Chapters “Ugh…”
Twilight groaned as her senses finally found wherever she had fallen to. She almost wished they hadn’t.
A dull pain throbbed throughout her form. She was sturdier than she used to be now that she was an alicorn, but it didn’t seem to be helping much in this case.
Her eyes slowly creaked open, taking in a dimly lit view of cobweb-ridden wooden rafters and dangling pieces of rope. She blinked rapidly and produced another pained mumble, sitting up and bringing a hoof to the back of her head.
All at once, her mind clarified enough to remember what had just happened. Her eyes shot open and a gasp escaped her. “Girls!”
Darting her head around the room she now found herself in, she quickly found the five mares and her young assistant spread out in a loose pile. Some quiet groans and murmurs came as they started to stir one by one.
“Whozza..fh…mmph…” Rainbow Dash mumbled as her unfocused eyes fluttered open and then closed. She tried to reposition herself and snuggle against a non-existent pillow before clenching her lids and finally opening them. Once she realized she wasn't where she thought she was, she shot upwards and stammered. “W-What the?!”
“Ngh… Gummy, keep it down. I’ll get up in a minute…” Pinkie sluggishly waved a hoof and tried to pat it beside her, only to find dust and earthen floor where she was expecting soft and clean blankets. This disconnect was enough to get her to lift her head and open her eyes. “Huh…?”
“Uh… what in tarnation is goin’ on? Where are we?” Applejack asked as she stood up.
Rarity came to her senses and shot to her hooves. She looked around and scrunched her face up at the state of her surroundings, even lifting a dainty hoof like the floor was causing her physical distress. “Ulgh! It was bad enough to be walking through that grimy castle… I just got my coat conditioned!”
Meanwhile, as the unicorn was having a crisis of sanitation, Fluttershy was having a different sort of crisis. She slowly lifted her head, her eyes widening and starting to tremble as they darted around at the strange place she now found herself in.
“Oh no… oh, no, no, no! W-What happened?! Ohhh this is all my fault!” She curled up into a ball, clutching her hind legs with her fore and clenching her eyes shut. Shivering in place, she silently prayed for this all to be a dream.
Something touched her on the shoulder, causing the pegasus to squeak in fear and start to jerk back. However, she eased her reaction as she opened her eyes and saw that it was a hoof, belonging to none other than her alicorn friend.
“Calm down, Fluttershy. It’s okay,” Twilight said with a small but genuine smile.
“No! It’s not okay!” Fluttershy pulled away and hid her face in her hooves, but the tears starting to fall were clearly visible. “I should never have asked you to open that door. Now we’ve been taken Celestia knows where, a-and it’s all my fault! I’m sorry… I’m s-so sorry,” she quaked, on the verge of having a panic attack.
Twilight and the others frowned and shared worried glances. They didn’t often see their timid friend this frightened. The sight of the pegasus hugging herself and crying was enough to get even Rainbow Dash’s ears to wilt.
The cyan mare hovered over to her fellow pegasus and began the process of damage control. She sidled down beside Fluttershy and draped a wing around her friend, causing a slight decrease in shivering as a set of blue eyes peered out through a layer of tears.
“Hey… settle down, Flutters. It’s okay. This isn’t your fault, and nopony here blames you,” Rainbow said, pulling her friend a bit closer.
“She’s right, darling,” Rarity added.
“Yeah…” Spike chimed in softly, his eyes trailed down and his claws fidgeting together. The young dragon was perhaps struggling with his own regret of not doing as he was told and going for help, but even he knew that there was no point in dwelling on it now.
“B’sides that, you weren’t the only cat curiosity killed. I think we all wanted to know what was behind that door, ‘least a lil’ bit,” Applejack said. “Who would’a thunk it was a magic box that sucked us into… wherever we are.”
Twilight and the others took another look around. Other than the rafters above, they were in a barren room. Sprigs of plants sparsely poked up out of the earthen floor, and the only features to be seen on the dull brown walls were tiny cracks and inching shadows cast by bare bulbs dangling from the ceiling.
A sense of foreboding crept out of two doorways standing in front and behind them. The darkness within made it nigh impossible to tell what lay beyond, and offered the ponies’ imaginations a slew of nightmares that could have been waiting for them.
“So… uh…” Spike chuckled nervously, backing closer to his alicorn caregiver and even bumping into her legs as he stared into one of the doorways. He was half convinced that he could see movement in the swirling dust and darkness. “Are you going to tell us about whatever spell you’re going to use to get us out of here, Twilight? You can get us out of here… r-right?”
Twilight fought off her growing unease to cast a reassuring glance to her friends and her petrified assistant as she lit her horn. However, as she started scanning the area for any magical information on where they were in relation to the rest of Equestria, her heart sank as she found no traces of anything she could use.
There was no sign of the sun or moon above, and the network of magical energies that criss-crossed the land was strangely absent. They didn’t seem to be in Equestria. Worse still, they didn’t seem to be anywhere .
“I…” She swallowed once before taking a calming breath and facing the others. “I don’t think I can, Spike.”
Naturally, this response wasn't as comforting as any of them wanted, least of all Spike. “W-WHAT?! What do you mean?!”
“Are we s-stuck here forever?” Fluttershy’s pupils shrank and her voice gave out on her at the mere possibility.
“Not necessarily,” Twilight clarified more confidently. “We must be in some kind of magically created space. I can’t feel any entrance or exit right now, but there must be one. If we came in, we can get out somehow… we just need to find a way.” She shifted her attention to the doorways around them, her expression growing serious.
Applejack sighed tensely. “Let me guess… that means we need to explore, don’t we?”
Twilight nodded once and cast a light spell over her horn, cutting back the dim shadows. “I’m afraid so. Stay close and keep your eyes open, everypony. We have to assume that this place could be dangerous.”
With that reminder of their potentially grave situation, the Elements of Harmony and their dragon friend rallied behind their lavender leader as she approached one of the doorways. Applejack and Rainbow Dash remained near the front, ready to protect their friends from whatever dangers might have revealed themselves. Fluttershy stayed near the back, with Rarity and Pinkie somewhere in the middle, and Spike huddling close to her hind legs.
Keeping a steady pace, Twilight hesitated before the opening. Her light illuminated more earthen floor ahead, seemingly indicating another room. However, her light wasn't providing as much illumination as she would have liked.
Slowly, carefully, they all stepped forward into darkness. Then, the moment the last of them crossed the threshold, lightbulbs flickered to life above, bathing the whole area in the same dim light from the room behind them.
The ponies all darted their heads around the newly revealed open space. Immediately, they could see a few differing features from the barren room behind them; a few large rocks to one side, some fire burning away from wooden sticks in the corners, even some more doorways.
But the thing that quickly drew their attention was not a feature of the room. Rather, it was an inhabitant of the room.
A small, hairless and tailless creature stood around twice Spike’s height on two legs. Its pinkish skin was smooth, to the point of almost looking uniform. Judging from the lack of any features on its rounded and slightly oversized head, it seemed to be facing away from them.
Twilight and the others were at a loss for words as they all stared at the thing. They had never seen anything like it before. The closest thing the alicorn could even equate it to would be some kind of ape or chimp, but it didn’t look anything like one of those either.
“What is that…?” Rarity asked in a hushed voice on the off-chance that the thing could hear them.
“Maybe it’s that crying child we heard earlier?” Pinkie mused curiously. “It does look kinda small and cute.”
“Speak for yourself,” Spike noted. Of course, he was used to most things being larger than him, but usually children were around his size.
Seeing that nopony else was stepping up, Twilight took it upon herself to make the first move. She inched forward, keeping a non-threatening posture and making sure not to make any sudden movements. If this was their mysterious crying child, she didn’t want to scare them.
“Hello…?” Twilight spoke up tentatively. “Can you understand me?”
The hairless creature remained still and silent even as she approached. This lack of response was a bit disconcerting, but she kept inching forward anyway. Her friends remained close behind, though most of them were keeping a good distance away.
“We’re n-not going to hurt you,” Fluttershy said, though by the tremor in her voice, she seemed like she expected it to hurt them.
Still no response. The ponies were beginning to wonder if this being could even hear them. That is, until it suddenly stiffened up and lifted its head.
Twilight paused and held a disarming hoof out as the thing started to move. She wore a gentle smile, ready to do whatever it took to bridge the gap of diplomacy with whatever this strange creature was.
That smile all but vanished as the thing turned with a jerk.
A wide, gaping mouth produced a deep groan as it reached toward her with grasping hands. Two streams of what could only be blood fell from empty pits where its eyes should have been, holding the ponies’ petrified gaze like an all-consuming abyss.
A scream split the air. Twilight would have thought it came from herself if she wasn't caught between breaths. Soon, more terrified shrieks joined the first as her friends recoiled.
Finally, Twilight produced a yell of her own and jerked away. She lit her horn instinctively and wrapped her magic around the creature. It flailed wildly, fighting against her hold with ravenous energy.
In her fearful panic, Twilight tossed the hairless thing away, where it sailed into the nearby wall and collapsed with a thud.
The six ponies and their dragon companion stared at the motionless monster with quivering eyes and racing hearts.
“That… w-wasn't cute at all!” Pinkie stammered.
Fluttershy slowly peaked out from behind Pinkie's stiff form and lifted a hoof to point. "Wh… w-what is that thing?!"
"I don't… I-I don't know!" Twilight answered. The others weren't used to seeing her this freaked out since she became a princess.
Rainbow Dash swallowed her nerves and forced herself to take a step forward. "Is it dead…?"
"I don't know," Twilight said, taking a calming breath and trying to get control of the situation again. "I… I didn't mean to throw it so hard."
"Don't feel too bad. I don't think it was tryin' to say hi," Applejack reasoned.
Taking it upon herself to investigate further, Twilight cautiously approached the prone figure. Applejack and Rarity followed behind, while the others stayed back a healthy distance.
Rarity suppressed a shudder as she stared down into the bloody cavity that was its eyes. "Sweet Celestia… what kind of dreadful place is this?"
“Celestia really did have a good reason for locking that box away if it leads here,” Twilight noted.
Just then, another groan split the air, causing everyone’s tails to bristle. Only this time, it wasn't coming from the creature before them.
Turning at once to the side, Twilight and her friends widened their eyes as they saw another exact version of the eyeless monster crawling out from behind a rock, and it wasn't alone. Five, six, eight, maybe a dozen of the hairless beings were quite literally coming out of the woodwork, dropping from the rafters, crawling out from under or behind rocks, wherever they could find to slither into the light and join the horde now surrounding the ponies on near all sides.
“Holy cow! They’re everywhere!” Rainbow shouted as she backed into a circle with Pinkie, Spike, and Fluttershy.
“Girls!” Applejack reached for her friends, but she couldn’t get to them without getting dangerously close to some of the monsters going for both of their groups.
Thinking fast, Twilight raced into action and cast her magical influence out. She wrapped a cluster of magenta energy around each of the advancing creatures. Already she could feel her magic being strained from holding so many different sentient beings in place, and their struggles were only making things worse.
“I… c-can’t hold them for long! Everypony run back to the— AGH!!”
An abrupt pain came from her hind leg, causing the alicorn to yelp and lose her magical hold. The others felt their hearts drop along with the hairless shapes.
Turning back, Twilight found the source of her sudden assault. The original creature had woken up, and was now latching onto her hind leg with its teeth. A trickle of her own blood was running down her pristine fur.
"Gah! Get off me!" Twilight kicked her other leg out, catching the thing in the head and ripping it off her. A spray of blood signaled one final jolt of pain.
While that creature smacked into the wall and settled on the floor once more, it didn’t remain there long as it got back up and joined its brothers in going after the ponies.
"AHH!!" Fluttershy screamed and fell back, her body failing her in her attempt at escape as three of the monsters closed in on her.
Seeing her friend in distress, Rainbow Dash gasped and flew forward, getting in front of the timid mare. "Leave her alone, you freaks!" she shouted as she kicked down into one of the creatures' bulbous heads, sending it flopping back with a disturbing crack.
While that monster fell still on the cold earthen floor, its companions were quick to deal retribution to the brave pegasus. Two of them jumped up, catching Rainbow's tail and one of her legs and pulling. She started to protest and pull back, but more of them were quick to join in and jump on her, yanking her to the ground with a startled yelp. That yell only grew louder and more desperate as one of them bit down into her wing.
Fluttershy’s heart leaped into her throat as her friend screamed in a mixture of fear and pain. “No! Dashie!” She reached out, but was helpless to stop the hairless creatures from overwhelming the cyan mare.
Then, her already trembling pupils shrank as she noticed one of the things moving past the pile of squirming flesh where her friend was and heading straight for her, arms reaching out to find its next victim. She stumbled back, falling and holding a hoof out in denial. It loomed over her, ever-bleeding pits swallowing her up long before its gaping maw could try.
Just before she could accept her doom, the thing was sent sailing away as an orange set of hind legs kicked out with great force.
Fluttershy blinked, looking up to find her sudden savior in a stetson hat. “Applejack?”
The farmer barely offered the pegasus a reassuring look before shifting her attention to their friend. Applejack planted her forehooves and bucked as fast as she could. One. Two. Four. Soon, all of the creatures were ripped free and sent hurtling away from her powerful kicks, the last one taking a gush of blood and a chunk of fur and flesh with it as it went.
Fearful of what she might see, Applejack turned to find what had become of the bold pegasus. Thankfully, she was mostly intact, though not for lack of trying. Rainbow had three bleeding bite marks, one on her wing, side, and shoulder.
“Mercy sakes, you okay, Rainbow?” Applejack asked as she held a hoof out.
Rainbow grunted past clenched teeth and squinted an eye open to see her friend. Still clutching her shoulder with one hoof, she used the other to reach out and accept the farmer’s help back up. “Ngh… Forget about that, we need to get out of—”
An abrupt zap cut Rainbow off, followed sharply by a familiarly haunting groan. Both mares turned to see a gaping maw and bloodstained hands reaching for them, only for a magenta bolt of magic to strike the lunging monster and blow it back.
The trio looked over and spotted Twilight and the others on the other side of the room by one of the doors. Pinkie and Rarity were shoving or kicking any of the creatures that got too close, and Spike was clinging to the alicorn as she wildly fired at the horde surrounding them.
“This way!” Twilight shouted before darting her head to the side and shooting one of the things as it got too close for comfort.
Seeing their opportunity for escape closing up around them, Applejack nudged Rainbow Dash forward and went back to grab Fluttershy’s hoof so she could pull the pegasus along. “Shy, Dash, let’s hussle! The train’s ‘a leavin’!”
“You don’t need to tell me twice!” Rainbow retorted, ignoring her stinging wounds to rush ahead with her friends.
Rarity stepped forward and used her magic to shove some of the creatures away as they reached for the three mares. The unicorn herself was forced to backpedal nervously, joining a wildly gesturing Pinkie Pie and a terrified Spike by Twilight’s side as they all waited for their friends to make it safely across the sea of murderous shapes.
Applejack ducked and weaved around grasping hands and lunging faces with Fluttershy in tow. Rainbow did her best to rush alongside the pair and punch or kick anything that got too close, but her shaking limbs coursing with adrenaline couldn’t make much of an impact.
At last, the three mares got past the majority of the beasts. Their friends and the doorway to freedom were just ahead. They couldn’t see where the opening led from how dark it was, but anywhere was better than where they currently were.
Twilight ushered Spike and Rarity behind her as she backed into the doorway. She fired one last bolt of magic at one of the closer creatures and motioned for the trio to hurry up. Pinkie Pie rushed forward and assisted an exhausted and hurting Rainbow Dash with walking, while Applejack let Fluttershy go and joined the others inside the door.
However, just as she and Fluttershy were about to head inside after the group, Rainbow Dash paused as she felt the hoof on her back getting pulled away, followed by a shrill cry of terror.
Both pegasi looked back, only to find one of the creatures holding Pinkie Pie down by a hind leg. The pink mare was squealing and kicking at it to no avail, and the rest of the horde was quickly closing ground between them.
Fluttershy gasped, and Rainbow’s face paled. Without wasting a moment, they both rushed forward.
“Ngh…” Twilight glanced down to her hind leg, where a bite-shaped piece of her was missing and blood was steadily leaking out. Thankfully, the bleeding wasn't too bad, all things considered. In any case, it was the least of her worries. “Is everyone okay?”
“I think so,” Spike replied, taking a moment to calm his racing heart.
Applejack shifted her attention behind the alicorn, remembering that Rainbow Dash was wounded even worse than Twilight was. However, as she looked to the shadows of the room beyond, she found no sign of the cyan mare, or of Pinkie and Fluttershy.
“Hey… where are the others?” Applejack took a few steps forward, face growing more concerned by the minute.
Twilight turned her head behind her, where she expected their three friends to be close by as they were when she passed the threshold. Her eyes flashed with worry as she found only empty space. “Girls…?”
The alicorn stepped forward and lit her horn as she poked her head through the doorway, expecting to have to fight to rescue the trio from the approaching monsters. Strangely, the air was still and silent, and the room beyond was empty. Not only were there no groans or marching feet, but there were no shapes in the darkness either.
“Fluttershy? Rainbow Dash? Pinkie Pie…?!” Twilight’s voice raised as she darted her head side to side.
“Where are they?” Spike asked.
Rarity got to her hooves and inched forward. “I thought they were right behind us?”
Applejack walked up beside Twilight in the doorway and joined the search. Like the alicorn, she found only a dim picture of the room beyond, with no sign of their friends or the monsters that had chased them anywhere.
Then, the orange mare’s pupils shrank as something dawned on her.
“Twi…”
“What is it?” Twilight asked, turning to see the earth pony staring stiffly ahead.
Applejack merely lifted a hoof and pointed. “That ain’t the same room we were in,” she muttered.
Squinting in denial, Twilight returned her gaze to the room and inspected it closer, only to inch back in shock. Applejack was right. While it looked similar, the room ahead was indeed different. It was completely empty, with no rocks or other obstacles. There was no blood or scorch marks from their battle. And, most concerningly, no Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, or Rainbow Dash.
“Oh no…” Twilight’s heart sank. It was as if they had been teleported somewhere else. Somewhere away from the three mares and the danger they were in.
Hoofsteps and the tiny pitter-patter of dragon claws approaching from behind drew the princess’ attention back to her remaining friends. They were all looking to her as they always did in times of crisis. She had always been the closest thing they had to a leader, doubly so now that she had ascended to royalty.
“Twilight, what do we do?” Spike asked, fidgeting the tips of his claws together as he peered out into the unknown rooms around them.
“We go find ‘em, that’s what!” Applejack reasoned before her energy diminished. “We have to…”
Feeling a hoof on her shoulder, Applejack looked up to see the purple alicorn offering her and the others a reassuring look. Twilight suppressed whatever doubt or unease she was feeling and focused on what was most important to her. Keeping her friends safe.
“You’re right, we have to find them. And I know we will. In the meantime, we just have to trust that they’ll keep each other safe.” Twilight pursed her lips for a moment before steeling her resolve once more.
“But how are we going to find them if we don’t know where we are?” Rarity gestured around them. “This place seems to be a maze… a filthy maze full of Celestia knows how many kinds of horrible creatures!” She shuddered at the mere thought of those eyeless beasts. She could only hope that their missing friends got away from them.
Twilight walked toward the middle of the room, shifting her head to look at the options available to them. Three more doors were on each wall, each leading somewhere new. “Well, I think we’re just going to have to keep exploring. Either we find the others, or we find a way out of here and we can send somepony out to get help. All I know is that we’re not helping anyone by standing here.”
“You got that right,” Applejack stated, settling her hat on her head as she followed the alicorn toward the left door. Spike slowly joined them, leaving Rarity behind for a moment.
The unicorn peered back toward where they left their friends, or rather, where their friends should have been. Whatever place they now roamed apparently operated on its own rules. Their situation was bad enough before, but it was only getting worse.
“I knew we shouldn’t have been messing around in that old castle, but nopony listens to me!” Rarity huffed to herself.
“Hurry up, Rares! We need to stick together before more of us go missin’!” Applejack called, causing the white mare to look up and notice her friends waiting for her by the next threshold.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Rarity droned, “but I don’t have to be happy about it.”
Silent, just like always, until echoes of the past roared to life and danced with him this endless game of escape.
The earthen floor beneath was painfully familiar. He had been here many times, and would be many more. Still, he cried. His stinging tears falling down his face and watering the dirt he curled against.
Already the memories were coming back. Every time, no matter how long he had been here, the boy still remembered all that came before, and all that he had left. This grave full of all he was, and all she had made him to be.
And even through it all, it still hurt. The shame, the anger, the despair. And so he cried. Isaac cried even as he stood, facing the empty doorways leading further in. The basement waited for its one lonely ghost to go once more into its depths, unaware that perhaps this time, something was different.
This time, he wasn't alone.
Ten minutes had passed since Twilight’s group was separated. In that time, she and her remaining three friends crossed a few rooms in whatever space they now found themselves in.
The longer they searched, the less sense their surroundings made. Judging from the wooden rafters above and the earthen floors prevalent throughout, they estimated that they were in a basement of sorts, but it didn’t seem to follow logic.
If there was an end to it, they hadn’t found it yet, and rooms seemed to change or vanish completely as they walked through certain doors and back. Twilight suspected some form of teleportation was taking place, but she couldn’t detect any magical energies that might indicate such a spell was being used. It was equal parts concerning and infuriating.
They also found a few rooms that were occupied by things. What these things were, they couldn’t or didn’t want to say.
One minute they were fighting a smaller group of the hairless bipedal creatures from before, and the next they were dodging overgrown flies or undulating masses of living meat that spat blood at them. Between Twilight and Applejack, they handled everything that came their way without issue, but they were starting to dread each new doorway they passed.
Passing through another empty three-way intersection, the group headed for the door at the back wall. Meanwhile, atop Twilight’s back, Spike noticed a glint of light on the floor as they were leaving. “Hey, hold on a sec.”
“What is it, darling?” Rarity asked.
Spike merely pointed near the left corner, prompting the group to backpedal. “There, on the floor.”
Following his direction, Twilight and the others noticed an abrupt twinkle of light. After sharing a curious glance, and making a quick check for any hidden dangers, the ponies walked over, whereupon they spotted the source of the twinkle. It was a small, round, silvery metallic object with a symbol reminiscent of the letter ‘c’ on its flat surface.
“What’s that?” Applejack tilted her head.
Twilight lit her horn and hovered the object up into her hoof. “It looks like some kind of coin.”
“Just in case we needed a reminder that we aren’t in Equestria anymore.” Rarity gave a dry chuckle.
“Do you recognize it, Twilight?” Spike asked.
After giving it some thought, Twilight wrinkled a corner of her mouth and hummed. “It’s not from anywhere I know of. I thought it was from Yakyakistan, but the symbol is wrong.'' She scrutinized the coin, flipping it over in her hoof once or twice before shrugging and using her magic to poof it away for later. “Oh, well. In any case, we should hold onto it. It could be useful.”
“Money is money. Must be worth somethin’ ‘round here,” Applejack noted.
With nothing else of note to be found, the ponies pressed onwards to the next area, their curious discovery prompting them to keep their eyes peeled for more than just dangers now.
Fire crackled nearby, casting their shadows on the wall they were passing. This room was larger than most they had seen, forming an ‘L’ shape if the corner ahead was any indication. As they rounded the corner, Twilight came to a stop, signaling the others to do the same. A lone door stood at the end of the room, different in appearance than any they encountered before.
A thicker frame adorned the doorway, with two golden rectangles on either of the top corners and a similarly gilded circle in the middle with a symbol on it. Twilight narrowed her eyes before magically poofing the coin they had found back into being and holding it up. The ‘c’ symbol on it was exactly the same, down to the single dash through it.
The alicorn hummed pensively as she looked back up to the doorway. Obviously, the symbol meant something, but what? Resolving to find out, she gestured for her friends to keep close as she pressed forward.
Stepping inside, they were immediately greeted with a stale aroma, though it was masked with hints of smoke and burnt fragrance oils. Looking around in the dark quickly led to apprehensive thoughts, but before Twilight or Rarity could light their horns, flames sprang to life from two bonfires, revealing the space around them.
Shelves were embedded into each of the four walls, bedecked in various knick-knacks. Bags, pieces of jewelry, plush toys. For all intents and purposes, the room appeared to be a shop. An observation that was further cemented by the display pedestals before the group.
Three such pedestals were spaced evenly apart, each with a different item on them. One held a bizarre-looking deck of cards. Another had a pitch-black candle with an eerily dark flame burning away on it. The middle one had a single piece of paper. Each of these pedestals had a wooden sign posted in front of it, with a number and that same ‘c’ symbol from the door and the coin.
However, what currently held the group’s attention was the sole inhabitant of this shop. Between the two fires burning brightly, a gray and desiccated figure was slumped on the floor. A rope dangled loosely from its neck. It resembled the hairless bipedal creatures that attacked them before, but if it was hostile to them, it didn’t matter anymore. Judging from its cracking skin and empty stare, it was long dead.
“What is that thing?” Spike inched to the back of the alicorn he was riding.
Rarity’s face scrunched up as she lifted a dainty hoof. “Ulgh… I thought I smelled something dead.”
“Poor feller looks like he starved in here,” Applejack said.
Hesitating as she lifted her hoof, Twilight instead lit her horn and poked the thing with her magic. It didn’t stir or otherwise react, as she suspected. Breathing a silent sigh of relief, she shifted her attention to the rest of the room, particularly the three items on display.
“Hmm…” Twilight took out the coin once more and flipped it over. On its backside, there was a number ten. Most of the signs had a number fifteen on them, but the one in the middle had a seven written in red as if it were special. “I think we can buy these things. This must be a shop or something.”
“Would we even want to buy this junk?” Spike lifted a brow at the strange candle.
“Y’know, there’s nothing stopping us from just taking this stuff,” Applejack suggested. “We are tryin’ to survive, after all. If these doohickeys are useful, why not?”
Rarity cast a wary glance to the keeper of the shop, the gray dead body. “I’m… not so certain if we should tempt fate in a place like this.”
“I agree,” Twilight added before looking down to the coin, and then at the items in front of them, “but it looks like the only one we can afford is this piece of paper.”
Seeing no objections from her friends, she gently sat the coin on the pedestal and waited. For a moment, nothing happened, but then the fire flickered, briefly dimming the light. When the lights came back, their coin was missing, and in its place were three yellow-looking coins. The sign in front of the pedestal was also gone.
“I guess this is a self-servin’ kind of place… heh heh.” Applejack’s eyes darted around once more for any sign that they weren’t alone.
“Okay… we bought something. Hurray for capitalism. Now, can we please get out of here? This place gives me the creeps,” Rarity suggested.
“Don’t forget your paper. We paid for it fair and square,” Spike reminded.
With curiosity welling up inside, Twilight reached her hoof forward. They had paid seven of whatever this place’s currency was for this paper, so she hoped that it was worth something. After hesitating and looking around to make sure nothing was going to attack her, she grabbed the three coins and then the paper, slowly bringing it away with no issue.
Lifting it up to her face, she was surprised to see something on its surface that wasn't there before. A grid of different squares all linked together was rendered in black ink. Not only that, but Twilight recognized some of the shapes to be the various rooms they had visited.
“Hey, I think this is a map!” Twilight declared with a grin.
“Really?!” Spike perked up. “Does it say how to get out of here?!”
After a moment of studying the paper, Twilight’s enthusiasm fell. “Umm… not exactly, but it does show us where we are.” She pointed to one square next to an ‘L’ shaped room, which not only had the symbol of the shop in it, but also an ‘x’ to seemingly denote their position.
“Oh…” Spike’s shoulders slumped. However, as he peered over Twilight’s shoulder at the map, his expression furrowed. “Wait, why is there more than one ‘x’ on here?” He pointed to somewhere further up the layout. Sure enough, there was a second spot marked in the same way their square was.
“Do you think it’s the others?” Rarity posed with guarded optimism.
“It could be.” Twilight rolled the map up in her aura and turned toward the door with newfound determination. “Let’s go check it out. If it is them, I want to get there as soon as possible.”
“What’re we waiting for? We ain’t helping anypony in this creepy flea market,” Applejack said as she and Rarity followed Twilight out.
As they were leaving, Spike turned to look back at the shop and the gray body. “Thanks for the map, buddy. Hope you don’t mind if we never come back.” He suppressed a shudder and waved the unsettling shop and its silent merchant goodbye. The minute he turned around, a gleeful smile creaked onto the body’s face.
Back out into the larger room, the three mares and their young companion were filled with renewed vigor as they resolved to find their friends. Now that they had a map, their chances of getting their bearings were far better. Finally, they were having some good fortune in this dismal basement of horrors.
Of course, fortune in the basement was fleeting, as they were soon about to find out.
Up around the corner, a sound rang out that made the ponies freeze. It was a cry, but not like the one they heard that started this whole mess. Something was off about it. It was distorted, and it made the hairs on their tails bristle.
“I don’t suppose we could just pretend we didn’t hear that, could we?” Spike suggested.
“Unfortunately not,” Twilight replied as she and the others shifted their eyes to the corner ahead.
Rarity cringed, “Need I remind you what happened the last time we investigated a disembodied crying sound?”
“I don’t think we have much of a choice.” Applejack glanced behind them. The shop had no other exits, and the only way out was around the corner where the sound was coming from.
Twilight put a hoof to her lips and got low to the ground. Following her lead, they all pushed up to the corner on light hooves. The cry came again, this time accompanied by a low buzzing sound. It sounded like someone, or something, was in a great deal of pain.
After sharing hesitant looks with her friends and doing a brief countdown, Twilight lit her horn as they all jumped out into the open. What they saw next stunned them back a step.
Ahead, between them and the exit to the room, were three shapes. Two of them were small winged creatures with insectoid eyes and white bodies hanging down. The maddening buzz accompanying them was reminiscent of a house fly.
The third shape was perhaps the most grotesque. It was another hairless bipedal figure, but its head was bulbous and misshapen, with pulsing growths that would occasionally move or shift independently like something was inside them. Tears streamed from its inky black eyes, and it let out another high-pitched whine from its open mouth.
Rarity recoiled back a step, her face contorted with disgust. “Ugh! And here I thought nothing would top the living piles of meat!”
“What even is that thing?!” Spike peeked out from his hiding place in Twilight’s mane, unable to look away from the misshapen creature.
Just then, one of the flying creatures spat something out of its lower half. It looked to be a glob of sizzling blood, and it was heading right for them.
Twilight and Applejack stepped out of the way, letting the glob fly until it hit the floor behind them. It bubbled and hissed as it burned the ground before dimming and falling inert.
“Whatever it is, if it’s hangin’ around those things, it must be another monster,” Applejack reasoned as she steadied herself for battle.
Twilight lit her horn and lifted Spike off of her back and onto Rarity’s. She and Applejack stepped forward to be in front of the pair as they faced down their unsettling foes.
“Rarity, take Spike and hang back. Something tells me this is about to get messy.” Twilight instructed, her horn glowing with the fierce desire to protect her friends. As much as she didn’t want to fight, these beasts were giving her no choice.
*A few minutes earlier*
With the sound of their own hearts pounding in their chests and their frantic gasps struggling to fuel their burning lungs, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie ran through the myriad rooms around them to get away from the hairless monsters.
Eventually, Rainbow petered out to a stop, with her friends gladly following suit. She rested on her haunches for a moment before checking the doorway behind them. Through what little she could see of the room beyond, there was no sign of their pursuers.
“I think… I think we lost ‘em,” Rainbow stated between pants.
Pinkie rubbed a hoof along her hind leg, where a patch of her fur stung from being grabbed so harshly. “Thanks for saving me back there, girls.”
Fluttershy placed a hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder and returned her smile in kind. “Of course, Pinkie. We couldn’t just leave you there.”
Hearing this somehow made Pinkie deflate. “I just wish we didn’t get separated from the others because of me.”
“Don’t sweat it, Pinks,” Rainbow assured. “It’s not your fault. Those jerks were everywhere. One of us was bound to get caught. I’m just glad they didn’t take a bite out of you like they did me.” She winced as she tried to move her shoulder, causing her wound to sting.
“Oh my gosh…” Pinkie frowned at the sight of her friend in so much pain.
Fluttershy got up and walked over to her childhood friend. She sat down in front of Rainbow and gently coaxed her to move her hooves out of the way. “Here, let me see it. I’ll be careful, I promise.”
Rainbow slowly drew her hooves away. She also extended her wing, revealing the bites on her side and the feathery appendage.
Seeing the scope of the wounds for the first time made Fluttershy cringe. The shoulder wound was the worst, going about an inch deep and still bleeding. Everything else was mostly superficial, but that didn’t stop her from worrying.
“Oh my…” Fluttershy muttered.
“It’s fine,” Rainbow stated through clenched teeth. “I can still move and fly, so I’d say I’m doing alright.” She gave a test flap of her injured wing.
“I’m more concerned about that one on your shoulder. We really should get the bleeding under control,” Fluttershy fretted.
Rainbow started to say something further when a sudden noise made her ears shoot up. Her head darted to the side, where another open doorway stood. “What was that?”
"Maybe it’s the others?" Pinkie mused.
"Or m-maybe it's more of those things?" Fluttershy added.
Rainbow Dash stood and stepped toward the opening. "Only one way to find out. Stay close."
With some hesitance, Fluttershy and Pinkie followed their bold leader into the next room. Strangely, the lights were already on in this room. It was another plainly shaped area with a few rocks and pots in the corners.
The minute they walked in, the ponies came to a stop as they spotted it. They weren’t alone.
Standing near the far wall, facing away from them, was another bipedal figure exactly like the ones they had seen before.
"Ah!" Pinkie jumped back and jabbed a hoof toward the figure. "It is one of those things!"
Both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash jolted with the pink mare. Then, the figure jumped as well, spinning around and pressing its back against the wall.
Rainbow Dash maneuvered herself in front of her friends protectively. Despite her faux bravery, she was shaking at the knees. “S-Stay back! I’m warning you!”
Fluttershy started to hide behind Rainbow Dash when she suddenly noticed that the creature was cowering as well. She slowly poked her head out, taking a closer look at it. While it was true that it resembled the eyeless monsters, it was different. It actually had eyes, big expressive orbs that, while rife with tears, weren’t bleeding. It didn’t make any noise either, save for a slight childlike whine that reminded her of the phantom cry they had heard back in the castle.
“Wait… I don’t think it’s a monster,” Fluttershy said.
Pinkie skewed a brow in disbelief. “You don’t?”
Slowly stepping around her friends, Fluttershy felt a familiar sense of being needed. She didn’t know why, but as she looked into those trembling eyes, she could tell the being before them was feeling a great deal of hurt, sadness, and fear. Her element was kindness, after all, so she had a sense for when people were in great need of some.
“You’re the one who was crying before, aren’t you?” Fluttershy asked, doing her best to appear non-threatening as she slowly approached the figure. The way it cowered away from her very much reminded her of a child.
“Careful, Flutters. We don’t know if that thing is dangerous or not,” Rainbow Dash piped up, taking a few steps closer to be prepared to rescue her friend if the need arose.
“If Fluttershy isn’t scared of it, I don’t think it is,” Pinkie reasoned as she approached more casually.
As the ponies got closer, the hairless being further pressed itself to the wall behind it and eyed between them with darting movements. Its hands were clasped to its chest, and its lips were quaking. The longer she watched it, even Rainbow Dash started to feel more pity than fear.
“It’s okay. We won’t hurt you,” Fluttershy assured, her voice gentle as a whisper. She held a hoof to her chest, “My name is Fluttershy. These are my friends, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.”
“Hiya!” Pinkie waved.
The child, whatever species he was, didn’t react to them other than shifting his eyes between them as they spoke. His posture eased a little bit, but he was still shrinking away from them.
Rainbow Dash furrowed her expression. “Helloo o? Can . You . Understand . Us ?” She got close and spoke loudly, deliberating every word like she was talking to an animal or someone hard of hearing. The being flashed an offended glare as she poked it. “Girls, I don’t think this thing is—”
Suddenly, the child blinked his eyes at the pegasus. At once, what looked like a ball made of his tears fired out and splashed into Rainbow’s face.
“Ow.” Rainbow flinched. It didn’t really hurt, but it didn’t feel pleasant either. The boy glowered at her and blinked twice more, sending two more gravity-defying blobs of tears at the pony. “Oww! Stop that!”
As she raised her voice, the boy shrank down and his eyes trembled even more. The flow of tears streaming down his face increased.
“Rainbow.” Fluttershy turned to her friend with a potent frown of disappointment.
Rainbow gave a defensive shrug, “What? It started it!”
“That’s no way to treat a new friend!” Pinkie added. “He’s probably just as scared as we are of all those things running around. Isn’t that right, little guy?” She patted him on the head. The boy simply stared at her like a goldfish in a bowl. They couldn’t be sure of what he was thinking, but being bewildered at Pinkie Pie was a universal language, it seemed.
“I think it’s a little soon to call him a friend,” Rainbow offered aloofly. “Princess Celestia had the right idea about this place when she sealed it away.”
Just then, as if in response to her words, the boy perked up. He smiled widely, and an excited sparkle came to his still-tearful eyes.
Rainbow tilted her head. “Huh?”
“I think he knows the princess,” Pinkie reasoned.
Fluttershy leaned in closer, though not enough to make the boy feel cramped. “Do you know Princess Celestia?”
In the first direct acknowledgment they had gotten, the boy nodded eagerly. Fluttershy let a pleased smile form. Even if he wasn't talking, purposefully or not, the fact that he understood them confirmed her suspicions that he was intelligent.
With a spring reminiscent of an excited little colt, the boy got up and scampered toward one of the other doors. He paused and turned to the ponies before waving a hand in the universal command of ‘follow me.’
“I think he wants us to follow him,” Fluttershy noted the obvious, already taking a few steps after him. Pinkie followed after, eager at the prospect of making a new friend. Rainbow Dash was a bit more hesitant in her steps, though she didn’t want to leave the pair alone.
“I really hope your instincts are right about this one, Flutters,” Rainbow muttered to herself.
Through another few rooms, they went. All of these were already lit, with some showing signs of battle like blood on the floor or walls. The boy was far more casual in his maneuvering through these dismal halls than the ponies would imagine from one so young and fearful. He would occasionally stop and make sure they were behind him, but otherwise, he was following a path as if he knew where he was going.
Eventually, as they came to a dead end of a room, the boy stopped walking.
Fluttershy and her two companions looked around, a bit of confusion working its way over them at the apparent lack of anything interesting.
“Uh… is he lost or something?” Rainbow asked.
An emphatic shake of the head came as the child’s response. He walked up to the back wall, where seemingly nothing stood before him. Then, as if waiting for his approach, a door faded into view.
It was the first actual door they had seen since arriving. There wasn't much special about it, save for its sudden appearance. It was made of wood and chipped gray paint, and it had a crack going through the middle large enough to peer through.
The child smiled back at his guests before opening the door and stepping inside. The three mares shared an unsure look with each other before Fluttershy took the initiative in joining him within.
Inside, they found what looked to be a child’s bedroom, though it appeared to have seen better days.
Cracked floorboards laden with dust and scattered crayons stretched before them. White wallpaper so aged that it looked green now was peeling away, only sticking in some places due to the presence of cobwebs. A broken and dirtied bed stood in one corner, and an old wooden box was placed against it. A faded rug was in the middle of the floor, with a square of uneven color at the edges indicating that it had been moved at some point.
Looking around them, the ponies took in all aspects of the room, particularly the drawings. Dozens of them covered the walls or littered the floors, made on paper with a mixture of either black or colored crayon.
They ranged widely in subject material. Some were depictions of what they would expect from an artistic youngster, like a pet cat, a house and a tree, or a stick-figure family portrait. Others were more cryptic or unsettling, like a cross drawn in red, a dark, horned figure with red eyes labeled ‘me’ and ‘bad’, and a depiction of an overbearing figure in a dress with a knife.
“Oh my…” Fluttershy covered her mouth with a hoof as she saw some of the more troubling drawings. Following some of the ones posted next to each other, she started to piece together hints of family troubles. Some of the stick figure drawings were ripped to where the father figure was missing, and not all of the drawings featuring the mother figure were happy.
“Yikes…” Rainbow Dash muttered.
Ignoring the disquiet in the room, the boy happily went over to the wooden chest and opened it up. He buried himself halfway inside, digging through it with fervor and casting aside many more drawings and broken toys. Finally, he came back out holding a single piece of paper, which he proudly displayed to the ponies.
On it was another drawing. This one featured a depiction of the boy and two crudely drawn horse-like figures, colored blue and white respectively and labeled with two familiar, albeit misspelled, names. Selstia and Loona. The pair were firing out of their horns at a strange-looking spider creature with long legs and a simplified angry face while the boy celebrated.
“You knew both the princesses?” Fluttershy asked as she glanced between the boy and the drawing. He nodded in the affirmative with a fond smile.
“It kinda makes sense. That chest that brought us here was in their old castle. I’m sure they must have come here if they knew enough about it to want to seal it away,” Pinkie surmised.
“Why did they seal it away? If this kid’s been here that whole time… which is a whole other can of worms that should probably worry us…”—Rainbow squinted before returning to her earlier train of thought—“why didn’t they help him out of here?”
Hearing this, the boy frowned and looked down. Without the ability to talk, Fluttershy and the others could only wonder what happened, or why the boy was still alive after so many centuries.
After a moment, Fluttershy shifted her sympathetic frown to a more neutral expression as she looked at the boy. “What’s your name? You seem like you can draw… can you write it down for us?”
In response to this, the child turned and scanned the room for a second. He perked up in revelation and walked over to one of the walls. Reaching down and plucking a drawing off, he turned and gave it to Fluttershy. On it was another drawing of a house, this one with the boy and his mother standing outside. Helpfully labeled below the depiction of the child and his mother, was the name ‘Isaac’.
“I…saac…?” Fluttershy struggled for a moment with the strange pronunciation. She had never heard a name like that before. “Is that your name? Isaac?” she asked, to which he smiled and nodded. She reciprocated his warm expression. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Isaac.”
“That’s a funny name, but it’s okay. I like it!” Pinkie stated before repeating it a few times, stressing each part in different ways. Isaac merely gave her an odd look before conferring with the other two, as if wondering if this was normal.
After a moment, Rainbow glanced back toward the door and allowed her expression to fall. “Well, as cool as meeting new bald people is, we should really go find the others.”
“Oh, right.” Fluttershy widened her eyes in remembrance. She turned toward their new friend with a bit more urgency on her face. “Isaac, we didn’t come here alone. Some friends of ours got separated from us. Do you think you could help us find them?”
Isaac set his drawing down and clenched his fists with determination. He gave a single nod before marching toward the door.
“He’s got some spunk, I’ll give him that,” Rainbow said. With that, she and her two friends joined the boy in exiting the room.
Stepping out of the gloomy and run-down bedroom, the trio watched as their new companion strutted through the area, determined to assist them in any way he could. He barely even reacted as the buzzing of wings came and three hideous flies appeared from the rafters.
Rainbow stuck her tongue out. “What the hay are those?!”
Fluttershy gasped and cowered back. These didn’t give off the air of intelligence she expected from an animal or insect. The way they hovered toward them was more malicious in intent, an observation that was confirmed as one shot a ball of blood straight at the boy. “Isaac!”
Not feeling the impending panic descending on the ponies, Isaac was quick to step to the side and allow the projectile to miss him and hit the floor. He then turned his head toward the monstrous fly and began firing his own projectiles at them.
Blinking rapidly, he sent balls of his tears flying out as he did before with Rainbow Dash. These watery bullets struck the fly, and within a few hits, it exploded into a pathetic puff of goo. The remaining flies fired back at the boy, and he effortlessly dodged them, allowing the projectiles to sail toward the three mares, who were forced to duck or dodge as well.
Soon after, all three of the bugs were reduced to mere stains on the floor, and the room fell silent. Isaac looked back to check on his friends, pleased to see that they were unharmed.
“Wow… I didn’t know crying could be that useful,” Pinkie noted before shifting her eyes to the side. “I wonder if he can teach me how to do that?”
“Thank you for saving us, Isaac,” Fluttershy said.
Isaac gave a snaggletoothed smile and a quick thumbs up. He then gestured for them to follow as he set off again.
Fluttershy and Pinkie were quick to oblige, while Rainbow Dash lingered for a moment and pouted. “I could have swatted those bugs no problem,” she grumbled to herself before continuing after her friends.
Elsewhere in the basement,
Twilight winced and clutched a spot on her chest as she stumbled through a door with her friends close behind. “Ngh…” She pulled her hoof away, revealing some blood.
“Oh, you poor dear.” Rarity frowned.
Spike slowly walked up beside her and rested a hand on one of her hind legs. “Are you okay, Twilight?”
“Yeah, that thing really nailed you.” Applejack took a moment to suppress a shudder as she recalled the sight of the crying creature exploding from within, sending gobs of toxic blood flying everywhere.
“I’m… I’m fine,” Twilight said. Ever prepared, she produced a small bandage and a sterile rag from her magical pocket dimension and began tending the wound. “Thankfully, it’s not that deep. Even so, I definitely think we should avoid getting hit with any more blood here.”
“That’s a good general rule to have, I find,” Rarity commented dryly. Her expression soured as her thoughts drifted to their missing friends. “Oh, I shudder to think of how the others are doing. Normally, I’d feel better knowing Rainbow Dash is with them, but she was hurt by those dreadful things.”
Applejack offered a reassuring hoof on Rarity’s shoulder. “They’re all tough in their own way, even Fluttershy. I’m sure we’ll find ‘em right as sunshine.”
“What about that other ‘x’ on the map? Has it moved?” Spike asked.
All eyes shifted to Twilight once more as she finished giving herself first-aid. Seeing their worry growing unchecked, and unable to deny her own anxiousness to find the others, she produced the aged piece of rolled-up paper and spread it out for all to see.
“Yes, it has.” Twilight smiled and placed a hoof to the map. It took a second to find her bearings from the few uniquely shaped rooms there were, but she soon found the mark indicating their position, as well as the other mark a few rooms away. Lifting her head to another dark doorway, she rolled the map back up and steeled herself. “Come on. It must be them.”
On they went, spanning more rooms at a cautious pace. They had already been to many of these areas if the map Twilight held was any indicator, but it was hard to tell with most of them being empty. At the very least, rooms they had been in before didn’t produce any monsters, so far as they had experienced. Even so, they weren’t letting their guard down in this place.
Eventually, they crossed into a large area, at least four times as big as the standard squares on the map. Darkness stretched before them for the longest time as they walked well into the room. Strangely, they could see lights, but not as they expected.
The ones they immediately noticed were eight purple flames hanging in the air, four on each side of the room. They didn’t illuminate much, crackling in the shadows with an eerie dull glow.
The other light in the room was barely noticeable. At the far end above where they might expect a door to be, two dim red orbs infrequently pulsed like eyes staring at them from afar.
Twilight and her friends slowly came to a stop as they stared at the purple lights. She squinted and tried to focus her vision, barely able to make out the hint of a silhouette beneath one of the flames. Her ears twitched at a low chittering sound, almost like some kind of animal.
“Stay back. Something’s not right here…” Twilight cautioned in a hushed voice as she took another few guarded steps forward.
As she did, the room split with flickering illumination as bulbs sprang to life in the rafters above. The mystery of the purple flames was quickly solved, though the truth of the strange phenomenon was far more shocking than the ponies anticipated.
Floating above the ground were eight severed heads akin to the bipedal creatures they had seen earlier. Blood streamed from their closed eyes like tears, and a third empty socket sat in their foreheads, sprouting the unnatural purple flames as an aura above them. All eight heads snapped to look at the group, a high-pitched guttural cry ringing out from each.
“AH!” Spike jolted back into Rarity’s forelegs. The unicorn herself was so shocked that she merely froze, jaw agape and wide-eyed.
“Sweet Celestia!” Applejack backed into her friends. They were surrounded, and all the heads began slowly floating toward them, dripping blood as they went.
With a shrill noise coming from its agape maw, purple light coalesced in the empty socket of one of the heads. At once, a glowing orb of shimmering liquid shot out. It curved through the air, coming around and whizzing toward Twilight. She dove to the floor with a yip, narrowly avoiding the projectile.
“Scatter!” Twilight yelled as more purple lights formed in the other heads.
Rarity produced a terrified scream, picking up Spike with her magic and running to the left. He yelped and clung to her back, ducking as two orbs were shot from either side and curved toward them, narrowly avoided by the unicorn’s swerving.
Applejack took off to the right. Her eyes widened and she jumped as a purple ball came for her. She could feel it clip her tail on the way down, slicing through and scattering strands of her blonde hair. The near-miss only encouraged her to move faster.
On the ground, Twilight’s eyes flashed with alarm and she rolled as two of the heads near her fired at once. With their projectiles punching into the ground beside her, she recovered and raced magic to her horn. A zap of magenta energy zipped for one of the floating beasts, striking it head-on and exploding it in a puff of smoke and gore.
She then stood and cast a shield behind Applejack as the farm pony incurred the wrath of the other two on that side of the room. Starting to move, she didn’t get the chance as pain raked across her back like someone slid a knife across it, a purple ball soaring past. “Gah!”
“Twilight!” Spike and Rarity cried out in unison. The alicorn initially thought this was a reaction to her getting struck, but as she whirled her head around, she paled as she saw three of the heads backing the pair into the far wall.
With psychic energy already forming in their empty eye sockets, Twilight gasped and teleported herself between her friends and the floating heads. She flashed her magic around herself and the two behind her just in time to block three orbs exploding against the similarly colored barrier.
Seeing that Twilight was occupied with keeping the shield up, Rarity decided to try and help. She lit her own horn and wrapped her magical influence over the rightmost creature.
With a mighty yell that was closer to a squeamish yip, she tossed the head into the nearby wall as hard as she could. A bloody stain was left behind as it plopped to the floor, the purple flame in its head falling dim.
Twilight waited until the remaining two attacked in unison before dropping the shield and taking a shot at both of them. She blasted one out of the air, but in her adrenaline-fueled rush missed the second one. Purple light filled the hole in its head once more, and she grit her teeth as she raced to act first. Thankfully, her next blast hit its mark before the monster could fire, removing it from sight.
“AGH!”
Before anyone could celebrate, a familiar cry of pain made the trio’s hearts skip. They all looked ahead, only to find their worst fear. Across the room, Applejack fell to the ground, clutching a bleeding hole in her side while the four remaining creatures closed in on her.
“Applejack!” Twilight yelled and reached a hoof out. The orange mare was out of range of any shield strong enough to block the heads’ projectiles, and she couldn’t teleport in time to save her as the beasts mercilessly charged up their next attacks.
Seeing her doom looming over her, Applejack flinched her eyes shut. The sound of discharging projectiles came, and four deadly orbs of light zipped forward—
—and struck earthen floor as a cyan blur crashed into her and rolled her out of the way just in time.
Applejack grunted painfully as she settled with something on top of her. She blinked open her eyes, only to find a familiar face staring down at her. “Rainbow Dash?”
The pegasus, grimacing from dirt getting in her still-present wounds, managed a smirk as she looked down at her friend. “Did ya miss me, cowgirl?”
A shrill noise interrupted any response Applejack might have made. Both mares looked up, only to see the heads still looming nearby and getting ready to strike again. However, before anyone could try to intervene, a volley of watery projectiles came from the side and struck the first head.
The menacing creature yipped in pain and jolted in the air as the tears struck it. It tried to turn to face its attacker, but before it could, it burst into bloody confetti. All three remaining heads turned as the stream of watery orbs turned on them one by one. A couple of them got shots off, but it didn’t matter as they all fell under the onslaught.
Twilight and the others all looked to find their sudden saviors. Entering the room from one of the side doorways, was a familiar pair of ponies standing behind a small hairless crying child.
“Pinkie?! Fluttershy!” Twilight’s face immediately brightened and she rushed for her friends. Rarity and Spike followed after as the alicorn ran up and hugged Pinkie, who was happy to reciprocate her energy.
“Darlings! I was afraid we’d never see you again!” Rarity smiled warmly, pulling Fluttershy into a bit of a gentler, but no less compassionate hug.
Fluttershy gave a pleased giggle. “It’s good to see you too.”
Meanwhile, Spike shifted his attention to the bipedal figure with them. It looked near identical to the monsters they had seen, but the lack of bleeding voids in its head helped ease his concern somewhat. “Uh… who’s your friend?”
Twilight and Rarity looked to the boy, who merely stared back at them with a blank expression.
“Oh, this is Isaac. I think he’s the one I felt needed help earlier,” Fluttershy said.
“He’s actually the one that’s been helping us so far.” Pinkie patted Isaac on the back, eliciting a proud grin from the boy that was closer to matching her intensity than most people could manage.
“Well… I would be lyin’ if I said he didn’t save our pelts.” A familiar drawl signaled the group to look over and see Applejack limping toward them with Rainbow Dash’s help.
“The kid’s been useful, I’ll admit,” Rainbow added, holding out her hoof for a fist bump. After a moment of glancing between the pegasus and her outstretched limb, Isaac obliged.
“So, you guys just found him out there?” Twilight asked.
Pinkie nodded. “Yuh-huh! He took us to his room and showed us some drawings of his. He even had one of him and the princesses!”
“Wait, what?” Applejack tilted her head. “You mean he’s met the princesses?”
“How is that possible? Wouldn’t that make him a millennium old at least?” Rarity mused.
Fluttershy shook her head. “We’re not sure. As far as we can tell, he doesn’t speak. We wouldn’t even know his name if it wasn't for those drawings.” She looked over to Isaac, who could only shrug in response.
“Fascinating…” Twilight stroked her chin and stared at the boy. Her eyes grew distant as her mind spiraled through a few theories and questions. So he really has been here since Celestia and Luna abandoned the castle?
Noticing Isaac blinking at her like a confused dog, and the others starting to give her odd looks, Twilight shook herself from her thoughts. “Anyway, It’s nice to meet you, Isaac. My name is Twilight Sparkle. This is Rarity, Spike, and Applejack.” She pointed to those in her group before reaching a hoof out and shaking his hand. “Thank you for helping our friends.”
Just then, a pained grunt drew their attention away. Applejack was sitting with one hoof covering her side, with a trickle of blood leaking down.
“Speaking of which, are you okay, Applejack?” Twilight asked. Her back still stung from her grazing wound, and she could feel blood trickling into her fur, but she was more concerned about the farm pony.
Applejack removed her hoof and allowed her friends to examine her injury. There was a circular hole punched into her form. It was mostly shallow, thankfully, but it was deep enough to cause some worry.
“Don’t worry about me,” AJ assured. “I’ve had worse scrapes than this workin’ the farm.”
“We can both get patched up once we get out of this dump,” Rainbow Dash suggested. “Which, now that we’re together again, any ideas on how to do that?”
Seeing all eyes turn to her again, Twilight felt the pressure mounting. “Umm…” She took out her map again and looked at it. While her friends surrounded her and peered over her shoulder, Isaac looked like he was having a moment of recognition from seeing the aged paper, though he didn’t bother trying to communicate this to them.
Scanning the map again was grasping for straws, and she knew it. She had already been over it enough to glean all of its sparse details. Now that they had found their friends, there was only one ‘x’ in the room they currently resided in.
“Huh?” Twilight wrinkled her expression and peered closer at the map. “Wait… what’s that?”
“What’s what?” Rainbow asked, shoving her muzzle closer for a moment before an irritated throat-clearing from Rarity caused her to back up.
Twilight pointed a hoof to a square next to their room, where a skull symbol now existed. “Look at this. I’m pretty sure that square was blank until we got here.”
“Hey, wouldn’t that be right next to—”
Spike trailed off as he looked up in the direction that the indicated square would be. Noticing his silence, the others also gradually followed his gaze, only to pause.
Now that the lights were on, the group realized what the red pulsing glow they had spotted before was. At the far end of the room, embedded into the wall, was another doorway. This doorway, however, was vastly different than any they had seen before. A skull loomed over the threshold, with those dull red lights coming from its eyes. The frame flanking it was also made of skulls complete with spines.
Rarity blinked. “Well… that’s not at all ominous.”
“Do we…” Fluttershy swallowed and shrank down behind her friends, “do we n-need to go in there?”
“Seems like the thing to do, if we’re still about explorin’,” Applejack noted.
Spike backed up until he was at the rear of the group. “I-I’m with Fluttershy on this one. We’ve had bad enough luck in this place without walking into any scary skull rooms.”
Seeing how nervous everyone was, Twilight thought for a moment. “Well, if we’re not sure, I think we should ask the expert on this place.” She turned and looked down to the boy beside them. “Isaac, is there a way for us to leave through there?”
Isaac turned to the ponies all looking to him for direction. He trailed his eyes down and adopted a look anyone familiar with the sociology of his species might consider somber. Before anyone could question this, however, he looked up and gave a determined nod.
“Welp, if the little guy says so, let’s get moving. If I don’t get to see the sun soon, I’m going to start climbing these walls,” Rainbow Dash said, cracking her joints and loosening her muscles up for whatever challenge was to come.
With that, Isaac led the group toward the skull door. While some of them were hesitant, they knew better than to drag their hooves by now.
They all approached the doorway, the skulls above staring down at them like silent guardians. Shadows danced amid the dust floating through the dark space within. Finally, they pushed their fears aside and filed into the room.
Almost the instant Fluttershy crossed the threshold, the last of their number to do so, a loud slam made her tuck her tail in and yelp.
The group turned, only to find that a set of red doors had closed them in. Lights came on, followed sharply by a deep roar that made them flinch. Slowly turning to find the source of the noise, Twilight and the others had their jaws drop.
Sitting before them at the back of the small room, was a hulking mass of pink flesh. A giant deformed face with a cleft lip, crooked teeth, and inflamed gums stared back at them with massive gooey black eyes. The thing had no arms, legs, or appendages of any kind. For all accounts, it looked like a misshapen head.
Horrified, rooted to the spot in sheer terror, the ponies and their dragon friend all stared at the monstro sity before them, which stared back with an expression like a mixture of confusion and indignation. Their stiff bodies refused their demands to run or fight. All they could do was stand and breathe, and it took many of them a few seconds to remember to even do that.
Isaac looked between the others and the flesh blob, his eyes narrowing as if it was an old foe. Determined to protect his new friends, he steeled himself and confidently walked forward.
Fluttershy tore her petrified gaze off the abomination to find the boy fearlessly walking into danger. “Isaac, wait! Come back!”
“Are you crazy, kid?! That thing’ll eat you alive!” Rainbow shouted.
“I can’t watch!” Rarity covered her face with a foreleg.
Turning around, Isaac gave the ponies a thumbs-up and a doofy grin, not even reacting as the thing behind him defied all logic and took to the air with a mighty leap.
“Isaac!” All the ponies screamed in unison as a looming shadow fell over the boy.
Noticing the shadow over him, Isaac’s expression went blank and he looked up. That was the last they saw of him before the creature slammed down, sending a spray of blood flying everywhere.
Stunned, covered in blood, and with enough trauma to last them many lifetimes, Twilight and her friends looked on aghast. Rarity nearly fainted, Fluttershy looked like she was having a breakdown, and Rainbow Dash didn’t know whether to throw up or scream.
Twilight felt her eyes twitching and her jaw stammering as she looked down to the crimson spray covering her, possibly all that remained of her newest friend. She looked back up to the monster, which had contorted its malformed features into its best approximation of a self-pleased grin.
It then shifted its attention back to them.
“I… I-I…” Twilight’s mind raced for some way to save herself and her friends, but she couldn’t think straight. She lit her horn almost reflexively, but in her mind, fighting back was useless. They were going to die, and part of her knew it.
Then, everything began to shake, rattling her from her broken thoughts.
“W-What’s going on?!” Spike stammered as he clung to the nearest pony for support. He was so scared and shocked that he didn’t even think to make it Rarity.
“I don’t want to die!” Fluttershy finally let out the pent-up cry of terror and despair that had been building. She clung to Rainbow Dash for emotional and physical support, and the normally cool-headed pegasus was crying right there with her and hugging her back.
Twilight fought to slow her frantic breathing. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and reached her wings and hooves out to steady her friends. “Everypony hold on!” she yelled over the clamor.
Just after her voice died out, so too did the lights, enveloping them in total darkness.H HH HH !!”
All seven of them screamed as the ground fell out from beneath them. They fell into a senseless void for seconds that felt like an eternity. Then, with a loud thud, they all landed at once.
Pained groans and murmurs were all that Twilight heard for a few moments. She sat up and brought a hoof to her aching head before slowly opening her eyes, expecting to find some other fresh horror to contend with.
What she found instead were cobweb-ridden walls, threadbare carpet over marble floors, and all her friends lying around her in a familiar storage closet, with a familiar wooden chest sitting before them that abruptly snapped closed.
“Wh… what?” Twilight muttered.
“We’re back?” Applejack asked, voice bare as a whisper. Their wounds and the blood covering them still remained, or she might have thought it was all a dream.
“I can’t believe it…” Rainbow Dash said. Were it not for the fresh memory of watching Isaac getting obliterated still playing in her head on repeat, she would have been celebrating. Now, she and her friends were just left processing their shock.
Fluttershy stared at the chest, unable to stop the tears forming in her eyes. They had ventured into that terrible place to rescue the soul inside, but they had failed miserably. “Isaac…” she whined, not even reacting as Pinkie wrapped a foreleg around her.
After taking a moment to regain her shaken senses, Twilight stood and approached the chest. She lit her horn and scanned it for magical energies, surprised to still find the same one she sensed before. Whatever secrets the chest held were still very much present, even without the boy it seemed.
“Everypony… I’m sorry I put you through that. It was irresponsible of me to go against Celestia’s warning,” Twilight said, her voice still tinged with remorse as she looked down to her bloody hooves. That blood could have easily been any of her friends. In a way, Isaac really had shown them the way out.
“Twilight…” Spike looked to her with a sympathetic frown, unsure of what to say.
Rarity managed to gather herself enough to attempt to comfort her friend. “It wasn't your fault, darling. That place… whatever it was, I don’t think it cares for fairness in any sense of the word. We just have to hope that poor Isaac is in a better place now.”
“I know. I just wish…” Twilight trailed off. She stared at the chest vacantly. “I don’t know. All I know is I’m going to study this box and see if I can find out more about it.”
“You’re taking that thing back with us?” Rainbow skewed her expression.
Applejack gave her friend a wary stare. “Twi, didn’t we have a long conversation ‘bout not messin’ with magical or cursed doohickeys in this place?”
“Yes, yes, I know,” Twilight sighed, “but it’s all I can do for him now.” She lowered her ears and looked to the floor. Everyone stayed silent, letting her words hang in the air as they joined her in frowning. “I can’t help Isaac anymore… but maybe I can find out why he ended up there?”
After a long pause, Fluttershy lifted her head. “I think he’d appreciate that.”
With that, Twilight stood and turned to leave. She opened the door out into the castle corridors, taking a moment to relish the sight of the run-down building. They had only been gone for a little over half an hour, but it felt so much longer.
She then faced around and lit her horn. In an instant, glowing magenta chains appeared around the chest, strapping it shut to ensure that it couldn’t open on accident and suck them in again. The chest then levitated into the air and gently floated behind the alicorn.
“Come on, everyone. Let’s go home,” Twilight said, though she sounded far less happy than she should have been.
One by one, they all followed the alicorn out of the storage closet. Nobody said a word as they all marched, their heavy thoughts keeping them occupied.
Fluttershy gave one last glance to the forgotten room they found the chest in before facing ahead. Even seeing the box contained within her friend’s magic made her feel a mixture of unease and sadness.
She couldn’t believe that someone so young and innocent was trapped in such a horrible place for so long. What terrible secrets did the box hold? Who was Isaac, really, and why was he trapped inside? Did someone trap him there, or was he there by accident? Her heart ached as she wished she knew the answers. She wished that she could see Isaac again. She wished that she could help him.
Of course, there was an old adage about wishes and those that make them, perhaps as old as the chest floating behind the young princess. Some secrets were best left kept unknown, some skeletons should stay within their closets—
—and some wishes shouldn’t come true.
Darkness clouded their senses once more. All six of them felt ringing pains throughout their bodies. They were prepared to take this plunge, but it didn’t make the impact any softer as the harsh earthen floors caught them.
Twilight grunted and lifted her head. She could already see the bulbs swinging above, lighting the dull expanse of rooms that would likely haunt her dreams for weeks to come. They were in the basement again, not that they were expecting anything else.
“Is everypony okay?” she asked, looking around to make sure all her friends were with her and in one piece.
Rarity slowly pushed herself up on her aching forelegs. “Ngh… Just a note for if we do this again. Trying to land on your hooves does not work.”
“Yeah. It just makes you land on your rump.” Pinkie rubbed her bruised flank.
“Flying doesn’t work either… especially not with somepony on top of you,” Rainbow Dash groaned, her voice muffled.
Noticing the lump she was lying on was, in fact, her friend, Rarity’s eyes widened and she scrambled to get off. “Oh, my goodness! I’m so sorry!”
