<<<<<>>>>>

After everyone had calmed down from the whole D-Cup fiasco, conversation dipped into the more casual pool of topics while one of the guard dogs went for our things. (and kid, in Berthas case...while for their sake I hoped the kid was treated well for Bertha could easily rip either of the dogs in two if she felt the need.)

It was during this casual conversation however that we somehow got Breeze to accidently tell us his full name.

"Your full name is Zephyr Petunia Breeze?" I asked him with a raised eyebrow as the stallion looked away and crossed his forelegs, hiding the red hue of his face from Bertha and myself.

"...My mom thought I was a girl when I was born, ok? Doesn't help that my mane is naturally marely as well." He grumbled as he fluffed his hair slightly while Bertha pursed her lips for a moment before speaking up.

"Well, since Petunia has told us something embarrassing, it feels right that we speak something of the same case, if only for my honor and being fair among anything else." She said before sighing while Zephyr frowned and turned away but kept his ears turned towards her. I had decided to lean in close, however, eager to hear her tale.

"The Big part of my name doesn't originate from my muscular figure...it comes from when I was a calf myself." She patted her ten-pack with a small grin. "I used to weigh almost a ton when I was a little heifer. The calfs would always make fun of me, and one of the more popular words they used was Big Bertha." She shook her head and flexed her arms. "Course, this caused Bertha to start working out, and ended up with what you see now." She finished, making both of us look at her in shock.

"Your telling me you used to be fat?!" Breeze exclaimed before walking up to her quickly, his wing chains clanking together as he grabbed her by her right bicep. "You MUST tell me how you got so ripped! Do you know how easy it would be to woo the ladies if I had your muscles?"

I snorted a laugh at his silly behavior. "Why? Got someone your trying to impress?"

He turned to me and nodded. "More like impress more! She's already head over hooves for me, and if I could get muscular like Bertha here? I'd be set for life!" He exclaimed with pride as he sat down on his flank and turned back to Bertha with a look of excitement in his eyes. "So, how'd you do it?"

Bertha smirked and crossed her arms, though she tried to cross her legs but was stopped by the leg chains. "Easy. All you have to do is chain a boulder to your back and attach ten pound weights to your arms...then walk through your town you live at...for several years." She stated as Zephyrs face fell and he walked back to his original spot across the picnic area before slumping to the ground.

"On second thought...I think the mare of my dreams would prefer my sleek body over a muscular one." He stated before pointing a hoof at me. "What about you, Mitch? Got anypony your trying to woo?"

"As of right now...nope." I stated with a slight deadpan. I mean, no girls in college really suited me, and I was far too focused on studying to try and date anyone anyway. "Besides, I doubt anyone around here is my type."

Bertha scoffed. "You can't be serious. With the amount of species around this country your bound to be attracted to someone sooner or later." She said with a smirk as she gave me a wink. "Especially since only one day into meeting me you kept eyeing my breasts."

My face burned as I let out a deep breath. "Bertha, I am a male. It is our NATURE to stare at girls with ample body parts." I stated with a groan. "Aren't you married anyway?"

Bertha shrugged. "Of course, and to a fine minotaur of a man too! But we are only a herd of three and need a few more to complete it." She said as Zephyr nodded with a smile.

"Ah, I figured a minotaur like you would have a healthy herd. How is it being part of one?" He asked her as I tuned them out while thinking over what she said.

Herd? Like that stuff lions do when there is one male and like twenty females? How does that work? Do they take turns with sex, or is it one huge orgy? And that stuff is LEGAL here? Where the hell did that guy send me?!

But before I could voice these questions, we were interrupted by the other guard dog returning to the room with a sack in his right paw and what looked like a three foot tall minotaur alongside him with his left.

"Kujo!" Bertha screamed out as she raised her fists into the air and brought them down on her chains, immediately shattering them on contact as she got up and pulled the rather small sized minotaur from the dogs grasp.

