We woke up late, it was almost noon, but we were feeling refreshed and full of energy, I stretched in the tent, letting out a big yawn, then blinking my eyes until my vision adjusted to the light, my stirring had woken up my two companions, a small yawn signifying their coming to the waking world, I nuzzled both of them fully awake and stood up, stretching my legs and arching my back.

"Morning everyone! You better be ready because we will have time for only a small snack, then it's time for peril and horrors beyond the veil of reality." I said without a hint of sarcasm in my tone, while I pulled out the pot of food and three clean plates, which I filled halfway, then triple cast prestidigitation to heat up the meals, and then handed to the two hungry ladies.

"Eat up, now it's half portions because we don't want to be overfilled during combat, we should be sated but just barely, that way we don't get weak in the stomach and lose our lunch, we don't know what awaits us in the other side." I mentioned before starting to eat, having prestidigitation was sort of like having a microwave oven that didn't requiere more than the slight bit of effort to use, probably about the same effort it would take to press the buttons on the real microwave as a human.

The food was just as tasty as yesterday, we were calm, we ate in peace and I decided to go and wash the plates, using telekinesis and pulling out all the dirty plates from my inventory, I lifted them all midair in my two toned blue/purple shimmering aura, I had never honestly tried it before, but it was amazing being able to lift objects with my mind... It was mesmerizing, the color of the aura, the floating plates, I could feel them as if I was touching them, my tiny barely growing horns were shining with the same glow, seems they are like antennas for telekinesis, my horns were no more than small nubs growing from the back of my skull, they were black in color, same as my claws.

I used some of our water to wash the plates, heating the water and then pouring it over the plates and wiping them with telekinesis like if it was a sponge, telekinesis was very useful, it could grab, pinch, rub, push, squeeze, pretty much anything, but the sensation was ghostly, it was very fun to experiment with it, but I didn't lose time, I had to hurry and get ready, so I dried the plates and put them in the camping supplies bag, then put everything away in my inventory.

We all got ready, I checked on my weapons, sharpened my claws with my claw file just in case, and mom checked on the sword and charged it's enchantment. Then we heard it.

Warning, Adept Dungeon starting in 20 seconds, prepare yourself for combat, you will not be able to exit the dungeon until the boss is defeated.

We all stood up and prepared ourselves, mom held the sword in her maw fully prepared to defend, I had my magic ready with a ray of frost charged, Kari had her claws extended too, looking anxiously around.

Without a sound of any kind, we were instantly somewhere new, going from a bright sunny day under the shade of the Everfree's trees, to a dark cloudy night with a blood red full moon as our only source of light, our eyes quickly adjusted to the reduced light thanks to our darkvision, and we could instantly see we were in the fields around a medieval looking village, in the center of this village stood a castle, it was a tall yet nowhere near as large as the Royal Canterlot Castle, it was also much simpler looking, made of dark gray stone rather than white marble and had no gold towers.

After sight came smell, most prominently the smell of mold and rotten vegetables, but then came other, even less pleasant smells, death, that's what it smelled like, I was not exactly an expert but I could say it smelled like whatever had died here had been rotting for a long time.

The fields were full of moldy decomposing veggies, all still mold covered and blackened, this area had pumpkins it seems, but despite how big they seemed to have been at some point, now they sunk into almost puddles of mold and mushiness, there were also potato around, I recognized that scent from rotting potato, its awful, but I stopped paying attention when mom poked my shoulder and pointed with her snout to the distance.

She pointed at the gates from the village, I had not really payed attention before, but there were many... That's... Deer bodies? No they were too colorful to be deer, and some had wings.

Bodies of various races of ponies, all in different states of decomposition, hanging by their hind legs and cut open on the belly, internal organs seemingly removed, we approached the grotesque display, they were hanging from wooden poles, the ponies also had their heads cut off, nowhere to be seen.

The wooden poles were like stakes, all along the outside of the wooden palisade that surrounded the village, they were easy to miss from our distance, as the eyes got drawn to the large foreboding castle on the middle, but once you saw what they were, it was hard to not keep looking, as we approached, we noticed there were no real way to identify the ponies, the dead apparently did not have cutie marks? I had never seen a dead pony before so I wasn't sure. Either way it was very disturbing but also hard to look away.

