Another dark hallway, lit by torches. Not as picturesque or decorated as the one her short stay in Myth Drannor took her through. This is a simple passageway, a cave hewn into solid rock deep into a mountain. Undermountain. Could they not have come up with a different name? Twilight Sparkle squeezes her eyes shut and vigorously shakes her head to clear it. They is an amorphous term, for whoever came up with this game and script. She chides herself to remember that, despite the trials she can foresee about to be thrust upon her and her group. The group that is not with her at the moment.

In the course of being teleported right in the middle of Dawn Treader's pass and review ceremony before the armies marched upon the soon to be stripped-free-of-magic world, Twilight had kept her head and requested a formal meeting with the evil alicorn's boss, Prometheus. Her friends were led down a different passageway by some of the nightmares while both Twilight and Dawn Treader went this way. Whatever insanity grips her former mentor, it does not completely cloud Dawn Treader to the edicts of parlay.

"Though lots of talking is typical prior to executions, anyway," Twilight mumbles to herself.

Dawn Treader turns her head to look behind her as they trek down the long tunnel. Twilight is following her, with a cadre of nightmares bringing up the rear, their fiery steps smoking out the tunnel behind them as they pass. "Did you say something, little morsel?"

"I was merely commenting on the possible futility of my future conversation with Prometheus. Morsel? I thought you loved cake and abhorred meat."

Chuckling softly, her captor turns back down the tunnel and continues. "Never speak of my cake. Mortals such as yourself cannot possibly comprehend its subtleties. You are to be my god's morsel. If only I had rice and some dried seaweed, I could present you properly. Alas, no chopsticks either."

Laughing nervously, Twilight shakes out her mane and waves a hoof, "Oh, no need to show off your superior chef's skills. I'm fine as is. Hope my horn doesn't tear out his vocal chords on the way down, wouldn't dare miss out on his monologuing!"

A throaty laugh explodes from Dawn Treader. "A fine jest, little one! Perhaps he might spare you, if you are this entertaining to him when you two meet. I dare say much will be spared these next several days."

Twilight frowns, tilting her head, "Why is that? Why let him take away magic and THEN terrorize the world with all these creatures?" She motions behind her as though pointing to the the army outside. "You are an alicorn, a being of magic too. You must know you will be cut off from magic as well!"

The light natured humor vacates the larger alicorn and is replaced by a seething anger, practically radiating off her. "Once he has ascended, he is to honor me as the divine ruler of this realm and restore my powers. He will not be punished by the other gods for giving worthy individuals his gifts. Magic shall be kept from the masses of creatures who did not earn it." While the explanation makes sense if one were to believe in divine beings, Dawn Treader's mood speaks of more hellish thoughts, like total domination of all things on the mortal realm.

Yet another thought that has been bothering Twilight finally comes to the forefront of her mind. "What of your sister, Lun...uh, Silvery Orb? Will she not suffer the loss as well, possibly die, or are you planning on protecting her?"

Her captor's reaction is so swift, Twilight has little time to react before the larger pony pins her against the side wall of the tunnel with both forelegs. Dawn Treader's muzzle dances dangerously close to Twilight's eye, fangs glinting. "HOW DARE YOU SPEAK THAT NAME TO ME!!!?? She was perfectly fine in her tower under that disillusion spell while in charge of the suppression mechanism! All she had to do was keep it running, nothing else! Now she is...back to her wispy wistful wishy-washy pathetic self!" Dawn Treader shoves Twilight against the wall again for emphasis, but has less strength in it this time. "Next she will be wanting my cake again, the dark furred bitch." Dawn Treader trots away like nothing has happened while a wide-eyed Twilight slides down the side of the cave wall. Some prompting from the nightmares gets her to resume following the crazed alicorn.

They walk in silence for several minutes, the sounds of their hooves the only things to reach their ears. Twilight says quietly, "I'm sorry. I thought we were freeing her from an evil spell."

Dawn Treader snorts, "It was evil. But it was more evil to listen to her prattling for millenia after millenia. Never a thought or care to the reality around us as the world became more dangerous. As magic spread and grew, more creatures and spells came into existence, able to destroy us all if discovered by imbeciles who had not lived countless lifetimes to know what caution truly is. Imbeciles like YOU who prattle about hopes and dreams. Dear Prometheus...the DAMN DREAMS were the worst, always Orb bothering my virtual vacations from reality while going on about seeing so-and-so's fantasy and how sublime it would be if that WAS reality, all the while changing MY dream reality." Dawn Treader growls to herself while remembering. "Death would be a good thing for her. If simply not to put her out of my misery but so she would never come to her senses and realize how she wasted all these eons paying attention to make-believe things while I forged as much of this world as I could into some semblance of order."

The stark comparison between the game story and what she knows of the princesses in her reality is enough to give Twilight the willies. If she ever gets out of this mess...should she even touch on these subjects with them? Even on a less serious note, she feels there is a whole history in this game just waiting to be explored, if only she had the time. Knowing she does not, she continues to pick away at Dawn Treader's sense of order. "Sometimes we need our freedom to realize our own mistakes, even if it takes eons. Mistakes that can still be corrected, only if we choose to look at ourselves."

Dawn Treader slowly turns her head to Twilight, eyes half-lidded with weariness. "There was a time when one could say I invented philosophy and reasoning, or at least gathered it from those too mortal to live long enough to spread it meaningfully. I have lived long enough to certainly know when I'm hearing it used against me. You, who have barely lived, cling to what is 'good' as though there is one side or another. 'Good' is the naivety of the young." Dawn stares at the wall, studying the imperfect marks of whatever tool or claw tunneled out the passage. "The longer you live, the longer you die. That is the meaning of life." She blinks and glances at Twilight. "And no, this is not a mistake. This time tomorrow, all mistakes will be erased. Starting here." She steps forward and pushes on a large wooden door that is at the end of the tunnel.

Beyond the doorway, Twilight can see a gigantic cavern, nearly the size of a city, certainly larger than the Canterlot she remembers. The tunnel entrance is on the very edge of what appears to be a crater inside the mountain, the slopes sweeping down and then coming back up to a point at the center of the crater, while the ceiling curves away in shadow, only to return and meet the floor of the cavern at its center. It is as though a donut with a very small hole at the center were hollowed out and they were inside it. Inside a torus, as Twilight remembers from her class in advanced mathematics.

And to equal the size of a city, there are houses of all manner and construction populating the valley part of the crater. It is as though a thousand different architects from mudbrickers to steelworkers and glassblowers built whatever house where ever they felt like. They are all empty. Given the vast size of the ill-planned living arrangements, she deduces all the residents are outside, assembled in the armies ready to go forth and conquer. The other detail she notes are the many slim columns of shiny glass-like stone supporting the upper part of the mountain from collapsing. She recognizes dragonglass when she sees it, but it is incredibly brittle. True it can hold vast weights up and down, yet cross-wise, one would only have to...

Twilight's eyes go wide and she moans, "That's how you are going to do it." Dawn Treader stares at her curiously.