Applejack dusted herself off and picked up her fallen hat, returning it to her head as she looked around. “Well, we’re here. What now?”
“We should find Isaac,” Fluttershy suggested before shrinking down at the sight of the many openings around them. “The real question is… h-how do we do that?”
Twilight stepped toward one of the doors leading further in. She crinkled her eyes. The layout wasn't the same as last time.
Lighting her horn, she reached into her magical inventory for the map, only to skew her expression. It was missing, along with the leftover coins they had. “Great… Looks like we’re back to square one. I think we’re going to have to look around until we find him.”
“Yeah, because that went so well last time,” Rainbow commented.
“Last time we didn’t know anything about this place,” Twilight offered before her optimistic expression drained. “Although, admittedly, we still don’t know very much… But, there’s no turning back now. Just stay close and keep your eyes open.”
With that resounding display of confidence from their princess, the Elements of Harmony once more ventured forth into the halls of the basement.
As they realized during their first excursion, the basement was a veritable maze full of perils and monsters in equal measure. Many of their encounters were with familiar foes, like the eyeless shamblers that resembled their missing friend, or the giant flies whizzing about and spitting blood at them. Every so often, though, they would find some new horrifying creature that they had to rationalize and find a way to defeat.
Luckily, the strange teleporting phenomenon wasn't happening any longer. Its absence was a bizarre but welcome change, as was Twilight’s foreknowledge of the map. While the layout was different from last time, she was starting to notice patterns in how the rooms connected together, and the overall size of the floor they were on.
After yet another hard-fought battle, the group came to a heavy stop in a room they knew to be safe, or at least as safe as could be in this place.
Rarity leaned against the doorframe beside her and panted. She looked down to one of her forelimbs, only to scrunch her muzzle at the sight of a smear of blood staining her once pristine fur.
“That’s it! I have had enough of this awful place!” She rubbed off some of the blood on the wall. “I can’t take it anymore! The never-ending rooms, the monsters, the… the… refuse . It was bad enough when it was stationary.”
“I thought you didn’t want to ever talk about that again?” Pinkie asked.
Rarity shuddered. “Oh, I don’t! But I dare say the memory will haunt me for the rest of my life.”
“For the first time, I think I get where you’re coming from, Rares,” Applejack admitted. “We’re used to leavings on the farm from all the animals we keep… but I never would’a imagined watching a pile of it get up and leave.” She shivered as well. “I’ll never look at an outhouse the same way again.”
“Yeah, I’m still not sure I believe you, honesty be darned. I mean, there’s no way you actually saw a living pile of… y’know.” Rainbow Dash gestured uncomfortably.
“Ignorance is bliss, Rainbow. Just be glad you were looking the other way,” Twilight deadpanned, suppressing a shudder herself. “Unfortunately, we’re stuck here one way or another until we find Isaac or that skull room.”
“Is that really our only way out of here?” Fluttershy quaked. “W-What if that big thing is there again?”
Twilight fought off a shudder. “We’ll burn that bridge when we get there… judiciously.”
Pressing on, she looked around for a path they hadn’t taken yet. Despite the basement’s size, they were starting to run out of options. Still, they had a ways to go yet before truly hitting a dead end.
Heading through the left door off their current room, the ponies stiffened up again and slowed their pace as they set off into uncharted territory once more.
Tip-hoofing into the room, they weren’t greeted by any monsters. A door stood at the back wall with a frame gray as slate. An emblem of two crossing swords perched above it, offering some obscure hint as to its purpose. Within, they could barely see a room made of dark stone, with a single chest in the middle of it.
Rainbow Dash raised a sly brow. “What’s this room for?”
Twilight examined the sword emblem above. “An armory, maybe? Who knows in a place like this?”
“Should we go in?” Rarity asked.
“Well, if it is an armory, it might come in handy. I wouldn’t mind getting a big stick or something to whack some of these freaks we keep fighting,” Rainbow said.
After a moment of thought, Twilight cast a light spell over her horn and slowly entered the space. The others all filed in behind her, keeping their eyes peeled for any dangers lurking within the strange room.
Inside, the buzzing lights they had come to rely on all but vanished. Even the bright magenta glow from Twilight’s horn struggled to pierce the thick darkness the obsidian walls commanded. Other than the chest in the center of the room, nothing else was present. It was similar to the one they entered to reach this pocket dimension, but its accent coloring was gray instead of gold.
The ponies gathered around the chest, equal parts curious and apprehensive. Still, no amount of paranoid searching yielded any threats. They shifted their attention to their leader.
“Open it!” Pinkie suggested.
“Actually, I don’t know if we should,” Fluttershy added.
Rainbow Dash shrugged. “What’s the worst that can happen? It’s not like we can get sucked into another box… can we?”
Twilight’s hoof hovered near the lid before she hesitated. She glanced between her friends and the exit behind them. “Maybe you guys should step back? Just in case something goes wrong.”
With a shared look of unease, the group did just that. Soon, only Twilight was left in the room itself. All eyes settled on her and the chest, and she couldn’t deny her own curiosity any longer. The box opened with an aged squeak, sending out a puff of dust that wrinkled her nose. She waved the air and coughed before pushing the lid all the way back and peering inside.
Outside, Pinkie peered around the corner and gradually stepped into the room again. “What’s in it?”
“Anything useful?” Rainbow Dash added, joining Pinkie inside.
Twilight arched her brow as she lifted three objects out of the chest’s depths. Two were more of the yellow coins they had acquired last time, and the third was a silver key. “I’m… not so sure about that.”
Seeing that there was no threat, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack started to reconvene with their friends. Then, just before they could cross the threshold, a set of iron bars crashed down, nearly taking Fluttershy’s head off in the process.
Rainbow and the others spun around at the sudden noise. “What the?!” She rushed up to the bars and tugged on them. When that didn’t work, she kicked them, but to no avail; the room was sealed. “Gah… what gives?!”
“Oh no, girls!” Fluttershy fretted.
“Horsefeathers. I knew something was off about this room.” Twilight cursed under her breath before hurrying over to the gate separating their two groups.
Just then, a low noise emanated from the shadows clinging to the ceiling. A dozen or more chittering and screeching voices, soft at first, but slowly building in intensity. The ominous choir sent chills down their backs.
“What’s going on in there?” Applejack asked, casting a worried frown to her three friends through the bars.
Pinkie stared at the darkness above them. She backed herself against the wall behind her. “Twilight… what is that?” she asked, her voice holding a twinge of fear.
Twilight’s ears twitched and her spine tingled as the sounds grew ever closer. Some of the unintelligible mess she recognized to be creatures they had encountered before, while other noises were strange and unsettlingly new.
“I don’t know, but I know we need to get out of here. Hold on,” she instructed. Lighting her horn in an instant, she focused on teleporting herself and her two companions out to the other side of the bars. Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity watched all three of them vanish in a magenta flash, only for them to reappear a moment later right up against the iron bars with a loud thwack.
“Ow!” Twilight and the others yelped as they fell back, looking like they had just run full steam into the bars.
“Could you warn a pony before doing that, Twi?” Rainbow grunted as she rubbed her tender muzzle.
“What happened?” Fluttershy asked. “Can’t you teleport through stuff like this?”
Twilight stood and looked to the bars with newfound alarm. “Normally, I can! I… I don’t know what’s wrong!”
The noises only grew louder, now sounding as if they were right above the room. Then, all at once, it fell silent.
“Girls, you gotta get outta there,” Applejack said. Even if she was safe on the other side of the bars, she was still pale in the face as she looked between her friends and the unseen ceiling.
“Gee, you think?” Rainbow Dash muttered in a mixture of sarcasm and nerves. “If you’ve got any ideas, AJ, we’re all e—”
A loud, wet plop came as four shapes fell from the ceiling.
In the magenta light emanating from Twilight’s horn, they could see red masses of meat with bones sticking out of their tops. Two eyes beleaguered with pain squelched open on each, and mouths split their forms with a garbled cry as blood leaked out like raw steak.
“AHH!” Pinkie jumped back at the horrid creatures landing nearby.
“What the hay are those?!” Rainbow pressed herself to the wall away from the abominations before her.
Twilight gasped at the sight of a familiar enemy lining up with her friend. “Watch out!” She jumped in front of Rainbow Dash and projected a shield in front of them.
Mere moments later, one of the piles of meat bubbled and squeaked as four blood bullets were expelled from its form in each cardinal direction. One of the projectiles hit the shield, while another whizzed past Pinkie Pie as she dove to the floor and covered her head.
Seeing her friends in danger, Rarity’s eyes widened. “Sweet Celestia, we have to help them!”
“I’m trying!” Applejack grunted as she gave the iron bars a mighty kick. The impact reverberated through her hooves, but it did little else. Even so, she kept at it. Fluttershy and Rarity raced to look around their room to try and find something, anything that could free their friends from their obsidian tomb.
Inside, the three ponies struggled to survive as orbs of blood flew near constantly from all directions.
Rainbow Dash took to the air and swerved around a projectile so she could deliver a swift kick to one of the meat blobs. Her hoof sank into its fleshy body with a disgusting sound, but she found enough force to send it flying into the wall. It flattened out and spattered blood everywhere, but it soon slid down and popped back out, albeit now deflated and slower.
With a terrified squeal, Pinkie ran around the room dodging any projectiles heading her way. She dove down behind the chest, clenching her teeth as a few bullets thudded into the open lid an instant later, a mere half-inch of wood shielding her from the assault.
Looking up, her face paled as she saw two of the creatures flopping closer to her, each firing shots her way. She flinched, only for a magenta barrier to appear and save her.
Over to the side, Twilight barely spared a look at the pink mare before she leaped over a blood ball and spread her wings. As she maneuvered out of the way of more attacks, she fired a bolt of magic at one of the meat piles.
The pile, in turn, hopped out of the way of the first blast, letting it scorch the floor beside it. It did not, however, avoid the second bolt Twilight sent at it. With a gruesome explosion, one creature was no more.
Hearing some exasperated grunts and squelches, Twilight looked over to see Rainbow Dash jumping up and down and stomping out another of the meaty monsters. Each stomp covered her legs in more blood, but thankfully it was the non-harmful variety.
Rainbow yelled as one final stomp reduced the creature to a bloody pulp beneath her. She looked down at her bloodstained limbs and the mess on the floor, her face scrunching with revulsion. “I didn’t think getting your hooves dirty was this literal!”
A distorted cry came from behind Rainbow, bristling the fur on the back of her neck. She turned to see one of the last remaining creatures about to fire. However, before it could, it was wrapped in a blue magical aura and whisked into the air.
“Get away from her, you vile thing!” Rarity demanded as she took the creature and slammed it against a wall a few times, averting her eyes from the resulting display. The sounds and tactile feeling in her magic alone made her shiver with revulsion.
“Thanks for watching my back, Rares. I keep forgetting how useful you are in a fight!” Rainbow smiled.
“Oh, I have my moments,” Rarity said.
Another magical blast resulting in a final squidge drew their attention over to Twilight, who had just finished dispatching the last creature. She took a calming breath and hovered down to join Rainbow by the gate.
“Okay, now to find a way to open these bars,” she mused. “I think if we both pull on them, Rarity and I can—”
Twilight cut off with a yelp as something fell on her from above and wrapped its hands around her barrel. Everyone else watching saw one of the eyeless creatures land and cling to her.
“Twi!” Rainbow Dash reached out as the alicorn stumbled away. More of the monsters dropped down from the ceiling all around them until they were outnumbered three to one. Rainbow and Pinkie were forced to rush to the other side of the room after Twilight, both to help their friend and to flee.
“Girls!” Rarity cried, helplessly grasping the bars and trying to follow the trio with her head.
Curving around the room to avoid the approaching shamblers, Pinkie screamed, “Not this again!”
Over in the front corner, Rainbow Dash raced up to Twilight and grabbed the hairless creature struggling with her. With a mighty heave, Rainbow tossed the thing away, where it rolled past more of its brethren already advancing on the pair. They didn’t even have time for passing gratitude as they backed against the wall together.
A magical blast from Twilight’s horn punched a hole through one creature, while Rainbow’s swift hind hoof sent another sailing back. Even so, they were being overwhelmed, and they had no more room to retreat.
With her options sealing up around her, Rainbow Dash backed closer to her alicorn friend. A nervous sweat built on her brow, and the howls of the horde and the sight of gaping maws and hollow eyes put the fear of death into even her bold heart.
“Twilight, now might be a great time for one of those plans of yours!” Rainbow said.
Twilight’s eyes darted between her friend and the five monsters closing in. Amid her building panic, she looked up and noticed Pinkie running toward the opposite corner, with no creatures ahead.
“Get close to me, I have an idea!” Twilight announced. Without delay, Rainbow huddled closer as she focused energy to her horn.
In an instant, the pair blinked out of existence. Off on the other side of the room, amid her screaming, Pinkie suddenly stopped as she bumped into an obstacle that wasn't there before. That obstacle being her freshly apparated friends.
After putting a hoof around a panicking Pinkie Pie to stop her from moving, Twilight cast a barrier around herself and her two friends, forming a protective bubble in the corner. She produced a relaxed sigh as the approaching horde was halted.
“Ok… that’s one way to do it, I guess.” Rainbow deflated against the wall behind her.
“Don’t get too comfortable. I think I just put a band-aid on the problem,” Twilight said, casting her eyes to the amassed legion of monsters outside her bubble. Even now, their constant pounding on her shield was making her wince. “I can’t just keep this shield up forever, and if I drop it now, they’re going to overwhelm us faster than we can fight back.
“Maybe if we try being scarier than them, they’ll all go away?” Pinkie offered. She waltzed up to the magenta bubble and stood up on her hinds, rearing her forelegs and trying to growl like a wild animal. The creatures outside didn’t even pause their chorus of groans.
Rainbow cocked her head to the side. “Not helping, Pinkie,” she said before turning to Twilight, and then the monsters outside. “So, what do we do?”
“I’m not sure. I think our only option might be—”
*Boom*
A deafening explosion rocked the room as rocks violently flew from the far wall. Twilight and the others flinched and covered their ears.
When they looked up at the fading smoke and settling debris, they noticed a large hole had been left behind in the obsidian. And standing in the hole, frantically waving them over, was a familiar bipedal child.
“Isaac…?!” Twilight widened her eyes. Seeing all the creatures pause and turn toward the boy, she knew their time was limited. She rushed over and wrapped her forelegs around Pinkie’s waist.
“Wee-hehe!” Pinkie giggled as the alicorn lifted her into the air.
“Rainbow, get ready to fly!” Twilight commanded.
Rainbow Dash shot her wings out and hovered up beside her friends. “Got it!”
Once they were off the ground, Twilight dropped her shield. Both flyers zipped forward, lifting as high as they could to avoid the grasping hands jumping up to meet them. With their speed, it didn’t take long to outpace their pursuers as they landed and made a beeline for the newly created opening.
The three ponies ran past Isaac and into what looked to be a small cave of sorts. Isaac glanced behind him at the trio before looking back to the advancing horde. He shrank back away from the opening, and just before any of them could prepare for a fight, more rocks came collapsing down over the hole, sealing it up once more.
Isaac wiped the sweat from his brow and breathed a silent sigh of relief. He then turned and walked up to the ponies, who were all panting after their close call.
Twilight lifted her head and smiled. “Isaac! I’m so glad to see you’re alive!”
“Yeah. After that freak landed on you, we thought you were toast! Or maybe jam.” Rainbow Dash shuddered at the mental image. Isaac rubbed the back of his head with an embarrassed smile.
“That was so cool how you came in and saved us!” Pinkie stated. “By the way, how did you blow up that wall?”
In response, the boy reached behind his back and dug around some kind of invisible pocket. It reminded Twilight and Rainbow about the way Pinkie produced items out of nowhere, but at least she had the excuse of hiding things in her mane.
After a moment, he pulled out a small black ball with a white skull painted on the front and a fuse hanging out of the top. By any account, the object looked to be a bomb, if someone had asked a child to describe one.
“Is… is that a bomb?!” Twilight asked, taking a step back.
“Who gives a bomb to a kid?!” Rainbow added. Isaac merely shrugged and put the bomb back wherever he found it.
Now that they had a minute to think clearly, the ponies took a slower look around the space they found themselves in.
As they first observed, it resembled a cave more than anything. The rocky walls and floor were a far cry from the basement rooms, and they weren’t sure if it was an improvement. Two bonfires burned away, with a motionless gray figure slumped between them similar to the body they found in the shop on their previous trip.
The body’s resemblance to Isaac was uncanny and more than a bit unsettling. Twilight wasn't sure if all members of his species looked alike, or if there was some deeper meaning there. Either way, she didn’t want to dwell on it for long.
Shifting her eyes away from the dead body, she discovered another exit in the form of a hole in the wall. Judging from the light filtering in and the wooden rafters in view through the opening, it must have led out into the basement.
“We should get back to the others,” Twilight suggested, to which nobody objected.
With their new friend in tow once more, they all headed out of the dark recess of the cave and into another room of the basement. If Twilight’s mental direction hadn’t been ruined by all the chaos that occurred, they were now in the room beside the entrance to that obsidian chamber, where their friends hopefully still were.
Thankfully, as they headed through the next doorway, they could immediately spot the three mares huddled over by the gate. As they looked up and noticed their friends returning, Rarity and the others’ faces lit up and they rushed forward.
“Girls! Thank Celestia you’re alive!” Rarity shared a quick hug with each of them.
“We got real worried when we heard that explosion. We were trying to find you a way out, so we didn’t see where you went. When you didn’t answer… Well, we thought the worst,” Applejack admitted.
“You really think we’d get taken out that easily?” Rainbow Dash smirked.
Meanwhile, Fluttershy looked over and noticed the boy near the back of the group. “You found Isaac? That’s great!”
“He found us, actually. If it wasn't for him, we might not have made it out of that room.” Twilight flashed a grateful smile.
Fluttershy walked up to Isaac and stared at him for a moment. Her eyes shimmered, and she reached out and pulled him into a hug. “I’m so sorry we didn’t help you fight that thing. I was so scared and I… I” - she sniffed - “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
Isaac didn’t react at first as the pegasus held him. Eventually, he smiled and pressed his head into her chest fluff, his tiny hands reaching around her as far as they could. The sight alone was enough to melt the group’s hearts, even if some of them didn’t show it outwardly.
Once the pair finished their embrace, Twilight shifted her attention around them. “Now that Isaac’s here, we should focus on getting out.”
“Does that mean we need to find that skull room again? I hated that place.” Pinkie shuddered.
“Isaac, is there any other way out of here? Please say yes…” Fluttershy asked, more than a hint of desperation in her voice.
A frown and a shake of the head came as Isaac’s response, shattering any hope the ponies had of an easy escape.
“Well, that’s just peachy. Maybe if we’re lucky that big blob thing is napping or something?” Rainbow said.
“Somehow, I doubt that,” Twilight reasoned. “Either way, we’re going to have to get past it to get back home. Isaac, do you know where that skull room is?” she asked, receiving a head shake in response. “I was afraid of that. If only we still had the map.” She sighed before lifting her head. “Oh, well. Since we’re exploring anyway, maybe we can find something to help us prepare to fight that thing?”
“Only one way to find out, I suppose,” Rarity said. “More wandering aimlessly through a maze full of things that want to kill us. My favorite…”
“At least you’re thinking positively.” Applejack chuckled as they started on their way.
Another few minutes passed while the group pressed on. They explored every nook and cranny of every room they came across.
Encounters with monsters were more common than any of them would have liked, but with the help of their new friend, they were able to get through without any further injury.
It seemed as though Isaac was used to doing battle with the denizens of the basement. Despite his nervous disposition, he knew exactly each creature’s method of attack, deftly dodging them until either his weaponized tears or one of the ponies could deal the killing blow.
For all their troubles, they hadn’t found many resources or useful items. The most they found was a sparing few coins to pocket for later use. It was frustrating to think that even if they found another shop they couldn’t buy anything from it.
As they cautiously made their way into another empty room, the group paused as something caught their eye. Embedded into the left wall ahead was another unique doorway. This one was gilded all the way through, with two rounded protrusions at the top corners and a crown in the middle with thin decorative chains forming arcs along the beam below it.
While the strange door was intriguing to the ponies, Isaac’s face immediately lit up and he rushed toward it.
“What is it, Isaac?” Fluttershy asked. The boy paused before the room and turned to them, gesturing eagerly for them to follow and hurrying inside.
“I really wish he could talk. It would make things so much easier,” Rainbow Dash said.
“We don’t need to talk to him to understand that he wants us to follow. Come on,” Twilight suggested.
Following the boy inside, the ponies weren’t sure what they would find that had caused such excitement from him. However, as they saw what the room contained, they paused.
The room itself wasn't as special as its door might imply. It held the same earthen floors and dull brown walls of every other standard room in the basement. What seemingly made it special, and what Isaac was currently standing in front of, was a small stone pedestal.
On top of this pedestal was a single object. A yellow translucent container with a white safety cap full of what looked to be various forms of medicinal pills.
Rainbow Dash blinked. “What…? That’s it? A bottle of pills? Here I was thinking there would be a huge pile of coins or something in here.”
“Who would even leave pills in a place like this?” Applejack asked.
Twilight walked up to the pedestal and examined the bottle. There was a label around its center, with the name ‘Magdalene O. Moriah’ scribbled on it, though no description of its contents was present. Even if there were a description, a myriad of different pills were inside. All oblong, all with smooth texture and differing colors.
While the ponies were pondering over the pill bottle, Isaac casually walked up to it and smiled. He snatched it off the pedestal and, in one swift movement, snapped the cap off and dumped a good portion of its contents into his mouth.
A gasp rang out as Twilight’s eyes widened. “Isaac!” She snatched the bottle into her aura, but it was already mostly empty.
“Good heavens, darling!” Rarity held a hoof to her mouth.
“What were you thinking?!” Fluttershy yelled, or at least raised her voice an octave above her usual whisper. She gave the boy a pointed stare, like a mother disappointed in her child. “You can’t just eat pills like that! What if you get sick?”
Isaac fidgeted his hands together and hung his head. The tears streaming down his face flowed ever so faster, and his lip quivered.
Seeing the boy looking so pathetic, Fluttershy eased her disciplinary glare. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to get mad. Just don’t do anything like that again, okay?” She coaxed a hoof under his chin, getting him to look up at her. He trailed his eyes away briefly before managing a nod.
“Remember kids, eating bugs beats doing drugs!” Pinkie stated.
Rainbow Dash turned to see her friend staring off at seemingly nothing. She skewed her expression. “Pinkie, who are you talking to?”
Pinkie merely pointed a hoof. “Them.”
Following her hoof, Rainbow jolted back at the sight of three eyeless figures standing just outside the doorway. “BWAH!” she yelped as the creatures opened their maws and began to charge.
“Holy hayseed!” Applejack exclaimed.
Fluttershy whined and cowered back. Twilight and Rainbow Dash started to defend themselves. However, much to their surprise, Isaac stood in front of them and fought back first.
A barrage of tears met the incoming monsters, seemingly firing at a faster rate than before. The ponies couldn’t be sure if this was due to Isaac fighting more fiercely to protect them, or if the pills he took had some kind of effect on him. Either way, his watery weapon was more devastating than ever, and soon the creatures fell dead on the floor.
Twilight put a hoof to her racing heart and took a calming breath. “Phew… Thanks, Isaac. We really can’t drop our guard for an instant in this place, can we?”
Isaac gave an affirmative nod to the alicorn before shifting his attention to Fluttershy. She was still calming down after the sudden jolt to her system, and a few fearful tears and fading tremors were still present. He walked up to her and held a hand to the side of her foreleg.
Seeing a soft frown on his face, Fluttershy made an effort to speed up her recovery. She steadied her breath and managed a smile. “Th-Thank you, Isaac. I’m okay now,” she said, to which his expression brightened to match hers.
“Such a gentlecolt,” Rarity said before pausing, “err, whatever species he is.”
Twilight walked to the mouth of the doorway and scanned her head around the previous room, ensuring that it was clear. She turned to the others and motioned a hoof. “Let’s keep moving. The less time we spend here, the better.”
Without delay, the ponies all went to follow her. Isaac started to as well when he noticed the bottle of pills lying where Twilight had dropped it in her panic. He inched closer to it and meandered in place for a moment. When he was sure none of them were watching, he bent down and picked it up before stashing it and carrying on after them.
Moving into the only other room available to them, Twilight halted two steps in as she looked up. The others slowly came to a stop behind her, curious to see what had caused her pause. Then, they saw it too.
There it was. Across the way, looming large at the back wall, the skull door awaited.
Dread clawed at their guts as they stood there staring for the longest time. Nobody wanted to move or speak to acknowledge that there was only one thing left to do. Memories of their previous encounter still numbed their minds.
Eventually, Twilight managed to break herself out of her tense stare. “Ok… everyone get ready. I think we’re in for a rough fight.” She started to approach the door. A tug at her hind leg made her pause.
Looking down, she found Isaac maneuvering in front of her and staring back with wary eyes.
"What’s wrong?" Twilight asked.
The boy glanced toward the skull door and took a few steps back. He gestured to himself and pointed to the door, then he motioned at the ponies before pointing straight down.
"I think he wants us to stay here while he goes in," Applejack inferred. Isaac nodded in the affirmative.
Twilight frowned. "Isaac, we can't just let you fight that thing by yourself."
"Yeah. We don't abandon friends," Pinkie added.
Seeing him still looking between them with an unsure expression, Rainbow Dash stepped forward and rested a hoof to her chest. "Kid, we might be new to all this, but we aren't pushovers. Back where we come from, we handle scary monsters all the time. That big thing just caught us off guard."
Fluttershy stepped forward and placed a hoof on top of his head. "We appreciate you trying to keep us safe, but we want to keep you safe too. That's why we came here. We want to help you." She looked around at her friends, who all joined her in smiling at the boy.
With all the bright faces and heartfelt sentiments around him, Isaac felt a sense of warmth in his heart that he hadn’t experienced in a long time. A genuine smile formed on his face, and the tears ever-present in his eyes took on a tinge of happiness instead of fear and despair. Finally, he stiffened his posture and gave them a determined nod before turning to face the door alongside them.
Pushing past their fear, the group approached the door. The darkness within waited patiently for them as they searched for any sign of their massive foe. No such luck. Not even so much as a silhouette could escape the clinging shadows.
Twilight charged her horn preemptively and nodded to her friends. Without a word, they each took their place around her. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Isaac were up front, while Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie stayed near the back. Once in battle formation, they stepped inside.
As expected, once the last of them crossed the threshold, the door behind them slammed shut. Nothing but silence came for several seconds. No ominous roar to alert them to the presence of the hulking monstrosity from before.
Then, Rarity’s ears twitched at a low buzzing. “Does anypony else hear that?”
Twilight and the others tried to trace the sound, but all they could tell was that it was ahead of them.
“I think it sounds like… flies.” Twilight’s expression dropped at the realization. If she was right, there must have been hundreds of them to cause the maddening buzz.
Light filled the room, and in an instant, they all saw the source of the noise. Horror washed over them, and any bravery they had mustered quickly melted from their bodies.
A looming shape floated ahead of them. It wasn't the monstrous blob, though some of them would almost prefer it was.
Rancid gray skin stretched over a round form. Judging from the dangling nubby limbs, it used to be bipedal once, but now it was so bloated that it was hard to tell what it used to look like. A Y-shaped incision sat just below its grinning maw, stitched shut like an autopsied cadaver. Two puckered flaps of flesh were where its eyes should have been, and only its lower teeth were visible, jutting out of blackened gums pulled so far away from the lips that it would probably be bleeding if it were a normal living being.
And filling its agape mouth, assisting it in drifting through the air like a macabre balloon, was a mass of buzzing flies. There were so many that identifying individuals was nigh impossible. They were all just bunched together in a writhing pile of wings and black bodies, with few stragglers hovering around their host like servants to a duke.
Applejack visibly recoiled. “HWAHH!” She shook herself to be rid of the crawling sensation in her fur.
“It’s like every nightmare I’ve ever had rolled up into one!” Rarity pressed herself against the wall to distance herself from the abomination before her. Much to her horror, it started drifting toward them.
“Hey, Twi, remember that bridge-burning conversation we had earlier?” Rainbow Dash asked before jabbing a shaky hoof toward the thing. “START BURNING!”
With the floating beast getting ever closer, Twilight fought her tensing nerves to focus energy to her horn. She fired a blast of magic out, the magenta bolt zipping straight for its massive mouth.
However, before the attack could impact, the creature coughed, sending a cluster of flies hovering out in front of it. The blast exploded, taking most of the flies with it, but leaving the larger threat unscathed.
With her attack thwarted, and a floating balloon of insects heading straight toward her, Twilight’s pupils shrank. “RUN!”
Not needing confirmation, the ponies and their small companion scattered out of the path of the beast. As they ran by, some of the flies hovering around the creature broke off and started chasing them.
Fluttershy cried and kept her head low as three flies buzzed after her. She tried to curve around them, only for them to cut her off and back her toward a corner. Quaking, she prepared herself for whatever terrible thing they would do to her, only for magical blasts and flying tears to pick off all three.
Isaac and Twilight looked over from the pegasus and met eyes across from each other. They nodded and turned to face the floating monster. Each of them fired their respective projectiles at it.
The duke coughed again, sending the flies already orbiting it further out and adding more to the ranks circling it. Bolts of energy and tears impacted some of the flies, while a few projectiles got past and struck its bloated form. It frowned and wheezed as it was knocked back, but its minions kept coming.
Applejack kicked fly after fly into paste, keeping the oversized pests away from herself and Rarity. The unicorn, in turn, was picking up rocks off the floor with her magic and hurling them at the creature. Her attacks weren’t doing much, but she made sure that they hurt.
“Stay away, you fiend, you!” Rarity shouted.
Shifting its massive body toward her, the monster made a low groan and started drifting in a new direction: her direction. Rarity widened her eyes at this.
“I don’t think he heard you,” Applejack said as she and her friend backed away. Then, a wall behind them halted their retreat. They both looked at each other, and then at the creature, the color draining from their faces as they did.
“Hey, ugly!”
From the side of the room, a cyan blur zoomed up to the floating monster and whirled around to give it a swift kick. The strike sent the creature spinning away.
Rainbow Dash smirked and turned to her friends with forelegs folded casually. “He’s not so tough when you get past the ick factor.”
Seeing the pegasus acting cocky as usual, Applejack sighed. However, as she shifted her attention back to the creature, her jaw dropped. “Rainbow, look out!”
Turning at her friend’s warning, Rainbow Dash watched as the still-spinning creature closed in on her, having bounced off of the other wall. It stopped its momentum and glared at her with its missing eyes. While she stared on in horror, it closed its mouth and wriggled it for a moment before spitting out a large ball of flies.
Rainbow was stunned to see such a thing moving so fast. If she’d had time to process her disgust, she might’ve dry heaved. She barely had time to process the threat, let alone dodge it.
Luckily, just before impact, a pink blur jumped up and tackled her out of the air. The ball of insects soared past and exploded into the wall, scattering angry flies everywhere.
Landing with a grunt, Rainbow looked up to see Pinkie Pie already helping her to her hooves.
“Come on, Dashie! This is no place for slowpokes!” Pinkie said as she dragged her friend to safety.
With their friends struggling to flee from the army of flies filling the room, Isaac and Twilight focused on the main threat. They both stood fast against the monstrous balloon, side by side in the hopes that they could overpower its defenses with sheer rate of fire.
Isaac let loose with his tears, while Twilight charged up a more powerful laser. While the boy punched through the outer layer of flies protecting the creature, she put all her effort into channeling energy toward her attack.
Then, just as she was about to fire, the duke spewed out a barrage of flies at her. The buzzing soldiers overwhelmed her in an instant, colliding with her and knocking her to the ground.
“Gah!” Twilight yelped as the flies started biting into her. She was forced to teleport away, leaving Isaac behind.
All of the flies hovered up as their target vanished, only to shift their attention to a new target. Isaac backed toward the wall behind him and started firing at the incoming swarm, but he knew that he couldn’t get them all before they reached him.
He flinched and covered his head as the swarm closed in. Of all the ways he had met his end in the basement before, being devoured by flies wasn't the most pleasant one.
Then, instead of the stinging pain of dozens of flies biting into him, the boy felt something crash into him and pick him up. Opening his eyes, he found Fluttershy holding him under a foreleg, cringing and whining nervously as she ran from the now-angry swarm behind them.
“Don’t w-worry, Isaac. I’ve got you!” Fluttershy assured. Suddenly, she yelped and skidded to a halt before changing directions as another bunch of flies ahead of her took notice. She might not have been able to get away in time if it wasn't for all the flies being held by a blue magical aura and squished in midair.
Rarity waved at the pair from across the room. “And I’ve got you, darling!”
Over by the entrance, Twilight growled under her breath as she rolled over and made her way to her hooves. She was glad to see that Isaac was still alright. In her haste, she couldn’t get close enough to him to include him in her teleportation.
Casting her attention to the floating beast, she paused as she noticed something. Some of the stitches along its body were coming loose, most likely from Rainbow Dash’s kick. As grotesque as the thought was, she knew a weak point when she saw one.
“Aim for its belly!” Twilight shouted as she started firing at the many flies between her and a clean shot.
Across the way, Isaac heard loud and clear. With Fluttershy’s help, he climbed up onto her back and let her do the evasive work while he focused on aiming. A barrage of tears decimated the duke’s forward guard, but for however many flies fell, a hundred more eagerly buzzed within its maw.
Rainbow Dash flew by, kicking a few flies and trying to clear a way for either Twilight or Isaac to be able to hit the thing. Pinkie jumped up and smacked a few more out of the air with a swatter that she had produced.
Feeling threatened, the monster directed all of its children to surround its front and back. It grinned. At this rate, the ponies would never get through its defenses before it could overwhelm them. In a war of attrition, the duke reigned supreme.
“Howdy, fly guy.”
A southern drawl from below made the creature look down. Its massive maw contorted into a confused expression as it saw an orange mare below it, already reared up on her front legs. It then looked up to see the alicorn ahead staring straight at her friend, horn charged up and ready to fire.
“Pull!” Twilight shouted.
Applejack smirked. “With pleasure.”
*Thwack*
With a mighty kick from AJ sending it on its way, the creature flew up like a clay pigeon and rolled to where its midsection was facing Twilight. Aiming right for its stitches, Twilight let loose a bolt of magic that zipped right for it.
In an instant, the magenta projectile collided with the creature, piercing through its body and opening up its stitches. With a final grumble and a sour look, the duke of flies exploded like the fleshy balloon it resembled. Most of the flies dropped to the floor inert, and those that remained merely buzzed in place now that their ruler was gone.
“Phew…” Rainbow Dash breathed a sigh of relief as she landed. She looked at all the dead flies scattered around and suppressed a shudder. “Is everything in this place creepy and weird?”
“I think it’s safe to say so,” Twilight said. She winced as she ran a hoof over some of her fly bites. They were worse than any bug bite she had heard of, with some of them bleeding superficially. “And I think we can add ‘dangerous’ to that list.”
Looking to the side, the group noticed Isaac walking up to another rock pedestal that had apparated into the room after the beast’s defeat. On it was another item, though not a bottle of pills this time.
This time, it was a purple box of juice complete with a sippy straw. Lettering on its side read ‘Jesus Juice: Now With Less Than 1% Blood of Christ’. This description might have confused and troubled the ponies, but before they could even get a chance to read it, Isaac snatched the box up and inhaled it faster than Applejack could put away a mug of cider.
“Wow… He must have been thirsty,” Pinkie said.
“I guess fighting monsters is hard work,” Twilight reasoned as Isaac finished, now with a purple sticky stain around his mouth that faintly smelled of grapes.
Hearing a squeak beside them, the ponies looked over, only to notice another thing that wasn't present before. A wooden trap door was set into the floor, and it was open. A dark void of nothingness stretched down as far as the eye could see, and a stale, earthy aroma carried on the cold draft emanating from it.
“What the…?” Twilight skewed a brow as she approached the hole.
“Please don’t tell me that’s the way out,” Rarity said. “I’ve already had my fill of jumping into bottomless pits, thank you very much.”
Isaac walked up to the trapdoor and peered into its depths. He smiled to his companions and gestured for them to follow before leaping up and grasping his knees, cannon-balling his way into the abyss.
“Have I mentioned that I hate it here?” Rarity added.
Twilight spread her wings and turned to their flightless friends. “Well, there’s no turning back now. Here, let me see if I can give you guys a soft landing this time.” She lit her horn and picked up the three mares with ease.
“I forgot how scary you are, Twilight. Most unicorns can’t just pick up a full-grown pony,” Applejack noted.
“Most unicorns don’t sprout wings and a crown, either!” Pinkie added.
Twilight giggled. “I didn’t sprout the crown, thank you… or the wings, actually. They were just kind of there one minute,” she mused. Seeing the darkness below, her lighthearted expression hardened. “Come on. Let’s not keep Isaac waiting.”
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash watched as Twilight hovered down into the hole, bringing their friends with her one by one. The trapdoor wasn't very large, so she had to maneuver them through. It was almost like it wasn't designed for them.
“You know, maybe we should stay up here?” Rainbow Dash suggested, only half-joking.
Fluttershy peered over the side of the trapdoor before pulling back at the mere sight of the inky abyss. “Oh… I’d l-love to, but what about the others?”
Rainbow Dash flopped a hoof. “Eh, I’m sure they’ll be fine.”
Just then, a squeak came from behind them. The pair looked back toward the doorway. Skating by outside, leaving a trail as it went, was a little brown lump with a smiley face on it.
Turning back to her fellow pegasus, Rainbow’s face was one of pure and utter disgust and horror. “On second thought, anywhere is better than here,” she stated. In the next instant, she dove into the hole, not even bothering to spread her wings.
“W-Wait for me!” Fluttershy hovered down after. Once she passed through the hole, the trapdoor closed behind her.
Any semblance of light left the ponies as they descended. Even the magenta glow of Twilight’s magic was diminished by the sheer thickness of the shadows around them. As a result, they couldn’t tell if there were any walls nearby, or how far down they were going.
Still, they kept going down. They had no choice. Two minutes passed, and they started to wonder if they would ever find solid ground again. Then, they spotted the barest hint of a floor coming into view below.
Twilight was the first to land. She set her hooves down on dirt and rocks before looking up and gently lowering her three friends. Both she and Rarity cast light spells, pushing back the darkness ever so slightly. Soon after, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy came hovering down and landed beside them.
Looking around, the group struggled to make out their surroundings in the fog of darkness. Some form of glowing motes of dust or perhaps fireflies made it somewhat easier to see that they were in a cave, not too dissimilar from the one Twilight’s group had seen when Isaac rescued them.
The earthen floor here was different from up in the basement. It was uneven in places, feeling more like actual earth rather than a patch of land that had been leveled and cleared for construction purposes. Tufts of grass and rocks were more common here, and they could even spot worms and insects if they looked closely.
Water trickled down the rocky walls in places, and the occasional drip would echo through the cavernous rooms surrounding them. Curiously, the layout still resembled that of the basement above. The rooms were cave-like, yet they still conformed to the square shape one might find in pony-made structures. Even more curious, was the presence of wooden doorways in the middle of each wall, leading further into whatever space they now found themselves in.
“Helloo oo o?” Pinkie called out into one of the doorways. Her voice echoed for an untold distance, and nothing but silence returned her greeting.
“What is this place? And why is it so dark here?” Rarity asked.
“We’re in a magic box full of monsters, and that’s the part that’s weird for you?” Applejack skewed a brow at her friend.
Looking around for their young friend, Twilight soon found him lying on the ground a few feet away from them. “Isaac?” she called, only to receive no answer.
The boy was shivering on the ground in the fetal position, facing away from them. Fluttershy approached him, only to find that he was seemingly asleep. Whatever sleep he had found, it was an unrestful one judging from his constant fits and trembling.
“Isaac?” Fluttershy gently put a hoof on his shoulder and shook him. After a moment, he blinked open his eyes and sat up. Finding his pony friends surrounding him, he smiled and stood. “Are you okay? You looked like you were having a bad dream,” she said.
Isaac’s eyes grew distant as he thought about the nightmare he just had. The laughter of his peers and the cold distance from his mother all felt so real. He shivered before giving a tiny nod and holding his shoulders. He was surprised to feel a hoof on his hand.
“Don’t worry. I know bad dreams can be scary or sad, but they aren’t real,” Fluttershy assured. This brought the boy’s smile back.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash looked at the dark space around them with furrowed eyes. “What the hay? I thought this was supposed to be a way out. What’s the big idea, kid?”
Turning and seeing the others looking at him with understandable confusion and unease, Isaac frowned. After a moment of thought, he looked around on the floor and went over to a stick and picked it up.
Twilight and the others gathered around as the boy began drawing in the dirt. After he was done, he stood up and stepped back so they could see what he had made. He had drawn six boxes connected in layers from top to bottom. In the second box, a line was drawn beside it with the word ‘us’ next to it. A similar line was drawn next to the last box, with the word ‘exit’ beside it.
“You mean… there are six floors to this place? And we need to go through all six to get to the exit?” Twilight inferred. Isaac gave a reserved nod.
“We need to go through all that five more times? Are you kidding me?!” Rainbow Dash huffed. “We should’ve left that stupid box in the closet… No offense.” She looked at Isaac and softened her expression. He half-shrugged in agreement.
“I shudder to think of what else we’re going to face in here if this place is that large,” Rarity said.
“As much as I’m afraid to find out, we’re not getting any closer to home by sitting here. Stay close, and let’s get moving,” Twilight suggested, making her way toward the nearest doorway. Reluctantly, the group followed after her. They were even more inclined to stay close together now that their only sources of light were two magic users.
On into the darkness they went, their hoofsteps echoing through the rocky caverns. They could only hope that nothing was out there to hear them.
Strength fading…
Eyelids heavy…
She groaned, her body curling inward from the pain. Bringing a trembling hoof to her stomach, she pulled it back covered in blood. Her blood.
The world around her was a blur of dark visuals and distant sounds. She could hear her friends yelling; see the monstrous shadow looming over her…
And then everything went black as pain racked her form one last time.
*Some Time Earlier*
Twilight’s light swept through the blanketing shadows as she and her friends crept into the echoing depths of the caves.
The basement had been its own unique and disturbing challenge, but things down here were markedly worse. For one, the creatures they encountered proved deadlier. Giant worms and maggots that would give chase, flies in the shape of bombs that exploded on death. It was certainly enough to keep them on their hooves.
For another thing, the darkness around them was unnatural in its sheer intensity. Similar to the void within the chest itself, it actively fought outside attempts to light their surroundings. Only the fireflies dotted around seemed to be able to put a dent in it. Otherwise, they couldn’t see much outside of a three foot sphere around Twilight or Rarity.
Isaac wasn't affected by the darkness, or if he was, he was good at navigating in it. For how young he appeared to be, he was far more skilled than they were at surviving in this box of horrors.
Not only was he skilled, but he also seemed to get stronger with every item they found, evidenced by them finding another of the golden rooms. Inside this one was, of all things, a simple onion, which seemed to make the boy’s weaponized tears flow faster.
It was almost as if this place had been tailored specifically for him. All the resources they kept finding, all the monsters that were easily destroyed by his tears, the simple layout of rooms. It all seemed so intentionally designed, like a child making up a game with their own rules.
Then there was the magically appearing bedroom that he had taken Fluttershy and the others to earlier. Was Isaac somehow responsible for shaping this world within the chest?
Before she could ruminate further on these thoughts, Twilight paused as they came upon a locked door.
It wasn't the first they had seen. The golden room they visited previously was also locked, requiring Isaac to produce a key to open it. This time, judging from the ‘c’ symbol above its frame, it was another shop.
The ponies watched as Isaac stared at the door. He reached behind him and patted himself for keys, only to frown at the apparent result.
After some thought, Twilight’s eyes lit up and she reached into her own magical inventory. She poofed a silver key into existence and hovered it near the boy. “We found a key earlier if you want in there, Isaac. We also found a couple coins. It isn’t much, but… maybe it’ll help?”
Isaac considered their options for a moment, glancing between the door and the key. Finally, he gave Twilight a small smile and took the key from her aura before turning and sticking it into the lock.
At once, the door opened without further bidding and the key vanished with it. The darkness within the room was no less eerie than anywhere else, but for those who had been to a shop before, they couldn’t deny a chill down their backs as they thought to the empty eyes of the keeper.
“Maybe we should stay out here and keep watch?” Rarity suggested. She flashed a smile far too wide and tense to be comfortable as she looked to the others with desperate eyes. Seeing them already heading inside, she deflated. “Horsefeathers…”
“It was worth a shot, sugarcube.” Applejack gave her a pat on the back as they both joined the others into the dark space within.
As expected, they found a familiar picture of shelved walls full of knick-knacks inside, albeit entrenched in thick shadows. And, ever vigilant behind three display pedestals bearing strange new items, was another gray dead body with a hollow expression.
“Oh my goodness…” Fluttershy held a hoof over her mouth at the disquieting sight.
“I see our old friend is still here,” Applejack noted.
Rarity shuddered. “I swear, if that thing gets up, I will not stop screaming until I pass out.”
Rainbow Dash took a moment to tear her eyes away from the dead body to look at the items on display. She skewed her brow. “So… what exactly is all this junk?”
Twilight and the others turned to look as well. On the three pedestals were an ordinary looking piggy bank, an hourglass that held a luminous blue glow instead of sand, and what appeared to be a child’s night light. All were marked at the full price of fifteen.
“Uh… I’m not really sure,” Twilight admitted.
An excited giggle drew their attention over to Pinkie Pie, who was sticking her face up to the glowing hour glass and watching her distorted reflection in the glass. “Whatever they are, they must be super-duper cool! I mean, just look at this one!”
“That would make a pretty sweet disco ball,” Rainbow said.
Fluttershy turned toward Isaac. The boy was silently looking between the three objects. His stare was more contemplative than confused, as if he knew what they were and was simply deciding which one to buy. “I think we should let Isaac decide which one to get.”
“Can he even afford any of them? We only had three coins, if I recall,” Rarity said.
In response, Isaac walked up to the center pedestal, the one with the night light. He pulled out a smaller silver coin with a ten on it, along with two yellow coins with ones on them. Looking between the price sign and Twilight, he waited to see if she would agree to giving him their money.
Twilight happily poofed up their three coins and placed them in his open palm. He still seemed hesitant, prompting her to smile and nod.
Hiding his eyes and warming cheeks for a moment, Isaac walked up to the pedestal and placed his coins down. Shortly after, the light from both Twilight and Rarity flickered, and the sign bearing the item’s price vanished, allowing him to pick it up.
It was a simple night light, most likely meant to be plugged into an outlet judging by the prongs on the back of the blue base. Even so, the moment he picked it up, the oblong bulb came to life, projecting a beam of clear illumination that seemed to cut through the shadows even better than either of their light spells could.
“Really? Fifteen not-bits for a night light?” Rainbow scoffed. “I’d hate to see how the economy works around here.”
“Aww… I was kind of hoping we could get the hourglass.” Pinkie’s ears drooped.
“I can make something like that for you when we get home if you want, Pinkie,” Twilight offered.
Hearing this, Pinkie perked right up. “Ooo, can it be pink? That’s my favorite color. But it’s not because I’m pink, it’s because of the—” She rambled on as they exited the shop. Her friends had learned to just let her talk in the background, but Isaac was impressed by how long she could go between breaths.
However, she didn’t go very long as something suddenly silenced everyone and brought them to a screeching halt.
Ahead in the next room, three skeletal figures stood. They were the same size and shape as Isaac and the bipedal monsters they had seen. One of them was bonking another in the head repeatedly with a bone while the third watched.
The instant the ponies walked in, they all paused and turned their heads. A few seconds later, the first skeleton got in one last bonk. Then, the third one pointed at them, prompting the first to toss the bone it was holding like a tomahawk.
Rarity and Fluttershy screamed, and Rainbow Dash prepared to dive in front of them and take the hit. Twilight raced to put up a barrier in time.
However, before any of them could react, Isaac beat them to it. The boy flicked up his newly acquired night light and pointed it ahead. The instant the beam fell on them, both the boney projectile and the skeletons themselves were somehow slowed dramatically.
Rarity uncovered her face and blinked, now able to casually step out of the way of the incoming attack. “Oh… Much obliged, darling.”
“Okay, I guess the night light was a good choice after all,” Rainbow admitted.
Then, one of the skeletons stepped out of the beam and tossed its bone at Twilight. She ducked under it before focusing her magic and firing back. The bolt of light exploded into the creature’s bleached white form, reducing it to a scattering pile of bones instantly.
As she was dealing with that skeleton, Isaac dealt with the other two. He started firing on them both, walking around them and keeping them in his light’s beam to draw their fire away from the ponies. Unable to move away fast enough, the monsters were quickly defeated, leaving the room to fall silent with one last clatter of bones crumbling to the floor.
Now that the danger was gone, Fluttershy made her way out from behind the others. “Good work, Isaac. You really know how to handle yourself.”
“And here I thought night lights were for silly fillies scared of the dark. Apple Bloom might’a been onto somethin’ after all.” Applejack chuckled.
Isaac turned and gave his friends a thumbs up. They weren’t able to reciprocate the gesture, but they smiled nevertheless.
Looking off to the side, Pinkie noticed a few more coins lying on the ground. She was quick to point them out and scoop them up for the group, sporting a pleased smile for her discovery.
Twilight crept up to the next doorway and scouted ahead. Poking her head out, she couldn’t see any threats, not that she could see much further than three feet ahead of her. She did, however, notice a faint red light.
“Hey, I think I found something.” She gestured for the others to follow her. They all shared curious glances before joining the alicorn into the next room.
Thankfully, this room was empty as far as monsters were concerned. As they neared the red light Twilight had spotted, they realized it was a door, though not the skull door as some of them originally thought.
A narrow vertical slot sat in the face of the door, almost like a lock. It didn’t look like it would fit any of the keys they had seen thus far. Above, a pulsing red neon sign spelled out the word ‘arcade’.
The ponies stared at the door for the longest time. Yet another puzzling oddity in such a hostile environment, if it was genuine and not some trick like the trap room with the chest.
“An arcade?” Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. “What kind of games would be in a place like this? A claw machine with actual claws?”
“Don’t say that.” Fluttershy shivered at the thought.
Twilight examined the lock briefly. “Hmm… Something must fit in here to open it, but what?”
Meanwhile, Pinkie stroked her chin as she eyed the strange lock. Suddenly, an idea clicked in her head. She produced one of the coins she found previously, noting its flat profile and the profile of the lock. It looked exactly like a coin slot.
Turning and seeing Isaac giving her an approving nod, Pinkie reached forward and fit a single coin into the slot. With a satisfying click, the door flew open. A faintly unpleasant aroma of stale popcorn and sweat drifted out to meet them.
Not even concerned of any hidden dangers, Isaac strolled right in. The ponies looked at each other briefly before slowly following their young friend inside.
Almost the instant they crossed the threshold, a whimsical and echoed tune filled their ears, as if projected from an unseen speaker. This atmosphere helped fill them with a sense of wonder as they looked around at an otherwise peaceful space in this dark and damp cave.
Black soil reminiscent of a carpet filled the area, with only a few damp spots or green sprigs poking up to dispel the illusion. The dark wooden walls covered in cobwebs were also bedecked in various colorful posters depicting what must have been examples of pop culture from Isaac’s time.
Along with two gambling machines nestled in the back, a smaller figure sat before a carnival game of sliding shells. While similar to Isaac, it didn’t have any visible legs, and it had simple nubs for hands that appeared to be detached from its body. It gave the visitors a snaggletoothed smile and a wave as they entered, but otherwise seemed content to just wait by its game.
Off in the corner, Isaac was busy picking up what looked to be more coins just lying on the floor. He came scampering back to the ponies with his hands full and a giddy expression.
“Umm… Isaac, I don’t mean to rain on your parade, but should we really be wasting time in here?” Twilight asked.
In response, the boy turned to the shell game manned by the small creature and flicked a coin to it. The being smirked and stashed it before lifting one of the shells. Underneath, there was a key. Then, it began shuffling the shells around far faster than any of them could track. Once it was done, it motioned to the shells before waiting patiently.
Isaac stared at each shell, his hand cupped to his chin pensively. After a moment, he pointed to the rightmost shell. The figure lifted the shell, revealing two keys that it promptly handed out to the boy. Isaac then turned to his friends and lifted the keys triumphantly.
“I see.” Twilight smiled as she turned to the rest of the arcade. “I suppose if it helps get us resources, it couldn’t hurt to take a break and have some fun.”
With that, Isaac handed out some coins to any that were interested, keeping a few for himself. Twilight and Rarity stayed behind with him at the shell game, watching as the boy took a few more tries.
Pinkie clapped her hooves. “I’m gonna go try out that crane game!” she said, already zipping to the back of the room. Applejack followed after her, curious to see what would happen.
“Hey, Flutters, wanna come check out that thing back there with me?” Rainbow asked, pointing to the other machine.
Fluttershy looked at the machine in question. It was a purple booth covered in yellow stars, moons and various other symbols. A crystal ball sat at its center, and a slot below it and a pull bar to its right seemed to indicate that it was a slot machine of sorts.
“I-I guess so, as long as it’s not dangerous.” She swallowed hesitantly, starting to slowly follow her friend until Rainbow took her by the hoof and led her over at a more reasonable pace.
They sidled up by the machine, taking in its mystical appearance. They had seen something similar at fairgrounds or a carnival, but fortune telling machines like these never had slots in them for dispensing items.
“Alright, let’s see what you’ve got,” Rainbow muttered as she lifted one of the three coins they had to the slot. It fit in with a click and fell into whatever mechanism was inside. She then grabbed ahold of the lever and gave it a pull.
With a slight rattle and a clack, something fell into the slot at the bottom of the machine. Rainbow shared a look with Fluttershy before reaching in and pulling out what looked to be a card of some sort. Its back was covered in a brown and green diamond pattern, and on its front, a picture of a figure standing in a chariot pulled by two black and white sphinxes with a Roman numeral seven above it.
“Huh.” Rainbow flipped the card over a few times and examined it. “That’s kinda cool, I guess.”
“Maybe it does something useful?” Fluttershy mused.
Rainbow Dash tucked the card behind her ear. “Who knows? I guess I’ll hold onto it for now,” she said. Looking down to her remaining two coins, she shrugged before putting another into the slot.
This time, a pale light sprang forth inside of the crystal ball. Smoke churned and swirled within its shimmering surface. From this smoke, a few words appeared.
…Always Your Head in the Clouds…
Rainbow squinted at the message. “What the hay is that supposed to mean?”
“Maybe it’s like those fortune cookies you get at restaurants?” Fluttershy suggested.
“Pfft… yeah, that must be it,” Rainbow grumbled to herself. Seeing her last coin, she thought for a moment before turning to her fellow pegasus. “You want a try?”
Fluttershy looked up in surprise. “Oh, no, I couldn’t do that. It’s your last coin.”
Rainbow placed the coin in her hoof and nudged her forward. “Come on, Flutters. I insist. Who knows? Maybe you’ll get something cool like another card?”
Although she was still hesitant, Fluttershy caved under the peer pressure and fed her coin into the slot. “Ok… I suppose a souvenir might be nice,” she said, tentatively reaching up to the lever before pulling it down.
Nothing happened at first. The pair started to wonder if they just got jipped, when the crystal ball lit up again. Like last time, smoke formed inside and produced another fortune. Fluttershy leaned in closer to read it, only to freeze.
…You Will Die…
Fluttershy squeaked and shrank back. The color drained from her face and she immediately began trembling.
Seeing this, and seeing the message spelled out, Rainbow took a moment to suppress her own unease before resting a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “Uh… Don’t worry. I-I’m sure it’s just some random fortune, like you said.”
“But… but it—” Fluttershy stammered, still caught staring at the machine even as Rainbow led her away.
“Forget about that stupid machine. Let’s go see how Pinkie’s doing at that crane game, huh?” Rainbow suggested, taking a glance over her shoulder at the ominous message fading back into the smoke as they left.
Walking over to the other corner, they found Applejack sitting behind Pinkie Pie, who was hunched over the controls of a typical-looking crane game.
The machine was full of some of the most bizarre objects alongside plush figures and other cheap toys one might find in an arcade prize pool. Tracing back and forth above, mirroring the indecisive nature of the pink mare, was a metal grabby claw.
Applejack looked up at the pegasi's arrival. "What’s that you got there, Dash?" She pointed to the card behind Rainbow’s ear.
"Oh, this?" Rainbow took the card down and showed it off. "I dunno. That weird machine over there spit it out."
Applejack hummed curiously. "Get anything else from it?"
"Let’s not talk about that," Rainbow said, sharing a hesitant look with Fluttershy. She turned her attention over to Pinkie, watching her maneuvering the joystick back and forth with tongue sticking out and a look of deep concentration on her face. "Any luck over here?"
"Afraid not. She’s on her last coin. Poor thing's being taken for a ride," Applejack whispered.
"Be quiet! It can hear your negative thoughts!" Pinkie said without looking back.
Rainbow frowned. "Pinkie, I don’t think it works like—"
"Ssshh! I've almost got it worn down." Pinkie lowered herself and intensified her stare. The unyielding claw shifted back and forth, matching her every move in this silent standoff.
Spotting her target, Pinkie hovered her hoof over the red button that would activate the claw. Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash watched intently as she circled her prey.
After doubling back to trick the machine, Pinkie slammed the button. With a mechanical whir, the claw descended into the pit of prizes. It neared its target, a blue plastic boomerang. Sweat formed on Pinkie's brow as she watched, and even her three spectators leaned forward in anticipation.
The claw closed around the tip of the boomerang, plucking it up and receding. It dangled precariously as it returned toward the slot.
Closer…
Closer…
Then, it relented and deposited her prize with a clunk.
"Yes! Finally!" Pinkie cheered as she reached in and held up her new toy.
“Umm… good job, Pinkie,” Fluttershy said. Her voice was distant as her thoughts, and her gaze wandered behind her frequently.
"Way to go, Pinks!" Rainbow exclaimed, probably more enthusiastically than was warranted.
"I was rootin' for you the whole way," Applejack said. "So, what's that fancy doohickey?"
"It's a boomerang," Pinkie said matter-of-factly. Seeing her friend still giving her an odd look, she raised an eyebrow. "Have you never heard of one?"
"Can't say as I have. What is it, a back scratcher?" Applejack asked.
"No, silly." Pinkie chuckled. "Watch."
With that, Pinkie winded back and aimed for a moment before throwing the boomerang. She and the others watched as it flew across the room. It hovered at the other end for a second before coming back, drawing stares from Twilight and Rarity as it zipped by their heads.
As it came flying back, it veered toward Applejack. She widened her eyes and ducked, but not before it could take her hat clean off and carry it back to Pinkie’s waiting hoof.
"Oopsie… heh heh." Pinkie smiled nervously as she handed the hat back to an unimpressed farmer. Rainbow Dash doubled over with laughter, which only added to Applejack's irritation.
Over on the other side of the room, Twilight and Rarity watched while Isaac played the shell game.
The boy was on a losing streak. After earning a few keys and some more coins, he stopped guessing right each time. With how fast the game keeper shuffled the shells, there wasn't much hope of anyone keeping track of the winning choice.
Once more, the keeper picked up an empty shell. Isaac’s scowl deepened, and his shoulders tensed.
"Chin up, dear. You can't win them all," Rarity said.
"I'm starting to think this game is rigged," Twilight muttered, giving the smaller figure a scrutinizing look.
"Starting to? I thought it was rigged from the start," Rarity said. She wasn't even sure what the keeper was, but she knew that she didn't trust it as far as it could throw her.
Undeterred, Isaac flicked one of his last remaining coins to the figure. It stared at the coin briefly, giving it a bite to ensure it was real before stashing it in an unseen pocket.
Then, it picked up the middle shell, revealing a silver coin. Isaac eyed the shiny prize with newfound intensity before focusing as hard as he could. The shells were shuffled one last time, and the keeper gestured to them smugly.
Isaac surveyed his options. He even looked back to Twilight and Rarity for their opinions, but all the ponies could do was shrug and offer him their moral support.
Finally, he pointed ahead to the middle shell.
The keeper hovered its nubby little hand over the shell, not breaking eye contact the whole time as it lifted it up, revealing nothing but empty space.
Isaac’s jaw fell open. He darted his eyes between the shell and the keeper, who was now laughing and blowing raspberries at him. His face reddened, and his fists clenched.
Twilight winced. "Oof… Sorry, Isaac. I know it's hard to take a loss like that, but you need to—" She started to rest a hoof on the boy’s shoulder, but before she could, Isaac pulled out a bomb, lit the fuse, and tossed it at the game keeper.
"WOAH!" Twilight scrambled backwards. Rarity yelped and raced back with her, while Isaac merely took a few casual steps back.
The figure blankly stared at the bomb's fuse getting shorter and shorter. It blinked, and then a fiery explosion consumed it and the infuriating shells it manned.
Silence filled the room, only broken by the music softly playing overhead. All the ponies stared at the smoking crater where once there had been a seemingly sentient creature. Their jaws were agape, and their eyes were wide.
Isaac dusted off his hands and picked up a few coins scattered by the explosion, most of which were probably his to begin with. He started to walk off, when he bumped into a set of purple forelegs. Looking up, he found Twilight staring back at him aghast.
“Isaac, what did you just do?!” she asked, more shocked than angry.
“Good heavens…” Rarity muttered.
Seeing such dismayed faces around him, Isaac darted his gaze between each of the ponies. His eyes began to tremble, and looking back and seeing Fluttershy about to cry only made it worse.
“How… I… I-I…” Fluttershy stammered, still stunned from the sudden explosion and the violent end of the keeper. “Isaac… why?”
Rainbow Dash glared at the boy. “Kid, how could you do that?! That’s… that was downright evil!”
Her words echoed in Isaac’s head. Familiar, calling forth faint memories. They changed in pitch and owner, filling him with a shiver of fear and shame. A crackle of distant static numbed his mind, and his legs began to shake as a different voice cried in his subconscious.
For the wages of sin is death!
Suddenly, Isaac turned and ran from the room, crying more intensely than they had ever seen him before.
Twilight reached out for him. “Isaac, wait!” she called, but to no avail. He was already gone.
“Dangit… We need to catch him before he finds trouble,” Applejack reasoned.
“Do we?” Rainbow asked, drawing the others’ attention.
“What do you mean, Rainbow?” Pinkie asked softly.
Rainbow merely gestured at the scorch mark on the floor where the small figure was. “I can excuse a lot of things, but cold-blooded murder is way over the line.”
“He’s just a child…”
Hearing Fluttershy pipe up, the group turned to see her in the back. Her eyes were trailed away, and while they were still recovering from the shock of the prior incident, they were soft with concern.
“What’s that, sugarcube?” Applejack asked, cocking an ear to better hear the quiet pegasus.
Fluttershy took a moment to center her emotions before facing her friends. While her stare held some determination, she was rubbing her foreleg and infrequently gazing away. “He’s just a child. I… I know what he did was bad, but he’s been through a lot. I felt him calling out to me when we first came here. He’s been so scared and alone for so long, and he has so much pain inside of him. I don’t know much about this place either… but I know he’s trapped here, and I know we have to help him.”
Seeing the normally timid mare so sincere and desperate to help the boy, even Rainbow Dash gave pause. “Fluttershy…”
“Well, I think we can all agree that he needs help,” Rarity reasoned. “This is no place for someone like him to call home, let alone for this long.”
“Yeah, I’d probably go bomb-crazy if I had to stay here for hundreds of years. I’d say he’s pretty darn well-adjusted, all things considered,” Applejack added.
Rainbow Dash shook her thoughts back into order. “Look, child or not, I’m not sure if I want to hang around him if he’s so casual about blowing up things he doesn’t like. What if one of us gets on his bad side?” She turned to her alicorn friend. “You’re with me on this, aren’t you, Twilight?”
“Actually, I think I’m siding with Fluttershy on this one,” Twilight said. “I’ve been thinking about this place, and… I’m not entirely sure if anything here is technically real other than Isaac.”
Rainbow Dash tilted her head. “Huh?”
“Normally, I do a good job of following you, but I’m afraid you’ve lost me, Twilight,” Rarity said.
“Think about it,” Twilight reasoned. “None of the items we tried to take with us could make it out of the chest, a lot of the monsters here look like Isaac, and Isaac himself died right in front of us. I’m not sure how this all works, but I think this place is some kind of world Isaac created… either intentionally or not.”
“So, that poor thing he killed might not have been real?” Rarity asked. “I suppose that is a relief if it’s true,”
Pinkie’s eyes narrowed. “I knew it was fishy. It looked a little too happy to take coins and give nothing back… just like the claw machine.” She clutched her hard-earned prize and glared at the machine behind her.
