Applejack shuddered as another icy water rolled droplet rolled down the center of her spine. The very claustrophobic passage she'd been exploring for the last few minutes was intensely humid and sticky, while at the same time, it retained the same frigid temperatures as a freezer. She figured it likely had something to do with how the castle had been built, but it was far from comfortable.

'Doesn't help that I was already soakin wet before comin in here...' She grumbled.

Though she'd felt pretty nonchalant about doing it at the time, Applejack was really starting to regret her little 'act of encouragement' for Spike. Her shorts were still quite damp and felt chilling as they held tightly around her crotch. The wet denim clung to her body like glue, refusing to dry out.

On the bright side, the strong smell of urine wasn't much of a bother to Applejack, even in these confined spaces. She'd long since gotten used to the stuffy aroma. While working out in the orchard, she rarely felt like walking all the way to the closest outhouse, just to relieve her bladder whenever the urge would appear.

So far, this seemingly endless series of tunnels hadn't revealed anything special as the dragon had hoped. She did discover a few small closet-like rooms much closer to the entrance, but they'd all either been empty or merely contained more piles of that strange white fabric they'd found elsewhere around the castle.

Applejack eventually discovered a staircase going up, something she hoped was a sign that she was near the throne room. This little detour so far had not really felt worth it.

But upon reaching the top of the stairs she was instead greeted with a much wider, yet also far more unsettling tunnel. Unfortunately, the extra width did little to provide Applejack with any breathing room. If anything, it felt even more crowded than before.

Standing tall up against the stone walls on either side were rows of heavily armored mannequins. All of them were dressed in ancient black suits of armor. The smooth metal plates that comprised them glistened under the green glow of her torch, appearing to be in far better shape than most things she'd been privy to thus far.

"Built to last ah suppose..." She whispered quietly to herself as she eyed the motionless figures.

Keeping a close eye on them as she walked down the hall, her light would not reach far enough to see to the end. She was growing more and more eager to find an exit with every step. A suspenseful feeling of unease built quickly as she passed by each set of mannequins.

Every time, Applejack couldn't shake the feeling they were watching her as she went by, the flickering shadows looking like movement in the corner of her eyes. Yet every time she looked back over her shoulder, they all remained still and motionless, their blank wooden faces facing the mannequin opposite it.

"Well, I guess It's a good thing I've already gone and wet myself..." She jokingly mumbled in an effort to calm her tensed nerves. Unfortunately, the ominous echo that followed did quite the opposite.

Applejack gulped, the light of her torch's flame dancing over the mannequins' blank and featureless faces. A kind of heavy tightness was slowly building in her gut, though she had yet to take notice of it in her tense state. At this rate, were something to suddenly jump out at her from the darkness, she might end up filling her shorts with something a bit more solid than urine...

But Applejack remained determined and soldiered on anyway, hardening her will as she reminded herself why they were here in the first place. She couldn't afford to be scared off by a few dead suits of armor. The future of Equestria itself was hanging in the balance! Even if the strange series of dark tunnels didn't end up leading her to the throne room as Spike believed, it could be concealing the magical artifacts they were searching for...

Silence and complete darkness were all Fluttershy knew once she finally opened her eyes.

Mere moments ago she'd been walking with Rarity through the castle, having finally mustered up some extra courage. Then suddenly, the floor beneath them both had suddenly vanished. The last thing she could remember seeing was the light on Rarity's horn fizzling out as they fell down into a dark endless abyss before the trap closed behind them.

Though she could not see, Fluttershy felt that she was already standing upright. However, more noticeably, she was clutching onto something very warm and soft next to her.

"R-rarity...?" Fluttershy's squeaked, calling out into the darkness. The terrifying thought that it might not be Rarity she was holding so close briefly crossed her mind but that was thankfully pushed away as she got a response.

"Fluttershy? Was that you darling?" Rarity's unmistakable voice replied.

"W-what happened, where are we?" Fluttershy trembled.

There was a quiet grunt before a small white light suddenly appeared, momentarily blinding Fluttershy. Once her eyes finally started to adjust, she noticed what exactly she had been holding so tightly.

