The Dangers of Stupidity

Chapter XXIV: Twilight's Hall

"Comin' in hot!" I yelled, flying through the open door and back into the central room, where the Elements, the Princesses, and Benson waited for me. I nearly ended up knocking Benson into a wall, but he slid out of the way just in time.

"Arrick," Twilight said, "what exactly happened in there?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Well, your clothes are burnt, you smell like a pile of manure mixed with death, and about half an hour ago, we saw a giant thunderstorm over top of the temple. Then the roof exploded and the storm disappeared. Plus, it was snowing."

"And?"

"It's April, and we heard about five giant explosions alongside you cursing and yelling at something."

"Oh yeah, that. I can explain. We got attacked by a metric crapton of monsters while we were in there, and I had to use some... intense tactics to get rid of them. As for the smell, I got eaten by a giant worm, so I blew it apart from the inside. As for the storm, I just had this random surge of unbelievable power and unleashed every last bit of it on a super-dangerous alien. That hall was insane. Either way, let's get to work on the next one. C'mon, Twi."

"Wait." I turned around to see what Celestia had to say.

"Yeah?"

Instead of saying anything, Celestia fired a beam of magical energy at me, giving my body a dark purple glow for a few seconds.

Dafuq?

"I'm not sure what that was, but thank you."

"You'll know what it's for when the time comes."

"Okay. Let's go, Twilight." The two of us walked slowly towards the door. I pushed it open, sending us into a far from modestly sized area that looked almost like a large library. Twilight looked around her at the shelves of books, her eyes gleaming in elation.

"Really? Books?"

"I came..." I could hear Twilight whispering to herself, but I didn't think she noticed.

"What?"

"I-I said... I came to a place like this one time!" She was a horrible liar.

"Yeah, right." We strolled around the room for a minute, looking at the multitude of books. I found one titled The Kamidogu: A Beginner's Guide, another called Sin, The Scourge of Spira, and even The History of The Chosen Undead. It seemed like Sephiroth was collecting books from different worlds.

Mortal Kombat, Final Fantasy, Dark Souls... damn. Sephiroth's got something from everywhere.

I slipped a few of the books into my backpack and acted like nothing happened.

"Look!" Twilight said, pointing at a small purple light near the ceiling. I wondered if it was our destination.

"Twilight, can you teleport yourself up there? I'd fly us both up, but I need both hands to control myself."

"I don't know, but I'll definitely try." A miniature sun came to life in her horn for a moment before she disappeared in a flash and looked over the railing at me.

"I made it!"

Good.

I launched myself into the air, nearly a bit too high, before I grabbed onto a chandelier to keep my head away from the roof.

"What was that for?" Twilight asked me curiously.

"I... have no idea. It's like this room is messing around with my powers. I was moving normally, then I just lost control and almost flew through the ceiling!" I swung down beside her from the chandelier. Out of nowhere, my arms began surging with electricity. I tried to stop it, but the closer we got to the light's source, the less control I had over my powers.

"Look out!" My Blades of Exile flew from my back, whirling around me like a tornado. I grabbed the chains and pulled on them with all my strength, keeping the weapons from harming either one of us. Finally, they broke free of my hands, this time spinning in a perfect circle. Twilight dove out of their way, right around the corner and into the light.

"Help!" I heard her screaming and sprung into action, gaining control over my blades as the light dissipated. Around the corner, a black, shadowy figure stood behind Twilight, while a dark purple, ghostly-looking version of him held onto her legs through a portal in the floor.

Really? I have to fight Noob Saibot? Damn it all!

The worst part of this was that they both had a separate mind. Saibot pulled her all the way into the portal, while Noob stood to face me.

"Defeat me in kombat, and I will free her!" Noob sounded a lot like I did in the last hall, with a deep and distorted voice.

"Let me tell you something, Noob. You want her, you gotta beat me.

But nobody. Ever. Beats me." I moved into a familiar stance, with my left leg extended and resting on its heel, while I held my hands perpendicular to my wrists.

"Fight!"

Noob rushed towards me, trying to start off with a strong kick. I caught his leg mid-swing, dropped my elbow on his knee, and threw him into the rail, nearly shattering it. He teleported behind me and nearly choked me into unconsciousness, but I broke the hold with a swift heel to the groin. I picked him up by the waist and lifted him onto my shoulder. Noob reversed my attack by wrapping his legs around my neck and slamming me down headfirst, sending me through the next floor. The moment that Noob landed in front of me, I placed my hand on his face, sent an immense shock through his body, and flung him onto the ground floor. The dark ninja's blood formed a large black puddle on the stone below.

"You better stop actin' like a little bitch, dawg!"

I see what you did there, DMX.

