"Faster! Someone needs our help!" Luna urged in excitement.

It confused the other two to no end. Was the sprinting woman in front of them really this happy that someone was in danger?

The midnight blue magician prayed for an upcoming fight of epic proportions. A chance to gain honor and to enhance her skills. The timberwolves were too weak for her liking and Commander Raga was much too strong. Well, never mind! The ex-vice-principal itched for a real challenge, one worthy of her abilities.

Celestia and Cadence followed the action-seeking knight of the moon, having problems keeping up with their relative.

"Luna, slow down!" Celestia demanded, annoyed.

"We have to stay together! You don't know what we'll have to face!" Cadence added in support, panting.

The former vice-principal ignored the requests of her sister and niece. Who played the hardest games and mastered the most difficult riddles in them? Was the leader of one of the best guilds? A trained swordswoman? Her! She was sure her intelligence and know-how would be enough to defy the odds. Luna could hear occasionally how the others had problems keeping up with her, sometimes missing the unevenness of the ground, or nearly stumbling because of a stone in their path.

She sighed. Casuals.

Luna just hoped that Celestia could tank the damage with her shield. She trusted her big sister's judgment. Their group's only problem was that they didn't have a healer. Cadence could maybe count as a gentle support, outside of dangerous battles. The night-loving woman would deal the damage, obviously.

On another note, Celestia surely gained already +5 on weight because of all the cakes she devoured earlier on the farm which were made by Granny Smith. Luna was sure of that.

After the next treeline, she reached a slope. Not too steep, but sloped enough to climb down. The rest of her family caught up, giving the lunar knight a disapproving stare.

"What?" Luna asked in an innocent tone.

"Don't you 'what' me, Lulu! I know that you heard us. Why did you run so far ahead?" Celestia interrogated her little sister, irritated.

Cadence couldn't share her opinion. She had to take deep breaths, to take a break. The former dean didn't usually run this much, this fast. Not since her last sports festival in college.

"Stay back, thou monstrosity!" someone shouted commandingly.

Celestia would recognize this authoritarian and old fashioned voice anywhere. She had to do with this man when she talked with his wife after their daughter caused damage on school property, when she tried to use a self-made ‘party cannon’.

Igneous Rock Pie, the patriarch of the Pie Family and father of Pinkie Pie.

"Look!" Cadence exclaimed and pointed with her finger at the scene beneath them.

They were now in a part of the Everfree they'd never seen, only heard from before. Even before the changes, it was always a dangerous place and nobody should venture into this part of the forest because of many dangers and strange rumors, which gave this place a bad reputation and an equally foreboding name. Ghastly Gorge.

Pinkie Pie's entire family stood with their backs to the slope, beneath the trio.

Igneous Rock stood in front of his wife and a girl. Glaring holes into the beast in front of them.

His wife, Cloudy Quartz, as Celestia recognized, stood with determination in front of the shyest and most scared looking girl, who hid her face behind her hair, closest to the slope. Celestia nearly squeed inside of her mind because of the adorable sight.

She didn't know the shy girl and the bored looking one. The later positioned herself at the very front and created... walls of stone? She must be a mage and have discovered her inner magic! They had to be the remaining two of the four Pie Sisters Celestia never met before.

Though the former principal remembered the girl beside the unknown one. Second oldest of the four sisters, from what Pinkie Pie told her when she once asked the girl if they were related. Limestone Pie. Celestia had recognized the name.

She had a hot temper and was easy to annoy, but the young woman had a good head on her shoulders and her heart at the right place. If that only would be the case for her tongue. Celestia lost count of how many times she had to call Pinkie's big sister into her office, because she butted heads with other students.

And what was this horrible creature that attacked them? They needed a well thought-out plan, and fast it seemed.

"Luna, Cadence, listen. I think we should-" Celestia couldn't finish, because a certain midnight blue person decided to take things into her own hands, testing her luck. The woman showed her big sister's possible ideas and plans the metaphorical middle finger.

"Huzzah!" Luna shouted her patented battlecry, summoned her wings and flew straight into the unknown foe, ready to fight!

Cadence, meanwhile, looked in shock after her attacking aunt as she simultaneously tried to climb down to help.

Well, at least the endangered family.

The left-behind paragon of patience and former principal of the infamous Canterlot High School, unofficial beacon for magical incidents since the last Fall Formal, knew how to respond. She didn't have to waste a second thought for her choice of words, "Are you kidding me?!"

Limestone Pie was annoyed. More so than she usually was in many situations and that meant something. Nothing positive, to be sure. She remembered how they searched the entire time since the invasion of Canterlot for her little sister, Pinkie Pie. Or as she called her; Pinks.

She was moody, maybe, but nothing could destroy or even scratch Limestone's undying devotion to her little sister.

She would find her, no matter what. And if anyone, anything, flame demons or whatever else included, had the balls to lay even a finger on her…! Well, the consequences wouldn't be pretty for the ones responsible. It was literally in the unwritten job description for the big sister to protect the younger sibling from any harm.

A few hours prior, they asked around in Ponyville if someone saw Pinkie Pie, or another student from Camp Everfree in general. Nobody could help them. And not only, because they didn't know anything, but because they didn't react, in most cases. It was like they were under some kind of mind control.

Which they were at that time, but they couldn't know that.

The young woman could have sworn she saw how Ms. Cheerilee, once her own teacher in her time at CHS before she graduated, walked with fast steps in the direction of the Ponyville Cathedral. She was accompanied by a stranger, clearly a woman, who hid her entire appearance under an elegant red cloak. The second eldest sibling didn't know that the woman was religious, but she had no chance to ask any questions anyway. Cheerilee had already disappeared out of sight.

