“Um… Are thou alright?” The yellow pegasus prodded the listless blue unicorn with a hoof, eliciting only a grumbled response. The pegasus bit her lip and tried to give the unicorn space, but was thwarted in her attempt by the thick chain that held the pair together.

An armored pony, noticing the hold up, glowered at the mares. “What’s the hold up?”

The pegasus felt a shiver run up her spine at the look of cold loathing on the stallion’s face and quickened her pace to match her fellow prisoners. The young pegasus had been told terrible things about the aragonite cruelty of the Unicorn Tribe and had no wish to anger her captures.

“Who are you?”

The pegasus jumped slightly at the unexpected question and turned to see the blue unicorn staring at her.

“I am Private Pansy, miss.” She made as if to salute, but then thought better of it and just gave the other pony a wary smile. “And who are you? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.” She felt her cheeks redden as she quickly added. “I don’t mean to pry, it’s just that I never expected to see a unicorn like you chained up like us.”

The unicorn made a gesture that Pansy assumed was dismissive, though it was hard to tell since the foreleg that the other pony was gesturing with ended high above all the bendable parts that most unicorns used to gesture with.

“It’s fine,” the unicorn said with a long-suffering sigh. “It’s sort of a long story, but as far as I can tell we have some time before we get to where we’re going and we might not have a lot of time to talk when we get there.”

Pansy shivered again as she considered the implications of that. “What do you think they’re going to do to us?” she asked.

The unicorn shook her head. “Before they knocked me on the head, they said something about a pit. I don’t know what that was all about, but I am pretty sure it’s nothing pleasant.” She irritably scuffed a hoof in the dirt and cursed under her breath. This was supposed to be a relaxing study break.”

“What ill fate brought you here?” Pansy asked, her own discomfort sliding into the back of her mind as she offered a sympathetic look to the amputee mare.

“Well, let me start from the beginning.” The unicorn took a deep breath and looked to the sky. “First off, my name is Colgate. And as far as I can tell, I am currently lost in time.”

Pansy followed the mare’s gaze up to the sun, which was shining brightly through a thin layer of clouds. “I had that problem for a long time too,” she mused.

“What?” Colgate looked back at Pansy in astonishment. “You did?”

Pansy was slightly taken aback, but nodded. “Oh yes! I used to have the worst time trying to tell the hour without help, but that’s nothing to be ashamed of!” She looked back up to the sun and frowned. “I think it’s about noon though, if that helps.”

Colgate groaned. “OK, one, that’s not what I meant at all; and two, it’s past three in the afternoon.”

“Oh, sorry.” Pansy blushed.

“It’s fine,” Colgate apologized taking another deep breath, “Sorry, it’s been a very long day for me, I didn’t mean to snap at you. What I meant by lost in time was that I am not from… now, I guess.” She frowned and shook her head. “Well however you want to say it, I think I was sent back in time when a spell I cast went array.”

Pansy’s eyes grew to the size of saucers as she stared at Colgate. “So you’re a time traveler?”

“Not intentionally,” Colgate grumbled. “I was trying to defeat a terrible evil that had killed my friends and that was coming after me. The spell I cast was meant to send it back where it came from, but somehow, when I got caught up in it I got dumped off here.”

Pansy gasped, putting a hoof to her mouth. “Could this evil be the same one that has plagued our lands?”

Colgate frowned. “No idea, I just got here a few hours ago. Mind filling me in?”

Pansy nodded furiously, feeling a cautious hope kindle in her chest. “They are called the Deadites and they are terrible demons! They possess the bodies of the dead and do terrible things to the ponies and animals they catch. We have found no way to stop them but to utterly destroy them, and even then they just find a new victim to continue their evil ways.”

Colgate’s face paled as she nodded. “Yep, that sounds pretty familiar alright. You manage to figure out some way of destroying them permanently?”

Pansy shook her head sadly. “No. Commander Hurricane believed that the unicorns had found a book that held the key to stopping them, but that they were deliberately keeping it for themselves, so we were going to... um… borrow it?” Pansy looked away from Colgate, suddenly unable to look her in the eyes. “I mean, I am sure that we would have returned it once our people’s safety was secured.”

