The Mirror-Stone Wasteland

Chapters

Chapter 01
Chapter 02
Chapter 03
Chapter 04
Chapter 05
Chapter 06
Chapter 07
Chapter 08

Chapter 01

Chapter 01

“Sometimes the sins of another never come to light. Other times even after some pony has died their sins lie in secret, desiring to be shown to the world. Haunting the depths of history waiting to surface to those who search. I say this and therefore it must be true because I cannot lie.”

-Shadow-Stalk

Twilight Sparkle sat quietly in the carriage as two royal Pegasi pulled it across the dawning sky. Despite having her own wings, it was insisted by the celestial sisters that she remain relaxed and presentable in a royal fashion for her arrival, which to some extent made sense considering that this new kingdom was going to become her own. It had been three years since Twilight had become an Alicorn princess and now Princess Celestia had rewarded Twilight with the right to rule her own kingdom, much like how she had rewarded her old friend/foal-sitter/sister in law Cadence had with the Crystal Empire.

This news had both excited and terrified the young Alicorn. Was she really ready to rule? Would she be an empress worthy of the responsibility her mentor had bestowed upon her or would she fail? Furthermore, what would happen to her friends? The past few months, Twilight hadn’t seen her wonderful friends due to her preparations for this new role. She hoped that someday her five friends would be able to come and visit her.

She was also lonely because Spike hadn’t come along, which was partially due to him accidently burning down the Sweet Apple Acre barn. Thus, he had to stay behind to aid in repairing the building, as well as organizing the library so it would be nice a tidy in Twilight’s absence. Once that was done, Spike would be able to head out to meet Twilight in her new kingdom. Spike’s new size and wings assured Twilight that her young dragon friend would be able to make the trip safely to the Mirror-Stone Wasteland.

This land was said to have once belonged to a great empire consisting of unicorn ponies, however a terrible catastrophe befell the empire leaving it in ruins, scattering its surviving inhabitants to other distant lands to start anew. These fleeing inhabitants were lead by Princess Platinum who led the unicorns to Equestria where the events of the first Hearth’s Warming Eve began. Now all that remained of this glorious empire was a great black obelisk that reached up into the sky. The land consisted mainly of deserts and grasslands with large black stones littering the wayside. Wild animals were now said to have to make dens and burrows around these scattered rocks but for what reasons no pony knew for sure.

Twilight wasn’t lost in thought for long before a large structure became apparent in the distance. At first it looked like a large gray sliver standing up between the flesh of the earth and the horizon. As Twilight’s chariot neared the structure the building’s design became more apparent. It looked similar to the citadel of the Crystal Empire except the edges of the structure seemed to be more jagged and the structure itself seemed to be made of a slightly reflective black stone. In front of the large obelisk was a grand courtyard, which seemed to contradict the surrounding wasteland. A group of royal guards stood in the courtyard awaiting the arrival of the new princess.

Once the chariot had landed and had come to a complete halt Twilight thanked the two Pegasi for the safe journey and stepped out onto a red carpet to meet the welcoming party. As soon as her hooves touched the ground all of the royal guard went straight to attention. Twilight made a quick salute making it clear that the guards could rest at ease. Twilight then noticed three ponies at the front of the obelisk steps coming forward to greet her.

The first to step forward was a Pegasus named Fire Stride, who unlike most of the other members of the royal guard who had white fur, had a red coat with a black mane. His armor was also different, being more of a gray steel color than the gold armor that the other guards wore. Strangely enough, the helmet also brought out the color of his purple eyes. Twilight had known Fire Stride from when Princess Celestia had chosen Twilight to be her pupil in Canterlot.

At the time, he was just a sergeant who was stationed at Canterlot to train the royal guard, but as time went on he worked his way up to being one of the leaders of the royal guard. Twilight and the Pegasus had done some work together, mostly with her manipulating him to either find some rare ingredient or, as Spike became a toddler, search high and low for the wandering dragon. Thinking back on their interactions in the past, Fire Stride reminded Twilight a lot of Rainbow Dash. While the blue Pegasus has worked hard to become a member of the Wonderbolts, Fire Stride worked his way up the ranks of the royal guard. When the Changelings had attacked Canterlot, he had lead a valiant defense against the illusive horde, and as a result, it was Twilight’s brother Shining Armor who had promoted Fire Stride to his current rank.

“Princess Twilight, you honor us with your presence,” Fire Stride said as he knelt before her, “We hope your journey was a pleasant one.”

“The trip was splendid,” Twilight replied, “So Fire Stride, how is your family doing?”

Standing up, Fire Stride beamed with pride, “Well, my wife has recently given birth to our youngest daughter Shallow Run, and our son Crimson Bliss has just begun to learn how to fly!”

“Well, that is wonderful.” Twilight said with a grin.

The next pony to come forward was a blue unicorn with a long blue mane, who wore a purple cloak and hat with stars on them. She wore an amulet which marked her as being a magic researcher for the royal court.

“Hello Twilight,” Trixie spoke. Years ago both Trixie and Twilight had been rivals with one another, mostly due to Trixie being boastful and having sort of a superiority complex. The blue pony had referred to herself on multiple occasions as: The Great and Powerful Trixie, which had always set Twilight and her friends on edge. However after a magical duel involving the Alicorn amulet Trixie had a change of heart and calmed down a little. Shortly after, the two ponies became good friends, in fact, years later when the position for an official magic researcher opened up for the Royal Court, it had been Twilight who had strongly recommended to Trixie that she should apply for the position.

“Hello Trixie,” Twilight responded, “How has everything been going for you?”

Trixie made a gesture with her front foreleg over her brow to imply the wiping away of sweat. “This new position as lead Magic Researcher is extremely exhausting at times, however it is also very rewarding. This trip itself has been a rather enjoyable endeavor, wait until I show you what I found!”

“You found something among the ruins?” Twilight inquired.

“Yes, indeed,” Trixie said, in a proud manner, “But first let me introduce you to some pony here.”

It was then that Twilight noticed the third pony in the group. She was a tall unicorn, almost as tall as Princess Luna, with a black dress that covered most of her white body. The dress almost resembled a maid’s uniform, but with more black and blue tones sewn into the fabric.

“Princess Twilight,” Trixie spoke, “Allow me introduce you to Claudia Debillis. She has been working in the obelisk. In fact many of the documents and items here would have gone into disrepair if it were not for her services here.”

Twilight walked over to Claudia, the top of her head coming to Claudia’s shoulder.

“Hello Claudia,” Twilight spoke, “I am Twilight Sparkle, it is a pleasure to meet you.”

“Hello,” Claudia replied in a monotone manner. Claudia reminded Twilight of Pinkie Pie’s sister Maud Pie when she had come to visit Pinkie in Ponyville. Both Maud and Claudia shared the near expressionless appearance and spoke in the same monotone voice, “It is a pleasure to meet you too.”

Something about Claudia made Twilight feel uneasy. The tall unicorn looked around a little bit before asking if she could be excused. Both Twilight and Trixie nodded, and Claudia started walking back to the obelisk.

“I am sorry Twilight,” Trixie expressed apologetically; “Claudia is a little off.”

“Where did she come from?” Twilight inquired.

“Oddly enough, we found her in the Obelisk,” Fire Stride replied, “When we arrived here we found her cleaning the first floor. Shortly after our encounter she provided us with some fresh food. Trixie and I tried asking her how long she had been here, but she responded just like she did with you a moment ago. It seems that her only desire is to take care of that structure and anyone who resides in it.”

Later that day, Fire Stride and Trixie showed Twilight to her new throne room. The room was similar to Celestia’s throne room back in Equestria, except for the fact that it was made of that reflective obsidian-like stone. A long red carpet led from the doorway all the way up to the stone throne. Large purple cushions rested upon the throne for Twilight to sit on. This must have been where Princess Platinum’s father had sat when he ruled over this land. Despite the dark dismal feeling the room seemed to emit, another sensation of welcoming seemed to accompany it. Trixie explained that below the throne room was a large furnace, which had been used when the great snow storms came to this region.

“What do you think Princess?” Fire Stride asked as her majesty sat down on her throne. Much to Twilight’s surprise the throne felt comfortable, almost like one of the couches that Rarity had.

“It is lovely,” Twilight answered, “Thank you.”

Shortly after, Twilight’s new subjects began to show up. While few ponies currently lived in the Mirror-Stone Empire, there were plenty of immigrants from Equestria who sought to either find a new home or to make a fortune in this new region. The first to come forward was an Earth pony by the name of Amethyst-Pie, who may have been a distant relative to Pinkie Pie. Amethyst wanted to open up a rock farm in the empire, a prospect that could be fairly profitable considering the number of large rocks as well as the strange reflective element present in the wasteland. Soon it was agreed upon that Amethyst would have her rock farm under the conditions that a small portion of the profits earned be given to the royal treasury. Considering how profitable this venture would be there was no way that Amethyst could refuse.

Next came a representative for the Equestrian Rail-Road service, who hoped to create a train track system that would link the Mirror-Stone Empire with Equestria. Twilight agreed to support this, as it would allow both empires to trade and exchange resources.

Then a few farming families came by requesting money so they could create some farm-land. After much consideration, Twilight agreed to do so under the condition that any food harvested would first be sold to the local populace before being traded with Equestria. After all, the current foliage in the Mirror-Stone Empire was grass. Thus, the production of food would be dire in the near future.

This was how much of Twilight’s afternoon went: listen to a business proposal, consider said proposal, accept/deny suggested proposal, repeat. This went on for quite some time, causing Twilight’s haunches to ache from the lack of movement and sitting in a chair most of the day. Many of the ponies that entered at first appeared to be intimidated by the dark halls, but once they began to talk with Twilight most seemed to relax. Twilight was going to have to need to do something to make the room more inviting.