"Momma!" He exclaimed, his yellow eyes nearly in tears at the sight of his mother as they embraced each other for what had to be the first time in a long while.

Turning from the couple, I could see Zephyr going through the sack while the guard dog undid his wing chains.

"Hey! My duffel bag!" He exclaimed, shaking off his chains as he pulled out a blue bag from the sack and opened it quickly before letting out a gasp of relief. "Oh thank Celestia everything is still in here!"

Smiling as I looked between the Mom and son reunion and Zephyr snuggling his duffel bag, I didn't notice the dog approach me with the sack until he held it out towards me.

"Uh...I didn't bring anything." I told him as he rolled his eyes.

"We found these around the area where you were captured." He stated before dumping the back out on the ground, revealing the phone holder for my car, a broken GPS, some scattered paper that looked like receipts for a tea set (where'd that even come from, I don't even like tea?!) and...

"My Phone!?!" I yelled out as I reached down and grabbed it, immediately pressing the power and watched as it powered on. "YES! It still works!"

As I celebrated having something useful with me, Bertha pulled her kid back and looked him in the eyes.

"Kujo..did they hurt you in any way at all?" She asked with pure ice in her tone as Kujo shook his head and smiled, oblivious to his mother's rage.

"Nope! They fed Kujo extra snacks and let Kujo sleep for a long time!" He stated with pride as Bertha glared at the two dogs, causing both of them to flinch as one held the other by the shoulders and stood behind him.

"Good. Wouldn't want to have to exert myself so soon after being set free." She said as she turned to me while standing up. "So, what happens now Mitch?"

I shrugged as Zephyr stretched out his wings and began to flap them. "I think I'm going to try and track down the guy who sent me here, or at least find a way back home." I said as I looked to the ground, worried about the upcoming future. "I have family I need to get back to, and who knows how worried sh-they are."

Bertha nodded as Zephyr let out a whoop of joy as he sailed around us, though that didn't stop me from noticing the guards walk down the passage that led to the tunnel I had found earlier.

"A noble mission, young one. I would help you, but I have a family of my own that needs caring after, I am lead cow after all." She said, nuzzling the giggling child in her arms as Zephyr landed next to me with his duffel on his back.

"Sorry, Mitch. It's been fun and all, but I got to get to the empire and see if they have anything for me there." He said before his eyes widened and he smiled. "You should come with me! The Crystal Empire is supposed to be extremely magical or something, maybe the princess could send you home!"

I couldn't help but get excited at that prospect, though doubt came shortly afterwards as I began to think about what he said.

"You really think some princess is going to help a random guy like me?" I asked him, noticing I only had two apps on my phone but nonetheless pocketing my phone as he waved a hoof at me.

"Please, she's supposed to be the sweetest of the four royal alicorns. She'd help Nightmare Moon if the mare asked nicely." He said, confusing me with the last part but restoring some of my hope regardless, especially if it meant a way home.

Bertha lowered her kid to the ground and grabbed him by his right hand with her left before the cavern path that had light at the end of it. "Now, I believe it's time we all-"

She never finished as a loud bang went off from the room to our left, the same one the dogs went down moments ago as a trail of smoke started to seep into the room at a snails pace.

"Uh...what was that?" Zephyr stated as I stroked the stubble on my chin as I thought it over.

'Well, the only thing down there were the three dogs and that tunnel Bertha and I found. So I'd guess whatever was in the tunnel caused the explosion." I inferred as Bertha picked up her kid and out him on her back.

"Momma...what's that black fog?" Kujo asked her as Bertha shook her head, moving over to the tunnel on the other side of the room and away from the smoke.

"I don't know, son. But if it gets close hold your breath. Last thing we need is a dose of poison in our lungs from cave gas." She commanded as Zephyr took to the air and turned to me.

"Time to go!" He exclaimed as I nodded and pulled my shirt up to my nose as I began to follow him and Bertha through the tunnel, noticing the light at the end getting bigger and brighter.

