Following her guide, Courage soon found herself in the outer courtyard of a huge castle. "Wow, this place is huge. Is it really so crazy out there that you need this?" She admired the big walls and pony guards marching along the wall to guard from attacks, but there was one feeling she couldn't shake. I am being watched closely. Her head turned to Hunger.

"Not so much here. But even still, sometimes whole armies come and lay siege to us." Hunger couldn't help but drool a little at the thought. "They have never gotten in alive, though." Completely unable to hold back a manic little giggle, Hunger led the way to the open front gate.

"Halt." A big pegasus—their wings trying to cover their gaunt ribs—stepped out from a post beside the gate and stepped between Courage and the outside. "Hunger, you can't go out alone. We have reports of gorgers roaming around."

Courage didn't fail to notice the guard's eyes keep drifting to her, not that he looked at her face. "Gorgers?" Looking to Hunger, she tried to probe him for answers with her gaze.

"Uh, ponies who like to eat a little too much. They can become quite monstrous." Hunger looked to the guard. "Lieutenant Devour, Bale Fire here said she came through the downward gate with a friend." He waggled his eyebrows out of sight of Courage.

"Well, sounds like you need a security detail." Devour spread a big smile that showed off a set of sharp teeth. "Attention!" Four guards—all looking just as waif-thin as Hungry—presented themselves. "I only need three." He glared at one of the guards until they retreated.

"Hey, I can look after myself." Courage railed against having the guards, particularly since there would be two pegasi and two unicorns. "And if we can catch up with Corignis there will be two of us to fight." Her smile wilted under the gaze of the three guards and their Lieutenant.

"Oh, uh…" Hunger looked between Courage and the guards, moving between them in the hope he could somehow get this all to work. "We wouldn't dream of letting you get hurt, would we Lieutenant Devour?"

Devour's eyes were planted firmly on Courage's rump; it was hard not to drool under the circumstances, and the only thing that stopped him from attacking the mare right away was the thought of having two. "Of course. We only want to make sure you are both safe."

"you don't seriously trust them, do you?"

Courage had to hide the snort of amusement under a cough. She wanted to reply with something snarky, but didn't dare. "I really hope we can find her quickly." It was true enough that Courage could avoid outright giggling.

"Maybe you should just kill them all. This is Gluttony. They should be reveling in their sin, not hunting ponies for food."

After hearing the words, even in her head, humor abandoned Courage completely. "So what are these gorgers like? I have been around a little—lower that is—and have seen a lot of strange things."

As Devour and his squad marched forward, Courage and Hunger fell in behind. "Well, they have been eating and eating. It is amazing to see. They are bloated and huge!" Hunger's eyes closed in bliss. "A little too fatty, but they—" He stopped talked at a glare from Devour.

"So, how do we find Corignis?" Courage didn't want the guards to get angry at her, not yet. She began to use her magic, reaching out with it.

"Stop that! The… uh…" Hunger fished for a word, "gorgers can sense magic, and will hunt us down!" He nodded, clearly hoping that the explanation would stop Courage from what she was doing.

"Why don't you just kill him? The others probably wouldn't notice if you did it just right."

Better idea. Courage schooled her features into shock. "Oh no, I twisted my hoof!" She slumped gracefully to the ground, one back leg extended out. "Now I will never be able to—" Energizing her horn again, Courage used thick black tentacles of power to grab the guard who pounced at her. "W-What are you doing?" she said, painting her words with startlement that Courage hoped would hide her set up. The look in her attacker's eyes had been enough for Courage to firmly shove him in the "monster" category—he looked like a mad animal.

Snarling and snapping, the guard fought at the restraints. Biting at the dark magic, his eyes widened when he heard a snap.

The urge for Courage to drink the life-force out of the dying creature was great, but she remembered Alphias' warning, and assumed it meant any kind of sustenance for pony or demon. "Oh my! Did you see that? He tried to throw himself on me!" That she had just killed a pony didn't register; the thing she had killed was a monster, which her pony-self was more than okay with dispatching. Her demon side had no problems either way.

Four stunned faces stared at Courage; Hunger was the first to react. "Are you alright?" He moved carefully to Courage, gulping back his sudden fear at how casually she had killed the guard. "Would you like a hoof up?"

"Thank you." Courage lifted herself up, not wanting to rely on the slimy little toad of a pony. He is the one leading me to reveal Corignis so they can get her too. A sudden urge almost had her reach out with her magic again.

"And then there were four."

"Something must have possessed him." Lieutenant Devour stared at the dead guard. Gulping sharply, he kept back his own urges to jump on the dead pony and rip him apart for his meat. He contemplated his chances of rushing the mare, and started leaning forward on his hooves.

"I see something!" One of the guards—who was actually doing his job—pointed with a hoof toward the horizon. "Looks like some kinda fight."

Courage perked up, tracing the pony's foreleg into the distance. When the rush of magic leapt into the sky and then crashed down, Courage immediately recognized it as Corignis. "That's her! We need to rescue her!" spreading her big wings, Courage pumped them rapidly, lifting herself into the air with a whoop of excitement. Airborne, she had a much better view of Corignis, and the dozen guards she was fighting; guards that looked exactly like Devour and his cronies.

