Spike was nervous yet as the doors closed behind him, sealing him in a dark empty space, he felt something like cool hands over his mind, calming him down. "Thanks Eris." He said, his partner filling a small part of his screen.

"Of course! Can't have my pilot get worried over nothing." She said with a twinge of something else. Was that fear?

"Hey, listen. We'll get through this and prove we can be a pilot for Harmony. I won't lose and let them take you from me." It was now his turn to calm her down. They both looked at each other and gave a brief smile as lights began to turn on.

"THUM,THUM,THUM,THUM" came a loud beat as each set lit up from down a hall, moving towards him. Speakers began to crackle into life as if they hadn't been used in ages. "Testing, testing can you hear me Private." Came the voice of Luna. She continued when Spike gave a general wave to signal he heard her. "You have chosen to take on a challenge many have tried. None have succeeded and almost all have been gravely injured or worse..." She left that last part to hang. "When the doors down the hall open the clock will have begun, no turning back from there on out. This is your final warning and chance to step out of here as the only way to leave after entering is to pass, become unconscious and pray we get to you in time, or well you can imagine the last part." She explain as two more large, heavily marked doors grinded apart down the hall.

"Eris whats the route?" Spike asked, his jets firing up with dim white flames. A visual map of the Gauntlet appeared in his HUD as the jets slowly narrowed and he began to hover off the ground.

"This is the fastest route that I could put together with knowledge from past runs and info I could scrape together. They had some tight security on this game." Eris replied, admiring the work they had put to keep the challenge still secret.

"Did you hear me Private? This is your last chance to, HEY!" Luna shouted as Spike launched down the hall at a break neck pace, his jets now a dense blue fire. Passing the doors he entered a vast open cavern with no light. Activating his lights Spike whizzed through the air, dodging any obstacle that entered his field of vision. Screeches could be heard closing in from all sides. Soon evos came pouring out of cracks in the ceiling and ground, flying towards him as he slipped off two pistols with extended magazines.

With a hum Spike selected burst fire on the weapons and took aim. "Show time." He said with a grin as three shots range out from his guns at the approaching monsters, tearing through the small bodies. "One, two, three, four! How many bodies will hit the floor?" He chanted as the once large swarm was reduced in size with just a clip from each gun. Reloading quickly Spike turned his attention towards the next opening as the remaining evos scattered in fear from him. His map showed the entrance was behind a waterfall in the cavern. After looking around his eyes landed on his next goal. "Bingo!" He shouted, making a mad dive for the cascading water. As the water fell over his form and he felt the force behind it, his vision quickly filled with murky brown water as he entered the next zone.

Eris chimed in at this new room. "Be careful Spike this section is listed as one of the first real challenge of this course. Supposedly there's something big in here..." As she was explained a deep distorted groan moved it's way through the water, being to difficult for either to pin down where exactly it came from. "I think that's our next problem." Eris whispered.

"Don't worry, just do what you do best. Find it and help me beat it." Spike soothed, his jets kicking into next gear to better help him move in the water, bubbles rising off him.

The girls were in different states of worry. "There's no way he'll beat this thing." Rainbow said, a frown firmly on her face as her eyes looked over the various monitors that let everyone watch the situation.

"Have a little faith Dashy!" Pinkie Pie ordered, a smile on her face but the others knew she was just as worried with how deflated her hair was. "If we believe in him enough he'll succeed." She added, trying to psych herself up.

Applejack and Fluttershy were sitting at two chairs next to each other intently watching the monitors along with other controllers. They had been selected to help with adjusting and maintaining the Gauntlet as it needed a full crew of workers to function during a challenge.

"He has shown multiple times to have the instincts and natural skills to face challenges like this. I think he can actually do this." Rarity spoke up from her position near a digital table to watch his location. Before the others could talk further a large red blip appeared rising fast towards Spike's marker. "Looks like its time girls." She added, gaining the attention of those not already watching screens.

Spike was moving fast through the murky water, that groaning sound still echoing around them. "Is it just me or does this seem kind of like echo location?" He asked his A.I. companion.

This caused Eris to freeze a bit. "Oh my god it is! This things hunting our location with its voice. The water provides it a buffer so it's hard for us to track but all the noise we make gives it exact locating." She replied starting up some systems. "I think I can find it now! Thanks Spike!" She complimented as the lights on the suit cut out and copies of the groaning came out of the suits speakers, moving through the water till on his map a dot appeared right below him. "Gotcha now." Eris giggled in glee.

