One Human, Different Paths 'Dark Saga'

The dark, cold night was pitch-black as in the beggining. The surroundings seemed to have settled down, and there weren't any kind of roarings in the distance. The dungeon looked very overwhelming, it almost seemed like the source of this whole problem was located in this place. It looked something like this...

The inside's seemed a little bit off, considering the fact that the place seemed more foggy than dark. As Rhoe proceeded in the hallway, his curiosity got the best of him and decided to look deeper into one of the locked cells located in that same hallway. The inside looked more like the outsides of the forest since the vision was almost completely blocked by darkness.

A small light was provided by Aeris requested by Rhoe when they left the trophy room, which allowed both to have a small glimpse of the cell. Rhoe managed to observe some sort of figure attached to the wall. By the looks of it, it wasn't very alive so to speak.

Rhoe thought it might have been one of the prisoners that were held a long time ago, some sort of criminal if he were to guess. Rhoe felt a shiver in his back just to think of the upcoming death the prisoner must have recieved. A long, slow and painful death.

Rhoe decided it was best to ignore the corpse and move on. Aeris agreed with him and both went deeper into the hallway. Thankfully, with Aeris's light and constant scanning, Rhoe was capable of seeing what was ahead of him, helping him to calm down and avoid any kind of trap that resided nearby.

After 20 minutes of roaming around the dungeon looking for any clue of 'What is this place', Rhoe decided to rest. Going non-stop inside a dangerous place can cause anyone to feel fatigued, especially when the hope of everyone rests in your shoulders.

"....Man. This place doesn't seem to end." said Rhoe wiping sweat off his forehead, "How am I supposed to find the exit in such huge place?"

I'm not exactly sure, but there has to be an exit. There's no way we could have entered- ...scratch that. There no way the monsters were able to place us there without any kind of help or entrance. Even with magic, you need to know where are heading.

"....Maybe they do know." concluded Rhoe.

Not possible. The nightshadows may be fierce and deadly creatures, but their memory is really bad. The only memories these beasts hold are the its master and orders. Anything from that, they tend to forget it.

Rhoe grabbed his chin and started thinking of any explanation to it. Although it was really simple the answer, Rhoe had a bit of a trouble thinking of what was the reason of their arrival.

"...Wait a minute," said Rhoe, "What if one of them ordered to bring me here?"

So far, that is the best possible reason to it. The question is why-

Aeris suddenly stopped and a thought came to its mind. Aeris moved the pieces together and figured out why he was brought here in the first place.

....I think I know why you were brought here.

"Huh? Really?" asked Rhoe with intrigue.

The darkness.

".....I'm sorry? I'm not sure I follow..."

I mean, the event where the darkness corrupted you.

Rhoe remembered perfectly that incident. It wasn't that much of a gap in time, but it really wasn't something you could easily forget like an insult in a friendly way.

"I remember that. It was a couple of hours ago." confirmed Rhoe as got up, "But how does that relate to this?"

Think about it. When you were unable to move your body, some monster must have dragged you here.

"But, how do you know that? Weren't you focused on trying to free me?"

I'm not exactly sure, but I felt the presence of other beings while I was still inside of you.

"....It's a little hard to believe, even when it comes from you." admitted Rhoe. Aeris felt a little bad when Rhoe didn't believe him.

"But," Aeris suddenly was caught off guard when he spoke again, "If what you said is true, then the only one who could have done that must have been..."

Rhoe didn't believed it was connected to anything, he thought it was an attempt to defeat him, but as soon as Rhoe started to fit all the pieces together just like Aeris did, he figured out a reason.

"You mean..." stated Rhoe looking to the floor, "That their master actually ordered them to bring me here if I was corrupted by darkness?"

So far, yes. That's the only explanation I can think of.

"That's weird. Why would he or she do that?" said Rhoe as he leaned against the wall only to be surprised by a shifting brick. Unintentionally, Rhoe moved a brick which caused a wall to slide really fast. Rhoe soon knew how did the floor tasted like.

"...Ow" said Rhoe with his face sticked to the floor.

....Having fun down there?