Cheeks flushing red, she discovered her arms locked firmly around Rarity's chest in a tight embrace, the other mare's front pressing up against her own. Rarity was now completely and utterly nude, her 'bikini' nowhere to be seen. She could feel the unicorn's nipples pushing against her own, even through the fabric of her hoodie.

Immediately Fluttershy broke away, her face burning bright as she awkwardly stared down at the ground. "Um, Rarity, y-you're...um..."

"Hm?" Rarity hummed, her own vision clearing a few moments later as she questioned Fluttershy's flustered stammering

"...Oh! Oh my." She gasped, taking a moment to realize what was wrong. Rarity grimaced at her exposed body, sighing with frustration. "Well, I suppose it was going to happen eventually, with how dreadfully things have been going tonight so far anyway."

To Fluttershy's further embarrassment, she made no real effort to cover herself, clearly not bothered with Fluttershy's presence alone. It was true they'd seen each other naked plenty of times during their weekly spa days together, but the different circumstance made it feel so much more... personal.

"So, um, where are we anyway?" Fluttershy stammered, hastily changing the subject as she continued to look elsewhere.

"Well, to be perfectly honest dear, I haven't a clue." Rarity replied with a huff, looking around the small room they now found themselves in.

It matched the old and decrepit aesthetic of the castle, if not even more so. The stone walls and floor were cracked and overgrown with large patches of moss. There were no windows and only a single metal door that stood stoically in the far wall. A rotting wooden plank hung down from two chains on the wall nearby, some kind of bench. The ceiling was low and looked comparatively solid and undisturbed. This left neither mare with a reasonable explanation for how they had fallen in here, nor how they had awoken already on their feet.

Walking up cautiously to one of the room's four walls, Fluttershy noticed that each seemed to have three small holes evenly spaced across them. They were probably somewhere deep in the depths of the castle's dungeons. It was a thought that sent chills down Fluttershy's neck.

Rarity held her shoulders as she felt a chill work its way across the room. She strode up to the door and attempted to push or pull it open. It rattled slightly but didn't open. It seemed to be locked tight.

"What should we do?" Fluttershy asked, voice trembling as she realized just how alone they really were all the way down here.

"Well... I suppose we'll just have to wait and hope Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, or the others come to our rescue." Rarity sighed with uncertainty.

On her way back over, Rarity happened to step on a patch of moss growing over the floor. Her foot recoiled away from it in disgust. "Eugh, I am so going to take a long and relaxing soak once this is all over." She grumbled, carefully tip-toeing around the moss patch before carefully sitting down on the bench.

Fluttershy meanwhile continued staring nervously at the strange holes in each of the walls. They were tiny, maybe only as big around as her own finger. And as much as she hoped that they were really some strange ancient decoration, something about them felt so... ominous...

"You sure this is a good idea?" Rainbow said, hovering right alongside Pinkie Pie as the two made their way down a long spiral staircase. "I think we should've just tried opening the trap door or whatever that Fluttershy and Rarity fell down."

"Yep, yep, I'm super sure! My bum-bum was getting all itchy!" Pinkie replied with her usual neverending cheerfulness, acting as if her explanation made perfect sense.

The bubbly mare tilted her head to look at Rainbow, nearly blinding the pegasus in the process with her recently acquired flashlight as it hung from a curled lock of her mane.

"Ugh" Rainbow winced, raising an arm to shield her eyes from the surprisingly bright light. "And that's supposed to matter why, exactly?" She groaned as Pinkie reached back to absentmindedly scratch at her left butt cheek.

"Well, duh! That means I gotta follow my gut!" The clearly crazy mare explained before turning back and continuing to bounce down the creepy-as-hell stairwell they'd been delving into for better part of fifteen minutes. Rainbow rolled her eyes but kept following. The last thing they needed was to get even more split up than they already were, even if that meant going down a seemingly endless set of stairs.

After losing Fluttershy and Rarity in the castle halls, both she and Pinkie had been left standing there in the dark, unable to see very much without the aid of Twilight's light on Rarity's horn. Rainbow had initially tried searching for a way to trigger the trap once again, hoping she'd be able to fly down after them or something.