"Hm...you are too dangerous." Dawn Treader grins in a way that Twilight never wants to see Celestia grin. "I like that in a pony. But you belong to Prometheus." They proceed down into the crater toward the central plaza.

A few minutes later, a cautious shadow of a thestral flits silently from one pillar to the next, following them.

***

"She left AGAIN!?! Can't she just stay put once in a while?"

The rest of the group is in a side cave visiting with their newly returned member, Spike. Apparently this cave is the vaunted summer getaway he spoke of way back in the inn. Rarity raises a brow and sniffs lightly. "Well, my dear Spikey wikey, this could definitely use a mare's touch." Spike's cheeks turn a shade pink and he starts scratching random hearts in the floor with his toe claw. Warmed by his response, Rarity spares him by glancing over at Rainbow who is prancing around, fit to be tied. "I'm sure Twilight had good reason to request an audience with their leader. After all, she is a leader, too."

Rainbow blinks incredulously at Rarity, "Wha...? No! I mean that wingless batpony! She took off AGAIN, after Twilight told us all to stay together so we don't get lost in these caves."

Spike raises his paw, "Oh, it's not that hard to find your way around here, most the caves on the periphery are just dragon homes-"

"You're not helping, Spike!" Rainbow cuts him off. He lowers his arm and mumbles something. His rather large father sitting in the shadows smiles quietly. Life in the caves hasn't been this lively since a much smaller Spike had discovered the gunpowder foundry.

"Or, she could be lookin' after Twilight, sugar. That is her job, right?" Applejack asks as she blows a lock of hair out of her eyes. She is more used to being above the ground working it, not under it. She frowns to herself, trying to remember any instances of claustrophobia in her family. A grunt to herself reasserts the fact that she IS an Apple, made of tougher stuff. Still, those stone walls look like they are moving inwards in the flickering torchlight...

***

Past the small city of houses they move until they approach the central area, a large walled off plaza. Dawn ushers Twilight in through an opening and she is treated to a large amphitheater with hundreds of platforms all descending at a downward angle, much like the older coliseums of pegasi make she has read about. The amphitheater slopes down to what appears to be a giant egg made of stone with a door set into it. The top of the egg cannot be seen as it is encased in rock, most likely the giant cavern ceiling dipping down at the center. They walk down an aisle of steps passing several of the platforms. Twilight spies a few dragons lounging here and there, though they take no notice of her. Each platform has a podium and a large claw made of copper, palm facing up. Dawn sees Twilight's curiosity.

"The most loyal of His people. They chose to arrive early, so now they wait for the ceremony."

"The ceremony to take away their fire? Do they know that?" Twilight can barely contain her anger.

"But of course!" Dawn Treader grins in amusement. "They have always known. The collecting of treasure, the constant sleeping. While each generation did not know when it would happen, they did prepare. Without magic, there is no creation of precious metals or gems out of thin air. While treasure has the added benefit of feeling good against their scales, dragons have always thought toward the future. A pity you do not."

The logic of this script continues to thwart Twilight's arguments, a fact she grudgingly admits as she growls to herself. She sifts her brain for any additional questions she can use to stump the older alicorn, only to find herself before the door. Dawn raises one hoof and taps it reverently. A single word reverberates through the wood and rock, "COME!" Dawn pushes open the door and waits.

A few tentative steps inward and Twilight's eyes widen, taking in the view. What appeared to be just a large egg from the outside is actually a massive egg-shaped chamber inside. Given normal spacing and physics, this larger room inside should not be so big, but it is. Columns of white marble ring the outer edge and reach far up. Where the walls start to curve up above, there is actually a hole at the very top, a shaft that goes up through the rest of the mountain. She can see it is dark outside. The sun was going down when they had stepped through the mirror to reach the mountain. Time certainly flies when you are talking about the end of the world.

A loud chuckling from the center grabs her attention. "It may feel like the end, but it is not. Perhaps one can say it is a very rough beginning."

The voice comes from a tan skinned bipedal being with no fur who is chained to a large piece of rock. The rock itself is partially sculpted on top to provide a flat, if somewhat hard, bed. Large iron chains bolted to the rock are fastened to wrist bracelets on the creature's arms, though the lengths of the chains give him plenty of room to move around. Currently he is sitting on the ground with his back against the rock. A 'he' definitely, if she can deduce that from the bare chest and loincloth. He appears to be a minotaur of sorts. Minus the bull head. Instead, his head is shaped more like a monkey or gorilla. She frowns. No, more like a-

"HAhahahaaaa...yes, one might make that mistake if you have never met a god before, though what you have been used to barely qualifies as more than simply 'powerful.' No, I am not a human."

She blinks in surprise and takes a step back. "You can read my mind?!"

The being tilts his head. "To an extent. This close, most certainly. My powers have been diminished throughout my punishment, yet they are still there." He shifts his arms, the thick chains rattling.

Since the being appears to not be as hostile as those he has surrounded himself with, Twilight steps closer, her scientific side taking over. "I am going to assume you are the god Prometheus, the one these nightmares and Dawn Treader follow." A nod from him gives her the courage to continue, "Then if you are not a human, how come you look like one. At least, that's what I read they look like from a well-known unicorn."

Prometheus stares at Twilight for a few moments, studying her. His face alights. "Aw, Starswirl the Bearded. From how you regard him, he is a planeswalker. Hm, yes, I can understand that now. I am a god ripped from a pantheon of many gods and goddesses. Humans were an experiment, created in our image, and unfortunately run amock on a few worlds we were shepherding. My fellow gods would lay some of the blame on me, but those are debates that take centuries to explain. I would be amused if I were to return and find the same old arguments going on."

That brings the issue at hoof to the forefront and Twilight takes the initiative. "Yes, your return. I've heard others say all of this, this ceremony, the dragons, the raid on the town, is for your return. Why do you need dragons? Why does Spike say he has to give up his fire?"

"Fire, the analogy of fire, anyway, is what I gave to the universe. It did start with the humans, but in the short span that they flourished with their new gifts, their new technologies, I became euphoric, so I gave it to more. Far and wide, civilizations rose, fought, destroyed each other and themselves by the very gifts I bestowed upon them all. In my arrogance, I thought I could claim adulation for my singular act, raising mortals from their mired doldrum existence as savages. Little did I know then, even as a god. You mortals are savage BECAUSE you are mortal. I was worshiped for a time. Do not scoff," the god admonishes Twilight as she wrinkles her brow, "It is a very real thing to be worshiped. For a mortal to spend time contemplating and loving a being such as myself, it empowers us, breathes greatness into our very essence. To grow forgotten is the worst thing that can happen to a god, and so that has happened to me. But it was not the fault of mortals. I was imprisoned by my brethren and kept from visiting my enlightened children, so they carried on, using the gifts I gave them, eventually forgetting their benefactor."

Twilght, while soaking in all this plausible history, starts to grow impatient about her question. "Um, dragon fire?"