"Haha. Really funny" replied Rhoe as he got up and looked at the event, "......Sliding walls. Secret path. New discoveries. Ain't this a cliché."

Stop complaining. We finally found a new path which may lead to the somewhere.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I was getting sick of this place anyway. Let's go". Rhoe entered the secret path with high hope as finding that may help in their quest. Looking deep inside the path, Rhoe managed to find a room filled several artifacts and 3 doors, each one leading to new places. One at the east which looked like a blue door covered in a blue smoke. Another to the west, this one was green and some electric signs placed next to it. The last door was a red door and it had some traces of blood in the front. Rhoe couldn't tell which one was worse. As he entered the room, Rhoe noticed a small piece of metal shining in the floor. Picking it up, he realized it was a pocket knife.

"Huh, a pocket knife," said Rhoe putting it away carefully in his pocket, "This should come in handy"

Be careful. That knife seems to be really sharpened. I'm surprised the knife didn't get rusted all these years.

"It's because it wasn't here years ago."

Huh?

"This knife was here recently. Probably belonged to one of the guards that used to roam here days ago."

How do you know?

"Here," said Rhoe as he took it out and pointed the knife logo, "this emblem is one of the royal guards that Equestria usually possess".

I'm guessing you already saw it.

"Eeyup" said Rhoe in an attempt to make the answer short. Plus, he wanted to try that voice Big Mac always does at least once. It felt good.

Hmmm, probably. ....Hold on, guards?

"Well, this is a prison apparently. The cells are what gave me that idea." answered Rhoe.

I highly doubt that, Rhoe. This place has been empty for at least 2 months.

"Huh? Two months?"

I have been around many times, remember?

"Yeah, you're right..." agreed Rhoe, "....Hold on a minute! If this place was abandoned 2 months ago, how come this knife was so perfectly taken care of!? What's more, how did it end up here?"

"I can answer that..."

Rhoe literally jumped when he heard another voice besides Aeris's. He turned around and looked for the source of the sudden voice. It was as empty as it was the moment they entered the room. The voice was a bit unrecognizable, but it sounded like a male voice.

"Hello?" said Rhoe trying to look for this new voice in that place.

"What's the matter? Haven't you heard anyone talk like that before?" said the unknown voice.

Rhoe, look out. This voice, it's definitively not friendly.

Rhoe was still looking around, hoping to find where did the voice come from. With no luck, he spoke, "Who are you? Stop hiding and show yourself!"

"Now, now. That's not the way to greet someone." corrected the unknown voice.

"It's not a way to greet someone, meromeromehmehmeh, My ass!"

"Hush, who took care of you? A monkey?" insulted the unknown voice as Rhoe was grinning his teeth with anger looking around, "That doesn't even matter. I have something to discuss with you"

Be really careful about this Rhoe. This voice, it's hiding something. Don't fall to his trap.

"Don't worry.... I've dealt with this kind of people all my life. This shouldn't be the exception." thought Rhoe as he proceeded to speak, "....What do you want?"

"A proposal"

"'Proposal?"

"As you may have noticed, there are three doors in this very room," said the voice meanwhile the doors glowed one by one showing off, "These doors hold the key to find me, in other words, they will lead to me"

"....Sounds a bit fishy to me."

It may be, but there is no other way to reach me explained the voice, "Or are you suggesting that you know another way?"

Rhoe remained silent, he didn't knew how to and couldn't find any way even if he searched the entire place, hell, even if he searched the entire town looking for ways, it wouldn't do any good. Rhoe sighed at his defeat and proceeded to cooperate. "Okay, what do you want?"

"Simple. I want you"

The room remained silent. No one spoke for a whole. It was Rhoe who broke the silence.

"....Are you gay?" asked Rhoe.

"Oh? Oh no no~... I  simply want you"

"So you are gay."

"I'll say it again, I want YOU" requested the voice.

"Still pretty gay."

"You better shut your mouth if you know what's good for you!" threatened the voice.

"GAYYYYY" said Rhoe placing his hands near his mouth to make it sound louder.

Umm... Rhoe? Could you stop doing that? We don't know what he is capable of.

"What? I'm just stating what I think this is!" explained Rhoe.