Pinkie, meanwhile, somehow managed to pick the ancient lock that was attached to the metal door they'd found right before other's fall. Using a zig-zagged part of her mane she'd done it in mere moments, and with only the dim light from the moonlit windows. Once the door was opened, all there was to see beyond it was the beginning of a creepy spiral staircase leading down, presumably to the bowels of the castle itself. Any ambient light that shone through the windows would not reach more than a couple of feet inside before fading to nothing.

Without being able to see where she was going, Rainbow was not about to blindly delve down into a pitch-black stairwell. That was precisely when Pinkie absentmindedly whipped out a small handheld flashlight from inside her mane, casually flicking it on as she used it to peer inside. When Rainbow asked why she hadn't bothered mentioning it before, Pinkie Pie seemed just as surprised as she was, apparently having forgotten about it.

"Maybe she'll remember that she has a map of this stupid place in there somewhere too..." Rainbow grumbled under her breath. She'd never had much contact with the bizarre mare before today, finding ponyville's local party planner a bit too hyperactive and annoying for her tastes. How Pinkie knew when her birthday was without ever telling her was yet another mystery Rainbow wasn't sure she ever wanted the answer to.

Suddenly, a deep growl echoed up from below, causing both mares to freeze. It had sounded like some kind of monstrous beast, no doubt an abomination that had been trapped down here for the last thousand years. And they had just broken into its prison.

"Um, Pinkie, I really think we should just go back now," Rainbow said, the slightest tremble working its way into her voice.

"Huh? Why? Oh! But I bet whoever is making that grumbly sound knows where our friends are!" Pinkie gasped, breaking into a sprint as she shot down the stairs.

"H-hey! Pinkie, wait up for a second!" Rainbow shouted, desperately racing after the pink blur before she was left behind...

It wasn't much longer before Pinkie finally reached the end the stairs, leading her to a choice of three equally dark tunnels that split off in different directions. Hearing a grunt coming from one of them, she darted down the rightmost path, following the sounds as they seemed to be getting louder and more frequent. Rounding yet another corner, Pinkie could hear Rainbow Dash's rapid wing beats following a distance behind her. She was keeping up, but barely.

After one last turn, a greenish glow could be seen glowing through a doorway coming up on the right. Without hesitation, and with Rainbow still far behind her, Pinkie skipped up to it and lay flat against the wall next to the doorway. The grunting was much louder now, clearly coming from inside. The excitement was building up inside her as she was increasingly eager to chat with what she was certain had to be some miserable old ghost haunting the castle. No longer able to contain her desire to cheer the poor thing up, she lept through the doorway.

"Hi there mister grunty ghos-!" Pinke started to say, only to be cut short as a thick string of white fluid was shot directly into her open muzzle. A second later another rope of the stuff fell over her nose, followed by yet another which landed across the top of her shirt and cleavage.

The source of the substance was revealed to be none other than a familiar young drake who was currently leaning up against a wooden table, his slowly softening cock being held firmly in his grip as he stared up at the ceiling. Breathing heavily as his member twitched and spasmed, a glob of cum oozed down from the tip, a large white splatter on the ground not far in front of him. He didn't appear to have noticed or heard her yet as he remained standing there, tongue hanging out the side of his mouth, blissfully unaware of what he'd just done.

But rather than call out in alarm or actually alert him in some way, Pinkie found herself distracted as she sampled the unique taste that was positively exploding inside her mouth. It was a tad salty, as she expected, but it was also quite hot and spicy. Immediately her mind went to work, already coming up with new recipes that might benefit if she added a drop or two of dragon spunk. Perhaps even a glazed donut...

"Mmm!" She hummed, the spicy flavor filling her mouth completely. "Wow, you're sticky stuff is super yummy Spike!" She exclaimed.

This was followed by a very un-manly yelp as Spike lost his balance, toppling over the table he'd been leaning against before falling behind it. As the dragon scrambled around in a panic, Pinkie merely started collecting the rest of the cum that managed to reach her, licking it off hungrily from her fingers. Heavy panting could then be heard as Rainbow finally caught up, having nearly lost Pinkie in the twists and turns that followed the staircase.

"W-would you slow down!" She gasped breathlessly, landing next to her so she could rest her wings. "How can you even run that fast?!"

