Darkness, that was the only thing Nathaniel could see as he fell down the hole that had opened up in the cave floor. He could hear Blaze and Osiris falling somewhere around him, the wolf making stressful and scared whines while the scout swore in anger. Rose seemed to have unfolded her wings as he could not hear her, which meant she'd make it down safely. If the human and his other two companions would survive the fall was debatable however.

They fell for what felt like an eternity, the man starting to pass out. It felt like the air was getting thinner for every second, his mind starting to move more slowly. It was a weird feeling for Nathaniel to know that he was falling at a fast pace yet his mind perceived everything very slowly. The young man did not pass out however, the air suddenly again filling his lungs as a light blazed up at the bottom of the hole, they seemed to have arrived.

Nathaniel gave of a fear filled scream as he made contact with the bottom, hitting a large pile of skulls. He tumbled down the hill of death with grunts and moans of pain, finally rolling out into a white marble floor. The teen laid there for a few moments, gritting his teeth in pain as he tried to will the pain away. It didn't work sadly.

Once his body no longer felt like it had been thrown in a meat grinder did Nate sit up, his left shoulder and back aching terribly yet nothing appeared broken. Why wasn't he dead? A fall like that should have turned him into paste but here he was, alive and well. Something was wrong about the place they had found themselves in, the human knew it. If they were to get out of the damn hole then they needed to figure out what sort of magic had sent them here in the first place. Where was even here?

The human looked around to see a large open cathedral like room around him. The bones he had landed on seemed to be that of ponies and many other creatures he did not recognize, it was like a graveyard with all the death behind him in a large pile. Why had the green eyed teen been sent here? What lied within the cave cathedral that had warranted a drop of a few hundred meters, if he had even fallen in the first place, magic was weird.

Nathan stood up and examined the place more closely. The only light within the building was torches mounted to walls all around him, the few hundred light sources having created the shine that had lit up the tunnel. The stalactites and stalagmites in the cave had grown enormous, touching each other making them resemble a pillar. They also seemed to have been polished, someone having wanted their resemblance to pillars to be as good as possible.

The roof of the cathedral was the most weird part of the place, like whatever had painted it had made it out of focus and made sure that their image would spin around like a vortex. Nathaniel could make out colours from the ceiling , but he could not make out what they were supposed to show. At times the colours stopped and he could make put something from it, like at times thinking he saw the head of a dragon. Yet it would not show him what secrets it hid, starting to move again as quickly as when it stopped.

The cathedral similarities was the strongest with the two rows of stone benches on each side of the bones, the podium in front of the them and the large door at the end of the rows of benches made out of a red crystal like substance. Was this a place to worship death itself? Because the feeling Nathaniel got from the place seemed to say nothing else but that, which made him even more confused.

Knowing he had to move on the man looked around for his friends, not seeing Blaze or Osiris which confused him. The wolf and scout had been right next to him as they fell but now he was alone in the cathedral like room, the pile of bones having not been impacted by anyone but him. Nathaniel was already getting freaked out by the hill of death he had landed on, but not seeing his fellow guardians manged to make it worse.

"Rose? Blaze? Osiris?" The black haired man called out into the cathedral, walking around the large pile of bones in hope of finding them, yet there was nothing there.

Nate decided to move on after searching for thirty minutes, or what at least felt like thirty minutes. They seemed to not be in the cathedral, alive or dead. While a part of him was happy to not have found their bodies he was still confused to why the hole in the floor had lead him to the underground cathedral, why was it important? Another part of him wondered over why Rose hadn't easily flown down to join him, the sanguine mare having the ability to make it down safely. Perhaps had they been separated by some spell, or they had simply already left the building? No matter the case, the human needed to get out of the cathedral and find his way out.

Nathan walked past the rows of benches on each side of the pile of bones and headed for the great crystal door, reaching it after a minute of walking. Once the teen stood in front of the it he prepared to use his magic only to find it not responding to him. Looking at his mark he could see it was lightly faded, like it was trying to cling onto him and not be erased. Something in the cave seemed to make him unable to use magic, which scared him way more than the pile of bones ever could. The one thing that made him feel truly in control, that made him feel truly free, was taken away from him. God he hated this cave.

Deciding to move forward the man pushed open the large crystal doors who screeched in protest. They seemed to not have been used in hundreds of years, yet there was still lit torches on the walls around him. What was this place? It took him a few seconds to finally get a large enough opening to move outside from the cathedral, being stunned from what he saw as he stepped outside into the sudden light.

