From Beyond

Twilight tread carefully, not knowing where she was now.

“Tick tock. I was hoping to have some fun, but you went to sleep. So now, we’ll have fun here.” Seed spoke out.

“How are you in my dreams? Only Luna has the power to affect dreams.” Twilight said, turning around and seeing nothing. A light spread out from her feet, revealing part of where she was. She was apparently standing on stone, but it looked carved rather than natural.

“I can talk to you in your head from beneath a mountain, and you’re questioning the fact I can affect your dreams? Your priorities are pretty messed up.” Seed replied, his voice echoing out from everywhere.

“Admittedly. Will you tell me where I am?” Twilight asked, as the light was slowly creeping out from where she stood. As the seconds passed, it revealed more and more of the area.

“No. What I will tell you is that you need to run.” Seed replied, tittering again.

The sound made Twilight squirm where she stood. “What do you mean run? What am I running from?” She asked.

A massive burst of light appeared above her head, blinding her slightly. As her vision returned, she noticed a few things.

First was that she was standing in front of a labyrinth.

The second was that she was looking at a minotaur. A very angry minotaur.

Finally, she realized it was angry at her.

She spun around and took off into the labyrinth, hoping to avoid the wrath of the minotaur chasing her.

“If you can find your way to the exit, before the minotaur catches you, I’ll answer any one question you have. However, there is a catch.” Seed’s voice echoed around Twilight, reverberating with her hooffalls.

A wall slid up in front of Twilight, forcing her to skid to a halt before she hit it. A wall to the side opened, providing the only way forward. She took off at a sprint.

“The maze is ever changing. You cannot simply follow the left hand rule. However, I will leave you with a clue on how to get out.” Seeds voice sounded out, as the minotaur ran through a wall that had slid up right behind Twilight.

“Let the flame light your way. It will open the path you could not see before.”

“What does that even mean?” Twilight screamed out, sliding around corner after corner. She could hear the minotaur right on her heels, slamming into the walls as she sprinted off.

“Exactly what it sounds like. I said you have a flame within you, so let it shine. That light will show you the way out.” Seed said, sighing. “Sheesh, for being so smart you sure are dense.”

“Hey, you try figuring out what someone means when you have a MINOTAUR TRYING TO EAT YOU!” Twilight screamed, ducking under the grasping hand of the minotaur right behind her.

“Whine, whine, whine. I already told you how to get out, and you get quite the prize for doing so. Any one question you can ask me. Will you spend it on figuring out what I’m made of, or will you ask about my creation. Even better, will you ask what I meant when I spoke of your flame. So many choices, and no time to choose. If you lose focus for even a moment, the minotaur will catch you and tear you apart.” Seed said, tittering as he spoke.

Twilight jumped over the lunging hand, before sliding off into another hallway. As soon as she got through, a wall slid up to cover her. She kept running for awhile, before she realized that the minotaur wasn’t right behind her anymore. Once she realized she was alone, she stopped.

“If this is my dream, why can’t I just will him away? In fact, I should be able to make this entire labyrinth disappear.” She said, closing her eyes to concentrate. After a few moments, she opened her eyes.

Her shoulders drooped as she realized that the labyrinth was still here.

“The only way you’re getting out is by following your flame. You might want to hurry up, he’s getting closer.” Seed said, his words punctuated by the sounds of breaking walls.

Twilight decided that she had to trust what he said, so she closed her eyes again and searched within herself. She tuned out the sounds of breaking stone, even as it got closer and closer. She had done this before, meditating to feel out her magic. This time though, there was something different about it.

Rather than a serene lake, it was a blazing inferno.

And it wanted out.

Her eyes shot open, as purple flames made their way down her arms. They flowed outward from her palms, combining in the air in front of her.

Before she could even react, there was a small flame floating in front of her. It danced back and forth, like a small bug. She reached her hand out to touch it, but as her finger would have touched it, it took off down the open hall. Realizing it was going to leave her there, she followed after it. Every time it turned, a wall would pop up in the direction it was heading just a few seconds earlier.

As she followed the little flame, she realized that the sounds of the minotaur were getting farther and farther away.

“What is this thing?” Twilight asked, following the flame through twist after turn.

“Nuh uh. That would be another spoiler. If you get out in time, and you want to ask again, I’ll actually answer.” Seed replied, laughing.

Twilight just groaned as she kept following after the floating torch. She had entirely left behind the crashing and roars of the minotaur.

A few minutes later, the torch turned another corner and stopped. Following after it, Twilight’s eyes widened. Ahead of her was the end of the maze.

And just beyond it was a golden field.

As she stepped forward, there was a resounding crack. She turned around, noticing that there was a horizontal crack along all of the walls. A louder crack echoed out from behind her. She spun around to see that the field had started floating off. There was a silver pony-like creature standing on the edge of the field.

“Ooh, so close. You almost had your one answer. Too bad that someone saw fit to step in. I guess we’ll continue this another day. Tata.” Seed said, raising a hand to wave at her. “Maybe tomorrow you’ll find the way out before something like this happens.” He said, as the entire field started wavering. The field started fading, and the labyrinth crumbled around her.