Limestone and her family continued their search elsewhere in town.

The last time they could hear Pinkie's voice, was from her cellphone. Well, before the devices all died off, for some reason. She explained, in good old Pinkie Pie Style, how she loved Camp Everfree and that she just learned to make ‘sprinkles explode’.

Seriously, the second eldest Pie Sister loved the pink teenager to bits, but Pinkie's imagination was sometimes simply amazing. Not always in a good way.

Besides, that would be like the worst. Superpower. Ever! Still, it would oddly be very fitting for her sister, when she thought about it. It was her younger sibling, after all, so it had to be true. Pinks had never lied to her family before.

It reminded her furthermore of all the fantastic stories Pinkie Pie had told them about herself, her friends from CHS and some highly questionable events at the school itself. She remembered them all and tried to make sense out of it, with mixed results. After the attack of these guys which were made out of freaking living flames, the stories weren't as impossible anymore as she first thought or wanted to admit earlier. Even after she believed in the existence of magic before Canterlot happened.

Her younger sister mentioned said stories with a gleeful smile and it gave Limestone a headache to even think about them because of the level of impossibility that things that were considered fantasy were now reality.

Her sibling’s friend, Sunset Shimmer, the once infamous girl from CHS with the audacity to bully her sister, was one of these strange oddities. In fact, she would have introduced the girl gladly to the backside of Holder's Boulder, but that's another thing entirely. Was Pinks for real? Shimmer was supposed to be an actual Unicorn from some rainbow colored pony land called ‘Equestria’?

This was just insane, even for her sister. Worse, after she befriended that girl, Limestone had to tolerate her and wasn't allowed to give Sunset Shimmer a good smack on the back of her head and a kick in the a-uh... rather, she wanted to have a nice civil talk, of course. That was the plan! She had to tolerate the amber colored teenager in their house on several occasions already.

It wasn't like Limestone hated Sunset, but she could hold a grudge for a very long time against people who harmed her family in any shape, form or scale. It didn't matter to her. You messed with her family? You were down for the count. Period!

At the school's Fall Formal last year, the same girl tried to use some ‘magical artifact’, a tiara, to transform into a ‘raging she-demon’. Pinks called her a ‘misunderstood meanie pants’, who had allegedly enslaved the students of the facility and destroyed the school's entrance with ‘magic’ in order to conquer this Equestria so that she could reign supreme.

Seriously, whoever tried to enslave her family and friends for such reasons, or tried to enslave them at all, for that matter, would not in a million years be accepted as her friend. Never! Limestone would stay firm on that.

But Sunset Shimmer was stopped by a girl called Twilight Sparkle, who was the owner of this ‘magical crown’ and also a ‘pony princess’ of this magical land to boot. She made Pinkie and her closest friends realize that they were and should be best friends and their problems with each other were started because of the former bully's actions in the past with the goal of destroying their friendship.

Again... why wasn't she allowed to teach her a lesson? This girl deserved a knuckle-sandwich! Or several! Well, never mind.

This whole thing ended arguably with some magical laser show. She didn't listen, because it sounded much too corny for her. The power of the ‘magic of friendship’. Just thinking about it made her shudder.

The point was they grew, in Pinkie's own words, ‘cute ponytails and adorable pony ears’. Yep, that was a thing, too, apparently. They transformed Sunset Shimmer back into a human and ever since then the girl started to become one of her sister's best friends.

After the dance party, in the morning, Pinkie told them all about it in detail with her usual happiness over breakfast, like it was as obvious as saying that the sky was blue.

Limestone had never considered that this all could be true. Even with later existing videos on the internet. Why should she? Something like this couldn't just be kept under wraps in her opinion and they never had the problem that some cliched agents from the government appeared suddenly in front of their doorstep and demanded that Pinkie Pie should come with them. So Limestone always guessed that her sister was somehow involved in the making of these videos and her story was just some fantasy tale to get clicks.

She should have questioned and thought more about the destroyed front door and school grounds, made by ‘explosions’, which were caused by a simple ‘gas leak’. Did no one ever ask more difficult questions rather than simply believing in such a story? Of course, now it was easy to say. How did the saying go? Hindsight is 20-20, now.

So even the giant rainbow, at night time, which was reported by many witnesses that night, didn't receive any recognition. If the secondary Pie Sister looked back now, she really wondered... what made everyone ignore such an event? Never questioning this impossibility again?

It was so confusing for her. So many witnesses, videos and questionable excuses and nobody was surprised. Not even a little bit? Or how got Sunset Shimmer the brilliant idea to conquer an entire country with a ‘mind controlled teenager army’? Seriously!? Or if this crown was so important for this ‘Princess Twilight’, then why didn't she just steal it and returned to her homeworld in order to be done with the whole incident? It wasn't like the police could just follow her back to Equestria.

This whole thing felt like a gigantic, unexplained combination of bad plot holes of a movie or a cartoon. It made her chuckle mentally. What a ridiculous thought.

Limestone thought that after the Fall Formal it would be over with the ‘magical incidents’. Far from it.

Three months later. Banished, at-least-1000-year-old sirens from this Equestria place, the Dazzlings, wanted to conquer the world with their voices. Yeah. That seemed to have happened as well. It sounded like the ruler of this Equestria, or some other important figure, thought it would be a brilliant idea to use their world as a trashcan to dump evil beings here. The girl didn't like that idea one. Single. Bit.

They fed off of adoration and conflict to gain power and wanted to start their rule at Canterlot High's competition, the Battle of the Bands, when the most people would be there. Once again, this magical princess, Pinkie and her other friends, this time even Sunset Shimmer, too, defeated them.

