UNDERWORLD

Underworld

Chapter 1

“Life: the animate existence or period of animate existence of an individual.”

How often do you really think about that word? Yeah, I know, you’re probably all saying “I think about my life all the time. I see that I’m on the right path and my life looks awesome”. But that’s not what you should be thinking about.

You should be thinking about how you make each moment count, and how to have the best life for as long as possible. Because one day, it’ll be gone, and you won’t be able to get it back.

And of all the ponies out there…I should know.

************

Pain, nothing but horrible, agonizing pain! My limbs felt like they were on fire, my organs felt like they were exploding, my skin felt like it was melting, and my brain felt like it was being fried.

At least that’s what I remember…sort of remember. Nothing really seemed right, nothing seemed to make sense. Blackness was all around me, with nothing in sight as far as my eyes could see. There was no breeze, and no noise, like I was in some dark library.

But I couldn’t even feel anything either. This could be levitation, since you don’t normally feel anything when you levitate yourself.

Levitation spells were something I knew very well. I’ve had lots of practice, using them many times in my youth to keep my things out of my little brother’s hooves. But casting a spell required using magic, and I couldn’t see the bright blue glow of my horn.

In fact, I couldn’t see my horn at all! Trying to look around, I couldn’t see any part of my body. Not my hooves, not my flank, which meant no Cutie-Mark either. This didn’t make any sense, none of this did.

Wait, that’s it, if this didn’t make any sense, then it must be a dream.

It was the only logical conclusion, seeing as all the others lead to things that were too ridiculous. Like being inside some sort of weird scientific experiment, or being blind; since even if I was blind, I would still be able to feel things.

But this was one very weird dream indeed. Normally dreams are like you jumping over a gorge with an explosion behind you and a mare on your back. Or sometimes it was you running from a pony in a weird mask that was covered in blood. But this was just…strange. Nothing but darkness, and a small light in front of me…wait, a small light?

I looked forward, I think, as hard as I could. There was indeed a small light in front of me. It hovered in place, with a yellow glow like Celestia’s bright sun. But as I continued to stare at it, I noticed something.

It was growing, or coming towards me, very quickly. The brightness increased, but I couldn’t feel any heat. Granted, I couldn’t feel anything at all, but at this point I had expected to feel SOMETHING!

But as the light grew intensely, it became harder to look at. Squinting my eyes (what I thought were my eyes) didn’t help either; only by closing them did I find any relief. It was like I was looking directly into Celestia’s sun, but twice as bright.

And even with my eyes closed, I could sense the light growing, and getting closer. I was now actually starting to get scared, I wanted to wake up. But the thing was; I didn’t know how to! All I could do was wait for the light to consume me; maybe then I would snap myself awake.

The light was now so intense that I could tell, even with my eyes closed, that it was surrounding me. Finally I would be out of this weird dream, and back to normal everyday life. “Hopefully next time I won’t have a stupid dream” I said; ready to get back to reality.

Could anypony be SO wrong?

************

Naturally, my eyes snapped open a few seconds later, and I expected to find myself lying comfortably in a bed, with Luna’s moon shining brightly over the night outside the window. But that’s not what met my eyes.

Instead, I found myself lying on the ground in a clearing. I couldn’t feel any grass, so it seemed like I was lying on hard dirt. Trees surrounded the clearing, rising up from the dirt like roots climbing up an old abandoned building. The trunks bulged and twisted in certain places, and spread out at the top to form many branches. But they were bleak and barren; not a single leaf was visible.

The area was also dark, but lit just enough that I was still able to see everything clearly. It also felt strange too, but not in a bad way. The dirt had a soft feel to it, like it does after a light sprinkle. It didn’t feel wet, and not dry either. It wasn’t hard and brittle like when it was dry, and it wasn’t mushy and unstable like when it was wet. Maybe it was beca…wait, I could FEEL the dirt. This meant that…I must have my body back!

Looking down to where I thought my hooves were, I found myself staring at a pair of dark red legs lying motionless on the ground. But wait, this didn’t make any sense. I’m a BLUE unicorn, not a red one.

Fallowing the legs, I was soon looking at a dark red body as well. A medium sized black tail protruded out from my red flank, which was also strange since I had a brown mane. But that wasn’t the most surprising part. No, the most surprising part was the Cutie-Mark…it wasn’t there.

