"Well now I know I did it right", I eased myself to turn back to normal. I started into the room,
Sapphire stood there looking at me.
"We're not really going in there, right?"
"Of course, c'mon you'll be fine"
"If you say so...", Sapphire stayed right behind me. About ten steps in, we heard stone
grinding against stone.
"The door's closing on us!"
"Don't mind that Sapphire, I'll find a way out of here. Before that door seals, though, do you
mind to...ehm...do your thing?"
"Yeah" Sapphire rolled her eyes and her coat started to slowly glow. We were walking in a
very short, dark hallway that soon lead us to a staircase. As we went down the staircase, I felt a
cold wind blow toward us.
"Sapphire, did you feel that too?"
"No, what did you feel?"
"Cold. It's coming from that direction", I pointed my hoof towards the dark abyss beyond us.
"Maybe we should just turn around and leave"
"You always want to wuss out of this kind stuff. Why is that?"
"I don't like it!"
"Well I need my lantern and you can't get out by yourself anyway, so, come on"
I saw the end of the stairs that stopped at a floor with two large stone pillars. Before the two
pillars was a tablet with three insignias. The first being of a sun on the top left; the second being
a star with whirls extruding from it, in the middle on the bottom; the last being a crescent moon
on the top right. I looked around and saw nothing beyond the pillars.
"Onyx! Do you see anything?"
"Yeah. I see you...and that other pony over there"
"Other pony?" Sapphire looked around to find nopony, besides Onyx around. "What other
pony?"
"That one" I pointed. I started toward the figure. Then I heard Sapphire.
"Onyx! Don't go!", Sapphire cried, "Please don't leave me here!"
I cringed when I heard those words.
"Never. Come with me." I told Sapphire. After saying that I heard a voice in my head.
"No, this part of your journey must be done by you alone. Sapphire cannot follow you. Heed
this warning or your future will not be as you want it."
Assuming that Sapphire didn't hear that I still motioned for her to follow. Her face lit up with a
smile. We both trotted over to the pony. The closer we got to it the less and less it looked like
one. It looked like a silhouette of a pony with a corona of white light emanating from it. It looked
quite lively, standing there in place. I swear that every step forward that we took, it inched it's
head in our direction. By the time we were three meters away, it was able to stare into our eyes.
"Sapphire? "
"Yeah?"
"I'll need you to get away from this thing, far enough that you can't see me or it."
"But, Onyx?"
"No Sapphire, just go"
I saw her get concerned about the situation, but she listened to me nonetheless and walked
away. Once she was out of sight, I continued to examine the thing. I raised my hoof and tapped
it on the head.
"Are you alive?" It didn't blink, though instead it looked to be relaxing itself.
"No I am not living." Wary of the figure, I stepped back. "I told you not to bring her along. You
should have left her inside the castle." It said with an expressionless face.
"We are in the castle."
"We are in the tomb of the Order of Three." It responded.
"Order of Three?"
"The Order of Three ruled over Equestria for many millennia. It included Celestia, Luna, and
Starswirl."
"That doesn't make much sense."
"I guard these tombs."
"How are these tombs? Celestia and Mother are still alive."
"Tombs needn't graves, foal."
"If you continue to insult me, then your grave will be where you stand."
"Foal, you cannot kill something than was never living."
"I could try", I spoke under my breath, "What were you saying before, about the Order of
Three?"
"Luna was banished to the moon soon after the Order of Three disbanded."
"And?"
"And then came you."
"Your wealth of knowledge astounds me", I said sarcastically, "How soon after did the Order
disband?"
"Within two decades."
"What happened to Starswirl?"
"Not even I know that information."
"Who are you?"
"To know the right answers, you must first ask the right questions. What, not who."
"Okay then, what are you."
"That is the right question." It looked down at me, into my eyes. I saw something in its eyes.
A tall mare with a flowing mane. She wore armor on her hooves and a helmet. She had sharp
green eyes that pierced your soul if you were to stare into them for too long. The creatures
eyes, whom I was looking into, glowed brighter and brighter. Almost bright enough to blind
somepony. I heard a humming noise followed by an explosion of white light. Where the creature
stood was a floating mass of a silvery, glitter-like substance. It swirled around me and fell upon
my crystalline armor. Once the last speck landed on my back, the armor shattered and flew into
many directions. The glitter that once covered my armor, now covered me. It seeped into my
charcoal coat and in through my skin. I felt it entering my body, like hundreds of tiny needles
pricking me all at once. The pain felt so severe that my muscles involuntarily tensed up and
I couldn't move. My legs were frozen and locked in place. I felt my blood rushing through my
veins as if adrenaline fuelled my body. Finally it ended, with a quick snapping sound in my head.
From the corner of my eye, I could see Sapphire coming over to me.
"Onyx? What was that?"
"Body... Ugh... Hurts"
"I couldn't see anything except for a shimmering silver cloud of glitter. Where did that other
pony thing go?"
"It's...ehm..inside me..."