Prometheus waves his hand, "Yes, I forget you mortals have such short lives. So much to know and so little time to do anything with it. I created dragons to be the vessels of the soul of magic. Beyond what you and any other creature can do, magic moves beyond the limits in which you can study it. Its nature is inter-dimensional, strands threaded throughout existence as it permeates everything around it. So how can it be contained? A lot of creatures were born magical, a manifestation of magic. When I contemplated how to overcome what I did, I found I could recombine those creatures and draw into them the strands themselves, thus I brought forth dragons. The race of dragons was once vast, as was their need to be in order to pull in these strands. When one dragon dies, the strands absorb into the rest. There are few enough dragons now to finally gather them in one place and retrieve all those strands and snuff out magic forever."

The scope of it all threatens to crush Twilight's heart. Game or not, the diabolical nature of it brings into question whether or not she was ever worthy to know magic. The scientist in her pushes her to question the god. "In a way, you have distilled all of magic, its fundamental essence, into the few remaining dragons? What happens if they die without you taking their breath?"

Prometheus raises a brow and chuckles, "And here I thought you were not vicious." Twilight reels back, realizing how her question came across. Did he think she was evil enough to...Before she can protest, he stands up and starts to climb onto the large rock slab, "Do not fret, I know what you were asking. 'Is there a way for magic to stay?' In a word, yes. Even a single dragon would allow magic to slowly creep back into the universe, though I will not allow it. My fellow gods would still see it as a betrayal to their existence. Mortals are not allowed to achieve greatness beyond their predestined existence. A lesson I have learned through great suffering since." He lies down on the worn form-fitting impression in the stone. "It is their role to be enthralled by us, and it is our role to hold power over them. Simply put, THAT is chaos and order itself."

The two legged entity rests his head back against the rock. "I have known this place for eons untold. I have paid my penance for the selfish act I committed. Now I can return to my pantheon, cleansed of my selfish act, embraced for my work to right that which was wrong."

"Wrong? Yes I will admit magic is a gift, yet to take it away just so you can return to your home, that is just another selfish act! What you are doing is evil, not to mention stealing the very breath of dragons. I am not a fan of their breath, but still-"

"HAhahah....mere mortal, had I several lifetimes to explain to you the mechinations of the universe, I would, for the simple satisfaction to see that logical look on your face crumble into terror as you realize how much you do not know. There IS NO good or evil. They are concepts used to control you. There is merely order," He raises one hand, and then the other, "and chaos. Within those boundaries does existence reside. What you think is evil, at its heart is just selfishness. Yes, I am selfish, but so are you in wanting to keep your magic. Your desires, no matter how carefully you tiptoe and plan around not inconveniencing others, inevitably DOES. When you go to eat a piece of food, drink, breathe air, that item is no longer available to another. Selfishness itself is only realized when another notices."

Twilight's brain works through the nuances and sees a cold truth to the god's words. She shakes her head, refusing to believe everything in her life, including friendship, amounts to a series of selfish decisions. "No, there is more to life than taking from others or balancing order and chaos. The feelings of an individual, while I still have a difficult time working those out, they are real, they are quantifiable. It is in those feelings you will ultimately cause harm, and ultimately be weighed as an evil act. If you strip away magic from the world, you will deaden it and make so many lives miserable for the sake of you being released from here."

"Oh, you think my containment is by the existence of magic? No, this is a formality. My ascension will follow the removal of magic. My release from this prison, unfortunately, requires magic, though I am loathe to admit it. As the dragon's breath has made brittle the pillars that hold this mountaintop up, magic will lift half of my prison so I may step out and administer the cleansing."

With the confirmation of what she already suspected, Twilight wracks her mind to figure out a hole in his plan. It is on a scale even she is having a hard time contemplating. One thing still bugs her and she voices it. "Wait, if dragons can soak in the essence of magic, and they transfer that to you...won't they continue to soak it back?" A twitch in his face shows she hit pay dirt.

"It would have been a divine pleasure to spend the centuries with you, little Twilight Sparkle, instead of that maniacal winged terror Dawn Treader. Yes, they would indeed. As well for other reasons, but that specifically is why they must die." Twilight gasps in horror. Then a cold icy feeling gnaws at her very center.

"That dragon we killed...he wasn't adhering to the summons, was he? He was protecting Silvery Orb from her sister...we were supposed to kill him!"

Prometheus turns his head to gaze at Twilight, "Supposed to? You could call it that. In reality, Spike was to assume his teacher's role once he had died of old age and eventually return here with the rest of the dragons. Your killing his teacher accelerated things. Thankyou, by the way."

The heat coming off Twilight's face is a mixture of anger, embarrassment, and frustration, and guilt. It is quickly cooled by dread, seeing how everything was coming to a close, now. "Then there is nothing else for you except to do your evil, which is what it is. Strip this world, make it barren, kill a few hundred dragons, and leave Dawn Treader to ravage what is left. A worthy legacy for a god's selfish ascension."

The god shakes his head, staring up into the dark shaft above. There is a faint light beginning to show. A screech can be heard far off. "In due time, I might be able to wrought something else out of this world. There are so many moving threads in this reality I could spend centuries explaining each one to you, how they connect. Alas, I must endure one last session with an old friend." Distant flapping can be heard high above. Twilight looks up and squints, barely seeing a large eagle approaching. "I am not wholly cruel, so I would spare you this vision, though I do a disservice to my cause by keeping you from seeing one of my reasons for doing what I do." A nightmare nudges Twilight with its muzzle to move, so she reluctantly walks back to the door she had walked through earlier.

She lingers a moment to see a large eagle alight onto the slab. Prometheus turns his head and sees Twilight watching. He says, "What is evil but the selfishness of those to the discomfort of others. I have endured far more than any creature, mortal or immortal, has a right to claim privilege for!" When the eagle's head strikes down at his ribs, he yells, "GO!!!" Twilight pulls her head back but can still hear flesh being ripped and rended, echoed by the size of the chamber. In horror she looks up at the nightmare. There is no scream, but a low grunt now and then.

The nightmare's smoldering eyes show no emotion as it says, "He stopped crying out long ago, embracing the pain as a welcome friend to change the monotony of his existence. Is your magic worth that much to you?"

She blinks, finally realizing the extent of the god's punishment. "I did not ask for him to be punished. Won't you lose your magic as well?"

The nightmare shrugs, "Then maybe I shall learn to be a normal horse. Eat grass instead of burning it." It looks down at its flaming hooves. "For now, I am what I am, and I am instructed by Him to return you to your dragon friend, with the contract you have in your possession." It begins walking and Twilight is left to follow, glancing back at the door and then the map case she is carrying. This is a twist in the script she had not expected. It is also a moral dilemma she could not trust herself to speak her mind on just yet.

Several minutes has the two passing a few pillars of brittle rock vaulting into the shadows of the ceiling. Twilight spots Dawn Treader speaking to several nightmares. After she points at the columns and then to Prometheus' cell, she notices Twilight and waves a hoof at her subordinates to go away before asking, "Can you imagine the sheer torture of it, day after day, for years, hundreds, THOUSANDS of years? Nothing, living or divine, can withstand that kind of treatment. One would have to go mad..." Dawn Treader giggles to herself, then snarls, "But why am I telling you this, child. You are too young and ignorant to understand these things."

