"Can't this thing go any faster?!" yelled Solitary.

"We're currently beneath ocean level and going down into the depths of the earth, traveling to places unseen by mortal eyes in darkness and extreme pressures, and you want this thing to go faster?" asked Random.

"Well, yeah," said Solitary.

"No need, we're slowing down. We've almost reached the bottom," said Misery. It merely took a few seconds for them to reach the bottom. It lead out into a very large cave system, filled with orange gems glowing like the one above them had a few moments ago. They led the way forward. There were plenty of dark shimmering crystals imbedded into the walls themselves. It was quite dark outside that of the gems' magical reach.

Misery looked up and saw the gentle shine of magic as Twilight Sparkle slowly descended towards them.

"Hurry." They all started to run forward, the path was at a slight downwards angle, making them run even faster among the gray and black stone. At one point, they heard their pursuers land and running after them. They still had a head start. Misery saw a spot ahead, the very mountain had split, creating a path they would follow. It was quite tight, not easy for more than one to get into at a time. "Mood, Random, stay at this point and stop them from following us as much as you can," said Misery.

"Alright."

"Of course," said Random and turned to Rerry. "Be careful," said Random and gave her a concerned look.

"Always," responded Rerry, smiling.

Both Random and Mood stay behind, blocking the path after the rest had gone inside.

"Just try to get past us!" said Random.

"Um, yeah," said Mood with somewhat less enthusiasm. Random made sure Mood was close to him as the mares and dragon reached them and struck. None of them even managed to connect to Random. Their momentum was just sort of clumsily being redirected. Spike just sort of punched the ground, making him hold his fist and jump around from the pain. They all looked at Mood's hooves, avoiding his dangerous gaze.

"Give it up and let us pass, Random," said Twilight.

"I can not. Too much is at stake," he responded.

"The Cycle isn't going to return, Random. Misery is lying to you," said Twilight.

"Lies," said Mood, focusing specifically on her, trying to catch a glimpse of her eyes.

"I don't really care that much about Misery, but she has shown my friends respect and kindness. That's why I follow her, but I admit, something about her rubs me the wrong way," said Random. Mood turned towards him, not looking directly at his face.

"If it wasn't for her, I don't think I would even have hope of getting to see my family again. I can get them back, I know it," said Mood.

"She's just using your abilities to get back at Celestia. She doesn't care about anyone! You saw what he did to Y!" said Spike.

"Liar!" yelled Mood. Not being able to keep himself away, he ran directly towards Spike, in a fit of rage trying to use his curse at full strength to make him comatose.

Applejack jumped in between them, getting ready to kick him in his face.

"Don't!" yelled Random, jumping towards the shy one, Fluttershy. He grabbed her and held her down against her will. They wouldn't even manage to get close. Applejack stopped her kicking in the last moment, giving Mood a chance to strike. Suddenly, Spike jumped in front of Applejack and pounced towards Mood's face, grabbing it and holding on as tight as he could, blinding him.

"Go!" yelled Spike.

"But Fluttershy-"

"Just go!" yelled Fluttershy from Random's tight grip. Twilight looked at the gap, the path ahead. She didn't want to leave either of them, but she couldn't let that maniac continue any further ahead. Cesom was her responsibility now, and she absolutely could not let such power fall in the grip of such a maniac.

"We'll come back for you later, don't get hurt, that's an order from a princess!" said Twilight.

"Okay, Princess!" yelled Spike unsteadily as Mood was desperately trying to get Spike off. Random looked on with disappointment in himself as the four remaining mares rushed past them and slipped into the crack.

"At least we stopped two of them, for now. You just had to lose your cool, did you not?" asked Random towards Mood that was still struggling like a maniac with the little dragon.

"Let Fluttershy go!" yelled Spike.

"Let Mood go!" Random yelled back.

"Okay, this isn't going anywhere really quick. How about this? Let's bet about something!" yelled Spike. Random looked up at him. Now he was interested.

"A bet? What should we bet about?"

"If you win, we both get to go on without any trouble. If you win, then, then..."

"These are high stakes we're talking about, don't forget that," said Random with a cunning look.

"I bet you a gem."

"Higher."

"All gems I'll ever get."

"Higher!"

"My eternal servitude!"

