The train was slowing down more and more as the time passed; the coals inside the furnace, although hot, were no longer burning. Andromalius was at the edge of the locomotive, preparing to jump off and disappear into the Everfree Forest. However, fate was seemingly laughing at him, and before the train slowed down sufficiently, a rocky chasm grew underneath. One, two, five meters separated the level of the railroad from the ground below, and it only kept growing. A bridge was right ahead, inviting the hell stallion to wait until the ground was at the appropriate level again. Deciding not to wait any longer, he got onto the coal cart to jump off behind the train and make his way along the railroad until he could slip into the forest. It wouldn't take longer than a few minutes, and he hoped it would be enough to disappear before anyone found him.

An explosion shook the ground, the locomotive jerked; Andromalius lost the balance as the coals underneath him shifted. Metal of the bridge groaned and creaked as it slowly collapsed, sagging deeper and deeper with each moment. The hell stallion got up as quickly as he could, his body working separately from his mind, but then another explosion, and a third one, and another one happened at the same time; the train screeched like a wounded beast and fell on its side, the coal cart spilling its contents. The hell stallion fell down, landing heavily on the enbankment; he was rolling down when yet another explosion happened, a much closer one. The locomotive turned into a fireball, and a wave of hot air pushed Andromalius down the chasm, making him tumble like a ragdoll. His ears were ringing, his body was a sack of pulsating pain, and he was completely disoriented. Burning coal rained all around him, and a crooked wheel rolled past his head. A quickly expanding cloud of smoke and steam covered a significant portion of the railroad, and no one saw Andromalius tumbling to the bottom of the chasm.

The chilly wind whipped past Princess Luna, and yet she stood on the tower of the Canterlot Castle, observing the Everfree Forest from afar. The dark blotch on Equestria's face, an unstable, uncontrollable place it was. All attempts to tame it failed, but the lunar alicorn remembered what it looked like a millennium ago. As wild, as chaotic as it was, it used to be beautiful in its own way. However, now it turned into one of the most dangerous and darkest places in the country, and none would dare to venture inside without a strong cause. Without care, the trees, the grass, the plants, and the very atmosphere of the forest became gloomy, and the beasts took back what was theirs for so long before a pony ever set hoof inside.

The explosions could now be seen; the fire rose. Luna closed her eyes and sighed, and soon the booming sounds of the explosions reached her ears. They rolled across the land and soon faded, leaving silence in their place. Fire burned and smoke swirled; it was done.

The princess hoped Andromalius managed to evade the gruesome death prepared for him and escape. However, she needed to wait to hear the reports of the guards, both the demolition squad and her own. Only then it would become clear which fate the hell stallion faced.

Something was not right with him, however. Luna still remembered a voice in his mind, one that belonged to neither him nor herself. Where did this voice come from? Was there something Andromalius was hiding from her? She couldn't sense anything malicious in his words or thoughts, and yet this discovery she made was, in a certain way, unsettling and odd. Was there a chance her sister was right about him?

However, she had made her decisions, and it was no longer certain when she would meet Andromalius again. Their paths were now separate, and they had to walk them by themselves. From Luna's side, she had figured out just who might be responsible for the trap the hell stallion got into. Questioning that guard was of paramount importance, and she had to focus on this task first.

"Good luck, Andromalius," Luna whispered, genuine in her words despite the doubts about him that she had. She looked at the site of the explosions one more time and then turned around and left the balcony. As things stood, there was nothing else she could do for him at the moment. However, there were plenty of things to attend to, and she believed one of them would be there soon.

She returned to the main room of her private chamber and took a seat in a comfortable armchair. She knew not to relax, and yet sleep overcame her, for she had neglected it for far too long. Her eyelids drooped lower and lower until she closed her eyes and immediately went into the deep sleep. Carried by the Dreamscape, she slept peacefully despite her worries and her desires. However, she couldn't escape reality even in her sleep.

"My dear..." a booming voice entered her mind. There she stood, small and vulnerable, amidst the impenetrable darkness of the deepest night. She shivered as the cold penetrated her, and two eyes emerged from the darkness, watching her closely with their narrow pupils. "I have always known all would abandon thee, did I not?"

The words struck the princess like a hammer, leaving her without a reply. She knew precisely what those words meant.

