Obscurum Descensus

Obscurum Decensus Chapter 8

Clip clop clip clop…

Luna’s heavy hoofsteps echoed throughout the hall she was walking down. Even with the health potions she had drank, the princess still felt battered and broken with only her will to escape this place pushing her on. She was in a nightmare turned reality and the punishment for failing to escape was more than likely death. She may have the ability to live for an eternity but she did not have the ability to feign becoming mortally wounded.

But Luna could not escape. Not until she retrieved the Element of Chaos. Her connection to the artifact was drawing out the Nightmare the longer it remained established. It needed to be destroyed, not hidden away. It was up to her to be the one to bring it back and to be the one that removed the artifact permanently from the world.

The torches that lined the walls gave a dull and eerie glow to the hall as the princess trudged forward to the doorway that was at the end. The door was small and did not flatter the length of the hallway Luna had been walking down. It was also made with a heavy metal with an iron bar at the top to be used as a window to see into either the hall or in the room beyond the door. She stopped and peered through the barred window.

It was hard to make anything out in the next room as there was a green light that seemed to be coming from the ceiling. Luna opened the door and looked up to see that the source of light was coming from green fires that were lit from hanging chandeliers.

“That’s odd… I don’t see any tubes that could be used to fuel copper(II) sulfate or boric acid to the flames. Perhaps they are held in this state by magic. Oh, I wish my horn wasn’t cracked…” Luna said as she started to look around. She shuttered.

Dangling from the ceiling and suspended by thick chains were large metal cages that swung very loosely in the still air. A wide set of steep stairs were to Luna’s right while to her left were three heavy, metal doors that looked the same as the one she had just come in from. In front of her was another door made of wood and larger than the others.

The princess walked forward, deciding to explore whatever was beyond the friendliest looking of doors. She looked up to her right up the long and steep staircase. There was a thick trail of blood leading all the way up to the top of the steps where a giant alter sat looking dark and menacing. The faint sound of chanting and leather bouncing on cobblestone could be heard and Luna quickly turned her head back to look ahead of her. She was hoping her suspicions about what the alter was used for would not be confirmed in one of these rooms.

When Luna reached the wooden door she found that it was locked so she turned around to walk towards one of the metal doors that lined the wall now to her right. Her hoofsteps were the only sounds that filled entire room. The eerie quiet unnerved the princess. Not even the sound of clinking chains or groans of metal from the cages could be heard. Her short walk seemed to last an hour instead of a minute.

The alicorn reached the door and pushed it open with a deafening creak that could probably be heard through the whole room. She cringed and stepped through the door, closing it behind her. When the door made the final click behind her, Luna suddenly heard crying coming from down the hall along with the sound of running water. She started to make her way across the hall to the door at the other end.

The closer Luna got to the door the louder the crying was. She could hear splashes and gurgles and choking as if the pony in the next room was being drowned. There were some muffled screams.

“No! Nooo, please no more! I don’t know…” The pleas died into another round of choking and gagging as the sound of water was heard dripping onto the floor. The princess had reached the door.

She pushed it open.

The screams stopped. The sound of running water died. The room was empty and Luna was staring at a table with straps that could be used to hold somepony down. There were a couple of buckets of water and wet rags littered on the floor. The entire room smelled of bile. She stepped into the room and let the door close behind her.

“Waterboarding…” Luna whispered to herself. The use of this form of torture had been outlawed by her mother and father over a thousand years ago. The effects of waterboarding were horrifying that included lung damage, brain damage, and could cause psychological damage that can last for years. Luna could just imagine seeing a pony lying on their back, strapped in by the harnesses with a strip of cloth held over their mouth and nose. A pony would then come up and proceed to dump water over the cloth causing the gag reflex to react and creating an almost immediate sensation of drowning.

The princess closed her eyes as she thought she could hear the faint sound of somepony crying and gagging again. The sound was gone almost immediately but she suddenly felt very cold and wished to only leave. She needed to find a key for the wooden door, however, and quickly began her search, keeping the thoughts of what ponies endured in here out of her mind.