"HELP!!!"

Stopping in my tracks, I turned and saw one of the guard dogs crawling out of the smoke, though he looked far worse for wear than before.

I could only see the upper half of his body, but there were parts of his chest that looked like it had rotted away. His right arm had scratches on it that were bleeding out as he crawled towards me.

Getting closer, but not close enough for contact, I gave him a horrified stare as I pulled down my shirt.

"What the hell happened in that cavern?" I asked him as he stopped crawling and loomed up at me, his beady eyes nearly pulsing with fright as he took a small breath and answered me.

"Kogan looked into the darkness...and blinked."

As soon as he said that, the dog let out a yelp of fear before he suddenly was yanked backwards by whatever the hell was in the smoke.

Oooooooooh heeeeeeeell no!

Falling on my back in shock, I quickly started crawling backwards while the smoke began to speed up, nipping at my shoes before I was able to get back to my feet and start high-tailing it towards the light.

"Shit shit shit shit shit!" I yelled out constantly as I kept running, not daring to look back as I felt something slice across my left arm, leaving a searing pain that stung like hell just as I made it to the caves exit.

"Bertha! Zephyr! MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!!!" I roared as I made it out of the cave and jumped to the side, barely avoiding the rush of smoke that bursted from the caves maw, followed by the most demonic howling I have ever heard, causing me to flatten myself against the wall I was pressed against and cover my ears.

After what seemed like hours the smoke vanished and the howling stopped, allowing me to finally breath again and look around, firstly noticing my fellow ex-prisoners/comrades.

Bertha had dove stomach across the snow to move out of the way of the smoke and was now standing up, dusting off the little remnants of white ice that was on her. Kujo, the poor boy, had latched onto his mother's back in fright and didn't look like he was letting go anytime soon as he kept his eyes clenched up tight.

Turning to the other side of the cave opening, I saw Zephyr land on the ground after what had to be him taking flight and trot over to me, relief in his eyes as he looked me over.

"Mitch, Thank goodness your safe! Why did you stop in the cave?" He asked me as I shuddered slightly, partially from the sudden cold and partially from the memory of the guard dog that had watched over us before while we were mining.

"One of the dogs came out of the smoke and I thought I could help him...but he was badly cut up and his fur looked all rotted." I shook my head, wrapping my arms around myself and flinching at the feel of blood on my right hand.

Bertha noticed the cut and walked over, kneeling down and looking it over while Zephyr turned green in the face and looked away.

"What did that to you? Other than Kogan, neither of the dogs had weapons, so how'd you get that wound?" She asked me as I shrugged, deciding to ignore the cut since it wasn't too big and didn't ache too bad.

Besides, there were bigger things to worry about.

"Don't know, but whatever I was too out of my mind to look behind me and see." I said as my pocket began to vibrate, letting off that little jingle Androids do when they have a call incoming.

Zephyr eyed my pants and tilted his head to the side. "Um...what's that noise?"

I suppressed another freezing shudder and pulled my phone out and looked at the screen. Sure enough, there was a call coming in...though it's caller I.D only had one letter:

D.

Swiping the green icon, I put the phone up to my ear.

"Yello?" I asked, unsure of who could've possibly called me into this place.

"Ah! You picked up! That means you must have found your belongings I sent with you." A familiar voice rang out as I suddenly felt the chill in the air stop affecting me as my temper flared.

"YOU!!!" I yelled into the phone, shocking Bertha and Zephyr while Kujo had fallen asleep and didn't respond to my outburst. "What the hell were you thinking sending me to a mountain of fucking snow?!" I exclaimed, looking around as we were surrounded by nothing but snow and cliffs.

The voice on the other side scoffed. "Don't blame me! YOUR the one who grabbed my wrist and messed up my magic! Stuff is hard enough to control anyway without your grubby little fingers messing with it."

Turning to the cave, I couldn't help but groan. "Magic spell? What are you on about? I was a fucking prisoner in a cave!"

