The Pit

Chapter 25 - The calm winds of change

My eyes opened to a very strange image. There was a small... thing with wings flying over me. It was covered in some kind of robe and a white mask covered its face. The only thing I could pick out from behind his mask and robe were glowing yellow eyes.

I sat up quickly in surprise, but was brought back down in intense pain, “FUCK!”

The little flying thing turned to another I didn’t notice flying on the other side of me and spoke in a squeaky voice, “Bad word.”

The other one nodded, “Bad word.”

They both turned to two others standing by the exit and said in unison, “Bad word.”

The two by the door began to fly and exit the room, “Bad word means awake.”

The one I first noticed turned to me, “Awake means good.”

What the fuck is going on here? Where am I?

Vanilla and Kynes ran into the room. Finally some familiar faces. Vanilla kisses me, “Good! You’re awake!”

The flying thing nodded at Vanilla, “Awake means good.”

I looked at Vanilla, “What exactly are these... things?”

Vanilla giggled, “They’re called cherubs. Well that’s what the one who lives down here calls them.”

I tilted my head, “Who lives down here? And what do you mean by ‘down here’?”

Kynes smiled, “It’s a friend of Storm’s. He’s a changeling, too. And we’re down in the sewers right now.”

Vanilla nodded, “Yeah. He saw the church burning and took us here. He said a friend of Storm is a friend of his. So now we’re here.”

I blinked and shook my head, “Well... That was easy to explain.”

Kynes chuckled, “Just the way I like it.”

My eyes widened, “Wait. He’s a changeling?”

Vanilla nodded, “Yes. He’s very open about it, too, but he stays down here with his cherubs. He knows what’s going on in The Pit, though.”

I relaxed my head into the pillow behind me, “So he knows about the demons?”

Kynes walked over and nodded, “Yeah. He knows all about it. He even knows about the sword Storm gave to you. How it can kill them.”

I remembered. That sword. The Begotten. I looked at Kynes, “Where is it?”

Kynes pointed his hoof to the corner of the room where the sword leaned against the wall, “Don’t worry. It’s right there. I made sure to bring it for you.”

I sighed and closed my eyes, “Thank Celestia.”

Vanilla giggled and sighed, “Are you ok, honey?”

Kynes smirked and left the room. I blushed, “Yeah. I’m feeling better then before, but I’m still in pain.”

She looked at my side. It was bandaged along with my right leg and right shoulder. I guess that was where I broke bones. Vanilla laid beside me, “I hope you’ll get better.”

I held her close, “I will. Don’t worry,” I gulped, “but these cherubs are watching us.”

Vanilla laughed and stood back up, “Yeah. They’re strange.”

The cherubs landed and walked toward the door. One of them flew up to open the door as the other walked out, then the one who opened it followed.

I chuckled, “Kinda cute, too”

Vanilla laughed, “Misty has been having fun with them. That filly really likes them.”

I smiled, “That’s good. I’m glad she’s having fun. How about Blue?”

She nodded and sat down beside me, “He’s fine. Worried about you, though. He fell asleep a little while ago.”

I yawned, “Maybe I should sleep, too.”

Vanilla smiled, “Maybe you should. You need to rest.”

I suddenly remembered that Vanilla was pregnant, “You need to rest, too. You’re pregnant.”

She sighed and got up, “Yeah...”

I tilted my head, “What’s wro-”

Wait... I remember. She was... raped.

How could I forget? I sighed, “It’ll be ok, Vanilla... It’s in the past. I’ll make sure you’re safe. I’ll make sure nothing else happens to you.”

Was that the best I could do? The best thing I could say? She walked toward the door with her head hung low, “Ok, Digi.”

She walked out. The door closed softly behind her. Damn it. I could have said something better, couldn’t I?

I actually don’t know what to tell Vanilla... I’ve never been in a situation like this. I sincerely care about her and I will do anything to make sure she’s safe. I just don’t know how to tell her that.

Am I a bad coltfriend?

“Damn it.”

I sighed and closed my eyes. I needed to sleep. I needed to rest. What I didn’t need was to fill my head with these thoughts. They tore me up.

I relaxed and after a few minutes; drifted off.

Chapter 26 - Nice to meet you

I woke up, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to sleep some more, but it seemed as if my eyes didn’t. I decided to look around the room. No pony was there. I was alone. It was probably night and everypony was asleep. Everypony except me.

“Great.” I mumbled to myself and laid my head back down.