She searched high and low for anything that looked like a key. Through cabinets filled with cloth rags and buckets. Through drawers that had medical tools like scalpels and syringes and various types of sedatives. There was a note on one of the desks next to the victim’s table that outlined the procedure on how to apply the waterboarding torture to the most recent victim but Luna did not find anything that resembled a key. She was about to give up and walk out of the room when she noticed something shimmer in the corner of her eye.

Luna was looking under the table where the victim lay at a grate underneath it. Something glimmered again and the princess walked over, feeling more and more uneasy with each step. When she reached the edge of the table she bent her head and looked down the grate. Sure enough, there was a key underneath the metal bars in the backed up drain full of water and bile from ponies. With her horn broken there was only one way to retrieve the key.

Looking at the grate with disgust for a few seconds, Luna kneeled down and opened the grate with her mouth, shivering at the bitter taste of the metal and pony fluids that coated it. After looking down the grate one last time, the princess closed her eyes and stuck her head into the grate and grabbed the key amongst the rest of the bile and filthy water. No matter how fast Luna could move there was no possible way that she could have pulled the key out quickly enough. She let it drop to the floor and ran over to the corner, vomiting heavily for a few minutes.

“Oh… My…” Luna felt exhausted. Her muscles ached, her stomach hurt, she had a roaring headache, and her vision was getting blurry. She just wanted to sleep…

“No! I can’t sleep. Not here. I must get out of the castle first. Then I can rest.” The princess said to herself. She unsteadily got to her feet and limped over to retrieve the key. After a few tries of trying to grab the key with her teeth she finally managed to get the thing into her bags. She wobbled out of the torture chamber and made her way over to the wooden door.

Wait, when were there two wooden doors? Her vision was blurring further and Luna barely made it over to the door, slouching against it for a second before grabbing the key and unlocking it. The door creaked open and she practically fell into the room, collapsing in the middle of the rug and laying her head down. She could see a desk in front of her piled high with papers. The room was warm and inviting with a large chandelier bringing plenty of light and bookshelves lined with colorful books.

“Perhaps I can just…”

~~~

They departed Windsoar as Celestia’s sun just sunk down over the horizon and Luna brought out the moon. Although it was not the most practical time to leave a massive cloud city as there were still many pegasus out and about, Luna, Dime, and Shadow did not run into any problems and left the city without causing too much suspicion.

The trio agreed upon flying straight to the Tramplevanian Alps instead of making their last stop in the town of Tramplevania and continuing their journey the following night. If they reached the Alps by morning then they would have all day to search for the location of the Element of Chaos. They could only hope for the wind to be behind them to help with a speedy flight to the base of the mountains.

Fortunately the wind was behind them as they reached a high enough altitude to avoid being easily spotted on the ground. The travel from the floating city to the base of the mountains was relatively uneventful again as nopony wanted to have to raise their voice above the roar of the wind as they flew. And also partly because Luna was deep in thought.

Why did the Element of Chaos suddenly decide to try a reawaken the Nightmare that is festering inside of her? It had ample opportunities ever since the Elements of Harmony were used on her. And why was the artifact hidden away in some castle hidden in the Tramplevanian Alps? Who was the mysterious mare that discovered where the artifact was hidden? There were too many questions and Luna had no idea how to answer any of them. Her only hope was that when she finally reached the Element of Chaos there would be an explanation.

The three dark ponies reached the foot of the mountains just outside of Tramplevania as the sun was starting to make its first appearance over in the East. Dime was the first to talk.

“So, how are we going to find some castle that is hidden away in the largest mountain range bordering Equestria?”

“My sister taught me the spell she has been using to locate the Element of Chaos for a thousand years now. I just have to conjure it up and it works like a typical gem finding spell.”

“Ah, understood. Lead the way then, Luna.”

Luna’s horn glowed a dark blue as she activated her sister’s spell. Almost instantly she could feel a tug on her horn and then leaped into the air, taking off in the direction her horn felt as if it were being tugged.

The search lasted for the greater part of the day as the trio had to fly low and slow to keep an eye out for anything that resembled a castle in the distance. They flew over entire mountains and brushed their hooves atop the tips of evergreen pine trees. Finally, as the sun started to descend lower into the sky, the three night ponies finally saw a dark and gothic castle come into view.

The castle was enormous and was built into the side of a mountain similar to that of Canterlot. However, the castle looked as if it were made of black stone and had spires that extended high into the air but stayed lower than the tips of the mountain peaks. Gargoyles and jagged spikes jutted out all over its walls and towers to give it an evil and menacing look.

“What a fitting place to hide the Element of Chaos” Dime mused.

The three made their descent and landed a ways off from the castle, not wanting to attract attention in case there were any new residents living in the castle now. They set up camp near a stream hidden behind some tall bushes and Luna conjured up some wards that could keep an eye out if there were some kind of creature that strayed too close to the camp.

Once the camp was fully set up, Luna turned to her two companions. “I am going to need you two to keep watch over the castle and make sure no pony enters or leaves. I will be entering the castle alone to look for the Element of Chaos. If I do not emerge from the castle by midday tomorrow, please fly with all haste back to Canterlot and retrieve my sister.”

The two Night Guards held stoic faces in front of their princess as they realized that this was an order and not a friendly suggestion. Luna could feel that both of her friends were hesitant to comply with her order. There was a pause.

“We understand, Luna.” The two Night Guards said in unison.

“Good. I am grateful that you two trust…”