She was too out of it to even notice the scene before her or the white substance that was strewn across the pink mare's front as Pinkie finished off the last of it.

"Wait, Rainbow Dash, is that you?" Spike spoke, poking his head up over the overturned table upon recognizing a familiar voice. His entire face was a deep shade of pink as he looked between the two mares with wide eyes.

"Hold on, Spike?!" Rainbow Dash shouted in surprise, startled by the dragon's sudden appearance. "What in Tartarus are you down here?!" Weren't you with Applejack on the other side of the castle?"

"Uh..."

'I ain't no expert, but this sure doesn't look like a throne room to me,' Applejack thought, standing at the entrance of a large and mostly empty chamber.

The most prominent feature of the room was a massive piano or organ up against the far wall. The musical instrument sat alone, with long golden pipes traveling up the wall behind it and feeding into the arched ceiling as well as the surrounding walls. A long purple carpet stretched from a small wooden stool in front of it up to where Applejack stood.

She had only just recently escaped the hall of creepy armored mannequins without staining her shorts a shade of brown and was hoping to finally reach the throne room, or at least find Spike.

Yet, it seemed like either he had been wrong about these passages, or she'd somehow taken a wrong turn along the way. Regardless, Applejack was not planning on going back through that nightmarish museum of armor for a second time, so she kept moving. It didn't even seem possible that this many tunnels could exist around the throne room tower from what she'd seen outside...

Small flickering candles were scattered around the floor of the chamber, though they did little to effectively light most of it. Anything could easily be hiding in the shadowy corners, watching and waiting for Applejack to enter. The fact that the candles were already lit did not sit well with her either. This castle was supposed to have been abandoned over a thousand years ago, yet the candles seemed like they had been fairly recently lit.

'What in tarnation is going on..' She wondered, not sure if she really wanted to find out.

Applejack considered just moving on and continuing past this room, but something about it felt strangely alluring. With a sigh, Applejack stepped inside, bracing for something to go lunge out at her. Yet, nothing did.

Still cautious, She followed the long carpet, approaching the wide keyboard that was longer than her hands could spread apart. The stool standing in front of it seemed almost out of place in comparison, looking far too small to be very comfortable.

Then suddenly, the moment she reached the foot of the instrument, the entire room came to life. Strange glowing blue magic manifested beneath the contraption's many keys and multiple wall-mounted torches around the room were ignited with dark blue flames. More candles had also appeared from seemingly nowhere all around her, leaving only emptiest corners of the room dark.

'I don't like this one bit...'

Looking back over her shoulder, Applejack half expected to find somepony standing behind her, but instead there was only the quiet ambient crackling coming from her torch. With a nervous gulp, she turned back towards the potentially haunted musical instrument. Two of the keys near the middle were glowing far brighter than the rest, seemingly drawing her in towards them.

Applejack wondered what might happen if she were to press them. She knew next to nothing about magical nonsense like this. For all she knew, it could explode a the slightest touch.

But at the same time, it might be the key to finding the Elements...

"Oh, what I'd give to have that Twilight girl around right about now." Applejack groaned, weighing her options.

She stared nervously down at the two keys.

"Ah hell, here goes nothin." She sighed, raising a finger above the leftmost of the two glowing keys. After a moment of hesitation, she firmly pressed down.

*BRRROOONNNGG!*

Instantly Applejack was deafened as a roaring tone rung out from the contraption, forcing her to drop her torch and cover her cringing ears as the piercing sound boomed all around her and probably throughout the entire castle. When the sound finally stopped, Applejack slowly pulled her hands away from her head, though her ears remained tilted down. Her heart was beating fast as adrenaline pumped through her veins.

"What in tarnation was that!" She shouted angrily, ears numb and ringing. Glaring down at what most definitely not a normal musical instrument, she saw that the key she'd just pressed was no longer glowing, leaving only the other one standing out.

With a shake of her head, Applejack turned to look for her torch on the ground, only to pause as she both heard and felt something squish down below.

"Ah, shit..."

Reaching a hand, she quickly confirmed her suspicions. Bringing it back around, Applejack grimaced as her hand was now smeared with traces of a familiar brown residue. Looking back down over her shoulder, she caught a glimpse of a relatively short but wide bulge in the seat of her shorts.