The ceiling of the cavern he found himself in was made out of lava, the liquid rock hanging on to the roof of the cave in an unnatural way. Nathaniel had walked out to a stone platform, two pillars bearing the weight of the furthest part hanging out from the cathedral. A stone staircase descended into the deeper parts of the cavern to his left yet Nathan was too busy looking in awe at what lied at the bottom, a hedge maze leading to a majestic crystal castle.

"where the hell have we been sent?" He asked, looking over the new landscape, the feeling of dread seemingly resting over the cavern below.

Rose's POV

When the floor suddenly disappeared from under my hooves I instinctively unfolded my wings and hovered. Yet when I heard the screams and yells from my fellow protectors I dove after them into the darkness, my eyes that could normally guide me through the darkest night couldn't see anything after a few seconds. I tried to go after my comrades as fast as possible but soon I couldn't hear them anymore, making me speed up.

The sudden increase in speed proved to work against me however, as my head suddenly hit solid ground and I felt myself tumble down a hill. When I finally stopped I could feel grass and dirt in my mouth along with a jarring pain in my head. The sudden light that surrounded me didn't help my sudden headache either.

Once I opened my eyes without the light making my head hurt anymore I saw a strange sight, fields of grass and hills laid all around me and in the middle was a plain red house. My eyes winded as I looked at the house and surrounding fields, my ears flicking as I listened to any sound that could be around me. That house was not real, it could not be real.

With cautious steps I made my way towards the building, my wings feeling heavier than lead for some reason. I swallowed loudly as I reached the door, my breathing a bit heavier and quicker than normal. Why was it here? Where even was here? I couldn't help but feel tense, but the sudden soothing voice filling the air and the smell of freshly baked pastries made me push open the door in a hurry.

Inside the hall there stood a sanguine mare like me, her more dark blue coat making her yellow eyes stand out more. She was wearing a straw-hat, an apron and a golden necklace around her neck resembling a heart. She was watering some flowers before turning to me, my shocked eyes meeting her's.

"Are you ok my little bloodfly?" The mare asked me, her soft and melodic voice ringing through out my mind, making me shake in fear and shock.

Before me stood a mare I'd thought dead for seventeen years. A mare I thought I'd never see again. Before me stood my mother, bearing a soft smile on her face as she trotted towards me. The dead were walking.

Osiris POV

With a yell I hit the sudden rock floor, groaning in pain as I tried to get up. Where in Tartarus had I wound up now? If that damn floor had sent me into a changeling hive then I was gonna rip that damn Dragon Lord to pieces, treaty or no treaty. Sadly was my thoughts of revenge cut short by the sudden weight of the damn human's wolf landing on top of me, pushing the air out of my lungs.

"Get off me dammit!" I said and pushed Blaze to the side, the wolf giving of a confused whine as it looked around.

I could only agree with the wolf as my eyes scanned where we had landed, what I saw only made me even more confused. The place around us held seemingly no natural colour, bearing a grey and a faded blue hue to the air. I seemed to find myself in some sort of cave, yet the large pillars around us going up towards the cave ceiling was not natural. Following the pillars like a spiral was stairs, seemingly meant for something big as their width was that of two ponies back to back.

From what I could see had me and the wolf seemingly appeared from thin air, there was no hole in the cave ceiling that we could have fallen from and the rows upon rows of stone pillars showed no indication of stopping. The only reason I could find in this sudden transportation to this place was magic, but why would a test for the kid send us to some kind of cave?

As I pondered this started the wolf growl at one of the pillars and the stairs leading up to it, his teeth clear to see. What had gotten the damn hound so worked up? My answer came shortly as something came down the stairs, its head resembling that of a deer's skull and its body was covered in black rags. In the eye-sockets of the beast was a pinprick of white light, seemingly holding death itself within it.

I ran, I don't think I had ever run as fast as I did when I saw the beast, the wolf soon following me as the thing started to laugh a dark deep laughter that echoed in the cavern. Suddenly was screams and the sound of metal breaking the only thing that I or the wolf could hear, empty cages landing all around us. They had been thrown from the pillars, and I finally understood where had been sent. Tartarus guardian had just welcomed us, and its inmates had broken free.

