My Little Pony: Ragnarok is Magic.

Chapters

Sograt you could make it.
Between Morroc and a hard place.
In_Sphinx

Sograt you could make it.

My Little Pony: Ragnarök is Magic Chapter 1

Sograt you could make it.

A lone figure moved along the arid sands of the Sograt Desert as the harsh sun beat down upon it. "Just hang on a little longer, dear. I'm certain I saw lights heading in this direction last night."

The ragged unicorn looked back to her passenger, who simply laid there motionless as she let out a weak whimper "Nngh..."

"Oh, dear. I better pick up the pace..."

Just simple travel in the awful conditions of the desert was enough to drain most of their energy. Doing so while being badly battered and carrying double her weight, it was a small wonder that Rarity hadn't simply dropped dead hours ago. She steeled herself as she climbed up another dune.

"I didn't even know Equestria had deserts with this much sand in them..."

Once she made it to the top, a small smile formed on her face. Off on the distance, she could see what looked like a long wall, on the other side of which she could see small buildings and smoke rising from somewhere within. It had to be some sort of settlement! "We made it, darling!"

She quickly made her way down. It would take at least another hour to get there, but maybe the ponies there would be able to help her friend!

Being a guard in the town of Morroc had never been easy. For one part, there was the heat. The insufferable, scorching, don’t-step-out-of-the-shadows-or-risk-roasting-alive heat. Maybe the heat was the worst part of the job, or maybe it just made every other single thing worse.

The Thieves' Guild being holed up at pretty much spitting distance from the town wasn't exactly a good influence, either. Sure, there were a few thieves who knew how to behave with everyone's best interests in mind: they understood the delicate art of bribes and favors, and everyone could get along just dandy. Some thieves, however... they took to making trouble for the Guard as some sort of sport; they didn't even care about the value of what was stolen, so long as they got a thrill out of it...

I kind of miss those days, now that I think about it. Now, there isn't even anything left to protect or to steal, unless you're big on rubble and broken hopes and dreams. Said thought dejectedly.

The awakening of Satan Morroc had scared most people away... and killed the rest. The only ones who stayed were those too poor to leave, or too afraid to brave the desert. The current Guard of Morroc consisted of a handful of broken soldiers, so they had to turn to the Continental Guard for help, which ended with the original Morroc Guard being stationed at the entrances of the town, serving pretty much as guides instead of guards.

"Not like there's much left to guard." Said sighed without realizing.

"Some people survived, and we can always rebuild." the stern voice startled him, and Said turned to look at his captain giving him a disapproving look.

"Sorry, Sir."

The older man let out a sigh, "Just stay alert, boy. The Continental Guard Chief said that the battle with Morroc should already be over, but they haven't received any word yet. We might have to welcome some heroes back from the battle soon!"

Said looked down, "I don't know, Sir... I mean, we both saw what that monster could do... I'm not entirely sure if... if they could... you know..." A vision of dozens of arrows raining upon a brown mountain of a monster flashed on his mind, and how it remained unfazed as it looked at what was left of the town...

"The Continental Guard managed to recruit the help of some of Rune-Midgard's finest heroes, if anyone could beat that abomination, it would've been them. Besides, if they'd failed, we'd already have received word from Prontera."

"I guess..."

"Just watch out for trouble, Said." he said as he walked away.

I didn't even think he would be able to stand after that monster's attack, but I guess the captain can't rest while that monster's still on the loose. I know I still can't sleep that well at night.

Which was beginning to worry Said, as he saw a strange creature passing through the gate he was supposed to be watching over.

"H-h-halt!" Oh yes, I'm sure that'll make that creature think twice about standing against the mighty Morroc Guard.

He rubbed his eyes and did a double take on the creature. Creatures, actually. They looked... like Odin's horse of legend, only these ones had only four legs. Said had once heard of spectral horses with four legs... some adventurer called them... Nightmares.

Now, Said was by no means a coward, but when a couple of strange horse creatures walk into your recently destroyed town, with no news about the fate of the worst monster to have ever attacked Rune-Midgard (a monster, I might add, capable of summoning corporeal horrors strong enough to kill most of the Morroc Guard), and said creatures have a relatable appearance to something called "Nightmare"... well, let's just say that Said would rather people call him a coward than a dead man.

Rarity was shocked. Had that... thing talked to her? And now it looked like it was about to run away. "Wait! Please!"

The strange creature nearly jumped 10 feet in the air and fell on its knees, then it turned around slowly to look at them. "P-please?" It whispered.

Apparently, this strange creature considered a scruffy and badly damaged Unicorn to be the worst terror imaginable. Well, scruffiness is rather shocking. She had to watch her words and thread carefully, "W-well, hello, gentle-uh-fellow. I am Rarity, a unicorn from Ponyville, and I am in need of assistance."

Said looked at her like she'd eat him at any second, but still managed to ask, "A Unicorn? A talking unicorn? ...Ponyville? ...I really need to get some sleeping pills..."

"Please, sir, my friend needs help! She has a strange wound, and she hasn't been able to move at all since yesterday!" Rarity slowly lowered her passenger to the ground, carefully avoiding any moves that could worsen the unmoving pony's large gash that ran from her shoulder to her flank.

Said slowly stood up and walked over to the horse lying on the ground... a horse with wings... "A... pegasus? A pegasus and a unicorn?" The wound on the pegasus made him gasp. It wasn't big like a sword slash or anything of the sort, it was almost like a claw mark, and it radiated a sick glowing purple from the sides, a purple that was spreading around the pegasus' fur at a slow rate. "What... what made this wound? When did this happen!?"

Rarity was startled by the sudden outburst, "I-I don't know what made it, but she was like this when I woke up next to her yesterday! Only not as... purple..." Tears started forming on the corners of her eyes, "Please, you have to help us! Help her!"

Said stood up. "I'm not sure I can help you... but I think there is someone who could. I-I have to go get my captain, you wait here!" he yelled as he ran towards the big crater on the center of the town.

"Thank you..." Rarity managed to whisper, before fatigue took its toll and she blacked out.

As she slowly came to her senses she could hear a voice in the background, "Look, they obviously fought with one of Morroc's Incarnations, and if it could poison the pegasus like that, it must've been one of the stronger ones. I just think we might be able to get some information. Besides, they didn't look that dangerous."

Rarity got up, and looked around at what she supposed was the inside of a tarp. She saw some water in a jar next to her, and levitated it towards her. She took a quick look around, and was glad to find she was alone as she emptied the jar in big gulps. The desert is just no place for a proper Lady. She sighed.

Then it hit her: she was alone. She stood up with a jump, and ran outside the tarp, only to come to a screeching halt to avoid trampling a serious looking creature like the one she found at the entrance, only this one looked older, and was clad in heavy-looking armor, far heavier than anything she had ever seen a guard at the Royal Castle back in Canterlot use.

She took a tentative step forward. "Um, excuse me? I'm looking for my friend..." she asked with as much politeness as she could muster in such a situation.

"See? I don't think they mean any harm." Rarity looked back to see the creature that she first met when entering the town.

"We most certainly do not. Though I do have some very urgent questions, if you would hear me..." Rarity said, bringing out those diplomatic skills she'd developed to mesh seamlessly into the higher circles of Canterlot society.

"We have some questions ourselves, as a matter of fact." said the older, bigger creature. "Your friend is being taken care of as we speak, so if you could answer us, we may be able to answer your own questions."

That one looks like the leader of the bunch, Rarity thought. Time to bring out that pony charm. "Ahem," Rarity cleared her throat as she bowed, "I am most thankful for your help in our time of need, and I will answer any question you may have to the best of my abilities." Rarity looked up with that little smile she saved for buttering people up, "But if you would allow me to ask something first," She paused, "um... not to sound rude, but just... what are you? You are obviously not ponies and I do not believe I have ever encountered fellows such as yourselves ever before in Equestria."

"Equestria?"

Oh, dear. Rarity gulped.

"As for what we are, we are humans. You may call me Chief Balrog. I am the chief of the Continental Guard in charge of the defense of this city." said the older and bigger human.

"You have my gratitude, good human, now ask away, if you please." Rarity sat down on the floor, immediately standing back up after touching the roasting floor. Dumb Sun...

"Let's head back inside, shall we?" suggested Chief Balrog as he headed inside. "And get someone to bring some more water." he yelled from within the tent.

Rarity blushed a little as she followed, "Thank you" she muttered at Balrog as she sat across from him.

"Very well," Chief Balrog began, "First question: What are you?"

Straight to the point, I see "As I had said earlier, I am Rarity from Ponyville. I am a unicorn pony, from the land of Equestria." Rarity's educated gestures were somewhat diminished by the poor state of her fur and mane- she was downright shaggy- not counting the dried blood of her friend covering a large part of her coat.

Chief Balrog stroke his chin as he took the answer in. "I don't suppose I could get an answer to "What is Equestria" that wouldn't basically be "Where I'm from", so..." He paused and looked at Rarity, who cocked her head slightly to the side, "My next question would be: How did you and your friend end up in such a state?"

Rarity winced, "I... I am not sure." She got up and began to pace around the room, "I remember being summoned to the Royal Castle to see Princess Celestia some days ago, along the rest of my friends-" She looked back suddenly, "-nothing scandalous, I assure you." She mover back to her seat, "The princess was worried; she told us to... to be prepared in case an emergency happened. She feared that Equestria would be attacked soon, by something "more dangerous than anything we had ever faced before"... most of what happened after that is a blur. I remember staying with my friends at the castle. Some were a little annoyed at having to stay away from home, but I was happy to be in Canterlot again. So much to do!" she gushed. "Anyhow, everything was pretty much uneventful after that."

"And then, one day Princess Luna came running to us and yelled "Get ready, Ele-ahem-everypony!" After that... I just remember a blinding flash, and then we were standing somewhere else... probably a teleportation spell on part of the Princess. I think there was fighting, but I can't remember well... I probably fainted" She blushed a little, "it happens sometimes when I'm greatly shocked..."

At this point, Said entered the tarp with two more jars full of water. Balrog looked to him and motioned towards Rarity with his head, "Guard, tell this unicorn what you told me about the pegasus' injury."

Said let out a big sigh as he stood next to the entrance. "It looks exactly like the injuries on many soldiers who fought against one of Satan Morroc's Incarnations. The only reason I think the pegasus has survived so far is because the wound is very shallow, which is why the poison's spread so slowly." He looked at Rarity with a half smile, "Either your friend is very lucky, or she is very good at dodging."

Rarity stood in shock as memories flashed inside her head. "Morroc..." was the only sound that left her mouth as her eyes started welling up with tears.

-- Rarity’s Memoirs.

I looked around me as colors and shapes slowly made their way back into my world. Teleportation is nice and all, but if it catches you unaware, it can really give you a headache. I pondered on the proper way one would reprimand a thousand years-old princess as a scream tore through the air.

"SISTER!"

It was Princess Luna! I turned over to see Twilight and the Princess of the night kneeling next to the battered Princess of the day.

I was about to run over, myself, when I noticed the background started to move. It was hard to describe what was standing there; a strange, huge creature with enormous arms and... reptilian eyes that reminded me of Nightmare Moon's, on its shoulders, all of them blinking and seizing up the different ponies in front of it. Just looking at the thing made my stomach lurch, though I wasn't sure if it was from how disgusting it looked or how... ominous it was. The thick, dark scales all around its body reminded me of an adult dragon, but an adult dragon would look positively adorable next to that abhorrent thing!

Then the monster spoke with a voice I never thought anything living should be able to make… it was as if it spoke directly into one’s mind, with a horrible booming echo:

"Pathetic horse! You can't stop me! Nothing can. The only thing they could do was trap me like cowards, and cry and pray that the trap would last forever! They will all pay after I get my strength back... their puny midgardians only delayed the inevitable. I will destroy everything like I destroyed their weak army and nothing will stop the Morroc!"

"We aren't horses, you big, ugly dragon… thing! And nopony insults the princess when I'm around!" I heard Rainbow Dash shouting as she zoomed into the creature, enveloping it in her signature rainbow tornado.

All I could do was stand there as I saw Rainbow’s reckless attack. Then the monster lifted one of its huge arms and swatted Rainbow off the air, and I screamed as Rainbow flew through the air a small distance before smashing into the ground.

I ran as fast as I could to help her. I called her name and I saw here rising up slowly.

Dash said she was okay, though her voice was woozy, and I noticed she didn’t go back to the air. She always hovers above or around us whenever she can, so I discretely checked her wings, and noticed the shoulder joint on her left wing was swollen, though I decided I should just keep an eye on her. Rainbow Dash can be really stubborn when confronted about her injuries.

I turned around when I heard Princess Celestia's voice and saw her trying to get up, while Princess Luna urged her to rest down. I had never seen anypony in such a bad state before: her poor wings looked like she had been through a tempest! Many feathers were torn while some bones looked at least fractured, and her coat was marred with a mix between dirt and blood... if that monster could do this to an alicorn... I turned to see Rainbow Dash again, who was also staring at Celestia with her mouth agape. I thanked the stars for her luck, I don’t think I could manage to see Rainbow in such a state…

"Girls!" I turned to look at Twilight, she had tears running down her face as she told us: "Let's show this monster what happens when it picks a fight with Equestria!" More like "messes with my teacher", though honestly, I'd stand beside her either way. I was angry enough at the monster already for hurting my friends.

Everything went white as the Elements were activated. I remember the rainbow from the Elements hitting the monster and how it let out a deafening roar... but something was different. The last times we had used the Elements, I remember feeling the hatred and... evil being torn apart to make way for something else... something pure. This time, there was nothing. Only more hatred and more darkness... I watched as the monster was being... destroyed; disintegrated. It already had lost one of its huge arms... and the next thing I felt was cold. A freezing cold taking my breath away and I think I faintly heard my friends calling my name as I lost consciousness.

"The next thing I remember is waking up in that awful desert with my friend lying next to me..." said Rarity as tears ran down her face. "You said my friend was poisoned! Was it that thing that hurt her? Is she okay!?" Rarity tried to shake the answers out of the human that had saved her, but she could barely move with how much she was trembling.

"I... I'm not sure if she's okay, but it wasn't Satan Morroc that did that to her. Not directly, anyway." Said tried to stay calm as he broke away from Rarity, "It was one of its... incarnations. A monster that it summons to attack others for him. We fought some of them some nights ago, when Satan Morroc escaped from its prison. Not many survived..."

"It was probably another one of them that knocked you out." Chief Balrog finally said, he had been so quiet Rarity had forgotten that he was even there. "So... if this unicorn tells the truth... our forces failed to destroy the monster."

Chief Balrog stood from his seat, and began pacing around the room while he muttered to himself, "We need to send someone to scout the desert... need someone to bring word to Prontera and Lighthalzen..."

"Take her to her friend and keep an eye on them, guard. That will be all for now, but I still have questions for later." Balrog said as he quickly made his way out of the tent. They could still hear his stern voice giving orders from a distance, but couldn't make out what he was saying.

"Um, let's go." Said tried nudging Rarity to move along after a few minutes, he felt somewhat uneasy about touching the unicorn.

"It's okay, darling... I will... I'll follow you." Rarity wiped out her tears with one hoof as she stood up.

The two walked in silence through the ruins in the middle of town. Said looked back at the unicorn following a few paces behind: she was looking at the rubble, dread filling her face.

"This used to be the Grand Castle of Morroc..." Said said in a low voice, "The legends always told of how Morroc, the town, was named after the demon sealed within the castle. Most of us thought they were just silly stories to keep troublemakers out of the place." He sighed, "And now... it's all just memories. There's barely even enough of this place to be called a town..."

"I'm sorry." Was all Rarity muttered as she looked down and continued to follow Said through the ruins.

The sun had moved a little further down the horizon and it wasn't constantly above them anymore. Small blessings. She sighed.

They were approaching another gate, only this one was much bigger than the one Rarity came in from, and looking at it closer, it was more like they decided to leave that space open when they built the walls that surrounded the city. Where the walls ended, a valley surrounded by small mountains and hills began, with strange triangular buildings way off in the distance. Pyramids, perhaps?

"Here we are." He signaled to a small house right next to the gates, "One of the Chief's priests is looking after your friend in there."

Said moved to the door which was left open, and simply walked inside. Rarity noticed the house was in poor condition as she walked in, but at least it was still standing.

"I'm back, Sister Lucia." Rarity heard Said's voice coming from the next room and quickly made her way there.

"Welcome back, Said. Oh... is that...?" said a softer, more caring voice from within the room.

Rarity walked in to see a different human, this one with a much lovelier, flowing brown mane. Her face seemed much fairer to Rarity, who was beginning to fear humans were all rugged creatures.

Then again, I've only met soldiers, I suppose.

"This is Rarity" he began, "The one I was--" he was abruptly cut off as Lucia ran next to Rarity, bumping him out of the way.

"Good Freyja! Just look at this poor soul!" Lucia knelt next to Rarity and patted her mane.

Rarity took a step back, abashed, "Oh, aheh, thank you, but I'm more worried about my friend, really... at least I can move around." Why do I get this feeling of Déjà vu?

"Oh… your friend..." a frown formed on the woman's face.

This caused the unicorn to perk up, "Is she going to be okay? I was told she was actually poisoned..."

Lucia and Said looked at each other, and then back at Rarity. "I'm sorry... the only thing I could do was heal her wounds and clean her up a bit."

Rarity looked at the sleeping pegasus. "There... there isn't even a scar left on her! Why, I had heard of magical healing back in Equestria, but this is incredible! What do you mean you "only healed her wounds?" You saved her! Thank you so much, darling!" Rarity was doing her best impression of Pinkie Pie as she jumped in place from happiness… until she looked up at the pair of humans avoiding her eyes.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked.

They said nothing as the healer pointed at the lying pegasus again. Rarity wondered what could be wrong as she watched... then she noticed the purple glow hadn't left her friend's body yet. "Why is she still glowing purple? It's even brighter than before now..."

Lucia stood next to the pegasus and placed her hands above the unconscious mare, and began muttering something that Rarity couldn't make out, and a green glow shone down from her hands and into the prone pegasus' body. "I wasn't able to cure the poison... I tried all the herbs and medicines we had, but neither medicine or my magic could make the poison leave her body... all I can do is slow its effects to buy us time..."

"Buy us time? So there is a way to cure her!?" Rarity was getting anxious again. I didn't almost die from exhaustion in a tacky desert just to let her die like that!

"The Assassins' Guild." Rarity turned to look at Said, who had a somber look on his face.

"A-Assassins!?" Such things were unheard of in modern Equestria. Sure, there were novels and fiction where the assassins of back when everyone hated each other were featured, but actual living killers?

"Well... they're not so bad. Some of them, anyway." Lucia was looking down as she fiddled her fingers, "Many assassins actually helped the town after Satan Morroc attacked. And even some of the higher ranking Assassin Cross went after the beast with the rest of the allied forces."

"And these... characters... they could help my friend?" Looking at her convalescent friend, Rarity wondered if she wouldn't strike up a deal with Discord at this point.

"Assassins are masters of poison. Some say even the Alchemists from Aldebaran are jealous of their talents..." Said sat down and sighed. "It was the assassins that helped save many of our wounded from the attack of Satan Morroc's Incarnations. Imagine that... assassins saving lives instead of taking them..."

"Don't listen to him; there's just bad blood between assassins and guards in Morroc because many people look to the assassins as heroes. Even if they are more... vigilante about helping others than guards are." Lucia pinched Said on the cheek, "Besides, you would think you'd be more grateful!"

"Whatever." Said blushed as he shrugged off Lucia's pinch.

"And... how could I contact these assassins for help? Are they here in the city?" Rarity was finally getting somewhere. She wouldn't fail her friends after all!

"Well..." Lucia looked down again, "It's not that easy... I hear they have a fortress in the desert, but they keep the location secret, and nobody has heard from the assassins since Satan Morroc's attack. Besides..." She looked at the unconscious pegasus "Your friend doesn't have much time... I'd give her two days at the most. The poison had already spread too much when she was brought to me and even with my magic slowing it down..."

Rarity felt her legs give and she fell to the ground. She covered her head with her arms and squeezed hard, "No, no, NO!" She got up and walked to Lucia, rearing on her hind legs and putting her forelegs on the human's shoulders, she began shaking her, "There must be something I can do! Someone I can talk to! Anything!"

Lucia nearly fell from the desperate unicorn's shaking. She hadn't noticed how the unicorn was taller than most midgardians when she stood on her hind legs. "We-e-e-ell the-ere mi-ight be on-n-ne wa-a-ay"

Rarity got back on four legs and stood in attention, not even noticing the poor priest's eyes still spinning.

When the world stopped spinning, Lucia shook her head and started talking in a hushed tone, "Well, everyone's heard the rumors about the Thieves' Guild in the pyramids... they say they have some sort of relation with the Assassins' Guild. Some people even say that the Assassins' Guild gets their new recruits from there!"

"Yeah, I don't think that's gonna happen." Said cut her off with a sharp voice.

They both looked at Said with confused expressions.

"But they could-"

"They are criminals. They can't be trusted." Said was getting more upset by the minute, "I was ordered to look after these ponies, and I'm not letting her go into the pyramids!" he said while pointing at Rarity. "It's a dangerous place and I'm not going anywhere near it!"

Rarity began fuming too, "Well, I'm not letting my friend die simply because helping her might be dangerous!" She began making her way to the door when Said blocked her with his spear at the ready.

"I'm not letting you out of here." He tried looking threatening, which only made Rarity glower at him and light her horn, but as she was about to take the spear away, Lucia got between them and put a hand on both their shoulders.

"Listen, guys, let's just calm down and put away our pointy weapons, okay?"

"I will if she will!" demanded Said.

"It is not a "pointy weapon"; it is my horn! And I cannot simply "put it away" okay!?" Rarity was beginning to worry that she would have to be against her saviors one way or another before she was able to cure her friend.

"All right, let's just take deep breaths. No need for violence." Lucia sighed as both parties went back to more relaxed positions. "Okay. Why don't we just rest for tonight? I'm sure Rarity's still exhausted and she looks like she could use a bath. No offense."

"None taken. A bath would be lovely, actually... but I have to help my friend. I simply must!" Then again... a plan was already forming on Rarity's head. "Then again, me dropping dead from exhaustion won't help her much... very well, uh, Sister, I will gladly take you up on your offer for a bath."

"You can call me Lucia, sweetie. Follow me." Lucia smiled as she led Rarity into the bathroom on the back, while Said grumbled and walked out the house.

It was a small room with a rustic-looking tub and a small window on the wall opposite to it.

I guess hoping for decent plumbing and bathing facilities was too much... Rarity let out a small sigh. Still... that window shall do.

"Okay, just wait for the tub to be filled. Do you need any help?" How would you even use soap without hands? Lucia thought to herself.

"It's quite all right, darling. I can manage." Said Rarity as she levitated the soap and headed over to the mirror. She let out a dramatic gasp, "Oh, my stars... I really am a mess... I don't suppose you have a comb I may use?"

"There is one in the drawer under the mirror. I'll leave you alone now. Have fun!" Sang Lucia as she closed the door behind her.

"Indeed." Muttered Rarity as she made her way to the window while looking wistfully at the tub. A bath would be really nice, but I'll have time for that after I get those assassins' help.

I guess I should be thankful that it's such a small house after all... Rarity mustered all her stealth as she climbed out the window.

It was little past sundown, and it was dark enough that Rarity thought she could move without being seen. She slowly made her way around the house, which was nearly pressed against the northern wall of the town. She peeked around the corner and saw Said nodding off in a chair next to the house's entrance.

"Sorry..." She whispered as she moved slowly towards what she suspected were the pyramids.

Once she was out of the town proper, she allowed herself to relax a little. There was a lot of open space between the town and the pyramids, and only now she noticed it was all full of makeshift tents and many humans were sitting around them.

I suppose the survivors had to live somewhere other than their destroyed homes...

She decided avoiding any contact would be best for now. Humans were apparently unused to ponies, and if Said was any indication, they could be very excitable. Any screaming would end with her being found out and sent back to Dash... or worse.

As she tried to make her way through the outskirts of the camp, she picked up a low grumble coming from further outside the camp, "Seriously, are we even gonna hit this place? This is freaking boring."

Curiosity got the better of her and she made her way to the source of the noise.

She moved through some bushes and was greeted by a figure in a cloak with the hood up standing next to a couple of broken pillars.

The human let out another sigh. "Just send someone, anyone already..."

Rarity decided that getting into even more trouble would probably be a bad strategy at this point, and tried to make her way back to the pyramids... unfortunately for her, shambling bushes tend to call the attention of others.

"Hey! Who's there!? Did The Guild finally send someone over?"

The Guild? Rarity gulped as she thought her next words carefully, while staying in the bush. "Uh, hello, gentle fellow! Um, who do I have the pleasure of speaking with? I am Rarity, by the way."

"Rarity? That doesn't sound familiar... or like a normal name at all, so just call me Mr. Irrelevant, since that's all I'm to ya!" The figure was about to run off, but Rarity jumped out of the bushes.

"Wait, please! A-are you from the Thieves' Guild? I have business with them but I can't find them!" Rarity tried yelling in a hushed tone.

It obviously caught the human's interest. "What sorta business? The Guild's rates don't come cheap, sugar."

Rarity gulped, "A friend of mine has been poisoned, and I was told only the assassins would be able to cure her. I-I don't have any bits on me, but I'm sure I can pay if you give me the time to get them!" Rarity thought it was strange the human hadn't asked about her being a pony, but maybe it was already too dark, or his hood didn't let him see properly.

"Well, sucks for you, sugar, but The Guild always takes payment upfront. Now if that’s all, let's pretend we never saw each other, 'kay?" He was about leave, but Rarity tugged on his cloak with her magic.

"Wait! Please! I will do anything! There must be someone who can help me and I am willing to pay in any way you want! Just... just help my friend, please!" Rarity was fighting back sobs at this point, she simply couldn't fail.

"...Anything, huh?"

Oh, dear.

"Tell ya what. There's this operation I'm working on..."

Phew...

"And The Guild's apparently pretty short on extra hands. If you're actually good enough to sneak up on me, you might be of some use..." He tapped his chin for a few seconds, "Hahah! Yeah, whaddaya say, sugar? You up for it?" The man walked over closer to Rarity, who gave a few steps back to keep him from getting a good look at her.

"And... and you would help my friend?" her voice was trembling.

"Even if I didn't, do ya have a choice? We thieves are the only ones that can contact the assassins right now." The man held out his hand in front of Rarity, "Then? You game?"

Rarity sighed as she took a step forward. "Anything for her." she placed her hoof on the man's hand who shook it...

For a second until he noticed it was a hoof, "Holy…! What's up with your hand!?" He took off his hood to reveal a younger looking man with spiky, clear brown hair, "Whoa! You're not even human at all are ya?"

"Um, I guess I should introduce myself again: I am Rarity, a unicorn from Ponyville. Aheheh." She flashed him an awkward smile, which was probably lost to the darkness.

"Well, damn. Guess this won't be a boring night after all!" He flashed her a smirk of his own as he shook her hoof once again with renewed strength.

After the introductions were over (he refused to give any name other than "Mr. Irrelevant"), Rarity followed the strange man to a larger hill on the north-eastern edge of the valley the pyramids were in. Soon after, a cave's entrance came into view, and they could see it was being guarded by an old man dozing off on a chair.

Mr. Irrelevant stopped near some bushes far away enough to avoid being heard. "Alright, here's the deal:" he pointed at the man in the chair, "That over there's Old Man Shibu. Geezer's a mushroom farmer, but don't let that fool ya, the guy's loaded. 'Specially now that we don't get much supplies what with the attack and all..."

Rarity was getting nervous. "So... what am I supposed to do? Distract him? I could manage that, I believe..."

"Oh, no, I got something sweeter planned." The grin he was sporting gave Rarity goosebumps, "We're both gonna get in there, and steal as many of his orange 'shrooms as we can put in these sacks!" he said as he passed one of the sacks to Rarity.

"I... I have to steal? From someone else's work? I…" Rarity started sweating, "Are you sure you don't need a distraction?"

"Distraction? The geezer's barely alive right now." He paused and looked at Rarity with a raised eyebrow, "What kind of "operation" did you think a thief was gonna spring?"

"Well, I don't know, I thought we would maybe scare someone, or go look for some ancient jewel kept in a stuffy museum!" Rarity looked down as she played with her hooves nervously.

Mr. Irrelevant had to take a hand to his mouth to force down a guffaw, "Phfft! Now that'd be awesome. Ya read too many comics, girl!" He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "Well, that's the deal, pony. This is your last chance to drop out."

Rarity closed her eyes as she contemplated her options. Okay, so it's either betraying my principles and making somepony miserable for my benefit... or letting one of the ponies I owe everything to die... I'm sorry, but it simply isn't even a considerable option.

Rarity looked over at her partner in crime and nodded, "Let's go."

They moved quietly out of their hiding place and stuck to the shadow provided by the mountain, they sneaked past the old man sleeping by the entrance and slowly made their way deeper into the cave.

"Damnit, I must've left my torch back by the waiting spot... We won't get anywhere by going in blind..." Mr. Irrelevant stopped on his tracks and let out a drawn out groan. "I guess we gotta go back now, let's just hope the geezer doesn't wake up now."

"Wait, I may be able to solve this..." Rarity began concentrating and a soft blue glow enveloped her horn. The glow soon started growing and the cave was rapidly illuminated. The spell was simple enough, but the lack of rest was making it hard for Rarity to maintain it.

"Oh ho! Not bad, Lady, not bad at all!" He started walking again and he looked back to Rarity, "Let's move on, then. Though you better go up front now; just follow my directions and watch your step, a streamlet runs through the cave further ahead."

"Oh, and keep an eye out for monsters!" he added as an afterthought.

"Monsters!?" Rarity yelled by surprise.

"Keep it down, will ya!? Ya wanna tell everything in the cave where we are!?" The hushed yells of Mr. Irrelevant were enough to calm down Rarity, "'Sides, they're just those annoying Fabres or Chonchons that ya have to worry about. The Spores won't bother ya unless ya bother them first."

"I... don't know what any of those things are." Rarity still fidgeted nervously as she looked around.

Mr. Irrelevant let out another drawn out sigh. "Seriously?"

Rarity looked down and nodded, embarrassed.

"Geez. Fabres are the big caterpillar things, Chonchons the annoying overgrown flies and Spores are huge red mushrooms with teeth, got it?"

Rarity gulped, "Are they dangerous?"

"More like annoying, really. You'd get along with them just fine."

"Oh, ha ha."

"Just avoid ‘em if ya can. If not, I bet you could stab ‘em with your horn or just squish 'em or something."

"Yuck." Rarity gagged at the image of an impaled caterpillar on her horn.

"We wasted enough time, let's move on. And keep it down!"

"Okay, okay, no need to get antsy..." Rarity murmured as they continued down the path.

After awhile, they reached a dead end, and Rarity turned back to ask her "guide" what was going on, but she found nothing.

"Mr. Irrelevant?" She called out tentatively. "This isn't funny!" Her ears perked up as she picked up an unusual, yet kind of familiar noise.

*Boing!*

"...Pinkie?" Rarity moved carefully towards the noise, only to find a big mushroom with a red cap. It stared at her as she walked closer.

"Oh... aheh, you must be one of those Spores that ruffian was talking about. Um, I won't bother you anymore, then! Ta-ta~!" Rarity ran in the opposite direction, only to crash face-first into a big boulder standing in the middle of the cave.

"Oh, Tom... I told you it was a mistake, I wasn't being myself..." she mumbled drowsily as she fell to the ground.

As her vision slowly readjusted and she mumbled profanities against all rocks ever, Rarity noticed a bunch of small orange mushrooms growing on the bottom of the big boulder.

"I guess you aren't such a dumb rock after all..."

Sighing, she took all the mushrooms with her magic and put them in the sack she was given. "Ugh, these gooey things look gross. Why even farm something so nasty?" She shuddered as she thought how lucky she was she didn't have to pluck those things with her mouth.

After getting all the mushrooms on the boulder, Rarity looked for an exit on the cave. I might as well get all the mushrooms I can, and give them directly to the Thieves' Guild. I just hope they can help after all...

She kept walking until she came upon two tunnels, Great. Now I can get even more lost. I remember reading that the best way out of a maze is by sticking to the choices on the left... Or did I dream that? Oh, whatever. I'll follow the streamlet; it looks like it's going to the left, anyway.

As she followed the flowing water, Rarity came upon more boulders with mushrooms on their bases. She noticed some of the boulders even looked like huge mushrooms made out of stone.

I guess the farmer has a really tacky sense of decor... at least it makes spotting the mushrooms easy enough. I was actually expecting this to be harder! Rarity let out a contained giggle as she plucked more mushrooms with her magic. She didn't even notice the buzzing sound that grew closer and closer.

As she was putting the last of the mushrooms in her sack, something struck her on the side. It wasn't enough to knock her down, but the surprise attack knocked the wind out of her.

"Oof!" Rarity winced as she turned to look at what had hit her: a strange-looking fly a little smaller than the size of her head buzzed around in circles above her. She barely dodged a second tackle from the angry creature.

"Eek! Stay away, you ugly, gross bug!"

She was about to run away when she heard more buzzing sounds surrounding her. "Aaah!" She dropped to the ground and covered her head with her forelegs as the Chonchons flew in circles above her. As one was about to tackle her on the back, she swatted it away with her tail by reflex, she watched in awe as the powerful move of her (sadly not fabulous)tail actually knocked the bug against the boulder. The creature let out a squeaky scream as it smashed against the hard rock and fell unconscious, twitching its gross little legs in the air.

Huh... That shouldn't have felt as satisfying or as natural as it did... With renewed vigor, Rarity stood up and swatted at the remaining monsters. They almost managed to tackle Rarity a couple of times, but adrenaline had kicked in, and she was surprised her reflexes were working decently, regardless of how tired she had felt.

Most of the Chonchons now lay on the floor, only a couple were still attacking Rarity. Tired from so much action, Rarity turned at the remaining insects and pointed her horn at them. A light blue glow enveloped both monsters and pushed them against the boulder, knocking them out cold.

Rarity dropped to the ground again, but this time it was exhaustion taking its toll. She dragged herself to the streamlet, and dunked her face in it. "This really is no way for a Lady to live..." she said as she rested on the cold ground.

The mushrooms actually started looking edible, and Rarity had to fight the urge to chomp down on them. Knowing my luck, they’re probably poisonous, anyway…

She almost fell asleep, but the face of her dying friend flashed on her mind. She splashed some more water on her face, and got up on shaky legs, "No time to lose... I'll sleep when she's safe..." She'd do the same for me.

She followed the streamlet through some more tunnels, but she hadn't seen any more of the nasty flies, and her sack was almost full now. Just two more of those boulders should do it!

She came upon the biggest cave yet, and she could see it had at least four more of the mushroom boulders.

Rarity let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "This will finally be over soon."

She made her way to the first boulder and began plucking away. She noticed some of the mushrooms had what looked like bite marks... very small ones, but she still wondered if The Guild would take them. Then it hit her.

Uh oh.

She felt a sting just above her fetlock on her left hind leg and yelped, "Ouch!"

She quickly jumped away from the boulder, and saw as a green worm, just about the size of the flies from earlier wiggled its way towards her. She could see what stung her: the creature had rows of big stingers, almost looking like spikes, on its head and all over its backside.

Oh please don't be venomous, please don't be venomous! The last thing we need right now is another poisoned pony! Rarity checked the wound, but other than small bleeding and annoying pain, it didn’t seem like more than a larger prick, so she supposed the venom was slow acting, or the creature wasn’t venomous at all.

She had to think fast, though; she couldn't risk finding out if the thing was actually dangerous or not, and she had a feeling that if she stuck around, more of the creatures would come out. As she looked around the cave, her ears perked up at a familiar sound:

*Boing!*

A light bulb went off in Rarity's head, and she worked her magic as fast as she could; a blue glow surrounded the Fabre and soon had it floating through the air. As Rarity made her way towards the sound, sure enough, more of the caterpillars came from underground; some even dropped from the ceiling.

Gross, gross, gross, gross! Rarity picked up the pace and finally saw her target: a Spore relaxing by the streamlet. She held her breath and threw the Fabre with as much force and accuracy as she could towards the giant mushroom.

*Squeak!*

She quickly dropped to the ground in an attempt to hide from the Spore, which turned to look at the Fabre wobbling away from it.

Rarity watched as the Spore's "cap" opened to reveal an enormous mouth full of teeth and a huge tongue, which gobbled the poor worm in one bite. Rarity felt her stomach doing somersaults and brought a hoof to her mouth. I'm never, ever eating a mushroom again.

The Spore kept looking in Rarity's direction, and she tried moving away as slowly as possible, until she felt another sting, this time on her (maybe unkempt, but still fabulous) flank.

"Ack!" Right on the cutie mark... She jumped in surprise and the Spore immediately locked in on her. It started bouncing towards her.

*Boing!* *Boing!* *Boing!* *Boing!*

Rarity had scant seconds to act: in front of her, a monstrous mushroom with a mouth big enough to take her head off on one bite; behind her, a troop of moving pincushions ready to poke her full of holes. The universe is really bent on giving me poor options today, is it not?

However, Rarity was not giving up so easily, a plan already forming on her head. Plan B it is, then. Or is it C? Either way, It. Is. On!

Rarity ran towards the mushroom, and as soon as she thought she was in its biting range, she spun, narrowly avoiding the monster’s teeth, and began running towards the army of worms. Just as she was about to step on the first critter, the unicorn jumped for all she was worth!

She was going to make it! She looked below her and smirked at the dumb little green monsters. Not today, you disgusting little ruffians!

She didn't even notice the one bigger Fabre straggling behind the rest of its brethren... not until her hooves landed on something unexpected, anyway, something... squishy. And green.

"AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Off on the refugee camp, a lone tailor awoke with sweat and tears running down his face. The scream felt so real... so full of dread.

"What's the matter, honey?" Asked his now awake wife.

"I just... It felt as if the very essence of fabulousity suddenly lost some of its luster in this world."

He wept.

Back underground, a lone pony trod solemnly through a streamlet. I'll never be clean again. There isn't enough bleach in the world to fix this.

I should be happy... the mushroom monster got a buffet and I got away without any more stinging, miraculously... if that last bug hadn't been so big, I don't think I'd even be able to walk right now, but... WHY!? I think I'd rather lose a leg than suffer through something so... so revolting! She looked down at her still green hooves, her stomach doing more acrobatics at the sight.

I just hope this dumb Guild makes it all worth it.

Rarity walked through the cave. The streamlet went down some hole awhile back, and she was almost sure she was back on the tunnel she came in from. The light on her white horn was dimmed as she made out the exit further ahead. I made it! I will never feel clean again, and there aren't enough spa treatments in the universe to make this feeling go away, but I did it!

She sneaked past the sleeping "guard" and made her way back to where she first met Mr. Irrelevant.

"More like "Mr. Inelegant Good-for-nothing Oaf"... why, if I get my hooves on him..."

"Aw, that's no way to talk about the guy trying to help ya, Lady!" came a voice from behind Rarity.

Rarity couldn't believe it. She looked back and, surely enough, there was that infuriating man with a grin that tested the limits of her civility and refinement. She almost jumped him then and there.

"You! You... ruffian!"

"Hey, now, no need to get aggressive! Hear me out first!" The man backed off and stretched his hands towards the advancing unicorn in a pleading manner.

"Unless what you have to say somehow magically solves all my problems, I DON'T CARE!" Rarity was about to charge the man, but, again, her dying friend's face flashed on her mind and she stopped. She let out and indignant huff and sat down, looking at the ground. "I will hear you, but do not test the limits of my patience."

"Alright." Mr. Irrelevant let a genuine smile on his face. "I wouldn't wanna, anyways, I just got firsthand experience of your combat prowess!" he said with a low chortle.

Rarity raised an eyebrow, "Pardon?"

"You were awesome down there! I don't think I've ever seen an aspiring rogue perform as well in that test!" Mr. Irrelevant was patting Rarity in the back at this point.

"Aspirant rogue? A test!? I almost died in there! And you were watching the whole time!?" Rarity could feel smoke coming out of her ears. She was beginning to regret her self-restraint.

"Well, yeah, ya wanna cure your poisoned friend, no?" The man’s tone was almost… amicable.

"Of course." Rarity perked up.

"And ya need the assassins' skills to cure her, right?"

"So I was told." she raised an eyebrow.

"Well, ya was told wrong!" He let out another chortle.

"...I don't follow." What is he getting at…?

Mr. Irrelevant got closer to Rarity, and spoke in a hushed tone, "It's like this: The Assassins' Guild and The Thieves Guild are very close organizations. The assassins even look at the thieves' as a sort of "Junior" guild. The Thieves' Guild actually teaches most of their senior members about the use of poisons and skills to counteract most of the poisons known to men! The Leader is actually a retired assassin! Can ya believe that?"

"It really does seem like a tall tale to swallow..."

"Well, ya can ask him yourself. Since you're part of us now!" He was back to laughing and patting Rarity on the back, like she was an old friend.

"But I never agreed to that! I don't want to be a thief!" Rarity was starting to panic.

"And ya can afford to refuse?"

She glowered at him.

"Thought so. Don't worry, Lady, I promise ya'll have a good time, and best of all, ya get to save your friend!"

Rarity sighed. If I can save her, it will all be worth it.

"There's just one test left."

"WHAT!" Rarity could feel a migraine coming on. The twitching on her eye was enough proof.

"Whoa, easy there. It's a very simple one, I promise!" He paused as he thought the best way to explain. "See, the thing is, the applicants usually have to find our hideout before they can ask for a position."

"Then why do you even say I'm already part of the guild!? I met you by pure luck!" Rarity fumed.

"Well, that's 'cause I'm the guy in charge of testing the new recruits, and I say ya passed! Even if ya didn't apply for the test." He snickered.

"And you can do that?"

"Well, not to pat myself in the back, but I'm pretty high ranking in the guild." he said through a smirk. "And I was bored."

That explains the conceited attitude. Rarity huffed.

"'Sides, I wasn't joking before; ya have some real talent. Even if ya said ya don't wanna steal, I think we can polish ya to become one of the best Rogues Rune-Midgard's ever seen." He gave another small smile.