Yep, there was not a cutie-mark plastered on the dark red flank. How could I, I mean, this body, not have a cutie-mark? Everyone has figured out their special talent by at least their sixteenth birthday, and I knew I this body was older than that.

Oh, that’s right, I’m in another body! Who knows what type of pony I was now!

After looking back over my body again, I noted the lack of wings, and crossed Pegasus off the list. So I was either a Unicorn or an Earth Pony. Testing to see if I could, I moved my leg off the ground and gave it a good shake.

“Well at least I can move and feel everything now” I said, giving my hoof one last shake. Confirming that I now had normal body controls, I brought my hoof up to my head.

Almost immediately, I felt something hard poking out from my forehead. I let out a big sigh of relief “Great, I’m still a Unicorn. But I still don’t know where I am” I said, bring my hoof back down to the dirt. I could tell I was in a forest, seeing as the trees continued past the ones around the clearing. But what forest would have this dark a feeling to it?

Wait, of course, only one forest in Equestria did: The Everfree Forest! Now it all made sense; the weird trees, the dark atmosphere; the Everfree Forest has both of these. And now that I knew where I was, it was time to get going.

Slowly, I took my front hooves and planted them firmly on the ground. Then, using all the strength I could, I pushed up. I expected it to be hard, since normally my muscles are weak for half an hour after I wake up from sleeping…at least that’s what I remember. So how come it didn’t feel right.

But surprisingly it wasn’t that hard. I lifted off the ground pretty easily, and was soon in a sitting position. Why was this not making any sense. Every time I remember something, it feels wrong, or like it’s rejecting me.

“Well, if it wasn’t that hard, then I’d better get up and get going” I said, still getting my mind around this whole thing.

After making sure my muscles felt fine, I raised my flank off the ground, so I was now finally standing.

“Okay, no time to screw around, I have to get out of here. Now, if I remember correctly, Ponyville is Northeast of the Everfree Forest, so I guess that’s where I should go” I said, thinking about what I knew about the typography of Equestria. Now all I had to do was figure out which way was northeast. Thankfully, I knew a very good compass spell.

Keeping my mind clear and calm, I concentrated on using the spell. And not a second later, my horn started to glow. Gee, it felt strange seeing a red glowing horn instead of a blue one. But the spell worked, and soon I had a see-through compass floating in front of me. It spun around for a few moments, before pointing towards my left.

“So if that was is North, then that means I’d better go this way” I said, stepping towards the right of the arrow, which would take me Northwest.

Cutting the spell off, I began to walk towards the trees around the clearing. “Time to get back to civilization” I said as I got closer. And once I passed through the first trees, there was nothing else but them and me until I got to Ponyville.

************

But after what seemed like hours, I still hadn’t reach Ponyville. My muscles were aching and I was out of breath. No matter how much I walked, I kept seeing nothing but leaf-less trees ahead of me.

“I must be further from Ponyville than I thought. But it shouldn’t be too much farther, unless I was on the other side of the forest, and I’m walking all the way across it” I said, the possibility popping into my mind. If that was true, then I’d probably have to find a place to sleep for the night. But that meant I’d have to find someplace secure, so that Timberwolves, Ursa Majors, and Parasprites don’t get to me.

Speaking of those creatures; I hadn’t seen one since I started walking. Not one single creature could be seen the whole time I was here. This was getting even stranger; the Everfree Forest was supposed to be full of dangerous creatures. And if I haven’t seen one yet, then something must be up.

But I shouldn’t have thought that, because then I heard a shuffling noise to my right. I quickly turned and looked around. I couldn’t see anything in the dark beyond, but I could sense something.

“Hello, uh, is anyone there. I’m kinda lost, so I was hoping I could get some directions to Ponyville. I need to get there before dark” I said, continuing to look around. But nothing moved, and I couldn’t hear anything. I sighed “Looks like it was just my imagination” I said, and turned so I was once again facing Northeast.

But then I heard the rustling sound again, this time to my left. I looked over, and still saw nothing. This gave me a bad feeling, and I didn’t want to stand around when it got bad. So I started walking forward once again, making sure to keep my eyes open for anything that might jump out at me.