'Look out! They are on the top of the palisade!' mom said loudly in our heads, I quickly casted a shield to block, knowing that from that height we would be sniped by probably either bows, crossbows or magic, and a combination of arrows and crossbow bolts rained down on our personal shields, thankfully for this attacks my weak shield spell was enough to block, and the mana consumption was not really there unless the shields were destroyed.

I quickly narrowed my eyes and aimed a firebolt at one of the figures, but it dodged back inside, I growled, I wouldn't just let them continue shooting us with arrows, so I charged a fireball (-30MP 170/200) and simply made a hole in the palisade, causing the creatures near it to be tossed back inside the village.

??? Has taken 5 damage
??? Has taken 5 damage

The attack did some damage, but the enemies managed to dodge before they could get hit directly, they weren't mere beasts, they also probably had armor.

'Stay sharp, they're surely making an ambush, otherwise they would have already ran at us if they were mere monsters.' Sylf announced to which Kari and me nodded, I used telekinesis to move aside the burning logs and open a clear path, Sylf heads in first, followed by me and Kari at the back.

As soon as we entered the village proper, 9 feathery armored creatures jumped in front of us there were 3 on the front and 3 on each side, they had wings and beaks, I remember them, griffons?! But there was no shine, no life to their eyes, they were there, sure, but they were sunken, dry and cloudy, this creatures were not alive, immediately I knew they were undead, i dismissed the shields of my companions and I, getting ready to fight, the should would only get in our way.

They carried steel shortswords, or at least it looked like steel, and had chainmail armor, with some having steel helmets, a few had leather armor and carried steel longswords.

They stood partially upright, balanced on two legs and the feathery tail, their talons, grabbing the sword firmly, and as one, they rushed at us, using their wings to push forward and thanks to it they could use both arms while charging, they also did not make a sound, they were eerily silent other than the clinging sound of chainmail armor and the flap of wings, thinking quickly I used a fast 'misty step' to stand to their side, causing them to stop for a second, and that was the time i needed for my idea to come into fruition.

'Lightning Bolt' -30 MP 120/200
A powerful like of bright blue electricity shot forward in a straight line, connecting the 3 in an arc of sparking energy, it dug a hole right through them, and dissipated harmlessly against the wall of a house.

Zombie Griffon conscript has taken 30 damage! 115/150
Zombie Griffon conscript has taken 32 damage! 113/150
Zombie Griffon conscript has taken 29 damage! 119/150

As they spasmed I realized they would not be as easy to take down as a single attack.
'Inspect'

'LvL 15 Zombie Griffon conscript
HP 119/150
This creatures are the manifestations of the anger and desire for murder and violence that dying soldiers felt in their final moments of life, coalesced into beings who's sole purpose is to kill and cause pain.

They lack the ability to fly as their wings are partially rotten and the feathers have fallen off, the griffin flight magic is absent.

They posses just intelligence enough to understand military tactics, they however are not good at using them by themselves, they obey their officer's orders.

They have a total disregard for their own wellbeing and will mindlessly attack, while using basic rushing tactics unless an officer of higher rank gives them directions.

Weaknesses and resistances: immune to necrotic damage, resistance to slashing damage (on armored areas) resistance to cold, weakness to radiant/holy damage, weakness to fire.

POV shift Sylf

I got charged as soon as they were in my field of view, and i charged right back with my ignited longsword, the air shimmered from the heat, swinging fast against the approaching enemies, i cut the sword arm of two of them with a single swing of my blade.

Zombie Griffon conscript takes 35 damage, disarmed!
115/150HP
Zombie Griffon conscript takes 36 damage, disarmed!
114/150HP

While the other managed to slash at me, but I brought my longsword to bear at the last moment, while the last enemy was trying to recover and attack again, I shoved my sword through the undead creature, the fire melting the armor around the wound, and burning it from the inside.

Zombie Griffon conscript takes 45 damage! 105/150HP

I pulled the sword out of its torso and jumped back, right as the monster tried to stab at my head, it seems having having been stabbed through didn't really faze it, this monsters were proving to be worse than expected.

The two zombies had found their swords and were up again, now using it on their other arm it was clearly not their favored arm but they did not hesitate to charge again, the third enemy joined them and I was back where I started, this time I decided to let them get close, my strength was superior so I could easily parry their hits, I parried the first, dodged the other two and swung around in a low arc, slicing the legs
of 2 and causing their legs to break.

