Truth or Forgiveness

As the mare in front of them began to prepare a dinner for them, Twilight and her friends were still trying to understand who she was. Naruko was certainly not any known Equestrian name and her demeanor was unlike anypony they ever met. She seemed like a nice pony at first glance, but how she acted outside in the chasm was similar to that of a trained soldier. So many questions were flying through Twilight’s mind and she desperately wanted answers. So she took the initiative,

“So, Naruko, would you mind answering a few questions I have?”

Naruko looked up from her cooking and nodded her head at Twilight. “Sure thing, Miss Sparkle. I have no problem filling in any blanks,” she said with a kind smile as well as returning to her task. Twilight beamed and clapped hooves together in excitement.

“Thank you, thank you! Oh, I have so many questions! For one, what are you doing here in the Grand Chasm of Equestria?” Twilight asked. Naruko stopped what she was doing, appearing to think upon that question. A moment later, she resumed her chore and replied,

“I live here. Have for some time now, I suppose. It’s hard to tell how much time passes here.”

The six mares looked at each other and then at Naruko. None of them were quite sure how to take that information.

“What about your parents? Or your family?” asked Applejack.

Naruko answered almost too quickly. “I haven’t spoken to my parents in a very long time and my brothers and sisters live all over. I rarely see them except on certain holidays. That was before I moved here, that is.”

“But why would you live out in this, ugh, filthy hovel?” asked Rarity. “This Chasm is supposed to be uninhabitable by ponies.”

Naruko chuckled a little. “This ‘hovel’ is only uninhabitable if you don’t know what you are doing. As to why I am here, well it’s because of the monsters. I am sure you noticed that this place is crawling with them.”

“Yeah we did!” said a cheerful Pinkie. “They’re everywhere!”

“Hey, you’re right!” realized Rainbow Dash. “I thought Twilight said that all the monsters in this place should have died off a long time ago! What the hay Twi?!”

Twilight was about to respond, but was interrupted by Naruko, who was chuckling. “Wow, everypony really doesn’t know much about this place, do they?” They all looked at her questioningly. “You see, there are many enchantments that have been placed upon this land. You may have noticed that when you ran through the caves. Normally, the caves would have no end, but an ancient spell connects all of them to one another. It took me a long time, but I was finally able to map them all, thankfully.”

Twilight’s eyes began to grow with curiosity upon the mention of these maps, but Naruko continued. “Another spell that I have noticed is that no monster here that lives in Chasm ever ages. Every monster that has ever been banished here still lives, untouched by time. From the Cyclopes to the Giant Spiders, every single one of them is alive and well. Which means that anypony brave enough to enter the Grand Chasm can be hunted down by them, as well. That’s why I am here, to make sure that others are not hurt by these creatures. I also make sure that none of the beasts ever escape. It’s a hard job, but somepony needs to do it, I suppose.”

All the other mares around the room were in shock. This lone mare was responsible for keeping Equestria safe from an invasion of deadly monsters! How strong was she? Then a thought came to Applejack,

“Hey, wait a minute. Did you say that other ponies have come here as well?”

Naruko nodded as she began to stir a broth in a pot. “Yes. It’s uncommon, but there are those daredevil ponies who come here seeking the thrill of vast Chasm. I have met climbers, scientists, adventurers, and etcetera. That does bring a question to my mind, though. What are all of you doing here anyway?”

“It’s classified!” shot Rainbow. She wasn’t so ready to trust this newcomer with information from the Princess. While her friends shot her disapproving looks, Naruko only nodded.

“Alrighty, then,” she replied.

“You’re not curious?” she asked, completely stunned by Naruko’s reaction.

“Of course I am, but if it’s classified, then that is fine. I know a thing or two about classification,” she replied cryptically. The others were a little surprised by this turn of events, but Twilight felt that this pony could be trusted. Despite how weird she seemed to be.

“We are here by order of Princess Celestia to dispose of a dangerous artifact that is a threat to the whole of Equestria,” she told Naruko. “We are to travel to the bottom of the Grand Chasm and leave it there before it can harm anypony.” Twilight felt proud of herself for telling Naruko the truth, but Naruko was staring at her in horror.

“Y-you’re going to the b-bottom of the Chasm?” she asked in fear. The six mares nodded their heads slowly, not exactly sure what was going on. “NO!! You can’t go down there!!” Naruko shouted, her voice filled with terror.

Rainbow was dumbstruck by Naruko’s sudden actions and voiced her own thoughts. “Why? What’s so dangerous about it?”