~~~

The princess awoke with a start as she felt that there was some pony gently shaking her awake. Wait, somepony is shaking me awake…

Through her pained headache and aching body she managed to kick whoever it was straight in the jaw and rolled away, over her bad wing, and got to her hooves with a gasp of pain. She immediately collapsed as she felt even more pain come to her body and quickly fetched the last bottle of health potion out of her saddle bags. She paused before she downed the bottle.

Standing before her was the rugged figure of Dime. His wings appeared to have been ripped from his body and he had an eye patch over one eye. He had various cuts and bruises all over his body and his left ear appeared to be nearly chewed off. He groaned.

“Oh my stars, Dime! Are you alright? I am so sorry!” Luna cried in apology. She tried to get up to go and help her friend but was soon reminded of the pain shooting through her body. She opened the bottle of health potion and started to drink, reminding herself to save some for her injured friend.

“It’s quite alright, Luna. I’ve… been… through worse.” Dime groaned as he slowly got back up into a sitting position and slowly stroked his jaw. “I think I can handle another bruise.”

When he glanced over at Luna he grimaced. “Oh my, Luna, what happened?”

The princess finished her portion of the last bottle of health potion and handed it over to Dime. “There is no time to discuss this now. We must get the Element of Chaos. Where is Shadow? Why are you not outside?”

“As you said we do not have the time for me to go into full details. However, Shadow and I were attacked by the horrifying creatures that walk these halls. Shadow managed to escape and is more than likely on her way back with your sister.”

Luna let out a sigh and closed her eyes. “We cannot wait for her.”

“Luna, you are in no condition to walk, let alone search for the Element.”

“Neither are you but you’re going to help me, are you not?”

“I… yes. Alright.”

The two ponies got to their hooves as soon as Dime finished the last of the health potion and tossed it away. The princess finally allowed the sight of how extensive his injuries were to enter her mind and let out a quiet gasp when he winced after walking to a part of the room.

“Dime… Y-your wings…”

“Oh. My… wings. I guess that means that I might need to be… carried home, right? But hey, I see that one of yours didn’t fare much better.”

Luna looked back. That is one thing that she had always loved about Dime. He could always make light of any situation no matter how bad. This had to be the worst one yet and he was still positive, if only slight. The princess sighed.

“Hey, I found a note.”

The princess trotted over at the announcement and read it over with Dime.

Attention High Priest Blackheart,

I have instructed for a new magical lock to be created for the door into the Chancel where the orb is held. The lock requires a set of three keys and a replica orb that I have made sure to scatter into various pieces that are hidden safe in the Sacrificial Chambers located just beyond the Torture Chambers. I have attached a map showing the location of all of the orb pieces. There should be three.

Baron Darkwing

The two ponies searched high and low all over the desk for the map mentioned in the note but instead of finding the map they found a rather heavy key. It was half the length of Dime’s leg and was crawling with orange glowing symbols that shifted and melded in with the key as if there were shadows shifting light across it. The princess picked it up and examined it carefully.

