Author's Notes:

This is an old story that I've resumed. Expect a sudden change in writing style (maybe) starting from the Ashes and Cinnders chapter.

Rarity found that she was lacking jewels for the "Most spectacular and glorious dress of all time". She knew Spike quite well, and, since the diamond dog incident, the white unicorn had scoured the lands for a viable area full of jewels. Well, scoured is a lot to say, as she didn't want to dirty herself with so much "nasty dust". She asked Twilight about the places full of the richest jewels and who were close to Ponyville. It took two days, but the answer was given. It was a little patch of the hills that wielded that most amount of the precious stone, and the fashionista enlisted the aid of Spike to dig them out.

That lush green patch of hills was beautiful, too. The sun shone off them at the perfect angle to give a beautiful sight of blue and green. The winds that weren't too powerful also made the grass blow lightly in the wind like professional dancers. Even the air was perfect. It was a little chilly, but the good kind of chilly. However, the paintings of nature's artists was not why the duo had come to the hills. It had been a little over two hours, and two of the carts that were brought were full. Rarity patted herself on the shoulder for such a finely done job.

"This is magnificent! Who could have thought that such a vast wonderland held so many gems!" the fashionista spoke with a high-pitched cheer while Spike balanced a blue jewel on his claw.

"Yeah. This place is awesome! I don't know why we never came here before. I think it has more jewels than the other place."

"Spike, let's not talk about that." Rarity looked disgusted at remembering what those uncouth beasts did to her.

"Eheh. Sorry."

"That put aside, how about we take a quick breather here? I am simply parched." Rarity proposed as she took a bottle of water from her bag.

"Okay. Well, I'm going to go over there and look for some jewels for myself."

"Oh! If you find anything particularly extravagant, could you bring it to me?"

"Of course!" Spike said in a rather sputtering tone.

The little dragon hopped and skipped at the thought that he was all alone with Rarity. Finding a quaint spot, the little dragon cracked his fingers and began digging. He dug deeper and deeper until he found a small piece of red gem.

"Mmm. I'll just...hnngh! Pull it..out! Pwah!" Spike fell on his rear as he tried to pull the gemstone out. "Huh. Must be much bigger than I thought. I'll have to dig it up more."

As Rarity began to eat some particularly flavorable sandwiches, Spike come running, a panicked look on his face.

"Raritycomequickthere'saweirdthingovertherehurryup!"

"Spike, what are you-YAH!"

The purple dragon grabbed Rarity by the hoof and forced her to gallop quickly as Spike was running incredibly fast, only to finally stop in front of the massive crater he made.

"Look!"

"What is it, Spike? I was eating a lovely-GYAAAH!"

Lying in the crater was a gigantic red crystal holding a monster. The monster was bipedal and wearing a rather thick armor, although the colors were indistinguishable. It seemed to be in a position where it was begging for something. But what exactly was it begging for?

"What do you think it is?" Spike said as he slid back down the sides of the crater.

"I don't know, but don't touch it! It could be dangerous."

"But it's just a stone. It might be a shape inside it."

"Don't!"

But it was too late. The little dragon slightly touched the rock, and the being inside it seemed to react and twist, before finally roaring, and causing both Spike and Rarity to be engulfed inside a bright white light that quickly disappeared, leaving the once trapped monster in a spiky crimson armor to unsheathe its battle axe and begin walking now that it was free of its prison.

The duo were screaming like mad. They had every right to, too, and were hugging each other very tightly as the place they were in was just an area of swirling red, black, purple, and blue, from which evil spirits erupted forth to scare the life out of the two freefalling living beings. After what seemed like a year, the two finally halted after slamming painfully on the floor.

"Ah! This hurts so much!"

"Owwww. I'm so sorry Rarity! I thought that...Where are we?"

"Ewww! All this dust everywhere! It's putrid! How did we fall in such a horrid place."

Evidently, where they landed was extremely dark and old, yet, for some reason, the duo could still see in the darkness. There was something there. Where they landed, no pony knew, but it was apparent that this looked like an ancient tunnel made from old grey stones. A few pillars were standing here and there, with cobwebs and rubble everywhere. The ceiling was also made from the rubble, and the only exit was a doorway straight in front of the landing spot.

"Where are we?" Spike wondered.

"I don't know, but I do know that this place is horrible and is very dirty! A bit of cleaning once in awhile. So many cobwebs and-AH! Ewww! spiders and beetles! Grossgrossgrossgross!"

Spike rolled his eyes.

"Come, milady. I shall escort you through these horrid beasts!"

"Thank you, Spike. That's quite gentlecoltish of you, even though this is pretty much your fault."

Spike shrunk a bit. "I know. I'm sorry. Let's just get out of this place in one piece."

