Deep Down The Dungeon's Depths...

by KillerSteel

Rating: mature
Tags:
Length: 19338

Some things were never meant to be found... and poor Tempest just tripped over something damning.

Tempest. A normal mare working in the Royal Guard. One of the grunts who always takes orders, and wishes she could give them instead. A rookie in most respects, at least in the eyes of her peers, despite her very difficult first few months of service. And if you question that, she will not be happy.

But, her training made her into a strong pony. Question is, will that strength be enough for what's to come?

Some things were never meant to be found in Celestia's castle, after all…

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-03-17 16:13:41 UTC

Lurking...

"Patrols. Again. Ugh..."

The skies above Canterlot sparked with the bright flashes of lightning between the bleak, dark clouds, carrying blasts of thunder with them. A scheduled storm had overtaken the usually bright skies of Equestria, spanning Canterlot, and Ponyville by extension, much to the chagrin of over six thousand ponies. Still, it had to be done, as the reservoir below Canterlot was beginning to run dry.

As such, the city was prepared for such a torrential downpour, with massive rain catchers set up above most of the houses across Canterlot. Despite the ivory-white finish of most of the buildings, these sported corrugated iron funnels, leading into massive pipes that ran through the streets. Very obstructive for the passersby, but it was done by order of the Princesses, so nopony thought it wise to complain.

One mare, as well as her peers, managed to avoid this ugly staining of Canterlot's brilliant canvas by patrolling through the beautiful interior of Canterlot Castle, a marvelous structure of ivory and gold that had stood for centuries. From the main hall's wonderfully warm interior to the chilling heights of the main tower, the castle was truly a sight to behold. Well, at least for the guards that were lucky enough to be patrolling above ground level.

For those who got the 'short stick', as it were, they were stuck patrolling the dungeons and deeper caverns of the castle.

"Why am I always stuck down here, anyway? It's like one of the Lieutenants decided to paint a target on the back of my head!" A loud grumble rolled through one of the prison halls, bouncing off the aging cobblestone walls. Light within the hall was a blessing for the few prisoners sealed within, a few whimpers echoing in response to the complaints, either through acknowledgement that there really was life down there besides them, or through fear of what might have come to claim them. A heavy 'clank, clank' echoed, punctuating the random complaints shouted by the soldier now moving through the breadth of the prison.

"And why is always so dark down here? You can barely see your hoof in front of your face... even the gold armor doesn't help," she moaned, staring at her horseshoe a bare two inches from her face. The gold-brass managed to catch the light of a nearby torch, but the muddled dust of the ground ruined the polish it had received just a few hours before. Luckily, her cream-white coat reflected the light perfectly... only to show that she required a bath quite badly. "It's like I walked through one of the royal blacksmiths' furnaces! So much dust."

The grumbling only carried on as her march continued down the hall, eyes fixed on her path ahead, despite the worried moans and grumbles of the prisoners surrounding her, safely locked in their cells. If there was one thing those ponies feared, it was the kind of stallion - or mare - that could be wearing that glinting golden armor. 'The armor of angels contain the worst of demons', the rumor had been, but the Royal Guard functioned well on such telltale phrases. A little fear kept the prisoners in line, after all.

Not that it was doing much to solve the mare's complaints.

"I can't even play I Spy in here. Or maybe I can... hm," she stopped her march, lance levelled on her shoulder under her foreleg. Her mouth quirked up at the corner as she stared upward, locks of her yellow-grey mane shining meekly in the light. "Well, worth a shot! I spy with my little eye, something that is... blue!" A smile lit up on her face as the game was set under way, and she looked around to find the object she'd identified. "Well, that cobblestone is blue. And that prisoner is blue... and my eyes are blue, but I can't really spy those. Is spying your own eyes considered cheating?" She pondered on this concept for a moment, the chance of actually cheating at I Spy. What're the chances of somepony even guessing that? I doubt it could be considered cheating.

The silence pervaded the dungeon as the mare pondered and thought for a grand total of six seconds before dropping the issue altogether. There's no way you could cheat at I Spy without having some kind of freaky fortune-telling thing going on! Oh, but maybe that's how Anvil beat me yesterday! Oooo, I knew unicorns could do that... they've got a futuresight spell! I know it! Her inquisitive smirk quickly faded into an insulted grimace. He did cheat! He had to! There was no way he could have immediately found 'red' from her game!

Granted, they were playing in the main hall on guard duty. But still! Ugh... wait, are those hoofsteps? She raised her eyebrow and looked around at the cells, finding that all the prisoners were simply sitting in their favorite corners, staring at her with mixed expressions of fear and contempt. They could be staring with unstoppable lust for all she cared, where were those hoofsteps coming from?

"Tempest! Oy, where are ya!?" A loud voice blasted through the hall, earning only an aggravated expression from the mare.

"Over here, boss!" Tempest rolled her eyes and turned to face the direction of the voice, a looming shadow extending around the corner. Having somepony to patrol with would make this more fun, anyway!

"What're you doing down here? You're supposed to be patrolling the North bend!" Eventually, the stallion came about the corner after finishing his sentence. Well, more peeking around the corner with a furrowed brow, brown eyes staring at the mare.

"Come looking for me, Iron?" Tempest raised an eyebrow, walking over to her fellow soldier.

"Yeah, 'course I did. You were supposed to meet up with me five minutes ago." Iron gave a heavy cough to punctuate his sentence, brushing some dust off his blue coat. "Jeeze, why do they even lock up the prisoners over here? Doesn't help that it's right next to a steam vent..."

"I know Lieutenant Orbit has been having a lot of trouble sorting out finances," Tempest answered, waving away the cloud rising towards her. She wasn't about to share in the Sergeant's asthma!

"Yeah. You get lost again?" The soldier looked over at Tempest, satisfied that his coat had been given a good dusting. He'd have to sort out the rest when he was off-duty, much to his chagrin...

"What can I say? It's like a labyrinth down here!" Tempest groaned. "Mazes are supposed to be fun, aren't they? It's just bleak and depressing down here."

"Yeah, well, not like we can ask Captain Armor to renovate the entire sub-level. C'mon, before we both get court martialed for missing patrols," Iron hacked out, grumbling in anger at the invisible dust clogging up his throat. A quick turn set him back down the hall, Tempest quickly at his side, using the lance as a kind of 'fifth leg', clutched in the crook of her left forehoof.

"So, how're your new duties as Sergeant?" Tempest smirked, looking over at him, "Must not be fun with the separated barracks..."

"As if I enjoyed my time any better down in the lower levels with you Corporals. I'll take my cushy bed over that metal bunk any day."

"Oh come on! You definitely enjoyed it, Anvil. After all, I was around, wasn't I?"

"Tempest, I have a hard time considering it a good day when I see your name next to mine on the patrol roster. You tend to make my day just a little bit darker," Iron grumbled in response, looking back at her in disinterest.

"Oh, Iron, I'm wounded! Your words, they cut me!" Tempest made a face as if to mock being faint, but it didn't quite come across as faint, more just like she was stabbed in the leg. Iron cringed a bit in response, teeth baring a little.

"Yeah, from the looks of it, you sure are! May wanna sort that out when you wake up tomorrow. Mirror's there for a reason, lady."

"Really? I've been trying to get my expressions sorted out." Tempest pouted, looking over at the stallion with half-lidded eyes, "Mind helping me with them tomorrow...?" The sultry whisper trailed out, forcing Anvil to quickly look the other way, coughing a bit. His eyes peered down the hall as just the lightest tint of red appeared on his cheeks, earning a grin from his partner. "Ha, at least I've got that one down!"

"Yeah, never fails..." Iron rubbed his cheek with a bit of telekinesis, trying to get the rush of blood out of his system. Dang mare... and that's the one expression she really knows! You'd think she'd figure out a couple others by now.

"So, is anypony else patrolling down here, or is it just you and me?"

"Couple units bumbling about, but I think it's just us and the Twins in the North bend," Anvil let go of the spell, letting his now quite-red cheek swell out a bit. That didn't work in the slightest...

"Seems somepony's happy about that news." Tempest giggled, bumping Anvil with her shoulder, "Well, more time for games, right?"

"I swear, if you say I cheated at I Spy one more time—"

"But you did!"

"There were red curtains all over the place!"

"Well, yeah... maybe, but that doesn't matter! I only got the words out for a second before you answered! You knew what I was gonna ask!"

"You always say a color when it comes to that game, Tempest! It's not future sight, it's something called 'predictability'." Iron smirked, shaking his head, "Seriously, missy, you've gotta be harder to read at that game."

"Hmph. That's how you talk to a mare?" She squinted at the stallion, offended at such a crass remark. "'Harder' to read? I thought you liked your mares easy."

"Oy! That's hitting below the belt!" He quickly returned the squint with a furrow of his brow and a light shove on the mare's shoulder, "I don't comment on how you like your stallions, no matter how many of them walk home with you!"

"Oh, and you say I'm hitting below the belt." Tempest rolled her eyes, "Ugh, stallions."

"Mares... hmph."

The two soldiers carried on their march, dragging trails through the walls with just their glares. Iron Anvil and Sturm Tempest, quite possibly the two most abrasive soldiers in the Guard. At least when they were working together, though nopony could really say 'teamwork' was the thought in their heads when they patrolled the streets, often giving each other noogies instead of looking for crime. But one couldn't deny that the two functioned well on a partner system, with Iron's quick thinking and Tempest's even quicker movement.

When crime was found, they worked their hardest to catch it, and did succeed most of the time. The criminals tended to return with... a little less than significant injuries, often leading to yet more rumors about the Guard. Still, crime was minimal on the streets of Canterlot, and a little rough-housing was expected in the chase for crime. Everypony was just happy that nopony got hurt... much. And it was how the two soldiers wanted it to be; a simple life of chasing crime and keeping the city safe.

Granted, the search for crime was also the only way they could find to kill time properly, so when it came to dungeon patrol under the Warden, or guarding the main hall since they weren't important enough to march the halls that the Princesses walked daily, boredom drowned them.

And when it wasn't boredom dragging them down...

"I spy with my little eye... something that is... blue!"

"The wall."

"Darn it, Iron! Stop using your crazy magic!"

"Oh come off it, Tempest. I don't need magic to see what's around me... though I've always thought it strange why the walls are blue." Iron looked about the hall as they wandered through the dungeon. Why *are** the walls blue, anyway? Maybe that duality styling, Celestia serving in the sky while Luna served below? Heh... little scary, that. Like she'll just come out of the wall and—* A flash of a shadow stole Iron's attention, and he froze on the spot.

Tempest carried on a few steps before realizing her partner had mysteriously vanished, and turned back to face him. "Something wrong, Iron? Or did your brain lock up while you were trying to continue the game?"

"Uh... n-nothing. Nothing at all. Just, um... agh. Just nothing." Iron shook his head, casting the fear away from his mind. It was just a trick of the eye, that's all, nothing more. C'mon Anvil, since when did you believe in ghosts? Or Princesses popping out of walls, for that matter!?

"Alright... whatever you say, Sarge." Tempest just raised her eyebrow as he walked by, joining him at his side. "Still, you look like you saw a ghost!"

"It's nothing, Tempest, seriously. Just leave it."

"But I Spy isn't fun anymore, and this walking is taking forever." Tempest flexed her wings, giving them a test flap or two. I'd be at the North bend right now if I flew... and if I knew where the North bend was. Well, I'd still get there sooner! I'd just check every inch of the dungeon until I found it! She considered how big and twisty the dungeon tended to be, rethinking her assumptions. "Then again, with my sense of direction..." she grumbled.