"How in Tartarus did this happen? That racket didn't startle me that badly." She groaned, feeling thick much smooshing and spreading between her ass cheeks as she moved.

Applejack was used to having her fair share of accidents from time to time, but it felt strange for her to not at least feel something long beforehand. She had come to pride herself in usually having a better handle on this sort of thing than most, a trait that ran in the Apple family.

'Hell, I'd felt the need to piss at least an hour before I wet myself for Spike.' She grimaced, before grinning as she imagined how he might react upon seeing her like this.

"Wait till he gets a load of this..." She chuckled grimly.

Peering down, Applejack discovered that small clump of shit was laying on the carpet beneath her, having likely been squeezed out as her daisy dukes were being filled. It seemed like most of it had miraculously been contained within the confines of her shorts, though It would be one hell of a mess to clean up later.

"Well, at least it's nice and warm." Applejack sighed, reaching the same hand back to cup the bumpy bulge, the fabric stained brown from the less solid parts of her surprise bowel movement.

As she did so, she noticed the other key yet again. She briefly wondered if the clearly magical device might have been somehow responsible for all of this. Glancing back towards the entrance of the room, she shrugged.

"Ah, hell, why not" She mumbled, bringing her finger over the other key.

'It ain't like It can get much worse at this point anyways...' She thought. But as she brought her finger down for the second time, Applejack wondered if she'd immediately regret thinking something like that.

Yet, as she pushed it down, her clean hand covering up one of her ears... nothing happened. She held it down, looking around the room as she wondered if she was missing something. But after pulling back, the light under the key dimmed, eventually going inert as the other had before it. In fact, the whole contraption seemed to 'power down'.

"Well, that's a little disappointing..." She sighed. "Now... where'd I drop mah torch?"

It lay on the floor nearby and not only remained lit but had somehow not burnt the long purple carpet. Bending down to pick it up, she felt the brown mush in her shorts spread even further, seeping up to the front of her shorts. As she made her way out of the room and continued down the tunnel that had led her here, she found herself wondering if that second key had actually done anything at all...

"Um, Fluttershy, d-darling, could I please borrow that h-hoodie of yours? It's getting dreadfully cold down here." Rarity called, shivering with her arms folded across her chest.

The two of them had been trapped in the same prison cell of a room for a while now and the deceptively humid temperatures had finally given way to a seemingly constant icy breeze that flowed around the room. Her thin layer of white fur was no longer enough to keep the chill from getting to her after this long.

"Hm? Oh, yes of course!" Fluttershy replied, looking away from the same strange holes in the walls that she had been oddly focused on since they found themselves in the room. Unfortunately, they had yet to see signs of a rescue coming anytime soon.

Fluttershy quickly pulled her hoodie up over her head, standing up from bench she was sitting on. Once off, Rarity found herself quickly scanning up and down her friend's generous figure. It was nothing she hadn't seen before, but every time she saw the pegasus nude, Rarity couldn't help but feel a tad bit jealous.

'If only she was more willing to model some of my more... risque clothing designs.' Rarity inwardly sighed. 'Though when did she start wearing things like that?' She thought, eyes widening slightly at the sight of Fluttershy's green thong. 'It certainly works well that tank-top she has on, but still...'

As she handed her hoodie over to Rarity, she still refused to look directly at her, cheeks tinted red due to her friend's exposed state. Rarity quickly snatched the hoodie from Fluttershy and slipped it on with her magic. She fiddled with the over-sized sleeves for a moment, not used to wearing something quite this big. The bottom stretched all the way down to her mid-thighs and the sleeves were at least a full forearm longer than her own hands.

"Ah, much better, thank you." Rarity sighed in relief, glad to finally have some shelter from the increasingly cold air that had been nipping at her ever since she'd lost her dress to the ravages of nature. The inside felt warm and fuzzy.

"Are you sure that you'll be alright without it?" Rarity asked with some concern.

"Y-yea, It's fine..." She replied, holding her left arm sheepishly with her inner legs pressed together in an effort to hide anything that her small green thong wasn't able to. Though she was at least now making eye contact.