Nathaniel's POV

The human had descended down the stairs and into the hedge-maze, taking random paths in hope to make it to the castle. Yet every twist and turn he took only mead to a dead end. As the human grew more and more frustrated about not getting anywhere did the sounds in the labyrinth pick up in intensity, what sounded like birds chirping at abnormally high volumes. To ensure that he wouldn't go back the same way he came did Nathaniel mark crosses in the dirt of the labyrinth. The teen hoped they would help find the exit more quickly.

However Nate would soon wonder if there even was an exit, the amount of dead ends and never ending corridors of plants making him feel even more frustration. He had fallen a few kilometers down a hole, lost his friends, seen a cathedral of death and now he was forced to listen to a bunch or annoying birds in a maze that never ended. Why did the world hate him so?

Nathan kept on walking for many minutes until a cold breeze suddenly blew through the hedge-maze, all the annoying sounds suddenly stopping in an instant. Where even was those damn birds? He couldn't see any nests on top of the maze walls. Maybe inside the growth around him? It was in his pondering that he felt something, the mark on his hand glowing brightly. The dark haired human turned around and looked down the corridor he'd walked on moments before. There stood a man there, his bulky figure black and inky.

The creature was dressed in a suit, yet it was barely visible under all the black liquid sliding down the frame of it. Its face was nothing but a black head-shaped orb that didn't move an inch. Its tall arms almost touched the ground and the tip of its fingers did not carry claws, but eyes. Its hands had slow blinking eyes which irises where a sickly green. The fancy black shoes the monster wore were tied with a little black bow. The beast seemed to suck out all the light around it, a horrible groaning sound coming from it.

Nathaniel was hyperventilating in fear, slowly backing away from the monster. It made him feel such dread that his heart felt cold as ice, like it wanted to escape out of his throat. His long black hair wiped his face as the cold wind picked up in the labyrinth. With the cold wind hitting his back could he feel the ice starting to form on his shoulders and legs, like it was trying to keep him there.

It was then the monster rose both its arms, the groaning becoming louder as its eyes focused their stare on Nathaniel. A black liquid started to flow from the thing's shoes, spreading across the dirt like black spiderweb. It climbed up the maze walls, the leaves and branches becoming a pale grey before withering away to nothing. It was then to his horror Nate saw what had made those bird sounds, all of trunks that made up the hedge-maze was covered in grotesque cancerous like tumors that all had bird beaks.

The beaks started screaming before the tumorous growths exploded in a shower of blood, bathing the black inky creature in blood as well as Nathaniel. When the blood finally hit him did the human react, starting to run away from the monster with tears of fear running down his cheeks. The ice that had started to spread over his back shattered and slid across the blood soaked ground, the cold wind growing even more chilly as the beast covered in ink screeched, the ground shaking.

The young man ran and ran, looking back to find the monster gone only for it to appear ahead of him. The green eyed teen stopped in his tracks and raised his hands to fire a blast of magic at the monster, only to remember that his magic wouldn't work. Choking down a fear-filled whine he threw himself into one of the hedge walls, the tumor beaks screeching and cutting him as more of the growths exploded. Once again showered in blood Nate finally saw the exit, the two stone pillars keeping the disgusting maze at bay and creating an opening to the dark castle.

Nathan ran for the exit and just as he passed it exploded a fountain of black liquid in the middle of the former hedge-maze. With the explosion of liquid came another screech from the creature that echoed in the cavern. A wave of the beast's black liquid rushed towards the human and he ran faster, sprinting over the bridge that lead to the castle. Once Nate reached the two doors made out iron clad in sooth he pushed on them desperately, trying to get inside the castle, away from the monster.

The two doors like the red crystal ones slowly opened with a displeased sound from the metal hinges the doors rested on. Once the man had finally made a opening large enough to enter the building was the wave passing over the bridge, the outlines of the creature at the front of the wave. With a desperate yell did the teen squeeze himself through the gap and ten put his entire wight on the two doors. With another creaking sound did the two doors start to close, the wave mere moments away from hitting him. With a detriment scream did Nathan slam himself at the doors who closed, stopping the wave from hitting him.

The monster outside screamed in frustration and the door shook, the beast trying to get inside. With a quick scan of his surroundings ran Nathaniel over to a bookshelf next to the doors and with the last of his strength he pulled it enough to the side for the thing to tip, the bookshelf hitting the ground with a loud boom. The large piece of furniture blocking the door and preventing the beast from getting inside.