Is that... pride on his face? "I just want to help my friend..." Rarity looked down.

"Alright. Tell ya what: ya need to cure your poisoned friend, and the Thieves' Guild can show ya how... however," He brought a hand to Rarity's shoulder, "We only teach the skills to good-standing members, but the guild always looks after their own."

Rarity closed her eyes, "I... understand. I will do what I must."

"... Who knows, ya might end up liking the thief's life after all."

Rarity simply stood there in silence.

"Anyways, come along." He walked towards the refugee camp and Rarity moved after him in silence.

Dawn would arrive soon, and Rarity began wondering if they had sent out someone to search for her already.

Though being caught for sneaking out would be the least of my problems now, I guess.

They stopped at the edge of camp, and Mr. Irrelevant pointed at the biggest pyramid some distance off on the other side of the valley.

"That's where your last test will be. I'm helping you enough as it is, but you can have this tip as well: The Guild's hideout's on the first basement of the pyramid. The road to get there is a maze itself, and you'll have to get through that on your own." He took out a small paper, "Give this, along with the mushrooms, to a guy named Brad."

"And won't they be shocked when they notice I'm, well..." Rarity motioned towards herself with a front hoof.

"Oh, don't worry, there've been filthier applicants before." he said with a smirk.

Rarity smacked him upside the head.

"Ow!" He rubbed the spot, "So much for being a Lady."

*Smack!*

"Alright, alright, geez. That hurts, ya know?" He chuckled. "Just tell them: "Don't worry, I'm irrelevant"."

"That's all?" Rarity got up, when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Good luck, Lady. Look out for the scratchy snakes."

When Rarity looked to where he was, she was greeted again by an empty space.

"Th-Thank you, I guess..." Oh, I hope he doesn't follow around this time.... it's just creepy.

Rarity decided going around the camp would be her safest bet. Moving quietly with her sack in tow, she managed to get to the pyramid's entrance without any mayor mishap.

I do hope no one misses those tasty flowers...

The entrance itself was simple yet imposing: a tall doorway with a fancy portico and grand pillars. It looked old, but well kept, and a guard was reclining against one of the pillars, looking half asleep. Rarity wondered why anyone even bothered with guard duty as she sneaked in.

She silently made her way into the building; the cold breeze of the desert's night swept behind her as she was greeted by rows of torches on huge walls. After a few steps in, and she was already greeted by several different paths.

Oh, yes. I can tell right away I'm going to love this place... The left didn't fail me last time, so... ten steps later, she was facing a dead end.

Lovely. She sighed.

Forty minutes had passed since Rarity's change of strategy. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe... Well, this looks promising, I hadn't seen stairs before! She quickly made her way down a set of stairs, when a noise caught her attention. Is that the wind? This far inside?

She perked up her ears to hear better. No, wait... is that flapping?

Her ears ringed as a screeching bluish blur whisked past her.

"Aah!" She almost dropped the mushrooms from the surprise.

A huge blue bat was hanging from the ceiling above Rarity, and it looked bigger than the flies from before! It leapt at her again, and she watched as the creature bared its fangs at her, but dodged just in time to avoid it.

The sudden movement combined with fatigue made Rarity dizzy, and the next thing she knew, the bat was stuck on the lower part of her neck, near her throat, and all she could feel was the sting of its bite. In a panic, she dropped the mushrooms and bashed herself against the walls in a desperate attempt to shake off the monster.

The bat let go after a some struggle, but all that thrashing made Rarity's wound that much worse: blood trickled freely down the punctures on her neck, and she could feel herself losing consciousness.

Oh, dear... this doesn't look good... I can barely see anymore... the torch is too far away...

She looked back at the fire, and a plan started forming on her head. She had to act fast, or the bat would be back before she was ready.

She shook her head to get rid of the dizziness, and started running towards the torch as her vision readjusted. She barely registered the increasing pain on her neck.

Almost... there...

Just as she got below the torch, the bat went in for the kill, launching itself against Rarity at full speed.

Rarity turned around to see the bat's terrifying mouth fresh with her blood open up inches away from her.

Eat this!

She managed to form a barrier just in time to intercept the bat, which smashed headfirst into the light blue wall. Rarity took advantage while the creature was stunned, and soon a blue aura surrounded the bat. Using her remaining strength, she flung the vicious beast into the torch's fire, and forced it to burn in there.

Rarity dropped to the ground as she heard the monster screeching from being consumed by the fire. She couldn’t keep her magic up any longer, and the bat fell to the ground, aflame. It tried to fly away, but it was already too badly burnt, it would only jump and fall on its side. It soon simply lay there, burning away.

The smell of burnt flesh was making Rarity sick. At least I didn't have to stomp this one... I guess the universe will just keep finding new ways to make me lose my lunch...

She simply laid below the torch for what felt like hours to her.

Is this how it ends? The Beautiful Rarity... lost in some strange maze in a stranger world... I wonder how Sweetie is doing... how all of Equestria is... are the rest of my friends even alive...?

I failed them all... I fell so easily... if only I had been stronger, I wouldn't have fainted back then... I could have helped them...

This is all my fault. That monster is probably off in Equestria, destroying everything.... my friends... my family... my hard work... all my life... all gone...

What? Ah... that's right. There's still something left... somepony left... but can I even help her...?

... I can't give up yet. You have someone counting on you, Rarity. You owe her more than this!

Rarity got up on shaky legs, it was hard to breath, but the bleeding had stopped and she could still move on. She had to.

She stared at the fire through blurry vision, and noticed something on the torch's sconce... it looked damaged, but it didn't look like a fissure... it was like something was carved in there.

Rarity got on her rear legs to take a closer look... it was just a wavy line, but it had a head on one end. A snake...?

A snake carved into the wall.

Scratched into the wall.

A scratched snake.

Scratchy snakes...

WHEN I'M DONE WITH THAT MAN THEY WILL HAVE TO CHANGE HIS NAME TO "MR. INCONTINENT".

Ahem.

Rarity picked up her sack of mushrooms and followed the direction the "snake" was heading. Surely enough, more markings were below the other torches she came upon.

She had no idea how long she'd been following the snakes in the pyramids, but it felt like an eternity to her. It didn't help that every step she took felt heavier than the last.

I hope they don't think I'm some sort of zombie monster... though I'd expect zombie ponies to look more lively than myself right now...

The snakes led Rarity into a path with four different exits, but she noticed one of the paths was shorter, and had a set of stairs just before it ended. The stairs went through a doorway into what she suspected was the basement, and the wall just past the stairs had a sort of shrine with two actual sculptures of snakes holding torches. An image was carved into the wall between the sculptures... it looked like a human, but the actual features were dulled by the effects of time.

He did say it was in the basement... She made her way down the stairs and entered a large corridor with rows of torches, there were more carvings on the surrounding walls, but she ignored them as she walked down the corridor.

After some time, she found another set of stairs going further down, but the tunnel they led into was barely big enough for a human to fit through. These stairs also had a shrine behind them, but this one was much more ornate; four carefully carved pillars surrounded a dusty altar above the entrance to the tunnel. She paused to look at the ominous sculpture.

I suppose it's further down, then...

She carefully made her way down the stairs, but a clopping sound caught her attention. Are those... hoofsteps!?

Something was off about them, though. She'd never heard such heavy hoofsteps, and the grunting and huffing she heard along them wasn't reassuring either.

She moved down the remaining stairs, carefully avoiding making noise and when she was about to exit the tunnel, she peeked outside tentatively.

At the exit of the tunnel, she could see it was just a continuation of the maze from above, though this level looked more... primitive. The walls were dusty and some had cobwebs on them, and there was also sand everywhere, it was as if the place had been untouched for years, but she could still hear heavy hoofsteps and grunting.

Maybe I should head back now... I must have missed something on the last floor...

Curiosity got the better of her, however, and she headed to the source of the noise... it was somewhere around the next corner...

Oh, my... Standing there was something she could recognize as a minotaur. It wasn't like Iron Will, though. Rarity recalled Fluttershy's pleas that he wasn't a monster. How right she was...

This minotaur was almost twice as big, both in stature and musculature, as the so called "self-help guru"; it was completely covered in a dull brown fur, and its eyes were just pits of an aggressive red devoid of any semblance of humanity. It also carried an iron mace almost as big as the monster itself.

I definitely must have missed something in the last floor, let's just go and check. And pretend I never was so dangerously close to needing a defibrillator on hoof...

Never in her life had Rarity moved as carefully and quietly as she did in this very moment. It's just like trying to mend a beautiful dress, only my whole body is the needle and not becoming a beautiful stain on the ground is the payment...

It took her some time, but she finally made it back to the first basement without alerting the minotaur.

Now, what should I be looking for…? She paced around the corridor. More snakes, maybe?

She checked every torch, but none had any carvings like the ones on the first floor. Ugh... was it really so hard to just tell me where the blasted hideout was?

Maybe it has something to do with the carvings on the walls, then?

The carved images barely made any sense to her. It's just a bunch of humans fighting other humans... some fellow with a fancy hat being attacked by more humans... a taller human with a shiny horned helmet talking to the rabble that attacked the fancy hat fellow... Wait. That human's helmet has a small snake on it!

Let's see... here the horned-human gives weapons to the smaller humans... here it's talking with the fancy hat human... here the two of them are... hugging? And the next one has them... oh, my. Moving on.

She had nearly made her way back to the shrine and the stairs to the lower floor.

This has to be it. She stood in front of an image of the Horned Human standing with arms stretched towards the sky. Standing on the opposite end, many smaller humans stood on the same position. The position of the torch above them made it look like they were all trying to reach for it.

She levitated the torch out of its socket and heard something behind the wall clicking, and soon the wall slid open and revealed a new corridor.

Unlike the rest of the pyramid, this corridor looked tidy, and had electric lighting instead of torches. Rarity slowly made her way through the corridor, a mixture of anxiousness and excitement for the unknown fueling her on.

"Ey, who's there!? Why didn't you close the door!?" A rough masculine voice came from further inside. A tall, muscular human walked towards Rarity and suddenly stopped when he saw who, or rather what, it was.

"Oh, um." What did he tell me to say again? Oh, right! "Ah, don't worry about me, darling, I'm irrelevant." Rarity said through a raspy voice, she grimaced as the pain on her neck came back when she talked.

The man raised an eyebrow. "Right. Next time, stick to the exact phrase."

Rarity perked up. "I... *cough*... I'll remember that, thank you." She showed him the mushroom sack, "Are you Brad, by any chance? I'm... I have to deliver these to him."

"Brad's further inside, by the counter. I'm just security." He walked past Rarity and made his way back to the entrance. He picked the torch from the ground and looked at both sides of the corridor outside before placing the torch back on its socket.

Rarity heard more clicks as the secret door slid back into place and the man made his way back to her.

"Always lock the door after you. Don't wanna deal with random adventurers."

"Ah, I understand, *cough* sir."

"The name's Dirge." The man was looking at Rarity like she had grown a second head.

I guess they really don't have ponies around here..."Oh, I am... ugh... I'm Rarity. A pleasure."

"Oh, yeah. Real pleasure. Why don't you go ahead to your business with Brad? You don't look like you'd wanna waste time."

Surprisingly considerate... or maybe just the type to keep to himself? "I *cough* I will do that... thank you."

The rest of the walk down the corridor went down quickly, and Rarity soon found herself in a wider room. She could see a counter with a door behind it on the far end of the room, and there were piles of boxes and some barrels lying about the place.

She made her way to the empty counter. Why even have a counter if nopony is going to be attending it? "*cough* *cough* Excuse me? Is anyone there?"

"Coming!" a sweet voice sang from behind the door.

Soon enough, the door opened and a smaller woman walked behind the counter. She had long, flowing blonde hair and her face shined as the light reflected from her younger features. Rarity sighed as she was reminded of the poor appearance she was stuck with at the moment, looking down at her bloodied coat and limp mane.

"Whoa!" The girl did a double take on Rarity, her face showed something like concern. I guess I'd be worried too if a bloodied mess appeared out of nowhere in my boutique...

"Uh, *cough* hello? I was looking for Brad, I have something for him, you see..." Rarity levitated the sack up to the counter.

"Huh? Oh! Sorry, it's just... are you...?" The woman gestured at Rarity, waving her hand at her.

Rarity sighed. This is going to get old soon enough. "Yes, I am a pony. A unicorn, to be precise."

The girl grimaced as she further inspected Rarity. "No, I mean, yes, but, are you... okay? You don't look so good..."

Rarity looked up at the worried face on the girl. It looked so genuine. "Oh! I… I'm sorry, I just assumed..." She looked down at her (still greenish) hooves and sighed. "Anyhow, I have been better, darling, but *cough* I will manage." Rarity's dry voice and constant coughing betrayed her statements.

"Oh, but that's such a bad wound on your neck... and you almost look like you bathed on blood! You don't sound too good, either!"

"Don't worry, dear, I'm just a little hoarse."

The girl giggled. "...Pun intended?"

"Huh? Oh... " Rarity giggled at her accidental pun, but her injuries soon turned the giggles into pained coughing that brought her to the ground.

The girl ran to Rarity with a cup in hand, "Oh, I'm so sorry, ma'am! I didn't expect that to happen!" She carefully patted Rarity on the back.

When her coughing fit stopped, Rarity looked up at the girl. "It's fine, my dear... I think I needed a laugh."

The girl put the cup to Rarity's lips, "Here, have some water."

Rarity obliged, and took a sip from the cup. The water burned a little as it went down her throat, but she was feeling better already. "Thank you, dear. Really."

"Oh! My name is Amalia, and you're very welcome, ma'am." she said with a wide smile.

Rarity smiled as a warm feeling spread inside of her. "Please call me Rarity. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Amalia."

The girl blushed as she got up and walked back to the counter. "O-oh. Sorry, I just don't think I'd ever heard anyone say that to me." She giggled, "Anyway, I'll go get Brad for you. There's more water in that barrel," she pointed at a barrel next to the counter, "Please help yourself!"

Such a sweet girl... what would someone like that be doing with in a Thieves' Guild?

Rarity made her way to the barrel and refilled her cup. Oh, I never thought I'd miss water so much! She had to fight an urge to simply dunk into the barrel. Then again, I'd probably poison the water as I am right now.

The sound of steps on the stone floor was approaching, and Rarity reared up on the counter to see a young man with long, messy red hair coming from the door.

"Huh, she wasn't kidding." He got to the counter and looked at Rarity, "I hear you have something for me?"

"Um, yes. Mr. Irrelevant told me to give you these mushrooms along with this note." she levitated the now blood-smeared sack and note to the counter, "Sorry about the mess." She chuckled nervously.

He silently took the note and began reading. A smirk formed on his face as he glanced down the note. "...That ass!"

Rarity raised an eyebrow, "Is there a problem?"

He chuckled. "Oh, not really. Just standard procedure with that dumbass." he said as he showed Rarity the note:

"Hey, man. Got your 'shroom fix! Should be more than enough.

Oh, and the unicorn is now our newest member! Treat her well!!

[Here was a crude drawing of Mr. Irrelevant's face with sunglasses on.]

Deal with it ♥

XOXO"

Rarity felt her eye twitching, and brought a hoof to her face.

Brad started laughing, "Yeah, that's also standard procedure." He presented his hand to Rarity, "Anyway, I'm Brad. Nice to meetcha."

Rarity shook hoof to hand, "I am Rarity... it is nice meeting you, too."

"So, tell me: How many times did you hit him? Though being a unicorn, maybe you got to stab him with your horn?" He snickered.

"Beg your pardon?" Rarity gave him a questioning look.

"I meant "Mr. Irrelevant," nobody can talk to the guy without hitting him one or ten times. Sometimes I think he actually likes it." He mock-shuddered.

"Oh... Well, I did smack him upside the head... twice... when he implied I was filthy." She chuckled. "Which I was, of course, but it was more the way he implied it, you see."

"Wow. That has to be a record for him. Or maybe you're not the violent type? Not many people like that seek to join the Thieves' Guild, though." He paused and gave Rarity a serious look, "You do wanna join, right?"

Rarity looked down. So I don't have to join? "Um, it's a little more complicated than that. But I... I suppose I do."

""A little more complicated than that?" Listen, Rarity, we don't want members who don't want to be a part of us. We don't take slaves."

"No! I mean... that's why I say it's complicated! I need the guild's help to save my friend, but I don't have anything to pay with..." Rarity looked at Brad with pleading eyes.

"Hm. We ain't a charity, that much's true..." Brad closed his eyes and looked away. "Alright. Let's go talk to the boss. You'll explain everything and we'll decide what to do from there, sounds good?"

Rarity looked down in a frown, "I... suppose. I don't mean to sound ungrateful or imprudent, but I'm very pressed for time. I don't know how much time my friend has left, but it can't be more than a day..."

"Alright, no worries. Let's move on, then." He went back into the door and Rarity followed right after.

The door led to another corridor, though this one had many doors on its sides. Probably their quarters or storage rooms...

They walked on in silence and as they neared the end of the corridor, Rarity saw a couple of familiar-looking sculptures. Two tall snakes made of stone stood on the sides of a wooden door with a knocker shaped to look like an aggressive cobra's head.

Brad knocked on the door and looked back at Rarity. "Let's hope the boss's awake. Old man spends so much time dozing off nowadays, you never know." He smirked.

"Come." a deep voice said from the other side of the door.

Brad opened the door, and as he went in, he suddenly dropped to the ground. Rarity saw a purple blur fly over her head and flop harmlessly to the ground some feet behind her, she turned to look back at the door just in time to see a second blur bop into Brad's head and bounce directly at her face. She almost ducked in time, but she felt as the blur struck her softly on the horn.

"Good reflexes." said the same deep voice, "Not good enough, tough."

Brad got back up and rubbed his head, "Geez, good day to you, too, Boss."

"Maybe if you focused more, you could dodge my greetings more gracefully. Try meditating or, as you call it, "dozing off" more often."

"Oh, you heard that?" Brad chuckled nervously, "You know I don't mean it like that, Boss."

"Of course." said the voice in a flat tone. "Who is our guest?"

"Oh, right. Come over here, Rarity." Brad moved further inside and motioned for Rarity to follow.

Rarity entered the room and instantly fell in love. The walls were decorated with beautiful embroidered silk tapestry in some places and detailed oil paintings of diverse sceneries in others, and the whole place had a smooth, shiny marble finish. There was a large bed in the middle of the room that made her own bed back in Ponyville look cute in comparison with its silky curtains and an exquisite covers. Rarity hesitated to go any further, eyeing the fabulous carpets on the floor. She simply stood there, mouth agape.

A chuckle caught her attention, and she looked at a man with a white stubble smiling at her. His skin was a darker complexion than any of the humans' she had seen so far and his face also looked a little wrinkled. His head was mostly covered by a piece of dark brown fabric that matched his robes.

"Hmm... you are an interesting one. You took my greeting and turned it into a fashion accessory." He chuckled again.

Brad looked back at Rarity and began chuckling as well.

"Huh?" Rarity looked left and right, but didn't find anything other than hear already filthy coat.

Brad started chortling as he pointed at Rarity's head. Her horn, specifically.

Rarity looked up to see a purple blob where her horn should be. She thought it was just her hair at first, but noticed it was a different tone. It also looked fluffier than her current mess of a mane and smelled, oddly enough, like old cheese.

She shook her head and purple slipper dropped in front of her. Her face turned a deep shade of crimson as Brad laughed out loud and the old man chuckled some more.

She cleared her throat. "Ahem. Yes, uh... My name is Rarity, and I-" the older man cut her off.

"Oh, come closer, I won't bite." he said in a playful tone.

"... I'd really hate to tarnish your beautiful carpets..." she eyed the rugs lovingly.

"Oh ho! Someone with an eye for beauty! I was worrying you had some sort of trauma when you suddenly froze after entering the room." He laughed and walked towards her.

"I can always respect someone who respects beauty. This one could teach you a thing or two, boy!" He looked at Brad with a mocking glare.

"Why even bother to set up a rug if you won't even walk on it?" He sighed.

"Don't be foolish, boy! That "rug" is what ties the whole room together!"

"Right." Brad walked next to his boss, "Rarity, this is the leader of the Thief's Guild: Jaffar "The Sultan". Boss, our friend here was sent by Vant, along with this note and a sack full of different types of Orange Mushrooms." Brad handed Jaffar the note.

Jaffar eyed the note and brought a hand to his forehead, "Stupid boy..." He sighed.

"However," Brad continued, "Our friend here says she doesn't exactly want to join the guild. Rarity, why don't you explain to us what you actually want, and what went down with Vant."

Rarity sat on the marble floor and closed her eyes as she collected her thoughts. Oh... where do I even begin...? Should I tell them about Satan Morroc?

I guess if I want their help, I should tell them as much as I can. "Sit down, gentlemen. This may take some time..." She waited for Brad as he brought a couple of cushions over to where they stood. "Very well, then... I, along with my friend, came from the land of Equestria..."

She told them about Satan Morroc's attack on Equestria, how she suddenly woke up in a desert after the battle, how she found out about the assassins' antidote and how he met Mr. Irrelevant. She also told them about her mishaps in the mushroom farm (she neglected to mention how her hooves ended up green, more out of a wish to pretend it never happened than anything else)...

"And then "Vant" told me that you could actually teach me how to save my friend. He said the method is only taught to members of the guild, and so "suggested" that I joined." Rarity felt her throat stinging again after doing so much talking, and wondered if a scratch near Pinkie's throat would be considered a life-threatening wound.

"He said finding The Guild's hideout would be my last test, and sent me into the pyramids." Rarity grimaced. "I wish he had mentioned the huge, awful bats, though."

Brad raised an eyebrow, "Just like that? He sent you into the pyramids blind?"

"Well, he did tell me the hideout was on the first basement..." Rarity looked away and clenched her teeth, "Along with a warning to watch out for scratchy snakes."

"Scratchy snakes?" Brad stared at her in confusion, "There haven't been snakes in these pyramids for years now!"

Jaffar looked at Rarity with a smirk, "And you actually figured out what he meant by that?"

"Well, it was mostly luck, to be honest." she admitted sheepishly, "I wish he had used a different clue; something like "follow the burning snakes" would've been just as cryptic but would have worked more as a riddle should, I would think."

Jaffar laughed. "I'll have to remember that one!"

Brad hit his forehead as the answer hit him. "Oh. Oh! That's such a bad tip... and you actually figured it out?"

Rarity blushed, "Like I said, it was mostly luck."

Brad patted Rarity on the back, "Still, nicely done!"

"Th-thank you..." Rarity looked down at the ground and sighed. "I have to say... I didn't expect you to be like this... I was expecting a bunch of ruffians and brutes that would laugh me out of this place as soon as I showed up."

Brad snickered. "Well, most of the guild's members rarely visit the hideout for long."

Jaffar tilted his head at this, "And yet, you still decided to try and contact us. Why?"

"Well... it was either risking that, or doing nothing and letting my friend die." Rarity looked at Jaffar with a hardened determination on her eyes. "I can't let her die like that. Not as long as I am able to move. Not as long as there is the slightest chance to save her. I owe her this and more."

Jaffar smiled. "Such loyalty."

"Oh, I'm not the loyal one." Rarity chuckled.

"If you say so." he chuckled as well. "I think I have a deal for you, dear lady."

Rarity's eyes watered."Y-yes?" Anything...

"We can't teach you the skill to detoxify your friend."

Rarity dropped to the ground. "But-"

"I'm not done yet. Don't make any assumptions until I'm finished."

Rarity looked up, "S-sorry..." She got back on her hooves.

"Don't be. You're in a hard position." Jaffar sighed. "We can't teach you because that would take too long, your friend would die before you learned how to save her."

He stood up. "We could send one of our members to detoxify her." he said as he walked towards the big bed in the center of the room, "But, as you may have noticed, we really are short on hands around here," he opened the nightstand next to the bed, "And the only ones currently here that know how to detoxify people are Brad and Myself, anyway, and neither of us can leave the hideout right now." He took out something from the nightstand, and moved back to Rarity.

"However." He showed Rarity a small, green tablet, "This is the most potent antidote the Assassins' Guild has come up with. It's not exactly easy to use; it's most effective when poured directly into the blood system, but since it's not a liquid, you can't exactly inject it..."

Rarity grimaced, "So I would have to cut her and then shove the tablet in?"

Jaffar shook his head. "Almost. You have to grind the tablet into a fine powder to apply it to the wound. You have to be very careful about how you cut your friend, as well; too shallow and the antidote won't get properly into the bloodstream, too deep and you risk injuring something badly. Most potions should be able to patch up a small cut, but you still should be careful."

"That... sounds like it could get messy easily."

"Indeed. But it's your best bet, unless you can get your friend here in time. But you might just not have that choice, so be prepared." Jaffar put the tablet in a small pouch and handed it to Rarity, who levitated it and secured it to her mane.

"... You should try getting some clothing, as well. I'll see about lending you a cloak. You could use the extra storage space, it seems." Jaffar forced a cough.

"I would be most thankful. Us ponies don't usually bother with clothing unless it's for a special occasion, you see." She chuckled.

"If you're gonna be living amongst humans, you'd best think about wearing something all the time. Humans won't be as surprised when they see you if you wear familiar clothes." Brad suggested from behind her.

"I'll worry about that when my friend is safe and sound. Right now, her life is priority number one for me." It almost sounds like they have a problem with my not wearing clothes... Rarity looked back at Jaffar, "So... what would you have me do to pay for all your help?"

He flashed her a grin. "Good. I'm glad you didn't "forget". You don't have to join the guild if you don't want to... but." Rarity raised an eyebrow. "You already proved you're more than good enough to handle one of our operations by yourself."

Rarity got up, "I can see where this is going: You would have me do more of your operations to pay for your services, correct?"

Jaffar chuckled. "Clever girl. However, it will be just one job. It won't be-" He was cut off by Rarity as she extended her hoof towards him.

"I accept, of course." she said matter-of-factly.

"Well, I have to say I admire such eager disposition." Jaffar grinned as he shook Rarity's hoof.

Jaffar looked at Brad with a serious face, "Boy, get our friend here a cloak and escort her to the exit of the pyramid, would you?"

"You got it, boss." Brad started making his way to the exit.

Jaffar looked at the door and yelled calmly: "And Amalia, next time don't stay outside the room. Someone might think you were spying on us!"

"Eep!" a squeak sounded from behind the door, and Amalia was soon standing on the doorway.

"I-I'm so sorry, boss. I was just so worried about the poor unicorn, and I wanted to give her something to make her feel better!" she held out a small, round flask filled with a bright yellow liquid, "B-but when I got here, you were talking so seriously... I didn't want to interrupt." She looked down, "Sorry."

"It's okay, girl. I was wondering why nobody had offered our guest some healing yet." Jaffar glared at Brad.

"Sh-she said she was in a hurry! There was no time!" Brad shifted his eyes and held his arms up in defense, "I was gonna give her something when we went for her cloak, honest!"

Jaffar gave him an unamused stare. "Of course."

Rarity stepped next to Brad and placed a hoof on his leg, "I really did insist that I was running out of time." She gave Jaffar a pleading look.

Jaffar smirked. "Very well, boy, you're off the hook this time." He went back to his bed, "Okay, then. Move along youngsters. And good luck."

Rarity followed the two thieves out of the door, and turned around as she was about to exit. "Thank you. For everything."

"You can thank us when your friend's feeling better and you've paid for our help." came the amused voice from the bed.

Rarity bowed and turned to walk out the door. She closed the door with her magic and let out a contented sigh.

"Alright, let's go get you a cloak." Brad chirped out.

"Really, Brad, just let me give her the potion now." Amalia's chided next to him.

Rarity looked up at her, "Thank you, dear, but I think I'll take it for the road. I might get thirsty from the trip back."

"It's not just a drink; you will feel much better after drinking this!" Amalia gave Rarity her best puppy eyes, "Please?"

Rarity faked a sigh and had to resist the urge to giggle. Oh, how many times has Sweetie used that look on me? "Very well, dear. If you insist." she smiled.

Amalia beamed as she uncorked the flask and presented it to Rarity.

The flask was enveloped in a soft blue glow as Rarity took it with her magic. A delicate smell wafted through the air, it was almost sweet with a hint of sour, it reminded her of the teas Twilight got from Zecora from time to time.

"Just drink it all in one go." pressured Brad.

Rarity did just that, and almost gagged at the taste of the brew; it wasn't disgusting, but it tasted different from anything she'd ever tried before, it was like really strong tea. She couldn't decide if she liked or disliked it.

Brad snickered and Amalia was patting Rarity on the back as she shot a glare at him.

"Are you okay?" Amalia kept patting her on the back.

"I'm fine, my dear, it was just an... interesting thing to-" Rarity stopped as a warm, almost tickling sensation expanded from her stomach. She could feel her accumulated fatigue lessening, and the stinging on her neck suddenly got stronger, only to completely disappear all of a sudden.

Rarity brought a hoof to her neck, but couldn't feel the two gashes she had earlier. "What...?" her voice was trembling.

"They don't have healing potions in Equestria?" Brad asked in a surprised tone.

"Well, they are a bit rare, you see. Why, I had never even drank one in my entire life!" Rarity shifted her weight, testing her legs, I feel so light! She trotted in place, almost doing a little dance.

"So, you're feeling better?" Amalia giggled as she watched Rarity.

"Oh, darling, thank you so much! I feel like a whole new pony!" Rarity got up to hug Amalia, who almost fell under the larger pony's weight. Sensing her wobbling, Rarity got back on four hooves and nuzzled the girl on the stomach instead.

Amalia giggled through a blush, and Brad mock-gagged. "You ponies sure are touchy-feely, huh? Or maybe it's a girl thing."

Rarity looked up to see Amalia blushing, and broke off with a blush of her own, "Oh, I'm sorry, darling." She chuckled nervously.

Amalia was still giggling. "Oh, don't worry about it, Brad's just being dumb." She stuck her tongue at him. "I'm glad you're feeling better, Rarity. I'm just sorry I didn't have a stronger potion."

"You could've gotten one of the white ones from the storage." Brad suggested nonchalantly.

"But I didn't know if the boss would get mad if I took supplies from the storage... besides, I still had a few left from my last trip outside." She produced a pouch that jingled with its contents and smiled at Rarity, "You can have these, too. I can just take a potion from our supplies if I have to."

"Oh, but, darling, I couldn't-" Rarity said as tears of happiness began gathering on her eyes.

"No buts!" Amalia slid the pouch around Rarity's neck as Brad chuckled.

Rarity nuzzled her again as she whispered a thank you.

"Alright, let's move on, people." Brad made his way down the corridor and stopped in front of a door near the exit to the counter.

"Right." Amalia and Rarity followed him.

"Wait here." he ordered as he went inside the room. Rarity could make out more crates, barrels and even chests all over the place.

"There we go." Brad came out with a rough, long cloak that he presented to Rarity. It had various pockets on the inside, and it was made of a rough fabric.

Not the most fashionable piece... but perfect for thieves, I suppose. Rarity donned the cloak, making mental notes on how to improve her outfit when she had the time. She looked up at Amalia, "How do I look?"

Brad spoke up. "Like you've been through hel and got a nice cloak."

Amalia shot him another glare, but looked back at Rarity when she heard a sad chuckle.

"I suppose that's true enough... at least it covers most of the dried off blood and muck..." she sighed. "Let's go." Rarity began making her way to the exit of the hideout, but stopped when she felt a hand on her withers.

She looked back to see Amalia give her a sad smile, "Good luck, Rarity."

Rarity smiled back. "Thank you, darling. I'll be back soon enough."

Brad and Rarity walked in silence past the counter and out of the hideout, Brad only giving Dirge a nod and saying "I'll be back in a bit."

They made their way back to the first floor, Rarity trotting a little faster than Brad could walk.

"Wait, hold up. I know you're in a hurry, but you don't wanna get lost, right?"

Rarity waited to walk behind Brad. He was going too slow for her taste, but it looked like he was searching for something on the walls of the maze.

"Why don't we just go on the opposite direction the snakes are pointing? That seems easy enough." Rarity complained.

"Well, that's kind of what we're gonna do, but there's snakes under every single torch in this maze. If we follow the wrong path, we could be here for hours." Brad walked up a set of stairs and stopped where three paths met. He motioned for Rarity to move closer.

"Alright, see this diamond shape here?" he motioned to the edge of one of the walls. "This is the symbol for the quick path. We just have to follow the snakes that are on the path with diamonds on both walls, and you'll be out in no time."

Rarity looked at the surrounding paths and, sure enough, only another wall had a diamond shape on its edges.

"Let's go." Brad walked down the maze, only occasionally looking up at the torches to make sure they were on the right path.

As they walked down the path in silence, Rarity decided to make some small talk.

"Say, how would you tell someone about that quick route in a riddle?"

"Well, we usually only tell people about it after they're officially part of the guild. By then, there's no point in playing riddles with them." Brad kept his eyes on the road, "So I never really thought about it."

Rarity looked around as she thought. "How about... Oh! The snakes that follow the path of fabulousity shine the brightest!"

"What." Brad said flatly.

"See, because they follow the diamonds! And the snakes shine because they are on the torches?" Rarity smiled with self-satisfaction.

"I don't think any riddle that has the word "fabulousity" on it can be taken seriously. I don't even think the people on the guild would say the word if they had to." Brad said in an amused tone.

"Oh, but it's the perfect riddle and a perfectly good tip!" Rarity giggled.

"I'll be sure to bring it up to the boss. I bet he'd love making people say "fabulousity" as a punishment, at the very least."

They both shared a laugh as they went along the path.

Rarity stopped as her ears perked at a strange noise filling the air, "What is that?" she asked.

"What's what?" Brad looked around, "I don't see anything."

"That sound! It's like a plopping sound, only it stops every few seconds." Rarity's ears moved around as she tried to locate the source of the noise.

"Huh. I don't hear a thing, but that sounds like a Poporing to me." He shrugged and continued walking.

"A Poporing?" Rarity scrunched her face as she said the word. That doesn't sound nice.

"Eh? Oh, right. I guess you'd never've seen one. It's sort of a green slime blob with a face. It's not aggressive unless provoked." He sighed, "They're a bit of a pain, though, as they like absorbing any item they can find. If I had a coin for every story of one of those blobs stealing somebody's lunch..."

Rarity shuddered. A green slimy thing called "Poporing"? "O-oh. Let's move along then."

"Right." Brad smirked. "We're almost at the entrance, anyway."

After turning around a few more corners, Rarity was greeted by familiar-looking rows of torches.

"We made it!" She galloped down the corridor and could see orange sunlight coming in through the entrance.

"Hey, wait up!" Brad moved up to a brisker pace behind her.

Rarity made her way out of the pyramid and took in a big breath. Ahh. I really missed the fresh air... now I just have to get to the town without being seen and-

"Stop right there, criminal scum!"

Rarity looked at the same guard she saw dozing off earlier pointing his spear at her. Oh, ponyfeathers.

"Please, sir. Surely this is some sort of mistake." Rarity chuckled nervously as she stepped away from the guard.

"There is no mistake! You are a wanted uh, unicorn and it's time to pay for your crimes!" He moved towards her threateningly.

"Oh, give it a rest, Umar. She's had a rough day." Rarity heard Brad say from behind her.

The guard drew back his spear and smirked at Rarity. "I coulda told you that. What are you doing out in the open, man? Something big going on?"

Brad walked past Rarity and bumped fists with the guard. "You could say that."

Rarity stared at the pair as they talked nonchalantly. "Excuse me, but just what is going on here!? This man was about to assault me!"

Brad put a hand on her mouth and looked around. "Do you want everyone in Morroc to hear you!? Keep it down." he said in a hushed tone.

"Sorry." she muttered.

The guard spoke up, "That's what I'd like to know. The whole Continental Guard along with the remainder of the Morroc Guard is looking for you." he pointed at Rarity.

"Moi?" Rarity gaped. "B-but what about you? Aren't you a guard?"

Brad put a hand on the guard's shoulder. "Rarity, this is Umar. He is a guard, but he's with the guild." He then walked to Rarity and put a hand on her head, "Umar, this is Rarity, though I guess you already knew that." He paused, "She's with us now, too."

"I figured as much after I noticed her sneaking around with Vant yesterday." Umar snickered.

"Hold on a second!" Rarity pleaded, "What do you mean he's a guard but also a thief?"

"Shh!" Brad glared at Rarity.

Rarity simply shrank, "Sorry."

Umar sighed, "I'm not a thief at all. I just happen to sympathize with the guild's actions." He grinned at Brad.

"As long as the guild sympathizes with his monetary needs." Brad grinned back.

"Oh." Rarity nodded. "And what was that about me being a wanted unicorn?"

"Like I said, everyone's looking for you. Chief Balrog sent someone earlier to tell me to be on the lookout for a unicorn, with orders to capture you on sight. If I hadn't seen you earlier, I woulda thought the old geezer had finally lost it." He eyed Rarity, "What did you even do to get that sort of attention, anyway? If you're not careful, you're gonna end up in jail and not even the guild'll help you then."

Rarity gulped, "I-I don't know! I mean, I kind of snuck out to find the Thieves' Guild yesterday after being ordered to stay put, but other than that... Unless they found out about the mushroom farm..."

Brad shook his head, "Doubt it. Nobody'd care about Shibu missing some mushrooms. What are you gonna do now, though? If they capture you, you might really end up in jail and you won't be able to help your friend then."

Rarity looked at the sun as it was setting on the distance, "I should be able to sneak into where they have my friend as soon as it's dark outside... but I can't risk wasting any time." She looked at Brad, determination strong on her face, "I'm going in. Now."

Brad sighed and looked away. "Guess I understand. Good luck." He gave her a pat on the back, "Try not to get caught, you'll be of no use for us if you're rotting away in a jail cell."

Rarity gulped. "Thank you. For the help, I mean; not for the mental image." She began galloping towards the town, but stopped when she saw a spear's shaft on her path.

"Try sticking to the north part of the refugee camp, not many stay there at this hour." Umar said as he got back to his position guarding the entrance to the pyramid.

"Thank you." Rarity nodded and resumed her gallop.

She went unnoticed as she made her way through the north of the camp; it was nearly empty as Umar had said. She soon passed the spot where she had met Mr. Irrelevant the night before, and her ears dropped when she didn't see him around.

Wait, why would I even want to see him? That good for nothing ruffian would probably just infuriate me more. She convinced herself and moved on towards the gate to the town.

She stuck to the hill that bordered the valley on the east and made her way south towards the city. Rarity moved slowly and carefully; she knew the guards didn't have many people available, and she had noticed the watchtowers had been damaged. As long as she was careful, she would make it. She soon was on the other side of the northern wall of the city.

She's exactly on the other side of this wall...

The unicorn hid on the long shadows provided by the wall, and slowly made her way to the gate...

Just a little further... She felt something poke her on the rump and looked back.

"Boo."

She almost shrieked as she came face to face with a hooded figure, but a hand found its way to her mouth before she was able to.

"Easy, there, Lady."

That insufferable voice... that tacky hood... that cocky attitude... "You!"

The figure let out a quiet snicker as it stood up. "Yeah, it's yours truly! Old-" Rarity cut him off with a swift kick to the gut.

"Oof!" He fell to the ground on his back, groaning.

"That's for sending me to my death with the stupidest possible riddle to ever be devised!" she hissed.

He tried to get back up, but came face to face with Rarity, who loomed over him threateningly. Uh oh.

Rarity pressed her lips against his cheek and moved back. "And that's for all your help." she said with an angry, yet sweetened voice.

Rarity thought she saw something red under the hood for a second, before he dropped back on the ground and began laughing.

"Oh, come on! "Scratchy Snakes" sounds awesome!" he said as he got back up.

"Snakes don't scratch, dear." Rarity chided.

"Exactly! You're supposed to wonder why a snake would scratch and then look for stuff that does scratch or could be scratched!"

"That doesn't even make any sense." Rarity giggled derisively. "Torch brackets don't scratch. Nor are carvings on the wall considered "scratches"." Rarity mock-glared at him.

"Cryptic riddles aren't supposed to make sense." he said matter-of-factly.

Rarity brought a hoof to her face, "I give up."

Mr. Irrelevant snickered. "So, didja get an antidote?"

Rarity raised an eyebrow, "How did you know I'd get an antidote? You wanted me to learn the technique to detoxify my friend..."

"Nah, I knew that'd take too long and the old man would probably just give you a G.C. Antidote." he waved her off as he walked next to the wall.

"And for that matter, what are you doing here? I have to go in and give the antidote to my friend!" Rarity took a place next to him on the wall.

"Oh, I'm gonna help ya detoxify your friend." he said nonchalantly as he produced some rope and a grappling hook out his cloak.

"What." Rarity's eye twitched.

"I toldja, the guild looks after their own." he said as he threw a grappling hook over the wall.

"But I'm not even part of the guild!" she hissed as he made sure the hook was properly held to the wall.

"Says you." He handed some rope to Rarity, "Here, I doubt hooves are good for climbing up ropes, so strap on. I'll go up first and help you over."

"Wouldn't it be easier to just sneak in through the gate? I doubt there's many people keeping watch." Rarity took the rope with her magic as she waited for a response.

"Well, they're pretty sure ya went to the pyramids, so they have a couple of guys watching that gate. There's also one guy keeping watch directly on the door of the place your friend's at." He gave one last tug at the rope and prepared to climb.

"Ya ready?"

"Yes... but how did you find out where my friend was? I don't believe I ever told you." Rarity secured the rope around her midsection and looked at her accomplice already halfway up the wall. Such a frustrating man...

She felt a tug come from the other end of the rope and tried to help by levitating part of the rope. It wasn't long before she was climbing up the edge of the wall.

Mr. Irrelevant motioned for her to stay low as he looked for any good points to climb down.

They crept over to a spot behind one of the taller buildings that still stood and soon made their way down.

"Well, finding your friend wasn't hard when Balrog himself visited the spot. Those guards need to practice being quieter, too." He smirked.

"I have one last question... why did you send me to the pyramids if..." Rarity paused. "No... never mind."

Mr. Irrelevant sighed. "If I could just detoxify your friend? Well, it was a pretty selfish reason on my part, really. I really wanted ya to join the guild, you see." He scratched the back of his head, "But... by the time I'd decided I felt like helping ya, it was just too late."