All eyes shifted to Rainbow Dash. She was still hesitant, but she also couldn’t deny her friend’s logic. After wrinkling her expression and mulling it over for a time, she sighed. “Alright, alright. Let’s go find the little pyromaniac. But if he looks at me funny, I’m heading for the hills.”
Twilight and the others smiled. With all of them in agreement once more, they exited the arcade and set out in search of their missing friend.
Thankfully, it appeared as though he had mostly run back through rooms they already cleared, only treading a couple new rooms that must have been empty. A few minutes of searching later, they found him curled up in a ball at the back of a long room.
Against the right wall, a familiar door adorned with skulls stood. Another boss room in this terrifying game of survival they were playing. While the sight of it alone cemented a feeling of dread in their guts, the ponies ignored it for the moment and silently approached Isaac.
Twilight stepped up to him and gently rested a hoof on his shoulder. He didn’t react at first, but eventually he lifted his head.
She spoke softly, “Isaac?” He curled in tighter and hid his eyes from her, causing a frown. Undeterred, Twilight walked around to the other side and craned her neck down to meet him. “I’m sorry if we upset you. It’s just… you really shocked us back there. You know that was wrong, don’t you?”
After a moment, Isaac gave a tiny nod. He still refused to make eye contact, but he wasn't attempting to run or otherwise avoid her.
“Well, I won’t lie and say that it’s okay that you did that. But… am I right in thinking that thing wasn't really alive… not like you or us?” Twilight asked.
There was a longer pause this time. Isaac adopted a look in his eye not fit for a child. It was a look of contemplative reflection on many years. Many long, harsh years. He sniffed and nodded, though his gaze was still distant.
Fluttershy stepped forward to join Twilight. “I meant it when I said we want to help you, Isaac. No matter what, we’re taking you with us when we get out of here.”
Isaac sat up and looked at her, almost surprised that she would still say something like that after seeing what he was capable of. Slowly, he got to his feet and approached her, fidgeting his fingers and looking at the floor. He paused at her foreleg before leaning into it and hugging her.
Fluttershy smiled and held him with her other limb, patting the back of his head and rubbing small circles into it while he cried into her fur. “There, there. It’s okay,” she said. Then, she began to hum a little song to comfort him.
Seeing the boy weeping so intensely, Rainbow Dash’s ears drooped. Any lingering feelings of suspicion or outrage faded. It was as Fluttershy said. Isaac was a child, and any child would act out if subjected to enough trauma for this long.
Shifting her gaze off to the side uncomfortably, Rainbow found herself staring at the skull door again. A groan simmered in her throat. “Do we really need to fight another giant monster? This is getting old real fast.”
As the pegasus drew attention to their inevitable battle, Isaac fell silent and stared toward the door with everyone else. He sniffled one last time before steeling himself and standing tall beside Fluttershy.
Twilight glanced back at her friends as she stepped toward the door. “One down, only five more to go. Let’s just get this over with.”
With that motivating speech stirring them, the ponies all joined their princess into the unknown. They weren’t sure what they were about to face, but they were ready to face any challenge if it meant escaping.
Letting their strongest members take the lead, the group marched through the ominous portal. As it had each time before, the door slammed shut behind them, sealing them into their decision.
Twilight scanned her eyes around, keeping her horn charged and ready for anything. The darkness clung to every corner, creating an army of shadows that made spotting any real threat immensely difficult.
Strangely, nothing happened even as they stepped forward. No deep roar, no buzzing of flies. If their eyes weren’t deceiving them, the flat expanse of rock before them was empty.
“It’s quiet… too quiet,” Pinkie said, shifting her intense gaze around and diligently searching under every pebble.
“Maybe that’s a good thing?” Fluttershy said. A hopeful smile twitched around the edges as she darted her head every which way.
“I hate to burst your bubble, but since when is that ever a good thing?” Rarity asked.
Meanwhile, as the ponies slowly spread out in search of something, anything in the darkness, Isaac turned and paused. Behind Fluttershy, barely noticeable amid the inky blackness, a large hole opened up into the floor, allowing a massive dark hand to reach up.
The boy produced a silent gasp and rushed forward, crashing into her hind leg. Unfortunately, with his small stature, he couldn’t move her out of the way no matter how hard or how frantically he shoved.
Fluttershy turned and barely noticed the sight of Isaac at her side. He was obviously trying to tell her something, but she couldn’t tell what. “What’s wrong, Isaac?”
Then, a pebble by her hoof got knocked away as she shifted. Where she was expecting a bounce, she heard nothing, as if it had fallen into a pit. Curious, she looked over.
It was hard to make out, but she could see a hole beside her. Something dark was within it, and as her wild eyes clarified the blurry shape of a large hand towering over her, her whole body froze in denial.
A terrified yelp escaped her, and she flinched to cover her head as it slammed down, creating a deafening thud.
The others looked over to where their friend was, only to widen their eyes.
Where they were expecting to see Fluttershy, instead, they saw a magenta bubble underneath a massive black hand tipped with claws.
“Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash’s face paled.
Twilight cringed under the strain on her shield as the hand scraped off and fell back into the hole. “Everypony watch out! We’re not alone!”
Almost the instant she said that, four bonfires sprang to life in the corners, revealing the area in its entirety.
A cowering Fluttershy and Isaac looked up as the magical barrier above them faded. The hole was missing, as was the hand that lived in it. It was as if nothing had happened at all.
Then, a deep rumble came as another hole opened up in the middle of the room. This one was even bigger, as was the dark shape that sprouted out of it.
Two massive red eyes opened up, and a sharp smile framed by dripping tar greeted the ponies. A great, devilish beast with two horns sat in the floor. It resembled the smaller imp that Twilight dispatched back in the study, only far larger and more terrifying.
“BWAH!” Rainbow Dash jolted back, so stunned that she stopped hovering and fell to the floor. She and the others scrambled back at the creature staring down at them like they were its playthings.
Pinkie struggled to steady her shaking body enough to stand tall. She grit her teeth and wound a hoof back. “Take this, you big meanie!” she declared as she threw her boomerang forward.
The plastic toy whipped through the air and struck the creature in the head. Despite its grand stature, its eyes spun and it lilted from side to side in its hole, stunned by the unimpressive blow. After a moment, however, it shook itself back to clarity and growled at the little pink pony.
Another pit opened up beside Pinkie, and one of the beast’s hands came reaching out of it toward her. She screamed and fled as it thundered into the ground just behind her, aiming to squash her like a bug.
Magenta light split the darkness, heralding a volley of magical blasts exploding into the creature from one side. Tear balls struck it from the other, causing it to flinch and roar. As the beast turned to meet its attackers, it received another blow to the back of its head as Rainbow Dash rocketed into it with her hind hooves and kicked off.
“Hey, ugly! I think we kicked your little brother’s tail earlier! Why don’t you make this easy on all of us and just head back into your—” Rainbow trailed off as the creature’s expression soured and it puffed out its cheeks.
With a wet burble, the thing looked like it was about to vomit. Soon enough, it did just that, spitting out two giant roiling balls of darkness that drifted apart. One of them headed out into the room, while the other headed straight for the cyan pegasus.
“—HOLY!” Rainbow widened her eyes and beat her wings to get away. The ball careened past her just a second after she left its path. It chilled her fur like someone had just dumped ice down her back.
Off to the side, as the ponies screamed and dodged out of the way of the incoming projectiles, Isaac broke off and ran along the edge of the room. He kept a steady stream of tears firing at the beast. Even as one of the shadow balls bounced toward him, he rolled out of the way and quickly recovered so he could continue his attack.
However, the boy couldn’t dodge forever. He came to a sudden stop as a pit opened up beside him. Before he could get away, one of the beast’s hands came out and knocked him aside violently.
Twilight winced as she watched Isaac smack into the floor. At least he was still alive. She cast her glaring eyes up to their great enemy and loosed three orbs of fire from her horn. The fireballs struck its massive head, not that there was much else they could hit, and exploded into crackling fury.
The creature shook itself to douse the flames. It growled at the alicorn before popping down into its hole again. Darting their heads around to find the threat, the ponies spread out as much as possible.
“Where is it?!” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Y’know, for such a big critter, I’ve seen gophers with more spine,” Applejack said. She scanned her eyes from Fluttershy rushing over to help Isaac, to Twilight backing into the other wall. There was no sign of the creature anywhere, and the shadow balls had since poofed out of existence.
Then, she felt the ground beneath her hooves give way as a massive hole opened up.
“AHH!” Applejack yelled and scrambled for solid ground, only to fall. She didn’t fall for long. A large shape came up to meet her, bouncing her off where she nearly fell into the rest of the seemingly bottomless pit, only barely catching the edge of the rocky floor with her hooves.
“Applejack!” Pinkie gasped. Not only was her friend dangling over an abyss of inky blackness, but the devilish beast was right behind her as well.
Doing her best to ignore the monster in front of her, Rarity cringed and ran forward. She dove to the floor and caught Applejack’s forelegs. “I’ve got you!”
Hearing a growl above them, both mares stiffened up and slowly craned their heads to look. Two massive red eyes were peering down at them, filling their very beings with terror.
“Leave them alone!” Twilight cried. Hovering into the air, she discharged a powerful bolt of magic at the beast. It exploded with enough force to knock the creature back in a daze, but it soon recovered.
“Twi, watch out!” Rainbow Dash yelled.
Looking around for whatever threat her friend had spotted, Twilight didn’t notice the hole opening up beneath her, nor did she notice the clawed hand reaching up.
A blur of movement caught her eye. She started to look down, when her stomach erupted into agony. She let out a cry of pain as she fell, the force of the strike sending blood scattering away from her plummeting body.
Hitting the ground with a thud, Twilight slid to the wall in a crumpled heap. All of the wind was knocked from her lungs, and her limbs immediately turned to jelly underneath her as she tried and failed to get up.
Strength fading…
Eyelids heavy…
She had never been in this much pain before. The stinging agony in her gut pulled a groan from her throat as she curled in on herself. A pool of crimson was already starting to form beneath her, and as she drew a shaky hoof to the wound, the logical part of her dazed mind knew that, even with her alicorn stamina, she was in trouble.
“Twilight!”
The others all cried and reached out to their wounded friend. Rainbow Dash tried to fly toward her, only to get swatted away. Isaac tried to use his night light to slow the beast down, but it had no effect on it.
With her vision fading, Twilight struggled to lift her head. She was met with a great shadow looming over her as the hand that struck her down returned to finish the job.
All else fell away as the hand descended on her. The last thing she felt was a final dull pain throughout her entire form.
Then… blackness.
Slowly, consciousness returned to her. Twilight’s eyes fluttered open to a haze of pale colors. A crackling sound buzzed in her ears. She almost thought it was her head still ringing from whatever impact she took, but it wasn't uniform enough.
Her body felt cold and numb. No pain. That wasn't a good sign after the wound she suffered. Then, memories of the battle shot back to her, filling her with alarm.
Working her way to her haunches, Twilight shook herself until her vision cleared. There was no sign of the great beast or her friends. In fact, she wasn't even in the same place she was knocked out in.
Faded white wallpaper peeled away from broken walls. Cracked wooden boards served as the floor. On the otherwise plain ceiling, many holes allowed water to rain down. Only, it wasn't water. It was in the shape of rain droplets, but it was pitch black, as if the clinging shadows above were leaking in like fluid before vanishing in the light.
Muffled voices in the crackling buzz drew her attention away from this strange phenomenon. The room before her was sparse, with only photos adorning the walls, each with bipedal figures similar to Isaac. Curiously, every photo with a certain male figure was crossed out.
A tattered red rug spanned the floor, with white trim and an outline of a winged cross in the middle. Sitting on this rug was a similarly red couch facing away from her, bathed in pale light from the centerpiece of this scene.
Twilight had heard of these devices before. Some richer parts of Equestria were starting to incorporate them for the upper class, and she had even seen one first-hoof at a technology exposition she attended with Celestia when she was still the princess’ student. It was called a television.
It was a bulky wooden box with thick glass in the center that was currently playing a static-ridden scene of more bipedal figures gathered before a single figure on a podium who was giving a speech of some sort. Through the garble of static, it was difficult to tell through sound or sight what was going on, but judging from the tone of the speaker, it didn’t sound pleasant.
There, in the shadow cast by the couch in the pale light, the only light in this decrepit room, Twilight slowly stood. As she did, she noticed two figures were sitting on the couch. One larger one with puffy orange hair poking out above the edge of the couch, and one smaller one with no hair that she recognized.
Twilight cautiously approached the couch. As she neared the side, she confirmed her suspicions of the smaller figure. “Isaac…?” She reached out to him, and he lifted his head and started to turn.
Then, a large hand tipped with red nails clasped down on the boy’s shoulder, causing both him and Twilight to flinch.
“You shouldn’t be here,” a deep feminine voice spoke, and the back of the orange-haired figure jostled in time with her words. Neither she nor Isaac turned or otherwise moved to face the alicorn.
Twilight’s ears wilted at the woman’s words. She withdrew her hoof and inched back, remaining silent for a few moments. The snow-white broadcast on the box before them kept playing, the volume of the muffled speaker increasing.
“Who are you?” Twilight asked finally. Looking around at the faded photos in their cracked glass, she recognized the shape of the hair on a female figure in a dress that was often depicted standing next to Isaac. “Are you Isaac’s mother?”
The figure didn’t respond. Twilight wanted to walk around the front and face them, but her hooves were rooted to the spot by a deep-seated fear that she didn’t understand. It made her feel small, like a filly getting in trouble.
Noticing that Isaac was shaking, Twilight frowned. “Isaac… are you ok?” she asked. He didn’t respond, not that he would normally.
“Go away,” the female figure commanded. Despite her voice not raising, it held such intensity. The hand on Isaac’s shoulder tensed and clutched him closer. The boy lifted his own hand to try and pull it away, but he could only bring himself to rest it on top of hers.
“Leave him alone,” Twilight said, gathering the courage to stand tall. "Isaac, you don't have to listen to her."
A dismissive laugh came. “The devil takes many forms, Isaac. He wants you to forsake me and the way of the Lord, but I won’t let him. I will save you, even if you don’t want me to.”
Isaac trembled like a leaf in a storm, even as the hand around his shoulder gripped tighter and tighter. He probably couldn’t get away if he tried.
“I said leave him alone!” Twilight shouted. “Can’t you see you’re hurting him?! Aren’t you supposed to be his mother?!”
She stomped around the side of the couch, bringing a hoof up to Isaac’s side and preparing to cast her magic out to pull the woman off him. However, before she could even light her horn, she froze.
So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you!
The television crackled more violently as the speaker grew more passionate, receiving uproarious applause from his crowd that sounded like a terrible monster crying out through the static. In the pale light, Twilight couldn’t see the woman’s face.
All that greeted her was a dark visage silhouetted by hair, with two glowing red eyes and a wicked smile where the face was.
“Hurting him? Why… no, I am not hurting him. He is hurting himself,” the woman spoke, her voice cutting through the alicorn like glass as those red eyes focused on her. “Isaac is a sinner, as are we all. He must repent his wicked ways. And no matter how long it takes… no matter how many serpents whisper in his ear to stray him from the path, I will bring him back to the light… kicking and screaming if I have to.”
Gradually, the hand on Isaac’s shoulder lifted, and began reaching for Twilight.
“Now, begone little serpent. You are not welcome here.”
The hand loomed larger, overshadowing her like a parent to a child. Twilight backed up one step, and then another. Still it kept reaching, closing in on her faster than she could get away.
She hit something solid behind her that chilled her back. Glass. She could feel the tingly static of the television crackling through her fur.
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags!
The maddening sermon filled her ears. It almost sounded like she was in the room with them, even though it was still muddled and crackling. It almost felt like the glass behind her was gone too.
Then, the tingling feeling of the static moved up her side. Twilight eyed down to her body, only to pale at the sight of many tiny hands reaching out of the shifting snow. No, it was more like the static itself was reaching out and wrapping around her.
We all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind, our sins sweep us away!
Twilight suddenly started getting pulled back. Crackling whiteness consumed her vision, steadily eating away at the picture of Isaac’s mother laughing madly on the couch, and the boy himself reaching out to her.
A scream tore from her lungs. She could barely hear it over the roar of static. Soon, static was all that remained.
Twilight shot up. Her heart was beating out of her chest, and her stomach burned with a familiar pain. Cringing as she darted her head around, she didn’t find any grasping hands made of static or a horrifying figure with red eyes. Instead, she found all her friends loosely gathered around her in what looked to be a child’s bedroom.
“Easy there, Twilight. You’re safe now,” Applejack said.
“Safe?” Twilight parroted. Looking down, she found herself in a bed. She lifted the dirtied sheets off of herself, still fighting to catch her breath. Underneath, she discovered that a set of faded bandages had been wrapped around her midsection, with a red stain in the front. “Wh… where are we?”
Taking a slower look around yielded a similar view of light wallpaper and wooden floors as the living room she just escaped from, only to a lesser degree of decay. Here, drawings dominated the walls, and only a few scattered broken toys could be seen on the floor.
“I think we’re in Isaac’s room,” Fluttershy noted. Nearby, the boy gave a helpful nod.
Twilight winced and swung her lower half over the side of the bed. She held a hoof to her bandaged wound and the back of her throbbing head. “Ngh… what happened? Is everypony okay?”
“We should be asking you that.” Rainbow Dash pointed to her midsection.
“Yeah. I thought for sure you would be squished like a bug.” Pinkie frowned at the mere thought. “I sure am glad that alicorns are super-duper hard to kill.”
“After that dreadful beast knocked you out, we managed to wear it down until Isaac could finish it off,” Rarity explained. “We asked him if there was any way he could help you, and he brought us here. We bandaged you up the best we could, but there honestly wasn't much we could do. Thank goodness it didn’t go very deep.”
“So, you helped patch me up?” Twilight asked, looking at Isaac a bit surprised. He nodded sheepishly. “Thank you so much, Isaac. I… umm…” She trailed off as she thought about what she just experienced. “Hey, this might sound strange, but… did we just meet in a living room?”
Isaac raised a brow at that. After sharing unsure looks with the others, he shrugged.
Twilight’s eyes trailed off in thought. Was it a dream? Logically, it must have been for her to still be here and for Isaac to have no memory of it. Seeing her friends giving her odd looks, she shook her head. “Nevermind. Just, thanks again for helping us.” She smiled before returning her attention to her wound. “Also, I hate to put you out any more than we already have, but do you have any more bandages? I think this one is bleeding through, and I already used all of mine earlier.”
In response, Rarity pointed to what must have been a closet door in the corner of the room. “We found them in there. Just be sure to take some antibiotics later. I did my best to sterilize them, but the bandages here weren’t exactly the cleanest.” She cringed in second-hand disgust.
Twilight twitched a brow as she looked down to her stomach with newfound paranoia. “Oh, well… beggars can’t be choosers. I suppose getting an infection beats bleeding to death,” she said as she hopped off the bed and started toward the closet.
Opening the door allowed a well of shadows to peer out at her. Twilight hesitated before stepping into the narrow space.
Wrapping her magic around a dangling pull string, she lit the single bare bulb in the closet. Dust and cobwebs danced in the orange glow, and she slowly panned her head around a vista of forgotten memories.
As with many closets, shelves and racks lined the sides, choking what little space was within. Isaac would be claustrophobic, so an alicorn like her felt even more cramped.
Stuffed into every square inch of these shelves were remnants of what must have been Isaac’s old life. Boxes of toys, twenty-sided dice, books with strange titles, wigs and hats for dressing up.
Twilight felt a pang in her heart as she looked around. All these things that any child would have readily accessible in their room were haphazardly stacked and covered in dust, as if they had been imprisoned. The door behind her also had many scratches and dings on the inside, and various drawings on the walls and floor. Despite the dust and darkness, this place felt more lived in than the room outside.
Shaking off these thoughts, Twilight shifted her eyes to a first-aid box tucked away near the back. Moving further in, she opened it up and rifled through it until she found another old roll of bandages.
Then, as she was walking away, she paused. Another box was next to the first-aid kit, and this one was stuffed with drawings.
Letting her curiosity lead her hoof, she picked up the faded papers and shuffled through them.
On the first, she found a depiction of a terrible creature with exposed bones and rotten flesh. The picture was labeled 'mother'. Another drawing had many versions of Isaac either dead or dying in various ways.
"Oh my gosh…" Twilight’s frown deepened the more drawings she went through. She was about to stop looking at them, when she found some at the back that were taped together.
On the first of these, she found a depiction of a home, with two figures outside. Below was a poorly spelled narrative of some kind of story.
Isaac, and his mother, lived alone in a small house on a hill…
From there, Twilight read through a short telling. Of what, she couldn’t be sure. Was it Isaac’s past, or a fabrication he made to cope with his past?
Isaac kept to himself, drawing pictures and playing with his toys as his mom watched Christian broadcasts on the television.
Life was simple, and they were both happy. That was, until the day Isaac’s mom heard a voice from above.
‘Your son has become corrupted by sin. He needs to be saved.’
‘I will do my best to save him, my Lord,’ Isaac’s mother replied, rushing into Isaac’s room, removing all that was evil from his life.
Twilight’s eyes wrinkled at a depiction of the boy’s mother ripping everything in his room away from him. His toys, his drawings, even his clothes.
Again the voice called to her, ‘Isaac’s soul is still corrupt. He needs to be cut off from all that is evil in this world and confess his sins.’
‘I will follow your instructions, Lord. I have faith in thee,’ Isaac’s mother replied, as she locked Isaac in his room, away from the evils of the world.
One last time, Isaac’s mom heard the voice of God calling to her. ‘You've done as I've asked, but I still question your devotion to me. To prove your faith, I will ask one more thing of you.’
‘Yes Lord, anything!’ Isaac’s mother begged.
‘To prove your love and devotion, I require a sacrifice. Your son, Isaac, will be this sacrifice. Go into his room and end his life, as an offering to me to prove you love me above all else.’
‘Yes Lord’, she replied, grabbing a butcher’s knife from the kitchen.
Isaac, watching through a crack in his door, trembled in fear. Scrambling around his room to find a hiding place, he noticed a trap door to the basement hidden under his rug.
Without hesitation, he flung open the hatch, just as his mother burst through his door, and threw himself down into the unknown depths below.
Bringing the paper down from her eyes, Twilight stood there with her heart heavy and her mouth agape.
Hearing the door creak open behind her, Twilight turned and spotted Fluttershy and Rarity walking into the closet.
Fluttershy noted the drawings hovering in the alicorn’s magic, her expression falling as she did. "You found them too?" she asked. Twilight merely nodded.
"Poor dear," Rarity said. She turned and watched Isaac playing with some miniature horse figurines with Pinkie. "I wonder if that story really happened?"
"I'm not sure… but either way, it explains a lot about this place," Twilight said.
"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked.
Twilight took out one of the drawings and pointed to a depiction of some of the monsters they had encountered. "I already suspected it, but now I'm sure. Isaac isn't just trapped in this place. This place wouldn't exist without him. Somehow, all his fears and fantasies have become real."
Rarity put a hoof to her mouth. She took a moment to process the wild theory before speaking, “But if that’s true, how does that chest factor into things?”
“I’m… not sure about that,” Twilight admitted.
Meanwhile, Fluttershy stared out of the door with a troubled look on her face. “Now that you mention it, doesn’t Isaac’s toy box look an awful lot like that chest?”
Both mares joined the pegasus in looking outside. Sure enough, the box by Isaac’s bed was a wooden chest of similar build, with similar coloring.
“You’re right. It does,” Twilight noted.
“Didn’t you say that you felt something at the bottom of the chest when we first found it, Twilight?” Rarity asked, a gnawing sense of unease slowly building inside of her as she turned to a drawing on the wall of Isaac curled up inside a familiar chest. “What did it feel like?”
“I… don’t know if I want to say what I think it was,” Twilight said as she stared at the drawing. “I hope I’m wrong… but if I’m not, I think I’m starting to understand why Celestia and Luna didn’t help Isaac escape when they found him.”
“But… we’re going to find a way to help him escape, aren’t we?” Fluttershy asked quietly.
Twilight didn’t answer at first. She shared an uncomfortable look with Rarity before facing the pegasus. “If there is a way, we’ll find it.” She rested a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder before glancing back toward the series of drawings. “But one way or another, we need to get out of this place as soon as possible.”
With that, the trio exited the closet and rejoined their friends. And after reapplying Twilight’s bandages, the group set out once more.
Leaving Isaac’s hideaway brought them to a room not too far away from the skull room. Getting back to the site of the battle was a surprising experience for Twilight. The horned monster was nowhere to be found, as it had retreated into its hole once defeated. It was like nothing had happened.
Another trapdoor sat ahead of them, open and waiting patiently. With some trepidation between them, the ponies mustered their courage and began their descent, leaving the cold, damp caves behind.
To say that darkness swallowed them wouldn’t be accurate, as they had been battling darkness since arriving at the caves. Strangely, it actually got lighter by comparison, even if they still couldn’t see anything.
Then, as they all floated down, they started to see solid ground come into view once more. Landing on an expanse of dark stone, they all took in their oppressive new surroundings.
Bones, skulls, and barred grates dotted the black walls, akin to some kind of dungeon. Above, instead of a single hole in the ceiling that they came through the last time they traveled to a new floor, the entire view above them was steeped in darkness.
Shadows clung to the edges of the room, and while they could see much better than before, something was different about the darkness here. Up in the caves, the dark was an obstacle. They merely couldn’t see through it very well, which presented a threat in some ways, but not from the darkness itself.
Here, the darkness felt off. It felt like something was watching them from within the abyss above.
Rarity shivered. "Well, this place is certainly cheery. Does anypony else feel an impending sense of doom, or is it just me?"
"I thought that was normal," Fluttershy said.
"I'm starting to notice a pattern here," Rainbow Dash said. "If these floors keep getting worse, we'll be in Tartarus before long."
"You sure we aren’t already?" Applejack asked.
"Don't s-say that!" Fluttershy whined.
Twilight walked up to one of the doorways and peered into its depths. While she couldn’t deny her own unease, she pressed down her fears and stood tall.
However, as all her friends fell in line behind her, she noticed that someone was missing. Looking around, she found Isaac still standing where he was when they landed.
"Isaac?" She took a few steps toward him.
The boy was staring past them into the doorway, his hands clasped and his thumbs running over each other. His body arched away from them, away from the path forward.
"What’s wrong, kid?" Rainbow Dash frowned at such a pitiful sight. She and the others walked over and surrounded him.
Fluttershy knelt down and gently brought a hoof to his shoulder. "Isaac, are you okay?"
Isaac nodded, though he hid his eyes from them. Following the direction of his hesitant stare out the door, Fluttershy’s features softened.
"Is… is there something ahead that you're scared of?" she asked.
Another nod, and he shrank down further.
Twilight joined the pegasus in craning herself down to the boy’s level. He eyed up at her, but didn't otherwise move. "We can't do this without you, Isaac. I promise we'll take care of you… so will you help us?"
Seeing the ponies all looking to him, not just for help, but also worried for him, Isaac’s eyes sparkled with emotion.
Twilight backed up as Isaac stood. Despite sniffing and wiping some excess tears, of which he had plenty, he adopted a determined expression and nodded. She smiled. “Thank you.”
With their young companion finding the courage to press on alongside them, the ponies headed into the depths of the unknown.
How long had they been in this place? It was hard to keep track. Time as a concept seemed to hold no sway here. All there was, all that had been, all that would ever be, was the cold, dark expanse of rooms and the shambling horrors that walked them.
This place abhorred the living. They could feel it in the air.
Every brick scraping against their fur as they fell, every chill snuffing the warmth from their bodies, every abomination of flesh and bone was bent toward one purpose: to kill them.
“Watch out!”
Each new room provided a new struggle to survive, and each battle left scars, be they physical or mental. Even as one monstrosity fell and they were victorious, another would leave a bruise, a wound, a nightmare.
Their stamina started to wane, and their unshakeable confidence in themselves and each other followed suit. They had faced many foes before, but not like this.
Slowly but surely, the doubt started to creep in and grip their hearts. Would they die here?
*Crunch*
Twilight panted as she heaved a pale, blubbery mass of a figure into a nearby wall, splattering it instantly. She didn’t have the time to be disturbed by the gorey display.
The sound of tears striking and a monstrous groan came from behind her. She snapped her head back, only to widen her eyes at the sight of a red, skinless creature with one gazing eye reaching out for her, ignoring Isaac’s attempts at gunning it down.
“Ngh!” Twilight grunted, falling to her back as the thing tackled her. It flailed its fleshy hands and tried to bite into her, but she kept it at bay with her forelegs.
“Twilight!” Rarity cried out. She started to rush to help her friend, when—
“Rarity, look out!” Pinkie yelled.
Before the unicorn could even process the warning, Pinkie dove into her and sent them both to the floor. Not a moment after, another massive pale creature landed where they just were with a squelch, sending crimson flying from its bleeding form.
A few drops struck Pinkie’s side, causing a painful yelp. Two bloody welts were left behind, and Rarity gasped as she looked up to see what her friend just protected her from. “Pinkie!”
Over on the other side of the room, Fluttershy cowered behind Rainbow Dash and Applejack. The pair kicked, punched, and tossed a small army of the skinless red figures from all sides, but they were struggling to keep up.
Rainbow grunted as one of the creatures leapt onto her back while she punched at another one. “Get off me!” she yelled, bucking it back and sending it flying into the wall, where it collapsed into a pile of pulsing red goo with a disgusting slorp.
Fluttershy watched the mush slide to the floor. It was like the red creatures didn’t even have bones. However, as she turned away, the pile wriggled and lifted of its own accord, forming back into its original shape.
Hearing a familiar shriek behind them, Applejack and Rainbow Dash froze. They turned to see Fluttershy on the ground, with a freshly regenerated monster biting into her foreleg.
“Shy!” Applejack wasted no time in rushing forward. She kicked the thing off of the pegasus, and as it collapsed into goo again, Rainbow Dash leapt up and stomped down on it with a mighty yell, sending bits of red pulp flying everywhere.
“Are you okay?” Rainbow asked as she helped her injured friend back up.
Fluttershy cringed and held her foreleg to her chest. It was bleeding superficially from a ring of teeth marks. “I… I-I think so.”
“What, do these things not stay down or somethin’?” Applejack asked.
“Wait…” Rainbow Dash blinked. Both she and Applejack looked at each other, and then behind them. “Does that mean—”
All at once, several sloshing noises and hungry groans came as every single creature they dispatched before rose again. A horde of meat in the shape of gaping maws and empty eyes came charging at them again.
“AHH!” All three of them screamed and scrambled back against the wall, unsure of whether to try and run or defend themselves.
Then, with a small click, a beam of light fell on the advancing creatures, slowing them in their tracks. With a few zaps and wet plops, a barrage of projectiles set on the fleshy mob. Tears and magical bolts of blue and magenta.
Seeing Isaac and their other friends assisting them, having dealt with their own creatures, Rainbow Dash smirked. Wasting no time, she flew forward and stomped down on one of the things, jumping up and down on it a few times for good measure until it was scattered pulp.
Applejack joined in as well, using a similar strategy to dispatch one of the remaining few. And as Isaac finished off the last pile of red mush, the room fell silent.
Rarity panted heavily and held a hoof to her head. Her horn sparked and fitted after forcing so many offensive spells from it. She wasn't as strong as Twilight, but she was glad to help in some small way.
Hearing a wince beside her, she shifted her attention to her pink friend. “Oh, my goodness, Pinkie!”
“Don’t… ngh… w-worry. It’s just a little ouchie,” Pinkie assured.
“Oh, darling.” Rarity frowned, resting a hoof on her shoulder.
Twilight walked to the middle of the room and breathed heavily. She observed her friends, many of whom were now injured to some degree. Even she bore painful reminders of battles past.
She met eyes with Isaac, who was similarly frowning at the state of those around him. Both of them then looked up. A lone door stood at the back of the room, adorned with skulls. A warning? Or perhaps, a promise of what waited within?
“Is everypony okay?” Twilight asked.
“A little rough around the edges, but I think I’m good.” Rainbow Dash popped her stiff neck and loosened some sore muscles. “How about you, Fluttershy? How’s that leg?”
Fluttershy winced as she put weight on her injured forelimb, but managed to suppress the pain and put on a fragile smile. “I’m alright.”
“Me too,” Pinkie reported, though her energy was noticeably diminished by pain.
Twilight shook her head and sighed. “We can’t keep this up if we keep getting hurt. Everypony do your best to stay on the defensive. Isaac and I should be able to do most of the fighting,” she reasoned, looking to the boy for confirmation. As ever, a nod served as his response as he fired off a couple tears for show.
Although they were battered and bruised, the ponies all readied themselves for what they knew would be another fierce battle. Whatever terrible creature was waiting for them beyond those doors, they would have to defeat it if they wanted to get home.
Marching through the door, most of the group didn’t notice as Isaac hesitated at the threshold. A hoof on the back and a reassuring look from Fluttershy coaxed him into continuing, and soon they all stepped inside.
Twilight scanned her eyes around, horn at the ready. After their last battle in a room like this, she wouldn’t let her friends down again. She was prepared for anything.
However, the only thing she couldn’t prepare for, was nothing.
Nothing was in the room before them, save for a few rocks, bones, and lit candles on the floor. Strangely, there were three more skull doors, one on each wall. All were closed, save for theirs.
Then, even that one slammed shut, sealing them inside.
The ponies had come to expect this. They all huddled around each other, keeping vigilant for any threat from any direction. Above. Below. Anything was possible here.
“Uh… what’s the deal?” Rainbow asked. “Isn’t this the part where something big and scary pops out and tries to kill us?”
“And here I thought this place could be consistent in at least one thing,” Rarity said.
“Stay on your guard. There has to be something here, or else an exit would have appeared by now,” Twilight reasoned. “Isn’t that right, Isaac?”
Turning toward the boy, she found him slowly approaching the center of the room. He was staring straight up at the dark abyss above them, his posture small and his fingers fidgeting together.
“Isaac?” Twilight’s expression fell.
“Is something wrong?” Fluttershy asked, starting to move up and put a hoof on his shoulder, until she stopped as she noticed that he was breathing faster. His eyes trembled, and he almost seemed to be waiting for something.
…”Isaac!”...
Just then, another voice filled the room. It was feminine, laced with anger and disappointment, and it seemed to come from somewhere above.
“What was that?” Rarity darted her eyes around, but nothing yet moved within the inky blackness.
“Wait…” Twilight muttered, her eyes narrowing. “I recognize that voice. I had a dream about it after that thing knocked me out.” She stood tall in the face of the unseen. “You’re Isaac’s mother, aren’t you?”
“His mother?” Pinkie parroted. She looked over to see the boy crouched down, his whole body trembling now as he stared up like a child awaiting punishment from their parent. “But… w-why is he so scared of her?”
Before anyone could answer her, the voice came booming down again.
“Oh, look what’s happened to you, Isaac! Is this what I taught you? To surround yourself with evil?!”
Rainbow Dash hovered up and jabbed a hoof toward the ceiling. “Hey! Who’re you calling evil, lady?! You don’t see Isaac cowering from us!” she yelled, nostrils flared, before she paused. “Well, there was that one time, but that’s beside the point!”
Fluttershy boldly stepped forward to be beside the trembling boy. As she stared up into the darkness, she didn’t feel fear. She felt outrage. “How could you treat your own son like this?! I’ve seen the way Isaac draws you. I don’t know if all of it really happened, but you must have been awful to him for him to be this scared of you!”
There were a few seconds of silence from the shadows above. Eventually, a sad sort of chuckle came down.
“If Isaac must fear me, so be it. I am only doing what’s right, what my lord has commanded of me! There is evil inside him that must be cleansed!”
The voice raved, growing more intense. Each word served to make Isaac shake harder. He hid his face and covered his head, only to look up in surprise as he felt another shape brush against him. It was Applejack, and she was facing down the unseen voice with fierceness burning in her eyes.
“He’s your family! I don’t care what your lord told ya to do! You don’t hurt family like this!” She stomped a hoof.
“Yeah!” Pinkie scowled up at the voice as she stormed over with her friends. She rested a hoof on Isaac’s back along with Fluttershy. “My mom and dad were strict, but not like this! Parents are supposed to kiss your boo-boo’s and tuck you in at night, not make you afraid!”
Twilight spread her wings and hovered up. She glared into the abyss, unsure of where the target of her ire even was. “You’re the reason Isaac is stuck here, aren’t you?! Whatever you did to him, it made him turn to making his own world. A world where you couldn’t hurt him! Now his world’s been corrupted and made real, and he’s been trapped in it for centuries! Is this really what you wanted?!” she yelled, only to pause and take a breath, though her glare remained. "No… you’re not even real. You’re just Isaac’s fear of his mother given a voice and body. And you know what? He doesn’t need to be afraid of you anymore, because we’re going to get him out of this place! Do you hear me, you glorified nightmare?"
Down on the ground, Isaac looked to Twilight in awe. All the others wore the same determination on their faces, and as he met eyes with Fluttershy, she flashed a smile and held a hoof to his head. It felt comforting and warm, like a true mother’s caress. They really meant it.
Then, a low rumble filled the air, as if the very room around them flared with rage.
“It could have been so much easier if you just let me save you and turned from your wickedness. I thought that once your good-for-nothing father left, that his sinful influence over you would fade. But you just keep walking further into the dark! Well… if it is your choice to remain here with these serpents, then I will crush you along with them, ISAAC!”
With that scornful yell, a shape descended from the abyss, casting a shadow over all of them. The group’s pupils collectively shrank, and a sea of terrified screams came as they all scrambled to get away.
Both Fluttershy and Isaac were petrified as they stared up at their approaching doom. Twilight swooped down and tackled the pair out of the way. Just as they harshly landed on the blackened rock floor, a towering foot in a red high heel thundered down.
Twilight slowly lifted her head alongside Fluttershy and Isaac. She turned to look back, only to have her jaw drop at the sheer size of the leg now standing in the middle of the room.
An upsetting visage of bulging flesh, veins and hair stretched all the way up to a portion of a blue dress with yellow polkadots, which further extended up until it faded within the shadows above. It was completely unlike the figure Twilight had seen. The image of Isaac’s mother she encountered was monstrous to be sure, but this titan overshadowed all of them, not just as a parent to a child, but more like a regular sized pony to an insect.
Rainbow Dash’s eyes nearly popped out of her head as she floated in place, craning her neck all the way up and stammering. “S-Sweet Celestia!”
With his friends scattered on the ground after the sudden attack, Isaac stood and clenched his fists. He began shooting his weaponized tears at his mother, and she reacted with a pained growl.
The massive leg receded back out of sight. Everyone quickly got to their hooves and kept their heads glued above, ready to dodge any further stomps.
As Rarity and Applejack backed closer to the wall, a banging sound came from behind them. They turned just in time to watch the closed skull door buckling outward, as if something were striking it from the other side. Then, the door flew open, and an oversized hand burst out.
“AHH!” Rarity squealed and fell back onto her tail end. She cringed with disgust and backed up further as the hand reached for her. “I usually don’t put people down for their choice in makeup, but those nails are atrocious!” She kicked out a hind leg at one of the fingers, barely making a ripple in the flesh.
The hand started to grab at her, when another kick from the side caused it to recoil.
“Leave her alone!” Applejack demanded. She settled from her attack and pulled Rarity to all fours before backing herself and the unicorn away. Thankfully, the hand receded back into the doorway, whereupon the door slammed shut.
Elsewhere in the room, something wet plopped to the floor. Looking over, the ponies saw red shapes falling from the darkness. Some of them were the living mounds of meat they encountered in the basement, while others were piles of mush that soon formed into the groaning flesh horrors.
“Woah!” Pinkie ducked under a blood bullet spewed from one of the meat monsters.
Rainbow Dash growled under her breath as she floated away from some of the skinless walkers. “Yeah, because it wasn't already an unfair fight!”
Fluttershy slowly backed away from the monsters going after her friends. She started to back toward one of the doors, when she remembered the hand bursting out to meet Rarity.
Turning around, she suddenly jolted as she met the gaze of a giant bloodshot red eye bulging out of the open doorway. “AH!”
As she recoiled, Isaac got in front of her and faced down the eye. A barrage of tears impacted the squishy sclera, causing it to flinch. A disembodied grunt of pain came from his mother as the eye glared at them before disappearing.
Two more of the doors opened up across from each other, allowing amorphous flesh to bulge out. Isaac shifted his aim to meet them, getting in a few more hits before they too vanished.
Twilight observed this from her position fending off some monsters. The boy seemed to be prioritizing hitting pieces of his mother wherever they reared their metaphorical ugly heads. “I see… Focus on her! She’s the real enemy here!”
“It doesn’t seem like that from where I’m standing!” Rarity squealed. The others turned to see her struggling to toss away some of the flesh walkers. One of them got close enough to grasp at her, when a boomerang suddenly struck it in the back of the head and stunned it.
“We’ll take care of the a.d.d’s! You guys handle the boss!” Pinkie stated. She effortlessly caught her boomerang before sharply turning and using it to cleave down through one of the skinless monsters, reducing it to goop.
“Uh, Pinkie, what’s an a.d.d?!” Rainbow asked. Before she could get an answer, however, a grunt came from above and another leg stomped down, nearly crushing Applejack and Rarity. “Holy…!” She widened her eyes before clenching her teeth and flying headlong at the leg.
With as much speed as she could muster in such a small space, Rainbow sailed forward and kicked out both hind legs. She slammed into the thigh, her hooves sinking in deeper than she would have liked before she struck bone.
Magenta light split the air as Twilight fired some blasts at the leg as well. Soon, Isaac joined in, and even Pinkie spared a moment to toss her boomerang at it.
Yelping at all the strikes, Isaac’s mother lifted her leg and kicked out with surprising swiftness. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie dove away in time to avoid it, but Twilight was knocked out of the air just from being clipped by the mighty foot as it slammed into the wall.
“Ooof!” Twilight grunted, smacking into the floor and skidding to a halt a few feet away. She grit her teeth and pushed herself up before leaping back into the fray.
Strafing around the side, Isaac ducked under a monster Applejack had sent flying. Snapping his gaze up, he saw the leg receding into the abyss. He managed to land a few last-minute shots on it before it vanished, his watery projectiles burning into his mother’s flesh like acid.
The boy kept his attention fixed on the darkness above as he wandered about the room. But his unwavering focus upwards was misplaced: a hand burst out from a nearby door before seizing his leg with vice-like grip. His mother’s echoed laugh filled the room as he was yanked to the ground and dragged back toward the door.
Fluttershy gasped. "Isaac!"
Racing across the room, she leapt and reached out. With the tip of her hooves, she managed to grasp the boy’s hands. However, even as she pulled with all her might, she could only slow the inevitable.
Two more sets of hooves grabbed onto her hindquarters. Fluttershy and Isaac looked back to see Rarity and Pinkie struggling to help them while Applejack kept the monsters off of them.
“Twilight, we could use a hoof with this hand!” Rarity shouted.
In response, a bolt of magic exploded into the hand. It jerked as its flesh was burned, but it didn’t let go.
Twilight prepared to send a more powerful attack, when a shadow fell over her. Her pupils shrank and she looked up. She flapped her wings hard and got clear just in time before the foot came crashing down.
However, as she jerked to the side and followed the foot with her eyes, they abruptly widened. Below the foot, right where she had just been flying over, was a pile of rocks. Not only that, but embedded into one of the rocks, was what looked to be a cluster of bombs.
She yelped and raced to channel her magic into a barrier, but it was too late. The moment the leg slammed into the rocks, a fiery explosion enveloped the alicorn and sent her flying into the wall.
Rainbow Dash looked over at the deafening sound, only to freeze in the air as she spotted her friend smacking into a wall and collapsing to the floor. “Twi!”
Without wasting a moment, Rainbow zoomed off to help the alicorn. She made it about halfway there when she heard a grunt of exertion, but not from any of her friends. Before she could alter her course, the massive leg lifted once again and kicked out at her. The resulting collision rattled her very bones and sent her bouncing off the ground and into the far wall.
“Gah…” Rainbow groaned. Her head was throbbing, and her whole body felt brittle and sore.
Pushing herself up on one forelimb, she looked around at the dire state they were in. All her friends were either injured or occupied with trying to save Isaac, and all the while a small army of monsters was closing in on them. Judging by the wicked laugh echoing through the room, Isaac’s mother was still standing strong.
Teeth gritted and eyes darting, Rainbow raced to think of something she could do to swing the battle in their favor. Then, she remembered something.
She reached behind her ear and pulled out the card she won back in the arcade. The figure in its chariot stared back at her blankly. It could have easily just been a normal card, but somehow in this place she doubted it.
“Here goes nothing,” Rainbow muttered. She cringed and averted her eyes before holding out the card.
Nothing happened.
Shifting her deadpan look to the card, she flicked it and waved it around. Still, nothing came of her actions.
Seeing a few of the skinless walkers heading her way, she growled and waved harder. “Oh, come on! Work, dang it! Don’t tell me this really is just a piece of—”
Then, as she crushed the card between her hooves, it abruptly dissolved into sparkles of white light. These sparkles then covered her forelegs and swiftly spread out through her whole body. A strange feeling buzzed inside of her.
“Woah…. Woah!” Rainbow clenched her eyes shut as the feeling grew in intensity, like a surging current of electricity building within. It was overwhelming, but it didn’t hurt. In fact, it felt good. Really good.
And as strands of her mane and tail stood on end and floated, filled with crackling energy, Rainbow Dash opened her sparkling eyes and the light surrounding her body flashed into a perpetually moving aura of prismatic colors.
“WOO OO O!”
With a single flap of her wings, she was off like a shot from a canon.
Off to the side, Twilight groaned and slowly pushed herself up from the floor. She looked up, only to flinch at the sight of those red monsters shambling toward her.
Before she could try to defend herself, however, a bright light and a wall of air crashed into her, whipping her hair aside and forcing her to shield her eyes. When she opened them, a rainbow contrail faded away where the monsters once were, and scattering bits of red pulp fell to the floor.
Twilight looked up, her jaw falling agape at the sight of her pegasus friend. Rainbow zipped and bounced off the walls, crossing the room multiple times in mere seconds as she crashed through the remaining monsters, then arching back and hitting the massive hand so hard that it released Isaac and receded back into its doorway, leaving behind a confused mass of ponies.
Then, Rainbow bolted at top speed, ramming into the giant leg in the middle of the room once. Twice. Four, five times. Going faster than she perhaps ever had, she kept striking into Isaac’s mother, using her own glowing body as a weapon.
And with one final windup, Rainbow rocketed into the top of the leg, ripping through the blue dress and sending droplets of crimson scattering. A yell filled the room, and the whole leg started shaking and leaking blood.
“Isaac!”
The voice from above wailed, sounding both pained and saddened. All at once, the leg vanished into the darkness one last time, and the room fell still.
On the ground, Fluttershy and the others lay in a loose pile, still recovering from their fierce fight with the giant hand. They looked around, stunned to find no remaining monsters or other signs of danger.
“Is… is it over?” Rarity asked.
“I think so,” Twilight said. She walked over and helped Pinkie to her hooves. Just then, a gust of air behind them signaled them to turn and flinch back at the sight of a glowing ball of energy in the shape of their pegasus friend.
Applejack’s mouth wrinkled as she watched Rainbow standing still, or at least doing her best at it. Her eye was twitching, and her whole body was vibrating subtly. “Uh… you okay there, sugarcube?”
“Yeah,” Rainbow muttered, nodding so enthusiastically that Pinkie’s neck hurt just watching it. “Never better… Why do you ask?” Her voice was simultaneously hoarse and full of energy.
“How’d you get so glowy?” Pinkie asked. “It looks cool!”
“Not sure. I just… crushed that card that I got earlier, and now I’m fast… so fast.” Rainbow gave an unhinged chuckle.
“I don’t know whether to be fascinated or concerned.” Twilight placed a hoof to her chin and watched the hypnotizing phenomenon.
Then, after a moment, Rainbow’s hair drooped and her body unceremoniously stopped glowing. She fell to her haunches and deflated, as if all her will to live vanished alongside the strange light. “Ohhh… dangit,” she groaned, her eyes fluttering drowsily until she flopped over with a thud.
“Is she ok?” Fluttershy asked, lowering a tentative hoof to her friend.
Twilight walked up and craned her neck down to examine the cyan mare. Before she could start her wellness check, however, a soft snoring sound came. “I think she’s asleep.”
“In all fairness, I feel like she’s earned a nap,” Rarity said.
Meanwhile, Pinkie paused as she felt a small shape brush past her. She looked over, only to spot Isaac slowly walking away, a gloomy frown on his face. “Isaac…?”
Hearing this, the others all looked over as well. They noticed the boy walking to the other side of the room where two pedestals now stood. On one of the pedestals floated a colored photograph of Isaac and two larger figures smiling brightly. Unlike his current appearance, Isaac wore a green shirt and some pants here.
On the other was that same photograph, only dark and with unsettling colors. A photo negative. It radiated an almost sinister feeling.
Isaac walked up to the colored photograph and grabbed it. The negative vanished as soon as he did, but he paid no attention to this. He simply stared at the photo, using one thumb to cover his mother while he ran his other over a male figure in a tank top. His head drooped, and the tears in his eyes grew heavier.
“Isaac?”
Hearing a gentle voice behind him, the boy looked back to see his pony friends, minus a sleeping pegasus, gathering behind him. Fluttershy took a few small steps closer to him, and seeing no objections from him, closed the distance between them.
She looked at the photo limply hanging in his grasp. A photo of a happier time, clearly, and of a family now broken. The joy in Isaac’s face as he stood with his parents was one she hadn’t seen him display in her short time knowing him. A few tears of her own formed, and she rested her hoof on his head.
“I’m so sorry,” Fluttershy whispered as he buried his head into her chest.
Twilight and the others gathered around the pair, offering the boy their heartfelt sympathy. Gradually, as time went on, the alicorn took another look around the room.
About now, a trapdoor should have appeared to allow them access to the next floor. No such trapdoor was anywhere to be seen. She did, however, notice a door that wasn't there before.
Its frame was black and spikey, with a dark goat skull with curved horns and glowing red eyes above it. Darkness radiated from within it, and a chill ran down Twilight’s back the longer she stared at it.
“What the…?” Twilight muttered.
The others looked up and noticed the door as well. Fluttershy and Rarity shrank away from it, while Applejack and Pinkie were merely curious.
“I don’t think I have ever not wanted to go through a door more than I do right now,” Rarity said.
Meanwhile, Isaac broke away from the group and, much to Rarity’s dismay, approached the ominous door. He gestured for them to follow and headed inside like there was nothing wrong.
“Of course… I don’t know why I expected anything else.” Rarity sighed as the others began moving without her. She turned and lit her horn, roping a cluster of magic around one of Rainbow Dash’s hind legs so she could drag the sleeping pegasus along with them.
Rainbow snored and kicked her other leg like a dog. She always was a deep sleeper, and with how exhausted her experience made her, it would be a wonder if anything could wake her up. Still, she had a smile on her face, so it must have been a pleasant dream she was having.
“Shpeed…? I am… ssshpeed…” she mumbled as the unicorn pulled her inside the dark room.
Within, the ponies were met with another black expanse of stone, though this one appeared more natural and uneven than the dungeon-esc surroundings of this floor.
At the back of the room was a statue of a bipedal figure sitting cross-legged. It had a goat head with pointed horns and a cross on its forehead. Two black wings framed its form as it loomed over them and silently watched.
Just in front of this statue were two more item pedestals. One had what looked to be a severed cat’s paw. The other held a floating red symbol of an infinity sign with a cross sticking out of it that had two bars instead of one.
“Umm… w-what is this place?” Fluttershy asked. She darted her eyes around and shrank closer to her friends. For once, it wasn't just her acting nervous. The room had an eerie quality to it, helped in no small part by the statue and the bone-chilling cold.
“Spooky is what it is.” Pinkie held her sides and shivered.
“Isaac, dear, can you please just do whatever it is that you came here to do so we can leave?” Rarity pleaded.
Isaac glanced back to his friends before taking the hint and approaching the item pedestals. He paused before them, looking at each and silently sizing up which one, if any, he wanted.
Looking to the goat statue at the back, there was a moment of hesitation where the boy shrank back, as if what he was about to do was wrong somehow. However, he got over whatever was giving him pause and walked up to the pedestal with the red symbol.
He reached a hand out and touched it, whereupon it absorbed into him. Gritting his teeth, he began to tremble and shake for a moment. Twilight started to reach a hoof out to the boy, when she drew back as his skin suddenly shifted black and he sprouted horns from his head.
“Woah!” Twilight took a step back. She and her friends shrank away from the boy, unsure of whether or not they should be worried for him or for themselves.
Isaac slowly turned to face them. Other than the obvious changes in appearance and perhaps a fiercer expression, he didn’t look or act any different.
“Uh… I-Isaac? Are you… okay?” Fluttershy asked.
“You don’t wanna eat us or nothin’, right?” Applejack chuckled nervously.
In response, Isaac gave them a thumbs-up and a toothy grin. For a moment, the unmistakable odor of sulfur drifted out of his mouth.
“Right…” Twilight mirrored his smile, though hers was far more twitchy. She cleared her throat and turned toward the exit. “I think we should be moving on… like, right now.”
Quickly shuffling out of the dark room with their newly transformed friend in tow, the group gathered outside and kept their eyes peeled for an exit. They paused as they noticed two things that they hadn’t before.
The first, was a small object on the ground in the middle of the room. A book. It was bound in a thick brown leather, and had a cross on its surface.
The second, was the exit that they had been searching for, though not the one they expected. Instead of the trapdoor in the ground that they were somewhat used to, there was now a hole.
A hole made of what could only be flesh.
Standing before the opening, the ponies stared into its depths. It led to a red tunnel of sorts, moving and wriggling subtly like it was alive.
“Ok… I stand corrected.” Rarity took a deep breath. “Now I have never not wanted to go into a door more.”
Pinkie tilted her head. “Is it really a door if it’s on the floor? I think it’s just a hole.”
“Please don’t say hole.” Twilight shuddered. “I’m not sure what that is or where it leads, but the short list of possibilities isn’t very promising.” Turning away to distract herself from the inevitable, she noticed the book on the floor and picked it up. Skimming through a few pages, she realized that it was a religious book of sorts. Perhaps Issac’s mom dropped it when Rainbow Dash ripped her dress?
As always, Isaac ignored the hesitance felt by his friends and stepped up to the fleshy exit. He cannon-balled into it, and it stretched to fit him with a wet plop.
“There ain’t enough showers in the world to make me feel clean again…” Applejack deadpanned.
“Do we really have to?” Rarity asked pitifully.
Twilight sighed and nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ve already planned on erasing our memories of all this,” she explained. Then, after picking up Rainbow Dash in her magic, and internalizing some jealousy of the unconscious pegasus, she held her breath and jumped.
Not wanting to be left behind, the others soon followed. Falling into a warm, wet tunnel, they weren’t sure what awaited them at its end. All they knew was that they wanted this nightmare to end.
Are You Sure You Want Me to Die?
"Mmph…"
Rainbow Dash mumbled as she balanced on the edge of sleep. Whatever she had been doing, her body was sore and exhausted.
Rolling over, she nestled her head into her pillow to get just a few more minutes of her nap. The inviting feeling made a smile cross her face. It was so soft… so warm… so squishy…
"Huh…?"
Opening her eyes at this disconnect, her blurry vision clarified to the color red. Her sleep-addled mind processed confusion, and then horror as she saw the thing she was lying on wasn't a pillow, but rather a mound of flesh.
"Bwah!" Rainbow scrambled to her hooves. They sank into the ground with a wet slorp. She looked down to more flesh and yelped again, taking to the air. Everywhere she looked was covered in glistening crimson.
"Morning, sleepyhead."
A familiar voice drew her attention. Standing nearby, Pinkie Pie and the rest of her friends were staring at her, each wearing discomfort on their faces as they stood on a floor that was barely solid.
"Girls…?" Rainbow muttered, her shrunken pupils darting around as she struggled to piece together her recent memories to figure out how they got here. "Wh… w-what happened? Where are we?"
"I'm not sure," Twilight answered. She lifted a hoof and looked down to the sopping ground with a grimace. "And for once, I don’t think I want to know."
"Don't you remember anything?" Applejack asked.
"Uh… not really," Rainbow answered. "I remember fighting that giant leg, and then crushing that card. Everything after that is kinda fuzzy. But I definitely don't remember being swallowed whole!"
"You should be thankful that you didn't get to experience that awful tunnel," Rarity said with a weary sigh. There was a dull quality behind the disturbance in her eyes, as if the part of her that even could be disgusted was slowly dying.
Rainbow sighed and ran a hoof down her face, shuddering as she wiped off some moisture from her impromptu pillow. "Can this place get any w—"
Turning her head, she spotted a black creature with sharp teeth and horns standing next to her friends.
"— AHH!" Rainbow jolted back. She pointed a shaky hoof at the thing. "WHAT IS THAT?!"
"No, no, it's okay. It's just Isaac," Fluttershy explained.
Rainbow Dash blinked, still shrinking away in the air. "Isaac?"
The small creature flashed a toothy smile and waved at her. Now that she took a moment, it did resemble the boy, if he somehow morphed into one of her worst nightmares.
"Oookaaay…" Rainbow Dash smiled back nervously. "Do I want to know?"
"Probably not," Applejack said.
“I just hope this new… whatever it is, did something useful on top of making him look scarier than Nightmare Moon could ever hope of being,” Rarity added. Isaac gave her an odd look, like he was deciding if he should be offended or not.
Taking a step, Twilight stuck her tongue out at the resulting squish. “Now that Rainbow’s awake, let’s get moving. I don’t think I even need to say that the quicker we get out of here, the better.” She headed for one of the only two doorways available to them, only making it two steps in before freezing.
A sea of yellow bile split the next room in half, and numerous red polyps and growths in the vague shape and size of the rocks on earlier floors dominated most of the ‘solid’ ground left.
However, what made Twilight stop was the sight of six tubular beings with circular mouths lined with razor sharp teeth floating aimlessly back and forth.
They lacked eyes, resembling worms or leeches if not for their teeth. Even so, one of them stopped in midair and turned toward the alicorn before screeching and zooming toward her at top speed.
“AH!” Twilight yelped. Her heart skipped a beat, and in her shock, she couldn’t get her horn to form a cohesive spell.
Then, before the creature could reach her, Isaac hurried up beside her. He closed his mouth tightly. Before long, his cheeks puffed out like he was about to vomit.
Aiming his head at the incoming monster, he opened his maw and spewed out a high-pressure stream of what looked to be boiling blood. The stream instantly enveloped the creature and crossed the room, spraying off the far wall like someone stuck a spoon under a faucet. When the stream died down, the monster was gone, completely obliterated.
Twilight and the others watched as Isaac charged up a few more of these laser attacks and systematically took out each of the flying leeches. When he was done, he burped up a puff of black smoke and turned to them.
Rarity blinked. “Okay, I’d classify that as useful… and disturbing.”
“I wonder what happens if he sneezes?” Pinkie mused.
“Remind me not to be in front of him if that happens,” Rainbow Dash added.
Emboldened by his newly acquired upgrade, Isaac marched through the room to the exit. He paused before the next area and gestured for the ponies to follow. After sharing a few looks, they all fell in line behind him, doing their best to ignore the sickening odor drifting off the pool of bile on their way past.
Spikes protruding from the fleshy floor, bottomless holes that threatened to suck them inside, even the swelteringly hot air served as an obstacle that took every bit of their willpower to overcome.
Then, there were the monsters to consider. Ever since they left the basement behind, each new floor presented stronger and more horrifying creatures to call the maze of rooms home.
This place was no different, though its denizens were proving far deadlier than they expected. Worms that burrowed into the viscera of the ground and popped out only to attack, terrible amalgamations of living flesh and organs that walked or rolled toward them at high speeds, floating creatures that could teleport and fire blood projectiles at them.
There were even headless monsters with gaping splits in their forms that spewed the same blood laser Isaac used. Even between Twilight’s magic and Isaac’s new upgrade, the ponies were in a struggle for survival.
As the group entered the mercifully empty room, they took a moment to catch their breath. Rainbow Dash collapsed onto the floor, lungs heaving. “Can I just say…” she panted, “... I hate those stupid red things in the ground!”
“Yeah. Usually whack-a-mole is more fun than that… and less dangerous.” Pinkie winced. She put a hoof to her shoulder, where a close shave with a blood bullet left a shallow track through her skin.
“Are we there yet?” Rarity groaned. “I don’t even want to know what it is we’ve had soaking into our fur, but my hooves” — she held one up for emphasis — “are getting pruney!”
Looking up, Fluttershy’s ears flattened. There it was. At the back of the room, a familiar skull door stood. “Oh, no… I don’t know if it’s a good thing or not, but I think you got your wish, Rarity.”
An odd mixture of relief and apprehension welled up inside the group. For one thing, they were almost done with this horrible floor. For another, they would have to face some terrible creature to even get to an exit.
“Seriously? Does every floor in this place need something big and scary guarding the exit? This is like the worst Ogres and Oubliettes game I’ve ever played,” Rainbow Dash huffed.
“Y’mean worse than that one you ran us through?” Applejack asked smugly. Her smirk only deepened at the glare burning into the side of her head.
“I have to give points for being creative… disturbing, but creative.” Twilight bobbed her head to the side before sighing. “Alright. Let’s go see what wants to kill us this time.”
Taking the lead once more, she crossed the room and waited for her friends to catch up. Once they were all gathered, she started to step through. Then, a tug at her hind leg made her pause.
Looking down, she found Isaac staring up at her. She jumped a little from his appearance before internalizing a sigh and craning her neck down. “What is it, Isaac?”
Isaac was an expert mime by this point. He put his hands together before opening them back up, then used his fingers to flip through the pages of an invisible book. Finally, he pointed to Twilight.
“What’s that? Somepony’s stuck in a well?” Pinkie gasped.
“I’m not sure if that’s what he meant.” Rarity rolled her eyes.
After some thought, a lightbulb went off in Twilight’s head. “Do you want that book I found on the last floor?” she asked. Her expression brightened as he gave a pleased nod. It then shifted to confusion. “Alright, but I don’t know if this is the best time for reading.”
With a flash of her horn, the brown book popped back into existence and hovered down to Isaac’s waiting hands. She could almost swear that a bit of steam came off him as he contacted the book, but he seemed to pay no mind to this as he looked down to it with a satisfied expression.
Then, the boy strolled into the skull room. Twilight was confused as ever, but decided not to leave him alone, so she and the others joined him inside.
Taking battle positions, the ponies prepared for anything as the door slammed shut behind them.
Their bodies collectively seized, their jaws fell open, and all their wide eyes converged on the most hideous thing they had ever born witness to.
A repulsive shape dangled from the ceiling by red and purple organic cords, like arteries connected to a beating heart. It seemed to be growing out of a cluster of tissue. With closed eyes, bulbous head, toothless maw, and curled tiny limbs, it resembled a giant fetus made of red shiny muscle. Two slits opened up in the fleshy floor, flanking the hanging monstrosity. Bloodshot eyes peered through and slowly cast their piercing gaze toward the ponies.
Not skipping a beat (unlike his companions’ hearts), Isaac stepped forward. He wound his arm up like a pitcher and threw the book up at the monster, where it struck the thing’s massive head and bounced off with a ‘doink’ sound.
Then, all at once, the two eyes on the floor and the whole of the creature’s form erupted into spraying blood.
"ISAAAAAAAC!"
A familiar muffled voice cried before fading away. The creature faded with it, receding into the ceiling until nothing was left behind denoting its existence.
Isaac dusted off his hands and rested them on his hips. Smiling at his easy victory, he turned to celebrate with his new friends. However, instead of bright smiles and cheers, he found dead silence and expressions contorted in soul-rending horror.
The ponies all stared up at where the creature once was, unmoved and still as statues save for their trembling eyes.
“Wh… wha…” Rainbow Dash stammered. “What… was… that…?!”
Rarity squeaked and muttered a series of broken words as tears formed in her distant eyes. “Mom… I-I promise I won’t have sweets before bed again… please wake me up from this nightmare.”
“I’m never laughing at ghosties again!” Pinkie declared, breaking down crying as her hair instantly straightened and deflated.
Twilight took a moment to bring to focus her shattered thought span. She shifted her shrunken pupils over to her friends. Fluttershy was frozen to the spot, maintaining a single drawn out whisper-scream. Applejack looked like she was mentally somewhere else, but whatever happy place she was trying to go to wasn't happy enough.
Taking a few short breaths to get herself to even remember to breathe, Twilight violently shook herself and knocked a hoof to her head.
Rarity shook herself back to reality as well. She exhaled and held a hoof to her racing heart. “Is there any way we can expedite that memory wipe you mentioned earlier?”