After a few failed attempts at getting inside did the monster finally leave, allowing Nate to rest. The man slid down the wall and hugged his knees to his chest, breathing deeply and slowly as he tried to calm his fried nerves. Nathaniel's heart were beating like a bass drum and his body felt so incredibly tired. He just wanted to sleep and go home. Soon his wish was granted as his eyes closed and the young man fell asleep in the dark halls of the castle.

Roes's POV

I looked at the mare in front of me, my heart beating at an alarming rate as she walked up to me and nuzzled into my neck. The smell of lavender and freshly baked cookies hit me as she stood so near my muzzle, a small smile on her lips as she backed away. How was she here? Why was she here? The thoughts made my head throb and I took a few steps backwards only to find the door closed. Had I done that?

"Are you ok Rose? Do you want your mother to get you some water?" My "mother" asked and I nodded, itching for a chance to get away from this damn place.

As she walked over to the kitchen at the end of the hall I tried to open the door, only to find it locked. I slammed myself into the damn thing but it wouldn't budge. Soon I was forced to give up and look around, seeing two closed doors to my left, two very familiar doors. It couldn't be..

My hooves made almost no sound as I walked slowly over to the first door and carefully pushed it open. Inside was a room I thought I'd never see again, two beds as far away from each other as possible with two of the walls having been drawn on with a piece of coal. It was my childhood bedroom, me and my sisters childhood bedroom. What made me stop dead in my tracks was the foal on one of the beds, her cute twitches and snores all to familiar.

"Lucid?.." I asked quietly, walking over to the filly and looking over her.

Her mane was still yellow and purple, the yellow bangs hanging over her right eye making me think back to the times our mother used to get a grip on Lucid's long mane using a metal ring. She would pull back the filly's long mane and bind it to the ring, giving my little sister a long pony tail that ran down the side of her neck. Oh how she hated having to pull back her mane. Lucid's tail was no different either, still bearing its purple colour from our father. Her white coat was filthy from the coal sticks she had used to draw on the walls, always hating to bathe it all off later on mother's orders.

"Isn't she just adorable?" A voice suddenly said from my side and I jumped, "mother" standing there.

"Yeah, yeah she is" I responded slowly and eyed the mare in front of me.

My mother's yellow eyes still held that light in them that had made me and Lucid shine up every time we saw her. Her yellow mane was a rarity among the sanguine race and it always had helped me find her in a large crowd. The mare's dark blue coat had always been her best asset when it came to hunting in the dark and when it came hiding from guards. The straw-hat that had been on her head was now gone and the apron that had been around her stomach and chest was now hanging on the wall next to the kitchen door. The golden heart necklace around her neck had the engravings "Sor Fa, Mi sol Tir", "Rest well, light in my darkness". The necklace our father had given her.

Was it really her? Had the damn hole sent me back in time? Why would it send me back to here? Why was I seeing what life had once been? My mother untouched in her mature beauty and my sister sleeping innocently on her bed. Why was this moment in time important enough to send me back to?

"You've grown into such an attractive young mare Rose, you almost make your old mother jealous" She giggled and walked to the kitchen, swaying her hips as the tune of a song started to play.

Where was that music coming from? We had never owned one of those fancy crystal recorders father spoke of, nor did we have any instruments at home. I reached back to remove my armor only to find it gone. The leather straps that made up my flimsy protection was gone, but when had that happened? I was wearing my armor for a few seconds ago. The music got louder and I could hear my mother sing from the kitchen, her voice making me feel relaxed and calm.

I walked over to the kitchen and saw my mother by the oven. This couldn't be my mother, this couldn't be Dark Eclipse. This was not the mare that had raised me, it couldn't be. But even knowing that I nuzzled into her neck and let a purr escape from my lips, the mare giggling and nuzzling me back. Had I grown shorter? For a few moments was I eye to eye with this mare but now was I forced to slightly look up to meet her gaze.

"Stay with me forever Rose" She whispered into my ear and I could only nod, nuzzling into her neck.

I was just a young teenage filly, why would I ever need to join the army like father? I could just stay here with mother and Lucid, being happy and relaxed forever. Why would I ever want to leave for the capital? That had been a stupid idea from the start, mother had said so, and mother knows best. Yet she must have forgotten something in the oven, as the smell of smoke started to spread across the house.