The group of friends did it that time with a giant rainbow-colored horse after the sirens attacked them in their true forms as ‘Sea Ponies’ and with the magic of friendship, again. And music. They, ughh! ‘Ponied up’. Again, Pinks’ choice of words, not hers and defeated them. They broke the sirens' mind control and saved the day.

Maybe Limestone missed something in her time there, but she never remembered that CHS was that kind of school. The kind you normally only read or heard about in cheesy animes. Not that she believed Pinkie Pie completely, but it became much more difficult for her to ignore her claims because of more than enough videos with ‘special effects’, which proved Pinkie's story.

People could see how they just transformed, like Pinkie Pie always described it. Complete with a change of hair color this time, too. In the front of a huge crowd no less. They fought the nearly flying demonic Dazzlings with their instruments. For real? The white girl… Schmarity? Clarity? Ah, right, she was called Rarity. She just shot at the three flying things with magical diamonds in these videos.

Obviously, everyone believed the principals who said that everything was well-made special effects, created and allowed by them. Yeees... of course.

Limestone was skeptical and asked Pinkie Pie later if she could show her how she transformed. Her little sister played a few notes on her drum at home, behind closed doors, in Pinkie's room, and it really happened. She grew real pony ears and a ponytail as an extension of her hair. She was even ticklish behind her transformed ears, much to the pink girl's amusement.

After this reality shattering demonstration and the proof that the stories were true, Limestone demanded a full recap of the past events since the Fall Formal. But this time she listened to every detail. After her sister was finished, it was clear to her what she had to do.

She had to protect her sister! Limestone didn't know how their parents or siblings would react or if they already suspected things at this time, but they couldn't risk that one day someone might look deeper into the events. Like a very curious scientist.

It all confirmed the feelings she had whenever her Limestone Sense told her that Pinkie was in immediate danger. The first time her personal seventh sense warned her during the night of the Fall Formal. The second time during the final of the Battle of the Bands. Both times she was confused and slightly scared and always instantly tried to reach her sister via cellphone. And after some time, when she was on the verge of running out of the house to search for Pinks herself, the hyper girl in question called back.

She was told that everything was ‘okey-dokey’ on both occasions.

Now it made all sense, after Pinkie's explanations. The attack of the corrupted Sunset Shimmer and the confrontation with the Dazzlings, these were the two warnings she received.

Her Limestone Sense told the secondary Pie Sister in general whenever one of her siblings, parents or family in general, were about to be in a very dangerous and unexpected situation and could be majorly injured. It gave her a... feeling so she would find them should they be in danger and she wasn't there.

Luckily, including the two times with Pinks to that point, it ‘only’ alarmed her five times in her life until now. Strangely, nothing happened in Canterlot, even when Marble stumbled and this fire creature nearly got her. It was like her special sense somehow knew that Maud would protect the shy girl and nobody of her family would receive any harm. Confusing. It surprised even herself, as its owner.

Limestone was sure that Maud and Pinkie Pie didn't fare any better in the matter of knowing how their special senses worked, exactly. Marble didn't show any kind of Marble Sense until now. Maybe she'll discover it, still? Their parents never had something like that and couldn't believe it at first whenever one of the three showed their unique ability. Still, it was common knowledge by know, but only in the Pie Family, what kind of special senses the sisters possessed.

One time, when they were little kids, she prevented Marble from walking straight into a covered hole in the Everfree. It could have caused heavy injuries, or worse.

Or last year, when her Limestone Sense gave her the feeling that she should stop Maud from searching rare rocks for the eldest's collection in the morning. Maud obeyed her sibling's plea without asking questions and as it turned out, a rockslide happened a few hours later at exactly the place the young woman wanted to be.

Speaking of Maud. She had her own Maud Sense, which told her when someone she knew well or was very good friends with someone from her family was fundamentally wrong about defining something, especially, but not limited to rocks.

Her pet rock, Boulder, was found at the age of nine, when for the first time in Maud's life her Maud Sense informed her when her former teacher, a good of friend of her mother, was wrong. They were in a museum for old sedimentary and her teacher wanted to explain a few types of stone. She randomly took out of a few samples and tried to do it alone from memory. Maud knew every time when her teacher was wrong. The little girl was very surprised, nobody could see it at all and stumbled against the table the samples stood on. One of the samples, a graptolitic argillite, broke into pieces and one of these pieces, a perfectly shaped little stone, fell directly in front of her feet.

It was destiny, Maud was sure of that. A legend was born. Maud considered since that day to search for a friend Boulder could connect with, even if it was a difficult task. Boulder was very stubborn and polished stones were much too ‘stuck-up’ for his tastes. He always 'told' her that. But Maud always thought he was just shy and not so good at making friends, which his owner could relate to.

Unto this day she never found another rock which suited her and Boulder's tastes. She would name the next rock Tom.

Pinkie had her Pinkie Sense sometimes, in the form of a very cold feeling in her stomach and chest, from what Pinks said, that told her when one of her best friends or a member of their family was depressed. So she tried her best to cheer them up. But that only happened three times until now in her life.

When her friend Rainbow Dash felt down after a lost soccer match. It was the grand finale.

When Marble's hamster, Claystone, died.

And to Limestone's knowledge, the third time was when Sunset Shimmer was depressed during the whole Anon-a-Miss incident.