What the hell do I do? Am I healed enough to walk around? Maybe I could get a good look at this place.

I took the sheets covering me and tossed them to the ground. The wound on my side seemed to still be tender, but it was healing. My right leg was sore, along with my shoulder. Broken bones do that to you, I guess.

I sat up slowly in my bed and turned so that my hooves fell off the side. I slowly got up.

It was painful, but I put most of my weight on my left leg, so it was tolerable. I began to walk toward the door and opened it slowly.

Cherubs were sleeping in the hallway. I made sure I didn’t disturb any of them. Didn’t want to wake up the little things, and I definitely didn’t want to go back to bed. I hated sleeping all the time. It made me feel useless.

After walking past some rooms that Kage, Kynes, Vanilla, Blue, and Misty were sleeping in, it seemed that I had made it to some stairs.

They went up towards a hallway that curved to the left. I lead to a bigger room. There were three tunnels in the upper part of the room that water came out of. It all spilled into a pool that surrounded a stone bridge. It lead to a wooden door. The bridge had a few small holes with water filling them. As I crossed it, I accidently stepped in a few, getting my hooves wet.

I made it to the door and opened it. It lead to another room, though this one was even bigger than the last. There were stairs that lead up to a... a throne?

It looked like a throne from down here. Was it?

I stepped closer to get a better look, but slipped on my wet hoof and landed on my back.

“FU- OW!”

I heard a pony walking down the steps, slowly walking toward me. I could only stare at the ceiling. It was too painful to turn my head to see who was coming.

Pretty soon a changeling was standing over me. I paused and looked up at him, my vision blurred from the fall, “S-Storm?”

He smirked and shook his head, “No... You aren’t supposed to be up, little pony.”

My vision cleared up and I could see him clearly. It wasn’t Storm... I don’t even know why I would have thought that.

I coughed, “I couldn’t sleep.”

The changeling knelt down, “I could fix that.”

The changeling brought out a wooden pole from behind him. My eyes widened. Was he really going to do what I thought he was going to do?

The changeling laughed and put the pole away, “Your face! It was priceless!”

I nervously chuckled while the changeling stood up and put his hoof out for me, “You really should loosen up. I know you’ve had a hard time, but being so stressed isn’t good for the healing process.”

I grabbed his hoof and he pulled me up. I lightly brushed myself off with my left hoof, “Th-thanks. So you must be...”

He bowed, “My name is Solaki,” he looked at me, “but you can call me Sol.”

I nodded and held my hoof out. He looked at it, “Yes?”

I looked at my hoof and then back to him, “You’re supposed to shake it.”

Sol laughed, “Oh! Yes! Right,” he shook my hoof, “excuse me. I’m not used to customs on the surface. Me and my cherubs go about things in a different manner.”

I nodded, though I didn’t really know what he was talking about.

He lifted his hooves up and laughed, “Look at me forgetting! You’re hurt and I’m standing here rambling on. I apologize,” he opened up the door that lead to the stone bridge and pool of water surrounding it, “let me help you back to your bed.”

I smirked and nodded, walking through the door, “Thank you.”

I just followed him back to my room. He didn’t say anything, and neither did I. We both walked cautiously when we made it to the hallway leading to where I was sleeping. He whispered, “The cherubs are nice, but they tend to get a little grumpy if you wake them in the middle of naps.”

I smirked and chuckled slightly, “Don’t we all?”

He smiled, “Good. Keep up that attitude. It’s better for you.”

I smiled back and nodded. He opened up the door to my room for me. As I laid back into my bed, he entered the room and closed the door, “So why can’t you sleep?”

My smile disappeared. I remembered what I was worried about, “Nothing... I’ll be fine.”

Sol shook his head, “If you’re fine then you wouldn’t have found your way out of your room. You would still be sleeping.”

I couldn’t help but smile a little, “You’re right... It’s just that... I’m worried.”

Sol nodded, “That’s normal. I’d be worried if you weren’t. The question is what are you worried about?”

I looked up at the ceiling, “I’m worried about Misty and Vanilla. I’m worried about the demons. I’m worried about,” I paused for a second, “dieing...”

Sol crossed his arms, “Yes. Yes. You have a lot to worry about. It’s understandable. That is why you fix those problems.”

I closed my eyes, “I just want to avoid these problems.”

He smirked, “Yes. Avoid the problems so you can make it safely to your death. Either way, Digi, you will die. It’s a fact. So make sure you leave this world the way you want it before you go, and let me tell you, if you do nothing, it won’t change at all.”