Finally, the line of ponies seemed to dissipate, allowing the Alicorn to take a walk and stretch her cramped muscles. As she wandered the halls, the lack of décor made Twilight wish that either her friend Rarity or Pinkie-Pie were here. Rarity really could have spruced up the place, perhaps she still could when she had time off from her fashion show in Manehatten. Pinkie-Pie’s presence itself would be wonderful considering how dim and dull the halls seemed. It wouldn’t be surprising if Pinkie made some goofy poses and faces with the reflective surfaces of the walls, floor and ceiling.

Surprisingly, the reflections didn’t seem to cause Twilight any headaches, the stone had the mysterious property that it only reflected what was present in front of it, while not reflecting the reflections from the other Mirror-stone surfaces. This eliminated the effect seen when a mirror reflects another mirror and creates the visual phenomena of mirrors within mirrors. However, it still made Twilight feel uneasy, as her own reflection was always within her peripheral vision. Perhaps as time went on she would become used to her reflective double looking over her shoulder all the time.

‘Maybe some banners or landscapes paintings will make these halls less intimidating’ Twilight thought. It was then that Twilight noticed Claudia dusting the walls, using her magic to move the duster over the black surface of the wall.

“Hello again,” Twilight said.

“Hello,” Claudia replied in a monotone voice, “Do you need something?”

“Yes,” Twilight answered, “Is there a library here?”

Trixie had mentioned earlier that there were documents within the Obelisk from prior to Princess Platinum’s journey to Equestria. Documents that Trixie knew would interest Twilight. However, up to this point, the princess had been unsuccessful in finding the library.

Instead of replying to Twilight’s question Claudia stopped dusting and started to walk down the hall away from the young Alicorn. After ten steps Claudia turned around and spoke, “Well, are you coming or not?”

Chapter 02

Chapter 02

“Look at this place!”

“Amazing isn’t it.”

“Indeed… hey look over there.”

“This artifact appears to be intact. We should bring it back for further analysis.”

“The king will be pleased.”

-The Unicorn Magic Division

Something felt out of place. Twilight stood in the midst of a black room that was dimly lit by old candles. Strange tribal music resounded throughout the room as six blurred ponies danced to it. They danced in a circle around Twilight at a dizzying pace, all the while giggling to themselves.

Suddenly the music stopped causing the six blurred ponies to halt to a stop. While still remaining in their blurred state Twilight could now see the ponies better and was shocked to discover that they all appeared much like she did. They looked like Alicorns with purple coats with velvet manes and tails.

“Quick! Hide!” The blurred ponies yelled, “He is coming!”

As the blurred twilights ran off the room came more into focus. It was a dimly lit circular room made of black stone, with a hallway connected and a small door. Then a faint red glow started to emanate from the hallway and something within Twilight’s mind warned her that she had to avoid the source of the glow. The red aura seemed to becoming brighter, it must be “him.”

Twilight scurried over to the door and attempted to open it. At first the door didn’t seem to want to budge but after pushing the door harder a couple of times it finally opened. Twilight shut the door behind her and looked around. She found herself in another room except this one had a window to another adjacent hallway.

“Quick,” a twilight apparition spoke from underneath a table, “hide.”

Despite the apparition’s warning the princess peaked through the window and beheld a strange sight. In the hallway there were three unicorns, two of them wore special magical armor to protect themselves from spells while the third wore a medical outfit. The two armed unicorns wielded energy lances at their sides. Twilight remembered seeing such weapons in history books that had been used by unicorns on the battlefield. Yet in modern times the only time you ever saw these types of lances were when the royal guard were dealing with a rogue unicorn. Across from the group was what appeared to be a young filly, however much like the apparition Twilights earlier the filly’s features were masked by some haze.

“It is okay,” The unicorn in the medical outfit spoke and he crept closer to the young filly, “We will just take you back into your room and then…”

Suddenly a strong red spark appeared from the filly’s head and a large orb of black energy appeared on the ceiling sucking everything within reach. The three unicorns tried to run from the sphere but instead they too were absorbed. However before being absorbed one of the guard pony’s was able to blast a beam from her lance hitting the young filly. The orb disappeared and the filly lay on the ground with a large burn mark on its side.

“By Celestia!” Twilight gasped, still looking through the window.

“No,” A voice spoke within Twilight’s mind. Then the filly lunged at the window causing the princess to jump back in surprise. The filly stared at her with bright red eyes, “There is no Celestia here.”

Twilight woke up, her body drenched with sweat. What a horrible dream she thought as she looked around the room. At first she believed she might still be dreaming when she thought she saw another apparition across from her. However it was merely Twilight’s reflection off of the black mirror stone.

After looking around the room and finding nothing that was a threat to her Twilight tried to go back to sleep but every time she closed her eyes she saw those red eyes looking back at her. Even the comfortable velvet sheets on her bed couldn’t relieve the tension Twilight felt. She even tried opening the window for some fresh air yet the way the breeze made the curtains move only made her more nervous. After coming to the realization that she couldn’t sleep Twilight decided to go to the library and perhaps by reading some books find a means to distract herself from that dreadful nightmare.

Using her telekinetic abilities Twilight lifted a lantern off of the night stand and walked out into the hallway. Remembering her previous venture to the library Twilight was able to retrace her steps. Like she had predicted the hallways were fearsome at night with her faint reflection following around her on both sides. Once Twilight thought she saw the reflection of the filly, however after close observation it was revealed to be a small chair.

Twilight contemplated how Claudia could work in this strange place. There were times it seemed to be like a maze to the princess. Did Claudia ever have this problem? Maybe she did once but having cleaned the building for a still unknown amount of time the tall unicorn must have figured out a system to identify, which door went to which room. Perhaps some signs should be added in the future to make it easier for ponies to find their way. It certainly wouldn’t help in an emergency situation if everyone inside the obelisk got lost trying to leave to safety. It could be very hazardous.

Reaching the library Twilight turned on the lights and started looking through the bookshelves. When Claudia had shown Twilight the library earlier the princess was grabbed by some more official ponies who wished to discuss some matters with her and thus Twilight wasn’t able to read any of the books in the library. Thanks to Claudia’s continuous cleaning the books had remained in good condition. Twilight was kind of curious as to why none of these books had been stolen, since many of them would have made a nifty trade at the rainbow falls trading event or could have been sold at a high price to a historian pony or museum. Maybe Claudia had protected these documents but for how long?

Despite the questions Twilight was pleased that these books were here as they could provide her with some information on the history of the Mirror-Stone Empire before the catastrophe that caused it to become the great wasteland outside. She spent a half-hour searching but only found two books that appeared to be of interest. One was a book called, “Our Great Empire” while the other book was slightly off-topic called, “The History of Bicorns.” While this second book wasn’t really along the lines of what she had been looking for it appeared that it might be an interesting read as well as a suitable distraction from her previous nightmare.

The History of Bicorns talked about a fourth tribe of pony known as the Bicorns that were very similar to Unicorns except they had town horns and were far more powerful with magic. This was because the second horn would act as an amplifier for the primary horn thus amplifying the magic cast by the Bicorn. While the book was indeed a fascinating read many of the concepts discussed in the book didn’t seem to apply to the rules of magic or were more farfetched that one might expect. Especially the concept of there once being another race of ponies now lost in time. Still Twilight found it interesting and thought she might analyze it more closely in the future.

“Are you okay princess?” Fire Stride spoke startling Twilight.

“I am sorry Princess. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Fire Stride apologized, “I was just patrolling and saw the light on so I came to investigate.”

“It is okay,” Twilight spoke motioning for Fire Stride to sit down across from her, “I had some difficulty sleeping so I decided to try to research the library for any history of this empire. Perhaps even finding some insight on why it fell and what caused that cataclysm that wiped it out.”

The royal guard sat down at the table across from the princess, “Have you found anything useful?”

Twilight smirked, “Sadly no. I was kind of side-tracked by this other book,” Twilight showed Fire Stride the History of Bicorns book, “It speaks of a fourth pony tribe that died out long before this empire was ever established.”

Fire Stride shrugged his shoulders, “I have heard of stranger things. I remember hearing about a tree that created six magical stones that were used to defeat the lord Discord as well as Luna when she was known as Nightmare Moon.”

“However that is actually true I know that because there is evidence of this.” Twilight spoke a little harshly, how dare Fire Stride doubt these facts that even he had witnessed.

“I am sorry,” Fire Stride replied, “I was merely trying to point out that we have evidence of certain things such as the Elements of Harmony, things that the ponies of the future may find difficult to believe themselves. Perhaps these Bicorns did in fact exist once but the evidence for their existence lost, except with this book.”

Twilight signed, she hadn’t meant to be aggressive towards Fire Stride.

“My apologies Fire Stride,” Twilight apologized, “I am tired and my dreams have forsaken me this night.”

There was a long pause where both Fire Stride and Twilight sat silently. Fire Stride smiled and spoke, “Well, you may not appreciate this, but whenever any of my children have trouble sleeping I tell them the stories that my father told me when I was a foal.”

“What kind of story?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Mostly stories about my ancestors and their past adventures,” Fire Stride said, “However compared to many of the adventures you have experienced they may seem trivial.”

“Still,” Twilight said, with a smile, “it would be interesting to hear a tale from an old friend.”

Fire Stride adjusted his seat, “Very well, allow me to tell you a story about my fifth great grandfather Storm Razor the son of the great Pegasus commander Hurricane. After the three pony tribes made their way to Equestria everyone tried to make a new home for themselves, however there were creatures that were not fond of the new-comers. Now please keep in mind this was before Discord came to power in Equestria so the main threat to the new Equestrians were the hounds.

“These bipedal dog like creatures perceived the arrival of ponies as a threat to their own existence. After all it had been the ponies that had brought the Windigos and the great snow to their land. Thus they began to attack pony traders and pillage their settlements. In response Commander Hurricane declared war against the hounds. However Storm Razor instead setup up barricades and defenses for the pony settlements while having his men patrol to protect the villages.

