The Ruins of Pandemonia

Fluttershy groaned in pain as her body ached from head to toe. Every nerve protested whenever she tried to move, warning her about a thousand bruises that required healing. Worse still, her brain was stuck on the last minutes before she fell into that abyss. And no matter how many times she replayed the scene, she could only think of it as a nightmare.

She opened her eyes, letting her pupils adjust to the low light surrounding her. From what she could make out, she was inside of a titanic cathedral, with a ceiling high enough to fit the old Golden Oaks Library. Her surroundings, a near endless sea of wooden benches and cushions with an occasional statue, were bathed in an arctic light. Her eyes soon focused on the gigantic statue resting on the farthest side. From her distance, the statue was barely the size of her hand. Yet this only made her want to get a closer look.

She passed over the soldier’s unconscious body, without realizing she was being completely mute. When her eyes got another look at the statue, she was a less than a dozen meters away from it. The statue had gained a new level of awe. Before she was merely interested in making out the figure, but now she wanted to know how such an anarchic masterpiece was made.

The statue was not of a man she could recognize, and yet gave her the feeling that she had seen him before. The person was a really handsome man, clad in robes and attempting to hold something in the air. And yet this was the second feature she found interesting. The winner was the materials. She could see marble and granite, onyx and diorite, and at least a dozen types of rock she had never seen before.

There was a large plaque on the base of the monument, reading:

There is no knowledge in reason,

No energy in peace,

No passion in serenity,

To unlock your true self,

break these shackles of sanity

And let your inner madness free

Fluttershy merely scratched her head at these words. It may be that she did not consider herself a smart person, but she was confident that even Twilight would have trouble figuring this out.

But her thoughts were swiftly interrupted by a loud and incredibly painful groan. She looked back and saw the trooper walking toward her. His helmet was tied to his left hip, allowing a small mass of silver hair to flow freely on his head. A pair of gunmetal blue eyes stared at her with a ferocious look, akin to a wolf studying an opponent. Both his hands were close to his belt, his fingers caressing pistol handles.

“Ma’am, are you hurt?” he asked her, she shook her head. “Good, at least there’s that.” he mumbled to himself.

“Do you happen to know where we are?”

“Sorry, but the last thing I remember was tackling you as we fell down. Fortunately for us I managed to cast a bubble to help us survive the fall.” The soldier flexed his muscles, setting a large backpack on the ground. “Just give me a moment to get in contact with my squad and I’m sure they are going to pick us up.” he said as he began rummaging his pack. After a few seconds he pulled out a large black box, with more lights and knobs than one of Twilight's machines, and plugged it to his bracers.

“What is that?”

“It’s my grandfather’s emergency beacon, and unlike the high-tech beacons, it uses magic to send signals through almost anything.” he pressed a few buttons and the machine began to hum softly. He went for his helmet and pulled out a small bead, which he lodged in his right ear. “Mayday, mayday. This is Sam 23 calling all emergency channels. I am currently stranded with a civilian and am in need of extraction. My coordinates should be arriving now. We await your response.” he sighed and turned his head toward her. “My name’s Iron Cross, by the way. Nice meeting you.”

Fluttershy couldn’t help but widen her eyes in surprise. “Fluttershy…” she mumbled.

“Then it is a pleasure to meet… wait,” he paused for a second, eyes darting everywhere as his brain raced in a million different directions. “did you just say Fluttershy? as in THE Fluttershy?”

“I… yes?”

Iron immediately turned back to the beacon and began shouting: “Mayday mayday! This is Sam 23! I need emergency evac for Kindness! I repeat! Need immediate evac for Kindness! Base, can you hear me?” he then grumbled a thousand curses, swearing loudly as he slammed the beacon back inside his backpack. “Fuck!” he cried, kicking the pack with enough force that it probably broke it.

Fluttershy felt like these words should have sent her into a crying fit, but she was still processing her current situation to truly understand her predicament. The fact that she didn’t keel over because of the overload was a testament to her strength.Yet her strength was not enough to stop her from falling onto one of the benches.

“My, my, my…” a sultry voice echoed across the cold stone halls. “is that despair that I hear?” The soldier immediately pulled out his pistols, his eyes trying to zone in on the source. “Now that is a melody that I have not heard in a really long time.”

From the statue’s outstretched hand a small feline head peeked out, a pair of emerald eyes glinted with the light. A split second after the cat had shown its head did the soldier fire a pair of shots, neither of which managed to even force the stranger to flinch.

“Now that is just uncalled for.” she purred, leaping off the stone and landing gracefully next to them. The cat was larger than most, and bengal in fur. “I was thinking about helping you, but it seems to me that you are more hostile than one would expect.”

The trooper frowned, pointing a gun to her temple. “Explain yourself before I decide to paint the floor with your brain…” but he was never allowed to finish. Fluttershy, having found something as soothing and familiar as a housecat, leapt in front of the barrel and stared at him. And despite his attempts at throwing her away, Fluttershy kept herself rooted in place. “Ma’am, could you please move? We don’t know if that thing is dangerous. For all we know it could be a demon in disguise!” Yet did nothing to deter her stance.

“Well, how kind of you dear. If you want, I’ll tell you and only you anything you want to know.” the feline said. Fluttershy stroked her head, letting her fingers course through the fine fur. “But please keep your dog on a tighter leash. I don’t want those catalysts of his to kill me.”

“Oh, he isn’t my… no, you’ve got it wrong… I…” Fluttershy failed to find an answer to explain, since that required her to actually understand her situation.