Osiris POV

I forced the wolf to shut up as we hid from the monsters roaming the place, the beasts making both sentences and snarls that made my blood run cold. I had my hooves clamped around the hound's muzzle and I desperately tried to make it stop growling and howling at the sounds Tartarus made.

"Be quiet you damn mutt! Those things can find us here!" I hissed at Blaze who whined over my hooves holding its mouth shut.

We had hid behind one of the large pillars after running for a good while. I was certain that I had seen monsters made from shadow and smoke following us for a few minutes ago but now they were gone. I knew that the monsters in this place must be toying with us, happy to finally have shed their shackles. It was just a matter of time until they found us, which meant we needed to find the exit, and fast.

As the wolf calmed down I finally released its muzzle, letting it growl and whine again, though at a lot lower volume than before. I started to peek around the corner of the pillar down the corridor we had come from, not seeing or hearing anything. I waited several minutes before I took out a small rock out from my pouch and threw it and one of the other pillars. The reaction happened in an instant, a large snake suddenly there and slithering to the other pillar. Light seemed to shimmer around it before it became invisible again.

The snake had been red with black rings running down its body, its yellow eyes looking around for prey. The fangs that poked out from its upper maw were long as swords and seemed to drip a poison that ate through the rock. I remembered having heard about this creature when I was stationed in Tartarus but to actually see it..

Blaze's growl at the now invisible snake were sounding through our part of the cavern, which made me quickly grab the wolf and drag him to another pillar. The snake slithered over to the place we had been seconds before, seemingly becoming visible once attracted by sound. Why would Celestia throw this thing in here? It could swallow me whole in a heartbeat.

As the snake circled our earlier hiding spot did me and the wolf move away, the damn hound finally keeping quiet. Once we made it far enough among the rows of giant pillars to consider ourselves safe I stopped to make up a plan. We would need to find the kid and Rose later, if they were alive to begin with, and get out of Tartarus first. With that in mind I took a hold of Blaze's neck and looked into his eyes.

"You will keep quiet, you will not disobey my orders, you will keep going no matter what and even if the entire place is exploding will you keep fighting. Is that understood soldier?" I growled and the hound only whined and nodded in response.

After that I had made sure the wolf would listen did I start to move down the different corridors of pillars, slowly making progress by either having the wolf's nose guide us away from dangerous areas or throwing different objects to distract the beasts that lurked in the darkness. Yet it didn't always work, especially with ponies down here as well that would gladly kill us to get any sort of weapon.

As Blaze seemed to be leading us to more lit up places of Tartarus could I assume that the garrison stationed at the exit of the place had to be near. Just as we passed the first metal sign (and Blaze ate a creature that reminded me of a hare) did I hear something strange, a voice that I recognized. It was coming from a couple of stairs that led down into the dark depths of the demonic prison to our right, leading us off the path to safety.

The wolf turned around and looked at me with a tilted head as I headed for the staircase, trotting down the steps as the voice grew louder. The hound followed me and whined, pulling at my saddlebags as it tried to make me turn around. But I couldn't turn away from this, it was the voice of a singing child down there.

Swatting Blaze to the side I descended the steps and headed for the child's voice. If there was filly or colt condemned to this place then I had to save it! My hooves moved at a faster pace to get me to the bottom where I saw a filly sit in the middle on the only light source coning from above. Her back was turned on me and her singing got louder and louder as I approached her. I couldn't quite understand what she was singing however.

"Come with me little one, I'll get you out of here" I said quietly to not attract any monsters.

But as she turned could I only stare in terror, her eyes two black orbs seeming to contain all the darkness in the world and her mouth curved into a smile of death. Her light yellow coat was dirty and filled with large bugs crawling over her, her blue mane and tail looking so ungroomed it was a wonder she still had them and her hooves were cracked and bleeding heavily.

"You left me" Echoed her hollow voice as the darkness seemed to grow in intensity and all light disappeared, black tentacles grabbing a hold of me as I finally remembered her face. A face I had forced myself to forget so I could move on, so I wouldn't appear weak to my leaders.

