Morrigan was currently exploring the massive abandoned castle, and so far, she had found little that told her where she was or why there was anthropomorphic horses running around.

She was trying to find a library, but had only found the kitchens, servants quarters, and barracks, as well countless secret doors and exits, which she made a mental note of in case she had to make a run for her life.

She walked the decrepit halls, extending further into the bowels of the castle like man-made intestines of stone brick and mortar. Potted plants, expensive vases, and various busts of ponies lay on pedestals spanning the length of the hall between pillars.

Stands of rusting and crumbling armor, both gold and blue, dotted a few areas along the walls, but Morrigan paid little mind to them.

No, she was more focused on the crooks and crevices created by the passage of time in the walls, where beasts of all kinds could slink out of the shadows and surprise her.

Thankfully, none appeared. So, she continued her search, and, after much walking, finally came upon a set of doors. It was made of pure, gray wood, with a blue crescent surrounded by what could only be called an inkblot in the center.

Curious, Morrigan grabbed the handles and opened the doors. What she found inside was what would have been an immaculate bedroom, if not for the fact that there was a gaping hole running from part of the ceiling to the floor, which allowed moonlight to shine in.

There was a large, royal blue bed covered by rotting drapes hanging from a frame, and light blue pillows lay against the headboard.

A large, mahogany desk lay on the far side of the room by the hole, and a bookshelf was next to it. On the desk was a small, midnight blue book with a clasp. Interested, Morrigan approached the desk and picked up the book, flipping to the first page.

Twilight Age: 4th Year - 5th Month, 22nd Day

It hath been two months since the discovery of the, "City Under The Stone," as Tia calls it, and this strange pendant hath never once left my side. It still emits a faint glow under the light of my moon, and despite countless hours of research, we cannot discern why.

Mayhaps it is some charmed pendant, once kept by a child or soldier? A priest? It is unclear. The magic within is even more a mystery, for tis of no kind we recognize.

I believe I shall bring it to Master Starswirl again, just to see if we can find anything.

Morrigan blinked at the names that were written. 'Starswirl'? She couldn't imagine any parent naming their child such a thing.

But the "City Under the Stone", had her interest piqued. If this world had paralells to Bloodborne, then...

"It must be this world's equivalent of the Chalice Dungeons..." she surmised. She groaned, realizing she really was in a new world. "I get the feeling shit's only going to get worse from here..." She sighed and placed the book down, gazing around the room. "Well, it may be wasting away, but it's better than nothing," she mused as she walked over to the bed, letting herself fall onto it.

The resulting coughing fit from the now dispersing dust served to remind her she'd need to do some real work to make this her base.

"Ugh... I fucking hate you, universe..." she groused as she recovered from her fit of coughs. She sighed deeply as she made herself comfortable on the large bed. 'Well, at least it's big and soft.' She noted mentally as she snuggled under the covers. 'I'm just gonna sleep and let future me deal with this bullshit. Too tired right now.'

And with that, she closed her eyes and let sleep take her.

It had been six days since Morrigan had made the crumbling castle her home. Six days of mind-numbing reading through countless books in the castle's library. She had taken more than a few hours just trying to find it, but since she had, she'd fallen asleep whilst scanning the texts more than twice. Albeit, she had found out a lot more about this world. And what she found didn't help her spirits in the least.

For one, the world was populated by not just talking anthro horses, but anthro dragons, dogs, bug ponies, and then a few added mythical creatures like griffons, minotaurs and the like. So, in short, she was not likely to be going back to Earth anytime soon.

The rest of what she found only furthered her despair, and with good reason. The world was filled with diseases, no thanks to lack of knowledge about hygiene and such, and thus illnesses were abound. Which meant this world's version of The Healing Church from Bloodborne had gotten just as much power and influence as the one in the game had. Which meant the Beast Plague was all over the world.

Morrigan had taken a full day to work out her stresses and think about her situation in the castle's bath upon learning that. Her despair and dismay still lasted throughout the rest of the days, but, she had maintained her determination to survive. Already, she had disposed of a number of nests Beasts had made in various parts of the castle, and she seemed to be doing well.