“Do you see that wall over there?” Naruko gestured to the wall at the far end of the cave. All over it were strange knickknacks and trinkets that seemed to all be unrelated to each other. There was mechanical equipment, a messenger bag, an adventurer’s hat, and many others. “I tried to stop them,” Naruko said as she approached the wall, her voice distant and mournful. “I tried to warn them, I told them not to go down there. None of them ever listened,” she hung her head as she spoke. “These are all that remains of those that were foolish enough to venture into the darkness of the bottom of the Grand Chasm.”

Now the mane six were scared. They figured that Naruko was just afraid of the dark or something, considering that you could not even see the bottom of the canyon. But it seemed that maybe something did live down there in the depths. They were brought out of their fear-filled thoughts as Naruko spoke again.

“Its name is…Igneel,” she said with fear. “He is the most dangerous creature to ever live in Equestria. Nothing is more powerful than him and he is the only one of his kind. Igneel is the only creature that lives at the bottom of the chasm and not even the other monsters are brave enough to venture past the bars. That is what is beyond the darkness: the entire bottom of the chasm is encased in steel bars, like a prison door, through the entire length of the canyon. They are there to make sure he never escapes. Very few ponies have ever escaped him when they ventured down there. There was only one in recent memory. She gave me this hat, my favorite hat by the way, as she came back through the chasm,” Naruko held up the hat in her right hoof as she spoke. “You kind of remind me of her, Ms. Dash. You both seem quite daring, she was even a pegasus, too.”

Naruko turned to face her guests. “I beg of you, please do not venture forth into the darkness. Find another location where you can get rid of this ‘artifact’ because if you go down there, it is more than likely that you will never return.” She stared at them with a hard, yet pleading look. A small ‘ding’ came from the kitchen and Naruko immediately changed her mood to happy. “Ooh! Soup’s done! Come on everypony, let’s eat!”

And now they were really confused. This new mare switched from foreboding and frightened to happy and cheerful in less than second! She was a strange one alright; not Pinkie Pie strange, but strange nonetheless. Still, they followed her and sat down around a marble tabletop as Naruko passed around several bowls of soup. Once they all had food, they ate together in relative peace. Pinkie was the first to praise Naruko’s food.

“Mmm, mm. This is yummy Naruko!”

“Thank you, Miss Pie. I’ll admit I am not the best cook, but when you are own your own like me, you have to be able to make your own meals,” Naruko replied with a smile and a shrug.

“Oh, yes darling it is quite good. You give yourself, too little credit. But, if I may ask, what is it that we are eating?” asked Rarity.

“Potato soup, Miss Rarity. I grow my own vegetables in that planter over there,” she said gesturing to the back corner of the cave. There indeed was a small planter with plants growing out of it with a small skylight directly above it. Twilight was the first to question the skylight.

“How is there a skylight in here?” she thought out loud.

“Simple, Ms. Sparkle. I made one.” They all looked at her like she had a grown a second head. “It’s true! I made everything in here. From the table we’re eating on, to the skylight in the roof, to the shelves on the walls. Everything was hoof-crafted by me! I am very good with the earth, I guess. I have always been good at digging and I can understand most things about rocks and gems just by looking at them.”

“Oh?” asked Rarity. She brought a small gem from her saddlebags and pushed it in front of Naruko. “Then, darling, think you can tell us about this little beauty?” she said with a tone of challenge.

Naruko narrowed her eyes and furrowed her brow at the gem. After a single moment, Naruko knew everything. “Diamond, circa 15,000 years ago. Cut, obviously by a professional. Carbon formation is highly dense, probably could make for a good cutting tool if necessary. Price… no idea.”

Rarity’s eyes bulged as Naruko continued to list of every single detail of the diamond she put on the table. “My, my, my. You truly are gifted Naruko. Is that what your cutie mark is about?” Rarity asked pointing at her flank where three yellow, multi-pointed stars overlapped each other.

“My what?” She looked where Rarity pointed and realization dawned on her. “Oh, is that what those are called? I thought they were just symbols of talent. Oh, well. And no, that is not my special talent, despite how good I am at it. No, what I am most skilled at is fighting to protect others. You could say that fighting in and of itself is my special talent, even if it is kind of violent.”

Fluttershy seemed a little more frightened of their hostess now, but a question rang in her mind. “H-how do you n-not know a-about cutie m-marks, N-naruko?” she asked.

“Probably because I don’t have an education,” she replied as she began to put away the dishes she used for cooking. Twilight looked aghast at Naruko’s revelation.

“What?! You can’t be serious!? How could you not have an education?!” she practically screamed at Naruko.