"I'm not blind to what I have seen, of course he would go mad enduring that treatment, it is horrible!" Twilight turns back toward the cell.

"Him? Who said anything about HIM!?! I'm talking about ME! Enduring my idiot of a sister, day after day, prattling on about, midnight butterflies or moon moths, or some other luney nonsense. And THEN she has the audacity to ask me for my cake...NEVER AGAIN!" She wheels around and marches off, her nightmares quick to follow. She says over her shoulder, "Soon, she and all who oppose me shall be no more and I...yes, I will be a god!" Dawn Treader cackles maniacally.

Twilight quirks her brow and waits it out. Yeah, Celestia must have loved writing out this part. "Soooo...when do I get to meet up with my friends again?" She calls after the alicorn.

Dawn Treader continues walking, "Yes, yes, you and your little friends should scamper around one last time before being ground under the wheels of our glorious war machine. Honestly, you have such limited vision, like my sister. Hm, soon you will be JUST like my sister. HAH HAH hah aah nnnn...." She hiccups from laughing, then goes back to laughing some more. Dawn Treader glances back at the lone nightmare that was leading Twilight and motions her head up one of the sloping climbs to a side tunnel. The nightmare nods and resumes heading in that direction. A slight movement in the shadow of one of the pillars almost elicits a paranoid response from Twilight, but noticing the shape of a certain wingless thestral, she is able to keep her mouth shut. The nightmare leads her up the way Dawn Treader indicated, while the nightmare's leader makes her rounds along the outer wall of the cavern, inspecting it, and poking her head into different smaller tunnels to address a dragon that lives inside each one.

"Hey Twilight!" Spike waves his arm as the purple alicorn comes into view, who in turn bowls him over and hugs him. Much to his embarrassment, he has to spend several minutes prying himself out of her surprisingly strong hug. "Okay okay! See? They wouldn't harm me." The nightmare, having seen its job as done, turns around and gallops to catch up to her mistress.

A rumbling to the side has Twilight getting up onto her hooves in an instant. She knows a dragon's growl when she hears one. Or not, since it is more like a chuckling sound, if a rockslide could be described as chuckling. A large red dragon moves into view from the shadows and lowers his head to Twilight's eye level. "I take it you are the leader of this ragtag group, hmm?" Vapors of brimstone pour from the dragon's nostrils, choking Twilight.

"Yes-<coughcough>-I am their leader! Eh...Twilight Sparkle at your service!" She sticks out her hoof. At the dragon's mouth, she realizes after the fact, and mumbles, "Unless you are into eating ponies, then definitely NOT at your service."

The dragon snorts and briefly bumps her hoof with his large snout. "Doubtful I would do such a thing to you. Too little meat, too many bones. What we prefer is shiny gemstones." The dragon sits back and glances at Spike, "My son has told me much about you, about your friends. While I would have words with what you did to his teacher, I also understand he attacked first, thus it justifies the ends. He was always a rash drake. Didn't improve much into his adult years, apparently. I thank you for delivering my son unharmed. While I personally regret the erasure of magic from this world, it is what we have prepared for all these generations. Spike is too young, I would say, to take part in this, yet he officially tookn his teacher's place on that day. All dragons are summoned. None can be left out, else the ceremony will fail, no doubt."

Twilight sighs. She can hear the same steadfast tones in Spike's father that she heard in Prometheus, yet she will not let it go. "Why must magic be taken away? Have the peoples here not regulated themselves within reason to preserve their world? Has it ever been threatened by self-destruction?"

The dragon smiles wanly at the naive pony. He had explained these things many times to Spike to quell the little drakeling's questions, so this was an old conversation for him in the past. And yet, now at the precipice of the ceremony, he is tired. Tired of many things, or simply tired. "I could relate the merits of prevention, prophecy fulfillment, honor of heritage and vows..." A sour look crosses his visage as he sees Dawn Treader approaching the cave mouth, though she is still a few minutes away. "This I will share with you. ALL of you." He gives Spike a meaningful look. "We do this to restore Prometheus to his glorious heaven so we will be done with him." Spike blinks, taken aback by his father's blunt statement.

"I know." Twilight regards the larger dragon and taps her chin with a hoof. "He has dictated the existence of all dragons on this world for so long, the price of magic is worth removing him from the picture?" The dragon nods. Twilight shakes her head, regarding her friends' similar disapproval. She says, "I just feel that price is way too high, the removal of all magic. AND, he told me you all have to die, too."

The dragon shrugs and looks at his claws, "I believe we can recover from losing our fire and magic. He does ask much of us, but to kill us all too? Even a god would be foolish to move against us." He looks up and sees Twilight's incredulous expression. "While he may have gifted the first races with magic, it exists in other manifestations. Artifice, forging, creating with one's own claws, paws, hands, hooves in your case, anything can be returned to what was. He will have his peace among his fellow gods in his return, and we shall be done with this suppression nonsense, and thus rebuild. Yes it will be arduous, but good has always come from honest hard work."

Applejack leans in and whispers to Twilight, "There's honest hard work, and then there's deluded slavery. Care to figure which one ole Dawn Traitor is going to choose, sugar?" Twilight smirks and nods to Applejack, already ahead of her. Before Twilight can bring up the point that Spike's teacher was tricked into dying, a certain alicorn crosses the threshold of the cave entrance and clears her throat.

"Hello guests! Comfy? All chummy with our resident dragons? Good." She raises her head to the larger dragon and says, "Bloodfang! The ceremony begins soon. Move yourself and your son down to the amphitheater. Also, by order of the power invested in me by our leader, Prometheus, and thus, I can do what I wish....KILL these annoying ponies. Burn them, smash them, stick-em-in-a-stew....HAHAHahaha, while that would be amusing, don't do that last part. The trolls fouled up this cavern with our previous guests for ages, took sixty years to get the stench out. Anyway," she shakes her mane out, as if she were giving a laundry list. "Just dispatch them. And then don't be late for the ceremony. Loss of limb will not excuse any dragon from the party." She spins around and clip-clops out, leaving several stunned ponies behind, a fainted little dragon, and a rather large dragon to lower his head and regard the creatures in front of him in a different light.

***

A shadow flits from one column to another. Each time, the shadow inspects the column and moves on to the next. Dragon glass. Strengthened tenfold from its original stone to withstand pressure lengthwise, yet can shatter like glass if struck perpendicular to its surface. Slicer Jen squints from her hiding spot behind the column and stares at the far wall of the cavern, focusing her eyes to see in the dark. The same blackened glass comprises the whole circumference of the massive chamber. She saw Dawn Treader paying particular attention to all of these things. Why? And why would they spend so much time carving out this cavern and making the columns and outer wall brittle in the first place? She closes her eyes shut, trying to make sense of it. The whole top of the mountain, which also happens to keep the egg-like cell to this god Prometheus capped shut, sits above their heads, and is now held quite well by the strong columns but could easily come down on their heads. If Dawn Treader has sway over the dragons and made them weaken this whole area, is she trying to bury Prometheus alive forever?