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash dropped to the floor and threw herself at Isaac’s feet. “Ohmigosh… thank you so much, Isaac! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She hugged his legs and cried hysterically. The boy looked down at her, initially confused, and then sympathetic. He reached down and patted her head while she got her emotions out.
“In all seriousness, thank you, Isaac,” Twilight said. She looked over to the fallen book on the ground. “I take it this isn’t the first time you’ve done this?” she asked, to which he shook his head with a frown. “Right… I thought so.”
Looking around for an exit, Twilight suddenly noticed a beam of light coming down from the ceiling. Craning her head up to the source of the light forced her to shield her eyes with her hoof, but even then she couldn’t see where it came from. There was also another trapdoor next to the light, as if there were two paths to take.
Before anyone could question this, Isaac walked up to the beam of light. He waved for them to follow and stepped into its center. As he did, he suddenly floated up, up, and out of sight.
“Looks like that’s our ticket out of here,” Applejack said. “I guess we’re goin’ up now instead of down.”
“I’m just not even going to bother trying to rationalize anything in this place anymore,” Twilight deadpanned as she spread her wings and rose up to meet the light. Once she entered its cone of effect, she was pulled up by some unseen force, where she disappeared into the ceiling.
Before following their lavender leader, Rainbow Dash looked back to see Fluttershy still standing there, staring up at nothing and quietly screaming. “Uh… Fluttershy?”
Pinkie walked up and waved a hoof in front of the pegasus’ face. No change or response. “I think she’s broken.”
“I’m impressed by her lung capacity more than anything,” Rarity added. It sounded like someone slowly letting air out of a balloon.
Applejack moved behind the stiff pony and started pushing her along. “I’ll bring her. Maybe Twilight has some smelling salts or somethin’ to… ngh… snap her out of it?” She grunted from exertion. Surprisingly, it was like moving a statue. A statue emitting a constant low squeal.
With all their friends in tow, willingly or not, they all joined Twilight and Isaac in entering the light. It whisked them up and away, filling their vision with radiant white until they had to close their eyes from the sheer intensity.
The sweltering heat and foul odor fell away, being replaced by the smell of incense and a comforting warmth. Eventually, despite the fact that they were rising up, solid ground met their hooves.
A sourceless wind buffeted their forms, coaxing them into opening their eyes again. The ponies slowly looked around at each other, and then at their surroundings.
Gone were the walls of flesh and organic floors. They were in an actual location again. Patterned blue tinted marble of immaculate design stretched beneath them, sullied only by sparse cracks and scattered candles swaying in the breeze. Red and yellow stained glass windows dotted the walls, casting prismatic shadows on the floor.
Above, the walls ended abruptly. However, they couldn’t see outside. In place of a ceiling, similar radiant light filled their view, shining down into the room with just enough intensity to play across the upper walls and stained glass without constantly blinding the ponies below.
“Woah…” Rainbow Dash muttered as she scanned her eyes around. A strange somber feeling washed over her and the others simply from standing in this place. It felt important, but they couldn’t place why, like something greater than them was supposed to dwell here.
“At least this place is pretty,” Pinkie noted.
Twilight’s jaw fell open the more she looked around. The architecture was impressive. Even if it was based in Isaac’s imagination like she suspected, for his species to even be capable of all this was something to behold. If she weren’t in a survival situation, she would be furiously writing notes for later.
Noticing only the sound of gently moving air, the group turned to look at Fluttershy. The pegasus was sitting down, breathing heavily, but otherwise lucid again. She was taking this opportunity to rest her lungs, look around with everyone else, and possibly process some lingering trauma.
“You ok now, Shy?” Applejack asked.
Fluttershy gave a reserved nod. “I… I-I think so. I… must have blacked out for a minute. What happened to that m-monster?”
“Isaac threw the book at the problem… quite literally,” Rarity explained.
“And that worked?” Fluttershy blinked.
“Apparently. Your guess is as good as mine as to why,”
“Huh…” Fluttershy tilted her head. She wasn't sure if it was from her brief mental collapse, or if everything in this place was genuinely so bizarre and nonsensical. Either way, she didn’t care. “Thank goodness you were with us, Isaac. I don’t know what would have happened if—” She trailed off as she looked around for their young friend, only to find him nowhere nearby. “Isaac?”
The ponies glanced around in search of the boy. They soon found him on the other side of the room. He was crouching over something on the floor, staring down at it forlornly. Seeing such a gloomy expression on such a demonic face was off-putting for multiple reasons.
Isaac gently pursed his lips as he stared down at the object in question; a simple, small, wooden cross. He reached down and picked it up. Turning it over in his hand, his frown deepened and he looked up into the ceiling. Finally, he gingerly put the cross back down and breathed a silent sigh.
“Is something wrong, Isaac?” Fluttershy spoke, causing him to turn around. She and the others were all looking at him somberly.
Isaac hid his eyes, though he didn’t nod or shake his head. He just stood there with one hand grabbing his wrist.
Twilight shifted her eyes down to the cross on the floor. She recognized it from the book Isaac used to defeat the red monster. She also remembered it popping up a lot in her dream in that living room, from the carpet on the floor, to the staticy broadcast on the television. It must have held some significance to whatever religion Isaac and his mother followed.
For all the pain it had caused him, she expected his fists to be clenched with anger. Instead, his shoulders were hunched and his head drooped. Was he so defeated?
Slowly, she walked forward, her hooves echoing softly against the marble floor. Isaac looked up as she approached and sat in front of him.
“Isaac… I know you can’t tell us everything that happened. But, even if I don’t know, I just want to tell you that… you deserve to be happy. You’re not evil, no matter what your mother told you. I know you still love her, but what she did to you was wrong. It’s ok for you to be you… and no matter what, we’re behind you all the way.” Twilight smiled.
“Yeah, what she said!” Rainbow Dash chimed in with an enthusiastic nod. The others all voiced their agreement.
Looking at these six denizens of a world alien to his, a smile started to form on Isaac’s face until it quickly died. The ponies’ energy dimmed as they saw him still hiding his eyes.
“Isaac?” Fluttershy prodded.
Eventually, he lifted his head and took a step forward. He didn’t meet her eyes still, but he did lean into Twilight’s foreleg and hug his arms around it. A bittersweet smile crossed her face as he squeezed her like a stuffed animal, and she brought her other foreleg around to hold him tighter.
“It’s okay,” Twilight whispered. “Just remember, we’re here because of you,” she said as he looked up to her. A cluster of magenta magic wiped some excess tears from his eyes. “Are you ready to go?”
Isaac sniffed and managed a warm expression. He nodded to her and the others, re-adopting some of the fire in his eyes.
Then, the group turned their eyes toward the doorway closest to them. While the unknown still held a sense of dread, they felt a renewed determination as they neared their goal. If Isaac’s recounting of the layout of this otherworldly maze was accurate, they only had one more floor to go after this one.
“Let’s get this wagon on the road!” Applejack said with a hearty grin. “I don’t know about y’all, but I am ready to go home!”
“Once we get out of here, it’s free cupcakes down at the Corner on me! Double for you, Isaac. Consider it a ‘congratulations for escaping’ party to hold you over until I can throw together a ‘welcome to Equestria’ party!” Pinkie stated.
“In that case, I really can’t wait to get out of here.” Rainbow Dash smirked. “I don’t care what comes our way next! I’m personally kicking the crud out of anything standing between me and those cupcakes!”
“So, that’s what gets you motivated? Not our survival, but free food?” Rarity shook her head and smiled.
“I was already motivated, but now I’m like, twenty percent more motivated,” Rainbow replied.
Applejack chuckled. “You must be a cheap date, Dash.”
As they all pressed forward, Isaac looked beside him at a soft giggle. Fluttershy was keeping close to him as they walked. She still looked nervous, but there was a certain amount of confidence in her face, like she trusted her friends to be able to get her through the horrors that waited ahead.
The boy smiled as she looked down to him and put a hoof to the back of his head. He could feel the same determination they all felt welling up inside of him. The unshakeable desire to protect one's friends no matter what.
But then, determination wasn't all that was needed to survive this deep inside the chest.
The cathedral halls, stoic and haunting in their serenity, craved the blood of the unworthy. Isaac had perished many times here, even more powerful than he was now. One mistake was all it took for even the mighty to fall. After all, pride was a sin he was intimately familiar with.
And for how mighty his new friends were, they, unlike him, were mortal. They would not reset back to the beginning if they fell here. Each drop of their blood staining the checkered marble floors was more permanent than his worst injuries.
Try as he might, he couldn’t keep them safe through every battle. His attacks were too slow, their foes too dangerous, his friends too brave. Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash suffered the most from each encounter, but even Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy were scathed by the ceaseless wrath of the beasts that dwelled here.
Explosions, the hurried clack of hooves echoing against the marble floors, and a choir of unearthly groans and rattles filled the air as yet another battle raged.
The floor was already littered with bones, blood and viscera from their fallen foes. Isaac and his friends loosely backed against each other, dealing with the few remaining threats.
“Take this, you ugly bag of bones!” Rainbow Dash yelled. She dodged out of the way of a flying bone before throwing a decorative pot, hitting a skeleton right in the head and exploding it into scattered pieces.
Off to the side, Applejack skidded to a halt as she ran into a headless green body. Sickly colored blood and gobs of explosive goo intermittently spewed from its neck.
“Woah!” Applejack cringed as one ball of green exploded nearby. She stared at the thing and started to back away, when a blood laser came in from the side, obliterating it. “Thanks for the save, sugarcube!” She turned and raised a hoof to Isaac across the room.
Isaac gave the orange mare a thumbs up before returning his attention to the others. They had wiped out the majority of their enemies, but he knew to be cautious around even one.
A magical zap preceded another abomination exploding into gore. Twilight panted softly and looked around, only to see the others doing the same. “I think that was the last one.”
“Phew.” Rarity wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. “Thank Celestia for that. I was starting to—” She trailed off with a gasp, her eyes widening as she looked at her friend. “Twilight, behind you!”
Isaac and all the others turned toward the alicorn. He jolted with alarm as he spotted an ethereal white shape fading into view behind her. It resembled a cartoony depiction of a ghost, but he knew that this spook was anything but silly.
Charging his laser as fast as he could, Isaac already knew he would be too late to act. Twilight turned, and just as she processed what she was looking at enough to light her horn—
The specter spewed a barrage of translucent projectiles. A beam of blood destroyed the creature right after, but not in time to stop the white orbs from raining down on the alicorn.
“AGH!” Twilight yelled and clutched her side. She collapsed to the floor, a swath of bloody holes in her body.
“Twilight!” everyone but Isaac shouted. All the ponies rushed to their princess, with the boy hurrying along behind them.
As they gathered around her, blood was already leaking down her side, staining her fur and the floor beneath her. At least half a dozen gruesome holes had burned into her, varying in size and depth.
“Ngh…” Twilight clenched her eyes shut and writhed for a moment.
“Oh my gosh… Twilight, are you okay?!” Fluttershy knelt down and started to reach out to her friend, when Twilight started pushing herself up on one hoof.
Nothing she had suffered in this place thus far hurt quite as bad as this did. Twilight could feel her wounds stinging, like some lingering trace of the liquid projectiles still burned. Still, she wasn't about to let this stop her.
Working her other foreleg under her, she pushed herself up further. “I… I-I’m fine. I—”
Looking up at a small shape rushing up to her, Twilight saw Isaac holding his hands out to her tentatively. Ever since he took on his demonic appearance, the constant tears in his eyes had dried. Now, however, wet streams flooded from his trembling eyes.
Seeing the sheer devastation in his face, Twilight made an effort to stop her shaking limbs. She cringed and got to her haunches before resting a hoof to his shoulder. “It’s okay, Isaac. I —” she did her best to suppress a wince “— I’m okay.”
Shifting her attention past him, Twilight noticed their objective standing there. Another skull door clashing with its surroundings.
“Let’s… ngh… l-let’s keep moving,” she suggested. Standing on all shaking fours, she started to move forward. However, she stopped as Isaac ran ahead of her and shook his head. “Huh?”
The boy pointed at them and pointed down, once again signaling them to stay put.
“Isaac, we’ve been over this. We’re not going to let you do this by yourself,” Twilight insisted.
Hearing this, Isaac’s expression hardened. He stomped a foot and pointed to the ground again before pointing to himself, and then the door.
“I don’t know, Twi. He might have a point. I think at least you should stay here,” Rainbow Dash said, casting a worried glance to the alicorn’s wounds.
Twilight looked around to a sea of frowning faces. “I appreciate the concern, everyone, but I’m not going to just stand back and watch while you fight for your lives,” she explained. Seeing Isaac gesturing to himself emphatically, she sighed. “That goes for you too, Isaac,” she said, to which his response was a silent growl before he relented.
"And what if we say no?" Applejack asked. "It's not like you could stop us from holding you down the way you are."
"I mean, she could order us. She is a princess after all," Pinkie noted.
"I'm not ordering anypony, and I'm not asking as your princess," Twilight said. "I'm not asking as your friend either. Matter of fact, I'm not asking." She stormed toward the door, or at least did her best.
The others shared hesitant glances. Eventually, they decided it would be better to go with her and keep her from getting herself killed.
Pausing before the door, Twilight gazed around at her group. Finding one missing, she looked up to see Isaac still standing where they were. He had a downcast expression, but it didn’t seem to be directed entirely at her. He was looking past them to the door, turning his body away like he was ashamed of what was within.
Before anyone could call out to him, he made his way over. He took a deep breath and steeled himself to stand with them in whatever battle was to come.
Facing the darkness within, Twilight steadied herself before lighting her horn and stepping inside. Everyone else followed, already casting their eyes around the formless shadows in search of the threat they knew was waiting.
The echoed crash of the door closing behind them signaled the dark to retreat. Light pierced in from above, and warm rays seeped through the stained glass along the walls. They all snapped their collective gaze to a shape in the middle of the room and tensed, only to pause.
They recognized the shape.
It wasn't some abhorrent monstrosity, some untamed nightmare that would haunt them for the rest of their days. It wasn't menacing by any measure. It wasn't even large.
Lying in the middle of the room on its side, clutching its knees in the fetal position, was a small bipedal figure with smooth skin, bald head, and big expressive eyes with tear tracks perpetually going down the face. It was Isaac.
“Wh… what the?” Twilight shook her head, her eyes trailing over the familiar being’s form. She looked down to their Isaac, the real one as far as they knew. Despite his demonic form, he was visibly shrinking into the shape of an apology as he eyed between them and his doppelganger.
“Did I get knocked upside the head when I wasn't looking, or is that who I think it is?” Applejack rubbed her eyes.
“But, I don’t understand,” Pinkie said. “Does Isaac have a twin or something?”
Before they could try to glean any answers from the boy, the figure on the floor opened its eyes and looked up at them, singling its gaze on Isaac.
Then, further defying their expectation, it began to speak.
“Are you really doing this again?” it asked in a child-like voice, in a cadence and tone resemblant of Isaac’s cries and noises of pain.
Isaac turned away, both from the uncanny copy of him, and from the ponies behind him.
“What’s going on?” Fluttershy asked. She looked between the demonic child, and the spitting image of her new friend before his transformation. “Are you supposed to be how Isaac views himself or something?”
The doppelganger glanced at Fluttershy and the other ponies. For a moment, its expression fell even further before returning to stoic disappointment. “I can understand why you do this over and over again, but did you really need to drag them down with you?”
Isaac began trembling slightly as he folded his arms and hung his head.
“Isaac?” Rarity knelt down beside the boy and rested a hoof on his shoulder. He avoided her gaze like a spotlight. She turned to the doppelganger and hardened her expression with a huff. “Now, you stop that! We chose to come here by ourselves! Isaac, you aren’t dragging us anywhere with you.”
“Yeah! We help our friends, no matter what!” Rainbow Dash declared.
“Friends…” the figure murmured. “Celestia, Luna, Dad…”
Its gaze wandered about the group, lost in somber contemplation. Then it stopped and settled on Isaac, looking him square in the eyes.
“Every friend you’ve ever had has left you.”
Isaac’s trembling grew worse, and he clenched his hands and his eyes. Despite the comforting presence of the ponies around him trying to reassure him, he was descending into panic and dread.
“Mom was right,” the other Isaac said as it stood up. “There is evil inside you that only God can fix, but He already left you too.”
It gestured around to the cracked windows, the empty ceiling above, and the gentle breeze blowing through this forgotten place.
“Instead of facing reality, you like to play pretend, fighting monsters in your little chest. Day in and day out.”
As his doppelganger kept talking, Isaac’s breathing grew faster and more shallow. His wild eyes were simultaneously taking in everything and nothing. The ponies’ reassuring words and comforting gestures did nothing to help.
“When are you going to realize, Isaac? You can hide from Mom, but you can’t hide from me. One day you’re going to have to look at me… really look at me, and then you’ll realize what you’ve been hiding from all this time—
“— the fact that you deserved it all.”
“Stop!” Twilight shouted. She gently took their Isaac by the hands, forcing him to face her. “Isaac, don’t listen to him… you… whatever! You didn’t deserve this! Any of it! You’re a good person!”
Isaac gradually slowed his frantic breathing as he looked at the alicorn. He tried to glance back toward the visage of himself, but she didn’t let him.
The doppelganger looked surprised. “Do you really believe that?” It gestured to Isaac, pointing out the boy’s horned visage. “Even playing pretend, he still chooses the path of evil if it benefits him. He can’t help it… I can’t help it. It’s in my nature.”
It shifted its gaze once more, this time settling on each pony and looking them dead in the eyes as it continued:
“Just think, you helped me kill my mom to get here. Why don’t you ask me if I liked it?”
Turning back to Isaac, Twilight frowned as he hid his eyes from her. “But—”
“It doesn’t matter how mom treated me,” the other Isaac interrupted. “It’s my fault she did all those things. Maybe if she had a better son, she wouldn’t have had to do all that. Maybe dad wouldn’t have—”
“That’s enough!”
Fluttershy spoke up, causing everyone to look back in surprise. Even Isaac and his doppelganger turned as she marched to the front of the group. She sat down and rested a hoof on his other shoulder, offering him a soft glance before she steeled her expression at the fake reflection.
“You’re just a kid, Isaac. It’s not your mom’s place to abuse you and fill your head with nonsense like everything you do is evil just to justify it,” Fluttershy said. She put her full attention on Isaac, the real Isaac. “It’s hard to think as a kid, but your parents have flaws too, and some people just aren’t fit to be a parent, even if they already are. You had every right to hate your mother for what she did to you, and she’s the one that doesn’t deserve you and your love. Stop doing this to yourself, because it isn’t true! No matter how many times you tell it to yourself, it’s not true!”
Isaac looked to Fluttershy, stunned at her forwardness. In his short time knowing her, she was usually timid and soft-spoken, but now she was confident. It made him take a moment to consider her words.
However, a moment was more than he had.
A choir of voices sang out a heavenly tone as light flashed from the doppelganger’s form. Angelic wings sprouted from its back, and it hovered a foot off the ground. Fluttershy and the others looked up at the visage of their friend, disturbed by the grim look in its eyes.
“You shouldn’t have come back,” the doppelganger said. “It always hurts to remind myself why I belong here. But it hurts more that I have to fight you.”
Twilight cautiously stood her ground as the others backed up a step. “Why are you doing this? Just let us pass! We’re trying to help you!” She glanced between the copy and the real Isaac. Judging by his frown, he didn’t have any control over his other self.
The doppelganger shook its head slowly. “You can’t help me. Celestia and Luna tried and failed. They were strong enough to survive on the next floor—you are not. If I let you pass, the things there will rip you apart. At least this way will be less painful… I’m sorry.”
Then, without warning, three volleys of tears shot out of the doppelganger’s form. They headed straight for the shocked group. Twilight immediately put a barrier up. The tears slammed into it, and she could tell just by how they felt that they were deadlier than the real Isaac’s tears.
At this display of aggression, Rainbow Dash flew out around the side. She leveled toward the other Isaac and zoomed in for a punch.
“Rainbow, wait!” Twilight called.
“Don’t worry, I got th—”
Before Rainbow Dash could even finish her sentence, another whoosh signaled a radial burst of tears. The watery projectiles practically filled the room as they curved.
Twilight and the others managed to duck or shield themselves from the barrage, but three or four of them struck Rainbow across her back. Unlike when she first met Isaac and he used his tears on her, they burned into her skin and left bloody paths.
“Ngh!” Rainbow cringed and jerked out of the path of projectiles curving back toward the doppelganger, forcing her to retreat for a moment. She put a hoof around her back and pulled it up to her face, eyes flashing with dread at the sight of crimson staining it. “Okay… so that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?”
With the battle commenced, the others all sprang into action to help their cyan friend. Isaac broke off from the group and charged a blood beam. He strafed to the side as another volley of tears came before letting loose his own laser.
The doppelganger moved to dodge, but couldn’t avoid getting clipped in the side by the boiling blood. A cry of pain betrayed his otherworldly appearance. However, he soon displayed his power in a new way, teleporting to the back right corner of the room.
Twilight teleported herself to the left corner across from him. Hesitating for a moment, she cringed before forcing herself to shoot some bolts of magic at the mirror image of her new friend. One of them missed, but two hit the doppelganger in either shoulder, blowing him back with a pained yelp.
In response to this, the doppelganger teleported again, only this time he vanished from sight completely. Then, a ray of heavenly light burned down into the floor at the corner, starting a cascading wave of dozens of beams coming down and crossing the entire room.
Widening her eyes, Twilight teleported back over to Fluttershy and Rarity. She gestured wildly for the others to get closer to her, but she was forced to put up a barrier as the wave of lights reached them. Smoke drifted off the magenta forcefield, and Twilight winced under the strain.
“Girls!” Rarity gasped, and Fluttershy averted her eyes as their friends watched the approaching wave.
Rainbow Dash and Isaac managed to weave between the beams with no harm. Pinkie watched the trajectory of the beams for a moment before hugging a corner where they wouldn’t hit.
However, with certain doom rapidly approaching, Applejack didn’t have time to reach safety. She tried to dive out of the way, but two of the beams clipped her on her side and hind leg, scorching her instantly. A cry of agony tore from her lungs as she clutched her new burns.
The doppelganger teleported back into the center of the room. While he cast a sympathetic glance to the orange mare on the floor, he was otherwise uncaring as another barrage of tears exploded outward from him.
“AJ!” Rainbow Dash flew forward and tackled Applejack out of the way. They just barely got clear, but one of the tears nicked her shoulder on the way past.
Another cry of pain drew the group’s attention to Pinkie, who was now ducking to the floor and clutching a bleeding foreleg. Outside Twilight’s barrier was a death trap full of flying projectiles and beams of light intermittently coming down from the ceiling, and any mistake or failed dodge could cost them their lives.
“Everypony stick together! I can’t make multiple shields at the same time!” Twilight cried. She and the two mares behind her started rushing over toward Pinkie, when the doppelganger shifted its focus again.
Lifting their heads from the floor, Applejack and Rainbow Dash noticed the winged version of Isaac looming over them. Two rows of tears fired at them, causing them to flinch and try to shield each other, when a more literal shield appeared in front of them.
Looking over, they found Twilight with her teeth grit and her horn lit. However, their relief was short lived, as a faint beam of light appeared above her, signaling that one of the heavenly rays was about to come down.
“Twilight, move!” Rarity shouted.
The alicorn had all of two seconds to react to her friend’s warning and notice the beam. By the time she widened her eyes and started to leap away, her side erupted into burning pain as the beam intensified to its full strength.
“AGH!” Twilight yelped and clutched her sizzling fur as she went to the ground.
Fluttershy and Rarity called out to the alicorn and tried to rush up to her, when another radial burst of curving tears forced them to dodge.
Off to the side, the real Isaac watched as his friends struggled to stay alive. He did his best to fire his laser at his other self, but even when he hit, it did nothing to stop the storm of projectiles.
The ponies were unprepared for this kind of fight. Between them, only Twilight could defend herself or her friends, and the doppelganger’s attacks were too fast for them to dodge every time.
Suddenly, his doppelganger met his shocked gaze amid the cries of fear and pain filling the room.
“They’re dying…” it said.
Isaac trailed his trembling eyes between each of his friends. Most of them were hurt, or trying to help each other to no avail. They weren’t even trying to fight back anymore. They couldn’t.
“There’s only one way to save them now.”
Trailing his eyes down, Isaac thought about his other self’s words. He looked over to Fluttershy, who was cowering to the floor and holding her hooves over her head as she tried to block out the sounds of her friends’ screams. She peered back at him, a hint of confusion behind the terror as she glanced between him and the doppelganger.
“Isaac?” she quaked.
Finally, Isaac relaxed his clenching fists and made his decision.
Amidst her agony, Twilight opened one eye and lifted her head to check on the state of the battle. She half expected to have to force herself to dodge another strike, or to desperately push herself to shield one of the others from an attack. She didn’t expect to see Isaac willingly step into a forming beam of light.
“Isaac…? Wait… what are you—?!”
Before the alicorn or anyone else could intervene, Isaac gave his friends one last sad look before closing his eyes and accepting the end. The beam of light came down, enveloping his entire body in burning fury. A single cry of pain was all they could hear of him as his form vanished in the blinding light.
“ISAAC!” Twilight and the others all yelled in unison.
When the light faded, nothing was left of the boy but a smoking scorch mark on the floor.
Fluttershy stared at the empty spot where her friend just was in shock. Tears formed in her eyes and fell down her cheeks. Even if she knew he wasn't gone forever, part of her felt like he was. “No!”
A few moments later, the room began to shake like it did the last time Isaac died. Gradually, the ponies all got to their hooves and steadied each other as best they could. No more projectiles or beams of light came, and as they looked to the doppelganger, they saw a bittersweet smile cross his lips.
“You said you were here to help me, right?” the doppelganger asked. “I’m glad that you meant that, and I’m glad to have met you. But if you really want to help me… please stay away.”
“Kid, wait! It doesn’t have to be like this!” Rainbow Dash shouted.
Twilight reached out to the very thing that had previously attacked her and her friends. Even if it was some twisted piece of him, it was still part of the boy. “Isaac!”
She barely got the word out of her mouth before everything went dark. Once more, the ground beneath them gave way, and all six ponies screamed as they fell into nothingness.
They looked up just in time to watch the chest slam shut. The resounding noise had a sense of finality to it that left a stunned silence to fall over the room.
“Girls!”
That silence was quickly broken as a familiar voice and the hurried scampering of clawed feet approached.
Twilight looked over to see her alarmed assistant running up and hugging her. “Spike?” She reflexively rested a foreleg around his back.
“I was so worried about you!” Spike exclaimed. He frowned as he stepped back and saw how injured everyone was. “What happened in there?”
“We ‘bout got our tails handed to us, that’s what,” Applejack said. She cringed as Rainbow Dash helped her stand, though she was helping the cyan mare stay upright just as much.
“How long were we gone, anyway?” Pinkie asked.
“Long enough.”
Another voice came from the doorway. As slippered hooves clicked against the crystal floors, the group looked up to see two familiar alicorns walking into the study.
“Celestia… Luna?” Twilight muttered.
The royal sisters looked at the six battered and bloodied ponies before them, and then at the chest.
Before they could speak, Twilight pushed herself to her hooves, cringing as she did. She looked to her former mentor and frowned. “Princess, I’m so sorry that I went against your word. I’ll take full responsibility for—”
Celestia lifted a hoof. “Enough, Twilight,” she spoke, far gentler than Twilight was expecting. Instead of an angry scowl or disappointed frown, her expression was soft and relieved as she closed the gap between herself and her fellow princess. She pulled Twilight in for a hug, taking care not to touch any of her injuries. “I’m merely happy to see all of you still alive.”
“But… but—” Twilight stammered, at a loss for words as the alicorn pulled back and looked at her.
“It’s okay,” Celestia said. She glanced at the others and shared a knowing look with Luna, who nodded in solidarity, before facing Twilight and taking her by the hoof. “Come, let’s get you all cleaned up. We can talk after.”
A few minutes went by as Twilight and her friends rested and tended to their wounds as best they could. Even with Celestia and Luna working together, healing magic was slow going and limited in what it could do. By the end, they could all stand and move unhindered, but many of their deeper injuries hadn’t fully healed, causing some lingering pains.
There they sat, blankets draped over their freshly bandaged forms and cups of tea at hoof as they listened to Celestia and Luna recount what they knew about Isaac and his chest.
“It’s been so long since we last saw that dusty old trunk…” Celestia said somberly as she stared at the chest.
“A millennium and a half, by my count,” Luna added. “Even so, it never feels long enough.” She shook her head slowly.
“We found it in a cave at the very edge of our borders at the time, after some reports of missing ponies came to our attention,” Celestia explained. “Naturally, we were curious as to the nature of this strange artifact, and much like you, we ventured inside.”
“A poor decision, in hindsight. Of course, we were young and adventurous back then.” Luna pushed a short-lived smile. “If only we knew then how much grief it would cause us.”
Twilight stared pensively into the steam rising off her untouched cup of tea. Finally, she looked up. “How did Isaac get stuck in there? If he’s the one that made that pocket dimension, surely he would have some way of escaping?”
Celestia glanced at her sister before both of them frowned. “As you surmised, Twilight, Isaac did create that place and everything in it, though I’m afraid he had little direct say in the matter.”
Luna continued, “From what we learned during our many expeditions trying to help him, Isaac was born into a… troubled family. His father was a drunk and a gambler, and his mother a religious zealot. One day, his father left, and his mother took much of her anger out on him. Through her abuse and neglect, Isaac would lock himself inside his toy chest to hide from her in the one place she couldn’t ruin. His imagination. Eventually, he stayed in there longer and longer, until one day he… never got out.” She let her head droop.
“Oh my gosh…” Spike frowned.
“The poor thing,” Rarity muttered.
Fluttershy held a hoof to her trembling lips. “So, Isaac really is… dead?”
Celestia nodded slowly. “You said that you felt something at the bottom when you reached into the chest, Twilight. I don’t think I need to tell you what it was, as I’m sure you already know.”
“But, what does that have to do with that creepy maze in there?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Yeah. What happened to Isaac was awful, but people die every day… young and old.” Applejack glanced down at this. “But this is the first time I’ve heard of someone making a pocket… whatever, when they die.”
“I can’t say for certain,” Celestia said. “It happened so long ago that the world back then may have operated differently. Other forms of magic we’ve never imagined could have existed. But, if I had to wager an explanation… I think it had to do with Isaac’s circumstances and who he was.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.
Celestia turned to gaze at the chest at length. “Emotions are a powerful thing. They have been known to affect magical energies of all varieties. Isaac’s mother drilled into him a fear of himself and the world that profoundly changed him. She convinced him that all he knew was evil, and that he himself had a darkness within him that was to be driven out, lest he face divine retribution.
“He spent many hours locked in a confined space, pouring out every emotion inside of him and imagining a world of his own to escape the horrors of his real life. In his final moments, his intense imagination and the pain he felt may have anchored his soul to the chest, and made his world of make-believe into reality.”
A hollow silence fell over the group as they processed everything they just heard. They couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for Isaac to go through all that, let alone how much he must have suffered in his own personal purgatory that he unwittingly created.
Fluttershy slowly looked up to the alicorns. Her gaze was soft and tremulous, but there was a hint of disbelief in her eyes. “Princess, can I ask you something?”
“Of course, Fluttershy,” Celestia responded, though her trademark smile was missing, as if she already expected what the pegasus was going to say.
After a moment of considering her words and gathering the courage to speak them, Fluttershy’s expression fell. “Why did you lock the chest away? Wasn't… w-wasn't there something you could have done to help Isaac?”
Although they expected such a question, hearing it made both sisters’ deflate. Celestia trailed her eyes away for a moment before sighing. “We tried for a year to help Isaac somehow.”
“Many dozens of times we would go into the chest, and each time ended similarly,” Luna added. “We would progress with Isaac through the various floors, branch off through a select number of different paths, and then defeat a great enemy on the last floor before being ejected. Of course, there were times where Isaac perished before we reached a conclusive end, but no matter what we tried, we couldn’t find a way to bring him with us or release his soul.”
“So, what? You gave up?” Rainbow Dash asked, a bit surprised.
“It was not a matter we took lightly, you understand,” Luna stated. “Both of us very nearly lost our lives on many occasions throughout our time in the chest. The creatures within are as numerous and varied as they are deadly. We would have kept trying despite this, but the danger wasn't confined to the inside of the chest.”
Celestia continued, “Like what happened to you all earlier, we found that the things within the chest would… find a way out if it was left alone. Small things at first, easily taken care of by a few guards left on duty while we went about our expeditions. But when things from the later floors started showing up, we knew that we had to make a tough decision.” She closed her eyes and flattened her ears as she looked to the chest.
“We didn’t want to seal away the chest,” Luna explained, “but with no way to help Isaac escape, we had to take action before one of the larger beasts found a way out and wreaked havoc on the world. We met with Isaac one last time and explained it to him… and he actually agreed with us.” She took a moment to clear her throat and brush her eyes with a hoof.
“He had been stuck there with no hope of escape long before we found him… I suppose he was content with keeping us safe, even if it meant never seeing us again,” Celestia said.
Fluttershy and the others felt their hearts shatter at this revelation. Isaac knew all along that they couldn’t help him escape, yet he kept going with them anyway. Was it simply because he wanted to be with a friend after so long spent alone? The mere thought made enough tears well up in their eyes to put his constant crying to shame.
“Isaac…” Fluttershy whimpered as she looked back at the chest.
Twilight’s jaw stammered, her eyes distant with thought. “I… I-I… I can find a way to help him, I know I can! If I just—” She started to get up, only for a yellow cluster of magic to gently push her back down.
“Twilight, I’m sorry, but I’m afraid there is nothing you can do for him,” Celestia said. “Anything you can think of, and many more ideas, Luna and I already tried long ago. I’m afraid that that chest will be here long after we are gone… and Isaac will still be trapped inside.”
The six mares were still churning with emotion. Even Spike was hanging his head. Many of them looked like they were in denial, while others were sniffling or silently crying.
Seeing the room in such a sorry state, Celestia stood up and walked over to her student. “It’s been a long day for all of you. You’re hurt, tired, and hungry I’m sure. Let’s go have dinner prepared. Luna and I can deal with the chest after we’re done. None of you have to worry about it any longer.” She put a hoof around Twilight’s form and began leading her toward the door.
Twilight reluctantly agreed. She nestled her head against her mentor’s shoulder, like a filly being comforted by a parent, while her eyes drifted to the floor. One by one, her friends all followed after them, similarly hanging their heads and sporting gloomy faces.
Fluttershy lingered by the door for a moment. She glanced back to the chest, her lips wrinkling as she thought about the soul trapped within. Isaac had been through so much. He didn’t deserve this. Nobody did.
Her friends kept walking down the corridor. They were too occupied in their own troubled thoughts to even look back and check on her.
A thought popped into her head, one that she couldn’t ignore…
…a terrible thought that made her stay.
Somepony was missing.
“Where is Fluttershy?” she asked, causing the group to halt.
Looking behind them, they confirmed what Luna had noticed. The yellow pegasus was nowhere to be seen.
“I thought she was with us?” Spike reasoned.
Suddenly, Twilight’s face paled as something occurred to her. “Wait… you don’t think—?” She shared a look of mounting horror with Celestia before the both of them bolted off.
“Oh no…” Luna muttered before rushing off to join them.
Rainbow Dash felt her heart drop as she realized what the others had. “Dangit, Flutters!” She zoomed down the corridor after the alicorns.
“Where’s the fire?” Pinkie asked. “This is Fluttershy we’re talking about. She wouldn’t do anything dangerous… right?”
“I hope you’re right, Pinkie, but I’m afraid of what it means if you’re wrong,” Rarity stated, her voice brimming with dread as both she and Applejack took off. Eventually, Pinkie joined them.
Everyone rushed back to the study as fast as they could. Their hearts pounded nearly as fast as their hooves.
Twilight and Celestia made it first. They burst through the study doors and looked around. There was no sign of their missing friend. However, as everyone joined them and stared ahead as well, the pit of dread in their guts swallowed them whole.
The lid to the chest was ever so slightly ajar, until it drifted shut with a chilling squeak.
“Ooof!”
The regal princess of the sun made a decidedly un-regal noise as she was acquainted with the floor as quickly as gravity could accommodate. Six more shapes fell around her, kicking up dust and creating a pile of groaning ponies.
Luna tensed her jaw and squinted an eye open. She pushed her way up and brushed her dirtied coat off. “Just as unpleasant as I remembered it.”
“You’d think we’d be used to it by now…” Twilight muttered, shaking off stars as she picked herself up.
Celestia stood and offered some magical assistance to Rarity and Pinkie Pie. “If one can get used to slamming headlong into the ground, we never did.” She took a look around their surroundings, casting her eyes over a place she thought relegated to distant memory. However, something was wrong.
Off to the side, Rainbow Dash huffed anxiously as she hovered away from the unforgiving ground. “I can’t believe Fluttershy would do something like this! I’m going to have nightmares about this place, so how could she come back here all… by… her… huh?”
The pegasus trailed off as she actually took a moment to look at where they were. Instead of the earthen floors and wooden rafters they were expecting, they instead found dark stone below and unending shadow above.
“This isn’t right,” Twilight noted. “Shouldn’t we be in the basement?”
“Yes. Or some variation of it,” Celestia replied cryptically. Before anyone could question her last statement, she hummed curiously and rested a hoof to her cheek. “Perhaps Isaac has already progressed to the depths since you all left him?”
“The depths?” Rarity asked.
Celestia nodded and gestured around. “It’s what we took to calling this place. The caves before it were simple enough to name, but I must admit it took us some time to identify that the floor after is a w—”
“Sister,” Luna interrupted. The others turned to see her standing at the back wall, looking up at a large door.
It was a few inches taller than even her impressive stature. Dark stone comprised its face, but not like the stone all around them. It was marble, like something one might see at a tomb or monument in a graveyard. The pillars to either side and the triangular top helped this comparison.
And stuck on the very front, was a square frame with an indention in it, as if something was meant to be placed there.
“What’s that?” Applejack asked.
“That wasn't here last time.” Twilight furrowed her brow as she stepped closer to examine the strange door.
“It wasn't here during any of our expeditions either,” Celestia noted. “It’s… new.”
Luna turned to her sister. “Is that even possible? There are random elements to each of the floors, to be certain, but I thought we saw every possible variation all those years ago?”
“This place was born from Isaac’s mind. If something has changed about his mentality, perhaps that change could be reflected here?” Celestia mused.
“Should we open it?” Pinkie asked, patient as ever.
Rarity gave her friend a weary look. “I feel as though we’ve opened enough strange things today, don’t you?”
A magenta aura enveloped the marble face of the door and began to shift about. After a few moments spent pressing and pulling every which way she could, Twilight shook her head. “In any case, I don’t think we have a choice here. I can’t see a way to open it.”
“Aww…” Pinkie deflated slightly. “I never get to have any—”
*Krak*
“—AHH!” Feeling the floor giving way under her hoof, Pinkie squealed and stumbled back.
The group looked to their pink friend, and then to the floor ahead of her. A hole had opened up, and inside was a swirling purple and black void.
Before anyone could question this, the very room around them began to rumble and shake. More cracking sounds came, and debris fell from the walls. One or two cracks widened and opened up, letting the cold stone of the dungeon around them fall away to reveal more holes with that same spiraling abyss.
“W-What’s happening?!” Rarity asked, getting low and broadening her stance to steady herself.
Then, the shaking stopped, though the holes and cracks remained.
Applejack peered down through the hole Pinkie nearly fell through. The dizzying pattern below didn’t seem to have any depth to it. It was simultaneously close and infinitely far away. “Uh… is that normal?”
“No… no it most certainly is not,” Celestia said before lighting her horn. She scanned the magical energies of the pocket dimension, or at least did to the best of her ability. Even now she was no expert on this nebulous place. Suddenly, her face paled. “Oh no.”
“What is it, sister?” Luna asked.
Celestia turned to them with newfound urgency, but before she could speak, another bout of shaking opened up more cracks in the floor and walls. “Something is very wrong. The pocket dimension is growing unstable. If it keeps worsening at this rate, it could collapse entirely.”
“Umm… w-what would happen to us if we were, say, still inside when it did that?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Remember when I said ignorance is bliss?” Twilight said before turning to her former mentor, eyes brimming with dread. “Princess, what do we do?”
Celestia looked to the ponies gathered around her. They were all terrified, and she didn’t blame them. Even her former student was defaulting to her like she was the authority in the room.
Racing to come up with a solution, she turned toward one of the open doorways and stepped forward with authority. “We need to find Isaac. Right now. If something is happening here, it likely involves him. Whatever the case, I fear he may be our only avenue of escape.”
“Would we even have time to reach one of the final floors from here?” Twilight asked.
Celestia shook her head gravely. “You misunderstand. Perish the thought, but… if this keeps up, we may have no choice but to kill Isaac in order to eject ourselves from the chest.”
A series of gasps rang out at the grim suggestion.
“But, we can’t do that to Isaac!” Pinkie said.
“Isaac?” Rarity retorted. "Pardon my bluntness, but it's my understanding the dear is already dead. What about poor Fluttershy?"
“Fluttershy will be ejected as well, no matter where she is,” Luna assured her. “Now come! We mustn’t waste time!” She gestured wildly before taking off with her sister.
Twilight and the others barely had time to share a look with each other before another quake rocked the room. They were out of time and out of options. If they didn’t do something fast, Fluttershy wouldn’t be the only one in need of saving. Without further delay, they rushed off after the alicorns in search of the boy at the center of this chest of horrors.
Meanwhile, further into the depths…
The only sound that could be heard was his own frantic breathing. Isaac paid no heed to the occasional rumbling, or the steady destruction of his surroundings. Lying on the floor, clutching his knees to his chest, he was lost within his own mind.
He had tried to ignore what his doppelganger said. Another run would clear his thoughts, he was sure. But the further he got, the more his other self’s words and the words of his friends began to eat away at him.
The only other people he had met in countless years, people who genuinely cared about him, and his inner darkness almost got them killed. It made ignoring his mother’s booming voice impossible this time. After all, she was right, as she always had been.
Each gasping breath gave him less and less air. He could feel the unseen walls of the chest around him again. It was a feeling he buried deep inside, and never wished to experience again.
Maybe his other self was right? Maybe it was time to stop hiding from what he truly was. An unrepentant sinner like him deserved no love or forgiveness.
The floor shook and crumbled around him as the void took hold. Even if he noticed, he didn’t care. Nothing of value would be lost when this place was gone. Nobody was here but him and his suffocating loneliness, as was meant to be all along.
He clenched his lids tighter as his lungs fought in vain for air, drowning without water. It would be better if he just disappeared into unfeeling blackness. Far away from his mother, far away from himself, and far away from anyone he cared about enough to not want hurt.
“Isaac?!” she yelled. No matter where she looked, he was nowhere to be found.
A violent crack underneath her made her yip. She spread her wings and hovered up just to be safe. More and more of the floor was falling away into swirling nothingness. Danger was something she expected and was prepared to face, but this wasn't part of the plan.
Tensing her jaw, she hurried into the next room. Movement ahead caught her eye, but any hope that it was Isaac soon faded.
More of the skinless bipedal figures growled and cast their singular, unblinking eyes on the pegasus as she entered. They immediately started shuffling toward her, closing in and blocking her way forward.
Fluttershy felt the urge to freeze in place, but she resisted. She ran forward, ducking and weaving around three of the creatures on her way past.
The doorway ahead drew closer. Then, a nearby groan pricked her ear. She turned to see one of the red monsters reaching out to grab her, and her heart leaped into her throat.
Another crackling sound came from below. Before the beast could reach her, it suddenly fell through the floor. She was forced to take flight once more as the entire room filled with massive fissures, claiming many more of the mindless creatures as victims.
“Ohh… this is bad!” She cringed before pressing on. At this rate, she feared that the whole area would fall away into nothingness before she could even find the boy.
Flapping her wings hard, Fluttershy zoomed through another few rooms while doing her best to avoid the horrors within each. Without a way to defend herself, she was dead meat if she got caught.
Darting her eyes side-to-side in her frantic search, she took in as much information as she could as quickly as possible. If it wasn't her friend or another room to search, she couldn’t afford to care about it. Time was running out.
Then, a high-pitched screech snapped her attention ahead to reveal a circular maw of teeth flying straight for her.
“AH!” She pulled to the side hard, but not fast enough. A burning pain raked across her side as a flying leech clipped her on the way past, sending a trickle of blood leaking out.
She cried out and clutched her side with a hoof. Squinting an eye open through the pain, she grit her teeth and kept going.
More leeches screeched from her sides and came zooming toward her, but she managed to evade each one. Another open doorway loomed ahead of her, and she raced toward it. One last screech behind her made her pick up her pace, and just as she tore into the next room, a flying shape thuded into the wall next to the door, latching onto cold stone instead of pony flesh.
Fluttershy stumbled into a landing and panted heavily. She looked back to see if anything was following her. Thankfully, the room around her was empty.
Ignoring another sting from her side, she shifted her gaze ahead. Then, she paused, her eyes widening. There it was, across a chasm of nothingness. The crumbling remains of the skull door. And within, a familiar shape was cowering in the middle of the room.
“Isaac!” Fluttershy’s face lit up. However, her expression quickly fell as her voice provoked no reaction from the boy.
Isaac was lying there amidst the destruction, shaking and crying as he hyperventilated. He was either asleep, or so deeply occupied by his thoughts that he didn’t notice the yellow mare, or the world crumbling around him.
Fluttershy rushed up to the doorway. “Isaac, wake up! Please!”
Feeling a crack beneath her, she squeaked fearfully and spread her wings. She took to the air just in time for the patch of floor she was standing on to fall away.
“Oh no…” she muttered as the void below beckoned her, waiting for her to give up this pointless struggle. Soon, everything around her would be gone. Denying the dreadful chill working its way over her, she looked back up to the boy.
Maneuvering over the abyss and into the room, she made her way over to Isaac and landed. Just seeing him struggling to breathe made her heart ache.
With reality collapsing around them by the minute, Fluttershy did the one thing she could think of doing. She wasn't even sure if it would work, but somehow, part of her knew that this could have been a one way trip. Sidling down next to the boy, she covered him with her body and hugged him close, causing his eyes to snap open.
“Isaac… I’m not leaving you, no matter what!” Fluttershy said.
Despite her tender embrace, Isaac frowned. He jerked away from her and curled in tighter on himself. Confused, Fluttershy reached for him again, only to have her hoof swatted away.
Fresh streams of tears like salty rivulets flowed down his face as he turned and glowered at the pony. Even so, he couldn’t keep his lips from trembling as he looked at her.
Fluttershy shrank back, her ears wilting as the boy faced away from her once more. “Isaac?”
A piece of the wall behind her clattered to the ground, stealing her attention. The room around them was crumbling, falling into oblivion, but she refused to let go of him.
“You don’t have to be alone like this!” she pleaded. “I know you think you deserve to be here, but you don’t! Your mother and that other version of you, they’re wrong. You are a good person!”
Isaac’s form shook with a mixture of anger and despair. He stood and jabbed a finger toward the door. When she kept staring at him and didn’t move, he blinked a few tears at the ground in front of her. The impact sent flecks of stone all over her hooves.
Fluttershy frowned, but not from the aggression he showed. He was trembling, and his chest was heaving. If he could speak, he would be sobbing and whimpering between each tremulous breath. Fluttershy, who had weathered her own storms of turmoil, could sense the depth of his misery, as if his emotions were her very own.
“No. I’m not leaving,” she stated, soft but firm. “Even if I could leave, I wouldn’t. I came here to save you… from this place, and from yourself.”
Isaac’s breathing quickened even more, and he clasped his hands over the sides of his head as he looked around. Now, not only was his world literally falling apart around him, but he was going to get one of his only friends killed. He felt like he was suffocating—only this time, it was so much more painful.
Desperately darting his trembling eyes around, Isaac paused at one of the many holes opened into the floor. He stared at the void below, and in that moment, in that abyss of nothingness, he saw an answer to his problem.
Fluttershy slowly stood. Her eyes grew wary as she watched the boy glance at her before turning. He started to walk away from her, and as she realized where he was walking to, she gasped. “Isaac, wait!”
Isaac paused at the edge of the massive hole before him. He looked over his shoulder, and the barest hint of a smile broke through his sorrowful expression as he took in her appearance one last time.
Then, he stepped forward onto thin air.
“No!”
In an instant of speed that would have made Rainbow Dash proud, Fluttershy beat her wings faster than she ever had and zipped forward. She clutched Isaac to her chest, hovering on the very tip of her hind hoof at the edge of oblivion. Teetering back, she fell to her haunches and just hugged him.
“Please don’t leave me…” Fluttershy started to weep. “I know there’s a way to help you! There has to be! Please… if you don’t trust yourself, just trust me!”
The floor cracked around them, with more and more pieces falling away. She squeezed him tighter and nuzzled the top of his head, both to comfort him and to prevent herself from watching her own demise.
Isaac stared up at the pegasus in disbelief. Despite everything, she not only chose to enter the chest again, but now she was dooming herself by preventing him from saving her the only way he could.
Why was she here? Couldn’t she see that he destroyed everything he touched? That the world was better off without him? She had seen all the horrors of his imagination laid bare, terrible beasts that would rip her and everything she loved to shreds if they were ever freed, and yet she still chose to come back for him.
Was this what it meant to be truly loved?
Clenching his palms, Isaac fought against his spiral of despair. He closed his eyes and gradually slowed his breathing, focusing only on the warmth of the pony nestling him into her fur. He couldn’t let her die.
Fluttershy slowly peaked an eye open as the rumbling around her faded in unison with the boy’s tremors and shallow breathing. Much to her surprise, pieces of the floor and walls started rising back out of the void and reattaching themselves, until eventually everything was normal again.
Getting to his feet, Isaac turned and looked up at her. A heartfelt smile framed his face, and his eyes sparkled with tears of joy. Before she knew it, he leaped up into her chest and hugged her. She caught him with a foreleg, still processing everything that had just happened. Eventually, she rested her chin on his head and squeezed him back.
“Thank you.” She smiled.
Once they separated, Isaac’s mouth fell agape as he pulled back and noticed the shallow wound running down his friend’s side. He frowned and put a hand beside it, framing it and seeing how painful it must have been.
Fluttershy frowned as well at his dismay. She used a hoof to pull his hand away and just held it. “Don’t worry about that. I got hurt because I wasn't careful enough, not because of you. I came here because I want to rescue you… Now, how do I actually do that?” Her ears drooped as she took another look around the room.
Much to her disappointment, nothing had changed from last time. The opening to the next floor was still there, as were the two floating photographs. She wasn't sure what change she was hoping for, but it clearly hadn’t happened.
“Oh, I wish I knew more about magic,” Fluttershy fretted. “Isaac, the others say that this place was made by your imagination. Do you think maybe if you try to imagine yourself free that it would work?”
Although he seemed doubtful, Isaac closed his eyes and concentrated, tensing his body. When nothing happened, he gave her a lopsided frown and shrugged.
Fluttershy’s ears wilted, but she remained undeterred. “It’s ok. I’m sure this is more complicated than I’m making it out to be. If you have to let go of your past and move on, I know it will take time… but don’t worry, I’m going to be here for you every step of the way.” She rested a hoof on his shoulder, causing a small smile.
Just then, hurried hooves approached from outside. The pair turned to see none other than their friends, headed by two familiar alicorns.
"Fluttershy!" Pinkie cheered.
"Girls?" Fluttershy inched back in surprise. Before she could say anything else, a cyan blur set upon her and wrapped her up in a hug.
After she was done hugging her friend, Rainbow Dash pulled back and frowned at the bleeding cut. "What were you thinking coming in here alone?! You could have gotten yourself killed!"
"I'm sorry…" Fluttershy looked between her friends regretfully. "I just couldn't leave Isaac on his own. I didn’t mean to worry you… or to make you come in after me.”
“The best intentions can lead to cruel consequences,” Celestia said. “I am merely glad to see you alive and relatively unharmed,”
Looking over, both Celestia and Luna found Isaac staring back at them. He slowly approached, mouth agape.
Merely seeing the boy was enough to cause a somber hush to fall over the royal sisters. Luna found it difficult to keep eye contact with him as he walked up to her. “Isaac… we are most sorry for leaving you all those years ago. Just because it was the logical solution, doesn’t mean it was the ethical one.” She lowered her head.
However, much to her surprise, Luna felt something small and warm hug her forelegs. She opened her eyes and saw the boy squeezing her like a teddy bear, a bright smile on his face. “I-Isaac?”
Even Celestia’s patrician composure faltered as the boy stepped back and gave both of them a teary, joyful thumbs up. She wiped the corner of her eye before lowering down and giving him a brief hug of her own. “Truly, we don’t deserve your forgiveness. Even so… I’m so glad to see you again.”
“Princess, there has to be something we can do to help him,” Fluttershy pleaded. She shared a sad look with Isaac and brought a hoof to his shoulder. “I… I-I can’t just accept that we have to leave him in here!”
Seeing the desperation in the pegasus’ eyes made Celestia sigh. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy, but there is simply nothing we can do. We exhausted every path this dreadful place has to offer, and none of our magical attempts to free Isaac have worked. I wish it weren’t so, but it seems Isaac is well and truly trapped here.” She frowned as she looked at him.
Meanwhile, Twilight paused as she noticed something. She walked away from the group, slowly moving up to the two pedestals with the photographs on them. Something about their size and shape was familiar, and as she stroked her chin in thought, it suddenly clicked.
“Celestia, Luna,” Twilight called, catching everyone’s attention.
“What is it, Twilight?” Luna asked as she and her sister made their way over to their fellow alicorn.
Twilight scrutinized the polaroid for a few more moments before turning. “Is it just me, or does this photo look like it would fit into that door we found earlier?”
Celestia paused and examined it as well. "Yes, actually. I think it would," she said.
Isaac shifted his gaze between the ponies, looking genuinely puzzled at their conversation.
Luna took notice of this and paused. "Isaac… do you know about this door we're talking about? The one at the beginning of this floor?" she asked, to which the boy shook his head.
“Why doesn’t he know about it? I thought he made this place?” Applejack asked.
“We seldom are conscious of changes in our psyche, but they would be more obvious in a realm borne from your mind,” Celestia explained. “In any case, I feel as though we should investigate that door again. If it has to do with this photo, it could have significant importance to Isaac’s past.”
Fluttershy perked up at this. “Does that mean it could help us free Isaac?”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Twilight said. She turned to the photo, and then to its owner. “Isaac, may I?”
The boy stared at the photo for a moment. Just looking at it brought back a mixture of emotions and memories. He gave a tiny nod, signaling the alicorn to snatch it up in her magic.
Eager to uncover the mystery behind the photo, the group made their way back to the beginning of the floor, retracing their steps along the paths they knew to be safe. With their newfound determination, they arrived in no time at all.
There it stood, marble pillars standing out against the hostile slate walls like a beacon. It almost begged for them to push past the ominous sensation radiating from its cold surface so they could see what was inside.
Twilight and the others slowly approached the door. She looked down at the indent in its center. As she held up the photo, she confirmed her earlier suspicion: the square shape was a perfect match. She glanced over to find Isaac staring up at the strange door. He walked up to it and rested a hand beside the indent.
“Why do I have a bad feeling about this?” Rarity asked.
“Have you had a good feeling about anything in here, to be fair?” Applejack added.
“Is everypony ready?” Twilight asked. Nobody reacted, but they did stare back at her and the door behind her anxiously. Finally, she looked to Isaac. “Isaac, do you want to do the honors?” She held out the photograph to him.
The boy hesitated before taking the polaroid out of her magical aura. He looked down at it, and then at the door. For once, even he didn’t know what was about to happen. This place was his domain, but it held one final hidden corner he had yet to tread.
Looking back to his new friends, Isaac felt a sense of courage welling up as they all flashed him reassuring smiles.
Clutching the photo of his family tight, Isaac mirrored the ponies’ smiles and nodded to them before turning to the door. He placed the photo into the indent. Like a picture nestling into its frame, it was an exact fit.
The door jolted and shook, and the room began to rumble. Isaac and the others stepped back, watching warily as the marble slab receded into the floor. Air colder than the grave leaked out of the newly revealed passage, framed by an eerie purple glow.
Swallowing hesitantly, Isaac looked to his pony friends once more. Many of them were tense as well, with Fluttershy hiding behind Rainbow Dash and shivering violently.
Seeing no sign of the boy moving on his own, Celestia took it upon herself to be the first to investigate. “Come along, everyone, and be on your guard. This is uncharted territory for all of us.” She beckoned a hoof as she lit her horn, filling the area with warm light. Without so much as a moment of hesitation, she ventured inside.
With a deep breath, Luna stepped into the chamber after her, the rest of the group following close behind. Isaac and Fluttershy, united in their nerves, looked to each other for encouragement as they crossed the threshold, their footsteps echoing against the rocky walls of the stale-smelling chamber.
Two glowing purple flames cast dancing shadows along the floor, and a similarly-colored luminescent fluid leaked from the walls like water back in the caves. And sitting in the middle of the floor, the only other feature to be seen, was a long rectangular slab of stone that soon pulled away, revealing of all things, a pit in the floor.
The mere sight of the opening was unnerving. It resembled an open grave, but with no body, or bottom, in sight. If previous logic held true, this was an exit to another floor, but the ponies weren’t sure if they wanted to find out what kind of place it led to.
“No, not even going to say anything about that,” Rarity said. “That seems like a perfectly reasonable hole to jump in. Nothing bad will happen to us down there, definitely not.”
“That was almost so sarcastic that it looped back around into being believable.” Rainbow Dash blinked, more impressed than anything.
“Look on the bright side, Rarity. At least this one isn’t all fleshy and gross,” Pinkie pointed out.
“Is that really our standard for something good now?” Rarity sighed.
Seeing their young friend shivering as he stared into the darkness below, Twilight brought a hoof to his back. “Don’t worry, Isaac. We’re with you all the way.”
Fluttershy took a moment to swallow dryly and force herself to stop trembling quite as much. “Y-Yeah. No matter what, we’re right —” she paused, her pupils shrinking at a faint, eerie noise drifting out of the abyss “— behind y-you.”
Before anyone else could speak up or react further, Luna flashed her magic along the group’s left side. A barrier of shimmering blue light appeared just in time as one of the crackling purple fires flickered and spat out a glowing projectile. The orb homed in on Rainbow Dash, the nearest member of the group, before it harmlessly fizzled out as it contacted the magical shield.
“Woah…” Rainbow relaxed from her sudden jolt. She barely had time to react. The princess must have been expecting such a strike to act so quickly.
“I hate to rush us along, but perhaps we shouldn’t linger around these flames? I recall them being an annoying and dangerous fixture of these rooms,” Luna said.
“Good looking out, sister,” Celestia said. “I’m impressed that you remember so much about this place. Personally, I tried to forget much of what we saw.”
“I tried to as well… The operative word there being tried .” Luna stepped up to the edge of the hole. Without wasting any more time, she turned around and faced the group while spreading her wings. “As they say, tally ho!”
With that, the princess of the night stepped backwards and fell into the abyss. The group immediately lost sight of her, and while they heard one or two flaps of her powerful wings as she hovered down, this too faded soon enough.
“We’d best not keep her waiting. You all go ahead, I’ll keep these fires from getting any cheap shots in,” Celestia suggested.
“I guess it is a little late to object.” Rainbow was the next to go. She sauntered up to the opening and gave her friends a quick nod before flying down.
Twilight lit her horn and cast her magic around their flightless members as she made her way over.
“Is this what flying feels like?” Pinkie asked. She giggled excitedly and clapped her hooves. “Ooo, can you make me do a flip on the way down? I’ve been working on my Dashie impression, and I want to surprise her!”
“Pinkie, I—” Twilight started before sighing and managing a smile. “We’ll see,” she said as she gently lowered herself and the others down and out of sight. The last sign of them before they vanished was a giddy laugh from Pinkie.
Fluttershy’s body tensed as she peered over the side. She couldn’t even see her friend’s magical light anymore. It was like they had been swallowed up by a vast abyss, and she was next in line. Feeling a hand on her side, she looked over to see Isaac flashing her a reassuring expression. He cast his own hesitant glance into the hole before taking a stiff breath and nodding to her.
She nodded back, and while her limbs still held a slight tremor, she managed to stand somewhat tall. Both of them turned to face Celestia, who offered a slight smile. Then, they took the plunge together.
As the last one standing before the hidden depths, Celestia couldn’t deny a bit of trepidation herself as she stepped up to the very edge. She had long ago thought that she would never walk these cursed halls again, but now she and most of the ponies she cared so dearly for were back in the chest’s malevolent grasp.
They stood to lose everything, and yet, a faint blossom of hope welled up in her heart. She and Luna had explored every nook and cranny the chest had to offer in their fruitless attempts to help Isaac. Now, however, there was a sliver of unknown, a path yet to be trodden. With it came the potential for unseen horrors, but also a chance to possibly save their young friend.
“Tally ho indeed,” she muttered. And then, with a silent prayer that no harm befall her companions, she fell into darkness.
The last thing she heard before her senses left her behind in this slow fall, was a stone grate, followed by a slam as the slab above them slid closed.
Hovering down through darkness, Luna landed on cold stone once more amidst purple-tinted light.
She scanned around the area. Typically, the first room of a floor was safe as far as she remembered, but she hadn't gotten this far by being careless.
The slab covering the opening to this floor resembled something from a tomb or mausoleum. It was an apt comparison, she now realized. Bones and skulls sat forgotten within intricately carved nooks in the stone walls. Candles spewing unnatural purple flames adorned grimly decorative pillars, and a pervasive smell of death lingered in the air.
Hearing the sound of wings and a faint magical hum behind her, she turned to find her companions slowly floating down after her. As they all landed and took in their new surroundings, a palpable sense of unease clung to them.
“I can’t believe I’m about to say this,” Applejack said, “but I think I miss that basement place.”
“Cool mood lighting and all, but just what are we supposed to be doing here?” Rainbow Dash droned. “And please tell me somepony has a better idea than just look around and see what happens .”
As they usually did, the group shifted their attention to the most knowledgeable and dependable among them. Twilight quickly blanked, and so shifted to look at her wise former mentor. However, even Celestia sported a clueless expression.
“Well…” Celestia’s smile twitched. “Any suggestions, sister?”
“To be completely honest, I thought you would have something in mind,” Luna admitted. “Perchance, do you have any ideas, Isaac?”
The boy could only shrug.
Rainbow Dash’s ears drooped, as if any hope was slowly draining from her body. “You’ve gotta be kidding me…”
“This isn’t an exact science, I’m afraid,” Celestia explained. “If we are to discover some way of breaking Isaac free, we must explore every avenue available to us. Seeing as we searched everywhere else a long time ago, looking around and seeing what happens is the most sensible option.”
“At the very least, we can look for that skull room or anything else different from the other floors,” Twilight said.
Luna nodded. “An excellent suggestion, Twilight.” She cast her gaze to one of the doorways around them and stepped closer. “Be on your guard, everypony. There is no telling what foes we will encounter.”
“Surely it can’t be any worse than what we’ve seen already.” Rarity suppressed a shudder at some unpleasant memories as the group pressed forward.
Creeping into the next room, the ponies all halted as more candles flashed to life within, illuminating the area. Ever cautious, they scanned the area for threats—and froze when they found them.
Half a dozen figures shuffled aimlessly around the room. Pale, desiccated skin hung loosely from their bones, and they wore some sort of masks over the tops of their heads. A wave of nausea swept over the group as they realized they weren’t masks at all: Rather, they were half of the skin off their faces, pulled away from their skulls and grinning teeth. Fleshy growths covered one of their arms, forming a sort of whip.
Rarity flinched back, her whole body tensing in refusal to the abominations she was witnessing. “It’s so much worse! It’s so much worse!”
One of the creatures, which had sharper teeth and a single, slitted eye encased in the blackness within its open jaw, turned and spotted its newest victims. It lashed out with its hook-like appendage. The fleshy whip stretched clear across the room and came down toward the group.
Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy screamed fearfully and dove to the sides. They narrowly dodged the whip before it crashed into the floor with a menacing snap, cracking the stonework.
The creature reeled its arm back and prepared to strike again. Twilight and the others started to rally their counter attack, when Celestia and Luna beat them to it. As a second strike from the flesh whip came down, a scintillating barrier of blue magic flashed around them, blocking the attack.
Once her opening came, Celestia shared a nod with Luna and lit her horn. The younger sister dropped her shield, allowing the elder to let loose a fiery beam of energy that completely annihilated the gazing creature. Celestia then shifted her head, crossing the beam over to the rest of the monsters and burning them to ash, leaving behind a smoldering line in the walls.
As the room fell silent, Celestia dimmed her horn. A relieved smile formed on her face. At least the monsters here were still killable.
“Well met, sister,” Luna said. She turned to see the others picking each other up from their sudden evasion. “I trust everypony is unharmed?”