“Don’t get me wrong,” she replied, ignoring Twilight’s tone, “I did have plenty of home schooling, but I have never had an official education you could say. I left my home at a very young age and never looked back. Because of that, I really don’t know a whole lot about Equestria, other than what I have picked up from the other travelers.” Naruko then let out a sigh longing. “It gets pretty lonely out here, ya know? I don’t have anything to talk to, aside from the rocks.”

Suddenly, Naruko was rushed by a teary-eyed Pinkie who hugged her fiercely. “That’s so sad!!” she exclaimed as she pulled Naruko in tight. Naruko was too stunned to offer anything in return. “Don’t you have any friends who come and visit you?” Pinkie asked, letting up on Naruko just enough for her to respond.

“I’ve never had any friends, Miss Pie. Not a single one in my entire life. The closest that I had was kind dragon who kept me company for few years. She was kind and very intelligent, but one day she just disappeared without a trace and I haven’t seen her since.” As Naruko finished talking, Pinkie increased the output of her hug, lifting the unicorn mare of her hooves.

“You haven’t ever had any friends?” she asked Naruko. “Well, then!” Pinkie immediately let go of Naruko, who promptly fell the floor with a light thud, and she appeared right next to the others. “We’ll be your friends; right girls?” The rest of the mane six were surprised at first, but once they looked over at Naruko whose face was filled with confusion, and maybe a little hope, their expressions softened to ones of compassion.

“Of course we’ll be her friends, darling!” replied Rarity.

“Ah don’t see why not!” said Applejack.

“Sure, she’s pretty cool,” said Rainbow Dash. “Not as cool as me, but still.” The others rolled their eyes at her.

“Um, I-I’d like to be friends,” replied Fluttershy.

“I’m willing to be friends with her, especially if she is willing to share more about this cavern!” said Twilight with a look of wonder in her eyes.

Pinkie then turned back to Naruko. “Look at that Naruko! You have six brand new best friends! Ooh! You should come back with us to Ponyville and then I can throw you the bestest party you have ever been to!”

Naruko was looking at them with eyes wide and her mouth agape. This was completely unexpected for her. “W-we’re friends?” she asked still in shock. All six shook their heads with smiles on their faces. Tears began to form in the corners of Naruko’s eyes. Several of her former visitors had mentioned wanting to be friends with her before, but for some reason only the friendship of these six ponies seemed genuine. “Now, I really don’t want you to go,” she said hanging her head. “You’ll all be killed if you go down to Igneel’s domain.”

“Don’t worry, Naruko!” said Rainbow. “If things get bad, I can just fly us out of—“

“NOOO!!!” Naruko interrupted. Her sudden outburst frightening her new friends. “Whatever you do, do not fly in this chasm! That is a death sentence all on its own!” she said with a look of horror.

“What are you talking about?” asked the cyan pegasus. “I’ve been flying all day and there have been no problems.”

“Yes, but did you fly out past the canyon wall?” she asked.

“Well, no. But I don’t—“

“Exactly! Besides Igneel, the other greatest threat in this place are the piranha bats! They swarm anything that flies out over the walls and strip them to the bone! I have seen many pegasi fall to such a fate and I don’t want that to happen to either you or Miss Fluttershy.”

The group was revolted by Naruko’s tale and all agreed to keep near the walls. Another question popped into Twilight’s mind.

“Naruko? What is exactly is this Igneel creature? What makes him so dangerous?” the book mare asked.

“Igneel is the last of the most powerful race to ever exist. His scales repel any kind of magic, his claws tear through all forms of flesh. His breath alone can kill almost instantly! Just by staring into his eyes you will be paralyzed completely. He breathes fire and acid, too. The only thing that is good about this is that he can’t fly! Maybe he could have at one point, but I wasn’t going to take the time to study him when I first met him! Igneel is the most dangerous creature you will ever meet; he is… a drakon,” Naruko explained, her voice growing more and more ominous.

The girls gasped in shock, but eventually Fluttershy was able to speak. “What’s a drakon?” she asked.

Twilight explained. “A drakon is similar to a dragon, but is much larger and much fiercer in appearance, though their appearance varied highly, very few looked like each other. They supposedly went extinct over a thousand years ago. Their size coupled with their ferocity made them very, very dangerous. I can’t believe that one of them is here! It would be a great chance to study them, but we would not doubt be eaten before I got the chance.”