Zombie Griffon conscript took 25 damage, crippled! 90/150
Zombie Griffon conscript took 24 damage, crippled!
90/150

They didn't react much, and still tried to walk but with broken legs they couldn't stand, they still crawled with their damaged legs, but are in no shape to fight.

The last one however was fully capable of putting up a fight, but I had experience with them, they tried to attack all at once but they didn't really seem to be concerned for their own safety.

I ran towards the only enemy near me who was still a threat and unleashed a flurry of slashes, making it parrying harder and harder, he managed to parry the first two but they kept going, soon his sword was on the ground, his talons and legs cut in several pieces and hanging to his body by strips and chunks of dry dead flesh, the armor was partially melted into the body, burning large holes into it.

Zombie Griffon conscript takes 15 damage! 90/150HP
Zombie Griffon conscript takes 15 damage! 75/150HP
Zombie Griffon conscript takes 35 damage! 40/150HP
Zombie Griffon conscript takes 15 damage! 25/150HP
Zombie Griffon conscript takes 25 damage and is defeated!
Your party earns 300 EXP! Sylf has leveled up!

The unrelenting attacks to the helpless enemy managed to finally finish it off, but while I was focused attacking, one of the crawling griffons came close and slashed at my leg, causing it to bleed and leaving a shallow but long cut near my front left paw.

Sylf takes 6 damage! 195/201

I gasp and move away from it, turning to face them, good thing I moved because they were getting around my back and trying to surround me, but I was now aware and free to deal with them!

I jump high up and aim to land on top of one of the crawling zombies, it tries to put it's sword up but I use my own sword to slap the enemy's blade down while I fall, landing on top of its body and breaking it's spine, or something, there is a loud crack.

Critical hit! Zombie Griffon conscript takes 50 damage! Spine shattered, attack and speed reduced. 40/150HP

It worked very well, but I wish this creatures would just die already, the other one was really trying to get to me, both were, but the crushed one was even slower.

I stepped up to the still sword wielding enemy, easily disarming it with a guard maneuver, then I simply start to stab it over and over, aiming for non armored areas, joints and holes in the armor, there are always ways to bypass armor, specially less protective armor like this.

After killing one I killed the other, without their weapons it was just standing over them and stabbing over and over and over until they stopped trying to fight back.

2 Zombie Griffon conscript are slain, your party earns 600 EXP

If this things had blood, it would be all over the ground by now where I stabbed them.

Kari's POV

I roared loudly at the enemies, this seemed more dangerous than Timberwolves, and more used to fighting, but I couldn't let them intimidate me, as they charged I jumped over them and landed behind, turning midair with my wings, this things were slower to turn than I was, so I grabbed one by the head and started to shake it up and down making its body slam to the floor several times violently.

Zombie Griffon conscript has taken 25 damage! 125/150
Zombie Griffon conscript has taken 25 damage! 100/150
Zombie Griffon conscript has taken 25 damage! 75/150

I felt a stabbing pain in my neck, suddenly, this monster, despite being slammed and bitten on the head managed to get it's sword up and stab at the side of my neck, I roared in pain and let it go, sending it flying against a house, it quickly got up and approached me again, but slower and with clear signs of broken bones.

Kari has taken 18 damage! 172/190

The other two zombies approach me from the sides, trying to attack, but I dodge by running forward and using my stinger to stab the recovering soldier that's against the wall, I stab him in the face, the stinger aimed at the eye, injecting paralyzing poison inside it's brain case, it does the trick as it stops struggling, not even able to lift it's sword to stab at me.

Zombie Griffon conscript has taken 30 damage! 45/150
Paralyzed! Can't attack or move until the poison runs it's course.

I see the others, from the corner of my eyes and dodge their simultaneous stabs to my head by ducking under, then I jump up, pushing their sword arms away, their death grip on their swords is strong so they don't let go, even with all the force of the sudden impact, but I turn to the left and rush one, pushing it with my head and making a bull rush towards the burning like of timber from the palisade, where flaming wood is poking out at various angles after being blown open by Onyx.

The charge ends with the unfortunate zombie griffin stabbed through into a pointy log from the barrier that was still on fire.
I thankfully didn't get stabbed myself because I stepped back and pushed it with my forelegs until the log came out of the chest, piercing the chainmail.

