Howl at the Moon (Re-up)

The crypt was dark, and smelled so much like mold, my nose started to hurt. How come they never tried to clean up this place? Or maybe I am being to hard on the ponies, and it was the demon that did this? That sounded much better.

“Well, this must be like the hundredth dungeon or so for you Link.” I ask him, giving a sidelong glance, as I keep my eyes peeled for any traps.

“Actually, it's more outside than inside, you would never see dungeons in a video game sense in my world.” Link explained as he reached into his pouch to pull out a small Lantern, but like everything else he’d pull out, it would always return to a bigger size. The light within ignited on its own as if by magic.

“That is a cool lantern. And I understand that, I just meant this isn’t your first dungeon crawl. But yeah, can you see anything I can’t? Twilight, put up a medium strength shield, that way we aren’t instantly obliterated by a fire arrow and oil trap or something.”

“And what am I, an object?” Twilight huffs indignantly.

“No, you are the head of my herd, under me. I don’t want my herd getting killed. So please, medium shield? I promise, I will make up for it with your new weapon, once we get back to my forge.” Twilight looks at me, and then huffs.

“I love you Cameron. I haven’t said this, but thank you for becoming herd master.” She then concentrates, and puts up a medium shield that should stop most traps.

“Love all of you too, hence the shield. Though Link, you are free to join us in the shield, so you don’t get hurt by traps.” I say to him in a semi-joking manner.

“First… Herd master?” Link asked, although his voice didn’t sound like he was asking a question, but more like he wanted to confirm what he just heard.

“Okay, yes. High female to male ratio. Herds are formed because of it.”

“That explains a lot…” Link said with a frown. “I mean a lot of worlds I get summoned to, I end up being chased.” he said with a shake of his head.

“I can guess why. If most are like here, then it would make a hella lot of sense.” I say, stroking my non-existent beard. I’m still growing it in, sue me. “I assume you have another question?”

“No, I’m good, just as long as i’m not dragged into it,” Link suggested, sounding somewhat comfortable with the idea. “I’ve got enough of that sort of trouble back home, I mean not to sound ungrateful and while I have accepted the ones back home, I’d rather not have it grow and become a burden.”

“You good. I get you. But the offer to join us under the shield spell still stands. I bet your girls don’t want you getting ganked by a trap in a dungeon.”

“Better to be safe than sorry.” Link said as he stepped into the barrier of mana.

“True that.” I say, and we start down the tunnel. It was a slow crawl, and like the video game player I am, I had to look in every pot or chest in the entire dungeon. Every room we passed, if it was empty or filled with coffins, I looked.

“You remind me of myself when I played Skyrim or Oblivion.” Link said with raised eyebrow as he watched me go to everything and not leaving one stone unturned.

“I know what you mean. I have Skyrim back at the house, and I still do the same thing in it as I did when I first got it. And this is the best part of dungeon crawling. The loot.” I said, as I pulled a Kratos on a chest, and just slammed my fist through the top, pulling out a bag of bits. The girls but Butchershy were giving me looks. Applejack asked me.

“Um, Cameron. Why are you desecrating the tomb?”

“I am not. I am repurposing old items, that are no longer being used. I can thank them, if it makes you feel better?” I turn to the coffin of my last looting victim. “Do you mind if I take the gold that your family has placed next to your corpse, because you honestly aren’t going to need it?”

And after I said that, the corpse shot a hand to my throat. And then it spoke.

“UUUUHHHHH”

GODDAMMIT MINECRAFT ZOMBIES! He sounded exactly like them. GODS ABOVE AND BELOW WHY?!

I didn’t have much time to think, my body reacted on instinct, and I slashed at the head of the zombie. As his head went rolling, his grip on my throat dropped, and I could breath.

“Okay, if you say one word Applejack, I am telling Granny not to let you make pie’s for a month.” Applejack just snorts at me, and then we hear the rest of the zombies coming.

“These must be draugr. They aren’t normal zombies, they are possessed by the demon. Let’s kill them, and end whatever suffering they are in.” I say.

The draugr came at us, and Applejack and Butchershy smiled. And it wasn’t a good smile. Butchershy turned to Applejack, and said.

