Daniel Book Four- Zebrica

The quest had packed up everything, and had already eaten. The two zebras were gone, without any trace, save for a forgotten breakfast. Now CC stood in front of the rest, and began to speak.

"Alright, now that we're all ready to go, I need to give a few warnings of the path we are taking. It is known as Crawlers' Pass, and it gets that name for a reason. Let's all hope you never know that reason. You will need these. Do not, under any circumstances drop them, or lose them." CC handed them all goggles. "These are magically enchanted so that you can see in the dark. They only have a limited amount of time to be used, so we will be using torches for the time. The goggles are only for emergencies. This cave harbors three threats, two of them are very easy to ward off. One, will not take it to kindly if we cross its path. The first two are bats, and antimagic. If you're okay with not being able to cast spells, then you should be fine. The bats shouldn't be too much of a bother. Is this understood?" The others mumbled their yeses.

"What about the third one?" Daniel asked. CC turned around and began to walk.

"Hopefully, you will never have to find out." She said darkly. Daniel nodded.

*   *   *

after two hours of walking, they came upon a boulder jutting up from the ground like an arrow had been shot at the ground by Faust herself. next to the cave was an old worn sign, that had Crawlers' Pass written in old red paint, beneath it was Enter at your own risk demise. The sign itself was falling apart, and splintered all over. CC walked past it without a second glance. The others wearily followed her in a grim silence, as the cave's presence seemed to assert itself like the air within it was alive, but dying. All hope was literally lost at the entrance, and fear grew within the empty void that it had left.

The cave itself was dreary and horrid. the stalactites seemed to be reaching down at the company, the claws of the cave wishing to pick them up. The stalagmites came up in many different sizes, some short, like thorns from a bush, or rose, and others tall, almost reaching the ceiling, as if it were an old forgotten civilization, buried for thousands of years. The air was hot, heavy, and saturated with years of being underground. The light dimmed when they entered, and they felt as if something important was lost. Daniel felt an all to familiar loss of hope, and dreary horizon. It was as if he had been yanked back onto earth.

"That would be that magic cancelling field I told you all about. Don't get me wrong, the cave itself is depressing, but without part of your very soul, the one that produces natural happiness from the environment around you, depression takes on a whole new meaning. I would say you get used to it, but then I would be lying. Anyhow,we have four torches, and each lasts a whole 6 hours, so we have exactly one day to get out of this cave. Might I suggest picking a partner, and talking with said partner as we go through the cave? But know this, the cave always separates groups. Only once per group, but it does. Don't ask me how or why, because I don't know, but that's why everybody has received a map, and a compass." CC said, just as a rumbling started all around them. "Eeyup, that's exactly what i was talking about." It was then that rocks fell from the ceiling of the cavern, right in between Daniel and Ditzy, leaving Gilda and Ditzy stranded with each other, and same could be, and would be, said for Daniel and CC.

"Daniel! CC! Are you two alright!?" Came Ditzy's voice from the other side.

"Ugh, yeah, I'm fine, but it seems that the torches are on your side. we'll have to use my changling sense of sight for this cave it seems." CC yelled back as Daniel slipped into unconsciousness.

*   *   *

Daniel found himself awake, and extremely sore. He slowly, and painfully pulled himself up, as he blinked the sleepiness away from his eyes. The sight he saw, was not a friendly one. he was in Canterlot, that much he knew, but it had changed. The castle was in ruins, along with the rest of the city block that he could see. A dog in the distance barked an unfriendly bark. Meanwhile, a foal walked past him, she was bruised and battered, and was carrying what looked like a crossbow over her back. Upon seeing Daniel, she scampered away.

"I personally like what I've done with the place, don't you?" A voice behind Daniel said. It was female. Upon turning around, he found himself facing bane, his female counterpart. "Gives it a sort of, Daniel failed at saving the world kind of feeling, doesn't it? Of course, I couldn't have made it nearly this creepy, if I hadn't used places not from Canterlot. Like for instance, that little town you call a city that you had once lived in a long time ago, what was it called? Oh yes, Dermitile." She was smiling, but it was a broken smile, one that contained no true happiness. It was wide, and seemed to make Daniel more remorseful, rather than happy.

"What do you want Bane?" Daniel asked, emotionless.

"Well, for one, a soul would be nice. But I don't think you'd even let me if I could. No. Instead, I must warn you, this place is in your future if you fail. I did not make this entire place, because i have seen it. Long before you came to Equestria, and even for a longer time before I joined with Luna, I went by a different name. My name was Sarah. I was the first human ever to come to Equestria. Long before it was even known as Equestria you know."

"What point are trying to make?" Daniel asked, showing slight interest.

"The point? No, not a point, not yet. I'm telling you my story. I am very old, and I need to lighten the weight upon the soul that I do not have. You must bear my burden from here on out. You best not hope though, that you end up like me, because if you do, what you see around us both, will be very much a reality. I will now pick up where I left off. I was the first human within the wide world of Equestria, back then, it was all a great Pangaea, no Griffin Empire, no Zebrica, only Equestria. Back then, the ponies had been on the verge of war, and the season that year was cold, for a different reason entirely to what everyone thought. The true story was lost through the ages, and is now known as a petty squabble solved by singing happy songs to keep a great fire burning. All a lie. The only thing keeping that fire alive was my magic, which has been passed on to you. Sure, the happiness helped, but it was because of my magic that it worked. I had not even known I had powers like that. I was able to draw power from the environment, instead of within myself like most unicorns.

"It was then that I earned my horn, and rather painfully. My wings and tail are another story all together. My horn was almost never used, for I like using my power from the world around me, as you can now do.

"Anyways, long after that, a pony was brought to us, and brought to power, by Faust herself. You know her by Celestia. For some reason, when Faust had put her on the planet, I had began to fade. Don't ask me what i mean, because we don't have enough time. But after a long while, I was just a thought. Something embedded deep within the hearts of every living thing. I had become a stain on a perfect world that did not need me. After a while, Faust put another on the world, you know her as Luna. The rest of the story, you already know." Bane finished.

"So what? Why tell me all of this?" Daniel asked calmly.

"I told you already. No benefit to you, only me. You will be waking sometime soon. As a matter of fact, I feel you being pulled back into existence." Bane suddenly disappeared, as Daniel awoke, and found himself staring at CC. She nodded at him, and Daniel realized that it was really dark.