She had seen the alicorn walking from cave to cave, ushering the dragons to the center where an amphitheater of at least a thousand platforms surounds the innermost chamber. Each platform has a podium and a metallic claw off to the side, palm facing up. Several of the dragons already await on their individual platforms. So they listen to her orders, obviously, yet they show no love for the alicorn. Slicer Jen wrinkles her nose. There was a time she could relate to them. Now though, she has to focus on threading this enemy territory. She watches Dawn Treader eventually make her way to where Twilight was escorted, and after a few minutes, the alicorn emerges again and teleports herself and her retinue of nightmares to the entrance just outside the amphitheater.

Slicer glowers at the magic-using bitch and curses magic in general since it makes her scouting that much harder. She is about to make her way to the next shadow to catch up and follow Dawn Treader when she notices her party members pouring out of the cave they were in, galloping headlong down into the valley. Once they reach the valley floor, they fan out. Spike can be seen riding on Rarity's back holding on for dear life as the mare runs with an unnatural speed. A few moments after that, a very angry and hostile, not to mention LARGE, red dragon explodes out of the small cave mouth. The thestral shudders, recalling another time in her past where a similar scene played out. Now she misses not having her ridgecat friend here. Gritting her teeth, she flexes her neck. Typical, always a dragon around when you don't need one.

After loosening her knives, she springs out of her hiding spot, starting at a trot, then progressing to a canter and eventually into a full gallop. Using her statue now would be a mistake since she feels this is still not the main event, but she has to do something to help the other ponies. She sees them slowing down and start to turn around as though to face the dragon. Rainbow and Fluttershy take to the air while the magic users charge their horns. Applejack begins a reverse flanking move circling around back toward Slicer. Good, she thinks to herself, they learned to spread out since the last time they were hosed down by fire. Slicer angles to try and hit the dragon from the side, closing distance. Nothing fancy, since backstabbing a creature this size is impossible. She focuses on the back leg; the tendons will be a good place to start.

Unbeknownst to her, Twilight was looking for a moving shadow from the beginning and had immediately spotted Slicer at the canter. A yell from Twilight had changed Applejack's path, who in turn had nodded and was making a beeline to cut off Slicer, the earth pony's unusual speed causing her to blur. Just as the thestral jumps up and extracts two knives from her saddlebags to hold in each front hoof, Applejack leaps and slams her head into Slicer's barrel, completely removing both of them from that spot in the air. Slicer's two knives flip harmless and clang onto the stone floor, the dragon rumbling by without a care for the two. Once Applejack and Slicer slide to a stop, Slicer kicks the earth pony off of her.

"Tu es stupide merde...MERDE MARE! What are you doing!?!"

Applejack picks her hat up and puts it back on her head. "Stopping you from stabbing that dragon. Now act like you died, or disappear, or somethin." She winks at Slicer, "We's got a shindig to put on." That's when Pinkie Pie starts strumming her lyre, and a multitude of other instruments join in as she starts singing 'Word Up'.

Slicer stares at the other ponies in wonder as Applejack grins and gallops after the lumbering dragon. Applejack stops short, pulls out a lariat and after several spins in the air, she throws the loop at the dragon's tail and hauls back with her hooves and teeth. The dragon feels a yank on his tail and slips, slamming his belly and neck onto the cavern floor, shaking everypony. He picks up his head and is about to snap at the pony wrangling him when a burst of fizzling fireworks smacks him in the side of the head. Rarity's horn glows while Spike stands up on her back, yelling very polite swear words at his father. Out of the corner of her eye, Slicer notices Dawn Treader watching from a distance. This is a ruse, or some show of a fight. Slicer fakes a few coughs and makes like she is crawling to a nearby pile of rocks, then collapses. She tilts her head just enough to keep watching Dawn Treader. The alicorn giggles to herself, probably delighting in watching the party betray one of their own. Once the alicorn's eyes wander to watch the rest of the fight, Slicer pulls herself behind the rocks and crouches, trying to figure out what is going on. Little does she know there was a candid conversation held up in that cave shortly before all this...whatever this is, started.

*** Several minutes earlier ***

"Kill? Father, don't you dare!" Spike, little Spike, stood very small before the larger dragon. And the larger dragon saw a very tall son before him.

"You would protect them with your life, Spike?" Bloodfang gauged his son, seeking any kind of weakness in the drakeling. And saw none.

"They would for me."

The larger dragon clacks his jaws in amusement. "Then I have a proposal. While I cannot disobey the order to kill them...perhaps I can mostly kill them."

Pinkie Pie bursts out laughing as her friends look between her and the large dragon, not really wanting to bother figuring out which one is more insane. Rarity raises a hoof, "Uh, dear dragon Bloodfang, is there a way 'mostly kill' can involve not bleeding? Blood has a way of making me faint." She begins dragging a fainting couch from out of nowhere.

The dragon chuckles and peers down at the white unicorn. "Never look a gift dragon in the mouth."

Fluttershy sits up and murmurs, "I never look any dragon in the mouth...um, it gives them ideas...."

A pink hoof claps a startled Fluttershy on the back, causing her to jump and tumble forward. "That works too!" Pinkie Pie exclaims.

Bloodfang grumbles, "Be that as it may, it must be done in the eyes of our masters. Choose spells that either cannot harm me, or elemental spells where my natural resistance to fire and ice shall make me immune. But no metal weapons...a small secret, I am deathly allergic to them." Spike's eyes go wide. His father has only ever told one soul in all existence that secret. The next part that follows, no soul has ever heard. "It is not a genetic defect, mind you. Prometheus is also susceptible to them. It might be a derivative to his chains slowly poisoning him over time, or his original punishment. It has been a thing we dragons have always closely guarded, until now. Hence why we dispatch armor-clad knights so quickly. Easier to burn them than chew on them and risk the metal cutting our gums and we die of knight-in-mouth disease." The dragon shudders, "Embarrassing."

The ponies nod and make their way to the cave mouth. Fluttershy touches Twilight's shoulder, "Um...I don't know if anypony else has noticed, or lack of notice...well....um, Slicer is..." Her eyes flit to the dragon, "She's not here. Didn't she have a...uh...not quite pleasant meeting...or two, or more...with them? And her, um," She then whispers, "K, N, I, F, E.....S's.....hm, V for plural. I misspelled that, didn't I?"

Twilight grins and pats the flustered Fluttershy on the shoulder, "Don't worry. That is Applejack's job. I saw Slicer sneaking around the columns, keeping an eye on Dawn Treader. She'll know something is up as soon as we go pouring out of here into the cavern. If I know her by now, she'll hit from the side once this starts. Applejack...please, not 'too' hard?"