The monotonous cobblestone carried right on passing by the two soldiers, not a single sign marking any form of direction. Was it standard to allow such a massive complex without having some kind of indication of any quadrants? Iron pondered on what he'd been told of the different parts of the dungeon. Well, let's see... there aren't any signs because we can tell what section of the caverns we're in based on the materials in the walls and floor. The Southern block is covered with gems and crystals, and that's where we hold the barracks for the prison guards. The North bend is more dirt than block, and that's where we hold most of the prisoners. The Eastern and Western have temperature differences, but are made of the same blue cobblestone. West is warmer than East. Such a strange system of figuring out direction...

"Whatcha thinking about, Anvil?" Tempest raised an eyebrow at her partner, now hovering beside him. Why burn all my leg strength when I've got my wings, anyway?

"Just thinking about where we are right now. This cobblestone has been carrying on for quite a while... we should be seeing dirt tunnels branching off by now. No gems... and the temperature's stayed the same." Iron turned his mouth up in thought, brow furrowing slightly. Are we still in the central block? Walking around in c—

"Hey, what's that?" Tempest cut him off, flying forward down the hall towards something.

"Dh— hey, Tempest! Don't fly off like that!" Iron charged forward, but Tempest raced off down the hall far too quickly for him to keep up. Curse the Guard for not teaching me teleportation! Anvil grimaced, skidding to a halt as he found himself at a fork in the road. "Oh for the love of the Princesses... Tempest! Can you hear me!?"

"Yeah, I can! Left hall!"

The answer was met with a relieved sigh from Anvil, and he charged off down the left path. The cobblestone carried right on passing by, but the temperature seemed to skyrocket... nothing like the West block. Am I running towards the center of the mountain, or something? Anvil wondered, the hall thankfully lit by an increasing amount of torches.

Eventually, he found himself back at Tempest's side, but staring at something he'd never even heard of before... a massive iron gateway stood in front of him, taking up the entire hall. There wasn't even a doorframe around it, as if the door had been built specifically for the hallway... that, or the door was only a small part of something far larger. "What in the world is this?"

"I don't know. Was it just put in, or something?" Tempest raised her eyebrow, eyes fixed on the mighty iron guardian. "Do you know about any kind of development down here?"

"Well, I know of one or two projects... but none of them mentioned an iron door smack dab in the middle of a hall."

To the stallion, a random door appearing down there was only a sign of an out-of-bounds area, the kind of place that would see a quick end to a pony's career, should they dare to trespass. A fearsome place, cut off from the rest of civilization in order to protect ponies young and old... a maximum-security prison area, accessible only to the brass? A research lab that was cordoned off, filled with some kind of nigh-lethal gas? What could be past those gates?

To the mare who was now approaching the gates, filled with curiosity and wonder, it was simply another thing to explore, and another thing that could kill her boredom. Thankful that such a door existed to possibly brighten her day - the torches weren't doing much of a good job -, she pressed her hoof against it. Only to be yanked back and up by a familiar steel-grey aura.

"Tempest, are you insane!? Don't touch that!"

"What's wrong? Aren't you interested in what's behind it, Anvil?" Tempest grumbled, yanking at her hindleg trapped in the spell as she was held in the air. Being upside down probably wasn’t doing her brain any favors..

"No, I'm not interested! Far be it from me to step into a cordoned-off area..." he grumbled, stepping back from the door. "I only wish to report this to the Lieutenant."

"Oh, come on, Iron... could be fun," Tempest grinned as she spoke, hanging in the air as Iron held her up, "Just us on the other side of those doors, right?"

"Tempest, now really isn't the time! You have no idea what's back there!"

"Neither do you. For all we know, it's just some hall that was planned to be part of the dungeon, but never developed. Probably just a big, quiet cave..." Tempest smiled, raising her brow as she folded her forelegs. "Don'tcha wanna see what's over there?"

"I thought I already told you," Iron grumbled as he let go of Tempest's leg, planting her on the ground with a thud and an unceremonious landing on her head, legs sprawled out. He immediately covered his eyes, thankful that her tail protected Tempest's dignity. "Now put yourself upright and let's go!"

"Awww. Spoilsport! And what're you covering your eyes for, anyway?" Tempest looked questioningly at the stallion as she crossed her hindlegs, holding down a sneeze from her ticklish tail.

"I'm not about to stare at a soldier in such an... undignified pose. Now c'mon, we're talking to the brass about this!" Iron sat down and gestured for Tempest to flip back over onto her hooves, grimacing. Now isn't the time for her to be her flirtatious self... even if it is kind of— no, Iron Anvil! Shut it! This is improper!

"Awww, is the stallion shy?" Tempest smirked, making a mocking tone with her gentle voice. She flipped herself upright, grinning at him.

"Shy? N-Nonsense! It's called 'professionalism', you silly mare. Now are you proper?" Iron peeked out from under his hoof, trying to keep his eye hidden.

"Trying to get a look, are we?"

Iron's mane was disturbed by a rough poke from Tempest, a grin visible from his viewpoint. "Naughty stallion!"

"I wouldn't even think of it!" Iron removed his hoof from his eyes, furrowing his brow at the mare who had her tongue stuck out at him. Even *now*, she's playful!

"Ah, lighten up, man! Besides, we've got a new place to explore, don't we?"

"Oh for... no, Tempest! We're going back to the Lieutenant, telling him that this bloody door's here, then getting on with our patrols. That's an order," Iron growled out the last of his words, staring over Tempest's shoulder at the door. Wait a minute... is s-something... moving back there?

"Oh, well, in that case," Tempest puffed out her cheeks and made a strong salute, "Yes sir, let's go, sir!"

"... The mocking can wait, let's just go. I don't like whatever's back there," Iron whispered, pulling Tempest along by the foreleg. "We're going straight to the boss about this.”

“Ugh. Fine, let’s go... you don’t need to pull me the whole way there, Iron!”

“Knowing you, you’ll run straight back to the door if I let you g—” He felt his magic give way, squinting. Fearing the worst, he slowly turned around...

The heavy slam of iron doors met his glance.

“Oh bollocks.”

“Hehe! He’s got nothing to worry about. All I need is two minutes to explore, then I’ll be right back out and on patrols. Alright, what’s down Mysterious Hallway Number One?” Tempest grinned, leaning against the doors separating her from the now-frantically-smashing-against-the-doors Sergeant. Strange, she couldn’t feel any impacts... the doors must’ve been a lot heavier than first anticipated. Then why were they so easy to go through?

“Ah, doesn’t matter. Technicalities and details slow down exploration... now let’s see.” Tempest turned her eyes away from the heavy iron behind her to the hall... room around her. Her jaw dropped at the sheer size of it; it was like an entire tower was built underground! What used to be deep blue cobblestone was now smooth, polished rock, as if an entire section of the earth had been ripped away by the Gods themselves. “What the heck is this place...? And why is it so hot in here?” Tempest wiped her brow, looking around. The walls and floor didn’t seem to be made from volcanic rock, but the heat of the place felt like one of the craters in the Badlands. This makes zero sense... the mountain isn’t a volcano to begin with. Why’s it so... dang... w-what’s that sound?

The mare turned her ears to the sound of something moving, barely perceptible in the vast expanse of the tower. She lowered herself into a combat stance, wings spread as her training had conditioned her for, now going through theories of what those doors would be necessary for. If it wasn’t to keep ponies out, as evidenced by her easy entry... “I-It’s to keep... things in...?”

The smashing against the doors continued as Tempest stalked forward, lance ready in her hoof. A frontal attack would be met with the merciless steel at her side, but any other angle would take time to react to... and in this dark tower, every angle was a viable point of attack. Alright, just stay calm, Tempest. Check every angle of attack, and prepare yourself... listen for the enemy, and judge distance. Understand your environment... Her eyes took stock of the walls and floor around her. There was about eighty feet between the walls in diameter, and the ceiling reached up into pitch darkness... though the already-substantial lack of light didn’t help her in deciding how an air battle would go.

That cursed sound interrupted her thoughts every now and then, spiking her paranoia of what could possibly be locked in the tower. Or what could even demand such a massive tower in the first place! It’s like it was built for a dragon! Why would they put it down here in the prison!? The image of a mighty dragon crashing down behind her crossed her mind, and she found herself paralyzed. The beast would lower its head down to her’s, a steamy breath blowing past her like a gale... fangs grinding together like steel blades in a war as the maw opened, the breath of Tartarus passing over her as the maw reached around her.

And like every prisoner before her—

“No!” Tempest screamed, shaking her head as she backed away to the door, eyes locked on the spatial darkness above. “Th-There’s no dragon in here... t-there can’t be!” Her breath came as raspy sprints as her rump hit the door, a shiver running past her from the frigid metal. No matter what she could do, she was locked in there... she’d come in so easily, but the stallion behind the gates had been beating on it for so long.

Trapped.

The sound of what was trapped within... a slithering, almost, simply added to her fear. She was locked in the darkness with whatever beast Princess Celestia saw fit to banish to the depths of the dungeon, and she couldn’t get out. “Ohhh, Iron... I never shoulda come in here...”

At the sound of her voice, the slithering stopped. The silence killed everything in the tower... the mare couldn’t even hear the breath passing her clenched teeth. Something moved in the dark, a snake-like body dragging across the stone, yet it produced no sound. The mare dropped to her flank and clutched her chest, praying that her heart was still beating and her lungs were still moving.

The mare simply watched the body move across the ground, quiet as a predator... she could feel its shadow creeping towards her, even in the dark with her eyes fixed forward. A flick of a tip caught her gaze, pulling her eyes along its approach. A mere black line drawn from some invisible body over to her, moving about as it seemed to inspect her leg. It drew close, moving just over the hairs of her coat as they stood on end, gathering her scent. She wouldn’t dare even twitch for fear of enticing its hunger, not wanting to attract its attention to her. I’mjustastatueI’mjustastatueI’mjustastatuedon’teatme pleeeease...

The line twitched, poking her a few times. Wet spots were left behind, marking its targets as it came around to the back of her leg, poking along it. A heavy shiver ran through her spine as it prodded her Cutie Mark, tracing around the cloud, changing the white to a sickly green. The liquid was icy, as if only able to melt because of her heat. Her hoof started shaking, jittering the lance on the ground, begging for it to stop.

The thing dragged up her side, marring the polish of her armor with its snail’s trail slime, as if following the beat of her heart. Blindly, it tapped along the brass and gold until it found more flesh, prodding at her neck. Her heart only slammed against her chest harder as it stopped against an artery, twitching with each pulse of her blood... Oh no... i-it can feel my heartbeat... Her eyes widened as it followed the contours of her neck, dragging across the back of her neck and around to her windpipe, coiling.

It constricted only slightly, but it was enough for the terrified mare to scream and lash out, slicing the thing off at whatever point she could, the spear breaking the flesh as easily as hay.

Then... all Tartarus broke loose, as the entire tower shook with a bellow, rumbling as if the place would be torn asunder by the creature’s voice alone. Floodlights crashed on with an explosion of sound, casting down four rays of light, if only to allow the mare sight of her opponent... tendrils lashed around as the roar shattered her hearing, and the sight of the many limbs, thick with muscle and coated with ichor shattered her confidence.

It was huge, it was alive, and it was angry. And she’d just made herself a target. She could barely move a muscle before the shock of one of the giant limbs crashing into the wall just next to her set her brain in gear, and she took to the sky out of instinct. Her mind was locked on only finding a way to get out, seeking the ceiling as a bastion of safety. Four more limbs flung out and speared themselves through the air next to her, the glint of the ichor casting a fel shade on them, as well as what they bore. Are those steel filaments!? *These things are using wing blades!?!?*** She quickly raced around to the other side of the tower, feeling the air be torn asunder by the flailing tentacles as they tried to spear her, cut her, rend the thing that dared to harm it.

