One Last Game Book 2: Temple of Chaos

by The Wizard of Words

Chapters

• The Temple's Entrance
• Within the Caverns
• Forging Bonds
• Untold Mysteries
• Bounties and Rewards
• A Puzzle Solved
• The Next To Awaken
• A Flamboyant Battle
• Monsters and Riddles
• A Boy And His Dragon
• And So It Goes
• Boss 1: Karl
• From Water To Dust
• Red Eyes; Take Warning
• Darkness In Light
• Dreams
• NeverDawn Cavern
• Boss 2: Songbird
• Fortune, Folly, and Consequences
• Above and Below

The Temple's Entrance

Celestia was lost in fear and confusion.

She was trapped in a cage of crystals, powerless to free herself. Beside her was a warrior from a land she never imagined, capable of things she’d never thought of. Around them both was a ruined hall, once grand in stature and form now sullied with battles twice. There were no guards around her, no friends dear, and no family close.

The only other souls nearby were enemies both she and her close ally loathed.

Discord stood tall above them both. His snake like form nearly curled around their crystalline prison. A mocking smile hung over his lips as his mismatched red eyes watched them.

She watched him slither and float through the air, kept safe from her fury by the thin wall of translucent material between them. His talon arm scratched over the pink crystal, mocking her. Her horn glowed with a rage she could barely contain.

Her companion was little different.

He watched the other being that stood outside of their prison, donned in leather, a cape of rags, with a head of fire and aura of evil. This man watched the trapped princess and warrior with arms crossed, approaching them with slow but powerful strides. Just as plain as his evil intentions were, so too was the confidence he held.

“Aren’t you excited, Link?” Discord spoke from above them both. The green-garbed warrior paid the Spirit of Disharmony no mind at all. “I’ve reunited you with your long-time friend and enemy. Oh, I think this counts as my good deed for the day.” The smile the draconequus wore was nothing short of electrified.

“Discord,” Celestia spoke with a voice straining against her own rage. “Who is he?”

“I am the enemy Link fought all his life against.” The power behind the voice forced Celestia to turn. The man was far taller than Link, a giant by many standards, easily as tall as the draconequus was. “I tricked a king into giving me his land, and lured Link into giving me the power of the gods.”

Celestia was stunned silent.

“But he won in the end, that time.” The green man smiled as he spoke of his own defeat. “I should thank him for it. For without it, I would not have the chance I have now. I would not be this close to a god, this much closer to obtaining my goal.”

Ganondorf slowly walked around their prison, opposite to the path Discord took around them. Celestia heard Link’s boots slide on the floor as he followed the man. She heard her own golden boots do the same.

“And he’s got some pretty wicked goals, too.” Discord spoke from behind them. “I thought I was being ambitious, but this guy really takes the cake, not to mention how he does it. When I saw how he tricked Link here into trapping himself in a different realm for seven years, why… I-I almost think I shed a tear.” The alabaster alicorn shot the draconequus a vicious scowl, watching as he mockingly wiped a dry eye.

“If Link was able to best this monster once before, then I see no reason for him not being able to do so again.” Celestia threatened carefully. She hid a smile as she saw Discord’s eyes widen, perhaps in shock. But as soon as words passed his lips, she knew it was just another ploy.

“Why by golly you’re right!” He mockingly spoke as he pumped a balled paw. “Why didn’t I think of that? Doing the same thing and getting the same results. Why, it almost sounds, I’d dare say predictable!”

Link never moved his eyes from the Gerudo man, smiling as wickedly at the Hylian now as he did during their first meeting, all those years ago. The hatred had yet to smolder, and the evil had yet to dissipate.

He was no less dangerous now than he was during their climactic battle atop his castle.

“The god is right,” Ganondorf spoke again. Link heard the princess next to him turn. “You know better than any other life the depth of my plans, Link. Why would I try the same thing again when the first resulted only in failure?” His palm extended, placing itself over the crystal prison.

Celestia watched the monstrous appendage, covered in thick black leather and muscled more so than many other creatures in her land. Her mind could not stray from thinking of the power that was held in that one hand.

“That is why fortune fell on me when Discord brought me back from that cursed realm, trapped between life and death.” The smile grew even sharper. “He gave me an offer that I wouldn’t have refused even if I was still king of Hyrule. He offered me the power to reclaim what was mine, and to take what I deserve. He would give me the power to do all the things my plans require.”

“Oh but don’t get so hung up on the details now.” Discord interrupted the man. “It was really actually pretty easy. I mean, Hyrule doesn’t have any Elements of Harmony. No, they have gods that think it’s a good idea to drown a land in a hundred years of rain instead of just, say, killing something.”

If she could, Celestia was sure her coat would have turned a shade whiter. She could hear Link next to her, clenching his fist against the guard of his sword. Her pink eyes glanced up to his own blue ones, looking to see the depths of rage within this silent warrior.

If it weren’t for the blue of his eyes, she would have sworn she was looking into fire.

“What…” The princess began carefully. “Have you done to Link’s homeland?”

The gleeful smiles that came from the mad draconequus and evil man did nothing to calm the flames within Link’s eyes, neither did they settle her restless heart.

But neither spoke. Instead, Celestia watched with a careful gaze as Discord turned his mismatched eyes from her within her prison to the leather armored giant. Ganondorf’s gaze was an expression she was, uncomfortably, familiar with.

The evil was there, the vileness as well, but above both of those unharmonious qualities, she saw the outlines of something… good.

Fond memories.

The hand he had across their crystal prison turned. He rose and fell on the pink glassy material, creating a dull, but loud, echo inside their cage. Both princess and warrior grit their teeth at the noise. The back of his glove was across the dome, and his hand was clenched like a fist.

That was when Celestia saw his hand begin to glow.

It was no different than Link’s. A pyramid of three triangles, outlined in shining gold. It emerged from the back of his hand with an almost heavenly aura, a radiance Celestia was, fearfully, comfortable with. Her breath caught in her throat, holding itself there as the triangle atop the hollow two glowed brightly, filling itself with a golden power.

“That, is the Triforce of Power.” Ganondorf spoke darkly at the princess’s expression. “He who holds it commands unimaginable powers of magic and might alike. Enough to conquer a kingdom. It has made me, nearly, immortal.”

Celestia flashed her gaze to Link, hoping to spy some false words reflecting from the evil man’s speech. The rage that continued to boil across his features, however, was all she needed to know the horrifying truth.

But then it got worse.

A second triangle, the last Celestia had not seen, began to glow as well.

CLANG! Clang. Clang.

The alabaster princess jumped in her coat as she heard the sound of metal falling on the floor. It took only a glance to see the sword of her ally laying across the ground.

It took a steady gaze from both eyes to see the Hylian kneeling with wide, terrified eyes.

That was when Ganondorf began to laugh, and Celestia began to scream.

“What have you done?!” Her voice bellowed within the prison, watching with only the faintest glows of satisfaction as the prison shook. The man, however, didn’t waver in smile or form.

“I killed his precious princess and took the power she held from me.” He brought back and slammed his fist against the prison, shaking the air within again.

“I took the Wisdom of Princess Zelda. I took from her the knowledge of the gods, their wisdom, and their plans. And with the fall of its bearer, with the death of Princess Zelda, the kingdom of Hyrule became but ruin.”

“And like I said, the Gods on high there didn’t think it would be in their better nature to descend and, you know, save the people who worship them. Wonder how that feels, worshipping something your entire life only to see it fall out from beneath you.” Discord mockingly spoke as he let his talon run through his goatee.

“They thought it would be more fitting to a drown their entire world than to save it.”

Celestia’s horn hummed with energy. Discord paid her as little mind as any moment before now.

“You’re a monster.” She hissed at the spirit of chaos. Her eyes turned with daggers towards the green skinned man. “Both of you.”

“No need to compliment us princess.” Discord mockingly spoke. “We’re just making sure you’re brought up to speed. After all, it’ll be awfully hard for you two to enjoy the show when you don’t even know what it’s about.”

Princess Celestia’s carriage shook with each breath she let in, legs vibrating with every ball of air she released. Every part of her, feathers to fur, wanted little more than to unleash the full strength of her magic towards the two. Her mind played with the idea of seeing this cruel man turn to ash before the mad god would howl in pain.

But she didn’t. Instead, she did what a true leader of her ponies should do. With one final breath to control herself, she spoke.

“What are you planning to do… now?”

“Now there’s the million bit question!” Discord announced with a cheer and point of his claw. “It’s not what I want or need, it’s what I’m going to do that matters. Finally some pony understands.”

“You will see what we have planned.” Ganondorf continued where the draconequus left off. “But not by the words we or any other speaks.” Celestia’s lips curled into a snarl, her brow knit in unbounded rage.

“How then?”

“With your eyes, of course.”

Ganondorf pulled his fist away from the prison, both triangles on the back of his hand still glowing with a powerful light. The light, Celestia watching, began to bleed from his hand, surrounding the thick muscled appendage and rough leather around it. The green, the black, and the brown were all slowly surrounded by the liquefied gold.

It pulled backwards, reaching behind his massive head and fiery red hair. It glowed behind him like an undeserving halo, shadowing his eyes with the same darkness that consumed his heart.

Then his fist of light slammed on the prison of crystals.

Celestia and Link were gone in a flash of gold.

Discord cheered to the empty hall.

“YES!” The mad god flew into the barren hall, ruined with battle. “I DID IT! THEY’RE GONE! YES! OH, YES!!”

He snapped his claw. A pillar turned into sand.

He clapped his paw to his claw. The stone throne grew legs and ran through an open hole in the wall.

He screamed to the rafters above. They turned into glass and rained to the ground.

Ganondorf walked through the broken double doors before the deadly shards touched the stone below.

His massive boots echoed down the hall he walked, barren of light aside from the faint glow of candlelight. His sharp golden eyes looked ahead, walking with a clear destination, but enjoying the time it would take to get there. The smile chiseled across his lips was evident enough.

Discord celebrated his victory with chaos and destruction. Ganondorf let his take root. When it grew into a grand tree, a testament to his power, then he would lord and display his power. For now, it was useless to celebrate when there were none to despair.

He turned another corner, entering another long barren hall. Still he walked on, the heavy thud of his boots the only sound the walls heard.

Just before Discord flew into the hall Ganondorf journeyed through.

“This is perfect!” Discord cheered as he flew into the air, letting an explosion of fireworks erupt around him. “I’ve waited so long for this moment!”

“And what moment would that be?” Ganondorf asked from far beneath the Chaotic God. “Victory?”

“No, no, no.” The multi-formed creature dismissed. “Victory is never difficult. You of all people know that. There’s no fun in just having victory by itself. It’s like eating a cake without candles, or getting an “A” without effort. It’s so empty.” The draconequus fell backwards in the air, letting his elongated form hang over an awning with his lion paw over his head. Ganondorf offered him only a glace of his eyes before he continued to move down the hall.

“Humiliation then?” The Gerudo King offered. His large form turned down another empty hall, sharp eyes already sighting the exit at the far end. Discord hovered above him as he continued to walk.

“Close, but you’re still a bit shy of getting a gold star, or triangle in your case.” There wasn’t a reaction offered to the clear taunt. “Come now Ganny-poo, I know you know what I know. It’s why I’m me, you’re you, and you’re perfect for the job I’ve got for you.”

Now Ganondorf stopped.

“You want to break them.” There wasn’t a question in his tone. It was stated like an absolute fact.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

A bell rung like siren above the Gerudo King’s head.

“And two points to the Evil King.” Discord congratulated, to the annoyance of the man continuing to walk. “I knew you knew, just like I said. After all, it is for much the same reason you play the game you do.”

“I play no games.” Ganondorf spoke strongly as he continued towards the opening at the end of the hall. “I follow the plans I create for victory. Rebellions only grow when you hold victory. Hope can be kept by the weak even as the strong continue to rule. Complete and total victory is only held when your enemy is crushed, their spirits destroyed, and their kingdom yours.”

Discord didn’t suppress his chuckle in the slightest.

“And that’s why you are perfect for the job.”

The draconequus flew ahead of the Gerudo king, flying to the opening at the halls end. He reached it in second, and flew into the night air as he did so, out into the free starless night air, and out of Ganondorf’s view.

The Evil King continued to walk, letting his cold smile stay chiseled across his lips. This wasn’t a game. Not to him. But that didn’t mean was unaware of the rules. All good plans were made and kept in the dark. This was no different.

This wasn’t a game to him. This was just another step to another plan.

“I know that smile.”

The sharp feminine voice caused the Gerudo King to still. He was not frightened, nor shaken, but he was cautious. As powerful as he was, in mind, magic, and body, he was a stranger in magical lands, as alien to every creature and power as they were to him.

Fortunately, he knew this voice.

Ganondorf turned to see a woman leaning against the wall of an adjacent hallway. Her arms were crossed over chest, sharp golden eyes looking into this own. Her smile was just as piercing, possibly even more wicked. Light garbs and cloths of red flowed down her form, cut into pieces, but hanging with great care. It was no uniform the Gerudo King was familiar with, but he knew enough about the strategies of others to know its purpose.

It appeared to be light, flexible, easy to move in. It wouldn’t stand to a blade, let alone an axe or hammer, but he was sure this woman would be able to move as deftly across the field of battle as a cat did chasing a mouse. This cat, however, had more than just claws.

“I’m glad you recognize me still.” Ganondorf spoke with all of his strength behind his voice. It was deep, commanding, and just as dark as his soul. The woman’s own grin turned vicious.

“You’re a hard man to forget.” She spoke easily enough. “But that smile of yours, I’ve seen it more than once, on more than one person.” A thin digit from one of her hands pointed at the man’s strong face, aiming towards his twisted lips. They didn’t flinch.

“Oh?” He asked, letting to one of his muscled hands raise to his chin. “And where have you seen this before?” He made sure to turn his smile into a vicious grin.

“On the faces of assassins before they kill.” She never let her own smile falter.

“On the lips of generals as they killed their kings.” She leaned off the wall, elegantly walking towards him.

“But mostly,” she continued, looking up to the man who stood a full two heads above her. “Across the lips of traitors, thinking of the moment when they will strike.”

They smiled at towards one another as the silence between them grew as sharp as the gazes in their eyes and ends of their lips.

“You’re a dangerous woman.” Ganondorf spoke honestly.

“And you’re a cunning man.” The woman offered back.

“Are you planning to stop me, or tell the mad god about me?” He was not expecting a straight answer. Who would?

“No, not yet at least.” She softly admitted. The red clothed woman spun on her heel, turning till she faced the balcony Discord had flown to and up from. “You’re interesting, to say the least, and it would be a bad idea for me to rat you out. Provided, it would definitely earn me some kind of praise from that thing that brought us here, but I trust you both about the same. Besides,”

The woman turned again, letting the shadows of the night sky behind her silhouette her form. She kept that sword sharp smile, kept that sharp glint in her eyes, but now offered a aura the Evil King could visibly see. He was right before. She was dangerous.

“It did turn to you when it wanted a plan.”

Ganondorf was only too proud to admit it.

“Indeed he did, Princess Azula. Indeed he did.”

The Evil King walked on then, carefully passing the woman who gave him the same feeling as that of a killer or thief. She very well could have been both. He was too, after all.

The pounding of his boots was dulled by the carpet, but the sound of her shoes clicking behind him was clear and audible to his ears.

The night sky came into view the moment he passed the archway, letting the beauty and spectacle of a castle’s spire prove itself to him again. He breathed in the crisp air with a slow breath, taking it in until the leather over his chest gave a muffled cry of strain. His smile had yet to fall.

It was odd, even to him, seeing a sky black as shadows, no clouds nor stars across it. There were no lights to pattern the black canvas, or even other objects to drift across it. Like the desert he hailed from, and the land he ruled, it was barren of life.

Except for a castle sitting in the sky.

Like a chunk of land ripped from the earth, it hovered over the land far below. Spires and walls and towers of stone decorated its surface, in a size larger than almost any other structure Ganondorf had ever seen. No temple in the lands of neither Hyrule nor castle from lands far and wide compared to the size of the structure.

He didn’t need to think or imagine to know that creatures on the ground, both near and far, would see the object with some form of terror. This was not a new star, nor even a display of celebration. It was a colossally sized piece of land, larger than the mountain and castle he and Azula were standing on, floating in the sky like a cloud.

Ganondorf smiled all the brighter at the thought of the ponies far below, looking up in terror and awe.

Azula, just beside him, stared up at it with just as much marvel. She had seen feats of engineering across the world. Blimps that reigned fire. Metal that swam through the sea. But a castle, hanging in the sky? It was something she thought as possible as controlling the spirits.

Then again, it was a spirit that made it possible.

Discord was hanging like a cloud in the air, claw and paw spread wide as he faced away from the castle they stood in. It was beyond her sights to see, but she could tell he was smiling, laughing, and probably even crying with joy.

“So were you serious before?” She asked the taller man next to her, golden eyes never drifting from the castle in the sky or the spirit that was cackling in the air. She heard the leather groan as Ganondorf turned to look at her.

“About what?” His deep voice spoke to her.

“About what you and Discord were talking about. Not just beating them, breaking them.” Her hand stretched to the castle in the sky, her palm not even able to cover the entirety of the massive structure.

“It’s the only way you can guarantee victory.” She turned to face him now.

His smile was gone, replaced with a face she instantly thought belonged to a king.

“I wouldn’t say that. Once you win, you just have to make sure no one else has power.” She twisted her palm until it was between them, three fingers raised in the air.

“You can kill them.” Her ring finger fell.

“Enslave them.” Her middle finger fell.

“Or break them.” Ganondorf finished for her as her index finger turned her palm into a fist.

“Exactly.”

“Except killing everything leaves nothing to rule. Enslaving everything means nothing can grow. And trying to break something after you’ve already won is like trying to crush ice after it’s melted.”

He held up his fist, to making sure she could compare the size of it. It was easily the size of her entire head. The power contained in it was something she didn’t want to test.

Especially when she saw two triangles glowing over the heavy gauntlet.

“But if you break the enemy you are trying to beat, you will rid yourself of the chance for others to keep their hope. Watching the person they put their faith in giving up, running away, or being killed in tears is an image that no soul can forget. Besides,” Ganondorf focused on the Princess of the Fire Kingdom.

“Wouldn’t you want to see the thing you hate most being broken?” His smile was as wicked as the words he spoke.

Azula was silent.

Yes, she did want to see that. To see the woman who had frozen her in ice and chained her to a grate being left in tears as she, herself, stood above her with laughter rolling from her lips. Then, she would watch the broken body and spirit burn in fires of blue, turning into nothing but ash.

The idea was something she didn’t soon want to be rid of.

“So why couldn’t you win?” She asked the Demon King. “Why did you lose?”

“I did win.” He spoke it with power that shook the stones they stood on. It made Azula’s smile falter. “I was the king of the Hyrule and the Gerudos. The power of the gods was, is in my hands. I was close, so close, to gaining the power of the Sacred Realm.”

His dark eyes turned to the sky above.

“But he couldn’t be broken.” Azula traced his eyes. She thought it was going to land on the castle above, and be for one of the heroes Discord had sent away. But it wasn’t. She thought then it could be for the draconequus now sailing through the air like the care-free spirit that he was. But that wasn’t it either.

There was an object sitting in the sky, even higher than the temple worthy of giants. Like the lone star in the sky, the only essence of light, hanging over the canvas of black. But it was not of the soft white, but of sharp pink. It was not a round sphere, but a jagged crystal.

What it was, was clear.

Ganondof’s eyes were focused on the crystal prison hanging in the sky.

“Link.” She spoke for him. “You couldn’t break a single man? Even with all the power of the gods?” Azula let her voice taunt him, already pushing her weight onto her heels. If he we to strike, she would be able to move.

Instead, he gave her a glower of utter disdain. She was almost satiated by the heat behind it.

“Don’t underestimate the strength of Courage.” He spoke simply. “Many others ventured into the dungeons that he did, temples that I had changed and altered until they were deathly traps of horror and madness. I watched guardians and sages alike fall to them, kneeling in the horrors I had created with my power.”

With a harsh turn, he faced the ominous castle again, watching as the draconequus flew closer to it, shrinking until he was nothing more than a spec to the titanic shape.

“But he wouldn’t falter.” Azula hid her smile within herself. She noted the detail about this man carefully before she spoke on.

“But didn’t you already fix that? I can’t say he was too pleased with seeing that new piece of jewelry in that glove of yours.” His stern gaze only made hers grow.

“It damaged him, of that I cannot deny, for I am immensely proud of it.” The ghost of a smile came and left the Ganondorf’s lips. “But he has endured such loss before. Whatever you saw, and did see, was nothing more than the shock and discomfort of the news. Allow him a day, maybe only half, and he will be ready to face me again.”

“Then what it is your plan to break the rest of those warriors then?” Azula asked, this time with far more care than a mocking tone. “You don’t strike me as the kind of guy to make the same mistake twice. But from what I heard, you told Discord to make that based off of temples and ruins from your own world. The same trick rarely works twice, especially if it didn’t work the first time.”

For a moment, the evil king was silent. He turned from her, staring out over the castle’s balcony again. His golden eyes resting on the monolith floating in the air, a gem eternally within vision, yet out of reach.

“Do you even know the purpose of that temple?” The tone was as mocking as Discord was. The Princess of the Fire Nation gave a hard look to the Gerudo King. It only made his lips curl into a sick smile.

“Enlighten me, please.” The coldness in her tone was easily a match for the flames she could conjure. His sick smile grew malicious, but Ganondorf spoke on.

“The mad god of chaos knew every creature that was going to be involved in this. From those that would pull from the portal, and those that would be pulled from it, the same as we were.” His fist clenched for a moment, but relaxed as he spoke on, eyes trained on the crystal prison far above.

“Each of those warriors, ponies, and animals above has a strength, or trait, that makes them strong. Whether it be the strength of their body, their mind, or their spirit, they can overcome many obstacles. However, that does not mean they can overcome every obstacle.” Ganondorf’s hand extended in front of him, showing the Evil King the two triangles on the back of his palm. Azula watched on, memorizing every detail.

“They have limits, boundaries, and things that keep them from growing. It would be easy to focus on the weakness in someone, use that to grab victory from beneath him or her. But if you make them lose in the area they are most proud, their spirit will dampen, and their hopes fall.”

“And when they lose hope, they lose the will fight on.” Azula finished for him. Her smile, as careful as it was, had returned. “I stand by what I said before. You are a cunning man.”

“I don’t need your words to know it.” Ganondorf smiled as he let his arm return to his side.

“So you asked Discord to split them up into groups.” Azula spoke, attempting to lead Ganondorf on. “You paired them with their strengths.”

“Correct,” he admitted. “I made sure that each and every wing of the temple of above was made for the pair that would be thrusted into it. Rooms of ice, ceilings of fire, floors of sand, and everything else that has been the end to both man and beast before.”

“Sounds like fun.” Azula slyly admitted, spinning until she was leaning against the small guard of the balcony.

“You did make sure that we would be able to watch, right?” She twisted her gaze until one eye was left wide and accusing, the other squinted with mischief. Ganondorf paid it little mind.

“I was told that the other human Discord brought forth would be responsible for that.”

Azula smiled at the memory, fighting herself to hide a choke of laughter.

“Him?” she asked. “That guy was one of the most pathetic excuses for a man that I have ever seen. He had no strength, no talent, and he was sobbing about his daughter to no end.”

“I did not say I admired or enjoyed him, only that he would take care of giving us sight of what the warriors are doing in the castle of my creation. Which leads me to my question.” The Evil King put his power and will behind his voice as he spoke to much smaller woman beside him.

“What is your purpose?”

“Me?” Azula asked mockingly, a single digit of her lithe hand place above her covered breasts. “Shouldn’t that be obvious by now?”

“Pretend it isn’t. Indulge me.” The Princess of the Fire Nation held a hand in front of her mouth as she mockingly held back another chuckle of laughter.

“It’s very simple really. Discord gave us the means. You gave the warriors their path. Our pathetic third member makes sure we get to see everything, including the grand finale. That is where I come in.” Pushing off the balcony, she turned towards the mighty structure floating in the sky, letting her arms extend in front of her as she spoke.

“What you don’t understand is that sometimes, you have to break things by force. I enjoy ploys, tricks, deception, and thievery in as many forms as you do, but at least I know that there is a time to strike. Ganondorf, it’s simple.” Azula made sure that her smile was malicious and sharp, no less deadly than the lightening she could summon through her hands.

“I was the one who chose the final foe for every group up there.” The careful gaze in the Gerudo King was questioning her words without moving his lips. There was silence between them, broken only by the occasional whistle of wind around them.

It was the Evil King that broke the silence.

“You knew of the temple that I designed.” Her smiled didn’t falter. “And of the groups that were being made.” Her eyes sparked with pleasure. “Why ask then?”

“To be sure.” She began. “You are planning something larger than all of this.” Azula motioned towards the giant castle again. “And this is already larger than most things I’ve seen, but not all.”

“What is your point?”

“I just had to make sure I could trust you for now.” Her golden eyes fell back on his own. “If you were to lie to me about something as simple as what you are doing for Discord, then I’d have to make sure you were done away with. I can’t have myself being surrounded by untrustworthy people, now can I.” The gaze in the taller man’s eyes had yet to soften.

“Just think of it like this,” the Princess of the Fire Kingdom started. “If you lied to me now, I wouldn’t be able to rely on you for anything.”

“You’re speaking of using me like a tool from a shed.”

“Were you thinking any differently of me?”

The two stared at one another for a time, neither moving a muscle and neither revealing a chink in their words. One held a smile of confidence. The other had an expression of apathy.

Slowly, Ganondorf let his stern features slide into a knowing grin.

“I look forward to working with you, Princess Azula.” The Fire Princess smiled.

“I’m sure we’ll be mutually beneficial to one another, King Ganondorf.”

Extending their hands, the large gauntlet of the Gerudo King dwarfing the near petite frame of the smaller woman, the two shook with one another.

“I have to go now.” The Princess of the Fire Nation watched as the Dark King turned from her, walking back into the castle behind them, barren of life. “The plans may be set, but I have more to create. Where one plan may fail, another must exist to replace it. For now farewell.”

“Wait a moment.” Azula calmly ordered. Ganondorf stilled at her voice. She paused, letting the silence turn pregnant as she continued to watch him. With a slow breath inwards, she voice her question.

“What is your goal?”

“Goal?” He mimicked her.

“The goal you taunted in front of the knight and princess, the thing you keep speaking of, alluring to as being greater than the power of Gods. What is that?” Her brows knit themselves in neat knots as she waited. With a soft, yet utterly wicked, smile, he answered.

“Something I am sure you will one day see.”

Ganondorf disappeared into the castle behind them. The Fire Princess watched him walk until he was nothing but an echo in the barren halls.

Azula turned back to the colossal structure, watching it in the air. She could imagine, easily, the ponies and warriors that had been gathered in that ruin hall being tested and toyed with in the innumerable amount of rooms. She could see some failing, leaving those they were with in distraught tears and broken spirits.

The few warriors and ponies that survived would be enraged by the news that not all had succeeded, that some had failed, and that they’re chances for success were slipping. They would fight hard, but not as hard as if their numbers were greater. Soon, they would all fall to the power that the monster Discord held.

It was a plan that would never work.

Fortunately, she had one of her own.

At least now she knew she was not the only one who did.

Her wicked smile never faltered

“Up and down and around the bend.” Discord sang to himself as he sailed towards the colossal structure in the sky. He weaved and spun through the air in time with his song, letting the bubbly energy within him lift his chaotic spirit to heights he hadn’t felt in centuries.

“And this is just with a few appetizers. The first dish isn’t even brought out yet, and I’m already feeling stuffed!” He cackled aloud as she held his claw and paw outwards, letting them spin like propellers as he flew towards his goal.

The closer he came to the colossal figure, the more he was dwarfed by its size. It brought a sense of salivation to his lips, looking up and seeing something so great hanging in the dead night sky that it would be viewable from every corner of Equestria.

Knowing what it was for made him drool.

His legs touched down on the hanging earth, letting clumps of dirt fall free from their fragile grasp, sailing down to the earth far below.

“Now let’s see.” He spoke to himself as he walked upside across the surface of the monolith. “He did say the spot would be right around… here.”

Discord snapped his finger, and then he was gone.

He reappeared in a room completely different from almost anywhere he had stood before. Through all the stone, through all the earth, through all the hanging magic that kept the monolith in the air, Discord found himself in one of the most unlikely of rooms.

A room filled with metal and technology.

It was large, grand, easily matching the size of the once sacred Hall of Elements. Sheets of slick metal were screwed and secured across every visible surface, from the walls to the ceiling and even the ground. Lights danced through the room across tracks, shimmering from thin exposed sections like little fireflies scurrying in a group beneath a tree’s bark.

The air hummed with activity, working with a power he could easily imagine, and yet had never touched. It was as simple to him as air, but just as foreign as every creature that had come through the portals so far. It was an entire room made of something Equestria had never seen before.

Discord pranced across the room.

“This is excellent!” He cheered again, performing a small twirl in the air. “An entire room filled with things Equestria has never seen! Televisions, electricity, circuitry, and so much more!”

The mad god turned his mismatched eyes towards the center of the room.

“And you are the one have to thank for it!”

His claw pointed towards a small platform, raised above the rest of the smooth metal floor. On it knelt a small figure, an ant in comparison to the room entire. A speck of dust compared to the colossal castle they were hidden within.

Discord flashed out of and into appearance next to the lone figure. He stood tall above the small form, crouched over an open panel of metal. The form was clearly human, dressed in short leave coat, long enough for the edges to drag across the ground. Human, obviously, but the details of what he looked like were completely hidden by his hunched form.

“I give you the materials and time, and you give me a room that I can literally call the center of a new world.” Discord spun again on the back of his hoof, admiring the alien room he was surrounded by.

“And it’s just so… unnatural!” It was not a word one was used to hearing as a compliment. “The sharp edges, the bright yellow, the sleek steel, not to mention the power it’s all using! No magic, no fire, nothing but the power you seem to create.”

“It’s not creation.” It was the first time the man had spoken since Discord had appeared. “It’s a conversion of natural energy sources into a usable form of electricity.” Silence was kept at bay only by the dull hum of power through the panels around the two.

“That’s it?” Discord asked. “No witty remark, no sarcastic comeback, nothing? Just… that?” The disappointment in the voice of the chaotic god was as plain as the metal he stood on.

“Nothing else to say.” The man continued. “Not until I get this done.”

His hands moved to his sides, lifting up the metal shoot that stood there. It slid across to him as he pulled, grinding across the floor as the harsh sound of metal on metal vibrated through the massive room. It fell into place with a sharp clang, hiding the work he had done.

Standing, he turned to face the draconequus, wearing a smile that hung over a mask.

“Or if you want I could stop, you know, pull up a chair, maybe get a nice chat going between us. It could be fun! I could tell you about how many bandits I’ve killed, or you could tell me of how many times you’ve been beatin’ by ponies with magic.” The man extended his hand outwards in offering.

“Do you want to start?”

Discord was fighting himself, caught between wanting to snarl with rage, but also curl his lips with glee.

“All at once I’m remembering why I love and hate you. I’m sure it’s a feeling a lot of people have towards you.” Discord bowed the same way the man did in front of him, extending his paw forwards as his sinister smile grew deep.

“Your daughter, for example.”

The man’s mask grew furious in a second.

“Aw, why so blue, handsome? Did I strike a nerve or two?” Discord watched with a hideous smile as the man’s hand twitched left and right, reaching for, then pulling back from a small holster along his hip. His slithering tongue wet his lips.

That was when Jack turned away.

“Aw, so soon? We were just starting to have fun!” The man stalked away from the multi-formed creature, fists clenched at his sides as his jacket jerked with every step he took.

He stopped and knelt in front of a small podium made of the same yellow steel as the room he was in. Just barely taller than half his height, it had a small pane of glass over the top of it, and an open panel in front of it. His hands reached inside, pulling at the wires within.

“Don’t be too offended Jack, it’s not like I can help it. I have my charms and you have yours.”  The man was mute in both response and action to the draconequus’s luring words. Instead, he focused his heterochromatic eyes on his work, letting his mind work out every calculation he need. His fingers deftly spun the wires, resistors, and capacitors together, twisting the metal lines before covering them in a light layer of bendable plastic.

“I know you get focused on your work, but you can’t have too little time to talk. C’mon, I can get something witty from you, right?” The multi-formed creature asked, but still the man did nothing.

Jack heard a pop of magic outside his line of sight. He didn’t flinch or falter in his work, continuing to connect, solder, and weave wires together.

“You know, I remember watching you and thinking, “That’s the kind of guy who knows what I’m trying to do.” But now… eh, you’re rather dull. A little gray maybe.”

The man still refused to give a response to the mad god, working diligently on the system in front of him. His hands lifted a metal sheet, placing it over the wiring, hiding it from view. Reaching backwards, he brought forth a small automatic screwdriver. He quickly went to work securing the metal in place.

“Oh come on, I know I’m not that boring,” Discord whined. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you're clearly so excited to get this done, but really, you gotta learn to relax some. Let go. Let you loose, you know?” The man’s fist rapped across the metal twice, creating a dull boom with each impact. Secured, he stood up and turned to face the monster.

He drew a gun from his hip as soon as his eyes fell across Discord.

“There we go!” The master of chaos cheered. “That’s what I was expecting. And all it took were a few more actions and few less words. Too bad I love to hear myself talk.”

Discord continued to twist his claws through the hairs of the girl beneath him.

Jack scowled in rage.

“Get away from her. Now!” The gun in his hand slowly hummed, filling itself with energy.

“Why? So you can go back to feeling dull and lifeless? That’s useless. I’d much rather see you trying to kill me than outright ignoring me.” The brow across Discord’s mismatched eyes furrowed as his lips twisted in savage glee.

But his claw slowly slipped out of the girl’s hair, leaving the black fibers to fall back in place.

“Then again, if I have to deal with a bit of predictability in order to get a whole world of chaos, I think I can live with that.” His paw lifted itself, rubbing over the girl’s forehead.

“It’s too bad she can’t.”

BOOM!

Discord vanished from the air as a stray bullet sailed through where he once stood. The ring of impact echoed across the metal chamber, vibrating like the clap of thunder.

“There we go!” The voice cheered above him. Jack wasted no time in turning his gun towards the ceiling, only to see the twisted draconequus embedded in one of the screens high above.

He was either deep in outer space, looking through the lens of a camera hanging in orbit, or he was prancing about in that mystical realm only magic could access, looking through the black screen like a shattering looking glass.

Jack scowled regardless.

“That’s better to see.” Discord commented as his paw pounded on the screen, causing a dull boom to echo through the spacious room.. “Get mad. Get angry. Get ready to fight. That’s what I need right now. I need you make sure every pony sees what’s going to happen. That’s all. You just need to make sure the entire land can see what we do.”

“They will.” Jack spoke harshly. “I’ve built systems a hundred times more complicated than this without magic.”

“Good.” Discord vanished from the glass high above him. The “pop” of magic behind the man was indication enough of where the draconequus was now. He didn’t bother to turn with his gun. It would just be another senseless display of force. “Then what’s left for you to do?”

Jack’s eyes looked forwards, looking at the child he cherished more than anything else, still as stone, and white as a cloud. She looked just like an angel.

“Once I turn it all on, it’ll be ready.”