She didn't understand that whole situation at all. The young Pie was maybe still a little mad at the girl for bullying her sister, but even she knew and was sure that it made no sense at all. Why would she try to befriend everyone and turn for the better just to out of nowhere destroy everything she worked so hard for with petty gossip? Without covering her tracks, no less? Sunset Shimmer was an intelligent girl, Limestone had to admit, and in all her time as the most feared school bully of CHS nobody could prove anything against her. She wouldn't get caught that easily in Limestone's opinion. Well, this farce was solved soon.

Back to the whole magic-business, it was still strange for her to acknowledge it. Limestone demanded that Pinkie was more careful in the future and to take care of herself. She even thought shortly about demanding the performance of the girl's very own Pinkie Promise, but Limestone would never use that against her own sister. So it was out of the question.

The young woman kept silent about her sibling's... what did she call it? ‘Equestrian magic’? And for a few months, everything was fine. Then the infamous Friendship Games happened and for the fifth time in her life, her Limestone Sense tingled.

Pinks explained to her later that the ‘human version’ of Princess Twilight Sparkle appeared during the Friendship Games, as a participant of Crystal Prep to this time and used some device which drained magic from Pinkie and her friends. Pinks swore it was an accident and Limestone shouldn't blame ‘Twi-Twi’ for it.

So this Equestria wasn't only in another world, but was some kind of parallel dimension? Like in the Sci-Fi movies? Wait, did that mean that she had a ‘pony counterpart’ there, too? Limestone decided to not think about it. Too much of a headache and too many implications.

The curious lavender girl wanted to understand magic. After the machines from her lab detected unknown forms of energy coming from CHS, she started to investigate further during the Games.

In the last event of ‘Capture the Flag’, she released, because of peer pressure and blackmailing, so Pinkie declared, the collected, stolen, magic and was corrupted by it. Twilight transformed into some dark sub-demon, named ‘Midnight Sparkle’ by the internet and tried to destroy their freaking dimension just so that she could go to Equestria to understand magic.

The second eldest rarely facepalmed so hard in her life as when her sister told the entire family about the Friendship Games in the evening. No wonder her Limestone Sense reacted! If, to her own sincere surprise, Sunset Shimmer didn't stop the mad girl with the... magic of friendship again, it would have been all over for them.

At this point, she really didn't understand why unto this day the government didn't do anything. Were they all like...

"Oh, look! Magical incidents are happening, even mind control. You know, the very dangerous stuff. Our dimension is falling apart, we have tons of evidence that very strange things are happening in Canterlot. What should we do, Mr. Crappy Agent?"

"Hmm, looks complicated and threatening to our lives. Maybe even the whole world... nah, this must be very well-made videos. Let's just ignore it. Good day, sir."

"But the satellite images, the reports, the-"

"I said: Good day!"

Her ever-smiling sister had way too much influence on her way of thinking sometimes, Limestone realized. Which made her a little worried.

And it was so confusing! But she wouldn't wake sleeping dogs. It would be safer for her sister this way.

Anyway, after the games, ‘this’ Twilight became Pinkie's friend, too. Until now, Limestone didn't feel any more warnings. So that meant, hopefully, that her sister was still alive and well.

Maud saw how her sister spaced out and put a hand on her shoulder. It took her relative out of her deep thinking.

"W-what?!" Limestone asked, agitated.

Then she saw Maud's comforting smile. For every non-Pie, the young woman's face would look emotionless, like a rock and calmed down. In their family, they saw Maud's true expressions and feelings, as if from any other human. They didn't know why people always claimed that she showed no emotions or that they were concerned that she had a disability. Some people were just strange, in Limestone's opinion. Maud was completely normal to her family and her poems were heart-wrenching! Pinkie swore that Maud was as good at pranking as she was. That should be interpreted as a compliment.

"Oh. It's just you, sis," Limestone whispered in a much calmer tone.

"Don't worry, we will find Pinkie. Or did you feel anything recently?" Maud asked, curious and worried.

"No. I hope she’s alright. Were mom and dad saying anything about our next step?" the girl replied.

"Mom asked around in some pubs, but something is very strange here in Ponyville. The people aren't reacting very well and give very similar responses, but in a pretty forced way. I fear that some other mages are responsible for what is happening here, but I don't think that this is Equestrian magic, like Pinkie told us about," Maud answered thoughtfully and looked warily around the market they were in at the moment.

The hot headed girl's mouth would have dropped, if possible, "Wait a stone-picking second... you believe Pinks?"

"Of course. She is our little sister and Pinkie would never lie to her family. She always tells us everything and trusts us. You know that," Maud said in mild amusement. "Still, it helps that she told me everything in private and I asked her if she thought that someone else from our family believed her words. She explained that you would ask her questions, too and showed you how she ponied up. I asked her to do the same. Did you know that she is ticklish behind her pony ears?" Maud explained calmly. She made sure that nobody overheard them.

"Haha! Yes, I know. It was fu-don't distract me here! So, Pinkie showed you her little transformation... and you can say the phrase 'pony-up' without cringing? Just like that?" Limestone inquired in confusion.

"It could be worse, Lime. Besides, since my Stone Magic awoke, I have a better basic understanding of how magic actually works. If you can use it in an active way, then the former fantasy concept known as magic, is a much more approachable subject. Worrying about some terminologies Pinkie and her friends came up with isn't exactly high on my priority list," Maud lectured with a smile.

"I've noticed that you talk with Boulder a lot more since you discovered your new magic. Don't tell me-"

"That I can talk now with Boulder more fluently since I have my Stone Magic? Yes, it grants me the ability to hear the 'inner voice' of all types of rocks when I desire, you might say. I only could understand Boulder sometimes and he told me I misunderstood him mostly when he talked to me. I think I had always a very faint talent for talking with rocks, especially Boulder. I just couldn't understand him consistently as long as my magic was asleep, still. Now I can understand his language fluently. Well, it's not really a 'language' in the sense of the word. More a magically higher connection to rocks than I was born with," Maud interrupted her sister.