“One day Storm Razor was leading such a patrol when they were ambushed by a hound hunting party. Both sides suffered significant causalities but in the end the ponies were victorious. Storm Razor stood over the last surviving dog and considered piercing its heart with his lance. However he could not so despite the complaints of wounded comrades Storm Razor let the hound go.”

“Why,” Twilight asked, “Why did he let one of his ambushers escape?”

Fire Stride smiled, “Storm Razor’s own father asked him that exact same question. His response was simple, ‘it was clear the hound had lost and to kill the pathetic creature where it lay there would do no pony any good. So I let him have his life.’ And it was a good thing to. Because in a later battle it would be that exact same hound that he spared, who would save Storm Razor’s own life.”

“Well,” Twilight inquired, “Why don’t you tell me about it?”

“Perhaps another time princess,” Fire Stride replied, “but it is already late and tomorrow will be a busy day. So you should try to get some rest your highness.”

The purple Alicorn yawned, Fire Stride was right. She should try to get some more sleep before the dawn came. As she slept Twilight dreamed of a Storm Razor running through the woods and of unicorns with two horns casting various colorful spells.

Chapter 03

Chapter 03

“Some ponies are destined for greatness. Others are destined to serve as sacrifices. There are also those among this latter group that are born merely to serve this purpose. They have one of two answers: acceptance or rebellion. However in the end it is always the same. There is always death.”

-Shadow-Stalk

As Twilight walked through the ruins with her royal guard as the excavation crew went about moving the rubble. The plan was that by clearing the wreckage that repairs could be underway. Hopefully once repaired the ruined structures could serve as houses or shops for the residents of the Mirror-Stone Empire. Also there was something Trixie wanted to show Twilight.

“Now you wouldn’t believe this,” Trixie spoke in a excited tone, “but one of our recovery teams found a mysterious chamber under this section of the city.”

As the group continued walking Trixie lead them to a stairway that descended into the city’s sewer system.

“Three weeks ago this area was selected for restoration purposes. While examining the structure of this system a member of the recovery team stepped on an unstable floor tile, which collapsed causing her to fall. Fortunately all the pony suffered was a few bruises however her fall revealed the secret chamber.”

“Should we be worried about the stability of this enclosed space?” Fire Stride asked intensely.

“Certainly,” Trixie said with a huff, “After the incident I had the excavation team bring in some supports to increase the stability of this area. I also place a warning spell over the supports so that if anyone of them were strained too far an alarm will sound alerting everyone so they may flee to safety.”

‘That is reassuring’ Twilight thought to herself. Suddenly another royal guard walked up to Fire Stride and whispered something in his ear. The red pony nodded and waved the guard away before bowing to the princess.

“My apologies your majesty,” the commander Pegasus spoke, “but there are some matters I need to address. Please continue on, I shouldn’t be too long.”

Twilight nodded and Fire Stride followed after the guard. Trixie, Twilight and the remainder of her guards continued to the system until they came to a large gaping hole in the pavement. Below there were a few earth ponies doing various tasks from moving rubble, to measuring the walls and looking for defects. A single ladder led down to the chamber below.

“Sorry Twilight,” Trixie spoke, “But we didn’t have anything more extravagant.”

“It is alright,” Twilight said moving towards the ladder, “This will do.”

The group descended the ladder a single pony at a time. Two recovery team ponies held the ladder still so that the group could descend safely. Once they were on the ground Trixie lead them through a large tunnel that was two ponies tall and three ponies wide. As they walked the Princess noticed other tunnels leading off of this main one, similar to the catacombs underneath Castle of the Two Sisters. Twilight and the group walked for about seven minutes before the tunnel opened up into a cavern.

“Now would you look at this?” Trixie said motioning her hoof through the chamber “Isn’t it amazing?”

The chamber was large; the walls carved out of mirror-stone now cracked with age and an amphitheater in its center. In the middle of the amphitheater stood the statue of a mare dressed royal attire. Twilight recognized the royal mare as Queen Sapphire, the mother of Princess Platinum. The queen looked proud with her hoof held forward and a look of determination on her face. After looking at the statue for a minute Twilight noticed something behind it.

On the other side of the chamber stood what appeared to be a large circular door. A dozen excavation ponies stood around while members of the recovery team placed magical devices up against the door.

“Fascinating,” Twilight said motioning towards the door, “Do you have any idea what is on the other side?”

“We will find out soon enough.” Trixie spoke walking over to one of the recovery ponies. He was a light blue unicorn with a white mane; he also wore glasses and a white lab coat with the name-tag, ‘Jerrode.’

“Your highness,” Jerrode said once he noticed the princess, bowing his head to her, “the presence of your majesty honors us.”

“It is a pleasure to be here.” Twilight replied.

“Have you had any success finding out what is behind that door?” Trixie asked Jerrode.

“Using our sonar devices we have determined that there is a large space behind that door, perhaps even larger then this chamber,” Jerrod spoke before pushing his glass up his nose and shaking his head, “but sadly that is all we have discovered. The mirror stone seems to be greatly impacting our machines thus preventing us from seeing what is behind the door.”

“A chamber larger than this one,” Twilight inquired, “What purpose would Queen Sapphire have for such a large chamber?”

“I don’t know princess,” Jerrode spoke. “but one thing you may find more shocking is the fact that the door is much older than that statue. As a matter of fact the statue appears to have been erected a decade after the door was completed.”

‘That seems a little odd,’ Twilight thought to herself, ‘I guess that means that the chamber had some other purpose originally but was later dedicated to the Queen.’

“What is your plan to gain access to that chamber?” The Princess inquired. Jerrode’s expressions changed as he began to think on the subject.

“Hmmm… well, we tried using the excavation drills but they didn’t put in so much as a dent in the door,” Jerrode said before pointing at some barricades being put into place, “so the next step will be an attempt to use high explosives to blast a hole in it.”

“Explosives!” Twilight’s ears shot up, “But wouldn’t that be dangerous considering the stability of this chamber?”

Jerrode nodded, “That is why we have several ponies reinforcing the chamber walls. The explosives won’t be here for a couple more hours. In the mean while it might be a good idea for Trixie to show you to your quarters. We have a special room for your majesty to stay in while you are here to observe the operation.”

Suddenly there was a commotion to the right side of the chamber. A group of excavation ponies held their drills defensively to ward off a fearsome creature resembling a dog with two heads. An orthros, Twilight recognized at as she had seen Fluttershy and Rainbow-Dash pulling one around at the Rainbowfalls Trading Festival a couple years ago.

“How did an orthros get in here?” One of Twilight’s guards asked frantically.

“It actually isn’t too surprising,” Trixie replied, “Remember this area has only recently been uncovered by ponies. No doubt much of the local wildlife moved in after the Mirror-Stone Empire fell years ago. No doubt the orthros thought this would make a great home.”

“Unfortunately, that orthros will hinder this expedition if it isn’t removed,” Jerrode spoke, “We may have to euthanize it.”

Twilight’s heart sunk as she remembered her old friend Fluttershy. The yellow Pegasus loved animals even to the point of sharing her own home with them. It would sadden Fluttershy greatly if even a fierce creature like this orthros was killed.

“Wait,” Twilight spoke, “Let me try something

“Princess are you sure this is wise?” Jerrode asked, “The orthros seems awfully aggressive. You could be injured.”

“Maybe,” Twilight replied, “However it would be better to resolve this situation peacefully if possible.”

“What do you have in mind?” Trixie asked.

Twilight thought for a moment, “Did we bring anything to eat with us?”

“There are a few oat-burgers packed. Trixie replied. After looking through their bags Trixie pulled out an oat-burger and telekinetically gave it to Twilight who telekinetically held it behind her back as she approached the orthros.

The two headed dog barked loudly and threshold at the surrounding ponies. The excavation team cautiously moved aside for the princess, making a clear path for her while being close enough to jump in front of her in case the orthros attacked. It saddened Twilight that these ponies would be willing to die in order to protect her.

While maintaining her telekinesis Twilight cast another spell, one she had practiced with Fluttershy back in Ponyville a year ago. It was sort of an animal communication spell. While it didn’t allow the pony to talk to animals and vice versa, it did allow her to share her intentions with it. The orthros continued to growl.

“Hey there boy,” Twilight spoke calmly, sending signals of her good intentions to the orthros with her spell, “Would you like to calm down for me?”

The orthros stopped growling but it continued to glare with its two pairs of eyes. Its muscles still tense as it stood ready to react.

“Would this help?” Twilight asked revealing the hidden oat-burger. Seeing the burger the orthros’s eyes went wide and its ears shot straight up. Normally a carnivorous creature like the orthros would find little interest in pony food but the oat-burger had some soy-beans in it, which could serve as a source of protein. A resource that was difficult to obtain in the wasteland. Also the seasonings probably made it smell more appealing to the two-headed dog. The Orthros sniffed in the air and within seconds its two mouths were salivating.

“I’ll give it to you if you let these ponies be.” Twilight spoke holding the burger in front of her while conveying that she meant no harm to the creature. The orthros sat on its hunches panting with its two heads.

“Very well,” Twilight said telekinetically tearing the oat-burger in half and placing it in front of the orthros, “Here you go.”

The orthros greedily wolfed down the two burger halves. Once it finished licking its lips the two-headed dog looked up at Twilight with glistening eyes. After having the meal the orthros just followed the princess around like a puppy.

“Well, you certainly have a way with animals.” Jerrode spoke glancing to Twilight’s side, where the orthros sat.

“I have a friend who likes animals,” Twilight shrugged, “I just remember some of the things she would do.”

“That spell you used must have been of some help though.” Trixie said with a grin. One trait Trixie had was how she enjoyed bragging. In the past she would brag about her exploits but as she stepped out of her acting role and starting making more friends this trait adapted to where she would also like to gloat about her friends and their accomplishments. Jerrode looked impressed at this making Twilight feel nervous.