However, as I started walking, I heard the rustling again, but it sounded closer. “Okay, better kick it up a notch” I said, and began trotting a little faster. But still the rustling could be heard, and I could tell whatever was making that noise was fallowing me. “Right, time to start running” I said, and broke into a full gallop.

I dodge through trees as I ran from the approaching predator, which still hadn’t showed its face. Normally if a creature saw its prey running, it would give up on hiding and run full fledge after it. But this creature still stayed hidden, but kept a steady pace with me. I could hear the rustling even better now, and also the sound of paws hitting the Earth.

However, as I looked ahead, I saw the light protruding from behind some trees up ahead. At once my spirits kicked up, because light meant the end of the Everfree forest. “Ponyville should be just up ahead, and I can find some help” I said as I galloped even faster towards the light. And when I reached the trees, I surged past them, ready to see Ponyville, my sign of security.

************

But as I cleared the trees, the sight of Ponyville didn’t meet my eyes. Instead, I found myself running towards a cliff.

“What” I screamed, and planted my hooves in the dirt, trying to stop myself. The momentum I had generated kept me going, and my hooves were barley slowing me down. But I soon came to a rest two feet from the cliff, with a fresh pile of dirt at my hooves.

I took a second to compose myself, then stood up and gathered my surroundings. It looked very similar to the clearing I had woken up in, with trees lining the outside, and the dirt being a darkish grey color. But the difference was half the clearing was gone, and the other side was nothing but a gorge. I looked down, and saw a deep fog forming close to the top, shielding the bottom from view.

“Okay, so I’m trapped. I can’t go back unless I want to be meat for a deadly creature, and I don’t have wings, so crossing the gorge isn’t an option. Wait a minute, maybe I can teleport” I said, remembering I had quit a few classes on teleportation while at school. So I concentrated hard, and tried to picture the location I wanted to go: Ponyville. My horn glowed red, and I felt myself lift off the ground slightly. This was going well; I was going to get out of here.

Suddenly, I felt the magic leave my horn and I plopped down onto the ground. “Wait what; I thought I was teleporting out of here. I did everything I have to do, so why won’t you work” I asked, poking my horn a few times. But I didn’t have time to worry about that.

The rustling noise filled my ears once again, and it was close. Looking forward, I saw a few of the nearby bushes move slightly. Unless there was some wind I couldn’t feel, something was making them move.

And just a second later, a pair of dark yellow eyes appeared near the trunk of a tree. They were locked on me, and seemed to be staring right into my soul. But they weren’t the only things that were coming into view.

A paw with three sharp claws came out of the shadows, soon followed by other one. They were both dark black, meaning the rest of this creature was as well. No wonder I couldn’t see it while in the dark of the forest.

Then a nose came out, and a head soon emerged as well. Now that I could see the beast, I could figure out what I was up against.

It looked almost like a wolf, except of course it was black, and MUCH larger. It was easily double the size of me, and its teeth looked like they belonged in the mouth of a shark. A light stream of drool fell from its jaw.

It snarled at me as it drew closer, getting into a pouncing position as it did. And me, well, I was paralyzed with fear. I couldn’t move any of my muscles; all I could do was watch as this creature got closer and closer to me. I didn’t know any spells that could help me, so even my magic was worthless.

So this would be it, this would be where I died. At the paws of a creature from the Everfree forest. I guess this means that no one will ever find my body, seeing as this beast will eat all my flesh and chew on my bones for desert. Gee, what a GREAT way to go out!

Just then, the creature snarled again, and pushing off with its hind legs, jumped towards me with its mouth open. I couldn’t even close my eyes, I had to watch this thing jump on me and start tearing at my flesh. It was all over.

The beast was just inches from my head, ready to bite when…BAM, something smashed into its side. It howled with pain as it rolled over itself again and again. The thing that had hit it jumped off, and landed with a thud a few feet from where I was standing.

The whole thing had happened so fast that I barely had time to register it. It was like a lightning flash, happening one second and being gone the next. Whoever this was, they had gotten here just in the nick of time.

But a slight blow to the gut wasn’t going to detour the wolf like beast. Jumping onto its feet, the creature stared at its attacker with the same stare it had given me, but this time it looked personal.  Now it wasn’t about getting a meal, it was about getting revenge.