A necklace around Noob's neck let off a lavender glow. I vaulted over the rail and smashed it, causing his dead body to cough up a bit of blood. An identically colored unicorn burst forth from the broken gem, her mane ruffled and her eyes holding a look of pure fear.

"Twilight, are you okay?"

"I know what Hell looks like now. And it is more horrible than anypony could possibly fathom.

The things I have seen would kill lesser men."

"Whoa. What happened to you?"

"I... I...

Pranked you!"

"Oh, man! That was awesome! I thought you were serious."

"Let me guess. That was your first taste of my revenge?"

"Apparently so."

"Well, that's how we do it in the Sparkle family."

"You would be the greatest sister ever."

The entire room went pitch black. I held out my arm, illuminating the area around us with a strangely eerie blue light.

"What the hell just happened?" I lit up my other arm to give us a bit more visibility. Near the wall, I could've sworn that I saw the shadow of a pegasus flying by.

"We happened." I heard a low-pitched, but still feminine voice echoing in the darkness. It sounded familiar for some reason.

"Where are you!? Show yourself!"

The strange creature from before zoomed past me, causing me to lose my focus and our light. A multitude of torches burst into flames, revealing seven images that looked very familiar.

"Damn you, Sephiroth!" I shouted, stomping my foot in anger. Twilight looked at the six "Dark Elements", and was clearly confused. They didn't look like they did in the hall. Now, they were just black silhouettes like the one that tried to attack me. It was probably for the better.

"What are those things?"

"Back in Rarity's hall, I was attacked by a ghost of Sephiroth. He brought me into some kind of weird alternate dimension, where he showed me these... things, but they didn't look like that. And I guess now we have to fight them." I cracked my knuckles and charged my body with electricity. It didn't do much for my fighting, but it gave me a much more intimidating appearance, with my crackling blue eyes and bright yellow spiked hair. My lips curved into a wicked smile before I wrapped one of my blades around the other Rarity's throat. She struggled against the chain and tried to break through it with her magic, but the godly steel was far too strong.

Thanks, Athena.

I pulled myself forward, just a few inches away from her. I yanked back on the chain, knocking "Rarity" to the ground, and stomped on her head with a disturbing amount of force, crushing it like an eggshell.

"Get away from me!" Twilight yelled, firing a beam of magic at the dark Rainbow Dash. I finished the job she had started by  performing a quick frontflip with my blades outstretched, slicing the pegasus in two. "Applejack" tried to slide forward and buck me in the stomach, but I blocked her attack and returned it with a swift right hook, shattering her neck.

"Yay!" The dark Pinkie Pie cheered, lunging towards me and clamping down on my arm with her razor-sharp teeth. I screamed in pain as her fangs tore away at my skin.

"Get off me!" I jammed a blade into her ear, practically pulling out a chunk of her brain with it. The corpse let go of me, falling to the floor with a loud thump.

"My animals are just adorable, aren't they?" "Fluttershy" snarled, petting a dead rabbit. "They're also quite useful. Watch. Angel, KILL HIM!"

I was expecting a normal zombie bunny or something along those lines, but instead, a massive blast of yellow energy flew from the rabbit in her hoof, transforming into a mass of blood-spattered flesh with the most hauntingly blank eyes I had ever seen.

Is that a Dead Hand?

"Oh yeah? Well, suck on this!" I put a disturbingly large amount of power into a combination of my electrokinesis and Zeus' Thunder. A gigantic lightning bolt flew from my hand, blowing the zombie and "Fluttershy" to bits. The dark Twilight teleported behind me, but I jumped over the unicorn and held my arms around her throat for quite a while, until she finally stopped struggling and breathing.

"It's done." I said in exhaustion, falling onto my knees. I felt something strike the back of my head.

"Ouch! What the..." I realized that the orb and gems had fallen on me.

"Thank God, this is finally-oh, shove the sun and moon up my ass and call me a princess!"

The last of our enemies was standing across the hall from us, blocking the exit.

The other Vinyl Scratch.

"I'm sorry, but I'm just doing what I have to." I spun in a circle, slicing the apparition in half horizontally.

"Why? Why did you do this to me?" Her voice held a twinge of sadness that pulled at my heartstrings like a bow sliding over a violin. It was a subtle feeling, but a profound one. I stood completely still, her remark washing over me.

"W-We need to get out of here." I ran towards the door, shoving it open as I moved.

"You okay?" Benson asked as I trudged into the room.

"Yeah." I replied through my labored breathing. I placed the last gem in its divot, and a lavender flame burst forth from the bronze colored metal. The six of them spun in a circle around the black central brazier. It sunk into the floor, revealing another door. Its marking was the Blades of Exile, crossed over a pair of eighth notes. I stared at it intently for a moment before speaking.

"... Well, fuck."