“Oh its just a minor spell,” Twilight said nervously, “When I developed it I was originally trying to create a spell that would allow a pony to be able to understand and communicate with animals. However there was very little success as it only allowed the caster to share their intentions with the animal. So you could say it was more like a reinforcement spell.”

“It is still impressive.” Jerrode replied.

Now that the orthros was no longer detaining the ponies from reinforcing the wall Trixie lead Twilight back through the tunnel they had come from earlier. They went through a second tunnel on the right and come to a hallway with several rooms built into it. This was probably where the recovery and excavation team members slept. At the end of the long corridor was a doorway, which lead to another small chamber. This was the VIP sleeping quarters. Within the chamber there were four doors as well as another tunnel with a sign above it reading, “Surface Exit.”

“In the case of an emergency take this tunnel,” Trixie spoke, “It connects back to the main tunnel. From there move as swiftly as possible to the surface.”

Twilight nodded. It would be handy to know this in case there was a cave in. Trixie then redirected the princess’s attention to one of the doors. This door was larger then the others and its door frame was covered with purple stars. A sign on the door read, “Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“Here Twilight,” Trixie said, pointing a hoof at the door, “This is your room.”

The two ponies stepped inside the small room. Inside there was a desk with a pen and inkwell, twelve blank scrolls, a map showing the tunnel matrix and a first-aid kit. A chair and bookshelf rested behind the desk. There were not very many books on the shelf and most of them had to deal with either tunnel excavation or geology. Across from the desk there was a small bed covered in white linen bed sheets.

“I hope you don’t mind the simplicity of this bed,” Trixie spoke, “It was the only bed we could bring down here.”

Twilight waved a hoof, “It is fine. Thank you. I hope you don’t mind but I am tired and I would like to get some sleep.”

“Of course,” Trixie replied, walking towards the door, “We will have someone come for you once the explosive charges are in place.”

Once the blue unicorn left Twilight set down her saddlebags and lay down upon the bed, pulling the sheets over her body. The orthros then jumped onto the bed and after making three complete circles lay down at the foot of the bed, resting its two heads on its paws. Twilight watched with interest as the orthros slept there peacefully. She found it odd that this creature was so trusting of her, perhaps her spell had worked better then she thought.

“You know,” Twilight spoke thinking aloud, “if this keeps up I am going to have to give you a name.”

Upon saying this Twilight yawned and rested her eyes. Soon she was fast asleep.

Chapter 04

Chapter 04

“Sister are you sure you should have let her go?”

“Yes, Luna this has to be done. She must go or else everything shall fail?”

“Yes, but are you sure she is ready?” How are you sure that she is the one for this role?”

“I am quite sure my sister. I was sure of it before I began to mentor her.”

-A conversation between Celestia and Luna on the day of Twilight’s departure.

The ring of a loud explosion woke the Alicorn up from her slumber. The Orthros awoke as well who began to bark as the room vibrated. Seconds later a sharp screeching sound began to resonate off the walls. Trixie’s alarm spell must have been triggered, meaning that the stability of the tunnel had been compromised somewhere.

“We need to leave.” Twilight told the Orthros as she telekinetically grabbed her saddle bags and placed them on her back. She opened the door and immediately ran toward the exit tunnel the Orthros in tow. They ran down the tunnel but had to stop because the door to the main tunnel was jammed.

The princess could hear voices on the other side of the door. No doubt they were members of the excavation team trying to clear away the rubble from the cave in blocking the door.

“Hello!” Twilight called out, “can any pony hear me?”

“Princess,” A voice spoke from the other side, “is everything okay? Are you alright?”

“We’re fine,” Twilight yelled back, “What happened?”

“The explosives went off prematurely on their way to the main chamber," The voice replied, “It seems that the passageway to Queen Sapphire’s chamber as well as to the sleeping quarters has been closed off. We also have reason to believe that there are ponies trapped within. Possibly even injured.”

Hearing this, the princess came to the realization that the ponies were trapped on the same side she was. Some of them might be injured and in need of her help.

“I will attempt to find those ponies. Okay. Just keep digging at the rock.” Twilight called out. There were no sounds of objection as Twilight went back to her room to grab the map and the first aid kit. Then she and the Orthros left the VIP sleeping quarters. The princess went through the excavation/recovery team quarters to check and see if anyone was there. The search ended quickly due to there being no ponies in the quarters. Thus Twilight decided to check the tunnel to see if she could gain access to Queen Sapphire’s Chambers.

“Help!”

Twilight heard a weak cry deeper in the tunnel. Immediately the Orthros ran down the tunnel towards the source of the call. As she neared the princess spotted a place where a portion of the tunnel wall had broken free. A recovery pony lay on the ground with one of her hind legs trapped underneath the rubble of the fallen wall. The Orthros stood beside the pony barking to attract Twilight’s attention.

Using her telekinesis Twilight lifted the rocks off of the poor mare’s leg. Opening the first-aid kit the princess pulled out some bandages as well as a splint to hold the mare’s broken leg in place. Twilight then cast a spell that would allow the leg to heal more quickly. Now she could have healed to leg entirely however doing so would require a lot more energy, which Twilight might need to spend on other deadlier wounds she might came across.

“Thank you.” The recovery mare said, as Twilight helped her to stand up.

“No problem,” Twilight pointed down the tunnel from which she had come, “go to the VIP sleeping quarters. Back there are some ponies trying to clear the blockage.”

Watching the recovery pony go Twilight turned toward the Orthros who sat on its honches panting. Twilight examined the Orthros a little bit before speaking, “Sorry for the lack of imagination here but I think I will call you… Browney.”

The Orthros merely responded by cocking both its heads and raising both of their left ears.

Another five minutes passed as Twilight moved through the tunnel toward Queen Sapphire’s chamber. Piles of rock made traversing the tunnel difficult but soon she was out staring at the large chamber interior. Looking around the princess was surprised that there were not any ponies trapped here. Twilight thought she saw a shape lying by Queen Sapphire’s statue, like an injured pony laying on its side. The pony’s body was covered in a dirty robe.

“Hello.” Twilight spoke as she neared the pony on the ground. It was then that Twilight realized that Browney wasn’t beside her. Where had the Orthros gone? As she contemplated this, the princess heard a chuckling sound off to her right. She looked but didn’t spot anything, at least not at first. There was something being reflected off of the mirror-stone wall, something that wasn’t supposed to be there.

In the reflection a black colt looked back at her with red eyes. It resembled a unicorn but there was something strange with its horn. Behind the filly stood a misshapen Alicorn looking back at Twilight with the same red eyes.

“What do you want?” Twilight yelled at the two reflections. However they just kept on laughing at her. Then suddenly the laughing stopped and the two reflections turned their attention to something else. It was then that the princess heard movement behind her.

Twilight turned to see the robed body on the ground rise to its full height. It was then that the princess realized it wasn’t a pony at all but something else altogether. It stood on two legs, its nails clicking against the stone floor. Under its hood a white face stared back at Twilight. A ceramic pony doll’s face looked back at the princess, however both of the doll’s eyes and its lower jaw were missing. Instead two canine eyes looked back at her with saliva dripping from sharp doggy teeth.

Twilight screamed as the robed abomination lunged at her. It violently dug its teeth into her neck and began to shack her in an attempt to break her neck.

Seconds later the princess opened her eyes to realize that it wasn’t the monster that was shaking her but instead a couple of the excavation ponies trying to wake her. She lay on the chamber floor next to the statue of Queen Sapphire, where she had stood moments ago.

“Your highness, are you alright!” Jerrode asked a worried expression on his face. Browney sat beside him looking at Twilight nervously.

“What happened?” The startled Alicorn asked, “What is going on?”

“Some of the ponies here say that about an hour ago you just walked into this chamber,” Jerrode spoke while examining Twilight for any injuries she might have sustained, “They say it was like you were sleep walking. Then you walked up to the statue and suddenly collapsed. When one of the excavation ponies came over and tried to wake you, you just started screaming and flailing your arms.”

“Where… where did it go?” Twilight asked, frantically looking about the room.

“What? What are you referring to?” Jerrode inquired.

Twilight thought back to the creature. Despite what the face looked like she had been able to recognize a portion of its body structure through the dirty robes. A creature she had seen a few years ago in an underground tunnel system.

“Diamond… dog.”

After a few minutes Twilight was able to calm down. Both she and Jerrode came to the conclusion that something in the tunnels must have subconsciously reminded Twilight of the time her friend Rarity had been kidnapped by the diamond dogs for the purpose of gem mining. When attempting to rescue her Twilight and the rest of her friends had wound up being captured by the hounds.

However this didn’t explain the strange mask the creature had worn or the two reflections Twilight had seen. Trixie arrived some time shortly, she had been aiding the other ponies with the removal of the fallen cave wall.

“Twilight what were you doing in this chamber? Why did you come here after the explosion?” Trixie asked.

“The door to the main tunnel had been blocked off by the cave in,” Twilight replied, “Thus instead of waiting to be rescued I figured I would search and see if there was anyone in this chamber that might be a trapped and in need of my help.”

Twilight told the other two ponies about the events leading up to this including the voice on the other side of the blocked door. After she finished speaking Twilight noticed that both Jerrode and Trixie were looking back at her with shocked expressions.

“What? What is wrong?” Twilight asked, perplexed by their bizarre expressions.

“Twilight,” Trixie was the first to speak, “Your door wasn’t blocked by the cave in. The collapse happened further down the tunnel closer to the Queen Sapphire’s chamber. You should have been able to leave for the safety of the surface.”

This didn’t make any sense. Was Trixie telling Twilight that she could have left at any point in time? But the door was blocked, wasn’t it? Was the voice on the other side of the door a subconscious delusion?

“But… but what about the mare was I found injured in the tunnel?”