Corignis was well surrounded, hemmed in by a mix of tough earth ponies, quick pegasi, and a few unicorns who seemed intent on not letting her take to the air. Swinging her powerful whip of magic around again, she lashed one of the unicorns across the face. "Come on, can't any of you take me on?" She brought her whip around again, forcing all her attackers back; then one of them suddenly caught fire. A chill of power ran up her spine, and Corignis started to laugh.

Slamming down to the ground, Courage drew her flames back from the pegasus who had been about to stab Corignis. Power surged through Courage as her horn lit. A purple-black mass of tentacles erupted from her own back and reached forward. Tearing at one of the guards with the tentacles now under her control, Courage sent her flame out to dance within Corignis' mane and tail. "These are not nice ponies!"

"You think? One bit me!" Corignis danced around, her burning mane swinging, but when her tail did the same it connected with one of the guards. She turned to watch as the bale-fire spread over his body. "That one, in fact!" She laughed. "What is their deal? I thought this was…" She trailed off as she lashed out with a hoof, caving in the face of another of her attackers. "I thought this was Gluttony?"

"Interesting friend you have. She is right though, this is Gluttony, and those are—"

"Cannibals. I told them I needed to find you so the runt they left in my cell wouldn't try to eat me on the spot. I have no idea what their game is, but they still count as addicted, right? Eating ponies is still eating?" Courage now had her own foes to face, some guards breaking off from milling around Corignis to circle her.

"Kill them both!" Lieutenant Devour landed on the outskirts of the melee, pushing and shoving his way in. "They are just stupid ponies, drag them down and rip out their throats!"

"Friends? Bale-darling, you shouldn't have." Corignis spun around, but her attackers were wise to her tail being a weapon. "Are you going to—" She stopped short when the big tentacles on Courage's back arched up in the air and dove at Devour. "Buck that's awesome…"

Courage shoved each tentacle into a different limb, slamming the last through Devour's back. He turned his head and bit into one of her tentacles, but the damage was already done. Courage swung the new limbs, pulling Devour off his hooves and flinging him into the crowd that was between her and Corignis. "Sorry I'm late." She glared at the other pony guards, daring any to step forward and challenge her.

"I'll save you, fair maidens!"

The shout drew everypony's attention to one side, where the oddest thing happened. "Is this for real?" Courage looked at Corignis, then back to the hugely overweight pony. Their "savior" had heavy plate armor doing a good job of wrapping their body, but as they charged the guards she saw actual competence in their movements. Yellow-gold magic held a heavy pole-arm, swinging it into the shocked guards.

"My hero!" Corignis batted her lashes at the newcomer, even as he grabbed something from his backpack. To Courage she whispered softly, "A hayburger?" She watched as the huge pony made short work of the cannibals, cutting down nearly a dozen and sending the rest into full-rout.

"I literally can't believe this." Courage watched the "hero" stalk around the foes he had laid-low, giving each a finishing blow. "Uh, sir?"

"Yes? Oh! The maidens!" Finishing the last of the downed guards for good, the brave stallion trotted—with much jiggling—over to Courage and Corignis. Lowering down to one wobbling knee, he bowed his head. "Sir Thunder Hoof, at your service."

Corignis was quicker on the uptake and dipped her own head as Thunder climbed back upright. "Sir Knight, you saved us from a fate worse than death itself!" She lifted her hoof up and actually tittered when Thunder gently kissed it.

"Much as I hate to rush, and particularly with two such well-mannered mares, but they will be back with friends—lots and lots of friends. We must away…" Thunder groaned a little, reaching to his bulging pack and pulling out another burger. "Mfmfm, pweeph ephquooz my eaphin, Wuphuny." He munched on the big, greasy burger with every look of adoration—for the burger, not for the maidens.

"Uh." Courage blinked at the happy knight. "Yeah, if there are more we really should move. Do you…" she fumbled for a word, "have a castle of your own?"

Nodding around his food, Sir Thunder started trotting back the way he had come from. "Goph a phawl ephpape…" He gulped down the last of the burger and sighed. "I have a small estate. We should make it in no time, tally-ho!"

"I wouldn't have expected a brave knight to be in Gluttony." Corignis slipped her damsel-in-distress mentality off, since it seemed like Thunder wasn't quite so stupid as she initially thought. "Why are you here?"

"Good question. I was meant to be further down. You see, when I was alive I walked away from all I was and did some evil things. Of course, I repented and tried to atone for myself. Who would have thought a lifetime of making up for it, wouldn't." Thunder sounded jovial despite the subject. "That was a long time ago. I should be in with the other heretics, but these… biters…" he resisted the urge to call them any of the less-kind names—there were mares present after all—and used the lest offensive word, "guard the exit. They raid us, trying to steal ponies away to eat."

"Well that explains why the lower levels are less populated." Courage gave a little nod. "And I guess any that are even a little gluttonous tend to join up with them?"

"Sadly, it is true. Not many souls that come down here will eat another pony, but to them we are all food." Thunder's voice hardened for a moment, then he let out a sigh. "Sorry about phiff." His last word was choked around a rolled-up pizza.

Author's Notes:

So I do this "Ask x" thing, x can be any pony within the story. You can ask them anything and I they will definitely hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories and of course, I they will answer the best question(s) in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right pony to answer, try and keep it to one answer per post! I They will pick one question per chapter. (note, the commissioner will answer questions in the comments, since this is their OC)

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