Ten years prior

I looked at the family walking past the main entry into Tartarus, a mare and stallion talking with each other as a filly sat on the wagon both of them were pulling. I ignored their presence and kept guarding the open gate, soon walking back inside to meet up with the other guard who would watch the entrance. If I had turned around would I have noticed the little filly slowly sneaking in behind me, her steps muffled by some cloth tied to her hooves. If I had turned around a bit earlier would I have seen the filly walking down a pair of stairs. All I had seen was a pair of back legs and a tail before she was gone, I questioned this sight and assumed it was another trick by Tartarus. The sudden frantic parents bursting inside and screaming at my commanding officer changed my mind quickly. Yet all I could do was stand there and not say a word, frozen between uncertainty and fear over being thrown into the prison myself. So I stood there, not saying a word as my head screamed at me to act, yet I didn't run for the stairs. I simply stood there, unmoving, hoping what I had seen was just some vision.

Present

"It's you.." I said, my eyes wide and my mouth having run dry with fear.

The little filly of darkness grinned as a tentacle pierced my left front leg, making me scream in pain. Her eyes seemed to grow even darker as she stepped closer and looked up at my suspended body, that creepy smile never leaving her lips. Why did I follow her voice? Why would I have come here? But deep down I knew why. I deserved this, I deserved death.

The blood pouring from my leg was not a good amount if I wanted to stay awake, darkness creeping over my line of sight as the filly never left my gaze. I thought I would finally die until a loud howl and the sounds of screaming echoed all around me. For a second was a grey blur over the filly, growls and screams the only thing I could hear but my slowing heartbeat. Soon the tentacles loosened and I fell to the floor, a fluffy wolf helping me stand.

"God dog.." I murmured and looked to the filly, the now gored dead body turning to a black ash that slowly grew in size and thickness.

As her dark laughter started sounding from the ashes did the wolf drag me up the stairs in a panic. Blaze whined as he pushed me up the stairs, the ashes starting to follow us up towards the light. When he finally dragged me up did the ashes follow us, taking the shape of the filly again who giggled before giving off a loud shriek. The giant prison responded with screams of inmates and beasts all out for blood. We ran, or rather the wolf ran and I limped after him, the filly taking on the shape of a giant spider made out a black inky liquid.

As the wolf ran off ahead and the monsters of Tartarus seemed to come closer could I only assume this was the end. I couldn't keep running for much longer and the amount of blood I was loosing couldn't be good. I turned around to face the spider and I closed my eyes, hearing Blaze's worried whines.

"I'm sorry for leaving you that day. What I did was unforgivable, and I will never allow myself to something similar again. I'm so sorry for thinking you a vision and simply letting fear take over my mind. I accept whatever punishment you hold" I said and suddenly the world seemed to slow down and a white light erupted around me, being the last thing I could make out before darkness took me.

Nathaniel's POV

The man woke up fairly quickly from his slumber, his body and mind having gotten some rest from the visions he had seen in the labyrinth. Nathaniel knew that he had to keep moving and find the others, if they were down in these dark horrible depths than he needed to find them and get them out of here. With that in mind did the human walk down the dusty corridors of the old castle, grand windows to filthy to see through popping up once in a while among the never ending rows of bookshelves. He wondered what all these books contained but quickly crushed that curiosity, Nate needed to get out of here first.

The carpets and banners in the old castle all bore the same mark, a red crystal sword piercing the sun. It didn't make much sense to him as the banners then depicted battles between zebras and ponies with dates ranging from a year before Nate arrived to over one thousand years into the future. Luna hadn't mentioned any wars with the zebras that had happened recently, which meant that she had either lied or the banner was showing a fictional event.

Nathan came to a sudden stop as he looked down the corridor he has been walking down, the black masonry not hiding the two large black doors at the end. They stood wide open to reveal a cloaked pony standing there, a hood pulled over his head and a metal mask resting on his face. The mouth of the stallion was covered by a black line that had the sign of a sound wave moving ever so slightly with the two slits for the bearer's eyes glowing a bright yellow. From the forehead of the pony a red curved horn rose up, glowing lightly in a red aurora that at times shifted to a green or purple glow.

Once the pony spotted Nathaniel he stood there unmoving, drawing a red crystal sword from his side. The teen had assumed that he pony was a stallion due to his resemblance to Osiris, but with that mask was anything possible. What surprised the human more was the voice that came from the stallion's mask.

"What are you?" The robotic distorted voice called out before suddenly the two black doors slammed shut on their own and the corridor started to tilt.