How am I gonna fight this thing?! It’s gigantic, and just a bunch of freakin’ arms!! The thought was quickly ended by a tendril tearing up in front of her, crashing into the ceiling with a mighty explosion. Rocks cascaded down from the wounded tower as the limbs that had nothing to do took it upon themselves to try and renovate, tearing apart the walls and floor, the tower a cacophony of destruction. With every dodge of one tendril, two more would snatch away her minor respite, stabbing away at her legs, wings, head, anything they could reach.

The mare was locked in her panic as she dove and rose over every threat she could see, gales blazing past her. The air in the tower was too stale to make flight any kind of effective, forcing her to work her wings even harder without the assistance of a tailwind. Her breaths came as panicked as her mind as she tried to work out a plan. Ok the lance isn’t going to do anything against a monster that big so I need to work out an idea ideas ideas ideas doesn’t that thing have a brain? It’s gotta have a brain! If I can hit that, it’ll die! Right?! *RIGHT!?*** Her attempts to reason out some light of hope were immediately torn apart as she felt something grip her tail.

“GAH!” She screamed as her forward progress was turned into an upside down view of the monster below, the massive limbs all rising up to meet her. She could only brace herself before one of the tendrils lashed out, belting her straight in the stomach; luckily, no filaments cut into her flesh, but it didn’t help ease the bone-shattering impact from winding her. Two tendrils rose up to join the third as they all started punching away, driving every last breath of air from her lungs, each strike bringing more red to her vision as agony overtook her mind. It was like training all over again, only the stallions were allowed to beat on her as much as they wanted...

“Stop!” She coughed out as another limb crashed into her solar plexus, stomach backflipping from the impact. The pain was only just backgrounded by the sickness, bile shooting up her throat as she hung by her tail. She felt her legs get yanked out in a star pattern, pulled to such a point that she thought she’d be torn apart, but before the grace of Death could claim her, the limbs stopped moving. She struggled against the limbs holding her still before spotting two large, red tendrils covered in the shining filaments moving up to greet her. Is... this where it ends? The thought passed through her mind as the limbs reared back, steel glinting in the light of the pillar above her.

Her eyes snapped shut as the wind whistled, the fanfare of her Death’s arrival loud... but she didn’t feel herself get cut. Instead, the tendrils had torn through her armor, carving off the belly and chest armor like so much paper. Like a mad surgeon over a vulnerable patient, the tendrils carved away until her armor was removed, revealing her bare body to the audience of one. She only thrashed harder as thoughts charged through her mind like a stampede of angry buffalo. It’s gonna cut out my organs! Slash me t’ bits! Rip me in half! It’s gonna *kill me!!!***

“Iron! Help me!!” Another tendril collided with her chest, spilling the rest of her oxygen out of her lungs. She could barely take in another breath before the beating continued, the three pistons taking turns in crushing her body, pummelling away at her gut. Every time she forced her lungs to take in a new breath, it was cut short by a harsh blow, the air barely having time to cool the back of her mouth. The only thing she could feel besides the pain and churning of her stomach was tears spilling from her eyes, the agony far beyond what she could bear.

I’m really... gonna die here...

And with that last thought, and a last crash against her belly, the darkness overtook her.

Fighting...

“It’s this way, sir!” A voice shouted in the bleak darkness of the halls, muffled by the mad sprint of five soldiers, their metal horseshoes making a war of the noise over who could be the loudest.

“You’re sure!? Why were you two down this way!?” Another voice responded, aggravated.

“We got lost, sir, I’m sorry! But she’s in danger!”

“In danger from what?”

“I don’t know, but I was— it’s a long story! We found this set of iron doors down a hall and- oh, bollocks, where is it!?” Iron shouted out, trying to overtake the thunder of the soldiers’ hooves.

“You two had better have a good explanation for all this... she disobeyed your direct order, Sergeant?”

“Y-Yes, Lieutenant...” Iron kept his gaze forward, inwardly biting his lip at the thrashing he’d receive.

It hadn’t been long before the stallion realized his attempts at knocking down the door would be insufficient, so he turned to the ponies that could help him get Tempest out of that dreaded room. He didn’t want to leave her behind, especially when that roar shook the hall, but he had to get help. Thankfully, he came across one of the dungeon patrols a few minutes after he’d left, and after some more frantic seconds ticked into minutes, managed to gather up a unicorn unit under Lieutenant Sky Lancer, one of the commanders of the Magic Corps. If anypony could help Iron break down a door, it would definitely be those ponies.

Sadly, the group had been charging around for near twenty minutes, simply hunting for the randomly correct path that would take them where they needed to go. After this, I’m sending an official complaint to Warden Fellgate about setting up some stupid *signs** in this place! I hope Tempest is alright...!*

“You sure you know where this is, Anvil?” Lancer looked over at his subordinate, the other three Corporals following close behind.

“Y-Yes, of course!” Iron quickly nodded, I haven’t the slightest idea...

“Well... wait, you feel that?”

“Heat...? It’s getting hotter, mu— this is the way!” Iron put as much power as he could into his sprint, racing off ahead of the rest of the group.

“Oy, lone wolf! Wait up!” Lancer grimaced as his other soldiers passed him, Agh, what a *magnificent** day to be an old stallion!* He shouted in his mind before trying to keep up with the rest of the group.

Iron skidded to a halt, blinking at the sight before him. Wh-What the...?

The other soldiers stopped just behind him, Lancer panting by the time he caught up, “Alright... what’s with... the random... sprinting... all of a sudden!?” He brushed the locks of his deep-blue mane out of his eyes, staring at a rather large, inconspicuous wall next to a tunnel - probably leading off towards the West Sector -, and his Sergeant clawing over it as if it hid a secret treasure. “What the heck are you doing, Iron? It’s a wall!”

“I-It— but— what!?” Iron stuttered, bashing his hoof against the wall. The heat’s the same, the walls are the same! Where’s the fork in the road!?

“Must’ve gone the wrong way, sir...” one of the soldiers groaned, turning back to the path they so frantically ran down.

“No! The path is supposed to be here! Tempest!!” Iron continued beating on the wall, frantic to get through. “Tempest!”

“You’re absolutely sure this was the way you took? Because I’ve never heard of walls moving on their own.” Lancer panted out, his gravelly voice like gargling rocks. Walls moving on their own... nonsense. Illusions aren’t tangible, and I’d know if any moving walls were put in. We must’ve taken a wrong turn...

“I’m— w-well... I...” Iron stared at the black wall in front of him, not feeling so sure of himself anymore. The scream of his partner rang through his brain, scrambling his thoughts. I-I know it’s... it is this way, isn’t it? Darn it...

“We’ll gather up some more troops and send them around the dungeon. Gimme a good description of what we’re looking for.”

“A hot place... sort of like West block, but the temperature skyrockets far above it. Feels like a sauna, and the walls are blue cobblestone. Maybe... somewhere near the center of the mountain?” Iron planted his forehead against the wall, face contorted with effort. I never should have taken my eyes off her... I knew as much from all the times I patrolled with her. Her tendency to run off and make trouble... Iron’s mouth curved into a nasty grimace as he hit the wall again and again with his hoof, sick with himself for screwing up. Why’d I do that...? Why’d I trust her not to go off on her own!? Why couldn’t I knock that cursed door down?!

“Alright. Block with a lot of heat near the center of the mountain. Phalanx, head topside and get us three squads.” Lancer gestured behind him, not taking his eyes off the wall.

“Yes sir!” The stallion responded, racing off down the hall. At least the soldiers all knew the signs of reaching the surface: just follow the wind. Ventilation shafts lead back to the prison door in the main hall, so a soldier could always follow the scent and feel of fresh air, and have it lead them home. Due to this, it was usually a good idea to have at least one pegasus per patrol group, as their wings were sensitive to changing air patterns.

Unless their name was Tempest... even with her biological advantage, she still managed to get lost sometimes.

“Breaker, Shield, you two head off through the prison and round up the patrol groups. There’re already soldiers down here, so we may as well put them to work.”

“Yes sir!” The two soldiers sounded out in unison, offering a half-salute before running off down the hall, Breaker already shouting out to find the other groups. The Warden wouldn’t enjoy having his dungeon operations interfered with, but he wouldn’t argue with a fellow Lieutenant. Before long, the only sound occupying the hall was the occasional smash of metal against rock as Iron beat on the wall, descending into his own misery.

“C’mon, son. We’ve got work to do.”

“S-She’s back there...”

“We might’ve taken a wrong turn. The walls of the dungeon don’t work like this, natural or otherwise.” Lancer moved up and placed a hoof on the stallion’s shoulder, staring at the wall. “It’s not an illusion, and from the sound of you hitting it for so long, it’s too thick a wall for a unicorn to move.”

“W-What about a team of them?”

“We’d know it happened, in that case. And nopony ever mentioned a secret door down here. Though I’d like to entertain the theory, it’s not like the two of us could move a wall this thick anyway.” Lancer let a smirk break through his serious expression before turning, pulling Iron away from the wall with his magic. “Now c’mon, soldier! We’ve got a prison to search!”

And so, the two soldiers proceeded on down the hall, but Iron refused to take his eyes off the wall. The scream kept playing itself over in his head, the one that forced him to go seek help. He couldn’t help but wonder if he was just hearing things...

Or if the scream was happening all over again.

Within the bleak tower, two bodies sat immobile: one leaned up against the wall, with the other occupying the center. Neither moved an inch, though whether it meant they were unconscious, or worse, would have been impossible to tell from an untrained eye.

Ngh... my stomach. Celestia, that thing... hits *really** hard!* The thought passed weakly through the mare’s head, as her body remained still against the wall. She’d been lying there for the last... however much time she’d been in there, cradling her bruised belly and stomach like an assaulted child. Her eyes were fixed on the shadow in the center of the room, the lights above flickering as whatever was powering them threatened to kill the illumination, toying with the two beings in the tower with their life-giving light.

Tempest never even thought she’d wake up after that beating... that her dream would last an eternity as the monster pulled her apart, maybe for food, or just through a sick desire to kill. But when her eyes opened to reveal the docile creature had laid her against the wall, it was... confusing, to say the least. The pain of her stomach crying out for attention had splintered all manner of thought towards how she was still alive; she was just thankful breath filled her lungs.

She held down a sudden cough and gag, her stomach churning something awful as a spike of pain scorched through her chest. Gh... d-did it break something...? Her eyes looked up from her hindlegs to the giant shadow in the center of the room, not willing to move a muscle, should she agitate it again. Constricting a few muscles in her chest and belly, she found that nothing cracked or moved in a way it wasn’t supposed to, much to her satisfaction. Ok, nothing’s broken... it just decided to use me as a punching bag for a while. Wings are still there, stomach should be ok in a while... She began to look about the room as her mind wandered through a few plans of attack, trying to find her weapon. Staring into one of the flickering pillars of life, she found the results of what could only be assumed the beast blowing off some steam after her beating.

In a pile lay her splintered armor, smashed to dust, and the broken remains of her lance. Her heart sank at the thought of not having a weapon. Then again, my lance wasn’t worth a whole lot in the first place. Alright, I need a plan, I need a plan. What can I do, unarmed, against a tentacle monster? Especially one covered in implanted wingblades? I could aim for its center of mass, but without the light, I’m not sure where its brain or heart are. At least right now, it must think I’m dead or something... gives me a chance to think. She looked back at the massive shadow, trying to put her training to use.