"Hmm...then you ran into the dogs earlier than you should've. This could be bad." He paused as I heard another voice on his end, a soft feminine voice that barely registered in the phones speaker. "I'll be just a second, Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy? Who the hell is that? I frowned before looking at Zephyr who was putting on a sweater from his duffel bag while asking Bertha about how she met her mate. Must be a pony then, considering Zephyr and his wonky name.

"Alright, where are you?" The voice asked me, bringing me put of my thoughts as I pursed my lips.

"Umm..." Someone said it earlier...it was yaken range or something...thats it!

"Oh! I'm somewhere in the Yaket mountain range!" I told him as I looked around, admiring the blue and white backdrop of the snowy peaks around us.

A groan could be heard from the other side. "Damn, and here I thought you'd be near town. Listen carefully, did anything...odd happen to you yet?"

Zephyr walked up to me and gave me a blanket from his bag and a smile.

"Here, you looked like you need this." He said as I mouthed a thank you and wrapped myself up in it, noticing it only covered my upper half but was thankful for any buffer to the cold.

"Well, there was this weird cavern with runes and some deadly smoke." I informed him as I heard what sounded like a cup shatter on his end.

"Mitch, this is very important. I need you to go back into that cave and seal off that tunnel with the runes." He stated, his voice wavering slightly as I startled by his demand.

"What?! Why the hell would I ever go back in that cave?!" I exclaimed as the voice on the other side grunted in exasperation.

"Do you want to ever go home?" He asked me as went to argue more but couldnt find the words. "Thought so. If you want to find your way back to Earth, your first going to need a magic core."

"Magic core?" I asked, confused as to what that was, let alone the prospect of magic existing.

"Indeed. Every living being in Equiis has one...except you. And you'll find that your life will be much easier here once you get one."

So...its like an upgrade? I thought as I nodded. "Right, so how do I get a magic core?"

"That tunnel you found...go find it and submerge most of your body in the pool inside it. Be careful though...if my suspicions are correct any tunnels that high up in Equestria are guarded by...things."

"Things?" I asked, now a little more than worried. I heard a small laugh on the other end though as I the man responded.

"Yup! Don't worry though, anything in the Yaket Range can't be that tough. Get the core, seal the cave, and make sure stay alive! I cant have you complete your side of the contract if your dead!" He said before hanging up, causing me to bring the phone down from my ear and put it in my pocket.

"Mitch...were you talking to somepony on that?" Zephyr asked as he and Bertha approached me, the latter looking more on the matter confused than the suprisingly curious Zephyr.

I smiled weakly, rubbing the back of my head while holding the blanket in place with my other hand. "Y-Yeah...it was the guy who sent me here."

Zephyr gasped, while Bertha frowned at the mention of the man that had torn me from my world.

"What did he want?" She asked tensly as I sighed and pointed at the cave.

"Apparently, I've got to go back into the cave and get a magic core from that tunnel we found, then seal it up afterwards." I told them, causing Zephyr to shake his head rapidly as he took a couple steps back.

"No...No No No No. I am NOT going back in that cave! If what you said about the dogs was true, then there's something dangerous in there!" He shouted as he looked between me and Bertha and turned away from us. "Do what you want, but I am out of here! No ones making monster food out of Zephyr Breeze!"

"Breeze, Wait!" I called to him, halting him as he was about to take off. "I can't force you to go in the cave, but could you at least wait out here for me? I'd rather not be on this mountain alone when I return."

He turned to me, putting down the duffel bag with a sigh.

"Fine. But if you don't come out in an hour I'm leaving for the Empire." He said as Bertha walked over to Zephyr and laid her kid down on his duffel bag.

"Look after my son, Breeze." She said as she turned to me with a smirk. "What are you waiting for?"

I blinked in suprise, not expecting Bertha to want to come with me. "Really? Things are probably going to get dangerous."