"....In either case, these doors hold a challenge. If you manage to beat the challenges, you will meet me face-to-face" said the voice as it echoed throughout the room, "I'll be waiting for you~...."

Rhoe stood still for a while. He knew this was a trap, so did Aeris. Both argued which was the best course of action because after all, going head straight to what the enemy tells you to is NEVER a good idea. However, the options seemed pretty slim and both didn't have any kind of lead besides the one given by the enemy. Against all odds, they decided to do as the voice recommended, even if it was a trap or not.

"So, which door should we choose? We may have decided to open one, but which one?" asked Rhoe.

It could be any, the doors doesn't seem to have any kind of requirement. Any door is pretty much the same in retrospective.

"Maybe if the voice had gave us a lead to which door should we begin..."

Out of nowhere, a letter popped up in front of Rhoe.

Not surprised by this, Rhoe took hold of the floating letter and ripped the envelope. Pulling the contains, it went like this.

If you wish to choose the right door

simply follow the beat of the heart

but be warned, if you choose the wrong floor

your life will be torn apart...

"....."

.......

"What a lousy poem." said Rhoe with a unamused expression.

...I've got to agree on this one.

"But anyways.... Follow the heart?" thought Rhoe trying to figure out the message.

Maybe it has something to do with the color.

"Red? I was never a fan of red." complained Rhoe.

This isn't about color preference, you know?

"Alright, alright! I'll take the red one." thought Rhoe. After moving to the red door with blood on it, Rhoe backed away. Aeris was confused by this, even thought that Rhoe regretted to go in. However, Rhoe actually turned around and started looking for something. As he searched for drawers, chests and other objects, he pull some sort of small log. He placed it down on the floor and with the pocket knife he had, he started cutting the edges of the log.

After a long while, he managed to create a home-made lance out of wood. Rhoe probably did that in an attempt to have a self-defense weapon. He took hold of the lance and with a military chest armor he found in one of the chests, he wrapped the lance and hung it from his torso. You know, like those swordsman do to carry their weapons on their back.

I didn't know you were such a crafter. I'm surprised.

"I'm surprised as well. I didn't thought I would actually pull something like that." replied Rhoe.

Let's go, shall we?

"Sure, I'm ready." said Rhoe as he started to open the red door, "No I'm not."

The room seemed to be different to the dungeon. The walls had some sort gel sticked to it and yet they remained still. The ceiling had some damages, mostly cracks where some liquids fell through it. The floor was made out of red wood. It was quite the opposite to the walls and the ceiling. It was completely clean and you could see a bit of a reflection in it.

Aeris felt a disturbance in the room and warned Rhoe about it. Rhoe nodded and walked slowly to the center of the room. In the center, there was a small table which had an envelope as well. Rhoe thought it had some lousy poem as the previous letter he got. Sometimes, Rhoe hated when he was right.

You chose the right door it seems

but don't celebrate for the time is not now

there are some incomplete debts you haven't foreseen

and you are here to pay them with a big 'Wow'

"...Is it me, or do the poems get worse and worse?" said Rhoe.

"It's only ya." said a familiar voice behind Rhoe. With a quick instinct, Rhoe leaped forward as the pony behind him smashed the floor with such force it broke the floor. Rhoe inmediately got up and looked behind. For his surprise, there two ponies standing in front of him. Applejack and Pinkie Pie, which had her mane flattened. Rhoe took a better look at them and could notice the same effect the darkness had on Twilight the day he left the library.

"Heh, well this is new. I didn't expect to bump into you," said Rhoe scratching the back of his head, "well, I'm assuming you are my challenge?"

"Bingo, moron" said Pinkie, "We are not letting out of here alive."

"Somehow I knew you would say that." replied Rhoe trying to look for something that might give him a fair fight against them.

"Well hon', Ah hope ya are ready" said Applejack, "This is gonna hurt ya a lot."

"I know, I know." said Rhoe with no luck at all searching for that special opportunity.

With that said, Pinkie sprung from her place and headed towards Rhoe. He barely got time to react and dodged to the left. Rhoe looked at Pinkie, who had tried to knock him, going for another shot.