I relaxed my head into the pillow. He was right. I shouldn’t think about all this too much. I looked at him, “Thank you.”

He smiled and nodded, “It’s what I do. Now rest. Your training begins tomorrow.”

I looked at him and my eyes widened, “What? Training? I thought you said I should be resting?”

He laughed and began to walk toward the door, “Yes. You should be. It’s night. Everyone should be resting.”

I laid back down and scratched my head. Wait...

I looked at Sol again as he opened up the door, “Training for what?!”

He chuckled, “Goodnight, Digi.”

He shut the door quickly leaving me to think about something entirely different.

Training for what? Is it for the sword?

I laid back down and relaxed. Whatever it was for, I decided I should rest. I guess I’ll figure it out tomorrow.

My eyes shut. I drifted off to sleep. I drifted into a dream. No...

Not a dream...

A nightmare.

Chapter 27 - This isn’t what I wanted

I was back on the ship that took me to The Pit. I was laying down in my room on the ship just looking up at the ceiling. I got up and walked toward the door, opening it. Walking out into the hallway, I could hear the crackling of flames.

I ran toward the exit and walked out to the deck of the ship. All I saw was The Pit burning down. I stepped off of the ship. What the hell was happening?

I walked into the city, all around me were burning buildings. I could hear screams underneath the crackling flames. My eyes widened, “Vanilla... Misty...”

I ran toward the church. That’s the only place I could think of at the time.

As I ran down the streets to the church, I saw ponies run out of the buildings. They were set ablaze, flailing their hooves around, screaming for help. I gulped and teared up slightly, but ran past them. I had to get to the church.

After a short time, I made it to the church. It wasn’t burnt down. It wasn’t on fire. I smiled with tears in my eyes.

I slowly walked toward the structure. Everything seemed like it was before. Everything was back to normal.

I took another step toward the church, but stopped when I saw him walk out. His eyes were lit, his grin made me step back. It was War.

He walked slowly toward me with his sword in his hoof, “Hello, Digi. Welcome back to the church. Are you looking for Vanilla and Misty?”

My eyes widened and I took a step toward him, standing firmly, “Where are they?!”

He chuckled, “Please, Digi. Calm down. They’re right here.”

He pointed both hooves away toward either side of him where Vanilla and Misty were tied up. I looked at them both and cried, turning back to War, “Let them go!”

He smirked, “I can’t, but you can.”

I took a step toward Misty, but then I noticed Gluttony walking toward Vanilla. I began to rush toward her, but noticed Crimson Tear walking toward Misty.

War just stood there and shook his head while grinning, “Tsk tsk. Don’t you hate decisions? I know I do.”

I continued to run toward Vanilla. I was already closer to her. Maybe I could save them both. I will.

I got to Vanilla and untied her. She got up and ran away as Gluttony walked back into the church.

I turned to Misty and began to run toward her. War stepped out of the way and smiled. Crimson Tear was already right next to her, his blade over his head.

I screamed out, “NO!”

His blade struck down as I could only see the blood of the little filly drip off of the table. Crimson Tear turned toward me, smirking, with blood splattered on his face.

I fell to my knees and slammed the ground, cursing. War stood over me. I looked up at him, my vision blurred from my tears. He simply smiled, “Your choice. Not mine.”

I stood up and looked him in the eyes, “I’LL KILL YOU!”

He grinned, “I’ve heard that before. From a changeling. A changeling I killed.”

He slashed his sword toward me, but I jumped back and fell. I could feel somepony breathing against the back of my neck. I turned around and saw Misty. Her eyes were glazed over and she was sewed up.

I quickly crawled away from her while crying, “No...”

She held a doll and blood fell from her eyes like tears, “Is it my turn to sleep like my mommy, Digi?”

War walked toward me and looked down at me, holding his sword with both hooves over my body, “Is it your turn, too, Digi?”

His sword thrust down toward me.

I woke up yelling. I quickly sat up, hurting myself. Vanilla had just walked into the room and ran toward me, “What’s wrong, honey?!”

I laid back down and began to tear up, “A nightmare. You and Misty... I... Where’s Misty?”

Vanilla wiped some of the tears off of my cheek and kissed my forehead, “She’s still sleeping.”

I looked at Vanilla, “Is she ok? Is she hurt?”

I sat up, but Vanilla stopped me, “She’s fine, Digi. We’re both fine.”