"You seriously wanna tell me that you are some kind of 'rock whisperer'?" Limestone stated dryly.

"Yes," the older sister simply stated. The other groaned in frustration.

Maud took Boulder out of her pocket and stared at him for a at least 10 seconds before she locked eyes with Limestone again, nervous, "Boulder said that the earth is in turmoil, because dark sorcerers in the west used some kind of demonic magic to poison the ground with their unholy touch. That's not good, Boulder isn't easily moved emotionally."

"West?! Isn't Camp Everfree in that direction?!" Limestone inquired, frantically whispering.

She blinked, "Yes, but Boulder said that the rocks in Ponyville said that the rocks in the Everfree Forest said that the rocks in Camp Everfree said that the sorcerers took over after they left. They needed time to communicate with each other because of the corruption. They have a... rocky connection. That's why Boulder knows about it just now," Maud answered with a sheepish smile.

"Maud and her rock puns will surely one day be the death of me," Limestone thought faithfully.

"Maudalina, Limestone. I found a trustworthy hint which came to my attention. One local came to Ponyville not long ago, after he searched for his belongings in the burned ruins of Canterlot City. He said that people were seen on the border of the Everfree Forest and stories declare that they would hide themselves in Ghastly Gorge. We should seek these humans out. Maybe our dearest Pinkamena is there," Igneous Rock Pie informed his daughters stoically.

"Yes, father," both siblings answered synchronously.

They met up with Cloudy Quartz and Marble. Igneous told them about their next destination. Then their mother asked him, "Art thou sure, dearest husband of mine? Ghastly Gorge hast always been a place of rumors and peril. We shalt be careful and hope that the Stone of Wisdom dost guide our upcoming journey," she said.

Maud didn't react at all. She just nodded shyly, but Limestone had to stop herself from groaning. Their parents' Amish and traditional behaviour, like the Old Speech, bored the girl sometimes. They spoke like this a LOT and loved to use ‘thous’ and ‘thees’. They called it: ‘The right and respectful way to speak’.

The family ventured into Ghastly Gorge, at the border of the Everfree Forest. They had just encountered two Timberwolves, which found their end through Maud. She ordered the earth beneath them to create a stony pit to cage the creatures. Thorns on the walls came into existence and closed like a gate above them, they were trapped until the moment their magic wouldn't be able to keep them together anymore. She called this ability Tomb of Stone. Indeed, Maud was unforgiving if someone or something tried to harm or, heaven forbid, kill her most loved ones.

It took a lot of magic out of the eldest of the sisters. She was exhausted and they needed to rest for a short time. After that, they discovered the described cave where the humans should be hiding.

Ghastly Gorge looked even darker than earlier before magic happened. The family had searched a few times here for rare minerals or rocks they could sell, ignoring rural rumors. The gorge never looked this foreboding before. The entire place was equipped with edgy cliffs, towering ledges, unknown tunnels and caves and a lot of black stone. Maud had mentioned before that it was obsidian.

"I hope Pinks is in there," Limestone muttered to herself.

"I-I hope so, too," Marble voiced her opinion quietly when she heard her sister. A rare event.

"Let us venture forward and lay eyes upon the truth," Igneous Rock ordered purposefully. He was filled with concern for his second youngest daughter.

The tunnel they were in now was not dark, but illuminated with many different kinds of crystals. Maud knew them all, "Ruby, emerald, sapphire, aquamarine, opal, these cave walls are truly remarkable, too. Granite, layers of dolomite, a carbonate rock composed of the mineral dolomite, sometimes with calcite as a mix, too. And there we have-" Before she could unleash more of her thesaurus in this matter, Limestone stopped her.

"We get it! You are the queen of rocks," she interrupted rudely.

The young woman didn't want to hear her big sister’s rambling on about every little detail the cave had to offer in the case of its composition and mineral deposits.

Maud had the decency to blush a little bit, "I'm sorry. my emotions got the better of me, again," she said, embarrassed.

This sentence would normally have sounded, for other people, like an attempt to joke, maybe.

They reached a cave which looked like it was indeed used to live in. They saw chairs of wood, tables, scrolls and books on shelves, among other things. It looked improvised and newly made, so it proved that someone lived here. There was just one thing: the destruction. The shelves were covered with deep, long claw marks and the furniture was painted with dried blood. Marble was shielded by her mother from the sight.

"Pinkamena!" Igneous Rock screamed, now in great fear for his daughter.

It echoed through the entire cave. Limestone wasn't sure if her sister was really here, but then it happened and confirmed her fears that this place wasn't safe. Her Limestone Sense went off.

"Dad! We have to go, now! My special sense is warning me!" she urged her family in panic.

"I see. Come, Pies! We have to leave this unholy place!" the patriarch agreed.

If he learned anything about his daughters, then it was that their own special sense was never wrong. And the one of his second eldest warned from deadly danger, enough motivation to leave.

The family retreated and ran as fast as they could out of the cave. After they reached a hill which would lead them back into the Everfree, they heard it; the howl. Bloodthirst was in the voice. They turned around to face the foe and it was terrifying.

It was big, at least 3 1/2 meters tall, but thinly built, mostly. The creature was biped and looked like a very mutated human. No clothes or private parts that could define a gender. It had a massive mouth with two rows of jagged teeth, top and bottom. It had no eyes at all, only black pits where they should be, like the rest of its body. No nose, either. Only a huge maw.