"HIGHER!"

"My soul!"

"Oh yes, that should do nicely. Would you like us to play it over a game of poker? The old hold 'em. Do you agree to these terms?"

"Only if you get off Fluttershy, and Mood can't interfere with us," said Spike. Random looked down on Fluttershy.

"You are also part of the terms, do you agree to only pass on if Spike wins against me?" asked Random.

"I... I..."

"Fluttershy," said Spike. She looked up at him. "Everything will be alright." He spoke with a mature, confident voice, so unlike his usual demeanor. Fluttershy found herself getting a bit of courage just looking at him.

"I accept," said Fluttershy. Random immediately let her go. Spike in turn let go of Mood. They both just stood up. Mood caught eyes of Fluttershy.

"I can still take you out," said Mood, starting to walk towards her.

"Fluttershy, run!" yelled Spike. He didn't need to tell her twice. She ran off deeper into the dark cave system towards the left, into the darkness. At least that would help her against Mood. Mood raced after her, he was used to being blind, so this darkness would not hinder him much. Before Spike knew it, they were gone.

Random turned towards Spike, taking something out from under his hat. A deck of playing cards. He walked over to a bunch of rocks, looking quite serviceable as a table and chairs. He placed the deck on the large flat surface. He glanced at Spike with a confident, excited smile.

"Let's play."

***

For once in her life, Fluttershy was happy that she was deep underground enveloped in darkness. Her adrenaline kept her from panicking from fear in this black void. It actually helped with the fear in general. Still, she was trembling in horror, just focusing on not tripping down into some sort of spiky pit in the dark. She used her wing to follow along the cave wall. It was moist down there, and very cold. She was sure she would have seen her own breath if she could have actually seen.

Still, despite all of this, at least that Mood couldn't see in the dark. That was a huge plus.

"Do you think you can hide from me? Even in the darkness, my eyes are my only strength," said Mood, his voice echoing in the vast cave system. He could have been far off, or right next to her. Suddenly, over towards the left, two wide beams of red light started to shine brightly. Fluttershy could see two bright round pieces, shining like terrible dying stars in the vast void. "Fluttershy, is it? My eyes can only work if I see the victim. I despise this curse, but even I admire its tenacity," said Mood. Fluttershy noticed a tone of sadness in his voice.

He was not looking at her, but the crimson illumination would make her easy to spot if it so much as glanced at her. She instantly hid behind a large piece of stone just as the beams were shining towards her, barely managing to get behind in time.

"I... I just want to tell you that I'm sorry about this. I don't actually want to hurt you, or anyone, but if I could just get to gaze into my wife's eyes without causing her to cry the entire day. If I could just get to see my two dearest daughters without making them hate me... I just want that." Fluttershy started to hear faint sound of crying. "I'll spend two lifetimes in a prison in the griffin kingdom for just a single moment telling them I love them, while getting to gaze into their eyes without causing pain. I hope you understand how important this is to me," said Mood.

Fluttershy focused on not listening, it had to just be a lie to freak her out. Nothing else, she had to assume it was. Just a lie. He was only lying... Maybe? Still, Fluttershy wouldn't let that stop her.

She thought about different ways she could defeat him. She could sneak around and hit him from behind with a rock, that could work. A direct attack straight from the front would not be a good idea. Even though she underestimated her own strength, Mood was simply bigger and stronger than her. She wondered to herself how she could use her wings in the best possible way.

The sound of steps echoing in the cave got ever closer. Fluttershy quietly sneaked away from the incoming red light, going ever deeper into the mountain. For now, all she could do was staying away from him.

***

"You do know how to play this game, right?" asked Random as he let Spike shuffle the cards.

"Of course I know hot to play it... enough," said Spike as he put down the shuffled deck on the stone.

"Well, here is the one thing you would probably want to know about it: it's my best game," said Random, getting ready to hand out the cards as the dealer this first round.

"Wait, we don't have any chips," said Spike, looking around the table.

"I thought about using our memories, materializing them as chips with my power, but rocks will do just fine. Things are bad enough without one of us forgetting how to go to the bathroom, don't you think?" asked Random and gathered up some small pebbles from the ground.