Zombie Griffon conscript takes 50 damage! Stuck! 100/150
Zombie Griffon conscript takes 30 damage! 70/150

The fire was burning it pretty nicely, but there was another of this things still trying to kill me, I swatted the sword aside with my claws, parrying the hit, then but directly onto its head, pushing into the ground and starting to crush its skull, even with the metal helmet on, the helmet was weak and cheap, not enough to allow the head inside to remain intact, at the same time my paws held onto the sword talon, claws digging deep into its rotten bones.

Critical attack! Zombie Griffon conscript takes 65 damage! 85/150
Critical attack! Zombie Griffon conscript takes 60 damage! 25/150
Critical attack! Zombie Griffon conscript takes 25 damage and it's defeated! Party earns 300 EXP

The disgusting taste of rotting brain, skull and feathers as the head finally pops and oozes out of the helmet makes me drop the now fully dead zombie and spit out the chunks that got into my mouth, it tastes awful and I want to rinse my mouth in the river after that.

I check on the other two, first the one pinned to the wall, is pulling itself free, while the other is still paralyzed.

I decide to finish off the one stuck to the wooden stake before it frees itself, I move in front of it and try a different approach, with a savage bite instead of crushing it's skull I grab firmly and pull up, while it's body is stuck, it desperately tries to stab me but my paws are keeping it's talons pinned down, I pulled hard and with twisting motions. Until the head popped off with a loud ripping and cracking sound, as the chainmail holding it to the body is ripped partially as well.

Critical attack! Zombie Griffon recruit is slain! Party earns 300 EXP!

I decide this is the best method to deal with them, if ripping off their heads is possible I won't have to try and crush their helmets and get the disgusting rotting brain and bone paste in my mouth, I can spit out the full intact head and move on, I head to the third and while its helpless, I pull off its head as well, much easily than the last one, as it doesn't struggle or try to stab me.

Critical attack! Zombie Griffon recruit is slain! Party earns 300 EXP!

With the last of my enemies slain, I turn to check on the others, looking for who needs my help more, but it seems I was not needed for now.

POV Shift, Onyx

After having learned more about this creatures, I realized that thanks to their metal armor and weapons, heat metal would be the ideal attack here, it only required to turn my mana to the weapons, channeling to all of them at the same time took a lot of energy out of me, but it was really worth it.
I triple casted 'Heat Metal' -60MP 60/200 One for each of their swords, making them red hot, but they did not drop them for some reason, they instead decided it was better to have their talons burn.

Zombie Griffon conscript has taken 22 damage! 93/150
Zombie Griffon conscript has taken 23 damage! 90/150
Zombie Griffon conscript has taken 20 damage! 99/150

They decided to attack me with the burning swords, but their talons were weakened, still they were upon me, I had no time to run back, and didn't think using all my mana was a good idea, so I pulled out my steel dagger and took advantage of my small size to duck under the swing, then stab the first one with the dagger in the heart, but it didn't seem to stop him.

Zombie Griffon conscript has taken 15 damage! 78/150

That did not do a lot, even when the dagger was sunk to the hilt, probably piercing this monster's hearth, it just did almost nothing so I pulled out my dagger and kept it ready.
The red hot swords were still burning their talons to the bone, they swung at me, I tried to dodge but with the 3 of them swinging at the same time, 2 of the slashes hit my scales, the slashes themselves did nothing more than leave scratches on my armor, but the fact they were red hot when the came into contact with my scales, made them burn and caused some minor damage and scale cracking.

Onyx has taken 4 damage! 176/180 HP
Onyx has taken 3 damage! 173/180 HP

Zombie Griffon conscript has taken 24 damage! 54/150
Zombie Griffon conscript has taken 23 damage! 67/150
Zombie Griffon conscript has taken 25 damage! 74/150

Those red hot swords were dangerous, if it weren't for my dense scales those slashes would have burned deep into my flesh, they still hurt a bit, but it wasn't that bad, it didn't slow me down. The griffins instead, had their talons now blackened and burned almost to the bone, the smell of burnt rotten meat permeated the area, it stunk, but not as bad as regular scent of corpses and rotten produce, so I could endure it.

I had to get some distance, they were trying to stab me now, knowing slashing at my body wouldn't get them anywhere, I used a short range teleport (-20mp 40/200) and stood outside their reach, quickly casting 3 firebolts in a row as they turned to face me.