The legs were built like the legs of a human, but instead of toes, it had white, arrow-shaped claws on its feet. The arms were in their own league, they were built very massive in the shoulder region. Otherwise they gave a very lanky impression and reached easily to the ground when it stood upright, even more so with the long, maybe 20 centimeters, sharp, blood red, dagger-like claws on its huge hands. The chest was surrounded with three white chains, made of titanium.

It was a Shadow Maniac.

Now it waited for an opportunity to strike. Maud was faster. She levitated one large boulder and tossed it with her magic in the direction of the beast. It dodged with ease and howled anew, this time furiously. Cloudy Quartz took Marble by the hand and backed up, slowly. Igneous Rock positioned himself slightly behind Maud, Limestone at his side. The eldest Pie Sister took the very front as the only mage. It angered the father. He couldn't do anything to protect his kin, so he could only pray that his daughter would defeat this monster.

It attacked with great speed. Maud was just fast enough to erect a wall of obsidian in time before its long claws slashed at her. The mineral was cut deeply, to the girl's surprise. This beast had a LOT of power.

It jumped over the wall, too fast for Maud to react, and made itself ready to cut her into pieces.

"NO!" Limestone screamed the loudest of the family and shot an opal-grey orb of magic into the beast, pushing it away from her sister for a few meters.

It looked, however that was possible without eyes, at its new opponent in irritation.

The newly made mage heard a dominant, genderless voice in her head, "Warden Magic."

"Now I'M in charge here!" Limestone cheered in her mind.

"Thanks, Lime," Maud said in gratitude.

"No problem. Let's take this thing down," the second oldest replied smugly, standing now beside her sister.

The Shadow Maniac growled quietly and took a few steps forward again.

"Stack back, thou monstrosity!" their father shouted in anger at the beast.

Maud created a few small walls made of stone. They stood in some distance from each other, to make it harder for their foe.

Before they could plan their next step, a new female voice made itself known, "Huzzah!" a woman shouted. Limestone's eye twitched.

"Don't tell me it's..." She had a good idea who that was.

Everyone, including the Shadow Maniac, looked up to witness a gallant looking figure in midnight blue armor with angelic wings. She performed a power dive and used her two void-black scimitars to cut the being cleanly into three with precision at neck and stomach. Its parts fell to the ground and dissolved into shadows.

The knight took her helmet off and revealed her identity. "It seems I came just in time," Luna stated proudly.

Limestone couldn't believe it. Her former vice-principal was now a magic wielding knight. Life was just not fair.

"Art thou not... Vice-Principal Luna? from the institution formerly known as Canterlot High School before the city was destroyed?" Igneous asked the lunar knight. She nodded, smiling.

"Is everybody okay?!" Cadence came running to the family and looked worriedly at the Pies, especially the three younger ones. Her maternal instincts had kicked in.

"Who art thou?" Cloudy Quartz asked the unknown woman.

"Oh, where are my manners? My name is Mi Amore Cadenza, or Cadence for short, I am the former dean of Crystal Prep Academy. But please, call me Cadence," she introduced herself humbly.

"How dost thou know the vice-principal?" Igneous Rock questioned this time.

"She is my niece and please just call me Luna, or Mrs. Luna, if you so desire to be respectful. My sister and I don't wear the title of principal and vice-principal any longer. The school was surely destroyed, like the rest of the city," Luna answered somberly.

"Oh! We completely forgot Auntie Celestia!" Cadence exclaimed, blushing.

"Don't worry. One or two of her favourite desserts and everything is forgiven," Luna joked, amused by imagining her sister happily eating cakes without a care in the world.

"I think you need more than that," a very familiar voice commented in agitation from behind.

Cadence’s and Luna's eyes and mouths opened widely. It surely cut the tension. Limestone couldn't keep quiet about the duo's situation and laughed loudly. Her father gave a disapproving look for the girl's lack of tact in such a situation.

"O-oh, Tia! I didn't hear you coming. Did you mention something before our niece and I decided to... go in?" Luna inquired sheepishly.

"We will talk about your thirst for danger later, dearest sister," the older sibling said in 'the tone'.

The midnight blue woman knew that tone of her voice. It was her ‘I'm-not-angry-but-very-disappointed-in-you’ tone and it drove her crazy sometimes.

She would prefer rage, screams or something else, but this very controlled state of mind, paired with disappointment of the highest level, was torture for the soul. Worse, her sister knew it. That was the reason why Celestia rarely showed emotions like true anger to anyone; she could cut much deeper in other ways.

"For now, we should leave this place and return to Sweet Apple Acres," the former principal added.

Limestone gasped and felt it, still. Why wasn't the feeling of mortal danger caused by her Limestone Sense gone yet?!

"Is something wrong?" Cadence asked the girl. The woman saw the young Pie's worried and scared expression first.

"I can explain later! We have to-"

"You think you can leave my domain just like that? After killing one of my Shadow Maniacs? Petty mortals. You shall pay for your insolence!" an angry, but somehow seductive, silky, distorted and echoing voice of a woman said. Its source thundered through the gorge, but no one was in sight.

"Who are you?! Show yourself!" Luna challenged.

"You are not worthy to know my name yet, worm. You have to earn that right. I can feel great power emitting from some of your souls. They shall be mine!" the voice declared arrogantly.

"How could we deserve to get to know you? And what are you?" Celestia asked carefully. She made herself ready in case of a trap.