Rarity sighed. "I'm glad you decided to change your mind, at least. I was worried I wouldn't be able to use the antidote properly..."

"Eh, ya woulda managed." he shrugged. "Alright, your friend's up on that house. Let's stick close to the wall and get in through the window on the back."

Not a soul noticed the two cloaked figures moving on the shadows.

Lucia sighed as she was done casting her spell on the unconscious pegasus. "Hang in there, cutie..." She rested a hand on the unmoving pegasus' head.

I hope Rarity didn't do anything dangerous... Oh, I shouldn't have mentioned the Thieves' Guild at all... She sighed as she looked out the window on the bedroom.

It's getting pretty late... I hope this poor soul can make it through the night.

She got up and walked to the door, nudging it open just enough to talk to the guard outside. "Hey, Said! I'm going to take a bath so don't come inside until I say so!" She closed the door and yelled: "Oh, and if I catch you peeping, I'll put a curse on you!"

"Like anybody'd want to peep at you!" came a flustered yell from outside.

Lucia giggled as she slid off her robes and made her way to the bathroom.

The bathtub was filling up with nice warm water, and she soon slid off her lingerie and placed it on a stool next to the bathtub.

Bubbles and steam soon wafted through the air as she washed herself.

After a thorough session of scrubbing, she slowly entered the bathtub, the hot water washing away her worries.

"Ahh..." she sighed contentedly as she massaged the sore spots on her lean body.

She never noticed the light blue glow surrounding the slowly opening window on the opposite wall, or the small grunts that came from the same spot.

Rarity peeked through the now open window, and was greeted by warm steam and a scent of lavender. She almost lost focus as she relived spa visits that seemed so long gone now.

She saw Lucia rubbing her legs on the bathtub as she let out contented sighs. I wish I can enjoy a bath like that soon enough. She huffed, a sting of immature jealousy setting on her stomach.

She climbed in and motioned for her partner in crime to follow.

Mr. Irrelevant made his way up the window and climbed to the other side effortlessly, barely even making a noise. It took him a moment to take in the warmer, moist ambience and the weird fragrance in the air.

Then, he looked up to see a beautiful brunette making moaning noises in a bathtub.

He didn't know how long he simply stood there as the room got warmer and warmer. There was only this moment.

A sudden jab on his side woke him from his reverie, and he turned to see Rarity poking at him with her horn. She looked at him with a confused expression and motioned for him to follow.

He looked back at the bathtub before walking away.

So long, Mon Amour. May we meet again!

Rarity finally managed to get his accomplice's attention. What is with that man? Seriously, he's more random than Pinkie Pie sometimes!

She quietly opened the bathroom door and made her way to the living room to find an unconscious pegasus lying on the bed.

She heard a soft click behind her and soon Mr. Irrelevant was standing right next to her.

"Wow. And here I thought you looked gaudy." he whispered.

Rarity jabbed him harder on the side with her horn.

"Oof." He rubbed the spot, "I'm so glad humans don't have horns right now..."

"Never mind that." Rarity reared up to the bed, "Will you be able to help her?"

She looked even worse than before, almost none of her original color remained through the thick glowing purple of the poison.

Mr. Irrelevant walked next to her. "Hoo, boy. Looks like we got here just in time." He inspected the pegasus and looked at Rarity, "Where exactly did the poison wound happen?"

Rarity drew an imaginary line from the tip of her friend's shoulder that passed just below her wing, down to where her cutie mark started.

"Cool tat." he said as he took out a dagger, "Ya might wanna look away."

Rarity looked on as he did a shallow incision almost perfectly through part of the line she described. Some blood trickled down the glowing purple fur on the pegasus.

Rarity moved up to her friend's face, hoping for any kind of reaction, but none came.

She looked back at Mr. Irrelevant's process to see a soft blue glow emanating from his hand and into the wound, changing the purple fur back to its original color. He was holding a glass test tube with his other hand, pressing it against the wound to gather some of the flowing blood.

A stirring below her surprised Rarity, and she turned to see her friend grunting and scrunching her face in pain. Rarity petted her head at first and she was soon resting her own head on her friend's neck.

"Please hang on..." she whispered to her ear.

Rarity saw the purple fading away as the minutes passed. The grunting became mumbled words and the pegasus below her began stirring more and more.

Mr. Irrelevant pressed the test tube a little harder against the incision to get some more blood, which caused a reflexive wing flap to slap him on the face. He walked away and rubbed his nose. "I help someone and all I get is pain. Story of my life." he mumbled.

Rarity giggled and whispered into her friend's ear, "Well done, darling."

The word lingered on the pegasus' subconscious for a moment before she suddenly opened her eyes. "Ra... Rares?"

"Oh, Rainbow Dash!" Rarity cried as she hugged her friend, "I-I was so *sob* worried, darling!"

Rainbow tried getting up, but a stinging on her side plus her friend's grip on her head left her almost immobilized.

"What's going on? Where are we?"

The pegasus felt something wet on her face and only then she noticed Rarity's crying as well as the sorry state her friend was in: her usually lustrous mane hung limp and the bags under her eyes made it seem like she hadn't slept in weeks.

"W-what's wrong, Rares? Are you okay?"

Rarity kept crying on her, and Dash stopped trying to pull away, deciding to return the hug instead. She caught something off the corner of her eye: A strange creature was crouching next to a door looking at something on the other side. It didn't seem to be paying attention to them, and she noticed it was shaking as if it was in a giggling fit. She could swear she saw something leaking from its face, too.

"I'm so sorry, Rainbow. It's all my fault." Tears still trickled down Rarity's face, but she'd stopped sobbing.

"What are you talking about, Rares? I still have no idea what's going on." Rainbow tried getting up again, but this time Rarity helped her up. The stinging on her side still bothered her, but when she tried rubbing it with her hoof, she felt something wet and the stinging got stronger. She looked at her hoof and saw some blood on it.

"Darling, don't pick at it, you will only make it worse." Rarity chided gently as she brought one of the potions out of her pouch.

Rainbow took the flask with red liquid floating in front of her and looked at Rarity. "What's this?"

Rarity uncorked the bottle for her. "It's a healing potion, darling, drink some. Our friend here had to cut you so he could get rid of the poison."

"Poison?" Rainbow made a face as she sniffed the potion on her hoof. "Ugh. Smells weird."

"Don't be childish, Rainbow. It will make you feel better." Rarity smirked. "Would you like me to feed it to you with a spoon as I make engine noises?"

"Ha Ha." Rainbow blew a raspberry at her and looked back at the potion. She shrugged as she took a sip. "Huh... not as bad as I expected." She felt a tickling sensation where she felt the stinging before, and fought to suppress a giggle. "Hehehe that tickles!"

Rarity corked the bottle and placed it back in her pouch, "Do you feel any better, dear?"

"Hey! The stinging's gone!" Dash looked at her side and found only some blood stains on her cyan fur. "Awesome!"

Rarity giggled. "Indeed." She leaned closer to Rainbow and whispered, "Do try to keep your voice down, darling... we have to go now, but I'll explain everything when we're in a safer place, okay?"

"Why? What's wrong?" Rainbow got up on her hooves for the first time and wobbled a little, but Rarity was immediately by her side.

"Can you walk, darling?" Rarity asked with concern all over her face.

Rainbow got down from the bed slowly and walked around the room. "Yeah... Yeah. I just got a little dizzy there." She chuckled.

Rarity walked next to her again, ready to catch her just in case. "Very well, dear. Please tell me if you start feeling dizzy again, or anything else."

"Seriously, Rares, I'm fine." Rainbow sighed. "All right, so where are we going?"

"Uh... well, right now, we just have to get out of here, but I suppose we'll head back to the pyramids after that."

Rainbow went still as her wings flared and she looked straight ahead at nothing in particular. "Sorry, Rares, I think I didn't hear you right... did you say "pyramids"?"

Rarity raised an eyebrow at her friend's strange behavior. "Umm, yes?"

""Pyramids" as in big dangerous places made of stone?" Rainbow began trembling.

"And very annoying mazes, yes." Rarity added as she moved to face Rainbow, "Are you sure you're okay, Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow leaped into the air and fluttered around Rarity. "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! An actual pyramid!" She zoomed next to Rarity and pressed her friend's muzzle against hers, "And you've actually been there!? That is. So. Awesome!" She did a back flip in the air and landed next to Rarity. "Come on, let's go! I wanna see them!"

Rarity sniffed as a few tears ran down her face. "Oh, Dash... I'm so glad you are back." she trapped her friend in a warm, squishy hug.

Rainbow blushed as she returned the embrace. "C-C'mon Rarity, you know I wouldn't leave ya hanging." What in Equestria is going on!? "Let's just get out of here, okay?"

Rarity sniffed again and broke the hug. "Right. I'm sorry, dear." She took a deep breath, "Let's go."

They walked side by side to where Mr. Irrelevant was crouching. As they got closer, they could hear how he gave a low, dorky laugh.

"Uhuhu... huhuhu..."

"What's this guy's problem, Rares?" Rainbow pointed at him.

"I wonder about that myself, dear." Rarity cleared her throat, trying to get Mr. Irrelevant's attention. When it inevitably failed, she decided to jab him with her horn again.

"Ouch!" He rubbed the spot and looked back at them, annoyance clear on his face. "What?"

"We have to get out of here before we're found out, that's what." Rarity chided.

"Who's this, Rarity?" Rainbow looked at the human. "Actually, what is this?"

"I'm right here, ya know?"

"Rainbow Dash, this is Mr. Irrelevant. He's... a complicated character, but he did help save your life just now. Mr. Irrelevant, this is Rainbow Dash." Rarity said awkwardly.

"Ya know, ya can call me "Vant". That's what all of the guildies call me, anyway." He shrugged.

"And what is he? And what do you mean he helped save me?" Rainbow looked sideways at him.

"I'll explain once we get out here, let's just go for now. Please?" Rarity looked pleadingly at Dash, who just shrugged and sighed.

"Fine."

A voice came from behind the door. "Didn't I close this? No wonder the steam kept thinning out."

The three intruders only had enough time to exchange a look.

They all may have used different words, but the feeling was very much the same: "We're screwed."

Between Morroc and a hard place.

My Little Pony: Ragnarök is Magic Chapter 2

Between Morroc and a hard place.

Lucia grabbed a couple of towels, draping one of them around her chest and drying her hair with the other as she made her way to the bathroom door.

She stood in shock at what she saw when she pushed open the door.

The first thing she didn't expect was for her previously unconscious charge to be up and about, and no longer glowing purple. Lucia almost smiled at the sight for a second.

The second thing she noticed was Rarity; the dirt-gray unicorn was now draped in a cloak and looking even messier than before, ans she was looking up at her with a surprised stare and sweat running down her face. Even if she hardly knew the pony, Lucia was glad she had made it back safe and sound.

Then, she noticed the cloaked man crouching just below her, with blood running down his nose and a lecherous smile on his face.

She fell to her knees and screamed.

Everything happened so fast; first Lucia stared at them for a few seconds, only to suddenly scream out of nowhere, and then Said was shouting from outside as he knocked on the door, only for him and a couple of guards to burst in seconds later.

Rarity had no time to think and simply shouted as she made her way to the bathroom window.

"Run!"

She opened the window with her magic and looked back at Lucia. Rarity gave her an apologetic look and muttered hasty apologies as she jumped out the window.

Rainbow whisked through the air past the shocked woman, "'Scuse me!"

"Milady." Mr. Irrelevant offered his hand to help the almost naked priestess stand up, and flashed her what he considered a winning smile.

"Get out!" The screaming only got stronger after an echoing slap resounded through the bathroom.

Rarity and Rainbow were waiting outside, and saw as the shambling figure of Mr. Irrelevant dropped down from the window. It simply lied there in a heap, unmoving.

"Hurry up! We don't have time for your nonsense!" Rarity nudged the lifeless husk and groaned. "Oh, dear. Just hang on!"

"Stop!"

Rarity looked up to see a guard reaching out of the window, while the screaming from inside still raged on.

"Ugh!" She slid her head under Mr. Irrelevant's motionless body and lifted him onto her back, “Let’s go, Dash!”

They made their way back behind the tall building where they'd left the grappling hook secured, but Rarity soon noticed a flaw in her escape plan: they wouldn't be able to climb up the wall with Mr. Irrelevant in his current state.

"Get up, you oaf!" She shook her passenger off and started prodding him with her horn again.

"Just leave me here... I wanna die..." he said in a defeated voice.

"We don't have time for your silly games!" the unicorn prodded harder.

"Oh, fine." He got up casually, "But seriously, you two just go ahead without me. I've gotta get this little sample here to some friends, and I've gotta head in a different way from ya."

"Huh?" Rarity's eye twitched. He could move all along!?

"Yeah, just go. I'll catch ya later!" They heard the shouting of guards near their hiding place, and before Rarity could give him a farewell present, Mr. Irrelevant simply disappeared.

"But how are we going to get over the wall if you won't help us climb!?" Rarity roared through clenched teeth.

Rainbow cleared her throat. "Um, Rares?" She fluttered her wingtips.

"Oh. Right." Rarity chuckled, embarrassed.

"Just hold on tight!" Rainbow lowered herself as Rarity climbed on her back.

"Hold it!"

Four guards were advancing towards them with their spears at the ready.

"Sorry, gotta go!" Rainbow went up in a flash as Rarity held on for dear life. Dash could feel a slight burn on her wings from the extra weight, but kept flying on. I've carried dozens of ponies before! I must've slept for way too long, or something...

"Rainbow! Take us over to that hill!" Rarity pointed to the hills on the north of Morroc.

"Mhm!" Rainbow simply nodded as she changed directions.

They kept flying until the lights of the town were out of sight, and touched down on the hills, where both ponies slumped to the ground.

"Whew! I feel like I'd flown through a tornado!" Rainbow stretched her wings. "Either I'm getting out of shape, or you are, Rares!"

Rarity faked a gasp and mock-glared at her friend. "Are you calling me fat, Rainbow Dash?"

"I'm just saying!" Rainbow giggled. "That really was harder than it should've been, though."

"Maybe you're still recovering from the poison, darling." Rarity got up to inspect her friend, and started poking and probing with a tentative hoof.

"H-hey! Quit it!" Rainbow struggled under her, "That tickles!" She righted herself to sit on her haunches and took a deep breath. "Okay... so what's this about me being poisoned? Where are we? And what was going on with those things chasing us!?"

Rarity looked down as her ears went flat against her head. "Well... where should I start?" She looked at Dash with sad eyes, "Do you remember the monster that attacked the princess?"

Rainbow tensed up, "What!? When did that happen!?"

"So you don't remember..." Rarity sighed. "Do you remember how the princesses summoned us to Canterlot last week?"

"Yeah. We were stuck in the castle because Princess Celestia said she needed the Elements near in case of an emergency." Rainbow stuck out her tongue at the annoying memory.

"And there was an emergency, dear. Don't you remember how Princess Luna ran into our room and teleported us away?" Rarity looked down. "Do you not remember the monster? Satan Morroc?" she looked up at Dash with slight anger on her eyes, "You even attacked it single-hoofedly!"

Rainbow's eyes widened as the memories flooded back.

-- Rainbow’s Personal Account

We'd been stuck in Canterlot for a few days, and being around so many stuffy ponies was making the urge to go on a city-wide pranking spree hard to resist.

I did get to wear my Element all the time though, so that was awesome.

Pinks was telling me about some awesome prank she'd planned: We'd convince Rarity to help us disguise as palace guards, sneak into Blueblood's room, and hide pie-springing traps all over his place! I had no idea where we'd get the stuff to make the traps, but Pinkie Pie usually delivers.

Next thing I know, the doors bolt open and Princess Luna is yelling something and running towards us! I asked Pinks if she heard, but before she could answer, everything went white and I heard a loud popping noise.

I think that's what teleporting feels like. Bleh. I'd take flying over that any day.

I was rubbing my eyes when I heard another scream from Princess Luna, so I turned around and saw Princess Celestia lying on the ground, and Twilight was right next to her with tears in her eyes. Whatever did that was in for a whole lot of trouble.

I was flying over when that... thing started moving.

It was like something out of a comic book! Big angry face with 4 glowing eyes, huge mouth filled with sharp fangs, a body like a mix between a gorilla and a dragon, and... those wings. I would've expected dragon wings on a monster like that, but he had something that almost looked like pegasus wings instead! They looked way too short for it, and they had pitch-black messed up feathers that stuck out randomly. It's like they were mocking how our wings are supposed to be!

Oh, and then it started talking. I didn't make out most of what he said with that weird voice he had, but he called Princess Celestia a horse! A horse! Who did he think he was!?

I charged at him and BOOM! The sucker didn't know what hit 'im! He was crying and swatting at the air like crazy, but I expertly dodged left and right. I had him on the ropes, but something got in my eye (always use your goggles!) and he managed to get a lucky hit in.

I rolled with the punch and flew back to everypony else. Twilight was about to explode and said "Let's show this monster what happens when he messes with us!" Aw, yeah! Now we're talking!

This guy's luck had run out; we were calling in the big guns!

I still feel funny when I think about the times we've used the elements... I don't know if it's the same for everypony else, but it always feels... warm, for me. I could feel as our power combined and shoot out at the thing.

And the elements were actually destroying the chump! That was... uh, different. He was struggling, but we'd already taken one of its arms, but then I caught a blue glowing blur out of the corner of my eye, and suddenly, I could feel Rarity's energy was gone!

I looked back at Rares and saw a strange figure hovering above her. It looked like a ghost, but it wasn't like a pony. I'd never seen anything like it!

Then I heard a scream I'd recognize anywhere: something was wrong with Fluttershy! I ran towards Rarity and took her away from the weird ghost. She was out cold, but other than that I could tell she was okay.

After making sure Rarity was alright, I looked up and saw we were surrounded; weird monsters had come out of nowhere! There was even a flying thing with a huge, glowing hammer!

I was about to jump in to show those chumps who's who, but I heard something moving behind us, so I turned around and saw another of those things was looming towards Rarity! I leaped in to stand between her and whatever that thing was.

This one was smaller than the others, but it still looked like trouble: every move that it made looked like it was bending itself in painful ways, it had a gross gash that ran across its face that was bleeding nonstop and it had those red, glowing eyes.

It tried scratching me, but I was way too fast for it! It kept swiping at me, only to hit the air every time.

I was moving back as I kept dodging, and I guess I didn't notice a root or something and I tripped. I was prepared to surprise that thing as soon as it leaped at me, but the chicken went for Rarity instead!

I couldn't let that thing harm Rarity when she was defenseless, so I moved in and swept Rarity away from that monster, fast as lightning!

As I kept galloping, I could feel something stinging on my side, and then I felt sleepy all of sudden... Everything went black after that.

"Next thing I know, I'm looking up at you, and you look like you went on a mud-wrestling match with a minotaur for two whole days and lost."

Rarity shuddered as she remembered the pyramid's minotaur. "Let's not talk about minotaurs, dear."

Rainbow got up to Rarity and started shaking her, "So what happened after that? How did we end up here? Where is here? Where's everypony else?" Rainbow took a deep breath. "And what was up with those things trying to catch us!?"

"Ca-a-alm do-o-own, Rainb-o-ow Da-ash!"

Rainbow let go of her friend, and the unicorn fell to the ground with a thud. "Sorry."

"It's okay, darling..." Rarity said groggily as her eyes stopped doing loops in their sockets.

"Let me see..." Rarity took a deep breath, "I have no idea how we ended up in this place, but when I woke up two days ago, you were lying next to me in the desert... you were in a very bad condition; there was a long gash running on your side and it had a purple glow all around it." The unicorn looked down, "That turned out to be the poison spreading, I believe." Rarity shuddered at the memory of her friend's state a few nights prior.

"I guess that other monster also got a lucky hit on me... Oooh, if I see that thing again..." Rainbow fumed.

"Personally, I'd rather we never had to see that monster again..." Rarity shuddered. "Though I suppose we're likely to face them again if we go back to Equestria..."

"Go back to Equestria?" Rainbow repeated. "Where are we supposed to be, then?"

"From what I understand, the town we were in is called Morroc. It was supposed to be a prison for that monster, but it escaped recently." Rarity sighed. "And the town itself is part of something called "Rune-Midgard". I have no idea where this is in relation to Equestria, though. For all I know, we may be in another world entirely."

"So those creatures are kind of like the ponies of this place? That's kinda cool." Rainbow tapped her chin.

"They are called "humans", darling, and yes, they do seem to be the ones in charge here, as it were." Rarity looked back at the town and sighed. "Actually, one of the guards back at the house was the first human I met here. He actually helped us by bringing you to a healer."

"Huh? So why'd they try to stop us with their spears?"

Rarity looked up in thought, "Well, you see... do you remember the female human we saw on the bathroom?"

"Yeah, what about her?"

"She was the one that healed you and treated your wounds. They called her a priestess, I believe, and her name is Lucia." Rarity shook her head. "Anyhow, she healed you, but she said she couldn't get rid of the poison... and then she suggested that the Assassins' Guild would be able to."

Rainbow flinched, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Assassins!?"

"I know, darling, I felt the same, but she explained that assassins are actually kind of... helpful to the common folk around here. They said the assassins had saved many guards that were injured in the initial attack by Satan Morroc, even if some guards resented their help."

"So the guards got mad because you hired an assassin?" Rainbow lifted an eyebrow.

"Oh, no, I didn't actually meet any assassins." Rarity looked at the pyramids, "The thing is, the Thieves' Guild's hideout is inside of those pyramids, and Lucia said that they would be able to contact the assassins for me to help you. So when I suggested I was going to the pyramids, Said told me he wouldn't allow it... so I had to sneak out, and it seems they didn't take kindly to that."

"Yeah, no kidding." Rainbow got up and looked directly at Rarity's eyes, "And where are the others?" she asked with a serious tone rarely seen on the pegasus.

Rarity looked down and closed her eyes, "I... I don't know." tears started forming on the corners of her eyes, "You were the only one around when I woke up. I looked for the others, but found nothing... Rainbow, I'm not even sure if they are... if they're..." Rarity started sobbing again, but she felt a warm hoof under her chin and looked up to see Rainbow's worried face.

"Don't worry Rarity, they're not... gone. I can tell." Rainbow nuzzled Rarity and wiped her tears away with her hoof.

"But how can you be sure!? You saw that monster... it could've..." She was cut out by a hug from her friend.

"I can feel it. I... don't know how to explain it, but ever since we first used the Elements of Harmony on Nightmare Moon, I've been able to feel something weird when you guys are around. I even started being able to tell each one of you apart only by that feeling recently." Rainbow broke the hug to look directly at Rarity's eyes. "When I was sleeping, I didn't have any dreams; it was all dark and I could feel something eating at me... I guess now I know that was the poison."

Tears kept streaming down Rarity's face as she heard Rainbow's story, All my fault...

"It wasn't your fault, Rarity!" Rainbow shouted as a couple of tears fell down her face.

Rarity looked up at Rainbow in shock.

"I remember feeling something else. It was very warm and nice... like somepony was looking after me the whole time. It made the poison hurt much less, until I was barely even able to feel it." Rainbow paused. "I couldn't tell at first, but I guess it was you who I felt all along, Rares." She moved in for another hug and squeezed her harder. "So thanks for saving me, Rares. For everything."

They both stood there for some time, enjoying the tight, warm hug, until Rarity's sobbing stopped.

"Thank you, Rainbow Dash." Rarity finally smiled.

"Eh, don't mention it. Seriously." Rainbow chuckled. "You know I will never leave my friends hanging, but I also know you would never leave us hanging, either."

Rarity looked down again. "Not even when I tried to upstage you on your most important day or snub you out of petty selfishness?"

"Oh, come on!" Rainbow broke the hug again. "You're still feeling bad about that?"

"They are both amongst the lowest things I've ever done in my entire life." Rarity wouldn't meet Rainbow's gaze.

Dash patted her head playfully, "You just have a hard time stopping the attention from going to your head." She chuckled nervously, "We're kinda alike, that way."

Rarity finally looked up at Rainbow, the fear in her eyes melting away as she saw understanding instead of contempt in her friend's face.

"The girls actually told me you were the one that came up with the idea that they should cheer on me at any cost, and that you even offered to be the test subject for Twilight's spell the day of the Best Young Flyers Competition." Rainbow moved to sit next to Rarity, and placed her arm over her friend's withers. "Besides, if it wasn't for you, maybe I would've never found that extra power I needed to do the Sonic Rainboom!"

"Do you really think so?" Rarity sniffed.

"I know so! Now stop moping around, we need to find the others ASAP!" Rainbow leaned her head against her friend's and quickly got up.

Rarity wiped the tears from her face and stood next to Dash. "Thank you, Rainbow Dash... I... really needed to hear that."

Rainbow skipped ahead of Rarity and looked at the pyramids off in the distance, "So... are we going to those pyramids now?" She couldn't hide her glee.

Rarity chuckled at her friend’s excitement. "Of course, darling. There are debts to pay, after all."

Rainbow looked back. "Huh?"

"Oh, nothing to worry yourself about, dear." Rarity waved her off.

"If you say so." Rainbow stared back at the pyramids in the distance, and lowered herself, "Okay, hop on!"

"Are you sure you should be flying, Dash? I wouldn't want you getting hurt so soon after recovering."

"I'll be fine, mom!" Rainbow did a back flip in the air and flinched a little at the movement, but pretended it didn't happen. "I'm made of tougher stuff than that!"

Rarity wasn't fooled and rolled her eyes. "I don't think we should fly in, anyway." she looked at the town off in the distance, "They probably have guards looking around in the pyramids' valley. They'd notice us instantly if we just flew in..."

"They wouldn't catch up with me, though!" Rainbow lowered herself into a prowling position and flared her wings. "They wouldn't even have time to blink before we were inside the pyramid."

Rarity pinched one of Rainbow's wings, causing the pegasus to yelp.

"Hey! What's the big idea!?" Rainbow shot Rarity a glare as she rubbed her wing.

"Let's just walk, darling. Besides, one would think you'd be more excited about getting to sneak stealthily past angry patrols of guards." Oh, I hope they aren't actually patrolling the area... Rarity walked ahead. "But if you don't think you can manage that, you should fly over and wait for me near the pyramid's entrance." Rarity smirked.

"What!? You don't think I can be sneaky if I want to? You are talking to one of Ponyville's Premier Pranksters!" Rainbow trotted ahead of Rarity. "Fine, we'll sneak through. Maybe I'll even teach you a thing or two about sneakiness." the indignation in Rainbow's voice was reaching mass levels.

Which only provoked restrained giggles from Rarity. "If you say so, darling. Let's go."

The rocky hills proved uneventful as they made their way to the edge of the valley. They didn't see any patrols on the area, but they had to be careful with all the refugees wandering around.

"They aren't even looking for us." Rainbow blew a raspberry at the town's direction.

"Well... they may be waiting by the pyramid's entrance. I think there's only that one way in, so we still have to be careful." Rarity said as she slid down the hill's steep.

Rainbow jumped down after her, simply gliding her way down. Her wings still ached a little, but she didn't mind. Some lame poison isn't going to get the better of the Rainbow Dash.

They stuck to the hills surrounding the valley, only breaking from them when Rarity noticed they were approaching the mushroom farm. Rainbow asked why Rarity started trembling as she mentioned the place, but the latter simply told her the story was "too horrid to remember". This only helped to pique the adventurous mare's curiosity, who made her friend promise she'd tell the story another time.

They made their way through the edge of the refugee camp; Rarity could already make out the entrance to the pyramids further ahead, and saw a lone figure standing at the entrance, but the lack of light didn’t let her recognize him.

"Okay, Dash, we need to be very careful now. There's a guard at the entrance, and I don't know if he's friendly or not..." Rarity lowered herself to the ground and began stealthily crawling closer to the pyramid.

Rainbow had to bite her lip to hold back a giggle as she followed, watching Rarity prowling with her rump high in the air. I guess she took sneaking lessons from her cat. I hope she doesn't jump that guard! She was so lost in thought she didn't notice her friend had stopped and bumped headfirst into her.

Rarity almost jumped when Dash bumped into her rump, and she looked back to glare at her.

Rainbow only gave her a sheepish smile and shrugged, silently mouthing an apology.

They hid behind a palm tree a few yards away from the entrance, and Rarity peeked around it to take a better look at the guard, but she still couldn't make out if it was the same guard from earlier that day.

I guess we could knock him out if it came down to that... Rarity shook her head and blinked. Oh, dear... at this rate I'm seriously going to become a criminal. She looked back at Rainbow and whispered, "Okay, I'm going to get his attention, be ready in case we have to knock him out."

Rainbow grinned and saluted. When did Rarity go all Daring Do on me?

Rarity flared her horn and flashed a bright blue light in the guard's face, causing the guard to flinch in surprise. He slowly made his way towards them, his spear at the ready.

"Is someone there?"

Rarity recognized the voice and let out a sigh. She was about to step out when a rainbow blur whisked past her from above and struck the guard on the side.

Rainbow knocked the guard down with her surprise attack. They were struggling on the ground and she was about to hit him on the jaw, when she felt a tug on her tail that caught her by surprise. She yelped as she was pulled away from the guard, and she looked back to see her tail enveloped in a soft blue glow, and Rarity galloping towards her.

"Hey! I was about to take him out!" Rainbow glared at Rarity, who simply trotted past her.

"I'm terribly sorry, Umar. We thought you were one of the guards chasing us." Rarity said as she helped the guard up with a sheepish smile on her face, "My friend here is just too... um, bold for her own sake some times." She shot a quick glare at Rainbow.

Rainbow shrank back from Rarity's gaze and chuckled nervously, "Hehe. Sorry about that pal."

Umar groaned as he got up. "Ugh. Did I just get hit by a rainbow?" He looked at the cyan mare and gaped. "Did I just got taken out by a rainbow pegasus!?"

Dash glared back and flew towards him menacingly, "You got a problem with rainbows?"

Umar got up to Dash’s face, "Only when they sucker punch me outta nowhere and there’s no gold pot at the end!"

"Oh, I’ve got your gold right here!" Rainbow drew a hoof back, but when she tried to punch, her hoof wouldn’t budge and a strong tug on her tail brought her to the ground.

"Seriously, Rainbow Dash!" Rarity glared down at her as she lay on the ground, "That is enough! We can’t treat what little allies we have in this place in such a manner!"

Rainbow glared back, "But he was-" Rarity's hoof stomping on the ground right next to her cut her off.

"But nothing!" Rarity walked back to Umar with a sweet smile on her face. "I hope you can forgive her. I would simply hate having to explain to The Guild how we got into a problem with such a big, strong guard such as yourself from some silly misunderstanding." Rarity leaned into him and shuddered, "Not to mention I would hate to tarnish my poor rainbow-maned filly-friend's reputation as some sort of violent brute who single-hoofedly takes down guards! Just think about what people might say about her!"

Umar chuckled nervously and shifted his eyes, "W-well, I don't want your friend to look b-bad. It was all a misunderstanding after all!"

Rarity beamed. "Oh, you would do us such a big favor? Really?" Rarity got up to give him a hug, "Oh, such a chivalrous gentleman! Thank you so much!"

Rainbow was mock-gagging as she looked away, but a sudden tap on her shoulder made her jump to the air.

"Now go and apologize to the good man, Rainbow, dear." Rarity said with a sweet voice and a smile on her face.

Rainbow threw her arms in the air and yelled, "But I already-"

The glare Rarity gave her stopped her dead on her tracks. She went back to the ground and walked dejectedly to Umar. "Sorry." she muttered through clenched teeth.

Umar gave her a smug grin, but said nothing in reply.

Rarity moved between them. "Good. Now, with that nasty business behind us, let's just go inside, shall we?"

Umar spoke up before they left, "I'd watch out in there if I were you; they sent a search party inside looking for you a little while ago, and they haven't come out yet. I doubt they'll find the guild's hideout, but you might run into them if you aren't careful."

Rarity bowed and began walking into the pyramid. "Thank you, Umar. Come along now, Rainbow, dear!"

Dash said nothing and simply followed dejectedly, looking at the floor as she went.

The pair entered the pyramid, and Rarity smiled at the look of the ornate rows of torches adorning the large corridor.

"Well, here we are, dear: The Great Pyramid of Morroc!" the unicorn said with a flourish.

"Uh huh." Rainbow kept her gaze directly to the ground.

Rarity looked back at her friend’s apathetic tone and sighed. "But darling, I thought were excited about this! Just look at the maze in front us!"

Rainbow looked up and snorted. She was about to look away, but the rows of torches laid in front of her caught her attention. "Whoa..." She stared with her mouth agape. That's almost exactly how I imagined the pyramids on Daring Do's trip into the forbidden tomb! She jumped into the air "That is so aw-" She caught herself when she saw Rarity smiling up at her, and dropped back to the ground, "Eh." she shrugged.

Rarity got next to her and tried to nuzzle her, but Rainbow managed to move away in time.

"Oh, Rainbow..." Rarity sat on her haunches and looked at her friend, even if Dash averted her gaze. "I'm sorry, but we really can't afford to make enemies in this place, even if he was being a dolt! I had to do something or who knows what he could do later if he held a grudge against us?"

Rainbow huffed, "You didn't have to nearly stomp my head off! And what was up with those death glares!?" Rainbow walked off into the maze. "Let's just move on."

Rarity trotted up to walk beside her, but Rainbow wouldn't meet her gaze. Oh, Dash...

They walked in silence until they reached a point with several paths to take. Rarity looked at her friend, who was looking at each path tentatively. It was obvious Rainbow was excited, but she was fighting it in favor of staying mad at Rarity.

I guess I really was too harsh... She noticed the diamonds on the edges of a pair of walls and and she was hit by inspiration. Oh! I~deaaaa! Rarity cleared her throat, "So, Rainbow Dash, did Daring Do ever get trapped in a maze?"

Rainbow perked up, but immediately feigned indifference. "Eh, I think she's been to a couple of them."

Ooh, I think I piqued her interest! "And how did she beat them? Just by sheer, um, awesomeness, or did she have some manner of clue?"

It was getting harder for Rainbow to keep her cold act. "W-well... she did get some hints about what path she should follow, but she figured out what it was by being pure awesome!" She faked a cough and looked away to hide the smile forming on her face.

I doubt "being easily annoyed at imperfections on walls" counts as awesome... "Oh, did she have to figure out a riddle or something?"

Rainbow looked at her with a gleam in her eye, "How did you know? Did you ever read Daring Do and the Cursed Pharaoh!?" Rainbow got up to Rarity and leaned on her. Her fan-girl mode had been successfully activated. "Do you think we'll get to fight mummies too!? I loved how Daring Do set the whole tomb on fire to escape from the mummy king!" She squealed at the thought of battling an army of mummies like her hero.

Rarity sighed contentedly as her friend kept going about Daring Do's exploits. No wonder she gets along so well with Pinkie Pie. She giggled, "Actually, Dash, this maze has its very own riddle to find the short way to the thieves’ hideout." She looked at her friend in the eye, "Would you like to try solving it?"

Rainbow gasped, "A riddle!?"

Rarity nodded. "I'll even let you lead us until you figure it out, if you wish." I'd rather we are in this maze for hours than having you stay mad at me, anyway...

Dash could hardly hold still, she was bouncing off the walls in a way that would make Pinkie Pie proud, "All right! Let's hear it!"

Rarity closed her eyes. How did it go again? Oh, right. She got up on her hind legs and attempted what she thought was a threatening pose, waving her arms in front of her, and said in her best attempt at a deep voice, "The snakes that follow the path of fabulousity shine the brightest!"

Rarity sat back down, and looked at an astonished Rainbow Dash with a proud smile on her face. I guess I can be scarier than I thought. She giggled to herself.

And then Rainbow dropped to the ground in roaring laughter. "Bahahaha! Fabulousity? Did you just come up with that?" She kicked at the air as she let out a louder guffaw.

Rarity could feel her cheeks burning, and felt the sudden urge to crawl into a hole, but when she saw her friend laughing so carefree on the ground, she broke out with her own ladylike laughter, slumping over her friend.

They both lied there for minutes, laughing away the stress and the hurt from before, until it was replaced by the pain of laughing too much, though they didn't mind. Eventually, the laughter slowly died down.

Rarity got up and looked at her friend with a regretful face, "I really am sorry, Rainbow Dash. I didn't mean to hurt you." she extended a hoof to her lying friend.

Rainbow took the hoof and got up to nuzzle her friend. "I... I'm sorry, too, Rares. I guess I was being a bit dumb. No hard feelings?"

Rarity nuzzled her back. "No hard feelings. I know you were just trying to protect us."

Rainbow chuckled. "Uh, yeah. Sure." She got to the air, "So, were you serious about that riddle?"

Rarity felt her cheeks flushing again, "Of course! What is wrong with fabulousity!?" she huffed defensively.

Rainbow had to look away. Just the indignant tone on Rarity was enough to make her chuckle; she wouldn't survive another laughing fit if she looked at her face now. "Oh, you mean other than the fact that you're the only pony ever that would say that word with a straight face?"

"Oh, nonsense! I've worked with various ponies who used the word perfectly without any problem." Rarity whipped her head up in indignation, though the blush on her face lingered.

"Well, yeah, but fashion ponies are usually pretty wacky." Rainbow giggled. "No offense."

Rarity huffed, "Well, if you don't want to solve the riddle, then we can just move on!" Rarity started stomping away, but Rainbow flied directly in front of her.

"No no, wait!" Rainbow looked at her sheepishly, "I was just kidding; I wanna give it a try!" Rainbow sat on her haunches and started rubbing her chin with a hoof, deep in thought.

Rarity chuckled at the sight, and sat in front of her friend with her eyes closed, trying her hardest not to give anything away like looking at the torches or the walls.

Rainbow stood up and looked at the different paths in front of her, "Let's see... the path of... heheheh... fabulousity..." She inspected each of the roads, but nothing caught her attention. She was changing between the different paths, when she noticed a familiar symbol on the edge of the wall, "Aha!"

Rarity looked at her friend pointing at one of the diamond shapes on the wall. "Wow, not bad, darling. Was it really that easy to figure out?"

Rainbow beamed a cocky smile. "Well, I guess it just comes naturally when you're as awesome as me." Rainbow chuckled, "Besides, that part is probably easy for anyone that knows you." Rainbow struck a pose and gave her best Rarity impersonation, "Diamonds are fabulous after all, Darling!"

Rarity mock-glared at her, but couldn't resist giggling at her friend's antics. "Well, what about the rest of the riddle? You found the quick route, but what do we do from here?"

"Just follow me; I got this!" Rainbow trotted down the path with the diamond.

Rarity allowed herself one unladylike smirk as she saw Rainbow hadn't notice the diamond on the other wall, and had gone down the wrong path. She was about to go after her, when Rainbow turned a corner, only to come right back out with a sheepish smile on her face.

"Uh, dead end right there."

"Would you like a hint, darling?" Rarity asked in an amused tone.

Rainbow grunted and started inspecting the walls again. "No, thanks."

Rarity giggled as her friend brought a hoof to her face when she finally noticed the diamond on the other wall.

"All right, here we go!" Rainbow walked down the path carefully this time, with Rarity following shortly after.

They made their way through the maze, all the while Rarity was looking up at the torches discreetly, but Dash was too busy thinking about the riddle to notice her.

Rainbow groaned as they reached the third dead end in a row, and looked back at Rarity. "So... I'm guessing that the snakes that shine aren't the corners with torches..."

Rarity bit her lip. So close! "Do... do you want a hint now, Rainbow?"

Dash looked down for a moment. I am getting pretty tired of this... but Daring Do didn't give up, and she had a whole army of mummies on her back! She shook her head. "I can do this!"

Rarity smiled at her friend's determination, even if it was for a silly game.

They were walking back when Rarity's ears perked at a familiar plopping sound behind them. "Dash do you hear that?

Rainbow's ears perked up as she concentrated. "I hear something like... jelly dropping on the floor." She scrunched up her face, "What is it?"

"I have not seen it myself, but that's supposed to be some sort of nasty slime monster." Rarity shuddered as the noise got closer. She could hear something else farther away, but the idea of having to deal with the slimy creature was too distracting.

"Wait, a monster?" Rainbow landed next to Rarity, "Don't worry Rares, I'll deal with it." She got up on her rear legs and punched at the air.

Rarity chuckled at her friend and placed a hoof on her shoulder, "It's okay, darling, it is not supposed to be aggressive unless we attack it first."

They both stared as a big shadow neared the corner they had just passed. A big, circular shadow that grew more and more as it jumped closer and closer. Rarity hid behind Rainbow as the shadow grew bigger, trembling at the thought of being anywhere near such a disgusting-sounding creature.

Rainbow took a step forward and puffed out her chest, "Come out, whatever you are, I'm not afraid of you!"

Out of the corner popped a small, light-green blob that stood a little shorter than the length of the ponies' legs. It's most captivating feature, however, was the eyes with which it looked at them: big, beady eyes stared directly into Dash’s soul, crushing her heart with the sheer power of their adorableness. The creature bounced closer and closer, and, somehow, its eyes went even bigger as it looked up at Rainbow Dash.

Rarity stepped further back the more the creature approached, "Dash, do something! Don't let that disgusting thing near me!"

Dash couldn't take it. Her legs gave in, and she dropped to the floor in front of the creature. It's... too... cute! Rainbow was soon petting the creature. "Aww, who's a cute little-"

And then it jumped at her face.

"Rainbow!" Rarity screamed as she moved in to kick away the monster that was bouncing on her friend's head. As her hind hooves connected with the creature, she could feel the muck marring her, "Ack!" It's a little like stepping on mud, only it burns a little and I can feel my will to live weakening ever so slightly. Actually, I guess it's a lot like stepping on mud...

The monster was sent flying from Rarity's buck, and became a nasty splotch on one of the maze's walls, running down to the ground to form a slimy puddle.

"Rainbow, are you okay!?" Rarity looked down at her friend and jumped back with a scream at the sight. "Eugh, gross!"

Dash got up slowly, with a gooey and slightly burning sensation all over her face. "Bleugh! You can say that again." Rainbow spat and proceeded to shake like a dog that just got out of water, but that barely got any of the muck off of her, "This thing isn't coming off! And it itches!"