Pinkie threw a punch after another only to be dodged by Rhoe each time. Rhoe couldn't think straight and in self-defense, he grabbed one of Pinkie's attack and threw her to the other side of the room. She inmediately recovered from the throw and stood still.

Rhoe was confused by this and his thoughts turned to Applejack who was just about to knock him down with a spin kick. With no other option, he protected himself, only to get kicked to the wall of the room by the force.

Rhoe felt like a boulder had just hit him. Wasting no time, Applejack went for another try. Rhoe snapped from the pain and moved away, dodging the kick she threw.

The wall had a little crack after Applejack removed the leg from the wall. Rhoe gulped, hoping he wouldn't recieve one of those kicks at full power wide open. Applejack focused on Rhoe once more and ran towards him.

Rhoe got into position and once she was in range, he dodged, placed himself in her back grabbed her waist and performed a suplex. Applejack rolled over and Rhoe was holding the back of his head with a tear on his eye. The recoil was perhaps too much.

He didn't have that much of a break since Pinkie came from behind and grabbed Rhoe's neck with mighty strength. He struggled as Pinkie proceeded to tighten up the move.

In desperation, Rhoe used a lot of strength to get up and walk backwards to the wall, slaming Pinkie to it. She let out a cough of blood and bent over for a few seconds. Rhoe took that time to think of a way to fight back.

"This is bad..." he thought, "If this keeps up, I'll lose..."

Rhoe! Are you okay!?

"Yeah, I'm fine," he thought, "I can keep going...", Aeris knew Rhoe was lying. He was panting heavy and the bruises looked pretty bad. Aeris  thought he needed help, but how?

Aeris kept thinking when suddenly Rhoe was body-slammed by Applejack, which caused to bounce a bit fom the power. Rhoe tried to get up as fast as possible, but he was interrupted by a following kick to his face by Pinkie. Rhoe started to walk backwards trying to stable his balance.

His face was dripping blood. He knew the bearers of the Elements of Harmony were strong, but this was outrageous. In a desperate attempt, Rhoe pulled out his lance and pointed it to the ponies who were grinning to him. He dashed towards them and the ponies answered with the same movement.

Applejack threw a kick and Pinkie a punch, which was almost unavoidable, but Rhoe didn't head towards the attack, instead he took a sharp left and headed towards the door.

Both ponies composed themselves and headed towards him once again. Trying to hit him, they attempted the same movement. However, Rhoe was prepared. Using his lance, he moved Pinkie towards the kick of Applejack causing her to recoil from the hit. Pinkie fell to the floor and remained still. Applejack was pissed about this and looked at Rhoe with anger.

Rhoe taunted her and she dashed furiously. Not thinking straight, she fell right into his trap. Applejack was unable to move and she didn't know why.

Taking advantage of the situation, Rhoe spun and kicked Applejack in the back of her head. She fell to the floor by this, still concious. She tried to get up with all of her anger, but something was hold her.

With another attempt, Rhoe used his lance with enough force and aimed to Applejack's neck. The power was enough to knock her unconcious. Right before passing out from the hit, she managed to see a transparent figure next to Rhoe. Soon after, she fell to the floor and remained like that.

"....."

Rhoe remained silent. He was hoping he didn't overdo it, for the sake of both parties. He looked to where Pinkie was lying and was shocked to see her standing up, but barely.

She slowly walked towards Rhoe. Each step seemed to be heavier than the other and as soon as she was in front of Rhoe right about to punch him, Rhoe delivered a jab to Pinkie's stomach. She recoiled and spilled some blood over Rhoe. She was still standing up, but not for long. Pinkie looked at Rhoe one last time and mumbled something.

"I'm sorry..."

She dropped unconcious and Rhoe gave a reall heavy sigh. He sat back and laid in the floor, resting from the fight. He used to fight other people who bullied Emil, but none of them were as strong as the two ponies he just faced moments ago.

Panting, Rhoe looked at the room once more. Amazingly, the room shifted and looked like a normal living room. He was relieved to see he just won his first challenge.

"Hehe...", laughed Rhoe, "One down..... two to go...."

I can't believe the plan worked.