Bertha laughed and flexed her right arm as she walked towards the cave. "Bertha can't let someone as small as you face such dangers then, huh? Besides, your the one who found that cave and set both me and Kujo free, it's the least Bertha can do to pay you back."

Smiling at that, I turned back to Zephyr and gave him the blanket he gave me.

"The kid needs that more than I do right now, and for both of our sakes please don't let Kujo get hurt." I told him as he nodded quickly, giving me a smile.

"Alright, go seal the cave or whatever." He said, waving me off as I turned towards Bertha and followed her into the cave, which was now only foot deep with the black gas.

Halfway through the path to where we had our meal, Bertha spoke up.

"What do you think awaits us in the cave?" She asked me as I put my hands on my pockets, trying to calm some of the nerves that were getting to me.

"I don't know. All I know is there's a pool I have to submerge myself in, and that it may be guarded by something." I said with a groan as we waded through the smoke (Which didnt seem toxic, considering I ended up breathing a bunch of it already with no side effects.) "I wish D would've been more specific."

"D?" She asked, eyebrow raised at the odd name while she kept her eyes straight ahead.

"Yeah, it was the I.D of the guy who called me. Don't know his real name though." I said as we arrived in the room that connected to the room with the tunnel in it...though there was a wall of black smoke in the tunnel we had to go through.

Taking a deep breath, I walked up to the wall of smoke and put my hand through it.

"Mitch, wait!" Bertha called out a bit late as I pulled my hand from the wall with no pain or irritation.

"It's harmless, meaning we can go through it." I told her as she walked up to the wall of smoke and looked down at me.

"I don't like this. We're unarmed and there is possibly something waiting for us in there." She states, worry laced in her tone while she clenched her fists.

"You don't have to go in. I'm the one who has to find that pool." I told her, but she shook her head.

"No. I said I would assist you here, and Bertha doesn't go back on her word...ever." She said with the force of a hurricane as I smiled.

"Together, then?" I asked, and faced the wall after receiving a nod of confirmation from her.

"One...Two...Three!!!"

We rushed into the black smoke, though this time I did hold my breath due to how much smoke was in the small space. There was a little bit of resistance from the smoke but with a bit of effort we were able to wade through it to the other side.

"GAAAH!" I exclaimed, taking a deep breath of fresh air as I pulled myself through the smoke and into the room where we had been mining before. Moments after me Bertha followed, though she simply put a finger up to her nose and fired out smoke from it like a snot rocket.

Looking around, the only things I could see in the room were the gems we had left behind, three pickaxes, and...

Oh God.

There was a busted up skeleton propped up on the wall with a huge dog-shaped imprint right behind it, as if it had gotten. crushed up against the wall. Based on the large skeleton size it had to be one of the guard dogs.

Bertha noticed the skeleton and walked over to it, inspecting the body thoroughly before turning to me with a look of concern etched into her eyes.

"Mitch, this happened very recently." She said as the room began to shake, causing us to turn and face the cavern entrance marked with runes.

This time, though, they were glowing white instead of being faded...though a couple had some blood splatters on them.

"More intruders?" A voice spoke up, sounding like it was coming from the wall itself. "Though...I believe one of you is the one who opened my gate."

I stepped forward while Bertha grabbed two pickaxes from behind me, arming herself for a fight if one would arise.

"I am that person." I said sharply, hoping to find a way through this without conflict, knowing damn well I ain't capable of a fight right now. "I was told to come here for the opportunity for a magic core?"

The voice made a "hmm" sound. "You have no core...just like the dog before that begged for my blessing." He stated as I nodded, liking where this was going so far as I continued to reason with...whatever this was.

"Exactly. That is why I am here, though I brought a friend with me because of the smoke. We didn't know what was in it, and were being cautious."

"As one should be in such circumstances...but what makes you different from the dog I have in my clutches? He wished for my blessing, but it was a wish born from dark intentions and he was overtaken by the darkness." The voice said as raised my hands up with a sigh.