"They lie to thee and they seek to use thee," the voice, painfully familiar, continued, "It hath been so and it will be so."

"It will not be so..." Luna spoke, and yet her voice was but a small whisper. The eyes looked at her with amusement.

"Dost thou truly believe thine own words, my dear?" the voice replied with unrestrained mockery, "Thou hast found the one to trust... and yet even he, the one who had nothing in this world, lied to thee. Thou hast to accept that he did, for it was a foreign voice that gave it away, a voice neither his nor thine. The voice he hath not told thee about."

"Everyone hath their secrets..." Luna tried to defend that position, "He was as honest as he could be... he did not hide it out of malice."

"Or did he?" the voice spoke again, "Thou canst not pretend thou knewst him. Thou didst not, and 'tis of no surprise thou wast mistaken once again."

Luna hung her head; in a way, her adversary was right. However, the alicorn had to remind herself that being right about one thing didn't mean the adversary was right about everything. And yet... it ate at her like a rabid dog, for she must see what was true and what was a lie.

"Thy naivete will be the end of thee, my dear," the voice said, a disappointed sigh in her voice, "One day, perhaps, thou shalt learn. But until then, thou shalt suffer."

Unconscious, Andromalius lay at the bottom of the chasm, wounded and battered, beaten and bruised from the fall. The air was filled with smoke and the cracking of fire as the coals were burning all around him, turning the chasm into a hellish maw of heat. The rocks turned black from soot; the metal of the bridge and train was scattered around, now shapeless; the wood of the railroad and the bridge added to the growing fire.

The hell stallion was motionless amidst the heated chaos and debris, lying breathless. However, he could see, and it was not what surrounded him but what showed itself to him in his unconscious mind. A vision from the outside or a feverish dream made by his mind, one couldn't yet tell.

Andromalius stood on a long, endless road; behind him, a portal was, and cyan was its color. It trembled silently, and yet impenetrable it was for his gaze. Shapes appeared and faded, muffled sounds went past his ears, and different colors could be seen within the cyan canvas. To the sides of his road, were other roads, infinite in their lengths, and all of them started with the same cyan portal. The road he stood on continued into a black portal, white star-like dots inside it. The road next to him was empty, and the other road by the other side of him ended with not a black portal but a void, infinite and endless, and all light disappeared inside it. No sounds, no shapes, nothing could be heard, seen, or felt in that void.

There were many different roads, all parallel and yet connected, spanning as far as eye could see. The sky was of an undescribable color, one which contrasted with every other color Andromalius could see. Wondering about the roads, Andromalius stepped on the one with the void at its end. A strong chill ran down his spine, a sense of dread entered his mind, and he felt the cold. He swiftly jumped back to the first road and breathed rapidly, the dark feelings slowly disappearing from his mind. He let out a shaky sigh, and looked around once more.

Different portals were scattered on different roads: cyan, teal, red, purple, blue, black, and white. The one he was on featured a cyan portal behind him, a black portal in front of him, and some other portals he could not see, for they were blurred behind the black of the next portal. He also noticed that nothing except the road was solid; everything was waving ever so slightly, with no truly defined shape or form.

A choice was made, and he stepped forward on his road. For a reason he couldn't explain if he tried, he felt it was the right decision. The black portal opened, and he went straight through it.

With a gasp and a cough, he awoke amidst the fire and smoke. His body was pulsating with pain, and some wounds on his body leaked blood. On shaky legs, he stood up; trying to figure out the way, he stumbled a few steps forward before he fell, his world spinning. Releasing a few more painful coughs, he forced himself on his hooves and moved away from the fire and into the unaffected part of the chasm, where trees grew, and tall grass and moss covered the rocks. His body worked without a thought, and soon he was away, hidden by the shrubbery from those that would want to pursue him. Unbeknownst to him, however, a pair of eyes followed him as he disappeared - viper-like those eyes were, much like his own.

Andromalius had yet to grasp the events that transpired, but he knew he had to get as far away as he could as quickly as possible. Stumbling on roots, hearing the thorns scrape against his exoskeleton, he walked, breathing heavily and with his heart beating fast. The beating of his heart combined with the ringing from explosions, and it was all he could hear as he struggled through the flora.