“This must be one of the three keys that unlocks the door into the Chancel.” She said as she put the key into her saddle bags.

Dime nodded and the duo returned to searching around the room. Luna was amazed at the collection of books the owner of this room had. There were very well preserved historical texts and literature that nopony would be able to find even in the Royal Canterlot Library. She would have to make a note to herself to come back later for them.

After finding nothing of further interest in the room, the two dark ponies left and returned back into the main hall of the Torture Chambers. It seemed darker than before and Luna ended up switching her lantern on to guide her and Dime towards the two other metal doors across from the steep staircase. She gave another glance up the looming structure and could have sworn she heard chanting again.

“Luna, are you alright?” Luna shook herself out of her stupor at the sound of Dime’s voice.

“Y-yes. I’m fine.”

“Well, in that case I guess I’ll take the room furthest away while you take the center door?”

“It sounds like a good plan.”

The two separated and Luna entered through the center door, pushing it open with another loud creak and allowing it to close behind her. All was quiet. There was absolutely no sound that could be heard anywhere. She took a step forward.

Suddenly there was the sound of a lever being turned at the end of the hall. The slow turning of wooden cranks was heard along with the creaking of some sort of wooden wheel. Luna though she could hear whispering and… whimpering?

She reached the door and all of the noises stopped. She paused, hesitant at what could lay beyond this door. What if somepony was really inside? She pushed the door open.

There was a deafening scream and Luna’s vision focused solely on the large wooden wheel in the center of the room. Straps were attached to the wheel opposite of each other that would cause the limbs of somepony to look like an X. Blood covered the wheel and soaked the floor, backing the drain up and giving them whole room a very rusty and decaying smell. Tables lined the walls with various instruments of torture while chains dangled lightly from the ceiling. The sudden change in pressure from Luna opening the door caused a few to clink above her.

Her heart was thumping in her throat. Death by a thousand cuts.

Thump thump… Thump thump… She could hear her heart race the longer she stared at the torture contraption. Ponies would be strapped to the wheel in the X cross-like fashion, sometimes breaking their limbs to make the ponies fit. Next, the torturer would bear a flay knife and start the process of making anything from small incisions to large gashes along every part of the victims body. First to go would be the eyes so as to increase the sensation of pain. If the intensity of the pain didn’t kill the pony first, then the sheer amount of blood loss would. Tears welled up in Luna’s eyes and she finally looked away.

“Why do things like this still exist? Equestria was made into a peaceful nation after my banishment through the Treaty of Versaddle. All torture devices were outlawed by ‘Tia herself. Violent acts are a rarity with only one or two being committed per year.” Luna said to herself quietly. She limped into the room and looked up at the wheel, cringing when she could hear the sound of it turning and the cries of some pony as he or she was being bled to death.

She looked away again and began searching through the various cabinets and desks that were in the room. Many were filled with all sorts of knives and drugs to be used during interrogation or execution. She was about to just leave the room because of the weight she felt from staying the room until she opened up one more cabinet and saw a large key dangling from a hook. The princess fetched it off of the hook and looked it over, noting that like before the key had strange markings over it. She placed it into her saddle bags and quickly trotted out of the room.

When she entered back into the main room, Dime was already waiting for her with a grim expression set upon his face. Luna closed her eyes and sighed, neither pony speaking a word as Dime gave his princess the large and similar key. Taking time for a moment of silence, the two ponies looked down at their hooves first before turning back to look up at the massive flight of stars before them. Dime was the first to walk forward and start the ascent.

The ascent was slow going and Luna mostly focused on looking down at her hooves and making sure she didn’t slip at any point along the stairs. She could feel that each stair step was slippery and made sure to take extra care with each step she took. She looked up at Dime for a moment and saw that he was doing the same thing she was.

Eventually the duo reached the top of the stairs and took a moment to allow Luna to rest and relax her hoof. It was in a great deal of pain from the ascent up the stairs and she didn’t want to put any more strain on it than she had to. As the princess sat down on the cobblestone floor, Dime decided to take the chance to go and investigate the alter that was set in the middle of the floor.