"Yeah, me neither. I thought I was gonna get my ass kicked" replied Rhoe as he sat up and checked his injuries.

Good thinking with the illusion thing.

If you don't get it, Aeris manipulated the ponies's vision after Rhoe headed to the door, making them believe Rhoe was there, when instead he was a meter to the right. Also, Aeris managed to inmobilize Applejack's movements for a few seconds, allowing Rhoe to fight back.

"If I had fought them without your help, I would be a goner right now", said Rhoe. He got up from his place and rubbed some injuries, "These bruises really hurt, you know?"

I can tell. Too bad the lance you made broke in the fight.

"Yeah, it's a shame. It had some use, I'm grateful this helped me."

Suddenly a voice was heard from a distance. "Congratulations, you passed the first challenge. I'm surprised you managed to."

"Show yourself coward!" yelled Rhoe in the room.

"Oh no no~, not yet. As for your friends, they aren't useful anymore" replied the voice. Upon hearing this, Rhoe looked back where Applejack and Pinkie were laying. They were gone. A black smoke could be seen where the ponies were.

"You... How could you!?"

"Heh, they are trash. Just like everyone else in this world"  Rhoe clenched his fists when he heard this. Aeris looked a bit worried after he did that."They are disposable, but you aren't~"

Rhoe was taken by this comment, "What's that supposed to mean!?"

"Oh, you'll know soon enough". A fainting laugh could be heard as the voice was no longer there. Rhoe had a piercing stare to the air. He was getting angrier after hearing those awful things.

Calm down, Rhoe. We will make him pay for this. We have to.

Rhoe loosened his fists and calmed down. "Heh, you are right. Sorry for getting ahead of myself."

Don't worry about it. That's why I'm here.

"Ha, I guess I'm stuck with you then?"

You bet!

Both laughed at this and the laugh died down as Rhoe focused on the envelope that appeared in the center of the room. Hopefully, it wouldn't have one of those icky poems. Rhoe was never annoyed by getting something right. This was one of those special cases.

Your first challenge is completed

Your victory was as smooth as a scarecrow

There are two more to achieved

And this curse will be never more

P.S. The next door is blue.

"......"

........

"Yo. This is just terrible. Who comes up with these!?"

Someone named Ashardu.

"....Wow, I feel sorry for him."

Who doesn't?

"Now that we know where to go, let's leave this place. It's giving me the chills the room."  said Rhoe as he opened the door.

Rhoe came back from the battle with bruises and injuries all over. He wasn't in a very good condition for another fight.

Maybe you should take a break. You can't go in another fight like that.

"I'm fine. I can still- GUH!". Rhoe spilled some blood he held back in the fight. Applejack must have somehow damaged internally Rhoe, causing him to spill blood as it was previously mentioned.

RHOE! I told you! You are not in any condition to fight!

"...."

You are staying here, resting. I'll take care of the other door myself.

"Are you crazy!?" yelled Rhoe resting next to a wall, "If I had a lot of trouble dealing with them, how come you are gonna be avaiable to do so?"

Watch me.

Aeris disspaeared into the next room. Rhoe was sick worried about Aeris. He didn't know if Aeris needed his help, but he wanted to do something about it. The internal injury, however, managed to stop Rhoe from moving. Rhoe reacted to the pain and laid down on the floor.

"If I weren't this hurt, I would...." Rhoe sighed and prayed for Aeris's sake.

After some 20 minutes of silence and isolation, Rhoe heard something unusual coming from the blue door. After been resting for a while now, he was capable of moving around, not completely, but still, it's progress. Clinging to the lance, broken if you remember, he got near the door

and opened the door a little. To his surprise, there was nothing. He entered despite his condition, aware that anything could happen. As he approached the center of the room, his attention suddenly was directed to a black smoke residing next to some fallen furniture.

Rhoe headed to this unusual, curious of what could have happened when he wasn't around. Inspecting closer to this smoke, he recognized it was the same smoke he saw in the previous room. Assuming what happened, he deduced someone was beaten here, two actually. Who could have it been?