I paused and slowly laid back down. She laid down next to me and put her head on my chest, “Your heart is beating fast,” she looked at me, “it’ll be fine. It was just a dream.”

She was right. It was just a dream. It wasn’t real. I wiped my eyes, “Ok...”

She laid her head back onto my chest, “Good. Your heartbeat is slowing down.”

I smiled and hugged her, “I love you.”

She giggled, “I love you, too.”

A single tear fell down my cheek. Vanilla couldn’t see it. I’m so glad I was with her.

Sol walked into the room, “Stop that. No time. His training begins today.”

Vanilla laughed and got up, “Sorry.”

Sol walked toward the corner of the room and picked up the sword, “You’ll be needing this.”

He handed it to me as I got out of bed, “So what kind of training will this be?”

Blue walked through the door, “Hopefully something to teach you to be a little smarter, boi o.”

Sol chuckled, “No no. I will simply teach you how to fight well with that sword, Digi. You’ll need to learn if you’re going to hunt down demons like Storm did.”

I stood up and looked down, “Yeah... Storm...”

Vanilla put her hoof on my shoulder, “He did all he could do. He gave you his sword for a reason. He saw something in you. Something I see,” I looked at her and she smiled, “you can finish where he left off.”

I looked at Sol, “When do we start?”

He smiled and walked toward the door, “Once we enter the throne room, expect the training to begin.”

I followed close behind him along with Vanilla and Blue. Maybe this will take my mind off of that dream.

Chapter 28 - To be a hero

I was back in the throne room surrounded by cherubs and my friends. Blue, Kage and Vanilla sat on a bench while Kynes stood next to a cherub beside them. Sol was slowly walking around me, “Are you still in pain, Digi?”

I stretched slightly, “Yeah. A little.”

He nodded, “Good. Pain will be common in your quest to hunt down the demons. This isn’t an easy journey, as you could already tell from past events.”

I looked down and then back forward, “Yes. I know.”

He stopped in front of me and crossed his hooves, “That is also good. You need to know what you’re getting into. Now. Where is your sword?”

I lifted up the sword and looked at it, “Right h-”

He kicked the sword out of my hoof quickly. I couldn’t even react. He proceeded to put his hooves behind his back and smile, “Right where? I don’t see anything.”

I looked over at The Begotten and turned back to Sol, “Well it’s over there now!”

He looked over at it, “So it is,” he turned back to me, “so it slipped out of your hoof?”

I pointed at the sword, “You kicked it!”

He shook his head and smiled, “You did not hold onto it tightly enough.”

I scratched my head, “I guess so. I wasn’t ready.”

He shook his hoof in front of my face, “‘I wasn’t ready’ will not stop demons from attacking you. Be ready at all times.”

I nodded and walked over to my sword, picking it up, “Ok. I think I’m re-”

Sol tried to kick the sword out of my hoof, but I held it tightly this time and it only moved. He looked at The Begotten still in my hoof and smiled, “Good. You learned. I like fast learners.”

Blue laughed, “That’s what I said a while back!”

Sol glanced at Blue then turned back to me, “Now. Let’s move on.”

I tilted my head, “On to what?”

Sol looked up, “You have already fought before, and I don’t want to keep you training here for too long...”

I scratched my head, “So?”

He looked back at me, “We will fight.”

My eyes widened, “What?”

He nodded, “Yes.”

I shook my head, “Wai-”

Sol pulled his staff out and knelt down, swinging it to trip me and proceeded to stand back up to slam it down on me, but I rolled out of the way right before it hit the ground and got back on my feet, “I wasn’t ready!”

Sol shook his head and swung his staff toward me while I blocked it with my sword, “We already went over this, Digi. Demons aren’t going to wait.”

I pushed his staff away and swung my sword toward him, but he dodged out of the way by kneeling underneath it and then he thrust his staff toward my stomach, knocking the breath out of me. He then stood up, pulling the staff up quickly to hit my jaw, making me flip over and fall onto my back.

I quickly crawled away when he swung down toward me, the pole landing in between my legs. Vanilla looked away and my eyes widened as I gulped, “That was close.”

Sol smirked while lifting his staff to swing down on me again, but I held my sword up and blocked the attack, getting back up onto my feet.

He smiled and walked around me, “You are getting better, but you still have much more room for improvement.”

I shook my head, “Improvement?”

I smirked and slashed my sword toward him. He blocked the attack, but the force behind it threw him onto the ground.