Alright. First, my environment. It’s a massive, smooth tower that looks like somepony teleported a lot of material out of... the walls are really smooth, and not a nook or cranny in sight. There goes hiding as a plan. It’s pretty tall, but the monster can easily reach anywhere in here. This thing definitely isn’t the most aggressive of monsters, though, since it left me alone after I passed out... I guess. Did it do anything else to me? She repressed a raise of an eyebrow as her eyes moved over her body. Despite the welts appearing through her coat where she’d been struck, nothing seemed to be torn or cut open. It had used plenty of force, narrowly avoiding injuring her. I can still move and fight at least. But maybe I should just wait for help? If I leave it alone, it should leave me alone. But how long can I just sit here? Spine’s starting to get sore...

The two beings remained as still as possible, as if testing the silence itself to break. A breath passed through the top of the beast, casting up a steam cloud, catching Tempest’s attention. The milky cloud remained in the air for quite a while, the heat of the tower helping it stay visible. Right, this stupid heat... I’m gonna cook in here if I don’t leave! At least the walls and floor stay cool, b-but it’s like this place was built... wait, I already said that, didn’t I? Anyway, plan plan, need a plan. The monster does breathe, so it should have lungs... however many lungs are needed to run something *that** big. If I can get the pieces of my armor into it... hehehe. No matter how big somepony is, if you cut up their lungs or heart, they drop just like any other living thing.* A tiny smirk crossed Tempest’s expression, the locks of her mane covering up most of her face.

All I need is a moment to strike, and a way to get my hooves on those chunks of my armor. Maybe the lance head as well, in case Plan A doesn’t work. She looked back over at the light, squinting her eyes slightly in thought. The inky black surrounding the light made it very difficult to see, only the glint of the golden brass noting where the pieces of her armor were. Darkness is an advantage... but I’m no Lunar Guard assassin. Can I move quietly enough to reach it? And where the heck is this thing’s mouth, anyway?

Another column of steam rose from the beast in a quaking exhale, like the ground itself was alive. What if those tentacles are coming *out** of its mouth? I’d be kinda... well, done for if it has such an easy protection.* A trail of sweat drew its way down to her muzzle, eliciting a small sneeze as it tickled her. The shadow shook in response, a few tendrils rising into the air and looking around the room. Tempest immediately trapped her breath and stayed perfectly still, gently leaning further back into the wall as the things moved around the massive beast, curious as to what made such an adorable noise. The tower filled with the quiet symphony of slick slithering, the only thing breaking into Tempest’s mind, beyond her panic and thunderous heartbeat.

Eventually, however, it simply curled back in on itself and did... whatever it did while it wasn’t moving. Another blast of steam curled up from the center of the shadow, surprisingly well-lit, despite the lack of light on it. Tempest’s heart thundered right along, even after the monster had stopped moving, nearly giving out under the brain’s command to get as much fuel to the muscles as possible. It took nearly two minutes for her heart to finally calm down enough for her brain to process a thought.

That... scared... the heck out of me... Her wide eyes were transfixed on the shadow as sweat dripped from her muzzle and neck, cascading quick trails with their brethren down her body. Her coat felt heavy with moisture, not even the faintest breeze giving her any respite from the heat. Heat that seemed to be getting worse every time that rumbling exhale escaped into the tower. I-Is that thing heating this room up? Just how hot is its breath? An image of her flying just over the monster, and getting blasted in the face by scalding steam crossed her mind, followed by the spine-shattering scream of a mare being devoured... her scream. And that’s even worse... b-but at least this tells me something, right? It... it responds to sound. So, if I don’t make a *single Princess-forsaken sound*, I’ll be ok. J-Just the problem o-of avoiding i-it’s really h-hot, r-really big breath... that’s all. Nothing to it. She inwardly chuckled at the thought, cracking a smile in some prayer that this plan wasn’t suicidal in the slightest.

Nothing to it at all. A-Alright... just... l-lean forward. On the thought, her body slowly followed the command, stomach and belly thankfully not complaining over the abuse. Her eyes stayed fixed on the monster every time she moved; her left hoof stretched out in front of her, followed by her right. Her hind legs stretched just enough to bring her rump off the ground, every painstaking second stretching for an eternity. One hoof in front of the other... c’mon, Tempest... She bit her lip as her hooves started moving on their own, one hoof in front of the other, the softest of steps being taken. Every few moments, a quick snap was made to look at the light, just to confirm direction before looking back at the shadow taking up the center of the tower. The glittering pieces of armor drew closer with every step, her plan being calculated and re-calculated in her head. Ok, just keep going like this. How should I hit it? I have to get above the monster somehow, then drop the chunks of armor into its mouth. With luck, it’ll be on an inhale, the sharp metal will be sucked into its lungs... then it’s bye bye monster. Does it make a sound when it inhales, though?

An ear turned to the creature as the silent steps continued, sonar for the machine. Another explosive exhale quaked the room, but no draw of air returned. It... doesn’t breathe? M-Maybe I missed something. Yeah, I j-just missed something! The machine stopped its march towards the light, just at the edge of the lit ring. She gave the monster twenty seconds, thirty. Forty. Eventually, it exhaled... but no draw of air came in. Not even the tiniest of jet streams through one of its many limbs. It doesn’t breathe. Ohhhh no... Tempest bit her lip, eyes turning back to the limbs at the center of the tower. It doesn’t breathe. No breath means no lungs. No lungs means no wounds for me to make with the armor chunks. No harm means the chunks are *useless!** How am I supposed to kill this thing!?* Her breath picked up as she started a quiet march towards the wall, eyes fixed on the monster. If I don’t make a sound, it won’t notice me. But if I don’t get out of here, I’ll suffocate, or cook, or get found or worse! Anvil can’t get in, and it’s been... how long *has** it been since he was pounding on the darn door!? Lost my sense of time, my plan, help... is this it? Just... going out quietly?*

Her rump barely tapped the wall before falling to the floor, landing with a muffled ‘thump’. The beast didn’t even twitch, supposedly enjoying its rest. Another exhale covered the sound of a sob, tears falling from the distraught mare’s eyes. That’s it... I-I can’t kill something this big. Not on my own... A quiet sniffle shook her, What can I do? I-If it finds me, I’m dead meat... it’ll tear me apart. C-Can I even risk waiting? How long until help comes? Hours? Days? Did Anvil stop trying, or did the brass shut him up? W-Why would they even send troops down here? ‘Oh, a soldier got lost in the prison. No problem, she’ll find a way out!’ She lowered herself onto the burning floor, letting it warm her belly, hoping for it to melt her frozen, hopeless heart. I just want to sleep... please, just let all this be a horrible nightmare... A dry gulp tried to make its way down her throat, but the road was harsh for it. Her eyes began to drift closed, the darkness daring to steal her away from this nightmare, a promise to bring her to a better dream. One she hoped she could trust, one she wanted to believe in.

Eventually, the heat acted as a blanket, casting her away into the land of slumber, thankfully undisturbed.

“Alright, explain it to me again.”

“Sir. Sturm Tempest, the Corporal in my patrol group for the North Bend of the prison, has gotten lost. She is in a room that has been sealed off by a wall.”

Anvil’s eye twitched out of pure irritation, having to explain his case for the third time. Still, his bothered Captain’s expression refused to change from disbelief, only serving to well up the annoyance even more. His case was logical and well explained, but the first request to repeat his case was understandable. He did rush into the illustrious Captain’s office, nearly kicking down the oak door in his rush to save his ally. In his panic, he did slur his words, so it made sense to repeat it once.

The second time was perfectly clear, so why request another?

“And you are aware that spells like that aren’t in use outside of the Magic Corps, right?” Captain Shining Armor leaned on his desk, the collar of his purple armor barely peeking over the top. His mane stood frazzled with the stress of a hard week of work, and stacking on mysteriously moving walls in the prison didn’t help him relax much. That kind of spell is used for secret vaults in the Restricted section anyway. Enchanted bookcases and everything... why would somepony set that kind of thing up in the prison? And how’d it happen without me knowing?

“Yes, sir.” I am totally aware of this absolutely obvious fact, you *complete simpleton.*** Anvil took a deep breath after his thought, letting it out slowly. “It still happened, sir. I saw it with my own eyes, I recognized the temperature difference. The entire prison is designed with these subtle changes marking the different areas, and this one was unique!”

“Sergeant, realize that I’m just trying to reason away the fact that this place even exists. The Magic Corps operating like this is unheard of.”

“I realize that, sir. If you’d prefer, I can go and get two troops from the Magic Corps and take them down to where I saw the door, have them try and see through it.” Iron was feeling a little more than agitated at the constant stalls; every second that passed, Tempest was in more and more danger.

“If this room exists, then I should be down there to see it as well.” With a grunt, Armor moved out from behind his desk and around it, walking by the waiting soldier. “Get two Corporals from the Magic Corps and meet me in the dungeon.”

Finally! “Yes, sir.” With a salute and a nod, Iron followed his leader out of the office as they headed down the tower, the Sergeant all-too-eager to get things started. Every second that ticked by added more worry to his stressed mind, more thoughts to his train wreck of an imagination, and more fear to his heart. Don’t worry, Sturm... we’re coming to help!

Ngh... throat’s really dry. Body’s on fire. N-Not good...

The first few signs of awakening were not pleasant ones for the mare caught in the tower. Her body felt sore and dry, sweat evaporated at some point during her slumber, leaving her without the soothing feeling of cool drips down her brow. A quaking exhale filled her ears, another column of steam launched upwards from the beast.

Can’t move... muscles won’t work. D-Definitely feel the pain from my soreness, though. Not dead... A grimace crossed her face as the mare slowly opened her eyes, scanning the darkness around her. The floodlights above had since gone out, leaving her vision in absolute darkness. Still, she could make out the odd silhouette, shadows shifting in the black, but no familiar voices graced her despite some looking like ponies. What did greet her as she shifted and tried to stand was a tapping feeling.

From something wet, poking at her side. Wh-What the? Her eyes widened a little as she looked back, instinctively pulling herself away. A shadow - thin and rope-like - was near the silhouette of her body. Or at least, what looked like her body, head swimming in her exhaustion. Is it still trying to find me? Her forehooves ground against the stone floor as she tried to get away from the shadow, but it just kept prodding at her, tracing its tip along her coat. She could feel a cooling liquid being left behind on her coat, the temperature shock running up her spine as it calmed more of her burning flesh. "Stop touching me," The whisper fell out of her parched throat, no strength left to give, and she finally just fell onto her side. "Stop...'

The tendril didn't relent in its probing, laying itself against her like a snake approaching its prey. Though instead of coiling around her and chucking her into the waiting maw of the monster, it simply rolled and wiped along her side. Her soreness crept from her body at the soothing touch of the liquid, almost seeping through her very form and calming her pain. Her eyes opened wider as she felt her hip, once numb, reignite with a twitch. She gave it a stretch, almost moaning from how good it felt; it was practically brand new! What the heck's going on?

The tendril continued its trek over her body, leaving behind its miracle liquid and rejuvenating her muscles. Eventually, only half her body still felt like a wreck, and after rolling over and feeling the tendril quest over her form, the other side lost its strain and burning pain. Standing back up, the tendril slithered back into the shadows, and the beast became dormant again. Sturm scanned her body, seeing the faint green liquid almost glowing against her, and she felt cool, as if the air was moving against her and taking away the heat. "That, was, weird." She checked herself again for any kind of boils or rotting flesh, anything that might point to the liquid being something more than just some miracle drug.