If it weren't for the fact that she was very much so in need of training. Hence why she was out in the barrack's of the castle, where a number of training dummies were. She was currently trying to work on splitting the Split Axe more quickly, as it was hard for her to do in combat without the possibility of getting hit.

"Ugh, why is this..." she wiped some sweat from her brow. "...so damned hard to get down?! I've been at this for half a fucking day!" She sighed deeply as she regained her breath slowly, reattaching the twin axes of the Split Axe and placing it on her back. "Fuck it, that's it for today. I'm too tired for this shit." It was as she was saying this that she heard a distant boom and crash from further in the castle. "Fuck, must be another Beast." She cursed before rushing out of the barracks and towards where she heard the sound come from.

After a fair amount of running, she saw the monster, skin pale as snow and covered in small patches of rotting fur, with a head so small it was hard to tell if it had one at all. It was tall, taller than any being she'd seen, even though it was hunched over.

"Shit..." she cursed as the Yeti turned towards her. Ir roared in challenge and grabbed a piece of the rubble it had created from smashing through the wall. Morrigan readied her Cane.

The Yeti tossed the rubble, and Morrigan dodged to the side of it, before rushing in to close the distance. She whipped out her Cane, the many blades on it cutting into the pale flesh of the Yeti's leg. It cried out in pain, before stomping with it's good leg, spraying stone everywhere that knocked Morrigan down. The Yeti then grabbed another piece of rubble and readied it to smash her where she lay.

Morrigan raised her arms to shield herself, only for a deafening boom to sound out, causing the Yeti to stagger forwards. Morrigan looked behind the Yeti to see what looked to be a Zebra wearing a black, fur cloak with a leather hood and simple bandages and a pair of black leather pants to cover her modesty. She wielded a pistol in her left hand and what Morrigan guessed was the Beasthunter Saif.

The Yeti turned towards the assailant and rushed her, a rumbling roar echoing from its throat. The mare simply side stepped and cut the Yeti's leg clean off, and before it could finish it's howl of pain as it fell, she jumped on it, driving her blade into it's heart with the momentum, allowing it to fall and let the blade sink further as it roared and howled in pain, before swiftly pulling it out, pointing her pistol at it, shooting the heart, then driving the blade into it's skull, ending it's life for good.

After it stopped twitching, she pulled her blade out, then jumped off of the carcass and sheathed her weapon, walking towards Morrigan.

"What kind of Hunter are you? You do not slay like a Hunter true. You should be able to do as I do," the mare rhymed as she approached, her tone deep, mysterious, and yet melodious. Morrigan shoved the stone off of her and grasped her weapons in anticipation of attack. The mare stopped her advance. "I am not here to kill. I came only to end that beast's howls so shrill."

Morrigan relaxed somewhat, but kept her hand on her weapon.

"Who are you?" she asked. The mare removed her hood, revealing her striped mohawk and muzzle, golden ring earrings on her ears and more golden rings around her neck.

"I am Zecora, of the forest and flora," the mare, now known as Zecora, introduced.

"What do you want?" Morrigan queried next, grip on her weapons loosening just a tad.

"Originally, to investigate the howls that were to my home so near. Now? To discover why you are here," Zecora answered truthfully, hand on her hip.

"I..." Morrigan paused for a moment. "I... don't have anywhere to go." Her grip on her weapon loosened further.

"Hmm..." Zecora hummed. She looked up at the sky, then back to Morrigan. "Why don't we converse inside? You can reveal to me there that which you hide." Morrigan hesitated. On the one hand, this was the first being she had met in this world that didn't chase her or try to eat her, but on the other hand, she could just be trying to get her to let her guard down.

After a few tense moments, Morrigan released her grip on her weapon entirely.

"Fine. Follow me, but don't try anything," Morrigan warned as she started to walk down the hall. Zecora smiled and followed.

It would seem tonight would be quite long indeed.

Author's Notes:

Fixed a few grammatical errors and added a little more detail to certain parts. Nothing terribly noticeable.