Obscurum Descensus

“…I need you to recover the artifact”

Luna stared at her sister in utter surprise. She realized her jaw was a bit slack and so she closed it before proceeding.

“Y-you’re trusting me to retrieve the artifact? But ‘Tia, you know how dangerous that device is when it interferes with my magic! You saw what it did a thousand years ago! I cannot go, it is too dangerous”

“Luna, it is like the mare said. The only reason why I could not even find the artifact in the first place was because it disrupts my magic. It cloaks itself in order to hide from light and warmth and therefore even with the location now known to me I would not be able to find it. That is why you must go. It has demonstrated responding to your magic and I believe if I teach you the location spell I have been using you should be able to find it”

Luna looked away from her sister and looked out one of the tall, beautiful windows that filled the throne room with an abundance of light. She was not staring at anything in particular though and instead gave thought to the mission her older sister wished that she would accept.

Luna experienced firsthand what power could be unleashed from that tiny little ball of magic. It changed her for the worst and she nearly brought the entire land of Equestria to its knees by threatening to bring the Eternal Night. How could her sister expect her to find that object again?

“Sister I… I must think on this. If you don’t mind” Luna finally said, still staring out the magnificent castle window.

“Of course Woona, take all of the time you need. In the meantime, why don’t the two of us have lunch in the castle gardens?”

~~~

Princess Luna fell to her knees as the pain returned to her head. She let out a light groan, turning the lantern off so that she can conceal her eyes from the light. After a few more painful minutes, Luna finally opened her eyes and took a look at her surroundings.

“It would help if I turned the lantern on,” she muttered to herself as Luna turned the lantern back on and looked forward. She appeared to be in a rather wide hall with unlit lanterns lining the ceiling all the way down to the curve at the end of the hallway. There were a few barrels and boxes that lined the way but other than that there seemed to be nothing of interest. Luna got to her hooves and trudged forward.

Suddenly her lantern started to dim.

“Oh pony feathers, I should have known using the lantern so much would use up the oil” Luna said as she set the lantern down on the ground. She lit another match and used it to light the lantern hanging from the ceiling above her to give her some light as she reloaded the lantern with oil from the canteen. There seemed to be enough oil in the canteen to fully fill the lantern again.

Luna picked the lantern back up in her mouth and started to walk forward again until a piece of paper left on a lone barrel caught her eye. She cantered over and picked it up.

“Headmaster,

I am sorry to report that the tunnels leading to the elevator in the castle have collapsed due to recent earth quakes happening around the the surrounding area. The only other way to get to the elevator is through the trap door located in the top storage room at the end of the entrance hall. For now it will have to serve as the workers remove the debris from the tunnel.

Signed by Strong Hammer”

I wonder if the tunnel is still collapsed. Luna stored the note away in her saddle bags and walked forward, taking the hallway as it snaked its way through the castle. It was a bit of a long walk but finally Luna started to notice rather large boxes that seemed to be piled on top of pallets in what looks like an open room approaching. Luna slowed her approach and dimmed the lantern as she entered the storage room.

It was the same all around her. Piles of boxes lined the walls with a single row leading to two doors on either side of her. Luna decided to go right and opened the door that was in front of her.

The room was rather small compared to the spacious storage room she had just been in. There was a desk that looked to have piles of papers that were probably documents organizing the storage room. There was also a candle which Luna lit with another match, not wanting to waste too much lantern oil. Behind the desk there looked to be a bookcase. When the blue alicorn checked the bookcase, however, there was nothing of interest as it mostly contained shipping manifests of all items that came and went from storage over the past one hundred and thirty years.

Seeing nothing that was inherently important in the room, Luna walked to the door on the other side of the room and opened it, turning her lantern back on so she could see into the room.

It looked just like the room the dark princess was previously exploring. A desk containing piles of irrelevant papers, a bookcase containing nothing but manifests, and a candle for light. Luna decided to ignore the candle, instead trotting to the other side of the room and picking up another canteen of oil that she found lying on the floor next to a broken lantern.

“Hm, this should fill at least half the lantern next time it dies out” Luna said aloud as she stored the canteen in her bag.

Seeing as though Luna could trudge no further, she decided to back track back into the main storage room. After giving the boxes and crates another look, Luna trotted to the other side of Storage and placed a hoof on the door.

She heard the sound of a sickening growl behind her.

Oh no, open the door, OPEN THE DOOR. Luna opened the door with haste and quickly shut it behind her, listening for the clop of the mutilated mare’s hoofsteps.

There they were. They were heading right for the door she just came through.

Luna backed away from the door and frantically searched the room she was in. There were a few bookcases, a small crate, a desk shoved into a corner, and another door. Nowhere to hide.

