The group cautiously entered the cave, searching for any clues as to the whereabouts of the missing patrol. As they approached the cave, they could sense a foreboding presence from within the depths. With still no signs of the patrol, not even any remains, they were apprehensive.

“I don’t like this one bit,” Matt mumbled, looking anywhere he thought he heard a sound. “Any thermal readings Ivy?”

“Nothing besides our own,” the lamia had an anxious tone in her voice, rapidly scanning the area several times.

“So even though you’re part human, you still have some serpentine abilities?” Twilight's curiosity outweighed her nervousness.

“Yeah, I suppose,” the woman answered, still on edge. “I have a heightened sense of smell, although thankfully that doesn’t mean I have to stick my tongue out every few seconds. I don’t have any venom though, so I guess that’s a good thing. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve bitten my tongue, hehe.”

“That’s not how that -” the mare was cut off by the ground began to shake.

“Earthquake!” Applejack cried out. “Get out of the cave before it falls down on us!”

The group didn’t need to be told twice and hightailed it out of there, right as they heard what sounded like rock exploding behind them. They only took time to look once they were finally outside. The sand had whipped up, buffeting them and dramatically reducing visibility. What they could see though, was a giant chasm that had formed where they had once stood.

“What the hell is that?” Matt asked defensively, which to the group wasn’t good as no one had any clue what was going on.

“It’s probably the thing that caused the disappearance of the lost patrol,” Tempest commented, horn flaring to life. “But I doubt it’s just a simple fissure appearing that is what led to their demise.”

The group waited for something to happen, but nothing did. At least, until they took a few steps towards the crevice before a loud, bellowing roar resonated from the cave.

“That doesn’t sound good,” Matt groaned, meaning that they were going to face off against some big bad monster once again. Still he was glad he knew to prepare his supplies since this was gonna happen sooner or later. “So what’s the plan girls?”

“Normally we’d just use the Elements,” Pinkie chimed in, her heart racing from the sudden change in excitement. “But it is pretty draining on us so it’s probably better if we just beat the baddie the good ole fashioned way!”

“I’d say wait for the fiend to expose itself before we make any moves,” Tempest’s horn flared brighter. “Make sure we know what we’re dealing with before we just blindly charge in.”

The group agreed that seemed to be the best course of action. While they waited for the beast to reveal itself, it just built up the tension and apprehension as they did so.

“What exactly is this thing from your past that we’re going to be facing?” Nick asked the queen standing next to him, doing the exact same thing his marefriend and her party were doing: waiting. Whatever it was, he knew it had to be troublesome if not for the visible shaking the changeling had looking at the newly formed crevice.

“A… cyclops,” the queen shuddered. Memories from her past flooded back into her mind, making her quake at all of the loss of life to the hands of the creature. “It attacked the hive when I was but merely a young queen. It happened all so fast... caught us all off guard,” Chrysalis’ voice began to waiver.

Nick couldn’t help but pity the queen in this state. She was obviously upset over what was to come, and while he didn’t know the full extent of the conflict her hive faced with this cyclops, he knew that if they were to defeat it, he needed the queen to have a clear head.

Padding over to her, knowing how best he could help her, he placed his front legs around her frame and embraced her. The queen was completely taken aback by this gesture, looking down at the wolf in confusion. He had reviled her, hated her, even killed her, yet now he was showing her empathy, and could feel something she never experienced before. A warm, filling sensation filled her carapace, similar to the love she once stole but it felt… more satisfying.

“We’re gonna make it out of here Chrysalis,” Nick broke off the hug, looking the mare square in the eye. “I have two mares waiting for me out there, you have the chance to redeem yourself. Help me take down this beast, and maybe we can even become friends.”

Most would have called him crazy to just switch up his attitude towards the changeling. But in the face of what would probably be a fierce enemy, the time for separation could wait till after.

“W-why are you doing this?” the queen was still confused by the wolf’s motivations. Just recently he had threatened to kill her in this place, that he wasn’t going to let her try and use her charms on him. And while she knew that this wasn’t due to her attempts, she couldn’t help but wonder if she had succeeded with him.

“If you want the truth, you have more knowledge about this foe than I do. I need you to have a clear head in order to help me defeat it. Yeah you may have caused me problems in the past, but if I’m being given this chance at redemption, you deserve one too.”

The speech slightly broke down the walls Chrysalis had put up, seeing the wolf in a new light. He was the first to give her a chance, despite what she had done to him. It made more sense that Thorax was willing to trust this wolf and gained more power due to their friendship. If she were able to harness that same power between them -

Another roar and the ground rumbling brought them both back to the current situation.

“What should we do?” Nick asked the queen, hopefully now she was in a better frame of mind.

“Well given the fact this hole kinda opened up in the middle of Limbo, and there’s no telling where it leads to, I say we wait for it to show itself,” the queen spoke after some reflection. “The only problem is we don’t know how long that will take.”

“I don’t think it’ll take long,” Nick pointed a claw towards the hole, directing the queen’s focus towards the brightly flashing light that emanated from it. Before either could react, there was a bright flash that engulfed their vision.

The group had been waiting for what seemed like hours, nothing happening after the sudden appearance of the hole. The unicorns of the group dared not to cast any magic in case the beast they encountered was magic resistant. The pegasi weren’t too sure how close they could get and still be safely out of harm’s reach. And the earth ponies and humans, their talents weren’t strongly suited to this situation.

“That’s it, I’m just going in,” Matt had enough of waiting around like an open target.

“If you’re going I’m going too,” Rainbow Dash chimed in, not one to miss a piece of the action.

Twilight sighed, seeing as to progress any further, some risks were going to be needed.

“We’ll all go,” she determined. Looking to the group, she was satisfied that the ratio of pegasi/unicorns evenly matched those that couldn’t get out of the crevice. “I’ll be with Ivy, Matt and Starlight go together. Rarity and Applejack, Fluttershy with Pinkie, and Rainbow with Tempest. Stay together with your partner since there’s no telling how we can get out otherwise.”

The pairings joined up upon Twilight’s announcement and nodded in understanding. The group took a few steps towards the crevice, understandably on edge. This was unknown territory, even further from any excursions they had previously taken. However, they knew this had to be done, the fate of Equestria depended on them.

As they neared the edge of the chasm, a low rumbling began to shake the ground, causing the group to freeze in fear.

Is it an aftershock? Twilight pondered, looking around to her friends. She noticed Tempest was dangerously close to the edge. Before she could warn the mare, a large hand appeared from the hole in the earth. Rainbow noticed this as well and tried to rush the unicorn out of harm’s way, only to get caught as well by the limb, dragging them both into the beast’s abode.

Author's Note

Yes, you're not seeing things. TWO updates in the same day! Figured I'd kept you guys waiting long enough and hope to make this a bi weekly thing, or just put these suckers out when I can. Hope you enjoy what's to come, a little bit of action to otherwise quiet story.