Fluttershy took a moment to rest her racing heart. “Do mental scars count?”
“They should,” Rarity grunted as she looked up from the floor, surprised to see Isaac offering her a helping hand. She took the boy’s aid in getting back to all fours before brushing herself off.
Just then, a hint of movement caught Twilight’s attention. She looked over to the center of the room, where an object was gently floating down and settling to the floor. It was a card.
“Hey, look at that.” Twilight pointed to the item in question. The others turned to find her picking it up and floating it over to her waiting hoof.
Rainbow Dash perked up as she recognized the pattern on the back of the card. “That kinda looks like the card I got from that machine.”
“You mean the one that made you all sparkly and fast?” Pinkie asked.
“Yeah,” Rainbow added. She hummed with intrigue as another thought occurred to her. “You think this one does something cool too?”
“Given where we are, it’s a possibility,” Twilight reasoned. “If we only knew what it did.”
“Let me see it, Twilight. Luna and I encountered many useful items throughout our journeys with Isaac. Perhaps it’s something we would recognize?” Celestia suggested.
As requested, Twilight hovered the card out for the older alicorns to see. Celestia took it in her own aura and held it closer. On its surface, a depiction of a sun with a face was shining down on some other beings like Isaac. The letters “XIX” were written along the top.
Luna’s eyes flashed with recognition, and a pleased smile formed. “Ah, the sun card.”
“The sun card?” Applejack skewed her expression. “You say that like it’s a thing.”
“It’s a tarot card, one of several,” Celestia explained. “Normally, they are used for fortune telling, but here they hold miraculous powers. Judging from your description of what happened to Rainbow Dash, you are already familiar with the chariot.” She turned back to Twilight and handed off the card again. “Hold onto that, Twilight. The sun is one of the more useful cards.”
Twilight stared at the artistic rendering on the face of the card. She offered Celestia a puzzled look briefly before poofing the item away into her magical inventory. “Alright, if you say so. I suppose you are the leading expert.”
“The moon card can be useful as well… Not that I am jealous.” Luna cleared her throat uncomfortably. This earned a restrained giggle from the others, and a less restrained giggle from her sister.
“At any rate, let’s keep moving, shall we?” Celestia took the lead toward the leftmost door. After seeing what was lurking in the shadows of this floor, the others were hesitant to press on. However, they were too deep in to quit now.
As they fought on through the cursed halls of the mausoleum, the group met stiff resistance. Even with Celestia and Luna alongside them, the ponies had to push themselves further than they ever had just to stay alive.
Rotten bones possessed with occult energy, demons bound in twisted flesh, all these and still more terrible foes stood in their path at every opportunity. It was as if the chest itself was rousing its darkest forces to stop them from freeing its prisoner.
The room flashed with purple light as chilling flames spewed forth. Twilight jumped back, her hooves skidding across the stone floor as she faced her foe. Burning purple eyes met her stare from within a black, horned skull, and more flame gathered in its fanged maw.
Sounds of battle rang out around her. Magical zaps, shouts from her friends, otherworldly growls. Twilight tensed her jaw and lit her horn. “I don’t have time to deal with you!”
A bolt of magic rocketed toward the demonic skeleton. However, just before impact, a white bubble of light pulsed around its form. The blast was completely absorbed, and the monster wasn't even scathed.
Twilight’s eyes flashed with surprise. She looked to the side, following a thin strand of the white energy coming off the skeleton to its source. Off in the corner, a pale creature dressed in ceremonial robes with pure white eyes was seemingly creating this invisible shield.
“What the…?” Twilight muttered before snapping her gaze to the demonic skeleton. It growled once more and stalked toward her, gathering flame in its mouth for another attack. She spread her wings and retreated just in time for the spray of flame to miss her. “Princess, I could use some help!”
Another series of magical zaps came from the other side of the room, where Celestia stood back to back with Luna. Both alicorns were firing at a horde of figures similar to the red, skinless walkers. Only, these ones were purple, and they had a melted appearance about them.
“I have my own problems right now, I’m afraid!” Celestia shouted in reply as she blasted one of the creatures apart. Its goopy form split into two piles of writhing flesh, and each of these piles soon reformed into another exact copy of the creature that joined the advancing horde.
“And it would seem that the problem has doubled!” Luna added as she and her sister backed away.
A few terrified screams briefly drew the sisters’ attention to the side. Fluttershy and Rarity were running as fast as they could away from more of the purple creatures, with Pinkie trailing behind and Isaac riding atop her back.
Pinkie panted heavily as she skidded into a turn along a wall. She looked over her shoulder, only to spot the horde steadily gaining ground on her. Even with Isaac constantly firing tears behind them, any creature that fell would merely split into different piles of goo and regenerate faster than he could dispatch them.
"C'mon, Isaac, it goes against every bone in my body to say this, but: cry harder! " Pinkie shouted.
“I’m the one who’s going to cry in a minute!” Rarity squealed over the unearthly choir behind her. However, one such monstrous groan abruptly came from in front of her, causing both her and Fluttershy to skid to a stop.
Both mares seized up in fright as one of the creatures shambled toward them. Pinkie nearly collided with them, gasping as she noticed the threat far too late. Isaac’s eyes widened.
Then, before the monster could reach them, it sailed into the air, sent on its way by a powerful kick from Applejack. There was no time for thanks, however—no sooner had her hind hooves landed back on the floor had more of the creatures surrounded them.
“Land sakes…!” Applejack cursed under her breath and backed closer to her terrified friends. She tried bucking away each monster that got too close, but even the ones she dispatched merely multiplied and soon rejoined the mob. “There’s too many!”
“Somepony help!” Fluttershy cried. She hid her face in Pinkie’s side as the gaping maws and glowing eyes approached, misshapen hands reaching for them.
“Comin’ through!”
A familiar voice came from above. Before any of them could even process it, a cyan blur crashed through the group of monsters in front of the group. A rainbow contrail was left amidst a sea of flying piles of purple gunk as each creature lost cohesion, and soon enough, a path had been cleared for them.
Applejack blinked at their abrupt rescue before looking around at the piles of goo, which would soon rise again. “Come on, girls! Let’s get outta this corral before the bulls come back!” She took a stunned Fluttershy by the hoof and rushed ahead. Pinkie and Rarity quickly followed suit, distancing themselves from their enemies once more.
Up in the air, Rainbow Dash looked down and saw her friends fleeing. She offered them a quick salute and a smirk before shifting her eyes ahead, only to widen them at a spout of purple flames shooting up.
“Woah!” She beat her wings hard, coming to a dead stop in the air just before the column of flame. She could feel its unnatural cold trying to snuff her out.
Looking down, she found another demonic skeleton like the one Twilight was fighting. While its twin was busy spewing fire over the shielded alicorn, this one was free to shift its focus to new targets.
Rainbow growled and zipped around the beast as it spouted more flames at her. It followed her with its head, but she was faster. She got around behind it, and swooped in for the kill.
“Alright, you little pyro! Take th—”
*Thunk*
“Ow!” Rainbow jolted back in the air as her swift kick slammed into a freshly apparated barrier. “What the…?!”
She followed a string of translucent energy from the shield around the skeleton. It led across the room, where a second stream was also heading to the other skeleton. Both these strings of light originated at a tall, robed figure.
“Rainbow! Go for that tall one!” Twilight shouted from within her magical bubble. With her skeleton constantly attacking, she couldn’t drop her shield long enough to retaliate.
Seeing her true target, Rainbow Dash steeled herself. “You got it!”
Before another spray of flame could come her way, she swooped up and away from either of the skeletons. She headed straight for the corner, where the pale robed figure stood, trembling with the terrible magics it was releasing.
As the pegasus approached the figure, it cast its sightless gaze up at her. With a high-pitched warble, it fired out a shimmering white projectile at her. Rainbow deftly dodged this attack and closed in for a devastating blow.
With a mighty yell, she spun around and kicked out her hinds, striking the creature right in the head.
The monster slammed backward into the wall, its body crumbling like ash upon impact. In an instant, only its flattening robes were left to drift to the floor.
The minute the robed figure fell, the beams of energy leading to the two skeletons faded, as did their shields. Rainbow grinned and beat her wings harder, zooming straight toward the monster keeping Twilight on the defense. She crashed into it with both hooves stretched out, sending its bones scattering.
“Oh, yeah! Who’s the best? I’m the best!” Rainbow pumped her foreleg in the air. She turned to start to engage the remaining skeleton, and grunted as something crashed into her.
As she was knocked to the floor, she looked up and flinched back at a melting visage of purple flesh, with one burning eye staring down at her. A disturbing groan came from the creature’s open maw, and the stink of death blew into her face.
While the horror on top of her was chilling enough, Rainbow felt her blood run cold as she heard the sound of flame gathering. She looked over, her pupils shrinking at the sight of the last skeleton closing in on her, already preparing to attack.
“Ohnonono—!” Rainbow yelped and covered her face with her forelegs. It was too late for any other recourse.
But instead of the expected flames engulfing her, a shimmer and a crack rang out as magenta energy exploded into the skeleton. The demonic visage of fangs and flame was instantly broken apart.
Rainbow squinted open an eye. “Huh…?” She looked up in time to see the purple form on top of her getting whisked into the air by a magical aura. Hearing hooves approaching, she found Twilight rushing over and offering her a hoof off the floor. She breathed a sigh of relief. “Phew… you really saved my tail, Twi.”
“Don’t mention it.” Twilight smiled in return. She then hardened her expression as she looked up to the creature floating in her aura.
In one swift motion, she tossed it to the floor in front of her and blasted it into paste. However, much to her surprise, instead of spreading into multiple piles of goo and regenerating, it actually remained inert.
“Of course…” Twilight’s eyes flashed with realization. Hearing more groans and magic discharging, she turned to find the royal sisters still struggling with the purple horde. “Celestia, Luna! Keep breaking them apart! They can’t regenerate forever!”
Still locked in battle, Celestia stole a look around the room. While it was true that there were still many of the fleshy creatures, some of them were starting to fail to regenerate.
Seeing this as well, Luna’s eyes twinkled. “I see… In that case, shall we make it a contest, sister?” she asked as she picked up her pace, discharging bolts of blue energy every other second.
Celestia picked up her pace to match her sibling, wincing at the added strain on her magical stamina. “Shouldn’t we be taking this more seriously?”
A smirk flashed across Luna’s features. “I don’t see why endeavoring to dispatch more of these creatures isn’t taking things seriously… unless you’re afraid you might lose?”
“Very well…” Celestia huffed, though a slight smile formed despite her exertion. “Although, you might be disappointed by the result. If my count is accurate, I’m already in the lead!”
Any smugness Luna harbored quickly vanished. She returned to her efforts of thinning the horde, now motivated by more than mere survival, but perhaps by something more daunting: the thought of losing to her sibling.
The others all watched as the room filled with magical zaps and flashes of blue and yellow light. Twilight assisted a little bit, but she barely needed to at this point. Most of the creatures had lost their ability to split apart, and the few that still could were quickly pushed beyond their limits.
Soon enough, the room fell silent as one final monstrosity exploded into charred purple gore. The ponies were breathing heavily after yet another pitched battle, but otherwise unharmed.
Luna brushed a strand of her mane back into place and rubbed her temple to ease an oncoming headache. After looking around to ensure nobody was hurt, she turned to her sibling. “I felled thirty two… Perchance, how many did you count?”
“Is it really all that important?” Celestia replied.
“Ah… so, you came up short, did you?” Luna smirked before adopting a more lighthearted expression. “Shall we call it a draw, then?”
Celestia walked over and gave her sister a firm hoofshake. “That seems fair.”
“Hey, everypony! Over here!” Pinkie’s voice drew the group’s attention over to her. She was standing beside Isaac over by one of the doorways leading out of the room. She pointed ahead and waved at them. “I see that skull room up ahead!”
“I’m not entirely sure if that’s something to get excited about, dear,” Rarity said.
“Why not? It means we’re closer to gettin’ outta this death trap,” Applejack replied.
The group made their way over to join Pinkie and Isaac in the next room. As they were walking, Rainbow Dash moved closer to Celestia and leaned in to whisper in the alicorn’s ear.
“You know, you actually killed thirty three of those things,” Rainbow said.
Celestia smiled and glanced toward her sister before leaning over to the pegasus and whispering back. “Oh, you know that, and I know that, but I don’t think Luna needs to know that… at least not until later.” She winked.
Rainbow Dash gave a restrained chuckle before falling silent. Any levity soon left her as they found their friends all standing in the empty room before the skull door.
Even this far in their journey, a firm sense of unease came over the ponies from simply staring at those pulsing red eyes. Each time they crossed through that door, they had faced one of the most terrible enemies they had ever come up against, with each one surpassing the previous in either power, repulsiveness, or both.
Twilight sighed tensely. She tried to step forward and take the lead into the room, but she found herself hesitating. “Here we are…” She stalled.
“I wonder w-what’s in there this time?” Fluttershy quaked at the mere thought.
“Truly, there is no telling,” Luna said. “I just pray it is not as bad as some of the things we’ve seen, like that bloated—”
“Now, Luna, let us not add any more trauma for them. I’m quite sure they’ve seen more than their fair share of horrors in here already,” Celestia suggested. She looked around the group, her eyes shifting between each of them before settling on Isaac.
The boy was standing in front of Fluttershy almost protectively. While he was doing his best to hide it, she could detect some trembling in his form as he stared headlong into the dark room ahead. He truly was as clueless as they were about what could be within, and that in itself was frightening.
Celestia walked over and craned her neck down to their young companion. “Isaac… Do you remember what we promised you when we first met?” she asked.
He looked down in thought for a moment, his features softening as he did. Looking back up and meeting her eyes with his own shimmering orbs, he nodded.
The gentle smile Celestia was known for faded as she continued. “We told you we would help you get out of here, no matter how long it took. I’m afraid it has taken far longer than we intended…” She looked back, sharing a sad look with Luna before facing him once more and putting a hoof on his shoulder. “But, if there is a way out for you through there, then we will face whatever awaits right alongside you.”
Isaac’s mouth fell agape as he looked around at all the ponies’ warm expressions. Craning his head up, even Fluttershy was pushing her fear aside long enough to beam down at him and nod. His eyes sparkled, and he sniffed once before wiping his excess tears and clenching his fists as he faced ahead with newfound determination.
With Isaac leading the way, the group slowly entered the skull door. Wings twitching, horns buzzing with energy, muscles tensing, they all prepared themselves for whatever monstrosity they would have to face next.
What greeted them instead, was an empty room. Empty of monsters, at least.
Sitting in the middle of the room, across a floor covered in blood, was a single stone pedestal. Like all other pedestals of its type they had seen, it held an item floating above it.
The item in question was a wrinkled piece of paper with inky scrawls across it.
“What the…?” Twilight muttered. She cautiously approached the pedestal while the others stayed back, untrusting of the silence.
“And here I thought this place couldn’t confound me anymore,” Luna mused.
“Careful, Twi. What if this is like when Isaac’s mom ambushed us?” Applejack said.
Twilight glanced back to her friends. “I don’t think that’s the case. Usually, things don’t show up in these rooms unless there are no monsters.”
“Speaking of things, what the hay even is that? Some kind of note?” Rainbow Dash gestured toward the scrap of paper.
Seeing her friends’ curiosity growing, and unable to deny her own intrigue, Twilight closed the rest of the distance to the pedestal. She reached out with her hoof, hesitating before the paper. After getting a nod of assurance from Celestia, she picked up the note and drew it back.
As she did so… nothing.
No monsters, no giant legs stomping down, just nothing. Although she was confused, Twilight brought the note up and began to read.
‘Dear Isaac…’
The further she got into the note, the more her eyes intensified. A soft gasp escaped her, and she lowered the paper before turning around. Everyone else was staring at her, but the one she was focused on was the boy at the front of the group.
“Isaac… I think this is meant for you,” Twilight said, gently holding out the note.
Isaac slowly walked up to her and took the paper in both hands. He read the look in her eyes—sympathy, sadness, shock. Anxious as to what could have caused such a reaction, he began to read for himself.
The moment he did, something stirred within him. He recognized the handwriting. It was messy, rushed in places, and faded with age, but he knew who had written it: his father.
After he finished, Isaac lowered the paper from his eyes and stared into the middle distance. His brows furrowed, and his pensive gaze shifted side to side before suddenly lowering. His lips began quivering, and a few tears dropped to the floor. Not weaponized balls of water, but the genuine article.
“Isaac…?” Fluttershy spoke gently.
Rarity and the others began slowly approaching the boy. “Are you alright, darling?”
Before they could get a response of some sort from the boy, the ponies paused as the room began to shake. It wasn't as violent as what happened each time Isaac died and they were shunted from the chest, but it was enough to get them to steady their footing.
Along with this, a bright light slowly filled their vision, blotting out everything else.
“What’s going—” Applejack started to ask, but before she could even finish, the ground stopped shaking. The light vanished.
A sound like breaking glass filled the room, almost like a flash bulb from an old camera. Accompanying this noise, was an echoed masculine voice.
“I spent it. It’s gone. Just get over it!”
Soon after, a familiar feminine voice responded.
“What do you mean? What do you mean it’s gone?! How could you have spent our savings?!”
With that, the voices faded, leaving an uneasy silence to fall over the room. Even the crackling of the candles along the walls seemed muted, as if they dared not disturb this moment.
“Was that Isaac’s mother?” Pinkie asked.
Celestia nodded “Indeed. I suppose we are to assume the other voice is his father.”
Shifting their attention to their young companion, the ponies found him staring up at the ceiling, as if he had been listening to the voices along with them. He looked as if he remembered the conversation in question, and it didn’t seem like a fond memory, judging from his frown.
Twilight knelt down beside the boy. “Are you okay, Isaac?”
Isaac didn’t respond at first. He stared down at the note still hanging limply in his grasp for a moment before dropping it to the floor. He raised his head and nodded, though his expression still harbored gloom.
Looking around at the others, Rainbow Dash frowned softly. “So… what do we do now?”
Sure enough, nothing else had changed about the room around them. No exits to another floor had appeared. There was just the door leading back where they came from.
Keeping her hoof on Isaac’s shoulder briefly, Twilight shifted her attention toward the door. “Let’s head back… Maybe something changed somewhere else?”
“Given the lack of other options, I feel that is a good idea,” Celestia added. With that, the group headed back outside.
Fluttershy stayed near the rear with Isaac. She rested her hoof across his back, offering him what little comfort she could. He stared ahead vacantly, but he was walking just close enough to her to brush against her fuzzy barrel.
“I’m sorry about all of this, Isaac,” she said. “It must be awful to have to bring up all these memories. I wish there was another way to help you.”
“Indeed. Facing one’s inner demons is never pleasant,” Luna said, “but, face them we must, lest they overwhelm us.”
Applejack cast a worried frown back at the boy as they all crossed the doorway into the next room, the one they cleared before. “It ain’t right for anyone that young to go through all this. Don’t worry, partner, we’ll get ya through this, no matter w—”
Trailing her head to the side, Applejack froze as she was met face to skull. Fiery purple eyes stared at her, and unholy flame flickered in a fanged maw.
Then, the flame engulfed her.
A scream of agony split the air, and purple light filled the room as a spout of unnaturally cold fire surged forth.
Twilight flinched. In the split second she had to react, all she could do was project a barrier directly in front of her, sparing herself and those behind her. Her heart dropped as she realized that one pony hadn’t been spared.
A series of gasps and cries rang out as the ponies looked to the inferno ahead. They couldn’t even see their orange friend amidst the spray of flame.
“APPLEJACK!” Rarity squealed.
“NO!” Rainbow Dash banged her hooves on the magenta barrier, as if she could do something if it wasn't there.
A second later that felt like an eternity, the flames died down, prompting Twilight to drop her shield. They all collectively held their breath as they looked ahead.
Applejack was still standing, though not on steady legs. Most of her body had been horribly charred, and even her prized hat was burnt. She made a choked noise before her trembling limbs finally gave out and she flopped to the floor.
Fueled with adrenaline, Luna acted swiftly and decisively. She ran forward and charged her horn before letting loose a blast of concussive energy.
The demonic skeleton growled and raised a bony hand to claw at her, but soon it found itself flying back into the far wall, where a white shield bubble formed around it and it bounced off, relatively unharmed.
Hearing familiar growls and groans, Celestia cast a bubble of magic around the entire group. Mere moments later, a small horde of purple figures swarmed the barrier. The ponies looked around the room in shock. All of the same exact monsters they defeated previously were present. It was as if they had never cleared this room at all.
However, their thoughts were far from this odd occurrence.
“Applejack!” Twilight rushed over to her fallen friend. She collapsed to her haunches and gently rested her hooves on the farmer’s side.
Strangely, Applejack was cold to the touch. And while she was badly burnt, she was also deathly pale, her once hale and hearty form now frail and fragile. She whimpered quietly and fought for a sucking breath, barely able to even move.
“How did this happen?!” Rarity asked, dragging her hooves down the sides of her face. “Oh, Applejack!”
“Hang in there, AJ!” Rainbow Dash pleaded. Her mouth fell agape as she saw the sheer lack of life in her friend’s eyes. The sucking breaths soon turned to broken gasps and spasms. “Somepony do something! We’re losing her!”
“This… this can’t be h-happening!” Pinkie struggled to keep from breaking down.
“Isaac, do you have anything that could help?!” Fluttershy asked, setting her trembling hooves on the boy’s shoulders.
Isaac took a moment to break his shocked stare away from the orange mare. It took him even longer to gather the mental focus to just respond with a shake of the head.
The constant muted thuds on her magical barrier combined with the monstrous groans and her friends’ panicked yells into a maddening cacophony. Celestia felt her heart racing and her mind threatening to follow, but she resisted the urge to descend into panic. As she struggled to think of something, anything, her eyes suddenly widened and she turned to her student.
“Twilight, use the card!” Celestia urged.
Twilight broke her distraught stare away from her dying friend. Tears were formed in the corners of her stunned eyes, and any mental clarity had since left her behind. “Wh… w-what?”
“The sun card you have!” Celestia said. She darted her eyes between Twilight and the group huddled around Applejack. Her expression fell as she recognized the steady decline of a pony in their last moments of life. “Quickly, before it’s too late!”
With a faint sense of hope urging her to act, Twilight reached into her pocket dimension and poofed up the card. The sun on its face almost seemed to stare back at her patiently. She couldn’t afford to be patient.
Taking the card in her hoof, she held it over Applejack and squeezed it. A moment later, the face of the card sparkled and glowed a vibrant yellow.
All at once, light pierced down into the room from the ceiling. A sizzling sound came as every monster present was scorched into nothing, even the two skeletons being shielded.
Soon, a gentler light came down on anyone that had suffered an injury. Twilight and the others felt a warmth radiate to their very cores, taking away any sign of their previous wounds and leaving them refreshed.
Then, much to the ponies’ relief, a similar light shone down on Applejack’s form. Her healthy orange hue was restored as layers of soot sloughed off her charred-black fur and all of her wounds healed over. Even her hat was somehow restored.
Applejack jerked and took in a deep gasp of air. She coughed once or twice before her lungs were fully rejuvenated. As the light above faded, she just lay there breathing for a moment before sitting up. “Ngh… I gotta say… that plum sucked.”
“Applejack!” Fluttershy rushed forward and hugged the orange mare, shortly joined by Pinkie and Rarity.
“I thought you were toast! Literally!” Rainbow stated.
“Easy, girls. I just got burned alive. I don’t wanna add being crushed to the list.” Applejack grunted softly from being squeezed so tight. Still, a slight smile formed as she brought a hoof around her friends’ sides.
Twilight deflated with relief and smiled at the huddle of ponies. She looked down to the card still in her hoof, only to pause. “Huh…?”
The surface of the card had changed. Instead of the depiction of the sun previously decorating it, it now held a familiarly arranged grid of squares.
“Celestia, look at this.” Twilight beckoned.
Celestia gave a cursory look to the card before nodding in remembrance. “Ah, yes, a map of the floor. I’m already aware of that property, though I must admit that it had slipped my mind at the moment.”
Twilight shook her head and pointed again. “No, not just the map. Look here.”
The younger alicorn was pointing to a single square of the map. It held a slight highlight to it. Not only that, but judging from its location, they recognized where it was.
“The starting room?” Celestia muttered.
“How curious,” Luna said. “Do you think, perhaps, that something important is there?”
“I’m not sure, but I’ve never seen the map act like this, so perhaps you are right,” Celestia reasoned before turning to the others. “If that is our destination, might I recommend teleporting there instead of walking? I think we’ve run into enough trouble already.”
“I second that…” Applejack chimed in. She gave her fur a sniff, wrinkling her nose at the result. Apparently magical healing cards didn’t account for offensive odors.
“Then it’s settled.” Luna smiled and turned to Twilight. “If you’d do the honors, young Sparkle?”
Twilight nodded. “Of course.”
With that, she lit her horn and turned to the group. After ensuring that everyone was ready, and after focusing on the spell and their destination, invisible magic surged out of Twilight’s horn and surrounded the group in an instant. In the next instant, they all blinked out of existence.
A moment later, the group all shifted their eyes around as their entire visual frame of reference changed. They had been teleported all the way back to the starting room. However, while they expected to have to search for some minute change, or perhaps a new door, they immediately paused and stared ahead at something else.
Sitting in the middle of the room, shining down intensely from the ceiling, was a beam of light. It was identical to the one Twilight and the others had seen that took them all to the cathedral.
“Well, I’d say that’s different.” Rarity pointed out as she stared up at the unseen source of the light.
“Interesting,” Luna mused. “Should we go up?”
“I don’t think we have much of a choice. This seems to be the only exit,” Celestia explained.
Twilight examined the map on her card again. As expected, nothing else was out of the ordinary. She faced the beam of light and steeled herself for a moment before stepping forward. “Well, when life gives you a magical beam of light, you step in it.”
The group watched as Twilight took the initiative and walked into the beam. As with the last beam of its kind they encountered, her body lifted into the air and got pulled up and out of sight.
“I don’t think that’s how the saying goes.” Pinkie scratched her chin.
Celestia stepped forward next, joined shortly after by Luna. “Shall we?”
Luna smirked and gestured toward the light. “Age before beauty, as they say.”
“Ah, so you finally show some respect for your elders. How very mature of you, little sister.” Celestia smirked in kind, immediately taking the wind out of the younger alicorn’s sails as she stepped into the light.
Luna grumbled as she sauntered in behind. “It’s like she spent that thousand years I was on the moon thinking of witty retorts…”
Not wanting to be left behind, everyone else soon filed in after the alicorns. Two by two they went, some more readily than others. Eventually, Fluttershy and Isaac were the only ones left, with the boy helping the timid mare overcome her hesitance so they could walk into the light hand in hoof.
Their vision went white as they rapidly ascended. Then, the light faded and they met solid ground beneath them once more.
As the group all looked around and gathered their bearings, they recognized at once the floor they were on. It was the one they had left behind earlier to reach the mausoleum. The depths.
However, before anyone could speak on this, another sound like a flashbulb going off filled the air.
“He’s self-destructive and disturbed, just like his father! Look at who he has to look up to!” The voice of Isaac’s mother echoed. While everyone else stared at the ceiling, the boy lowered his head and kept his trembling gaze on the floor at yet another memory. “...And you’re drunk again, aren’t you?”
The masculine voice from before cut in sharply, causing Isaac and even some of the ponies to flinch with each word. “SHUT UP, MAGGY! SHUT! UP! You just keep pushing me like this, I’m leaving!”
“Good! LEAVE! We’ll be fine without you! Abandon us like you’ve abandoned yourself…”
With that, the voices fell silent again, leaving the group to stew in the uncomfortable void left behind.
Fluttershy frowned as she saw Isaac struggling to keep a brave face. His clasped hands were shaking, and he was purposefully avoiding any eye contact with them. She brought a gentle hoof to his shoulder, causing him to look up. “Oh my gosh. That… that really happened?”
Isaac made an effort to stop his lips from trembling. He gave a tiny nod.
“Oh, you poor dear.” Rarity walked over and joined Fluttershy in giving the boy a comforting embrace. “There, there, darling. It’ll be okay.”
Meanwhile, the others shifted their attention away from the boy and to their familiar surroundings.
“So, what, are we going up now instead of down?” Rainbow Dash shrugged.
“That seems to be the case,” Celestia said. “We can check the starting room of this floor to see.”
“Here, allow me to do it this time,” Luna offered. She took a moment to recall exactly where the starting room was before lighting her horn.
Once everyone was prepared again, the mistress of the night channeled her powerful magic through all of them. With a flash of blue light, they were gone from one room, and transported into another.
Thankfully, no monsters greeted them in the new space they found themselves in. Judging from the strange door set in the wall behind them, it was indeed the starting room. However, the door was now closed. Of course, they wouldn’t want to go back down anyway.
And, true enough, as they turned around they were all greeted with another exact beam of light shining down into the center of the room.
“I see. It seems as if we are retreading all the previous floors,” Celestia noted.
Twilight rubbed her chin and nodded curiously, her thoughts elsewhere. She trailed her eyes ahead as something occurred to her. “If that’s true, then what happens when we reach the first floor?”
“Maybe we get out of the chest?” Pinkie offered optimistically.
Looking to the beam of light with distant eyes, Celestia snorted softly. “There is only one way to find out. Unfortunately, we weren’t here when Isaac made the trek through the first two floors, so teleporting won’t be an option this time.”
“Oh, what about the—” Twilight started before trailing off. As she reached into her magical inventory for the card with the map on it, she realized it was gone. “Huh?”
“I’m afraid the sun card only remains for the floor you use it on,” Luna explained. “It is meant to be more common than a persistent map, but can only be used a single time.”
“Great… The long way it is, then.” Twilight deflated.
Applejack sighed and settled her hat on her head. “Just as long as there ain’t no fire.”
With their path set out before them, the group ventured into yet another beam of light. They were swiftly whisked away to the next floor, or rather, the previous floor.
Soon enough, they were standing among the familiar rocky caves once more. The space was just as eerie as they remembered it, though curiously not as dark.
As before, a strange sound of glass breaking filled the air. The ponies had come to expect it by this point, but it was no less jarring. They joined Isaac in staring at the ceiling as the disembodied voices of his parents spoke.
“You need to repent. You need to confess your sins, and become saved! Let his light inside you! CLEANSE YOUR SOUL!” Isaac’s mother spoke, her voice at once distant and devout. She became more unhinged with each word, and even Celestia and Luna grew uncomfortable as she rambled on.
Soon after, Isaac’s father responded. “YOU. ARE. INSANE. You are taking this too far! Can’t you hear how you sound?!”
“Pray with me… pray for your salvation!” she continued. “Come, pray with us, Isaac…”
The eerie memory faded into the obscure depths of the caves. Fluttershy felt Isaac shiver against her leg, drawing another sympathetic stare.
Rainbow Dash frowned as she looked at the boy. “You know… in a way, I’m starting to see why you thought it was better in here, Isaac. At least back when it was all pretend, anyway.”
Isaac gave the pegasus an oddly conflicted look. After so long by himself, it was strange to have someone else understand and shed light on his past. He trailed his eyes to the floor before looking up and adopting a determined expression. Then, he headed for the door leading out, pausing before it and looking back to his friends and beckoning.
“He seems eager to go,” Applejack noted.
“I cannot blame him. I feel he’s waited long enough for this,” Luna said. With that, she joined the boy over by the door.
Rarity winced as she followed the others ahead. “Are we sure he can’t wait a little longer?”
Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Relax. These floors were a cake walk compared to all that other stuff.”
“What did you call it again, Rainbow?! A cake walk?!” she yelled. Looking behind her, she found the floating abomination closing in on her despite its malformed appearance.
A bloated sack of blood dangled from multiple insectoid heads mashed together into one body, with numerous wings buzzing at odd angles. This was just one of the terrible new beasts they had encountered on their way through the caves.
Rarity squealed and picked up her pace, hoping that somepony would destroy the creature before it could catch up with her.
On the other side of the room, Rainbow Dash zoomed past, being pursued by something that resembled the black exploding flies they had seen before, only swollen in appearance. “Yeah, yeah, already regretting it!”
Before the pegasus could think of a way to dispatch her pursuer, a volley of tears collided with it. Rainbow looked over to see Isaac shooting at the massive fly. And while it took a few moments, the fly eventually stopped in midair, its whole body shaking.
Rainbow paused and flashed a smile. “Nice shooting, Isaac!”
Isaac gave the pegasus one of his signature thumbs-up’, only to stop and turn to see the fly he just dispatched starting to emit an orange ray of light in the cardinal directions.
Rainbow Dash skewed her expression at this ray of light. However, her confusion soon shifted to alarm, as the fly was engulfed in a mighty explosion that started a chain reaction of fiery blasts carrying through the room, following the path of the light rays like a targeting laser.
“BWAH!” Rainbow Dash squawked and scrambled for cover. Many of the others stopped what they were doing and either screamed or flinched before scattering.
Hearing the deafening blasts coming closer, Rarity halted and turned to see the line of fury approaching. She went pale in the face and yelped as she dove to the floor and covered her head.
When the explosions finally stopped, she slowly lifted her head and coughed under all the dust and debris kicked up. As she looked around, she found no sign of the monstrous fly chasing her, or any of the other monsters in the room. It seemed as though the series of explosions had claimed all of their enemies.
“Is everypony okay?” Rarity asked.
Rainbow Dash grunted as she picked herself up. She blinked and rubbed a hoof along her forehead. “Am I missing an eyebrow?”
Twilight let her magical shield dim, allowing Pinkie and Fluttershy to step out alongside her. She looked over to see Applejack and Isaac huddled on the ground, with a yellow-tinted shield around them soon fading.
“And I thought this place was dangerous before…” Twilight said.
Celestia and Luna stepped out from under a blue barrier. They were stunned to see so much destruction caused by a single creature in a regular room.
“Clearly, something is different now,” Celestia stated.
Looking to the side, Luna arched a brow as she spotted something on the ground. “Speaking of something different…”
The others turned to see Luna approaching an object on the ground and picking it up. Another item drop was exciting enough in its own right, but their intrigue rose even further as they recognized the shape and coloring of a tarot card.
“Oooh, is that another of those card thingies?” Pinkie asked.
“What does that one do?” Rainbow chimed in as the alicorn examined the card.
On its face, a depiction of a figure in ragged clothes with a bundle tied to a stick over its shoulder. The numeral ‘O’ adorned its top. Whatever cryptic meaning the card held, seeing it put a smile on Luna’s face.
“The fool card…” Luna almost chuckled. In all her experience with Isaac’s twisted world, fortune rarely smiled on them like this. “I believe this will make things far easier for us.”
Applejack slowly helped Isaac to his feet and dusted herself off. “It’d better. I don’t know how much ‘get-up-and-go’ I got left in me,” she gave a weary sigh. The previous healing they had all received could only do so much against a full day spent fighting and running for their lives.
“Stay strong, everypony,” Celestia said, casting her attention to the next door. Her expression lifted as she saw a familiar light drifting out to meet them. “At the very least, we are almost to the first floor. Presumably, whatever this is all leading to will happen there.”
Following the alicorn forward, the group felt a wave of relief wash over them as they spotted it. Indeed, they had reached the next beam of light. They could finally leave the caves and return to the eerily familiar halls of the basement.
However, the thought of what awaited within those dimly lit rooms gave them pause as they all gathered around the light.
Without further hesitation, Celestia and Luna stepped into the light and were whisked away, prompting the others to follow suit. As always, they flew through a tunnel of overwhelming whiteness before being gently deposited on solid, earthen ground.
Sure enough, the basement waited before them. The creak of rafters and the swaying bulbs above almost seemed like a happy greeting.
While Rainbow Dash and Applejack gave paranoid glances to the doorways surrounding them and what lay beyond, most of the group turned their eyes to the ceiling in expectation. Soon enough, the distant noise of glass shattering confirmed what they thought was coming.
Fluttershy held Isaac close to her side and frowned as another distant memory began playing out for them. The faint sound of a door opening and footsteps came from thin air before the voice of the boy’s mother spoke.
“Where are you going? Wait! We need you! Your son, NEEDS you!”
Her ghostly voice was full of an emotion that none of the ponies had heard from her before. Sorrow. Isaac immediately turned his head to hide in Fluttershy’s fur and grasped her foreleg a little tighter.
Soon after, his father spoke softly.
“I’m doing more harm than good. I just can’t do this anymore… I’m sorry.”
The sound of a door creaking shut sent a jolt through Isaac’s form. Even while hiding his face, the ponies could tell he was crying more intensely.
“Please…!” His mother begged to no avail, her phantom cries gathering nothing but silence even now. “Please don’t leave us!”
A hollow feeling washed over the group as the voices faded one last time. The ghosts of the past returned to their graves, leaving behind only the mournful survivor at their side. They all looked to Isaac with sympathetic eyes.
Fluttershy’s heart ached as she felt the boy fully wrapping himself around her foreleg and crying into her side. She unfurled her wing and gently laid it over him, resting her chin on his head. “I’m so sorry, Isaac.”
After a few moments of watching this heart-wrenching display, Twilight tore herself away and turned toward the door leading out into the basement. It felt at once long ago and just mere moments ago that they left this place behind, but now they were back for what she hoped would be the final time. One way or another.
“I hope we find the starting room sooner than we did in those caves. I don’t even want to think about what new monsters are here,” Twilight said.
Luna held up a hoof, holding her newly acquired card for all to see. “Actually, that won’t be necessary this time.”
Twilight cocked her head to the side. “Huh?”
Luna enjoyed the look of bewilderment on the younger alicorn’s face for a moment. She flipped the card over in her hoof, examining its face and the design on it. “You see, the fool card teleports its user to the starting room of a given floor. Quite useful, especially given our current goal, I’m sure you’ll agree.” She smiled.
Twilight’s blank expression quickly lifted into a joyous grin. “That’s great, Princess!”
“You mean we get to skip straight to the end instead of fighting our way around until we find it?!” Rainbow Dash perked right up.
“Indeed…” Celestia added before her features softened as she turned to see Isaac still crying into Fluttershy’s side. “Of course, once everyone is ready.”
Hearing this, Isaac broke away from Fluttershy’s embrace. Much to everyone’s surprise, he sniffled once or twice and wiped his eyes before making an effort to stand tall.
“Isaac…?” Fluttershy looked to the boy, stunned that he was trying so hard to pause his emotional episode for their sake.
“Are you sure you’re ready, darling? We can wait as long as you need. I know that hearing all of that business with your parents again must have been painful,” Rarity said.
Isaac’s eyes still sparkled with emotion, but he gave a firm nod in response regardless.
“He’s so brave…” Pinkie sniffled and began tearing up herself. “Oooh, come here!” Without warning, she wrapped her forelegs around the boy and picked him up into a tight hug. While Isaac was a bit confused by her sudden emotional response, he appreciated the comfort.
“Very well,” Luna said, looking down to the fool card. “Everypony prepare yourself, as this method of teleportation can be a bit—”
Then, as she applied even subtle pressure to the card, it suddenly vanished with a flash of sparkles. The moment it did, all of them felt their stomachs drop as their bodies were pulled and stretched infinitely upwards in the blink of an eye.
Before they could even scream, it was over. Reality found them once more, and their forms returned to solid matter on solid ground.
Luna had to take a moment to rest a hoof to her heart. “— jarring…”
“Forget that the cards activate at the slightest thought and touch?” Celestia asked as she surveyed the group of ill-faced ponies trying not to barf.
“It has been one round trip to the moon since I’ve been here, sister,” Luna admitted before looking around.
As they expected, they were in the starting room of the basement. And, while it wasn't completely out of the realm of what they thought they might find, it was still surprising to find what was waiting for them.
Another beam of light.
Applejack shook herself back to her senses and stepped toward the light. “What the hay…? I thought we were just tryin’ to get back here? Where even would that lead?”
“Maybe out of the chest?” Twilight offered. “Logically, that would be the only place left to go above here… unless it somehow brings us to that cathedral place again.”
“As much as I like the thought of getting my fur singed off by not-Isaac again, I’d rather pass,” Rainbow Dash said flatly, to which Isaac briefly lowered his head.
“Welp, there’s only one way to find out!” Pinkie stated. Without any hesitation, she waltzed up to the light and got a jumping start into it, clutching her hind legs with her fore in a reverse-cannonball as she got pulled up.
“Pinkie, wait!” Twilight reached for her friend, only to sigh in defeat. She was already gone.
“I mean, she does have a point. We all know we have to go in… we might as well get it over with,” Rarity conceded.
Rainbow failed to hide a chuckle. “I see we’ve reached the acceptance stage of grief.”
Deciding to not keep their friend waiting, the ponies all filed into the light one by one, until eventually only Fluttershy and Isaac remained behind.
Fluttershy stared up into the light, and then looked down to her new friend. He had an almost nervous expression on his face as he glanced between the light and the basement behind him, what had been his home for countless years. Whatever waited for them, it was something new. Something he hadn’t imagined.
Feeling a hoof gently grabbing his hand, Isaac looked up to the pegasus beside him. She seemed nervous as well, but she wore a soft smile on her face as she stared at him with the same kind eyes she had when they first met.
“Are you ready to go, Isaac?” she asked, tightening her grip on his hand ever so slightly, as if to say that whatever was to come, they would face it together.
Isaac smiled as well and tightened his own grip as he nodded. Then, they both faced the pillar of light and stepped forward.
It wasn't some cold stone, or damp earth. It was soft, albeit thin, carpet.
Opening their eyes and blinking away the lingering brightness, they all looked around. Initially, they were stunned, confused even, but eventually it silently dawned on them. And as Isaac looked up, he discovered something that he never thought he would see again.
Home.
They were home. Specifically, his home, as it was in his life.
Unbroken, slightly dirtied white walls plastered sparingly with drawings and crayon scribbles surrounded them. A single, clean bed stood to their right, with an empty yellow chest at its foot. The floorboards around them were a little scuffed, but otherwise whole and crack-free.
“What the…?” Twilight muttered.
“Isn’t this Isaac’s room?” Pinkie said.
“So it would seem,” Celestia said.
The ponies turned to their young companion, only to find him looking around in bewilderment. Isaac took in the sight of all his drawings, his bed, his chest full of toys.
Rushing to the edge of the throw rug the group was standing on, he started to pull it up, prompting them to step back. As he revealed the blank floorboards beneath, he looked surprised, as if he had been expecting something to be there. His shoulders lowered, and an odd look of contemplation came over him.
“What does this mean?” Fluttershy asked. “Is… is this some sign of Isaac facing his past?”
“It is certainly possible,” Luna said. She turned to look at the lone door in the room, noting the crack in it just barely offering a glimpse of the hallway beyond. “But something tells me it will not be so simple for his wounds to heal.”
Twilight and her friends shared a hesitant look at that. They had faced many terrible foes in the chest already. What could possibly be left for it to throw at them?
Finding no answers in Isaac’s bedroom, the group opened the door and slowly made their way out into the rest of the boy’s home. A long hallway met them, with two doors. One directly to their left led into a simple closet, while the other at the end, opened into a larger space.
Stepping out into a humble living room, Twilight felt a chill run down her spine. While it was no longer decrepit and bathed in dim light, it was an exact match to the room she had seen in her dream of Isaac and his mother, right down to the massive red couch and carpet before a dormant television.
While Twilight stared at her faint reflection in the blackness of the television screen, her friends examined the rest of the room.
Fluttershy hovered up and grabbed a picture off the wall. It was of Isaac’s parents holding him as a baby. She looked back to see the boy staring at the empty couch. She set the picture down and walked over to join him.
Celestia found herself frowning as she looked back to the television behind her. “I presume this is where Isaac’s mother spent much of her time, watching those religious broadcasts.”
“What kind of religion did she follow, anyway?” Rainbow Dash suppressed a growl. “I thought the whole point of religion was to tell you to be a good person, not scare your kid into hating themself.”
“From what little we learned, the religion itself wasn't to blame. Many of its tenets were good spirited, but the interpretation drilled into Isaac’s mother’s head from the broadcasts she watched was… shall we say, more dogmatic,” Luna explained.
“All of that just because someone else told her how to act…” Applejack shook her head.
“Her circumstances, her state of mind, it did not help matters.” Luna closed her eyes and sighed. “It was the perfect storm for perversion and abuse, and Isaac, a mere child, was fated to suffer for it.”
Looking over, the group found Isaac walking away from them. He headed toward another doorway across the room, which seemingly led to an identical hallway to the one they just came from.
Deciding to follow him, the ponies left the living room behind and joined the boy into the next area. Up ahead, another room stood, with the door slightly ajar.
Isaac hesitated before it. He looked like he didn’t even want to go in. Hearing a slight creak, he lifted his eyes to find Celestia pushing the door open slightly, pausing to get his permission. He looked back to find all his friends offering him reassurance, prompting him to give a timid nod.
The elder princess pushed the door open, revealing another empty bedroom. This one clearly belonged to Isaac’s parents, given the larger bed adorned with purple sheets.
Beside the bed, a dresser stood with a familiar leather-bound book adorned with a cross on it. There was also a purse, with a bottle of pills poking out the top. Off in the corner, a vanity mirror stood with makeup and a bottle of perfume sitting on it. A box of dusty clothes and other items sat forgotten under the bed, bearing more masculine themes than the rest of the room.
Standing in his mother’s room, Isaac felt her overbearing presence, even though she was long gone from this place. He could still imagine coming to her to ask for something, be it to play a game, or for her to make dinner, only to be rebuffed, sometimes vehemently.
After his father started gambling and drinking, his mother fell deeper and deeper into a pit that she never quite got out of. It only grew worse after she was left alone with him.
His mother always told him that religion was supposed to be a beacon of hope for people in despair, but she turned it into something ugly that would haunt him for the rest of his life, and for much of his afterlife.
A familiar hoof on his shoulder returned him to the present. Isaac turned to find Fluttershy and his friends standing behind him, ever willing to bear the shadows of his past along with him. For all the horror in his life and this post-death world of his, he had finally found true friends that would stand by him no matter what.
Then, the lights in the room flickered abruptly, and died.
“W-What the…?!” Pinkie darted her eyes around in the dark.
“Okay, what gives?!” Rainbow Dash asked.
However, before any of their magically inclined friends could cast a light spell, light returned to them on its own. Pale, dim light. It was coming from behind them.
The group turned to find the door leading back out into the hallway. It was still open where they had left it, and they could see the opening to the living room up ahead awash with a white glow.
And in the distance, they could just barely hear the crackle of static in the still air.
Shadows clung like cobwebs to every corner of the room, hiding humble relics of a past long forgotten. The only thing driving away the dark was a pale light beyond the open door. Standing there, staring at the eerie glow, the ponies and their young companion almost preferred the darkness.
The fur on Fluttershy’s back crawled at a crackling sound which came from beyond the threshold. “What is that?” she dared to speak, her own faint whisper of a voice struggling to overcome the static. It was unlike anything she had ever heard before, unlike anything the natural world was capable of
Luna stared down the hallway, a glint of recognition behind the unease in her eyes. “Correct me if I am wrong, sister, but is that sound not from that strange device in the living room?”
“Indeed it is,” Celestia replied, not breaking her own stiff gaze. “It is called a television. That static sound is from it failing to find a signal. Harmless under normal circumstances… though I fear these are far from normal circumstances.”
“So, are we going to sit here and have a sleepover, or are we going to go see what’s going on?” Rainbow Dash turned toward the inviting bed nestled to the side. “I’m game for either. I could use a nap.”
Meanwhile, Twilight stared in the direction of the living room, her body tense. Memories of her vivid dream flashed through her head, of the frightful visage of Isaac’s mother, of the hands made of crackling snow pulling her into the television.
Looking down beside her, she found Isaac poking his head out from her hind leg. She could feel his tiny hands trembling as they gripped her fur, which only served to deepen the pit in her gut.
“I don’t think we have much of a choice,” Twilight said before turning to her friends, “but everypony be careful. I don’t trust this.”
“If that ain’t the understatement of the year,” Applejack said.
Deciding to take point, Celestia led her companions out of the dark bedroom and into the hallway. They all got light on their hooves as they crept forward, paranoid as if the slightest sound would be swallowed by the static and give them away.
Nearing the corner, the group started to hear muffled voices bleeding through the ceaseless white noise. It was difficult to tell what was being said half the time, but the bits they could make out weren’t exactly comforting.
They all shared hesitant looks as they stood there at the threshold of the living room. Finally, it was Twilight who made the first move out of the concealing shadows and into the pale light. Celestia and Luna followed close behind, with everyone else filing in after—some more reluctantly than others. Fluttershy had to take a moment to steel herself after Isaac came back and checked on her, but eventually she let him lead her in by the hoof.
The friends spread out as they entered the room. All eyes were glued to the television, the source of all the light. A shifting picture of crackling snow was all that could be seen on its screen.
Seeing no obvious threats in the vicinity, the ponies gradually crept out from behind the massive red couch and gathered on the cross-bearing carpet in front. Their forms were painted in dancing shadows on the cushions behind them.
“I must say, I’m not sure I get the appeal of this thing,” Rarity said.
Pinkie put a hoof up to shade her eyes. “What is it? Some kind of headache machine?”
“Normally, it’s supposed to show you things, kind of like a moving picture,” Twilight explained before looking ahead with troubled eyes. She could almost swear she could see strange movement in the static. “Somehow, I don’t think this is a normal television.”
Before anyone else could say anything, Isaac took a few timid steps toward the television. He looked between it and the couch behind him, staring pensively at the empty cushions. He then glanced at some of the pictures hanging on the wall, particularly at one of his mother and him alone, his shoulders slumping as he did.
Twilight frowned and walked up beside the boy. She draped a wing over him to where her feathers just barely caressed his shoulder, causing him to look up. Seeing her and the other ponies offering him comforting expressions was enough to reverse his gloom, even if only slightly.
…Krzzzt… And so I tell you…Bzzt… Krzzt—blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven!
A masculine voice drew their attention to the screen. They all took a step back, raising their guard at this sudden activity.
A picture drifted slowly into and out of focus on the television screen, accompanied by the sounds of a man speaking passionately. Through the static, the ponies could make out what looked to be figures huddled before a podium, where a single speaker stood with arms outstretched underneath a massive cross.
Impurity…lust…Bzzt…evil desires…
…Because of these sins…Krzzt…anger of God is coming!
A different man’s voice came through, and the faint images shifted to a different version of a similar scene. Another crowd gathered before another speaker, all under the same symbol.
“Poor dear,” Rarity glanced at Isaac before looking back to the screen. “I can see how listening to this day after day could leave its mark on an impressionable mind.”
Pinkie tilted her head. “But I thought Isaac’s religion taught good things? Why are they saying such awful things about it?”
Celestia stared at the unintelligible mess of shapes and images, her flat mouth curling down the longer she listened to the sermon. “I’m afraid all it takes is one fanatic to spoil the intentions of anything,” she said.
Bzzt…But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light…we have fellowship…Krzzt…each other…
…blood of Jesus…Bzzt… cleanses us from all sin…If we claim we have no sin…Krzzt…not living in the truth…
Fluttershy slowly stepped forward and joined the group huddled around Isaac. The boy was staring at the screen with a frown cut sharp and deep into his cheeks. “It’s okay, Isaac. You don’t have to listen to it anymore.”
Isaac turned to look back at her, though he seemed to find it difficult. It was as if an unseen hand had clamped down on his shoulder, resisting his efforts to tear himself away from the screen.
“What now?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Do we destroy this thing or something? If nothing else, I bet the kid would get a real kick out of it.”
Applejack smirked and stepped forward. “He wouldn’t be the only one!” She turned and reared up her hind legs, aiming to put a hole right through the glass.
As the farmer prepared to buck the television into oblivion, Twilight’s mind flashed back to her getting dragged into the screen. “Applejack, wait!”
*Thunk*
Before she could process the alicorn’s warning, Applejack kicked out. Her hind hooves collided with the glass, and while they rocked the television back and made a loud noise, nothing else happened.
“Huh… thing sure is sturdy.” Applejack scratched her head at the seemingly indestructible contraption before turning to her friend. “Somethin’ wrong, Twilight?”
Twilight allowed herself to ease up. “I… I guess not. I had a really weird dream about this thing before, but I guess it was just—”
KRZZT…REPENT!
A violent crackle and a jarring increase in volume jolted the group back. The image on the screen clarified slightly, revealing a close-up of a man on a podium through the fuzzy snow.
That’s right! All you girls and boys out there must repent for your sins! No matter how good you think you are, we are all sinners bound for the fire!
The speaker shifted to look straight ahead. Isaac and the others froze. It was almost like he was looking straight at the boy.
The wicked on this earth are enjoying but a sample of the eternal torment of Hell. You must not be deceived into thinking that just because you are not yet physically in Hell, that God's wrath is not upon you!
Then, another image started to bleed through and superimpose itself onto the speaker’s face. Two bright white eyes made of the crackling static faded into view.
Rainbow Dash backed herself up against the couch, lifting her hoof and twitching her wings in preparation for anything. “Uh… AJ, I think you ticked it off.”
“How was I supposed to know it was alive?!” Applejack retorted.
The eyes grew sharper and sharper on the screen, and the scene beneath them faded away as a familiar face took up the image. It was Isaac, but something was wrong. His tears were black, and his face was distorted, like it was melting. It slowly got larger, as if it was far away and getting closer to the front of the screen.
Closer to them.
Fluttershy receded from the television. She jumped as she hit the couch behind her. “Umm… y-you guys? W-What do we do?!”
“Please tell me there’s a way to turn this thing off?!” Rarity said.
Seeing the terrifying visage on the screen, Twilight lit her horn and raced a cluster of magic to a knob on the side of the television. She flicked it to a setting labeled ‘off’, to no effect. She flicked it back and forth, growing more and more desperate the closer the face got.
Celestia rushed to the side until she could see behind the television. Her eyes widened as she spotted the power cord near the wall. It wasn't plugged in. “I’m afraid that isn’t an option!”
Stepping forward, Luna charged her horn and faced the static abomination. She let loose a bolt of magic into the bulky device. The bolt exploded, silencing the room instantly as the television flickered off.
In the dark, a drawn-out creak followed by a loud slam made everyone’s hearts skip. Twilight raced to cast a light spell, channeling it into a cone ahead of them. As her magenta flashlight fell over the television, the ponies could see that it had been knocked over, and was inert.
Isaac looked up from his position cowering with Fluttershy. He deflated and wiped the sweat from his brow.
Celestia rested a hoof to her racing heart. “Nicely done, sister.”
“Thank you…” Luna said, still coming down from her own alarm. “Honestly, I did not expect that to work.”
“Me either… but I’m really glad it did,” Twilight breathed a sigh of relief.
Applejack gave the dormant television a wary look. “I don’t mean to push us around or anything, but do you think we oughta leave?”
“I second that…” Fluttershy muttered.
Seeing as they had already explored everywhere, Celestia made her way toward the hallway leading to Isaac’s bedroom. “I’m not quite sure where else we could go, but I do agree that hanging around here would be ill-adv—”
*SLAM*
The door shut violently in the alicorn’s face, nearly flattening her royal muzzle. Looking back, the group noticed the other door closing as well. Celestia blinked before sighing. “I was afraid that might happen…”
Then, pale light split the air once more as the fallen television flicked on. Twilight and the others gathered nearby all distanced themselves.
“Uh oh…” Rainbow Dash muttered.
“I suppose it did seem too easy,” Luna stated, keeping her horn at the ready as she stood in front of the ponies. Isaac, Twilight, and Celestia quickly joined her, with the others readying themselves as best they could.
In the shadow created by the white glow, all the color slowly drained from the floorboards as a monochromatic wave rippled outward from the television. A loud creaking and groaning sound came as the wooden floor, walls, and ceiling cracked and splintered.
Everyone flinched as the wave of decay passed underneath them and spread to the rest of the room. The once humble living room now resembled a washed-out, black and white nightmare full of holes.
“I don’t think I want a television anymore,” Pinkie said, lifting her hoof and examining the floor. She and her friends were the only source of color in the room now.
Seeing movement on the screen, Twilight tensed her hooves and lowered herself. “Look!”
Casting their eyes forward, the group watched as a shape pulsed out of the glass screen, hovering out of the television like it was merely a thin film of water.
Its rounded form was dripping and melted around the edges, but it was made of the same static filling the screen. A long, spindly cord attached it to the television, allowing it to rise up before it flopped to the floor. A puddle of crackling snow was left underneath it.
“Do we panic now?” Rarity asked, barely moving a muscle as she stared at the shape now rising into the air. Her revulsion only worsened as two glowing white eyes opened up on its head. With the cord connecting it to the television, it resembled a fetus made of static, a comparison which only furthered as a mouth opened and let out a piercing wail.
“I’m gonna say yes!” Rainbow Dash stated.
Before anyone could react further, the static creature fired several orb-shaped projectiles at them. They were like Isaac’s tears, only made of the same crackling material as the rest of the abomination before them.
“Scatter!” Applejack shouted, to which nobody needed confirmation. They all flew, ran, or dove out of the way as the static-y bullets sailed toward them.
Rolling out of the way of two streams of projectiles, Twilight was the first to return fire. She grit her teeth and discharged a bolt of magenta energy from her horn, cutting through the colorless world they now found themselves in.
The bolt flew up at the creature, aiming true for its head. However, a white sphere flashed around its form just before impact, similar to the robed creatures from the mausoleum. This time, the shimmering line feeding the shield led to the television itself.
Twilight blinked, fazed by the effortless parry of her attack. She was quick to recover, however, and shifted her eyes to the device and its glowing screen. “Aim for the television!” she exclaimed before rushing out of the way of another barrage of sizzling white orbs.
Running and ducking under projectiles passing by, Isaac strafed around the side of the beast and let loose his tears at the television. Each shot thudded into its side and seemed to cause a flicker in the static on the screen.
The being floating in front of the device glanced back, a sharp noise like nails in a blender erupting from its throat at the sight of its shield under attack.
A buzzing noise came as the creature shook. With a sickening crack its jaw opened and unhinged, and a geyser of crackling light fired out just ahead of Isaac. He fell backwards in shock at the beam mere inches away.
Then, the beam began to curve toward him. Isaac crawled away, his eyes wide as he realized he couldn’t escape it. He flinched and shielded his face. However, instead of being annihilated, he suddenly heard fast approaching hooves before a set of teeth clamped down onto his arm and tossed him onto the back of an orange mare.
“Got’cha!” Applejack ran as fast as she could away from the beam. She was able to outpace it with ease and ran around toward the couch.
Pinkie, who was already hiding by the couch along with Fluttershy, whistled in applause. “Woo! Go, Applejack!”
Fluttershy smiled in relief at the boy's safety, but her smile vanished as a sharp buzz caught her attention.
The beam of static was now curving toward them, having teleported to the other side of the couch to intercept the fleeing pony. While it was targeting Applejack, it didn’t care what, or who else got in its way.
“AHH!” Both Pinkie and Fluttershy screamed and bolted ahead. The beam followed them, disintegrating the couch mere inches behind them as they ran.
Applejack skidded to a halt. She started to change her direction to match the pair fleeing toward her, but she could tell that the beam was too fast for any of them. Letting out a cry of denial, she shut her eyes and waited for the end.
The end never came. What came instead, was a golden barrier of magic appearing around all four of them just before the beam could reach them.
Uncovering her head, Fluttershy looked up and flinched at the sight of the static laser spreading out and washing over the barrier. She turned to find Celestia hovering up near the ceiling in the far back corner of the room, just before the spreading wave cut off their view of the outside. “Princess?”
*Crack*
Hairline fractures spiderwebbed across the surface of the shield. Celestia winced and channeled more energy to her spell, but the beam was steadily overpowering her.
The ponies and their young companion inside the bubble huddled together and watched tensely as their magical sanctuary grew brittle and cracked further. Fluttershy and Pinkie hugged each other and whined, while Isaac buried his head into Applejack’s neck as she herself hid her eyes with her hat.
Fighting with all her magical might, Celestia strained herself to keep her barrier up. Just before she thought she might falter, the beam of static died down, allowing her to drop her shield. She immediately dipped in the air as her body deflated with exhaustion.
“Twilight, Luna! Don’t take its attacks lightly! It is stronger than anything we’ve faced here!” Celestia shouted.
Down on the ground, Twilight cringed as she shielded Rainbow Dash from another barrage of projectiles. Even the smaller orbs of static packed enough punch to cause her considerable strain.
“I noticed!” she retorted, joining Luna, Celestia, and even Rarity in firing magical potshots whenever she got the chance.
The static baby wailed at them and floated forward. Liquid dripped to the floor beneath it, spreading a creeping puddle of crackling snow everywhere it went.
Seeing the creature approaching, Applejack traded Isaac off to Pinkie’s back before they all ran in different directions. While her meeker friends fled for safety, Applejack ran around the side until she was behind the television.
While the monster’s attention was fixed on the others, Applejack used the lull between attacks to land a few strikes herself. She reared up and kicked the housing of the bulky device multiple times, grunting and putting all her worth into each kick.
“If nothin’ else, I gotta respect the craftsponyship. Whoever… ngh…. put this thing together, did a right fine job!” Applejack crouched down, focused and held a deep breath, and channeled the full force of her buck straight into the television’s wooden paneling. Entire orchards of apple trees would quake at a kick half that powerful, yet the strange machine showed no signs of damage.
Although, perhaps that wasn't true. Upon closer inspection, a crack began to form at the top of the screen.
As she was backing away and facing down the looming monstrosity, Twilight barely noticed this crack. Enlivened by a visual sign of progress, she glanced to the battle at large before deciding that she had enough of a window to direct her magic to the television.
“Hrk…!” Twilight heaved as her aura wrapped around the device. It was heavier than anything its size should have been, as if it was actively fighting her attempts at lifting it. However, it soon yielded to her magical might.
Applejack stepped back as the television floated up into the air. The rest of the group spared a glance at the otherwise novel sight.
Then, with a yell of exertion, Twilight slammed the television down into the ground with a clamor, cracking not only the screen but also the surrounding floorboards.
“Go, Twilight! Show this freak who’s boss!” Rainbow Dash cheered as she zipped around the creature, causing it to fire a few shots at her in retaliation.
Unsatisfied at simply damaging the device, Twilight strained to levitate it again. She slammed it down a second time, causing even larger cracks to reach all the way to the frame.
The creature jolted abruptly. Its snowy skin flickered momentarily as it jerked in the air with a pained cry. It then cast its glowing gaze onto the alicorn and the television wrapped in her magenta cluster of magic.
Stopping in the air, the being’s head shifted. It flowed upward, creating two branching parts that almost resembled a flame. As it flowed, more orbs of static flew out from its form, being flung far and wide. Each orb that impacted a wall or the floor made a sharp noise and vanished, being replaced by a translucent fluctuating line of static.
Twilight darted her head around and observed these lines criss-crossing the room. She flinched as one intersected her, but she didn’t feel anything.
The others all stared at these lines and the rain of projectiles still creating them. However, before anyone could think further on what they were for—
“GAH!”
A low buzz sounded out as one of the lines crossing Twilight’s foreleg lit up, creating a burning ray of static light. Blood trickled through her fur. It was like someone ran a white-hot razor across her skin.
More of the lines started intensifying, and an array of buzzing pings filled the room. Then came the yells.
“AGH!” Luna yelped and clutched her side as she failed to get out of the way in time.
“Get down!” Rarity tackled Fluttershy to the floor just in time to avoid two lasers burning through the pegasus’ barrel.
Pinkie squealed fearfully and dove for safety. Much to her horror, she heard a cry of pain from the boy atop her back as a laser narrowly raked across his side. “Isaac!”
Up in the air, Rainbow Dash’s face paled at the chaos below her. Her worried eyes darted between each of her friends. They then settled beneath her, her pupils shrinking as she noticed a see-through line of static painting her chest and coming out the other side, just in time for it to start lighting up. She flinched.
Another buzz sounded out, and a beam of light split the air.
Rainbow Dash’s form jolted. She dipped in the air, but managed to flap her wings again and stabilize herself.
Opening her eyes and bringing a hoof to her chest, Rainbow was surprised to find no blood. There was no hole burned through her body, and as she looked ahead, she soon found why.
A magenta shield floated around her, cracked but unbroken. Down on the ground, Twilight cringed and clutched her bleeding foreleg to her chest, but still managed to keep her horn lit as she looked up to her friend.
After sharing a wordless thanks with the alicorn, Rainbow’s features hardened as she shifted her attention to their enemy. The television was still hissing and crackling at them, screaming out through unending static. It was, however, heavily damaged by this point.
Zipping to the very back of the room, Rainbow Dash flapped her wings as hard as she could and picked up speed. She bolted through the air like a cyan bullet before arcing down and aiming right for the screen.
The creature turned and screeched at her, but she was too fast. A grin split her face as she flipped around mid-dive, bringing her hind hoof down with all the force of a battering ram.
“Lights out, creep!” she exclaimed.