"Ugh, is this place filled with only disgusting monsters!? Why couldn't it be some water blob with soapy bubble attacks!?" Rarity lamented as she kept slipping from the slime on her hooves.

"Why are you even complaining? I'm the one with burning slime all over my face!" Rainbow kept rubbing her face with her forearms, but that only managed to move most of the slime from her face to her forelegs. At least I closed my eyes in time...

They both failed to notice the sound of clanking armor and heavy footsteps moving towards them until it was too late.

"Hey, I was right! It was them making all that noise!" One of the guards from Morroc peeked from the same corner the Poporing had come from. "They're over here!"

Rainbow and Rarity looked at each other, then back at the guard.

"Oh, yeah. There were soldiers looking for us, weren't there?" Rainbow asked casually.

Rarity looked on solemnly. "I guess playing riddles wasn't a good idea after all, darling."

"Eh. Totally worth it." Rainbow smirked as she launched herself at the guard. Her sheer speed was enough to catch the guard unaware, and she nailed him in the stomach, knocking him out. "You mind if I borrow your cape?" The unconscious guard wouldn't respond, so Dash took the cape anyway.

She was wiping off the muck as more clanking noises and the voice of more soldiers made their way towards them.

"Rainbow, try lighting what's left of the Poporing on fire!" Rarity shouted from the back.

"The what now?" she turned at Rarity.

"The stain left behind by that ugly slime!" Rarity yelled back, exasperated.

"It wasn't that ugly..." She muttered as she grabbed a torch, "Sorry little buddy." She threw the torch at the splotch, and a bright green flame flashed dangerously near her. Dash could make out a faint smell of burnt fur as she made her way back to Rarity. "Gee, thanks for that, Rares."

"Sorry, Rainbow, but it worked! Look!" Rarity pointed at the flame that kept burning away, almost completely blocking the path towards them. "Let's get out of here before those guards manage to put out the fire!"

Rainbow stared at the bright green flames, and suddenly it hit her. So bright... She flew up to the torches on the walls, and noticed that their brackets had a small wavy carving. "The shining snakes..." she muttered to herself.

Rarity looked back as she was trotting away, "Rainbow we have to go! Come on!"

The sound of angry shouting from the guards was faint, but it kept growing at a steady pace.

Rainbow dashed towards Rarity and picked her up, flying them both away. "I got it, Rarity! I found the snakes!"

Rarity was shocked enough from her friend suddenly whisking her away at high speeds; she barely registered any sounds and could only spit out a "What."

"The shining snakes! They shine because they're on the torches!" Rainbow kept flying. While the maze wasn't wide enough to maneuver much, years of speed training had given her enough reflexes and hoof-eye coordination to make her way through at a quick enough pace.

Rainbow finally touched down after going down a couple of stairs. "There's no more snakes over here. What now?" Rainbow put Rarity carefully on the ground, but the unicorn still slumped over.

"Gently, please..." Rarity moaned as her eyes kept spinning.

"Oh, don't be such a baby. You went through the Rainboom just fine, you can handle this." Rainbow rolled her eyes.

Rarity slowly got on her hooves and shook her head. "Excuse me, but the Sonic Rainboom didn't have anywhere near that much turning and near smashing into walls." As her vision readjusted, Rarity recognized the corridor that led to the basement and walked into it, "Oh, we made it! Come along, darling, it's this way."

Rainbow looked at the snake statues on the far wall, and flew up to get a better view at the image carved on the wall. "Wow..." Her heart started beating faster as more images from Daring Do's adventures flashed on her mind.

Rarity chuckled from the ground behind her and started making her way down the stairs, "If you liked that one, just wait until you see what they put in the basement, Daring Dash."

Rainbow blushed and looked down at the unicorn, "D-don't call me that, Rarity!" she said with a flustered voice.

Rarity looked back blankly and blinked. "Oh, but I meant no disrespect, darling. Your stunts earlier really would have made your hero proud, if I do say so myself." She started walking down the stairs again, "Now come on, we are almost at the hideout!"

Rainbow simply blushed harder and followed from behind. I guess it was like something Daring Do would do... Yeah! I'm just awesome like that! ...so why the damn blushing!? She walked down the stairs and was left breathless by the sight. "No way!"

Rarity giggled, "See? Even I thought this looked very dramatic when I first saw it." She chuckled nervously, "... even if I was rather distracted at the moment."

Rainbow just kept staring straight ahead with her mouth agape, taking it all in, until she felt Rarity's hoof closing her mouth.

"You'll catch a fly, darling. And you don't want to catch the flies they have around here!" Rarity shuddered. "Anyhow, there is another puzzle down here to open the door to the thieves' hideout. Do you wish to try it, Dash?"

Rainbow blushed as she remembered the nickname, but tried to hide it by shaking her head, "N-nah, I've already used too much awesome today, if I keep it up, it won't be as cool when I have to do something later. Just show it to me."

Rarity giggled. "If you say so, darling. See that taller human with the horned helmet?" she pointed at the wall, "He has a snake emblem on the helmet, and if you follow the story, I think he starts a rebellion against that fellow with the fancy hat."

Rainbow gasped. "A pharaoh... At least that's what I think it is."

Rarity nodded. "Huh. Well, it seems the humans weren't happy with the... pharaoh, and the horned human gave them weapons to rise against him." Rarity trotted over to the secret door. "And here, it looks like the humans are all celebrating their freedom, but they also look like they're reaching for that torch up there."

Rarity took the torch with her magic and a loud click echoed behind the wall, which soon slid off to reveal the secret path.

"And voilà!" Rarity giggled.

Rainbow joined her. "Heh, that was actually pretty cool, Rares. Did it take you long to figure it out?"

Rarity shook her head, "Oh, aside from a mistake on my part by going into the next basement floor, it was fairly easy. The hint I was given also had to do with snakes, so figuring it out wasn't so hard."

Rainbow gave her a confused look. "You got a different hint? How did yours go?"

Rarity sighed and was about to rant, but a shout from inside startled them.

"What'd I say about the door!?" Dirge said with a slurred voice as he walked up to them. "And try keeping it down, it's way too early for this..."

Rainbow looked at Rarity, who was smiling sheepishly at the tall human.

"Oops! Sorry, dear." Rarity ushered Rainbow inside as she placed the torch back in its socket with her magic. "I'll tell you later, Dash, for now... I suppose we should meet Jaffar or Brad."

They walked over to Dirge, who simply stared back at them through half-closed eyes.

Rarity stood between Rainbow and Dirge, and motioned at the latter with her hoof. "Rainbow, this is Dirge, he is in charge of security around here." she turned at the half-asleep man, "Dirge, this is the friend your fine guild helped save, her name is Rainbow Dash."

"Sup!" Rainbow looked at Dirge, but she recognized a face she was very familiar with, even in other species; the face of disturbed sleep, so she backed away, "Why don't we just let him go back to sleep, Rares? We'll say hi later."

The man just grunted as he went back to his room.

Rarity walked further inside, with Dash following close behind. They made their way to the counter, but it was empty again.

"I... suppose we could go inside. If even the security was sleeping, I suppose it must be rather late." Rarity suggested as she made her way behind the counter, tentatively opening the door. "Hello?" she whispered into the darkness inside.

She walked further inside, eyeing the different doors all over the corridor. At least one of these has to be the door to the sleeping quarters... "Amalia? Brad? Is anyone there...?"

Rainbow simply walked quietly behind her friend. I guess I could go for a nap right now, too.

The pair kept walking until they reached the end of the corridor, and soon they were facing an imposing-looking wooden door, with its reptilian sentinels standing guard at its sides. Rarity was about to knock when a whisper from behind caught her attention.

"Maybe you should let him sleep for a little longer, Rarity."

The ponies looked back to see a young girl in pajamas standing behind them, a groggy expression plastered all over her face.

"Amalia!" Rarity moved next to her. "Oh, I'm sorry, dear, did we wake you?"

"It's okay. I was supposed to wait up for you so I could show you around when you came back... but I fell asleep after awhile, anyway." The girl smiled at the unicorn and gasped when she saw the cyan pegasus. "Oh! You're..." She knelt down next to Rainbow, "A pegasus! With wings and rainbow hair and oh my gosh you're adorable!" She was about to pet her wings, but Rainbow stepped back.

"Whoa there! Watch, don't touch." Rainbow looked at Rarity, "Who's this?"

Rarity moved between the two."Amalia, this is my good friend Rainbow Dash. She doesn't like it when others handle her wings." She giggled, "Rainbow Dash, this is Amalia. She is a sweet girl, so do try to be nice to her."

Amalia blushed and shrank back. "Hello, Miss Rainbow Dash. Sorry about your wings."

Rainbow flapped her wings and waved her off with her hoof. "Don't worry about it. So you were going to show us around here?"

Rarity stepped in, "Unless you're too tired, of course. In which case we will simply go to wherever we can wait... or perhaps take a bath..." She sighed.

"Why don't we just go to sleep, Rares? I sure could go for a nap after that maze." Rainbow glanced at the bags under Rarity's eyes. And you look like you could sleep for a whole week.

"I couldn't possibly sleep in this... ugh, condition. I'm positively filthy!" Rarity looked at her hooves, which still held a light green taint in some places. "I simply must take a bath if I'm ever to get my beauty sleep." Rarity complained.

"Follow me to the women's quarters, we have a bath in there if you wanna use it." Amalia walked slowly back towards the entrance, yawning along the way.

Both ponies followed wordlessly. The offer of rest was causing fatigue to finally catch up with the both of them, and their energy was slowly fading away.

They followed the girl into a big room filled with bunk beds. It was mostly tidy except for one unmade bed.

"Just pick any bed you want, I'm the only one using this room right now..." She yawned and pointed at a door on the far left, on the back, "That's the bathroom. You can use my stuff if you wanna; I just left it by the showers." She yawned again and made her way to the messy bed, "Well... good night..." she dropped on the bed like she never woke up in the first place.

Rarity giggled and whispered to Dash, "Poor dear, I guess we really arrived at a bad hour." She stretched herself and began walking to the bathroom, "You can go to sleep if you want, dear, but I simply must take a bath. I may as well sleep in there if I want to get even partially rid of all the... things I've been through." She shuddered at the memories. Never again.

Rainbow eyed the beds for a moment, but looked back at Rarity again and sighed. "I'll come with you; you'll probably stay there forever if I don't keep an eye on you, anyway." She trotted ahead of Rarity before she could respond.

They entered the bathroom door to find themselves in a wide locker room. Rarity's eyes lit up when she noticed the sudden change to a more elegant ceramic tile floor and white lights on the ceiling.

"Oh, my. I almost feel back at the spa!" she giggled, walking on with a bit of a bounce to her step. She saw the entrance to the bathroom proper and almost galloped over. What she saw on the other side left her with her mouth on the floor.

"Oh. My. Stars!"

A huge room with sparkling white marble floor greeted her her; and rows of ornate shower spouts coming out from the wall on the left called her with their charming song of cleanliness. Then she noticed the huge bath on the center of the room; water was cascading into it from two giant, ornate marble snakes' mouths, with steam wafting ever so slightly from the flowing clear water.

Even Rainbow was in awe at the sight. "That's got to be the coolest pool I've ever seen! It needs more rainbow, though."

"That is the bath, darling." Rarity said dreamily as she took off her cloak. She was skipping down to the showers, when she heard Rainbow scream.

"Whoa! Rarity, what the hay!? Is that blood!?" Rainbow was upon Rarity immediately, probing at the fur matted with the brownish-red liquid in different places.

"Oh..." Rarity chuckled nervously. "Don't worry about it dear, it's dry now and should come out with some scrubbing." Rarity paused, "Oh, I seriously do hope it comes out..."

"That's not what I meant! What happened!? I thought you looked like a mess before, but I guessed it was just because you hadn't slept or something!" Rainbow poked the dried off blood in Rarity's lower neck. "How did this happen!?"

Rarity flinched as her friend touched her sore spots. "Oh... I suppose this is as good a time as any to tell you about my little misadventures..." Rarity sat on her haunches, "First off, darling, don't worry, Amalia gave me one of those healing potions earlier, and it left me almost as good as new." Rarity walked to the showers, "As for the blood... well, the spots on my back aren't from an injury, it's... ah, I got that from carrying you into town, you see." Rarity chuckled nervously as Rainbow's eyes grew to the size of platters.

"Oh, geez... uh, sorry about that." Rainbow looked away, rubbing the back of her head.

"Think nothing of it, Dash. I'd do it again without hesitation." Rarity paused as she meditated on her words, "Not that I'd like it to happen again, of course. Aheheh."

Rainbow moved next to her again and softly touched the stain on Rarity's neck. "And what about this?"

Rarity sighed as she reached for a faucet. "I suppose to explain that I'd have to tell you about my little trip to the mushroom farm, too..." She turned the faucet and a thick stream of water dropped from the spout on the wall. "You don't mind if I wash up while we chat, do you?"

Rainbow looked on in silence as an idea popped in her head. "Actually, why don't I help you out? That's some of my blood on you, so I might as well be the one to clean it out!" She grabbed a white bathing sponge lying on the ground and made her way to her friend.

"Well... I'm not one to decline some well-earned pampering..." Rarity giggled. "Do be gentle, though."

Rainbow blushed again, but Rarity couldn't see her while she was under the stream. "O-of course!"

Rarity regaled Rainbow with her dramatically biased anecdote while the pegasus continued to work her backside. Rainbow couldn't hold her laughter as Rarity told her of the fat Fabre and how it was more traumatic for her friend to get bug guts on her hooves than nearly dying the death of a pincushion.
She told her of how she was lost in the maze, and how exhaustion combined with a monstrous bat almost cost her singsong voice (oh, and her life), and how she swore bloody vengeance against a certain lousy riddler.
Rainbow gasped and stomped on the floor when she heard about the bat, swearing out loud that she would deal with all bats ever for daring to touch her friend, though she almost forgot as soon as she heard the riddle Rarity was given, nearly dropping to the floor and laughing from how terrible it was.
Rarity didn't tell Dash about the deal she struck with the guild or her encounter with the minotaur, and instead decided to skip right to her dramatically enhanced rescue, along with Mr. Irrelevant's antics.

By the end of Rarity's shower, they both had had their share of laughs and cries, and decided to move on to the bath. Though Rarity insisted she helped Rainbow with a shower, to which the latter submitted after some chiding.

"You simply cannot go and enter a bath without cleaning yourself first, darling." Rarity had said.

The rainbow-maned pegasus enjoyed her friend's backrubs more than she thought she should have, and when Rarity offered to wash her wings, Dash shyly decided to concede. Happy moans filled the bathroom as her wings were massaged, and the pegasus melted under the unicorn's delicate, yet precise hooves.

They finally made their way to the bath, and Rainbow almost dived in with a cannonball, only a deep glare from Rarity managed to stop her in time.

"Ahh..." Rarity moaned happily as she slowly entered the bath. "Now this is definitely something I could get used to..." She hummed a happy tune as she brushed her mane.

"It's not bad." Rainbow tried to sound nonchalant, but the relaxation and enjoyment on her voice was undeniable. She was still feeling the effects of Rarity's massage and the hot water on the bath only made them better, leaving her sleepy. She closed her eyes and nodded off.

A strange sound trembled in the air, and Rainbow perked up. She didn't know how long she'd been asleep, but when she searched for the source of the noise, she found it was Rarity resting her head on the edge of the bath, peacefully snoring away. Dash couldn't help but chuckle at the sight, though a pang of sadness broke through her. She's been through so much... and for me...

She shook her head and approached her friend, gently nudging her on the side. "Come on, Rares, let's go to bed."

Rarity only shifted her head slightly, "Just five more minutes, dear..." she mumbled in her sleep.

Rainbow chuckled and rested next to her, "Oh, all right, but only five!" She knew her friend couldn't hear her, but stood there for a little longer watching over her anyway.

When she decided she was actually staring, Rainbow grabbed her friend and carried her off on her back into the locker room, where she dried both of them off with towels. If I mess up her hair with my rain-blow dry, she'll probably kill me. She mock-shuddered.

Dash's drying ended up leaving Rarity's hair still a bit messier than before. ...I guess I can pay her back for that massage now.

She went back for the brush her friend had used, and tried to comb the unicorn's purple mane as gently as she could, though a few knots here and there made her almost wake her up.

Finally done with her friend's mane and tail, Rainbow carried her off to a bunk. She carefully dropped Rarity off in the lower bed, but when she tried to leave, she noticed Rarity was clinging to her neck, and wouldn't let go.

Too tired to break away, she soon fell asleep next to the already snoring unicorn...

A high pitched noise woke Rainbow Dash up, and she turned around to see a giggling Amalia staring at her with a huge smile on her face.

"Uh... morning?" Rainbow tried to get up, but a pair of white hooves wrapped around her neck brought her back to the bed. Rainbow gasped for air as Rarity squeezed her head harder into her chest. After some light struggling, Dash finally managed to fall out of bed, while Rarity kept dreaming away.

Amalia kept giggling as she helped her up. "Good morning, but it's actually past noon already. I tried to wake you guys up earlier, but you just looked so cute sleeping together!"

Dash looked away to hide the blush she felt on her face, "Aheh. Well, thanks." She looked back at Rarity. "Let's just let Rares sleep for awhile longer, 'kay?"

"Sure. The boss says he wants to meet you, but we can go after breakfast, if you want to." Amalia made her way to the exit, and motioned for Rainbow to follow.

Dash looked back at the dozing Rarity and felt a smile forming on her face as she fluttered into the air to follow the girl.

"So... what's for breakfast?" Dash asked as she floated behind Amalia.

"Do pegasuses like pancakes?" Amalia looked back with a genuinely confused face.

"Do we!" Rainbow drooled. "Just let me at them. I'm so hungry I could eat a barn!"

Amalia giggled as she opened the door to the mess hall and walked over to the kitchen. "Just sit anywhere, I'll be back with your food in a bit."

"Thanks." Rainbow sat at the edge of the table and waited, drooling with anticipation. "You know, I was kinda worried humans would eat strange stuff and that we would be stuck eating grass or flowers or something."

"Well, there are some humans who eat pretty weird stuff, but usually we have a normal diet." came the voice from the kitchen, accompanied with the clattering of pans. "You know; fruits, veggies, meat and all that stuff."

"Cool, you eat meat?" Rainbow perked up, "I had a gryphon friend before, and she invited me to a weird gryphon restaurant some times to try some meat dishes."

"You don't eat meat normally?" This time there was sizzling coming from behind the kitchen doorway.

"Well, most ponies don't. I thought it tasted okay, but cooking it is a pain, so I just stick to easier stuff." Rainbow shrugged

Amalia came out of the kitchen with a glass of milk and a stack of cupcakes bathed in strawberry jam and honey, and placed them in front of the wide-eyed pegasus.

"Please tell me if you'd like seconds, okay?"

"Yes, please!" Rainbow almost jumped at the pancakes and they were gone in a matter of seconds, along with Dash's decorum. "Those were awesome!" Dash exhaled happily and licked her lips.

Amalia stared in shock before she started chortling and walked back to the kitchen. "Well, I can't say no to someone who likes my cooking that much!"

After Rainbow had attacked stack after stack of pancakes (and just about made a mess of the place), Amalia brought her back to the door at the end of the main hall.

"Um, boss...? I brought Rainbow here like you asked." the girl said as she knocked on the door.

There was some sudden coughing heard from inside, "You brought what now?" a gruff voice asked.

"Rarity's friend?" Amalia pressed her ear against the door. "Are you okay in there, boss?"

Some more coughing came from the other side, "Yes, yes, of course! Send her in and be on your way."

Rainbow looked at Amalia with a raised eyebrow, "So... I just go in there?" She looked at the snake sculptures with an excited smirk, "Or do I have to solve some puzzle with these snakes to open the door? Do I have to get a torch?" she looked around excitedly.

"Oh, um, no." Amalia giggled as she opened the door for her, "Just go right in."

"Oh." Rainbow's ears dropped a little. Boring.

She trotted into the room and heard the door closing behind her. She could see smoke wafting through the air up to the ceiling, and traced it back to a man laying in his bed, inhaling from a hose connected to a red glass vase filled with water.

"Welcome, miss. I hear you caused quite a commotion yesterday." he said as he took another puff.

"Uh, hello? And I guess we did shake up some people yesterday." She scratched her chest with her hoof and inspected it coolly, "Nothing we couldn't handle."

Jaffar chuckled as he exhaled more smoke. "Ah, yes. Your friend Rarity did speak fondly of your bravado..."

Rainbow perked up, "Really!?" She caught herself blushing, and forced a cough, "Well, I am pretty brave." she said with a proud smile.

Jaffar stared at her blankly. "That's not what... " he cleared his throat, "At any rate, have you decided about what you will do now?"

"Well, not really. Rarity's still sleeping, and I was just kind of planning on waiting for her to wake up." she shrugged.

Jaffar smiled as he stroke his chin. "Tell me, Miss Dash, what do you know about the Thieves' Guild?"

"Well..." Rainbow looked up in thought. "I know that you guys helped Rarity cure me." She paused, "Oh, thanks, by the way." She sat on her haunches as she tapped her chin with a hoof, "Other than that, nothing, I guess."

Jaffar took another puff of the hose. "And did your friend tell you about the cost of that help?"

"What?" Rainbow flew up to him and fluttered just away from the smoke, "I think she said something about a debt, but she never told me what she meant."

"I see." He exhaled. "You see, Miss Dash, there is a reason why I decided to lend the guild's help to you." The old man watched as the smoke lifted into the air, "A trusted member of the guild suggested that your friend should join us... and I'm inclined to agree with him."

Rainbow flew closer, flapping away the smoke with her wings. "What!?"

"Please, Miss Dash, sit." He motioned to the other end of his bed and presented her the hose he was smoking from, "Would you like to try the shisha?"

"Uh, maybe later." She shook her head, "Now what was that about making Rarity a thief?"

"I assure you that theft is hardly all our guild ever does. Perhaps you already heard of our relation with the Assassins' Guild?"

"Oh, well, as long as she also gets to murder stuff, I guess that makes it all better." Rainbow glared at him.

"Again, a harsh generalization." he said with a chuckle. "The guild handles many types of jobs, and while robbery and... intimidation are some of our more famous services, we deal with more... shall we say, agreeable jobs as well." He closed his eyes as he smoked more. "We are often hired for the more furtive skills our members are famous for; things like espionage, dungeon sweeping for traps, or recovery of artifacts from ancient places, among others."

Rainbow perked up, "What was that last one?" she asked with a trembling voice.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. Many researchers come to us to hire members to scout ancient ruins too dangerous or unknown to send some of the more fighting-oriented mercenaries, since we train our members in more... survival oriented skills." he said with a grin.

"And what if we don't wanna join your guild?" Rainbow questioned, looking at him directly in the eye.

"Nothing. Your friend does the job she owes us and you get to go on your separate way." Jaffar shrugged. "However, you would no longer be allowed to stay in our hideout."

Rainbow didn't reply, only looking away to contemplate her options.

"But," Jaffar started in a friendly tone, "If you decide to become members, you would not only be able to continue using our facilities, we could also instruct you on some of the skills that make us famous." He gave her a smile as he motioned towards his decorations and laughed, "Not to mention good thieves make very good profits!"

Rainbow shifted on her seat. "I... I'll talk to Rarity about this, I won't decide until we go over it together." She sighed, "Besides, we have to do a whole lot of things that would probably keep us away from here."

"You don't have to worry about your freedom to roam about. The guild only asks for a cut of the profits you make under our employment, as well as loyalty between members and... well, you'll find out if you decide to join us." Jaffar took one last puff of his hookah before laying down again. "That was all I wanted to say for now. Tell your friend to come see me about that debt when she's ready."

"Can... can I do that job instead of Rares? I mean, you just need somepony to pay you with work, right?" Rainbow fluttered above the lying man.

"No." he didn't even open his eyes, "The deal was with your friend. She may request your help if she so desires, but the job is for her." He waved her off, "Now go. Your wings are disturbing my... meditation."

Rainbow left with a huff and made her way back to the women's quarters.

Rarity's soft snoring was still in the air, and Dash flew over to her sleeping friend, a familiar warm feeling growing stronger inside her the closer she got to the sleeping unicorn. Why is the feeling of your Element so strong lately? Is that what's getting me to act weird around you?
What would you even say if I told you joining their guild sounds awesome? ... Though I guess it'd be asking too much of the Element of Generosity to become a thief... Rainbow sighed and sat down, keeping her eyes on Rarity. You'd probably join up if I did, too. You're kinda overprotective that way. Rainbow chuckled as Rarity continued snoring peacefully.
Whatever. I'll be on your side no matter what, Rares. You'd do the same for me.

Rainbow looked around the room to see if they were alone, and when she didn't find anyone, she snuck back into bed. I always think more clearly after a good nap, anyway. She scooted closer to Rarity and closed her eyes, a wide smile adorning her face.

Rarity was in a dark cave, with the only source of light being a strange orange glow coming from the ground. She could feel the ground shaking under her hooves as a swarm of fabres at least twice her size moved towards her, and all over the cave, she could see the figures of giant flies hovering in circles above her; there were blots of slime dropping from the ceiling, with a huge blob crawling through it towards her.

She looked back to see a bottomless pit just inches away from her, its edges crumbling from the tremors.

All was lost. She wouldn't get to see her friends nor family again, and she would be eaten by the disgusting creatures closing in on her.

"Rarity!"

A familiar voice was climbing from the pit, and she looked down in hopes of finding any sort of salvation. All she could see was a red light, growing bigger and brighter ever so slightly.

"Hold on, Rarity! I'm coming!"

She could almost believe it...

Rarity gulped when she looked at the advancing swarm; the monsters were inches away. The ground gave way and she fell, but the creatures kept chasing after her and they fell too, like they were hoping to have the satisfaction of squishing her when they hit the ground. And then something suddenly happened: the red light from before was now falling beside her, and it started changing colors as it shot up into the air, slamming into the creatures, which vanished to the light's touch.
The flies went after the light next, and soon surrounded it. Globs of the slime fell upon the mob, completely obfuscating the light. Rarity felt her face becoming damp, and saw as her tears stood behind while she continued her fall. She closed her eyes, but a bright light shone through, and when she opened them again, she saw the same light from before rushing towards her, only now she could also see 4 more lights behind it, though farther away and they were all a white color.
The red light caught up with her, and she felt as she stopped falling, and was floating in the air now, instead. She started moving; flying up higher and higher! She could almost reach the lights, but she felt a sudden pang on the ear, and something wet running down it.

Rarity opened her eyes, and her vision was filled with blue. Cyan, to be precise. She could still feel something stinging in her ear and brought a hoof up to investigate, only to feel something slimy and wet running down into her mane...

A shrill scream filled the entire hideout, and a pair of ponies suddenly found themselves on the floor.

"Eugh, Rainbow Dash!" Rarity glared at the stupefied pegasus laying on the floor, "That's disgusting! Now I'll have to take another bath!" Rarity huffed as she made the bed with her magic.

Rainbow was still waking up, and could only make out something about gross and baths. She felt something running down her mouth and into her chin, and wiped the drool away with a hoof.

"Oh, like you weren't going to take a bath right after waking up, anyway." she said with a yawn.

"Well, be that as it may, waking up with drool all over my ear and mane isn't exactly the way I like to start my day!" Rarity fumed as she made her way to the bathroom.

"Heheh. Sorry." Rainbow chuckled nervously. "You're not gonna have breakfast? Or lunch? I think it may be lunch, it must be way past noon already."

"Oh, I'm starving, but I simply won't eat with drool all over my head." She gave Rainbow another glare, "I'll eat after I take a shower. You can go ahead if you wish." Rarity said coldly as she entered the bathroom.

"Well, horse-apples." Rainbow made her way out into the main hall. Note to self: Drooling equals death-glares. She walked dejectedly into the mess hall, and found another human in there, though she hadn't seen the man with the red hair before.

"Who're you?" she asked vaguely, not really caring for an answer at the moment.

"The name's Brad." He looked up at Dash. "And I'm guessing you're Rarity's friend. What was the name again? Rainbow... Rainbow Trash?" He gave her a smirk.

"It's Rainbow Dash, funny guy. And I doubt "friend" is the word Rarity'd wanna use right now." she muttered. "So, what's for lunch?"

"Well, the menu at the moment is: whatever you can make out of the stuff in the kitchen." He shrugged as he kept eating. "Amalia's busy right now, so she won't be cooking anything soon."

Rainbow Dash sighed, "Great."

She walked over to the kitchen, where the floor changed again; it was a shiny, clean tile floor this time, and she entered a wide room with various shelves on the walls holding pots, pans and many other cookware of different sizes. There was a countertop next to a large stove near the wall, both sparkling clean.

Well, not like I felt like cooking anything, anyway. Dash blew a raspberry.

She saw a large fridge on the back of the room, and flew straight to it. She rummaged through its contents and grabbed a couple of carrots along with some apples, and made her way back to the mess hall, sitting directly in front of Brad, and began munching on a carrot.

"So, I take it you're no cook?" Brad said as he looked at Rainbow's meal.

"I usually just order out back home." Dash shrugged. "And what about you? You make some soup and suddenly you're a chef?" she pointed at his food accusingly.

"First off, it isn't soup; it's stew." He looked down at his meal, "Second, I didn't cook this, Amalia did. I just reheated it."

"Then why the snarky comment?" Dash asked impatiently as she chewed on a carrot.

"Well, I was just disappointed, I guess. I was kind of expecting some exotic meal from another dimension, or something." Brad shrugged and finished his meal.

Rainbow snorted. "Well, though luck. Maybe Rarity will cook something up, but I don't think she's ever been that much into cooking, either, to make something "exotic"."

"Oh, well. I'm done anyway, so I'll be seeing you around later."

"Wait!" Dash got up to stop him. "I wanted to ask about something..."

"Well, I'm sorta busy, can't it wait?" he sighed impatiently.

"I was just wondering... do you often go out on jobs to, like, ancient ruins or dungeons and stuff?" Dash rubbed the back of her head while looking away. "I just heard that you guys usually handled those kinds of jobs."

"Ah, the boss already talked to you?" He grinned, "Well, I haven't done any of those jobs in a long time. Most of us avoided them since they're pretty dangerous most of the time, or the pay isn't that good..."

"Wait, so you get to pick your jobs?"

"Well, of course. Who'd wanna join a guild where they force you to do something you don't feel like all the time? Us thieves aren't known for our uniformity." Brad mock-gagged.

"Huh..." Rainbow looked down at her food in deep thought.

"I mean, sure, reject many direct jobs from the boss, and you'll probably get kicked out of the guild, but that rarely happens anyway." Brad shrugged. "Why? You wanna join? We don't accept just anyone, ya know?" He scoffed.

"Oh, please, Rarity told me about her tests. I could do that stuff in my sleep." Dash's arrogance was almost palpable.

"Yes, you can definitely do a wide manner of deeds in your sleep. Some of them rather disgusting." Came an annoyed voice from the entrance on the hall.

Rainbow shrank when she recognized Rarity's voice approaching. She didn't dare meeting her gaze, and hastily brought an apple to her mouth.

"Well, good morning, sunshine." Brad started as he looked back at Rarity, but was shocked at the sight, "Whoa! What in hel happened to you?" She was no longer the messy unicorn with a dirty gray coat and a limp, greasy mane; instead, there stood a shining mare with bouncy, lustrous curls and a sparkling white fur coat.

Rarity giggled at the gaping human, and struck a pose while bouncing her curls. "Well, dear, a bath does wonders for one's appearance. Maybe you should try it more often."

Brad didn't respond for some time, he was stuck gaping at the completely changed mare.

"Uh, whatever. I've got stuff to do, I'll see ya later." He finally said and left in a rush.

Rarity giggled some more as she walked towards Rainbow, "Well, it would seem I still have it, even with these humans, no, dear?"

Rainbow blushed and muttered something unintelligible as she talked with her mouth full.

"Ugh, really, Dash. Are you just going to try grossing me out all throughout the day?" Rarity chided jokingly.

"Sorry." She gulped. "About before, too. I just fell asleep right after dropping you off on your bed, and I guess I was too tired to move to another bed." she lied, forcing an embarrassed chuckle to mask it.

"It's quite all right, dear. I'm sorry for making you carry me off to bed after I fell asleep on the bath." She gave her an embarrassed smile, "And thank you for the dry-up and coiffing, too."

Rainbow blushed, "Y-you were awake for that?" she asked with a nervous grin on her face.

"Well, no. But I can tell, dear." Rarity ran a hoof down her curls, "Have you ever gone to bed with a wet mane? The next morning is simply a disaster." she shuddered.

"Really? I sleep with wet hair all the time." Rainbow gave her a questioning look.

"Of course you do." Rarity sighed, "Anyhow, is that what you're having for lunch, dear?" Rarity rose an eyebrow at the chewed carrot on the table.

"I had some apples, too!" Rainbow defended.

"Seriously, dear. You are such a child some times." Rarity giggled and made her way to the kitchen. She looked back at Rainbow, "Why don't you show me where you found that, Dashie?"

"Sure, mom." Rainbow stuck her tongue at Rarity, where some chewed apple still lingered.

"Eugh, Rainbow Dash!" Rarity looked away with disgust.

Rainbow snickered and flew next to Rarity. "Sorry." So not sorry.

Rarity cooked up a simple salad, all the while explaining the simple steps to Rainbow Dash, who entered autopilot mode as soon as Rarity began explaining the process.

"Then you simply add sour cream and sugar, and it will give the fruits an exquisite flavour!"

"Uh huh."

"The last step is the simplest: You throw the contents on the bowl at the inconsiderate pegasus, and decorate as desired."

"Uh huh-wait, what?" Rainbow dropped to the ground covering her face when she saw a blur move towards her, only to look up at Rarity giggling while looking down at her with an amused stare.

"Very funny." she deadpanned.

Rarity continued giggling, "I thought so, myself."

They made their way back to the table, and ate quietly. But Rainbow kept catching Rarity stealing glances at her.

"Oh, yeah. The boss guy says he wanted to meet you about that debt." Rainbow shifted on her seat, "Said to go as soon as you were ready."

"You talked with Jaffar?" Rarity looked down and sighed. "...did he tell you that he wants me to do a job for him?"

"Yeah. Also said something about joining the guild." Rainbow said nonchalantly. "Said some pretty interesting stuff, actually."

Rarity brought her hoof down on the table. "Rainbow Dash! Do not tell me you are actually considering becoming a thief!"

"Whoa, calm down, I'm just saying they have some interesting things you should hear too!" Rainbow backed away.

"I will not be a thief, Rainbow Dash! Even if they gave away diamonds!" Rarity looked away in anger, but felt a hoof on her shoulder.

"Listen, Rares, I just think they could help us out more if we join... but," Rainbow turned Rarity to face her, "I'll go with your choice: if you decide to join, I will too; if not, then I won't! Easy as that."

Rarity looked at her friend in the eye, but said nothing.

"I've got your back, no matter what, okay?" Rainbow gave her a nuzzle and broke away.

"Thank you, Dash." Rarity closed her eyes and sighed, "... I will consider it."

"For now, let's go find out what that man wants from me, shall we?" Rarity made her way out the mess hall.

"Right behind you." Dash fluttered after her.

The ponies stopped before Jaffar's door, with Rarity tentatively knocking at the door. "Jaffar? It's Rarity, my friend said you wanted to see me?"

"I still say these statues probably do something." Rainbow looked into one of the snake's mouths, "Maybe they're traps and they spit fire on whoever tries to attack this guy." she poked the snake with a cautious hoof.

"Then maybe trying to activate them is not such a good idea, darling." Rarity smacked the prodding cyan hoof away, and turned to knock harder on the door.

"Yes, yes, come on in." Said a slurred voice suddenly from inside.

"Sorry, dear, did we catch you on meditation again?" Rarity giggled to herself.

Jaffar yawned, "No, this time it was a legitimate nap." He rubbed his eyes and did a double-take on Rarity, "Well, I certainly expected you to look better after rescuing your friend, but I wasn't prepared for this." Jaffar smiled as he got up from bed.

"Do you think I can convince you to pose for a portrait? ...Yes, such fine scenery..." he mumbled to himself.

Rarity felt her cheeks reddening slightly and giggled. "Flattery will get you very far, dear, but I believe there is business to attend to."

Rainbow felt a pang on her stomach, "Yeah, stop trying to butter her up!" she said as she leaned closer to Rarity and glared at the old man.

"I assure you, I was being sincere." He walked over to some cushions laying on the ground. "But you are right, of course, let's talk business. Seat, please."

Both ponies made their way to the cushions, Rarity admiring the room again as she went.

"Very well, here's the deal:" Jaffar began, "I need you to inspect the Sphinx for me."

"Excuse me, the what?" Rarity interrupted.

"Sphinx as in big stone lion with a pony face, or the smaller-but-still-big lion with a pony face and wings that will eat you if you don't answer a riddle?" Rainbow asked excitedly, causing Rarity to give her a look like she suddenly grew an extra pair of wings.

"What? They both show up in different Daring Do books." she shrugged.

"It would be the former, only with a man's face instead of a... pony's..." Jaffar muttered, "Though it's not the statue itself that I want you to inspect; the sphinx is merely the entrance to a deep underground dungeon." he got up and walked towards one of the paintings on the wall.

"Now, when you say "dungeon"... you mean the kind of dungeon with traps and danger behind every corner?" Rainbow was having a hard time keeping her excitement at bay.

"The very same." Jaffar took the painting off the wall, and pressed some random spots on the wall, which soon gave way to reveal a secret compartment, "Too dangerous to go in unprepared." Jaffar took out a couple of scrolls from their hiding place, and walked back to the ponies.

"These scrolls were written by some of the masters of the Thieves' Guild of old... reading them should teach you a thing or two about the skills you will need to survive in that place." Jaffar sighed and presented the scrolls to Rarity.

"But... why would you trust these to a complete stranger? Surely, you could send someone already experienced for such a job?" Rarity looked at the scrolls tentatively.

"Ideally, I would get one of our Senior members to accompany you for this task... however, we lost many of our members to Satan Morroc's attack, and many more went with the army to fight against him..." Jaffar looked away and sighed. "What you see here in the hideout is what's left of the guild, aside from some stragglers wandering the land."

"Why do you wanna send Rarity at all if it's so dangerous? Why don't you go yourself or send that red-haired guy?" Rainbow asked accusingly, pointing at Jaffar with her hoof.

"We have to stay inside the pyramids. There are... things to be looked after." he said in a serious tone. "Things actually worse than what is on the sphinx, though of a similar nature..."

Rarity perked up. "What exactly do you want me to do in this dungeon?"

"The breaking of the seal of Morroc has disturbed similar seals in these very pyramids. I have been working along with Brad to fix some of the runes in here, but we haven't had an opportunity to look at the seals on the sphinx." Jaffar sat down in front of the unicorn. "I would have you investigate the runes in there. There are many placed along all five levels of the dungeon."

"And what if they're broken?" Rainbow asked.

"They can be repaired... which is where Rarity really comes in." Jaffar smiled.

"M-moi?" Rarity asked nervously.

"I know you can use some manner of magic; to levitate objects and such." Jaffar nodded, "The runes could have been disturbed, and fixing them becomes much easier with actual magic."

"B-but I'm no wizard! I'm a fashionista!" Rarity stammered.

"I'm not a wizard either, but I still can use a little magic." Jaffar grinned, "One of the scrolls I gave you contains details on the runes, it should be easy enough to fix them with that in hand. Or hoof, I suppose." Jaffar chuckled and got up. "I advise you study as many of those scrolls as you can today, since I won't be here to explain any doubt you should have tomorrow. I would also ask that you depart tomorrow at the latest; should we let the sphinx unchecked, even more disaster could strike the town of Morroc."

"What, that's it?" Rainbow flew up to Jaffar and hovered in front of him. "You're just sending us in without any equipment or, I don't know, stuff?"

"Stuff?" Jaffar mimicked.

"You know! Ropes, or torches! Maybe something to defend ourselves with?"

Jaffar raised an eyebrow, "You are welcome to take anything from the armory, within reason, of course."

"Oh. Okay, good!" Rainbow flew back to Rarity, triumphant.

"Wait, how will we find the runes in the first place?" Rarity shot up from her seat. "And we don't even know where this Sphinx is!"

"Oh, I nearly forgot." Jaffar walked back to the secret compartment, and rummaged through its contents until he came out with a new set of scrolls, "The sphinx is actually not far away from here. It's about one hour away on foot, directly to the south of here. Just ask Umar to point you in the right direction when you leave."

"Whoa, whoa, wait! How are we even supposed to go south? Is there like a tunnel or something?" Rainbow asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"What? No, you can just walk there. Or fly, in your case." Jaffar explained, slightly confused.

"Huh?" Rainbow stared on with an even more puzzled look.

"Just let me handle that, Rainbow, dear." Rarity sighed and shook her head.

"At any rate, this is an old map of the sphinx dungeon; the different runes are marked in here." He handed Rarity the scrolls, "Morroc's Guard doesn't post people on the actual sphinx, since they usually just get men up on their watchtowers back by the western wall, so you shouldn't have any trouble as long as you have these... and you keep an eye out for monsters and traps, of course."

"What sort of monsters are we talking about, actually?" Rarity asked with a slight tremble to her voice, "If this... thing was sealed away like the one that attacked us..." She shuddered.

"Don't worry, Rares, I'll be there to kick anything's flank this time." Rainbow gave her a confident smile as she placed a comforting hoof on her friend's withers.

"I assure you it is nowhere near the power of Satan Morroc, dear lady." Jaffar looked over at Dash, "However, if the seals really are weakened, some very troublesome monsters could be running about unchecked... I would advise caution and stealth, instead. It is a job for a thief in mind, after all."

"Who needs to be stealthy when you're too fast for them to see you coming?" Rainbow bragged as she pawed at the ground, as if preparing to take off.

"We will be careful." Rarity rolled her eyes, but couldn't keep a smile off her face.

"I would expect so." Jaffar sighed, "Well, that is all I had to discuss for now. Come report to me after you deal with the sphinx, or if you need help with the scrolls' teachings." He ushered them to the door, "Good luck."