“Ready, Applehack?” Applejack’s clothes started to bag, and I saw bits of hay start to poke out the collar of her shirt. Her skin started to peel, and look like she was rotting. Her eyes started to blackout at the whites, and her irises started to glow green. She laughed, and it sounded like straw being dragged across the ground.

“Of course, Butchershy.” And the two mares started to attack all the draugr ahead of us.

Link gazed at the draugr while reaching out to grab hold of a reflection shield that materialized. On the surface of the shield was a crescent moon with a star. Link held it firmly in his left arm, prepared to block whichever may come his way. “Cameron, come over here for a moment!” Link said as he blocked an incoming Draugr’s sword, he raised his boot up and kicked the Draugr away.

I make my way over to him, blocking attacks from draugr ponies. Link raised his leather covered hand and hovers it over my fist. Suddenly, it takes on a gentle yellow hue before being fully wrapped in it.

“Now you’ll be able to burn them up with holy magic temporarily.” Link said to me as he ran straight at the Draugr pony he had kicked away earlier, he quickly jabs his Master Sword through its chest, the blade’s edge suddenly igniting to burn through.

“Thanks.” I say, as I turn to deliver a right hook to a draugr coming up behind me. I look to the girls, and see Rarity is using my axe to great effect, freezing the draugr before they reach her, and then smashing them to bits after. Rainbow is using the sword she had acquired earlier from her house, and was slashing away at three behind Applejack, or is it Applehack now, ah question for later. The draugr I had punched started to burn and flail around. It ended up smacking several other draugr and catching them on fire.

I started to just punch anything that was near me, trying to keep my eye out for if it was a friend. Link, I noticed in the corner of my eye that the hylian had gotten surrounded by a circle of Draugr, however he surprised me when he spun around to release a ring of flames, slicing through each one as if it was a knife through butter.

I looked around at the battle for a sec, and it was going in our favor. The draugr were being cleared out, mostly by Butcher and Hack, and the rest of the girls were holding out as well.

After another two minutes, Twilight dispatched the last draugr, and we stood there for a moment to catch our breaths. I made a joke.

“Okay, I guess they took exception to my plundering.” The girls chuckle at that, and Applehack takes her scythe, and then splits it in two pieces. The blade of the scythe, is now a sword, and the handle folded in half at the hinge, and she placed it on her back, where I now saw a small bit of her intestines were hanging out, and she hooked it through them.

“Okay, Applehack, right? Are you going to stay a zombie, or are you going to change back into my girl?” Applehack laughs at me.

“I will change back when were done. This is only temporary. Why, don’t like the anatomy lesson?” I shake my head.

“No, I just like the fact that she actually has lips.” Butchershy snorts at that, before saying.

“He got you there, Applehack. Anyways, Cameron, why aren’t you using your Blades of Chaos? You got them still, right?” I take a second to look at her.

“FUCK!” I then pull out the blades, and the ethereal fire started to burn. “Fuck, gods dammit. I forgot, I had, the coolest weapons from the entire franchise, and I have been punching these dudes for the last ten-fifteen minutes. Thank you, Butchershy, for pointing these out to me. Let's continue, shall we?” I say, with a strained voice obviously showing how pissed I am. Well, take it out on the demons, and don’t let it get in my way, that is what I am going to do.

Stupid inner monologues. The holy light that was around my fist slowly faded away, and my crystal arm gained it’s red hue, sucking in the flames from the blades.

“You remind me of myself when I first started out in my world; always forgetting certain equipment you’ve got.” Link explained as he swirled his master sword around, sheathing it with a loud clang.

“Yeah. Well, at least I have them.” We head through the door that had been at the end of the small room like area we were in. Almost reminded me of Skyrim. The layout of the dungeon had that feel, but it was only the feel. The rest, was a feeling like I was about to hit a darksouls boss at any second. It was a bit worrying.

I pushed through it though, and we continued. I estimate it was about three rooms that we had to cut our way through like this, though with my blades, the rest of the girls had less of a problem, as me and Link usually just fought the enemies. The crypt was large, and twisted around like a maze. After a while, Twilight decided to mark our path, to see if we had been in rooms before.

I swear we passed the same room five times. I finally had enough, and voiced it.

“Okay, this is bullshit. We need to come up with a different plan. This is getting us, literally, nowhere.”