"I wonder who was this being... being?" repeated Rhoe as he remembered something. His companion, Aeris, didn't show up. Rhoe yelled for the spirit. Nothing. It remained silent.

"Aeris, you fool. I told you wouldn't be avaiable to handle on your own..."

In an instant flash, a letter popped up again. Rhoe thought it was one of those awful poems again. Sighing to this thought, Rhoe ripped the envelope and checked the insides. It wasn't a poem this time. It was like that this:

Rhoe,

Looks like your little friend Aeris managed to defeat Rarity and Fluttershy on its own. I know, I'm surprised as you are. Anyways, I figured he was helping you all along. Funny, I never noticed this spirit. Perhaps he was hidden inside you. Yes, that would be the case.

Well, as much as I would enjoy your companion's demise, I'll instead take CARE of it.

Aeris is no longer here, the spirit is my hostage right now. The spirit is locked away in one of my crystals, right where I am. If you wish to save your friends, I suggest you do the challenges on your own.

I'm quite dissapointed. I was hoping you wouldn't cheat... Farewell, Rhoe. I'm waiting. Don't make me wait longer...

"....." Rhoe was silent for a couple of minutes, remaining in his spot, motionless. The next thing you know, Rhoe is smashing the furniture in his rage. Rhoe was in a complete fury, he knew Aeris was in danger, that Aeris wasn't capable of doing this alone, and yet, he allowed it. He allowed Aeris to care of it. The results? Now he is alone.

"Why do I have to be so fucking weak!? I could have saved Aeris as well! I'M FUCKING USELESS!"

Rhoe sulked into a room corner, troubled by this thought. He felt powerless, incapable of avoiding some disaster. Slowly, his self-esteem lowered to a dangerous level. If he kept thinking like this, one of these days his mind might break.

Time flew just like time does when you enjoy the small things in life. Rhoe finally stopped sulking and got up. He knew that feeling sorry for himself woudn't bring Aeris or anyone back. Besides, he was the only hope for Equestria, perhaps for the world if this catastrophe got out of hand.

Rhoe tried to not think about the consequences of his actions nor the weight that resided in his shoulders. In a desperate attempt, he slapped himself to snap out of it. Fortunately, it worked for his sake. Rhoe, still clinging to his lance, started walking out of the room until he remembered the letter that usually appears nearby. Looking back, the envelope was on the floor, untouched. Rhoe headed to this envelope and picked it up.

"Huh, funny." said Rhoe curious about something, "This envelope seems to be bigger and heavier than the others. Maybe it has something attached to it."

Rhoe opened the envelope and noticed both a letter and a potion inside. Being cautious, he picked the potion and placed it in a nearby table. The letter, on the hand, had a poem. It went like this:

The second challenge has been fun!

Too bad your friend wasn't here to admire,

After he knows about you, his heart will be filled with fire,

if he doesn't calm down, his opportunity will be done.

"....Still lousy." claimed Rhoe throwing the letter to the floor. However, after he did that, the same letter threw a small flash that drew Rhoe's attention. Intrigued by this, he picked the letter once more. The message was different this time:

The destiny has been sealed,

it's something you can't change

you will need something that can fight both speed and steel

otherwise you better not face.

P.S. Drink the potion, it will help you.

"Gosh, can this letters be any lousier?"

Rhoe shook his head, trying to ignore the amounts of annoyance he felt reading the letter. He turned around, picked the potion and left the room.

The memories of Aeris were still in his head. Rhoe decided to let go because thinking of it will only cause disturbance in his mind, not to mention the darkness that overwhelms the place doing that already. Rhoe's sanity was slowly fading away. If he stays more time there, he might go insane. That's when he remembered the potion given to him as an attachment. He took it out and looked at it like it was sort some of poison waiting to be used any moment now.

"If I drink this, would I feel better?" he thought, "....or would I die? I can't make up my mind."

A fainting voice, what appeared to be his instincts, told him to drink it. Upon hearing this, he was still doubting the potion. There were 3 posibilities:

1. He drinks it and he actually recovers.

2. He drinks it and slowly dies from the contents of the potion.

3. He drinks it and nothing happens. Absolutely nothing.

What would it be? Which option is better? Time wasn't on his side, so he had some moments to think about it. To drink, or to not? That's was the question.

