Spike peered around terrified that the being known only as Death could hear him.

“That was Death, the literal personification of Death in all it’s forms. While there are grim reapers who act as ferrymen of the dead this particular being it the father of death. He controls when a being dies and where they go when they die. He watches over all immortal and deigns that honor to those that deserve it as well. We are like… brothers in a sense. Since I am an embodiment of Chaos I share some responsibility of the natural order like he does. Change must be facilitated and while he works effortlessly he also thinks incessantly about balance.” Discord droned on as the pegasi that were attacking them all flailed around at the bottom of the staircase in broken piles.

“How… So is he the reason Alicorns are immortal?” Spike felt his eyes widen at the implications.

“No. Alicorns are technically cheats which is why I like dealing with them. Their ascension basically changed them into immortal beings which pissed off Death. Since I found it hilarious that paved way to my decision to induct them into my chaotic world view. That was how things turned out for me back then.” Discord breathed heavily after all their attackers were gone. He placed Spike back on the ground allowing him to walk once again.

“So why is he pissed at you? I thought you’d be like friends if you’re so similar in what you are.” Spike queued an eyebrow which raised in a questioning glance. Discord beat around the bust for a second but he felt on a roll after what felt like a month of nothing happening.

“Well I may have sided with the Alicorns because they broke the rules which is a big plus for me. Problem was that I had no idea about control and Death saw my betrayal, while in big part loyal to my aspect, as a slap to the face to him. He hates disrespect and the heroes he deal with always disrespect him in some way. I always laugh at those little moments.” Discord led the way to the next room only for the two to spot something strange.

A very… alluring Rarity appeared dressed in what could only be considered an indecent dress that hid nothing to the imagination. Spike, being a bit more weak willed, instantly went gaga for the alluring mare and made his way towards her without missing a beat. As he got closer the mare disappeared and turned into a very bewitching bat mare and instantly charged at the diminutive dragon fangs bared and ready to pierce his succulent body for the blood within. Dragon’s blood was the richest of all bloods.

“Nope.” Discord flicked his fingers activating the telekinesis from Twilight’s power and the bat mare was flung into the wall landing face first into it. Spike went from angry to shocked within the span of the few seconds the mare went flying.

“What was that?” Spike pointed at the now unconscious mare on the floor.

“Succubus. They like playing with male’s minds because they can’t control the other head. Mr. The Dragon needs to keep the head in check. Which one I mean I’ll let you decide.” Discord sneered in jest with the same condescending smile he wore whenever something went hilariously for his amusement.

Then another one appeared shaped exactly like Fluttershy, only in a more modest ensemble, which instantly drew Discord’s eye. He dumbly wandered over to the mare in question only for another succubus to charge for him. A gust of wind blew her into the wall as Spike stepped forward with a smug look on his face. He stared up at the dumbfounded draconequus who only glared back.

“Shut up.” Discord glowered at the dragon while the two kept making their way deeper into the castle corridors.

The trek through the remaining rooms were a cavalcade of monsters attacking them. Several room had beefed up versions of cockatrices firing beams of light at the pair which turned anything hit by it to stone. It took several blasts of fire and lightning to even make an impact on these foul beasts.

Another similarity appeared in the Minotaurs which paraded around the halls wielding large axes. They forwent the usual hammy posturing they usually held and attacked with blind ferocity. They were much hardier than the other enemies tanking any elemental blast and ignoring any attempts at telekinesis. Exasperation led Discord to just trap them in cotton candy and suffocate them as the de facto method of dealing with them. Whenever they died a strange ball of light would escape from the beast and return somewhere deep into the ground. Some were red, some were blue, and others were yellow. Whatever they were it confused the pair to no end but unlike Twilight who would find out why they decided that it wasn’t important enough to deal with.

“I really should be taking notes about all these worlds for Twilight. She’d love it. Knowledge she would never know without coming to these worlds.” Spike mused in muttered tones.