The two ponies went back to the sleeping quarters, with Rainbow openly strutting with excitement at the idea of a new adventure in a different place.

"Seriously, Dash. This could be very dangerous." Rarity dropped on her bed.

"I know! Isn't it awesome!?" Rainbow buzzed around her friend. "So, is there anything interesting in those scrolls?"

"Well, I only skimmed through a few of them when Jaffar gave them to us..." Rarity perked up, "Ooh, maybe that trick to detoxify is in here!"

"Eh, I'm hoping for something more awesome. I bet they have all sorts of sneaky tricks for fighting!" Rainbow smiled mischievously, "I bet I could pull some awesome new pranks out of that!"

Rarity was skimming through a scroll dealing with venoms, when something caught her attention, "Rainbow, dear, you might want to take a look at this..." She passed the scroll to Dash.

"Envenom?" Rainbow read out loud, "By making their body used to poison, aspirants with magical expertise may learn how to call the venomous essence in their body to strike at their foes. After many blah blah blah..." Rainbow looked up at Rarity.

"But I don't have any "magical expertise"; I'm not a unicorn, Rares." Rainbow said flatly.

"But neither were the humans who wrote this," Rarity looked into Rainbow's eyes, "Besides, you do have your weird pegasus magic that lets you walk on clouds."

"It's not weird," Rainbow mumbled, "And I don't really know how I do that; I just do it!"

"You could just try reading the scroll, see if it makes any sense to you." Rarity sighed and looked down to another scroll, "Besides, it would be nice if you got something out of almost getting killed by that poison."

"I guess." Rainbow shrugged. "It would be pretty nice to give that dumb monster a taste of its own medicine."

The pair kept reading, or at least Rarity did, often calling her friend over when she found something the rough pegasus might like. While Rainbow paid attention to some of the pointers her friend read out loud from the scrolls, different thoughts were stuck on her mind, keeping her distracted.

They only stopped when Amalia announced that dinner was ready, and they silently made their way to the mess hall.

Upon entering the mess, the pair was greeted by one table filled to the brim with so many different salads that it looked more like a colorful garden suddenly sprouted from the stone table.

Both ponies stood unmoving in awe with mouths agape, exchanging looks between the table and the cook, only mumbling, incoherent noises escaping their mouths.

Amalia blushed and looked at her feet, "Well, Miss Dash said that you both liked salads, and since you have such a big day tomorrow, I thought I'd whip up something good for you..." She glanced anxiously at the pair, "So I went into town and got as many fruits, vegetables, nuts and cheeses as I could find, and even got some good recipes from a couple of merchants!"

"Do you like it? I hope it wasn't too much..." she said with a nervous smile.

Rainbow shook her head and zipped to the table, "Wow, you did this all by yourself!?" She looked at the food with eyes huge as platters while her mouth began watering. "I haven't even seen some of these things before!"

Rarity trotted over and stood before the table. "Like it?" she looked up at Amalia, "Darling, this is simply marvelous! To think you would go to such lengths for us... I don't even know what to say!"

Amalia beamed at the praise and sat down, "You don't have to say anything, Rarity, just eat as much as you can!" she giggled and moved a plate next to her.

"Don't mind if I do!" Rainbow shot up and put different bits of all the salads into a plate, ending with a tower of greens nearly as big as her.

"Darling, you must simply tell me all about how you made such amazing dishes!" Rarity sat next to Amalia and began serving them small portions of the many salads.

Amalia blushed under the attention and shyly started talking: "Well, the hardest to make was the cactus salad; I couldn't find any place that already sold the pieces prepared..."

The three of them enjoyed their food with light banter, mostly of Amalia telling them about the different recipes and Rarity asking about any exotic vegetable she came across, while Rainbow simply enjoyed the company as she stuffed her face with every different salad she found.

The trio had almost finished most of the food on the table, but even Dash wasn't able to go on in the end.

"... and splitting the coconut is a bit hard to get right, but it's totally worth it when you get both a dessert and a bowl for it in the same move!" Amalia giggled as she stacked the leftover plates.

"I agree, it was simply divine, my dear!" Rarity got up and took the stacked dishes into the kitchen with her magic. "Rainbow, be a dear and help me dry the dishes, will you?"

A muffled grunt was her only answer as Rainbow lay asleep on the bench, snoring peacefully with a bulging belly.

"Really, such manners...." Rarity sighed.

"Don't worry about the dishes, Rarity, I'll take care of them." Amalia walked into the kitchen after her.

"Nonsense, dear. You worked so hard and this is really the very least I can do. I will not take a no for an answer." Rarity giggled, "Just make sure Rainbow doesn't drool all over your floor."

Rarity hummed happily as she washed the dishes, not even noticing that Amalia was watching her from the door, until a loud sniff caught her attention.

She turned back to see the young girl with a few tears running down her cheeks, but a smile on her face. "D-darling, what's wrong!?" Rarity galloped to her.

"O-oh, I'm sorry... it's just... you remind me so much of her like that..." She sobbed quietly.

Rarity nuzzled her stomach and nudged her towards the door. "Why don't we go take a bath, darling? That always calms my nerves when I get upset." She quickly galloped over to the snoring pegasus on the table and levitated her into her back, she never noticed the sudden jump Amalia gave at the mention of a bath.

"I swear, Rainbow Dash, if you get the smallest drop of saliva onto my coat, I will bite your wing off!"

"But Rarity, I'm not into that kinda stuff..." the mare slurred in her sleep, causing Rarity to turn a vibrant red.

"Eh heh heh. Such a silly thing to say in one's sleep." she looked at Amalia, who was smiling wider now, though Rarity could still see some sadness in her eyes when she looked away.

They walked back to their quarters in silence, only sudden snores and mumbles from Dash broke through every once in a while.

After dropping Dash in bed, Rarity nudged Amalia into the bathroom.

"Come, dear, I shall do your mane. I know you'll look just lovely in braids!" Rarity practically skipped into the locker room, but turned back when she didn't hear Amalia's footsteps anymore.

The young girl was standing at the entrance of the room, a faint red on her face and she wouldn't meet Rarity's gaze.

"Come along, dear, a relaxing bath awaits!" Rarity pleaded gently at the strangely flushing girl.

"I-I'll be there in a second, just let me change, okay?" Embarrassment was evident in her voice, though Rarity couldn't figure out why, and simply decided to humor her.

"As you wish." Rarity moved straight to the showers, and began combing her mane. As she was about to turn the faucet, she heard delicate steps behind her, and turned to look at Amalia draped in a towel.

Rarity stared blankly at the sight, blinking in disbelief. "Uh, are you okay, dear? It might be hard taking a bath with a towel around yourself." Rarity tapped her chin, "Oh, or is that some manner of human custom?"

"Uh, yes, a human custom." The poor girl was almost shining red under the unicorn's inspecting gaze.

"Well, come then, darling. Let me brush your hair." Rarity patted a seat in front of the shower and looked at Amalia with a big smile.

After Rarity brushed her hair, they both took a shower, with Amalia being strangely adamant about declining the unicorn's offers to wash the girls back. They finally moved onto the bath, and Rarity moved closer to the girl with a serious face.

"Now, do you wish to talk about what happened in the kitchen?" She brought a hoof to the girl's face, "Who do I remind you of?"

Amalia looked down at her reflection thoughtfully. "It's just... you act a lot like my mom."

Well, at least Rainbow's not here to make fun of me for that... "I've been told I am rather... motherly some times." Rarity softly patted her on the back.

"No, I mean... the way you talk and act... it's just exactly like I remember her." Amalia chuckled sadly, "So proper and classy... even to the point where it's a bit silly."

"Well, I never!" Rarity feigned indignation, but looked back at the girl with a smile.

"Yes, just like that!" Amalia giggled.

Rarity looked away. "And your mother isn't... around anymore?"

"No..." Amalia looked down, her eyes watering again.

"I'm sorry, dear..." Rarity looked back at her, "Was it Morroc?"

"Oh, no... I lost my mom many years ago..." Amalia looked up at the rising steam from the bath, "We used to live much further to the north... I think I was about nine or ten when the orcs attacked our caravan..."

"Orcs?"

"Huge, ugly green monsters that hate humans... or just about anything that doesn't obey them." Amalia nearly spat the description.

"They would have killed me, too... but, strange as it sounds, I was saved by a thief." Amalia chuckled, "A thief that had been tracking down the caravan, and was planning on stealing from us..."

"And that's how you ended with the Thieves' Guild?" Rarity moved closer to her.

"Uh-huh... I wanted to thank the man who saved me, and I ended up coming to Morroc searching for the guild. I even took a job as their caretaker in hopes of meeting him again, but I don't even know what he looked like below the hood..." She sighed, "I thought I had gotten over it... but I guess seeing you triggered my memories..."

"You know, you actually remind me quite a bit about my little sister... she's probably a few years younger than you, though." Rarity looked at Amalia with loving eyes, "She always tries her best to help however she can... even if she is a bit clumsy at times." She giggled, "I never really saw eye to eye with my parents, we're much too different... but I wouldn't change my sister for anything in the world."

Rarity leaned on Amalia. "I miss her quite a bit, you know? I can't even remember what was the last thing we talked about... probably something silly, or something about her cutie mark..." Rarity sighed.

Amalia raised an eyebrow, "What's a cutie mark?"

"Oh. I suppose humans don't get one." Rarity giggled and stood up, turning around to show Amalia her flank. "It appears on a pony's flank when he or she finds their special talent. Mine represents the very essence of fabulousity given a lustrous diamond shape." she gushed as she struck a pose.

"It appeared after I found a rock filled with all sorts of fabulous gems, and used them to make the most dazzling repertoire any school play had ever seen!" Rarity struck another pose as her pride soared through the skies, and looked back at Amalia, who had turned slightly red again.

"Are you okay, darling? Maybe we should leave if the hot water is getting to you."

"Y-yeah, that's probably a good idea." the crimson girl stammered.

The now shining clean pair walked back to the locker room to dry themselves off, and Rarity thought up of one good gift she could give her new friend.

"Say, Amalia..." She walked over to where the girl was standing, but the girl immediately squealed and hid behind a wall as she walked in.

"It's just me, darling, no need to be shy." Rarity approached further, "I was thinking... I may be too young to replace your mother..." Rarity put a hoof on the girl's shoulder, "But I would love to have another wonderful sister." She closed with a hug, and felt as Amalia relaxed in her hooves.

Too relaxed. She released the hug to see the girl had passed out. Oh, poor dear. The excitement must have been too much for her! Rarity giggled as she carried her to her bed. At least she finally got rid of that silly towel... if I didn't know any better, I would think she had a problem with nudity!

Rarity walked towards the familiar sound of Rainbow's snoring, and saw the mare splayed over the bed, trembling slightly and muttering something unintelligible. Oh, I guess I'll sleep on my own tonight, then... She sighed as she covered her friend with a blanket. I rather liked having somepony reliable to wake up with... even if she is kind of messy... oh, what am I saying? I almost sound like I have a crush on the dear. Rarity's cheeks turned a faint red as she walked away.

The unicorn climbed to the top bunk, and levitated the scrolls into her bed. I better read through the rest of these... I won't let some dungeon catch me unaware.

Rainbow Dash was flying near the ceiling of an ancient temple; hordes of mummies below her covered all of the ground except for the pools full of a shining green acid that stood flanking the long corridor she was in.

The stinging on her side was making it hard for her to keep her path, flying lower and lower as the pain spread throughout her. She could see her goal starting to form ahead of her: The biggest diamond to have ever existed, easily bigger than a pony, and shining so bright it even kept the mummies away, burning any that got too close.

She could make it. She just needed to fly faster; to ignore the aching on her side! Rainbow bit her lip and pushed her wings to their limit, she would have to use the rainboom, even if it risked destroying the temple!

Her wings started beating harder and harder, and she could feel the wind resistance mounting up, but a sudden chill overtook her body and her wings wouldn't respond; she was falling towards the mummies and she closed her eyes. It was all over.

She fell to the ground and skidded to a halt in front of something dry and rough, and looked up to see a mummy staring at her; it's eyeholes empty and dark, staring deep into her soul.

"Gah! Don't come near me you dumb monster!" Rainbow tried kicking it away, but her hooves wouldn't respond.

"Why do you fight? You are already one of us..." a voice rumbled through her mind, and the stinging chill from before spread all throughout her body. She looked at her hooves as they dried up and became a sick purple color, and mummies started surrounding her, wrapping old and dirty bandages around her whole body.

She tried to scream, but all that escaped her mouth were rumbling moans. She could see herself standing up and began shuffling towards the diamond against her will; it didn't burn her like the rest of the mummies, instead she could feel a soothing warmth coming from it.

She reared up to the diamond and she felt the warmth change into a painful sting on her forehooves as they started glowing a shining purple through the bandages, and when she touched the diamond, it shone purple as well, and then it crumbled and melted away...

Dash woke with a start. She could feel sweat running down her face and started breathing heavily.

Last time I go to bed right after eating so much... She made her way to the bathroom, and after freshening up, she walked back to her bed to notice Rarity asleep on the top bunk with many scrolls lying around her.

Maybe she thought sleeping like Twilight would help find her. She snickered and lied down on the lower bunk, but sleep wouldn't come back. She kept seeing her shining purple hooves destroying that diamond whenever she closed her eyes.

She got up with a huff and left the room. She was making her way to the kitchen, when she heard noise coming down the hall.

Not like I have anything better to do... Rainbow walked towards the guildmaster's room, and knocked hard on the door.

"Yes, come in." said Jaffar's slightly panting voice behind the door.

"Hey, what's up with the noises?" Rainbow walked in nonchalantly, only giving the man inside a confused stare when she saw him standing in the middle of the room with strange blades in his hands.

"I was preparing for my trip to the lower levels of the pyramids. I didn't realize I was being very loud; did I wake you?"

"Nah, I couldn't sleep, so I was just looking around when I heard you." Rainbow pointed at the blades on his hands, "What's that? It looks kind of weird for a weapon."

"These are called katars, Miss Dash. They are a bit of an exotic weapon, true, but they're the favorite weapon of the Assassins' Guild. Not many weapons are as fit to our more agile combat styles."

"Wait, so you're an assassin? I thought you were a thief." Rainbow moved in to take a closer look at the strange weapons, "Besides, agile how? Those things look like they'd be awkward to use."

"I was an assassin before, but when the opportunity came along to become the Guildmaster of the Thieves' Guild, I simply couldn't resist. I always missed the simpler days of grand theft and thrilling jaywalking." Jaffar looked around his room with a thoughtful smile as he let out a happy sight. "As for how they work in combat, would you like to see for yourself?"

"What, you mean like fighting me?" Rainbow scoffed, "I don't know, I wouldn't wanna hurt an oldtimer."

"Oh, it would be just a simple spar. Come, humor an old man." Jaffar grinned and signaled at Rainbow to attack.

"Fine. But I don't want you pulling your back out, okay?" Rainbow charged at him, carefully avoiding her better speeds, but when she was about to hit Jaffar, she instead flew through, and only narrowly avoided crashing into his bed.

She looked back to see Jaffar standing calmly and looking at her.

"No need to hold back, Miss Dash." He grinned.

Rainbow flew towards him again, putting a little more speed in, and turned around to kick him, only for her kick to miss entirely, and she felt a prick on her belly.

"Hey!" Dash flew higher and glared down at the grinning man crouching below.

She swept down at him again, only to miss entirely, and she was rewarded with a prick to her flank this time.

"Quit it!" She spun in the air to kick him again, only to come face to face with his blade, hovering just above her nose.

"And that's how one fights with agility, Miss Dash." Jaffar drew the blade back and stared at Dash, "I can see you have great speed. But your attacks are blunt and direct; they haven't the slightest hint of finesse."

"Eh. Who needs that when you're too fast for anything to react?" Rainbow waved her hoof, "Besides, I was holding back right now, and I can't really fight the way I like in such crammed spaces."

"And I'm sure all the foes you will ever face will gladly agree to fight you in whatever conditions you find most pleasing." Jaffar chided. "You could do so much better if you thought out your attacks; that speed you have as well as an ability to fly could make you unstoppable if only you applied them properly..."

Unstoppable... "Well... why don't you teach me?" Rainbow touched down in front of him, "I... know I'm too amazing already, but... if there's anything that can make me even better, why not try it, right?" she said with a nervous grin.

"Teaching you to fight like an assassin is not something that can be done in what few hours we have available." Jaffar sighed, exasperated. "You need to learn subtlety, how to read your enemy, misdirection..."

"So just give me a few pointers! Like you said, I'm pretty fast." Rainbow grinned, "And not only in speed, I'm a fast learner, too!"

"Fine." Jaffar sighed and extended his hand towards her.

Rainbow smiled and was about to shake it, but as she moved towards him, his hand flew straight for her face and smacked her on the forehead with enough force to shake her balance, only for Jaffar to sweep her other foreleg with his feet, bringing her to the ground.

"First lesson: fake your movements to hide your true intentions." He snickered as Dash rubbed her head.

"Nice." she said through clenched teeth.

"Oh, that's just the beginning, girl." Jaffar grinned as he extended his hand to help her up.

"...I'll get up by myself, thanks." Dash grunted as she got up.

"Huh. You are a quick learner." Jaffar snickered, "Now, the easiest way to dodge is by knowing in advance where your enemy will attack..."

The sound of a grunting mare and a snickering old man filled the main hall for hours to come...

Rarity awoke to a noise of shuffling below her, and she peeked over the edge of her bed to see Rainbow Dash moving below, with light bruises and scratches all over her.

"Darling, what happened to you!? Did you pick a fight with a cat?" Rarity jumped out of bed to inspect her friend.

"Nah. I was just over at the old man's room practicing all night. You should see how he ended up." she snickered. And you will never see how I barely even touched him because he already left, so ha!

"Old man? Do you mean Jaffar? But, darling, you look awful! Let me get Amalia's potions!" Rarity galloped to the locker room, but stopped once she was inside. "Actually, dear, why don't you come over for a bath!" she yelled.

"I'm fine, Rares, don't worry." Dash sighed and rolled her eyes.

"But I bet you could use a massage after doing such brutish training all night, darling!" Rarity called back, pitching her voice to make it sound more appealing.

Rainbow's wings flared and a crimson blush instantly set on her face, "W...Well, it was kind of tiring showing up the old man..." she said as she walked to the bathroom with a slight bounce to her step.

Rarity only grinned as she felt a faint heat to her cheeks. I'll have to thank Jaffar for that later... "I simply cannot work on you with all those scratches, though. I will get blood all over my beautiful coat." she brought a hoof to her forehead to emphasize her overly dramatic pose, while she brought out a red potion out of her pouch with her magic.

"W-well, let me just drink a potion and then there's no problem, right?" Rainbow trotted next to Rarity.

"Very well, dear. If you insist." Rarity giggled as she passed the flask to her friend.

One session of rubbing and happy moans later, a beaming pegasus and a satisfied unicorn were walking down the main hall of the thieves' hideout, into the mess hall. They hadn't seen any of the members of the guild after their bath, and they only found a note and some food on the table:

"I went out for supplies and won't be back until night; Brad and the boss left to check the runes on the upper and lower levels of the pyramid, and they likely won't come back for at least a day.

I left you some pancakes and fruits prepared for breakfast, enjoy and just leave the dishes on the sink.

Good luck, Sis.

Amalia."

"Sis?" Rainbow Dash asked out loud.

"Long story, darling. Let's eat." Rarity wiped the tears forming in her eyes discretely, and sat on the table.

They ate their breakfast while Rainbow gushed about her expectations of the sphinx: How she would fly fast enough to fool any trap, and she would deal with any monster that came towards them with her new moves; only vaguely admitting that Jaffar had trained her, saying how he was "Not too bad for an oldtimer."

After eating, they decided it was best to leave with an early start, and moved on to the armory to look for anything that could help.

“I suppose I could use a bow for defense…” Rarity mused as she browsed through the weapons and picked a quiver full of arrows. “I haven’t practiced in so long, though.”

“Don’t worry about it; I’ll make sure you don’t have to use it, Rares.” Rainbow leaned on her with a smug grin.

“Let’s just hope that none of what is over there fights like Jaffar, right?” Rarity rolled her eyes.

“Uh…” Rainbow shrugged. “I guess it won’t hurt to be prepared. Heheh.” she looked away.

“Are you not getting anything, Rainbow? You were the one who insisted that we be equipped, after all.” Rarity asked as she browsed through the weapon racks.

“Oh, the old man actually gave me something pretty cool!” Dash perked up, “I’ll show you when we get back to the room!” she said with an excited smile.

“How about a cloak? All those extra pockets could be very useful…” Rarity sighed, “If only it weren’t such a crude design…”

“And have it get in the way of my wings? No thanks.” Rainbow stuck her tongue out.

“I might be able to do something about that with my magic… And having a cloak to disguise ourselves could come very handy.” Rarity enveloped one of the thieves’ cloaks with her magic, “Yes, just let me work on it for a few minutes, darling.”

“Just make sure it doesn’t mess up my flying, Rares. I’ll go get our stuff.” Rainbow flew out of the room as Rarity kept concentrating on the cloak, which suddenly flashed as a pair of holes were made on its sides. Rarity was panting slightly after using her magic, Strange... that felt like it took more magic than I meant to use...

“Now something to cover those wings…” Rarity mumbled as she tore some fabric from another cloak, which she mended into Dash’s cloak to hide where her wings should show; she made sure the fabric would be light enough that it shouldn't interfere with the flapping of the pegasus' most valued limbs.

“Oh, Rarity, you’ve done it again.” She smiled to herself as she made her way out of the room.

Dash was waiting for her on the exit at the end of the hall; she had a pair of strange metal handles strapped to her sides, and Amalia's pouch of potions as well as her own cloak were lying next to her on the ground.

"Here's your cloak, Dash. Try it on and tell me if it needs any adjustments, won't you?" Rarity looked at the weapons on her sides with a raised eyebrow, "Are those the things Jaffar gave you?"

Rainbow grinned, "Sure are! They are actually pretty cool once you get used to them." She flew to the air and struck a pose with a weapon on each forehoof. "They're called katars, and they're supposed to be the best weapons for totally awesome masters of speed like me!"

"Just be careful, dear." Rarity floated the modified cloak to her friend, "Let's just hope neither of us has to fight today. Though I honestly doubt it..." she mumbled.

Dash flew down to her friend and wrapped an arm around her neck, "Don't worry, Rares, the old man showed me some pretty cool tricks with these babies. We're gonna breeze through that dungeon and those monsters won't ever know what hit 'em!"

"That would be nice..." Rarity watched as her friend took off her weapons and tried her new cloak.

"Mmm... not bad." Rainbow flew up to the air, and began a series of back flips, barrel rolls and fast spinning. "It's great, Rares. Thanks!" she said as she continued hovering happily in the air.

"It was my pleasure, darling." Rarity sighed, "I guess we should make our way to that sphinx now..." She began trotting down the path to exit the hideout, with Rainbow Dash flying quietly behind her.

"Goodbye, Miss Rarity. Good luck to you both." Dirge said as he opened the door for them.

"Thank you very much, dear." Rarity bowed and walked out the door.

"Yeah, thanks, big guy." Dash said as she flew after her friend.

The trip out of the maze was uneventful, and Rarity had already memorized a few of the turns of the diamond route. Rarity nearly jumped in panic when they could hear more of the plopping noises from before, much to the amusement of Dash; though the creature never actually appeared in their path. They recognized the spot on the walls where they had started a fire, which were slightly charred, though the actual structure didn't look like it had sustained any real damage.

After a short gallop, they had finally reached the familiar rows of torches that signaled the exit to the pyramid.

Rarity slowed her pace, "Now, remember, Dash, once we are outside, we could find some guards, so let's try to be careful." she reminded her friend with a hushed voice.

"Got it." Dash ignored her as she kept hovering above without a care.

Rarity peeked around the corner, and signaled for her friend when she was sure the way was clear. "Careful now..." she whispered as she walked quietly out the exit.

The pair of ponies managed to sneak out without being seen, and spotted Umar reclining on a pillar bellow the shades, slightly nodding his head as he tried to fight off sleep.

"Psst!" Rarity tried flashing her horn, but the bright sun outside made it useless. She groaned as she concentrated on the guard's spear, making it hover just a few inches over the wall to tap its owner.

"Wha!?" Umar jumped at the sudden tap on his helmet.

"Psst!" Rarity called again, this time waving her foreleg to catch his attention.

"Oh... what's up?" Umar said as he walked up to the unicorn.

"We need to go to the sphinx, and Jaffar said you would be able to show us the way." Rarity whispered.

"Oh, sure." He pointed off into the desert, "Just head straight south from here; there should be a gate about forty minutes from here." He yawned, "If that's all, I'll just go back to duty." he turned around and walked back to his spot under the shades.

"More like "back to lazing off"" Rainbow mumbled bitterly.

"Thank you, dear. We'll be off now." Rarity nudged Dash along hurriedly, before her friend could get in another fight.

They kept heading south for awhile, with only Rainbow's incoherent rambling about how nopony was making any sense with their directions of "going south", which Rarity decided to ignore for the sake of her sanity.

The hot sun above them wasn't as harsh thanks to the cloaks, but the heat still made them sweat more than they would've liked.

"I swear, the desert is absolutely no place for a Lady." Rarity started complaining to her friend, "We only just stepped outside, and already I feel like I should take a bath. Blegh!"

"I don't know about a bath, but this lousy weather is really annoying." Rainbow looked up, "I guess not having pegasuses around to help with the weather must suck." She smirked at Rarity, "Aren't you glad Ponyville has such a pro as myself to take care of the weather?"

"Well, I'm fairly certain the skies back home wouldn't be quite as delightfully overcast if it weren't for your love of napping on clouds." Rarity giggled, "So, yes, I am very glad we have you as head of the weather pegasi, Dash."

Rainbow flushed at the backhanded compliment, though she couldn't decide if it was indignation or... something else, so she simply stuck with blowing a raspberry at her friend, who only laughed some more.

They reached the gate shortly after, and after sending Dash to scout ahead for any guards, they walked through the empty checkpoint.

Two great statues flanked the gate: both identical humans with their hands resting on their chests, crossing; each hand was holding a different emblem.

"Just look at their hats, darling!" Rarity gushed, "These obviously are statues of ancient nobility of some kind to have had such interesting chapeaus!"

"I'm pretty sure they're more pharaohs, Rares." Rainbow rolled her eyes.

"Oh, but they have such style!" Rarity stared at the hats, "Why, I would love to meet one of these pharaohs if only to gaze at such headwear in all its glory!"

"Maybe we'll find some in the dungeon, and you can ask them to give you their hats." Dash laughed.

"Hmph! Maybe I will!" Rarity stomped on, whipping her head up in indignation.

The pair walked on in light banter, with Rarity talking about how the different fashions she had seen were inspiring a whole new line of dresses, which Dash only half-paid attention to because of the happy enthusiasm on her friend's voice made herself smile.

Before long, they started passing through various palm trees, and the ground beneath them grew more stable as they walked, with random patches of weeds and grass growing about.

They walked up to a lake's shore, with a small island standing in the middle of the body of water, only connected to the rest of the desert by a thin stone bridge, which lead directly to a huge statue on the middle of the island.

Rarity and Dash walked to the stone bridge. While crossing it, they could see the face of the sphinx, standing tall and proud, almost looking down at them. Old stairs of stone rose between the sphinx' giant paws, leading directly to an entrance on its chest. There were strange carvings above the entrance, placed below a symbol of a pyramid with an eye on the middle.

"That's supposed to be the first rune..." Rarity flared her horn and concentrated on the symbols above, which soon flashed the same light blue color as Rarity's horn, only to erupt suddenly into a fiery red, before dying down again.

"Whoa, the hay was that!?" Rainbow flew up to the carvings and passed a cautious hoof through them, but nothing happened.

"Whew..." Rarity smiled, "That, was the rune showing it still works, darling. Which means that maybe this won't be so bad after all."

"Great!" Dash flew down to Rarity, "One down, and... actually, how many of these are there?"

"The maps said there would be five per level, and there's five levels, plus the one just here..." Rarity brought out the scrolls from her cloak to check again.

"Okay, then one down, thirty to go!" Dash hovered and lifted a hoof in a triumphant pose.

"Twenty-five, dear." Rarity quickly corrected.

Rainbow Dash coughed and looked down at Rarity with an annoyed face, "Whatever, let's just go" she said as she flew into the entrance.

"Let's." Rarity walked in, smiling with satisfaction at her friend's annoyance.

In_Sphinx

My Little Pony: Ragnarök is Magic Chapter '3'

In_Sphinx.

As the two ponies ventured inside the sphinx, they were greeted by a long, worn out set of stairs heading underground. Sand and dust decorated the ancient stairway and rows of large pillars flanked the path on each side as they went down the steps. Long torches stuck from the floor between every other pillar, with small flames that floated just above the rods, never actually burning the material. The shadows of the pillars cast by the wobbling flames danced in the walls and floor ahead in a nearly hypnotizing pattern.

The pair reached the bottom of the stairs quickly, but the shades from behind still illuminated the path with shifting lights; the inside of the sphinx was in a much worse condition than the maze of the pyramid, and it reminded Rarity of the abandoned state of the second basement where she found the minotaur, only the lighting was even worse in here.

"There should be a rune just on the other side of this wall." the unicorn said in a soft tone as she checked her map, "It should be just around the next couple of turns to the left..."

They quietly made their way to the other side of the wall, but unlike the stairs at the entrance, there was only a slope reaching up to a corner, with pillars standing close to each other, forming a triangle from the end of the corner down to where the slope started. The wall on the corner had a carving of a human posing almost exactly like the statues of pharaohs at the gate on the desert, except the human on this carving lacked a hat, much to Rarity's disappointment.

"Let us be careful, though, it says in the map there are traps guarding the rune, but it doesn't point out the exact spot..." Rarity walked slowly while looking at the sides of the pillars, expecting something to jump out from behind them, but nothing happened as she approached the rune.

The rune was placed exactly on the carving's stomach, and as Rarity inched closer to inspect it, a light clicking sound echoed throughout the room as she stepped on a stone pressure plate.

She stopped dead on her tracks and looked down to notice her right forehoof was sinking slightly into the floor, and her eyes grew big as platters when she looked up to notice the carving's eyes began lighting up. She jumped backwards with a surprised scream, only to be whisked away by Rainbow as the flames struck directly where she stood seconds ago.

"Nice reflexes..." Dash said in a dumbfounded tone as she set the trembling unicorn carefully on the floor, all the while looking at the slowly dying flames shooting from the wall.

"T-thank you... nice catch..." Rarity shakily said as she held on to her pegasus friend, trembling as she looked at the charred mark on the floor where she'd stood seconds ago.

"No prob." the pegasus stared at the carving as the fire spewing out of its eyes died out, "So, fire traps..." She kept staring as what she just saw sank in.

"And they are activated by stepping on random spots, too." Rarity was still slightly shaken as she looked up at her friend, "I don't suppose you could... fly me over there?"

"Those pillars are too close together..." Rainbow looked back at her wings, extending them as she made measurements on her head, "But we can give it a try."

She grabbed Rarity by her forearms and flied over to the rune through the narrow spaces between the pillars; her wings wouldn't be able to fully open with the pillars at her sides, so she had to concentrate on the wind around her, and time her flaps while giving them enough strength to keep both of them airborne.

Rainbow Dash felt her wings started burning up from the effort, making it harder to concentrate on the currents of air helping her stay afloat, and she soon had Rarity dangling just above the rune, but the unicorn's horn was already alive with a blue aura around it and pointing at the rune on the wall.

"Hurry it up down there, it's kinda hard floating with a passenger!" Dash urged, her wings flapping wildly at her sides, only allowing her to fall slowly.

"This rune isn't damaged, Dash! Bring us back down!" Rarity's horn stopped glowing and a fiery red light reflected on her coat as the rune's powers responded to her own magic.

Rarity's hind legs were merely an inch away from scraping the floor as Rainbow flew them back to a safe spot. They couldn't help landing somewhat abruptly from the exertion, and the pegasus panted lightly as her wings rested numbly at her sides.

Rarity looked back at her friend, who started stretching her wings while she calmed down her breathing. "Thank you, dear. I promise to be more careful from now on." She approached the pegasus and placed a hoof by her wings, "And I promise to give your lovely wings the most wonderful massage once we get out of this dreadful place."

The burning on Dash's wings lessened at the soft touch, and was replaced by a burning on her cheeks, "Ah, um, I mean-- yeah, okay." she stammered as she tried to hide her excitement.

The pair continued to make their way through the maze with the help of the map, reaching the next three runes without any major problems now that they knew what to expect. Rarity managed to spot many of the traps by keeping an eye close to the floor around the marked areas, and the ones she missed were avoided thanks to the pair's quick reflexes and Dash's speed; a couple more fire traps came from statues near two of the runes, and the third rune actually had a pit trap with spikes at the bottom, just at the foot of the tomb the rune laid on. None of the runes so far had been damaged, and the ponies were actually optimistic, even as Dash complained about it being "all too easy."

The only creatures they had found on this level so far were bats like the one that Rarity encountered at the pyramid, which were no match for 'The Dash' in aerial combat; the pegasus easily knocking them out of the air by ramming into them with her hooves at high speeds.

"That'll teach you to hurt my friends!" Rainbow yelled as she bucked one of the beasts, sending it crashing into a wall with a resounding thud, and the pegasus landed back next to her friend with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Such awful creatures... why won't they simply let us pass in peace?" Rarity shuddered as she watched the bat landing on the ground, bringing a hoof to her neck where a slight itch from her former wound still remained.

"Serves 'em right for hurting my gal pal!" Rainbow wrapped a foreleg around her friend's neck, bringing her closer.

Rarity giggled as a soft blush appeared on her white face, "Why, thank you, dear. Such chivalry!" She leaned against Dash, who started giggling as well before letting her go.

The pair started making their way to the last rune of the first level, which was located directly on the entrance to the next level of the sphinx according to their map. They kept finding bats on the way, but Dash dealt with them with ease, with many of the creatures eventually flying away when they saw them approach.

As they neared their destination, various loud clinking noises, like stone hitting stone, could be heard coming from further ahead, just around the next corner, and Rarity looked up at Rainbow as she brought a hoof to her mouth before they both silently approached to take a peek from the corner.

Various small humans were standing next to a set of stairs going down into what looked like the doorway to the second level. Some of the humans were standing around, carrying huge stone blocks on their backs, which were easily as big, if not bigger, than the humans themselves; other humans were climbing up to the altar right above the entrance to the lower level, where ornate carvings decorated the wall, along with the rune the ponies were looking for.

Rarity let out a breath as he prepared to talk to the creatures, before they simply started angrily slamming the rune with their stone blocks, slowly chipping away at the wall.

"Wait!" The unicorn leapt from behind the corner, and the creatures turned back to glare directly at the strange creature.

Only now did the ponies realize something was very wrong about these humans; they wore nothing except for a thick set of underpants, and they had big, heavy shackles on their legs. Their deep dark skin was bulging with muscles, while their eyes were completely white and lifeless in stark contrast.

The creatures started moving surprisingly fast towards the ponies, low grunts and growls coming from them as they marched angrily, carrying the enormous blocks of stone on their backs.

Rarity didn't even have time to try to appease the angry creatures as they were upon her almost immediately, trying to squash her by throwing their stone blocks over their heads and onto her.

"Rares!" Dash was upon the creatures immediately, but they hid behind their blocks, using them as shields to defend themselves from the incoming pony missile and forcing the pegasus to simply fly in circles above them menacingly.

Rarity managed to scramble away from the creatures' attacks in time, and now watched as her friend tried fruitlessly to attack them. "Dash, try to get them to follow you!" she brought out her bow and nocked an arrow with her magic in preparation as her friend nodded at her.

Rainbow touched down a few feet away and taunted at the monsters, "Hey, you dumb, ugly bald monkey things! Betcha can't catch me!" You better have a good plan, Rares!

The monsters looked at the noisy creature with anger as they lifted the blocks back onto their backs, and they started chasing after the rainbow annoyance. Rarity saw her chance; she let loose an arrow that struck one of the creatures directly on the leg, causing it to trip to the ground along with its stone block, which rolled directly on top of its head with a sickening crunch. The block soon had a puddle of dark liquid running below it.

Some of the monsters looked back at the heavy noise from their fallen comrade, and then back at the unicorn with a bow and arrow; a loud roar echoed throughout the room as the whole group now charged in a frenzy towards her.

Rainbow shot up to the air as she heard the roar, and looked back to see the monsters were now chasing Rarity. She noticed the crushed monster beneath the stone block and the arrow sticking out of its leg, and a smile formed on her face as she equipped her new weapons and launched herself after the roaring monsters.

Rarity let lose another arrow and managed to trip another one of the creatures just as it was about to take a step, but she turned to run when she saw the monsters were about to overwhelm her. While the monsters could move very fast, they simply were no match for a grown pony on full gallop, and Rarity looked back when the sound of the raging monsters grew quieter; she looked back over her shoulder to notice Rainbow had caught on to her strategy, and the pegasus made short work of the humans as she sliced their legs with a quick swoop from behind, quickly flying away to avoid the falling blocks.

Rarity slowed her pace to a near stop and turned to face the mob behind her, I can't risk shooting Dash by accident... Let's see if Dash's... abrasiveness is rubbing off on me. "You ruffians are simply revolting. To think you would chase a Lady such as myself!" she raised a smug grin, "If only you were as fast as you are disgusting, then I would really be in trouble!" the unicorn shouted as she galloped away.

The mob roared again at the taunting pony and Rainbow snickered. Hah! Good one, Rares. She continued picking the frenzied monsters one by one, with them only noticing the swift pegasus when it was already too late, after she'd cut them down. Soon, the last of the monsters fell to the ground, a loud crunching sound resonating throughout the maze as it was crushed by its own cargo.

"That's the last of 'em, Rares! You can stop now!" Rainbow yelled as she made her way to the panting unicorn. "Awesome shooting, by the way! You got them right where it hurt!" she touched down next to her friend, extending a hoof towards her.

Rarity lifted her own hoof tiredly to meet her friend's, "*Hah*... it was a little messy... but at least they won't be a problem... *huff*... anymore."

The pair walked up to one of the fallen creatures, and watched as the puddle of pure dark blood below the block of stone started evaporating into the air in a thick, dark smoke and the rest of the monster's body along with the block itself soon followed suit.

Rarity stepped back at the sight, while Rainbow simply stared at the vanishing smoke.

“What the hay!?” the pegasus poked with her hoof at where the creature was lying seconds ago.

Rarity gulped, “Oh, my… I don’t think those… things… were even humans at all…” For better or worse... she sighed and looked at the path behind, where the other monsters had fallen, but none of them remained; only cracks on the floor where the blocks had fallen were visible, and some of her arrows were lying about. ...At least that makes getting back my arrows that much easier...

The ponies made their way back to the entrance to the second level, and Rainbow flew up to inspect the slightly cracked rune, "Did they break the rune?" she spun in the air to look down at her friend standing on the stairway below, "Oh, do you want me to carry you again?"

"Thank you, dear, but it's not that far, I should be fine as long as I concentrate a little harder. As for the rune..." The unicorn sat down and her horn came alive with magic as she tried to connect to the rune's own magical source, "...the scrolls said one can't really damage the rune physically, so it should be working..."

The rune shined a fiery red light as if to prove her point, and Rarity let out a breath, "Like so." She was about to go down to the stairs, when she noticed her friend inspecting the decorative carvings on the wall.

“What’s up with the humans in this one? Look at that! Some of them have dog heads! And look at these!" she pointed excitedly at another wall, "These dog-dudes are shooting beams at not-dog humans!”

“Maybe there’s human-dogs and we haven’t met them? Or maybe whoever did those carvings had a very active imagination…”

“I bet they made awesome comics.” Dash laughed as she went back to her friend and both of them started walking down the stairs to the lower level, with the pegasus' laughter echoing behind.

As the two ponies walked down the stairs to the next level, they were greeted by a larger room, with the stairs flanked by pillars and torches much like the ones at the entrance of the Sphinx.

They kept navigating without much trouble thanks to the maps and soon reached the next rune, located inside a room in the far west of the dungeon. It was a big, almost featureless room, save for four pillars standing near the center, forming a square that surrounded the rune on the floor at a distance.

"Well, if that doesn't scream 'trap' I don't know what does..." Rarity sighed as she moved carefully to inspect the pillars.

"Ten bits say they fall on whoever stands near the rune." Rainbow said from behind, looking around the room.

"Actually," Rarity pointed to the part of the pillar that faced the rune, "See these little tubes?" the small spouts were aligned in a row coming up from the ground, "It looks like they shoot something... but these tubes are different from the ones that spat fire from before..." She moved on to inspecting the ground, and after some time found a tile that was only slightly above the rest. Inspecting it further, she noticed the edges had a small gap around them, separating it from the rest of the floor.

Rarity moved to stand next to the rune, carefully avoiding any other suspicious tiles she found, and started concentrating her magic. She felt a pang on her horn as she reached for the magic on the seal, and the flow of magic was stopped abruptly.

"Well... this one is broken, Dash. I suppose the seal was damaged after all..." Rarity sighed as her horn lit up again.

"So... can you fix it?" Dash was hovering above Rarity, taking pleasure in the fact that humans apparently never thought of designing traps against fliers.

"I... believe so; I just need some time... watch my back, won't you, dear? I don't want anything taking us by surprise while I'm concentrating..." the unicorn took a deep breath and began focusing harder on the rune, trying to mend the flow of magic into it. Very well. According to the scrolls, these threads are supposed to be connected to a source of 'magical energy' running all around the sphinx itself...

Rainbow flew back to the other side of the pillars, landing to keep watch on the entrance of the room. Minutes passed by in silence except for the random grunt or squeak from Rarity as she worked on the rune, and Dash looked back at the unicorn, who had her head low in concentration in the middle of the room, her horn shining with a light blue aura just above the rune.

Look at that. 'I'm just a fashionista' she says. Good thing I'm not a unicorn, though, that looks boring. The pegasus yawned and looked back at the doorway just in time to catch a small shadow passing quickly from one side of the entrance to the other.

That can't be good. Dash got to the air and hovered directly in the middle of the entrance, just above the ground.