"The most I can offer you is my word. I have no intentions to hurt others with the core you can give me." I informed the voice, though it slowly was feeling more and more like a waste of oxygen as the conversation continued.

"Then you shall have no issue overcoming the test, then?" He stated, catching me and Bertha off guard as the wall of smoke to our left suddenly hardened, becoming stone instantly.

"We're locked in!" Bertha exclaimed as she turned back to the wall with the runes. "What test do you speak of?!"

"It is known as the test of Will. Break down the obstacle in front of you...or end up like the pathetic guard dog behind you." It instructed us, making me turn back to the skeleton and the imprint in the wall, my mind going into overdrive as I connected the dots.

Broken skeleton, imprint in the wall, and a task to destroy the obstacle in front of us...Shit! I mentally exclaimed as the wall in front of us began to glow, the runes forming a circle before disappearing in a flash of light, leaving a horrid abomination in its place.

There was a large skeleton head that looked like that of some lizard, about the size of Zephyr, poking out from the wall. Alongside it were two claws on both sides of it that were about a foot smaller than the head, though they looked sharp as knives.

My phone buzzed immediately, making me instinctively go for it (Hey, I'm was college student, what do you expect?) and pull it out, noticing the two apps on it in greater detail than before when I shrugged them off.

One was a calling app, self-explanatory in its use. But the other was a magnifying glass, and when I clicked it the words 'align on target' appeared and the from camera turned on.

"What are you doing?" Bertha exclaimed as she watched me line the camera up with the wall, getting a soft ping from the phone as it began to vibrate.

Target locked: Demon Wall. The phone chirped in the same female voice I had heard on the phone earlier with D, suprising me as I looked up at the wall.

Demon wall? what the fuck did I get myself into? I thought as the phone continued.

Capable of crushing its opponents in the little space they have, the only weakness this beast has is its slow movement...though it makes up for it with its acid shooting ability and its tough body.

"Acid?" Bertha yelled just as the gaping jaws of the skeleton head on the wall spat a ball lf the stuff straight at her, barely missing her as she quickly jolted her body to the right to dodge it.

The acid kept going and hit the dog bones behind us, frying them almost instantly as it reduced them to liquid ash.

That explains that dog from the cave and his rotting skin. I realized as Bertha passed me a pickaxe, which I barely managed to grab with one hand as I stashed the phone back on my pocket.

"Mitch, we're going to have to break down the wall!" She ordered just as the wall began to start slowly moving forward, threatening to crush us like a grape if we didn't act fast. She moved forward quickly, swinging her pickaxe into the side of the wall, inches from the left claw.

With a loud thunk that sounded oddly like a minecraft sound effect, bits of the wall gave way. However, the Demon Wall didn't even flinch as it kept coming, causing Bertha to back up quickly to line up another swing.

Ducking out of the way of an acid blast, I followed Berthas lead and swung my weapon right in the dead center of the wall...

Before almost throwing my pickaxe down in exasperation as I barely made a chink in the wall and it's tough body.

What I realized too late was I had gotten reckless by approaching so closely to the wall, and didn't see the mouth of the Demon Wall opening until it was too late, and in the blink of an eye, my entire right arm was drenched in the acidic vile that the Demon Wall spat up.

I let out a scream of pure agony as I fell to one knee before getting yanked out of the way of the right claws swing by Bertha.

"Mitch, are you ok?" She asked me, her eyes wandering between my eyes and the burning arm as I scooted back to the wall where the dog skeleton had been.

"Dont-Damn!-Worry about me. You need to destroy the wall. I'll watch fro-SHIT!-from here and direct-Agh!- your swings at weaker spots." I told her as she frowned but nodded, grabbing my pickaxe and turning to face the wall.

I took a deep breath, wiping away tears from my eyes as I studied the wall carefully while Bertha made sure to not stand directly in front of me, lest a acid blast hit me again.