"Well, let's see. Here is your share. Fifty each should do. Please count them," said Random, himself counting them and dividing them up in five tens. Spike did the same. "Great. Let's begin. I'm the dealer, so I put out two rocks as the Big Blind," said Random, putting two small stones in the middle.

"And I put out one, right?"

"Yes, good," said Random, dealing them both their cards. Spike was a bit nervous when he took up his cards, but he certainly didn't show it. He glanced at them. He had started out well, a queen and an eight, at least, he thought that was good.

"Are you in?" asked Random. Spike put a second rock on the 'table'.

"Yeah." Random placed the first three cards. Spike's heart jumped when he saw not one, but two queens. So lucky! Okay, just play it cool. Don't go all in, that would be too obvious, Spike thought to himself.

"Oh, wait, the minimum wager is one stone, right?" asked Random, sounding oddly much like Spike had expected himself to sound, like a child that had played for the first time.

"Uh, sure," said Spike. Random's face lit up.

"Alright, one stone it is," said Random cheerily. Spike tossed in the wager and looked at the other card on the table, it was just a two. Was he so confident about a two? Wait, did he have a queen himself? That thought made Spike a little nervous.

"So, do you call or fold?" asked Spike.

"Call, call," said Random, tossing in a rock.

"And I think that's enough for now," said Spike. Random nodded and placed the fourth card. It was the ace of hearts.

"Right... hm..." Spike tried to sound hesitant. If he would have been an adult, it would have been impossible to pull it off like that, but he was a child. They could be like that sometimes, hopefully Random knew that and underestimated him. "I... think that I'm going to wager nothi- no, one rock," said Spike, placing his bet.

"Okay... I... I'll call that, and I'll raise you another stone," said Random.

"And I'll call that," said Spike.

Random placed the last card on the table. It was an eight. Spike had a full house. He was in a good spot. In fact, the pot was relatively big enough to be profitable to take home. He gave a devilish grin on purpose.

"You know, I'm having a good feeling on this. I'll wager a whole five rocks," said Spike, putting them into the pot.

"All in," said Random, pushing all of his little rocks into the pot. Whatever even slightly childish mannerism with him was gone. He was dead serious.

"What? So early."

"I love a good gamble, so, Spike, all in, or not?" asked Random. Spike considered it. He did have a full house, with three queens and a pair of eights. The odds were in his favor... yet that stare from Random was creeping him out. He struggled, looking at that big, juicy pot. He could almost hear his instincts yelling at him. Take it, take it! But he couldn't risk it. He had to win slowly, carefully. He couldn't risk everything on just a whim.

"I... I... I fold," said Spike. Random took all of the pot this round. As Spike picked up the cards and started shuffling them with a disappointed look on his face, Random caught his eye with a mischievous grin.

"Let me guess. You had a queen, and an eight," said Random.

"What? I, no, I... How did you know that? Are you cheating?!" said Spike.

"I could cheat, but I won't. It was easy to deduce. You kept a good poker-face when you saw the two queens, but your eyes lit up like fireworks when you saw the eight. I didn't need to see that though. Spike, a word of advice, since you are so young. You think that the cards are the weapons in this battle, but in reality, the weapons are us, each other. I've kept a close eye on you, and you have two tells that allow me to see when you have a good hand. I won't tell you what those are, of course," said Random.

"So... what did you have, then?" asked Spike. Random smiled at him, showing him his cards just to humor him. Two aces.

"I would have beaten your full house with my own. Face it, kid, you're up against a lucky gambler."

***

Fluttershy had lost track of him, he had just suddenly disappeared around a corner. She was sure she could hear a waterfall nearby. It had the positive side effect of hiding the echo of her steps. She found her way around the corner, and she was suddenly bathed in a bright red light.

"There you are!"

Fluttershy just closed her eyes and turned away. When she started to run with him behind her, she opened her eyes. His eyes were the only thing that allowed her to see where she was going. His constant movement made the lights shake heavily when they didn't flicker as dust got in them. Fluttershy could hear the waterfall ahead. She kept fleeing, passing a corner where she heard the waterfall next to her. She could not hear the water hitting any bottom, so it was likely it was falling down into a chasm.