Zombie Griffon conscript has taken 16 damage! 51/150
Zombie Griffon conscript has taken 16 damage! 58/150

The first one missed, and the three griffins rushed me again, attacking as one, I turned to run and went around the corner of a house, they were fast but I dodged their attacks as I ran, the red hot swords had burned their talons to the bone by now, and even those bones were beginning to blacken.

Zombie Griffon conscript has taken 25 damage! 29/150
Zombie Griffon conscript has taken 25 damage! 26/150
Zombie Griffon conscript has taken 24 damage! 34/150

I was angry, being chased like if I was a bunny being hunted by hounds, this was embarrassing, I had enough, I turned around and grabbed them in my telekinetic field, then held them still against the ground, it took some effort but it was not as hard as I thought, using the ground as leverage it took less effort than lifting them and holding them in the air, instead I could just keep them pressed against the ground in specific areas.

I approached, my dagger held in my claw, I got to the nearest one and calmly lifted the mail coif, then pull it up and off along with the helmet, it drops to the floor with a hollow metallic clang, I stare at the creature, it was clearly a griffin, it had feathers and all, it's face was contorted into an expression of absolute hate and malice, it's sunken and cloudy eyes staring at me with disdain, I had a neutral expression, this things were no more than mere monsters, they had not an ounce of consciousness, I convinced myself, I am pretty sure I'm right.

I brought down the dagger, and started cutting the leathery skin, easily sliced open and the flesh, it looked like overcooked beef, then there were arteries and veins, that had a viscous dark red, almost pure black paste instead of blood, I cut the neck completely, but the spine remained somewhat stuck, I gave a tug and the head came completely off, cleanly more or less, the griffin did not make a single sound, not a rasp, not a scream, it just... stopped resisting to my magic.

Zombie Griffon conscript has been slain! Party earns 300 EXP

Now with one gone, the ease of holding the rest down increased significantly, why had I not done this from the start? Telekinesis is very strong, at least against this weak zombies, the only reason I was afraid of them getting close was because I heated their swords to the point they would fry my scales if they touched me, I had expected them to save themselves from the horrible burns but they took them without a care.

I decapitated the other two, the fact they did not bleed and didn't make a noise made it feel like I was playing with a medical doll, those they use to show the anatomy of humans in medical school. This felt less wrong somehow than the school dissections of frogs.

Zombie Griffon conscript has been slain! Party earns 300 EX
Zombie Griffon conscript has been slain! Party earns 300 EX

I wiped the black paste off on the enemies armor, then sheathed my dagger, then headed back to near the palisade hole I made earlier to meet with the others, who seemed to do well on their first fight of the dungeon, I was sure this fodder enemies were nothing more than the ones patrolling this area, and there would be much stronger enemies the deeper we advance into the village.

'Everyone okay? That was an... Interesting fight, any of you are wounded? I just got some minor cuts and small burns on my sides, but they'll fully heal on their own in a few days, nothing beyond scale deep.' I announced telepathically to my companions.

'I just got a small cut on my foreleg, but it's not bleeding or anything!' Mom's voice came through, I smiled, at least she didn't get seriously hurt.

'I have a puncture wound on my neck, but it's not a vital area, it's bleeding a little but much less than before, do you have anything that could help patch it up?' Kari answered and I approached her looking at her neck thoughtfully, yes she had a wound about an inch deep in her neck, but her thick muscle provided protection for her arteries, she was lucky, but the wound was bleeding a bit.

'I have a roll of gauze in my camp supplies, along with some alcohol to disinfect, but this is gonna hurt a whole lot, just saying.' I warn her and grab the camp supplies, taking it off my inventory and opening on the floor, looking around until I find the small first aid kit that we bought, I was being cheap and dumb, so I just bought a cheap kit, probably should have spent a few thousand bits and buy the proper expeditionary kit for explorers, that had pretty much a way to treat any kind of wound.

'Do it, I just need to be back in fighting condition, a little bit of pain won't stop me.' I nodded and grabbed the small bottle of alcohol, cleaned my paws fully then dipping the gauze in alcohol, making it fully soaked i put it over my paw, claw retracted, and for lack of a better word, inserted my finger inside the wound and cleaned it well, Kari's eyes widened and she cringed but she didn't make a single cry of pain, i was as quick as possible, once rubbing the wound raw and clean, i doused it with a bit more alcohol and then inserted a rolled up piece of gauze, then I shaved the fur around the area, covered the hole with a bit of gauze and used the medical tape to hold the gauze in place.