“She was indeed injured,” Jerrode replied, “but she is fine now thanks to the first-aid you applied to her. Once you bandaged her up she was able to find her way back to the surface. The mare says she wouldn’t have made it if it were not for your help.”

Twilight signed. It was a relief to know that it wasn’t all just one strange dream. But then what did really happen? Surely the door being blocked had been a hallucination. Had something or some pony been intentionally holding the door closed and if so… why? What could this mean?

“Twilight you look tired,” Trixie spoke, “maybe we should head back to the Obelisk. If anything here is discovered then Jerrode can give you a full report later.”

Jerrode nodded. Thus Trixie, Twilight and her guards ascended back up the tunnel system to the surface. As they neared the entrance Twilight could see the rays of the sun shining through the sewer entrance. It was so bright that the group had to shield their eyes to allow for their vision to adjust. Coming out of the sewer system the princess was greeted by Fire-Stride.

“Good afternoon your majesty,” Fire Stride spoke, “How is the exploration going on down there?”

“There was a cave in but aside from that everything else went well.” Twilight replied not really wanting to do into detail about the endeavor she went through in Queen Sapphire’s chamber.

“Yes, I heard something about that!” Fire Stride said while turning to glare at Trixie.

“Hey!” Trixie yelled, “Don’t look at me like that. It was the excavation team’s explosives that caused the cave in. Also when the explosion went off my warning spell alerted every pony just like I said it would!”

There was a long pause before Fire Stride turned to address the princess, “Well, if your majesty is unharmed I suppose I can forgive this matter.”

“Forgive!” Trixie yelled again, “What do you mean FORGIVE!”

“The matter that you put the princess’s life in jeopardy,” Fire Stride retorted, “After all NOPONY told me that there were going to be explosives used! If I had known I would have stayed and had one of the other royal guards address the issue that had called away my attention!”

“What was the matter that called for your attention?” Twilight asked, both out of curiosity and in an attempt to defuse the argument the two ponies were having.

“There was an intruder spotted a few miles from this location. Thus I went to check and see if this intruder was a threat.”

“I bet it was probably some local that had just made a wrong turn and was lost,” Trixie said her tone still indicating her irritation with the royal guard pony, “Wouldn’t be too surprising seeing as new citizens are starting to come Twilight’s new kingdom.”

Fire Stride’s eyes narrowed again, and Twilight waved for him to continue.

“First this ‘local’ as it were was able to successful dispatch an entire squadron of guards,” Fire Stride spoke in a dead serious manner, “and second the intruder wasn’t a pony.”

“What?” Trixie asked, now it was her turn to be serious, “What would have the ability to do that?”

“Did anyone get a good look at the intruder,” Twilight inquired, “What did it look like.”

“From the information I gathered from my squadron as well as the survivors of the injured squadron,” Fire Stride spoke, “The intruder had the shape of a diamond dog.”

Chapter 05

Chapter 05

“Sometimes the same item must be perceived from two different views in order to be fully understood. Like water, which may be perceived as a vapor or as a chunk of ice, a journey can be viewed also from both the beginning and the end.”

-Star-swirl the bearded

Rainbow-dash sat on a stool in the Apple Family’s new barn, where she sat wallowing in a keg of hard apple cider, her seventh to be precise. It wasn’t because of her fondness for the cider, but rather to aid with her sorrow, a sorrow that only the alcohol seemed to sate.

“Hi Rainbow-dash,” A familiar voice said to her right. Turning to her right the blue Pegasus saw a purple dragon with green dorsal spikes. The dragon resembled someone she had known a couple years prior. However this dragon was much larger about the size of an adult pony. He also had two small wings growing on his back.

“Oh hello,” Rainbow-dash spoke dryly, “who *hic* are you?”

“It’s me Dash,” the dragon responded, “Spike!”

Rainbow-dash looked the dragon up and down. There was indeed a resemblance to the baby dragon she had once known.

“I guess you *hic* are,” Rainbow-dash said taking another swig of cider, “You have grown since the last time I saw you. Come to*hic* think about it that was the last time I *hic* saw Twi.”

“Yeah those were some good times we had together,” Spike spoke, “Back when the seven of us used to perform various activities around Ponyville together.”

“It is a shame that Applebloom decided not to come to the celebration.” Spike thought aloud, “I wonder why?”

Rainbow-dash muttered something under her breath and went back to drinking.

“So I heard *hic* that this *hic* awesome party *hic* is because of you?” Rainbow-dash inquired.

Spike seemed to shrink a little at the remark, “Well, yeah. I suppose you could say that. I accidentally burned down the old barn. Since I was responsible for destroying it the least I could do was to aid in rebuilding it. But the party is really just a celebration for the barn being rebuilt.”

“Oh *hic* whatever.” Rainbow-dash downed the rest of the cider in her keg.

“Ah Rainbow-dash are you okay?”

The blue Pegasus slammed the empty keg down on the counter, “I’m *hic* fine. Never been *hic* better. Hey! Macintosh! Give me *hic* another keg *hic* will ya!”

The red earth pony looked disapprovingly at Rainbow-dash, clearly having kept count on how much she had drunk, “Nope.”

“What!” Raindbow-dash yelled, “how dare you *hic* refuse me a drink! I’m the biggest fan of your *hic* cider. Come on just another drink!”

“Nope!”

“Ohh! Coommme on!” Rainbow-dash moaned, “Hey! Applejack! Tell your *hic* brother to give me some more *hic* cider.”

“No Dash!” Applejack spoke as she walked over to stand by her brother, “I know why yer doin this but it ain’t goin to help you with yer problem.”

As enraged as she was the blue Pegasus didn’t notice as the purple dragon stood up from his chair and quietly walked away. Nor did she notice the mare that sat down beside her.

“Comme onn!” Rainbow-dash moaned once more, “Just one more drink. Pleeaase.”

Applejack sighed, “Fine Dash! One mor drink. But that is it. No mor after that!”

“Sure! Whatever!” Rainbow-dash said as Macintosh reluctantly slid another keg of cider across the counter. As soon as the cup was in front of her the Pegasus began to drink, still oblivious to the pony beside her. Macintosh signed and walked away.

“So this is your solution,” The mare spoke, “what a shame. I expected much more out of you Rainbow… crash!”

After spraying the contents of her mouth Rainbow-dash spoke, “Excuse me!”

Rainbow-dash looked at the other pony besides her. She wore a black hoodie that concealed most of her features. Her fur was a pale green, a strand of her contrasting yellow mane slipped out from under her hoodie. She looked back at Rainbow-dash with a wicked grin on her face.

“Oh you heard me,” The hooded mare spoke, “I suppose it is a fitting title considering what happened at the incident.”

“Shut up.” Rainbow-dash mumbled as she returned that the hooded pony wasn’t done taunting the rainbow manned Pegasus.

“Not that it really matters,” The green pony spoke, “I am fairly certain you weren’t a good flyer before the incident anyway.”

“I *hic* said shud up!” Rainbow-dash growled. The other pony continued to ignore her protest.

“Or you will do what!” The hooded pony said, putting her mouth up to the Pegasus’s ear, “Rain. Bow. Crash.”

Furiously the rainbow manned Pegasus grabbed her keg and slammed it into the side of the green mare’s head knocking her and the stool she sat on to the floor. Rainbow-dash jumped off her stool and landed on top of the hooded pony. As she started slamming her front hooves into the mare’s face, Applejack yelled at a couple cowponies to step in. The two stallions grabbed Rainbow-dash pulling her off the green pony.

“Take ‘er out to the trough to cool off!” Applejack yelled at the two cowponies. As they took her outside Rainbow-dash struggled as much as she could. However despite her best efforts the cowponies maintained a good grip on the blue Pegasus.

After a few minutes Rainbow-dash thought she must have wriggled free of the cowponies’ grasp because she was suddenly free. Reality hit her hard as she found herself splashing around in the water trough. Rainbow-dash yelled out a list of insults before realizing that the two cowponies had already gone back inside.

After minutes of yelling Rainbow-dash calmed down and her mind wondered as she gazed at her reflection in the water. How had it come to this? Once Rainbow-dash had been a respected pony, a pony whose dream was to fly the best she could. Her efforts were so great that she made it into the Wonderbolt reserves, and had moved up the ranks until she was an official member of the Wonderbolts. Then the accident happened and that dream came crashing down around her.

It was then that Rainbow-dash had started drinking cider. Not the standard stuff but instead the harder ciders that the Apple family had reserved for special events, rare occasions and as refreshment after a long hard days work. They seemed to dissolve her depression and everything almost felt like it had never changed. However a lot had changed, many of her friends had left her due to her new habit.

Rainbow-dash signed. It was her fault everything had been her fault.

A noise drew the Pegasus’s attention from her reflection, to notice the hooded pony that was watching her. The green pony just stood there, her face still stained with some of her own blood. Blood from the injuries Rainbow-dash had inflicted upon her while in a drunken rage. The hooded pony’s eyes shoot daggers of anger at the rainbow manned Pegasus.

“Sorry about that,” Rainbow-dash said stepping out of the trough, “I shouldn’t have let my anger get the best of me back there.”

The hooded pony merely smiled back at Rainbow-dash, her facial features more clear as they were illuminated by a strange green glow. Somehow the pleasant grin seemed sly and cruel. Before Rainbow-dash could respond a sharp pain shot through the back of her skull causing her to fall to the ground.

While still dizzy Rainbow-dash could still feel the green pony’s hoof as she pushed the Pegasus over so that she was looking upward. The green mare pulled off her hood revealing a horn with some strange metallic device encircling the base. Magical energy moved out from the device in a wavy manner. A wooden board levitated in the air beside the green pony.

“Ready to have some fun Dash!” The green unicorn said as she brought the board down hard on the Pegasus’s head.