No fire in her lungs, no abnormal heart beats. In every sense, she was healthy and ready to fight. "Wow," she whispered, looking over her forelegs. She did a few test hops, feeling her muscles respond with all the energy of her body after a warm-up run. Even a bit of her dehydration had waned. That is so cool. I'd be cheering if I wasn't still trapped in here with that thing. Still, it's a chance to fight back.

Despite her recharged body, she still had a monstrous opponent to fight against, and no real plan as to how to take it down. Her mind went back to the fragments of her spear. Even if it doesn't breathe, it should still suffer some kind of damage... I just have to get those fragments. Her eyes scanned around for any glittering pieces of metal. ...If I could actually see them! Ugh! She quietly sat back down again, squinting her eyes in the sweltering heat. And even if I did get those fragments, would they do anything? A monster like this would probably cough them up again. No telling how hot that steam is, either.

She did want to win, but the death of the creature seemed impossible. She shook her head as the plan fell to the wayside, clearing her mind for other thoughts. No, I can't kill it. But maybe. Her eyes went to one of the walls of the room, seeing the faint silhouette of the gigantic doors. Maybe I can trick it into letting me out?

Throughout the fight, the monster seemed to respond to sound and touch, but not much beyond that. Flailing its limbs around in search of a living body to beat on and kill. A grin crossed her face as a new plan came to mind. If it wants to kill me so bad, it won't hold back, and I doubt that door could take a beating from something this big. Locking her eyes back on the monster, she got to her hooves and started creeping along the smooth wall, wings flicking a bit. She felt the ichor on her heat up from the surrounding air, spurring her on into a light trot towards the doors blocking her from her freedom. This is insane. This is completely insane. This is absolutely, definitely, completely *crazy.*** Despite the thoughts rolling through her head, all the disaster scenarios ending in her being beaten down, all the thunderous conflict in there as she reached the doors and turned to the monster...

She couldn't stop herself from shouting, a grin on her face. "Hey! Ugly! Come and get me!!"

That shout was all the monster needed to burst into life, tendrils flailing out from it in force. Tempest's instincts kicked into gear as her wings flared and flapped hard, launching her into the air. "Woah!" Tempest nearly lost her breath from how strong her wings had become, tendrils flying up towards the sound of her voice. She backed up, allowing a tight column of thin tendrils to speed past her, two large shadows flying at her from behind them. With just a turn and a flap, she threw herself out of the way of the barrelling titans, and they collided with the door with a satisfying, metallic 'thoom!'

That had to leave a dent! It's working! She barely suppressed her giddy laughter as she rolled and started flying again, quickly ascending towards the top of the tower. The floodlights boomed on, basking the room in powerful light. The stone turned a bright grey as the floodlights lowered a bit, bearing their glowing, golden mana spheres to the heat of the room, exposing the mass of flesh to the light of the sun. The beast let out another quaking exhale as tendrils from all over it uncoiled and lashed out at its opponent, though they lagged behind the extremely speedy Tempest. "Woo! Can't catch me now, can ya?!" She could practically run on the walls, her speed was so high. Her hooves hit the wall and she started galloping like the wind, rocketing down the wall and along it as muscley tendril after speedy spear crashed into the wall behind her.

This is awesome! She laughed as she weaved around the tendrils trying to bar her path, hitting the ground running as she raced for the doors. A single glance behind her revealed another massive tendril winding up to take a swing at her. "C'mon, you can catch me~!" She teased, blowing a raspberry back at the monster. Some kind of vein twitched in it as the tendril suddenly lashed out, swung far harder than it probably meant to.

What was supposed to be a short hop over the tendril catapulted Tempest up into the air, watching the air coil around the flying limb before it slammed into the door. Her hearing went blank with the explosion of sound, the metal buckling under the impact. Ow. But cool! Still, she could see the four obvious dents in the thick metal, and grinned widely to herself. Wish Iron could see all this!

She felt a dull 'thump' against the back of her head, the whizzing of air unheard as a thin tendril crashed into her, sending her soaring down through the air. Just before hitting the ground, a powerful flap of her wings slowed her down enough to turn a possible blood impact into a bellyflop. "Oof!" She coughed as the wind flew out of her lungs, quickly getting to her hooves and looking around. Her ears still rang with an impossibly loud tone, eyes swivelling as her wings tossed her back into the air. Ah crud. Being deaf in a place like this is bad, really bad! Still, sticking with the plan, she raced off along the walls, just trying to keep away from the tendrils until the ringing stopped.

Minutes rolled by as she raced around and around, adrenaline pounding through her like Wonderbolts on the race track, breath racing in and out of her like crazy as she tried to keep out of the closing reach of the tentacles. Run! Run! RUN! Eventually, rushing wind replaced ringing, and her smile returned as her hearing came alive. She sped off to the left and down the wall, two shimmering tendrils crashing against the wall, a loud screech filling the tower as steel ground against stone. More tendrils flew towards the mare as she weaved left and right, her wings helping her stay against the wall as more thick trunks of muscle collided with the wall, missing her by inches. A few more against the door should do it!

Skidding to a halt against the wall and another screaming whip through the wind missing her head, Tempest darted towards the door, spending only seconds before she met one side and leapt. A minor curse towards gravity launched through her head as the dastardly force did its work, dragging her down towards the floor. Oh crud. She flailed her legs and flapped her wings, hoping the world would work in her favor just a little bit longer to complete her leap, before she caught that maniacal whizzing sound in her ear... coming closer.

She rolled to try and get out of the way, but all she got was a belly-full of hard flesh hitting her like a train. The impact against the ground meeting her seconds later blew the rest of the wind out of her lungs, and she was left stunned against the stone, just fighting to catch her breath. Tendrils crowded around, balling up their tips until they were hammers made of skin, and Tempest simply put her hooves up weakly, knowing what was coming.

She braced herself before the first tendril crashed into her belly, and another of the tendrils quickly followed suit, then another. Soon, a rain of blows came down on the defenseless mare as she curled up and tried to take as many rough blows as she could, sides, legs, wings crumpling under the force of every smash and crash, just trying to protect her head and face. An uppercut set her spinning on her side, another crashing into her stomach and throwing her back towards the monster at the center of the room. Another rumbling exhale broke her out of her pained trance as she hit the flesh of the monster, and let out an agonizing scream.

Something else was in that creature, and it was hot enough to leave a scalding burn on her back. Her legs flailed and threw her back towards the door, trying to move fast enough for the wind to cool her off before a sneaky tentacle whipped in and tripped her, and her face met the stone. Before darkness took her, she saw the smooth rock racing up towards her.

"What in Celestia's name was that?" Armor's ears swiveled as the patrol stopped in their tracks, all aware of the sound of creaking metal somewhere in the distance. "An explosion?"

"Tempest!" One of the troops sprang forward, sprinting as quickly as he could down the hall.

"Iron! Halt! Don't go rushing off— gah." Armor looked at the rest of the patrol, "Don't just stand there! After him!"

With the order implanted in their brains, helping to ward of the worry of a cave-in, the patrol sprinted off after Iron, trying their hardest to follow the mad pony. "Iron! Where're you going!? That leads off to the East corridor!"

"I know where I'm going!" Iron shouted back, eyes fixed on the halls ahead. The temperature started to rise around him, eyes widening as a familiar feeling crept back into him. The heat. This is the way to that door! He scowled hard, sprinting even harder. Another blast of sound crashed through the hall, only serving to push Iron back an inch before he carried right on running. Only one thought crossed his mind when he connected the sound and its possible location. An image of his subordinate lying on the ground, shattered, bloody, unresponsive... his hooves hit the stone harder and harder, spurring him on with furious breaths as he raced to her rescue.

Tempest, don't you dare be dead!

Plan concerning the tentacle monster:

-Created by Twilight for purposes of training her body and magic for possible future combat, as she is also part of the Royal Guard’s Magic Corps, and participates in teaching - and training - new recruits.

-Tentacles come in four types; weaponized, quick, heavy, and special.

--Weaponized tendrils have wing blades - steel filaments sharpened for cutting and slashing during pegasus hit and run attacks -, and work to impale or carve the enemy.

--Quick tendrils are thin and aerodynamic, allowing for multiple, extremely fast strikes that work sort of like a flying enemy with a thin blade, like a knife, short sword, or even a rapier.

--Heavy tentacles work to smash or crush the enemy, wielding a lot of physical power. These don’t have any special qualities besides thick flesh, and extremely powerful muscles.

--Special tentacles are used for recharging purposes, specifically designed by Twilight. They excrete a special stimulant combined with naturally regenerating liquid mana, which is quickly absorbed by the body. Designed to eliminate physical stress, exhaustion, magical exhaustion, and is also a form of aphrodesiac if ingested.

-Heat in the room is due to Twilight having accidentally opened up a massive steam vent in the mountain when constructing the tower, so the tentacle monster is also designed to resist extreme heat. Biological processes use this heat to create more stimulant to be excreted, though it does need a warm, humid environment to exist in, so it expels steam after using it, in order to keep its environment at the right humidity and temperature.

-Tower was designed for both magical and flight combat, since Twilight - as an alicorn - is capable of using both. Four floodlights at the top are able to pivot and turn, allowing night time operative combat, daytime combat, and even pitch darkness, which forces a unicorn to constantly supply a night vision spell as well as fight the enemy.

-How did Twilight carve out such a massive space in the mountain? “It’s a secret.”

Progression of story:

-Since Armor is already leaving his desk, we’ll continue from there. Plans, plans...

-Iron and Armor head off to get two Magic Corps soldiers, possible scene ending. Transition back to Tempest.

-Tempest wakes up to something prodding her in the flank, and locks up. Her sore body refuses to respond to any kind of command to move as the thing continues poking, and eventually starts rubbing up against her like a cat.

-Soreness dissipates slightly with a wet feeling on her coat, and it continues rubbing along her, removing the sore feeling.

-After a bit of a treatment, Sturm gets up and moves away from the tentacle, trying to rethink her plan. No lungs meant no critical injury when inhaling sharp steel fragments. Can’t fight a beast twenty times her size. Only option left is to try and open the door, or get the beast to beat against the door until it comes down.

-She settles on the ‘trick the monster into making a way out’ idea, not really caring if the doors really are too strong to come down. She quietly moves over to the door, watching the lights above as sweat drips down her forehead, the heat in the room draining her of strength. Dehydration starts to set in, but she carries out the plan anyway. A shout catches the monster’s attention.

-Fight starts up, and Tempest focuses on avoiding completely, trying to find a tentacle that is strong enough to break the door. After a couple dodges from Weaponized-types, she finds the Heavy-types, and starts luring them towards the door.

-A few strikes against the door shows her idea could really work, large dents being left behind. A few more dodges, and the dents start to make a crack in the door, but eventually, she’s brought down by a swat from a Quick-type. She hits the ground rather hard, and her body simply gives up. She makes a last prayer as the tendrils race at her, accepting her fate of death, and closes her eyes in preparation for eternal slumber.

-A few moments pass in silence, and she opens her eyes to find herself still in the tower, two tendrils beside her. They both move up and just... rub up against her belly and chest. Her body can’t exactly move from the shock of the crash, shivering as that liquid is left behind on her. A few moments later, though, the pain just goes away from the wetted areas, feeling as if she’d just had a good night’s rest and a three-course meal. They move away after massaging her legs, chest and belly, receding into the creature.

-Confusion sits in her mind, but the want to escape is paramount, so she tries the plan again, this time making sure not to get struck down. Her body responds more quickly than before, as if the secretion had triggered some kind of adrenaline response, and she flies around the arena with more grace and speed than she had previously.