Well, whatever's out there will have to go through me to get to Rares. She snorted and narrowed her eyes, preparing for anything to suddenly jump at her.

The shadow appeared again to her right, and a small shuffling sound alerted her to another figure on her left, and she flew up higher instinctively to get a better look of her new company. Snarling below her were two strange dogs, only a little bigger than Applejack's Winona, but their fur was a thick black and they were thin to the point of looking emaciated. Their heads and faces had much sharper edges, along with their teeth, and they had thin, long eyes glowing a deep, bright red, all in all giving them a completely opposite look from the amiable farm collie.

One of the creatures leaped at her with its huge maw open, revealing a set fangs even larger and more intimidating than she had expected; Dash managed to fly higher in the air, and the sound of a snarl from behind alerted her to go even higher up. She looked down at the vicious creatures as she reached for her katars, while the dogs started circling below her and tried jumping at her, but never quite reaching the airborne pegasus.

She swept down at one of the dogs with her weapons at the ready, but it quickly moved out of the way, only for the other dog to attack her from behind immediately after; Dash tried to fly up again, but she was too late and the monstrous dog now had its maw clamped firmly to her leg.

"Augh!" Dash swore out loud at the pain on her leg, and flew up to avoid another attack from the second monster, the extra weight making her wings burn from exertion. "Let go of my leg, stupid dog!" she tried shaking her leg to get rid of the vicious dog, but the harsh movement only made the dog tighten its bite, and the sharp teeth rent more of her flesh before the dog finally let go, falling to the ground without an injury.

The stinging on her leg was hard to ignore, but Rainbow focused on the snarling beasts licking their lips below. I can't take them both at the same time! Whenever I go for one, the other just uses it as a distraction and jumps me from... behind...

Dash gulped and took a deep breath; she readied her weapons for another strike and dove directly at one of the dogs. Just as the dog leaped away to avoid her, she spun in the air to face the opposite direction, and kicked at the wind behind her, launching herself at the dog that was now leaping at her in mid-air. The combined speed of the pegasus' flight and the momentum of the dog's own jump created an impact strong enough to send one of Dash's katars flying away, but the remaining blade cleaved right through the surprised creature, which simply landed unmoving on the ground, almost cut in half.

Rainbow flinched at the feeling of the hot blood of another creature splashing on her coat. Wow... that... worked way better than I thought it would... and I almost tore that fleabag in half...

Her reverie was interrupted by a loud howl from behind her, and Dash turned to see the other creature was now snarling and barking viciously at her, only for a blur to strike it suddenly on the side of its head, and it fell to the ground, unmoving.

"Dash! Are you okay!?"

Rainbow turned to look at Rarity running towards her, the unicorn's face matched her panicked voice.

"I heard some awful noises and ran over right away!" Rarity stopped just below her friend, and gasped at the deep gashes on the pegasus' leg, which now had a dark red trail of blood trickling town to her hoof and dripping onto the ground.

"Oh. Hey, Rares. Don't worry; I had it under control." Dash landed to pick her katar that was laying on the floor, flinching as her back leg touched the ground. She casually lifted it to avoid putting more pressure on it, only for the increased weight to send a pang of pain through her left foreleg, causing her to nearly trip to the ground, only to be caught by Rarity's magic as she moved to stand beside her.

"I, uh... I think I hurt my wrist." Ugh. Dumb weapons. The old man did warn me, I guess...

"Your wrist!? Just look at your leg! Hold on, let me get you a potion!" Rarity opened her pouch and produced a nearly finished red potion for her friend. "Please tell me if you need some more, okay?"

"Thanks." Dash drank the last of the potion and giggled at the feeling of her hind leg being mended.
"Good as new!" she trotted in place, only feeling a slight pang where the wound was before, along with a lessened pain on her wrist. I hope that I didn't make a face at that or Rarity won't stop bothering me about it for the rest of the day...

"...Very well, dear. I'm glad you are feeling better." Rarity smiled before letting out a breath. Seriously, such a child some times. Still...

"So, you done with that rune?" Rainbow asked as she flexed her wrist.

"It was... a strange experience, but yes. I fixed it." The unicorn sat down and extended a foreleg towards her friend, "Here, let me see that."

"Strange?" Dash raised an eyebrow and relaxed as she let her friend work on her joint.

"Well, I had to reconnect it to the source of its power deep inside the sphinx... but I felt something else tapping into that energy as I worked, I think; something other than the runes, I mean." Rarity shuddered, sending tremors down her friend's hoof, "It wasn't a nice feeling either... I think there really may be something deep underground trying to break the seal, Dash, and it may have some powerful magic."

"Powerful as in... Blank-Eyes-Floating-Twilight powerful, or Great and Powerful Trixie powerful?" Dash looked at her friend with a blank expression.

Rarity giggled at her friend's comparison, but quickly sobered up. "Seriously, though; I can't tell. I just know that there is something down there that can use magic and we should be prepared."

Rainbow saluted with her other hoof, sitting straight to keep her balance, "I'll keep an eye out, boss!"

Rarity rolled her eyes, "That will be all, Danger Dash." she teased with a sly smile and a wink as she carefully set her friend's hoof down and moved on.

Rainbow simply took to the air behind her friend, mumbling through blushing cheeks and a silly smile.

The team continued north without incidents, although sudden shuffling noises or frightened yelps coming from the darkness would startle them, and more than once one of the ponies would see something moving in the darkness away from them, hiding in the shadows.

After walking in silence for some time, they were at the second rune of the level, placed at the foot of a tomb in a pedestal and surrounded by four bright torches on each corner. There were black, burnt bones and skulls surrounding the tomb, and both ponies looked nervously at each other.

"So," Rainbow landed next to Rarity, "Definitely traps. And nasty ones if they have stuff like that lying around..."

"Why would normal humans come here, though? This isn't exactly a tourist hotspot." Rarity shuddered.

"Um, duh? Have you ever heard of adventure?" Dash deadpanned, "Besides, everypony knows ancient tombs are filled with treasure and stuff."

"But I haven't felt a single gemstone since we got here." Rarity flashed her horn, and her mouth dropped to the floor as an ornate gold necklace with a turquoise pendant shined from inside the tomb. "Oh, my..." her eyes were sparkling as she stared at the treasure.

Dash laughed as she prodded the unicorn with a hoof to break her away from her fascination. "Told ya."

Rarity blinked and shook her head to wake up from her reverie. She started inspecting the room thoroughly for any traps, the shiny jewelry giving her enough incentive to work as fast and efficiently as she could.

"Well, the... remains... look charred, so maybe it has something to do with the torches. There is no way normal fire would stay floating like that." She looked at the flames hovering above the torches and concentrated her magic, but couldn't affect the flames.

"Wait here, Dash; I have to take a closer look."

She inspected the floor around the pedestal, and carefully moved closer to look at the torches. Upon further inspection, she noticed a fine line going down the side of the rods and into the ground, then back into the tomb's cover.

Hmm... She prodded the line with a hoof, and dropped to the floor as a long flame shot directly above her, where one would've stood if they had tried to remove the cover of the tomb.

"Whoa! Rares, are you okay!?" Rainbow was already flying to her friend's side, but she stopped at a gesture from Rarity's hoof.

"I'm fine!" the unicorn said, only slightly shaking as she got up, "... just... stay over there, I'm going to try something..."

Rarity's horn flared as she closed her eyes in concentration; she noticed the thin line on the torch was filled with a faint trace of magic, and confirmed her suspicions about the flame floating above the torch being completely made out of magic. She traced the energy flow down to a rune on the inside of the tomb, and tried tapping into it with her own power.

"Huh..." She felt the rune's energy going out in three other directions, but it didn't seem like this rune was connected to the deeper Sphinx like the sealing runes from before. "Alright, Rainbow, I will to try to... disarm the fire trap, so be prepared for anything."

"O-okay." Rainbow Dash simply nodded as she watched her friend work, her ears perked up in anticipation.

Shouldn't be that hard... just do the opposite of what I did when fixing the other one... Rarity's horn flared with a stronger light as she started working on the magical energies inside. Then... instead we take a single tendril and tear it away from the core... She looked up to see the flame above her grew dimmer, and her horn flashed even harder as she tore the workings of the rune inside the tomb, until all the torches were extinguished.

"Okay, Dash, I'm removing the cover... be ready to catch me in case it sends me flying away or something." Rarity stuck out her tongue slightly as she concentrated.

"Wait, what!?" Rainbow was about to tackle her friend away from the tomb, but the tomb's cover was suddenly enveloped by a light blue aura, and it slid off slowly into the ground.

Rarity jumped up to the pedestal, her eyes sparkling until she saw the interior of the tomb, and she let out a loud scream, "Aieeeeeeeeeee! Gross, gross, gross!"

Rainbow flew over to see what her friend was yelling about: an ancient human skeleton lied there, with the ornate golden necklace around its neck bone.

"Uh... what's the big deal?"

"What's the big deal? What's the big deal!?" Rarity jumped off the tomb and started fussing all over herself, dusting herself off at random spots, "'The big deal' is that there is a dead human in there! Who knows what sort of horrible disease I could get just from standing near it!"

"Eh. It probably just died from age or something. Besides, didn't you want this necklace thingie?" Dash moved a hoof to grab the necklace, but she felt her friend's magic tugging at her tail again, and sighed.

"Now what?"

"We can't simply start robbing the dead; it's just wrong! ...not to mention gross." Rarity sighed and moved to inspect the rune for the actual seal. "All that work for nothing." she grumbled.

"What do you mean? Daring Do does that all the time! It's not stealing; it's preserving arch-logical treasures!" Dash flew down to Rarity and almost bumped muzzles with her, "It's not like they need it, and the stuff on the temples can always go to a museum or something, instead of staying in some boring tomb sealed away forever." She landed and placed an arm on her friend's withers, "Besides, you're not seriously going to waste all that cool trap-disarming job you just did, are you?"

"Cool?" Rarity looked at her friend with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you kidding? That was awesome! You were like some sort of super secret agent disarming that thing!" Dash threw her free arm up in the air to emphasize the deal, while she wrapped the arm around Rarity's withers harder.

"W-well... It was kind of fun... and it would be such a shame to have nothing to show for it..." Rarity looked back at the tomb and frowned, "But I don't know how I would feel if somepony took my things after I was dead..."

"Pff, you'd be dead; you wouldn't care!" Dash continued her pitch, "Besides, do you think the owner would want to let their treasure gathering dust and for nopony to ever see it again? Just think about it! What if one of your dresses were lost forever in some creepy dungeon, and someone found it after you were gone? Wouldn't you like it better if they took it back into the world for ponies everywhere to... whatwastheword... uh, marvel at it again?"

Rarity sighed, "Well... when you put it like that... I guess I can make the owner proud by letting everypony see such a beautiful gem along with little old me..." She carefully removed the necklace from the skeleton and levitated it towards her, and after admiring it for a few more seconds, she stashed it in one of her cloak's pockets, Well, that's strange. It looked like it would be heavier, but it barely tugs down the cloak... must be the thieves' ingenuity, I suppose; I will have to ask them about their designs...

Rainbow grinned as she let go of her friend, "Besides, I bet it'll look great on you!"

Rarity's face got redder and she forced a giggle, "Why, I never took you for a flatterer, Rainbow Dash!" The unicorn looked away to hide her blush, "Still, ah, thank you, darling. At the very least I shall try."

The flustered unicorn hastily made her way to the rune at the foot of the tomb. "Now, back to the task at hand..." she pointed her horn towards the rune and it soon was enveloped on her magical aura, only to harshly stop as she tried to tap onto it's magical energy.

"Well, I will have to fix this one, too..." Rarity sighed and closed her eyes tight in concentration, her horn giving a faint glow.

"I'll go keep an eye out for trouble, then." Rainbow flew to the entrance of the tomb room with a satisfied smile on her face as she looked back at the busy unicorn. Adventure - 1; Fussiness - 0

"Let's see..." Rarity looked over her map after fixing the rune, "Ugh. It says the rest of the runes are on the other end of the level..."

"Aw, man!" Dash groaned, "Couldn't they just put like a really big rune instead of so many annoying ones all over the place?"

The pair moved on throughout the maze in relative peace; other than more annoying bats and noises in the dark, the rest of the floor was uneventful and the ponies made their way to the rest of the runes without trouble. The traps protecting the runes were easily avoided by Rarity's scrutiny, and the runes themselves were actually intact and working properly.

After some time, they finally made their way to the entrance to the third level: a huge room with stairs going down in the middle into a big, ornate doorway.

The room was mostly dark except for the light blue glow coming from Rarity's horn, but as soon as the ponies touched the first step on the stairway, torches on the opposite ends of the room started coming alive, completely illuminating the room.

"Whoa..."

"Oh, my..."

Both ponies looked at the suddenly lit room with mouths agape.

The walls were filled with various carvings, many of them depicting rows of intimidating-looking humans with swords at the ready, facing directly into the room, looking like an army about to stomp through the walls, ready to attack any intruders.

The doorway had a big, ornate lintel above it, where the ponies could recognize the last rune for this level, except the stone was slightly cracked, and they could see scratches all over the structure as they approached.

"I guess those guys from before came from down here, huh?" Rainbow was hovering in front of the rune, looking at the various cracks and scratches.

"But that makes no sense. Damaging the runes physically isn't supposed to do anything... other than making it harder to find the actual places where the seal was cast..." Rarity concentrated her magic and felt another pang at the feedback as she checked the rune. "Ow!"

"You okay, Rares?" Rainbow flew down to her friend.

"Yes... it's just that this one needs fixing as well." Rarity sighed as she rubbed her forehead around her horn. "Well, I suppose I might as well get started..." her horn flared, but a screeching sound coming from beyond the portal startled the unicorn.

"Watch out!" Rainbow flew in front of the unicorn, standing between her and the portal.

A cloud of large, red bats came swarming from the doorway and started flying in circles above the ponies, some sweeping down dangerously close in attempts to bite them. Dash immediately readied her weapons and Rarity brought out her bow.

"C-careful, Dash! Those things look even worse than the ones form before!" Rarity tried shooting at the bats, but when one of them flew near her face, a knot formed on her throat and an image of a bat stuck on her neck, draining her blood flashed on her mind.
"NO!" she gave out a shriek and instantly dropped to the ground, her bow falling beside her as panic started taking over. "Aah! Get away! Please!" she covered her head with her hooves as tears formed on her eyes.

Rainbow looked down at her panicked friend, and shot up to the air; only flinching slightly at the pain from her earlier wound. The swarm of bats was thick enough that she managed to slice through some of them simply by flying straight up while holding her weapons in front of her; she emerged from the cloud of bats and immediately turned around to launch herself at the monsters circling below, ready to slash at anything caught in her way, but she was surprised when the bats managed to not only get out of the way in time, but some even started spitting a black substance at her face. Dash managed to dodge most of the attacks with her quick reflexes, but the sudden moves sent a jolt of pain from the wound on her leg, making her flinch, and a burning pain settled on her left eye as the viscous substance hit her face; she felt the dark muck settling on her eye, completely blinding it, and her vision went blurry as she rubbed her eyes.

"Rainbow Dash! Help me!"

Rarity screamed from below and looked up to her friend, who was now being surrounded by the bats as she tried in vain to rub the strange substance off her face.

“Dash! Duck!”

The bats launched themselves at the pegasus, but they only hit a rainbow blur as the mare managed to move out of the way in time.

"Hang in there, Dash! Keep dodging!" the unicorn said frantically as the bats chased after her friend. Oh, no, no, no! I have to do something!

Rarity got up on shaky hooves and tried aiming her at the bats with her bow. They are moving too fast for me to hit , and I can't even stop this blasted bow from shaking! Oh, there's just too many of them! Come on, Rarity, think! Dash needs you!

She looked around the room hoping to find something else she could use against the bats, and noticed the flames floating above the torches. As she ran towards the torches, the sound of the bats screeching above sent a chill down her spine every time and her neck tensed up whenever a flap of wings sounded anywhere nearby, only to break out of it whenever Rainbow screamed as she tried to fight back.

You can do this, Rarity... she needs you right now. Just breathe. her horn flared as she focused on the magic coming from the flames, tracing down the magical energy feeding them on the wall just below the ledge the torches stood at. She focused on the lines feeding the energy to the torches, and concentrated some of her own magic on it, and watched as the flames above grew with her power.

Oh, please work! “Dash! Fly to the torches over here and get ready to duck!” Rarity waved her forelegs to get her friend’s attention.

Rainbow looked back at the sound of Rarity’s voice and saw a white blur moving below a row of blurry flames. She instantly changed directions and charged towards them, the bats’ constant screeching following just behind her.

Rarity took a deep breath as her friend approached, and her horn flared with an intense blue light.

“Now!” she yelled with all her strength as she focused all of her magic onto the torches.

Rainbow dropped to the ground immediately, already expecting her friend’s command; she barely managed to break her fall by rolling as she felt a heat wave pass just above her briefly before she hit the wall. The frenzied swarm of bats didn't expect the sudden attack, and flew straight into a barrage of fire, which filled the whole room with a hot, blinding light from the violent flames, combined with deafening screeches from the burning beasts.

Rarity fell to the ground, exhausted from using up all her magic. Oh, How I wish we had Twilight with us right now... She drowsily glanced ahead to see the bats dropping like flies a short distance in front of her; some were screeching from the pain, but they fell silent as the fire consumed them. Too tired to even be revolted by the sight, she tried looking back to check on her friend.

Dash’s head was still spinning; between the emergency landing and the partial blindness from the muck, she was barely able to get up on shaky legs. She hit her head with a hoof to stop the world from moving, and finally managed to rub the blinding slime off her face. A faint scent of burnt hair lingered in the air, and she looked back to notice her singed tail, which still had a little smoke coming out from the dying embers. Rainbow brought her tail to her mouth, and chomped on the burnt edge to stop the smoke.

"Rares? You okay?" she asked out loud as she searched for her friend.

"Over here..." came the tired voice from Rarity just a few feet to her right.

Rainbow walked next to the lying unicorn, but the cracking sound of fire caught her attention, and she looked back at the multitude of bats being consumed by the fire. "That's what you get..." she grimaced.

Rarity sighed below her, "It really does become easier, does it not...?"

Rainbow's ears perked up and she looked back at her friend with a confused look, "Huh? What're you talking about?"

Rarity looked down, "...all this... killing. It gets easier..." she sighed. "I remember when I had to kill that bat from the pyramid; I nearly lost my lunch at having to watch it burning away... even if it had tried to kill me instead." she looked back at the burning bats and sighed, "And now, I find that I do not even care about any of these burning away... I'm actually glad they are gone..."

Dash flinched and her ears fell flat against her skull as she remembered the feeling of the dog's blood splashing against her fur, and how it looked lying on the floor, unmoving. "...You're just tired, Rares. You had to use a lot of magic for that stunt you just pulled out!" she tried to sound upbeat, but there was still hesitance in her voice.

Rarity closed her eyes, "... maybe..."

"You just need a break... come on, I'll take us somewhere else." Dash picked her friend up by her stomach, and flew them up to a darker corner of the room, just behind the portal to the lower level.

Rarity curled up into a ball, covering her face with her tail as she tried to regain her energies, while Rainbow sat next to her, deep in thought.

After a few minutes of complete silence, Dash finally moved and looked back at Rarity.

"...You did it to help me, though," she blurted out, "Plus, it's not like they gave us a chance to talk or anything." Rainbow got down to nuzzle her friend, "And I'm glad you got rid of them, so... thanks for helping me." She flinched when she noticed the small trails of tears going down the unicorn's cheeks.

"I'm sorry..." Rarity looked up through watered eyes, "It's just that... this is all becoming just too much for me..." she sighed, "And I can tell that we will have to do so much more before we finally go back home..."

Rainbow sighed and leaned her head down on her friend's back, "You know, I was pretty freaked out when I... cut through one of those dogs back when you were fixing that rune... I could feel as if Fluttershy was staring behind me, all disappointed..." She gulped and shifted her weight, "But when the bats showed up just now, I got my katars right away, and didn't even think twice about cutting them down... but I think I know why."

Rarity shifted below her friend as she felt the pegasus shuffling above her.

"As soon as they came out, I remembered the blood stain on your neck and how you said that bat had almost killed you..." Dash snorted, "I wasn't going to let them anywhere near you. I'd rather kill a thousand of those things than risk losing you, Rares." her tone was angry, and Rarity could feel her trembling above.

Rarity fell silent as she thought on her friend's words, though she could feel a little warmth bubbling up inside her from her friend's dedication.

She thought back at seeing the terrifying bats closing in on Dash, their sharp fangs bared at the distracted pegasus and the desperation she felt at being unable to help her friend, plus the anger at the bats for attacking them without reason. She remembered the gash on the pegasus' leg from her fight with the dogs and the guilt she felt from leaving her friend to deal with those beasts by herself, and then the relief she felt when her arrow hit the awful dog on the head and it simply fell to the ground...

Rarity broke from her reverie as she felt Dash getting back up.

"Sorry, I... just wanted to tell you that." Rainbow started walking away, "I'll go keep an eye out in case anything else comes up from there."

"Wait!" Rarity tried getting up, but she only managed to lift her head, "I... We shouldn't split up." she mumbled as she tried to come up with an escuse, "Besides... I... could use the company."

Rainbow let out a breath she was holding, and smiled at her friend. "S-sure! I mean, yeah, alright." She was practically skipping back to her friend, and sat down next to her when she arrived.

"Thank you, Rainbow Dash..." Rarity nuzzled her friend's leg, and then looked back down to her own hooves, and mumbled, "I... I'm glad those monsters didn't hurt you either. And sorry about your tail..."

"Heh. Don't worry about it." Dash carefully patted her friend's head, "You just rest up, Rares. I'll be right here in case anything happens."

Rarity felt at ease as her friend's gentle pats turned into a soft hoof resting on her head, gently petting her mane from time to time, and she drifted off into a peaceful slumber...

Dash couldn't keep a satisfied smile off her face as she watched the snoozing unicorn below her, but she adopted a more serious expression as her thoughts turned to the battle behind them. I just charged in without thinking again, and look what that got me... I could've gotten both of us killed by those things. She really did save my tail back there.

The pegasus sighed and looked down at her weapons. She's right, too... who knows what else we're gonna have to fight until we're finally back home with the others... I'll have to get better. I won't let you down again, Rares; I'll have to get better at all this fighting so you won't even have to worry about it anymore. I'll make sure you won't have to kill anything ever again.

The minutes passed away, until a shuffling at her side alerted a brooding Rainbow Dash of her friend's awakening, and the pegasus moved to help her getting up.

"Slept well?"

Rarity yawned, "Oh, I'm sorry, darling. I only meant to rest my eyes for a few seconds... but I guess I got too comfortable." She giggled through a blush as she got up. "For how long was I out?"

Rainbow grinned, "Don't worry about it, It hasn't been more than an hour, I think. Besides, after those fireworks, I thought you'd be out for a day or something." She grinned as she playfully punched the unicorn on the shoulder, "That was pretty neat, by the way."

Rarity forced a cough and rubbed her shoulder with a hoof, "Aheheh. Why, thank you, dear." She started walking back to the doorway, "We should get back to fixing those runes; the sooner we're out of this place, the better.”

Dash saluted, and picked her friend to fly them back in front of the portal. They both noticed the charred spots on the ground and nodded silently at each other, determination shining in their eyes.

"I'll watch your back, Rares; you do your thing." Rainbow flew to stand directly in the middle of the doorway, watching back and forth between the stairs below and Rarity.

"Thank you, Dash." Rarity focused her horn, and traced back the magic on the depths of the dungeon. The fatigue from before was gone, and she wondered if she really hadn't fallen asleep for far longer than her friend suggested. Then again, maybe Rainbow's talk helped me more than I thought...

A few minutes passed, and Rainbow hadn't seen or heard anything strange, until a fiery flash from Rarity's direction caught her attention, and she turned to look at the unicorn walking towards her.

"Well, that one is fixed; even if the stonework will need some restoration now..." Rarity walked to stand next to Rainbow.

"Eh. Not our problem." Dash shrugged, "I guess it's off to the third level now, huh?"

"Indeed." Rarity walked past Dash and brushed her tail slightly through her friend's body as she passed, "Let's go, Daring Dash." she looked back and winked at her friend.

Dash was stunned at the touch and the wink, and she could feel her face burning up. She stood there stupefied until she noticed Rarity had gone ahead and was almost out of sight.

"Hey, wait up!" the pegasus shot after her friend with a smile on her face.

After passing through the portal, the ponies entered a long corridor and the ambience from the earlier floors was gone; the lighting was dimmer, and though there were many torches, only few and far in-between were lit. The floor and walls had random scorch marks all over them, and the whole level was slightly sloping downward.

Rarity hesitated, and turned to look at the entrance behind them. She could see how its frames were cracked and slashed; like something had tried to destroy the entrance but didn’t finish the job.

“More traps?” Rainbow guessed as she was looking around them, trying to find any tubes or holes that would spit fire at them.

“Maybe… although I cannot see any suspicious-looking tiles…” Rarity concentrated and her horn flared out in a light blue aura, “…and I don’t feel any energy sources for traps nearby…” Her horn stopped shining, and she looked back at the hovering pegasus, “Let’s just watch our step, shall we?”

The ponies slowly moved down the long corridor, and the slight incline was making Rarity walk a little faster than she wanted, while putting more pressure on her front legs. The echoing hoofsteps of the unicorn and the slight flapping of Dash’s wings were the only sounds around them, and the light of the flames danced on the walls, projecting long shadows from the different carvings on them.

The pair was so enthralled that Rarity didn't notice a step in front of her, and tumbled down for a short distance, only to stop just in front of a small pit where her front hooves were left dangling on its edge.

As the dizziness from the fall left her, Rarity looked up to see a finely polished statue standing tall in the pit, reaching perfectly up to the ceiling. It was a statue exactly like the ones guarding the gate on the desert, down to the elaborate hat and the ornate emblems on each hand; the only difference being the shining white limestone was in a much better condition, and the light of the four torches surrounding it gave it a grand, yet much more intimidating look.

"Hey, you okay?" Rainbow landed next to her fallen friend, and offered a hoof to help her up.

"Thank you, darling." Rarity took the hoof, but couldn't look away from the statue as her horn came to life; revealing two huge red gems where the statue's eyes would be. "Oh, my..." She could feel her mouth reaching for the floor.

"Hey, now we’re talking!” Rainbow flew up to get a better look at the jewels, which were just about the size of her hooves. She was reaching for the gems when an increasingly familiar tug on her tail made her look down.

“Hang on, Dash. Something like this is sure to be trapped.” Rarity was looking at the map, “Besides; there's supposed to be a rune over here…” She bit her lower lip as she looked back at the sparkling rubies, “Oh, but they sure do look lovely…” The unicorn whipped her head away in a dramatic gesture and walked a few steps away from the statue, “No! It is simply too risky, Rarity!"

Only for her to immediately look back with sparkling eyes, "Oh, but they are simply divine, Rarity!"

"No! I must resist!" she lifted a leg to her forehead and turned away again, shifting back and forth between prudence and desire.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at the one-pony show below, and brought her attention back to the rubies. She looked to her sides and licked her lips in concentration as she slowly inched closer to the gems...

It's not like any of the traps so far were any problem for me, I'll just take the gems and dash off. Easy peasy... Dash let out a breath and quickly removed the gems from the eye sockets. Immediately after, a rumbling sound from above startled her, but she couldn't look up fast enough and she felt several smooth things slipping and slithering all over her body, with one of the things settling on her shoulder.

"Snakes!" Rarity shouted from below.

Rainbow felt a prick on the back of her neck, and quickly spun on the air to shake off her unwanted passenger. As she looked below, the previously empty pit was now filled with hissing snakes of different colors; all of them angrily looking up and snapping at the pegasus that disturbed them.

A sudden dizzy spell overcame Dash, and she was quickly barreling down into the pit, the gems clenched to her chest.

"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity's horn flared and her friend was soon enveloped in the unicorn's magical aura, floating above the pit and towards her.

"Ugh... I don't feel so good..." Rainbow groaned.

The pegasus was sweating and grunting as she was gently lowered to the ground, and she wouldn't stop rubbing her neck.

"What’s wrong!? Let me see!" Rarity removed the cyan hoof on Dash's neck to take a better look at her friend's injury. The shriek she gave when she noticed the purple spot on her friend's neck echoed throughout the whole corridor.

"Oh no, no, no!" Rarity fidgeted next to her poisoned friend and was on the brink of a panic attack.

"I'm... fine..." Rainbow struggled to get up and nearly threw up from the effort; the nausea from the poison was unbearable, and a sudden attack of vertigo overcame her, bringing her hard to the floor.

Rarity snapped out of her panic at the sound of her friend hitting the ground, and quickly moved next to her, placing her horn directly above the snake's bite.

Think, Rarity, think! If that oaf could cure her, surely you can as well! She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, deep in concentration. Remember how he did it… remember the scroll; the poison is just… filth… inside her body, and I have to clean it…

The unicorn’s horn started emitting a soft blue light that was lost in Rainbow’s cyan fur, and soon the purple on the wounds lessened, until it completely vanished into the mare’s original color.

The soothing warmth on Dash’s neck helped clear her mind, and the pegasus stopped grunting as the breathing on her neck brought a pleasant tingling rush through her spine. Rainbow got up on shaky legs, and turned to face her friend, though she looked down to hide her blushing face.

“Uh... thanks, Rares.” She looked up to see Rarity's almost seething expression on her face and a white hoof raised in the air. Rainbow flinched as her friend moved towards her, and was surprised by a rushed hug.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed!?" Rarity sobbed on her friend's shoulder, "Do you have any idea how lucky you are that I managed to copy that detoxifying spell!?"

"Sorry..." Rainbow looked down, ashamed.

"What were you thinking!?" Rarity broke the hug and glared at her friend through misty eyes.

"Uh..." Dash shifted her weight and looked down to her hooves. She sheepishly lifted one of the gems for Rarity to see, "I got you these?" She didn't dare test her luck by giving her distraught friend a smile.

Rarity was stunned at seeing the ruby up close; she could see her face reflected on the many clean, scarlet facets of the gem, and as she kept gazing into the clear stone, she noticed Dash's uneasiness on the other side of it, and she let out a long sigh.

"That's... very sweet of you, Dash." She lifted the gems with her magic, and moved closer to the crestfallen pegasus, planting a soft kiss on her cheek. "Just... please, do be more careful..."

Rainbow's wings flared and she flinched at the contact. She looked up to see Rarity turning away and putting the gems into her cloak as she trotted towards the pit with the snakes.

"At least they won't be coming up anytime soon..." The unicorn scrunched her face in disgust at the squirming reptiles below, while many of them hissed at her on sight. "It really does seem that whoever made these traps didn't design them with someone who could fly in mind..." Rarity shuddered at the image of being stuck down there with the angry snakes.

"Be that as it may... I think I found the rune." the unicorn pointed at the symbols on the statue's stomach as her horn flashed, "Make sure the snakes don't spring at me or anything, will you, dear?"

Rainbow was still recovering from the shock of Rarity's kiss, and she was rubbing the spot on her cheek with a hoof. "Wha? Oh!" she flew next to the unicorn, but avoided eye contact by staying in the air, "You got it!" Dash glared down at the hissing snakes, some of them glaring right back at her. She blew a raspberry at them, which only provoked some to snap at the air below her, much to the pegasus' amusement.

Too bad you can't fly, huh, scaly? Not even your lame poison can bring The Dash down when I got my gal Rares here to watch my back! She was taunting at the impotent snakes below, which only increased their hissing and snapping.

"Ahem."

Rainbow looked down to see Rarity giving her an unamused glare.

"Ah-heheh. Sorry." She smiled nervously and landed next to her disgruntled friend, who simply sighed as she went back to concentrating on the rune. A few seconds later, the rune glowed a fiery red.

"Well, this one was working, at least..." Rarity got up and walked away from the pit, checking on the map as she went. "Let's go, Dash. The map says we passed a turn awhile back..."

The pair backtracked and soon found the way down another corridor. The passage was smaller, with the walls on each side so close together that the two ponies could just barely walk side by side, and the ceiling was lower too; though not low enough to keep the fluttering pegasus from trying to fly. The narrow path was also completely devoid of torches, keeping the ponies from seeing more than a few paces in.

“Well, that looks ominous enough…” Rarity flared her horn and a soft blue light illuminated the path in front of them, “Dash, stay in the air and stay close…”

The pegasus saluted and hovered just behind her friend, “I got your back.”

Rarity focused her light and attention to inspect every inch of the path ahead, and slowly walked on. She noticed that some of the walls had holes on them, some aligned in rows down from the ceiling, and some bigger ones simply all over the place. She stuck her head to the ground and focused the light of her horn on it, causing some of the more elevated pressure plates to cast small shadows ahead; the path was filled with them, to the point that the unicorn would have to nearly hopscotch through with precision she didn’t think she could manage.

She took a few steps back and bumped into a hoof of the airborne pegasus, “Dash… do you think you can carry me through? This place is completely filled with traps.” she said with an anxious voice.

Rainbow simply flew back to build up speed, and whisked Rarity off the ground. The unicorn yelped as she was carried off at high speeds, and she could feel her hooves slightly dragging before takeoff, which resulted in iron spikes coming out of the walls just as they passed, nearly impaling her tail. Flashes of fire streaked behind them, and Rarity moved to wrap her forelegs around Dash’s neck to look back; she swore she could see a giant blade swinging through the walls.

“Hang on, we're almost through!” Rainbow shouted as the light at the end of the tunnel grew bigger and bigger, and they soon escaped the deadly passage.

They exited into a wider corridor, and almost crashed into a wall behind an elevated platform surrounded by four pillars; Rainbow only barely managed to turn around one of the pillars in time to avoid crashing.

“Whew!” Rainbow touched down in front of the stairs going up to the platform, gently trying to pry a terrified Rarity off her. “Uh, you can let go now, Rares.” she struggled, and gasped for air as the unicorn finally let go.

“Are you insane!?” Rarity shrieked, making her ‘savior’ cringe and cover her ears. “I almost lost my tail back there!”

Insanely awesome, maybe. “Oh, we were fine; I had it all perfectly planned.” Rainbow bragged as she rubbed her ears to stop them from ringing.

“You could at least warn me when you’re going to sweep me off like that!”

“There was no time.” Dash falsely justified, “Besides, you can’t tell me that wasn’t fun.” she put on a cocky smile.

"Ugh!" Rarity groaned and walked up the stairs, "Seriously, Rainbow Dash! Your silly games are going to get us in a lot of trouble one of these days!"

“C’mon, Rares, you know I wouldn’t let you down.” Dash fluttered up the platform.

Rarity grumbled as she inspected the rune on the center of the platform, and lied down in front of it. “One would think that after nearly dying twice she’d be more careful…” she mumbled to herself.

The rune had been broken, and the pair lingered on the platform for a while until it was fixed. As they moved on down the maze, they were surprised by how deserted the level was compared to the others; they hadn't found any creatures other than the snakes at the beginning, and there were no traps to be seen, though they suspected the earlier tunnel had enough death traps to make it hard for anything to get food down there.

The pair found two more of the runes without problem, other than a few wrong turns on the maze. The runes were both inactive, but free of traps and Rarity was able to fix them after some time, though the unicorn’s frustration at her friend’s constant foolhardiness ended up with them marching in silence.

They soon reached a new narrow tunnel, which looked exactly like the one with the death traps before, and Rarity gulped as she lit her horn to look for traps, while Dash simply stood back.

Rarity twisted her face in frustration as she noticed many holes on the walls and ceiling, and frowned at the pressure plates on the ground. Maybe I can disable the mechanisms with my magic like the scrolls said… but it might take some time. What if I accidentally activate them or break something and block off the tunnel? She fidgeted on the spot as she weighted her options, and ended up sighing as she walked back towards Rainbow Dash, giving her a concerned look, “Just please be more careful this time, dear.”

“Relax; I got this.” the grinning pegasus said as she backed up.

“I mean it. I don’t want you getting yourself killed because of me.” Rarity said in a sad voice, making Dash flinch.

"C'mon, Rares, you're still beating yourself over that?" Rainbow rubbed the back of her head while looking away.

"Over that?" the unicorn stomped towards her friend, "You nearly died -twice- because of my careless attitude already!" She turned back to look at the tunnel, "Do you have any idea what could happen if something goes wrong with the traps and we become trapped inside this awful place, or what if we trigger some trap we can't escape from!?" Rarity looked back at Rainbow, who was now on the ground and looking down at her hooves, trying to escape her friend's lashing. "Don't you want to get out of here and go back to Equestria? What of all your dreams and your goal to become a Wonderbolt? All of it would be gone forever in an instant!"

"Uh, I..." Rainbow didn't dare look at the irate unicorn to the face, and simply fidgeted on her hooves.

"Never mind, Rainbow Dash. I'll deal with the traps, though it may take a while." Rarity walked towards the tunnel, and got down on the floor. Her horn was soon surrounded by a soft blue aura that illuminated further into the tunnel. Very well, then... let's try reaching below the plates. It can't be that hard...

Ouch. Rainbow looked up at her friend working on the traps, the power of the guilt-trip running deep inside her, Geez, why'd she even say it's her fault? I'm the one messing everything up. She sighed and started walking up to her friend, All right, Rainbow Dash. Time to pony up.

"Um, Rares?" she was about to poke the unicorn lying on the ground, but thought better of it at the last second. "Uh... I'm really sorry about making you worry so much and, uh, I promise I'll be more careful from now on." She flinched as Rarity let out a sigh, and stood up to face her.

"It's not about making me worry, Rainbow Dash. I absolutely wouldn't forgive myself if you got hurt again because of me."

"But it isn't even your fault! I'm the one doing what I do because I want to!" Rainbow flapped her wings impatiently.

Rarity walked closer to her friends, so their muzzles were almost touching, "And I'm the one getting you into those positions in the first place!" I bet this could all have been avoided if I had been more careful back when we were using the elements!

Rainbow flared her wings and pressed her snout onto Rarity's, "So I should just go and be boring because you don't even care about what I want to do just because it might be dangerous!?"

"That is not what I'm saying at all!" Rarity groaned as she walked away from the pegasus, only for her to put a hoof on her back, turning her over to face her again.

"Then what is it!?"

"Look, it's just... uh, I mean..." Rarity looked down at her hooves. "Do you really want to risk everything just because of me?" she looked up at the confused pegasus with sad eyes, "I mean, you just got stuck with me without a choice, and I know I can be much too, ah... difficult for you to be around some times. I can only guess how much you'd rather be somewhere else all the time..."

"Oh, bull crap."

Rarity blinked as she did a double take at her friend's response, "Pardon?"

"That is complete crap and you know it!" Rainbow walked to stand next to the surprised unicorn. "I know we don't hang out that much back in Ponyville, and that I always complain when you make me try those froufrou dresses, and that I like pulling pranks on you... and-- OK, so I can see why you might think that way..." Dash rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof, "But seriously, Rares. You're pretty cool in my book. I mean, you just saved my flank, like, three times today! And I've had an awesome time exploring the pyramids and this place with you so far, and it's all been thanks to you!"

"So... you don't mind me 'weighing you down', as it were?" Rarity looked at her friend with a hopeful smile.

"Eh. I'm fast enough for both of us." Rainbow smirked, "Besides, if you talk about dreams... I never thought I'd actually be exploring ancient ruins like Daring Do, but here I am! And thanks to you, too!" she wrapped a forearm around Rarity's neck, "And I'm even more awesome than Daring Do right now. I mean, she never had a cool magical-super-trap-disarming-fashionista sidekick!"

"Sidekick?" Rarity protested, with mock-offense on her voice.

"Oh, all right. What's it called when there's two heroes? Co... Co-pilot? Nah. I'm sure what Twilight said started with co..."

"Co-protagonist, perhaps?"

"Gesundheit. Anyway, you're the other hero of the story. Sounds fair?" Rainbow placed a hoof on Rarity's chest.

"Fair enough, I suppose." The unicorn giggled before looking down again. "And I'm sorry if I was... suffocating you before with my worrying."

Rainbow looked away as she felt another pang of guilt on her stomach. "Uh... tell you what: You stop worrying about what I want to do, and I'll start being at least twenty percent as careful as you are, deal?"

"Heh. I suppose that would already be about a hundred times more careful than you are right now." Rarity giggled as she bumped hooves with Dash to seal the deal.

"More like a million." Rainbow laughed alongside her friend for some time before kneeling on the floor, "All right, climb up and we'll be over these lame traps in a second!" she jerked her head up to look at her friend in the eye, "Er, I mean, a couple of seconds."

Rarity sighed happily and moved to climb onto Dash’s back, “Thank you, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow took a few steps back and launched herself into the tunnel, this time managing to avoid activating any of the traps, much to Rarity’s relief, and they easily navigated through the straight tunnel. There was a wall just feet away from the tunnel’s exit and the pair narrowly avoided crashing into it thanks to Dash’s quick reflexes.

The pegasus landed carefully on a new, bigger corridor with no end in sight as the path went down with a slight inclination. As they moved further down the path, a strange echoing noise started coming from further inside.

"Hey, did you hear that?" Rainbow asked as she perked her ears, trying to get a better feel of the strange noises.

"Is that... some sort of chanting?" Rarity looked at her friend while biting her lip. "That can't possibly be good, can it?"

The pair moved on as quietly as possible, the clopping of their hooves completely silenced as they sneaked on. The farther they went, the strange chants increased in volume and became clearer, though the ponies still couldn't make out what any of the individual words meant.

"Looks like they're coming from that chamber," whispered Rainbow, as the two of them hid behind a pillar in the main corridor, near what looked like an entrance to another room.

Rarity silently brought out her map for the level, "I think that's just some closed room... it does not seem to have any runes or anything else of note in it..." she bit her lip as she peeked ahead from behind the pillar. "Should we just sneak past this chamber?"

"Well..." Rainbow fought the urge to simply move to sneak a peek inside the strange room, I did promise... she sighed, then looked at her friend with a determined smile, "I'll go with you on this one, Rares."