“Let her figure it out on her own. She’d enjoy that more that particular way.” Discord chuckled as he used some telekinesis to open a large stone door.

What stood before them made them both back up in awe. There before them was a large clock tower and the mechanisms that made the clock move. Gears and cranks worked in tandem with each other while the tower walls seemed to be lined with several bloody spikes. The bodies of monsters which didn’t fade to darkness were skewered on their respective sections allowing the gore and viscera that had slid through the wounds to dry up into a blackened crust. The heads of soldiers were adorned on pikes that had been wedged into the ground stood proudly on display horrifying the diminutive drake as one of the head socketless eye holes stared deeply into his eyes.

“Nightmares for weeks… Nightmares for years maybe…” Spike instantly shut down all higher brain functions while Discord merely scoffed.

“Poor decor choices. You need to place them in more appealing poses to truly terrify someone. Whoever did these caricatures obviously has no talent for the finer things in life. Regardless I guess I should get you out of here before this drives you even more insane than I usually am.” Discord snuffed his nose before picking up Spike and climbing up the incredibly slow moving gears that stood before him.

“These worlds are more horrifying the farther into them we go. How can you handle it so well Discord.” Spike muttered monotonously.

“Simple my dear boy. I see these things on a daily basis constantly without stop 24/7 and 365 days out of the year. This has become the norm that insanity was the only answer followed by a return to sanity and sheer apathy over the concepts of tasteful decoration. Honestly I’ve been alive for so long that nothing really phases me anymore. It takes the most unexpected thing to truly surprise me. The incident with those floating ball bearings being one of the few which had gotten me out of nowhere. So really I’m immune to most surprises. Pinkie Pie antics not included because those are surprising for an entirely different matter.” Discord grinned as he looked over the gears he was walking up.

Spike remained quiet and while not fully back to a willing participant for discussions of deathly decoration debauchery he still managed to keep some levity in his soul. Even after seeing more posed corpses he managed to ignore the implications enough to not fall into another heroic blue screen of death.

As the pair started to climb another tower of gears and mechanisms several severed flying pony heads covered in snakes started to float around in aimless paths while their eyes were closed. When two got too close to one another they both instantly turned to stone and fell down on the ground shattering into shards upon impact.

“Nope. Nope nope nope nope.” Discord began backpedaling into the previous tower. Turning back to stone was the last thing on his list.

Spike managed to prod him back into the room driving a claw into his back to needle him to man up. He remained ready as Discord made his climb firing several fireballs at the floating creatures turning them to the darkness that made up their being. As they reached the top an entire wall came flying towards them forcing Discord to act and create a wall of clouds… which turned immediately into stone trapping both the creature and the cloud in permanent petrification. In summoning the clouds Discord lost his grip and fell backwards forcing Spike to grab the ledge that led them where they needed to go.

“OH CRAP!” Discord cried out while Spike grunted at the sudden tugging, Discord was barely held on by his tail as Spike’s nails clawed into the stone.

“Little help… Telekinesis… Now Discord.” Spike grunted out as he strengthened his grip which while easier with Starlight’s ability was still being taxed.

“A little busy here. More incoming!” Discord slightly panicked as he used his telekinesis to grab the severed heads out of the air and toss them at the other severed heads. While he continued to stop the heads from reaching the pair Spike became proactive and started to force his claws to move up.

Inch by inch he gained a new claw hold to use. With each struggling grip another group of heads would fly towards them forcing Discord to summon lightning from the clouds he created. This world was now on their all time never visit again world list. Spike would make sure to put it on Twilight’s checklist with the triple check boxes just to stress the point about it. As Spike dragged his feet onto the ledge he used the previously made claw holds as foot holds while Discord managed to get his feet back as a grip on the ledge.

They quickly pulled themselves up and traveled around the wall of stone they had left behind carefully. They didn’t know if touching it would turn them to stone. As they left the room all the stone that was left behind immediately crumbled into powder leaving no trace of the massacre that was left in the room.