Giving a laugh of his own Spike shifted his angle to head directly for the creature. Soon when it seemed like the dot was right on top of them he activated his flood lights right into the eye of the evo, causing it to give out another groan this sounding more like one of pain. From this angle Spike could see that this monster seemed like a fused mix of a whale and squid with long, sharp tentacles trailing behind the beast while its head had the dull curve similar to a sperm whale. "Try this noise." Spike said with a smile on his face as his fist rocketed through the water and into the evo's eye. Shifting a point music began to pump from his speakers and out of his fist to vibrate and enlarge the wound. Kicking off the monster he let his jets fire away, scorching it more even underwater as he rocketed away. "Catch me if you can Moby!" He shouted back at the now chasing beats. Sailing through the water he began to twist and turn letting his flames do the work as he searched for the next exit. "Any luck Eris?" He asked, ducking under a tentacle.

"I think actually this ones tied to the evo so we got to take it down!" She shouted over the music.

"Easy enough to do no problem." Spike confidently replied, braking hard to get closer to the monster.

"What in tarnation is he doing?" Applejack shouted from her spot. "Is he trying to get hurt!"

Fluttershy remained silent as she watched him dip and dodge between attacks to get closer to the monster. Angel sat next to her even nodding slightly to the music that played while everyone not helping with the Gauntlet was shouting and yelling at the young pilots decisions. "He did his homework." She softly said with a nod of admiration. Her eyes never leaving the screen as she twisted dials and adjusted the scene.

A strike hit against Spike's side, knocking him a little off course. "Ah, sunnava'..." He started before a tentacle wrapped around his waist and the monster began to dive down. "What the hell?" He questioned, extending his claws to slice at the arm. His depth gauge began to sink lower and lower as the pressure around him built. "Eris how deep his this room?" He asked, doing his best to remain calm as he hacked away.

"Deep enough to be a problem." She replied simply. With that knowledge he began to strike faster as the gauge slowly started to crack and his screen buzzed and filled with static.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit." He grunted, pulling back one more time to slam his hands into the appendage. This time finally breaking through and detaching it from the monster. Firing off his jets to max, Spike launched up to a less deep depth as the evo turned to chase after him. Once he was back to a safe level he turned towards the approaching monstrosity and cupped his hands together. "Lets see how you like warm water!" He growled as just when the beast was on top of him Spike let loose a massive burst of flame, vaporizing the water around them and burning the evo to death. A ding sounded in the water as the rest of it came rushing in to signal the next room was open. with a sigh he began to slowly swim towards it as it appeared on him map.

Eris gave a sigh as they moved out of the water into a dry land section with a bright sky above them. "Glad we are out of that. Just a few more rooms to go." She said.

"Let's get a move on then." Spike said, walking forward into the sand. Looking around he couldn't help but be amazed at all the different places. "How long did it take to build all this? There's so much here." He marveled.

"Supposedly five years and about twenty billion credits." She answered, some info on it popping up in his feed.

He could only give a whistle at that number. "Damn that's a lot of money but anyways back on this room. Whats next?" he asked, looking around at what seemed to be a replica of a desert. "Not seeing any doors marked exit." He said.

Before either could Eris could reply the ground began to shake and move around them. "I think that's our next task.." Eris replied, already looking to locate the anomaly.

"The fact he's even made it to the third stage amazes me." Luna stated, her eyes watching the screen with Discord and Celestia in the main office. "You didn't tell him anything right Discord?" She questioned the mismatched man.

Shaking his head he replied. "He is a natural born pilot and the fact his sync with Eris was so smooth with none of the side effects goes to show how well they fit. I believe he can finish this challenge." Discord poured a cup of tea as the monitor quickly switched to an aerial view of the pilot as the sand began to rise and fall around them. taking a sip he thought to himself "I hope..."

"Woo now, let's slow down there." Spike groaned at the shifting sands, sparking his jets but only getting some sputtering from a weakened core. "Of course this would happen now." He whined when suddenly he was launched into the sky. Reaching a peak he turned to look back down only to see the waiting maw of a ginormous worm. "Oh fiddle sticks!" He shouted.

"Oh fiddle sticks." Twilight groaned.

"Fuck." Discord grunted

Author's Note

Not dead! I know I keep saying that but I mean it! Let's hope I can get in the groove again....Also keep saying that too.