Chapter 06

Chapter 06

“Have you seen true darkness? Of course not. In order to know it you have to be born into it. There are few who have but I have seen them before. As soon as they were ripped from their mother’s womb they were in darkness. To these foals the day was like night. That was when all the monsters came out.”

-Shadow-Stalk

Rainbow-dash found herself in an abandoned alleyway with a black sky overhead. How did she arrive here? Last Rainbow-dash remembered she was on Applejack’s farm having her brains beaten out by some stupid unicorn. So how had she wound up in an alleyway like this one?

Looking up she saw neon signs as well as a bulletin board advertising Rarity’s new line of crystal dresses. All these indicated to Rainbow-dash that she was in Manehatten but she was still puzzled as to how she had come here. Down the alleyway movement caught Rainbow-dash’s attention. The shadow of another pony had shifted around the corner.

“Hey!” Rainbow-dash yelled, “Wait a minute!”

She ran in attempt to catch up with the source of the shadow. Rainbow-dash turned the corner to find herself out on the main street. There were cracks in the pavement and cabs turned on their sides. Looking around the street appeared to be deserted, until a shadow moved in a building across from her.

“Hello?” Rainbow-dash called out as she stepped into the building. It appeared to have once been a dress shop, however all of the dresses were gone now leaving only unclothed mannequins in their place. Rarity would have been by the cash register sat what appeared to be a mirror of sorts, however a strange pale-green fog moved across the surface. A scraya-mirror?

The blue Pegasus had heard about the mirrors from Twilight once who said that at some point they might be used for communication and perhaps even home entertainment in the future. At the time Rainbow-dash had scoffed saying that the Pegasi mail companies would probably not let something like this jeopardize their business. The cyan Pegasus gently shifted the mirror with her fore hoof and was surprised to see the image change and come into focus.

The image was of a blue pony wearing a brown pony mash, which possessed a purple mane and a broad smile stitched into its features. From behind the mask two pale green eyes looked back at Rainbow-dash.

“Hey there Dash!” The pony spoke in a gravely tone, “I have something important to tell you!”

“Who are you?” Rainbow-dash yelled, “What do you want from me!”

The masked pony shuck her head in response, “There isn’t much time to explain everything in detail. Lets just say you took a big hit to your head and perhaps your ego too."

The blue Pegasus rubbed her forehead and sure enough there was a nasty bruise in the center of it.

“Now listen! You are not alone. There are ‘things’ here that would love to make your life miserable. Not only that but there are ‘waves’ you should avoid them as much as possible.” As the masked pony finished her message fog started to roll over the surface of the mirror again.

“Wait!” Rainbow-dash yelled as she grasped at the mirror, “hold on a sec!”

Despite the Pegasus’s protest the masked pony’s image disappeared replaced by rolling fog. A muttering sound alerted Rainbow-dash that something was behind her, turning she saw an earth pony, her pink coat covered in black slime. The pony’s eyes looked back into its skull. It seemed to moan as it stammered towards Rainbow-dash.

“Hey are you okay?” Rainbow-dash asked as the slime covered pony neared. As the creature came close its leg came in contact with one of the drawers on the counter. To Rainbow-dash’s horror as soon as its leg hit the drawer its entire body dissolved and splattered to the floor, leaving a black puddle were it once had stood.

Rainbow-dash stood there frozen, starring at the black stain on the floor. Finally gathering her will to move on the blue Pegasus side stepping the puddle and ascending the stairs at the back of the store. Rainbow-dash winced when she crushed the corpse of a dead cockroach underneath her hoof. Reaching the top of the steps the blue Pegasus found herself on the rooftop of the store. Looking down she spotted more of those slime-covered ponies in the courtyard below.

As she looked on Rainbow-dash noticed something off in the distance to see a green wave of energy surging in her direction. Remembering the advice that the masked pony had given the Pegasus rushed to take cover behind what appeared to be the stores ventilation duct. As the wave pulsed past Rainbow-dash could feel a fraction of its force as the air gushed past.

Once the wave had dissipated the blue Pegasus looked back down into the courtyard. The slime-covered ponies were gone now, replaced with puddles of black ooze. The wave should indeed be avoided as much as possible.

Something grabbed Rainbow-dash’s attention and she looked down to see the shadow of a pony around the corner of an alleyway. The Pegasus flew over to the top of another building to get a closer look. Her wings ached as she landed on the rooftop. She hated how her wings hurt; it hadn’t always been so painful to fly.

Down in the alley a lavender pony slowly galloped. She had folded wings and a horn stretched from her purple mane. An Alicorn.

“Hey Twilight!” Rainbow-dash yelled at the Alicorn, “Wait up!”

Stretching out her wings Rainbow-dash attempted to glide down to catch up with Twilight Sparkle. However as she was about to land Rainbow-dash’s foot was caught on a garbage can causing her to ram face first into the pavement, and to be showered with trash. Looking up Rainbow-dash saw that Twilight had not stopped but had continued walking up a stairway into another brick building.

“Twilight!” Rainbow-dash called out, “wait for me!”

Twilight just kept walking and after ascending a few concrete steps, disappeared into the shadows of the brick building. Annoyed Rainbow-dash was about to curse under her breath when she noticed a green aura eclipsing the buildings to her right. Another wave was coming! Running at full speed the blue Pegasus charged at the doorway of the abandoned building. Rainbow-dash stretched out her wings and flung herself through the doorway, a wave of green energy passed by. Rainbow-dash skidded to a stop, her face stopping just meters from a brick wall.

Looking around Rainbow-dash could tell that the building had been abandoned for a long period of time. There were holes in the asphalt floor giving way to pools of black slime. A slime covered pony walked around the room in a circular motion, moaning as it went. There was a table with old documents in the center of the invisible circle the creature was pacing. Not wanting to bother the pony Rainbow-dash walked past it toward the door to stairwell. This was the only other door in the room that Twilight could have taken as the other doors lead to empty rooms.

Rainbow-dash tried to open the door but it was locked. The Pegasus groaned at the discovery, then she noticed the moaning behind her had stopped. She turned to watch as the slime covered pony turned to look at her, its pale eyes turning into a vicious red. The creature shrieked and charged at the rainbow maned pony. Caught by surprise Rainbow-dash found herself pinned to the floor by the slimy creature as it lashed out at her with its hooves. Retaliating Rainbow-dash raised her hind hooves and attempted to buck the slime-covered pony off of her. The creature disintegrated into a black oozy puddle.

After cleaning herself off Rainbow-dash began looking around the room hoping to perhaps find a key to the stairwell. Soon she found herself looking at the desk that the slimy pony had paced around. Under an Equestria Daily newspaper Rainbow-dash found the key. After unlocking the door the Pegasus grabbed an old wooden plank off the ground and held it in her mouth. If there were anymore of those creatures were in here she would be ready for them.

The stairs going up were blocked by large amounts of debris including a desk, forcing Rainbow-dash to descend the stairs into the basement. The blue Pegasus had to keep descending the stairs as every door she came across was locked, jammed, stuck, or barricaded. The descent continued on until she found herself at a floor with a large rectangular window next to the door. The sign on the door indicated that it might have been a dentist’s office.

The Pegasus looked through the window but all Rainbow-dash could see was the darkness beyond. After testing the door and finding it looked Rainbow-dash was just about to leave and go down the next flight of stairs when she heard a thumping at the window. Turning Rainbow-dash turned to see Twilight on the other side of the glass. She was trying to say something but Rainbow-dash couldn’t hear her.

“Twilight!” Rainbow-dash yelled, letting to plank tumble from her mouth, “What is it! What is going on! I can’t hear you!”

Just then two slime covered ponies leapt from the darkness toward Twilight pulling her back into that inky blackness. In their attempt to grab the Alicorn the creatures shattered the glass window forcing Rainbow-dash to shield her eyes with her fore hooves.

It was dead silent as Rainbow-dash gazed into that room. Swallowing hard the Pegasus picked the wooden board back up with her teeth and crawled in through the broken window. Entering the room Rainbow-dash realized that the room was covered in thick, black ooze, with the exception of one section of the wall where the image of Minty Fresh showed through. Fleshy sacks hung from the ceiling, swaying from the breeze. Rainbow-dash itched her way toward the doorway across the room and as she did one of the sacks tore open. A small Pegasus drenched in black slime fell to the floor.

Before it could become a threat Rainbow-dash slammed the plank in her mouth into the slimy creature causing it to disintegrate. Then two more fell to the ground from nearby sacks. They began to moan as they started wobbling toward her with pale eyes. Rainbow-dash started backing up towards the doorway keeping the two slime-covered ponies at forelegs length. Doing so she was oblivious to the fleshy sack that she backed into. Upon contact the sack erupted as another slimy pony landed on the blue Pegasus its red eyes menacing as it attempted to choke her from behind.

With one quick movement Rainbow-dash swung the board back at the creature causing it to melt away. Upon the death of their kin the eyes of the other two creatures changed to red as they prepared to attack. Swinging the plank Rainbow-dash caught the first assailant in the chin causing it to splatter to the ground. The second slime covered pony let out a terrible shriek resulting in the other sacks bursting open with a swarm of slimy beasts.

Suddenly Rainbow-dash was pulled through the doorway and thrown face first onto a linoleum floor. She lay beside next to a blue dentistry chair with various dental tools lying around on the floor. Rainbow-dash heard the door slam shut as she picked herself off the ground and turned to face her rescuer. However she soon found herself once again being pushed to the ground with something heavy sitting on her chest. The green unicorn from Applejack’s barn was sitting on Rainbow-dash now telekinetically holding a spit-pan ready to strike.

“STOP!!!” A low draconic voice roared.

Rainbow-dash looked around now finding herself back at Applejack’s farm with Spike starring down the green unicorn. Growling the hooded unicorn let go of the item she was holding, which turned out to be a wooden plank and not a dentist’s spit-pan, and dove off into the woods.