Discord kept muttering obscenities to himself while Spike shook his head in exhaustion. For the first time in all the worlds they had been to Starlight’s mark had faded and emptied out. The minimal use of it had gone forgotten and nothing aside from the battle with the robots had stressed it to the point of near exhaustion. This particular moment had drained it entirely due to the constant struggling that a wriggling Discord keeping them from turning to stone had drained his stamina.

“Does that count as exercise now… I don’t want to do anymore running Shining…” Spike expressed in a daze while the world spun around him.

“Wrong pony and let’s just continue onwards. Where do you feel the artifact coming from then Spike?” Discord placed a finger on Spike’s head keeping him in one place as the dizzy spell faded from his sight.

“It’s getting closer I feel it through that door over there. I think it leads to the main clockwork section of the clock tower. The gears around here seem to indicate that at the very least.” Spike surmised as he shook his head to finally get his eyes back into place.

“Yes yes mini-Twilight. Thank you for your astute observation. Let’s get us another artifact then and… nope not gonna say it author. I will not tempt fate once again with words that are typed through my mouth. Let’s get going Spike.” Discord pouted at the screen which was just the sky to Spike.

“Uh… who are you speaking to?” Spike looked around wondering now if they were being watched or something. It had become an unsettling idea and Discord always did seem to know more than he would let on. Pinkie was the only one who seemed to get with the program but he needed some chain to reality because the idea that others were watching him left him both unsettled and embarrassed especially if they saw him swooning over the succubus who transformed into a provocative Rarity who revealed just enough… Spike slapped himself to stop his thoughts as he blushed..

Discord stared at the dragon and forced him forward. He wished to ignore this facade and acquire the artifact from this death trap and leave with all his limbs intact. Spike managed to keep his blushing from getting any worse and opened the last room. Far above them were the gears which ran the entire tower. As the clock tower chimed the bells far above a pedestal rose from the center of the room revealing a very intricately designed violin.

The violin was in perfect condition. Both the upper bout and lower bout looked to be symmetrical in size and thickness with the wood looking to be made from a healthy maple wood while the neck and fingerboard were made from an ebony and varnished to an illustrious shine. It was a beautiful piece of equipment which was completely lost on the pair since Spike preferred playing a piano and Discord was more comparable to anything loud and completely uncontrollable.

“Is this it Spike?” Discord stared at the instrument

“Yeah this should be it. It feels like it is and I’m thinking we really are going to need it for later. Mind giving me a lift up.” Spike looked at the draconequus who rolled his eyes but extended his tail down allowing him to use it as a platform to get on top of the pedestal and examine the instrument in question.

Spike carefully approached the violin and peered at it from all angles. While he didn’t really know the value of the artifact before him he had read enough Daring Do to know that something as unprotected as the violin was more than likely trapped in someway. Ignoring the horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach Spike gingerly picked up the instrument, Nothing happened.

“Well that was anticlimactic and I thought it was going to go so wrong within the first few minutes after I picked it up.” Spike hopped off the pedestal and the two began to walk out the door back to the gear towers. As the two made their way the pedestal sank into the ground and iron bars appeared in front of the door they were trying to exit through.

“Should have known about the double bluff.” Discord muttered as the two stepped backwards barely missing the large bird like creature with the spear pouncing down on them from above fully intended to stab them through the chest.

It rose from the ground and stared the two down as they heard the flapping of two wings somewhere above them. A large gargoyle was flying in the air around them staring them down but it looked nothing like the Equestrian version. Discord immediately shielded them with a wall of cotton candy as the spear pierced right through nearly beheading Spike while the gargoyle shot several volleys of fire melting portions of the makeshift shield.

“I wonder if we should have prepared some things before we took the violin. Really should have prepared a jewel shield now that I think about it.” Spike ducked down as the spear nearly grazed one of his head fins.

Discord smacked the clouds and they all fired off bolts of lightning outwards towards the two creatures assaulting them. It was draining but they at least backed off. The two creatures circled the pair and readied themselves for another chance to sentence more prey to the pike.