“Well done,” Discord congratulated. “But, I really must be off,” He announced with a sudden spin body and flick of his claw. “Equestria must still be dreadfully confused about this tiny… well not tiny development. And I wouldn’t want to leave them confused for too long, otherwise, they might not appreciate the beauty of watching chaos grow and harmony die.”

Jack watched mutely as Discord laughed to himself.

“So do be sure to fire up that display soon. I would hate to look like a fool to those foolish ponies. Until later, ta ta!”

In another flash of light, Discord was gone, leaving Jack alone in the room of metal, hidden from the outside world. He released a tense sigh from his lips, watching the empty space the draconequus had once occupied. His heterochromatic eyes looked downwards to the gun in his hand.

It was his own model, his own design. A near flawless piece of weaponry that served as his side-arm from the years he had ruled Hyperion, expanded across Pandora, and killed hundreds of bandits.

It was as useless to him now as the mask on his face.

Jack turned back to the raised platform, only steps away from him. He approached without hesitance, walking up the steps until he stood side by side with the monitor he had programmed seconds before Discord’s entrance and the chair laid back with his beautiful daughter across it.

He let his hand brush over her forehead, moving the black strands that clung to her pale skin. He traced the flesh down her cheeks, her neck, ending at her shoulder.

His fingers played with the tubing that was inserted around her, keeping her alive with the same substance that had made him the most powerful man in the galaxy. Thick, purple, and toxic to the touch.

He turned from her, looking towards the lone console. It was well designed, sleek and sharp as everything else he had a hand in developing and making. His fingers danced a pattern across the dead screen, bringing life to the console. It hummed with activity like the room around him, flowing with power.

“Angel.” He whispered the name as his eyes turned to the still form of the young girl behind him. “It’s time to wake up.”

His thumb pressed on the console.

The body behind him jerked with life.

The humming presence of power in the room rose in volume, vibrating the metal platform he stood on, forcing him to grit his teeth. His daughter’s body jerked left and right, arms flailing upwards as her legs curled inwards. The wires whipped with every motion she made.

But he watched on, determined, eyes never shaking.

A scream ripped through her lips, then a groan, then a gurgle. The wires around her sparked, arcing with high enough levels of voltage to send him into a seizure. All it would take was a moment of bad luck, and he would be dead.

But to protect himself would mean leaving her side.

He swore he would never do that again.

Then it was done. She didn’t shake, she didn’t stir, and the wires didn’t spark. It was then a dead, monotone voice rose from his daughter’s pale white lips.

“Power reaching maximum output. All connections confirmed. Monitors coming on screen.”

High above the pair, black hanging glass started to shimmer, reflecting like pools of water before sparking with life.

All at once, images began to dance across them, colors and shapes that were moving so fast, they were impossible to recognize.

“Calibrating satellites with sub orbital rotation. Maximizing magnification of scopes. Enabling low level X-Radiation Video Feeds.”

The man watched the screens mutely as their blurred dirty forms began to change. The explosions of colors slowly stilled, shapes hardening within the clear glass frames. He could see land, trees, homes, but more than anything else he saw what he wanted to see.

The monolith of a castle floating above the dead night sky.

Each of the screens slowly began to zoom into the horrendously large object, focusing on different points of the display. The fine details of the bricks and stones became clearer and clearer the closer the screen approached.

And then blackness took over the screens again.

Individually, one by one, the screens began to change again. Different colors began to bleed into the dark screens, slowly hardening into definite shapes. But each screen showed something different. They were no longer different views of the same castle, multiple visions of the same colossus.

Now they showed different beings.

He looked to the screen hanging over a far wall. It showed a pony of fur dark and black, wings large and powerful hanging from her sides. A boy was by her side, gripping a sword that looked more malicious than the child holding it, edged and carved in purple and black. They both tread the ground in front of them carefully, each moving with a slow and deliberate pace. It was a good move to, because the walls around them were ablaze.

Jack turned his head, looking at another moving frame. This was of an old man wearing robes that looked like they belonged in a bathroom stall. He walked with strong strides despite the size of his beard. His lips moved in silent talk with the stallion at his side, unicorn to be precise. The pony spoke as well, but neither removed their eyes from the path ahead of them, dark and wet as it was.

Jack’s eyes then turned to the screen directly above him, and he had no intention to hide his vicious scowl. He watched a tall woman with blue hair and a painted arm walking up a gloriously decorated set of stairs. It spun ahead of them, turning out of view. But behind her walked a boy more timid than anything Jack had ever seen, gripping his gown tightly. Between the two was a pony far smaller than of the others, a coat as white as snow. She looked ready to cry as well.

“All monitors are online, feeds establish. Do you have any further requests?”

Jack’s eyes left the screens around him, looking instead at the frail form of the girl resting on the chair in front of him. She looked ready to snap, like even the faintest of winds would break her bones and spirit, if they weren’t broken already. He approached her, wearing a smile he had no trouble producing.

“You’ve done a great job, Angel.” He whispered over the body of the young girl. She stared up at him with empty eyes.

“Thank you, Dad”

Leaning down further, he embraced the child beneath him, holding her tightly against her. He felt her arms snake around his own neck.

Jack brushed his hand through his daughter’s hair, savoring every touch and sensation he felt. A slow breath entered his lungs, keeping at bay the tears that threatened to spill over. He gently whispered into her ear.

“My love is vengeance.” He held his daughter closer.

“That’s never free.”

Discord hovered freely in the air, his gaze focused on the monolith of his creation, but another’s design.

Inside that massive temple existed enough horrors to drive any being mad, and just as many monsters inside waiting and willing to finish the job. His mismatched eyes starred beadily, greedily, towards the floating mountain. Without even knowing the creatures within, it was a testament to his chaos enough.

It was enough to make him cry with joy.

But then his joy turned to jubilation.

The once dirty and jagged outside of the mountain began to spark, electricity arcing and spreading across the hard material. It was slow at first, slower than he cared to watch, but as the intensity grew, so too did the sound.

It sounded like nails down a chalkboard, the screams of infants, and the last breath of loved ones all conjoined into one terrible ear grating sound. Discord found it hard not to dance.

The harsh stone smoothed under the rippling power of the electricity that arced and conjoined over it, flattening into smooth metal and simple shapes. But just as quickly as the surface began to flatten out, so too did something else begin to crawl over it.

It was different than the sharp blue of electricity, and far from the same thing as the earth that was still covered far beneath. Instead, they were pictures, moving and mobile.

Every surface had a different picture.

Every surface was telling a different story.

Discord didn’t have to count to know how many there were.

“Fourteen.” He whispered. “Fourteen different tales of chaos and destruction, each one playing out differently than the other, each one more alien than the next.” Laughter wasn’t strong enough a word to describe the euphoric sound that ripped from his longs.

“It’s gorgeous! And the best part is, now it REALLY BEGINS!”

Discord slammed his claw and paw together.

A boom of thunder echoed across the land.

“WELCOME TO THE TEMPLE OF CHAOS!”

Within the Caverns

“I guess the games really have begun.” Azula spoke from the Canterlot balcony, leaning over the railing with her golden eyes trained upwards, her lips turned into a matching smile.

Her fingers slid from her ears as the tremors of Discord’s triumphant shouts echoed through the air before fading into nothingness.

Her eyes were trained on the smoothed screens outside the floating monolith of land, sparking with life across their black surfaces. Slowly, like ripples in water, colors began to dance across them, electric blue flashes dotting the surface.

Azula’s eyes widened with delight as the images of the warriors and creatures started to appear on the screen, split and separated from one another. She saw the old wizard, the dark princess, the small foals, the lizard man, and every other being the monster Discord has banished or sent away in some alien manner.

They really were in that vast temple, separated from one another by who knows how many traps, layers of rock, and horrors yet to be found.

The fire princess snickered to herself.

“Looks like tall, green, and brooding was right. That coward of a man was able to deliver.” She licked her blood red lips as her eyes were drawn to the screen facing nearest to her, containing the image of a dark pony with wings and horn, followed by a boy with long silver hair. They were both walking spikes, bent and prepared for an attack from any side.

To the cunning princess of the fire kingdom, it felt like she was a cat watching mice.

She loved it.

“It’s going to be such fun watching them suffer.” Visions of her brother’s brutal banishment danced through her mind.

She smiled at the fond memories.

“I have little… understanding of where we are.” Princess Luna spoke to her companion. She walked with careful hoof steps, moving forward at a pace even a newborn foal would find agonizing and slow. But, neither she nor her silver-haired ally though of quickening their pace.

“You’ve got more of an idea than I do.” Riku admitted to his royal companion. He held his curved sword at his side, letting it angle up around his chest. A simple twist of his wrist, and it would be the best means of defense he could form, should they be attacked.

With what they saw around them, an ambush would not be difficult and near impossible to anticipate.

The hall they walked down was not of significant size. The princess would wager the back halls of her home castle, meant for the maids and guards, were larger than the path she treaded. It was difficult enough for Riku to walk beside her, an indication by itself that if a terror did appear, she would not be readily able to move or escape it. That did not account, however, for the harm the walls themselves were capable of.

Fire bloomed around them, arcing and swimming through the stone like water. The rocks were warm to approach and near molten to the touch, as Riku had found out the unfortunate way. He was only too glad to be wearing his boots, as Luna was for her crystal-garbed hooves.

The princess’s mane twisted back and forth, matching the pattern in which her head moved. Her crystal blue eyes searched for anything that may differ in the wall, already too unsettled by the single direction they were forced to walk.

“Does it not unsettle you?” Luna asked to Riku. He didn’t need to question to understand what she meant.

“I know,” he responded. “Usually in a hall this long, there’s something to see or some secret to find.” The alicorn princess nodded in agreement.

“From experience, I can attest that the construction of such pathways is meant for the unseen movement of servants or other handlers of the castle’s structure. However,” her eyes turned to meet those of Riku, peaking out from just beneath his white bangs. “The lack of lateral pathways makes that impossible, leaving me with few options to decide from.”

“You think there’s something we’re missing then?” He asked bluntly, a tone Luna found herself neither enjoying nor perturbed by.

“I think we are being guided,” she spoke honestly. “I sense no curve in this path, but neither do I see a beginning or end. I find the construction of such a hallway, without a sinister intent, improbable to impossible.”

“So… illusion then.” Luna nodded at Riku’s words.

“Precisely.” The monarch agreed, “But illusions are difficult things to counter. There is rarely one cure all spell to distinguish them. Though I know a few, it would take time to cast. However, we could test the illusion...” Her lips tightened. “With touch.”

“Quite frankly I’m not exactly of the keenest mindset to rub my hands along the walls searching for any gaps or missing rocks.” Luna turned to face the boy, seeing a goofy smile on his lips, eyes half lidded as he looked at the wall within his arm’s reach.

She could not ignore the idea, the signs that is, that he was oddly calm with the situation. Such lack of concern for himself meant few options again for her to choose from. Either he was used to such predicaments or he cared little for what could happen to him. She hoped for the former, but could not dismiss the later.

Luna found herself studying him more the longer she looked at him. His features were smooth, free of blemishes as far as she could tell. There were neither natural signs of fatigue or age across his skin, nor any violent scars or bruises from battles past. To the naked eye, he appeared just as he was, an untrained boy holding a dangerous weapon. But the closer she looked, the more she saw.

Within his eyes, she saw pain, regret, and a bit of mourning. Luna knew, by instinct alone, that Riku must have seen much in his short life in order to hold such emotions within him. Those were not things a child was meant to hide.

But the longer Luna looked at the boy, the more she realized something. They were both trapped in an endless tunnel, fire sparking around them, and he had not a drop of sweat across his face.

Something was wrong with that.

“Are you hot?” Luna was sure there existed no other words to make his head whip towards her any faster than it did.

“What?” He asked blandly, but his eyes were wide with confusion and, undoubtedly, shock.

“Are you warm?” Luna elaborated. “Feeling the intensity of the heat around us?” She saw him release a breath of air in the form of a sigh. “Did I frighten you?” Riku’s lips curled into a smile before he responded.

“Yeah, a little.” He admitted, but the princess watched his features grow stern as his mind began to work. “And yes again. I am feeling hot in here, but then again it is kind of cramped.”

“My concern is that you have not released a bead of sweat, despite the heat.” Luna raised a hoof to her chin, rubbing down her dark coat delicately, as taught by her sister. “And even I have yet to perspire. Yet we are standing within a mane’s length of the fire around us. Does that not strike you as odd?”

Riku blinked towards the princess before he turned his gaze towards the wall. He watched, focused, on the fire that was swirling just beneath and above the surface of the red rocks, assuring himself that it was very much there.

Luna watched his hand clench and relax, clench again before relaxing again. Riku lifted his hand upwards, slowly letting it drift towards the flames. His fingers hesitated at the surface of the stone, hanging just above it. Then, with a deep breath, he pushed his hand forward.

He felt nothing. No flames, no stone, just heat and empty space.

Luna, just behind him, marveled at his outstretched arm, passing through the flames and stone she saw just in front of him. It hung there as if it was encased, some sort of magical torture to keep him sealed in place. But as his arm retracted, Riku turned to her, wearing a lopsided smile.

“Guess I should have just dragged my hand across it, huh?” Luna smiled politely at the words.

“I do not enjoy taking unnecessary risks.” The alicorn calmly noted, making sure her eyes were in complete contact with the boy.

“Oh, because that totally didn’t count.” Riku playfully argued back as he pressed his arm through the stone and back again, eyes focusing on the alicorn. “I try and make sure my hands can go through fire every once in awhile. Almost daily routine for me.” Luna altered her calm smile in a dry look of amusement.

“But of course,” she spoke on. “I was counting on it.” Without waiting for the Riku to say any more, the alicorn turned with the little room she had, allowing her muzzle to move through the stone first.

She felt the magic seep over her coat, twirling about her horn the deeper her neck reached into the illusionary red rock. It was a vitalizing feeling that she, admittedly, rather enjoyed. It felt little different than being on the opposing end of a levitation spell, giving her a ball of lightness focused upon the tip of her horn, spiraling down the curved protruding bone with an almost delicate touch.

Pleasured as it was, however, Luna knew she had little time to enjoy herself.

A few trots of her hooves forward and Luna found herself greeted with a new image to her eyes.

It was altogether magnificent and terrifying.

Before her stood an open chamber, tall as the grand hall of the Canterlot Castle and as wide as the streets that surrounded the capital city. Red rock, protruded from the ground and hung from the ceiling below, each sharpened into fine points, some connecting from the chamber top to bottom.

Her lavender eyes looked downwards, observing the path she had stepped onto. It was the same as the path she and Riku had treaded before, except now she could clearly follow its destination. It followed an oddly jagged path forwards into the chamber, flanked on both sides by pools of lava. Luna felt her fur clinging to her skin by the sight alone.

It was more than obvious that the heat was not merely a product of their minds. She saw small pillars of the flames dancing around the lava pools, swirling about platforms that led to the far walls. Treacherous wasn’t strong enough a word to describe the danger she saw in trying to maneuver those broken pathways.

But the most revealing, the most clear, part of the room she had stumbled into was the large structure that the jagged path she stood on led to. It was impressive in height and stature alone, though she had seen many stone carvings of greater size. Still though, it was detailed well with artwork and carvings she did not recognize. Reliefs were placed between the supporting stone pillars, each an excellent example of subtle art.

However, while Luna was not able to recognize the structure itself, she was familiar with its purpose. It had only a single entryway that the path she still stood on led to. Despite its height, there were no signs or indications that it was meant to be stood on or even reached. It was a statue one was meant to enter not exit.

It was a small mausoleum.

“Well this is strange.” Luna turned her head to see Riku standing beside her, their eyes on matching heights as he looked forwards to survey the sight she had come across. Her head nodded in agreement.

“Indeed it is,” she spoke. “I had not anticipated this in the slightest.”

“For my friend’s curiosity, what were you thinking of?” Riku asked with a small bit of laughter in his voice. It didn’t take the monarch long to realize what it was that gave him that small spark of happiness.

“Honestly, more traps, more turns, something that would appear delicate, but be deadly. However, there is nothing delicate nor safe about fire, flames, and magma.” Luna watched the boy beside her nod his head in agreement.

“Yeah, fair enough,” he responded lightly. Riku took the time to wipe his hand over his forehead. Only a few moments were spent in the room he already was sweating bullets. “Any chance you gotta way to… you know?” He held up hand to let her see the salty liquid dripping from his open palm.

“Oh, but of course.” Luna offered with a smile as she bowed her head. Her horn glowed an nightly blue, earning a small amount of tension through Riku’s body. He felt more than saw the aura encase him, looking down only to confirm that the color surrounding him matched the glow of the alicorn’s horn.

As it slowly crawled up his form, he felt the heat of the room leaving, the thick humidity of the – what appeared to be – volcanic chamber dissipating. When it reached to his chest, Riku felt the ability to breath immensely easier. He let out a slow breath of relief as the cocoon of magic surrounded his head before vanishing from sight.

“Better?” The alicorn asked as she raised her head to meet his gaze. Riku offered Luna his kindest smile.

“Yeah, tons.” He honestly spoke. “Thanks.”

“You are quite welcome.” Luna supplied before turning again to face the chamber before them. Riku did so with her, letting his eyes wash over all the features she had already seen.

“At least now we know where to go.” He began, pointing towards the straight path ahead of them. “Question is what do we do when we get there?”

The location to which the boy was speaking was more than obvious, as the mausoleum was not a structure easily missed. However, just as the carved stone was inescapable from even the unobservant eye, so to was the obstacle that stood in their path.

Before the mausoleum’s one entrance was a wall of rock. It appeared damaged, worn, maybe even hastily constructed, but even from the distance they stood from it, it appeared to be thick and strong. Luna let out a low sigh.

“We will have to decide once we reach it.” Without another word, the monarch began to trot towards it. Riku followed close behind her, careful not to crowd the jagged path surrounded by lava. Without experience, he knew how dangerous the red rock trail was.

His pace was slow, slower than Princess Luna’s, but that was to give him time to be observant.

The chamber was circular, and fairly large, but appeared that the only clear path was the one they were walking. The platforms on either side of the trail he was on, surrounded by pillars of flames, were impossible to ignore. They formed an easy to follow path to either side of the chamber, but there appeared to be nothing of significance there.

No carvings, no door, no monument, nothing. They were just small edges along the chamber edges, and that was it. There was nothing there to give either Riku or Luna incentive to traverse the dangerous path. That was the mystery. Why create a clearly treacherous path with no visible goal when there already existed an easily maneuverable trail with a destination that could be seen?

Riku pinched the bridge of his nose as he continued to move. There was something he was missing, but he could not fi-

His eyes caught movement. Above him. High above him. It was not a falling stone. It was not dripping magma. It had eyes, it had wings, it had claws, it was on fire, and it was alive.

It was diving straight for the unaware princess.

“Look out!” Riku shouted as he began to move. Luna had just enough time to flare her wings on instinct, twisting her head too look at the swiftly approaching boy before following his eyesight. Her crystal blue eyes landed on the descending creature the same moment that her jaw opened in surprise.

She quickly flared her horn, summoning a thick shield of magic over herself. Luna watched the foreign creature approach her, wings of fire beating through the humid air. Red eyes sharper than the flame that surrounded it were focused upon her. The princess could see nothing but the thirst for blood.

Her horn shined again, ready to prepare an offensive spell to propel the beast

It was unneeded.

Luna watched, mesmerized, as Riku’s curved sword flew through the air. It sailed through the creature without effort.

One section of it, one wing and its head glided through the air as if on course with its descent. The other half, the beasts other wing and small clawed feet fell to the stone just before her shield.

The upper section impacted her shield, creating a resounding thud that echoed around her. Luna watched, wide-eyed, as the creature fell off of her magical bubble, landing next to its missing half on the ground.

“Luna!” The alicorn turned to see Riku by the side of her shield, hand upon the magical force. “Are you alright?” The concern over her was needless, but the worry upon him was obvious.

The dark monarch took a slow breath of air, focusing her mind. Her mind was still processing the events that had occurred. The speed at which it had happened surprised her. A second would have been a generous amount of time to process it.

But it was over. The creature was dead. Her ally was concerned for her.

“I… am fine.” She replied easily, lighting her horn as she did so, the shield around her slowly dissipated into nothingness. She fixed her gaze on the boy, focusing on her breathing to calm herself. “Thank you for the warning. I did not see nor hear the creature’s approach.”

“No problem.” Riku answered instantly. He raised his hand into the air, letting his gaze look towards the mausoleum. Luna watched him focus on a distant target, confused as to what he was doing.

All questions were answered as the sword he threw returned to his grasp.

Luna was impressed.

“You are very well trained.” She admitted.  “Forgive me, for it has been a long time since… I felt my life endangered.”

Pat Pat

Riku’s hand patted Luna’s back.

“No problem your highness, it’s not something you want to get used to.”

Riku was beaming with pride. Luna’s eyes were wide in shock. They peered at the hand along her back as if it were a snake preparing to jump at her, coiling in the foliage with beady eyes on its prey. Her jaw worked uselessly, rotating in place as she worked her muscles to form words.

“Did… you just… pet me?”

Riku’s hand was still as stone on her back. His eyes moved from his palm, to Luna’s wide accusing eyes, then back to his hand.

He wrenched his arm away hard enough to make himself stagger.

Luna continued to stare at him, focusing on him as she would any abnormality around her. Riku was focused on her just the same, hand held  up to his side as if it were punishment to let it relax.

“I am so sorry.” He spoke earnestly to the monarch. “I-It’s an act of… endearment. I do… did it all the time with my friends.” His smile was lopsided, nervous and filled with worry. Luna raised a brow carefully towards his words. Slowly, very slowly, her head nodded towards him.

“I can understand your instincts to fall on the familiar,” she began. “However, please be aware that is not an action I am comfortable with. If you wish for a metaphor referring to you, how joyful would you be if I were to nuzzle you below the neck.”

Riku’s face lit up red. The heat of the chamber had nothing to do with it.

“My case is at rest.” Luna’s eyes turned again to the mausoleum, hardly more than a few trots away from here. “Let us continue on.”

Riku followed close behind her.

Both let their eyes wander the chamber walls as they moved, looking for the mysterious creatures of flight, alight with flames but displaying no pain. Yet neither the dark monarch or silver-haired boy saw another spark alight, disregarding their own. The magma around them continued to churn, the pillars of flames continue to burn, and they continued to walk.

They were before the mausoleum before they knew it.

Luna placed her hoof over the damaged stone that covered the entrance. It was just as she saw at a distance, worn and cracked, but clearly thick and strong. Her horn lit itself, ethereal aura washing over the stone object. Her eyes shut as she felt into the hard stone, searching for points of weakness.

She found just the opposite. At first, Luna believed herself mistaken, confused by the situation she was in. But as she cast the spell again, and then thrice there after, she still received the same result.

The stone was magically threaded with the rest of the structure.

Ley lines, strong and nurtured, were threaded and laced into the cracked granite, connecting it with the mausoleum. She felt the lines travel to each of the reliefs, coiling around them possessively, no differently than a mother’s connection to her child. Simply put, she would need to destroy the structure before she had any chance to break this stone.

With a sigh, Luna removed her hoof from the stone, convinced that her power could not, safely, remove it. Her eyes moved around the rest of the well-carved structure, gaining a better view of the reliefs that filled them.

She saw a serpentine dragon rising from flames, a creature made of rock holding a hammer of steel, a carefully sculpted ruby within a frame of gold, and what appeared to a creature rising from a lake. Luna believed the lake the creature was rising from was not filled water.

Then there was another relief, just above the encased door, above the rest of the stone-etched images. It was unlike the other pictures that appeared to be carefully captured scenes. This was a simple relief, basic in structure.

It was just an emblem, circular in shape. Across it was nothing of greater detail. If anything, it seemed rather simplified. It was flame, that much was obvious, but it lacked the renown sparks and freedom of fire. All ends were connected, the base evenly curved. To Luna’s artistic eye, it would appear to be the work of an amateur.

Yet, it sat above all the other reliefs, above the entrance to the mausoleum itself. Anypony would assume that it would mean some significance then. It was incredibly odd.

“Do you think we can break it?” Riku asked from beside her. Luna’s visions shook slightly before she focused on the boy. His eyes were transfixed on the fragile looking stone, though the alicorn princess knew better at this point.

“It would not be safe to attempt to break it,” she began. “Though it appears physically weak, I can feel it tied to the rest of the structure.” Riku let out a sight at her words before continuing with his own.

“I’ve already checked out the rest of this thing. The blocked path is the only way into it. The rest is embedded deep into the cavern wall. Can you think of any other way into it?” Luna shook her head.

“Not safely at least.”

“Awesome.” Riku dryly finished. He let out a low sigh as she turned in his eyes to the path behind them. It had remained just as unchanged as the stone they stood on. “What’s next then?”

“Next,” Luna questioned. “We find another means to escape this cavern.” Her eyes looked back to the path on which they had walked across, looking at the pillars of flames that rose from either side of the path. Her head nodded towards each one.

“It seems unlikely those exist only for show.” She saw Riku nod out of the corner of her eye.

“Yeah, I was thinking that earlier, but I don’t see where they could go.” His sword rose to point at one wall on the far side of the cavern. “There are no doors, no switches, or levers. Not even a few more portraits made of stone.”

“Reliefs.” Luna spoke earning a sideways glance from the boy. She easily explained. “Those ‘portraits of stone’, as you put it, are called reliefs.” His silver hair rose and fell in tune with his nodding head.

“Right, fact of the day.” He replied easily before sighing again. “Well, should we try and get over there?”

Luna twisted lips in thought, raising a hoof to push at her chin as she did so. Their one true path was cut off, and no other obvious paths existed. Exploring was the only alternative left to them, and those far edges were the only areas they had not yet reached. With a nod of her head, she spoke.

“Yes, though I hesitate to use the platforms surrounded by fire.” Riku chuckled next to her. His eyes looked to the still platforms raised above the boiling magma, surrounded by the most definitely moving fire. He hated jumping puzzles.

“Any ideas then?” He asked. His question was answered not with words, but the something he could only relate closely to unfolding a blanket. A whooshing sound that pushed the air in a very noticeable way. Riku turned his head out of curiosity.

He was met with the outstretched wings of Luna.

The monarch took an unhealthy amount of pride in the look of surprise the boy gave her. She let her lips turn into a smile as she answered his question.

“I believe that I will manage.” Without waiting for a reply, the monarch beat her wings, jumping with her legs to gain the momentum she needed to lift off the ground.

She fell back to the rock with a hard thud.

Riku winced. Luna was splayed out across the jagged red rock as if she were dropped. For all things considered, she actually was. She looked forward blankly with a dumbstruck expression. Riku raised his free hand to thread through his hair, scratching at the skin underneath as he held back the urge to chuckle. His smile, however, was more than happy to make itself known.

“Yeah, sorry princess, that’s not gonna work in here.” His hand fell from his hair to wave itself through the humid hair. “We’re in an enclosed cavern filled with magma. Your magic’s done a good amount of wonder to keep the heat from getting to us, but the density of the air is going to make it almost impossible to fly.”

The monarch’s eyes rolled in place to look up at him, expression as shocked as ever. Carefully then, Luna moved her hooves back onto the ground, pushing herself off of the stone with a bit of force. Her wings were tucked back into her sides. Her face had turned from shocked to sheepish. Riku was finding it increasingly difficult not to laugh.

“Be silent.” She commanded, though expected no honest action from the boy. However, whether by good nature or obedience, Riku raised his open palm and took a calming breath.

“I’m sorry, that was just… well I didn’t have time to warn you.” Luna gave a low sigh.

“I understand. However,” her eyes returned to the fiery platforms. “This creates a problem for how we are going to cross. I do not like the risk of jumping through fire and over flames.”

“I don’t either, so why don’t we do this?” Luna turned to see Riku holding his free hand outward to his side, just over the jagged path but in the direction of the magma pool beside him. His digits flexed and relaxed as his breathing took a slower, but deeper, tempo.

Then his arm pushed forth a curtain of darkness.

Luna watched, mesmerized, as what she could only describe as dark silk began to grow around Riku’s hand. It consumed his appendage, but grew in width and height the longer his arm we held outwards. It swallowed the light in the room, the larger it grew, billowing silently as it flowed with an almost majestic form. When it stood as tall as the silver haired boy, formed into a perfect circle, Riku withdrew his hand from it.

“That should do it.” He noted with a hint of satisfaction in his voice. His hand flexed a few times outside of the darkness as he watched it closely. Turning his head, he looked towards the ledge at the cavern’s far wall. “And it looks like it worked on both ends.”

Luna followed his trail of vision. Her eyes met with another portal of shadows, identical to the one Riku had created. This one, however, was located on the far side of the cavern, past the treacherous path.

Without waiting for ceremony, Riku stepped into the portal and out of sight.

Luna only had time to gasp before he reappeared through the other shadowy device.

The silver haired boy smiled at her from across the pool of lava. His look of satisfaction was as clear as her own features of disbelief. Luna’s eyes shifted from the dark portal just in front of her, to the one on the far side of the chamber, then back to Riku, still standing on the far edge with an almost cocky smile on his lips.

“It’s safe!” He called to her, cupping his free hand around his mouth. “I did just prove it!”  Luna could not suppress the huff of annoyance that puffed from her nostrils.

Still, she hesitated to move through the swirling mass of darkness. It was ominous in appearance, as any eye could tell. Her question for using it relied solely on Riku’s demonstration of its safety.

Her hoof reached forward, tentatively pushing itself into the dark matter. She held back a shiver as she did so. It felt as if cold air were grasping at her coat, pulling at the equally dark fibers. It was not wet or heavy, simply dense, consuming even. It did little to ease her mind.

“If you want, I can walk back through again. Would that help?” Luna turned an annoyed face towards the boy, watching his amused expression gaze back at hers. She sucked in a heavy breath before releasing it.

Twisting her head back towards the dark portal, she ventured through it.

The next thing she was aware of, she was standing next to Riku on the far side of the cavern, dark portal both behind her.

“See, it wasn’t bad.” The silver-haired boy spoke to her as she gave her a cocky smile. Luna did not respond to his baiting words.

Instead, her eyes moved over the cavern wall just beside her. It was made of the same red rock as the path and other surfaces adorning the volcanic chamber, still glowing with a heat the princess did not want directly against her coat. There were no switches, no buttons, no glyphs, and no reliefs that would possibly indicate any special purpose for the ledge they were on.

However, the monarch was not satisfied, and she still had one more card to play.

“Stand back, Riku.” Luna instructed the boy, taking care to make sure her voice was not in the realm of mockery. “Allow me to demonstrate my own magic now.”

Riku remained silent as the alicorn’s horn began to glow. It was the same majestic blue he had seen before, a lighter color than her coat. It hummed with activity as the power doubtlessly began to flood the spiral appendage.

He watched on with growing interest as a projection of light came from the glowing horn. It was more focused than the ambient radiance of Luna’s horn. It was conical in shape, directed at the fiery red rock in front of them. It shined across the wall in a way Riku could easily compare to a flashlight.

“What are… you doing?” The silver haired boy finally managed to speak, hoping that he did not throw off the concentration the monarch may have needed. He knew he was safe as she answered him.

“We proved earlier that there are walls here that are only illusions, well threaded and knit lines of magic designed to confuse those that look at them.” Riku nodded in understanding, though he doubted Luna could see him with her eyes shut. “I am trying to find areas of heavy magic signatures.”

“Because if there’s a cluster of magic, it’s probably a fake wall.” Riku finished for her, grinning at the prospect. He saw a soft smile grow over the alicorn’s lips as well.

“Precisely, and we are in luck.” The boy’s smile fainted for only a moment before he realized what Luna was speaking of. His eyes turned back to the wall, seeing what he hoped to be true.

The red rock the conical light was focused on shined a blinding white, drastically different than the dark to fading red of the rest of the wall, even when under the light of Luna’s horn. In a metaphor, it looked like there was a light being shined from the section of rock the princess was focused on.

“That’s fake, right?” Riku asked in confirmation. If the events of his life had taught him little of anything, it was that caution was never to be thrown to the wind.

“Correct, and I would wager feathers from my wings on it.” The light faded as Luna’s horn ceased its magical powers. The humming died only to welcome the sound of churning magma again. The wall returned to red rock, no different than any other section in the cavern. “Now, we can continue.”

“Hold on,” The boy’s sudden command stilled Luna. “It’s my turn for a question now.” The monarch gave Riku a puzzled look, no idea in her mind as to what he could be asking.

“And that question is?” The boy’s hand motioned towards the fake wall.

“Why don’t you just… get rid of the illusion?” He spoke as if it were an obvious choice. “I mean, you said before you couldn’t because you didn’t know what kind of illusions they were. But, you do know, right?” Riku held up his hand questioningly. Luna smiled gently as she responded to him.

“It is possible for me to cast them aside, yes. However,” she spoke with an air of caution. “Doing so requires far more magic than a simple probe. With the unknowns we face in this place, I thought it best to limit my use of magic until ultimate necessary. Would you disagree?” The monarch made sure her smile was coy.

“Yeah, that does make sense. Sorry, didn’t think that far ahead.” Riku laughed at his defeat.

“No apologies are necessary, Riku.” Luna offered. “Curiosities should be enjoyed and explored. Such is the joy of life. But, we must go.” She motioned with her head towards the false wall. The boy looked towards it briefly before returning his gaze to the monarch. Wearing the same smile as before, he took a low bow towards the alicorn.

“After you, milady.”

Luna was having a difficult time deciding if he was being genuinely polite or mockingly classy. With a small sigh, she dismissed the internal question for another time. There were far more pressing matters than the amount of respect one had for mannerisms. Trotting forward, she began to move through the false wall, no differently than before.

Luna’s ears perked the moment she began to move through the illusionary rock.

It was not out of discomfort or unease. Rather, it was out of a need for attention.

A soft, peaceful noise was flowing into her, gently vibrating her auditory ossicles. She had to stifle a sigh of pleasure as her mind began to wander with the haunting tune, gently asking her to find the source of the wondrous sound.

Luna pushed her head and form through the remaining section of fake rock, eager to find the source of the pleasurable noise.

She let out a silent gasp as her cerulean eyes fell on the sight.

There was a man on the other side of the wall.

He was sitting in the center of the room, cross-legged with shut eyes. His hands were grasped around an object the lunar princess was more than merely familiar with. It was a violin, one of the oldest and most celebrated of instruments in classical times.

The small hollow wooden object was anything but simple. It could produce tunes that entire choirs would be ashamed for attempting to match, capable uplifting the spirit with just as much ease as it could summon weight of the world. With only four taut strings, a violin was capable of doing so much.

Luna’s felt a battle within herself as she watched the man play on the beloved instrument, a war raging of emotions. One part of her, the side she had listened to thus far, demanded an explanation for the man’s presence. Ignore the music, ignore melody, ask instead how he came to be here.

Then the other side of her, the part of her that loved the arts as she loved her sky, was enraptured with the soothing tunes that the strings played, pulling on her own with such ease. She could ignore the terror of this place, the games of Discord, for only a moment. If only so she could enjoy the symphony the man was creating.

But then the beautiful noise stopped, abruptly and without even a warning. Luna felt a tingling of discomfort and annoyance as she longed for melody to continue. As her eyes opened, she saw the reason why the tune had ceased.

The man was staring back at her.

All illusions were shattered as their eyes met.

The princess was frozen, her eyes wide with shock. The man looked back at her with his own wide eyes, though accompanied with jagged smile. The silence between them persisted as time continued to move on, neither moving nor breathing.