“Right,” Colgate said, looking at the irritable guards marching alongside them. “I am sure they will be really understanding once you explain that you were going to bring their monster repellant back to them when you were done with it.”

Pansy looked like she was about to be sick, but managed a weak smile as she almost brought her gaze back up to eye level with Colgate. “But that’s not a problem anymore, because you’re going to fix things!”

Colgate suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, before being yanked violently forward by the momentum of the ponies ahead of her.

“Keep up the pace!” One of the guards snapped as Colgate hurriedly limped back into pace, still staring at Pansy.

“I am going to what?” Colgate’s voice was slightly strained, though from emotion or strangulation Pansy could not tell.

“You’re going to fix all this, right?” The private felt her confidence slipping as she looked at the horrified expression on the unicorn’s face. “You said you cast a spell to stop the deadites in your own time, so you must be the chosen one Clover the Clever spoke of at the last meeting of the tribes. The one who will deliver us from the terror of the deadites!” Pansy felt her confidence slip further as the last of the color drained from Colgate’s face.

“Oh yes!” Colgate chocked out. “I did so well saving my best friend from the things in my own time, that the universe had to set me up for round two! But oh, we don’t want to make it easy so let’s just give you a few dozen handicaps this time!”

As Colgate continued to rant, Private Pansy looked at the looming castle with a growing feeling of dread as her fellow prisoners began to whisper amongst themselves. At their head, wings bound to her sides with thick leather straps, Commander Hurricane glared daggers at the regal white unicorn keeping pace with her.

“You can’t hold us, Platinum! Not after the Earth Ponies find out what you’re up too!” The blue pegasus spat on the ground in contempt.

The unicorn did not bother to look at her captive as she said, “Chancellor Puddinghead may have the brains of a particularly dim goat, but even she could not mistake your blatant act of aggression as anything but what it was, an underhanded and dangerous attempt to undermine my people’s efforts to save ALL of our lives for your own selfish ends!”

Hurricane’s eyes blazed as she growled at the unicorn. “That’s a lie and you know it! You’re protecting your own hides and letting the rest of us burn so that you can take over! Don’t think you have fooled me with your, ‘oh we don’t know how to stop these monsters yet, so you had all just better wait while we hold up in our castles till enough of you get eaten and we can take over the rest, after we conveniently find the salutation too late for the rest of us’ ploy!”

The white unicorn finally turned to the commander with a look of undisguised contempt. “You are either a phenomenally bad liar or a raving lunatic.” Her expression hardened as she looked to the rapidly approaching castle. “I’ll be doing your tribe an immeasurable service by removing you from command.”

The shadow of the portcullis fell over the front of the line, hiding the Commander’s face as her voice dropped to a growl. “Mark my words, Princess; I would have just taken the book to save my people, but for this mistreatment of me and mine, I will see your castle burn!”

Further back Private Pansy whimpered. “Oh my, I do wish Commander Hurricane wouldn’t antagonize Princess Platinum like that! She is cross enough as it is!”

Colgate, who had become rather disappointed after finishing her rant, merely grunted noncommittally.

“I just have the most terrible feeling about this,” Pansy moaned as the two passed under the shadow of the castle wall. From ahead, they heard the sounds of shouts and jeers as the townsponies booed and harangued the captured pegasi. Soon enough the two chained mares were marched into the waiting angry mob.

“Villains!” A pony screeched from the throng, “It’s your fault the dead walk again! Your dark magic has doomed us all!”

Pansy shrank from the accusations, but Colgate’s eyes flashed with anger as she glared in the direction of the voice. “Oh come on!” she shouted. “Whoever heard of a pegasus using dark magic anyway?”

There was a slight lull in the mob as several of the ponies took a moment to ponder this. Then the same voice as before piped up again, “Traitor! Your dark magic has doomed us all!” The mob, seeming happy with this explanation, took up the jeers and threats with renewed gusto.

“Well it was a nice try,” Pansy offered with a weak smile as Colgate was pelted with bits of rotten vegetable.

“Well that’s just groovy,” Colgate drawled sarcastically. “Because everypony loves a good samareitan.”