It sounded like the voice shrugged, "Well, I guess there is no harm in educating you a little." The woman cleared her throat, it kind of ruined the dangerous mood for Limestone, "Since your world's magic finally awoke completely from its slumber, the barrier which kept my kind out of this plane could be weakened to a certain point. Before that happened, the magic in its inactive state couldn't be touched by us. It was like trying to catch air with bare hands. The strongest of my kind are not able to enter this plane, so I have to pass time otherwise, this is where you are coming in." The voice sounded more malicious now, "Trials of combat shall decide your fate where you fight to the death for my amusement and die so I can collect your souls. I think your kind heard of us, you call us, demons," the voice explained in glee and laughed darkly.

The humans’ eyes widened in shock and fear.

Cadence was the first who recovered, "T-that sounds like the magic of Terra works like some kind of barrier which separates our world and yours. I first didn't understand what you meant with, ‘are not able to enter', but now I have a theory why. The magic works like some kind of impenetrable wall your kind can't pass through, no matter what you try. You could only weaken it a little and create small holes, like with a screen and only the weakest of you were able to pass on your own, because the magic has to keep out the greatest dangers and could no longer focus on every demon," she voiced her opinion thoughtfully.

The demoness growled lowly and her group looked at the former dean with wide eyes, especially her aunts.

"W-what? I pay attention to information I'm told and do thinking on my own. The whole magic business is a strange concept for me still, but this made the most sense for me," she defended herself with red cheeks.

"So this woman, whatever she is, is weak in comparison?" Limestone asked, confused.

"Weak?! How dare you! I may not be one of the six great Damnation Seekers, but I can still hold my own against humans like you, I can assure you that. But as I already stated, you will fight for my entertainment," the voice promised, sincerely insulted.

"Dost thou think thine words alone will stop us, witch?" Igneous Rock demanded to know.

"Of course not," the female voice replied smugly.

A big number of black, glowing magic circles filled with symbols, which made the humans feel ill from just looking at them, appeared around the group. Shadows erupted out of them and formed bodies. Soon, 20 or more Shadow Maniacs surrounded them, waiting.

"It seems we do it the hard way now," Maud said, emotionless as always, for Celestia, Cadence and Luna, anyway.

"I will sent the three souls I desire to three different locations, where you will face each one of my strongest officers in one on one matches. One trial per person. In one of three specially created chambers, my loyal servants will await you. I desire the souls of the following: You, cocky knight of the moon. The wielder of the magic of the sun and another one, who still didn't show her potential. I talk about you, the skirt wearing woman with pink hair. You three will entertain me," the demoness declared.

"Me?!" Cadence shouted in shock and fear for her life in equal amounts.

"Of course, my dear. You can see me as a... collector. I collect rare, powerful and unique souls and I sense a very unique form of magic in you," their 'host' explained, proud of her collection.

Some collected stamps, others coins and she decided herself for souls, everyone needed a hobby.

"How do we know that you won't hurt the others in our absence or just kill us anyway, even when we should win? And what with the fury about your slain creature from earlier?" Luna asked demandingly, not trusting the voice.

She scoffed derogatorily, "Oh please. You saw how many others appeared around you, right? These cute little things are something like my personal foot soldiers and I have enough of them. I just wanted to scare you, because you were the first interesting beings I came across in a very long time. I simply desired to pull your legs." the lunar knight’s eye twitched, "Besides, I'm not so bloodthirsty and ready to torture and kill out of boredom or for pleasure like many of my fellow colleagues. The whole doom and gloom thing just isn't so enjoyable for me. But simply put: You can't. I give you my word as an honorable demon that I will let you leave this place should you succeed. But for that to happen all three of you have to win their little battles. Now, do you agree?" the demoness asked, surely grinning wickedly in the others’ minds.

The second oldest Pie Sister snorted, "As if we would fall for your lies! Demons are manipulative and evil, everybody knows that," Limestone said without thinking.

Maud facepalmed at her sister's bluntness. They were doomed.

Instead of being insulted and angry, like they all thought she would be, the voice laughed loud, amused for nearly a minute. After she recovered she replied between chuckles, "You seriously must read too much, girl. Yes, many demons are pretty nasty and would gladly trick you by any means possible to get you, but that's not the case for all of us. I have my honor and always keep my word. Of course I really want these three souls for my collection, but as long as I am entertained... it could be worse.” Malice returned into her words, “And don't think you could betray me, I control my soldiers and I will order them to solely focus on you and your family if you try to plan a foolish escape," the demoness warned threateningly.

The three women in question nodded in silence, disgust in their eyes.

"Thou darest to useth mine family as hostages, foul she-demon?!" the patriarch of the Pie Family exclaimed furiously.

"What can I say? I'm a demon. Not a saint," their host answered, waving off the query in a bored manner.

"Not that I'm ungrateful or something, but these ‘Damnation Seekers’ sound like they would gladly tear our world to pieces and turn all life to ash from their title alone. Additionally, it sounds like they are kind of your superiors. Wouldn't they be mad if you just let us go?" Cadence inquired carefully.

"Of course they would, sweetie. But lucky for me, my own Damnation Seeker is a very level headed demoness, in most cases. Besides, it's not like they could hear us here. The barrier keeps them out of the plane of Terra, remember? So I'm safe and can do what I want. Now, let the trials of combat begin!" she announced gleefully.

Three portals appeared in front of the group, side by side. They all looked like normal-sized rectangular doors. All were made out of different kinds of magic.

The right door looked to be made out of purple lightning on the inside. The doorframe was midnight blue wood with a sleeping human shape on each side of the frame, engraved on the wood. The left human, a woman, looked like she slept peacefully whereas the right one, a man, looked like he was in the throes of a terrible nightmare, made plain by the pained expression on the face.