"I must say I'm surprised to see you wearing something so bold, though it does work for you quite well."

"You look really good too..."

There was a brief pause.

"I-i mean, um, t-thank you, Rarity." Fluttershy quickly corrected herself, stammering a little.

"Of course Darling. Well, anyway, I suppose we'll have to just keep waiting and hope that-"

*BRROOONNNGGG*

Both mare's surprised screams were drowned out as, out of nowhere, a thunderous sound rang out. It bellowed from the many holes in the walls around them. Rarity feared the incredibly loud note might never stop as she covered her downturned ears, only for the sound to completely cease a few moments later.

"What in Celestia was that?!" Rarity exclaimed, long sleeves over the top of her head as she looked around frantically for what could have caused the insufferable racket.

Once the ringing in her ears finally went away, she picked up a faint hissing, as well as the constant pitter-patter of liquid on stone. It was revealed to be coming from a completely paralyzed Fluttershy. She seemed utterly petrified, wings locked down against her back, legs trembling, and eyes as wide as dinner plates even while urine continued to stream down between her thighs.

"Fluttershy? Are you alright?" Rarity asked, reaching out to her in worry.

*Plap**Plorp!*

But then, the sound of something wet and heavy dropping on the floor down below drew Rarity's attention away. Two long brown tapered logs lay piled over one another between her feet. But only once a third turd joined the pile did she notice the sticky sensation present between her cheeks did she realize that they'd come from herself.

*Fwoosh!*

Rarity slowly turned her gaze upwards, her face turning a deep shade of red as she noticed the state of Fluttershy's outstretched wings. They looked stiff as a board, spread out to their full length and twitching as the shy pegasus stared down at the pile of manure with an intense blush on her cheeks.

"O-oh m-my~..." They both spoke at the said time...

"But that doesn't make any sense! If you two were already that close to the throne room, how could you have ended up all the way down here?!" Rainbow yelled, desperately trying to make sense of what Spike had just finished explaining to her.

"Look, I don't know! I swear that's what happened! I thought I was almost there..." He said, deciding not to mention just how long he had been in here 'relieving' some pent up stress.

Pinkie Pie sat on the floor nearby, doing something while she was turned away. Spike eyed her anxiously as he realized that particular spot she happened to be sitting was also where he'd deposited a large portion of his... seed. She'd thankfully not yet said a word about what Spike had been doing when she first arrived.

Thankfully, Rainbow Dash had been so out of it when she came in that she somehow hadn't noticed of the large white puddle of cum in the middle of the room, nor Pinkie's efforts to devour as much of it as she could. Spike sighed as Rainbow grumbled with her arms crossed, really starting to wonder if this detour to the throne room was really worth all of this.

"Come on, we need to keep moving. I don't know if Nightmare Moon is responsible for any of this, but we need to find and meet up with the others. Then, we can meet back with Twilight in the library. She probably knows more about this place than we do by now anyway." Spike proposed, eager to get moving.

"Fine. Alright, come on Pinkie." Rainbow huffed, snatching Spike's own torch form the floor and flying out the doorway into the corridor beyond.

Spike was about to follow when he felt a few taps on his shoulder. Looking back he found Pinkie Pie standing behind him, licking her fingers hungrily before stopping a moment to speak. When she did, she leaned in and whispered in his ear.

"Do you wanna come over sometime after all this? I'd love to discuss some new cupcake recipe ideas that you could help bake with me~" She offered, her normally loud voice suddenly taking on a very low and saucy tone that sent shivers up Spike's spine.

"I u-uhhh..." He stammered, not sure how to respond as various mental images filled his mind. It was then he happened to glance back to where she had been sitting a moment ago on the floor. The white puddle of cum was completely gone.

"S-sure."

"Yay! I promise that we'll have lots and lots of fun!" She cheered excitedly before bounding out of the room, right past a confused Rainbow Dash who then peeked her head back inside.

"Uhh, so like, are you coming or not?"

As Twilight awoke, she immediately descended into a raspy coughing fit.

"Oough" She groaned once the coughing finally stopped, trying to shake out the wooziness that resided in her head.

"...W-what happened?" She mumbled aloud, reaching up to rub her eyes.