Rhoe finally decided what to do. His choice, whatever it was, was something he couldn't undo or regret. Once he does what he decided, his fate is sealed. His choice... was....

"......."

"......."

"......."

"......."

"......."

"......."

"......."

"......."

"......."

"......."

"......."

"Fuck it. I'm drinking it..." With that said, Rhoe pulled out the cover and drank the whole potion in one gulp.

After he drank it, Rhoe remained still, expecting any kind of change or metamorphosis in his body. To his surprise, he actually felt better. The damage Applejack did in the fight was slowly fading away, almost like it never happened.

Rhoe blinked twice to actually grasp what just happened. The enemy, somehow, helped him recover. Why would they do that? Could it be some sort of trap? Did something actually happen ,but he was unaware of it? Many thoughts crossed through Rhoe's mind. None of them seemed to stay for long.

Before moving on, Rhoe carefully inspected any kind of change to his body or mind. He wanted to make sure everything was in order. So afr, nothig seemed to be affecting him, which caused Rhoe to think of one possible explanation.

"Maybe he actually wanted me to recover, since he knew the fight had a possibility of incapacitating me." thought Rhoe, "The question is, how did he know I was injured? Strange..."

Rhoe withdraaw the lance and placed in the shealth on his back. Rhoe walked right into the next door and opened it with ease. He thought the green door had some sort of difficulty opening, since it was the last door.

After entering, he noticed the room had a small window where a ray of light was crossing, aiming to a door. It seemed to be daylight somehow. Rhoe didn't know if it was either coincidence or a trap. Carefully, he walked towards the door and opened it cautiously. What he saw couldn't be real. He saw Twilight and Rainbow tied up to a chair, looking down and unconcious. Rhoe was shocked by this, ignoring any thought of being a trap. He inmediately moved to where they were and checked them.

When he touched the pair, his hand inmediately went through them. Taking back by this, he pulled his hand and looked to his back. Then, it was when Rhoe's heart felt fear. He saw Spike, Twilight, and Rainbow with a dark, perturbing smile on their faces. Rhoe felt like a complete moron for having fallen to their trap so easily. The three individuals looked darker than the last Rhoe saw them. Both parties kept staring at each other, until one of them spoke.

"Who would have thought you would fall to our trap so easily?" said Twilight with her eyes closed and shaking her head sideways, "I thought you were smarter than this, Rhoe."

Rhoe didn't answer back, he was preparing for a combat in which the odds weren't in his favor.

"What is the matter? Cat's got your tongue?" said Spike laughing to him.

"I think we scared him," supported Dash, crossing her arms, "It's normal after all. He is not making it out of this place alive to say the least."

"You are wrong." replied Rhoe after a long silence. The three subjects looked at Rhoe amused by this.

"Oh? We are?" said Twilight.

"Yes, you are." replied Rhoe, "As a matter of fact, I was hoping to run into to you."

"Oh? Well, isn't that lovely... You were expecting us?" said Twilight wondering why.

"It's pretty simple actually. First I face Applejack and Pinkie. Then Aeris takes care of Rarity and Fluttershy. That would only leave you three as the final challenge. It wasn't that hard to figure out." explained Rhoe with a grin on his face.

"But you couldn't tell from the trap we set up? I think you are really weird." said Rainbow.

"Actually..."

The group looked confused by this. Rhoe oversaw the whole plan?

"I think you are right!" confirmed Rhoe.

They dropped to the floor, completely annoyed by this. It was just a mistake they believed that.

"Alright, you are starting to annoy me..." complained Spike as they got up from the floor.

"Make that two of us." added Rainbow.

"Great, I just made them hate me even more..." thought Rhoe, "Just how exactly am I supposed to fight them? I barely stand a chance!"

"It's a good thing you ask..." said the voice.

"Huh!?" said the whole group as they looked up in the air.

"Haha! Rhoe!"

"W-what?" replied Rhoe confused by this.

"You drank the potion. Good!" said the voice proud of his action.

"Huh?"

"You fell right into my experiment! I can't believe how innocent you are. Following a voice, classic."