Her friend nods, grinning, "It'll be close, jes hope she don whip around like a rattlesnake on me." For luck, Twilight casts a haste spell on all the ponies, with a double shot on Applejack. That should cope with their resident surgical assassin's speed.

Twilight looks back at her friends, then up at the dragon. "Okay, we may not get experience points for this fight, but it should be exciting all the same. Charge!" They all rear up and rush forward out into the cavern, a snarling 'angry' dragon giving chase.

***

One good roll of the dragon's tail causes a whipping loop to travel down to Applejack's end, sending her flying. A brief pulse of magic from Twilight's horn creates small shields to cover Applejack's hooves a split second before she plows through a nearby pillar hooves first. The explosion of glass shards covers her safe landing on all fours, her earth pony abilities kicking in. Before the billowing cloud of debris can clear, Applejack throws herself down on the ground, appearing to be broken with her limbs all angled wrong.

The dragon laughs and flexes his wings, dirt and dust flowing away as he takes to the air, the ceiling more than high enough to allow dragonflight. Rarity yells to Twilight and TK's her book over to the alicorn. Twilight smiles in gratitude, leaping up while levitating the book in front of her. Spike pats Rarity on the neck, indicating that was the right move. Rainbow zips in, slapping the dragon in the snout on the flyby while Fluttershy hovers around at a much safer distance. The more timid pegasus knows this is all fake, yet a healthy margin for error is always, well, healthy. This line of thinking is immediately dropped when the dragon looks around to see who slapped him and notices Fluttershy. He begins to inhale.

Rainbow is about to make another pass and notices what is happening. "Flutters! Shield up, now!" The order cuts through her frozen fear and layers of green druid leaf shield swirl into being not a moment too soon. Gouts of red flame pour onto the shield and around the sides. The first layer is incinerated. The second blazes up and breaks apart under the onslaught, but the third holds, barely. Rainbow flies above Fluttershy and yells her approval.

Twilight finally finds an enchantment spell worth casting. She yells down to Rarity the appropriate syllable runes. In turn, the runes form glowing glyphs in Rarity's mind's eye, and a single thought places them in the appropriate pattern. Rarity grins.

The entire cavern is filled with hundreds of Rarities, but every single one is made of some kind of gemstone. Ruby Rarities, Sapphire Rarities, Diamond Rarities. Both father and son are momentarily stunned at what they see. Bloodfang is almost completely fooled by the multitude of delicious ponies. Almost. His son, on the other claw, has a sudden headrush and passes out, while still maintaining his riding position atop the real Rarity. Bloodfang narrows his eyes. "That spell was a dragon's breath away from being deadly. I congratulate you." He coughs sharply in her direction. A single fireball spews out of his maw and explodes in Rarity's face, encompassing her and Spike in fire. When the flames subside, Spike is left atop a pony figure of pure ash. He falls to the ground as the ash billows out in all directions, the dragonling untouched by his father's flames.

"You killed her!"

"Enough foolishness. The ceremony awaits." Bloodfang rolls over in midair and slaps an incoming Rainbow with a massive leathery wing. The pegasus goes rolling through the air, crashes into Fluttershy who simply can't get out of the way and they both splat on the ground directly below the dragon. He looks down, then sneaks a glance at Twilight to see if she is watching. She is, her horn barely glowing. He tucks in his wings and plummets, aiming one of his paws directly at the two grounded ponies. A split second before he lands, the ground below them sinks a few feet, but is hidden as the dragon crashes into the ground. He lifts his paw slightly and wrinkles his snout. "Smears. I hate smears."

Pinkie Pie comes flying in from out of nowhere and smashes her lyre over the dragon's head. Along with the instrument making a most horrible chord and splintering sound, Pinkie yells, "Ka-BONG!!!!"

The dragon merely looks up cross-eyed at the pink pony standing on his head with the neck of her lyre in hoof. She smiles weakly and squeaks, "Parlay?"

Bloodfang replies, "French gives me gas," whips his head around and snaps up Pinkie in his maw. Twilight, not knowing whether or not the dragon went too far, screams for her friend. Bloodfang lunges for the flying alicorn, grabs her with his claws and scoops her into his mouth too from one side, the side conveniently facing Dawn Treader. On the other side of his mouth he dislodges his jaw and pushes both ponies out with his tongue into his other awaiting paw and surreptitiously deposits them behind his bulky body where they sit perfectly still, dripping in oozing dragon spit.

While her pink friend is just barely managing to hold in her laughter, a similarly drenched alicorn is glowering back, muttering, "I swear to Celestia, if you tell anypony about this..."

Bloodfang looks up at Dawn Treader, who in turn nods back to the dragon and walks away into the corridor to the amphitheater. He sighs and steps back from the small hole so Fluttershy and Rainbow can climb out. He says quietly, "That should suffice. Hide until the ceremony is over, then we shall discuss saving this world."

While the ponies get settled behind a rundown hovel and Bloodfang shifts his weight to leave, Spike hangs back, watching his friends. His father notices his hesitation and asks quietly, "What is it Spike? We cannot linger or Dawn Treader will return."

Spike's eyes follow his friends. He says nervously, "I wish they could come with us. I'm scared to lose my fire."

The larger dragon mulls it over in his mind. Spike has never shown any social initiative before. Perhaps these ponies are a good thing for him. "I would choose one. One that can stay hidden very well." For a minute, all eyes turn to Slicer.

Her eyes go saucer-wide and she shakes her head, "Merde on that, I'm not into dragons." She winces as soon as she says it and is immediately surrounded by gasps and admonishments. To her credit, she puts a hoof over her head, "No offense, Spike. Again. Just that...well, uh-"

"Oh that's quite alright," Spike cuts in. He bites his lip and glances at Rarity, "I was hoping for another lovely mare, NOT that you aren't, just, that, well....uh-"

"Say no more!" A slightly blushing Rarity steps up. "I shall escort you. I dare say this might be the worst day in your life, but rest assured you will not be alone." Slicer sighs, glad she won't have to be in the presence of so many dragons.

The larger dragon's head looms over the two, a smile creeping onto its maw. "And how do you propose to make yourself less noticeable? By all accounts of my son, you are the most noticeable creature he has ever met." Both Spike and Rarity seem petrified with embarrassment. Thankfully, Twilight is way ahead of them, reading from Rarity's book.

The symbols spring to life in Rarity's head and a few thoughts later, she shimmers into nonexistence. Spike jumps and looks around quickly, "Rarity? Are you there?"

"Quite," Rarity's voice replies. "I am simply invisible. Now you can feel perfectly comfortable I am by your side." She lowers her voice to herself, "While I will be perfectly uncomfortable not being noticed for once. Still, sacrifices must always be made, I suppose."

Bloodfang rumbles in his throat, "True sacrifices come from the heart. Ah, young love. Another time, I would relate to you the poems I read to your mother, Spike. While she was not much for romance, she did dazzle me the way your friend dazzles you."

Spike squirms in place, looking at the ground, "Yeah...let's save that mushy stuff for later, father." A similar squeak next to him confirms he's not alone as small hearts are absently drawn in the dirt by an invisible hoof.

