Chapter 4

No word was spoken for a while. This was the effect Vitali had on her audience and it was already starting to become an annoying habit.

Zipp was the first to act. She slowly trotted towards the weeping mess. Vitali expected she would scream at her with murderous rage, even resort to outright violence.

Over the top as it might sound, it was a very likely result. One she didn’t intend to resist.

She knew she deserved it.

But to the surprise of the group, all Zipp did was put her hooves on Vitali's shoulders. Zipp's face was looking down, yet they all could tell she was exhausted. ‘’Look. I’m just too tired of your… everything right now. So, let’s keep it simple.’’

Zipp finally looked and Vitali flinched at the bloodshot eyes, and exhaustion etched into the mare’s face. ‘’No more indirect sentences, no more poetry, I won’t be able to take it. Just… just tell us straight what is going on. Please.’’

The scholarly mare looked like a shell of herself. She had no energy left. Dejectedly, she made a small nod. ‘’Yes. I owe you that much at least.’’

Sighing, she sat herself down, opting to get comfortable before laying everything out. ‘’I guess I should first confirm the obvious. I really am a scholar from the university. But the story about me wanting this dungeon for its historical value…that was a lie. Honestly, I was afraid if you knew the true reason, you’d refuse outright.’’

Silence hung in the room for a moment.

‘’Oh.’’ Zipp said in a monotone voice. ‘’Look at that. I was right.’’ She slapped Vitali face and quite violently at that, practically knocking the mare over. All bystanders flinched but Zipp was flippantly acting the same. ‘’Go on please.’’

Vitali, her cheek now red and swollen, had taken that punishment without blinking. She believed she deserved this. And more. ‘’There’s something hidden in the deepest part of that dungeon. Something evil.’’

Zipp, again, seemingly numb to everything, merely let off a light groan. ‘’No. For real. Oh I would never have gues—okay, I’m being a jerk now. Please just… *sigh* just continue.’’

‘’That evil is an abomination that must not be allowed to exist.’’ Vitali, started to speak with a bit of an edge ‘’I say that because it’s a threat that if it’s left unchecked, it would spell the doom of the three realms. Maybe even beyond.’’

‘’Stop spinning your tale and tell straight up what’s in there.’’ Zipp’s patience was clearly reaching its limits.

Vitali hardened with seriousness. And fright. ‘’It’s… a lich.’’

‘’… … *sigh* I. Said. No more poetry—

‘’No, I’m really telling the truth, I swear. A real lich reside in this forsaken place and it’s it that animated all those corpses with—

Zipp immediately slammed her hoof on the ground, cutting Vitali off mid-sentence, standing up and looking utterly done.

‘’Stop. Just stop. This is nonsense. Lichs. Do not. Exist. They’re nothing more than fairy tales invented to scare foals.’’

‘’This one exists. And right now, it wants us dead.’’ Vitali’s tone was dead serious.

Zipp however, was still in denial. ‘’No, no. This is—urk.’’ Zipp hoofslapped her face in exasperation. ‘’I can’t believe that. Guys. You won’t tell me you believe this nonsense?’’ She pleaded to the others, possibly more for her own sanity than theirs.

‘’I… can’t quite believe her too.’’ Said Hitch. ‘’They’re just boogeymen living only in kids' nightmares. Myself included. The one in The Boy who Misbehaved scared me so much I couldn’t sleep for many nights. But if liches truly existed, I’m sure it would be known by now—

‘’I believe her.’’ All heads turned towards Sunny who had just said those words.

‘’Sunny! Why… do you believe her?’’ Said Hitch.

‘’Well, I mean I’m not sure about this lich thing but there’s something very evil lurking in there. I can feel it in my bones.’’

Hitch immediately became serious. ‘’You mean… your gift!’’

Sunny nodded her head in affirmation. Zipp, not understanding, was starting to get irritated. ‘’Alright, did I miss a chapter? Can somepony can explain to me what you’re talking about?’’

‘’Oh, right, right. I never told you. I will try my best. Since I was young, I possessed a certain… ‘gift’. Nopony truly knows how it works but I can sense evil.’’

The answer only seemed to both confuse and annoy Zipp. ‘’Sense… evil? That doesn’t make sense! How do you define evil in the first place?’’

‘’Oh, how should I explain? When something that shouldn’t happen happens, it leaves a distinct trace in the air. For example, I once went into the house where a murder happened. And all the negative emotions of that moment were still there. Even though it’d happened months ago. The second I opened the door, all those horrible feelings flew into me and I could felt them as if they were my own.’’