Now all of them fully understood why Naruko feared for their safety. The Grand Chasm seemed as if it was entirely made to kill anypony who ventured into it. There was nothing safe about this place at all! And Naruko dealt with this place every single day. She was much braver and stronger than any of them knew. While they were going through this thought process, Naruko was looking to her skylight.

“It’s pretty late,” she said pointing to Luna’s moon that was high in the sky. “You’re going to need your rest if you are going to continue your adventure. I have no right to stop you, but I still must advise you that if you go down to Igneel’s domain, you will die.”

“We understand the risks, Naruko,” said Twilight. “But Princess Celestia tasked us with keeping this artifact away from Equestria’s citizens and we will fulfill this mission.” Twilight then walked over to the tan mare and put her hoof on her shoulder. “We’ll be fine and we will be sure to stop by on our way out of the Chasm. Our friendship will prevail.”

Naruko sighed in defeat and pulled out seven cots from a small storage area. She set them out in a circle in the middle of the cave. Naruko climbed into one and gestured for the others to do the same. They eagerly complied and were soon sleeping soundly in their beds, none of them eager to what awaited them tomorrow.

***********

The morning came almost too soon and the others were ready to depart. Naruko was still trying to convince them otherwise all through a meager breakfast of dry oats. The others simply refused to listen, despite their massive fears. Once they were all packed and ready to move out, Naruko once again pushed away the massive boulder with little effort.

“Ah still don’t know how ya do that, Naruko,” remarked Applejack. “Unicorns aren’t known to be very physically strong.”

She simply shrugged in response and then motioned her hoof to a path off to the right of her home. “This path will take you where you need to go; just follow it and you will be in Igneel’s prison in an hour or so,” the mare explained. Her expression was very sad and the others picked up on it very easily. Twilight decided to reassure their new friend one last time.

“We’ll be just fine, Naruko. All we need to do is to hide the artifact down there and we are done and gone. In and out. And will be sure to stop by on our way back, that’s a promise.” Twilight smiled reassuringly to try and calm her fellow unicorn’s feelings. Naruko sniffled a little and wished them well as they trotted down the path she had indicated. Naruko retreated back into her home and resealed her door.

You shouldn’t have let them go, spoke a voice from within her home. Naruko sighed, as if expecting for ‘it’ to talk.

“What could I do?” she asked rhetorically. “I have no right to tell ponies that I just met what they can and cannot do. It’s not my place.”

And despite only just meeting you, offered you the one thing that you desperately need; friendship! it said undeterred. You shouldn’t let this opportunity slip by, Naruko. They will need you if they meet the drakon down there.

“I know that!” she snapped back. “Those ponies were the first who actually ever asked me to be their friend. They didn’t want anything in return; not help defending them or tricking me into digging precious gems for them. All they wanted was my friendship. You really think I wanted to give that all up?!”

No, I don’t, the voice responded back, its tone changing to one of discipline. But could you ever forgive yourself this time if any of them get hurt? The voice tone then changed back to one of calm reason. Don’t let this happen, Naruko. Now you can save them from their fate. Don’t let your first friends fall.

Naruko let the voice’s words replay in her mind for some time. She was mentally going through all of the possibilities that could happen if she intervened here. She knew that acting on this could have drastic consequences down the line, but her heart was crying out to her to go after her very first friends.

“Friends”

That word was constantly rolling through her thoughts. Friendship was one of few things that she had never had, but desperately wanted and needed. Like Pinkie Pie had said, everypony needs friends. And now, Naruko had six friends who were all a lot of fun. Each one was different and she felt at peace being around them. ‘Peace’. Another thing she has rarely ever had.

Then a sound rang out from outside her home. It was a sound that she desperately had hoped would not be heard. From beyond Naruko’s sealed home, she could clearly hear the sound of six mares screaming loudly in fear. She knew what had happened, Igneel had her friends now and try as she might, Naruko couldn’t hold back the tears as they began to roll down her muzzle. Then a prickling at the back of her mind forced her to stop her crying; something deep within her told her that her friends were still alive, probably not for long though. She turned her head towards the seal on her home, not certain of what she should do.

Go, Naruko, the voice urged. Go and save your friends, GO!! That was all the push that Naruko needed as she rocketed towards the only thing in her way. She crashed into the giant boulder causing it to be sent flying right into the wall on the opposite side of the Grand Chasm. With gusto, Naruko raced down the path to the dark prison. She ran and ran and ran, never stopping, never looking back. The only thing she needed was the lone thought in her head that was urging her ever forward: Hold on, my friends! I’m coming!

Her confidence over flowing, Naruko raced past giant prison bars that were covered in darkness and rushed off to the rescue.