While doing so, she slowly got up off the cold hard floor she'd been laying on. Twilight's entire brain felt stuffy and tangled, like it had been scrambled in a blender. By the time she was finally able to concentrate, Twilight removed her knuckles from her eyes.

'Wha-huh? Where am I?!

She was no longer in the library, that she knew. And though Twilight had not visited it yet, the huge room was an almost perfect match for Spike's description of the castle throne room. From the tall windows that ran along each of the surrounding walls, to the throne itself where it sat atop a small platform at the far end. A large set of closed doors stood not far behind her.

Twilight felt that it was a bit strange that Spike didn't feel the need to mention the giant stone sculpture in the middle of the room though. Especially since it looked exactly like the one that supposedly held the Elements Of Harmony...

"Wait, what?!" She exclaimed, suddenly wide awake.

The sculpture was large, vaguely resembling one of the many solar system diagrams she kept at home. Yet, rather than planets, five head-sized spheres surrounded a center globe, with each featuring a familiar symbol that was carved into them. The much bigger globe in the center was featureless and blank in comparison.

Concerns regarding how she had arrived here im the first place temporarily pushed aside, Twilight approached the tall sculpture. It towered over her, likely standing a couple feet taller than even the Princess herself.

'This must be it! These must be the Elements Of Harmony!' She thought excitedly. However, her excitement quickly lessened as she realized something rather important. She had absolutely no idea how to use them.

There didn't appear to be any kind of mechanisms involved. In fact, the entire sculpture, including the small spheres themselves, were all made from solid stone and not the gemstones that were depicted in her book. There was also the matter of the missing 'sixth' element. Would the other five be enough? Or was the last one the key to it all, hidden somewhere else in the castle?

As she thought about these questions, Twilight began feeling out the surface of the sculpture with her magic, searching for any clues as to its use. While doing so, her magical aura happened to wash over the large sphere that holding all the others aloft and felt a strange tingle rush up the base of her horn. There was something oddly familiar about it.

Adding more power and closing her eyes, Twilight pushed inwards, allowing her magic to search deeper inside the stone itself.

Suddenly, there was a loud *click*, as if an invisible switch had just been flipped. The coarse sound of stone grinding up against stone caused Twilight to recoil and retract her magic. Cracking an eye open, she was amazed to find the entire sculpture moving around on its own. Each of the five arms spun around and around the middle sphere as the object slowly lowered itself closer to the ground. Small hidden seams revealed themselves as the sculpture moved, unveiling tiny mechanisms that worked within.

Eventually, the sculpture went still once again, only now each of the smaller spheres was being held out towards her at eye level. Twilight just stood there in stunned fascination. Shaking herself from her stupor, she concentrated, taking hold of the five spheres. They were surprisingly light as she carried them through the air down to the ground. She was very careful not to drop any of them. There was no telling what might happen should any of them be damaged. Magical artifacts as powerful as these were supposed to be, would not react well to abuse.

Though they felt cold and dormant, Twilight could sense faint magical energy residing inside each one, barely noticeable, though still very much present. Gathering them together, she carried them past the sculpture and towards a more brightly lit area that stood before the throne. Setting them down, she began examining each. Crouching down and closing her eyes again, she first tried repeating what she'd done before, allowing her magic to sink deep inside.

'Please work!' She begged.

*Zzpt*

'Huh?' Twilight thought, cracking her eyes open as she heard a strange sound.

*ZAP!*

"AHH!" Twilight cried as she was stuck with by massive bolt of lightning.

She was sent tumbling through the air, crashing into a wall with a tremendous thud. She gasped as she felt sharp spikes of pain lunge up through her right leg. A dark chuckling grew from across the room.

"I must say, I am impressed! Perhaps you're truly more than you seem." Nightmare Moon laughed, all five of the spheres now held in her cyan aura.

"Nightmare Moon!" Twilight grimaced, cringing as she slowly stood back up. Her leg was heavily bruised, but thankfully didn't actually feel broken. With a flick, her horn ignited, becoming surrounded it in a turbulent flow of bright purple magic.

"I must thank you for unsealing the Elements for me. They had been shielded from my influence, yet you were able to unlock them with ease."