The shattering of glass rang out through the room as Rainbow’s hoof shot clean through the center of the screen. Already weakened by the onslaught of punishment it had taken, the frame of the bulky device split as well, leaving the television to collapse into a heap of debris.
As the static of the screen vanished, the umbilical cord connecting it to the floating creature melted into the floor. A droning wail came from the monster’s mouth, its form shaking and trembling in the air.
Howling all the while, it fell and vanished into its own pool of crackling fluid on the ground.
Silence washed over the room. The ponies stared in shock for a moment before Pinkie gave the first cheer. “Go, Dashie!”
“Well done, Rainbow Dash!” Celestia smiled.
Even Isaac walked up to the group huddling around the broken television and clapped excitedly while the pegasus did a few stage bows.
“Thank you, thank you. I knew that thing couldn’t handle my awesomeness the moment it flopped out of this stupid box.” Rainbow gave the ruined television a kick without even looking back.
However, while the ponies were celebrating, Isaac paused as he noticed something. His expression went blank as he looked down at the puddle of static on the floor. Its surface was wriggling underneath the constant crackling snow, as if something was moving within.
The boy reached up beside him and tugged on Twilight’s hind leg. “What is it, Isaac?” She started to crane her head around to him, and froze as she spotted the cause of his alarm.
More of the group turned and noticed the puddle wriggling more aggressively. They all started to slowly back away from it. Then, an amorphous blob of similar size to the static baby came rising out of the pit.
“Uh… what happened to it not being able to handle your awesomeness, Dash?” Applejack asked.
Rainbow Dash didn’t even turn to face her amidst her stunned shock. “No comment…” she muttered as she took another few steps back.
The blob started shaking in the air. Its outermost sections pulled inward, roiling and shifting like a caterpillar within a cocoon shaping itself into something else.
Rarity scoffed and raised a hoof in disbelief. “How is that thing even flying?! It doesn’t have any w-”
With a flash of light and a choir of heavenly voices ringing out at once, the orb of static unfurled four feathery appendages. Each wing flapped in unison, keeping it afloat. It held an otherworldly quality to it unlike anything they had seen before. A great, terrible, divine being rendered in static and twisted to embody all the corruption spewed by the television.
“Okay… I’m just going to stop talking now,” Rarity noted, taking a few increasingly panicked steps back before breaking out in a full-on gallop as the thing started to move toward them.
Springing into action once more, Isaac joined the magic users in battle. His tears met their bolts of energy in colliding with the creature, chipping away at its stamina. The others backed away to what they thought would be a safe distance. They thought wrong.
With a casual flick of its massive wings, the angelic being propelled a wave of feathers at gale-force speed. Each feather crackled with the same static energy coursing through its form as they surged toward the ponies and their young companion.
Rainbow Dash took to the air again, but even with her deft reflexes, she couldn’t get clear in time to prevent one of the feathers from clipping her hind leg. Blood sprayed out in a thin film as her fur, flesh, and underlying muscle failed to slow the feather down even slightly. “Agh!”
Isaac managed to weave himself in between each of the projectiles, putting to work his endless hours spent dodging similar attacks from other monstrosities in the basement.
Near the back of the room, Fluttershy flinched and dove to the floor, narrowly avoiding the projectiles. A few magical barriers popped up around her, shielding her other friends who weren’t so fast to evade.
After letting her barrier around Pinkie and Rarity fade, Twilight’s eyes burned with determination as she faced their foe. Racing energy to her horn, she focused and conjured a set of glowing magenta chains around each of the angel’s four wings. The chains shot out and wrapped themselves around the wings and the creature’s spherical body, soon rendering it trapped in midair.
“I’ve got it! Focus your fire on it!” Twilight instructed.
Before anyone could capitalize on the opportunity she granted, Twilight felt her magic begin to buckle. The chains flexed and creaked as the creature’s body shook. She tried to pour more energy into the bonds, but she was helpless to prevent them shattering as the angel’s form suddenly shifted.
“Ngh!” Twilight cringed and held her horn. Pushing aside the pain, she looked up and gasped as she saw what the creature did to break her chains.
With a whir, the ball of static spun and spun until its body pulled outward into a winged ring. It then zipped off, heading straight for Twilight and anyone behind her. The alicorn tried to run, but couldn’t get away before the creature plowed into her, knocking her off her hooves and into the nearby wall.
Celestia’s eyes snapped to her student being flung into a wall, and a gasp escaped her. “Twilight!” she exclaimed. Distracted, and with the creature flying harmlessly off to the side of her, she barely noticed as another noise signaled a radial spray of feathers launching off the winged wheel. Barely noticed, until she felt something slice through her back. “Ahh!”
“Princess!” Fluttershy cried out. However, her wide eyes soon focused on the creature as it whipped back across the room, heading straight for her. Her body tensed, and a timid squeak escaped her as she realized she couldn’t evade in time.
Something crashed into her, but it wasn't the creature. Fluttershy tried to look up, only to have a blue hoof firmly hold her head down just in time for the winged wheel to pass over. She finally turned to find Princess Luna on top of her.
“Keep your wits about you, young Shy!” Luna stated before casting her gaze toward the creature zipping around and sending a shot from her horn where she thought it would be. The attack missed, but she couldn’t focus on that for long before she was forced to cast a shield around Twilight from another burst of feathers.
Over on the other side of the room, Isaac struggled to keep up with the sheer speed of the creature. He was barely hitting any of his shots, and he found it increasingly hard to predict the wheel’s path soon enough to dodge it.
He dove to the floor, narrowly avoiding a potential decapitation. However, his eyes widened as he turned to find a barrage of feathers heading toward him.
Just before impact, Isaac found himself getting snatched into the air by his hands. Looking up, he found a familiar cyan pegasus carrying him aloft with her hooves.
Rainbow Dash smirked down at her passenger before steeling her gaze on the wheel whipping around the room. “You focus on shooting! I’ll handle the rest!”
Isaac gave a solemn nod. Rainbow cruised down closer to the creature and matched its hairpin turn with one of her own, keeping just behind it. While the boy in her grasp started firing tears at it, she dipped and weaved around another burst of feathers so her companion could stay on target.
Numerous tears and magical blasts of varying color impacted the winged wheel. Each strike seemed to disrupt the pattern of static on its form, but still it kept going. Then, it gradually slowed to a stop and returned to its former shape.
Rainbow Dash came to a stop and hovered off to the side, giving Isaac a clear shot. Twilight and the other magic users wasted no time in joining the boy, hitting the creature with everything they had.
The static beast shook and its wings furled inwards. For a moment, the ponies felt a sense of relief, thinking they had won.
The relief was short-lived, as the creature began to emit a high-pitched whine and summon a shining ball of light above itself. The ball began to morph, spilling out in numerous brilliant, scintillating arms, each stretching out and shifting around until they suddenly stopped.
Twilight’s eyes widened as the rays of light started to intensify. The creature had made a similar attack before with the beams of static, so she knew they were in trouble. “Get down!” she shouted to her friends before rushing up to Rarity and casting a shield around them.
All at once, each of the rays of light grew brighter and flashed across the room, snapping floorboards, scorching walls, and reducing Twilight’s shield to a fine purple mist.
Rarity gasped as a ray of death came mere inches between her and Twilight. The alicorn yelped, but not from being struck—her strongest barrier had proven about as effective as an illusion spell.
“Aren’t we a little underpowered for this?!” Pinkie shouted amidst the fray, holding her hooves over her head and cowering under one of the radiant beams.
Up in the air, Rainbow Dash screamed as her shoulder erupted into agony, one of the blinding rays piercing clean through. She dipped in the air and nearly dropped Isaac before catching him and holding him close to her chest with one foreleg.
Isaac looked up to the bleeding hole in the pony’s shoulder aghast. Still, Rainbow held her flight pattern and kept her grip on him even through gritted teeth.
“Ngh… hold on, Isaac!” She undertook evasive maneuvers as another set of light rays formed from the ball above the creature’s non-existent head.
Chaos ensued as everyone raced to get out of the way of any forming beams of light. It was hard to judge where the rays would go, as they didn’t stretch all the way out at first, and they kept moving. Those on the ground jumped, tucked, and dove every which way, and those few in the air zipped to any safe spot they could find.
Finally, the angel threw the ball of light as it started forming one last barrage, freeing it up to fly away while the group fled for safety.
“Gah!” Applejack tumbled to the ground as a finger of light poked clean through her thigh, sizzling as it went.
“Applejack!” Pinkie rushed to the fallen mare’s side and helped her stand back up. Both of them tensely turned and watched the creature for whatever would be sent their way next, though with how slow they were now, they wondered if they could dodge.
Seeing the others growing more injured and exhausted by the minute, Celestia’s expression tensed. She pushed through her own draining stamina and fired out her own laser of burning sunlight at the creature. “We must finish this quickly, before it finishes us!”
“Everyone focus fire on it!” Twilight suggested, adding her own barrage of blasts to her mentor’s concentrated beam.
Luna began firing bolts of magic as well, even as she was forced to roll out of the way of another volley of static feathers. “It must reach its limit eventually!”
The creature trembled and faltered in the air from the onslaught against it. It loosed another shrill whine as it gathered energy into a second ball of light above it.
Up above, Isaac widened his eyes. He wasn't sure if his friends could take another attack.
Thinking fast, he looked up to the pegasus still clutching him tightly and patted her foreleg.
Rainbow Dash darted her gaze between the forming attack and the boy in her grasp. "What?! I'm a little busy!"
In response, Isaac reached into his inventory and pulled out a small object— a bomb. He pointed to the creature, and then to the explosive in his hand.
"I see…" Rainbow muttered as she looked ahead. With the forming rays of light, it would be dangerous to get close enough to the creature for the boy to throw his bomb. Of course, danger was no problem for her. "You got it, kid! Just get ready to throw!"
Zooming ahead, Rainbow tossed Isaac up and caught him on her back. He lowered down, keeping one hand around her neck and one hand poised with the bomb at the ready. The menacing hum of the tendrils of light snaking back and forth grew in pitch as they slowed, preparing to burn through anything in their way.
Their friends down below tensed themselves and struggled to decide if they should dodge, guard, or continue fighting in an effort to destroy the creature before it could destroy them. Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack all huddled loosely at the back of the room while the alicorns ahead stood their ground. Twilight darted her eyes back to the others, and then at the pair flying above. With her nerves and taxed magical stamina, could she even hold a shield against the unforgiving might this foe wielded?
Rainbow grit her teeth and zipped straight by the creature. She didn’t even attempt to dodge, just to get there fast enough. Time seemed to slow to a halt as Isaac lit the fuse on his bomb and tossed it at the base of the floating monstrosity.
Seconds ticked by. The rays of light stopped moving, their trajectories locked in place. Two of them were lined up with Fluttershy and Pinkie, while one ran straight through Twilight’s chest. Another trained itself dead-center on Rainbow Dash’s torso as she flew, and she felt the hairs on her tail bristle as she stared at the death ray starting to fire.
The fuse on the bomb got shorter. The lights got brighter…
Brighter…
Shorter…
Until—
*BOOM*
A fiery explosion rocked the room. The winged creature was completely engulfed. All the ponies flinched, both from the shockwave, and from the imminent attack. Rainbow Dash yelped as she was pushed away by the force. It wasn't enough to injure her, but it was enough to send Isaac falling from her back as she sailed into the nearby wall.
Twilight forced herself to look up. Even with her heavy breathing, she was caught between beats of her frantic heart and gasps of air. Her horn sparked and fitted, but she struggled to channel energy toward a shield.
However, as the smoke cleared, she and the others noticed that the ball of light over the creature’s head was gone. In fact, the creature itself wasn't moving. Or, it wasn't flapping its wings at least.
The static making up its form flickered and shifted as the whole thing shook. Then, with a high-pitched cry that filled their ears and distorted, the ponies’ vision filled with light that swiftly blinked out, just like a television shutting down, leaving behind nothing but darkness.
“W-Where is everypony?!” Fluttershy whined.
“Worry not,” Luna’s voice chimed in from somewhere off in the dark, “we are still here.”
“Ngh… does somepony want to turn on a light?” Rainbow suggested as she picked herself off the ground.
Almost the instant she said that, light returned to them, though it wasn't from any of the magic users.
All eyes shifted ahead to a pale glow. Isaac was still on the floor where he fell. Ahead of him, a puddle of liquid crackling with static sat on the ground where the creature was.
Isaac squinted his eyes open and lifted his head. He looked around to see his pony friends slowly approaching. However, before they could gather around him, they all froze as a shape rose out of the static pool.
It wasn't the creature, or any other form of it. It was a massive cross.
The crackling shape loomed over the boy, holding his stunned gaze as a flame to a moth. It represented everything to him. Everything he had been taught, everything he knew to be just, everything he feared. Even now it eclipsed him as it stood there, still as a statue.
Still, that is, until it fell forward. Isaac barely had time to flinch before it filled his vision.
A series of gasps rang out as the ponies watched the cross fall over their young friend.
Fluttershy reached a hoof out. “Isa—”
The name scarcely left her mouth before the impact sent a shockwave of air throughout the room. In an instant, all of them, even the royal sisters themselves, were sent flying from their hooves. Their consciousness blinked out all at once.
A murmur escaped her as Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes again. Her vision was blurry, and her mind was foggy, though she was gradually coming to her senses.
The first thing she consciously saw was a picture of orange-tinted floorboards. She blinked hard and shook her head before looking around. Her friends were all gathered loosely around her, having been knocked clear to the back of the room. Like her, they were all slowly coming to amidst a sea of groans and mumbles.
“What… what happened?” Rainbow Dash croaked, her eyes still heavy and unfocused. She slowly lifted herself up on one foreleg and peered around. As her vision cleared, she joined many of her friends in staring ahead in shock.
They were still in the living room, or at least what was left of it. The broken remnants of the television, couch, and all other decorations were missing. All that remained were the bare walls full of cracks and holes, now letting orange light poke through instead of the pale glow they had grown accustomed to.
“Ngh… is… is everypony okay?” Twilight asked as she took in their new surroundings.
More than just the layout of the room had changed. It was also hot. Almost unbearably hot. The air itself stung their fur, and they were quickly building up a sweat.
Fluttershy didn’t care much about these changes at first. Once her mind was clear enough to remember what had just happened, one thought screamed inside her head.
“Isaac?!” Her eyes darted around the room before settling on the floor ahead.
Isaac was still lying where he was before, and though the cross was missing, its effects lingered. The boy’s eyes were glazed over with crackling static, which was overflowing and running down his face like the tears the group were so used to seeing.
Fluttershy rushed over, gently shook him and called his name. She called it again, not so gently this time, and then again and again. She wrapped her hooves about his ears and shook him violently, sending strings of static flying and hitting her face. The only signs of awareness from Isaac—indeed, the only signs of life at all—came in the form of ragged, shallow breathing.
"What's happening to him?" Fluttershy bit her lip.
"I'm not sure," Celestia said. She and the others gathered by the boy, worried frowns shared between them. "We never saw anything like this in our time with him."
A creak pricked their ears. They looked up just in time to see a patch of the far wall falling away. Then another, and another. Gradually, more pieces of their wooden sanctuary began crumbling, revealing a massive cavern tinged in red and orange.
“Uh… I think a better question would be, what’s happening to the room?” Rainbow Dash hovered into the air and shrank in on herself as she peered around.
While the ponies circled together and watched the living room disintegrate, Fluttershy paused as she felt something move down her cheek. Holding a hoof to it, she discovered the droplets of liquid static from Isaac’s tears falling off of her and flowing through the air.
She stood and looked down, mouth falling agape as she noticed that the pools of crackling tears formed around Isaac’s head had begun to recede. As if flowing in reverse, they shrank and ran back up the boy’s face. At the same time, he began to twitch and convulse.
Noticing this as well, Twilight watched in stunned shock as white, feathery appendages began violently sprouting from the boy’s back. “Isaac…?”
With a flash of static, his entire appearance changed from the boy they knew to a pale, lifeless visage of blue skin and empty eyes.
“AH!” Twilight and the others flinched at the sudden horror before them. In the next instant, another flash of static returned Isaac to normal.
“Wh… w-what was that?!” Rarity asked.
Luna started to reach a hoof out to the boy, when another flash made her flinch back. This time, a dry, brittle skeleton was left behind, only keeping the strange white growths that the group could now discern to be still-forming wings. “I’m afraid, for better or worse, Isaac is coming to terms with his past.”
As the boy flashed back to his usual self, still panting and shaking as the wings kept sprouting and the static tears kept flowing back into his eyes, the ponies were caught between watching his transformation and the transformation of the room around them.
More pieces of the walls and ceiling fell away, until more was missing than not. Now that they could see out into the space beyond, the ponies’ wide eyes reflected burning red light from a sea of what looked to be bubbling lava. Floating rafts of broken floorboards were dotted around, but other than these vestiges of normality, everything else was flooded in magma. Jagged spikes of rock poked down from the roof of the cavern above, stretching further than the eye could see.
Behind them, Isaac flashed once more to another form: a spectral white being with a wispy tail and haunting eyes still filled with static. In the next instance, it was gone, and only Isaac was left lying there. The wings finished sprouting, and the static trails down his face finished receding back into his eyes.
Finally, with one last flash of crackling snow, the boy was missing entirely.
“Isaac…?” Pinkie spoke. Her jaw still hung slack as she looked around for the boy. “Where did he go?”
“He didn’t leave us here, did he?!” Rainbow Dash added.
The sound of wings softly flapping made Rainbow pause her imminent panic attack. She looked up, her violet eyes meeting the familiar, expressive black orbs of their young friend. “Isaac?”
The boy smiled down at the ponies and fluttered to the side, showing off his newly acquired wings. He also had a faint aura of light around him, barely visible enough to even notice.
“Talk about an angel getting his wings…” Twilight noted. She wasn't sure what logic this mental world was following, but its symbolism was very on the muzzle.
“Well, if he’s an angel…” Applejack traced her eyes along the expanse of infernal wastes beyond their lonely island of wood, “I was joking when I said we were already in Tartarus.”
“Haven’t you learned by now that this place has it out for us? You shouldn’t be giving it ideas,” Rarity sighed before gesturing a hoof out at the sea of lava. “What do we even do now? I don’t see a way out of this place.”
“Maybe we’re supposed to fight something again?” Pinkie mused.
“Don’t be ridiculous, darling. We literally just fought something. It would be beyond unfair to make us fight something else two seconds lat—”
Rarity paused abruptly as the ground began to rumble. Out in the distance, a massive patch of lava shifted until a dark shape began rising out of it. Even with how far away it was, it dwarfed the background of this seemingly endless cavern.
The ponies watched the shape climbing higher and higher, their jaws dropping lower and lower as the color drained from their faces. Even Isaac hovered in place, slack-jawed and wide-eyed at the behemoth waking from its slumber.
Three horns sat upon its head like obsidian stalagmites. Beneath each, a red eye with a slitted black pupil gazed out with a palpable sense of malice behind them. Blood ringed its wide mouth full of canine incisors as sharp as a wild dog’s. Boils and veins marred its black skin, which was only partially covered by a tattered piece of blue and yellow fabric near the bottom.
A great roar split the cavern, causing everyone to cover their ears as rocks fell from the ceiling around them and splashed into the lava. Then, as if drawn by the beast’s call, four other figures descended from above.
These figures, dwarfed by the beast, but still nearly twice as large as any of the princesses, floated upon stick ponies with real, disfigured equine heads. Their humanoid forms were equally disfigured in different ways. One gray one with visible ribs, sunken pits for eyes, and cracked skin framing a toothy smile. One green one plagued with sickly, drooping skin covered in growths, a swollen eye, and glowing bile flooding its mouth. One with gnashing teeth and intense hatred in its eyes burning nearly as brightly as its deep red skin. And lastly, a pale one, with a leering skull and a scythe clutched at its side.
Applejack cast a flat look at Rarity. “What was that about giving it id—”
“Not a word! Not. Another. Word!” Rarity squealed.
Seeing the four figures gathered around the beast, Celestia, Luna, and even Isaac felt a dreadful sense of familiarity. They recognized these creatures, though their forms were now larger and more monstrous from the last time they saw them. The four horsemen, harbingers of the apocalypse.
“Sister, Twilight, can you still fight?” Celestia asked, spreading her wings and not taking her steely eyes off their foes.
“I’m afraid we don’t have much choice in the matter,” Luna replied. She lowered herself, wings twitching and horn humming with invisible magic, ready to spark to life at a moment’s notice.
Twilight cringed as her many injuries stung and a wave of weakness flowed up her legs. She quickly suppressed the pain and exhaustion she felt and stood tall. “I’m with you,” she stated before turning to the others. “Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, help the others keep their distance. I don’t know what these things are capable of, but if it’s anything like that thing from the television, I don’t want you guys anywhere near them.”
“But… what about you guys?” Pinkie asked, looking between the alicorns and their young friend with worried eyes.
Before Twilight could respond, another deafening roar rocked the cavern. The ponies looked out, only to pale at the sight of the massive figures starting to move. The four horsemen effortlessly floated forward, while the beast waded its massive body through the lava like a cruise liner through open sea, and they were all heading straight for the group.
Celestia turned to the others, her eyes holding more urgency than they had ever seen from her before. “Twilight is right, all of you need to keep yourselves safe! This battle is best fought in the air!” She took off straight toward the incoming threats.
Luna flapped her wings and zoomed off after her sister. Isaac coasted after them, ready and willing to face these monstrous enemies with his friends.
Twilight shared a look with the others. A stranger might have seen only the determination in her eyes, but her closest friends could make out the trembling in her ears and the subtle twitch at the corners of her mouth. She set her jaw and gave them a single nod before taking flight.
Watching as the alicorns joined Isaac in facing down the greatest horror the chest held, Fluttershy and the others couldn’t deny a feeling of dread.
However, Rainbow Dash seemed to be staring a bit more intently than everyone else. She took a step forward, sizing up their sizable foes before turning to Fluttershy. “You got this?” She nodded to their three flightless members and the haphazard path of rocks and wooden islands leading across the lake of fire.
“Rainbow…” Fluttershy’s mouth fell agape as she saw a familiar glint of defiance in her friend’s eyes. That same glint she had every time she rushed off into danger to fight some deadly foe.
“You’re not thinking about doing something stupid, are you?” Applejack asked.
Rainbow chuckled and half shrugged. “What can I say? It’s kinda my thing.”
Shaking her head, Applejack sighed, though a slight smile formed at one corner as she put a hoof on the brash pegasus’ shoulder. “Just don’t do anything too stupid, ya hear?”
With a single nod, Rainbow Dash gave each of her friends a last look before turning and zooming off, leaving a multicolored contrail behind her.
Rarity held a hoof to her chest and watched the silhouettes of her friends approaching the giant creatures. “Please be safe, everyone…”
Fluttershy suppressed the urge to cry and instead focused on the task she was given. She turned to the path to safety, perilous as it was, and swallowed hesitantly before spreading her wings. “Come on, girls. We need to get moving before we get caught in this. The others can’t fight at their best if they’re worrying about us.” She waved a hoof, hovering up and waiting near the edge.
While those behind her put as much distance between them and the fight as possible, Twilight and her companions were closing the distance to their terrible foes.
Twilight fought her body’s instinct for self preservation just to keep going in this direction. Every inch of her fur was bristling with the urge to flee, but she couldn’t let her friends down. Hearing another set of wings coming up behind them, she turned her head. She was surprised to spot a familiar cyan shape coasting up to them and joining their flight formation.
“Rainbow Dash…?” Twilight blinked.
Rainbow gave a quick salute. “At your service, Princess Egghead.” She smirked.
Celestia glanced to the side and flattened her gaze. “I thought we told you to stay back with the others?” she asked. Luna joined her in giving the reckless pegasus a flat look. Even Isaac was offering her a disappointed frown.
While having the older princesses chide her gave her some pause, Rainbow still wore some confidence and determination in her face. “In all fairness, you also said this fight was best fought in the air. I figured I could help out, seeing as I am the fastest flier around.” She dropped her smug exterior for a moment and adopted a more sober expression. “Besides that, do you really think I’m going to let you do this alone?”
Twilight sighed, though she couldn’t help but smile as well. However, her already brief moment of admiration was cut short as another roar brought her attention forward.
The three-horned beast stopped advancing as its four minions kept going. It waited and watched patiently, leering at the ponies like a lion stalking its prey, waiting for just one slip before striking.
At the front, the harbingers flew into battle with a zeal that the group hadn’t seen from any creature before. The gray rider of Famine chuckled heartily, its withered smile cracking even further around the edges as it grew. Pestilence threw its arms up and gave a guttural cheer. War shook violently and gnashed with rage. And the pale rider himself, Death, merely face-palmed at his companions and held his scythe at the ready as they charged forward.
“I’ve got Death and Pestilence,” Luna stated.
Celestia glanced to the side. “Are you sure, sister?”
“Indeed. If their smaller iterations are anything to go by, I believe they will do the most harm,” Luna clarified before picking up her speed and coasting ahead of her friends to meet her opponents head on.
Celestia’s features tensed, though she couldn’t afford to dwell on her worry. “Very well. Twilight, you handle Famine. I will take on War.”
“Right.” Twilight nodded. Then, her eyes trailed up to the four harbingers and shifted between them. “Uh… w-which one is Famine?”
“The gray one on the left,” Celestia explained. She then looked over to the pegasus following them. “Rainbow Dash, see if you can distract that beast while Isaac wittles it down.”
Rainbow Dash shared a look with Isaac before settling her eyes on the massive creature and smirking. “You got it!” she replied, zipping ahead with the boy in tow.
While the pair coasted past, weaving around the advancing horsemen to get at the beast beyond, Luna prepared herself as she sized up her opponents.
As the distance between them closed, Pestilence hovered ahead of his brothers and coughed up a toxic green ball of bile. The disgusting mortar sailed through the air in an arc, coming down straight at Luna. She effortlessly coasted to the side, allowing it to fall into the bubbling lava.
“Hah! It will take more than that to fell me, you abomi—” Luna cut off as a vile stench hit her nostrils. She coughed and put a hoof to her mouth. Looking down where the smell was coming from, her eyes widened as she saw more projectiles and a cloud of odor rising out of the lava where the initial attack landed.
“Gah!” A yell escaped her, and she clutched a freshly made cut along her side. One of the smaller balls of toxins had found its mark before she evaded. Clenching her teeth, she glared at the diseased horseman, and the pleased smile on its disfigured face.
However, her anger quickly shifted to concern as she looked around. Somewhere in her evasion and pained flinch, she lost sight of the pale rider. It was nowhere to be found ahead of her.
A cold chill ran down her spine as a shadow fell over her. She eyed to the side, just barely spotting a glowing glint of red in the shape of a pupil. She gasped and pushed her wings to flap hard, rising as high as she could in one motion. High enough, that the scythe slashing across only clipped a few hairs off her dangling tail.
Luna whirled around to find the grinning skull of Death staring at her, a maddened hunger for mortal blood gleaming in its empty eye sockets.
As the matron of the night did battle with two harbingers, Twilight and Celestia flew side-by-side and focused on theirs.
The two remaining riders, War and Famine, flew toward teacher and student without hesitation. War held a boiling rage in its inky black eyes, while Famine’s cold, hollow sockets radiated the insanity that starvation brought.
Twilight turned to see Celestia giving her a nod before her mentor broke off to the side. She drew a stiff breath through her teeth and faced her own opponent head on. While Celestia cast a bolt of flame at War to draw it away, Twilight came to a hard stop a dozen or so feet away from the grinning corpse of Famine.
An unhinged laugh barely reached her ears over the bubbling lava below and the sounds of battle around her. Famine chuckled to itself as it waited for her to make the first move. Impatient, it decided to strike first.
A volley of dark, coagulated blood bullets shot from its mouth, spreading out toward her. Twilight barely dodged to the side in time. Looking back and readying her horn for a counter-attack, she flinched as she found the emaciated face of Famine closing in on her, rapidly flying forward on its stick pony.
Twilight yelped, startled at the horrific sight so unexpectedly close. She raced the energies in her horn toward a different spell and let loose a blast of kinetic force around herself.
The shockwave caught Famine and sent it hurtling backward through the air several feet. It teetered back as its hobby-horse stopped, flailing for a moment as if it would fall off before correcting itself and shaking its head. For a moment, the constant grin it sported creaked into an angry scowl.
An explosion briefly caught Twilight’s attention. She looked up, only to flinch again and dodge out of the way of an approaching line of projectiles. However, as she soon realized, the projectiles weren’t aimed at her.
Overhead, Celestia flew and curved around while War chased after her. The crimson harbinger growled and produced a large bomb with a skull on it, which it then tossed ahead at her with great force.
Celestia pulled to the side hard, avoiding the eventual explosion. She then course-corrected out of the way of an indiscriminate spray of projectiles sent flying from within the bomb.
"I've always hated war. How fitting that the concept personified should hate me just as much!" Celestia whipped around in the air and pointed her horn at the rider. She fired a solid beam of gilded light, which struck War and carried it clean off its horse, across the air several feet, and then smack-dab into a stalactite dangling from the rocky ceiling.
After the beam died down, War shook its head and pried itself off of the stone outcropping. It looked down to its smoking form before grinding its teeth and yelling. Holding out its nubby hand, it summoned its stick pony back to it and went astride before zooming off toward the infuriating alicorn.
With the princesses doing battle behind them, Rainbow Dash and Isaac made their way up to the great beast waiting patiently.
Looking over to Isaac, Rainbow found him wearing more than a bit of trepidation on his face as they coasted ever closer to the towering monstrosity. She flashed him a confident smile. “Don’t worry, kid. Just get in some shots where you can, and leave the rest to me,” she explained before zipping ahead.
Isaac watched as the cyan pony boldly flew up to the beast’s face. Its three eyes converged on her like a buzzing fly before a giant.
“Hey, ugly! Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to stare?!” Rainbow defied death and self-preservation and flew directly into the beast’s face. She kicked out her hind hooves, landing right in the squishy center of its center eye and causing it to flinch shut.
A deafening wail of pain came. The beast growled up at the annoying insect before it and lunged forward, its maw open wide and its jagged teeth chomping down. Rainbow Dash squeaked fearfully and took off like a bolt, getting clear well before the bite could connect.
The lava below churned as the creature shifted around to follow Rainbow. Her speed easily outmatched its clumsy size, though it was persistent.
Spotting his opportunity, Isaac closed in and began firing at the beast’s obsidian skin. Such a sight made his efforts at fighting back look futile, and while he felt woefully ill-equipped to handle this titan, his tears did steam and sizzle against its form.
Eventually, the beast stopped spinning around trying to keep up with the pegasus. It shifted its menacing stare to Isaac and rotated to meet him. The boy shrank back in the air and trembled. Seeing this, Rainbow Dash flew between him and the creature and waved her forelegs, hoping to regain its attention.
“Over here! I’m the one you want! Why don’t you leave the kid alone?!” she shouted.
In response, the three red eyes glanced at her. However, before she could fly off again, it opened its mouth and began sucking air inward. Both Rainbow and Isaac felt a tremendous pull that began sucking them toward the beast’s maw.
“Woah…!” Rainbow Dash turned and began flapping her wings hard in the other direction. Even with her wingpower, she barely managed to keep ahead of it.
Isaac struggled to fly sideways out of the vortex. He looked back, frowning at the danger his friend was in and trying to think of a way to help her, when his eyes suddenly widened.
Further out in the cavern, Twilight, Celestia, and Luna all looked up from their own battles as a sizable gust of air blew past them. They were stunned to see flame from the lava below getting pulled into the air and sailing toward the beast’s mouth, directly toward their cyan friend.
“Rainbow!” Twilight exclaimed. Then, another series of blood bullets drew her attention back to Famine. She cringed and shielded herself. As much as she wanted to help her friend, her hooves were tied.
Rainbow Dash clenched her teeth and struggled just to make any distance from the beast. She looked ahead at the fireballs flying toward her, cursing internally. Weaving sideways, she managed to avoid each flaming projectile, though some got close enough that her fur scorched on their way past and into the gaping maw behind her.
Over time, more and more flame got pulled up in rows and columns, creating a midair maze that she had to navigate. Even with her speed, she came closer and closer to either hitting a flame, or falling back to the point of no return and getting sucked into the beast’s mouth.
The sucking pull lessened and eventually stopped as the creature’s mouth closed. Rainbow Dash flinched away from the roiling flame floating mere inches from her face. She wiped the sweat from her brow and breathed a sigh of relief.
Turning to see what the creature was doing, she paused, initially confused. Its head was bowed, eyes closed in deep concentration. Glowing red lines circled up its horns, thrumming with some kind of energy.
“Huh?” Rainbow tilted her head.
Meanwhile, off to the side, Isaac stared warily at the beast. Suddenly, he gasped as the realization of what was about to happen dawned on him.
Further out in the distance, across the lake of fire, Fluttershy and the others were still hopping islands of debris, desperately trying to get away from the dangers of the battle raging.
Fluttershy finished setting Rarity down on a larger platform before turning to check on their friends. She could see Twilight and the royal sisters struggling against the harbingers, and beyond them, she could barely see Isaac and her fellow pegasus dwarfed by the great beast.
Then, within an instant, Rainbow Dash vanished from view amidst a massive beam of devastation shooting from the beast’s open maw.
“Holy hayseed!” Applejack raised her head to watch the beam soar over them. Before, she had been intimidated by the beast’s massive size, but now she was thankful that its mouth was several feet above them.
“Sweet Celestia!” Rarity exclaimed as she turned and watched the beam annihilate any rock formations in its path. Spirals of crackling red energy encircled the massive laser. She could feel the power coming off it even where she stood. She didn’t know much about battle magic, but she could tell that if anything was struck by the beam, it would be instantly vaporized.
However, while her friends were staring at where the beam was going, or the monster it was coming from, Fluttershy was stuck staring at a single point in space. A point in space, now enveloped by radiant fury.
Her body started shaking, and tears gathered in her eyes as she stared at that single space, where just moments before had been her childhood friend.
“DASHIE!”
“Owch!”
Her patient gave a pained yip. Fluttershy frowned and stopped wrapping the bandage around Rainbow’s foreleg. “Sorry, but you need to hold still,” she explained before continuing, taking pains to be even gentler.
Sunlight filtered down through the leaves of the tree they were leaning against. The wide open skies and grassy plains surrounding Ponyville stretched out before them, with one patch of disturbed dirt nearby where the cyan mare had crashed after showing off the latest of her coolest aerial stunts.
Rainbow Dash sighed and tapped her hind hoof, as if she had to be moving something constantly like some kind of shark. She winced again as the bandages rubbed against the skinned patch underneath. Even Fluttershy’s tender care couldn’t take away all the pain.
Fluttershy gave her friend a concerned look. “I thought you said you’d be more careful?”
“Yeah, yeah… I know,” Rainbow dodged her gaze and scratched her ear, “but I was sure I had it down this time! If I just pulled my wings in tighter on that corkscrew, I totally would’a nailed it!”
“Dashie… You know, me and the girls worry about you sometimes?” Fluttershy said. “I’m scared that one of these days, you won’t just get up after a crash and brush it off like it’s nothing.”
Seeing those big eyes threatening tears, Rainbow’s expression softened. She shifted to face her friend and opened her mouth to speak before pausing, the words struggling to come out. “Flutters, you know I would never leave you like that. I admit… I get a little carried away at times” — she smiled nervously at the vaguely pony-shaped indent in the ground next to them — “but I know not to push my luck. After all, what would you do without me?” A diminished laugh returned some semblance of her usual confidence.
Fluttershy’s ears flattened. What would she do without one of her oldest and closest friends? Dashie had always been there for her. She was even the reason Fluttershy had her cutie mark, and by extension, her love of animals and nature.
With her comforting words falling on uncomfortable silence, Rainbow Dash frowned and simply waited for her impromptu doctor to finish treating her.
Fluttershy finished tying off the bandage and released her friend’s limb. “There. Is that better?”
Rainbow examined her foreleg and put some weight on it. “Much. Thanks.” She smiled.
Fluttershy managed to briefly lift her spirits as well. “Well, just promise me you’ll be more careful in the future, okay?” she pleaded. However, before she could get a response from her friend, her serious expression broke as she reached up to catch a yawn.
“Tired already?” Rainbow asked, peering up to the sun above. It was only a little after noon.
“Yeah, well… I sort of stayed up late last night helping Rarity model for one of her dresses,” Fluttershy explained. “And the night before that, Pinkie needed help planning her surprise party for Twilight.”
Rainbow raised a brow. “And those things couldn’t have waited?”
“Well, they could have, but, Rarity was getting close to a deadline, and I didn’t want to just say no. And you know that look Pinkie gets when she’s disappointed,” Fluttershy said. She rubbed her eyes and tried to shake herself awake.
Rainbow Dash frowned. She looked down to her bandaged foreleg. Even after all that, her friend had agreed to come watch her fly, and she just had to go and get herself injured on top of it.
“Flutters, has anyone ever told you you’re too kind for your own good?” Rainbow asked.
“Huh?” Fluttershy looked up at this.
“You’re always putting yourself out for others, especially your friends,” Rainbow said.
Fluttershy blinked, as if she was confused why that was a bad thing. “I know, but it’s fine. I care about you, and I want to help you as much as I can. The same thing goes for other ponies and the animals I care for.”
“Well, we care about you too. You think Rarity or Pinkie would want you to be exhausted like this?” Rainbow asked.
“W-Well, maybe not, but—”
A hoof on her shoulder made Fluttershy pause.
“But nothing.” Rainbow adopted a somber look that caught her friend off guard. “There’s always going to be somepony that needs help with something, and there’s always going to be an excuse for you to help them. I’m not saying to stop being you and ignore everyone that needs help, but… I need to know that when I’m not with you, you’re going to take care of yourself.” She tried smiling to alleviate some of the seriousness of her words, but she couldn’t shake the barest hint of worry in her face. “I’d rather not find out what I’d do without you either, y’know?”
Fluttershy stared at her friend for a moment. “Dashie, isn’t that what I just asked you to do?”
“Huh?” Rainbow tilted her head.
“The whole reason we’re having this discussion is because you hurt yourself… again,” Fluttershy said with a frown. “I’m not blaming you for doing the things you do… but don’t you think it’s a little… oh —” she winced, trying to find a nicer word than ‘hypocritical’ “— wrong… Don’t you think it’s a little wrong to ask me to go against my nature when you won’t do it for me?”
Rainbow opened her mouth to say something, only to clamp it shut. She rubbed the back of her neck and dodged her gaze. “Well… yeah, I guess. I don’t know… I just worry about you, and…” She paused and sighed before continuing. “Alright, yeah, I get your point.”
A smile once more returned to Fluttershy’s gentle features, causing Rainbow Dash to lift some gloom as well. “How about this? I promise to take better care of myself, if you promise to stop slamming into the ground at top speed. Deal?”
“Deal.” Rainbow shook her friend’s hoof. Then, another yawn caused a chain reaction from both of them. “Now, how about a nap? You look like you could use one,” she reasoned as she started lying back against the tree and resting her forelegs across her stomach.
Fluttershy gave a pleased giggle at the sight. She cozied down beside her friend and laid her head on the soft, warm grass. “That sounds nice.” She yawned again and peacefully closed her eyes.
The unbearable heat and the overwhelming noise of the energy overhead brought Fluttershy back to her senses. Dazzling light painted her form as she stared ahead at where Rainbow Dash just was, and where a beam of pure devastation now surged from a monstrous behemoth.
Her eyes trembled, both from the tears overflowing, and from shock. Her heart felt like it was going to explode. “DASHIE!”
On the platform of wood below, her other friends all glanced at her before looking to the distance.
“Wait… Rainbow was…?!” Applejack took a step forward, her pupils shrinking at the realization.
“N-No!” Rarity brought an already shaking hoof to her mouth. Pinkie merely stood there beside her, stiff as a statue and eyes flooding with tears.
Across the cavern, still locked in heated combat with the four horsemen of the apocalypse, the three princesses of Equestria turned at once, stunned to find a massive laser where they knew one of their friends to be.
Luna yelled and began flying toward the scene, when death itself swiped its scythe down in front of her, bringing her attention back to her own battle.
Celestia spared a moment to look over to her former student. Twilight was floating there, staring ahead in disbelief. Her eyes started watering, until she could hold her emotions back no longer and wailed.
“RAINBOW DASH!”
A golden shield flashed around Twilight, blocking a spray of bloody projectiles from Famine.
“Twilight, there’s nothing you can do for her!” Celestia shouted. “She’s gone! She’s—”
Suddenly, the great laser died down as the beast closed its mouth. There in the air, where they expected to find nothing but perhaps collapsing ash in the shape of a pegasus, they instead found Rainbow Dash. Unharmed.
“...Alive…?” Celestia muttered, jaw falling open.
Twilight gave an elated gasp. “She’s alive?!”
A series of cheers came from the distance as Applejack and the others all but jumped for joy. Fluttershy merely fell to her haunches and deflated with relief.
Hearing the sound of the laser vanishing, and realizing that she was still intact, Rainbow Dash flinched an eye open and slowly uncovered her head. “I’m alive?” She patted herself, equal parts confused and shocked.
Looking ahead, Rainbow stunned back as she found the apparent source of her miraculous survival. Floating there in front of her, shielding her with his tiny body, was Isaac. A radiant light in the shape of a cross flashed from his form, and whatever shining energy he had around him fully dissipated.
“Isaac…?” Rainbow blinked.
Isaac looked up and checked around him, seemingly surprised to be alive as well. He smiled up at the pegasus, and she chuckled somewhat hysterically and wrapped him up in a quick hug.
Then, the pair jolted as a roar louder than thunder issued from the beast. They both turned to find three red eyes peering down at them atop a cavernous maw of teeth.
"Uh oh…" Rainbow muttered. She shared a nervous smile with Isaac before the two of them darted off in different directions.
Nearby, Twilight watched them flying away while the beast slowly followed after. She almost couldn’t believe that her friend was still alive. However, she couldn’t allow her shock to distract her from her own battle.
Turning to see Famine still sizing her up from a distance, she spared a moment to check on her mentor. Glancing to the side, her eyes widened at what she found.
Celestia stared distantly ahead, still stunned at Rainbow Dash’s miraculous survival. Several feet behind her, War floated up, a menacing grin on its face and another massive bomb held in its nubby hands, ready to toss at the hapless alicorn.
“Celestia!” Twilight exclaimed, racing to line up a shot with her horn. She fired out a bolt of magenta magic that sailed across the cavern.
Spinning around at her name being called, Celestia noticed Twilight before quickly returning her attention to her own enemy. Her pupils shrank at the sight of a ticking bomb waiting to be thrown her way, only for that bomb to explode prematurely as a magenta projectile zipped into it.
War was sent screaming down toward the lava, and all of the projectiles spraying from the bomb struck nothing but air.
Celestia turned and flashed a grateful smile to her savior. Twilight smiled as well. Soon, however, this warm expression was ripped from her face as a burning pain came from her side.
"Agh!" Twilight yelped and clutched her new wound. Clenching her teeth, she turned to find more projectiles heading her way, forcing her to dodge on shaky wings.
Famine seized the opportunity granted by Twilight's lapse in focus. It hovered forward, spitting bloody orbs from its cackling mouth at her. She barely managed to dodge them, her movements sluggish with pain and exhaustion.
Then, a fiery bolt of energy struck the horseman, enveloping it in a roiling inferno exploding outward and concealing it from view.
"Nopony harms my student!" Celestia declared. Not wasting a moment, she flew to Twilight's side and hovered near, ready to help however she could. "Are you okay?"
Twilight drew air between her teeth as she lifted a bloodied hoof from her side. "Ngh… y-yeah. It just hurts." Looking up, she stunned back as she found her attacker still alive, though not how she expected.
As the cloud of smoke and flame faded away, Famine was left floating there, or at least part of it. All that remained of the harbinger was its massive grinning head.
"Bwah!" Twilight startled at the horrific sight. A constant drip of crimson came from where its neck was, and soon more globs of blood flew free from its wide-open mouth.
Celestia cast a shield around herself and her student, blocking the spray of toxic projectiles. "I expected it might do this," she said, unable to deny her own revulsion. "The weaker version of it did this as well right before it was defeated. It must be on its last legs… metaphorically speaking."
Twilight steeled herself and lit her horn. "If that's the case, get ready to drop your shield. We should hopefully be able to finish it off if we hit it together."
Both of them watched and waited, scrutinizing the alternating pattern of their foe's attack. Famine's severed head slowly floated closer, smiling even as it bled profusely. Its empty eyes silently dared the ponies to make their move, and make it they did.
"Now!" Celestia declared just as the latest batch of blood bullets thudded into her barrier. She quickly dropped the shield and channeled her magic from defense to offense.
In unison to her mentor, Twilight shot a crackling ball of energy at the floating head. The twin projectiles struck dead center into the creature's mouth. At once, an explosion of blood and gore sprayed in all directions, and the rider of Famine was no more.
Despite the disturbing spectacle, Twilight chanced a smile. "One down…"
"Four more to go," Celestia added.
Shifting their attention to the side, both Celestia and Twilight jolted and raced out of the way of a small fireball sailing past. They briefly watched the fiery projectile hurtle toward the lava before darting their heads to where it came from.
They soon found the source of the sudden attack to be War. The crimson harbinger was hovering several feet away from them. It grinned deviously at the two ponies before producing a small bomb and throwing it, but not at them.
The already-glowing bomb dropped straight into the lava below before exploding, resulting in a shockwave that sent a glob of lava flying up. Taking its stick pony and using it like a baseball bat, War struck the rising fireball and sent it zipping toward the pair again.
Celestia cast a shield around Twilight, protecting her wounded student. She cringed from the exertion. Normally, flames didn’t offer her any difficulty. However, the fires in this place bent not even to the will of the sun.
“These things sure are persistent…” Twilight said.
“You have no idea,” Celestia replied as they both prepared for renewed combat.
War faced off against the princesses, tossing another bomb up and down in its hand. Finally, it winded back and prepared to throw—
“Look out below!”
A gust of air blew past as a blue shape soared just above War’s head. Both Twilight and Celestia watched as Luna kicked the harbinger with her hind leg on the way past.
War glared up at the alicorn flying by, its teeth grinding angrily and a growl simmering in its throat. But before it could retaliate, another sound made it turn to find something else flying straight toward it. A glowing green projectile.
The explosive glob of bile aptly exploded in War’s face, causing a chain reaction from the bomb already in its hand. While War itself was left mostly unscathed, its stick pony was utterly destroyed.
It looked down to its now-empty hands before looking up to see its brother Pestilence floating nearby, having paused its chase of the blue alicorn to stare blankly at the results of its misplaced attack.
War visibly shook with anger and let loose a primal yell. Flames burst from its form, a manifestation of its sheer fury. Pestilence could only shrug and offer a garbled noise as an apology.
Luna whirled around and hovered, sporting a pleased grin. "Haha!"
"Nicely done, sister," Celestia declared, briefly enjoying the sight of their enemies bickering amongst themselves.
Further back from the ponies and the two horsemen, Death watched its brothers fighting. It clapped a bony hand to its face and shook its head.
Then, the pale rider shifted its attention to the side. Far away, four more ponies were watching in the distance. Helpless as lambs before the slaughter. The corners of its skull creaked as a chilling smile formed and it flew forward.
Amidst their brief celebration, Twilight looked around the battlefield in search of the other threats she knew to be present. The great beast was still slowly chasing Isaac and Rainbow Dash, however, she couldn’t find any sign of the last harbinger.
Panning her head, she paused as she spotted the silhouette of Death against the fiery cavern. A gasp escaped her as she realized where it was going. "Oh no!"
Celestia and Luna both turned to see the same thing. Their eyes flashed with alarm as well. However, with War and Pestilence slowly shifting their focus back to them, the alicorns couldn't focus on both threats at once.
"Go!" Celestia ordered Twilight. She glanced over toward the pair fleeing from the giant creature. "Luna and I will handle the beast and the other two!"
Twilight didn't even spare an acknowledgement before she took off. She turned to shout over her shoulder at her friends. "Rainbow Dash! Isaac! I need help! Fluttershy and the others are in trouble!"
Looking over at the alicorn’s shouts, Rainbow Dash spotted Death making a beeline for their friends, her own face paling as a result. “Oh, buck!”
Without a second thought, Rainbow raced off. Hovering nearby, Isaac gasped as he noticed what had spooked his friends. He started to fly off to pursue them, when a loud growl brought his attention back to the three-eyed beast towering over him.
Although its red gaze was monstrous and piercing, it had a certain intelligence and malice behind it that he recognized. He also recognized the tattered remains of fabric around the thing’s base. It was a dress. A dress that he knew all too well.
Even after coming to terms with his past and trying to move forward, his mother had found a monstrously new way to torment him.
Isaac flinched back in the air, his newfound courage threatening to leave him as the beast slowly approached. Before it had a chance to strike, fiery bolts of magic exploded into its side. It howled in agony.
Looking over, Isaac found Celestia offering him a reassuring nod. With the alicorn taking the beast’s attention away, he was free to turn and fly after the others.
Elsewhere, Fluttershy watched alongside her flightless friends as the rest of their group did battle.
Pinkie’s brow arched as she stared out into the distance. “Hey… doesn’t it look like Twilight and Rainbow are flying over here?”
“Why’d they be doing that?” Applejack asked.
Shifting her attention to the side, Fluttershy paused at a hint of movement. Her pupils shrank, and she flinched back as she saw what that movement belonged to. “I-I think I know why!”
Following their friend’s frantic pointing, the others froze where they stood. Heading straight toward them and closing in fast, was a chilling visage of bone and glowing pupils wielding a scythe.
“Oh… OH!” Rarity jolted back.
“What do we do…?! WHAT DO WE DO?!” Pinkie cupped her hooves over her ears.
“Get back!” Applejack nudged her friends out of the way and boldly stood between them and the incoming threat.
Rearing up its scythe, Death hovered down to the front of the ponies' island. Applejack tensed and dodged back, but was helpless to stop the tip of the blade slicing through her chest.
"Applejack!" Fluttershy cried. She and the others gathered around as their friend fell back, screaming in agony and clutching a bleeding slash.
Looking up, they all froze at the sight of Death holding its blade high, a patch of crimson joining the metal gleaming in the orange light.
Then, a magenta glow sparkled over the top of the scythe right as Death tried to swing it. It strained and struggled, getting the blade to lurch a few inches. Turning to glare at the source of this interruption, its bony expression flashed with surprise as it instead found a cyan blur mere inches away.
A resounding thwack signaled the pale rider flying off its ride. Death went sailing several feet before crashing into a rocky spike jutting up from the lava.
"Girls!" Pinkie gave an elated gasp as she stared at their saviors. Rainbow Dash was hovering in the aftermath of a kick, and Twilight was still flying to catch up with her horn alight.
Rainbow smirked, and Twilight sighed with relief as she caught up. Both of them steeled their expressions at a hint of movement from their skeletal foe.
With a stoney crack, Death pried itself off of the rock behind it and floated in midair. It shook its head before meeting the ponies’ gaze and growling through clenched, grinding teeth. It raised its hand, and its stick pony came rocketing over to Death and hovered beneath its feet. Brandishing its scythe as it balanced on the hobby horse, Death prepared to rush off and retaliate against the six friends, when it suddenly came under fire by a barrage of tears.
Cringing at the watery blobs burning its bones, Death dodged to the side and looked over to find Isaac hovering a few feet away. It swiped at the boy, but he swiftly flew under the strike.
A magical zap came and a magenta bolt whizzed by its head, just barely missing and exploding into the nearby pillar of rock. More magical attacks and tears came, forcing Death to dodge the hail of projectiles coming from both sides.
Twilight flew closer and provided covering fire for Rainbow Dash, who was zipping around the side for a sneak attack. Never the fool, Death narrowed its hollow eyes as it saw through their attempt. With a silent roar and a wave of its hand, puffs of smoke appeared all around Isaac and his two flying friends.
Twilight swiveled her head toward these dissipating clouds. Her eyes flashed with alarm as she saw giant scythe blades left hovering in the air, surrounding all of them.
Death clenched its fist, and all of the blades began spinning and closing toward it, toward the ponies. Whether Death intended to take itself out with them, the ponies did not have time to ponder.
“Woah!” Rainbow Dash twisted her body, just barely slipping through the gap made by three of the blades before they could slice into her.
Twilight started to channel her magic toward a shield, when she realized she had no time. Her fledgeling pegasus instincts kicked in and she flapped hard to dive under the blades. A twinge of pain raked across her side as one left a shallow cut above her wing, barely making her wince.
Isaac produced a sharp cry as he failed to dodge in time. One of the blades clipped his leg, and a trail of crimson trickled out into droplets falling to the bubbling lava below.
Further back, Fluttershy held a hoof to her chest and cringed as she and the others watched their friends doing battle with death itself. They could feel an icy chill of fear worming down their spines from the sinister grin and gleaming scythe.
“Come on, guys…” Applejack muttered tensely. They were helpless to do anything but spectate.
Or, at least most of them were helpless. The only one of them that could do anything was frozen to the spot by fear. Even realizing this herself, Fluttershy couldn’t stop shaking as she silently prayed for her friends to prevail.
Elsewhere in the cavern, sparks flew as a sword made of shimmering sunlight scraped across the beast’s obsidian skin.
Celestia grit her teeth from the magical exertion. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t make a dent in the titan’s form.
The beast turned to glare at the flying pest that would dare to strike it. It let loose another deafening roar that shook the cavern.
However, another sound pricked Celestia’s ears. Low, shrill cries came from beneath her. Looking down, she flinched at the sight of four spectral beings with haunting expressions floating out of the lava and heading straight for her.
Celestia beat her wings harder and dodged out of the way of one lost soul careening past. She followed its wispy form with her eyes, only to watch it explode into a cloud of dust—or, as the dull impact across her body informed her, a concussive shockwave of air. Suffice to say, she would give these specters a wide berth.
Two more of them came flying around in curved arcs. Celestia wheeled around one whizzing past, when the other nearly struck her just before she teleported away. She watched the two spirits explode in the near distance. Then, a haunting wail wormed a cold chill into her side.
Her eyes trailed to the side just in time to see the specter touching her. Her muscles tensed, and her horn glowed as she channeled another teleport.
*Boom*
At the same time as her magic blinked her form out of existence, Celestia felt her ribs burn from the force of the blast. She had absorbed enough of the impact to send her hurtling through the air post-teleport.
“Ngh!” Celestia clutched her aching side and flapped hard to recover. A patch of her fur had been burned, but she was grateful it was just a patch.
Another explosion alerted her, but all of the lost souls were gone. Her heart sank as a familiar cry came, and she realized that this explosion wasn't meant for her.
Darting her eyes behind her, Celestia’s face paled as she spotted her sister sailing through the air, fur smoking from an explosive impact. “Luna!”
Luna smacked into a hanging stalactite before she could recover. She yelped and began to fall toward the lava below. Flinching an eye open, she tried to flap her wings, only for them to falter.
Then, she collided with white fur amidst a flash of golden magic. Celestia had teleported beneath her.
“Are you alright, sister?” Celestia frowned at the sight of a smoking burn in her sibling’s side.
Luna cringed as she lifted herself off of her sister and held herself in the air under her own unsteady wings. She looked out to where she came flying from, where Pestilence and War were still watching her with eager smiles.
“Yes… I am simply finding our foes a tad… hard to deal with.” She rubbed her tender side, wincing at the result.
A glowing green glob sailed out of Pestilence’s mouth and arced down toward the two alicorns. Celestia flashed a barrier around them, but the resulting explosion was enough to make her cringe and fight to keep her magic from breaking. It didn’t help as a second explosion came soon after, arising from a bomb tossed by War.
“I can see what you mean,” Celestia noted. She craned her head up, eyes flashing with alarm as she saw a gaping maw of teeth coming down at them. She teleported both herself and Luna far off to the side just in time to watch the beast lunging down into the lava where they just were. “That beast is proving difficult as well. If only we had some more items from Isaac’s arsenal…”
“Yes, I suppose a few of those would prove useful right about—” Luna trailed off, her head lifting in sudden thought. As she watched Isaac fighting in the distance alongside Twilight and Rainbow Dash, she lit her horn and checked something. Once she got her result, she turned to Celestia. “Sister, do you think you could teleport us over to the others?”
Celestia looked to her sister before glancing off to the side and noting the distance between them and the larger group. “I think so… but might I ask why? The whole point of us being over here is to keep the larger threats away from the others.”
“Trust me. I have an idea.”
Seeing nothing but confidence in Luna’s face, and seeing War and Pestilence starting to close in on them, Celestia nodded. “Very well. I suppose an idea is better than what we have now,” she reasoned before inching closer to her sister and channeling her magic over both of them while focusing on a point in the distance.
In the next instant, the pair vanished from that side of the cavern. Both War and Pestilence searched around for them, with the former arguing with and hitting the latter for losing track of their prey.
A moment later, Rarity and the others looked up from the fight going on nearby as a magical zap came behind them. The royal sisters were left standing there, panting lightly and resting their weary bodies.
“Princess? What are you two doing here?” Rarity asked.
Luna glanced to the distance where they just came from. The two harbingers were still cluelessly searching for them, and the beast was nowhere to be seen, presumably still submerged under the lava. “There’s no time for explanations, I’m afraid.”
A bout of faint yelps drew their attention to their other friends doing battle with Death. Luna frowned at the thought of not helping her friends in need, but her main focus was on the boy hovering alongside Twilight and Rainbow Dash.
“Sister, do you think you could help them keep Death at bay for a minute?” Luna asked.
Celestia chuckled. “That seems like a tall order to fill, dear sister, but I shall do my best.” She took flight and summoned another glowing sword of radiant magic.
While Celestia flew forward to join the fray, Luna turned toward Isaac and started waving him over. “Isaac! Could you come here, please? I require your aid!”
Isaac hesitated as he looked over to see Twilight in a tense clash with Death, sparks flying off her magenta barrier as a scythe grinded against it. However, as a sunlit blade slashed across and forced the pale rider to dodge back, the boy was free to turn and head toward the larger group.
Once Isaac hovered down to them, Luna beckoned him close. “Now then, I believe I may be able to give us an edge in this battle. Do you trust me?” she asked, to which the boy nodded. “Very good. All I need you to do is focus your thoughts on helping us, and I will do the rest. Are you ready?”
Isaac shared an unsure look with Fluttershy and the others, but soon closed his fists and nodded with a determined expression.
At once, Luna lit her horn and casted her magic out. A beam of dark blue energy shot out and enveloped Isaac. He froze in the air as the scintillating light held him aloft.
Fluttershy stepped back as the boy's eyes filled with a familiar void of purple and black spirals. "Princess, w-what are you doing?"
Pinkie frowned at the sight of Isaac's form trembling. "Isn't that hurting him?"
Luna winced from exertion and squinted an eye open to see the concerned mares gathered around the boy. "Worry not… he isn't in pain. I am merely… taking advantage of the fragile state of the pocket dimension."
"Umm… I quite trust you, Princess, but are you sure you know what you're doing?" Rarity asked. The last time they had seen that purple void, the whole world within the chest was collapsing in on itself.
Luna didn’t respond for a few moments as she concentrated on her task. "Believe me, I am being very cautious. However… tch… if I can just use my magic and Isaac's will to influence the pocket dimension, I should be able to—"
She trailed off abruptly. Fluttershy and the others flinched back as a swirling purple and black mass flickered into being in front of them. The circular shape resembled what they imagined a portal might look like.
The sparkling blue energy enveloping Isaac started to pour into the portal, carrying some of his tears with it. He clenched his eyes shut, as if in intense concentration.
Then, with a puff of smoke, the portal vanished, and in its place appeared a gilded chest.
Both Luna and Isaac fell panting to the ground at the same time as the chest. Luna's horn dimmed, and Isaac's eyes faded back to normal.
Off to the side, Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Celestia glanced behind them to see what was going on. Even Death turned and narrowed its gaze at the sight of the freshly apparated chest. However, its empty sockets soon widened as a kinetic blast from Celestia sent it hurtling into the lava.
"Ngh…" Luna shakily lifted herself up on one foreleg before Fluttershy came over and helped her up.
Rarity tried to help Isaac up, but the boy quickly shook himself back to his senses and flapped his wings into a hover. He joined the ponies in looking at the chest curiously.
"What was with all the lights and junk over here?" A flapping sound preluded Rainbow Dash coming in for a landing beside the group.
"Dash? I thought you guys were keeping that skull freak busy?" Applejack asked.
Before Rainbow could respond, another flapping sound made the group look over to see Twilight and Celestia flying up to them.
"I think we've got a minute before it comes back," Twilight said, glancing behind her to ensure that Death was still nowhere to be seen. "Celestia said you had a plan. Does it have something to do with that?" She pointed to the chest.
It looked nearly identical to the chest out in the real world, only its gilded finish was shinier, like actual gold. It also lacked the worn wood and other signs of age.
Luna stepped up to the chest and rested a hoof on its lid. "I had hoped to use Isaac’s subtle connection to this place to summon some aid. And if I'm right…"
The group all watched as Luna opened the chest. Nothing happened at first, but as she peered into its dark depths and reached inside, a smile soon crossed her features.
"Aha!" Luna exclaimed as she pulled out something. That something, was a familiar looking boomerang.
"Ooo! My boomerang!" Pinkie clapped her hooves as Luna handed her the item.
Celestia peered inside the chest. Like the real one outside, it contained a void of darkness within, although she was grateful that this one was far less insistent on sucking them inside. "Sister… does this mean what I think it does?"
Luna grinned and nodded. "Indeed. I believe it does."
Celestia pushed a smile as well. However, hers soon stopped dead in its tracks as she looked up into the distance. Two familiar shapes were coasting closer, one green and one red.
"Oh dear… it seems that our new friends figured out where we went," Celestia said.
Twilight lit her horn and grit her teeth. “I’ll help you keep them busy.”
“Wait, wait!” Before the pair took off, Luna reached into the chest and started sifting through its contents. A great clatter of junk rustled from within the darkness. “I should be able to find something that can give you an advantage… just a moment… Ah! Here we are!”
To the group’s growing confusion, Luna pulled two items out of the abyss within the chest. One was what looked to be a bloody tooth the size of her hoof. The other was a simple metal spoon.
“I see.” Celestia smiled as her sister gingerly handed her the tooth. “I believe this will do nicely.”
Meanwhile, Twilight looked down at the spoon in her hoof like she just got handed the worst Hearthswarming gift ever. “Uh, Princess? What does… this do?”
Celestia glanced up at the steadily approaching threats before placing a hoof on her student’s shoulder and spreading her wings. “Just trust us, it’s very useful. Keep it close and follow me!”
With that, the pair flew off into danger once more while their friends stayed behind. Rainbow Dash in particular could hardly keep still as she watched them going to battle.
“Princess, is there anything in there I could use? I can’t just stay here and do nothing!” Rainbow said.
“Give me a moment,” Luna stated as she went back to digging. “There are rather a lot of things that could be in here, and not all of them are useful…” She trailed off as she pulled out what looked to be a withered, dripping green brain. Her eyes widened, and she yelped as she tossed the thing as far as she could away from everyone. The brain exploded as it impacted the edge of their platform. “...or safe.”
Rarity bit her lip as she trailed her eyes away from the exploding brain. “I-I’m… not sure if I want anything from in there.”
“Let me see…” Luna muttered to herself as she picked up the pace of her rifling. Instead of going purely by feel, she started pulling things out and simply tossing them away if they proved useless.
Fluttershy and the others backed up to avoid getting hit by anything. Her expression shifted between confusion and concern as she watched a pair of scissors, a few books, and a cardboard box full of spiders bounce along the ground behind them.
“Hmm… aha! Here you are, Rainbow Dash!” Luna stated.
Rainbow zipped up to the side of the chest and peered over Luna’s shoulder impatiently. “Ooo! What is it?! Is it some kind of sick weapon?!”
Her features deflated immediately as Luna turned and used both hooves to pull out a small square of blue fabric. It was a child-sized blanket.
“This will help keep you safe. It is said that a good defense is equally important as a good offense.” Luna smiled.
“Something’s offensive, alright…” Rainbow muttered as the alicorn tied the blanket around her neck like a mother affixing a superhero cape to a filly. Once she was done, Rainbow grumbled and kicked the chest lid further open before burying her upper half into its depths and beginning to dig.
“Umm… Rainbow, don’t you think you should leave that to the professionals?” Applejack offered, cringing as she recalled the exploding brain.
“Relax! I’m being careful… I just know there’s something in here better than a stupid blanket!” Rainbow’s muffled voice came from the deepest confines of the chest. “Ooo, what’s this?”
The others watched as Rainbow reeled herself out of the chest and peered down at whatever was in her hooves. Whatever, in this case, was a small brown lump with a smiley face on it that squeaked and emoted as she held it.
“BWAH!” Rainbow stuck her tongue out and threw the thing away. She frantically brushed her hooves off before dusting her fur with them, whining and making disgusted cries the whole time like she wanted to sterilize herself in the lava.