The door in the center was filled inside with blazing blue fire. The door frame was made out of a, for the humans, unknown, shining, silvery blue metal. It was Kobarid, an alloy from the plane of the demons. The silver coloration was mostly concentrated on the inner side of the frame, blue on the outer side.

The last portal on the left was filled with thick purple fog, nothing more. The frame was made out of black crystals, giving the portal a menacing look. A strange looking skull with curved horns on the head adorned the frame above the portal in the middle. Its eyes glowed a sickly green color. Perhaps it represented a demon, maybe... something else.

"The left one is obviously the 'lucky jackpot'," Cadence thought in dark humor.

But she felt like this portal would contain her trial. It was just an inexplicable feeling. She didn't know why she felt so drawn to it.

"Decide. Only one of you three can enter each of these portals. After someone enters, the portal in question will seal itself until the trial is over. You can talk with each other and choose who takes which one, no stress. Just a normal fight for your life and soul is ahead of you. Pretend it is something completely normal, if you must," the fiend commented with a dark laugh.

"I choose the door to the right. It makes probably the most sense for my abilities, because I think that we can guess the abilities of our opponent based on the portals' design," Luna reasoned.

"OK Lulu. Please be careful. I guess I take the lef-"

"Please, let me take that portal, auntie. I still need to awaken my magic and I won't be able to hold my own for long against a demon who uses fire based magic," Cadence interrupted her aunt nervously.

She didn't mention the feeling that urged her to choose this portal. The tall woman didn't want to risk that the demon would decide in that case to place her somewhere else on purpose. Just so that she would have at least one soul for her ‘collection’.

"I concur, sister. Our niece has a strong enough disadvantage at the moment and I think her chance of survival will increase against a different foe," Luna supported.

The solar knight sighed fatefully, “OK. In that case, I choose the portal with the blue flames,” Celestia said with an unconvincing half-smile. “That... actually looks like it would lead to Tartarus itself. Great," she added to herself. "Please stay safe and return to me," she pleaded with her family.

Luna and Cadence smiled warmly and nodded.

"So it seems that you have all chosen the doorways to your fates. Please don't die too fast, mortals," the demoness taunted.

"Good luck, and kick these demons' butts!" Limestone encouraged loudly. Her parents gave their daughter a scolding look for her slightly foul language.

“Worth it,” she said meekly in reply.

"Do your best. Show them what you are capable of and use the environment to your advantage," Maud told them with a last nugget of wisdom.

"I-I believe in you," Marble ‘cheered’ at her own volume.

"May the Stone of Protection be with ye," the patriarch spoke in respect.

"We put our fate and trust in thy hands!" Cloudy Quartz added in the image of her husband.

After last good wishes and words of encouragement, the trio stepped forward until everybody stood in front of their chosen portal and prepared themselves one last time before it started.

Cadence faced her aunts and thought in panic, "Great. they both have armor, weapons and powerful magic at their disposal and what do I have?! Only a handgun, for goodness' sake! I'm doomed! Please, whatever magic you are in me, wake up!" she screamed frantically in her mind.

After her inner monologue she tried to calm her nerves, steeling herself outwardly, as per her training. At least Principal Cinch had taught ONE good thing.

Filled with confidence and faith and a last nod to each other, they entered.

"I-I ha-have a question, Miss Demon," Marble, to the surprise of her family and the demoness herself, spoke shyly. Still polite like her parents always taught the girl.

"Yes?" the woman acquiesced curiously.

"W-where did you send them?" Marble asked nervously.

"Nephariom. Or as you humans call it: Hell or Tartarus. Every one of my stronger demons has a unique chamber they live in most of the time, created over many years through hard work and magic. I sent your allies to these locations with the portals, so that they may encounter their challenge. There they will start their trials of combat. And no, Tartarus is not just a burning pit to torture evil souls like most of your kind want to believe. It is much more," the voice explained mysteriously.

"Oh? I always thought you demons would be all just mindless monsters or something like that, who do disgusting things all the time. No offense, I mean," Limestone commented bored.

“Oh, don't misunderstand your situation. My little pets will stay around you until the moment the trials are over to ensure that you won't just run off and call for help. It would just end in a bloody demise. Besides, I still do very 'demonic' things, my dear. I solely drink the pure blood of innocent female virgins up to the age of 12, blood type O Positive. I eat chopped flesh of tortured humans, preferably young sexy men, because I'm a twisted demoness. And I bathe twice every week in the stolen milk of caged and abducted fresh mothers. You know, to soften the skin. Lastly, I have a feast once in the year, composed of decorated and spiced hearts of exactly these pregnant mothers' newborn children. Are you alright?" the demoness wanted to know, speaking in a mock-clueless voice.

Marble fainted, Limestone emptied her stomach behind a rock, still in the generously formed circle of the Shadow Maniacs. Maud, Cloudy Quartz and Igneous Rock looked pale and badly ill to the stomach.

Loud, distorted, nearly hysterical laughter echoed through Ghastly Gorge. After she calmed down, the amused demon of Tartarus said between chuckles, "Oh, by Arthyma! I haven't laughed like that in centuries! Your faces were just priceless and you actually believed me! I still got it!"

The still-conscious humans never felt so much contempt for one person before in their lives. Ever.

Author's Notes:

Greetings my avid readers!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

So here it is, the Pie chapter. So full of Maud, so full of love. Seriously, where is the Maud-Emote on this side? It needs to happen!

But it's really interesting. I learned a lot about writing and such, now I'm improving my chapters and edit through them. I notice errors I never found before.

Thank you very much for reading and stay tuned!