"N-no!" Twilight gasped, her horn glowing even brighter as she tried to concentrate on a casting a spell.

Nightmare Moon scoffed, her own long and slender horn coming alight with an icy blue aura. A moment later, her intimidating scythe materialized in her right hand.

"Don't be a fool. After a blow like that, you don't stand a chance against me. I already plan on sparing your pitiful life, don't make me reconsider that decision." She warned coldly.

Twilight gulped as she realized the gravity of her situation. Not only was she fighting against an alicorn, but one that had overpowered the princess herself. Eyeing the magical blade as it shimmered in the moonlight shining through the windows, Twilight imagined it could easily slice her in two.

But as much as her instincts warned her to back down, she had no choice. With the elements now in Nightmare Moon's possession, she'd be unstoppable. She had to do something!

Steeling herself, Twilight bolted towards the alicorn, gritting her teeth as she fought through the pain lancing through her leg. Almost immediately she was greeted with the electrical crackle of another bolt of lightning as it soared through the air at her from Nightmare Moon's flowing mane.

Thinking fast, Twilight concentrated her magic into a small barrier, directly right in the bolt's path. As it struck the barrier, her magic shield shattered instantly, but successfully blocked the deadly bolt.

"Nng!" Twilight winced, still running as fast as she could. She wouldn't be able to so easily tank another shot like that. Her magical reserves were already running low as it is.

"So be it." Nightmare Moon growled.

Allowing the Elements to fall to the floor at her feet, she spread her large leathery wings. With one powerful flap, she flung herself towards Twilight with immense speed, preparing to slice the defiant unicorn in twain. Twilight saw imminent death soaring her way as Nightmare Moon rose her scythe high into the air.

But then, just as the blade was swung down at her, Twilight stopped dead in her tracks. With a terrifying roar, Nightmare Moon's blade dove for the unicorn's neck, only for her to vanish in a bright purple flash.

Taken off guard, Nightmare Moon tumbled through the air following her missed swing, steadying herself a moment later.

"What?!" She shouted, not expecting such a move from her opponent.

After another flash, Twilight reappeared all the way on the other side of the room, where Nightmare Moon had dropped the elements. Her magic was now almost completely depleted, the stress of having to teleport like that having signed her clothes in a few places.

"Come on!" She begged as she levitated each sphere. But then, she remembered something that her book had said.

'When the five are present a spark will cause the sixth to be revealed.'

With the last ounces of magic she had left, Twilight funneled everything she had left into generating an electrical shock which shot out into each of the five stones. At the same time, another dark flash had Nightmare Moon reappearing right in front of her. Looking up with gritted teeth, Twilight was yet again sent tumbling back as the pole of the alicorn's scythe crashed into her.

Weakly getting up on her hands and knees, Twilight gasped from another jolt of pain. But as she craned her neck up, to her joy, each of the five spheres had begun hovering on their own, small white magical sparks dancing between them.

"What?! No! Not again!" Nightmare Moon shouted, taking a fearful step back from the glowing orbs. She looked genuinely horrified.

But then, just as the spheres started to take on faint auras of vibrant color, it all vanished the very next moment. All five spheres dropped to the floor with a dull *thunk!* There was dead silence.

"W-what happened?" Twilight spoke, voice trembling.

Maniacal laughter broke out as Nightmare Moon began cackling wildly. Raising her scythe high into the air, she slammed the pole end onto the ground with a thunderous crack. The impact shattered the stone beneath her feet and caused the spheres to jump up into the air. Then, with an almost impossibly quick swipe, Nightmare Moon slashed through all five of the stones, shattering them completely. The sound was piercing to Twilight as if all hope within her vanished at that exact moment...

Author's Notes:

Fun 'Fact' Of The Chapter: I had never tried writing action-ey scenes before. It's actually rather fun.

Honestly, I feel bad leaving the end of this chapter off on a cliff hanger like this, but I just really needed to get this out before the gap between this chapter and the last chapter gets any wider than it already is. On the plus side, the next chapter will be the finale of this particular arc and is already underway.

I am again deeply sorry for the outrageously long wait but here we are. I really hope you guys enjoyed and know that additional chapters will be coming at a far more frequent rate now.