Raising his hand from the violin, the man broke the silence first.

“Hello there!”

He spoke happily to her, waving his hand as he did so.

Luna fell to the ground with a cry of surprise.

“Princess!” She heard Riku beside, earning a small glance from her eyes to ensure he was there. He was, beyond the wall just like herself.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry.” The man spoke in a tone she could call nothing else but civilized. It earned the conjoined attention of the human boy and alicorn. Luna could feel the shock emanating from Riku, the same as it did from her.

The man was sitting just in front of them, legs crossed with one arm holding his violin in place, black bird still perched on its end. His eyes were gazing at them with an almost cheerful disposition, as if they were meeting on a corner bakery for a spot of tea.

It was beyond odd.

Luna felt herself tensing, wings flaring, as the man continued to smile. She knew, almost by instinct, that Riku was reacting the same.

“Oh please, don’t think of me as a threat,” The man spoke again, lowering his violin as he held his arms up and palms forward. “I was just tired and decided to sit here for a rest. Nothing relaxes the mind quite like Pachelbels Canon in D. You surprised me as much as I did you.” Luna sucked in a breath before responding to the man. She found herself voicing her concern with a sense of unease that refused to settle.

“You seem... oddly calm for this situation.” The man’s smile didn’t falter. Instead, he gently laughed. It was not unnerving, but it was still no less than his very presence so far.

“Well, I am an odd kind of thing.” He admitted almost happily. “But enough of that, you must excuse me for my rudeness.” The man spoke again. “You see, I’m a bit lost at the moment and… well, let’s just say I haven’t seen friendly faces in a while.” The dark alicorn continued to stare at him, her features calming from tense and prepared to soft and confused.

Before she could offer her own words, Luna felt herself being lifted from the ground.

“Are you alright princess?” Riku’s concerned voice spoke from behind her. His muscled arms helped to lift her from the burning floor. Luna felt herself flush in embarrassment, unaware that she was still lying across the hot rock.

She muttered her thanks to the silver haired boy, who nodded in return.

The man watched them with unwavering interest. She let out a sigh as her wings rustled themselves before returning to her side. Blinking, her dark eyes turned to the man again, still sitting patiently in front of them, though now leaning backwards as he rested on his hands. That was when she started to really notice him.

His mane was blond, golden like the sun, and nearly as long as the boy’s she traveled with. His garb was of plain colors, white, tan, and brown. There was a white undershirt that stretched the length of his arms and a tan sleeveless coat that hung on his shoulders long enough to pillow around his crossed legs.

His pants were brown, a shade lighter than the rocks, but little different other than that. More that though, there was a black bird perched on his shoulder, staring at them with a tilted head and blood red eyes.

What she could not avert her eyes from were the features that were placed over his skin.

The man’s left eye seemed plastered, fake, like dust was thrown over it and commanded to harden. She would have called it that even, if not for the mark of a talon that was scratched over the eye as well. It appeared like the attack of a cockatrice, yet she had never heard of a “partial stoning” before.

Then again, his hand was much the same.

It was a grayed and made of granite, appearing even from the distance she had from him to be heavy and hard. In most other circumstances, she would chalk it off as a joke of decorum, a prank to scare an elder. But she had no such thoughts now. Now, all Luna could see was an appendage that looked designed and crafted for malicious intents.

And still the man kept smiling.

“What is your name?” She asked him, letting her legs tense as she spoke. The monarch did not know the man’s intent, but she could not mark him as ally or friend so easily, not with the situation at hoof. A light hand from Riku behind her was indication enough that her caution was not misplaced, or at least not unshared.

She watched the man’s grin grow a bit wider.

He leaned back onto his hands, just enough for his legs to leave the harsh stone floor. His arms bent at the elbows, then with a mighty push, he lifted himself into the air. His form gracefully flipped him upwards, landing him on his feet just a few hoof lengths in front of where he sat.

With the momentum of his short landing, he reached down and grasped his violin, standing back to his tallest as he did so. Luna had to admit, the action was almost majestic in smoothness.

The man lifted his wooden instrument back to his collar, letting his eyes fall to half mast as his bow settled peacefully on the string. His black bird fluttered and sat on the end of the instrument as it had before.

Lune felt a cold shiver run through her spine as he spoke in a calm dead voice.

“My name is Karl. Who are you two?”

“Oh! What an interesting fellow that is.” Discord noted absently as he beat his talon over his bearded chin. His smile nearly reached his eyes.

“So many possibilities there, enough to make any draconequus weep with joy. But!” He declared to himself, straightening his floating form as if he stood on a podium. “There are many more contestants that need attention!”

The mad god flew around the monolith of a castle, appearing to be nothing more than a fly against a mountain. It was an exhilarating feeling, being so much smaller than an object, an object so large his vision could encompass all of it.

It was so alien, so foreign, so odd, so so beautiful.

“Ah!” Discord declared, stopping mid flight to curl his form, mismatched red eyes focusing on a new screen. “Here’s another set of lively participants.”

A slithering tongue ran over his lips as he absorbed himself with the image in front of him. The two of the most unlikely to be paired, and the two the green wizard of Hyrule had asked to be placed against one another. One who inspired fear, and another who worked for kindness.

It was difficult for Discord to blink, else he miss a moment of the image he watched.

There were many things that could be said for Batman.

He was a man dedicated to what he did. Be it unwanted or even appalling, he always did what was necessary to complete the task at hand. It didn’t matter to him what he had to give up, as long as it saved the lives of others or completed the mission he set for himself. His one rule was his only rule.

He was cleverer than almost any other being in existence. By himself, he had outsmarted many humans, aliens, and even mythical creatures, no matter how much stronger than him they were. There was always a way out. Always.

He was always prepared. No matter the situation, no matter how impossible the chance, he was ready for anything that could ever come his way.

Batman had no idea how to handle the fragile yellow pegasus holding him like a lifeline.

His shielded eyes looked at the shivering mass of yellow, holding onto his chest with four hooves wrapped tightly around his torso. Her flowing pink hair hid her features from his sight, but it was more than obvious she was in a distraught state. The pony was acting no differently than many children he had come across in the moments after some violent crime.

Scared, alone, and usually desperate for answers. They would always cling to him, the person who had either saved them or had come back for them. Convincing them to let go, to move on, was never easy. Fortunately, he was practiced.

Batman raised his hand, gently letting the hard material of his glove rest on the pink mane of the pony. He felt legs grip him tighter, though not nearly enough to hinder him from speaking.

“It’s alright.” He spoke in a calm neutral tone, keeping the pressure of his hand atop the pegasus. “You’re safe now.”

Large blue eyes looked up to him, teary with fear that matched the strength of her grip around him. She hiccupped at him, her lower lip caught between her teeth. Batman did nothing more than keep the pressure of his hand upon her mane.

“W-We are?” The question came from a voice softer than what the Dark Knight had expected, full of sincerity and youth. He had neither information nor knowledge about her or her race, beyond the obvious comparison to equine species. The only judgments he could make about her were based off of the small encounters he had with the elder princess before the monster’s intervention.

That… and the yellow creature’s own words.

“We’re the only two here. There’s nothing else around us.” A partial truth, Batman knew it as he spoke it. They were the only two to arrive in their current location, but he had no knowledge nor idea of any other life forms around them. Not yet at least.

“O-okay.” The soft voice spoke again, her head leaning down as she rested it against his torso again. She didn’t let go. Batman didn’t let his hand fall from her mane.

She was still terrified, clearly, as the grip around him was just as stiff as ever. That was understandable though, as Batman was easy to remind himself. Trust was not an easy thing to make, and it would take more than a few kind words to have her start believing him.

Batman raised his cowl to look around him.

He held no opinions or hopes of being able to recognize the location they were in. The world he had entered was foreign territory in the purest form of the word. No matter how close the structures appeared or ever would appear to be, there would always be subtle yet significant differences between what he saw in one world and what he was used to in his.

Batman had that problem here.

The structure in front of him was by no means modern, not even in the primitive cultures that existed in his world. He was able to recognize, name even, several of the art styles that adorned it. Tall stone pillars, clay walls, arcs of granite. They were all basic yet very sturdy means of support. There was a large gate in the center of the wall, flanked by two of the aforementioned pillars. They were holding up what was clearly the roof of the cavern they were in.

Light danced from small torches around the outer chamber. They lined the walls and were imbedded into the stone. They rose in rows, higher and higher, until they circled around the cavern’s ceiling, giving the stalactites almost ominous shadows. The fire did, however, provide more than an efficient amount of lighting to see the large structure in front of him.

However, what he was allowed to see was severely limited due to the walls that were in place. The large stone building that rose behind the clay was obvious, but there was too little to see to properly judge it. All Batman could be sure of was that it stood on at least the third story and had a window large enough for him to move through.

Seeing anything more would require moving through the gate in the wall, but opportunity would be difficult with the pony around his torso. Her shivering subsided only a small amount, but she had yet to do anything more than let her tear filled eyes look to his side, cheek pressed against his emblem. Batman’s hand was also still set on her mane.

“We’re going to need to move.” He spoke easily, watching the pegasus with his eyes hidden beneath the white frames of his cowl. Batman heard her suck in a tight breath of air as she looked up at him.

“But… wouldn’t it be safer to wait here?” She began, hoping flooding her words faster than a hurricane could a city. “I-I’m sure that the princesses are working to stop Discord right now. And Twilight is probably on her way to finding us with the Elements. Oh, I hope she’s okay though, and the rest of the girls, too. I know Rarity can be terrified when she’s taken out of her normal routine. Applejack’s probably working hard to-”

“Calm down.” Batman spoke as a command. The pegasus’s lips tightened instantly.

He thought quickly of the best way to approach the conversation. Relations wasn’t his strongest area of expertise. Usually the police would gather the information and he would use it, or one of the other members of The League. Here, he had to make sure the pegasus had his trust, or else her life could be in danger.

“What is your name?” He asked. The yellow pony looked up at him carefully, trying to find anything terrifying in his gaze. It wouldn’t be that hard if she really searched.

“Fluttershy.” The pegasus meekly spoke up to him, breath calming in only the faintest of amounts. Any little bit of comfort the pony had the better.

“Fluttershy,” Batman repeated. “We are the only two here. I have no idea what that thing was that sent us here, or where we even are, but waiting here will not help us.” The Dark Knight watched the pony expectantly.

Her lips tightened, pulling her mouth into a straight line. Her eyes averted his gaze, her head pushing into his chest again. She was hiding something.

“Do you know where we are?” Fluttershy looked up to him with a shocked expression.

“Oh, no!” She immediately replied. Batman lowered his hand from her mane as the pegasus’s head began to shake in denial of the question. “I have no idea where we are, or why we’re here, or… who you are.”

With a straight emotionless face, matched with an equally even tone, he spoke to her again.

“I need you let go now.” Fluttershy blinked in response. Batman let the silence continue between them for only a moment. “Please.”

“O-Okay.” She uneasily replied.

Batman felt the pressure of her legs relieve from him. It was difficult to judge, with the pink mane covering her facial features, whether the act was because of unease towards him or growing trust between them.

Regardless, Fluttershy slowly made her way to the stone ground, hooves lightly clopping over the stone as she stood on her own four hooves. Her head looked up to his own, her eyes staring back at his expectantly.

The crackling of flames broke the silence between the two.

“Thank you.” Batman spoke simply. Fluttershy smiled in response, soft and delicate, no different than the manner in which she spoke. “Let’s go then.” Her smile fell instantly.

“Oh, b-but, couldn’t we wait out here?” She asked once again. “I-I mean, it’s much brighter out here and that… that fort, oh, it just looks so dark and scary.”

“And a much more fortified position that out in the open.” Fluttershy couldn’t have hide her fear from Batman.

“You think we’re in… danger?” The pegasus curled on the ground at the thought, her mane cascading across the rough stone like a blanket.

“Not yet,” Batman spoke as his eye looked upwards towards the structure again. His eyes squinted as he judged what little he could see. By eyesight alone, the clay walls appeared to be thick, easily dense enough to withstand most forces. The stone pillars and arches as well appeared too fortified for most methods of attack. “It would be safe to wait inside the structure though. We may be able to find out where we are at least. That can help us find a way out.”

“What… what if there is no way out?”

Batman looked back to the yellow mare, seeing the worry and fear in her eyes clearer than he did the torches along the cavern walls. In a smooth and calm motion, he knelt to one knee, placing himself just above eye level with the pony.

“There is always a way out.” The words came out with practiced ease. He let his armored hand fall on the pegasus’s mane, causing her head to slightly bob under the weight. “Always.”

Batman watched, both perplexed and curious, as Fluttershy’s wings rose upwards.

The pegasus backed away from him with obvious haste, one of her fore hooves rising to push down the feathery appendages. The blush was almost mistakable under the soft light and equally pink mane.

“Um,” she spoke meekly, mane hiding almost all of her features. “W-We can go inside then. That is, since you are so confident, I-I’m sure we’ll be okay.”

Batman stoically watched the pegasus nearly quiver as she folded in on herself, her mane and tail hiding nearly all of her yellow coat. Terrified wasn’t strong enough a word to correctly describe the amount of fear the pony was projecting.

He shut his eyes as he judged the situation. He was in an unknown land in a location that was just as mysterious to the local population. Said population was under attack by what he could accurately judge to be a deity in power that preferred games to destruction, that is if the brief dialogue the monster had spoken of could be trusted.

There was little chance that anything would approach them where they were, as they would doubtlessly have at least heard of another form of life by now. However, it was just as clear that they were meant to enter the enclosed fort just in front of them. There would doubtlessly be traps and many dangerous trials within. Taking someone who was not used to situations such as this would be extremely risky.

However, leaving her alone outside the fort would only invite some kind of misfortune to fall upon her. Worse even, he wouldn’t be there to protect her if that did happen. Looking back down at the pegasus, he spoke to her.

“So long as you follow my orders, I promise you’ll be fine.” He watched her wide blue eyes stare at him, transfixed on what he was saying. “Do you understand?”

“Y-Yes.” Her voice quivered as she spoke, but she rose taller on her hooves regardless. He nodded towards her, satisfied.

“Good.” Without another word, Batman started off for the drawbridge of the fort, the sound of clopping hooves just behind him.

He kept a careful eye on the open section of the clay wall as he approached. The shadows of the walls themselves hid much of the inner courtyard, too tall to allow enough light from the torches to enter, but he also saw nothing moving within. No shadow swirled and no light bent the closer they approached. As far as he could tell, there was no threat, so far.

The outer walls soon stood tall above them. They stood easily above four times his height, and as he had thought, thick enough to endure the blows of battle or time. The stone pillars were, however, cracked with age. There were small sections of intergranular erosion taking place along the rising columns. Batman had no desire to stand beneath the possibly decaying stone they held up.

He walked into the fort unceremoniously, Fluttershy quickly following.

As they entered the open section of ground within the clay walls, they saw little to nothing, a combination of poor lighting and even less to see.

The courtyard was undecorated, save for the pillars that lined the path towards the now apparent castle, small as it was. Unlike their brethren outside, holding up stone arches, these sat in the ground with nothing above then. Support-less pillars. There were no elegant statues, no dried fountains, nothing to indicate the area they stood in was ever anything more than an empty and unused patch of land.

Batman was not convinced.

“Something’s not right.” He spoke as if it were a fact. He turned off the path towards the castle’s entrance, walking instead towards one of the inner clay walls. With only a squeak of surprise, Fluttershy followed close behind him.

“W-What do you mean? Is something wrong?” Batman did not offer her even a turn of his head as he fast approached the wall.

“Aside from location, everything about this structure indicates that it was a fortress of some kind. However, there’s nothing in this courtyard to indicate that. If it were meant for soldiers, then there would be a barracks. For civilians in times of war, then fountains or other aesthetic features. But here, there’s nothing. I don’t buy it.”

He stopped as the wall was just before him, barely visible under the shadow it gave. Fluttershy ran her body close to his, letting her coat hug against his chest through the fabric of his cape. Batman gave only a glance of notice before returning to the wall.

His hand rose to top the edge of his cowl, lighting the displays inside his sockets. The shadows left in place of an ultraviolet light, showing the detailed image of the clay wall. The surface was anything but empty.

“I knew it.”

“Knew what?” Fluttershy asked perplexed, eyes looking up to him before back to the wall. “I-Is there something there?” Batman felt the pressure on his leg grow. Looking down, he saw that her eyes were strained beneath the shallow light, dilated until her blue irises were nearly unseen.

His hand reached beneath his cape, opening a compartment along his belt. With another practiced moved, he pulled out a small stick, shaking it slightly as he did so. Beneath his two fingers, he crushed the object like shell around a nut.

The stick lit up the area around it.

Fluttershy’s wings quickly extended as she pushed herself into the air and away from the sudden and offensive light. Her eyes silently cried in pain, forcing her to shut them. A small cry of pain did leave her lips, a moan of discomfort.

Batman gave her a glance, watching as she hovered briefly in the air before returning to the ground, sitting on her flank with her hooves over her eyes. They rubbed against her closed lids, attempting to dull the throb of pain they were giving her.

“Sorry.” He callously offered. Fluttershy removed her hooves from her eyes, looking back up to him with small pupils surrounded by large blue irises. An obvious side-effect to extreme light change.

“Oh, that’s alright.” She meekly spoke. “I just wasn’t prepared for that. I mean, it really surprised me.” Her eyes blinked a few more times, attempting to readjust with the sudden bloom of light that glowed from the stick Batman was holding. She squint her lids as the light continued to assault her. Slowly though, it began to dim as her eyes attuned to the new source of illumination.

“Thank you, actually,” she spoke to Batman as she began to approach him again. “It’s much easier to see now.” Her eyes turned to the wall, letting the new lamination light up the clay surface.

Her eyes began to widen again.

“W-What are those?” Fluttershy spoke as her hoof pointed towards the wall, shaking like a leaf in the wind. Batman let his vision return to the tall clay wall, a most definitely not smooth surface.

“That, is what I wanted you to see.” He answered as he held the glowing stick up. The shadows were chased away as the illumination of his tool began to consume the ancient structure, chasing away the blackness. As the last of the shadows were pushed from sight, Batman’s discovery came to light.

The wall was adorned with a cryptic ancient language.

Or at least, that is what Batman guessed it was. An innumerable amount of markings were made across the wall, each made with small chiseled dents into the hard clay wall. They were not deep, but they also were shallow. Each and every mark was smooth and straight, giving the impression of prior planning.

The type of tool that made them was impossible to determine. It was just as likely to be a chisel from a master craftsmen as it was a metal sword from a warrior’s harness. Erosion and age had left nothing but the indentation itself in the clay.

“If I had to guess, they are some kind of ancient markings, a permanent method of recording the history of this place.” His hand made a soft grinding noise as it ran across the surface, his digits falling and rising as they moved over the divots of space.

“Wow, how can you tell that?” Fluttershy asked with clear interest. Before he answered, Batman’s hand rose to just beneath one of the markings, crossed over with two others above it. His hand then slowly glided across the stone, parallel to the ground. As it traveled, it ran across the clay without running over a single divot.

“The markings follow a clear line.” He clarified. “It eliminates or at least limits the possibility of them being caused by any form of battle or truly random pattern.” His hand fell back to his side, hiding beneath his cloak. “It isn’t unusual to find these kind of markings in ancient structures.” That earned a curious twist of Fluttershy’s head.

“What do you mean?”

“Many cultures would build large or immense structures to tell of their history, usually by way of images or pictures.”

“Why?” Fluttershy asked him, her eyes perked and attentive.

“Despite the preconceived notion that ancient races are inferior to modern technology, they were by no means ignorant of time. Usually, they try and leave their history in such ways so that future generations, those who speak a different language than they do, will be able to understand what happened.” Batman’s hand twisted until his thumb was aligned with one of the vertical markings, letting it run up and down the crevice. He saw no visible strain in the clay or obvious signs of decay.

“No, no that,” Fluttershy clarified. It earned a twist of his head. “I mean, um, why would they leave their history behind here? Oh, I can’t be certain, but wouldn’t it serve more good in a museum? Or maybe a library, Twilight does say that books teach us about the past.”

“They don’t do it to teach themselves.” Batman spoke back. “They do it to be remembered by others, once they are dead and gone.” He didn’t need sensitive ears or years of training to hear the pegasus’s gasp of surprise.

“That’s horrible!” She declared in what he could easily call the loudest she had spoken thus far. “What kind of pony would plan for death?” Batman didn’t miss a beat.

“A wise one.” He didn’t need to look to know she was staring surprised at him. His eyes were far more transfixed on the still seemingly random markings. He spoke on regardless.

“Death comes to all of us, no matter how powerful or old we may live to be. When it happens, we leave behind only our memories and the actions we have done. Sometimes, those are forgotten, drowned beneath the passage of time. It’s an innate fear for people, being forgotten. If they can be remembered by civilizations in the future, then they’ll be less afraid to live.”

Fluttershy looked up at him, caught between awe and dumbstruck.

“You’re pretty smart.” She spoke honestly to him. “You remind me a lot of Twilight.”

Batman looked towards her with a flat line over his lips.

“Do you know what these mean?” He asked Fluttershy, eyes looking to the pegasus. Fluttershy gave a small start of surprise, but quickly composed herself. Her eyes looked along the wall, still well lit by the glowing stick Batman had produced.

“I-I don’t know,” she honestly spoke, “But I’ll try.” She began to observe the markings along the wall, licking her lips as she concentrated. Her hoof ran over the stone, brushing away the dust that covered them.

Her head tilted back and forth, her bottom lip caught between her teeth as she did so. In her honest opinion, unspoken as it was, the writing looked little more elegant chicken scratch. The lines were straight and well carved, but they met in odd angles, had no curves or shapes, and each appeared to be more like claw marks than an ancient language or tongue.

“No,” Fluttershy answered honestly. “I’ve never seen anything like this, not even in Twilight’s old novels. I’m sorry, but I think she would be more helpful here.”

Batman did not respond. Instead he focused his eyes back upon the wall, letting the ends of his glove run over the carefully etched markings. There were no jagged ends, or cracked chunks of clay. They did appear random, or at least in some form of disarray, but the smoothness and cleanliness of each marking was too well done for them to be anything else other than intentional.

“Hold on a second,” Batman gently spoke as he raised his covered arm to the stone. Fluttershy watched, enraptured, as a soft track of light began to glow from his black arm. It shined across the stone, illuminating it like the candles along the cavern walls.

“Oh,” Fluttershy let out without command. “What is that?” Batman offered her a sideways glance before letting his eyes return to the stone and his extended arm.

“A three-dimensional scanner and interface decoder.” He spoke simply. The prolonged silence from the pegasus was the only clue he needed to know she didn’t understand him. “It scans a select part of the environment and analyzes it for abnormalities, or it can decode specific languages using processes of elimination. That will take time though.”

“Oh, wow.” The yellow pony spoke in astonishment as she walked closer to the black garbed man. Her wing ran against his cape, earning a small motion of his eyes to observe her. Fluttershy’s blue eyes were transfixed on the scanner as it continued to work, reflecting the light it gave off with a luminescent shine. “How can it translate something like this? That is, if you don’t mind telling me.”

“All sentences of every language has a structure that it has to follow,” he began. “These forms can change from culture to culture, but they are always there. If I scan enough of these markings, I’ll be able to identify the sentence forms by which this language follows. After that, it will be a matter of time before I’m able to match up markings with understandable words or phrases.”

Batman pressed a button on his gauntlet, and the light vanished just as fast as it appeared.

The pegasus backpedaled slightly in surprise, a light gasp coming from her lips. He paid her little mind, eyes transfixed on another glowing panel on his gauntlet. Fluttershy timidly walked up next to him again, letting her eyes look at the display Batman was paying such dedicated attention to.

Pictures danced across his black arm, little colors of blue, white, and red moving with unabashed speed along his gauntlet. Her eyes could barely keep pace with the short amount time one light would appear, glide across the small panel, only to disappear again.

That when a small beep came from the panel, followed by all lights on the display turning a dark red. Fluttershy gasped in response, but held her ground with an almost foreign sense of determination. Her eyes looked over the panel as Batman did as well, seeing words written in white being laid over the red display.

“Interesting.” Batman noted almost dryly.

“What is? Did you find something?” Something snapped back into place as Fluttershy asked those words. “But you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. That is, if it’s private, I’m alright.” Batman answered her without a moment of hesitation.

“I haven’t found anything on the glyphs yet. However,” he dropped off as his other arm rose to the glass display. His fingers began to run over the lights. Fluttershy watched with just as much interest as before as the small pictures started to change with his touch and command. It was nothing short of magical to watch.

“However, what?” she asked as he failed to continue.

“I’m detecting signs of low level radiation, specifically of x-ray wavelength. It’s nothing immediately harmful, but it is strong enough to barely pass through the dense and likely thick structure of the stone and clay.” Fluttershy looked up at him with a tilted head, one eye hidden behind her mane. The visible blue orb was squinting in confusion.

“I’m… not sure what that means. I’m sorry, but I don’t know.” Batman looked down at the pegasus before responding.

“We’re being watched.”

“This guy is good.” Jack noted as he tapped his chin with the hard metal of his controller. He watched the dark suited man play with controls on his arm, occasionally glancing around them. “Almost makes up for dressing like an idiot. Ah, but let’s see if there’s anything better on.”

Jack tilted the controller to the screen in front of him, pressing the plastic buttons protruding from the metal. Instantly, the small yellow pegasus and tall dark man were gone from sight. The screen dulled into a screen of dancing static before refocusing on an entirely new image. Jack reached for a ball of popcorn as he watched the image.

His head tilted to the side as he chewed on the vaporized corn in his mouth. The image was clear with no static or lighting issues. The figures that were portrayed on the screen were clear as well. A cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane caught looking forward with some kind of panic. A hedgehog right beside it with it’s hand raised in defense.

Jack laughed at the sight before pressing the buttons on his controller again. Nothing happened. Swallowing the kernels in his mouth, he muttered to himself.

“The heck?” He asked aloud, aiming the metal contraption at the screen, pressing the button again and again. The screen remained still as rock. A scowl ran over his face.

“Hey Angel!” He called backward, looking towards the pale feminine figure wired to the chair behind him.

“Yes father?” The robotic voice answered from the dry red lips.

“What’s going on with the video readings? It’s frozen solid! Some kind of… magical interference or is there just too much lag?” There was a slow buzz of activity from behind him, and Jack knew it was his daughter working through the circuitry to find the problem.

“All satellite feeds are working to optimal performance with no discernable interference or noticeable rebound times.” Jack pinched the end of his nose.

“Then what happened to the petting zoo?” He asked absently with eyes trained on the television screen. Jack tried to recall any memory that could help him sort out the problem, a hint or some clue he may have forgotten.

He found one.

“Oh yeah,” he spoke with a snap of his fingers. “Dat-cord was tellin’ about this.” He pointed his finger into the air. “He didn’t want any of the bandits watching ta miss out on anything. So just a few groups at a time.” Jack blew puff of air through his mouth. “He had a reason for that though… What was it again?”

“It is difficult for the organic mind to process more than three forms of mobile action at a time. The optical nerves are not able to deconstruct the information at a speed readily available for the Temporal lobe. This is due to-” She was cut off with Jack waving his hand through the air.

“Yeah, yeah, I get.” He noted dryly. “Us inferior flesh bags, superior robot kind, blah blah blah. Seriously, I’ve heard all about it before. At least the Eldritch Abomination had visual cues.” Jack looked back at the screen, silently reading the frozen expressions across the pegasus and hedgehog.

“I thought he hated turnin’ things in ta stone, er whatever?” Jack noted lowly.

“The subjects shown are not encased in any form of densely packed carbon or other sedimentary materials. Thermal scans indicate a lack of cellular movement along all levels of readable detection. It is believed they are being kept in an Absolute Zero Environment. No data to compare or confirm with..”Angel finished as the light hum of activity around her died down.

“Well, dang.” Jack noted honestly, nodding his head in appreciation. “Wonder how easy it is to do that. Ah, there’s no point. A real hero gives his enemy a chance to defend himself. That’s what separates the heroes from the monsters.” He smiled at the thoughts passing through his mind. “Besides, there’s gotta be a few more of these bandits goin’ through the rounds, right? Let’s see what we can find.” Without waiting for the automatic response, his hand started to click on the buttons of his controller again.

The screen faded out of the pair of blue creatures, fading back in a reflected image of a blonde woman holding another pegasus, this one much smaller and coated orange. Another young girl was by her side, long blonde pigtails hanging off her head.

“Lag.”

Jack noted as he hit the controller again. The image shifted to static before fading back into a new image imbedded onto the screen. Through his homochromatic eyes, Jack was able to see a man garbed in black with a bright white unicorn by his side. Man was a generous term though, given the scales that covered his skin.

“Stone.”

The handsome maniac noted dryly as he pressed another button on the controller. New colors lit up the screen to show another man dressed in white holding a sword in front of him. Another pony was by his side, wearing a Stetson hat atop her head.

“More Lag.”

The screen blanked and refocused again, the same as it had three times before. Now the heterochromatic eyes were looking at another pair of victims. One was a man garbed in an almost blinding amount if white, but offset only by the red and gold trimmings that ran along his suit. By his side was a pink pony with both a set of wings and a horn on her head. They were staring in opposite directions, unmoving.

“C’mon!” Jack shouted in annoyance. “Give me something ta work with here!”

Another dismissal before another press of the controller. The screen faded into the static and back into colors. The new projection along the screen showed three more figures. A boy garbed in black with shockingly pink hair, huddled over a small white unicorn that barely stood past his knees.

But the third figure, Jack was more than familiar with. Her electric blue hair and color schemed matching tattoos were something he felt equal amounts joy and hatred in seeing. He couldn’t help but smile at the sight, despite the boiling pit of rage rising in him. If the person he saw wasn’t enough, then watching them move sealed the deal.

“A’ha, jackpot!” Jack shouted triumphantly. “We got some live ones over here, and I couldn’t have asked for a better show to watch!”

Popping another handful of popcorn into his mouth, he watched on in amusement.

Forging Bonds

“W-Where am I?” Sweetie Belle chirped miserably. It really was the million bit question.

She had been dragged from the forest, taken to a castle, now dropped in a place she could hardly recognize. The stone around her was dark and gray, looking more like the ruined remains of the castle from the Everfree than Canterlot Castle. But everything still looked so clean, she knew she wasn’t in any ruins.

Her eyes looked up a spiraling staircase like she would a monster in her closet. It didn’t matter that the glass windows around the winding steps were stained, that the stairs were carpeted red, or that the ceiling above them shined of gold. Everything, by appearance alone, looked majestic, large, powerful, and most importantly royal. However, that didn’t change how she felt.

It looked like a castle, but it felt like a dungeon.

She had no idea where she was, and she had no idea what was going on.

“H-Hey,” Sweetie let her blurry vision look up, seeing a pale hand reach towards her. With a squeak of fright, she backpedaled away, forcing herself down the stairs she was on.

Her despondent green eyes looked at the two taller… things next to her. She knew who they were, if she could trust what Discord had said, but that didn’t mean she could trust them.

One of them was looking down at her, a short pink mane hanging off of its head. It looked worried, with its lips pulled back and dull claws retracting towards itself. The other figure was looking up the stairs, its forelegs crossed over its chest. It wasn’t looking at either Sweetie Belle or the other creature.

Sweetie Belle felt the tears roll down her face.

“H-hey,” the pink maned one spoke again. “I-It’s okay. There’s nothing here to hurt you. I-I promise.” She watched the thing for a moment, debating in her mind whether it would be safer to run down the stairs and away from them, or to trust what it was saying. A small twist of her head showed the disappearing staircase behind her, just as dark and intimidating as the rising twist in front of her.

“Um,” the thin thing spoke again, its forelegs rubbing against one another as it spoke. Its lips twisted and bent in many directions, but Sweetie Belle didn’t hear a word coming from them. She didn’t know whether she should be confused or terrified. Both still seemed like a purely logical option.

“M-My name is… is Chrona.” Sweetie Belle bit her lip as he spoke. He sounded just as scared as she felt. “What’s yours? I-I mean, um, what’s… w-what’s your name?” The small unicorns’ legs pulled themselves closer to her body, curling her already petite form into a small fragile ball.

“S-,” her lips clamed up before another syllable could be spoken. The pink maned thing twisted its head at her in confusion, but instead of annoyance, Sweetie Belle only saw patience in its eyes. It was a truly comforting sight.

“S-Sweetie Belle…” she spoke her name like it was her darkest secret, whispering it on a hushed breath. “M-My name is Sweetie Belle. What… are you?”

For a moment, Chrona looked at her with another curious expression, its eyes blinking and mouth slightly open. It wasn’t gripping its foreleg anymore, but it didn’t look any more relaxed either. If anything, it just looked a little more lost. But for what it was worth, it didn’t look frightening, just scared.

“I’m… I’m human,” Sweetie Belle heard the word, but the meaning of it escaped her. Her green eyes looked at the other figure behind the human, a blue maned figure that also looked like the boy. But the figure was taller, less clothed, and didn’t appear to be uncomfortable in the slightest.

“And… it?” the unicorn asked with a shaking hoof towards the blue maned human, earning a glance from the creature. Sweetie Belle cringed under the glare it gave, and oddly enough, so did Chrona.

“Do not refer to me as an ‘it’.” The figure spoke with a tone the unicorn had heard from her sister several times before. “My name is Maya, and I’m human, too. But if my name is too hard for you to remember, just call me a woman, ‘cause that is what I am.” Her cold golden eyes turned from the unicorn, looking to the pink haired human instead. Sweetie Belle could see it shaking. “But I can’t tell what you are.”

It was impossible to miss the look of silent shock that passed over Chrona’s eyes.

“I-I’m a boy!” He spoke in what could better be described as an exclamation. It caused the woman’s brow to raise and for Sweetie Belle to shirk away from him. However, the sudden display died down, and he was left to shivering again. Maya’s gaze grew even colder than before.

“Very well, boy,” Her commanding tone echoed again. Her eyes looked at Sweetie Belle, and the only reason the mare did not turn tail and run was the fear keeping her hooves grounded into the carpet. “And what are you anyways, Sweetie Belle? A horse capable of speech?”

A small seed of rage planted itself in the unicorn foal’s chest, burning like a kindling flame beneath a cold wind. But with her lips caught between her teeth, and legs still shaking, no words were able to come from her throat.

“It doesn’t matter,” Maya continued, ignorant to any signs she may have seen in the foal. “All that matters to me right now is trying to understand just what the hell happened. One minute I’m on a train, then I’m in a castle, being attacked by something, then I end up… well who knows where this is?” A curt sigh passed the woman’s lips. Her golden gaze fixed itself on Sweetie Belle and Chrona again

“It’s bad enough that I’m being toyed with, but I have no idea how I ended up with you two.” Her eyes gave a glimmer of some emotion Sweetie couldn’t name. “A boy thinner than a twig and as stern as leaves,” that same gaze turned to the unicorn foal. “And a talking baby horse with a horn on its head.”

And just like that, Sweetie Belle found her fear being replaced with anger.

“Sh-Shut up!” She exclaimed much like Chrona before, jumping to her hooves and screeching like a threatened banshee. However, whereas the spark of fire from the boy died almost instantly, Sweetie Belle kept hers ablaze. “I-I’m not a horse! I’m a pony! A unicorn! So’s my sister! I don’t need you talking bad about me, or Chrona, or… or any pony!”