Luna had to use all of her years of etiquette training to keep herself from laughing. Eventually, she reached into the chest again, using her magic this time to avoid any similarly unsanitary surprises. If she was being honest, she probably should have done that from the beginning, given some of the things she remembered encountering in the basement.
“Very well, if you require a weapon, I believe this will suffice,” Luna said.
Looking up to see what the alicorn was holding out to her, Rainbow blinked. Even as she took it in her hoof, she stared at it at length. It was a small white feather, though it was hard to tell its origin. It didn’t look like any bird feather she knew of.
“Uh…” Rainbow eyed between the feather and Luna, not wanting to outright say what was on her mind.
“Believe me, we’ll be here all night if you question each… questionable thing in here,” Luna said. “You must trust me—it is a weapon, and a very powerful one at that. However, it may only be used once, so use it wisely.”
“Fine… if you say so,” Rainbow sighed before shifting her attention ahead. After making sure no threats were heading toward the rest of her friends, she took off after Twilight and Celestia.
With her miniature cape flapping pathetically in the scorching air behind her, Rainbow swiftly caught up with the two alicorns. Twilight looked over and noticed her. Although concerned for Rainbow’s safety, Twilight couldn’t suppress a snort at the sight.
“Nice cape,” Twilight snickered.
Rainbow’s expression flattened. “You know, just because you’re a princess doesn’t mean that I can’t deck you.”
“I think that’s exactly what that means,” Twilight noted with a smirk before leveling her gaze ahead and adopting a more stern countenance. “Just be careful not to let them hit you with anything. So far, everything they’ve thrown at us has either exploded or been on fire.”
“Not sure if that’s better or worse than that giant monster,” Rainbow said. “Say, where did that thing go, anyway? You’d think it would be hard to hide something that size.”
Celestia gave a paranoid glance down toward the lava. “Last I saw of it, it submerged itself under the lava. Something tells me that it is merely biding its time and waiting for an opportunity to strike.”
“Great, just what we need. More problems.” Rainbow Dash took a similarly paranoid scan of their surroundings. Her eyes went round as she found something, though it wasn't the threat she was initially looking for. “Speaking of more problems…”
Prompted by their pegasus friend, Celestia and Twilight looked over as well. In the distance off to the side, a familiar foe was circling around them. Death.
Twilight stopped in the air and spun around, her muscles tensing as she recalled having to dodge the pale rider’s deadly attacks. “Horsefeathers… I hoped it wouldn’t recover this quickly.”
“At least it isn’t going for the others,” Rainbow noted.
Instead of moving closer and attacking them, Death brandished its scythe and furrowed its boney brow briefly before swiping at nothing but thin air. It stared at the result with what the ponies could only surmise as frustration before slashing again.
“What is it doing?” Rainbow asked. No floating blades had appeared around them or their friends, and no other obvious signs of attack were anywhere to be seen. Even the other two harbingers were looking at their brother like he had lost his mind.
Meanwhile, Celestia’s eyes narrowed as she felt something fluctuate in the surrounding magical energies. She had felt this kind of energy before. It was the strained weave of the pocket dimension’s very fabric being manipulated, much like when Luna used her magic to conjure a chest full of items.
Before anyone could speak or act, purple light sparked from the tip of Death’s scythe. As it slashed down, a rip was made through the air, and Death grinned as it started widening out into a familiar swirling shape.
And as the ponies recognized the shape to be another purple and black portal, something slowly emerged from it. Another strangely familiar shape. An equine head.
White fur, ragged black mane, milky eyes and a twisted grin marred with scars emerged from the portal. However, as the shape revealed itself more and more, the stunned onlookers soon realized that the head wasn't attached to a body. Rather, it was another stick pony, just like the ones the harbingers used.
“What in the name of…” Celestia froze abruptly as it dawned on her. It had been a long time, but she recognized that hobby horse, even if it looked more twisted than the last time she saw it.
A metallic rattle emanated from the portal as more of the shape emerged. Floating chains curled and writhed like snakes. Pale blue skin was choked with these wrapped chains and deep scars, with one scar down the chest almost resembling an autopsy incision. A tattered white piece of fabric hung loosely from the head like a blindfold, only covering one eye. And in the other exposed eye, a faint white flame burned around another milky orb devoid of sight.
Astride its blind steed, the rider of Conquest had found a new battlefield, one that it was never meant to conquer.
Back over on the floating island of wood, Rarity and the others stared at the newly arrived threat with wide eyes while Luna busied herself with digging through the chest.
"Umm… Princess?" Rarity spoke up.
Luna grunted as she bumped her head on the side of the chest amidst her search. "Yes? What is it?"
"What is that thing?" Rarity pointed a trembling hoof ahead.
"What is wh—" Luna cut off as she reeled herself out of the abyss and looked ahead. Her jaw fell open at the sight of a familiar foe given a new, monstrous form. "Oh… Oh dear! That is not good!"
"I think we gathered that much," Applejack said.
Then, a faint flapping sound came from behind her. Applejack looked over, only to find both Fluttershy and Isaac grounded. Confused, she turned to the source of the noise, only to freeze.
A high-pitched screech and a fanged maw came charging from above, forcing Applejack to leap to the side with a yelp.
Fluttershy and the others turned to see what was wrong. The pegasus flinched at the sight of what seemed to be a giant bat right in front of them.
"AH!" Fluttershy cried and jumped away from the creature now shifting its focus to her. Then, before the thing could lunge at her, Applejack dealt it a swift kick, sending it flopping into the lava nearby.
“Are you both unharmed?” Luna stepped away from the chest and held a tentative hoof out to the pair.
“Not for lack of trying,” Applejack grunted as she pulled Fluttershy back to all fours. She started to look around, not really expecting to find the source of their sudden attack. “Where did that toothy varmint come from, anyw—” She did a double-take. “Oh. Up there, I’m guessin’.”
In the distance surrounding them, a handful of the same swirling purple and black portals were suspended in the air. Each of these portals infrequently spat out some form of creature. Some they recognized, such as more bats or floating pale heads with glowing purple flames, while others were yet unknown to them.
“Uh oh… that’s a lot of meanies,” Pinkie noted, looking down at her pitiful boomerang. She couldn’t possibly hit that many targets in time.
“H-How…?!” Rarity’s jaw dropped.
Luna glanced between the portals and the area behind them, where Death was still floating with a devilish smirk on its bony face. Her own face twitched into a nervous smile and she rubbed a foreleg. “Umm… that may be my fault. I’m afraid I may have given it ideas.” She gave a dry chuckle and kicked the chest behind her.
Rarity cast a sidelong glance at the alicorn. “Have we learned nothing since we’ve been here?”
“Yes, yes, I’m sure the ‘I told you so’s will be plentiful later!” Luna stated before returning to her efforts, albeit now more urgently. “Isaac, could you give me some assistance?! You’re the only other person who knows what these items do, and we need to be prepared for war… among other facets of the apocalypse!”
Isaac backed closer to his friends as he watched the newly arrived enemies draw closer. Luna was right. Like it or not, the battle was coming to them, and they needed weapons. Flapping his wings rapidly, he shot down and practically dove into the chest beside the alicorn before rummaging through the arsenal within.
As the pair and the four mares behind them raced to prepare themselves, Twilight and her two companions were about to face their deadly foes head on.
“So… uh… w-who’s the new guy?” Rainbow Dash stammered, still stuck staring at the terrifying visage of the newly arrived horseman.
“That, I believe, would be Conquest,” Celestia said.
Twilight chuckled nervously. “Cheery. Any tips for how to not die fighting him?”
Celestia shook her head. “Not the slightest, I’m afraid. Like the others, he was a lot smaller and less scary-looking the last time we fought him, and I would wager he’s stronger now, as well.”
Twilight tensed her jaw as she watched Death and Conquest mutter some incomprehensible noises to each other. It seemed like they were talking, a fact which only grew more troubling as Death pointed at her and her friends, prompting Conquest to tremble with rage and produce an unhinged yell.
“Well, you won’t have to wager for long. I think we’re about to find out first-hoof just how strong he—”
Noticing movement out of the corner of her eye, Twilight suddenly jolted and squeaked with alarm as she flew out of the way of a green ball of bile falling where she just was. She and the other two watched the orb collide with the lava below, sending up a cloud of deathly stink and a volley of other projectiles flying up toward them which they quickly avoided.
Looking up to the source of the attack, Rainbow Dash yelped as she found War lunging down at her, malevolence burning in its eyes. She dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding getting grabbed.
Celestia grit her teeth at the sight of the crimson harbinger so close. Then, her eyes darted to the tooth still held in her hoof, and a smirk started to form. “Hey! Think fast!” she yelled as she tossed the tooth.
War caught the tooth in its nubby hands. It looked down at it, then at the smirking alicorn, a sense of confusion working its way over its enraged face. However, as Celestia glanced up and a noise came from above it, War’s eyes widened.
Before it could react further, a massive, fleshy pink blob of a shape came crashing down. It smashed into War, leaving behind a cloud of blood as it careened into the lava below.
Twilight and Rainbow Dash watched with a mixture of confusion and disturbance on their faces as the blob halted at the surface of the lava and slowly sank in. It was the giant cleft-lipped monster that they encountered the first time they entered the basement, and judging from its blank expression, it seemed just as clueless as they were as to why it was here.
“Do I want to know?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Celestia cringed a bit at the pitiful sight of the creature sinking into the magma. She almost felt bad for it. Almost. “Probably n—”
A white blur zipped between Twilight and Celestia, cutting the alicorn off and nearly striking them. They could feel the burning energy radiating off of it briefly as they turned and watched a spear made of thin white light head straight for Rainbow Dash, piercing clean through the pegasus’ chest.
Twilight gasped and reached out. “RAINBOW!”
However, instead of a spray of blood or a gaping hole being left behind as the spear vanished, Rainbow’s body was left unharmed. The blanket tied around her neck glowed briefly, and a radiant aura in the shape of a cross flashed around her form, just like what happened to Isaac when he saved her earlier.
"Holy…" Rainbow Dash patted herself where she expected a mortal wound to be. A stunned chuckle escaped her as she glanced down to the blanket around her neck.
"Nice cape…" Twilight blinked, her jaw still partially agape.
Another couple spears of light whizzed past, forcing the trio to duck or dodge. They looked ahead, only to find Conquest surging forward on its steed. The radiant bolts were forming in its outstretched hand before it tossed them like javelins.
Celestia and Twilight conjured barriers in midair to block the projectiles. Each one exploded into crackling energy on impact, causing them to cringe as it strained their magic.
Then, Rainbow gasped and flew into Twilight, tackling her out of the way. "Look out!"
Twilight just barely spotted what her friend was rescuing her from on the way down. What could only be a giant maggot with an oversized jaw full of teeth flew past where they just were, chomping the whole way.
Off to the side, Pestilence slowly approached, and its puckered eye trembled and shook as a similar maggot wormed its way out to greet the ponies. Like a shot from a cannon, the maggot fired out at them and guided itself through the air to get at its target.
This time, its target was Celestia.
Celestia tensed as she glanced between the incoming maggot missile and the barrage of light spears still pelting her shield. Spotting the best opening she was likely to get between projectiles, she let her shield fall and conjured a gilded bubble around herself to protect from all directions at once.
The maggot struck the forcefield and stopped dead in its tracks. Celestia smiled with relief. However, she soon winced as her shield cracked at a ravenous chomp. Through her translucent magic, she could see the creature chewing at her barrier like it was made of brittle candy.
Another light spear whizzed toward her. Instead of smashing through her weakened shield, it struck uselessly against a freshly conjured magenta barrier.
Hearing a yell, Celestia turned just in time to watch Rainbow Dash fly up to the maggot biting her shield and kick it off, sending it flopping into the lava below with a disgusting squelch. The pegasus gave her a quick nod before zipping off and heading straight for Pestilence.
“Celestia!” Twilight called, drawing her attention once more.
Looking over, Celestia found her former student preparing to face off with Conquest. However, that didn’t seem to be the source of her alarm. Instead, Celestia spotted Death flying back towards the rest of the group.
“Grr… why couldn’t it be Taxes instead?” Celestia muttered to herself before dropping her shield and flying after the pale rider.
Several feet away, unearthly screeches and howls grew ever closer as a horde of flying monstrosities approached Fluttershy and her friends.
A nervous whine escaped Fluttershy as she watched one of the severed heads with glowing purple flames float toward her. It began charging up a homing attack, and her heart raced as she prepared to do what little she could to protect her friends behind her.
Then, before the creature could attack, an explosion jolted Fluttershy from behind, and a massive watery orb that resembled Isaac’s tears careened into the head, instantly splattering it into gore and even taking out some bats further behind it.
“Woohoo! This thing is so much fun!” Pinkie squealed with delight. Fluttershy turned to find her pink friend astride a large cannon. It was similar in size and shape to Pinkie’s party cannon, only this one was made entirely of glass.
“Careful with that, Pinkie!” Luna shouted over her shoulder as she and Isaac continued digging through the chest in front of them. Many more assorted items were loosely strewn about their wooden island, all of which were apparently either useless to their current situation or too dangerous to use.
Rarity backed closer to the group huddling around the chest. Her eyes trembled as they shifted between each monster heading their way. “Princess, I hate to be that pony, but could you please hurry it up a tad?! We’re about to be up to our manes in a menagerie of monstrous mooks!”
“I will step in and aid you when necessary, but I was hoping to find something more useful in here!” Luna stated, glancing back to check on the advancing horde. So far, not too many of the creatures had reached them, but they were running out of time.
“I would at least feel better if I had something to defend myself with!” Rarity retorted.
Just then, Isaac fell back and landed on the ground. He was holding something, and as he noticed what it was, a smile crossed his face. The boy stood and turned to Rarity before tugging on her hind leg eagerly.
“What is it, darling? I’m a little busy right n—” Rarity trailed off as she turned around and spotted a sharp-toothed smiling face being held out to her.
In Isaac’s hands was a small humanoid creature with no legs, nubby hands, pitch-black skin and curved horns. It almost looked like a baby version of that shell-game keeper from the arcade if it was given the same item that transformed Isaac and let him shoot lasers from his mouth.
"Umm… thank you," Rarity said as she took the creature in her hooves, "I think?"
"You got anything in there for me?" Applejack asked. "I'm starting to feel left out over here."
"You really shouldn't," Rarity muttered. The demonic baby in her grasp seemed far more excited to see her than she did it.
Luna yipped as a metallic rustling came from inside the chest. She glanced back to the orange mare and the situation at large before cringing tensely and hurrying her search. "Let me see…"
After a moment, she pulled something out of the darkness and peered at it, a smile forming as she did.
"Here we are. I believe you could make use of this, Applejack." She handed an object behind her to the farmer's waiting hooves.
Applejack blinked at the thing she now held. It was a length of rope tied into the unmistakable shape of a noose at one end. "Is… there something you wanna tell me, Princess?"
Luna glanced back to find Applejack giving her an odd look. "I didn't mean it like that!" she insisted, growing a bit red in the face. "You are skilled at the tying of hogs and other rope-based tricks, are you not? I thought you could use it as a lasso!"
Staring at the rope in her grasp a moment longer, Applejack sighed before untying and retying the knot into a less offensive shape. “S’pose beggars can’t be choosers.” She twirled it overhead briefly and turned to stand with Pinkie, watching for any approaching creatures.
After sparing a moment to shoot a few floating heads out of the air, Luna turned and gave one last rifle through the box. However, she soon grew frustrated at her lack of success in turning up anything useful.
“The blasted luck we have in this place…” she muttered to herself. Then, she felt a nudge beside her.
She found Isaac sticking his upper half into the chest next to her. He was holding up a small object and offering it to her. It was a small, ornate box full of cards. Cards which she recognized to be the same tarot cards they had been using previously.
“Thank you, Isaac. This will do nicely,” Luna said, taking the box in her magic. “Now, let me see if I can find you something…” She rummaged around for a few moments. She could feel many different objects, some she immediately recognized and discarded back into the bottomless void. However, she soon came across a shape she didn’t recognize at all.
She scrutinized the object as she pulled it out of the chest. It wasn't a physical item so much as it was a symbol given three dimensional form, much like the glowing red symbol that gave Isaac his laser. It consisted of a glowing yellow orb of light wrapped in blue strips of cloth, with wings sprouting from its sides.
“What is this…?” Luna shared a confused look with Isaac. She had never seen the item before. It was new to her, and so it seemed, even to the boy.
A ripping sound came from above them, drawing the pair’s attention up. They barely registered a swirling purple portal high above them before a blur of a shape flopped down onto another section of floorboards floating ahead.
It was a hideously bloated blob of a shape. Were it not for the head and the four nubby, almost conical limbs, it wouldn’t resemble any animal or creature. An agape, nearly toothless mouth split its pale body, and as it landed, a sickening pop rang out as both of its bloodshot eyes floated out of its sockets, leaving behind bleeding craters pouring a crimson tide down its chin and belly.
Rarity and the others turned at the strange noises, only to pull back at the revolting sight waiting for them. Rarity herself felt her stomach churning just from looking at it. “Ulgh… what is that horrid th—”
“EVERYPONY GET DOWN!” Luna yelled as she raced magic to her horn and lashed it out.
No sooner had she cast a wide barrier in front of all of her companions did the creature let loose its crimson fury. Beams of boiling blood rocketed out of its empty sockets as it flailed and wailed in silent rage. These beams instantly covered the distance between them, only just stopping by the grace of Luna’s shield. Only just.
“Gah!” Luna cried as the attack cracked her barrier. It wasn't as strong as some of the other monsters present, but her waning stamina was starting to catch up to her.
Fluttershy gasped as she and the others got clear as instructed. However, the alicorn was rooted to the spot by her struggle. “Princess!”
Luna shakily tried lifting her hooves to move out of the way, only to flinch at more cracks in her only lifeline. The boiling geysers eagerly spread over her blue forcefield, seeking a way past to annihilate her. A cry escaped her as she faltered to one foreleg, and her already brittle shield started to fail.
Then, a shape crashed into her from the side, just in time to knock her out of the way as her barrier shattered and the blood laser surged past.
Feeling the shape landing roughly on top of her, Luna squinted an eye open to find Applejack looking down at her. “Applejack…?”
“Ngh… sorry for roughhousin’ royalty,” Applejack said as she carefully made her way off of the alicorn and offered her hoof.
Luna turned her head and watched the blood laser dying down, revealing the stunned expressions of their friends. Everything in the beam’s path was gone, which unfortunately included their chest full of items and many of the items they had discarded on the floor.
“I think I can forgive it just this once,” Luna said as she got back to all fours with Applejack’s help. They both turned to see the pale, blobby creature sitting and watching them with its hollow sockets.
“What in tarnation is that critter?” Applejack asked.
“Bad news…” Luna stated the obvious, getting low and pushing herself to get over her magic being strained so much.
Fluttershy started to move closer to make sure the pair was unharmed, when Isaac got in front of her and kept her back. He faced the creature with a steely expression and waited for it to make its next move.
However, instead of the creature doing anything, a zap came from the near distance, preluding a bolt of yellow magic exploding into the chunk of floorboards the monster was using as a raft. The wooden island shattered, sending the creature flopping up and then splashing down into the lava. It wiggled its limbs and clenched its empty eyes shut as it slowly sank and burned before exploding into a gorey cloud.
The group looked up to find Celestia flying by, giving chase to the rider of Death as it attempted to rip open another portal. With another blast from the alicorn whizzing by it, the skeletal horseman growled before zipping off with her in pursuit.
Luna thought to chase after and help her sibling, when she remembered the sheer number of enemies heading toward their flightless friends. She would have to stay and help them, but she couldn’t just leave Celestia without some form of aid.
Thinking fast, she looked down to the deck of cards in her hoof, and then back up. “Celestia, catch!” she shouted before winding back and throwing the deck as far as she could.
Darting her eyes to the side at her sister’s cry, Celestia soon found a small shape flying through the air toward her. It started to fall toward the lava, when she reached out with her magic and caught it. Pulling it close, she realized what it was, and gave Luna a passing smile and a determined nod before returning to her pursuit.
Turning to the worsening situation behind her, Luna grit her teeth and lowered herself into a battle stance. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and even Fluttershy stood by her side with varying degrees of hesitance between them as they faced the small army amassing against them.
Isaac hovered down beside the ponies and prepared to fight alongside them. Then, before anyone could even react, a metallic sound came from behind as a length of chain snaked around his body in a flash and yanked him away.
“Isaac!” Luna reached out for the boy far too late.
Flexing his newfound wings was useless against the crushing weight of the chain whisking him away. Isaac peeked an eye open as the chain turned and came to a stop, only to find the burning eye of Conquest blindly staring through him a dozen or so feet away.
“Gah!”
A nearby cry of pain made Isaac look over. Similar to his own situation, Twilight had been wrapped tightly in a coil of chains, pinning her wings and keeping her horn from lighting.
Twilight panted heavily as another attempt at wriggling free yielded no results. She peered out, only to find the boy floating beside her, just as helpless as she was. “Oh no… Isaac…”
A low, guttural noise escaped Conquest’s grinning mouth. It drifted closer, even its faux steed whinnying and twitching eagerly as its master neared its prey.
With time running out for both of them, Isaac acted quickly. He wrenched his head to the side as much as he could and started blinking rapidly. Watery orbs flew from his eyes toward Twilight. More specifically, they flew toward her horn and the chains wrapping around it.
Twilight flinched as the projectiles impacted, some of which missed their mark entirely and harmlessly struck her face. While they didn’t harm her, they did seem to have an effect on the otherwise sturdy chains.
A metallic creak could be heard, followed soon after by a snap as the chains sizzled and eventually lost their hold.
As the chains briefly fell away from her horn, Twilight didn’t waste the chance she was given. She channeled her magic and pushed any exhaustion she felt aside as she teleported away, leaving the now empty bundle of chains to crush inward and fall.
Blinking back into existence several feet away, Twilight panted briefly and caught her breath. She looked ahead, where Isaac was still trapped. A frown formed as she saw him tensing and cringing from the painful force of the metallic bindings.
“Leave him alone!” she yelled, letting loose a few bolts of magic at the twisted harbinger.
Conquest effortlessly weaved and dodged around each of the magenta projectiles. Then, something unusual started happening.
Twilight felt something move behind her ear. She remembered putting the spoon Luna had given her there. As she pulled the metal utensil down into her vision, she was surprised to find it curling and bending of its own volition.
As the spoon bent itself, some of the bolts of her magic took on a more purple-colored glow and began curving on new trajectories. One bolt whizzed closer to Conquest than should have been possible, and as it turned to watch that one fly past, another bolt that seemed to have missed curved back around and struck the rider in the back.
The chains floating through the air jolted and a pained bellow issued forth from Conquest. Twilight glanced to the strange spoon in her grasp. Part of her wanted to question why or how it worked, but she decided against it and simply slid it back behind her ear with a smirk. “Not so fun when we have the weird powers, is it?”
In response to the alicorn’s strike, Conquest growled and tightened its grip on its stick pony. The white horse-head whinnied once more, opening its maw wide. A radiant light appeared in its mouth, and a low buzz built in pitch before a beam fired out similar to the rays of light Isaac’s doppelganger used.
Twilight scarcely had an instant to dodge. She yelped and jerked to the side, the burning beam grazing her shoulder. Clutching the tender spot, she glanced back to find the beam traveling the whole length of the cavern.
Facing ahead, she grit her teeth as she thought about how best to free Isaac and face this foe. Conquest reeled a hand back and formed another energy javelin, ready to send it careening toward her.
Then, before either could act, bolts of dark blue magic zipped out, hitting both Conquest and some of the chains wrapping around Isaac. This combination of damage loosened the chains and caused a pained cry from the horseman, allowing Isaac to wriggle himself free and hover away.
Twilight turned to find Luna soaring up alongside her. “Luna?”
“I thought you could use some assistance,” Luna said before glancing down to the others. “Speaking of which, Isaac, could you go help them? I’m worried they may not be able to handle all those creatures on their own.”
Isaac looked over to see a veritable army of some of the basement’s most terrible foes flying toward his friends. He nodded to the two princesses, leaving them to face their own deadly opponent while he flew down toward the wooden raft Fluttershy and the others were on. By the time he reached them, the fighting had already started.
A sharp cry made Fluttershy recoil from a horrifying visage of emaciated skin and hollow eyes in the shape of a floating fetus-like creature. She prepared to flee further, when the whirring of spinning rope and a flicking lasso cut her off and wrapped around the thing.
Applejack grunted with exertion as she whipped the creature around and let it go, sending it flying into a giant bat about to charge after Rarity.
As both creatures collided and fell into the lava nearby, Rarity spared a brief nod of thanks to her friend before an explosion brought her back to her own situation. Another giant watery orb from Pinkie’s glass cannon fired out, decimating a line of leeches zipping toward her.
“Uh… girls? I don’t want to sound like a party-pooper, but my super-duper cannon isn’t as super or duper as I first thought!” Pinkie yelled, pointing out the steam gently rising from her massive weapon. Between shots, it might as well have been an ornamental cannon for a couple minutes, which was more time than she had to waste waiting around.
More screeches came from above, prompting Pinkie to turn with a nervous wince. She held aloft her only other form of defense, her boomerang, and sent it flying out. The wooden toy thwacked two severed heads, jolting them back and leaving them dazed momentarily.
Rarity stepped in line with Pinkie and looked up at the stunned creatures, then down at the demonic baby smiling up from her grasp. “You’re supposed to do something helpful, right? SO DO IT!” She cringed and held out the impish being.
To Rarity’s surprise, it actually did as she requested. The baby puffed out its cheeks for a moment, and then spit out a thinner version of the blood laser Isaac used. This tiny beam exploded one of the heads, and ripped through the other as she shifted it like a living fire hose.
Once it was done, Rarity turned the baby around and held it with both hooves. Its dopey smile made her crack one of her own. “You know… once you get past the horns, you are kind of cute, aren’t you?” She cooed. As she did, the baby burped up a puff of smoke, which faintly smelled of rotten eggs.
Off to the side, Fluttershy squealed as a bat zipped right for her face. She reached out and caught it with both hooves, managing to just barely hold onto it as it thrashed and bit at her.
“Shy!” Applejack called, prompting her to look down to see the farm pony waiting with hinds at the ready.
At her friend’s prompting, Fluttershy averted her eyes from the terrifying fanged creature assaulting her, winded up as much as she could, and tossed the thing down. On cue, Applejack kicked out her powerful limbs, sending the offending avian, or at least what was left of it, sailing away and into the lava below.
Applejack shared a smile with the relieved pegasus, only for both of them to freeze at a familiar screech from behind them. Not even waiting to see what she already knew was coming, Applejack jumped forward, narrowly avoiding a blood bullet striking her.
Turning, she flinched as she was met muzzle-to-maw with not one, but two floating heads. Her body seized as she realized she couldn’t retaliate in time, with one of them already preparing to strike.
Fluttershy gasped and averted her eyes, expecting to watch her friend suffer an agonizing wound. What happened instead, was a series of familiar plopping noises as a hail of tears came down and obliterated one monster after the other.
Looking up, Applejack deflated with relief as she saw Isaac hovering down to join them. “Phew… thanks a bunch, sugarcube.”
The boy gave her the barest nod and smiled in response before both of them grew serious and circled around each other. More foes came to fill the ranks of those they had dispatched, and they couldn’t yet rest.
Rest was a luxury none of them could enjoy, as Rainbow Dash was quickly finding out.
With her lungs pumping hard, and her wings beating harder, Rainbow flew around the cavern to evade Pestilence’s constant attacks.
Thus far, the diseased harbinger hadn’t given her many openings or reprieves in between the waves of maggots, flies, or gobs of sickly green goo it sent hurtling at her. She was confident in her ability to outmaneuver an opponent in the air, but even she had her limits.
Limits, which were stress tested as a scattered volley of smaller green projectiles came down from above.
Rainbow jerked to the side, but not soon enough to stop a ball of bile from burning through her flank. She drew air between her teeth as she rocketed away.
Looking back to the grinning horror behind her, her gaze shifted to the blanket flapping uselessly around her shoulders, and the bleeding cut it had failed to prevent. “Guess it only works once… great. Not like I had enough reasons not to get hit!”
Her mind and her eyes slowly drifted to the white feather still in her grasp. Supposedly, it was a powerful weapon. However, she didn’t want to waste it when she knew she could get a strike off.
The other harbinger, Famine, had been defeated when Celestia and Twilight destroyed its head. Perhaps if she did the same for Pestilence, it would be undone as well?
Wheeling around, Rainbow flew headlong at the green horseman. As expected, it sent a hail of smaller maggots rocketing out of pores and boils on its sickening body, but she dodged around each one as she made her approach.
Picking up her speed and pulling her body back at the last moment, she smirked as she kicked out with a hind hoof, aiming right for its dumbfounded face. “Take this, you freak!”
A squelch sounded out, and perhaps the single most revolting sensation she had ever felt squished around her outstretched leg. A shower of maggots, green blood, and viscera sprayed in all directions.
Disgusted but satisfied, Rainbow brushed herself off and chuckled. “Not so tough after all.”
Hearing a burbling sound, she turned and froze. The harbinger’s head was gone, this much was true. However, it was still standing, or rather, floating.
A stump oozing sickly colored blood sat in place of Pestilence’s head, emitting a stench like a fermenting corpse. Despite the lack of its brain, it still seemed capable of intelligent movement, demonstrated by it whirling around on its hobby horse and lurching toward her in the air, with a host of flies now buzzing out of the hole in its neck.
Rainbow Dash blinked at the horror flying toward her. “To quote a wise stallion… NOPE! NOPE NOPE NOO OPE!” she yelled as she rocketed off, not daring to turn and see what she knew was giving chase.
Elsewhere in the cavern, a similar chase was taking place between Celestia and Death. Only this time, Celestia was the one on the offensive.
Death never seemed particularly bold or aggressive whenever they fought its weaker version. It had always faced them with cunning, strategy, and would often target whoever happened to be weaker at the time. Now, it seemed as though it felt the best strategy was to flee and wait for another opportunity to present itself, something that Celestia wouldn’t allow to happen.
Celestia tensed her jaw as she whipped through the air as fast as her powerful wings and battered body could go. She would have been overtaking the skeletal harbinger, but Death was using the landscape to its advantage, dodging and weaving around stalactites and lava spouts to confound her attacks or put distance between them.
“I think I’ve had enough of you!” Celestia declared. After concentrating for a moment, she teleported in front of Death’s path.
Surprise briefly flashed over Death’s skulled face as it screeched to a halt in the air. Celestia charged her horn and let loose a powerful blast of fiery sunlight, only to have it sliced in half and explode prematurely as Death swung its scythe.
Celestia prepared to conjure a sustained beam of magic when Death lifted a bony hand and extended it toward her. With a puff of smoke, floating blades appeared behind her, and as Death clenched its fist, these blades spun to life and zipped forward.
Wincing at the added strain on her battered wings, Celestia flapped hard to climb up and narrowly avoid the blades beneath her. She did not avoid the blade swinging across her neck.
“Gah!” Celestia yelped and clutched her neck. Blood trickled out of a lengthy gash running down to her shoulder. With a trembling hoof, she felt out the extent of her injury—and through the stinging pain, she was relieved to find that the cut was only superficial. It was only by luck that the blade failed to nick a major artery, in which case she would be bleeding to death right now.
Speaking of Death, the pale rider was not content with just drawing a little blood. It reeled its scythe back for another strike, this time aiming for center mass.
Acting on instinct alone, Celestia let loose a burst of kinetic energy from her horn. The invisible shockwave slammed into Death, sending it rocketing a short distance away before it caught itself on its stick pony.
It growled silently and shook itself back to clarity. Glaring at the alicorn with its empty sockets, it soon shifted its gaze away and started to flee once more.
“Oh no you don’t!” Celestia grit her teeth against the sharp ache of her wound and pushed forward. She couldn’t let such a deadly foe get away.
Seeing the alicorn giving chase once more, Death grinded its teeth together before lifting its scythe angrily. It slashed down through the air, leaving behind another swirling hole in the fabric of reality.
Celestia barely had time to process the portal opening before she was upon it. She had even less time to process the glowing red eyes gleaming within its swirling depths, and the brighter crimson glow appearing beneath them.
Her eyes flashed with alarm and she dropped. Only by the grace of gravity did she avoid a beam of roiling fury erupting from the portal.
A humanoid shape emerged from the swirling abyss, one that she recognized. Its obsidian form was wrapped in bandages, with one going around the only unbroken one of two horns on its head. A devilish tail dangled beneath it, and sharp teeth curved into a scowl while burning red eyes glared at her.
“Perfect… yet another memory I’ve tried to repress,” Celestia muttered. She spared a passing glance to Death flying away, when a fierce snarl snapped her attention back to her new adversary .
The thing lunged at her, crashing into her shoulder before she could dodge. Even though it was half her size, its strength was enough to shove her through the air. She grunted and pushed it off with her hooves, forcing her to flip and reorient herself.
As both of them turned and faced each other, Celestia pushed past her growing fatigue to pepper the creature with bolts of fire. It floated around most of the strikes, but gave a pained screech as one exploded into its side, scorching some of its bandages.
Enraged, the devilish beast charged forward again with nubby arms held out. This time, it caught Celestia in the chest and carried her with it for several feet before slamming her into a stalactite.
“Ngh!” A yelp forced its way from her chest, along with most of the air in her lungs. The rock behind her cracked from the force, and she was certain her spine wasn't too far behind.
Not giving her a moment’s reprieve, the creature opened its fanged maw. A sulfurous stench drifted out, and her face was painted red as boiling blood gathered in the dark cavity of its throat.
Celestia’s entire body stiffened, and her heart raced. With how weak she was getting, she couldn’t teleport in time to save herself.
Darting her eyes around for solutions yielded no results. None of her friends were close enough to reach her. However, she did notice one potential avenue of escape. Right in her own hoof.
The deck of cards still clutched in her grasp had one card poking out of the slot at the top of the box. She couldn’t see what it was, but she did see the letters ‘XVIII’ emblazoned across the top.
A faint memory screamed at her to act and save herself. She didn’t even know if it was accurate, or if the card really would do anything positive, but she didn’t have time to think. With a laser bubbling up and preparing to annihilate her, she pulled the card out and squeezed it.
In an instant, the creature roared as its laser spewed forth, not slowed by even the rock formation in front of it. And when it died down, Celestia was nowhere to be seen. Only steam and ash was left behind in the space she was in.
Then, a moment later, a high-pitched sound signaled a blur of a white shape apparating several feet away.
Celestia’s eyes squinted open. Seeing that she was still intact, and seeing the creature looking around in confusion, her panic slowly drained and was replaced with relief.
Looking down to her hoof, she could just barely see an artistic rendition of the moon against a blue background before the card fully vanished into sparkles of light. A smile quickly formed. “Useful indeed…”
The impish creature eventually noticed her again. Its eyes narrowed and it snarled through bared teeth. Celestia lit her horn and prepared herself. However, before either of them could act—
“AHHHH!”
A loud noise prompted both of them to look to the side. Soon after, a cyan blur whizzed past, with a buzzing swarm of flies leading a headless green horror giving chase.
While her adversary slowly shifted its attention back to her, Celestia let her gaze linger on the pegasus curving around the cavern. Particularly, her focus was on a small white object clutched in Rainbow’s hoof.
A bubbling noise and a red glow caught Celestia’s eye just in time for her to jerk out of the way of another blood laser. Her head darted toward the creature before she took off flying, this time heading towards the cyan mare.
“Rainbow Dash!” Celestia yelled ahead.
Rainbow glanced back to find Celestia flying after her and Pestilence. For some reason, the alicorn wasn't flying directly to her, instead making sure to keep off to the side.
“What is it?! And please tell me it has something to do with getting this freak away from me!” Rainbow yelled back, suppressing a shudder from seeing Pestilence’s headless body still pursuing her.
Celestia grunted as she weaved above another laser. Even Rainbow Dash took notice of that one coming too close for comfort. “I believe we may be able to kill two birds with one stone… or rather, one feather!”
“Huh…?” Rainbow’s brow furrowed briefly before she looked down to the item in her grasp. “You mean this thing?”
“It has an area of effect! If you can get close enough to both these creatures when you activate it, it should destroy both of them at once!” Celestia explained, or at least did her best through the shouting and evasive flying.
Rainbow felt a shiver run down her back as she glanced back to the two monsters. “How close are we talking here?”
“Just a few feet will do!” Celestia replied. After sizing up her own monster, she looked ahead to Pestilence, and then gave the pegasus a pointed stare. “I’ll follow your lead!”
“Alright… get ready!” Rainbow announced. Once she took a moment to psyche herself up, she wheeled back around and headed straight for Pestilence.
Perhaps confused by the sudden change in its prey’s behavior, Pestilence and the flies surrounding it stopped in midair. It tried to fly closer to Rainbow, but she curved around it slowly, kiting it in circles while Celestia drew near.
A tense exhale came as Rainbow looked down to the feather she held. Looking back up to Celestia, and the creature screaming through the air in hot pursuit, she tightened her grip on her supposed weapon.
In a blur of movement, Celestia flew past. As she did, she watched behind her. Thankfully, the imp hadn’t shifted its target and was still ignorantly chasing after her.
Rainbow Dash sweated from more than just the heat as the monster flew closer, and Pestilence shook and undulated in preparation for some kind of attack. She grit her teeth and waited for the perfect moment.
“NOW!” Celestia yelled just before her creature raced past the pegasus.
With every muscle crying out for her to act, Rainbow squeezed the feather hard and gave it a flap in front of her. It immediately glowed white, nearly shining bright enough to blind her.
As the imp flew beside the pegasus, blissfully unaware of the danger it was in, a beam of radiant light came piercing down from the roof of the cavern right in front of it. The moment it entered the light, it sizzled and burned until nothing but ash and a fading cry were left.
More beams of light came down seemingly at random in a radius around Rainbow. She was afraid that they would miss Pestilence entirely, when one burned down just as it approached her and scorched it from existence. And with that, the lights fell dim and the feather in her hooves deflated and sagged.
Rainbow slumped in the air and gave a relieved exhale. She let the feather fall and watched it drift away toward the lava below before looking over to find Celestia flying closer. Her eyes widened as she saw a streak of blood going down the princess’s neck. “Oh my gosh! Are you okay?!”
“I’ve been better, that’s for sure.” Celestia winced and touched a hoof to the stinging slash.
“Let me guess, that skull creep did that, didn’t it?” Rainbow asked, receiving a tense nod in reply. “Where did that thing go, anyway?”
Celestia scanned the area, only to find no sign of Death anywhere. “I’m afraid I lost it in all the commotion. I’m sure it took the opportunity to slink away and hide until it can get another cheap shot in.”
A loud explosion drew their attention across the cavern, where numerous flashes of blue, magenta, and white lights danced through the air as Twilight and Luna did battle with Conquest.
Rainbow Dash’s jaw fell open as she watched the distant battle raging on. “Woah…”
Celestia set her jaw, her eyes growing stern. “Come. Let’s go assist them,” she suggested, to which Rainbow gave a determined nod before the both of them flew off.
With fur soaked in sweat and blood, and the sounds of battle and her own ragged panting echoing through her ears, Twilight did her best to keep up and play her part in this deadly dance she and Luna had unwittingly entered.
Her wings ached as she weaved around a column of lava shooting up, and then coasted above some spears of light zipping past. She pushed these feelings of exhaustion and pain aside, though it was getting harder to do so.
A blue forcefield appeared behind her, blocking some explosions. Twilight turned, stunned to find the spears of light she had dodged previously having curved back around to strike her again.
“Stay on your guard, Twilight!” Luna exclaimed. Then, her eyes darted to the side and subsequently went wide. Racing her magic toward another spell, she put up a barrier in front of her just as a high-pitched whine signaled a beam of radiant death crashing into it.
Twilight gasped as Luna yelped in pain from magical exertion. Cracks had already formed on the blue shield, and it was quickly faltering.
Turning toward the twisted harbinger, Twilight fired out a volley of magenta bolts. One exploded right into Conquest’s hobby horse, rocking it to the side and interrupting the light beam emanating from its mouth. Her other attacks whizzed past, with some of them taking on a new glow and course-correcting themselves under the power of her strange bending spoon.
As two more bolts curved back and exploded into the horseman’s pale hide, it growled deeply. The eerie flame in its milky eye burned brighter, and it snapped its head to glare at Twilight.
Shrinking back at the intimidating sight, Twilight prepared herself for whatever was about to happen. As expected, retaliation came to her in the form of a length of chain unnaturally whipping out from the horseman. It lunged toward her like a striking snake, and she yelped as she dodged to the side.
Then, the chain completely changed its momentum and whipped into her ribs. She clutched it with an agonized yell as it drove her through the air before slamming her into the tip of a rocky outcropping.
“Twilight!” Luna reached out toward the younger alicorn. A blur of movement drew her gaze to the side just in time for her to jolt out of the way of a similar chain striking down toward her.
However, the chain she just dodged proceeded to rise back up, wrap around her hind legs and squeeze tight.
Luna felt her bones creaking as the metal bonds kept squeezing tighter and tighter. She tried to reach down and push them off, when more of the chain floated up and snaked around her neck, strangling her. She sputtered and choked as she raced her hooves to grasp at it.
It wasn't as if Conquest itself was pulling on the chain and making it tight. Rather, it was as if each link in the chain was somehow alive and able to move independently. Like the deftly deadly instincts of a python, it maintained its bind on her limbs as it tightened its stranglehold. Her vision began to blur as the links embedded themselves deeper into her windpipe.
Blue energy sparked and fitted as she struggled to light her horn. Between the pressure on her throat, and her fading energy, Luna couldn’t focus her magic. The light of her horn flickered out, and her strangled gasps and coughs fell quiet as her consciousness slipped further and further away.
Before it could slip entirely, another explosion jolted her awake as the pressure on her throat suddenly lessened.
Fiery bolts of magic crashed into Conquest’s form, immediately breaking its concentration with a pained wail. Soon after, as it whirled around to meet its attacker, a cyan blur zoomed past and delivered a swift kick, sending it toppling back against its stick pony and nearly falling off.
As the chain lashing her to a pillar of rock fell away, Twilight slowly took to the air again. She clutched her aching ribs, taking a brief moment to be thankful for her alicorn sturdiness. That moment had to be brief, as she looked up and noticed Luna starting to dip in the air.
However, before she could get too alarmed, Rainbow Dash zipped up to Luna and helped steady her while nudging her back to full consciousness.
Hearing wings beside her, Twilight turned to find Celestia hovering down.
“Are you alright?” Celestia asked.
Fighting off a wince, Twilight nodded. “Yeah… I think so. I-I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up, though.”
Looking off to the side, Celestia saw Isaac and the others mopping up the last of the creatures coming at them. The boy was actually flying out and destroying the portals spawning them in with his tears.
“Hold on just a little longer. I believe the tide is turning in our favor at the moment,” Celestia said. She gave her student one last assuring smile before returning her attention to Conquest and lighting her horn.
After the surprise attack that left it reeling, Conquest lifted itself up and shook its head. As it shifted its blind gaze around, it found itself surrounded by four of the most formidable opponents Equestria had to offer.
The three alicorns all spread out in a loose circle, keeping their horns lit and at the ready. Meanwhile, the annoying pegasus smirked and tensed her wings, ready to dodge or strike again despite not having any magic.
Seeing such defiance made Conquest grip its stick pony hard enough to cause a shrill whinny from the living toy. Its teeth grinded, and its whole form shook with rage, until at last it let its fury explode out.
With a fierce yell, Twilight and the others shrank back as Conquest threw out its arms and began glowing with a pale white light.
In an instant, this white light shifted as new shapes sprang forth. Phantom images of Conquest itself began flying out of the original harbinger’s form. Each one made a cry of its own as it surged forward at blinding speed.
Twilight’s eyes flashed with alarm as the pale army rode forth. She dodged around two of them before having to teleport out of the way of a third. However, her companions weren’t so lucky.
One of the translucent clones slammed into Celestia on its way past. Like a helpless doe clipped by a speeding train, the matriarch of the sun went flying from the impact.
Luna started to reach out for her sister when a blur of movement forced her to duck down. Each phantom image wasn't chasing them directly, but there were so many of them going in their general direction that dodging all of them was a difficult task.
“Gah!” Rainbow Dash spun in the air as one of the afterimages violently shoulder barged into her own shoulder. She could feel her bones and muscles stretching as her forelimb was nearly dislocated. Clutching her throbbing limb, she grit her teeth and tucked her wings in to fall out of the way of another clone blazing past.
Further back, and far enough away that the sounds of the ponies' battle were drowned out by the din of his own climactic struggle, Isaac finished destroying the last of the portals Death had opened up.
The boy flew back and dispatched a few flies that had gotten free of the portal before it vanished. Once they were gone, he took a moment and wiped some sweat from his brow.
With most of the creatures and their noises gone, Isaac froze as he heard a faint yell of pain. He spun around and searched.
None of his flightless friends were having any trouble as they cleaned up the last of the monsters. No, the sound came from ahead, where the princesses and Rainbow Dash were reeling from another of Conquest’s attacks. Seeing them in danger, Isaac gave a silent gasp and prepared to rush off to aid them.
However, he paused as he noticed something out of the corner of his eye, something lying on the floor at the very edge of the platform Fluttershy and the others were on. Flying closer, Isaac realized that it was the last item Luna pulled out of the chest before it was destroyed.
The item took the form of a symbol of a winged orb of yellow light wrapped in blue robes. He hesitated as he reached out to it. Without knowing what it did, any number of things could happen if he used it, both positive and negative. Hearing another yell above, the boy darted his gaze up to his friends before setting his jaw and picking up the strange item.
“AGH!” Twilight screamed as one of the phantom images tore past her side. The copy’s stick-pony turned its head and bit at her, taking a chunk of fur and flesh as it sank its spectral teeth in and ripped away.
With more blood leaking out and draining down her fur, she dipped in the air and wavered before catching herself. Holding one hoof to her latest wound, she shakily lifted her head to look at Conquest.
As all of its duplicates faded, Conquest chuckled madly at the sight of the four ponies reeling from its attacks. The determination in their eyes spoke to their continued will to fight, but more loudly did their panting and unsteady flight patterns speak to the extent of their injuries and exhaustion.
Holding up its hand, light crackled and coalesced once more into the shape of a spear. Twilight and the others tensed themselves as its point slowly trailed back and forth between each of them.
Then, Conquest reeled its arm back to throw. However, just before the javelin could leave its hand, a different sort of radiant fury surged forth, aiming not at one of the ponies, but at the harbinger itself.
A beam of yellow-tinged light crashed into Conquest’s upper half, nearly knocking it off its steed as it sailed past. The rider screamed as its flesh steamed and burned everywhere the beam contacted.
Looking for the source of the beam, the ponies were surprised to find Isaac hovering up towards them. His entire appearance had changed. Now, his eyes and even the ever-present set of tear tracks going down his face glowed yellow, and a set of blue ribbons were draped over his form to create a robe of sorts. Combined with his feathery wings and golden ray of light, Celestia and Luna in particular were reminded of certain angelic beings they had encountered in the basement prior.
“Isaac…?” Twilight blinked, stunned at the boy’s sudden transformation.
Isaac smirked at the ponies before snapping his gaze back to Conquest as the blind harbinger recovered from his strike.
Shaking itself briefly, Conquest lifted its milky eyes. The beam of light had completely burned away its draped blindfold, revealing both flaming white orbs radiating with fury. The forgotten rider issued an angered roar, and its hobby horse whinnied as a high-pitched whine and a glowing light formed in its mouth.
Before it could make good on this attack, Isaac closed his eyes for a moment before opening them. They flashed with golden light, and another beam of energy fired out, striking beneath Conquest and completely engulfing its steed. With a shrill cry echoing into oblivion, Conquest found itself without a mount as the stick-pony vanished into dust.
Rainbow Dash smiled in spite of her exhaustion at the sight of the horseman briefly flailing before floating under its own unnatural power. “Ha! You might as well give up, creep! We’ve got you on the ropes now!” She reeled back in the air, flapping her wings hard in preparation to zoom up and give the harbinger a swift kick.
A rumbling sound from below interrupted Rainbow’s train of thought. Soon after, something breached the surface of the lake of fire and rose up. She grunted as it crashed into her, carrying her with it as it climbed higher and higher.
“Gwahh!” Rainbow flailed as the shape abruptly stopped, sending her flying up and then back down onto a rocky surface of obsidian with a painful smack.
Groaning softly, Rainbow rubbed her head before peering over the edge of whatever mountainous form had sidetracked her. She found herself much higher in the air than she expected, and she could barely spot her friends below looking up at her with wide eyes and pale faces.
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight yelled.
“I’m okay!” Rainbow waved down from her perch. “I just got caught off guard by this—”
She trailed off as she felt the shape moving beneath her. And as two of three great, slitted red eyes gazed up at her, her spine melted as she realized just what it was she was lying on.
“This… th-this—” A deafening roar shook Rainbow’s very being as the great beast shifted. “—AHHHHHHH!” She shot into the air and put as much distance as she could between herself and the creature.
As its prey fled, the beast whipped its massive body around and raised up, trying and failing to bite at the pegasus before crashing back down into the lava.
Down on the surface, Fluttershy and the others went pale as the creature’s movement splashed up a shower of boiling magma. Rarity squealed, frozen to the spot in fear until Applejack and Fluttershy carried her in their mad sprint for the other side of their wooden raft, where Pinkie was frantically waving for them to hurry.
Turning to see her friends down below fleeing, Rainbow Dash flinched as she realized that they didn’t have enough room to avoid the wave now descending toward them. “Oh, sweet Celestia!” She averted her eyes, expecting to hear the horrific screams of agony as the four mares were burned alive.
Instead, she merely heard the splash of liquid falling and dispersing, and the bubbling of lava. Slowly, she peered out, only to find her friends safe and unharmed beneath a gilded bubble of magical energy.
“Oh… sweet, Celestia.” Rainbow glanced over to find the alicorn with her horn lit as expected.
After making sure the lava was gone, Celestia allowed her shield to drop. She turned to the towering monstrosity and grit her teeth before flying into the distance away from it. She fired a blast from her horn on her way past it.
“Luna!” Celestia cried.
Looking over to see her sister soaring away as fast as her wings could carry her, Luna quickly understood. They couldn’t allow the beast to be this close to their flightless companions. “I’m with you!” she exclaimed as she bolted off after Celestia, sending a few attacks of her own at the titan.
Twilight rushed to follow after the royal sisters, only for a whipping chain to narrowly miss her as she ducked down.
Even without its steed, Conquest growled and gnashed its teeth at her. Its floating weapons writhed and curled through the air like metal serpents before lashing out wildly. A few links even targeted those on the wooden platform, causing some fearful yelps as Rarity and Applejack dove for cover.
Setting her jaw, Twilight briefly looked over and locked eyes with Isaac. Both of them shared a nod before facing their opponent.
Meanwhile, as one fight was starting anew, Celestia and Luna raced to ensure that another wouldn’t reach their companions.
Racing to keep up with her sister, Luna craned her head back to find the great beast blindly charging after them. Even with its monstrous size, it took them a fair bit of effort to keep ahead of it as it sailed through the lava.
With a deep growl, the beast closed its maw. Smoke briefly drifted from its lips, and at once it opened wide and spewed several streams of fire toward the princesses.
Luna felt the scorching heat of these fire geysers surge past as she narrowly dodged to the side. The fire curved to meet her, forcing her to take more evasive action. She could see her sister ahead doing the same thing. Her sibling’s powerful and graceful wings were struggling to keep up with the demand being put on them, and Luna was no different.
Hearing a yelp behind her, Celestia turned to find Luna clutching a foreleg to her chest and barely staying airborne. Her heart raced at the sight of more streams of fire incoming, and her sister’s shaky flying barely staying away from them.
After studying the pattern around her, Celestia jerked out of the literal line of fire and spun herself so she was flying backwards. With a menacing hum, sunlit energy climbed her horn and gathered at the tip before she fired out a beam of magic.
The beam traced up the beast’s skin. It left a smoking trail as it raked up and across one of its eyes. As she had hoped, the fleshy orb wasn't nearly as tough as the creature’s obsidian skin, and a splash of blood burst free before it clenched its ruined eye shut and roared in pain.
Luna trailed her head side to side as she noticed the streams of projectiles ending. She glanced back to see Celestia’s handiwork, smiling with relief and slowing herself to a more comfortable speed. “Well met, sister!”
“Don’t celebrate yet, Luna,” Celestia said. She steeled her gaze as she watched the beast pursuing them. It hadn’t been dissuaded at all by its injury. If anything, it was chasing them faster now with rage boiling in its remaining two eyes. “We aren’t out of the woods yet by any means!” she shouted, sending another fiery bolt exploding into the hulking monstrosity.
More explosions rang out elsewhere in the cavern as spears of light whizzed past Twilight, annihilating any rock formation they struck. She returned fire with a magenta bolt, which curved on target thanks to the metallic missile guidance system behind her ear.
Conquest jerked back in the air to avoid the alicorn’s homing shots. It prepared to counter attack, when a beam of yellow light surged over its head as it ducked.
Isaac hovered up and clenched his eyes shut. However, before he could let loose another holy laser, the pale harbinger opened its mouth with a sickening snarl and fired its own beam of white death. The boy fell backwards in the air and waved his arms to find his balance, the blinding light surging mere inches above his nose.
With one target reeling, Conquest flicked a hand toward Twilight and bade one of its writhing chains to whip at her, dissuading her from making any further attacks.
“Grr…” Twilight growled under her breath. The chain lunging after her was keeping up so much that she barely had a moment to focus on anything else. If only she could concentrate for a few moments…
A few moments, she wasn't going to get. Another length of chain whipped up from beneath her while her focus was on the first. It wrapped around her waist before she even knew what was happening, and constricted in an instant.
“Gah!” Twilight yelped. Her wings were crushed to her sides, and one of her forelegs was pinned. No matter how much she tried wriggling free, she was afraid her bones would give before the chain would let her go.
With the twisted horseman grinning at her, she felt a cold sweat starting to form. Shifting her focus to a teleport spell, she gathered energy to her horn once more. However, the magenta light sparked and fitted as she pushed her already spent magical stamina, and soon her horn fizzled out. “Oh no…”
Conquest formed one last javelin of light in its outstretched hand. It took aim and reeled back, ready to put an end to the annoying alicorn before any of her allies could intervene.
Any of her slower allies, that is.
In a blur of cyan color, an equine shape zipped down and kicked Conquest in the back of the head. It was sent tumbling through the air several feet before stopping itself, whereupon it glared up at a familiar rainbow-maned pegasus.
“Hah! Did you forget I was here?!” Rainbow jabbed a hoof toward the harbinger.
Conquest ground its teeth and growled. It lifted its light-spear high and aimed for its new target. However, a series of magenta sparkles forming around its body made it pause, its blind eyes widening as it recalled its previous target.
Looking up through the telekinetic hold over it, it found Twilight hovering in the air once more, free from the chains idly floating now that their master’s concentration was broken. Her horn still sparked and crackled, but was enduring as much as the determination in her eyes from a simpler spell.
“Isaac, finish it off!” Twilight shouted.
No sooner had she finished speaking did Isaac start charging his attack. Conquest barely had time to look up in as much shock as a monstrous harbinger of the apocalypse could before a ray of burning yellow light surged into its form. With little more than a sizzle and a pop, Conquest was unmade in a shower of charred viscera.
Despite the grim spectacle, a hearty cheer went up as Fluttershy and the others celebrated. Pinkie jumped up and down, Rarity waved enthusiastically, and Applejack stood up and kicked her fores in the air.
Fluttershy, meanwhile, simply hovered in the air and smiled at her friends’ good fortune. This smile quickly faded, soon to be replaced by a shocked gasp as something else caught her eye. “Isaac, look out!” she yelled as loud as her demure voice could carry.
Turning to see Fluttershy hovering there with wide eyes, Isaac followed her stare to his side. There, a mere foot away in the air above him, was the grinning skull of Death. A gleam of light reflected Isaac’s shocked face in the blade of a scythe held back in preparation to strike.
The boy barely had a moment to process the threat before him. In a blur of movement, Death swiped its blade down mercilessly. Isaac flinched and prepared for the end.
The end didn’t arrive. In its stead, a sound of flapping wings came just before a magenta glow sparked to life beside him as Twilight swooped in close. In the seconds before impact, she placed the strongest barrier she could muster in front of them and braced herself.
“Don’t worry, Isaac, I’ve—”
Twilight cut off abruptly as a searing pain raced down her horn. Her agonized yell joined a shattering sound, and only by the grace of her flinching back did she avoid the scythe which had sliced through her barrier like it wasn't even there.
Isaac frowned and held his hands to the pained alicorn’s side. He looked back over, gasping silently at the sight of Death already reeling back for another strike.
The scythe leveled itself as if to make a sideways slash. A glowing red pupil shined in one of the pale rider’s empty sockets as it set its gaze on not one victim, but two.
A series of shocked shouts came from Fluttershy’s side as the others yelled for all their worth, as if they could change what was about to happen through sheer force of will. She couldn’t hear them. Her wide eyes trembled, and her whole form followed suit.
Do something…
She shook in the air like a leaf on the wind under the power of her useless wings. Of course her friends were all shouting. It was all they could do from their wooden raft. Being a pegasus, she was the only one who could do anything. But, as always, she was far too timid. Far too useless.
Twilight flinched an eye open and looked up as Isaac clung to her and tried to pull her out of the way. She tried to light her horn to save herself and the boy, but she couldn’t even hold an aura.
Do something…! Fluttershy screamed at herself in her mind. All day, she had been nothing but a burden to her friends. So many times they had gotten hurt saving her when she locked up in fright, just like she was doing now. Twilight wouldn’t even be in this situation if she hadn’t gone back into the chest. Now, the alicorn was very likely going to die because of her.
Time slowed to a halt. Her heart raced, and her vision blurred at the edges as she stared with tears in her eyes at her own failure playing out.
Rainbow Dash flew in a desperate panic to reach Death before it struck. She just managed to grasp the wooden shaft of the scythe from behind and yank back, but she was soon cast aside by a powerful shove.
A small beam of boiling blood careened toward Death as Rarity held her impish weapon aloft, only for Death to effortlessly dip underneath the laser until it died out.
With a small explosion, Pinkie fired her glass cannon. However, the watery projectile couldn’t hold her desperate hopes, and soon reached its limited range and arced uselessly into the lava before even reaching their foe.
Stop it…! As she stared at the fearful faces of Twilight and Isaac, Fluttershy couldn’t stop a flood of memories from flashing through her mind; of meeting a reserved and sweet unicorn who would grow to be one of her best friends, of all the adventures they had and the time they had spent together, and of hearing a cry for help from an innocent, scared little boy under more suffering than she could imagine.
All these memories played through her mind’s eye before suddenly being replaced with the mental image of Twilight lying dead in a pool of blood, and of Isaac’s chest sitting forevermore in some cold, dark room.
Fluttershy… for once in your life, stop being a coward and do something!
It was over in an instant. A blink of an eye. A flap of a butterfly’s wings.
Rainbow Dash looked up after recovering in the air. Her pupils shrank as she watched Death swing its blade. Both Twilight and Isaac cringed and held each other close as the scythe neared them—
—before suddenly finding a different target; a yellow pegasus racing in front of her friends.
*Swish*
A spray of blood flew free like a water balloon bursting, going in all directions from the grizzly slash running diagonally down Fluttershy’s chest. She barely made a muted squeak of pain, and more of the crimson fluid forced itself up her throat and out of her agape mouth. She fell backward and began to plummet.
Twilight’s heart skipped, and the color drained from her face as her friend fell. “FLUTTERSHY!”
“NO!” Rainbow Dash screamed. In a blur, she took off and got beneath Fluttershy. She cradled her friend in both forelegs and carried her toward the only bit of solid land nearby, where the others were already racing to receive her.
Death chuckled to itself at the sounds of the ponies’ despair and shock. However, a different sound soon grabbed its attention.
With tears falling down her face, Twilight clenched her jaw and slowly trailed her fiery gaze from her friends back to the one responsible. Fury and rage overcame pain and exhaustion, and magic crackled to life along her horn. The hissing pops and buzzes were far more menacing than her horn’s usual peaceful hum.
And as the princess of friendship’s eyes vanished amidst a bright glow of their own, even death itself would feel a chill down its spine.
The pale rider started to flee, but before it could get far, Twilight lashed her aura around its form. Even with its immense power, it couldn’t budge an inch as she gathered a ball of energy at the tip of her horn.
This ball grew brighter, larger, and gave off a murderous buzz. She threw back her head before leveling it forward, letting out a pent-up scream of anger. A beam of magenta light surged forward, completely enveloping the trapped harbinger.
Across the cavern, the fierce yell and the light from Twilight’s attack reached Celestia and Luna. Even the great beast paused its furious assault on the royal sisters to look back at the blinding glow.
Celestia frowned with concern and shared a troubled look with Luna. They couldn’t see all of what was going on, but they could tell even at this distance that the others were all gathered together in one spot, with body language that didn’t paint a good picture. Whatever had spurred Twilight to enough anger to let off that much power in her exhausted state, they almost didn’t want to know.
As the light died down, Twilight panted heavily and sank a good few inches in the air. Through her breathlessness, a harsh glare still remained as she looked up to find little more than fading dust where her opponent was.
Feeling a hand on her side, she looked over to find Isaac giving her a worried stare. She made an effort to stabilize her shaky wings and nodded to him, unable to find the energy to speak and say she was okay.
However, both of them soon turned at the sounds of their friends' panicked voices. They could see the group gathered around Fluttershy, with Rainbow Dash hovering over the wounded mare and trying her best to apply first-aid without any equipment. Without a word between them, they both rushed as fast as they could to join the others.
Down on the wooden platform, Rainbow Dash desperately pressed her hooves down onto the bulk of the slash running through Fluttershy’s form. She couldn’t stop the blood running out and soaking her hooves, her friend’s fur, and the floor beneath. Suffice to say, this injury was far beyond what she had learned to treat during her Wonderbolt orientation.
“Flutters! Can you hear me?! S-Say something!” Rainbow pleaded.
At first, the only reaction Fluttershy gave was a pained grimace and some soft groans, but eventually her eyes fluttered open.
“Guh… girls…?” she spoke, her voice sounding even fainter than usual. “Wh… w-where are… Twilight and… I-Isaac? Are… are they… okay?”
Before anyone could answer, the hovering of wings and the sound of two shapes landing drew their attention away to find both Twilight and Isaac rushing up to them.
Twilight caught a gasp with a hoof as she finally saw the full extent of her friend’s wound. She wasn't a doctor, but even she could tell that it was deep enough to hit vitals. “Oh my gosh… Fluttershy…”
“She’s going to be okay, isn’t she?!” Pinkie asked.
Applejack’s heart sank with each agonized murmur or weak shift the pegasus made. “We gotta get her outta here so we can get her some help!”
“But how do we get out of here?” Rarity asked, to which none of them seemed to have an answer.
None of the ponies, anyway.
Isaac stared at Fluttershy for a moment. Yellow, glowing droplets of tears formed in his eyes the longer he watched her suffering. He stepped back from the group and turned toward the lava behind him. If his friends were going to save her, they needed to be free of the chest, and there was only one way he saw that happening soon enough.
However, just as he started walking toward the edge of the platform, a weak voice called out and stopped him.
“Isaac… w-wait!” Fluttershy reached out to the boy before cringing and clutching her chest. The others all turned to find Isaac standing by the lava’s edge, their eyes flashing with surprise at the grim determination on his face.
Seeing the pegasus trying to speak to him, Isaac glanced between her and the lava, both fighting for his darting gaze.
“Hey… kid, don’t do anything stupid.” Rainbow Dash held a tentative hoof out to the boy, her wings twitching at any sign of movement he made.
Fluttershy struggled to catch her breath enough to speak. Every inhale stung, and she could only get air in shallow gulps. Even so, she pushed herself to lift her head until Applejack knelt down and rested a hoof under her neck to help. “Please… ngh… we’ve… come so f-far. Don’t… don’t give up… just because of m-me.”
Isaac sniffled and quaked as he stood there. All of his new friends were looking between him and Fluttershy, equal parts saddened over her declining health and worried about him. He lowered his head and clenched his fists as he looked back to the lava, still contemplating giving them the fast exit that she so desperately needed.
“She’s right, Isaac.” Another voice came from above. The boy looked up and backed up a step as he saw Celestia flying down and landing.
“Princess…” Twilight muttered.
Celestia’s expression fell as she saw the blood gushing from Fluttershy’s form, and the tears staining the others’ faces. She frowned at them before turning to Isaac and forcing her mouth into a set line. “I know death holds no sway over you now, little one. I also know you want nothing more than to save Fluttershy. But with how unstable the pocket dimension is right now, I don’t know what would happen if you were to die. It could collapse the dimension, killing us all. It could leave this path forever closed off to you. It could even rend your soul asunder.