Twilight was furious, so close to getting her answer.

A few seconds later Luna landed next to her.

“Art thou ok young Sparkle? We felt an odd disturbance in the dreamscape, and just now were able to trace it here. Did you notice something, off about your dreams tonight?” Luna asked, looking around at the empty dream.

Would she really believe you if you told her the truth? A voice in your head, and someone who is just as capable of manipulating your dreams as she is. Sounds like someone is losing touch with reality.

“Uh, no Princess Luna. I haven’t noticed anything. Although I was having a weird dream before you came in.” Twilight said, a sick feeling settling in her gut for lying.

“What dost thou mean by weird?” Luna asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

“I was lost in a maze. Similar to the one that we went through the first time Discord got loose.” Twilight said, while averting her eyes. She didn’t know why, but she was covering for Seed.

“I see. Is that everything thou wishes to report?” Luna asked, spreading her wings to take off.

Should she tell Luna about Seed?

“Yeah, that’s everything. I hope you find whatever was messing with your domain.”

“Very well. I hope the rest of your sleep is uneventful.” Luna said, as she took off. She faded into the background, off to visit more sleeping ponies.

“Ugh. Why did I protect him?” Twilight asked herself, looking around. There was a single stalk from the golden field at her feet. She knelt down to pick it up.

“Huh. He left behind something.” She said, twirling it in her fingers.

“Do you even know what direction we’re walking?” Ares asked, his blade biting into another tree and felling it.

“Nope.” Aphrodite replied, walking between the trees.

“So why are we walking this way?” Hades asked, following her through. It was nice to be small sometimes.

“Because we needed to pick a direction to go, and this was just as good as any of the others.” Aphrodite replied.

“You’re going to get us killed.” Ares said, cleaving through more trees.

“Nothing here can do us much harm.” Aphrodite said calmly. “They’re a tier one planet, and a minimum of tier three technology is required in order to even hurt us.”

“I meant by Prophet coming down and ending us himself.” Ares said, wiping the sap off his blade on the grass.

“We both know Prophet doesn’t leave the ship. Or at least he hasn’t in the time we’ve been with him.” Hades added.

“He sent us after a tier five asset. I think he would come down and end us if we fail him.” Ares said.

“This seed is a tier five? I thought only the Progenitor weapons were classified as tier five.” Aphrodite said, as she stumbled onto a path. “Ooh, found a path. That means there’s something that travels here often.”

“The seed we were sent after is a Progenitor artifact. Did you not read your mission briefing?” Ares asked, stepping out onto the path behind her.

“You expect Aphrodite, Lieutenant Airhead herself to actually read a mission brief?” Hades asked, following after them.

“Bite me Hades.”

“Maybe when we get back. Right now its a conflict of duty.” He said, smiling at her.

“Oh, you’re sick. Just figure out which way is civilization. This forest is already getting on my nerves.” Aphrodite said, walking over to one of the felled trees and using it for a chair.

“Gimme a few minutes then, captain prissy pants. The brief didn’t mention what the intelligent life is like here, so I can’t tell the difference between another animal that would walk along the path and something that uses this for a reason.” Hades said, kneeling down and running his hands across the worn dirt. There were several traces of life, mostly small animals.

However, there were a few repeated tracks.

“Apparently the ruling life here has hooves. Bipedal, but extremely light. I’d put the heaviest one at no more than a hundred kilograms, while a majority are between fifty and eighty.” Hades said, standing back up. He pointed northward. “The majority of traffic comes from that direction, so I’m guessing that civilization is that way.”

“How can you tell which direction the traffic comes from?” Aphrodite said, hopping up and walking in the direction he pointed.

“There is a consistent difference in the depth of their steps. They are only a half to one centimeter deep when they come from that direction, but are at least two to three centimeters when they head that direction. With how dangerous this forest seems to be, it is more likely they are unloaded when entering, and exit as quickly as possible with the materials they gather.” Hades explained, following after her.

“So there’s just as much a chance they come in heavily burdened and drop things off somewhere in the forest.” Ares asked, glad to not have to worry about any more trees.

“It is less likely, but just as much a possibility. I’m flipping a coin here.” Hades said, as he walked behind Aphrodite. “Regardless of whether or not civilization is in that direction, we are bound to come across some kind of intelligent life form traversing this path.”

“I got a maybe from that.” Ares said, sighing. “I don’t get why I’m always assigned with you.”

“Because we work well together. You beat their faces in, while I snipe the ones that try to sneak up on you.” Hades said, smiling back at him.

“Both of you shut up. There’s lights ahead.” Aphrodite said, as she walked into a clearing. They had come across a house, that was also a tree. Pungent smells leaked out through the windows and open doorway.

“Remind me to punch you later.” Ares said, as he drew his second blade.

“I said shut up.” Aphrodite said over her shoulder. She walked up to the house, expecting some kind of trap or guardian.

“What is this I see, visitors to my house in a set of three.” A voice spoke from the treeline.

Ares spun around, his blade stopping inches from the end of Zecora’s muzzle.