Wait, the door!

SLAM

The mare was going to try and buck open the door again. Luna scrambled to the other side of the room and opened the door, quickly getting in and closing it behind her. Unfortunately, the room she was in didn’t provide much help than the former. There was a long table covered with broken and old dishes with chairs thrown about everywhere. There were a couple more bookcases and another door to the left of her.

CRASH. The mare had gotten through the first door.

Luna made a dash for the door to her left and turned the handle, heaving her strength against the door. It wouldn’t budge.

SLAM

No. No no nonononono NO. The princess cried out in her head. She quickly scanned the room looking for anything she might be able to use to defend herself.

Her eyes fell onto grate low to the floor right next to the door she was trying to open. Luna got down to her knees and peered through the grate, noticing another room on the other side. She quickly got back onto her hooves upon hearing another slam against the door the mare was trying to get through. Luna used all of her strength to buck the grate open and heard a satisfying clang. She crawled through the small hole.

The door in the previous room flew off of its hinges and slammed into the table. Luna paused mid-crawl through the grate and waited, listening to the heavy breathing of the mare. The pause lasted for a few more seconds until the monster turned and left, leaving a startled Luna shivering in the grate.

Luna finished her crawl through the little tunnel and emerged into a light filled room, looking back at herself and taking note that she was going to need a serious royal bubble bath at the end of all of this. After giving a slight snort, she turned back to look at the room. It was fairly large, containing several book cases and desks that had candles on them already lit. As Luna walked forward and rounded a book case, she discovered what was blocking the door from opening: a rather large bookcase weighted down by crates that looked to contain some kind of heavy material. Luna turned her gaze back to the rest of the room.

Over in the corner on one of the desks the princess saw something glimmer. She trotted over to it and discovered it was a key, setting her lantern down and picking it up to place it in her saddle bags. I really need to find something to hang this lantern around my neck.

As if answering her calls, Luna saw thin string bundled up in the corner of a desk and set to work creating a necklace to tie around the lantern. Successful in her work, Luna put the new lantern-necklace around her neck. “Perfect”

Luna finished her inspection by spotting a door off in the far corner of the room. Giving the room one last sweep in case she missed anything, Luna walked over to the door and peaked around the corner, shining the lantern into the next room.

Which was entirely unnecessary as the next room was also fully lit. Smaller than the first room, this room only contained what looked like to be a trap door that was undoubtedly the door that led deeper into the castle and a desk with a rather large candle on it. Luna walked over to the trap door and saw that there was a padlock keeping the door closed. Luna used the key she had in her saddle bags.

It worked.

Luna opened the trap door with a groan and let it rest against the wall, looking down the hole. It wasn’t quite as dark down the hole as she expected. There seemed to be a light off in the distance that she couldn’t see so the princess jumped down through the hole to have a better look.

In front of her was a short hallway that curved to the left and was lit by a torch at the corner. Luna walked forward and turned the corner, entering a more spacious hallway that was littered by boxes, crates, barrels, and other storage devices. To her right was an open archway that led to a room with several bookshelves and boxes lying about. She walked into the room and spotted a lever on the far wall, higher than she could reach.

Perhaps I should explore more of the area before I decide to pull that lever. Maybe there are clues as to what its purpose is. Luna explored the rest of the room, finding two more matches in her search. She exited the room and continued back down the hall, turning a corner to her right where Luna spotted a door blocked by a couple of crates.

The dark princess trotted over to the door and removed the crates. She opened the door and peered inside, shining the lantern since the room was pretty dark. Luna noticed that there was a torch over on the far wall between some bookshelves so when she entered the room, she walked over and lit the torch with one of the matches. The room was relatively small, full of crates and empty bookshelves but there was one thing that caught her eye: another lever that seemed to be connected to some pipes.

I’m betting that those pipes are used to power something. Luna made a mental note to herself. She walked back of the room and looked to her right. There was a gated doorway blocking her way along with several crates and boxes piled up on the side. She walked over and inspected the gate, looking for some sort of pulley or lever that would lift the gate to no avail. She removed some of the boxes from the pile in hopes that perhaps there was a lever hiding behind them.

Nothing.

“Hm, maybe that first lever I found controls the gate. Strange that the constructers of this facility would place the lever for a door so far away.” Luna said to herself as she made her way back to the first lever. She piled a bunch of boxes and tried pulling the lever down but it wouldn’t budge. Something must have been blocking the lever or the lever needed power.

Luna inspected to lever and frowned.

“Oh! The second lever must control the power for this lever.”