'There, that should prevent infection and keep the wound from bleeding, the wound is not too big and no arteries were severed so it should close pretty quickly, even if leaves a bit of a hole on your neck.'

'Thank you... That did hurt but I feel better now, it doesn't sting as much as before, you're a good cub Onyx, but how do you know how to patch up a wound?' I shrugged, moving to mom to check up on her.

'I grew up on a bad neighborhood, knowing how to help people in emergencies was a good thing to know so I went and learned to provide first aid, I probably should tell you that I am not exactly a hatchling, I mean I am, what I is mean I've lived a life before this, in another place, it's a long story but what I want to say is... I am older than you by now, I have more experience in life, maybe about the same as mom.'

'Ah, that would explain your behavior, very wise yet also very cub like, you have two sides that are different but in harmony, or that's how I see it.' Kari said softly, her voice had a certain wonder to it, she was very much interested in my story, and at least thought it was cool, I smiled.

'Thank you, sometime I'll tell you more, what I told mom, you deserve to know and I'm sorry but we didn't have time to talk much, maybe when we finish the dungeon we will be able to talk and relax, but for now let's focus on surviving, right?'

'Right, you are completely correct, I will rest while you check up on your mother.' I nodded and turned back to Sylf, who was smiling at me.

'I'm proud of you Onyx, for telling Kari and for how well you treated her wound, I learned first aid at the academy too, but I am not exactly able to provide first aid, my paws aren't as useful as yours, and using mouth for first aid is a big no, so thank you, my lovely son!' I blushed slightly at the praise, I looked away and scratched the back of my head.

'M-mooom, you know I would do anything to help you and Kari, I owe you two at least that much... But that was sweet of you to say, thanks.' I shook my head and started to patch up mom's cut, I realized I could just use telekinesis, and tried doing that, and no surprises, it worked wonders, even if manipulated small objects took more concentration, in the end mom was good as new, her wound was much less severe, basically a long scratch only on the upper layers of skin.

After we were done, I explained to our new companion how to loot enemies, we start looking all the bodies, they thankfully don't break open like the spiders when looted, they just dissolve into ash and disappear, much cleaner in my opinion, and we got some decent loot this time, all the enemies gave us their swords, sure the swords were pretty bad, dulled and even a bit rusted, but all that could be fixed, and the steel would be useful and valuable, steel was not a cheap metal, only Equestria and Saddle Arabia sold steel, other nations didn't have it, probably because a certain princess had basically bullied other countries into giving up their steel industry a long time ago.

In total 7 lvl 15 steel shortswords, and 2 lvl 15 steel longswords, they were weaker than mom's, but still deadly weapons. We also obtained a good amount of coin, each enemy had 50 gold pieces, in total we collected 450 gold pieces, which went into coin pouches and into the inventory, other than that there was the armor, but it was so raggedy and damaged from the fight that it was not salvageable, only 2 gambeson armors were sort of intact, but they smelled so bad and had so many stains of dry blood that we refused to even try them without washing them first.

We headed inside of the first house that was near us, seeking shelter and a place to rest for a bit, when we opened the old medieval wooden door, we saw a ghostly figure staring at us, it was an earth pony stallion, but it was... Transparent? It was looking at us in fear, his eyes darting between the three of us, slowly moving back as if afraid, it then seemed to realize something, and calmed down quickly after that. Just hovering in front of us with a curious expression, I was a bit spooked honestly, I had never seen a ghost before, but my senses told me this pony ghost was not angry, neither was he attacking, he was just standing there waiting for us to talk.

"Uhm... Hello? Sorry I didn't know you lived here." I spoke softly, this seemed to surprise him, but then a small smile appeared on his ghostly face.

"You're not like them, little one, why are you here? And who are those with you? They are also not part of them..." The unknown ghost said quietly, but loud enough for all of us to hear.

"I'm this little one's mother, my name is Sylf and next to me is our Manticore companion, Kari, and you sir? What is your name?" Mom answered politely, I nodded.

"I have no name, I never had, but I think I was a potter once, all of the ponies who lived here, none of us had names, we are... Echoes of the ponies who used to live here, a long time ago." I was a bit confused so I asked for clarification.

"What I mean to say is, this place is a nightmare we are trapped in, we are the emotions, the memories, the energy, the fear and the hope, the hate and the sadness, of those who experienced this massacre." I was at a loss for words, was this being one of the manifestations? But from the side of the victims?