-After quite a long time fighting, her body gives out and she’s struck down again, this time being caught by the tail. The tendrils stop their assault as she hangs in the air, panting with exhaustion as the adrenaline leaves her body, leaving her legs even more sore than before. The same two tendrils come up and start moving over her again, reaching to more parts of her body. The massage is quite comforting as it reaches across her legs, chest, belly and neck, as well as her back, clearing up her exhaustion.

-Once the tendrils finish their work, her wings snap open upon the release of her tail, and she hovers in the air, feeling good as new. As well as quite icky and disturbed.

-The door is almost completely knocked down, but seems rather impervious. Tempest convinces herself that the door will come down after just a bit more of a beating, and gets back to work. At full strength, she darts around the tower, easily avoiding strike after strike, taking on five or six tendrils at once with deft aerial maneuvers.

-The fight actually goes on for quite a while, adrenaline racing through her veins as she tries to make a way out. After about forty minutes of straight fighting, her body starts to wear out, movements becoming slower, and by this point, about fifteen tendrils are all making psychotically-fast attacks against her. Within a few moments, she’s struck down again and grabbed by all four legs, hanging in the air. Delirium sets in as she’s dropped five feet to the ground and left against the wall, alone with her thoughts as the tendrils recede to the monster.

-Realizing that, even at her strongest, she can’t last long enough to bring down the wall between her and freedom, she closes her eyes and waits. Maybe those tendrils would come back and restore her strength? Though by this point, pain is starting to set in after the high leaves her, and the dehydration isn’t being fixed. She wouldn’t last much longer either way, and it’s not a good chance for her to survive long enough for the door to come down.

-She admits defeat, hanging her head and sighing. “If only I had something with me... don’t soldiers usually have a last drink or something before they die?” She muses, smiling a bit as she awaits death. Her eyes open to see the tendril that restored her strength after each of her defeats, just kind of staring at her. She stares back, watching it move down.

-Cue jump of surprise as it suddenly rushes into her mouth, rubbing along her tongue. Ichor spills from it and onto her tongue, and she quickly grabs the tendril, pulling it out. She spits out as much as she can, clenching the tendril as hard as she can, which... isn’t very hard a grip, since her strength has all but left her completely. The tendril goes in again, moving deeper this time around, and some of the ichor makes its way down her throat.

-The tendril moves back out as the liquid hits her stomach, suddenly making her explode with energy. Compared to the massage, it’s about three times the energy, though she does start to feel a burning feeling somewhere inside her. Still, with that energy, she could probably knock down the door herself, and so, another fight starts.

-The burning gets worse as the aphrodisiac spreads, and though the energy still fires inside her, so does the burning feeling. Virgin moment here. If not a virgin, she’d definitely recognize the burning as coming from her vagina, and equate it to something needing to be inside her. I’ll go with ‘not a virgin’, since this is already borderline rape. Don’t wanna make it rape that takes away virginity.

-And here we have a path split. We have ‘rapey’ and ‘non-rapey’.

Non-Rapey:

-The aphrodisiac continues to burn as she battles against the monster, and just before she’s struck down a fourth time, a shout stops the monster. Tempest swears she just went insane, and looks up to where the source of the shout was. There, she finds Princess Twilight Sparkle, perched on one of the Heavy-type tendrils, it curved into a suiting throne for her to sit on. Beside her sits a Quick-type, receiving a gentle petting from her.

-She explains some of the monster’s functions, and says that she uses it for training. It’s been kept secret since the creation of tentacle monsters, though not completely illegal (it’s used in a bunch of fetish shops, though this fact is only hinted at), is sort of frowned upon, and not expected of a proper Princess like herself. Still, she tries to keep up on combat tactics, and supplements her reading of military maneuvers, tactics, and combat skills by training against her monster.

-She also explains that the ichor that was being rubbed over Tempest, and subsequently ingested, is totally safe, and actually engineered by her. It’s a natural aphrodisiac, adrenaline trigger, and stamina regeneration all in one handy liquid, which is not poisonous or harmful in any way. She could drink gallons and not feel sick or suffer any kind of biological damage. She... would be impossibly horny for weeks on end, though.

-Twilight then offers Tempest a chance to satisfy the burning in her. She says that she can’t let the soldier go if the secret isn’t kept, and Tempest quickly accepts. Tempest asks for some kind of drink - being in the tower has drained her of nearly all her liquids -, and Twilight readily accepts. She teleports out, then back in, offering Tempest a barrel of water. This barrel of water is then drained completely by the soldier. A little bit of absurdist humor here.

-After the drink and the explanation - and the fact that her vagina is basically on fire now -, Tempest accepts the Princess’ offer, but asks for some privacy. Twilight humbly agrees and, before teleporting out, uses her magic to aim the spotlights at Tempest, giving her a bigger area to work with. Tempest asks how she’d be able to turn the spotlights off, just in case things get a bit gross for her, and Twilight hands her an incantation to utter in order to turn the spotlights on and off.

-After a few more words are exchanged, Twilight teleports out, leaving Tempest alone again. She’s no longer thirsty, is kinda horny, and knows that the monster is quite friendly. Begin ‘friends with benefits’ treatment that is hopefully half-believable. Possible tying, loads of sucking and vaginal, basically the monster answers to Tempest’s commands.

-Possibly Twilight coming back and joining in on the fun before the story closes, the two deciding to train together in the room. And to never reveal the presence of the room to anyone.

Rapey:

-After her fourth time being struck down, Tempest finally gives in and surrenders, lying on the floor. She’s tied up and hung in the air as the tendrils come up to her. One enters her mouth without much resistance, ejecting more ichor into her stomach, enough to pump up the aphrodisiac’s effect to a ‘pink mist’ effect, hormones going out of control.

-Commence sexytimes. Alternate ending here, since it’s much shorter. Gonna have to fit in Twilight’s appearance as well. Maybe Twilight finds her after the treatment, and decides to help her, erasing her memory of the rape and replacing it with the memory of Twilight accepting her to train.

-Rather underhanded, but Twilight got held up with something else, and this was the best fix she could come up with. Still, it carries no chance of pregnancy, STD, or other debilitating effects, and since the memory is erased, there’s no evidence left. The two fight against the monster, and possible lesbian scene to wrap things up.

Relaxing...

"Ngh..."

The first thing that came to her senses was a hefty bout of nausea, stomach churning as she fought to hold back her lunch. "Gh... owwwwie." Her forehooves moved up to her belly, eyes still closed to focus more on calming her stomach than on the world around her. Granted, there did seem to be a lot of blood rushing to her head. This is just making it worse. A-Am I hanging upside down?

Another gurgle of her stomach made her curl up, letting out a small belch which, thankfully, didn't carry anything else out. With her guts calmed, Tempest opened her eyes to try and see the world around her. The tower was back to its regular dark, a shuddering hiss of steam adding more familiarity to her senses. Darn it... but wait, why am I upside d— A tug at her tail seized her train of thought, and she quickly looked down. It took a while to see, but eventually the silhouette of her body faded into view, a coiled shadow holding her by the tail. "Oh, that's just wrong...!" She hissed, grimacing as she glared at it. "You don't hold somepony by the tail! It's rude."

The quiet chastising didn't inspire etiquette in the shadow, it keeping as tight a grip as ever on her tail. Good thing, too, as the next feeling Tempest experienced was pain; searing pain throughout her body and its exhausted muscles, forelegs trembling just to stay where they were against gravity. Her breathing quickened as her heart sped up, forelegs growing slack and falling down past her head, the rest of her body following suit. C-Can't feel my face, either. Tired... body feels like I j-just ran a marathon through pins and needles... made of glass. Tail's burning, too... feels like my butt's been covered in alcohol and lit on fire. She grit her teeth as a shock of pain raced up through her entire being and through her head. G-Guess that 'miracle' stuff didn't do too much for my body's condition... j-just made me forget the pain.

With her neck out of commission, her eyes swivelled to see where they could. The monster had gone dormant again, simply holding her in the air at quite a height. At least, it felt like quite a height, it was hard to see in the dark. Great. Tied up and hanging here like there's a noose on my tail, and the darn thing's fallen asleep again. Ngh... She cringed, sore muscles aching. N-No way to treat a mare... w-worse than Iron. At least... a-at least I'll b-be out soon.  Her eyes aimed forward at the door across from her side of the room. Even in the dark, she could clearly see heavy damage in the door, the tiniest of cracks visible near the base. A weak grin crossed her face, the light of hope leaking in through the crack. Just... a little more.

Her eyes turned back to the shadow around her tail, willing her body to move. Uncontrollable shakes raced through her as her exhausted core flexed, slowly bringing her forelegs up towards the shadow. They soon gave out, flopping her back to her 'hanged mare' status. Her lungs decided to join in on the party, spasming in a coughing fit. Her legs shook, her lungs burned, her chest felt tight; overall, she was in no condition to fight.

C-C'mon, Tempest! You've been through worse! You've fought uglier monsters, captured worse criminals, survived in worse conditions. Just, get, your, body, *working!*** She ground her teeth together and started curling again, hissing breaths racing in and out of her as her abs and stomach muscles screamed for relaxation; it was like a wildfire in her gut! Still, after what felt like an eternity of inching forward, her forehoof touched the tendril, wrapped around it and held on. She started pulling herself up, even her light body feeling like lead for her forelegs, bringing the shadow closer to her body. She added her hindlegs, and sweet relief went up her spine as her tail went slack; that thing was the worst part of the experience. Once she'd pulled her belly up to the tendril, she let out a quiet sigh, just letting her muscles lock up where they were. Not very comfortable, but at least it doesn't hurt as bad.

Well, until the tendril seemed to notice something had crawled onto it and started moving. Tempest blinked as it moved back, a little more force placed on her legs than gravity put on them. Then it moved forward, then back, then forward, moving faster and faster. She grunted with effort, struggling to hold onto the limb as she was flung about, spinning around it like a mare on a pole. She held down a blush at the thought of her twirling around the limb, focusing simply on holding on for dear life; getting flung off at that speed would do a whole lot more than just wind her! Hold on! Hold on, Tempest! J-Just wait for it to c-calm down!

Her teeth grit together like a sword against a grindstone, legs screaming out in searing agony. She felt her belly and chest come away from the limb she clung so harshly to, and that was all the limb needed to slip out of her grip. The mare barely got enough time to scream before she hit the ground, the rest of the air smashed out of her lungs as her ears rung from the impact. Shuddering breaths raced in and out of her lungs as she fought to hold on, fearing something in her broke when her stunned body refused to move.

Fighting every instinct inside of her just begging to die, her hooves and legs twitched, struggling to get under her. Her eyes wide, pain just fuelling terror in her mind, scrambling to stand up, get off the ground, get away from the beast that was getting ready to slam her into the ground. Gotta move... g-gotta move! Move, body! MOVE! With a shattered breath and a squeak, she stood on shivering legs and started walking. Exhausted, but at least nothing was broken despite a dull pain in her chest. Her eyes scanned the walls, settling on the damaged door sealing her inside, and she finally came to a stop by it, falling onto her haunches.

The ringing in her ears subsided as another wave of nausea crashed into her, but she couldn't find the strength to stop the upwelling this time. All she was capable of was leaning forward and making sure none of the muck flying out of her stomach hit her hooves. A quiet grunt, and a splatter of vomit on the ground were all the sound that followed the monster's exhale of steam. Great... that's gonna throw my flying off. She rubbed her belly and grimaced, looking behind her at the door, then turning back to the monster. Just need one good hit. It's all I've got left... Taking a few breaths to subside her sickness, she spread her wings and let loose.