‘’Wait… really?!’’ The rest of the group shared Zipp curiosity, all looking at Sunny with rapt attention.

‘’Yeah. There’s a lot of places like that. It’s like a perfidious wound that refuses to heal. Prisons. Insane asylums. … Battlefields. Each time, without fail, I feel the sensation wash over me…like… like… I can't find the word.”

Sunny shivered recalling her first exposure to that sensation. When she was but a child and had no knowledge of her ability. But despite how traumatic it had been, it was almost tame compared to the visering grip she was feeling right now on her heart.

‘’And let me tell you, I have felt that evil aura since the moment I set foot in this valley. I—I never thought it was possible. An entire land tainted! And it’s only gotten worse the closer we get to the epicenter. This dungeon.’’

At that moment, her confident mask fell and that monk became a spooked mare. ‘’It was… it’s still horrible. It’s death. It’s death in front of you, ready to swallow you whole. And you can’t even blink. There’s no escape, not even in your mind. You’re scared. But the more you’re scared—‘’

‘’The more you ironically let death come to you.’’ To the surprise of all, Pipp was the one who spoke.

She still looked like a mess and as she talked, it was like she was looking at the distance. ‘’Dying is the last thing you want. But the more you’re afraid to die, the more you want to die. Because in a twisted way, you think death is the place where you be safe from death.’’

Hitch lowered his head in a somber mood. ‘’All that you love… all the good memories you had in your life doesn’t help. No, they only serve as a contrast to make this swallowing end even more horrifying.’’

‘’You… you want so much to understand what it is.’’ Spoke at her turn a sadden Zipp. ‘’But you fear that at the end, your very last thought will be that you understand nothing. You… you will not even have the luxury to understand that you don’t understand.’’ She finished with a sobbing.

All around the mood of the group went from scared to downright defeated, with everypony looking like they wanted to crawl into a hole and just wait for the end.

Sunny's heart grew heavy. To know they were all plagued by the same awful feelings… … she realized that something wasn’t right. ‘’Wait, wait! You’re telling me you’re feeling it too! You don’t have the gift yet you can sense this sickening aura!’’

‘’Wellll, yeah, I suppose.’’ Said Zipp. ‘’I was feeling awful ever since the pagoda. I thought it was just me. I figured I… was just having one of those days back.’’

Sunny immediately seemed to shift into a panic, eyes darting around the room as she paced about.

‘’Oh! Oh no. It’s not good. This is not good at all.’’

Her panic only exasperated Zipp, now looking flat out exhausted at this point. ‘’Of course. Oh what now?’’

‘’You’re not supposed to feel that. The only explanation I can find is… that this evil is so potent that even normal ponies can even sense it.’’

‘’Oh.’’ Zipp made a nervous smile, all traces of sarcasm and annoyance vaporized. ‘’That’s… not reassuring, right?’’

‘’I thought it was impossible. Vitali.’’ Sunny turned her attention towards the scholarly mare. ‘’The source of this evil is…’’

‘’Yes. The lich itself. It’s the one that’s responsible for those awful feelings. This sickness into death. Fitting for a master of death I suppose. But this disease is not only mental but physical. You’d all seen it.’’

It was then that Hitch gasped. ‘’The Valley of Laments! All this time, it could feel the earth was nearly devoid of life. At the time I just assumed the land was unhealthy or dry but… you’re telling this valley is being drained of life! Literally!’’

‘’That’s exactly what I’m saying. And it continues as we speak. Very soon, not even a speck of vegetation would be left.’’

Hitch was flabbergasted. ‘’But… but that’s impossible! This valley is huge. My magic can just borrow the essence of life. And that… this supposed lich can simply kill acres of land! Just like that!’’

‘’Yes. Simply by existing, life disappears in its presence. This is how powerful that monster is and that’s the thing that wants to kill us all. Convinced now?’’

Now Hitch looked ready to go into full blown panic, sweating and shaking in place.

‘’But… but there has to be a way to escape. Maybe this seal can be broken. Or find another exit.’’

‘’The only exit is right there. There is no other one. As for this seal, well I won’t bother you with the details, but I can tell it’s powerful. Very powerful. Even the greatest mage wouldn’t be able to crack it. The only thing I can see…’’

‘’What? What is it?! Why the silence? I’ll do anything. What can get us out of this death trap?’’

Vitali knew the answer, but also knew none here were going to like it…still they didn’t have any other options.

‘’Destroy the lich. If the caster dies, all the spells he makes die with him too. That’s really the only thing that can make that seal vanish. I won’t sugarcoat it. We have no chance. It’s clear now that the lich is more powerful and smart than I calculated. Even if you were stronger than… anyway, it wouldn’t have even matter.’’