He walked and walked, not looking where he was going, and soon he was far in the depths of the Everfree Forest. The crooked trees covered the sky, and the ever-darkness underneath the canopy hid him from the outside world. The sounds were muffled, and the fire could no longer be seen. Owls hooted, crickets chirped, and wolves howled in the distance. The land of eternal twilight greeted the hell stallion, watching him closely as he stepped in it once more.

The towers of the old castle loomed above the treetops, distinguishable even from beneath the twisted branches and thick canopy of the forest. Andromalius decided that it would be best for him to search for a place to rest inside the castle, for it would be safer inside it than in the wilderness of the Everfree. Setting his course, he moved his legs, mentally dragging himself through the forest. Remains of lamp posts and ancient roads were still visible even covered in vines and moss, and he stuck to them, for there was only one place they could lead to. Some of the lamps still glowed, although it was no longer the glow of electricity or candles but of bugs that took residence inside the broken glass and rusted metal.

Howling of the wolves grew closer the further Andromalius went, and glowing green eyes soon appeared in the darkness. For a while, the hell stallion continued to move, trying to keep all those eyes in his line of sight at all times. The timberwolves were stalking him, no doubt about it, and it would be best for him to reach the castle before the beasts reached him.

Quickening his pace, he trotted along the overgrown path, stumbling here and there, but he couldn't stop, for the vicious predators were after him, and he was uncertain he could hold them off by himself in this state. His head was pounding with pain, his lungs burned, and his vision was hazy. The castle was still too far, almost taunting him with the view of the towers.

The timberwolves moved silently, not a growl came from them as they slithered through the bushes, hiding in the tall grass. Their green eyes were fixated on the hell stallion, not looking away for a single moment. They were closing in.

Andromalius, realizing that his escape was unlikely, turned to face them. As soon as he did, the closest timberwolf quickly covered the distance between itself and the hell stallion and lunged, opening its maw, revealing a set of sharp teeth. The timberwolf wasn't destined to reach its target; Andromalius sent a powerful telekinetic wave of energy, shattering the beast into a thousand twigs and chips. Taking it as a signal to attack, the rest of the pack formed a half-circle around the hell stallion and attacked at once.

The hell stallion managed to obliterate one of them mid-flight, but the second tackled him, throwing him to the ground. The wooden claws scratched against the exoskeleton, and the timberwolf flew slightly over its prey, unable to get a firm grasp. The third one latched itself on one of the hind legs, its sharp teeth penetrating the thick black skin of the hell stallion. Andromalius yelled in pain, fire erupted from his body; the timberwolf whimpered, jumping away, its whole head and paws in flames. The rest of the timberwolves quickly retreated behind the nearest trees.

Groaning in pain, Andromalius stumbled forward and fell, the wounded leg giving out from underneath him. The fire burned around him, and the injured timberwolf soon perished from the flames, turning into a pile of charred sticks and twigs. The hell stallion forced himself back on his hooves, the flames on his body subsiding. With a sharp inhale, he continued on his way, limping as he went. He couldn't give up, he couldn't rest, for it would be death for him to lay in the middle of this gloomy forest. The timberwolves, recovering from the sudden fire, were already stalking him again, this time more carefully.

All of sudden, a smell of citrus appeared in the air. The wolves whimpered, quickly disappearing from the scene. Andromalius collapsed on the ground once more as adrenaline wore off and the pain took over. His wounds were pulsating with pain, sticky blood covered his hind leg.

"Who is he that comes here wounded?" a female voice spoke. He turned his head and saw a cloaked figure, a rope with citrus fruits hanging around her neck. In the darkness of the forest, he couldn't make out the details, but she certainly stood on four legs. "Who is he that by wolves is hounded?"

"I'm... Andromalius," the hell stallion replied weakly, slowly getting up, "I... need help."

"I see a devil..." the figure slowly said, "But I sense no evil. I shall help you, and soon you'll feel like new. Come with me now, for the wolves won't stay for long down."

Nodding once more, Andromalius limped after the mysterious figure, wondering about who she was and what she was doing in such a place. As suspicious as she was, the hell stallion didn't have much of a choice – it was either her or the timberwolves, and the latter could not be negotiated with.