The unicorn could feel a warmth bubbling inside her at her friend's words, and looked back at the map. The poor dear must be dying to go inside... though perhaps that could actually be a good idea after all, if we manage to take whatever is down there by surprise... She looked at the path on the map, It's a completely straight path until the entrance to the next level... if whatever is here comes behind us, it could be bad news later on... She bit her lip again as she kept on thinking of a plan... I'm surprised Dash hasn't simply jumped in at this point, though... I'd never imagined she could be so quiet... wait, quiet?

Rainbow was looking intently at her friend, trying her hardest to ignore the itch caused by standing still for so long, fighting the urge to simply rock in place. She noticed how Rarity suddenly perked up, and looked behind in the direction the unicorn was staring at. She was about to ask if anything was wrong, when she noticed the chanting from before was completely gone. The whole place was completely silent, except for a weak, buzzing sound coming from the same chamber. The pegasus gulped as she looked back at her friend, who desperately signaled for her to move closer.

"I think we should catch whatever is inside there by surprise while we still have the chance. Dash, get ready to go in on my signal, please." whispered the unicorn as she moved to peek inside the room.

"You got it!" Dash said in an excited whisper as she prepared to fly in, weapons at the ready.

As Rarity moved closer to the entrance, she could hear the buzzing growing stronger and stronger, and she noticed a faint red glow was reflecting on the floor. When she finally peeked around the corner, she had to hold in a gasp at what she saw: floating just above the ground, in front of an altar there was a vaguely human-looking figure, though perhaps a little bigger than the humans she had seen so far; on its head was a huge, dark and red ceremonial mask, with the golden silhouette of an eye on the part covering its face; its body was covered by long, dark robes, only with some strange leather vest worn over it for protection.
Its only human-like features were its arms, which were raised into the air as they held a bizarre staff with a goat's skull as its head. Much like the creatures from before, though, the skin on its arms was completely dark, almost as if it absorbed the light around it, and its fingers were much sharper, looking more like claws.

The creature floated there in concentration, completely unmoving, except for a strange swirling red barrier surrounding it. Rarity looked at the barrier with fascination as her horn itched from the magical energies emanating from it. She stared for a couple of seconds until a rustling of feathers behind her brought her back to reality.

It's now or never, I suppose. The unicorn signaled for her friend with a hoof, and she nocked an arrow on her bow in preparation with her magic.

The creature twitched at the feeling of magic nearby, and the humming of the barrier surrounding it was silenced abruptly as an arrow struck it in its arm. It barely had time to look at the direction the arrow was fired from as a rainbow blur struck its chest, its rough leather vest only barely stopping the piercing power of Dash's katars, but the impact still sent it flying into a wall.

As Dash prepared to go in for the killing blow, the creature was surrounded by a brief red light, and there suddenly exploded between the creature and her a blazing wall of flames. Rainbow only barely managed to change course to avoid slamming headfirst into the summoned firewall.

"Get it while we can, Rares!" She yelled as she flied away from the scorching flames.

"On it!" Rarity shot more arrows at the creature, but the fire managed to knock away some of them, making them either grazing shots or miss entirely.

"Ugh, this isn't working!"

The creature slowly stood back up as it began chanting in a low, whispering tone, and it soon started glowing, before disappearing in a flash of blue light, only to reappear on the main corridor, though much further inside than Rarity and Dash. It chanted again before sending a ball of flame in Rarity's direction, but the mare managed to hide behind a pillar to shield herself from the fiery explosion.

"Rares!" Dash went back outside as she watched the fiery burst from inside the chamber.

"I'm fine!" the unicorn reassured her friend as she watched the creature from before escaping further into the corridor. "Go get it while we still can, I'll try to catch up!"

"I've got this!" Dash launched after the creature at high speeds.

"Please be careful, dear..." Rarity added as she chased after her friend.

The creature proved too tricky for Dash to catch up easily; while it didn't move particularly fast, it made up for this by leaving firewalls on its path, and occasionally shooting fireballs back in Rainbow's general direction.

"You're just making it worse for you, chump!" yelled Dash as she maneuvered around the flames. Dammit, I like it hot, but this is getting annoying!

They were nearing the end of the corridor, with the portal to the next level just barely in sight, when the creature suddenly stopped, and pointed its staff at Dash.

"Pasana!" the mage commanded with a guttural voice.

The pegasus got ready to dodge anything sent her way, but instead of the creature shooting flames or any other magics, Dash caught a glimpse of something shining behind a pillar just ahead of her, and instantly looped around on instinct. She only barely managed to avoid a couple of masked humans that jumped at her, with curved swords at the ready, their slashing actually managing to cut away part of her tail.

"Hey!" Dash hovered above them, wiping the sweat off her face as she looked at the hairs of her tail fluttering down to the floor.

"You're gonna pay for-" she was interrupted as the humans jumped at her again, forcing her to back away from the now snickering mage.

"You lousy little-- whoa!" The masked humans kept jumping at her, even as she flew closer to the ceiling, and the mage was now chanting again. Where did these guys even come from!?

The sound of more swordsman rushing in from the other side of the portal filled the corridor; at least a dozen more of them marched in, all moving very quickly towards her. The pair that she was currently busy with finally stopped lunging at her, and she finally got a good look at what she was up against:

They looked a little more like humans than the rest of the creatures they'd found so far, and they stood smaller and with lighter skin than the mage as well, but it was still a darker tone than any of the humans' she'd seen so far; they only wore what looked like a white skirt, and masks with veils, along with many golden armbands and necklaces; all of the masks had the same angered expression, but Dash couldn't see eyes behind the mask's eye-holes, with only a deep darkness in its place.

The two swordsmen stood in a barely crouched position, looking ready to lunge at her at a moment's notice, though they kept playing with their scimitars, constantly throwing it from one hand to another, and soon they were joined by the reinforcements of the lower level, all of them forming a line in front of Dash to protect the dark mage.

"So, all of you against just me, huh? Seems fair." Rainbow glanced back at the firewalls behind her, If I fly all the way back, I could build up speed for a rainboom... the explosion should be enough to deal with these chumps. But wait... what if I end up wrecking the place? It's pretty old in here... argh! Stupid Rarity and her dumb panicky... worryness!

As she tried to come up with a plan, the swordsmen started advancing, with a few of them actually jumping along with slashing attacks.

"Ugh!" Dash started flying back to where she left Rarity, Plan B, then!

Rarity was tired from all the galloping around firewalls, and her white hooves were now full of soot from all the burnt stone caused by what she could only assume was a rain of fire on the corridor. "You better be okay, Rainbow Dash!" she thought out loud as she panted from all the running on what now felt like a sauna to her.

"Rares! Get ready!" came the voice of her friend from further inside.

"What do you mean 'get rea-' waah!" Rarity was soon lifted off the ground by a sweating Rainbow Dash, "You know, I should've known better." she deadpanned.

"Starting to like it, I bet." Rainbow smirked at her, "Anyway, remember that mage from before?"

"Hard not to. Its magic has done quite a number on my poor hooves. Not to mention this horrid heat."

"Yeah, well, turns out he had some friends. Friends with swords and quick moves." Dash said hastily, "I don't think we can take them out that easily."

Rarity looked back, and she could see the troop of swordsmen Dash was talking about marching towards them, walking straight through the firewalls as if they were nothing, causing Rarity to flinch.

"Then how do we deal with them?" she tried firing at them with her bow, but the monsters simply cut any arrow that was about to hit them.

"I thought about blasting them off with a rainboom, but I remembered what you said back on the tunnel about becoming trapped inside and--" Rainbow was interrupted by a sudden squirming from her passenger.

"That's it! That's brilliant, Dash!" Rarity said excitedly as she pointed at the beginning of the corridor, just outside of the tunnel they came in from; "Quick, let me down here; I'll hide, and when the creatures get here, lure them into the tunnel and the traps will take care of them! I'll take are of anything trying to run away with my arrows!"

The pegasus touched down just outside the tunnel's exit, and Rarity hurried off to hide behind a pillar, "All right Rares, you be careful too, okay?" she shouted back at her friend as she flew forward to meet back with the Pasana.

Rainbow didn't have to fly far to find the monsters, they marched quickly enough to match an average pony's galloping, and it looked like the heat wasn't affecting them in the slightest.

"Oh, finally. I was wondering where you slowpokes went off to." Dash said smugly as she fluttered above the Pasana, stretching her limbs, "I even got to take a little nap, and, boy, was it nice!"

The swordsmen below started grunting, and a couple of them slashed upwards to attack the annoying pegasus, but she quickly moved out of the way just in time, only for the rest of the monsters to start attacking all over the place.

"Whoops!" Dash landed at the exit of the tunnel, "Hey, maybe you can catch me if I'm not flying, right?" she taunted as she fluttered the tips of her wings.

The Pasana growled something in their strange tongue as they went off after the pegasus, some lifting their swords in the air to curse at the annoying intruder.

"See, now that's the spirit!" Rainbow said as she ran into the dark tunnel, followed closely behind by the angered monsters.

Good job, Dash. Rarity peeked from behind the pillar at the empty corridor, and stood at the entrance of the tunnel with her bow at the ready. She scrunched her face in expectation, ready for the sound of hundreds of traps being triggered, but the dark tunnel remained silent, until a loud yell came from the other side:

"Rares! They're avoiding the traps!"

Rainbow looked back anxiously as the monsters practically danced around the pressure plates and other triggers in the near-darkness, which only barely managed to slow them down.

"Ponyfeathers!" Rarity bit her lip as she tried to come up with a plan, "Just get out of there, Rainbow Dash!" she yelled as she herself ran into the tunnel, the light on her horn started to shine an intense blue light as she searched for the triggers from before. Prudence didn't work, let's try brashness!

The floor beneath the Pasana gave a low rumble as the switches and cogs started moving by an unseen magic, and the narrow tunnel was suddenly filled by the many traps being triggered: metal spikes came out of the floor and ceiling, impaling some of the monsters; swinging blade came to life out of nowhere, completely slicing one of the creatures clean in half, and taking the limbs of some of the others. The rest of the Pasana panicked, and started triggering the rest of the traps by themselves; the growls and curses of the creatures filled the tunnel as poisoned darts shot out of spouts on the walls, some of them even whisking past dangerously close the shocked unicorn.

It was over in a minute, and as the last of the Pasana fell to the ground, the tunnel was left with a deafening silence save for the sound of swinging blades still active in place, cutting through the air, and the panting of the exhausted unicorn.

"Rares? Are you okay in there!?"

The sudden shout startled Rarity, who simply sat into the stone floor for a few seconds before she shined her horn further into the tunnel, where the light was blocked at intervals by the swinging blades. She could see the bodies of the fallen Pasana dissolving into the air, and she let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"I'm fine, Dash! How about you?"

"I think I'm stuck over here unless you can do something about those swinging traps on the way! I can only barely see them with your magic!" the pegasus' shouts sounded much farther away as they echoed through the tunnel.

Rarity was about to answer when a sudden humming noise startled her from behind, and a firewall appeared in front of her.

"Aah!" she tried backing away, when a second fire wall appeared now behind her, completely trapping her in the tunnel. She looked back the see the dark mage from before chanting just at the entrance of the tunnel.

Rarity tried firing her bow to fire at the monster, but the flames lashing at her and the scorching heat made it impossible for her to concentrate, and she simply stood helplessly as the monster sent out another fireball directly at her. The unicorn tried to muster the last of her energies to form a magical barrier, managing to block the missile but causing a deafening explosion from the impact to roar throughout the tunnel, and everything went black for Rarity.

***

Rainbow perked up as she heard the scream of her friend from the other side of the tunnel, and the blue light from her magic was replaced by the light of fire on the other side.

"Hang on, Rares! I'm coming!" Rainbow bolted into the tunnel, and gulped as the sound of more screaming was interrupted only by the sound of blades slicing through air.

Alright, Dash, you only get one shot at this. You fail, and you're both goners.

The pegasus stopped just in front of the swinging blades, the light of the fire ahead only barely letting her see the blades from further inside. Okay, I got this. Just get a feel for the rhythm of the slices... I can do this!

The pegasus quickly maneuvered through the blades; only a sudden clicking noise, or a sudden whisk guiding her path. She could feel the blades inches away from her nose some times, as well as inches behind her tail, which she was sure was now even shorter. A sudden flash of red light startled her, and she could see Rarity just ahead, only after one last blade. The sight of her friend completely trapped between walls of fire nearly brought the pegasus over the edge, and then she noticed the incoming fireball about to hit the trapped unicorn and launched to her aid.

"Rarity!" her screams went unheard as the unicorn put up a barrier to block the attack, only for the fireball's explosion to knock Rarity back through the firewall and onto the ground only feet away from Rainbow Dash.

"GRAAH!", the pegasus donned her katars and launched herself screaming straight through both firewalls, the cone of air forming at the tip of her weapons tore right through the magical fire, and she could see the mage flinch as the walls were dispelled. She was only a few feet away form the creature as it tried one last desperate chant, but Rainbow tore through the monster at such a speed she didn't even feel the impact, and the lifeless body of the monster simply distorted itself and vanished into thin air, leaving behind only its strange staff.

Rainbow panted heavily as she watched the staff drop onto the floor, "Stupid... monkey things! That's what you deserve." Her mind cleared as she took in deep breaths, and flinched as she looked back at the tunnel.

"Oh, crap! Rarity!"

She flew straight back into the tunnel and started searching for her friend, the only sources of light were the dying embers still on the floor from the fireball. After a quick swoop down the tunnel, she found a bulge on the floor, and a quick tapping revealed what she thought was her friend's shoulder.

"Come on, Rares, wake up!" she anxiously nudged the unmoving unicorn. "Come on! You're made of tougher stuff than that!" She started shaking her friend harder until she heard a slight clinking of glass coming from her.

The potions! She tried searching for the satchel, but the poor lighting wouldn't let her even tell her friend's clothes from her bag.

"Alright, I'm getting you out of here, Rares! Hang in there!" Dash carefully lifted the unmoving unicorn onto her back. She could barely feel Rarity's breath inches away from her own neck, and she quickened her pace.

Rainbow quickly made her way out of the tunnel, and let her friend down just below one of the few lit torches.

"Come on, come on, come on!" the pegasus whispered anxiously as she took the satchel off her friend. "There we go!" she uncorked one of the yellow potions, and quickly moved the bottle to Rarity's lips.

"Come on, Rares, this'll make you feel better!" she urged as she tried feeding the healing liquid to her friend, holding the unicorn to herself like a little filly.

After much effort on Dash's part, Rarity finally took a couple of sips, and the pegasus calmed down as her friend's breathing became more controlled.

"Whew..." Rainbow looked down at Rarity laying on her stomach fast asleep, and winced at what the fire had done: there were black spots all over her white face from all the soot, and her coat, mane and tail were all singed in various places, along with her tattered cloak.

"I'm the one supposed to take the hits, Rares." the pegasus smiled softly as she cleaned her friend's face with her own cloak, and tried smoothing out the singed spots with a hoof, only to end up patting her friend on the head as she slept.

"At this rate, I'm gonna have to start calling you Rarity Do... or Daringty? Raring? Eh, whatever." Dash chuckled as she laid her back on the stone floor. She didn't end up in the most comfortable of beds, but at the moment, the pegasus couldn't wish for a better blanket... even with all the sweating from before.

Everything was dark for Rarity as she slowly woke up. She could feel and hear a loud rumbling slightly shaking her head, and she opened her eyes to a field of cyan fur filling her vision. As she rubbed the sleep off her eyes, she noticed the rumbling was coming from her current pillow, and looked up to see Dash completely splayed on the ground, snoring away with gusto.

Rarity giggled lightly as she snuggled back into her pillow for a couple of seconds, until a new loud grumbling, this time more visceral, startled her, and she noticed it was coming right from her 'pillow'.

Oh, my. The unicorn blushed as she got up from her friend's stomach, and had to sit down from a sudden dizzy spell, followed by a headache. "Ugh..." she moaned as she rubbed her forehead just below her horn. Twilight makes those barriers look like child's play...

A sudden rustling of feathers below her startled her, and she turned to look ad Dash stretching and yawning.

"Oh, uh, slept well, dear? Sorry that I ended up using you as a pillow..." Rarity said through reddened cheeks.

"Huh?" Dash barely registered what was being said as she slowly woke up.

"Never you mind that, darling." the unicorn quickly changed subjects, "So, I gather you would like to have lunch? I brought some of the leftover fruits from before..."

Rainbow's stomach answered for herself with a loud grumble, and the pegasus nodded excitedly. "Sounds good!"

"Marvelous." Rarity inspected her cloak's pockets, "Now, let's see... I know I put them somewhere in here..." She probed the many pockets of her coat, but felt nothing in them, I'm absolutely sure I put those gems from before in here as well... she thought as she brought her hoof inside one of the pockets, and instantly felt the gemstones on her hooves.

"What in..." the unicorn brought out the gems and inspected them curiously, before setting them on the ground.

Then the leftovers... she thought as she reached for another pocket, and felt the lunchbox on her hoof.

"Uh, Dash? Have you noticed anything... strange about your cloak?" the unicorn said as she brought a pair of small wooden boxes out of her cloak.

"Eh? I told you it was fine, Rares." the pegasus said as she hungrily eyed the lunchbox on the ground.

"No, I mean... oh, never mind. I'll figure it out later." Rarity said as she put the gems back in one of her pockets, only for it to feel like they disappeared again.

"Anyhow, here you go, dear: apples, carrots, and some of the leftover salads from yesterday." Rarity pushed one of the boxes towards her friend, and opened her own. She hadn't realized how hungry she was until her own belly started making noises the moment the food was uncovered.

"Ah-heh. I guess it was high time for lunch, was it not?"

"Mhm!" Dash replied happily as she ate the salad straight from the lunchbox, completely ignoring whatever was being said.

"Manners, dear!" Rarity sighed as her words were thoroughly ignored, and simply started quietly eating her own food in small bites.

Rainbow was done with her food in just a few seconds, and sighed happily as she rubbed her now full belly. "Ahh... that hit the spot." She looked back at her friend, "So, you feeling better now? You had me worried there for a second; that explosion looked like it hurt..."

The unicorn rubbed her forehead again as she swallowed another bite of salad, "Other than a small headache from using too much magic and some burnt fur, I think I shall be just fine. And all thanks to you, I imagine."

Rainbow grinned as she moved closer to bump her friend's shoulder with a hoof, "Well, I couldn't just let you deal with all the monsters by yourself, right?" She patted a part of Rarity's burnt hair, and looked at it closer, "Besides, don't you have, like, some spell to fix this right away?"

"Well, as a matter of fact, I do..." the unicorn smiled at her friend, "But if you can start acting more careful for our sake, I suppose I can start being less... fussy, as it were." She paused and looked away, "At least until we're done here. When I'm back at the guild's bath, I swear I'm having a full makeover session!"

Dash laughed and rolled her eyes at her friend in amusement. "Figures."

Rarity continued her meal as Dash got up to look for something in the tunnel, only saying that she'd 'be right back.'

She returned shortly after Rarity had finished her meal, and was carrying the wand that the monster had been using before, "It left this behind after I kicked its tail... you think you can use it for your magic or something?"

The unicorn grabbed the staff with her magic, and she could feel a slight tingle on her own horn as the staff amplified her magic, which ended up with the staff smacking against her face as she brought it closer with more force than she intended.

"Ow..." Rarity rubbed her snout, and gave a snickering Rainbow Dash a quick glare as she set the staff on the floor. "I don't think I can use this without some practice first... not to mention that I wouldn't be caught dead using such a horrid little thing." she looked at the goat skull adorning the staff, sticking her tongue out in disgust.

Dash was still snickering as a light bulb went off in her head. "Oh! Maybe we can sell it, then! It's gotta be worth something if it makes magic stronger, right?"

"I suppose..." the unicorn rubbed her chin as she looked away in contemplation, "It would be nice to have some extra bits if we're going to have to look for the others in this... world."

"Awesome! Our first monster loot!" Rainbow grinned as she threw a hoof in the air.

"We should probably get going, though... better finish the task at hand before we start planning the next, hm?" Rarity stood up and stretched.

"You sure you're good to go? I don't mind waiting a bit for your headache to stop." Dash eyed the unicorn suspiciously.

"Oh, don't worry yourself bout that, dear. I believe it may have been simply from a lack of food; why, I'm feeling better already!"

"Well... all right, if you say so." Rainbow shrugged and the pair walked down the corridor to the last rune at the entrance to the next level.

After repairing the rune, the ponies made their way down through the portal to the next level. Much like on the last floor, the lighting was dimmer, though the actual floor was bigger and they could see there were more detailed carvings on the walls, many depicting more of the dog-humans Dash had seen before, further exciting the curious pegasus with the extra air-space.

"Let's see now..." Rarity shuffled through her maps, "Well, this can't be right..."

"What's up?" Dash hovered above her friend, trying to look at the map her friend brought out.

"Well, it says all of the runes are next to the entrance to the final level... and this floor isn't as much of a maze as the last ones..." the unicorn said warily.

"Cool! That means this should be a cakewalk. Probably building up to the last level, though." Rainbow rubbed her hooves in anticipation.

"I don't know... it may be that, or there might be some manner of trick on this floor..." Rarity sighed as she put the map back onto its satchel. "We should probably keep an eye out for trouble, at any rate."

The pair navigated through the floor quietly, with only the occasional 'oohs' and 'aahs' from Dash at the more impressive carvings. They eventually came upon a huge skeleton standing on a pedestal; it was armored with a helmet, heavy spaulders and a huge shield, and it wielded an enormous spear at the ready, almost looking as if it was going to jump at the ponies passing in front of it.

"No way!"

Rainbow flew up to the skeleton, looking at it directly through its eye-holes, "Do you think there's still human giants around? This guy looks awesome!"

"That's one way of putting it..." Rarity looked carefully at the imposing skeleton, arching her neck to look all the way up. "Personally, I cannot say I agree with this choice of decor..."

"What are you talking about? It has the perfect 'keep out or else' feel for a place like this." Dash said as she waved a hoof in front of the skeleton's face.

"True enough, I suppose." the unicorn said as she shuddered. "A-anyway, we should best move on... I'd rather not test our luck and have this... thing suddenly attacking us."

They were soon on the move again, the deadly silence was starting to get on Rarity's nerves, and she started looking around anxiously. She jumped suddenly at the sound of hooves hitting the ground, and looked back at Rainbow giving her a sheepish smile.

"Hehe. Sorry, Rares." the pegasus grinned right afterwards, though, and moved to walk side-by-side with her friend. "I can totally see why you get along so well with Fluttershy now, though. Both of you get scared by your own hoofsteps!" She said as she started chuckling.

"First off, we both know Fluttershy can be very brave when she has to; the poor dear is simply... overly sensitive some times." Rarity said as Rainbow started chuckling harder. "Second, I'm not afraid of hoofsteps, it's just... it's all so very quiet in here; it's making me nervous..." the unicorn said as she looked around them, as if expecting a dozen of monsters would drop off the ceiling, or jump from behind the various pillars.

"You're just being paranoid." Dash said as she leaned closer to put a hoof on Rarity's back. "Besides, if anything does come out, I'll be sure to kick its butt!" she said through a grin.

"Or at the very least fly me away if something too dangerous comes up." Rarity relaxed a little at the contact, and let out a short giggle, "Thanks, dear."

"Just leave it to me!" Rainbow saluted as she went back to hover directly above Rarity.

As they walked deeper into the dungeon, a sudden, loud stomping pierced through the air, making Rarity jump up, only to be caught by a startled Rainbow Dash.

"What the hay?" Dash perked up, her ears standing on point as she slowly let an embarrassed Rarity onto the floor.

There was a rumbling as more of the stomps resonated throughout the place, seemingly coming from around the corner not far away from them.

"Quick! Behind that pillar!" Rarity said in a rushed voice as she tried to hide herself.

Just as they were making their way to their hiding place, the stomping was soon accompanied by many heavy grunts and huffs, and out of the corner came six huge minotaurs, standing at least three times the height of the ponies themselves, all of them snorting and grunting in anger at the sight of the intruders.

The biggest of the bunch, standing at least a head above the others and sporting a redder hide and horns pointing upward let out a frightening roar as it pointed its huge battle-hammer, which was easily bigger than the monster itself, at the ponies. At the signal, all of the monsters charged at their prey.

"Rarity! Get away, I'll distract them!" Rainbow said as she flew at the charging monsters with her weapons at the ready.

The nimble pegasus flew over the charging beasts, managing to give a few glancing cuts to the face of the one she flew over, and the monster let out a loud whine and roared savagely as it rubbed the blood off its face. The rest of the minotaurs turned back and roared at Dash in berserk, some of them hitting the ground with their battle-hammers, making the ground shake and crack at their might.

"Aah! Get away, you brute!"

Rainbow looked back over the monsters to see Rarity trying to run away from the red minotaur.

The monster was swinging its battle-hammer at her, hitting the ground next to the unicorn as she tried her best to evade the blows, though the strength of the blows was powerful enough that Rarity's ears were left ringing from every impact. Her headache was coming back and the whole world was slowly getting blurrier and blurrier, making it harder for her to doge each coming attack.

The red beast raised its hammer overhead, the hammer's head nearly touching the monster's back, and it dealt the most powerful blow yet. Rarity barely managed to move aside in time, but the impact was powerful enough to know her back a couple of feet, and she landed on her back with a thud. She hurriedly tried getting back up, but her whole world was left spinning from the attack, and she could only barely crawl on the floor.

The monster leaned down, pointing its horns at the fallen pony, and readied to charge.

"Leave her alone, freak!"

A rainbow blur struck the minotaur on its side, and it flinched slightly at the feeling of something getting stuck on its though hide.

Crap, crap, crap! Rainbow tried in vain to pull her katars out of the monster, which was barely even bleeding from the attack, when a sudden swat from the monster forced her to fly away. The pegasus narrowly dodged the attack, leaving her weapons stuck in the monster and she heard the rest of the minotaurs stomping as they charged from behind.

"Rarity, run away!" Dash yelled as she started flying in circles around the red minotaur, quickly surrounding it in a small rainbow tornado.

"Watch out, Dash!" Rarity screamed as she finally got up, though her vision was still blurry, she could see the monster getting ready to swat at her friend with all its might.

No! Not again! The unicorn quickly fired an arrow at the monster. Please don't hit Rainbow, please don't hit Rainbow, please don't hit Rainbow!

The arrow flew true, and Dash suddenly felt a swift breeze right in front of her, only for a deafening roar to come out from the monster as the arrow found its mark right in the beast's eye.

"Agh!" the sudden outburst shook Dash and sent her crashing just behind a pillar.

Rarity gulped as the monster started snorting and growling while looking at her, and she turned to run around a corner as the monster let out a new roar, and all of the minotaurs were now chasing after Rarity.

"Dammit!" Dash shook her head and shot off to follow after the monsters. How can I even stop those things? I can't risk a rainboom here, and the stupid thing barely even flinched when I stabbed it!

She turned around the corner, and just barely caught a sight of the monsters going around another corner further ahead. Think, dammit! Rarity's counting on you!

The air's too dry for thunderclouds... the tornado wasn't even really annoying the stupid thing... agh! What's the point of weather magic if I can't just shoot thunder out of my hooves or something!? Come on, Rares would've already come up with something!

"By making their body used to poison, aspirants with magical expertise may learn how to call the venomous essence in their body to strike at their foes." Rainbow heard the voice of her friend suddenly in the back of her head, and the pegasus licked her lips nervously as she was finally reaching the slower of the minotaurs.

All right, uh... poison! I know you're somewhere inside me! I'm not even sure what 'magical expertise' even means, but you just work like the rest of pegasus magic, right? Dash closed her eyes and didn't notice her hooves shining purple, she felt a slight stinging in her tip of her front hooves and rammed straight into the back of one of the minotaurs.

I'm counting on you, poison!

The minotaur tumbled into the ground from the hit, and in let out loud grunts and whines as it tried to reach at its back. Only to slowly fall silent as the poison spread throughout its body.

Rainbow Dash didn't even have time to see if her plan worked as she systematically rammed each of the minotaurs on her way. She had already tripped four of the minotaurs as she noticed another one bending around a corner past the stairs just ahead of her.

"AAAH!"

Rarity's scream echoed throughout the closed corridor as the beasts approached her, and she ran behind a small pedestal holding a pair of sarcophagus, using it as cover.

The red minotaur roared at her as it threw its battle-hammer away, and jumped on top of the pedestal to grab the scurrying pony, crushing the sarcophagus with its enormous weight. Rarity was grabbed by one of its powerful, huge hands, and the beast squeezed the air out of her as it brought her to its face. The small unicorn trembled at the sight of the beasts angry face inches away from her, and the creature roared, covering Rarity's face with saliva and blood from the minotaur's eye wound.

I'm sorry, everypony... I'm afraid this may be it.

Rainbow could see the monster about to bite her friend's head off, and her whole vision turned purple as she rushed even faster.

"I'm coming, Rares! Hang in there!"

The minotaur turned to look at a rainbow blur closing in on it, and as soon as it tried to squeeze the pony in its hands to death, the arrow in its eye was enveloped by a blue aura and started moving inside the wound, causing the beast to roar in pain again as it threw the unicorn away from the shock.

Rarity kept her magic focused on the arrow as she was sent flying through the air, and rolled as she hit the ground, tumbling directly into a pillar, with the impact of her back hitting the hard stone almost knocking her out again.

The next thing the monster knew was a stinging pain hitting it right through its chest, then in its jaw, then its stomach and all over its body. The pain was followed by numbness quickly spreading throughout its whole body, and it let out a loud, visceral moo as darkness took over it, and it fell silent.

Rainbow kept striking at the beast until she felt a soft tap on her shoulder that startled her. She swatted at whatever touched her shoulder, and looked back to see Rarity's white hoof was slowly becoming a sickly purple, and her own two hooves were already shining purple from the venom.

Just like us.

"AAAH!" the pegasus screamed as she moved back in a panic, she could see the purple on her hooves slowly advancing further and further into her own body; even her vision started filling with a stronger purple, and tears started forming on the corner of her eyes.

"No!"

A sudden warmth enveloped her, and she could see a deep violet aura started surrounding them, followed by Rarity's voice:

"Shh, it's okay, Dash, we're okay. Just breathe." Rarity cooed as she patted the trembling pegasus on the head, and she soon had her wrapped in a comforting hug, fighting the numbness spreading throughout her body. "I'm here. Let me help you."

The calm, warm voice started soothing Rainbow's wrecked nerves, and the mare slowly relaxed as she sobbed onto her friend's shoulder.

The two ponies simply sat together in silence, the violet shine of Rarity's magic illuminating the whole corridor as she fought the dying poison.

The minutes passed away, and Rainbow's sobs stopped as she calmed down; she now simply hugged her friend, refusing to let go.

"...are you okay, darling?" Rarity broke the silence with a bit of a grunt to her voice.

"..." Dash simply nodded on her friend's shoulder, refusing to look up.

"...I'm sorry, but I need to drink some healing potion. I took a bit of a fall back there, you see." the unicorn said through a forced chuckle.

"...sorry." Rainbow replied as she let go of her, still looking at the ground.

"Oh, that was hardly your fault, dear. In fact, I'm fairly certain you just saved me yet again." Rarity smiled warmly as she uncorked one of their last few potions.

"And then I nearly killed you with my stupid poison..." Dash snorted as she looked away. "You probably think I'm like those stupid monsters now... I breaking and killing wherever I go..."

Dash felt the warm breath of Rarity on her neck as the unicorn nuzzled her. She tried moving away, but tripped with the unicorn's added weight, and she felt as her friend laid her chin on her back.

"That is, as you would put it: Bull crap."

Rainbow perked her ears and turned slowly to look at her friend with a raised eyebrow, causing the unicorn to blush.

"Uh, pardon the language." Rarity forced a cough, "But it's true... I would never think of you that way, dear. You know this." her tone showed a feeling of disappointment as she looked away, "...besides, I can deal with a little poison now." She looked down at Dash with a caring smile on her face, "So you don't have to worry about hurting anything you don't want to... if you ever need help with that kind of thing, I will always be there to help you, okay?"

"Okay..." Rainbow couldn't help the smile forming on her face as she nodded again, and she could feel tears threatening to come out again. "J-just," she sniffed quickly, "Just don't ever tell anypony I bawled like a foal, okay? I mean..."

"My lips are sealed... as long as you don't tell anypony about my foul language." Rarity giggled.

"Heh. You're alright, Rares." Rainbow joined her friend in giggling.

After a short rest, the ponies began backtracking to where they first encountered the minotaurs, which resulted in them getting lost for some time before finding the right spot.

"I'm just saying, when you're flying after a bunch of rampaging bulls, you don't really have the time to check on directions and stuff." Dash defended.

"I didn't mean to imply that, dear. I was just wondering how you could possibly come to the conclusion that 'north' is meant to be 'up through the ceiling'." Rarity shook her head as she wondered how Dash had managed to get them lost in what was supposed to be a straight corridor.

"Hey! We're here again!" Dash flew ahead and landed next to various cracks on the floor. "This is where you had your dance with that red minotaur."

"I wouldn't call those things 'minotaurs', myself..." Rarity said to nobody in particular as she moved forward while looking at the map, "To think we were attacked when we were so close to the runes... although, I suppose they may have been defending them... keep your guard up, Dash, who knows if there's more of those things in there."

"Yes'm!" Rainbow saluted and took to the air again.

"Okay... the runes are supposed to be on some pillars just on the other side of this wall..."

Rarity silently approached to take a peek from the corner, and couldn't contain her glee at what he saw: the stone path leading to the portal was surrounded by a shallow pool of clear, fresh water. She had to call forth all her self control to avoid simply jumping into it.

"Water!" Dash said excitedly as she dunked her head in the pool. "Oh, man, I've needed that for a while now. You should try it, Rares, it's nice and cool!"

Rarity gingerly approached the water, giving it a wary look as she sniffed at it to make sure it was safe to drink. She finally took a few delicate sips, "Ahh... it is rather refreshing." she sighed happily before a wave of cool water suddenly hit her in the face.

Rarity glared through her wet mane at a chuckling Rainbow Dash washing her face carefully near the pool in an innocent facade; the pegasus had already discarded her cloak and was doing her best to ignore her friend's burning glare as she prepared to jump into the pool, but the water in front of Dash slowly raised from the floor and formed a ball of water as it was surrounded by a light blue aura.

"It. Is. On."

Rarity smirked as the pegasus tried in vain to get away, only to be tackled by the water ball, leaving her as a completely drenched mess.

"Hey! Magic's not fair!" Dash grumbled as she tapped her head and wiggled her ears in an attempt to get the water out.

"I merely thought you would like some help, ah, 'freshening up', darling." Rarity giggled and smiled smugly at the soaked pegasus as she removed her own cloak and prepared to get down to the water, but a light bump on her rump startled her, and she landed on the pool with a huge splash.

Rainbow laughed and immediately jumped next to her, making another big splash and leaving Rarity now completely soaked.

"There! Now we're even." Dash said with a huge grin.

"Well, I wouldn't be so sure about that..." Rarity gave a mischievous smile as she pounced at her friend, pining Dash below her, and tickling her using her mane as a brush.

"Ah-hahah! Wait! Rares!" Dash squirmed as she tried to shake off the surprisingly resilient unicorn, but her strength waned away from the tickling and the water. "I give up! Hah-ha! Please!"

Rarity got up with a satisfied smile on her face, and carefully took her mane out of her mouth, "Phery well, dearf, pff. Since you insist." she moved to allow her friend to stand, and turned to show her back to the still panting pegasus.

"Losers get to give the winner a well-deserved backrub." she added matter-of-factly.

"Whew... " Rainbow got up with an amused smile on her face, and sat down behind Rarity, "Who knew you played dirty, Rares."

"Well... perhaps the whole 'thief' business is finally getting to me, hm?"

Rarity giggled as she felt Dash clumsily figuring out how to massage her back, "Just rub lightly in small circles, dear. Ahh... yes, just like that..." She soon lost herself in the feeling of her muscles relaxing, and started humming a happy little tune.

A few minutes had passed after Rarity looked smiling back at Dash, who was being surprisingly thorough, "Very well, dear. Your turn now, turn around!" she commanded.

"Huh? Didn't you say this was the loser's job?"

"Yes, well, what kind of pony would I be if I didn't share my winnings, after all?" Rarity forced Dash to turn around, and soon started massaging her back and wings, with the pegasus melting at the touch.

"O-oh... well, I mean, if you say s-ooh... that's the spot..."

A few minutes passed in complete silence, only broken by a sudden chuckle from Dash at being ticklish, or a happy moan as a particularly tense muscle was massaged.

"You know, Dash..." the unicorn gulped, "We... might not actually make it out of this place in one piece. If whatever is down there is more dangerous than anything we've faced so far... I'm not sure if... you know..." Rarity moved back, anticipating Dash to snap at her.

"Nah, we got this." Dash waved a hoof casually.

"But... you can't possibly be sure about that, I mean-"

A cyan hoof closed Rarity's mouth as Dash looked back to stand face-to-face with her, "You're just gonna worry yourself to death if you start thinking too much about it." A pair of magenta eyes stared directly at Rarity's with a deep determination shining through them, "We're gonna go down there and kick the ass of whatever's been messing around with the runes; you're gonna be free from that dumb debt to the dumb old guy, and we're going to go find everypony else, get back home and show that Morroc thing what happens when you mess with our friends!"

Rarity felt a smile forming on her face as Rainbow removed her hoof from her mouth. She had never seen such a serious expression on the usually carefree pegasus, and simply stood there, taking it all in.

"Got it?" the smile on Dash's face looked almost devoted.

"Of course." Rarity felt her worries melting away as she watched that smile, and the smile on her own face grew warmer, "Thank you, Rainbow Dash. I think I really needed that." And here I thought she was not taking this seriously.

"You just worry too much." Dash snickered, "Though everypony always says I worry too little, so I guess you balance it out, huh?"

The two ponies laughed softly as they made their way out of the pool, and Rarity quickly made her way to work on the runes on each of the four pillars supporting the area around the portal to the final level of the sphinx.

The runes took more effort than expected, which the unicorn attributed to fatigue, but after some time and with no distractions around, the runes were finally dealt with, and the pair moved to the gate leading to the final level.

The portal itself looked almost like a shrine with many detailed carvings and a pair of ornate torches standing unlit at each end, while a broad path of polished stone led into it, flanked by pools of clear water on both sides; two giant skeleton sentinels stood guard on pedestals placed in the middle of each pool, their spears pointing at a specific point on the floor, where the last rune of the level was placed.

"Well... that... that's quite something isn't it?" Rarity walked slowly towards the rune, taking in all of the detailed work that went into making the final gate.

Rainbow simply nodded as she stood there, mouth slightly agape.

Rarity got to work on the rune, laying on the floor in front of it with her horn alive with magic. A few soft grunts escaped her from time to time as she tried fixing it.

"You holding okay in there, Rares?" Dash stood next to her friend and looked at the rune glowing blue on the ground, and Rarity frowning from the effort in front of it.

The unicorn grunted delicately again, and her eyes closed while concentrating, "These, ugh, makes no sense! *Hah...* Every other rune so far had been connected only to, ugh, to that deep energy from further inside, but every single rune in this floor has felt different. As if they were connected to something else as well... it's like I have to do two times more work to fix them." Rarity panted as her horn stopped glowing and the rune on the floor flashed a fiery red, while the torches ahead of them blazed alight.

Rarity laid on the floor, catching her breath as a rumbling sound came from the pools, and she felt a hoof poking at her flank.

"Uh, Rares?"

Dash kept prodding at her friend as she looked at the skeleton on the pool moving to stand in an upright position, while it rested its spear's shaft on the pedestal, adopting a more relaxed stance. The eye-holes on its skull suddenly glowed in a blue light, and it looked down at the trembling ponies in front it.

"Sy shem? Itja?"

The deep, raspy voice resonated throughout the shrine, sending goosebumps down the ponies' spines. Rarity quickly stood up back-to-back with Rainbow, each of them looking at a different skeleton.

"E-excuse me?" The unicorn was shaking at the sight of the enormous skeleton looking down at her with glowing eyes.

"Who goes? Have the rogues come to honor their pact?"

The ponies stood still for a moment, exchanging quick questioning glances between each other.

A sudden prod on Rarity's stomach by a cyan elbow forced her to talk, "Um, hello there, fine, uh... skeletons, sirs... I am Rarity."

The skeleton simply kept staring at the creature in front of it in a deadly silence.

"And... um, I was sent by the Thieves' Guild. To fix the runes on this fine place of yours."

"This is not our place. It is our duty to guard this tomb for eternity. We are the Sentinels of the Sphinx."

"Be warned: The Pharaoh has partially escaped his imprisonment. He took advantage of the waning power of the seals, and disrupted their energies throughout the Sphinx. He regains his power and his forces as his high priests further damage the seals. They gather on his inner shrine, past this gate."

Rainbow's ears perked up, "Forces? As in an army?"

"Not yet his full army. Given time, it will be."

Rarity audibly gulped at the news, and looked back at a Dash biting her lip as she looked at the gate.

"But... we have been fixing the runes as we advanced! Surely, that must have helped for something!" She pointed at the glowing rune expectantly.

"It is thanks to this that we have awoken. At the same time, it is likely the Pharaoh himself has taken notice of you; the seals may have weakened him, though his high priests may work on corrupting them again."

Rainbow Dash perked up and flew up to one of the skeletons, "Then, you can help us out, right? We saw more of you guys on our way here!"

"We cannot move from this level."

"Can't? As in physically can't?" Dash glanced at the skeleton in front of her with a questioning look.

"Our duty is to stop the Pharaoh should his forces move to this level. There are more of us in the inner shrine, but the runes that power them have been disrupted, and so they lay asleep."

"Oh, come on!" Rainbow flew back to Rarity, and pointed at the unicorn, "If it wasn't for Rares here, you'd still be broken! What if those guys mess with your runes again, huh? You'll just be completely useless! What's the point of caring about your 'duty' if you're just gonna end up betraying it anyway!"

The light on the skeletons' eyes shined with a deep red light before going dark, and they simply remained silent.

Rarity took a deep breath and walked to the edge of the stone path, "Be... besides, I'm certain great warriors such as yourselves wouldn't leave fighting a dangerous army to only a couple of ladies... After all, what is the point of having great power if you never use it for the benefit of others?"