"Oy! Ugly! Come and get me!!"

With a flailing of tendrils signalling that she did definitely get its attention, the spotlights flashed on again. The flailing shadows carved through the light, shimmering with blades or moisture; it was difficult to tell with them flying so quick. Eventually though, two thick limbs showed themselves, before barrelling down towards Tempest from above. She leapt back, forcing them to change their direction, and with a flap of her wings and a painful shock running up her spine, the tendrils flew just under her. Time slowed as the air blew over her coat and the pain worsened, something cracking in her left wing joint. S-Shoot! My wing's broken!? Another twitch, and another snap. Her scream was lost in the thunder of the tendrils slamming into the doors.

Several more limbs followed the sound, thin tendrils whipping out with surprising speed and lashing around Tempest's legs. She gasped, snapping her eyes open and looking at her gripped legs, two more tendrils flying into the light and gripping her wings, keeping them still. Panting hard, she tried to ignore the pain and yank at the limbs. Everytime she pulled, the tendril would give just enough slack for her to burn energy, before moving back and pulling her leg back out. Pull a leg in, tendril slackened, pulled it back out. After only three tugs from her forelegs, her muscles burned from exhaustion and gave out, letting her hang there, completely slack.

Her eyes scanned the floor, the edge of her pool of sick just visible in the light. Sweat dripped from her nose as she turned her head towards the door, weary eyes searching for some crack of light. All she could do was blink as no light of freedom greeted her, before slowly turning back to face the monster. That's it... th-that's all I could do? Just... b-beat on the door and dent it a bunch... A shuddered breath raced into her torched lungs. I can't f-fight anymore... nopony's coming to help me... I'm g-gonna die...

Her body shuddered as a sniffle escaped her, the quietest of sobs coming from her mouth. Tears mingled with sweat as she closed her eyes, sobs mixed with coughs from her desert of a throat. Iron, h-help... I d-don't wanna die... Her ears fell to the sides of her head as she let her tears fall. Time passed slowly before her sobs were interrupted by a gasp, as the touch of something wet and cold resting against her belly shocked her out of her sadness. Snapping her eyes open, she could see a green, slimy limb rubbing against her stomach, before slowly snaking its way up towards her chest. "Wh-What..." Her eyes followed its tip as it reached up to her foreleg and coiled around it, running along her shoulder and across the back of her neck. The cold sent a shiver down her spine, though quickly replaced by dread as she felt it coil around her neck.

It tightened, ever so slightly. Her breaths came faster and faster as she felt the tendril creep along the bottom of her chin, pulsating with her heart beat, before finally coming up into view. It tilted to the side a little, inspecting the mare's expression. Her pupils were shrunk to pin pricks, her ragged, sharp breaths falling over the tendril, and it registered just the tiniest of squeaks every few exhales. The tip crept forward, Tempest following it as far as her eyes would allow, before she felt it press against her teeth.

On instinct, she snapped her mouth shut, clenching her jaws and lips together as tightly as possible. The tendril tapped against her mouth once, twice, a few more times before understanding that its path was blocked. It tipped to the side again, another thin tendril moving up and rubbing under the ichorous tip, a thoughtful pose that would suit any pair of scholar's eyes. Or face for that matter. It stayed like that before coming to some form of epiphany, nodding and moving back down towards Tempest's neck. Its main body uncoiled from her neck, letting the tip slip in against her skin and start flicking against her coat.

The liquid off its body seeped into her skin, and the flicking started lighting up her ticklish areas. She let out a few quick gasps as the need to laugh grew inside her, the tip gracing the sides of her neck and just near her jaw. The need got worse and worse before she let go of her tensions, mind happy for release from its depression in a fit of quiet laughter. The thin tendril from before took its place against her neck, letting the green limb move back up to her face. It tilted here and there, examining her expression as her laughs grew, mouth opening to let the giggles out.

Seeing its chance, the limb threw itself forward. Tempest grunted as she felt something slide into her mouth, suddenly replacing her laughs with a mad, muffled screech. Wh-What in Tartarus!? It's in my mouth! *Oh holy Luna, it's in my mouth!!*** Her tongue struggled to get a trip against it, madly thrashing to push the invader out, but the ichor made it impossible to get even the slightest grip. The tendril simply rested in its new, slightly cooler home, rolling slightly to coat her cheeks, teeth and tongue in the...

Ngh... Tempest narrowed her eyes as her tongue slowed its assault, letting her register the taste. Why's... i-it tastes sweet... She let it drip onto her tongue, the sweet flavor melting in her mouth as she felt herself relax. Woah. That's actually kinda good... r-really really gross, but... The tendril moved a little bit further into her mouth, eliciting a groan of discomfort as it almost set off her gag reflex. "Mm-mm." She tried moving her head back, but the body of the tendril tightened around her neck, forcing her head to stay in place.

It inched in bit by bit, before the tip finally rested against the back of her tongue. She gagged, eyes clenching shut as her stomach flipped end over end. Her tongue went back to work, licking along the limb as she tried to get a grip on it and force it out; biting it off would just get her killed sooner, after all. This only made the tendril twitch a bit, and before she could register the twitch against her tongue, she felt something splatter against the back of her throat.

Her eyes snapped wide as the liquid seeped down into her throat, two more surges pulsing into her mouth. Horrified, she threw her head back, thankfully getting the tendril out, and finally letting her stomach take over, let loose her sick. The vile fluid spilled out of her mouth and hit the ground under her, the vomit turned green-blue by the liquid. Clearly, the beast didn't take too kindly to the gesture, the limb forcing itself back into her mouth. Not really able to do much else, her stomach going crazy, Tempest grunted as three more pulses of liquid raced into her throat, all of it spilling down into her stomach.

As the tendril unravelled itself and panic set in, Tempest's breathing sped up as the horror of what just happened hit her. Oh good Luna... d-did it just poison me? It poisoned me, didn't it?! "Y-You sick son of a..." She coughed before she could get any kind of insult out, but as soon as the sweet-tasting liquid hit her stomach, her limbs ignited. "Woah!" She tugged hard against the tendrils, and despite their resistance, her renewed strength made them bend easily. A powerful flap of her wings threw her out of the beast's grip, and she came down towards the ground, periodic flaps to slow her descent so she, hopefully, didn't break something else.

As soon as she hit the ground though, the burning came right back, time ticking until her strength surrendered to pain and exhaustion again. Not wasting any time, she roared at the beast, receiving the same bellow from the monster's steamy breath, and the battle started anew. She ran along the ground, letting her wings slowly fold up. Wind ripped past her as her legs slammed against the floor, carrying her easily. Sh-Shoot, this is fast! Tendrils came down to impede her path, but she easily dodged around them with incredible dodges and jumps. Her leg movements were gentle and powerful, careful not to throw her at the monster or at the wall. Skidding to a halt in front of the door, she leapt into the air as three more heavy limbs slammed into the metal, but still, the doors remained resolute.

"Just how much of a beating can this damn door take!?" Tempest ducked another tendril, wing blades screaming through the air and slicing off a bit of her mane, before dropping to the floor and starting up her sprint again. Tendril after tendril rained down from around her, crashing into the ground or shredding the air next to her, every powerful step throwing her just out of reach of her enemy. Leaping up in front of the door, Tempest ducked into a summersault as two more heavy tendrils raced in, missing her head and crashing into the door. Still no budge.

The burning in her legs got worse as she ran and ran, jumped and dodges, every tendril getting a little bit closer to her. Another race by the door, more heavy tendrils crashing into the metal and leaving their mark. Tempest looked behind her, eyes scanning for any incoming whips.

She tripped.

Her face hit the ground as she flew into the wall, bouncing off and crashing onto her stomach. The burning returned full force, and her strength spilled out of her, something warm creeping down her leg in a rush. The pain of the impact seized her breathing, short, ragged breaths just barely keeping her lungs from crying out in their own need for air. Her eyes turned to see three heavy tendrils raising up and coiling together into a hammer of an arm, and as it raced down, she closed her eyes and curled up, and she screamed.

"Stop!"

A wind blew down over Tempest as the tendrils stopped short of flattening her, the mare too frightened to open her eyes. Her ears did take in the voice, though. Th-There's no way... I'm g-going crazy. Hallucinating. Th-There's no way I heard her...!

The spotlights lowered and basked the tower in light as a new wind, calming and cool, flew around the tower to lower the temperature. The beast groaned in discomfort, a thinner stream of steam coming out of its great maw as it kept itself warm.

"Don't worry, you'll be back to your regular temperature in no time."

Tempest slowly opened an eye, still shaking as she saw the huge limb move away and coil around the great monster. She felt her heart racing for the first time then, as she let out a small sigh, and her eyes began their hunt. They didn't search for long before perceiving something many ponies prayed to see.

"P-... Princess...?"

The alicorn smiled down at her lightly, looking rather embarrassed and sheepish. She rubbed the back of her neck, perched on one of the heavier tendrils as the other received a gentle petting. "The one and only... heh..."

Tempest just stared on at the alicorn, completely dumbstruck by the sight. "P-Princess Twilight... wh-what're you doing in here?" She fought to get onto her hooves, but her body just wouldn't move anymore.

Twilight Sparkle raised her eyebrow, looking down on the naked soldier. "I could ask you the same thing," She said incredulously, tilting her head a bit. "What're you doing in this room?"

"I, I-I uh... w-well, um... l-let's just say I got curious. Can we not talk about this?" Tempest coughed, curling up a bit more as her leg splashed through a puddle behind her, setting a sickened grimace on her face. "I-I need a doctor..."

"W-Wait, you're hurt?!" A blinding flash appeared in front of Tempest, and she came face to face with the lavender princess as her horn lit up. "Hang on, I can help!" Her eyes closed as Tempest was wrapped in a purple aura, and she felt an energy move through her being, every part of her body graced with the penetrating mana. Eventually, she felt something move back into place in her chest, a rib being reset, and her wing popped back into place with a quick crack and snap. The aura condensed to her wing joint, helping it mend the broken bone. "There we go. You'll have to see a proper doctor after this."

"Th-Thank you, Your Highness... d-did you just s-scan me, though?"

"Yeah. Looked through your body for anything that was wrong."

"Did... d-did you find a-anything like... poison?"

"Poison? Oh no! D-Do you know when you were poisoned!?" Twilight could barely register how bad a question that was through her panic, starting up the scan spell again.

"J-Just... th-that monster... thing, f-forced some liquid into my stomach. I think it's toxic."

With the words, the scan spell stopped as Twilight went back to healing Tempest's wing. All the princess did was raise an eyebrow and let out a confused "Huh?"

"Th-That thing forced me to drink something..."

"It did?" Twilight narrowed her eyes slightly before quickly nodding. "Ohhh! You mean that liquid from the green tendrils, right?"

"Y-Yeah. It t-tried to kill me, Princess..." The soldier whimpered a bit, scooting closer to her princess' forelegs. One reached out and rubbed her shoulder, Twilight smiling down on her.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt you now." She leaned in and nuzzled Tempest's cheek. "Just stay calm and I'll get you out of here, alright?"

"O-Okay." Tempest whispered, panting as she felt the pain slowly leak out of her body. Her limbs could barely work, and they burned something fierce, but it wasn't the infernal pain she felt before. Just feels like I ran a hundred miles at full tilt. She let out a sigh of relief as her eyes wandered, seeing a tendril rising up behind Twilight. "Oh no... P-Princess, behind you!"

Before Twilight could react, the tendril had already coiled around her chest. As Tempest reached out to grab the limb and rip it from Twilight's body, however, her hoof was stopped.