Her words hung over the group like a dark haze, again leaving them in silence.

Hitch was in disbelief. Or maybe it was more accurate to say he really, really didn’t want to believe it. ‘’But… but but but, there has to be something we can—

‘’No. Nothing. Sorry. But it’s the end.’’ Vitali said in a sob.

‘’But… no. No no, this—none of this can be real, right? It has to be a dream. I can’t… I mean… I… I don’t want to die. I can’t die. There’s still so much I must… and what about my Sparky! I had said to go on his own if I don’t come back. I know he will listen but… he’s still so young.’’ Hitch was looking at everypony, pleading for help with his eyes, any kind of help. But when they couldn’t even give a word of comfort, the dam broke and he cried. ‘’Who will take care of him?’’

Sunny went to her Hitch. She couldn't do anything better but to gently tap the back of her childhood friend in hope of giving him a small bit of comfort. ‘’Vitali, is there really nothing we can do? Maybe Izzy would know a spell that… where is Izzy?’’

It was then they realized that one of their companions was missing. For quite some time. ‘’What!’’ Vitali said surprised. ‘’Wait! Since when she disappear?’’

‘’I don’t know.’’ Hitch replied, his voice barely above a whisper. ‘’When was the last time we saw her?’’

Vitali pondered. ‘’For me it was… when she ran away screaming!’’

‘’And nopony noticed her absence?!’’ Sunny shouted visibly upset.

‘’Too much happens in such a short time.’’ Hitch tried to justify. ‘’We can’t keep track of everything.’’ But the earth pony lowered his head in shame. ‘’But… that’s just an excuse in the end.’’

‘’Who cares about her.’’ Shouted Zipp. Nopony could believe their ears. ‘’My sister nearly died because of that klutz. We’re better off without—

She was interrupted when her own sister slapped her on the face. Pipp, now fully awake from her torpor, was crying angry tears at her sister. Zipp, whose cheek was red and swollen, was first in utter shock but then, realized the horrible things she’d said.

Remorseful, she could only lower her head in penitence. ‘’I’m sorry. That was completely uncalled for.’’

‘’Look.’’ Sunny interjected. ‘’We lose enough time. She couldn’t be far. Let’s separate and search for her. I never be able to forgive myself if something happens to her.’’

The group quickly spread out across the hall to find Izzy. Luckily for them, the search didn’t take long.

Sunny was able to spot the silhouette of a pony hiding behind one of the pillars. ‘’Everypony, I found her.’’

Quickly, she went towards the unicorn to properly see how Izzy was fairing. But what she saw… broke Sunny's heart.

Izzy was sitting on her rump, her back resting on the marble of the column. Her body was shaking uncontrollably. She was holding her pointy hat on her chest, desperately searching for any modicum of comfort. Her face was a crying mess. She was sobbing and clapping her teeth nonstop.

The worst part was her eyes. The only thing in them was fear. All consuming fear. Sunny wasn’t even sure Izzy could see her. It was then she noticed something else.

A smelly puddle had formed where the unicorn was sitting.

Not able to take it anymore, Sunny approached and gently, very gently, put her hoof on Izzy's good cheek. She gasped and didn’t seem to recognize her.

‘’It’s okay Izzy. It’s okay.’’ Sunny gently whispered. ‘’I’m here. Your friend is here.’’

‘’Fri… friend?’’ Her words were hesitant as if she could barely believed them.

‘’That’s right. I’m your friend Izzy.’’ All the rest rejoined those two. Their reactions were the same as Sunny. But she made sure to keep her smile. ‘’We’re all your friends and we're here for you. It’s going to be alright.’’

Sadly those words of comfort only seemed to make Izzy relapse further into hopelessness.

‘’No. No it’s not. It’s never going to be alright. It never was.’’ Izzy stroked the gash on her face. ‘’Not since that day. Death as always in front me, waiting to swallow me whole. I knew I couldn’t escape. And I knew I would never be ready when it’ll happen.’’

‘’Izzy. It will… … you won’t be alone. Whatever may come, whatever we will have to face, you won’t face alone.’’

Those words made an effect on Izzy. She looked up at Sunny. A little glimmer appeared on the unicorn eyes. ‘’Rea—really?’’

‘’I swear Izzy, on all that is good, I will be by your side. Until the bitter end. You’re important to me, you know that?’’

‘You’re… not lying!’’ Izzy looked to regain more of her spark, though still hesitant to trust Sunny’s words.