Link glanced around the room curiously. “I’m curious about something.” Link said as he took some kind of blue instrument, he brought it up to his mouth and starting to play a song. At that very moment, a scarecrow suddenly burst out of the stone floor, yet for some reason it wasn’t damaged. The scarecrow did a little dance before taking on a stereotypical pose. “Let’s head into the next room.” Link suggested as he started making his way through.

I looked at him, then the scarecrow, then him, and followed him to the next room. As we all make our way into the room, Link turns around then pointed behind him. “I think there’s some sort of power at work here.” Link said as his thumb was pointing at the scarecrow that hadn’t moved from it’s position. “Either we’re being teleported around kind of similar to the endless staircase from super mario 64, or the rooms are duplicating when we try to progress.”

“Okay, I understand. So, either we are in an endless loop, or an endless loop. They both are technically the same thing. Well, I never played super mario 64, so how did you solve that puzzle?”

“Here’s the funny thing, going up it made it appear infinite, but when you turn around, you notice you haven’t made progress and you’re still in the same spot. We can’t go forward, so why not go backwards?” Link explained as he walked past us. “However, if this doesn’t change anything and we’re unable to escape, I can try to teleport us out of here.” Link suggested, he glanced over at the scarecrow. “You may leave if we don’t return in the next five minutes.” he said, causing the silent scarecrow to salute similar to captain falcon.

“Well, it is worth a shot. I will take the lead though, as I have regeneration that you don’t have.” And with that, I turn and move back into the last room. And it looked different than any other time before.

“OKAY, YOUR RIGHT! It is like that staircase.” I say as they all make their way back into the room. “So, do we just keep doing that, meaning turn around and do it again, or is it going to continue to change from here on? Sorry, just talking to myself. Let me go back to that room, and see if I was right on that.” I turn and head through the doorway again, and it hasn’t changed. I move back to them and we all move on.

“At least it’s not like the forest in Ocarina Of Time where you need to head in the right direction or else you’ll end up back at the beginning.” Link said with a shake of his head.

“Oh gods that would suck. Yeah, I agree, that would be bad.” We move on through the chambers, each chamber looking different from the last. I still plundered, but less so now. HM, maybe I will find one of Kratos’s armors I don’t have in these chests. Oh wait, I pretty much have all of them. Thank you, oh goddess Faust, for that blessing.

It was ten rooms after we had figured out the solution, that we came to the cause of the problem.

The creature was large. Not behemoth, but certainly giant. It was a spider-like-centaur. She had a spider body, with a human upper half. The legs were thick and powerful, covered in hair. I remembered slightly it wasn’t actually hair, but something else. It acts like antenna. Her upper half was covered only by a strip of cloth, and her waist met at her spider half with a rope with a loincloth like covering over where you would expect stuff.

Her spider portion was large, and had a huge back end. It wasn’t a black widow, but it had a armor of bones, taken from what looked to be dead ponies. It stuck up and was covering the entire sack. The sack itself was bulbous, and looked to be roughly the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. Her skin was black, like a humans, and she had milky white eyes. I had a feeling she wasn’t blind.

“So you have come, champion of Faust. I have been wondering when you would arrive. And you brought the elements with you, how nice. While I still think this idea is for naught, I was told by Singrang to come here. Also, I hate having to use live bait, but it was the best way to make you come to me.”

“So you are the one who is controlling the town?” She looks at me confused.

“No. I am not the one who put the town under control. That was someone else, I don’t have that ability.” I nod.

“Then, may i ask your name?” She laughs.

“I am the eighth lord of Tartarus, Tophreltes.” I nod again.

“Look, Tophreltes, I think you were set up. You say your leader set you up for this. He is trying to get rid of you. Why else would he put you in a crypt? He wants you gone. So, I have two options for you. I help you, and you live here, guarding this place, and getting proper tributes to you. Or, I beat you, and send you back to Tartarus. Wait, option three. I kill you outright. Which will it be?”

You know, Tophreltes actually took some time with her answer. I honestly think she thought it over. She looks at me.

“Proper tribute?” I nod yet again.

“Yep. Whatever type of offerings for tribute, within reason, will be offered. I can guarantee that. I will make sure of it.” She again, looks to really think it over. Then, she looks at me again.

“ I am sorry. I must decline. I can’t let him have her. She must not be harmed.” She says. I look at her.