Nate stumbled as the floor suddenly started to rise in one direction and lower in the other, the two black doors and the entire corridor being tilted in one direction. Soon the human couldn't hold on and fell backwards with a scream, plumeting down the former corridor right into a new pair of door. The new doors shut as well when he fell through them and the human landed with a roll, the floor no longer tilting backwards and the falling having stopped.

As he looked up did Nathan see the shoes of the beast, black inky liquid slowly being absorbed by the carpet the creature stood on. With his magic out and his body screaming in pain could he only tilt his head up to meet the gaze of the many eyes adored on the monster's fingers. Fear gripped his heart and he closed his eyes, drawing a shaking breath as the thing picked up up, the eyes poking into his side as the monster held him. With a dark chuckle was he tossed across the room and hit a wall, groaning in pain.

"You will never be free. So keep working you damn mistake" The beast suddenly said, the man opening his eyes in surprise.

"I do not fear you anymore.." Nate said and got up.

"What? Stay down you damn child! I do not have time for thi..!" The monster said before suddenly the teen jumped it with a angry scream.

"I. DO. NOT. FEAR. YOU. FATHER!" He screamed and beat his fists against the creature that shirked in pain and tried to get away from the sudden attack. ¨

"I have always hated you! I have always felt anger over your cold heart! But I stopped fearing you the same second I sent you across the room! So. get. out. of. my. head! I will never fear you again!" Nathaniel yelled and kept beating the beast until it took the form of his father, turning to dust with a scream.

For a few seconds was there nothing, the young man panting and falling to his side in exhaustion. Yet soon a great white light erupted around him, blinding him. However the light was soothing, the light felt good. Soon he felt rock under his body again, a great green light shining a few meters away from him.

Rose's POV

I never wanted to leave the warm embrace of my mother, her soothing voice filling the air as she sang on my favorite lullaby. But the smoke was becoming a real bother, filling my lungs as I coughed and squirmed to get away to cleaner air. But my mother's grip wouldn't loosen, her voice only rising in volume as if she tried to block out something else. But she must have known what she was doing, I was just a teenager after all, why would she ever try to hurt us?

That is when I heard it, Lucid's voice. It was faint but somewhere in the house was her voice yelling, crying. Why wasn't mother doing anything? Lucid was sad! Mother would never make us sad, she had never made us sad. I remembered a great smile on her lips, the necklace around her neck cracked and broke.. Wait, cracked?

I looked to the necklace around the mare's neck and there it was, a long crack running through the golden heart. But father would never give mother a broken heart! They had loved each other so much! They always laughed and took us to the city for candy! They always argued when they thought we were sleeping..

I looked at my mother's calm face as she kept singing, had I grown? I was eye to eye with her again and her embrace no longer covered me completely. I could hear the sounds of angry screams in the house, father's and mother's voices. I could hear and almost feel the impact of something made out of metal hitting the wall and I remembered a long hug with my father by the door. Then, I could hear my mother crying and the sound of Lucid screaming in fear. The noises were overpowering the singing from my mother now.

I then saw before me a mad smile, tears, a match being lit and a house on fire. It was slow, but looked my mother in the eyes, no longer a beautiful soft spoken mare but a rambling dirty husk of a pony crying black tears. I opened my wings and she lost her grip on me, falling back against the oven and catching on fire. She screamed in pain and rolled around on the floor as I slowly walked away, going through the burning building to my old room. I opened the door and picked up the crying bat pony filly, placing her on my back as I walked through the fire without getting burnt.

As I left the building could I hear the pain filled screams of my mother and roof falling. Soon there was no sound but the fire eating away at what once was home. I opened the pouch I had sown to my armor and picked out the broken golden heart that rested inside. I kissed it softly before dropping it, the fire calming and the smoke in my lungs clearing. It was time to move on, it was time to accept reality. With that thought was the world suddenly gone, a white light taking over my sight and the weight of the foal on my back. She was in art school anyway, she didn't need her big sister anymore.

Nathaniel's POV

The man looked around and saw all of his companions standing within a runic pattern that he could only say resembled a pizza slice. Nate was standing in his own "slice" who's edges lit up a bright green as did the edges of the "slices" his friends stood in. The edge of each "slice" met in the middle to a circle who's edges also lit up green. Soon was the entire room glowing in this colour with Osiris looking around in confusion and Blaze howling happily at seeing his owner. Rose was most interested in what stood in the middle of the circle, a war-hammer with two flat faces and resting between them on each side was the rune resting on the human's hand.