As Rainbow-dash attempted to stand back up Spike and Applejack walked over to the blue Pegasus. Her mane was mingled with dirt due to the struggle.

“Are ya okay Dash?” Applejack asked, starring at her old friend.

“Great,” Rainbow-dash lied, “never been better.”

“You don’t look so good,” Spike spoke, “You should go see a doctor.”

While her wings wobbled a little Rainbow-dash continued to stand. Her body felt awful but she didn’t need her friends worrying about that. It wouldn’t really be awesome if she showed any sign of weakness.

“I am just fine!” Rainbow-dash retorted, “Now if you will excuse me I am going home!”

Chapter 07

Chapter 07

“When we make mistakes it doesn’t just harm us but those we love. This leaves three decisions. To never make mistakes and be perfect. To never have friends and stay alone. Or to learn from your mistakes and be responsible for them. However it is the later that is the hardest.”

-Star-swirl the bearded

How pathetic, Rainbow-dash had only made it five steps before she regurgitated the contents of her stomach on the ground. A minute later she collapsed to the ground, falling asleep from exhaustion.

When Rainbow-dash awoke she found herself lying on a couch in the Apple family’s house with one of Granny Smith’s quilts draped over her. Her head felt as if it had been smashed between two of Pinkie-pie’s cymbals. Thing was Rainbow-dash wasn’t sure if the more prominent cause of the pain was from last nights attack or the hang over.

What happened last night was rather bizarre, had the events in the dark Manehatten been a dream or some strange hallucination?

“Good morning there sugar cube,” Applejack said as she entered the living room from the kitchen, “looks like you finally decide to wake up.”

Rainbow-dash looked at Applejack in shock, both for now nice she was acting and the apron she wore. It was a black apron with red lettering making up the statement, “Dare kiss the cook and she will buck you hard!” From behind her the scent of buckwheat pancakes wafted into the room.

“Yeah I guess.” Rainbow-dash whimpered as she held a hand to her pounding head. The orange earth pony walked over to the stairs.

“GRANNY SMITH! APPLEBLOOM! TIME FER BREAKFAST!” Applejack yelled up the stairs, oblivious to Rainbow-dash’s hangover. The call up the stairs sent pain through Rainbow-dash’s head like a swarm of parasprites bouncing around in a trashcan full of discarded apples.

Granny-smith wobbled down the stairs muttering something under her breath about how elderly mares should be disturbed in the whey hours of the morning. Applebloom followed shortly after, seeing the rainbow maned Pegasus Applebloom stopped and had a look of surprise on her face. However a second later her facial expression changed leaving a look that was alien to the small pony’s face… was it contempt?

After Big Mac spoke a prayer the five ponies at the dining table began to serve the pancakes. The three older Apples dug into their food leaving Rainbow-dash and Applebloom staring at their food. For the next few minutes Rainbow-dash picked at her pancake while Applebloom merely glared at hers.

“Why haven’t you touched yer breakfast?” Applejack asked her younger sister.

“I ain’t hungry.” Applejack muttered as she pushed her plate away from the table.

“Applebloom,” Big Macintosh spoke authoritatively, “You didn’t ask to be excused from the table.”

“Didn’t think I had to.” Applebloom said glowering at her big brother.

“Now. Now Applebloom,” Applejack spoke, “be respectful of your brother. If you want to leave the table you simply need to ask.”

“I shouldn’t have to ask!” the small filly retorted rudely. Applejack waved a hoof.

“Keep up talking like this and you might have to wait for lunch time to eat.”

“I’m fine with that!” Applebloom yelled, “If it means avoiding HER I will be more then happy to starve!”

The rest of the family starred as Applebloom ran back up the stairs to her room. Sorrow swept over Rainbow-dash as she realized that she was the “HER” that Applebloom was referring to. That is the one thing Rainbow-dash hated about hangovers, the pain made it difficult to analyze things. Applejack lay a hoof on Rainbow-dash’s shoulder.

“Don’t mind her Dash.” The orange earth pony spoke, “she is still upset about the accident. I am sure she didn’t mean it.”

“No, she meant it, but considering what happened that day I don’t blame her.” Rainbow-dash said, “If I were in her hoof-steps I would hate me too.”

She tried to swallow a piece of her buckwheat pancake. It took a portion of her strength to just keep the morsel down. Just then the doorbell jingled.

“I’ll go see who it is.” Applejack said standing up to see who was at the door.

“So Big Mac,” Granny Smith asked, “did the apples trees look good this er morning?”

“Yep!” Macintosh replied before taking another bit of his pancake.

“Ah figures.” Granny Smith said as Applejack returned to the table with a letter in her hoof.

“Hey Dash,” Applejack said holding out the letter, “Derpy brought this letter over for you. She tried to find your house but when she didn’t find it she brought the letter here instead.”

Rainbow-dash took the letter and scowled. No doubt it was another complaint or a bill. Opening the letter Rainbow-dash’s eyes won’t wide at its contents. It read:

Dear Rainbow-dash,

I heard you were going through some tough times as of late and thought I might be able to cheer you up. I understand how you fed as I have injured my wings over countless adventures.

So I figured you might appreciate an invitation to join me as I go on an expedition to look at some strange ruins in southern Equestria. Don’t worry. My agency will compensate how much it costs you to purchase a ticket here.

Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Sincerely,

Daring Do

Rainbow-dash’s jaw dropped after reading the letter. Aside from the Wonderbolts the writer A.K. Yearling also known as Daring Do was her greatest idol. The chance to go on an adventure with the famous Daring Do would be impossible to turn down.

At the Ponyville train station Rainbow-dash stood with her friends while waiting for the next train going south. Only two of her friends were there to wave her goodbye, Applejack and Pinkie-pie. Rarity was off working in Manehatten, Fluttershy was doing some research with the Breezies and Twilight was off ruling her own kingdom elsewhere.

“Are you sure you want to go?” Applejack asked.

“Of course,” Rainbow-dash replied, “who wouldn’t except the chance to have an adventure with the famous Daring Do?”

“Ok but be safe Dashie,” Pinkie-pie said as she bounced up and down, “I would really like to throw a welcome back party when you return.”

“Will do.” Rainbow-dash replied as the colorful train pulled up. She started walking eager to leave.

“Oh Rainbow-dash!” Applejack spoke.

“Yes,” The blue Pegasus inquired nervously, “What is it?”

Before Rainbow-dash could say anything the orange farm mare reached into her bag and pulled a bottle of hard cider from the Pegasus’s luggage.

“I believe this belongs to me!”

“Oh Come On!”

“No, Dash yer not drinkin while on this ‘ere trip!”

“But…”

“No ‘buts’ Dash!”

There was along silence between the two mares before Rainbow-dash stopped glaring and relented, crossing her hooves over her chest.

“Fine.”

“PREPARING FOR DEPARTURE! ALL A BOARD!” The conductor yelled.

“I have to go now.” Rainbow-dash said as she stepped onto the train.

“Goodbye Dashie,” Pinkie-pie spoke, “please come back soon. It will be Gummy’s birthday in a few months and it is going to be very special because his teeth are coming in.”

“I will.” The blue Pegasus replied, although she was really excited about Pinkie’s pet alligator running around a party… with teeth.

“Take care.” Applejack said.

The two were still waving goodbye as the train departed. Sitting in her seat Rainbow-dash was excited now that her adventure had begun. After her pass was stamped the rainbow maned pony waited for the train-pass checker to leave before she grabbed one of her bags. Reaching down to the bottom of the bag she felt for what she was looking.

Rainbow-dash giggled as she pulled a small brown bottle from her luggage. She had predicted Applejack would find the bigger bottle. So she had a smaller one hidden in the bottom of the bag.

“Well how about a toast,” Rainbow-dash said to herself while holding out the bottle, “to a grand adventure.”

The blue Pegasus took a large swig before spitting it out on the floor. This wasn’t hard apple cider! This was fruit punch. It was then that she spotted a not on the bottle.

Hey Dashie. So Applejack said it would be a great prank if I swapped out the fluid in this bottle for something more amusing. So I replaced it with Gummy’s favorite fruit punch. I hope you like it.

Your friend, Pinkie-pie.

“OH COME ON!!!!”

Chapter 08

“What separates a master from their slave? Having been in both positions I can tell you. It is a fine line where one pony must serve the other willingly or not. So what separates a slave from the rebel? Nothing. It is the master’s blindness that allows their slaves to slash their throat.”

-Shadow-Stalk

Twilight was stuck in the large web. She tried to tug free despite her mind telling her that it was really a bad idea to do so. She continued to tug only to find herself more entangled in the web then before. Then out of the corner of her eye something moved.

A large white spider walked the web towards her its eyes glistened an angry red. Those eyes looked Twilight over before stretching out two long legs spinning the purple Alicorn in a circular motion entangling her further into the sticky web. Once the spider had stopped wrapping Twilight in the web it left its prey and moved back up the web toward a white sac.

Twilight gasped as the sac broke open and six spiderlings exited out onto the web. She watched them while some fell off the web into the inky darkness below a few of the others appeared to be fighting. Among them a black spider with two large horns fought until it was the last remaining spiderling on the web.

The white spider walked over to its child and tried to nestle up close her youngling, but the black spiderling disapproved of its mother’s affection as it bite down on its mother’s leg. Twilight had read that the venom of a young spider was generally more toxic then that of the adult counterpart. A few seconds later the white spider fell off her web to the blackness below.

Once the mother spider was gone the black horned spider walked the web towards Twilight. The princess screamed knowing that she would be its food. As the arachnid stood over her it spoke a few words.

“You… Are… Mine!”

Twilight awoke before the spiders fangs sank into her flesh. She breathed heavily as reality swept over here. The light of the morning sun swept in through the window illuminating the bedroom.

“It was just another dream.” Twilight said as she pulled herself out of bed, rubbing her eyes.