‘’I will never lie about something this important. And once again, it’s not just me. It’s everypony. Is it not right?’’

Both Hitch and Pipp nodded in affirmation. Vitali instead lowered her head in shame while Zipp was still sulking not far away. Yet, Sunny continued to smile insite of it.

‘’See. We’re all here for you.’’ She took the pointy hat and put it back on Izzy's head. ‘’Now let's get up. If we work together, I think we may find what to do next.’’

Sunny helped Izzy to get back on her feet with Izzy firmly holding the earth pony’s hoof. Her gaze was fixing on Sunny, the unicorn eyes now shining with both awe and gratitude as her purple cheek took a pink hue.

Pipp noticed her sister was not present. She looked back at the last place she saw her, the exit door. ‘’Oh no.’’ Everypony looks back. They saw Zipp launching her own body against the seal, again and again, to no effect.

‘’Let me out. Let me out. LET ME OUT LET ME OUT OF HEREEE.’’

While some looked stunned at the mare’s sudden shift, Pipp was more sorry than surprised. She knew her sister well.

The truth was that Zipp's tough exterior was just a front. A façade to give courage to her sister… no, that was just an excuse. It was to give courage to herself because in reality, she was afraid. She was so afraid from the very start. And now she’d reached her breaking point.

‘’Sis, stop!’’ Pipp said as she flew by her side. ‘’You’re gonna hurt yourself.’’

But Zipp didn’t hear her. Instead, she turned towards Izzy, grabbed the unicorn shoulders and shook her. ‘’You. You do magic right? Break that seal.’’

‘’Wha!!’’ Izzy stumbled to speak, still processing everything. ‘’Bububut I can’t do that.’’

‘’Why have you to be so useless!’’ She then turned towards Vitali and did the very same thing she did to Izzy. ‘’You. You put us here, you must know how to get out.’’

‘’No, I’m sorry but I as I’d say—

Zipp immediately grabbed the mare by the collar and pulled her until they were snout to snout.

‘’I’ve already nearly died more than enough time. Too many times. For years I’ve lived with that fear. I didn’t escape the worst the world can give only to die by… by a terror of our childhood. That would be a sick joke.’’

‘’But there’s really nothing that can be done.’’ But Zipp was too hysterical to listen to reason.

‘’You keep the treasure, the reward, whatever. I no longer want it anymore. I don’t want money. I… want to live. I just want to live. I… just…’’

The pegasi was depleted of energy. On a fool's hope, she frantically looked at everypony, silently begging for help, any kind of help how little it might be.

But their sorrowful expression was all the answer she received. Zipp was at her limit. She felt her body becoming heavier as her eyes turned backward and the floor, for some reason, was growing closer—

Zipp opened her eyes. ‘’Huh! Wha?’’ To her surprise, she was laying down, her head resting on Pipp hooves. ‘’Sis! What… happened?’’

‘’You’ve fainted.’’ She simply answered.

‘’Really! Hum… how… long was I out?’’ Zipp asked her sister.

‘’Not long. You really scared us, you know? You just just dropped to the floor like that. Thankfully, Izzy managed to catch you with levitation before you hit your head.’’

Zipp winced at the mention of the wizard she’d been not so subtly yelling at not too long ago. ‘’Did she! Oh. Ohhhhh I feel terrible now.’’

‘’Yeah. I think you should. You had said awful things to her.’’

‘’I know. I’m not proud.’’ Zipp groaned as she went back on her four legs, albeit, all wobbly. The white pegasi looked so drained. Sunny went to her side. ‘’I’m glad you’re back to us.’’

‘’Sorry. Very sorry. I… really made a fool out of myself didn’t I?’’

‘’No no, please, take my experience, you should never feel ashamed to be afraid. Oh! Right, before I forget.’’ She took the medaillon she grabbed earlier and presented it to Zipp.

The ensign engraved on its metal was a wing surrounded by zephyr winds. ‘’You accidently tossed this away when you were searching for potions. I recognized its symbols as the crest of a Pegasi House so I figured it was important. You didn’t tell me you are a noble—

‘’GIVE ME THAT!’’ Zipp shouted as she snatched away the medallion from the surprised Sunny who didn’t expect her innocent question would cause such a turmoil.

Zipp quickly hid the medallion in her belongings, her back facing everypony as if she hadn’t the strength to face them. ‘’I’m an ex-noble, alright. It was a past life. It doesn’t matter anymore.’’