The princess watched as her Night Guard walked over to the alter and eyed the large, dark object inquisitively. He walked around the alter to the other side and slowly looked up, his eyes dark yet expressionless. He then turned his head to look back down the long staircase.

“Dime, what is it that you see?”

“A sacrifice to protect the inhabitants of this castle. I have no idea what they need protection from.”

Luna looked away from the alter and down the long corridor that stretched to the Sacrificial Chambers. She looked past the door and through what was held in the Chambers to the massive door that blocked their way. She got to her hooves. “We should continue on.”

The two ponies left the alter and started their walk down the corridor. The princess felt uneasy and bowed her head a little lower to match the height of Dime’s head. The only sound that could be heard was the clops of their uneven hoofsteps on the rough cobblestone floor. They soon reached the end of the corridor and Dime pushed the door open, allowing them to gain entrance to a very gloomy room.

Feint light shone from the chandeliers suspended high above the floor next to the numerous dangling metal cages and empty chains that filled the room. A few of the cages housed skeletal remains of imprisoned ponies while others were simply empty and left to swing freely. Two colonnades divided the room into the thirds and lead the gaze of Luna and Dime to the massive door on the other side of the Sacrificial Chambers. A massive, upside down pentagram was carved into the door and then painted red with many markings similar to what was on the keys decorating the sides. There were also two doors on either side of the colonnades. A few pebbles wedged loose and crumbled onto the floor.

“I think that maybe we should stay together, Princess.”

“So do I.”

Luna and Dime walked over to the first door to their left, keeping careful watch above their heads should one of the cages come loose from the chains that held it. Dime opened the door and ushered Luna in quickly before closing it as quietly as he could behind them. The two were in a much smaller room that was brightly lit by candles lining the walls and the floor. A massive stone table lay in the middle of the room with a side table filled with various intricate instruments that were no doubt used to perform sacrificial rituals on a pony.

Luna walked over and brought her hoof to touch one of the instruments.

“A murderer lies before me. His hooves have been soiled by the murder of his neighbor’s two foals. You don’t deserve to live, whelp.”

There was a moan from the pony on the table, his head covered by some sort of bag to muffle his attempt to speak coherently. The pony standing over him merely smiled at his futile attempt to show him reason. To try to explain either why he killed the two foals or that he didn’t even try to do it in the first place. Or was he confessing? Trying to apologize? “Oh, that would be pleasant to hear once his insides start to be mutilated by my knife.”

There was a loud wail as the pony plunged the knife into the victim’s stomach and pulled up…

Luna stumbled back and let out a loud gasp, nearly knocking over Dime. She could still hear the sounds of leather and muscle being ripped apart as they slowly faded away. She collapsed onto her knees and panted heavily, looking at the ground.

“Luna! Luna, are you okay?” Dime nearly shouted as he kneeled in front of his princess.

“I’m… fine Dime… Thank you… For your concern.” Luna panted as she got back to her hooves ever so slowly. Dime gave her a brief look of concern but then turned around and trotted to the other side of the room and looked up. She looked up too and saw a piece of the replica orb was suspended from the ceiling above them.

“Do you think you can hop onto this table and then make the leap to grab the orb?” Luna asked while she was still eying the replica piece above Dime.

Dime turned back and nodded. “Yes, it should not be a problem.”

Dime trotted over to the sacrificial table and hopped onto it deftly before turning back and judging the jump from the table to the piece carefully. After making the appropriate calculations in his head, Dime jumped high, right for the orb piece. He grabbed it with his teeth and angled himself back to the floor and landed with a roll.

“Fantastic Dime!” Luna congratulated as the Night Guard gave her the orb piece to place into her saddle bags.

“Thanks Luna. Perhaps when we get out of here I could still be your personal jester?”

“Nonsense! I could never allow one of my friends become that.”

“Well, I will need to find some other work now.”

“You will be retired and compensated for your loyal service of being a Night Guard and friend, Dime. Don’t you worry.”

Dime stared hard at his princess and gave a faint smile. “I thank you, oh fair lady of mine.”

The two left the room and wandered back out into the main hall. They could hear the groaning of metal cages and the clinking of chains as they made the short trip to the next door on the left side of the main hall. They hurried through the door again and Dime let it shut quietly behind them.