“We all came here knowing the risks…” Her voice grew softer as she glanced over to Fluttershy. “... And we all want to leave this place alive. But if we are to do that, the only way is for us to defeat that beast.”
It was at this point that Celestia drew the group’s attention to the background, where Luna was flying around the monstrous creature and keeping it occupied with occasional blasts of magic.
“Each time Luna and I came here with you, we would always be ejected from the chest after defeating a powerful enemy on the last floor. And given what that thing represents to you, and all we’ve been through tonight, I truly believe that this is it. This is your chance, Isaac… yours, and all of ours, at freedom.”
There was a glint of determination in the ponies’ eyes behind their tears. A shaky smile climbed Isaac’s cheeks, a smile which only grew as he turned and saw a smaller one on Fluttershy’s pallid features.
Twilight stepped up to be in line with the boy and stared out at the titan in the near distance. She bit her lip as she glanced back to see the blood steadily leaking from the wounded pegasus. “If the only way out of here is to destroy that thing, we need to hurry. Fluttershy won’t last long like this!” She took flight, only pausing to turn to her friends. “The rest of you stay here and try everything you can to keep her alive. Isaac, Rainbow, are you with me?”
Rainbow looked back to see Isaac hovering into the air with fists clenched and an eager nod. She glanced down to her wounded friend. Just seeing Fluttershy so weak and hurt made her heart ache and her blood boil.
“We’ll take good care of her,” Applejack assured as she cradled Fluttershy’s head with one hoof and used the other to stifle the bleeding as much as possible. Rarity and Pinkie nodded in solidarity.
Rainbow nodded to them before leaning in close to Fluttershy and resting a hoof on her shoulder gingerly. “You stay alive, you hear me?” she said.
Amidst her shallow breathing and pained writhing, Fluttershy managed a slight smile. “Stay… s-safe… D-Dashie…”
As Rainbow was about to take off, Rarity reached out and stopped her. “Wait just a moment, Rainbow!” She took the imp floating nearby in her hooves and held it out. “Here, take this. It… he…? should help you do some damage.”
Although the sight of the smirking devil gave her some pause, Rainbow took it and nodded before taking off without another word.
And as Twilight, Celestia, and Isaac all followed after, Applejack and the others watched them flying off into battle for perhaps the last time.
A soft whimper drew Applejack’s attention down to the pegasus bleeding out in her forelegs. She redoubled the pressure on Fluttershy’s wound, frowning at the second yip it caused. “Stay with us, sugarcube. Just a little longer.”
Soaring ahead as fast as their collective exhaustion could carry them, Twilight and her three companions approached the fierce combat zone Luna and the beast had made.
Explosions rocked the cavern as a volley of blue orbs fired out, some missing entirely and destroying rock formations in the distance. The beast met this attack with a swift charge, biting down toward the lava and nearly taking Luna with it.
With lungs burning, and wings crying out for rest that she couldn’t provide, Luna watched the shape under the lava like a hawk as it traveled out a ways before resurfacing. Just then, she heard the flapping of many wings and turned to find her allies joining her.
“What is wrong over there?” Luna asked tensely.
Celestia glanced behind her before facing her sister with a heavy frown. “Fluttershy is gravely injured. She needs medical attention, or she won’t survive. We need to end this. Now.”
Luna held in a gasp. However, before she could say anything, a gust of air started sucking her and the others backwards. They all looked back to find the beast with its maw open wide, pulling them toward it with only the sheer power of an inhale.
“I’m afraid that might not be so simple!” Luna shouted over the rushing wind as she and the others began flying against the pull.
Rainbow clenched her eyes shut and flapped hard. She was barely able to gain any ground, like a trout swimming upstream in a monsoon. Hearing a noise ahead, she opened her eyes and flinched. Like the last time the creature did this, balls of fire were being pulled from the lava below and up into their path. “Not this again!”
“Everypony fly to the sides! If this is anything like before, it will use that massive laser attack next!” Twilight cautioned.
Celestia grunted under the effort of just keeping her distance from the beast. Flying sideways was rendered even more difficult, as evidenced by Isaac losing his rhythm and hurtling backwards until she caught him in her forelegs. “Easier said than done!”
Soon, the fireballs were upon them. All the ponies weaved side to side, up and down, anywhere they could manage to dodge the incoming projectiles. A few of them could feel their fur scorching from some close calls, and it was only getting harder as more and more flames started appearing at once.
Then, all at once, the sucking pull ended.
Twilight looked back and gasped. As expected, the beast had its eyes and mouth closed, and spirals of thrumming red energy were climbing up its horns. “SCATTER!”
Like a flock of birds parting around a hawk, they all flew off in different directions. Fear of annihilation fueled them to go ever faster. Twilight in particular thought her heart might explode in her chest from how fast she was flapping her wings.
Until, just as she got clear of the hulking monstrosity, a tingle of energy just barely went up the tip of her tail as a wall of glowing fury surged past.
Twilight and Rainbow Dash turned and watched the laser cross the cavern in mere moments. They couldn’t see Celestia, Luna, or Isaac. Concern started to well up, until eventually the beam died down, revealing their allies on the other side.
“Alright… I’ve had about enough of this thing.” Rainbow Dash glared at the massive creature before looking down to the imp she had received from Rarity. “Uh… ok, little guy, do your stuff!” She held the thing out in front of her and jostled it around like she was trying to free a candy bar from a vending machine.
After its brain stopped rattling around in its head, the imp baby shook itself to clarity before looking up to the beast and puffing out its cheeks. A moment later, it let loose a tiny beam of boiling blood. It might have been a fraction of the size of the ray of devastation from before, but it was still plenty effective as it surged up and cracked off one of the beast’s horns.
A deafening roar came as Rainbow’s reward. She flinched and covered her ears, though she couldn’t help a little smirk at the damage she caused.
This smirk soon faded into uneasy confusion as another sound pricked her ears from below; a haunting wail that sent chills down her back. “What the hay…?”
Looking down, she and the others spotted the source of the noise. Four more spectral forms were rising up out of the lava and flying toward them.
Celestia and Luna immediately paled at the dreadfully familiar sight. “Don’t let them near you! They explode!” Celestia shouted as she began to evade.
Rainbow Dash blinked at that before looking down to find one of the spirits getting uncomfortably close. “Bwah!” She raced away in a spiral pattern, hoping to confuse it and gain distance.
With one of the spirits chasing after her, Twilight swooped down and to the side. Still, in her current state, she could tell that she wasn't going to outspeed it.
Sweating nervously as it grew closer and closer, she prepped her horn as much as she could in advance. Finally, as it was about to touch her, she flinched and turned, shielding her face with her hooves, and shielding her body with a magical barrier.
Like with Death’s scythe, the resulting explosion ripped through the magenta shield with ease, and hid the fledgeling alicorn from view amidst a cloud of black smoke. However, a yell of pain that quickly died out revealed what had happened.
Celestia turned at the sound of her student’s cry. Her eyes widened at the sight of the cloud of smoke, and as Twilight’s unconscious body dropped like a stone toward the lava below, she gasped. “Twilight!”
Reaching out with her own magic, Celestia just managed to catch her former student, though the strain made her cringe.
“Sister!” Luna’s voice called from off to the side.
Celestia grit her teeth, expecting one or more of the remaining spirits to be after her. However, as she looked back, she blanched at the shadow towering over her. An open maw of teeth was lifting up, preparing to lunge down at her to swallow her whole.
She glanced at Twilight, only to find no sign of the younger alicorn waking up. If she moved fast enough to evade, she was afraid that her fragile magical stamina would give out and drop her student.
Then, just as the beast was about to crash down, it paused as a certain cyan blur flew right up in front of its eyes.
Rainbow met the confused and angry red eyes with a smirk. She glanced down for a moment before saluting the creature and preparing to speed off.
Although the beast was unsure of what the bold pegasus was doing at first, an eerie howl from below soon made it realize what was happening. Before it could do anything to stop her, Rainbow Dash bolted off in a different direction just as the specter following her got close enough and exploded.
As the shockwave struck, the beast wailed in pain and rocked back, splashing down into the lava as it fell onto whatever equated as its bottom. The remaining two spirits chasing Luna exploded on their own, seemingly destroyed by the creature’s lapse in concentration.
Rainbow gave a satisfied chuckle as she watched the mighty beast fall from its own attack. Meanwhile, Celestia breathed a sigh of relief before shifting her attention to Twilight.
Flying over, she found her student still out cold from the explosion she endured. Celestia let her magic fade and took the unconscious alicorn in her forelegs, shaking her gently. “Twilight… Twilight, can you hear me?”
After a moment, Twilight’s eyes clenched under their lids and a soft murmur escaped her. She stirred slowly, managing to lift her head and open her eyes. “Ngh… Princess?”
Celestia smiled with relief. She then glanced at the stunned beast. “Can you still fly?”
“I… I think so.” Twilight twitched her wings. With some help from Celestia, she rolled over and flapped her feathery appendages. Although she was a bit shaky, she managed to hold her own in the air.
Looking to the side, the pair found Luna flying alongside them, with Isaac joining in soon after, and Rainbow Dash forming up on their other side.
“Now’s our chance!” Luna stated as she lit her horn. “Hit it with everything you have!”
With that, the group did as she suggested. Rainbow Dash readied her living weapon, and Isaac closed his eyes to charge his eye-beams. In unison with them, all three princesses of Equestria gathered every drop of magical power they had left in them to their horns. Scintillating magenta, sunlit gold, and moonlit blue light climbed each spiral and focused at their tips. Teeth clenched, and sweat beaded along their faces as they concentrated.
Then, all at once, they fired.
The beast roared in agony as multiple lasers impacted its obsidian skin. As the first barrage faded, Isaac and Rainbow charged another set of attacks while the magic users switched up their spells. Luna fired a barrage of blue orbs of light, while Celestia conjured massive flaming spears which exploded on impact. Twilight kept her beam up for longer than the others, until she too had to take a moment to breathe and recover before switching to a less taxing spell.
Blood leaked from their opponent in streams. Another of its two remaining eyes flinched shut as bolts of magic exploded into it. Many of its teeth shattered or fell out. Its whole form sagged from the toll it had taken during the battle.
However, the beast wasn't finished just yet. With a quick breath, the creature let out a particularly fearsome roar. A shockwave went out that nearly blew the group back. They prepared themselves for some kind of attack.
Little did they realize that they were already under attack.
Amidst the fight, Pinkie Pie and Rarity cheered their friends on from the edge of their platform, while Applejack watched from further back as she remained by Fluttershy’s side.
Applejack tensed her jaw as she looked down. Fluttershy had lost so much blood that it was pooling beneath her. Much of the healthy yellow color in her face now held a paler tinge behind it, and her eyes looked like they could barely stay open.
She forced a smile as the pegasus trailed her sickly gaze up to her. “Don’t worry, ‘Shy. I’ve got ya. Just stay awake for me, okay?”
Fluttershy opened her mouth to try and respond, but all that came of it was a slight whine and a weak shudder.
“How is she?” Rarity asked. Applejack looked up to find the unicorn making her way over while Pinkie kept watching the fight.
Applejack started to think of something comforting to say. She bit her lip as she failed, and whispered, “Rares… I ain’t gonna lie, I think she’s knockin’ on death’s door and waitin’ for him to answer.”
Rarity drew her mouth into a line to keep her lips from trembling. She knelt down and rested a hoof on one of Fluttershy’s, holding it tightly in her own before looking up to Applejack. “She’ll make it. She has t—”
A fierce roar cut the unicorn off, nearly making her jump out of her fur.
All of them, even Fluttershy, looked toward their friends. The beast had just let loose a deafening sound, but it seemed to be doing nothing else.
Then, the whole cavern started to shake.
“Woah!” Pinkie steadied herself and took a few steps back from the edge as lava trickled over the sides of their platform. “What’s happening?!”
Neither Applejack nor Rarity had any response for her. However, before they could even try to say something, a faint yell of pain snapped their attention back ahead.
“Oh no…” Rarity held a hoof to her mouth.
Over by Twilight and the others, a veritable shower of smaller rocks and stalactites was falling from the ceiling far above. Even some of the larger rock formations were breaking off and falling. Luna cried out in agony as a stone spike tore through her wing.
Although she too was busy dodging, Celestia turned and noticed her sister starting to go into an uncontrolled descent. “Luna!” she shouted, but she could do little else as the shower of rocks kept coming.
“Princess!” Twilight reached out and started to rush to catch the falling alicorn, only for a twinge of pain to snap her attention away. One of the rocks cut through her side, and many more were falling to join it, forcing her to evade.
Luna grit her teeth and held a hoof to the bleeding hole punched into her left wing. She knew that she couldn’t fly anymore, but with the lava below fast approaching, she had to do something to save herself. Spotting a wooden platform below, she forced herself to endure the pain as she held out both wings and used what little air resistance she had to glide toward safety.
Seeing Luna make a rough landing on semi-solid ground, Twilight was free to direct her attention back to her own wellbeing. She tried to form a shield above herself. The beginnings of a magenta barrier flickered into existence for all of two seconds before it shrank and then fizzled. She let out a fearful yelp as she covered her head and did her best to dodge the bigger chunks of rock.
“Somepony finish it off!” Rainbow Dash yelled over the rumbling around her. Doing her best to keep steady while dodging the falling sky, she held up her imp friend and let it start to charge its attack.
However, before it could let loose its tiny laser, it was engulfed in flame as a ball of magma leapt up just in front of Rainbow Dash, nearly burning her hooves and forcing her to yank them back.
“Agh!” Rainbow clutched one sizzling hoof to her chest, and flailed the other to cool it off. She watched the ball of magma falling back down, barely taking a second to process the loss of her companion and weapon before her eyes widened at the sight of more fireballs flying up to greet her and her friends. “Holy cow!”
As his friends struggled to stay alive, Isaac couldn’t help but to have flashbacks to when his doppelganger almost killed them. Glancing back toward the group behind him, he knew that time for Fluttershy was running short.
He gazed ahead at the beast, at this twisted incarnation of his mother borne in equal parts from her rage toward him and his fear toward her. He couldn't deny a touch of anger himself—both at the things she had done to him, and the harm she had wrought on his friends—but now, at this very moment, all he felt was pity at what she had become.
Flying high above the creature, drawing on his ages of experience honing his agility to dodge each falling rock or rising fireball, he moved himself into position and charged his attack.
His eyes flashed open, and a radiant beam carried all his anger and retribution to the beast. The laser lanced its one remaining eye, and a final burst of blood sprang forth as it flinched closed.
There was a pause. And then, as its whole form trembled and started erupting into blood, the beast let out one last roar of agony as a blinding light pierced the cavern and came down.
Twilight flinched open an eye to look at the creature. The light shining down had split and disintegrated it into bubbling chunks, and what was left of its body was sinking into the lava. Still, despite their apparent victory, the cavern shook even more and more rocks came falling down on top of them.
“W-What’s going on?! Did we do it?!” Twilight asked, having to shout over the increased rumble around her. “Did we win?!”
“It doesn’t feel like we won!” Rainbow added.
As she waved her companions close and casted a shield over herself and her sister below them, Celestia looked around for the boy that had apparently struck the final blow. She didn’t find him at first, until she looked up into the light. “Isaac…?”
Isaac glanced down to his friends as he climbed higher into the light. He would soon reach the roof of the cavern, yet somehow the light seemed to come from a hole that wasn't there before. He felt a strange pull that compelled him to fly toward it, and while it pained him to leave without saying goodbye, he knew that the ponies wouldn’t last long with the cavern falling apart.
A smile framed his features as he looked down at them, and a tear formed in one eye. However, this joyful expression soon faded as he looked elsewhere in the cavern.
Across the way, as her friends were shielding themselves and each other from the falling rocks and struggling to steady themselves, Fluttershy looked out from under the three mares huddled around her.
She could just barely make out the sight of the boy climbing higher and higher into the light. Somehow, the light radiated a comforting warmth that she could feel even from where she was, and it almost seemed to numb her pain. A smile formed as she watched Isaac disappearing from sight. Soon, all else started disappearing from sight as the edges of her vision blurred.
Applejack cringed at the rocks falling around them and the lava roiling from the tremors rocking the cavern. She was afraid their platform was going to tip over and spill them into the magma.
Looking down to check on her wounded friend, her pupils shrank as she watched Fluttershy’s tired eyes drifting closed. She felt her friend’s head fall back into her foreleg, and all tension faded from her body.
“Shy…?” Applejack muttered, her small voice inaudible over the clamor. She started to shake her, when a more violent shake interrupted her.
“AHH!” Pinkie yelped as the platform they were on jolted and rocked to one side. She would have stumbled and fallen off if Rarity hadn’t grabbed her and hugged her close.
“Hold on!” Rarity shouted.
Elsewhere, Luna also nearly fell off her wooden sanctuary, until Rainbow Dash flew down and picked her up with some help from Twilight’s magic.
Luna lit her horn and scanned the energies of the pocket dimension. She grew pale as the result made itself known. “Sister… I believe the pocket dimension is falling apart!”
“Ya think?!” Rainbow Dash retorted.
“W-What’s going to happen to us?!” Twilight asked.
“I’m… not sure!” Celestia admitted. Even she couldn’t hide a twinge of fear in her voice. “Hold on, everypony!”
As they all huddled together in the air, the shaking grew worse and worse, until the noise drowned out all else. The light shining down seemed to brighten and grow, until it filled their vision entirely.
Then, gravity and all sense of orientation failed them, and they fell screaming into the void.
With a rush of wind, the ponies were flung through the air before abruptly falling to the ground. A series of yips and grunts rang out, until the last of them settled into a crumpled heap.
Twilight groaned and lifted her head off of the crystal floor. She was met by the scampering of tiny claws rushing along the ground to get to her as her young assistant ran over and jumped into her neck.
“Twilight, you’re back!” Spike exclaimed. He buried himself in her fur and squeezed like he was afraid she would disappear again.
“Spike…?” Twilight muttered, still at a loss that she was safe and sound in her study. “It’s… it’s over? We’re out?”
“Yeah. I was getting worried about you guys. It’s almost been an hour since you went in,” Spike explained before suddenly skewing his brows. He looked around the group, seemingly searching for something that wasn't there. “Wait… where’s Fluttershy?”
The instant the words left his mouth, a pit of dread formed in their guts as they remembered their yellow companion.
“Flutters?!” Rainbow Dash shot off the floor, her wide eyes darting around the whole room. “Fluttershy?!”
“Where is she?!” Pinkie desperately peered around the chest, even looking behind it and lifting it up to check underneath. “We need to get her to a hospital!”
Meanwhile, Applejack hung her head and stared at the floor, unable to bring herself to meet the eyes of her friends still feverishly searching. Her jaw wavered as she thought back to the last few moments before they were kicked out of the chest, back to the sight of the pegasus peacefully closing her eyes. “Girls… I-I don’t think—”
“What?” Rainbow Dash turned her head. She couldn’t see Applejack’s face under the farmer’s obscuring hat, but she could see her lips struggling not to quiver. “You don’t think what, AJ?”
“What Applejack means to say is…” Celestia took a steady breath, her own eyes threatening to waver at the grim reality. “The wound that Fluttershy suffered… I’m afraid that she must have…” She trailed off, unable to bring herself to finish. Looking over at a hoof placed on her shoulder, she found Luna struggling to keep her composure as well.
“Wound…?” Spike darted his eyes between Celestia and Twilight. The former unicorn was barely holding it together. “Twilight… what happened in there?”
Twilight couldn’t speak without losing what fragile hold she had on her emotions. She merely held the dragon close as he stared up at her in stunned shock and mounting despair.
While the horrible truth began to sink in for her friends, Rainbow Dash stared back at Celestia in disbelief. Her jaw hung slack, and her eyes trembled. “No… I… I-I don’t believe it. It’s not true!” Water formed at the corners of her vision, betraying her refusal. “She wouldn’t… s-she’s not—”
*Creak*
A sudden, soft squeak of wood silenced the cyan mare and everyone else. They all looked over in unison to the source of the noise. The chest. It was open.
The lid of the ancient box was ajar. Strangely, for the first time any of them had seen, light pierced into the crack, allowing them to see a sliver of the interior.
Twilight lit her horn and examined the chest. Her eyes heavy with exhaustion, pain and emotion, stared into the middle distance as she found nothing of note. The magical presence she felt the first time they found the box of horrors was gone.
After sharing a look of confusion and confirmation with Celestia and Luna, Twilight slowly reached her hoof forward and, hesitating briefly, opened the lid.
Instead of the void of all-consuming darkness that they were expecting, the inside of the chest was laid bare for the first time in perhaps countless ages. No force pulling them inside, no hidden terrors lurking within waiting to be freed. Simply a puff of stale air and some flexing cobwebs greeted them as the lid flipped all the way open.
Twilight looked around as everyone gathered by her side. They all joined her in peering within. What they found cemented the somber hush over the group.
At the bottom of the chest, lying where it had always been from the very start, was the decrepit skeleton of a child.
And lying there beside the skeleton, was a single yellow feather.
A myriad of emotions swept over the ponies. Tears formed in even the steeliest eyes, and a few quiet sobs began to bubble to the surface as it sank in.
Pinkie buried her face into Rarity’s side and began wailing. Rarity herself tried to turn away and hide her outpour of sadness. However, as she looked down and found Spike crying his eyes out into her flank, the dam broke and she hugged them both as they all sobbed openly.
Luna bowed her head and struggled to keep from crying, though even with her years of discipline she couldn’t control her shaky breath. A wing softly draped over her, causing her to look up and find her sister. Though she maintained a modicum of composure, Celestia had tears flooding over as well, prompting Luna to give in and nestle her head in her sister’s side.
Applejack managed to rest a hoof on Rainbow Dash’s back amidst her own sorrow. The pegasus had collapsed to the floor, sobbing and crying harder than she ever had in her life.
Twilight clutched the edge of the chest with her hoof. The sounds of her friends and even her fellow princesses tearing up or outright breaking down made the lump in her throat worsen. Droplets fell from her cheeks, landing on both the dusty bones of one lost friend, and the lone feather of another. Finally, she clenched her eyes shut and whimpered.
“Fluttershy… No…”
Isaac ascended towards the crack in the sky, and as he flew he could see echoes of his past before him:
He saw his mother mourning the loss of her son.
He saw his father leaving them without turning to say goodbye.
He saw his mother sleeping, and his father taking money from her purse.
He heard the late-night fights they had that kept him up at night, and the guilt he felt for what he believed he was causing.
He felt the pain in his stomach during those sleepless nights, and saw his shadow in the closet, waiting for him.
As he rose, he felt his fears drop from his body. His shame, his worry, pulled from his being. As he became lighter, his ascent became faster.
He saw his one true companion, his pet cat, alive and well.
He saw his mother and father together again, holding each other.
He felt his mother kissing him on the head after he had said his prayers, and the comfort in knowing someone was watching over him.
He saw his own birth, and the faces of his parents filled with joy and optimism.
And then... he saw nothing.
“Are you sure this is how you want this story to end, Isaac? You're the one writing it, it doesn't have to end this way,” a masculine voice explained softly. “Here, how about we tell it a different way - maybe a happy ending?”
“Okay, Daddy,” a little boy replied, voice diminished and eyes dull with sleep after a long, long day spent playing.
Lying in his bed, tucked snugly under the blankets, he looked up to his father: a mustached gentleman with short hair parted down the middle sporting a simple white shirt and green pants. A hastily cobbled together album of drawings forming the previously told story, with room for plenty of blank pages, sat nearby.
“Good. Are you getting sleepy yet?” his father asked, though by his smirk, he already knew the answer.
Isaac yawned. “Yeah.”
“Okay, so…” His father trailed off abruptly, placing a hand to his chin in thought. “Actually, why don’t we let your new friend take over for tonight?” He suggested, turning to the door behind him.
Following his father’s gaze, Isaac looked to the door. It opened slowly, and a familiar yellow pegasus sidled in. Fluttershy smiled warmly at the sight of the boy happily waiting in bed for his parent to finish telling him a bedtime story.
Seeing the pony he had grown to know as a friend in such a short time, Isaac’s expression warmed as well. He shifted under the covers, turning over to better see her as she walked up to the side of the bed and sat down.
“Fluttershy…” Isaac chirped, though his voice was still tired.
Fluttershy chortled, her smile growing wider. “Hello again. It’s so nice to finally hear you. It’s nice to finally meet your father as well.” She turned to the older figure, who returned her cheery expression with a pleasant nod. “I heard him reading to you before. I can see where you get your creativity from.”
Isaac looked up to his father and beamed. “Me and Daddy always used to play pretend,” he explained. However, despite his fond recollections, a frown formed and his eyes trailed downwards.
Seeing this, Fluttershy’s expression drained as well. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry…” Isaac drew his blanket closer to his head and shrank down in the bed.
Fluttershy leaned closer. “Sorry? What are you sorry for?”
Isaac eyed near her, his tired eyes starting to take on a familiar sparkle of tears. “I… I-I’m sorry I got you k—”
Before he could finish, a gentle hoof landed on his cheek and made him face her. The pegasus held no regret or anger in her eyes, only kindness. Just as she did when they first met.
“Isaac, you have nothing to apologize for, you silly filly,” Fluttershy said. “I’m just glad you’re free from that awful place now.”
“But, what about your friends? Won’t you miss them?” Isaac asked quietly.
Fluttershy trailed her eyes away. She looked to the door, thinking back to where she just came from, and those she left behind. While her eyes shimmered briefly with emotion, she took a breath and managed a smile again as she faced the boy. “Of course I’ll miss them… and I’m sure they miss me too. But, it’s okay. Somehow, I know I’ll see them again someday. Then we can all read stories to you and play together.”
Seeing how lighthearted she was despite everything, Isaac’s expression eased back into a slight smile. “That sounds nice…”
Fluttershy nodded. Then, after a few moments of silent thought, the boy spoke again.
“Hey, Fluttershy?”
“Yes?”
Isaac paused briefly, glancing around at his cozy and safe room, all his toys and happy drawings, and the smiling face of his father. He then turned back to the pony, sitting up and reaching his arms around her before burying his head into her neck.
“Thank you for saving me.”
Bringing a hoof up to rest on the boy’s back, Fluttershy’s cheeks warmed and her smile returned bigger than ever as she nuzzled him back. “You are oh-so-welcome,” she said before pulling back and glancing to the side.
She picked up the album of drawings, only to find blank pages and crayons instead of a new story. She would have to make one up, it seemed. Not that she minded. Happy endings were her favorite, and she knew the boy had earned a happy ending.
“Now then… Isaac and his parents lived in a small house, on the top of a hill…”
Amidst a sea of darkness, a bubble of magenta light shifted through the cobweb-ridden halls of the Castle of the Royal Sisters.
Princess Twilight Sparkle and her six best friends in the world diligently and somewhat cautiously pressed on through the crumbling pictures of former decadence around them.
Spike clung to her back, nervously panning his reptilian eyes around the shadows cast by each ruined doorway or fallen marble pillar. Meanwhile, the rest of the Elements of Harmony followed close behind, expressions ranging from indifference, to annoyance, to fearful hesitance, curious joy, and even disgust.
Mostly, it was Rarity who was disgusted.
“Twilight, how much further are we going?” the fashionista whined, narrowly dodging a stagnant puddle on the floor that was dripping from the cracked ceiling. “We’ve been in this dreadful castle for at least an hour already!”
Rainbow Dash turned her head back and gave her friend a flat look, which shifted to sympathy as she saw how genuinely distressed the unicorn was. Fluttershy might have been scared of more practical things, but Rarity was looking at the grime on the walls like it was going to come alive and eat them.
“You know, you didn’t have to say yes when Twilight asked us to come with her, Rares,” Rainbow offered.
Rarity sighed. “Well, yes, but I wasn't simply going to refuse to help a friend. Also, she is a princess now, so it felt like the proper thing to do.”
“It’s not like she was gonna throw you in the dungeon if’n you said no, sugar,” Applejack said.
Pinkie skewed her brow a bit at her friend’s words. “Does she even have a dungeon?”
“Yes… it came with the castle,” Spike said, “but she only uses it to punish books she doesn’t like.”
While Pinkie was wondering what a dungeon in the castle of friendship would look like, and Rainbow Dash was wondering what kinds of books her eggheaded friend didn’t like, Twilight turned toward Rarity and flashed a reassuring smile.
“It won’t be much longer, Rarity. After that, we can take a lunch break and I can take you home if you’d like,” Twilight suggested.
“You’re staying here?” Rarity asked.
Twilight nodded. “I have to. Pri… uh, Celestia asked me to help her and Luna inventory everything they left behind here while they’re off at their diplomatic summit.”
“Doesn’t that give you a few days to get this done?” Fluttershy piped up from the back, dreading the thought of having to spend the next few days in the foreboding ancient castle. Even if she was afraid, she couldn’t just not help her friend.
“Yes, but I want to get as much done as soon as I can. I don’t have as much free time as I used to,” Twilight admitted, casting a somewhat regretful look around at her friends. She missed being able to just spend most of the day hanging out with them, but her new duties were important, and she would rise to the challenge.
Onwards they went, combing through every dark room or hidden passage they came across. Occasionally, they would find old storage trunks or boxes, prompting Twilight to do a quick scan for magical energies with her horn.
This deep into the castle, there could have been any number of magical artifacts, and while she hoped that Celestia and Luna hadn’t left anything dangerous out in the open, it was worth being cautious and avoiding one of her friends getting hexed by some dusty old knick-knack.
Eventually, as they were walking down another bend in the hallway, Fluttershy paused and her ears perked up.
What caused it, she wasn't quite sure. She panned her head to the side, where a lone door stood just down an intersection. It was made of thick wood, and a heavy iron padlock hung from its face.
Normally, Fluttershy wouldn’t dream of doing something so scary as to step away from her friends and approach a dimly lit hallway in such a terrifying place. Her spine shivered just at the thought.
However, as she carefully moved out of Twilight’s light bubble, she somehow didn’t feel scared, at least not scared enough to deter her. She felt… needed.
Something inside her nudged at her mind, telling her that the door and whatever was behind it was important. It was a strange sensation, and she wasn't sure what it meant. Was this what Pinkie felt every time her Pinkie sense went off?
“Umm… Twilight?” Fluttershy spoke, her usually timid voice holding a hint of curiosity.
Noticing that their friend wasn't where they thought she was, Twilight and the others paused and turned back toward the intersection, where Fluttershy was standing facing ahead.
“What is it, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked. She walked over and looked down the shorter hallway at what had given her friend pause. The only thing of note down the intersection was a door at the end just a few feet away.
“Do you know what’s in there?” Fluttershy hesitantly pointed toward the door. She felt bad for derailing the group like this, but something about the door was clearly bothering her somehow.
“No… I’ve never been down this path,” Twilight said. She started approaching the door, unable to deny her own curiosity.
The others watched as Fluttershy and Twilight went up and briefly examined the door. However, as the alicorn went to touch the padlock with her hoof, a barrier of translucent yellow light suddenly blocked her, causing her foreleg to recoil.
“Woah…” Rainbow Dash leaned forward, intrigued by the first sign of something not totally boring she had seen all day. “What’s that?”
Twilight stared at the door for a moment before turning to her friends. “It’s one of Celestia’s warding spells. She told me that there might be a few around the castle. They’re supposed to protect some of the more powerful things stored here.”
“Oooh, so it’s double locked?” Pinkie mused. “I wonder what’s inside? I’ll bet it must be something super-duper exciting if Princess Celestia went through so much trouble to lock it!” She grinned eagerly at the prospect, like a filly on Hearth’s Warming Eve staring at a tantalizing present.
“Either that, or it’s something spectacularly dangerous…” Rarity added uneasily.
This only made Pinkie vibrate faster with anticipation. “Even more exciting!”
“I’m with her. I gotta see what skeletons the Princess keeps in her closet.” Rainbow Dash rubbed her hooves together eagerly and turned to her alicorn friend with a pleading grin, pressing their noses together. “Twilight, can we open it? Ple-e-e-ase?”
Twilight gently pushed her friend back to a more respectable distance before frowning softly. “Sorry, but no. Celestia explicitly told me to write her a message before I dispel any wards, and I know she will be too busy today to interrupt her,” she explained.
“Aww, man. You never let me have any fun!” Rainbow Dash drooped in the air, her body nearly forming an upturned ‘U’ shape.
Ignoring the disappointed whines from Pinkie and Rainbow, Twilight turned to Fluttershy and offered her a sympathetic expression. “Sorry, Fluttershy. I know you had your heart set on finding out what’s in there, but it will have to wait until at least tomorrow.”
“Oh…” Fluttershy started to frown before flashing a sweet smile. “That’s okay. I was… only curious is all. You can just tell me what you find in there later.”
“I’ll be sure to do that,” Twilight said, poofing up a blank piece of paper and a quill with her magic. Spike quickly took it and, without a word between them, began scribbling a note to remind the alicorn later, whereupon the note poofed back from whence it came.
With that, the group started to head back out onto their original path. Some of them were more disappointed than before, but it was probably for the best. After all, the door must have been locked for a reason, and they knew that Celestia usually had good reasoning for her actions.
Then, they heard it.
Faint, echoed, and eerie, a phantom cry came and pricked their ears, sounding as if it came from a baby or small child.
The ponies all froze, their eyes wide. They turned to each other, almost convinced that each of them was imagining the sound, until they saw their friends reacting to it too.
“What in tarnation was that?” Applejack asked.
“You guys heard it too?” Spike added, shivering slightly as the sound replayed in his ears.
Rarity turned back toward the door, her stare now holding apprehension as she lifted her hoof to point. “It sounded like it came from in there.”
“Was that a foal’s cry?” Fluttershy frowned, now concerned at the thought that some poor child was trapped behind the door.
Rainbow Dash hovered away from the door a bit, not wanting to reveal just how unsettled she was. “Uh… that’s not possible. This place has been empty since the princesses lived here, and that door’s probably been locked for a thousand years,” she reasoned. Her previous statement about skeletons in Celestia’s closet seemed much more morbid now.
“But, we all heard it, right?” Pinkie asked. “What if someone is stuck in there?” She frowned at the thought.
“Calm down, everypony,” Twilight chimed in, her own voice sounding a little unnerved. She took a steady breath. “Like Rainbow said, for something to be alive in there, it would have to be able to survive for a really long time. And if there is something in there, I’m sure Celestia locked it up for a good reason. In all likelihood, it’s an evil artifact or entity.”
“I don’t think it is,” Fluttershy said.
“Huh?” Rainbow Dash turned, only to see Fluttershy staring at the door with lips pursed softly. “What do you mean, Flutters?”
Fluttershy approached the door and lifted her hoof, bringing it as close to the frame as she could without the barrier showing up. That strange feeling tugged at her heart again, even stronger than before. “I’m not sure why, but I think somecreature is in there, and I think they need help. I just…” She turned to see her friends offering her understandably confused and worried looks before her expression softened and she turned back toward the wooden obstacle. “I just know it.”
Twilight watched her yellow friend for a moment, searching her eyes for any hint of fear that would tell her to stop considering what she was considering. But, there was no fear in the timid pegasus’ face, only a sense of compassion, the urge to help a creature in need.
Finally, the alicorn sighed and set her mouth in a solemn line. “Step back, everypony,” she said, wrapping her magic around Spike’s form and lowering him onto the floor.
“What?” Spike looked up to his unofficial sister like she was crazy. “You’re actually going to open it?”
Twilight pursed her lips, as if she were still struggling to convince herself either way. “Yes… I am.”
“But, what about the Princess’s ward? I thought you weren’t supposed to open anything with one on it without consulting her?” Rarity asked.
“I trust Fluttershy’s instincts.” Twilight glanced at Fluttershy, resting her hoof on the pegasus’ shoulder and causing a smile, which she reciprocated. “If somecreature needs help, it’s my duty to help them. But… just in case, everypony get back where it’s safe.”
The others shared an unsure look with each other before doing as they were told. Fluttershy merely hoped that her strange hunch was right, and she hadn’t just convinced her friend to release some ancient evil onto the world.
With a huddle of ponies and one dragon hiding around the corner and peering their heads out to watch, Twilight steadied herself and let her horn’s glow intensify.
She reached out with her magic, and almost immediately, the vibrant yellow forcefield appeared with a menacing hum, as if to dissuade her. She paid its warning no heed, and instead focused her magic into it.
With a flash of magenta overtop the pulsing yellow, the barrier disappeared into a few colorful sparkles. From there, it was just as simple as casting an unlocking spell, letting the padlock click open and leaving the door standing there.
Twilight looked back to her friends, who were equal parts curious and tense. As all eyes bore into her and the door ahead of her, she swallowed her own fear and looked ahead. She wrapped a cluster of magic around the edge of the door, and after readying herself for anything, pulled.
A wooden creak came as a thousand years crept out from within the space behind the door, chilling the air and contaminating the already stale smell of the castle with an even worse aroma, if such a thing existed.
There, in the small space, small enough to be a closet, wasn't what the group was expecting.
They weren’t sure what they were expecting, to be fair. Some ancient creature with claws and teeth? A cursed book holding the soul of some evil wizard that somehow sounded like a baby? The possibilities were endless in a place like the Castle of the Royal Sisters.
But, against all expectation, a single object sat alone on the barren floor of the space. A lonely, dust covered, cobweb ridden, chest.
Twilight relaxed as she took in its shape and qualities. It was made of well-worn wood, with golden bordering forming three stripes that came down and framed the keyhole. Despite the keyhole implying it would lock, it was ajar ever so slightly, offering a teasing view of the inside.
“Huh…?” Twilight blinked at the odd sight. It didn’t look like anything else she had seen in the castle prior.
Rainbow Dash took a step out from the corner and stared ahead blankly. “That’s it…? A box?”
“I think the more important question is, what’s in the box?” Spike reasoned.
As the others gradually walked over and joined Twilight, she shared an uncertain look with them before slowly approaching the room.
“Uh… hello?” she called, squinting with slight confusion and only half expecting anything to respond. “Is anyone in there?”
Nothing but hollow silence greeted her.
Fluttershy stepped forward alongside the alicorn. “We’re not going to hurt you. We want to help,” she offered in her gentlest voice.
Once again, nothing. No crying, no voices, no sign of anything or anyone.
“Hate to break it to you, sugarcube, but I don’t think anyone’s in there,” Applejack said. “If they were, they prolly would have been out jumpin’ for joy to be free by now.”
“Well, there’s only one way to find out. When life gives you a box, you open it up!” Pinkie suggested eagerly.
Twilight held a hoof up, silently coaxing her friends into halting. She lit her horn and scanned the chest and the area around it for magical energies. She felt one inside, but she wasn't sure how to interpret it. It didn’t feel like the kind of magic she was used to, and it didn’t give off any feelings of good or evil, at least as far as she could tell.
“Here goes nothing…” Twilight muttered to herself as she took a deep breath and opened the top of the chest. It flipped up with little issue, revealing nothing but darkness inside.
An unsettling amount of darkness. With the alicorn’s light shining into the room, such a thick miasma of inky blackness shouldn’t have been possible. It was as if the inside of the chest was swallowing up any semblance of vision in an attempt at keeping its contents hidden.
“Umm… is anypony else seeing an endless abyss of nothingness?” Rarity asked, her pitch rising.
“Is there even anything in there?” Spike added.
“I’m… not sure,” Twilight admitted. She tried to feel around the inner cavity of the chest. Her magic came across something, but strangely, as she tried to pull it out, she met stiff resistance. “What the…?”
“What is it?” Rainbow Dash skewed a brow as she watched her friend heaving with her magic to no avail.
Twilight panted softly at her failed attempt at wresting the chest’s contents away. “Something’s down there… I can’t tell what it is,” she noted. She then shifted her efforts into trying to make out what the object was by its shape. It had some rounded bits, but other bits felt sharp and pointed. “It feels like… like—” she stepped closer and carefully reached her hoof inside, hoping that the extra sensory information from her own flesh and blood would help.
Then, without warning, Twilight suddenly felt herself being pulled forward by her hoof.
“Wh… WOAH!” Twilight’s eyes snapped open and she caught herself with her other hoof on the edge of the chest, but that too was quickly sucked in. Her whole upper half started gravitating closer to the black void. She tried to fight it, but she was quickly losing. She felt her hind hooves losing their connection with solid ground.
The alicorn would have been pulled all the way in immediately, if it wasn't for a set of cyan hooves wrapping around her waist and pulling back.
“TWI!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. She quickly and frantically flapped her wings, but even with her wingpower, she was barely able to gain any ground. Eventually, the pegasus grunted as she was pulled to the ground, nearly losing her grip on her friend and getting sucked in herself.
Feeling two sets of hooves grabbing her on either side, Rainbow looked back to see Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie trying to help pull them both away.
“Okay! Maybe this was a bad idea after all!” Pinkie yelled, her voice almost getting lost in the wind rushing into the chest, blowing all of their manes about.
“This box sucks!” Rainbow added, clenching her eyes shut.
“Ya think?!” Applejack said. After securing her hat in her teeth, she rushed forward and joined the effort to try and save her friend. Although, by this point, she was trying to save more than just Twilight. They were all in trouble now.
Rarity grabbed ahold of the farmer’s tail, clutching it tightly between her teeth. “I’m starting to see why the Princess locked this door!”
“I’m sorry, everypony!” Fluttershy cried. “This is all my fault!”
Twilight struggled to wrench her forehooves out of the sucking pull. She managed to just barely get one back onto the edge of the chest. Using that, and using the help from her friends, she lifted her head up as much as she could and turned to the side, just barely able to eye toward the others.
She could see her young assistant standing just outside of the chest’s pull, staring ahead with wide eyes as the ponies struggled to help her.
“Spike! Go for help!” Twilight yelled. “Get Princess Celesti-AHHH—!”
The alicorn cut off abruptly as her hoof slipped, allowing the increased pull to throw her off her awkward positioning and suck her further into the chest. This time, none of the five mares holding on were prepared for the sudden shift forward, and they started getting pulled in one by one like links in a chain.
“BWAHH—!”
“Wh-AHH—!”
“AHHH—!”
“No, no, no, NOOO—!”
Rarity widened her eyes as she watched all of her friends vanishing into the chest. And as Applejack started getting pulled in and her hooves lost connection with the ground, she knew it was her turn as well.
“Spikey WikEEEEEE—!”
“Girls!” Spike clasped his hands to the sides of his head. By sheer instinct to help his friends, he ignored Twilight’s plea for him to save himself and leapt forward, managing to grab the end of Rarity’s tail before she flew into the box. He tried to prop his feet on the chest and pull them out, but somehow he knew even before he started that it was futile.
Even so, he felt his stomach bottom out as he was sucked into the dark abyss along with the six mares.
“AHHHH—!”
With one final scream fading into infinity, the room was silent once more, save for a faint creak as the chest drifted closed.
Spirits were low in the study at the castle of friendship.
Fluttershy and her friends had spent a fair few days in the crystal adorned space, drinking tea, reading books, or simply chatting while Twilight and Spike researched something nearby. It wasn't as cozy as the Golden Oak library, but also not as stiff and regal as the palace in Canterlot. It was something of a happy medium between the two.
Now, however, the pegasus was anything but happy as she worked on exchanging a bandage around Applejack’s side for a clean one. The others were loosely gathered around Twilight and the wooden chest placed in the center of the room, the subject of the alicorn’s focus.
Fluttershy finished tying off the bandage before tucking it in. She looked at her patient, worried that she might have been too rough, not that she ever was, or that the orange mare would show it even if she had been. “There. Is that better?”
“Sure feels that way.” Applejack smiled. “Thank ya kindly, sugarcube.”
Both of them shifted their attention to the research session going on beside them. Books of varying topics sat open on the floor or floated aimlessly in Twilight’s aura while she cast analysis spells on the chest. Magenta runes and intricate weaves of magic drifted through the air, only readable by the alicorn or anyone else familiar with such advanced spellwork.
However, judging by the furrowed expression on Twilight’s face, nothing she was doing was yielding any satisfying results.
Spike entered the room and approached the alicorn with a cup of freshly brewed coffee. “Any luck?”
Twilight absentmindedly took the cup in her magic. She finished casting one last spell, deflating at the apparent result. “I’m afraid not, Spike. All I’ve been able to find out is that this chest is much older than Celestia and Luna… possibly even older than the first ponies to ever evolve.”
“What?” Rainbow Dash skewed her expression. “You mean this thing was around before ponies?”
“That could explain why none of us recognized Isaac’s species,” Rarity said.
Twilight nodded. “That’s right. Whatever Isaac is… was,” her eyes trailed down at this, “no records exist of them. If the chest wasn't magical, it probably would have disintegrated from age a long time ago.”
“Does that mean Isaac’s been in there all that time?” Pinkie asked.
Rainbow Dash stared at the floor, her mouth set in a grim line. “All that time, and we get him killed in ten minutes. Poor kid.”
Her words caused a somber silence to fall over the group. A few of them felt fresh tears forming in the corners of their eyes, while others were keeping their emotions internal. Still, all of them felt terrible. Perhaps none more so than Fluttershy.
A quiet sniffle brought their attention over to their shy friend. Fluttershy wiped her eyes on a foreleg and did her best to avoid looking at the chest. “I just wanted to help him. I didn’t think that he would… h-he would…”
Applejack put a hoof on her shoulder. “You didn’t do nothin’ wrong, Shy.”
While the others were trying to comfort Fluttershy or even themselves, Twilight bit a corner of her lip and let her gaze drift. She was dealing with her emotions as well, but certain questions nagged at her mind and wouldn’t let go.
If Isaac truly was older than Equestria, how had he survived so long? Even if the magic of the chest kept him from aging somehow, surely he would have fallen victim to one of the countless monsters that inhabited it? He seemed like he could defend himself, but clearly his abilities had limits.
There was also the subject of whatever pocket dimension existed inside the chest. What was it, and why was it there? These and more questions gnawed at her mind while the guilt of the boy’s death gnawed at her heart, leaving the alicorn a hollow mess.
“Something wrong, Twilight?” Spike asked, drawing her from her thoughts.
Twilight looked down to see him wearing a concerned frown. Somehow, even through his own suppressed trauma, he was worried for her. “I’m fine. It’s just frustrating that I can’t find anything else out about this thing.”
Spike glanced at the box. The only reason he felt safe getting this close was the magical chains wrapped around it. “Maybe Princess Celestia could tell you more about it?”
“She did meet Isaac at one point, and the stupid thing was in her castle,” Rainbow added.
As she thought about informing her former mentor of her mistake, Twilight winced. Eventually, her ears drooped as she relented. “You’re probably right. At any rate, I think she should know what happened.” She took one last forlorn look at the chest before turning and heading for the door. “Follow me, Spike. I’ll need you to send her a letter, but first I need to clear my head. It’s been a long day…”
Everyone watched as the pair headed out of the room. Gradually, their uneasy thoughts led them to look back at the chest, and then each other.
Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her head and dodged her eyes away before standing. “I think I’m gonna grab a bite to eat.”
“I think I’ll join ya,” Applejack said, starting to follow the pegasus.
“Ooo, can I come too?” Pinkie asked, temporarily distracted from her gloomy thoughts as she raced after them.
After a moment, Fluttershy lifted her head and noticed Rarity offering her a hoof up.
“Come on, dear,” Rarity offered. Her tone was gentle, but it sounded more like an insistence than a request.
Fluttershy didn’t react at first. Eventually, she managed a smile as she took the hoof and walked with her friend out of the room. She lingered at the door and glanced back, her heart breaking at the sight of the chained-up relic of the past.
I’m sorry, Isaac…
With that, both ponies left to join their friends, leaving the chest sitting in silence as it had been for countless years.
And in the silence of the study, the lonely box of horrors waited patiently. Anyone happening upon such a bizarre sight could only wonder why such a seemingly innocuous item was wrapped in magical chains conjured by the former student of Celestia herself.
Of course, for how patient they had been, the shadows of the past couldn’t stay dormant forever. There in the study of the castle of friendship, a soft creak came as the chest’s lid cracked open before being stopped by its bounds.
A dark seam was left, even with the crystal chandelier above providing ample light. A distant laugh echoed as a monstrous hand tipped with painted red nails reached out and grasped the lock made by Twilight’s magic.
The glowing chains flexed and resisted, but soon shattered into shimmering wisps of light. The hand receded into the darkness, leaving the lid of the chest partially open. Luminous red eyes blinked within the crack, and a smile framed by a single tooth formed as the lid opened further.
He was used to supporting Twilight through bouts of self-doubt and emotional weakness. He was her assistant after all, but he didn’t consider it part of his duties. Rather, he was simply helping the one that was practically his sister. So much time spent by her side had taught him how to read her state of mind even when she tried to hide it, which made her open displays of sorrow all the more concerning.
Twilight must have truly blamed herself for what happened, and having to tell Celestia didn’t help matters at all. Spike dreaded the looming letter of reply right alongside her, and it wasn't just because it would expel itself from his mouth unbidden at some unspecified time.
The alicorn was a mess, and he hated seeing her like this. As he quietly walked by himself, Spike resolved to do everything in his power to cheer her up and ease her burden. That meant brewing her favorite tea, feigning interest in wanting to re-read one of her favorite books with her, and most importantly, wrapping up any notes or work left unfinished so she could pick it up or dismiss it later, depending on how she felt.
However, as he neared the double doors to the study, a noise gave him pause. Putting his ear to the door, he furrowed his brow. It was almost like a high-pitched giggling, but not like that of a child. Deciding to investigate, Spike stepped into the room. He made it three steps before freezing.
Then, a scream echoed throughout the castle.
Clear in another wing, Twilight and the others' ears shot up at the sound.
Rainbow Dash turned her head toward the noise. "Was that Spike?"
"Oh, my goodness." Rarity paled at the thought of her young admirer being in danger.
Without a word, Twilight bolted toward the dragon’s cry. The fact that she was heading for the study only made the knot in her stomach tighten. Her friends all followed close behind, ready to do anything they could to help.
Crossing the castle at their pace took barely any time. With Twilight at the front, the ponies skidded to a halt before the doors to the study—then recoiled at the sight of what was inside.
Scattered around the room were a dozen or so of the bipedal creatures with bleeding eyes that they had seen in the pocket dimension of the chest. Sitting where they had left it, the chest itself was slightly ajar, now missing the magical chains.
There was also a figure that they had never seen before. Its skin was pitch black, and while bipedal, it didn’t stand on two feet. Rather, it floated off the ground a few inches. It had two stubby horns on its head, an equally small tail, and a pair of glowing red eyes that served as the only source of color on its devilish form.
Twilight gasped as she found her study full of monsters she once thought confined to the chest. While questions of how they came to be here should have been racing through her mind, her focus was instead on where her assistant was. Scanning the room didn’t initially reveal him, but just before she could get worried—
“Twilight!”
Spike’s voice drew their attention over to one of the bookshelves along the wall to their right. The ponies found the dragon clinging to one of the higher tiers. One of the eyeless creatures was at the bottom of the shelf, reaching up toward him like a wolf waiting beneath a treed animal.
“Hold on, Spike!” Twilight instructed. She started to cast her magical influence out to whisk him to safety, when movement out of the corner of her eye drew her attention away.
The floating black imp spasmed and puffed out its cheeks, as if it were about to throw up. With a lurch forward, it coughed up a ball of inky darkness. Shadows radiated off of it like falling soot as it flew through the air of its own volition, heading straight for the ponies.
“AH!” Rarity screamed and covered her face with a hoof. Pinkie and the others flinched or prepared to evade. Before the ball got too close for comfort, however, it struck a newly created magenta barrier and exploded with a puff.
Not one to take a strike on her friends lightly, Twilight glared at the devilish imp. She zapped a blast from her horn right at it. Before impact, the creature widened its glowing eyes and fell into a dark hole in the floor that appeared out of nowhere and disappeared just as fast.
“What the…?” Twilight’s expression skewed at the odd avenue of escape her foe used. Shortly after, another hole appeared elsewhere in the room and the imp popped back up, no worse for wear and wearing an appropriately impish smirk.
Before the alicorn could go after the creature, she heard a familiar cry of panic. Darting her head to the side, her eyes went round at the sight of Spike slipping and falling back to the floor, back toward the waiting arms of the eyeless monster.
“Spike!” Twilight cried out, too late to shift the magical energies in her horn toward saving him. Luckily, she didn’t have to.
A cyan blur zoomed into the dragon as he fell, scooping him up and curving through the room until it slowed to a stop. Rainbow Dash hovered in place, glancing down to Spike before looking up to see many of the bloody monsters heading her way, even if they couldn’t reach her.
While they were focusing on the pegasus, two of the creatures were suddenly knocked away as Applejack charged into them. She reared back and kicked out at a third one, sending it flying into a wall. She then turned to look at Twilight.
“We’ll take care’a these things, you deal with that horny critter!” Applejack shouted. Then, a low groan came from behind her. Turning in time to see a gaping maw, she flinched, only for a blue aura to flash around the beast before it was tossed away.
“Phrasing, dear!” Rarity intoned before looking at the floating imp with a shiver of disgust. “Although, it does seem a little too pleased with itself.”
With Spike safe and her friends charging ahead to defend each other, Twilight shifted her attention to her fiendish foe. A smirk crossed her face as a new strategy came to mind.
In a flash, she teleported behind the dark creature to catch it off guard. Before it could even question why she was gone, she fired a blast at it. Of course, just before impact, the imp fell into another freshly apparated hole and popped up elsewhere. It looked at her and blew a raspberry, causing a frustrated growl to simmer in the alicorn’s throat.
“Hold still you little—” Twilight quickly fired again, resulting in the same escape maneuver. She wasn't sure what method of teleportation the creature was using, but it was plenty infuriating.
Meanwhile, as her friends battled with the denizens of the chest, Rainbow Dash flew back over to the entrance and deposited Spike at Fluttershy’s hooves.
“Flutters, keep Spike safe. We’ll handle this,” Rainbow said.
Fluttershy darted her eyes between the many terrible creatures and her fellow pegasus. She offered a shaky nod and held a hoof on the dragon’s shoulder. “R-Right.”
Now that her hooves weren’t tied, Rainbow leapt back into the fray with a powerful flap of her injured wings. The stinging pain she received only made her anger at the eyeless monsters burn brighter.
She kicked one in the back of the head as it circled Rarity, sending it bouncing along the floor before it settled motionless. Then, she whirled around and knocked one out of the air as Applejack kicked it up to her, causing a spatter of blood as it crashed back down.
“Not so tough when you’re on our turf, huh?” Rainbow taunted.
Just then, Rainbow felt a tug on her tail. She grunted as she dipped in the air, only to look down and widen her eyes at the sight of bloody pits staring up at her. One of the creatures was dangling off her tail. Three more of them were eagerly waiting below, ready to rip into her once their comrade pulled her down.
“Gah! Not again!” Rainbow yelped.
“Dash!” Applejack shouted. She tried to break away, but her own share of creatures was making things difficult.
Kicking at the creature on her tail yielded no results. Rainbow tensed as she neared the reaching hands on the ground. Then, an explosion rang out to the side, swiftly followed by another of the creatures sailing into the group grasping for her. Like a bowling ball to a set of pins, all the monsters scattered violently enough to render many of them immobile. Even the one on her tail was caught up in the strike and ripped off.
Looking to the side, Rainbow found none other than Pinkie Pie near the back of the room, standing next to a smoking party cannon.
“Nice shot…” Rainbow muttered, still stunned as Pinkie clapped her hooves.
“Rarity, load in another one! I wanna do that again!” Pinkie instructed.
Near the right wall, Rarity grit her teeth as another of the creatures squirmed in her magical grasp. However, she was forced to slam it against the ground and kick at another one coming for her instead. “Sorry, Pinkie, I’m a tad busy!”
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the chaos of the study, Twilight was barely paying attention to the eyeless horde. Her focus was squarely on the black imp, pitched in a thus far fruitless battle.
She threw up a shield to disperse another inky ball of darkness hurtling toward her before firing a beam of energy. The imp, in turn, returned to its tried and true method of retreating into a hole and teleporting around the room. Twilight followed it with her head, scowl deepening as it evaded each attack. Every laser or bolt of energy she fired at it simply whizzed past, scorching holes into her beloved castle.
The imp bounced around, effortlessly dodging into its dark pits in the floor in a mere second. It squeaked giddily as Twilight tried to outpace it with her attacks. She fired again, and again, and again, before suddenly stopping herself as it ducked down once more.
Fluttershy and Spike were directly behind the imp that time. If she hadn’t noticed and continued firing, she could have killed the pair.
Hearing a high-pitched laugh off to the side, Twilight clenched her jaw. “Alright, that’s it!”
An orb of icy blue magic shot from her horn, chilling the very air as it rocketed toward the imp. As expected, it sank down again toward a freshly appeared hole. However, it didn’t enter the hole this time. This time it thunked against a magenta barrier.
The imp blinked its vacant red eyes at the barrier for a moment before looking up. While it couldn’t speak, it made a noise that Twilight knew loosely translated as ‘uh oh,’ right before the orb struck and froze it solid.
In an instant, the ice sculpture that was formerly a monster crashed to the floor and shattered into many pieces. The disquieting sight greatly lessened any satisfaction Twilight got from besting the annoying beast.
Looking over, Twilight found her friends still mopping up the last few creatures. With some magical blasts and teamwork between the five of them that were actually fighting, the last sounds of unearthly groans fell silent as the last monster fell.
Twilight panted softly from her magical shootout. She winced at the sight of her study full of blood, scorch marks, and dead bodies. However, she was more concerned about the state of her friends. “Is everypony okay?”
“Nothing a little therapy can’t fix,” Rarity stated. “... Okay, maybe a lot of therapy.”
Rainbow Dash wiped some blood off of her tail from where the eyeless creature had bled on her. “If I never see one of those freaks again, it’ll be too soon.”
Spike walked into the room with Fluttershy behind him, keeping his claws clasped to his chest as he looked around at the chaos. “How did those things get here? I thought you had the chest locked?”
At the dragon’s question, all eyes shifted to the dusty box. Indeed, it no longer had any magical chains keeping it shut, though shut it was. It almost seemed intelligent in a way, like a crocodile choosing to keep its mouth closed while potential prey approached. Still. Patient. Hungry.
“I did have it locked.” Twilight stepped closer to the chest, keeping a hoof on its lid to hold it shut while she lit her horn. “I can’t feel any signs that my chains were dispelled.”
“Maybe they just broke?” Rainbow Dash suggested.
Twilight shook her head. “Do you know how much force that would take?”
Rainbow shrugged. “I dunno. I’m guessing a lot?”
“Well, something must have happened. Maybe the box is an escape artist?” Pinkie said.
Rarity chuckled dryly. “I’ve heard of magicians escaping a chained-up box, but never of a box doing the escaping itself.”
At the back of the group, Fluttershy leaned away from the chest as she peered at it over her friends’ shoulders. “Umm… a-are we safe right now? What if it opens again and more of those things come out… or we get sucked inside like last time?”
“You’re right, Fluttershy,” Twilight said. “I don’t know what all this thing is capable of. I’m going to have to use more drastic measures to make sure it—”
Before she could finish her sentence, Twilight cut off abruptly as a disembodied cry echoed from within the box. The noise sent chills through the ponies’ forms, but it also bred a sense of familiarity.
Fluttershy stood and inched forward. “Was that Isaac?!”
“But, that can’t be possible. We saw him die… didn’t we?” Rainbow looked around at the others.
“I… I thought we did,” Twilight muttered, her eyes trailing to the side. The thought of the boy getting crushed replayed in her mind, causing her ears to droop. She wasn't sure what would be worse: that he didn’t survive, or that he somehow did and they were forced to leave him there.
“Well, if he’s alive, we should help him, shouldn’t we?” Pinkie asked softly.
“Of course we should!” Fluttershy stated with uncharacteristic confidence. Seeing her friends giving her surprised looks, and remembering what they would have to do in order to even try to help Isaac, she shrank down again. “I… I-I mean… we have to do something. We can’t just leave him in that awful place.”
After a few moments of conflicted thought, Twilight stood tall and set her mouth in a determined line. “No, we can’t. That’s why I’m going back in to get him out.”
“Twilight…” Pinkie frowned.
“Twi, what are you thinkin’?” Applejack asked.
Twilight didn’t waver at all. “I’m the one that opened that closet in the first place. What happened to Isaac before was my fault, and it’s my responsibility to help him.”
Seeing the alicorn’s stubbornness, Applejack shook her head. “No, I mean, what are you thinkin’ goin’ off by yourself?! You must be crazy if you think we’re not comin’ with ya!”
“She’s right.” Rainbow Dash nodded in solidarity. “I don’t care if you are a princess now. You’re still the same egg-headed dork that we met before, and anywhere you go, we go.”
“Besides that, it’s just as much my responsibility as it is yours,” Fluttershy said, standing tall despite her trembling limbs. “I wanted to help Isaac before, a-and even if it means going back in there, I still do. Of course, I don’t want to leave you alone either.”
“Girls…” Twilight’s eyes threatened tears before she re-adopted a serious expression and cleared her throat. “Are you all sure? I don’t think I need to remind you how dangerous it could be in that place.”
Rarity stepped forward to join the others. “Against my better judgment. All for one, and all that.”
“Good.” Twilight smiled. She then turned to her young assistant. “Spike, go hide outside the door. I don’t want you getting sucked in again too.”
“Uh… Twilight, are you sure about this?” Spike asked. “What if something goes wrong? Do you have a backup plan?”
“You are my backup plan, Spike. If we’re in there longer than an hour, I want you to send a letter to Celestia and tell her what happened,” Twilight explained.
“But—” Spike started to protest until she rested a hoof on his head and ruffled his scaly hair.
She knelt down and looked him in the eye as she smirked. “I promise we’ll be okay. I won’t let anything bad happen while we’re in there. Now, get back.”
Spike lingered for a moment, his eyes shimmering as he stared at her, at all of them. Eventually, however, he did as instructed and scampered back to the entrance, where he waited behind the door and poked his head out to watch.
Twilight stood and turned to her friends, letting her gaze linger on each of them. Finding no signs of anyone changing their mind, she took an even breath and nodded before facing the chest.
Applejack held her hat on her head, Rainbow Dash loosened up her limbs, and Fluttershy cringed and held onto Rarity for support as Twilight hovered a hoof near the lid. Opening the box revealed that same abyss of unnatural darkness they had seen last time.
Twilight held one hoof near the opening, and held the other out for Pinkie to take. She and the others soon caught on and linked hooves. The last thing any of them wanted was to get separated again.
Then, after a few seconds of trepidation, Twilight took a sharp breath and reached down into the chest. She barely felt that same strange object from last time before the bottom dropped out from under her hoof. The infinite void started pulling her in, only this time she didn’t fight it.
“Here goes nothing!” she exclaimed right before vanishing into the chest.
Pinkie hopped forward behind the alicorn. “Geronimo!”
Applejack shared one last look of hesitance with the others in line before her turn was up. “Happy trails, girls!”
Rainbow Dash cringed and fought the urge to spread her wings. “Yep… still sucks!”
“Is it too late to say this was a bad ide-AHHHH!” Rarity exclaimed as she flipped over the threshold and disappeared inside.
As her hold on Rarity’s hoof started to pull her in, Fluttershy bit her trembling lip and did her best to stiffen up, even as the sensation of falling pulled a scream from her lungs.
Hold on, Isaac… we’re coming!
A final slam ushered silence into the room as the chest snapped closed. There was no sign left of the six mares.
Spike slowly peered out around the corner. Even if they had gone willingly, his heart sank at the confirmation that his friends were gone. He walked back into the study, keeping his distance from the box in case it still hungered for victims.
“I hope you know what you’re doing, Twilight,” he muttered.
Just then, Spike lurched forward and brought a hand to his mouth reflexively as a puff of green flame expelled a scroll. He fumbled to catch it for a moment before looking down at the royal insignia it was bound in.
“Princess Celestia’s reply? Talk about bad timing.” He sighed to himself as he unfurled it and began to read. Even as he sent Twilight’s letter initially, he expected some sort of disappointed retort from the princess. Celestia was never overtly harsh in her reprimands of her former student, but Twilight always reacted poorly to them nevertheless.
However, as he got further into the letter, Spike didn’t find some disappointed lecture or promise of consequences. His face paled as he looked up to the box sitting before him, where all his friends just vanished mere moments before.
‘Dearest Princess Twilight Sparkle: do not, and I cannot stress this enough, DO NOT enter the chest again under any circumstances. You did not get Isaac killed. He has been dead for a very long time.
‘I will explain more when Luna and I arrive. We are on our way back right now. Keep that forsaken relic locked up as tight as you are able until then so that nothing can get in or out!!
‘That is not a chest, Twilight. It is a grave… and I sincerely wish for it not to be yours.
‘Regards: Her Royal Highness, Princess Celestia.’