I lifted my sword up to slice down on him, but Sol kicked me down onto my back. The sword fell out of my hoof when I struck the ground. Sol stood over me while smiling. He lifted up his staff and I closed my eyes.

All I heard was it lightly tap the ground and Sol chuckling. I opened my eyes and saw him leaning on the pole and looking down at me, “You also need to learn not to be cocky.”

I looked over at Vanilla, Blue, Kage and Kynes. Kynes was trying to get what looked like an apple away from a cherub, but the cherub kept dodging his grabs, while Kage and Blue just watched him and smiled. Vanilla was still staring intently at me, though.

I smiled at her as she smiled back and I turned to look at Sol, “I’ll work on that.”

He looked over at Kynes and the Cherub fighting over some food and chuckled, “It would seem that somepony is hungry. Maybe it’s time for lunch.”

Kynes looked over at us quickly and let go of the food the cherub was holding, “Lunch sounds good.”

I stood up and brushed myself off lightly, “I could go for some food.”

Sol put away his staff and walked toward a door. I guess that’s where they ate. We all followed him through the door while he smirked, “Sit anywhere you like. The food will be brought out shortly.”

It was a large room, probably because all the cherubs that were here. I sat down next to Vanilla and Blue. Kage and Kynes had to find another table.

Wait...

I looked over at Blue, “Where’s Misty?”

He looked at me and tilted his head, “She’s still sleeping? Hmmmm... Hold on a second.”

Blue stood up and walked out the door. I looked at Vanilla and smiled, “She’s tired, I guess.”

Vanilla laughed, “I guess so,” she paused and looked down at my body, “are you ok, honey?”

I smiled and held her hoof, “I’m fine.”

She smiled back at me and sat closer. After a little while, Blue walked through the door with Misty. She sat by Kage and Kynes while Blue came back to sit by me and Vanilla.

Kynes was doing what looked like magic tricks for Misty. I rolled my eyes and chuckled to myself as I watched, “First grade unicorn magic.”

Blue looked at Kynes and smiled, “He’s just entertaining the filly. Doesn’t have to be all fancy, now does he?”

I laughed and turned to Blue, “I guess not.”

I remembered back in Equestria when I used my magic to create scenes of wonder and amazement during plays and stories. Will I ever get to return?

Will I ever have another audience?

My thoughts ended when Sol walked out of the kitchen bringing out food. I put a smile on my face so that I wouldn’t worry anypony. A stupid thing to think about, judging by what else is going on.

*~*~*

It’s been about two weeks since that first day of training. I’ve healed enough to leave the sewers. I’ve trained enough to hunt down the demons. Me and the others climbed out of the sewers into the basement of an old abandoned house.

As I walked toward the stairs following everypony else, Sol tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to him, “I thought you said you don’t come up to the surface?”

Sol smiled and shook his head, “I’m in a basement. Not exactly out there, am I?”

I laughed, “That’s true.”

Sol reached into a bag he was holding, “But there’s a specific reason why I came up here before you left.”

He pulled out a key and handed it to me, “This is for an old cathedral located out of the city. I thought that since you’re used to churches, a cathedral would be a place you’d feel at home.”

I smiled and nodded, taking the key, “Thank you, Sol,” I put the key in my pocket and paused, “wait. How will I find the cathedral if I don’t know where to go?”

Sol looked down into the sewer and motioned for somepony to come up. A cherub flew out of the hole and landed by Sols side. Sol patted the cherub on its head as he looked at me, “He’ll show you the way. He’s yours now. This little guy is actually my first in command. Isn’t that right, Kypo.”

Kypo knelt down slightly, trying to avoid the the changeling’s hoof, “Don’t call me little.”

Sol laughed, “I think he’ll be a great addition to your team.”

The cherub flew up the stairs and I could hear Kynes yell from behind the door, “We’re taking one of these things?!”

I shook my head and looked at Sol, “Thank you for what you did.”

Sol nodded, “Like I said. It’s what I do.”

I smiled and turned to the stairs. Sol turned back to me before he crawled back into the sewers, “Oh. And Digi.”

I looked back at the changeling, “Yes, Sol?”

Sol smirked, “Make sure you hold tightly to that sword when you slice it into the demon's flesh.”

I smirked back at him, “I’ll also try not to be cocky while doing it.”

He chuckled and crawled down into the sewers, sliding the lid over the hole, “It was nice to meet you, Digi, and good luck!”

I smiled and walked up the stairs, “You, too, Sol... You, too...”