“S-Sweetie…” Chrona softly spoke her name beside her, but it was as paid as much attention to a pebble on a gravel road.

“I don’t know where I am either!” The foal continued to scream. “I was with my friends! I was having fun! But then Discord made me help him and I didn’t want to! Now I’m lost! And, scared! And… And…” Her voice shook like a weight on an uneven pillar, bending one way then the other.

And like all things without balance, her voice eventually fell.

Miserable sobs ripped and tore their way through Sweetie Bell’s throat, wracking her small vulnerable form in violent waves. Her legs gave out from beneath her as she fell to the carpeted stairs, tears staining the thick material as they fell from her eyes. Her voice echoed off the stone walls, coming close to shaking the foundation they stood on.

Chrona, frozen like a statue by the sudden display, had a face caught in an expression of horror, watching the sobbing foal. Her hooves pushing on her lids in a vain attempt to stop her tears, throat shaking with the force of her cries. He felt his own fragile heart cracking at the sight.

But what terrified him the most, what about the sobbing foal truly made him freeze, was that he saw more than just what his eyes were showing him.

He saw himself.

Chrona saw a ring around the foal, a soft scribbled line that was supposed to keep the world out. Sweetie Belle was stuck in the center, alone and confused, looking for help. He saw himself just outside that fragile circle of protection, looking at the child stuck in side.

He knew what he had to do. He would not let her misery be endured alone. Not after someone had risked so much to help him with his own tears and fears, in the same way Sweetie Belle was.

Chrona’s hands reached out for the foal, slow as a tortoise and twice as careful. Sweetie continued to release wracking sobs, shaking her small form with every fearful cry. His hands began to shake as much as her the closer he drew. Softly then, like a leaf falling from an autumn tree, his hand touched the foal’s coat.

Sweetie Belle froze with a sharp gasp.

Her wet red eyes looked at the hand touching her, following it upwards until she saw Chrona’s pink eyes. His lip was quivering, pulled downwards in a frown. Water was hanging at the edges of his eyes.

They stared at one another for a short amount of time, the only sound between them Sweetie’s Belle’s sniffling to control her still flowing tears.

More cautiously than ever before, Chrona began to move his other hand towards the foal, making sure it was running against the carpet of the stairs, not looming over her like a dark, terrible shadow. Experience had taught him how frightening such things were.

Sweetie watched his hand move slowly towards her, crawling almost. Her coat bristled, afraid of what he was going to do. Her eyes looked up at him again, her lips shaking as the wails threatened to return.

She only saw him looking down with that same sympathetic gaze.

She felt his other hand touch her just as softly as before. It was… warm, comforting and gentle. Before Sweetie could think otherwise, she felt herself leaning into the touch, savoring the warmth. Her voice was starting to shake again.

The soft sounds coming from her throat stopped as she was lifted from the carpet. Terror overtook her for the slightest of moments, eyes looking up at the boy that was holding. But all she saw were the same sad eyes and frown, eyes glistening only slightest less so than her own.

She watched his lips tremble as they parted.

“You…” He began to speak, voice breaking as he spoke. Sweetie sniffled and wiped her hoof against her eyes. She whimpered as he tried to speak again.

“You’re not alone. I… I’ll help you.”

Chrona pulled the foal into a hug, wrapping the pony in his arms. Sweetie belt was beyond shocked, frozen by the sudden protective nature. She hiccupped, whimpered and groaned.

Then Sweetie began to cry again.

“Shh… it’s okay… it’s okay…” Chrona continued to whisper to the foal, wrapped in his arms and crying. Every wail the filly let out drowned out the soft kind words the boy was speaking to her, lost beneath her misery and fear. Yet, he continued to speak to her.

He continued to softly shush her, rubbing his hands over her coat as she continued to cry and sob and wail and scream. She was just a child, hardly an adult by any measure. Yet she was just as lost and confused as they were, taken from her friends and likely her family. Chrona could relate too well.

Sitting on the stairs, mortified by herself, Maya watched the boy comfort the small foal. Her lips were parted just enough to breath, but her eyes were wide enough to nearly let them roll of out of her skull.

As the cries and miserable sobs continued to echo up and down the stairs, she fed her fingers through her hair, letting her palms rest on her forehead. Slow controlled breaths entered and left her, calming her frantic and jumbled thoughts.

Of all the many ways she wanted others to see her, after she had left the monastery she now could call a prison, a monster was the last thing on her list. It’s what the villagers thought of her as she was kept behind locked doors, feared like a rabid beast on a chain.

With just a few words she had proven herself more than capable of being that kind of monster, making a child cry with cruel words and taunts.

Slowly the ringing in her ears faded and the cries of the child were reduced to whimpers. Her head rose from her hands, seeing the foal in the boy’s arms, gripping at the black gown he wore. Her eyes were red and puffy, limbs shaking as the terror of the breakdown slowly began to subside.  Seeing her chance to speak, Maya rose from the steps she was sitting on.

Chrona looked up at her, and she saw daggers in his eyes.

“D-Don’t come… any closer.” He spoke simply, arms shrugging to hold the pony in his arms just a bit closer. The action alone hurt Maya more than the Sweetie’s cries ever came close to.

She stopped walking towards them, standing still above them. Her golden eyes watched the two, swimming with what was close to tears, but held by years of training. Instead, Maya opted keep her vision locked on the boy who was so much smaller than her, in every dimension that could be measured. It was nothing short of heartwarming that he stood up to her to protect Sweetie.

It was only too bad she was the source of the filly’s pain.

However, there was one way to fix it.

“I… I’m sorry.” Maya replied in a shaking voice. Chrona wasn’t sure she meant the words.

“Why?” For a moment, Maya thought he was intentionally mocking her, asking such an obvious question after such a horrific display from the white unicorn. But after another second, she realized he could be asking about any number of things.

Why did she snap? Why was she sorry? Why did she say what she did? Why was she apologizing? Why was she even talking to them? So many whys, all of them worth answering.

“I’m sorry… for snapping at you, both of you.” Her eyes looked down from the boy’s pink gaze to look at the white filly still curled in his arms. “What I said… you didn’t deserve that, neither of you did. It’s completely my fault, and I am sorry for it.”

Maya licked her lips, wetting the cracked skin. She didn’t hear a sound from the boy, either confirmation that he understood or denial towards her words. Either way, that meant she had to keep going.

“I’m honestly just as confused as you are. I’m just… I have a hard time trusting others.” Her gloved hand pinched the bridge of her nose before sliding down her face, hanging off the edge of her chin before falling back to her side. Her eyes looked towards the two, and they boy finally saw some small amount of pain in them, a crack in the golden irises.

“Okay, I’m a little more than confused, and I’ll admit I’m even a little scared.” She let out a humorless chuckle. “But I’m honestly mortified by the way I reacted. So I’m sorry. I’m very, very sorry.”

A tense silence was caught between the woman and the other two beings in the hallway. As the dead air continued to persist, Maya almost wished for the cries to start again. They were easier to deal with.

“So… y-you’re sorry?” Sweetie Belle asked, still curled tight in Chrona’s arms.

Maya let out as silent gasp as the filly spoke large green eyes looking up at her. There was still a ring of red around her whites, dry from the salty tears, but she wasn’t shaking even a quarter as bad as when she was sobbing. Chrona held her a bit closer as she spoke, protectively covering the filly. The action did not go unnoticed by the woman.

“Yes, I am. You didn’t deserve me lashing out at you. I apologize.” The woman bowed her head towards the two, blue bangs covering her features as she did so.

Another tense moment settled between the trio, hanging on the silence of the castle stairwell. Not a single strand of hair shook on the woman’s head as she kept her bowed state, just as Chrona didn’t dare blink as he watched her, caught between caution and confusion. Sweetie Belle, however, sniffled her nose and matted her fur as the time continued to pass. Slowly, reasonably, the filly began to control herself.

“O-Okay,” the word was spoken like a judge’s verdict. Maya raised her head to see the filly gazing at her, green eyes still moist with tears, but no longer releasing heaving sobs. The most notable feature, however, was small subtle smile across Sweetie’s lips. It brought a small turn of the woman’s own mouth as she saw it.

“I… I forgive you.” Maya’s golden eyes twisted upwards to see Chrona, whose own gaze was focused on the floor. His feet played with one another as his mouth twisted and bent, trying to form more words to speak. The woman was patient for him to finish. “I-I’m scared, too.”

“We all are.” Maya confessed as she began to rise. “I don’t think any of us knows where we are, and I’ll admit that I have only a faint idea of who you two are.” Sweetie and Chrona exchanged gazes at one another before looking towards the woman again. “But I can at least assume that none of us wants to be here, right?”

The duo shook their heads up and down with vigor.

“Then we only have to decide where to go. There are only two options.” Maya cupped the bottom of her chin in thought, already deciding on where to go.

“Wouldn’t going up be the best option? That’s where most people go when they use stairs.” Chrona answered simply as he held the shivering unicorn to his chest. “And there are windows, so we aren’t in a basement. So… there’s nothing down… right?”

The blue haired siren gave the boy a hard gaze, looking him over like she would a new model of weapon. He shut his own eyes as he shivered under her golden gaze. They reminded him too much of too painful memories. The way Sweetie Belle shook in his arms did not help at all.

“You’re wiser than you look.” The compliment caught the boy off guard, and he hid no surprise with his widening gaze. The first thing he saw was Maya smiling down at him from the higher steps she stood on. It was an odd sight. Welcome, but odd.

“But… if we are above ground, then going down would bring us to… ground level. That’s where the door usually is, right?” Chrona watched Maya’s gaze fall to his arms before his own purple eyes followed suit. The alabaster unicorn looked up at them, her eyes swimming with confusion. Yet, somehow, she was still able to speak sense.

Maya smiled at them both.

“You are wise as well.” Maya’s words carried the same comforting tone towards Sweetie Belle as they had towards Chrona. The boy could feel the unicorn calm in his arms. It helped ease him as well. “But the problem I’m afraid of is that we must go up to find… whatever it is that brought us here.”

“I-Is that why we’re here?” The pale boy asked with genuine curiosity, walking closer to the blue haired woman. She sighed with a shrug before responding.

“I haven’t an idea. I’m sure you know as much as I do, either of you.” Chrona stopped his approach as he saw her arm glow blue. “What I do know is that I am going to find and brutally maim that… monster.” Maya’s left hand flexed, balling into a muscled fist that shook by her size. Though she was facing towards them, showing her brow furrowed in anger and golden eyes gleaming with a hidden sort of rage, Sweetie Belle and Chrona could only continue to stare at her arm.

It wasn’t just glowing blue, it was sparking.

“Y-Your leg!” Sweetie Bell shouted in alarm, earning a quick gasp from the woman as well.

“What? What is it?” She asked quickly, eyes scanning up and down her black clothed legs, seeing nothing living, dead, or foreign upon them. The filly only shook her head with wide eyes as she pointed her hoof higher.

“No! You’re foreleg!” Confusion washed over Maya’s face before she lifted her arm, the meaning of Sweetie Belle’s words reaching her own golden eyes settled on her shining tattooed arm.

She smiled peacefully, almost apologetically, as she twisted the appendage in front of her.

“This is not my leg.” She explained to the foal, “It’s my arm.” Her words did nothing to calm the frantic unicorn and the boy holder her.

“W-W-Why’s it glowing?” Chrona spoke in a rushed voice, one of his legs taking an impulsive step back, down the stairs they stood on. Maya’s eyes widened as she noticed the gesture. Her smile fell in the same instant, her arm returning to her side and glow slowly fading away.

She stood above the boy and unicorn, a few steps higher; a good foot or two taller for it. Unlike the confrontation before, there was no anger or hatred in her eyes, no reason for them to be afraid of her. But Chrona didn’t make a move to go closer to her, and Sweetie Belle only curled deeper into the robed boy’s arms.

Maya just looked… disappointed.

“I’m… sorry, again.” She spoke in a tone that held no life. The sigh that followed her words was just as emotionless.

“What… What was that?”Chrona spoke carefully, hand instinctively rubbing over Sweetie’s coat as the foal continued to shiver in his arms. Neither of them were of the highest opinion of magic at the moment, let alone from creatures they weren’t familiar with.

Maya lifted her arm again, looking it over herself as if expecting there to be something different about it. But her disappointed frown was evidence that it was the same appendage now as she had had all her life.

“I am not completely human,” she began to explain to the two, twisting her arm as she did so. Chrona was more than familiar with that action. It’s what he did whenever he was asked to talk about himself, too.

“Then what are you?” Sweetie Belle asked from Chrona’s arms. The foal, however, wasn’t shivering or hiding in the boy’s embrace. If anything, it appeared that she was trying to find a better view.

“Where I’m from,” Maya began individually flexing the digits of her tattooed arm. “There are six women born throughout the galaxy that have strange mystical powers. I’m one of them.” Her hand fell to her side as she focused her gaze on the boy and foal.

“I’m called a Siren, able to channel and control energy like magic. And these tattoos, the lines you see growing on me,” her gloved hand ran the length of her uncovered arm, tracing the blue lines that decorated her skin. “I was born with these markings. They’re proof of who I am.”

“Wait!”

The sudden shout from Sweetie Belle caused the boy to holder to jump in shock. Maya stiffened her muscles as if a gunshot had rang through the stair well. The filly, however, pushed and jumped her from Chrona, landing with grace on the red carpeted stairs. Before the woman knew any better, the foal was at her feet, pressing her fore hooves against her legs, larger green eyes looking up at her.

“You were born with your Cutie Mark?” The question caused nothing but confusion for Chrona and Maya.

“A… Cutie Mark? Maya parroted with confusion, raising an eyebrow as she bet at her knees. As soon as her arm was close enough to the ground, Sweetie Belle grabbed at it, pulling it in front of her as she stared at the painted appendage.

“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle spoke as she continued to examine the Sirens arm. “You know, the mark that supposed to tell you your special talent. Every pony gets one once they find out what they’re special talent is.” Her bright green eyes looked up at the woman, full of adoration.

“But you were born with yours! And it’s not just on your flank, but your entire leg, I mean arm!” The smile across Sweetie’s face was dangerously close to splitting her in two. “That must make you extra special!”

How odd, Maya thought, that this filly changed from anger, to fear, to idolization in in the span of a few moments. It was difficult to call such a thing admirable or pitiful.

But the words were doubtlessly kind. Kind, thoughtful, and as sweet as the pony’s name.

Maya gave her own kind smile in return.

“Thank you for calling me special, but I’m sorry to say that humans don’t have Cutie Marks, at least, not the way you’re describing them.” For a moment, a flash of horror cascaded over Sweetie’s features, and Maya was fearful she was about to be the cause of more tears from the foal.

“Y-You don’t?” The Siren bit her lip before she spoke again, her arm still held in the tiny hooves of the filly. Her eyes looked up towards Chrona, offering a silent plea for help. The boy crossed and held his arms, shifting left and right uncomfortably, just as unsure of the situation as she was. She doubted he knew how to deal with this.

“Well… no,” Mayas free hand found its way to the back of her neck, scratching at the hairs there. “Humans… don’t have Cutie Marks. I have these because I’m a Siren.” Slowly, Sweetie Belle let her hooves fall off the arm, sliding down their length before she touched down on the carpet again. Maya didn’t dare breathe else she give another reason for the foal to cry.

“Is this why it’s hard for you to trust other ponies?” The foal asked in a miserable tone, eyes wet with unshed tears. “They keep judging you because you’re different.”

The breath Maya was holding was let out a harsh chuckle. This little foal wasn’t just wise, she was clever.

“Not completely, but you’re very close.” The Siren admitted to the filly. Sweetie Belle, however, looked no more convinced than before. Fortunately for Maya, she knew where to start from. “But I’m not there anymore. I may not have had the perfect time growing up, but I’m stronger for it.” The woman’s other hand let itself fall on the filly’s back, working to pat Sweetie like she would a dog. The foal shook it off quickly with an angry huff. The Siren pulled her hand back, but the action combined with the tight lip pout from the filly earned another smile from her.

“If it means anything though, it does feel nice to know you’re worried about me. Thank you for that.” Sweetie’s eyes had an odd mixture of happiness and pity, shimmering with unshed tears as a smile hung beneath her overly sized eyes. Maya had the slight thought that if she were a few decades older, her heart would not be able to handle the sight.

“I understand.” Sweetie spoke lightly as she nuzzled herself against Maya’s legs, wiping away the remnants of her tears as she did so. “And thank you.”

The pony turned from Maya, trotting the short distance down the stairs until she was standing at Chrona’s feet, barely past his knees in height. Her neck craned backwards looking up at the boy who towered over her. A sudden, but rather embarrassing, thought crossed her mind.

“Um…” Sweetie Belle began uncertainly, look scrapping her hooves against one another as she bent her head down. Chrona gave her a curious look before bending his own knees, shrinking to the ground until his head was just above the Sweetie.

“Can… can you pick me up again?” She bit her lip as the question left her mouth, as if it was a rude thing to ask for. Chrona blinked twice before the unicorn went on. “I don’t like having to look up so much, it’s hurting my neck.”

The boy only smiled brightly as he heard the request.

“S-Sure, if you want to.” Without waiting for another word, Sweetie Belle jumped into the chest of the boy, earning a small oomph of surprise. Maya watched the small display with a smile almost too small to see.

Hesitantly, Chrona began to stretch his legs, rising with the unicorn foal in his folded arms. Her legs and underbelly pushed and prodded his arms and hands for comfort, adjusting them as if they were pillows on a bed. The boy didn’t speak a word of discomfort as she did so. What he did say was quite the opposite.

“Your… Your coat’s very soft.” He spoke the compliment like it was an insult he was taunted into saying, his face flushing red as the words slipped away. Sweetie, however, only seemed to happy to hear the words.

“Thank you!” She jubilee squealed as she continued to adjust herself in the boy’s arms. “My sister keeps saying that it’s a mare’s duty to keep herself looking fresh and clean.”

“Then you are doing her proud.” Maya spoke as she approached the two again, walking down the few stairs that separated them. The foal beamed up at the woman with the kind words, who returned the smile with still subtle grin.

“I’m glad that we’re all on good terms now. Really, I am. But, we do have something important to discuss.” The sudden change in tone from Maya put Chrona and Sweetie Belle on a curious edge. Not frightened, not worried, but definitely unsure of where the woman was going.

“What’s that?” Chrona asked curiously, flexing and slightly extending his arms as Sweetie Belle continued to adjust herself against his chest. The Siren’s answer was not immediate.

Instead she raised her hand to eye level, holding it partially closed beside her head. Her thumb stuck outwards, jabbing towards the ascending stairwell behind her. Before Chrona or Sweetie could speak, her hand fell forwards. Maya’s thumb curled back into her hand as her index finger extended, pointing past the pair and down towards the twisting stairs.

The meaning became clear in an instant. Maya still spoke the meaning all the same.

“Should we go up or down?”

Silence momentarily reigned between the three of them, each wearing a different mask of thought as the question swam and spun in their minds. Maya let her hand slowly rub up and down her face, reaching the bottom of her lip before sliding back down to the edge of her chin. Chrona hummed in thought, head bending left and right as each thought came and went. Sweetie Belle mirrored his movements from the safety of his arms, bending her body left as his head moved right, then leaning right as his head swung left.

“Why don’t we vote?” Sweetie Belle chirped between the two humans, causing their collective gaze to look down at the foal. Her large green eyes looked up at both of them, her own curiosity still written across her face.

“A vote?” Chrona spoke again, earning a nod from the foal.

“Yeah, it’s what me and the girls do when we can’t decide on something. It usually works, unless we got too many ideas, but it works most of the time!” She explained and defended herself simultaneously, earning an amused smile from Maya. The woman set her glove hand over the foal’s mane, causing said pony to shake her hand madly in an attempt to remove the foreign object.

When Maya lifted her hand from Sweeties head, the young unicorn gave the woman a scowl of disapproval. It was one of the most adorable things the Siren had ever seen.

“You’re as wise as you’re cute.” Maya spoke with a smile on her lips, grinning down at the foal that continued to scowl up at her. Her golden eyes looked up to the boy, still beneath her in terms of height.

He was smiling a soft gentle smile, eyes shut as he was enjoying himself as well.

“You’re right though,” Maya spoke again after she had let the foal stew enough her childish anger. Her words instantly cooled Sweetie’s temper. “A vote would be the best way to settle it, and in a group of three, with only two ways to go, we have to reach a majority.” The boy and foal nodded, the latter beginning to grow a grin that appeared wider than her face would allow.

“Then I vote we go up!” The foal cheered a she lifted a hoof from the boy’s arms. Her eyes were confident and strong, reminding the Siren very much of another child she had met not long ago.

“Alright, that’s one,” Maya’s eyes looked up again. “You, Chrona?”

The boy’s smile left in a hurry as he was left looking down the dark stairway before averting his gaze up towards the winding path. No one direction looked any different from the other. In the end, there only two facts to consider. One went up, and one went down.

“I-I want to go down.” There wasn’t half as much confidence in his voice as there was from the foal in his arms, but his answer was clear all the same.

“Good,” Maya spoke again, looking at the two as she let a tight lipped smile grow across her face. “Then with my vote, I say we go up.”

Sweetie Belle gave a small cheer in the boy’s arms, hooves hanging over the clothed appendages like she would the railing of a window. Chrona, however, let out a sigh of disappointment as he let his head fall, hiding his face beneath his bangs.

“Hey,” Maya spoke with a strong tone, earning the attention of the boy instantly. “Don’t go moping on us. We still have no idea where we are, and the last thing any of us need is thinking about something that doesn’t matter.” The Siren raised and rested her arm on the boy’s shoulder, earning a small gasp of surprise from him, but he didn’t make a motion to fight it off.

Confident, Maya performed the same action on the unicorn foal with her opposite hand, grabbing onto Sweetie’s free hanging hoof with her hand. The pony was more curious than surprised, but she too didn’t fight off the touch. With their full attention, Maya spoke on.

“Right now, we can’t kid ourselves.” Her voice didn’t have the same cheer it had just a few moments ago. “We are, for all intents and purposes, being played with by Discord. We have to remain, alert, vigilant, and above all else, honest with one another.” If Maya had their attention before, now she had their devotion.

“W-What do you mean?” Chrona’s voice trembled on a fragile wire as he asked his thought aloud. Maya answered him all the same.

“I mean we can’t hide anything that might endanger us. If any of us knows anything, if any of us sees anything, we have to tell the others. We cannot, under any circumstances, let ourselves being tricked or cheated by that monster. Understand?” The boy and foal both slowly nodded their heads, eyes wider than saucers. Maya’s smile relaxed as she saw them do so.

“Have you done this before?” Sweetie naively asked the Siren. “Because you sound like my sister when she’s talking about designs, or fashion, or some dumb fancy fabric.” Maya gave out a small chuckle before she responded.

“Experience? No, but I have been trained.” Her tattooed arm rose and flexed itself as she spoke those words. The boy and pony both wisely left their questions unspoken. When the woman’s arm fell, and her gaze returned to the two, she smiled the same way as before.

“Anyways, let’s go. We won’t go anywhere staying still.”

And with those words three began to ascend the twisting stairs of the castle.

“Two crybabies and a girl with control issues. Nothing can possibly go wrong!” Discord cheered jubilee as he watched the trio from a screen, hanging on the outside of the monolith his victims were trapped within. “It does my heart good to know those ponies did their part in making these games just that much better.”

His claw lifted to his elongated face, wiping away a crocodile tear as it fell from his eyes. He was careful not to knick the muscles of his, pushed upwards due to his monstrous smile.

“Ah, but as much fun as it is watching those three banter, it would just be a poor show of sportsmanship to ignore the rest of the players.” The draconequus spoke to himself as he snapped his lion paw. In a flash and bang of white, he was gone from the air. In another moment, he reappeared on another side of the cliff face, facing a new screen bearing a still familiar image.

“It’s not like I can pick favorites with these groups,” he spoke to himself as he carefully eyed the three creatures on screen. “But I have to admit, these three are by far the most entertaining yet.”

“Karl?” Luna parroted the man, brow furrowed as she spoke his name. The man kept the same crooked smile as he nodded towards the dark alicorn. His stone fingers drummed across the strings of his violin.

“Yes, Karl,” he spoke again. “I know it can be a difficult name to remember, so I always try and spell it out with words that could never be used to describe me.” His undamaged hand rose forwards, holding the bow straight up as his fingers slowly extended as he spoke.

“K is for Killing, A is for Arson, R is for Robbery, and L is for Lunacy. Four things I would never do.” His smile only appeared to grow as he spoke. Luna, however, felt her own lips twisting in disgust and confusion. A very quick glance told her Riku was differing little from her in terms of a response.

“That is simply abhorred.” Luna spoke her thoughts, not bothering to hide her sickened state from her words. Her hooves were already preparing to trot backwards in avoidance to the man. Karl, however, only appeared confused by her words.

“Really, why?” His tone carried genuine curiosity. “I find spelling to be a rather easy way to remember things, and as long as you think of things I would never do, then you should easily be able to spell my name.”

“That’s some pretty messed up logic.” Riku’s words carried a tone just as cautious as the monarch’s, carried on a far more hushed tone as well. Luna was preparing to flee, but it appeared that Riku was already preparing to fight.

“Oh come now, do you really think I’m some sort of threat?” The question momentarily caught the princess and boy off guard, but the stern return of their gazes would have been answer enough to anyone. Karl appeared to give an exasperated sigh.

“Really, do I look that frightening?” In truth, he did not look frightening, but he was the farthest cry away from looking trustworthy. Luna was keen on speaking her mind.

“It is not out of fear that I… am hesitant to approach you,” she phrased her words carefully, “You are just a stranger we have come across in a place both my companion and I are unfamiliar with.” Luna knit her brows as she thought of a new question to ask the man. “How have you come to be here?”

“Me?” Karl asked as he placed his hand over his chest, violin still held strong in his grasp. “Why I honestly have no idea. One moment I’m fighting for my very life, then the next, I wake up in here with nothing by my trusty violin in my hand and Arma on my shoulder.”

“Arma?” Riku asked as the name was spoken. The bird on the man’s violin jumped into the air, fluttering briefly before settling next on the same man’s shoulder. Its red eyes opened and closed soundlessly.

“Oh that would be my friend here.” Karl lifted the hand holding his bow, letting on of his gray digits scratch beneath the bird’s beak. “She can be a bit naughty at times, but I’ve never met a truer friend than her. That reminds me though,” He spoke as he twisted his eyes towards the pair again, smile as curvy and uneven as before. “You have yet to tell me your names. I think I’ve earned that much at least.”

Hesitantly, Luna bit her lip, shifting her eyes towards her silver haired companion. Riku’s gaze was stern and focused, his lips tight and held in a straight line. It was hard to judge what he was thinking, too little light and even less being allowed beneath his silver bangs. She could assume, however, that he was not going to be the first to be forthcoming with much information. That was the wise decision for a cautious mind.

However, they could not risk another enemy, not with Discord somewhere beyond where they could see, most likely toying with them for his own sick and twisted enjoyment. If they continued to withhold who they were from Karl, it would only be a matter of time before they would be forced to part ways. In the worst case, by battle.

As a princess, it was Luna’s duty to not only address the problems at hoof, but prevent them as well.

“I am Princess Luna, Guardian of the Night. You may address me as such.” Her wings spread to their fullest as she spoke, widening her form and raising her head until she was an intimidating figure for those who saw her. Karl, however, only continued to watch and smile, no different than before.

Then slowly, almost calculatingly so, he lowered his torso until he was parallel with the ground, arms spread out far from his sides. One hand held the neck of his violin, the other on end of his bow. The raven on his shoulder lightly jumped and bobbed to keep its balance, but it didn’t make so much as a chirp of noise. When Karl’s figure settled itself, his neck bent upwards, revealing a closed eyed smile.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you your majesty.” Of all the responses Luna was expecting from the man, this was not one of them. Her wings visibly shook with unease, unprepared for what she saw as genuine grace. Her frame gave a light shake as she composed herself, coughing into her hoof as she did so.

“Yes, it is… my pleasure to meet you as well.” Her cerulean eyes looked up to Riku, seeing the same cautious stare from the boy as he had given before. She watched his mouth give a slight rise as his lower lip pushed on it, a doubtful thought being worked through his mind no doubt. The boy’s shoulders gave a roll, then he spoke.

“My name is Riku,” he spoke simply towards the man, face kept stern and neutral. “And that’s all I’m giving you until I know you’re not a threat to us.”

‘Well, if one of us must be blunt…’ Luna quipped in her own mind.

“Life favors the cautious and strong.” The words came from Karl in a tone the dark alicorn did not recognize. It didn’t have the sing-song beat to it, nor any manner of joy or elation. It was calm like her night and neutral like Riku’s own voice. It brought back every amount of caution Luna had done away with.

Before Luna could remark on the sudden turn in the man’s demeanor, however, Karl rose from his bow, standing to his tallest. As he did so, his arms disappeared behind his back, vanishing beneath the tan coat that hung from his shoulders. Then in a flash, his hands extended outwards again, free of any violin or bow. His smile was open and bright.

Neither Riku nor Luna enjoyed the sudden movements he made, even less so with his open smile.

“Oh please don’t be threatened by me, I honestly mean no harm.” He spoke with both of his palms in front of him, open and facing towards the duo. “I was just finding it a hassle to hold a conversation with my violin in hand. Besides, take this as proof that I’m completely unarmed.” That much was true, at least as far as Luna or Riku could tell.

Aside from the bird on his shoulder, and the violin now presumably behind his back, there wasn’t another thing on his person that could possibly inflict harm.

“It’s good to know, Riku, that you have a healthy level of caution about you. You can never be too sure of who you’re meeting, so it’s a good idea to keep your guard up. For example,” His hands fell forwards until his palms were facing upwards, eyes still gazing at the alicorn and boy with a jagged smile across his face.

“I have no idea what you two are capable of, or even where you are from, so the best course of action is get to know you first. After all, only a fool or a madman randomly attacks people.” His words sounded honeyed to Luna’s ears, but she could see no fault in his logic or thoughts.

“Then what are you planning?” Luna spoke her words in her careful tone once more. She could not be threatening, not to a man she knew nothing about. She wished the smile he gave could be taken as a sign she spoke her words correctly. However, she had never seen Karl lose his smile yet.

“Why nothing at all, to be quite honest.” It appeared that he would not be satisfied until he was a complete enigma to the alicorn and boy. “Didn’t I tell you I’ve been waiting here for some time? It actually benefits me for you two to have found me. If anything, I would be hoping you would help guide me out of here. You can never have too many friends when you’re stuck in strange places.”

And now twice in a row, Luna found herself unable to find any fallacy in his mindset. This time, when she turned to Riku, she made sure the boy was looking back at her. His head twisted to meet her gaze, their eyes meeting. His eyes were strong and focused, churning with an innumerable amount of doubts; she could see it clear as the stars on a cloudless night.

In her own mind, however, the princess found much in the name of reason to at least tolerate Karl. Trust, she knew better than most, was a thing hard earned and precious to have. They did not have to trust him, but in the very least, they could tolerate him. Caution however, would still be necessary.

Riku gave a slow nod of understanding as he looked into her eyes, and Luna gave tilt of her head in agreement.

“Karl,” the dark alicorn began with her royal voice, strong in pitch and tone. “Though we know little about you, we would be safer to let you follow us for now. However, should you do anything to give us reason to doubt you, we will not hesitate to deal with you as is necessary.”

The man’s face lit up like the sky with a morning’s first sun.

“That’s wonderful!” He cheered, giving a small twirl of his form as he did so. The bird on his shoulder took flight as he did so, keeping itself from the centrifugal force the man was generating as he spun. As he finished his twirl, both feet firmly on the red rock floor, the bird took its place once more. Karl’s smile did not change.

“So,” Riku spoke up, the fingers of his free hand drumming against his palm in tense thought. “You said you were fighting someone before. Who was it?”

“It wasn’t just one person, it was several. And let me tell you, they were simply the worst.” He spoke in the same tone in which he had spelled out his name, arms wide to his sides with his smile twisted and neutral. It was impossible for either the alicorn or swordsman to figure him out.

“I was fighting for the chance to use a wishing machine, but so many of them fought me tooth, nail, hammer, and steel against it. And I was close to it, too. So very close to getting my wish answered.” Karl held his stone hand in front of him, flexing the digits individually, letting the harsh material grind against itself with the movements. Luna and Riku watched on in with cautious curiosity.

“… same mistake.” The words came so quietly and so suddenly, the dark alicorn missed what they were.

“I beg your pardon?” Karl lifted his head at the question, hand dropping back to his side as he did so. He blinked twice before responding.

“Oh, nothing, just thinking on something from a long time ago. We’ll call it an unpleasant memory and move on. Sound fair?” Neither the alicorn nor the boy found confidence in pushing a conversation the man was so joyous to avoid. “Excellent. Now then, where should we be off to?”

“Off to?” Luna repeated the question herself, unsure of what they meant.

“He’s asking where we go now, and it’s a pretty good question. Nowhere to go from where we came from, but no where to go in here.” Riku’s eyes scanned the walls in the room, all the same red rock as the fiery pit outside. “Maybe it would be a good idea to-”

He cut himself off as he saw Luna’s horn glowing as it had before, a flashlight aiming along the walls. With a grin, Riku turned silently as he followed the probing light.

“Now that really is something!” Karl cheered as he watched the alicorn worked. The grin along Riku’s face fell in a moment. He gripped the Path to Dawn a bit tighter than he had before.

“Keep your distance,” he warned the man carefully. “The princess has to keep her concentration as she’s doing this. Distracting her isn’t an option.” It was a lie, a quick and sloppy one at that, but an enemy wouldn’t risk it. It would only be too obvious if he tried to break the alicorn’s concentration, something an ally would not do. With a practiced grin, and a retreating step, Karl responded.

“I’ll stay few yards back then. I couldn’t risking ruining her majesty’s work.” His grey eyes followed the light along the walls the same as Riku, watching the faint lines of magic glow beneath the light. “Can I assume she is looking for a false wall?” The question earned a rogue thought from the boy.

“Actually yeah, she is.” He twisted himself until his side faced the man, his gaze partially hidden beneath his bangs. “How would you know about that?” For his credit, Karl didn’t give a single sign of surprise or shock. Instead, he turned to face Riku, head lolled to his side and with the same ever-present smile.

“Well it’s awfully hard not to guess what I’ve already seen. Or have you already forgotten how you got into this room?” The silver haired boy found his confidence quickly eroding away as the man spoke. “My head’s as thick as stone and even I remember that you walked through a wall. It’s a pretty hard thing to forget. Oh, it’s alright though, we all lose our minds from time to time.” Nothing about that sentence brought Riku any peace of mind.

“But, while we wait for the pretty whittle pony to work her magic, maybe you can answer a question for me now?” Karl twisted on his heel, taking a slight spin on the ground as he did so. Riku watched him as carefully as he would an enemy in battle. There was no part of him that wanted to answer the questions the man might have. The possibility of them being harmless were less than nothing. However, there was a way to turn into a risk with reward.

“Sure, I can do that.” Karl stopped as Riku spoke in compliance, clearly giving some level of shock to the violinist. His smile was no less crooked, but his large grey eyes blinked before continuing.

“That was quite the change of pace. What’s the catch?” Riku’s face was no less stern or focused than before.

“I don’t trust you.” Karl smiled brighter at the comment. “And you don’t trust me.”