It will take too long to destroy the whole wall with what we have available, though perhaps if she takes out the head... I thought as I suddenly stopped feeling anything in my right arm but didn't dare looked down at it.

"Bertha!" I called out to her as she swung both axes at the left claw, shattering it instantly but narrowly dodging another blast of acid. She kept her eyes on the wall as it kept approaching, now more than halfway across, but nodded her head to show she was listening. "Try to take out the head! Maybe we can kill it rather than taking out the whole wall!"

She waved the left pickaxe in confirmation as she rushed forward, dodging right just as another acid blast fired at her.

"Enough of that putrid vomit, fiend!" She roared as the chucked the right pickaxe straight towards the acid. The pickaxe took the acid and, while being melted itself, shot into the head and effectively smashing it to bits.

As she cheered, she didn't see the remaining claw swing out towards her.

"Bertha, watch out!" I yelled, but was too late as the claw smacked into her abdomen, sending her flying backwards and slamming into the wall right next to me headfirst before slumping over, unconscious on contact with the floor.

"BERTHA!" I yelled, but she didn't respond, and the wall showed no sign of stopping.

This is it...my plan failed, and there's a kid outside whos mom is about to be crushed...because of me. I thought wearily as I slowly stood, favoring what was left of my right arm as I felt what little blood was left leave through the open wounds as I took a couple of staggering steps towards the ever approaching wall.

"HEY!" I yelled at the wall. "I know your in there, weird voice thing! Let the minotaur go! She doesn't deserve this...she was only trying to help me."

The wall continued as I backed up against the wall behind me, now merely feet away from being crushed as the wall began to close in with the right claw swinging. all as it came closer and closer to Bertha.

"LISTEN TO ME DAMN IT!" I yelled as I used my good hand to try and slow the the wall by pushing against it. "KILL ME, BUT SPARE HER!!!" I exclaimed as I shut my eyes and braced for impact.

...

...

...

Why am I not dead?

Opening my eyes, I noticed the wall had stopped closing in and was back on the far side of the room, the entranceway I had opened up was shining white and stood out among the dirty cave as it looked brand stinking new.

"You passed the test." The voice called out as one of the runes that were glowing had a ball of light pop out of it as it fell to the ground in a flash of light.

When the light faded, there was what looked like a pony standing there, though I could see through the little guy.

He stood about a couple inches short of Zephyr, and his mane was shaved like a buzzcut while a horn stood tall among the small sea of hair. He was wearing armour that looked like it was a foot thick and had a lot of muscle for the short pony he was.

Noticing my gawking, he smirked. "Surprised I'm a pony?" He asked as I nodded, feeling slightly faint as he laughed. "Dont be! I used to possess great power long ago, and created the test you passed just now."

Frowning as I was having trouble focusing my eyes on him, I stumbled forward slightly. "What...but I didn't destroy the wall?"

He waved me off, smiling softly as he went to answer my statement. "Perhaps not, but the test of Will was never about defeating the Demon Wall, it was about learning what drives your actions...what was your will, and how far it would push you." He accented by pushing my chest slightly, though he caught me from falling over with his magic horn thing, tilting his head slightly as he looked me over. "But for now, we might want to get you to the pool. You need that magic core more than ever."

Next thing I knew, I was being levitated in the air and being lowered into what felt like jello as I was having a hard time paying attention to the pony, let alone think...though I did catch a bit of what he was saying before all went black.

"One day, I hope you can forgive me for doing this...but with your condition I have no choice"

Author's Note

Holy crap that was a lot to unload. For those who asked for action, there's a shit ton for ya.

Yeah, so things escalated quickly...yet at the same time I think I could've done more this chapter. Regardless, I'm happy with it, and hope yall are too!

Will Mitch survive? Will Bertha get back to her kid? What happened to Kogan? And does anyone of the viewers even care about Zephyr? All this and more to come! See yall then!

p.s: like always, any comments or criticism is greatly appreciated!