"This is why we were sent here" The teen said slowly and walked towards the war-hammer, the thing standing up thanks to as hole the shaft rested in.

"Be careful kid, we don't know what more shit that thing will cause" Osiris muttered and eyed the war-hammer, a large scar on his left foreleg.

"He's right Nate, be cautious" Rose said and tried to push away the wolf who sniffed her side, she smelled like smoke.

Nathan only nodded and with both his ink covered hands he grabbed the long black wooden handle. As he slid the war-hammer out of its resting place started a black inky mass flood up out of the hole it had been resting in, making both Osiris and Nathaniel swear and back away. To their relief did the black mass only follow the glowing green patterns on the floor in the dark round room they found themselves in. Soon started words glow in each slice they had stood in.

Forgivness lit up in Osiris part of the room and he bowed his head to whisper an apology to a someone.

Acceptance started to glow in Rose's corner and she seemed to draw a breath of fresh air, like a weight had been lifted from her back.

Freedom finally started to come forward in Nathaniel's part of the room, a happy laugh rising from his chest.

There was a great flash of green light before all four of them stood in the cave the dragon lord had led to before, the dragon standing there with Luna who seemed to have been yelling at him. Both of the rulers looked at the four in sruprise before Luna hurried over and hugged Nate, showering the other two guardians and wolf in affection as well to seeing them alive.

All the dragon lord could do was stare as the human raised the war-hammer made by Faust and Valkyrie herself. The weapon bearing the female dragon lord's name on its handle, that was currently resting on the human's shoulder. Nate could only grin at the dragon, his mark shining bright.

Sombra's POV

I looked upon the three ponies I had gathered, the leader of the mines, the leader of the trade and the arch mage of the crystal empire. I had gone through many of my idiot son's guards to find these three and then wasted much of my precious energy just to have their abnormally strong minds bend to my will. They would start telling their workers and family about laws my son would be making, false of course, but rumors would create anger. I needed anger, I needed riots to draw attention away from the crystal heart.

"You will tell all you know that the king will make slavery legal in his empire and that all poor families within his borders will be forced into servitude or face death" I said, my eyes glowing a bright yellow as they nodded.

These damn peasants was too easy to manipulate, especially my son. His trust in me was almost admirable if it wasn't for the fact that he easily bought into my lies. His whorse mother would have been proud over her child ruling over his people like Crystal did now. But she had always been weak minded, not had the strength to govern a nation. I would rule these ponies as their rightful king as my goal had always been since that damn beast had taken everything from me! I would show him, once he came would the sky blacken and I would strike down this Nathaniel Sol like the hound he was!

King Guto's POV

I looked at the letter from my spies, reports about the hive queen's death having been spread across the Badlands. I loved it when a plan worked, then again so did all plans by the idol. I looked upon the object that had gotten me this far, its soothing dark voice making me shudder in pleasure and almost drool. I would make it all mine, like my father and his father before him had dreamed off!

The only real problem my plans had faced was the escape of our captured Changeling princess. She had lured her feeder close and sucked him dry of love, leaving him her thrall for a few seconds. Once she was free had she killed him and fled, her mad laughter as she killed griffin guards still haunting the staff.

But I couldn't care less, her kingdom was destroyed and so was Celestia's only great spy network. Without it would the reports of my troops moving from all directions towards Equestria come far to late and contain too little information to be useful for her own troops. Soon would her throne and plot be mine, along with any other Equestrian mare I'd want. The idol had promised me a war, and a war was coming.

Sirina's POV

The goddess looked into the well's water, seeing her chosen champion and dark mage meet. A very specific dark mage that had been given a destiny by the universe he lived in and not by her sister. Yet in a moment had reality shattered thanks to a shrine Faust had created with the changed timeline. A meeting that was never meant to happen, at least not in her vision of the natural order.

Two champions seeing each other even for a brief moment was a bad sign. If the son of Sombra and guardian of Luna had seen into each other then the Nexus was waking up to the new guardian, which meant that once again would her connection to Nathaniel be lost.

"Good luck Nathaniel Sol, you will need it my champion" Sirina said and walked off, the water in the well becoming clear as she was suddenly gone.

Author's Notes:

Thank you so much for reading chapter 11! I'm happy I managed to get this out before I was going t away with family on a trip over the next few days. I hope you have a good day or night and that you comment what you thought