“Hey now, it’s rude to say what someone else is thinking.” Riku continued on regardless.

“So for every question I answer, you have to answer one of mine. That fair?” Karl’s stone grey hand rose to his mouth as Riku finished, curling itself over the curvy smile on his face.

“Clever and cautious.” Again, just like before, the jarring change in the man’s speech give Riku a chill, his hand tightening on the hilt of his blade as he heard it. The action drew an amused chuckle from Karl.

“Now calm down, I was giving a compliment.” The man’s hands lightly waved in front of him, Arma on his shoulder lightly jumping up and down to adjust itself. “I think it’s a fine idea. Why don’t you lead?”

For a moment, Riku played with his tongue, biting and twisting the unseen object in his mouth. His eyes tilted towards Princess Luna, still working her magic along the walls. He didn’t seen any anomalies like the one she had found on the wall before this room, and as she had yet to stop, it was likely she had not either. This was a larger room, with much more area to search.

“Alright,” he spoke carefully, watching Karl’s eyes twist into a smile similar to the ever present beam he had on his lips. Lifting his hand, Riku motioned towards his eye, clawed over and marred. “Why’s your eye all grey like that? Your hand too?”

Karl lifted the hand in question, twisting it like he was attempting to put a price on the object. He straightened a single digit on it, rubbing it down the claw marks on his face as he did so. It wasn’t a sight Riku found all that pleasing to watch.

“Just an old mark from a long time ago. The paint wore off here,” Karl spoke as he waved his hand in the air. “And Arma and I had a fight for her to give me these scratches.” He flicked at the grey wounds on his face with shut eyes and a wide smile.

“Then… why are they g-”

“Ah!” Karl interrupted, raising his hand with single finger in the air. “I answered your question, now you have to answer mine.” He twisted his head as his eyes looked the silver haired boy up and down, Riku giving him glare all the while. One of Karl’s hands played with the bottom lip of his smile.

“I know,” he declared with a snap of his fingers. “Where did you get that sword of yours? That isn’t anything a normal human can make.” Slowly, Riku lifted the path of dawn between them, the blade still held with a tight grip in his hand. It’s curved edge bent towards him, the purple guard and blade shining like the last light of a fading sun.

For a moment, Riku thought of lying. There was no way the man would know any better. He could say he found it in some chest and there would be no way to prove him right or wrong. Then again, telling Karl exactly how he came across the blade would very well put the man on more guard, that is, if he were here to harm them. It was a gamble, but then, every action he and Luna had taken so far was.

“I was chosen to wield this blade because of the strength of my heart. It is one of only a few, reserved for warriors spread out across the many worlds.” Riku watched, with an undeniable sense of satisfaction, as Karl’s mouth opened into wide expression of shock. The edge his lips, however, seemed just able to maintain his smile.

“That is impressive!” He congratulated, hands clapping together as he did so. “I would have never guessed you humans had so much power to have weapons flock to you. And here I thought I was lucky when Arma flew by my way. Isn’t that right?” His hand tickled the underside of the bird again, causing the raven to bend its neck towards the appendage.

“My turn now,” Riku knew his question before before Karl ever asked his. “Why are parts of you grey?”

“For such a clever boy, you keep asking such obvious questions.” Karl chuckled at the flat look of annoyance Riku gave him in return.

“The answer is obvious though.” Karl raised his grey hand, balling it into a fist. He placed the wrist of the appendage against his torso, holding it in place for a moment. Then his fist flexed twice, knocking against his chest.

It sounded hollow. Hollow like carved stone.

Little else could have caused Riku’s eyes to widen so fast.

“Wait, you’re a statue?” It was doubtful to the boy that even Sora could have smiled as brightly as the stone man was now.

“But of course, why else would I have paint on me?” For a moment, it looked as if he was going to speak again, doubtlessly another quip to give Riku a reason to groan. But then, Karl’s head cocked towards the bird on his shoulder, the raven facing his ear. Not a sound was produced between them for a few moments.

“You’re as clever as ever, Arma.” Karl spoke suddenly, hand rising again to play with the black bird on his shoulder. “Such a devious little bird.”

“There.”

Neither Riku nor Karl spoke those words.

Their eyes simultaneously turned to see Princess Luna looking upwards, horn alight and glowing towards the ceiling. High above them, on the curved edge of the stone where the wall became the ceiling, there was a bright white glowing spot. Both Riku and the princess knew well what that meant.

“Very impressive, your majesty,” Karl spoke with a chipper tone, walking beneath the glowing section of wall with a hand perpendicular to his eyes. “I must confess, that magic of yours is really something to see! I would be hard pressed to find anything else like it, and then be challenged further to be told to leave it.” Luna wasn’t aware of a proper response to give.

“Yes… well…” she spoke her words with large breaks, mind shifting for a proper answer. “I am glad you appreciate my efforts.” Karl gave a bow to her words.

The princess was finding it more and more difficult to be cautious around such a formal and polite man. Statue, she silently reminded herself. A statue.

“Hold on a second.” Riku’s words were the only warning he gave before his blade left his hand.

The steel sailed upwards, cutting through the humid air with metallic song. It made contact with the red rock of the ceiling, lodging itself partially into the material. The other portion of it was reaching into false wall Luna had found.

“There,” the boy spoke with a finished tone. “You can relax now.” It took a moment for Luna to understand the meaning of his words. But with a nod of understanding, she let her horn stop humming, her magic fading away. High up above, Riku’s sword was still stuck in the material.

He raised his hand upwards, palm facing his caught sword. Luna and Karl watched on as they stood still for a moment, not doing so little as even flinching or breathing. Then, from up above, they heard the harsh grind of stone on steel. It came once, twice, then they heard metal singing again.

It took only a moment before the Path to Dawn was returned to Riku’s grasp. He caught it with hardly any effort. The next sound to pierce the air was Karl clapping in amusement.

“You two are as clever as you are interesting.” He spoke with a tone Luna could only guess was complimentary. “All I can show off is my chiseled form.” And again, the princess had little idea of how to take his words. Riku, however, had no hesitation to place his forehead against his open palm.

“Once more I am complimented by your words, Karl.” Luna spoke to the statue man, offering a small nod of her as well. “However, I do not enjoy being trapped in this place, and I would enjoy more than little else to be able to leave. Now that we know the way, I suggest we go.”

“Wait,” Riku held up his hand. His eyes looked towards Karl as an unsettling grin fell across his lips. “Why don’t you go first?”

Karl cocked his head to the side as the question was proposed to him.

“Eh?”

Luna gave a perplexed look as well.

“We can’t leave the princess alone in this place, as dangerous as it is, and I’m sure she trusts me to stay by her side more than you.” Riku looked towards the alicorn as he spoke. When her gaze met his, he gave a wink of his eyes, facing away from Karl’s vision. Luna caught onto his scheme swift as a night’s wind.

“He speaks the truth, Karl.” The monarch spoke. “It would be improper and foolish to leave royalty unattended.” Her head motioned towards the false wall, marked above and below by Riku’s sword. “We will be close behind. Think of this as a final test of our trust with you.”

With those words, Karl’s smile grew a bit wider.

“It would be an honor to do a service to the crown.” He spoke to them both, leaning back on his heels as he body skillfully bent forward, precariously balancing itself.

Then, before either Riku or Luna could prepare themselves, the stone man bent at his knees, hands flat on the ground in a crouch. His gaze looked up at the wall confirmed to be fake, his eyes lining with illusion.

With a single powerful extension of his legs, he flew from the red rock floor and through the empty space, vanishing from view.

Luna and Riku watched on in silent astonishment.

“His body is far stronger than I previously thought.” Luna admitted, eyes still focused on the wall high above them. Riku gave a single slow nod of agreement.

“Yeah, doesn’t mean he’s any less dangerous.” His eyes gave a glance towards the monarch as he spoke on. “I’m not the only one who doesn’t buy his story, right?”

“Of course not,” Luna agreed. “Discord would not give us aid without a poison to take it with. I am doubtless this Karl will turn into either a foe or a crutch, neither beneficial to us. However,” Her eyes hardened, lids falling into a determined stare. “It is wiser to keep an enemy close and observed than to be guessing where he could be.”

“You got that one right.” Riku agreed. A slow sigh escaped his lips as his body slowly started to relax. “Well, guess it’s time we go now. That is the only way we have left.” Luna gave a humorless laugh in agreement, shaking her wings as she relaxed her stiff form.

“Indeed.” The monarch eyed the wall for a moment before a sudden realization hit her. With a small swallow, she turned to Riku again. “Would you please… prepare another… portal?”

The uneasy question earned an amused smile from the boy, which only flushed Luna’s coat with heated embarrassment. The words Riku spoke only made it far worse.

“Of course, m’lady.” He spoke with a low bow, arms appropriately bent to his sides. “It would be my honor to help a woman in need.”

“S-Silence…”

“Hmm…” Azula hummed as her hands ran across her lips, light delicate fingers tracing the bones beneath her porcelain skin. Her lips slowly curved upwards as her thoughts continued to spin.

“Nothing is ever as it appears to be.” She spoke lightly to herself, fingers drumming against the tip of her chin. “Burning stone, sealed stone, false stone, and now living stone. At least there’s a theme I can see.”

Azula straightened herself as her eyes slowly scanned the screens over the monolith of the floating castle, looking for another show to watch. It was boring, playing with the same toys all the time. Variety was the spice of life, and a little bit of misery within mystery sounded perfect to her.

Her sharp golden eyes settled on another screen, bearing the image of a canary colored horse and a man dressed in black. She was more than curious who those two would interact.

She was even more curious how they would deal with the beast she chose for them.

“Songbird, Songbird, see him fly,” her lips sweetly sang, one of her fingers dancing to the tune she made. “Drop the children from the sky. When the young ones misbehave, escorts children to their grave. Never back-talk, never lie, or he'll drop you from the sky.”

Azula’s smile was sharp enough to cut steel.

Untold Mysteries

“Being… watched?” Fluttershy whimpered the phrase, already curling to the ground as her mind began to process the idea. Unseen eyes staring at her, judging her, mocking her. It brought a cold shiver down her coat.

“It’s the most likely possibility.” Batman answered easily, closing the display on his forearm as he said so. “But it doesn’t change much. It would have been a safe assumption before that we were being monitored in same way. Now, we just have confirmation.”

“Then what… what do we do now?” The large eyes of the pegasus looked up at the darkly dressed man, waiting with bated breath for what he would say. However, instead of answering, he let his gaze turn to the large building sitting within the clay walls, dark and foreboding. Fluttershy followed his gaze, already hating the answer he didn’t speak “Oh, oh no. We don’t have to go in there, do we? I-It’s so dark a-a-and scary.”

“It’s the only place we can go.” He answered back calmly, gaze focused. “If we were going to be trapped or held captive, we wouldn’t have anywhere to go. Whoever is watching us wants us to go in.”

He took a step forward, moving towards the entrance. Fluttershy was quick to nip the end of his cape, holding onto it until it was taunt in her grip. It stopped his movements, letting him turn to look down at the timid pony.

“But that means it will be dangerous, right?” Her question may have been clear to his ears, but so too was the terror weaved into each syllable she made. Batman held his gaze with her eyes, nodding his head as he did so. The pegasus’s eyes grew wide the moment he finished the movement. “Can… Maybe I’ll just wait out here. Oh, yes, it’ll be much safer out here, and I can wait for you or one of my friends to come get me. That is, if you want to come back for me. I mean-”

Fluttershy let out a small gasp as she felt his hand place itself on her shoulder. It was hard and coarse, like the chest she had gripped before when they had first arrived here. She couldn’t feel any warmth coming from it, the sensation little different than if she had pushed herself against the clay wall they were so near. But with the gaze Batman was giving her, she felt confidence flooding into her.

“I am not going to leave you here alone.” He began to speak, voice deep and confident, like he was a prince speaking to her. “You’re scared, and I can understand that. But even if we’re in an extraordinary position, we can’t act as if everything will be okay without doing anything.” Fluttershy’s lip quivered as he spoke.

“But, my friends… I’m not strong enough for this. I just take care of animals. Rainbow, Twilight, Applejack… my friends are much better at this than I am.” She felt her the fingers of his hand hold her harder.

“And they aren’t here. I don’t know where they are.” The words didn’t bring the same level of calm confidence to Fluttershy as the ones he had spoken before. “But if we wait here forever, we’ll never find them.” His gaze flicked towards the still dark passageway before looking back at the pegasus. “There are going to be traps in there, dangers that we’re supposed to fall victim to, but we won’t. Do you know why?”

“N-No.” The word was spoken on shaking breath. “Why?”

“Because there is always a way out.” Batman stood to his tallest, cape draping over his form, hiding all of him except the cowl adorned over his head. Fluttershy had never seen a sight so terrifying and so brave at the same time. The nervous jitter still playing with her lip, she asked a single word question.

“Always?”

“Always.”

Fluttershy felt her lips pull upwards. He wasn’t bubbly or fun like Pinkie Pie, not nearly as energetic. But, this man, Batman, did a great job at making her smile.

“Oookay,” she answered simply, letting out a long breath of air as she spoke the word. She did her best to smile up at the man who appeared so worried about her. His lips did not even twitch.

“Good,” he spoke simply, eyes turning back to the dark structure. “We’re going to have to be careful.” In a smooth motion, he kneeled down before standing back up. It took Fluttershy a moment to realize he was holding the light stick in his hand again. It was outstretched towards her, the arm pushing through the cloak of his cape.

With a gentle blush, she stretched her neck outwards, grabbing the object with her teeth. It had the taste of dirt and plastic, but nothing the pony was unused to. Her eyes looked back up to him, watching as the glowing stick gently illuminated his dark form.

“Stay close to me and do as I say. I’ll do everything I can to make sure we both get out of here.” Fluttershy nodded in understanding, immediately huddling closer to towards him. She could feel the fabric of his cape conforming against her side, draping over her closed wing. It felt odd to her, not like the silk Rarity would use for her dresses, but also different than any bedsheets she had slept on. It felt stiffer, heavier. But in the end, it didn’t really matter.

Batman promised he would keep her safe, and she trusted that he would.

Without waiting for ceremony, he began to walk forward, slowly entering the dark structure within the cavern. Fluttershy followed close behind, making sure she was in constant contact with him. As the torches of the cavern outside began to disappear, and the walls of the structure started to surround them, the pegasus never let herself walk even a hoof out of place from Batman’s side.

The darkness of the halls were chased away by the small stick she carried, the soft glowing light illuminating the clay structure they began to venture into. She gave a quick glance upwards, looking at Batman’s eyes, focused forwards into the still thick shadows. She could tell, at least by how sure he stepped, he was confident in where he was going.

However ironic it may have been, intentional or not, he moved blindly with the same level of confidence a regular bat did in flight. Both seeing with something other than their eyes alone. Fluttershy smiled at the idea. A batman indeed.

Her eyes looked at the walls that they passed, slowly revealed from the light she was guiding. They didn’t have the markings like the ones outside. No art decorating them or even small marks of age. They all looked perfectly new, freshly set and undisturbed. It was almost more unnerving than walking in an old ruin.

A small breath left her as she noticed a wall rising in front of them, a dead end to the short hallway already. Her eyes looked left and right, seeing new paths as she did. They both looked the same to her, dark and endless even with the small light she carried.

Batman looked down them as well, eyes focusing as his head aimed sideways. The scanners and light within his cowl focused and magnified the images hidden by the shadows, softly showing faint outlines. The walls and ceiling were easy for his computer to distinguish, unseen waves bouncing and reflecting off their surfaces with ease.

At the end, however, his sonar was able to capture another shape, faintly different from a wall. Faintly in that it wasn’t a complete wall. The shape itself wasn’t too odd; flat and tall, stretching as wide as the walls and from the floor to ceiling top. What made it less of a wall and more of an obstacle, was the odd shape that was carved into it.

Even with his cowl on, eyes trained through the seemingly dark shadows, Batman could see the almost altar like shape placed in front of the wall. It was outlined over his eyes with small grids, denoting the sharp and well carved edges. It rose from the ground, slightly outwards from the wall itself, and rose to just over his height. The definite details about it he couldn’t see, but at the altar’s top was a shape large enough for his sonar to distinguish.

A hole.

A large empty hole was surrounded by small spikes, each protruding from the dark void as if fleeing from endless pit. Batman didn’t need a cautious mind to know how dangerous such an object could be. His eyes glanced down momentarily to see the pegasus at his still, form still leaning heavily against him. Alone, it would be a risk he could talk. With her, it wasn’t worth it.

“This way,” he spoke as he began to walk to his left, eyes already looking forward and tracing the hall. Already there was a wall at the end of the hall, but it wasn’t a dead end. Instead, it turned right and right alone. No other path to take, but no ominous devices either. Fluttershy followed by his side, not questioning his judgment for even a moment.

The further he walked, the more Batman thought of where they were. It was highly likely that the darkness was supposed to hide something from them. What exactly, he couldn’t say. It would be impossible for him to properly see paintings set directly on the walls, but the pegasus by his side, eyes shifting in every direction with every step her hoofs took, would doubtlessly see something. Combined with his sonar, heat, and tri-dimensional optical display, all kept protected and functioning within his cowl, it was highly unlikely they would miss anything.

He could see every object and passageway. Fluttershy could see every detail the walls could possibly have, if they decided to gain one. The only logical conclusion was that they were being led somewhere, indirectly forced to move in a certain direction. Like a push from a magician, it was supposed to give them the illusion of being in control.

Batman knew the moment he was thrown through reality, time, and space that control was the last thing he had. All he had now were his wits and tools. He would have to gain the upper hand against whatever it was they were facing before he could say they had control again.

He stopped moving. Fluttershy stopped just beside him.

“What is it?” She asked cautiously, voice barely above a whisper and muffled with the glow rod in her mouth. Batman didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he focused his eyes, looking forward into the shadows.

His scanner was having trouble focusing on an object. It moved randomly, unable to gain focus. It couldn’t map the surface and was having an even more difficult time giving him proper readings of its basic composition. Fortunately, he didn’t need to examine it to know what it was.

“Water,” he answered simply. “There’s water up ahead.”

“O-Oh,” the pegasus acknowledged, but didn’t say a word otherwise. One of Batman’s hands rose to lightly cover his exposed mouth, thinking of what the water could mean.

The depth of the water couldn’t be determined until he set foot in it, but he found it highly unlikely there would be pits of water in the hallway, not without a trap of some sort to accompany it. No, the far more likely option was to be a method of tracing movements.

A law he had proven and realized several times before was the impossibility of moving through water without making noise. While air was spread out enough to limit the vibrations of movement, water density was far too high to allow such movement. Any creature with even the dullest level of physical sensations would be able to feel them coming. That’s if the noise they produced didn’t grow high enough first. But that contradicted the already watching eye on them.

A small flip of his wrist to reveal his computer screen gave quick enough indication to show that the X-Ray levels were still present, permeating even into the deep the clay structure. There was no need for there to be a method of passively monitoring them if there was already an eye on their movements.

Unless…

“Stay close Fluttershy,” Batman gently ordered as he started to walk forward. He could feel the pony push further against his cloak and leg.

“Is… is there… something up ahead?” The words were laced with as much fear as Batman could expect from any life suddenly thrown into the dangerous and unknown.

“I don’t see anything yet.” He spoke honestly. “But water has traditionally been used as a cheap and effective method for detecting intruders or assassins. Unless we find a way to climb on the walls, then anything else in the water is going to be able to tell where we are.” He felt Fluttershy give a shiver against him, her leg hooking over his.

“That’s… that’s horrible.” She whimpered outwards. Batman was inclined to agree. However, he looked down just in time to see her face spark with an idea. The stick dropped from her mouth as she looked up to him.

“Could… could I fly over the water?” Her wings extended outwards to prove her point.

Silently, Batman gave them a once over. She doubtlessly had control over them, strong enough to lift herself from the ground. Their full span wasn’t great enough to match the width of the hall, limiting the likelihood of grazing against it. It would limit and reduce any the chance of her falling victims to any traps in the water, which was a beneficial.

But the sound of anything flying, short of gliding through air, would produce just as much sound as cautious steps through water. Worse, she wouldn’t be able to silence her wings without falling into the water, defeating the purpose of flying in the first place. Flying was just as risky as walking, except any traps in the water would doubtlessly be too fast for her.

There was a middle road. It just wasn’t one Batman was keen on taking.

“Hold on,” was all the indication Batman gave before he began to take action.

Fluttershy felt his hand wrap around her midsection, lightly lifting her off the ground. She gave a gasp of surprise, leg curling under her until they hugged against his covered arm. She was still as stone as she was lifted off the ground, eyes wide and terrified as she watched the floor leave her. It was only too fast that she matched Batman’s height.

Slowly, she felt herself begin to descend again, but the trip down was much faster than the trip up. Her underbelly felt the cool material of his cape, followed closely by the rough and hard edged clothing he wore beneath. For a moment, Fluttershy realized that armor would probably be a better way to describe the gear, tough and thick as it was.

A quiet eep left her lips as his hand slid out from under her, leaving her legs to cling to his shoulder instead. It wasn’t terribly comfortable to her, but his broad shoulders made it rather easy to keep her balance. Her head twisted, easily making eye contact with him. The same neutral expression across his features was all she saw.

“Less risk.” He spoke simply to her. Fluttershy nodded in return.

“Oh, okay.” Her voice weakly spoke, head curling downwards as she pulled her legs into her body. Her eyes fell on the small glowing stick on the ground.

In a moment slightly faster than she could follow, Batman knelt down again, grabbing the stick from the floor and lifting it to his shoulders. The pegasus looked at it for a moment, surprised at his kindness again. Gratefully though, her head reached out and grasped the stick between her teeth. She gave him a smile of thanks. Batman just nodded.

“Hold tight,” he spoke again as he began to walk forward. Fluttershy did just that, holding him like she would her pillow during a thunderstorm.

It only took a few steps forward before the pegasus began to feel uneasy about the method of travel. She was not unused to heights, or even moving at the pace that he was. It was just odd to her, holding onto something while it moved. She wasn’t used to riding on other animals. It felt wrong to her.

A moment later, she heard a splash, and her thoughts of discomfort were dashed. Just like Batman had told her, they walked right into a pool of water. She watched as the water rose to just beneath his knees, the cape around him floating over the dark reflective surface.

The light emanating from the glow stick revealed nothing about the water except for the surface itself. She could see herself looking down at the water, her reflection broken by the rippling water, her yellow feathers clear as day against Batman’s dark as night cape.

“Try to keep an eye out for anything I miss.” She nodded at his words, watching his lips move in the water as he spoke. Her eyes looked upwards as he continued to walk, seeing the water reflecting the light from the stick further down the dark hall. It brought a small amount of comfort to her, knowing that she was that much further away from the darkness.

Batman, however, was also unused to offering such support to others. Solitude was far preferred when he was alone on such work, or at least in the company of others who could easily handle themselves. This pony, a pegasus with the ability to speak, was unused to being in the dark, let alone being forced to venture into what was very likely a crypt.

It was to his benefit she was so light. Slightly larger than the size of his torso, but easily half the weight. It felt similar to his training before the years of reign began. Crawling through the dark, searching for answers he wouldn’t recognize, and saving lives he didn’t know rested on his shoulders. Only now, it was a bit more literal.

His eyes scanned the readings of his displays as he continued to let his mind work. The lack of any proper display of artwork thus far was clear it wasn’t meant to be entered often. If it were a mausoleum, or a tomb for the great, it would be decorated along every wall, ceiling, and floor. A fort or home, and just as much art would have been carved as reliefs in the least.

But in a crypt, an empty place for the unnamed dead, there needed to be nothing but a hole in the ground and walls surrounding the bodies. No art, no grace, nothing but simple words of passing. He already suspected the carved markings outside were just that, but telling the skittish pony such words would do nothing but create more fear and unease. That was something he couldn’t have. He needed focus, and focus needed a sound mind. Fears or emotions of unease would disrupt those completely.

He saw the paths diverge ahead, one splitting right again and the other continuing forward. Simple like before, and a little different, but he could see no other indication that it might be a trap. Batman stopped at the small spot between the three paths; the path forward, the path behind, and the path to his right.

It only took a glance to his right to know that it wasn’t a path he could take. He heard Fluttershy give a small whimper of fright on his shoulder. That was all the indication he needed to know that she had seen it as well.

It was another decorated altar.

“W-what.. i-i-is-”

“Nothing.” Batman spoke quickly in return, already moving forward through the water. He could tell the increase in his speed was causing more than simply waving in the water. The splashing of the water created much more sound, but it was of little consequence now.

“That was… That… o-o-oh dear.” Batman could feel the pegasus shivering against her, holding against him with a strength he didn’t think she had.

“Forget about it. It’s gone.” He told her, still walking a fast pace through the water. Small whimpers continued to come from Fluttershy, regardless of his words.

His pace began to slow, however; quickly so. They were already past the hallway with the dark altar. Moving fast now would be beneficial to no one.

“It’s alright.” He spoke again, slowing his pace until he came to a stand still. She was still shivering on him, soft subtle whimpers coming from her muzzle, pressed against her chest. She was far more sensitive than he had initially realized. Just the sight of something ominous made her curl like a startled foal.

This was going to be a difficult night.

His pace began again, slower than before. The sight of the altar had done much to his mindset, in both thoughts of the crypt’s design and assurance he had made the right decision in carrying the pony. She was a skittish thing, and seeing such a sight could have very likely sent her running from him, something they could not risk. Upon his shoulder, large as she was beside him, Fluttershy was not going anywhere.

But why was there another altar? Was one not enough? Would they find more the further they traveled down this water-logged hall? It wasn’t impossible, already having found two before, but without knowing their purpose, it was impossible to predict the likelihood of more or else the further they traveled.

This hall had to end at some point, and Batman’s mind began to theorize the likelihood of finding another altar. As far forward as his cowl could scan, he saw no other protrusion of metal and spikes, no sadistic template for what he could only assume was a sacrifice. But there was another turn ahead, not too far away either. And, much like the turn after fork they found at the start of the crypt, this turn only twisted right with no other path to take.

If they were headed off by another metal altar, Batman would have to think of a way to investigate the items without Fluttershy running off or causing too much noise. His own sound was reduced to a minimum even in the water, years of training showing their worth. It was beyond unlikely the yellow pegasus could produce the same effect.

The turn was upon him before he realized it, causing the dark knight to momentarily degrade himself for slipping into thought and forgoing reality. Regardless, he had to focus. He felt Fluttershy stiffen beside him, a clear sign that the light from the stick in her mouth had just illuminated the turn.

Batman approached it cautiously, body curling slightly in preparation for what could come. Coming to a still, he leaned outwards, letting his cowl mark and scan the new hall. It was the same as all the other, thankfully without an altar, but also without a visible end. He heard Fluttershy give a small squeak as he continued into the hall, followed closely behind with a sigh, probably of relief. He couldn’t blame her.

“Um, Mr. Batman?” The voice was lower than a whisper, a volume he could appreciate. He twisted his head to let his eyes meet the look from Fluttershy, staring at him with a curious gaze. “What… What do you think those… th-those things we-”

“Nothing.” He answered simply, cutting her off before she could finish. His gaze returned forwards, looking down the ever-growing hall for a sign of something different.

That was when Batman’s display began to change.

His hand rose to the side of his cowl, pushing the material closer to his head. Small heat sensors began to vibrate, shades of red and orange appearing over the familiar cold blue from before. His motion tracker began to lightly hum, directing his head forwards towards the same object his heat source was detecting. His body came to a stop as he realized what it meant.

There was something alive ahead of them.

“Wait.”

The sudden cold tone froze the pegasus. The same rough hand that had guided her to his shoulder was now over the top of her mane, holding her head still as her body became rigid as stone. Even the breath in her ceased to move.

Fluttershy’s eyes looked towards him, following Batman’s gaze as he looked forwards down the waterlogged hallways. The faint glow from the stick in her mouth didn’t shine far enough to give her gaze even the faintest of hopes of seeing what lay down the path.

But her sharp perked ears could.

A low groan, deep and rumbling, came from the darkness. It echoed off the walls, making the timid pony’s fur stand on its highest end. The air in her throat slowly began inhale, her eyes widening in slow matching terror. The muscles in her legs began to shake, fearful of the sound that was being made.

For a moment, it subsided, fading out of tone and leaving the pony and human again with only silence. But, Fluttershy didn’t relax, her body still creaming to turn mane and tail and run. The urge only became a demand once the noise began again, far loud and far deeper than before, shaking the pony from the tips of her hooves to the edges of her coat.

She leaned against Batman’s head desperately, clinging to him through his cloak and clothing with fearful need. He didn’t speak or make motion for her to let go. Instead, with the same level of care he had given her since they had met, he reached up and cupped her face, holding her gently against him. Fluttershy felt tears begin to fall down her cheeks as the noise only grew closer.

“W-Wha-” the hand holding her head quickly covered her mouth, silencing the words. Her wide blue eyes looked up to see his expression still focused forwards, staring at something she couldn’t see. She was glad for that. Not seeing it was probably the only thing keeping her from screaming.

In a quick silent motion, Batman’s hand slipped over the light of his glow-stick, covering the luminescent material and bathing the hall in darkness. He felt the pegasus curl against him nearly hard enough to crack his bones, but she wouldn’t, or at best, couldn’t.

The sound began to change. The deep low rumbling that shook the halls began to not only grow in volume, but was soon accompanied by another sound, one less ominous, but no less terrifying.

Deep and heavy booms echoed over the clay walls like thunder, dulled only slightly by the water-logged floor. To the man who had fought enemies thrice his size, he recognized the sounds for what they were.

Footsteps.

He pushed the side of his cowl closer, attempting to read the heat signatures that were being shown to him. All it did was tell him something was there, far in front of them, and approaching with a pace he couldn’t name. The vibrating walls and continues booms of noise made it too difficult to place the rate. He needed more.

His fingers slipped over the side of his hood, flicking through the multiple displays. He saw nothing on the magnetic scale, optical scale, x-ray penetration, or any other views he had designed for the purpose of finding and tracking evidence.

Nothing, at least, until he turned his display off all together.

Then the figure became more than clear.

BEGIN

A slow steady breath of air drew itself into Batman’s lungs. His muscles tightened as he stared down at the creature that continued to approach them. The lights from its display lit up the hall without effort, reflecting off the water that waved with its thundering steps. It moved with labor, swinging its arms with each step its legs took, one arm with one leg, and then the other, body twisting with each moment.

It was a hulking thing, framed in metal and doused in a thick material he couldn’t place from sight alone, dark as it was to boot. The helmet it bore, assumingly at least, reflected the same head plate as those of diving suits, but it was far out of proportioned. Batman, however, had his vision focused on one detail of the beast.

The monstrous drill attached to its arm.

It was thicker than Batman’s own torso, doubtlessly the same size as Fluttershy, and twisted with sharp edges from bottom to top, ending at a point that would doubtlessly rip through steel with ease. Aside from the swinging of the creature’s arm, the drill didn’t move, but Batman had no ideas or thoughts to see if it could spin.

The creature let out another high groan, shaking off the walls as its large metal boots splashed at the water and hammered the ground. It didn’t move any faster the closer it approached, but Batman had no intentions of waiting for it to pass near him.

He turned smoothly, already pushing at the water as he moved. He couldn’t run, not with his legs submerged. It would require too much force to lift and operate his legs with the weight of the water. Too much energy with too little movement. Instead, he was forced to drag his legs through the water, not changing the pressure on them, but not moving nearly as fast as he desired.

The growl Batman wished to make was washed away by the another deep groan from the beast behind him. The man didn’t entertain the thought of turning to see it. He lowered his arms, intending to use the momentum of their swing to retreat from the beast.

In doing so, he released Fluttershy’s mouth. The pegasus didn’t hesitate to scream.

“No!” The shout echoed off the walls with a near deafening force, forcing Batman to whip his head towards the terrified pegasus. He had a moment, and only a moment, to memorize the horrible fear wracked face the small pegasus had.

A moment later, he felt himself flying through the dark air, pain blooming from his back.

Batman hit the water with a splash, the pain racing through his form without patience. He ignored it, as he always did, too many other things far more important than his own well being. He twisted in the water, pushing himself to a low crouch with his cowl aimed backwards, hands already along his belt.

That was when he realized what was missing.

There wasn’t any weight on his shoulder.

His eyes widened as he saw Fluttershy lying in the water, head barely above the surface as she doubtlessly was on her side. Her pink mane was just visible under the light of the beast, wet and clinging to her neck with the water that now dripped from her. But, now it looked ten shades darker, as did everything else in the hall. The reason was just as obvious, and just the same, as the reason Batman and Fluttershy were now separated.

The monstrous creature stood just in front of Fluttershy, it’s lights no longer a neutral yellow, but glowing a dark and ominous red. Red was a color for many things, but in battle, it meant the same thing across every world and culture Batman had ever seen. Danger.

“Fluttershy!” Batman yelled, straightening himself out of the water, already in misprint towards the pegasus as did so. The light of the creature continued to bounce and shake off the walls, forcing his vision to come and go. He never lost sight of the pegasus though, curling in the water that reached past her neck, whimpering beneath the hulking creature that stood over her.

Batman ran faster towards her, arm already stretched outwards to swipe her from the stream. But, but fortune favoring his instincts again, he saw the light around him grow brighter. There was only one reason for that.

His legs pushed against the ground beneath the water, giving him the force he needed to jump backwards. The drill of the beast spun into the spot where he just stood, swirling the water like a beater, but tearing up the clay beneath it like putty. Deadly, indeed.

The red eyes continued to stare at him, Fluttershy now behind the beast, the monster between Batman and the pegasus. To the dark knight, it was the ultimate worst case scenario. But even the worst cases had ways out.

With a deft flick of his wrist, he threw a batarang at the monster, aiming for one of the lights on its hood. The metal object made connection with a small chink. It made as much impact on the beast as water did on glass.

Another thunderous cry came from the monster, and it began to run towards Batman, boots pounding forwards, unhindered by the weight of the water. It leaned down quickly, rising just as fast with its arm stretching outwards, aiming to slam its foe against the wall.

Batman gave a low crouch and small stride to the side, avoiding the massive arm as he did so. He heard the creature make contact with the wall, watching as shards of clay fell from it under the dark red light of the monster. It was difficult to see with the sporadic illumination, but Batman’s disadvantage was not shared alone. At least he was not glowing.

He squeezed his hand into a tight fist, activating the force conductors in his gloves. He swung his arm forward, aiming again for one of the lights of the beast. This time, when it made contact, Batman was rewarded with the sound of cracking glass, followed by the creature taking a step backwards.

It righted itself far too quickly. Its drill began to spin again, pointing towards the dark cloaked man with clear intent. Crouching, Batman readied himself.

END

“Stop!”

The call came from Fluttershy, Batman didn’t need to entertain any fantasies to know that. The desperation, the pleading, the helplessness. He had heard the same hopeless command a thousand times before, and he doubtlessly would a thousand times still. It never did any good though. Criminals didn’t care for what their victims thought, and monsters didn’t listen to their prey.

Imagine Batman’s surprise when the monster did as the pegasus commanded.

Without wasting a moment, or even offering caution towards Batman, the metal monster turned around, facing the pegasus as it stood as tall as it could, no longer lumbering under its own weight. The lights of its helm brightened, now the same neutral yellow as when Batman had first seen it.

His hand tightened on a Batarang, ready to throw it at the creature, but he hesitated. There were too many variables to consider throwing it. Not to mention the fact that Fluttershy had successfully given it an order.