The room was similar to the one before it. Candles lined the walls and floor while there were two tables in the center of the room, one big and one small and covered with various instruments, that were used for sacrificing ponies. Luna approached the table again and steeled herself for what she was about to see.

“…there are just some things around here that must be done. I wish I could save you from this horrible fate, I really do, but sometimes even the most humble and caring of ponies must be selfish. I am sorry but…”

The pony masked by the bag and stretched on the table gave a whimper and the pony holding the sacrificial knife sighed in acknowledgement before bringing the knife up.

“I love you and… I hope you forgive me. I don’t want to die…”

Luna closed her eyes and let the sounds of the knife plunging deeper into the victims flesh slowly die away. She gave a sigh before opening her eyes to see the empty table before her along with the bloodied set of sacrificial tools laid about on the smaller desk next to her.

Dime was already on the other side of the room and was looking for the second orb piece. It appeared to not be in the same spot as the other room so she began looking too. The room was relatively empty so the orb couldn’t have been hidden that well.

The two ponies double checked and then triple checked the entire room they were in only to find no trace of any orb. It wasn’t under or around either sacrificial table nor was it hiding behind any candles. It was not suspended in the air nor buried into one of the bricks in the walls. Dime sat down on his haunches, calling it quits for a bit but Luna was determined. She made another round around the room.

She suddenly took a wrong step and came crashing down onto the floor with a pained gasp. Dime rushed over but stopped short when he saw one of the cobblestone bricks was over turned on the floor from where Luna stepped. Noticing it too, the princess momentarily forgot her pain and got back to her hooves to remove the brick. Underneath it was the orb piece.

“Looks like the orb pieces are hidden fairly well in these rooms. Now we know to look at the floor too in the next room.” Dime said as Luna picked the orb piece up and stored it away in her saddle bags. She nodded and both ponies left the room.

Letting the door close behind them as they entered back into the main hall, there was a sudden crash. One of the chains holding a cage snapped and allowed the cage to crash onto the floor. Echoes filled the main hall as the two ponies made a dash to hide behind the nearest pillar. There came a low groan and then a couple of clinks as if metal was tapping against stone. Both Luna and Dime peered around the pillar.

From the wreckage of the cage there was a very dark colored pony with a very long and unkempt dark green mane and tail. One of its legs was replaced with a long metal spike and the rest of its body was covered with long bloody gashes. One of the metal bars from the cage stuck out of its shoulder but the pony looked to be unfazed. It was tapping at the ground with its metal spike.

Slowly the pony turned its head, surveying the room it was in, tapping its spike on the ground and making low growling noises until its head stopped to look at the massive door. Luna could make out its facial features. Half of the pony’s face looked to be made of metal and showed a row of sharp metal teeth. The eye she could see was dark green and seemed to glow in the dimly lit main hall.

The pony started to walk to the massive and decorated door to the Chancel. Seeing as their chance to move, both Luna and Dime jumped from column to column in the opposite direction of the pony, hopping across the room when they reached the end of the colonnade, and then jumped back up to the first door. They slipped in without any raising any suspicion from the formally caged pony.

“What the buck is that?” Dime finally let out in a hushed and paranoid whisper.

“Shhh, we cannot alert the pony to our presence here.” Luna whispered back.

“We’ll have to deal with it eventually.”

Luna remained silent but looked at Dime for a long time. She could see the fear that was in his eyes. And also… determination? Was Dime feeling desperate? For what reason?

“Luna, look.”

She snapped out of her gaze and followed the direction that Dime’s hoof was pointing. She could see a shimmer against the bright lighting of all the candles littered throughout the room just like the last two previous rooms. The shimmer was connected to a large spike that looked as if it could be lowered or raised by using the wheel at the other end of the room. There was an orb embedded in the arm that lowered or raised the spike.

She lowered her head and looked on either side of the room for anything to get the orb fragment. She noticed a stack of three boxes all pilled on each other in an order of biggest to smallest. She trotted over and dragged the boxes across the room until they were up against the sacrificial table. She didn’t even notice that there was no vision of a torturer and their victim this time as she turned to look at Dime.