This time, a violet light shined from the rune behind them, and the skeletons trembled slightly. Their eyes were alive again, and their bones creaked as they moved from their pedestals to the stone path. Loud clacking echoed through the room at their steps, and they stood at the flanks of the ponies.

"The Sentinels of the Sphinx will perform their duty. You have our spears."

The echoing sound of bones stomping on stone could be heard as the rest of the Sentinels approached the gate one by one, and the ponies soon stood amazed in front of a troop of 8 giant skeletons, all of them expectantly looking at them.

"See, I told you we had this." Dash said in a dumbfounded voice.

The ponies were at the head of the troop as they marched through the gate, leading them into a long passageway. The skeletons just barely fit through it, with their spiked helmets almost scraping the ceiling with each step they took.

"I was thinking, Dash," Rarity started, "If our... friends here can defend us, I may be able to repair the runes without much trouble, and the rest of the... the Sentinels will wake up to help us, as well as further weaken this Pharaoh."

"But what about the priests these guys were talking about? What if they just break the runes again and we do all that work for nothing?" Dash looked forward with determination, "We have to take those guys out, or we'll be stuck here forever."

Rarity bit her lip as they continued walking, and looked over at her friend. "Then... you may not like this... but I propose splitting in two groups. A few of the Sentinels go with me, and the rest help you deal with the high priests."

Rainbow walked in silence for a bit, a troubled expression on her face. "You're right, I don't like it..." she sighed, "But I think your plan will be better..."

Rarity moved closer to Dash, their shoulders touching, and she rested her head in her friend's, "Just don't overdo it, okay?"

"You're telling me?" Rainbow smirked, "You're the one who's been all Rareing Do lately."

"Rareing Do?"

"You know, as in Rares-Daring Do?" Dash coughed.

"You need to work on your portmanteaux, my darling Daring Dash." Rarity giggled.

"Oh, shut up. Your name's just hard to mix." the pegasus said through a blush.

They could see the end of the corridor coming up ahead, and Dash moved forward, turning around in the air to look at the skeletons.

"Alright, guys! We're going in!" She signaled at five of them, "You guys are with me! The rest will help Rarity wake up your buddies! Any questions?"

The eyes of the Sentinels all shined crimson, and simply separated into two groups as Dash ordered, three of them staying behind with Rarity.

"Oh, but Dash, I'm certain only two will be enough to help me out, you're going to..."

A pleading look from the pegasus was all Rarity needed to keep quiet. She gave her a silent nod and looked back at her 'guards'.

"The first rune will be directly on the exit of this very corridor, so we will be splitting up there. I will be counting on you fine warriors to deal with anything that would try to prevent me from fixing the rune."

"Agreed."

"Then off we go!" Rarity picked up the pace.

"Let's do this!" Rainbow charged ahead, her Sentinels just behind her.

Dash exited into an wide, open vestibule with a set of stairs going up. Two motionless Sentinels stood in guard at the corridor's exit, and the pegasus grinned at the hope of even more warriors to help them.

High stands surrounded the passageway's exit, making it look almost like an amphitheater, and various dark figures stood over them, all wearing robes like the mage from before, and many of them began chanting in the same resonating voice.

At a signal from the mages, Pasana started pouring down the stairs, at least thirty of them, and more kept pouring in, all marching with swords at the ready, and chanting a deep, resounding warcry.

"Sedjet, senef!"

Rainbow smirked at the sight, flew above the gate and pointed a hoof at the stairs, "Charge!"

The Pasana flinched at the sight of five giant armored skeletons running out of the gate and charging straight at them. Unlike the ones standing as statues at the gate's exit, these skeletons were very much alive, and many of the swordsmen were sent flying by powerful swats from the huge Sentinels. The rest of the small army stood in shock at the sight of the ancient guardians fiercely tearing through their ranks.

Suddenly, bolts of fire started raining all around the Sentinels, making the warriors flinch at the impact, and they raised their shields in defense.

The Pasana shouted excitedly at the rain of fire, and started swarming at the giant enemy.

Rainbow Dash looked at the source of the fire: rows of mages stood above them chanting, some of them shouting orders at the swordsmen below, and they had raised walls of fire all around them for protection. She smirked as she readied her katars and flew back before launching straight at the ones casting the fire bolts, her weapons cutting the air and fire in her way.

Not this time, you fire-juggling monkeys!

The rainbow missile pierced through the fire like it wasn't even there, and ran through the first row of mages like a bullet. The lifeless figures simply distorted away before they even hit the ground.

The rest of the mages on the stand looked back at the rainbow blur whisking above them, and focused their fire on it, but the blur always managed to move away just in time, or simply sped past the attacks.

A sudden volley of arrows coming from below interrupted their attack, and Dash took the opportunity to launch straight for the distracted creatures, felling them on the spot.

The mages on the opposite stand noticed the lack of fire bolts too late, and looked as their brethren fell to the rainbow creature. They prepared their spells and aimed at where the creature hovered, but arrows came flying from below, interrupting and surprising many of them. A white creature stood on the gate below, preparing its bow and aiming at them, and the few who hadn't had their spells interrupted launched a set of fireballs at it.

Rarity backed away at the volley of fireballs coming her way, but a shadow quickly moved over her, and she looked back to see a trio of skeletons standing in the way of the attack with their shields raised together. The impact of the explosion when the fire hit their shields barely shook the combined defense of the sentinels, and Rarity sighed in relief.

"Thank you, gentle... men."

A violet light shone on the sentinel's faces, and they stood in formation between the unicorn and the furious mages above.

Dash spotted the mages on the other side, and quickly launched herself at them as they threw fire at the sentinels protecting Rarity. She stole a quick glance at the battle below her on the stairs, and saw the Sentinels had gained the upper hand again; they stood together as a wall of shields and spears as they broke through the advancing swordsman force almost effortlessly.

Rainbow grinned as she set her sights on the mages before her: they had been too busy trying to protect themselves from Rarity's arrows and trying to break through the Sentinel's defense to notice The Dash was upon them. A swift swoop through the main group sent many of them flying in several directions, and cleaved through the ones directly in Dash's path.

The small army was completely routed; what few mages remained alive were soon being chased down by Dash, and the Pasana horde had been completely stopped by the Sentinel's devastating advance.

Dash ran through another one of the mages, and various blue flashes came from around her as the remaining ones teleported away, leaving her alone in the high stands.

"Yeah, that's right! Just run away, freaks!" Dash scoffed. She flew back to the stairs, where the last of the Pasana that hadn't run away were being dealt with by the Sentinels, "All right boys, let's go get those wimps!"

"Dash, catch!"

Rarity yelled from below, and Dash turned to see her potion satchel was flying towards her, before gently settling around her neck.

"What? No way, Rares, you keep them! I'm not even gonna-"

This time it was Rarity's pleading look that silenced the pegasus, and Dash grumbled as she fixed the satchel so it wouldn't get in the way.

"I kept one in case of an emergency, so don't worry about me!" Rarity yelled, turning away to work on the rune over the gate. "And good luck, Dash..."

Rainbow flew down to the Sentinels, landing just in front of them as the last of the Pasana dissolved away, "All right, everypony, time to get those priests. Just show me the way and they'll never know what hit them!"

"They work from their tombs on the northern end of this level. The magic corrupting the seals flows from there. They try to disrupt our own connection to the heart of magic as we speak."

"No time to lose, then; let's go!"

Rarity glanced back as she worked on the rune to see Dash's group go past the stairs, and further into the maze. Her own guardians stood around her with their backs turned, alert at anything that may disrupt the unicorn's job.

Right. No time to lose.

Her horn glowed a deeper blue as she concentrated, working on repairing the magic's flow as fast as she could. Minutes went by in complete silence, and the rune above the gate soon glowed red as its connection was restored. The eyes of the Sentinels flanking the gate came to life with a blue light, and they turned their skulls down to look at a panting Rarity.

Okay, I can do this. Rarity cleared her throat, "Honored Sentinels, we need your help! A small group of your fellow warriors has already moved forward to fight the high priests that would try to destroy your seals, but they need all the help they can get! Won't you please join them in the fight?"

The unicorn looked pleadingly at the imposing Sentinels, and their eyes flashed with a deep violet light. They slowly moved from their resting place, dust and cobwebs rustling at being disturbed after centuries, and they quickly made their way up the stairs.

Rarity let out a heavy sigh of relief, and reached for her satchel to take a look at the map for the rest of the runes, only to smack a hoof on her forehead as she remembered giving the whole thing to Dash so she would keep the potions.

The Sentinels looked down at her, and she could imagine them giving her a disapproving look.

"I don't suppose you gentlemen would know the way to the other runes that would wake the rest of your friends on this floor?" Rarity rubbed the back of her neck.

The 'eyes' of one of the Sentinels went black for a couple of seconds, and it spoke after some time.

"Our brothers sleep in many places throughout the inner shrine, but most of them stand... or stood... directly guarding the seal on the Pharaoh's sarcophagus."

"Stood?" Rarity gulped.

"It is... likely the Pharaoh destroyed them the moment he was set free."

The Sentinel looked down as it shared the news, and Rarity's ears fell flat on her head, unsure how to react.

"I'm... sorry for your loss." She moved forward and placed a hoof on the Sentinel's 'leg'.

"They are finally at peace. They were denied the chance to prove themselves, though, and that shall be avenged!"

Rarity was shaken by the sudden rise on the Sentinel's tone, and looked up after regaining her composure, "But... what should we do? I don't think we could deal with this Pharaoh fellow by ourselves right now..."

"Agreed. The Pharaoh is not yet completely free, and has little freedom beyond his tomb." The sentinel picked Rarity with its giant skeletal hand and placed her on its pauldron.

"Waah!" she closed her eyes as the huge skeletal hand picked her up, and she felt a breeze on her face as the Sentinel started moving.

"We will take our restorer to the rest of our sleeping brethren. We will rouse them and we will restore our fallen brethren's honor!"

Rarity opened her eyes to see the ground far below her, speeding by as the Sentinels moved quickly through the maze in big strides.

She strengthened her grip on her guardian's shoulder and looked at its skull in astonishment, "You know... this is where my friend would say that this is 'pretty awesome'."

"Achoo!"

Rainbow rubbed her nose as she kept flying next to the Sentinels, Gah! Stupid, dusty old tombs... Daring Do's books didn't say it would be this annoying.

"Hey, big guy! How long until we get to those priests?"

"They are near. Their tombs stand at the end of the next corridor."

"Alright, let's get in there, kick their asses, and go kick that Pharaoh's ass!" Dash grinned as she flew ahead.

"You underestimate the power of the high priests. Many great warriors lost their lives to them when they were first sealed away."

"Don't overdo it, okay?" Rainbow stopped dead on her tracks as she heard Rarity's voice inside her head, and she waited for the Sentinels to catch up as she sighed in annoyance.

"What's so special about these guys? They're just priests, right? Silly robes, silly hats, silly speeches?"

"The high priests of the Sphinx are not mere preachers. Their coven would adore the ancient gods, and they gained immense power by trading their very souls; they would perform sacrilegious rituals to take a grotesque form imitating their master's, and relinquish their freedom for powerful magic and strength. Their god was so angered at the blasphemous mockeries of himself, he cursed them all to an eternity of undeath."

"Your companion was right when she said you would be needing our help more than her."

"Oh, shut it. We can deal with some mummies!" Dash flew ahead to lead the charge as they entered the corridor, "We don't need any lame magic! With my speed and your strength, we'll teach those priests not to mess with us! Now let's go!"

They advanced further into the corridor, and the loud clanking of metal armor and bones was soon drowned out by an otherworldly chant echoing from the deeper ends; deep whispering voices bounced off the walls, and Dash's fur stood on end at a strange feeling lingering in the air as they marched past rows of opened sarcophagi on each side of the corridor.

The group came to a halt as an altar appeared atop a set of stairs before them, and Dash flew above to take a better look.

She felt shivers run down her spine at the sight: on the other side of the altar, eight creatures almost as big as the Sentinels themselves held their arms up as they continued their macabre chant.

Dash had to hold in a gasp as she saw the creatures that resembled those in various carvings around the Sphinx, only with a much more grotesque appearance: under stained golden headdresses, their edged dog heads had patches of missing fur and rotting skin around their demonic red eyes; she could see their sharp, gaping maws were filled with jagged, yellowed teeth as they chanted, and beneath the ragged shawl covering their chest, Dash could only see empty rib cages and crooked spines, almost exactly like the Sentinels' except for the sickly appearance of the bones on the undead monstrosities.

Five of the creatures broke off from the chanting, and moved on heavy steps towards Dash's group. They started a new set of whispering incantations as they pointed their staves at the intruders.

"Ianew... ahew... KEDED!."

A ball of lightning shot out of each of the monster's dark claws, passing inches away from Dash and making her fur stand on end as the familiar rush of adrenaline shot throughout her body from lightning speeding past her. She followed the path of the attack with her eyes as it made its way to the Sentinels.

They raised their shields in preparation for the impact, but as each attack found its target, all five of the giant skeletons were sent flying like leaves in a storm from the powerful magic. The dumbfounded pegasus could only stare with her mouth agape.

That is so unfair.

A new set of incantations startled Dash out of her shock, and she again felt the familiar sensation of flying in a thunderstorm. Acting on pure instinct, Rainbow followed the air currents as lightning rained down upon her, though a quick glance above her revealed no thunderclouds.

The weather-pony kept dodging the lightning until she felt a couple of large objects streak past her, followed by a haunted howl resonating throughout the whole dungeon, and the thunderstorm finally ended.

Looking at the source of the howling, Dash saw one of the priests had two huge spears sticking out of its chest, almost covering it completely, and it slowly turned to dust as it died along with its awful howls, the spears dropping down with a loud 'clang!' as the beast was no more.

She turned to give a hooves-up to the Sentinels, and was surprised to see a new pair of the warriors had joined them already.

Way to go, Rares!

Rainbow flew back to the Sentinels with renewed vigor, and hovered at their eye level as she looked at the damage done to each of them.

"All right, guys, we can do this! They may look like the grossest mummies ever, and they may have their magic tricks, but they'll still die if you kill them!" She turned around to face the monsters howling in rage at their fallen comrade, and donned her katars.

"CHARGE!"

The Sentinels charged alongside Dash, and walls of flames started sprouting from the ground all around them, trying to trap them. Rainbow shot ahead of the group, doing her best to clear the path for the melee fighters as the temperature started rising more and more.

She felt a thrill go down her spine, and turned to look at one of the monsters pointing its staff at her, seconds before it shot another ball of lightning straight for her. Dash gulped audibly before launching herself at the lighting ball, and spun around to buck it just as it was about to hit her.

The impact sent her reeling back a bit, but she had actually managed to dispel the lightning, leaving only small tendrils of harmless energy running through her back hooves.

"And that's why you don't mess with weather ponies!" Forget soaring past lightning, bucking it on its freakin' face is where it's at!

Adrenaline ran hot through the pegasus' veins as she launched herself straight at her stunned attacker, all sounds blocked to her from her blinding speed. The huge beast could only stare as the rainbow blur ran through its chest, leaving a gaping hole for a second before its entire body turned to dust.

Dash quickly changed her course to avoid crashing straight into the altar, and circled above the rest of the high priests as the Sentinels engaged them in melee. She panted from the sudden exertion, and surveyed the battle below with a satisfied grin.

She felt a sudden chill go down her spine, and looked down in search for anything casting at her. Only too late did she look at the other side of the altar, as the three priests behind it shot shinning red orbs of light at her. Dash tried dodging the attack, but the orbs of light moved fast enough to leave afterimages, and they soon hit their mark, sending the cyan pegasus crashing down to the ground. She could feel a deep, burning chill as a dozen of the orbs struck all over her body, numbing her senses and she nearly blacked out as she hit the ground.

Everything was a blur as Dash tried in vain to get up, her head kept spinning and she couldn't even tell right from left. A high-pitched noise rang through her ears, muting the battle raging around her, and increasing the already piercing pain in her head.

A pair of huge, blurred shadows approached her as she lied on the ground. She heard nothing as they made gestures towards her, and she closed her eyes as a chill went down her spine again.

Sorry, Rares... I messed up...

She lied there anticipating the final blow for some time, but the pain never came. When she opened her eyes again, she saw she was now surrounded on all sides by giant shadows, with red lights dancing above them.

Dash rubbed her eyes to get a better look, and she finally saw the skeletal backs of the Sentinels taking form as they protected her. They stood with their shields raised as they took the lightning attacks of the high priests, but they didn't move an inch as the lightning hit them.

Rainbow smiled faintly, and strenuously reached for a healing potion. She downed the entire bottle of yellow liquid as fast as she could, and her world slowly stopped spinning, the chill invading her body receding and the numbing pain lessening.

A rainbow bolt shot upwards from behind the shield wall of the Sentinels, and launched itself at the high priests commanding the thunderstorm that assailed them. Too fast to be dodged, Dash pierced through another one of the beasts, and ran straight into the head of the one behind it, snapping it off its body.

The disembodied dog head stuck to Dash's forehooves, growling and snapping angrily at the pegasus, causing her to yelp as she threw the head as far away as she could before she made her way back to stand with the Sentinels.

The giant skeletal warriors had charred bones and even some melted armor from the continuous lightning storm, and a pang of guilt ran through Dash.

"You guys..." She looked uneasily at their battle wounds, and some of the Sentinels were staggering as they stood upright to prepare for battle again. Rainbow moved closer to help them up however she could, but one of the Sentinels raised a bony hand to stop her.

"We have this. Charge."

The eyes of all the Sentinels burned a deep crimson, and Dash swore she could see some of their bones mending themselves at the same time as a rush of adrenaline and something else ran throughout her whole body.

The group charged again at the remaining monsters, one of which stood beheaded, and Dash felt electricity gathering above them for another thunderstorm. Without thinking, the pegasus launched herself at the ceiling and began bucking at different spots of the forming storm before it launched, the tingling feeling of electricity running through her hooves almost broke the determined look off her face, and the accumulated energy running wildly through her was exhilarating.

The Sentinels below simply kept their charge, and they now outnumbered the priests two to one. Mighty blows of claws hitting bones and metal resonated throughout the corridor, and the headless priest was on a rampage as it swatted savagely at the air around it, but two spears soon found their way to its chest past its random attacks, stopping the wild flailing as the creature turned to dust.

Rainbow charged down to help the moment the thunderstorm was dealt with, and grinned as she saw the last three priests were being pushed back by the Sentinels and about to be defeated.

"Setjet, senef!"

Dash's ears perked up at the familiar sound echoing throughout the corridor, her ears moved as they tried to pinpoint the location, and soon she could see figures moving in at the distance.

"Setjet, senef!"

Dozens of Pasana marched towards them, and Dash looked back to the Sentinels still dealing with the priests.

Oh, come on! They're almost done over there, why'd these chumps have to show up now!?

She launched herself at the small army, a cone of air already forming ahead of her as she built up speed. Fireballs were launched from the back rows of the incoming platoon, and started exploding around her, leaving her ears ringing as she sped past the attacks.

"AB!"

The army stopped at the command, and the swordsmen at the front knelt down with their swords pointing at the incoming pegasus, two more rows of swords appeared from behind them as the Pasana created an impromptu barricade.

Crap, crap, crap, crap! Dash had to move away at the last second to avoid impaling herself on their swords, and soared right above the sharp blades as some of the Pasana tried slashing at her, though her built up speed still managed to shake some of the army.

As she tried to bleed off momentum, dozens of firebolts made their way at her from the back rows, and she soon was doing even more complex aerobatics than in the middle of the thunderstorms. The blazing fire raging past her had her sweating and panting instantly, and she was forced to retreat to the rest of the Sentinels, who were still in battle with the priests.

Ok, we can still do this, just deal with the priests in two seconds, and then we have enough time to catch a breath before we fight the army behind us. Easy peasy.

Dash launched herself at one of the high priests, distracting it by flying in circles around its head, managing an occasional slice with her katars. The monster swatted at her, and managed to land a hit on her back legs, sending Dash tumbling down into the ground.

The distraction had worked, however, and the beast now had three spears sticking out of its chest. It gave a deafening howl with its dying breath, and turned to dust.

Dash looked up from her crashing spot as she rubbed the gashes on her legs, and grinned as the Sentinels reared down on the last two priests.

"Hah... you're *pant*... in for it now..." She took one of the two remaining yellow potions out of the satchel, and downed it right away. A sharp pain was still on her back legs as she stood up, but she was no longer bleeding.

Dash took the last potion and put it in one of her pockets, discarding the satchel so it wouldn't get in her way.

"Keded!"

The Pasana were closer now, and Dash did a double-take at them, she could've sworn the army was much bigger when she had charged at them before.

Maybe they got scared when they saw me and ran away... or they're up to something.

The vanguard charged at the altar as balls of fire arched above them and towards Dash's group.

Rainbow took to the air, with one of the fireballs exploding feet away from where she had crashed seconds ago.

"Guys, behind us!"

Three of the Sentinels broke away from the priests, and moved back to stand beside Rainbow Dash, waiting on the stairs going up to the altar.

"Our brothers need you to defeat Anubis' priests. We will delay this army however we can."

Dash nodded as she looked straight into the Sentinel's crimson eyes, and launched herself to the battle on the other side of the altar.

The Sentinels had separated into pairs to engage each of the two remaining priests; the slow appearance of the rotting priests betrayed their actual agility in combat as they would suddenly snap at one of the weary Sentinels with successive blows that would stun the heavy skeleton, only to move on to attack the other as soon as it prepared a counter-attack.

"Here, boy!" Dash swooped down at one of the priests, slashing near its eyes with her katars and quickly lifting off to avoid its powerful claws in retaliation. She kept this strategy as the Sentinels tried landing the finishing blow on the distracted creature, but before the spears found their mark on the monster's chest, it pointed a claw at Dash and fired more of the red orbs of light at her, all of them hitting her right on her chest.

Dash clutched her chest in pain, but managed to stay afloat. She panted heavily as the creature below her turned to dust, but instead of a pained howl, it let out a cruel, low laughter as it died.

"*huff* Right back *huff* at you... ugh..." Dash turned to look at the final monster as the Sentinels surrounded it. It moved back after stunning the Sentinels nearby, and it was wrapped by a sudden red aura as it cast a wall of flame in front of it.

"Dammit..." Dash was still recovering from the hits as she watched the monster began glowing blue, only for it to suddenly disappear.

Oh, come on!

"HI-I EN SESEH!"

The high priest reappeared just behind the swarming Pasana, with two new high priests at its sides, and they began barking orders at the army before beginning an incantation for what Dash could feel was a new thunderstorm.

"Flee."

Rainbow looked down at the Sentinels approaching the stairs to the altar. "What?"

"You can make it through the corridor unscathed. Rejoin your companion and the rest of our brothers. You must seal the Pharaoh."

"No way! I'm not just gonna leave you here to die!"

"We died long ago. We were granted the honor of protecting the Sphinx after death, and all of us will gladly fight until our bones turn to dust to fulfill our duty."

"Yeah, well, that's not gonna happen." Dash looked up at the lightning forming above them, "You guys saved my ass, so now it's time to pay you back!" If there's one thing The Dash won't do, that's leaving anypony behind.

Ignoring the numbness on her chest, Rainbow launched herself at the magical thunderstorm. She turned to buck the lightning, the pain on her back legs from the earlier wounds returned, but the feeling of electricity running throughout her body with each kick eased the pain, and she felt an adrenaline rush kicking in again.

The battle below wasn't going well for the Sentinels. Too tired and battered from the fight with Anubis' priests, the giant skeletons could barely do more than keep the swordsmen at bay as magical fire rained upon them from the mages' relentless attacks.

Having dealt with the thunderstorm, Dash looked down at the army assailing them: volley after volley of fire bolts and fireballs made their way to them; below her, at the sides of the stairs, already two Sentinels lied unmoving on the ground, and the rest of them fought at the top of the stairs to keep the platoon of Pasana from simply trampling them, but the magical fire would take them out soon.

Hang in there, guys! Dash sped off, aiming at the rear of the small army, where many mages freely cast their missiles at the altar.

"SEFETHEW, MESNEH!"

At the barked order of the high priest, a troop of Pasana moved in front of the mages, all of them pointing their swords at Dash in anticipation.

ARGH! Stupid, rotting fleabag! Rainbow cursed as she flew above the Pasana and mages, circling ahead in an attempt to get them from behind.

A high-pitched noise echoed behind her, but she couldn't pay attention as she felt a chill run down her spine once again. Dash didn't have time to react as she saw many orbs of light heading directly for her. She tried in vain flying higher to avoid the missiles, and a numbing chill overcame her from her back as the orbs hit her.

Barely conscious, she saw the ground getting closer and closer as she fell, and she closed her eyes slowly. We were so close...

Dash felt a sudden warmth surrounding her before she blacked out.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Please!" Rarity practically danced on top of the Sentinel's pauldron. "Ohh, why did I have to lose those maps!?"

Her group had already restored three of the five seals on the level, and she was now accompanied by a troop of seven Sentinels as they made their way to the seal at the high priests' tombs. They had only encountered stragglers from the main army, and they managed to deal with them relatively unscathed, except for the unicorn's nerves.

"How much further is it!?" she barked.

"Through the next corner, at the end of the corridor to the right. It is unwise to go alone, the Pharaoh's army could be"-

"Oh, they are there. I can just feel it."

Rarity jumped off the giant skeleton, doing a small roll to break her fall before speeding off at full gallop.

Please be all right, Dash!

For some time now, a nagging feeling had settled in her chest. She initially dismissed it, thinking that she was being overly nervous again, but the feeling still prevailed whenever she thought about Rainbow Dash. After some time, she'd felt a sudden pang in her horn, as if a great amount of magic had been used, and she started fearing for the worst.

She kept galloping as she turned right on the corner, and her ears perked up as she made out the faint sounds of battle further ahead.

Random scorch marks and dying embers littered the floor and walls, and as she went further ahead, she started to make out the robed figures of mages who were too busy casting spells to notice her. The feeling on her chest returned again, and she saw a rainbow blur streak above the mages.

"Rainbow Dash!"

This time, the pang on her horn returned, and she could see shinning red missiles were making their way towards her friend.

"DASH! LOOK OUT!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, and saw as Dash tried to dodge, but it was too late.

Rarity galloped towards her friend, watching as the missiles struck Rainbow and sent her spiraling down to the hard floor. Her horn flared alive with a deep blue light, she had only a split second to catch her friend and she strained to stop her fall just inches above the ground.

"*huff*... got you..." Rarity sighed in relief. She endured the strain of keeping her friend afloat as she approached, and the initial shock at her friend's state quickly turned into anger.

The pegasus' back legs had long trails of blood on them and her cloak was in tatters and singed in many spots; random circular patches on her coat had become sickly pale, and some of her feathers stuck out randomly, with many that had fallen off, though she didn't seem to have any broken bones, and she was breathing faintly, barely within consciousness.

Rarity reached for her potion, and almost forced the bottle onto her friend's mouth. She massaged her throat to make her swallow, and made a note about having to thank a certain yellow pegasus for that particular lesson later.

A vicious howl came from behind the mages, and Rarity turned to look at a disgusting trio of half-dog creatures making their way towards them, followed by some swordsmen, and she could see some of the mages preparing to cast something at her.

Her horn ached as she sensed the dog-monsters' terrible magic, and she moved to stand between Dash and the charging creatures, keeping herself collected as anger bubbled inside her.

How dare they!?

Rarity's horn came alive with a deep violet light, and she took the goat staff off her back, concentrating her magic through it.

Several fireballs made their way towards her, but the unicorn remained firmly planted in front of her friend. Rarity raised her horn as she felt the magic approaching, and the violet aura surrounding her horn and staff flashed throughout the entire corridor. The fireballs were now burning in a light violet flame as Rarity controlled the magic inside them, and she hurled them at the growling dog-monsters that were now only feet away from them.

The beasts didn't even have time to see what hit them as the firestorm rained down upon them. The last high priests of Anubis were turned into ash that was quickly blown away by the fiery explosions, leaving only a huge smoking scorch mark on the floor.

The Pasana advancing behind them stared at where their leaders stood seconds before, and then at the white creature with glowing eyes, before turning away in fear as she now pointed her staff at them.

"You pathetic, low-budget brutes think you can hurt my friend and simply walk away!?"

The Pasana's swords were enveloped in a violet light and swiftly yanked away from their hands, and a strong telekinetic burst shot out of Rarity's staff. The sudden impact sent the monsters flying directly at the mages who watched stunned in disbelief, followed closely by a rain of swords unleashed by the unicorn's rampaging magic.

The small army was sent into chaos as swords danced through the air, raining down like arrows and cutting anything in their path. The flames sailing through the air slowly died as the mages casting them were slain one by one, and panic took over the Pasana as their invisible enemy cut them down, many simply started running away or tried to hide.

The Sentinels that had been on the verge of collapse on the stairs to the altar were now chasing the routing army, and soon a second group of the giant skeletons had surrounded them from behind, quickly annihilating the remainder of the Pharaoh's army.

Rarity could feel everything around her. She could feel the flow of magic as her swords danced through the air, and the magic that bound her targets quickly break away as they were slain; she could feel the Sentinel's magic giving them life and strength, as well as their connection to the huge magical source underground; she even felt the magical healing her friend was undergoing directly behind her.

She could feel it all, but everything seemed to move on its own, yet still by her will, like a barely lucid dream.

"Rares?"

A sudden tap on her back broke her from her trance, and she was overcome by a sudden wave of fatigue and a strong headache, forcing her to sit on her haunches.

"Are you... okay there, Rares?"

She heard the familiar voice again as she regained her bearings, a cyan figure moved in front of her, and she was suddenly staring at two deep pools of magenta.

"Rainbow Dash...?" she rubbed her forehead trying to clear the pain away.

"So... did you just, uh, go all Twilight on those guys?" Rainbow pointed her head at the slowly dissolving army.

"What?" Rarity looked in front of her, slowly recognizing the scene of the complete annihilation she had caused, "Oh, my... did I really just do that?"

"Looked pretty intentional to me." Dash sat beside her friend and wrapped a forearm around her neck, "Thanks, by the way, really saved my tail there."

"I... you are welcome?" Rarity leaned her head to rest on her friend's shoulder, "I'm not even sure how I did... that. The whole thing felt like I was dreaming..." she sighed, "At the very least, I really am glad you're okay, Dash."

They sat in silence for some time until the Sentinels rallied back in front of them, perking up both ponies as the sound of clanking metal approached them.

"The Pharaoh's army is no more, for now."

"Whaddya mean 'for now'?" Dash sighed, "Ugh, never mind. He'll probably just start bringing more guys from wherever he gets them until we fix the seals for good, right?"

"Correct."

"Then I suppose I had best start working on the seal on the altar right away, hm?" Rarity looked up at the Sentinels, and a grave gasp echoed through the corridor as she noticed the state of the ones with charred bones or melted armor.

"My stars! What happened to you poor things!?"

"It's kind of a long story, Rares," Dash winced at the memory and shook her head, "I'll tell you later."

"But they look like they can barely even stand!" Rarity walked up to one of the giant skeletons and placed a hoof on its leg, "Is there anything I can do? I don't have any more potions, but perhaps my magic can help?"

"Our wounds cannot be healed as they would on humans. Only through time and rest will the source of our energy heal us. Time that we do not have."

"Then... perhaps you fellows should, ah... take it easy?"

The Sentinels were about to speak, but were interrupted as Dash flew up to them, "They're all right, Rares. Don't worry about it." She turned mid-air to wink at the skeletal warriors, then flew down to pick up her friend, flying them both to the altar.

"All right, guys, you stand guard to make sure nothing bothers Rares while she fixes the rune, got it?" she shouted back at them.

As they moved out of the Sentinel's earshot, Dash looked down to whisper at a surprisingly calm Rarity resting on her forearms.

"The only way we'll be able to stop those bones from getting themselves killed... again... will be to stop this Pharaoh before they get themselves killed defending us." she did a double-take, "The Sphinx! I meant defending the Sphinx!"

"I... see." The unicorn nodded, already getting an idea of how the Sentinels ended in such a state. "Then we must work our hardest for them as well, hm?" she winked up at Dash, the pegasus pointedly looking away to hide her blushing cheeks.

"H-hey, look at that! We're here!"

After fixing the rune and rejoining the Sentinels, the small group marched through the maze in silence. Not a single sound or move perturbed the ancient corridors, save for the heavy steps of the skeletons, and the clanking of their armor.

Rainbow kept catching Rarity giving both the Sentinels and herself quick glances with obvious worry on her face, but both ponies marched on without a word.

"The Pharaoh's sarcophagus rests at the end of the next corridor. Be warned: his power has been diminished by the seals, but he still stands far above his high priests in power. This was a human that acquired powers near those of a god."

Dash looked back at the Sentinels with a raised eyebrow, "We just have to buy Rares enough time to fix the rune, right? Shouldn't be too hard."

"Going near the rune itself could prove to be a challenge; it lies directly on the Pharaoh's resting place."

"I may be able to sneak past if this Pharaoh is distracted enough..." Rarity mused.

"Either way, we'll have to fight this guy; let's just go with the flow." Rainbow took to the air, floating ahead of everyone.

The group turned around the corner, and they were soon standing in front of a huge statue of polished limestone, sitting on an ornate pedestal that was full of different carvings; the stone giant sat on a great throne, wearing a big, ornate crown and headcloth; its face wore an indifferent stare as it looked down at the ponies standing below.

At the feet of the statue stood what looked like an elaborate chest decorated with beautifully cut jewels and gold, on top of which rested the last rune, and the ponies carefully approached the chest; Dash excitedly running her hooves through the carvings and Rarity eyeing the sparkling gems.

"My, so eager."

A pompous, echoing voice rang inside the head of both ponies, both of them nearly jumping at the sudden noise. They looked around trying to find the source, but the corridor still remained empty save for themselves and the Sentinels.

"What have we here? A couple of strange creatures grave robbing?"

"No... there's some magic in them. Have the asgardians taken to rising mules now?"

"What! Why don't you say that again to my face!?" Dash raised a hoof angrily at the air, still looking around for the source of the voice.

"Then again, mules have no wings, or horns..." The voice continued, completely ignoring the pegasus' angry threats.

"Ah, perhaps it's these creatures that have been nosing about, obstructing my liberation. But why? Such beasts have no place here."

"Yeah, keep talking, smart guy. We're just gonna seal you and shut you up. Rares?" Rainbow nodded at her friend, who nodded back as her horn came alive.

"Ah, but I can sense some ambition in these ones. They were interested in my sarchopagus, after all."

"Perhaps these creatures would be interested in a peaceful arrangement?"

"What?"

"Pardon?"

Both ponies perked up as they felt a tingle running down their spines.

"Yes, desire burns bright in their hearts. Power? Wealth? Immortality? Fame? These things can be easily granted by one as powerful as a god."

The chest in front of Rarity suddenly burst open, spewing forth piles of gold and radiant gems from every color of the spectrum; royal crowns and gowns were laid next to the dazzled unicorn as the tingling sensation kept running throughout her whole body and the voice echoed inside her head.

"Oh, my..." the unicorn looked wide-eyed at the treasure laid in front of her.

Rainbow Dash looked up to the statue's eyes, which had opened to reveal two polished carbonado diamonds, the light of the torches illuminating the room dancing in the deep pools of black. The statue brought its huge hands to its crown, which shed the stone covering it to reveal the beautiful golden borders adorned with a multitude of gems, along with its lustrous red velvet cap; it placed the crown on Dash's head, sending chills down her spine, as incorporeal cheers resonated throughout the corridor.

"Whoa..." Rainbow looked back down to see the Sentinels kneeling down to her in reverence.

"Yes. All of it would be theirs, were they to leave now..."

"But it's such a pity... I could do so much more, were the seal keeping me weakened destroyed... nothing would be beyond my power. These creatures could live in grand palaces made of pure diamond, or lead the most powerful armies to achieve fame and glory beyond their wildest dreams..."

"Diamond palaces..." Rarity shook her head, "But my friends... Amalia... I couldn't..." This feeling of déjà vu...

"But... everypony..." Dash felt a sudden bolt of energy running inside her, "What about my friends?" Why does this feel so familiar...?

"There is no need to worry about anything else. Everything will be fine when the seal is no more and I am free."

"Everyone..." Dash looked back at the Sentinels, and she felt another rush of energy run inside her, numbing the tingling that was spreading over her body. The giant skeletons kneeling down to her suddenly looked up with burning fire in their eyes.

"Awaken!"

The eyes of the skeletons flashed a bright crimson which filled the whole corridor with their light, blinding the airborne pegasus.

Dash slowly opened her eyes as the numbing feeling in her head cleared out, and she found herself laying on the ground next to Rarity, both of them were on the floor directly in front of the Pharaoh's sarcophagus. She shook her head in an attempt to get rid of an annoying ringing in her ears, and slowly the familiar sound of battle around her settled in.

The Sentinels were scattered throughout the corridor, fighting small packs of Pasana and few mages, while a human figure floated in the air above, surveying the battle.

The human looked exactly like the figure of the statue, only the size and color was different; he was only a head taller than most of the humans Dash had seen so far, and its skin was about the same shade of brown as Jaffar's, although the color of his face was disguised by various cosmetics and its tall crown; it lounged in the air as it looked down at the battle indifferently, only giving orders to the monsters below in an annoyed tone every once in a while.

"To think an army of you fools could not defeat these pathetic skeletal grunts on your own... useless."

The human raised a hand holding a flail, and Dash felt the air changing for an instant before lightning rained down on random spots around the skirmish below, taking down some of the Sentinels as well as many of the Pasana and mages.

"Now rise again, my servants."

The human now raised its other hand, which was holding a crook, and pillars of blue light sprouted from the ground. More swordsmen and mages stepped out from the light, roaring in anger and launching themselves at the battle.

"Now for more lightning..."

"Hey! Cut it out!" Dash launched herself at the human as he prepared another thunderstorm.

Sensing an incoming attack, the human lazily looked back over its shoulder at the incoming pegasus missile.

"Ah, the ingrate creature returned. Throwing beautiful gifts back to the face of its graceful Pharaoh... mules are such shameless animals."

The pharaoh flashed blue as the rainbow missile was about to hit him and teleported directly behind the speeding pegasus. He swatted at her with his crook and grabbed one of Dash's wings, giving it a powerful pull that sent her out of control and tumbling down to the ground.

"Such worthless animals belong in the ground with the rest of the lesser creatures."

Dash flapped her wings wildly to avoid crashing into the hard floor, and landed with a heavy thud on her four hooves. She rubbed the spot the Pharaoh struck on her wing as she flexed the muscle to relieve the pain.

"I'm not a mule, I'm a pegasus!" she glared up at the expressionless human, "And at least I don't go around wearing weird clown makeup!"

The lounging human flinched at the insult, and looked down with an annoyed expression as he raised its flail into the air,

"These are ceremonial markings and they are sacred, you filthy peasant!"

Dash whisked to the air an instant before a lightning bolt struck her, and she wore a proud smirk on her face as she maneuvered through the thunderstorm.

"So, what's the rest of the ceremony? You're in a silly dress already, too." She pointed at the Pharaoh's long skirt as she continued her aerobatics, "So I bet they just laugh at you for a while? Or do you do a silly dance to top it all off?"

"DO NOT MOCK THE DANCE OF ASCENSION!"

"Wait, you actually dance?" Rainbow didn't have time to laugh as she felt a shiver run down her spine when the Pharaoh pointed his crook at her, and familiar orbs of red light shot out from it, aiming directly at the speeding pegasus.

Well, I have its attention now, I guess. Dash flapped her wings as hard as she could to escape from the red missiles, but they were still gaining on her no matter what she did. Crap, crap, crap, crap!

"Behind me."

One of the Sentinels was standing ahead of her, raising its shield, and she launched herself to take cover behind him. Instead of the red orbs hitting the shield, the attack simply phased through the metal, and Dash saw the red lights closing in from behind the skeleton's ribs, but they simply vanished as they hit the charred bones of the giant skeleton, taking away even the charred marks and leaving only white bones behind.

"The filthy undead constructs insist on getting in my way?"

Dash felt the lightning forming above them as the Pharaoh raised his flail to the air, and she launched herself at the forming thunderstorm, trying to disrupt it before it was launched.

"Such pointless resistance only dooms these fools further. They should have accepted my generous offer like the horned mule."

"Rares' not gonna fall for your dumb tricks, jerk!" Dash snorted as she launched herself as a bullet, "And try calling her mule again and see what happens, clown-face!"

"There is no point in discussing with an animal for one such as myself; lesser creatures will always mock that which they cannot understand."

The Pharaoh teleported away from the rainbow missile's path once more, and he raised his crook, making more blue pillars sprout from the ground below him as he called forth more of his soldiers.

"Well, don't just stand there; destroy these blasphemers!"

"...what is that flying mule up to?"

Rainbow kept her course after the Pharaoh teleported away, and was making a beeline for Rarity, who was still laying on the floor without moving, looking almost asleep.

"Snap out of it, Rares! We need you to seal this clown away!"

"Well now, that simply will not do."

The Pharaoh appeared in a flash of blue light in front of Rarity, and struck at the incoming pegasus bullet with his flail, the collision sent a loud clack throughout the corridor as the two forces recoiled from the impact. Dash was sent flying back, while the Pharaoh slid a few feet on the ground as a look of pure anger settled on his face.

"Look at this, you filthy animal!" He held up his flail, which now had lost one of its three beaded strands, "This will not go unpunished!"

Author's Note

Well, here it is. Kind of.

Sorry for the huge time between updates, and I'm really sorry about the confusion from uploading the unfinished chapter. What you are reading now is what was supposed to be about 60% of the total chapter, so it doesn't really 'end' so much as it 'stops'... but I felt it unfair that some people got to read the 'chapter' before others, so I might as well at least publish the more 'polished' version of the chapter.

Again, I'm really sorry about the confusion; I hope this is at least good enough while I finish up the rest of the story. I can't make promises on the update schedule, but I'll try to get the next chapter up faster than this time.

Thanks for reading, and remember all criticism is welcome.