Luna trotted her way back to the second lever and grabbed hold of it with both of her front hooves. She pushed down and with a slight groan the lever gave way to Luna’s weight and water started to pump through the pipes. Luna gave a victorious smile and turned to leave.

Suddenly she heard a crack and turned around, hoping that the sound wasn’t what she thought it was.

The left pipe closest to the lever burst, smacking Luna with a plume of water and smashing her against the wall next to the door with a tremendous amount of force. She blacked out…

…and awakened to a splash as the box she was laying on tipped over.

“Ugh, that’s cold.” Luna said to herself as she got to her hooves quickly. “Not the kind of royal bubble bath I had in mind.”

The Princess of the Night was standing in water that came up to her knees. She looked over to the burst piping, seeing that it was still pumping out water into the hallway but at a much slower rate than when the original burst happened. Luna waded over to inspect the other pipe.

It seemed to be still intact and was still pumping water. Luna hoped it would be enough to power the lever to lift the gate.

“Only one way to find out” Luna made her way back to the first lever.

The princess entered the room and was about to pull the lever when she heard a splash behind her. Her pupils shrank as she slowly rotated her body to look.

There, blocking the doorway, was another pony. This pony seemed to be unable to stand to its full height as it front legs were missing, submerging its head in the water. That didn’t seem to be a problem though as Luna noticed that there were giant gashes on the sides of the pony’s neck that resembled gills. Its eyes were covered by a thick bandage that were stained red where the eyes were, or perhaps should have been. Its mane and tail were soaked and drooping while one of its ears looked to be chewed off. The pony was ghost white.

Luna shifted her weight in the water as if to jump for a box. The monster charged her.

She pushed off of the water and landed on one of the floating boxes next to the lever as the pony shuffled forward and stopped at the base of the box. Luna stared down in horror at the creature but after giving it one long stare she realized that it wasn’t making a move to attack. The princess brought her eyes up and looked around the room for something, anything, that could distract the pony.

Upon seeing nothing, Luna looked over at the lever and pulled it. It slid down nicely and she heard the satisfying sound of a gate opening. Then she heard a ticking sound.

“Oh horse apples, there is a timer?” Luna complained out loud as she jumped over the creature and landed with a splash in the water. She heard a garbled growl behind and turned her head as she ran, seeing the gilled pony give chase after her. The water suddenly felt colder.

It was faster than her even when she was going at a full gallop.

Luna realized she need to find some sort of higher ground so she jumped to her left and landed on a box, the gilled pony stopping at the box beneath her, tilting it’s head up as if it was staring directly at her. Luna paused in her step, a chill going down her spine as she looked down at the frightening creature.

Her gaze broke when she heard another click from the timed door. She started hopping from box to box, the creature tailing her as it seemingly heard, or perhaps felt, each splash under Luna’s weight on top of the box. Finally she reached the gate.

Heart pounding in her throat, Luna made a frantic leap from the box she was on and ran for the gate, the creature following right behind her. She dashed through the gate as it made a sudden drop. The princess jumped onto one of the boxes floating in the next room and looked behind her. Her jaw dropped and she let out a terrified yelp.

There, looking up at her from the foot of the box, was the gilled pony.

Luna looked frantically to her left and right and spotted a box that was already weighted and touching the floor. The dark princess leaped onto the box and turned to face the pony. It didn’t move except for its face which seemed to have followed her.

Luna took a step back and slipped on something round. She fell flat on her stomach and groaned before looking back to see what she had stepped on. The alicorn couldn’t make out what the object was as the room was too dark. She got back onto her hooves and fumbled with the lantern, turning it on and peering down to see. Luna felt her stomach do a back flip.

The object was a limb from a mutilated pony, a front leg most likely, and it was accompanied by a torso and a back leg; probably all from the same pony. Luna kicked the front leg into the water.

Suddenly the gilled pony made a dash for the severed limb, tearing into the meat with a ferocity that could be heard by the garbled snarls and choking sounds as the blood around the pony turned a deep red. Luna emptied the contents of her stomach over the side of the box.

The princess sat down, looking away from the remaining body parts lying behind her. She closed her eyes.

Console yourself Luna, be at peace. Just give yourself time to think. Luna thought to herself. Look around the room, maybe you’ll see something. If only Celestia were here to help…

She looked up and over at the gilled pony, seeing that it had once again began to look at her with a tilt of its head that would have snapped any other pony’s neck. She then looked past the pony and saw another gate.

The… creature seems to respond to either sound or vibrations within the water. If I toss one of these boxes away from the path I need to take perhaps it will allow me enough time to open the gate?

It was worth a shot. Luna picked up the box she had originally jumped from and tossed the box into the far corner. The pony didn’t move.