By Twilight's. The princess giggled a bit as the tendril squeezed her gently, getting a caring petting in return. "Don't worry, Tempest, he just wanted to give me a hug."

"A... a-a what? Hug? F-From that thing?" Tempest's eyes went from Twilight's cheery smile to the beast, then back to Twilight. It was her turn to tilt her head, raise an eyebrow and let a "Huh?" fall out of her mouth.

Twilight smiled a little and looked away, blushing. "Yeah... sorry. This room is kind of off-limits for a few reasons..."

"Off-limits...?"

"Yeah. You see, um. This is actually where... I train."

"Train?"

"Yeah. Train, to practice an art and learn about it, reaching towards mastering said art. It's also a locomotive driven by a combination of steam and momentum spells - or pulled by stallions -, a toy of said locomotive, part of something they call the 'Fillydelphian Train Ride', and a certain punch used in martial arts."

Sturm just slowly blinked at Twilight. "What's the 'Fillydelphian Train Ride'?"

Twilight shrugged, looking just as confused as Sturm. "I really have no idea."

"A-And wait, you come here to train? Train what?"

"Combat, obviously." Two tendrils moved up beside Twilight, making little punching motions in the air before taking a number of different martial arts stances, all horribly exaggerated with three more tendrils coming into act as the other two legs and head.

"Fighting?"

"Against the same monster you were fighting, actually. Though he doesn't really like to be called that. His name is Sendus." A tendril from the prior martial arts exhibition came up and gave Twilight a gentle nuzzle. "He's really quite affectionate, and a very good partner to train against."

"Um... y-Your Highness... permission to speak freely?"

"Go ahead."

"This makes no bloody sense."

"I can tell why it wouldn't, yeah. Though I also see why things would make sense." Twilight looked back at Sendus' main body, the beast using two heavy tendrils to mimic a shrug. Its spare limbs lay coiled around its blazing hot flesh, sometimes coming off the body and rising into the air to cool off. A thin jet of steam sprayed out of its maw as the room cooled further thanks to that wind from before.

Tempest sighed a bit as the last of the pain left her, though she still couldn't really feel her legs. Another racking cough shook her form, and one thing of dire need came to mind. "Um, P-Princess Twilight Sparkle, c-could I possible request something...?"

"Go right ahead, and you can call me Twilight."

"T-Twilight... c-could you get me a drink of water, please?"

"Dehydrated, huh?"

"Kind of hard not to be... two barrels s-should do, if you'd be so kind."

Another flash of light, and the clunk of two loaded barrels of water filled the room. "Sendus, mind giving me a hoof?"

The beast grunted a little, and the rest of the tendrils from the exhibition curled around the barrels, lifting them up off the ground slightly.

"Are you able to make a f-funnel, Pri—, er, Twilight?" Tempest looked over at the life-saving barrels of water, smiling thinly. Her smile was interrupted by a burning somewhere near her hindlegs, distracting her for a moment. Sheesh... must r-really be dehydrated, everything's on fire.

"Of course!" Twilight grinned proudly as a second aura appeared over Tempest and curled into a funnel, a clear hole in the bottom showing blue-black stone through the distorted purple. After a moment, she looked down at Tempest, furrowing her brow a little. "Uh... if you don't mind me asking, why do you need a funnel?"

"Water... c-can you roll me onto my back, too?"

Twilight nodded and moved around behind Tempest, gently placing her hooves on the soldier's shoulders and rolling her onto her back. "Thanks. F-Funnel in my mouth, please." The princess nodded and obliged, placing the thin end of the funnel in Tempest's mouth. She waited for a new request, but the most she got was a few mumbles through the funnel. Oh, right. Can't talk through a funnel. Thought I made it non-corporeal? Twilight rolled her eyes and pulled the funnel back out of Tempest's mouth. The mare smiled up at Twilight in thanks, clearing her throat.

"Ok. Once the funnel's in, just start pouring water in. When I w-want you to stop, I'll blink twice. Ok?"

"Right. Blink twice means stop the water." Twilight nodded her understanding, and with a half-nod from Tempest, the funnel was put back into place.

Holy cow, how much water can one mare drink!? Twilight checked her wrist for the time, though sadly, she found no watch. Ugh... She looked back down as Tempest blinked twice for the fifth time, and the water stopped flowing. The soldier, finally feeling her limbs going back to normal, stretched out and moved the funnel out of her mouth herself, before sitting up.

"Ohhh, that's good." The mare sighed with glee, stacked on top of the fact that she wasn't sitting in a yellow puddle. Somepony must've cleaned that up while I was drinking. A slight blush appeared on her cheeks as she wondered who could've cleaned up the stain, but thought it better to just forget it ever happened. At least I don't have to go to the bathroom anymore.

"Feeling better?" Twilight moved up beside Sturm and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

"So much better. Thank you, Twilight." Tempest smiled at her savior, getting a gentle grin in return. "So, um... why exactly is all this here? If you wanted to train, why didn't you just work with the other recruits with Captain Iron Bastion?" Tempest felt a heat building inside her, but quickly shook her head to focus on the Princess.

"Couple reasons, actually. One, the only ones I could really train against were high-ranking Magic Corps soldiers, and they're always busy with research. Two, Captain Bastion actually banned me from training with the recruits. And three, I needed something I could train both my magic and my body against." She looked back to Sendus, the beast gently exhaling in its supposed slumber. "I had to come up with a way to train against any conditions I could think of. I do a lot of reading into military tactics now, but you can't always learn the most you possibly can from just reading." She smirked at the quip against her prior beliefs. That much, I learned from pretty much every crazy pony in Ponyville. Good times.

"Banned? Why were you banned?" Tempest raised her eyebrow as Twilight quickly averted her eyes, blushing slightly.

"Umm... l-let's just say things got rather... awkward between me and a recruit after training." She coughed into a lavender hoof, clearing her throat. "Bastion banned me from ever training with them again." Hope he's recovered... don't really know my own strength sometimes.

"...I'm getting the message I shouldn't ask." With a nod from the princess, Tempest dropped the subject, not really wanting to end up like whatever poor recruit was stuck under Twilight's wrath. "Alright. Anyway, um..." Her mind stalled with another pulse of heat, eye twitching a little before she shook her head. "D-Did you make this tower yourself?"

"Yep! Dug it out, put up all the brick, and did the nice finish myself. Something of a problem came up during it, but I fixed that." Twilight looked over at Sendus and smiled. "Turned it into something of a really good thing, actually."

"Huh... what was the problem?"

"No need to worry about that, I really don't wanna cause trouble for my brother. Anyway, suppose I should help you get out of here, shouldn't I?" Twilight turned back and smiled at the soldier, getting a very quick nod in return. Her expression turned serious after a moment, brow furrowing as her smile fell to a frown. "But you've gotta promise me something."

"A-Anything, Princess."

"You can't speak to anypony about the existence of this tower. This is my private area. I don't want anypony else knowing about it." Her brow fell further, narrowing her eyes at Tempest as she leaned in. The soldier kept the distance gap between their muzzles as even as possible, though the nice fuzz of her Princess' face and those shining eyes were so inviting... "Is that clear?"

"V-Very. Crystal. C-Clear as day, Your Highness." Tempest saluted and nodded, but the fallen brow remained where it was on Twilight's face. Her eyes scanned the soldier's expression, seeking out any kind of dissent that could be laced into her voice. "Um..."

"Alright." Twilight's expression softened as she leaned back, and opened her mouth to speak again. A quick sniff of the air stopped her mid-breath, looking around. Her mouth tilted up at the side in thought, rubbing her chin. That's funny. Thought I took care of that this morning... Shrugging it off, she turned back to Tempest and looked her over. ...Wait. Flicking tail? Foggy look in the eye? Uh oh.

"Um... i-is something wrong, Your Highness?" Tempest looked up at Twilight's concerned stare, starting to feel the churns of worry start up in her own stomach. It didn't do much beyond make her more nauseous, and that pulsing heat wasn't going down either.

"You mentioned that, um..." Twilight rubbed the back of her neck, blushing a bit. "Sendus made you drink something... green liquid, right?"

"Y-Yeah, and you told me that it wasn't poisonous..." Her eyes lit up in fear, wincing. "It's not, right?"

The voice crack went unheard in her panic.

"Oh no! No no no!" Twilight quickly shook her head. "I-It's very safe, trust me."

"B-But, it, S-Sendus made it... and it's used in combat, right? Is it some kind of... drug?"

"No, well, um... it's not a harmful drug, just... a, uh, chemical compound that... I put... together..." She cleared her throat with a cough, looking away. Tempest merely stared at her, confused, though slowly falling into a more questioning stare. Her eyes narrowed into a glare that bore into Twilight's head, the princess leaning back from it. Oh, that glare could break the most hardened of criminals, but it couldn't possibly break a Princess! Impossible!

"I swear! I didn't do nothing wrong, ma'am!"

Granted, said Princess was Twilight Sparkle.

"What w-was the compound, Twilight?" Tempest winced and took a sharp breath as another pulse of heat raced through her, slowly becoming aware of the source. It was definitely between her hind legs. Twilight's ears drooped as she tried to look away from the soldier, shivering juuust a little. "Twilight?"

"It was a chemical compound I put together to help with my training! I swear, it's not poisonous!" Twilight shook her head quickly, taking a deep breath as she went to the one source of comfort she could.

A massive spiel of technical information.

"The compound is a mixture of raw mana produced naturally from the environment around Sendus, several adrenaline triggers attached to protein chains that are quickly absorbed and processed by the digestive tract of anypony, especially those with large mana pools as the mana likes to travel where there's the least resistance like a gigantic vaccuum so if you've been using a lot of magic the mana'll go through your blood stream and into the magus coti in your head—" Twilight took a deep, squeaky breath just before she turned completely blue. "Anyway the compound basically restores your energy and causes a mass release of adrenaline and entrophin to help you ignore pain and soreness in the limbs also there might be a little bit of an extremely powerful aphrodesiac in there but that's of no consequence I swear please stop digging holes into my head with your eyes!" Twilight covered her face with her forehooves, just wanting to escape the glare of her would-be interrogator.

"...Wait, what was that last one?" Tempest tilted her head a bit, confused.

"Um... adrenaline trigger?"

"No, after that."

"Digging holes into my head?"

"Before that."

"Magus coti?"

"After."

"Um... entrophin...?" Twilight grinned sheepishly, squeeing a bit.

"It started with an A."

"Oh..." Twilight lowered her forehooves and rubbed a foreleg, looking down at the ground. "Um... aphrodesiac...?"

Tempest needed to only blink once before the cogs in her head suddenly revved up like an engine, and the realization hit her like a speeding train. "You mean Sendus fed me an aphrodesiac!?"

"That d-does seem to be the case if you ingested it..." Twilight gulped, fully aware of what was coming.

"Oh holy Celestia, then..." Tempest didn't dare look under her, but her wagging tail and rolling hips, her antsyness to get up and get something to answer for her heat finally had a root reason. She was horny, and it was getting worse. She groaned a bit as another churn came from her gut, forehoof rubbing her belly to try and quell the queasy gurgling.

Then it started questing lower, but a quick swat from her other hoof killed that approach. The pained twitch in her eye probably marked the near-killing of something else, waving her hoof in the air a bit. Ow.

"Anyway you should probably go shouldn't you?" Twilight's horn powered up, and before Tempest could get a word in, the two vanished in a blast of light. The last thing she thought before vanishing to wherever Twilight had planned was something very simple, but seemed to describe her situation pretty well.

Oh, rut me up a tree...