"What happened here, to create this? What happened in reality that caused this place to come to exist?" The pony had a sad expression, this being, this ghost had many emotions inside, it was... Conscious? How? Maybe because... Ponies naturally have a lot more emotional energy than other creatures, they also have a much different mind, being slow to anger but easier to befriend, even I, as a monster to some ponies, still managed to make friends despite dragons being considered the terror of the skies in some areas.

"We... They, the real ponies that is, were near the border with Griffonia, or the Griffon Empire as they called themselves, the nation of the griffons, this used to be griffon territory, but Equestria expanded and sent us to occupy the area, we built a village, a castle for the Duchess who was sent to keep watch over us simple peasants for years nothing happened, but one day, the griffons came in number, as we.. they were earth ponies here, most of them were farmers, they couldn't escape, we tried fighting back but the griffons had an army, and most importantly, they had swords and armor."

"We stood no chance, they grabbed all of... Them, the mares and stallions, and send the foals to walk all the way back into Equestrian territory, they had that small mercy at least, but what they did to us... I- I mean what they did to those ponies, they took all of us outside, tied us by the hind hooves to stakes they built outside of town, then they started to... Cut off our parts... While they laughed and joked amongst themselves, they did this to the mares and stallions, none were spared, then I saw them start to open up ponies by their bellies... It was horrible!"

The ghost seemed too distraught to continue, it clearly couldn't cry but it covered it's face with it's hooves as if crying, it's eyes full of pain and sadness, I could see now how this were considered negative emotions, they had gone through so much pain and suffering, that they manifested as basically a copy of the pony psyche in their last hours of life, including their memories of the situation as a whole.

"I'm so sorry mister... I didn't meant to make you remember all of those painful memories! I'm really sorry." I approached and gave the ghost a heartfelt hug full of compassion, I really wish I could have helped them, no one deserved such a horrible fate, I had died but it was almost painless, I had no time to feel trauma or even much fear, it was like a fever dream, but I bet what the real version of this ghost, felt very much real as they were tortured publicly.

However as soon as I came into contact with the ghost, It felt incredibly cold, like sinking into a freezing cold lake, for a normal creature it would have been like being stabbed by thousands of ice spikes as their cells froze one by one, but for me it felt like a very comforting hug, This cold reminded me of the frozen north, when I had first existed the cave and felt the freezing cold winds up in the mountains.

"I-Im sorry little one, Its just very painful to remember that... Yet I can't think of much else, those are my core memories, I wish I didn't exist... So I would not suffer so." Man... That was incredibly depressing.

"You are real, aren't you little one? I felt that, even if strangely cold, your soul, it's there, I remember what being a pony felt like, having a soul, you don't know how it feels to until you lose it, and then you know how it used to feel... Warm, despite you being so cold I feel the light of your soul." The ghost said after a few minutes of depressing silence.

"Yeah, I'm alive, the reason why I'm so cold is because I'm cold blooded... Hey mister? Would you be so kind as to let the three of us stay at your home? We don't want to stay out there with those griffons lurking about... We were lucky we only ran into a small group of 9." The pony ghost seemed surprised but intrigued.

"You defeated 9 of them? That's very good, we ponies weren't even able to kill a single one before they caught us all... I bet my real self would have cheered at that, but I have no soul, I just feel..
An odd sense of peace, maybe... If you destroy all of them I will cease to exist and stop suffering from this memories? But my answer is yes, you and your companions can stay, but please, be careful, the griffons are strong, they have very capable soldiers, not only fodder that they send to watch over the walls."

"Thank you, I will have that in mind, we just need an hour or two of rest and we will go out again to fight them, and I promise when they are all defeated, you will stop existing and there will be no more suffering." The ghost moved away and just sat in a corner of the mostly empty house, it was old small, but with enough room for all of us to sit down or even lay down on the floor.

We relaxed and had a nap letting our bodies recharge and heal, the pony just had its eyes closed and seemed to just sit there thinking to itself, sometimes his face would have a grimace of pain or a sad look, he was truly a tormented being, those were the last thoughts I had before falling asleep.

Author's Note

Here it is, the first chapter of the second dungeon, unlike the first dungeon, this one has a few mysteries and even more of a story than the first one, which will be revealed bit by bit.