Browney groggily raised one of his heads in response to her movements however his soon fell shut and once again he was back to snoring aloud on his pillow. The Alicorn noted how cute the orthros looked as he slept.

Twilight paced nervously in front of her desk. There had been more sittings of the mysterious diamond dog and more royal guard ponies had been eliminated. While the celestial princesses might view the royal guard as mere tools Twilight preferred to view them as individual beings.

Well, aside from that there was some good news. The restoration of the city was progressing steadily. While some areas of the city were merely covered in dust there were other parts that looked like a war zone.

Evidence was found indicating that in the final years of the empire a war had been waged against it. Twilight remembered back to such a day.

---3 days prior---

Trixie escorted Twilight and Fire Stride through the laboratory showing them some of the discoveries that her team had uncovered in the ruins.

“What we have here is what appears to have once been a unicorn war chariot.” Trixie said motioning to the chariot.

It was different from all the chariots that Twilight had ever been in. However that was due to the chariots either being flown by Pegasi or pulled by earth ponies. It was like a chariot except there were no wheels or anything by which it could be pulled. Large magical artillery cannons hung from its side.

“This is a rather perplexing device,” Twilight spoke, “now how did it work?”

“Well, we believe that each chariot may have consisted of a two pony team,” Trixie said, motioning towards the vehicle, “The pony in the front of the chariot would channel their magic into the crystals to their left and right to pilot the vehicle, while another unicorn would be in the bag controlling the artillery cannons with their magic.”

That made sense and was consistent with the documents Twilight had found in the library and other parts of the Obelisk, discussing the empire during its latter years. After Princess Platinum and the other tribal explorers had found Equestria, only a small portion had actually moved on. Leaving behind three tribes waged in a large war against each other. In the end the Earth pony tribe and the Pegasi tribe joined forces to wipe out the Unicorn kingdom. At this time there was also a civil war going on among the unicorns.

One part of the kingdom desired to leave for Equestria and to be at peace with the other tribes. However due to the assassination of her husband Queen Sapphire had refused and forced them to stay. Thus there was a great war that lasted twenty years.

“Interesting,” Twilight said as Trixie directed the group to another object.

“Alright now I hereby offer you both a challenge,” Trixie spoke gesturing to the item, “I would like you to guess what this device is?”

Twilight looked at the device, it was made of the Mirror-Stone and consisted of three major parts. The first part was long and was split halfway down the center. In this slit green crystals were encrusted which the ones seen on the chariots artillery cannons. The middle section was more rounded and bulky, but what made it bizarre was that it possessed craftsmanship of both Earth pony and Unicorn design. Due to a large crack in the section twilight could see that the interior consisted of gears as well as some magical crystals. The last section was long and almost resembled a large staff; however there was nowhere anyone could hold it as the shaft was entirely covered in purple crystals, much like the ones that a pilot would have used to fly the chariot previously seen.

“It looks like a weapon of some sort,” Fire Stride spoke, “However that is all I can say about it.”

Twilight nodded, “These sections do appear to be components for a weapon of some sort. However I am puzzled by who would have used it. It contains mechanical parts like that which an Earth pony would develop yet it also has components seen in Unicorn craftsmanship. Considering that fact that both parties were at war with each other at the time I can’t see how such a device could have been created at this time.”

There was a long pause before Trixie spoke again, he face full of pride, “While I don’t have enough evidence to support this claim, I am confident enough to say that this item might in fact be a Neos-Blade.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped while Fire Stride merely looked confused.

“What is a Neos-Blade?” Fire Stride asked, clearly not understanding the significant of the item.

Trixie smiled widely and resumed speaking, “A Neos-Blade is a magical weapon of sorts used by unicorns of significant power. They were designed that they could serve in both close range and long range combat.”

Twilight nodded remembering some notes that she had read in some of the accounts found in the library. There had been mentions of such weapons being crafted during the civil war, however they were always mentioned being created by the loyalist party, which didn’t match with what Twilight saw in front of her.

“Trixie I am not sure that is possible,” Twilight spoke, “only the loyalist created Neos-Blades and this device is clearly of both unicorn and Earth pony craftsmanship. Seeing as the loyalist would have been aligned with Queen Sapphire, such combined craftsmanship shouldn’t happen.”

“Perhaps,” Trixie nodded, “However I do have a theory that would explain this.”

Trixie directed the group to table where she laid out a map for them to look at. It was a detailed map with a layout all the excavation sites around the Mirror-Stone Empire. The blue unicorn pointed a hoof to one section of the map that had a large circle swirled around it.

“The Neos-Blade was found here,” Trixie spoke, “As the excavation team searched here they also found what appeared to be a large burial ground of Earth ponies. All of the skeletons appeared to have been bound using shackles and were surrounded with various tools.”

A flame of understanding lite up in Fire Stride’s eyes, “So you’re suggesting that some Earth ponies may have been captured and were perhaps forced to create such weapons.”

“Either that. Or they were enslaved.”

---Back to the Present---

The knowledge that the kingdom Twilight was trying to restore had once enslaved other ponies had left a foul taste in her mouth. That was until she thought on the matter further. No, that wasn’t the kingdom she was restoring. No, she was building a new kingdom that would outshine the previous and be unmarred by that stains of its processor.

Another matter that pleased Twilight was how quickly her orthros Browney had adapted to his present accommodations. Years earlier Rainbow-dash had traded for an orthros in order to obtain a first edition Daring Do book. During which Fluttershy had explained that it could take a few months to house train an orthros. Yet it had only taken Twilight a couple weeks to train Browney. It also helped that Browney didn’t salivate that much. Most likely do to him living in the wasteland, where the conservation of water was important in order to survive.

Browney began to bark as Claudia entered the room. Despite the noise the maid ignored the orthros as she started to clean the room.

“Calm down Browney,” Twilight said, soothingly to the orthros, “Claudia is just going to clean the room.”

The orthros stopped barking but kept both pairs of eyes on the maid as she cleaned the room. After Claudia finished cleaning the room she opened the door and left. Shortly after Browney stopped growling and rested both of his heads on his paws.

“It just doesn’t seem right,” Twilight was still worried about the diamond dog. How had such a creature come to live here? The diamond dogs were normally native to Equestria so why would there be one here so far away from its natural habitat? Fire Stride had theorized that it may have been a reject from one of the diamond dog clans. It was common for lone diamond dogs to be kicked to of their clan if they were perceived as weak or had done something terrible to the clan.

While the latter might explain the doll mask being sowed into the creature as a form of punishment, but why had it wondered this far away from Equestria. Surely the Everfree forest would have been an easier location to travel to, and for a creature like this easier to survive.

Another thing that bothered Twilight was the dog’s behavior. Why was it targeting the patrols? Surprisingly enough it seemed to ignore the local farmers and the citizens only attacking the military forces.

Suddenly Browney started barking again, the hair on the back of his necks stood on end.

“What is it Browney?” Twilight asked, as she looked up from her desk and turned to face the angry orthros, “What is wrong?”

A shadow covered the room as something moved in front of the window. Twilight turned to see a large shape outside of window clinging to the window frame. It was a cloaked figure with a white doll mask sown onto its face.

The Alicorn gasped and fell backwards as shattered glass crashed to the floor. Here it was, the creature that had been causing so much trouble throughout the kingdom was here. It had come for her!

Scrambling to her hooves Twilight ran out of the room her pet orthros following her as the diamond dog crawled in through the window. Despite how much time Twilight had the creature managed to catch up with her and was now hot on her heels.

Reaching a stairwell she ran down the steps, two steps at a time. The diamond dog hesitated for a few seconds before continuing the chase. Reaching the bottom of the steps Twilight turned to her left and ran down another corridor where a group of six royal guard ponies were marching. Shortly after the diamond dog turned the corner.

The royal guards raised their spears and as soon as their princess had passed, went into a defensive formation. This didn’t stop the diamond dog, within seconds the creature shredded through the guards as if they were paper, their bodies dematerializing into a powdery substance.

Twilight kept running looking for a means to escape as she did. Then the princess noticed a storage chamber, perhaps if she locked herself in the room the creature would lose interest and stop chasing her.

Once inside Twilight slammed the door shut only to discover that the lock for the door only locked from the outside. Browney barked as the Alicorn telekinetically lifted some boxes to block the door. Once the door was blocked Twilight and Browney went to the back of the room and sat hoping they would be safe from the diamond dog.

At first everything seemed to be going well, as the diamond dog slammed and banged angrily on the door. However after a few minutes instead of leaving in frustration, the creature began to chuckle maniacally, as it scratched its claws against the door. Within seconds the wooden door was being torn asunder, as the diamond dog clawed its way into the room.

Feeling the urge to protect his new master Browney stepped in front of Twilight barking furiously at the intruder. The diamond dog pushed the boxes aside and began to creep its way towards the princess.

Then a shard of mirror stone lurched down from the ceiling and merged with the floor, just inches away from the diamond dog’s nose. The creature starred transfixed at whatever was being reflected in the newly formed pillar, before shrieking in terror and fleeing the room, as fast as it could.

Twilight sat on her throne as a more secure room was being converted into her new bed room. The guards watched her to ensure her safety, not that it made a difference. To that monster these guards were like a wall of books, weak and easy to push aside.

The fact that the diamond dog had been scared off puzzled Twilight. Why had it been the pillar that had scared away the creature? The appearance of the pillar was also puzzling. How had it formed out of nowhere? Was the integrity of the Obelisk at risk? Twilight continued to ponder these questions as Claudia entered the room with a plate of fruit.

“For you,” Claudia said, with her monotone voice, “my lady.”

Twilight looked at the plate of fruit and noticed that there were no apples on it. Perhaps she could convince Applejack or one of her relatives to start an orchard here.

The princess magically picked a piece of fruit off of the plate, “Thank you Claudia.”

“Anything for my master.” Claudia said before turning and walking away.