“Who? Who can’t be harmed?” I ask. She gets angry.

“Egrtoth.” The rest of the girls gasp. I look to them, and Rainbow says.

“Eleventh lord.” Ah, then that makes sense. She was probably the new punching bag, since I had Satan. Damn, makes me want to protect her more.

“Well, if you need to get home and help her, then why stay here? Go back to Tartarus, and help her.” She shakes her head.

“Singrang has her hostage. I must kill you. I am sorry.” And with that, the battle gets underway, as she charges us. Butchershy and Applehack move to block, and they get swatted away. Tophreltes pulls out a weapon that looks like Kanabo. That giant mace that the Shugoki from For Honor wields. She swings it overhead, and slams it down at us, making us scatter.

“Twilight!” Link called out as he tosses some kind of rod over at her. “Just focus your magic into it, aim, and it will spray out cold air or a blast of ice, you can use it to slow her down.” he quickly explained. The rod he had thrown to her was silver in appearance with a big sapphire orb at the end being held by three talon-like spikes.

Twilight nodded, and stood back, pouring her magic into the staff. The orb glowed, and a blast of ice covered the ground. I turned to Rarity, and called out to her.

“Rarity, that little pouch I gave you. Switch the top gem to the Wrath of the Frost Ancients attack, and the bottom to the River of Knives attack. And just pour your magic in. Assist Twilight in freezing her. Applehack, Butchershy, keep her busy, but don’t attack. Rainbow, Pinkie, make sure to watch our rears. I can’t use my fire, so Link, can you charge my arm to do Ice damage?”

“Sure can.” Link said as he held his hand aloft my fist, now coating it in a beautiful sparkling glow of blue magic.

“Thanks.” I then do the stupidest thing. I run in and rodeo her. I rush in, and climb on her back. She was not happy about this.

She immediately started to jump around the room, and I mean she jumped to the ceiling, the walls, the floor, everywhere. It was rough to hold on, but when your hand is frozen to someones back, you can’t really let go can you? I make a joke.

“I’m sorry, I’m not usually this clingy.” This surprisingly gets her to stop. As she does, the rest of the room lights her up, and freezes her.

Sadly, I was still on her, and was caught in the resulting freeze. I was now stuck on her.

“Gods dammit, did you have to freeze me too? I mean, come on. At least let me get off her before then. Damn. Anyways, Tophreltes, let us help you. We can help you save Egrtoth, and then you and her can be safe. I have an idea. How knowledgeable are you on libraries?” she looks back at me, her teeth chattering from the cold, me still sitting frozen on her rear half where it narrows to her human waist. She responds.

“I was Hells librarian, before I was caught reading something from the restricted section. Why?” I look to Twilight, who had handed Link’s magic staff back to him. I yell to her.

“Hey Twilight. You moving in with me, or is there something else you had in mind?” She walks over to me and the frozen spider.

“Well, I am still the librarian. I can’t move out.” I give a grin.

“What if I got you a replacement? Then, we could expand the library by getting rid of most of the upper home, and make it her place to live.” I say, pointing to her. Twilight looks dumbfounded.

“Your thinking about making a DEMON, the new librarian for Ponyville?” I nod.

“Yeah. She was hells librarian. She doesn’t need near as much room as you do. You can move in with me. And, we can make the library bigger, as spiders usually never use beds. Unless I am mistaken?” I look at the demon I am frozen too. When is this ice going to melt. She glares at me.

“Why are you assuming I would do this? I have given no indication that I will stop trying to kill you.” She asks. I shrug.

“Because we can help you free Egrtoth. And, It gives you a place to stay, and you will have a place for her when we do free her.” She stops her struggling to break from the ice. Her teeth still chatter, and I can hear the hairs on her legs rustling. The bone armor on her abdomen, starts to crack from the cold. Suddenly, it breaks off. I fall with it, and the bone like abdomen turned out to be only about half as big as it looked, and was slightly white. She started to shrink, and her legs turned from a brown, to white, and most of the hair fell off, leaving more a fuzz. I stand up and walk over to her.

“Will you let us help you? Or are you going to be known as an evil demon for the rest of your life?” She looks at me.

“Yes. I will come with you.” she says. I nod.

“Then let’s get out of here.” And we head to the surface.