Batman hated it, but he couldn’t solve this quickly. Instead, he slowly approached the monster from behind, keeping his cloak close and movements minimum. As long as the creature didn’t mind him, it wouldn’t be able to stop him.

“P-Please… stop…” the same whimpering tone came from Fluttershy again, muffled over the water. Batman still heard it clear as day. But so did the creature between them. He could tell, because it made an action that forced the dark knight to stop his slow approach.

It bent into the water, and came as close as it could to matching the pegasus’s height. Fluttershy looked up at it, wide eyes full of wonder and shock. Batman watched on with just as much surprise, but tempered with caution. Hand still clung to the tools in his belt, ready to act if need be.

Shaking, Fluttershy stood in the water, raising herself to her tallest height, the pool rippling just beneath her chest. Her mane fell from her like drapes, hiding her fur and giving her a look of desperation Batman had seen too many times on the streets of Gotham. This was the one of the first times he had seen the look work.

“Please… Don’t… Don’t attack us…” The words carried as much strength as a child’s wish. Batman was watching the wish be granted.

The metallic beast stretched its arm outwards, free of any drill or malicious intent. Fluttershy gave a small gasp of shock as it drifted into her vision, but quickly calmed as it sat in front of her, still in the air, and only occasionally making contact with the ripples of the water.

The air was still for a moment, the action clear and unreasonable, but present all the same. Batman heard Fluttershy take in a breath of swallowing slowly on what he hoped to be her nervousness. Then, carefully, delicately, she raised a hoof from the water, the liquid rushing back into the vacuum of space she had left. Her fur dripped from the ends of her hooves as it hung in the air, just a little bit beyond the creature’s own outstretched limb.

With another tentative move, she let her hand fall on the large hand. A slow groan came from the creature, more… kind than those that had come before. It was hard for either of them to place. Batman kept his hand tight on the tools at his side. Fluttershy, however, was finding the tension and unease in her body slowly leaving, a smile washing over her lips.

“Thank you.” She spoke again, louder than anything so far, screams aside.

Batman watched on, hiding his amazement, as the creature’s lights softened into a peaceful and inviting green. Another low groan came from the monster, its hand pushing forwards as it did so. Fluttershy’s eyes blinked in mild surprise, her free hoof lifting to push away wet strands of her mane from her vision. Looking back up into the light of the creature’s helm, she placed her other hoof on its large hand, offering a small smile as she did so.

Fluttershy gave a small eep of fright as she felt its hand rise, lightly guiding her to stand on her rear hooves. Before she could easily adjust to her new posture, the creature’s hand slid lower, forcing the pony forward.

The pegasus landed on the creature’s hand with wet slap, her fur releasing the water it had absorbed on impact. Her wide and confused eyes blinked upwards, staring at the creature. She adjusted herself as best she could on its appendage, curling to make sure her entire form could fit on it.

Another gasp left her as she was lifted into the air. Its hand rose to its shoulder, beside the mesh and lights of his helm, onto its broad and large shoulder. Fluttershy slipped from his palm as it turned perpendicular to the ground, sliding her onto the thick material.

She blinked twice, sitting on her haunches as she looked behind the beast. Batman stared back at her without emotion. His mind was swimming with the possibilities of what he could do, should do, and wouldn’t do.

Her head quickly began to spin as the creature moved, heavy boots lifting and turning in the water. As far as Batman could tell, it did so with little to no effort. It continued to adjust itself until it faced Batman once again, but this time, without any clear sign it wished to harm him.

Fluttershy readjusted herself on its shoulder hoof pressing against the metal grate that was its helm until she was facing forward as well. Then, as slowly as all her movements thus far, she slid herself until her rear hooves hung over the creature’s back, allowing her to have a great sense of security on it.

She stared at Batman with a gaze that lingered in confusion, but was also laced with small joy.

“He’s… He’s actually very nice.” Fluttershy spoke easily, giving a small smile as she did so. Her compatriot simply stared on.

“Wow.”

Batman spoke simply, staring at the two with a sense of disbelief. It was a good thing he only trusted his eyes, because if he had heard of the encounter, he never would have considered it possible. But here it was, Fluttershy sitting on the shoulder of the creature, as she had done to him prior. The creature staring at him, assumingly, with its green gaze lighting the hall as it reflected off the water. One of its lenses was still cracked from the blow Batman had given it.

“Translation Complete”

His eyes fell to his wrist, popping open the small compartment to watch the display on his wrist. The small lights along the screen rearranged themselves quickly, organizing the runes he had scanned before.

Slowly, he watched English characters appear beneath the chiseled markings, letters forming before words, and then finally sentences. When a small beep echoed from his wrist, he knew the lines were completely translated. He read over the translated message quickly before deducing he should have scanned more of the marking, preferably all of them.

“What is it?” Fluttershy asked him from the shoulder of the massive thing. Batman’s eyes looked at her, watching the interaction between her and the soft glowing yellow bulbs of the monster she sat on. No matter how long he stared, he couldn’t think of a reason why it was so easy for her to earn its trust. But without a reason to research, there wasn’t a question to ask.

“The markings are translated, but the meaning is still useless.” The words he spoke earned a twisted head from the mare.

“How can the words be useless? Twilight always told us that words were knowledge.” Batman’s eyes had since returned to the screen, reading it over again as he mind began to search for any possible connections. He couldn’t think of any.

“They make sense, but what they mean doesn’t. At least not yet.” His hand snapped the display closed again, shutting off one more source of light in the already dark hall. It was left to be illuminated by the glowing helm of the monster that Fluttershy sat on. Batman still couldn’t believe it was threatening them.

“Oh, so it’s a riddle then.” The deduction of the pegasus was impressive, but nothing he hadn’t already concluded.

“Highly likely, but without an idea of what its referencing, it doesn’t mean anything yet. We’ll just have to keep going and see where this leads.” Without waiting for a response, he turned, walking down the path the monster had come from. He took all but three steps before the pounding of metal boots echoed behind him, followed by the walls shaking with the creature’s presence.

Already, Batman was aware that stealth for him was nearly out of the realm of possible should the creature continue to follow them. If it was, by some minute chance, something to be trusted, then its massive body and thunderous sounds it was producing would warn any enemy nearby. If it was playing the part of a spy, then it would already know what to look for.

He had to limit himself, in his actions and words. The less the creature knew, the better chance he and the pegasus would have.

“What did the words say?” Flutteshy asked above the pounding of boots. “Maybe I know what they mean.”

“Doubtful,” Batman responded simply, eyes still tracing the walls for any alternate route to the straight path they were walking. “You couldn’t understand the glyphics, so it’s unlikely you know what they were referencing.”

“But I… I can try.” Batman shook his head, doubting Fluttershy could see him.

“It’s nothing to worry about.” He responded. “Even if you knew what they meant, it probably wouldn’t serve any purpose until we reach a spot that requires a riddle or understanding of a hidden meaning.”

Silence followed his words, aside from the larger creature’s continued pass. It left time for Batman to think, wondering about the words. His hand reached out and traced the wall beside him, feeling the condensation of water over the clay walls, a clear sign that water was present, and in a significant amount as well.

He couldn’t place any location that would need such a phrase, not one that was without another hidden wall of messages or dials to turn. By themselves, the words were useless. And they would stay that way until he found a purpose for them.

Batman just had to think of when the phrase would ever be worth saying.

‘Would You Kindly.’

“Kindly this, kindly that, what the hell kind of secret it is ‘would you kindly’?” Handsome Jack popped another handful of popcorn into his mouth as he watched the dark suited man walk, his screen adjusting to get the best view of him and the monster behind him. He lips kept sneering at the thing.

“God, it would have been so much better if that drill had just done one of them in.” He let out a chuckle at the thought. Twisting in his chair, he looked towards the body of his daughter, still wired into her chair with vacant eyes. “Can you imagine that Angel? I mean, think about it. He’d be like ‘Gaaaaahh!’ and screaming and stuff, and then that pony would be like ‘oh no, oh no, oh no,’ whimpering in the corner. It’d be hilarious!”

“Of course, father” Angel replied in a monotone voice, auto-tuned with the electricity lacing her body. “It would be enjoyable to see others being slowly killed.”

“See!” Jack shouted with joy. His hand pointed towards her, remote in hand. “Now you’re getting it! That’s why it’s so great being the hero!”

“I do not follow what you said.” That earned a double-take from the masked man.

“Don’t what now?” Jack asked with a raised brow. “You don’t get why it’s funny? But you were so close!”

“I do not understand how torture equates to being a hero. Please explain.” The grin across Jack’s face was constrained only by the mask he wore.

“Oh, I’m so glad you asked!” Twisting his chair until he faced his daughter, Jack leaned forward, putting one hand on his knee and the other in the air. “Do you remember Aegis Seven? A couple dozen light years away from Pandora. You know, that borderline paradise planet with all the little geniuses and stuff.”

“I do father.” Jack’s head nodded up and down at the affirmation.

“Good! Then you must remember how they loved me there!” His hands spread to his sides as he leaned back. The popcorn bowl in his lap fell to the ground, hitting the metal with resounding dull thuds. Neither of them paid it any mind. “They loved hearing about how I liberated planets, established an entire new weapon line for Hyperion, and how I did it all with just my dreams, ambitions, and a few billion dollars worth of weaponry. They didn’t care about how the bandits died, just that they were dead!”

His arms fell, his hands slapping against his inner thighs. A dreamy sigh left his lips. Angel listened on with the same amount of apathy as before.

“Being the hero is so great. Ya get respect every time you walk out the door, more rewards and honors than you can count, even at base 100, not to mention the people willing to bow down and work for you with just a drop of an offer. Oh god, it’s so great!” His eyes fell forwards, looking at his daughter, still hard-wired into the computer they existed in.

“Not for you though, Angel,” he spoke darkly. “You helped those bandits.” Jack stood from his chair, walking towards his near comatose daughter without an ounce of sympathy in his movements. He stopped only when he stood just above her, leaning over so one hand held the armrest of her chair, the other ghosting over her empty gaze.

“You ruined what took me years to develop, all for some worthless sympathy towards those barbaric bandits.” The hand above her gently fell, cupping her face with a father’s gentleness, but behind it was a monster’s strength. “But I forgive you, because I love you. You were tricked, that’s all. I didn’t spend enough time with you. That’s my mistake. We both screwed up, Angel. Both of us.”

“I am sorry, father.” Jack smiled at his daughter.

“But don’t worry, we’ve got a second chance now. All we have to do is make sure we play our cards right and wipe out all these filthy bandits and prehistoric natives. Then… then we can be the heroes again.” He rose away from her, turning back to the monitors that lined the walls of the room. The remote lifted in his hand, pressing the command to switch the displays. It landed on a pair he hadn’t seen before.

Unlike the previous group he had ghosted past, all of them still as stone by Discord’s will, Jack stayed on this pair.

They were moving, but they were trapped.

“Well, this just got a little more interesting.” Taking the few steps necessary, turning at the end of his brief walk, he fell into his chair, spinning it until he had the perfect view of the televisions again. Heterochromatic eyes focused on the pair, he leaned down, gripping the bowl on the ground as he did so.

“Oh, and Angel,” He spoke with the air of a command, waving the bowl as he did so. “Would yo kindly get me some more popcorn, would ya? I wanna keep an eye on the knight and his pretty pony princess.”

“Of course, father.”

Celestia was a monarch that prided herself in being prepared. For almost any action taken against her, she had a course or plan to retake what was stolen from her, or repair what was damaged. It held true for almost any assault on her kingdom, from minor to grand.

So she cursed herself for still falling for Discord’s own twisted plans once more.

Her prison was nothing like what she expected, which meant it matched the mad draconequss’s art perfectly. Crystal harder than any stone, enchanted to repel her magic, yet still allowing her to see beyond the walls.

There was nothing she could do for now but watch the monolith of an island floating in the sky, hovering over her kingdom like the great ominous object it was. She could see her little ponies, cowering and crying in confusion, wondering what was happening. Her hall still in ruin, her trusted court scrambling for action. And all the while, the most precious ponies to her long and endless life were stuck inside the structure, fighting for what very well was their lives.

She snorted harshly to her side, the only action she could do to control her rage. The turn of her head brought her vision to land on her fellow captured life, a knight from another land that had fought for her like a servant to her crown.

Link sat in one of the corners of their prison, one leg stretched outwards on the ground as the other was brought upwards, arm resting on it’s knee. His head was lolled backwards, resting on the pink crystal with a look Celestia couldn’t place. It was caught somewhere between empty, perhaps in the knowledge he had only just recently learned, and contemplative, no doubt from planning his next move. At least, the monarch hoped for the latter.

Celestia, however, could not plan unless she knew what she was planning for. She needed to know what he did, and there was no better way to learn than to ask.

“Link,” she spoke evenly, earning his immediate attention. “What can you tell me of this… Ganondorf?” The look across his face hardened, brows creasing downwards as his jaw visibly tightened. But, she already knew their relationship was one born of hate.

His free hand rose to rub at the bridge of his nose, no doubt to calm his likely angered thoughts. His breathing softened the longer the action progressed, either as a force of his muscles or a result of his action. Still, regardless of what he did to calm himself, Link had yet to tell the Monarch of what she needed to know.

“Link,” she spoke again, turning to face him completely. “That man is likely responsible for all of the trials I see my ponies enduring on those… moving pictures. He is as much my enemy as he is yours.” The shake of the green clothed Hylian’s head made the princess stop with a start.

Before she could speak again, Link made for motions of his arm. He pointed to the ground, aiming towards some targets she couldn’t see. It cut the air back and forth parallel to the ground they stood on. It made a jagged and vicious cut across his throat with his oddly jointed finger. Then his hand gave a rough stab towards Celestia herself.

The movements were only too obvious to the monarch.

“He has done harm to you, in a way that only time may allow the wound to heal.” Link scoffed at the remark. Celestia knew not what words she spoke to earn such a gesture. She continued regardless. “But my ponies, my charges, are being tortured by both my enemy and yours. Now is not the time to be idle and patient. Now is the time for action.”

Link once again shook his head. This time, however, when he raised his arms, they appeared, weaker. Not thinner or more gaunt, but moving as if there was little energy in them. It was Link gave them commands, but they performed the actions in a sluggish state.

His hand pointed down again, finger tapping on the clear crystal floor he sat on before rising to his throat again. He gave a small flick of his wrist over the small support for his head before letting his hand fall again. This time, it cupped his chest, over the most important muscle in his body. As before, Celestia understood. She understood all too well.

“I know, Link. I believe my words when I say that I can sympathize and do such as well.” The warrior’s features softened, but did not settle. “Though I have lost no pony yet this day or last, I have lost ponies in the past. My own sister, the one you have met only briefly, was taken from me for a thousand years. It felt no different than losing her the same way you have lost your own significant other.”

Link’s hand fell, his features matching the action. For a moment, just long enough for the monarch to memorize, his features twisted into the expression of agony. Eyes clenching, lips tightening, and head rolling forwards. He wanted to mourn, he wanted to cry, but he would not allow himself the release.

Celestia understood that pain as well. It was a pain that every immortal soul would be forced to endure.

Now, however, she could do something to help.

It took fewer than a moment’s worth of trots to approach the knight, standing tall above him. Before he could give her presence his notice, she settled by his side, legs curling beneath her. Celestia watched Link’s blue eyes look at her, still tightened with pain, but now cross in confusion. His mouth opened, perhaps simply to breath, but Celestia wasn’t wasting time. There was no time to waste.

Her wing extended outwards, wrapping over the knight before he could react. She felt his body tense beneath her feathery appendage before it fell against her side, hands pushing on her to support himself. It felt awkward, a position their bodies clearly weren’t designed to allow, but still the monarch didn’t move. Instead, she spoke a command she knew Link’s sharp ears would hear.

“Mourn.”

She gently commanded, wing tight against him. Her wing extended under what she presumed to be him trying to leave her grasp. A single flexion of her muscles pulled him back in.

“No others can see, and no pony will judge. Mourn.”

There was a moment of silence between them, no air being moved and no limbs making motion. But then, as sure as her sun’s rising, Link’s breaths became clearer to her ears, rising in volume as he began to suck in and release his breaths in heaves. His fingers clenched at her fur, pulling at her alabaster fibers.

Then, finally, like the last plucked string of a grand symphony, she felt his tears begin to stain her coat. Soft whimpers soon followed.

Celestia was silent as Link mourned the loss of his princess.

As far Chrona was concerned, the hall of the stairwell changed little the further they walked. The air felt the same the higher they went, the carpet the same color, the walls the same stone, and the company the same people. Well, person and pony.

His arms continued to hold the small unicorn in his grasp, content and oddly happy to know there was another life aside from one other that trust him to perform such an action. It was endearing, and heart-warming, to his used and betrayed body.

“Hey,” Sweetie Belle lightly spoke, earning the attention of the boy carrying her. He looked down at her with a curious expression, waiting for her to continue. “What do you think is at the top of the tower?”

For a small amount of time, Chrona said nothing in return, eyes looking upwards blankly as his feet continued to follow the blue haired woman in front of them. Sweetie twisted her head to look at Maya briefly, noticing how her golden eyes flashed backwards at them as well, maybe to just make sure they were still there.

“I’m not sure.” The pink-haired boy admitted, almost depressingly. “I don’t think it’s the way out… but… but we might find someone who does know the way. Or who is at least trapped, too. Maybe we’ll find nothing.”

“It’s highly unlikely we’ll find nothing.” Maya spoke this time, head still trained forward as she continued to walk, leaving Chrona and Sweetie to stare at her back. “Every fool who has ever built a spire leaves his grandest treasure or the greatest throne atop of it. It’s a clique act that no man has ever diverted from.”

“You sound awfully sure of yourself.” Sweetie Belle noted, almost accusingly. The dry laughter from the siren killed any suspicion, however.

“I’ve read a lot of books and been around too many castles myself.” She admitted easily. “Plus, I can tell you that this place was built for something, or someone, of great importance. Rather than, say, for defending any group of people.”

“What makes you say that?” Chrona asked next, letting the words slip before Sweetie could voice them herself. Instead of answering immediately, Maya stopped, causing Chrona to cease walking as well.

BEGIN

The woman’s head turned to look at the wall just beside them, holding a frame of ornate glass. It was something they had all seen before, though in different locations at different times. The size of the window wasn’t anything surprising or magnificent either. It was just a little over Maya’s height, and only a third as wide as it was tall.

The majority of the stained glass was a sickly dark red, letting the light shining through it match the carpet they walked across. Aside from that, an odd pattern of black was placed in the center of the image. It was a symbol none of them recognized. But they could tell, by its size alone, it was nothing that was to be ignored.

“I have no idea what that means.” Maya admitted after a moment of silence. “But if this tower was meant for anyone belonging to some high class to venture through, that glass would be clear as air and easy to see through. Instead, it’s painted and stained to be one way, and with a sign you’re supposed to never miss.”

Her hand waved forwards, motioning along the wall at all the other windows that continued upwards, curling with the stairs. Their numbers were like the steps, seemingly never ending. It was only now Chrona realized the lack of light that came from them. Whether that be from darkness outside or some other event, he couldn’t be sure.

“So… are we going to find someone at the top then?” Chrona’s question was met with silence, broken only by the soft thuds of their feet connecting with the carpet the higher they walked. The silence continued without any sign that it would end.

That was, until Maya stopped ahead of Chrona and Sweetie Belle.

“We’ll soon find out.” Her words earned a curious feeling from the pink haired boy and alabaster filly, but their curiosity was quickly satiated.

In front of the blue haired woman, standing in a grand stature that befitted the large and near endless staircase, was a door. Rooted with gold and black designs, painted a deep blood red across the open wood, and bearing the same intimidating symbol as the windows from before.

Chrona swallowed on a ball of saliva. He heard Sweetie Belle do the same.

“Stay close,” Maya commanded the two, giving them a brief look backwards as she did so. “We have no idea what we are going to find. But until we do, we are only going to assume the worst.” Neither the pony nor boy spoke against her.

With what was clearly well trained strength, Maya put her hand over the large wooden doors, giving them a heavy push forward. They groaned as they opened inwards, fighting the force the woman gave, but in the end, that bowed to her might.

A gust of wind rushed past the trio, earning a squeak of fright from the pony cowering in Chrona’s arms. The boy covered her further, leaning over to shield her. Maya shut her eyes only briefly, enduring the chill the wind brought. She was used to it, from the winters of her old home.

When she opened her eyes and gazed inside, she saw what she both did and didn’t expect.

It was a grand room. Colored, detailed, and designed with all the grace and perfectionism befitting of a high king. The ceiling stood high above them, and the walls from their entrance even further away. They were decorated with pictures and memorials the woman couldn’t recognize, and doubted her two companions could either. But she could at least recognize the time they must have taken to make, and the skill they needed to be brought to reality.

The same mark from the windows and the door also laid across the walls, painted, carved, or set. There were reliefs of figures bowing before the crossed symbol, submissive to it as it hung high in the air. Then there were others who were holding it close, eagerly guarding it from other foreign figures approaching. Nearly every scenario Maya could name, she could see a relief, statue, or painting of it.

This room was made to hold that mark holy. But, there was no gold, no grand prize, and no throne as far as her eyes could see. There was nothing up her that she could see was worth putting in such a high tower.

However, far ahead of Maya, Chrona, and Sweetie Belle, on the far side of the room, there was something far different than the rest of the walls. Different, not by what it had, but by what it lacked. There were no stones, no art, and no displays of great beauty. Instead, there was nothing, nothing but a few carefully constructed supports for the ceiling that hung above them.

The open section, however, showed them only what they windows in the stairwell did. An empty blackness, a canvas with no stars, moon, or any lights to brighten the sky, and it was the sky, or so Maya would swear it was. It was clear it was the sky by the clouds that slowly drifted past the opening, but nothing else.

There was nothing, except for the figure standing in front of the open section of wall.

Maya tensed the moment her golden eyes fell on it, too far away for her to give any kind of judgment of the figure, but clear enough to recognize it wasn’t any work of art. She heard Sweetie Belle gasp behind her, and Chrona doubtlessly doing the same. It didn’t matter, their presence was already known the moment the door opened.

Carefully, she began to walk forward, being wary of where she stepped. She traveled slowly, carefully, at a pace that would take minutes to reach the thing at the far end of the room. The duo behind her soon followed.

WHAM!

No more than a few steps in did the doors slam shut behind them.

Maya whirled on a heel to see the grand doors firmly locked in place. Her eyes were first met with the shocked and terrified expressions of Sweetie and Chrona, looking forward, as the sudden sound had given them a start. She was sure she had a similar expression on her features.

The door was, indeed, locked in place. The same mighty symbol as they had seen before looked down at her as she looked up at it. The difference now was what the door was made of. The outside was hard wood with metal trimmings. This was nothing but painted metal. No grips to hold onto and surface to generate tension.

There was no method Maya knew of to open the doors. She swallowed on the pool of saliva that had collected in her mouth. This was bad.

“It’s a wonderful sight.”

The voice shook Maya’s concentration, sending a chill through her body. She didn’t need ears or eyes to know that her companions were doubtlessly shivering with fear. The figure, however, didn’t turn to see them. It kept its gaze and body turned from them, looking out the window at a sight the three couldn’t see. The woman was starting to doubt she wanted to see it at all.

“Looking down on the world from a place higher than they could ever hope to reach.” He spoke as in the companion of old company. Fear kept Maya’s friends from speaking, intuition told her to remain silent. “I traveled the world once looking for a place I could call my home, once I had left the tortures of my own. When I did, I saw more evil and spite than I had ever witnessed before.”

Maya flexed and extended her fingers, wishing not for the first time she had a gun on hand. As she did not, she chose to slowly approach the man, sure that if he had a weapon on him, the closer she was, the better.

“I saw rulers and those with powers demeaning and harming others, for the sake of their own gain. It didn’t matter to those with strength who was crushed beneath them, only that they still stood tall at the end.” The figure’s arms spread, and Maya stilled as they did. They bore no weapons.

“It took me years, but once, I was so, so very close, to finally being above them, close to being able to damn the same people who so willingly damned others they didn’t now. But in a single decisive instant, it was taken from me.” His arms fell back to his sides, briefly hanging from his shoulders, before folding behind his back, gripping one another as he continued to stare out and down the window.

“But now, after I had failed, I now find myself in a tower of my own, bearing my symbol, and showing those who exist far beneath the power I have.”

The figure then turned to race them.

END

“Welcome,” the man spoke. “Welcome to my tower.”

Bounties and Rewards

Ganondorf was a careful man

There was never a move he made without considering the consequences, playing the fields of war and minds of his enemies as he would a game of chess. Every move had a consequence, a risk, a small opening that could be exploited. There was never such thing as a riskless move.

However, for every move he was not punished for, he always came a step closer to his goal. It was always a noticeable step, often a leap, never a margin to be ignored. He gained much power from such a path, and lost nothing he could not reclaim. Even his life was a item to be obtained again.

In a dark room of Canterlot Castle, he worked across a grand table, spanning the length of the room, and more than matching his already monstrous figure. Papers and scrolls were laid across it, scrawled with markings in more tongues than there were years in a pony’s life. His eyes looked over each one, switching from one parchment to the next in a pattern and wave only he knew.

All the while his eyes moved, so too did his lips, chanting in a whisper a tongue no other being in Equestria could understand, filled with a power only one other being could comprehend. His breaths were taken in hisses, never a moment spared left to waste. His eyes, lips, and mind worked with a speed that would leave most in pain, but to him brought only pleasure. His body, however, was still as stone.

Ganondorf’s hands were placed upon wooden table, heavy and armored palms flat against its surface. His fingers were flexed hard against the surface of the wood, nearly crushing it beneath his monstrous strength. But he held himself back, protecting the fragile furniture. He had to, afterall.

It was channeling the power he was forcing into it.

Not all of his power, not even enough to be generously called a fraction. But it was his power, and it was immeasurable in strength. It flowed in dark green wisps, ghosting over etches in the table, intricate in detail and design. Every mark across the wooden surface served an important purpose, and every ounce of energy that flowed through him was needed.

But all it did was channel his strength, holding his power like a river held water. It all flowed somewhere else, to an object that could house his strength, and hold his might. Across from the Evil King, embedded in the table across from him, stood that object in all of its dark and ominous glory. For every moment that passed, and word whispered, the grand object became ever darker.

With a sudden gasp, Ganondorf stopped.

The magic died away as he let his lips take in gulps of air, tired from the ordeal. His muscles burned despite their static nature,his lungs burned in spite of his quiet whispering and his mind pounded like the gorons were upon him.  But it did not matter, not in a great measure. This was a part of his plan, a great and terrible maze of turns he had orchestrated from the moment when he would ac, for when his prize was his to grasp. Without fail, and without consequence.

His head turned away from his work, letting his mind relax and body calm. Limits were meant to be pushed, but not without a clear gain. Here, he had time, he had patience, and he had no need to put himself in a position of absolute vulnerability.

Ganondorf looked into the shadows of a far corner, scowling at it as if he had seen a mouse scurry by. He raised his hand, waving it in front of him in a dismissive gesture. Sickly green smoke poured from his hand, collecting and pillowing in the air like a cloud.

His copper red eyes stared at the green smoke as it began to swirl, folding on top of itself with an increasing speed. Quickly, it began to expand, forming a ring in the air. Around was the room Ganondorf stood. Within it… was a vision of something else entirely.

The Evil King stared into the image, his scowl deepening as the pictures continued to move. The figure he glared at could pay him no mind, offered him no attention, and was completely unaware of his existence. It was the perfect way to observe a potential enemy.

Ganondorf was unconvinced the fool he was watching was anything close to a threat.

“He prances like a babe in her youth.” Her deep voice rumbled, scowl deepening as he watched the figure through his glass of smoke. “And he is the first of the champions for the Princess of Flames?” Ganondorf’s hair waved as he shook his head, disgraced with the thought alone.

“I make for the mad god a temple grander than any Hyrule has ever seen, one the gods would have given a mortal immortality to have dedicated in their name. Then she uses jesters to play the part of executioners.”

Ganondorf leaned back from his table of work, eyes looking upon the object of his work.

It was bathed in his power now, glowing darkly as it hummed. By sights alone, it was his greatest work, and near literally, the key to his plans. Beautiful in craft, in art, in metal, and most importantly, in strength.

His dark copper eyes looked again to the portal of mist, looking at man he knew only as a jester. His lips curled in a snarl before his hand roughly waved away the image, letting it drift into nothingness once more.

“It will not matter,” he spoke clearly, to himself, lips pulling into a high grin. “You have your plans princess, and I have mine.”

Ganondorf crossed his arms staring at his work with satisfaction.

“And no matter how long it takes. I always win.”

His laughter rang through the empty room.

“Left and right. Right and left.” Karl spoke to himself as he waited in the fiery hall he had entered. He would take a step, then another, then spin on the foot he came to rest on. Facing the other direction, he took his two extra steps and performed another solo pirouette. His arms swung at his sides, moving in a motion that matched the cheery smile on his face.

His eyes, no matter how he spun, almost never left the wall he had entered from. A lot of time had passed, too much for him.

Karl was not to be easily fooled, or one to be caught unprepared. The long absence of the pony and boy was a clear sign of planning without his presence. His very appearance was an oddity, and his continuing role with them a concern for the pair. They would either be planning a cautionary defense or a surprise attack. Both ideas brought grins to the living statue’s face.

“Deary me Arma,” Karl spoke to the black bird perched patiently on his shoulder. “Those two certainly are taking their time. What do you think could be keeping them?” His eyes watched with an amused grin as the raven’s head twitched left and right, red eyes following the gaze of its master.

Karl laughed.

“Ha ha! Yes, that is possible, but I doubt they will be so easily killed like that.” His footsteps ceased, head twisting until only his shoulders held it. His arms hung at his sides, smile unflinching or wavering. “Magic swords and magic horns, it makes sense why I feel so alive here, hm?”

“There is another reason for that.”

Karl’s body was still as stone. The voice came from behind him, and spoke without an air of fear, curiosity, or fatigue. If anything, it sounded pleased, maybe even a bit amused. Feminine, to be sure, but not a pitch or tone he was familiar with. His smile grew deep as his eyes narrowed, still staring at the fake rock wall.

“Are you not going to greet me?” The voice spoke again, speaking highly of itself in tone and words. “And here I thought you were the only respectable piece of rock I’d ever find. Or are you supposed to be walked on like every other pebble?” The deep smile across Karl’s lips twisted into a menacing grin.

His body twisted around, leaning on one foot as he looked down the hallway behind him. It was the same as when he had jumped through the fake wall. A fiery red, flames licking between the stones, and curved ahead just enough that it would make the perfect ambush for an unassuming traveler. It was his luck that the only two companions he had met were anything but unprepared.

There was something new however. A woman. Donned in light clothing, black hair twisted into a ponytail with a golden ornament keeping it locked in place. Her robes matched the décor of the hall they were in. It was a dark and burning red, trimmed with gold linings that Karl was sure would shine no less brilliant than the sun, given there was more light than the flames to fall upon them.

But the woman herself was far harder to read. She held a neutral smile, staring at Karl with her arms crossed behind her back. Her legs were placed one in front of the other, as if preparing to deliver a vicious kick, or make a deft flip. Her eyes were as hard and sharp as the bit of cloth she wore, golden like the edges of the flames around them.

“Hm hm,” Karl laughed with closed lips. “You’re quite the looker and the talker, a lip as sharp as your armor.”

“I can take that as a compliment,” the woman passively noted. She drew an arm out from her back, analyzing her nails with a critical eye. Karl’s eyes narrowed as she performed the action.

His hand swayed at his side, just a small amount, hardly noticeable if you weren’t looking for it. The bird on his shoulder gave a small look towards him, seeing only sharp eyes focused elsewhere. Arma then fell backwards behind the stone man, landing easily in his hand. Karl gripped the bird with a strong grasp.

“So tell me, who are you then?” The woman looked up at him, a subtle but deadly smile settled neatly on her lips, practiced and poised as her posture. Karl settled to both legs, pulling his cloak until it hid his hand, concealing his trump card.

“I’m a lot of things to you, Karl.” As soon as the name left her lips, the stone man’s brow rose.

“Really?” He questioned, raising his free hand to scratch the hard resin of his head. “You seem to have me at a disadvantage. I don’t know who you are, but you seem to know me. Now that’s not nice, especially during first meetings.”

“And you are a polite one, aren’t you?” One of the woman’s cheeks pulled on her lips, directing the smile to rise to one side of her face. Her golden eyes never faltered from him. “But I suppose introductions are in order.”

The woman’s posture changed, the arm behind her back sliding until it settled on her hip. The hand she was analyzing twisted and pushed away from her, facing palm up as she gave the living statue an amused grin.

“My name is Azula.”

“Azula,” Karl spoke back, letting his mouth hang open as he spoke the last letter of her name. His smile grew with the word. “Such a pretty name to make a pretty face. It suits you.” His words earned no reaction, positive or beneficial, to Karl.

“Thank you,” she returned to the stone man with a small bow of her head. Slowly, her feet began to move, one moving in front of the other as she walked towards him. Karl’s smile couldn’t grow any brighter.

“You’re shorter than I pictured you to be.” Azula spoke her thought aloud, golden eyes roaming over the living statue. “Menacing nonetheless.”

“Well I must admit, it does take a fair amount of hard work to keep myself looking this dashing.” Karl let his free hand roam over his face, carefully letting his hand fall over his eyes. If she was what he thought she was, she would strike then. But after a moment of stillness, he let his hand drop. Azula was closer to him, but with no more armed or dangerous than she was before.

“Yes, positively… striking.” She commented dryly. She was within an arm’s length when she stopped in front of Karl, hands folded behind her back. The smile on her lips pulled upwards as she looked at him with the ever scrutinizing eye.

“Just like that sword you are planning on using.”

Karl gripped the bird in his hand, forcing the raven to squirm only slightly. The next moment, it began to morph, changing shape as it had countless times before. Within a second, a well practiced and versed second, the lively raven was a dark cutlass, hidden behind the stone man’s back. Karl didn’t’ hesitate for even a moment.

His arm extended outwards from behind him, black sword stabbing forward into the human that mocked him so openly.

It met only air.

Karl remained frozen as still as the statue he was, trying to feel or hear for the woman that had vanished from his gaze and senses. He was fast, always had been, sneaky to boot. But Azula, wherever she was now, had not only avoided him, but did so while simultaneously hiding herself. She was not to be underestimated, just as he had thought.

“Think better about who you are pointing that at.” The demeaning voice spoke from behind him. Karl didn’t hesitate to twist on his footing. His body spun with his feet, arms swinging in a wide arc as the sword was brought over his head and down behind him, doubtlessly cutting into the still confident human.

The sword clattered harshly against the rocks. Karl’s eyes furrowed in annoyance. Again, he saw, felt, and heard nothing around him. Only the licking flames beneath the rocks reached his senses.

“Tired of that yet? Because my patience is wearing thin.” His hands gripped the sword tightly, fighting the urge to thrust backwards again. But he controlled himself. Instead, Karl rose to his feet, remaining still. In the same motion he let Arma transform from the sword in his hand back into a raven, flying and landing on his shoulder deftly. Putting a smile over his lips, he turned to face the woman. She stood where she did when she first addressed him, unchanged in even the smallest of ways.