“Do you think you could jump on these boxes and then reach the orb fragment with another hop onto the arm above, Dime?”

“Sure, princess, but how will I get down? I have no doubt that my landing will more than likely cause a rather loud disturbance.”

Luna looked up to the orb fragment again and got an idea.

“I believe I can channel enough magic through my horn to catch you before you impact the ground for no more than a second.”

Dime hesitated a bit before getting onto the boxes, looking at Luna with those same eyes of fear and determination. He made a quick hop onto the top box with no sound other than a faint clip of hooves on wood and then made a quick and agile leap onto the arm, wrapping his legs around it with the false orb fragment within reach of his mouth. He lodged his teeth around the orb and pulled it free with little difficulty. He turned and looked at Luna.

The princess moved under Dime and looked up with her mouth open. Dime let go of the orb piece, aiming directly for Luna’s mouth. With a little difficulty, she managed to catch it in her teeth and stored it into her saddle bags. She then backed away and looked firmly at Dime.

He jumped from his hold on the arm and fell to floor. Luna watched with anticipation as the milliseconds flew by and Dime neared the floor. Just as he was about to hit the floor a blue aura surrounded Dime for just a second and then released him and he fell with a soft thud on the cobblestone floor.

Luna winced and scrunched her eyes shut as a wave of pain washed over the front of her head. She was panting by the time Dime had reached his princess.

“Hey, are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m… fine.”

“Nice save there, princess.”

She smiled and opened her eyes again. Both ponies looked at each other and nodded before trotting over to the door. Luna looked out of the little barred window at the top of the door to make sure the formally caged pony was nowhere in sight. When the coast was clear both Dime and Luna crept out of the room and scrambled over to the next room. Luna managed to glance over at the massive door to the Chancel and noticed that the pony was not standing guard at the door as she would have guessed.

The two dark ponies reached the next room and quietly closed the door behind them. They noticed they were in a much different room than the previous three rooms before them. There was a pedestal in the center of the room that was made to hold some kind of perfectly round object. Candles were laid around the pedestal in a perfect circle while more candles lined the walls and were attached to sconces that were placed in the corners of the room. On either side of the room there were pentagrams drawn out in blood on the dirt floor and directly across from the two ponies there was some sort of sink,

The princess walked over to the sink while Dime walked over to inspect one of the pentagrams on the floor.

This room is meant to fuse the pieces of the false orb together without the use of unicorn magic. That much is clear. This is strange though. How would ponies go about fusing the orb together without any source of magic. I can’t image that black witch craft or…

Her eyes widened as Luna turned to look at the pentagram on the floor that Dime was inspecting and then over to the pedestal in the center of the room. She then looked back at the sink before her.

“This is dark magic.” She whispered almost inaudibly”

“Hm?” Dime turned to look up at her.

“Dime, can you come here please?”

Dime trotted over and looked at the sink that was now between him and the princess. “Okay, Dime, we’re going to need to slice our skin and let our blood drip into this sink here. Next we will need to go and stand on the pentagrams on either side of the pedestal. If I have figured this out correctly, that should fuse the false orb fragments together so we can open the door to the Chancel.”

Dime didn’t look at her but instead stared at the intricate knife that looked to have been lazily tossed in the sink. Luna thought he was about to protest at doing something so sacrilegious to Equestrian custom until he grabbed the knife with his teeth and made a cut on his leg, letting a large dribble of blood drip into the sink. He gave the knife to Luna who in turn slit her own leg and let a large dribble of her own blood drip into the sink.

Next, Luna walked over to the pedestal while Dime stood next to one of the pentagrams. She dropped the orb fragments into the pedestal and then began arranging them so they all fit snuggly together. Content that the pieces won’t fall apart, she walked over to the other pentagram and looked across at Dime.

“Three… Two… One…”

The two stepped onto the pentagram. Luna immediately felt a wave of fear wash over her as the room started to expand and her vision turned a dark red. The whole room was melting and there was a massive stab of pain shooting through her. Before she could let out a scream of absolute terror from the whispering scream entering her mind she threw herself from the pentagram and laid on the ground panting slightly.