The guards lined the prisoners up against the castle wall alongside a large, covered well. Princess Platinum slowly circled around to face her captives, along with her brown-robed assistant who looked as if she would rather be just about anywhere other than where she was at the moment. The Princess paused to give Colgate an especially nasty look before clearing her throat. “Soldiers of the Pegasus Tribe, for your blatant invasion of our lands I could easily have you locked away for the rest of your miserable lives!” There was a swell of cheers from the crowd, but the Princess held up a hoof for silence. “However, given your openly admitted desire to steal from us the book that can and will save not only our tribe, but our very race, you have committed a crime against ALL of ponykind!”

The crowd roared its displeasure and the captives shrank in fear, all save Commander Hurricane whose unflinching gaze never left the Princess. The Princess, returning the stare, raised a hoof for silence once more. “For your crimes,” she began, voice dripping with loathing. “I hereby sentence you to the, worst, possible thing! THE PIT!”

Once more the crowd erupted into cheers and a chant of “Pit! Pit! Pit!” began to pick up till almost everypony seemed to be screaming it so loudly that the captives could not even hear what the Princess was shouting to her guards. But the message soon became clear as a pair of unicorns quickly began to crank a winch which slid open the doors to the surprisingly large well.

As the crowd’s cries subsided enough to be heard over, the Princess pointed to Commander Hurricane. “Now, since you seemed so eager to leave me helpless as my subjects died, I shall give you the same courtesy!”

Commander Hurricane suddenly lunged against her bounds, face twisted into a snarl of rage. “You’ll pay for this!” she screamed, struggling to free herself even as a pair of unicorn guards hauled her back into line. “Do what you will with me, but leave them alone!”

“Loyal to the end,” Princess Platinum sneered. “Maybe if you had tempered that sense of duty with a little empathy and kindness you would not have thought to damn others for your own sake. All of this might have been avoided!” She jabbed a hoof towered Colgate and Pansy. “Now, bring forward the first prisoners for the pit! Let us start with the traitor!”

Colgate felt herself being unshackled from the other prisoners and blanched. “Whoa, whoa, wait up!” Colgate began to panic as she and Pansy where marched past the Princess. “Hey, hold up! I am not with them!”

The Princess gave Colgate a skeptical look before looking to Commander Hurricane. “Well?”

Commander Hurricane shook her head. “Do what you want with the unicorn, but she is not one of mine. If you kill her, it’s just more innocent blood on your hoofs!”

Princess Platinum’s brow furrowed in thought as she stopped the guards holding Colgate. She looked into the other mare’s pleading eyes and for a second seemed unsure. Then her eyes narrowed. “Do you too take me for a fool?” The Princess asked in a low and dangerous voice.

“What?” Colgate asked breaking into a cold sweat.

“I was not a foal so recently that I would fall for the oldest trick in the library.” Platinum’s lip curled into a sneer. “Pretending to not know one another too fool me into releasing you. Even for a traitor you are without honor.”

With a harsh shove, Pansy and Colgate where forced towards the pit. Pansy, stumbling forward, teetered on the edge for a moment before falling, screaming into the darkness. Colgate managed to catch the lip before following her down, but felt a hard tug as the weight of her fellow captive almost wrenched her free. With a burst of adrenaline she pulled herself up just enough to get her head over the edge.

“You have to believe! I’m NOT a-“

“Traitor!” Colgate was interrupted as a purple mare suddenly burst from the crowd, hurling a tankard at Colgate with deadly accuracy.

Colgate’s head exploded in pain as she tumbled backward into the pit, her own scream joining that of her companion as the both plunged into the depths.

Author's Note

This chapter originally ended with Pansy being tossed into the pit and killed in a spray of blood, with Colgate remarking that she was "Pretty sure history needed her..."

I dropped that idea when I decided breaking away from the original story right out of the gate might be a fun way to change things up... also because in a one on one fight, there is no way in hell Colgate could take the thing in the pit. She is not Ash, no matter how much she might like to be.

Welcome to Colgate vs The Army of Darkness, its going to be a bumpy ride!