Fluttershy jumped into the waterfall, passing the icy water and hitting the wall on the other side. She spread her wings and gently flapped them to stay afloat. She was dripping water, but at least she had a place to hide. She could see the pony coming past the corner, stopping in his tracks. Fluttershy could see why. The chasm was bigger than she had thought. The entire side of the tunnel she had been running through was basically open to a gigantic hole. The waterfall was just slight to the side the large round chasm.

As he walked carefully on the slippery wet edge trying to find Fluttershy somewhere in the large empty void. She could see his stare sweeping over the large cave, passing by the waterfall, its red beams being obscured and distorted by the water that had been falling there for a thousand years. He paused, looking at the waterfall, before turning around and going back again. The light could be seen in the tunnel, slowly moving away until it eventually disappeared completely into darkness. Fluttershy took a deep breath and then flew around the waterfall, moving towards the ledge of the tunnel. She landed.

Mood grabbed her and opened his red glowing eyes, looking at her neck. He thrust her body up against the wet stone wall, turning her around to face him. Fluttershy closed her eyes, trying to turn away.

"I will break you!" yelled Mood. He grabbed her head and forced her to face him. He bit her in her leg, causing pain and making her open her eyes in a reflex. All she could see was a pair of glowing red circles staring into her eyes. "This is the end, Fluttershy." His expression changed into something solemn, his eyes relaxing as he looked at her. She knew it was coming. First he would make her cry, and then he would put her into a coma. How she would find her real self was unknown, but she didn't think she would manage to get back to reality.

"Fluttershy. You are a very kind pony, you care about everyone, and you could forgive anything, yet you are tortured by the fact that..."

And that was the moment the battle between them had been decided.

***

Celestia was slowly walking through the mountain range, getting up there to look down on her old town. She looked out over the kingdom she once had been able to call her own. She had heard that Twilight had disappeared, no doubt either by Mrs. Misery or to defeat her. Celestia wanted to go there, but she couldn't return to Canterlot. Doing so would be considered an act of treason and war. She simply needed to have faith in her little friends, and she did.

***

To say it was going badly for Spike was a bit of an understatement. He only had 12 pebbles left. He was also nervous about Fluttershy, she still had not returned.

"Well, do you call or not?" asked Random after having placed his own wager. The cards were an ace, a four, a five, a seven and a king. Spike looked at him with uncertainty. His cards were quite low and he didn't even have a pair. Spike just hit his head on the stone table, lying there, looking down towards the stone floor. He coughed, letting out a bit of green flame.

"Sorry, it's all this dust," said Spike, focusing on what lied beneath him.

"Your two tells if you have good cards aren't showing, and your seventh tell, if you have bad cards, are. I'm guessing you don't have good cards," said Random.

"I- I call!" said Spike and stood up in his seat in defiance.

"Great. So if you lose this round, you have three rocks left. At least things are going well," said Random, putting down and showing his cards. "Two pairs," said Random.

"What horrible luck," said Spike and put down his own two cards. All he had was a three and a two, in other words, he had a "Straight. I'll take that," said Spike and grabbed the pot. Finally getting some stuff back. He looked at the surprised Random. "Random, I figured out what my tells were in the sixth round. I've just focused on finding your tell," said Spike with confidence. "This game is about to come to an end. I guarantee it," said Spike. He slid all the cards over to himself to shuffle them, but he dropped them on the ground. "Sorry, sorry, give me a second," said Spike. He bowed down to pick up the cards, but the dust was getting in his snout. He sneezed a green flame. "I hate being in this cave so much," said Spike, picking up the cards and properly shuffling them this time.

"Alright. You're Big Blind," said Random.

"Right."

Once all five cards were placed, Spike was getting ready. He had a strategy that would be put into effect any second. This round looked nice. There was an ace, a king, a four, a two and a ten. Spike had an ace and a four. Random bet a slight amount, which Spike raised, which made Random go all in. He was probably planning on intimidation, he made it an all or nothing, possibly to make it more exciting to him, but it was very possible he had a good hand like in the beginning of the game. Spike was quite nervous. He felt some pressure welling up in his gut. He coughed out another flame.

"You ponies are lucky your aren't so sensitive to dust like us dragons," said Spike.

"Right. Well, time to show our cards, this is it.  I love these moments. Everything or nothing."

"It has to be everything, it just has to be," said Spike. They both showed their cards.