She could hear Dime doing just about the same thing across the room behind the pedestal. Luna looked up and saw that where there were originally cracks separating the orb fragments there was now a smooth and glowing texture. She slowly got to her hooves and approached the orb.

It looked exactly like the Element of Chaos. The orb was a perfect sphere with dark green clouds swirling about as if the orb was a snow globe. There was a dim and eerie light emanating from it as well. However, as much as the orb looked like the Element of Chaos, Luna could feel that the orb was not tugging on her magic like the Element did. She picked it up and stored it into her saddle bags.

She noticed that Dime was already on his hooves and limped over to make sure he was okay.

“Don’t worry, Luna. I’m fine. Just a little…”

The princess shushed him by placing a hoof to his lips and closed her eyes. He nodded and turned to look at the door.

“What was that? I thought I saw…” Dime said as he walked over to the door. He lifted onto his hind legs and looked out the window.

His dark, yellow eyes were met by dark, green eyes.

Dime pushed off of the door and managed to dodge the incoming buck of the formally caged pony as it kicked the door wide open and gave a deep snarl.

“Luna! You need to get to the door and open it with the keys and that orb. I’ll act as a distraction.”

He charged the pony and swiftly dodged a lunge of the pony’s spiked hoof. Luna neared the two as the Dime was trying to lead the pony out of the room.

“Dime! Let me take care of this monster! You are in no shape to fight. I can manage…”

“I am still your Night Guard! Let me do my job for feathers sake!”

Luna was about to argue again when suddenly the pony turned on her and made a jab with its spiked hoof. She barely managed to dodge the attack and leapt back out of range. The pony was about to make another leap for her when Dime charged straight into the pony’s side, sending both the Night Guard and the monster sliding across the floor.

Seeing her chance, Luna made a dash for the main room and for the door. Before she could reach it, however, she was knocked to the ground by a charge from the pony. She rolled over onto her back and saw that it was rearing onto its hind legs to plunge its spike into her chest. She kicked out with her hooves, knocking the pony onto its side. As both she and the pony were getting up, Dime charged into the pony’s side again. Luna scrambled away and dumped the keys and the orb onto the floor as she reached the door. She could hear a struggle behind her as Dime and the pony were fighting each other.

There were bucks and jabs and swings and Luna could hear it all as she was frantically putting each of the keys into the key holes and then fitting the orb gently into the circular spot between the two doors. With that finally in place, there was a deafening click as the massive doors unlocked and groaned as they started to open. Luna turned back to look.

She saw Dime make a kick on the pony, sending his hoof across its face and knocking it over. He was going in for a leap to plant is hooves on the pony’s stomach but it rolled away and quickly got onto its hooves, looking expressionless at Dime. Dime charged straight for the pony and deftly dodged another of its stabs with its spike. What he did not expect, however, is that when he went in for a kick to the side, the pony brought its spike over and smacked Dime right in the side, sending him sprawling across the floor.

“Dime!” Luna made to go help Dime but stopped when she saw him give her a look she never thought she would see from him. He wanted her to go and close the massive doors behind her. He didn’t intend to escape. She shook her head.

Dime quickly got back to his hooves and dodged another lunge from the pony’s spike. Luna took a few steps back and watched as Dime made a kick at one of the pony’s legs, making contact and forcing the pony to collapse. Dime went to buck the pony’s head but was met with a stab through his back left hoof. The pony took Dime and removed the spike from his hoof by flinging him into one of the pillars. Dime let out a groan as he struggled to get back to his hooves.

He didn’t give up however. Dime made another charge at the pony, barely dodging a stab intended for his chest and bucking the metal rod sticking out of the pony, sending an inpony roar through the entire main hall. Dime turned to look at the pony with a smile on his face. He charged the pony one last time.

He was met with a stab from the pony’s spike right through his neck. The pony thrust the spike deeper and deeper until the spike was half way through Dime’s neck and protruding from the other side. Luna sat down on her haunches, tears streaming down her face as a black aura surrounded the doors and shut them.

The last thing she would ever see of one of her closest friends was a pony pulling its spiked leg out of his neck on the dirty, dusty cobblestone floor of an old, and forgotten castle.

“I hope you enjoyed the show” came a slimy and nonchalant chuckle.