I looked over at the figure that had attacked the beast. From the hooves that were visible beneath the cloak he was wearing, I could tell it was a pony. His face and nose were also sticking out from the black hood he was wearing. But beside his hooves, mouth, and nose, no part of him was visible.

“Stay Back, I’ll handle this” said the figure, with a small smile forming on his visible face. But the voice didn’t sound like what I expected, it was a little higher. Maybe he had some voice problems, but that didn’t seem unlikely.

Slowly the beast started walking towards him, its teeth showing as it snarled at its attacker. His eyes were still narrowed, no doubt scanning for anything that could give him an advantage.

But the hooded figure continued to stand there, as if he didn’t even notice the creature walking towards him. He was no longer smiling, but instead was frowning, with his hood pointing in the direction of the beast.

But then, the creature crouched its hind legs and jumped at the figure. And like with me, it had its mouth open, showing two rows of razor sharp teeth.

The hooded figure, surprisingly, jumped at the beast, front legs straight out. Then he pulled one back, and brought up right under the beast’s chin. With a deafening crunch, its head flew up, with its jaws slammed shut. The beast staggered backward, whimpering like a poor dog in pain.

But the hooded pony had just touched the ground when he ran towards the creature and rammed it in the side again. The beast howled with pain as it was flung to the side, and the figure jumped back once again.

This was incredible; he was holding his own against a creature that was much bigger than him. Not only was he strong, but nimble as well. Every move he made caused the beast more and more harm. And when it tried to bite back, he would quickly get out of the way. He knew how to defend himself.

The creature stood up once again, but it wasn’t as energetic as before. It breathed long and slowly, with blood dripping from its jaw. It was also leaning slightly, most likely from when he was nailed in the side.

“Still standing hu, well, I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this” said the hooded pony. He dipped his head into his robe, and after a second of fishing around, pulled out what looked like the sword handle. Okay, now I was confused.

“How are you going to do anything with that” I asked, now starting to question this pony’s style. It seemed more logical to just keep kicking and hitting the thing than use the most Non-lethal part of a sword.

The pony smiled again, and let out a slight chuckle. “You don’t know anything” he said, still with a slightly higher voice, which was muffled slightly since the handle was in his mouth.

Turning to the wounded creature, he bit down slightly on the handle. In a flash, a gleaming sword had come out of the handle. Even though no sun was visible, it still shown like a fresh silver bit. “Never judge a book by its cover” said the hooded pony.

Then he spoke to the beast he had been fighting. “As much as I love kicking your flank, I need to finish you off or I’ll be here all day. So, I’ll make this as quick as I can” he said, raising his sword “so try not to struggle”. And in an instant, he was charging at the beast with his head held low and his sword pointing out.

And no matter how out of breath the creature was, it wasn’t enough to keep it from charging towards the hooded pony. Blood flew over the ground as his jaw continued to bleed, and his running was slightly slower thanks to the blow to his side. But his form hadn’t changed; he was still in a slightly hunched position, and his head was low, so he continued to stare eye to eye with his opponent.

The hood on the pony flapped like a flag in a storm as his running increased. Even though I couldn’t see his eyes, I could tell they were concentrating on his target. The two were now only a few feet apart, and one was going to have to win.

But what happened next proved that this pony wasn’t somepony to mess with.

Just as the two were about to hit, the beast once again jumped. It seemed like it was trying to get closer so the figure didn’t have time to hit.

“Wrong move” said the pony, and he raised his head, and with all his might, thrust the sword into the beast’s chest. It howled with pain as the blade continued to inch its way into its body. Blood was now pouring from the wound, turning every part of the body it touched slightly red.

But just puncturing the beast wasn’t good enough. Pushing even harder, the figure thrust the blade even farther, until, with a deep ripping noise, it’s sharp top came out the other side. It too was drenched in blood, which ran off it like water down a river.

The legs of the beast fell slightly as all its strength began to drain. Its mouth had closed shut, and its eyes were beginning to do the same.

“Now to dump the body” said the hooded pony. Lifting up his front legs, he placed them on the chest of the beast. As they began to turn red from the blood, the pony looked directly into its nearly closed eyes. “Bye Bye” he said, smiling like an evil villain.

And pulling his head (along with the sword) back, he pushed the body away. The blade slid back through, drawing blood along its hilt. The beast remained silent, even in this stage of pain. All its nerves had all about shut down by now; not being able to feel anything. The whole sight was downright disturbing.