Again, there was an ace, a king, a four, a two and a ten on the table. Random had an ace and a ten. And of course, Spike only had...

"Two aces, making three of a kind. I win, Random," said Spike. Random looked at him, and then the card, and then him, and then the card. His eyes widening a little each time. He leaned back in his seat, falling back as there was nothing to lean on. He got up, and kept looking at Spike. He cracked a smile, and then laughed, he laughed heartily, with glee.

"Wow, that was exciting! Ha ha! Great job! Fantastic! I don't know how you did it, but you did!" said Random.

"Skill," said Spike with a smirk. Random looked at him, smirking friendly.

"Spike, I know you cheated again," said Random. Spike didn't even change his expression, but he did freeze in place.

"Um, what."

"Relax, Spike, I admit defeat. You win. You have guts, and I enjoyed this anyway. It wasn't even close to dull. Although, if I may ask, how did you cheat? That's the only thing I can't figure out. How did you change that four into another ace?"

"How did you...?"

"I looked into the reflection of your eyes. I have an eye for detail. You did have tells, but I didn't need them. So, how did you do it?" asked Random.

"That's my little secret," said Spike, standing up.

"Come on, tell me before you move on," said Random and gently bumped his shoulder.

"No way, dude. Now, where's Fluttershy?" asked Spike, looking around.

"I'm here," said Fluttershy. Spike and Random turned towards her voice. She walked out of the darkness with tears of sympathy in her eyes, with somepony following her from behind.

"Mood? What's the matter? I expected you to be knocked out at least," said Random, surprised. Mood was bawling his eyes out, his tears dripping more than the water from Fluttershy.

"Random, Misery's been lying to us!" yelled Mood.

"He was going to use his, his extreme power on me, and then..."

"This is what the curse made me say to her: 'Fluttershy. You are a very kind pony, you care about everyone, and you could forgive anything, yet you are tortured by the fact that we, the ponies in Group Misery has been so deceived by Mrs. Misery that we believe any and every lie she feeds us. You know we are terrible ponies, and you would still give your life to save anyone of us, but you can't, because there is nothing you can say that will make us see the truth'," said Mood, crying even harder.

"And you're sure that's the truth?" asked Random.

"My curse can tell lies, but I know if they are," said Mood.

"Mood, tell them what else your curse made you say, please. It's important," said Fluttershy. Mood wiped his tears and turned towards Random.

"Random, it also made me say this: 'It is just so very sad that we are actively helping a monster that would use Cesom to create complete chaos in the world, and use it kill and destroy everything.'"

Spike's eyes widened. He instantly turned towards the path ahead. He needed to hurry and catch up to Twilight. This was not only bad, it was absolutely terrible. It really was the worst possible scenario.

"I'm coming with you!" yelled Random when Spike ran forward. Random was filled with fear. His friends, his beloved, in the company of that maniac.

"Me too!" said Mood and Fluttershy, running after them.

***

Celestia was looking at the moon as it was rising up over the horizon. She breathed in the cool night air as she looked down on the letter she had received. She couldn't help but to be a little proud, oddly enough. Oh, Spike, I raised you better than to cheat at a card game, she said, chuckling like a mother at the shenanigans of her child. The letter read as such:

'Dear Princess Celestia, I'm in a tight spot right now, gambling a possible maniac for the fate of Canterlot and my friends, with my immortal soul at stake. Could you help me out? Take the card that comes with this letter and in exactly one minute, send it back to me. I might send you a replacement at the same time. Don't do anything else then, okay? Anyway, how are you? I miss you, I hope you're well and that I'll get to meet you soon. I'll send you some letters anyway, okay? It's not like they can monitor me every moment of my life, right? I just know there has to be a way to get you back on the throne where you belong. Anyway, I really miss you, did I mention that? Sometimes I wish you were my real mom. Did I really write that just now? Wow, I'm writing super fast. The guy is looking at me right now and I'm just here writing on the floor. I'm nervous. I'm serious, I'm writing like ten words a second at least. Oh, crud, I've got to go now. Your loyal subject son assistant friend, Spike.'

"Good luck, little Spike," said Celestia. She held the single, simple little four of hearts in the air in front of her. "What a lovely souvenir."