Buck. Wait, it seems to register heat signatures since it seems to follow me with its head and was able to sense which boxes I stepped on. In combination with the splashes from the boxes under my weight it was able to track me through the hall. If I can find another object that also let’s off a heat signature I might be able to distract it. But what in this room can also give off heat?

Luna looked to her right at the body sharing the box with her. I really hope my magic will work for at least this.

A blue hue appeared around the torso of the mutilated pony but would not budge. “Horse apples”

The Princess of the Night eyed the torso of the pony warily before picking it up in her mouth. She almost retched a second time from the rotting flesh pressing on her tongue but she turned her body and threw the torso as hard as she could, watching as it came down into the water in a far corner away from the path to the gate.

The gilled pony ran after it.

Seeing her chance, Luna hopped off of the box and ran straight for the gate. She paused, noticing the use of a turn wheel was needed to open the gate. She looked behind her.

The water in the corner was filled with blood.

Luna frantically began turning the wheel, catching glimpses behind her to see if the pony had noticed her yet.

There was a splash.

Almost there. Luna looked behind her.

It was halfway across the room.

Open, open, openopenopenopenopenOPEN.

The gate was finally high enough to let the alicorn through. She passed and threw open the door just behind the gate.

Suddenly excruciating pain shot through her leg as she was ripped off of her hooves and plunged into the water. The gilled pony had grabbed hold of her back left hoof with its sharpened teeth and was pulling her back into the other room.

Luna lungs filled with water as she tried to gasp for breath and bucked the pony right in the head with her free hoof. The pony recoiled from the pain, ripping the muscle in her hoof as it didn’t let go. She bucked it again and finally the gilled pony relented, giving a garbled growl.

Luna rocketed out of the water with a flap from her wings, sending the pony back against the now-closed gate. The princess landed on all four hooves, pain immediately shooting up her leg and sending her back into the water with a loud splash.

Get up Luna, GET UP. She was too late however as the gilled pony rushed forward and sunk its teeth into her right shoulder. Luna let out a yelp and flew back, sending the pony crashing against the wall and releasing its grip. Luna rolled onto her side and quickly got up, turning to face the gilled pony as it was recovering.

It charged her again.

The dark princess bent her head down and plunged her horn deep into the gilled pony’s mouth, watching as the tip of the horn exited through the top of its skull. She threw her head to the side and watched as it flew off of her horn and smacked against a wall. It let out a deep growl but before it could recover Luna was on top of the creature.

She stomped on its head. And then stomped on it again. And again, and again, and again. She stomped on its head until blood filled the water around her and there was nothing left of the face. Luna stopped, panting.

The rage left her eyes. Luna turned her head away and retched again. She threw up until it felt like her stomach was going to come out of her throat.

The dark alicorn princess turned back to look at the slain gilled pony and let out a sob.

“I… I killed it. No… N-no I didn’t j-just kill it, I p-pulverized it! It w-was defenseless, hurt. A-and I came back in all of m-my senseless rage and turned its head into m-meat. Have I l-learned nothing?!” Luna said before she let tears spill down her face. “I-it may have been t-trying to k-k-kill me but… but…”

Luna sat down in the water and cried. She remembered the black liquid, the maimed pony, her inability to escape. She looked at the dead gilled pony. Even if they are trying to kill me, why should I kill them? I should have known better… I could almost feel the darkness like before, before it took me.

Finally, a rush of pain through her shoulder and her leg woke her from her crying stupor. Luna looked down and back at the damage, tears still streaming from her eyes. The wound on her leg might be irreversible unless she got to her sister in a few days’ time. Her shoulder fared better but she will still need to bandage it up to keep it from becoming infected.

Luna stood up carefully, looking down to observe the darkened water in the room. Then she noticed the lantern. Please don’t tell me the lantern or the matches are unusable now!

Lucky for her, both the lantern and the matches were working perfectly so Luna began to search the room for any signs of medical supplies. Fortunately there seemed to be some sort of first aid kit on the desk across the room. Luna walked over and searched through its contents, finding a bottle of disinfectant, two rolls of gauze, a splint, a towel, and a couple of Band-Aids.

Luna quickly set to work getting herself dried off on top of the desk and then disinfecting and wrapping both the shoulder and the left back leg in gauze. She also took note to remember the cut on her cheek and used the last of the disinfectant on that along with a few Band-Aids. When Luna went to store the rest of the Band-Aids and the splint in her bag she noticed the healing potions.

Oh! I’ve never used one of these before but I believe they are more like pain relievers than actual healing potions. Luna popped the cap off of one of the potions and drank, the bitterness leaving a bad after taste but the pain throbbing throughout her body eventually numbed.

Finally finished with her self-patching-up, Luna slightly limped to the door across from the gate and opened it, starting up the stairs in front of her and leaving the horrifying, flooded hall behind her.