“You are quite nimble aren’t you?” He teased lightly, hand pointing towards her as he swayed on his feet. He couldn’t remain still. Azula, however, had her lips in a thin line.

“Nimble as I am, I didn’t need to wave a finger to avoid those unpracticed swings from you.” Her hand waved at him in dismissal. Karl’s smile remained etched on his face, hard as stone. “I wouldn’t doubt if you depend solely on your cunning in battle, because you lack any proper form of swordplay I’ve seen.”

“Oh, I assure you it gets the job done. Just hold still for a second and I can show you.” Karl held his palms outwards, as if he was seriously awaiting Azula’s response. The woman smiled coyly at him, tilting her head backwards till her gaze looked down on him.

Her gaze was the very image Karl had seen in too many moments before. The look a human would give when they thought themselves above something, the snide twisted grin of confidence and lifted eyes of loftiness. It made his mask feel heavy.

“You honestly think me to be just another typical human, don’t you?” The words dripped from her like poison, a substance Karl fantasized destroying. “Just another pile of blood and bones to be spilt by your formless weapon.” Her hand dismissed the bird on his shoulder, waving Arma off like a fly. The stone bird cocked its head in reaction.

“Aw, now that was just uncalled for,” Karl responded in kind, voice high and cheery. “He didn’t do any harm to you, or against you. After all, I did miss, so there was no harm. And like you humans are so proud to say, there isn’t any foul for it.”

“What makes you think I’m human Karl?” Her voice whispered behind his ear.

The stone man swung arm backwards, intending to smash the head of the soul that had attempted to sneak upon him. But as he had tried before, he met only empty air. That is, until it collided with the fiery wall of the small cavern hall. Red rock crumbled beneath his arm.

Karl’s eyes were wide, but vacant, staring at the ground as if it were a wondrous site. He still could not sense Azula, let alone any other life around him. Could not hear, see, or even feel the vibrations of their movement. Without a conversation, he would have sworn he was alone, save for his faithful partner on his shoulder. But his eyes did not betray, and his ears offer no false whispers of wind. He was being toyed with. And, he hated it.

“While it is amusing to watch you grasp at flames, time is short and I am not one to make special considerations for others.” Karl turned his ear to Azula’s voice, still holding a mocking tone as it twistedly ordered him. The smile on his mask was gone, but he couldn’t face her without it.

His hand fell from the wall, leaving him silent and still. He didn’t speak, move, or speak for sometime. Only the small crackles of flames from the rocks around them kept silence from the air. Slowly, Karl’s head lift and he spun on a heel to see the red clothed woman standing where she had always been, haughty smile still across her lips.

“Does that mean you have something for me?” He asked, letting his smile swim across his face as naturally as a fish did through water. “It has been a long time since I was given a gift, at least one that I didn’t have to chop a few arms and legs for.” His eyes fell to half mast as his lips continued to pull themselves in a grin. Azula watched on, amusement never falling.

“I do have something for you, and it has to do with what I am.” She took a step towards him, testing the ground between them. Karl did not react, and the bird remained perched on his shoulder. “But first, prove to me that you are worth the knowledge I’m about to give you. I would no sooner hand a sword to a babe, and what I have to give is little different than a weapon, in the hands of the capable.”

“Deary me, does this mean you’re going to test me?” Karl voiced the question as if he had never heard of such an idea before.  Azula smiled devilishly.

“It’s the manner of test that you will be unprepared for, of that I can assure you.” Her words placed a noticeable weight on the living statue, but his smile did not teeter, and his gaze was never anything less than confidant. Leaning in, she placed her head just beside his own black hair from her tied tail drifting over his placid features.

“Tell me Karl, what am I?”

The living statue’s mind began to work.

She wasn’t human, of that he could be sure. No human could react or move like she did, not only avoiding his attacks, but forcing him to lose track of her as well. Besides most humans were prideful of their nature, happy to be; greedy monsters. No, she was something else entirely.

But, if not a human, then what? He had met monsters and others in the past, beast and phantom alike. She did not carry the familiar traits of anything tangible, and was therefore no creature of natural beginnings. She did, however, have the air and confidence of an elder being, or at least one who thought of themselves as such.

Disregarding what he had seen in individuals, it was likely that this Azula’s confidence was backed with honest talent and not false feats from her past. She carried herself with grace, yet stood close enough to him without trace or thought of fear. There were those in the past who had done such an act before, but they were few and very far between.

Like a flame bursting to life, the knowledge came to him. Karl opened his arms as if to embrace the woman. Neither made motion to actually make contact.

“Oh goody, another source of energy come to mock me.” Azula smiled darkly at his words.

“You were crafted masterfully, that much I can be sure of.” She spoke as if sizing him up, careless of his presence in front of her. “Strength in body and cleverness in mind. I do believe you are-”

“So,” Karl interrupted her on a dime, holding up his colored and stone hand in front of the dark haired woman, the ever-present smile still on his lips. “Do you energy sources know one another? I’m looking for the last one to lead me down a blind trail and drop me at the first sign of failure.” Karl’s smile was harder than the stone he was made of. The red clothed woman, however, took a few steps back as she recovered from being interrupted. It was clearly not a common act to occur to her.

“You are referring to that spirit who followed you through Talos.” Azula spoke easily. It earned a clapping of hands from the statue man.

“Yes! Her! I still owe her a few debts. It’s only fair I pay her back for teaching me so many valuable lessons.” Karl’s arms fell to his side, head leaning back till his gaze looked towards the red rock ceiling not high above him. “And a reminder for myself I nearly had forgotten.”

“Really? And, what were these… lessons she taught you?” Azula ventured towards the statue man, but did not take a step towards or away from him. Karl’s head fell and let their eyes meet.

“That no one is to be trusted. Human, machine, or even spirit.”

Azula’s smile was just as coy and dark as Karl’s.

“No one.” She spoke in return, either in agreement or mockery. “Trust no one but yourself, because in the end the only thing that matters is yourself.” Karl’s smile grew wider as his eyes became darker.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” The living statue cheered, backing away with each word. “Oh, you are much more fun than that devil of Talos. At least you know how I think.” His arms fell to his sides as his eyes shut, smile still omnipresent. “I’m still not going to trust you.”

“Trust is a commodity that little value exists in.” Azula dismissed with a wave of her hand. “It is inferior to a great many of other emotions. Fear, for example, is much easier, and much more reliable, than the flippant values that trust depends on.”

Were either of them the kind of people, they doubtlessly would have embraced.

“Not only do you understand me, you complete me!” Karl gave a muffled laughter as his hand covered his mouth, joy emanating from his every core.

“So you know what I am then.” Azula began again, putting their conversation back on track with a single phrase. “And you agree so earnestly that we are alike.” Her arms crossed behind her back, returning his stance into a position of power.

“Will you then accept what I have to offer?”

With a spring in his step and a smile on his face, Karl walked in front of the fire colored woman, stopping when he was a breath’s length away from her. Leaning down he, looked deeply into her eyes, letting her hard golden irises stare into his gray lifeless orbs.

“No.”

Azula’s smile fell. Karl’s didn’t.

“No?”

“Nope!” Karl spoke the synonym with a raise of hand, smile seemingly glowing with the flames around him. “Nope. No. Rejection. Refusal. Veto. Denial. And, Dismissed.” The living statue joyfully listed, nearly dancing with every word that he spoke. Arma flapped her wings to keep her balance on her shoulder.

The Flame Princess, however, watched with sharp golden eyes. Her smile was gone, replaced with a straight mute line, contemplating thoughts that couldn’t be read. A slow breath of air entered her before she spoke.

“Dismiss me if you must, but you will regret your ignorance later Karl.” Azula calmly warned as she walked towards him. The statue didn’t even flinch towards grabbing Arma from his shoulder. “Hear my words and remember them if you so choose. I can only promise you will regret not doing so.”

“Then by all means,” Karl invited, taking a step back with a small bow. “Waste your breath on me.” His smiled twisted in amusement as he heard the spectral thing click its tongue.

“I am the spirit that brought you back to life, Karl of the Castle of Nations.”

The name and declaration earned an immediate head raise from the statue man. But Azula did not stop.

“Be aware that there is more to look for in these fiery caverns than just a way out. There lies a great power that you must find. A power you are not familiar with, but that you will doubtlessly enjoy.” Her hand rose into the air, and her fingers snapped.

Karl was met with a dazzling display of fire.

“I fear we may have left him to his own devices for too long.” Luna muttered as she stared up at the ceiling, peering at the wall she knew to be false, marked clearly by the sword marking Riku had made. “If he truly does conspire against us, time alone in a location unseen is all he needs to plot.”

“Honestly, he could do that while walking with us.” Riku spoke bluntly besides the princess, his hand extended to his side. “The only thing I’m worried about is getting ‘surprised’ by him once we get up there. Speaking of which.” Just as he had done before in the chamber now behind them, Riku focused his magic through his arm. Swirling darkness began to form by his side, the same thick silk growing from his appendage until it matched him in height and width. It churned with the same ominous power as before. It took only a glance to see the same device hovering above them.

“That oughta do it.” He spoke with affirmation, pulling his arm out of the portal and letting it fall back to his side. The alicorn at his side twisted her head as she examined the device for the second time.

“Remind me to inquire with you how your magic works.” Luna noted as her gaze slowly fell to the white haired boy. “My curiosity is great for how it works, as I can tell by sight alone how different it is from mine.”

“Same here,” Riku responded, a small smirk pulling at his lips as he spoke. “But let’s do it later, when we’re not trying to escape from some lava cavern full of secret walls and talking rocks, huh?” His words were answered with a soft smile and chuckling from his winged companion.

“Indeed,” Luna agreed, stepping towards the portal. Riku only had to turn to join her side, his free hand on his hip, the other still gripping his curved colored blade. “Let us see what Karl has done in our brief absence.”

The two entered the dark portal, washed over with the same sensations of cold chills and absence of warmth. However, Luna didn’t even have the moment to breathe before she felt the warmth and humidity of the chamber return to her, held back only by her still magical shield.

It took only a small glance of her eyes to see the wall of rock behind them, specks of dark shadows reaching up and through the imaginary boundary. Riku however, had his eyes trained forward, looking down the corridor they had entered.

It mirrored closely the first continuous chamber they had found themselves trapped within. It was small and thin, but large enough for both of them to move beside one another. Ahead, the silver haired boy could see the corridor turn, much sharper than the curvy tunnel from before.

There was, however, a figure standing in front of them and that small turn, facing away from them and still as stone.

“Karl,” Luna called the stone man’s name, earning a small twist of his head.

His smile was unchanged, body unmarred, and black bird still perched carelessly on his shoulder. Nothing was different at all. He turned to them as they approached, stone grey hand waving at them.

“Why hello there,” he greeted as if they had not met before. “I was wondering when you’d get here. Don’t suppose that height was too much trouble for you?” The alicorn scoffed at his words.

“We were momentarily inconvenienced, that is all.” Luna responded coolly to the stone man’s spirited tone. “Did our absence bore you so quickly?”

“Not at all, I actually found it quite enjoyable.” The statue man spun on his heel, twisting away from them and down the small corridor ahead. “It’s amazing what you can learn when you can learn in just a few minutes.”

“Wait, learn?” Riku questioned, walking in front of Luna as he questioned Karl. The Path to Dawn was gripped just a bit tighter in his hand. Karl’s head twisted at the obvious gesture. “What did you learn in an empty hallway?”

Luna’s vision was focused carefully on the statue as Riku phrased his question, watching the features of the painted resin with as scrutinizing an eye as she gave her night sky. But no matter how deeply her eyes stared at Karl’s features, all she could see were empty eyes and a haughty grin.

“Why yes, learn.” He spoke the word with an undeniably chipper attitude. “They’re only small mysteries mind you, but still riddles that I do so enjoy to crack. You didn’t expect me to solve the mysteries of life in a couple seconds alone, did you? Though if you did, I do appreciate the confidence in my abilities.” Karl’s eyes shut with a twist of his head, lips parted in an open mouth smile.

“You avoid the point,” Luna spoke with her commanding tone. “We wish to know of what you have learned. How you learned what you have will naturally follow.” The dark alicorn watched cautiously as the living statue’s features focused on her, lips shutting and eyes peering at her, judging her. It gave her coat an uncomfortable bristle.

“As wise as you look your highness.” He spoke easily, swaying on his feet before performing a small spin. “Well, secrets are meant to be kept from friends, hm?” His spinning stopped as his hand was placed on one of the rock walls.

Riku gave a small wince of pain before realizing it was not a hand of flesh that touched the likely molten temperature rock. It was rock on rock, poor conductors of heat, and just as likely, free of any nerve endings. Karl’s twisted head looked towards them, Arma on his shoulders peaking at them with its own cocked face.

“Were you not curious why there are illusions in this place?” The question hung between the three, sitting with a pregnant pause. “I had to wonder it myself when I watched you two walk through a wall, and then asked me to jump through a roof.” Karl’s hand drew back, letting him stare at the gray and colorless hand. Riku and Luna watched on in caution.

“Magic is like any other source of energy. Versatile, doubtlessly, but also limited. It has to come from somewhere in order to be used, and once used, it’s gone forever.” He flexed his digits individually, testing the mobility of each small appendage. It balled into a fist before dropped back to his side. His small dotted eyes looked back to the swordsman and princess, smile much smaller than before, but still ever present.

“Even if these illusions are just… enchantments. There must be something here to give them power. Now, if we remove that power, the illusions will fall” Riku snapped his fingers

“Then we’ll be able to find our way out!” Luna’s eyes widened at the realization herself.

“That’s ingenious,” she complimented honestly to the statue man. “Never mind a search through walls for an exit that is likely concealed by even stronger illusions, we merely remove the core of the structure and walk out without incident.”

“My thoughts as well, down to the letter,” Karl agreed, cheerful as ever. “So, all we have to do is search the flaming caverns for an object that has enough power to create illusions throughout the entire chamber and do so without courting death. Doesn’t sound too difficult.”

Luna and Riku were momentarily frozen by the almost excited manner he described their situation with. If his friend from years past hadn’t proven it before, Riku was now completely sure that an optimist was far more annoying than any pessimist he had ever met. Luna was not far from him in judgement, seeing much of her sister’s charismatic and hopeful nature in the attitude of the living statue.

Nevertheless, they had a plan now, and they owed it to the living rock for it. As Karl began to set a pace, the two followed behind him. Luna kept a small portion of her magic channeled through her horn just as Riku kept the Path to Dawn secure in his hand.

“Oh, I almost forgot!”

The sudden declaration from Karl caused the pair to still instantly, watching him cautiously, as his hand met with the flat of his forehead. He turned easily, looking at both of them with his hand raised just above his head.

“Have either of you seen a girl around here?”

Both Riku and Luna’s careful gazes fell into twisted looks of complete confusion.

“What?” The single worded question was flatly asked from the white haired teen, brows screwed in confusion. Luna gazed at the stone man with a similar expression.

“A girl,” Karl spoke again, “About your age I’d guess? Black hair knotted on her head? Red clothes?” His hand waved over his head as he spoke, smile never falling.

The dark alicorn turned her gaze to look at her human partner, Riku doing the same. The shared a silent conversation, both looking at the other for any hint that there may have been an unshared jest or joke they did not understand. When only confusion was mirrored in their eyes, Luna turned back to the stone man.

“Karl,” she began carefully, head slowly shaking left and right. “You are the only other living thing we have found in this place, aside from a small creature barren of intelligence. We have seen no women, let alone one befitting your description.”

“That’s a shame.” The living statue’s hand fell to his side, body rocking in the same direction as he spun in place. “Well, we can’t waste any more time. Who knows what we’ll find in this place, hm?” Without waiting for a response, the statue began to walk down the heated passage, a spring in his step with arms swinging at his sides.

Luna and Riku watched him for a moment, more perplexed and confused than they were the moment they first met him. Once more their eyes met, and another silent message was passed between them. A nod from the boy, followed by an affirmative return from the alicorn.

They followed close behind the statue, neither one dropping their guard or caution as they moved.

“Oh, playing a dangerous game.” The draconequus mused to himself as he watched the stone man walk off with his pair of pawns. Discord held a proud smile over his lips, one that had been there the very moment Azula had appeared and refused to depart even after she had. “But that’s the fun of watching children play I suppose. Especially when you give them new toys to play with.”

His claw and paw knitted together, sharp talons weaving between his thick fingers as he laid back in the sky, watching the dark alicorn trade cautionary looks towards the enthusiastic statue and offering comforting nods to the white haired boy by her side. Discord sneered as he watched them.

“This is just so great!” He cheered as she flipped himself, tail pointing up and head aimed towards the ground. “So close to the end for each of these puppets, and I can’t wait to see what strings are cut.”

A pair of scissors appeared in front of Discord. He snatched them in his talon and held them in front of his equine head. He aligned the scissors along his gaze, keeping them close to his eyes, but pointing towards the screen he watched.

Luna’s head sat between the blades.

“Snip, snip.”

A Puzzle Solved

Batman’s hand ran down the wall in front of him.

It wasn’t anything spectacular, majestic, or even unique by even crude fashions. It was a wall no different than almost every other one he, Fluttershy, and the metallic beast had passed. With his optical enhancers on, he saw no change in elevation or any markings across the stone. With them off, and aided by the ominous lights of the drill-arm monster, he saw no paintings or messages written in any ink.

The wall was one thing to Batman, and it was a thing he was not fond of calling any subject or matter, physical or metaphorical.

It was a dead end.

“What does this mean?” Fluttershy asked quietly behind him, earning a small glance from the dark garbed man. He turned his head back to the blank wall after he had offered the canary pegasus the whites of his eyes.

“It means we missed something.” The sentence was spoken as flatly as every word he had uttered yet. It was met with another groan from the beast Fluttershy rested on. It made his muscles flex on instinct, prepared for whatever could come. But no blow or threatening boom followed the low pitched moan.

“Oh dear, that’s horrible!” It was bad, no denying the obvious, but to the Dark Knight it was far from horrible. Horrible would be a false assumption that caused harm, or a trap he was unprepared for. This was just a mistake that cost them nothing but time.

“We know where to look.” Batman spoke as he turned, already pacing through the water. He cautiously moved by the metallic brute, pegasus still sitting on its shoulder. He saw her curious look as he passed by. It was impossible to read any emotion from the hulk.

“Really? What was that, that is if… you don’t mind telling me.” The meekness in Fluttershy’s voice would have been audible to him even without the sensors in his cowl or years of training.

He knew because the monster’s lights shifted from peaceful green to a warning yellow.

Batman stilled in the water, his every sense prepared for another strike at his turned back. When none came, he turned to face the creature. Fluttershy was looking at it with her expression of shock while he gave a careful and inquisitive gaze.

Aside from the darkening of its lights, the metal beast didn’t make a single action against either him or the pegasus still sitting on its shoulder. Instead, it seemed to have its gaze focused on the pegasus, or so the tilt helmet told the Dark Knight. It raised an interesting question.

“Fluttershy,” Batman spoke the pegasus’s name, earning her attention instantly. “Smile at me.” The canary coated pony’s eyes widened further than they already were, her own head tilting to the side in minor confusion. However, the man she stared at didn’t make a move or speak a word.

Her head turned from the metal beast she sat on, staring at her with large yellow bulbs, then to the man dressed in black, his blank stare unchanging as walls around them. Fluttershy swallowed on a ball in her throat. Slowly, her lips turned upwards, ascending into a small shy smile.

The lights on the beast’s helm turned green.

“Oh… wow…” The pegasus’s words confirmed the hypothesis in the Dark Knight’s mind.

“It’s sensitive to your state.” His words once again earned the full focus of the pegasus. This time, he spoke on. “Depending on how you are displaying yourself, it will naturally react in a way that acts in your best interest.”

“W-What?” Fluttershy’s trembling lip and confused stare were sign enough that she understood little to nothing of what Batman had said. It was only made worse when the beast’s lights changed once again to an ominous yellow. Batman’s gaze hardened on the pegasus again.

“Relax.” He spoke as a command, causing the pegasus to curl into the shoulder she sat on. The lights on the beast did not change. “Listen, anything you think is threatening, it thinks is threatening. The more scared you are of something, the more likely it is it will attack it.”

“But… But I’m not scared of…” her voice trailed off as her focused on the dark suited man in front of her. His gaze was flat and hard. “Maybe a little…” The monster groaned beside her, head slowly turning to face Batman as well. The Dark Knight was unperturbed.

“Just relax, and it will be alright.” A quiet sigh left his lips. “As long as you remain calm, there isn’t anything to be afraid of.” Her eyes continued to gaze at him uncertainly. The yellow lights of the monster had yet to change. “I promise.”

The words sealed the deal.

“O-Okay.”

Fluttershy jumped from the shoulder of the metal brute.

It groaned in disapproval as her hooves splashed into the water, water rippling beneath her. Batman watched her shiver and shake herself before standing to her tallest height. The edges of her tail and mane floated over the water. Looking up at him, covered in water and illuminated by the yellow lights of the beast behind her, she smiled openly and fondly at him.

The lights instantly changed back to a peaceful green.

Fluttershy thought she would have needed to force her lips up, fake a smile in order to keep a conflict from occurring. If she needed to act a little bit to keep her two new friends from fighting, then she could do it easily. But, when she landed in the water, and looked up at Batman, she saw nothing but kindness beneath his dark mask and focused gaze.

The smile naturally grew on her lips. When the green light began to glow behind her, she felt it only naturally to let out a small giggle of appreciation. She was right before, this Batman was much kinder than he looked.

Her eyes looked back to the thing she had sat on, green lights focused down on her. It’s groan echoed off the walls, rippling the surface of the water. Fluttershy felt her hooves even clatter beneath the water at the sound. Her smile never faltered though. Instead, she felt… safe.

“Mr. Bubbles.”

The Dark Knight looked down on the pegasus with a look he rarely displayed. Confusion.

“What?”

Fluttershy turned to look at Batman, her smile unchanged and demeanor positively shining, even in the cold damp halls of the waterlogged structure. The Dark Knight had a look of bewilderment on him, an expression that brought another small giggle to the pegasus’s lips.

“That’s his name,” Fluttershy spoke. “He seems to like water, but his face is full of large circles, just like bubbles in water. Mr. Bubbles sounds perfect for him.” Pride seeped into her timid voice, regardless of the situation they were in.

Batman’s eyes focused on the brute standing behind the pegasus, a metal drill attached to one of its arms. The eight different windows of light connected to its helmet all seemed to be focused on him, staring at him with as many eyes as a spider. It’s size was massive, weight undoubtedly the same, and with a voice that sounded like metal giving way to age.

And the pegasus had named it after small water bubbles.

“Right.” Batman droned the word, letting it hang in the air as she continued to stare at the beast that reminded him of everything but bubbles. He couldn’t identify what the low groan from the creature meant. Given that it’s lights were green, and demeanor calm, batman had the odd suspicion it enjoyed the name the pegasus had given it. That, or it wasn’t aware what they were even saying. In the end, it didn’t matter.

Batman turned again from the two, traveling down the waterlogged path they had come from. His cape dragged over the surface of the water, rising and falling with every ripple he made. It didn’t take too long until the churning of water echoed from behind him, followed swiftly by the heavy pounding of the beast’s boots.

“Um, where are we going?” Fluttershy asked from behind him. “I, um, I don’t mind if you don’t want to tell me, but… but I would feel better if I knew.” Her feeling worse than good meant that the metal beast that seemed to think of itself as her vassal would mostly likely react. Avoiding conflict was the best option for all of them.

“We passed two passageways on our way here, and I can now assume that they lead somewhere else.” His gaze never even turned to look at the pegasus. Batman could sense the tension by the shock in her gaze alone, directed at the back of his cowl. The lights around him continued to glow green.

“R-Really?” The voice didn’t sound worried, yet. Whatever her next question was, Batman would have to be careful with his wording. “How do you know there’s more?” That he could answer.

“All we have seen so far is a long hallway that, at some point in time, became flooded.” His hand drew itself from beneath his cape, motioning half-handedly to the walls around them. “There has so far been no other rooms that would be necessary in a structure this size. Nothing for food storage, bunking, or planning.”

“So… So you think there’s something beyond that… thing.” Here was where it would be difficult.

“Yes,” his voice spoke with no more emotion than before. “I’ve laid out the design of the structure, and it heavily suggests that there are rooms behind those two objects. What they do, or how to get behind them, is nothing I’m sure of yet.” He turned down the corner at the end of the hall, a bright green light still illuminating the path over the water.

Up ahead was one of the metal structures, the second they had passed before, but the first Fluttershy had seen. She would doubtlessly assume that they would stop at it, investigate it first. Batman, however, had no intention of analyzing this one of the two.

And as the passageway opened up to their left, Fluttershy gave a squeak of fright, doubtlessly shivering into the armor of beast. Batman watched as the green lights of the hall turned yellow. His muscles stiffened, but he didn’t stop. The creature continued to follow him.

The water continued to ripple beneath them, and the metal beast’s eyes continued to glow yellow, groaning with the low rumble that shook the walls. Batman walked on regardless of it. It was to his silent thanks that the light’s turned green, all the indication he needed that Fluttershy was calm again.

“Um,” she began, voice weak and unsure. “Did we just pass it?” That’s right, she didn’t know about the first one.

“There was another altar,” Batman spoke. “It was to the opposite path from when we entered.” He didn’t need to look to know the words did anything but comfort the pony.

“Well, um…” the pegasus dribbled of, words still forming in her head. Batman walked on silently, the creature’s heavy footsteps echoing through the chamber, keeping silence far away. “Why are we going to the first one? I mean, if you don’t mind telling me that is. Either one seem nice to me. Or… or they’re both the same, I’m sure.”

“Because the one we just passed likely leads to a larger chamber.” Batman spoke as easily as before. “Or into a series of smaller rooms. The first one, however, would likely be used as a storage facility. By itself, it might not mean much, but there is at least a chance that it will give us an idea of what this place is. And, what it is.” Batman didn’t need to move his hands from his cloak to gesture to the metal beast behind him. Fluttershy already understood.

“Oh!” The pegasus spoke with the tone of realization. “You think we can find out where Mr. Bubbles came from?”

“Or who created him, possibly.” With the light behind him, Batman looked to the ceiling. “Given the age of this structure, seeing as it’s made from clay and stone, its difficult to be sure of anything without seeing it.” They turned another corner walking down the first hallway they entered. It was too far ahead to see, but Batman knew the metal altar was ahead of them. He only hoped the mystery of it would not be a difficult one.

Fluttershy must have sensed the same thing, as she didn’t speak again. With the waterlogged path behind them, only the pounding of the beast’s metal boots echoed through the hall. Compared to before, it was a short walk before they reached the entrance. The distance to the other end of the hall seemed much longer.

“Wait.” Batman instructed, turning towards Fluttershy and the beast with a flat open palm. When the two stopped, he lowered his hand. The pegasus blinked at him in confusion. He, however, didn’t explain himself. She would figure it out shortly.

He walked forward down the hallways, flicking on the scanner of his cowl as the light of the beast dissipated into the shadows. The altar came into view quickly.

Batman was quick to disregard the metal spikes around the central hole. They were too small in size and too large in number to hold any significance aside from design. The hole was the center of his focus. His gloved hands ran around the rim of it, feeling for any resistance or traps. None were found.

His looked down the center of it with his scanner, seeing nothing but a small hole and a wall. It appeared to be no more significant that the spikes around it. Batman trailed his vision and fingers down the metal design, noting briefly in the back of his mind how unstained and almost new they appeared. It contrasted harshly with the clay and stone of the structure. It did, however, hold significance that neither were as aged as the structure appeared to be.

Batman leaned back with a dissatisfied squint in his eyes. There were no buttons, levers, or even slots along the structure. The idea entered briefly into his mind that this design would require a sacrifice, but was disregarded easily. The hole was too small for anything larger than a child to fit through, and it had no contraptions or false walls to indicate so.

He looked into the hole again, dissatisfied with the little he had learned of the object. Everything about it suggested it was an altar of some religious sorts, but it had no more significance other than that. He reached inside, letting his arm feel around the cavity of the metal hole. It was smooth, just as the walls of the hall were. His hand continued to extend down it, searching for any small shape or hole that would reveal the secret of the device.

Instead, he found an edge. The hole opened up into something.

Batman’s vision looked down the hole again, arm removed from it. The wall was still there, just at the end of his scanner’s vision. Yet, he was still able to reach past it. His eyes narrowed in annoyance. The solution was obvious, but not one he was fond of performing. He had done worst acts, however.

Turning around, he walked the short distance to the beast and Fluttershy, the bright light shining down the hallway more than obviously marking where they were. The pegasus was quick to spot him as he stepped in the light of the creature’s helm.

“What did you find? Is it safe?” Batman looked at her carefully, gauging what words to say next.

“I need your help.” It seemed appropriate, and hopefully wouldn’t frighten her. The shock she displayed was easy to predict, the shuffling and nervous clicking of her hooves over the creature’s large shoulder was just as easily foreseen.

“W-With what?” Honestly would work best here.

“There is something beyond the object, a room as best as I can predict, but I can not reach it or see into it.” He kept his gaze focused on the pegasus. With any luck, she would conclude herself what was necessary. It was always easier to talk someone into an act when they realized what was needed. Asking someone a task they weren’t aware of usually was met with dismissal.

Fluttershy’s eyes fluttered, her mind working silently. Only the groans of the beast echoing off the walls kept the silence at bay. When her blue eyes locked onto Batman’s again, her wide and filled with shock, he knew what she was thinking.

“Y-You need me to…” she audibly gulped. “To g-go inside?” It was a miracle by itself the creature’s did not attack Batman, given the sheer amount of fear the pegasus was displaying.

“Yes,” Batman was quick to follow with his confirmation. “Given the size and location of the passageway, it’s safe to assume that it is designed for others to pass through easily. “

“How can you be… um, sure?” That was an easy question.

“Like I said, we haven’t seen anything to indicate the purpose of this place, not even a barracks or storage room.” It was easy to see she would need more than simply his word. “The metal object is like a lock, keeping others out. Someone who is small enough, such as yourself, acts as the key, opening the door for others.”

“Why?” Another question Batman couldn’t answer.

“I won’t know until I learn more, but I need your help to do so.” It was clear by her bit lip just how much the pony was against the idea. But her continued silence was indication enough that she was fighting with herself for a decision. She wanted to help, but fear was stopping her.

That changed when the beast began to move.

“Mr. Bubbles?” Fluttershy spoke the creature’s supposed name in confusion, his lumbering steps moving him down the hallway. He moved past Batman without motion or threat of assault. The Dark Knight watched them, cautiously.

He followed behind the pair as they neared the end of the hallway, the creature’s green lights illuminating the end. Batman heard Fluttershy give a gasp of shock, but she did nothing more.

The creature’s massive hand reached upwards.

Batman had a hand on a batarang in an instant, holding it back to throw. But, the creature didn’t attack him or Fluttershy. Instead, held its palm facing upwards upwards, low enough to the ground for the pegasus to get on. The pony looked at the massive appendage, appraising it before touching it. When she did, she set her hooves on the gloved hand. Her weight didn’t even cause it to flinch.

The pegasus let out another squeak of fright as she the hand she was on moved forward. She soon found herself just in front of the altar’s hole. Batman’s grip on his weapon grew tighter.

“Mr. Bubbles?” Fluttershy spoke the creature’s name as a question. It groaned in response, but didn’t stop lifting the pegasus towards the hole. The pony looked towards the beast, lifting her easily with its massive hand, then to the hole she was being directed towards. The only thing keeping Batman from acting was the fear of Fluttershy’s safety.

But then the pegasus surprised him.

“Okay,” she spoke easily, smiling at the large beast. “I trust you.” Then, without another word, Fluttershy turned tail and walked into the hole, just fitting into its circular shape.

Batman and Mr. Bubbles were left outside the structure. Neither moved and only one made any sounds. The groans continued to shake the halls. The smaller of the two turned his gaze towards the larger, judging the metal man intensely. It seemed to know what was beyond the altar, if only that there was something beyond it. Given the level of caution it had in Fluttershy’s safety, and then the openness to let her travel into the hole, it also seemed rather sure she was safe. The question as to how, or why, he couldn’t answer.

Before he could speculate further, the wall began to move.

Not merely the gate, or a section of it, the entire wall. It screeched in protest as it moved, as if it had not been for sometime. It was pulled into the ceiling above, crawling into an alcove. The ascent was slow, but the progress was visible.

With a loud boom, it stopped.

The next action from Batman was only too easy to figure out.

“Fluttershy?” He called the pegasus’s name. The answer came swiftly.

“I’m here.” The timid voice returned. “I… I stepped on a switch.”

Batman walked into the room, the hulking suited monster following behind him. He could just make out the skittish pegasus in the dark, wings and mane shivering in fright, softly illuminated by the lights of the drill-armed beast behind him. The pony quickly galloped over to him, brushing past his cape in silent thanks for his presence. He let her do so.

His three-dimensional scanners showed the room to be little more than a storage site, as he had thought it would be. Desks lined some walls, papers hanging above them. Books figures, and other miscellaneous items were on top of the tables. It was impossible, however, for him to see what was on them, not without lighting. His vision looked to the wall he had passed upon entering, and he saw what he needed, but not what he expected

A light switch.

The simple device looked as foreign as he did next to Fluttershy, two things that seemingly didn’t belong. The structure, its shape, its material, it all indicated such age in the building, but here was proof that it was anything but ancient. Rather, it could very well have been built only days ago.

The lack of decay around the crypt made sense.

Regardless, it was easy to see what had to be done. Taking the two steps necessary, Batman raised his hand and flipped the switch.

As light filled the room, the cries of shock shook it.

The beast roared like it had before, when it had tackled Batman in the passageway. Batman swung to look at it, hands raised and prepared for another strike. The metal behemoth stood in the doorway, drill spinning with a frightening speed. It’s eyes glowed red, staring forward into the now lit room.

But it didn’t charge at Batman, or make motion to attack him. The Dark Knight looked down at Fluttershy, the pony currently shivering in absolute terror. It was hard to judge if it was because of the lights or the beast’s roar. Either would have done it. He placed a hand on her back, to which the pony instantly knelt into. The contact seemed to help.

Then Batman directed his gaze toward the now well-lit room. The papers, both laying on the table and hanging from the wall, gained a whole new perspective to him.

Even from the distance that he was, it was easy to tell they were research notes.

“W-What is… is all of…”

Batman didn’t answer her. He couldn’t. Anything he would have said would have been a lie. The only thing he could say would be a denial of knowledge. But experience in the past, among colleagues and civilians alike, had taught him an untold lesson in remaining silent. If he didn’t speak, they would assume he knew.

The silence that he prolonged gave him time to think in the streets of Gotham or the Justice League watchtower. Here, in a crypt far buried beneath caverns he had never explored, it was no different.

He tapped the edge of his cowl, lighting the display with holographic imaging. The three-dimensional mapping program burned into life, the last of the sensors he had used. His fingers ran over the side of his head, pushing through the multiple visions available to him.

The scanners passed into a highly technical grid, shining a light blue. The familiar reduction in his sight occurred instantly, dropping off everything that was beyond five feet in front of him. Everything that they could see, however, was given more detail and vividness than the average human could believe.

The pages and pictures across the tables and walls changed in ways he was familiar with. The melding colors became distinguished, the small bleeding in the ink reversed. All at once, the many sources of information became readable again.