Twilight takes this time to lay out their plan. Once the ceremony is over, the dragons and Rarity can make their way back to the exit tunnel of the mountain and they can try to get back to Myth Drannor, knowing they have allies there. Another plea from Twilight regarding the impending dragon deaths is shaken off by Bloodfang.

"If he or that crazy alicorn try anything, we still have our claws and teeth. We are close to one hundred strong." Bloodfang answers Twilight's concerns, though she does not look convinced. He nudges Spike, "We must go, now. Stay hidden, the rest of you. Many things change tonight." The two dragons and a hidden unicorn make their way to the amphitheater.

The rest of the ponies give them a few minutes. Twilight shakes her head, "He won't listen." She is on the verge of tears. Her friends watch her, feeling similarly upset, though Slicer grinds her teeth more out of anger. She can smell a setup.

"I can go." The thestral says. "Maybe I can spot something, or...cause a distraction..." Twilight watches her struggle to talk herself into doing something she obviously loathes. Twilight shakes her head.

"No, Spike is in good hooves." Twilight watches her friends disappear through the doorway. "While Rarity might not be a fighter, she thinks fast and can handle a rapidly changing situation with finesse. We need you scouting ahead of us so those nightmares don't spot us and blow the whistle on our clandestine operation. I have to trust in Rarity and Spike to handle themselves, while you protect us."

Slicer looks around at the other ponies. They nod in agreement. "As you wish, princess." She darts off toward the outer wall before Twilight can stammer a surprised thankyou for using her title.

***

Bloodfang settles down on his own platform and nods to the next platform for Spike. The drakeling climbs onto the platform and stands before the podium, his rolled up contract in claw. Rarity silently pulls herself up and stands to the side. A female dragon on the other side of Spike frowns slightly. Her clear double eyelids close and she looks down directly at Rarity, using a special dragonsight. Rarity can tell she is seen and nervously waves a hoof. The female dragon looks up at Bloodfang with a raised brow.

The male dragon shrugs. "Social experiment." The female dragon snorts and resumes her post behind her podium, her own contract in place. Rarity sighs and takes a moment to gather in her surroundings. Clearly this amphitheater was meant to house more dragons, but of the hundred or so she sees, they are mostly gathered around this half. She can see Dawn Treader patiently waiting down at the bottom before a doorway into an oddly large egg-shaped chamber. From a few comments by Twilight earlier, that must be where this god Prometheus resides.

To either side of Dawn Treader sit a large marble goblet and a copper goblet. Not very aesthetic, Rarity muses to herself. Though they do match the podiums and claws on each platform. Must be a pegasus thing, what with the whole ancient architecture attempt.

Bloodfang leans over toward Spike. "You will have to stand on the podium to deliver your fire onto the contract. We have practiced this before, but there is no way you can hold the symbolic claw in dragon unity AND cast your fire. Typically why one as young as you would not participate." Spike nods and scrambles up onto the podium. A quick glance behind him at empty space and a responding hoof touch to his leg quells his fears.

Dawn Treader clears her throat and the murmuring dragons quiet.

"For lifetimes and beyond, we have gathered you here to strengthen your oaths and remind you why you exist, for you are the children of Prometheus, and he has now finally called upon you for your gifts to be returned. As it has been, so shall you do so now, clasp the Claw of Unity and stand before your contract."

Some dragons patiently wait at their podiums while others move into position, reaching down with their right arm to grasp the copper claw sticking up from the platform. This has been done so many times, most do it without thought. Rarity, however, is bothered a bit. She can sense something about the copper, as though they are more than symbology. Her thoughts are cast aside when a new voice intones loudly from the opening doors behind Dawn Treader.

"My children, I thank you one last time in observance of your oaths as Keepers of the Flame. You have been the unwavering light through all that we have suffered. So many have caused such strife throughout the lands, but today you and your brethren will fix that."

Bloodfang snorts softly, chalking up a few others who have caused strife. The female dragon next to Spike smirks as well, agreeing with Bloodfang.

"Now, bring forth the fires of magic upon your contract. Call forth the essence of magic so that I may cleanse all realms of my mistakes." In reponse, all the dragons begin to inhale, a veritable sucking sound throughout the amphitheater. Spike sees that he is falling behind and inhales as well, though his lungs can only take in a small amount of air. Each dragon reaches their peak and belches forth fire, incinerating the contracts in front of them. Spike does so as well.

Rarity's first sign that something is wrong is not from the marble goblet filling up with a red fire of its own, but electrical arcing around the copper goblet. Similar, all the copper claws on each platform, including Spike's, begins to close, entrapping every dragon paw that was in them. The dragons exhaling their fire do not notice this until they are done, red tendrils seeming to come out of their mouths and absorb into the podiums. In their weakened states, it takes them a few minutes before they realize they cannot remove their paws from the copper constructs.

"What is the meaning of this!?! Release us!" A younger female drake on a lower platform demands. Similar sentiments of resentment resound in the chamber, starting to build into a cacophony.

Bloodfang struggles against his arm, yanking on it, but it is held fast. In a second he knows his doom and looks over in terror, only to find a similarly scared Spike still sitting on his podium. Bloodfang whispers harshly, "Spike! Jump down, NOW, before she sees you." Spike hops down quickly, just missing Dawn Treader's passing gaze as she ensures all the dragons are held in place. Spike hides behind the podium.

"Father? What is going on?"

The larger dragon snarls softly, "Betrayal...and change. The next few hours will define who you are. Unfortunately, you may have to discover your mettle without me." Before Spike can protest, Bloodfang clacks his jaws with a glare, silencing his son. His gaze softens, a tingling sensation starting to tickle his entrapped paw. "Don't think about what is going on here. Think to your friends, to your future. Do not let our enemies win by letting them strike you down. You life is revenge enough. Now you need to go." Spike shakes his head and hops over to the next platform to grab at his father's trapped arm. The older dragon pushes Spike away with his snout. "No! It could arc and take you as well. Do what I say!"

While the two dragons argue, Rarity sees all the other dragons' faces starting to contort. Electrical blue energy can now be seen crackling around the copper claws and up the dragons' arms. A few of the younger ones are starting to slump, overwhelmed by the pain and stunning force. She glances at Bloodfang, who is still standing strong. She knows he must be feeling intense pain, but he shows no weakness before his son. Any moment though, Spike is going to see his father die.

Rarity bites her lip and lunges across the aisle to Bloodfang's platform. She nips Spike by the back of the neck and picks him up with a surprised yelp, planting him firmly on her back. Out of the corner of her eye, the copper goblet is starting to fill with a blue fire. The voice of Prometheus flows from the doorway of the egg chamber.

"Dragon fire to give magic to the world, and the dragon's heart to stoke the flames of the forges of the world long into the night. Molten rock, metals, minerals, all flow from the vigor of dragons as their very existence has helped the world shape such great creations, from the lowliest spoon to the greatest artifact of power. All must be forgotten when the last dragon heart is stilled. But I will not forget you, nor the sacrifice you make this morning. Before the first rays of the sun alight, the last rays of you will fade, and I will forever regret the pain I cause you now. Perhaps in another lifetime you will forgive me. Let these words of peace follow you into the afterlife."