Being expertly cautious, the duo walked through the series of hallways they came across. Everything was the same, save for some old black iron frames and destroyed cages strewn about the place. Rarity was horrified by the appearance of this place, and the smell of rotting corpses and stale, rust-filled air wasn't helping. Sometimes, there would be stairs, but, even if they led up or down, they were destroyed, and the thought of going even lower than they actually were scared the two more than anything. Unfortunately, another turn brought them into a giant room that was littered with rubble and debris, along with what looked like nests and little huts. There were elongated skulls placed on long wooden poles that were planted in the crevices of the floor. There was a second floor easily viewable from the ground, and there were rails of stone protecting its occupants, even if it was very broken and the "porch" was badly damaged with holes in them.

"Uhhh...Rarity?" Spike's voice cracked.

"Y-yes, Spike?"

"What is this?"

"I don't know. But I think we should leave."

The second the two took one step backwards, the sounds of gittering and squeaking echoed right behind them.

"Wh-wh-what-?" Rarity stuttered.

"Ooo. Fresh meat. We need fresh meat. Meat good. Pony meat rare."

"Ah!"

There were strange rats wearing fur costumes and tribal uniforms, as well as having paint all over their faces. They were standing on their hind legs, but hunched quite a lot. There were dozens coming in and creeping up on the duo while licking their lips in delight while their future meals started to back away.

"You don't want to eat me! I have a perfect physique, so I barely have any meat on me!"

"Y-yeah! Plus, I'm a dragon, so I'm mostly scales and bones."

"We don't care. We love to eat the bones."

"They are best part of body. Cleans teeth and develops jaw muscles."

"You know quite a lot on hygiene."

"RAAAAGH!"

"AH!"

Rarity and Spike held each other tightly, but quickly opened their eyes to see that the rats started to back away, fear etched on their faces. It was like they were awaiting death. Their eyes all converged to Rarity's flank. When she figured it out, she got mad.

"How dare you stare at my flank! I know I am beautiful, but I'm not THAT kind of mare!"

"IT'S THE INHERITOR OF CARNIFEX! FLEE! FLEE!"

"BRING THE WEAPONS! THEY KILL IT! KILL IT!"

"What?!"

"Come on Rarity. Let's go before they come back."

Rarity nodded and fled with Spike to a door underneath the destroyed balcony, only to finally slam against a door that seemed to have a rotating seal on it. Several strange runes were etched on the circle.

"Oh no!" Spike punched the door a few times, but it didn't do anything. He finally slouched down in defeat. "We're finished."

"I...what are these?" Rarity walked towards the walls where the same weird runes were on. "I...I can read them."

"W-what? What do they say?"

" 'If you can read this, read the circle'...That seems direct. Okay then. What does the circle read...hmmmm...'The nothing is the land of the creator and the destroyer. It is a world where neither the mortal nor immortal can see. It is the land of no colors or shape. Carnifex is the nothing, and you shall obey what it is not. I am the inheritor of Carnifex, given shape and color. Send the golem to my command and have it obey me."

Rarity's voice began to heighten in volume and her eyes began to glow a bright white, along with the door, that erupted in a bright pure flash, only to disappear and reveal a room with a gigantic head on the floor. Both ran in, but there were no exits. They were trapped.

"Oh no. Rarity, we're trapped!"

"What?!"

"Found you! We no let the inheritor live. You dangerous. We sent here by destroyer. Guard beast. You not waken it."

"B-boss. Look."

"What you wa-"

Every single rat beast that held a sword, a mace, or any weapon, immediately dropped it as they stared at the golem behind the duo. When both were confused they turned around to see gigantic blue eyes staring at them.

"What in Equestria?"

(Theme time!)

The golem growled in delight, and the room started to shake viciously. Suddenly, a gigantic hand plowed through the walls and swept brick and rat away with it to the black depths below. Slowly but surely, the hand went back towards Rarity and Spike, and grabbed them. Both began to scream wildly, but the golem did not heed, and somehow jumped through whatever catacombs the two had fallen into.

The surface world was a black, soiled land. Only the husks of trees remained, and they seemed possessed. The skies bled through what looked like scabs in the skies, and destroyed cities dotted the landscapes. In the middle of this rocky zone, two armies were fighting. One wore a spiky, crimson colored armor, while the other wore black, leathery-esque armor. Both armies had giants that fought with them as well, and most were bipedal, save for the tri-pods and other bizarreties. In the skies flew ugly winged beasts, and apparently, they were demons. Explosions, roaring, the encounter between metal, and many other trades of battle were coloring the black lands in blots of red. However, all of them halted their actions when the ground began to rumble. It quickly stopped, but they all began to look around, until it shook so violently that even those in the skies could feel the vibrations. And, out of the dead ground, erupted an enormous beast of rock and earth. Its sudden arrival tossed hundreds of the soldiers into the air, and those already in the air were punched aside as the golem stretched its arms and punched the unholy beasts down to planet so hard that they created small craters.

Whatever was going on, the view from the golem's hands wasn't helping anything out.