Soon the blade completely left the body, freshly coated in dark red blood. The creature stood on its hind legs for a minute, as if it was being suspended by invisible strings. But it soon began to fall back, towards the ravine that was behind it. The hooded figure walked up to the edge. “Oh, I’m going to love hearing it hit the bottom” he said, with much glee in his voice.

But that creature wasn’t going to die without one final swing at its killer. As its body fell towards the gorge, it stretched its neck, opened its bloody mouth wide, and snapped down on the figure’s cloak. As its body continued to fall, it pulled the figures cloak down with it.

“Nice Try” said the figure, with more glee in his voice than before. He grabbed the string around the cloak in his mouth, and pulled. The string became undone, and the cloak flew off. The beast fell down into the gorge, with the cloak clutched in its teeth. A few seconds later, a large thud was heard.

************

The whole scene that had just happened seemed almost too unreal. A monster had chased after me, a hooded figure had jumped in the way, and then the figure went and killed the thing.

But what surprised me the most was what I was seeing right now. The cloak was gone, and the figure was now in full view. He was a dark green color, with a brown mane. His cutie mark was a skull with a knife through the top. Now I was starting to think my savior wasn’t a hero at all, but some kind of deranged psychotic killer. But a hero wasn’t the only thing the figure wasn’t.

His mane was a lot longer than most stallions I’ve seen, who keep theirs relatively short. Some exceptions were those teenagers who call themselves hip and are usually in Rock Bands. But this pony didn’t have that kind of feel. The mane fell back down his neck, all the way to his body. It had one to three streaks of red in it as well. The mane was also shiny, and was well combed, even after the rough treatment it had been put through. So, if this wasn’t a stallion, then it had to be…

“Wow, that was a satisfying thud” said the pony, looking down into the misty gorge. Then, the pony turned its head towards me. And I can say I was surprised by what I saw.

“You…you’re…you’re a…A MARE” I said, putting a little more emphasis on the last two words. But this was something I didn’t expect in the slightest. No mare I had ever met had fighting skills like that.

The mare bit down on her sword handle again, and it shot back into place. Putting it in the saddle bag I hadn’t noticed, she then turned her head towards me. She looked at me like she was inspecting a strange animal. “Yeah, I’m a mare. Is that a problem” she asked.

It took me a minute to get my mind up and running again. “Well, uh, it’s just that” I said, trying to find the right words. Insulting a mare that could kill a large beast wasn’t the best thing to do.

“Just what” she asked, moving a little closer to me. A slight hint of anger held in her voice. Her eyes were also beginning to squint.

“Um, it’s just that I’ve never seen a mare fight like that before. Most mares I know like to cook, make dresses, plant flowers, and other stuff like that” I said, trying to sound as non-insulting as possible. But I had the feeling that I wasn’t doing a good job.

The mare was now only a few inches from my face, and her expression had changed. Now she was glaring at me, with her eyes now in full squint, and a defining frown had replaced her blank look. I could also smell a slight hint of Roses emitting from her as well.

“Oh, I’m sorry if I’m not what you expected me to be. I mean, it’s not like I just saved your life or anything. No, I should just start making dresses and picking flowers so your life will be better. Well guess what, I’m not like other mares, and you would be good to remember that” she said, now just half and inch from my face.

Now she was starting to really scare me; now I was afraid she was going to kill me. If I wanted to live, I would have to do something to make her forgive me, and fast.

“Ye…yes, I’m so sorry mam, I didn’t want you to interpret it that way. I think it’s amazing that you can do everything a stallion can. I like that you’re not like other mares. Really I do, so please don’t hurt me” I said, closing my eyes and bringing my leg up to shield me from any blows that were to come.

But no blows came, not even a slap. Instead, I found myself hearing something: Laughing. I opened my eyes and brought my leg down.

The mare in front of me was sitting on her hunches, with a hoof trying to cover her mouth to stop the noise coming out of it. But it was no use, she was laughing too hard. Now was the time to start getting answers.

“What’s so funny” I asked, sitting on my hunches as well. The mare took a moment to stop herself, but when she did, she looked at me.