Several unruly swear words and phrases follow his speech from some dragons a little less keen on his sentiments.

Bloodfang looks down, the strain almost beyond what he can endure. His visage cracks finally and he yells, "Please! Take him!" The invisible Rarity spins around and gallops, Spike holding onto her and appearing to fly a few feet off the ground.

The female dragon that had noticed her earlier collapses, along with Bloodfang following suit once his son is out of sight. Through the web of electrical fuzz that is starting to blind her, the dragoness still manages to say, "..experiment...was a success..."

Bloodfang can no longer see, but only feel his life ebbing away into the copper. "I thought so....too." Then he feels no more.

***

Rarity doesn't stop, even after the invisibility wears off. She can feel Spike sobbing against the back of her neck, yet she keeps her head low and legs swift. Several nightmares notice the unicorn galloping towards them and try to stand in her way. A few delicately placed slashes with her horn as she runs by deters them from any pursuit. Aside from the headache the hits cause her, she feels no remorse. The two continue until they are halfway into the ramshackle city. She can spot her friends in the distance now, waiting on the top slope near one of the main tunnels, most likely the exit. Rarity glances back, "Hold on Spike," and alights her horn. They teleport right next to her friends and skid to a halt, just barely keeping Spike on her.

Twilight and the others note their moods. Twilight closes her eyes briefly before she asks, "Are they...?" A simple nod from Rarity tells it all. Twilight and her friends surround the two and console Spike, who continues crying, not wanting to let go.

***

An insane alicorn walks among the aisles of dead dragons, two large goblets down below glow with the flames of all they ever were. She barely contains her giggling, lest she angers her master. How she hated dealing with these arrogant serpents. Now she has no equal...almost.

"It is time. Release me, Dawn Treader." Prometheus intones from his chamber.

The alicorn raises her head. Her horn begins to glow a reddish gold color. A pulse of magical energy blasts a circular wave outward, the pulse passing out of the amphitheater and across the city, as well as inside the egg chamber. The chains on Prometheus' arms dissolve and he stands, looking up patiently. There is only one way out of this magical cell.

The ponies on the opposite side of the crater watch in horror as the pulse sweeps across the subterranean city, striking columns and shattering them as it expands outward. The energy wave eventually reaches the outer wall of the giant cavern. As the columns had exploded, so does the wall, a horrendous crack spreading throughout the circumference of the mountain, billions of glass shards showering everything. The top of the mountain trembles and threatens to settle into the crater and crush everything still left alive in it. The ponies turn to the tunnel behind them, only to stare in dismay as the tunnel crumbles, blocking off their exit.

Dawn's horn blazes golden red and the mountain top shifts. Upward.

The weakened wall of mountain rips apart just above the heads of Twilight and her friends, opening up a mesa of rock behind them. They take the hint and climb up the short height, then gallop under the rising ceiling of rock until they reach the other edge of the cliff. The valley down below with the armies in formation, the grasslands, even a distant smudge with lights they can make out to be Myth Drannor are spread out before them in the lightening dark. The sun is about to peer over the horizon behind them as it has been lightening the sky. The ponies look up and stare as the entire upper half of the mountain continues to rise far above. Music begins to emanate all around them. Twilight is about to chastise Pinkie when she notices her friend staring wide-eyed and shaking her head, hooves empty of any instrument. The sound seems to be emanating from Dawn Treader's horn, pulsing with the waves pushing against the rock.

Goddess in the Morning

After several minutes, Twilight snaps out of her reverie. She lowers her eyes to find Dawn floating above the now open chamber that houses Prometheus. Twilight yells out, "Dawn Treader, you can't cast that rock aside! You will kill thousands, hundreds of thousands!"

Dawn looks down, "You little insects, you are still alive? I should have destroyed you! Hah, you have just given me a perfect location to put this down. On my sister. You awakened her, now I shall put her to sleep. Permanently. Hahahahahaaa!

"But this is just a big stupid game! How can you want to kill your own sister, your only family!"

A sneer from Dawn shows Twilight she is making little progress with her plees. "A game? For once, you and I agree. Life is a game, for some. I suppose life is all too real for others. Time to finish the game!" Movement from inside the chamber distracts Dawn from her conversation with Twilight and she looks down into the chamber. "My Lord! Arise, breathe in the air of freedom!"

A hand grasps the outer edge of the half-egg shaped chamber, a hand much greater than Twilight remembers it being. As the god lifts himself up, he is notably bigger than before, and continues to increase in size. As his head reaches farther into the air, Dawn Treader floats up higher while concentrating on the giant piece of mountain, both lifting higher and higher up in the air.

Rainbow pokes Twilight softly and murmurs, "Um, Twilight...being a bit of an expert with things way up coming crashing down way low, the more distance a thing has to accelerate down, the bigger the crash. Ah, not from experience, mind you." The tremor in Rainbow's voice causes Twilight to look at her colorful friend.

"I'm scared too, Rainbow. But I have to believe this is all part of the script...which would mean she is going to obliterate the town with Princess Luna in it!!" She turns and looks in the direction of the, town, though it is quite a bit further than she can see. "I think I can teleport there."

Prometheus holds up both hands. In one is a large red flame, and in the other a blue flame. He looks up to Dawn and intones in a rolling thunder of a voice, "If you do not wish to be crushed, release that hunk of earth you cling to, before I erase all magic from the realms."

Upon hearing his voice, Dawn nods, and with a last evil grin aimed at Twilight and her friends, the alicorn flicks her head. The mountain top, now miles up above them, accelerates toward the direction of the town, much to the screaming ponies down below yelling at her. She tucks in her wings and hurtles to the ground, cracking the stone under her hooves.

Prometheus nods and closes his hand holding the red flame. An invisible wave shifts through everything. All the ponies feel it, even Slicer, though she has never shown any magical inclination. Rainbow and Fluttershy try to hover but fall right back to the ground. Rarity looks around in shock and tries to access her saddlebags, but her horn fizzles. Twilight blinks, her eyes going cross-eyed as she looks up at her horn.

"Oh no....he did it! I can still feel some residual magic in my horn, maybe because I'm an alicorn." She follows the mountain top's track through the sky way up above them. "I might still have time, and just enough for us to get there and back." Her friends look at her in fear.

Applejack raises a hoof, "Now Twilight, I know we are witnessing an apocalypse of, well apocalyptic proportions. But let's not be too hasty-"

Twilight pulls everypony together and teleports them away.

Author's Notes:

Sigh...I REALLY wanted to do a special animated video to highlight the majestic nature of the mountain top lifting, but making your own animation is painstaking, which makes me respect animators a whole lot more. I will eventually finish the work since I have a base layout for want I want to show. Anyway, here is the very late chapter published. I have maybe 2 left, in case you are wondering when this will end.