Batman’s hands worked over the documents, holding each one up for his eyes to read over. The computer lenses over his eyes scanned the data much faster than he could read, storing them into his database, working connections he needed more than just his mind to see.

The more his eyes began to see, the more lines his on-board computer drew. Along the peripheral sides of his vision, the images of the pictures he had scanned popped into view, lining and highlighting select parts of the broken or dried stills. They connected to words and phrases scribbled across the pages of other documents, linking them together.

It didn’t take long for the pattern to emerge.

Walking into the room initially, Batman expected these to be logs of an exploration, perhaps even notes on the construction of the structure they stood within. Instead, what he and his computer found was far more haunting. All of the evidence, all of the images, and all of the text pointed to a single name he had never heard of before, in myths or legends.

Lifting his head and focusing his vision towards the yellow pegasus, Batman tapped the edge of his cowl, returning his vision to a less detailed, but broader vision of the room he was in. Fluttershy sat on the ground, looking up at the monstrous creature that had followed and aided them so far. It too sat on the ground, legs outwards with the pegasus between them.

“Fluttershy,” Batman spoke, earning the immediate attention of the pink maned pony. “Have you ever heard of a creature called… the Songbird?”

“This is always the best part.” The words slithered from the Azula’s lips, dripping from her like the venom of a snake. She had the thin-lipped smile to match.

“The cold realization that all their prior ideas and assumptions were wrong. The sudden and horrifying epiphany that there is no escape, no way out, and no hope to spare.” Her fingers knit themselves together as she leant against the stone railing of the castle, gazing up at the screen with her cold golden eyes.

A slow hum left her lips as her eyes focused on the dark-gowned man, looking over the files and papers with familiar eyes. She had never met the man before, in her last life or the one she was living now. But she knew those eyes. They were eyes that she had seen on only so few before, but those few that she both admired and avoided.

They were the eyes of a being that saw beyond what was there. Able to see what was in front of them, but then being able to finish a puzzle that was missing one too many pieces. Worse than that, they were eyes that had been trained to do so, with nothing but unconscious thought.

“He is far from the strongest.” Azula noted carefully, if only to herself. “Not a thing about him extraordinary from any other pest. But,” she felt her lips sharpen with her words. “He may very well be the wisest of them.”

To the princess of the Fire Kingdom, wisdom of the mind was a more dangerous trait than any strength of the body.

Her smile, however, did not falter with the knowledge.

“It is unfortunate that we are enemies.” Almost majestically, Azula rose from the railing, hands gliding down her arms until they were set on the cold stone beneath her.

“Together, I doubt there would be any creature or plan the king or god could design to stop us.” She watched with fascination as the self-proclaimed Batman worked through the documents lain across the table, tapping on his forearm as he read the dried ink. Even with a shivering pegasus and hulking monster, his concentration did not falter.

Doubtlessly, one to be admired.

“Enough of that for now,” the fire princess dismissed easily as her attention turned from the screen. “What of the others?”

Azula’s golden eyes focused on another screen of moving pictures. This one held no more familiar faces than the last. Yet, to her, she had a far deeper connection to it than any of the charades being shown across the screen.

She could only smile in coy joy as the image of a white mask shown across the side of the mountain.

The Next To Awaken

BEGIN

“Amon”

Maya spoke the man’s name, testing it as it passed through her lips. She had never heard nor spoken it before. It brought a cold chill down her back, a warning she knew she would be wise to heed. The mask across his face made reading his reactions impossible.

It was completely the opposite of her two companions. Their shivering limbs and bitten lips were all the indications she needed to see their fright and unease with the situation at hand. It was hard for her to tell if she displayed any obvious signs of her own discomfort. She only hoped her time at the abbey would pay off now. Taking in a slow breath, Maya began to speak again.

“That isn’t a name I know. Who are you behind that name?” She couldn’t see it, but the Siren felt a smile curl beneath the cold white mask.

“For what may be the first time, I am glad you do not recognize my name.” The man began to take slow steps towards the trio. Despite his average stature and size, Maya could not shake the feeling that they had a power behind them even she, one of the few mystical Sirens of the Universe, was at a loss to imagine.

“Why is that?” She asked just as carefully as before. “I hope it isn’t because you have committed acts you know we would… dislike.” The man’s steps did not cease. Fortunately, neither did his words.

“In my past, I have manipulated thousands and harmed hundreds. I used a power I was born with to make people bow to me in my presence and fear me from my shadow.” Maya felt the power of her abilities flow into her arm before he finished his sentence. She kept it carefully hidden behind her back, holding her posture as neutral and contained.

“Those aren’t inspiring words,” Maya said carefully. Amon’s pacing towards her did not cease with her remark. Maya could hear a whimper come from behind it. She couldn’t tell if it was the boy or the pony who made it.

“Those were my actions in a life now past me.” Maya fought valiantly, but vainly, against the ball in her throat.

“And how is that life past you?” Amon’s walking finally ceased.

“I died.”

END

Maya blinked, the power contained in her left arm doing the same before vanishing from existence. Her arm rolled back to her side, hanging from her limply. The silence around her was deafening. The sight of Amon… frightening.

“What?” The word was spoken in a broken whisper, spat out in haste. Maya turned to see Chrona’s lip quivering.

“I died.” Amon spoke again. “I witnessed all my plans fall beneath me, my ploys and deceptions revealed and then turned against me. I was forced from the city I had claimed in disgrace, taking with me a brother I had treated like a friend.” Maya could hear the regretful sigh from beneath his mask. Before she could speak however, he turned.

Amon walked towards the window he faced before, hands held behind his back. His posture was straight and proud, but his step smooth and calm. He was the very image of both confidence and peace. It irked Maya in a way she couldn’t describe.

She looked back towards the boy and filly, both watching her. There was only a request for direction in their eyes, looking to her for answers. She had none, but she knew where to begin. A sigh left her lips as she turned back to the masked man. He was already at the far side of the room.

Maya walked towards him, cautious in her every step. Her clicking shoes echoed through the hall, bouncing off the elegant art and making her approach more than obvious. Amon didn’t make move or speak a word against it. The silence, however, was discomforting.

“Forgive me if I’m rude,” she started, “but I have seen men die before, and even in the moment of their death, it’s rather hard to say they regretted their past enough to change so drastically. If anything, they feel more hatred than remorse.” The golden eyes of the siren were trained on the man’s hands, watching them carefully. They didn’t flex in discomfort or freeze in fear. Her words did nothing to him. That was good.

“Most men were not killed by their own brother.”

His words, however, did make an impact. Maya’s head whipped as she looked at him, staring in silent shock at the back of his hood. He didn’t turn to see her.

“After my plan failed, I sought him out, hoping to start over a new life with him. It was there and then I hoped to redeem myself.” The siren watched as he drew one of his hands from his back, holding up to his mask. He clenched it.

“But he took it from me, at the cost of his life, and mine.” Another deep breath was drawn and released. “If my own brother thought my life so worthless, the only action I can take is redemption. Vengeance would only make me sink deeper than I already have.”

“I understand.”

Maya glanced backwards to see Chrona approaching them. She didn’t even hear him walking. Sweetie Belle was looking up at him with confusion, but she didn’t make a move to jump from his arms. Amon, however, also turned to look at him, his blank mask staring at the pink-haired boy. Chrona’s eyes met with the mask before he spoke again.

“My mother tried to kill me.”

Maya wasn’t sure if she should be shocked, scared, or sympathetic to the boy. Sweetie Belle, still curled into his arms, reached up to his neck with her fore hooves, giving the slender Chrona a very weak, but appreciated, hug. The boy gave small gasp, as if unsure the pony had just done what she had. It was soon followed with his own grateful embrace, arms holding the filly closer.

With sympathy covered, Maya settled for shocked. Amon, silent and stiff, stared at the boy as well. Chrona could only guess what he looked like under the mask. It was easier to imagine that there was nothing there at all.

“Your mother,” Amon repeated, as if trying to push the idea through his mind. “Why?” The pink haired boy shifted uncomfortably.

“I… I don’t want to talk about it.” His knees began to bend, forcing his body to curl into himself. Maya watched silently as the filly in his arms wrapped her forelegs just a little tighter around his neck. The siren hoped it would do some good.

“I understand,” Amon spoke again. “The sins of the past are not an easy thing to confess, even more so if we truly regret them.” His footsteps echoed through the large room, his march towards the boy a short one. When he was within distance, the white masked man raised his hand to the boy’s shoulder, brushing against the white fur of the pony’s leg. Both Chrona and Sweetie Belle looked up to him.

Amon spoke, “Your regret for your actions is evidence enough for me you will not commit them again.” The boy’s lip trembled.

“It’s okay Chrona,” Sweetie said, earning his immediate attention. “You’re just sad. And my sister always says that when we’re sad, we just need to have somepony give us a hug.” Sweetie nuzzled her head and mane into the crook of the boy’s neck. “I promise to hug you for as long as it takes.”

A chorus of hiccups and sniffles came from the boy, but not a word of protest.

Amon removed his hand from the boy’s shoulder, returning it to behind his back. Maya watched on mutely, astounded by the display and words she had witnessed. Such a display on Athenas would have been publicly mocked. Here, it was embraced. There wasn’t anything she could see being wrong with that.

The Siren let out a soft sigh, finally relaxing for the first time in Amon’s presence. He reminded  her too much of the monks from the Abbey, but he didn’t seem to have any desire to harm them. He would have had more than a chance earlier with Chrona.

Maya turned from the trio, looking out the window the masked man had. Window was a generous term. There was no glass to keep the breeze from tickling her skin, and hardly a rail to keep her from falling from the room.

It didn’t make the view any less spectacular.

Maya’s golden eyes looked over a landscape she could only describe as forbidden. The land was large and expansive, stretching from under the tower. Like patches of cloth sewn together, the land was dotted with terrain she was taught as a child couldn’t exist with one another.

She saw a mountain to her right, rising higher than the tower itself, dotted with buildings of purple and gold, all tied together with a grand castle in the center. Then she saw another mountain to her far left, its summit barely rising above her eye-line. But between the two, she saw a collection of towering trees too small to be called a forest, sand piled in over an expanse of land too small to be called even a beach, pools of water dotting the landscape too small to be called anything larger than ponds, and finally, temples.

Growing in the Abbey, taught to pray and worship all her life, temples were things Maya was made to learn nearly every day of her life. She knew a temple when she saw one. She had just never seen so many so close together, and with such different designs.

One was built atop the mountain to her right, another into the foot of the mountain to her left. One rose from the sand like a pillar, another was covered by the trees of the tiny woods, and, just barely enough for her eyes to see, some peaked from the ponds of water, sunk into the depths of the liquid.

That was not to mention the other towers and monuments scattered throughout the land. Some looked like pillars, thin and jagged, jutting from the ground. Others looked like small hills, built up to a large plateau roof. There was even one that appeared to be a mountain itself, far past the remnants of the forest, desert, and lake.

But even with the copious number of temples, landscapes, and terrain aside, there was one sight that the Siren could not release. All around her, beyond the mountains and terrains, a cliff hung before the horizon.

There was only one word that came to Maya’s mind.

“Wow.”

Her word gained the focus of those behind her.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Amon’s deep voice earned Maya’s attention, though she only offered a glance from her golden eyes before returning to the landscape. “Traveling across all the lands of my old world I had never seen a sight like this before. Then again, I also never had a tower that bore my name.” The Siren snorted at the words, debating if he was entertaining his ego, or truly explaining the uniqueness of the land. Both seemed plausible.

“What is- WHOA!” The sudden exclamation from the filly earned a small jump from Maya, followed closely by a discontented sigh. Chrona soon joined by her side, Sweetie Belle still sitting comfortably in his arms, no longer hanging from his neck. Their lavender and green eyes were staring at the expanse of terrain with the same look of awe as Maya had.

“For what it’s worth, I haven’t seen anything like… this... before either.” Maya waved her hand out towards the land as she spoke, a word to describe what she was seeing not coming to her. “Maybe over the entire planet, but not just a piece of land on a cliff’s edge.”

“Cliff’s edge?” Amon spoke questioningly. “What makes you think we are on the edge of a cliff?” Maya’s brow rose at the masked man.

“Because of the large shear drops that are literally circling this tower, at least as far as I can see.” Maya’s finger traced the horizon, the eyes of Chrona and Sweetie Belle following the older woman’s line. “Where I’m from, that’s called a cliff.”

“And yet, when that same drop encircles us, we are no longer on a cliff, but an island.” The wind blew through the window, its whistling the only sound that echoed through the chamber. Maya stared at him blankly.

“An island.” She repeated, as if letting the idea roll through her mind. “Like what, an island at sea?”

“I do not know.” The masked man spoke again. “But I would assume not. I cannot see any water aside from those pools on the ground. Also, look closely off the edge.” His gloved hand rose from his back, pointing out the window as he did so. “What do you see?”

Maya’s eyes followed his direction looking far out and beyond the drop. Her vision squinted to narrow her vision, too distracted by the multiple collections of terrain. At first, all she could see was the edge of the land, dropping off into the horizon.

Then something floated by.

“It’s a cloud.” Chrona noted calmly, as if it wasn’t meant to be a surprising sight. “It’s a cloud floating around the island.” His vision turned to the masked man and siren. “What does that mean?”

“It means we are at an extreme altitude, in other words, far above sea level.” Amon’s hand returned to his back, gaze set outwards again. Maya however, let her hand run over her bare forehead.

“This doesn’t make any sense.” She mumbled to herself. “I was killed with Gaige, then I woke up in castle, then I was attacked by some… thing, and now I’m on top of the world with an androgynous boy, talking pony, and a masked man.” Her fingers ran over her eyelids, trying to calm her mind. “Maybe I should have stayed at the Abbey, and I hated the Abbey.” A sigh followed her words.

“Um, Mr. Amon?” The timid voice earned the man’s attention. “If I can ask, um, who were you looking at before?” The question caught the attention of the siren.

“Who?” Amon spoke in question. “Do you not mean what?” Chrona shook his head.

“No, because you were talking about being above others earlier and, um, I-I think you were looking at someone, right?”

Sweetie Belle’s vision changed from the pink haired boy to the white masked man, keeping her lips tight and sealed. Maya did much the same. A deep breath was drawn through Amon’s mask, and it caused a shiver to run down the boy’s back. The chuckle that followed, however, broke the tension.

“You are a clever child.” The compliment caught Chrona by surprise, as his gasp was indication of. He looked down at Sweetie Belle, still curled in his arms. She was looking up at him, a spark of confusion in her eyes. Chrona suspected he had the same look in his.

Amon’s boots clicked the short distance to the window’s edge, facing outwards once more. The whistling of the wind held claim over the room again, but only for a short while.

“I do not know how, nor even why, but in my rebirth into this world, I was given more than merely a chance for redemption.” Both of his hands rose from his back as he spoke, unfolding and reaching outwards. His palms were held upwards, as if holding an object none of them could see.

“When I ruled in my world, I did so through deception, pretending I had an awesome power that made the masses both fear and worship me.” Chrona, his attention solely focused on the man speaking, swallowed on a ball of saliva.

“Now, I have a fraction of that power.” Maya’s curiosity was as deep as the boy’s and filly’s.

“And what power is that?” Her words were spoken carefully, her left arm clenching into a fist. Amon, however, didn’t turn to face her or move to threaten her. His words chilled her enough.

“To see the souls of others.”

Recognition dawned in the eyes of the dark robed boy.

“Soul-Sight,” Chrona spoke easily, almost as if he was reading from a book. “I-It’s an ability some of m-my old friends could do.” Intentionally or not, he drew Sweetie Belle closer into his chest as he spoke. “It’s very rare.”

“Wait, hold on.” Maya spoke up, holding up her palms as she did so. One of them curled until her finger pointed at the boy. “Can you see souls? No, better question.” Her vision turned to Amon again, finger following her gaze. “You can see our souls?”

“Yes,” Amon answered easily, but his deep voice and cold tone did little to ease Maya. The sudden thought of having her soul being peered at irked the woman. “And I apologize if you think it rude of me. I have no control over your soul, I can only look at it, as you might a piece of paper.” The siren nodded slowly.

“Um, Mr. Amon,” Sweetie Belle spoke up, raising her hoof into the air as she did so. Chrona bent his head to see past its obstructive view. “What does my soul look like?” For some reason, the boy thought the man behind the mask was smiling. He didn’t want to imagine it though; it would be difficult to deal with.

“It is small and fragile, only slightly larger than yourself,” the pony flushed at the words. “But it’s bright, illuminating the room. I have not had this power for long, but I can assume with assurance that you have a kind and generous heart.” Chrona felt his arms heating up. He wondered if it was because of Sweetie Belle.

“Okay, that’s adorable,” Maya spoke up again, desperately trying to revert the attention to the topic at hand, “but can you tell us who you were looking at now?” Amon’s mask focused on the blue-haired woman, not speaking a word as he did so. The siren, however, too used to the monks at the Abbey, stood her ground with ease. When the man turned from her to look out the large glassless window, Maya counted it as a victory.

“There are two figures in the woods.” Amon began to speak. “They are both completely still, as if they were frozen in ice. They are, however, alive.” Silence followed his words for a short time, analyzing what his vision saw. “One of them is a horse, much like you.” His hand waved towards Sweetie Belle as he spoke. If he didn’t before, he had the filly’s attention now.

“Really?” She asked with enthusiasm. “What does she look like?”

“She has an orange coat and a long blond mane and tail. I am more familiar with the human body than the physique of a horse, but she appears to be strong, very strong. There is also a hat on her head.”

“That’s Applejack!”

The sudden shout from the filly earned a jump from Chrona, his grip around her becoming a little tighter. He looked down to see Sweetie Belle, who was staring at Amon. Her eyes were wide with what the boy could only peg as amazement, which her joyful smile helped to emphasize.

“Applejack?” Amon mimicked the filly, looking at her with a neutral posture. The filly didn’t flinch.

“Yeah, she’s the big sister of one of my best friends!” When the smile grew across the pony’s white muzzle, it became clear she was more joyful than fearful. When Chrona’s eyes looked up to Amon’s mask, he wished for not the first time to be able to see the face beneath it. He didn’t know how to deal with a talking mask.

Well… that wasn’t entirely true.

“I see.” The deep voice of Amon spoke, his head turning towards the far off woods again. Silence made itself home in the grand room, the four creatures present still with patience. “There is man with her as well.” A deep breath left his mask as his vision focused on the far off forest. “He is in a white robe, a sword carried by his side, held in a black scabbard. His hair is equally dark, and tied in a bun, with geta on his feet.”

“I… I think his name is… Jack.” Chrona softly spoke, earning the attention of the other three. He blushed immediately at the focus of their attention. “I-I only heard it once… while, a-and briefly, too. I don’t know.”

“You know something we do not. Don’t doubt yourself so easily.” It was odd to Chrona, hearing such comforting words coming from such a deep and chilling voice. It reminded him of someone he didn’t want to remember.

“So… Applejack and Jack… why do I get the feeling that was planned out?” Maya scratched her head as she asked the question, half serious and half rhetorically.

“Then you know them both?” Amon questioned the siren. She was quick to dismiss the claim.

“Know them? No, I don’t.” She spoke with a shaking head, causing her bangs to whip. “I saw them for all of a few seconds before I ended up here. It’s probably the same story for Chrona and Sweetie Belle here.” When the attention was turned to the boy, his face flushed in embarrassment. When Sweetie Belle heard Maya speak, she blinked in confusion.

“Interesting.” Amon noted before turning away from the boy. Chrona felt a bit of relief work its way into his body, glad to have the attention drawn off of him. He felt a pressure on his forearm, and he looked down to see it. Sweetie Belle was gripping it in her forelegs, smiling up at him as she did so. He gratefully returned the gesture.

“Wait.” Amon’s word earned the attention of the trio. “They are moving.”

The four beings in the room turned their attention to the forest, as if hoping to see what would happen. Only one could, however. It was a fact that quickly became clear to Maya.

“Amon,” she spoke his name kindly. “Can you tell us what is happening?” The masked man nodded towards her, mask as empty as ever before.

“Of course,” he agreed, turning his vision back to the woods. “The man is moving right now. He appears to be heavily disoriented. But he is faring better than the horse. She appears to be very weak…”

The world returned to her in a slow haze. Everything around her felt disproportioned and heavy, moved and out of place. Only vaguely was she aware that she was lying on her side, and even then she couldn’t tell which was up or down. Her hooves were heavy, vision dark, and fur wetter than her dog’s nose. But more than anything else, her head throbbed, like an angry bull was stomping around on the inside.

Applejack was sure of one thing though; the pain meant she was alive.

A slow groan left her lips as she tried to turn herself over. She felt the wetness beneath her cling to her fur, holding it almost possessively as she turned. It gave a slow lick over her skin, complete with a wet flop as her limbs swung over her body, only to land again on the moist surface.

She dragged her legs inward, feeling the ground beneath her. It was ground, that she could tell. Applejack and her family entire had tilled enough earth and care for enough trees to be able to tell a bit of soil and vegetation apart. Right now, she was on grass. No doubt wet from some form of early morning or deep forest dew.

“Ms. Apple”

Something hummed outside of her hearing, only faintly permeating the thick barrier that was her mind. It sounded like somepony was trying to speak to her, but for all Applejack could tell, it might as well have been Winona barking at her.

Another groan left her lips as she tried to push herself to her hooves, putting her full weight on her unresponsive limbs. Her legs only quivered as she tried to stand.

“Do not worry, I am here. I can help.”

Applejack felt limbs wrapping around her, pushing themselves beneath her weighty frame and the slick ground she still lay on. It was an uncomfortable feeling, her fur clinging to the invading bodies, pulling at her skin as they did so. But she felt herself slowly rise because of it, the objects wrapped around her slowly pulling her up.

Her breathing quickened in slight panic, strength returning to her limbs, even if temporarily. Instantly, she felt the strength in the objects curled around her weaken, dropping her closer to the ground. Her legs still didn’t have the strength to hold her upright.

“I apologize.” The sound came again, far off and dull, like she was hearing it through a thick membrane, or water. It was probably water. Her mind felt like it was swimming in water.

She couldn’t keep her jaw straight, leaving it to hang uselessly beneath her head. Every part of her felt just as heavy and useless. Even her mind seemed to have a weight upon it, fogging it with haze.

Applejack could feel parts of her yearning for different things. One part of her wanted to lie back down on the ground and wait for these dreary symptoms to pass. Another wished she had the strength to stand on her own hooves, instead of depending on the thing that was supporting her now. But then another wanted, more than the other two parts combined, to be able to tell where she was.

That was when she started to hear ringing.

It was faint, far off like the muffled sounds she had been hearing so far. And yet, it was soothing like water, a peaceful sound that seemed to make her heavy limbs lighter and hazy mind clearer.

With a begrudging effort from her body, she forced her eyes to open, making the heavy lids move. Her vision was just as blurry and formless as her mind. Colors merged, shapes melted, and she was left with a sight that she could only think of to describe as smashed Zap Apples.

But, somehow, through her bleary and awful gaze, there was a single object she could define.

“What is that?”

Only faintly could Applejack make out the question, formed by what she could tell was a voice for the first time. But, fortunately or not, she could more than easily see the thing the voice was questioning. Even through Applejack’s darkened gaze, it was easy to see.

It was hard to miss a glowing object, after all.

BEGIN

“Mighty… peaceful… like…” The words rolled from her lips, pushing past her tongue. It felt like speaking with leaves in her mouth, talking through things that weren’t there. Her words, however, seemed to attract the small flying object.

Slowly, most likely delicately, it hovered over to her, lightly flying just out of the boundaries of her vision. Its light pink glow shined over her though, warming her frigid hooves and drying her wet fur. For the first time since she groggily awoke, a more peaceful sigh left her lips in place of a pained groan.

In truth, she felt better. Or, more specifically, she was starting to feel better.

Her legs started to gain strength, the weight of her limbs becoming more manageable and familiar to her. Breathing was easier as well, her breaths quickly becoming less and less labored to her. Even the clouds in her mind began to dissipate. Thoughts came more easily to her and, more importantly, she was able to gain more of a breathing of where she was.

The first thing she noticed, however, were the arms wrapped around her torso, clothed in a white material.

“Can you stand?” The question was much clearer than any of the words she had heard before. Just one more thing to be thankful for in her book.

“Yep, Ah’m as set as a new fence post.” She could feel the life in her voice. It felt just as good as being able to stand again. The man next to her, however, didn’t move. “Ya’ll can let go of me now, Jack.”

“Oh,” the samurai spoke simply, releasing her as he took a step back as he did so. “My apologies Ms. Apple.” The farm pony pushed away the small annoyance at the title. She felt too good to let a name put her down.

“Ain’t no harm done.” Her green eyes looked to the small object floating in the air, hovering above her still, circling in the air with its light pink glow. The longer she looked at it, the better she felt. “Ah reckin Ah owe ya somethin’ mighty nice,” she spoke to the flying light, unaware if it could make sense of her words or not. “Couldn’t be no coincidence that Ah get a life in the spirits soon as ya started flyin’ near me.”

The small ball of light danced in the air, buzzing almost. It drifted closer to Applejack’s snout, holding place just in front of her eyes. The light coming off of the small object was far too bright for Applejack to grab any kind of detail. No detail except for the light. The light, and the two sets of near insect-like wings coming from the ball.

“I believe this to be… a fairy.” The words of the samurai drew Applejack’s attention, if only momentarily. “Though it is far different than the ones I have seen before.”

The pink fairy flew away from Applejack, hovering now in front of Jack’s nose. The man crossed his eyes and leaned his head back, keeping himself from being blinded by the light. It was shaking in what Applejack couldn’t help but think of as delight.

“Ah’ll take that as a sign yer right.” The farm pony spoke with a smirk across her muzzle, keeping a scoff from passing her lips.

Her eyes looked downwards, away from the man that accompanied her and the fairy that had helped her. As she had thought even through her pain-filled haze, the ground was covered with a neat layer of grass, coated in turn with dew. Her hooves drew lightly over the grass, feeling the life in the roots as she did so.

An earth pony born and raised, and in turn used in her profession, Applejack could tell a healthy shrub from touch and feel alone. When she touched the grass beneath her hooves, she felt anything but strength. Rather the opposite, she felt as if the green grass beneath her was weak.

Frowning, she dug her hoof into the soil, pulling at it. She bit her lips as she found the roots of the grass easily. Unfortunately, they were what she thought they would be, sickly and unhealthy. Too thin and too shallow to properly absorb the water that coated them, and no doubt diseased in some way to keep their already small and thin roots reduced in number. It didn’t sit right with her.  A sight left her lips as she looked upwards.

If she hadn’t sighed, she would have gasped in shock.

High above her stood a canopy of trees, far higher than any shrubbery she had ever grown before, it loomed over her, towering like a mountain before her small and vulnerable form. The sight forced her ears to perk, and the perking of her ears brought the sound of the mighty monoliths to her ears.

They groaned with the stature, swaying in ways that forced their immensely thick wood and bark to cry in protest. When one ended its painful call, another responded in kind, its trunk swaying in a direction opposite to the one before. It was a conversation of giants, and one Applejack had only the knowledge of a toddler to appreciate.

“Whoa nelly…” she breathlessly spoke, spinning on her hooves as she tried to right herself. Vertigo was a sensation she had experienced before, but never when she was on the ground looking up. It was a whole new kind of weird.

“Are you alright Ms. Apple?” Jack asked next to her, his digitized hand laying over her coat, steadying her. She leaned into it graciously. Her vision, however, was brightened immensely with the presence of the fairy floating in front of her.

It weaved through the air in a frantic pattern, painting the pattern of a sideways eight. Applejack stared at the display for a moment, unsure if it was trying to help her or figuring out a way to ask if she was alright. It made a ringing noise with every pass.

“Ah’m good, Ah’m all set.” The form pony assured the two, leaning off Jack’s hand and standing to her tallest again. She picked her hat off her head, lightly waving it over her face to generate a cool, but soft breeze. It helped to ease her mind. A few breaths of relief and she returned the Stetson hat to the top of her mane.

“If you are ill, please tell me.” Applejack dismissed the Samurai with her hoof, keeping a grateful smile on her lips.

“Ah ain’t sick or nothin’,” she answered easily. “Just didn’t expect Discord ta drop us in a forest that makes mah home grown trees look like regular shrubs.” The farm pony let her vision darken for a second, shutting her eyes as she readjusted her bearings. Breaths became easier after a small amount of time.

“These woods are grand, but I have seen structures taller than these.” Applejack let the words process through her mind before she opened her mouth to question the man. However, by the time her question was ready, he was already speaking again. “But the uniqueness of the woods is not for their height, but for their liveliness.” The question in Applejack’s mind withered and died at his words.

“What ‘re ya’ll talkin’ about?” Rather than answer her with words, Jack instead began to walk forward, easily earning the attentive gaze of the farm pony. He walked to the nearest tree, and placed his hand on it, rubbing his palm over the bark like an artist would their finest work.

In a flash his sword swung at the tree.

“Whoa there!” Applejack shouted as she backpedaled from the display. The flash of light and singing of metal more that startling her. The high ring and frantic flight of the fairy near her was all the proof she needed to know the man’s action was not one commonly taken.

Her eyes focused on Jack just in time to see his blade return to his dark sheath. His form remained still as the ground as he continued to face the tree. For a moment, the only sound Applejack heard was her breathing, the fairy’s flying, and the trees high above still groaning under their own weight.

“Nothing.” The word was spoken so simply and so suddenly, Applejack was almost unaware the samurai had said it. Her green eyes flashed to the pink fairy hovering beside her. She could image the little tuft of light was looking at her as well.

“What in tarnation are ya doin’ over there Jack?” Her question held more bite than she intended. Before he answered, however, the samurai stepped away from the tree, letting the farm pony see what his sword work had done.

“My sword could barely scratch the surface of these trees.” If Applejack’s gaze had become any flatter, she would have fallen onto the forest’s floor.

“Yeah, so? No offense partner, but I don’t think ya got the brawn ta do much more to a tree with just that there knife.” Despite her words, Jack continued to look at her with an unflinching gaze.

“Then you underestimate this blade.” His hand gripped the guard of the tool, thumb running down its length with care. “It was designed by the gods as a tool to slay the wicked, and protect the innocent. There is very little, if not nothing, this blade cannot cut.” Mutely, Applejack listened to him speak. He words were far too honest for her to think he was lying or exaggerating in any way.

“The only thing I know it can do no harm to are innocent lives.” Those words hit a bell in Applejack’s head.

“Yer sayin’ these trees are alive?” Her question was dry, spoken with a light smile. Jack gave her a nod of affirmation. In return, the pony chuckled lightly. “Aw Jack, Ah coulda told ya there was life in plants an’ trees. I work mah fields long enough every day ta get a sense of that at least.”

“Truly?” The samurai questioned her. “I was honestly unaware that such forms of life could carry honest thoughts.”

“Beg yer pardon there Jack,” the farm pony spoke with a dismissing hoof. “But this ain’t exactly yer hometown now.” The samurai blinked. “Ah ain’t the most cultured of ponies, but Ah can at least tell ya that around Equestria’s parts, trees an’ ponies tend have a tight relationship.”

“Oh, my apologies.” The human quickly bowed as he spoke, eyes shut in submission. Applejack felt a flush run through her cheeks. Her teeth grit each other as the fairy that had helped her flew between them. The pony couldn’t shake the thought that it was teasing her somehow.

“Ain’t nothin’ ta be sorry for Jack,” the pony waved off again, just before she pulled her hat over face. She almost felt a tooth crack under the strength her jaw was clamped on itself with.

“Very well, but now I have a question to ask.” Applejack felt the blood leave her enough to warrant her hat being moved. Flushed features no longer stained her cheeks.

“Have you not yet noticed our trapped state?” Honestly, the pony had not.

Applejack looked around herself, truly looking at the trees that surrounded them now for the first time. In every direction her green eyes looked, she saw the trunk of a mighty forest giant. Between the trunks there was no more than a hoof’s length of room. The gigantic structures were all rooted to the dead ground beneath her, crowded in a manner so tight and so constricting she would have shed a tear to see it on her farm.

No wonder the ground beneath her felt so dead. The trees were kept so tightly packed there weren’t enough nutrients in the ground to keep even the grass alive anymore. The very fact that the trees were as tall as they were was nothing short of a miracle.

That didn’t temper Applejack’s patience or their pink fairy friend’s annoyed flight.

“Ya mean ta tell me that Discord dropped us in the middle of ‘er bunch of trees, trunk to trunk so tight that we can’t shimmy ‘tween them and so thick ya can’t cut them?” Her voice carried a sarcastic whine, as if there was answer she couldn’t see. The ball of light above her buzzed with its wings. The pony could only imagine it was holding back some kind of fit of annoyance.

“Oddly specific, but yes.” The simplicity of his answer earned a scoff from Applejack.

“Well dang nabbit, what’re we gonna do now?” The farm pony slowly strode in front of the wall of trees, both appreciating and loathing their strength and size. It was one of the first few times nature had fought against her. “Should we wait fer the trees ta wither and die?”

“I would think that would take far more time than we have available to us.” The samurai answered almost immediately. It took a moment for the orange earth pony to realize just how serious he thought her question to be. It was hard to tell if he was either too honest or too thick to see the rhetorical sense of her words. She felt like Twilight as she decided to test the idea.

“Ah don’t suppose ya know a way out of here?” The pony asked. “Between the trees that ‘er higher than a mountain and the wall they practically make, Ah ain’t seein’ an easy way out of here, do you?”

“I do actually have an idea of where to go.”

That earned Applejack’s attention.

“Really? Where might that be?” Her green eyes looked up to the man’s dark orbs, which were focused forward and into the growth of the trees, shadowed and hidden by the canopy of them. The pink fairy that flew around his head broke orbit, slowly drifting down his trail of vision.

Applejack followed the sprite with curious eyes, watching as it slowly illuminated the shadows between the trees. As a farmer from a field of trees, she expected nothing between the mighty wooden pillars but new growth or saplings.

Instead, the pink fairy illuminated a path she never expected to see, not in a forest at least.

Dark gray stones layered on top of one another, disturbed and pushed by the roots of the trees around them. Arches and door frames, pushed into shambles by tree branches and twigs, and a dark empty hall, only given home to shadows as the tall canopy of trees hid above them.

“What in the name of Celestia is that?” The earth pony swore in question, tilting back the brim of her hat for a better view. Jack spoke simply and easily next to her.

“A trap, doubtlessly.” The words earned him critical eyes from the farm pony. “But, it’s also the only path we have to walk. Waiting here is not an option.”

“Whoa now, why ain’t it an option?” Applejack asked with a tone that matched her eyes, critical and challenging. “We ain’t got no reason to venture into some ruin like that.” Her hoof jabbed at the dark passageway as she spoke, their fairy friend hovering around the passage.

“There is nowhere for us to go, and if this monster of yours returns here, we will have no chance against him.” Applejack heard the swish of metal before she saw the shine of his blade. The pony took a step or two back as the human handled the sword in front of him expertly.

“I have more experience in dealing with the ruins of old worlds than I do gods that toy with men. And I have experience in both.” His words were like the tree trunks around them. Impossible to ignore and hard as stone.

“Ah, don’t like this.” The farm pony muttered. Jack nodded before he spoke in turn.

“Neither do I Ms. Apple, but if we are to leave this odd realm of your monster’s creation, we must do as he has requested of us.” Applejack scoffed, knowing full well what the samurai meant in his words.

“I hate these kind of games.”

END

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