“Your reaction was just priceless. I’ve made stallions beg for mercy before, but yours was downright hilarious. ‘Please, don’t hurt me’” she said, with a mocking voice.

“Well, glad you found it funny. Now tell me, who are you, and how did you kill that beast” I asked, now starting to get annoyed by her behavior.

“My name, oh, well I was wondering when you were going to ask. My name’s Rosemary, and you better remember it” she said, pointing a hoof at me. “As to how I defeated that Niwole, it was a simple matter of using the same technique that I always use. I’ve dealt with these things before, and after you take down two or three, it becomes pretty easy” she said.

“Okay, Rosemary, I think I’ve had enough of all this craziness for one day” I said, standing back on four legs. “Now I was wondering if you know the way to Ponyville. I was heading there before that, uh, Niwole, came after me” I asked.

Rosemary looked confused, and tilted her head slightly to her right. “Ponyville, that’s not down here, it’s up there” she said, and pointed a hoof up towards the cloudy sky.

I looked up, confused as well. “Ponyville’s up in the sky, how can that be” I asked, looking back down at Rosemary.

“It’s not in the sky, it’s in Equestria. You know, in the land of the living” she said, standing up to be at eye level with me.

“What do you mean land of the living. Listen, I don’t have time to play silly games. Now can you please tell me how to get out of the Everfree forest so I can get to Ponyville” I asked, now getting more and more angry. How hard was it to say ‘It’s that way’ and get on with it.

“This isn’t the Everfree forest, and as I said, this isn’t Equestria. You’re a long way away from there” she said, then stepped closer to me. “Look, I don’t know who you are, and I’m sure I don’t need to. But if you want to get someplace relatively safe, you’ll fallow me” said Rosemary, and she began walking towards the edge of the clearing.

“And what happens if I don’t” I asked, continuing to stand in the same place. This had gone far enough, she wasn’t going to help me get to where I needed, so I had to stand up and take action.

Rosemary looked back at me, with her eyes half closed  and her mouth frowning. “Then you can find your own way through. But tell me, if what I’m saying is true, were will you go? And more importantly, how will you find your way” she asked.

I thought for a moment on what to say. Figuring out my bearings was probably the best move. But since my compass spell had gotten me into this mess, it was out of the question.

I remember studying map charts when I was in High School, so I knew how to find my way using the stars, like sailors in the early years of Equestria.

“I’ll use the stars to guide me, I know how to read them. If I find the North Star, I can go North East to Ponyville, simple as that” I said, now smiling smugly.

But Rosemary started smiling to, which gave me a bad feeling. “Okay then Mr. Star Chart, go ahead and look at your stars. Once you find out where you’re going, I’ll head off” she said, then looked up at the sky. “And what do you know, the clouds are clearing” she said, still smiling.

Looking up, I was prepared to see the vast night sky. Stars places precisely in their right place, and Luna’s beautiful moon shining down on the dark world. Oh, if only that had been the case.

When I looked up, my eyes were met with the sight of what looked like the roof of a large cavern. Black and Red stone was all that could be seen above, stretching out as far as I could see.

My mouth fell open, and my mind went blank for a moment. It just wasn’t possible, it made no sense. We couldn’t be underground; the air supply seemed clean and clear. It didn’t have the normal dusty feel underground air has. Plus the atmosphere had a distinct open air feel to it. And how could clouds form underground, and move without the need of a Pegasus.

“What, but, how, why, when” I asked, my mind trying to put together what I was seeing right now.

“If you’re done staring at the ceiling over there, I think we should get going. We don’t want to be attacked by another Niwole” said Rosemary. She didn’t say it in a smug way, more like she was trying to get me to understand.

I turned to her, my face still showing signs of major confusion. If I was going to understand what was going on, I needed some answers. “You said we weren’t in Equestria, right” I asked, almost sounding out of breath.

“Yeah” said Rosemary.

“So if were not in Equestria, where are we” I asked. Finding out where I was, and why I was there, was the first thing on my very long list.

At this, Rosemary’s smug face came back, and she turned away from me. But it was with grace, like a dancer turning away from the crowd after a big performance. “Well it’s called many names: Sombra’s New Empire, Hell, The Afterlife, Nightmare Moon’s Nightmare, and The Dead Zone” she said. But then she looked back at me, still smiling smugly.

“But we call it…The Underworld”.