"What's the meaning of this!?" yelled Twilight looking at the ceiling.

"Easy, you are the experiment." The three individuals looked scared, like if they knew was about to happen. Suddenly, Rhoe's body started twitching, making him to fall to his knees.

"W-what i-is h-happen-ning!?"

"Good night." After that Rhoe's vision went black. He couldn't see anything. All he could percieve were some screams and some bangs. It wasn't until 30 minutes passed that Rhoe managed to recover consciousness.

"Urgh... my head..." said Rhoe rubbing his forehead. His vision was somehow blurry, the room was spinning and the objects near were disorientated.

With some rest and focus, Rhoe recovered. What he saw was terrifying. He saw Spike lying face-down to the floor with blood over his body, Rainbow was against a wall, twitching and dripping blood and Twilight was in front of him, looking to the celing, almost unconcious. Rhoe feared the worst and headed to check them. Both Spike and Rainbow were at the verge of death, and Twilight.... she was going to.... you know what's coming. Twilight lost too much blood, causing a blood-loss death.  Rhoe couldn't think straight. His friends,even if they were corrupted by darkness, were about to die in front of him. Reacting quickly, he ripped part of his clothes and wrapped it around some parts were Twilight was pouring blood.

"Please, please work!" yelled Rhoe.

The blood managed to stop flowing, allowing Twilight to live longer, but it wasn't enough. If she didn't get proper medical treatment, she might...

Twilight opened her eyes an inch, allowing her to see Rhoe, even a bit. Rhoe was so focused on her treatment that he didn't notice this. Using almost all of her strenght, she reached for Rhoe, touching his arm. Rhoe inmediately felt being touched and looked to where did this came from. Rhoe was at the verge of crying when he saw Twilight's face.

"R..Rh...oe..." whispered Twilight.

"Y-yes!?" answered Rhoe with a panicking voice.

"Don't... worry..." said Twilight using her final strength.

"You are bleeding! I can't simply ignore this!!!"

"It...It's no..not your fault...."

"W-what!? What do you mean!?" yelled Rhoe taking hold of her arm.

"....Thank...you..."

With that, Twilight dropped her arm to Rhoe's sensation. She closed her eyes and lost all her strength. Rhoe couldn't believe what just happened. She passed away. And the worse part was he didn't do anything to evade it. He let go of her arm and started shaking. After a long time, tears started flowing in his face. His friends were gone. Nothing he tried to do to prevent it worked out. In that very moment, Rhoe's sanity broke into pieces.

"....guh..." he mumbled.

"ARGH!!!!!"

Rhoe shouted from the very deep of his heart. He couldn't contain his tears back and shouted once again.

"ARGH!!!!!"

With that last shout, he stopped. Rhoe remained there, silent. It was until he lifted his face that he composed himself. This time, his face was filled anger. His only thoughts were filled with anger itself. Happiness, sadness, laughter, crying, any kind of emotion suddenly vanished. He got up and shouted once more.

"HEY ASSHOLE! SHOW YOURSELF! I WANT TO BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU!"

"Come amd get it~" replied the voice with temptation.

"ARGH!!!!! MOTHERFUCKER! YOU BETTER BE READY, BECAUSE WHEN I FIND YOU, YOU WILL BE BEGGING YOU WERE NEVER BORN!"

After he finished, the room switched in a flash. It appeared to be some sort of hallway with a red carpet and a large door with golden decorations attached to it. Rhoe assumed it was the place where this 'Voice' was residing. Cracking into a maniac laughter, he approached the door.

The door had some inscribing words on it, probably foreign. It was illuminated with light, causing it to shine even more. Rhoe could swear he saw a different  face on the door. Not that it mattered, he bursted into a laughter again.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Finally! I'll meet you face to face! I'm going to enjoy every single moment of your agonizing and painful death!"

He placed his hands on the door, smiling with a petrifying stare that a lot of people do when they reached their last sane moment. He opened the door and entered, with a total dark atmosphere and a crushing tension coming from the inside. As the door started to close behind automatically, he spoke one last time.

"I hope you are ready. Get ready to meet hell itself!"