They weren’t sure but they thought they heard a sniff coming from her. Pipp, still sitting in her corner, waved her head in negation. ‘’Look sis. Maybe it’s time that we told them what we really are.’’

‘’NO! DON’T YOU DARE.’’ Zipp shouted, her wings flared up.

‘’Sis, what’s the point anymore? And I’m sure everypony already guessed anyway–

‘’I’D SAID DON’T DO IT. I FORBIDDEN–

‘’WE FOUGHT IN THE WAR. AND WE KILLED COUNTLESS EARTH PONIES AND UNICORNS. THERE, I SAID IT.’’ Pipp screamed at everypony before slumping down, her last energy gone for that outburst.

As for Zipp, she was in shock. But then her eyes watered and tears flowed freely. She collapsed and cried uncontrollably. ‘’I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.’’

Hitch, feeling sorry for her, went to her side to console her, to which the pegasi could not understand. ‘’Why don’t you hate me? After all I did.’’

‘’Because… well, because I’m the same. I too fought in the war against the Pegasi Dominion. And I too killed many of your kind. Too many… to count. I’m in no position to judge you. Quite the contrary. But I guess you kinda already knew who I was.’’

Zipp brushed the tears out of her face. Most of it anyway. ‘’Yeah, it wasn’t hard. I knew from the start–I mean when you told us you were a knight of the Order. It’s pretty well know the Order is the best element of Earth Pony army.’’

‘’Oh. I guess it is common knowledge across the three realm.’’

‘’Did you guess too that I was once a soldier too?’’

‘’I had a pretty suspicion for a while. But I thought it would be best to not pry on it. I hide it too after all. Finding you came from a noble House had simply confirmed my suspicion.’’

‘’Why is it important?’’ Asked Izzy, seemingly more ignorant of things compared to the others.

‘’That’s how the Dominion works.’’ To the surprise of Izzy, Vitali was the one that answered the question. ‘’The Pegasi Dominion is ruled by a council of High Houses. Now you may expect nobles to just sit back while their soldiers do all the work but not the nobles of the Dominion. It is mandatory for them to fight in the front despite the high risk of death. A very engrained tradition and a matter of pride.’’

‘’Yeah. Pride.’’ Zipp spat at that last word. ‘’Damn disgusting pride. More important than anything. Even family. And I even believed it. What a fool. Oh! On another hoof, I… kinda guess that you're all soldiers.’’

‘’Huh!’’ Sunny was surprised. ‘’I thought I was doing a good job hiding it! What gave it away?’’

‘’I’m not sure I could explain it well. I guess that as a soldi—as an ancient soldier I can recognize another soldier. Even an old one. They have this sort of ‘I don’t know what’ that’s difficult to describe. I eventually saw it in all of you. With the exception of Izzy. I was never quite sure what to make of her.’’

The white pegasi looked at the unicorn with a very apologetic look. ‘’Izzy. I am so, so sorry. The way I treated you was just unforgivable.’’

The blue unicorn didn’t answer at first and instead, levitated her pointy hat and holded tight on her chest. Seemed to be her gesture of comfort. ‘’No. No you were right about me. I’m useless and dangerous and I'm a cowardly-cowardly coward. I tried to convince you that my powers were a big deal but they never did any good. For me, the least. It’s because of them that they made me a soldier. Even if it was for a short time.’’

Sunny felt sad for the poor unicorn. ‘’You know. If it’s not too much to ask, would you mind telling us? Only if you want. We will understand. It’s hard for us to tell our—

‘’No no please, I need to talk or if not I will go crazy. More than I already I’m.’’

So she sat down and told to everypony her story.

For as long as I remember, I wanted to be an artist. My dream was to make pretty things that would amaze and bring sparkles in the eyes of the ponies who’d see them. So then… maybe I would at last stop being an outcast.

But I never could've seen coming, how much my dreams would have turned my life… so wrong.

Author's Note

Oh boy. Quite a downer that chapter was. I always have this fear that I don't write my stories realisticaly enough. (Despite knowing it's a sword and sorcery tale. With talking ponies.) That why I like to focuse on the inner working of my characters and put it in fontfront. Lat's be real, if you were in their places, you will act the same way. Plus, you see how high the stake are and underprepared our party is. (On again, the campaing this story was inspired was designed to be unfair and brutal on its players.)

Now I think you may have realised but this not just a simple DnD story and that our heroes are not just simple adventurers but in fact war veterants scared by their times in the frontlines. The next chapter will be mostly on revealing Izzi backstory and what she did in the war. And our party will progress trough the dungeon, everypony will, in due time, have their own backstory chapters. (I really love writting backstory.)