“If you trust this thing my lady, then I won’t open fire.” He turned his head toward the cat. “But keep in mind demon, I will be watching.” Iron replied, and to show his good faith he holstered his weapons. “Now, are you willing to talk?”

The bengal chuckled. “Of course, but I will only answer to her.” She pointed a paw at Fluttershy. “You are the one with the power, my knowledge is here to serve you.”

The veterinarian groomed her pink hair, letting the caressing motion stimulate her brain. Sadly, there was only one question in her mind. And she was too afraid to ask because she felt it was not the best option. “What's your name?” She asked.

The feline widened her eyes in surprise and smiled. “Call me Eris. That was the name I was given when I joined the Order.”

“Nice to meet you Eris, I’m Fluttershy.” she replied. “So, where are we?”

The cat snuggled her head against Fluttershy’s neck. “This is the Second Cathedral of Our Lord of Chaos. Right in the outskirts of the city. Where are you from?”

“I live in Ponyville, but I was born in Cloudsdale.”

“Cloudsdale?” the cat asked with a raised eyebrow of astonishment. “That militaristic flying city?”

“I… Guess? Is Cloudsdale really that? I don’t remember-”

“Wait… Cloudsdale hasn’t been a militarized city since it joined.” Iron Cross murmured. “And that was over a thousand years ago! How many cities does Equestria have?”

“Three… Like it always has had since Celestia and Luna showed up and took over everything. Where are you going with-” the cat was interrupted by a loud bang, emanating from the wooden entrance at the other side.  She tried to speak again, but this time the screech of the heavy doors was enough to send everyone into high alert. “We should start running.” she said, jumping off the girl’s back and sprinting toward the statue. “As in now!” she screamed.

The first creature to walk into plain sight was a humanoid, clad in chainmail and armed with a broken sword. Its legs were naked, revealing chunks of burnt flesh and pure bone. The corpse walked forth, managing a snarl as it raised its arm and charged. The howls of pain and anger that echoed across the room turned her blood into pure ice.

Iron Cross pulled out a large knife from his boot and charged at the charred corpse. He rolled under its first swing, thrusting the point through its lower jaw. Despite the distance, Fluttershy could still see blood splashing from the wound. The zombie gagged as the blade cut through the flesh, but still swung its blade. The flying droplets of blood were a sign that it met its mark. Iron Cross tossed the aggressor aside, letting the body crash against the pillar.

To her surprise, the corpse got up and attacked again, gurgling as it tried to cry through the blade. It swung the remains of its blade, missing the soldier by a mile. But the silver-haired man rushed in, using his right hand to grip its wrist and his left to smash the exposed bones apart. He grabbed the rusted weapon from its hand and jammed it inside one ear. He quickly pulled out his knife and struck the other side. With one last gasp of breath, the body toppled to the floor.

“That certainly was unexpected.” Iron Cross said as he pulled his knife out of the skull. “I never thought corpses could walk, let alone charge me.” he turned to face Fluttershy, showing a large gash stemming from above his upper lip to the cheekbone. “In retrospect using my pistols was a better call than fighting hand to hand.”

“We have to go,” Eris cried, rushing to the statue. “Hollows never travel alone.”

“I can deal with a few more of those.” the soldier scoffed. “I’m used to dealing with ogres.”

“You do not understand, hollows travel in packs that rival the thousands. And we were lucky this one had half a sword. I’ve seen others armed with full armor and wield some of the best weapons ever crafted.” Eris replied. “To face them would be your doom.”

The ground shook and a thousand moans echoed through the cathedral. They turned their faces to see a horde of burnt flesh charge through the door. The highly decorated slabs of wood fell down under the mass, crashing against the cold tiles and splintering. The benches met a similar fate, as the naked bodies tripped over each other and forced the wood to buckle and crack under the heavy load.

The soldier lost no time in thinning out the horde, pulling out his pistols and blasting as many shots as he could. Each of his electric blue rounds tore through the bare skin, sonding chunks of charred gore flying. Yet even with the loss of limbs, the wave seemed intent on keeping its momentum.

“Follow me! I know a secret way out!” the feline replied, climbing on Fluttershy’s shoulder and pointing toward one of the arches. She ran, weaving her way through the benches until she reached her target. Once on the other side she rushed through narrow hallways, keeping half an eye on the bengal’s paw as it guided her through the several rooms.

“This is the room.” the cat said as she jumped from her shoulder to a nearby dresser. “Open up all of the doors. We’re looking for a replica of the statue you saw outside. Tell me the second you see it.” Fluttershy began flinging doors open, tearing more than one out of its hinges. At first she looked worried, furiously trying to paste the door back. But one look from Eris told her that they didn’t have time to care. The sound of approaching gunfire was also a good timer, growing from an afterthought to a near deafening roar.

“What the hell are you still doing here?!” the soldier bellowed, letting his guns drown his voice out. He turned to face the narrow hallway, and continued firing. “Whatever you gotta do, do it fast. I’m not sure how long I can hold them off.”  Fluttershy suddenly tossed a door aside to see a golden statue, she reached to grab it but was shaken by a sudden explosion.

Eris dropped to her shoulder and lept at the gold, toppling it back. With a light quake, the floorboards below the cassocks rose, giving way to what could be a steel slide. The cat jumped to the floor and launched itself at the hole. “Jump in!” she yelled as she slid down into oblivion. Fluttershy stepped back, a part of her rejecting to jump into the darkness.

“Sorry!” Iron said as he pushed her into the hole. “But there’s no time.”