When will it end?

Crack. Snap. The fire slowly crackled, along with a chunk of rock Gough was carving. Hevlium set Twilight down right by the fire. The flames seemed to reach out to her, and she hummed with pleasure. Hevlium sat down himself, and turned to face Gough. "So... how does a fairy tale end up in a hole in the ground?"

      "I'm afraid I don't know. I sat in my tower, carving away. I had just shot down the great dragon Kalameet for the chosen undead-"

      "You mean me?"

      "No, or maybe, my memory is feeble. As he had descended, I had reached for my carvings when I heard a... whoosh. I then felt myself pulled away, and ended up here. Much like my compatriots." Gough put down the rock he was carving, and reached behind him. He carefully lifted over Artorias, Ciarin, Ornstein, and Rainbow Dash. Hevlium had leapt up as his hand had rose, but he relaxed and sat backdown as Gough placed them in front of the fire. Gesturing to Artorias and Ciarin, Gough said," I found them falling out of the sky, and caught them in my hands. The other two," gesturing to Ornstein and Rainbow Dash," were screaming in pain."

      Hevlium inspected each of their bodies, taking his gauntlet off to check their pulse. "They're all alive, but Artorias' arm has been shattered. He can't use it ever again." He stepped back as the three of them began to shift.

      "Ow, my head." Said Rainbow Dash, as she slowly sat up. She saw that Artorias, Ciarin, and Ornstein were also beginning to stir. She saw that a giant was hovering over her, resting on one arm. There was also a fire, which had some weird version of armor in a sitting position. She flinched as it gave a wave. But then she saw next to it... "Twilight!" She jumped up, but collapsed as her legs were numb. She tried to stand again, but fell down onto something cold. She looked around and saw the armor lift her up and place her by Twilight.

      "You shouldn't strain yourself." Rainbow looked up to the armor, and saw... kindness hidden in the helm. She nodded, and relaxed.

      Artorias was the next to wake. He slowly sat up, and rubbed his forehead. He tried to rest on his left arm, but cried in pain as his arm collapsed under the minuscule pressure. Ciarin snapped awake, and leapt over to Artorias. She slowly brought him back up and clenched him tightly. "We're alive." She whispered, barely audible. Artorias reached his right arm around and clenched her tightly.

      "But how?..."

       "That would be my fault, my friends." Artorias and Ciarin both slowly looked up as Ornstein slowly came to.

       "Uh... What happened?" Said Ornstein as he slowly came to. Seeing Artorias and Ciarin gazing upwards, he slowly looked up.

        ...

      ...

      ...

      "Gough?" Ornstein stared up at the giant. He shook his head, and put his hands to his helm. He slowly undid a clasp hidden underneath his red plume. As the helmet slowly was lifted off, Twilight slowly came to. The first thing she saw after her eyes cleared was an albino colored face. With brown eyes, and a bun sitting on top of the head. Ornstein's hand slowly pulled out a pin keeping the bun together. As the hair fell, it formed a great big mane of hair around his head. He slowly brought his hands together and took off his gauntlets. He slowly brought his hand up and rubbed his eyes. When he opened them again, he looked back up to Gough's face.

      ..."Your alive..."

      "Yes, my friend, I'm alive. I have missed you."

      "Your ALIVE!" Ornstein jumped off the ground and landed on Gough's shoulders and rapped on his helmet. "I thought you had turned to dust!"

      "Wow, Ornstein, who knew you had a heart." Said Artorias as Ciarin slowly repositioned him more comfortably.

      "Oh, yeah? Well you and Ciarin are closer together than Pine Resin to a blade." Ciarin blushed so furiously it showed on her mask, as did Artorias. She jumped away, causing Artorias to fall onto his back. The group laughed at the happy emotions that filled the Dark.

      "I'm glad we are all in good spirits."

      "Celestia!" Shouted Twilight. The Alicorn slowly walked out of the Dark, shining like a lantern. She layed down by the Bonfire as the group settled themselves. "Where were you, princess?"

      "I was scouting for the exit, but couldn't find one. This cavern goes on forever, the only signs of anything being an imprint in the ground."

      "Then where do we go?" Asked Hevlium.

      "I don't know, but we can—" POOOMPH!!! A great explosion sounded in the chamber, but it was muffled.

      "What was that?" asked Ciarin.

      "I don't know." answered Celestia. She was about to continue, but Gough shook his head. They all listened for what he was hearing. They all jumped back as he slowly began to rise. Dust fell from his shoulders in waterfalls as he stood to his full height. He began walking, and they followed.

(‘-‘)/

{The Chamber}

      Luna galloped into the center of the room, followed by Linebeck, who was staring at the designs carved into the walls. She fell to the floor as she stared at Equinox's body. It lay on the ground, a bit of blood dripping down his forehead. She slowly magicked the blood away and repaired his head. "Hey, Luna?" She turned toward Linebeck who was standing at the north end of the room. A mysterious red glow was surrounding him. "You may want to see this." She walked over to Linebeck with Equinox on her back.

      "What is it?" Linebeck was standing in front of a mirror. In the mirror was a red room much like their own. In the mirror were three shadows that stood exactly like them except for the smallest shadow. It stood apart from the others and approached the glass. As it got closer, Equinox snapped awake. He leapt off of Luna's back and approached the mirror. Luna tried to chase after him, but a golden aura prevented her. Equinox approached the mirror, as the shadow also got closer. He reached out to the mirror, and the shadow connected with his hoof. A blast of wind pushed Luna and Linebeck and Luna away from the mirror. With a flash of light, it was over. Luna slowly opened her eyes. The mirror was still there, but in front of it were two figures. One was Equinox, who was smiling happily. And under his hoof, supporting him as well, was Shadow Blaze. The two slowly limped over to Luna, who graciously caught the two. Equinox had retained his red eye, but know Shadow Blaze the unicorn was free. Luna also noted that Shadow Blaze's left eye was blue, instead of the blood red she had seen before. She turned around to see Linbeck imbedded in the wall. She magicked up one of Rarity's drama beds for them, and let them rest. As she turned to retrieve Linebeck, she heard a great booming. She span and readied her magic as the western wall began to shake. A great boom was heard as the wall began to crack. She readied a teleport spell as the wall fell to the ground in a great cloud of dust. Linebeck had pulled a barrel out of nowhere and was hiding in it.

      Cough, cough. "Can't you let me get my helmet on first?"

      "Sorry, but I was in a hurry." Luna lowered her horn as Ornstein stumbled through the cloud, coughing into his now on helmet. He panted and looked around, wolf whistling at the impressive dome. He spotted Luna, and tackled her into a bear hug.

      "LuLu! So good to see you!" Luna wheezed as all the air was squeezed from her body. She teleported out of his grasp and began to cough. "Oops, went a bit overboard, didn't I?" Ornstein slowly backed away as Luna charged her magic. The rest of the group came through to see Luna firing bolts of magic at Ornstein, who was running around the room yelping.

      "Hm hm." Luna turned to see Celestia approach. "Dear sister, where have you been?"

      Luna jumped as she brought over the couch to show her the two ponies. "We have succeeded, sister! They have been separated!" As Luna jumped up and down, a voice rang out into the air.

      "Well, well, well. What have we here?" The room began to dim as the light appeared to be sucked into the mirror. A great shadow approached the mirror's edge. "A couple of flies walked into my domain? Why, they must be dealt with." All of the light had left the room and gone into the mirror, which was leaking blood. The shadow touched the mirror, and it flashed again. Artorias fell to the floor as a figure walked out of the mirror.